Author's Notes: Thank you to my friend Rain and Thunder for her wonder ideas.

Cold Days

Orihime woke feeling somewhat refreshed. After waking to Gin being concerned about her, she no longer had anymore bad dreams. In an odd sense, she felt relieved Gin was there for her. The only thing she felt really weird was the fact she could feel his body up against hers and his arm was around her, holding her to him. She could hear his quiet breathing, indicating he was still sound asleep. Her own heart began to beat a little faster.

She was afraid to move in case she woke him but she did feel the need to go to the bathroom. But with his arm around her, snuggled up to her, she felt she couldn't move. But the need for the bathroom was winning out. Blushing she reached over to grab Gin's hand to pull it off her body when it suddenly moved.

Not sure if she should be instantly relieved, she moved away from his warm body and made her way to the bathroom. There was also something else she was blushing about. The moment his arm moved she felt something pressing up against the back of her leg. She knew what it was, thanks to her previous sex ed classes when she was younger. But she couldn't figure out why Gin had produced it in the first place.

Feeling the bed shift, Gin slowly opened his eyes, releasing a yawn in the process. He felt the need to use the bathroom as well, but as his eyes opened, he looked to find no Orihime and assumed she had just gotten up and now was occupying the bathroom. Now he had to wait and the best way to wait was to just lie there. He knew the laws of gravity very well. He knew the moment he stood he would need to go and fast.

Soon Orihime exited the bathroom and stepped back into her room. "Oh gosh!" she squeaked.

"What's wrong?" Gin asked.

Orihime turned to the man. "It's cold out there! It's never been that cold in there before."

He sat up, but remained on the futon. "You could always turn the heat up."

"But I can't afford the heat if it's any higher."

"Orihime," he began, grinning once again. "You don't have to always rely on yourself now. I am now working. I can help pay for the heating cost."

Orihime bit her lip as she thought over his words. His pay would be able to help and she was beginning to get low on food with him being there and she was soon going to run out before her monthly pay comes in. "I suppose it couldn't hurt," she replied finally.

He nodded. "While I go to the bathroom, why don't you then go turn up the heat? We need to get ready for school too."

She gasped and looked at her clock. Going over to it, she flicked on the radio. She then grinned when the radio announcer began talking about the weather. Gin looked over the clock, confused. He had never seen such a device like that before.

"Due to extremely cold temperatures, we are urging people to remain home if they do not need to go anywhere. Also with the cold temperatures caused Karakura High School's water to freeze. Due to the unforeseen problem, the school has been closed for the day."

"Yay!" Orihime smiled. "No school!"

Gin blinked. "And what does one do when there's no classes?"

Orihime gawked at the man. "Well, usually whatever we do on our days off."

"But they're saying for people to remain inside," he stated. "That means we shouldn't go out."

"Yeah, it's too cold," she agreed. "Guess we'll just have to do something inside."

He nodded. "Well like I said you turn the heat up higher and I'll cover the cost when I get paid. In the meantime, I need use the bathroom." He stood from the futon and passed her on his way to the bathroom.

Shrugging, she glanced at the bed and then blushed brightly. She was still quite embarrassed about sharing her bed with Gin. She hoped that it wouldn't happen again. Turning on the heat probably would prevent that. With a sigh, she turned away and made her way to the living room, going straight over to the thermostat and turned up the heat in the living room. Though until the room got warmer, the two probably wouldn't want to stick around in the room. That meant they would have to hang out in her room.

"Oh I know a hot pot." Orihime suddenly suggested.

"A hot pot?" Gin asked curiously, coming up behind her after leaving the bathroom.

Orihime jumped. "Oh it's just a dish I once had with Tatsuki and her family. You put a bunch of ingredients into a huge pot and it's shared between many people."

"But won't it just be the two of us?" Gin wondered.

"Well I just won't use as much." Orihime seemed so happy with the idea.

Gin didn't have the heart to refuse. The idea of making it did sound like an interesting idea.

"I'll go in the kitchen and see what I have to put in." She quickly turned away and went to the kitchen where it was a little warmer and began to search around her cupboards and fridge.

