So, I bought Bleach: Memories of Nobody off iTunes…and that Senna chick has major ADHD. When Orihime was healing Ichigo I was like "AH SNAP!", and when Uryu was standing there, arms crossed like a bamf I was like "(fangirl squee)".

But then I feel really immature (if not already), cuz when Rukia said, "Ichigo, what are you doing?" I immediately yell out "NOT ORIHIME!!!", and when Ichigo starts riding Renji's giant monkey-snake, it just goes downhill from there. YEAH LAST CHAPTER! And I say this now: it is hella long, so pace yourselves! I don't want any of you to get bored. Use that new story marks thinger, or drink a V8 or something xP


Orihime stared at his front door in mental disarray. She followed the song and what Uryu had said—she knocked on the door. The first time was ever so soft, so she knocked harder, and harder, and harder; so hard in fact after a while her hand began hurting. She knew that he was home—she could sense him inside. Maybe he didn't hear her? Orihime scratched at her wet hair in mild perplexity. It was still raining. That could be a factor relating to his deafness. Her eyebrows scrunched together—with her brain trying to devise an ingenious plan. Suddenly, her gray eyes shifted to his window, and then to the trash can underneath it.

'Ingenious' was an overstatement, and she grinned despite that known fact. She fluttered gracefully over to his window.

Securing the wet lid of Uryu's trash can, and then transferring it to a more aptly suited position under his window, Orihime began to daringly climb up on top of it. There was a small extension of building leading away from the window, and it was the perfect handhold to keep steady from falling. Rain trickled down the roof and onto her hair and forehead; the water slightly stung and blinded as it dripped down into her eyes—down her determined face. Before looking into his window, a small thought drifted into her mind.

Wait, isn't this...sort of...illegal?

She blinked. Orihime conscientiously looked around at her surroundings. Nobody was out. Not even any cars were out—nonetheless, she was still aware.

What if someone thinks I'm a peeping Tom or something? I'm Orihime, not Tom! Wh-what if he is taking a bath in the living room and I accidentally see him...naked?

She instantly shook her head negatively as her face flushed an abnormal pigment of scarlet. Uryu isn't the kind of person to take a bath in the living room! That's silly! She was the type of person to do something like that, not him! She pushed the thought out of her head—lanky movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention immediately. Her gray eyes flashed up and into his window, and the sight of him walking into the room engulfed her senses.

And as her mind didn't slip from the mere sight of his shocked navy blue eyes, her feet did.


He gloomily left his dark room in a slight melancholy daze. The journey out of the bedroom led into a hallway, and from Uryu's hall led into the small living room of his lonely abode. He walked out of the dark tunnel-like hall and into the warm yellowy-orange luminance of the living room; a tired, yet questionable expression was painted on his face.

Hmn?

Uryu had heard knocking. On his door. Unbeknownst (that's a cool word) to him, a small flare of hope lit like the small aspirant flame of a match. Maybe...it was Orihime? No—it couldn't be her. She didn't love him. Maybe...she was trying to give him his homework? He hadn't been to school in two days, three if he counted today—no. Nobody knew where he lived...well, he thought they didn't. Maybe...she did love him?


I know where you hide
Alone in your car
Know all of the things
That make you who you are


Denial extinguished his flame. Maybe he was just going even crazier than he anticipated and was just hearing things. That was an even more logical explanation than Orihime going over to his house for anything of the sort. And, honestly, he didn't even know what he would do if she was to come over.

He quickly thought of the words he told her.

Why was he beating himself up about this? He was acting like he was going through rejection! How could he be feeling like this hurt when nothing actually happened?

All he did was tell her that he loved her. Well, in a metaphorical sense. Maybe he didn't convey the feelings that he had wanted—she had been pining over that song like she lived by it. He clenched his teeth, he just didn't know!

