Disclaimer: I own nothing so stop asking!
Author's Notes: Omg. Seriously. I was jumped and stabbed thoroughly by an evil little plot bunny today. I couldn't even try to defend myself...it just kind of...happened! Augh. So here it is. My love for this pairing is insatiable, I swear!
Reading of chapter 237 is strongly recommended. Otherwise, some things in this fic might make absolutely NO sense to you whatsoever.
Warnings: Well, it DID come from a random little evil plot bunny. I can't promise any quality or making of the sense...o.O
Where'er you walk cool gales shall fan the glade,
Trees where you sit shall crowd into a shade.
Where'er you tread the blushing flowers shall rise,
And all things flourish where you turn your eyes.
Live: At One --
"Orihime-sensei!"
She turned around at the call of her name, smiling reflexively as she did it. A group of children ran towards her, laughing and waving as they came.
Orihime chuckled as they rushed around her, all trying to be heard at once and resulting in a jumbled mess of noise. The sun was beating down on their heads, but nobody minded.
"You were so cool, sensei!" A boy called to her.
"Yeah!" His friend agreed, "I laughed so hard at the look on the cashier's face! When you said, "I'll have them all!" so calmly, I thought he was going to have a heart attack!"
They giggled together, and Orihime laughed with them. Ice cream cones were melting in their hands, but nobody minded that either.
"Orihime-sensei!" A voice called from afar.
She looked up to see another teacher waving her over.
"I'll be right back!" She said cheerily to the students she had come to love, and quickly ran over to the school, trying to finish her strawberry ice cream cone as she did.
"What is it?" She asked, smile shining bravely.
"Someone's here to see you." Her co-worker stated.
Quirking her head, Orihime quickly made her way back inside to the office.
A visitor? Since when did anyone visit her at work?
Her smile froze when she stepped inside.
"…Kurosaki-kun!" She said, clearly stunned.
"Inoue!" He replied, grin as oblivious as ever, hand habitually going to the back of his head in an unconscious gesture of nerves.
"It's…nice to see you again!" Orihime said jadedly.
"Yeah…" Ichigo said. "Well, I came here to give you something!"
Wordlessly, Orihime held out her hands and accepted an envelope, something dropping in her stomach and clicking in her mind.
"Uh…well…I hope you can come…and, uh, I'll see you soon!" He chuckled strangely, awkwardly nodded, and walked out.
She stood there unmoving, staring at the rectangular package in her hands, silently praying it wasn't and knowing it was.
"Please…please…" She whispered, and opened it up to read.
You are cordially invited to the wedding…And then the rest didn't matter.
Live: At Two --
Orihime scrambled around, already working up a sweat and half going crazy with the running and manual labor.
"Orihime-chan! We just received an order for 20 more!"
"Twenty?!" She called back incredulously, pleased beyond words that she was so popular but despairing inside, knowing she would have to make twenty cupcakes by the end of the day. It wouldn't be so bad had it just been orders, but she had to appease all the clients in her shop with their orders first before she could even begin to think about filling orders that came from outside.
It was tough. But she loved it.
"Thank you!" She cried breathily as she set down yet another hand-made cake over the counter, and quickly hurried off to make a chocolate one for a little boy's birthday.
"Orihime-chan!" Tatsuki called, "We've got a special order!"
Everyone in the store stopped for a moment to cheer. They all knew what that meant.
"All right!" Orihime smiled brilliantly. She loved making special orders the most. That's why she decided to make them special.
"One strawberry cake, coming right up!"
Tatsuki smiled at her busy friend, relieved that Orihime still loved to do what she did. Personally, she could never enjoy owning a cake shop and constantly being surrounded by sugar and demanding people all the time, but that's just her.
Sighing lightly, she turned and ran back to the little office in the back.
"Hello? Rukia-san? Sorry about the delay. Your cake will be ready by the end of the day. Stop worrying, I'm sure Ichigo will love it. Oh, and happy anniversary!"
After a few more pleasant exchanges, Tatsuki set the phone down and wiped her hands on the pink apron Orihime had forced her to wear.
She hoped that Ichigo wasn't the one coming to pick the cake up.
Live: At Three --
"Come on!" Orihime declared confidently, waving at her friends to hurry up.
"Inoue-san, are you sure this is a good idea?" Ishida asked, refusing to sound nervous.
"Of course!" She exclaimed boldly, "I've always wanted to do this!"
The rest of her friends sighed in defeat as they walked in front of Mister Doughnut's.
Thrusting open the double doors, Orihime marched straight up to the counter.
"I'll take them all!"
The cashier met her with silence.
More silence.
"Orihime-chan…you know…you don't have to do this for us just because you got paid. We don't need that many doughnuts anyway…"
Orihime shook her head in refusal. "No! I've always wanted to say that, and since I finally got paid, I might as well treat all of you to something good! Now, Cashier-san, please! I'll take them all!"
Five minutes later, they were seated at a large table with a mountain of doughnuts piled on top.
Orihime bit into her sixth one with enthusiasm, cherishing the strawberry filling inside. Most of them had gotten tired of staring at her in amazement after her fourth and wandered elsewhere. Well…with the exception of Tatsuki of course, because she didn't want her friend to die of a doughnut overdose.
"Orihime-chan…you don't have to eat all of them, ok? Take a break."
Orihime shook her head with a bright smile, and grabbed another one.
They continued in silence, listening to the drone of people talking.
