Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach in anyway but am inspired by the work created by Tite Kubo

Author's Note: I had this idea a little while back but was inspired to finally write it by my new friend SakuraStar1862. This one is dedicated to you and will hopefully help heal your IchiHime heart I tattered a bit with Suddenly There Was You. Enjoy!

The Kissing Booth

By: bleachfanficfanatic

A cold breeze whipped along the campus grounds stirring up leaves as Ichigo Kurosaki made his way across the lawn. "If I thought dealing with hollows, arrancars and high school was tough, college is ridiculous!" He yawned deeply. The shinigami (having dropped the substitute marker by now because really he did most of the work around here) had been running himself slightly ragged. It was his third year at university and he was already four times as busy as the previous years. Classes were increasing their difficulty since he was now immersed more fully into his major's subjects. In a move surprising no one Ichigo had opted to go into medicine and was now focused on his pre-med classes.

Reaching his destination of the science building for lab work he pulled open the door and stepped inside out of the chilly wind which had picked up some during his walk. Turning a corner he entered the lab, grabbed a coat and hung his satchel bag on the newly vacant peg extracting a binder from its depths. Tucking the collar and buttoning the coat he made his way across the room to the incubator. Extracting his samples he took a seat at one of the tables and took notes of their changes. A few minutes later his lab partner, Jin Teesai, entered doing the same procedures as Ichigo with his coat and bag. Ichigo tried to hide the glower on his face as the ebony haired male took his place next to him.

As a lab partner Jin was fine, but as a person…he just rubbed Ichigo the wrong way, mostly because of the way he talked about and treated women. Ichigo, even being defined as a punk ass, overall showed respect to the gentler sex. If half of what Jin claimed regarding his "conquests" was true Ichigo determined him to be a pig.

"So Kurosaki," the "player's" smooth voice crooned, "I didn't see you at the mixer last night?"

Grunting unintelligibly Ichigo shook his head, determined to stay focused on his tasks at hand; he had enough to do with the rest of his day and the sooner these lab observations were done the sooner he could get to those items.

"Come on man, college is the time to get your fun in before "real life" begins," admonished Jin.

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "This guy is so clueless." He and his friends had to grow up much faster than the peers they were surrounded by because of all the crap they'd been through. It made him wonder how they were able to function in the world normally some times.

Shaking his head he refocused his attention, blocking Jin's voice out as though it were white noise. That is until he said a very familiar name. "What was that about Inoue?"

Ichigo's voice startled the man next to him and he jumped slightly at its gruffness, "What?"

Scowling deeper the orange haired male turned on his stool to fully face him, "You said the name of someone I know, how do you know Inoue?" It was Jin's turn to frown; he'd been talking about a lot of people. Looking to the right he tried to recall…oh…her. His smile told Ichigo he'd hit upon the memory. It also told him he didn't want this creep anywhere near Inoue if they were talking about the same person.

"Now I remember," Jin drawled out smoothly, "How could I forget that exquisite red hair and that body?" Ichigo felt his fist clench as he took in a long, slow deep breath through his nose to keep his temper under control. It would do no good to smash the man's face with his perfectly completed lab results.

Completely unaware of the dangerous hole he was digging himself into Jin continued, "Inoue Orihime," his voice caressed her name and again Ichigo had to hold back his fist, "Gorgeous transfer, just arrived this year. Met her at the mixer. Shit, she is something. Then again, you already knew that didn't you?" His dark green eyes met Ichigo's brown in a knowing look.

Honestly for years Ichigo hadn't thought about Inoue in those terms. Not until their senior year of high school when all the major shit went down and they'd all almost died again. It wasn't that he'd not realized she was pretty; one would have to be blind to not see that. And it wasn't that he failed to see how kind, generous and self-sacrificing she was. His father had pointed out they were kind of like kindred spirits in the area of self-sacrifice but Ichigo had brushed it off in embarrassment at the time. It was after the defeat of Yhwach, when everything had settled back down, that he'd really seen her and the sight had been breathtaking.

However, despite his numerous victories in battle, Ichigo was still a self-deprecating, doubt-filled boy when it came to the softer emotions so he bottled up his new found feelings having no clue what to do with them. Plus, by the time he'd realized what was happening they were all preparing to go their separate ways. He'd opted to go to a four year university while Inoue would be completing intermediary classes in Karakura. Ishida had gone along with him but they rarely saw each other despite similar majors; their class schedules were practically opposite which suited each of them fine. Being roommates was enough time together for the temperamental cousins.

