Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters! They belong to Tite Kubo

Chapter 1

The auburn-haired girl backed into the corner of the damp alleyway, trying to remember how she had got into this situation in the first place.

She supposed, it had started with a decision. A completely impossible decision. The most perplexing aspect of this, was why the choice even needed to be made.

Kurosaki or Ishida. She wasn't sure if either of them had feelings for her, but it still didn't help to be torn between two people. Two friends.

She had felt very sure, for as long as she could remember, that she had loved Kurosaki. His determination, his strength, his will to protect. Even his funny face. She was sure she loved him. What else could these feelings be?

But now Ishida…

Although Kurosaki would always protect her, she only truly felt at ease when Ishida was there with her. He had an amazing ability to read her thoughts and emotions, no matter how deeply she tried to hide them. She guessed that he could recognize the bland expressions she tried to put on, because he always wore the same look. She was getting better at reading that face too. Whenever he was embarrassed, his cheeks would flush just for a second, before he turned away and pushed his glasses up, covering his face with his hand. She thought that was extremely cute.

She had not been able to rest, as the impossible choice bounced off the walls of her brain.

Kurosaki, because he can protect me. Ishida, because he can make me feel safe. Kurosaki. Ishida. Kurosaki. Ishida. It was endless.

She had decided to take a walk, to clear her thoughts. It was a cool autumn evening and the sun was beginning to set

It didn't help.

Her mind continued to wander, often on such ridiculous trains of thought that she had to physically stop herself and shake her head.

After about half an hour of walking, the night was starting to close in and the air was becoming colder, sharper. Oh well, she thought, resigning herself to a sleepless night. It was only when she lifted her head to set about finding her way back home that she realized she had no idea where she was. She had, in fact wandered into the roughest district of Karakura Town, where thugs and drug dealers seemed to centre themselves.

She started to panic. As she turned to retrace her steps, she walked straight into the man standing behind her.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" She apologized, quickly stepping back, but the stranger offered her a warm smile.

"Oh don't be sorry it's my fault, honestly. Are you ok? You seem panicked…?" He asked, concerned.

"Oh no, don't worry, I was just lost in my thoughts and, well…" She looked at the ground. "I'm a bit lost." She admitted.

"Would you like me to show you the right direction?" The man asked. The girl nodded, embarrassed. She told him the address of a café she knew. Her brother had always warned her never to give strangers her address, no matter how nice they seemed. She could find her way home by herself from the café anyway.

The man smiled. "No problem. Just follow me."

He set off and she trailed just behind, thanking God for his kindness.

He gradually began to speed up, and soon she found it difficult to keep up with him. The quality of streets had changed too, the alleys becoming darker, colder.

"Um, excuse me? Is this really the right way?" She asked nervously, "Don't be embarrassed if you're lost. I have no sense of direction. I sometimes even forget the way to school and ba-". She was cut off when a hand clamped itself across her mouth. It pushed her down the remainder of the alleyway, and slammed her into the dead end wall. She was then released but barely moved a pace before she heard the click of a knife being opened. Her hands instinctively flew to her temples but-

Of all the times to not be wearing her hairpins.

She slowly raised her head, her cloudy grey eyes wide with shock. The blade was inches from her throat. Her attacker pinned her right wrist to the wall. His previously kind, caring face transformed by the sinister snarl of his lips.

"Now girl, I'm goin' ta give ya a choice. Ya can come back with me and 'entertain'-"He glanced meaningfully at her breasts, "Me and ma boys, or I can cut yer pretty little face so bad, not even yer mother would recognize ya." He leered.

She looked at the floor again, completely devoid of hope. "Ah, um-"

"What the HELL do you think you're doing?!" A voice shouted from the other end of the alleyway.

"Huh?" Her attacker let go of her. "What the-"

He barely had time to turn his head before a decisive fist hit him squarely on the temple, knocking him unconscious.

The girl looked from her former attacker to her apparent saviour. She gasped in surprise.

"Ishida-kun!" Wow. She never knew he could punch.

"Inoue-san," the bespectacled teenager said, his deep blue eyes full of concern. "What on earth are you doing here?"

"I was well, having trouble sleeping" She began nervously. She couldn't tell him why. " I had some things on my mind, and so I decided to take a quick walk to help settle my thoughts, but I wandered into an area I didn't know and all of a sudden this man said he could help me and I followed him but then he tried to attack me and I-"

"Shh…" He soothed. She was getting hysterical. "Are you… hurt in any way?"

