Requested by ChibiLarya- thank you

Chizuru x Orihime

Balloon

She had just about given up on any chance of having Orihime as her own.

The beautiful girl, it had seemed, had finally given in to the grasping hands of those hideous men- that horrible Ichigo Kurosaki in particular. Whereas before, the girl had only stuttered and blushed in his presence, she was now much more at ease, able to laugh and converse with the group as any normal girl would. Chizuru could only think of one explanation- people only became that easy with each other when the awkwardness had gone, and they were together.

That meant that Kurosaki was the winner, and when Orihime turned to see her dismayed face and asked her what was wrong, she just smiled, and said she had a headache, before throwing her arms around her friend as she always did.

But that evening Orihime knocked on her door, and asked her to come out for a walk with her. It was summer, and warm, and was still light late into the night. They walked in the long golden twilight, until they came upon a man in the street selling balloons to children, hundreds of strings clutched in each of his fists. As they walked past the man handed a child a balloon, but then stumbled down the kerb, letting go of the balloons he had clutched in one hand.

"Wow, Chizuru, look!"

Orihime took hold of Chizuru's hand and pointed it upwards. A hundred balloons were rising into the pink sky- red and blue and green and yellow and orange and purple, in all shapes and sizes. They rose higher and higher until they were dots in distance, and when Orihime dropped their hands back down, she did not let go.

"Hey, Chizuru?"

She turned to look at Orihime, who was staring at the ground, a small blush on her face.

"Yeah?"

"You know a while ago, you told me that if I was ever feeling lonely, I just had to call, and you'd come and make me feel better?"

Chizuru nodded, holding her breath as Orihime squeezed her fingers.

"Well, this... this is my call."

She bit her lip, and Chizuru felt a warmth burn through her like fire. She pressed her lips to the orange-haired girl before nuzzling her neck, her smile unfading. She pulled away, glad to see that Orihime's smile was as wide as her own. She tipped the girl a wink, lacing their fingers together more comfortably.

"So, can I buy you a balloon?"