Hisakata ken Kusabana

by Bullet in the Brainpan- Squish

Tatsuki is worried about Orihime being alone on her birthday so she drags the girl to Ichigo's. Orihime ends up going with the Kurosakis on vacation. Will she survive rich grandfathers, angry strawberries and ghosts of past? Nominated for IchiHime awards!

BB: GASP! Finally, I'm done!!

Alle: What is it?

BB: It's the B-day fic for the FLOL Birthday Bash! This is going to get me a couple of Bleach cards!

Shay: Um, is that good?

BB: That's wonderful! The only thing better would be those bookmarks! I want those bookmarks!

Illi: Says here, bookmarks are the prize for banners.

BB: I know. I kinda wish I could draw.

Viven: BB owns nothing. And for you people on FLOL who have no clue who BB is, she's the master of the HichiHime sins, HealerSayain

-insert fanfair here-

Alle: Do I want to know where that confetti is coming from?

BB: HOLY FLYING FUDGE MONKEYS OF DOOM!!! THIS STORY WAS JUST NOMINATED FOR THE iCHIhIME AWARDS!!! AWESOME!! GO NOW TO HIKARI_HIME01 AND TELL HER YOU WANT ME TO WIN~!!!

---

"Tatsuki-chan, I'll be fine!" Orihime protested, tugging on her friend's hand. "there's no reason to bother Kurosaki-kun."

"Orihime, I do not want you alone this weekend. So, since I'm going to Scotland with my family for vacation, we are going to talk to Ichigo, and see what he's doing." Tatsuki snapped. She really didn't want her best friend alone. It was such a bad idea with Orihime having nightmares and everything. But the girl didn't deserve to be alone this weekend especially considering what Saturday was.

Tatsuki stormed up to the door of the Kurosaki clinic and knocked hard with her fist. She heard Orihime make a soft noise but ignored it. She was not letting her stay by herself, period, even if she had to buy another plane ticket to Scotland herself.

The door swung open, revealing a tired looking Kurosaki Karin. Karin looked between Orihime and Tatsuki and sighed. She took a deep breath and yelled "DAD!," then waved the two girls in and moved to plop back down of the couch. She picked up a book and flipped it back to her place, while Yuzu in the kitchen watched her and frowned.

Before Yuzu could say hi to Orihime or Tatsuki, the door to the actual clinic swung open and Kurosaki Isshin burst through.

"Yes, my dear daughter?!" He yelled. Karin didn't even look at him but lifted her hand and pointed. Isshin turned around and grinned. "Tatsuki-chan and Orihime-chan! No doubt you are looking for my wayward son!?"

"Actually, Kurosaki-san, we wanted to talk to you." Tatsuki said. Orihime began fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.

Seeing Orihime's discomfort, Isshin's demeanor slipped from goofy to seriousness. He raised his eyebrows and Tatsuki took that as a cue to continue.

"You see, My family is going to Scotland this weekend. I'm worried about leaving Orihime alone, considering that day after tomorrow is her birthday, you know," Tatsuki started but Isshin raised his hand.

"And you are wondering if I would be so kind as to allow Orihime-chan to accompany us on our trip?" He asked. Tatsuki nodded.

"You don't have to," Orihime threw in, nervousness pushing her to speak. "I don't want to be a burden or anything."

Isshin looked at her and his gaze softened into a look Tatsuki had only seen on his face when he was looking at his own daughters. Tatsuki blinked.

"It won't be a problem at all, Orihime-chan. We're leaving tomorrow morning, early, so it would probably be a good idea for you to go home and pack, then sleep over here for the night. Ichigo can sleep on the couch," The man said with a grin. He practically bounced to the stairs and yelled up. "ICHIGO!"

"WHAT?" An equally loud voice yelled back.

"You're sleeping on the couch!"

"WHAT?!?" A couple of thuds, and a few moments, a rumpled looking Ichigo came bounding down the stairs, clutching his arm. "Why the hell- oh, hi Inoue, Tatsuki." He said, blinking at the girls.

"You're sleeping on the couch because Orihime-chan will be taking your bed," Isshin said, pretending not to notice the bright blush on said girl's cheeks. "She's coming with us on our trip."

"Really?" Ichigo looked surprised. "Okay. Inoue, do you want help getting your bags over here?" He asked, turning to the still blushing girl.

Orihime shook her head, "No, I don't want to be an impo-" She stopped abruptly when Isshin's hand connected with his son's head.

"OI, OLD MAN!"

"IDIOT SON, OF COURSE YOU'RE GOING TO HELP HER!" Isshin spun around and attempted to hug the poster of Masaki on the wall. "OH, MASAKI, WHAT A RUDE SON WE HAVE RAISED!"

Tatsuki took a step back and pulled Orihime with her. Ichigo sighed and shook his head, embarrassed. Karin and Yuzu ignored their father, this was an everyday occurrence.

"Sure you want to have to deal with that?" Ichigo asked, crossing the room to join the girls and tilting his head to indicate his father.

Tatsuki was having serious second thoughts about the entire plan and was mentally recounting the money in her college fund. It would be enough for a ticket to Scotland.

Orihime just smiled and laughed. "He's fun." She said brightly and Ichigo just smiled at the girl.

It was that smile that made Tatsuki stop redoing her finances and realize that this was a very good idea.

---

The walls were closing in on her, she could feel them. The bars on the window showed her a perfect image of the moon, a perfect glimpse of freedom but she could not escape. The walls were going to crush her.

The familiar black reiatsu surrounded her, reminding her that he was gone, dead. It made the walls feel even closer. She knew she wouldn't be rescued. It was over.

He was gone.

"NO!" She choked out, panicking. She spun to the door was and threw herself against it. "No, no, no, no, no!"

She slammed her fist against the stone, hitting it again and again until her hands began to bleed. She had to get out, she had-

"Orihime-san, Orihime-san!" A voice cut through the dream and Orihime shot straight up in the bed with a squeak.

Kon, who had been standing on her chest, was thrown to the floor and landed with a 'thump'. He stood and looked at her. "Orihime-san?" He asked wary.

Orihime was breathing hard, her fists clenching and un-clenching. Her eyes flickered around the room, the unfamiliar room, and her body was near panic mode. Her hair pins began glowing, ready to break apart to protect her.

"Orihime-san, you're safe!" Kon yelped, leaping onto the bed, jumping up and down to catch Orihime's attention.

Orihime wrenched herself from her thoughts and back into reality. She blinked down at Kon and then looked around the room. Finally, she remembered where she was and took a deep breath, fighting back tears.

"I'm fine, Kon-san," She murmured softly. "Just a bad dream"

"I'll say! You were muttering and tossing and turning. You okay?"

"I'll be fine," She glanced at the clock. It was nearly 5, the time Kurosaki-san had said he wanted to get up. Orihime smiled faintly at it. That was good luck. "I'm going to go get dressed and then see if I can't do something downstairs to help."

"But-" Kon started but Orihime had already grabbed her clothes and practically ran to the bathroom. She slipped out of her pajamas and pulled on her clothes, trying to keep her thoughts away from her bad dreams. She was doing a crappy job.

The nightmares had started on her return from Hueco Mundo. She knew Aizen was dead, that she'd never have to go back to Hueco Munco, but that didn't stop the dreams. It might've even made them worse.

She slipped out of the bathroom silently and padded her way downstairs. She tip-toed past the couch and was nearly in the kitchen, when Ichigo's voice stopped her.

"You're up."

"Kurosaki-kun!" She whispered, spinning around quickly to look at him. He was sitting on the couch, fully dressed, watching her. His Shinigami Badge was sitting on the coffee table in front of him. He blinked at her.

"What's up?" He asked, rising. He walked over towards her and she had to fight not to take a step back.

"Nothing!" She said brightly, waving a hand as if to wave his worries away. He frowned.

"Inoue, you were crying," he murmured, raising his hand. He softly cupped her cheek, his thumb tracing down a slightly wet tear track. She leaned her head into his hand and her eyes fluttered closed.

She felt safe.

A thundering above their heads made Ichigo retract his hand quickly and turn to the stairs. As soon as his skin was off of hers, her eyes flashed open and she blushed, wiping her cheeks hurriedly to get rid of the other tear tracks. He didn't see it, because he was too busy watching his dad come down the stairs.

Ichigo and Orihime both watched in a state of amused horror, as Isshin leaped into the air to bring both feet down onto the couch.

"GOOOOOOOOOOOODDDDDD MMMMMOOOOORRRNNNIIIINNNNGGGGG IIICHHHHIIIIGGOOO!" Isshin yelled through the air. He landed on the couch, bounced off and crashed onto the floor, ending up sprawled on the ground, one leg up on the coffee table.

"Morning," Ichigo said dryly, from his place next to the kitchen. Orihime started giggling.

Isshin hopped to his feet, observing the two. "You have gotten better, my son!" His eyes flickered over to Orihime. "And my dear, what are you doing awake so soon?"

Orihime smiled at him and tapped her head. "Good internal alarm clock!" She lied. Ichigo frowned slightly but Isshin didn't take any notice.

"OH! That-" He was about to go on but a shoe came flying through the air and slammed into the back of his head.

"Geez, could you be any louder!" Karin snapped. She wiped some dust off the sleeve of her pajamas and scowled at her father. She turned her attention to Ichigo and muttered. "Can't you hurt him or something?"

