I'd Chase Away The Little Blue Men For You
A/N: It's always nice to update and earn nice reviews. Seriously, I didn't expect to get such amazing feedbacks and I never would have expected that a oneshot could bring more than 13 reviews. Because I've been thinking twice about my oneshot 'The Cream of a Tulip' and I've been wondering if I should have deleted it or should I just ignore this one fuckin' flame that an anonymous reader posted. I don't really care if someone doesn't like my idea of a story but if you want to flame so badly then why don't you sign in and then post a flame. I want to see you do a story if you hate mine so much. So what if it's crap? There are other fics out there which is crappier than mine (sorry for being quite harsh) but you don't see me flame 'em because I know that it hurts to see that one's efforts are wasted on an ungrateful reader. Tell me what you want and maybe I can improve my style of characterization, Julz, or whatever your real name is. I rarely swear, but when I do, I get pretty serious, so screw you and your fuckin' bad attitude because I have other readers who actually appreciate my stories. So fuck off and don't read my stories if you can find other fics that are worth your fuckin' time. And now you're making me swear so much I might have to repent after this. Seriously, you suck.
Phew, that was the first outburst in ff .net I had so far. Sorry 'bout that.
Despite the author's note above, I hope you enjoy this new instalment.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.
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A man is very lucky to be the first love of a woman, and luckier is a woman to be a man's last love.
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He loved his job. Really. Ichigo would never lie when he said he loved his job.
But there are some times (like now) when he would wonder if his life was really cursed.
His brown eyes looked up at the patient's face, a fifty-something year old man.
Not him again.
He wasn't complaining.
No, he would never complain. He does have a scary face, but he never complained. Especially if the patient was the same man that would come by his office every month, shove his pants down and show him his 'Little Superman' and claim to have erectile dysfunction every single time. And lucky Ichigo, November just ended and now the man just happened to drop by to pick up his supply of Viagra. Not before meeting the physician in charge.
Why, Kurosaki Ichigo would never, ever complain.
Long fingers tapped impatiently against the appointment sheet he had printed out which was laid on the table as he waited for the fifty-something year old man cursed with erectile dysfunction to sit on the stool opposite his table.
"G'morning, Ichigo-kun."
It's Kurosaki-sensei.
The young doctor nodded in acknowledgement and answered with a curt 'morning' as he ticked on the patient's name.
"Care to tell me what's troubling you, Akiyama-san?"
Ichigo waited the already-known answer as he used his left hand to type any new data pertaining to the patient. He glanced briefly at the screen as Akiyama's file document showed up on the screen.
The elder man scratched the back of his head, and sheepishly grinned.
"I'm still having problems… you know… down there…" he pointed to his crotch, and Ichigo didn't even glance at the pointed direction as he already started scribbling several prescriptions on the notepad and his left hand typed in the same data into the patient's file.
He knew it. Another prescription of Viagra. Seriously, this old man should take it slowly. How many times did he need his penis to function, anyway. Not that Ichigo wanted to know.
No, god. No.
"Again?" He asked, just for confirmation.
The patient nodded. "Yep. My wife keeps tellin' me to fix it because… you know-"
"Save it, thank you."
"Um… anyway so I went to other hospitals and they said that my condition needs to be referred to the General Hospital first before further action is taken. Especially the private hospitals, they say that the doctors here are more experienced with these kinds of cases…"
Ichigo stifled a snort and pressed his lips into a straight line, not wanting to show his smirk.
Riiiight. He inwardly mused and raised an amused brow.
Of course the other hospitals would say that. The weird patients always go to the General Hospital. Less complicated work for them, more weirdos for doctors like Ichigo and Ishida to handle.
"Yeah? But you've been taking Viagra for the last three years…" Ichigo clicked on several buttons and the patient's drug record popped onto the screen.
Three years? He wondered why he wasn't surprised.
"Akiyama-san, I think you should cut down on Viagra intakes-"
The older man gasped in horror as he stood up. "I can't do that! I'm serious, I can't get it up even when Kyoko's stark naked in front of me! Look!"
The extra information made Ichigo to curse inwardly, and a vein popped as he watched the man stand up to shove down his pants and reveal the 'Little Superman' (as Isshin liked to call it) that was supposedly couldn't get up even when he wants it to.
"Akiyama-san,"
The man frowned as he looked down at his organ and poked it. Ichigo's brow twitched in irritation.
Every fucking time.
"Hey, Ichigo-kun, I think it looks like a dead snake."
He had enough. And 'it' looked more like an elephant trunk. He had seen the man's penis a lot of times that he couldn't even care to take a glance at it. Who would, anyway?
"Pull your pants back on. And no more Viagra for you. You'll get a heart attack."
Akiyama's brows shot up. "Heart attack? Really?"
The orange-haired doctor nodded and handed a piece of paper with the prescriptions he scribbled for the man.
"I prescribed you with something mild."
Again, his patient stood up. "How can I endure a full month without-"
"Abstinence."
The patient instantly shut his mouth as he heard the doctor. Ichigo sent a glare to the obnoxious patient, clearly sending a warning to his stubborn patient. That glare said everything. Oh yes, everything.
Keep it or cut it. I dare you, perv.
With that, the patient scrambled to the door. He obviously wanted to keep it.
He put the list of his patient's names on the table and lazily stretched in his seat. He used his knuckles to rub his eyes sockets as a heavy sigh escaped his lips. When he opened his eyes he spotted the small clock on the table showing three o'clock.
