Chapter 10

Orihime blinked once, then twice, and finally a third time before slowly sitting up and taking in her surroundings. She was in her bedroom, there was a sliver of light coming through her window and nothing but the sound of the clock ticking on the wall in the hallway and the constant chink of the chain on her bedroom fan could be heard in the still of the night.

What had woken her up?

She winced as her most recent nightmare replayed in her head, Lepe's maniacal laugh, and his mad dash towards Ichigo when he'd refused to kill him, except in her dream Ichigo hadn't stopped him, and she could somehow feel the wound she'd been dealt in her dream now as she sat in bed, her hand coming to rest over her stomach almost expecting to see blood.

She shivered, looking at her bedside clock with a groan, it was just after three in the morning and as much as she wished she could fall back asleep she knew her nightmares would only get worse, it had taken her so long to become comfortable in the darkness once more after her first round in Hueco Mundo with Ulquiorra and now she felt like all of that had been child's play compared to this fear that suddenly gripped her. Why was that? Because she had more to lose now? Because before she had thought it was over and now, now she didn't know if there were more like Lepe out there bent on finding her and Ichigo and fighting.

She forced herself to get out of bed, wincing at the sudden pain she felt in her shoulder, and the heat that she felt radiating from her cheeks reminded her of what a mess she must have looked, all bloodied and bruised. She made her way to the bathroom, avoiding the mirror while she gathered things for her shower until she absolutely had to and she was surprised to see that her face looked somewhat clean. A quick glance at the waste basket proved that someone, and she blushed when she realized it had obviously been Ichigo, had wiped her face clean of dirt and blood before laying her to rest. Her thoughts quickly ran away from her as she pictured him gently holding her chin in his hand and running a moist wipe gently over her cheek, his hands softly caressing the skin there, his fingers tucking stray strands of hair behind her ear and his thumb tracing over her bottom lip ever so softly, his brown eyes soft and warm as he cared for her.

Orihime almost smacked herself in the face to get herself to focus on the task at hand, almost being the keyword, she knew if she did her cheek would only hurt a lot more than it already did. She stripped her clothing and picked up her hair brush, diligently brushing out the knots in her hair and taking the time to look her body over, she still had the stitches Lepe had given her, though some had ripped open when he'd manhandled her and shoved her into the ground. She had a large bruise on her thigh that she couldn't quite explain and she wasn't surprised to see and feel the tender darkening skin of her lower back in the mirror from where his knee had been.

She forced herself to take a deep slow breath to calm herself as she stepped into the shower, her legs and arms protested any sort of movement and she tried not to grunt as she summoned her powers to heal herself, this was always the worst part.

It was something she tried to keep from doing often because of the sheer will power it took her not to scream. The very feeling of her bones being 'fixed' and her bruises disappearing like the murky water that ran down the shower drain, was sometimes like being pricked with over a thousand needles and she hated it! Shun'o had once told her that because they were part of her soul, she was the only one that would feel that, because she was linked to them and they were in essence healing not just her but themselves. She'd gotten a headache when he'd explained it to her, not fully understanding but had known better than to heal herself from then on, but this time, she wanted to completely erase any trace of having been back in that terrible place, no matter the cost.

It took her almost two and a half hours to get herself washed and healed, she dressed in her most comfortable sweats and an oversized shirt as she went about cleaning her apartment inch by inch, making her way slowly into her kitchen where she spent over an hour cleaning out her fridge and pantry and she suddenly realized she needed to go grocery shopping, bad. She sighed as she tied the third trash bag closed and dragged it to the front door with the others, how she was going to manage to get them all down the stairs and into the bin was beyond her, but she pushed that thought aside as she changed once again, pulling on her favorite pair of jeans and a t-shirt Tatsuki had given her of her favorite band and slipping on some shoes. She checked the time, and seeing it was still too early to text her best friend to let her know she was back home, she focused on finishing up the last bit of tidying up before she would go to the grocery store.

She'd long ago decided she wouldn't be going to school today.

Orihime was sitting on her couch, preparing a list of things she needed to buy, -she knew if she didn't she would end up buying things she didn't really need, and that would only cost her more trips to the store in the end- when Ichigo knocked on her door and startled her out of her thoughts. She glanced at the clock on the wall by the kitchen and realized it was already 7:30 in the morning! Where had the time gone?

She rushed to open the door for him, and couldn't stop the smile that spread her lips when her eyes met his. He was breathtaking, she always thought he looked incredibly handsome in the mornings when she greeted him at school but seeing him now, seemingly fresh out of bed, made her heart beat harder in her chest. She couldn't stop her eyes from running over his body, he was wearing dark denim jeans with his chucks and an open army green jacket that showed off the black waffle knit shirt that clung to his chest and the cashmere plaid scarf she'd given him for Christmas the year before -as part of their groups secret Santa gift- around his neck. Her eyes met his again and she blushed at the realization that he'd caught her obviously ogling him.

"Can I come in?" he asked stepping into the apartment, a smile evident in his question and Orihime had to force her body to move back out of his way, would he always have this paralyzing effect on her?

"Of-of course Kurosaki-kun!" She stammered finally getting her wits about her and moving to step into the kitchen. "Did you want anything to drink? What brings you here so early this morning?" She heard his chuckle before he grabbed onto her wrist and pulled her back towards him, his opposite hand taking hold of her check and angling her face up into a kiss. His lips pressed against hers softly, and despite the initial shock Orihime melted against him, kissing him back and settling herself into the arm he had wrapped around her waist when he released her wrist, and when she opened her eyes to look up into his he smiled.

