Chapter Text
Time has always been a tricky part of her life.
Having enough time, having no time, wasting time and time not passing fast enough, making her wait, making her grow anxious and restless from things that wouldn’t happen or couldn’t happen.
Yet, Orihime willingly chose to wait.
After everything that happened in her life, patience and the need of strong foundations for everything started to matter, when she fell in love with Ichigo Kurosaki as a classmate, waiting was the only thing she could do, waiting for her to grow confident enough with him to confess in a distant future or waiting for him to notice her more, either was fine with her. When they became friends, waiting wasn’t essential to her, she had already gotten closer than she ever expected due to… well, life events that nearly killed all of them, however it pushed down the idea a little.
Being friends with him was just enough for her, she didn’t want to put expectations on him, she didn’t want to pressure anyone, moreso a friendship was a relationship that was not transactional, he did not have to do anything in exchange, she loved being in his presence, he loved being in hers, they cared for each other and that was all that mattered.
Even so, a small part deep in her heart kept waiting for something more to happen.
For a couple of years it had almost disappeared, after the war against Yhwach, she was settling her feelings as well. Not many good things happened in her life, so she had started to weight out how the possibility of having to dissipate her love for him, maybe it was just an infatuation, maybe it was just passing, the youth stage of her life had ended, she was entering adulthood and with that maybe she had to leave him behind in a romantic way as well.
It was not her fault that she could not feel about anyone else the same way she felt about him. Many guys asked her out after she left high school, without having anyone around all the time, like Tatsuki, Ichigo, Chad or Uryu, people were more willing to approach her more often, if it was at work or outside of work it didn’t matter.
She had memorized a script in her head on how to reject someone gently. She knew that confessing or asking out was something that requires courage or a lot of bashfulness. She was in the same lingering boat for years, so every time she turned down people the best way possible. She was either not interested, too focused on working, or not ready for a relationship, which were all similar but it was good to change words around a few times.
She waited for her feelings to fade away with time while balancing her friendship with him, she didn't want to ditch him for a problem that was truly just hers, but seeing him most days of the week didn’t really help her in any way, it seemed like it made her problem deeper. In normal days, where they did not have to fight for their lives, where she was comfortable enough to be with him alone and heal him closely, even worse, his sisters actually looking up to her for problems and girl stuff, it became a familiarity that she wanted more of. She was becoming incredibly greedy.
She cried extensively when Rukia and Renji told her of their upcoming wedding, she was extremely happy for both of her friends, she remembered seeing them far closer than ever during the aftermath of the war, Rukia had stayed by Renji’s side with visible and palpable concern surrounding her as she waited for him to get better as she was healing him. She was there when Rukia was scolding herself for not being strong enough to go with him against the final encounter with Yhwach, she had been there to console her, after all she had passed the same conflict, matter of fact Ichigo was laying on the bed not too far from Renji’s.
It was not fair how Ichigo had looked at her when she apologized with tears in her eyes for not being able to do more, he had this look on his face so soft, eyes dark but full of light, a smile that was so confident of him, that reminded of every time he told her that he was going to win and he did in the end. It was a look imprinted in her mind for long, and each time it came back, her resolve crumbled.
Her resolve completely disappeared when they were returning back to Karakura from celebrating the Abarai wedding and he spoke to her.
She wasn’t sure she had heard it correctly the first time he said it. Her eyes had widened as she looked at his face, his eyes trying to avoid her, but the detail she caught on was the slight blush on his ears and his cheeks, but maybe it had been the shadow of his hair that covered him that made it look like something that it wasn’t.
His words were not light ones.
He asked her to make some time for him.
She played it off at first, her rationality wanting to play it off. So, as always, she smiled, she gave him a warm smile and nodded without prodding or making questions that could press on the matter he wanted to talk to her about. She knew she had made the best decision when she saw his body relax, the stiffness of his shoulders disappearing and he could breathe normally.
He walked her home normally after, as if that request had not completely shifted the balance, as if it had not just made her heart feel livelier than ever before.
Once she was alone in her apartment, she took a deep breath, getting her dress off, showering, making herself something warm before she actually lost it when she couldn’t sleep. Because what?
What could Kurosaki Ichigo want her to make time for? What could he do or have to tell her that he needed a certain moment that she had to dedicate to him? Was it worth it to get her hopes up so much?
She whined as she sat from her futon, crawling to face the photo of Sora, arms around her knees. She just looked at him before she could form a coherent thought that she could say out loud. “I’m making a big deal out of this, aren’t I?”
