Ichigo x Rukia x Orihime

The Higher the Better

"Turn left after this bush."

"Thanks, Tsubaki", Orihime whispered to her temporary sat nav, before rounding the corner. She could already feel Ichigo's Spiritual Pressure, but a little extra guidance was always appreciated.

She needed to find out what was going on.

As far as she knew, Rukia thought she and Ichigo had slept together and had run away... and Ichigo had followed. The latter of this data was a little disconcerting, but she decided not to dwell on that.

She needed to find the two. She wasn't sure what she was going to do, she was either going to make sure the truth had been heard and understood by both parties (if she was feeling righteous and sorry for Rukia who appeared to be negatively affected) or to make sure they weren't getting too close to eachother. Yep, that was more likely.

She rounded the bush, skidding a little, then picking up speed again as she reached an opening that lead out onto a wall. Both Ichigo and Rukia's Spiritual Pressures were very potent and strong, and they were also fluctuating. It was the weirdest feeling, one she hadn't quite come across before.

The breeze she was creating as she ran whipped her carrot-coloured hair across her face, but she ignored the slight lashings as she fixed her gaze onwards on the two figures in the distance before her.

Right at the end of the wall, Ichigo and Rukia stood facing each other.

"Guys!", she called, slowing down as she reached the wall, trying to avoid plunging to a painful injury on either side. She was vaguely aware of their figures turning to look at her, but her focus was now on putting one foot in front of the other, balancing precariously. Due to her not being as slight as Rukia, nor as physically fit as Ichigo, she found this slight obstacle a lot more of a challenge than they did.

So the pair watched her squeal and shake her way across the wall.

As she arrived next to Rukia, she stooped, hands on her knees, panting hard. "This is so dangerous! How'd you get all the way over here without falling, guys?"

She lifted her head, with a little 'phew' of exertion, before locking eyes with Ichigo. A light blush was dusted across his cheeks. She could only assume Rukia had been attempting to seduce him the small time she'd been away.

"Orihime?", Rukia asked. Almost infuriatingly, she didn't appear upset at the girls' appearance.

"Rukia, I just wanted to tell you... you've totally misunderstood what happened! We never slept together in that way!"

"It's okay...", why were both her and Ichigo staring at her as if she were crazy? Ok fair enough, she'd just ran up to them in top speed, almost plunged to her death off the wall, and then started rambling. But what she had said was perfectly relevant to the previous events.

Wasn't it?

"I know...", Rukia replied.

There was a moment of silence.

"I already told her the truth, Orihime", Ichigo finally spoke up.

Oh.

A rush of thoughts entered her brain, if he had told her then why was he still there? Why were they looking at her like that? Why had he been blushing? Why was she still so out of breath?!

"Orihime, it's getting late. I think I should walk you home to make sure you're safe", Ichigo interrupted her mental ramblings.

The two gingers turned to Rukia, obviously both wondering if she would come.

The short Soul Reaper stood up on the wall, the wind blowing through her short strands of black hair, and then through the folds of her dress, before she gave a huge smile. One that slightly troubled Orihime.

There was a beep, and Rukia's smile broke.

"Shoot! A Hollow nearby", she murmured as she flipped open her Soul Pager. "Go on ahead, guys. I'll handle this one." And with that, she leapt off the wall, landing neatly on her dainty feet, and ran off into the West. She didn't know it, but there was something extraordinarily beautiful radiating from her. The contrast of her tiny, fragile looking body that withheld an incredible amount of strength and talent was just like an unspeakable art.

Orihime desperately whirled round to face Ichigo, her hands balled into fists. But unlike her suspicions, he wasn't watching Rukia's retreating figure. Instead, he was holding his muscular hand out towards her, and smiling.

That smile made her so weak.

There was a moment inside her when she wondered, was it a good kind of weak? It made her feel weird, granted, but also guilty in a way. And that was even weirder.

She tried not to dwell on her crazy thoughts, and smiled as she took his hand.

"Come on, let's go", he said to her, the blush still evident on his cheeks.

Perhaps it had lasted this long because he was now touching her hand?

She hoped so.

And as she turned to leave, she misplaced her foot on the slim wall, her hand slipped out of Ichigo's... and she fell.