"Mou... It hurts..." Inoue Orihime groaned, clutching at her stomach as her two friends escorted her up the stairs.

"That's what you get for eating so much frozen yogurt," Tatsuki scolded lightly, gripping the healer's side tighter as she glanced back at the following shinigami. A concerned expression was evident on his face as his brown eyes never left the girl's back

"B-But... It's a party!" She lightheartedly exclaimed although kept calm enough as to not upset her stomach further. "We have to eat as much as we can!" Her too-quick enthusiasm had her clutching her fabric tighter at the stomach, making her moan out in pain.

"Tatsuki!" Ichigo snapped from behind them, not wasting a moment to notice her distressed state. "Don't yell at her for being herself!" The martial artist stopped in her spot at the top of the steps and glared at the offending shinigami.

"Why aren't you the one making the effort to bring her upstairs anyway?" She hissed. "You're the one who's been watching her eat all this stuff." She had a point concerning Orihime's recent state. Truth be told, he was just sitting at the table with her, watching her eat frozen yogurt and other foods with gusto. And even though the party was essentially for him, he felt plenty content with being by her.

They had just finished the Winter War and his dad threw a party for everyone; everyone meaning captains and vice captains from Soul Society along with his personal friends, all crammed into their tiny house. But he really didn't end up paying too much attention to them, despite the applause and cries of congratulations. Sure, he had been the one to kill Aizen but he was just fine with watching over his healer friend during the following events.

"I'll take her the rest of the way then if you're so adamant about it," he scoffed lightly, stepping around Orihime to get in front of her. He pulled her hand from her side to lightly pull her along, ignoring the hard stare from Tatsuki. Although it was enough to pay no attention to her gaze, it was hard to put aside the emotions in her eyes.

"You'd better stay with her," Tatsuki spoke gruffly, turning around to descend down the stairs. "If I catch you coming back downstairs and leaving her alone, I'll punch you in the face." Ichigo couldn't help but grimace at the threat. He hadn't planned to leave Orihime alone anyway, but Tatsuki's threats always had him solidifying his decisions.

"You don't have to stay with me, Kurosaki-kun," Orihime mumbled out, unaware of Tatsuki's current absence. "It's your party; you should have fun and eat a lot like I did!" Her sudden enthusiasm had her clutching at her tummy again and biting her bottom lip to stop from crying out. Rolling his eyes, Ichigo tentatively placed his hand on her opposite hip, to keep her upright as they shuffled off to his room.

"Its fine, Inoue," he told her, kicking open the door and then shutting it behind them. At the moment, he could feel his cheeks burning a bit, but he told himself it was only natural due to the fact he took Inoue Orihime to his room to rest. It was no big deal, really, so he didn't know why he was getting so worked up over it. "Besides, it's really loud downstairs right now, so some quiet time is nice."

Orihime, whom was noticeably blushing as well along with her expression of pain and ache, merely nodded as she took slow steps into the room. She was blushing for many reasons, but a big one was due to the fact she was in Ichigo's room again. What made it embarrassing was due to the fact the last time she was here, she was bent over about to kiss him before she disappeared. Nonetheless, Ichigo shuffled them towards his bed, where he had her lie down and rest.

"W-Wait, I can rest on the floor, Kurosaki-kun! I don't need to be on your bed and- Itai!" Of course Orihime was adamant on being on his bed. It was Kurosaki Ichigo's bed! The boy she had devoted five lifetimes to and gave her heart to, and he was having her lie on his bed in his room. And as she tried to explain herself, she ended up sending her stomach into a fit of bad nausea, in which she was cut off short and fell back onto the flat comforter.

"You're not feeling good," he scolded her lightly, going a few feet away from her towards his closet to retrieve a fleece blanket. Ichigo laid it on top of her resting form, looking at her with intent eyes. "There's no way you're going to be on the floor." Orihime glanced down nervously at her new covering and carefully pulled it up to her nose. As she inhaled, she thoroughly took in his spicy scent and felt her cheeks warm up even further. Why did this boy have to smell so good?

