This is just a sweet oneshot with some pathetic attemps at comedy. I hope you like it.
"Your're going down, baldy."
"Ha! In your dreams, pineapple. I'm going to kick your ass so hard you'll cry like the little baby I know you are."
"Hit me with your best shot, loser."
"Oh I will, trust me."
Ichigo sighted as he listened to the bragging of Renji and Ikkaku. Today was his sixteenth birthday, and his father had insisted he'd give a party. At first, Ichigo refused to even think about it, but after days of fighting (verbally and physically) he had given in. He would throw a party for all of his friends. Of course his dad got all bouncy and happy and immediately started decorating (result: so many balloons, streamers and lanterns that Ichigo believed there was a risk of fire), and Yuzu locked herself in the kitchen to make party snacks (result: enough food for a freaking orphan house).
Promptly at eight P.M the first guests had been standing on the doormat, and right now the living room was so crowded that Ichigo could barely breathe.
I should have made the guest list myself, instead of leaving things all to Rukia…
"Okay gentlemen, get ready," Yumichika said. "One, two, go!"
Renji and Ikkaku attacked the bowls of nachos in front of them, very un-gentleman-like.
"What on earth are those punks doing?" Karin asked to her brother, staring at the scene with a light frown on her face.
"They're holding a little eating game: Who can eat the most nachos in ten minutes." Ichigo rolled his eyes.
"Ugh, disgusting…" Karin muttered as she watched the two shinigami stuffing their mouth with nachos as if their life depended of it.
Ichigo couldn't think of a better word to describe it.
Orihime was sitting on the floor of her apartment with a blue box in front of her, wearing her prettiest dress – a strapless white one with little pink flowers. She had decorated the box with red ribbons; festively but not too much. Just the way she thought Kurosaki- kun would like it. She glared at the clock and noticed the party had already started.
Orihime felt tears burn in her eyes.
No, I'm not going to cry over something this stupid.
It really was stupid. She had spent the entire morning on this present for Kurosaki- kun, and now she didn't dare to give it to him. Not she was afraid he wouldn't like it, she was afraid he would just like it. She wanted to give him something outstanding, something really really special, something that would make him realize how much she cared for him.
All day she had thought that this present was perfect, until about two hours ago. Then she had started doubting, and now she believed it was just plain boring. Nice, but not nice enough.
Sitting here and feel sorry for myself isn't going to do anything, I have to go and get him something else!
There was no time to lose. Orihime quickly got on her feet and ran outside with the disapproved present in her arms. She slammed the door shut behind her, swiftly descended the stairs and started running towards the shopping mall.
"Ichigo, it's time for your present," Rukia said cheerfully. "Happy birthday!" Her big blue eyes glistened as she pushed an extremely large, flat package in his hands.
"Thanks, Rukia," Ichigo said smiling and he removed the sparkly silver wrapping paper. "Wow, it's a… painting…"
"Yes, it's a painting of the Winter War!" She said enthusiastically. "Look, this is you, Aizen, me, Renji, Orihime, oh and look; there's Ishida!" She pointed at a spectacled rabbit- like figure.
"Ummm, why do we all look like chappy's?" Ichigo asked cautiously.
The smile on Rukia's face melted away. "Why are you asking? Don't you like it? Do you know how much time I spent on this?" Her eyes flashed with anger.
Ichigo decided this wasn't the right time for honesty. "No, no, no, I like it!" he said quickly. "I mean; rabbits, how awesome. I love your… artistic interpretation of the battle."
"You're a terrible liar, Ichigo!" Rukia yelled, making all heads turn into their direction. "God, I knewyou were too stupid to understand the beauty of my artwork…"
"Jeez, calm down, everybody's staring-"
"…so I bought you a second present," Rukia interrupted him.
"Huh, what?"
Rukia grinned. "You're so easy to fool."
"Rukia!" Ichigo felt his blood pressure rise.
"Calm down and open your real present alright," Rukia said bluntly as she handed Ichigo the package. This one was also wrapped in shimmering paper, but much smaller than the first gift.
"An alarm clock?" Ichigo said surprisedly when he saw the bright red, vintage looking device.
"Yeah! Now you can make sure you wake up before your dad plunges into your room to wake/ attack you."
