A/N: welp… I'm back I guess… after this long hehehehehe. anyways, I hope you like it! leave a review and I'm always open to suggestions on how to torture Ichigo and Uryu further :)
It took a while for Ichigo to go to sleep after the incident with the photo, after he woke he still felt the guilt of what he almost did. He got ready like he did every morning, slipping a black t-shirt on under his white button down shirt and slipped his gray trousers on over his black boxer briefs. He heard some shouting which was most likely his loud father. He looked at the digital clock on the desk and thought it was still a little too early for his dad to be causing quite a commotion. Ichigo grabs his book bag and heads downstairs, already ready for his dad to pull something.
"Good morning Ichi~nii." Yuzu greets as she is finishing packing Ichigo's lunch. He suddenly realized that he promised Orihime he would bring some for her.
"Uh, hey Yuzu, sorry to spring this on you at the last second but is there anymore of that onigiri? I promised Inoue I would bring her some today." He scratches the back of his head as he walks to the table to where his sister is.
"Wow, is it bring lunch for the hottest girl at school day?" Karin says as she stuffs a buttered piece of toast into her mouth.
Ichigo's eye twitches in annoyance.
"Shut up Karin, you wouldn't be making jokes if you knew what she eats everyday."
"Stop bickering you two, of course there's plenty for you to take to Inoue-san!" She takes out a pink bento box and puts two onigiri with a side of some of the steamed vegetables she also had leftover and wrapped it in a cute pink cloth with hearts on it. He kinda blushed thinking his sister was wrapping it like that on purpose to embarrass him, but then again Orihime likes cute things. He remembered they have wasabi packets and grabs a few knowing Orihime loves the green stuff.
"Thank you Yuzu, Where's the old man? I thought I heard him earlier." He puts both of the bentos into his pack and looks around the kitchen and living room. Their dad was nowhere to be found.
"He had to go buy something from the market. He'll be back later." Karin said as she stood and put her plate in the sink.
"Okay, well I'm off to school." Ichigo walks to the door and slips his school shoes on.
"Have a good day! Let me know how Inoue-san likes the food!" Yuzu waves as Ichigo gives both his sisters a "later" and walks out the door, book bag over his shoulder and hand in his pocket. Keigo and Mizuiro met up with him at some point along the way, he didn't really notice when, but when Keigo began rambling he realized it. Mizuiro nose deep in his phone.
"I heard you got paired up with Inoue and Ishida for your science project, how's that going?" Keigo asked with a smirk. Still under the impression that Ichigo had feelings for the Princess. He wasn't wrong, it was Ichigo's own fault for giving it away. But how was he not supposed to defend her against their perverted thoughts?
"Projects fine, Ishida is annoying as ever." Ichigo grumbled.
"C'mon Ichigo, I'm not talking about the project." Keigo nudges Ichigo in the ribs with his elbow while grinning up at him like a stupid clown.
"Like seriously, how the heck did you all end up on this project?" He chuckled. "Is it really awkward? You know… because you are both into her? And like, are you guys constantly fighting for her attention?~"
Ichigo sighed
"Mizuiro, is it just me or has Keigo gotten twice as annoying recently?" The orange haired teen sneered.
"No, you're definitely right Ichigo." Mizuiro chuckled as he typed something into his phone.
Keigo's face fell and his voice got significantly more high pitched and whiny.
"How could you two say that?~" he sank down and was walking like some kind of hunchback, his feelings obviously hurt. But if it got him to stop asking Ichigo about Orihime then so be it.
The rest of the journey to school was somewhat quiet, it didn't take long for Keigo to forget about what happened and began annoying them once again.
Ichigo slid the door to his classroom open and walked to his seat, he saw Orihime at Uryu's desk simply chatting while Chad sat behind them just listening. Orihime turned her head to look at Ichigo and it seemed like her hair whipped in slow motion and the sun behind her simply making her seem ethereal. She smiled so big at him "Good morning Kurosaki-kun!" She beamed.
Ichigo was worried that as soon as he saw her all he would be able to picture was her in the bathing suit, but all he saw was her here and now. Sure, the picture was still swimming in the back of his mind, but he didn't picture her like that as he saw her, and he sighed in relief. I guess he wasn't as perverted as he thought he was. He still felt guilty but it was starting to fade.
'You may not be as dirty as you think you are, but...' his hollow made an audible slurping sound. 'I sure am...' the hollow cackled. Ichigo rolled his eyes at his inner hollow and joined the sunset haired girl at the desk of the silent Quincy. "Good morning Inoue," he stood right next to her, he could smell her shampoo on her. Strawberries?
