Chapter 5: Tanabata

July 7th

The day had started much like any other school morning for Ichigo Kurosaki. He dodged his father's flying kick, had breakfast with his sisters, Renji, and Rukia, and left before everyone else to avoid further aggravation. It wasn't until he arrived at school that he started to suspect something different was going on.

"Inoue-san and Ishida-san?" he heard in a hushed chorus from a pack of students that seemed to be congregating at a spot in front of the student announcements board just inside the entrance past their lockers. As he approached nearer he picked up more snippets of gossip:

"Do you think they are really together?"

"They make an attractive pair, I suppose."

"There is no way someone like Inoue would ever go for a guy like Ishida…"

"It's just advertising! Sheesh, people, this is not breaking news!" Ichigo recognized that voice as Tatsuki's.

"Oi, Tatsuki," he called out over the din. She made eye contact and met him halfway. "What is all this about? Why do people think Inoue and Ishida are together?"

"Oh, you haven't seen it? Come right this way then." she replied with malicious glee and added, "Move aside, people!" strong-arming her way through the crowd. When she arrived at the announcement board and gestured to the object in question with the schmaltz of a game show assistant, Ichigo's expression dropped momentarily. He blinked, rubbed his eyes, and looked again. There before him was an image of Inoue and Ishida, dressed as Orihime and Hikoboshi in front of a Milky Way backdrop. Ishida was looking at Inoue fondly while holding one of her hands in both of his as she blushed and looked up at him sideways from under her lashes, holding her other kimono-wrapped hand to her chin in a rather coy pose. Ishida looked proud. Inoue looked flattered. Ichigo looked like he was going to vomit.

"What the hell is this?!" he shouted much louder than he intended.

"You are just as bad as the rest of them, aren't you," Tatsuki sighed. "Would you look again, at the writing under the picture?"

"I'd rather not see that ever again, Thanks". Ichigo answered, having recovered his usual scowling expression.

"Wow, you really are as bad as these people" Tatsuki gestured to the dispersing group. "If you could get over whatever that reaction was, you would read that this picture is advertising the handicrafts and photography clubs' photo booth event at the Tanabata festival tonight. Ishida and Orihime are just acting as models in this picture." Ichigo visibly relaxed after hearing this, piquing Tatsuki's curiosity. "Wait a minute - were you actually worried that they were together? Why would that be?" she teased.

"Knock it off, Tatsuki," the now emotionally exhausted teenager grumbled. "I was just surprised, that's it."

"If you say so," his now-disinterested classmate replied as the first warning bell rang. "Better get to class."

"Yeah…" Ichigo lagged behind in thought for a moment. He was puzzled as to why he was so disturbed by the image of Ishida and Inoue together. He couldn't lie to himself; he did indeed think they were a couple on seeing the photograph. Then he shook his head and decided to push the idea from his mind – he had a history quiz first period to focus on.

When he entered the classroom, however, he was once again reminded. Ishida stood near Inoue's desk looking like the cat who ate the canary, while Inoue wore a more distressed expression. They were surrounded by classmates asking them questions about the picture and the photobooth.

"Yes, yes. We worked very hard on the costumes; I'm pleased you like them," Ishida boasted to one student, while Inoue answered another one, "No, no, no, it's nothing like that! We were just modeling for the photobooth advertisement! Takeda-senpai from the photography club coached us to pose like that." Ichigo observed that the two were having a very different response to the interest in their potential pairing. He was oddly satisfied by that, but as his attention redirected to Inoue, he quickly decided a rescue was in order. He put on a frown and stormed over to his newly famous friends.

"Find your seats, people! Ishida, Inoue - Chad and I were looking for you! Come out to the hall for a minute." He called over the heads of the students. Both handicraft club members hurried from their spots to the hallway after Ichigo.

"What is it Kurosaki-kun? " the healer asked, looking tremendously relieved.

