Thanks again, Nii-sama97.

Chapter 19: Symptoms

December 8th

Urahara Shoten

It had been a week since Ulquiorra had been brought to the World of the Living, but he had yet to make it above ground. Urahara had been hard at work trying to create a modified gigai that was strong enough to withstand Ulquiorra's potential reiatsu fluctuations and technologically advanced enough to cloak his reiatsu while remaining functional for daily life.

He had tested out many prototypes over the course of the past week, each a failure. Ulquiorra had easily burned through the first gigai as soon as his suppression necklace was taken off. The second one could take the pressure, but was much too cumbersome for Ulquiorra to live in. Urahara was working on the 32nd prototype presently, when he heard an unfamiliar, classical guitar ringtone. It took him a moment to remember that it was the ringtone he had chosen for incoming calls from Ulquiorra's communication device. His new houseguest had never used it until now. Urahara scrambled to pick up the receiver and clicked the call through.

"Kisuke Urahara?" the now-familiar baritone asked over the somewhat crackly connection.

"Yes, Cifer-san?" Urahara's voice replied with a mix of curiosity and amusement.

"I, er... I find myself… unoccupied."

Urahara suppressed a chortle. "Cifer-san, are you lonely?"

"I am usually alone."

"Allow me to rephrase. Would you like some company?"

Urahara listened to Ulquiorra's measured breaths as he waited patiently for an answer.

"I would not object to company," the former espada finally answered.

"Alright. Make sure your necklace is on. I'll open the door and you can come upstairs to my office and keep me company while I work for a bit." The scientist grinned as he disconnected the line, feeling daring.

Earlier that day, Karakura High School

Ichigo's foot tapped the floor rhythmically as he watched the classroom clock tick towards the last bell. Before the final tone chimed he was up and at Orihime's desk, gathering her bag. His girlfriend smiled up to him, surprised at his eagerness. She was pleased when had offered to walk her home to her apartment after school even though she no longer had a specific obligation to use her Shun Shun Rikka to restore Ichigo's spiritual pressure. Ichigo grasped her hand and pulled her to his side, muttering, "Let's get out of here, Orihime," before leading her out of the door, causing most of the girls in the classroom to swoon openly and some of the boys to brood in envy.

Orihime blushed as she was led across campus, growing ever more curious to find out why Ichigo was in such a rush. She watched his face as he pulled her outside of the school gates, and felt a mixture of amusement and confusion when he completely ignored Keigo's calls to "wait up" from behind them. Orihime was content to follow silently for the first two blocks, but Ichigo still hadn't slowed down, and she was starting to get winded.

"Ichigo? Can we slow down a bit?" she asked sweetly, looking up at him with an apologetic smile.

"Huh? Oh!" Ichigo looked slightly flustered, as he was pulled back to reality. "Sorry Orihime. I'm just, er, anxious to be back at your place."

Orihime smiled and her heart fluttered a bit. "Oh? Why is that?" she teased.

Ichigo didn't seem to be bothered by it and started walking again, still a bit faster than Orihime would have preferred. "Because I want some alone time with you," he finally answered.

Orihime's cheeks flushed and she swallowed down a squeal of anticipation as she happily tried to keep pace with her boyfriend.

When they arrived at her apartment, she was out of breath. Ichigo set down their bags and went to her kitchen as she stood in the entrance taking off her shoes. As she stepped up to the main floor, he returned with a glass of water.

"How thoughtful, thank you!" she said as she beamed at him. He passed her the glass and watched as she drank deeply. She drank about half of it and began to set it down, before Ichigo took it from her and drank the rest, never breaking eye contact with her. For a reason she couldn't understand, Orihime found the action very erotic. She could feel heat building in her core, and when Ichigo finished the water, she took his wrist and led him to her bedroom.

As bold as a move that was, Orihime was too shy to make the next one. She released his wrist and watched as Ichigo, not missing a beat, pulled off his shirt and laid down on one edge of her bed, then patted the open space and ordered her to sit.