Making sure she grabbed some mushrooms, package of beef chucks and a few more things, she set them on the counter. Under the sink, she found a smaller pot to cook the ingredients in, and a small personal burner to cook the hot pot at the table between Gin and herself.

Gin stepped into the kitchen. "You know we should first think about breakfast before using up the food to make this 'hotpot'."

She stopped pulling out the food to make the hotpot and looked at him. "Oh yeah, I guess you're right. We should have breakfast first." She moved back to the fridge to see if there were any eggs. Once finding some, she turned back in his direction. "Why don't you cook us up some eggs?" she suggested.

He grinned, eyes into slits. "I guess I could do that."

She moved away from the fridge, allowing him to get the eggs before grabbing a frying pan and began making the two breakfast. As he was heating the pan, Orihime's phone rang. Orihime was just finishing on getting the ingredients out to make the hotpot.

Reaching for the phone, Orihime gave her usual greeting to whoever was on the other end. To her surprise it was Ichigo.

"What the hell is that bastard up to?"

"Ichigo, I wish you would stop being so angry," she answered.

"I want to make sure he doesn't hurt you."

Orihime sighed. "Gin is in the middle of making us breakfast while I start working on what we'll have for supper. He's not going to hurt me."

"I don't trust the bastard. I hate him staying there."

Gin came up behind Orihime. "Would you like me to talk to him?" he offered.

Orihime slightly turned in his direction and shook her head. She was scared Ichigo would flip out more in hearing his voice over the phone. "Well he's staying here and that's that, at least until he can afford his own place. I don't like seeing people out in the cold."

She could hear a growl on the other end. "I'll be keeping my eyes on him."

"You don't need to do that. He can't do anything to me. He has no spirit energy. All he wants to do is survive and get his own place."

"Are you crazy? He could try and stab you in the night or something!"

Orihime felt hurt by his words. "He won't hurt me. I promise. Why would he? I saved his life."

"You just don't get it. Can you at least promise me something? Be careful around him."

"Yeah, sure. I'll be careful. Anyway Ichigo. I have to go, I need to tend to the food."

She heard a frustrated sigh. "Take care Orihime and stay warm."

"I will. Thank you for calling Ichigo. Bye." She didn't wait for Ichigo to reply back before she hung up the phone and took several quivering breaths.

"He is only just concerned about you," Gin responded. He had nearly heard everything that was said on Ichigo's end. "If I were in his position, I probably would be just as concerned. It is going to take a long time for others to trust me."

She turned to him. "But you're not responsible for me being in Heuco Mundo. You're not even fully responsible for your actions either. Ok, yeah you could have broken free any time but you said so yourself, you were trying to protect Rangiku."

"I was," he answered. "There was something stolen from her and I wanted to get it back but never found the right time to break the control and stop Aizen and then finally…" he lowered his head in slight shame. "I failed in the end. Aizen was just too strong."

Orihime suddenly grasped Gin's hand in hers holding it tightly to her. "No, never tell yourself that Gin. I know you did everything you thought you could, and if there was anything you could have done differently, I'm sure you would have." Her eyes gleamed seriously, no sign of her typical goofiness.

His head slightly lifted up, looking her square in the eyes, no squint. He was truly surprised by her words. He remembered she actually pretended to be goofy to protect herself from being hurt after her brother's death and now this was one of those times he was actually seeing her true colors.

Giving her a genuine smile, he squeezed her hand. "You are truly one of a kind. Ichigo doesn't trust me because I made him doubt himself during our last battle together."

"Did you mean to do it?" she asked suddenly. "Did you mean to make Ichigo break his concentration?"

He shook his head. "No. But, Aizen had to think he was winning."

"Gin, you don't have to justify your actions to me. I saw a lot in Heuco Mundo. You yourself told me you were trying to protect Rangiku. Not in so many words mind you."

He gave her a grin. "Thank you." He turned towards the frying, which was off the burner. "I suppose I should get back to our breakfast."

She giggled. "Yeah and I need to continue doing what I started for supper tonight."

He shook his head. "It's not going to take all day to make such a dish. Why don't you help me with breakfast and we'll worry about dinner later. You can easily set the food to the side and we'll work on it together."

