Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. Tite Kubo does. So don't sue.
Song Suggestion: All Over You - The Spill Canvas and/or Safer to Hate Her – You Me At Six
Orihime wasn't aware of the passing of time or the darkening sky. She couldn't move. She couldn't breathe. Her legs refused to carry her weight. It seemed to her that Ichigo was hiding things from her like always, and she was so tired of being unsure of where she stood with him.
How she wished he had just said he hated her from the very beginning. What a difference that would have made! But he had made her believe in him. Made her trust him. And she was having a very hard time pulling away from that image. Even though that was exactly what she needed to do to protect her self.
As angry as she was at Ichigo, it wasn't altogether his fault. Part of it was her fault for believing him to be a better person than he was. And though she could sit here and play what ifs all day, it wasn't going to get her anywhere. Because, she had a fight to win.
There was no way to get out of it now and she needed to start practicing – for all the good it would do. With a heavy sigh, she pushed herself up off of the grass, wiping it away before it stained her skirt.
The broken hearted girl barely had time to react as Momo and Rangiku leapt out from behind the trees, making a beeline for her.
"THAT WAS AMAZING!" Momo exclaimed, throwing her arms around Orihime's neck. "I'M SO PROUD OF YOU!"
Rangiku was just as enthusiastic. "Did you see the look on Rukia's face? She turned just as red as the raging bull she is! You could practically see the steam coming out of her nostrils! Look!" She bragged, "I got pictures!"
"Well done!" added Nell placing a hand on the bewildered hero's shoulder as soon as Momo stopped strangling her.
The poor girl didn't know what to think. Everyone was going on and on about how great she was, yet all she'd done was lose respect for herself and Ichigo too. She was so sure that she'd just gambled away the last of her leverage by reacting the way she had. And now here were all these people telling her she'd done the right thing and that she should be proud!
What in the world was going on?
Although Orihime had been quick to forget that she wasn't the only one who'd observed what had just happened, it only served to add more fuel to the fire.
Were these truly her "real friends"? And if so, why didn't they intervene when they'd had the chance? Even that she could understand! But how could Ichigo of all people have put her (and them) in such a precarious position? Had he turned against them too?
Unable to help herself, the exhausted red head took her sleeve and wiped madly at her face, trying to bring her sobbing under control. The others were beside themselves, trying to help calm her down. They fussed and worried so much that it suddenly it dawned on her why she was crying.
Although words failed her, she still managed to yell out the first thing that came to mind when thinking about Ichigo.
"THAT JERK!" She screamed, causing everyone else to take a step back.
Ichigo had purposefully lured her into a confrontation with his gang of adoring fans in order to test her and make her pick sides. He'd made her draw the proverbial line in the sand, yet refused to do the same thing himself.
"Oh Orihime, you musn't be mad with Ichigo." Nell pleaded, seeming to read her mind. "We all thought it was the only way to keep those witches off our backs. Now that they know you're training, they'll try to spy. And then we can feed them any lie we want."
Rangiku vehemently disagreed. "Of course she should be mad!" The buxom beauty sniffed haughtily. "Ichigo totally played her to get her to stand up for herself!"
"That's right!" Momo jumped in. "And he wouldn't let us tell you anything. He kept on saying you had to do things for yourself in your own way and in your own time. Oh! I just hated keeping secrets from you!"
"And you have no idea how hard it was to keep Momo's mouth shut! I practically had to bribe her with ice cream every day just to keep that wagging tongue of hers busy."
"Oh you're one to talk!" Momo fired back. "How many shopping sprees did we have to go on just to keep you focused on the mirror and not Orihime's front door!"
"Enough you two!" Nell intervened. "I rarely say this, and if you bring it up I'll deny it with every last breath in my body, but this is one time I agree with Ichigo. Your strength, Orihime, had to come from you and you alone."
"But that still doesn't explain anything." Orihime argued back. "Why is Ichigo keeping all these secrets? It's like he's turning into two different people. And I don't know if I can trust either one!"
Up until this point, Chad was the only one who'd kept quiet. Now he walked right up to Orihime, pulled out a hankerchief, and wiped the rest of her tears away.
"Don't cry." He ordered.
Nell took it upon herself to translate. "He means you should be happy. You did a good thing back there. And you were extraordinarily brave."
It didn't feel brave." Orihime corrected. "It felt…necessary."
Nell just kept on smiling, noticing the last person of their small group slide into the empty space behind her.
"I think, for you, it was." She affirmed.
"We rest our case." Rangiku chimed in, just as another voice rang out.
"Guys, I need to speak with Orihime…Alone…"
The words were unmistakably Ichigo's. But, the tone was more urgent than anything Orihime had ever heard from him before.
"Huh?" was the only word that came out of Orihime's mouth as she did a double take at the boy standing behind her. "But...But I thought…"
Reluctantly, he placed a hand on her shoulder, preventing her from moving away so that she was forced to hear him out.
"You thought that I hated you?" Ichigo clarified. "Believe me, I don't."
Then why did you say all those mean, nasty, horrible things about me? And in front of Rukia no less? I trusted you!" Orihime voice raised with each word, quick to defend herself against the bleach blonde rat in front of her.
"Whoa! Take it easy Orihime!" He cajoled, trying to defend himself, even though they both knew he didn't have a leg to stand on. "You have every right to be upset with me. I'll even let you use me for target practice if you want! But at least give me a chance to explain."
"Go on...I'm listening." She demanded, folding her arms across her rather ample chest, and staring him straight in the eye.
"I'd prefer not to have an audience." He muttered, glaring at Rangiku and Momo who were minding everything but their own business. "Come on, I'll walk you home."
