"Carefully," Tatsuki is cautioning her, hovering nervously by her elbow and glancing not-quite-so-subtly at the clock.
She bites her lip and mumbles an apology, trying to slow her pace. The chocolate is a bit thicker than she thinks necessary (it is also devoid of red bean paste and wasabi), but the darkness outside her window has loomed larger than she'd anticipated, and so she keeps quiet.
It's late when Tatsuki leaves, a stray smudge of dried chocolate on her cheek, and the apartment resumes its unnatural stillness. She closes the door softly, almost regretfully, and wills herself to reenter the empty kitchen.
They look fairly normal, she thinks, studying the little chocolates in their cellophane wrapping. Nothing odd, nothing inconspicuous.
Nothing special.
She stares at the chocolate lying innocently on her countertop before reaching for it with uncertain fingers. The packaging crackles in her hand.
On Valentine's Day, he finds an unopened bag of chocolates addressed to him and stuffed in a school trashcan.
in two of my previous IchiHime fics, "Strawberry Wine" and "Strawberry Shortcake," I had toyed with the concept of a younger Ichigo and Orihime on Valentine's Day. this is meant to take place before the characters get to know each other well enough; I'd like to think that Orihime would want to give Ichigo something a bit more memorable and a bit more her for the occasion.
be sure to leave me a review, and even a scenario if you'd like to see one!