These are just drabbles about day-to-day romantic interactions between Ichigo and Orihime. genres will vary, but I do plan to try and keep the characters true to their nature. Most of the chapters will be unrelated, but I dunno... Maybe I'll connected a few of them together. There also may be a spoilers, but I will always indicate those at the beginning of the chapter.
This for all the people who are rooting for Ichigo and Orihime, so don't hate; appreciate. XD
Try to enjoy, eh?
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Perfectly Blurred
Chapter 1: Flavors
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Orihime Inoue sighed blissfully, clutching a bag of groceries to her chest, and smiling brightly at nothing in particular as she exited the small convenience store and made her way down the sidewalk.
There were few people out as the auburn Friday sun splashed across the sky and a soft autumn breeze blew through Orihime's dark orange hair.
The teen looked around at the a few birds chirping happily, heading off to their nests for the night.
The dark, she noticed, was indeed approaching at a quick rate. She turned the corner, enjoying how pretty everything looked as the last few moments of day spread across Karakura Town.
Orihime's shoes crunched softly on the dirt and debris of the sidewalk as she strolled happily in the direction of her apartment.
As she was about to cross the street, a familiar scent filled her nose. She looked around attentively, as if searching for someone.
Walking blindly around, she glanced every which way, before feeling a searing pain travel deep into her skull as she ran smack into a streetlamp pole.
A bit dazzled, everything began to spin as she tottered around in the same spot as if thrown into a drunken stupor.
"Inoue?"
Orihime's star filled eyes turned at the sound of her name, and saw Ichigo standing beside her with his trademark scowl painted across his face.
"Kurosaki-kun!" the girl said cheerily with a large smile, shaking her head as the world came back into focus while she rubbed her sore forehead. "What are you doing out?"
Ichigo merely stared at her for a few moments, a bit surprised by the excitement in her response.
He put a hand gently to her forehead and felt for any sign of a bump from her impact with the pole. Feeling none, he removed his hand and answered her question.
"Rukia wanted to go get the new Chappy stuffed bunny, so she dragged me along." he replied, a twinge of annoyance in his voice. "I wanted to take a walk when she finished though, and luckily she didn't force me to walk home with her."
"Do you not like bunnies, Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime asked, reading the bitterness in his voice.
Ichigo really didn't know how to answer her question without sounding odd, so he decided to go with the truth.
"They're okay I guess," the teen stated, "I just don't like being forced to shop for them."
"Sometimes I wish I could be a bunny," Orihime bubbled. "That way, if I ever became unlucky, I could just rub my feet!"
Ichigo couldn't suppress a smile at her happy go lucky nature. She was always thinking up the most random things, and blurting them out, much to his amusement.
"Do you need me to walk you home?" he asked, the fact that they had been standing in the same spot for ten minutes finally hitting him. "I noticed you hit your head kind of hard."
"Oh no! I couldn't ask Kurosaki-kun to do such a thing!" Orihime protested, not wanting to seem like a burden. "I'm totally fine!"
"You didn't ask me," Ichigo replied. "I offered. Besides, I don't want to know what Rukia did with all those Chappy posters she bought..."
The girl beside him giggled.
"If it will help you, then I accept your offer!" Orihime declared with a hand pumped sternly into the air, a background of bunnies majestically circling around her, appearing seemingly out of nowhere.
Ichigo smiled a bit sheepishly at her zealousness, but realized that was one of the qualities that made Orihime the person she was.
He admired her.
Though in a matter of seconds, her happy demeanor vanished as if a storm had just developed in her world.
"But..." Orihime said slowly, her voice becoming very soft. "I had a one more thing I wanted to get... Gomen Kurosaki-kun... You probably don't care to follow me around during that."
Ichigo glanced down at his watch, and the hands read seven o'clock. His dad didn't particularly care how late he stayed out, just as long as it wasn't unreasonable... Not that he really cared what the perverted old man liked or didn't like.
Besides, how bad could shopping with Orihime be?
"Inoue," he said finally. "I don't mind staying with you while you pick up something extra."
