Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters... unfortunately.
It wasn't often that a dream affected her this badly. In fact it was very rare. Usually upon waking her dreams were forgotten and she was fine. This dream however truly was a night terror. Images still fresh in her mind, Orihime Inoue slipped out of bed to make herself some tea. She moved quietly so as not to disturb her shinigami guests in the next room thankful for electric kettles that don't make a sound. Still feeling shaken after her tea she decided to go for a walk to calm her nerves. Leaving a note in case either of her guests woke up Orihime retrieved her pins then slipped on her shoes and a jacket before leaving the apartment locking the door behind her.
She walked leisurely through the park near her apartment enjoying the sounds of the night. It wasn't long however before she heard and felt something unnatural in the area. Knowing it was a hollow Orihime pulled her pins from her pocket and quickened her pace to find it in case a shinigami hadn't already sensed it. When she arrived on the scene there was no shinigami in sight and a large reptilian looking hollow was leaning over a small girls spirit as she cowered on the ground. Murmuring her incantation Orihime sent her shield to protect the spirit before instructing tsubaki to attack the hollow.
The screech it made upon impact had her ears ringing as it turned to her. She prepared herself for the attack already calling her fairies to her when something or rather someone stepped in slashing the hollow into two. Sighing in relief Orihime watched as a certain orange haired friend of hers approached the little girl and performed a konso on her. When the spirit disappeared he turned to her, face impassive.
"What are you doing out here at this time of night Orihime?"
Caught unawares with his question she blushed and waved her arms in front of her. "N-nothing! I- I was just going for a walk."
He frowned and approached her with a concerned expression. "Is everything okay? You're normally fast asleep by this time."
"I, I'm fine really Ichigo. I was about to head home when I felt the hollow and-"
"And decided to step in when you saw no one around."
"Y-yes."
"Come on, I'll walk you back to your apartment."
"Oh you don't need to do that Ichigo, really."
He smirked. "I know but who knows what kind of trouble you'll stumble into if I leave you alone."
She smiled back at him and giggled. "I guess I can be a little bit of a danger magnet sometimes."
"Not to mention you're clumsy and you get distracted easily when you're thinking."
"R-right."
They lapsed into a comfortable silence until Ichigo decided again to broach the subject of why she was out walking in the middle of the night.
"Orihime."
"Yes?"
"Why were you out in the park this late at night?"
"I, it's nothing. You shouldn't worry so much."
"You think I don't know when something has you worried or upset?"
"It was just a dream Ichigo. A silly dream."
"A silly dream that affected you enough to go outside in the middle of the night to walk around. It must have bothered you quite a bit to not be able to go back to sleep."
"It just rattled me a little, normally I don't remember my nightmares but this one was so detailed."
"Why is that?"
"Because it wasn't just a figment of my imagination it was a memory."
"A memory?"
Realising she had said too much Orihime slapped her hands to her mouth and directed her gaze to Ichigo to see if he had noticed. Taking in his concerned and slightly upset expression she knew he had noticed and was probably already blaming himself.
"It's not-"
"It's me isn't it? you were scared of me. A memory from when I lost control."
She shook her head. Stepping forward she bravely placed a hand over his chest where Ulquiorra had pierced him. "I was remembering when Ulquiorra killed you."
He closed his eyes with a pained expression. "I became a full hollow and hurt Uryuu. I don't even remember it. I could have hurt you Orihime."
Shaking her head again she locked her eyes on his. "You wouldn't have hurt me and I wasn't afraid of you. I was upset. You had died and I couldn't heal you but for some reason you hollowfied. I thought you had died." she felt the tears gathering but held them back knowing he would only feel worse if she cried.
"Sometimes, I see snippets of what I think was that night in my dreams. Hear voices. Your voice. I hear you screaming at me and I can see you crying. All I can think though is that I have to save you. That I have to take you home, back to Tatsuki. Back to school. Back to your apartment."
"You remember bits?"
He nodded and looked away from her. "All of that stuff but it's mostly you."
She nodded. "I was trying to heal you but it wouldn't work. I was crying and screaming. I couldn't handle it. I'd lost you and it hurt so much I couldn't stand it." her words were coming in whispers as she lost herself to the memory of that night, still so fresh in her mind.
Taking the hand she had placed against his chest in his he brought her back to the present. Her eyes found his and he frowned when he saw how watery her eyes were.
"I'm sorry."
"What are you sorry for? It wasn't your fault."
