A/N: Suuuuuuper sorry for the delay in updating my laptop broke down but i got it fixed (and now i'm broke) so thanks to everyone who reviewed in the last chapter i love reading you guy's opinion plus it actually helps me in writing. I love you guys :D

Disclaimer: 漂白剤は、アパタイトの久保の財産であり、私はプロットや文字を所有していません Hell yah google translate.

Chapter 11

Orihime's POV

"Too much space mambo jambo"

"It was amazing! Groot is the best character ever!"

"yeah, Groot was awesome" he agrees.

The movie ended half an hour ago but Kurosaki-kun and I were still talking about it. We were walking out of the mall, hand in hand. He hasn't let me go once since we confessed to each other. We even held hands while watching the movie which made eating popcorn troublesome but I'm not complaining. Every time I glance sideways at Kurosaki-kun beside me I want to burst into a fit of giggles.

It seems almost too good to be true, but when I feel the heat from his hand, I know it isn't one of my fantasies. I don't feel like going home and ending this beautiful day but it's already sunset, I hadn't realized time had flown by so fast. As we walked into the train, I sit down beside Kurosaki-kun and watch the sunset from the window, the fiery red sun was dipping behind the horizon, but the daylight still lingered in the air as though accidentally left behind.

"What are you thinking about?" he asks me.

"You know in a way, I always think of you when I see sunsets" I'm almost reluctant to admit this, for so long I've watch sunsets and thought of him.

"Because of the hair?" he points at his mess of orange hair. I laugh and lean into him, he puts his arm over my shoulder and I rest my head on his shoulder. My heart clenches at how comfortable this feels, how I feel so at home in his arms even though I haven't been in them long enough to call them mine.

"No, I think of you when I see sunsets because the sunset is another day on the horizon. I see that tomorrow is coming and no matter what happened that day you have a fresh start. I don't know that's just so…you" I yawn a little and my eyelids feel heavier. "and of course the hair"

He chuckles and the sound vibrates through me and I can't keep my eyes open anymore. Dozing off on Kurosaki-kun's shoulder is literally a dream come true. His warmth washes over me and even the jolting of the moving train doesn't disturb me. When I open my eyes I see that the train has stopped, we've arrived at our stop.

I rub my eyes and take Ichigo's open hands as we walk home, well to my house. As I walk home I start panicking, I don't want today to end. Maybe I could invite him up for a cup of tea or whatever? Before I can say anything Kurosaki-kun speaks up.

"I don't want today to end" he looks up, not noticing my eyes widen. He just said exactly what I was thinking! Instead of jumping into his arms, I squeeze his hand.

"Me either" he looks into my eyes and smiles, and for the hundredth time today my stomach did backflips when he smiled at me. "Would you like to-" I start saying till someone calls my name.

"Orihime? Is that you?" I turn to the voice and I see that it's Akari-san and Hiro-chan.

"Akari-san? What are you doing here? "I ask a bit confused but then I look down at Hiro-chan holding his mum's hand. "Hey Hiro-chan, how are you?"

"I was just on my way to your place" she says pointing at my apartment in the distance. I wanted to tell her that she should just go home because Kurosaki-kun and I want to hang out some more but I look down at Hiro-chan and I know that there's no way I could let them walk back home, that would just be rude.

"Well walk with us, Kurosaki-kun was just walking me home" I say ruffling Hiro-chan's hair. Hiro-chan let go of his mum's hand and held mine. He was so cute especially when he smiled; his two front teeth were missing.

"nee-chan is this guy bothering you?" he says giving Kurosaki-kun a disapproving glare. I laugh and I'm about to tell Hiro-chan that Kurosaki-kun isn't bothering me at all but then Kurosaki-kun folds his arms and returns Hiro-chan's stare with his own.

"And what would you do if I was?" although he tried to look serious I still saw the corner of his lips twitch. Hiro-chan looked stumped for a bit, not expecting Ichigo to talk back. He looked at me and then his mum.

