Ichigo hissed as a hollow stabbed him from behind. It's long sword-like arm punctured right through his shoulder 'I hope Orihime is still awake'. He put his sword over his shoulder "Getsuga tensho" the hollow was blasted away, along with half the street
"That was way overkill!" Rukia's voice rang out. "Did you not see what that bastard did to my shoulder!" he shouted back. "Ugh! You are so hopeless!" she kicked him in the shin. "You little brat!" he yelled "I-" he stopped short as he felt a familiar reishi flare. Rukia frowned, looking towards the source. "Do you want to- hey!" She watched Ichigo as he ran back to his body and slipped in, crying out in pain. 'Crap! I forgot how painful wounds are when I get back in this stupid body!' He got his cell phone out of his pocket and hit speed dial just as he felt the reishi calm again. Rukia shrugged and made her way back to Urahara's, not sensing any danger.
'Come on pick up' he frowned at the third ring. Then the line clicked "H-hello?" 'she sounds….so scared' "Orihime? It's Ichigo. You alright?" "Yes! Of course, I'm totally fine! Why do you ask?" she said, her voice portraying happiness, but he could hear the pain it was hiding. "Even I felt your reishi. Don't bull- er, don't lie to me." He was halfway to her apartment already. His arm was burning "Oh don't worry about me! I just had a dream about killing a hollow is all. I'm fine." 'I'll figure it out when I get there and can see her reactions' he decided "Orihime, I hate to be aggravating, but I got surprised by a hollow….do you….do you have some energy to spare on me? If you're tired I can just get dad to do it so don't worry." He looked up at her apartment building.
"I always have energy! I'm like a solar powered light, I'll never go out!" she assured him quickly "besides, I can feel your spiritual pressure right outside." He chuckled "right, forgot I'm the only one who completely sucks at that." She giggled as he climbed the stairs "crap" he muttered "what is it?" she wondered "I'm getting blood everywhere, damn it" he lifted off his shirt and pressed it to the wound. "Well, that's a bit better" he mumbled, forgetting Orihime was listening in. "Are you okay?" she asked worriedly "Oh I'll be fine! I didn't mean to freak you out, sorry."
He stepped up to her door and it opened, revealing Orihime with her phone in her hand and a pretty turquoise night dress on. "You're in your body?! Come in, quick!" she ushered him in, closing the door behind him. He tucked his phone into his pocket, turning at her gasp. "There really is blood all over you" he grimaced "I know, sorry" "What happened?" he looked up at her tear-stained cheeks.
'I knew it. Something's up. She hasn't been the same since Hueco Mundo….' "It was really stupid actually, got hit by one behind my back." He admitted "Wish I had your reishi sensing skills. He wouldn't have caught me off guard." She blushed prettily at that, gently pulling his t-shirt away, crying out softly at the wound.
"Don't….be so upset. Please." He couldn't explain why, but he knew he wanted her to be happy. "If it bothers you I'll go to dad next time" he offered as she put her shield around him. "No! No, no, don't do that. I can heal you so much faster! You won't be in pain as long…" her eyes saddened even more as she sat next to him. The orange glow reminded him of something. "Orihime….I…I want to talk with you about something. Do you mind?" he watched as the blood slowly disappeared from his shirt. "N-no. What did you want to talk about?" she asked nervously.
"Well….in Hueco Mundo…I was inside your shield, just like this, and…I discovered…." He put his hand up to get out of the shield, and it burned him, keeping him in. Orihime's eyes widened "Does that happen for everyone?" he asked softly. She shook her head "no, I've never seen it do that before." He couldn't meet her eyes "is it because you're afraid of me?" he asked quietly.
