Confessions of love
A/N: (Revised) I hope it is now readable, hopefully will be posting the last and final chapter to this soon. :)
Disclaimer: I don't own nothing.
Important: In England (where I live) you can give chocolate and boy's can give you some back not like the Valentine's day in Japan where only girls can give chocolate and then there's 'White Day' (I think) for the boys. If I'm wrong please tell me, but that's how it is in England.
"Don't you love Valentine's day Tatsuki-chan?" Orihime asked happily, skipping into the school yard with her best friend trailing behind.
"No," was the short reply.
"Aww," Orihime said turning round and pouting at her friend "Why not?" Orihime said "In my opinion Valentine's day is the best! You get to give Chocolate to people even if it's just friendship chocolate and they give some to you as well!" Orihime chirped.
"That's good for you but I don't care about Valentine's Day, I'm really not into that stuff." Tatsuki said hauling her school bag up her shoulder.
"Aww, you're such a spoil sport!" Orihime said running into school, Tatsuki jogging behind her.
Orihime got to her class room and opened the slide door. Most people were already there Chizuru, Keigo, Mizuiro, Chad, Uryū and some other of Orihime's classmates. Ichigo and Rukia weren't here yet but they always came after her. She noticed that the door was still open and Tatsuki entered.
"Orihime! You'll be in people's way if you stand there day dreaming like that!" Tatsuki said, gently pushing Orihime slightly to the left.
"Oh Sorry, Tatsuki-chan! I didn't mean to, but you know me!" Orihime smiled.
"It's no problem, Orihime, but you could get yourself hurt and others too…" Tatsuki said, closing the door behind her and shaking her head then going to sit down in her seat. 'Just like Tatsuki-chan, always over protective.' Orihime smiled.
Soon Orihime noticed herself daydreaming again and she heard the door open from behind her. Then she felt something hit her back then a whispered curse. Orihime whipped her head around and noticed Shinji Hirako standing there holding his head.
"Gahh! I'm so sorry, Hirako-kun!" Orihime said with a worried expression on her face.
"Ah ah, I-it's no problem, Orihime-chan. Really, I'm fine, you just have a very hard head." Shinji said cracking a smile through the pain.
"Oh no, are you sure you're okay? I'm so, so sorry-,"
"Really, It's fine. I think I'll just go and sit down." Shinji said walking past her and moving to his seat, clutching his head the whole time. The chatter volume rose a bit as people started looking at the scene then quieted down again.
"What'd I tell you about standing in the middle of the room Orihime!" Tatsuki shouted over to her. Orihime rubbed the back of her head and sweat dropped.
"Aha, Gomen(Sorry), Tatsuki-chan." Orihime said walking to her seat and waited for Ochi-sensei and the other class mates to arrive.
Soon after two lessons it was break and the bell rang and people got up from their seats and left to go outside to break. In the crowd Orihime lost sight of Tatsuki and anyone familiar so she went outside alone. She had friendship chocolate to give to Ichigo, Uryū, Chad, Keigo, Mizurio and Shinji but she couldn't find them any where.
Orihime walked over to a tree and sat under the shade. She had bought a small snack for break, It was just one of her homemade Valentine's cookies she had made the day before. She munched into it and sighed in delight as the banana and pistachio flavoured goo entered her mouth.
Suddenly, she looked up from her cookie as she heard heavy foot steps coming closer to her and she noticed Chad, alone, coming closer to her so she gave him a big grin.
"Hello, Sado-kun! How are you?" Orihime asked smiling as he approached.
"I'm fine, thanks. Where's everyone else?" Chad asked in his monotone voice.
"Oh… umm… I don't really know. I lost them when I was coming out of class." Orihime said then finished off her cookie and stood up. "Let's go and find them shall we?" Orihime said skipping a few steps out of the shade of the tree.
"Inoue, wait!" Chad exclaimed which made Orihime turn round in surprise.
"Oh!" Orihime said remembering something important. She reached into her bag and pulled out her heart shaped box of chocolates, but a purple box of chocolates were shoved in her face before she could say anything.