Now, all of a sudden, here he was finding out Inoue was going to his school from another person. "Why didn't she tell me?" he thought, realizing he was kind of hurt she hadn't. "Then again, this is Inoue; it's possible she'd forgotten which school I ended up at. And it's not like we really stayed in contact very well…"

"And whose fault is that? Oh right…YOUR'S asshole!"

"Shut up," hissed Ichigo, not realizing he'd spoken aloud.

"Excuse me?" Jin asked taken slightly aback. He'd already been eyeing Ichigo warily when he'd gone almost catatonic seemingly lost in deep, deep thought.

Shaking his head Ichigo blinked and met his eyes again, "What? Oh, err, sorry Jin, just…guess I spaced out there." His voice was almost kind, which for some reason made Jin even more nervous. Pulling back a little from his partner he turned his attention to his own labs again as he murmured, "No problem, but maybe you should stop burning the midnight oil Kurosaki." Ichigo wanted to ask him more, like where she was living but decided it would be easier to seek her out himself.

Lab work completed Ichigo replaced all the used items to their respective homes before exchanging his coat for his leather jacket. Slinging the bag over his shoulder he made his way to his next class despite eagerness to seek out Inoue. He was surprised at the compulsion, chalking it up to being excited about seeing an old friend.

"Oh, I'm sure your "excited" King but not because she's a friend! Stop denying it, you want her just as bad as that asshole you left behind." Ichigo growled internally; his hollow had been fairly quiet over the years and now all of a sudden he was Mr. Chatty again. Shuffling into his chemistry class he tried to focus on the lesson but found his thoughts continually shifting to a bright smile, shining eyes and a melodic voice he'd not heard in a long, long time saying, "Kurosaki-kun."

"Yep, she's "just a friend"," he heard chuckled at him, the idiot grin he'd felt spreading across his face snapping back to its usual scowl in an instant.

At the end of chemistry Ichigo sprinted back across campus where his English class took place. He'd just begun to mount the stairs of the humanities building when he heard the healer's name spoke again. Stopping in his tracks he blatantly listened to the two men talking right below him by the bike racks.

"Man, have you seen that Inoue Orihime, yet?" one male wearing a white shirt asked another clothed in blue. The blue shirt nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah, she's so gorgeous! Really nice too!"

"You mean you talked to her?" the white shirt seemed awed and Ichigo chuckled despite his irritation of her yet again being the subject of male interest. "Other than yours of course," murmured his hollow but he shut him out to pay attention to the conversation still going on.

Blue shirt nodded again, "Yeah, she's in my calculus class. Hard to pay attention with those assets around." Ichigo was back to full irritation now. "She's not a piece of meat, damn it!"

"We should make sure to go to the Jasmine Blossom Sorority's fund raiser, I heard a rumor she's going to be one of the attendants at the kissing booth!" Ichigo could swear he'd chipped a tooth he was gritting his teeth so hard. "Inoue Orihime, working a kissing booth?" His brain couldn't accept that as fact.

"Hell yeah! I'm going to make sure to get there early, don't want those pretty lips wearing out before I get a chance to peck'em," this from blue shirt and he heard them laugh as they walked off. It took Ichigo a few more minutes to get his blood pressure under control before continuing to class, arriving late because of the eavesdropping but he didn't care. It was more important than ever he find Inoue.

"And don't you start!" he shouted to his hollow sensing he was about to open his mouth. Said being had been ready with another taunt but decided to hold onto it for later, smirking instead. English went by even slower than normally but finally Ichigo was hurrying back across the campus to his dorm. He needed to change for his weight training class. Not that he really needed it; his supernatural life kept him in top physical condition but since he needed the physical education credits he opted for something he could do quick and easy and was already a legend with what he could bench press.

As he entered his room he was surprised to find Uryuu there. "What are you doing here?" he asked whipping off his shirt as he headed to the closet.

Rolling his eyes Ishida replied, "Well, this is my room too Kurosaki."

"No shit Sherlock, I meant, what are you doing here right now? Aren't you usually at the archery club or something?"

