I deeply apologize for not updating this story! I said I was going to keep it going, but then I stopped D: . I feel really bad. Therefore, I shall do my best to finish this story. (This is what happens when you end up starting several other stories and school/RL gets in the way... .) I apologize if this chapter is shorter than the others as well. I'm not sure how long it's going to be. But I don't want to abandon this story, and I hope my reviewers haven't either! I will get it together! I promise!
Thank you all for being so patient with me! Also check out my new IchiHime story, "Memories in the Rain." It seems like I update that one faster than this one XDD. Kinda sad isn't it?
It was the next morning. It was raining when the two teens had woken up. While it had put Ichigo in a foul mood, it had made Orihime more cheery. She hummed as she sat at the table, copying out the notes Ichigo had brought her the previous night. A blanket was wrapped around her huddled form as she tried to keep warm.
It was still spring so she didn't want to put her heater on. She was barely getting by on the last paycheck she had received from the bakery where she worked. But she was also on sick leave since she had come down with the flu. She didn't want to bother any of her friends with this dilemma so she didn't mention it to any of them.
Well, until Tatsuki came by last week and saw how sick she was.
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.
.
"Orihime! What's wrong with you? Why are you still in your pajamas?" Tatsuki asked as she practically ran to her best friend. Seeing how red Orihime was, she placed her hand on the healer's forehead. She gasped as she pulled her hand back, shocked at how hot her friend was.
"Don't worry Tatsuki-chan! I'm fine!" She said as she waved her hands in front of her face.
"'Fine' my butt. Orihime, you're burning up! Why didn't you tell me that you were sick? If I had known that, I would've talked to the teachers sooner and gotten your notes and homework!"
The healer looked down at her hands that were placed on her lap. Tears were beginning to form in her eyes. She knew that Tatsuki would do anything for her if she needed it. But she didn't want to burden her friends with her problems. They were hers and she wanted to deal with them on her own.
"I'm sorry Tatsuki-chan."
Tatsuki's eyes softened as she hugged her friend. She didn't want to upset the young girl. She was just concerned for her. She always held on to what she felt inside. And she didn't want Orihime feeling like she was useless. Tatsuki wanted to make Orihime see that she could depend on her when she needed help.
"Don't apologize, Orihime. I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm just worried. You live by yourself and you do everything on your own. I just wish you would open up to me more. You don't have to worry about being a burden. Relying on people is part of the friendship package. If they're your true friends, they won't care when you need to vent or rant. They'll still care about you and love you after everything they go through. Orihime, you know I treat you like a sister. Please don't worry about being a burden to me. I actually like when you come to me about your problems. It means that you trust me enough to confide in me."
She gasped. "Tatsuki-chan! You know I will always trust you! I will never stop being your friend! You've been by my side since middle school! I would never abandon our friendship."
Tatsuki smiled as she ruffled the healer's hair. "Come on. Let's start by helping you get better."
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One thing Orihime didn't expect was for Ichigo to be in her apartment. When Tatsuki told her that she would be getting a replacement for the weekend, she didn't think she would ask Ichigo.
She was thinking of either Chad or Uryu. Then again, she knew they were both extremely busy with hollow slayings, their own jobs and school. She didn't want anyone to watch over her. But she had complied to it just to ease Tatsuki's mind.
"I don't get what's so different about this weekend. I've been alone when I was sick before. I don't get why Tatsuki was overreacting." She mused as she finished copying the notes Ichigo gave her. She didn't miss as much as she thought.
"I thought I should mention this to you. We mainly worked on the assignments in class. Apparently we had lots of subs this week due to the teachers going to a conference in a different country. They've been gone the entire week as well. Whatever notes are there are from the few teachers that didn't go. Which is why you have more worksheets than notes." Ichigo replied.
Orihime shot her glace to the stack of papers that were sitting beside the notebook. She counted at least twenty different pages.
As if he read her mind, Ichigo added. "Some of the assignments are review packages. During the next few days, we're going to be having tests. Ishida and Chad thought it would be a good idea to ask the teachers to make review booklets for you instead of throwing you a bunch of pages. They actually agreed to it so easily too. And since they know you've been sick, they're giving you an extra week to study for these tests. So on the days that the tests are going to be written, the teachers are going to let you study in a different room. Just to make it less stressful for you."
