Winter's Lonely Visitor

The snow beat on the window like it was trying to break in. The howling wind, the taps at the window, the pure darkness outside was why Orihime loved being inside where it was warm and cozy. She turned off the light and looked out the window from the couch. She could barely see out the window. The snow was traveling horizontally and the drifts were easily formed on her windows and door. Her home was small and comfortable. Though she lived in northern Hokkaido, Japan, her house looked more European than others in the area. The front door led straight into the living room, so she had to place a rug down for the shoes. To the right was the dining room, followed by the kitchen behind that. Down the hallway that was centered in the house were the two bedrooms to the left and the bathroom to the right. The kitchen had a back door that had an enclosed area where she kept more shoes and various other items that were needed. Her garage was to the right of the house. The area where she lived was rather remote, with just one neighbor across the road. She rarely saw them. They were an older couple and kept to themselves. She had a bakery that she kept open for three seasons and closed down while the harsh winters held her at home most days. Orihime didn't like driving in the snow. There was just something that always kept her at home when the snow fell. Sure it was beautiful, but it felt to her that the snow would swallow her up one day.

This night felt calm to her. She almost felt like a heaviness had been lifted from her and her slight aversion to the winter. She cuddled up with her favorite shows and left the lamp on a low setting.

"Ahhh, now this is nice. Mmm."

She watched her shows with heavier lids, and soon, she was sent to dreamworld. In her dream, she saw a tall man with bright orange hair running in her yard. She also saw three children running after him. Though she could not see their faces, they all looked to be having fun. The man abruptly turned and starts running away from the kids. The kids give chase only to have the man disappear in front of them. They all stop, the sun casting them in a silhouette as they all being to cry. In the dream she could hear knocking. Her mind began to wake as the sound didn't mix with the dream. Her eyes fluttered open as the sound of the knocking came into full awareness. She sat up quickly. The blanket falling to her lap. She took a few more seconds to adjust and looked at her clock. It read 3:13am. Orihime got up slowly,

"Who is it?"

No answer. Orihime put her ear to the door. All she heard was wind.

"Hello?"

No answer. She started to panic and raced to the kitchen. She found her trusty chef knife and gave a few swipes at the air. She ran back to the door and listened again. Nothing but the wind again. She gulped and opened the door slowly with the blade hidden behind her back. She opened the door fully to be greeted with a barrage of snow. Her breath froze and she coughed at the feeling. She didn't see anything right away, so she flipped on her light. She looked around and still only saw the snow. She stepped out a step, only to be greeted by something warm. She jumped back and looked down in shock to what was laying face down in front of her. It was a person, a man. His orange hair sent a brief memory of her dream back and she looked in confusion at what was in front of her. Finally her brain kicked in and she realized this person needed help.

"Oh no! Sir, are you alright? Here let me help you up."

The man simply groaned. Orihime picked him up from under his arms and lifted the best she could. As she picked him up, she noticed the blood. She shrieked softly.

"What should I do?! Towel, that's it!"

She pulled him in the rest of the way inside, the snow still finding its way inside. She turned him over onto his back and with some effort, closed the door. She sighed and looked behind her at the man now sprawled out on her floor. Without looking at his face, she ran to the kitchen, put down her knife, and found all the towels she had. She ran over and knelt over the man, her hair dripping onto his jacket. Frantically, she looked for a wound. She pulled off the jacket as best she could with all of his groans and was able to find a pool of blood gathered near his heart. She pressed on it and looked to find other wounds. She only saw scraps everywhere else. What had happened to him she wondered.

"Hey, are you alright?"

She finally looked at his face. Her breath forgot where to go, and she lessened her pressing slightly as she gazed into the eyes that felt like they were taking her heart. She looked away quickly and continued pressing on the wound, with a grunt from the man to show she may have pressed too hard. A few minutes passed in silence as she ran to the kitchen several times, throwing the towels in the sink and grabbing a bowl of water. She ran back and fidgeted for a bit before asking.

"Can I take off your shirt? I want to clean the wound."

Slowly the man nodded and she slipped a towel underneath him, then lifted the shirt slowly, taking care not to hit the wound. She gasped slightly at his obvious toned form. This was all a little too embarrassing for her, but she knew she was the only one who could help him now, and she wasn't going to let some silly feeling get in the way. She cleaned off the would, which looked to be rather deep and about the length of her fingers. After several more minutes, it looked like the wound had stopped bleeding. Orihime was a bit puzzled as it looked too deep for just simple pressure to stop it. She shrugged it off and washed off the remnants of blood on his chest. He was surprisingly quiet this whole time. She had asked him several questions, but he said nothing. She came back from fetching the gauze and tape she had in the bathroom and knelt by him again.

"Thank you"

"Eh?"

"I said thank you for helping me."

"Oohh..heh...yeah no problem. You were on my doorstep. I couldn't just leave you there. My name's Inoue Orihime. What's your name?"

"Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Nice to meet you Kurosaki-san. Now would you mind telling me what happened to have such harsh wounds on a night like this?"

Ichigo's eyes closed slightly and he looked away.

"There was a car accident. My car hit something, I'm not sure what it was. I walked down the road looking for anyone that might still be awake. I saw your light on and here I am. you don't have to be so polite with me either. "

"Were you lost? Not too many people travel this road, Kurosaki-kun."

"Yeah...I was lost...But you found me Inoue."

Her face heated up and she simply smiled and giggled with embarrassment. She helped him up and took the towels and jacket from under him.

"I think I still have some old clothes of my brother's when he lived here. If you'd like, I can give you those and I can wash your other clothes. They are pretty dirty and your jacket has a hole. I can fix that."

"Yeah."

Orihime smiled and gathered all the clothes while Ichigo stayed where he was and looked around. He smiled slightly and looked at his hands.

"Good, still I shouldn't waste all my energy."

He looked up to find that Orihime had come back with the clothes and a towel.

"Feel free to use the bathroom to the right to take a shower if you need. I have a futon that you can use in the spare room."

Ichigo nodded and went to the bathroom. Orihime picked up a bit and flopped herself on her couch.

"What a night!" She exclaimed to no one. She tilted her head back and drifted off to sleep until Ichigo came back out.

"Orihime?"

She shot up and looked at Ichigo with a sad face, yet smiled.

"If you don't mind, can we sit and chat for a bit? I know you just got hurt, but I'd like to know more about the man who is going to be sleeping in the next room."

"Alright, shoot."

"Well, where are you from? Are you married? Do you have kids? Why are you driving in a blizzard?"

"Karakura, no, no, lost going to sister's house."

"Oh...well...I...uh..oh I'm not good at this sort of thing. Just promise me you're not a serial killer and going to smother me in my sleep."

Ichigo chucked lightly.

"I promise."

"Ok, well then tell me everything about yourself."

Ichigo looked at her half closed eyes and began telling her random stories about his sisters, how he doesn't get along with his father, how his mother died years ago. He asked her how long she had been in the house and she said 4 years. He asked where her brother was and she barely got out that he died in a car accident 3 years ago. As Ichigo was offering condolences, Orihime mumbled and was off to dream another dream. Ichigo leaned her back onto the couch and put the blanket on her. He shut off the light and walked down to the first bedroom.

"Goodnight Orihime."

Note: Thank you for reading. This story is based on a dream I've had many times. My SAO story is also based on a dream. I never see the characters in my dream, so I add them in later. Thank you for the reviews. I've made some changes to this chapter. I'm still very new to this fan fiction/writing thing and any help helps me improve.