A/N: Hello! I'm back! And with the help of Bleachfanficfanatic, I present this new chapter, which is, in my opinion, meh, but the next one will be hella cute! And can I just say that I love, love, an awkward yet semi-confident Ichigo?! Anyways, keep reading, reviewing, and enjoying!

I didn't expect such a response from her. The simple gesture, a poor imitation of her own confession, shouldn't have made her eyes soften or glisten with happiness. It shouldn't have made her smile the way she did. Most of all, her reactions shouldn't have made my insides shift so restlessly, but it does. And it only gets worse when she briefly glances up to meet my eyes.

"It's…" I begin. "I didn't know if you were going to need proof that last night happened, so I just," I clear my throat, "you know, took some precautions."

"You didn't have to go to such trouble," she says softly while she looks down.

I snort. "Same to you. You didn't have to make it in the first place."

Her head snaps up, and her eyes widen.

"But I did! The other times I tried to tell you didn't work!"

"Other times?" I ask with confusion. Her face becomes redder, and she presses her lips together while her eyes squeezes shut.

She's embarrassed.

I repress a smirk as she starts to fidget again. To tease, or not to tease…it's a difficult choice to make, but I decide not to repeat my question. For now, at least, I'll behave myself.

I stretch my legs out and recline back on my hands.

"Are you going to try it?"

She nods her head with enthusiasm, but her hand stills, and her fork hovers over the cake.

"What's wrong?"

Her eyebrows pull together as if in concentration.

"I want to eat it..."

"But?"

"But I want to keep staring at it," she finishes.

I chuckle when I notice that she's starting to pout due to her conundrum.

I reach for my phone, and I lean closer to her. She stiffens, probably surprised, but I focus on steadying my hand as I take a picture of the piece. I move back while I send the picture to her, satisfied when I hear a small chime come from her own phone.

"Now you'll always have it. And so will I," I tell her.

She grins.

"Go on and eat," I prompt.

"I did make it for you, so I think you should have the first taste." She holds the container out for me.

I take my own fork, and I take a piece of the edge, carefully maneuvering so I don't disturb theI like you. I move the fork to my mouth, trying to not be bothered by her vigilant eyes, but I can feel heat rise in me.

"Don't look at me like that. You're making me…nervous."

She snaps her head down, offering an apology. But she still peeks under her hair. She is still watching me.

So much for being sorry.

Despite the unnerving feeling of being watched, I part my lips and take the cake into my mouth.

"It's good," I mumble around the fork.

"Really?!" She asks with excitement. I nod my head as I pull the fork away to go for another piece.

It really is more than good. The cake is moist, light, but at the same time, the flavors are dark. Like she used sweet but bitter dark cocoa for the mix. And the frosting is a perfect mixture of vanilla and milk chocolate.

I never tasted anything better in my life.

"So you like it?"

I hum as a piece of cake melts in my mouth.

"Try some."

She does with some hesitation, as if I am lying to her.

"It is good!"

"Well, don't sound so surprised."

"But I am!"

"Didn't you—"

"Eh? Eh?!" We look over at Keigo who's pointing at me. "What's going on? Why are you sharing food so intimately with Inoue-san?!"

"They're dating," Mizuiro announces causally. "Did you not know that?"

Keigo turns towards him. "You're kidding, right? Right?" He looks back at Inoue and I. "Right?!" He's almost pleading at this point.

His answer comes in the form of a bashful smile from Inoue and a scowl from me. We are both blushing, too.

"No way." He shakes his head. "There's no way! It's got to be a joke."

"It's not a joke," Tatsuki intervenes.

"Did you put her under some kind of spell? Drug her? Blackmail her? Threaten her?" He accusingly asks.

I glare. "No, I didn't."

"You fiend! Betrayer! You asked her out! How could you?" He yells as he paces in his usual annoyingly loud way.

But today, I'm more bothered by it, but before I can shout at him, Inoue speaks up.