"Three already?"
Ichigo have forgotten to eat lunch again, and as if on cue his stomach growled. He grimaced when he put a hand to tone down his hunger. No, lunch have to wait. He still had another patient on the list. A long finger traced the typed name on the bottom of the list, and a small smile found a way onto his face.
It was Takeyama Minami, his second-oldest patient. The granny was eighty years old but she was still standing strong, if he put out her arthritis problems aside. The old woman lived with her eighty five year old husband, and the both only had each other as family. Takeyama Hiroshi used to be Isshin's patient, and recently he started making appointments with Ichigo since Isshin decided to work full-time at the Kurosaki Clinic. He hadn't wanted other doctors and Ichigo had been quite flustered to handle the loud-talking old man at first. No matter what others said, the old man just refused flat out to wear his hearing aid on both ears and talking to him was like conversing with a drunken man on the sidewalk of a busy highway. But after seeing Minami taking her appointments seriously when she had her husband to come to the hospital with, and seeing both old spouses flashing toothless smiles at him every time they bumped into him at the market made his work seemed somewhat worth the while.
Ichigo-kun is scary on the outside but you're very soft and gooey in the inside. Like a deep-fried marshmallow.
A soft chuckle escaped his lips before he even realized it.
God, how he missed Orihime.
Brown eyes averted towards the small picture frame next to the small clock. With his cheeks resting against a palm, he used his other hand to trace his fingers on Orihime's picture. Gently, as if touching a real person, the tips of his fingers followed the outline of the graduation cap on top of her head, and slowly trailed the sway of her long hair. A few bangs fell in front of his eyes and he blew them away, not even bothering to remove his hand from the picture. When the bangs kept covering his eyes again, he wondered briefly if he should get a haircut. Maybe he'd ask Yuzu to do it for him, since she often came over by his apartment to bring goods and iron his clothes.
A scowl appeared on his face as he scolded himself inwardly. Geez, he was a twenty-eight year old man working as a doctor, soon turning twenty-nine. He still couldn't understand why he still depended on Yuzu to take care of him. She had a small family of her own, and even if her hubby didn't mind at all, but still… Then again, he hadn't asked her to. She volunteered and he was okay with that. Except that she would tell him to do one thing he could never do.
"If you're so reluctant to let me take care of you then get married, Onii-chan."
Then he would shut up.
Okay, maybe Yuzu caring for him hadn't been so bad after all.
But marriage?
He picked up the picture frame. Her smiling face melted the scowl off his face.
He couldn't bring himself to think about marriage. Sure, he wanted kids of his own too, but no one seemed to appeal to him.
After Senna, he never thought he would love again. But he opened up to Orihime, and when he finally realized how much he actually loved the gentle healer, his heart hadn't been able to open up again. After Orihime, he had never found it in him to love anyone else.
Tatsuki had scowled at him, and if she wasn't busy instructing Karate to her new students, she would have gone out of her way to punch him.
"What are you, a safe keep box?"
He'd given that 'maybe' look to her, and she sighed. Her irritation melted as she patted him strongly against his back.
"Seriously, what's wrong with you two? Just kiss and make up already."
She left him standing alone, speechless.
It was easy for others to say that, but it was hard for him. He didn't know where she lived, or even her phone number. And asking Tatsuki was like asking for his face to be beaten a second time. Even if he knew her address, he would have maybe stayed outside her door and apologize to the door instead, because it was hard to talk to her without getting immersed in her eyes. He was afraid, if she would look at him with that same hurt in her eyes when she said 'I'm sorry' years ago. Even if he had her number, he wasn't sure if he could even talk to her through the phone without forgetting his words. Again, he was afraid, afraid that he would hear her faked laugh after all the heartbreak he had brought to her. He couldn't forget how her voice sounded when she said 'I think this is goodbye' to him those years ago.
Great, my King's a chicken.
Ichigo ignored his albino counter-part. He had faced dangerous opponents in the past and heck, he even defeated Aizen, that twisted soul reaper whom had the power to surpass even the powerful Yamamoto Genryuusai. Logically, he shouldn't have a problem talking to one girl. No, one woman. That particular woman with the sweet voice that sounded like a chime in the soft wind and with those big, beautiful, shining grey eyes that could make a man swallow and promise her he would protect her from any type of danger without her even asking for it. But Ichigo just couldn't do it.
He looked up from the frame in his hand to see a pair of an old couple walk through his door into his white-painted office.
A toothless grin from Minami had him snap back to the present and almost too urgently, he placed the frame onto his desk, Orihime's picture turned away from the door. He cleared his throat as he stood up to help the Takeyama couple onto their seats. Minami placed a hand onto his strong forearm and her eyes blinked at him.
"Are you okay, Ishigo-kun?"
The young doctor answered with a nervous smile. If Karin was there she would have called it a grimace. "Of course I am. So… uh… How are your joints, Minami baa-san?"
The husband squinted towards something on top of Ichigo's desk and as he watched Ichigo examine his wife's knees and elbows, he loudly asked the orange-top.
"SHONEN! IS THAT HIME-SHAN'S PICTURE ON YER JESK?"