"I could, but then, who would drive the car?" He asked, with a shrug. He glanced back at Orihime. "The really sad thing is that this usually happens every morning. We're used to it."

"You get used to it when you constantly have a psychotic father!" Karin growled. "I don't know why we put up with him."

"He supplies food? Because we love him?" Yuzu suggested, slipping past her sister on the stairs. She was already dressed in a yellow sundress. She smiled as she made her way to the kitchen.

"My dear Yuzu, you are supposed to say you love me first!" Isshin complained.

"I'm going to get dressed." Karin muttered darkly and stomped back up the stairs.

"Yuzu-chan, is there anything I can do to help?" Orihime questioned.

"Can you start on the toast?" Yuzu asked and Orihime nodded. In truth, she needed to do something, needed some kind of stimulation to keep her mind out of her dreams. Even something as simple as toast would give her something else to think about.

As she worked on the toast, she watched the Kurosaki family. Isshin and Ichigo were fighting and Isshin began crying to Masaki's poster when Ichigo connected a punch. Karin had come down the stairs and had shaken her head at the boy's (even Orihime was reluctant to call Isshin a man) antics, before advancing into the kitchen.

"How are you feeling, Karin?" Yuzu asked, turning over an egg. Karin smiled at her softly.

"Fine, just a little sore,"

"What happened?" Orihime asked, curious. Karin turned to her and laughed.

"A really rough soccer practice. It wasn't too bad, but Coach made me run around the entire field like six times because I told him he was stupid and blind."

Orihime blinked. "Why'd you call him that?"

"He told me that I can't play soccer, even after I showed up his son, the supposed golden boy. I told him that his son was a crappy player and if he thought that he was better then me, he was blind and stupid. He didn't like that much," Karin shrugged. "He was making noises about throwing me off the team but he's scared of Ichi-nii. He hasn't ever met Dad," A wicked grin crossed her face. "When we get back though, that's going to change. Dad wasn't happy when I told him what happened."

"Of course not!" Isshin said suddenly. Orihime jumped slightly in surprise but the Kurosaki kids all sighed. They were used to their crazy father. "How dare he attempt to throw my daughter off the team because she was right! I'll show him."

"You can't kill him," Karin pointed out, droll smile on her face. "Unless you want to take his place as Coach."

"You think I can't do it?" Isshin asked, sounding shocked.

"Never said that, just said that you'd have to do it," Karin shrugged. "If you wanted to, you could, probably. Yuzu, I'm going to set the table." She jumped off her stool and winced slightly at the sore muscles in her legs.

"Okay, Onii-san, you should help" Yuzu said over her shoulder at Ichigo. Ichigo nodded and went to the cabinet to get the plates. He handed them to Karin, who began putting them in the proper places on the table. Then he grabbed the silverware and followed her, putting them down.

Orihime smiled. She almost felt like she was part of a family and she liked that feeling.

Yuzu put the food on the table, with help from Orihime and Isshin grabbed the orange juice form the fridge and some cups. They all settled to sit down and Orihime found herself sitting next to Ichigo

She watched the food being passed around, without any real inclination to jump in. She was going to wait until everyone else had gotten something before she did. She did pour herself a glass of orange juice and another for Ichigo, since he was trying to wrestle his father for the bacon.

It was when she was placing the orange juice down by their plates that she noticed that her plate had food on it. She blinked and glanced at him but he was ignoring her pointedly, annoying his younger sister to hand over the toast.

Warmth spread from Orihime's stomach to the rest of her body and she smiled softly. She looked up and saw Yuzu grinning at her. The little girl tilted her head towards her older brother, still losing to Karin about the toast and shook her head.

Orihime blushed slightly and grinned. She picked up a strip of bacon and just listened to the conversations.

Her dreams were a distant memory.

---

They had gotten everything loaded the night before so there would be no early morning scrambling to load the SUV. The family never needed a car unless they were going on vacations and when that happened, Isshin just rented a car.

An argument between Karin and Ichigo started up about who was going to sit in front. Isshin inserted his opinion that since Orihime was the guest, she should sit in front. Both Karin and Ichigo seemed to agree with this idea, but Orihime shook her head, and said she'd be fine in the back and to let Yuzu sit in the front.

And that was how she found herself in the back seat of an SUV, between Kurosaki Karin and Kurosaki Ichigo. She gulped, and glanced at Karin. She was reading the same book she had been reading yesterday by the early morning sun. Orihime was reluctant to bother her. Yuzu and Isshin were having a battle over the radio station, Yuzu wanting to listen to the news and Isshin wanting to listen to polka music. Orihime figured the polka music was just a ploy to annoy his daughter though.

She snuck a peak at Ichigo. He was sitting with his elbow on the armrest, chin in his hand. He seemed to be thinking about something and Orihime didn't want to bother him. She fought back a sigh and went back to watching Yuzu laugh while pressing the channel button again.

Movement caught her eyes and she turned to see Karin pull another book out of her backpack. Karin held the book out for Orihime.

"It's a long ride and you seemed bored," Karin said with a shrug. "I've finished this one but Yuzu said she might read it, so I brought it along. You can read it if you want. It's the first of the series, called 'Furies of Calderon'. It's a good book."

"Thank you." Orihime said brightly taking the book. She had been bored so she flipped open the book and settled to reading, glancing up every once in a while to watch Yuzu and Isshin.

She had gotten to an interesting point in the book when Ichigo gave a growl of annoyance and leaned forward so he could stick his head between the seats. "Will you two please pick a channel? That accordion is giving me a headache."

"You are a headache." Karin muttered.

Orihime didn't hear Ichigo's reply because she had realized that to brace himself so he could lean forward, he had placed his hand on her knee. She gulped and fought to keep herself from blushing.

"Orihime-chan?" Isshin called, and Orihime's head snapped up and she blinked. Isshin grinned at her in the rear-view mirror. "Any particular music you like?" He asked.

"I'll listen to anything." She said brightly. Ichigo shot her a look and her smile became slightly forced at the frown on his face. He sat back and removed his hand from her knee. She swallowed the sigh of relief.

"Put it on the rock channel." Karin said, not looking up from her book. "We all like that kind of music."

Yuzu nodded and pressed the buttons until the rock music began filling the vehicle. She bobbed her head in time with the beat and stared out the window.

Orihime went back to her book while Ichigo went back to the window.

---

Ichigo didn't know what to think.

He really hadn't expected Orihime to accompany them but there she was, sitting beside him, reading one of Karin's weird books.

He had been trying to figure out exactly what he was feeling about her. Ever since Hueco Mundo he wasn't sure. Since his fight with Ulquirrora he was kind of amazed that she would ever talk to him, let alone want to go on this crazy trip with his family. He had noticed that Ishida was giving him a wide berth but considering Ichigo had stabbed him in the stomach and nearly blasted him with a cero, Ichigo really couldn't blame him.

He watched the scenery go by, thinking of this morning. He had been woken up early, 4 in the morning, by the blaring of his Badge. Ever since the end of the Winter War, the 12th Division had upgraded the badge and now it could differentiate between a regular hollow and an arrancar. This morning's call was an arrancar.

The 13th Division was still in charge of protection on Karakura town and Ukitake had asked Ichigo for a favor. The 13th would take care of the regular annoying hollows, as long as Ichigo took care of the occasional arrancar. Ichigo agreed.

The only problem is that arrancar liked attacking in the middle of the night.

He sighed, knowing he wasn't in a good mood. He probably shouldn't have growled at Yuzu about the music but the constant changing was grating on his already short nerves.

Though he had notice in his annoyance to tell Yuzu to pick a channel, he had tried to brace himself on the seat. Except that Orihime was sitting there and he ended up putting his hand on her knee. He didn't mean to, he just did and it was when he was snapping back at Karin that he had noticed Orihime's face and realized what he had done.

But the thing was, he didn't yank his hand back immediately. Before all the crap with Orihime getting kidnapped, he would've. But now it didn't seem that important. It was easier to touch her, like this morning.

Ichigo frowned at himself. What had happened this morning? He knew she had been crying and he could see that she was shivering. He had acted on instinct, had lifted his hand to touch her and to feel the evidence of her tears. And she not only let him but leaned into it and seemed to enjoy it.

He really didn't know what to do with that.

The book dropping onto the floor was his only warning about what was coming next.

He turned at the thump and watched a flutter of copper colored hair. Then, next thing he knew, Orihime's head was in his lap.

At first, he thought she had fainted. He reached out to grab her arm and movement from her stopped him as she snuggled closer to him. He blinked as she gave a soft, light snore.

She was asleep in his lap.

He gulped and looked up to see if his family had noticed this. Sure enough, Karin was smirking at him, Yuzu had that look on her face when she had seen something cute and his father was snickering.

"Shut up." Ichigo growled darkly. He had a couple of options. The first was to wake her up but that wasn't appealing. She'd wake up, see where she was and get embarrassed. And then she wouldn't look him in the eyes for the entire trip and it would be awkward.

Second option was to push her up out of his lap, slowly, and maybe reposition her in a less embarrassing placing. But she might wake up and it would still be awkward.

So that the left the third option, to just let her sleep. He had noticed yesterday that she seemed tired. Seeing her up and about and with tear tracks on her face made it obvious that she wasn't sleeping.

He looked down at her and could see the dark marks under her eyes. She was exhausted and she wasn't sleeping well. The least he could do was leave her alone and let her sleep.

