Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, they all belong to the wonderful Tite Kubo.

Dinner As A Family

Ichigo stuck his key into the door to his house hoping that his father was either asleep or not at home. 'Please let my old man be asleep.' Ichigo pushed the door open and allowed Orihime to walk in first. She walked past him bowing her head slightly in respect for his gentleman-like gesture.

The smell of food made her stomach grunt telling her that she was hungry. Orihime stepped out of her shoes and walked into the kitchen where Yuzu and Karin were setting the table. "Hello." The two girls glanced up and in unison replied "Orihime-Chan!" as they ran up to greet her.

Ichigo washed his hands and made his way over to the oven to peek inside and see what was cooking. Karin slapped his hand away and closed the oven. "It's not done yet so go get cleaned up, and we'll call you when it's ready." Ichigo sighed and went to take a look into the sitting room to see if his father was in there. The room was empty but the television was on showing a groovy soda commercial. Ichigo went back into the kitchen and watched as Orihime helped the girls finish preparing dinner.

"Hey where's dad at?" Karin didn't look away from the tomatoes she was cutting as she began to answer Ichigo's question. "He's upstairs taking a n-" "Ichigo son is that you!" Karin was cut off as her crazy energetic father came jumping down the stairs.

"Ichigooo!" He jumped on Ichigo pulling him into a head-lock. "I've missed you so much son!"

Ichigo pushed his father off of him and stood up cracking his stiff neck. "Jeez dad take it easy on me will ya!"

Ichigo's father turned away from him as something or someone gained his attention. "Orihime-Chan!" She smiled and gave the man a hug before returning to cutting the carrots for the soup.

Ichigo tapped his fingers on the counter impatiently waiting for the meal to be done, when he remembered that he had to inform them of Orihime's stay. "If you guys don't mind...Orihime will be staying with us for awhile."

Yuzu and Karin both screamed with excitement and their father jumped with joy. "Ichigo it's about time that I showed you "the box!"

Ichigo stared at his father confused of what he was trying to say. "The box?"

His father nodded and ran upstairs to retrieve the black shoe box that he kept hidden under his bed. He raced back downstairs with it and gently placed it down on the counter as if something fragile and sacred was in it. "I saved these just for you my son, and now is the best time for them to be put to use!" He winked and nodded his head towards Orihime.

Ichigo slowly slid the lid off of the box and peeked inside blushing at what he saw. "You filthy old man!" Ichigo launched the box at his father's face causing the old man to fall to the floor.

Orihime looked over as the contents of the box slipped out. She blushed at the sight of small colorfully wrapped packages labeled 'Condoms' that covered the floor.

Ichigo ran his fingers through his tangled hair pulling out all sorts of grime and filth. He glanced over at Orihime who was adding sugar to the soup she was making. "I'm going to take a shower, call me when the food is ready." Ichigo made his way upstairs, rolling his eyes at his father as he passed by him. Ichigo's father jumped up and placed the packages into the box before chasing Ichigo up the stairs. "Son these are for you if you need them they'll be right in the closet on the top shelf. Ichigooo!"

Orihime was happy that she decide to stay here. It was way better than being all alone at her house. She tasted her soup and decided that it needed an extra kick of something so she added cinnamon. "There that should do the trick!" She tasted it again and felt that it was perfect.

The girls began placing the food on the table as Ichigo and his father came downstairs. They all took their seats at the table and began to dig into the food laid out before them. Karin and Yuzu complimented Orihime for her soup while Ichigo and his Father argued over something they had both seen on a television show. Orihime smiled at the scene before her. Everyone eating together as a family...her family.