Category: Friendship Fluff, Romantic Fluff
Characters: Ichigo Kurosaki, Tatsuki Arisawa, Orihime Inoue
Requested By: JJ (Ao3)
Tatsuki's eyebrows slowly crept further and further up her forehead as she walked down the hallway, truly perplexed. Though people normally kept their distance from the volatile, moody championship fighter, the other students were especially wary of her today, avoiding her gaze and shuffling towards the walls or into classroom as she strolled by. In addition, she could hear fervent whispering start up behind her, and some brave souls would do so before she even passed, throwing fervent glances in her direction. Though it was a bit irritating, she decided to ignore the student body's strange behavior and just continued marching on down the hallway. She was too tired to think about confronting them. She had barely slept all night, because she just couldn't stop thinking about the way Ichigo had kissed her. It had been so effortless for him, but Tatsuki's mind was a mess. What would happen now?
As she pushed the door to the classroom open and walked in, all the conversation in the room halted completely, and a dozen startled, surprised eyes flickered in her direction before hastily looking elsewhere. The girl felt her mouth tighten in displeasure as they averted their eyes. What the hell is going on?
"Orihime!" she barked, spotting her energetic best friend in the crowd of mute students. Surely she would know why everyone was acting so shifty today. Tatsuki hurried over to her desk, throwing her bag on top of it before hopping over the metal bar to slide smoothly into the chair and frown at her friend, who was sitting at her usual seat beside her. The girl jumped at her sudden appearance, as she had been too absorbed reading a romance manga to notice what was occurring in the classroom, then smiled when she realized it was indeed Tatsuki. She snapped the book shut with a cheery expression.
"Morning, Tastuki!" she chirped, then began to blather about her morning.
"Orihime, wait, wait!" she interrupted. She normally let Orihime chatter, but she had to get the bottom of this strange behavior, and she was too tired to suffer through the meaningless blabber. "Do you know why everyone is acting so weird toward me today?" Orihime stared at her with a blank expression, obviously clueless, then looked around the classroom. Her mouth curled into a frown when she observed the shifty stares and whispers directed at the martial arts practitioner.
"Huh… Everyone is acting weird today. Why don't we just ask?" she suggested happily, and while Tatsuki spluttered protests and grabbed onto the girl's arm as she stood up, Orihime loudly announced, "Hey, everyone, what are you all talking about?" Once more, the classroom went so silent that she could probably hear a cricket chirping, and for a few moments the students hesitantly kept their mouths clamped shut, avoiding looking at the girl. What the hell? She thought in frustration, about to snap angrily at them. Then, abruptly, one of then meekly spoke up.
"Is it true that you and Ichigo are dating, Tatsuki?" Her face instantly blazed a fiery red, and she sat in stunned silence. How could they have found out about what happened? Did someone see? Did Ichigo go running his mouth? She thought wildly, unable to cope with the many eyes now directed on her. She almost wished that they would go back to avoiding her. The stares were much worse. She ducked her head, gritting her teeth as she tried to stay calm.
"Why would you ask something like that?" she asked evasively. She wished that she would stop blushing like she was. How could she pay it off when her body was betraying her? I can lie my way out of this…
"A couple of the student council members saw you two kiss from the second-floor window." Damn, that's hard to play off, she thought with a small groan. She sank down into her seat, still blushing that apple-red color and trying desperately to get her neurons to fire, but all she could think about was that damn kiss and how good it felt, and the evolving nature of her and Ichigo's relationship. Were they dating? Were they not? And Orihime! How could she kiss Ichigo when she knew how much Orihime loved him? Riddled with guilt and embarrassment, she glanced out of the corners of her eyes at the girl, who was just looking at her with an expression of both shock and hurt. Before she could say anything about anything, though, the room went quiet again.
This time, it was because Ichigo entered.
"What the hell is everybody actin' so funny for today?" he muttered, his normally angry-looking face looking even more so than usual. He had that signature look, lazy with his bag slung over his shoulder with his other hand slid into his pocket. Did that always make him look so… sexy? She thought absently, then mentally scolded herself for such lewdness. She slipped further down into her desk, mortified at the events of the morning, and looked away from Ichigo lest she betray herself. Of course, he came right over to her. "Hey, Tatsuki."