It was Ichigo after all, there were tons of things that could go through his mind, that could have happened that he might need her time for, their lives were complicated. A tear might have slipped her eye, the happiness of her friends’ wedding and the loneliness she felt at the state of her life. She sighed. “I… I think I might need to wait for a little more, Sora… Don’t be disappointed in me, please.” She chuckled.
She knew that Sora wouldn’t be, on the other hand she would encourage her to follow her feelings and the will of her heart. “Let’s give it a last try.”
But the days after had little to nothing to do with it, she waited, expecting him to tell her or ask her out while they were in group or maybe through a text, while nothing ever came. So, she thought that he must have been confused or maybe what he requested was resolved or not that important, but Ichigo took her in consideration more than she’d like to admit, he would have told her that he had resolved the problem already or that it was not that important.
They continued to spend time together, in group or with his family or even alone, she was still happy, she knew not to expect for something that was not promised, so she lived it as it was while they were just friends, he came by, he walked her home when he could from her job, she went over to eat at his house, she spent time with Karin, she spent time with Yuzu, she even spent time with Isshin, the man was very entertaining and he was not shy to gush about his wife, which she welcomed wholly, she spoke the same of her brother.
It was nice to talk about someone they lost so freely and without any hard grief, she laughed at their silly antics and he did the same when she recounted some with her brother.
She could feel his eyes on her at times, Ichigo wasn’t very subtle with it, but a part of her mind couldn’t really accept it without knowing for sure, she told herself, the same fondness she was looked by Uryu and Chad, Tatsuki too, so was it weird or special that he did it too? No, Ichigo was very caring despite the skepticism, he cared more than anyone and she knew that, she didn’t misunderstand and she wouldn’t.
Then his letter of acceptance came while she was over with Yuzu. He had been accepted to study abroad for his final year of university, he was going to England. She beamed at the moment, she, like everyone else, jumped up and down for joy, it was a great opportunity for him and she couldn’t be happier. For Ichigo to grow in his career and live out a dream of his, she hugged him and congratulated him. They made her stay over to celebrate, she helped Yuzu in the kitchen as they made Ichigo’s favorites.
It hit her later when they were walking towards her apartment that he was going abroad, that he was leaving, that there will be no more late night walks, that there will be one less member of the team to heal, that there won’t be that one Uryu could bicker with, that there won’t be one to discredit her freshly baked bread for no reason at all.
Still she tried to make conversation, she told him of the many things he could do and he told her what he was planning to do as well. “I will give you a camera too, so you can take photographs of everything you like and show them to us when you come to visit! Or maybe you’ll find a job- You can send it back through the postal office, if you can’t come soon, I’ll send you a new memory card. I’m sure they will want to keep you there for a job.”
“I thank you for the vote of confidence, but I think you’re getting ahead of yourself, Inoue.” He chuckled. “I don’t think that I’ll get offered a job there, either. I’m not that good.”
“That’s true, you’re even better, Kurosaki-kun.” She smiled.
“I think you’re trying to get rid of me.”
“I would never.”
They got to her apartment and said their goodbyes. In the silence of her home, her head started to go again. Ichigo was leaving, he was going far away, calls and texts would be the only way to hear from him, he will make a life there and she felt confused more than anything, her happiness and sadness were contrasting, she was happy, she had to be, but she could not ignore the sadness she felt, what if he stayed there? What if he met someone? What if he just forgot about her?
She was quick to push those thoughts away, it wasn’t about her, it was about Ichigo and he was making a huge step for himself. And she… she would wait till he said something that made her or obligated her to move on from him.
The weeks after passed by in a blink, weeks that amount to months till they were at his house, his father was putting his luggage in the back of the car, he put the backpack in the back as well and everyone that was close to him was present, his family, his friends, including soul reapers and she was there, awkwardly trying to find something to alleviate her own tension as he started to say his goodbyes to people on the other side from her. She was feeling her heartbeat in her ears, a knot was forming in her throat, when he reached her she did not know what to say at all.
“Inoue.”
“Kurosaki-kun.” He chuckled and she giggled, after so long still calling their families’ names, it was amusing to a certain point. She sighed, giving him a small bag. “This is for you.” Ichigo was quick to understand what it was. “You thought I was joking, right?”
“You know I can take pictures with my phone, right?” He bit back.
“But it doesn’t have the same sentiment.”
“Like rejected bread is not the same as the bread that didn’t sell?”
“That’s a different matter, Kurosaki-kun.”
“I’ll make sure to take enough pictures to fill another album.” She nodded and the two fell short on words. While the awkwardness was gone, the tension grew, she wanted him to say something, months passed from his first request, she needed him to keep her lingering love fed at the least, selfishly she wanted him to. Her breathing was feeling heavier, her eyes burning with unshed tears ready to roll down her cheeks.