"Please, Inoue-chan, accept this box of chocolates and my feelings for you!" Chad exclaimed which caused Orihime to hold her box of chocolates limply in her hand.
"S-Sado-kun?" Orihime gulped. How was she going to get out of this mess? "Thank you very much, Sado-kun." Orihime said taking it from his tanned hands and replacing them with her 'friendship' chocolate.
"I-Inoue…" Chad said looking at the box then placing it in his pocket. "D-don't say anything Inoue. This is probably akward for you. All I ask is that you consider my feelings. I don't mind if you don't share them… it won't affect our friendship in any way." Chad said then walked away, Orihime was left gobsmacked… what had just… happened?
Orihime wandered around the school yard. Chad had feelings for her? How could that of happened? He hadn't shown any emotions of liking her at all… she would have noticed with her new found female-intuition wouldn't she? But Chad hardly showed any emotion it was hard to tell.
After wandering for a bit she noticed Keigo ranting to Mizurio about something but he seemed more serious than other times.
"Asano-kun, Kojima-kun!" Orihime called to them and they turned to look her way. Keigo got very red in the face.
"I-Inoue-chan." Keigo stuttered.
"Hello, Inoue-chan." Mizurio said wavind but not taking his eyes off his mobile.
"Ohayo(Good Morning). Have you seen the others? I've been looking for them for a while but I can't seem to find them." Orihime said frowning. Mizurio glanced up from his phone.
"Ah, no. Sorry. We haven't seen them since after class. Oh, but I think Keigo needs to talk to you Inoue-chan." Mizurio said pushing his goofy friend forwards then walked away.
"Mizurio!" Keigo shouted while a big blush crept up onto his face. He turned back towards Orihime.
"What is it Asano-kun? Oh, but first of all please take this." Orihime said, fishing around her bag once more to bring out two boxes of chocolates. "One if for you and the other is for Kojima-kun." Orihime smiled handing them to him. He looked down at his and blushed more.
"Ano… Inoue-chan. I-I have something to give you." Keigo said whipping out a small green box of chocolates and handing then to her while the blush on his face deepened.
"A-Asano-kun?" Orihime asked questionably then took the small box from his hand.
"Please Inoue-chan, accept this box of chocolates and my feelings." He said quietly.
"Thank you, Asano-kun." Orihime said. Keigo looked down at the grown then shoved his hands in his pockets.
"You don't have to share my feelings. Even if you don't… I'll still be here for you Inoue-chan. I'll still be your friend. I-I have to go…" Keigo said turning on his heel and running after Mizurio before Orihime even got the chance to reply. 'Two people already that I didn't know about? How could I be so dense?' Orihime asked herself. She sighed in fustration. How could she not have noticed the feelings these two people had for her? Sure, Keigo always acted a bit protective over her and tried to flirt with her but that's how he was right? Orihime huffed then the bell rang. 'Better get back to class…' Orihime thought and dragged herself and her bag back into school.
Mostly everyone was in class when Orihime arrived.
"Inoue, you're late." The teacher said
"Sumimasen (I'm sorry)." Orihime replied and sat down at her desk.
"Now let's begin shall we? Page 162 of your text book. If you can't see one please come up to the front and get one." The teacher rambled and Inoue stared out of the window to dream about cloud bunnies. She noticed that two people were staring at her the whole time she had entered the room. She didn't like the feeling of being watched. Then she felt someone else staring at her but she couldn't see who it was…
"Haaa~ I'm glad it's lunch." Orihime said "I have the best lunch ever!" Orihime shouted enthusiastically. She could hear some people groan and she giggled. "It's not that bad, is it?" Orihime asked.
"Yeah, it's pretty bad." Ichigo said
"Your lunches are always… imaginative to say the least, Inoue-chan." Uryū said.
"Thanks, Ishida-kun!" Orihime chirped.
"I'm not sure it was a compliment, Orihime." Tatsuki said. Orihime frowned and made a slight 'o' shape with her mouth.
"Oh." Orihime said. They all sat down at there normal place on the roof top and started to unpack their lunches. "Wheres Hirako-kun?" Orihime asked.
