Ichigo x Rukia x Orihime

Bonding

Ichigo kicked the closet door shut, locking Kon out of sight so that he would stop attempting to be hugged to Orihime's chest.

"Freakin' pest..."

"Um... am I sleeping in here then, Ichigo?", Orihime asked, aware of how her nerves had resulted in her voice rising in pitch, even higher than usual.

"Yeah... I'll sleep on the floor, you can have the bed", Ichigo replied, scratching his head and avoiding eye contact.

"Oh... no, I couldn't! I'll sleep on the floor, it's not fair on you otherwise... you've already been kind enough to let me stay, I'm not gonna take your bed too!"

He was about to argue, but she jumped straight into the futon Yuzu had set out on the floor, as if the matter had been settled.

"Well... okay, then", he mumbled, getting into his own bed. "Is it cool if I turn out the light now?"

"Yeah..."

The room darkened, and Orihime breathed out a little. At least now he wouldn't be able to see her blushing face... the futon was so warm, and the room smelt of Ichigo, and he was right there next to her on his bed... how was she managing to stay calm?

This was an opportunity.

Rukia wouldn't be gone forever.

And what if Rukia turned out to come back braver?

Just say something.

"Ichigo?"

"Yeah?"

"How much do you remember about your mom?"

A silence.

Why the hell had she asked that?!

Obviously this was a touchy subject... what was she thinking?!

"Actually... you don't have to answer, I'm sorry -"

"A lot", he whispered. She fell silent. "Her smile. The way she felt when she hugged me. The way she would hold out her hand to me when we were walking together. She was so happy, all the time. It was like she radiated warmth, like an essential magnet in the core of my family's world. No one understands the true feeling of loss. I'm happy Yuzu and Karin were too young to remember her. Because I wouldn't want them to feel the same pain I did once the centre of my world was forcibly removed, all because I was too weak to stop it."

"No you weren't", Orihime whispered. Ichigo turned in bed so he could look at her. She still was facing away from him. "You weren't too weak, Ichigo. There's nothing you could've done. It was a Hollow."

"I shouldn't have been so stupid... I risked my own life because I was tricked by Grand Fisher...:

"I was tricked by a Hollow, too", Orihime mumbled, trying not to think of her brother.

"You never knew your mom?", Ichigo asked, suddenly.

"No; I don't remember my parents", she replied. Ichigo made a noise of pity, and she said, "but that's okay!", hurriedly. "I didn't need them; my brother was like both my parents and my best friend and my teacher all in one. All I needed was him. And then..."

She stopped talking as she felt tears spill out her eyes.

"Orihime...", Ichigo whispered. She was usually so happy-go-lucky, she had never talked about this with him.

"So... I understand when you say you know loss, Ichigo."

"Tell me something about you and your brother."

"Um... one time some girls at my school cut my hair because they didn't like the colour. I didn't want to tell him that was the reason, I told him I just fancied a change. I didn't want him to think I was being bullied. When he died... I grew my hair out again because I no longer cared about what people thought of me... because he liked my hair long."

"Okay... now I'll tell you something about me and my mom. I used to be terrible at dojo training, Tatsuki kicked my ass all the time."

Orihime giggled.

"I know."

"And I was such a baby, I would always cry on my defeat. And then my mom would come and pick me up, and it would all be good again. Because hugging her made everything better. I didn't care that I had lost."

"Okay... now something about my brother... I hated these hairslides at first..."

The two talked way into the night, occasionally getting tearful at certain memories, empathising and sympathizing and bonding with eachother as they found they were a lot more similar than they had previously thought.

"Orihime", Ichigo whispered. She was crying again. "Come here."

And there were no blushes, no nerves... it was simply a need. A necessity. The two needed each others comfort, because they understood how the other truly felt.

She climbed into his bed, and he hugged her from behind. She held his hands that were protectively placed around her, and fell asleep almost instantly.