“Inoue.” He gulped a knot down his throat, his posture straightening, he was getting ready for the boldness he was about to speak to her with. His warm eyes met hers and he didn’t give himself a chance to hesitate even after looking at the glossy doe eyes of hers, this might have been the last chance to use his own audacity. “Wait for me.” It was clear and concise, more obvious than his first request, it was not just about needing time, it was about finding the right moment. “Can you… wait for me?”
Her lips parted, eyes wide, he felt the panic rushing through him, and then he was getting involved in a pair of small arms, her face against his chest, hands gripping tightly at the back of his t-shirt, getting to hold him after years of not being able to so freely. But what got him was the thumping of her heartbeat against his own body, or it may have been his own heartbeat as he wrapped his arms around her and took his time to take in her scent.
Free to feel her and not having to put up with fleeting touches and grazing, he let out a shaky sigh as the understanding lifted a weight from him, his head laid on top of hers, but they had to let go, they did so reluctantly, they did not say more, Orihime was sure she might be overcome with emotion if she said something else and while at a good distance there were still people there. He walked towards the car and went in, sitting in the passengers’ seat while his sisters sat in the back and his father drove away. They waved as the car left till it disappeared.
Orihime sighed in relief knowing that her feelings were something reciprocal. She didn’t mind waiting anymore, she waited for years and she’ll do so till he comes back.
-
Ichigo hated waiting.
The amount of times he jumped head first into battle and fights with enemies was a testament of the fact, many people had to stop him from getting himself in even worse situations, Urahara, Yoruichi, Chad, Uryu, Rukia… too many, he wasn’t a patient person, yet, someway, somehow, he had found himself patiently waiting and afraid to go head first in regards to his relationship with Orihime.
It had been a feeling that grew with time, he was aware of her for far more than he’d like, while he remembered her at the worst accident of her life, she had first seen him actually in class in high school.
She was pretty, she was so pretty it was a bit intimidating before they actually talked and he discovered she was Tatsuki’s friend, her personality was unique to say the least, he wasn’t sure it could have an assessment, he was there, she was there and nothing added. Then it changed. They were friends, not classmates, not friend of a friend, they were friends; granted it was a saddening way in which they got to know each other more, but it was still something-
He became hyper aware of her after, if she was alright, if she was protected… Even more after Hueco Mundo, it tickled something in him that he never acknowledged before. A crush? Full fledged love? Either way it was confusing, while also he had been told many times, completely uncalled for, how Orihime was out of his league, and honestly, he agreed with that.
He really had nothing to offer then, a high school relationship with Karakura’s heartthrob as he was, was completely impossible. He wasn’t even sure she liked him that way at the time, her kindness knew no bounds after all, she had done so many good deeds that her friendship with him might be considered one.
It was painfully frustrating waiting till he had grown confident enough in his feelings for her that he could not see a future that did not include her. Even Renji was getting fed up, the guy that waited sixty years was really giving him the talk, but he was internally grateful for the small push to say something, not a confession just something that could start the domino chain of events.
So, while striving to become a more secure and better version of himself after the war and with a career he asked her to make time for him, spare him some time for him to tell her something that was important, he hoped she had understood that, Orihime had a more proficient gift in emotional intelligence so he hoped she did. His letter of acceptance for a scholarship abroad came in like a bucket of iced water, after all they were growing close and he was sure that by the end of the year he might have really said something, he might have confessed it all.
He couldn’t not accept it, everyone, her included, were truly proud and taken with it, building expectations and hopes for him to do well. She was proud of him. He accepted it, he would get more recognition and a better job in the future if he went, he’d be secure and would give him stability, he’d be an adult, a man serious and ready to offer the most he could. So, he told her to wait in a speck of a moment and the look in her eyes and tight hug were answers that motivated him.
He left, with a bit of regret of not doing anything before he did. While she may have not said anything, he knew. And she knew that he knew. He was sure of it.
But knowing that after so much lost time and with a forced distance was torture.
Maybe he should’ve kept it in till he could actually have her with him, he got a taste of her warmth and hold and he felt that nothing else in the world came close to that same feeling. He was lucky that their bond was strong enough to keep her by his side for so long, he was, as always, hyper aware of the attention she got since their high school days, that unfortunately didn’t lessen with time, so, after all, it was better to have spoken up and kind of opened that path he needed to get her- still, he wanted more.
Calls and texts had to do for a while, she called him, he called her, they never mentioned the goodbye and those words, she told him of her antics at the bakery and the many visits to his family’s house, warming his heart, while he told her what he did, what he studied that day and what other activities he did in London, and she was actually interested.
He did search on his laptop for tickets to go back home a few times.
