IMPORTANT A/N: Hello! It took a while to update, right? Well, this chapter is long, so I hope you forgive me! I've been thinking and pfcvillanueva recently brought up that it would be interesting if I included Orihime's perspective. Would you all want that? It would be a separate story called "Goodbye Lonely Days," and it would be about how she views the world. The story would include some of the events that are in this story but with her perspective and her own adventures aside from Ichigo's. If this is not making any sense, read this chapter first. It'll make sense why someone would want to read Orihime's thoughts. Anyways, keep reading, enjoying, and reviewing! Leave me your opinion about creating the story or not.

I tell myself that the only reason that I am looking at her is because she's in my line of vision. She's in front of me, cheering with Yuzu and dad, holding up her custom made posters. I tell myself that I'm watching the game only.

When Yuzu begs me to do a wave with them after Karin scores a goal, I tell myself that I'm reluctant to do it. I tell myself that it means nothing when I have to hold Inoue's hand because Yuzu is holding her other. I tell myself that it's the sun causing me to sweat and to get a little warm. I tell myself I'm embarrassed to be doing it.

When the wave thing is over and I have to let go of her hand, I tell myself that it's for the better.

…I've been telling myself a lot of things recently…

Inoue is the happiest I've ever seen her. She and Yuzu are having a great time making up chants for Karin and talking in between, and when it's halftime, she spends the time dotting over Karin. She tries to feed Karin some of the snacks she prepared, which, to my surprise, are normal. Karin accepts what Inoue's offers with a small smile. I guess she's not used to being treated in that kind of way.

"Who is she? I've never seen her before," one of Karin's team member asks.

"Yeah. I thought you didn't have a sister," another says, looking at Inoue.

Inoue blushes. "I'm not…"

"She's not my sister." At this, Inoue loses the color in her cheeks, but her face turns read, and my jaw drops when Karin states, "She's my sister-in-law." She sounds so serious that the other girls nod in understanding, not for a second doubting that she could be lying.

"No, I'm not—"

"She's not—"

Inoue and I both try to deny it, but we end up talking over each other, not making any sense at all. We look at one another and quickly look away. I cover my mouth with my hand, trying to hide my face, and I can see from the corner of my eye that she does the same with both of her hands.

"That's mean, Karin!" Yuzu scolds. "Orihime-chan is Onii-chan's friend, not his wife."

Karin clicks her tongue and opens her mouth to respond at the same time Inoue's phone starts to ring. Inoue jumps, startled at the sound, and she fumbles trying to answer the call. She pardons herself and stands. She puts a little distance between us who remain seated on the blanket Yuzu brought from home.

"Right now?" She glances over at us. "Could it possibly wait?" She listens. "I understand. I'll be over there as soon as possible." She hangs up and sighs. I turn my head away as I listen to her approach us. "I'm sorry Karin-chan, but I'm going to have to miss the second half of your game. But I promise that I will see the next one all the way through!" Karin nods. "Thank you Yuzu-chan for indulging me with everything today. Oh, where is Kurosaki-san?" She looks for dad who is strangely missing. She gives up on trying to find him and turns toward me. "And thank you Kurosaki-kun for listening to my dream, and even though it was only for a little while, I had the best time living it." She smiles and bows. "Well, I better get going!" She starts to head off.

I scramble to my feet and go after her, but not before I hear one of the Karin's team mate question, "Are you sure that they are just friends?"

I shake my head at that. Of course Inoue and I aren't 'just friends.' We are more than that. We are…She's my…Huh?

My mind starts racing.

What is she to me? Tatsuki is my childhood friend. Mizuiro and Keigo are my close friends. Chad, Ishida, and Renji are my precious, best friends. Rukia is an important friend who changed my life forever. Now what is Inoue? Where does she fit?

Truth be told, she doesn't. Not perfectly. And I have no idea what that means.

For now, I push it out of my mind.

"Oi, Inoue! Where are you going?"

"Kurosaki-kun?" I wait for her answer. "I'm heading to the bakery."

"I thought you said that you didn't have work today."

"I don't, but someone called in sick, so…"

"I see…well, let me walk you."

"But you'll miss Karin's game."

"It's fine," I wave her worries off. "I'll go to the next one." She looks like she is debating on whether she should push me to stay or not. "You know…it would save us a lot of time if we come to a permanent agreement."

"Agreement?"

I shove my hands into my pants' pocket and walk forward. She trails after me. "Yeah, an agreement. If I offer to walk you, you should just say yes."

"But…"

"Nuh-uh. Remember our agreement."