She obeyed, and she felt her insides turn into hot mush as he started to pull her down toward him into a tight hug. He tucked her head under his chin and her nose rested in the crook of his neck. She breathed deeply his natural scent, and, her desire ignited, began to place soft kisses up his neck toward his jaw.

Ichigo squeezed her a bit tighter, and chuckled, before saying softly, "Easy there, tiger. I don't want to get carried away. I just thought we could get some cuddle time in before we have to get down to business."

Orihime blanched. "Down to business?"

Ichigo pulled back to look her in the eye. "Yeah, did I forget to tell you? Ol' Hat-n-Clogs wants us to continue with the 'restoration sessions' as we have been, for the time being. I thought I told you on the phone last night?"

Orihime was confused. Ichigo seemed very sincere, but she was pretty sure she remembered him saying that Urahara was finished with the restoration experiment, although they were free to do it whenever they wanted.

"Really? That's not what I remember you saying."

"Oh? I guess you were pretty sleepy by the time I called. You also said something about how Enraku was going to take you dancing later, so I wondered if I had woken you up or something."

Orihime laughed at the idea of her stuffed animal saying anything, much less offering to take her out on a date. "I guess I was tired. I thought you told me Urahara-san didn't need us to do that anymore," she said good-naturedly.

Ichigo hugged her again and kissed the top of her head. "You are the cutest, 'Hime. Would you mind if we did it while we lay here like this? I'll set my watch."

Orihime giggled and called her healing fairies as she snuggled back in to Ichigo's chest, listening to his heartbeat as his breath evened out. After a few minutes, his arms slackened, and Orihime realized he was asleep. Gently, so as not to wake him, she began to trace hearts on his chest with her index finger, experimenting with touching his nipple as she did. Ichigo hummed softly the first time, and the second time he jerked slightly, to Orihime's amusement. She tried again, thinking it must be either ticklish or arousing. To her disappointment, he cracked open an eye long enough to look at her disapprovingly and say, "Quit it, that's distracting," before quickly nodding off again.

Orihime pouted and snuggled back in to Ichigo's neck when she felt something that caused her full attention to shift, although she still kept her healing powers going over Ichigo, being so well-practiced at it by now that she could probably do it in her sleep.

She carefully weaseled her way out of Ichigo's arms and went to her window, her previous amorous thoughts now forgotten. 'What is this spiritual pressure?' she asked herself silently while trying to track its origin. It was barely perceptible; if she focused too hard on it she lost it, but if she expanded the range of her own spiritual perception around her, she could feel it again on the periphery. It was familiar, but unfamiliar. She felt an overwhelming compulsion to investigate it. She tracked it for a few more moments before it disappeared completely, but not before she recognized that it came from the direction of the Urahara Shoten. 'Great – now I can kill two birds with one stone,' she thought, casting a mildly suspicious glance toward Ichigo.

Before she knew it, Ichigo's watch beeped, indicating that a half-hour had passed. He opened his eyes and sat up, smiling as Orihime passed him his shirt from the floor. "You are the best, 'Hime," he said as he stood up and put his shirt back on.

Orihime smiled and nodded, and added, "I forgot we have a test in history tomorrow. I better let you go so we can get our studying done."

Ichigo rubbed a palm down his face as he yawned, and then met her eyes. "You're right, I forgot about that. If I stayed here I doubt we'd get much studying done," he said with a gleam in his eyes that had Orihime's pulse quickening again, in spite of herself.

She walked him to the door and kissed him goodbye and wished him goodnight as he left. She waited ten minutes to give Ichigo a head start, taking a few of those minutes to eat a quick snack and fix her hair before she left for Urahara's Shop.