"Forget it Ichigo. I'm not going anywhere with you. Not unless you answer me one simple question."
"Ask me anything Orihime. I won't lie anymore. Especially not now. Not to you."
Or anybody else for that matter…" He added to himself, still glaring daggers at the ladies of the group.
For once, Orihime stood her ground. "Tell me, Ichigo. Which one is the real you? The warm, kind, caring person that speaks to me about honor and friendship? Or the sad, unhappy, miserable person who makes fun of me because he can't decide who his real friends are?"
Ichigo returned her gaze confidently, replying. "I'm neither one Orihime. I'm just a guy who wants to make the world a better place. And what makes the world a better place is having you in it. I want you to join our group. I want to be around you every day. And, most of all, I want to change the way things are done at our school, so that no one feels left out or bullied.
It took a few minutes, but all the angry words Orihime harbored started melting away. She didn't know how, but she knew he was at least being honest. Maybe not about everything…but at least about the important stuff…
"Alright then, Ichigo. I believe you. But you still owe me an big explanation for your part in all this." She warned, finally giving the consent to be escorted home. "You can tell me on the way." She invited, unable to stop the smile that ghosted her lips.
"Arigato, Orihime." He whispered, locking eyes with her before turning back to his friends and bidding them good night.
"We'll see you all tomorrow at the park across town." Ichigo directed. "We won't meet here again unless we're putting on a show. It's too risky otherwise."
"Very well." Nell agreed, cutting off the others before they could make a scene. "We'll be in touch."
"Good night!" Orihime cried over her shoulder, as Ichigo put his hand on the small of her back, guiding her away quickly.
Once they passed the gate to the park, Ichigo sighed wearily and took a deep breath before plunging headfirst into his story. "You're right Orihime. I do owe you an explanation. I only hope you'll hear me out first before using me as a human pin cushion."
Orihime kept quiet, silently urging him on, yet making no promises.
Ichigo got the point. "Okay. So Rukia and the other girls were talking about playing another prank on you. I couldn't disagree with them because it would make them even more suspicious of you. So I thought maybe I could turn it around on them and make it come out in your favor."
"'Turn it around'?" Orihime asked warily.
"Well, everyone was throwing out ideas, and for some reason they have this fascination with your locker. Honestly! They're so stupid and unimaginative when it comes to thinking things up. Anyways, I bet Renji that I could get your locker number from the janitor. Not only did I get your locker number, but I paid extra for the janitor to clean it up real nice and change the combination every month.
"Then where is all my stuff?" Orihime demanded, furious that he would take her things without asking - knowing what some of them meant to her.
"Momo has it, I swear!" He assured her hurriedly. Multiple times.
"She'd better, or my books won't be the only thing thrown in that river." Orihime growled.
"Atta girl!" Cheered Rangiku from somewhere in the distance. "You tell him Orihime!"
"CUT IT OUT ALREADY!" Ichigo yelled, throwing a mini ki attack in the direction of her voice. Apparently it did the trick, because Rangiku's spiritual pressure disappeared completely.
"How'd I do?" Ichigo gloated, laughing to himself at Orihime's amused reaction. At least she was smiling now...
"Not too bad…for a loser." The girl grinned. "but that still doesn't explain why you said all those things to make me pick a fight with your girlfriend."
"I wanted her to pick the fight with you. All of her honor depends on beating you now. If you defeat her, she won't have anything left to hold against you. Besides, I couldn't be more proud of the way you stood up to her. You really proved yourself to me."
"What do you mean?" Orihime questioned, knowing they were getting closer to home, yet dreading the end of their conversation.
"I mean, you stood your ground. And you didn't take crap from anybody – especially me. I want you to be that confident all the time. That way I don't have to worry about knowing where I stand with you and you don't have to worry where you stand with me. Trust me, Orihime. I never meant to hurt you."
Unwittingly, she was reminded once again of Ichigo's harsh words. They still pricked at her heart, no matter how she tried to push them away.
"Yeah…well, you did." She admitted, turning away from him to fish for her keys. Quietly she slipped them into the lock of her door - only to find Ichigo's hand pressing lightly on top of hers. Shrinking back, she found herself sandwiched between the hard wood of the door and the firmness of Ichigo's chest.
Not paying their closeness any mind, Ichigo stayed right where he was, not moving an inch. Then, leaning past her shoulder, he took a hand and brushed a bit of hair behind one ear. Delicately, he lowered his head down against the bare appendage, and whispered: "I'm sorry Inoue," just before kissing her above the right side of her lip. There was nothing the girl could do to keep it from curling upwards in appreciation, betraying her joy.
Quickly coming back to himself, Ichigo pulled away – turning as red as a cherry tomato. Hurriedly, he stepped away from the bright porch light, praying she wouldn't notice. Whatever had possessed him to act like that, he couldn't say. He only knew he liked it. And apparently so did she.
Unfortunately, it was very unbefitting of a teacher/student relationship. And he'd already said and done too much as it was. Besides, he was still in a relationship with Rukia. And, as frustrating as that could sometimes be, he wasn't about to treat either girl as his sloppy seconds.
"At least we'll always have the school festival!" He winked, trying to play everything off as a joke before dismissing her with a wave of his hand. He was determined to keep things from going any farther until after the main event. Besides, Orihime didn't need any more distractions, and neither did he. It might mean more secrecy in the long run, but after everything settled down he would sort it all out and put things right.
Orihime, on the other hand kept silent, hardly able to believe what had just happened. Hanging onto the door frame, she kept herself upright before finally managing to work the knob and let herself in. The only thing she knew as she closed the door was that there was no way she would ever get to sleep that night. And even if she did, all her dreams would be of Ichigo Kurosaki.