Ishida was in a state of panic. Her clothes? What clothes? The blissful oblivion of sleep was mercilessly yanked away. Oh dear kami, shinigami or whoever existed out there... what was he going to say? Her eyes were probing him, willing him awake and to answer her. She was patient in her silence, but her eyes were burning into him. His mind was racing to find some way to sidestep the question. Or distract her, perhaps? He swallowed, willing his eyes from their danegerous descent towards her creamy shoulders. Not a scar. No place on her marred. His hand tightened into the bed sheets and he coughed into the other one thoughtfully, avoiding her gaze.

"I..." Ishida began. Okay, he had a few seconds to think of something else to follow that.

"...oh," She said, her lips shaping the most beautiful and alluring 'o' he had ever seen. He had to look away again. What was she thinking? "I guess you found the moth holes, huh? Well, take as long as you wish to fix them up." There was a smirk on her face. Ishida's brain stopped functioning. Did Inoue ever smirk? Was she even able to? He smirked, Ichigo smirked, Tatsuki smirked but... why was she smirking? Confusion was Ishida. Well, one thing was cleared up. He was apparently fixing her clothes.

"... is it alright to wear the other dresses until I'm done?" Ishida asked, remembering he at least had handicraft club items and her school uniform. Inoue pouted, thinking it over with the utmost importance. He felt his heart speed up, would she ask any questions? Did he seem different than the imagined Ishida-kun?

"Alright," She responded, the smirk still there. There was a warmth spreading through his limbs as he looked at her, and he was engulfed in the moment. Before he'd realized what was going on, she was sitting on the bed and he'd pulled his legs up to give her room.He became vaguely aware then that he had pulled her to sit there. He didn't remember doing it though. She was unfazed, the smirk replaced by a rather tender look. He held her hand to his face, and kissed it in a rather princely manner before resting his cheek against it. This hand... such a warm hand. He was contented at that moment, and didn't want to lose it. Ishida Uryuu had yet to remember a moment more warm than this. No, wait... yes, there had been a time. Long ago... he decided not to think on it.

He looked up in surprise as Inoue slowly withdrew her hand and stood. He was numbed with fear. What had he done? Was she leaving? Why? Should he apologize? Inoue giggled then, and his confusion had yet to dispell.

"Now don't look at me like that, Uryuu. I'm just going to change into some night clothes is all. I'm going to have to borrow some of your clothes, I hope that's alright." Shocked into a blank expression that was more child-like than Ishida would have liked to admit, he nodded dumbly. That look on her face, an understanding? She placed a kiss on his forehead, gentle like a drop of rain, and he acquired a very red/blank expression.

He looked quickly away when she dropped the towel, taking a rather strong grip on his leg to keep his eyes and thoughts averted. He had seen something he shouldn't have. He realized it wasn't much to other people, but to Ishida, anything naked of her was enough to set him into his bright red state. Even her hands seemed sacred, untouchable relics. So one flash of her smooth shoulders and upper back, was an intimacy that Ishida was unable to comprehend. He nearly slapped himself. He was a gentleman! A gentleman, and he would stick to it!

She crawled into the other side of the bed, and leaned her head on his shoulder gently. He looked over, taking in her attire, a bad habit he had suddenly picked up. Inoue Orihime was a bad influence. But even as he thought it, he realized the irony of how just so short a time ago the word 'good' had felt as though it was tearing him apart inside and now 'bad' felt so warm and comfortable. He nearly sighed. If he was alive into the second week, he was sure his personality would be twisted.

She was wearing his pyjama pants, dark blue in all their glory and one of his plain undershirts required with the school uniform. He mentally noted that only Orihime could make something so mundane look good. Of course, it might have been their difference in size that did it. The pants weren't accustomed to her generous hips and the shirt? Well, he wondered how it was managing to hold her in it. He was beginning to admire the courage and determination of the material that dared to try and contain Inoue Orihime's infamous assets.

Scooting under the blankets and pulling him to lie down, she still faced him. He was tired again. It had been such a long day. Why did it feel like he'd been fighting a menos grande? She was soft and gentle, much more so than the cursed pillow which he only had one of. She had somehow coaxed him to coming up just short of her in the bed, which was odd, but not any more odd than a cat that didn't exist. She pulled him close, and he understood why she'd done it. He was in the safe, chaste security of her neck and she was holding him as he imagined she might an upset child. Her arm hung loosely over his shoulders.

