A/N: A month has come and gone. I've missed writing this story. Writer's block has been a raging jerk to me, but I'm back before Christmas with a new chapter. Enjoy the revelation because there is something that We Do Knot Always Love You and Hello Halcyon Days have in common: Ichigo needs to be pushed. Anyways, keep reading! Thank you all for the support!
"Stop."
"Hmm?"
My eyes remain fixated on the screen. "Stop looking at me."
I can almost hear her blush forming. "I-I'm not!"
I snort. "Yeah, you are."
"Okay, I was," she relents. "But it's not my fault! You make the funniest expressions when you try not to laugh!"
I look at her. "I am not laughing," I protest.
"Yeah, you are," she uses my words against me. "You are just too stubborn to admit that Kanonji-san's new special is funny."
My eyebrow raises. "Did you just call me stubborn?"
Her expression becomes serious although her eyes hide poorly concealed humor. "Maybe…"
A bubble of laughter starts to build in the back of my throat. "So you just called me stubborn, and my face makes you laugh. Should I feel insulted?"
She shakes her head quickly. "Not insulted. Complimented," she insists.
I roll my eyes. "Now that you mention it, I do feel flattered," I remark sarcastically.
She laughs, and I chuckle along with her until we hear knocks at her door. She gets up to answer the door.
"Yuzu-chan! Karin-chan! Hello!"
I look back, and I see my sisters being ushered in by Inoue who looks a bit confused.
"What are you two doing here?"
"Don't you remember, Onii-chan? I told you yesterday that we would be cooking with Orihime-chan today."
From behind them, I can see Inoue nodding her head like she just remembered their plans. She looks so sheepish about forgetting that I smirk.
"What are you doing here, Ichi-nii?" Karin asks with a huge grin.
"I had to talk to Inoue about something," I tell her the truth, but she is still looking at me like she knows something.
"What time did you get here? From the looks of it, you look like you have been here for quite a while, which is weird since school just ended thirty minutes ago."
Before I can make up an excuse, Yuzu exclaims, "Wow! You got him to watch Don Kanonj's comedy special?!"
Inoue nods, and she looks sort of proud of herself. "Yup. He won't admit it, but Kurosaki-kun has a soft spot for Kanonji-san."
I grunt. "No, you have a soft spot for him," I clarify.
"See? This is the stubbornness we just talked about," she says between giggles.
"I am not st- Don't just walk away when I'm defending myself," I call after her as she and Yuzu enter the kitchen.
"I'm still listening," she says with a smile.
"Forget it," I tell her with exasperation, and they all start laughing, and even if it's at me, I feel myself start to smile a little.
While they talk in the kitchen, I stand up, and I turn off the tv before heading over to them. I sit on a bar stool as Inoue pulls her hair into a high-ponytail. Her shirt rides up a bit, and I look away before I can really see the pale, smooth skin of her stomach.
But just because I don't see her skin, it doesn't mean that it is not seen.
"Orihime-chan, is that…? Are those scars?" Yuzu asks weakly.
I sit a bit straighter in my seat.
"Huh?" Inoue's hand reaches under her shirt to touch her back. "Oh, those? Yes, but…"
Yuzu's eyes start to water. "I'm sorry," she apologizes. "It's all my—"
She can't finish her sentence because Inoue's hug cuts her off. "Don't be silly. It's no one's fault."
It's in the way that she says it and the way that her eyes flicker to mine that I feel that her comment is also for me, and I force myself to relax.
Inoue pulls back and looks down at Yuzu, and even from here, I can see the kindness in Inoue's eyes. And for a second, I almost feel sorry for Yuzu because getting one of those looks from Inoue can be overwhelming. Because it makes you feel like you are being crushed by benevolence and goodness and sweetness. It makes you feel like you are the only person in the world, like you are so important, more important that anything or anyone. It's a look that makes you breathless and whole.
It's a look that makes you want to see it again and again.
Inoue lets her go, and she goes off to Karin whose hands are busy washing some vegetables. I can hear Inoue ask if she can put Karin's hair up for her, and Karin nods. Inoue carefully, almost too tenderly, combs her fingers through Karin's hair, and she wraps the hairband around Karin's hair. And once that is done, Inoue reaches over and tucks a stray hair behind Karin's ear while giving her that same, kind look.
And this seems simple. All of this seems like something that happens among friends, but it's not. Because it feels intimate. Inoue's actions seem to put a spell on Karin and Yuzu because they are both sporting small blushes, and their expression are a bit dazed as they stare at Inoue who is thanking them for bringing some things to cook with because she forgot to go grocery shopping. They laugh when Inoue laughs, and when she moves, it's like Yuzu and Karin shift in accordance. Like they are in perfect equilibrium.
For some reason, all of this feels too intimate.
Then Inoue looks at me again, with that look, and it's damn near impossible not to fall into the same trap that she got Karin and Yuzu with. But that's okay. Because there is something so liberating in falling. Where I'll land, I don't know. Don't care, really. As long as she keeps looking at me like that, I'll dive headfirst and just enjoy the fall.
And it's in that moment when she glances away that I realize something so obvious, so complex, so scary that all I want to do is leave. I want to run away, but I can't. I can't because I'm falling. I'm falling…or have I already fallen?
I must have missed part of the conversation because she asks, "You'll stay, won't you, Kurosaki-kun?"
Her brown eyes shine with hope, with expectation, with such warmth that I can't help say, "I'll stay."
She smiles, and the happiness in me blooms so big that it hurts.
I want to run. I want to hide. I want to live in denial. But I can't. Because it's so obvious and simple. I've fallen for her.