The young doctor answered with a nod and started to press on a few points on Minami's elbow. The old woman responded with a girlish giggle and slapped Ichigo's bicep playfully, bringing out a genuine smile onto his face. He had his back to old Hiroshi when he scribbled some data onto his notepad, not noticing as the old man walk steadily towards his desk to reach Orihime's picture. Minami looked up from her toes and saw her husband walking towards Ichigo's desk, careful in his steps as he walked with his trusty walker.
"Hm? Hiroshi, what are you doing, dear?"
Ichigo turned around and watched as the old man in question reached out for Orihime's picture, and his smile faltered when Hiroshi adjusted the angle of the frame so that the old couple could look at Orihime's beautiful picture. He grinned triumphantly as he turned to the orange-haired doctor.
"THERE! OI SHONEN! WHY DIDJA TURN AWAY HIME-SHAN'S PICTURE?"
Minami covered her mouth as she giggled. "Ooh, I see. Ishigo-kun is really very shy, aren't you?"
Ichigo raised a brow as he checked the old woman's knee-jerk reflexes.
"Why are you saying that? Ah, baa-san, you're slow on your reactions."
The old woman continued to giggle. "You're shy because you don't want others to look at her picture. Of course, with a beautiful picture like that you'd want to look at her every day."
The Visored stopped scribbling and looked up from his notepad to see old Hiroshi grinning at the picture as a father would look at his daughter, as if he was looking at the real person.
"SHE'S BEAUCHIFUL AIN'T SHE?"
A forlorn look flashed through his eyes, and he continued his scribbling. "Yeah, she is."
Oblivious to the change in Ichigo's expression, Minami placed a small wrinkled hand onto Ichigo's knee as he sat facing her.
"Hiroshi really misses Hime-chan. She used to live below our apartment, amazing girl, isn't she?"
Ichigo cleared his throat and loosened his neck tie. "Amazing she is."
Hiroshi laughed. "I REALLY MISS HIME-SHAN!"
His brown eyes looked at her picture for a few moments, before he nodded while handing Minami a written permission for her to take her glucosamine capsules.
He missed her too.
"Good night, Kurosaki-sensei!"
Ichigo nodded at the spectacled nurse as he stepped out of the sliding doors onto the now-empty street. It was only a few minutes past six but no one was outside, except for office workers walking back from a day's work to their warm homes and families. His hair had grown, tickling the collar of his shirt and covering his ears, and if it was summer he would have trimmed his hair as soon as possible. But it was winter, and the grown hair had helped him to keep his body warmth and made him a little more focused working in the middle of a winter. It wasn't even snowing, but he could already see the small puff of cloud when he let out a breath. He stood there, watching the last of the dried leaves fall down to earth, signalling the beginning of a snowy Karakura. His phone dinged, and standing under a streetlight, Ichigo took it out from his jacket to read the message Karin sent him.
Yuzu said don't be late tonight. And she said something about a surprise.
He raised a brow. He remembered about the family dinner over at his dad's house to celebrate Yuzu's twins' third birthday. But he didn't remember about a surprise. He thought it was probably Yuzu's way to tell him to hurry for dinner. Shrugging off the matter, he stayed at his spot for a few seconds to send a reply to Karin, before he started to walk in the general direction of his dad's house. Ichigo was about to turn into a junction when he felt a hard slap onto his back. Stifling a cough, he turned around to glare at the owner of the hard slap and the all so familiar reiatsu behind him.
A red-haired man grinned at him. "Yo."
Renji was rewarded with a scowl from Ichigo. He scowled back.
"I came here all the way from Soul Society to see you and this is how you greet me? Che."
"Well, you could've at least called me first before slapping my back."
The Vice Captain gave Ichigo an odd look, before his lips twisted into a boyish grin.
"Ah, you suck at sensing reiatsu. Sorry 'bout that, chap."
Ichigo replied with the roll of his eyes. Renji didn't need to rub that into his face, he already knew that.
"Yeah, whatever. What are you doing here anyway?"
They started walking again, when Renji stuffed his hands into his pockets to keep them warm.
"Being Urahara-san's guinea pig on a new gigai. It's not just me, Rangiku-san and Rukia are here too."
Ichigo didn't mention that Renji actually admitted to being Urahara's guinea pig but stopped dead in his tracks when he heard a name. "Rukia?"
Renji sniggered when Ichigo gave him the don't-tell-me-she's-staying-at-my-place face. He slapped Ichigo's back again.
"Relax, she's staying over at Urahara with me."
The young doctor's shoulders relaxed and they continued walking down the street heading towards the Kurosaki Clinic.
"Thank god… Oi, Renji. Somehow you're missing out something there."
Feigning ignorance, the red-head shrugged his shoulders. "Nope, nada. I didn't miss out any details. Just me and Rukia staying over at Urahara's."
Ichigo could feel a mild shudder run down his back. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"
Renji sighed, and gave up. "Okay, okay. Rukia had seen you talking to this one lady, ya know, a nurse at the hospital you're workin' at?"
The orange-top scratched his head, not knowing what Renji meant by that. And he forgot to question the Vice Captain on why Rukia just happen to see him talking to some nurse.
"Which nurse are you talking about? There are hundreds of those nurses working in the department I'm stationed at."
Renji thought for a while, remembering Rukia saying something about a dark-haired, big boobed nurse with frameless glasses. A cunning-faced bitch.
"Dark hair, frameless glasses…" He grinned boyishly and made groping gestures with his hands "…big boobs." He didn't mention the last part of Rukia's description.