He turned to go back to staring out the window and in the corner of his eyes, he saw his father give him a thumbs up. Ichigo scowled at the man and ignored him for the view.

He didn't even notice that one of his hands had started running through Orihime's hair.

---

She slammed her body against the door, screaming in rage, pain, and fear. So much fear. She pulled back to slam against it again, when it opened.

She spilled out of the constricting room, landing in an ungraceful heap on the floor. She scrambled to get to stand but her feet got tangled in her skirt. She went sprawling back to the ground.

She looked up and whimpered. There he was, dead, the hole in his chest. Wide brown eyes glazed over, orange hair dulled by dirt and grime. Tears poured down her cheeks as she started crawling backwards.

"If I rip open your chest, will I find your heart?"

"DAMN IT, INOUE!" Ichigo's curse, combined with her name, jerked her awake. She shot to sit up and only by Ichigo's quick movement backwards, missed slamming her forehead into his by an inch.

She looked around nearly frantically, taking in her surroundings. She was still in the SUV and they had stopped on a driveway surrounded by trees, in front of a very large house. Isshin was turned in his seat to watch her and Yuzu and Karin were too.

Shivering, she pressed her back into the seat and started mumbling apologies. "Sorry, I'm sorry,"

"It's okay," Yuzu murmured trying to comfort the older girl. "You just scared us a little. Are you alright?"

"Fine, I'm fine," Orihime said. It took her a moment but she was able to reconstruct her mask. She wiped her eyes to hide her fear, until she could show some kind of happiness, even if it was fake. "Yeah, I'm fine," She said, smiling slightly. "Just a dream."

Yuzu nodded, still worried. Isshin sighed slightly and glanced over at Ichigo. Orihime glanced over as well and gulped.

Ichigo was angry, she could tell. The irises of his eyes were lighter then normal and Orihime knew that was a bad sign. That meant that he was ready to fight out his anger. Ready to don his mask and take out his rage on anything nearby. She had seen him this mad before and that was when Grimmjow had tried to use that Cero on her.

"We're here," Isshin said, and Ichigo nodded silently, deftly unbuckled his seat belt, threw open the door and rose in a single, fluid motion.

Orihime fought back a whimper. Ichigo was fuming.

"Come on Orihime-chan," Yuzu said, trying to sound bright. She too knew that Ichigo was mad but she was trying not to make it a big deal. "You'll love it here, I know it."

Orihime smiled and undid her seat belt as well. She slipped out of the same door Ichigo had exited and took a good look around.

The area around the house was heavily wooded with tall pine trees, thick with undergrowth and brush. It was dark under the foliage and Orihime blinked slightly.

She had thought she had seen someone among the trees.

She shook off the feeling, and turned to observe the house. It was huge, and looked old. It looked a lot like the Kuchiki Manor in Soul Society, but with a few minor differences. It was an old nobleman's house, Orihime was sure of it.

"Whose house is this?" She asked, glancing at Yuzu. Yuzu looked up at the house and then glanced at her father helping Ichigo unload the bags.

"It belongs to Dad's family. Supposedly, when Dad's family fell out of favor a long time ago, the government had taken all of the property but this house. So we use it as a vacation home because it's so far out of the way. There's a stretch of beach behind it too, private, nobody but us knows it there."

"So that's why you told me to pack a swimsuit!" Orihime claimed. Yuzu nodded.

"Yeah. Even though it's September, it's always stays warm down here. And the water is rarely freezing."

"Yuzu, stop jabbering and help!" Karin called.

Yuzu jumped, and spun. "Sorry!" She said and rushed to help. Karin just shook her head at her sister. Orihime moved to help as well.

A flicker of movement in the woods caught her eye again and she turned to look again.

But again, nothing was there.

Orihime shrugged it off and grabbed her bag.

---

Ichigo was angry. Not really at Orihime though, more at himself, because he was helpless to help her. He couldn't protect her from nightmares.

It was impossible and he hated it. He wanted to protect her so badly, wanted to save her, keep her safe and his greatest enemy was a memory. He couldn't do battle with a memory. There was no way he could stop it.

He stormed up the remaining of the walk to the house. His dad had handed him the keys, and he dropped his bag, and pulled them out. He grabbed the doorknob to unlock it and frowned.

The door was already unlocked.

"DAD!" He yelled, turning slightly to glance at his dad behind the SUV but not turning his back to the door. He wasn't stupid.

Isshin looked up, and seeing the look on his son's face, he placed what he was carrying onto the ground and jogged up to the door. "Yes, my son?" He asked, tilting his head.

Ichigo held up the keys, "Doors unlocked and I didn't unlock it."

Isshin blinked. "That isn't good."

"That's what I was thinking," Ichigo agreed. "We didn't pass by a car parked on the driveway, did we?"

"No, we didn't," Isshin turned, frowning himself. He turned to scan the driveway and the woods beyond that. "Forest is too thick to hide a vehicle, and I don't see a bike of anything."

"That's probably because I sent the driver away." A deep voice tinted with age said from the now open door. Isshin and Ichigo snapped their heads to speaker, and only Ichigo relaxed.

"That makes sense. Hey Ojii-san." He said, nodding. He didn't feel like smiling, even to be polite.

"Grandson." Kurosaki Masashige turned his attention to Isshin "Isshin." He said, his voice sounding like ice.

"Old man." Isshin answered with a curt nod. Ichigo looked between the two and slowly backed up, heading back to the car.

Yuzu, Karin, and Orihime were all laughing as they joked and pulled bags out of the car. Orihime had gotten over her nightmare in the car and was recounting an amusing story about Kenpachi Zaraki and Yachiru Kusajishi, the captain and vice-captain of Soul Society, and their subordinates.

"Zaraki-kun just ignores the entire conversation, but Yachiru-chan and Ikkaku-kun are glaring at each other. Yumichika-kun is laughing quietly in the corner, trying his best not to be noticed. Finally, Yachiru-chan gets tired of Ikkaku-kun's insubordination and jumps on his head. He yelps, because she's biting him. At this point, Yumichika-kun can't help it anymore and starts rolling on the floor, because Ikkaku-kun is running in a circle, screaming like a girl. Finally Zar-"

"Yuzu, Karin, we've got a problem." Ichigo interrupted, glancing back over his shoulder. Karin's smile faded and she glared at him.

"What?" She snapped.

"Ojii-san is here." He muttered. Karin's eyes widened and Yuzu murmured an "Oh no."

"What's wrong?" Orihime asked, looking to each Kurosaki.

"Our grandfather on our mother's side," Ichigo replied. "He comes from an old family and he doesn't like Dad. He's doesn't like me a whole lot either, or Karin for some reason, but he loves Yuzu."

"Because Yuzu looks like Mom the most. She has Mom's hair," Karin explained quietly. "And he loves us, he just- he just think we act like Dad too much. Yuzu isn't crazy."

"Yes, she is," Ichigo corrected, smiling slightly at the injured "HEY!" from his sister. "She just hides it better."

Orihime blinked. "His being here is bad?" She questioned. The three siblings looked at her as if they had forgotten she was there. "What?" She asked, nearly taking a step back.

Ichigo let out a groan and leaned against the side of the car. "This is not going to end well."

"You don't know that," Yuzu admonished. "He might think she's nice!"

Ichigo shot her a look. "Yuzu." He said and she sighed.

"Though probably, it's not going to end well." Yuzu admitted. Karin laughed. Orihime felt confused.

"Why? What's going on?"

"Very simply, you're going to meet Ojii-san," Karin said with a shrug of a shoulder. "And he's going to think you're Ichigo's girlfriend." Orihime blushed, and Ichigo's face looked a little pink as well.

"There'll be embarrassing questions," Yuzu warned. "And if he doesn't like you, he might be rude. Not outright rude, but you can tell. He's-" She hesitated.

"He's different. Think an older version of Byakuya." Ichigo supplied. Orihime blinked but nodded.

"I didn't know you came from a rich family." Orihime said softly, tilting her head. Ichigo looked back at the porch while Karin answered.

"We come from two, actually but both our parents were kind of disowned," She shrugged again. "The only thing we have from Dad's family is this house, and on Mom's side-"

"We have Ojii-san," Ichigo inserted. He watched his father and his grandfather stare each other down. He knew polite pleasantries were being exchanged but the air around the two were charged with tension. "And they are doing the glaring contest." He said.

"Figures," Karin shook her head in disgust. "When will they ever give up?"

"Old dogs," Ichigo pointed out. "You know how hard headed they can be."

"We'll never get this stuff inside if they don't stop." Karin said. She and Ichigo exchanged a look, grinned evilly at the same time and turned to Yuzu.

"No!" Yuzu whined. "I don't want to!" She crossed her arms in a huff, and began to pout.

"Come on, sis, you'll be the safest!" Karin said, almost convincingly.

"Yeah, Ojii-san will smile at you and that'd be it," Ichigo glanced at the porch again then turned back to his sister. "Please?"

"No!" Yuzu snapped. "I won't!"

Ichigo sighed and glanced at where Orihime was standing. Except she wasn't standing there anymore. He spun, frantically, his mind going to the worst scenario, until he saw her walking up the drive, her bags in hand. Straight towards the staring match between his father and grandfather.

"Shit." He muttered.

---

Orihime wasn't scared. She wasn't even annoyed. She just didn't think it was fair to ask Yuzu to do something that she wasn't brave enough to do herself.