Urahara Shoten

Ulquiorra observed Urahara's work silently, for the most part. He had wandered around the office to look at the bound volumes and loose papers, stopping here and there to examine them or one of the instruments that littered the room. Presently, he sat in a chair in the corner of the room, nearly nodding off, when Yoruichi threw the door to the office open wide and said in a very concerned tone, "Kisuke! We have company!"

Ulquiorra's eyes opened impossibly wide as he recognized the foreign reiatsu. Urahara quickly got up and blocked the door, half expecting the green-eyed man to attempt an escape. After a very tense moment during which Ulquiorra made no move, both Urahara and Yoruichi visibly relaxed. It was only then that Ulquiorra looked between both of their faces and through the open door with a torn expression. He knew he couldn't risk leaving the safety of the office for the time being, even with his suppression necklace on, but he was more than eager to get his chance to meet the woman.

"Cifer-san, I know you must be very anxious to leave, but this office is the only room above ground that is capable of concealing your reiatsu should your necklace fail. As it is, a trace of your reiatsu is leaking at this very moment. I hope you understand why I can't let you come out."

"Yes, Kisuke Urahara."

Urahara gave a tiny eyeroll at the way he had been addressed, but appreciated Ulquiorra's rationality nonetheless. "Thank you, Cifer-san. By way of compromise, please feel free to watch and listen to anything that comes on over the monitors," he said in a conciliatory tone, gesturing toward what looked like an oversized computer monitor.

Ulquiorra nodded and sat before the monitor as the shinigami left the room, sealing the door behind them.

Urahara met Orihime just inside the shop. Ulquiorra felt his throat constrict and pulse speed up as he saw her face appear to him on the monitor for the first time in his current lifetime. He strained to listen as she began to speak. "Good evening, Urahara-san!" her voice rang out, loud and clear, carrying a smile he had rarely seen or heard in his previous incarnation. It was then that it struck him that she was so much different than he remembered. He mentally berated himself for not expecting this. Of course she was not the miserable abductee she had been when they were together. She seemed carefree and full of life now. He looked away from the monitor, somehow pained that she felt so much better without him in her life. It was then he noted that his new capacity for emotion was clouding his judgment. Of course she was happy. She wasn't a captive anymore. Furthermore, her emotional state was completely independent from him. As far as she knew, he was long dead. Ulquiorra knew he needed to get over himself. He blew a lock of hair out of his face and looked back to the monitors, listening as the conversation continued.

"Good evening, Inoue-san. What brings you to my fine establishment this on this cold night? Can I interest you in some of my new products?" the shopkeeper asked from behind his fan.

Orihime shook her head. "I'm so sorry to bother you, Urahara-san, but this visit is more personal. Do you have a few minutes?"

Urahara's demeanor changed and he quickly snapped his fan shut, using it to tip the brim of his hat up slightly , allowing his gaze to meet Orihime's. "Of course. Please come in," he said, leading the way into the sitting room and gesturing for her to take a seat as he took one opposite. Tessai arrived a moment later with tea and gave a cup to each of the room's occupants, addressing Orihime as "Inoue-dono" before he bowed and left without another word.

After he had left, Orihime decided to lead with the question about the unfamiliar reiatsu. "Uh, Urahara-san, I came here tonight because, um, I faintly sensed an unusual spiritual pressure…" She allowed her question to trail off, hoping he would fill in the blanks for her.

"I see," he began carefully. "I think I know what you mean. Very faint, was it not?"

"Yes!" she nodded vigorously, clearly anticipating that he would satisfy her curiosity.

Urahara sat back, seemingly considering his options. Ulquiorra, watching with bated breath in the next room, leaned ever closer to the monitor, wondering if the shopkeeper's next words would reveal his presence to the woman.

Alas, Urahara denied everything. "The senkaimon was open for an extended period today. I wonder if someone powerful came through recently, before the sweepers had a chance to purge the residual reiatsu."

Ulquiorra's posture mirrored Orihime's as they both slumped into their chairs, disappointed.

