Chapter Six: The Edge of Seventeen
July 10th, 12:07 p.m.
Ichigo Kurosaki sat slumped on the school's roof, picking at his lunch. The rainy season had taken another brief reprieve as cicadas droned incessantly at an ear-splitting volume. There was no breeze to speak of, and the heat and humidity were oppressive. It was, in a word, miserable. Karakura High School was a respectable, if somewhat average, institution and was not especially well funded, so like many Japanese high schools, it had no air conditioning. The result of these conditions were such that despite the sun exposure, the group of boys chose the roof to escape from the pressure cooker-like conditions created when forty near-adults were crammed into one stale, sweaty classroom.
"It's too bad your birthday is on a Tuesday this year, Ichigo. We could have gotten some girls to come out with us," Keigo complained in a fashion that competed with the cicadas in terms of annoyance factor.
"That is ridiculous," Uryuu snapped back, his irritation heightened by the stickiness of the weather. "No girls in their right minds would want to go out with you, Asano. Plus, we have midterm exams next week. I know you don't care about your grades, but the rest of us do. Even if Kurosaki's birthday was on Saturday, there would be no partying".
"I wouldn't mind a bit of distraction, if it was on Saturday," Mizuiro countered.
"Ichigo?" Chad looked toward him, observing that he hadn't been listening to the conversation. His eyes were on a spot on the grounds below.
"Sorry, did you say something?" Ichigo said looking back toward the group.
"Asano-san was talking about going out for your birthday and asking some girls along. I could text some" Mizuiro started before he was interrupted simultaneously by Keigo, whining about the use of his surname, and Uryuu.
"I was just informing Asano-san," Uryuu emphasized to add insult to injury, "that we would be busy studying for exams anyway."
Renji joined the group belatedly, some hollows having needed vanquishing nearby. "Girls, huh? You boys have fun with that. I've got my hands full in that department," he supplied unnecessarily.
Ichigo groaned and sat up a bit straighter before addressing the group, "I have absolutely no interest in doing anything for my birthday. Ishida is right, the timing is bad. Besides, I have even less interest in going out with the kind of girls you like, Mizuiro. No offense".
"None taken. Not everyone is mature enough to appreciate older, experienced, women," Mizuiro said mildly. Renji exchanged a glance with him nodded in agreement.
"Well, if the women you know are anywhere as mature and experienced as Rukia, you boys are in trouble." Renji advised. All but Mizuiro and Chad groaned in disgust.
"We really don't want to hear about it, Abarai," said Uryuu defensively. "And please spare us any further information; we would like to be able to look at Kukichi-san and not be forced to think of your extracurricular activities."
"What do you mean, 'look at' her? What are you doing when I'm not paying attention?" Renji demanded.
"As if!" Uryuu backpedaled. "You can bring your jealousy to heel, Abarai. I don't look at Kuchiki-san that way."
"Wait, you mean you look at someone else that way?" Ichigo asked with delight, well pleased at the opportunity to put the screws to Uryuu.
"Don't put words in my mouth, Kurosaki! Besides, I wonder if you're mature enough to appreciate any woman," Uryuu seethed.
"Ishida begs an interesting question. You are going to be seventeen, Ichigo. There has to be at least a couple of girls that have caught your eye. Or boys? We won't judge," Renji asked gleefully.
"No!" Ichigo denied vehemently, and added, "Besides, you are the last person on earth or any other plane of existence that I would talk to about that," Ichigo's eyes betrayed him for a split second as he stole a look at the group of girls gathered around the tree in the grass below.
"What?" Keigo squealed in excitement. Despite being otherwise below average in most respects, he excelled at sniffing out gossip. "Who were you looking at down there? Is there actually someone you are interested in?"
"Wait, what? No! Why? No!" Ichigo continued his plea of innocence.
