A light knock stirred Ichigo in his bed, the light of Saturday morning peering in on his room as well.

Another series of knocks on his door, followed by the young voice of Ichigo's younger sister Yuzu, "Ichigo! Breakfast is ready!"

Opening his eyes and sitting up, Ichigo did a manly yawn then turned to his closed and locked door, "Alright Yuzu…I'm coming."

"Oh, and Ichigo, make sure not to step on Orihime when you get out of bed," Yuzu casually reminded her brother.

"Yeah yeah," he said, and as he heard his sister walk away, he had to confess, 'I would watch out for her, if she was on the floor to begin with.' What Ichigo meant was that his girlfriend of only four months came over to his house late the night before and asked if she could spend the night. He would never turn her away, this she more than likely knew, and he made her a bed. Thing was…she wasn't there now. In fact…

Ichigo looked back down on his mattress, down at the sleeping form of Orihime, who had snuck into his bed sometime in the night. Ichigo had sensed her doing something last night, her reiatsu was really strong and it woke him up as Orihime got into his bed and under the covers. Ichigo had noticed that he had gotten a bit more comfortable when Orihime was around. Ever since they actively started dating it had been like he couldn't live without having her in his sight.

As she lay down, almost curled up with the tip of her right thumb just touching her lips, and her near orange hair was splayed all over the blankets like a fan. She looked so peaceful that Ichigo had regretted the fact that he had to wake her up. Otherwise she'd miss breakfast, and he knew how much she loved eating.

"Hime…time to wake up," he whispered into her ear. She moved restlessly, but her eyes remained closed. Ichigo went and scooted in closer to her, his left hand slowly going down her arm. "C'mon Hime, we're having stir fry this morning. Yuzu is making it."

Orihime's eyes slowly opened, remaining half open because of how tired she was. "Chicken stir fry?" She asked softly.

Ichigo lowered his lips to her forehead, giving her a soft kiss, "That's right." He pulled back and Orihime followed him up.

She stretched out her arms over her head and then gave a great big yawn. Ichigo noticed that the left strap of her nightgown had slipped off her shoulder, but Orihime didn't seem to notice. The curve of her breast was more visible to his eyes and he had to look away. "Looks like you had a malfunction." He pointed to her shoulder, his cheeks a little red.

Orihime gave him a confused look before following the trail of his finger to her shoulder, and she corrected her clothing. "Sorry, and thanks."

Ichigo nodded with a smile, something he rarely ever did with anyone else. Usually he had a scowl and a look of irritation on his face, but when Orihime was around he was a bit less of a jerk, as Orihime's best friend Tatsuki would say. Almost outright friendly, which would surprise many of those who knew Ichigo since he was a kid. Seemed Orihime brought out his more friendly self.

"Well, best better get going before our breakfast gets cold," Ichigo said, standing up beside his bed. Orihime sat on her knees, watching him before she too got off the comfortable bed. As Orihime went to check on her bag she heard Ichigo continue, "Oh, and please keep the fact that you slept in my bed with me a secret. My dad would more than likely give me all sorts of crap for it."

This caught Orihime by surprise. The last time she remembered, Ichigo had told his dad about them dating. Then it hit her, "You think he'd take it the wrong way?"

Ichigo could only imagine what his crazy father would come up with to torture him with in the future and he really didn't want that. His life was already hectic as it was with the fighting with hollows, soul reapers, arrancars, and what not. He didn't want his dad getting into what he thought he was doing with his girlfriend. "It'd be worse than that, I'm sure."

Orihime felt the gears in her mind working, the imagination beginning to move, "Well, if he does ask I'll just tell him the truth."

"C'mon Hime, I don't know if he'd buy that. My sisters certainly wouldn't."

"What? They would think you were up to no good just because of my…insecurities? I was the one who came over here in the first place," Orihime argued, and her point was valid, but Ichigo countered.

"But I was the one who let you in the house at such a late hour. Besides…you were scared, emotionally vulnerable…" He stopped there, the rest of what he wanted to say being said under his breath. Ichigo would admit that as clueless as he was when it came to girls, he knew that there were people who would have taken advantage of Orihime. She had come to him because she was scared, fearful that something was after her, and came to the one person she trusted most to protect her. He was there to protect her, just like he had done before, and if anything wanted to get at Orihime, it'd have to be over his dead body. He sighed, "Just…keep this quiet for now, alright? I'll break the news someday."

