"Finally! About time! I thought you wouldn't show!"

You take off your jacket.

"Sorry. I had some things to do before coming here," you explain to a red-faced Renji. "It seems like you've been into the booze already."

"Lighten up! It's Christman!"

"Christmas, you idiot!" Rukia corrects next to him.

Renji responds by draping himself over her, and she responds by blushing and trying to push him away.

"What are you doing, you fool?! Nii-sama will be here any minute!"

"He's coming?" You ask as you take a seat next to Ikkaku who is telling a dirty joke to anyone who will listen.

"Yes! He said he'll make a brief appearance since this is also a celebration for Renji's and mine engagement."

"How festive of him," you reply as you flag down someone to order a tea.

"Tea? It's a party! Drink!" Iba yells across the room.

You scowl.

"Underage still."

"Well, at least drink this. It's more in the spirit!" Renji exclaims drunkenly while he hands you a glass.

You sniff it.

"What is it?"

"Eggnog."

You set the glass on the table.

"That has alcohol. No wonder you're drunk off your ass."

"It does? Whoops!"

You turn in your chair to see a black cat.

"I think we have a problem," Yoruichi says.

You follow the line of sight of the yellow-eyed feline to see what said problem is.

And yes, it is a problem.

You stand up quickly and cross the large room, stopping in front of a small, crowded table.

"Kurosaki-kun! You made it!"

Your eye twitches at the slur of her words.

"Ooo~he's angry, Orihime!" Rangiku comments.

"Definitely," Hisagi agrees with eyes focused on the blonde. You think if his eyes were focused on the auburn haired girl, you would really get into the spirit. The spirit of fighting, that is.

"Why are," she pauses to hiccup, "you mad? Are you mad at me?" She asks in a teary voice.

You can feel your anger waver, but you turn your attention to the women who is chugging a glass full of unknown liquid.

"Why did you let her drink? She's underage!"

"Relax, Ichigo! She's well protected with all of us here!" Rangiku says while hugging Inoue. You glare at her wandering hands.

"It's you I need to protect her from!"

Rangiku scoffs.

"Orihime likes my hugs! Right?"

Inoue nods dazedly.

"I love hugs!" She shouts drunkenly. So loud that a couple of men from a different section look over to see who exclaimed the statement. And once they see who it was, they stand.

Your eyes narrow into slits, and your spiritual pressure rises. They feel it, and they sit back down.

"Don't say that in this kind of place, Inoue," you advise with a little harshness that's not meant for her.

She pouts.

"S-sorry, Kurosaki-kun," she gets out before she burrows her head into Rangiku shoulder.

"Look what you did, Ichigo! You've made her sad!" The older woman berates.

You instantly feel awful.

"Sorry, Inoue."

She looks up with teary eyes. From being upset or from the drinks, you don't know.

"That's not going to cut it," Rangiku comments. "You yelled at her for loving hugs; therefore, you should hug her."

You blush.

"What kind of logic is that?!"

"Drunken," she responds before grinning. "So are you going to do it or not?"

You blush harder as you stay silent.

"Don't you want a hug from him, Orihime?"

Your eyes trail back to said blushing girl as you wait for her response.

"A hug from Kurosaki-kun?" She asks quietly. "I want it!"

You go redder.

"There you go, Ichigo! Give her what she wants," Rangiku says as she helps Inoue stand.

You remain flabbergasted at the events occurring, but it's when Inoue walks until she's in front of you that you skip past flabbergasted and move straight into panic.

"…"

She looks up at you as she opens her arms. The gesture almost makes you glance down, but you know better than that. Your eyes stay fixated on her face.

"Aren't you going to hug me, Kurosaki-kun?"

You grit your teeth as the heat in this place becomes too much.

"Aren't you?" Rangiku repeats.

It's tempting. You are not even going to lie. The thought of holding her in your arms, in the one place that you know she'll be totally safe and protected, is so tempting that you take a step forward without even realizing it. But when you do, you take a step back.

"I'm going to get some air," you state as you walk away. Away from this indecent proposition, away from your desire, away from this trap.

Because it is a trap. You've no doubt about it.

You make your way to a bench. You collapse onto it while you bury your head into your hands. You groan into them in frustration and anger.

This night has somehow gone from Rukia and Renji's engagement celebration to…what? A night in which his limits are tested?

And they are being tested. And you feel that Rangiku knows that. You just hope that Inoue doesn't.

But it gives you a start when you feel her reiatsu next to you so suddenly. You might've been too engrossed with your thoughts that you didn't even notice her until it was too late. If you had, maybe you could've escaped. Maybe you could've slipped into the night the way your restraints tried to.

She is silent as she sits next to you. She smells of flowers, and you think that shouldn't be right. She should reek of booze, but she just smells of home to you.

You slightly shake your head to try to clear it. Her scent could put you in a trance very easily, and by the way you were inching closer to her, it nearly had.

You think this is bad. And you want to leave, but she's too quiet. As if she is brooding, and that is something you aren't used to. So unfamiliar with it that you are too nervous to get up.

You stay seated, and you wait for her to say something as you stare straight ahead. But she doesn't. Not with words anyways.

You think she is trying to say something when you feel her head bump your arm. You think she's trying to tell you something when you feel her move closer to you. You think that maybe she is saying all the words you are too afraid to say.

But when you hear little snores come out of her, when you look down at her closed eyes and open mouth, you realize that she is saying something completely different than what you hoped.

Still, you can't feel disappointed or hurt at her lack of words, of the lack of reciprocation because she's clearly communicating something with you.

Because when her head starts to slip, you catch her and pull her close, and when you do, she gives a large, drunken smile. A smile that you've seen so many times when she is sober and happy. And she mumbles something about love before she slumps more onto you. And maybe that love she mumbled is for you. And maybe it's not. With her next to you though, head resting on your chest, it doesn't matter. In that moment, it doesn't matter. It really doesn't.

But when the moment is over, when she leaves you, you'll face the consequences of loving her too closely. You'll face the pain of falling too deeply. You'll face it all alone.