Characters: Ishida, Orihime
Summary: It would take forever to learn about her, then he would step back and realize that he hadn't even scratched the surface. Case in point: Orihime likes cucumbers. Who knew?
Pairings: Ishida x Orihime
Warnings/Spoilers: No spoilers
Timeline: No set time
Author's Note: Reviews would be nice. Come on, people; you know you want to.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.
Given that both have been long since become used to preparing their own food (though one's a bit more proficient than the other), neither Ishida nor Orihime are surprised that the other knows how to shave a cucumber. It's slow work, done sitting at a kitchen table scrubbed down with disinfectant and smelling of lemon, peeling away the thick green rind and chopping the pale interior into thin, at times translucent slices.
"So I'm going to take it—" from the fact that there are no less than four large cucumbers on the table "—that you really like to eat cucumbers," Ishida murmurs, eyeing the cucumbers as he runs the small knife in his hand across the rind. Yellow light stretches out from the window, spilling onto the table.
Orihime nods, smiling brightly and munching on a piece of the rind before swallowing it. "Yes. That and I promised Hana-san next door that I'd cut some for her tonight."
So that's why she's enlisted his aid in this. Ishida tilts his chin down as he continues peeling away the tough skin of the cucumber in his grip.
"You know, my brother and I used to peel cucumbers and eat them together all the time." Orihime puckers her lips in concentration. "Well, he peeled; Sora wouldn't let me hold the knife. Klutz," she laughs ruefully.
Ishida doesn't really know much about the circumstances of Inoue Sora's death; he can guess that it's probably a touchy subject, and doesn't ask. Now, he approaches the subject Orihime's broached only gingerly. "That's…interesting."
Obviously, Orihime doesn't comprehend her companion's discomfort as she goes on, smiling a bit absently. "Yeah, he really loved them." Her eyes spark with curiosity. "Do you suppose they have cucumbers in Soul Society?"
Ignoring the fact that this is a rather inane question, Ishida shrugs. "I suppose they do." Then, something occurs to him, and his lips tug in a slight smile.
Orihime can't fail to notice, and the way she tilts her head in curiosity is, like many of her mannerisms, endearingly childlike. "What?"
"Just think." Ishida smirks, still poring over the cucumber. "Somewhere out there in Rukongai, Jean Calvin is wandering around, and he's probably having fits as we speak."
For a moment, all she does is stare, eyes round. Then, high laughter braces against the air. "That's awful!"
"True, though."
She nods, and dips her chin to smile in a strangely enigmatic fashion, eyelashes dusting her skin. "Yes." When Orihime opens her eyes, her gaze is such that Ishida, who had lifted his eyes when she started laughing, averts them again. "And think of all those people, who ended up in Soul Society expecting something else. What a surprise."
Her strange serenity is just a little unsettling, sending butterflies flying in Ishida's stomach. Yes… A faint amount of color rises, as he sneaks a look at Orihime from across the table; she peels the cucumber placidly. Quite a surprise.
The Jean Calvin joke will make absolutely no sense to you unless you know who he was.