Getting off the elevator at the sixth floor, Ichigo led Orihime to his room, carefully balancing his textbooks so that he could grab his key card and open the door. After placing the books on his desk and telling Orihime to make herself at home, he grabbed the kettle from the room and left to fill it up with water.
Orihime slipped her feet out of her heels and sat quietly on the floor, turning her head to look around Ichigo's room. She noted the second bed in the room and guessed he had a roommate although the roommate did not appear to have many belongings. Most of the stuff in the room was near Ichigo's part of the room, with a number of picture frames on his desk. Orihime smiled at a picture of Ichigo with his dad and two sisters. He had told Orihime about them when they had walked around campus that day and even in the picture, you could tell that they were a busy family. Next to this picture was a portrait of a beautiful woman, who Orihime guessed was Ichigo's late mother. Orihime's eyes teared up slightly at the recollection that Ichigo's mom had passed, and like what often happened to Orihime when she thought of one person who had died, she thought of her brother and of the parents she never knew.
The sound of a key card and the door opening behind her quickly drew Orihime out of her own thoughts and she quickly wiped away the tears in her eyes. Ichigo, not noticing her sombre demeanor, pulled out the instant ramen and started preparing it with the hot water.
"Did you want tea, too?" He asked her while he poured the hot water.
"I'll just have whatever you're having, Kurosaki-kun."
Ichigo pondered this. "I always thought it was weird to have tea with soup, but Yuzu would always scold me for saying so."
Orihime smiled. "You don't live at home anymore, Kurosaki-kun. You can do whatever you'd like."
Ichigo turned to look at Orihime. "Then I guess I should've run away sooner," he said half-jokingly.
Orihime winced slightly at his mention of running away and turned towards his desk. "Speaking of your sister, I really like this picture of you and your family." She pointed at a girl with short light hair wearing an apron, "I'm guessing this is Yuzu-chan and this," pointing to a dark-haired girl with a slight scowl, "is Karin-chan."
Ichigo nodded at her, then turned to focus on the ramen. "Yup!"
Orihime smiled at the older man in the photo who had apparently done something to piss off his son immediately before the picture was taken. The older man wore a goofy grin on his face that did not look like it belonged there, while his son scowled at him. "You and Karin-chan look like your dad and Yuzu-chan looks like your mom."
"Eh? You think so?" Ichigo looked at Orihime. "When I was little, people always used to tell me I looked like my mom."
"Ah, really?" Orihime pondered, wondering what Ichigo looked like as a child.
"Ramen's ready," Ichigo stated, handing Orihime a bowl.
"Ah! Thank you Kurosaki-kun." Orihime bowed slightly as she took the bowl, unintentionally giving Ichigo a view of her cleavage.
Ichigo blushed, all of a sudden remembering that he was alone in his dorm room with a beautiful girl. "Don't mention it."
The two ate in relative silence, except for Orihime asking if Ichigo had wasabi or red bean paste to add to the ramen, and Ichigo confusedly telling her he did not. Ichigo noted again that Orihime's dress was quite small, and as she sat on his floor, her dress slid up slightly, giving him a clear view of her legs, which he decided were quite nice. While Ichigo pondered the lovely woman in his room, Orihime's thoughts were less pleasant. She kept returning to the night she had had, and her encounter with Grimmjow. How would she explain what had happened to Sado and Rangiku? And she hadn't even said goodbye to Rukia! What would Rukia think of her disappearing into the night? One night out with friends and she was already ruining these newly made friendships. Tatsuki's face popped into Orihime's head and Orihime wondered how she could tell her. How could you tell your best friend, the person who saved you from an abusive relationship that not only did you run into him, but that he had put his hands on you and almost threw punches at her friends? With every bite, Orihime became more distraught, getting lost in her dark imagination and losing sight of the real world.
Ichigo noticed that Orihime had stopped eating and was starting to pale. He went closer to her and waved a hand in front of her face. Not receiving any indication that she saw him, he came even closer, so that his face was right in front of hers and he grasped her lightly by her bare shoulders.
"Inoue? Can you hear me?" Ichigo asked her concernedly.
Orihime was consumed by her thoughts, her vivid imagination showing her a future without friends or anyone who cared for her. As Ichigo's hands touched her bare skin, she began to feel warmth on her shoulders and a kind voice calling her name.
Orihime's eyes started to clear and become alert. All of a sudden, Ichigo was right in front of her, his hands holding her shoulders firmly, and his warm breath tickling her face as he repeated her name.
"Can you hear me, Inoue?" Ichigo repeated.
