I walked through the school yard beside Ichigo, hearing the countless snickers as people looked from their phones to me and back. No doubt someone recorded or took a picture of me being pelted with water and flour balloons last night, and they either texted it to everyone at school or put it on the Internet.

"Hey Emily, you'd make a great flour girl!" Called a girl mockingly. I put a hand on Ichigo's shoulder as he turned to yell at her.

"Don't Ichigo, she's not worth the breath." I said coolly. "Besides, talking to her could bring your iq down a few points."

He looked at me with doubt, but said nothing. I looked forward, not bothered at all by the mocking comments and laughter directed at me. Then I saw Aleck, who was walking over with a bunch of his friends and some girls.

"Just walk away you bastard." Ichigo growled, stepping protectively in front of me.

He's like an older brother, I thought with a smile.

"Heh." Aleck smirked. "Just thought she'd want to see what's so funny."

He showed us his phone screen and a picture of me, covered in egg yolks and flour as I ran from the camera. Ichigo was trembling with rage, and I surprised them all.......... by laughing.

"Ha! You're right, that's hilarious!" I laughed loudly. "You know what's even funnier, though?" I added, snickering. He frowned in confusion, only for the expression to turn into one of incredible pain as I kicked him in the nuts. He fell to his knees with a scream of agony, holding the spot, and I smiled in a scarily innocent way at him. "What's even funnier is a good for nothing jerk getting his ass kicked by a girl. Just dwell on that for a bit."

With that, I walked around him, Ichigo snickering madly as he followed.

~•~

"Did you guys hear?" Orihime asked excitedly as she joined us on the roof for lunch.

"About the carnival?" Tatsuki asked. "Yeah, everyones making a huge deal out of it."

"Carnival?" I questioned, tilting my head in confusion.

"The school is holding a carnival after classes." Chad said from his place beside me.

"We should all go!" Orihime cheered happily.

"Sounds like fun." I agreed. "Will there be a haunted house?"

"Yeah!"

"It's settled then," said Rukia. "We'll all meet up an hour after school.

~•~

Ichigo and I walked towards the school, Isshin, Karin, and Yuzu walking with us. I had changed into black denim shorts, a crimson silk tanktop with fishnet sleeves attached, and gladiator sandals. Ichigo had changed into purple skinny jeans and a black shirt. Yuzu was wearing a yellow dress with purple flowers, Karin wore black ball shorts and a grey jersey, and Isshin wore a Hawaiian floral button up and loose jeans.

"Hey guys!" Orihime waved Ichigo and I over as Yuzu dragged Karin and Isshin away to the nearest booth and Isshin braced himself for bankruptcy.

"Hey." Ichigo and I chorused back as we approached.

"I like your outfit, Emily!" Orihime gasped suddenly.

"Huh?" I said stupidly, tilting my head. "Oh, thanks."

"Lets get moving, shall we?" Uryuu suggested. We all nodded and followed him.

Five minutes later everyone but Chad and I had wandered off into their own groups. I gave a soft laugh.

"Looks like this turned into a date, eh Chad?" I joked, nudging him. He looked down at me before grunting and looking around. I thought, for a moment, that his cheeks seemed a bit pink, but dismissed it as an effect of the sun.

"Hey there little lady!" Called a jolly voice. I turned to see a happy looking carny pointing at me, a wide grin occupying his face. "Why not try this game?"

He was standing by the game with the big mallet and bell.

"I'll even let you have a free go!" He added.

"Okay." I smiled, grabbing Chad's hand, because my hand couldn't fit around his wrist, and pulling him toward the game. The carny handed me the heavy mallet.

"Anything you're aiming for?" Asked the friendly carny as I swung the mallet over my shoulder, almost falling back with the weight. I looked over his prizes.

"Um...... The........ Giant bat!" I decided, grinning excitedly. The bat was red with a felt black top hat and a matching bow tie.

Can you guess my favorite colors yet?

"Go for it!" Cheered the carny. I swung down with all my might, but the weight only went up two thirds of the way. "Hey, don't feel bad kid." Said the carny as I pouted slightly. "They put alot more weight on those than they should."

