Ichigo, Rukia, Uryu, Orihime and Chad walked together in the same general direction away from school as usual. It went as usual: Ichigo alternating between arguing with Rukia and arguing with Uryu, Orihime happily chattering about her latest food concotions, and Chad being… Chad.

It wasn't until they noticed the crowd beginning to gather, some kids running past them to get to the queue, that the five friends snapped out of their respective little worlds. The crowd was gathered around a store on the sidewalk, and the friends stood on their toes to try and see which store was causing the commotion.

"Ichigo, what's over there?" Rukia asked, finally giving up on jumping higher than the people's heads.

Ichigo was opening his mouth to answer, but stopped and sneered. "What's the matter? You too short to see?"

A knee to the gut wiped the smirk off his face. After muttering something about 'violent midgets', he said, "It's that new ice cream shop Keigo and Mizuiro had been talking about. I think it opens today."

Rukia's eyes lit up. He was pretty sure he knew why, and he was about to immediately inform her that no one was going to that store today, when a cheerful voice cut him off.

"Oh! We should go try some!" Orihime waved her arms cheerfully. "I hear the ice cream there is really good!" she clapped her hands excitedly.

"That sounds great, Inoue!" Rukia was quick to agree, and Ichigo took the chance to jump in.

"What are you talking about? You're not going anywhere." He stated. He was the man, and he would be obeyed.

He should have known better.

"Who are you to tell me what to do?! I'm having some ice cream! Come on, Inoue. This idiot is obviously too good for ice cream and will be staying behind-" She had started walking away, pulling Orihime by the wrist, about to prance into the shop, when she felt Ichigo's rough hand pull her by the arm.

"For starters, you can't just walk in there. The store just opened today and you have to wait in line to get in. Secondly, I'm not going to stand under the hot sun for hours just for some stupid ice cream. We're going home."

Orihime, who had been watching silently until now, flinched a little when she heard Ichigo say 'We're going home' so easily. Like it was only natural that Rukia went to his house with him. No, that was wrong, the way he said it, it was their house.

"Oh come on! You never do anything for fun, it's not healthy, Ichigo." Rukia started, shoving him away. "It won't kill you to wait in line a little while."

Orihime wondered at how, despite their objections to what the other wanted, neither suggested even once to split up. It was the logical thing, both could do what they wanted, but they didn't even seem to consider that option.

She heard Uryu sigh as the two continued to fight. "Those two never change."

Orihime looked at him, just as he fixed his glasses. She waited for him to go on, but he just shook his head. "Sorry, Inoue-san, I can't stay, I have some things to go over at my house. See you tomorrow." He offered her a rare smile, and she smiled back and waved. "Bye, Ishida-kun!"

"I guess I'll get going too." Chad spoke not a second after Uryu left. "Goodbye, Inoue."

"Oh, goodbye Sado-kun." Orihime said as her other friend disappeared.

Rukia and Ichigo were still too engrossed in their argument to notice much. Orihime wondered if she should leave when she heard, "Fine! You win, let's just get the stupid ice cream." Ichigo crossed his arms and scowled, unhappily moving to get in the long line that spilled down the street to get into the shop.

Rukia stood at his side and smirked smugly for a moment before turning to Orihime. "Come on, Inoue." she smiled, Orihime went over a bit hesitantly, not sure if she would be a third wheel now that Ishida and Chad were gone.

The three of them stood in line: Rukia grinning excitedly, Ichigo scowling, and Orihime feeling slightly awkward. The silence made her anxious, though the other two seemed to be perfectly at ease. She looked around for something to focus on, and somehow ended up looking at Ichigo.

The afternoon summer breeze blew gently by and ruffled his orange spikes, and the sun's bright rays shined on his face. Orihime watched in awe of the beautiful sight. Ichigo was not your typical boy, he never had been, with his orange hair and big attitude… He had always reminded Orihime of the Sun. Radiating warmth and strength. Always ready to protect.

Maybe that was why she loved him.

She didn't know. It didn't matter at this point. She knew she was too far gone to forget her feelings, she had already acknowledged them to herself, she had even confessed to a sleeping Ichigo… But could she tell him now? While he was awake, conscious? She wanted to know how he felt, but still, she was afraid. A few months ago she would have had no doubts that he felt nothing special for her, but then when she was kidnapped a little while ago, and taken to Hueco Mundo, Ichigo had gone after her. He had risked his life to save her, it made her wonder… Perhaps she did have a chance after all.

"We're almost to the front!" Rukia grinned, now that they were finally inside the shop, after a good amount of time outside.

"Don't look so excited. We've been in line for almost an hour." Ichigo said, irritated.

"Don't be so grumpy. It'll be worth it." Rukia replied.

"Che. How would you know? You've never even tasted it. You know we could have just stopped at the market on our way home and bought some regular ice cream. No stupid lines."

"But this gonna be better. Besides, the line wasn't that bad."