Orihime blushed deeply. "Y-y-yes!" She fumbled with the bowl in her hands and it fell to the ground, spilling her remaining ramen onto Ichigo.
Orihime gasped at her clumsiness. Grabbing some tissues off Ichigo's desk, she started patting him down. "I-I'm so sorry, Kurosaki-kun!" She sputtered as she blotted the tissues down Ichigo's torso. Orihime's hands neared the bottom of his shirt, and before she could clean up the ramen in his lap, Ichigo quickly grabbed her panicked hands with his. She panicked at this and it took some moments for her to calm down.
"Inoue. It's okay." Orihime looked up at Ichigo's face to see his warm smile and sympathetic eyes looking back at her. "You think I've never spilled ramen on myself before?"
He carefully stood up, still holding her hands. After ensuring she did not have any ramen on her, Ichigo walked her over to his bed, coaxing her to sit down and let him clean the mess up.
"But Kurosaki-kun," she whimpered, "it's my fault your clothes got dirty. And your room! I'm so so sorry."
Ichigo smiled at her as he wiped the remaining ramen off of the floor and tossed the tissues into the garbage. "It's really okay, Inoue. I should probably wash these clothes anyways."
"No, please, let me! The ramen will probably stain – you have to let me wash it right away!"
"R-right away?"
"Yes! Take your clothes off right now or they'll stain and I won't know how to make it up to you." Orihime insisted.
Ichigo removed his shirt in one swift motion, and walked over to her, offering the shirt to her in one hand.
Orihime paled at Ichigo's actions and at her own insistence that she have his clothes 'right now'. As he walked over, her paleness turned into a deep blush as she noted his toned slim body and the lustful thoughts that entered her mind.
As Orihime fought herself, her view bounced between Ichigo's torso and the floor, while her face maintained that deep blush. She was so concerned with where she was looking that she didn't notice that Ichigo himself was now blushing deeply. With his shirt in hand, he stood in front of her sitting on his bed, and he thought about how nice it might be for Inoue Orihime to stay in his bed for the night.
Gathering his courage, Ichigo asked, "Inoue. Is this what you meant?"
"Huh?" Orihime looked up at him, her grey eyes meeting his brown, both of their faces still slightly flushed. Her lips were parted just so, and all of Ichigo's base instincts were screaming for him to touch her. He reached out to her with his free hand and tucked a piece of her auburn hair behind her ear. She shivered in response to his touch and nestled her head into the warmth of his hand, a lustful sigh escaping her lips.
Reflecting on the events that led to this, and specifically thinking of Orihime's unresponsiveness just minutes ago, Ichigo needed to be sure of what Orihime wanted from him.
Ichigo kept his hand entwined in Orihime's hair, lightly caressing her face. "Inoue," he repeated, to which Orihime shivered slightly, "is this what you want?"
As she opened her mouth to speak, an electronic beep followed by the door clicking open sounded beside them and two guys stood in the doorway, one bald guy and another with perfectly styled shoulder-length hair.
"Eh?" The bald man said aloud. "If you're going to have someone over, just say so Kurosaki." He turned to the other man. "Yumichika, can I crash at yours?"
The other man shrugged. "Not like you can sleep in here tonight, right, Ikkaku?"
They turned and walked away, letting the door squeak slightly as it closed.
A fierce blush settled over both Orihime and Ichigo's faces, and the heat that had been warming the two moments before was gone, seemingly sucked out of the room by the interruption.
Before Ichigo could say anything, Orihime abruptly stood up and swiftly moved towards where she had left her shoes and jacket. "Th-thank you for the ramen, Kurosaki-kun, I'm sorry about your clothes, please let me wash them another time," she sputtered as she grabbed her belongings and exited the room.
Ichigo sighed at her quick exit and wondered if she would've let him give her a goodnight kiss or walk her to her room. Or would she have decided to stay the night? Despite the abrupt end, Ichigo smiled at the evening's events. Inoue Orihime worried him, he decided, but she also made him smile and laugh and feel something else, something, lustful? Whatever the feeling was, Ichigo decided that he wanted to explore it further, with her.
Ichigo looked down at his dirty shirt still in his hand and at his stained pants, noting the bulge in his pants. He hoped Orihime hadn't noticed that particular trait of his when she was openly admiring his body. He placed the dirty shirt in his shower basket, grabbed a towel and headed to the bathroom. He needed to wash his clothes and take a cold shower.
Orihime left Ichigo's room in a rush. She took the stairs down to the fifth floor still barefoot and burst through the stairwell door, slightly out of breath. Turning in the direction of her room, she was mortified to come face to face with a surprised-looking Byakuya.