"I don't know." Rukia murmured.
"And I haven't seen Keigo anywhere… he's probably chasing some girl." Ichigo said and Orihime's eyes widened at this.
"Ah! I gotta' go to the bathroom. I'll be right back!" Orihime shouted getting up from her seat and ran for the door that led to the stairs.
"Orihime!" Tatsuki called for her.
"I'm fine!" Orihime waved behind her "just gotta' go to the bathroom!" Orihime said and then she was running down the stairs. 'Phew I don't know why I did that… I just started to feel like they knew what had happened… which of course they didn't.' Orihime thought.
When she got to the lower floor she walked to the girls bathroom. She closed her eyes happily and started to hum. 'The only chocolates that won't be 'Friendship' chocolates will be the ones I give to Kurosaki-kun. I'll confess and even if he doesn't feel the same I'll still be happy that he knows how I feel about hi-,' Orihime's train of thought stopped when she, yet again today, bumped into someone. Her eyes snapped open and she saw the saw blond hair from this morning.
"Hirako-kun!" Orihime said a bit too loudly.
"Orihime-chan..." Hirako said turning an awful red then clutching his foor.
"Gahh! I'm so sorry I must have stepped on your foot by accident and bumped into you! I'm so terrible I'm so sorry. Please let me help you." Orihime said bending down slightly to get his arm around her shoulder. She held onto his wrist with one hand then place her other hand round his waist. He started to laugh.
"I can walk Orihime-chan, really. It's not like I broke my foot." Shinji said moving away from her…
"Are you sure? I could take you to the nurse If you liked?" Orihime asked.
"No, really Hime-chan I'm fine…" Shinji said.
"H-Hime-chan?" Orihime stuttered, getting red in the face.
"A-Ano, I'm sorry I didn't mean-,"
"No It's fine. Chizuru-chan calls me that all the time." Orihime said smiling.
"A-Are you sure?" Shinji asked. Orihime clapped her hands.
"Yup, Hirako-kun!" Orihime grinned. Orihime opened her eyes from her grin then ratched in her bag. " I have something to give you to, Hirako-kun. Here!" Orihime said handing him the dark pink wrapped 'Friendship' chocolates that she had given Keigo, Mizurio and Chad earlier.
"W-Wow. Thanks, Hime-chan." Shinji winked, then opened the small box and shoved one of the small chocolates into his mouth. "these are really good? What's in them?"
"A-ah well theres milk chocolate, caramel and a bit of vanilla extract. They're homemade." Orihime said blushing. "I tried not to make them too weird…" Orihime said looking towards the floor.
"You hit it right on the mark… and… I have something to give you too." Shinji said reaching into his pocket. "They're not homemade like yours but the chocolatier let me have a sample and they're pretty nice." Shinji said passing the blue box to her. It was heart shaped and had a light blue bow wrapped around it.
"Ano… you didn't have to buy something so expencive just for me Hirako-kun." Orihime said looking at the box. It obviously cost a lot since he was talking about a trained chocolatier.
"It doesn't matter… after all you are my first love." Shinji said with confidence. Orihime looked at him straight in the eyes, eyes wide.
"R-Really?" Orihime asked
"Yup. I'll give you some time to think about that information and you can give me an answer in a few days." Shinji said then walked back down the hall.
"S-Shinji-kun…" Orihime whispered looking down at the blue box.
Orihime finally went back to the roof. And everyone was nearly finished their lunches. As soon as she came into view Chad locked eyes with her and she started to blush.
"What took you so long Orihime! I was worried…" Tatsuki said walking over to her friend.
"Nothing, really. I'm fine I just was talking to someone." Orihime said then she walked back to her lunch.
"So who was it?" Tatsuki smirked.
"No one," Orihime replied munching on her big loaf of bread.
"Hmphf. Fine I'll get it out of you later." Tatsuki said said and picked up her lunch. "I'm gonna' head back to class anyone coming with?" Tatsuki asked
"I'll come." Rukia said
"Me too," Chad said getting up.
"I'll come aswell… I've got to find Keigo." Mizurio said.
