IchiHime

Ichihime is the het ship between Ichigo Kurosaki and Orihime Inoue from the Bleach fandom.

Canon
Ichigo and Orihime are close friends. The two first met at high-school and became friends early on. Orihime always had feelings for Ichigo that gradually intensified as the two found themselves interacting more after he became a Soul Reaper. For much of their adolescence they grow closer, eventually falling in love and getting married. They have since had a child together.

Orihime had first met Ichigo under tragic circumstances, as she took her severely injured brother to a clinic, that Ichigo’s father owned, and watched him die there. By the time they started high-school Orihime had already developed an interest in Ichigo and was even teased for this by her best-friend, Tatsuki, who was also friends with him. She would sometimes fantasise about him in comedic ways. Their relationship is often very sincere and wholesome. Ichigo is normally quick to annoy and can be seen arguing with others, but when it comes to Orihime he is much kinder and gentler. He is even indulging of her silly nature and will act comical with her from time to time. Ichigo showed no apparent feelings for her, but became flustered and stated she was perhaps showing a bit too much when she wore revealing clothing in front of him, unaware that she only did so to attract his attention. On another occasion, Ichigo notably appeared upset when Orihime had been tricked into helping Tsukishima after he had implanted her mind with false memories of them being friends and thus she chose to aid him. He is notably a lot more protective of Orihime and becomes more frantic when she’s in danger. He is very susceptible to Orihime, as when he realised he had unnerved her with his Hollow Mask he began to lose his battle focus against Grimmjow, but once she shouted her support for him he was able to regain his momentum.

Ichigo’s protective nature over Orihime is one of the most common features of their relationship. He has come to save her from attacks numerous times, such as from Yammy and Grimmjow. This protectiveness is something that even Rukia, his close friend, picks up on and, in order to motivate him to become stronger in spite of his concern for the Hollow inside him, she drags him to Orihime and makes him promise that he will protect her. This results in Ichigo doing everything he can to become stronger and overcome his Hollow. He cares about her deeply and when she was kidnapped by Aizen he became furious. He then entered Hueco Mundo and faced the Arrancar, against the orders of the Soul Society, just to save her. He would fight and defeat both Grimmjow and Ulquiorra just for her. He became furious when Ulquiorra revealed that he had blackmailed Orihime to come with him to Hueco Mundo and made the Soul Society believe she had actually joined them and became their enemy. When Ichigo was apparently killed by Ulqiuorra, he was able to recover through the sheer will power to protect her as he could hear her call his name and told himself that he will protect her. Back on his feet, he allowed his inner Hollow to take over and relentlessly fought Ulqiuorra until he killed him. Whilst in this form, Ichigo’s protectiveness of Orihime stood out, as he was more than willing to attack his friend Uryu, but when he turned to her he stuttered the words “I will help you”. This protective nature of Orihime has, however, led to enemies using her as a means to bait him, as Aizen revealed he kidnapped her because he knew Ichigo, one of the Soul Society’s strongest assets, would attempt to save her, thus leaving Soul Society weakened.

Orihime is very kind to Ichigo but can be submissive to her own feelings for him. She feels very jealous due to Ichigo’s close friendship with Rukia, and admitted this to Rangiku who comforted her about her feelings. When she gets a job at a bread shop she regularly visits Icihigo’s home to give him some bread and when she was formally invited into his room for the first time she became flustered. She was even willing to expose her under cleavage because Kisuke told her that Ichigo would like it if she did so. As a result she wore revealing clothing in front of him, but became embarrassed and tried to cover herself when she thought Ichigo thought badly of her for doing so. Orihime is also very worried for his well-being and becomes agitated when he has been hurt in battle, and can even feel the pain herself. She will try her best to heal him with her powers, such as after his first brief encounter with Aizen and, when she saw how injured he was in his training with Xcution, she runs over to him in distress and starts to heal him. They both shared a brief moment after Ichigo’s victory over Byakuya where she tearfully apologises for not being of any use to him and thanks him for not dying, admitting that she was so worried for him. After he had defeated Aizen, she notably is the only one to start crying after seeing that he is alright until he collapses mid-sentence. When he had recovered in his bedroom she becomes embarrassed when she was the only one to joyfully shout his name, whilst everybody else was calm.

