Two Halves Can Fill a Whole

Ichigo's arms were getting a little tired. Normally, his battles against the Hollows didn't bother him because one good swing and that was all it would take to purify them. However, today Ichigo was not at the top of his game because Hollows were not the only thing he was fighting against.

"Stupid cold. I hate this time of the year!" he growled as he cut down yet another troublesome soul and then nearly dropped Zangetsu as a series of powerful sneezes and then a deep, hacking cough overtook him.

"Ichigo!"

Finally catching his breath, Ichigo looked up to see Orihime sprinting towards him. Oh great. There was a steely look in her eyes that really could only mean one of two things. One, that he hadn't contacted her to say that he was going to fight Hollows while in this condition or two, that he had even attempted to fight Hollows while in this condition in the first place.

Just as he was opening his mouth to say that he was fine on his own, Orihime made a sweeping gesture with her arm and shouted, "Koten Zanshun!" and the next moment her Tsubaki whizzed past Ichigo's ear and cut through something that howled behind him.

Ichigo was really glad that Rukia wasn't here otherwise he would probably have gotten a kick in the face as she shouted, "What is the matter with you letting your guard down like that?! You should be grateful Orihime was here to save your sorry behind! Now pick up Zangetsu and quit acting like your head is stuffed full of marshmallows or something!"

A few minutes later, the last Hollow disintegrated as Ichigo leaned against Zangetsu to keep himself from keeling over in exhaustion. However, he had to do so in a way so as not to arouse Orihime's suspicions…not that it really worked anyway.

Orihime turned towards him and opened her mouth, but as usual, Ichigo asked her first.

"Are you all right?"

The look of concern slowly melted from Orihime's expression, replaced by a smile. They had shared similar conversations after almost every single battle they had ever experienced together whether they were both fighting or not.

Orihime replied with her usual phrase, "Yes," to which Ichigo responded with, "That's good."

They stood there for a moment before Orihime gave him a knowing look and said, "I'm not going to bother asking how you are because you'll just fib and say you're fine as well."

Straightening his shoulders, Ichigo said indifferently, "But I am fin-"

Obviously his body didn't want him to complete the lie as his chest decided at that moment to start hacking and trying to rid his esophagus of all the muck stuck in there. Sometimes, he really hated himself.

Trying to suppress a smile, Orihime crossed her arms and said, "Straight to bed with you, young man. The Hollows have been dealt with for now and there are no more souls to send over to Soul Society. Rest is the best remedy for a cold like this, all though I think I'll stop by the store to pick up a few things for you and then stop by your house to make sure you're following the doctor's orders."

Knowing it would be futile to argue with her since he knew she was right, Ichigo hefted Zangetsu and trudged back towards his house, which fortunately was only two minutes away. He didn't have the energy to flash step at the moment.

When he reached his room, Ichigo crawled first into his body and then under his covers. Apparently, he conked out right away since the next thing he knew a pair of gentle hands was carefully pulling the blankets away from his face so that they could place a cooling pad on his burning forehead. Blearily, Ichigo turned and cracked his eyes open enough to meet Orihime's concerned yet warm gaze.

"Well hello there," she said softly, "Long time, no see."

Ichigo's mouth quirked up into a small grin as he asked playfully, "What took you so long?"

Rummaging through her grocery bags, Orihime answered breezily, "Oh, you know me. As soon as I enter any sort of store that has food I get very easily distracted going through the shelves and trying to come up with new recipes to try out the next time I have some free time."

Nodding his head slightly, Ichigo asked, "And so what is going to be on the menu the next time I come over for dinner?"

Opening up a bottle of cold medicine, Orihime replied with relish, "Well, I saw these fun looking noodles with all different shapes and colors. Then I saw a jar of habanero chicken paste and then I thought if we added some leeks and onions and maybe a few other vegetables it would make a nice and zingy pasta dish."

Ichigo tried to imagine what the food might look and taste like and then offered, "That does sound interesting, but how about if we skip the chicken paste, cook up some real chicken in oil with a bit of sea salt and some canned habaneros?"

Orihime thought for a moment before she gave Ichigo a delighted smile and said, "That sounds wonderful! I can't wait to try it out!"

They smiled at each other and continued on talking for some time. After tending to her boyfriend, Orihime gave Ichigo a kiss which he returned before taking her leave.

Even though Ichigo and Orihime had almost completely different personalities and tastes, there was one opinion they both shared that had drawn them to one another and caused them to fall in love with each other. They never wanted to say or do anything that would make the other think that they had to change anything about themselves or their personality because in some ways it would be like taking the wings away from an eagle and then commanding it to fly.

Author's Note:

This is for BlackMoonWhiteSun's Valentine/White 14 Day Challenge over on deviantart that I decided to participate in. I will put the prompt at the beginning of the story so you know where I had to start from.

In regard to this story, as soon as I saw 'Eagle Without Wings' the idea that I typed out at the end came to me. Just so that everything is clear, I'll give a bit of an explanation on that point. Ichigo went out to fight the Hollows even though he had a cold and Orihime could scold him for doing something so silly and brainless, but 1) it's not in her personality and 2) she knows what Ichigo is like and there is no way he would listen to her anyway. Then, when Orihime fusses over him and goes to get him supplies for his cold Ichigo doesn't protest even though his dad or sisters could probably take care of his because 1) Orihime has his best interest at heart and 2) he knows she's right.

Hope you enjoyed and I will be working to get the next chapters for not only this but also for the other stories I'm in the middle of as well! So much to do, so little time! However, it's always good when you enjoy what you're writing about!