Blossoms of Love
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Byakuya x Orihime
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Authors Note:
Sorry I haven't updated! But I've been sick a lot (there's been something wrong with me idk!) and yes it is summer here where I am (aka no school) BUT I have two online classes... BLEH.
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Warning: T rating for language
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Previously…
Checking the time, Orihime realized that dinner was right around the corner, three hours away. But she decided to wait and see what her roommate would want to do.
In the meantime Orihime sat down on the couch and turned on the television, as she began her homework.
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"A friend should be one in whose understanding and virtue we can equally confide, and whose opinion we can value at once for its justness and its sincerity."
~Robert Hall
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Orihime glanced at the clock it was nearing six o'clock but she hadn't even received a phone call from Byakuya. Which was strange, since the two of them had developed a sort of method of communication about dinner; which was pretty much the only time they spent together- even on the weekends. He would be home right after his classes or Kendo let out, and if he wasn't home by five he would call informing her whether or not he'd be there on time.
It was strange she thought that sometimes he would call her even though he was still at school. Orihime knew that if she talked like that around her friends they would all tease her about having a secret boyfriend. And she couldn't imagine what people would come up with about who Byakuya was calling. To be honest that had been a tiny bit- okay a big part of why she hadn't visited him since the day she helped him around town. Orihime didn't want to be put under the same kind of scrutiny as she had been under with that rude secretary.
Sighing, Orihime checked her phone, it read 6:10. She groaned putting her head in her arms, "I'm bordering on obsessive girlfriend…" she whined to herself. It was true, she didn't want to just pop up at his practice and say 'Hey you didn't call, so I totally came here to stalk you!'. Well okay she wouldn't say that but that's what it would seem like, at least to her.
Without giving it much for thought, Orihime dialed Byakuya's cell number and waited for him to pick up. Just as she was about to give up, the line clicked on and a muffled voice was heard.
"H-Hello? Byakuya?" Orihime asked cautiously.
"Hey sorry this is Hei, Byakuya is training right now." The kendo captain's voice was friendly.
"Oh! Sorry about making you answer his phone!" She laughed sheepishly.
"It's no problem at all, is the Orihime?" He asked, she could tell he was curious.
"Yes it is, you met me on Byakuya's orientation." Orihime smiled fondly, Hei had been kind to her and her roommate.
He laughed, "Yeah we did… uhm Byakuya's done dueling now. Here he is." A rustling could be heard as the phone exchanged hands.
"Hello?" Byakuya's deep voice was unmistakable.
"Hi… I didn't mean to interrupt." The young girl laid down on her back, looking at the ceiling.
There was silence for a moment, from what she could tell he was moving away from the noise on the other end. "You didn't interrupt anything… at least you aren't apologizing all the time now." She could just see the sarcasm in his eyes.
Orihime puffed out her cheeks, "Well 'at least you aren't so mean anymore'…" she mocked him, and she could swear he frowned. "But no I was wondering what's going on for dinner tonight?"
It was silent for a moment before he spoke. "I didn't know it had gotten this late, would it be best if we ate out somewhere?"
She thought a moment, "Nowhere fancy and we got a deal wealthy Captain?" Orihime occasionally like to use that title in public to annoy him.
"Very well, where should we meet?" She could hear more noise floating through the receiver.
Orihime thought, "How about, your gym in twenty?"
"That sounds acceptable, I will see you then." And with that he clicked the end button and the call was finished.
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Byakuya threw his cellular device back into his duffle bag before turning to his Kendo Captain, "I'll be leaving shortly."
Hei just nodded, "One last match between you and Kaname?" he gestured to one of the best members on the team.
Byakuya simply nodded and took his place on the mat. He would make quick work of this, since he still needed a shower. Just as the whistle sounded Byakuya lunged and hit Kaname on his shoulder, one point down- two more to go.