Ichigo could feel heat creeping up his face. "What do you mean by b-big-"
He stumbled over some words, before he threw up his hands. "You two and your wicked minds. Tell Rukia to mind her own business. That nurse is Ishida's assistant, and I rarely talk to her anyway."
Renji blinked, surprised by Ichigo's frankness. "Ichigo… you're really… not interested?"
The Visored raised a brow. "And why should I be?"
The red-head kept silent for a few second, tucked his hands into the pockets of his jeans, and shook his head. He chuckled. "Really, man… You're still waiting aren't you?"
Ichigo looked at Renji oddly, confused of the older shinigami's change of behaviour, before he realized what Renji had said.
"There's no way I can forget her, okay? So if you don't have anything else to bother me with-"
Renji slapped a picture onto his face, bringing out a curse and growl from Ichigo before the young doctor took hold of it.
"I actually came to give you this. Rukia told me to because she said she didn't want to see you with that pathetic face of yours."
Ichigo glared at the shinigami and looked at the picture. It was Orihime with her two students. Both boys. Jealousy kicked in.
"Doesn't she have better ones to give me? Che."
Renji sniggered. "Complainin' already? Then why don't you just ask some from Orihime's friend? That Karate woman."
The scowl on Ichigo's face made Renji snicker louder. "Okay, okay. I get it."
"I have better things to do than hear her give me a lecture over some of Orihime's pictures."
"I hear a 'but' there."
Ichigo stuffed the picture into the front pocket of his jacket. "…but…Orihime's worth all the trouble."
Renji gave a friendly punch onto Ichigo's shoulder. "Does that mean you have a lot of her pictures already?"
"Tatsuki only gave me a few. She's stingy."
They stood under a bold Sakura tree, Ichigo watching the toes of his boots, Renji looking up at the snowing sky.
"You're a sucker, Ichigo."
Renji could feel Ichigo nod slowly.
"I know. Don't rub in into my face anymore."
A few more seconds of silence again. Then Ichigo remembered about Rangiku.
"Hey, what about Rangiku-san?"
As if being doused by cold water, Renji stepped away from Ichigo.
Shit!
He inwardly cursed as Ichigo gave him a suspicious look. "Am I missing out on something here, Renji?"
The red-head inwardly groaned. He could already envision the small petite shinigami bonk his head for letting out the news before Ichigo could see her.
He was sure if he told Ichigo the news, the doctor would lose all control he had and ruin the surprise awaiting him at his dad's house. Rukia was going to skin him alive for this.
"I uh… I need to get back to Urahara. And Rangiku-san's staying there too! Yes, that's it! See ya later!"
Even in his gigai, Renji managed to disappear from Ichigo's sight in the blink of an eye.
"What the hell was that?"
Kicking some stray leaf away with a foot, Ichigo shrugged off Renji's weird behaviour and continued down his path a little bit hurriedly when he saw the 'Kurosaki Clinic' sign came to view. After a few more steps, Ichigo stopped.
Something stirred within him as he sensed a familiar reiatsu. It was so familiar that it had his heart beating wildly against his chest.
No, it couldn't be, right? Orihime was teaching in a Junior High School on the other side of Karakura.
Renji's change of behaviour from earlier rushed back to him.
But Renji's behaviour had nothing to do with Orihime, right?
He lifted a foot to step forward, but stopped.
It had been five years since his graduation ceremony.
Five years of not seeing her in person, hearing her voice, looking into her eyes.
Would he be able to stand that?
C'mon, King! What's wrong with ya? Just walk into that house and go to her right now! Don't tell me yer afraid? Geez, and to think you're the king.
Ichigo scowled. Why was his hollow interrupting his thoughts again? He hated it when Shirosaki would butt in. He had his own problems to deal with.
And I thought she was worth the trouble, ain't that true, king?
The scowl disappeared.
Despite how much he despised his hollow, Shirosaki was right.
What was he thinking? He couldn't care less if he lost all reasoning when he would see her. He didn't care if she looked at him with her beautiful eyes, rendering him speechless. If it would make her stay by his side this time, he would fight those annoying nerves.
He stomped his way towards the door, and swung it open. As expected, he was met with Isshin aiming his Super-Duper-Awesome-Flying-Kick-101, with a smiley face print on the sole of his black socks.
"IIICHII-"
And as usual, Ichigo moved his head an inch to the right, causing his old man to hit the closed door with a loud smack. Isshin slid down the door, tears streaming down his face.
"I-I taught you…w-well, m-my son…"
And then he passed out.
Ichigo didn't even spare his dad a glance as he walked towards the living room.
"Yu-" His voice died in his throat when he saw her, one of Yuzu's twins sitting on her lap and played with her long hair.
The other twin was busy running around the kitchen, stark naked while Karin was busy stalking the kid with a pair of boy's briefs in her hands. A vein popped onto her forehead as she cursed out loud, determined to get the little rascal in his clothes while Yuzu was taking out a casserole from the oven. The house was a mess, noisy, but all he could see was her. Only her. Only Orihime, in a short-sleeved blue silk blouse and her favourite flowery long skirt. She looked good in blue.
The moment he stopped in the middle of the living room, she looked up from his niece's face to him when she noticed the spike in his reiatsu. Her smile melted as soon as their eyes met.