"Ishida-kun and I were talking about what else we could add to the project, I was just brainstorming before we have to meet up again tonight." She seemed happy to be talking about school work, which was weird to him because he was never excited about school work.
"Well, we were talking, but maybe we shouldn't do what you suggested." Uryu seemed embarrassed about what Orihime might have suggested.
"Well, what's the idea," Uryu gave Ichigo a look like he shouldn't have asked.
"Well I was thinking we could each dress in a different costume corresponding to a biome. Like if I was tundra then I could dress like a penguin. You could be a tiger, and Ishida-kun could be like a lizard or something!" Her eyes gleaming, wanting Ichigo to agree. It broke his heart to tell her no, but he really didn't want to embarrass himself in front of his whole class like that.
Ichigo looked to Uryu who gave him pleading eyes. Uryu also cringed at the idea of what Orihime suggested.
"Yeah, I don't think we should do that." The orange haired shinigami had sweat dripping down his temple, anticipating her big sad doe eyes.
"Awe, but why not?" Her gray eyes twinkled, hoping he might change his mind.
"Because we don't want our professor to give us extra extra credit, that would be unfair to the other students," Uryu stammered before Ichigo could think of something else to say.
"Wow, I didn't even think of that, that's very true." The bubbly girl folded her arms under her bust in thought. Very hard for either of the two boys not to look in that general direction, I mean they just took up so much space, how could they not.
Uryu only looked for a second, but immediately flushed and tried to look at anything else. In that effort he caught Ichigo in the act himself, and was irked. Even though he had just done the same thing a second ago.
"Well then okay! Just to be fair to our other classmates we won't do that!" She voiced that as if she had made a great decision to save her classmates.
"Okay, very well. I guess let's take our seats and get ready for class," Uryu pulled out his book just as the professor walked in.
"Right!" Orihime skipped to her seat, Ichigo and Uryu watching her effortlessly graceful strides.
"Don't forget to do your assignments at home!" The teacher called as the lunch bells chimed.
"I'm lookin at you, Kurosaki!" She gave Ichigo the death glare.
Everyone walked to their respective spots and pulled out lunches.
Orihime had secretly brought a peanut butter and red bean paste sandwich in case Ichigo forgot to bring the food for her, she wouldn't blame him of course, he was generally very busy with his family and his substitute soul reaper duties. She was the first to the roof, Chad following behind her. Ichigo and Uryu behind him. She was the first to be seated as she usually skips pretty fast as she's always excited about lunch time. Chad took the spot to her left and the auburnhaired princess had only one seat available next to her today. Ichigo was glad that Tatsuki was having a lunch meeting with the karate club. Ichigo turned to look at Uryu who was in front of him, taking the chance to be seated next to Orihime, walking pretty quickly. Ichigo knew four eyes would jump at the chance, but Ichigo couldn't talk as he was speed walking now to be on par with Uryu to take a seat next to the ethereal goddess. They were now practically shoving each other aside. Orihime turned to look at what all the grunting was about and saw Uryu and Ichigo shoulder to shoulder, pushing each other with scowls very evident on their faces. She gave a very confused look and Ichigo gave one more nudge that caused the Quincy to stumble and fall and Ichigo to sit on her right side.
"Ishida-kun! Are you okay?" She almost got up to help him, but Ichigo placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her. He spoke up as he suppressed a little laughter.
"He's fine, just tripped, right Ishida?" He gave the Quincy a sneer.
"Yes, don't worry Inoue-san. Im fine." he pushed his glasses up back to the top of his nose.
"B-But Ishida-kun… that looked painful! Are you hurt? I can heal you if you are." She was so worried about his fall although she also wondered why Ichigo and Uryu were fighting in the first place…
"I promise I'm okay." He gave her a reassuring smile. She finally decided to drop it and went to pull her food out of her bag.
"Hey, I thought I told you not to bring anything?" Ichigo gave her a light scowl. Uryu sat to Chad's left, finally watching their conversation bitterly. Orihime looked at the sandwich and back to Ichigo, a little embarrassed look on her face.
"I'm sorry Kurosaki-kun, but I brought it just in case you forgot. I know how busy you get and I didn't want to be of any trouble." she looked into his deep chocolate brown eyes.
"I wouldn't forget." he gave her a smile that melted her heart. He reached into his bag and pulled the pink bento that Yuzu had packed. Orihime took one look at the cutely wrapped bento and her cheeks flushed. Had he wrapped it like that on purpose? This is the way you wrap a crushes bento… not a friendsp. She couldn't look up to face Ichigo as her blush was very noticeable. This was something very hard to miss... everyone in the group noticed, Uryu especially. Uryu finally looked away from the heartbreaking scene before him, pulling out his own lunch. Ichigo handed her the bento and their fingers brushed against each other and both of them felt electricity at the touch, Ichigo quickly pulled away and reached to scratch the back of his neck turning to the side to hide the blush of his own.
