AN: Rated M for later chapters! Will get smutty later :P

Orihime Inoue. A beautiful 16 year old girl living in the small village of Karakura, sat at the edge of a creek, filling a pot with water, while whistling a soft tune. After it was filled she set the pot to the side by her crouching form and looked at her reflection in the water.

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She smiled to herself and continued whistling, just as a gust of wind blew her auburn colored tresses around. "Oof! Its getting a bit choppy out now isn't it." She stated as she took out her blue flower hair pins and adjusted them at the sides of her head, pulling some loose strands back into place. She smiled again at her self, before picking up her pot of water and her skirts, and running home.

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Orihime lives alone, in a small apartment on the upstairs of a coffeehouse, called Arisawa Coffee. She is a childhood friend of the owners daughter, Tatsuki Arisawa, and after the death of her brother, Sora Inoue, 3 years ago, they let her move into the apartment upstairs.

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They let her work in the coffeehouse during the day and sometimes at night, and take a small portion out of her pay for rent. The death of her brother was a tragic and instant thing, that caught everyone by surprise. Him and Orihime were always together, so when Orihime was seen, walking with her bleeding brother on her back to the Kurosaki Clinic. They couldn't do anything to help him, but that is also the day that she met Ichigo Kurosaki.

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As she made it back into town, trying to carry her heavy pot, she saw a familiar shot of bright orange. Her face lit up, as she raised her hand to call out to him. "Kurosaki-!" But before she finish, she tripped on a rock and suddenly found herself falling to the ground. She closed her eyes, gripped her pot harder, and prepared for the blow of hitting the ground.

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But she felt no hit to the ground. She opened up her eyes and saw Ichigo Kurosaki, holding her up by the waist, her face so close to his that she could feel his breath. "Ku-Kurosaki-kun!" She stuttered, blushing a deep shade of crimson. "Geeze, Inoue, pay attention when your walking with a heavy pot like that! It would be troublesome if you got hurt."

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Ichigo Kurosaki. Childhood friend of Orihime and Tatsuki. He is 1 year older than Orihime and his family owns the Kurosaki Clinic, a few blocks away from the coffeehouse. When Orihime's brother was in the accident, Orihime brought him to the Kurosaki Clinic. And after he died a young boy stayed with her, until she was OK.

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All she could remember about him was the scowl he had on his face, and his bright orange hair. 2 years after Orihime moved in with Tatsuki and her family, she found out that, that boy was Ichigo. And as time has gone by, Orihime started to have feelings for Ichigo.

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Ichigo released his hold on Orihime. "Are you OK? Your face looks a little red." He said putting his on on her forehead, while putting his free hand on his. "I-Im fine Kurosaki-kun!" she stuttered. "I just wasn't watching where I was going."

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Ichigo removed his hand from her forehead and looked down at the pot she was carrying. It looked way too heavy for her frail arms to carry, but it looked like she was trying really hard.

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Then, without saying anything, Ichigo took the pot from her hands, and hoisted it, effortlessly onto his shoulder. His right arm holding it firmly in place. "Kurosaki-kun! You don't have to do that!" She said. Waving her hands in the air in front of her.

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"Eh? Why not? Your on your way back to the coffeehouse right? Well I was gonna go there and pick up some things from Tatsuki. so come on, hurry up, Inoue!" He yelled behind him as he continued walking farther and farther away from Orihime's frozen place. She sputter something unintelligible before running after him.

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Once they reached the entrance of the coffeehouse, Orihime opened up the door and cheerfully yelled, "Im back, Tatsuki-chan!" Upon hearing that, a girl, who looked to be about Orihime's age, come out from behind the counter. "Hey Orihime. Welcome back. Did you get the water OK?" She said walking over to her and patting her auburn haired friend on the head.

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"Yes, I got the water. Kurosaki-kun helped me carry it." She said as Ichigo walked in through the door with the pot on his arm. "Hey Tatsuki. Whats up?" The brown haired teen looked over to him, then back at Orihime's (who seemed unaware of this) smiling face, and chuckled. Giving Ichigo a smirk and a chuckle. He noticed this and blushed, stepping back and sputtering angry nonsense at Tatsuki.