Adjusting his glasses as he jotted down another note to his book's margin the raven haired man replied coolly, "Cancelled for today so I opted to get out of the wind and came back here." Eyeing his cousin he could feel his reiatsu rippling out in stronger and stronger waves. Cocking an eyebrow he inquired, "What has got you so worked up?"

"Nothing," Ichigo responded a bit too quickly.

Ishida meet his reply with an incredulous look. "So you say, but if you don't want your workout to get interrupted I suggest you calm down from whatever is "not" bothering you otherwise I'll be forced to clean up your mess…again." Ichigo sneered at the condescending tone but did try to calm down a bit. He still wasn't sure why he was so pent up.

"I found out Inoue transferred here, odd that she didn't tell us," Ichigo said hurriedly as he slipped on track pants before throwing on his cross trainers. When Uryuu didn't respond with surprise as he expected Ichigo looked back up to his face and could tell he wasn't, which only meant one thing: he already knew she was there! His reiatsu flared up with anger immediately, scowl deepening as he asked heatedly, "What the hell Ishida?! You knew and you never said anything about it?"

Crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair Uryuu replied evenly, "It was not my place to tell you Kurosaki." Now Ichigo was really confused. Standing up quickly he spat out, "What the hell are you talking about? She's our friend Uryuu!"

"I'm not at liberty to say anything further. If you want to know why I suggest you find her yourself. And do yourself a favor: stop acting like such an idiot!" Uryuu had shot this last out with a touch of venom rising from his chair, yanking the door open and disappearing into the hallway.

After that little exchange a workout was exactly what Ichigo needed, pushing himself extra hard for "some reason". As he headed to the cafeteria for dinner he pondered over Uryuu's words. "What the hell could Ishida have been talking about? Not his place to tell me our friend was here?" He ate quickly, still needing to take a shower before his evening nutrition class.

While reviewing the difference between macro and micro nutrients he again overheard members of the male variety discussing the gorgeous transfer. "How the hell have I not run into her yet," he mused, "I mean, I know this place is large but you would think with the number of people around me who have seen her I'd have too."

But he didn't see her at all that night or the entirety of the next day but he hadn't forgotten what he'd heard of her "extracurricular" activities scheduled for Friday night. Ichigo had never been to any of the fraternity or sorority events feeling they were just excuses to find hook ups or act stupid without consequence (funny how both of those went hand in hand). However, he had no intention of missing the Jasmine Blossom event.

When he'd mentioned it to Uryuu, and how he intended to make sure Inoue was not taken advantage of, the bespectacled man's cheeks had tinge slightly pink. But he'd cleared his throat to admonish, "Regardless of how we feel about this…event…it is her choice to participate Kurosaki. I mean, you've barely kept in contact with her, how do you have any right to determine what she does or does not do with her body?"

"Are you freaking kidding me Uryuu?!" Ichigo sprung to his feet towering over his roommate who remained seated on his bed. "She's…she's too innocent for something like that! Seems you haven't been very good at keeping tabs on her!"

Now Uryuu stood to meet his cousin's fierce gaze on level ground, "Firstly, I kept in contact with her as a friend as you should have done. I did not "keep tabs on her". Secondly, if that is your only reason for whatever it is you plan to do then leave her be. You will do more harm than good if you do not come to grips with your real motivations. Thirdly, consider carefully and you may figure out why it was Inoue-san did not inform you of her intention to attend the same school as us."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ichigo was trembling now, but he wasn't sure if it was from nerves or anger anymore. Smirking, a knowing look on his face Ishida took a step back, "Kurosaki, for once in your life, please, think things through before you act." Then turning on his heel Uryuu left the room.

Still fuming but less so Ichigo made himself go for a walk, the coolness of the night helping to calm his raging pulse. Looking up at the stars he took a deep breath of chilly autumn air. Why did males just talking about Inoue in such terms as he'd recently heard turn him into a raging jealous beast?

"Jealous?" he said aloud. He knew he cared about her. That was clear by his ever present desire to protect her, to keep her safe. But as he thought on it longer he finally really analyzed the new feelings he'd developed for her before leaving for college. And he could see clear as day now: protective had turned into possessive; concern had turned to care; interest had turned to infatuation; and friendship…friendship had definitely changed to something…different. Now that he was more aware of his own feelings that just left finding out why in the world Inoue Orihime hadn't told him she would be coming here. As the answer hit him he gasped…that was it! She hadn't wanted him to know!