So, with that in mind, she had decided to walk up to the glaring men.

"Kurosaki-san?" She asked softly. Isshin jerked as if startled and turned to face her. She smiled at him and nodded to the house. "Where does this stuff go?"

"Oh, Orihime-chan. Um, if that's your stuff, I can make Ichigo show you where your room is. If it isn't, just put in the first room on the right, the family room." Isshin said with a nod.

"Okay!" Orihime said, nodding herself. She glanced at Masashige and gathered her courage. "excuse me." She said politely.

Masashige blinked and moved slightly to the side. He was tall, taller then Ichigo by about two inches and held himself with confidence. His hair was gray, almost white and his face was wrinkled, but those were the only indicators of age. He stood straight and his brown eyes, only a shade darker then Ichigo's, were sharp. He watched her walk past.

Orihime slipped into the foyer of the house and walked to the room Isshin had indicated. Though it was her bags she was carrying, she figured she should put them here, until she knew where her room was and so she could help the others finish bringing stuff in.

She hurried back to the porch and paused when she saw Masashige watching her. Isshin had ran back to the car, while Masashige stayed on the porch. She stepped closed and dipped into a low bow, her eyes on the floor.

"My name is Inoue Orihime." She said politely. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir." She lifted and watched him.

"You do that bow very well." Masashige commented. He dipped his head in a bow of his own. "Kurosaki Masashige. I assume my wayward grandson has already told you that though." His eyes observed her. He opened his mouth to say something, but a loud roar and a shout caught their attentions.

Orihime watched in horror as a huge hollow leaped out of foliage and shot towards Yuzu as she walked past the car with a speed that belied it's size. Ichigo and Isshin were too far away to help and Yuzu had spun around and frozen at the sight of the hollow barreling towards her.

Karin, who had been following her sister, threw herself onto Yuzu, knocking them both to the ground. They landed with an 'oof' and the hollow shot over them, missing them by scant inches. The hollow caught itself by digging two foot long claws into the ground and spun. It was about to make another attack, tensing to attack.

"Santen Kesshun! I reject!" Orihime shouted and her hairpins burst in a three flashes of light. The shield formed between the two girls and the hollow, just as the hollow leaped. It hit the shield and bounced, howling in rage. The shield shattered, the three lights that were the fairies spinning back to Orihime.

"Tsubaki!" She snapped the order out as she took the step down off the porch. She stalked towards the girls and placed herself between them and the hollow. Another spark of light flashed from her hairpins. She lifted a hand and glared at the hollow. "Koten Zanshun. I reject." She slashed her hand through the air with the words and Tsubaki took off.

The Kurosaki's all watched at the beam of light hit the hollow right between it's eyes on it's mask and disappear. The Hollow let out a roar of defiance and challenge and as it moved to attack, the shield erupted inside it's body, slicing it down the middle. It began to dissolve immediately.

The fairies returned to Orihime and after swirling around her once, returned to being hairpins. She nodded, satisfied, and turned to help Yuzu and Karin up.

"Are you two okay?" She asked softly. Yuzu took the offered hand and rose to her feet. Karin tried but her leg cramped on the way up and she collapsed.

"Souten Kisshun, I reject." Orihime muttered and two more sparks of light came from her hairpins. They surrounded Karin and covered her in a shield. Karin looked at them with slight suspicion but held still. The shield held there for moment and then snapped back to being two pieces of light and then back to hair-pins.

She held her hand up for Karin again and Karin took it, this time rising without a problem.

"Healing?" Karin guessed and Orihime nodded.

"Wow, Ichigo, she reacted faster then you did!" Isshin said, laughing. His laughing was suddenly cut off by the hand connecting to the back of his head.

Yuzu giggled and Karin shook her head, chuckling. Orihime blushed and glanced over at the Ichigo. He didn't look really happy but he did seemed relieved that his sisters were okay.

"That was interesting." Masashige commented from his place and everyone spun to look at him, almost guiltily.

Orihime heard Ichigo groan and had to agree with him. This was not going to end well.

---

Masashige did not interrogate the children but decided to interrogate Isshin. The kids decided to cook dinner. They had been driving all day and though breakfast had been delicious, it had been hours ago and they were all starving.

Ichigo stood in the kitchen, going through the cabinets, trying to find the plates. He was trying his best to stay out of Yuzu and Orihime's ways, who were cooking. Isshin had tried to convince Orihime that she didn't need to help, but she said she wanted to and he couldn't argue with that.

"Ichi-nii, found them." Karin called from the dining room, where she had been searching. Ichigo had to practically dance his way out of the kitchen, at one point ducking quickly to avoid getting hit in the head with an enthusiastically swung ladle. Orihime smiled at him apologetically and he smiled back at her as he slipped into the dining room table.

Falling back into the pattern of setting the table with Karin was easy, she handling the plates, while he took care of the silverware. After that was all, Karin took the cups to place at the table and Ichigo filled them with some soda.

They had been doing it that way since before their mother died and their mom was the one who taught it to him. A long time ago, he had still been in charge of the silverware but Masaki had been the one following, pouring the drinks.

Orihime and Yuzu finished the cooking and Ichigo was almost scared about what it would be. He knew that Orihime had the oddest taste in food. He looked at the meal warily but it looked like regular ramen.

"I didn't add anything weird to it," She chirped and he jumped, embarrassed at being caught for doing exactly what she thought he was doing. She just smiled at him. "I watch Tatsuki do it a lot, check what I give her. I don't mind."

"Oh." he said softly.

The door to the dining room slid open and an irritated Isshin and a slightly annoyed Masashige entered and seated themselves. Ichigo watched them and sat down, consciously placing himself between Orihime and his grandfather at the head of the table. He didn't want her any closer the old man then necessary.

Masashige blinked at the ramen and looked up at the other people at the table. "Who cooked?" He asked in a low tone. Ichigo fought not to stiffen. He knew what was coming.

"I did." Yuzu said, passing the bowl of chicken to her father. "Orihime-chan helped."

"I just made sure the noodles didn't burn," Orihime said with a shy smile. "You did all the important stuff."

"Making sure the noodles don't burn is important," Karin pointed out. "What good is ramen if the noodles are burned?"

"Karin has a point," Isshin added. "Ramen with burnt noodles is not ramen but burnt noodles. I'm guessing you choose to make this because you're tired, my daughter?" Ichigo didn't miss the hard glance directed down the table at Masashige.

"Yep. Ramen is quick and easy. Not much to it and it's even easier to eat," Yuzu grinned. "And everyone likes it."

"True." Ichigo decided this conversation needed his input as well. A united front and everything. He had no doubt that his grandfather did not like the choice of food.

"Hmm." Masashige said and he began eating without a word of complaint. "Ichigo, how are you doing in your studies?"

"Not bad," Ichigo said. "Third in the school this year."

"Third?" Masashige raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I keep getting beat by Inoue and one of our friend, Ishida Uryuu." Ichigo almost shrugged but thought better of it.

Masashige blinked. "Ishida, did you say?" He glanced at Isshin. "As in Ishida Ryuuken?"

"Yes. Uryuu is Ryuuken's son. Both have that same high and mighty attitude," Isshin shook his head. "Annoying."

"I agree." Ichigo added.

"Ishida-kun isn't that bad!" Orihime protested.

"Not to you, maybe." Ichigo said. Orihime look like she was about to protest some more but she stopped and consented.

"I guess."

"So you are friends with Ishida-san as well." Masashige asked, glancing at Orihime. The girl nodded.

"Yes, sir. Ishida-kun and I are both members of the Handicraft club."

"I see, and you are second in your school, then?"

"Yes, sir." Orihime grinned brightly, and Masashige blinked again slowly. Ichigo fought not to smirk. If Orihime's smile could make heartless arrancar almost human, he could only think of what it was doing against Masashige.

"And you girls, how are you doing in your studies?" He asked turning his attention to the twins.

"Okay." Karin said. "I usually spend more time on the soccer field then studying though, I guess. Yuzu is second in the school this semester and that's because she and her best friend are taking turns at being number one."

"Karin!" Yuzu said, looking at her sister. "Rai and I are not taking turns. She's just better at the math this semester then I was. I couldn't figure out the graphs," She added, turning back to her grandfather. "They kept confusing me."

"Math period confuses me." Karin muttered.

"That, sis, is because you are a athlete." Ichigo said, grinning at her. "Athlete's aren't supposed to understand math. It's against the rules of nature."

Karin sighed. "Nature has rules now, not just laws. Figures." Yuzu, Isshin, and Orihime began to laugh quietly. Masashige did not see the humor.

"I have also heard some interesting reports on your behavior, Ichigo." He said, bringing the attention back to him. "What is this about a Shinigami?"

Ichigo blinked and his gaze hardened and flickered to his father. Isshin sighed and gave a helpless little motion with his hand. Ichigo knew that there was nothing his dad could've done. Masashige would've figured it out sooner or later.

"I'm a Shinigami," he said after a moment. "Happened about a year ago."

"Don't you have to be dead, to be a Shinigami? I thought it was part of the name, Death God." Masashige gave Ichigo a withering glance. "You do not look dead."

"A rare occurrence," Ichigo said, by way of explanation. "According to a friend, what turned me into a Shinigami had never happened before."

"I see," Masashige turned his gaze to Orihime, "And you?"

