Start time: Sunday September 16, 2007; 9:49 PM PDT

First Bleach fanfiction EVERRRR!

Since this is my first venture into the Bleach fanfiction fandom, and chances are nobody here knows me, let me introduce myself very quickly. I'm SirJoshizzle. I'm fifteen years old. I've been a member here for over three years now. I mainly write in the Legend of Zelda section. I found my love in Bleach two or three weeks ago, when I watched all 140 episodes in a week. Now let's be friends.

This oneshot is based on a drawing I put up on my deviantART (SirJoshizzle(dot)deviantART(dot)com) called Take Me Home. This is basically a written interpretation of the drawing. This is just a really quick oneshot that I thought was just too cute to be passed on… And to my Zelda readers, this is compensation for no chapter ten of A World of Lies this weekend. Sorry!

This oneshot's pairing is Ichihime (Ichigo/Orihime), and chances are is that my future Bleach fics are going to follow the same trend (either Ichihime or Renji/Rukia, or both!). For shame there isn't enough of either here. Ichihime and Renruki is in my opinion how Bleach is supposed to be. But I like the occasional Ichiruki. Okay, here we go. Ichigo's POV, by the way.

I do not own Bleach.

Walk Me Home
SirJoshizzle

Life just doesn't seem to be as exciting without having to do anymore shinigami work anymore.

Renji and Rukia are usually taking care of hollows, in addition to Toshiro and Rangiku's group. By the time I get to the hollow, one of them has usually already taken care of it, forcing me to just go back home and study and deal with Kon and Ririn's endless fighting, Cloud's incessant chatter, Rukia going on and on about the "scandalous love triangles" in her romance novels, and Nova… well, be his introverted self and look out my bedroom window.

I guess it's better this way. My grades have been slipping slightly ever since I got these powers, and especially after I've been leaving the real world for extended periods at a time to go to Soul Society or something like that. I haven't been seeing much of Karin or Yuzu, and my absences always seem to cause Yuzu to worry. I'm not a real shinigami after all, so I might as well just go on as a regular teenager… Though the occasional hollow fight would be really nice.

What am I going to do this weekend? Study I guess. Or at least attempt to, what with all the chaos of putting up with the mod souls and try to reprimand them, only to be caught yelling at stuffed animals by Yuzu—again—who by now probably thinks that I'm crazy.

Maybe hang out with Chad, Ishida, Rukia, Renji and Inoue. The only time we're all together is when we have to deal with some crazy crap like hollows, the Bounts or the Aranncar. Some time out without any of that would be really nice. It'd finally give me a chance to explain all the real-world stuff that Renji keeps asking me about… I've never forget when we came up to me with a condom and asked, "Why does this balloon look so stretched out?"

…I'd like to spend some time with Inoue. I wonder what she does at home alone. Probably hang out with Tatsuki, but she's usually busy with her martial arts practices and competitions. Inoue… I offer to walk her home sometimes, and I respect her decision when she says that it's okay but no thanks, but I can't help but feel kinda upset at each decline. I don't spend as much time alone with her as much as I'd like to… Maybe this weekend I'll try to get together with her, just the two of us, and take her out… Anything to get out of the house and listen to Kon debating to himself who out of Rangiku-san and Inoue has the better chest.

"Oof!" Something causes me to stumble forward, and I feel something heavy on my shoulders and my back. I whirl my head around to look over my left shoulder to see what it is, and I'm met with Inoue's face. I stop turning my head just before our lips touch. Our lips are close. Dangerously close. And I like it.

"…Oh, hey Inoue," I smile softly at the sight of her grin: head tilted to the side, eyes closed, and soft, pink lips curled into her signature smile.

"Hi, Kurosaki-kun!" She opens her eyes and wraps her arms around neck, resting her chin on my shoulder. "…And call me 'Orihime'."

I slightly raise an eyebrow at her request, but I just shrug it off and chuckle lightly. "Alright… Orihime." Wow, it sounds so awkward calling her by her first name. I've called her 'Inoue' for as long as I can remember…

"…Kurosaki-kun, are you doing anything after school today?" She asks me sweetly.

"No," I shake my head. "I'm free, as always."

"I see…" She nods against my shoulder. She rests the side of her head against mine. I can't smell her red-orange hair from here… Fresh apples… Her breasts are pressed rather hard against my back… Now I understand why Kon gets so excited whenever Ino… Orihime walks into the room.

"Kurosaki-kun?"

Her voice breaks me out of my rather dirty train of thought. I shake my head a little bit and snap back to reality. "Yeah, Orihime?"

She tightens her grip around me, as if she's going to die if she lets go of me. Then, she kisses me on the cheek softly, causing my face to turn beet red… She kissed me!

"Would you please walk me home… Kurosaki-kun?" She whispers in my ear softly. I feel her heart beat against my back in conjunction with mine. Her soft breath against my neck causes shivers to go down my spine.

I pause for a second. Then, I nuzzle the side of my head against hers softly. "Of course."

I hook my arms behind her knees and hoist her up to carry her on my back, an action that causes her to gasp sharply, but she softens and eases into the position I put her in. I begin walking down the sidewalk again, passing by the small vase of flowers for the ghost of the girl I pass by every morning on my way to school and back.

"Hey, onii-chan!" She winks as her spirit appears. "You finally got yourself a girlfriend!"

I look at her and chuckle to myself at her comment, shaking my head. As I turn the corner to go to Orihime's house, I speak up again.

"…And Orihime?"

She lifts her head and looks at me. "Yes?"

I stop walking for a second. I turn my head around and press my lips ever so gently against hers. Though half-lidded eyes, I see her eyes go wide in surprise. As I slowly—and reluctantly—pull away, for the first time in years, I take my brow out of its furrowed state… Orihime always said my face looked funny like that.

"…Call me 'Ichigo'."

The link to the picture on which this is based on is SirJoshizzle(dot)deviantART(dot)com(slash)art(slash)Ichihime-Walk-Me-Home-64995652.

Zelda readers, AWoL chapter ten should be up sometime this week. Bleach readers, check out my Zelda stories sometime, especially if you have a knack for Link/Zelda goodness. And as always, keep checking my blog (SirJoshizzle(dot)BlogSpot(dot)com) for regular fanfiction and life updates. It's a free-comment blog, so drop a line when you can. :D

Leave a review if you so please.

Enjoy Life and Smile.

End time: Sunday September 16, 2007; 10:46 PM PDT