His hair had grown, the ends just touching his earlobes and grazing his collar and he was more good-looking since the last she saw him. Or maybe because she hadn't seen him in person, making the set of his strong jawbone appeal to her more than she could ever imagine. Orihime wondered if liking the way someone's jawbone move as he talked counted as weird. She could see his Adam's Apple bobbing as he swallowed.
He had forgotten to take off his boots when he dodged Isshin's attack, and made footprints in the doorway. Yuzu came out of the kitchen just in time before Ichigo could even move across the room to pull Orihime into a hug.
"Ichi-nii! Mou, take off your boots will you?"
The light-haired twin pushed Ichigo towards the doorway to have his shoes removed. Obediently, he pulled off his boots and hung his jacket by the door.
"Hey, Yuzu… Is that really…"
Yuzu blinked at him a few times before she smiled warmly at her brother who stayed rooted by the door, scratching the back of his head. Ichigo could be real shy sometimes that it was hard to believe that he was actually a fighter. She gently placed a hand onto his forearm.
"Yes, she is Orihime-chan."
Ichigo swallowed again. Man, what was he thinking, barging through the door like that.
"Why is she… I mean… It's good but…"
Yuzu put her hands on her hips, a furrow on her forehead.
"She came here for you, it was a long story, but don't you blame yourself on your break up, okay? You deserve each other so don't let her go for a second time now. Mou, Onii-chan… And she moved back into her apartment just for you but here you are, having second thoughts."
Ichigo looked at Yuzu, and for a moment appreciation flashed in his eyes before Yuzu giggled as if she was still a high school girl all over again. She ushered her brother into the living room, and left him standing in front of Orihime who was still seated on the couch facing the television. She looked up at him, and a dust of blush coloured her cheeks.
"Hello, Ichigo-kun."
He replied with a nod, and he cursed his inability to think of a decent word. But he tried anyways.
"You're… back. I mean, it's good to have you here and all…"
He started to scratch the back of his head, and Orihime nodded, not knowing why. Boy, this was getting awkward.
"Yes, I guess I'm staying here for sure."
Ichigo stopped fidgeting and turned to her. "You're staying? Why?"
He could see a certain someone, with a black goatee on his chin and dark hair peeking his head from the kitchen to mouth curses at him for that question.
"Baka Ichigo! Say something else! I'm gonna disown you if you say something stupid like that!"
That was pretty much of what his dad mouthed, and for once he actually agreed his father of his stupid question. Luckily, Orihime smiled up at him, and he can't help the way his inside flutter when she smiled like that.
The child in Orihime's lap bounced off her and quickly hugged his long legs.
"Ichi!"
They broke gazes when Ichigo knelt down to pat his niece's head.
"Hey there, Nami."
The light-haired girl beamed at him and reached out a hand to pat his head back. While her twin brother –who was still running around naked in the kitchen- looked a lot more like their father, Nami was a copy of Yuzu, that was for sure.
"Mama says that this is Ichi's woman!"
Orihime gasped, and both adults blushed. Orihime blushed harder when they could hear Isshin making wolf-whistles, and the distinct sound of Karin knocking him out cold. Yuzu's cry of 'Otou-chan!' followed after.
Ichigo cleared his throat, an attempt that worked (although not fully) to tone down his embarrassment. Yuzu saved the embarrassing moment when she called them both for dinner. He stood up, bringing Nami with him and walked to the kitchen.
"Yay! Ichi's picking me up. Up! Up!"
"Hey. Don't wiggle so much, you're gonna fall down."
He said that as he perched his niece on his shoulders, oblivious to the way Orihime smiled warmly at him.
Ichigo looked natural when he joked around with his niece and nephew. Maybe what Isshin said was true after all.
"He loves the twins and it would be just stupid of me to think he's not interested of having kids of his own."
Problem was, he never dated anyone after her, and Orihime stood at the kitchen doorway as she watched Ichigo being attacked by his nephew –who was already in his Spiderman-printed briefs- while thinking of the possibility that he was waiting for her.
Maybe.
Ichigo turned towards her, a small smile on his face as he pulled out a chair for her. He had rolled up his sleeves, exposing his strong forearms and his collarbone peeked out from the first two popped buttons of his shirt, his dark tie long abandoned. She eyed the free show for a while, all the while oblivious that Ichigo knew where her eyes were going. He could feel his inner hollow grin smugly. Or was that him?
"Come here."
She blinked and stuttered out her appreciation as she sat on the chair next to his and facing Isshin.
Their arms brushed as he took his seat and Ichigo had to ignore the way her smooth skin touched his throughout dinner. Isshin's embarrassing antics somehow dimmed the awkward moments between Ichigo and Orihime.
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A spark lasts only a second. It lights a fire. When the flame burns down, we are left with the hottest part of the fire, the embers; which burn the longest and keep the fire alive.
####
They were alone, in the streets. She was wearing a dark-coloured hoodie under a beige coat to keep her from the cold. Her dark-orange hair was covered as she pulled the hood over her head to keep it warm, and keep her blush away from Ichigo's eyes. He was in his usual dark coat, with nothing else underneath it except his shirt which he still hadn't changed from his work at the hospital.
They were alone, and he was walking her home. Like old times. Before Senna moved to Karakura. Before everything that caused their mutual friendship to break. Before he fell for Senna instead of his long-known friend.
