Hey guys [: . All right … so … this would be my first Ichihime ongoing story. I've never done this so don't to be too impatient with me ^^. I'm not totally and completely satisfied with this chapter, but it's not too horrible.

I'd like to thank the ever so lovely and wonderful copper for beta-ing this! I love her.

I just want to say before you start reading this that this story is AU. You will probably figure that from this first chapter. This story is actually based off of a little segment of my life. I thought it would be interesting to write about myself, but be a different person. This little fragment of my life served as an inspiration for this fic [: . Obviously everything is not going to be the same, but most of it is. I am going to try to keep the characters as "In Character" as possible because I myself, do not like OOC fics.

Please tell me now if it is worth continuing this because I will not continue if people do not like this. I already have another AU Ichihime fic that I am currently writing and I'm excited for it actually ^^. I wouldn't mind updating two stories at a time, especially since summer's peaking its eyes around the corner.

Anyway, without further ado, I give you Melody of the Distilled Rose.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

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Melody of the Distilled Rose

Captus

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Beep … Beep … Beep …

The repetitive sound continued as it gradually made Orihime awake. Sitting up in her bed, she rubbed her eyes, attempting to get rid of some of the sleepiness. Today was a brand new day of the week and she was planning on it to always be a good one. She sluggishly threw the blankets off her legs and crawled off her bed.

She made her way to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face. She grabbed a towel and patted her face dry and her eyes met with exact replicas of her own. Staring into the mirror, she analyzed herself. She had little more bags than she usually did due to the lack of sleep she had been getting. Getting used to high school was slightly harder than she thought, but she still managed to get amazing grades and she had no problem working for it. She had just started high school a few months ago and she had never experienced such new things before. She had made new friends and experienced more liberty, but her mind started to wander off when she remembered that orange haired boy.

She had seen the orange haired boy all the time in school. They had no classes together, which made sense, since he was a junior. She had first noticed him because of his brightly colored mane. Every new student would quietly laugh at his hair while passing by. He never seemed to mind. It did not seem like he cared to deal with people who made fun of him. They eventually stopped though, due to the fact that they were scared of him. She never understood why people would make fun of him just because he was born with such a unique color of hair. She thought it was an amazing thing.

Most of all, she noticed that he never smiled. He always wore a scowl on his face. Because of this, everyone feared him. She assumed he always wore a scowl because he was trying to put on a tough image. For some odd reason, Orihime could see right through it. She could see the kindness behind his eyes. She had a feeling he was a very sweet person, but she knew no one would ever come to acknowledge this because they were afraid of him. Orihime was not. Besides, he looked adorably funny whenever his brows were deeply furrowed.

She felt there was something alluring about him. She saw something in him no one else saw. She felt a little amount of pity for him since so many people were scared of him. She wondered how it felt to be in his position. She felt that people did not try to look beyond the surface. She had the natural gift of powerfully doing that. She did not know him, but she knew so much about him due to the fact that the students inhabiting Karakura High couldn't stop babbling about him. Orihime blushed at the fact that she was thinking of the orange haired junior. She had to admit to herself that she did have a little crush on him. If she ever told any of her friends that, they would be fearful of HER, but it was nothing more than a crush since she was barely acquainted with him.

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After slipping on her uniform and fixing up her hair, she excitedly ran to the kitchen to start making her lunch. The jubilant girl loved preparing lunch in the morning. It gave her an opportunity to create new dishes and experiment more things with wasabi and bean paste, which were her two favorite ingredients. While she loved the lunches she made, most people would give her the oddest looks and start to gradually turn green when she would merrily babble on about her lunch every morning. I wonder why they do that ... she shrugged. There isn't anything wrong with my cooking; is there?, she asked to herself. Oh well!, she smiled happily.

Today she decided to make chili crab and sweet red bean paste with corn, leeks, and onions. She could not wait to eat it. This was probably the best thing she had made all week, in her opinion.

The auburn haired girl packed her "concoction", grabbed her books, and headed out the door.