"Yeah....." I sighed heavily, kicking a pebble in disappointment.

Suddenly, a large, warm hand took the mallet from my own smaller hands. Chad set a dollar on the counter before bringing the mallet over his head and swinging downward. The weight sprung up, hitting the bell so hard I thought the gold metal bell would fly off into the stratosphere.

"Great job young man!" Smiled the impressed carny. "What will you take?"

"The bat." Chad answered. The carny handed over the stuffed object and Chad immediately put the toy in my face. "Here."

"What?" I asked stupidly as I slowly took the bat from him.

"It's for you."

I looked at the stuffed bat and smiled, hugging it tightly.

"Thanks Chad."

~•~

Three hours later, Chad had let me drag him to all the rides. Well, all but one anyways. We saved the haunted house for last. As we walked through the doors, they, the doors, slammed shut behind us. I jumped and instinctively grabbed Chad by the hand. My cheeks burned as I realized this, and I released him with a soft apology.

I felt his eyes on me for a moment as I stared at my feet before something was gently laid across my shoulders. I looked up at him, blushing more as he pulled me into his side ad began walking through the haunted house. I took my attention from him and looked around the large building.

It was dark, with realistic cobwebs, coffins, skeletons, everything!

"This is awesome!" I breathed softly.

As we passed by, one of the coffins opened and a 'vampire' shot forward, surprising Chad enough to stop walking and causing me to start laugh. I spun out of Chad's grasp and grabbed his hand, bouncing on my tiptoes.

"Come on Chad! Don't be scared!" I grinned goofily. I pulled him through the haunted house, unaffected by the costumed people and robot monsters that jumped at us, grinning widely the entire time.

"That was awesome!" I cheered, fist pumping as we made it to the other end.

"Yeah." Chad agreed, looking at me with mild amusement in his eyes.

"What now?" I asked him. He seemed to be thinking about something.

"Come on." He said, grabbing my hand softly and leading me somewhere.

"Where're we going?" I asked curiously, ignoring the burning of my cheeks as I glanced at our hands.

He kept quite and led me through the crowds.

"Ah! Emily!" Yelled a voice as I was hugged. Chad stopped and we looked down at Yuzu.

"Hey girly." I grinned, ruffling her bangs.

"There you are." Said a deep voice. I looked at Isshin as he and Karin walked over. Karin glanced at my and Chad's hands, and smirked, but said nothing. And Isshin didn't seem to notice. "Where are you two heading off two?" He asked with a weirdly kind smile, finally looking at our hands.

"To see if we missed any rides or games I think!" I said excitedly, beaming at him. "This is the first time I've been to a carnival and I wanna ride all the rides!"

They all stared at me. Even Yuzu released me and stepped back.

"You've never... Been to a carnival before?" Karin said slowly.

"Well... No..." I said with an awkward grin as I rubbed my neck with my free hand. "I never had any parents to take me... And I didn't have any extra money or transportation... So I never really had the opportunity..."

"Oh that's right...." Isshin said sadly. "You're an orphan...."

They looked at me pityingly and I released Chad's hand to wave both my hands in front of me.

"I-It's fine! Really! I'm here now, right? So it's okay!" I assured hurriedly.

Isshin shook his head suddenly and began ushering the girls away.

"Right! You two have fun!" He grinned. He, Karin, and Yuzu were soon nowhere in sight. I sighed, my shoulders falling.

"I'm so freaking awkward...." I mumbled. Something large and warm wrapped around my hand and began pulling me softly. I followed Chad, guessing he wouldn't answer my questions. We finally stopped in front of the Ferris wheel.

"Don't know how I missed that." I mumbled, looking up. He led me to a seat and sat down beside me. I was smaller than the average girl, and he was bigger than the average boy, so we fit perfectly as the wheel moved slowly up. He was still holding my hand, but I didn't mind. We said nothing until it stopped at the top, and, surprisingly, Chad broke the silence.

"Emily..."

"Yeah?" I asked, looking at him curiously.

"Will you-"

"RAAAAAAAAAWR!"