Besides, she still loved Ichigo. That was one thing he couldn't forget. That very thing alone was forever burned into his mind, and so he was sure that she could never love him back. Orihime had loved him for so many years now, that lucky shinigami bastard Ichigo, that it was completely, irrevocably unreal for her to romantically love anyone else. Everyone saw the love she held for Ichigo in her heart, everyone saw the stares she aimed towards him, and everyone heard the different tone of voice when she spoke to him. Uryu was jealous of it—that was one thing that he couldn't deny. But, he was only human. Well, they were all human…just in a weird…abnormally complex way.

Suddenly, Uryu glanced at the motion outside of his window—his dark blue eyes dilated in shock, fright, and even a giddy excitement; Uryu's heart skipped multiple beats. His dark blue eyes locked with her bright gray ones for less than a second, and before either of them could blink, a flash of gingery auburn hair was the last thing that he saw from her.


Inoue-san!

He sprinted to the door. No thoughts clouded his mind. He forgot all of his past worries—there wasn't any space left for containing those menial worries that clouded his doleful thoughts. The only worry on his mind was Orihime. Only her. Just her. With a flash and gust of cold rain, he jumped over the side of his stoop, not caring about the atrocious possibilities of his actions. His love could go to the very depths of Dante's nine steps of Inferno, if only he could help her—protect her, at least this once. Time stopped for both of them.

Uryu caught her with nimble excellence and wrapped his strong arms tightly around her. If he had time to scowl, he would at that exact moment—she was soaked, and was on top of his trash can while it was wet. That was a dangerous hazard.

Another hazard was the wet ground—he lost his footing due to the strength of her momentum and fell with her in his grasp. Manipulating the force, he tucked her in and twisted backwards. Uryu crashed against the brick wall of his apartment, thankful that he absorbed all of the contact. His body could go to hell too.

"Owie..."

Uryu's heart almost stopped.


I know that goodbye
Means nothing at all
Comes back and begs me to
Catch her every time she falls…


"Are you hurt?" He asked briskly.

Her voice was soft and just above a whisper, "N-no, just a little scrape..."

Dark blue eyes narrowed—he hated the thought of her hurt.

Even if it's just a scratch.

His arms didn't loosen—they only gripped tighter—and Uryu vaguely knew why. Orihime could feel the hasty beat of his heart against her own chest. Their beats matched, and she gulped silently. Their position may have looked compromising from afar by a random bystander—Orihime lay limply against him, their chests pressed together and her head in the crook of his neck. A small droplet of water dripped from the roof to his glasses—time stopped—and Uryu stared up at the light gray color of the mourning sky. One minute equaled a hundred before either of them spoke.

"Ishida-kun, I—"

"Why are you here, Inoue-san?"

She could sense a returned apathy seep back into his voice; it was familiar.

"I wanted...to—I came here to..." She couldn't believe herself. She didn't know what to say, her jumbled thoughts wouldn't form into words. She loved him. Was it hard to just say that? She could blurt out the worst question ever, but she couldn't say three simple words? I love you. I love you! Three formed to five, and left a trail of sharp sting as they were spoken. "...I brought your jacket back."

Any hope Uryu held in his heart died. He felt the sting, and replied with it magnified.

"I don't give a damn about that jacket. Why did you bring it back?"

Instead of answering, Orihime cringed in regret as her courage was lost. He felt it. His voice softened, a little bit of himself returned.

"Inoue-san, you know as well as I do that you shouldn't be here." Uryu forced his arms off of her. "You don't belong here...with me."

Why can't I stay?

He pushed her away, but she wouldn't budge—she clung on to him. Looking up at him with tormented eyes and their gazes locked.

"What do you mean 'I don't belong here with you'? You're the one that said I can come here anytime that I want. You said that all I would have to do was knock on the door—t-tap on the…" Her bottom lip started to tremble, but he coolly evaded her question.

I want to be here with you. Why can't you see that?