"Nothing. I just thought you two were probably getting sick of the attention about now," he replied, noticing Ishida's concerned expression changing to one of irritation.

"Really, Kurosaki, that was unnecessary," the archer muttered as the first period bell rang and he turned back to the classroom, "now we'll be late for class! Come on, Inoue-san."

Orihime stalled for a moment and looked Ichigo in the eye with earnest gratitude. "Thank you, Kurosaki-kun," she breathed. "Will you come to our photobooth tonight?"

"Of course," he blurted out without thinking as a blush crossed his cheeks. Orihime nodded and smiled up at him and dashed back into the classroom. Ichigo shook his head at himself when as he walked behind her, realizing what he just agreed to do.

-—-

Members of clubs participating in the Tanabata Festival were allowed to leave school early to prepare, so the last period of the day was free study. Ichigo's classroom was short by about one-third of its students, and those remaining broke off into small groups to study and chat. Ichigo sat with Chad, Mizuiro, and Keigo, and the latter would not stop talking about the festival. "How long do we have to stay here? I want to have my picture taken with Inoue-chan!" he whined. "By the time we get there, there will be a line around the block!"

"Why would you think that? Isn't the photobooth just for couples and stuff?" Ichigo asked dubiously.

"Are you broken?" Keigo answered incredulously, oblivious to Ichigo's mounting irritation. "To answer your first question, Inoue-san is the hottest girl in school, obviously! Everyone will want a picture with the school's resident goddess Orihime. And to your second question, refer to my first answer."

"Oh yeah right," Ichigo started, before Mizuiro chimed in calmly, eyes still glued to his phone, "Actually, there seems to be quite an interest online. #tanabataphotobooth is trending right now."

"He's right, Ichigo," Tatsuki had overheard and made her way to the group of boys, flanked by Chizuru and the other girls. "My phone has been blowing up with questions about when she is going to be there." The other girls nodded in agreement and went on to talk about how lucky Orihime was, to have her choice of any of the boys and some of the girls in school.

To say Ichigo was blindsided was an understatement. He had never thought about Inoue that way before, and it was becoming apparent to him that he was in the minority. The idea that people found his friend attractive didn't bother him, but the fact that they were treating her like a celebrity did, knowing that she was uncomfortable with the attention.

The remainder of the last period went by with Ichigo's eyes flittering from his notebook to the wall clock and back, and when the final bell rang at last he was up and out of his desk without waiting for his entourage to follow. They caught up with him at the lockers as he just finished changing his shoes and was about to leave when Chad stopped him. "We're coming, just wait a minute", he said simply with one hand on Ichigo's shoulder. His best friend was very observant and had been aware of Ichigo's anxiety, even without any reiatsu fluctuations to detect. Ichigo exhaled audibly and nodded, shifting his weight from one foot to the other while his friends changed shoes as well.

The moment Keigo got his street shoes on Ichigo was out the door, and halfway through the school courtyard before anyone else had made it outside. He heard Tatsuki shout, "Hey guys, wait up!" and finally realized how eager he must look. He cringed inwardly, and decided to try to cover it somehow.

"Hurry up, I'm starving! I want to get some takoyaki before it sells out!" he called across courtyard, pleased with his lie.

"They will just make more," Tatsuki pointed out, catching up.

"But the first batch is the best batch," Ichigo countered, and was relieved when no one offered an argument to his ridiculous claim. He continued to lead the group to the festival at an expedited pace. When they arrived, he was nothing short of gobsmacked. Despite his friends' insistence, he didn't quite believe them when they said there would be a long – and growing - line for the photobooth. He took some small satisfaction that there were indeed couples and pairs of friends in line as well – not all of them wanted a picture with Inoue – but the majority were single males. And not all of them were students of Karakura High School. There were uniforms from middle schools and nearby high schools in line, but what really rubbed him the wrong way was the conspicuous presence of men without uniforms. Men who were likely college students and recent graduates were one thing, but there were men in business suits, retired men in leisure wear, and, most gallingly, guys who spent all their time loitering outside of convenience stores and hawking hostess bars in the redlight district. That was the last straw. He turned on his heel and cut to the front of the line.