"Hey, Ichigo," she mumbled. She couldn't bring herself to look at him, but she didn't even have to. Just the sound of his voice sent butterflies fluttering in her stomach. Despite her misgivings, she peered at him out of her peripheral vision, and the butterflies multiplied tenfold when she realized how impossibly handsome he was, standing there smiling softly at her. Oh my God. "How is your arm?" she asked, trying to change the subject. He glanced down at the bandages wound around his upper arm.
"Oh, it's all right," he shrugged. She should have known better than to ask, because he always played off injuries. He could have an arm cut off and he would merely call it a scratch. He looked back to her, and she found herself electrified by the seriousness in his expression. She knew what he was going to ask. Half of her wanted him to, and half of him didn't- but he totally did. "I want you to go out with me tonight."
The breath that the classroom had been holding was suddenly released in a series of shocked gasps. Though Tatsuki wanted to crawl into a hole and die of embarrassment, she managed to keep looking up at him, her face like a wildfire. Me and Ichigo? Go out? She felt this strange mixture of nausea and excitement. "I'll pick you up at six, okay?" he grinned when she did not answer, and he just walked away like it was nothing, while Tatsuki was left short-circuiting like a toaster in a bathtub.
The rest of the day passed like a blur. If you asked her, she couldn't recall what she learned or did. Her mind kept traveling back to the kiss the day before, or Ichigo standing over her with that sweet smile asking her out on a date, or wild fantasies of what such a thing could entail. By the time lunchtime rolled around, her anxiety had mounted, because she didn't know what to expect and Orihime had not spoken to her the entire day. She managed to corner the girl at the lunch table, sitting with the rest of their friends, and she was positively breathless as she ran over to the table and slammed her metal lunch tray down onto the table with a loud clang!
"Orihime! I'm so sorry!" she cried and bowed her head. Her bottom lip quivered slightly, though tears did not flow because Tatsuki was much too proud. Quivering, she waited for her friend to reply. Orihime was kind, but would she be able to forgive her for something so terrible? She couldn't bring herself to look up and meet her eyes, to see the anger and hurt there. She stiffened when Orihime just chuckled lightly, and she gasped when a pair of slim arms wound their way around her and sweet-smelling, orange-brown hair fell into her face.
"Oh, Tatsuki. You don't have to apologize," she sighed. Tastuki could feel the wetness of tears against Orihime's cheeks as she hugged her tightly. Was she crying because she was lying, or because she was upset that Tatsuki would even think that she was angry? The girl didn't know, but Tatsuki really didn't care. She was too busy being relieved. The girl pulled back, and Tatsuki finally found the courage to look up at her. She was smiling cheerfully like she always did, but tears were streaming down her cheeks. "I'm so happy for you," she laughed brightly. A small smile found its way onto Tatsuki's mouth.
"Thanks, Orihime."
"All right! Now that all the drama is out of the way, sit down and tell us how this happened!" Chizuru cried impatiently, and so Tatsuki did as bid, explaining the situation to the girls while she ate her lunch. They were all floored that Ichigo would have a crush on her, of all people, but were also squealing at how romantic the entire thing was. At the end of the story, though, Tatsuki had to address the elephant in the room.
"You guys! What the hell am I supposed to do for this date?" she cried as she slammed her fists down on the table with enough force to make the empty trays jump. "I've never been on a date before! I don't know what to expect!"
"Why don't we all meet at your house to get you ready for your date, Tatsuki?" Michiru suggested happily.
"Yeah! We'll help you pick out what to wear, and do your make-up!" Orihime laughed, bouncing up and down and clapping her hands with elation. The entire thing sounded God-awful to Tatsuki; everyone knew that she was a tomboy and wanted nothing to do with such girly things. But that's the proper thing to do on a date, right? Reluctantly, she agreed to the get-together, which, at the very least, made her friends happy.
