Alternate: Damaged
They were now washing the dishes together, although he made sure he did not brush her hands with his. No need to make the situation any more awkward for yourself, he thought.
Inoue smiled at the Quincy, noticing how uncomfortable he looked. She slipped her fingers expertly under his, and made a content sound.
She heard him swallow loudly, and though their hands were under the water she could feel his pulse race.
"You would look much better if you didn't look so gloomy, Ishida," she said, smiling at him.
He reddened considerably, and coughed, going back to cleaning dishes, with his free hand…which was proving to be a much more difficult task as he managed to drop one of the plates on to the floor.
He frantically tried to pick up one of the pieces, mumbling apologies the whole time, and he made a loud, uncharacteristic yelp. She saw that he had accidentally cut his hand, and without hesitating, deftly took hold of it with both her palms. She closed her eyes, her hairclips suddenly glowing with an ethereal light.
Ishida watched as his hand was enveloped in a triangle shaped dome, as Orihime's magical fairies healed (or reversed the time and space continuum, he hadn't been clear on the specifics) the surrounding the area of his hand that had been cut.
The fairies nodded to her as they finished their job, before returning to wherever they came from.
They had left no visible marks on his hand, doing a better job of repairing him than he at repairing dolls. He was impressed, flexing his hand and smiling at Orihime.
"Good as new," he said, showing her.
And that's when he noticed it. He had to adjust his glasses when he thought he saw something from the corner of his eye, something that he didn't think he'd see again.
He held out his hand away from himself, realizing what was happening: he was gathering energy, spiritual energy from his surroundings and into the palm of his hand, slowly forming into a blue colored bow of light.
He could only stare in disbelief at his spirit bow and Inoue, wondering how she had managed to fix him.
"Thank you, Inoue," he said, voice shaking slightly, emotions threatening to overtake him as he adjusted his glasses, struggling to maintain his composure.
She smiled at him knowingly, needing no further praise from the Quincy. "You're welcome, Quincy-Ishida."
End