"Oh, Kurosaki-kun! You came!" Orihime's high-pitched voice lifted over the line of admirers.

"Hey, get in line, pal!" a man a few people back shouted.

"Oh, don't worry everyone, he is part of the staff," Uryuu called out to the line, attempting to placate them. "Inoue-san will be taking a short break soon. After the next ten photos we will be taking only pairs; singles can wait in a separate line." A collective groan was heard. Ishida looked to Ichigo and waved him to the inside of the photobooth, to the side of the picture-taking area. "Thank god you're here. I'm embarrassed to resort to this, but I need you to stay with Inoue-san while I use the restroom".

"What the hell are you talking about, Ishida?" Ichigo demanded, grabbing the Quincy's elbow as he tried to escape.

"Can't you see? Some of these men have more than photos with Inoue-san in mind," he gestured toward the line and back to Orihime just as the middle-schooler she was posed with started to reach around toward her rear. "Hey! Hands off!" Ishida grabbed the would-be groper by the collar and hauled him away as some of the less-desirable elements of the line applauded. "See what I mean, Kurosaki? I'll take care of this one and leave the rest to you. Only nine more!" he called as he disappeared from view.

Ichigo was stunned by what he had just witnessed. "That's it, folks, break time starts now!" he called as he marched over to Orihime and said, "come on, I'll handle them."

"No, Kurosaki-kun, we promised nine more. We can't take it back now! I'll be alright," Orihime argued, turning back to the line with a plastered-on grin. "Next please."

Ichigo watched with a deeper than usual scowl as Orihime finished up with the next eight customers, who were much more wary with the surly orange-haired youth keeping such a close eye. From his vantage point, Ichigo was able to observe how kind Orihime was with each person. She asked each his name, where he went to school if in a different uniform, smiled sweetly, and wished them good luck on their Tanabata wishes. He also saw that despite her generosity of spirit and sweet smile, she was uncomfortable at best. When the promised eight were finished, he was at Orihime's side in an instant. "OK, pairs only for the next ten minutes!" he hollered as Orihime shrugged out of the 'Orihime' costume, which consisted of a single-layered, plain pink long-sleeved kimono and a turquoise false obi, which was held together in front with Velcro. She wore her school uniform underneath. As soon as she was free from the garment, Ichigo escorted her to the enclosed staging area behind the backdrop.

When they were out of sight of the line, Ichigo released a breath he didn't know he was holding and looked down at Orihime, whose expression suddenly showed her fatigue. "Thank you Kurosaki-kun; we've only been open for forty-five minutes and I am already getting a little tired," she said and then smiled at him again.

"You don't have to keep doing this, Inoue," Ichigo said, with an almost pleading edge to his voice. "You don't owe these guys anything!".

"I know, Kurosaki-kun" she responded gently. "But, this is raising a lot of money for the handicrafts and photography clubs. I can't let them down," she said determindly, grabbing some air for emphasis. She looked up, and seeing Ichigo's worried expression, added, "Don't worry about me, Kurosaki-kun. I'll be alright. I just need a snack and something to drink to replenish my energy. I really want to get some takoyaki."

"You don't say?" Ichigo replied. "I was just going to get some takoyaki myself before I got distracted by your fanclub," Orihime's cheeks blushed a pale pink at the sarcastic compliment, "let's go get some!" Ichigo stuck his head outside of the staging area and then brought it back in. "On second thought, maybe I should go get it for you. The crowd is getting impatient, and I don't want you getting harassed."

"Aw, I really wanted to walk around the festival!" Orihime said, disappointed. "I guess I'll just have to wait until the photobooth closes. We don't have the kind of lighting equipment required to take photos at night, so we are closing up at dusk."

