Author's Note : I originally wrote this one as a special Valentine's fic. But I couldn't get it in time so I edited a few stuffs before I put it up here. This story is actually inspired by a shoujo manga of the same title, (my sister's, I don't buy shoujo) about a girl dreaming of kissing her classmate, and then she gets to kiss him for real. More importantly, the boy's hair is orange, like Ichigo's! This story takes place after the war against Aizen. Anyway, I had a great weekend, because I was finally able to drown myself in my IchiHime world (which I rarely get to do these days); lurking on BA & FLOL, reading all those amazing fanfics, re-reading Bleach, re-watching Bleach, and writing my fics. I was done with the first draft for Chapter 8 of Detrás de la Luna, which will be up tomorrow after I'd done some polishing and improvement on it, and I've started writing another story! It is for The Ultimate Hali Challenge of 2010. Everyone else had started so I think it's about time I did too. This one will be up next week, hopefully. I wish I could write IchiHime fics day and night but I have to work during the day... *cries* Most importantly, I was reminded of why I love IchiHime so much in the first place. Seeing them together just gives me butterfly in my stomach, and I'm proud to say I love this pairing! =) Hope you enjoy reading this fic, and have a good day everyone! XD

Disclaimer : Bleach and its' characters belong to Kubo Tite.

The noises droned on and on around her; Ochi-sensei's loud voice explaining some math formula, her classmates' hushed chatters, and outside; the delighted shouts of students during PE class. She, however, paid no heed to all these, her mind reeling on and on, recollecting the dream she had last night.

She shivered. The images were still so vivid and clear. She ruffled her long, luscious auburn locks, trying to shake the thoughts away.

She glanced over at her best friend, Arisawa Tatsuki. The spiky-haired tomboy was scribbling something, probably writing down what Ochi-sensei explained. Not very far from her, she could see Kuchiki-san slouched over her desk, concentrating on the manga she was hiding under her desk. Come to think of it, she rarely saw Renji-kun around these days. Well, maybe he's very busy, being a new captain and all.

She averted her gaze. At the front, Ishida-kun paid full attention to Ochi-sensei. No wonder he's the most intelligent student in this class. Sado-kun's expression however was impossible for her to read; half of his face was covered with his long, shaggy hair.

She sighed. Her eyes lingered around for a moment before it landed on an orange-haired boy, his broad back towards her. Uh-oh. Quick, quick, look away! Staring at his back won't do you any good, ESPECIALLY if you're trying to forget that dream you had last night!

The boy turned around abruptly and their gaze locked for a few seconds. Then, slowly, the corner of his mouth twitched upwards slightly for a brief moment. Startled, Orihime let out a small squeal, causing Ochi-sensei to stop and asked her what was going on.

"I'm sorry, Ochi-sensei. I was daydreaming."

"Okay. Just be sure you don't disturb me again or I'll go over there and smack your head."

"R-right, Ochi-sensei."

Ochi-sensei continued her lesson, while she sneaked another glance at the orange-haired boy. He was no longer looking at her.

Kurosaki-kun…

:

:

:

"Kurosaki-kun…?"

They were standing by the riverbank. His tall figure loomed above her smaller one.

They had just gotten back from school and stopped at the riverbank on their way home. It was getting dark soon; but right now the sky was painted in a beautifully mixed hue of yellows and reds.

He leaned closer. He was so close now that she could smell his scent.

"Kurosaki-kun?" she repeated.

He remained quiet. Slowly, he reached out his hand and cupped her cheek. She gasped; her gray eyes wide with shock. He didn't remove his hand; instead, it moved and caressed her face. She shuddered with every move his large, calloused fingers made on her smooth skin.

His hand… It feels strong, masculine, and rough… It's a result from all those fighting he'd gone through, and most of them… Most of them were for me…

Slowly, he lifted her face so they were staring straight into each other's eyes now. Orihime felt she was burning under his intense stare. She tried to look away, but his hand on her chin held her.

"Kurosaki-kun…" she whispered.

He bent over slightly and his warm lips caught her slightly parted ones. Her eyes went wide with shock, but as he deepened his kiss, they closed slowly. She felt dizzy, as if the world was spinning beneath her feet.