"Good morning." He said simply, brushing her bangs out of her face, his thumb rubbing softly against her cheek.

"Good morning." She breathed back, a small smile gracing her features and for a second, any exhaustion she had been feeling flew out the window.

"What's on the agenda for today?" He asked, looking around and noting how clean things were in comparison to the night before after he'd left her side. He felt his face heat a bit at the memory of the night before, if she found out he'd left her and come right back to make sure she was still ok she would most definitely run for the hills! The fact he'd even allowed himself to come back to see her before even making it home himself had him wondering if he was turning into one of those damn perverts like the ones that followed her around school.

Orihime blushed, looking away from him and biting her lower lip. She knew after first taking a look at him that he knew she would be skipping school today –why else would he be wearing what he was- but she wondered if he would even be interested in doing the simple task of grocery shopping with her, she didn't want him to think she was boring.

"Well, I have to pick some things up at the store," She heard herself mumble, the hands she didn't even know were holding his jacket tightened into tiny fists as she continued. "I'd love for you to come with me if you'd like."

"Of course." Came his soft reply, his arm tightening around her waist forcing her to look into his eyes and she gasped at the warmth she felt radiating from his gaze.

"Are-" She caught herself asking, biting her lower lip and he looked at her with a raised eyebrow, waiting for her to continue.

"Am I sure?" He asked when she didn't and Orihime blushed, covering her face with both hands as she felt his chest rumble with a chuckle again.

"Hime, whatever you want to do with me I'll enjoy. As long as we spend time together, I don't care what it is." He smirked, almost as if he'd read her mind, while gently pulling her hands from her face and pressing his lips to her forehead, inhaling her delicate scent and just enjoying having her in his arms.

Ichigo had spent most of the night awake, his arms and hands constantly twitching and his lips feeling a certain itch for the lips of a certain auburn-haired woman he'd left to rest just hours before. He'd come to the conclusion that he really was an idiot, for thinking he wasn't already head over heels in love with her, for being so stupid in realizing his feelings for her when they had obviously always been there, and for making the beautiful woman in his arms wait and hurt so much for him.

He looked down into her blushing face and felt his heart swell a bit in his chest, she would be the death of him, and he would gladly welcome it. If death was delivered by her hands, by her smile, by her kisses, by her embrace he would die a happy man! He trailed his hand down her arm, smiling softly at the goosebumps his touch left over her skin, and took her hand in his, pulling her back towards her door.

"Come on." he said softly and Orihime followed, a small genuine smile on her face.

"Inoue, do you eat anything besides bean paste and bread?" Ichigo asked scowling into the cart full of groceries they'd already picked out.

Orihime laughed lightly, a rosy blush had been almost permanently on her cheeks since they entered the store hand in hand and seeing Ichigo leaning over the cart full of things she needed made her heart drum in her chest at maximum capacity.

"Of course! But other than ramen with fried squid, chocolate sauce and wasabi it's my favorite snack so I stock up when I get the chance." She smiled, putting some ground meat and chicken in the cart and moving towards the dairy section of the store.

Ichigo only stared after her in silence, chuckling to himself when he realized she had to be some kind of weird if she liked not just those food combinations but him as well. Orihime looked over at him with a raised eyebrow and he merely shook his head, there was no way he would ever call her weird, that was one of the many reasons he cared for her as much as she did, she was never afraid to just be herself, he would hate to say something stupid and for that to change, he knew how shy she was around him.

He couldn't stop himself from looking her over as she struggled to choose between two cheeses; her hair was pulled into a high ponytail, something he was not used to but definitely not against seeing again, his gaze settled on the crook of her exposed neck and he had the biggest urge to nibble on her shoulder, visions of her holding onto him tightly as he trailed kisses along her jaw teased him and he bit his bottom lip hard, forcing himself to keep his hands on the cart and remember they were in public.

"Kurosaki-kun?" She asked suddenly from before him, her fingers wrapped gently around his arm and even through the layers he wore he felt her warmth on his skin, had she been talking to him? He tried to force down the blush that crept up his cheeks, had she caught him staring at her?

"Kurosaki-kun!" She said once he didn't respond, her hand coming to rest on his forehead and this time he focused on her face, she looked genuinely concerned, her eyebrows pulled down in a frown and the sight, though foreign to him, warmed his heart.

"I'm sorry I zoned out." He admitted with a chuckle, using his index finger to smooth out the dip of her frown in between her eyebrows. Orihime blinked up at him, seemingly confused by his statement before smiling bright.

"That's my job silly." was all she said, leaning up on her tippy toes to kiss his cheek. "Come on, I'm almost done."

"Hmm." Was all he could get out as he followed behind her, for as brave as he was when he kissed her, even going as far as pulling her into his arms that morning for a kiss, her kisses still took him by surprise. He could tell, from the slight redness of Orihime's ears that she perhaps felt the same way, and despite the chilly weather outside, he felt warm.

A/N: So this felt like a good place to come to a stopping point. My sincere apologies to you all for the immense delay in updating, I have been having a really rough couple of months but things are starting to look up! I'm hoping on maybe one more chapter for this story, just to tie up loose ends in the plot and then Halo of Fire will be complete! It only took forever right? I'm sad to end this fic, but because of the breaks I took in between it's not exactly where I want it to be since now I can't exactly recall where I was going with it (I lost most of my notes and idea 'bubbles' for this story), I am however working on a new fic that I will draft multiple chapters for before posting in case my depression gets really bad again, you guys won't have to suffer with me and I won't feel extra shitty for making you wait. If you're still here from the beginning thank you so much! Your kind words have kept me going more than you understand. Much much love! I'll see you in the next chapter!