"You should go back home, or you'll get sick," his eyes shifted away. He couldn't even look her in the eye. "I couldn't stand you getting sick or even hurt because of wanting to visit me—"

"How can I be hurt by you?" Her voice resounded with emotional skepticism. "W-Why would you think of something like that? No, you could never hurt me!"

Uryu scoffed at himself with contempt.

"I already have. I dumped all of my feelings onto you when you were already hurt by Kurosaki. I promised myself that I could wait for you, but I was lying to myself. I shouldn't have...I couldn't hold it in, I couldn't be flawless...I had to be weak." His body tensed, and his voice was overwrought. "I revealed weakness to you. That's all I am. Weak."

Weak—a word he had been accustomed to lately.

Orihime closed her eyes, and took a silent deep breath. She sensed everything around her—the wet concrete, his apartment building, the quiet sounds of the block. It wasn't raining. The sharp pointed drops of cold water ceased to fall—the terse sounds of rain falling to the ground like small glass marbles. It stopped.


Tap on my window, knock on my door
I want to make you feel beautiful


Finally, it all stopped.

"Ishida-kun..." She opened her eyes, "I...love you."

She expected happiness, one of many things—but she only received a blank stare. Uryu's dark blue eyes were wide and illegible; there was a flicker of something was caught in his gaze—and it was disbelief. He shook his head negatively, causing her heart started to nervously pulsate, until he choked.

"No. No. T-That's not true. You...you can't love me! You love Kurosaki!" His navy eyes flared, and his jaw clenched tightly. "All along, you've loved him! There was never a time when you stopped thinking of him—and never once have you ever thought of me…it was always…him."

Uryu was never one to indulge. He wasn't that kind of person. Yet, he seemed to be learning new things every day, and with that, he had been doing a lot of indulging. Some things just couldn't be helped! He was indulging on pain, on loss, on love. Love? No.

She didn't love him. He was the leftover. He was the replacement—the temporary substitution. His dark navy blue eyes narrowed—Uryu hated that feeling: being the damn rebound.

"Inoue-san, I told you before: you can't get over someone that you've loved for so long that fast. I told you that it takes time. Time, Inoue-san, time! Three days can't fix things! You can't love me in just three days! Damn it, it just doesn't work that way…"

The walls were closing in on him once again. He felt the urge to run. But would he run from her, now that she was actually there?

She's always there, right in front of me.

"Do you doubt my love for you?"

Uryu looked down at her, shock in his dark eyes. Tenaciously, her hands tightly gripped his shirt. It choked him—he needed to be free. He needed space. He needed more time.

He just needed her.

"L-Let me go."

"Ishida-kun, I w—"

"Let me go! Inoue-san, just let go of me and go home!"

She wouldn't deny him anymore. Forcefully, Orihime freed him from her grasp and he briskly left her intimate presence. One step, two steps, he increased their distance from each other. She was too close, he needed air…

"Do you doubt my love for you?" Her voice was strained, repeated and indignant, yet it penetrated through his skull. She wanted an answer from him, and she wasn't going to stop asking until he answered her. Orihime knew that talking to him was going to be hard, but this was something she had to do.

Uryu made it to the entrance steps of his stoop, and stopped. He clenched his fists in frustration, and the cut on his arm, much like his heart, throbbed with a numbing pain. Swiftly, he pivoted on the toes of his shoes, and fluidly turned around to face her. A supercilious expression was upon his face, yet anemically there was a shadow of exasperation—like he finally gave up. Uryu needed to get things clear, because to him, it seemed that she didn't get the point.

"I don't know. I just don't know anymore. Maybe I do doubt it, your love. Love isn't a thing to be played with, and I don't like my emotions being played with. I always thought that you could love me. I'd try imagining it, but even then, you only cared about Kurosaki. Every time I saw you, he was always right there. I used to hope that those looks you'd give him you could give to me, but I gave up on that. I gave up on a lot of things, and through all of it, I've learned to take in life with disappointment." He instantly thought of the cold face of his father. "I can't afford to be dependent on things that will just hurt me in the end."