She bit her lip for a moment and reluctantly agreed. She then began to help him make breakfast.

By the time breakfast was ready, Gin had grabbed the low table and took it to Orihime's bedroom. It was still too cold in the living room to eat. At first Orihime found it was very strange in eating in her room with a man, but for some reason after they started eating, the awkwardness slowly faded. By the end of it, she was completely comfortable with him in her room.

Not feeling like getting dressed, Orihime had made sure to put a button up sweater as she made her way back into the kitchen with her dirty dishes. Gin was quick to follow with his own. Together the two cleaned up the breakfast dishes and straightened up the kitchen for when the time came to start making the hotpot.

Drying her hands, from washing the dishes, as he dried the dishes, she looked to Gin. "I'm going to see if it's warmer in the living room."

He gave her a nod as she left the room to see if the living room was warm enough. He soon joined her and gave a breath of relief.

"Well it does seem to be warmer in here now," he remarked.

"Yeah. I guess we can take the table out of the bedroom then," she answered.

Gin thumbed behind him, showing her the table was already where it normally rested. "Already done. I took the liberty of doing it while you were washing some of the dishes and I was waiting to dry them."

"Thank you, Gin," she smiled. She took a seat on the couch. "I hope these cold temperatures don't last long. The more time we miss of school, we'll have to make up for it when summer comes."

"Life does seem to throw tough choices and lots of unfairness," he responded, taking a seat beside her. "I guess now with more heat in here, I won't have an excuse to sleep with you again."

She brightly blushed, turning her head. She knew what he meant but the way the tone of his voice sounded, she could hear his forever teasing tone and had a pretty good idea what sort of implications his words could mean. She wasn't that dumb when it came to sex.

He saw her blush but remained quiet. He was quite surprised how 'pure' she really was. He had a feeling she had never done anything with a boy before, making her a virgin on everything. Well not everything anymore… she did have her first night with a man in her bed, just nothing sexual.

"Well…ummm…" she tried, tripping over her tongue. "I guess I'll go and get your blankets then, so you can have them for tonight." She jumped from the couch and swiftly proceeded to her room to get the extra blankets.

/

When the time came for supper to prepare, the two worked together on getting the hotpot ready. There were things to chop up and meat to cook. Gin began to chop up what needed to be and Orihime worked on cooking what was needed first. She taken what was needed to the living room to prepare, giving Gin room in the kitchen. It had taken Orihime a bit to get over her embarrassment of Gin's words about sleeping with her, but when she did, she was able to get back to her cheery self.

"Well the beef chunks are already seasoned and cooked." Orihime put in happily, as she started the base for the hot pot, mixing together the other ingredients along with a cup of soy sauce, some apple juice, half a cup of sugar and a dash of vinegar. Most of those ingredients were not needed, but Orihime thought they would add more flavor to the dish. "Gin can you bring in the vegetables?"

While she waited, she adjusted the heat until the concoction was almost to a rolling boil, then when Gin brought in the supplies she slowly added them into the pot, arranging the beef furthest away from everything else.

Gin made a strange face. "Well, that's an interesting smell."

"Isn't it… ow!" while peeling a star onto the caps of one of the mushrooms she had nicked her finger, a drop of blood swelling to the surface.

Gin looked up to her sudden yell. Seeing the blood reaching the surface, he immediately was working on autopilot. "Here." Gin abruptly took her hand, placing her nicked finger into his mouth almost without thinking. He held the finger in his mouth for several seconds, making sure the blood was gone. Orihime turned bright red, heart beating like mad from the action.

"G-Gin…" she stuttered.

His eyes lifted to her face before removing her finger from his mouth. "You'll get an infection."

Her beating heart was nearly in her ears, as she couldn't shake the burning sensation in her cheeks. "Gin, that's not…well I mean you…could have just got…me a bandaid."

His hand remained holding hers as he continued to stare at her. "But I had to be sure no blood dropped onto the food. If it does, then you'd have to throw it out." His other hand went to her hand holding the knife, which was nearly sliding out of her hand from her near heart attack in having her finger in his mouth and easily 'disarmed' her. He tossed the knife into the wall behind him. "You'll need to get a clean one now."

