Chapter Text
Renji and Rukia’s last day in the human world falls on a workday of Orihime’s. She tells her manager that she will take a half-day due to a doctor’s appointment that she can’t miss and leaves her office post-lunch to go see them off.
It isn’t usual for her to take off from work every time they visit but she is feeling especially sentimental this time so she figures it's fine. On her way back from work, she checks her social media. The pictures she posted of the three of them at the club got way more likes than her pictures normally do. The comment section is about to burst, too. Out of all that commotion, one comment catches her eye.
ari_sawa.t: <3
Orihime feels a smile spreading across her face and she replies to that comment with about 29 red hearts.
She skips the rest of the day home, feeling like she is up and dancing on actual clouds. The sky seems bluer, the breeze feels cooler. She can make out the sweet chirping of birds somewhere above her that had escaped her notice before and she vaguely wonders if she should get a pet.
A lizard would be nice. She is quite fond of iguanas actually.
She reaches home still lost in fantasies of a pet lizard she does not own. She has decided the lizard’s nickname will be Zilla and everyone will think it is a cute, foreign name, and then she will reveal that the name is actually Godzilla! She giggles, already imagining her friend’s exasperated faces in her mind.
Her tattoo doesn’t feel tender anymore. Renji told her it is in a spot that will likely start scabbing soon enough so she didn’t have to worry too much. She doesn’t really know what any of that means, all she knows is she’s going to take the best care of it and it will be the coolest thing about her once it has healed fully. She is wearing a blouse with billowy sleeves so she doesn’t scratch it and she’s been holding her arm at an angle all day. It must look weird, she thinks, but she doesn’t really care.
Humming to herself, she knocks on her door. She has a key but it will be at the very bottom of her bag because somehow that was where it always ended up. It would be easier if Renji just opened the door instead.
It’s not Renji but Rukia who does.
“Welcome home, Orihime.” She smiles warmly at her.
The huge gift-wrapped package sitting on top of her coffee table is actually not the first thing that catches her eye. It’s Renji, who’s working away at her stove. Orihime feels vaguely concerned. She has never seen Renji cook before but her kitchen isn’t on fire yet so she decides there’s no cause for alarm.
Then, she notices it. There is a pair of scissors, a roll of tape, and some spare wrapping paper roll next to the package and thus, she knows it has just been wrapped. Curious, she cocks a brow.
“Ah, are you going to give somebody a gift?”
“You, actually,” Rukia states before throwing herself on her back on Orihime’s couch.
Orihime blinks.
“Is that how you give somebody a gift, dumbass?!” Renji waves a ladle around, glaring at Rukia. She ignores him and turns to her side instead, resting her face on the palm of her hand as she props herself up on an elbow.
“Well? Go on, open it!” She nods at Orihime.
“Kuchiki-san!” Orihime slips up in her embarrassment. “You shouldn’t have!”
Rukia narrows her eyes.
“What did you just call me?”
Orihime covers her mouth with her hands.
“I mean, Rukia-san,” she corrects herself sheepishly. “You still shouldn’t have.”
“You haven’t even opened it yet,” Renji remarks. He is no longer watching them though, busy stirring something inside the pot on the stove.
Secretly delighted to be given a present, Orihime tosses her bag to the side and hurries to the package. There's a certain savagery to her movements as she rips the wrapping paper, making Rukia wince. She must have been the one who wrapped it up.
The actual gift goes beyond her expectation and this time, she means it when she cries out,
“You really shouldn’t have!”
It’s a Casio keyboard, brand new and red in colour if Orihime is to go by the keyboard printed on the box. She hasn’t even opened the box yet, and she already knows it’s going to be a beauty.
She rips off the tape holding the flap of the box together and reaches inside to grasp the instrument, pulling the box away with one hand as she slides it off the keyboard.
It is red. It is a beauty.
“You two…” she whispers, unable to tear her eyes away from the shiny black keys. She trails a finger across the top of the keyboard and her mouth falls open a little.
If she hadn’t already felt so taken by the idea of learning to play a new instrument when it was suggested to her, being presented with one by her closest friends would have sealed the deal anyway. As of now, she realises, she is irrevocably in love with this thing.
