Rose Colored Glasses

A/N: This is my first Bleach fic ever, so please let me know how I am doing. I do have some experience writing, so don't let the beginning part of the sentence deter you from reading! I appreciate Reviews, and don't mind (nice) contructive critism. First chapters are always the worst, as they start out bland. I did my best to keep it interesting. In the future, it should be much more interesting and angsty. So just have faith in me! Also, I will tell you now, that this WILL be Ichihime. My life revolves around this pair, so if you don't like this couple, you can click the back button now. (: As for the rest of you, thank you for taking your time to read this. xD
-Rachel

Disclaimer: Bleach does not belong to me, It belongs to Tite Kubo and Shonen Jump. I am just a reader with a passionate love for the Ichihime pairing. This is me getting my kicks.

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Inoue Orihime hated her life.

She had been kidnapped and taken to Hueco Mundo, had been psychologically tormented, and saw the love of her life die twice.
And only one the last one measured up to the misery she was in now.

Sure, her and her nakama all survived the battles that they were all sure would be the end of them. They had perservered, and beaten out Aizen. She had been so happy that day.
It had been a beautiful day. What Orihime didn't know then was that it would be the last beautiful day for a long time.

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Prologue:

It had been unusually warm in Karakura town that day, especially for the middle of February. It had felt like early summer, and Orihime had loved it. With all the rebuilding they had had to do, Karakura town looked brand new. This would also be the first day back at school for everyone after the war. The weather was a real treat, symbolizing a new beginning. She had gone out in only in her school uniform, enjoying the slight breeze flowing through her hair.

That was the same day she had met Yamauchi Isamu.

Walking into class for the first time in what felt like a century, Orihime had been surprised to see a new student. Nonetheless, she had smiled at him reassuringly. Orihime could hear the buzzing of voices in the hallways behind her, as she leaned in the doorway. Everyone had been so excited to be back in school, and of course everyone was talking about recent events. A lot of people threw glances her direction, some sympathetic, others fearful.

Well, so much for anonymity... Orihime thought, depressed.

She glanced back over at the new student, sitting in his desk. He was staring out the window, as though he'd much rather be anywhere but here. Orihime sighed. She knew that feeling all too well.

He probably feels out of place. I know I would. It doesn't help that everyone's staring at him... Orihime thought to herself, a frown playing on her lips. Orihime hated feeling like a misfit, even though she often did. No one around her seemed to be making much of an effort to get to know him either. A few girls looked curiously at him, but other than that, no one paid any attention. Her frown deepened on her face as she thought of a way to introduce herself.

Oh! I know. I'll make sure to invite him to lunch! Satisfied with her plan, she smiled. She moved from the door way to let others pass through. Class would be starting in five minutes. Maybe I should get a seat next to the new student? Orihime wondered. She turned her head to look over at him again, but saw that he was staring at her. Orihime turned pink.

Did he seen me staring at him? He probably thinks I'm weird. Oh we-

"Inoue." A voice called, pulling her from her thoughts. This caused her blush to turn into a deeper shade of pink, as the voice belonged to a certain boy she had been excited to see this morning.

"Morning, Kurosaki-kun." Orihime replied, nervously. They hadn't talked much since the war had ended a few months ago, though they both still had unresolved issues they both needed to talk about; but they'd have to wait for now. They had both been busy helping rebuild Karakura town and getting everything back to normal. Orihime had been questioned about her kidnapping by the Captains, and Ichigo had been sent back to the Soul Society for a brief period of time, to help them get everything back in order. With all the fuss, they hadn't had much time to talk. Orihime hoped they get the chance soon.

"How are you?" Ichigo asked, unsure of where to start. He looked rather uncomfortable as he leaned on his desk. I wonder if I make him uncomfortable... Orihime thought, sadly.

"I'm doing alright. Keeping busy." She said, forcing a smile. She did her best not to look directly at him, as he would probably notice how weird she was acting. Whenever she looked at Ichigo, she couldn't help but become nervous. Instead, she stared at his jaw.

What a gorgeous jaw... she briefly thought. Orihime became flustered at her pesonal thoughts, feeling a bead of sweat go down her brow.

"That's good to hear. I was wondering if you wanted to go to lunch today? Chad and Ishida are coming along." He asked. Orihime was about to object, because she had planned to ask the new student to lunch, but realized she couldn't bare to turn him down.

So she went for the compromise.

