A/N: Hey you guys, I'm back! And I'm a doctor. Woop woop!
First of all, I want to thank you all so so much for your comments! It made me ridiculously happy to read all of them. I really appreciate it!
Now for this chapter:
I'm not entirely satisfied with it, it's a little rough around the edges, so I might edit it at some point.
Now, enjoy!
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Chapter 11- seeing
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With her eyes still firmly glued to the twinkling lights of the city before her, Orihime hadn't noticed that her date had stepped forward onto the viaduct.
"Come on," he requested gently. "You can actually see even better from over there."
He seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then stuck his hand out again with a lopsided smile.
"Let me help you. I'd rather not have to catch you while you fall from a high place again." It sounded like he was teasing her, a notion that made her stomach squirm pleasurably.
"Kurosaki-kun, I am not that clumsy," she retorted, one hundred percent intending to take the hand he so freely offered but still not about to go down without a fight as he questioned her skill.
"Of course you're not," he answered smugly as her hand came to rest in his. Flashing her a smirk that made her heart flutter, he turned and led her further onto the bridge, halting close to the edge. There was neither railing nor fence to guard people from the abyss. Orihime was suddenly very glad to be securely linked to the strongest man she knew. Nothing bad would ever happen to her when she was with him.
"Now you see, over there," he pointed in the direction they hadn't been able to see before.
"If you look closely, you can see the lighthouse by the sea and the way its light beam is reflected off the water!" He'd moved his head closer to hers and crouched down slightly to point it out more accurately for her. "Do you see it?"
The redhead felt her eyes widen as she caught sight of what he was trying to show her.
"Whoaaa," she exclaimed happily. "It's so pretty!" She turned to him with untamed excitement still on her face.
"How-" Flushing, she realized that their faces were now only inches apart, although he was still looking towards the sea. Just barely suppressing a squeak, she finished her question. "Um, how did you find this place?" She almost didn't dare to breathe as she tried to adjust to the proximity. His face! So close. If he turned his head towards her now, they would practically be kissing!
But he did no such thing. Instead, he straightened his back, reaching his natural height, eyes still fixed on the sea.
"I actually have a hollow to thank for that. Who'd have thought any good thing could come from a hollow… Tche. It was one of the first ones I fought, back when I had only borrowed powers from Rukia. In retrospective it was a weak hollow, but back then it gave me a run for my money. I tried to lure it away from the city and when I had finally beat it, I found myself here. Since then, I sometimes come here to think."
He finally turned his head towards her again with a gentle expression. His eyes were tempting her to get lost in them.
Orihime felt a sudden surge of nervousness. Her skin prickled under her clothes from the warmth that was radiating off Kurosaki-kun. There was barely an inch between them as they were standing side by side, still holding hands. They were still holding hands. Yes, but only for safety reasons. Of course. That's all there is to it. She became acutely aware that something might actually happen between them today. And she was thrilled for that, she was, but it also made her knees weaken in anticipation. Unable to calm her nerves, a shiver went through her. She was quite literally trembling with excitement. Orihime wasn't sure when she had last been this nervous.
From the corner of her eyes, she saw Kurosaki-kun frown.
"You're cold," he stated.
"What, no, I'm not."
"Yes, you are, you're shivering!"
"No, Kurosaki-kun, I'm fi-" But her denial went unheard, as he suddenly moved her in front of him and loosely wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. The gesture took her utterly by surprise and this time she couldn't contain her squeak. What was happening? He was never usually this forward. Also, breathing was surely overrated right? Because she was certain she would not be able to breathe while he was holding her like this. It probably didn't matter, her heart would give out anytime now from racing so, anyways.
"It's called penguin technique," he explained lowly by her ear. "My sisters taught me. It's what penguins do to keep warm. They share their body heat."
Orihime was glad that he could not see her face. She was definitely past the amount of blushing that one could do and still be called cute and pretty. He was warming her alright, that was for sure.
Seducing! The plan was seducing. Do something! Reciprocate!