She retracts her hands from the instrument so carefully it makes Renji snicker. She is genuinely terrified of scratching it though and decides from now on, she will no longer grow her nails.
Sitting back on her knees, Orihime looks up at Rukia and then at Renji. They’re both watching her with matching grins on their faces and Orihime doesn’t want to tear up but it happens anyway.
A second later, she is flying towards Rukia and then collapsing on top of her in the tightest bear hug of all time before she moves on to Renji, wraps her noodle arms around his waist, and squeezes till he yelps.
“Thank you so much! I love it!”
“Glad to hear that. We should have been gone hours ago. We were just waiting to see your reaction,” Renji tells her.
Orihime feels her shoulders sag.
“Really? Right now?”
“We’re already late, Orihime. Nii-sama will kill us if we delay it any longer. Okay not me, but he will definitely kill Renji.”
“Excuse you, Taichou loves me.” Renji points with his ladle in Rukia’s direction. Orihime peeks into his pot when she realises it smells lovely. It’s a soup of some sort, she can make out mushrooms bobbing in the liquid at least.
“Who’s that for?” She asks.
Renji shrugs.
“No one, really. All of us? I was bored,” he shrugs.
“I didn’t know you could cook.”
“He is the best cook ever! I really hit the jackpot, you know.” Rukia winks and Orihime giggles. She doesn’t have to turn around to look at Renji to know he’s blushing bright red, now.
…
They eat the (frankly delicious) soup and then head over to Urahara’s. They don’t say a word to each other and the calm feels kind of odd, considering how busy the last few days have been. None of them can think of anything to say though, so they remain silent except for a casual comment here and there.
Orihime, who is still bubbling with gratitude and happiness, is worried she might start crying when they leave. The thought of her apartment being empty and quiet again stings her in the heart and she doesn’t think she has ever been this upset to watch her friends leave.
She has made up her mind though. She is not getting to let herself feel so shitty about herself ever again. These last few days have been so much fun and she hadn’t really realised how not fun her life had been before. It has become clear now that there are things she has been doing wrong in her day-to-day routine and she has to address them because being as lonely as she has become used to feeling isn’t very healthy for her heart.
She will start asking for those hugs.
She will make plans and drag her friends out of their houses. She will do things she loves and things she is yet to fall in love with. She will go to all sorts of places and do all sorts of things, make new friends and happy memories. One day, her collection of days she will never want to forget in her life will be bigger than her collection of books.
She takes a glance at Renji as he points something out to Rukia up ahead.
… and she will share all of those memories with him like she shares her books. With Tatsuki, too and with Rukia and with Ichigo and with Chad and with Uryuu even if he pretends like he is too good to read manga.
He has always been honest with her anyway.
She smiles to herself, a little lost in thoughts. When she finally looks up, she realises they are already at Urahara’s shop and her face falls till she notices Renji and Rukia aren’t really going inside, frozen in the doorway itself.
She turns her face to look at what they’re looking at and finds…
Byakuya and Kenpachi, coming out of the shop, in gigai. They are both dressed in pretty casual clothing, Byakuya in a white shirt and black slacks, while Kenpachi is sporting a pair of dark-washed jeans and a band t-shirt except it’s in a language she can’t read.
They look just as surprised to see Renji and Rukia as they appear to be.
“Hello, Kuchiki-san, Zaraki-san!” Orihime bows her head and smiles. Byakuya glances at her in acknowledgement, and then actually nods his head, which is more than he has ever given Ichigo, she is sure of that. Kenpachi cocks his head but before he can say anything, a bundle of pink launches itself towards Orihime, appearing out of literally nowhere.
“Hana-chan!”
“Hana-chan?!” Orihime cries in bewilderment as she hugs Yachiru close. “Is that my new nickname now? Gosh, I sound like a grandma!”
“Why does your skin smell so nice?” Yachiru asks her. Orihime hadn’t noticed till yet but now she is painfully aware of the fact that the little girl has started sniffing the side of her neck.
