Author's Note: Hi all! I'm reiatsus and this is my first story. Although I've written before for FanFiction (I'm not too new to this site), this is my first story for the Bleach fandom! Which I'm pretty excited about, haha. This story, as you probably noticed, is an IchiHime one (I love the pairing way too much for my own good haha). This story is most likely going to be a series of fluffy one-shots that are meant to be side stories in the Bleach universe. Meaning that this story will pretty much stick to the anime/manga, more or less! My goal is to try to create a believable IchiHime romance using what the anime and manga have given us so far. Really, all I want is to create canon IchiHime. XP

Writing isn't my forte (still sorta learning how to string a good story together), so bear with me while you're reading this! I would love some feedback if you're reading this and come across anything you can point out. :)

Anyway, thank you so much for taking the time to click the link to this story! Whether you like it or not, I will unconditionally love you for it haha. :3 Without further ado, here's the first oneshot in this series! Hope you enjoy! :)

If someone said three years from now
You'd be long gone
I'd stand up and punch them out
Who Knew, Pink

1/Broken Promises

He could sense that it was about to rain long before he heard the pitter-patter of the droplets atop the roof. In fact, he knew it even before he saw the dark, otherworldly clouds looming across the Karakura Town horizon. It was just something he had always been acutely aware of. Hours - sometimes even days - before the storm he would feel the humidity surrounding him, suffocating him as if something overbearing was in his way. The feeling was always so heartbreakingly similar to that day, so familiar that he felt himself wanting to cry along with the skies. But he had made a promise to himself, long ago, that he wouldn't cry anymore.

He refused to be weak and powerless.

Ichigo climbed onto the couch that sat nearest to a window, using its back to place his elbows comfortably. He watched the droplets hit the window pane and slowly trickle down until they reached the bottom edge. He knew his father hated it when he did this. The crazy old man always told him to get up off his ass and start acting like a "kid" instead of "moping around every single day", whatever that meant. Twelve-year-old Ichigo didn't understand why it wasn't okay to be a little serious from time to time. He knew most kids his age were hyperactive, incredibly cheerful and slightly insane. Ichigo made a face and watched his reflection in the window do the same. He felt a smile tugging at the corners of his lips as he noticed how similar this face was to his dad's. The eldest Kurosaki was a weird one, that was for sure.

He was still making the face when he saw something in the streets behind his reflection. The glare against the window was making it incredibly hard for him to focus on what it was, so he pressed his face up to the window, using his hands to shield his eyes from the light. What he saw made his heart stop.

It was her fiery hair that had caught his attention; auburn locks that were not unlike his own. It was just slightly longer, though, and hung in loose wet ringlets at the sides of her face. Some of the strands were plastered to her cheek, although she didn't seem to care. In fact, she wasn't concerned about being in the downpour at all. Her stormy eyes were wide and frantic. Somehow, however, they held an air of determination. Ichigo's own eyes examined her carefully. He could see that her petite form was slightly hunched over, supporting something that she was clinging onto tightly and that was mostly around her shoulders.

A man.

He was incredibly pale and appeared to be in rough shape, coughing and barely able to stand from being on the verge of unconsciousness. The girl was practically dragging him along, her will the only thing that kept them stumbling forwards. But they were both fighting a losing battle; with a sickening thud, the man dropped to his knees, pulling the young girl with him, just mere steps away from Ichigo's house. Although she landed face first in a nearby puddle, she simply got up without worrying about her own injuries. Her body rocked as she began yelling muffled words and trying to startle him awake.

Her cries were in vain.

Ichigo moved without thinking, hurtling to the door and throwing it open, allowing a ray of light to shine on the pair. The girl looked up momentarily, her face streaked with rain and tears. Tiredly, she gave him a smile that didn't reach her cloudy eyes. She then went back to the man before her, repeating the then muffled words that Ichigo hadn't heard through the window.

"Onii-chan!"

The approaching footsteps of his father were lost upon his ears. There was only one thing that resonated within him.

"Mom!" She was still. Incredibly, startlingly still. "Mom, wake up!"

He felt his blood run cold. The humid summer air pressed against him from all sides. He couldn't move.

"Ichigo!" Kurosaki Isshin's thundering voice managed to break the trance that had ensnared his son, although he didn't quite turn; he twitched. He was unable to take his eyes away from the two before him. "My stupid son! What are you–" Ichigo heard the footsteps approach faster when he didn't respond. His brown eyes mimicked Ichigo's when he saw what had happened; he, too, stopped and stared at the scene before him. Something appeared to register, for his expression darkened. But unlike Ichigo, who remained frozen to the spot, he was already drenched in the rain, kneeling before the crying girl and her older brother within seconds. Ichigo was just barely aware of the subtle change in his mood from goofy and overbearing to the picture of seriousness. It had struck a chord with him, too.

