Tangled up

Orihime is 25 years old, now a nurse at Karakura hospital. Having a long-distance

relationship with Ichigo Kurosaki, she fails to notice how relationships shift and get tangled.

Can a certain doctor help to pull her out from the teenhood dream?

Lame title, lame description, but at least I tried. XD Written as a parallel for a personal bad

relationship of that sort.

DISCLAIMER: Orihime,Renji,Uryuu,Ichigo,Rukia,the Karakura hospital etc belong to Tite
Kubo.


"…And that's how the story goes, I swear!"

Karakura Clinic, 8 am. It's early in the morning, and all is quiet in the clinic. No emergency

patients, no sudden calls, the first round of the day in the patients' rooms has already taken

place, and the only noise in the deserted corridor is the cheerful voice of the young "nurse-

miracle", and a calm but stern voice that belongs to the son of the director, now a

prodigious doctor himself.

Orihime Inoue and Uryuu Ishida, their names. Orihime is a tall, busty lady with bright

auburn hair, cropped to reach the nape of her neck, held back by her signature flower

barettes. Uryuu is a lean, sophisticated-looking man, with raven-black hair and deep blue,

investigative eyes hidden behind a pair of glasses. Twenty five year-old the both of them,

they used to be classmates at school. Later, they attended the same university. He chose to

take after his father's steps and become a doctor, while she decided to become a nurse-

tending to people in need was something she was made for, after all.

So now, early in the morning and after they did their morning routine to the patients' rooms,

the two colleagues headed towards the cafeteria for a cup of coffee. Cheerful, bright

Orihime had yet another weird story to entertain her friend –this time, it was about the time

she thought space monkeys were into her house-, and Uryuu silently listened to her,

nodding and smiling at the right moments. While the voice of logic in his head strongly urged

him to point out that space monkeys don't exist, therefore they could not invade her house,

the thought of her pouting after his remark was something he couldn't stand.

You see, the young doctor was secretly in love with the auburn-haired lady since..forever?

He remembers being in love with her since they were in junior high..But she never noticed it.

Her eyes were only for his antagonist, the carrot-head named Ichigo. Plus, his scrawny teen

self believed she was way out of his league, with her unmatched beauty and her kind heart.

Eventually, by the time they were seventeen, Orihime got in a relationship with Ichigo, and

Uryuu was left to his own devices. Not wanting to lose her companionship altogether, he

became everything she needed. Currently, he was her colleague and her best friend, her

confidant now that Ichigo had moved out to America to pursue his own course of studies.

The relationship was getting a harsh turn-she was in Karakura, he was in New York. They

were still together, but she missed him tremendously. Uryuu could clearly see that-she was

smiling brightly every day, but he could sense her loneliness. And while he only wanted to

reach out and embrace her, his sense of gentlemanliness kept him away. So, he could only

be there to listen to her, and wait patiently for her to decide to talk her sentiments over.

Uryuu let himself get lost in those thoughts, as Orihime continued her rambling on the space

monkeys. Sweet Orihime… He let himself wonder about Ichigo. Where was he? Was he doing

well? Did he miss her at all? How damn ironic is it? She can't have the one she wants because

he's in the other side of the world, and I can't have her, even though she's at arm's reach

from me… Eventually his thoughts were interrupted by Orihime, who tugged at his arm.

"W-What? Oh, I'm sorry, Inoue-san…I guess I got distracted. I'm…"

"…Tired, I know!", she completed his phrase before he could say anything.

"Well, that's the case, really..But how did you know?"

A poke at his ribs made him jump in surprise. "You were with that medical student last night,

weren't you? I passed by your house and your car was gone already…" She stifled a giggle.

"Well…" Damn, did she have to notice it? It was the truth, that Uryuu had turned into some

sort of a playboy. Once he entered university, his charms were revealed, and the girls were

always after him. At first, he was refusing them all, hoping that Orihime would notice him,

now that Ichigo was gone. But she still held onto her relationship, and eventually Uryuu

started dating one girl, and then another, and then another one…His relationships were all

short-lived, because he would not manage to get Inoue out of his head. But every girl he's

dated with considered herself lucky, given the fact that Uryuu was so gentleman-like, so

courteous, and almost devilish under the sheets.

"Well, no need to apologize, alright?" Orihime beamed. "Just finish your coffee and let's go

see your appointments!"

The doctor nodded in approval, stood up and, finishing the contents of his cup, reached out

to help Orihime stand up. She responded to his gesture by holding onto his arm, and smiling

brightly at him.

"Such a gentleman, Ishida-kun! That's why all the ladies run after you!", she giggled.

He could only look at her and manage the tiniest of smiles. If you wanted me, no one else

would matter. Sweet, blind, oblivious Orihime…


"GET YOUR ASS GOING, KUROSAKI!"

At the same time, in New York it's seven PM. A certain orange-haired man, heavy loaded

was walking on the cold streets of New York, with a petite lady urging him on. Those are

Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki, friends and roommates..Or sort of, at is a tall,

athletic young man with a permanently sullen look on his face. An engineering student, he

has been pretty popular among the ladies of his class, but he stayed away from them,

because he was in a relationship with a girl, back in Japan. That is, until he met Rukia.

Rukia now, she's the girlfriend of Ichigo's roommate, Renji Abarai. She's a small lady,

energetic, with eyes full of curiosity and a long, wild, black mane. She studied photography

at the university where Renji and Ichigo were studying, and after they decided to move

together for less expenses, she started crashing in their apartment. Between her teenhood

boyfriend and his roommate though, she started developing feelings she shouldn't. But since

she knew about Ichigo's relationship, she kept quiet.

On that particular evening, it was Renji's birthday, and the two of them were out, buying

materials for dinner and gifts for them. As usual, Rukia was dashing forward, with her

camera at hand-so she would not miss any interesting shots-, and Ichigo was walking behind

her, carrying everything they bought.

"Oi, you shortie! I need some help over here!" he grumbled, looking at her with what

seemed like a sly smile. She immediately turned, hit his arm and took a picture of his

expression.

"And that's what you get for calling me shortie, you carrothead! " she laughed at his face

and started walking ahead of him again.

"You're a bastard…" he murmured. But an adorable bastard, damn you… He had to admit,

he found Rukia's wild character totally charming. And he found her pretty, too-although he

was dating a woman that was the dream of the majority of men out there, he thought that

Rukia was really beautiful, too. But he wouldn't dare to get her, for guilt over Orihime, and

Renji, and because he thought she didn't like him that way..Right?

"If I'm a bastard, then what are you, you strawberry?" She liked to tease him like that. See

his nasty reactions. He was a really exciting guy, she hated to admit to herself. Even though

she has been with Renji since she was a little girl, and their bond was very strong, the

excitement this man brought her was way more. But it would be pretty awful to be rejected

from him, she guessed with a sense of guilt. The two of them would spend lots of time

together, since Renji was working part-time in a restaurant, same as today.

They started walking their way back home, both lost into their own thoughts-coincidentally,

those thoughts were about each other, even if they didn't know.