“Yachiru-chan! It tickles!” She tries to stifle her giggles because the other four are still staring at each other. She doesn’t feel like it’s safe for Yachiru to be making so much noise just now.
Surprisingly, it is Byakuya who breaks the silence first.
“You two were supposed to have returned hours ago, Rukia.”
“Something came up, Nii-sama.” She narrows her eyes then. “You weren’t supposed to be here today, though.”
“Yeah, you told me you were taking today off to deal with some family business,” Renji points out. Rukia’s face only grows more suspicious.
Next to Byakuya, Kenpachi snickers. Byakuya shoots him a glare from the corner of his eye that immediately makes him shut up.
“Wait,” Rukia drawls. Her mouth is inching up in a smirk and Orihime feels tension bleed out of her frame. “Are you out on a date ?”
Kenpachi clicks his tongue.
“Why would we bring Yachiru on a date, dumbass?” He asks. “No, she wanted to visit this theme park Hitsugaya’s fukutaichou told her about so we had to get her. Your brother here insisted I had no real idea how to act like a human, much less a sane one, so he had to tag along, and here we are.”
The shit-eating grins on Rukia and Renji’s faces are similar down to the very last inch and it is a little terrifying when they hone in on Byakuya. Orihime doesn’t know how he stands it without so much as giving a single thing away in his expressions. She is fairly certain she would have started laughing hysterically purely out of nerves.
“Oh, is that so? Taichou, did you want to spend some quality time with Yachiru-chan?”
Orihime grits her teeth and shields Yachiru’s eyes (the girl has started nibbling on Orihime’s hair but she is too invested in the scene unfolding before her to notice that) from the inevitable bloodshed.
“It does seem so, doesn’t it Renji?” Rukia’s voice does that weird thing where it is somehow simultaneously high-pitched and deep, a trick she only employs when she wants to make it really clear that she is making fun of you. “What a nice uncle Yachiru has!”
They snicker behind their hands then, co-ordinated gremlins. Orihime tries to catch Byakuya’s eye with her totally non-offensive and extremely pleasant smile to make sure he knows she is absolutely not involved in this suicidal mission to make fun of him.
Byakuya’s eye twitches and he presses his lips closed. He has never been a particularly… expressive man but the effort he has to exert to get himself under control would be obvious from miles away.
“Come on, prince. We’re already late, aren’t we? I don’t want a whole ass day to go to waste.” Kenpachi grumbles. Byakuya turns to him.
“You are right. I shall not make Yachiru wait any longer because of these errant children who have decided to block my way with their immature antics-…”
He goes on to say more but Orihime is no longer paying attention, and Byakuya steps around Renji and Rukia and leads Kenpachi out of the shop, because she has just noticed something Rukia and Renji seem to have missed.
Kenpachi noticed Byakuya’s obvious discomfort at being caught off guard and decided to give him an easy out.
It’s not exactly cute but she is sure this is about as cute as Kenpachi can get anyway so she decides to give it to him, biting back on the urge to coo when Kenapachi places one arm around Byakuya and uses his free hand to grab Yachiru by the collar of her shirt and pluck her off of Orihime’s shoulder. She doesn’t think Byakuya would appreciate her nonsense, anyway.
“Nii-sama!” Rukia calls out. Now, since Kuchiki Byakuya is Kuchiki Byakuya, Orihime won’t bet that she heard him sigh but she thinks she did.
He turns around, his expression still blank but waits for her to finish talking anyway.
“Sorry, we were just messing around. So,” she draws closer to him and her eyes are doing that sparkly thing they do when she wants to appear extra innocent so Byakuya would give in to whatever she is about to demand of him.
“Since Renji’s already late and his Captain is already here… is it okay if I just tell Ukitake-Taichou that we will be back later in the night and we hang around some more? A theme park sounds so much fun and we didn’t know they had one here or we would have visited!”
“Unless you are on a date, of course,” Renji adds.
“We won’t bring Yachiru on a date,” Byakuya states again. Renji just shrugs.
“Aren’t you required to file paperwork and submit the exact date down to the hour of your return from the human world before your visit is approved?” He asks.
