(勇気)

'Why am I crying?'

'He has to ask why am I crying.'

'But... he does not know, does he?'

'How much I love him.'

Inoue Orihime desperately tried to remove herself from the the cushioning warmth of being in Kurosaki-kun's arms. She tried wriggling her smaller frame out of his seemingly impossible-to-break from embrace.

Was she even trying to escape from him?

But this was wrong. So very wrong.

He belongs to another.

Trembling and hopelessly attempting to halt any new onset of tears from leaving her eyes, she laid her small shivering hands on his hard chest. She felt his muscles twitched beneath her soft touch.

She felt his heart.

Why was it beating so fast?

She pushed against him.

His hold on her tightened in response.

She pushed harder.

He held her even closer, till her weeping face landed on his chest.

"Kurosaki-kun, please let me go." She whispered against him and clenched his school shirt with her small hands till they turned into fists.

Kurosaki Ichigo looked at the delicate auburn-haired princess struggling in his arms.

She should be snuggling not struggling to get away from him.

"First, tell me why are you crying?" He repeated his question.

Orihime flinched, she looked up at Ichigo with a defiant glare, "I am not crying." She gave a stubborn pout.

Ichigo smirked, he moved one of his hands from her back to touch the tear-stained flushed cheeks, he enjoyed the feel of her soft smooth skin and the way it assured him, it was really her in his arms instead of some twisted dream of his.

He bent his head closer to her. "Are you not?" His warm breath caressed her cheek as his face was only inches from her rapidly blushing red face.

She dared not to move.

"If you are not crying," He continued to say in a soft husky voice, "Then," He unexpectedly kissed her heated cheek!

Orihime gasped. Her tiny fists clenched his shirt so tightly her knuckles were turning white.

She wondered whose heart was beating faster?

He tilted her teary face by her quivering chin for her to look at him straight in the face. He licked his lips, slowly,

"Why does it taste like tears?" He breathed out his finding.

Orihime's honey eyes widened in bewilderment at Ichigo's totally unusual behavior.

This was not Kurosaki-kun. This cannot be Kurosaki-kun. And yet, when she slowly unclenched her fists and placed both her pale hands on his chest again.

It was undeniably Kurosaki-kun's fast pounding heart she felt beating underneath her hands.

But Kurosaki-kun's heart was beating for another.

Images she desperately did not want see, images she so wanted to forget she has seen, images of the intertwined hands appeared, painfully mocking her of who Kurosaki-kun's was beating for.

And so, once again she struggled helplessly in his strong grip and pushed at his chest, in order to separate herself from him.

Like before, he wrapped his arms around her even closer to prevent her from escaping from him.

He felt moisture on his chest first before he heard the girl in his arms sobbing heartbreakingly.

He did not want to do this.

He did not want to make her cry.

He knew she was crying because of him.

He wanted to hear it from her lips.

"Inoue, please tell me why are you crying?" He pleaded with her.

Orihime sobbed sorrowfully into his chest.

Why must Kurosaki-kun torture her so?

He has found love.

Why can't he just let her go?

"Inoue, please trust me."

Trust him? Trust him to break her heart.

"I-I..." No. She could not say it.

"What is it, Inoue?"

"P-Please j-just let m-me go, Kurosaki-kun."

"No. Not unless you tell me why are you crying."

To Orihime, that sounded like an order.

Who did he think he was, hugging her, kissing her; albeit on the cheek and now ordering her to explain to him as to why she was crying.

The gentle healer has had enough.

She pushed hard at his chest.

She glared or tried to glare at him with puffy red eyes, an equally red nose and swollen pink lips, all, set in a trying to be fiercely determined flushed face.

She wiped her tears from her face roughly with her small pale hands.

She took a deep breath.

"Kurosaki-kun," Ichigo arched an eyebrow on hearing her tone of a voice.

It sounded so unlike the placid princess. It sounded strong. It sounded throaty. And it sounded...

Sexy.

