A/N: Hello people! Here's another update! yay! I've been trying to make my chapters longer and minimize grammatical errors and on top of all that i'm trying not to fail chemistry so..yeah doing pretty good. A huge thank you to everyone who reviewed each of you make me so happy.
Disclaimer: Bleach+characters+plot= Tite Kubo not me, Me= Monkey
Chapter six
Orihime's POV
It's been a slow day at work but I don't mind. Even though it's quiet I love working with Akari-san. She's older than I am but I get along with her. Her son Hiro-chan sometimes stops by the Bakery to see his mum. He was an adorable cheeky six year old who always brightened up the place. Today it was dull and I was still thinking about step 2.
It seems impossible, Do something different, behave differently without changing who I am? As my thoughts were running at a billion miles an hour I didn't notice the next customer until he spoke.
"How much for these, miss?"
I looked up startled to see the smiling face of Andou-kun.
"Andou-kun, what are you doing here?" I'm a bit surprised to see him here but I smile back at him anyways.
"Well for now I want some of these cro-…krou" He stammered at the French word.
I giggled "You mean a croissant?"He grinned and laughed "yeah! That! I'd like four please"
I wrapped up his order and took the bill he held out but instead of leaving he took a seat and ate them right here. I didn't mind him being there so I went back to work. After a while Andou-kun had finished all four of his croissants and was staring at the ceiling bored.
"Why don't you go talk to him? He looks bored" Akari-san said. So I went around the counter to talk to him.
"Hey Andou-kun, what are you doing?" He sat up straight as if startled by my presence.
"Oh I'm just admiring the ceiling… it's umm quiet nice" He seemed nervous and it was making me uneasy, I'm used to his usual bright smile.
"Thank you, you should see it without cobwebs" I say trying to pull out his usual smile. It works and he flashes me a grin. "nah! The cobwebs add to the charm!" He laughs and I join him. Now that he isn't nervous any more he can tell me why he's here.
"So whats up? Can I help you with anything?" I ask.
"Umm yeah would you do me a favor?" He asks looking at me.
"Sure" I respond without thinking twice about it.
"Will you come home with me today?"
"What?"
I'm speechless for a while. I stare at him in shock and he stares back nervously at me. Is he kidding? He blinks and then his eyes go wide.
"Oh no! I didn't mean it that way! I meant… Oh god I'm so sorry" He's blushing and I can't stop myself from laughing.
"What I meant was I need help for Tatsuki's party, It's this Saturday and I have no idea what to do. I told Auntie I'd handle everything and that all she had to do was bake the cake. What a stupid thing to do! Now I have to handle decorations, entertainment, food. I mean how do you even hire a clown? Should I hire a clown? Tatsuki likes them right?" He ran out of breath and looked up at me.
Today is Thursday, her birthday is on Saturday. "You haven't done anything till now?" I ask a bit horrified.
"Noo! I don't know why I thought it was such a brilliant idea to throw a party but now…"
"We have a lot of work to do" I turned to Akari-san to ask if I could leave early today. She waved me off and smiled. "Go ahead, I can handle an empty shop" I smiled gratefully as I took off my apron.
"So you'll help me?" He looked at me hopefully. I smiled before nodding.
He jumped up and down and laughed loudly "Yosh! This will be the best party ever!"
We walk out of the bakery in silence, Andou-kun smiling the whole time. "So we don't have much time so today I can help get the decorations out of the way." I say to him.
"Thank you so much! I couldn't figure out anything, you are literally saving my life"
"It's for Tatsuki-chan no big deal" I make a mental list of all the things we need and we stop to buy supplies. We get to Tatsuki-chan's modest yet comfortable home carrying everything we need for decorations; markers, balloons and lots of glitter (which I know Tatsuki would hate but Andou-kun insisted)
"Tatsuki left an hour ago for the Dojo so we have like 3 hours"
Unloading the stuff, we get to work. Andou-kun really tried his best to help but he always accidentaly spilled paint over the poster or accidentally gluing his fingers together so I decided to keep him safely away from the banners and instead asked him to blow the balloons. While we work Andou-kun tells me funny stories about his school. He told me about his friends that were all now in different universities. I wonder to myself why Andou-kun hasn't gone to university himself. Tatsuki's mum came in later and offered us delicious snacks as we coloured, pasted and glittered the decorations.
I didn't notice time pass by and when I look outside I'm surprised to see its already dark, I should go home but I decide to help Andou-kun finish up. All that's left is to box up all the decorations until the party. Just as we're done I hear Tatsuki's loud footsteps approaching the front door.