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Orihime took her time, well as much as possible, getting ready to go meet the Captain. The last time she had visited, there had been many prying eyes. So as if to kid herself- she wanted to 'live up to' the awesomeness that was her roommate. But really she just wanted to make a decent impression on his Kendo team.
Slipping on a pair of dark blue jeans, Orihime hurried and slipped on a fashionable tank top. It was loose with green and white stripes going across, but she felt as if her shoulders were exposed so she slipped on small white jacket. Glancing in the mirror she decided she needed something sparkly. And so she pulled out a silver necklace of a butterfly, which fit perfectly under her collar bone.
She quickly applied make up, re-combed her hair and then slipped on her dark blue converse. Shaking her head, Orihime grabbed her purse and flew out the front door, almost forgetting to lock the door.
As she walked down the stair case she thought it was oddly quiet; taking out her iPod Orihime slipped on the headphones and turned the song to Sympathique by Pink Martini (it was a cute French song). She pranced along the side walk, mouthing the words she hardly new how to pronounce. Soon the song was over and Orihime pulled out the device and chose a more pop song by another artist she loved, Heartkiller by Kat Graham.
Orihime smiled to herself, 'Sometimes I really wish real life was a musical! That way I could sing and dance and no one would spare me a second glance!' But she carried on, if anyone was to look at her, it would just seem as if she was skipping or in a hurry. But in Orihime's head she was dancing down the street.
As she neared the college campus, she toned it down a bit just singing in her head. Instead of keeping eye contact with the students there she just listened to her music and pretended not to pay attention to anyone. It worked pretty well; no one gave her funny looks like they normally did because of her hair. 'Walk with confidence or indifference and you belong…' This was the mantra Rangiku had taught her, if you acted like you belonged and had the confidence then no one would ask questions.
As Orihime neared the gymnasium, she whipped out her cell phone. Seeing she still had about twenty minutes before Byakuya would be meeting her, she decided to take a slower walk around the campus. The sun shone overhead and twinkled down on her, it was almost perfect as her iPod had just shuffled to a song called, Pretty Face by Sóley. It had a sweet rhythm and the girl's voice made her just smile, though it was slow it had an upbeat tone to it.
Soon Orihime found herself walking near the arts building, which had a large mural on the side. She looked up at it, figuring it was a mosaic in respect to Dali's painting The Persistence of Memory (the famous melting clocks). 'I wonder what it's made out of…' Orihime bit her lip, there were no signs saying she couldn't touch… slowly reaching out a delicate hand, her finger tips touched the surface.
Somewhere in the back of her mind she though she heard someone speaking. Slipping off the headphones, so the sat in the cradle in her neck she glanced around to see a boy starring at her. "Uh? Did you say something?" She flushed brightly.
The guy smiled a little, "I said you weren't allowed to touch the mosaic."
"O-Oh my gosh! I'm sorry, there wasn't a sign…" Orihime trailed off in confusion as he laughed lightly, much to her annoyance.
His brown hair blew a little in the wind. "I was totally kidding you!" As he saw her scrunched face, he straightened up a little. "S-Sorry… it's just fun to mess with people who don't know."
Orihime gave him an incredulous look, her eyes sweeping him. He was obviously taller than her, but not as tall as Byakuya. Shaggy brown hair and from what she could tell brown eyes. She new it was a funny prank, but it had surprised her so. "Yeah…" she deadpanned… 'Well awkward way to meet someone new.' She thought to herself.
The guy shrugged, "Sorry again, I'm in the Art department- I like to scare the non-art students." She smiled a little at this. "My name is Ryo." He stuck out his hand.
"Orihime." She caught his hand and shook, squeezing his hand a little. "Nice to meet you."
"Likewise." Ryo grinned. "Now, why were you touching the mosaic?" He asked casually as he stepped up next to her.
The auburn head shrugged, "I wanted to know what it was made out of… I couldn't tell if it was tile, glass or ceramic."
"Ah… did you figure it out?" He said jokingly, upon seeing her shake her head 'no', he continued. "Well, I can tell you it's made out of ceramics."