"Wow, thanks, Rukia," Ichigo said. "This might be a really useful gift…"
"I think your father won't agree with you," Rukia said laughing.
"No, no, no, no!" Orihime moaned as she stood in front of the dark display window of the cutest store in town. She was too late; all the stores were already closed. She stared desperately at her mirror image in de window.
What should I do now?
She remembered the 24- hour shop. Though she knew the chances that she'd find the perfect gift for Kurosaki- kun there were low, she decided to take the chance. She ran through the deserted streets, Kurosaki- kun's gift clasped tightly in her arms, until she saw the green neon lights of the 24- hour shop. A little bell rang when she stepped inside.
Orihime searched through the entire store, but all non-food articles she could find were animal- shaped key rings and funny refrigerator magnets. Even though they were cute, they were no proper gift-material.
Suddenly she got an idea. She walked towards the shop owner – a chubby man that appeared to be sleeping behind his counter – and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Umm… excuse me, sir?"
The man startled awake. "Huh, what?" He looked around disorientatedly, until he noticed Orihime. "Oh, hello miss, what can I do for you?"
"I'm looking for a present for a friend of mine," she explained. "It's his birthday and I want to give him something special, but I can't find anything." Orihime blushed. She felt a bit uncomfortable telling this to a complete stranger, but she didn't have another choice. He was her last hope.
"Ummm, I'm afraid I can't help you, this isn't a gift shop." He yawned.
"Oh… I understand," Orihime said disappointedly. "Thank you anyway. Goodbye" She forced a smile on her face before turning around and walking towards the exit.
"Wait!"
Orihime looked over her shoulder.
"I do have some caps!" The man pulled a couple of flashy, pink and green caps from under the counter.
Orihime pictured Ichigo with one of the pink caps and giggled. No, then she'd even rather give him her silly, selfmade present.
"Thank you sir, but I think even he would look ridiculous with one of those."
The man smirked. "You sure? They're at discount!"
Orihime shook her head and left the store. Outside the sky was turning from purplish blue to red. The party must be already in full swing, Orihime realized. She wondered if anyone was missing her.
It seems I have no choice…
"Drink some sake with me, Ishidaaa!" Matsumoto pushed a glass in Ishida's hand.
"N- no, I don't drink…" he protested.
Matsumote dropped her head and moaned. "Come on! It's Ichigo's birthday! Don't a party pooper!" She put her arm around him and held the glass in front of his nose. "Will you drink it if I feed it to you?"
Ishida's head turned red. "N- no, stop it"
He had might as well been talking to the wall. Matsumoto laughed and put the glass to the lips of the heavily resisting Ishida.
Ichigo grinned. "Way to go, Ishida!"
Ishida threw him a deadly glance and Ichigo waved. Behind him he heard Toushiro complain about the behavior of his subordinate. ("It's barely nine 'o clock and she's already making a fool out of herself!")
Man, Orihime should see this.
Talking about Orihime… where is she anyway?
Ichigo looked around but didn't see her anywhere. Strange.
"Chad." Ichigo walked towards his friend, who was silently leaning against the wall, looking a bit lost in all the party fuss. "Have you seen Orihime?"
"No," Sado answered. "I guess she's not here yet."
"Orihime's never late…" Ichigo muttered. "Man, I wonder what's keeping her."
He grabbed a drink, left the crowded living room and walked down the hall, wondering what Orihime was doing. His head was pounding and he felt a bit oppressive.
I can really use some fresh air…
"IIIchigoooo!" The cry was followed by the sound of running feet.
"Oh gimme a break," Ichigo muttered. He stood still, stepped to the right and stuck out his leg.
"Aaah!" Keigo tripped over Ichigo's leg and crushed into the front door. The brown haired boy got on his feet again quickly and rubbed his painful head. "W- where are you going?"
"Outside, to get some fresh air."
"But the party's inside!" Keigo yelled impassionedly. "Or… is there another party you're going to? With other friends? Better friends?"
Ichigo rolled his eyes. Keigo was such a goof. "Yeah whatever, I'll be back in a five minutes." He opened the door.
