Welcome Back (Ichigo Kurosaki X Orihime Inoue)Au

✿Where It All Began...✿

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The loud crack of lightning reverberated in the air as the heavy rain poured over Karakura town. Little Ichigo sat by his room window, watching how the drops of rain ran over the glass in fat blobs. His brown eyes followed the way the raindrops trickled and collected against the transparent surface. Another flash of lightning and he winced. He didn't like this weather at all. Infact, he hated it. It reminded him of how he'd lost the center of his universe three years ago. He had only been nine but the man who had murdered his mother didn't care. All he cared about was the extra cash he got to buy another bottle of beer or whatever he was hung up on.

He held his ears tightly once the sound of thunder shook the glass of his window. He really hated the rain. Though it was late at night, his bright orange spikey hair still stood out. It was something that attracted a sort of stigma wherever he went. He had once hated it but after his mother told him it was beautiful, he began to cherish it more. He dully stared out the window for another twenty minutes until something caught his eye.

Or someone.... It was a little girl. She looked to be around his age but she was dragging a man on her small back. His eyes widened when she suddenly fell down and he noticed that the man was injured. Little Ichigo scrambled out of his bed and rushed downstairs to call his father.

"Dad!.... There's a girl!.... Outside!" He yelled and ran past his father who was half asleep on the dark brown armchair in the living room. The older man jerked up from his seat, wondering why his son was speaking in parts and pieces. Isshin Kurosaki, Ichigo's father was a tall man with a dark scruff on his chin and the owner of the "KUROSAKI CLINIC".

"Ichigo.... Your sisters are asleep.... Try to be quiet...." He calmly scolded while scratching his spiked up black hair. His dark eyes widened once his son ran out through the door without even bothering to take an umbrella.

"Hey!.... Where are you going?!.... It's late son!.... Hey!" He hurried after the little boy. That year he'd lost his wife, Ichigo had been skipping school to go back to the lake where she'd been gruesomely killed, hoping to see her again. He worried for his son. Even at a young age, Ichigo never relied on others. He understood that his name meant "To protect" but Isshin was worried his son didn't realize that he could ask others for help when he needed it.

He picked up an umbrella and a smaller sized rain coat. When he'd secured the front door so he could go after his son, he heard the splashing of footsteps in the rain. His tense nerves calmed down once he saw the familiar shine of his son's orange hair but this time, Ichigo wasn't alone. He was helping a little girl carry someone. Isshin immediately noticed the blood that seeped through the unconscious man's clothes and helped them take him inside.

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Orihime felt guilty. Her sweet older brother had just been a little upset she didn't wear the turquoise flower hair pins he'd gifted her and she yelled that she hated it. She didn't mean those words at all. She'd been bullied at school because of her burnt orange hair and when she wore the beautiful shiny hairpins, she'd been pushed into mud on her way home. Sora, her brother who was twenty five years old had been working tirelessly to provide for the both of them. He'd fled the roof of their parents' home once he was eighteen, taking Orihime from their physical abuse. He adored his little sister and had been crushed when she said she hated the pins he'd given her.

He decided to take a walk to calm down so he wouldn't yell at her. She was only twelve after all. He didn't notice the speeding car which had drifted into the side walk. Before he could react, he was hit by the car and found himself in the middle of the road. The man behind the vehicle had fled for his life while Sora felt his waste away.