Title: I missed you
Character/Pairing: Ishida Uryuu/Inoue Orihime, Kuchiki Rukia
Genre: General, Romance, speculative
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 1091
Dedication: For debbiechan
Author's Notes: Originally written 2007 for debbichan's IshiHime contest. As such it was written with notion that the Winter war was going to involve a lot of people dying and being trained up to fight in the war again.
I missed you
In the beginning, when Ishida had just arrived in Rukongai, he searched frantically for Inoue, shouting her name out in the streets, the countryside. Ishida had spent only a couple of days like that before collapsing with hunger.
He was fortunate enough that someone found him and was able to fed him. His luck ended there; they hadn't seen or heard of her when he asked them about Inoue.
Orihime hadn't stayed very long in Rukongai: she had been picked up by a shinigami scouting for those with spiritual powers within hours of her arrival.
For two weeks after Ishida continued searching, asking old ladies if they had seen a young woman pass by and eavesdropping at bars for any rumours of a large chested girl. He covered five districts in this way, doing odd tailoring jobs between his searching but it was on the street of a town in west 37th, talking to a shinigami, that he finally received news of her.
The scouting shinigami had been surprised to find one of the legendary ryoka in his search and more than willing to tell him that Inoue Orihime, the other ryoka found in Rukongai, was enrolled for the next intake at the academy. He was even more than willing to comply when Ishida insisted to be taken to the Seireitei.
In the month before she started at the academy, Orihime caught up with the friends she had made the last time she had visited and vaguely wondered where Ishida-san had gotten to.
On the first day at the academy there had been a laugh, ringing across the crowded courtyard filled with new students to the shinigami academy. Ishida thought he recognised it and swung around to face it, only meeting the face of another male student, who had muttered "What're you lookin' at?" before moving away into the crowd.
Then the Sou-taicho's speech began and Ishida turned to face the commander to listen to what was expected of him while attending the academy.
During the Sou-taicho's speech on her first day, Orihime swore she saw the sun glinting off a pair of square lensed glasses.
In the halls of the academy, with rushed classes and full hallways, Ishida thought he saw bright auburn hair flashing brilliantly in the sunlight accompanied by a red and white uniform on many occasions. He always stopped to look again, ready to reach out and place his hand on her shoulder, but it was always just another student whose hair had caught the light for a moment.
He eventually developed a reputation for standing in the halls with his hand half raised after no one in particular.
Sometimes Orihime would see someone with a patched uniform or bag, a line of slightly off colour stitches being the only indication it had been fixed, and wondered if Ishida had fixed it.
Once, at the end of a lesson, with the teacher gone and students milling around, Ishida thought he had heard someone mention her name. Standing up to take a look around the classroom, he only spotted a bunch of giggling girls leaving the room, not one of them auburn haired.
He cursed his bad luck and didn't overhear them talking about sushi rolls made with chocolate spread.
Right after one class, Orihime always tried to catch up to this black haired boy who sat in front of her, but her friends always managed to drag her away before she caught up with him, asking her why she wanted to talk to square glasses boy.
At graduation, Ishida thought he saw her bright smiling face among the crowd as the Sou-taicho inducted his class to service but he was dragged away by some of his fellow classmates to a party before he could see her graduate. Later, when they were at the party and he had decided he didn't want to wake up with a hangover the next day, someone had said he should lighten up and maybe get laid, pointing towards the girls' group.
His anger at his classmate diffused as he caught sight of Orihime laughing and drinking with her friends, but was stopped from approaching her by someone throwing up over his front.
Orihime's heart had soared when she saw Ishida up on the platform when the second class was called up to be inducted into service, before it sank as she spotted the class move off to a party as her own class was ushered up towards the Sou-taicho.
"Eighth division's squad five, you are working with the Sixth's squad four. Both squads will work under the guidance of fourth seat Honma of the Sixth and approach from the western side to storm the compound." The two squads were pointed towards where they were meant to wait before heading through the gate, Honma ordering them to be at ease, the groups mingling and chattering quietly as the other squads were arranged.
It was Orihime who spotted Ishida and rushed towards him, shihakusho sleeves flying as she flung her arms around him, exclaiming.
"Uryuu-kun! I'm so happy to see you again!" Ishida had looked so surprised to see her but had awkwardly returned her hug and murmured an 'I missed you too' before their reunion was broken up by orders to move out.
They ended up fighting together, just like they had when they were rescuing Rukia. Ishida felt a rush of adrenaline whenever Orihime shouted to alert him of an enemy behind him and ferociously kept her back as she did his.
It was near the end of the battle when a previously unconscious enemy snuck up behind the pair and struck Ishida: the blow sent a splash of blood over Inoue who could barely react before a familiar white blade swung down to kill the enemy.
"Shhh, he'll be fine Orihime, it'll be all right," Rukia had comforted Orihime, arms wrapping around her friend as she drew her away from where she had been sitting, away from Ishida's unconscious and bleeding body.
-o-
It is lying in the infirmary, two weeks after the battle that Uryuu sees Orihime again. She's kindly brought his sewing bag with her, thinking he might be bored, and sits quietly by his bedside, absently playing with the fringe of the blanket.
"You know I missed you, right?"
"Remember that I said I missed you too?" they burst out at the same time, surprised looks of comprehension as they laugh at their mistake, fingers eventually entwining over his blankets.
Later, on their rounds, the nurses smile as they spot the two, both asleep, their hands still clasped together.