Orihime woke the next morning to sunlight streaming into her dorm room and her cellphone pinging loudly. Groaning at the hangover she was beginning to feel, she felt around her bed for her cellphone. Finding it at the edge of her bed, she noted the time (11:30 already?) and quickly unlocked her phone to read a text from Tatsuki.
Tatsuki: Just checking in. How's your head? I had to wake up early to get to the dojo but didn't want to wake you.
Thinking back to the previous night, Orihime couldn't even remember how she had gotten back to her dorm room, let alone how many drinks she had had. After she got hit on by the man at the bar, Chizuru had exclaimed something like "we don't need men!" and ordered the girls a round of shots. Or maybe we had multiple rounds of shots? As if in response to her question, her headache became acutely painful and she felt a sudden bout of nausea hit her.
Before she could even think to respond to Tatsuki's text, Orihime bolted out of her room and made a bee line for the shared bathroom down the hall to stick her head in the toilet.
She thankfully made it just in time, and after throwing up probably everything she had eaten the day before, wiped her mouth with some toilet paper. I guess I'm lucky that classes start tomorrow and not today. She flushed the toilet and came out of the stall to wash her mouth out.
As she exited the stall, she was both surprised and deeply embarrassed to find two other people in the bathroom at the sinks. One was a tall and lean man with long-ish black hair pinned back by interesting-looking barrettes. His quick judgmental glance at her indicated that he had heard her throwing up and was deeply disgusted. The other was a woman with long strawberry blonde hair and a figure rather similar to Orihime. She gave a sympathetic glance to Orihime as she washed her hands.
Orihime sighed to herself. Right. Shared, co-ed bathrooms, she thought to herself as she started to gargle some water and debated between starting up a conversation with one or both of them, or being as silent as possible. Before she could decide on what to do next, the man had left the bathroom and the woman smiled at Orihime.
"Rough night?" she asked.
Orihime finished gargling and spit into the sink. "Nah, the night was fun!" Orihime replied, "it's the stupid morning after that's rough."
The other woman laughed at Orihime's reply and after drying her hands, smiled at her. "I'm Matsumoto Rangiku. You a freshman?"
Orihime smiled back. "I am! My name is Inoue Orihime. Are you a freshman too?"
"No, I'm actually a third year in Psych and one of the RA's for this floor. The grumpy guy earlier is Kuchiki Byakuya, he's the other RA and in his fourth year."
"Oh!" Orihime inwardly cringed. Of course she would make a bad first impression on the RA's of her floor.
"If you ever need anything, knock on one of our doors!" Rangiku called out as she exited the bathroom.
"Thank you and nice meeting you!" Orihime rushed to respond. Radiant Rangiku, she thought, and Judgy Byakuya.
Now that she was alone in the bathroom, Orihime looked at herself in the mirror to see if she looked as gross as she felt. Throwing up certainly helped her feel better, but she didn't look so great. Wearing the cropped tank from the night before and some striped sleeping shorts, she looked like she had just gotten out of bed (which she had), but the remnants of smudged mascara and eyeshadow made her look like she had had a rough night. Sighing deeply, Orihime started washing her face to remove the remaining make up. As she looked up at her reflection again, she looked and felt much better.
Hmm, maybe I should shower. She thought to herself. In which case I need my shower stuff in my room. Her eyes snapped wide open. Did I lock myself out of my room?!
Heading back to her room, she saw that the door was indeed closed and had automatically locked. Orihime groaned thinking of how Tatsuki had drilled it into her the day before that she should carry her keycard for the room at all times. If you get locked out, you'll have to go to the front desk! Tatsuki had said.
Orihime made her way to the front desk, passing many students who stared at her state of undress (it's just sleeping clothes!), and was faced with a mousy looking front desk person (probably a student). The nameplate sitting on the desk read: Hanataro.
"Um, hi there" Orihime began.
"H-hi!" He squeaked.
"I live on the fifth floor and I've locked myself out of my room." She confessed. "Can you help me?"
"Oh, I see. Hmm. Mmmm. Normally I'd give you the master keycard, but another student got locked out and borrowed it a minute ago." Hanataro replied. Noticing someone walking past gave him an idea. "Kuchiki-san! You're the fifth floor RA right? I-if you're not busy, could you help this student get into her room?"
As Hanataro spoke, Orihime turned around to face, for the second time today she realized, the judgy, but somewhat handsome, RA.