"I'm not a Shinigami" Orihime said, waving her hands slightly in front of her. "I was exposed to reiatsu by accident and when that happened, my abilities manifested. I'm still a human."

"Hmm, and these abilities are what you used earlier to defeat that," He paused. "Hollow?" he said the word as if he didn't believe it.

Ichigo watched Orihime's shoulder sag slightly. She really didn't need this. She needed a break, not an interrogation by Masashige.

"Yeah, Orihime-chan was awesome." Yuzu said brightly. Karin nodded her agreement.

"I've only see one person take a hollow down that fast and he had had a zanpakuto. He even had to release it."

"What Shinigami were you hanging around?" Ichigo asked, suspicious.

"Toshiro. Asked him for some help, before I knew who he was."

"Hitsugaya Toshiro?!" Ichigo almost shouted.

"Yeah, why?"

Orihime blushed, and look at her plate. Isshin snickered and Ichigo shook his head. Masashige, Yuzu, and Karin looked confused.

"What?" Karin asked.

"You just compared Orihime to a captain," Ichigo said, "Even said she was better."

"Well, she was." Karin shot back. "I didn't see you take that hollow down."

"I didn't have my badge." Ichigo snapped. "If I had had it on me, that hollow wouldn't even have had a chance to turn around."

"Please," Karin scoffed. "Like you're that good."

"Enough." Surprisingly, it was Isshin who had interrupted the argument. He was the only one who had most of the story of what happened at Hueco Mundo.

Most, because neither Orihime nor Ichigo would explain all of it.

The rest of the dinner was quiet, nobody really having anything to say. Ichigo and Karin shot each other glares everyone in a while over the table. Isshin and Masashige were just being quiet. Yuzu looked exhausted

Orihime didn't feel much better.

---

Orihime lowered herself into the bathtub, fighting back a moan as the warm water washed over her. It felt very good on her skin. She was tired, having not slept well ever since returning from Hueco Mundo and with all the excitement today. She just wanted to relax and the bathtub was the perfect place for it.

She needed to remember to thank Isshin for allowing her the room with a bathroom all to itself. Apparently there were two such rooms like that, hers and Masashige's on the floor below. All the other rooms had to share a bathroom with another.

She was particularly pleased with her room. She had felt a slight twinge of discomfort at the thought of the large window looking out at the beach but dismissed it. She was probably putting Isshin out by taking this room and it would be rude to complain about something so small.

Rubbing soap into her hair, she let the tension run slide out of her body. Everything since yesterday had happened so fast and it was hard for her to believe that she was actually on a trip with Ichigo's family. It was fun. Yuzu was nice, Karin was funny in her dry little way and Isshin was odd. And Ichigo was Ichigo.

She dipped her head back into the water to rinse the soap out and thought about the date. Just a few more hours until her seventeenth birthday. She was actually excited about that, now. Before it would've probably ended up being another day, with her singing herself 'happy birthday' and crying into her bad dreams. Now, she was with people who cared about her.

She didn't want anything other then that.

Finished with her bath, she rose, pulled the plug up with her toes and grabbed one of the towels. She dried herself off and then wrapped the towel around her body. She grabbed another for her head.

Rubbing her hair dry, she walked out of the bathroom into her sleeping quarters, intent on getting her bag. She wanted her robe so she could hang the towels up in the bathroom. Crossing the room, she pulled her back up with one hand, the other making sure that her towel still covered her.

She dug through the bag and finally grinned, pulling her robe out. She turned to walk back to the bathroom, something caught her attention from the corner of her eye. She spun and froze, fear spreading through her body.

The robe slipped from her fingers.

A scream slipped from her throat.

---

Ichigo had been getting ready for bed himself when he heard the scream. He knew who it was immediately, even though she rarely screamed. He ran full speed to his door, threw it open and raced to her room.

He threw her door open as well, just as Isshin exited his room to see what the scream was. Ichigo ignored him and swept his gaze over the room, having to find her.

He saw her almost at once. She had pressed herself up against the wall farthest away from the window and was cowering there. Her body was trembling so bad, her teeth were chattering. Her eyes were huge, fear painted across them. She was whimpering, though it was hard to hear it over her teeth.

Ichigo crossed the room quickly, knelt and moved to touch her. She saw his hand and flinched away. She tried to scramble away but kept hitting the wall, unable to move.

"Inoue." Ichigo murmured softly. He tried again, ignoring the fact that his sisters and his father had entered the room. He slowly lifted his hand to try and touch.

Her gray eyes flashed to him and she blinked once, almost as if she didn't recognize him. He watched as realization kicked in and blinked as Orihime threw herself onto him and burst out crying.

Ichigo froze for a moment but only for a moment. Then he gathered her up in his arms and held her to his chest.

It was at this moment, that he realized what she was wearing. He fought not to blush and keep his eyes from running down her body. He glanced around the room and saw the robe. Looking back at Isshin, he tilted his head to the robe.

Isshin saw what Orihime was wearing as well and without an argument, went over to the robe and hurried to hand to Ichigo. Ichigo took it with one hand, ignoring the terrified whimper from Orihime at the movement and draped the robe over her shoulders. Then he place his arm back around her and rocked her slowly, making calming noises as he did, just had he once done to Yuzu when Masaski had died.

While Ichigo calmed Orihime down, Isshin walked around the room and peered out of the window. He closed his eyes and Ichigo knew that he was sensing the room for spiritual energy. Finally Isshin opened his eyes and shook his head.

"I can't find anything." He said softly.

Ichigo nodded and looked down at the sobbing girl in his arms. He gingerly shifted slightly so he could get a better look at her face. She gripped his nightshirt tightly and shook her head.

"No" She forced out between sobs.

"Inoue, it's okay," Ichigo murmured softly. "I've got you. I need you to tell me what happened. What was it?"

"I-I-I" Orihime stuttered. She gulped and looked up at him, tears streaking down her face and eyes huge. "It was Aizen." She whispered, gave deep shudder of pure fear and buried her face back against Ichigo's chest.

Ichigo blinked and tightened his arms, pulling her closer. He knew it couldn't have been the real Aizen. He had killed Aizen, beheaded the bastard in front of not only every captain of Soul Society, but also the Tercara and Primera Espadas. Everyone had examined the body and even the arrancar had admitted that he was dead.

Aizen was dead.

There was no way possible for him to be at this place in the middle of nowhere. He couldn't and why would he want Orihime? He was dead, gone and Orihime was as safe as Ichigo could make her.

So what had Orihime seen?

"Who?" Isshin questioned.

Ichigo gulped and closed his eyes, trying to keep his temper under control. "Aizen." He nearly snarled.

Isshin blinked, "Impossible."

"It better be, because he isn't getting Inoue." Ichigo snapped.

"What is going on in here? I heard someone scream." Masashige had arrived, wearing a robe over black pajamas and a frown.

"Inoue saw something." Ichigo explained. He slowly tried to stand, taking Orihime with him. She whimpered and tried to fight. "Inoue, you can't sit on the floor all night. You have to get up." He murmured. She stopped fighting him and just seemed to lean against him, limp.

As they stood, Ichigo made sure that the robe around her shoulders didn't slip or fall. He knew Orihime was shaken because she hadn't realized that she was only wearing the robe and a towel. She was also clinging to him like he was the only thing keeping her alive and that made him worried.

Ichigo glanced at the door and saw Yuzu, Karin and Masashige standing there, watching them. Isshin was still looking out the window, scanning the woods, trying to see if there was anything else out there. Isshin turned to shake his head at Ichigo.

Ichigo sighed. "She's not staying in this room any longer." he ordered.

"That's fine," Isshin replied. "Let's go to the living room, we'll figure this out there."

Ichigo nodded and began to lead the still crying Orihime out. He gritted his teeth and tightened his arms around her. He felt helpless and he hated it.

---

"I know what this is!" Isshin cried, clapping his hands together. Everyone looked at him, Masashige raising a slow eyebrow.

"What?" Ichigo asked, glancing at Orihime on the chair across from him. She was still shivering slightly but she refused to be sitting next to him. He went back to watching his father.

"It's an imprint!" Isshin said. When he noticed everyone's blank looks, he sighed and began to explain. "Most horror movies have ghosts that stay in one place, haunt that place, right? Well, that's based on fact. An imprint is a soul that during it's death, instead of it's Chain of Fate breaking, the chain attached itself to land around them. It has to be an imprint because I remember Masaki saying something about seeing the guy from that movie 'Death to all Blondes' in the woods."

"Why did it go after Orihime-chan?" Karin asked. Isshin looked at his daughter.

"The hollow that attacked Yuzu was most likely a test. The imprint was trying to see who was the most powerful or if any of us had any abilities. When Orihime-chan destroyed the hollow, the imprint saw her power and targeted her."

"How do you get rid of one?" Ichigo asked, his gaze straying back to Orihime.

"Well, that's a difficult proposition," Isshin muttered and Ichigo gave him his entire attention. "You see, imprints can possess people and it's easier for them to possess a spiritual entity, like a Shinigami, then a human with a high reiatsu."

"So, I'll have to beat it?" Orihime asked quietly, her voice sounding small. Ichigo looked at her and shook his head.

"No," he snapped. "I'll take care of it."

"But, it'll possess you." Orihime protested. "You'll get hurt!"

