Orihime had butterflies in her breasts.

She sat at her kitchen table, staring down at her breasts and wondering what on earth the butterflies were trying to tell her. They were completely different from the kittens that kneaded her stomach the night before a really important test; for one thing, they were butterflies, not kittens. And she didn't have any tests coming up, so they couldn't be trying to warn her that she hadn't studied enough. Besides, they felt... nice. Except nice was really too tame a word. They felt thrilling... tingly, even. And she only got them when she was thinking about Ishida.

She took a sip of her water, pondering the butterfly problem deeply. The butterflies were trying to tell her something about Ishida; good, she had that much figured out. What about Ishida, though, still presented a problem. For a moment Orihime considered calling Rukia and asking how people in the Soul Society received messages from their butterflies. Did the insects tap Morse code on the person's fingers and the shinigami then translated it? Did they inject the message into the bloodstream? But if they injected into the bloodstream, wouldn't Orihime have gotten the message about Ishida already? In the end, the girl decided against calling her classmate, as she didn't know Rukia's phone number and, more to the point, her phone line had been cut off because she hadn't been able to pay the last bill. Oh well. Time for Plan B: continue sitting around and thinking. The answer had to come to her sometime, right? If a hundred monkeys could write a Shakespeare play given an infinite amount of time, then she could translate the butterflies' message given about thirty years 'she decreased the time on the assumption that the butterflies' message was not quite as complicated as a Shakespeare play). But what if the butterflies ARE trying to write Shakespeare? Maybe they're re-writing Hamlet and casting Ishida-kun as Hamlet... This, she thought, was a smart decision on the part of the butterflies, and for the next ten minutes she was completely distracted from her translation quest by trying to figure out who else of her friends would be cast in Hamlet. Mayuri-san would definitely be Claudius... She was rather stuck, though, on Ophelia. Tatsuki-chan? No, she's too tough...

Knock knock knock! Orihime was saved from this dilemma by someone at the door. "Coming! she called out, and quickly jumped out of her seat and ran to the door. When she opened it, the butterflies in her breasts fluttered like they were working off a sugar high.

"I-Ishida-kun!" she stammered, her hand coming instinctively to cover her chest.

"Aah, good evening, Inoue-san," the boy said, fidgeting awkwardly and pushing up his glasses. He seemed unusually nervous, even for him, and this only agitated the butterflies further. Maybe they really are trying to tell me that something's wrong!

"Is something wrong, Ishida-kun?" she asked worriedly, gently pulling the boy inside. At her touch, the Quincy turned a deep shade of red. Maybe he's sick! She began mentally cataloguing the supplies in her kitchen: chicken soup? Check! Leeks? Check! Cold medicine...

"No!" Ishida protested quickly. "No, nothing's wrong! I'm fine! Absolutely fine!" People who were 'absolutely fine' didn't generally turn that red and talk that fast, Orihime noted, but she would play along with Ishida... for now. If he started steaming from the ears, it was into bed and full of chicken soup with him!

"Then what brings you here, Ishida-kun?" she asked gently. It wasn't like Ishida to come by; in fact, this was his first visit to her home. It must be really important if it couldn't wait until school tomorrow, she thought, and then remembered: Right, tomorrow's Sunday.

"I... err…" Orihime waited patiently as Ishida stammered and struggled for words. Unfortunately, like with the butterflies, Orihime wasn't getting the message.

"Would you like something to drink, Ishida-kun?" she asked, having mercy on the poor flustered boy.

"Ah, water please," Ishida responded gratefully. Smiling, Orihime tugged him into her little kitchenette, only letting go of his hand to get the glass and fill it with water. "Here you go, Ishida-kun!" she said, handing him the glass.

"Th-thank you, Inoue-san." Ishida took the glass, but made no move to drink from it. He simply held it in his hand, staring down at it as if it were some foreign object. Yet more uncharacteristic behavior from the boy. Orihime frowned worriedly.

"Ishida-kun?" she prompted softly. He looked up then, and Orihime saw in his eyes a swirling mass of confusion, fear, and something else, something that made the fear and confusion not scary, but sweet.

"Inoue-san, I..." His words trailed off, but Orihime waited patiently for them to come back. If there was one thing she was good at, it was at patiently waiting. Even if her breasts were full of butterflies... even if the juncture of her thighs was beginning to feel the same way... she could wait patiently. Whatever it was that the butterflies were trying to tell her, what Ishida had to say was much more important.