Uryu spoke softly, but every word was drenched in a harsh undertone, full of hurt, and full of sadness. He kept the never-ending coolness in his voice, but it only helped so much. His eyebrows were tilted down—his facial expression a scowl. He tilted his head imperceptibly towards her, and his glasses glared off a reflection of gray sky and dark navy blue eyes. Uryu didn't need love.

"You've loved Kurosaki for so long, it's hard to believe that you could ever love me the same."

Orihime soaked in everything that he said, and her heart swelled. But, she made an underhanded move, and it proved to get her point through his clouded head. He was too chivalrous and well-mannered to take lightly to a devious statement, even if he acted imperturbable, and she would get through to him by any means necessary.

"You're right, I could never love you the same way I loved him, Ishida-kun."

Uryu's eyes widened in disbelief and her words stabbed him, like a dark, black sword through the chest—did she have to kick him while he was already down and out? The way Orihime emphasized love…he didn't know that she was so capable of such a low blow; maybe he didn't even know her at all—

"…it's impossible for me to love you the same way, because what I had for him wasn't love."

Their hearts beat, their hearts ached—her heart revealed more to him than he knew.

"Ishida-kun, I was wrong. I'm always wrong..." Her voice trailed off softly, and she looked down. "I was blind. I couldn't see that he loved Kuchiki all this time, and not me. I know this, I understand this. You said that I needed time—I've had time, I've had days. But I've realized that these feelings are of love. I love you, Ishida-kun. You have this special place in my heart, and so does Kurosaki-kun, but your place is bigger—you fill me up with feelings that I can't even describe."

She smiled a little, yet didn't dare to look up at his critical eyes.

"I know that you understand what I mean—you feel these feelings too." Her grin started to vanish, and her voice faltered once more with every word, "I just wish that I could have realized sooner, I wish I could have stopped myself from hurting you this long. I wish I could be just a little more perfect for you, Ishida-kun. Then maybe I could actually deserve someone like you."


I don't mind spending everyday
Out on your corner in the pouring rain
Look for the girl with the broken smile
Ask her if she wants to stay awhile


Orihime finally looked up at him—her meek glance connected with his dark, navy blue basilisk gaze. His eyes were undecipherable, unrecognizable, but she accepted that. She could deal with rejection—she had been dealing with rejection. But, the damage was done. Orihime couldn't change that, nor would she. She was happy that she knew that he loved her—she was happy that he stopped her meaningless chase for Ichigo—her Kurosaki-kun. Of all things, she was happy that he still had and gave the time to listen to her.

"And, it's okay if you don't want to be with me. I could only assume that you don't want to anyway, after all I've really put you through. I know that you don't really open up about things, and that you'd rather keep your feelings inside, but I'm glad that you were able to tell me, to just talk to me."

Orihime wasn't bitter, and his dark blue eyes saw this.

"You really are a wonderful person, Ishida-kun."

He couldn't sort out the way he felt. His heart burst with joy, burst with contentment—yet he was still reluctant—impassive. Why was it so hard for him to just go with things?—go with damned the flow? He was too mechanical! Too technical! Why couldn't he just stop thinking and go with what his heart was telling him, and not his damn insecurities?

Just to step out of his comforts, and take a chance with it—she loved him! She actually, finally loved him back! After all of the pain, after all of the doubts, after everything, Orihime loved him. Her voice was sincere; her words were not rehearsed—not practiced with a fabricated lie to give satisfaction and assurance to him, just to make the current situation better.

Orihime's eyes didn't lie. They never lied, they were incapable of lying, and this he knew.

And for the first time that day, Uryu actually took in her full features. What she was wearing, where she was standing. Her eyes were warm, and her face was slightly flushed pink as little droplets of water trickled down from her gingery auburn hair. Orihime was so beautiful. He loved her—he loved her so, so much. For her, Uryu would lose an arm, a limb, his life—she didn't know how many close times he was to dying just to protect her, just to be able to see her smile, to laugh.

