Author's Note: Holy effing sh-. It's been a year. O_O I never realized how long it's been until I read the AN of my last chapter. TT-TT I have no excuses. Feel free to leave now. :'''(( Enough of my dramatics now… Here's my Christmas gift to all of my readers who probably feel like running a proverbial stake through me right now :))

Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with the creator of Bleach in any way.

There is no such thing as monsters

Humans just label the unknown,

As these, so called monsters

Monsters in humans have grown.

~ Another poem made by yours truly, MiSa-sama-MiSa-chan

As the rays of the sun slithered between the blinds, they rested on the sleeping face of one Mr. Ichigo Kurosaki. The said face, despite its sleeping state, was scrunched up in discomfort; brows furrowed together, and lips curled up in an angry snarl. His chest started heaving up and down as the rest of his body started struggling against the invisible force of his dream.

All of a sudden, his eyelids opened to reveal a pair of chocolate brown eyes with panic rapidly swimming in them. Looking around his room, Ichigo finally realized that he was in no real danger. His muscles finally began to relax and his breathing evened out.

"What the fuck," the teen muttered after a few more minutes of silence once he realized that he can't even remember the dream that caused such anxiety within him.

Shaking off the strange feeling, Ichigo then set his feet on the surface of the floor and began making his way through his usual routine: piss, take a bath, brush his teeth, and freshen up. Thankfully, he was able to get ready by 7 am.

Heading towards the mesh hall which is 3 floors below his own, the student felt that there was something off with that day. It was the same feeling he had when being with Renji, except more subdued, yet more urgent. It was as if something life-changing was slowly happening under his very nose.

Caught up in his daydreaming, Ichigo didn't notice the rather large build a few feet in front of him, so in a matter of seconds, he had fallen flat on his ass while the other stumbled back.

Cursing his own stupidity, Ichigo quickly stood and began apologising to the "victim", "Shit, I'm so sorry. I wasn't paying attention –"

But before he could continue rambling, a soft chuckle cut him off. Raising his head, Ichigo finally caught a glimpse of dark eyes, though you couldn't really tell with the half-hooded eyes threatening to fall on them. After some further observation, Ichigo also noticed that the other man had shoulder-length, wavy brown hair, a white blazer, and more importantly, a black tie.

"It's fine. But next time, don't daydream in the middle of this stampede , okay?" The guy said before leaving with a yawn.

Ichigo then started making his way to the table where Shiro, Rukia, and his other friends sat. Yet as he continued weaving his way through the many students walking about, he could feel the piercing feeling at his back, coming all the way from two pairs of eyes: cyan and black.

"You're right kitty-cat, strawberry does look pretty fuckable up close," Stark muttered giving the teen a whole body once-over, "and from a far as well."

Said kitty-cat on the other hand gave his companion a menacing growl, accompanied with the presentation of his canine-like fangs; though one can never be sure if that reaction was brought on by the "pet name" or from possessiveness. "Fuck off, Stark."

The elder espada just gave a hearty chuckle attracting the attention of some passing students before turning away from the mesh hall together with a handful of Grimmjow's jacket in hand. "Come on kitty cat, no need to get all bitter now. Besides, we have a meeting up with Aizen in a few minutes."

While the two espadas left the room, another group of students were mumbling amongst themselves when Ichigo approached them.

"Do you know who you just bumped into?! Do you know who you just conversed with?!" exclaimed Rukia the second Ichigo sat down.

"Actually I don't. But judging from the color of his tie and blazer and from your unceasing fangirling, I'm guessing it's an espada?" the teen said nonchalantly while lazily munch on his blood pie –blech, blood my ass.

Rukia's purple-tinted eyes then flashed dangerously and in an instant, she and Ichigo were face-to-face while she held him by the scruff of his shirt, "That wasn't just any espada. That was Starkk! Numero Uno, espada! Practically the most powerful! As in, "I can beat you up with my eyes closed" powerful!"

"Okay, okay! I get it," the captured victim exclaimed while holding his hands up in a sign of forgiveness.

"Stupid, ignorant boys…" Rukia muttered as she released him and sat down, grumbling about why it couldn't be her that collided and talked with Stark.

"I honestly don't get what your deal is with those demons," said a voice from outside of the group.

Heads turned towards the newcomer and they were met with the presence of Renji. When Ichigo noticed that Rukia was about to start another one of her angry tirades, he quickly intervenes, "Ren, if you haven't noticed we're all kind of demons here."

His boyfriend immediately snorted and plopped down on the seat beside him and wrapped his arms around his waist, "Naïve little Ichi, we may all be born as demons, we at least us shinigamis try to conform to the ways of the good while those bastards just give in to their animalistic desires. Why are you suddenly defending them all of a sudden now?"

Before anyone else could speak, Shiro swiftly interrupted, "As much as I'd like to hear this lovely debate on who is the lesser of evils, I was just wondering where you have been pineapple head?"

Both at the question and at Shiro's knowing look, Renji tensed up a bit before chocking out, "I was just handing in my make-up exam to K-Kuchiki-sensei. Y-You know, the one I failed."

Most of the occupants of their table just shrugged at the response and returned to their food while Shiro's golden eyes narrowed suspiciously and Ichigo's in confusion.

"So that's it, eh," though Shiro.

Author's Note: So that's where I decided to cut it. So, I'm just happy that I was able to update again. =)))

P.S. This is the 2nd longest chapter to date, right after Chapter 4. So I hope you all enjoyed it! ^_^

Until next time! And hopefully that isn't next year again.