(教師)

In the rain, there was a young couple sharing an umbrella.

A pale pink umbrella.

No words has been spoken since they left the school building.

None was required.

Inoue Orihime was blissfully contented to be just walking by her orange-haired protector's side.

For the umpteen time since they have started to walk side by side, Orihime stole another timid peek at the one she has fallen in love with in this lifetime.

And beyond.

This time her furtive glance did not go unnoticed.

Kurosaki Ichigo's curious brown eyes met her shy brown eyes.

Startled, the blushing princess looked away in a hurry.

Ichigo smirked.

She is just so cute.

Why must she look away?

Was it not obvious that when he caught her looking at him was because... he was doing the same thing as her.

He was admiring the gorgeous girl walking next to him, under the same umbrella, in the rain.

He was so immersed in his newly-awakening appreciation of his gentle friend that Kurosaki Ichigo, did not notice that the lamppost was in his way.

And he collided with it with his face.

Or more specifically, his sharp straight nose.

"K-Kurosaki-k-kun!"

He heard the startled cry of the anxious healer.

Then he felt the soft hand gently touching his nose.

"K-Kurosaki-kun, does your nose hurt?"

'Of course my damn nose hurts.' That was how he would have like to answer if it was someone else asking the questIon, but since it was her.

The caring gentle healer.

He kept his ready-to-spew offensive-laden mouth shut.

He wanted to touch his nose in spite of his facial organ now enjoying the smoothing attention from the soft fingers.

"I do not think it is broken. Do you want me to heal you, Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime asked as she leaned up to feel his nose lightly.

"What here?" Ichigo glanced at the pretty princess who was showering his nose with a little too much attention. A glint of something dark flashed in his brown eyes as he took in the curvaceous form of his innocent classmate.

How could someone as slender as her be gifted with so many curves in all the right places?

He wondered how would all those soft curves measured up against his hard body.

He wanted her to touch him some where else other than his nose.

He gave out a weary sigh as he berated himself for his inappropriate designs for the gentle healer.

She gave out a worried gasp as she thought she has inadvertently caused him some kind of pain by feeling his nose for any broken bones.

"K-Kurosaki-kun," She started to ask in concern but he interrupted her by handing his school bag to her.

"You mind holding my bag, Inoue." He scowled, but it was not directed at his caring classmate. "I want to feel my nose."

She nodded eagerly, her small hand moved quickly to take his bag from him and in that brief instance when their fingers touched; she hoped he felt what she did.

An indescribable feeling of euphoria that should not have been triggered by such a slight contact.

Blissful brown eyes beamed at the befuddled brown eyes.

Ichigo rubbed the back of his head with his free hand.

What just happened... again?

Every time they touched, he experienced a sudden jolt to his body.

And a harpoon to his fast beating heart.

Not familiar.

Not unwelcome.

Only with her.

And he wanted to experience it over and over with... her.

But instead at this moment in time, he just glanced at her with an unreadable expression on his face and laid his fingers on his nose.

He stumbled a little as he must touch a raw nerve.

'What the...' He thought.

'Ouch!'

He shut his eyes and stopped walking.

He was glad that he has managed to not utter out any unmanly signs of weakness.

"Kurosaki-kun?"

An anxious voice laced with so much concern.

The timid princess thought really hard about it.

She bit down hard on her lower lip.

She made up her mind.

Carrying both the school bags in one hand.

She made one of her hand free.

Her slender arm moved slowly behind his back, carefully by not making comtact yet, and when it finally reached the other side of his body, she gave him the support he needed.

Immediately, she felt his body went stiff.

Has she done something wrong by being so bold?

She waited nervously for his reaction.

She glanced up at her tall protector.

And waited.

She watched as he slowly opened his eyes.

What was he thinking?

Then his hand left his nose and it steadily snaked around her thin shoulders.

He looked at the blushing princess and hoped he was not red in the face as well.

"Mind supporting me all the way home?" He asked.

She nodded eagerly and they started to walk home, together in the rain.

No other words was spoken.

None was necessary.

(きょうし)

Ichigo wished he could be side by side with the gentle healer with each other arms around each other for a little while longer but alas, time sure passes by quickly when you are enjoying the company of a certain beautiful 'goddess'.

He was soon at the gates of his home.

He looked at the caring classmate.

She stared back at him, nervously.

Neither has let go of each other.

Neither was willing to be the first to let go.

The scowling protector clasped the handle of her pink umbrella tighter.

"Inoue, do you need to go to work today?"

She shook her head.

"No." She answered softly.

"Then you don't mind coming in, do you? I might need you to heal me after all."

"Y-You do? A-Are you in pain, K-Kurosaki-kun?"

"That's what we are going to find out, right?"

He looked at her, waiting anxiously as to what she was going to say.

"Couldn't I just heal you here?" She glanced at him shyly.

"What, here? Standing in the rain. I don't think so. Besides, I was going to seek your help with today's homework." Bare-faced liar Ichigo lied rather convincingly at the trusting girl.

Orihime's blushing face lighted up.

"Kurosaki-kun needs my help with his homework?" She was glad to be of assistance to him.

"Yes. So if you don't mind, shall we go in?" The strong arm around her shoulder was already leading her through the entrance of his house.

