"He Moves in Mysterious Ways"
While I ask readers to kindly leave a review for this story when finished reading, I also ask that you not mention anything about the identity of the mystery man dating Orihime. That would spoil the entire story for those who haven't read it yet. So, please NO spoilery reviews!
Orihime chuckled at one of Tatsuki's not-that-funny jokes, probably for the twentieth time during their school lunch break. Even for her, that was a lot, and she worried her most recent one might make Tatsuki's best friend sensors go off like a blaring siren.
"Okay, Orihime," she said, narrowing her brown eyes as she turned to fully face her on the outstretched blanket. "Spill it. Why are you laughing at every little thing I say? Has something been bothering you lately?"
"Wha—What, Tatsuki-chan? What do you mean?" said Orihime, breaking out into an even more uproarious giggle fit, complete with a stern back-of-the-head scrub.
"I know you, and I know this means something's eating at you," said Tatsuki. She picked something out of her bento box that wasn't supposed to have crawled in there, and grabbed her chop sticks to resume shoveling rice and cold shrimp into her mouth. Talking and eating at the same time came easy for her. "Come on. You know you can tell me. I bet I could help you—I usually do, don't I?"
"Yeah, you're right," said Orihime, nodding to that realization, but glancing down at the empty space of their shared blanket spread out on the lawn in the shade. "This one is just a bit unnerving, and I honestly don't know how you're going to react. But..."
"Try me," said Tatsuki, barely making enough sense through the mishmash of ricey shrimp getting pulverized by her teeth.
"Well..." Orihime's hands twisted the pleats of her gray school uniform skirt as beads of sweat broke out on her forehead. She exhaled as coolly as she could, considering how hot the mid-June day was getting to be. "Someone wants to take me out on a date."
Tatsuki's eyes bulged just as she shoved the chop sticks back into her mouth. "Really?" She paused to chew, then lowered her hand to her lap. "That's a good thing, isn't it?"
Orihime sat silent, looking unsure at everything but Tatsuki. "Um... yeah. Sure it is!" she said, finally, but a little too peppy to be believable. She knew it wouldn't convince Tatsuki for a second.
"Well, unless it's that evil Aizen guy, or whatever his name was, I can't see as how you know anybody else I need to be worried about."
"Oh, of course it's not him!" said Orihime, wanting to laugh at the absurdity of the idea. "Aizen has been in an underground prison for the past year-and-a-half. It's nobody evil—that's for sure."
"If that's the case, then I don't object," said Tatsuki, throwing up a hand into the air. "Can I ask who exactly this mystery guy is?"
"Well..." this was the part that had Orihime's insides doing the tango. She really didn't want to tell anybody, not even Tatsuki—especially not Tatsuki—who this person was, even though he wasn't a bad person. Still, she reasoned she better not tell her, just in case. "I forgot his name," she said, smiling like an idiot.
Tatsuki's face fell, then contorted into an unconvinced grimace. "You... forgot? I really hope you just don't want to tell me who it is, for the sake of your own intelligence."
"Um... I'll tell you afterward?" said Orihime, like a question. Tatsuki nodded, then noticed the new boy in class 3-5 she'd been liking lately. That seemed to sufficiently distract her. Orihime breathed out the tension in her body. The truth was she hadn't accepted the invitation to go out with the guy who'd asked her, yet. She still wanted some of Tatsuki's advice on a related issue, first.
"Tatsuki-chan?"
"Yeah," she said, tearing her eyes away from the pretty blond boy talking to some students across the yard. "What is it?"
"Should I even go out with someone else if I still like Kurosaki-kun?" said Orihime. "Maybe I should say no."
"Don't worry about Ichigo," said Tatsuki, flapping a hand at her. "If he hasn't figured out he likes you by now, then that's his problem. You aren't obligated to wait for him, so just move on, if you want. Maybe that's a good idea. I don't like the fact that after all this time, and after everything you two have been through together, Ichigo still hasn't even to bothered to ask you out on a date, yet. How hard is that, anyway?"
"...Yeah," said Orihime, softly, nodding again.
She closed her eyes and smiled, although inside she felt crestfallen. She'd liked Kurosaki-kun for such a long time now, but Tatsuki had a good point, and she knew it. Her gut hollowed out at just the mention of it. Kurosaki-kun had become a much closer friend these days, but he still hadn't even so much as asked her over to his house to pick up manga he'd borrowed from her. (He usually brought it with him to school.) She got lucky once a couple of months ago when she happened over to his house with some left-over bakery bread to drop off to him, and he invited her up to his bedroom to drink some tea with the bread. But, that was it. Maybe she should give this other guy a chance, since, after all, he did bother to ask her out.