"Well then you'd be in big trouble" Hiro-chan replies nodding his cute little head of messy brown hair. Ichigo laughs and starts walking again.

Akari-san walks beside Hiro-chan who is still holding my hand and Kurosaki-kun stays beside me, but his hands are in his pockets now. We walk in silence till Hiro-chan says;

"I have to pee"

I don't know why he's looking at me expectantly, I look at Akari-san who just shrugs, "just hold it dear, we're almost there" she says patting his head.

"Okay but I can't hold it for long" he says in a warning tone.

When we reach my apartment I'm about to turn and tell Kurosaki-kun 'good night' or 'see you tomorrow' or 'I love you' but Hiro-chan starts hopping on his little feet. He squeezes my hand and looks at me with huge puppy dog eyes

"I reeeeeeealy can't hold it nee-chan"

"Ok let's go, come on" I turn and run up the stairs leading to my apartment, I open the door and Akari-san takes Hiro-chan to the bathroom. I realize I didn't even get a chance to tell Kurosaki-kun how much I enjoyed today so I run to the balcony hoping to still see him there and I'm relieved to see that Kurosaki-kun is leaning against the apartment building. He's scratching the back of his neck but then he looks up and sees me.

"I had fun today" I say

"Good" he smiles and looks down at his feet again, he looks like he's about to tell me something.

"So…I'll see you tomorrow?" he asks a bit uncertain.

"Of course" I smile down at him, "Good night Kurosaki-kun"

"Good night, Inoue"

He starts walking down the street and before I can think twice about it I yell after him, "I love you!"

He spins around and smiles widely at me, "I love you too Inoue"

My chest feels as light as it did when he first said it and when I go back into the apartment I'm still smiling. Akari-san has come out of the bathroom with Hiro-chan in tow. She smiles at me and sits down on the couch.

"You two looked nice together" she says making herself more comfortable on the couch, Hiro-chan quietly came up to me and held my hand again.

"Did I interrupt something between you two?"

"No! We were just getting back"

"So you two did go on a date! Oh I don't know why but I'm so happy for you I might cry"

"Don't cry mummy!" Hiro-chan shouted beside me.

"Don't worry Hiro, mummy's fine" I said patting his head affectionately.

"Ok I really don't want to meddle or anything, I've done enough of that but listen are you going to talk to Andou? He came by the bakery this morning looking for you; I mean he really wanted to talk to you"

I remember Andou coming to see me this morning before my date and Tatsuki dragging him away.

"What did you tell him?" I'm kind of hoping that Akari-san cleared up the misunderstanding but I know I have to tell him that myself.

"I didn't tell him anything, I didn't want to you know- mess things up again"

I sigh and scratch my brow, I wonder if I should tell Akari-san that Andou-kun was at the mall with Ichigo and I, but then again, I don't even know what he was doing there.

"It's okay Akari-san I'll clear it all up, tomorrow". I'll tell him in the morning when he comes over with Tatsuki-chan to walk us to school I decide.

"Oh well, that's good. I really like that kid, anyways I actually came over here to give these to you" she holds out a bag I hadn't even noticed she was carrying. I take it from her and look inside, there's a blouse in it. I pull it out of the bag and take a closer look, It has my Shun Shun Rikka flower pattern on the front.

"What's this for?" I ask a bit surprised.

"Well that store we went to? Yeah they had a blouse with the exact same pattern and since you seem to really like it, I got it for you"

I start opening my mouth to tell her I really can't accept this but Akari-san stands up and holds her hands up to silence my protest.

"Don't bother, it was almost free. The staff in that store must really like you; they called me 'miss Inoue-san's friend!' I didn't even know they caught your name" I laugh along with Akari-san. I'm really grateful, she's so thoughtful.

"Mummy, I'm tired" says Hiro-chan rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"Don't worry sweetie we're going home now. I'll see you tomorrow at the bakery?"

"Oh wouldn't you like anything before you leave?" I stand up too.

