...
…
Idiot. Idiot. Idiot.
Cupping a hand under her chin, Orihime stared out at the field below. The freshmen were running on the tracks, Kagine-sensei yelling at them all for no apparent reason. The drone of the classroom soon dulled, and she could see the lips pressed together, hands clutching at his red jacket, dark head bent down to midnight black ponytails.
She felt something hot curl in her stomach. It was agitation, she could detect that. She was annoyed – frustrated, really – but didn't know exactly why. The clouds were becoming farther apart, the sky clear, and the sun shined. It would appear that it would be a good day, just as Orihime vaguely remembered Mashiro saying that morning. The brunette had been obviously worried the day after the "incident" and practically drowned Orihime with questions. It was bothersome and slightly embarrassing – she wasn't used to be worrying over. She was especially startled when Kensei suddenly became belligerent, demanding what the problem was, and quote, claiming he would, "break Kurosaki's face,". Orihime was not sure what it all meant, but she told them both she was fine, and tried to block out the world.
Rangiku was becoming increasingly worried as Sora's anniversary grew closer. Just a week and four days away. It made Orihime even more stressed. With upcoming tests, the new drama in her life, she was beyond strained.
And that was when she felt the tall-tale prickle of someone staring at her. Without her consent, her head looked up and her eyes locked with a warm, chocolate brown gaze. She jerked instantly, warmth spreading across her face, and then looked away as quickly as she could.
Idiot. Idiot. Idiot.
She stared at the glass of the window, glaring at it, really. His stare almost made her snap, yell at him, accuse him. But of what? She had no right. She did not love him, she did not even like him, she was sure. He was a nuisance, a burden sent from God to send her into a spiraling black hole of failure. She would not lose to him. This love nonsense was probably just a prank – how much money would Ichigo get if she fell in love with him? She rolled her eyes at the thought, but it also sent some kind of throb through her chest.
Strange.
She would go to the nurse later.
She could still feel Ichigo staring at her, and she wanted to hurl her Ethnics book at his head. Just as her free hand curled around the edge, she heard,
"Inoue!"
She hopped in place, startled. When she glanced from the window, everyone in the classroom was watching her.
Finding her voice rather quickly, she said, "Y-Yes, sensei?"
The teacher blinked, surprised, "Can you…" he frowned at her, "Aren't you going to answer the question?"
Orihime's large eyes searched the board, but found nothing to solve there. What the…? She hadn't been listening at all! She'd missed the whole lesson. She wanted to crawl into a hole. Swallowing, she blinked cutely – well, to the rest of the class.
Eyes widened as Orihime's lips parted, and she appeared delicately small in her uniform, large on her. And one by one realized how adorable the redhead was when she was flustered.
Biting her bottom lip – gathering even more attention from her crowd, even the teacher, who gaped at her – Orihime said, "I'm sorry, sensei. C-Can you please repeat it?"
The teacher collapsed from his chair with a giant crash, "cute," on his lips.
"SENSEI!" Mashiro shouted in panic as boys 'oohed' and 'ahhed'.
In less than twenty seconds, the talk of the school was Inoue Orihime.
…
…
The bell rung.
Orihime had never, ever felt so much relief before. Folding her arms under her, she allowed her suddenly heavy head to fall onto them. She inhaled deeply and then released it. There was the chatter of students, but she paid it no mind.
Mashiro had already left the school, declaring she had to head to the bakery for her job. Kensei had practice again, she supposed. There was no point in finding him – all their conversations usually ended in quarrelling, though it was mostly playful until Orihime became exasperated and Kensei would get peeved with her indifferent attitude.
"Orihime-chan."
The redhead glanced up hesitantly from her arms and frowned. She had expected Mashiro, or even Kensei playing a pointless joke on her. Instead, it was the same three boys from before who'd greeted her in the hallway. She did not know their names, and she did not want to know. Quickly, she sat up, prepared for any sudden movements. Since second period, every male in the school had been acting odd. She was quite prepared to use her book bag to force herself out of the school. But she probably wouldn't get that far with their impressive girth. Why hadn't she realized how tall and well-built these teenagers were? Was she that oblivious, or did she not care?