"I won't cause you any trouble tomorrow to make you tired, okay Uryuu? Let's do our best." Ishida barely heard it, but it registered. He was already floating off, and he couldn't believe it. He'd slept alone for a long time, even lived alone. He didn't understand why he was falling asleep with her as though he'd done it all his life. He was at ease, completely at ease.

"You're not... trouble..." He managed to say, though mangled by his half sleeping lips. He'd wanted to finish, but she'd gone and started to softly stroke his hair and it didn't exactly keep him awake. He only came to wonder later whether she'd meant the English test the next day when she had said: 'Let's do our best', and realized that perhaps understanding Orihime wasn't so difficult afterall. He had a theory. In order to understand her, one had to realize that she might be referring to some muddled conversation or snippet of television or radio and bringing it into whatever moment of time she thought of it and it made her speech a little cut-and-paste. So it was only a half hearted goal at that moment that he decided. One day, he wanted to be the only one who understood what she was saying. Of course, it also could have been the exhaustion talking.

(A/N)

Hi guys... please don't kill me! I'm sorry, it was a really bad two weeks that just went by. But true to her promise, I was prodded with the compassion of rusty sporks from all of you. I feel so needed... and speaking of needed, I'm glad I have my tetanus shot. If that's even how you spell it. Oh well.

Disclaimer: I do not own Ichigo, Ishida kissing Inoue's hand, Inoue sleeping in Ishida's bed or the apartment of Ishihime fantasy smut (as well as fluff).

LadyAshari: Thanks for your support! Mucho love to my beta reader! And I hope the Renji/Hime ideas are spilling forth like fresh rosemary into my spaghetti sauce. Well, I don't think you can put ideas into sauce but... I'm sure it would taste great.

SangoHikari: Well, it's hard to be ready for Orihime in a towel but now she's clothed! I thought I owed you guys a peaceful-ish chapter ending after the last one. And who doesn't love fluff?

HaineAsakura: Of course he is! Our little Ishida-boy can handle it... well, maybe not, but still... he was just too tired tonight. But tomorrow... Bwahahahaha!

YachiruGaSukidesu: You know, that was the hardest part to write for this chapter. I honestly didn't know how to get him out of this problem. Well, it came to me in a flash of inspiration when the stars were out and-

Ishida: I suggested it.

Inoue: But still, do you think that your clothes would actually fit me though? You're really thin, Ishida-kun! I'm jealous!

Ishida: Well, actually, you're pretty thin too. It's just that women naturally need larger hips than men and other things for having children. That's why the waist measurement isn't where people commonly think of as the "waist".

Inoue: ... so... how many kids do you think I can fit in my hips? -Wait. Maybe we should measure with ice cream! I mean, they're always saying how it goes straight to your hips and...

Ishida: ... ice cream... and Inoue?

Thunk! ... Right, so Kita is going to go get the smelling salts again now. Though it was his own fault this time.

HawkeyeChuui: Yeah, it's only a matter of time before his brain runs out of the required blood and he dies. Well, maybe not dies, but perhaps some brain damage. o.O

RedBloodedTalisman: Yay! You're back! I thought I'd lost you, lol.

Inulover4eva: Actually, I like your idea. They're going to school tomorrow. Scary, I know. I keep wondering about Tatsuki's response and how long Ishida can run and hide with Inoue attached to his leg. Think ball and chain. XD

jo-chan: ... hey, I didn't know you could expire that way! But since it is tomato red, he could go bad. o.O

fannychan44: Tee hee! Sorry about the delay! Enjoy the smirking Inoue! Believe it or not, it is leading up to something.

Winterflower: Yeah, Ishida would come after us if he could only stop fainting or turning into embarrassment goo, OR stealing Inoue away into a cottage in the woods somewhere. I don't know where that came from. o.o

SatanHat: Tee hee! Bet you got distracted from that tiny fact, eh? It makes me happy, because it was supposed to be surprising and you're surprised! XD