…..Byakuya's POV….

When I got back, I could sense Ichigo's spiritual pressure, on a normal day I wouldn't care but I was very angry for some reason but I did manage to put it aside.

"Where's Orihime?" I asked her dark haired friend that seemed busy separating to kids from straying too much into the sea.

"She's over at that white umbrella with Ichigo"

Great just what I needed… to see them together.

"Thanks" I said before going to Orihime

I immediately halted in my footsteps when I saw how close they were and she was smiling at him, I couldn't tell his expression because he had his back turned to me.

I still over looked it until I noticed they were holding hands. "What the hell" I thought. I had a prolonged blink to make sure I wasn't seeing things and now I open my eyes only to see she's kissing him!.

I was disheveled, I took a deep breath and accessed the situation, I can't just jump into conclusions, that was ichigo's role... now that I kind of understood the situation, I moved closer to them.

"What's going on here… I asked"

…

"Byakuya!..."

If I was angry before, her saying my name like that changed my mood.

She pushed ichigo away and got up, ichigo cleaned the side of his lip, I swear I wanted to punch him into the sea.

"Its not what it looks like, he just kissed me out of nowhere…" she said frantically then frowned at Ichigo whom pretended to have not done anything wrong, it was cute seeing her try to make me understand she wasn't kissing someone else.

"You don't have to explain, I think I understand what's going on here." I said trying to ease her tension.

I accessed my stand in the whole situation, I didn't want to batter words with Ichigo because I had no right to, Orihime wasn't mine…yet… "Orihime, let's go" I said.

She looked at me for a while before answering almost incomprehensible "yeah..."

We were about leaving before I heard something like a dog barking but it was just Ichigo, I like the man but he was getting on my nerves

"Who do you think you are, telling her to go with you" he said

I turned to look at him as he continued to talk

"You guys aren't an item, so you can't tell her what to do"

I really don't want to batter words with him so I said nothing.

"Byakuya let's go"

That was surprising, I thought she'd be angry at me for bossing her around.

"Ichigo, thank you for defending me but you also don't have a hold on me, I'm my own woman, and I can do whatever I want, thank you for your company, I'll see you later" she said plainly, it seemed she was really angry but trying to be polite.

"And don't ever do what you did again" she added. I smirked knowing that must have stung him.

She began walking away towards her dark haired friend they hugged and talked for a while then she went on to the exist, "That woman, couldn't she at least tell me she was ready to leave" I'm being left to follow her lead…yet again.

On our way back, I couldn't help but think about a million things I could have told Kurosaki or done to him. When we got to her home, she halted in front of the door looking angry and sad, just a very weird and unreadable expression.

"I'm sorry you had to see that"

"Hm?" I said actually confused

"I mean the kiss with Ichigo, I didn't know he was going to do that."

She looked so cute. I was going closer to her then she said "But I'm also angry at you for telling me to go with you like that!"

I chuckled which seemed to fuel her anger even more.

"What's so funny?"

"Lets go inside, you'll attract people if you keep acting like that" I walked passed her to unlock the door and entered the house

"Why you…" she charged and knocked me to the ground with her on top of me then she was punching my chest, these weren't feather punches, nope, she was really angry. But she wasn't just punching, she was also grinding her ass somewhere, that was the only thing that made me keep my cool, I think she noticed cause she stopped punching and got up from me. I watched her movements as she went to close the front door. She looked embarrassed. She jammed the front door close.

"Well that just makes telling her a little bit more complicated, she isn't in a good mood right now and I'm not ready to be rejected" I thought.

She might just keep acting like this for all I know…what the hell, I'll just tell her.

"Orihime?..." I sounded more timid than I wished to be, was I really scared of her? No I was just scared of her reaction, even if I know she might have a thing for me…it's still scary

"What!?"

"I- I want to tell you something" shit, now I'm sweating.

She calmed down, was looked worried now.

"Is everything okay?" she asked. I guess she was worried because of the way I was acting.

"Yes. I want to let you know that, as far as humans go, you are a wonderful human…well now soul reaper and I'm glad to have met you" shit now it sounds like I'm giving her a eulogy.

"Umm…why do you look nervous, you are freaking me out Byakuya…"

I don't think words will cut it, they've never really been my strong suit. I went over to her, made slight eye contact, cupped her cheeks and gave her the sincerest kiss I could to portray my feelings. I broke the kiss to talk. "I've come to really like you Orihime and I want to be by your side always, I want to care for you and I know you can take care of yourself but I also want to protect you Orihime, I want to go get more ice cream with you, visit new places in the world of the living with you, go back to the soul society with you, that's why I hope you accept me as yours"

Her eyes were really teary and her voice cracked as she spoke "Y-you mean like your girlfriend?"

"That's a more childish way to put it but yeah…. I'd like for you to be my girlfriend"

She didn't speak for almost a minute and I was getting scared now. She finally sniffled then said "I feel the same way Byakuya…I'd love to be yours" she got on tiptoes to kiss me, she was losing strength in her limps so I supported her by lifting her to meet the kiss properly.

"I'm glad we were paired for this mission" She said momentarily breaking the kiss.

Sorry for the wait...Please review, I'd like to hear your guesses on what the next chapter would be like and also if they'd encounter any disruption in their new found relationship. Thanks for reading!

Seriously favorite this story and drop some encouraging reviews, don't just read and pass, a lot of readers like to do that