He took a moment to observe the freshman girl. She's prettier than I gave her credit for. He hated the sound of throwing up, which not only made him ill-suited to being a university RA, but it had also made him react negatively to the girl he had encountered in the bathroom.
"Locked out?" he asked her.
"Uhm, yea." Orihime replied sheepishly, casually scratching her head and causing her cropped tank top to rise a bit higher.
Byakuya quickly averted his eyes and turned around. "Let's go."
Orihime rushed to throw a quick thanks to the front desk person and rushed to follow the abrasive RA.
"Stairs or elevator?" he inquired once she had caught up.
"Elevator if you don't mind?" Orihime replied. She had rushed to catch up to him, but her head was still spinning from the hangover and the burst of activity.
Byakuya nodded, and noticing that the elevator in front of them was still on ground level but closing, stuck his hand in the door to keep it open.
As Byakuya and Orihime stepped into the elevator, a familiar voice asked, "What floor?"
Orihime looked up to notice Ichigo standing in the elevator. "Fifth." Byakuya replied to the question, a split second before Orihime exclaimed, "Kurosaki-kun!" and turned to him in surprise.
After pressing the 5th floor button, Ichigo looked up to see Orihime, looking very cute in some shorts (they were really quite short) and a tank top, with a guy (who was this guy?). "Inoue." Ichigo stated, his eyes widening slightly. Seeing her in a much better state than he thought she would be in after passing out last night, he smiled. "I'm glad to see you're okay. You, uh, got pretty wasted last night. I blame Chizuru and those damn shots though."
Orihime chuckled lightly in embarrassment. "I feel like she was handing me shot after shot last night! And in any case, I'm much better now. I forgot you lived here too. What floor?"
"Sixth." Ichigo replied. "I was going to text you to see if you wanted to walk around the medicine and nursing buildings, but I realized I didn't get your number."
Smooth. Byakuya thought watching the exchange, subtly rolling his eyes.
Orihime gave him her number just as they arrived at the fifth floor.
"I'll text you." Ichigo called out to her as she exited with the older male student.
"Bye Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime replied, waving at the orange headed student.
Byakuya stopped abruptly a few metres out of the elevator causing Orihime to walk right into him. She could feel his broad taut back beneath his shirt and smelled his body wash (or laundry detergent?) that smelled of cherry blossoms before she fell back. She instinctively grabbed the back of his shirt to stop herself from falling further, but quickly released him after she regained her balance. Byakuya's eyes widened as he felt the woman's soft body collide with his, silently deciding that he didn't hate the sensation, then quickly composed himself.
He turned around to see Orihime with a pleasant pink blush spread over her features and tickling her ears. "Just a moment." He said as he took out his own keycard and opened what appeared to be his dorm room. Orihime nodded silently, still blushing and looking down. When Byakuya came back out, the two silently walked to Orihime's room a couple doors down, and Byakuya used his master key for the floor to unlock her door.
Still not quite meeting his eye contact Orihime smiled. "Thanks again, Kuchiki-senpai."
Byakuya's eyes widened slightly. "I don't recall telling you my name."
"Oh, Matsumoto-senpai told me earlier." Orihime said.
"I see." Byakuya said. Realizing that he didn't have the name of this cute creature, he decided to tease her. "So you're allowed to know my name, but not vice versa?"
"Oh! How rude of me," Orihime rushed, meeting his eye contact directly. "Inoue Orihime, freshman in the nursing program!"
Byakuya nodded at this new information and turned to leave. "See you around Inoue-san. Don't get locked out again."
Orihime smiled and retreated back to her room, returning once more to her bed and flopping on top of it.
Finding her cellphone where she had left it, she unlocked it to see 23 new texts. 21 from Tatsuki and two from an unknown number. Orihime's heart nearly stopped seeing an unknown number, but it quickly returned to a normal rhythm when she opened the texts.
Unknown: hey, it's Kurosaki Ichigo.
Unknown: wanna go walk around campus?
Before she could reply or check the many texts from Tatsuki, her cellphone started ringing. It was Tatsuki. Orihime, knowing how worried her friend must be, picked up on the first ring.
"Hiii Tatsuki-chan!" Orihime answered.
"Orihime! What the hell? I've been texting you for the last two hours and you haven't replied. I thought something happened to you! I was about to hop on the train to come check on you!" Tatsuki exclaimed.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Tatsuki-chan! When I woke up, I, uh, needed to puke, and left my room without my keycard. I didn't reply because I didn't have my phone…"
"What did I tell you yesterday? Make a-"
"-keychain for my keycard and keep it on me at all times. Even when I shower." Orihime said, finishing Tatsuki's sentences. "Yes, yes." She paused. "I'm sorry for worrying you."