Probably the latter.
She would admit: she had been acting weird earlier. Even Mashiro had been shocked. She'd been thoroughly frustrated, pink in her cheeks, her eyes glistening, and wide-eyed surprise on her face. She did not know how all that could be summed into cuteness. Children did it all the time and she found it rather disgusting how babies were cooed at for that kind of manner.
"Yes?"
At her small response, all the boys leaned closer. Her eyebrow twitched subtly. She was trying to be polite – just as Mashiro had told her earlier while Kensei had said something as "deck 'em," which she didn't know what meant and Mashiro had put up a fuss about it. Oh, well.
"Mind if I carry your books, Orihime-chan?" The third black-haired shuffled closer to her, too close. She was thankful for the desk that blocked them away from her.
Orihime closed her English textbook, "No. I am fine. Thank you."
"Polite and cute~ What a girl." One crooned.
She nearly threw her book at him. She was not like this usually. Kurosaki was bringing out the worst in her.
"I'm leaving," she murmured, grabbing up her things. She tucked her books away, and turned in the other direction. Someone grabbed her arm, and she felt a finger wrap around a loose lock of hair. She started.
"Wait, Orihime-chan, we just wanna—"
"She said she was leaving," A deep, familiar voice said from beside her. Orihime jumped again, her heartbeat going faster automatically. She glanced to her right and there stood Ichigo. He did not appear happy – in fact, he didn't look anything like his usual bright, annoying self. His expression were as dark as rainclouds, his mouth set in a deep, menacing frown, his eyebrows furrowed violently, and his hands buried deeply in his pockets. The boys instantly released her, stammering.
"K-Kurosaki, we were just—"
"Leave," Ichigo grumbled, his voice lower than normal. Of course, the teenagers fled and Orihime watched this all, surprised. Finally, when Ichigo dark brown eyes landed on hers, he seemed to soften, "Are you alright?"
Her gaze landed on his lips. Right where Loly had kissed him. She'd felt those lips before, pressed against her firmly with a vow of his love. Another throb went through her chest and she debated whether or not to see the nurse vaguely.
"Orihime?"
His soft lips formed her name. She blinked rapidly, breaking back into the real world. When she met his questioning gaze, she hurried to avert her gaze. Grabbing up her bag, she muttered, "I need to go."
"Orihime—Hey! Wait up!"
As she exited the classroom, she heard him scrambling to grab up his things and then rushing out of the door with a wave of goodbye to a crowd of girls. They squealed, and Orihime glared at the ground in front of her.
"Orihime!"
Her glare became even fiercer and she speeded up her walk. As soon as she made it to the empty shoe lockers, she peeled off her white shoes and grabbed up her brown ones. She almost ran again when she heard Ichigo's hurried footsteps. She was just slipping her toe in the first shoe when strong, long arms wrapped around her.
Orihime gasped sharply as she stumbled backward. Her shoes slipped off and the arms pulled her into a hard chest. The gasping had been a bad idea – his scent was like a foreign smell to her and she was eager to test it out. She blinked rapidly over his shoulder – he'd bent down to embrace her small form – and tried to make sense of what was happening.
The blush came without warning, "W-What're you—"
He leaned back, and his eyes met hers. She registered her bag falling a second too late from her hand when he cupped her face gently in his large palms. She stared up at him, bewilder, her lips parted.
"You've been avoiding me."
She gaped up at him.
"And I wanna know why."
Slowly, the outer world began to dull and all she could see was his lips pressing against Loly's. Betrayal? Was that the feeling? She supposed she should be feeling that. After all, he'd said that he was in love with her.
Swiftly, she broke from his hold. Slowly, Ichigo dropped his arms back to his sides and stood straight, eyebrows furrowed and his gaze innocently confused.
"…I see." Orihime murmured a moment later, keeping her eyes on a crack on the tile floor a few inches away.
His frown deepened, "What? What is it?"
She stared harder at the crack. "It is not like it matters, Kurosaki. I'm going home." She started away, but she felt a soft brush on her cheek. She nearly stumbled backwards when he tucked a lock of fiery amber behind her ear. His touch burned for some odd reason. She really needed to see a nurse. She gasped, and he smiled softly.