"T-thank you Kurosaki-kun." She took the box and placed it on her lap, not wanting to ruin the cute cloth by putting it on the dirty ground.
"Here, I uh-" he reached into his bag again to grab the wasabi packets he got for her too. " I also got you these because I couldn't deprive you of at least one of your favorite things to eat." he chuckled as he handed them to her. Her eyes began to sparkle with awe as she took the packets, her heart skipping a beat. She felt so good knowing Ichigo not only brought her food, but remembered to bring her second favorite condiment to put on food.
"Thank you so much! You really didn't have to go through all this trouble for me, Kurosaki-kun!" she smiled and began to unwrap the box. He smiled as he saw how happy she was, she completely melted his heart. Uryu also turned to see her radiating smile and smiled, her smile made him happy, even if he wasn't the one who caused it.
"Eh, don't mention it, I want you to start eating better, you can't keep eating that crap that you put into your body, I'm pretty sure half that stuff is borderline toxic and very unhealthy for you." he unwrapped his lunch and began eating the onigiri. He watched as she carefully folded the cloth and set it on top of her bag and he remembered how weird it must seem that he gave that cute cloth to her. "Also, sorry about the wrapping, Yuzu did it." he was completely oblivious to how that comment kinda crashed the fantasy of him giving that wrapping to her on purpose, which she knew the odds were slim, she didn't think he could think that way of her. She looked down and just said a quiet 'oh'. Uryu shook his head at the idiot orange haired soul reaper. Ichigo saw how Uryu reacted and gave him a questioning look, but Uryu just seemed to return his attention to orihime.
"Uhm, Inoue-san, is there anything I can bring to our study session tonight? Since you're always so hospitable, I'd like to bring something for us to share, maybe some cakes?" Uryu tried to bring the girl back to a cheery state and have her forget what Ichigo had just said to lower her mood. She quickly turned her attention to the quincy.
"Oh, I mean I could get them if you'd like!" She gave him a small warm smile.
"No, I offered," he shook his head. "I'm asking you if you would like some." His voice was a little stern but he knew she would keep insisting.
"Well, if you'd like to! I do like cake." She licked her lips subconsciously at the thought of cake and Ichigo and Uryu both stared intensely at the action. Her plump pink lips being wet by her pink tongue made them go red in the face. They coughed at the same time to try and seem like they weren't just doing what they did.
"Alright, then I will." He turned to continue eating so that she didn't see his pink face. Ichigo managed to calm down faster and also continued to eat his food.
Orihime was happy again at the mention of cakes at their study session and began to happily chomp down on the food Ichigo had brought for her.
"Oh wow, please tell Yuzu-chan that this is absolutely delicious!" she spoke with her mouth full, a piece of rice on her lip, both males wanted to just reach out and clean it off her, but they knew they couldn't. She looked all too adorable while she ate. She always had.
They managed to finish the rest of their school day and met up by the front gates, Ichigo, Uryu, Orihime and Chad all gathered so they could say their goodbyes after clubs had ended. Tatsuki caught up with them before they left, still in her karate uniform.
"Hey Orihime!" She ran towards the girl. "What do you think you're doing?" she finally reached the healer and panted as she reached them. "Did you not see my text?" Ichigo also stopped to look at them. And walked back to where they were, Tatsuki looked serious so he wanted to make sure everything was okay.
"Hey Tatsuki, Inoue, everything okay?" he had his bag flung over his shoulder the way it usually is.
"Actually, I need your help, Ichigo!" Tatsuki grinned at Orihime. Orihime gave a look of confusion. She reached in her pocket to get her phone and saw that Tatsuki had indeed texted her that she needed to find someone else to walk her home because she was going to put in a few extra hours into her club that day. Orihime quickly blushed and began to push Tatsuki away from Ichigo knowing what she was going to ask him.
"Tatsuki-chan no!" her face was all red from the thought of walking home alone with Ichigo.
"What? I gave you a chance to pick someone, but now Ichigo is the only one here." she pushed the blushing girl out of the way and went back to the confused ichigo.
"I need you to walk Orihime home." she grumbled at him. "And don't think of trying anything funny." she whispered the last part with a big scowl on her face. She didn't care if Ichigo had any feelings for Orihime, all she knew was that Orihime was an attractive young girl and Ichigo was a boy. Ichigo just looked at her weird for the last part but nodded agreeing to walk her home, this was his chance to finally be alone with her. His heart fluttered with excitement that the navy haired quincy wouldn't be there to ruin it for him.