Four pairs of eyes narrowed on him suspiciously. The ever-faithful Chad closed his eyes and nodded along with Ichigo, as he was saved by the bell sounding that lunch was over. "Don't think we are going to let this go so easily," Renji smirked as he passed him on his way down the stairs.
The same day, 9:22 p.m.
Orihime strained with physical effort to keep her shield in place behind Renji's back as she stood beside him while he slashed at the hollow in front of him. There had been three at this location initially, and Rukia had chased one back a few blocks while Renji had dispatched a second and turned his attention to the third, when the second's dying cry appeared to have summoned an army of small, starfish-like hollows, that were presently pressing en masse on Orihime's shield. Renji was in luck that she happened to have been on her way home from the convenience store when the hollows descended across the street from her location.
Renji exterminated the hollow in front of him after a few more moments and called to Orihime, "Uh, Inoue? What do you want me to do with those guys? Is it going to hurt you if I cut your shield?"
"Well, not too much, I think, but I can't hold them off much more and they are getting closer. It might be too close for swords!" Orihime shouted back between labored breaths. "Do you think you could blast them off with Kido or something?" She beseeched him with a pleading expression.
"Actually, Inoue, I'm not really good at Kido –" he started to answer before being interrupted by an increasingly urgent Orihime.
"Just give it a shot, please! Now?" she failed to hide her panic as Renji flailed for a moment and finally came to a decision.
"Ummmm, uhhhh, Bakudou #1: Sai," Renji incanted without much confidence. To his great surprise, the entire constellation of starfish hollows fell from Orihime's shield, their five little appendages bound behind each of them. "I can't believe that worked! Now is your chance to get out of the way, Inoue," he laughed as she leapt out of the way and he sliced Zabimaru through the pile of restrained hollows and watched them disintegrate. He approached Orihime and gave her a couple stiff pats on the back as she tried to catch her breath with her hands on her knees. "Thanks for the assist, Inoue," he said as she stood up and she repaid him with a blinding smile.
"I am very happy I could help, Abarai-fukutaicho," she replied.
"Oh no, that won't do. You can call me Renji," he said in a way that told her an 'Abarai-fukutaicho' from her was unpleasant. Her eyes widened in shock.
"Oh, no, I couldn't do that!" she said, waving her hands before her.
"Would it make you feel better to use honorifics? I wouldn't mind, as long as it's not so formal as 'fukutaicho'," he offered.
"Well, I guess I could call you 'Abarai-san', if that would be alright," she said tentatively.
"No, that's totally unacceptable," Renji countered with cocked eyebrow and smirky grin. "Renji-kun would be preferable."
"What? I couldn't! You are too kind to me" she said, not actually believing he meant it.
"Come on, you are like a sister to Rukia, and me by extension. Let's get rid of these formalities here in the world of the living, at least. Would it make you feel better if I called you 'Orihime-chan'? Would you call me Renji-kun then?" he asked, putting an arm around her shoulder in a decidedly fraternal manner.
"No! Not even Kuchiki-san calls me Orihime!" She looked, mortified, into Renji's face and finally understood he was teasing her. She dialed back her anxiety and said, "I guess Abarai-kun and Inoue-chan would be a fair compromise." Orihime laughed, her heart quickly warming up to the idea of being considered familial to the two shinigami she held so dear. She could feel a warmth begin to grow through her chest and her smile grew to twice its previous size as she considered what this meant. "Thank you so much!" she said before bowing deeply in an expression of gratitude.
Renji grinned at Orihime's cuteness and clapped her on the back hard enough to make her stagger a bit, then looked to the distance as Rukia hopped over to them using shunpo. "Rukia," he called out to her, "Inoue-chan just helped me take down an entire wad of mini starfish hollows. It was totally gross." He said, looking to Orihime briefly, flashing his eyebrows at her in an expression indicating that they shared an inside joke.
Rukia furrowed her brows for an instant, followed by a perplexed smile. "Inoue-chan, is it?"