Byakuya, recognizing the auburn-haired beauty, relaxed slightly, and took in the sight of her. Her dress hugged her curves sweetly and her slightly messed up hair complimented the look. He was surprised at her shoes and jacket in hand and wondered if she had been out on the cold night in such a state.
"Hi Kuchiki-senpai." Orihime smiled tentatively.
Byakuya nodded. "Inoue-san." He paused. "Fun night?"
"Aha, you could say that, I guess." She chuckled insincerely.
"So, not a fun night?"
Orihime paused and considered the question more thoroughly. "Uhm, yes and no. P-parts of it were fun, and other parts… were, uhm, not s-so f-fun." As images of Grimmjow from the evening flooded her memory, Orihime couldn't stop the tears from falling down her face. Turning away from Byakuya, Orihime threw the words "Excuse me, Kuchiki-senpai" over her shoulder and went in the direction of her room.
Byakuya, deciding that it was part of his responsibilities as an RA to ensure that Orihime was okay, followed her, but stopped when he turned towards the hallway where Orihime's room was. He saw another woman embracing Orihime as she cried and another man standing by. Feeling thankful that he did not have to deal with the crying woman (how do you deal with a crying woman?) and thankful that she had friends to rely on, Byakuya retreated to his room.
Tatsuki held Orihime tight in her arms and petted Orihime's head reassuringly as she cried. Orihime couldn't manage to get any coherent words out, but Tatsuki nodded as if she understood the garbled noises. "I know, I know. It's okay, Orhime, I'm here. He can't hurt you anymore. I'll never let him hurt you again."
Ishida felt a bit awkward witnessing this emotional moment between friends but waited to see if he could be of anymore assistance. An hour ago, Sado had sent a group text to Tatsuki, Ichigo, and Ishida, relaying Orihime's encounter with her ex at the club. Tatsuki had responded immediately, saying that she would take the next train to the university. In the meanwhile, she tried to reach Orihime, but wasn't getting any response. Ishida, after knocking on Orihime's door for some time, likewise conveyed to the group that she wasn't there. When Tatsuki got to Himawari Hall after hours, her whole demeanor and insistence on being let into the building even though she was not a resident had the front desk staff on the verge of calling security. Thankfully, Ishida came down, and after confirming that Tatsuki was his guest and that he would take responsibility for her, took her up to the fifth floor where they waited for Orihime. Ishida hadn't known Tatsuki very long, but he was surprised at how worried she was. Tatsuki was one to wear her emotions on her sleeve, but he had never seen the karate champion so distraught before. She was pacing the halls, mumbling about "that asshole" and "can't he just leave her alone" and many times asked aloud "where is she?". When Orihime finally rounded the corner, Ishida almost couldn't believe the tears that started to gather at the corner of Tatsuki's eyes as she embraced her friend.
After a few more moments, Tatsuki loosened her grip on Orihime and suggested they go inside. Orihime nodded, with tears still streaming down her face, and pulled out her key card. Tatsuki nodded at Ishida and mouthed "thank you" to him before following Orihime into her room. He nodded at her and trusting that she would take care of her friend, went into his own room for the night. He took out his phone and sent a quick text to the group chat Sado had started earlier that night.
Ishida Uryuu: Inoue-san is back. Arisawa-san is with her now.
Sado replied almost instantly.
Yasutora Sado: Thank God. Thanks for the update.
Ishida noticed that through the entire thread, Ichigo hadn't said anything at all. Odd, he thought to himself.
One floor up from them, Ichigo had just returned from the bathroom. He stood in his room with a towel wrapped around his lower body, his phone clenched tightly in his hand. As he read and re-read the texts he had missed earlier, his hand continued to tighten around his phone, nearly turning blue. Inoue was going through all that and all I could think of was my own selfish desires. Disgusted with himself, he promised to himself that he would do better. He had to do better.
A/N: Thank you all so much for your support! I see all you IchiHime fans and I hope you'll forgive me for playing around a bit. Who knows who Orihime will end up with?
This is a shorter chapter than the last couple, but I wanted to get it out asap since I haven't updated in a while. My thesis defence went well but I'm still working on finishing up all the edits and submitting it. God willing I'll have more time to write this fanfic in the coming months!
Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, followed, and favourited. This is my first fanfic and everything you say warms my heart – please keep 'em coming! Some criticisms are also very valid – I think I've read so much fanfiction that sometimes I don't even realize characters are ooc (whoops). I hope you'll forgive me and keep on reading!