Author Notes: Hello again, everyone! This is something I had started maybe half a year ago, but not finished until now. It's a one shot that's not related to my happy, fluffy IchiHime Orange Blaze Amber Flame series. It's somewhat angsty, but it does end with fluff. I hope you like it :)

Warning: Might contain trigger for very brief mention of violence and potential non-con in flashback. Some angst and general teenage awkwardness.

Rating: T

Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo.

- Story Start -

Orihime Inoue awoke in slow degrees, eyelids fluttering as she tried to get them to open. They were so heavy! Even without looking though, she knew she wasn't in her own bed. What she was lying on felt more like a futon.

So where was she?

And why was she-

As if her brain had flicked a switch, a torrent of memories poured forth. Eyes snapping wide open, she gasped, her heart pounding. She looked around, turning her head from side to side. The walls and ceiling looked vaguely familiar, but it was the flash of orange that brought her perusal to an abrupt halt.

Ichigo Kurosaki was sitting cross legged beside her futon, still dressed in his school uniform. His hands were clenched into fists, resting on his knees. Despite her movements, he continued to stare straight ahead, as if lost in thought.

Orihime's heartbeat slowed down almost at once. She always felt more relaxed in Ichigo's presence. Well, except for the nervous butterflies in her stomach because of her crush on him, but she was used to that. More importantly, Ichigo made her feel safe. Protected.

"K-Kurosaki-kun?"

Brown eyes flicked down to her, faster than she could blink.

"Inoue, you're awake. How do you feel?"

"Oh, I'm fine!" Orihime sat up slowly. Her head felt heavy and there was a slight twinge in her right side. Then she noticed the scratches on his knuckles and the small cut on his lower lip. "Are you alright?"

Ichigo nodded.

"Don't worry about me. But I need to apologise."

She blinked at him. That was not what a rescuer would say to someone he had rescued.

"What? Why?"

A muscle ticked in his jaw, which she only now noticed was clenched tight. In fact, his entire body looked tense.

"When Rukia helped you up earlier, you said it hurt. And you couldn't walk so I carried you. I thought that perhaps," his voice roughened and he paused to clear his throat, the sound abnormally loud in the quiet room, "that perhaps you had been hurt."

He was... angry, she realised. Her hand went to her ribs, fingertips tracing the outline of a neat bandage under her-

She looked down and plucked at what she was wearing.

"W-whose bathrobe is this?"

"A spare one from Urahara-san."

So that's why this room seemed familiar. They were in the guest room of Urahara's shoten.

"Oh," she said. "Wait. Who-?"

"Don't worry. It was Rukia who cleaned you up and changed you."

Orihime's hands fluttered as she laughed nervously, relieved and embarrassed all at once.

"Oh no, I-I wasn't accusing anyone," she said hastily. "I know you guys would never do that."

Urahara and Tessai were respectful and proper gentlemen. She trusted them and Ishida and Sado, and most of all, this boy with the permanent scowl on his face and the 'don't mess with me' vibe. Others may fear him, but she didn't. Far from it.

Fighting down a blush, she took a deep breath, feeling that twinge again. A kidou spell had been used, but it only hastened the recovery process, and not heal the wound completely. Her hands went to her hairpins as she summoned her powers.

"Soten Kisshun! I reject!"

Ayame and Shun'ou flew out, giving her reproachful looks for making them wait before flying to her side. She gave a sigh of relief as an orange glow formed there and the nagging ache faded. Looking up, she saw the frown on Ichigo's face and gave a quick smile.

"I'm fine, Kurosaki-kun," she said hastily. "Please don't worry about me."

But her words didn't seem to have any effect on him. If anything, his scowl deepened. His reiatsu, normally flowing loosely about him, was coiled tight and felt controlled. Angry.

"Rukia healed your ribs and Tessai-san healed the mild concussion you got when you hit your head. But when I thought you'd been hurt, I didn't mean either of those," he explained.

Orihime frowned in puzzlement as she directed the healing glow to his cut lip and then his knuckles, but he didn't seem to notice. His reiatsu felt agitated now, more telling than the tiny signs of anger he was showing. When the cuts faded, she thanked Ayame and Shun'ou before they vanished back into her hairpins.

"I... don't understand," she finally confessed, feeling stupid and just a tiny bit annoyed that Ichigo wasn't being more explicit. This conversation wasn't going anywhere.

"Those jerks. I heard some of what they were saying. Nasty things." His mouth twisted as if he had tasted something disgusting, eyes flashing pure rage. "Bad things."

There was no mistaking the sudden ouflare of his reiatsu, before he jerked it back into himself.

