That night, it wasn't a nightmare that woke Orihime, but a howl of a hollow. She sat up, rubbing her eyes 'That sounded very close.' She threw on a hoodie and her sneakers before running outside, feeling Ichigo's spiritual pressure coming her way. She frowned as she felt how strong the hollow was. This wasn't a normal hollow, was it? She shot Tsubaki as soon as she came into view, taking the strangely small hollow by surprise.
"Who dares interrupt my dinner?" he yelled, deflecting her shot. 'Dinner?' Orihime thought, and then her blood ran cold at the sight of a half-eaten mask in its hand. 'The howl earlier must've been "dinner"! That means this is…' "An adjuchas" Ichigo's voice was grim as he unsheathed his sword. Orihime looked at him quickly; ready to argue that she should be allowed to fight. "Maybe with you here I won't end up destroying half the street" he joked, grinning at her before flash stepping towards the hollow and slashing at him.
Orihime's heart soared and she prepared her three-pronged attack, shooting as soon as Ichigo was knocked back. Two were deflected, but the third hit her target square in the chest. "You bitch!" he roared, flying towards her. She quickly pulled up her shield, deflecting him as he struck again and again, shield slowly weakening under the pressure. Tsubaki flew towards him from one side, and Ichigo from behind. "Getsuga Tensho!" Ichigo swung just as Tsubaki hit the hollow out of the way and Orihime's shield took the full brunt of his strike, shattering.
The attack was blocked, but the hollow had an opening, and swung at her. She couldn't re-summon her shield quick enough and closed her eyes tight. A loud cry had her eyes flying open in time to see the hollow disappear, Ichigo's bankai having run him through. "You okay?" he asked, turning to her and she nodded quickly "Thank you Ichigo." He snorted "If I hadn't swung without thinking you wouldn't have needed my help" He rolled his eyes "Rukia was right, I suck at working with others."
Orihime giggled then gasped as he swayed, quickly steadying himself with his sword. "Ichigo?" he smiled sheepishly at her "Mind patching me up again?" he asked wryly, gesturing to the gaping wound in his stomach. Realization washed over Orihime 'He blocked the blow with his body to get the opportunity to kill the hollow…' "Of course!" she said a little exasperated. "Lie down, before you fall down, please."
He chuckled and obediently lay in the grass, folding his arms behind his head as a warm orange glow engulfed him. He noticed Orihime frowning at his wound "What are you thinking?" he asked, and her frown deepened. "You shouldn't have done that. This is a serious wound." She sighed. "Sorry" he said quietly "I knew I could take it the hit, and the opportunity to get a strike in was too good to pass up."
"What if it hadn't killed him?" Orihime scolded, and he shrugged "Then you would have had my back." Her eyes widened in surprise "You can hold your own against my bankai, Orihime. You're fighting at captain strength." He reminded her and she blushed. "But you're right. I'll be more careful next time." He conceded "Maybe when we train next we should fight together." She smiled "I'd like that"
Once he was healed, they began the walk back to her apartment when suddenly Ichigo laughed. "What?" Orihime asked, puzzled. "I didn't even realize you were in your pajamas" he commented, smiling. "Aren't you cold?" Orihime looked down at her bare legs, ruefully realizing her pajama shorts didn't cover much. "Not really" She shrugged "Its summer. I wasn't really thinking about what I was wearing when I ran out anyway."
He shook his head "You know that there are three soul reapers protecting this town, right? You could stay in bed." "So could you" she countered, and he grinned "Fair enough." There was silence for a few more minutes before they reached her door. "Are you sleeping well tonight?" Ichigo asked "Besides the interruption, I mean." Orihime nodded "Yeah, you?" He looked away, shrugging "Keep thinking about…stuff. I haven't been to sleep yet." Orihime raised an eyebrow "It's two in the morning. Did you want to talk about anything?" she asked softly, gesturing to her living room. He stared at her, face unreadable, before finally shaking his head. "Not tonight. Thank you, though." Orihime watched him as he left, frowning.
Ichigo stared at his ceiling, thinking. He had the inexplicable urge to wrap his arms around Orihime before he left, and he still couldn't figure out why. He groaned and ran his hands over his face. 'I never should have crossed that line in the first place' he thought. It was one thing to comfort a friend, but another thing to just randomly touch them with no reason. Wasn't it?
He sighed and buried his head in the pillow, focusing on calculus. As he began solving a problem in his head, he slowly drifted to sleep, the boring task having the desired effect.