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Author's Note:

Hello to all my fanfiction fans out there! First of all, I wanted to thank you for being with me for so long. I have been publishing fanfiction since 2009! I can't believe I'm going on 13 years doing what I love. I've been reading much longer until I finally worked up the nerve to try my hand at it. Man, it was a different time. Anyway, the more I improved my writing, the more I became obsessed with writing more and wanting to edit my earlier work. Then, when I read some of them, I cringed and felt terrified. So now, I'm going to do something about it.

That's right, folk! I'm taking a nostalgic trip through ALL my old fanfictions, editing them, and reposting them on here and my new A03 profile. So, if you're on either of those sites, feel free to look me up. Otherwise, enjoy the latest versions! Love ya, guys!

Also, I changed the original ending and events for those of you who don't know. I actually like how things worked out instead of how I had it previously. I hope you guys like it! You'll also be seeing this happen more as I edit my earlier writing works.

Original Publish Date: October 28th, 2009

Update Publish Date: March 27th, 2022

Summary: Ichigo finds a poem that Orihime wrote and accidentally left behind. When Ichigo reads it, it inspires foreign feelings inside the young Substitute Soul Reaper. IchiHime.

I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING RELATED TO BLEACH!

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An Unbelievable Story

Ichigo's P.O.V.

"Man, this is boring as hell." I yawned internally.

As Sensi dragged her lesson on, I turned my gaze ahead and focused on the girl in front of me. The most beautiful girl in our school: Orihime Inoue, sat in front of me and wrote in her notebook. Of course, I couldn't see what she was doing with her back to me, but if I had to guess, she was doodling those Blue Men she always talked about.

"She's always been eccentric and goofy. But I don't think she should be any other way."

Suddenly, my thoughts wandered back to our Hueco Mundo days. I violently shivered as I thought about everything that happened there. Inoue lost her smile, but she remained firm. I… had never seen her shed so many tears. She had also never feared me. When I fought Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez and Ulquiorra Cifer, she cried until her eyes were puffy and red. I felt my heartbreak as she begged me to not get hurt anymore. But even though I defeated Grimmjow, I almost lost against Ulquiorra.

He killed me. I… felt my life draining from my body. But it was Orihime that saved me. I heard her cry for me. I couldn't leave her alone. I had to protect her. And, because of my strong desire, I transformed into a hollow. However, when I returned to normal, I saw how much she feared me. That also broke me.

I've tried talking about it with her, but she would laugh it off and say she was fine every time I did. Then, finally, she would say that she wasn't scared of me and still saw me as "Kurosaki-kun.". I want to believe her, but something deep inside says otherwise. I just wish I could. Every now and again, her magical smile that matched her unrivaled beauty would turn into a frown, and she would just stare off into space. It's weird. Sometimes I can feel her loneliness and sadness, so I do everything to spend more time with her. But it doesn't seem to be enough. However, I'm just glad those days are behind us and that she's safely back with us.

Suddenly, the school bell rang and signaled the end of class. "Alright, everyone, remember to study chapters 7-9 and do your worksheets. They're due tomorrow. Have a good night!"

My fellow classmates chatted as everyone got ready to leave for the day. I yawned again as I stood up and stretched.

"Tired, Kurosaki-kun?"

I looked down to see Orihime smiling at me with her school bag behind her back.

I don't know what it is about her, but it makes me do the same every time she smiles. So, without thinking, I smiled back at her and said, "Yeah. I guess so. Class is really dull compared to fighting hollows."

"I guess you're right. Although I thought you liked English Literature, so shouldn't you be paying more attention?" She teased back.

"I do like English Literature, but Sensei is making it boring. By the way, do you still want to study later today? I'm free now and don't have to work as I thought."

She gasped with a light blush dusting her cheeks as she touched her full, pink lips. "Yeah. I would lo-wouldn't mind if you came over to study. We can work through some of the worksheet problems together."

"Great. Then are you ready to go? I'll walk with you." I said as I grabbed my school bag and threw it over my shoulder.

"Oh no! Tatsuki!" She yelled. "I forgot she said she would walk me home when you said you couldn't. She's waiting for me by the entrance. I'll go tell her that she can go to practice instead. Will you meet me there?"

Before I could say anything, she ran out of the room, leaving behind her strawberry-scented shampoo filling my nose. Subconsciously, I took a giant whiff until her shampoo was all I could smell. It filled my core and renewed my senses. Another smile came to my face as I stared where she stood. I chuckled to myself as I started to leave. However, I stopped when I stepped on something.

"What's this?" I asked as I leaned down to pick it up.

I played with it between my fingers until I finally opened the piece of paper. To my surprise, it was a poem written by Orihime.

"Hn. Who knew she could write poetry?" I thought.

I looked around the room, ensuring no one was around before reading it. I knew I shouldn't, but something forced me to. And I'm glad I did.

Fantasy Can't Always Be Real

I dream of you every night

In my dreams, I see you, me, our future

During the day

I see the past

Your face haunts me so

Our kiss

Our future

The love I thought we could have

You're unbelievably handsome

Unbelievably real

I just wish that you were unbelievably mine

-Orihime Inoue

I don't remember how often I repeatedly read the poem, but it had me curious.

"Who is she talking about?" I sat on my desk and thought before giving up for a few more moments. "Maybe I should ask her."

And with that, I put the poem into my pocket and headed to meet her at the entrance.

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After meeting her at the school's entrance, we walked to her apartment and talked along the way. Once there, we settled on her couch, she ate dinner while I drank tea, and we studied and worked on our homework together. Finally, the sunset caught my attention and let me know it was time to go home. I stood up and stretched before packing up my stuff.