Her cool gray eyes warmed instantly. "Well, if Kurosaki-kun wants to stay, then I would be really happy if you came!"
Ichigo smiled as their eyes met in a glance, and they began to walk, matching strides as they went. After a half a block, Orihime spoke up.
"Ah! Look!"
The teen looked up at the bubbly girl beside him, and she instantly laced her soft fingers with his, dragging him towards an ice cream cart as he tried his best to stay balanced.
"Um, Inoue... You are aware that it's probably forty some degrees out here, right?" Ichigo sputtered, tripping over his own two feet as he continued to be led by Orihime.
"I know," she answered as the two of them stopped at the cart. "That's the best time to eat it!"
Ichigo stared at the friendly-looking girl at the counter, who was obviously a teenager a little older than them, probably working a part time job by running the ice cream cart.
"Awww... You two are such a cute couple!" she gushed, making the heat rise into both the teenagers faces.
"Uh, but we're not dating..." Ichigo mumbled in correction, looking away so no one could see how flustered he was.
The girl laughed. "Yeah. That's exactly what me and my boyfriend used to tell people."
"Your favorite is chocolate, right, Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime asked sweetly, turning toward him. She seemed a little rattled by the girl's light-hearted accusations, so it only made sense that she wanted to change the subject as well. Ichigo happily obliged to spare himself any further embarrassment.
Not that dating Inoue would be embarrassing, of course.
"I... um... Yeah..." he replied to her inquiry, a little surprised that she had actually known his favorite flavor. He didn't recall telling her.
"Then I'll have a strawberry cone, and a chocolate one for Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime chirped, the girl at the cart beginning to scoop the cold treat onto the waffle cones, while handing her a few napkins, before Ichigo even had the chance to protest Orihime buying an ice cream for him.
Paying the girl, she handed him his own chocolate cone, while she began to eat hers as the both of them began walking once more.
But of course, the overly exuberant operator of the cart couldn't let them leave without playfully prodding them a bit more.
"You two lovebirds have fun, now! But not too much fun!"
Ichigo groaned exasperatedly at her comment, while Orihime just looked a bit uneasy, trying desperately to shake off the girl's playful declarations.
"Hmm... I wonder how this would taste with a bit of relish," she elaborated unexpectedly, half curiously, and half just uncomfortably. Ichigo blinked at back in response to her odd taste in food, before looking down at his cone a bit guiltily.
Sensing that the substitute shinigami was neglecting his dessert, Orihime stopped and turned to look up worriedly. Ichigo had to cease walking immediately to prevent from running into her.
"Kurosaki-kun, did I do something wrong to upset you...? I guess I should have asked you if you wanted ice cream first."
Ichigo's gaze settled on her regrettably for leading her to think that he was ungrateful.
"No, Inoue. Thank you. I just feel bad that you spent your money on me."
Orihime tucked a stray strand of dark orange hair behind her ear.
"I wanted to, Kurosaki-kun." she told him softly. "It's a gift for being so kind to me. It's just ice cream... But..."
Ichigo took a bite off his cone.
"You don't have to pay me back for that," he said. And to his surprise, she didn't debate or brush off his answer as just being formally polite.
Maybe forty some degrees had been a bit of an exaggeration, but truthfully, eating cold ice cream in already chilly weather wasn't as bad as he thought it would be.
Orihime beamed at him.
"Well, if Kurosaki-kun is happy, then so am I... I just don't want to make you angry."
"Heh. As if you ever could." Ichigo thought amusedly. He figured it was better to remain silent than to try and contradict her.
The two of them began to walk again, yet another autumn breeze blowing past.
Ichigo jammed his left hand into his pocket, and held his ice cream cone with his right. Orihime just looked relaxed and happy, as she walked with a smile on her face.
He wondered how often she spent her Fridays alone.
Tatsuki was her best friend and protector, so she was rarely seen not standing near Orihime, making sure that no one tried to take advantage of the naive girl. But when Tatsuki had karate, Orihime was on her own.
Which was very unusual for teenage girls, especially one whom the guys in school constantly ogled at.
But then again, for some reason, he selfishly preferred that Orihime had no boyfriend. He couldn't picture some lecherous scum of the earth hanging on her.