"Oh," she replied, underwhelmed, but shook it off quickly. "I have one other thing that's bothering me, Urahara-san. Didn't you say that your experiment with restoring Ichigo's reiatsu had concluded and you didn't need me to do it anymore, for your purposes, anyway?"

"Yes, that's true."

Orihime's heart sank a little. "But, you changed your mind, right? Didn't you tell Ichigo yesterday that you wanted me to continue as we had been last week?"

Urahara grew somewhat cautious. "What are you getting at, Inoue-san? I didn't speak with Kurosaki-san yesterday. And the last thing I told him was that my experiment was complete. I don't know how he could have misunderstood that. Has he been acting strangely again, Inoue-san?"

"No, not particularly this time. He said I must have been tired and forgot that he told me, but maybe he was just tired and imagined that he spoke with you! Maybe it was a dream he had!" she laughed nervously after this, trying desperately to convince Urahara and herself that her excuses were actual possibilities.

"Maybe you are right, Inoue-san," the shopkeeper said kindly, but then hid his eyes behind the brim of his hat and added a warning, "but just to be safe, please contact me if he starts acting suspiciously at all. I am still very busy with my daytime work, but I am drawing up a plan to start training him. In the meantime, if his hollow starts to manifest or anything else strange happens, let me know immediately. I may need to reprioritize my tasks."

"Oh, of course I will. I'm sorry to take up your time, Urahara-san. Thank you so much for listening to me," she said politely as she got up and made her way to the door.

"Anytime, Inoue-san. Your presence is always a welcome treat for all of us here," he replied as his eyes flashed to the room's monitoring system camera for a moment.

Orihime smiled, bowed, and left, trying to stave off the troublesome thoughts that circled her on her walk home.

December 9th

Karakura High School

Orihime was able to act like nothing was wrong all morning. It wasn't until lunch when she decided she had to clear the air with Ichigo. After they had eaten in their classroom, she asked him to come with her to the handicrafts clubroom. Ichigo was unperturbed as he shut the door to the clubroom, until he turned around and saw the look on Orihime's face. She leaned against one of the tables in the room, unable to make eye contact, but somewhat red-faced and chewing on the inside of one of her cheeks nervously.

"What's the matter, Orihime?"

"I spoke to Urahara-san last night," she answered, still looking at his knees.

"What? Why?" he asked, carefully maintaining a calm exterior.

Orihime looked at his face then, surprised he didn't react more defensively. She relaxed a bit, still nervous, but no longer as red-faced. "I felt a weird reiatsu, and I tracked it back to his place," she started.

"What? Why didn't you call me? I would have gone with you!"

"No, it didn't seem dangerous, Ichigo. Just kind of like, déjà vu, or something. Anyway, he told me it was basically nothing, and while I was there we talked about the restoration experiment. He told me he did not ask us to continue."

Ichigo's heart stopped, momentarily, knowing he'd been caught. But then, his survival instinct kicked in, and as smooth as silk he lied, "Oh, really? I could have sworn he told me the day before yesterday-"

"He told me he didn't talk to you that day." Orihime interrupted, trying not to panic at his possible dishonesty.

"Well, I mean, I guess I could have mixed that up, or dreamed it?" he said as he plead to god that she would believe the thick mask of innocence he was wearing.

Orihime was on the fence. Her gut told her that Ichigo was lying, but her heart told her to believe in him. Besides, if she could dream about going out dancing with a pink stuffed bear, it was totally plausible that he could dream about repeating something that had actually happened a week before. She decided to believe him, and smiled warmly at his face before finally agreeing with a cheerful, "I guess so! I'm just glad that for once I'm not the one who is mistaken"

Ichigo laughed in relief and walked up to her, putting his hands on her waist and kissing her forehead. "I'm sorry to make you worry about that. I know Tatsuki gives you a hard time about being flighty. Not that I think you are," he added as an afterthought. "I guess something like this was bound to happen to me sometime," he added with a grin.