So would he let her go now, knowing that she was lost from him, maybe forever?


And she will be loved
And she will be loved


She didn't give him anymore time to think.

Orihime gingerly walked towards him—with every light step, and with every approaching foot closer, she could perfectly see his chest rise and fall with every tantalizingly breath—she even noticed his fists held tightly to his sides, terse and stoic. Locks of glossy black hair were blatantly stuck to his wet face, and a vitrified reflection of his piercing eyes could be seen through his glasses, slowly dripping with rain. He didn't move—he remained in his staggered statue-esque pose, just looking straightly at her, his navy blue eyes interlocked in a reserved, yet self-protective gaze into her own gray stare.

Closer...closer...

She was just inches, milliseconds, away now. The puff of hot air around his mouth could now be seen—she didn't notice how cold it had gotten. The world was coming back to her, and the numbness she had felt was diminishing with the ceasing space between them. Orihime could feel the brisk air—her senses were returning to her in a dazed bliss as she looked up at him. A rebellious blush appeared on her complying cold face.

His eyes widened at her meek contact. Uryu's heart skipped beats as she softly—timidly wrapped her arms around him in a humbled embrace.

She was now at peace with herself; the hurt was now gone from her heart. Orihime smiled a little—she was going to take his hurt away, too.

And as if realization couldn't hit her enough that day, Orihime discovered how right it felt with Uryu in her grasp like that, and just as it had comforted her in the rain two days before, it was comforting her now. She rested her head against his strong chest and closed her eyes, letting all of her insecurities drift away carelessly with their tranquil surrounding. The smell of a newly stopped rain engulfed her senses with a musky, newly fresh scent, and Orihime listened to Uryu's steady, anxious heartbeat. She absorbed his never-ending warmth. If possible, she could, and would, stay there forever.

"I just wanted one more chance to make it right. The weight of the things that remained unspoken built up so much...it crushed us every day, Ishida-kun, I know it did. It crushed me every day—a-and, all the things I felt...I...never really showed..." She stopped, but held onto him tighter, hoping that would squelch the oncoming tears starting to flow from her gray eyes. "Perhaps the worst is that I ever let you go...I should not have ever let you go."

Slowly, Uryu looked down, and gulped. Life started entering back into his eyes—the remnants of his past self started to return, filling him with warmth, replacing the unfelt numbness. He could smell the sweet, natural fragrance of her gingery auburn hair enter into his nostrils, and, he couldn't help but get intoxicated with her there like that, next to him—near him ever so close. Uryu's once pale, frigid cheeks flushed a light pink pigment upon his skin, and he began to feel the earth return. A lone droplet of rainwater slid chillingly down his face, and down into her damp hair.


And she will be loved
And she will be loved


It wasn't a matter of doubt anymore—of him against the world, of him fighting for her, only for her to be gone and lost from him, Orihime an enigma that couldn't be caught. Uryu wanted to wrap his arms around her—he wanted to return the embrace tenfold. He wanted to smile, he wanted to laugh, he wanted to dance!—no no no, he was too reserved for that. But, then…

He was happy, truly happy. Uryu was happy enough to be speechless—and he was aphasic. His heart was carefree, the resolve in her words ecstatically let his emotions roam to the very depths of love. Love that emotion he had hated, the emotion that he now loved.

And Orihime loved him!

It was such an amazing revelation, it paralyzed him with never-ending positive emotion—his feet were firmly planted to the ground, both as heavy as blocks of lead, stuck there, immobile on the concrete sidewalk. His arms were, as it seemed, glued to his sides, also immobile. The only things Uryu could do were blink and breath. So this was what returned love felt like? It was wonderful!—what he would do just to be able to move, those damned nerves of his!

