Waiting
A Bleach fanfiction by Sir Psycho Sexy
A/N: This is a Valentine's Day gift fic for Yhaun. I'm sorry I couldn't do Yoruichi/Soi Fon or Ichigo/Ishida for you; I guess you're going to have to take my Tatsuki/Orihime, because that's the only pairing I can write with my current knowledge of Bleach characterization. (Love you!)
Oh, girl-love ahoy. In case you didn't notice. And note that I do not intend to bash Chizuru. I love the girl dearly, but this is more Tatsuki-centric, and so I had to adopt her POV on her.
-SPS
As long as Tatsuki and Orihime had known each other, they had been thick as thieves. Tatsuki comforted her friend after the loss of her dear older brother; she defended Orihime from perverted old men on the street who attempted to feel her up with her killer karate moves; and, through Tatsuki, Orihime had met the boy that she had somewhat of a crush on, namely Ichigo.
But nothing prepared their relationship for Chizuru, the openly lesbian transfer student who had shown up at their high school in the middle of the trimester. As soon as Chizuru set her sights on Orihime, she instantly fell in love- or, as the case with her personality may be, lust- on the large-breasted girl. She paid her lots of attention, flirted with her, and even tried to seduce her in the middle of class. Orihime paid it no mind, and thought Chizuru was trying to make friends with her.
But whenever Tatsuki saw Chizuru rubbing up against her friend, saying how much "her" 'Hime turned her on or whatever sex metaphor she was brazen enough to use that day, Tatsuki would inevitably fly into a furious rage. Silently she hoped that Chizuru would stop, and held back her anger, but it continued.
And worsened by the day.
Over the course of a few weeks, Tatsuki realized the source of her rage. Chizuru was a mirror of a part of herself that she didn't want exposed to the rest of the world; a part of herself she thought undesirable. And here was Chizuru flaunting it like it was no big deal, rubbing it in Tatsuki's face. Hell, she even had the nerve to tell Tatsuki that she thought butch women like her were disgusting (but she'd still have sex with Tatsuki because she had a nice body).
She was forced to look at her unsavory counterpart every day, until she realized one simple truth: she was in love with her best friend. The pats she gave Orihime on the head for a job well done actually meant more than that; they were pats of reassurance that Tatsuki would always be there for her, through good times and bad. That she would always defend her.
But when Tatsuki was attacked by a Hollow, Orihime was the one who did the defending. Which led Tatsuki to wonder: Were the feelings mutual? Was it friendship, love, or some weird combination of the two that only Orihime could come up with, as she came up with her unique style of gastronomic delights? As the days wore on, Tatsuki couldn't really tell.
When Orihime had to leave to go to Soul Society, Tatsuki knew that she wouldn't see Orihime for quite some time. She had to put her feelings out in the open, but in a way that Orihime would know that the emotions involved were uniquely hers: "I'll wait for you."
Orihime turned her head, smiled, and nodded, as if in understanding. Friend, lover, or both, it was hard to decipher. But the way in which she smiled- warm and friendly like the midday sun- led Tatsuki to believe that, at the very least, Orihime was open to a romantic relationship with her.
And Tatsuki is waiting, still waiting for her life with Orihime to continue, still crossing her fingers in hope that their relationship will move forward upon her friend's return.
-FIN