A/N: I did it! I made the first chapter of this brand new story! It might be weird. I wrote this in third person limited and past tense. I think when I catch up to the events of Hello Halcyon Days (I'm trying to complete the next chapter. I have writer's block. TT TT), I will switch to present tense. I'm still weighing my options. Although the dialogue is scarce, as I didn't want to repeat a lot of it (only the important dialogue will be repeated), in the future chapters, there will be talking, but more of Orihime and other people. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy and review!

It would have been easy. So easy to slip into its trap. She almost welcomed it with open arms like a fool. She couldn't help herself. Not when he looked at her in that way. Not when he treated her so gently.

So call her a fool. She'd wear the title proudly because she never once regretted loving him. Never once doubted her love for him. And how could she? No, really, how could she possibly not love him? It was a wonder in itself how he didn't have everyone falling for him? Then again, it was probably best that that didn't happen. She had once believed that it would be better if more people liked him. Back before her crush turned into love. Now, well, she knew better.

Did she know better? The moment she stepped from the gate, the second her eyes found his, she almost yelled her feelings at him. She really did. Because he had been so tense, so hurt, but when he looked at her, looked at her, she saw all the stress in him vanquish. What stopped her besides good sense was that a second later, his eyes tightened and his posture stiffened, and she knew what he was feeling. Guilt.

All she could do was smile at him and prayed that it conveyed to him what she couldn't say aloud due the distance between them. He smiled back with that crooked and awkward smile of his, a smile which told everyone that he wasn't quite used to the action, and she swore that she fell in love all over again.

When he reached her, that pesky emotion overtook her, leading her to believe that he would hug her, but he didn't. He asked if she was okay, and she reasoned that was enough for her. That was his version of a hug. So she pushed that emotion down. For the moment, at least.

It would be weeks, maybe months until they finally make it home. It was always difficult to tell how much time passed when she wasn't in the human world, so she couldn't honestly pinpoint how long that they have been gone. She just knew that it was far longer than she wanted. But despite her homesickness, she would also miss the companionship. She'd have to go back to sleeping alone, waking up alone, eating alone, and just…being alone.

So when everyone started heading their own way, she was reluctant to say goodbye, but she managed to keep her smile in place. It was just her and him, and although she wished to prolong the impending goodbye, she didn't have the courage to ask him to stay with her just a bit longer. She only could blush and tell him that she would be going.

And then he offered to walk her home, and her heart started to beat faster. She initially had declined. It was probably a reflex, but it also could have been her mind subtly telling her to not fall into its tempting lure. She told herself that this was just his way of being nice, a gentleman, and because she craved his company, she agreed. She wouldn't think anything of his offer.

But she knew that was a lie. She did think something, and she begrudged herself. She did so even more when she revealed a part of her feelings to him without thought. She didn't look at him when she said it, but she heard him stumble on his words. And though she thought it cute, she also found it to be…an underwhelming response.

She really felt stupid. She had always been cautious against it but apparently not enough.

Luckily for her, her stomach chose that moment to distract her. And her luck increased when he said that they should stop by to eat somewhere. And then it decreased when she realized that she didn't have money to pay for anything. And then increased when he told her that it was his treat. And then decreased when he realized he didn't have money either. But it was alright with her. Just the thought of him treating her to anything, of him wanting to spend time with her, it was more than filling to her. She was perfectly happy.

Of course, her stomach didn't really agree with her heart. No, her hunger had no tact, and it dared to contradict her words in which her brain had carefully picked out to alleviate his embarrassment. It betrayed her! Or maybe she betrayed her stomach first. When was the last time she ate? To her stomach, she had one job: feed it! And she hadn't. But really! Couldn't it have just waited until she was away from him to voice its protest?

She turned around and gave her stomach a fist-sandwich, hoping that it would be enough to ease her stomach pangs. If not, she whispered to her belly to quiet down. Just until she was alone. Just until he left her.

He called her name, and spun to face him. She watched as he gained this abashed expression, and he began pulling at his hair. She thought it made him look boyish, and she swooned over him.

When he slammed his fist into his palm, she snapped out of her admiration. He declared that he had an idea, and so she followed him until she was by his side. She couldn't help noticed that she was walking by his side and not slightly behind him. There was always a little space that he kept from her, but she thought it normal. But what was this? Why did he not speed up? Why were they walking next to each other?

Her heart gave a powerful thump against her chest while that feeling threatened to make itself prominent. She had to mentally beat it back.

They walked and talked until he zoned out. She called his name, concerned because his mannerism and his spiritual pressure became different. Dark.

She moved in front of him as he stopped, and she waved her hand, trying to get his attention. She was so concentrated on him that she nearly slapped his face, but his fast reflexes stopped her. He grabbed her wrist.

The contact was so surprising, so unexpected that she ripped her wrist from his grasp. She could probably count how many times he touched her on both hands. What she couldn't do on both hands was count how many times she ached for more.

She blushed at the stray thought, and she apologized. For almost hitting him because if she tried to apologize for the longing thought about him, well, it would probably be the last thing she would say to him; she would combust from the sheer amount of embarrassment that would come from the admission.