"I'm sorry, Kuchiki-san, Abarai-kun asked that I don't address him as fukutaicho in the world of the living, if it bothers you-" Orihime scrambled to apologize to Rukia.
Rukia's eyes widened and she rushed to Orihime's side. "No, no, Inoue, I'm sorry I was just giving you both a hard time. You are very close to us. There is no need to call Renji by his rank." Orihime let out a deep breath and smiled at them both.
"Thank you, both." she said sincerely. "I will see you tomorrow at school, then," she said as she picked her shopping bag back up and prepared to walk back home.
"Oh, just a minute, Inoue-chan," Renji stopped her as she was turning around. "I wanted to ask you about Ichigo's birthday". Orihime instantly blushed, and he knew he would be buying Rukia that new Chappy plushie at Urahara's sooner than later.
"What about it?" Inoue asked.
"Well, it's not until Tuesday, but Rukia and I were thinking of throwing him a surprise birthday party this Saturday at 8:00 at Urahara's. Would you be able to come? "
"Of course I will come!" Orihime answered quickly.
"Good," Rukia said. "Would you please invite Arisawa-san and your other friends? We will all be in gigai so any of your friends are welcome. We need to have some girls there." she added with a gleam in her eyes.
Orihime began to feel suspicious but was too excited to care. "Is there anything I can help prepare for the party?"
"You could bring a cake, if you like," Rukia answered. "But just be sure to bring yourself, and wear something cute! Oh, we could get ready together, if you want."
"YES!" Orihime breathed with impossibly big eyes. "Come over to my apartment anytime on Saturday and we can pick something out for you to wear, Kuchiki-san!"
"Alright, it's a deal. But please, call me Rukia from now on."
Orihime could not stop her happy tears this time, and embraced her friend. "I can't wait, Rukia-chan".
July 12th. 8:00 a.m.
The rest of the week had passed in a blur of test preparation and weather-related discomfort. If it wasn't raining, it was impossibly hot, and no one was in a very good mood when school let out on Friday. When she woke up on Saturday, Orihime was very interested in taking a cool shower, finding a spot in front of a box fan, and sipping some iced tea.
She began her shower, and after finding that perfect temperature – cool enough to be refreshing but not so cold as to cause pain – she stepped in. She let the cool water flow through her long hair and stream over her face as she closed her eyes, recalling the dream she had awoken from.
Since rekindling her friendship with Ichigo, her mind had been put much more at ease, and her dreams reflected that. She no longer dreamed of battles and death nightly, and the content of her sleeping images were much more nonsensical and seemingly random. This morning's dream had featured Grimmjow and Ulquiorra playing checkers on a small game table in her room in Hueco Mundo. While she attempted to keep the game orderly, Grimmjow ignored her and kept saying "King me!" at inappropriate times, and Ulquiorra would make no moves without first pondering the insignificance of the entire game; positing that each individual move was inconsequential because in the end he would win by default when Grimmjow lost his patience and tossed the entire gameboard over as he apparently had done in every previous game.
By the time she had replayed the entire dream in her head, she had finished with her shower and reached her bedroom, towel-drying her hair until it was only damp and pulling it up into a high messy bun to get it off her neck. She put on some tiny shorts and a tank top, went out to the living room, opened the window, and set her fan right in front of it, turning it to high. She walked to her kitchen, grabbed some iced tea and an energy bar, and set up her meager breakfast and study notes in the living room in front of the fan. She plopped down in front of it and got to work.
She had been studying for about an hour when her phone alerted her that she had a text message. She picked it up to look at it, but was interrupted by a knock on her door. She pulled herself up and walked the short distance to the door and unlocked it while looking down to her phone trying to pull up the message. She was just about to read it when her visitor spoke up through the door.
"Good morning, Orihime! Did you get my text message?" Rukia's voice rang clearly through the door. Orihime switched her focus from the phone to the door in an instant, opening it wide.