That type of disgust sank to the bottom of his stomach, and it make him sick to think about how possessive he was, especially when it came to Orihime. After all, he had no right to be.
Ichigo's scowl deepened at his musings as he finished off the last bit of his ice cream, and munched on the waffle cone.
Amazing. That was the only word he could think of to describe her. It almost scared him at how often she would randomly pop into his mind for no reason, and he began to get sidetracked thinking about all her little perks and quirks.
Orihime just continued to stare forward at the world through warm gray eyes.
During the last year or so since she had begun to see spirits, hollows, and shinigami, she had learned a lot more about Ichigo than she ever thought she would be able to.
And also during that time, she had fallen so deeply in love with him that she could barely stand herself.
Orihime wanted to tell him all the words that seemed to be buried in her throat, and at the same time, she wanted to run away.
But then, as Ichigo caught up to her in strides, a cute laugh escaped her lips at what she saw in the corner of her eye.
"Kurosaki-kun, you have an ice cream mustache!"
Ichigo's eyes widened in embarrassment, and he instantly began looking around frantically, as if expecting a napkin to fall out of thin air.
If he hadn't had been so deep in thought about Orihime, then maybe he would have noticed it before she did.
"Don't worry, Kurosaki-kun, I'll get it for you!" she declared. And with that, she promptly leaned up on her tip toes, and gently wiped around his mouth to completely rid him of the stray chocolate treat.
"It was very lucky that the girl had remembered to give me a few napkins!"
Ichigo cocked his head to one side in awe.
It was a small gesture, but the feel of her fingers brushing ever so slightly against his lips made it hard for Ichigo to keep his composure.
Though, the moment she pulled back, he could have sworn he still felt a thousand volts of electricity surge though his chest all the way down to his feet.
"Is that better, Kurosaki-kun?' Orihime asked hopefully, oblivious to the confusion she had just caused.
"It's much better... Inoue..."
Ichigo had almost found himself utterly speechless. He thought he would have pulled away immediately, or jumped away in surprise, but there was just something that felt right between them in that instance, and he dared not question it.
And to think; all she did was wipe off a bit of ice cream.
"You're amazing,"
The statement had just rolled off his tongue before he could catch it. Orihime beamed at him in her trademark radiant manner.
"Kurosaki-kun is pretty amazing too! We should start our own TV show! It could be "The Adventures of Amazing Ichigo With his Trusty Sidekick Orihime!" Though I think we may have to change the title since it's so long! And Kurosaki-kun could be Super Berry-kun, and we could save the world from approaching evils like angry warlords and mutant rutabagas! And to celebrate each victory, we'll just eat more ice cream!" Orihime rambled, getting only more enthusiastic as her explanations and plans got longer.
Ichigo stared at her serenely with the corners of his mouth pulling into a grin that he saved especially for her.
That was when a discovery was made.
Orihime had many different sides to her personality. She was a fighter, a lover, a healer, and even sometimes a protector. But to Ichigo, she would always be herself; a little more than anyone could ask for.
She had many interesting flavors, but each were just as sweet as the other.
A lot like ice cream.
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Well that's all for the first drabble. Something tells me that if this one is well-received, I'll probably do more. If it flops, I'll probably delete it.
Anyways, I just wanted to ask you not to complain about the IchiHime pairing if you don't support it.
I mean, you're free to read and review whatever you like, I just don't want reviews like:
"omg! how cud u do dat 2 ichigo??!! he iz suppose 2 b wit rukia! i hate orihime!!!1111oneone!!!11"
Seriously. Be mature please. I'm not saying that Tite Kubo will for sure put them together, I'm just stating my pairing choice through writing.
And yes. Orihime's love for Ichigo is way more complicated than I stressed in this particular snippet, but this was mainly cute so that I could get used to writing outside the SSBM category. Last time I did that it didn't end too well. There will probably be a few sad or angsty ones somewhere down the road.
But thanks a bundle for reading, and leave a word or two before you leave, okies? I read over this many times, but in case a grammatical error passed my eyes, you have my apologies.
-Sage