Orihime put her arms around his back and squeezed, feeling mostly relieved. A small part of her, which she chose to ignore, still held suspicions, but Orihime was the kind of girl that stood behind her beliefs, and she decided to believe in Ichigo's innocence. Having established that restoration sessions were no longer necessary, they decided to go their separate ways after school and get caught up on their studies.

9:30 p.m.

From: Ichigo Kurosaki

Missed you after school today (heart)

9:33 p.m.

From: Orihime Inoue

Me too! (heart)(heart)

9:33 p.m.

From: Ichigo Kurosaki

I know we don't have to, but do you want to get together tomorrow after school?

9:35 p.m.

From: Orihime Inoue

I'd love to (heart). What did you have in mind?

9:35 p.m.

From: Ichigo Kurosaki

Just some 'quality time' at your place (wink emoji)(heart)

9:36 p.m.

From: Orihime Inoue

(heart)yes!(heart)

December 10th

Orihime had handicrafts club after school, so Ichigo met up with her at the school gate around 5:30. Her first thought when she saw him was that it was weird to see him around school outside of his uniform. He was wearing jeans, a hoodie, and a warm jacket. It was dark already and just beginning to snow. Only occasional flakes fell here and there, and they melted the instant they hit the ground, but it made everything seem damp and colder than it really was. Orihime noticed that Ichigo had another jacket draped over his arm, and when she trotted up to him, he lifted it over her shoulders. Orihime gratefully put her arms in the sleeves and zipped it up, pulling the collar tight around her neck. The jacket was warm and smelled like Ichigo, and Orihime felt like she was in heaven. Ichigo offered her an elbow, which she took, and the pair started off toward her apartment.

The walk to her place was pretty quiet; neither of them wanted to expose their mouths to the cold air more than necessary. When they arrived at Orihime's place she kept Ichigo's jacket on as she put on the kettle and made them each a mug of hot chocolate. She brought the mugs out and they began to make small talk about their day, and passed a half hour just warming up that way.

After their fingers and toes thawed, Orihime took the mugs back into the kitchen and mentioned thinking about dinner. Ichigo followed her in, and as she stood at the sink, he came up behind her, caging her between his body and the sink, with one hand on either side of her body on the counter. He pressed his hard body into hers and whispered in her ear, "I'm hungry for something else," allowing his blossoming erection to drag across her school skirt as he put an open mouth kiss behind her ear.

Orihime was not expecting such an advance from Ichigo at that moment, but she found that she welcomed it. She whimpered softly and, without realizing it, stuck her hips back a bit to push his hard member deeper into her soft flesh. Ichigo responded with a growl of approval from deep in his chest, and brought his hands around to her front, unabashedly reaching for her breasts.

This was new territory, Orihime mentally noted. Usually Ichigo was much shyer about his advances, but he was assertive and in control today and she would be lying to herself if she said she didn't love it. When his hands found their targets, they squeezed firmly, causing Orihime to moan out unexpectedly. Ichigo chuckled a bit, massaging her voluminous assets, and letting his index and middle fingers of each hand search out the her nipples through her clothes.

Orihime allowed this to continue a few minutes, enthralled with the sensations Ichigo was providing, until she began to feel a hot dewiness begin to pool in her panties. Cognizant of what her own body wanted, she began to grow even more aroused and impatient. She reached her hands over her head and into Ichigo's hair, pulling his face down to hers, and kissing him deeply, before whispering, "let's take this to my room."

In an instant, Ichigo was halfway across the kitchen, pulling her behind by the hand. He pulled her into her room and tossed her to her bed, closing the door behind them. He stood at the door for a moment watching her look up at him with her eyes ablaze with unfamiliar passion He observed the way her bust rose and fell as she panted and rubbed her thighs together. Part of him was disturbed by the image, unable to reconcile the idea of his sweet, innocent girlfriend behaving so wantonly, but the larger part of him was 17 years old and indiscriminately horny.