"Thank you..." she said to Tatsuki, then took a sip from the straw of her juice box.
"Ichigoooooooooooooo!" shouted Keigo from only a few feet behind Ichigo, as he read a bizarre advertisement on a bulletin board in the school hallway. He glanced lazy-eyed at the hyper kid, but Keigo was undaunted, as usual. Ever the happy, chipper, Red Bull drinker was he, always trying to buddy-up to Ichigo every day, as if they weren't already buddies and had been for quite some time now. Whatever.
"Yeah, hey, Asano. What's up?" he said to him more out of politeness than anything, willingly losing interest in the bulletin board. Mizuiro materialized right behind Keigo, his eyes glued to the screen of his cell phone, tuning everyone and everything out.
"Inoue-san—Ow! Mizuiro!" screamed Keigo, suddenly interrupted by a kick from behind to his rear, courtesy of the little black-haired lady killer who still would not tear his eyes away from that phone of his.
"Don't talk to Kurosaki about Inoue-san, okay?" Mizuiro said with his usual candor. "At least, don't mention that one thing."
"How do you know what I was going to say?" challenged Keigo, rubbing his gluteus maximus as his mouth contorted into a soured grimace. "You a mind reader now, Mizuiro?"
"What's going on with Inoue?" asked Ichigo, his concern piquing. He shoved a hand in his pants pocket as he slung his favorite school bag over his opposite shoulder. "Is something wrong with her?"
"Well, no! I mean, I guess nothing bad is going on, or anything like that," said Keigo, waving his hands around in protest.
"Then, what is going on?" said Ichigo, his eye beginning to twitch with irritation. Getting this guy to give a straight answer was like talking to a chimpanzee. But, it wasn't like Mizuiro was any more helpful, unless you could get that cell phone away from him, which would have required cutting off both his hands. "Is it really anything I need to know about?"
Both Keigo and Mizuiro glanced at each other at the exact same time, like the Shinkansen train running on a perfect schedule. Their eyes moved toward Ichigo in unison, as their heads remained still, like they were both contemplating the same notion, perhaps something along the lines of, Does this concern him? Maybe?
"Just tell me already, you two jokers!" shouted Ichigo, the last article of his patience wearing thin. He was starting to get annoyed, even though this kind of run-around was common coming from these guys. But, since the subject matter was Inoue Orihime, he usually didn't take issues of concern with her lightly. Unless, of course, they were simply exaggerating, which wouldn't have been in any way a stretch for them.
"Well, we heard from a little birdy—won't say who—that Inoue-san went out with some mystery guy last night," said Keigo, in a slightly hushed tone, leaning into Ichigo's ear like he wanted to keep the info on the down-low.
"Oh, is that all it is?" said Ichigo, chuckling off some of his relief. He leaned back to stretch out his back muscles, shaking his head with a sheepish grin. "You guys had me all worried there for a minute."
"What are you saying, Ichigo?" asked Keigo, his eyebrows knitting together, as he raised his voice. "Don't you care that she's dating some strange guy? We don't even know who it is!"
"You're worrying over nothing," said Ichigo, nonchalantly. He started to walk away from them down the hall towards the stairwell. "Besides, Keigo—you said she only went out with some guy once. Not that she's dating some guy, as if they've gone out multiple times. What's there to worry about? And, it's not like she is nor ever has been my girlfriend. What business is it of mine, anyway?"
He waved them off as he turned the corner and out of their sights. He could still hear them talking to, or more like yelling at each other, as he moseyed down the hall:
Mizuiro: "I told you he'd act like he doesn't care."
Keigo: "Yeah, right, traitor. Tell that to my butt, which just became a little too familiar with the bottom of your shoe!"
Ichigo laughed at his two clownish friends that always kept him entertained. A good comedic duo. He figured they weren't so bad, after all.
Ichigo strolled into his homeroom class the morning of the following Friday to start his school day. Oddly enough, he spotted Ishida Uryuu in the room talking to one of his classmates before school started, even though they were in different homerooms. Mentally shrugging it off, Ichigo pulled out his chair and planted his rear end comfortably on it, but no sooner had he made himself at home did Keigo dart into the room, making a bee-line for him. Ichigo shot him a glare, but it had the usual effect—nothing at all. It was just as well.
"Okay, Ichigo," began Keigo, pausing to pant like he'd been sprinting all the way from home, and talking just as hyperactively. "Good thing Inoue-san's not in our homeroom class because I've got some really juicy news on her!"
