Notes: Because Ichigo is always a little more gentle towards Orihime.
Summary: It's always from afar that he admires her.
Rating: K
Word Count: 502
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.
a walking daydream
flipped
It's always from afar that he admires her.
He never allows himself to cross boundaries and draw any closer to her alluring orbit. Doing so is unimaginable, a grand mistake on his part because he's in over his head if he thinks he's good enough for someone as lovely as her.
Because Orihime Inoue is perfection built in the form of a girl. A girl who's too kind for her own good and too beautiful for her own good.
And Ichigo knows his one-sided feelings for her will only bring him grief.
But he keeps loving her, keeps looking out for her and helping her out when she needs it.
So he continues his role as friend, looking forward to her cheerful "Good morning, Kurosaki-kun!" Her sun beam smiles and those rather strange ideas of hers that make absolutely no sense but he never admits it.
It's a heart wrenching position he's stuck in. Having to watch her spend all her time with the class representative, Uryuu Ishida. Seeing them exchange several conversations that only they seem to understand. Their exclusive bond has Ichigo drowning in envy.
What's even worse, is that she acts different around Uryuu. There's a strong friendship between them, one that includes him hovering by her side and picking her up when she's down and no one else can get her out of the stupor.
And Ichigo wants to do that for her. He wants to be the shoulder she can lean on whenever things get rough. He wants those deep conversations they share and the way they just seem to work together.
He wants all this and more.
It's crazy to long for this but he does. He can't help but feel that he might be special to Orihime in some way. That there's something brewing in her pretty gray eyes when they pass each other the halls.
Because she also behaves differently around him.
It's not as obvious compared to when she's with Uryuu but it's still there. It's in the way she concerns herself with him, always worrying over whether or not he's doing well. How she offers without fail to tutor him before an upcoming exam.
The way she's a little more herself around him. How when they're together, she doesn't have to pretend to be Karukura High's Princess. No, when she's with Ichigo she's just Orihime, the girl who knows loss as much as him and struggles everyday to get through it.
And this is what makes Ichigo fall even deeper in love with Orihime.
She's more than a pretty face, owning an even prettier heart. A girl that doesn't care that the rest of the school thinks of Ichigo as the Orange Haired Punk. Who laughs and smiles so freely but locks away frowns and tears for another time.
It's Orihime who makes Ichigo turn into a better person, striving to become someone worthy of her love.
It hurts but he's sure it would be harder to try not to love her.