A Single Glance
El3v3n
All characters belong to Tite Kubo.
A.N: Whimsical one-shot of how I think the end of Bleach chapter 486 should have happened! IshidaXOrihime
XxXxXxX
"Alright, let's do this!" Ichigo announced, not hesitating a moment before using his badge to liberate his soul . Tossing a glance over his shoulder, Ichigo set his scowl upon the stoic Quincy who stood with his back to the wall.
"I imagine this may take longer than the rest of the night, if my sisters find you and ask where I am could you come up with something that doesn't sound so dangerous? I hate it when they worry, especially Yuzu." The Substitute Soul Reaper requested seriously. Uryū pursed his lips.
"First you call me out to your house in the middle of the night and then ask me to lie for you? You truly are unbelievable, Kurosaki." He accused, but then sighed and pushed his sliding glasses back onto the bridge of his nose. "But I'll do it, only if it'll avoid a pointless argument."
"Thanks," Ichigo spoke genuinely. Flicking his gaze away from him, Uryū's shoulders tensed when he caught a different pair of concerned eyes. Like the glossy river stones he'd admire while training in the forest, Orihime's eyes were always beautiful, even when those endless gray chasms were plagued with worry.
"Ishida-kun" she spoke softly, he'd always been fond of the sound of her voice. "Please be careful. If any Hollows or the Vanguard come while we're gone you'll be left alone to face them!" Uryū's eyes widened as he took in the girl, her tiny hands balled into distressed fists. Locking his gaze with hers he felt a fuzzy feeling swarm around him like a burst of uneven static within the cool air of the bedroom.
As a soft-hearted person, Orihime always concerned herself with the well-being of her friends but this reaction astounded him. Here she was about to risk her life on a pointless mission and she was concerned about his safety? A frown overtook his face at the thought. Burrowing his gaze into the back of Ichigo's head the Quincy felt a flare of rage within.
He'd kept his opinion to himself about the validity of this mission knowing that Ichigo would want to rescue their Hollow ally regardless of what he said. But Uryū would never forgive him for dragging her into this.
Both Sado and Orihime would follow Ichigo to the ends of the Earth and beyond it if he needed to go there; Chad in light of his promise and Orihime out of love. But this time the Reaper had gone too far. Calling on the two of them to put their life on the line for the sake of an Arrancar regardless of how friendly he had been to him was despicable.
"No need to worry Inoue-san!" Urahara called out cheerily and stuck his thumb into the air with a goofy grin. "Ishida-san is an excellent Hollow hunter and besides, he still has elder Kurosaki-san and Ishida-san to assist him if he needs it." With a nod Orihime caught Uryū's attention once more and smiled kindly.
"We'll be back as soon as we can, Ishida-kun! Hopefully we won't miss anything too important in class!" The Quincy's glare melted upon her, his sharp blue-eyes softening on her warm smile.
Though he tried not to focus on such things, it was impossible not to notice how Orihime grew lovelier each and every day. Indeed so had most of the boys at their school. She was quite popular with the other males, and unbeknownst to her Uryū had shamelessly threatened a few of them and even thrown a few punches when he had overheard them speak of her inappropriately and dishonorably.
Hypnotized by the sight of her stunning smile, framed by shining waves of burnt orange he could barely make out the words of the chant Urahara was using to open a Garganta.
Would she forever follow Ichigo like this? It was unfair of him to continually drag her on his idealistic missions to protect Soul Society and Hollows without considering the consequences of what might happen to her. That idiot was so dense, had he not noticed Orihime's blushes or how she would get flustered and fidgety when she interacted with him? If he had then he was utterly mad, because -
Uryū's thoughts were interrupted when the Garganta opened with a brilliant flash. Sucking back a breath he froze, his eyes affixed to Orihime as her form stood out against the bright white of the path to the other realm. His stomach lurched.
It went against everything he believed in to go back to Hueco Mundo for the sake of the Arrancar. Swearing to destroy Hollows was the core facet of his pride as a Quincy and his father would probably never forgive him if he followed them into that chasm, but…
"Wait!" Uryū barked and shuffled where the foursome and the two Arrancar were about to enter the Garganta. Pausing at Orihime's side, he met Urahara's gaze which contained a knowing twinkle.
"Is there a problem, Ishida-san?" He asked innocently.
"I'll be going with you." He responded resolutely, ignoring the elder man's grin.
"Eh? Why the change of heart? Change your mind about Hollows?" Ichigo asked with wide eyes. Uryū merely sneered.
"No," he corrected. "I'm only going to make sure you all don't get yourselves killed." He finished haughtily.
Feeling a touch on his arm he flicked his sapphire irises upon Orihime and immediately sensed the warmth escaping her body to greet his. She looked up with an expression swollen with affection and for moment he wondered if he was indeed Uryū Ishida and not someone else entirely.
"I'm so glad you're coming with us Ishida-kun, it just wouldn't be the same without you!" She announced brightly and the Quincy felt an overwhelming feeling of reluctance when she retrieved her hand.
When they took a running jump into the portal that would take them to Hueco Mundo, Uryū focused his attention on Orihime instead of what lie before him.
He was leaping into a battle that seemed almost suicidal, and completely foolish considering the mission entailed rescuing a creature that was his sworn enemy. But if he were to perish for the sake of a meaningless rescue, he'd take pride in knowing he'd done it to protect a friend; a friend who for a sliver of a second, maybe without even realizing it, had shown him unadulterated love with a single glance.
"WAH! We're in the sky!"
"Santen Kesshun!"
XxXxXxX
A.N. Part 2: I'm sure the great Kubo has a brilliant reason for not sending Ishida to Hueco Mundo, but I can't help but still feel a little sad he didn't go! So I took my own opportunity to do a little one-shot showing why he might have chosen to go along even though he doesn't believe in "saving" Hollows.
I got the feeling from the manga that he wanted to go and it could have been for a multitude of reasons, but it would have been the perfect opportunity for him to go…I'm going to protect Inoue!
I have a special place in my heart for this pairing, and I feel it has a very good chance of being canon as well.
Hopefully you didn't feel like I bashed Ichigo too much. It was from Ishida's perspective so keep that in mind he has demonstrated that he doesn't always feel the love for him. And this wasn't necessarily one-sided, Orihime may have feelings she doesn't fully understand, which is what I was attempting to suggest.
Please let me know what you thought!
~El3