"I would love to, but, heh heh, would it be okay if I invited someone along?" She asked, hoping he wouldn't mind. It wasn't everyday she got to eat lunch with Kurosaki Ichigo, after all. There was no way she'd miss this oppurtunity.

"Oh, yeah. Sure. Who?" Ichigo asked, curious.

"The new student. Only because he looks so lonely! I mean, he's sitting all alone. I was gonna ask him to join me for lunch anyway, but I want to go with you guys too. It'd be perfect 'cause then maybe you guys will like him, and we will have all made a new friend and-"

"Sounds good, Inoue." Ichigo said, trying not to laugh. Orihime was always funny when she went off on a rant. She formed words so quickly, and a smile would form on her face. You could feel the excitement in her reiatsu.

"Okay. So I'll meet you on the roof then?" Orihime asked, trying to push her nervousness away. Whenever Kurosaki-kun was by her, she couldn't help but feel butterflies in the pit of her stomach. She could always feel her face turn red, and her ears burning; but it was worth it at the end of the night. She'd go home and lie in bed replaying each scene in her head until she fell into a peaceful sleep. Those were the best dreams.

"Yes. I'm gonna try and pay attention to Ochi-sensei today...for once. See you at lunch Inoue." Ichigo said, sliding himself into his desk.

"Kay!" Orihime replied. She saw one seat left close to the new guy and quickly snagged it. She was going to work her magic. She was, afterall, Inoue Orihime. Making friends is what she did.

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"Konnichiwa, Kurosaki-kun, Ishida-kun, and Sado-kun!" Orihime cheerfully said, greeting her nakama. She wasn't alone. Behind her was the new student. He waved silently.

"This is the new student, Yamauchi Isamu! He agreed to join us for lunch today." Orihime beamed, proud of herself. She had accomplished her goal quickly this morning. He had seemed surprised at her invite, but pleased.

"Nice to meet you, Yamauchi-san. I'm Kurosaki Ichigo, and these are my nakama, Sado Yasutora and Ishida Uryu." Ichigo said. "Make yourself comfortable."

"Thanks." Isamu said in his deep voice. As Orihime looked at him, she couldn't help but notice tht he kind of reminded her of Ichigo. Isamu had a seriousness to him, as well with a mysterious allure. Unlike Ichigo though, he had green eyes and brown hair, like Keigo's, that was in a shorter cut than Ichigo's current hairstyle. Ever since his three month training, he had left his hair long. Needless to say, he looked better than ever...

"Inoue?" Ichigo's voice came, snapping her out of her daydream. She turned pink yet again, embarassed that she had been caught in a reverie that involved Ichigo with no shirt on. What a beautiful daydream it had been...

"Sorry, Kurosaki-kun, what did you say?" she answered apologetically, trying to recover.

"I was just asking how your day has been."

"Oh! It's been great. I woke up this morning and felt like spoiling myself, so I had a delicious bowl of ice cream and bean paste! Then I walked to school in this gorgeous weather, and I even met Yamauchi-kun today! Did you guys know he's from Tokyo? And he's lived in many places before that even! Like London and -"

"Inoue, our guest may find it rude you're talking about him like he's not here. Let him tell us for himself." Uryu said, reading the expression on Isamu's face. He seemed to be more of a low key kind of guy, and Inoue was ranting about his life, which may have offended him. Uryu couldn't be sure though.

Orihime's eyes widened, realizing she was blabbing away about someone elses business like he wans't there. I'm such an idiot, he probably thinks I'm so rude!

"Oh, right. Sorry, Yamauchi-kun. I tend to get carried away. I just think it's really cool you've lived in so many amazing cities." Orihime said, hoping he wasn't mad.

"It's alright, I don't mind; but please call me Isamu, Inoue-san. I imagine we'll be getting very close, might as well drop the formailities right now, if you don't mind." Isamu said.

Ichigo tensed at his words, feeling uneasy about what he had just said. He didn't know why, but the tone of his voice mixed with his words made Ichigo irritated. Maybe it was because it was so blatantly obvious what Isamu was implying, or the fact that he had just met Inoue, but he had an animalistc urge to rip his throat out. He tried to shrug it off as overprotectiveness, but he wasn't so sure if that was what it was. Looking at Ishida and Chad, he could see that they hadn't liked the comment very much, either.

"Oh, um, alright." Orihime said, feeling her ears burn. She subconciously swallowed as her throat went dry.

"Heh heh, making friends is what I do after all! So I really don't mind dropping the formalities, I-isamu!" She stuttered, but managed to smile.