He didn’t understand. He waited years to build himself for himself and for her, so how was it that a year felt so excruciatingly long?
He counted down the days that he could go back home, even worse he had not been able to go back home during the holidays, so he stayed there alone, being consoled on the phone, trying to find a way to make himself patient, he needed to wait just a little more.
When he came back, it was cordial, he didn’t want to take any steps too risky, they talked but he didn’t know if anything had changed for her towards him, but as always, at the end of the party celebrating his return, he walked her home, she rejected it at first, telling him he had to rest and that if he wanted she’d come visit the next day. “Orihime, I’m walking you home.” It was resolute, he had to, he wanted to, he w needed that moment alone with her after a while.
“Okay, Ichigo.” It was soft to say his name, she felt tingling in her stomach at hearing hers coming from his lips. The first time either of them used them, so naturally as if they were meant to say them.
Was it a surprise that the first thing he did in her apartment was kiss her? Maybe. What was more surprising was how the shock wore off and how she was kissing him back, holding onto him, the moans, the whimpers, whatever sound, he wanted more and more of it, he couldn’t wait for the small talk or the prancing around each other for a day more.
It was messy, it was his first kiss and in a relief she told him that it was her first too. Many words were exchanged that night, she cried, he wanted to as well, the revelations of a mutual pining was quite heart wrenching, the inadequate feeling they both had towards one another, he was confused on how she would feel like she was not enough, when she was the best person to ever exist in his eyes, but he could understand the many trials and tribulations of her life had affected her, just like it happened with him.
He didn’t go back to his house that first night back in Karakura, it didn’t happen anything though, they were just in bed together, all night, comfortable in each other’s arms as they recounted many moments over the years all highlighted in a very much new light.
It came to surprise of no one when they announced that they were together to everyone else, some even grumbled for how long it had taken them, pretty sure that Keigo was the only one surprised in the group, even people in soul society were really wearing a “finally” type of look every time they said it.
But now that they were together, he was very prepared to take all the right steps and wait, giving her time, dating for a while, marrying after a few years and a child down the line.
Ichigo Kurosaki was not patient when he had something already. And he discovered that Orihime Inoue wasn’t either.
They waited a few days before they had their first time.
They were justified, they had a built up of all of their teenage years to make up for, the suppressed hormonal urges showed in and showed out, they had each other finally and their bodies were quick to register it. Ichigo since coming back and with a job lined up already, started to spend more time at her apartment than his own house, it had the quietness he needed to work, while it also had her presence for when she came back that filled his heart nicely.
Everything was just right. So, why should he wait to propose?
Things were going fast but he was sure of what he wanted, he’d be damned if he waited even more for something that thought about very often while he was away and was living currently. He talked with his father before doing anything though, he didn’t feel like he was rushing at all, but he still needed an outside opinion on it, it was good to say that his father was not adverse to it at all, for a while Orihime had already became part of their family, he told him, it wasn’t for nothing that the girls always wanted her to stay and that even while he was abroad she was welcomed and invited.
He was relieved and then shook when his father retrieved his mother’s engagement ring for him to propose to her with. He might have shed a tear or two and hugged his father for the first time since ever, he started to tell him once more of how it was between Masaki and him, to give him an idea on how things came to be than the broad explanation he gave him years ago.
He waited a few weeks to propose, he was beating himself up on how he was going to do it, if she had rather wanted a grand proposal, an intimate affair, a public proposal, he didn’t know, then one day, while he was over at her apartment, he had his glasses on, closing his laptop as she would serve food soon.
Sitting there looking at her, moving around and humming, wearing his t-shirt and his sweatpants, both incredibly baggy on her, it was a scene so domestic and comfortable, she moaned pleasantly as she tasted her food, she took off her apron, turning off the stove and enthusiastically told him something, he didn’t really understand, he was just looking at her radiant smile, shining like the sun, warmth growing in his chest. He said those words before he could think twice. “Marry me.”
She looked at him in disbelief. He repeated it with a bigger smile. Her eyes filled with unshed tears that started to roll down as he smiled even bigger. “You could have waited for me to wear something better.”
“Is that a yes?”
“Of course, Ichigo.” She wiped her tears and walked to him, sitting comfortably on his lap as she cried of happiness and he slid the ring on her finger, a jewel that he had carried around everywhere for days, as he waited for the right moment to appear.
They didn’t need to wait anymore, a few weeks later they were married in a small ceremony that became quite large when people from Soul Society arrived as well, obligating them later on to hold another function in the Seireitei as well, for the Hero and the Healer that saved most of its population.
The only thing that remained to wait for was the little one in her belly that was discovered only a few days after Orihime had officially become a Kurosaki.