Orihime didn't once look up at him, but instead felt his body language. Uryu would tense up, then relax—his chest heaved, desperate for breath it seemed. If only he would say something! Anything! He seemed uncomfortable and aloof—Orihime was misreading him. She needed some type of reciprocation, even just some acknowledgment; her courage was diminishing fast—but she wouldn't cry. No, she wouldn't burden him with that, but there was just one more thing that she had to do.

There needed to be closure.

His heart beat in tremors...Uryu didn't realize he was holding his breath until she started to speak once more. He could feel the vibrations of her voice against his chest and her sweet voice ring in his ears. Anxiously gulping, Uryu glanced down at her.


Please don't try
So hard to say goodbye


Orihime's arms released him from their hold, and she placed her gentle hands lightly on his chest. Through unbelievably long eyelashes, and dewy gingery auburn bangs, she looked up at him with soft gray eyes. Their gazes interlocked as each pair of eyes were unfazed by deep attraction.

"Ishida-kun—U-Uryu..." Orihime took a deep, extremely nervous breath.

What possessed, what compelled her to do this, neither of them really knew, but she stood up on her tippy toes, softly grasped the front of his shirt for leverage, and delicately pressed her warm, tender lips to his gawking mouth. His dark, navy blue eyes dilated in a jubilant stupor.

Orihime. Was. Kissing. Him.

His heart stopped, was he dreaming? Oh hell no he wasn't!

Inoue-san. Is. Kissing. Me.

If he could speak, and if his voice was audible, every word he would have enunciated, pronounced, vocalized, would have squeaked in high falsetto. If he could even move an arm, a leg, maybe even twitch an eye, he might have fell back and inevitably passed out due to the surprise. Damn. She was kissing him! Uryu couldn't wrap his rationally intellectual psyche around it.

It greatly took him aback, and if he thought that his current situation couldn't get any worse—or any better, even—it did. Uryu was paralyzed, shocked, stunned—even more than he had been before. First, she actually admits that she loves him—and now only a few minutes later she's brushing her lips against his in a nervously bashful frenzy? He didn't know what to do. Her lips...ah, Orihime's lips!

It was amazing how just a kiss changed the colors of the heart.

The Quincy drowned in the soft movement against his mouth. Part of Uryu couldn't believe that she—Orihime, the girl he loved, the girl that was unreachable, the girl that now loved him back—was kissing him. And why the hell wasn't he kissing her back?! What happened to his calm, cool, collectiveness that seemed to help him in all sorts of horrible situations—that stoic averment, a sense of impermanent bravado until the actual courage kicked in? Uryu couldn't deny it though—this was awfully, wonderfully frightening!

His mind was racing, the world was spinning on its axis too damn fast—and he was still thinking too much.

All she wanted was a little reciprocation. A few words would have sufficed.

Uryu didn't realize that their mouths now parted, and she was looking up at him. Orihime's eyes were broken as she looked into his pale face. She had assumed—assumed that he would kiss her back, assumed that he still loved her, assumed that his words were just meaningless and untrue. But, he didn't do anything. Nothing. Orihime's heart slowly crumbled in her chest as she gazed deeply into his wide, shocked and surprised eyes. He didn't return her feelings. Was he really so repulsed by her? He didn't even move.

Why does this happen to me?

Assumptions were bad, she knew this, but...she only hoped...

That Uryu would still love her.

Orihime quickly stepped back—embarrassed, fallen, ashamed. Every moment now was so, so hard. She had told herself that she wouldn't cry—but she was just giving broken promises.

"I-I'm sorry." Her voice was barely audible. Her eyes dammed up with dripping tears, but she didn't want to choke on her crushed words. She took a deep sigh of surrender. "I'm sorry I came here. I may not have...made it through the night without telling you how I felt. I just had to see you, I just needed to talk. It's alright if you don't love me anymore, but I still love you."

Uryu didn't reply, and she shivered as he bore holes through her with his freezing eyes.