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Orihime walked through the gates of Karakura High and later entered the double doors welcoming all its teenage inhabitants. A myriad of students crowded the hallways as they tried to get to their first classes. Teens were pushing and shoving everywhere without even realizing their actions or apologizing. Orihime was shoved here and there a few times, but she still kept her signature smile glued to her face. She was probably the only one who had the longest way to go. Her classroom was on the opposite side of the building and she was about three quarters of the way there. All she had to do was turn to the left and go up the staircase …

Before she could even continue to unconsciously think of the directions to her homeroom class, a bright speck of orange appeared at the end of the hallway, walking towards her. She quickly stared at her shoes as she continued walking, due to the amount of introversion she was currently feeling. Realizing that this might make her look as if she was scared of him, which she definitely did not want him to think, she decided to snap her head back up and keep looking forward, but of course by the time she had performed this action, her eyes had locked with his light brown ones.

He had a stoic expression etched on his face, although he did have a lost glint in his eyes. He did not look threatening, like most people would have said, but Orihime thought she could have detected a sort of calmness emanating from him.

For Orihime, her world ended up freezing in time, or rather slowing down drastically. All the hustle and bustle and the large amount of teenage students had slowly began to fade and disappear. All she saw was him. It was the most peculiar, yet the best feeling she had felt yet. It was as if herself and this tall boy in front of her were the only ones in the over populated hallway. Time had completely decelerated as they both continued their stroll down the hallway in slow motion, never leaving each other's eyes.

Their eyes' strong hold on the others was broken when their backs were eventually facing each other. The bright girl's heart was accelerating at a great pace, she noticed, putting her hand over her busy heart, in an attempt to calm it down, which would most likely not work.

She wondered what just happened. It was so strange. She couldn't tear her eyes from him because she felt so allured. She had never experienced something like that before. The new sensation coursing through her veins did not help her already anxious attitude.

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Walking into her homeroom, Orihime exhaled a breath she had not had any knowledge she was holding. She was pleased to finally get away from the hallway and just forget about what happened. Although something like this would not seem like a huge deal for anyone else, it felt so for the auburn haired high school student. Relief spread through her curvy body as she strolled through the student filled room, making her way towards her friends.

"Hey, Orihime," Tatsuki happily greeted as she let her arm lay across Orihime's shoulders.

"Good morning, Tatsuki-chan!" she exclaimed. "Oh! Look at what I made for lunch today!"

Orihime pulled out her meal failing to notice the fact that all her friends' faces had started to turn green. "I made chili crab and sweet red bean paste with corn, leeks, and onions. Doesn't that sound scrumptious?" she asked.

They each nervously nodded their heads, not wanting to upset the thrilled girl.

Tatsuki quickly snatched her happy friend's lunch and hid it behind her back. Orihime gave her a questioning look, "What's wrong Tatsuki-chan?"

"You're not eating this. I'm scared you are going to kill yourself one day. I am going to buy you lunch today, all right?"

"Eh? But this is the best lunch I've made all week!" she declared sadly, her bottom lip slowly jutting out to form a pout.

Tatsuki did not bother being surprised by the statement. "I'll buy lunch for you. The lunches here are really good. Don't worry about it."

"Ok," Orihime pouted, finally deciding to give in. She didn't want this to become a big deal because it wasn't. She trusted Tatsuki and even though her lunch wouldn't really "kill" her, she knew her best friend was only doing what she felt was best for her.

"Get to your seats!" Ochi-sensei bellowed, as she entered the room.

The students immediately shut their moving mouths and shuffled around the classroom to take their designated seats.

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Numbers danced across the page, floating everywhere. Her pencil dragged across the piece of paper easily and she breezed through the math problems the teacher had assigned. She solved the last problem and gently placed the pencil on her desk, huffing in triumph at the fact that she had tackled down the difficult assignment.