"Yeah, I can take her home." he gave the girl behind Tatsuki a smile. Orihime was still blushing uncontrollably.
"Okay, thank you, I gotta get back to my club." she turned and gave Orihime one more smirk before running back in the direction she came from.
Orihime just stood there in silence for a little while, then began to walk to Ichigo. She still couldn't look up at him.
"It's okay, you don't have to go out of your way like this, uhm, I can walk home alone." she tapped her feet together nervously.
"Cmon, Inoue. We both know Tatsuki would mutilate me if I let that happen. Plus, I really don't mind, I enjoy spending time with you." he kinda let that last part slip out. He cleared his throat.
"Anyway, let's get going." she blushed at the last part too. She smiled and began to walk next to the strawberry. The walk had been nice, the day was still beautiful and the wind wasn't too chilly yet. They had walked in the comfort of Orihime's rambling about this thing or other. Ichigo found that Orihime's rambling and Keigo's rambling had been completely different to him. Keigos were annoying and loud, while orihimes were sweet and adorable. He enjoyed her rambling, he had been smiling the whole walk to her apartment listening intently and agreeing with her when she had asked him something about what she was talking about. They reached her apartment and they walked up the stairs. Ichigo had fallen a bit behind her and accidentally looked up while she was at the top of the stairs, getting a small view of the pink colored panties and nice round rump under her skirt. He quickly looked down, almost tripping over his own feet as his entire face was reddening and shame filling his head. It was an accident he thought though, so it's not like he looked on purpose! That didn't help the way he felt one bit. He still managed to look, when he should've known better.
"Kurosaki-kun? Are you alright?" she asked as she saw him almost fall face first on the stairs.
"Yeah… sorry, uhm but let's get you inside." he finally reached the top of the stairs and they reached her door, she got her key out of her bag and unlocked the door, stepping in and looking at the time on her phone. She still felt really bad that she had to waste his time but she was still very grateful. She wondered if he had only done it because Tatsuki had asked or if he knew she would be walking alone if he would've offered. She decided not to dwell on it as it would make her very sad. "Well, thank you Kurosaki-kun, I appreciate that you took the time to help me out." She gave him a smile that made him feel some type of way.
"Yeah, don't mention it." he smiled back at her and for a moment they just looked into each other's eyes, starstruck by each other. Before Ichigo could say bye to her, a pair of long arms reached around Orihime's midsection dragging her in her own home. Ichigo went on full alert and ran into the apartment in shock and ready to face what or who was inside and dared to touch his princess that way. Once he got a full view of what was happening his face quickly went red. Orihime was being embraced by none other than Rangiku Matsumoto. She was embracing her from behind, managing to lift her from her midsection making her already generous chest even more distracting.
"Oh Orihime, I missed you so much!" her high pitched voice rang through the house.
"Rangiku! Put her down! She can't breathe!" Ichigo called as he also noticed she was squeezing her way too hard.
"Oh." she put the smaller auburn haired girl down and turned her to face her. "I'm sorry darling! But I just couldn't resist! I missed this cute body of yours too much!" Ichigo was still red faced from all the things she was saying to her. She better not be teaching this innocent girl anything inappropriate!
"Rangiku-chan, what are you doing here?" she asked after she caught her breath.
"Well, me and Rukia thought it would be fun to come hang out with you and have a girls night!" she cheered and clapped her manicured hands together.
"Oh, that does sound exciting, but I have a study session with Kurosaki-kun and Ishida-kun." she stated. Ichigo watched as the older woman's face turned into a frown.
"Awe, well what about after?" She gave Orihime a pouty look.
"Uhm yeah, maybe! I still have school tomorrow so we won't be able to stay up too late though." She took off her shoes and placed her school bag on her couch.
"That's fine! We really only want to catch up and eat some food." She went to sit down at the couch and in front of her was a tub of icecream with a bunch of weird looking toppings. He looked disgusted when she went to take a bite and Orihime gasped.
"Oh that looks so yummy, Rangiku-chan! May I please have a bite?" she ran to sit next to the bustier woman and took the spoon from her outreached hand giving her a quick nod.
Ichigo wanted to gag at the thought of what they were eating, but he couldn't judge her, he knew she liked weird things. He just looked away as they both indulged in the weird treat.
Once Orihime tasted the wonderful cool ice cream she stood and looked back at Ichigo.
"Well I don't think we can use my place if it's being occupied." She looked at Rangiku.
Ichigo nodded and just decided it would be better and less distracting if they just went to his house.