"I'm not afraid of you, don't be silly" she laughed weakly. "Don't, Orihime, I saw your face when I….used the mask in front of you" he sighed "not that I can blame you even a bit." She choked quietly "I'm so sorry Ichigo…I could never fear you. That day…you'd come to rescue me, after I'd been there for so long….and seeing you with that mask on…..you looked like them. The first human I'd seen in so long…turned into my greatest fear. That's what I felt that day. I know now of course that you're still you, but after spending so much time with them….."
'Like Grimmjow said….."maybe she's hurt on the inside"….damn. I messed up. She's needed me to protect her even now….' "Orihime….." her shield came down as she finished healing him, and he impulsively pulled her close to his chest, causing her to gasp quietly "Don't feel so guilty. I….." he closed his eyes "I question it every day. You and Uryu saw me as that monster, hell, I tried to kill Uryu! But neither of you shies away from me. You don't watch your backs or act any different than you used to around me." His voice lowered to a whisper "I can't forgive myself for what happened, so how is it you two can?"
She clung to him, voice wavering as she replied "It was my fault. If I hadn't called you-" "I'd be dead" Ichigo said solemnly. "Your voice, your words, your desperation…..saved my life. Never feel guilty about that, Orihime." She nodded "I have a theory….as to why my shield won't let you out. But I'm not quite ready to share it….just yet…" he smiled crookedly "that's fine….can I ask you something else?"
She couldn't help but notice how he'd made no move to remove her from his lap "Of course." "What was your nightmare about?" her hand clenched into a fist. "Come on, open up. Tatsuki can't understand what happened to you like I can. You need to talk to be able to move forward." He coaxed softly. She chewed her lip "Just...promise me you won't get angry. They're already dead, there's nothing more you can do" he tried not to tense at that, attempting to relax as he nodded his promise, reminding himself she was physically safe with him.
"I dreamed of….Loly and Melony." She whispered "they came into my room one day…to punish me. Th-they didn't like me being Lord Aizen's 'pet'. They almost….killed me" Ichigo took a deep breath, calming himself 'They're dead, they're gone, they can't hurt her anymore...' he reminded himself "How did you survive?" he wondered aloud "Grimmjow saved me. He needed me to heal you, to fight him." "Oh. Can't do that if your dead, I suppose" he said bitterly.
"You promised" she reminded him softly. He nodded "Sorry Orihime it just...hurts to think of everything that happened to you, when I wasn't there." she blushed again "I'm fine." At that, he glared at her "You aren't. You're still having nightmares. But you will be okay, eventually." She smiled a little "Promise me something" he urged "Promise if you have any more nightmares about it, any at all, you'll call me right away. I'm up all hours of the night anyway, and you need to talk. I won't stand by and let you suffer alone. Not anymore."
She cried into his shoulder again, and he soothed her as she choked out "O-okay." "Good" he let her calm down, wiping her eyes with a tissue "Sorry I'm making you cry so much." "They're happy tears" she assured him. "That's the only reason why I haven't punched myself yet" he mumbled as she giggled. "Any more questions?" she wondered, and he frowned "Why do you call that son of a-...er, him- Lord Aizen, even now?"
Pain flickered through her eyes "They did a good job convincing me" she felt his reishi build up "I-Ichigo?" she watched the black and red aura flare around him. "I'm sorry." He took a deep breath, then let it out slowly, getting control of himself, his reishi going back to normal. "I just...I'm sorry" he said again, jaw clenched. "I should have realized sooner that you...needed someone." She swallowed nervously "It's alright...Thank you. For everything." Ichigo realized she wasn't just thanking him for his company tonight. "You're welcome" he replied, suddenly nervous as well. "I should let you get back to sleep." he mumbled.
Orihime nodded, standing up and following Ichigo to the door. "Goodnight" she said softly. "Night." he replied, then turned back as he stepped outside. "Orihime?" "Yes?" His eyes flashed with pale blue fire as he looked at her intensely "Call. Please." She nodded, butterflies in her stomach. "I promise." Nodding, he walked away. Orihime closed and locked her door behind him, sighing.
That had been interesting.