"No thanks, Hiro-chan is gonna fall asleep at the drop of a hat and I have to get him home" She carries Hiro-chan and I walk them to the door.

"Good night, Orihime"

"Good night Akari-san, Good night Hiro-chan"

"Good night nee-chan, is that boy your boyfriend?" he whispers to me.

Hiro-chan says the second before I'm about to close the door, I open my mouth and that's it. I can't think of what to say. "Uhmm… well, good night Hiro-chan don't let the beg bugs bite!" I wave nervously as Akari-san walks away.

Wait is Kurosaki-kun my boyfriend? We've been on a date and he reciprocates my feelings but does that make me his girlfriend? My face starts heating up and I try to stop worrying pointlessly but I know my imagination is about to get carried away like it always does. Worrying about the little details like how do I behave around him now?

Do I greet him like, "Good morning sweetheart?"

Or can I do things like pecking him on the cheek, touching his hair? Or do I just jump right in and kiss him? What if I'm a bad kisser? I have zero experience except for my vivid fantasies and making out with my pillow certainly doesn't count. I don't know why I'm getting so worked up about this; I need something to distract myself. I spot my schoolbag on the floor in a corner and I hastily grab it and pull my books out. Homework! Of course! That's just what I need, I feel like I've been falling behind on my schoolwork recently. This is the perfect opportunity to push ahead.

So I pour myself into all my books, one after the other I complete about two weeks' worth of work, all that's left is English but I realize I can't do much there because of the group assignment, with Kurosaki-kun. Before the thought of working on a project with Kurosaki-kun can get me all hot and bothered I get up and prepare for bed. Tomorrow is either going to be exciting or nerve racking, probably both though.

Despite my trepidation last night, I still woke up for school unusually early. I bathe and dress into my school uniform in a hurry and run out of my apartment but I run back in a few seconds later when my stomach growled indignantly. I have a boatload of left over cake in the fridge from the birthday party so I just eat that.

As nervous as I was yesterday the thought of seeing him today has me all giddy with excitement. I half run and skip out of my apartment but my merry skips are halted and I look at my wristwatch. Tatsuki-chan should be here by now…with Andou-kun. I wait for about five minutes outside my apartment but decide they aren't coming today. I'm a bit relieved to put off the talk with Andou-kun even though I know I have to talk to him sooner or later.

I'm still early when I walk into school and there's hardly anyone here. As I walk into class I'm surprised the classroom isn't empty like I expected it to be. Kurosaki-kun is in his seat with his head resting on his folded arms on his desk; his light breathing tells me he's asleep. As quietly as I can I walk over to him, this situation is starting to look a lot like the one a few days ago on the rooftop. But he jumps when I bump into a desk on my way to his.

He scratches his head, momentarily confused and then yawns loudly. I can't help giggling at how cute he looks, he turns to me and there's a goofy smile on his face. He looks so cute I want to bang my head on a desk repeatedly.

"Inoue? W-what are you doing here?"

"Well this is my class too, why are you sleeping here?"

"Oh uhmm I just came extra early today and so I just dozed off"

"Why?" so far this conversation feels familiar, not in the 'you are now dating' kind of way.

"What?"

"Why did you come so early?"

"Oh that just… No reason, so how did you sleep last night?" he asks me with a smile. I'm about to start fidgeting because the longer this conversation goes on the more I'm tempted to ask what's on my mind, 'Are we dating?'

"I slept fine, just-fine" I laugh nervously taking the empty seat facing him.

"Yeah it shows" he says still smiling. I can't tell if he's still a bit sleepy or if he just complimented me, I decide it's a compliment.

"Come take a walk with me" I say brightly.

"A walk?"

"Yeah, you need to wake up before class"

"Is there enough time?" he asks already standing up.

"Well we have like about thirty minutes before people start coming" he hold his hand out to me and I take it watching the warm smile he directs at me.