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Tatsuki just laughed at this and patted a confused Orihime hardly on the head. "Well, thanks for helping Orihime carry that big pot. I told her she shouldn't go by herself, but she insisted and went without telling anyone." Orihime blushed as Ichigo laughed a small chuckle. Amused at her flustered face.

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"S-sorry, Tatsuki-chan. I just wanted to help out. I think I would be troublesome to you...sorry..." Orihime said, stuttering a little and blushed, a cute look crossing her face as she looked up at the both of them. Both Tatsuki and Ichigo turned there heads around and blushed. C-cu-! They both thought as they took deep breathes and their blushing faces returned to normal, Ichigo's taking a little longer to regain its original color.

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"Oh, yes! Kurosaki-kun, didn't you have something important to tell Tatsuki?" She said, making him snap out of his blush. "Oh yeah! Thats right!" He said looking over to Tatsuki and giving her a serious look. Tatsuki noticed this and turned to Orihime. "Hey, Orihime, why don't you go upstairs. There are some clean sheets I need you to set out to dry." She said patting her friend on the head, lightly.

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Orihime nodded her head and gave her a happy, "Sure!" before running up the stairs. After only the soft patter of her feet could be heard from on the balcony. Ichigo and Tatsuki looked at each other.

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"So," Ichigo began. "Im sure you heard that this year is the year that Aizen is coming back." He said, a serious look crossing his face. "Hm." She said, looking down at the ground.

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Sousuke Aizen. A demon. He's the king of the Demon World, Hueco Muendo, and comes, once every 100 years to pick a girl, to take back with him to be his queen. He will only choose the most beautiful girl, or the girl he thinks will 'please him' the most. He always does significant damage before he leaves, to the village and if anyone tries to stop him, they will be lucky if they left that fight with their life.

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"People in town are talking about just giving him a group of girls to choose from, instead of randomly searching. One of the people chosen, is Orihime." As soon as her name was mentioned Tatsuki shot her head up. A deep glare going onto her face, shadowed my her hair. "No...they cant just decide on their own. How many girls were chosen?" She asked. Ichigo looked at her, his look now becoming more hurt than angry. He looked down to the floor, his hair covering his eyes.

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"Well, at first they wanted to have a group, but people said that would not be fair...so they chose 1." He stopped talking, and put his hand on his face, breathing a deep breath out. Tatsuki stared at him. "Who? Who did they choose? Ichigo!" She demanded, her powerful voice, becoming shaky and unsure.

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But he didn't have to answer. She knew what he was about to say. She stayed quite, and walked over to Ichigo, grabbing his collar and forcing him down to her eye level. "You! You need to help her! Take her away from here!" She said, tears coming into her eyes, and her grip becoming shaky.

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His look was solemn and sad as he placed his hand over Tatsuki's, releasing her grasp. She fell to her knees. He crouched in front of her. "You love her don't you?" she asked, angrily. Ichigo blushed a little, and stuttered. "Everyone knows you do. so if you truly love her. Help her! Help Orihime!"

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Just then Orihime Tatsuki yell and walked over to the stairs. She saw her on her knees, but Ichigo was not there. "Tatsuki! Are you OK!" She screamed, running down the stairs and kneeling in front of her dark haired friend. "Do you need something? Wat-?" Before Orihime could finish what she was about to say, Tatsuki looked at her and stuck her tongue out at Orihime.

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"Wah?" She questioned, confused as her friend stood up smacked her on the head playfully. "Silly, Hime. Sense when do I have to make you worry about me? Im fine, remember? I AM the strongest girl in all of Karakura!" She said, picking up the pot of water like it was a piece of paper.

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Orihime sighed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness! I though there was something wrong. Don't ever scare me again like that, Tatsuki-chan!" She said, pouting a cute pout. Tatsuki laughed and turned, heading towards the kitchen as Orihime walked back upstairs to check on the sheets. But as Tatsuki was walking, she turned and watched Orihime babble on to herself about something strange. Tatsuki let her smile fall from her face, and cried a single tear, a deep glare plastered underneath.

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