“They won’t notice if we’re gone for a day! Unless our superiors report us, of course.”
“You won’t. Will you, Taichou?”
Byakuya glances at Kenpachi, who shrugs.
“Wasn’t like we were gonna…” he trails off, then glances up at Yachiru and merely inclines his head a little, sharply at that.
“Do you mean to say fuck, Ken-chan?” Yachiru excitedly questions from where she is seated on top of Kenpachi’s shoulders, legs around his neck. Byakuya’s gaze immediately sharpens and Kenpachi hisses in irritation.
“I believe I told you to explain to her why that is not a word she is to say in polite company.”
Kenpachi lifts a hand and gestures in their vague direction.
“What polite company?”
Byakuya’s nostrils flare a little, his only tell. It is actually quite adorable.
“Polite company for a child is any company whatsoever might it be.”
Kenpachi grunts.
“Yachiru say sorry to the prince.”
“Sorry, Byakki!”
Orihime’s eyes widen. Byakki?!
On second thought, Hana-chan sounds perfect.
“That is not what I meant and you know it.”
Kenpachi rolls his eyes.
“Yachiru, you are not to say fuck in front of him, okay?”
“Okay! I will not say fuck in front of Byakki!” She giggles for some reason. Next to Orihime, Renji winces.
Orihime nudges him till he leans closer.
“Are they always like this?” She whispers in his ear.
“Yeah,” he shrugs.
“Aren’t you afraid one day he will kill Zaraki-san in his sleep?” She asks.
Renji shakes his head and gives her a bright grin.
“Nah. He is quite smitten with him, honestly.”
“Plus, look at the bright side,” Rukia joins in their whispered conversation. “He’s too distracted to ask us to go back now.”
It is true. Byakuya and Kenpachi bicker the rest of the way, a lot like this other couple Orihime knows. When their backs are turned, however, Yachiru looks back at them and winks.
Renji throws her a thumbs up in return.
…
Going to the theme park with people like Byakuya and Kenpachi is… quite the experience.
Like a roller coaster, but scarier than the giant one they have set up in the park.
Everyone who catches sight of them has to do a double-take. They look like one weird-ass group, even Orihime has to admit that. It gets even weirder when Yachiru decides she wants a stuffed bear displayed among the prizes of a ring around the cup stall and her guardians somehow manage to turn it into a competition to see who could win it faster.
Neither of them does. Renji has to go back for it.
Then, Yachiru decides she wants to be carried by Rukia next, which isn’t really a problem till she starts trying to poke at her eyelashes because they are, in her own words, ‘thicker than the hair on pachinko balls head’. Orihime can’t translate Shinigami baby but it sends Renji into a laughing fit so hard he starts choking on nothing.
They have to buy him water and wait for him to calm down.
By then, Yachiru has caught Byakuya by the hand and started dragging him to the candy floss stand. It looks quite delicious so Orihime follows them.
Byakuya walks up to the vendor and then comes to a standstill.
He doesn’t say anything.
Orihime leans closer.
“Do you not know the name of this?”
Byakuya casts a look around himself and then turns his head slightly to whisper in Orihime’s ear.
“No.”
She nods to herself and marches forward instead, taking it upon herself to order them three sticks of candy floss. She loves it, Yachiru loves it. Byakuya loves it too even if he won’t admit it. He slaps Kenpachi’s hand away when he tries to take a bite.
Rukia, who has found Minnie Mouse ear hairbands from somewhere, decides to put one on everyone’s head. Kenpachi glares at her when she tries to give one to him. All Byakuya has to do is clear his throat though and he not only accepts the band but puts it on too.
Orihime is having some serious trouble biting her giggles back. It becomes worse every time she catches Renji or Rukia’s eye.
Yachiru decides she wants to go on the roller coaster next which is an idea Kenpachi and Orihime one hundred percent support. Unfortunately, the man at the counter decides neither she nor Rukia is tall enough to go on.
Rukia gasps in offence and then crosses her arms around her chest. She turns to Renji.
“Are you going to go, then?!”
“Of course not, baby!” He lifts his hands.