"I'm sorry, Inoue, but it is chaos out there. I really think it's best if you stay here. I'll go get you some takoyaki. Do you like it with or without sauce?" Ichigo offered.

"With, please, and if you happen to find any wasabi packets along the way, could you grab one for me?" she asked, and was greeted with a perplexed look from Ichigo. "I know, it's a weird preference, but I once had Russian Roulette takoyaki and I got the one with wasabi in it, and, let's just say I was pleasantly surprised."

"Ok, if you say so," Ichigo said dubiously. "Oh, what do you want to drink? Tea? Sports drink?"

"Sports drink, please, it is hot wearing that costume!" she answered as Ichigo started to walk away, "Oh wait, Kurosaki-kun, let me get you some money for it!"

"Don't worry Inoue," he interrupted, "you can give me a free picture later, how about that?" he joked.

"Ummm, OK, Kurosaki-kun. Thank you." Orihime said, as her blush deepened. She obviously didn't take his offer as a joke, Ichigo realized as he left the staging area.

When Ichigo returned a few minutes later, wasabi packet in hand, Orihime's smile could not be any brighter. "Thank you, Kurosaki-kun!" she sang as she bounced over to him to take her share. He watched with amusement as she portioned out the wasabi on the six takoyaki balls, popped one in her mouth, and crinkled her nose up as the tingling sensation hit her sinuses. "This is perfection!" she rasped out painfully while pinching the bridge of her nose, in a manner that would be unconvincing if it was anyone other than her.

Ichigo could not contain a chuckle. "I'll come back with everyone when your shift ends, OK Inoue?" he laughed as he began to walk away.

"No, wait, Kurosaki-kun," Orihime gulped and coughed on her third takoyaki. "we have to have our picture first!"

"Oh, alright," Ichigo waited as she ate one more piece, setting the last two aside for later, and taking a long drink from the bottle of sports drink he had bought. He set his own food aside for the moment and waited, unsure what to do. After Orihime wiped off her hands and face, she led the way back to the photo area. She was met with a cheer from the line, which seemed to surge forward.

"Just a moment, everyone," Orihime spoke, in a loud, clear, pleasant voice. "We will begin the line right after this picture!" She then smiled sweetly to the crowd. Ichigo was impressed by the sudden poise she displayed, and stood watching as she began to put her arms into the Orihime costume. "Aren't you going to wear the Hikoboshi costume?" she inquired to him, slightly disappointed.

"Oh, right! Sorry," Ichigo hopped over to a first-year club member holding the blue kimono with a pale green obi out for him to slip on. "I wasn't sure what to do". Orihime smiled at him as the club member Velcro-ed him up and posed him next to Orihime.

"Two pictures, please," Orihime said to the photographer and then looked at Ichigo and said to him, "Smile for the camera!"

Ichigo felt lost for a moment as Orihime sidled up next to him with her hands clasped together and grinned toward the camera. "One, two, three, cheese," he vaguely heard the photographer shout and just barely turned his head around in time to look at the camera before the first picture was snapped. He was ready for the second picture, and wore a somewhat conservative smile with relaxed eyes.

Ichigo waited at the side of the booth while the photos were being printed and watched four or five members of the line get their pictures taken. He admitted to himself that most of them were harmless: little boys with little admiring eyes and nothing more. Some of them were actually kind of sweet. That benign train of thought ended, however, when some low-level punk yakuza shoved to the front of the line and stood up beside Orihime, pushing away the student with the Hikoboshi costume. He put his arm around her shoulder and crowded her face with his.