She glanced away in hurried nostalgia. Oh yeah, the jacket. That was her "reason" to come over there, wasn't it? Orihime felt self-perpetuating guilt again—her and her stupid reasons. Reluctantly, she nervously slipped off his leather jacket, and set it over onto the white concrete steps of his apartment. Orihime missed the feeling of warmth as it was replaced with a cool mist of post-rain humidity, but what she missed more was the undying warmth of his arms. She needed to stop dreaming. Her possibilities were limited, and besides—it was already over.

Orihime gulped, mortified and ashamed with strong eyes still brimmed with tears, she looked up at him. They were just feet away from each other now, but she felt so far away emotionally, if not physically. Humbly, she bowed a respectful "thank you" to him. She didn't know where else to go from there, but she knew that it was time for her to leave. There was nothing else for her to say.

Uryu saw that her body was shaking. His throat was dry, and he mentally kicked himself. He did something wrong, and he had to make up for it. If anything was screwed up, it was their love lives, but she was right. Uryu wanted to giddily smile. She kissed him. It was such an unknown concept, but it felt good.

Orihime looked up, and stood straight. She gulped, at a loss for words.

"Goodbye, Ishida-kun. Goodnight, g-goodnight."

It was beyond her, and she couldn't carry the weight of a heavy world. So she did was she could do best. She smiled at him, and bowed one last time. Turning around, she started walking, hugging herself due to the oncoming cold. Uryu heard her footsteps slowly disappear, but the sound still rang in his ears. Walking, walking…away from him.

Uryu breathed rapidly, his heart pulse raised in tempo. No. Not that smile—the smile that faked happiness, the sham of a smile that he hated. Orihime was farther gone from him than ever before, and Uryu promised himself something. He wouldn't make the same mistakes; he wouldn't run away from things.

He wouldn't go home without her.


Please don't try
So hard to say goodbye…


"Inoue-san!"

Orihime felt his cold hand grab her wrist in a rushed backdraft of swift motion. Surprised and a little staggered, she turned around and looked up at his dark navy blue eyes with a curious wonder at the sudden outburst. There was an anxious, hungrily excited look in his glassy eyes, and it almost frightened her, but she couldn't break her gaze with him. Within quick seconds, his leather jacket was comfortably over her wet shoulders.

"I-Ishida-kun—?"

Uryu wouldn't let her finish.

Quickly, he eradicated that atrocious space between them by tenderly cupping her face with his strong hands, and forcefully—but gently—locking their lips in a desperate kiss. Uryu would never get over the taste of her lips, and he wasn't going to just let her leave him. He fought too damn much for her to just go, and Uryu would never let her go again. And he wouldn't ever leave her.

It was a ravenous kiss, full of passion and love, and Orihime couldn't help but conform against his sturdy body. Uryu never felt so desperate, so needy—his lips crashed and kneaded with hers with such a violent, ardent fervor that his heart fluttered uncontrollably as she gripped against him, melting into his body heat. Orihime tightly wrapped her arms around him, and the leather jacket nimbly fell off of her back, but she didn't care. Orihime had no cares while she was in Uryu's presence, her lips against his. She returned the kiss, closing her eyes and letting herself go.

Both didn't notice, nor did they really mind, the light rainfall starting to descend from the sky.

They were both so careless in fact that they both forgot to breath. Swiftly, he pulled away, gasping for air against her neck. Wrapping his arms around her, his cold lips caused shivers down her spine as they brushed against the warm skin of her neck. Uryu inhaled the scent of her hair, and once more, he drowned in intoxication. He closed his eyes, trying to reduce the tempo of his heart to an acceptable beat. Uryu took a deep, self-satisfied breath.

"You don't love Kurosaki."

It was a statement, but she answered like it was a question.

Orihime softly shook her head and answered with a short, silent breath, "No."

Uryu pressed his freezing lips against her neck and lightly kissed her a smile, causing a jolt of heat to travel through her body, and Uryu felt her quiver. He rose back up to his full height, and looked lovingly down at her. She was blushing profusely now, and it was…cute. He smiled down at her, and her gray eyes glanced away in modesty. Orihime didn't really know what to make of it, so what now?

