Okonomiyaki Days
Author: kottanbellsan
Series: Bleach, by Tite Kubo
Disclaimer: bleach=mr tite kubo's prized possession.
Pairing: Ichihime!
Rating: T
Synopsis: AU. "E- Excuse me!" He turned around to see a panting, raven-haired teenage girl, who appeared to have been running after him for quite long now. "Huh?" He asked dumbly and scowled. Tatsuki grimaced. Did Orihime really like this guy? "Please- please go out with my best friend!" She said anyways, bowing her head deeply.
xxx
There were a few reasons why Orihime did not have a boyfriend. One, she worked part-time at Karakura's Famous Okonomiyaki Stall, rendering zero time for relationships. Two, her classmate Chizuru constantly clinged onto her, giving people wrong ideas about her sexual orientation.
Three, the guy she really liked didn't even know she existed.
Sighing, the auburn-haired girl pouted as she poured in more cheese, mayo and shrimp onto the frying pan and poked at the pancake absently. A small smile tugged at her lips slightly as she watched the mixture turn golden brown, and the aroma of vegetables and okonomiyai sauce filled the air. Despite of her glaringly pathetic personal life, she loved just everything about okonomiyaki- cooking it, serving it or eating it- they gave her the same odd happiness that filled her through and through. Topping it off, she got to sell okonomiyaki with her bestest friend, Arisawa Tatsuki. And-
"Ohayo! Irashaimase!"
"20 packets as usual, Orihime."
"Hai, Yoruichi-san!"
Orihime smiled brightly as she continued frying more pancakes. The smell was delicious- although, she never got to implement her red-bean and wasabi flavoured one, which Ishida-kun, the owner of the shop, had firmly disallowed. What a pity, though, she actually had her customers' Rangiku-san and Tessai-san's support for that idea.
The girl smiled happily as she flipped the piping hot okonomiyaki into the packet boxes.
"Yoruichi-san, here are your-"
She stopped mid-sentence abruptly as her gray eyes caught sight of the figure that was moving across the shop front.
It's- him.
Her gaze had shifted to that be on that all too familiar orange-head walking past the shop.
"S- Scowl-san.." the auburn-haired girl murmured absently to herself as she watched the orange-haired teen. That unmistakenable hair, that signature scowl, his bad-ass attitude as he walked along the streets with his bag slung across his shoulder, and yet there was that odd warmth that radiated off him all intrigued her. Not to mention his perfectly handsome face, those deep chocolate brown eyes, the lean yet muscular build, and... and she didn't know his name.
"Orihime!"
"-A-Ah," she half-mindedly turned to face Tatsuki, who had shook her and snapped her out of her daydream. "Gomen! I-"
"The orders."
"R- Right," Orihime found herself stuttering as she turned to face a bemused Yoruichi. "Sorry for the wait!"
"Daijoubu," the tanned woman said and waved. "Ja ne!"
"Bye.." Orihime's voice trailed away as she plopped down onto the counter stool, sighing. How could she ever go up to him and profess her crush? She didn't even know him, and neither did he know her. All she knew about him was his outstandingly good looks that made her heart go twenty times faster every time he walked past the shop. Plus, if she told him, he would probably think she was crazy.
"Just what is so good about that guy?"
Orihime turned to face her friend. "N- Nani?"
"I mean," Tatsuki sighed as she passed her best friend a glass of orange juice and sat down beside her. "I heard he's one of those punks, like, orange hair? And that stuck-up face?"
"He isn't like that," Orihime said confidently, sipping at the drink.
"And what makes you think that?"
"Gut feeling."
The black-haired teen sighed at her friend's infatuation and looked out of the window at people go past. Of all the people and schoolboys that caught Orihime's eye, it had to be him. Plus-
Oh my god.
"Orihime!"
"Huh?"
"He's-"
The auburn-haired girl looked up wearily, puzzled at Tatsuki's anxious nudge. Tiredly, she turned to face where she was pointing, which was at the shop entrance, where stood-
Scowl-san!
"O- Ohayo gozaimasu!" she gushed formally, bowing deeply and blushing ten shades of red, realizing that the orange-haired teen entered and stood at the doorway.
I can't believe he's here! He must have turned backwards?
"Y- yeah, Ohayo," the teen said awkwardly, ruffling the back of his hair. "Uh- two teriyaki okonomiyaki, please."
"Hai!"
Orihime turned quickly and headed over to the frying pan. Tatsuki raised an eyebrow.
She's nuts.