At that definition, Ichigo unabashedly viewed the innocent auburn-haired classmate with eyes that tried to convince him otherwise.

He has always known she was beautiful.

But sexy?

Inoue and sexy just did not go together.

Or, do they?

He continued to stare shamelessly at her with this newly discovered observation firmly rooted in place.

Orihime was not intimidated by the look she was getting from Kurosaki-kun.

She tried once again to extricate herself from his steel-liked clasp. But it was of no avail.

'Stupid strong Kurosaki-kun.' Orihime thought childishly and then she fought the urge to grin at her boldness for saying something bad about the one she has promised five lifetimes of her devoted love to in each lifetime.

But now, she guessed she will not get the chance to love him in this lifetime.

"Kurosaki-kun, people are staring at us." She told him in a stern voice.

Well, so was he. Not at them. At her and only at her.

"So?" He answered her indifferently and continued with his gaze on her.

That one word apathetic answer really riled the gentle healer.

Never has she felt so irritated with Kurosaki-kun.

She glared at him exasperatedly, "People are staring. People will talk. Kuchiki-san might see us. She might get the wrong idea." She elaborated in simple short sentences for him.

"And what's the wrong idea?" He asked her flippantly.

Orihime really was frustrated with this superficial side of Kurosaki-kun. She...

She wanted to hit him.

And so she did.

She punched him on his muscular chest with all her might in her clenched up tightly tiny fist of lost chances.

He has to smirk. "I am sorry, Inoue. Was that suppose to hurt?" She looked angry. But at least, she was not crying anymore.

'I bet it does not hurt as much as my heart is now.' Orihime thought sadly.

He saw the change in her expression. "Inoue,"

"Kurosaki-kun, please, I beg of you. Let me go."

"No. Not unless you..." Ichigo started to ask again, but he was cut off by a furious shout from Orihime.

"NO! I will not tell you. Stop asking me to." She wished she could hate him for what he was putting her through, but she has no one to blame for her own predicament but herself.

He looked at her with a knowing expression on his face. "Fine, then smile for me."

"H-Huh?"

"Smile for me to prove you are happy that I am with Rukia. That was what you said earlier, was it not?"

Orihime tried, she really tried but again, she was unable to. Just the thought of Kurosaki-kun and another, even someone as compatible as Kuchiki-san was for him was just too much for her to bear.

She really wished she hated him and she did not love him so much.

She jumped when she felt his rough fingers at the edge of her mouth, "You can't do it, can you?" He guessed correctly.

Her eyes filled with tears. "Why is Kurosaki-kun so cruel?" She sobbed out.

He gently wiped the tears that escaped from her eyes.

"I am not the cruel one here. You are the heartless one."

"W-Why am I the h-heartless o-one?" Orihime stammered her confusion.

"For denying me the chance to have your heart."

"W-What? I-I do not understand."

"I heard you, Inoue. I overheard your surprisingly enlightening conversation with Tatsuki."

"W-What c-conversation?" She asked nervously.

Ichigo lightly scowled at Orihime. He fixed her a steely look to dare her to deny she did not know of any such conversation.

Orihime was panicking. She chewed her bottom lip as a reflex to her fidgeting without the use of her hands. She forced herself to remember. 'What conversation? I have lots of talks with Tatsuki-chan. Which one has Kurosaki-kun overheard? Why is he saying about I not giving him a chance? A chance for what?' She glanced at him timidly from beneath her tears drenched eyelashes.

He raised an eyebrow at her unintended kittenish look.

"Inoue."

"I am trying to remember, Kurosaki-kun." She huffed out her annoyance at him. "Could you help me to refresh my memories?"

Ichigo sighed at the genuine plea for assistance.

"Love, Inoue. Love."

"L-Love?" Ichigo nodded.

'What is the 'love' Kurosaki-kun is talking about?' Orihime thought frantically. "Love. Love. Love...' She stared at him as realization dawned.

"O-Oh."

'That conversation.'

(勇気)