Orihime is worrying about the important thing, how to break it to the actual child of the group that she can’t go on, that is, when she realises Yachiru has already become distracted and is now looking in the direction of this really colourful carousel. Orihime subtly gestures towards her and Renji catches the hint because he starts herding her and Rukia towards the other ride instead. Orihime turns back to the man at the counter.
She still wants to go, after all.
“Um,” she looks at the two men standing behind her. “Would you two still want to go on?”
“I will have to admit,” Orihime wishes Byakuya would just use ‘yes’ or ‘no’ for once in his life because they are kind of holding up the line now. “I am intrigued by this ride. I have heard mention of it before, specifically in sayings Renji picked up from the human world. I would like to try it for myself once.”
“Okay great! How about you Zaraki-san?”
He begins grinning. She begins fearing for her life.
“Of course I am going.” Kenpachi declares.
Orihime turns to the counter again. The man behind looks just as unnerved as her.
“Three tickets then?”
…
Orihime doesn’t know why she has been stuck between the two of them. She doesn’t know why Byakuya is looking off to the side, his hands on his knees and his face the picture of bored disinterest on a bloody rollercoaster. She also doesn’t know when Kenpachi will stop leering because it’s starting to freak her out.
She has an anime sweatdrop moment. The vibes in this rollercoaster are totally fucked!
She plasters a smile on her face, grabs the bar in front of her, and settles in. She is going to enjoy herself at least.
The smile gets blown back into her face when the rollercoaster begins moving. Her lips make weird noises as they begin flapping around, her hair flying in all directions. She wants to laugh out loud, because the ride is quite good and she is technically having fun, except she is terrified of the men she is sandwiched between and doesn’t know what moves will be the right ones to make.
So, she sits there, hands clasped around the bar, hair flying everywhere like a witch’s, and mouth whipped back in the creepiest teeth and gums exposure ever.
… and she remains in that exact position for the whole ride, which is really, really long.
All the while, as everyone else on the roller coaster starts screaming, Byakuya and Kenpachi sit in perfect silence, Byakuya still gazing out to his side and Kenpachi still leering.
It is the scariest thing she has ever done. Without exaggeration, ever .
When the ride stops, she realises her palms are sweaty and her legs are shaky. Kenpachi gets out of the cart and notices her trembling legs. He clicks his tongue, looks her in the eye, calls her a wimp, and then scoops her out of her chair with one hand, depositing her on his shoulder instead, much like that day in the Seireitei, except she’s actually sitting on him now.
Byakuya notices the gesture and gives Kenpachi a look of approval at it.
Orihime flushes red.
“I-I can walk!” She protests as they begin descending from the ramp.
“You were going to hold up the line,” Kenpachi states.
She gapes. Why, the audacity!
Didn’t have a word to say when his lover was doing it!
By the time they find Rukia and Renji, Orihime has settled in her new position. The view is quite nice, actually. When Renji catches sight of them, however, he begins laughing so hard he has to clutch his stomach. Rukia’s vision is impaired by the mountain of toys she is holding (likely Yachiru’s, but a good few of them were shaped like bunnies so Orihime really can’t be sure) but she suspects she would have the same reaction as her boyfriend.
“Ah, Ken-chan!” Yachiru holds her arms up. “I want to piggyback, too!”
“Climb right up.”
… and she does, monkey-climbs up his body and settles back in her position around his shoulders.
Orihime doesn’t even have to scoot.
Vaguely she wonders if Kenpachi has to get all his clothes custom-made.
They move on to a magic show next.
The ring of people around the magician is thick, though and Rukia, (whose pile of winnings is now by her feet, all of the bunnies stuffed into her purse instead) is unable to see from on top of everyone’s head, no matter how high she jumps.
She looks around for Renji but he is suddenly nowhere to be found. Her eyes drift over to Kenpachi, who has been watching her entire episode.
He grins. She grins.
Then, there are three girls sitting on his shoulders. Orihime still hasn’t had to scoot.
The view is immaculate and this new height is actually quite fun. She would have enjoyed the show a lot, if not for what she catches sight of immediately after.