As he walked next to her, silence stretching between them, he noticed a lot about her. He was surprised that he hadn't noticed how she starts to walk with her right foot, the way her hand would come up to brush away the hair covering her eyes, the way her long lashes moved when she would blink at him. He blinked back, and noticed they had stopped in front of her door, the door of the apartment he came to know as her home all those years throughout Junior High and Senior High School.
She smiled shyly at him when she walked around him to unlock her door.
He was blocking the door. Oh.
"Sorry, I didn't… notice."
Because you were busy lookin' at her and now you've made a fool outta yourself. Baka.
I don't need your opinion. Back off.
Ichigo inwardly smiled smugly when his hollow growled out in frustration when he somehow locked the menacing creature away.
"…-kun."
He snapped back to reality, and realized Orihime had cupped his cheeks with her warm hand.
"Uh?"
He really wanted to slap himself right now. Orihime blinked; clueless at him, then she broke out into a soft giggle.
"Ichigo-kun, you must be cold to be spacing out, right? It's very rare to see you like this. It's funny."
She giggled again, and her hand dropped to her side. He missed her warmth.
"I guess now things have turned the other way round, right, Orihime?"
She stopped giggling. "Hm? What do you mean?"
Ichigo swallowed, unsure if he should say the things he wanted to at that time. But then he steeled his resolve. He lifted a hand and removed the hood from her head. He then put his hand onto her head.
"Over here. You were the one who used to space out. A lot."
Orihime blushed when she noticed him moving closer with that gesture and she tried to back away from him. But when his lips suddenly tugged up into a small smile, she stopped.
"During those years back, I remember you saying that you missed me a lot. Now I'm the one missing you, Orihime."
Her eyes dropped to his lips and wished he would just lean down and give her a kiss. She missed him too, badly.
"You missed me?" Her voice was soft when she asked him.
He nodded. He brought up a hand and caressed her cheek with his thumb.
"I thought you would never come back."
Orihime closed her eyes, feeling his touch that she missed all those years. She opened her eyes to look up at him.
"I came back because I couldn't bear living without you, Ichigo-kun. I thought that if I was away from you, you wouldn't have to worry how to love me back. I thought if I leave this place you could love someone else-"
"Stop telling me that, Orihime."
He felt anger build up in him. Why was she making this hard for him? Couldn't she see he loved her? Her? He was already over Senna, because she was no longer there, but he could never forget Orihime. She was all that he wanted, couldn't she see that?
The woman gasped, and backed away from his touch. Why was he angry at her? She was just saying the truth.
"Ichigo-kun…"
Ichigo clenched his fists as his hands dropped at his sides.
"I regretted it, okay? I regretted that I couldn't love you back then. I was such a fool to have let you go five years ago. I know that, Orihime. But I've already gotten over Senna and I love you!"
Orihime swallowed as she looked at him. His eyes were bright, and suddenly she felt like crying. She blinked, and a tear rolled down. She saw the change in his eyes when he noticed the tears that followed after.
"Orihime, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to… Damn it."
He stepped forward to hug her close, but then his pager beeped loudly. Why in the heaven did he have an on-call on his night off? He cursed, and turned to her.
"Orihime… I…"
The healer shook her head and wiped off her tears with the sleeves of her coat. She stepped further into the apartment, flicked on the lights nearest to the door and turned back to him.
"I'm going to be okay, Ichigo-kun. You should… go."
Somehow hearing her tell him to go felt oddly painful, but he hid that pain well when he saw the tears stubbornly running down her cheeks. He felt like a jerk. Hadn't he hurt her enough already?
"Sorry, Orihime."
He said, before he ran down the stairs towards the bus stop situated a few blocks from her apartment building.
The healer nodded, even after Ichigo was nowhere to be seen and shut the door. She sighed as she leaned against the door, fighting back a blush.
She brought up a hand and put it over her beating heart.
"Baka Ichigo-kun. Why now?"
Ichigo could feel his blood boiling.
Really, was Ishida an idiot?
Ichigo eyed the spectacled doctor sitting opposite of him in his office, the picture of Orihime turned away from Ishida's view. The Visored clenched his hand, and cracked his knuckles as he waited for his workmate to finish filling up his details in the patient's form.
"You paged me on my night off for this?"
Ishida turned to look at Ichigo indifferently, before going back to his task of filling up the patient's form with his left uninjured hand. His right arm was freshly-casted a few minutes ago by Ichigo himself.
"What, were you on a date, Kurosaki?"
Instantly colour filled Ichigo's cheeks. "N-No…"
Ishida raised a brow at Ichigo's sudden change of attitude. "Well then, I didn't interrupt you did I? Besides, I don't trust other doctors. As simple as that."
His ears perked as he heard the somewhat compliment coming from Ishida's mouth.
"Riiiight. Somehow your compliment sounded weird. There's another reason, right?"
The Quincy restrained from hitting Ichigo as he focused on completing his data on the piece of paper with his left hand.
"Fine. The other doctors had… other… kinds of agendas with their… nurses. I don't really think I'd appreciate a half-dressed doctor opening up his office door for me to come in."
Ichigo made a face. "Okay, stop there. I understand. Besides, how in the world did you get your arm fractured like that? Lost to a hollow?"
Ishida slammed the paper on top of Ichigo's desk and tried his best to glare at the orange-top. Only that it was less menacing when his glasses was left with one scratchy lens and a crooked frame.
"As a matter of fact I saved a pregnant woman from tumbling down the stairs on my way to the cafeteria."