"I'll be fine." Ichigo shrugged. "I promised I'd protect you, I'm not letting some imprint get you."

Orihime's eyes widened and Isshin could see naked fear evident in her eyes. "No," She whispered. "No, you can't fight it."

"I'll take care of it." Ichigo said, trying to reassure her but she leaped up to her feet.

"No," The words rushed out of her mouth. "No, no, no."

Ichigo rose, an incredulous look on his face. "Inoue, it'll be fine,"

"Don't," She said, shaking her head. "Don't get involved."

"Inoue," He started but she overran him.

"I don't want you involved. I'll take care of it, I don't want you helping. Stay out of it, Kurosaki-kun!" She snapped and Ichigo blinked.

"What?" He said quietly. "I promised and you're telling me to go back on that. To just let you walk off and fight something dangerous by YOURSELF!" His voice steadily rose until he was shouting the last word.

"Yes." She said sharply, her eyes narrowed though tears were running down her face.

"I won't do it," Ichigo snarled. "Unless you give me one damn good reason why."

"I DON'T WANT ANOTHER HUECO MUNDO!" Orihime screamed. Ichigo took a step back and watched as Orihime stood there, tears streaking down her face. Her shoulders were shaking with sobs as she forced the words past the lump in her throat. "I don't want another fight with Ulquirrora. I don't want another incident like that above the dome. I don't want you protecting me. I don't want you taking care of me. I'm not worth it" The last part was barely audible but Ichigo heard it. He watched her look up at him, determination shining behind tears in her eyes as she yelled at him. "I want you to leave me ALONE!"

She spun on her heel and stormed out of the room, heading upstairs, leaving five dumbstruck Kurosakis in her wake. Isshin watched her go and shook his head. He glanced at his son. "Ichigo, what was she talking about?"

Ichigo's mouth snapped shut and his jaw clenched. His eyes narrowed, his hands curling into fists. "No idea." He growled and took off towards the kitchen, in the opposite direction of the stairs.

"That was interesting." Karin murmured when he had gone. "I've never heard of Orihime-chan yelling like that."

"She does not yell often?" Masashige questioned and the other three nodded.

"Did you see her eyes?" Yuzu asked, glancing at her father. "She looked absolutely terrified at the thought of Ichigo protecting her."

"I saw." Isshin replied, his eyes grave. "Karin, Yuzu, go make sure your brother doesn't break anything important. I'm going to speak to Orihime-chan." He began for the stairs as Yuzu and Karin exchanged grimaces.

---

Orihime stood in her room, staring out the window. She still hadn't changed into her pajamas and she pulled her robe tighter against her skin. She knew Aizen wouldn't be there now but she wondered.

If Isshin was right and this was an imprint, how did it know Orihime's worst fear?

A knock sounded on the doorframe and she turned to see Isshin standing in the doorway, watching her. "May I come in?" He asked quietly and Orihime nodded. Her gaze went back to the window.

Silence played through the room.

It was too much for Isshin. "What happened in Hueco Mundo?" He asked softly.

"I can't tell you." She replied, her voice just as soft.

"Then why are you so afraid of him protecting you?"

"I can't tell you." She repeated, her eyes trained on the window.

"You know Ichigo would do anything to protect you."

"I know and I hate it." She whispered. "I don't want that."

"Don't want what? Don't want him protecting you? Don't want him using everything he has to protect you?"

"Exactly!" She nearly yelled, whirling around to look at him. "I don't want him calling on something he can't control for me! I don't want him using that for me!"

"You mean the hollow?" Isshin said softly and Orihime's eyes widened but she nodded.

"You haven't seen him." She murmured, her eyes squeezed tightly shut. "It's terrifying. If this thing can posses him and he changes into that, he won't be able to be stopped. He'll kill you and everyone else."

"And you? Do you think he'll kill you?" Isshin's question made Orihime's eyes flash open. She stared at him for a moment before gulping and looking away.

"No." She answered quietly. "No I don't."

Isshin nodded as if he thought that was the answer as well. He sighed and looked at the girl in front of him hard.

This girl had seen so many things, had witnessed monstrous killing and even more monstrous transformations, and yet, here she stood ready to take on something terrifying by herself for the sake of someone else. She was odd to say the least and she was in love with Isshin's son.

"You have to understand this from Ichigo's point of view. He promised to protect, by any means necessary. That means using his hollow if he nee-"

"I DON'T WANT HIM TOO!" Orihime cut him off, screaming. Her voice broke with a sob as she continued "I'll leave first. I'll go away before I'll let him use his hollow to save me."

Isshin blinked. "You don't understand, Orihime-chan. Ichigo will do anything."

"And I'll do anything to keep him from suffering that." Orihime murmured. She looked up at him and smiled sadly. "You must think I'm stupid for protesting against this so much but you've never seen him like that. It's not Ichigo anymore. I'll do anything to make sure he doesn't become that again. Even if that means leaving him forever."

Isshin's shoulder sagged. "You mean that."

"I mean it with everything I have." Orihime turned back to stare out the window. "Kurosaki-san, would you excuse me? I'm going to change into my pajamas."

Isshin nodded. "Of course. Just call if you need anything."

Orihime smiled at him over her shoulder. "I will."

Isshin left the room, closing the door behind him. He paused, wondering why something felt wrong but shook it off. He was probably just imagining it.

---

Orihime waited until the door closed and she couldn't hear Isshin's footsteps anymore before she changed. She dug into her bag and pulled out a pair of black sweatpants and a dark blue shirt. She also grabbed her sneakers. She slipped into the clothes and the shoes quickly and grabbed a hair band that she had packed for swimming. She tied her hair up into a high ponytail and made her way to the window .

She unlocked it and slipped it open. She peered over the edge and gulped slightly at the distance. She didn't want to have to use her Shun Shun Rikka yet, just in case Ichigo was keeping an eye out for her spiritual pressure.

She slowly and carefully climbed out of the window and onto the ledge. She lowered herself so she could cling to the ledge and dropped. She landed with a muted thump but didn't make a noise. She bit her lip, listening but when she didn't hear anyone coming to ask what that was, she continued.

She carefully made her way around the house and finally onto the path out the back door that led to the beach behind the house. One hand worriedly went up to her hair pins just to make sure they were there but other then that, she gave no sign of nervousness.

She made it down to the sandy beach and took a deep breath. "You want me, come get me." She murmured, her eyes scanning the area.

"Orihime, you shouldn't have come." A male voice said behind her. Orihime spun around and bit back a cry. She was staring into the face of her brother, Sora. He tilted his head and he held up a hand. "You should run. It will get you."

"No." Orihime said, watching the image of her sibling. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Run." Sora said harder, sharper. He took a step forward. "Run, or you can join me."

"No." Orihime said and fought not to cry as she watched Sora shift.

His limbs lengthened, his legs combining to create a long tail, his arms becoming unnaturally long. A white mask covered his face, his eyes flashed red and he lifted his head and roared to the skies.

Orihime stood her ground. "I'm not falling for it." She whispered.

---

Ichigo knew his sisters were watching him. Karin wasn't very subtle about it, sitting at the table and staring at him. Yuzu at least tried to look busy, bustling about making tea.

He gritted his teeth. What was Orihime thinking? She wasn't worth him protecting her? She wasn't worth him? Was she insane? The girl was the sweetest, kindest, bravest person he knew. He had watched her run back into Las Noches, while everyone else was leaving, just so she could destroy the Hougykou.

Orihime was worth it, he just had to figure out a way to prove it. His mind touched on the two boxes he had stuffed in the bottom of his bag and he gulped. One box was a gift from Ishida, Chad, and himself, along with Rukia and Renji. The other was something from him but he wasn't sure if she'd want it, not after her yelling at him tonight.

He could understand her being worried about him but that wasn't going to stop him. He would keep her safe. More then because he promised but because she deserved it. She had always deserved it, ever since she had willingly followed him into Soul Society knowing full well that she could die.

Now she deserved it more. She had gone into Hueco Mundo to save everyone and she had done it. He might have killed Aizen but she had made sure that no one would ever take Aizen's place. She had made sure it had stopped with Aizen.

He glanced at his sisters and sighed. "Am I allowed to go up to my room, or am I stuck in the kitchen?" He asked dryly. Yuzu glanced over at him, her eyelids drooping, and Karin just smirked.

"Goat-chan said that we had to make sure you didn't break anything. He didn't say anything about you leaving." She said stretching.

"I'm going to my room then." Ichigo said and started off towards the stairs.

He was in the hallway, halfway to his room when he heard it. A hollow's roar. His head snapped to stare in the direction of the roar but he was staring into a wall. He growled at himself, closed his eyes and concentrated. There was nothing. He concentrated harder, trying his best to figure out where the hollow was.

All he could sense was Orihime on the beach.

His eyes widened as he realized what was going on and a stream of curses he didn't even know he knew erupted from his lips. He spun, his eyes flashing a dangerous yellow and stopped short to keep from running into his grandfather.

"Excuse me." Ichigo forced out, fighting to keep his temper, and hollow, under control.

"What language." Masashige said, his gaze unwavering on his grandson.

"Please move Ojii-san." Ichigo said, his voice slow.

"What's going on?" Isshin asked, coming up behind Masashige. Ichigo glanced at his father and fought not to snarl.

"You didn't hear that?" He asked sharply. Isshin blinked.

"Hear what, Ichigo?" Isshin questioned. "I didn't hear anything."