And Orihime followed.

"Tadaima!" Ichigo shouted out the minute he stepped into his home.

He held the blushing princess closer to him and waited.

He did not have to wait long.

"Okaeri, my idiot son!" His father boomed out his welcome.

"Prepare to feel the sting of my surprise attack!"

Kurosaki Isshin launched his not so surprise attack on his only son, only to halt and fell straight on his backside when he saw his firstborn and the very lovely Inoue Orihime with their arms around each other.

Like... like lovers.

Isshin looked unbelievably at the young couple.

He rubbed his eyes.

He looked again.

He rubbed his eyes again.

And stared.

Ichigo could sense Orihime stiffening up.

"Oi!" He addressed his father. "You are embarrassing Inoue."

At this, Isshin was back to his energetic self.

He got up in a flash and rushed to stand in front of Orihime.

He bowed to his guest.

"Konnichiwa, welcome to my humble abode. I am Kurosaki Isshin, father to the sullen one glued to your side."

Orihime smiled sweetly and Ichigo scowled at his father, sullenly.

The polite princess bowed back at the doctor of the house.

"Nice to meet you, Kurosaki-san. I am Inoue Orihime."

"Oh Masaki!" Isshin suddenly shouted out. "You must be watching out for our surly son, for no way could he have gotten someone as polite and pretty as Orihime-chan on his own." And he proceeded to cry rather noisily out of happiness.

The gentle healer looked at the doctor bawling his eyes out in confusion before turning to the fed-up son for an explanation.

Ichigo ignored his father and pointed to Orihime to remove her school shoes just as he was doing, without removing his arm from her.

And this was scene that greeted Ichigo's twin sisters when attracted by the commotion, they came out to check if they needed to break up what torture their father was tormenting their brother with.

Arms around each other, removing the school shoes was a rather difficult task to accomplish but neither of them were willing to be the first to let go.

Orihime placed her school shoes neatly next to Ichigo when they were removed from her feet.

Picking up the school bags from the floor, the other arm still around Ichigo's back, she smiled shyly at Ichigo's stunned sisters and bowed gracefully.

Like their dumbfounded father before them, the two girls stared at the one and only Inoue Orihime beside no one else and with her fair arm around him.

Their thoroughly totally bad-tempered brother.

Orihime knew her face was warming up to a rosy shade of red as the two girls continued to stared unbelievably at her and their brother.

She wonderd if it was so strange for someone like her to be with their totally amazing handsome brother.

Inwardly, she sighed.

She was almost ready to release her grip on Kurosaki-kun and run out of the door.

But... that would be rude and so unlike her.

Ichigo scowled at his sisters.

What the hell were his sisters thinking about?

He was injured.

Goddamnit!

The adult of the house decided to help out the awkward couple.

"Karin, Yuzu, don't be rude. Greet your future sister-in-law." By making it worse.

Ichigo's grip around the embarrassed princess tightened as hers loosened.

He scowled at his family.

"What did I say about embarrassing her, you stupid old man. And the two of you, say something. She's a guest, after all."

And Ichigo immediately regretted his words when his dark-haired sister opened her mouth.

"So..., you said something about embarrassing Inoue-san but you are not denying she's going to be our sister-in-law, are you, Ichi-nii?" His overly smartass of a sister taunted.

Yuzu nodded in agreement.

Isshin was grinning and nodding in greement as well.

Ichigo glared at his family.

Orihime felt the explosion of hot redness to her heated blushing face.

It was just too much information for her to digest coupled with her giddiness of hopefulness.

Kurosaki Karin has stated that Kurosaki-kun did not deny she was going to be their sister-in-law and Kurosaki-kun was...

Orihime stole a peek at Ichigo.

Kurosaki-kun was just glaring at his family.

He was not vehemently correcting his sister.

'HAPPY!'

The gentle healer felt happy.

She stole another sneak peep at him.

This time, her curious honey brown eyes encountered concerned chocolate brown eyes.

"Are you feeling alright, Inoue? You look a little red in the face."

Karin gave out a snort.

"Of course she's red in the face. Inoue-san must be uncomfortable with you groping her." She commented snidely.

"G-Groping?! Mind your word, you irresponsible trouble-maker."

Ichigo and his lookalike younger sister has a face-to-face, eyeballing duel.

The peaceful princess was alarm.

She has to do something.

"I-It is fine. I am not uncomfortable with K-Kurosaki-kun's hand on me. He is... "

Orihime paused in her explanation when she noticed every pair of eyes were on her.

She pondered as to what has made her the center of everybody's attention.

'Oh.'

"I-I did not mean it that way. K-Kurosaki-kun's hand is on me because he needed me for support as he had hurt himself." She stammered.

"It's just his excuse to put his desperate arm around you, Inoue-san." Karin disregarded whatever injury her tough brother might have sustained.

"Why you little piece of... "

"That's enough. Both of you." Isshin decided to step in.

He turned to his firstborn. "Do you need me to look at you?" The parent and the physician asked as he gave his son an once over, professionally.

"No. It's okay. I only need Inoue."

Ichigo carelessly confessed and inadvertently opened up a whole new can of worms.

(教師)