Byakuya, who had given Kenpachi the tiniest of smiles when he offered for his sister to sit on his shoulders, is now trailing his fingers down Kenpachi’s forearm.
Then, he smirks .
Orihime wants to gouge her eyes out and eat them. She wants to die!
She turns to Rukia to complain, already reaching to cover Yachiru’s ears, when she catches sight of them.
Renji is moving towards them from a little ways off and next to him is Ichigo! Orihime’s eyes widen. Both of them are carrying three cups of something in their hands, while the seventh one is balanced between both of their shoulders as they slowly shuffle towards their group, every step they take perfectly coordinated…
… because that’s a perfectly logical thing to do rather than maybe going back for the last drink.
She can’t help it, she begins laughing, and hysterically at that. It catches Rukia and Byakuya’s attention who turn to her and give her the exact same questioning look. She points in Renji and Ichigo’s direction. Rukia begins laughing too.
Byakuya mutters something Orihime can’t make out but Kenpachi, who does, chuckles and by the time the two idiots reach them, they are all red in the face.
Ichigo’s eyes find Orihime’s first of all and to her surprise, the faintest dusting of red grows in two angry splotches on the apples of his cheeks. He smiles and says hi to her and it’s not a ‘hi’, it’s a-
“Hi, Orihime.”
Orihime
All plans of premature expiry will have to be postponed, she decides. She quite likes life just now.
“Hello!” She waves.
They hand the drinks out. Byakuya, uncharacteristically charitably, steps in to pick up the one between their shoulders, though he refuses to drink it and hands it back to Ichigo when his hands are empty.
Orihime sips her drink (it’s just Ramune in a cup) and watches Ichigo during the entire exchange, unaware of how warm her chest feels and how fast her heart is suddenly beating. She is still gazing at him, subtly checking him out when she notices it.
The cleavage
Her eyes widen and she has to cover her mouth to make sure she doesn’t spit out her drink.
His shirt!
It’s unbuttoned down three buttons, exactly like Renji’s and she can see his pecs and suddenly she is staring way too hard and licking her lips and biting down on her straw. Her fist tightens till it threatens to pop the styrofoam and she still hasn’t managed to take her eyes away from his chest.
She gulps.
It is Kenpachi, finally, who breaks her out of her trance and her face reddens rapidly.
“Okay show’s over, you three can get off now,” He grunts.
Rukia is the first to slide off his shoulder. Yachiru kicks him and refuses to. Orihime, with her skirt, is looking for a way to get off his giant body without twisting her ankle and having to ask him to bend down when someone pats her on the knee.
She looks down right into Ichigo’s eyes.
… and he has her pinned in place with that look.
The sun is starting to set and his hair looks a little less orange and a little more golden. His eyes are always their prettiest when the sun rays hit them at an angle like this, highlighting tones inside the brown that she could have never made out otherwise.
Orihime can’t recall what she was going on about earlier. No matter how many times she watches his eyes go all warm and soft like this, it always sets her heart ablaze. She doesn’t know what it is about him, how he does it, how he manages to convey so much with his eyes alone. He can make the toughest of hearts melt and fall to his feet when he looks like that and Inoue Orihime has always been weak for Kurosaki Ichigo.
…. especially now that he has his tits out…
He holds up his hands to her. Orihime nods and he wraps them around her waist.
Byakuya makes a sharp movement that she only catches from the corner of her eye and Kenpachi lets out a pained ‘ooof’ but then he bends down a little and Ichigo is able to lift Orihime from on top of him.
Her hands land on his shoulders and instinctively, she squeezes them a little. Even after her feet touch the ground, Ichigo doesn’t remove his arms from around her.
“Kenny, are they gross like Pachinko ball head and Feathers?”
Orihime has never felt angry at a kid before but she sort of does, now.
Kind of.
Very little.
She feels guilty anyway.
Ichigo’s hands fly away and they both take a step back each. From behind Orihime, where she can not see her, Rukia rolls her eyes at Ichigo and gestures aggressively.
It makes him start and he scratches his hair. In a weirdly high-pitched voice, he cries out,
“How was your day! Orihime!”