She had been the first to finish out of the entire class. Everyone was jealous of how smart she was. She was third of the entire class. They wanted school to be as easy for them as it was for her. Girls were jealous of her looks. She had beautiful long, flowing hair, her breasts were the size that every girl wanted, and every single guy longed to be with her. They were envious, but whether they liked it or not, they could never hate the auburn haired beauty. She was a sensitive and optimistic girl and always entered the room smiling one of her brightest smiles that she only saved for everyone, but herself.

People thought she had a wonderful and cheery life due to the fact that she was never pessimistic and was never caught in a gloomy mood, but little did they know that she was lonely in her small apartment always sitting in front of her brother's shrine with no one to be by her side. Even though she didn't have the best life in the world, she promised herself to always keep a smile on her face for her friends. She did not like the idea of her friends worrying about her. She did not want to be a burden.

Since she had already finished her math assignment, she unconsciously turned towards the classroom window and fell into her daily open eyed slumber. She was a big time day dreamer and she felt that daydreaming served as a comfort for her to a certain degree.

The beautiful teenager was envisaging aliens attacking Karakura High and everyone running for their lives to find shelter. The aliens were after her when she realized she was the only one left. One of the aliens pointed its bony finger directly at her and was ready to give a blow when …

RING! … RING! … RING! …

Her daydream was abruptly interrupted by the school bell. It signaled that lunch was about to start. Her bottom lip stuck out forming a pout. She wanted to see what the alien was going to do to her. It seemed that it was starting to form some sort of light around its aimed finger. Aww, I really wanted to know what was going to happen, she thought. Well, at least it's lunchtime!, she smiled. She loved lunchtime. It was the only time of the school day when you had a break from all your work and could just sit back, relax, and eat. Eating is a girl's favorite thing to do, especially for Orihime. She was so eager to have the amazing lunch she had made that morning. Today she would be eating crab meat with red bean paste and corn and leeks. Yum!!, she thought delightedly.

The auburn haired girl slowly rose from the seat at her desk and started walking to the back of the room where a few of her friends were. As she sauntered towards them, she noticed they were all prepared to eat with their lunches and she then realized she did not have her own.

She quickly skipped back to her desk to retrieve her very well anticipated lunch, but her expectations were immediately shattered when she noticed it was not there. She hurriedly started retracing her steps, thinking of where it could possibly be. The pretty teen began looking around the classroom and even asked a few of her friends, but their only responses were shaking their heads and saying "no", to her dismay. Again her lips started forming into a small pout at the thought of not being able to eat her homemade lunch.

After a few moments of contemplation, she randomly remembered something important. Wait! Tatsuki has my lunch!, she recalled gaily, as this morning's events established themselves in her large head. Now she wouldn't have to worry about Tatsuki buying lunch for her and she could enjoy the one she had made that morning. Now all she had to do was find her sassy black haired best friend, persuade the tomboy to allow her to eat the lunch she made, and retrieve her meal.

Orihime left the area by her desk and started moving her way towards the classroom door to exit the room full of noisy teenagers. For some reason, she was truly relieved to leave the space occupied with too much noise.

The auburn haired beauty decided to begin strolling down the hallway while standing on her tiptoes to look over the crowd of teenage students leisurely walking to the cafeteria. Walking on her tiptoes probably wouldn't be such a good idea due to the fact that she was such a klutz. Her large gray eyes scanned the area overhead, looking in one direction and in another very quickly.

After searching for a decent five minutes, there was still no sign of Tatsuki. Orihime huffed. She decided to keep on searching for the friend that had possession of her lunch, but she was not as determined anymore.

She slowed her pace down which was due to her utter disappointment. She would never find Tatsuki or be able to eat the lunch she was so excited to consume.

Orihime's trail of thought was quickly interrupted when she felt someone behind her. On the outside she was perfectly calm. Well, except for the fact that she was starting to randomly pick up her swiftness. In the inside, she was starting to get slightly nervous. It's him, she thought. She turned her head slightly to the left in a very sly manner, to make sure it was him. Sure enough, it was. His bright orange hair gave it away, sticking out like a sore thumb.