She laughs. "I don't remember agreeing, Kurosaki-kun."

"I don't remember you not agreeing to it, Inoue." She laughs again.

"I guess you win," she concedes. "For today."

My eyebrow arches. "You plan to fight me on this?" She nods. "I won't fight fair," I warn her.

"Neither will I," she declares. We both chuckle at that.

We continue on in silence for a bit. She looks lost in thought, and I'm trying my hardest not to think of the puzzling question I asked myself earlier.

"Can I ask you something, Kurosaki-kun?"

I glance at her. She's picking at her jacket's zipper. "Sure. What's up?"

"I've been thinking about this for a while." She pauses. "Why have you taken up walking me?"

My head turns away from her as my brain registers her question. "I…well…It's," I struggle for an explanation. I exhale. "Words, huh?"

"They are difficult to use," she agrees with a hint of something in her voice. I peek at her, and she looks like she is holding back laughter.

I should feel offended, but I don't. I just feel mightily embarrassed. "Honestly…I don't know." She thinks about my reply before she nods. "Does it bother you?" I watch her expression very carefully. If she showed any signs of discomfort because I am walking her, I would stop. I would if that would make her happy.

"No! It doesn't! On the contrary, I-I like walking with you, but…"

"But?" I impatiently wait for her to finish her thought.

"But someone might get the wrong idea if you keep walking me." Her voice drops to a whisper.

Someone…She put emphasis on that word. I'm sure of it. What does she mean by that? Who cares what others think when they see Inoue and I together. It isn't any of their damn business. I mean, the misunderstandings could be embarrassing, but in the end, it really didn't matter.

And then it hits me. I don't care, but maybe she does. She doesn't want someone to get the wrong idea about us.

And it hits me again: she cares.

And it hits me again. She cares.

And again. And again.

She cares about this someone.

All of a sudden, too abruptly, without reason, everything feels wrong.

"Who care what others think." I say that a little too aggressively, and I know that's wrong. Something is wrong with me.

"Oh." I look at her, and she seems so incredibly sad about my response. I said something wrong. How I said it was wrong. Everything is wrong.

Then she smiles, and that's wrong too. It's forced. I can tell, and I decide right then and there that I hate it. I never thought I would hate anything about Inoue, but the moment's finally here.

She changes the subject, and she acts too happy. She babbles, but it's not like the kind of babble I'm used to. It's forced, too. Everything she is doing is an act, and I can't ask why she is pretending to be happy because she's not letting me get a word in, and the way that she is doing it is making me think that she doesn't want to hear what I have to say.

We arrive at her work both too quickly and not soon enough for my liking.

"I'll see you at school on Monday, Kurosaki-kun!" Her goodbye sounds fake. She starts to leave.

I don't want things to end this way. "Inoue," I call her. She looks back at me and gives that forced smile. I clench my fists. "You should come over for dinner."

"Dinner?" That smile disappears, and her normal face comes back.

"Yeah. You know, dinner? A time in the evening when you eat…" She blushes and pouts at my attempt to lighten the mood. "We want to thank you for coming today." I can see that she is about to decline. "Yuzu and Karin would want you to come. They really enjoyed you being there at the game."

She smiles, and this time, it's genuine, and everything seems right again.

"Okay! I'll be there!" When she turns to go inside, her steps seem more lively, and I think everything is fixed. But I catch her reflection from the glass.

Why is she sad? What have I done? I spend my time trying to figure out what I said that caused that expression. I go home lost in confusion. Thinking and thinking, wondering what I could do to make her smile. I go through the motions of showering, telling my family that Inoue will be coming over, studying for class, and reading. I'm completely absorbed in thought that I don't even realize that Inoue is already at the front door until I feel her spiritual pressure. I hurry down the stairs.

"I hope you like them. I helped make the batter." I hear her before I see her. She sounds like she usually does, and it's a relief. And then I see her, and she's changed clothes. Her hairs wet, too. She probably went home to shower and put on new clothes. She looks…

"You're baking now?" I ask her, interrupting my own thoughts.

"Every once and a while, Kansuke-kun teaches me when I have free time from my other duties. He even lets me help in the baking process."

"Is he the one…?" Yuzu whispers to Inoue a little loudly. Inoue blushes and stares wide-eye at me for the tiniest second.

"NO! It's not…" she denies and then sighs.

"Wait, what's happening?" Karin asks.

"That's right. You didn't hear since you were playing. Let's go into the kitchen. We can cook and talk." Yuzu pulls Inoue and Karin, much like this morning. I try to follow them, but Yuzu gives me her version of a glare. "Boys aren't allowed. This is girl talk."