And for some reason, this action sparked anger into her. Was this what he was good at? Creating some kind of feeling between a girl and himself? Is that why he kissed Loly? Was he – as Rangiku said it – a player? Was she his next target? Pieces of the puzzle were coming together and she refused to let them fall apart anymore. She grinded her teeth together. How could he do this? What was wrong with him?
He seemed to notice her change of expression, "Orihime—"
She flinched away from his touch and he stood there, frozen, "What is your problem?" She hissed venomously.
He stared at her.
"I told you before, I'm not a toy!"
"What're you talking ab—"
"I saw you," He tensed, grimacing at her now, "I saw you with Loly-san and you…" His expression suddenly dawned with comprehension as she took a step back, "How could you…How could you…!"
He rearranged his features, staring down at her blankly now, "Are you jealous?"
You couldn't imagine how much that reaction hurt. Nurse, now. She quickly pulled herself back together. "No! I'm disgusted, actually. Disgusted that you can throw girls around like that. How can you claim to love me? How could you kiss me…and…and it didn't mean anything! How can you kiss people so freely and not feel anything?!"
He appeared shocked now as Orihime panted. She'd never yelled at someone before, at least, not recently, and it pulled a huge weight off her chest. Something in her body was still throbbing, and her body was doing something weird – trembling. Her face felt uncomfortably hot and her eyes felt like they were being blown by a fierce wind. She pressed her shaking lips together.
What is wrong with me?
Finally, he spoke, his voice surprisingly soft, "Orihime—" He tried to touch her again.
She retracted as though he were on fire.
He grimaced again, and then shoved his hand back into his pocket.
"I-I'm…" She couldn't speak. Her throat felt clogged up. Weird. "I-I'm…g-going…"
"Orihime," he murmured, "You're crying."
She did not know those two words could make her world turn upside down.
She hadn't cried in a very long, long time.
Quickly, she rose up her hands and pressed them against her eyes. Sure enough, there were sparkling droplets in her palms. They mystified her. Why was she crying? Nothing was wrong. Nothing was broken. So why did…?
He hurt you, a small voice said inside her. A small voice she had refused to listen to since her brother died.
Orihime flinched backward, stumbling, and he moved to catch her, but she did it herself. With jerking movements, she stooped down and grabbed up her backpack. She turned away, and she heard him calling her name.
With every step, she found her chest hurting even more.
…
…
She was hungry.
And grumpy.
Quietly, Orihime placed her head on the table. Instantly, Kensei and Mashiro stopped arguing like brats and turned their attention on her. Mashiro pouted while Kensei watched her, arching his brows.
"Are you alright?" Mashiro asked.
"She's just tired," Kensei grumbled, "I bet she stayed up on night studying." On the contrary, she hadn't. That was unheard of. When she'd arrived home the evening prior, she had stripped from her clothes, and sat in the bath until her skin wrinkled, and finally managed to spread her books all across the room. Of course, Rangiku had questioned her about her red eyes, extremely worried, but Orihime had somehow fallen asleep on the living room floor, her head on Yoruichi's fat stomach, and a nightmare coursing through her brain.
"Hey, Inoue!"
"Sup, Orihime-chan!"
"How's it going, Inoue-senpai?"
And not to mention the boys in the school. They wouldn't leave her alone. With a frown, she refused to greet any of them as they left the cafeteria. Kensei glared behind them and Mashiro giggled. Resting her chin on her folded arms, Orihime's brow wrinkled. This oddly reminded her of Kurosaki. How did he stand being greeted by so many people in one day? Quickly, she shook the thoughts away. That was the last person she wanted to think about.
"I don't see why you're so grumpy, Orihime-chan," Mashiro put in, tossing her red apple between her hands, "I think the whole thing romantic…"
"Yeah," Kensei grunted, crossing his arms over his chest, "You seem to be the only one thinking that."