I'm not sure that this will turn out well, she fretted as the girls cheered and chattered excitedly about various ways to doll Tatsuki up. The rest of the day went on with Tatsuki stressing endlessly about all the uncertainties and unknowns of such a thing as a date. She walked home alone, as all the girls wanted to go home to retrieve their "supplies," so she was left to her frantic thoughts. She arrived home and immediately got in the shower, only because the girls had insisted that her long hair needed to be washed and blow-dried. Part of her missed the short, scruffy style she had possess for most of her life, but she had grown it out to its current length merely because Orihime had mildly insisted upon it, since she had grown out her own over the last year and a half. Sometimes Tatsuki's mind wandered to all the weird things she had seen from the pair, but she trusted them enough to know that one day, one or both of them would tell her everything, and so that trust was enough to keep her from prying about it.
Just as Tatsuki was finishing blow-drying her black hair, the girls had all trickled in, and were currently seated on her wood-paneled floor ogling over the various goodies they had brought to contribute to Tatsuki's transformation. Tatsuki gasped as her chair was whipped around as soon as she set the blow-dryer down, and was met with the round, excited face of Michiru. Tatsuki paled slightly when she noticed the girl was holding a case of foundation.
"You are not putting that stuff on m- Pppphhh! Hey!" she exclaimed as Michiru began slathering her face in the make-up. She squirmed under the assault, hating the feel of the thick powder against her skin, and Michiru kept squeaking at her to stay still. In rapid succession, Tatsuki had to endure applications of blush, eyeliner, mascara, eye shadow, and lipstick. Ryo snapped a pair of fake earrings onto her unpierced ears, while Orihime strung a necklace around her neck. As if she wasn't already extremely uncomfortable, Michiru procured a summer-green dress and a pair of light brown flats. Screeching objections, Tatsuki jumped up and tried to climb out her window, but Ryo and Chizuru wrestled her back while Michiru and Orihime stripped her down and forced her into the sundress. "I can't believe I let you guys talk me into this," she muttered as she stood in the center of the room, arms crossed and expression thunderous, while the girls circled around her, ooh-ing and aah-ing.
"Tatsuki! You look so beautiful!" Orihime cooed, standing in front of her with eyes sparkling with happiness. That put a small smile on her face, at least. She glanced up at the clock and gasped.
"Oh, my gosh! It's almost six!" she cried, instantly going in panic mode. She flitted about the room, trying to regain her cool, but she just couldn't. How was she supposed to act? How could she, or Ichigo for that matter, take herself seriously dressed like this? How was she supposed to act? Her friends threw random tips and instructions at her, but Tatsuki absorbed none of it. When she heard the knocking at the door, she screamed that she had to go to the bathroom, but when she didn't come back after a moment, the girls barged in and found her trying to climb out of that window. Exasperated and giddy, her friends forced her to the front door and watched avidly as she attempted to steel her nerve and opened the door. "H-Hi," she stammered, looking down at her feet. Dammit, she was blushing again. She felt ridiculous, because she looked ridiculous.
"Hey," came that smooth reply. Somehow, she forced herself to look up, and he was wearing that smug, confident smirk of his as he looked down at her. He was wearing some slacks and a button-up shirt, and to be honest, he looked really nice. He cleans up a lot nicer than I do, she moped. "You look nice," he smiled down at her, but she knew it was more for her benefit than anything. She could hear the girls whispering around the corner as she stepped out onto the threshold, and when she closed the door, everything fell into tense silence.
"Um… You look nice, too," she mumbled shyly. The smile that brought to his face made her heart flutter. She was relieved to see that there was a trace of bashfulness in his expression, as he rubbed the back of his neck and looked away shyly with a gratuitous remark. Together, they awkwardly set off down the sidewalk, Tatsuki nervously shuffling along in her flats trying to keep up with his long stride. They just walked along in silence, not even able to muster up small talk, but this was mostly on Tatsuki; Ichigo was spacey, staring off into the sky and thinking hard about something. He does that a lot, she thought with a small smile. His mind just loved to wander on walks. He had always been that way. She often thought about asking what he was thinking about, but she liked looking at the quiet, contemplative look on his face. So just watched him- that is, until he suddenly turned to look at her and caught her staring. She jumped and hurriedly turned her face away, blushing dark red, and hoped he wouldn't comment. Of course, he did.