Delighted with pleasure, she moaned, and he continued to feast upon her open mouth. Then, as suddenly as the kiss began, he stopped and pulled away from her. She opened her swollen mouth to ask, but she seemed to have lost the ability to speak.

He smiled. He smiled a smile she had never seen before, and it seemed to her as if everything around them froze in time. She had never seen something so breathtakingly beautiful. She would never forget how his orange hair seemed to be glowing against the yellow-reddish evening sky.

Kurosaki-kun…

:

:

:

"Orihime!"

The voice jolted her back to reality. A shadow dashed across the classroom and enveloped the auburn-haired girl in a dead hug.

"Orihime, my love! You look so cute when you're daydreaming!"

"Let go of her, you oversexed lesbian!" she heard Tatsuki's voice, and the girl hugging her was sent sprawling against the wall.

"Chizuru-chan!" Orihime ran over to the spectacled lesbian. "That's not nice, Tatsuki-chan," she warned as she helped Chizuru to her feet.

"Serves her right."

"You're just jealous, Tatsuki. By the way, Orihime-chan, your concern over me just makes me love you even more!" Chizuru squealed, hands held in front. She was about to hug Orihime again, but Tatsuki, sensing her intention, screamed.

"Chizuru!"

Chizuru stepped a little farther from Orihime, lips pouting. The rest of the girls, Kunieda Ryou, Natsui Mahana, and Ogawa Michiru, came over to join them. Orihime glanced around. The class was half empty; everyone had gone out for the lunch break while she was lost in her daydream.

Ichigo was walking with his boys, heading over to the rooftop for lunch, most probably. He turned around briefly and Orihime blushed when their eyes locked, the image of them kissing popped up involuntarily in her head.

"Hime, what are you doing? Let's go and have lunch!" Tatsuki said cheerfully, breaking the spell she was under.

Orihime ran over to her desk, took out her lunchbox and followed the girls to the schoolyard, where they usually eat under a shady tree. When they got there, Orihime took her usual place beside Tatsuki. She glanced upwards at the rooftop and noticed a blob of orange hair from the distance. He's so far away from me…

"Do you guys have any plans for this coming Friday?" Mahana asked as she munched on her lunch.

Orihime looked at her friend, "No…"

"Ryou and I are planning to have a blind date with guys from college."

"What?" Michiru almost choked on her onigiri.

"If any one of you are interested to come along, we could ask our dates to bring their friends over as well," the calm, spectacled girl answered.

"Sounds like fun. Count me in," Tatsuki said nonchalantly.

"Tatsuki-chan?"

"Don't look at me like that, Hime. I think it's about time I start to meet guys."

"I'm not interested in the male species."

"Of course you don't, Chizuru."

"I-I would like to join, please," Michiru stuttered, her face red with embarrassment.

"Good," Mahana flashed a smile at Michiru. Then, she looked over at Orihime, "What about you, Orihime-chan?"

"Me? I-I don't know…"

"Come on. Join the fun, just for once. You're very beautiful, I'm sure you'll snag a boyfriend if you come along," Ryou tried to coax her into agreeing.

"I…"

"Don't listen to them, Orihime. You can date me this Friday," Chizuru said, only to get herself pummeled by an enraged Tatsuki.

"It'll be good for you. At least it'll help you to forget that punk," Ryou continued.

"What?"

"You know I'm talking about Ichigo. What do you see in him, anyway?"

A lot… He went to a place much worse than hell to rescue me… He risked his life to save me…

"I'm not interested in him!" she squealed.

"You're not fooling us anymore."

"I'm sorry to say this, Orihime-chan. But I think he's spending too much time with Kuchiki-san," Michiru said slowly, scared of hurting her feelings.

"Yeah, just say yes, Hime."

I'm so going to regret this… "O-okay…"

"Yay!!" the girls exclaimed excitedly, except Chizuru, who pouted and went on to munch on her lunch.

They chatted away, and their laughter can be heard all the way from the rooftop.

* * * * *

Distracted by the girls' laugh and voices, Ichigo peered down. His eye caught Orihime joking and laughing with her friends, and a smile formed slowly on his lips.

