"You know, I've never seen hair quite that color before

"You know, I've never seen hair quite that color before."

They get on by talking about the first subjects that jump into their minds. Nights in the Seretei are cold and lonely, and she refuses to sleep and let him keep watch. In these discussions in the darkness, they discuss everything. He wonders if he knows her better than his own father. He wonders if he's happy about this.

"People used to tease me about it all the time, actually."

"Tease you? But everybody lov—everyone at school is really friendly to you, Inoue-san."

"It wasn't always that way. This one girl…"

She recounts the tale of the year she was twelve, when her hair was cut off by a classmate. Being the eternal optomist, she leveled out the rough cut, grinned, and dealt with it.

He, in his memories of this particular night, vaguely recalls wanting to kill whoever did that to her.

"I think your hair is beautiful."

She doesn't say anything and awkward silence permeates the night. Finally, he tells her to get some rest. "We have a long day tomorrow."

He thinks he's offended her, or freaked her out.

That night, Orihime Inoue falls asleep smiling, the blush still fading from her cheeks.