She didn't know if it Isamu was hitting on her, or if that was the way he was since he was from a big city. She figured it was the latter, and tried to ignore it. Afterall, she had went out of her way to invite him to lunch, so the least she could do was let him feel comfortable and welcome around her. He was just being nice, reaching out in friendship. In fact, she ought to return the favor.

"You can call me Inoue. That's what all my nakama call me, and I prefer my last name to my first name anyway. Too many "princess" associations otherwise." Orihime said, flashing a crooked smile.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow at this, as did Ishida. That was something neither had heard before.

There were a few reasons why she didn't like Orihime as much as she used to. Hiyori had pointed out the meaning of her name when they had first met, continuing on by saying how easy it would be to hate her for her looks. It had irritated her then, but it wasn't until Hueco Mundo that she really got sick of being called "princess". It made her think of Loly and Menoly, and how they assumed that she thought she was better than they were. In reality, Orihime didn't think she was better than anyone. She had a list of things she hated about herself, and everyday the list got longer. This list often depressed her, but she did her best to ignore it and not let it show.

So in the end, Inoue won out.

"Really? I never knew that about you." Ichigo said, surprised. There was still quite a few things Ichigo didn't know about Orihime, even after everything that happened. They still hadn't talked much as of late, and he knew they needed to at some point. Still, it was surprising to Ichigo to hear that Orihime hated her name. When had that happened?

"Oh, yeah, it's something I recently decided. I get sick of being called "Princess." Too many bad memories." She added, hoping Ichigo would get the hint. He did, and she knew this by the scowl that quickly took it's place in his features, like usual.

"I think you were well named. A Princess is someone who is royal and beautiful, and from what I gathered, it fits you nicely." Isamu said, smiling at Inoue.

Ichigo, Uryu, and Chad all looked at each other for a moment, each giving the other a glance that said "What the fuck is up with this guy?"

She looks like a deer caught in the headlights, Ichigo thought. Where does this guy get off? I mean, I thought Shinji and Keigo were bad...

Orihime turned several shades of red, and began fidgeting with her skirt. "Th-thanks, Isamu. That's nice of you to say." She flashed him a smile.

Orihime wasn't sure how she felt about Isamu's now obvious flirting. She was used to Chizuru and her not so subtle behaviour, but Chizuru was a girl and she knew in the end that Orihime wasn't interested. Isamu, however, was a guy. Orihime didn't have much experience with guys, despite her gorgeous looks. Tatsuki had always told her that guys would go crazy over her, and how they were always checking her out, but Orihime never believed her. Anyway, Orihime had never caught on to it before now, so she really had no clue what to do.

"You're welcome, Inoue. Anyway, yes, I come from Tokyo, but I only lived there for a few years. Before that I lived in London. I'm originally from Karakura though, which is why we're here. My parents are rather unorthodox that way. They love to travel and move around, especially to big cities. I much prefer the laid back setting of smaller towns, so I was glad they decided to come back home. I haven't been here since I was a kid, though. Hasn't changed much from what I can tell, except some of the buildings."

"Yeah, we just had some reconstruction around town. Needed an update." Ishida said, casting a glance towards Ichigo. Orihime stiffled a giggle at Ishida's excuse.

"But yeah, that's pretty much my story. Nothing special, though if Inoue thinks so, then that's much prefered by me. It's a mutual feeling." Isamu added, sending a smile her way. Ichigo rolled his eyes. He was getting irked at all this flirting on Isamu's part, not to mention calling her Inoue after knowing her for two hours wasn't helping. Who did he think he was exactly? Walking into his school and hitting on one of his friends. Ichigo became flustered at his thoughts. _What am I thinking? I don't own her. It's not like she's my girlfriend or anything. Still, Isamu didn't seem to know his place, and Ichigo thought he may have to show him where that was sometime in the future. For now, he'd just keep an eye on him. He was probably harmless, and Ichigo was probably being over protective, but he didn't take chances when it came to his nakama.

"Inoue is special. I've known her for years." Ichigo said, suprising himself. That was a bit of an overstatement, seeing as they barely talked for the most part of their childhood. It wasn't up until the last fear years that they actually became good friends, but they still weren't as close as they should be.

Orihime, however, wasn't worried about the latter of the sentence; she was turning red from the fact Ichigo had said she was special. Her heart was making itself known in her chest, pattering away, much faster than normal. She was sure everyone could hear it. A big, goofy grin made it's way to her face anyway. Tonight was going to be a peaceful sleep, for sure. She would definitely replay this moment over and over.