Orihime glanced at him from the side; he really was an art student. He wore jeans that were slightly baggy, with a gray t-shirt that had a grizzly bear with a machine gun with the words; I support the right to arm bears. It made her smile.
"Thanks…" she searched for something to say, "…so do you like the art department?" It worked for a starting conversation.
Ryo nodded, "Yeah it's a lot of fun- you get to do a lot of what you want."
"That's nice that you have that kind of freedom." She smiled at him, still a little flustered.
"Yeah… I haven't seen you around. What department are you in?" He asked innocently enough. But it caused Orihime to flush, many times her friends told her that if an older guy asks anything related to your age- beat around the bush.
"Oh yeah- I don't attend here so that's probably why." She said looking back at the wall.
Ryo seemed caught on what to say, but finally managed to speak again. "I'm guessing you didn't just stumble onto campus then?"
Shaking her head Orihime continued, "I'm actually here to pick up a friend…." She looked down at her phone, Byakuya was sure to be done by now. "…actually I have to go! I really liked talking to you though." She smiled shyly.
"No problem! It's been nice talking to you as well." He gave her a little wave, which she returned.
As she left his sight, a few of his friends (who Orihime couldn't see) began making hip thrusting motions- much to his displeasure. Ryo flipped them off before walking the other way.
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Orihime hurried to the gym, wondering if she had been too rude to the college guy Ryo. But she really did have somewhere to be, Byakuya was never one for tardiness, well that and she was ridiculously hungry.
In no time Orihime found herself standing in front of the main gym area, looking around and finding no sign of her friend she decided to head into the actual gym. As she walked through the doors, male voices drifted towards her.
Orihime smiled slightly as she spotted Hei and Byakuya speaking near the bleachers, in their street clothes. Which were surprisingly similar outfit of jeans and a loose shirt. Hei's was a red shirt with a print of some kind while Byakuya just donned a simple gray t-shirt.
It was then that she assumed Byakuya saw her, since he began to walk with Hei towards her.
Orihime smiled kindly as the boys approached. "Hi guys."
Byakuya stood next to her, nodding in his quiet way of greeting.
"Hello." Hei said warmly, "How are you today Orihime?"
"Very good. And you?" The three of them began to walk towards the doors of the gym.
He opened the door for the two of them, "Tired but otherwise okay. Byakuya is ridiculously good at Kendo." Hei laughed a little, "I wouldn't be surprised if he took the top spot."
Orihime let a small knowing smile form on her lips, "Really now?" she turned to her roommate and grinned a little bit, as he glared at her.
"I've had practice." Byakuya said coolly, causing Orihime to roll her eyes.
The three of them made their way out and to the sidewalk, where Hei spoke. "Well I'll see you later Byakuya. See ya Orihime." He waved to the both of them as he walked in the opposite direction.
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It was quiet for a moment, and then Byakuya spoke. "Say it."
Orihime feigned surprise, "Say what?"
The captain rolled his eyes, "There is something on your mind." He stated simply.
She was quiet for a moment, "How did you know?" Orihime's voice had a faked seriousness to it. Though it did perplex her how Byakuya was able to read her. Though she did imagine that he was equally confused at her ability to know what was on his mind. "What were you and Hei talking about? Do you have a friend?"
Byakuya's eyebrows furrowed, "We were talking about different techniques in offense." His tone was supposed to leave no room for a comment, but Orihime just smiled.
Lately she had been pushing for him to make connections with people at his college. Firstly it would be suspicious if he didn't. And like she had said quietly, 'You have to have a connection with someone other than me.'
"Well where would you like to eat?" She moved the topic along. "There's a good pita place down the road."
The raven haired man nodded his head. "That seems suitable." They walked in a silence
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Byakuya found that there were many more food options in the world of the living. And when he did return to the Soul Society, he would make sure to implement some of the finer cuisines. Though he had heard of the 'pita' he'd never tried one.
