So this is my first time participating in IchiHime week! I'm hoping doing this will inspire me to finish my other IchiHime story (Writer's block, gotta love it) but nonetheless, I have to get back into writing them! So hopefully this will do me justice.

Day one: Five livetimes, one love.

(I don't own bleach)

It was a bright and beautiful day in the town of Karakura. Things had finally calmed down after the war with Aizen and the gang had been returning back to their normal routine. Keigo was still loud as ever, which made Ichigo wonder if there was ever a doubt to worry about him knowing about his powers. Mizurio was still a womanizer, constantly on his phone, and the others were as normal as they could be.

His mind turned towards a young healer, who had taken time out of her days to meet up with him and help him study. It felt nice being able to connect with Orihime. After she had been kidnapped, he had seen her in another light, something had caused him to actually notice her for the first time. And without worrying about hollows or evil shinigami, it made him much happier knowing he could connect with his friends.

They had just headed to the library, feeling that some peace and quiet would do them some good. Tatsuki had a practice after school, leaving Ichigo to spend time with the healer. It was nice for them to just be able to study in peace.

"Ne, Ichigo-kun?"

He looked up from his books to seeing Orihime already looking at him, her eyes bright and happy. He had to admit; he missed seeing her like this.

"What's up, Orihime?"

"Do you ever wonder where we get our powers from?"

He blinked. This was not what he was expecting to come from her mouth. Then again, this was Orihime and she had a habit of talking about weird things.

"Well.. I know I got my shinigami powers from my father.. But I never really thought about it before. Why do you ask?"

She was biting on the end of her pencil out of nervousness. "It's just.. I never knew my parents. I was just thinking about where my powers came from because they're so different from yours. Even Urahara-san they were quite different. I mean, it's not bad to be different, but it's just so weird how I have the ability to reverse effects."

He nodded. He knew her powers came from her ability to wanting to protect others. But she did have a point. They weren't like shinigamis and they weren't like a hollow's power either. He didn't really know much about her powers and it made him realize there was another reason to like her.

"Also... Do you think we've met before? Like in another lifetime?"

This time, he coughed out of nervousness. He definitely wasn't expecting that kind of question, but seeing her stare at him made him answer with a sincere tone.

"Truth is.. I'm not really sure. I've always wondered about that because Rukia did say that after sixty years, the souls there are reborn. So.. maybe we have met in a different life. We just don't know about it."

She nodded. "I hope it was something exciting like western time or perhaps a futuristic time! It'd be cool to shoot cowboys and ride in spaceships!"

He chuckled at her wild imagination. It's true that she was considered weird by everyone in the school, but he also admired her for the way she was. It seemed they had a lot in common, such as they don't care what others think about them, their ability to detect hollows and fight them. But the one that struck him was their need to protect their family and friends.

He could feel his heart flutter but inwardly cursed as he didn't want her to notice his nervousness. There was only one question that plagued his mind.

Did he feel like this in any of those past lives?