The boy, however, didn't seem much inclined to speak. His lips were slightly parted as if to talk, but all he did was stare at her lips. Did she have something on them? Instinctively, Orihime licked them, just in case any of the butter-chocolate-wasabi mixture she had earlier was still on them. Nope. Nothing. Why is he staring then? she wondered. And why were her lips suddenly crawling with ladybugs? She licked them again, telling the ladybugs to go away; she was waiting for Ishida-kun to tell her something! But the ladybugs had a message of their own to impart. They drew her attention to his lips, half-parted and incredibly soft-looking. If she touched her ladybugs to his gentlemen bugs "because obviously his lips would have gentlemen bugs, as he was a boy), maybe then she would know what he was trying to say. Whatever it was, the ladybugs and the butterflies agreed that she didn't have time to wait. If Ishida couldn't tell her himself, then she would have to rely on the lady "and gentlemen!) bugs. Taking in a nervous breath, Orihime stood up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to Ishida's.

"Mmph!" Orihime heard the sound of water splashing onto the floor as she accidentally knocked his hand aside, but Ishida managed to hold onto the cup. She moved to pull back and apologize for spilling his water, but his free hand quickly went to her back, holding her in place. Orihime let out a happy breath and pulled closer again, deepening the kiss. On her lips, the ladybugs danced.

But the butterflies were not yet content. Orihime shyly brought her hands up to Ishida's chest, clutching the fabric of his shirt and pulling herself even closer, and yet still the butterflies were not satisfied. With the way her breasts were pressed against Ishida's chest, Orihime was sure the poor things must be squished, but they just wanted closer. How much closer can I get? Orihime wondered distantly. But only distantly – most of her attention was occupied with Ishida's lips and the dancing ladybugs. She pressed closer still, letting out a soft mewl of protest when Ishida pulled back.

"I-Inoue-san," he stammered. Orihime waited with half-lidded eyes for him to continue, but when he didn't do so fast enough, she pulled him down into another kiss. After all, if he wasn't going to say anything, he shouldn't prevent the ladybugs from dancing.

This second kiss was much hotter than before. Orihime wrapped her arms around the boy, thinking that this made sense, because rooms always got really hot when you had a lot of people dancing in them. The two swayed for a moment, and Orihime thought that they would topple and fall to the ground, but then she was being moved backwards, back towards the kitchen counter. She let out a soft "oofof pain as her back hit the counter, but the sting didn't matter. She felt Ishida's arm move, heard the clatter of the glass as he put it down and it promptly fell, knocked over by his unsteady hand. She almost went to make sure the glass didn't fall to the ground, but then his now-free hand wrapped around her and she discovered that yes, it was possible to be closer. The butterflies in her breasts danced, creating a flurry of ecstatic sensations. But the ones lower still felt discontent, and Orihime whimpered quietly from the force of their disquiet. Ishida made a low sound of pleasure, and Orihime thought that she rather liked that sound, and wished that she could get him to make it again. It would help if I knew how I made him make it in the first place, she thought, and then: ... what's that? Something stiff was poking her stomach, so much that it tickled. Giggling, she squirmed, trying to get it to stop tickling, but Ishida held her firmly in place, and the more she wiggled, the more the thing poked into her. The wiggling produced more of those interesting noises from Ishida, but the tickling was just too much. She pulled her lips back slightly from Ishida's, just enough so she could speak clearly. "Ishida-kun, that tickles!

"What?" Ishida's voice was distant and dreamy; he had obviously not quite registered what she said. When he did, his eyes went wide with horror, and his face turned a deep red from embarrassment. "Aaah, Inoue-san, I'm so sorry!" He tried to pull back, but this time it was Orihime who held him in place. Neither she nor the butterflies had any interest in putting any distance between her and the dark-haired Quincy. And since he seemed unable to offer an explanation for what was tickling her, Orihime decided to look down herself. Something was poking out of Ishida's pants, from the vicinity of his crotch. That's a pretty strange place to keep a flashlight, she thought. And then it hit her.

"Is that your boy toy, Ishida-kun?" she asked.

v Ishida choked, somehow managing to turn even more red. Worried, Orihime pounded on his back, just in case he had swallowed a tooth or something.

"M-my boy toy?" he asked hoarsely when he was finally able to speak, and Orihime nodded.