Inoue glanced at her wrist. The attacker had been gripping her arm pretty hard and bruises were already starting to form. No point in trying to cover it up, there's no way he would have missed it. "Well…"

He nodded in understanding. "Come on, my apartment's closer than yours." He said offering his hand. She was still in shock and so a bit off-balance, so he wanted to make sure that she didn't injure herself further. Plus, he had always wanted to hold her hand. She took it without a moment's hesitation. He was stronger, as well, than she had expected, but still just as gentle. She saw him blush slightly and watched his hand fly up to cover his face. She smiled at the ground.

As they walked hand in hand back towards a more civilized world, she realized that maybe it wasn't such an impossible decision after all.

Chapter 2

It really wasn't very far to his apartment. Inoue was surprised by this. She would never have expected the number one student and class president to have lived so close to an area like that. Of course he noticed her surprise. "I don't earn very much," He explained, his cheeks colouring, "And the rent is cheaper around here."

His apartment, although reasonably small was extremely neat and ordered. "Well…" He swallowed anxiously, "Make yourself at home. I'll… go get some bandages." He finished, awkwardly backing out of the room. Inoue smiled again. He was blushing. How cute! Maybe he likes me… she started to wonder, but shook herself before she could go off on a crazy train of thought.

He rushed out of the main room into his storage cupboard closing the door behind him. He could feel his cheeks burning. Oh God, oh God, oh God… he panicked Why did I do this? I'm going to say something stupid or awkward and make a complete idiot of myself! Then he mentally corrected himself. Shut up Uryuu, she's been hurt possibly mildly traumatized do not let your own feelings get in the way of treating her. He snapped out of his thoughts and searched for his first aid kit.

He returned a few moments later to find her sitting on one end of his sofa. She appeared to be deep in thought. "Ah, Inoue san?"

She looked up quickly "Hm? Oh, Ishida-kun." She smiled.

He felt himself start to go red again, but reflexively turned his head and pushed up his glasses.

Wait, what? He had sworn he heard her giggle…

Shaking himself, he sat down beside her and took some bandages out of the case. She held out her wrist and he began winding the fabric around it. Trying to make conversation, he cleared his throat.

"Ah, Inoue-san? If you don't mind me asking, you said you were having troubling thoughts? Anything… I could… help you with?" He said his voice trailing off. She had turned a bright red, so of course, he went red too. He sighed. She only went that colour when she was thinking about one thing. Well, one person. Kurosaki Ichigo. The bastard. She loved him, anyone could see that. Except, apparently, Kurosaki himself.

"You were thinking about Kurosaki…" He started, in a sadder tone than usual she thought.

She looked at him but the light from the ceiling shone across his glasses, hiding his eyes. Damn he was good at hiding his feelings. No choice then. To find out, she would simply have to be straight with him. She had made her decision. Time for him to make one too.

"I was…" She began and immediately his face fell. "But… I was also thinking…about…" She swallowed, nervously. Mustering some courage, she forced herself to look directly into his eyes. God, they were beautiful. "You."

This he hadn't expected. He blinked at her. "Did… did I hear you right?" he asked in disbelief, trying and failing to hide a smile that twitched at the corners of his lips.

Yes! Inoue thought, overjoyed, I was right! "Yes. I was thinking how… how I felt differently about the two of you, but both those feelings I thought were love." He just stared at her, lost for words.

"You saving me today made me realize that… even though I do have strong feelings for Kurosaki-kun… I do not love him. Yes, he is strong. Yes, he is determined, but even though he has saved me countless times, I… don't truly feel safe unless I'm around you." She finished. The smile on the edges of his mouth had grown and grown as she had continued. Especially when she had said that she didn't love Kurosaki. "What I'm trying to say, Ishida-kun, is…" She paused, leaning towards in, until she was barely a breath away from him. "I love you." He took her cue and leant in the rest of the way sealing her words with a kiss.

After several heavenly moments, they broke away. "Inoue-", Ishida began, but she shook her head.

"From now on, you must call me 'Orihime', ok?"

He was still smiling "Well then, Orihime, you must call me 'Uryuu'."

She leant in close again. "Ok." She whispered, before kissing him again. He placed his hands on her waist and she clasped hers behind his neck. They spent the next few hours wrapped in each other's arms, talking about everything from sewing to Soul society, pausing occasionally to kiss. I could lie here forever… she thought. This was definitely the right decision. She could not feel this way about anyone else.