"Oh!" Orihime dropped her gaze, her cheeks burning again.

She had stayed back after school to wait for Tatsuki to finish gym class. While waiting, she had started on her English essay and by the time Tatsuki came to get her, was halfway through and wanted to finish it before leaving. She had told Tatsuki to go on ahead and that she wouldn't be long. But then she had gotten a brainwave and decided to re-write the entire thing.

By the time she finished, it was almost evening. She had quickly packed up her things and decided to take a shortcut home through a shadier part of town.

Big mistake.

Orihime bit her lip, wishing Ichigo hadn't heard those thugs taunting her as they surrounded her in that dark alley, telling her what they were going to do to her. There were five of them. She had a black belt in karate, but she was still outnumbered. One of them behind her had kicked her in the knee and she had gone down, hitting her head as she fell. Dazed with pain, she had thought she heard someone shouting her name from far away, and then there was a blow to her ribs and her world exploded in pain.

She was vaguely aware of pounding feet and the sounds of scuffling and blows and curses, but she was left alone until gentle hands helped her to her feet. Through the haze of pain and tears, she caught a glimpse of Rukia's white face and Ichigo's blazing eyes. The last thing she knew was lying in his arms before her vision grayed.

A part of her wished he hadn't seen how helpless she was, but the rest of her was so very glad he and Rukia had turned up. She peeped up at him, shivering at the protective fury in the swirl of reiatsu surrounding her, ruffling her hair.

"Your tights were torn," Kurosaki went on, in that same grim voice. "I knew what those jerks wanted. But then you said..."

She didn't think it was possible for her face to heat up even more without exploding.

She was wrong.

She didn't think her heart could race any faster.

She was wrong about that too.

"...you said you'd let only one person touch you there."

She was sure she would pass out from heatstroke any moment now.

Then that fierce brown gaze dropped and released her. She could breathe again.

"I thought that Rukia and I were too late, that they'd managed to-" he broke off and shook his head.

"But why..." she trailed off, unsure of what words to use, what words would not give offense, because that was the very last thing she wanted.

"I used to help Goat Face in his clinic. I've seen abused women coming in to be treated."

Orihime blinked. That made sense.

"Oh," was all she could think of to say. Again.

"So I checked."

Orihime's frown deepened.

"You went back to... to ask them?"

Ichigo shook his head.

"Then how could you-" she broke off, fingers clutching the front of her robe. "Oh, you mean you asked Rukia to check?"

Ichigo shook his head again.

"Then how...?"

"I waited until after she went out to clean your clothes."

He jerked his chin to the side and she turned her head to see her school blouse and skirt on the mat, neatly folded up. Then she looked back at him.

"So you were here with me."

He nodded.

"Alone."

He nodded again.

Orihime stared at him, her heart pounding. He looked so stern, so fierce.

"H-how did you check?" she whispered.

A muscle jumped in his jaw.

"I looked."

Orihime's mouth fell open despite somehow knowing it was the only way.

"What?!" she whispered and even then, her voice almost squeaked.

"JustaquickpeekandIswearIdidn'touchyouanywhere."

The words spilled out so fast they ran together. It didn't matter. Orihime's mind was suddenly sharp and clear, and could separate and understand each word just fine. She gulped, fingers clutching her bathrobe even tighter, heart now thumping three times faster than before, each beat echoing in her ears, deafening her.

So he was the one who had ended up seeing the most private part of her while she was unconscious and vulnerable and completely defenseless. She bit her lip again, her breath coming fast and light, her mind a complete blank.

"Just a quick peek and I-"

"Why didn't you wait until I woke up?" For once, Orihime didn't care that she had actually interrupted someone, and that her voice was an octave higher. It was definitely in the shrill range now.

"I couldn't wait. I wanted to know if I should go back there and give them something much, much worse than just broken jaws and noses."

The furious steel in his voice and eyes were unmistakable. Despite her shock, a part of Orihime couldn't help but thrill to the possessiveness in his voice.

"Oh. They... uhm, didn't get a chance to do anything," she said.

Ichigo finally looked down, shoulders slumping as he took a deep breath and let it out in a rush. Orihime relaxed as well, taking a quick breath. His reiatsu, now gentle once more, was a stifling pressure in the room; an almost tangible presence buzzing against her ears, impossible to ignore.

"I know that now, " he said quietly. He looked at her and grimaced. "I swear, Inoue, I didn't do anything. I just took a quick peek to make sure."

"I..."

"And for that, I apologise."

