The sun shone brightly down on the little Karakura town. It was a warm summer day, with a pleasant, cool breeze. There was normal activity going along, at the park, there were groups of people playing games, or picnicking. Not Orihime Inoue. She was walking home from her friend, Tatski's house. She had spent most of the morning there, and was walking home, as she felt like she was imposing. Her long hair was being played with in the wind, and it was continually getting blown in her face, but she didn't seem to mind, as she was thinking of other things as she was walking. She wasn't paying very close attention as she walked across a cross walk, and was startled when a car blared its horn loud and angrily at her. She dropped her bag, and its contents spilled out. She sighed and bent down to pick it all up.

Suddenly, there was a voice right in front of her as she hurried. "Here let me help."

She looked up to see a orange spiky haired, brown eyed dude. Kurosaki-kun… She thought, her heart jumping at the sight of him.

"Uh…it's alright." She smiled at him, as she finished gathering her things and straightened up rather quickly. "I got it all done." She laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her head, and hurried past him as the car had honked again, this time impatiently.

She jumped when Ichigo spoke again. "Why are you walking home alone?"

"I just left Tatski's house…" She slowly turned to look at him and plastered a smile on her face. "I'm fine walking home. I do it all the time."

"But you have a habit of getting injured."

She laughed, her nerves all completely fried from seeing Ichigo. "Yes, I know that. But it's okay, as the injuries are never usually severe enough to…to…" Her mind went blank as she searched for the right words.

He stared at her incredulously. "Don't you have a habit of nearly getting hit by cars?"

"Yes…me and my bad luck…" Her face flushed bright red and she slowly began backing away. "I should probably go home…I…" Her stomach snarled loudly.

Ichigo snorted, and huffed. "I'll see you around, Inoue."

"Bye, Kurosaki-Kun!" She waved enthusiastically at him, and watched him walk away until he was completely out of sight. Then she finally turned around and started walking home again.

Ichigo sighed and shook his head as he walked. He just didn't understand Orihime sometimes. Nothing ever seemed to drag that girl down. He never really understood it…but maybe that was the point.

The breeze continued blowing and he stopped walking, and looked over at all the families playing in the park. That's when he spotted Yuzu, Karin, and his crazy father. He stood there for a minute, his hands in his pockets, considering what he wanted to do. He didn't feel much like being around people lately, that wasn't an easy feeling to explain. But he felt guilty for avoiding his family so much as of late.

It's probably just stress from this whole Soul Reaper thing. He thought, still just standing there. Maybe I just need to relax…have fun.

That's when Orhime's happy, excited face filled his mind. He blinked, not exactly expecting that. Then he shook his head, clearing it, and slowly jogged across the road to join his family.

Orhime reached her home not too longer after her encounter with Ichigo. She swung the door open and stepped in the cool room, and went straight over to the spot with her brother's picture on it, dropped the bag, and kneeled in front of it.

"Brother, I haven't had much to talk about to you lately." She spoke softly. "But today, Tatski and I were playing all sorts of games, I lost most of the time but.." She smiled. "That didn't bother me and I was having fun." Then she hesitated a moment before saying anything more. "But when I was coming home, I ran into Kurosaki-Kun. I wasn't really expecting to see him. He doesn't go out much anymore. It seems like there's always something bothering him, but he doesn't tell anybody." That's when her stomach growled noisily again and she laughed. "I should probably eat something."

She slowly got up and went to put a lunch together. As she was making a sandwich there was a knock on the door. She frowned, but the frown dissipated after a few seconds, and she opened the door. A slim, small, dark haired figure, with purple eyes stood there.

"Rukia!" Orihime said enthusiastically. "Come in!"

She stepped to the side and Rukia smiled. "Thank you Orihime." She stepped inside and watched Orihime as she shut the door and turned back around.

"What brings you here?" Orhime asked, ignoring the growling of her stomach.

"I was just wondering…if you had any clue what was up with Ichigo lately. He seems kind of down." Rukia said, frowning.

Orihime shrugged. "Kurosaki-kun never tells me anything. I haven't talked to him much lately." She didn't add the fact that she ran into him out and about.

"Does he talk to anybody anymore?" She muttered.

"I don't know. If he talked to anybody, he probably talked to Chad." She smiled, covering the fact it bothered her that Ichigo didn't tell her anything.

"Alright, well, I better go, I have stuff to take care of. Thank you, Orhime." Rukia smiled and walked out the door.

Orihime walked to the door, and shut it tightly, and let her eyes drift to the floor, forgetting about her food for the time being. It was really starting to bother her that she never saw Ichigo anymore. And she couldn't even remember the last time she saw him smile. She sighed sadly, and went to eat her food.

Ichigo ended up leaving the park a few minutes after joining his family. He just found that it wouldn't cheer him up. He didn't understand fully the extent of his depression. It had to be more than just the Soul Reaper thing. He just couldn't really identify the what. But he just didn't want to be around anybody, he felt like it would make him feel worse.

He was slowly heading home, his hands in his pockets, walking with his typically slump, but he stared at his feet as he walked, trying to figure out what had him so down. There just wasn't a lot to be happy for in his life anymore. He was having a hard time just being able to appreciate his friends. But there had to be some way to cheer himself up.

Again, Orihime's face appeared in his mind. He sighed and shook his head and started walking home faster. There was no reason for her to be appearing in his mind so much except that it was the first time in weeks that he'd seen her. But there was a nagging feeling somewhere deep inside him, telling him it was more than that. He just didn't want to know what it was.