Thank You Kurosaki-kun!
Disclaimer: If I owned Bleach, my name would be Tite Kubo. It's not.
It was a cool evening in Karakura town. Frost covered the grass and dusted the side walk. Despite this, people were out everywhere. Their warm coats were not very heavy, yet they wore hats and gloves. Most were out shopping for Christmas gifts or groceries. Why? It was Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. November was colder than normal, and yet this didn't hinder the people. They moved and worked about like honey bees. They could not afford to rest during this busy time of year. Orihime was one among these bees. She carried with her a large bag of groceries, with a plethora of food. She knew it was a bit late to be shopping for ingredients, but she liked to buy them fresh.
The walk to her apartment was a grievous one, but she didn't complain. She simply reminded herself of why she was doing this, and she over flowed with anticipation. Usually she would eat Thanksgiving alone, but this year she had invited all her friends to come. They had offered to make it a potluck so that she didn't have to do all of the cooking. They seemed very eager to do this. I wonder why? Orihime thought. Nevertheless, she had turned their offers down. She would do something for her friends! No matter how small it was, she could not allow them to help this time. Orihime struggled up the steps to her apartment.
"I can do this!" She shouted. Slowly, slowly yet surely she heaved the bag up the stairs. Step by step. It was too heavy to simply carry. When she reached the last step, the bag ripped and her ingredients went tumbling down the stairs. Horrified, Orihime ran to gather them up. It was getting dark. The grocery store would be closing. She wouldn't have enough time to go back, and if she tried to save everything, it would get too dark! Orihime left them there, somberly climbing back up. She had failed everyone. I failed Kurosaki-kun. She thought sadly.
"Need some help?" She stopped.
…..
Ichigo Kurosaki hated the holidays. Why? People made a big fuss over nothing. When Orihime had invited him over, he had hesitated, but in the end agreed to come. He didn't want to disappoint her, after all. Still, he dreaded tasting her cooking. He did not want to remember the last time he tasted it. Images of a bubbling purple liquid came to his mind involuntarily, making him shudder. That was certainly something that he wanted to forget.
He was outside, just walking. He needed to clear his head after listening to his idiot father ramble on and on about nonsense. He had only been half listening. Something about "Don't steal the turkey"? Whatever. His father was excruciatingly weird. And annoying for that matter. His ears were still ringing from his shouting. Ichigo leaned back and stared at the stars, breathing in the crisp, cool air. He needed it. The only thing at his house was hot gas. He allowed his feet to take him wherever they wanted to go, not really caring. He exhaled with every two steps, almost meditating.
But he wasn't, because on his walk he noticed auburn. He frowned. He only knew one person with hair that color: Inoue Orihime. What was she doing out so late? He considered going up to her and asking her himself, but he decided to follow her and watch her for a while.
He followed her all the way to her apartment. He was concerned by the size of the bag that she was carrying, but her posture didn't show struggling, it showed determination. If she needed help, he would definitely assist her.
Eventually Orihime reached the stairs to her apartment, and her strife really showed. Her face was red from exertion and perspiration slid down her face. Oddly, however, this did not affect her hair. It remained as silky as it usually was. Either way, Ichigo would've helped her then, but when he heard her say "I can do this!" He couldn't bring himself to. He knew that Orihime had probably worked hard and he didn't want to take that away from her. What he saw next however, made him regret this decision.
Orihime's groceries tumbled down the stairs and she ran to gather them up. Before long she gave up and ascended the stairs again. Noticing her disappointment, Ichigo couldn't bear to leave her like that way. Silently he climbed the stairs behind her and gently grabbed her arm.
She gasped and turned around. "K-Kurosaki-kun?" Her face became redder. His eyebrows furrowed as he wondered why. Was she catching a cold?
"Need some help?" He asked, keeping his cool.
"No! It's fine! I can go and buy more groceries tomorrow!"
"Aren't all the stores closed tomorrow? It's Thanksgiving tomorrow, remember?"
Realization hit her, making him feel guilty.
"Yes, well, I don't know."
"Inoue, you don't have to you know." He said.
"Huh?"
"You don't have to do all the work yourself."
"Well yes, but I want to Kurosaki-kun! Everyone is always helping me, and I want to help too!"
"It's alright. You're not a burden or anything, so don't think that."
"Yes, but you don't have to help, Kurosaki-kun! I-I'll figure something out!"
He frowned. Was that what she thought? "I don't have to Inoue, I want to, so I'm gonna okay?"
"But-"She stopped when she saw his deepening frown. "Well, alright."
Ichigo helped her pick up her groceries, and they were done in a few minutes.
"There! All done!" Orihime said, picking up the last of it.
"Good. And don't stay out so late next time, alright?"
"Yep! Oh, but I have to thank you!"
"You don't have to, Inoue. I'm happy to help."
"But I want to, so I'm gonna okay?" She said, mimicking him good-naturedly.
He couldn't help but smile. "Alright Inoue." He frowned. Her face was red again. "Are you cold Inoue?"
"No! No! I just wanted to thank you again!" She said. To his surprise she stood on the tip of her toes and kissed him, very gently on the cheek.
"Thank you Kurosaki-kun!" She said before running inside.
"Kurosaki-kun" simply stood there in shock, barely registering what had happened.
"Goodnight Inoue." He murmured before heading home.
Author's note: I wanted to write you guys a little something for Thanksgiving! Enjoy! Please check out my other story To write the words that left your mind. Happy Thanksgiving! :)
R & R please!