"Yeah, we can just go to my house then, you should change if you want so we can just head out now, I'll text Ishida while you change." The orange haired strawberry pulled out his phone and gave the girl a warm smile.
"Right! Good idea." she began skipping to her room.
Rangiku eyed Ichigo carefully as Orihime skipped away, his eyes falling to where her skirt threatened to show him what he saw earlier.
"Good to see that you've finally noticed what's in front of you." she chuckled as she put another full spoon of ice cream in her mouth.
Ichigo quickly diverted his attention as she spoke.
"H-huh?" he stumbled as he wasn't expecting her to say something like that.
"I was beginning to think you were batting for the other team." She layed on the couch with her head perched on her arm laying on her side.
Ichigo couldn't even reply to her. He didn't really mean to check the princess out just then, but it was hard to resist after he had already caught a glimpse.
"It's okay Ichigo, it's normal for a young man like yourself to be interested in a beauty like Orihime. Just be sure to use protection when the time comes." she gives him a wink as his face turns several shades of red.
"I-" was all he could mumble before Orihime came back from her room, wearing a light pink light sweater and some black leggings that outlined her perfect hips.
Ichigo just stood there, still in shock from what rangiku had said, and now even more so because of how beautiful she looked without even trying.
"I'm ready, Kurosaki-kun." she beamed and skipped to the door. Ichigo glanced at the blonde woman, making sure she wouldn't say anything about what they were just talking about and she gave him a little smirk. He looked down, not wanting Orihime to see his flushed face.
"I forgot to ask who else is coming, Rangiku-chan?" she turned before putting her shoes back on at the door.
"Well I invited a lot of the girls from the women's association, but I'm not too sure who will show up. I think Rukia was the only one who said she would come for sure." she smiled and opened a magazine she had on the coffee table.
"Okay, well I guess I'll be back later! Make yourself at home!" she called as Ichigo and Orihime both left. He needed to stop gawking at her so obviously. Rangiku is more observant than others when it comes to things like this, but still, if anyone else knew he'd probably just die from embarrassment.
"Kurosaki-kun, are you sure you're okay? Did Rangiku-Chan say something to you? She has a habit of making people uncomfortable" she giggles while she scratches the back of her head. He quickly shook his head.
"No, it was nothing like that. Don't worry about it, I promise it's nothing." He looks at his buzzing phone and sees he's getting a call from none other than Uryu himself. He silences his phone and rolls his eyes. He already told him the spot was switched, what else did he want? The phone began to light up again with Uryu's number and name on the screen.
"Shouldn't you answer that Kurosaki-kun? It could be important." Ichigo grumbled as he shook his head.
"No, don't worry about it, it's just one of those spam calls."
Orihime begins to go on rant about how she dislikes those types of calls and if it wasn't for Tatsuki being with her when she received one then who knows who would have her information. Ichigo laughed at this story knowing full well she would fall for something like that. She's too good of a person that likes to see the good in everyone. But that's one of the things that made her so special. Ichigo began to walk closer to her, he wanted to feel her heat right next to him. They had gotten so close that their hands were practically touching. Orihime had noticed this as well and she didn't know if he was doing this on purpose or not. Her face turned pink, she looked up at the tall man and saw that he too had a tint of pink on his cheeks. He must've noticed how close they were too.
They finally reached the Kurosaki clinic and made their way to Ichigo's room. Luckily his dad and sisters seemed to be else where and they couldn't give him any stupid remarks about him bringing a girl home.
"I think Ishida should be here in like 20 minutes or less." He closed the door to his room and sat in his desk chair, waiting for her to sit down too but he just watched her standing there fidgeting with her sweater. "You can sit, you know that right?" He lifted a brow. She was red and was nodding quickly.
"Y-yes… it's just the only place left to sit is on your bed, and I don't want to seem rude." Ichigo wanted to laugh at how cute she was being but didn't.
"It's okay Inoue, I don't mind at all." He stood to offer her the chair, but also noticing he still had his uniform on. "If you really don't want to sit on my bed then you can sit in the chair?" He offered her as he began to unbutton his shirt, causing the auburn haired princess to let out a little yelp that was too quiet for even him to hear. She didn't know how to react! He was getting undressed in front of her! Sure he had a black undershirt on, but still! Now sitting on his bed didn't seem so scary. She sat down and placed her palms on the soft comforter that he had over his mattress and ran her hand over it. She smiled and felt butterflies in her stomach due to her being on his bed. It felt so weird but in a good way. Ichigo sat back down after removing the white shirt and placing it in his closet. He just watched her and imagined a different scenario with her on his bed. He realized how intimate this whole thing was. To distract himself from his impure thoughts he remembered he had to return the manga he borrowed from her.
