A/N: Hello!

We reached number 10! *does little victory dance*

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Temarixx – Thank you! I'm so glad you liked it!

Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo.

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Chapter 10

3rd Person

The black haired girl made her way to the kitchen. Her stomach was growling and it was time for breakfast anyway. She almost got to the door when a hand clamped around her mouth, muffling her startled cry. Yes, cry, because Kurosaki Karin did not shriek.

She turned her face to look at the culprit . . . only to find her own twin sister who had a manic gleam in her eye.

'Karin-chan!' she whispered excitedly, 'Onii-chan and Orihime-nee are acting all mushy!'

Karin snorted. Really, they were both twenty-one and Yuzu still acted like a squealing teenager.

'I'll believe it when I see it.'

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say since her usually gentle sister pushed her face to the crack between the wall and the slightly ajar door.

Karin's jaw fell.

Wh-Who was that man?! Who was he and what had he done to her brother?!

Because there was no way that was her Ichi-nii who had her sister-in-law trapped against the kitchen counter!

True, they weren't doing anything indecent, but she couldn't believe it. Orihime faced the row of cabinets as her brother stood behind her, his hands over hers on the flat counter-top.

Yuzu squealed and Karin watched in disbelief as Ichigo bent down and whispered in Orihime's ear, a decidedly arrogant smirk on his face, as if he was sharing some private joke.

'Ohayo, Hime.'

The peeping toms outside the door stood transfixed.

Karin had had no idea that he was capable of something like that. The bigger surprise was that instead of pushing him away like she would've done, Orihime blushed a deep shade of red.

The twins stared, eyes wide open, recording every detail (after all, this valuable information could come in handy someday) as Orihime slowly turned her face and Ichigo lowered his head and kissed her.

'Don't ruin it for them.' A gruff voice said, alarming the gaping girls, who turned to see their father looking down at them with a mock-serious expression. The two girls sheepishly crept away, leaving the former Shinigami Captain alone in the hallway as he smiled to himself.

It was fun to tease them but they the orange-haired couple did need some private time to themselves. At least if there was to be any progress to be made.

Kurosaki Ichigo

I finally understood the weird tension that had been bothering me and as I had just noticed, bothering her too. It's just the two of us inside the car and I could almost hear the pace of her heartbeat. As if her deep blush wasn't obvious enough. I don't know what she's thinking but at this point, when I have to (as in 'am required by law' to) keep my hands on the steering wheel, she doesn't want to know what I'm thinking.

"Oh, but I already do. And it fucking blows that you won't put your thoughts into actions."

Great. Just what I needed.

The way she nervously nibbled on her plump bottom lip and how her pink tongue slipped out to lick it was enough to drive anyone crazy.

"Just pull over and have done with it!"

SHUT UP!

Shit. The car almost skidded on the road just then. Hime's face was now white as a sheet and she was staring worriedly at me.

YOU FUCKING NUISANCE! WHO THE HELL SAYS THAT?!

"Why not?"

Because I'm not going to let our first time happen in a backseat!

"You have to admit, it would've been . . . different. And pathetically unoriginal. And that upholstery would have given her a very sore back. Assuming that you were on top that is."

Shut up. Now.

Kurosaki Orihime

After that torturously taunting car ride, we're finally at the new house. Our house. I barely managed not to squeal.

It was time for sunset and the sloping roof had a bright glow while the few flowers at the sides of the gate leading to the front door were a pretty pink. It's a normal house with the living room, bathroom and kitchen on the first floor * and two bedrooms and bathrooms on the second. And there's also a small backyard. Yes, it was very normal and I loved it.

I finally unlocked the door (after having fumbled with the key and dropping it twice) and swung it open when I was suddenly scooped off the ground in bridal style.

I turned bewilderedly to face the orange-haired man who was holding me.

'I – Ichi – '

'What?' he said gruffly, although his face was quite red and he wouldn't meet my eyes, 'It's tradition.'

And with that, he stepped through the doorway and walked into our home.

Kurosaki Ichigo

"'It's tradition.' my ass. You just needed an excuse."

Tch. It sucks when I can't yell at him for speaking the truth.

"Now, all that's left to do is walk up those stairs, straight to that new, fully-furnished bedroom.'

Well, yeah. We'd done all that stuff before the wedding . . .

'A-Ano, Ichigo?' She blinked at me, as though waiting for something.

'Yeah?'

'Y-You can put me down now.'

Eh?

Her face resembled a tomato as she stammered out the next words.

'N-Not that I don't like this, but I, um, sort of ended up inviting everyone to our house today, s-so we have to go grocery shopping.'

'What?!'

'W-Well, Rangiku-san, Rukia-chan and Tatsuki-chan wanted to come over and then even Renji-kun and Ishida-kun and Sado-kun were standing there and I-I couldn't not invite everyone. Although Sado-kun did say it was alright if I didn't want them to come over, but then that sounded so rude that I couldn't refuse!'

Of course not. She's Hime. She'll never refuse anyone anything. Goddammit! Can't these people leave us alone?!

I set her down and she walked right out the very same door we'd just come through.

"SHE CAN'T DO THAT! She can't fucking do that!"

Shut up.

We returned from the shopping trip two hours ago, after I managed to convince her that no, we did not need red bean paste to be in every single dish for dinner. Or wasabi for that matter. She's finally happy with the house and thinks it's "presentable". I'll admit it was a bit dusty when we started cleaning it but I didn't really see the need to stress over it. So what if it's been empty for about two months? The guests are our friends.

Which is why when the bell rang and she greeted them with a wide grin, I wanted to slam the door right in their smug faces.

A/N: Tada!

*In many places first floor = ground floor and second floor = first floor. In case anybody got confused . . .

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