Orihime watched him as he left, and her sympathy for him grew. Ichigo was in a tough spot to begin with her being in his room under less than ideal circumstances. Of course being his girlfriend was more than a pleasure, in fact it was a dream come true for her, but she couldn't help but feel like she was the problem. Not just a part of the problem, but the problem. That was how she was, she'd smile and act as if she wasn't bothered, but deep down…she couldn't help but feel terrible about it.

'I'll just…be more careful from now on,' she thought, putting her bag back in the corner it had been in and heading out the door.

With Orihime and her feelings clouding his mind, Ichigo had almost totally forgotten about his father's normal morning attacks. A dodge and a right rook followed by a suplex squashed his dad's dreams of finally catching his son off guard. "Nice try Dad."

Isshin Kurosaki lay in a heap at the bottom of the stairs, and not in a very comfortable position one would see. "You are still that damn good…"

Ichigo refrained from berating his father, mostly because of his empty stomach calling for some food. The chicken was cooked just the way that Yuzu often made it, which was just right in Ichigo's opinion. His father had gotten off his backside and made it back to the table, taking his seat opposite of his son. That was when Orihime made her way down the stairs, quietly wondering if she had heard someone having a brawl while she had gone to change. Judging by the bruise on Isshin's left cheek; she guessed that was what had happened.

"Morning, Orihime," Isshin said respectfully, his eyes narrowing but with a rather sly smile on his face as he eyed his son's beautiful girlfriend take a seat next to Ichigo. While Isshin found it odd that his son, one of those types of guys girls tended to dislike, had a girlfriend he liked how it was Orihime. Just by looking at her, he saw some positive similarity with his late wife. Speaking of which, "You say good morning to your mother yet, Ichigo?"

Raising his gaze from his breakfast, Ichigo turned his head back to his living room where on the wall was a large poster of his mother, Masaki. "Morning mom," he said in a low voice, but Orihime heard it, and she also noticed the peaceful look on his face. Yet as soon as he returned to the table and food, it changed back to that all too familiar scowl he was known for.

Orihime pretty much gobbled up everything that she was offered, and all the while she was surprised that no one asked about her sudden appearance in the middle of the night before. Guess it was out of respect…or kindness, she thought, hoping for either of those options.

Isshin was the first one to leave the table, "Well, better be off to the clinic. I'll see you all later."

Orihime spoke, "Thank you for letting me stay, Mr. Kurosaki."

Ichigo noted the goofy smile his dad gave his girlfriend, "no problem, Orihime. Take care of Ichigo, okay?"

Not too sure what to make of that, Orihime remained silent as she heard Ichigo raise his voice, "Like you need to worry about that. Get going."

Isshin opened the door that led outside his house, "And try to make him lighten up a bit." He just missed getting hit by one of Ichigo's slippers when he went out the door.

"Sheesh, that guy needs to lay off me," Ichigo said, his tone slightly irritated and running his hands through his orange hair. His dad pissed him off on a regular basis but ever since he found out his relationship with Orihime he had gone to a whole new level of being annoying. Ichigo would have been more irritated than he already was had he not caught Orihime's big eyes looking at him. Looking at him with that lovely smile of hers, and he quickly forgot about his pest of a father.

Both Yuzu and Karin cleaned up the table and kitchen before going about doing their chores. Ichigo also helped them, and even Orihime lent a hand even after Ichigo politely told her that as a guest she wasn't obligated to. In her mind, Orihime was returning the favor for Ichigo letting her in late the night before. What better way to do so than clean the house?

It was because of the extra set of hands that the siblings were able to finish early and somehow get to enjoy their Saturday. The girls wanted to stay home this time, and that gave Ichigo a free hand in what he was going to do for the rest of his day. Of course, he could walk Orihime home so she could ready herself for her day too. That was what he felt he should do, so he decided to ask her himself.

"Hey, Hime? Why don't I walk you home?"

Orihime tilted her head, as if deep in thought, then she nodded once, "Of course, Ichi."

Ichigo smiled, remembering how Orihime used to politely refuse him whenever he had offered to walk her home. Those days were, for the most part, long gone.

After telling his sisters that he'd be gonna awhile, but smartly leaving out what he was doing or where he was going, Ichigo and Orihime walked out the door right into the brightly shining sun.

What neither of them could see was that in the rare spots of shade and shadow, hidden even from Ichigo and Orihime's abilities to sense spiritual pressure, there was a set of green eyes looking at them. Watching with pure evil intentions.

A/N: If this story is well received, I will continue the story.