"You were hurting because of me. I don't like it when you cry."
She smiled. "It's okay. I'm okay. You're alive and everything is fine."
"But you're still hurting. Even now so long after hueco mundo, you still wake up in the middle of the night scared."
"Ichigo I'm fine. It only rattles me because in the first few seconds it's like I'm there again and you're gone." a blush spread across her cheeks as she continued. "It's the thought that you really are gone in those first few moments that affects me the most."
"You're scared of losing me?"
"Of course I am."
Feeling a light warmth in his own cheeks he briefly squeezed the hand that he still held in his own. Looking away he realised they had stopped walking in the middle of the street. Knowing they were closer to his own house than Orihime's he turned back to her.
"Did you want me to take you straight home?"
She cocked her head to the side in a way too cute manner as she frowned. "What do you mean Ichigo?"
Rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand Ichigo looked down the street before directing his gaze back to hers. "We're close to my house. Lost track of where we were going I guess. If you want we can stop for some tea if you still want to talk. We'll be out of the cold and you don't have to worry about waking Rangiku or Toshiro up. And if you get too tired you can always stay and I'll take you back in the morning."
Her blush darkened slightly but she smiled and nodded. "That sounds wonderful."
Nodding in response Ichigo led her through the streets to his house. When they were inside and he was back in his body they made their way downstairs to the kitchen where he made them some tea. When it was done they talked about her stay in Hueco Mundo and his journey to find her. They hadn't spoken about it before, preferring to keep their problems to themselves but now realised how much better talking about it really was. By the third yawn from Orihime Ichigo had had enough.
"Alright that's it. You're staying here tonight."
"What? But-"
"No buts Orihime that's the third time you've yawned in the last five minutes. You need to sleep. Come on you can have my bed and I'll take the couch."
"I can't take your bed. I'll sleep on the couch or go home. It's fine."
"No, you'll take my bed and that's final. I've slept on that couch more times than I can count and you need a bed to sleep in. I'll be fine on the couch, don't worry."
"If you're sure."
"I would rather have you sleep here and know you're safe then let you go home and run into trouble or not sleep."
"Okay but I'm not tired yet. Could we maybe just move to the lounge area so it's more comfortable?"
Smiling he nodded and rinsed out the cups they had used before leading her into the living room where they sat together on the couch. She sat closer than normal to stay warm and couldn't help the small smile when he didn't react to the new closeness. They continued to talk about more normal things or simply enjoyed the silence together. Vaguely in the back of his mind Ichigo thought that he should send her to bed before he fell asleep on her.
"ICHIGOOOO!"
Said man snapped awake and jumped up ready to defend himself against his psychotic father. What he wasn't expecting though was to hear a feminine squeak come from beside him then to be knocked off his feet. Dazed Ichigo found himself staring up at the ceiling until his father and sisters faces came into view.
"What the hell? I know you didn't get the drop on me old man."
Isshin chuckled then pointed to something beside him on the ground. When he realised it was a dazed and confused Orihime Ichigo jumped up before helping her off the ground.
"I'm sorry Orihime, are you alright?"
"I, I'm fine just a little dazed. I'm sorry I tripped you over."
"What?"
"When you jumped up I fell from the couch and knocked you over. I'm sorry."
His features softened at her nervous tone and he smiled. "It's fine Orihime." he turned to his family and glared at his father. "Did you have to wake us up like that?"
"My dear boy I was merely curious as to why my son was sleeping on the couch with a girl."
Ichigo felt himself blush a little as he scowled at his father. "She was walking around last night when I found her. We came back here and got to talking. She was going to sleep in my room and I was going to take the couch but we must have fallen asleep."
Isshin turned to Orihime with a concerned look on his face. "Why my dear were you walking around in the middle of the night?"
Blushing rather badly said girl dropped her gaze to the ground. "I, I had a nightmare and couldn't get back to sleep."
"Oh you poor thing! I hope my son was a gentlemen and treated you well in your emotional state." this comment got him a punch to the face from said son.
"Of course I treated her right you idiot!"
Orihime giggled as she watched them interact. "He was the perfect gentleman Mr Kurosaki. I wouldn't worry."
"Please Orihime how many times do I have to tell you, call me Isshin dear."