Sighing lightly, Orihime closed her eyes and tried to rest, even though she knew she wouldn't be able to. There was too much going on around her to be able to properly sleep.

As time passed, Orihime hadn't moved from her spot, but she could certainly feel Ichigo shifting and moving around from time to time. She could feel his reiatsu move from place to place, with his every shift in position. She could tell when he sat at his desk to when he moved to the floor and leaned his back against the edge of his bed. If it wasn't embarrassing enough, knowing he was restless only made her feel like she needed to emphasize to him that he could go back downstairs.

Then there was one point she thought she was dreaming. After having her eyes closed for so long, she would admit she felt some grogginess. But would her half-sleep explain what she was feeling right now?

Because Orihime felt his reiatsu right at her side, so dangerously close her heart threatened to jump right out due to how fast it was beating. A hand, Ichigo's hand, on her forehead, brushing aside stray hairs made her freeze up and close her eyes closed tighter. Although she found it odd, even in her half-awakened state, that she closed her eyes even tighter, rather than open them like any normal person would.

"Kurosaki-kun..." She mumbled out quietly, still unsure if she was dreaming or not.

It was when she felt lips pressed against her own that made her snap her eyes open. She wasn't dreaming, and Ichigo was kissing her! With her fingers curling tightly into the blanket, she squeaked and closed her eyes again, unsure of what she should do.

"Uh, shit," Ichigo grumbled, pulling away. She blinked her eyes open again and sat straight up, her lips still tingling as her face burned hotly. "Sorry..."

"K-Kurosaki-kun, y-you..." Orihime couldn't really finish her sentence, and instead raised her fingers to graze her freshly kissed lips. He looked pretty embarrassed about it and was running a shaky hand through his thick, orange hair.

"You just..." Ichigo mumbled out, now avoiding eye contact. "I mean, it all just looked so..."

The two teens were just as embarrassed over what happened, but there was still the elephant in the room that had yet to be addressed. Orihime was nervous about bringing it up, but something like a kiss from the boy she loved and got rescued by just couldn't go by unsaid.

"Why...?" The lone word left her lips. Ichigo kept silent for a while, until he huffed and tentatively raised his eyes to meet hers.

"You looked pretty..." His words were slow and careful, as if he'd mess it up otherwise by speaking too fast. "A-And I guess I just found myself... You know."

Orihime's cheeks burned hotly and her heart was racing so hard, she thought it'd jump right out of her chest. H-He said I was pretty... She thought, replaying the words in her head. It seemed so wonderful, there was no way it could be true!

"Inoue," Ichigo called out to the blushing beauty, causing her to break from her daydreams. She noticed he suddenly looked much more flushed than he was a minute ago, after the kiss. Her heart continued to hammer in her chest as she waited for him to continue. "This probably isn't a good time to ask you, since you're sick and all, um..."

Orihime's hands fell to the blanket, gripping the fabric tight as she inwardly willed her heart to stop pounding so loud in her ears. Otherwise she wouldn't be able to hear what Ichigo said!

"Would you want to go out sometime?" Ichigo blurted out, his words all jumbled together. Orihime jumped at the franticness of his statement and it was only a matter of seconds until her undoing was upon her.

Her face turned the darkest shade of red he'd ever seen and she squeaked so loudly, Ichigo was surprised everyone from downstairs didn't come upstairs to see what was going on. "M-M-Me?" Orihime squealed, her arms flailing. "B-But, I'm nothing special about me that would make you want to take me o-out and-"

Ichigo's soft smile, the one most commonly reserved for her, stopped her onslaught of words, and she immediately became tight-lipped. "You're just yourself, Inoue. That's what I like about you." He liked that about her? Orihime suddenly felt very dizzy after all these truths out in the open, and she held a hand to her cheek as she continued to blush madly.

The shinigami resumed blushing as well moments later and he cleared his throat as to break the silence. "A-Anyway, just rest, Inoue. You'll feel better if you do." Orihime nervously lay back down and pulled up the covers way over her head, more so than necessary. Ichigo sat against his bed again, a nervous smirk on his face and the urge to laugh abundant as he heard a string of squeals coming from the girl under the blanket.

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