He cupped her face with his hands once more, and he gently stroked her red cheeks with his thumbs. Uryu dipped his head down to kiss her forehead and Orihime shuddered as she felt his hot breath on her skin.

"Good, because I'm not going to let you go now." Uryu breathed huskily, and she immediately looked up at him, questioningly. Her gray eyes gazed deeply into his dark, navy blue eyes, and it wasn't hard to see the never-ending love emanating behind the rectangular lenses on his soft face.

"Ishida—"

He cut her off by pressing one of his index fingers to her warm lips, ceasing her words. She was reminded of the both of them together three days ago, at the bench in the rain, tenderly with his arms around her. And just as he did then, he did now—he held her in a tight embrace, and the same protected feeling washed over her. Orihime felt secure and safe as he stroked her back nimbly with his hands. It was wonderful.

"Inoue-san, I love you. I love you so much." He buried his nose in her gingery auburn hair. "And I'm sorry. I'm…I'm such an idiot sometimes. We were both thirsty for the same thing, but in the end, we both got it—only if you'd take me back."

Uryu sighed softly, and looked back down at her.

This time, her eyes were unreadable, undecipherable. But, there was a hint of something playful, yet indisputably innocent in those gray eyes of hers. Uryu lifted a sleek, black eyebrow.

"It's really matter of you taking me back, Ishida-kun."

"Inoue-san, look at us. I already have. Nevertheless, I wish I could make it up to you—atone for my…dramatic idiocy."

At this, Orihime genuinely smiled a real smile—not one of those fake ones that hid her pain, and it warmed Uryu's heart to see her authentically happy. He grinned down at her, but then looked at her quizzically as she glanced away sheepishly from his dark blue gaze. Orihime was blushing.

She looked back up at him through extremely long lashes, through wet, sweetly scented gingery auburn bangs, and he couldn't help but know what she was visually implying. He gulped, and his face turned a light shade of pink. His coolness was replaced with anxiety, and his bravado meter was on the borderline of "low". Softly giggling at his expression, she placed a hand on his cheek; leading his head down, she delicately kissed him, and he didn't fail to kiss back. Orihime felt him smile against her lips, and Uryu held onto her tighter, but he didn't want the—he blushed a little darker—kiss to get too…eager.

He pulled away, and chuckled lightly—today was the first real time that Orihime had seen Uryu smile so much, but she knew that life threw curveballs, and it was her job to catch them! And she wasn't alone this time. They were finally together, and that was all that really mattered.


I don't mind spending everyday
Out on your corner in the pouring rain…


"Inoue-san, please, come in." His breath was hot, and she wiped a strand of black hair from his face. "I'll make tea, and..."

Orihime smiled. She loved her stoic, serious, chivalrous, smiling, over dramatic Quincy, and he loved her back, that bubbly, compassionate, extremely harebrained girl who liked the weirdest, most appalling foods ever.

"...I have ranch."


Oh my...that was crap. Horrible, horrible last chapter...

You guys should see the notes I make while in the thinking process. Literally, this was one: "uryu desperate kiss back etc crap like that". Anyway, please review! Would be greatly appreciated! Find any typos, grammatical errors, dumb-ass plot issues, dry spots (cuz I know there were some), then tell me! I was blinded by all of the words, and besides, I'm a mediocre writer and I need all the help I can get! (this is random, but when I was writing "his feet were firmly planted to the ground, both as heavy as blocks of lead," I really wanted to put, "his feet were firmly planted to the ground, both as heavy as…SUPER CHUNKIES FROM HELL!!!"

Oh my freaking goodness Inoue was assertive…This doesn't have any real closure until the epilogue, but heh…too many false alarms with me saying "last chapter". So, let's wait 'til then? This chapter was as corny as the word "corny", but hey, I actually kinda liked it. Even if it sucked. Chapter 3 is my favorite. PANCAKES!!!