Tatsuki, hearing the feeling in Orihime's voice, quieted. "It's okay. I'm just glad you're okay."
Orihime smiled at her friend's concern. Though she still wasn't used to being worried over so much, it felt nice to know that someone was thinking of her.
Tatsuki continued talking, "Oh by the way, Ishida asked me for your number. Is it okay for me to send it to him? Normally, I would never give a guy your number, but Ishida is a good friend and an excellent study buddy. I figured you would have given it to him if he asked."
Cool Ishida-kun asked for my number? Orihime blushed. "That- that seems okay Tatsuki-chan!" Thinking about her earlier encounter today she added, "I ran into Kurosaki-kun today and we also exchanged numbers."
"Ah, okay, Orihime." Tatsuki smiled. She was wondering if Ichigo would also ask her for Orihime's number, as he was practically the only one of their friends from last night who hadn't yet asked. Though they had all asked, Tatsuki figured Ishida would be the only one to not constantly hit on Orihime and bug her to hang out with him. Ishida and maybe Sado-kun. He was so quiet it was hard to tell what he was ever thinking.
"Speaking of, I think Kurosaki-kun said he was going to walk around campus and asked if I wanted to go with. Can I call you back later Tatsuki-chan?" Orihime asked.
"Yea, it's all good. Talk to you later Orihime." Tatsuki replied and hung up. She smiled thinking of how quick Ichigo was to ask Orihime to hang out. Back in high school and even before then, Ichigo was never the first to initiate hang outs. Usually it was Keigo bugging him and the rest of the group to get together and not neglect him. I guess he's taking what I said yesterday pretty seriously. Ichigo could be a blockhead sometimes, but he and Tatsuki had known each other so long that they knew when they needed the other to be serious. Tatsuki thought back to the time when they were kids and Ichigo, tears streaming down his face, asked Tatsuki to make him stronger. Tatsuki, having heard from her own mother that Ichigo's mom had passed away, just nodded at him and promised they would get strong together.
Sighing at the sombre reflection, and whispering a prayer that Masaki Kurosaki was resting in peace, looked at her text from Ishida. I guess I should send him Orihime's number, then.
Back in Orihime's dorm room she smiled and returned to Ichigo's texts, adding his number as a contact.
Kurosaki Ichigo: wanna go walk around campus?
Inoue Orihime: Sure, Kurosaki-kun! Meet downstairs in 20?
Almost immediately, her phone pinged with his reply.
Kurosaki Ichigo: yes.
Orihime smiled and grabbed her shower things and her keycard as she headed to the bathroom.
20 minutes later, Orihime headed to the main entrance of Himawari Hall dressed in a calf-length skirt with a beautiful sunflower pattern and a light pink sweater on top. Orihime wondered if her favourite skirt made her look overdressed or like she was trying too hard to impress Ichigo, but was quick to stop her second guessing. Maybe Rugged Kurosaki-kun will like it? She thought, but immediately shook her head. It makes me happy, so what else matters?
Ichigo spotted her when she exited the elevator and had a few moments to admire her and wonder if she got dressed up to meet him. He looked down at his jeans and t-shirt and wondered if he was underdressed. A quick thought passed in his mind, wondering if she thought this was a date. Before he had time to think about it, or wonder if he himself wished it were a date, she stood in front of him.
"Hi Kurosaki-kun! I picked up one of the campus maps from the front desk." Orihime smiled, waving the paper map at him. "N-not that I think you would get us lost or anything!" She quickly added.
Ichigo chuckled. "Good thinking, Inoue. I think I remember where the medicine buildings are from visiting campus a few months ago, but picking up a map was smart of you."
Orihime smiled at the praise and the two turned in the direction of the medicine buildings.
As they walked along the campus trails, Ichigo looked at Orihime, thinking back on what Tatsuki had shared and feeling curious about this woman's story.
Orihime felt Ichigo staring and feeling her cheeks warm up, tried to deflect his attention.
"S-so, why do you want to become a doctor Kurosaki-kun?"
"Hmm." Ichigo pondered. "I don't really know. My old man is a Doctor, and it seemed like a decent way of living; helping people and all that."
"Ah! That's um, very noble of you, Kurosaki-kun." Orihime replied.
