"It's a pretty stupid show," Tatsuki is saying, loudly draping herself over her desk.
There is a bewildered gasp in response, a few moments of sputtering, and then, "How can you say that, Tatsuki-chan? Haven't you ever seen it?"
"Yes, thanks to you," Tatsuki intones.
He doodles in the margins of his notebook while imagining her skeptically arched eyebrow.
Tatsuki continues. "Funny to think that it's called 'Laugh Hour' when I hardly laughed at all."
Someone puffs out an indignant breath. He thinks of a pouting lower lip and a wide-eyed, injured gaze. Silently, he wills Tatsuki to let it go, to let the classroom fade back to quiet.
Instead, the saccharine voice pipes up. "But it is funny… I laugh all the time!"
"I'm pretty sure that's just you."
He can hear her sag and his mind's eye paints wilting shoulders, like a drooping flower. He half wants to turn around and see this for himself—he rarely ever sees her visibly unhappy. The two are discussing variety shows when, somewhat belatedly, he realizes that she probably watches alone. Awash in blue-white light and the shadows of empty furniture.
The pencil tracing idle lines on his papers slows. Tatsuki is about to speak again, but he turns in his seat.
He turns and he almost swears that she turns with him, slipping into sight and blinding him briefly with coppery hair curling and billowing like sea wind. He wonders how it is that she seems to do that so often: divide herself into stray sunbeams to illuminate any corner, any pants' pocket, she passes by.
And then return to a darkened house where nobody waits for her.
She's smiling expectantly at him as his name falls from her lips. "What do you think, Kurosaki-kun? Isn't it nice to have something that makes you smile?"
He stares at her, taking in her wide grin and feeling his features ease. "…Yeah," he says, and her expression blooms with a slow pleasure.
At nine that evening, he turns on the TV and imagines her watching with him.
I'm not really a fan of this piece, but I figured it would be a good idea to think about how the way Ichigo treats Orihime might be influenced by his knowledge about her personal life, namely Sora.
I'm going to try and write more IchiHime family tidbits, so be sure to stick around!