Mashiro stuck her tongue out at him before returning her attention to Orihime. With a rather sly look in her eye, Mashiro stood and placed her hands on her wide hips, and bounced them side to side seductively, "I don't think you get the big picture, Orihime-chan." She poked a finger in the center of Orihime's furrowed brows, "At some point, these little girls are gonna snatch him away from you, just like that," she snapped her fingers, causing Orihime to blink, startled, "Aaand, before they do," she lopped her arms around Orihime's neck, jostling the redheaded girl uncomfortably, "You jump him~!"
Detangling herself from Mashiro's web, Orihime puffed out her cheeks, unbeknownst of making her even more adorable. She sat up, crossing her arms over her chest, "I would never do such a thing. For the last time, I am not infatuated with Kurosaki."
Kensei crooked a brow again, "Coulda fooled me."
Orihime shot him a glare.
Mashiro playfully rolled her eyes as the bell rung, "You both are impossible."
Orihime followed the two out of the cafeteria, carrying her onigiri with her. When they were changed for gym, and the boys began to stretch outside, Orihime munched on her lunch quietly.
"Baseball~ Baseball~ Baseball~" Mashiro sung merrily, skipping alongside Orihime. People casted her looks, but Orihime found this typically normal as they stopped at the edge of the field. Already, the game was starting. "Orihime-chan, cheer me on, I'm gonna win and beat Kensei-meanie!" She gave numeral poses and said the entire sentence with different voices before ending her phrase with her legs spread wide, a fierce look of determination, and a V-sign.
Orihime's chibi'd self raised a limp hand in the background, "Ganbatte."
Mashiro ran off, and Kensei yelled something at her angrily, which she yelled back, taking her spot in the outer field. Orihime stood there in the grass, watching with a deadpan expression, and eating her onigiri.
"Oh, spicy…" She mumbled to herself. As she watched Kensei throw a few balls towards Mashiro, her view was suddenly blocked by perfect skin, thick ponytails, and rose-tinted eyes.
"Oh~ You're Inoue-chan, aren't you?"
Instantly, flashes of lips pressed firmly together, and a slim body pressed against Kurosaki's had Orihime tensing, if only for a second. She simply stared at the girl in front of her.
Loly pointed to her face, a sparkly aura surrounding her. Her lips parted in a small 'o' shape when Orihime did not reply, "You don't remember me?" she asked. werHer"It's me, Aivirrne Loly."
Orihime continued to chew on her onigiri, quiet.
Subtly, Loly's eyebrow twitched, but she smiled brightly again, "I just wanted to say hello. And I was wondering if we could ever be friends."
Orihime chewed. "…"
Loly's smile dropped by a short degree, "After all, since you're so close to Ichi-kun, I thought we could be too."
Orihime paused for a second, "…Who is Ichi-kun?"
Loly's smile widened again, "My boyfriend. Kurosaki Ichigo."
Again, there was that icy feeling in her chest. Orihime pressed her lips together, and tightened her small hands on the onigiri. For some reason, an odd sensation came over her – she wanted to smash it into Loly's face. Strange. She'd never had a violent impulse in her life. She was still debating whether or not to see the nurse.
Carefully, she took a glimpse over Loly's shoulder. There was Ichigo. He was tall, and the tan skin of his arms was exposed, lean and strong. He raised his mitt casually and caught the ball sailing towards him before tossing it back. Orihime looked away before she could be caught. Was that guilt lacing into the cold? She had already felt guilt as soon as she had yelled at him yesterday. She had been hoping to get over it.
"Inoue-chan, helloooo~?" A hand waved in her face, breaking her concentration. She took a bite out of the spicy, salty rice to keep back her tongue. She did not want to say something she would later regret. Loly beamed as Orihime's attention flickered back to her, "I hope we can be friends."
"…" Orihime did not reply.
Chew. Chew. Chew.
Loly's eyebrow twitched again, "Ne, Inoue-chan, are you really that close to Ichi-kun?"
Chew. Chew. Chew.
"I just wanted to ask because he talks about you a lot," Loly's eyes darkened a bit, but she smiled through it, "It's almost as though he's in love with you." She laughed a bit, but the sound wasn't humorous at all, "But when he kissed me last weekend, I knew we would be together."
