He who protects.
What good was such a bold name if he could do nothing - nothing - to protect those closest to him?
It tore Ichigo apart, to see Rukia hurt like that, being tended by Tessai. To see Chad laying on the floor in Urahara Shoten, being tended to because he - Ichigo Kurosaki - could not get there in time. And beside him, healing him with a bandage on her cheek but still smiling as always, knelt Orihime. Gentle, kind, slightly eccentric Orihime.
If he couldn't even protect Orihime, Ichigo cursed himself, a fist clenched tightly at his side as he looked into the shop where all of his companions were being tended, what use was he here? What use was he as a Soul Reaper at all? They were meant to guide the Wholes on their way to the Soul Society and protect the Living from Hollows. What kind of Soul Reaper was he, then, since he hadn't been able to do either recently? Rukia had had to send the Wholes on, because Ichigo couldn't even effectively take care of a weak Hollow on his own.
He was letting his emotions take a toll on his fighting.
Not only was his fighting taking a downward trip to sloppiness, but his mental health couldn't be much better. All because Rangiku Matsumoto had to do some poking around while they were in Karakura Town, and poked her head right into his most private thoughts.
"You know, you and Orihime would make a great couple," said Rangiku from Ichigo's bed the minute he stepped into his room after school. He nearly leapt out of his skin from the shock, and was surprised to feel a burning sensation in his cheeks.
"What the hell are you going on about, Rangiku?" he asked, taking a shot at being his normal, unsocial self.
"Just what it sounded like," she said grinningly, sitting up on the edge of his bed as he dropped his bag by his desk and sank into his chair. "You and Orihime would look so good together. And you would both stand out, having such a bright natural hair color! And don't deny it, Ichigo! You like her."
"I don't know what you're talking about," he rolled his eyes, stubbornly refusing to look at the busty lieutenant who wasn't in her gigai. She must have snuck in through the window.
"Don't ignore your feelings!" she giggled. "Embrace them!"
"I'm not ignoring anything!" Ichigo said angrily, feeling his face heat up more.
"Suit yourself," the woman shrugged, standing up and stretching, "but you can't hide it from me, kid. I'm hundreds of years older than you are, and I know a crush when I see one."
Before Ichigo could say a thing back to this statement, Rangiku was gone.
Frustrated, Ichigo turned and stalked out of the shop. Unknown to him, worried eyes of the girl in question, Orihime Inuoue, followed him out.
And Ichigo had realized, the minute he saw Orihime get hit across the face before he could even think about getting close enough to protect her, that Rangiku had been right all those months before. It had been over a year since the day that the busty lieutenant, who could have almost been Orihime's sister, had confronted him about his feelings for Orihime. And he had realized just hours ago that she had been completely right, even if he couldn't see it at the time.
Standing out in the middle of the street, in the rain, he almost wanted to lift his chin to the sky and scream. As it was, his face was tilted upwards as the rain poured off of it, but he didn't let out the scream he so desperately wanted to. He had a feeling it would come out more heartbroken, more pain-filled, than he wanted anyone to know about.
He didn't notice the light footsteps, until a gentle, small hand touched his arm.
"Ichigo?" she said softly. He didn't quite jump, but he turned his face down to meet the wide, worried eyes of Orihime. The gaze that might have been a glare from him softened when he realized it was her, and he sighed.
"You should go back inside, Orihime. You'll get a cold."
"I don't care," she said, latching on to his arm as he tried to walk away, although it was hard to turn away from those worried, pleading eyes. "You'll get one, too, if you don't come inside. I'll go back in if you do!"
"I…I don't want to go back in there yet," Ichigo faltered. "Please, Orihime. I don't want you to get sick because of me. I already let you get hurt once today, and I don't intend to let it happen again."
She blinked up at him innocently, and then let out a slight giggle.
"Silly! I should have known that's what was wrong. It's not your fault, I just got too close to him! I was trying to get in a good range for Tsubaki to be able to hurt him more, and I guess I miscalculated. Don't beat yourself up over it, Ichigo!"
She squeezed his arm more tightly, and his heart clenched as he looked down upon her sweet, innocent, happy face. And he couldn't take it anymore.
He couldn't tell her, not yet.
But his hand on her wet cheek, and his lips pressing gently against hers in the pouring rain, pretty much got the message across.
Orihime, I love you.
When he let his lips leave hers, she just giggled again and pulled him behind her, back towards Urahara Shoten. Just before she disappeared inside, she turned and grinned.
"You don't always have to protect me, Ichigo."
"Orihime…"
"Let me protect you, this time!"
She tugged him into the shop after her, and he let a reluctant, but real, smile grace his lips as Ururu brought two towels over to them and Jinta served tea to all of the current inhabitants of the house.