Rukia stepped inside and took her shoes off. "I just got your text message, but I haven't been able to read it yet. What are you doing here, Rukia-chan?" Orihime asked in surprise.
"Of course you didn't read it yet, I just sent it before I knocked on the door," Rukia said, completely unaware of how strange her behavior appeared.
"Oh, well, what did it say?" Orihime asked, confused.
"It said I'm coming over to get ready for Ichigo's party," the shorter woman replied.
"Oh," Orihime started. "It's only 10:00. Why are you here so early?"
"A war requires preparation and strategy. The fate of my Chappy plushie rides on the outcome of this battle," Rukia answered seriously.
"Battle?" Orihime began and then decided it was too hot to deal with such absurdity. "Ok, Rukia-chan, what would you like to do?"
"First, tell me the list of girls you have invited," the shinigami started.
"Alright, I invited Tatsuki-chan, Chizuru-chan, Ryo-chan, Michiru-chan, and Mahana-chan, but only Tatsuki-chan and Chizuru-chan can come. The others are too busy studying," the healer answered.
"Oh, okay. That makes it even easier. No distractions. Perfect," Rukia muttered to herself, then looked to Orihime, "Have you gotten a cake yet? Chosen what to wear?"
"Well, I ordered a cake to pick up around 4:00. I don't know what to wear yet; I don't have that many clothes so I don't think it will be difficult to decide," Orihime said wistfully.
Rukia's smile widened, "Perfect! I don't have anything to wear either. We are going shopping! And before you say anything, I'm paying!"
"No! I couldn't let you do that!" Orihime protested.
"I am not doing it. Urahara is. He insisted that if there was going to be a party at his place, all the girls had better be looking their best." Rukia informed her.
"… he really is kind of a pervert, isn't he?" Orihime asked without expecting an answer, having come to the conclusion reluctantly over the course of her time knowing the eccentric shopkeeper.
"That's what everyone says. Come on and get dressed, we're going." Rukia said, pushing Orihime to her bedroom. She was glad her little lie about Urahara paying went uncontested. There was no way she was going to let Renji win their little bet, so she really needed Orihime looking her best, and if she had to spend a little money, so be it. She had no real use for it anyway.
The two girlfriends were at the third department store of the day, and Rukia had been insisting that Orihime try on something a little sexy, but she kept resisting. However, it was starting to edge into the afternoon and the pressure was on. Orihime still had to pick up the cake, shower and get ready and it was already 3:00. Her defenses were starting to slip.
When Rukia held up a black, slinky maxi dress with a diving V-neck, Orihime caved and went to try it on. A moment later, she informed Rukia in no uncertain terms, "This one is a no."
"Come on out and show me, at least!" Rukia pleaded.
"No. This dress in indecent! At least on me…" Orihime whined, tired of feeling like everything she tried on made her look like a bimbo.
Rukia recognized the sad edge to Orihime's voice. "Come on, Orihime, I won't push you to buy it, I just want to see how it looks so I can recommend something more suitable next," she said soothingly.
Orihime reluctantly slid the dressing room door open and stepped out. It was all Rukia could do not to gasp. Orihime looked like a bombshell; the dress hugged in all the right places, showing off the curves of her hips, the delicate dip of her waist, and the neckline revealed way too much cleavage - although slightly perkier, comparing the sight to Rangiku was not a stretch.
"Well, Orihime, you can certainly pull that dress off, you look gorgeous," Rukia said sweetly but quickly added, "although you are right, it's not quite appropriate for a girl your age. You take that off and I'll be right back with something else." Orihime blushed and smiled, feeling a bit of a confidence boost from Rukia's reaction. Rukia was pleased that at least now Orihime might be more open to something a little more flirty.