She smiled and nodded. Ichigo sighed and rubbed the back of his head. Trust Orihime to get along with his family and fit in faster than Rukia had, especially after being caught they way they had. He couldn't help the small smile as he watched his favourite girl interact with his family. His eyebrows furrowed slightly as he took hold of the thought about her being his favourite girl. Thinking back to their conversations the night before he couldn't help but think he had experienced those whispered thoughts that had wizzed past his mind during countless battles beforehand. Realising Orihime was looking at him in confusion he mentally shook his head and focused on her.
"Are you okay Ichigo?"
"Fine, just spaced out a little for a second sorry."
She giggled a little. "I think my habits are rubbing off on you. It's usually me away with the little blue and green men."
He chuckled. "Yeah."
"Orihime was just saying she should get back but we were trying to convince her to stay for breakfast." Yuzu chimed in explaining what he had missed.
Ichigo shrugged his shoulders. "We can stay if you want Orihime. Today's Saturday so there's no rush."
"But Ichigo I didn't bring my phone and Toshiro and Rangiku will worry."
"So call them from here and let them know you're alive and well then everyone will be fine. If you want to stay we can stay."
Yuzu took hold of Orihime's hand. "Please stay Orihime? It would be nice to sit and eat all together usually you all run off to do something important."
Looking into Yuzu's pleading eyes she felt her resolve crumble. Sighing she admitted her defeat. "Okay, I'll stay but I'll need to call Rangiku and let her know I'm okay."
Yuzu cheered and dragged Karin off to the kitchen, their father not far behind. Ichigo turned to his friend and smiled handing over his phone. "Here call Rangiku and let her know you're safe."
She thanked him before dialling the number. When the strawberry blonde picked up she seemed in a panic.
"Ichigo! Thank god you called. I was just about to call you. It's Orihime, she's missing! There's a note on the table saying she went out for a walk and she'd be back before dawn but she hasn't come back yet. Her bed is cold and her pins are gone!"
"Rangiku! Calm down it's me Orihime."
"Orihime? Thank god you're okay! I've been so worried about you! Wait caller ID said Ichigo. What are you doing on Ichigo's phone. Wait did you spend the night with Ichigo? Oh that's so cute! I can't believe you finally-"
"Rangiku! I'm fine. I went for a walk last night and ran into Ichigo. We ended up back at his house talking and we fell asleep. I just wanted to call to tell you I'll be home later on and to make yourselves at home there's food in the fridge and cupboards if you need it and there should be plenty of hot water."
"Yes, yes. We know. So you fell asleep. Where?"
"Huh?"
"Where did you two fall asleep?"
"On the couch."
"He didn't even let you in his room?"
Blushing furiously Orihime turned away from Ichigo to talk quietly into the phone though he could hear every word and was rapidly turning as red as she was.
"Rangiku! I'll talk to you later okay?"
"When are you coming home the Captain is being annoying."
"Later. Yuzu asked me to stay for breakfast so I'll be home after that."
"Oh a family meal!"
"Goodbye Rangiku."
"Make sure you behave yourself and make sure you do what I would do."
Squeaking she disconnected the call and handed the phone back to Ichigo.
"Th-thank you for letting me borrow your phone."
"N-no problem."
She turned at the stutter in his voice and realised he'd heard every word. "Ichigo, I'm so sorry about Rangiku she's just teasing, really."
"Y-yeah. Um will you be okay if I quickly run upstairs for a shower?"
She smiled at him. "I'll be fine Ichigo they're your family."
"That's what I'm worried about."
She giggle and gave him a little push towards the doorway. "I'll be fine. Really."
Nodding he left her in the living room to go shower. For a moment she merely let herself calm down from the conversation with Rangiku. When she got home she was going to have a long talk to her about it. When she realised she had been staring into space for some time she went into the kitchen and offered her help which was turned down immediately.
"Orihime you're a guest just sit down and drink some tea. It'll be ready soon. Where's Ichigo?"
"He went to take a shower. He'll be back soon."
Yuzu nodded then asked a question Orihime never expected. "What's going on between you and my brother?"
"E-excuse me?"
"Yuzu!" Karin gasped then shook her head.
"Sorry I didn't mean to sound so rude but it's just we're all curious."
"N-nothing, we're just friends."
Yuzu giggled. "You looked like more than that when we found you both this morning."
Orihime frowned. "What do you mean?"
"You were cuddled together in such a cute way we thought, well, we thought that you were more than friends."
Lost for words Orihime gaped at the younger girl for a moment until Yuzu spoke up cheerily.
"There you are Ichigo. Breakfast is almost ready."