Her commitment to him is absolute and she told Riruka, when asked if she would help with Ichigo’s training by healing him even if it means he will endure endless pain, that she will heal him as much he needs her to. When Riruka then asks what she will do if he’s injured beyond her powers she says that she would not allow such a thing to happen to him. Furthermore, Orhime seems to have a very strong natural bond with Ichigo. She is capable of deducing Ichigo’s mental and emotional state better than anybody else and is able to detect him by scent alone. Despite Ichigo being masked by the Visored, she could still sense his spiritual pressure and locate him. At one point she becomes concerned for him when he appears to be hiding something from her and when talking to Uryu admits that she senses a change in him but will wait for him to tell her when he’s ready. Despite her love for him, she can be scared by his incredible and ominous power. When she first witnessed his Hollow form she became unnerved by the sight, which bothered Ichigo and disturbed his battle focus against Grimmjow. It was only after she was reprimanded by Nel that she overcame her concerns and shouted words of encouragement to him. She felt guilty when, in her despair, she called out for Ichigo’s help and he transformed in order to protect her, as he lost control of his own body to his inner Hollow and attacked Uryu because he wanted to protect her. During their battle with Yhwach, when Ichigo transformed once again, she could only stare in horror as she was worried his body had been taken over by his inner Hollow once more, but was relieved to see he was still the Ichigo she knew.

When she was kidnapped by Ulquiorra, he granted her wish to be able to say goodbye to her friends, but she could only do so to one person and that person, nor anybody else, could not be aware of her presence. Although she had numerous choices, she chose to visit Ichigo, who was unconscious. She leaned over an unconscious Ichigo and contemplated kissing him but tearfully pulled back. She anguishes over her situation, listing all the things she wanted to do with her life, and wishes she had five lives so she could do everything she wanted, but says that in every single one of those lives she would fall in love with only him. When she witnessed Ulquiorra seemingly kill Ichigo by blowing a hole through his chest, Orihime falls into a pit of complete despair and begins to panic as she kneels by his lifeless body, filled with tears and unsure what to do. Her tears, desperation and cry for help for Ichigo is able to bring him back from the brink of death. Despite being tricked by Tsukishima with false memories, her love for Ichigo unravels his effects on her and she begins to question why she feels the need to cry when she thinks Ichigo is crying. She desperately calls out for him not to cry as her body fills up with pain at the thought of Ichigo’s despair. She was relieved to see he was not actually crying before soon after being knocked out by Kisuke.

Although she is grateful for everything Ichigo has done for her, Orihime is constantly wrought with guilt as she feels like she is nothing more than a burden to him. As such, she desires to strengthen herself in order to one day fight alongside him. She impressed him when she both protected him and attacked Kugo during their training session and, on another occasion, was able to protect him again, this time from Uryu’s attack. At the entrance to the throne room in Soul Society, before facing Yhwach, Ichigo was more than willing to put his full trust in Orihime to be by his side and be in charge of the defence. Orihime was overjoyed at this, as after so long she was now able to fight alongside him. Ten years after the events of the Thousand-Year Blood War arc, Ichigo and Orihime happily marry each other and have a son named Kazui.

Fanon
Ichihime is both an extremely popular pairing in the Bleach fandom but also a very controversial one, as the rival ship, IchiRuki, is just as popular. As a result, the community was divided over the decision to pair them together and for Rukia to be paired with Renji.

Nonetheless, it appeared Bleach author, Tite Kubo, had planned for these romantic outcomes from the start. As Orihime’s feelings for Ichigo were made apparent very early on and the relationship between Rukia and Renji was established in the Soul Society Arc.

Critics of the pair lament the damsel in distress troupe that is excessive between Ichigo and Orihime. As Rukia is capable of looking after herself, whereas Orihime had to be saved numerous times. Beyond that, people found that Ichigo and Rukia shared a more endearing chemistry. Supporters of Ichihime argue that Ichigo and Orihime share a fiercely close bond that comes from a sense of mutual trust and deeply care for each other.

Fandom
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