She bowed to him for added measure. She almost banged her head against his when she tried to straighten up. He dodged her unintentional attack, and he made a joke while bumping his fist against her head. And that felt…so strange. That was definitely not normal.

They were friends. She knew that with all heart. She couldn't doubt it or debate it. They were, but he also treated her a bit differently than his other friends. His teasing was always with words. Where he was physical with everyone else, he kept his hands away from her. Even with Tatsuki-chan and Kuchiki-san, he would playfully hit them, but with her…nothing. He would have never done that before. Something had changed.

Her hands flown up to grab her head. What was she thinking?! He couldn't possibly…he would never…

She ran forward in an attempt to run away from it. Why was it bothering her? She was happy! She was perfectly content with hiding her feelings. Unrequited love was just fine with her!

Or it used to be. Before it started to rear its head at her.

She faced him. "I'll keep it away from you, I promise." She didn't know exactly what she was referring to: her feelings or her head. Probably both but mostly her head. She really didn't know what her head was made of. It couldn't be just bone. It must be steel, and then an image of her future self that she drew so many moons ago popped up in her thoughts, and she voiced her musings aloud. She wondered if she could become a robot, and if she did, would her head be the first to become robotic? She kind of hope that was true. She wouldn't have too much emotions if she were just a robot.

She bopped and beeped, and she internally cheered when she pried out a laugh from him. She felt so accomplished that she lost her balance and fell.

He rushed to her, and he stuck his hand out. She looked at it, but she jumped to her feet without taking his hand. She wasn't confident that if she placed her hand in his that she would be able to let him go.

She heard him try to ask if she was alright, but at that moment, she saw the shop which he had mentioned, and she pointed it out to him. He told her that was the shop, and he instructed that she let him go inside first, so she stayed behind.

She heard yelling, and curiosity got the best of her: she stepped inside.

When she did, she was met with his boss, but more than that, she was met with a part of him that she didn't know before. Throughout the evening, she watched him in this environment. She even saw when he reached out with his hand like he was going to touch her. She chalked that up to her wishful imagination.

But she liked this part of him. To her, it felt like he acted his age. He seemed more like the teenager he was rather than the man he tried to be, the man who shouldered the world on his shoulders.

When they get ready to leave, she thanked Ikumi-san for the food and hospitality. But she also silently thanked her for treating him with such kindness. For protecting him in those months in which he needed it.

Back outside, he continued to walk her home. Their conversation was as natural and smooth as it always was. She was grateful that despite her feelings for him, she was still able to talk to him with ease. Sure she would blush and stumble on her words, but they always managed to communicate with each other.

Once her apartment building was in sight, the loneliness started to sneak up on her. The second she parted with him, she would become alone again. Alone and lonely.

She swallowed back the melancholy that swirled in her and thought of a possible temporary solution.

She proposed the idea to him about having a small get-together, and his eyes softened, and again, that emotion bubbled in her, and when he agreed to her proposal, she felt it even more to the point where it escaped from her throat in the form of a squeal. Fortunately for her, weird noises were pretty normal for her so he wouldn't think nothing of it.

Instead, she expressed her excitement, and then she thanked him. He gained this humbled, embarrassed look, and he brushed away her gratitude, but what he didn't realize was that she was thanking him for everything, so she had to explicitly tell him that her thanks included more than just escorting her home.

She didn't stay to see his expression. She decided it would be best, so she hauled herself to her apartment. She stared at her door briefly before turning to lean against the railing. In a hushed voice, she shouted a goodbye to him. And she blamed it on the night because for a second, she thought she saw something. Not a smile. Not a scowl. Just something that if it were on anybody's face, she could identify it correctly. Dazzled. He looked like he was dazzled. And that was bad. Because if that were true, if she was the one that caused that state, she would have trouble trying to suppress it.

She entered her apartment and turned on the light. Nothing had changed, and she counted herself lucky that no one had broken in despite how she left her door unlocked. But after that relief wore off, she was greeted with silence.

"I'm home," she whispered. No response but that was okay. She didn't dwell on it. She just walked over to her brother's shrine and started to relay the events that happened. She kept all the negative parts to herself. She wouldn't want to worry her brother.

"We're having this small party tomorrow. At Kurosaki-kun's home…I know what you're thinking. I'm just going there as a friend, so don't worry!" She was sure that her brother would have been overprotective of her if he were still alive especially when it came to boys. "But...would it be okay? To feel it?" She thought of her love's parting expression. "Should I allow myself to do it?" She asked. "Ahh!" She ruffled her hair. "What would it hurt if I just…if I just hoped."

But she knew the answer. It would hurt a lot.

So it would have been easy. So easy to slip into hope's trap. She almost welcomed hope with open arms like a fool. And despite the way he looked at her, the way he treated her so gently, she wouldn't give herself permission to do it. She wouldn't hope for something more. Because…because hope was for suckers.

She knew she was a fool in love, but she wouldn't be a sucker.