Ichigo grunted in reply before frowning at Orihime's shell shocked expression. "Orihime? What happened?"
Unable to reply she merely blushed and dropped her head. Looking around the room he noticed Yuzu smiling and humming before settling his eyes on Karin in silent question. Karin sighed dramatically but answered any way.
"Yuzu freaked your girlfriend out."
Ichigo blushed. "She's not my girlfriend. Yuzu what did you say?"
"Nothing really, I just mentioned that you two were cuddled together this morning when we found you. I simply asked if you were more than friends."
"Yuzu! Orihime I'm sorry."
"I-it's okay." she looked up shyly and offered him a small smile.
Breakfast went on with an awkward air about it. Ichigo and Orihime rarely spoke unless spoken to first. Both lost in their own thoughts about the other to notice the knowing glances coming from Ichigo's family. When they were done Orihime offered to help clean up and was once again turned down.
"You know the sun's shining right now but the weather forecast rain today. Ichigo why don't you take our dear Orihime home so she can get changed and settle in before the rain. I'm sure her friends are missing her."
Ichigo nodded before turning to his friend. "Ready to go?"
She nodded back, blush still present as she followed him out the door. The walk to her house was silent and awkward. When they reached the half way point Ichigo sighed and stopped before turning to the healer beside him.
"I'm sorry about my family. Especially Yuzu. She shouldn't have said those things. They made you uncomfortable."
"It's okay really. She was just curious, they all were. Wouldn't you have questions if you were them?"
"Yeah, but I wouldn't ask them in front of you." She giggled quietly and he frowned in confusion. "What's so funny?"
"If that were Karin or Yuzu with a boy you would have reacted a lot worse than they did to us."
He scowled and looked away. "No I wouldn't."
"You're extremely protective of your sister's Ichigo. That's nothing to be ashamed of it would just be amusing as I'm sure we would need the help of your father to hold you back."
He blew out a breath and accepted the fact that she was right before saying something he immediately regretted afterwards.
"They're not the only ones I'm protective of." his gaze found hers and kept it. She blushed in return and looked away then looked back.
"Of course you're protective of your friends too. It's in your nature."
"Yeah."
They continued on making little bits of small talk but preferring the silence. Both teens were so involved with their own thoughts that they failed to notice they had already made it to Orihime's apartment building. By now Ichigo had come to terms with his albeit old feelings and Orihime had gathered some courage for what she was about to do. They climbed the stairs and once they were at her door Ichigo cleared his throat.
"You going to be okay?"
She smiled. "I'll be fine that dream doesn't come often."
"Good. If it happens again though. Call me. Or other dreams, I don't mind listening."
She stood on her tip toes and placed a feather light kiss to his lips before whispering. "Thank you. For last night and for the offer."
"You're welcome." he whispered back.
He watched her unlock her door and open it to go inside then turned to say goodbye but instead found his lips covering hers. They were warm and soft as they applied a light pressure to her own lips. She sighed through her nose and responded to his ministrations the best she could. When he pulled away her hands were on his chest and his were lightly gripping her elbows. He smiled at her cheesy smile and stepped back.
"I uh, I should get back but I'll see you later?"
"Toshiro and Rangiku are on duty tonight. Have you got any plans?" unsure why she said that she waited for his response.
"My family are having a night in. They're going to drive me crazy."
"You have the night off?"
"Yeah."
"W-well there's a movie marathon on tonight. Maybe, you'd like to come over and watch it with me? Some of the movies are scary."
He smirked and leaned in closer to her revelling in the fact that her breath hitched. "Sounds better than sitting with my family. Besides we can't have you getting nightmares again."
She bit her lip nervously as she looked up into his eyes. His smirk widened as he placed a light kiss to her cheek and stepped back. He backed away slowly as she watched him with a wide smile on her face.
"I-I'll see you tonight?"
"Yeah, I'll bring dinner with me."
She grinned as he disappeared down the stairs while she stepped inside her apartment. Her smile faltered however when she was met with a grinning Rangiku.
"Rangiku were you spying on me?"
The older woman's grin never fell as she approached Orihime. "You don't need to say anything Orihime. We'll get some snacks and make sure everything's ready for tonight. I'll make sure the Captain and I stay out all night too so you can have your time with Ichigo."
Orihime's blush intensified. "Rangiku, he's just coming over to watch a couple of movies and he'll go home afterwards. You don't have to stay out all night."