I don't move from my spot for about two breathes and then I enter the room that I am not supposed to go into. I couldn't not what with Yuzu's incomplete sentence hanging in the air. What was she trying to say? She knew something about Inoue that I didn't know.

The one what? Someone is something to Inoue. I know that much by Yuzu's words just now and Inoue's words from earlier. The real question is what that someone means to Inoue. No, maybe the real question is who that someone is.

I try to sneak my way into sitting down at the table, but they all notice my presence because they all stop talking. They look at me, and Yuzu has a frown. I think she's about to tell me to get out, when I beat her to the punch. "I'm just eating some desserts that Inoue made. Don't mind me. I'll be eating and playing a game on my phone. Continue talking." I do what I say I would, all the while keeping my ears focused on the trio. They are a little hesitant, but they go back to talking like I wanted. They try to use low voices, but my ears have been trained to pick up even the most muted sounds.

"Are you sure that he doesn't?" That's Karin speaking.

"Why wouldn't he? You are so pretty, nice, and funny. And smart!" That's Yuzu.

I steal a look at Inoue quickly. She's peeling apart some cabbage, looking down in every sense of the word. "I…I recently thought that he might, but he doesn't." She sounds close to tears.

"He must be stupid."

"He's not, Karin-chan," Inoue laughs. "He just…has another girl in his heart."

Yuzu gasps. "What? What could she possibly have that you don't?!"

It takes all my concentration to catch her words from how silently she says them. "She has him."

"What an idiot," Karin insults. And she does something surprising, she hugs Inoue, and Yuzu joins in.

"Hey, what are you two doing?! I'm the oldest. I should be listening to your problems and comforting you two," Inoue tries to brighten up the dark atmosphere. "Let's talk about something else. Karin-chan, did your team end up winning?" They all switch to a different topic while I remain on the previous one.

Karin was right. The guy, the guy that seemed to have all of Inoue's affection if that was what they were talking about, was a complete idiot. I grind my teeth while thinking about the bastard who would just throw away Inoue's feeling like that.

But deep down…no, not even deep down, right there on the surface, I'm glad. A part of me is relieved that the guy is an idiot, and I tell myself that it's only because I'm protective over her. Inoue doesn't need a guy who would look at another. Inoue deserves someone who would look only at her, who would treat her better than he would treat anyone in the world, who would love her and only her. She doesn't need a guy who had another girl in his heart.

And then I have my answer to Inoue's question. Why did I start walking her every day? It's to protect her. Protect her from all of them because if I'm being truthful to myself, none of the guys that pursued her were worthy. They all looked at Inoue but didn't look at her. She's more than just her appearance, and any guy that wanted a chance with her would have to see that. See that she is too kind for this world, too caring for her own good, too bright for this dark place. If they couldn't, I would protect her.

…I'm the real bastard. I'm actually thankful that the guy Inoue likes doesn't like her back. What the hell is wrong with me?

I grab my hair and pull in disgust.

"Is something bothering you, Kurosaki-kun? Did you not like it?"

"Huh?" I look up at her. Her eyebrows are creased. "No, it's delicious." She grins, and I am left speechless. What could I say anyways? I couldn't admit that I had been listening in on their conversation nor could I reveal my disturbing thoughts.

"Really?" She makes a little sound. "I was worried that they wouldn't taste good." Satisfied, she begins to go back to the counter.

"Inoue?"

"Hmm?"

There's one thing I could say to her. "You asked why I started to walk with you." I hold her gaze. "It's to protect you."

I thought that she would be happy with my answer. I really did, and she's happy for a second until her expression changes. And I know that I'm not great at reading emotions, but I can read hers because it slaps me in the face: disappointment. She doesn't even try to cover it up, and for some reason, that hurts me more than if she had tried.

"I thought that might be it." She breaks eye contact. "Thanks, Kurosaki-kun." She returns to my sisters' side and helps with the cooking. They don't seem to notice anything wrong with Inoue, but I can tell from her slump shoulders and her wavering reiatsu.

I've screwed up. I'm screwed up. How could I have made things worse for her?!

I'm quiet all through dinner. It's best that I keep my mouth shut. Anything I seemed to say today just ended up upsetting Inoue.

Despite my silence, the table is loud. Karin and Yuzu do seem to enjoy Inoue's company. My dad seems to have taken a liking toward her as well, and I find it weird that he hasn't made a comment about how Inoue's his daughter now. He once said that about Rukia, so why not her?

