A/N: Happy new Year, you guys!
I can't believe I have more than 80 reviews and so many people following this story. I never expected that when I started this whole thing, thank you so much!
BTW, Komod0-Sensei pointed out in his review how they can always read each other's reiatsu and I am happy that someone noticed because that was actually the whole concept for this story! I had the thought how it could actually be so useful to Orihime that Ichigo can't control his reiatsu while she is so good at sensing it, and that his how the idea of this story was born.
Anyways, here I am with a new chapter. I hope you'll enjoy it.
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Chapter 13 – taking chances
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He suddenly felt her small hand in his as she entangled their fingers. She threw him a look that was full of determination and fire and made all the hair on his body stand up.
"Come on, Kurosaki-kun," she said lowly as she tugged at his hand. "Let's look at the stars!"
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Ichigo swallowed dryly as Inoue pulled him behind her towards the blankets. The way she'd looked at him had made his stomach curl up in an uncomfortably pleasant way. He took in her small figure while she stopped in front of the blankets, with her shoulders straight and her body language full of purpose. Turning around, she flashed him an inviting smile before lowering her body onto the mat. There had been voices arguing in his head since he realized that she had been scheming to get him, voices debating whether or not it was okay to be as forward with her as she was with him, whether it was okay to want her, how far he wanted to take it. But now, as she looked up at him with her head cocked to the side in expectation, the voices suddenly fell silent.
He sat down next to her, moving in autopilot. She wasted no time and scooched a little closer to him, invading his space. Not that he minded, she smelled amazing, and it fogged up his brain pleasantly. It was like his pretty red-headed friend wanted to confirm that she was into him. His male ego purred at the thought. And without thinking, he grabbed her by the shoulder and let himself fall back, lying down on the blanket and pulling her with him. She squeaked in shock at the sudden movement.
"It's easier to look at the stars when you're lying down," he murmured with a smile tugging at his lips. She was effectively curled up in his arms and stared up at him with open surprise before breaking out into wide smile. "You're right," she answered, sounding a little breathless. She made no move to distance herself from him. Ichigo smirked inwardly as a new surge of confidence overcame him. He grabbed the blankets that were lying next to him and flung them across them.
Then he focused his eyes on the night sky, well aware that his beautiful date was throwing him sidewards glances. He tightened his grip around her shoulder, pulling her closer yet and then moved his hand so it came to rest comfortably in her waist. The way she stopped breathing at the action didn't escape him.
As he started looking for constellations, he realized something. If his path of becoming a captain-level fighter had taught him anything, then it was that overthinking could be harmful and that listening to instinct was a recipe for success. It dawned on him that this also applied to intimacy.
Duh… He could practically hear the eyeroll in his hollow's voice.
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As Kurosaki-kun pulled her even closer, Orihime reveled in the feeling of his chest muscles against her cheek. They were firm and built and yet so very very comfortable. And the feeling of his strong hand on her waist. Goodness, it made her feel all kinds of hot. Sighing happily, she high-fived herself on the inside for getting back on track.
Kurosaki-kun's spiritual pressure had been raging and confident ever since he'd hugged her from behind to 'warm her' on the viaduct and he'd been oh so wonderfully flirty and forward with her – up until the moment where he'd shown her the blankets on the roof when his reaitsu had suddenly mellowed to a shy little flame. She'd briefly wondered if the little blue men had done something to him to invoke this change. Everything inside of her had revolted against it. She was not having it. Not when she had finally come so far. And so, she had grabbed his hand and thrown him a challenging look – because if there was anything that could make the Shinigami confident, it was a challenge.
She had jubilated inwardly as his spiritual pressure had risen again gradually when she'd moved closer to him on the mat, and even more so when he had just pulled her into his arms. Now he was glancing up into the night sky, looking aloof and at peace, but his reiatsu was raging around them forcefully. She wondered if he knew that it was giving away his façade.
Tearing her eyes away from him, she finally also turned her gaze to the stars – and felt her eyes widen. The milky way stretched out above them, clearly visible, and accompanied by thousands of bright little dots.
"Wow," she breathed. "It's breathtaking!"
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Ichigo felt content as he agreed with her. The night sky was particularly beautiful tonight and the moment's splendor was only enhanced by the petite, yet curvy girl that was pressed to his side. Keeping his eyes on the sky, he consciously took in all the places where their bodies were touching and had to keep himself from grinning. He could get used to this. He had his arm around her, hand resting on her waist. Her head lay comfortably on the front part of his shoulder as she took in the beautiful night.
"Look there is Subaru! The Pleiades," he said and pointed at the sky with his free hand when he recognized the star cluster.
"The Pleiades?" She answered him with a low voice.
"Yeah, you see that cluster of six bright stars? Well, technically there are way more than six stars there. They're in the constellation of Taurus which is…" he paused, trying to make it out. He felt very satisfied with himself as he pointed her towards the star pattern. "There!"
"Whoa Kurosaki-kun, how do you know all this?"
He couldn't help but grin this time. Who'd have known that this knowledge would ever come in handy?
"Oh it's nothing," he said with fake modesty, his proud voice giving him dead away. "It's just… Subaru… You know, the car brand? It's named after the Pleiades. That's why I looked it up. And you know, their Logo is…-"
"Six stars!" Inoue propped herself up on her arm to look at him with excitement as she interrupted him happily. His side felt oddly empty as she changed her position and so he gave her waist a little tug to make her come back down. She crashed back onto his chest a little more forceful than he intended and squeaked once more. A chuckle rose in his chest at her incredulous look.
