Prompt is from LunarStar77


It is three 'o clock in the afternoon when Orihime meets Ichigo in the park. Orihime uses the park as a shortcut when she goes from home to the store, and Ichigo has promised to watch over Karin as she plays a soccer game with her friends.

He is sitting on the park bench, his head going from left to right to left as he watches the soccer ball go back and forth between the teams.

"Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime asks, thinking she sees a familiar redhead sitting there. She is carrying a plastic bag filled with vegetables and bizarre spices for a new stew she is going to try making later.

Turning, he finds her behind the bench, and his lips twitch ever so slightly into a small smile for her. "Hey, Inoue. Wanna sit down?" She blushes a bit, but nods and takes the invitation to sit with him.

The two sit in silence and watch Karin go at it with her friends. It is a little later when Orihime speaks up.

"Karin-chan is very good at soccer," she tells him, her words complete truth. Ichigo smiles again, and inwardly he is proud of his sister.

"Yeah... I wouldn't be surprised if she happened to be professional with it when she gets older," he replies, seeing her bounce the ball on her knee before kicking it into the goal.

Orihime turns towards Ichigo and grins at him, pretending her blush is really not visible to him. "I'll be cheering for Team Kurosaki then, if that's what she decides to do!" He laughs faintly, and runs his hand through his thick, unruly locks.

"The team won't be called "Kurosaki", Inoue," he reminds her. "But thanks for the support anyway." Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Orihime turn even redder, and on the inside, he thinks it's kind of adorable.

The silence falls upon them again, but it isn't necessarily uncomfortable. With the summer breeze and the warm weather, it's actually quite nice to just sit and relax.

"So graduation is in a few weeks..." Orihime starts, fiddling with the handle of the bag. "Do you know what you're going to do after that?"

"I was thinking college and some part-time work for a while," he tells her, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I guess I hope to someday have a job relating to English, or something..." He had never told anyone that before, and his cheeks start to burn their own shade of red at the confession.

"Oh right! You like Shakespeare, don't you?" Orihime remembers, clapping her hands together in excitement.

"Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds," he quotes, hoping she won't catch onto any hidden meaning behind it. Orihime laughs and her smile is wider.

"That's so impressive! I think you'll do really well with anything you want to do!"

Secretly, he actually wants to get married and start a family one day, with her part of it, but that is not something he will admit out loud.

"What about you?" he asks, glancing over at her. "What do you want to do?" He notices Orihime turns red, and he is suddenly intrigued.

"Oh, I've always thought it could be fun to be an astronaut, or a teacher, or a-"

"Baker?" he cuts her off, with good intentions. She practically jumps out of her seat, and her hands begin to flail wildly. How had he known about that? Orihime thinks, her face growing hotter by the minute. His small smirk only makes the heat worse. He's secretly known about her entire confession for quite some time.

"H-How..." she starts off, her embarrassment apparent. "How do you know about that, Kurosaki-kun?" Her tongue darts out to wet her lips, as she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.

Ichigo's brown eyes flash with something somewhat dark, and it makes Orihime turn hot all the way down to her toes. But he still smiles faintly and continues on, "I know a lot about you, Inoue."

In the distance, Karin and her friends are still playing their soccer, and Orihime feels like her heart is about to burst out of her chest. It's only them, and she feels like this is the best way to tell him.

"K-Kurosaki-kun, I want..." she pauses and turns towards him more, despite her red face. "I've wanted to tell you something for a while..."

Ichigo turns towards her as well, intrigued, but make no mistake, his heart is beating just as hard as hers is at the moment. She looked so beautiful to him at the moment, and whatever she had to say, it was important.

"... What is it?" he asks, sounding as calm and nonchalant as he can possibly be.

"I... I..."

"... You?"

"I love you," she blurts out, her eyes never leaving his. She desperately wants to look elsewhere to curb her embarrassment, but she tells herself this is important. "I-I have for some time..."

Ichigo could say the same to her, but for some reason, he craves more.

"... Can you answer me something?" The words roll off his tongue fluidly, and Orihime continues to fidget the longer he waits to reject her. At least, that is what she's always assumed he would do.

"O-Of course..." she responds timidly, bringing her shaking hand up to re-tuck her hair behind her ear.

"Give me a reason to love you, Inoue..." he tells her, and his words make her heart jump out of her chest. It wasn't quite the reaction she was expecting from him.

"I... I'm not special, and there's really nothing good about me," she starts off, feeling herself lose her statement in the slur of words. "But I-I promise you I'll do my best to give you everything you've ever wanted... Whether it's a family or a trip to the moon, I-I want to be the person beside you, for better or for worse, and, um... For sickness and in health?"

Feeling a little dumbfounded, Ichigo had to admit that her reply was a lot more than he'd imagined.

Clearing his throat, Ichigo blushed lightly. "You know that sounds like a wedding vow, don't you, Inoue?"

"O-Oh no, I didn't mean for it to sound like that at all!" Orihime squealed in mortification, throwing her hands up to hide her red cheeks. "Please just ignore that answer then, I'll think of something else-"

Ichigo took her hand and pulled it from her face, also cutting her ramble off short. Orihime only saw a glimpse of his bemused smile before he pressed a kiss to her soft lips. They were both inexperienced, and the kiss was sloppy, but it would definitely be a memorable one.

And it was the laughter of Karin and her friends teasing them that broke them apart from their kissing session.

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