Orihime froze, horrified. The young man reeked of stale cigarettes and unwashed hair. He eyed her suggestively and intentionally slurred his speech menacingly and fingered a strand of her hair as he asked her "What time are you finished tonight, babe? Some friends and I would love to take you out. I promise to show you a good time". Orihime tried to say something; her mouth opened but no words came out. He continued, yanking on the strand of hair in his hand despite the tears welling up in her eyes, "Hey, say something! What, do you think you're too good for us? Don't be stuck up, you little –"

He didn't finish his sentence because he was suddenly on the ground. Orihime heard a collective gasp from those in line as she looked at the space her offender's face once occupied to see the side of Ichigo's red and quickly swelling fist. She looked past it into Ichigo's face. She had never seen it so enraged, so close. His eyes were slits, a deep crease between his brows, nostrils flared, and a grimace so severe that she took a step back. As she did so, his expression started to melt.

"I'm sorry, Inoue," he said between deep breaths, willing his rage to die down, "I should have been paying closer attention." He added as his expression gentled to that of a concerned older brother.

Orihime's bottom lip started to tremble, and the tears that had been pooling in her eyes started to fall. "Kurosaki-kun!" she wailed as she buried her head into his arm as her knees buckled and sobbed. She had been absolutely terrified by the man currently at her feet. Ichigo put an arm around her back to steady her and patted her far shoulder comfortingly.

"Where the hell is Ishida," he muttered under his breath, and then looked around and roared for their overdue classmate. "ISHIDA!"

"What?!" Uryuu screamed back from down the line. He had been busy attempting to keep the line orderly while Ichigo was keeping an eye on Orihime.

"Get over here!" Ichigo barked. When Uryuu arrived and saw Orihime's state he first glared at Ichigo, who pointed at his feet and said, "Get this piece of crap out of here!"

"What happened?!" Uryuu cried, switching the focus of his ire to the passed-out man as he bent over to pull him out from underfoot, passing him off to some bicycle police who had just arrived.

"He was harassing her," Ichigo said loud enough to be heard by the police officers. They must have known the perpetrator, because they were satisfied with that and started to take the him away, with a request that Ichigo come to the police box later to give a witness report. Ichigo nodded to the officers, despite having no intention of going.

"Inoue-san, are you alright?" Uryuu asked Orihime, whose sobs were starting to die down. He didn't wait for her answer though, and announced to the crowd, "That's it, pairs only from now on!"

"No!" Inoue cried. "No, I won't have him ruining our entire event! Just give me a moment, I'll be fine," she asserted through shaky breaths.

"Inoue, you really don't have to do this!" Ichigo bent down to her eye-level to help get his point across. "Everyone will understand why you need to stop after this".

"No, thank you, Ishida-kun, Kurosaki-kun. All these people have been waiting a long time to have their photos taken, and it wouldn't be fair to them to stop now just because some jerk was being, well, a jerk!" Orihime squeaked out like a kitten that thought it was a lion. "Everyone, just let me get have a drink and wash my face and I'll be right back."

The crowd, having heard her resolution, erupted into applause. Ichigo and Uryuu wore exasperated expressions as they tried to get those in line to quiet down so they could talk sense into Orihime, but they both knew she had her mind set.

"Are you sure about this Inoue-san?" Uryuu pleaded. "All the club members will support you stopping now".

"Yes, I'm sure." She replied, pausing in taking a sip from her bottle of sports drink. Just then, one of the third-year photography club members handed her a wet cloth for her face, which she accepted thankfully and wiped her eyes with. She returned the cloth to the same student who took it and then produced the two pictures that she had taken with Ichigo.

Orihime looked at the photos and began to laugh mirthfully. The sudden change in her mood attracted the attention of her male friends. As they approached, they looked down at the object of her laughter, and soon Uryuu joined in. "What was going through your mind there, Kurosaki?" he asked, looking down at the first picture, which Ichigo looked at over Orihime's other shoulder. He beheld an image of himself wearing a completely unintelligent expression: eyes wide, slack-jawed, and utterly unprepared for having his picture taken.

"I wasn't ready!" Ichigo began to defend himself, before Orihime stepped in.