"Ichigo, please…" she mewled, not sure what exactly she was asking for at the moment, but his inaction was torture. He slowly walked toward the bed, sat beside her, and with a singular focus, began to take off her shirt. He wasted no time and removed her bra without any fanfare, immediately diving toward her nipple and sucking it into his mouth as he pushed her back down on the bed, his other hand palming the other breast with enthusiasm.

He suckled on her soft pink nipple until it became hard in his mouth, then spent some time dragging his tongue across it and playing with the tip, flicking it back and forth with his tongue before lapping around her areola in a circle and then sucking the whole nipple back into his mouth, taking in as much of the surrounding tissue as he could, before releasing the whole thing with a loud 'pop', then switching to provide the other breast with the same treatment.

Orihime's mind had turned into mush. She panted and moaned, hips bucking toward the empty air above her that her body wished so desperately was full of Ichigo's body. She had never before experienced such a strong physical need for anything in her life. Her hands went on their own accord to Ichigo's head, pressing him closer still into her breasts, until she felt a finger from his unoccupied hand make contact with the soaked cotton of her panties, tracing the line between the encased lips, and dipping in toward her entrance.

Orihime's hands flew behind her, releasing Ichigo's head, which he lifted from her breasts as she brought herself up into a half-incline. She whimpered when he touched her again, watching her face contort as he did. He allowed a mischievous smirk, causing Orihime's eyes to go wide as he pulled her panties down her legs and off of her completely, taking a moment to examine them and the state of their saturation. He raised his brows in approval and lifted her skirt to see her soft curls, opening her thighs for a clear view of the glistening lips below.

Orihime was finally aware of her vulnerability in this situation, and her sudden apprehension showed on her face and silenced her voice. Ichigo was pleased upon observing her act more characteristically, and sidled up to her, kissing her sweetly as his hand returned to her slit, tracing softly. Orihime's breath shuddered with each pass, and she struggled to keep still, afraid of things getting out of control.

Ichigo, on the other hand, was in complete control. He deepened his kiss a bit, and dipped a finger into her bare slit, searching for the cluster of nerves at the apex. Orihime squeaked softly when he found it, and from there it was just a matter of time. Ichigo manipulated the sensitive nub rhythmically with his middle finger, allowing his other digits to flirt with the opening to her entrance from time to time. When Orihime could no longer swallow her mewls and was panting again, Ichigo released their kiss and latched onto her neck again.

Orihime could feel the heat within her build, and as her perception of the world beyond what she felt between her legs began to fade, the sensation caused by Ichigo's hand sent visions of stars behind her tightly closed eyelids. She found herself holding her breath the closer she came to the precipice of her imminent fall, only to gasp for another breath and hold that one when she came close to passing out from lack of oxygen. Then the muscles of her inner thighs began to twitch, her breasts swelled, and Ichigo moved his mouth from her neck back to a nipple and latched on, sending her hurtling over the edge, and Orihime's consciousness ascended to somewhere in the cosmos as the incredible pressure Ichigo had built released all in one great mind-altering blast of pleasure, which she rode out in a silent scream.

After the initial burst of sensation, aftershocks of pulses deeper within her caused her to sob out. As they diminished in intensity, her focus returned to the present, her brow relaxed, and her eyes opened on vision of Ichigo smiling at her gently. She was overwhelmed with emotion, and as tears began to gather at the corners of her eyes, she blurted out in a whisper, "I love you, Ichigo," before reaching for his head and kissing him intensely, desperate to communicate to him the depth of her emotion. She didn't give him a change to reciprocate or reject her sentiment.

Ichigo allowed it, his hand still cupping her drenched sex, until his lack of participation slowed her efforts. She drew back cautiously, fear of rejection in her eyes, until she saw his apologetic expression.

"Sorry, 'Hime, but I didn't come 'prepared'… and we made a bit of a mess," he said as he glanced down toward her still cupped womanhood.

