They stood, side-by-side in his tiny room, in what could only be described as the definition of an awkward silence.
A week ago, Ichigo Kurosaki would have never thought he would be in this sort of predicament. Hell, he never thought that Orihime Inoue would be in this situation either. Not with him of all people. And certainly not because of his crazy old man within 72 hours of her apartment mysteriously catching fire. And he would bet a month's salary that someone they both knew was behind that incident.
But back to the problem at hand.
Because there they stood, stubbornly avoiding eye contact with both each other and the offending piece of furniture before them. With her, awkwardly fiddling with the hem of the shirt (his shirt) she had borrowed to sleep in. And him, valiantly trying not to stare openly at shapely legs that he found hard enough to avoid staring at during school for fuck's sake. And his thoughts scrambled, grateful that she seemed just as stunned as he was if not more.
"I'll sleep on the floor." His voice came out in a rush, and with jerky limbs, he began to peel his blankets off the bed with the intent of replacing them with clean ones. That seemed to yank her out of her thoughts.
"N-No, it's ok, we have a test tomorrow I can't possibly-"
With that logic, they really both had a test. But he didn't have the heart to interrupt her.
"-besides, what if you hurt your back? You're working for the soccer club tomorrow, aren't you?" She continued, and he could almost feel the worry coming from her in waves.
"Tatsuki will kill me already with this whole situation..." He reasoned, tucking his blankets under his arm and stepping around her tiny waving hands on his way to the closet for spare blankets.
"Besides, if I let you sleep on the floor, and she finds out..." He didn't want to be castrated with an ice pick, and even then, in good conscience, he could never let someone like Orihime sleep on the floor. The idea was almost insane.
"Then..." Her cheeks turned a deep pink. He could tell she was scrambling for something to say, and having trouble doing so. So, he turned back around, digging through the neatly folded linens Yuzu had stuffed in his closet for storage.
"W-We... could always s-share the bed...?" Her voice was small, and she stumbled over her words. His hands paused, halfway through tugging a fresh sheet out from the pile. He suddenly felt like he had been hit in the chest with a steel rod. The strangest combination of elation and fear twisted his heart in a vice and drug it down to his stomach.
"S-Share?" His voice did not squeak, and he didn't dare turn to face her for fear that his cheeks would give Renji's hair a run for its money.
"Y-Yes? I don't mean- you don't have to, I'm sorry, it was silly-" She backpedaled rapidly, and he could feel the air in the room stir as her hands surely began to make windmill paths in front of her. He wasn't sure if he was tasting her flustered embarrassment over the situation or his own.
It was likely a combination of the two.
He chanced a glance back at her and regretted it instantly.
Large, fat tears were building up in her eyes but refused to fall. Gathering for what he could only assume to be a plethora of reasons, few of which he understood. The largest one being a mixture of shame, and something else he couldn't quite identify. Whatever it was, it only served to make his chest feel tight with regret. So, with a heavy exhale, he ran a hand through his hair and dug his fingers into the base of his neck.
"I don't want to intrude, and it's your choice too-" she continued to stammer along, hands waving in front of her face as if to ward off the tense atmosphere in the room.
It's Inoue… It's JUST Inoue… your, he gulped, sister…
"Listen, I mean… you're right." He resisted the urge to tug at the collar of his shirt.
"-I didn't mean to, its just-… eh?"
"I mean… we're uh…" This time, he did tug at the collar of his shirt, surely leaving a harsh red line on the back of his neck. "… siblings, now…"
Her cheeks now matched his own in their redness.
"Yes… s-siblings."
With more force than necessary, he shoved his sheets into the laundry basket. The plastic creaked under the force, but he couldn't bring himself to care.
"So… yeah we can uh… share…"
"O-Okay…"
He nodded, though he wasn't sure for whom, and pulled down the spare sheets and set about shakily making his bed. All the while, he still couldn't find it in himself to chance a glance at her again.
This was it. This was how he would die.
She's just like Yuzu or Karin now. he reasoned, feeling strangely helpless in a way he couldn't describe. She's always been a friend… now she's just…
He gave the sheet a tug that was slightly more forceful than necessary before standing upright. The bitter word friend echoing in his head.
"Um, where do you want me?"
In a distant part of his consciousness that hadn't so much as rolled over in the past six months, his Hollow stirred with amused curiosity.
Fuck.
"You uh… you can get in first. I'll turn off the light." It would also give him an easier escape route.
She gave a tiny sound of affirmation, gliding past him. His head snapped around to face the door as the hem of her borrowed clothing lifted, up over the smooth curve of her-
"Kurosaki-kun?"
Double fuck.
"Sorry." He hurried to turn the light off, hoping that maybe if he couldn't see her then the whole situation wouldn't feel so…
He didn't even know what to call it.