"Do I got somethin' on my face or somethin'?" he asked, and when she didn't answer, he planted himself in front of her and leaned over with his hands on his hips. "Yo. I'm talking to you," he huffed. Tatsuki squeaked, bristling at how close his face was.
"N-no. I just happened to look at you when you looked at me," she muttered back, still avoiding his gaze.
"You're acting weird."
"I am not!" she protested hotly, and in her anger, glanced up at him. When their gazes met, she became locked in his eyes, that intense, accusatory glare. He can see right through me, she realized in despair. No lies or excuses would be able to sway him. After a minute of staring intently back, her shoulders slumped in defeat and she pouted slightly, looking away with a slightly twitching eyes. She hated have to admit to him that she was nervous. "I've just never done this before, you know? I dunno how I need to act. All of this is so sudden. We were friends two days ago, and now I don't know what we are anymore. It all makes my head hurt," she sighed quietly. She expected Ichigo to laugh or make fun of her, but he just gave her that sweet smile and placed his large hand on top of her head, ruffling her messy hair slightly.
"Lookit you, getting' all shy," he teased. Tatsuki just continued to moodily pout, not appreciating that he was treating her like some kind of child. Looking to the side, she could see him still smiling out of her peripheral vision. How can he be so calm about all of this? "Tatsuki, I just want you to be yourself," he said suddenly. Struck, she just continued staring around at that certain crack in the sidewalk. It looked pretty deep. It had a little bedraggled weed growing out of it. She felt like a bedraggled weed, struggling to grow in the hazardous environment of a new relationship. She stiffened as she felt his hand slide around her jaw, but allowed him to turn her face so that she was now looking at him. Was she still blushing? Probably. She just felt numb, so in shock that she couldn't feel much of anything. He was still smiling at her. He has a really sweet smile. "Would ya relax already?" he chuckled softly. "Though, I like that cute little expression you have. All worried and shy. And you're so cute when you're blushing." That was enough to pull Tatsuki out of her dump stupor.
"I'm not cute."
"Sure ya are," he grinned at her, ruffling her hair some more and bringing his face closer. She set her jaw, blushing further, but she couldn't deny that his fingers tousling her hair felt pretty good. Her mouth twitched as he sneered playfully at her, but she could see real affection there, too. His sneer then relaxed into a smile, and the level of kindness and love that was swimming in his eyes made her heart go to thumping. "Really, Tatsuki. This doesn't change anything. I just want you to be yourself," he repeated. "Don't get too in your head."
"Just be myself…?" she echoed. It certainly didn't seem too hard. She could feel her tense muscles relaxing as she gazed deep into his eyes, slowly allowing herself to relax. Just don't get too in my head. Yeah. This doesn't change anything. Ichigo is still Ichigo, and I'm still me. A smile slowly found its way onto her face.
"There. Ya finally got it through your thick skull," he laughed and knocked lightly on her forehead before straightening up. Tatsuki rubbed her forehead where he had touched her, still mildly pink.
"Thanks, Ichigo."
"Yeah, no problem. Now, can we get going? I'm hungry!" he sighed and turned around, placing his hands behind his head and beginning to walk. He really doesn't act any different, she thought in amusement. As she scurried to catch up to him, he suddenly lowered one hand and grabbed hers, still staring straight on ahead with his other hand held up behind his head. She blinked, surprised by the sudden affectionate action, but found that she really wasn't as embarrassed as she thought she would be. It felt like her hand fit perfectly within his own. Suddenly, she found that she wasn't nervous, but excited. Maybe she didn't know how to act, but that was okay.
I just have to be myself… Because that's what he likes about me, right?
You and I… I'm scared, but I'm excited, too.