Orihime was mortified. "Oh no! I'm so sorry, Ichigo, here!" she said as she pulled a box of tissues from her bedside table and held it to him.

Ichigo chuckled, and took the box from her with his clean hand. Then, to her shock, he brought the hand that was covered with her essence to his nose and inhaled deeply, humming in appreciation. The image embarrassed and turned her on in equal measure. When he smiled and looked at her again with bedroom eyes, he said, "that's not what I meant, but thanks for these," wiping the soiled hand off. "What I meant was I'm not prepared to finish the job, if you know what I mean." He laughed out loud when Orihime's eyes grew large in confusion, and added "I didn't bring the required 'supplies'".

Orihime's face flushed and brows rose in understanding, and then a huge smile spread across her face. She wasn't sure she was ready to take that step with Ichigo yet, but she was relieved that he considered it a possibility. She had still been harboring doubts that he was interested in her in that way, after the whole restoration issue between them.

She was roused from her thoughts when Ichigo stood and offered her a hand, saying, "you should go get cleaned up."

"But, are you ok?" she asked, concerned, and stealing a glance at the remaining bulge in his pants.

"Um, well, I'm afraid if I have any more excitement, my lack of supplies won't be enough of a deterrent, if you know what I mean…" he trailed off awkwardly, and made a show of adjusting himself with a pained expression.

"Oh, well, I know we don't have to do this anymore, but after I get cleaned up I can, um, restore, um, 'it', to its previous state. I know how much it relaxes you," she offered as she got up and walked to the door, clutching her discarded shirt to her front for modesty.

"Well, you don't have to if you're too wiped out, but if you could that would be nice," he answered.

"Of course! I'll be right back!" she said with a huge smile and left the room.

Ichigo sat down on the bed heavily and breathed a sigh of relief.

December 11th

Karakura High School

Orihime was glowing. Tatsuki noticed. Orihime explained that she was just really happy. Ichigo and Orihime stole knowing looks at one another all morning. Tatsuki tried really hard to convince herself that she had not caught a glance of Ichigo sniffing his fingers and leering at Orihime. By lunch, Tatsuki was really annoyed. She was actually relieved when Orihime mentioned she needed to go to the handicrafts clubroom at lunch and Ichigo offered to accompany her. They left the classroom in a hurry as soon as the lunch bell rang.

As soon as they closed the door to the clubroom, Ichigo was pulling her by the back of the head toward his mouth. Their tongues battled and hands roved, hips rolling toward one another, as they embarked on a fast-paced make-out session.

Tatsuki had followed from a distance and was pretty sure she knew what was happening on the other side of the door. As much as she did not want to be in this situation, she didn't want her best friend to get in trouble if someone else walked in on her and her boyfriend's indiscretion. She waited in the hall until her stomach started growling audibly and she was starting to hear quiet moans from Orihime. Feeling disgusted and hungry, she walked to the door and banged on it loudly.

"I'll give you one minute before I come in there and drag you two out," she shouted through the frosted glass on the door.

Ichigo and Orihime froze, and then Orihime covered her mouth to stifle a laugh. Ichigo stared at the ground, unmoving, until Orihime whispered an apology. He then looked up at her with a pained expression. "I think I'm going to need more than a minute," he whispered, looking pointedly at his groin.

Orihime followed his line of sight and observed his throbbing erection, and barely contained another fit of giggles. Without having to be asked, she summoned her Shun Shun Rikka and set to work restoring Ichigo to his more relaxed state, and then called to Tatsuki through the door, "Don't worry, we'll be out in just a minute."

When they came out and joined the others in the classroom to eat, Chad asked Ichigo to come to his place later that night. Ichigo had neglected his friend recently and agreed. At the end of the school day, Orihime and Ichigo parted ways, promising to spend Friday evening together.

That evening, Orihime stopped at the drugstore, just in case.