"Leaving already?" She asked in disappointment.

"Yeah. My sisters and father don't like when I'm out late. Thanks for the help today."

"Oh no. Thank you, Kurosaki-kun. I really liked your adaptations of the literature. You've always had different perspectives on events. I like the way you think." She blushed while looking down and tucking some hair behind her ear.

The action made me blush too. To hide mine, I turned away to scratch the back of my head. Suddenly, her poem from earlier popped into my head. "Hey, by the way, I found this."

She gasped as she snatched it out of my hand. "You didn't read it, did you?"

"Yeah. Was I not supposed to?" I asked in concern.

"Oh no. It's ok if you did… What… did you think…?"

"I thought it was beautiful. I had no idea that you were so good at writing poetry. I would love to read more of your work if you have more." I smiled.

Her blush deepened as she tried to hide her face and smile. "Thank you, Kurosaki-kun. It means a lot coming from you."

"There's just one thing I need to know: who were you talking about?"

"Huh?" She said as she looked at me in confusion.

"The person you were talking about in your poem, who is it?"

"Oh, just someone I… care a lot for…."

"I can tell. You put a lot of emotion into it. I just hope you get to talk to the person. You deserve to be happy, and he would be lucky to have a woman like you." I said gently.

"Yeah. I just wish I could. But, unfortunately, I'm too nervous that he might not look at me the same way. He's never looked at me that way before. But it's ok because that'll be enough as long as I can stay by his side."

"That's depressing, Orihime. How do you know that he doesn't feel the same way about you if you don't talk to him about it?" I asked angrily.

"It's just a feeling. But I promise it'll be ok, Kurosaki-kun. Thank you for always being there for me. I just wish I could do more for you." She smiled sadly.

I don't know what came over me, but I pulled her towards me and wrapped my arms around her. I felt her gasp against me, but she didn't pull away. At first, I thought I had made a mistake and made her uncomfortable. But I felt better when she finally relaxed and returned the hug. I don't know how long we stayed like this. So, when I felt myself stiffen, I moved just enough to place my chin on top of her head.

"I'm sorry if this makes you uncomfortable. I can stop if you~."

"No!" She jumped before trying to calm down. "I mean, no. I'm fine. I'm more worried about you being uncomfortable."

"Why do you always do that?"

"What do you mean?" She asked as she turned to stare into my eyes.

"You always care more about me than yourself. Even when we were in Hueco Mundo, you cried and cared for me when you were the one in trouble. Why?"

She didn't answer right away. In fact, I felt nervous when I felt her grip the front of my shirt. "Do you remember when you fought Grimmjow and Ulquiorra, and I cried out for you? I… didn't want you to rescue me. I was furious because you're always protecting everyone else, including me. For once, I wanted to show you that I can be helpful to you. I wanted to sacrifice myself so that you didn't have to. But you came. You came to rescue me. Even though I was upset, deep down, I was excited. It told me that you cared enough about me enough to save me. I think that was one of the happiest days of my life."

"Of course, we were coming to rescue you. Rukia, Renji, and some of the other members of the Soul Society broke the rules just to save you. You're more important to us than you know, especially me. I… couldn't lose you. Please… if you ever get into a situation like that again, don't do anything without telling me first. I promise that we'll work through it together. I don't want to see you go through anything like that again."

I could feel a few tears fall onto the front of my shirt. I pulled her more into my chest as I comforted her until she was done. When Orihime sniffled, I pulled her back enough to wipe the rest of her tears away.

"Thank you, Kurosaki-kun." She whispered with her hands around my wrists.

The air around us was heavy and filled with so much emotion. For some reason, I had this strong desire to kiss her full pink lips but decided against it. I didn't want to play with her head, especially when she had feelings for someone else. It wasn't fair for her, the guy she liked, or me. However, a sense of dread overcame me.

The thought of her liking someone stung me in my heart. It was true that I hadn't really thought of her as more than a friend before our adventures started. However, the more time we spent and fought together, the larger the space she takes up in my heart. Too bad it'll cause a rift between us, and I don't want that. In fact, I shouldn't be doing any of this, but it seemed fitting. And why wasn't she pulling away from me? This was wrong on so many levels but felt so right. I wish we could stay like this forever, but that isn't believable.

Slowly and reluctantly, we pull away from each other, but we don't extend the space. Instead, blushes dusted our cheeks as we stared at each other.

"I, uh, should really get going." I muttered.

"Yeah. I'll walk you to the door." She said as she followed me.

I opened the door and crossed the threshold. "Don't forget to lock your door."

Orihime nodded as she leaned against said threshold. "Be safe getting home."

"Good night. I'll be by to walk you to school in the morning."

"I look forward to it." She smiled a final time before shutting the door.

I didn't immediately leave my position for a few moments. Instead, I just stared at the door and let my mind return to our hug just a few moments ago. The smell of her strawberry-scented shampoo and fresh tears on my shirt lingered. Finally, I lifted my hand and touched it to the cool door before turning around and leaning against it.

I never felt more frustrated in my life. Being so close to something, or someone, you can't have. I would rather right everyone from Hueco Mundo than see her be with someone else. But unfortunately, that wasn't what our reality had in store for them. Maybe we didn't have to worry about hollows and other threats. I could be brave enough to tell her about my feelings in another life.

"I could be unbelievably yours."

I growled in frustration before shoving my hands in my pockets. Then, with one last groan, I pushed off Orihime's door. And, with one last pitiful look, I began my long walk home.