Cold. Orihime almost winced away from the throbbing in her chest. She bit sharply in the onigiri. "Hm…"
Chew. Chew. Chew.
Finally, to Loly's slight relief and exasperation, Orihime finished her rice ball. Loly opened her mouth to say something, but Orihime slowly and carefully took out another onigiri from God knows where, peeled it open, and then bit into it.
Chew. Chew. Chew.
"What is with you?" Loly finally snapped, her voice coming out low, and the sparkly aura around her seemed to vanish.
Orihime blinked slowly.
"What's so special about you anyway? You're a freak show, and everyone knows it! What did you do?" She took a step closer to Orihime, "Did you sleep with him? Did you?"
Orihime merely stared at her, impassive. As if she would let her words get to her. And she was hungry, after all.
"Talk, you bi—"
"Watch out!"
Orihime and Loly turned just in time to see a balling hurtling straight towards the two. Quickly, Loly took a step back, and Orihime's eyes widened impossibly large on her face as the sphere headed towards her in frightening speeds. She squeezed her eyes shut, prepared to meet her demise.
There was a loud smacking noise.
"Orihime-chan!" Mashiro shrieked, and Kensei's muscles bunched violently.
A pause issued through the air, along with a breeze of strong wind.
There was no pain. That startled her.
"Orihime."
Hesitantly, her eyes fluttered. The voice was close, and she instantly felt the warmth. She opened her eyes slowly, and her gaze locked with a chocolate brown. A mitt was in front of her face, curled around the offensive ball, and his face was uncomfortably close to hers, so close, she could feel his warm breath. He wasn't touching her, but her skin tingled sharply.
"I-Ichi-kun," Loly murmured in surprise.
Ichigo did not look at her or respond. Slowly, he dropped his arm, and curled his mitt around the ball. His eyes stared straight into Orihime's, "Are you alright?"
Orihime released a breath, her heart hammering against her chest. Ichigo raised his free hand and brushed the excess rice from the corners of her mouth and cheek. A crowd of students started to gather around the two, pushing Loly out of the way and instantly checking on Orihime's welfare.
Flinching away from Ichigo, red in the cheeks, Orihime mumbled, "I-I'm fine."
Mashiro let out a sigh of relief as Kensei angrily bunched a hand in Keigo's gym shirt. Keigo screamed and thrashed, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
"I told you to stop throwing damn curves balls," Kensei spat at him, rattling the poor boy.
"So clumsy, Asano-san," Mizuiro put in.
Ichigo grinned down at Orihime, laughing. Orihime stared at him face, startled.
I want to see him smile, she thought vaguely, even if it's not for me.
Turning her face away, she glared stubbornly at the ground, "T-Thank you."
Ichigo's grin simply widened.
…
…
"Are you sure you're alright, Orihime-chan?"
Orihime sighed softly, tucking her chin deeper in the scarf. She met Mashiro's curious green gaze. "I already told you. I'm fine, Shiro-chan."
"Mou~ You worry me so much," she placed a dramatic hand on her heart with a look of false hurt, "But it was sweet, wasn't it?"
Orihime's pink cheeks deepened in color. Together, the two girls walked. The sun was already setting and the She averted her eyes from the beaming girl, "I-I suppose."
Mashiro's grin widened, "You're blushing~! So cute."
Orihime stopped walking and faced her, glaring – though it appeared even more adorable with her crimson face, "W-What about you?" She said, "Shouldn't you be with Kensei?"
Mashiro pouted, "You don't want me here, Orihime-chaaan?"
Orihime pursed her lips, "Wouldn't you rather be with him? After all, you're together."
There was a pause. Tilting her head to the side, Mashiro uttered an, "Eh?" Before her face finally lit up with understanding, "He didn't tell you?"
Orihime's expression turned confused and wary, "Tell me what?"
"Orihime-chan," Mashiro beamed brightly at her, "I like chicks, not dicks."
The wind blew.
Orihime blinked rapidly, before her mouth fell open, "W-What?"