So far I feel so comfortable around him, I feel silly for worrying so much last night. My hands aren't sweating even though he's holding them and if that's not a good sign I have no idea what is.

"So why did uh-Akari-san want to see you last night?" he asks me as we walk around the empty school compound.

"Oh she just wanted to drop something off"

"I think that little kid definitely has a crush on you".

"What? Hiro-chan? No way! He's just six!" I laugh at the way he's pouting.

"He may be six but he's definitely not stupid." He laughs with me

"OH so you're jealous?!" I say teasing him.

"Yep"

I'm a bit taken aback that he admitted that so boldly, I can't stop the blush that paints my cheeks. Oh uh there it is, the nerves are back, my palms are about to start sweating, never mind they're already sweating. I swallow the lump in my throat because I'm about to ask him if I'm his girlfriend now. And then Kurosaki-kun spoke the words that sent my heart doing cartwheels all over the place.

"I am our boyfriend now so that's part of my job you see"

I stopped walking and he turned towards me. I can see that he's blushing too and that just makes my heart beat faster.

"So I am your girlfriend?"

"Well yeah since I am your boyfriend right?"

"My boyfriend, I like that" I smile up at him.

"My girlfriend, I like that" he says coming closer to me; our hands are still in each other's. We've walked right to the entrance of the school and the few students coming into the school can see the love struck look in my eyes but I don't care.

Without warning Kurosaki-kun pulls me into his arms and hugs me tightly, there are students approaching in the distance but I can barely hear them over the pounding of my heart.

"You're mine now, agreed?" he says. I feel his breath ruffle through hair and I wrap my arms around his waist. Way too soon, I feel his hold on me loosen slightly and I feel him look up at something behind me. I pull myself from his arms and turn to see what he was looking at.

Andou-kun's retreating back. He's walking away but it's obvious he just saw what happened between Kurosaki-kun and I.

"Wait, did you know he was there?" Kurosaki-kun didn't answer me and he isn't meeting my eyes.

"Did you do that on purpose? Why would you-" the school bell rings interrupting me and instead of standing here in the thickening crowd of students going in I walk towards the direction Andou-kun went.

"Wait! Inoue, where are you going?" he says grabbing my arm. I turn to face him and I'm surprised that I feel anger bubbling in me.

"I have to go fix this"

"No class is starting, you don't have to go after that guy now- or at all" he says his eyes are pleading with me and I'm almost tempted to listen to him but I don't.

"Yes you should go, I'm going after him. I'll see you later" I say as pull my hands away from his.

Ichigo's POV

Fuck it, damn it. She's gone after him. Fuck. I feel so irritated i want to punch something; instead I walk into class and scowl at everyone. I don't even know why I did that, I just spotted him approaching us and he was about to call out to Inoue and I just- I just uggh why don't I ever think first!

I ruined everything, she'd just confirmed what I'd spent all night squirming about, that we were actually dating, that she was my girlfriend and I just fucking blew it. What if she wants to break up with me? What if she thinks I'm a jealous asshole? Scratch that, what if she finds out that I am a jealous asshole?

Newsflash, she just found that out dumbass

Crap that's true. She's probably thinking about how to break up with me right now. The teacher has walked into the classroom but I really don't notice as she takes the attendance.

Or she could be all over that Andou clown right now

'Shut up' I do NOT need more things to be paranoid about, but I can't sit still. I have to catch up with her to apologize or beg her not to dump me. I get up while that teacher is taking attendance and just walk out, I don't have the energy to come up with an excuse and telling sensei that I have to get back the love of my life would not work out like it does in movies.

I run out of the school gates and follow Inoue's riatsu. She isn't far from the school so I see her right up ahead and of course I see that she's talking to Andou-kun. His back is facing me and so I see Inoue's face. She looks concerned and I just want to punch Andou all over again for no good reason at all. Calm down I tell myself, if I get violently jealous like a caveman she'll dump me for sure. But all that goes out the window when I get to them because I bump into Andou with my shoulder.