She nodded. "So I don't have to start on these assignments right away?"
Ichigo shook his head. "Not unless you want to. I would say to save some of the assignments for class time so you don't get bored. If I were you, I'd focus on getting better. Tatsuki will kill me if she comes back and you're still not well."
Orihime giggled. "Tatsuki-chan gave you lots of rules, ne?"
He shrugged. "Not really rules. More like, expectations. It wasn't really an optional thing. She just wants what's best for you. You've never been this sick."
"Un! I rarely get sick. It's thanks to my strong immune system. But that means that when I do get sick, it hits me hard. So I end up staying sick for about a week."
He blinked. "Why do you get sick for so long? I thought the stomach flu only lasts a few days?"
"Kurosaki-kun. A stomach flu can last for quite a while. It varies on each person. And how strong the flu is. The throwing up portion only lasts a few days. But just because someone stops puking doesn't mean the flu is completely gone. They can still have cramps or end up developing a cold because of how weak the body is from fighting off the flu. In this case, I'm just fighting the cold part now. Though it doesn't really sound like it. It gets bad at night though. It's harder to breathe which is why I keep the windows open. When they're closed, the room gets stuffy and it doesn't help my nose at all."
He frowned. "If you're going to keep the windows open, can you at least not open them all the way? I don't like how easy it is for someone to break into your place Inoue. It's too dangerous. Maybe that's why Tatsuki told me to stay over."
She pouted. "Tatsuki-chan treats me like a child."
He chuckled. "It's because you act like a child, Inoue. You're way too trusting of others you don't even know. You're so selfless that you would rather protect someone who comes after you than beat them up. Of course she's going to be over-protective of you."
"Kurosaki-kun may not know this, but I have a black belt in karate. I know how to defend myself from humans."
He sighed as he looked down at her determined face. He rarely saw her stand her ground against her friends, so when he saw it, it always looked cute to him. "Cute? Since when did I refer to Inoue as cute?"
Shaking his head, he kept his gaze locked with hers. "Inoue, right now, your body is fighting off the virus that's inside of you. You don't have the strength to defend yourself against anyone. Let me protect you."
Her eyes widened at his words. The last time he said them was after the battle with Yammi. She was badly hurt and he had come running to her to apologize for letting her get hurt.
"But Rukia was the one who forced him to say it..."
Sighing, she nodded before starting to put her things away. She was about to go to her room when she stopped and looked at Ichigo.
"Can we go somewhere today?"
His eyebrow raised at the question. She was sick and she wanted to go outside.. While it was raining?
Seeing his hesitance, she gave him her puppy dog pout.
"Please, Kurosaki-kun? I don't feel like sitting inside all day. I've been indoors all week! Tatsuki-chan wouldn't let me go anywhere."
Besides realizing how adorable she looked when she gave him that look, he could hear the sadness in her voice. Tatsuki had told him not to let her go outside because of how sick she was. But she looked at him with those eyes and he couldn't find it in him to say no.
Turning away, a blush rose to his cheeks before he mumbled. "Get ready."
A/N: Yup. That's where I'll leave it. I deeply apologize for not updating. So I figured I'd do some explaining.
When I had the stomach flu, the only symptoms I had was stomach cramps. But I also had it for over a month. In Orihime's case, she was throwing up for a few days, and because of this, ended up catching a cold due to her immune system not recovering from vomiting.
Tatsuki had come to visit her because they normally hang out each weekend and it was a weekly ritual after Hueco Mundo. She decided to stay with Orihime until she was better, but had to leave for a wedding.
During the week, Tatsuki had gone looking around for someone to take care of her over the weekend. She asked Uryu first but he was busy and Chad was there at the time and was also busy. (I was thinking of writing this part as a flashback for the next chapter.)
Also, Chad and Uryu are in some of Orihime's classes. Hence they were able to talk to those teachers and ask them to put the sheets into a review package for Orihime.
Hope these cleared up some of the confusion (if anyone was confused.)
Please R&R