"Oh, all right then," Keigo said. "I'll tell the others, but if you don't come back, I know where to find you! Or actually, I don't, but-"
Ichigo didn't bother to listen to Keigo's rambling any longer and walked outside. He sat down on the brick wall that separated his house from the street and exhaled deeply. It was a perfect summer evening; cool but certainly not cold. There was a soft breeze and the setting sun gave everything an orange glow.
Unfortunately he couldn't really enjoy it. It bothered him that Orihime wasn't here yet. She was one of those rare persons who always wanted to be everywhere in time; school, appointments, parties… A wave of worry came over him.
What if she's being attacked by a hollow?
No, that's ridiculous, my living room is overflowing with shinigami, if there was a hollow out here, someone would have noticed.
But maybe she was attacked by something non- spiritual…
Horrible images flashed before his eyes. Orihime in a car accident, Orihime getting chased by some weirdass creep with a chainsaw…
No, Orihime can perfectly take care of herself.
There was absolutely no reason for him to go look for her.
But still he went.
Orihime walked by the river, on her way to Kurosaki- kun's house. The view was so beautiful that she stopped for a moment. The sun was a dim orange sphere, already half disappeared behind the horizon, floating in a sea of violet, yellow, red and all the shades in between.
She sat down on the cool grass and let her thoughts drift away.
"Orihime!"
Orihime recognized the voice that called her name immediately and turned her head.
"Kurosaki- kun…"
A familiar figure was running her way. He stopped next to her, panting as if he had been running quite some time.
"Orihime, what are you doing here?" Ichigo asked. "Don't you want to go to the party? There are nachos."
Orihime looked to the ground. "I'm sorry, I really wanted to go, but I… ummm, got distracted by the beautiful view…" … and I'm a stupid dimwit who is afraid you don't like her present as much as she wants you to do.
Ichigo sat down next to her. "What's that?" He pointed at the blue box.
Orihime blushed. "That's your present."
"You got me a present?"
"Of course I did, it's your birthday, isn't it?"
"Yeah, I believe it is…" he said, his lips curved in a small smile.
I might as well just give it to him now… maybe it won't be so bad after all…
"Here, happy birthday," Orihime gave the carefully wrapped present to him.
"Thanks, Orihime!" He gently pulled off the ribbons and opened the box. His eyes widened. "Wow…" he faltered when he saw the content.
Orihime felt her heart drop. "I- I'm sorry, I really wanted to give you something special, Kurosaki- kun, but all I could come up with is a selfmade cake – multi flavored, since I didn't know your favorite. It's strawberry, chocolate, vanilla, blueberry, orange and much more…"
"It's shaped like my head."
"I- I've used glazing, chocolate and whip cream to do that… I know it doesn't really look like you, especially the nose, but…"
"Thank you, Orihime," he said softly, still looking at the cake. "It's the most special gift anyone has ever given to me."
"Really? Y- your welcome, Kurosaki- kun." Her heart skipped a beat when Ichigo kissed her cheek.
"K- kurosaki- kun…" she stammered, heavily blushing.
"What?" Ichigo raised his eyebrows.
"N- nothing…"
Keep it cool Orihime, you're acting like an idiot again…
For a moment she thought Ichigo wanted to say something, but he turned his head and looked at the sunset, smiling. "I used to hate sunsets," he said. "I found them sad and depressing, but you know; they're actually pretty beautiful."
"Sunsets are one of those things that can be both sad and beautiful at the same time," Orihime said, who found herself thinking about her brother. He once told her that beauty and sadness always go together, because nature thought beauty too rich to go forth upon the earth without a meet alloy.
"Yeah, I guess… but today it's just beautiful." The wind played with his orange locks, and his skin and chocolate brown eyes seemed to glow. Orihime couldn't recall he'd ever looked more handsome.
Orihime laid her hand on Ichigo's, softly and carefully, as if she was afraid it might explode if she touched it.
I can't believe I just did that! It's-
Orihime gasped as Ichigo grabbed her hand and held it tight. A blush stealed over her cheeks again. She glanced at his face, afraid he had noticed her reaction, but he was still peacefully staring at the sunset, either deep in thoughts or not thinking anything at all.
She smiled at turned her gaze at the horizon to.
"Happy birthday, Kurosaki- kun," she whispered.
Gosh I do hope this wasn't the lamest story ever.
Review to make my day.
xoxo
ps: What Orihime's brother said was originally said by the writer George MacDonald.