"What do you mean by 'juicy?'" said Ichigo, resting his chin on the palm of his hand as he wedged his elbow in between his hand and the desktop. He exhaled and shook his head, figuring this was going to be another one of Keigo's exaggerated stories about a girl he thinks is cute, who just happened to be Orihime this time. This sort of thing was getting old really fast. But, Ichigo could tolerate it well enough because Keigo had proved himself in the past, at crucial times, that he was a good, trustworthy friend.
"Remember I told you back on Tuesday about the 'mystery guy' she went out with?" said Keigo, his eyes so wide, Ichigo thought they were going to fall out of their sockets. He never noticed just how white Keigo's teeth actually were—nearly blinding, in fact—as he flashed an blaring grin only the happiest of gossipers flash while dishing on the best news they've heard in a long time.
Ichigo gave him a patronizing nod.
"Well, I heard from the same little birdie, which I will still keep anonymous, that Inoue-san has gone out with that same mystery guy once more," he said, very briefly pausing to suck some air into his lungs, "and she is planning on going out with him for the third time this week, tonight!"
Ichigo's eyes nearly popped out of their own sockets. "The third time this week?" he said, pulling away from his desk. He started to rise out of the chair. "She's going out with the same guy for their third date in a row in only a week?" His voice began to climb an octave, and when he realized it, he quickly glanced around the room to make sure nobody was paying attention to him. Since he was sure some of the other students were, including Uryuu, he dialed it down a notch.
"Well, ya didn't hear it from me," said Keigo, throwing out a nonchalant hand. He started to glide over to his assigned seat on the other side of the classroom.
Ichigo's mind started racing in a frantic mess of postulates. This doesn't mean she actually likes this guy, does it? What should I do? he thought. One thing he knew for sure was that he absolutely loathed the idea of Orihime getting along so well with any guy, that she'd go out with him on three exclusive dates in only one week. Who could this kid be that she'd like him that much? His blood began to boil at the thought.
"Hey, Keigo," said Ichigo, the 'cool' factor returning to his tone. Keigo stopped and turned back around. "You don't happen to know where she's going on this date tonight, do you?"
"Matter of fact, I do!" said the goof, as goofy as he could. He probably could have said it even goofier, but that was neither-here-nor-there. "They're going to The Bridge to watch the early summer Festival Fireworks."
"Thanks, man," said Ichigo. He stood with his thoughts for a moment, trying to put things in order. A ton of those stray thoughts jumped around like a Keigo on a serious sugar high, but he realized a couple of things he would need to do now. First, he needed to go to The Bridge that evening and find Orihime with her date; and second, he needed to tell that mystery guy to get lost and give up on her completely. And, if that guy were to be so brainless as to resist Ichigo, he'd give him the beat-down of a lifetime. There was simply no taking this issue too lightly anymore.
That evening after the sun went down, Ichigo headed out of the house without telling anyone where he was going, as usual. His dad and little sisters were either gone or busy doing other things. He headed in the direction of The Bridge, a popular place to watch festival fireworks in Karakura Town year-round. Once he arrived at the old wooden structure stretched across the river, it was just as he expected—lots of people milling around, standing, chatting—the perfect environment that would lend itself to concealment, which was what he needed at first. He figured if Orihime and her date saw him coming from a mile away, it'd probably ruin his plan. The element of surprise would give him an edge.
He casually strolled up to The Bridge entrance, but remained on the grassy riverbank, his eyes darting around frantically as he tried to spot Orihime's bright tea-colored hair. Hopefully, his own even more noticeable hair color wouldn't cause the exact opposite to occur.
Suddenly, he heard a high-pitched chuckle coming from The Bridge itself, and he glanced over in the direction it came from. There he saw Orihime in profile, immediately placing her voice. She leaned against the wooden railing of The Bridge directly ahead of him, looking out over the river, as someone leaned down like she was on the opposite side of her, obscured from Ichigo's vantage point. The figure crouched down, and he could see the lower half, since it jutted out too far to be obscured by Orihime's body. It was clearly someone rather tall, wearing a pair of khakis—definitely a male. Her mystery date, at last...
Ichigo inhaled deeply and exhaled, then narrowed his eyes. He balled his hands into fists, and took a step towards them when suddenly the crouching figure stood up straight. His head easily cleared Orihime's by a good foot. He turned to look down on her, as the lights from the fireworks reflected off his glasses and his pure white hair... What the hell? thought Ichigo. Ishida-sensei? He stared directly at the unmistakable countenance of Ishida Ryuuken, as his whole body froze over so entirely, he could barely breathe. So, that cock-block back then was for real?