Ichigo's retort was lost as they were finally called to the front.

"What will you be having, Sir?" A cheerful girl that somewhat reminded him of Orihime asked from behind the counter.

"Umm, vanilla for me." He said, not really caring much for any flavor.

"And your friend?" she asked, looking at Rukia, who barely reached over the counter and was currently staring at the menu with wide, sparkly eyes.

"Oi, Rukia, what do you want?"

She thought about it for the longest minute. Ichigo narrowed his eyes at her. "Today."

"Alright, alright, don't rush me! Strawberry."

"What did you just call me?!"

"Nothing! I just said I wanted strawberry!"

"…Oh."

The counter girl, who had been listening the whole time nodded, trying to keep her smile in place. "One strawberry and one vanilla-"

"Wait a second, Inoue?" Ichigo looked back to see Inoue had stayed back in line, waiting for him and Rukia.

"Huh?" She looked bewildered when he called her.

"What flavor do you want?" he asked, already fishing around in his wallet.

Orihime stared for a second, then understanding came and she started shaking around her hands wildly. "Oh no thanks, Kurosaki-kun! That's alright! I brought my own money! You don't have to-"

"Don't worry about it." he caught her off. "I'm already getting Rukia's and she doesn't feel any guilt mooching off my money." he looked pointedly at said girl, who looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" she asked in a dangerous tone.

Before things could get ugly, Orihime spoke again. "Oh, if it's alright then, I guess I'll have… Chocolate Bean Pistachio."

Ichigo disguised his disgust and ordered the thing, wondering if they even had such a flavor. Apparently, they did.

A minute later the three were making their way through the tightly packed ice cream shop, until they found an empty book in the furthest corner of the place.

Ichigo slid in after Rukia on one side, Orihime in the other.

"This is great!" Rukia exclaimed, happily taking more spoonfuls of her ice cream.

Ichigo unenthusiastically dug into his own ice cream, eyeing Rukia out of the corner of his eye. "You shouldn't eat so fast. You'll get a brain freeze." he said in a bored manner.

Rukia completely ignored him and said, "Yours looks good too, can I have some?" Even as she said this, she started reaching over with her spoon towards his vanilla, only to have the bowl snatched out of the way quickly.

"Hey! No way! You already have your own!" Ichigo shouted.

"But yours looks good, I want some!"

"You should have thought of that before then, shouldn't you?" they continued throwing arguments at each other as Ichigo turned, holding his ice cream bowl and shielding it with his back, while fending off Rukia, who was practically standing in her seat by now, with his arm.

Orihime watched, transfixed by how easily they could turn anything into an argument, but how neither of them ever seemed truly angry. Just the opposite actually…

The battle was stopped by a beeping sound. Rukia slumped back into a normal sitting position and took out her cell phone, chappy charm dangling.

"A hollow." she informed, her tone serious now.

Ichigo started to reach into his pocket, presumably for his Soul Reaper batch, but was stopped by Rukia's hand on his.

He looked back at her and their eyes met.

"I'll go." Rukia said firmly. "You don't have Kon and we don't wanna deal with your body lying around dead again." She smirked as she said this, but Ichigo only scowled deeper.

"Rukia…"

Rukia sighed, squeezing his wrist with her hand ever so slightly before saying, "It's just an ordinary hollow. I can deal with it." she assured him.

Ichigo still looked doubtful, but he nodded slightly, and Rukia took off, leaving her uneaten strawberry ice cream.

"She'll be alright, Kurosaki-kun." Orihime spoke up, feeling the need to try and make Ichigo feel better. "Kuchiki-san is strong. A hollow can't beat her."

Ichigo looked at Orihime, startled at first, then he slowly smiled. "Yeah, you're right." he then started eating his ice cream again. Orihime followed suit.

"How are you liking yours?" he asked casually, but it still caused Orihime to blush slightly.

"Oh, it's really yummy! Although, I usually prefer to add some red bean paste to kick the flavor a little bit, and-" she trailed off, talking about her food while Ichigo listened, glad for the distraction. He hated just sitting and waiting to feel Rukia's spiritual pressure; when it spiked at the beginning of a fight, how it pulsated strongly during the rest of it, bursting once with her final attack… He always feared to feel it wither away as it once had. He'd never forget that time in Hueco Mundo, when he felt her very life slip by…

"Thanks, Inoue." he said suddenly, gently.

Orihime stopped short in her animated story, blinking a few times. The color rose in her cheeks and she looked away for a moment. "Eh…Emm, you're welcome, Kurosaki-kun."

There was a brief silence after that, Ichigo smiled at her, and she gradually smiled back.

It was now or never. Orihime thought, she didn't know when- if- she would get another opportunity to be alone with him like this.

"Umm, Ku-Kurosaki-kun…" she started, not able to meet his eyes. Ichigo looked at her, vague interest in his brown eyes.

Their ice cream melted as they waited for her to speak.