"I'm special?" she asked, wanting him to elaborate. She knew she shouldn't push this, especially with Ishida and Chad around, not to mention Isamu, but she wanted to know.

"Well, e-er, yeah, Inoue." Ichigo said, doing his best to spit it out. He hadn't even realized how he sounded until now, causing a blush to form on his cheeks. "I mean, you're my friend and, e-er, a good one at that." He said lamely, his hand wiping the sweat from his neck that had just formed. He sounded like a moron.

Orihime tried not to let the word 'friend' bug her, and forced a smile onto her face. "Thanks, Kurosaki-kun! I think of all of you guys as special, too!"

"Well, I'm finished eating. We should get back to class. It was nice meeting you, Yamauchi-kun. I hope to see more of you." Ishida said, getting up and gathering his stuff. He waved goodbye, and Yamauchi waved back.

"Ichigo, we should go, too." He simply said, and Ichigo nodded.

"Alright, Chad. Um, it was nice meeting you, Yamauchi-kun. Welcome back to Karakura." He said, trying his best to be friendly, even though he was beyond irritated with the guy. "See you later, Inoue."

This left Isamu and Orihime alone together, which made Orihime feel slightly uncomfortable. After all the flirtation that had just occurred, she didn't know what he would be like.

"So, um, what do you think of them?" She asked, pointing to the direction her friends had went. Isamu shrugged.

"They seem nice enough, though that orange haired kid is kind of a punk from what I can tell." He said nonchalantly.

"Oh, Kurosaki-kun always has a scowl on his face, don't take it personally. He grows on you! As for Ishida-kun and Sado-kun, they're quiet, but definitely good company. I'd be lost without them!" She added, hoping he wouldn't think badly of her friends.

"Why does he call Sado-kun Chad?" Isamu asked, curious.

"Oh, well from my understanding, Kurosaki-kun read his name on a nametag, and misread it as Chad. The Kanji was similar. It just kind of stuck. Those two are the best of friends, they have been since they were kids." Orihime explained. She had asked Ichigo once, why he called him Chad. She really liked the name, but felt odd calling him that. The only person she had no formalities with was Tatsuki-chan.

"Oh, well I guess that makes sense. Hey, Inoue, I know this is rather soon, but I was wondering if I could ask you something." Isamu asked, rather nervously. Orihime tensed, but looked him in the eye and smiled. "Hai, Isamu?" She asked bravely.

"Well, would you like to go to dinner with me friday night?"

Orihime was fraid he was going to ask her something along these lines, and hearing him say the words did not make it easier. She didn't know what to say. She couldn't tell him her heart belonged to Kurosaki-kun; and even if it didn't, she had just met Isamu. She assumed that if she wasn't in love with Ichigo, she may have been more excited that he was asking her out. From what she learned earlier this morning, he was rather smart. He also knew a lot about cities and cultures, which she admired.

And It wasn't that Isamu wasn't attractive either; in fact, he was. She had seen a few girls eyeing at him on her way to lunch. She had also seen a few jealous glares directed at her. (Though by this point, she was used to it, since she was friends with Ichigo, and by now half the female population wanted him.) It was just that she had never even thought about liking another guy, ever. She was in love with Ichigo Kurosaki, one of her friends...

But he isn't in love with you.

The thought pierced Orihime's heart, a cold reminder that her love for Ichigo was completely and utterly unrequited.

I will never be good enough for him, she thought glumly to herself.

Suddenly, she pictured herself old and alone. Images of living in her current apartment flashed through her head, except that the pictures that currently filled the frames were a empty. She sat in an old rocking chair, old and ugly, knitting. Even worse, she imagined Ichigo married to someone much better than her. Someone who was prettier, smarter, stronger and more worthy of his love. Her heart felt as though it would fall out of her chest.

Was she going to let that happen? To pass up every guy that showed interest in her, because she was waiting for Ichigo to miraculously fall in love with her? The chances of that happening were slim. She needed to move on. It was unhealthy, feeling this way for someone who did not and would not return the favor...

So Orihime Inoue did something she didn't think she would ever do.

"Yes, Isamu-kun, I will go to dinner with you on friday." As she said the words, she forced a smile on her face. Little did she know, that sentence was the start of a new chapter in her life- one that she wish she could erase forever.

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Alright, so there's the prologue. It's hard setting everything up, and as this is my first bleach fic, I apologize if it wasn't great! I thought it was pretty decent, though. I worked super hard on this, so please please please Read and Review! Once I get everything going, it should get better! Thanks!