Once the room was cast in a blanket of darkness, he was tasked with getting in bed, worried that he might accidentally touch something he should not. Or rather, that he might touch her at all. Something inside him wanted to do just that, to just touch the skin of her legs to feel if they were as soft as they looked, and he felt it was within his best interests to not listen to that voice.
Once they had awkwardly shifted apart, each taking a pillow for themselves, the awkward silence from before returned. Only now he was increasingly aware of the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed, and the surprising amount of warmth her petite body could give off. In an attempt to steady himself, he laced his fingers over his stomach, locking himself in place with a silent vow not to move from this position until morning.
So, he was more than startled when she began to move, rolling on to her side and unknowingly closer to him in doing so.
"Um… Kurosaki-kun?" Her voice was soft even as it broke the silence. Unfortunately, he couldn't find his voice, not when hers was so close to his ear. Not when he could feel her breath on his cheek. He swallowed, forcing a sound from his throat to show that he was listening.
"Do… you not want me here?"
Shit.
There were two ways to interpret what she said. The first, being that he didn't want her in his bed. That was the easiest of the two to consider. The second, however, being that he didn't want her there at all, was far trickier to approach.
Feeling more like an ass than ever before in his entire life, he shook his head. She seemed able to see the action even in the darkness of his room and let out a tiny sigh of relief. And once more, her breath tickled his cheek. His knuckles turned white.
"I'm glad…" And he could tell she meant it. "I don't want to cause Kurosaki-kun trouble…"
She wasn't the one causing trouble; his old man was. But instead of telling her that, he wisely kept his mouth shut.
"Your father is nice to take me in," she continued in her soft voice, "I know it's not what you would have wanted, but…"
He was surprised he hadn't grown hooves now.
"I want…" Her voice trailed off slowly, and even as close as they were he listened carefully to catch what she was saying.
"I want… to be part of this family, your family, Kurosaki-kun… if… If that's all right."
He felt as if the wind was suddenly out of him.
"Inoue-"
"Gomen…" She turned over to her other side, tugging the blankets up to her chin.
Now, the silence was one forged of pure guilt.
For the entire night, he had been selfish. Of course, the entire situation was confusing. Finding out that his schoolmate (and crush) would be living under your roof for the foreseeable was shocking. And he'd let that get the better of him. He had been so focused throughout the night on beating the ever living shit out of his father, he hadn't stopped to consider how she was feeling about the situation. Surely, it was confusing. She went from living alone, to having nothing, to potentially having the family she was denied for so long. Regardless of his feelings, this involved her the most.
He turned his head a fraction, barely able to see her in the darkness. Every now and then her shoulders would tremble.
Fuck… what if she's crying?
That would be entirely his fault, and castration would be better than whatever Tatsuki would do to him for making her cry. And probably more deserved.
Sister… think of her as your sister… not Orihime from school…
How did he comfort his sisters?
Steeling his nerves before he could lose them, he lifted himself up onto his elbow. Awkwardly, he set his hand on her head. She tensed, and for a heart-stopping moment, he worried he had crossed a boundary, before she relaxed once more and let out a tiny sigh. Feeling only slightly more confident, he stroked her hair the same way his mother had done for him when he was upset. And he watched as she slowly relaxed further.
"Sorry, Inoue…" He spoke finally. "I didn't mean to make you feel like I don't want you here."
He heard her sniffle, and his hand stopped its motions.
"Shit, Inoue, I'm sorry-"
She shook her head, turning her head just enough to face him. He could make out her features in the darkness, teary-eyed but smiling.
"It's all right. I'm happy. Really. Really, I am." As if to prove her point, she nodded enthusiastically before rubbing at the tears on her cheeks.
"You're… sure?" He hesitated, watching for any sort of waver in her gaze.
"Kurosaki-kun… you're so kind…" Her lips trembled, but her smile didn't waver.
Before he knew what was happening, slender arms were curling around his shoulders and pulling him down into a hug that sent sparks down his spine and sent the air straight out of his lungs.
"I-Inoue-"
"Gomen," she rushed out, her arms tightening their hold around his neck. "just… a little longer. Please."
He was doing far too much blushing for a young man his age.
Nodding, he cautiously eased into a more comfortable position, awkwardly settling his hand between her shoulder blades. When she took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, he felt both the rush of her breath on his clavicle and the expansion of her lungs under his palm. And he was struck with the realization that she was absolutely tiny.
He was also struck by the fact that he had never imagined her being in his arms. At least, not this way.
Selfishly, he allowed his eyes to close and his body to relax into the mattress. To feel the warm weight of her head on his shoulder, and her arms loosely wrapped around his neck. To imagine that the day's events were his form of a bad dream. A nightmare. And that this was something else.
"I suppose… I'll be calling you Ichi-nii now, won't I?"
His eyes shot open.