"Are you going to check on Ichigo?" Renji asked, not even looking up from his tea. Rukia stopped in her tracks and turned around slowly.
"So what if I am? I'm allowed to be worried about him!" she shot at him before storming off.
"I never said you couldn't be…" he mumbled to himself before sighing.
God, he wouldn't ever even come close, would he?
Renji peeked in on Ichigo's room. He was still fast asleep, wounds already healed and merely sleeping off exhaustion. Lying off to the side was the sleeping form of the small, black-haired shinigami.
"Eh?" came a voice from behind him. He turned to see a bleary-eyed Inoue Orihime. He noticed her eyes flashing from him to Ichigo's room. "I didn't know you felt that way about Kurosaki-kun, Renji-kun."
"What the hell?" he shouted before mentally shushing himself. He took a quick glance into the room where both occupants were still sleeping. He shut the sliding door and stalked off outside.
Orihime took a quick peek into the room after he left, just to check on Ichigo, but then noticed the sleeping form of Rukia.
Ah.
"I'm fine, you know." Ichigo said to Rukia as she entered his room. She glared at him and he felt the need to defend himself. "I'm fine, really. Just tired."
"Sure. Just tired." she scoffed, sitting down by his futon.
"Yeah, I'm fine. No need to worry. You can go back out and hang out with everyone. If anything, you should go away and let me rest."
She studied him for a moment before glancing down at her lap. She played with her fingers before looking back at up Ichigo and said, very quickly, "Howdoyoufeel?"
"How do I feel?" he repeated, confused. "I just told you, I'm fine. Geez, Rukia, you should learn how to listen."
"No, I mean…" she stopped. She paused for so long, Ichigo thought she had lost the nerve to say whatever it was she wanted to say (Ichigo was surprised she was being so careful talking to him). After about a minute, she finally continued, "When you went to Hueco Mundo… why did you go?"
He stared at her incredulously. "Are you serious? Weren't you there?"
"Why did you go?" she repeated carefully. Obviously she was serious and wanted an honest answer.
He raised an eyebrow. "I went to save Inoue. The same reason you went, may I remind you."
"Why?" she pressed.
"'Why?' What the hell do you mean 'why?'" and he realised there was more to this conversation than he was currently understanding. "Look, whatever it is you want to ask, just ask it."
"Okay then." she cleared her throat. "How do you feel… about Inoue?"
"I know how you feel, by the way." Orihime commented as she sat next to Renji. The night breeze was rather chilly, but she enjoyed the feel of it against her skin. Being back here in the real world, where day and night actually existed, with wind and sun and rain… she wouldn't trade this feeling for anything.
When Renji didn't speak, she continued. "After all, Kuchiki-san is so pretty and smart and strong. And so talented! I wish I could draw like her!"
And all this time Renji thought she liked Ichigo…
"You've got it bad, Inoue. I didn't know you felt that way about her, too. I mean, even I think her drawing is terrible and—"
"What?" she asked, stunned.
"What?" he echoed.
"I don't… I don't like Kuchiki-san like that. I just meant… I just meant I understood why you liked her." she clarified with lots of arm waving.
"Ohhh…" God, Renji felt like such an idiot.
She smiled at him. "I like Kurosaki-kun too much to like Kuchiki-san like that."
Renji wished she didn't make it sound like she would like Rukia if she didn't like Ichigo.
"And," she continued, "I also meant I know how you feel… you know, being on the outside."
Renji stared at her in shock before nodding, swallowing the knot in his throat.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Ichigo shouted. Realising that he may attract some unwanted attention, he lowered his voice when he asked, "How do I feel about Inoue?" Rukia nodded, signalling him to continue. "She's… Inoue. She's… a friend. What's that got to do with anything?"
"Well, actually, I think it has a lot to do with everything." she said. She took a look at Ichigo's thoroughly stupid confused face before sighing. "You don't know anything, do you? About how she feels? About how you feel?"
"How who feels?"
God, it was like talking to a brick wall.
"Inoue." she emphasised. "Who else would I be talking about?"
The truth was she had been a little apprehensive about speaking to Ichigo about this. After all, it wasn't her business and she wasn't usually one to intrude in other people's affairs. But she knew Ichigo wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed and that Inoue, like most other people, had confused her relationship with Ichigo with something more than platonic. As it stood, neither of them would make a move.
"I'm not going to push either of you, it's up to you. But you can't keep lying to yourself."
"Oh, 'cause I'm the only one doing it? How about you and Renji?" he asked coldly.
"Can shinigami have relationships with living people?" Orihime asked, carefully not looking at him. She kept her eyes on the moon, on the stars, on the endless possibilities that maybe, just maybe, she had a shot.
"I, uhh, I don't know." Renji stammered, knowing it wasn't the answer she wanted to hear.
"I… I hope not." she whispered.
He hesitated before saying, "Me, too."
"We're awful people." She said bluntly, looking him in the eye. "We should… we should want them to be happy. We should…" she trailed off, turning her eyes down.
"We should." he agreed. 'But wanting your own happiness doesn't mean you're an awful person. It just means that you're—"
"Selfish?" she suggested with a sad smile.
"Renji?" she repeated. "What's Renji got to do with anything?"
"Well, actually, he has a lot to do with everything." he mimicked her. "You don't know anything, do you? How—"
"Okay, I get the point!" she interrupted before looking away.
And here she thought Ichigo was as dense as a brick. Huh.
"Guess we've both got some thinking to do then." he said softly before lying back down on his futon.
"Guess we do." she agreed, settling herself down onto the tatami mat.
"I want Kurosaki-kun to be happy, too. I do, even if it's with Kuchiki-san. But… I mean… I just think he could be happy with me, too." she said softly.
"Mm, I know how you feel."
"Like… maybe one day… if they feel like seeing other people or something…" she trailed off hopefully.
"See other people…" he repeated slowly.
And as Renji looked over at her, this girl who felt guilty about wanting her happiness above another's, this girl who was tearing up at the thought that she would be a mere substitute… and he realised he had totally misunderstood Inoue Orihime for their entire (acquaintance?) friendship.
And he began to feel that maybe she was the one person in their totally crazy, messed-up circle of friends who understood exactly how he felt.
"I hope we're not just 'other people'." she whispered after a moment's silence. "I hope we're not just second best."
"… Me, too."