Important A/N: Freaking Kubo! I'm so torn between wanting to hit him and praise him. I literally don't know what to do with my story anymore because the timeline in Hello Halcyon Days is way off, and I don't know if I should: (a) write it my way with my own timeline (It does not take Ichigo and Orihime three years to become a couple), (b) write it in a way that it fits the spoilers in the new novel (I have an idea, but it'll require some jumps in time), or (c) just stop writing in general (since we have a better idea on how they got together). All options seem plausible right now because Chapter 25 could lead down either path (a) or (b). I'd appreciate some feedback on this dilemma.
Anyways, I had some short one-shots typed up, and I thought I should just post them. I'll probably keep updating this when I get a new idea about Ichihime, so enjoy!
He looks at her. He doesn't know why. He just keeps staring at her. His friend tells him not to glare, but he is not glaring. There's just something about her. Something familiar. Something strange. Something compelling.
She stands from the stool she is sitting on, and she leans close to her friend. Every movement she makes pulls the attention of every male in the bar.
He is not an exception. He watches her closely.
Maybe too closely. Because although his eyes are fixated on her, he doesn't quite register that she is walking closer until she stops in front of him.
He finds her eyes quickly.
"Did I do something to offend you?" She asks him, and he blinks at her. Blinks sluggishly and stupidly.
"No…why?"
"You keep scowling at me," she explains, and he sees her arms cross over her chest before his eyes move up to her face again.
"I wasn't," he tries to deny, but he is not so sure that he wasn't. A scowl is his default expression, so it is entirely possible that he had been scowling. "Sorry." He apologizes for his face. "But have we met before?"
Her arms fall to her sides as her head tilts back. She laughs. "Is that a pick-up line?"
He flushes. "No! I'm not hitting on you!" Her laughter disappears, and he spots a hint of hurt in her eyes. "Not that I wouldn't. You're gorgeous." She blushes, and her eyes shine. "But I'm not judging you on your looks or anything like that," he babbles on, and she is laughing again. "Really, I'm not trying to pick you up," he insists.
She moves a strand of her hair behind her ear. "What a shame. I think I would've said yes to the scowling man."
She turns to leave. "Wait!"
And she does.
.
.
.
When he goes home, he goes home alone. But when his roommate asks him how his night was, he says his night was life-changing.