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What in the world had gotten into him?! Just because he used to do that with Yuzu to keep her warm didn't mean it was applicable to Inoue! When he'd seen her shiver, he had just acted on instinct. But this was way too intimate a gesture. This was what a couple would do! However, she had not yet broken away from him. Neither had she turned to slap him for his brazenness. But then again, they were standing too close to an abyss for sudden movements, and this was Inoue and she wouldn't hurt a fly. Therefore, he could not use that to interpret her reaction, now could he?
Ichigo became aware of the soft touch of her hands on the back of his hands, as his date snuggled back into him.
Need help interpreting that? His hollow snorted mockingly.
He did not.
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He inhaled. She always smelled sweet. Her scent was unobtrusive and yet alluring. With her pushing back into him like that, he got a noseful of it with every breath. It made his brain fog up pleasantly.
His mind flashed back to the last time her back had touched his front like this. It seemed like ages ago although it had only happened recently. Back then, he'd thought that she somehow didn't notice but now, he started to question his judgement. The notion seemed absurd. Surely, she must have realized it. And even then, she hadn't pulled away. He replayed the scene in his head. There had been electricity in the air after that moment. She had stared at him… Could it be…? And finally, the penny dropped. Ichigo felt his eyes widen. Could it be that she had done it on purpose?
His mind started racing as he started to recall the last few weeks with Inoue. Replaying every instant they had been together. All the touches, the looks, the flirting, the compliments… Taken separately, he'd written it all off as coincidences, accidents, as innocent little actions from an innocent person but now that he was looking at it all – there was a pattern. It was unmistakable. Ichigo was in shock. Inoue had been coming onto him. And he had been too dense to notice.
Finally! I kept telling you, but you wouldn't listen.
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It sunk in slowly. His pulse that had been galloping gradually calmed down. A grin started to tug at his lips. The beautiful woman in his arms had been putting the moves on him. And now, here they were, on a date that he had planned out perfectly. The night suddenly seemed even more promising than before. Now, how was he going to handle this situation?
Trying hard not to let his voice betray the realization he'd just had, he gave his date a little squeeze and spoke.
"Are you ready to continue the date?" With his arms wrapped around her he could feel that she briefly stopped breathing at the sound of his voice.
"Of course!" She then breathed excitedly. Had she always reacted to him like this? He must have been blind not to see it before. "Great, then let's get going, I hope you're hungry."
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Gaaah, his voice so close by her ear combined with all the body contact made Orihime tingle all over. She felt utterly out of control on this date. But she had dared to push herself closer to him so that was a little victory. He was now leading her further across the bridge. As they came closer to the other end, she glimpsed the outlines of something that she had missed before in the darkness. Upon closer inspection she recognized it as an abandoned railcar that stood on the end of the bridge. It looked run-down and withered all over.
"So, m'lady, your restaurant for the evening," her companion joked as he fumbled with the door. She didn't know what to say. It all seemed like it was straight out of a movie, out of a dream. She pinched her arm covertly. Apparently it was real.
"Wait here for just a second," he told her. "In the meantime, just don't fall off the bridge, I'll be back right away."
She stuck her tongue out at him, causing him to grin as he vanished into the coach. Too stupefied to comprehend any of it, she just watched the railcar as the windows started to light up with warm yellow light. Before she knew it, her date was back next to her and motioned her inside. "After you." He seemed excited like a little boy. Orihime wondered if it was normal to find someone sexy and adorable. Those two did not seem to go hand in hand. But Kurosaki-kun definitely pulled it off.
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She climbed the stairs into the carriage and lost her breath for the umpteenth time that evening. The old railcar was lit in the light of several small candles and some fairy lights. One of the tables by the windows was set with placemats, bento boxes and chopsticks.
Entranced, she walked over to the table. The window by that particular table had been cleaned and gave a perfect view of Karakura in the distance. As she marveled once more at the sight, music started playing lowly behind her and she turned. Kurosaki-kun was putting down a small speaker.