Holding her gaze, he shifted, bringing his knees up and rising a bit before settling back down in a traditional seiza pose with both hands resting on his thighs. His expression was grimmer than she had ever seen it. Then he bent forward and placed his hands palms down on the tatami mat in front of him, fingers pointing inwards.

"K-Kurosaki-kun? What're you - oh!"

Right before her astonished eyes, Ichigo bowed, his orange head going lower and lower until his forehead touched the tatami mat in the space between his hands. A formal, traditional apology offered for the gravest of wrongdoing.

"Forgive me, Inoue." His voice was muffled.

"Kurosaki-kun! Oh no, please don't, oh, please don't! Get up, get up!"

As the words tumbled from her mouth, Orihime scrambled onto her hands and knees. She reached for that mop of orange hair and tugged.

Slowly, Ichigo raised his head until he was on an eye level with her. Orihime's hand fell limply back to her side, her eyes huge. She had never seen him look so pale, never seen his eyes look so tortured.

"I swear, I just-"

"No! Wait!" Orihime held out a hand that shook. "Don't! It's alright!"

Ichigi's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"It's alright?" he repeated in disbelief.

"Well, n-no, not alright, but..." She fumbled for words, face still flaming hot.

She was embarrassed. No, she was mortified. And crush on him notwithstanding, she really wished he hadn't looked. But she couldn't bring herself to be angry at him. And he needed to know that.

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and let it out. She took another and let that out too. Alright, she felt calmer now. She opened her eyes and met his gaze.

"I'm not angry with you," she said out loud, her voice trembling, but sure. "I understand why you did that. You just wanted to make sure I was alright."

He swallowed and nodded slowly, relief filtering through his eyes.

"Yeah. That's it, I swear."

They were silent after that, Ichigo still in that half bow with his weight on his hands, and Orihime still leaning towards him, their eyes not quite meeting each other's. There was an unexpected, unplanned intimacy between them that hadn't existed before.

Something she had never thought would happen. At least, not like this.

But it was something she could live with.

"Then it's alright," she said softly.

"Thank you." Ichigo still looked like he didn't believe her a hundred percent, but he nodded and straightened back up, Orihime doing the same.

"I should be the one to thank you, Kurosaki-kun. You and Rukia-san."

Ichigo nodded. Then he cleared his throat again.

"So when you told them you'd only let someone else touch you there..."

It was both a statement and a question.

Orihime's blush - which had just started to recede - flared up again, this time going right up to her hairline and then creeping back down her neck. The terrycloth robe was suddenly too warm for her.

"Y-yes?"

"Who did you mean?"

Ichigo's voice was hesitant, but his eyes were not, boring into hers and demanding nothing less than the truth. Swallowing hard, Orihime reached out a trembling hand and rested it on top of his nearest hand.

He immediately pulled it out and placed it over hers instead, holding it firmly. His hand was so much bigger than hers, warm, calloused and strong. Giving her reassurance and lending her strength.

"It's you, Kurosaki-kun!" Her words came out a rush, her entire being shaking like a leaf. "I thought you knew that."

Ichigo inhaled sharply, but his gaze never left her face.

"Me," he stated, making it sound like a question again.

Orihime smiled, still very red in the face, but feeling a bit calmer now that she had said it aloud.

"Yes. You," she said.

Ichigo blinked and then his eyes - always so fierce, so determined - softened with a rare warmth, lips tilting in an almost smile and hand tightening over hers.

When he leaned forward, Orihime thought he was going to kiss her and her heart went into overdrive again. Instead, his free hand went to her shoulder, clasping it as he pressed gentle lips to her forehead.

"I'm glad," he said and she could hear the smile in his voice, making her blush even harder.

In the next second, he was on his feet, the soft breeze of his movement wafting over her, and going over to stand at the door. She looked up in surprise.

"Get dressed. I'll wait for you outside," he told her and left, sliding the door closed behind him.

The room suddenly seemed smaller without his presence.

"Alright," Orihime said very softly. She took another breath and held out her hands in front of her. They were still shaking. So was the rest of her.

Slowly, she brought her hands to her face and cupped her burning cheeks. She had confessed her crush, something she thought she would never do. The next step was up to him. But she was no longer worried. That gentle kiss told her she had nothing to fear... and that her heart was in no safer hands.

Letting out a sigh, Orihime smiled and reached for her school uniform. It was time to get dressed and thank Urahara-san, Tessai-san and Rukia-san for their help.

Perhaps Ichigo would walk her home. In fact, she would very much like for him to do so.

- Story End -

A/N: Thank you for reading! Please leave a review if you enjoyed it, would love to hear from you :)