"I like Kurosaki-kun's face in this picture, it makes me happy. I am keeping this one!" she said with finality. Under the circumstances, he couldn't bring himself to argue with her. He took the other picture and pocketed it without really looking at it.

"Alright, you win this one, Inoue," he teased. "Are you really sure you are ok?" he rechecked.

"Yes, I am much better now," Orihime beamed a blinding smile up to him.

"Alright," he relented. "I'll meet up with you two at dusk. Don't let her out of your sight, Ishida. If you need anything, text me and I'll be right back, understood?"

"Understood!" Orihime replied cheerily as she resumed her place in the photobooth. Uryuu nodded to Ichigo and started the line again as Ichigo left to find the rest of his friends. It was already almost 5:30, only about an hour and a half until dusk. He walked about halfway across the festival grounds with no sight of his friends. He took out his phone to call Chad, and saw that he had one new message from Orihime. He quickly opened it and read, "Thank you, Kurosaki-kun. Please let me heal your hand later. You are my hero (heart)." Ichigo blushed, closed the message, and decided to walk around until he found his friends the old-fashioned way.

Ichigo found his friends after about fifteen minutes of looking. Together they wandered around, sampling this and that and checking out the other club's booths. They ran into Tatsuki and her friends at about quarter to seven, just about when Ichigo was starting to corral the group into making their way back to Orihime and Uryuu. It took a minute for him to notice the girls were all wearing yukata, and some of them had styled their hair and put on a bit of makeup. "Wow, Tatsuki, I never thought I'd see the day that you would be dressed so femininely" he said without derision; just like he was pointing out the obvious.

"Surprised you noticed, actually," she retorted, just as Rukia and Renji joined their group, also in yukata. She eyed them with admiration. "Rukia! You and Renji make quite the pair tonight." She commented, slightly out of character for her, but the two did look impressive. Renji stood out with his long red hair pulled up as usual, but crowned with a thick dark gray headband that matched his slightly agape yukata with contrasting white obi. Rukia was resplendent in a midnight blue yukata with a pink and purple firefly motif and lavender obi.

"Thank you," Rukia replied, "my older brother sent them to us. He has very good taste". Renji rolled his eyes.

"Ok, then, let's get a move on. Ishida and Inoue must be about finished by now," Ichigo prodded.

The group made its way over to the photo booth, which, as Orihime had predicted, was getting too dark for pictures, and the once-crowded area was now empty as the photography club packed up its equipment. Some first-year handicraft club members were helping put the things away that wouldn't stay up overnight, but Uryuu and Orihime were missing. Ichigo approached one of the girls folding up banners and asked where they were.

"She said they are in back with some third-year members getting ready," he said as he returned to the group.

"Getting ready for what?" Renji asked, picking at his ear with his pinkie and looking bored.

"Ahem!" the group looked to Uryuu, who had just come out from behind the backdrop. "May I please present to you my, ahem, I mean, the handicrafts club's masterpiece for this event, Ms. Orihime Inoue, and her custom-made yukata!" and applauded in solo as he stepped aside, allowing Orihime to step out.

Nobody was really paying much attention at first, still busy heaping attention on Rukia and Renji, but when Orihime stepped into the light, all eyes shifted to her. After a beat of slience, she received some very appreciative looks and compliments from her friends. One friend, however, looked dumbstruck. Said tall, orange-haired, friend was having a very different experience than his comrades. When he saw Orihime step into the light, he finally saw what everyone else saw. He no longer saw the little girl carrying her dying brother's body into his father's clinic. He no longer saw the clumsy, silly friend of Tatsuki's. He could even no longer see the enthusiastic friend that cheered him on to rescue Rukia a year ago. Now he saw a beautiful woman in an indigo yukata with white hydrangeas modestly encasing her curvaceous body, held in place with a bright gold obi, tied with a red cord. He saw a long, graceful, white neck, accented with dainty silver dangling earrings, and exposed on account of a pile of soft auburn hair that was artfully piled onto the top of her head, held in place by her customary hair pins. He saw a face so lovely and smile so radiant, he drew back to avoid its direct gaze. What he saw was not his friend, Orihime Inoue. What he saw was the beautiful woman all those men had stood in line for hours to take their picture with, and he was humbled in her presence.