"Ah but we wouldn't want to scare him away when he's trying to protect you now would we?"
Orihime sighed and resigned herself to her friends ridiculous notions only hoping that the night ahead held promise for a nice evening alone where she could simply enjoy Ichigo's company.
He showed up at six thirty with take out from around the corner and greeted Rangiku and Toshiro on their way out. Unfortunately he was on the receiving end of Toshiro's curious stare and Rangiku's knowing smirks. Orihime apologised profusely once they were gone.
"It's fine Orihime. Really. You don't have to worry."
"But they were so rude and-"
"It's fine now let's eat and then sit down to watch these movies."
Blushing slightly she nodded and followed him to the kitchen so they could portion off the food. They ate in a comfortable silence stopping to chat on and off throughout the meal until they were finished. Together they washed and dried the dishes before settling in front of the TV. She sat a respectable distance away from him before she felt his arm go around her and pull her to his side. Looking up she found a blushing Ichigo watching the advertisements flash across the screen.
"Ichigo?"
He turned his gaze to her and smirked slightly. "I think we're past respectable distances to preserve our friendship Orihime."
Biting her lip she blushed a little as she snuggled in to his side. His hold on her tightened somewhat and he dropped a light kiss to her head as the first movie started.
For the rest of the night they stayed the way they were, cuddled together, watching movies. The later on it got the scarier the movies became and Orihime spent most of her time burying her face in Ichigos chest. As a commercial break started Ichigo chuckled.
"You can look now it's a commercial."
"Thank goodness, this one is really scary." she pouted.
"I don't get how this stuff scares you after everything you've seen."
She shrugged. "I don't know it just does. Thank you for being here."
Smiling Ichigo pulled her to him in a hug. "There's no where else I'd rather be right now."
Blushing she lent forward and pecked him on the lips. "Me either."
Enjoying the moment but unsatisfied with her retreat Ichigo lent forward as she pulled back to initiate another kiss. This one was longer, more passionate as each teenager moved their lips against one anothers. Her hands shyly moved up across his shoulders to the back of his neck while his slid down her back to her waist and hips. Hesitantly Ichigo swiped his tongue across her lips and was relieved when she opened her mouth to let him in. He felt her sigh in contentment as they moved in sync only pulling apart when they heard a noise outside.
Instantly Ichigo stood up and put Orihime behind him while he looked around and listened for anything out of the ordinary. As a last resort he felt around for reitsu and glared at the window when he did.
"Rangiku! Get out here now!" he growled.
A sheepish looking soul reaper pulled herself through the window and grinned at the now blushing teens.
"Hey there."
"What are you doing here apart from spying on us?"
"I just wanted to come check on you to see how your night was going. Orihime was so nervous but I see you're both fine so I'm going to go before the Captain figures out where I am and punishes me. Bye now."
Before either teen could get a word out the older female was gone leaving them staring after her. When she was out of sight Ichigo turned to Orihime.
"Maybe I should go. It's getting kind of late."
"Please don't leave because of Rangiku."
One look at her and his resolve to leave before things either got out of hand, or repeated last night, crumbled. "Okay, why don't we go back to the movie."
"Okay." However this time when they sat back down Orihime sat down on his lap straight away. "Is this okay?"
Smiling he dropped his close arm to her hip and lent back so she could get comfortable. "Yeah."
An hour later Ichigo rubbed his eyes as the credits for the last film of the night rolled across the screen. Looking down he noticed Orihime sound asleep against him and smiled. Hesitating a moment he decided to try waking her and getting her to get up herself. Very gently he shook her shoulder.
"Hey, wake up the movie's over."
She groaned quietly before opening her eyes and looking up at him in confusion. "Ichigo?"
"Yeah, come on let's get you to bed then I'll let myself out."
She pouted but nodded. Taking this as permission he lifted her into his arms as he stood up and carried her back to her bedroom. Very carefully he deposited her onto her bed and helped her under the covers. When she was comfortably tucked in she looked up at him and reached for him. Taking the hint he lent down and was pleasantly surprised when she kissed him sweetly.
"Thank you for coming around tonight. I really enjoyed spending time with you."
Smiling Ichigo lent forward. "Me too." he whispered before kissing her goodnight.
"Goodnight Ichigo." she whispered against his lips.
"Goodnight Orihime." he replied before standing up and locking the front door behind him as he left, hoping her dreams were sweeter tonight and less frightening. It didn't matter thoughbecause if they did turn bad he would be there for her.