"I guess so." Ichigo shrugged. "What about you? Why do you want to get into pre-med and not stick with nursing?"
Orihime blushed. "Oh! I guess it's the same as you. I mean my Dad wasn't a doctor, as far as I know, but my older brother used to say that he thought I would be a good doctor. I was a bit late applying to school and the nursing program only accepted me after I was waitlisted."
"I see. You say your brother used to say you'd be a good doctor?" Ichigo asked.
"Yea, he passed away 10 years ago." Orihime stated matter-of-factly.
Shit, Ichigo thought as he cringed. Tatsuki did say she had no family. "Sorry, Inoue."
Orihime shook her head. "No, it's okay Kurosaki-kun! It- it was a long time ago. And I like talking about Sora-nii-chan."
Ichigo smiled. "Wanna tell me more about him then?"
Orihime smiled and her eyes widened. "Yes!"
Another hour passed by, with Ichigo and Orihime wandering around campus; Orihime recounting stories of her childhood with Sora, like the inedible things she would cook for him and the way he would humour her by still trying at least one bite.
Ichigo was surprised at how funny Orihime was; how much joy she seemed to have had in her childhood!
The re-telling of her joyful childhood seemed near an end, though. After one particularly funny story about Sora convincing Orihime that Santa was real, she became quiet and introspective. Ichigo, sensing that the rest of her stories about Sora might not be pleasant to recount, was about to tell Orihime about his own funny sibling stories, when a loud rumbling was heard. Ichigo blinked as Orihime turned bright red and grasped her stomach.
"Hungry?" Ichigo asked, holding back a laugh at the cute girl's expense.
"Hehe, apparently!" Orihime replied sheepishly.
Ichigo checked his watch. 2:46 pm, already? "I think the cafeteria is closed right now." He mused aloud. "But there's a café nearby that should be open. It has pretty good Mexican food."
"That sounds good!" Orihime smiled.
Ichigo smiled at Orihime and led her a couple blocks outside campus to a café.
The bell in the doorway rang lightly and Orihime was surprised to see the tall broad-shouldered Sado-kun at the cash, wearing a black apron. His one eye that wasn't obscured by his dark wavy locks visibly widened at the sight in front of him. What are Ichigo and Inoue-san doing here together?
Ichigo strolled up to the counter and nodded at his friend. "Hey Chado. Inoue and I were walking around campus but thought we'd drop in for some food."
Sado nodded at this information and turned to the auburn-haired woman standing beside Ichigo. "Welcome to Abuelo's Cafe Inoue-san."
Orihime's eyes widened at hearing Sado's deep voice for the first time. Thinking back to the previous night, the large man hadn't said anything, but remained a protective barrier against the rest of the bar. His voice was nice, she decided, and smiled at him. "Thank you, Sado-kun!" she exclaimed. Looking at the vast menu, Orihime's eyes glistened in wonder. "What do you recommend Sado-kun?"
Sado, instead of replying with words, motioned for Ichigo and Orihime to take a seat. He disappeared into the back of the café and came out a few moments later carrying a tray with a three tacos, two bowls and two glasses of a light yellow drink. "Tacos al pastor, elotes, and agua de guayaba." He said. "It's what my abuelo would feed me when I came back from school."
Orihime smiled at the recollection, the smells of the food making her mouth salivate. "Everything looks delicious, Sado-kun." She said eyeing the food. Sado smiled as she and Ichigo started to eat, Orihime devouring her share swiftly and with many exclamations about how good it was. There were hardly ever many customers in the afternoon, and so Sado drew a chair up to their table. He enjoyed how her eyes lit up as she savoured a bite of something or a sip of drink. Even Ichigo surrendered the third taco to her and part of his elotes when he saw how much she was enjoying the food.
A loud ping was heard coming from Orihime's purse. She wiped her mouth and took out her phone, panic settling onto her face when she saw her lock screen. Another unknown text message.
Ichigo and Sado immediately noticed the change in her countenance. "Inoue?" Ichigo asked, trying to draw her out of whatever trance she had just entered.
Orihime didn't seem to hear him. She had to remind herself to breathe – in and then out – and then she remembered that Tatsuki had given her number to Ishida-kun. Quickly opening her phone, she sighed in relief when she read the text.
Unknown: Hi Inoue-san. It's Ishida Uryuu. I hope it's okay that I asked Arisawa-san for your number. I should have asked you yourself last night but didn't get a chance to. Forgive me?
