Rule #2 :Remember to Knock on Closed Doors Before Opening
Ichigo met Orihime Inoue when he was eight years old.
He met her at the park and remembers she smelled like play-doh and dirt. When her brother and his mother force them to introduce themselves to each other, he remembers feeling the stickiness of her hands from her leftover ice cream, and her shy, quiet voice. He remembers leading her to the monkey bars and watching her swing from bar to bar beneath her before she accidentally falls on top of him when she loses her grip.
He can practically hear her childish sobs and continuous apologies, so concerned over his well being when he only had a small bruise on his shoulder. He remembers patting her back, telling her that it was okay, and feeling glad when her cries died down, turning to hiccups and sniffles. When his mother and her brother finally check in on them and decide to head home, he recalls looking back at her one last time to find her doing the same.
He remembers the light of the setting sun casting different shades of orange and red, making her auburn hair glow brightly. He remembers thinking that her wide smile reminded him of that sun- warm and bright, two front missing teeth and all.
What Ichigo doesn't remember is feeling his breath catch for three seconds at the sight.
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Shaking his head from his memories, Ichigo focused in on the task at hand: to gather all the food, water, and supplies they could use for their journey. Although he still hadn't confronted Orihime on his plans to head North to Hokkaido, he figured they still needed to gather everything they could in order to survive their new world.
They were currently at a small convenience store located at the edge of Karakura, far from the center of town. Orihime had taken note that there would be too much of the dead still lurking around, and that it would be far too risky and dangerous to hit up the main stores. They were incredibly lucky so far as they had yet to come across any… zombies.
Zombies.
Ichigo suppressed a crazed laugh. Who knew that the end of the world would come in the form of zombies- the type of zombie shit that you see on tv and read from comics. And really, that was the only way to describe them as they only came back if you didn't give them that fatal blow to the brain. He had a thousand questions rapidly running through his mind- who, what, when, why, how? Feeling his anxiety and fear rising, Ichigo shook his head and focused once more on finding supplies, particularly some ibuprofen to calm his growing headache.
Walking down the aisle of magazines and over broken shelves, he was very pleased to find the small section of medicine untouched and ready for the taking.
"Ouch!"
A loud bang stopped Ichigo and he violently whipped his head around to the sound. "Inoue?"
Worried, Ichigo moved quickly towards the other side of the store. It was there he found Orihime standing over a cluttered mess of boxed cookies on the floor.
"What happened?" Ichigo hopped over the junk food to Orihime's side, giving her a once over and glad to find no serious injury.
"Sorry, I was just reaching up to grab the box, but it was heavier than I thought, and I kinda just lost my balance. I'm okay though!" Orihime smiled, rubbing her bruised shoulder.
"How about you just call me over the next time you need help- especially if it's to reach something way over your head." Ichigo chastised, bopping her bun for added effect and Orihime rolled her eyes, putting her bun back in place.
"Yes, mom." Orihime stuck her tongue out and Ichigo could feel his eye twitch. Reaching down to grab a few boxes for her bag, Orihime suddenly pushed a key onto Ichigo's hand.
"Oh! I also found this next to the register. I'm guessing it's for the storage room in the back." Orihime nodded towards the door in the back corner.
"Let's check it out. But first, cookies!"
- - - - X X X X- - - -
Standing in front of the closed door, Ichigo reached a hand out to stop Orihime before she unlocked the door.
"We don't know what's behind this door, so I'll go ahead and knock on the door. The noise will attract their attention and it'll be easier for us to take them down."
Feeling her stare, Ichigo looked down to Orihime staring up at him in alarm and awe.
"Wha-what? Why are you looking at me like that?" Ichigo could already feel the nervous stutter starting, his heart already fluttering. He hated when she looked at him like that.
Like he was her hero.
"Kurosaki-kun is seriously so cool! I'd have just barged in there." Orihime exclaimed and he had to look away.
"Just common sense." Ichigo mumbled.
"Maybe, but you'd think that I'd know to do that, seeing as how I'm the one obsessed with zombie shows and comics"
"Hey, you're the one that told us to come here. My dumbass would have run straight into the center of town." Ichigo assured. He hated when she put herself down or compared herself to anyone else. She was already on a league of her own.
"We're a team, remember?" He made sure to sound firm and sure.
Orihime looked up at him and stared. Swallowing hard, he was fighting the urge to look away, her stare incredibly intense. She was studying him, he could tell, but he couldn't figure out what she was thinking. Three heartbeats later, and he could slowly see the disappointment fading from her grey orbs. Smiling softly, gaze finally drifting away from him, she put her fist up on the door.
"If there's flaming hot cheetos in there, I call dibs! Who knew they'd be a favorite in the apocalypse!" Orihime exclaimed before knocking firmly on the door three times. Ichigo shook his head as he waited with bated breath.
After a minute of silence, Orihime smiled brightly and began to unlock the door with the key. Before turning the knob, she looked to him again, alarming him.
"Ah, also, did you know, Kurosaki-kun? I'm glad we're stuck in the apocalypse together- you're my favorite, always!"
It was deja vu, because he knew he had been in this same situation before.
The setting sun behind them, the oranges and reds, the glowing hair and pretty, silly smile.
Him: awestruck, speechless, and falling hard.
Her: captivating, vibrant, and hard to reach.
Just one, tiny difference: the reflection of her small, diamond ring on her left ring finger hitting him square in the eyes.
In an instant, Ichigo's mood deflated, and as Orihime pushed the door open, he backtracked towards the medicine aisle, hoping above all else for pain killers strong enough to ease the ache in his heart.
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a/n: thanks to those who followed, favorited, and reviewed!
the warm responses are deeply appreciated :)
i'm posting this later than i had expected, but i suddenly had plans popping up left and right.
the wait for the next chapter won't be as long, so see you then!
xo,
lovelycollision