It had started out as a study session with Ichigo.

Rather, that was what it was supposed to have started out as. Or, really, what it was supposed to have been at all.

But in fact, there hadn't been ANY studying, since Ichigo had been missing-in-action since school had let out, and Inoue Orihime had figured she may as well go to his house anyhow; maybe he'd be back soon. And there were always Karin and Yuzu, she hadn't seen them in a while either, and she did like them, they were so nice, and his dad was really nice too and he was so funny, so she'd skipped on over, books in hand, smile on her face, ready to study for the math test and prepared to wait because he was probably out fighting hollows or something with Rukia.

Some part of her was a little disappointed that she hadn't gone along, and that they hadn't asked her to either, but she supposed it was for the best. It would have been nice to spend some time with everyone though...

She'd been let in by Yuzu, who'd smiled brightly and ushered her in excitedly, calling for Karin because Orihime was visiting them-but after that, Ichigo still hadn't come home, so Orihime had spent at least two hours sitting with Yuzu and Karin and telling stories. Karin was having a good enough time debating with their visitor over continuity errors, and the overall nonsense-level of her stories, but Yuzu seemed entertained enough by Orihime's odd tales.

It was hitting dinner time when Yuzu noted that Ichigo still wasn't home. The little girl had hopped up and headed for the kitchen, and Orihime had followed, suddenly excited by the prospect of cooking.

"Yuzu-chan! Can I help you?" She'd asked, hands clasped together, eyes positively sparkling. Yuzu felt like she couldn't refuse, but when the two girls got started and Orihime began concocting another of her famous 'delicacies', the second of the Kurosaki sisters was quick to pull her impressionable sister out of the kitchen, to save the rest of the family from other dinners like this one was turning out to be.

After nabbing Yuzu, Karin raced down to grab their father, though, to see if their kitchen could be reclaimed from this culinary menace, and the elder Kurosaki headed up, thinking that there was some beast in their home, bursting into the kitchen with gusto.

"HOW DARE A STRANGE BEAST TAKE UP IN MY KITCHEN AND TRY TO-"

The energetic and now slightly out-of-breath man was met with Orihime turning to face him, eyes wide and curious about the new intrusion, apron on her waist, spoon to her mouth to taste some bizarre purple mixture she'd crafted in a large pot on the stove behind her.

"Ah! Kurosaki-san!" She'd gasped, putting her spoon down and bowing out of respect. "It's very good to see you again!" Isshin Kurosaki was frozen in the kitchen doorway, finger still out accusingly in front of himself, face in a fearsome expression for the moment.

"I-Inoue-san?" He got out, and as the girl nodded, smiling innocently, he was quickly back to normal. "Ahahahahaha! That was just a joke, it's wonderful to see such a pretty young girl in my kitchen again~" He'd made a silly face at her, and the young girl giggled, blushing.

"Oh, you're too nice, Kurosaki-san." she argued, turning back to the pot in embarrassment.

"What have we here! Oh Inoue-san, cooking dinner for this old man's family, what a sweet thing you-" he caught sight of whatever was in the pot and stopped dead for an instant, the happily-stirring Orihime not noticing the look of mortal dread on his face. "-A-ah...Inoue-san, what is this that you have...prepared...for us?" he asked, much more put-out by now. Orihime lit up.

"Oh! It's something I've wanted to try for ages! Sweet potatoes mixed with chocolate, wasabi, and beef!"

Isshin breathed something nearly inaudible that sounded something like

"...th-that's deadly..."

Stepping back, he stared at the young girl, trying to determine what he was going to do about this predicament.

To his back, Karin and Yuzu were peeking into the kitchen, and Karin whispered ferociously,

"We'll all die if you don't take our kitchen back, you foolish father!"

Yes, this could be a problem.

He was a man, he would secure his kitchen (( and his stomach, by extension )) from certain destruction!

...But how?

"Inoue-san, possibly you'd like something to...ah...snack on while we're waiting?" He offered, heading to their pantry. She looked up.

"Oh? Well, I am a little hungry, but I didn't want to spoil supper..." 'I think it might be late, Inoue...' he thought, turning to hide his expression and digging through the shelves.