"I thought you knew," Mashiro said, returning to her innocent persona, tapping a finger to her chin, "Maybe Kensei forgot. Haven't you noticed? Kensei and I are outcasts just like you. I confessed to being homosexual in middle school and I was pretty much thrown out of any kind of group. Once, two years ago, I think, I was nearly beaten up so bad I almost died." She laughed optimistically while Orihime stared at her, "Kensei saved me and we became very good friends after that. Everyone's too scared to say anything to him and he's been in more fights than I can count. But I love him. He's like the brother I never wanted~ Hehe!"
Orihime was quiet. "Sorry."
"It's nothing to be sorry for," Mashiro replied, laughing again, "I kinda knew I wasn't like everyone else when I got a crush on this girl named Risa. She was into ecchi books and very interesting, she's a senior now, but I've been crushing on her for forever~"
"And you haven't approached her?" Orihime asked.
"Nope." Mashiro popped her lips before frowning lightly, "You don't seem so surprised."
"You're still Shiro-chan," Orihime murmured, still befuddled, "What should it matter to me what gender you are attracted to?"
Mashiro teasingly pinched her cheek, "And that's why we're friends forever~!"
As Orihime lifted a hand to bat hers away, they both heard, "Oi! Orihime!" Instantly, the girl tensed. Mashiro's head whipped around, and she grinned again.
"Kurosaki-san. Hello, hello~!" She waved energetically. Orihime ducked her head. "What are you doing here?"
Orihime could already feel his warmth, both behind her and inside her chest. The blush bloomed almost automatically, and she dug her chin into her scarf, attempting to hide her shame.
"Hey, Mashiro," Ichigo greeted her warmly, as he would do anyone else. And then she felt his stare digging into her back. "Orihime." The way he said her name sent some kind of shiver down her spine. She wondered if she was frightened or something else? Perhaps the cold.
Mashiro grinned slyly. Running a few paces ahead, she waved a hand over her head, "Bye-bye, you two~!" And then hurried off, giggling all the while. Orihime blinked repeatedly and then jerked when she realized what Mashiro had did.
Traitor, she thought silently.
"Orihime?"
Starting, Orihime kept her back to him. Hesitantly, when she glanced over her shoulder, he was grinning down at her. She twisted her hands nervously, and tried to calm down her hammering heart, "S-Shouldn't you be with your girlfriend?" Great. She was stuttering. Just what with her incompatibility to form sentences properly these last few weeks? None of this had happened to her before.
Ichigo appeared surprised, "Girlfriend?" And then he smiled, "Are you referring to yourself?"
Glaring at him now, she huffed, "No. Loly-san is your girlfriend, is she not?"
Ichigo was confused before his expression clouded over with a rather fierce look. When he leaned down rather close to her face, she wanted to recoil, surprised. Her heart rate climbed as he locked eyes with hers.
"She kissed me, Orihime."
Why, oh, why did those three first words send her tumbling down a road of relief? Her shoulders slumped a bit, and her breathing came out a bit harsh. She hurried to avert her gaze, though, she could already see the smugness there, and the boyish grin.
"And she's not my girlfriend," Ichigo added, "I've got my eye on someone else."
Orihime puffed out her pink cheeks, and stubbornly set her mouth in a firm line. When she finally gathered her bearings, she turned away, "I-It's not it's any of my concern. I'm going home." She turned and walked away.
And, of course, Ichigo followed her.
…
…
I hoped you liked it. I'm starting to update faster again. Yay, me! I was out all day today, but I somehow managed to write four-thousand words in two hours after I woke up from my nap. I can't sleep~
Tell me what you think. I still want Ichigo to talk with Rangiku, and of course, sexy Ichigo. Oh, and I wanted to clarify one thing: the reason I gave Ichigo the black-haired appearance was – since in canon, he was always judged and bullied about having orange hair, and termed as a delinquent – and I wanted him to be the complete opposite of that. Instead of I gave him black hair, because usually, the male main character has black hair, and it is a NORMAL hair color, even though Ichigo is much more cuter with orange hair to me, he'd be accepted much more easily by society with his hair color. Btw, LOVED Mashiro in this chapter. She made me laugh, even though I wrote her.
Please review and tell me what you think. Love you guys~!
-Star