"Why? I thought we were friends…" he continued mulling it over until his hollow could no longer stand his incompetence to figure it out.

"Oh for the love of Kami, king! THINK!"

"I am thinking jackass! I'm thinking so hard my brain is starting to short circuit so unless you have something constructive to add shut the hell up!"

Sighing and not really knowing why he even gave a crap, other than his own desires for the queen, he yelled out, "She didn't want you to know where she was so you couldn't hurt her anymore idiot!"

Ichigo almost stopped breathing; he'd hurt her? How? Thinking harder he reached deep into his memories, searching for anything he could…then he finally found it. A memory of a big hollow fight about six months before everything went down with Yhwach.

He and Rukia had been engaged in battle with three large hollows when an arrancar had shown up to the party. He'd caught Rukia unaware and grazed her with a cero, her body burned severely. Ichigo had almost lost his mind trying to get to her. She was his best friend and he wasn't going to let her die. Just as he'd dispensed with the arrancar he felt a calming presence: Inoue.

Looking over to where Rukia lay he saw the healer's dome covering her, mending her back together and a wave of relief rushed over him. He'd reached their side a moment later, not speaking so as not to break Inoue's concentration. The moment she was done and had dropped the dome Ichigo fell to his knees, threw his arms around Rukia and breathed out, "Thank Kami you're alright." Rukia had been surprised at the show of affection, patting his back awkwardly. After their embrace Ichigo had turned to thank Inoue for being there but when he saw her face he'd paused. She looked like she was in pain and he was concerned she'd been injured during the battle somehow.

"Inoue," his voice made her jump, the slightly glassy eyed look she'd previously had dropping away as he continued, "Are you ok?"

Waving her hands in front of her in typical Orihime fashion she forced a laugh, "Of course, Kurosaki-kun, I'm fit as a fiddle." To emphasis her point she'd conked herself in the head. Before he could admonish her for hurting herself to prove she wasn't hurt Orihime had continued hurriedly, "Well, I'm glad you're both ok! I have to get going, have a good night Kurosaki-kun, Kuchiki-san." It wasn't until she'd disappeared around a building that Ichigo realized he never got to thank her for saving their friend.

"Now do you get it asshole?" Ichigo nodded, oh yeah, he finally got it. It just took him years later to really see what had happened. And the longer he reflected the more he realized how much Inoue's behavior to him had changed since that night. At the time he'd chalked it up to all the events going on around them himself being too focused on dealing with crisis after crisis to see his sweet friend had retreated so far into herself…particularly around him.

"Damn it," he hissed out, pissed at himself for being so blind. Shaking his head he headed back to his room. He could only hope he wasn't too late to make things right with her.

The next evening was the "big event" of the weekend and Ichigo found himself headed towards the grounds of the Jasmine Blossom Sorority house. As he neared it he could hear music playing, some kind of dance tune to get people energized. Balloons and streamers hung in and among the trees as the scent of chocolate cupcakes wafted down the lane. Taking in more of the sight he saw various booths had been set up on the sidewalk directly in front of the house. There was a bakery stand, hence the smell of cupcakes, a temporary tattoo booth with artists painting designs on eager students, a raffle booth touting silly, cheap prizes up for grabs to a few lucky winners and finally…the kissing booth.

It was then he saw her. Standing with some friends, her enticing giggle carrying over to him on the wind was Orihime Inoue. She looked even more beautiful than he'd remembered and it was with chagrin Ichigo realized he hadn't actually seen this woman in two years! And oh what those years had done to her.

Her hair was longer, hitting at her slender waist now. Speaking of her waist, her figure looked more toned, the long sleeved purple sweater dress hugging her curves but somehow gave her both a sexy and classy look. Grey leggings and boots completed her fall look. Even from the distance he stood slightly behind a tree (he wasn't hiding, he just hadn't figured how to approach her yet) Ichigo could see her beautiful eyes shining. In fact, her whole face seemed to glow, enhanced delicately with hints of makeup highlighting her natural beauty.

Running hands through his hair Ichigo realized he was way in over his head and once again had no clue what to do. All he did know was he wanted to see her, wanted to talk to her, wanted to hold her…wanted…to…kiss her. Looking in front of the stand he could see Inoue was one of three kissing partners, the other two being a pretty blonde and a sweet brunette. "Covered the basics," Ichigo thought but noticed Inoue's line was considerably longer than the other two.