She seems fine, he thought. He was scared that her experience in Hueco Mundo would somehow affected her, but he knew she was a strong person, and he was happy to see that she was doing fine.

Mizuiro, who noticed Ichigo's somewhat serene smile, followed the direction of his gaze. When he saw the beautiful girl sitting beside Tatsuki, he smiled understandingly. His punk friend had somehow become quite sensitive lately when it came to matters regarding Inoue Orihime.

"You know, Inoue-san skin is very soft," Mizuiro commented teasingly.

Ichigo spun around. "What?"

Keigo had dropped his lunch and was staring disbelievingly at Mizuiro. "How do you know? Don't tell me y-you touched her?"

"Yes."

"WHAT!!?" Ishida, Keigo and Ichigo shouted simultaneously. Chad remained silent while Rukia watched Ichigo amusedly. That idiot is falling… hard.

Mizuiro munched slowly on his sandwich as the three boys waited anxiously for him to continue.

"The girls were having some sort of competition the other day, to see which one of them has the softest skin. So they asked me to touch their cheeks to test it."

"Oh…" came their relieved replies.

Ichigo felt happy when he heard that. Somehow imagining other guys touching other parts of her body making him feel uneasy.

But it does looked very soft though…

* * * * *

The next morning, Orihime came late to school. She'd overslept because her alarm clock was broken, again. To make things worst, she was on duty at class.

She stumbled into the classroom, half expecting that it would be in a mess, but she was surprised to see the clean floor, the blank chalkboard and the emptied trash bin.

"Don't worry. I took care of everything," she heard a voice coming from behind her.

Surprised, she turned around and saw Ichigo, his hand holding a broom.

"Ah! Good morning, Kurosaki-kun! I'm so sorry. My alarm clock was broken and I overslept."

"It's okay, Inoue. I'm on duty today as well."

She bowed, "I'm sorry."

Before he had the chance to reply, the bell rang. Ichigo motioned her to go to her seat as he put the broom in its place. She took her seat, feeling guilty. What if Kurosaki-kun hates me because of this?

* * * * *

They both had club meetings that afternoon, so they had to stay late and clean up the classroom after they were done with their club activities. Orihime swept the classroom silently as Ichigo took out the trash and erased the chalkboard.

After they were done, Ichigo slung his school bag over his shoulder and walked over to her side, "I'll walk you home."

"Eh? No, you don't have to, Kurosaki-kun."

"I want to."

She remained still at her spot. Ichigo glanced back at her, "What are you waiting for? Let's go."

"O-okay," she sttutered and started following him.

* * * * *

They made their way to her apartment in silence. She wanted to say something, anything, to break off the uneasiness lingering in the air around them but she couldn't think of anything to say. But when they reached the riverbank where she had watched her brother caught dragonflies countless times, she stopped walking. She looked up at the breathtakingly beautiful sunset. Ichigo must have realized that she was no longer walking beside him, because he paused to watch the sunset as well.

"It's amazing, isn't it?"

"Yeah…"

She wavered her gaze toward the orange-haired boy beside her, "Do you hate me, Kurosaki-kun?"

Startled, Ichigo stared at her. "What? What makes you think so?"

"Well, you had to go to Hueco Mundo to save me. You fought countless enemies, and you… you died because you were fighting for me. Transforming into something you're scared of, all because of me…"

"Inoue…"

"Wouldn't those things be good reasons to hate me?"

"Inoue, I don't hate you… If it hadn't been for you, I would have died. And I would go to the deepest hole of hell to save you."

She looked up at him through glassy eyes. "Would you?"

"Of course I would. You are my nakama, Inoue."

"I see…"

For some reason, she was disappointed to hear him say nakama. She wanted to be more than just his nakama. She wanted to be his everything…

"Kurosaki-kun…"

"Yeah?"

"People say, we would dream of someone because that someone misses us."

"Really?"

"Yeah. They say when someone miss you so much, he or she will appear in your dream, to see you."

"Personally, I think it's the other way around."

"How?"

"Well, I think you dream of that someone because you miss him or her."

"Is it?"

Ichigo shrugged, "I just think it makes more sense that way."

"Hm…"

He looked over at her. He couldn't read her emotion because she was standing with her back facing him.

