this piece is meant to take place shortly after the Fullbringer arc. I hope you all enjoy it.
"Sorry," he mumbles sleepily, dragging his arm over and away from the papers strewn across her coffee table.
She stares and the air and words in her lungs catch and burn with a slow, dancing flame. He laughs lowly, sheepishly, when his arm mistakenly sweeps their homework to the floor. The laugh is a deep rumble in his throat that melts the marrow of her bones. She suppresses a shiver.
"Sorry," he repeats, running fumbling fingers through his errant hair. The tangerine locks rumple and she can almost smell tangy citrus from across the table. He glances up at her and she sees that the skin under his eyes is dark.
"It's alright," she says quietly, trying her best to look away from his face. She fails miserably and her insides fizz and tingle.
His lips smoothen into a half-smile as he shifts. The sheet she'd draped over him dribbles away from his shoulders and onto his lap like milk. He blinks at it dazedly.
"What's the time?" he asks her.
The lamplight in the room paints him aglow in a burnished gold.
"…Almost nine thirty," she manages to say.
He nods slowly, pausing before pushing himself up. The sheet crumples soundlessly. "I have to go, I'm late for dinner…"
He sways slightly (so much weight, so much for one boy, she thinks) and she is catching his sleeve to steady him before she can stop herself. "Sorry," he says again, softly.
Her hands linger by his elbow. She almost swears his eyes flicker. The heavy silence lasts for barely a moment when he speaks again.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Inoue," he says.
She nods wordlessly and then he is gone, his books and warm light gone with him.
the beginning of this new arc already promises a stronger bond between Ichigo and Orihime. this tidbit was just a musing of their time spent together and the potential budding feelings between them.
also, sorry for not updating sooner, everybody! I'll be sure to have a new drabble up quickly!