As the crowd dissolved and there was only Uryū and Orihime left.
"Ahhh~ I'm finally finished." Orihime said patting her stomach. "I have something for you Ishida-kun!" Orihime announced then pulled out a familiar box and handed it to him. "There you go! Happy Valentine's day!" Orihime said cheerfully.
"Oh… thanks Inoue-chan…" Uryū said then put the small box into his hand. "I also got something for you…" Uryū said pulling out a white furry teddy with a box of chocolates in it's hands. "The chocolate is stuck on with velcro." Uryū explained.
"You didn't have to go through so much trouble for me… Ishida-kun." Orihime said taking the teddy and looking into is black, plastic eyes.
"I wanted to. It's just a friend gift." 'Inoue-chan… I love you.'
"Well thank you Ishida-kun! This is really nice. I'll keep it forever." Orihime smiled 'at least someone doesn't love me… I'm kind of getting tired of it.' Orihime thought. "Well I'll walk back to class with you then if you're done?" Orihime asked.
"Sure." Uryū said. "I'm glad you understand that this isn't a romantic gift." 'I love you…'
"Yup! It's fine. Mine was just friendship chocolate too." Orihime grinned.
"So who did you give chocolate to then?" Uryū asked.
"Well I gave friendship chocolate to everyone… but I-I haven't given it to the last person a-and I-I'm not sure if he'll a-accept it or-,"
"You're planning on giving one to Kurosaki?" Uryū asked, his fists clenching.
"H-How did you know? Am I that obvious?" Orihime asked, slightly shocked. Uryū pushed his glasses up his nose.
"Kind of…" Uryū sighed.
"Ano… do you think h-he's noticed?" Orihime asked nervously.
"No… Kurosaki's to stupid and dumb to have noticed." Uryū replied.
"Phew!" Orihime grinned "I was getting worried there… when It comes to feelings Kurosaki-kun isn't very aware, is he?" Orihime said. It was obviously a rhetorical question because everyone knew the answer to that.
Suddenly, the bell rang and then, what seemed like, a thousand students filled the corridor.
"We better hurry to class Ishida-kun!" Orihime said running for classroom 1 – 3, Uryū following.
"Inoue, Ishida… you're late. It's not like you two to be late for registration…" Ochi-sensei muttered
"Gomenasai(The formal term of 'Sorry'), Ochi-sensei." They both said then took their seats.
"It's not a problem since you are some of the good pupils we'll just leave those tardys…" Ochi-sensei muttered. Soon Ochi-sensei was going through the register and Orihime was gazing out of the window again. 'Why does everything have to be so complicated? Sado-kun, Asano-kun and even Hirako-kun… what's happening. I hate Valentine's day. I haven't until now but it's just making everything so… fustrating.' Orihime thought.
"Inoue!"
"Huh?" Orihime said looking at a snarling Ochi-sensei.
"The redgister!" Ochi-sensei shouted at her.
"Ah, Gomenasai, here." Orihime answered
The bell rang and everyone got up from their seats. Orihime walked out of the classroom with everyone else. Then she felt a hand grab her shoulder.
"Orihime…" She heard Tatsuki say behind her.
"Tatsuki-chan! You scared me." Orihime smiled weakly.
"What's wrong? You've been acting weird all day. Please tell me what's wrong." Tatsuki sighed, walking next to Orihime.
"Yeah tell us what's wrong Hime-chan!" Chizuru said walking on Orihime's other side.
"Chizuru-chan! Ah, It's really nothing… well…" Orihime stopped herself but Chizuru and Tatsuki waited for an answer "it's just that… some people confessed to me today and I don't know what to do. I don't want to hurt them but I don't like them… I like someone else but… It's just hard to hurt someone so badly and it's Valentine's day-,"
"Stop right there!" Tatsuki interrupted her " If you don't like them all you gotta' do is tell them. You don't have to do it harshly and I'm sure they won't hate you just because you don't share the same feelings as they do. Sure, they'll be sad but if you don't like them there's no point pretending you do. And you can't just put it off because then they'll keep badgering you for a answer." Tatsuki said.