"Oh Inoue, I finished this the other day and have been meaning to give it back." He reached to open the drawer at the bottom of his desk and was about to grab the manga that he knew he put in there and was met with the picture of Orihime in her bathing suit. He shut the drawer as quickly as possible, Orihime was startled at the speed that he closed it, she didn't manage to see what it was exactly but now she was so curious.
"What's in there?" she asked as she wanted to know why he reacted like that. Was it something upsetting that he was trying to hide in there? Or? He was turning into a tomato from the tip of his head all the way down his neck so maybe it was something embarrassing.
"N-nothing! Uhm, I just forgot that I left the manga at school… uhm, I'll have to get it to you tomorrow." he looked at her surprised expression.
"Oh, that's okay then Kurosaki-kun, there really is no rush." she waved her hands in front of her.
He scratched the back of his head. " I really thought that I left it here, haha, I'm sorry.'' He was still sweating profusley. Orihime knew he was acting weird, but she didn't want to say anything.
After Ichigo managed to regulate himself his phone rang again. It was Uryu again, the shinigami rolled his eyes and answered it this time.
"What?" he asked harshly, causing Orihime to look at him and wonder who would have made him react in such a way. By the spiritual pressure outside it was Uryu and then it made sense to her. They've been bickering more than normal lately and it made her curious as to why.
"Alright, just come up, the door should be open."
He hung up the phone and put his gray phone back into his pocket,
"Well, Ishida is here." he almost groaned. He wanted more alone time with her… even though the majority of his day he spent with her he felt like it wasn't enough. Maybe all the time in the world wouldn't be enough. He was just going to have to suck it up and ask her out on a date if he really wanted to spend time with her. Well, time where they both knew it was just supposed to be just them. He wanted to know so badly how she felt about him. But at the same time he didnt if it was anything other than what he wanted to hear. He didn't think he could handle rejection, especially not by her. His heart ached just thinking about it. He guessed it was better to know and have the possibility of them being together then to not say anything and keep wondering if it ever would've happened. He agreed with himself that the small chance of being with her was easier than not even knowing. If she didn't feel the same way then he could just deal with it after, as long as she still remained a part of his life. He would ask her tonight, when he walked her home. His whole body heated up at the thought of confessing his feelings to her.
"Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime waved her hand over his face. "Are you okay? You seem upset that Uryu is here.`` She looked worried and he wanted to kick himself for making her worry. "Is everything okay?" she looked into his eyes.
"Yeah, I'm sorry, I was just in deep thought. Nothing to worry about, I promise.`` He got up and opened the door to his room after he heard a couple of light knocks." Uryu was sure to knock because he didn't want to walk in on anything that would cause his heart to shatter into a million pieces. Ichigo opened the door to reveal a scowling quincy. Ichigo gave him a sarcastic smile.
"Well, finally you show up." Ichigo kinda wanted to brag about being the one who took up princesses day. But he held off. Uryu scoffed and came in, taking his bag off his shoulder and taking out laptop as he looked at Orihime on Ichigo's bed. She was sitting there already with her notebook out and ready to start their project.
"Good evening Ishida-kun." she smiles at him and already he forgot the problems he had with the shinigami. He smiled back at her.
"And to you too, Inoue-san, I brought those cakes we talked about." He went back into his bag and pulled out a cute box from the market and opened it for her so she could see all the cute little cakes inside. Her face immediately lit up and she squeaked with happiness. Warmth radiated from his chest. Ichigo just watched as he was jealous of how he caused that reaction from the girl. But he tried to make himself feel better by thinking that Uryu didn't cause the reaction, the cakes did. Didn't really work though, he was still a little bitter. He just shook his head and pulled out the pink notebook Orihime had given him for the project.
"Oh, I don't know which one to pick!" Ishida handed her the whole box.
"Well, they're all yours so you can eat them all." he smiled at her.
She gasped. "No! I thought these were for all of us! We can share." she put the box on Ichigos desk.
"Well, I'm really okay, and I don't think Kurosaki wants any either, right?" He elbowed the tall shinigami. Ichigo let out a whispered 'ouch' but nodded his head.
"Uh, yeah, you can have them all Inoue." Ichigo scowled at Uryu but then smiled at Orihime.
Orihime looked back at the box and smiled while she grabbed one of the pink ones and took a bite out of it and the flavors of strawberry and raspberry melting in her mouth. She made a little moan to approve of how delicious it was but all the two men heard was her cute little moan and they went red. Their bodies tensed at the same time, their minds wondering to dirty thoughts.
"Ishida-kun~, these are so good!" She said his name in the same tone that she used to approve of the cake and Uryu started to fidget as she moaned his name..