Inoue who had seen me coming is looking at me disapprovingly and I suddenly feel so childish. Like a kid throwing a tantrum.

"Oh just perfect, he's here" Andou says throwing his hands up.

"Yeah i am" I say not trying to keep the venom out of my voice.

"Well I was leaving anyway so you can do whatever you like" Andou says walking past Inoue.

"Andou-kun wait! I haven't finished explaining-"

"There's nothing left to explain, I get it ok? Just leave me alone. I'll go back to smiling like a fool tomorrow but for now just-just go away" he says. Inoue's face crumples and it looks like she's about to cry. I can't stand there doing nothing so I block his way.

"She said she wants to talk to you, shouldn't you hear her out?" I say, it sounds more like a threat because that's how I meant it.

"No, I don't have to do anything" he says pushing my chest in an attempt to push me out if his way but really that's as much provocation as I could take. I push him back a lot harder than he pushed me and he falls to the floor.

"Kurosaki-kun! Stop! Just stop!" Inoue yells at me. I immediately stop glaring at Andou and look at her. Her arms are folded against her chest and she's obviously furious at me. I've never seen her this angry at anyone. She turns to Andou who is brushing himself off and walking away.

"Andou-kun are you-"

"I'm fine. I'll see you" he says without looking back. Now that he's gone, it's like I finally realize that this could be it. She could dump me right now; I've certainly shown her that I deserve it. Damn, I had a girlfriend for about five minutes till I fucked it up.

"Inoue I-" I'm about to apologize but she holds up her hand and I shut my mouth. She sighs and turns to fully face me, her hands on her hips with a frown on her beautiful face. Is it weird that I think she looks fucking hot angry?

"Just tell me why"

"Why I pushed him? Or…"

"No, why don't you like Andou-kun?"

I'm a bit taken aback by her question. In case she hadn't noticed I'm not a very social guy. I hate lots of people.

"What? I don't like lots of people" I shrug.

"No, Andou-kun specifically. He's my friend and you barely know him but you-just don't like him"

I sigh and sit down on the sidewalk beside the road "I don't dislike him, I just- got jealous"

"Why? He's just a friend like I said, nothing more" she sits beside me

"It's not just that, it's him. He's the kind of guy that people would think someone like you would end up with, he's nice and likeable and he's a really good guy and I can't stand him. I can't stand him because he's just-perfect… for you." I sound like a whiny brat but now that I've said it I want to dig up a hole and hide.

She turns my face towards hers and looks into my eyes. Her eyes are burning and she's just inches away from my face.

"I think you don't understand how much I love you Kurosaki-kun" my breath hitches and I can't look away from her. She's slowly stroking my face with her fingers.

"I love you more than anything in the world; I could love you through anything. I'd love you no matter what and I've loved you for so long I don't even remember a time when I didn't love you"

She bites her lip after saying this and I'm speechless my eyes fall to her soft pink lips, I think about how perfect it would be if we kissed right now. Suddenly it's the only thing I want most in the world right now, so I move closer to press my lips against hers but the honking of a passing car makes us jump apart. I'd forgotten we were sitting on the sidewalk of the road. My heart is racing because of Inoue's confession, it feels more intense than yesterday and I feel like I have to say something too.

But all I can think about is "I'm sorry"

She smiles at me and holds my hand. Her smile reassures me that she isn't pissed of anymore.

"It's okay, besides I'm not the one you have to apologize to"

"You want me to apologize to him?" I stand up pulling her up with me.

"Yes" she says walking beside me. She has a silent pleading look on her face that can put all puppies to shame.

"But I can't stand him" I say

"Okay" she shrugs her shoulder and keeps walking in the direction of the school

"No, I might punch him if I see him again"

"Okay then"

"Seriously I don't want to apologize to him"

"Fine"

"Uggh fine! I'll apologize later " she beams at me and skips a little.

A/N: So there it is! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, leave me a review and let me know what you think. till next time.