Move, he pleaded silently, willing his legs to take a step forward. It was the same. Exactly the same. He was powerless to do anything. Move, please.

"Ichigo," It was his father once again, but this time it had a soft undertone to it. He met his father's steady gaze with one of his own. He had brought the girl's brother into the veranda to escape the rain but he needed to be indoors, inside the clinic, to do as much as possible for him. While calm, his expression seemed slightly strained, probably both emotional from the sight of the pair as well as physical from carrying the man. "Do you think you could–"

"I...I can help dad!" Ichigo blurted out, bunching his hands into fists. He wouldn't be helpless.

"Ah," His dad seemed at a loss for words for a moment, which was surprising considering his normal demeanor. "Why don't you take..." His voice drifted off as he looked down to the girl beside him, hoping to get her name.

"Inoue Orihime," she supplied in a thin voice. She was wiping the water off of her face halfheartedly, rubbing her eyes of the tears that were coming so endlessly to her. But despite that, Ichigo could see that she was making an obvious effort to stay strong. Something inside him shifted.

"Take Orihime-chan inside while I look at her brother, Ichigo."

Ichigo looked at his at his father quizzically. He had meant he wanted to help in the clinic. Even if he couldn't do much, even if it was just handing him medicines, it was at least something...

But before he could question the decision, his father had disappeared into the house, leaving him and the girl alone on the porch. Ichigo sighed, and glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes. She was sopping wet, water dripping off the strands of her hair, her school uniform, and her face and hands. She was shivering slightly, but she didn't seem to notice it. She wasn't even paying much attention to Ichigo either, just staring blindly into space at an object that seemed to be behind him. Ichigo frowned, looking at how lost she was. He had wanted to help in a more direct way, but he figured that maybe taking care of her would be just as useful. In her state, she probably wouldn't last by herself for any more than a few hours.

"Your name is Inoue, right?"

The girl was snapped out of her daze, immediately losing the faraway look. Her silver eyes blinked a few times, finally focussing on him as if registering his presence for the first time. Ichigo shifted uncomfortably under the attention; he wasn't used to such a searching gaze. But he let her have a few moments and watched her patiently, waiting for her to react to his question.

"Eh?"

"Inoue?" He simply asked her name this time and skipped the entire question. He partly wanted to ask her name again and partly wanted to bring her back to reality by referring to her without the honorific. He continued to look at her.

"O-oh!" She finally stammered, her delicate gaze shifting downwards towards her shoes, which, by the looks of it, were also drenched. He saw her fidget slightly, bringing her hands in front of her and clasping them so tightly together that the knuckles turned white. She was tense, over her brother no doubt. "Y-yes," she murmured in a voice that Ichigo had to strain to hear over the rain, "Inoue Orihime."

"I was right then," he tried to smile at her but her face appeared to be permanently fixated on the ground. He furrowed his brows again, looking at her up and down. He couldn't see much of her face anymore, but of what he could see he could tell that she was extremely red. Not to mention that she was still shivering and dripping all over the place. And even though she was trying to shrink herself into oblivion, Ichigo knew that was the absolute worst thing to do. The fact that she was on the verge of getting sick made it no better. "Hey, Inoue," He started, knowing full well that he wasn't good with talking to people, let alone girls, He just didn't want to see her cry. He scratched his head sheepishly when she raised her head, a surprised look on her face. "You had better come in. The old man would kill me if I left you out here!"

He threw her a grin, hoping that this time she would see it and be somewhat comforted. Instead, the girl, although still somewhat dazed, became impossibly darker and flustered. She raised her hands, flailing them in front of his face in such a way that he was forced to stumble backwards further than he already was, a good three feet from where Orihime stood.

"N-no! That's okay, I wouldn't want to be a burden!" She laughed nervously, her smoky eyes crinkling as they did so. Ichigo's eyes narrowed as she continued to laugh and wave her arms about, mumbling something about how yes, she would be fine on the porch because she was a big girl and knew how to cook by herself and was perfectly capable of keeping herself company. And how no, she wouldn't come in since she didn't want to make the whole house wet because it looked like a perfectly lovely home.

"Shut up!" There was only so long he could listen to her excuses; he wasn't a particularly patient person. And so he cut her off, eyeing her with a tired look. "You talk way too much." Orihime immediately stopped laughing, her mouth curving slightly downwards so that she was only partly frowning. He could tell she was on the verge of more tears, but she played it off as though it was nothing more than a slight hindrance that he told her to stop talking.

"S-sorry," she replied softly, "I tend to do that sometimes..."

Immediately he felt a pang of guilt.