"For once Arisawa-chan is right. You can't pretend you love them or lie to them that will just make them hate you in the long run. It's best to just tell them ou don't like them." Chizuru finished.
"For once? What's that supposed to mean, four-eyes!" Tatsuki yelled.
The last two lessons flew by and soon it was the end of school. 'Phew… schools finally over.' Orihime thought. She buttoned up her jacket then slung her school bag over her shoulder. Orihime gulped as it redgistered in her mind… 'I'm going to confess… to Ichigo-kun.' Orihime thought and dread swept over her… what if he didn't like her? What if he didn't want anything to do with her anymore? What if he never wanted to see her again?
No! She had to stick this out! Ichigo wasn't the kind of person who would hate her just because of that. Ichigo was kind he wouldn't push her aside like that.
Orihime said goodbye to Tatsuki as she had Karate practise and had to go to the dojo straight after school. She ended up walking back home with Ichigo Kurosaki. Rukia had had to go to Urahara's shop to discuss something with him.
"So Kurosaki-kun did you get any chocolate today?" Orihime asked brightly.
"Ah yeah actually, It was kinda' strange but a first year gave me some…" Ichigo said, scratching the back of his head.
"Oh? Really, well, I think that's kind of cute." Orihime grinned but inside she felt a bit worse 'A first year could give him some chocolates… so why am I finding it so hard?' Orihime thought.
"Did you get any?" He asked. Orihime thought about this question should she tell him? Tatsuki said to be honest…
"Umm yeah. I got lot's actually… I got four boxes." Orihime said.
"Wow, who from?" He asked. 'Here I go…' Orihime thought.
"I got some 'Friendship' chocolate from Ishida-kun. He even made me a bear with it!" Orihime paused. "And then I got some off Sado-kun, Hirako-kun and Asano-kun." Orihime said quickly.
"… 'Friendship' chocolate too?" He asked. Orihime shook her head. "Oh, Shinji's such a pervert… so's Keigo…" Ichigo muttered and Orihime cracked a smile.
"I don't mind really. They have their own feelings and I have mine… sadly I don't have feelings in return for them though. I can't be helped though, we've all got different aspirations and personalities. One sided love isn't so bad as long as you can be close to that person." Orihime said nodding her head. 'Kurosaki-kun… this is the way I feel about us…' Orihime thought
"I never thought about it that way…" Ichigo said
"Well it's right isn't it." Orihime said as they got to her house. "Oh! I'm sorry you had to walk me to my house. I know it's pretty far away from yours." Orihime said
"Ah It's no problem Inoue." Ichigo said walking up her steps.
"Thank you then. I-I also h-have something t-t-to give y-you." Orihime stuttered then pulled the small box out of her bag. This one was different from the others it had strawberries over it and a tiny ribbon with a strawberry sticker sticking it down. "I made these chocolates specially they're different from the others I gave as 'friendship' chocolates." Orihime said.
"O-Orihime." Ichigo stuttered as he looked at the small box in her hands.
"Please accept these chocolates a-and… and… my feelings for you Ichigo-kun. I-I-I l-love you." Orihime said scrunching up her eyes and thrusting the small box into his hands. "I-I don't mind if you don't feel the same way about me because just being your friend is enough-," Orihime was interrupted by soft warm lips on hers. Her eyes snapped opened and she saw Hazel eyes staring back at her. 'Ichigo-kun?' She thought then gasped as he pulled away.
"I-I have something here for you to." Ichigo said pulling out a very small heart shaped box. "It doesn't contain chocolate… hopefully something better." Ichigo said turning his gaze to the ground.
Orihime opened the box hesitantly… what was inside?
Her eyes grew wide as she lifted the lid and saw that inside the box contained a small bracelet. It was pure silver and inscribed on it was… 'I love you… always and forever.'
Orihime raised her eyes to the Orange-haired Shinigami.
"Always and Forever."
Haaaa~ so there it is! Fin~ This took me a long time since I don't normally write long fics but hey It's Valentine's day! Spread the lurrrvvveee and please review!