"Psst, Tatsuki-chan," Orihime whispered as she left the ingredients to fry and ducked underneath the counter. Tatsuki followed suit, amused.
"You pass the okonomiyaki to him later, kay? I- I just can't do it."
"Nani? Orihime, you're the one who likes him! This could be your only chance!"
"Demo-"
"Baka, just go for it, Hime," Tatsuki gave her friend a wide grin and a thumbs up sign. "What's so difficult about that? Just go up and say, I like you, will you go out with me? Please? That's all to it! And besides, with your good looks, how can any guy reject you?"
"But-"
"Just go! If he dares reject you, I'll kick him a good kick in the balls," Tatsuki said hastily before pushing Orihime out from behind the counter, causing her to fall weirdly before the teen who was sitting a few metres away.
"Owie!" The auburn-haired girl exclaimed as she found herself face flat on the floor. Her head kinda hurt.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, she heard footsteps.
"Hey, you okay?"
Huh?
Orihime looked up, only to see his face less than a metre away from hers.
Scowl-san!
"Uh, you fine?" The orange-haired teen repeated, extending a hand.
Eep.
"Yeah!" Orihime sprung up suddenly, beaming and flushing from happiness and embarrassment at the same time. "Eh, of course I'm fine, Scowl-san! My head is as hard as steel-"
Matte, did I just call him-
-Scowl-san?
"Scowl- never mind," Ichigo said, frowning if whether he had heard what she said correctly. He fought hard not for the heat to rise up his cheeks as he stared at the amazingly beautiful and sweet girl just a few centimetres away from him. There was something oddly familiar and unique about her- her smile was like a beam of sunshine he wanted to protect.
"What the hell am I thinking," Ichigo muttered out loud, unbeknownst to himself.
"Eh?" Orihime chirped.
He almost died of shock on the spot.
"Two Teriyaki Okonomiyaki- ready!" Tatsuki hollered dramatically as she danced in between the both of them suddenly, sensing the sudden awkward silence. "Here are your Okonomiyaki, sir," the black-haired girl dangled the bag before the teen's face to make her point.
"Uh, yeah, thanks I guess," Ichigo said as he took the bag in his hands. "Well," he said, his gaze shifting to Orihime. "Seeya."
Tatsuki had expected Orihime to stop him, which she didn't.
"Arigatou gozaimasu!" The auburn-haired beauty bowed her crush out, blushing profusely. The guy gave a forced expression of something between a scowl and a smile, then left.
"Ah, Tatsuki-chan, that was-"
Orihime looked up only to see Tatsuki race out of the door.
"Tatsuki-chan?!"
xxx
Damn it, where the hell is he?
Tatsuki jumped and peered over the mass of heads filling the street, but could not find the orange-haired teen anywhere in sight.
I swore he just left a second ago..
It was pretty sad to admit this, but she was getting really pissed off at the whole situation. She was never a patient person, and watching her best friend yearn after a guy like that with completely no progress just gave her the impulse to do something about it. She had to. That's what best friends were for, no? That's what nakama were for, no? Tatsuki ruffled her black hair and punched the nearby wall dramatically. She gotta do this. For Hime's happiness-!!
She caught a flash of orange in the reflection of a nearby car.
Aha.
Tatsuki started pushing her way through the jostling crowd, attracting strange stares as she cursed when the teen turned a corner. Then she started sprinting like there was no tomorrow.
She was finally catching up..
"E- Excuse me!"
Ichigo felt a hard shove from the back and turned around to see a panting, raven-haired teenage girl, who appeared to have been running after him for quite long now.
Matte, that's the girl from the Okonomiyaki stall just now.
"Huh?" He turned around dumbly and scowled.
Tatsuki grimaced.
Did Orihime really like this guy? I swear he just got on my nerves.
Taking a deep breath, she shut her eyes and nodded to herself.
For Hime.
"Please- please go out with my best friend!" Tatsuki said quickly, bowing her head. She could hearthe sweat roll down the sides of her face in the defeaning silence that followed.
Damn.
xxx
A/n: Short first chapter! I decided to keep peoples guessing on what Ichi's reaction would be! And there will be a big surprise about Ichi's occupation (apart from being a student) next chapter, so keep reading! (: I hoped this made you laugh some, if not, haha. I'll work hard on improving. Anyways, I just got into a wacky poodle mood after watching some Gokusen, so here's what I came up with. This was also somewhat inspired from Kouji and Kaoru's beginning of love in Taiyou no Uta. Review/message! (:
