Ishida had made a careless mistake. He only realized this great truth when he awoke in his bed, alone. At first he hadn't really noticed the difference. He always slept alone. What had he thought was going to be different? He lived alone, he reminded himself. Something was trying to alert him to itself in his mind, but just as he mentally reached out for it, it was gone.

So he slowly slumped his way into the bathroom and set about getting ready. And half way through brushing his teeth, two horrible things dawned on him. First and most important, there was something burning. He could smell it. When he rushed into his kitchen, panic written across his face in the worry he'd left on the stove- there she was. Standing there, with his pyjama top unbuttoned two down. Or rather, the buttons were missing. Somehow, he'd guessed they wouldn't hold through the whole night. He was mentally going through the different ways he could fix them without making them look different from the original stitching when his analytical gaze reached a patch of skin that made his thoughts silent.

"Oh, Uryuu, you're awake. I't so odd of you to sleep in, I guess you were really tired!" She said, her hair neatly brushed and his pants replaced by the school uniform skirt. Somehow seeing her burning food while only half dressed in his kitchen seemed like a natural place for Inoue Orihime to be.

"Ah... Inoue... what exactly are you making?" He asked, though he wondered if he even wanted to know.

"Oh... I thought you might like some tempura," She said cheerfully. He stared at her, looking for something interesting to look at other than his poor shirt.He silently begged it to keep fighting before she was half naked in his kitchen.

"Ah... that was very... thoughtful... of you," He said, wondering how to phrase his feelings without hurting her feelings. He wasn't sure there was a way. "Is it for lunch?" She looked at him as though he'd just disclosed the secret to space travel, and he became restless when nothing came out of her mouth to explain it for many a nerve-wracking moment. He wanted to know exactly what was running about in that odd mind of her's.

"I've already finished making our bento..."She said, a little bashfully. Ishida wondered at this more than anything else. No, not the horrifying thought of lunch today, but that she was bashful. It was timid. She was only this timid around... Ishida stepped forward and placed a kiss on her forehead to ease away the feelings growing throughout his chest at such observations.

"Thank you... Orihime," He said, turning bright colours despite himself. She seemed to blush in return, some strange facial language going back and forth between them. And once that theory had finished in his mind, he relaized his very own thoughts were becoming affected by this bubbly creature. As one of her hands moved up to his shoulder to turn him around to go finish brushing his teeth, he wondered if perhaps he was affecting her as well. After all, he was more bashful generally than she was. Her face seemed to be collecting his own expressions and sending them back at him.

As they started out the door, Ishida looked at his watch to distract himself while they passed "Chiyoko" (one of Inoue's favourites of the trees). The fried shrimp wasn't settling too kindly in his stomach, seeing as they were more breaded than shrimp. He guessed that perhaps she thought she made the stuff often but did not and her replaced memories couldn't make up for lack of experience in culinary skill. He'd been tempted to peek at his bento to see what she had made, but decided he wasn't sure his stomach could take the imagery quite yet. He'd never been very good with things that were deep fried.

"Orihime-chan!" Tatsuki raced up to them as they entered the school grounds. She looked a little more surprised than was necessary.

"Ohayo, Tatsuki-chan!" She said cheerfully, notably unaffected by the shrimp. Ishida was jealous. What was her stomach made of? Impenetrable Steel? Did she even taste food? What if she were taste-deaf like some people were tone deaf?

"Orihime, you're late!" She said, looking dauntingly at Ishida when Inoue wasn't looking.

"Ah..." Inoue checked her watch. "You're right!" And then they were off running before Ishida could think of voicing that the watch was his and she'd left her's on the bathroom counter that morning. It's masculine design seemed large and clunky on her thin wrist as she ran. He considered running as well, but decided it was best he enter the classroom seperately anyway. Late or not, he wasn't sure what class would bring him and wasn't eager to find out. Just another complication, he thought with a sigh.

He entered the classroom as subtly and unnoticed as usual- until he was ambushed by something short and orange. He barely caught his new housemate in time, only alerted by his warrior senses.