"I-I didn't mean it like that!" He blurted out, startling Orihime at his outburst. He berated himself inwardly when he saw the look on her face. Why couldn't he talk like a normal person? "I meant that you should just stop making excuses and come inside, because I'm sure as hell not letting you stay out here!"

He saw her face change from surprised to understanding, as well as something in between those two. Amusement? He wanted to shake his head but refrained from doing so; he didn't want to look like more of an idiot. Besides, it probably wasn't amusement. She didn't seem the type to make fun of others. He continued to frown at her.

"O-okay. Sorry," she murmured, again in that thin sing-song voice. "Thank you very much for your hospitality."

He crossed his arms and let out a huff. "Don't mention it." He sighed, placing his hands on the back of his head. She just smiled, a smile that was slightly happier than before, and linked her hands behind her. There was something about her that Ichigo couldn't put his finger on. Some sort of quality that she had which vaguely reminded him of one person...

He shook the thoughts out of his head and gave her another tired look. She still appeared a little uncomfortable around him; she was fidgeting this way and that twiddling her thumbs and staring determinedly at the ground below her. Ichigo found himself becoming more impatient by the second. "Well?"

Big gray eyes found him again. "Hmm?"

"You said you would go inside," he said, trying his hardest not to get annoyed and just barely doing so. He pointed to the door, letting out a grunt. "For the love of...just go inside, okay?"

"O-oh, sorry,"

"And stop saying sorry, it's getting annoying! You don't have anything to be sorry for!"

"So—" she began, but stopped herself when he gave her a sharp look. She promptly bit her tongue. Smart girl. "R-right."

Ichigo moved to the door and held it open, motioning her to go inside quickly. She flushed in response, muttering a soft "Thank you" before scuttling through the doorway and into the Kurosaki home. He then stepped in as well, closing the door behind him and letting out what seemed like the millionth sigh in fifteen minutes. This whole situation - no, the girl as well - was putting an odd strain on him. He felt different, not the cold, serious kid he had trained himself to be. He felt like he was channelling his dad's goofy inner spirit.

He shuddered.

Orihime didn't seem to notice his odd reaction. She had moved (quite conveniently) onto a mat in the kitchen, trying not to drip on the linoleum floor. She was staring in the direction of where the clinic was, that lost expression finding its way to her once again. She clasped her hands tightly to her chest when she heard the sound of scraping metal.

"Inoue," He saw her whip her head in the direction of his voice, causing small droplets of water from her hair to splay in different directions. One hit him in the face. "You don't have to stand, you know. You can sit down." He wiped the stray water droplet off of his cheek, where it had landed, and nodded in the direction of the kitchen table. He pulled open a nearby door and walked in, pulling out one of his freshly-washed towels. He closed the door behind him and tossed her the towel. "Here, use this," She caught it awkwardly and fumbled with the wrinkled blue cloth, all the while eyeing it carefully. "It's clean, I swear, it's just no one in this house has the time to fold them...or wants to fold them..." Ichigo ran a hand through her hair sheepishly and watched as she smiled slightly.

"O-oh! Oh, no, it's not that..." she bit her lip, obviously thinking something through in her head. He waited for her to finish the thought. "It's just...u-um, may I ask you your name?"

He blinked at her. His father had mentioned it before, hadn't he? Although, he probably shouldn't have expected her to catch it while she was so wound up. "Did I not say it before?" She shook her head. "Ah. Sorry. Kurosaki Ichigo,"

"Pleased to meet you," she mumbled, becoming more and more flushed by the minute. "You are...you are a very kind person, Kurosaki-kun,"

"Just for the towel? You're sopping wet, anyone would do that,"

The redhead shook her head furiously, and Ichigo gave her a questioning look. She waved her free hand at him apologetically, closing her eyes and laughing nervously. "N-no, it's nothing! Heh…"

"Okay then," Ichigo replied, sauntering over to the kitchen table. He pulled out a chair and then walked to the opposite chair and plopped himself down. He laid his head over his arms and looked over to her, trying his hardest to put on a threatening expression. If pleading didn't work, maybe being threatening would. That's how he preferred to do things, anyway. Although he was slightly hesitant this time around. "Sit down. And don't you dare say anything about making the place wet. I don't want to hear it."

Orihime didn't look phased but stumbled to the other chair willingly, clutching the towel to herself as she did so.

"That's...that's clever..." she mumbled, looking at his extended arm. He looked up slightly and followed her line of sight to the symbol on his long-sleeved shirt. "15," she murmured. "One and five. Ichi and go. Ichigo."

"Oh yeah, I think it's pretty cool. My name can be spelt with letters and numbers," he gave her a grin and proceeded to watch with fascination as her face began to get red again. It was a little funny.

