Theme: Crumble
Just Desserts
Paper crinkled as he peeled it slowly away, revealing a simple box inside. He lifted the lid with his fingertips, and the aroma of sugar and cocoa wafted out of the small container. Placing the lid carefully on the desk, he took a moment to contemplate the contents.
A chocolate cupcake, complete with chocolate icing and jelly beans, was nestled carefully inside the box. It certainly smelled appetizing, but with Orihime, you really never knew...
Steeling himself, Ichigo reached forward to lift the Valentine's Day offering out of the box. Further visual inspection of the dessert revealed nothing more suspicious than the jelly beans she'd used as a topping. He heaved a small sigh, then lifted the cupcake to his mouth for a tentative bite.
As he bit into it, it crumbled. A mass of crumbs fell into his lap, and he jerked backwards, a surprised sound issuing from his mouth as he tried to avoid messing up his school uniform, to no avail. A large dollop of the icing had fallen right into his lap.
Damn. Usually he would have changed into something a bit more casual when he'd gotten home, but he'd been preoccupied with mulling over Orihime's surprising gift. She'd ambushed him just as he was leaving the school, and shoved the small package into his hands. Her words had been mumbled too quietly and quickly for him to decipher, and she'd vanished again before he could properly thank her; the rest of his walk had been spent inspecting the gift-wrapped box and mulling over why she'd been so flustered.
He placed the rest of the cupcake back into the box, his movements stiff and awkward as he tried not to spill the crumbs resting in his lap. The bit of cupcake he'd bitten off earlier was chewed and swallowed quickly (with a wince, he discovered that Orihime had added chili powder and pepper to her recipe). He reached over to drag the trash can closer, and proceeded to sweep the crumbs into it briskly. A napkin and some water were all that was needed to erase any traces of the smeared icing from his pants; a quick swig from the same glass of water cleansed his pallet.
He attacked the cupcake again, this time with a napkin spread across his lap to catch any debris, and finished it in a few quick bites followed by several gulps of water. As he folded up the napkin, careful not to spill any of the crumbs onto the floor, he wondered if Orihime's weird taste in food came from being forced to cook for herself from a young age or if she was just that odd.
Either way, Ichigo was thankful that he had a proverbial stomach of steel.
A/N: Alright! Another update. Woohoo! I got this idea from rewatching the first few episodes of Bleach where-in Orihime's weird taste in food was show-cased. And somehow this popped into my head. I hope you enjoyed it. I've left exactly which kind of chocolates these are to your imagination-friendship or lover's chocolates, whichever pleases you. Well, I guess we all know what kind of chocolate Orihime would give, so I suppose it'd be more up to you how Ichigo has interpreted them.
This is the second update this week, so don't miss Chapter 37: Weaker Than I Used To Be.
Song