Title: For Her (Sing) / 30kisses

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There were many things in life that did not scare Kurosaki Ichigo. Being able to see ghosts for as long as he could remember? No big deal. Becoming a substitute shinigami? No problem. Saving the shinigami that had given him his powers? Piece of cake. Rescuing the person he cared most about? Easy as pie. But this? This scared the hell out of him. His throat was dry, his palms sweaty, and he was pretty sure he was shaking a little. This was definitely one of the last things he wanted to do, ever. It was hard to deny her anything though, but this…this was the one thing he had to put his foot down on.

“I’m not doing it.”

“What?! Ichigo, you little-“

“It’s fine, Ichi-kun, I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to.”

“Look, Ichigo, you made her cry! What kind of jackass makes his own girlfriend cry?”

“She’s not crying, she’s perfectly fine! And anyway, stay out of this, you midget bitch!”

“Oi, don’t call her a midget bitch!”

“YOU CALL HER A MIDGET BITCH ALL THE TIME!”

“THAT’S DIFFERENT, I CAN DO THAT!”

“HOW THE HELL IS IT DIFFERENT?!”

“A-anou, please stop shouting…”

The two voices immediately quieted down, the pleading in Orihime’s voice causing them to look sheepish, “Good, you deserve to feel like morons.” Rukia nodded, patting Orihime on the arm.

Ichigo scowled at Rukia, but made no further comment, instead focusing on the ginger-haired girl. She really did look disappointed, and maybe a little sad, though it was clear she was trying to hide it. Causing Orihime sadness was not on his agenda, as far as he was concerned, his job was to personally destroy anyone who so much as made her shed a tear; too bad it looked like he was going to do that to himself.

Always attuned to his mood, she looked up at him, smiling gently, “Really, it is okay! You don’t have to do it.”

Renji let out a cough, the word coward clearly heard. Rukia let out a snicker, and Ichigo was sure his scowl had deepened. Soft fingers wrapped themselves around his, and his scowl softened slightly. Even when she was upset, disappointed, or sad, she always had a smile for somebody, but the one she gave him was always special, reserved especially for him, and nobody else. He supposed that was what spurred him to do it, he could take Rukia and Renji’s taunts, but he couldn’t stand seeing Orihime unhappy. “Goddamnit…” he grumbled, his girlfriend blinking at him as he stood up and stalked over to the karaoke machine.

When he was finished singing “I’ll Be Your Hero”, he stomped back to the couch, ears burning red as he flopped down next to Orihime, burying his face in his hands. He almost choked on his own saliva as Renji slapped him on the back, nearly knocking him off the couch, “Didn’t know you had the balls, Ichigo!”

“Fuck you.” He grumbled to the red head.

Rukia had her head tilted to the side, tapping her forefinger against her chin in thought, “Renji…why don’t you ever sing for me?”

The shinigami sputtered, clearly thinking of something to say that wouldn’t get him in deep shit. Ichigo smirked in triumph, served the jackass right, anyway. He turned to face his girlfriend, who beamed brightly at him, and he wasn’t expecting her weight against him, the arms thrown around his neck, or her lips pressed to his. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer, ignoring Renji and Rukia’s wolf whistles. If he got kisses like this, he wouldn’t mind singing more often.