"So, uhm…-" He lifted his arm to rub his neck awkwardly, a movement that Orihime adored because it was so typically him. She was sure she'd seen it in more than one of her dreams. Of course in her dreams, it was mostly followed by more forward actions on his or her part, but this was not the time to think about that. Although the way his muscles moved across was definitely an enticing sight. And it didn't hurt to look, did it? She just needed to be careful not to get caught tis time. No, stop it, focus!
"I hope you like it," her date continued. "I know it's not a 5-star restaurant or anything, but-"
"I love it!" Orihime blurted out, interrupting him. "Honestly, it's so pretty!"
His face warped in what she thought was a suppressed relieved smile. His expressions weren't always easy to read, but she felt like she'd gotten the hang of it lately, especially combined with reading his reiatsu.
"I'm glad. Let's sit?"
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Ichigo waited until his beautiful date had slipped into the booth by the window before seating himself across from her. He had felt a weight lift off his shoulders at her display of honest excitement. Now that he knew she liked his idea, he would be able to relax a little more. While his nerves were calming, he realized that they had barely really talked since he had picked her up at home. Although it was not at all unusual for him not to initiate small talk, Inoue usually provided a constant entertaining chatter.
But before he could dive into wondering what her silence meant, her stomach growled so loudly that he could hear it above the low music. Unable to entirely stop the amused grin that was tugging at his lips, he motioned her to open her bento box.
Even the dim lighting couldn't hide the red that had made its way onto her cheeks. He was half expecting her to start flailing about and apologize but she simply went ahead and opened the bento. Her eyes widened at the sight of its contents.
Yuzu had helped him prepare a variety of food while constantly prying into his plans. His once so shy sister had really gotten a lot cheekier these past few years.
"Itadakimasu!" Inoue chimed happily, before she dug in. "Ooooh, it's so delicious!" She praised. "When did you do all this? It must have been so much work to prepare!"
Her enthusiasm was slightly over the top in typical Inoue-fashion, making something primal inside him growl in satisfaction. "Oh you know, there was a reason why I didn't come to school today," he replied nonchalantly while picking at his food. Her scandalized expression had him smirking inwardly.
"Kurosaki-kun!" She scolded. "You shouldn't have skipped school for that reason! You went through all of that trouble for me. That was unnecessary."
He threw her an innocent look. "You make it sound as if you're the picture of a perfect school attendance. Didn't you miss school just recently to fight some hollows?"
"That's completely different," she cried out indignantly. Ichigo kept a neutral expression. Teasing her was way more fun that he'd realized before. He hesitated. After realizing that she had been flirting with him for weeks, he figured it was time to reciprocate. "If you say so." He stuffed a rice ball into his mouth and winked at her.
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Oh my goodness, did he just- did he just wink at me? This is unprecedented! I have never seen him do that before. To anyone! I didn't even know his face was able to! If someone had bet me 100.000 Yen saying I would never see Kurosaki-kun wink, I'd have taken the bet. What do I do? What do I do?
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Ichigo watched in amusement as his date almost choked on her food and flushed in all shades of red. Although it had felt weird and unlike him to wink at her, this flustered reaction of hers was worth it. It had him feeling smug and self-assured. How had he not noticed this before?
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A/N: So, this is it, folks, he finally realized! The 'power balance' is shifting a little now, as you may have noticed. *cackles deviously in anticipation*
Have a very merry Christmas, enjoy the time with your loved ones!
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A/N 2: I've drawn a picture for the viaduct date which turned out pretty much the way I imagined it. So if you would like to know what I imagined when I wrote about that place, you can check it out on tumblr:
tinyurl dot com forwardslash 2p8eaf77 (you have to transcribe it, ffn is stupid concerning links). Or just find me under Vilevile277.
Now this is really only meant as an offer to enhance your experience, if you are already happy with the way you imagined it and don't want that image in your head to be superimposed, please don't look at it. 😊