The first thing that came to Ichigo's mind was the night he ran to the General Hospital to see Uryuu after he got attacked by the Fullbringers. Uryuu's dad had called him over, but when he got there, he seemed to want to leave him out of the situation, sensing how weak he actually was at the time. Ichigo offered to walk Orihime home so she wouldn't be alone, but Ishida-sensei told him he'd drive her home instead, although he didn't offer to give him a ride home, too. Ichigo was mad because he felt left out, but he didn't think the old man had another motive for wanting Orihime alone in his car with him!
He gritted his teeth as he felt his resolve to confront Orihime's date completely drain out of his body. How could he ever waltz up to that guy and threaten to beat him up? Of all the men Orihime had to choose to go out with, it had to be the one guy he was already terrified of. There was no way he had the guts to do something crazy like that, not to mention Ichigo just wasn't that disrespectful toward authority figures. That was for stupid punks and thugs. Yet, he wanted nothing more than to get Orihime away from him, since seeing the two of them together was tearing him up inside. He may as well have been a failed firework about to explode that never got off the ground.
His heart sank as his fists went limp, casting his eyes to the ground in defeat. Then, he turned around only to meet with someone's shoe suddenly tearing across his face, making his head whip back and forth.
"Hey!" screamed Ichigo. "What—!"
"What are you doing, Kurosaki?" shouted Uryuu, practically spraying Ichigo's face with his spittle. "Are you just going to stand there and let that perverted old geezer hang all over Inoue-san like that? Go and confront him already!"
"'Go and confront him already?'" repeated Ichigo, as incredulously as possible. "If you don't want them together, then why don't you confront him? He's your father, after all!"
"I know that," said Uryuu, his eyes narrowed into his knitted brow. He gritted his teeth. "But, since you were already planning on confronting him, and I know you were because you've got it written all over your face, then why don't you just do it already!"
"Because he's your dad," said Ichigo, whipping his arm behind him while pointing at the unsuspecting man of the moment on The Bridge. "I might be crazy sometimes—or maybe way too much of the time—but, I am not suicidal!"
Uryuu stilled, his eyes widening as he gawked in Orhime's and Ryuuken's direction. Ichigo jerked around to see what was going on behind him, when in the distance he could see Ryuuken's face lowering down towards Orihime's, as he could only see the back of her head. The old man's face stopped, hidden by her head, but it was clear what was going on. Ichigo and Uryuu gasped in sync, as the two watched Ryuuken kiss Orihime! It may have only been a prolonged peck on the lips, but it was enough to make them both shudder to see it happen.
"What the hell?" said Ichigo, breathlessly gaping at them.
"That's it," snapped Uryuu, throwing something onto the grass that Ichigo couldn't make out from the corner of his eye. It didn't matter what it was because the gesture held all the meaning. "I've had enough. I am not going to let him go that far." Uryuu began to storm over to them, as Ichigo's heart raced to witness the two trains about to collide with one another.
"And, what exactly are you doing here?" said Ryuuken to Uryuu upon spotting him. His voice was very deep, and rich with sarcasm, although, at the moment it sounded significantly tinged with annoyance. He shoved his hands into his pants pockets and narrowed his eyes at his son.
"That's my line!" shouted Uryuu, posturing like he was ready for a fight.
"Ishida-kun!" said a shocked Orihime, immediately turning bright red. It was obvious she had no intention of Uryuu finding out she was dating his father, or at least not in this sudden, confrontational way. Or, maybe she just felt ashamed—Ichigo had never been very good at reading people.
"So, then you're asking me what I'm doing here with Orihime-san?" repeated Ryuuken. He snickered as he pushed the bridge of his glasses up on his nose with his finger. "What do you think? I'm certainly not here to give her a check-up."
"That's my point," shouted Uryuu, his voice steeling with anger. "Why have you been going out on dates with one of my closest friends behind my back, and... Why have you been going out with her at all? I don't want a friend my own age to become my new step-mother!"
"Well, then, son," said Ryuuken, at this point very straight-faced, but still sarcastic-sounding. He pulled out a cigarette from somewhere and quickly lit it. "You'll just have to get used to calling her 'Kaa-chan' from now on, won't you?"
That was enough to send Uryuu into a blind rage. He waltzed right up to Ryuuken's face, and the two began a shouting match with each other in quite the public confrontational outpouring. Ichigo probably would have found the whole debacle utterly hilarious if he hadn't already been so invested in accomplishing his own goal that evening. Orihime backed away from the feuding father and son duo a few paces just as Ichigo latched onto her arm from behind. She turned around with bright, surprised eyes to see him staring back down at her with a concerned and determined expression on his face.