"Mom, I'm back" she announces. Both Andou-kun and I freeze, it's all over if she sees me here now. Andou-kun quickly grabs my wrist and shoves me into the cramped closet along with the decorations. It's uncomfortable in here but I stay perfectly still holding my breath.
"What's for dinner?" Tatsuki said coming in.
"Umm sweat heart why don't you shower before you eat? I'll have your dinner on the table by then" said her mom. I sigh in relief if Tatsuki leaves and goes to her room I can slip out unnoticed.
"I hate showering on an empty stomach you know that, I'll eat then shower. Happy?" She replied. I hear her drop her stuff and take a seat.
"Do you really want to sit there like that? You stink like a corpse! What the hell do you do in that dojo?" Andou-kun adds but Tatsuki doesn't buy it.
"I don't care idiot, I'm gonna eat right here for as long as I want so get used to my pleasant smell!" She said clearly annoyed with Andou-kun who just laughed.
I guess I have to get used to the cramped closet for a while. There isn't enough space to sit so I stood in there for what felt like hours. I couldn't entertain myself with anything and the cold darkness made me uneasy. So when Andou-kun opened the closet door after forever I was so relieved I could have cried.
"She's in the shower right now so you can go home." He said taking my hand and helping me out.
"Thank you, Good night" I said as I walked out of the front door which he held open for me. He closed it behind him and smiled at me instead of going back in.
"Gosh Orihime-chan I'm not going to let you go home on your own! " He threw his head back and laughed confidently then led the way back to my place.
Ichigo's POV
I should feel sorry for all the hollows that happened to cross my path this afternoon. I felt so… I have no idea how to describe the giddy restless feeling I had this afternoon. Ever since what happened with Inoue earlier today I keep getting nervous and excited all over again. I keep thinking about the warmth I felt when her hands were in mine. I keep thinking about the way she smiled at me. I keep thinking about her, more than I ever had.
There's always a pull that forces me to her apartment to check up on her and tonight is no exception, I want to see her now even though she might already be asleep by now. So I flash stepped to her apartment. I stand beside her window which is open again I thought to myself; it revealed and empty bedroom. I frown at this. where could she be? Its like 11:00. I climb inside her bedroom without a second thought.
"First stalking and now breaking and entering, you really are a stalker" said my hollow.
'Could you just shut up? I don't need your shit right now'
Her room smells of strawberries I think to myself. Standing alone in her room somehow makes me feel like creepy stalker and I've had enough of that feeling.
I climb back out of the window and then I sense her coming. About time, i think to myself. Where could she have been all day to be coming home at this hour? I hide behind a neighbouring roof and wait for her to appear. And when she does I feel my insides burn in anger. She was with that guy whose name I didn't care about! Why is he walking her home so late? Why are they laughing like they'd had the time of their lives? I feel so irritated and I stare at him with so much intensity that bastard should be feeling hot. When they get to her door I unknowingly hold my breath. If he leans in to kiss her I swear I'm going to use bankai on his ass. To my relief they just said goodbye to each other before he left.
It certainly crossed my mind to go after him.
"Kick his ass! That piece of shit is trespassing on your territory! Make him pay!"
My territory? She's not mine at all… I only wish. I turn back and head home even though I haven't finished my rounds around the town. Karakura town should be fine for one night besides I'm not in the mood.
"Running away like a little bitch?" He says disgusted.
'I said I'm not in the mood'
I climb into my window and change back to my human form. If I felt restless before it's the opposite of how I feel now. Right now I feel a sinking whirlpool deep within me that is leaving me exhausted. I lie in bed waiting for sleep to come for me and I don't notice when it does.
I open my eyes to see the moonlight shining on my face. In the silence the night sky feels comforting and the lonely moon seems to be at its brightest.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" I turn to see none other than Inoue beside me. The moonlight on her face seems to be making her glow beautifully almost angelically.
"Yeah" My voice comes out as a whisper. She doesn't seem real and I don't care that I'm shamelessly staring at her face.
"You're awfully quiet, what's wrong?" she asks turning to me. I don't say anything because I can't tell her that I'm speechless by her beauty. I reach out and lightly brush her hair from her face, twirling the ginger lock around my finger.
"Are you still mad at me?" She asks me. I'm a bit startled by her question. "No, how could I be mad at you?"
I say stroking her face lightly. She still looks a bit worried,
"I know you don't like me talking to Andou-kun even though I've told you a billion times that we're just friends."
"Huh?" What is she talking about?