"Kurosaki-kun?" a sweet voice pulled him from his reverie. He refocused, settling his eyes on her sparkling brown ones. "Kurosaki-kun?" the voice said again, this time a bit more concerned. "Are you alright?"

"Huh? Umm, yeah, Inoue, nice outfit," he said lamely.

"Thank you!" she smiled enthusiastically. "Let's go get something to eat and then go write our wishes. I'm starving!" she said toward the entire group.

Ichigo's feet agreed to follow her before his brain caught up. As the group moved through the festival, his eyes kept drifting her way. He could not conjure a single coherent thought, and when he was addressed, he mumbled or laughed by way of reply. Absorbed by his own feelings of confusion, it wasn't until he knocked his right hand against the corner of a food stall and yelped, searing pain ripping from his swollen knuckles through his forearm, That he made an intelligible remark. "Shit!" he hissed over and over as he tried in vain to fling the pain away.

"Ah, Kurosaki-kun! I'm sorry, I got distracted! Come this way, please," the chagrined healer pleaded. Ichigo allowed her to lead him away from the main drag of the festival grounds and into a leafy corner behind the main shrine building. "Souten Kisshun," she incanted, as her two healing powers appeared to her and cast a healing dome over Ichigo's hand. Although he could not see it, he felt its effects almost immediately as the pain began to recede.

Ichigo sighed in relief, and looked at her again, this time with the sobering memory of pain tightening his hold on reality. "Thank you, Inoue," he said, in a gentler tone than she expected. She blushed a petty pink and smiled.

"Thank you, Kurosaki-kun. This is the least I can do after what you did for me tonight. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't stopped that man. You saw how I reacted – I am ashamed I just froze like that – I was completely useless."

"I don't ever want to hear you say that about yourself again, Inoue," Ichigo scolded mildly. He looked her in the eye and his own softened. "You are anything but useless. Just look at my hand now – better than ever!" he said, flexing it exaggeratedly. Orihime let out a small giggle and called back her Shun Shun Rikka. Suddenly, Ichigo felt a small loneliness appear somewhere inside of him.

That feeling was quickly erased by Orihime's next words, which she spoke in a hushed, shy tone: "Kurosaki-kun, thank you for protecting me".

It was Ichigo's turn to blush. "Let's go write our wishes before it gets too late," he said in an attempt to disperse the awkwardness, leading the way back to the group. Orihime smiled and nodded, falling into step beside him. He couldn't stop himself from stealing a glance at her every few steps.

The group wrote their wishes onto strips of white paper and tied them to the bamboo branches set out for that purpose. Then they went to the shrine to pay their respects to the local deity, and started to break up. They had school the next day.

When Ichigo was home, getting ready for bed, he caught sight of the photo he had taken with Orihime earlier, sticking out of the pocket of the shirt he had just discarded. He picked it up carefully and took a good look. He saw Orihime's dazzling smile first. He noted her relaxed posture and easy happiness. He took a look at himself next, and decided he didn't look too bad; not a big goofy grin, just enough to look pleased. Then he mentally compared this picture to the posed one of Orihime and Uryuu, and decided his picture with the princess was much more attractive and convincing. Satisfied, he drifted off into a comfortable slumber.

Several rooms away, if one was nearby, a pair of shinigami could be heard quietly arguing whether the terms of a previously made wager had been met or not. "Even if it hasn't happened yet, it won't be long now," Rukia hissed at Renji as he rolled his eyes and shook his head negatively.

A/N: Next chapter will take us to the end of the first term. Let me know your thoughts in the reviews and thanks for reading!