"Chizuru-chan told me about them!" she said. "She said each boy has a special toy between his legs that he likes to play with when he is alone, and that only boys have it." She frowned thoughtfully, then added: "And she told me I should never play with one, even if a boy lets me. She said they're for boys only, and girls have something much better to play with. But Tatsuki-chan hit her before she could tell me what that was."

Ishida coughed, slowly recovering himself.

"Honsho-san is... partially right," he said slowly. "That is my... er... boy toy... down there. The proper name for it is p-" His throat caught on the word, and no matter how hard he tried, it just wouldn't come out. Orihime waited a few moments to see if it would emerge, but then she decided that she didn't really care what its proper name was. They both knew what she was talking about.

"So what do you do with it?" she asked, poking the protrusion. Ishida squeaked when she did that, making her giggle.

"Inoue-san!" he protested, but Orihime decided, protests or not, she wanted to hear him squeak again, and so poked it once more. Another squeak, and then suddenly he grabbed her hands, preventing further pokings, and pushed her once more against the counter. This time it was Orihime's turn to squeak as Ishida pressed himself against her, leaving his lips only a few scant millimeters from hers.

"You really shouldn't play with that," he whispered, before closing the gap between their mouths. Orihime didn't quite agree – she thought Ishida's boy toy seemed like a lot of fun to play with, especially if he kept squeaking like that – but the kiss proved a successful distraction. She stood on tiptoe and wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss, acutely conscious of his lips against hers, his hands on her hips, the way her breasts were crushed against his chest. It was intoxicatingly pleasant, even if the buttons of her shirt dug a little into her breasts.

"Damn buttons." Evidently they dug into Ishida's chest as well, and the Quincy boy was none too happy about it.

"Aah, I'm sorry, Ishida-kun!" Orihime stammered. "I forgot that the buttons would hurt! I'll change shirts right away!" Being that she was still trapped against the counter, she couldn't exactly go to fetch a new button-less shirt. But at least she could get rid of her current one. Nodding decisively, she began undoing her shirt.

"Inoue-san!" Ishida yelped, grabbing her hands to still their movement. Orihime looked up at him, puzzled.

"I thought you didn't like the buttons," Ishida-kun, she said.

"I didn't mean –" Ishida stammered, struggling for the words to explain himself. And then he looked down at her shirt, and the fair amount of cleavage already exposed. He gulped, once again turning red, but he could not tear his eyes away. Letting out a nervous breath of air, he let go of Orihime's hands, gently pushing them down to her sides. "Allow me," he said quietly. Fingers trembling, he started to undo the rest of her buttons. Orihime kept her eyes riveted to Ishida's face, watching his expression as more of her flesh was exposed. The butterflies inside of her went into a renewed frenzy at the exposure and the look of stark appreciation on the Quincy's face. This time, though, Orihime was in no doubt of what they were saying. They wanted to be touched.

The last button was finally undone and, gulping nervously, Ishida pushed her shirt off her shoulders, leaving her breasts fully exposed save for the flimsy cover of her lacy bra. Tatsuki had given that to her for her last birthday, telling her to use it well with a playful wink. Orihime wondered what her friend would think of it now. Then Ishida brushed a gentle finger across the exposed flesh, making Orihime's breath catch in her throat, and suddenly Orihime couldn't care less about what her best friend would think. Ishida froze after that, then hesitantly dipped his hand down below the bra, cupping her bare breast. Orihime gasped, her hands clenching from shock. The butterflies were ecstatic. Taking that as a sign of approval, Ishida continued to fondle her breast, moving his hand so that his thumb brushed against her erect nipple. Orihime whimpered, hands grabbing Ishida's shirt to pull him closer, the butterflies between her legs demanding attention. The Quincy smiled down at her, although Orihime couldn't see it with her eyes closed, and then he leaned down to kiss her neck, taking her nipple between his fingers and pinching it gently. Orihime let out a loud cry then, pushing her breasts forward, her body aching for more contact. Her bra suddenly felt far too tight and itchy and she squirmed, wanting it off but unable to let go of Ishida, instinctively fearful that he would back away. As if reading her thoughts Ishida removed his hand, despite her cry of protest, and then, after a great deal of fumbling, unclasped her bra. Orihime wiggled out of it and let it fall to the ground, immediately wrapping her arms around him and pulling the boy down for another kiss. The fabric of his shirt felt rough against the tender skin of her breasts, and the friction sent a frisson of pleasure down to the juncture of her thighs. Ishida's erection continued poking her stomach, distracting her from the sensations in her breasts and Ishida's hands. Chizuru may have said she shouldn't play with boy toys, but Orihime didn't think Ishida's would do any harm. And he did make the most wonderful squeaky noises when she touched it. So while Ishida's hands wandered to play with her breasts, Orihime's own hand wandered down to brush the boy's erection. He gasped, his hips bucking forward into Orihime's hand.