"Ishida! Tatsuki and Chizuru are coming for dinner tonight," She said, arms still hanging around his neck as he regained his balance and her feet descended back to the floor. Across the room, Tatsuki was glaring at him rather murderously. He wondered if perhaps Inoue had made his bento out of sweet mercy so that he wouldn't have to live to see dinner time.

"Ah," He answered, a little surprised that the entire classroom was now watching. Keigo was crying loudly, being the only one who made any noise. He seemed highly upset by the image before him. Though Ishida couldn't blame him for those feelings. If it had been... that shinigami here, with her arms around him... he wasn't sure how he'd feel. He put one hand on her shoulder and walked her back to her desk before saying a quiet goodbye and returning to his desk. He wasn't pleased when Chizuru came upon him with a dead expression on her face. She looked like she was going to cry.

"Just..." She sniffled noisily. "Just look after my 'Hime, okay? I'll definitely steal her back with our heated connection!" She cried, leaving the classroom in a dramatic run. He stared after her, feeling his stomach turning and a headache beginning to form. This was going to be a long, long day. And then there was a shadow on his desk. He looked up warily. This was just what he needed.

"Ishida," Ichigo stated more darkly than Ishida had ever remembered.

"Yes?" He said, half sighing. He really didn't have the energy to deal with this today. He slowly looked up at the spiky haired youth and was surprised by the look on his face. It was... similar to Chizuru, in a masculine sort of way. There was a deep wound in his eyes, that even Ishida felt some pity for it. It was probably hard for his peer to find that a girl he considered his loyal and reliable comrade had suddenly forgot him. For the first time, he wondered how Ichigo was taking this entire situation. What was he feeling in reaction? Was it guilt?

"..." Ichigo looked away, out toward the windows. Ishida let out a breath quietly.

"Kurosaki, do you want to have lunch with me?" He asked. Ichigo looked back at him, surprised. Then, slowly nodded and trudged away. There had been a small sense of relief in his eyes as he left, much to Ishida's quiet pleasure. It was almost as though Inoue had made him someone important. He felt like the main man on this stage, no longer the supporting character, so to speak. He was shocked with himself. He was... happy.

(A/N)

Hey everyone! Sorry about the delay (AGAIN!). My birthday was on the ninth so I was pretty busy doing all that partying stuff. Seems that there never seems to be a break. Oh well, at least I have you guys, who even read my boring author's notes.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inoue, Ishida, Ishihime smut fests in risky school scenarios, Tatsuki and her wrath, Chizuru and her hot bond with Orihime, or a withdrawn, whiny Ichigo. :)

Lady Ashari: I hope to see some more Renji/Hime plotting going about from you. I've been thinking lately about writing a short Inoue drabble with some guy. Can't remember who... oh well.

Sango Hikari: Do I get bonus points for my birthday?

Haine Asakura: I hope this chapter still had enough deep tumultuous feelings for your enjoyment. I rather thought there might have been too many.

Satan Hat: Bwahahahaha! Why... lunch, of course...

Inulover4eva: Tee hee. I know! I just love those scenes because it just shows a sort of bond and trust between the two people, you know?

Hawkeye Chuui: We all know Inoue could be lusty if only she loved someone who actually felt the same way. Or... okay, maybe it's just me. Ah well, more is explained later on that.

Winterflower: Quick! While the tempura weighs him down, let's get out of here! To the bat mobile!

Brok3n Ragd0ll: Hey! Welcome to my grand Ishihime fanfic! I hope you check out the shorter more complete ones in between my slow updating processes. This is my first actually long one. I thought since people liked the short ones, they might enjoy a long one even more.

YachiruGaSukidesu: Dang. If I keep having to take your suggestions and making them such large central schemes in this fanfic I may have to make you official assitant manager of the plot.

Inoue: Hey! How many cookies do you think I could fit in my hips!

Ishida: ... Thunk!

Oh dear. And I just got him up again. Honestly, what did she say this time?

Famine of seducers: Welcome to the more exciting, more character involved chapter five! What did ya think? Hmmm? Hmmmmmmm? Give Kita some love. She needs it for the fluffy moments in life. Well, Ishihime life.

RedBloodedTalisman: Yay! But just in case, I'll be keeping an eye on you. Make sure you don't go wandering off to go read Ichihime! LOL!