"How about some..." what did teenage girls like to eat? Moreover, what did this teenage girl like to eat? "...ginger candy?"

Orihime perked up.

"Oh? Do you have any red bean paste to go with it?" He paled slightly imagining the taste, but gulped. "Ah, y-yes, I think we do."

The man and the young girl were seated at the kitchen table in moments, Orihime swiping her ginger candy into a little container of red bean paste every so often. Isshin was just watching her, slightly fascinated by how she could manage this, and the scene was quiet until he spoke up.

"So. You like...red bean paste?"
"Oh yes! It's my favorite thing to eat!" she replied, smiling at him from across the table.
"Ah. Yuzu tells me that you were supposed to study with my punk son today-"
"Oh, yes, we were-there's this math test coming up in a few days, and I wanted to make sure that I was solving my equations right. But I haven't seen him since before school ended so I think he's out with Kuchiki-san and Ishida-kun right now..."
"You didn't go along?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh." She looked down, still smiling, but the curve of her lips wasn't so drastic now. "No, I probably wouldn't have been much help anyways." Isshin's brow furrowed slightly.
"What makes you say that?" She twiddled her thumbs slowly, still not looking up.
"Well...I'm not very um..." she seemed to be wondering what to explain that as without mentioning hollows or shinigami or-
"I'm sure you're selling yourself short." A large, warm hand was on her shoulder. Orihime looked up to find Isshin had moved his chair next to hers and was smiling at her warmly. She couldn't help but smile back, but her eyes were still sad.
"M-maybe. But, I...I don't think that...that I can really help all of them...I'm actually really useless...Not like Ishida-kun or Kuchiki-san or Sado-kun..." she'd turned her head down again, trying to hide a soft sniff. Isshin's smile faded a bit, and he lowered his head to look at her.

From underneath the cover of her hair, Orihime's grey eyes were filled with tears. Her pale cheeks were turning pink with the effort of holding in the crying and what he could only imagine was embarrassment; and her nose was already pink from the light sniffling she was doing.
"Inoue-" Her hands went to her face and she laughed quietly, pulling away.
"I-I'm so sorry Kurosaki-san, I-I-I shouldn't be doing something so silly, it's nothing, I'm fine! I'm fine." She had quickly wiped her tears and was waving her hands defensively, forcing a smile. "See? I'm fine!" The older man took her hands.
"Inoue, you shouldn't feel so useless. I'm sure they all need you, they're your friends. They probably just want to protect you." His face was in front of her own as he held her two hands in a strong grasp. "You're important to them, so they don't want you to get hurt. Fighting hollows is dangerous, and while they shouldn't just rush in alone, they just don't want you to get hurt either."

Momentarily Orihime forgot about her personal distress. Her watery eyes widened in disbelief.

"How...how did you know about..."
"Oh you could say I've known for...ah...a while." he grinned a small grin. "Ichigo's my son, after all, I can tell when it's him and when it's that Mod-Soul of his." Orihime was mystified. How did...and he knew about Kon...and the hollows...
"Kurosaki-san, you know about hollows and Kon-san?"
"Kon, is that his name?"
"Ah-!"
"It doesn't matter right now, but you shouldn't feel so bad, Inoue." Hesitantly, a large hand moved to push an errant tear off of the girl's cheek. Orihime's face got a brighter shade of pink, but it wasn't from crying anymore.

Looking now, Orihime realized that she'd never really looked at Ichigo's father before. Not...not up close, at least. She'd known him since she was young, but she hadn't ever spent much time with him. She knew him as the funny and silly father of Ichigo and doctor at the clinic. But right now he was just a man in a red shirt and black slacks who was comforting her while she was crying in his kitchen. Her eyes went over the contours of his face; wide jaw, strong nose and cheekbones, dark eyes that she knew had seen much more than they initially let on...she bit her lip absently, having to force her gaze back down.
However after her staring at him for nearly a minute, it wasn't as though the man in front of her hadn't noticed. The girl he was sitting with was much more pretty and grown than he'd remembered. Bright grey eyes framed with dark eyelashes, smooth, warm skin, a rather cute peach-colored pout...