She twisted her head back around and kept walking forward. Although the bright haired teen behind her was barely paying attention to the slightly flustered auburn haired girl in front of him, she still felt very self conscious. She became very alert and felt as if she could track his movements from the corners of her eyes.

She then noticed Tatsuki walking in the direction towards her. All thoughts about the scowling teenager behind her were long forgotten and she stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of her sassy friend. "Tats—," Orihime was about to finish calling her name, but of course, due to her forgetfulness, the next thing she knew, she felt something hard slam right into her small back.

Kurosaki Ichigo just walked right into her with almost full force, which would've caused the girl to topple over, but thankfully that did not happen, hadn't he stopped himself.

What the hell is wrong with this girl? Ichigo growled in his head. She stopped right in the middle of the hallway at such a random time and I end up running right into her. Ichigo's scowl grew even deeper at the thought.

Orihime quickly spun around to face the intensely scowling teen and apologize. As soon as she turned around, Ichigo's scowl gradually started melting off his face and his eyes grew ever so slightly wider. He realized this was the girl he was so calmly entranced by this morning on his way to class. After their little staring contest, he had totally forgotten about her and she didn't even cross his mind for the rest of the morning, but now that she was standing right in front of him, and so close as well, he couldn't help, but to be so stunned by her beauty. She had gorgeous long auburn hair, big gray eyes, an innocent face, and a beautiful body. There is no way she is a freshmen …, he thought to himself. In his opinion, the true beauty laid behind her eyes. They captured his so easily this morning and even more now.

Orihime probably would have gotten lost in his eyes as well, but was too embarrassed when she noticed his intense gaze and blushed while looking down at her feet. "I-I'm really sorry. I wasn't paying attention," she timidly apologized, a light shade of pink slithering across her cheeks.

Her words snapped him out of his daze. He cleared his throat before he said anything for fear that it would crack. "It's all right don't worry about it," he said with a stern, but soft voice. "I wasn't paying attention either," he fibbed.

This caused her to look up and meet his eyes once again. She nervously laughed as she rubbed the back of her neck tensely. "Ok, well, I'm going to go get my lunch now," she said as she motioned with her finger towards Tatsuki.

Ichigo followed her finger to catch Tatsuki's eyes. She wasn't glaring at him, but she wasn't giving him sweet looks either. "All right, see you around," he smiled and walked off.

When he finally exited the doors at the far end of the hallway, he huffed out a breath. He had never been so captured by someone before. The feeling had felt so odd, but invigorating as well. He decided to shake off the feeling because he felt like jiggling jello at the moment. Although, he couldn't help, but feel that this wouldn't be the last of the beautiful girl he just shared that moment with.

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Orihime stared down the hallway at his retreating form completely forgetting about the lunch she had so longingly wanted just a few minutes ago. Tatsuki shook her by the shoulder to snap the daydreamer out of her gaze. "Orihime!" she called.

"Eh?"

"Snap out of it," the sassy girl demanded. "That was an interesting sight to see. He looked so pissed when he ran into you, but then he had this weird expression on his face when you turned around. It was so bizarre seeing him like that. He's always been known as the junior who always looks pissed. It was slightly creepy to see him so calm …," she explained scratching her head.

Orihime couldn't believe the words uttered from Tatsuki's mouth. "R-really?" she asked.

"Yeah … well, whatever. I'm hungry; let's go. I guess I'll let you have your lunch because I just realized I have no money," she said hesitantly.

"Don't worry about it, Tatsuki!" Orihime beamed, finally leaving her dazed state. She obviously had no problem with receiving the opportunity to eat her homemade lunch once again.

They started making their way toward the cafeteria as Orihime internally calmed herself to get rid of the rapidly fluttering butterflies in her stomach. She couldn't help, but feel that this wouldn't be the last of scowling boy she just shared that moment with.

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Yeah, so I hope you guys enjoyed that [: … I know it's not much, but this is only the first chapter. Tell me if you want more … if you don't tell me, I won't give you any.

~Yono~