"I heard a hollow." Ichigo said, clenching his fists. "I tried to figure out where it was and did you know that Inoue is down on the beach?"

"Impossible. I left her in her room for her to get dresses, and haven't seen her yet."

"Did you check her window?" Ichigo asked "She's dropped from higher places then the second story."

"You mean she's escaped out of the window?" Masashige said sounding shocked. His eyes were wide and he was staring at Ichigo.

Ichigo nodded. "I've seen her do things that would kill someone else. She's brave and powerful but she can't attack well. Her powers mostly lay in defense and healing. That's why I promised to protect her."

"Is she actually worth all of this?" Masashige asked, unaware of his word choice.

Ichigo's body stiffened. Isshin watched his son in worry as the whites of Ichigo's eyes flashed to black and his irises turned to gold. Ichigo glared at his grandfather, who took a step back in fear.

"ICHIGO!" Isshin barked. Ichigo's gaze snapped to his father and by the look on his face, Ichigo realized what he was doing. The boy closed his eyes, and took a shaky breath. When he opened his eyes, his eyes were back to it's usual brown.

"Move. Now." Ichigo ordered to Masashige. The old man blinked but didn't move. Ichigo opened his mouth to snarl but Isshin pushed Masashige out of the way.

The old man slammed against the wall and straightened to glare at Isshin. But Ichigo had already moved between the two, heading for the stairs.

Isshin grabbed his son's arm as he passed, making the boy stop. Isshin looked up to stare at his son. "She's afraid of what you can become. She's afraid of being the cause of you losing yourself."

Ichigo's shoulders sagged slightly. "I know."

"What can I do to help?" Isshin questioned.

"Get Karin and Yuzu to bed. Just- just stay in the house." Ichigo muttered.

Isshin nodded. "Okay." He let go of his son's arm.

Ichigo got to the bottom of the stairs when he ran into Karin and Yuzu. His sisters were on their way up to bed.

"Hey Ichi-nii." Karin said. "What's up?"

"Nothing." Ichigo said with shrug. "I'm just going out for a walk to blow off some steam."

"Okay. Don't stay out too late, Onii-san." Yuzu said. She was nearly dead on her feet and she smiled tiredly at her brother.

"I won't, promise." Ichigo nodded, hating himself for lying to his baby sister. He always hated lying to them.

"Night, Ichi-nii." Karin said with a wave and Yuzu echoed the sentiment. Ichigo watched them climb the stairs.

His eyes gazed at the back door and his face hardened. He was ready to find Orihime and he had some things to say to her about going off on her own.

---

Orihime dodged the attack from the creature in front of her by leaping to the side and tucking into a roll. She rolled to her feet and rose, turning carefully to keep her eyes on the creature.

Creature is the only name she could use for the being in front of her. The imprint had taken on several forms at once, most directly from Orihime's nightmares.

Large bat-like wings spread out behind a lithe serpentine body. Viciously long claws grew out of hands attached to unnaturally long arms. The face of the creature looked like a disfigured version of Aizen, brown eyes and brown hair covered with white patches of hollow mask.

Orihime gulped. The imprint was playing off her mind and her fears. So it had been difficult but she kept her mind concentrated on Sora, Aizen, and Ulquirrora. She had been making sure that she didn't think anymore then a passing thought on the one thing she was afraid of.

Ichigo.

The monstrous being launched itself at her again and she pivoted sharply, ducking to the ground to keep from being buffeted by one of the black wings. She winced slightly at the pull on her muscles. After this, she was definitely going to the dojo with Tatsuki.

She rose to her feet as the monster made a wide turn. It snarled at her but she didn't twitch. She couldn't let it terrify her.

"INOUE!" A voice yelled and Orihime's heart stopped in her chest. Her face paled, her blood freezing in her veins.

"No." She whispered. She watched in horror as the creature spun around and speed towards Ichigo.

Her world slowed down to a crawl as she watched Ichigo's eyes widen at the sight of the creature. He wasn't going to able to dodge properly. She couldn't let it happen. She couldn't let the imprint get to Ichigo.

"I reject." She whispered. "Shun Shun Rikka, stop it. I reject."

Her hair pins exploded into light. Four streaks of bright light illuminated the beach and blasted towards the creature. A square cage of luminous brightness encircled the imprint.

"Are you sure?" A soft voice questioned and Orihime looked up to see Shun'o and Tsubaki floating next to her head.

"Yeah, woman. If you aren't absolutely sure about this, this will fail." Tsubaki added.

"If you aren't sure, we'll die. If you aren't ready to do this, if there is doubt in your heart or your mind, we will fail and that thing will destroy us." Shun'o explained. "You'll be completely weakened."

"Shun'o, Tsubaki," Orihime said calmly, giving the two fairies a level look. "I reject."

The two fairies didn't say anything more, but moved. They streaked forward and pierced the cage, two spears of light sticking out of the creatures chest. The imprint screamed in defiance and rage.

"Whoa." Ichigo murmured. Orihime wasn't done.

She concentrated on the imprint, channeling fear and anger through her into the attack. The imprint screamed again but now in fear and pain.

"I reject." Orihime whispered again, though it was only for her own benefit.

---

Ichigo watched in shock as the being began to dissolve. The dissipation started slowly, spreading out from where the two streaks of light had punctured the creature's chest and as it spread, it moved faster. Soon the entire being had completely dissolved from the inside out.

Ichigo's gaze turned quickly to stare at Orihime. The girl began walking up the beach towards him, the fairies transforming back into light and spinning around her before they went back to being hair pins.

"Ino-" Ichigo started but Orihime stormed past him, not even looking at him. Ichigo's jaw clenched in slight anger and he turned around, grabbing Orihime's arm. He yanked her around, spinning her to face him. He opened his mouth to yell at her but didn't see her other hand come up.

She slapped him across the face.

His head snapped to the side and he froze. Orihime had frozen too, slightly in shock at what she had done. He turned his head slightly to stare down at her.

"What. Was. That. For?" Ichigo asked slowly, emphasizing each word.

"I told you no. I told you to stay out of it. You didn't listen!" Orihime said, her voice shaky but strong. She hated it when he began using single word sentences.

"I wasn't going to leave you to get hurt!" Ichigo yelled.

"I was fine!" Orihime nearly yelled back.

"What if you hadn't been! What if that thing had gotten to you? What did you even do to it?"

"I was going to be fine, because it wasn't going to get me! As far as what I did to it, I rejected it. It was pretty much the same thing I did to the Hougykou. I rejected its existence." Orihime explained, wrenching her arm out of his grip.

"Were you planning on doing that to begin with?" Ichigo asked, the question coming out sharply.

Orihime gulped. "No, I wasn't." She admitted. "It's dangerous to do the technique. If I don't mean it with my entire being, it'll fail. If it fails, I'll become weakened. I won't be able to fight back and if I can't fight back, my enemy will kill me. The technique will work at the beginning but it'll fail sometime through unless I completely mean it."

Ichigo's gaze darkened. "So if you hadn't meant it and if I hadn't come, you could've died."

"I wasn't going to use it!" She protested. "I was just going to use Tsubaki to destroy it!"

"Then why did you use it?" Ichigo asked, temper fighting with curiosity.

"Because if that thing had reached you, if it possessed you, I wouldn't have been able to stop you!" She screamed at him, making him take a step back. "Nobody would be able to stop you and I don't know what would've happened. That thing could've made you kill your family! I had to make sure that didn't happen!"

"Inoue," Ichigo started softly but Orihime wasn't done.

"I don't want you to become that because of me! I won't be the reason you loose yourself! I can't do it!" Tears streaked down her face and with her shoulders shaking, she looked up at him. "Tomorrow, I'm going to speak to your father about taking me into the nearby town. Then I'm taking a train back to Karakura." She said softly.

Ichigo's heart leaped into his throat. "You're leaving?" He murmured.

"I can't be the cause of your death." She whispered in answer. "Don't come after me. Don't make this into another Hueco Mundo." She turned to walk back to the house.

Ichigo stood frozen by her words, staring her. As she reached the trees, almost thirty feet to the back door, something in him snapped. Later, he would realize it was the iron tight control he kept over his emotions.

He stormed up towards, taking large, sure, angry strides. He caught up with her and grabbed her arm, spinning her and pushing up against a tree. She gasped as he slammed his lips against hers.

When Orihime had dreamed about her first kiss, she had always thought it would be sweet, kind, maybe slightly awkward. But this kiss was anything but. It was hot, a kiss made of desperation.

It was better then she had ever thought.

One of his hands was tightly gripping her hair and he tilted her head back to get a better angle. Orihime moaned and her arms wrapped around his neck, her fingers curling in Ichigo's hair. She gasped in shock as his tongue ran over her bottom lip, causing her to open her mouth. His response to that was to plunge his tongue into her mouth, exploring as he went. She moaned again, wrapping a leg around his waist. She pressed her body against his.

His other hand had been gripping her waist, holding her in place. Now it was sliding up, slipping under her shirt. As his hand felt the soft skin of her stomach, reality crashed down on him.

He was kissing Inoue Orihime up against a tree.

He nearly dropped her onto the ground as he backed up, trying to get himself under control. The thought of her leaving, the mere thought of never seeing her again had driven him over an edge he had fought tooth and nail to keep from.

He stared at her, worried that she would begin to hate him. What he saw wasn't exactly what he expected.

