(夏の夢)

Nighttime.

An apartment block.

An apartment.

A door.

The door to the apartment opened slightly and a head slowly popped out.

A head full of bright orange hair.

The owner of the colorful mane turned his head, first to the left and then to the right. As if checking if the coast was clear. When he has determined it was safe for him to leave, he gingerly stepped out of the apartment.

A girl followed him and stood behind him, waiting at the door.

The boy turned, he placed his calloused hand on her smooth flushed cheek, he smirked,

"I'll see you in school tomorrow, okay?"

She giggled softly and nodded.

He silenced her merriment with a kiss.

A short sweet chaste kiss.

He caressed her warm cheek before fingering the plump lips he has just kissed.

He smirked at the way they quivered under his rough fingers.

And then without another word, he walked off.

The blushing girl waited for her legs to listen to her before she almost ran to see him walking home.

She gazed tenderly upon his strong back.

"Goodnight." She whispered.

He must have sensed it for even though he could not hear something so soft, he lifted up a hand and gave a single wave.

But he did not turn around.

He just continued walking.

A contented little smile appeared on her beautiful face.

I love you.

(夏の夢)

"Ohayou, Kurosaki-kun." The perky princess greeted her pertinacious protector cheerfully the moment she came into the classroom.

And all she gotten was a nonchalant nod of acknowledgement.

"Morning, Orihime." Arisawa Tatsuki greeted her friend who was still staring at her orange-haired scowling crush with bewilderment.

"Orihime?"

Inoue Orihime roused herself from whatever daydream she was in and gave her best friend a sunny smile. "Ohayou, Tatsuki-chan. Oh, good morning, Ishida-kun." She greeted her classmate who has just entered the classroom.

Unlike the earlier response to her greeting, this one was filled with much more warmth and with the tiniest of smile on the usually stoic face, "Good morning, Inoue-san." Ishida Uryuu greeted his fellow sewing club member.

Orihime smiled back at him as he was going to his desk. Suddenly, as if remembering something, her thin arm reached out and her small hand halted his movement.

A pair of dark chocolate eyes narrowed at the touch.

"Inoue-san?" Ishida asked in puzzlement as the hand continued to be connected with his arm. He glanced at her hand.

Noticing the stare, Orihime quickly withdrawn her hand from his arm, "I am sorry, Ishida-kun. I just wanted to show you what I did for sewing club." Her hand was already rummaging through her school bag searching for the said object as she made her apology.

This time his hand touched her busy arm.

The witnessing pair of hard brown eyes narrowed even more.

"It's alright, Inoue-san. You can show it to me at the meeting. You should go back to your desk now. The teacher should be coming into class soon." Ishida advised.

Orihime gave a light thankful smile. "You are right, Ishida-kun. I will show you my incredible creation later." She jokingly stated.

Ishida gave her arm a light tap in acknowledgement before they separated to go to their individual desks.

They did not know they were the focus of everybody attention during their little exchange.

And her eyes did not once came in contact with the narrowed dark chocolate eyes as she walked to her desk.

(夏の夢)

Orihime giggled softly as she read the text message on her cellphone.

It was during lunch and she has told Tatsuki that she needed to use the bathroom before going back to class.

So now, she was in one of the cubicle and sitting on the toilet bowl cover.

She fondly read the message again before getting up from the 'throne'. Just as she was going to unlock the door, she heard a group of guffawing girls coming in.

Orihime decided against going out, just yet. For reasons unknown to the amiable princess, a lot of girls did not seem to like her very much. They gave her disdainful glares and made hurtful scornful insults about her. When she told Tatsuki about it, the second strongest girl in Japan told her to ignore the 'ugly jealous bitches'.

And she did.

But it was difficult for the tender-hearted princess to totally ignore the snide comments.

She would grin and bear with it but at night, alone in her apartment, she would think about it and always, the unshed tears will sting her eyes, then they will escape, cascaded down her cheeks and wet her pillow.

"So, tonight it's your turn to go on a date with Ichigo."

Orihime's ears perked up when she heard the name. 'Ichigo?' She did not know there was another of that name in their school.

"Wow. One date and it's already Ichigo."

"Me too."

"Me as well."

"Not only did I get to call him by his first name but I also got to hold his hand."

Envious sighs and mutterings were heard.

"What happened?"

"Well..."

"Don't tease, tell us now."

"After the movie,"

"He brought you to a movie on your first date, did he try anything?"

"We just hang out at the mall."

"A fast-food restaurant for me."

"Shut up and let her continue!"

"No. As much as I wanted, he didn't do anything. In fact, it was I who grabbed his arm as he was seeing me home. He looked at me funny and then he said in that deep low sexy voice of his, would I rather hold his hand. What did you think? Of course, I did."

Squeals of jealousy.

Orihime's heart started to pound furiously.

'This cannot be the same Kurosaki-kun they are talking about.'

"Has any of your guys kiss him yet?"

Orihime heard negative answers.

"Ha! I thought so. Tonight, after our date, I will be the first among us to kiss him."

"You hussy."

"You all have your chances. Now I will show you how a real woman gets her man."

"It's funny how all of us have only been on one date with him."

"I wonder if he is picking the 'one'."

"Or 'cherry-picking'?"

"Don't you mean 'strawberry'?"

Orihime's frantically throbbing heart skipped a beat.

"Well, someone going to be disappointed because my 'cherry' has already been 'picked'."

Hysterical laughter.

The pure princess was perplexed.

'Cherry?' 'Picked?' What did it all meant?

"Do you think he's testing the water before asking the 'idol' out?"

"I thought they were friends?"

"Who cares? After tonight, he will be mine."

"Wow!"

"But who would have thought the orange-haired scowling delinquent punk could turn out to be quite the hottie."

Orihime's grasp of shock was thankfully silenced by her small hand pressing hard against her mouth.

'It cannot be true. It can't be real.' Her mind kept denying what she has heard, but her heart, oh her thundering heart thought otherwise.

"If you all are nice to me, I'll disclose all about my date with Ichigo-kun to you tomorrow."

"Better bring a rubber,"

"Or two,"

"Or three."

And they were out of the toilet, in loud boisterous laughter as they did.

Orihime slumped back onto the toilet seat cover.

Her mind and heart desperately did not want to believe what she has just heard.

But...

How many 'Ichigo', orange-haired scowling delinquent punk did she know.

She wanted to know.

She needed to know if this was the same Kurosaki-kun, 'Ichigo' they were speaking about.

She looked at her cellphone.

She typed a short text message.

She was afraid for the reply as she sent the text message.

She waited.

The cellphone beeped, signaling a response.

Orihime was startled, even though she was expecting a response.

She read the message.

And...

her heart shattered into a million pieces to join the tears that came raining down her cheeks.

(夏の夢)