Orihime blinked as she watched the knife sail through the air, embedding itself into the wall near her closet. The knife was easily wedged into the wall almost near to the handle. "Whoa!" she blurted.

He blinked and turned towards the knife. His eyes went wide. "Well, that wasn't supposed to happen." He could clearly see how far it was wedged into the wall. It was pretty deep. "Didn't think I could throw that good still."

Both were quite shocked on where the knife was embedded. There on the wall was a photo, which was in good shape. Directly smack center of the image, was the knife.

"But you hit Ichigo!" she squeaked.

"I suppose I did," he answered, rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry about that. I guess I don't know my own strength now that I have no spiritual pressure." He turned back to Orihime, remembering he was still holding her wounded finger. "Perhaps you should go and deal with this."

She looked at their hands and blushed once again. She slowly moved her hand out of his and stepped back. "Yeah…" she gave a nervous giggle. "I will do that."

Once their fingers were no longer touching, she turned and made her way to the bathroom while he went and worked the knife out of the photo. He gave a shrug when he looked at he image, seeing the now hole. "Maybe he will never notice." He turned away, taking the knife to the kitchen and retrieved a clean one.

She soon exited the bathroom with a bandaid on her finger as Gin finished cutting up the mushrooms in the way he saw here doing it.

"Oh, you finished the mushrooms," she pointed out.

He grinned at her. "Well I didn't want you to hurt yourself again. Again, sorry for Ichigo's picture. I did take the knife out of the wall and put it with the dirty dishes."

"Oh…" She wasn't sure what to say. She walked over to the window near her front door, taking a look outside. It was almost impossible for her to see outside with the frost on the outside of the windows. From what she could see outside, it appeared the winds were picking up.

She turned away and made her way to the small table now in the middle of the living room floor. "The winds have started picking up."

"Well, let's hope the power doesn't go out," he remarked. "I did do some studying on the World of the Living some time ago before leaving the Soul Society and learnt quite a lot about the World of the Living including how strange their weather patterns can get."

"That's because of global warming," she answered. "Our planet's ozone layer has a hole. All around the world climates are changing."

"Not good," he remarked.

She shook her head. "No…"

She stepped over to the pot where the food was now beginning to cook. "This is going to be good."

"Yes, I have to agree," he replied. "It's going to take what? Something like 15 minutes to cook?"

"Yeah and then we use our chopsticks to each from the pot," she grinned.

"I have an idea then. Why don't you get our dishes set up and I'll go and take a quick shower?"

"Ok." The two then stood and went their separate ways. Gin to the bathroom and Orihime to the kitchen long enough to get their dishes and bring them to the living room.

At the appointed time the meal was ready, Gin stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his neck and he was wearing a clean pair of pajama bottoms. Water dripped down his freshly washed hair, dripping down his nicely toned chest and down to his hips, water shimmering.

"Oh good. You're just in…" she looked up and gasped, heart suddenly beating a mile a minute. "…Time…" she breathed, chopsticks falling to the table. She once again felt her cheeks flame up as he walked towards her, grinning, eyes into his usual very narrow slits.

"That's good to know," he stated. He could see from his appearance, he literally caught her off guard. "Is something the matter? You're completely all flushed."

Orihime brought both hands to her face, covering her flaring cheeks. "Ummm… it's just…"

"What?" he questioned. He knew why she was blushing, but he so had to continue. "Is there something on my face? There shouldn't be as I just got out of the shower."

"No…" she rushed out. "It's just…well…" she turned her head away as he approached the table and took a seat.

"Just what?"

"I've never seen a man's chest before," she admitted very quietly. "Yes, I've seen Ichigo but that was during a battle."

He looked down at himself. "Oh. Would you like me to put a shirt on then?"

"No! I mean yes! I mean…" she tripped over her tongue once again. "… It's up to you…" she whispered.

"Well in that case…" he paused to take the towel and finished drying the ends of his hair so no more water would drip down his body. "I'm too hungry right now to go and put on a shirt."

He picked up his chopsticks, reaching over to grab one of the pieces of food in the pot when suddenly the lights flickered and then the room went completely black.

"Oh no!" Orihime gasped.

