Ichigo didn’t think much about the ringing of the bell thinking that it must be someone who came for some miscellaneous stuff as he engrossed himself back into the comic book that he was reading but not even a minute passed when the sound of the footsteps rushing upstairs entered his ears.

“Is there a matter?” Ichigo thought to himself and quickly tried to get up on his feet.

He was reminded of the last time when a hollow invaded his home and fear took over him as his mind worried over the safety of his family but his worries were soon relieved as the person who slammed open the door was Orihime.

Seeing Ichigo standing in front of her Orihime was finally relieved but when her eyes noticed the large white bandage that had been tied around his chest she panicked and asked while moving towards him

“Kurosaki Kun! What happ-“ Orihime had just said that when her forward foot slipped backwards along with the door mat as her body fell forward. Unfortunately for her, the sudden picture of Ichigo saving her from falling down that had appeared in her mind for a brief second got broken as her nose felt the strong bump of the wooden floor and tears started falling out of her eyes.

Ichigo was too far from her to be able to catch hold of the falling Orihime and could only watch her plant her face onto the floor. He quickly moved towards her afterwards and helped her up.

Looking at her tear-filled face Ichigo couldn’t help but ask while helping her up, “Are you too hurt? How does your nose feel?”

Hearing the questions from Ichigo and remembering how she had unceremoniously fallen on the ground right in front of him a slight tinge of embarrassment appeared on her face. She could only nod to his questions as she was made to sit on his bed.

After the pain had gone Orihime apologized to Ichigo for showing him her earlier state. “I’m sorry Kurosaki kun…”

“Hmm? For what are you apologizing for?” Ichigo asked her.

“I-Its just…I should be the one worrying about you because of your injury and not the other way around.” Orihime said with guilt clearly audible in her voice.

“Just for that? You can relax you know, I’m all fit and fine now,” Ichigo said as he tried moving his upper body to show her that his body was all fine only for him to grimace in pain as his wound opened up again.

“Ah! You shouldn’t be moving like that!” Orihime said as she hurriedly got up from the bed and made Ichigo lie down on it.

“Well, I didn’t expected that to happen…” Ichigo said with a chuckle.

“Stop smiling! That was not funny at all! What if something more serious had happened to you?” Orihime admonished him angrily.

“Can I hold your hand?” Ichigo asked her all of a sudden as his eyes met her.

Orihime’s eyes dilated after hearing Ichigo’s words as her heart processed them more quickly than her mind. “H-Huh? W-why would you ask for that..?”

“Because I want to?” Ichigo replied as his right hand which had been resting up on the bed opened up waiting for Orihime’s hand.

Seeing this Orihime’s heart started fluttering like anything as after going through millions of thoughts in her mind which flashed through in just a couple of seconds she finally placed her hand over Ichigo’s.

The fluttering of Orihime’s heart which seemed to show no signs of stopping came back to a natural pace the moment her hands met with the warmness and roughness of Ichigo’s palm which filled her with a sense of security. Feeling Orihime’s soft hands over his, Ichigo smiled at her and slowly inter-crossed his fingers with hers.

Contrary to Orihime’s expectation instead of flustering from this intimate act she became even more peaceful as she smiled back at Ichigo. Seeing a beautiful smile on the face of a beautiful woman was enough to make any man’s heart quiver and so it did.

The two of them let the silence do the rest of the talking as they just enjoyed each other’s presence until a knock on the door disturbed them out of their mental state and hearing which Orihime quickly pulled back her hand with a tinge of read slowly covering all of her face.

“Come in,” Ichigo said in a bitter voice.

Karin slowly entered the room with a tray on which two freshly made cups of coffee and some snacks were placed. “Sorry for disturbing the two of you but father ordered me to deliver it to the two of you,” Karin said as she placed the tray on the table beside Ichigo’s bed.

“Since when did that man become such a good host?” Ichigo thought to himself and just then he saw a small head extend out of the doorway which carried a teasing grin on its face. A hand also appeared at that instant and after showing him a thumbs up Isshin’s face went back as the doorway looked exactly how it was earlier.

It seemed that it was only Ichigo who had noticed Isshin’s appearance and disappearance as the other two didn’t because they were busy with something else. Karin with placing the tray on the table and Orihime with her embarrassment.

“Alright then, I’ll be leaving you two then,” Karin said but paused when she suddenly noticed something “Hmm? Orihime san your face looks all reddish, is there a matter?” She asked but regretted it soon after as her brain finally started thinking of things in that direction.

“O-oh that? Hahaha I fell on the floor face-first earlier so it’s most likely cause of that. How embarrassing,” Orihime said while scratching the back of her head as she tried hard to maintain that fake smile on her face.

“Ouch…That must have hurt. Anyway, I’ll be going then,” Karin said and escaped. Of course, she didn’t believe Orihime’s words even one bit but she still left quickly because she didn’t want to make things awkward between Orihime and herself.

Finally being left by herself Orihime took a deep sigh as she passed a cup of coffee to Ichigo after helping him up on the bed.

“You’re quite good at lying, I almost believed you,” Ichigo said as he rated her acting skills in his mind.

“Well…maybe it’s the results of me being in the drama club since last year showing up,” Orihime said after pondering over Ichigo’s words a bit.

“What do you guys used to do in that club?...” The two of them started talking about other miscellaneous stuff as they started drinking coffee.

__________

For Supporting me/Advance Chapters

https://www.p-atreon.com/_Slander

Remove the "-" from the link before searching