"Sorry," he said innocently. "It was cold without you." He felt his heartbeat in his throat as her eyes darkened. A slow smile began to form on her lips. "Hm, I wouldn't want you to be cold now, would I?" She murmured as she shifted herself back to a comfortable position, that -coincidentally- had their bodies touching in even more places than before. She was curled up against his side, with one leg covering his partly, and her head resting on his chest as she looked up at him with that damned sexy look on her face. His breathing hitched as his eyes fell to her lips. They look so soft. He felt the overwhelming urge to find out if they were as plush as they seemed. Just as he lifted his free hand to pull her in, she broke their eye contact and moved her head down.
Ichigo felt a pang of disappointment that was quickly replaced by resolve. He would not miss the next chance.
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Orihime squeezed her eyes shut and willed her heartbeat to slow, unsuccessfully. Was he just about to kiss me? Gosh darn it, Inoue! Why did you move your head? This was literally everything you have been planning for! You're all bark, no bite, aren't you?
She opened her eyes and sneaked a glance up at him. His eyes were back at stars. His expression was unreadable to her, but his reiatsu was calm and confident, relaxing her slightly. It reminded her of the way it felt when he faced opponents that he was sure he could beat. She liked the feeling. She'd always found it attractive. Or well- actually, hot was more apt to describe it. She began to draw circles on the surface in her field of view, which happened to be his chest. She felt his eyes shift back towards her.
"Ne, Kurosaki-kun," she started lowly, unsure where exactly she was going with it.
"Hm?" His chest vibrated with the sound, making her blush as the sound reverberated through her body.
"We haven't finished the game from before…" She trailed off.
"Oh, the question game, true." One corner of his mouth moved upwards slightly. "I believe we both have one question left. And it's your turn."
"Hm… Only one more. Then I better make it a good one." Orihime rolled onto her back a little more, resting her head on his bicep as she put her finger to her chin to think. She really didn't want to waste this question. It was rare to have him answer to her so freely. She wanted to use it to learn more about him. Smiling, she turned her face towards him.
"If you had one day where everything you did was without any consequence whatsoever, what would you do?"
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Ichigo was slightly disappointed when she removed her head and her fingers stopped drawing on his chest. But then, as she posed her question, the feeling quickly faded. Almost too easy…
He reflected on the question for a little while, while absentmindedly running his fingertips up and down her waist. He had barely noticed he had started to do that, but once he realized it, he decided it felt too nice and too natural to stop. Glancing at her, he saw that she was blushing profusely. A sly grin tried to make its way onto his face, but he stopped it.
"Hm… I guess there are a couple of things I would do. Maybe I would rob a bank and spend a whole lot of money on frivolous things."
"Oho, the criminal energy, who'd have thought! What frivolous things?" Inoue interjected gleefully.
"That's another question and you get only one per turn, remember?" This time, he couldn't help the grin as she pouted at him.
"And then… I might run around naked, just because I can." He threw her a lopsided grin that quickly warped into a smirk as she flushed beet red. He could practically hear her thought process. The answer was pretty far-fetched, but he wanted to poke a little fun at her. And he figured it wouldn't hurt his cause if he sent her mind down that path, so he just watched her color change with amusement. She cleared her throat.
"Heeeh, so Kurosaki-kun is an exhibitionist?" His grin just widened.
"Hush now, don't you want me to answer your question?" He poked at her waist teasingly and she jumped slightly. She opened her mouth to protest but then seemed to think better of it and closed it again. He resumed trailing his fingers up and down her side.
"I would probably tell some people what I really think of them. Like our P.E.- Teacher, he's a jackass. And Ishida. Although, nevermind, I tell him all the time."
He felt Inoue's giggle through his arm.
Ichigo closed his eyes briefly and inhaled deeply. Then he nodded to himself before rolling onto his side to face her. This is it.
"And then of course…" He lifted his free hand to her face and gently turned it towards his. "I would do this…"
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The moment stretched on for an eternity, although Orihime realized instantly what he was about to do. Following the light pressure on her cheek, she rolled over to face him. No chickening out this time. Her heart seemed to stop working as it skipped one, two, three beats. She felt her eyes widen before they fluttered shut and then his lips were on hers and fireworks erupted within her.
The kiss was soft and infinitely gentle. Her imagination had not prepared her for the reality of the action. An intense feeling coursed through her body, starting at her lips and echoing through her every limb until she was tingling all over. She moved her hand to the back of his head, shyly entangling her fingers in his hair and pressed herself closer to him. She ached for more, but he kept the kiss featherlight. Orihime felt him smile against her lips before he pulled back.
A moment passed as they stared at each other in wonder. Then, Orihime broke out into a wide smile.
"Hm, funny, that's exactly what I would've done." She whispered, curling her fingers in his hair.
"Is that so?" He smirked lightly as he brushed his thumb against her cheek.
Orihime didn't bother answering since she already felt him pull her back in.
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A/N: Finally! They finally kissed. I'm so happy!
I was getting tired of the whole 2-steps-forward-1-step-back-thing they had going on. I had to ease them into it, but from now on, it's full steam ahead. Hehe. I'm thinking the next chapter will be fully M-rated (lime or lemon, not sure yet). I'll try not to include a lot of plot so that those of you who are not into smut can just skip it.
Although, feel free to tell me your opinion on that plan because if most of you don't care for the idea, I might as well leave it.
Aaaanyways, it will most definitely take me a while to write lemons. So don't expect the next chapter to be quick.
One more thing that's been bugging me, then I'll stop the rambling:
In the story stats I can see that most of you readers are from the US. Now, I am not actually a native speaker and while I think I have a fairly good grasp on the English language, I'm curious what actual native speakers have to say about that. Like- does my writing sound like a child's or a teenager's to you? How can I improve? I'm pretty confident in my day-to-day conversational skills but writing requires a different level of skill than just chatting. Feedback please?
As always, review to make my day!