"You know there's only one man I love" She says. My throat goes dry as she looks at me with those stormy grey eyes.
"W-what?" She smiles and comes closer; so close I can feel her breath on my face. "I'm all yours Ichigo" She whispered in my ear then nibbled it lightly. I felt like I melted into a puddle of mush and I couldn't even think straight. She held my face in her hands and kissed me. Her scent is intoxicating, assailing my nose, making me drown in all of her. Strawberries, a part of me notes, the other part is thinking that if I die tonight I don't care whether I go to heaven or hell. She's all I care about. She sighed against my mouth and my body comes to life kissing her back with everything I've got.
I want to hold her, taste her, and explore all her curves. Her lips are unbelievably soft against mine. She parted her lips and my tongue glided across her bottom lip. My heart started pounding loudly in my ears as her fingers ran through my unruly hair. I pulled away from her to trail kisses against her neck. She sighed and sat up so she was looking down at me. I moved to sit up as well but she gently placed a hand on my chest keeping me lying down. Still looking down at me she straddled my waist with a cute and seemingly innocent smile playing on her lips. I couldn't look away even when she slowly started unbuttoning the buttons of her blouse.
"You're so beautiful" I say quietly. She stops unbuttoning and looks down at me adoringly. She leans down and kisses me. She slips her hand under my shirt and explores my stomach, her nails grazing my skin and leaving faint scratches. She pulls back and looks at me. She says something but I don't hear her. Her lips move but no words come out.
"What?"
"I said wake the hell up!" someone yelled and kicked me in the stomach.
I look up furiously and I see my dad. "A young man shouldn't sleep till-"
"Shut the hell up!" I yell and send him flying with a kick. Which I admit was ten times stronger than most days.
"I meant you're going to be late for school" he grunted and rolled away with exaggerated tears falling down his face..
"Ughh!" My face was red and probably not from anger at my dad. I got ready from school in a rush. I stormed out of the house only stopping to grab some toast. My heart was pounding more than it ever has before, as if I were being chased by Kenpachi.
What the hell was up with that dream?! Nope! I can't think about it! I won't!
I start running towards school to take my mind off the way her lips felt against mine even in a dream. The way she- NO! I can't!
With all the running I reach school in time but I stop short when I see Inoue in the distance. This morning she's not with Tatsuki but she's with him again, alone. I stand there fuming and I feel such fury I could breathe fire right now. Again he smiles at her and she smiles back at him. He waves at her and she waves back. I stand there even after she goes into Karakura high.
"Now are you going to show that little maggot who's boss or should I? That punk needs to learn to stay away from your woman"
I start walking towards him as soon as Inoue is out of sight 'she's not my woman she a… friend?'
"Yeah that was a real friendly dream you had last night"
'I thought I told you to SHUT UP!' I was more furious than ever when I reached the guy who I've decided to name bastard. Honestly it's a wonder I didn't punch him immediately. He turned and looked at me.
"Oh! Aren't you Ichigo? Orihime-chan's friend!" The world friend echoed in my head and I glared at him. "remember me?" He said pointing at himself with a goofy smile.
"No" I said angrily.
"Haha I'm An-"
"Don't care" I interrupted. Despite me being so rude he still smiled at me.
"Ah that's alright my name isn't as cool as yours! I mean I can imagine singing a cheer with your name." To my total horror he started singing(loudly) and dancing right there. Throwing in a clapping and jazz fingers. "ICHIGO! GO FOR IC-H-I-G-O because he's number 1!"
He struck a ridiculous pose at the and smiled widely as if waiting for applause. How the hell am I supposed to punch him now? He's smiling innocently at me and I wanted to give him a cookie instead.
"Ugghh!" I threw up my hands in frustration and stormed away from him.
"wow what a fucking idiot, is that what she's into? Because I don't think you can pull off those dance moves "
'For the last time Inoue isn't like that she supposed to be a friend!'
"That's such a lie! Who the hell decided she's just a friend?"
'No one decided that! It's just how it is! She's so beautiful, pure and innocent why the hell would she be with a bastard like me? She's too perfect for that! It doesn't matter that I lo… ' I cut off my trail of thought and picked up the pace towards Karakura high
"You disgust me king"
"Didn't ask your opinion" I said as I walked into the school building.
A/N: Ta-da! that's all folks! Till next time! Hope you guys enjoyed this and let me know what you thought! So leave a review to get a cookie!
Nah there's no cookie but maybe some more dancing from Andou-chan? ╮(─▽─)╭