"Well this is a let down." In his mind, he was thinking how much he was enjoying seeing Orihime's flustered face but now he couldn't see anything.

"It's ok," she called out. "I'll get some candles. I know where the flashlight is." She carefully stood from the table, not wanting to hit it since the hotpot was in the middle of it.

She took a few steps away from the table before turning to head in the direction where she saw the flashlight last. As she did so her foot slightly connected with a bookshelf. "Ow!" she squeaked.

"Orihime?!" Gin gasped, quick to his feet.

"It's ok," she said. "I just hit a bookshelf I think."

He carefully made his way over to where he heard her voice. "Maybe you should let me help you."

"No, it's ok. I can manage. The power has gone out before." She tried to continue making her way towards where the flashlight was, but then felt something touch her hand. She had no idea Gin was close by trying to reach out to her in the dark. She released a gasp, losing her footing.

Gin felt his fingers brush her hand and he knew he wasn't far. She was just at arms length now, well his arms length. "I think you should…"

He never had a chance to finish when she suddenly tripped forward, falling into his chest. A quiet 'oof' released from her lips. His arms were quick to grasp her shoulders, preventing her from falling to the floor.

"Be careful," he stated, almost as if that was what he meant to say in the beginning. He felt her hands touching his skin for the moment, teasing her was no longer on his mind.

For a few seconds, Orihime wasn't sure what just happened but then her fingers slid upward and her entire body stiffened. Her fingers were against skin, but that wasn't the only thing she noticed. The skin was wet from water drips coming from Gin's hair.

Gin on the other hand was now biting his lip. Feeling her fingers slide up his chest was instantly making him think inappropriate things. He now had to fight down his body to remain in self-control. For years he was able to manage to keep his arousals down, but with Orihime around him, he seemed to have a slight more difficult time.

"I'm sorry…" she rushed out.

"It's ok," he said a little too hoarsely. "How much further is it to the flashlight?"

She blushed, hearing his voice so close to her ear. "It's in a drawer just past the bookshelf."

Judging by the distance he was to her and from probably where he was to the bookshelf, he figured he was only a few feet away from this drawer. He remembered seeing a drawer earlier beside the bookshelf.

"Let me get it," he began, still fighting his own hormones. "I'm closer."

"But…"

"Orihime, you can't even properly stand right now."

She slid her feet forward, lifting her hands from his chest. His hands remained on her shoulders as he felt instant relief her hands were no longer on his chest. Perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to leave the bathroom shirtless. And now with the power out, the living room would soon get cold again.

Removing his hands from her shoulders, he took one of her hands and then took the few remaining feet to the drawer and felt around until finding a large object. Picking it up, he turned on the light. "Ah, that's better."

Orihime looked at his bare chest and felt her cheeks burn more. How could she handle this? Shaking her thoughts, she turned away to look at him in the face. "I have candles stored in the freezer."

He blinked, turning to look at her. "Freezer? Why there?"

"It helps to make the candles last longer," she answered.

"That's a new one," he remarked. He then made his way to the kitchen, still holding Orihime's hand. He didn't want to let her go in case she was to hit something else. He also didn't want her to fall into his chest or he probably would not be able to hold back his self-control.

"Gin…" she gasped as she was pulled into the kitchen.

"I don't want you to fall again," he admitted.

Once in the kitchen he went to the freezer and searched for the candles. When he found them, Orihime was finally able to pull her hand free and went to a drawer and pulled out some candle holders. Just as he was about to protest, he stopped when she pulled out the holders. The two then went back into the living room and set the candles up before finding something to light them.

With small candle light around their meal, giving a dim golden glow, the two took their positions on either side of the table and looked at each other for a moment. Orihime produced another blush as she could still see his chest. But with the candles, it was hard to see her flushed cheeks.

"We best better eat before our food gets cold and the room too," he suggested.

"Oh right!" she squeaked. She picked up her fallen chopsticks from when Gin first exited the bathroom and began to pick out some food to eat from the hotpot. At the same time Gin did the same.