She was leaning against the tree as if it was the only thing holding him up. Her head was tilted back, her hair mussed. Her eyes were closed tightly. Her shirt was wrinkled where he had moved it. As he watched, her pink tongue slid out to run over her lips and her eyes opened to reveal a dark gray eyes.

Ichigo's pants shrunk another size, even though they felt two sizes too small already.

Ichigo's mouth was dry, his brain had completely died. Perhaps an emotion he didn't know was showing on his face, because Orihime's face seemed to fall. Disappointment shone in her eyes and she turned her head to hide them as she moved to walk back to the house.

"Good-bye, Kurosaki-kun." She murmured.

"No!" Ichigo nearly yelled and Orihime spun around to stare at him, confused. Ichigo swallowed, trying to make his brain work so he could explain it all to her. The only thing he could manage to say was, "I don't want you to go."

Orihime blinked and smiled softly at him. "Kurosaki-kun, what do you-" She stopped mid-sentence as the excitement of the day and the toll of her attack on the imprint caught up with at the same time. Her eyes rolled up into the back of her head and she passed out.

She almost hit the ground but Ichigo was fast enough to catch her. He straightened, scooping her up into his arms. After almost two years of hefting around Zangetsu and fighting increasingly powerful enemies, a hundred and fifty pound girl was nothing.

He walked to the door and shifted the girl in his arms so he could open the door. He walked in carefully, making sure that he didn't hit her head on the door frame. He stepped into the living room, heading for the stairs.

Isshin and Masashige were sitting in the living room, waiting for him. Isshin rose, his eyebrows rising at the sight of Orihime in his arms.

"What happened?" Isshin asked, his tone sounding worried.

"She beat the imprint," Ichigo said softly. "She's just exhausted. I'm going to put her to bed."

"Okay," Isshin replied with a nod. "You should head off to bed as well. Tomorrow is an important day."

Ichigo smiled and nodded. "Alright. Night Dad, Ojii-san." His arms tightened slightly around the girl and Orihime seemed to snuggle closer to him. Ichigo headed up the stairs and disappeared down the halls.

"Do you actually think that girl is actually worth Masaki's son?" Masashige asked from behind Isshin.

Isshin spun around and glared at Masashige. "Old man, if you want to know the truth, I don't think Masaki's and my son is worth that girl. That girl is kind, sweet, and powerful. She'd been through hell and back, suffered emotional psychical and mental torture that would break another person, and she's come out of it a better person. She's a wonderful person who for some reason is in love with Ichigo and I think that's the best thing in the world for Ichigo."

Masashige blinked at Isshin. "You actually think she's worth him?"

"I think she's going to save him from himself," Isshin said sharply. "And that's the most important thing."

Masashige didn't answer. He seemed to be mulling over Isshin's words.

Up the stairs, Ichigo smiled softly to himself. Part of him couldn't care less what his father thought of Orihime but the small child in him jumped in joy at the fact that his father approved.

He shifted her again in his arms as he opened his door. Ichigo laid her on his bed and pulled off her sneakers. He knew the imprint was gone but he also knew that Orihime's nightmares weren't. He pulled the blanket up around her shoulders and grabbed the armchair in the corner. He placed it by the bed and settled into the chair

He leaned his head back and drifted off to sleep.

---

"Do you think that can stop me, Orihime?" An evil voice rang out through the empty room and she fought not to whimper. She clutched a bloodied Zangetsu in her hand. She had taken it from his dead body. She gulped, holding the black sword as tight as she could. It was still in ban-kai, a slight blessing since she would've never have been able to hold it as Shikai.

She looked up at Aizen sitting on his throne, smiling cruelly at her. He wasn't afraid of her, wasn't afraid of the sword in her hands. The tip of the blade was shivering, her hands causing it to shake. She didn't say anything, couldn't think of anything to say. She bit her lip, fighting back a sob.

A rustle sounded from behind her. She turned and gasped.

"I'm here," Ichigo said softly to her. His face was covered by a bull-like mask, horns sticking out of the top. It wasn't like the last time this had happened, not like the battle with Ulquirrora. The eyes glowing from the mask were not pure gold but a mix of gold and brown. He looked at her, those odd eyes softening their gaze just for her. "My sword?" He asked, holding out his hand.

She handed it over, her eyes wide. He took it and placed his other hand on the top of her head. It slid down to cup the back of her neck and he tilted her head to look up at him.

"Stay here, put up your shield. I'll be back, promise. Wait for me. I'll keep you safe."

Orihime shot up out of bed, a gasp escaping her lips. She looked around widely and froze, her eyes meeting a pair of worried brown eyes.

"You okay?" Ichigo asked gently, placing on of his hands on her leg. Orihime blinked at him and gulped.

"Fine," She murmured. She looked around the room, not knowing where she was. She looked at him wide eyed.

"I put you in my room," Ichigo explained, understanding what she was asking. "I wanted to keep an eye on you, considering the nightmare you had in the car."

"Oh."

"You want to talk about what you've been dreaming about?" Ichigo asked, generally concerned.

"No," She shook her head. "Something else, anything else."

"Okay," Ichigo nodded. "Happy Birthday."

Orihime blinked at him and glanced at the small clock on the nightstand. Red numbers shone out at her saying '4:00'.

"I'm so sorry!" She blurted out turning her head to look at him. "I woke you up!"

"It's fine, Inoue, I wasn't sleeping well anyways." Ichigo smiled and leaned back in his chair. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay. I should go to my own room," she started to get up but Ichigo pushed her back into the bed.

"Stay," his voice was soft, almost pleading. "I think we need to talk."

"About what, Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime asked, tilting her head. Ichigo's smile dropped and he sighed.

"About last night," He murmured. "What happened after the imprint."

"What?" Orihime questioned. Ichigo shot her a look and sighed.

Ichigo rose and began pacing "I kissed you!" He whispered-yelled. "I kissed you and I don't know what that means!"

"Oh," Orihime's voice was quiet. "I thought that was a dream."

Ichigo stopped and spun around to look at her, "You thought it was a dream?"

Orihime blushed and nodded. "Yeah."

Ichigo grinned and sat down on the edge of the bed. He laughed and Orihime blushed more. "Sorry, it's not funny but it kind of is." He said, still laughing.

"Really?" She asked softly, raising her eyebrows.

"Kind of, yeah." He smiled at her. "I probably should wait until later before I give you these but you want to open your gifts now?" He asked.

Her eyes lit up but she shook her head. "No, I should wait. It wouldn't be polite."

"Yuzu would be the only who would care. Dad would just laugh and give me that look and Karin wouldn't care at all." Ichigo said with a shrug, rising to get his bag and the two boxes hiding in it. He handed the first square box to her. "This is from all of us, Ishida, Chad, Rukia and Renji. Plus me."

She took the box and slowly opened it. She gasped and lifted up a silver bracelet, six charms hanging from it. She examined each charm, tears showing in her eyes.

"We each bought a charm except me. I bought two. We all chipped in for the bracelet itself too." He watched her play with the charms and began to explain the charms. "We all bought something meaning to us. Ishida bought the bow and arrow charm, Chad bought the coin charm, Rukia bought the snowflake charm, Renji bought the monkey charm too. I got you the sword charm and the last charm. A centaur, it's supposed to mean Nel. She helped too. It's something for all of us who went to Hueco Mundo for you."

Orihime sat there, staring at the charm bracelet with tears running down her cheeks. "Thank you, just thank you." She murmured. She opened it and laid it against her wrist, trying to close the clasp on her own.

Ichigo stepped forward and took the bracelet from her. Carefully he clasped it around her wrist. She looked up him with wide eyes. He smiled down at her softly, still holding her hand.

"I have another gift for you too." He murmured and pulled out the second box. "This is just from me."

Orihime stared up at him then slowly took the box from him. She gripped the lid and pulled it up, opening the box carefully.

More tears poured down her cheeks as she looked down at a pendant nestled in black silk. It was silver crescent moon that in the center of her palm. She placed the box on her knees and pulled the pendant out, gasping softly at the black chain that it hung from. She touched the black chain softly.

"I-I don't know what to say," She whispered.

Ichigo laughed lightly. "Thank you is a good start," he said jokingly. She looked up at him and he just smiled at her.

"Thank you," She replied. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," He answered. He slowly took the necklace from her grip and stood up. Orihime watched her, her eyes wide. He moved behind her and pushed her hair over her shoulder. He raised his arms above her to hang the pendant to lay on her chest. He clasped the chain at the back of her neck. "You're very, very welcome Orihime" He whispered softly, his breath brushing against her skin.

He felt the shiver more then he saw it.

Orihime turned around at the waist to look back at him. She smiled slightly nervously. "Thank you a lot, Ichigo-kun." She murmured and leaned forward to place a soft kiss on his lips.

He grinned against her lips and deepened the kiss. She shifted up to sit on her knees so she could wrap her arms around his neck and pressed her body against him. He pulled her closer, one hand cupping her cheek, the other clutching her close.

They pulled apart and she leaned her head on his shoulder. He held her, stretching out and pulling her in his lap.

"I probably should go back to my room," Orihime muttered.

"You should probably stay and sleep," Ichigo answered, his eyes closed, his nose buried in her hair. "I'll keep you safe." Orihime felt warmth spread in her body and she snuggled closer against him.

Soon, they were both asleep.