Author's Note: Sigh... I don't even know what I'm doing right now but I guess I should explain some things. Recently I had a sudden realization of something that partially killed me on the inside. You see I was reading some of my favorite authors and I noticed how they have a tendency to drop off the face of the planet and their stories that I used to hold so close to my heart vanish. It's depressing to think about... and then I remembered that I never finished the first story I ever wrote. Though in my defense it's not because I vanished, it's because I loathe this pairing now. Hell I loathe het in general. Heh I'm a total yaoi fangirl now and I can admit to that (I'm a complete sucker for Grimmichi XD ). But that's not fair to the people who used to really enjoy this story. I owe them so much for helping my confidence and fueling me to become a better writer. So in honor of them I will finish this story even if it makes me bash my head violently against a wall, though that's because when I read back on the previous chapters I realized how god AWFUL my writing was back then. So if you notice a style change that's cause it's been almost 5 years since I've written this XD Fail? Oh yeah. So without further ado I give you that one story I vowed never to touch again ha.

Disclaimer: The following is a work of fiction and does not reflect the personal or professional lives of any real person or made up character portrayed herein. All fictional characters belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.

Lightning and Thunder

By: Reasonfalling (Cause I don't seem to go by Neokura anymore...)

...

Ichigo tossed himself on his bed with a small huff. He wanted nothing more than to just sink into a deep hole and never return. How could he be so absolutely stupid? Really, he made stupidity look like a disease that was flowing rampant through his body. But that wasn't the point right now. The point was that he might have just royally screwed himself over and he hadn't the slightest idea how to solve his problems.

After Rukia had walked in on him and Orihime things had become… well… complicated.

Flashback

"Ichigo…"

Ichigo jerked away from Orihime and stared into Rukia's wide eyes like a deer caught in headlights. Shit, this was NOT supposed to happen.

"Rukia… it's not what-"

"Don't even give me that Ichigo!" Rukia barked, her lost look twisting into one of stony contempt as she eyed the substitute shinigami. Her eyes bored holes into him as he gaped at her like a fish. She knew what she saw and if that was how he felt then there was clearly nothing she could do about it.

"What you do it your spare time is none of my business Kurosaki," She began with a small hesitation. She steeled her resolve and chanced a glance at Orihime who was watching the two with a look of worry and a bit of fear. "Just… be sure that what you choose to do is behind closed doors and it had better not interfere with your shinigami duties. Forgive me for interrupting." She knew her voice sounded cold and abrupt, a trait she had learned to master during the time she spent with her brother, but she couldn't bring herself to care. She needed to keep this face of uncaring on. She turned on heel and left the two with a not too subtle slam of the door.

Ichigo groaned and hung his head. He was so dead. He felt a small pressure on his shoulder and glanced to see Inoue smiling softly at him.

"I would go after her if I were you Kurosaki-kun," She said in that soft voice of hers. She was struggling with her emotions but she needed to be strong for the one she loved. "You care about her a lot so don't let her get away."

"Inoue-"

Orihime held up a hand to silence him with a small shake of her head, "It's okay… thank you Kurosaki-kun for at least humoring me for a bit."

With that the orange haired girl walked away with a brave face on, though anyone could tell she was just waiting to cry.

End Flashback

This left Ichigo where he was now: a teenager with far too many problems to deal with, collapsed on his bed. After Orihime had left he did try and run back out to meet Rukia but she had vanished. She wasn't with the group on the ground, nor did she return to class after that. Keigo had whined to him asking where she went but he promptly shut him up with a sharp jab to the throat.

He had practically ran home after that, hoping that she had went back to her closet. He considered attempting to seek her out with reitsu but he was so shitty at it he immediately rejected that idea. It would be easier to just go home and wait for her to return. She would eventually right?

The orange haired shinigami rolled onto his stomach with a groan, scowl plastered over his face. He had quite a few decisions to make now.

...

The wind had picked up now that the sun was near setting. It was supposed to be a bit stormy tonight after all, this much Rukia had remembered from her brief conversation with her friends at lunch. She was perched on a random tree in a small park near the Kurosaki house hold, gazing absently at the clouds that moved effortlessly with the wind. How she longed to be a cloud, uncaring, free to do what it wanted. It could be stormy, or fluffy, or thin. It could choose whether or not to let light grace the ground or bottle it up and shroud the land in darkness. It could be so many things with almost no effort. It could even travel the world, floating on the currents that determined its path. Life would be so much simpler if she could be a cloud. She wouldn't have all these decisions to make or responsibilities. She wouldn't have to live a life in fear of losing everything she had ever cared for. She wouldn't have to file paperwork or train her body. She wouldn't have these strange emotions a certain orange haired shinigami seemed to stir inside her.

Rukia sighed and absently swung her leg back and forth in the open air. She didn't want to think about this… thing she had with Ichigo. He was not supposed to mean anything to her. He was nothing more than a problem that she happened to call friend. Right? So then why did she feel so angry that he was kissing Orihime? That didn't make sense to her. She had known for a long time that Orihime cared for Ichigo way beyond the level of a friend. Hell she had even encouraged it not too long ago but now… now she didn't want Orihime to be with Ichigo and that in itself baffled the girl. Why wouldn't she want her friend to be happy? He was all she ever wanted in her life. Besides… Rukia had her family right? She had Nee-sama and that red haired oaf Renji to look after. She should be more than happy with what she had been given. Yet…

Rukia shook her head almost violently and stopped that mental thought process in its tracks. There was no reason to focus on that, none what so ever. After all she had more important things to worry about, like how the hell was she going to confront Ichigo after all of this? It's not like she can act like nothing had ever happened right? Not when she had been so icy to him earlier. She regretted that now that she thought about it. How could she have been so cruel and abrupt? It's not like there was something going on between them after all. Ichigo was free to… kiss… anyone he wanted. So why did the thought anger her so much?

