AN: My spin on an Ichihime story. I adore the pairing and I hope you all enjoy this.

Disclaimer: Do I really have to? I don't own any of the characters.

Orihime

She stared out the window as she saw the flash of black, white, and orange, her mind instantly forming the name of the person without really needing any confirmation.

Kurosaki-kun.

She continued to stare at the trees just outside of the school, their leaves softly moving with the breeze. His reiatsu was strong and moving fast towards the comparatively smaller reiatsu of the hollow that had just appeared. Orhime smiled. It was good to see Kurosaki-kun happy again. His powers made him happy. Protecting people made him happy.

It made her happy.

She could sense the happiness in him after he defeated every hollow. Saw the enthusiasm with which he dashed off to defend whichever poor soul the hollow had decided to attack. He was back. Her Kurosaki-kun was back.

"He's not yours."

A small voice, so small that she could play it off as non-existent, refuted her thoughts. She hadn't heard that voice in a while. Not since…

She shook her head. It wouldn't do to allow her thoughts to wonder down that particular road. Orihime had fought so hard to tame it. It had no business in her present life. It was the unwanted remains of dark time she wished she could erase. At least the scars it had left behind. And the pain it had caused Kurosaki-kun for 17 months. Seventeen months of constant blank looks, of powerlessness, of regret.

She didn't want him to be in pain, she hated seeing that. She wasn't naïve, she knew that she wouldn't be able to stop it every time, but she would always be available to him. If he ever needed her.

"And that's it for today!" She glanced back up as her sensei snapped the book she was reading out of shut, a smile on her face as she instructed them to finish their homework by tonight. Almost instantly the sound of chairs scraping against the floor as students hurried to leave filled the room. Orihime glanced over at Kurosaki-kun's body, still slumped forward as if he was asleep. He must have forgotten Kon, she thought as she started moving towards him. She could sense his reiatsu, coming back after having dealt with the hollow easily. She started packing up his stuff for him, ignoring the curios glances her classmates threw her.

She finished just as Kurosaki-kun flew in through the open window. She quickly moved to the side as he sank back into his body, and blew out a sigh of relief that he hadn't taken too long to get here.

"I-inoue?" his voice drew her attention back to him, and she smiled.

"Kurosaki-kun! I thought I would help you pack you stuff," looking around she leaned in closer to him, lowering her voice just enough for him and for the nearest student to hear. "It seems like you kind of fell asleep."

That ought to do it! She thought triumphantly as she said the words that would guarantee her and his release from any sort of suspicion. We can't let them know our secret! If they find out they'll start asking us to talk to their loved ones, ask us to communicate through them and force us to abandon our lives as we become pseudo-bodies for their dead relatives! We'll have to escape, but they'll find us and threaten to kill us unless we promise to help them…

"Inoue!" She looked around at the sound of Kurosaki-kun's voice. He was standing by her desk, holding her book bag out to her. The classroom was empty now except for the two of them. She smiled lightly as she walked back over, blushing just a little bit at the look of amusement on his face as he caught her day dreaming again.

"Thank you, Kurosaki-kun!" She said, happily accepting the book bag from him. She noticed that he must have packed her things up as well, since everything was in there and she hadn't done so herself before going over to help him.

"Nah, don't mention it."

"Well, I should get going, I have to get ready for work in a little bit."

"Is Tatsuki going with you?" He asked, watching as she quickly turned back around at his question.

"No, she says she has practice and won't be able to walk with me. It's okay though, it's really not that big of a…"

"I'll walk with you." He said, and started to head towards the door.

"Kurosaki-kun, that's not necessary!" She instantly denied, waving her small hands frantically in front of her. Kurosaki-kun walking her home would be too much! Her small heart wouldn't be able to handle it, she'd show up to work all flustered and she'd never get any good sales done. She'd be fired before she knew it!

"It's no problem, your place is on the way and you really shouldn't walk alone. Tatsuki would slay me if she knew I let you go by yourself."

Orihime lowered her hands and gave him a small smile at his words. He was only being nice, she reasoned. It would be rude to deny his offer, even if it is a little selfish for me to want him to come… right?

"Okay!"

Ichigo

Inoue sure is a strange one, he chuckled to himself as he watched her dance around in front of him. Halfway on the way to her apartment he had looked over to see her eyes glazed over as she most likely lost herself in one of her many daydreams. He often found himself wondering just what was it that went on in her mind that caused her to constantly lose touch with reality. Was it good? Did her imagination offer her some sort of refuge from everything that seemed to plague them. He couldn't help the small pang of embarrassment as he realized that he was sort of jealous of her ability to just escape for a while.

This of course didn't last very long, because as soon as he thought this she started to pump her tiny fist in the air, making a small pout and proceeded to twirl and dance around, skipping ahead of him.

He chuckled at her moving figure as he kept walking leisurely behind her. Leave it to Inoue to find something interesting in whatever crossed her imagination. He sped up a little bit to catch up to the red-head just as she made a turn at one of the streets.

Suddenly she was spinning, her shoe getting caught on the post in the corner, throwing her off balance and forcing him to reach out and grab her before she fell to the ground. He pulled her towards him to keep her from falling forward, and Inoue ended up pressed against him, her face buried in his chest as he grabbed both of her arms to steady her.

Inoue looked up, and almost instantly a small blush stained her cheeks. She was so close Ichigo could smell her scent, soft and almost floral. Their faces were close, closer than she'd ever been to him, he could see her teeth as she bit down on her plump lower lip…

"All you alright Inoue?" Ichigo took the opportunity to put some distance between himself and the red-headed girl. "What was that just now?"

"Y-yeah, thank you Kurosaki-kun."

"Nah, don't worry about it." He dismissed her with a wave of his hand and started walking in the direction of her apartment. Ichigo didn't notice as Inoue walked behind him, perfectly calm now as the pink of her blush still stained her cheek.

Orihime

He really is very sweet, the red-head thought to herself as took a sip of her tea. She had finished doing everything else and was putting off having to go to the store for her weekly groceries trip. Usually she was more than happy to go and restock on all of her favorite delicacies (seriously didn't everybody like wasabi and red bean paste?), but the thought of heading outside seemed daunting to her for some reason. It had started to get unseasonably cold and cloudy after Ichigo had dropped her off. Another blush decorated her cheeks as she recalled his chivalrous offer to walk her home, and then later when he saved her from doom… he had been so close…

Stop it! Orihime shook her head to rid herself of those thoughts.

"They'll only get you nowhere." There it was again, that voice that she was always positive she imagined. It sounded like her, but at the same time it didn't. Why was it getting louder, more vocal, especially after so long? Why now?

She stood up, determined to distracter herself from this problem. It didn't need to be dealt with now, or even acknowledged as a problem for the time being. There would be plenty of time later… right?

Before she knew it she was standing out in the cold and walking fast down the stairs as she headed towards the store. Think happy thoughts! Think about the rain, it's always so nice, and it does leave the streets shining and reflecting the lights of the street lamps.

Off in the distance, a garganta opened and a hollow stepped out.