"Kurosaki-kun!" she shouted, sounding genuinely surprised, but still pleased. "Um... I can explain... Wa—Wait!" Ichigo tugged on her arm, dragging her off The Bridge until they made it to the grass.
"Come on, Inoue," he said, still holding onto her wrist. "I need to speak with you, immediately. Let's go somewhere more private." He moved his grasp from her wrist down to her hand, and began to lead her down the river embankment, far away from the crowds of people waiting for more fireworks, until they both reached the familiar spot along the grass that Ichigo had frequented many times before to ponder his late mother. Thankfully, no one else was in sight at that moment.
"How did you..." said Orihime, trailing off as she cast her eyes downward. That sense Ichigo had had of her feeling ashamed of herself returned. "How did you know I was here tonight?"
"Let's just say a very annoying little birdie told me," he said, rolling his eyes.
"So, I guess I seem kind of desperate, or something, to you, right?" she said, glancing at the gleaming river right next to them. "This is so embarrassing..."
"I don't care about why you were going out with Ishida's dad," he said firmly, looking directly at her, even though she refused to look back at him. Her cheeks were still tinged pink. "I'm sure you have your reasons, and those reasons are simply none of my business. I have no right to ask about something like that. In fact..." he paused, waiting for her to meet his eyes. She turned her head to stare up at him, locking onto his gaze. "...I blame myself."
Her sparkling brown eyes widened. "Why would you blame yourself?"
Ichigo had to turn to the side to peer out over the river. This was getting to the crux of the matter, and, naturally, he started feeling nervous. "Because this wouldn't have happened had I asked you out before he got a chance to." He glanced back at her face to see what her reaction would be. She looked stunned, like a lipless statue.
"I guess what I'm trying to say is..." he said, suddenly getting a sensation like giant ants were crawling all over his body. He had the urge to jerk around and contort himself in so many different positions he had never attempted. Before he could appear too deranged, he started to cough and clear his throat. "What I wanted to say to you, Inoue, is..."
She blinked, awaiting his words, remaining completely silent. But, Ichigo just couldn't bring himself to say what he wanted to say next. He rubbed the back of his neck and exhaled, feeling more socially awkward than he ever had before. He also realized just how much time was passing as he had yet to complete his sentence. She continued to wait, very patiently hanging on his every word, or lack thereof.
"The truth is, I don't want you to go out with other guys," he finally said, breathing out a huge sigh of relief. He felt like a deflating balloon.
"But," she started, her pretty little lips moving ever so slightly, "We're just friends, aren't we?"
"Well, yeah, we are," said Ichigo. "But..."
"Then, shouldn't I be allowed to go out with other guys?" she said, her brow straightening out. A sort of sternness grew on her countenance. She was right. She absolutely could date other guys.
"Yes, that's true, I suppose," said Ichigo, hesitantly. "I just hate seeing you with other guys in that sort of situation. Especially with creepy older perverts like Uryuu's dad." She chuckled at that comment.
"Inoue," he said, his eyes meeting hers again. He inhaled and closed his eyes. "Will you be my girlfriend, so that torturous nights like these never have to happen again?"
She gasped and placed her hand over her mouth as she gaped at him. With her hand, she smothered a little shocked giggle. Then, she reached up for his face, and held it between her long delicate fingers, lifting herself to her tiptoes and gently placed her soft lips on his—igniting quite the electric shock within Ichigo's body. He was so stunned, he didn't even move. She released his face, his head bobbing back up again.
He cracked a grin at her. "I take it that means 'yes,'" he said. She smiled back up at him just as he swiftly grabbed her face and lifted her lips onto his. More igniting sparks jolted him, and he wondered why he waited so long to kiss her. He'd never felt more exhilaration in his life! He pulled away from her face and lightly stroked it, realizing just how completely soft and supple her skin felt under his fingertips. Amazing, he thought, gazing into her big round eyes. She really is a goddess.
"Let me walk you home, Inoue," he said, taking her hand in his. "I've owed you a walk home for the past two years, and now I'm going to make good on that promise. Nothing and no one is going to stop us this time."
"Alright," she said, grinning extra wide. "Because I've been waiting very patiently for the past two years for you to walk me home. And, a girl can only wait so long before she completely loses all hope."
"Then, I hope I'm not too late," he said, concerned.
"Better late than never," she said, beaming. She swung their grasped hands together, as they headed towards the horizon of a night sky filled with dazzling fireworks that seemed to celebrate their new long-awaited union.
The End.
Again, I will kindly ask that any reviews you may choose to leave NOT be spoilery in nature, especially as to the identity of the mystery date! Thank you very much for reading. Hope you had fun...;)