Rukia returned a few minutes later with a simple, gauzy, pale blue, off-the shoulder sundress that cinched in at the waist and came down to about mid-thigh. She passed it over the door of the dressing room to Orihime, who tried it on and opened the door with a relieved smile on her face. Although the dress showed a fair bit of leg and shoulder, it was modest; it was not too clingy, the blousy-ness of the top left some things to the imagination and the neckline was high enough to cover all but the tiniest glimpse of the beginning of the swell of her breasts. She felt pretty, not sexy, and that made her feel comfortable. Rukia smiled back at her and said, "hold on, I'll be right back". She returned a few minutes later with a long thick silver necklace and sandals. Orihime tried them on and looked at her reflection in front of Rukia.
"Thank you, Rukia-chan. I feel a little bit grown up in this outfit; it's so pretty!" she gushed. Just then, her phone started to vibrate. Curious, Orihime had a look and sucked in a quick breath when she saw it was her alarm. "Oh no, I have to go get the cake! The bakery is halfway across town!"
"You go, I'll buy your outfit, finalize mine, and meet you at your apartment in an hour. Is it ok if I clean up there?" Rukia asked as Orihime changed back into her regular clothes.
"Yes! That sounds good. Thank you Rukia-chan!" she said as she ran out of sight.
7:50 p.m.
Renji had been having a difficult time earlier in the day trying to convince Ichigo to come to Urahara's. He had initially told the former shinigami that he wanted to spar with him, in gigai. Ichigo refused, citing the weather as reason to avoid any kind of physical exertion.
The next several excuses failed to hit the mark as well. Finally, Renji played his trump card. "We are expecting communication from soul society tonight. I know you won't be able to hear it for yourself, but we could relay the contents to you in real time so that you won't miss anything. I didn't want to say anything before because I didn't want you to get too excited"
That had garnered Ichigo's interest, and had not ignited any suspicions for ulterior motives. Everything was going according to plan. Renji and Ichigo had left the Kurosaki Clinic at ten minutes to eight o'clock and would be arriving precisely at the appointed time. When they arrived at Urahara Shoten, Renji loudly announced their arrival before entering, but it was too late for Ichigo to grow suspicious. They passed the threshold, confetti was popped, 'Happy Birthday' was shouted, and Ichigo was officially having his first-ever surprise party.
It wasn't a huge crowd; the above-ground part of the shop/residence was much too small for a large event, but because the group was short on space the party felt well-attended. Keigo and Mizuiro were there, the latter bringing three heavily made-up ladies in tow. Chad, Uryuu, Urahara, Yoruichi, Tessai, Jinta and Ururu were the next to greet Ichigo as he made his way into the interior tatami room where the party was going to be held. Inside, Rukia, Orihime, Tatsuki, and Chizuru congratulated him and sat him on the floor in the middle of the long, low table. Orihime offered him some iced oolong tea and then offered to serve Rukia, Tatsuki, and Chizuru, who had also taken a seat on the opposite side of the table. Orihime then went around filling cups for the others in an effort to get the party going.
Ichigo took a sip of his tea and scanned the room. As his sight landed on the corner of the room opposite the entrance he stopped and stared, his eyes nearly bugging out of his skull. There, lying propped up on his elbow, was the third seat of the eleventh division, Ikkaku Madarame and beside him, sitting pretty as a princess, the fifth seat, Yumichika Ayasegawa. Before he was able to shout something about the incredulousness of the situation and alarm the non-spiritually aware in the room, Urahara took a seat next to him, and hushing his voice with his fan, spoke, "Happy Birthday, Kurosaki-san. I see you have noticed our foreign guests in the corner. You should know that all souls present are in gigai, for your benefit and the benefit of the other newcomers tonight."
Ichigo was still alarmed, however, and leaned a bit closer to ask, "Alright, I get that's why I can see them, but what are they doing here? Has the threat become more dangerous?"
"No, Kurosaki-san," Urahara answered, "nothing to worry about. Abarai-san and Kuchiki-san are returning to soul society in a few days to make reports, and Madarame-san and Ayasegawa-san will be substituting for them in their absence."
