[♥] The Reason For His Strength\\ Kurosaki Ichigo \\ One shot

Ichigo Kurosaki exhaled loudly. Beads of sweat crawled down his forehead and glistened under the hot, summer sun. His breathing was irregular and fast, his heart thumped against his ribcage painfully, and his body felt ten times heavier. Who could blame him? He had fought countless numbers of Hollows while Rukia, his so-called partner, sat peacefully in the refreshing shades to protect her delicate skin from the heat.
"Ichigo," Rukia called, waving cheerfully from under the tree. Her yellow dress, donated by Ichigo's generous sister, stood out against the green background of the park grass. A light yellow sunhat complemented her dress. She held a worn out book with old, torn pages in her hand.
The addressed teenager trudged reluctantly to her side, hoping that she wouldn't assign him another task or inform him of another Hollow appearance.
"I just saw Reika walking over there with her friend." Rukia pointed in the direction of the city. Ichigo seemed to regain his liveliness at her statement. "I thought you might want to know."
He smiled faintly and made his way swiftly and soundlessly out of the former battlefield, now scarred from one of the most recent fights. Once he was fully out of the neighborhood aligned with houses, he came out into the town square with thousands of people enjoying their vacation. If only he had a break, he would spend it with Reika.
He scanned the crowd carefully, searching for someone who resembled his girlfriend. Well, he wasn't sure if they were an official couple. They were certainly different from the lovebirds who flocked to the beach or a romantic restaurant, holding hands and smiling flirtatiously. In fact, they had never met outside of school. Ichigo always had a shinigami obligation to satisfy: usually a soul burial or the purification of a Hollow. She always forgave him with an understanding smile.
His heart jumped into his throat at the sight of Reika with her friend Kaname. Another smile peeked through his usual, solemn expression. He always wondered what Reika talked about in his absence. His childish side was surfacing.
"Rei, what were you doing over there all by yourself?" Her friend began her interrogation. "Did you get stood up again?" She cried out in disbelief. Ichigo couldn't help but feel a bit guilty. He looked anxiously at Reika for her answer.
"No, Rukia-chan said he had some family business to take care of," she replied curtly, licking her ice cream deliciously.
"How many times have you heard that excuse?" Kaname added, crossing her arms in front of her chest. She lowered her face toward her friend. Reika blinked dumbly, her movement stopping for a brief second. "Are you sure he's not cheating on you? Have you ever asked him?"
"No," Reika declared, slightly annoyed. She pushed Kaname's face away. "That would be rude." She frowned at the trickles of melted ice cream drizzling down the cone and onto her fingers.
"Come on Rei, if you put all the pieces together, you know Ichigo's cheating on you!" She wailed in disbelief. "He's always with Rukia or Orihime. I've never seen him with you."
Reika gave a scornful look to her melted ice cream. The sticky substance now covered her whole hand. She mentally groaned at the mess and Kaname's slightly obnoxious and pointless conversation. "You can't really blame him. They're way prettier than me." She shrugged. Kaname sighed.
"Do you really think so? I know loads of guys who would love to date you."
"Stop lying," Reika shot back, furrowing her eyebrows.
"I'm not!" She yelled defensively. "I mean, you might not have Orihime's chest or Rukia's big eyes, but you're still pretty." This statement caused both the invisible shinigami and Reika to burst into a fit of laughter.
"Have you seen my pimple-covered face?" Reika inquired. "I found around 600000 this morning when I looked in the mirror."
"I don't see any." Kaname shook her head.
"Well, how about my skin? It's always so dry and my hair is boring."
As this conversation dragged on, (Reika would state something bad about herself and Kaname would decline it) Ichigo rushed back to the park in order to retrieve his body. He didn't know that such negative thoughts and uneasiness contaminated Reika's mind. Hopefully, she would still be in the area when he returned.
"Rei, I'm going to go okay?" Kaname stated. "Don't worry so much about some stupid guy like Ichigo." She waved cheerfully, completely oblivious to the fact that she was the one responsible for plaguing Reika's mind with uncertainty.
Reika huffed sadly, blowing her bangs off her forehead. She ran her hands through her hair.
"Great," she mumbled when she realized how dirty her hands were. Now her hair, most likely, smelled like strawberry ice cream.
"Reika!" She heard someone cry from behind. The voice sounded so familiar. Ichigo? She widened her eyes and turned her head. A large smile found its way to her face at the faint outline of Kurosaki Ichigo.
Moments later, he skidded to a stop in front of her with his hands on his knees.
"Did you just run a marathon?" She asked humorously.
"I thought I saw you, so I came running," he replied. "Sorry for--"
"It's okay Ichigo. Save your breath," she forgave him instantly. "I'm serious. You're panting like a pig."
His eyebrows twitched at her comment and he brought his head up to face the girl.
"Ichigo, can I just ask you one thing?" She whispered hoarsely. A moment of silence passed.