Orihime giggled at that and Ichigo and Sado both visibly relaxed. Orihime seemed to remember where she was and looked at Ichigo and Sado. "H-how rude of me to space out like that! I'm so sorry, Kurosaki-kun, Sado-kun."
Ichigo waved her off. "Nah, it's okay. Seems it was good news, I guess?" Sado likewise nodded at her that he was not upset in the least.
"Oh, it's just Ishida-kun." Orihime smiled. Both Ichigo and Sado grumbled slightly at this news, Sado in particular wondering if he was the only one who didn't have Inoue's number.
After finishing up their meal, Ichigo insisted he pay for the entire meal, to which Orihime strongly resisted. Sado put the argument to rest saying that it was on him and that he wouldn't take money from either of them. Though neither fully agreed, Sado did not budge and so that was that. Ichigo and Orihime said their goodbyes to their tall friend and headed back to Himawari Hall.
They parted ways when the elevator reached the fifth floor.
"See you later, Inoue." Ichigo waved.
"Bye Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime smiled.
As she walked away from the elevator, she took out her cellphone and realized she hadn't replied to Ishida's text. She typed a hasty reply and hit send just as she reached her door. Hearing a cellphone ping, she turned to see the door across the hall open up and reveal Ishida looking down at his phone.
"I-Ishida-kun!" Orihime exclaimed. Her eyes widened in surprise as she took in his figure as he stood in front of her and looked up at her in surprise. He wore a white button up shirt loosely tucked into some navy blue slacks. Orihime hadn't been able to see him fully the night before, but she felt herself staring at his slim figure and effortless fashion. As she casually stared at him, Ishida took the opportunity to look at her as well, noting the way her outfit hugged her curves and flattered her figure. The brightness and playfulness of her outfit suited her well, he thought. After a moment, he noticed that she was no longer staring at him and was instead staring down at her toes. Apparently he had stared at her too long.
"I just received your text, Inoue-san." Ishida started.
"Oh! Yes." Orihime replied. "I'm sorry it took me awhile to reply."
"Not a problem." He took a step towards her. "And I guess since we're neighbours, we can knock on each other's door instead of texting." Orihime looked up at him. "I would much prefer talking face to face with you than sending texts."
Orihime felt her face warming up from the sincerity of Ishida's words and his proximity. "Mhm," was all she could managed in the moment.
"I was going to go down to the cafeteria for some dinner. Care to join me?" Ishida asked.
"Oh, uhm, I would really like to, but I just had some food, a-at Sado-kun's café actually! And so, uhm, I probably will have dinner a little later, sorry Ishida-kun! M-maybe next time?" Orihime responded.
Amused at her apology and surprised that she had found Sado's cafe, Ishida smiled. She did say they would eat together next time. "Okay then, Inoue-san. I'll see you later neighbour. Knock on my door whenever."
"See ya later, neighbour!" Orihime replied, waving at Ishida as he turned towards the elevators. Orihime sighed, shaking her head at her behaviour. Ishida-kun must think I'm a total weirdo, she thought to herself.
She unlocked her door and flopped onto her bed. Today was a good day, she thought to herself. She had never had many friends, and indeed only since she befriended Tatsuki did she feel she could be her whole authentic self around anyone besides Sora-nii-chan. She smiled to herself thinking about Tatsuki's friends who were becoming her friends, and even about the two RA's on her floor who had been kind to her. She glanced at her calendar near her desk and decided to look at her class schedule once more, and prepare for the next day. Orihime hadn't been in class with actual people for nearly a year. She was anxious, but knowing she had friends to lean on comforted her. I'm excited for school tomorrow, she thought happily as she hummed to herself and got lost in her own little world.
Her cellphone left unattended on her bed started to ping, but she didn't notice.
Tatsuki Arisawa: Text Message (2)
Ichigo Kurosaki: Text Message (1)
Ishida Uryuu: Text Message (1)
Unknown: Text Message (1)
Unknown: Voicemail (1)
A/N: Thank you to all the kind guest reviewers! You are literally the best. I've daydreamed many a fanfiction, but never dreamed I would write it down and publish it. Please keep writing reviews and giving me feedback! It means a lot to me. For now, I have some ideas about what the next few chapters will be, but I'm open to hearing about what you want to see too!
To the guest reviewers wanting some IchiHime, I hear you loud and clear! They're also one of my fav pairings 3
Many of you guessed right about the scheming person in the last chapter, but it'll be a little longer before his scheme rolls into action!