"Why do you ask me that?"

"Hm? Nothing…"

"Come on, Inoue. There's got to be a reason." Then, he asked cautiously, "Could it be that you dreamt about someone? Someone we know…"

She looked at him briefly; her gray eyes wide with shock, but then quickly turned her gaze away. Then, with her head bowed down with embarrassment she whispered, "I dreamt of you, Kurosaki-kun…"

"What?"

"I dreamt of you kissing me, here by this riverbank, and I can't forget the way your hair appeared to be shining against the setting sun…"

"Inoue…"

And silence engulfed them again. Orihime kept her head bent down, scrutinizing the ground below her. She was about to apologize when he realized he started moving towards her after being still for quite some time.

"Kurosaki-kun…?"

He was now standing right in front of her. His tall figure loomed above her smaller one. Above them, the sky was getting dark but at that moment, it was painted in a mixed hue of yellows and reds.

He leaned closer. He was so close now that she could smell his scent.

"Kurosaki-kun?" she repeated.

He remained quiet. Slowly, he reached out his hand and cupped her cheek. She gasped; her gray eyes wide with shock. He didn't remove his hand; instead, it moved and caressed her face. She shuddered with every move his large, calloused fingers made on her smooth skin.

His hand… It feels strong, masculine, and rough… It's a result from all those fighting he'd gone through, and most of them… Most of them were for me…

Slowly, he lifted her face so they were staring straight into each other's eyes now. Orihime felt she was burning under his intense stare. She tried to look away, but his hand on her chin held her.

"Kurosaki-kun…" she whispered.

He bent over slightly and his warm lips caught her slightly parted ones. Her eyes went wide with shock, but as he deepened his kiss, they closed slowly. She felt dizzy, as if the world was spinning beneath her feet.

Delighted with pleasure, she moaned, and he continued to feast upon her open mouth. Then, as suddenly as the kiss began, he stopped and pulled away from her. She opened her swollen mouth to ask, but she seemed to have lost the ability to speak.

He smiled. He smiled a smile she had never seen before, and it seemed to her as if everything around them froze in time. She had never seen something so breathtakingly beautiful. She would never forget how his orange hair seemed to be glowing against the yellow-reddish evening sky.

Kurosaki-kun…

This happened just like in my dream!

"Kurosaki-kun!"

His smile disappeared when she blurted his name out loud. He stared at her shocked face and silently cursed himself for doing what he did. She looked so damn beautiful that he could no longer control himself… "Sorry, Inoue."

"No, Kurosaki-kun!"

"I-I have to go. It's already late. I'll see you tomorrow, Inoue!"

With that said, he began jogging away from her. He didn't dare to look back, knowing that if he did, he'd want to kiss her again. He touched his lips, remembering how good it felt to kiss her, to feel her soft lips touching his. What have I done? She looked so shocked after he kissed her. What if she wouldn't talk to him again? How can he survive not hearing her sweet voice anymore?

Arrgh!! This is so frustrating! Ichigo screamed silently, ruffling his messy orange hair.

He kept running, as a pair of gray eyes watched him sadly.

* * * * *

The next morning at school, Orihime couldn't control her madly beating heart. This was worse than the morning I dreamt the kiss, she thought. She saw Ichigo when he came in to class – he was unusually late today – but he didn't look at her at all.

He's mad, she thought, and buried her gaze in her textbook, her hand trembling uncontrollably.

When break started, he immediately left with his boys. She sighed and watched silently as his tall frame disappeared out into the hallway.

"Ori-hime!!"

Chizuru hugged her. She forced a smile, "Chizuru-chan!"

Tatsuki came and kicked Chizuru away. "Take that, you psychotic lesbian!" she roared.

"Tatsuki-chan…"

Mahana came to Orihime's side and grabbed her arm, leading her towards the door. "Don't forget, our blind date is tonight! I told my date to bring along his handsome friends!"

"O-okay…"

"I'm sure you'll be having fun at the date tonight!"

Mahana pushed opened the door and heard Orihime gasped beside her. Ichigo was standing in right in front of the door, his lips scowled deeper than it normally did. His intense gaze seemed to bore into Orihime and Mahana could feel the girl trembling.

