Author's Note: I do not own Bleach or its characters. This is AU.


Night After Night

Orihime peered over the edge of her book at Ishida. He was also reading. They were both hip deep in research. After talking to the director of the play as well as the set design team, the two of them had felt the need to do some research one what the costumes might look like. This had involved watching every recording of the play they could get their hands on as well as looking up historical trends in clothing for the time period. The director of the play was going for an old fashioned look, but he wasn't insisting on strict historical accuracy. He wanted the play to more of give the feeling of a fairy tale or a fantasy story, that it was a world all its own.

To that end, Ishida and herself were currently looking through a number of books on costumes, both historical and not. Orihime wasn't quite sure what to make of Ishida. Oh, he was her friend of course, but she was starting to realize that he didn't quite treat her like anyone else did. Ishida was always polite and kind to her. When they met for study sessions, he always insisted on paying for any snacks they had. He never dismissed her opinions out of hand. He always walked her right to her door and made sure she was in her dorm before he left. It was nice. He made her feel special. And Orihime was beginning to wonder if she felt something more for him than friendship.

She glanced down at her book, not really seeing the images on its pages. For years Orihime was convinced that she was in love with Ichigo Kurosaki. But since he had started dating Rukia, Orihime was beginning to reexamine her feeling for him. Ichigo had been the first guy who had just treated her like a normal human being, and he had always understood her sadness at the loss of her older brother. But he had never treated her as anything more than a friend, and Orihime was beginning to wonder if her fixation on him had blinded her to some other possibilities.

Sighing, Orihime directed her attention back to what she was supposed to be doing. It wasn't an easy puzzle to figure out, and she did need to work on this project. They only had another two weeks before their first deadline. They would have to turn in concepts and preliminary sketches for at least the main characters in the play. Once they made decisions about the look they wanted for the costumes, it wouldn't be too hard to get that done, but they hadn't yet figured out their specific look for this play. Hence all the research. Ishida looked up from his book.

"Do you need a break?" He asked. "I was thinking about ordering some take out for dinner."

Orihime smiled. "That sounds great. What are you in the mood for?"

As they discussed the merits of various take out places, Orihime smiled. Whatever her feelings for Ishida were, he was definitely a good partner for a group project.