Ichigo nodded. When he didn't immediately take a look at Ishida's filled form, the Quincy cleared his throat to ease the silence before he decided to speak up.
"Inoue-san is back, you know."
He watched as Ichigo slowly turned to look at him, then the Visored nodded. "I know. She ate dinner at my house… before you paged me."
Ishida quirked a brow. "And? Did you make a move?"
It took a few seconds for Ichigo to finally shake his head in the negative. His Quincy buddy rested an elbow against Ichigo's desk and saw how the orange-top averted his eyes to look at the frame that everyone knew held Orihime's picture. The very first picture he had of her. Ishida took off his mangled glasses and sighed.
"Kurosaki, what are you waiting for? Are you waiting for her to leave this place again? I know that I'm not in the position to lecture you but seriously, everyone's biting their nails just to see you two together."
Ichigo was supposed to snap at the Quincy. Because it was clear that the reason he didn't get to be there when Orihime cried was all because of Ishida himself. But when he thought about it again, he shouldn't have been angry at her in the first place. She was right. He had never actually loved her back those years when they dated in high school.
She had been there for him when he grieved over Senna's death, cheering him without him even noticing it himself. She had been there to love him when he never knew if he could ever love another. Orihime had opened up his heart to love her, but he could never love her back as much as he wanted to back then. He regretted his decision to not chase after her, still thinking that it would be best if she would just find another man who could love her fully. But he was wrong. He was really wrong. Had Masaki been alive she would have been disappointed in him.
"Ishida, what are the odds?"
Said name raised his brows. "What do you mean?"
Ichigo picked up the frame and showed the Quincy Orihime's picture.
"What are the odds that she would forgive me? I just yelled at her and left her there crying. I've hurt her too much, Ishida."
It was one of those rare moments when Ishida would put a hand on Ichigo's shoulder and squeezed it as a form of assurance.
"We know how Inoue-san is. She might be fragile, but her feelings for you are strong. She would never be mad at you."
The Visored leaned back against his chair and sighed heavily.
"Damn, I need to set things straight tomorrow."
Ishida stood up, ready to leave. "Besides, Kurosaki, you're the only one who hasn't hooked up with anyone."
Ichigo managed to give the Quincy a glare.
"Ishida, your handwriting looks like Rukia's drawings."
If it wasn't for his casted arm, Ishida would've struck the orange-top with his arrow.
Rangiku sighed as she lowered her body into the hot water Orihime had so kindly prepared for her. From outside the bathroom, the healer called out to her.
"Is the water okay? Do you need anything, Rangiku-san?"
A smile curved her lips as she heard the younger woman. Somehow the situation reminded her of that time when she first saw Orihime cry.
"Nope, everything's fine in here Orihime. Really, girl, you're too kind."
She heard the healer laugh softly. Then everything became silent again. She had seen everything, from the moment Ichigo sent Orihime to the apartment, and she had to refrain from punching some sense into the Visored's head when he had been angry at the gentle woman. But then again, he had apologized. She knew that Ichigo never meant to make Orihime cry, and that made it all the more frustrating for him.
Seriously, those two should just hook up already and get it on like bunnies as soon as possible. They weren't getting younger, and Rangiku was dying to see how Orihime's babies would look like.
"Say, Orihime…"
"Yes?"
It took Rangiku a few seconds to choose her words, when she finally spoke up.
"Do you still love him?"
It didn't take a heartbeat for Orihime to answer. "I do."
"Then what are you waiting for? You do know he feels the same way for you, right?"
Just like what went between the two ladies a few years back, Rangiku could feel Orihime trying to fight her tears.
"I'm… afraid. I just don't know if he knows what he's getting himself into. What if when we get back together he would realize he still can't love me? I don't want him to blame himself again, Rangiku-san…Am I horrible? I should be happy, and yet I… I don't know anymore. I hate myself."
Rangiku sighed, and she stood up from the bath. She was about to slid the bathroom door open to pull Orihime into an embrace when she felt a familiar reiatsu nearby. It seemed that Orihime could feel it to, judging by the way she gasped.
"You know what? I think…no, I know he's serious about you this time. Come on, wait for him by the door."
Orihime didn't even wait for Rangiku to finish when she opened the door to reveal Ichigo panting. He still had the same shirt on, his white coat hanging on his shoulders beneath his dark winter coat.
"Orihime."
The healer watched with her tearful eyes as Ichigo took a deep breath and looked at her in the eyes.
"Ichigo-kun, i-it's cold outside-"
The young doctor didn't wait for her to finish when he held her by the shoulders and pulled her to him for a kiss. Even when the weather outside was chilly, Orihime let herself drown in the kiss, pressing her body close to him. Her small hands swept over his hard chest, feeling the rough texture of his white coat and warmed the skin beneath her hands.
Ichigo broke the kiss for a heartbeat to take a breather before he cupped her cheeks in his large hands and kissed her again. She knew Rangiku was probably taking pictures with her cell phone but the kiss pulled her closer to him. The pressure of his mouth was insistent but not painful, more like he was searching her out, memorizing the shape of her mouth. She shuddered internally to think about what he might use such knowledge for but it wasn't enough to make her move her head away from the warmth of his lips.