"A-ano, Asano-kun?" She interjects quietly while the fork presses against her bottom lip. We all look at her, and she blushes under the attention. "I actually asked Kurosaki-kun out…"

It becomes quiet for a second. And then we hear Keigo's footsteps as he walks toward the railing.

"A dream. This must be a dream. A nightmare." He mutters as he grasps the railing. He slings one leg over it. "A horrible nightmare. I need to wake up!" He cries theatrically.

I roll my eyes. Inoue gasps in worry. Mizuiro pulls Keigo back with exasperation.

It goes back to quiet except for Keigo's exaggerated sobbing.

"How pathetic."

I turn my glare to Ishida who is now pushing his glasses up.

"The hell did you just say?"

"You made Inoue-san confess first. Truly pathetic of you, Kurosaki."

I scowl.

Tatsuki chortles. "I agree. You are such a weakling, Ichigo. Poor Orihime was going out of her mind with worry about confessing and being rejected."

My scowl deepens.

"No, I wasn't," Inoue denies quietly.

"Such a coward," Ishida directs at me.

"I was going to confess," I snap, defensive from all the attacks. "Eventually, I would've confessed." I look into her wide eyes. "Really, I would've."

She nods her head slowly before her face turns a deep vermillion color.

"There is no God!" Keigo blubbers.

"Congratulations," Chad offers with a small smile to me.

"Congrats, you two. It's about time," Mizuiro states as he shrugs off Keigo who has been trying to cry on his shoulder.

"You're telling me," Tatsuki remarks. "I feel like I aged twenty years waiting for them to get together."

Inoue laughs. "You look really good for 37," she compliments.

Tatsuki wrinkles her nose and glares at me.

"You've been dating her for less than a day, and you're already a bad influence on her! She's become so cheeky!"

"That's not my fault!"

"Take responsibility!"

"No!"

"Tatsuki-chan's old age has made her angrier," Inoue jokes, feeding into Tatsuki's outrage.

"Oi!" Tatsuki reaches over and pinches Inoue's cheeks, pulling them. "So cheeky!"

"Tatsuki!" Inoue whines in pain.

"Let her go. You're being too harsh on her!"

She lets go as she stands up. "This punk is trying to tell me how to educate Orihime again!"

"'Educate', my ass!" I jump up.

Tatsuki grabs my shirt. "I will not educate your ass!"

"What?! Did you not hear the comma, you idiot?"

"You're the idiot!"

Inoue starts laughing, and Tatsuki and I look at her.

"No fair." Tatsuki mumbles under her breath as her grip weakens.

I don't even need to ask to know what her comment is referring to. I already know. It's about Inoue and her disarming laughter. After all, it's very difficult to stay mad when Inoue is smiling.

I sit back down next to her.

"Our friends are a handful."

"Yup!" She cheerily agrees.

"Don't talk like we are not even here!" Tatsuki complains.

The bells rings, and I sigh in relief.

"Let's go, Inoue. I'll walk you to your class."

"You don't ha—"

I give her a look.

She stops and grins. "Okay!" She grabs her things and jumps up. I stand, and I take the container from her hands. She shyly smiles and thanks me as we start to walk toward the door, which I open and hold for her. She thanks me again.

"Gross. Seeing a chivalrous Ichigo is disgusting," Tatsuki insults. I send her a glare over my shoulder.

"Yeah," Keigo agrees with a sniffle. "But at least they seem happy."

My glare melts as I close the door behind me. I stare at her as she walks down the stairs before she turns her head and gives me a huge grin.

"Hey!" I call out to her. "Look where you going!"

Her smile grows as she shakes her head.

I groan.

"Tatsuki's right. You are cheeky."

She laughs and turns forward, listening to my order. Kind of. There's a spring in her step that just screams recklessness, and I take the stairs two at a time to catch up to her side. Once I'm next to her, I see her hands covering her blushing face.

I look behind us. There's no one. And there's no one in front of us. Which means one thing: we are alone. We're alone, and I don't have to behave anymore.

I smirk.

"So…what were you saying about 'other times?'"