Ugh there she went again focusing on that! It wasn't important! What was important was figuring out what she was going to say to him. She needed to head back eventually after all. She was not going to sleep outside again. Not when she had a perfectly good bed waiting for her.

Time seemed to stretch on forever for the confused shinigami girl but sunset approached sooner than expected all the same. She had come to the conclusion that the silent treatment might be the best course of action now. She could sneak in through the window later tonight. That way if he was asleep there wouldn't be a confrontation and she could ignore the substitute if he was still awake. Childish, yes, but she wasn't ready to deal with the awkward atmosphere that was sure to exist. It just wasn't worth it. If he wanted to be with the orange bombshell then let him. She had no right to stop him but she sure as hell wasn't going to tell him that just yet.

...

Orihime had been sitting at one of her favorite ice cream parlors, enjoying a chocolate and mango frozen treat when she heard her name called out. She glanced up with her large doe eyes to see the obnoxious and emotionless face of Ishida standing over her. He adjusted his glasses, the acrylic glass flashing briefly before they fell back to their original place on his near perfect nose, and flashed the girl a small smile.

"I didn't expect to see you here Orihime," he said with a small hint of calm nerves that he often portrayed when he was with her. The woman smiled at him and feigned cheerfulness by pulling out a seat and encouraging him to sit with her.

"Did… something happen?" the bespectacled teen asked a hint of worry shining in his eyes. He could always tell when something was off with Orihime. It was clear to him that her happiness was being forced. He frowned when she quickly shook her head and made an adamant protest to his concern, telling him that she was fine and it was nothing to worry about. He hated when she did that. He knew he had problems revealing his emotions since he often bottled them up more than the others but with Orihime… it would crush her over time if she didn't talk to someone.

"You know," Ishida began after a small silence had stretched between them, "You can tell me Orihime. I won't judge you or say anything to anyone else. I know something is bothering you…"

Orihime looked at Ishida for a moment, wanting desperately to protest again but something held her back. She did kind of want talk about what had just happened to her to someone, but she didn't really know who or how. Tatsuki would just beat up Ichigo and tell him to get his head straight, and no way could she go to Rukia. Her other friends at school wouldn't be much help either.

"Um," she began after another moment of silence, dropping her head to stare almost intently at the now melting treat she had been enjoying earlier. "I…" She didn't know how to continue. She chanced a quick peak at Ishida who was watching her patiently, his expression bringing a strange comfort to the girl.

With a resigned sigh she brought up what little courage she had left and began her tale of what happened. She related how she had confessed to Ichigo how she had loved him forever and kissed him. She revealed enjoying it when he returned it, even if it did feel a bit off or like he was humoring her. When she reached the part about Rukia she hesitated but managed to choke it out along with a revelation of her suspicions that the two liked each other. When she had finished she felt strangely deflated, but it wasn't a bad sensation. It was more reminiscent to the feeling one gets when they confess their sins to a priest, a sense of calm and relaxation.

Ishida was silent throughout the entire mini speech, letting the girl get what ever she had off her chest. When she had finished he sighed and shook her head. While it hurt to know that she had kissed Kurosaki he crushed those emotions and showed her the sympathy she deserved.

"So do you regret telling him?"

Inoue shook her head furiously, a hint of a real smile appearing on her face, "I think I've always known that he would never feel the same. I just needed the closure of him knowing how I felt I guess. Besides…" she looked up at her companion and grinned an honest smile, "Rukia and him are so cute together!"

Ishida couldn't help but snort at that. That was the Orihime that he loved, always the optimist, always the honest one.

"If you say so Inoue," Ishida laughed shaking his head at her sudden bubbliness. Conversation after that seemed to flow effortlessly as the two talked about things of little consequence, neither noticing how late it was till the shop keeper kindly informed them that they were past closing time. As they made their goodbyes Inoue stopped him with a small hand on his arm. The Quincy turned back only to be brought into a tight hug by the woman.

"Thank you Uryuu, it means a lot to me."

Ishida just smiled and nodded his head with a whispered 'anytime'.

...

It was well past midnight when Rukia finally reappeared on the roof top near Ichigo's bedroom window. She elegantly slipped down to the space just before it only to find that the window was wide open, as if it invited her inside. She slipped through the small space and glanced around the room. Ichigo was passed out on top of the covers, snoring loud enough to wake the dead, a habit Rukia had discovered he only did when he stayed up far later than normal or right after fighting hollows. She shook her head in vague amusement. He was so cute like that with his hair tousled haphazardly and his shirt riding up, one arm extended above his head and the other resting on his exposed stomach. The dark bags under his eyes were the only hint at how little sleep he had been getting lately.

Rukia shook her head and stealthily maneuvered away from him and over to the closet. She slid the door open quietly and jumped inside, snapping it closed as softly as she could. Looks like she could put off the confrontation a little bit longer after all.

Owari

...

Author's Note: I can admit I actually both hate and love Orihime. As long as she's not calling Kurosaki-kun over and over again I don't really mind her. She's cute and a good example of what an honest person is.

Now then I hoped you all liked it. I'm not sure if you can tell my writing has gotten better through this or not since the beginning was very forced but after that it began to flow nicely and I was able to get out what I wanted.

As always feel free to review. I'm very curious to see if my writing has gotten better in your opinion or not.

EDIT: Sorry for the annoying page break things. They weren't showing up for some reason so hopefully that's fixed.