"Tatsuki-chan…" A small voice said suddenly. The purple haired girl looked at her best friend in concern, and was taken aback to the see tears in her eyes.
"I love the doughnuts with strawberry filling…but why do they taste so bitter?"
Tatsuki had no reply to that question. She felt her heart squeeze in concern and wished she could understand what was going on, but instead just smiled her most encouraging smile before getting up. A cup of water. Yes. She would get that for Orihime.
It wasn't until she got to the front that she understood.
Holding a large cup of water, she couldn't resist giving another look at Ichigo on the way back, seated in the corner and sharing his bowl of vanilla sundae.
No wonder it all tasted bitter.
Live: At Four --
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" They echoed at once.
"Yeah…" Orihime took a moment to smile at the rest of her team before glancing back out the window, floating dreamily in zero gravity.
"Do you know what those two stars are?" She asked quietly.
"What?"
"Vega and Altair…the lovers separated by the Milky Way."
"Is that a legend from where you come from?"
"Yep." Orihime sighed. "Tonight's the night we celebrate Tanabata in Japan. This one night, the lovers can come together again across the Milky Way and see each other."
"That's so romantic…"
"That's so cheesy!"
Orihime chuckled as her team fell into a debate over the credibility of Tanabata.
The Earth was so beautiful from this distance. The stars even more so.
She stared at the Milky Way so intently she didn't even hear her friend approaching from the back.
"Thinking of someone important?" Asked a teasing voice.
"Actually…yeah." Orihime answered truthfully and popped a piece of strawberry gum into her mouth. "But it's all hopeless anyway."
"Why is it hopeless?" Her friend demanded. "There's no such thing; especially not with someone like you, Orihime! Why don't you just tell him?"
"Because we might as well be separated by the Milky Way." She replied.
"Then build a bridge!"
"I did."
"And…?"
"He can't see me."
"Why the heck not?"
"Someone else is already on it."
Live: At Five --
Orihime swallowed roughly, making her way down the street. She had long ago learned to ignore the strange looks and the staring.
It was her fault for not taking her uniform off, anyway. Ulquiorra had told her never to take it off, and she wasn't about to test him on it.
She hated the familiarity and sense of belonging as she made her way across the street, feet unconsciously taking her to the one place she allowed herself to go. She hated that Ulquiorra always made her take a "vacation" back home at least once a month, so she would stay "sane" and not suffer from homesickness.
Like hell this was going to keep her sane. She may as well just go tell Aizen that he can take his charity and shove it up where the sun doesn't shine because she hated coming back home. She hated everything about it; the desire to see everyone she loved, the wanting to be hugged by her friends, and the indestructible flame of hope still burning that maybe, just maybe, Ichigo would come and try to get her back.
Because every time she came back, she could always feel him so close. His reiatsu would intensify so much more when she was close like this and it drove her mad because she wanted to see him again, just for a moment, just for a lifetime. She wished he would hide his reiatsu, like the way she was forced to hide hers.
Freedom staring her in the face, the only thing that stopped her was the fact that Aizen needed her, and Ichigo didn't. It was such a little thing.
It was enough.
Opening the doors, Orihime stepped inside Thirty-One, perfectly carrying out the same routine as always.
The cashier looked up and sighed. Every month, it was the same.
Upon closer inspection, he realized that today was a bad day. The tension was everywhere on her face, but he wouldn't bring it up.
She walked up to the counter and spread her hands on top of it.
For just a moment, he could have sworn that she was going to grin and demand for every flavor he had. But that was ridiculous, wasn't it?
Before she could open her mouth, he cut in, smiling in the friendliest manner he could.
"The usual?"
Orihime closed her mouth and nodded, smoothing out the white fabric of her uniform before taking a seat at the counter.
A few moments later, the cashier came back and set down a cup of ice cream in front of her.
A wordless thanks was exchanged and Orihime took the tiny spoon in her hands. The sweetness exploded in her mouth and she grimaced, but she still savored each bite for as long as she could.
She still had a whole day to kill before Ulquiorra came to pick her up. She would rather Grimmjow come. For all she cared, Ulquiorra could drop dead from a brain aneurysm.
Finishing the last bite, Orihime got up and put some change on the counter. As she turned to leave, the cashier called her back.
"Can I ask you a question?" He asked.
"Sure." She replied, forcing a smile onto her face. It felt strange.
"You get the same flavor all the time. Even if it is your favorite, don't you ever get tired of eating it?"
"Of course. I hate it."
"Then why do you keep buying it?" He asked, not understanding in the slightest.
Orihime thought about his question for a moment and smiled, this time genuinely.
"Because I love it too."
The cashier watched in bewilderment as Orihime left the store, much happier than when she came in. Her pristine white dress contrasted starkly with her bright orange hair, but in a way, it suited her.
Shrugging, he collected her ice cream bowl and threw it away. Next time, he was going to make sure to ask her why it was her favorite flavor in the first place. But he realized he understood a little.
She was sweet. And strawberry was the sweetest.
End
That's it! The End! If you didn't like that ending, tough. It was the best I could come up with. Sorry if the story didn't make too much sense…Oh, and review! Feedback is greatly appreciated! I hope all of you caught that I practically killed myself trying to include strawberries in each one of Orihime's lives. If you couldn't even tell that each section was supposed to represent a different life she had, then I have failed miserably as a human being. Lol.
In case anybody's wondering, Thirty-One refers to Baskin Robbins, also known as the second best ice cream store in existence, after Dairy Queen. Yeah. XD