Yoruichi came with a small bottle of sake and took a seat beside Urahara, handing a cup to him. "Ichigo, don't let Kisuke monopolize your attention tonight," she said before she swallowed the contents of her own small cup and poured another.
Ichigo nodded and looked around again. He was still processing what was happening and didn't know how he felt about it. On one hand, he was excited to see his former enemies-cum-comrades, on the other hand, he had, for all intents and purposes, left that life behind. Rukia and Renji were one thing, but having more residents of soul society paraded before him was making him think about what he was missing. He breathed out his nose heavily, and looked away, accidentally making eye contact with Orihime. Her face fell at seeing his scowling expression.
"Is something wrong, Kurosaki-kun?" She asked, walking over to where Ichigo sat. She knelt beside him and topped off his glass of tea with a concerned expression on her face.
"No, everything is fine, I just don't trust those two," Ichigo covered, pointing his thumb in the direction of the newly arrived shinigami and granting Orihime the tiniest smile. She responded in kind, and he remembered he hadn't really spoken to her since the Tanabata festival. He had felt something about her that night that shook him. He had been relieved when, on the next day at school, he looked at her in her school uniform and mostly saw his friend again, not the 'Goddess of Karakura', as he later learned she was called. Today was different, however. Ichigo leaned back slightly and looked to Orihime again. She looked different; older. If he wasn't mistaken, she was wearing a little make-up. Not enough to look fake, just enough to highlight her eyes and add some shimmer to her pink lips. His eyes drifted away from her face and took in what she was wearing. He noted how her pale blue dress set off the creamy peach color of her shoulders, and how, following the neckline of the dress, he was treated to the sight of just a hint of armpit cleavage. Next, his sight was drawn to a thick braided silver chain, which dipped down between the swell of her breasts, the start of which peeked out of the dress's neckline just enough to ignite his imagination as to what lie beneath. His gaze followed the necklace down to her lap, which offered him a generous length of bare thigh to behold.
Ichigo's mouth was suddenly dry. He brought his cup to his mouth and took a drink, raising his eyes back to Orihime's. When he saw that her eyes were wide and her face was a deep pink, he finally noticed that he had been openly checking her out. His own face went beet red as he realized he was caught, and panicked. He allowed a tortured "hrmg" to escape his lips as he stood up suddenly and staggered a step away from Orihime. Unfortunately for him, Rukia had noticed and had no interest in letting him out of the hot seat.
"Speech! Speech!" the diminutive shinigami demanded.
The room quieted and all eyes landed on Ichigo, whose complexion was still as red as a newborn. "Uh," he began quietly, "Uh, well, thanks for coming? I'll be right back," he blurted out before making a run for the door.
He almost made it out of the room but was stopped just outside by Uryuu, who had missed the whole thing. "Where are you off to in such a hurry, the party just started?" the Quincy asked.
Ichigo seized the opportunity to deflect attention from himself. "I could ask you what you are doing here, weren't you just saying the other day you'd be too busy studying?" he asked, much more condescendingly than he would normally.
"What's your problem, Kurosaki?" Uryuu shot back defensively.
"Oh, so that's not it then? What could it possibly be to tempt the holier-than-thou Ishida out on a Saturday before exams? Is it that you are making an exception because you're hoping to see that little crush of yours? Would she even show up in a place where you might go?" he lashed out cruelly. Ichigo was not normally so vindictive, but Uryuu had been getting under his skin lately and Ichigo was desperate to shift focus off of himself.
Uryuu took a sharp breath through his nose and straightened his neck and shoulders, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, attempting to regain some dignity as a blush emerged across his cheeks. He didn't know what had happened in the other room and was not expecting Ichigo's offensive, and if he was honest with himself, his feelings were hurt. Instead of answering, he turned on his heel and walked toward the exit, saying, "I don't have to deal with this."
Just then, Orihime came out into the corridor. She looked between the two boys and watched Uryuu storm out. "What –" she began to ask, as Ichigo finally realized what he had done and interrupted.