"Well, you see, I wanted to talk to you… About-"

Sensing her hesitation, Ichigo said, "Well you can tell me, Inoue. What is it?"

Orihime felt her ears grow hot as she searched for the right words. Nothing came to her, and as she inwardly fought with herself, she ended up blurting out,

"I love you!"

Ichigo blinked once.

Twice.

His mouth was slightly open in shock, and all he could do was stare.

Orihime's hands quickly flew to her mouth. "I'm s-so-so sorry, Kurosaki-kun! I-I didn't mean to say that out loud." she frantically apologized, feeling stupid for having just yelled it out like that. And feeling even worse when he didn't say anything.

"Please say something." she pleaded in a small voice, looking away from him.

"…I-Inoue… I-"

Ichigo and Orihime both jumped out of their seats as they instantly felt a tremendous spike in spiritual pressure. It was that of a hollow's, but it was tremendously strong! Not a second after, they both felt Rukia's spiritual pressure spike intensely.

There was a single, frozen moment when Ichigo met Orihime's eyes.

"Inoue, can we…?"

She nodded once. "Go."

He ran off.

***

Ichigo arrived to see a huge hollow, with it's mask half ripped off, standing big and menacing in the middle of a now ruined street. A crowd of people gathered but kept their distance, not able to see anything but sensing something was wrong.

"Rukia!" Ichigo shouted at once, seeing her, with her released Sode no Shirayuki in one hand, looking pretty battered up.

"Ichigo!" she yelled back upon seeing him, the hollow then started to swing it's spiked tail at her, and she blocked just in time.

Ichigo flash-stepped to her side and took a swing with Zangetsu at the mighty thing.

"Ichigo, be careful. That hollow is halfway done becoming an arrancar. It's very strong." Rukia warned, as they took a fighting stance together.

"Che. Nothing we can't handle."

Rukia's lips curved into a smile, just before the hollow-arrancar swung it's fist down at them. They jumped in opposite directions, dodging the attack.

"I thought I'd told you to stay back." Rukia shouted over as she took a swing of her sword, missing the beast's arm by a split second.

"I thought you'd said you could handle it. You're all battered up." his tone was half smug, half reprimanding and concerned.

He jumped just in time as the monster attacked again. Damn it was fast!

He started lifting his sword for another attack, when he heard, "Ichigo! Look out!" He turned and blocked a powerful kick just in time. With one mighty swing, Ichigo released a crescent shaped wave of blue energy from the edge of his sword, straight at the hollow's head.

He panted, then looked up to find Rukia standing just a little further. She smiled at him and he started to smile back, but his face contorted in horror as he screamed, "RUKIA!"

She spun around, but it was too late. The hollow-arrancar's hand had turned into one huge spike, and it had just run Rukia through with it.

Furious, Ichigo charged at the hollow, this time making sure it was more than dead.

"Rukia!" he shouted, running over to where she lied in a red puddle.

***

Orihime concentrated on her work. Luckily, she had already been on her way to where the fight took place, so she arrived in time to help Rukia.

She had not forgotten her conversation with Ichigo before the hollow trouble… But she didn't bring it up.

She didn't intend to.

Firstly, because she could see the way Ichigo was looking at Rukia through her golden shield. She'd seen that look before. Talking to him now would be useless.

Secondly, it didn't matter. Because in that moment, when time seemed to stop, just before Ichigo ran off to help Rukia, she saw his eyes. They were apologizing. He was sorry. He was sorry he couldn't return her feelings. He was sorry he didn't love her.

Orihime wanted to laugh bitterly.

How had she fooled herself into thinking that maybe, just maybe, there was a chance? A chance he had fallen for her, as she had, for him. She felt so silly. She'd seen first hand the way he treated Rukia, the way they were with each other. Only a fool wouldn't have seen it. What a fool she had been.

Looking at him now, she saw her feelings mirrored in his eyes. His eyes spoke of pure, undying love. Concerned, loving eyes. Oh how she wished they were looking at her!

But she knew who they gazed at. She knew who the object of his affections was.

The raven-haired girl asleep on the ground.

Once Orihime was finished, Rukia started to tiredly open her eyes. She started to sit up, and then a strong arm was helping her, putting her own hand around his neck, and his hand aroung her back. He picked her up in his arms.

"…Ichigo?" she said quietly.

"Shut up. Get some rest, we're going home."

Rukia didn't argue this time. Instead, she let her eyelids flutter shut and she rested her head against his warm chest.

Orihime saw it now.

She was the Moon.

If Ichigo was the Sun, then Rukia was the Moon.

There was no room for her, no matter how much she wished otherwise.

-*-*-*-

I feel bad for Orihime here, but it can't be helped! I think I might do a sequel for this, maybe turn it into a series of oneshots, what do you think? Let me now okay : ) I'm feeling inspired, I might even give Orihime some *cough* Uryu *cough* shoulder to cry on^^

Hope you enjoyed! IchiRuki forever!!!!