There was a split-second in which the two were staring at one another before Orihime had looked away and Isshin had done the same, letting go of her hands. Moments later, they looked back up simultaneously.

"Ah-Kurosaki-san-"
"Inoue-san-"

A pause.

"N-No, you go first Kurosaki-san-"
"No no, go ahead Inoue, I insist." He nodded to her, recovering a smile, hoping the overall awkwardness of the moment would dissipate.
"I-I just wanted to...to say thank you...for being so nice. I'm...I'm sorry I've been such a bother...and after I haven't seen you in so long, and when I'm supposed to be studyi-" He silenced her.
"Inoue it's all right. You're not a bother, you're never a bother. A girl as sweet as you shouldn't cry, so cheer up." He tapped her chin with a thumb playfully. She did smile then, nodding and wiping her eyes again.
"Thank you Kurosaki-san." He nodded.
"It's no trouble Inoue-san." He leaned forward and put a hand on her shoulder again. "Just promise me you won't be thinking you're so useless anymore." He chided her good-naturedly, tousling her hair a bit. She laughed quietly and nodded again.
"I promise, Kurosaki-san." the next action took both of them by great surprise.

As if on a (( very )) sudden whim, Orihime leaned forward and placed a kiss on the older man's mouth; light, quick, chaste.

The girl practically jerked herself back, a hand over her mouth, blushing profusely, eyes wide. It seemed the male party was just as shocked, Isshin's eyes wide as he slowly blinked in shock, his body rigid.

'...Did she just...'

'...DID I JUST...'

One could have cut the tension with a knife.
Something in Isshin, however, seemed to say 'to hell with it', and he suddenly leaned forward in turn, and reciprocated her kiss, his lips on hers, pressing a bit more than she had.

Admittedly, her small lips were very soft and very warm, and he wanted to savor the feeling and even the taste of them.

Admittedly, his beard tickled her chin rather pleasantly and made her smile against his warm mouth.

Admittedly, she felt so delicate and soft when she moved closer.

Admittedly, his hard muscles that she could feel under his clothing when he embraced her made her feel safe.

Admittedly, this was probably not anything they ought to be doing.

But neither pulled away for a long moment.
Orihime had loved his son for a very long time.
Isshin had been married and still loved his deceased wife.
Something in the embrace and in the touches they were sharing now gave away what words didn't.

'I need someone to care for me...'

'I need someone to hold onto.'

'I need a warm embrace.'

'I need physical love.'

'I need validation.'

'I need to feel wanted, I need to feel needed.'

They broke the connection, but only for a moment to breathe, Orihime's arms wrapping around Isshin's neck to pull herself up, her fingers running through his short dark hair; Isshin pulling her close, holding her up, his hands roaming her back, fingers tangling in her long, soft hair.
Their lips met again, this time the kiss harder, deepening when Orihime almost timidly opened her mouth, a bright blush blossoming on her face, her fingers curling to almost tug at his hair. Isshin's arms tightened around her and the hand in her hair moved to hold her face close to his. She pulled away a second later to gasp for breath, face burning red, eyes clouded and half-closed, a small smile in place as she gazed up at Isshin, a hand moving to his cheek as she adjusted her seat in his lap - which she'd only just realized she was perched on. He smiled down at her in turn, taking her hand on his cheek in his own larger hand, pulling her in again for another kiss.

The heat between them, however, wasn't only body heat - and when Karin and Yuzu rushed in behind their older brother, it wasn't to split the two apart.

As Ichigo, who had just gotten home, stood in the kitchen doorway, face in an expression of utter disbelief, shock and horror, Isshin and Orihime stared back, their faces blank in shock, still in their rather intimate pose.

Orihime's prepared dinner hadn't stood a chance - the pot on the stove was belching out smoke as Yuzu and Karin tossed it into the sink and under cold water, having been completely forgotten.

...At least one of the evening's plans had gone accordingly.

A/N: ...I finally get around to writing more Bleachfic, and it's not even my OTP. XDD;

This fic(let) is for my lovely, lovely le_cuivre, who is a fan of this ship alongside myself. XD
I'm sure there's a TON of OOC in this; please don't hate me. ; ;

~Myoubi 3