Like many things in this world, was a small adventure. The Captain reflected on the past few weeks. Things had been moving at a reasonable pace. The battalion and himself were slowly working to the bottom of the mystery that was the new breed of hollows.
And they found themselves learning new techniques to defeat the beasts. Byakuya did make sure that Orihime (and her human friends) were trained as well.
Soon they rounded the corner and he saw a sign with the word pita on it. He simply followed Orihime, who had been patient with him since his arrival. Though occasionally she did get frustrated and even angry with him, his hostess was still kind. And even though he had partly denied it, Byakuya had taken in to mind how just a week or so ago, she told him to go out and make human friends. Initially he didn't see what the problem of staying within the circle of the spiritually inclined was, but soon found it was easier not to be questioned by other students if he created more acquaintanceships.
Especially with females.
He found that they were less likely to speak to him if he was in a group of males.
Not saying he didn't like women, but the kind that approached him had less tact than Yoruichi and Rangiku combined.
"Here we are." Orihime's voice brought him out of his thoughts. The two of them entered the strange food place, and he was immediately met with a gust of cold air. 'Another human marvel…' he thought blandly.
The two of them soon stood in line, and he let her order for him. Byakuya found that he was not the best at choosing what was best in this world's area of food. As they waited in comfortable silence, he marveled at how adaptable his hostess was. Not many people could welcome a near stranger into their home and be as friendly as Orihime was.
That… and she wasn't the worst company in the world.
"Yo! Orihime!" A rough voice called out, just as the chef handed them their pita's.
He saw the man and his friend sitting at a table.
And there was company he'd rather not be in. "Kurosaki…" he grumbled and saw Orihime's lips turn softly in a smile as she shared a sideway's glance with him.
"Here…" she handed him his wrap-thing. "… hi Ichigo, Risa." Orihime smiled and waved awkwardly. Byakuya just stared into the distance.
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"Come sit with us." Risa said jovially.
Orihime could have died; her roommate wasn't the friendliest with others at the best of times. And now they would have to sit down and share a meal, with Ichigo, whom Byakuya loathed. Sighing, she nudged Byakuya's side with her elbow to make him pay attention as she moved forward to sit with Risa and Ichigo. "Thanks! How have you been?"
Soon the greetings were over. "So…" Risa said, "Who's this?" She said awkwardly.
Orihime smiled, "This is Byakuya Kuchiki, my friend who just moved here."
"Nice to meet you, my name is Risa." She smiled politely.
"Likewise." Was his stony reply.
She paused a moment, "Are you related to Rukia Kuchiki?"
"Yes I am her brother." Byakuya answered in slight surprise.
Risa grinned. "I've heard a lot about you, Rukia really looks up to you."
Orihime was honestly surprised this girl paid enough attention to Rukia to know this.
But Byakuya just replied with, "Hopefully you've only heard good things."
And soon the conversation was left to the two girls, while the boys just stared at each other.
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"So… I heard what happened in the yard today." Risa said with a look of mild curiosity.
Orihime licked her lips nervously; she knew things would get around but not this quickly.
"What happened?" Ichigo looked between the two, and Orihime looked at her food.
She could feel Byakuya's gaze as well.
"Uhm… let's see if I've heard everything right. Chizuru tried to feel Orihime up, she stopped her. Then everyone started harassing her, say things like 'are you on drugs- are you with a guy'…" Risa paused as Orihime nodded. "Then Renji and Rukia kind of had her back, something about a dojo?"
Sitting back awkwardly, she nodded. "Pretty much. Apparently it's not okay if I hang out with them every weekend."
Ichigo's eyebrows furrowed. "I never did like Chizuru." He mumbled.
Risa smiled a little, "But I'm pretty sure you lied about having a, and I quote, 'mysterious guy' in you life." She had used air quotation marks.
Orihime's cheeks turned pink, and Byakuya choked a little on his pita. And Ichigo looked shocked.
"Ah, uhm no. I've been showing Byakuya around and stuff, because he just moved here. We're not like that." The Captain nodded in agreement.
