Orihime spent the rest of her day mostly just relaxing around her apartment, not entirely sure what else to do. She didn't want to think about Ichigo, that just made her sad, considering how down he's been as of late. But she couldn't really think of anything else to do, so she just wandered around aimlessly, and did a bit of reading, until it was time to shower and go to bed.
In the morning, Tatski called, and they both decided that they would go down to the park. After Orihime ate a breakfast of disgusting oatmeal, she changed into knee length basketball shorts, and a short sleeve T-shirt, and left the apartment. And, as usual, she zoned out as she walked. But, surprisingly, she had no problems as she walked home. It was probably sheer luck that nothing happened to her.
Once she reached the park, she spotted her lean, dark haired friend, leaning against a tree, waiting, with a soccer ball tucked under one arm.
"Glad you dressed properly." Tatski shouted at her, as she approached.
Orihime smiled. "You know I don't do well with sports. I'm not exactly coordinated."
Tatski laughed. "I know."
Tatski placed the ball on the ground and placed a foot on it. "But are you ready?"
Orihime nodded, and for a split second, she wondered what Ichigo was doing, then she banished the thought from her mind. She didn't want to get sad.
Ichigo forced himself to get out of bed, waited until his family was out of the house, then went downstairs to eat breakfast. He still wasn't feeling like he'd be the best company around people. But today felt a little more promising for some strange reason. He didn't identify the reason why but he just didn't care. He just was glad that he was starting to feel somewhat better.
He quickly changed into long shorts and a tank top, and went outside, not really sure where he was going to go. So he just started walking, basking in the fairly warm morning sun. It had to be one of his better mornings. Maybe this summer would turn out better after all.
He started to walk past the park when he heard squeals and hard laughter. He stopped and stared in the direction of where that was coming from and saw Orihime and Tatski playing soccer. Well, it was more like Tatski just kicking the ball, and Orihime very nearly knocking herself over trying to kick the ball. Every time that happened, they both started laughing. This made him smile a bit. It was kind of entertaining to watch.
He moved a little closer, standing in the shade of one of the trees very close to where the girls were playing and he leaned against it and just watched. He just found something to do with himself.
Orihime threw another hard kick at the ball, missed again, and had too much momentum, and ended up throwing herself down onto her back. She busted up laughing; she was having too much fun despite absolutely failing at soccer. Tatski was laughing pretty hard too, she was half stumbling half walking after the ball, she was laughing too hard to be walking normally. They were both beyond noticing the tall lanky figure leaning against the tree watching them.
Orihime finally had the sense after a wall to sit up, they'd been playing for a couple of hours now, and she was getting hungry. Luckily, Tatski had packed some snacks, which they ate, and had some water and then they relaxed for a while. That's when Orihime finally noticed the figure and she instantly knew who it was.
"Kurosaki-kun?" She called out, unsure if she was right.
He didn't answer right away. But he did answer. "Hey Inoue. Hey Tatski."
Tatski waved at him. "Come join us. You've been pretty anti-social lately. And don't say you can't. You haven't been doing anything worthy of such an excuse."
Orihime snorted at her wording but watched Ichigo carefully, butterflies suddenly all over the place in her stomach. This didn't happen so much before. She didn't understand why she was suddenly feeling nervous around him all the time. After a moment, she decided it was because she hadn't seen much of him recently.
Ichigo didn't move right off at first, but then he did eventually approach, but hesitated a few feet away, but then settled by them when Tatski gave him a weird glare.
"What's with the anti-social behavior Ichigo?" Tatski asked.
He shrugged. "I dunno. I just haven't felt like being around people."
"I'm happy you're here, Kurosaki-kun." Orihime blurted, beaming at him.
Ichigo stared at her, and returned her smile rather late, but she felt warm inside when he actually smiled. She thought that it wouldn't happen again-at least not a for a long time.
"Well, I'm…glad that I decided to come out and about again." He didn't seem so sure of his words, it was like he was carefully putting his sentence together.
The fact that he didn't seem so sure of himself, was a little saddening to Orihime, but she ignored that. She was just glad that he was here. But she was nervous, unsure of being around him at the same time. That was a feeling she just never understood, because she'd never felt it so intensely around him before.
"Well, I hope you don't turn into a recluse again, Ichigo." Tatski growled at him and her eyes flashed to Orihime and back. "This one has been worried about your health."
Orihime's face turned red and heated up and she looked away, trying to keep her face hidden. She did make it obviously clear to Tatski that she was worried about him, but she didn't want Tatski saying anything directly to Ichigo.
"Is that true…Inoue?" He asked quietly.
"Isn't that what friends are for?" She finally looked at him. "Friends always worry about other friends right? Isn't that how it should go?"
Ichigo's eyebrow's knitted together in confusion but then let his face relax. "Yes, I suppose you're right. That's how it should go."
Orihime looked at Tatski, and she just rolled her eyes. Orihime really wondered what her intention was behind telling Ichigo that. But maybe there wasn't really anything and she was just commenting. That's probably what it was. Orihime just had a tendency of over reading things.
After a few minutes of awkward silence, Ichigo stood up. "I should probably go…I'm not really comfortable."
Sadness twinged inside Orihime. "I see." She stood up, and brushed her legs off.
Tatski made a sound of annoyance. Tatski had caught on to how Ichigo's words affected her, and she wasn't too happy about it. But that didn't matter; Orihime didn't want to stay if Ichigo wasn't comfortable.
"I guess I'll see you some other time then, Kurosaki-Kun." She unintentionally let sadness creep into her tone as she walked off.
What she would have thought to be the perfect day, ended up not going so well. This made her upset, she thought Ichigo was doing better. But maybe she was more wrong than she thought.
She felt two sets of eyes on her back as she continued walking.