"Maybe you should go after him, I said something I shouldn't have," he told her in a guilty voice.
"Oh, alright. I'll be back as soon as I can, Kurosaki-kun," she said and smiled to him, making him feel even more guilty as he re-entered the party room.
Orihime trotted outside and looked for Uryuu. She couldn't see him, so she closed her eyes and searched for his reiatsu. She found it after only a moment, and she followed it around to the side of the building, where she found Uryuu with his jaw set on edge and his fists clenched against the exterior wall.
"Ishida-kun," she said softly as she approached. He closed his eyes and lowered his head, trying to hide his blush. "Ishida-kun," she said again, more concerned than before. She gently put one of her hands on his upper arm in an attempt to get him to look at her, which he didn't do. "Ishida-kun, I don't know what Kurosaki-kun said to you, but I know he feels sorry about it," she said, trying to soothe him.
Uryuu punched the wall with the side of his fist and then turned to Orihime. "I very much doubt that, Inoue-san. Thank you for your kindness, but I am not going back in there to spend time with someone as ridiculous as Kurosaki."
"Oh, Ishida-kun, please come back in?" she pleaded, looking into his eyes with affection. "I know Kurosaki-kun regrets what he did – Rukia-chan had just put him on the spot to make a speech and he was, um, embarrassed…" she trailed off, looking down and to the side.
"That is no excuse!" Uryuu started, before he stopped, speechless, and looked down at his left hand, which was now in both of Orihime's.
"Ishida-kun, please come back with me," she started to pull on his hand gently, and when she was met with resistance, she looked to his face and saw his eyes on hers. She was not sure what she saw there, but she was shaken. He had never looked at her so intensely before. She felt his reiatsu flare briefly and then nearly disappear. He looked away, removed his glasses and pushed the backs of his hands into his eyes, clearly upset and frustrated. Much more upset and frustrated than the situation with Ichigo warranted.
"Please talk to me, Ishida-kun," she asked. He answered her with a strained groan, eyes still covered with his hands.
Orihime was at a loss – she didn't know what was bothering her friend so much – but she wanted desperately to fix whatever was bothering him. She tentatively reached her right hand up toward his face, not sure what she meant to do there. She brushed it against Uryuu's wrist, which he abruptly dropped to his side, allowing her hand to fall lightly onto his cheek. She gasped softly when he leaned into her palm, keeping his eyes closed, and furrowed his brows, inhaling and exhaling uneasily. Orihime was overwhelmed with pity and brushed her thumb across Uryuu's hardened cheekbones in an attempt to soothe away the tension there, when he suddenly relaxed his brows, opening his eyes slightly. He saw the look of concern on her face and let out a soft chuckle, following by a small, gentle smile. "Ah, Inoue-san," he started wistfully, then took an abrupt step forward and embraced her.
Time stopped.
She didn't know how long it lasted, but when Uryuu released her she felt like her lungs were going to burst – she hadn't realized she'd been holding her breath. When he laughed at her, she finally exhaled audibly, looking to his eyes for answers. She was both relieved and confused by what she saw there. His expression held great fondness and even affection, but it also held bemused resignation.
"I'm sorry, Inoue-san," he began, choosing his words carefully. "I am always awed by the depth of your kindness, but tonight you have overwhelmed me with it. You are truly the dearest friend I have, and I thank you for that." He stood up straight and put his left hand at the back of her right elbow, leading her forward. "Come on, let's get back to the party," he said as he put his glasses back on his face.
Orihime wasn't sure what happened, but she was happy her friend had recovered and seemed in much better spirits. She flashed him a megawatt grin and followed.
Neither of them noticed that they had an audience.
A/N: Ok, I know I said this chapter would take us to the end of the school term, but it is getting to be unruly and I thought now was a good time for a break, plus I wanted to get an update out this week. Next week we'll pick up here. As always, thanks for reading and let me know your thoughts in the reviews!