Inoue Orihime
She knew it was hopeless. She knew that he- strong, grinning that smile that made her heart beat like a hummingbird's wings- was too focused on his job to even think like that, like her. Of her.
She'd always known him. As far back as she could remember, he'd been that bright spot of warmth- of fire- in her pain-filled life. Of course, Tatsuki had been been there, too. And Orihime loved her like the sister she was... but this boy was different. They'd grown up together, but apart. Always it had been Tatsuki who had been their only real link to each other. Orihime's loss was the first, her parents just disappearing one night. To be completely honest, she couldn't even draw up her parents' faces when she closed her eyes. She'd had only her older brother and Tatsuki to take care of her, help her grow up. But that had only been her problem.
The his mother died. He changed. Something brought them slightly closer. Though they still rarely spoke, and never of the deaths -her onii-chan soon joining the list- they seemed to be suddenly tied together with a thin thread.
Gradually, the thread grew into a string. They became friends to each other, instead of just companions to the same dark-haired karate girl. And then, the string strengthens even farther, into a twisting rope as he pulls her back onto the sidewalk to save her from the car speeding by. The rope thickens again that night.
He showed up in her house, wearing a black robe and wielding a massive sword almost as tall as he was. That's when she first felt the way her stomach flipped every time he smiled. That's when she first felt the warmth spread from the tips of her toes to the top of her head when he looked at her with his scowling brown eyes. She'd always had those feelings. Just now, she knew what it meant. The rope was now a chain, but she couldn't tell him.
She whispered the words she wanted to say as he left her room to chase the monster that would have torn her and Tatsuki to pieces. She murmured it again as she said good-bye before leaving, alone, for Las Noches. Neither of the times did the strawberry hear. She wasn't sure if she wanted him to.
"I love you, Kurosaki-kun."
She always had.
And will forever.
_END_