"I- I thought that one would be your favorite." he pushed his glasses up his red face, adjusting the way he sat so neither of his classmates could see the bulge growing in his pants.
Ichigo looked at Uryu and was in complete disbelief. He was even more jealous and bitter now that she practically moaned his name.
"Alright, let's just get to the project, yeah?" he said with a grumpy tone. Uryu looked at Ichigo with knowing eyes.
"Were in no hurry, she can enjoy the treats if she likes, Kurosaki." he let out his name with a little venom behind it.
"No, he's right! I'm so sorry! I got caught up in the yummy dessert. But we can get to business now!" she smiled and finished stuffing the pink cake in her mouth and her cheeks puffed out in the cutest way. It took all the boys to not laugh at how cute she looked.
They then got to work on their project and made it through without Ichigo or Uryu punching each other and surprisingly no more erections.
Orihime lifted her arms and let out a cute stretch.
"Ah," she held the stretch for a little, giving them time to enjoy the beautiful sight before them. "That was very productive I would say." She puts her notebook back into her book bag and stands up to finish stretching her legs.
"Yeah, I would say we can finish the project early or make it a lot more intricate." Uryu pushes his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose.
Ichigo let out a groan.
"Why do we have to work harder than we already are? If we finish early that's great, but I don't wanna be working more." he laid down on his floor where he had brought a small table for them to work on.
"This is why your grades are as bad as they are Kurasaki." Uryu huffed. "You may not care but I can assure you that Inoue and I care very much.'' Ichigo looks over to the young girl and she has an awkward look on her face, as if she didn't want to disagree with either of them. He couldn't blame her, they're both her friends.
"Whatever you two want then." Ichigo is defeated and just lays back on the ground and closes his eyes for a second.
"Okay, I think this might be a good stopping point, I have to get back home! I told Rangiku-chan that I would have a girls night with her and rukia-chan. I'm not sure who else will show up but I guess I'll find out soon enough." She was gathering all her stuff when both Ichigo and Uryu spoke at the same time.
"I'll walk you home." They both looked at each other with scowls and growled again, "No, I will." the two were yet again butting heads and Orihime looked at them in confusion.
"It's okay, I can walk home alone." she waves her arms in protest.
"Kurosaki, it makes more sense for me to walk her home. You would have to come all the way back home and you're already here." Uryu put his laptop away. "And my house is in a similar direction to her apartment." Ichigo now just wanted to beat this quincy.
"I can walk with Ishida-kun, that way you are not inconvenienced." the healer said in a small voice. Ichigo had to think quickly on his feet. "I actually have to go to the store that's right by her apartment, it would make more sense for me to go." he thought he had it with that line and smirked at the quincy.
"Then we can just all walk together." she smiled at them. They both huffed at her response but they both thought it was better than letting the other walk with her alone.
They were walking during the sunset together, a nice breeze filling the air. Uryu was still upset about the situation. Thinking it was unfair that he had the opportunity to spend most of the day with her and all he gets today was a couple hours with the both of them. He just shrugs it off and decides any time with her is better than no time. He looks to Ichigo who was on her right side and he was on her left. He decided to have some fun.
"So Kurosaki, what is it that you need from the store?" he sees the slight panic go across his face. "And why is it so specific that you need to get it at the store by Inoue-san's home and not the one that's across the street to your house?" The slight panic turns into a bumbling mess of "Uhhh." he thought for a minute and Uryu looks to Orihime, who is also eyeing Ichigo with curiosity. She wanted to know if there was a store exclusive item she could get. And if it awas food, if it was tasty or not.
"I- need something that is a better price there." He tried to save himself but Uryu wasn't going to let up so easily.
"What is that item? I want to know so maybe i can get it there next time if i need it." Uryu had a smug look.
"Toilet paper." was the first thing that came to his mind and maybe he should have said something else.
"Oh is that so?" He pushed his glasses back up. "I guess I'll have to look into that." Ichigo just wanted to facepalm. Uryu had just made him look stupid on purpose.
"I never noticed that that market had cheaper toilet paper!" Orihime said in an excited voice.
"I mean it's only like a few yen less… but hey, every cent counts…" he scratched the back of his neck.
They spent the rest of the walk to Orihime's apartment listening to her talk. Ichigo was upset that he didn't get a chance to confess his feelings like he wanted to. I guess this was a sign that he needed a better time or at least planned it out a little better so that Uryu wasn't around or expected to show up. They walked her all the way up the stairs and could hear familiar voices inside.
"Do you guys wanna come in and say hi to the girls?"she offered as she was about to turn her door knob.
"Uhm, I don't really want to- '' but before Ichigo could finish his sentence the door swung open to reveal Rangiku again and behind her was Rukia.
"Orihime! You're finally home." She hugged the smaller girl and squeezed her just like last time. This time it was Uryu that said something.
"I think you're squeezing her a little too hard Matsumoto-san." he was a little panicked as he didn't really know the blondes way of greeting her friends.
"Oh I'm okay Ishida-kun." She managed to get out while Rangiku was still squeezing the air out of her lungs. Sh efinally gets off of Orihime and the healer goes to greet the small shinigami.
"Hi Rukia-chan, it's been a little while since we saw you." She hugged the petite girl.
"Yeah, the soul society has been in shambles since the whole Aizen thing and we're just trying to get back to how everything was." She hugged the orange haired girl back. Rukia then turns to look at Ichigo, who heard what he was saying through the door. "Also, why didn't you wanna come in and say hi?" she was practically yelling at him now. Ichigo rolled his eyes and mumbled a 'here we go.'
"I couldn't hear you!" rukia threw a couch pillow right at his head.
"No particular reason, I just have a lot on my mind and didnt wanna deal." Ichigo shrugged her off and turned to Orihime.
"I-Ill see you in class tomorrow, okay? Also I'll bring you lunch again, so don't bring anything." he was a little flushed. He was still thinking about how Uryu messed up his plan.
"O-okay Kurosaki-kun." she looked up at him with her doe eyes.
"Not even the bread okay?" he said with a final wave before he headed in the direction of his house leaving the rest of the gang there.
Rukia just gives Rangiku a look, and the blonde returns the look with a knowing smile.
Rukia was about to say something when it was Uryu's' turn to speak.
"Well it was nice seeing you Kuchiki-san, and you too Matsumoto-san, but I have to leave too, I wouldn't want to impose on your night together." he turns to Orihime. "I'll see you tomorrow Inoue-san, if Tatsuki is unavailable again to walk you to school then don't hesitate to let me know." he turned red at how forward he decided to be. He walked towards the door and looked back one more time to wave at the auburn haired healer. He then exits the home and closes the door behind him. As soon as the door closed Rukia spoke.
"What the fuck was all that?" She looked at Orihime with a little bit of shock.
"Huh?" was what the princess could muster out as she was confused at what Rukia was referring to.
"I know right." was what Rangiku pitched in.
"What are you two talking about?" She walked to her couch and set her things down.
Rangiku let out a little laugh. "Oh Hime, sweet sweet Hime.'' She sat down on the couch and was eating what seemed like her fifth bowl of ice cream. '' Those two boys are into you." She lifted a spoon full of ice cream into her mouth.
Orihime wanted to fall down from what she just said. "T-That's not true!" she stuttered.
"I think it's pretty true and to be honest, I always thought Ichigo kinda had a small crush on you," rukia joined rangiku on the couch. "But now it's plain as day that he has more than a crush." she chuckled. Orihme turned as red as a tomato.
"W-why do you say that?" Orihime went to go sit on the table across from the couch, wanting to hear what they had to say.
"Well, I didn't wanna say anything because I wanted to let that oaf, Ichigo, tell you himself… but now I just wanna stir the pot." she looks Orihime right in the eyes. "Earlier when you came to change and were with him, I saw him, with my own two eyes, check you out." Orihime let her head fall into her hands as she felt completely embarrassed. "And not just a quick glance either, it was one of those lingering stares and he kept his eyes on your ass for like a solid minute." Orhime began to squeal.
"Are you sure?" she says through her hands.
"Oh I know a lustful look when I see one." she giggled and ate more of her ice cream.
"And Uryu, he's been looking at you that way since when I first came here, I just didn't think it was my place to say." Rukia admitted. "I'm more team Ichigo." she nods as if this was some cheesy movie about vampires and werewolves.
"Guys, there's just no way that's true…'' Orihime fell to the floor, her stomach was being rampaged by butterflies and she didn't even know how to react.
"Well you don't have to believe us, just next time you're with them pay attention to what they say, and their body language." Rangiku picks the poor girl up by her arm. "Trust me, when a guy is interested he'll always be facing you, and he'll try to touch you a lot." Orihime thought that if anyone would know this sort of thing it was definitely Rangiku.
"And not to mention that they were both blushing just like you are right now." Rukia laughed.
"T-they were?" Orihime couldn't even tell if she was being honest.
"There's just one more question to ask,'' Rangiku switched her position so that she was laying on the couch now. "So, which one are you going to choose?" Rangiku says as she lays on rukia's lap. She looked at the innocent girl, waiting to see her reaction.