We all finish eating, and she's getting ready to leave. Something in me wants her to stay. I couldn't stand that the last interaction we had would be of her being disappointed in me.

"Stay." Everyone looks at me.

"Eh?"

I ty to find an excuse that would make her stay. "You can watch that movie you wanted to see here. That scary one."

"That new one?" Yuzu asks with excitement. "I'll go make popcorn!"

"I'll get the drinks."

Inoue can't say no, so she goes to help Karin with the drinks. I make my way to sit, and I turn on the tv, finding the movie Inoue had talked about yesterday.

They eventually come into the living room, and they sit down: Inoue on the floor with Yuzu by her side, and Karin on the couch with her feet stretched out. They cover up with blankets and get ready to watch the movie. I sit on the arm chair, a little apart from them.

I pay little attention to the film. It's more entertaining to watch their reactions. Inoue seems to find the movie funny. Every so often, she chuckles at the movie's attempt to be scary, and Karin laughs with her. They share knowing looks, but then Yuzu with her innocence screams at something she sees. Inoue, surprised, screams along with her, and they all break out in laughter.

The movie ends, but I don't need to make up an excuse to keep her here longer. Yuzu changes the channel to some gag show.

Dad comes over and asks me to help him with fixing the bed sheets at the clinic, and we leave them to laugh at the comedy skits.

When we come back, they are no longer watching tv. They are sleeping. Yuzu's head is resting on Inoue's side. Karin is curled up on the couch with her legs hanging off the edge, her head next to Inoue's.

From the corner of my eye, I see dad rub his eyes with the heel of his hand.

"You okay, old man?" I make sure that my voice is low.

"Yeah…I just thought I saw," he stops. "Never mind. I just need sleep. I'm starting to see things. I'll carry Karin and Yuzu to their room. You can move Orihime-chan to the bed in the guest room." Even when he picks the two girls up, they don't wake. Well, they have always been heavy sleepers, so it's not that strange that they don't even stir.

I bend down next to Inoue. I just have to move her. Which meant that I would have to pick her up. Now I've done it before, but I know that I can't just carry her on my shoulder like that time. She would definitely wake up.

Instead, I lean her head carefully against my shoulder, and I wrap an arm around her back. My other arm slides under her legs, and I slowly lift her while I stand. I study her face, checking if the sudden movements had jostled her awake, but she remains sleeping.

I carry her up the stairs, focusing on the surroundings to make sure that I wouldn't bump her into anything. I'm so focused that I don't even realize that I pass the guest room, nor do I realize that I lay her on my bed and cover her up with my sheet. It's only when I quietly collapse into my chair that I become aware of what I just did.

I reason with myself that I can't move her because she's already comfortable, and it really does look like she is. I wouldn't want to wake her when she looked so tired. She must be tired from not getting sleep last night and from working when she had the day off.

But I know the real reason why I don't move her to the guest room. It's because of the look that she gave me. That look of disappointment. She's really only given me that expression twice. It was when she was under Tsukishima's ability. In her controlled mind, she believed that I was attacking a friend and not an enemy, and she chose to heal him. To protect him. She chose him over me.

I understood why she was disappointed in me then, but now? I don't know. I don't know what I did or didn't do or what I said or didn't say that caused that look. And I shouldn't care, but I do.

I look at her. She looks to be resting peacefully. Her face seems so relaxed, and she looks like she is almost smiling in her sleep. Wait. Is that a little bit of drool coming out of her mouth? That should gross me out, but something about it is funny to me. It's so her that I chuckle into my hand, and then it turns into a sigh.

I haven't solved anything, but the more I think about why she's disappointed, the more questions start to pop up in my head. Ones I managed to ignore since the morning. Like what Inoue means to me. I still didn't have an answer, except that she just means a lot. It's probably why I care what she thinks of me. It's probably why she can unintentionally hurt me with a single expression. It's also why I don't want her to be too far from my reach and my protection.

I hold my head up with my arm. I continue to think while I watch her sleep. Maybe if I stared at her long enough, all the problems would somehow resolve. Maybe I would gain some kind of clarity. However, the sight of her sleeping lulls my eyes to drop, and even when I try to stay awake, I'm too tired to succeed. I fall asleep in my chair.

It's morning. I know that even when my eyes are closed. The sun is shining down on me. It's making me too warm, but it's not the kind of heat that you hate. It's the kind of heat that you crave, and I move a little closer to the source. I pull myself closer to it with the greatest reluctance to part from it as I bury my head to my pillow.

Pillow? Didn't I fall asleep in my chair?

