Chapter 1

Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!

Orihime walked slowly around the hallway corner, her feet landing soundlessly on the bright linoleum floor, her head held up high as she approached her destination, her face set in determination. Today was the day, the beginning or the end of something she wasn't too sure but a big piece of her no longer cared, she just wanted inner piece.

She felt like a new woman these days, an actual woman. She of course still loved her sweets her TV shows and her crazy concoctions but she also wanted the weight in her chest to disappear, and she knew this weight was there because of her own weakness, her own neglect to it, to try and do something to get rid of it. Well today that would change.

She stood in front of the school library door for a few minutes, there was no going back from this, Kami she didn't want to whimp out but she could feel her heart trying to leap out of her throat. This was for her benefit, she heard Tatsuki's voice in her head cheering her on and smiled to herself before she slid the door open.

The room was brightly lit, there were still a couple of students sitting on the computers working on their homework or projects, and even a couple just lounging reading some manga, more people than she would have expected considering school had been out for almost two hours.

She looked around and smiled to herself when she caught sight of Keigo, his arms were splayed in front of him and his head was face down on the table, Orihime could almost hear his snores. Beside him sat the man she was looking for, his back was to her and she was thankful for that, she needed time to prepare for this. His bright orange hair was stuck up in every direction and she could almost picture him running his hand through it in frustration. Ichigo, as smart as he was, hated studying, she knew this from Tatsuki who would sometimes have to go over material with him and witnessed first hand his infuriation.

She took a deep breath to calm herself before walking up to him and lightly tapping him on the shoulder. His pencil nearly snapped in his hand before he turned to her, a fire behind his brown eyes she'd seen many times during his fights, it was gone a second after and a small smile came to his lips. Orihime had to swallow past the lump in her throat, the libraries lighting coupled with the suns setting rays coming in from the near by window made him look even more attractive than he already was, if that was even possible.

"Inoue?" he said surprised "What's up?"

"Um, hi," she whispered before clearing her throat, she could do this! "Can I speak with you? Outside please?" she said, looking around to make sure no one was staring at them, her cheeks were already flushed, and all she'd done was say hello!

"Sure," Ichigo said slightly confused but standing regardless. She backed away from him so as to not slam into him, she knew her head was harder than normal, maybe it was all the bean paste, beans do have Iron after all, and iron is good for bones so her skull must be extra strong, or was that Calcium? It had to be calcium, well she did drink lots of milk.

"Inoue." Ichigo said and she blushed, had he asked her something? Darn her wandering mind! "Is everything alright? Your reaitsu is different than usual, what's wrong?"

She stared at him slightly surprised, for him to have noticed something like that, when he wasn't exactly good at pinpointing reaitsu, it made her heart skip a beat.

"Nothing's wrong." she said taking a deep breath once they were out in the hallway. She made sure to keep an eye on her surroundings, but the hall was empty. Ichigo stood against the wall, his foot propped up behind him and his hands in his pocket as he waited for her to say whatever she'd taken him out there to say. Not that he minded, he was in the middle of a difficult English assignment, and trying to ignore his hollow at the same time when she'd shown up.

"Ok, here goes." he heard her whisper mostly to herself he was sure but it caught his attention.

"Kurosaki-kun." she said looking up at him suddenly and Ichigo had to swallow, his foot was back on the floor instantly and his attention was all hers. There was something in her eyes he'd never seen before, and the orange setting sun behind her coupled with her bright hair seemed to almost give her a halo of fire.

She licked her lips to speak and his eyes followed her tongue, lingering on her pink lips for a second longer than they should have. What the hell?

"I know it's very sudden, and I completely understand if you don't feel the same or if you hate me and never want to talk to me afterwards but I just, I had to. I'm sorry." she said so quick Ichigo almost missed it.

What he didn't and couldn't miss was the step she took forward, her hands suddenly on his face as she pulled his head down to hers, her lips crashing over his in an instant. It was quick, done just as quickly as it'd begun, and she was suddenly pulling away, her cheeks a deep red as her eyes darted up to his. Almost as if by instinct his tongue darted out to lick his lips, and he saw her eyes follow before she pulled him back in for another kiss, this one he expected and everything in him told him to react.

His hands came to her hips, pulling her flush against him and causing her to gasp, an opportunity he used to run his tongue over her lips and into her mouth. She tasted sweet, like vanilla and cinnamon sugar, it was surprising but so Orihime.

He bit into her lip as he pressed her into the wall and she moaned deep in her throat, her hands, which she'd run through his hair, pulled on a few strands as her nails scrapped his scalp and he growled into her mouth.

The need for air soon overtook them both and they parted, yet neither released their hold on the other. Orihime's hands fell from his head to his shoulders and his hands remained on her hips, although lightly, he belatedly realized he'd been squeezing her to him harder than he intended.

He rested his forehead against hers, trying desperately to regain his breath, his heart at his throat making it much more difficult. What the hell had just happened? He opened his eyes to see Orihime's closed as she tried to regain her breath as well, her long lashes over her rosy cheeks. She really was beautiful, he'd known this, he'd always known this, he'd just never seen her this way, never thought she'd see him that way. Orihime Inoue and Ichigo Kurosaki were two completely different people, they were like opposite poles. How could she ever like him? What could she ever see in him?

"No way!" Keigo's bombing voice came from beside them suddenly, startling them apart. "What did I just see! The Goddess of Karakura and my best fri-" Ichigo's fist reached Keigo's mouth at the same time Orihime turned away from the two, her feet carrying her away as quick as her shaky knees could.

"Inoue!" Ichigo's voice called after her to no avail as she turned the corner and dashed out of the building.

Ichigo looked down at Keigo, the thin line of blood coming out of his nose doing nothing to satiate the sudden thirst he had for his blood. This idiot ruined everything! He looked back out the window, catching a slight glimpse of orange hair and grunted bending down to pick the idiot up. He wouldn't run after her, God as much as he wanted to he needed time to think about this, about what she'd said before it all. He'd kissed her back, he'd wanted to with everything that was in him, so did that mean he liked her too? Fuck, he wasn't good with feelings!

Orihime ran as fast as she could until she was far away enough from the library to catch a breath. She'd done it! She'd kissed him, and he'd kissed her back! Oh what did that mean! His lips were so soft yet his hands had been so rough on her hips she was sure she'd have bruises by tomorrow.

She ran her tongue over her lips and couldn't help the smile that came to her. She had really done it.

She tried to refrain from skipping home, tried not to think about what would happen now, instead she focused on the slight ache on her hips, that constant reminder that he'd wanted to touch her, she focused on the thought of his tongue running over hers, and his groan when she'd pulled his hair.

She was happy; terrified of what was to come after this, but in that moment she was just happy.

A.N: What is up my Ichihime people! Alright so I know I have been lost for a very long time but I am back and with a vengeance! Finally got a laptop (thank you stepdad) finally fixed the laptop (damn charger) and FINALLY got over my Ichihime writers block! Anywho, hope you guys liked this, I wanted to do a story where Orihime takes the initiative to approach Ichigo without someone having to force her in to it and this came to mind. So we'll see what happens after this! Constructive criticism is always welcome by the way! Review?