“I am going to kill him, Renji! This is it! I am going to kill this fucker so dead, you’ll see-…”
Orihime turns around to see Renji bodily restraining her, with a hand covering her mouth. Her brows are bunched together in rage though and she’s kicking out at nothing with her free leg. Byakuya stands next to them, patting her shoulder in a commiserating manner.
“Have strength, Rukia. I, too, have had to suffer fools in my time-…”
“Oh, shut up! Shut up!” Ichigo calls out. He points a furious finger in their general direction but before Orihime can see for sure who exactly he is pointing towards he grabs her arm and barks out at her,
“Where are your toys? Did none of these idiots win you toys? What did you even come to a theme park for? Come on, I’ll do it!”
It sounds like a battle cry, for some reason. A woman turns around and gives their group the most horrible stink eye but then her eyes catch sight of Kenpachi. She gulps and moves on.
Ichigo starts dragging Orihime away. She is extremely confused but his hand is in hers so she doesn’t really have time to think about all that.
It takes them a while of aggressive stomping around (on Ichigo’s part) and laughing at the stomping around (on Orihime’s part) to find the ring around the cup game stand again but when they do, Ichigo gives her the broadest and cockiest grin of all time and claims,
“There! Name any toy and I will win it for you!”
He looks so happy, so happy, that she doesn’t want to look away from him so she points at a random toy. He looks at it and then nods to himself, his jaw set.
“You have to get five in to win that one,” the man at the stand tells them. Ichigo hands him his money and is handed ten rings in exchange.
The only problem is that his aim is about as good as Renji’s singing voice.
He manages to get exactly two in.
He turns to her with an embarrassed huff. She gets the feeling he wants to fight someone because it is his natural solution to every problem, but the cups are way too intimidating as opponents. He just crosses his arms in front of his chest.
Orihime absolutely can’t take that look of disappointment on his face. Luckily for them, she knows someone who has a great aim, also known as herself.
She turns to the tent keeper.
“Give me five rings for free and I’ll get them all in. If I miss, I’ll pay you double.”
He gives her a once over and frowns a little but then his eyes stray to Ichigo and he snorts.
“I’ll take those odds.”
He hands her the rings.
Tatsuki, the overbearing mother hen, (all spiky-haired people in her life are mother hens, Ichigo, Tatsuki, Renji…) drilled her till she could turn any object into a deathly projectile missile, throw it and hit her target right across a couple of years ago. Due to natural reasons of being a sloth when she’s home alone and tossing everything into the dustbin from whatever corner of the room she’s in, she hasn’t lost practice.
She gets every single ring in. The tent keeper gapes but looks too impressed to actually pitch a fit.
He pulls out the plushie she had pointed at, which turns out to be a stuffed purple popsicle, and brings it to her. She jerks her head towards him and the man grins.
He presents the plushie to Ichigo instead.
“For you.”
Ichigo accepts it but his movements are slow and heavy as if he’s caught in a daze. Almost unconsciously, he presses the plushie against his chest and a furious blush spreads across the bridge of his nose, pans out from his cheeks, and colours his ears.
“Do you like it?” She grins.
He huffs out a startled laugh and then shakes his head. His tongue peeks out to wet his lips a little and he takes a step closer to her.
“That’s not fair. I was supposed to give you something.”
The soft drink must be hitting her for she looks him right in the eye and says,
“There’s still something you can give me.”
Immediately, brightness begins pooling back into Ichigo’s eyes. He squares his shoulder and grins.
“What is it? Tell me!”
He is my friend before anything else, she reminds herself. Then, she tells herself he loves her, cares for her, maybe not exactly like she does but a staggering amount, anyway.
He is her friend. The first step of getting over him isn’t changing her hair, or hooking up with a stranger, or maintaining her distance. It is accepting that, realising that, understanding that.
She has to remember he cares because she doesn’t know what she’d do if he didn’t. Luckily, she never has to find out.
Plus, she has made a promise to herself that she intends to keep.
She feels her smile soften a little and she lets it happen. She doesn’t rush to school her expression, doesn’t try to hide.
“To begin with, how about a hug?”