"Did...did your father give you that name?" Orihime asked timidly, her face fixed on her lap. "He seems very kind as well,"

"That old man? He's as stupid as a brick wall, I doubt he would've thought of a name like that," he scoffed. Of course, with the way he acted just now, the girl would have obviously thought he was a normal person. But of all the things Kurosaki Isshin was, normal was not one of them.

Kind was also not on that list. At least to Ichigo, anyways.

The sound of laughter brought Ichigo out of his thoughts, and his gaze drifted to Orihime, who was doing her best not to chuckle too loudly. And while the laughter was subdued, Ichigo immediately felt the aura of discomfort disappear. When she was depressed, it seemed like everything became heavy. He could tell that she probably wasn't one to be sad that often. It clearly didn't suit her.

"So...so was it your mother then? Who gave you that name?"

The thought was enough to break the mood, at least for him. His face darkened slightly as the one thing he was trying to avoid thinking about rushed back to him. It was so hard not to; there wasn't one day that passed that he didn't think about his mom. Something always triggered his memories of her; the smell of freshly brewed coffee in the morning, the lilac bushes at the far corners of the park, a flowing yellow sun dress, even this girl, who was similar to his mom in an intangible way. He couldn't put his finger on it.

He knew his expression had changed considerably by the worried look reflected on her delicate features. "Kurosaki-kun?"

"Sorry! It's nothing, it's nothing!" he laughed nervously, trying to hide the fact that he was hurting a little. "I think it was! Your name sounds nice too, you know! Did your mom choose your name?"

Orihime noticed the quick change of subject and didn't pry. Instead, she somewhat blushed, cocked her head to one side and looked at him thoughtfully. "I...I suppose so!"

"You...suppose so?" Her choice of words had him confused. He wanted to inquire further but a thought struck his mind. "Oh, right! Do you want to let your parents know where you are? You could use the phone,"

She simply looked down at her lap anxiously, clutching the fabric of her blue school uniform between her fingers, and shook her head. Again, Ichigo was slightly puzzled. He had figured that her parents would have wanted to be there not only to support their son, but her as well. After all, she had just been through a traumatic event. And it was almost natural for a kid to want their parents; Ichigo knew that as well as anyone else, as much as he hated to admit it. He pursed his lips slightly. Yes, Orihime should have wanted her parents. So why didn't she want to call them?

He wanted to ask her, but he stopped when he saw her throw another one of her fake smiles. Although she was trying to cover it up, she was doing a terrible job of doing so. He could see tears glistening at the corners of her eyes, threatening to fall. There was another pang of guilt, and worse, a wave of nostalgia.

"It's silly, really," she laughed slightly, wiping the drops from her eyes before they could fall. "I'm so silly! I don't...I don't really have parents! Onii-chan is all I need!"

He looked across the table, a lump in his throat. He didn't know what to say. He had never been good with words. And now, it seemed that he wasn't very good with actions, either. Who caused a girl to get upset twice within a half hour? "Inoue..."

All he knew at the moment was that he really, really didn't want to cry. He had promised it to himself. He had promised.

He didn't have time to say or do anything, though, as the door to the clinic burst open and his hurried father bounded into the room. "Orihime-chan," he started, and by the look on his face, Ichigo felt his insides churn. "I've patched up as much as I can, but we need to get him to the main hospital. Unfortunately, we don't have the equipment needed to take care of the bigger issues. I paged an ambulance now, they should be here soon..."

At first she was still, her mouth shaped in an 'O' as she tried to understand what he was saying. Then the panic hit her again, a panic much greater than what he had seen outside just minutes ago. Ichigo's heart leapt too, especially when he saw her silver eyes widen and that all-too familiar look of desperation cross her face. "I-I need to see him," she finally whispered. She raised her voice. It trembled uncontrollably. "I-I need to s-see Sora,"

"O-oh, sure," his father stuttered as he looked at Orihime a little sadly. "But..." As the voice of his father drifted unsteadily away, Ichigo felt a shiver go down his spine.

"Onii-chan!"

"I-Inoue!" Ichigo cried, reaching out in her direction as the girl bolted out of her seat. He watched as she ran to the side door and pushed through it, her frantic cries getting louder and louder even though she, herself, was getting farther and farther. His father was hot on her heels, disappearing into the clinic and leaving Ichigo to himself. He gazed as the door swung back and forth, his hand still raised from trying to catch her. How...how had this happened? How did someone like her...have nothing now?

It was unfathomable. She was untouchable and out of his reach. He didn't have control over anything.

He was still powerless.

For the first time in three years, Ichigo cried.

The end of the first chapter! Hope you guys liked this somewhat angsty oneshot. What I think could have happened when Orihime and Ichigo met all those years ago. :) Hope you guys enjoyed! Let me know in a review what you thought of it, if you have the time! Thanks guys, and until next time... :)
-reiatsus