They hadn't actually gotten started yet for which Ichigo was thankful. To anyone who didn't know her well, which was pretty much everyone in the vicinity aside from Ichigo, she looked fine. But as he watched her face he could see cracks of apprehension showing through her cheery facade.

"Ok gentlemen," he heard a soft voice call out, "The kissing booth will open officially in two minutes!" There was a resounding cheer from the men and suddenly Ichigo was out of time. Without much thought or plan he rushed forward, disregarding the shouts and bellows of indignation as he strode through the crowd. He didn't even bother to stop at the table resting between the women and their eager patrons. Leaping over it he placed his hands on Orihime's shoulders, her eyes wide with shock and slight fear until she realized who it was that had rushed the table.

"Kurosaki-kun?!" Orihime's voice held pure amazement that he was standing in front of her, never mind the fact he was holding her shoulders quite firmly.

"How much?" he asked without ceremony.

"Huh?" Orihime's brain hadn't been able to contemplate the question asked of her she was so shocked by his presence.

"How much are you trying to raise?" he clarified. Blinking Orihime opened and closed her mouth but no sound would come out. From behind him Ichigo heard the brunette answer, "Three hundred dollars hot stuff."

Ignoring the annoyed calls to "get it over with" and "move on, there are other paying customers here" coming from the increasingly restless crowd of fellow males Ichigo relinquished his hold of Orihime's shoulders long enough to grab his wallet.

"You take cards?" he asked half turning to face the other women. Silently they nodded, one of them grabbing the tablet with credit card swipe attachment. Extracting it from her hand Ichigo swiped his card, entered his code, an amount of $300.00 and then signed his name. Handing it back he returned his gaze to the woman in front of him.

"Kurosaki-kun?"She queried, her lips parted slightly in confusion of his actions. His eyes locked on those beautiful lips, those luscious, delectably kissable lips before he wound one arm around her shoulders and the other around her waist. Pulling to the side he tilted her back in a dip.

"Orihime," he whispered over her mouth before claiming it with his. The kiss began chaste, lips slightly parted but he'd no intention of keeping it that way for long. Running his tongue along the seam of her mouth Ichigo felt her open up to him and he plunged forward into her sweetness. He heard a slight whimper of surprise but then felt her hands, which had been merely holding on for dear life, begin to move up his back, toward his neck and through his hair as her tongue played back against his. The action pulled a groan from his own chest.

Pulling them back to a vertical position, but not relinquishing her mouth, Ichigo kissed her still, his hand moving from its purchase around her shoulders up into her hair, wrapping his fingers tightly through the auburn tresses. He allowed her to pull back momentarily for a quick breath before pulling her forward again, the hand on her waist trailing up to cup her face while hers held tight to his hips.

Finally, when both could no longer get proper breaths, they parted, each panting heavily as they stared into each others' eyes. There was absolute silence for a full thirty seconds before all the girls squealed loudly and the men groaned heavily. It was very clear there was only one patron for the red head.

Chuckling at her blush Ichigo kissed the tip of Orihime's nose then both her cheeks before murmuring against her lips, punctuating each word with a small kiss, "Worth. Every. Penny."

Taking her hand he led her away from the booth, leaving the blonde and brunette to deal with the aftermath. He pulled her around the corner of the house for a quick private chat, "I hope that makes it clear it's you I want and not Rukia. She's special but she's just my friend. I…I only love you Orihime."

Her eyes widened in surprise, the memory he was talking about clear as day in her head since it had repeated itself with painful clarity for years. And as his words washed over her Orihime felt her heart and soul had been cleansed. Moving forward she kissed him again whispering as she pulled back, "Oh Ichigo, I love you too!" Smiling a true smile for the first time in years Ichigo kissed her back before throwing an arm around her shoulders guiding her back to the festivities. As they walked he pulled her close to whisper in her ear, "Next year you're managing the bakery booth. Only I get to enjoy your sweetness from now on, ok Hime?" She nodded enthusiastically making him chuckle and Ichigo knew that the coming years, regardless of what new hell they brought, would be more bright, more hope and more love filled because he finally had her by his side again.