Risa only cocked an eyebrow. "Mmhm… well I'll keep this little meeting under wraps. Ichigo didn't seem too shocked so I believe you."
Somewhere deep down, Orihime was surprised that Risa was observant enough to know about their circle of friends.
"Well we have to get going." Orihime smiled, looking at her phone. The two of them stood, as did Risa and Ichigo.
"It was nice to meet you Byakuya." Risa bowed a little in respect.
He offered little more than a "Hmn…" in response, which only irritated Ichigo and left Orihime with a slight smile. Risa didn't seem to mind.
"See you guys in class." Orihime waved them off as she and Byakuya made their trek back to their apartment.
'Wait! When did I start referring to my apartment as ours…' Orihime thought worriedly. She would have to watch what she said, especially now that Risa had seen her with a man. Even if she said they were just friends.
And even though nothing had really upset her this evening, she couldn't help but be a tad disappointed she didn't get to talk to Byakuya more.
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As the neared the apartment, Byakuya reflected silently on their dinner.
Risa had turned out to be a nice girl, which blew his mind on exactly why she dated Ichigo Kurosaki.
Still he was slightly let down that he did not get to spend the night with his hostess. Byakuya's step nearly faltered. When in his past, had he been 'let down' on such a casual level that caused a scowl to form on his face.
It perplexed him to no end on why exactly what had put him in such a mood. Sure, he and Orihime had not really had a night out together in some time, and this one was spoiled by… what? 'Kurosaki.' It was the only explanation. Besides, he was making it sound as if he and Orihime were on a… date. (At least that's what he thought it was called.)
"How was your food?" Orihime asked suddenly as she unlocked the door.
"Very good. I would like to go there again." Byakuya answered honestly as he slipped off his shoes.
His hostess flashed him a brilliant smile. "I'll keep that in mind."
Just as she was going to step into the living room, with him following, Orihime stubbed her foot on the heavy book bag she had forgotten about. Byakuya watched as she regained her balance, or so he thought. It seemed as if not turning on the lights was a poor decision as she walked into something else and lost her balance all together.
Byakuya reacted out of instinct- grabbing her left fore arm, with his left hand. And then he placed his right hand on her waist to steady her as she wobbled.
They stood there for a moment, his hand in the small of her waist.
It was then he could feel one of Orihime's hands gripping his forearm and other holding onto the shirt above his chest. For unknown reason's it felt as if electrical currents ran through him as her bare hand and his unclothed fore arm touched.
Byakuya, for the first time in his long life, could not move.
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Orihime knew if the lights had been on, Byakuya would have been able to see the raging blush across her cheeks. Not only for being embarrassed by the fact that she almost fell over, but… that his hands were on her. No man had ever held her waist, that wasn't in a platonic way. She gulped slowly as she felt her hand grow increasingly hot.
Orihime looked into the darkness at where she could vaguely see Byakuya's intense gaze.
Neither one of them moved, she was paralyzed.
As Byakuya exhaled slowly, his breath fanned her face- snapping out of her reverie. "T-Thanks." She said awkwardly, righting herself.
Slowly each of them relinquished their hold on one another. "Perhaps…" he began, his voice making her palms sweaty, "…we should turn on the lights next time?"
Orihime nodded, "Yes. And maybe I shouldn't left my text books out."
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The two of them had moved on through the night as normal as possible. But Orihime was hyper aware of her body and Byakuya's placement in proximity to the others, and she felt he was doing the exact same thing.
Soon they bid each other a good night and Orihime, deep in the sheets of her bed flushed beet red as she thought back to how… how… good Byakuya's hand had felt on her waist.
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After Note:
OOHHHH! We have SEXUAL TENSION. Or am I just overreacting to my own story?
Oh and yes, I'm pretty sure there is something wrong with my immune system. I get sick ALL OF THE TIME.
And please review! Let me know what you think and how you want the story to go! :D Gimme ideas!