"What are doing, Ichigo? Can't you see she's scared of you?"

Ichigo said nothing. He shot one last angry look at Orihime and walked away.

"What's the matter with him anyway?"

Orihime started to cry, "Kurosaki-kun…"

* * * * *

Upon returning from school, Ichigo was in a foul mood that even his father avoided teasing him like he usually did. Yuzu had come knocking on his door, telling him that dinner was ready, but he told her he's not hungry, so she left him without uttering another word.

He lied silently in his bed, ignoring Kon's shouts and punches. He was thankful that Rukia wasn't around at the moment – she was probably off seeing Renji – because he didn't have the energy to face anyone.

He kept remembering that kiss last night. He stayed up all night, trying to think of the right thing to do. It was stupid and cowardice of him to run away like he did, but what done is done. Finally, he made up his decision. He liked her, that's for sure, so he would take a shot and asked her to be his girlfriend.

He hadn't meant to avoid her at school, but he just couldn't look into her eyes. He might be tempted to kiss her, and he wouldn't want to do that at school. When he'd gone out with his boys during break, he came back to class because he wanted to ask her to eat with him. But then, he found out about that stupid blind date.

How dare she? How dare she kissed him when she already planned going out with someone else? Did she think he was a fool? Someone she could toy with?

Ichigo scratched his head. This doesn't feel right. He knew her, and she wasn't the type of girl who would just toy with someone else's feelings. Maybe I am overreacting… Ichigo sat upright in his bed. What have I done?

He grabbed his jacket and stormed out of the house, ignoring the questions fired at him from his family.

* * * * *

Orihime sighed. Her friends seemed to be having fun but she just couldn't keep her minds off Ichigo. She kept seeing his face even if right now she was staring directly at a handsome college guy, and she couldn't even remember his name!

She looked at her date. He was laughing at some jokes Tatsuki-chan was telling. He's so good-looking, she thought, and he seemed so relaxed around people, unlike Kurosaki-kun… Oh, no!

"Inoue-san. Are you okay?"

Oh, no! He caught me staring at him! "I'm fine…"

"You were so quiet all night. I'm worried you might get bored."

"No, no. I'm fine."

"If you don't mind, we can go out of this restaurant and head over to the park. You know, to have some privacy."

"I-I…"

"Don't be scared," he told her and started getting up as he grabbed her wrist. He pulled her up and gently urged her towards the door.

She glanced over at her friends, hoping they would stop them, but to her dismay, they just waved enthusiastically. She sighed. Then suddenly, the door burst open, revealing an orange-haired boy. He must have run there, because he seemed out of breath.

"Kurosaki-kun?"

"She's not going anywhere with you!"

The college boy let go of Orihime's wrist. "Who the hell are you? What are you doing here?"

"She's coming with me," Ichigo stated firmly and grabbed her hand. She heard Tatsuki-chan called 'Ichigo!', but they started walking out the door, ignoring the voices calling behind them.

He pulled her out of the restaurant and they walked hand in hand, silently. Orihime was suddenly feeling mad at herself for being a coward, and at the same time she was mad at him because he pulled her away from her date when he wouldn't even talk to her.

She halted her steps and pulled her hand angrily from his firm grasp. Startled, he stopped walking and turned around to face her.

"Why are you doing this?" she snapped.

"What?"

"You clearly don't want anything to do with me! You ran away after you kissed me! So why bother to look for me? I was on a date, and you took me away from my date! And you didn't even utter a single word afterwards!"

"Do you really want to be in there?"

She looked up disbelievingly at him. "What…?" she croaked.

"Tell me you'd rather be in there than with me here."

"I-I don't…"

Then he stepped over to her side and wrapped his arms around her. Orihime's eyes went wide with shock as she felt his strong arms enveloped her. He buried his face against her neck, inhaling her sweet scent.

"Be my girlfriend…" he whispered in her ear.

"Eh?"

"I don't want us to remain nakama all our lives. I want more. I want to be your everything, Inoue…"

"Kurosaki-kun…?"

"Hm…?"

"You are my everything…" she whispered softly, a smile began forming on her lips.

Orihime closed her eyes as he drowned her in another deep kiss. His orange kiss. My orange kiss…