I open my eyes slowly. I'm still groggy, which makes my vision unfocused. I blink a few times, trying to clear it, and finally, I can see clearly. My head is on my pillow, which means that I am in my bed. But what happened to Inoue? And that's when I notice some strands of hair at the bottom of my pillow. I look down.

It's Inoue. She's sleeping with me on my bed. No, she's sleeping on me. Her arm is flung over me and one of her legs is between mine, and her face is resting on my chest, and…and…

I can feel my whole body redden. How did I end up here? And why is she sleeping against me? And why is my hand pressing her head to me? Why is my arm around her waist? And why, oh why, am I cradling her body to me? Why am I not letting go?!

"Taking advantage of Inoue, are we?" My head snaps in the direction of my closet. There's Rukia with her phone out, mocking me.

Embarrassed, I release Inoue and push myself away from her, but in doing so, I fall out of my bed, hitting my head against the floor. I curse under my breath.

"Kurosaki-kun?" I sit up and look over at Inoue who is rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"She's still calling you Kurosaki-kun even after what you two did last night?" Rukia snickers.

"We didn't—" I try to stutter out.

"Kuchiki-san?" I see Inoue jump up, and her face flushes. "That's not it! I tried to move Kurosaki-kun to his bed, and I stumbled, and I got trapped under him, and I couldn't wake him, so I just let him sleep, and I was going to move when he did, but I fell asleep too, and nothing happened," Inoue rushes to get out everything. "And good morning, Kuchiki-san."

So that's what happened. I didn't even feel her moving me. I must have been tired, but was I really so tired that I didn't notice anything?

I look at Rukia, seeing if she believed what Inoue said. She's looking at her phone. "That's not what it looked like to me." She turns her phone to us, and I see a picture. And I could die from all the blood that leaves my body in favor for my face.

It's of Inoue and I. In the picture, I'm holding her close, and one of my arms is behind her neck, acting as her pillow while one of my hands is on her bare back because her shirt had risen. And I sharply turn my head away when I catch a glimpse of Inoue's underwear that peeked out from her skirt which had also risen up.

"Why!" I clear my throat. "Why did you take pictures?!"

Rukia looks at me like I'm dumb. "For my scrapbook. It's going to be called The Perverted Protector: The Beauty and The Beast edition." She winks at that. "Oh! Let me show you some more!" She shows another. This one is similar to the first one except she included herself in it. She's smiling while holding Kon in her hand. "I had to knock him out. He was starting to make too much noise." She looks at her phone again. "Let me show you my favorite one." And she shows it. And I need to destroy to her phone.

Our position is switched from the first picture. In the photo, I'm not holding her body to me. She's holding me to her. Her leg is trapped between mine. My head rests on one of her arms. And my face…it's on her chest. She's hugging my head, and it caused my head to be pushed onto her chest. And I can see that my fists are clenched behind her back, and it's not because I wanted to push her way. Even from the picture, I could tell. I was straining to pull her closer. Even asleep, my body wanted her to be closer.

"Give me it!" I lunge at her, trying to get her phone. She jumps away from me. I try again, and I feel my fingertips brush over the device until she snaps it away from my grasp.

"No! It's mine!"

"With pictures of Inoue and me! Give it!" I yell at her. I look at Inoue, and she looks deeply uncomfortable. I try even harder to get the phone "I swear, Rukia! You better give me your damn phone or else!"

"No!" She throws it in the air, and I lean to grab it, but she sweeps my legs. I fall while she grabs the phone.

From behind, I hear Inoue get up from my bed. I stop moving. "I'm…I'm going to use the bathroom."

"Inoue…" I say her name with hesitation, but she's already left. I turn my eyes back to Rukia. "You better delete those photos."

"I'll delete them…once I make my scrapbook." She smiles wickedly. "I wonder if I can order some bunny decorations from Urahara. I'm sure he would get me some once I show him these pictures!"

"You little…Huh?" I feel out the house. Inoue's reiatsu is not here anymore. I run out of my room and down the stairs.

"Onii-chan?" I head over to Yuzu.

"Did Inoue leave?"

"Yeah. She said she had something to do. She said to tell you goodbye and sorry. But why would she want to apologize? Oh, good morning, Rukia-chan! Orihime-chan wanted me to tell you that you should stop by at her apartment before you go home."

Why did she leave? Why didn't she say goodbye to my face? I close my eyes, tracing a path to her spiritual pressure. I can sense it moving quickly, meaning that she's running. Which means that I shouldn't go after her…because she's running away from me.