"I-Inoue-san!" he yelped.

"Does that feel good?" Orihime asked, keeping her hand on his erection, rubbing it gently. From the little moaning sounds he was making, Orihime was pretty sure it did, but it never hurt to make sure.

"Aah... yes," Ishida admitted hesitantly. Orihime smiled at him, her face bright and happy.

"Then I should keep touching it?" she asked, rubbing it a little more firmly. Ishida groaned loudly at that, his head falling down to bury itself in the crook of her neck.

"I-Inoue-san," he said thickly. He took a deep breath, and then said: "Stop." Frowning with confusion, Orihime obeyed.

"What's wrong, Ishida-kun?" she asked. Hadn't he liked it? He said it felt good...

Somehow, Ishida managed to lift his head up from Orihime's shoulder, although he then simply rested his forehead against hers, the tips of their noses brushing together.

"We should stop here, Inoue-san," he said slowly.

"Why?" Orihime frowned. The butterflies most definitely disapproved of this notion of stopping, and Orihime was quite inclined to agree with them.

Ishida bit his lip. "I... don't have protection," he said, "and somehow I don't think you do either."

"I have Hinagiku, Baigon, and Lily," Orihime said. Ishida blinked at her, confused until he recognized the names.

"Not that sort of protection, Inoue-san!" he said. "I mean... baby protection."

"Why would we need to be protected against babies, Ishida-kun?" Orihime asked. Really, this was getting quite absurd. Since when did babies attack? Unless Ishida-kun means baby Hollows... But what did baby Hollows have to do with them touching each other?

Ishida sighed and ran one hand through his hair, obviously struggling for the best way to explain this. "If I'm going to... err... thread your needle, Inoue-san," he said awkwardly, "I need to use protection, otherwise my thread and your needle would make a baby outfit."

Orihime looked at him with complete incomprehension.

"Why would you thread a needle if you aren't going to sew anything?" she asked. Ishida was acting quite ridiculous!

The boy sighed again. Obviously there was no getting around being blunt.

"We would make a baby, Inoue-san, he said. "I'm not ready to be a father."

"Oh." Now that she thought about it, Orihime did rather recall her teacher giving the class a lesson on how babies got made, and it involved a man and a woman touching each other while naked. Since they weren't being tested on the material, Orihime had given herself free reign to daydream during that lesson, so most of what she recalled involved Mizuki the Magical Warrior Bunny Princess. But she remembered enough to finally understand what Ishida was saying. "I... guess you're right." She pulled back reluctantly; the butterflies protested, but their complaints were muted by the idea of becoming a mother earlier than she wanted. Ishida pulled back too, and helped her pick up her bra and shirt. The shirt he wrapped around her shoulders, just barely covering her nakedness. He then brushed her hair from her face and pressed a quick kiss to her lips.

"I should go now," he said quietly, even reluctantly. Orihime nodded in automatic agreement, although she did not really want him to go. She could feel the butterflies inside of her being eaten by kittens, but not the good kittens that reminded her to study. These were dark unlucky kittens who lived only to eat happy butterflies. Orihime didn't like these kittens one bit. A shadow of that pain must have crossed through her eyes, for Ishida then took her hands in his and squeezed them.

"I... actually came here, Inoue-san," he said haltingly, "to... umm... tell you that I..." He gulped. "I love you."

Orihime froze, her gaze locked on their interlinked hands. I love you. With a furious yowl, the evil kittens vanished and the butterflies returned. I love you.

"...I love you too, Ishida-kun." How had she not realized it until this moment? All these months, feeling but not recognizing. Not until now.

Ishida turned a deep red – the color seemed to be an almost permanent aspect of his skin tone now – and stammered something that Orihime could not even begin to comprehend. He lingered a moment, obviously torn between staying and leaving, and then pressed another quick kiss to her lips before hurrying out the door. Orihime watched him leave without moving, save for her hand coming up to touch her lips.

Inside her, the butterflies and ladybugs danced.