As the two quietly ate, Gin's mind was racing with many things, all not good. First he was still fighting down his slight erection. But at the same time, he knew she was blushing and he felt his amusement from embarrassing her the first time was returning. His love for teasing people was very strong. Often he used to make people shiver in fright but with Orihime, he was enjoying in making her shiver in a new manner.

However his main thoughts were dealing with matters he hadn't done in some time and last did with Rangiku a few years ago. But they were not something he would want to do with Orihime, though his thoughts had her in them. Orihime was too nice, too pure, and too gentle to be treated in that form of manner. Not to mention he actually protected her in Heuco Mundo from some of the Espadas who wanted to treat Orihime in a not so nice friendly way.

Orihime too had conflicting thoughts. But her thoughts were not so 'dirty'. She was conflicted with her reactions to Gin. Why was she feeling the way she was? Her heart was for Ichigo. Even though he broke her heart, she felt perhaps he was only saying that because of his situation. Perhaps with Ichigo paying more attention again, she could approach him and get him to tell her the truth. But then why was her dream last night had her calling out Gin's name?

In her dream, she remembered trying to reach out for Gin, not Ichigo. It was very strange. And then waking this morning, snuggled into the man's side. Not to mention he put her finger into his mouth without thinking and even exited the bathroom just before the power went out due to high winds, shirtless. She never once had her heart flutter so much when she saw Ichigo's bare chest. She just couldn't understand it.

By the time the two had their fill of supper, the living room began to lose its warmth. Gin shivered and was quick to get up, going to his bag of clothes and pulled out a matching pajama shirt, putting it on.

"It's starting to cool down in here," he replied, finally breaking the silence.

"Yes," she answered. "What shall we do?"

"There's only one thing we can do," he sighed. "We'll have to put on warmer clothing and hope for the best."

"And what if the power doesn't come back on when we go to bed?" she asked, fearing the answer.

He turned to her, taking a seat back at the table. "Then we may have to cuddle up together again. It's the only way to stay properly warm and I'm sure you know that. You've already told me you're not as naïve as you pretend to be."

"Yes… but…"

He reached over, grabbing her hand. From the chill now in the living room, he finally was able to cool himself down and get his self-control straight. "Right now, what's important is trying to deal with how cold this apartment is going to get if the power doesn't come back on."

She blushed again, like nearly the tenth time that day. "Yes, I suppose you're right. Glad to know my alarm clock has a battery in it so in the morning, the alarm will go off at proper time so we can get ready for school." The thought never left her mind how Gin was currently now her teacher.

"That's good to know, wouldn't want to wake up late for school and have everyone learn I'm staying with you. That would be bad news. And we can't let anyone know I'm not actually human."

She released a gasp. She never thought of it like that before. He wasn't human and she knew this. He was a Soul from another dimension called the Soul Society. No one in the eyes of the law would be able to comprehend that. "No, you're not human. You're not even from this world."

"Exactly my point," he agreed. "We can't let others know who I really am, except for those who already know, like your friends who saw me with Aizen that day when Karakura Town was in the Soul Society."

"Tatsuki, Keigo, Mizuiro and Chizuru."

"What about that weird guy with the strange hair who kept blabbing off about protecting others from spirits?"

She blinked before realizing who he meant. "Oh you mean Don Kanonji. He's not really a friend. He's a TV celebrity who helps spirits crossover to the other side. I would presume they would go to the Soul Society. But then again I don't know."

"Exorcism of spirits doesn't send them to the Soul Society," Gin replied. "If anything he probably turned them all into Hollows, making more work for Ichigo or whoever was here at the time to protect this town."

"Oh no!" Orihime gasped. "That's terrible!"

He shrugged. "Can't cry over matters that already happened. All we can do now is move on and try to prevent it from happening more."

She sighed knowing he was right. For another couple hours the two sat around and talked in the dark until it began to get too cold in the living room. The two then, much to her embarrassment and his amusement, made their way to her bedroom and attempted to try and get some sleep since the power was still out. They in turned, once again, shared her futon to try and stay warm.

Sometime during the night the power was restored and heat began to pour back into the apartment, allowing the two to sleep more comfortably though Orihime did remain cuddled into his side like the night before and once again never had any bad dreams like she did the night before, before she crawled in her bed.

Revised July 26, 2016