He refused to pull down the cloth covering his face, only adding to the mysterious air he had around him. He didn't answer many of her questions, revealing only that his name was Tsubaki and he was on a 'quest'. It seemed like a relative term, considering he said he didn't know what he was questing for, only that he had to complete it.

That or he just didn't want to tell her.

Despite his lack of interest in revealing anything about himself, Orihime soon discovered that he wasn't shy, or quiet, or anything closely resembling quiet. Whenever Sora wasn't around he was constantly insulting her, teasing her, and giving her a hard time for whatever she was doing. He brought up every flaw he could pick out, questioned her unmercifully about her life (even the most private details), and even ventured into insulting her lack of ability to socialize on a personal level.

In depth questions coming from the man who would only reveal his name… charming.

"There is nothing wrong with my taste in food," Orihime defended, a pout setting on her lips. "In fact, my brother compliments me all the time on my cooking."

"Oh, your brother? Are your sure his taste buds just haven't died from eating such horrible shit. I mean seriously… do you even know what you're feeding me? This is a cookie with wasabi paste on it, and it tastes horrible."

"I give them out to the other villagers! They always tell me how delicious they are!"

"Have you ever seen the other villagers eating them?" he questioned, her mind imagining a smirk appearing on his face. She couldn't actually see his expression, but she could tell by the way he moved his eyebrows, or the way cloth moved against his face, what kind of expression he was making.

"Well… no… but… well… I'm sure I have at some point! I… I… I just don't pay attention…" her look became downcast as she started fiddling with the hem of her blue dress. "But everyone always seemed so happy I just assumed they liked them but maybe they didn't and now I feel like I've been forcing that food down their throats all this time and it's all my fault and I should go apologize but that's so embarrassing how do you apologize for cooking bad food… oh goodness I really wish…"

"Woah, take a breather there. Seriously, you're tiring my ears out."

She looked up at him, his piercing black eyes never giving her the slightest hint of what he was thinking.

He'd told her multiple times she was like reading a book, and then would insult her about being to open to the people around her.

She just wanted a friend; she couldn't help it.

She leaned back up against the chair she was sitting in along the side of his bed, her eyes deciding to survey his bandages in hopes of distracting her from her new found discovery. Was he being serious about her cookies not tasting good? Everyone always complimented them…

"Are you checking me out?" he questioned, the cloth covering his face shifting in the way that made her imagine him smirking. "I know we've been spending a lot of time together, but you can't just fall for every man who waltzes in here and gives you the time of day. Though I can't say that I mind, you are very pretty…"

"You've been here almost a week!" she defended, her cheeks blushing a bright shade of red, "And… and I wasn't checking you out! I was looking at your bandages and deciding whether or not they needed to be changed, or if you were ready to discharge!"

"Oh, I see," he responded, his voice clearly showing disbelief. "It's surprising how quick it healed. I mean, my blood was low and the cuts were practically to the bone, and now they've almost vanished completely. Shocking, really."

She was happy he had changed the subject, but she had hoped it would be to a better one than her healing abilities. Talking about them usually led to people calling her a witch, or saying she was practicing some kind of evil lost art.

She didn't have too long to think about it though before she felt a quick 'bonk' on the top of her head.

"Hey, woman, stop looking so downcast. It was a compliment."

She looked up at him, his dark eyes still not revealing anything to her, but her grey ones revealed everything to him.

He had made her very happy.

xoxo

I really didn't expect anyone to read this… but I'm happy some people are :) I really don't know how to characterize Tsubaki as a grown man considering half of his character is beating Orihime as a fairy when he gets angry… I can't really have him do that when he's an actual human! Haha, hence the bonk. Hm, well if you like it, review it :) It's encouraging!