His hands didn't remain idle. Her hands drifted upwards to rest on his shoulders. He guided one of his own into the silken tendrils of her hair, pulling her closer, and used the other to adjust the tilt of her head so that he could deepen the kiss. Orihime had already closed her eyes ages ago and opted to keep it that way as she curled her arms around his wide shoulders and held him close. Ichigo responded to her obvious acceptance and rewarded her by withdrawing his mouth a bit and biting softly on her lower lip. A sigh escaped her and she mimicked his earlier movement by sliding a hand into his orange hair.
Her touch made him trace her lips with his tongue before coaxing her with gentle sweeps to open and let him in. Orihime let out a moan as he explored the contours of her mouth and she in turn explored his.
A gentle pressure from one of his hand came down on the small of her back and at the same time they broke the kiss to suck in air. When he pulled back a bit to look at her, his eyes had darkened to an even deeper shade of brown and his arms alternatively tightened and relaxed around her. His lids lowered to hide the depths of those fascinating orbs and he bent down slowly to bury his nose in her hair, pulling her tightly to his body. Then he moved his nose from the crown of her head down to the space behind her left ear, then to the soft line of her jaw, before coming to rest against the side of her neck and breathing in deeply of her scent. She let out a gasp at the feel of his breath against her skin and he stayed there.
The wind blew and he tightened his embrace to keep her warm against him.
"I'm sorry, Orihime. I don't know what else should I do to make you forgive me and it's driving me crazy. I admit that I was a jerk back then. When you said you loved me, I realized I couldn't love you. I should have been able to love you if I just got over Senna but I didn't… And I really regretted that."
A blush colored Orihime's cheeks when she realized he was confessing. "Ichigo-kun…"
His hold on her tightened.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you, I didn't mean to be angry at you…. It's just that I wanted you to know that I love you. It's real, this time, Orihime. I really, really do love you. I regretted letting you walk away five years ago, and I don't want to repeat the same mistake. This time I'll protect you, I'll do anything for you. I'll even chase away the little blue men you always talked about."
She let out a soft laugh, and at the same time she couldn't stop the happy tears flowing.
"Ichigo-kun, I was never mad at you. How could you say that?"
"Because you were crying and-"
Her soft laughter stopped him, and it tempted his lips to tug up a bit. How he missed her laughter.
"I was just being a crybaby, Ichigo-kun."
They stayed like that, in each other arms for a while when Ichigo finally sensed someone else's reiatsu from somewhere behind Orihime. He pulled back to look into her eyes and used his thumbs to wipe off her tears.
"I love you, Orihime."
The woman with the round, bright grey eyes smiled at him. "I love you too."
Orihime pulled him in, and as the door closed behind him, he rested her back against the wall of her doorway. A slow smile lightened up her face as she eyed his throat.
"Did you run out from the hospital?"
He cleared his throat, and nodded. "Yeah, I did."
He heard her laugh and felt heat creep up his neck.
"Ichigo-kun, you know I'm not going anywhere, do you?"
The young shinigami looked away to hide his embarrassment. "Well, yeah, I thought about coming here tomorrow… but… I just… I don't know. You're teasing me, aren't you?"
When she nodded and laughed a bit more, he couldn't help but let his embarrassment slide. He bent down again and captured her lips in his own, silencing her laughter.
The way her soft lips complied under his sent his body feeling all tingly as if he was just struck by electricity. All the more driving him over the edge as her body molded against his, making him forget about Rangiku for a second, and at the last second, he managed to break the kiss before things got out of hand. He kissed her earlobe and his husky voice tickled her eardrum as he spoke.
"Can you get Rangiku-san to stay someplace away?"
Orihime smiled shyly as she felt his lips brushing against her earlobe, fully knowing what he was suggesting.
"She's n-not going to l-like it."
He scowled for a while. Then an idea popped up in his head. He didn't know if he was considered lucky, because he had tomorrow off and his apartment was nearby. If he could just convince Orihime to his place…
The healer could feel his lips twisting into a smirk against her soft neck.
"How about my place?"
Not being able to stand the suspense anymore, Rangiku finally exited Orihime's bathroom, a bathrobe covering her body.
"Geez, choose somewhere private, will ya? Shoo!"
The busty Vice Captain could have sworn she saw the flash of gratitude in Ichigo's eyes before he literally dragged Orihime out of her house.
She sighed as she swung open the door to Orihime's bedroom. Renji and Rukia came stumbling down as the door was swung open, both of them in their shihakushou. Rukia recovered in a blink of an eye as she started flashing bright eyes at both Renji and Rangiku.
"Hey, let's follow them."
Renji's face heated up. "O-Oi, you're not… Well they're gonna…"
Rangiku squealed in delight. "Ooh! Let's!"
Little did they know, Orihime had set up a barrier around Ichigo's apartment as soon as they landed on his bed.
A/N: Oops, I'm stopping here! I originally planned this fic to be M-rated, but to think about it again, there's not much sense in suddenly putting lemon in here anyway, right? Though I do hope all the details in there was enough to satisfy your craving. ^-^. I know, most of us are perverts. I also didn't expect this oneshot to be too far-stretched, I don't know if I had just wrote a lot of rubbish in here but, oh well, what's done is done yeah? Hope you like this one, and feel free to review.
Thanks a bunch for reading.
Hugs and kisses!
P/S: Shonen means young man.
And the reason I spelled Ichigo as 'Ishigo' was because the old woman was toothless, remember? And so was her husband, that's why I spelled Chan as 'Shan', and Desk as 'Jesk'.