Title: How to Make
a Rainbow
Author: unwinding fantasy (formerly Aqua
Phoenix1)
Disclaimer: Don't
own Bleach.
Rating: K+
Pairing: Ishida
x Orihime; secondary Ichigo x Rukia
Warning: So much
fluff you might choke. If
you're especially touchy when it comes to spoilers, avoid #41
(spoiler for beginning of Arrancar arc).
Author's Note: This was written for the LJ community "1sentence" using theme set Beta.
#01 -- Walking
He keeps a steady pace, surreptitiously watching the girl blabbing about whether rain chose when to fall or why the sea was so wet when all those sponges lived there or what tasted best, your own birthday cake or someone else's -- he can't imagine holding a sane conversation with someone that would run off to dance in rain puddles instead of staying by his side.
#14
-- Burning
The
first time she sees him, she thinks his eyes are cold fire -- the
second time they just look lonely.
#04
-- Wonder
He
wonders when the airhead in the second row will just stop talking
already and let him concentrate on his damned calculus.
#15
-- Breathing
A
gentleman, for both their sakes Ishida takes to avoiding her during
PE.
#20
-- Bane
Having
wrestled unsuccessfully with the material for the greater part of the
afternoon, it's with a defeated sigh that Inoue hands her garment
over to the president -- brandishing a quick-unpick, Ishida glares at
the knot and dramatically says, "You dare show your face, my
arch nemesis?"
#36
-- Sordid
Sewing
on buttons without accidentally touching her in places that should
remain untouched is pretty hard when she's still wearing the ruined
garment -- footsteps screech at the doorway then Tatsuki punches him
in the face, Asano rants about perverts and by the end Inoue tends
his wounds, gushing about how sorry she is.
#29
-- Jewel
The
genuine light of her always-at-the-ready smile never fails to astound
him -- it's like unearthing diamonds every time you go digging,
even though you're convinced cubic zirconia populate that
particular geological stratum.
#19
-- Balcony
The
school's annual play and she's cast as Juliet -- Ishida thinks Hamlet would've
been better but doesn't refuse when she asks him to help her
rehearse, even if he knows he's just Kurosaki's figurative
understudy.
#17
-- Belief
The
tiniest flicker of hope shines bright as a supernova when placed in
her hands, affirming faith is an astounding thing -- she smiles and
tells him, "You don't have to see something to know it exists."
#05
-- Worry
It's
Ishida at her door; he passes over her homework, explaining that
their names follow each other on the class roll so the teacher asked
him to drop it off and he doesn't live that far from here anyway
and he's not just using this as a convenient excuse to check up on
her -- Inoue lets him talk circles trying to absolve himself of
emotion and sets aside her flu to smile gratefully.
#45
-- Natural
He'd
never tell her, but the last thing he wants to talk about is
Kurosaki's naturally orange hair -- so long as it's a one-sided
conversation he's content just listening to her voice.
#10
-- Weddings
Accosted
by Kurosaki's younger sister, they're soon roped into overseeing
the union of Postoff and Julia in holy matrimony -- Inoue is dubbed
maid of honour, deft fingers threading tiny blue and white daisies
through flowing chestnut-coloured hair, body emitting romanticism in
tidal waves while a desperate Ishida wracks his brain for a way out
of playing minister.
#23
-- Question
"Did
you see the UFO last night?"
#03
-- Wishes
Shooting
stars are reflected in her eyes -- giving her a level look he corrects, "If wishes were fishes, the entire food-chain would be
haywire by now," and evokes easy laughter from Orihime, who's caught
off-guard by the fact that he
has a sense of humour.
#13
-- Bias
He
always liked what he couldn't have.
#06
-- Whimsy
Walking
home, the Friday afternoon sun lazily warming their hearts, she
mentions they should make the most of their weekend and
nearly falls over when solemn Ishida suggests they visit the arcade
to take purikura -- her
imagination promptly runs off with the image of Ishida-in-photo, fake
moustaches, king's crowns, pixie dust and all.
#16
-- Breaking
He
watches her watching Kurosaki.
#38
-- Sojourn
The
last of his kind, he's a vagabond, a wanderer, a ronin
-- she tells him once in a while he should stop following the map
#48
-- Virtuous
He
insists on taking the first watch and spends the remainder of the
night trying to ignore the warm body curled against his side.
#25
-- Quitting
Along
with haphazard, it's
not in his vocabulary.
#21
-- Quiet
What
she appreciates most about him is this: while thoughts drift into her
whirlwind mind and fly out of her mouth in a thousand bits and
pieces, he will stand there with that serious expression on his face
and nod as if he can patch fragmented nonsense together as easily as
he'd mend a tear in her skirt -- he speaks volumes in what he
doesn't say.
#26
-- Jump
He's
the look-before-you-leap type; she thinks leap-and-don't-look-back
is an easier motto to live by.
#41
-- Nowhere
Just
like that, her reiatsu's
gone and just like that, his is back, a blazing searchlight seeking
out her familiar glow -- fingernails digging into palms until they
draw blood, 'I
told you to protect her!' swirls,
a furious tempest, through his mind and he finds another reason to
hate shinigami.
#24
-- Quarrel
Neither
of them are good at it -- Ishida rationalizes and Orihime forgets the
point.
#31
-- Smirk
Uppity
and superior, his fits perfectly on his face; hers, a rare
occurrence, is just downright scary.
#11
-- Birthday
He
returns the gift to the pet store, thinking because she'd been
investigating Western star signs he shouldn't have been so
horrified upon unwrapping "Stingy" and "Stabby" -- when Inoue
asks about the scorpions, guarding her feelings wins out against
telling the truth, so he fixes an extra-serious expression on his face
(one he's held in reserve for such an occasion) and utters two
words: "Alien abduction."
#44
-- Near
He
sighs, realising the only time he's touched her worth remembering
was when, forty feet in the air, his shoulder collided with her
face.
#42
-- Neutral
She's
the only reason Kurosaki isn't dead yet.
#33
-- Stupidity
"Second
place?" Orihime teases, a triumphant grin on her face.
#18
-- Balloon
They're
putting the finishing touches on the room, all decked out for Inoue's
surprise party -- Ishida looks up over the half paper-covered balloon
and patiently explains to his bewildered companion, "It's going
to be a piñata;" "It's gonna be a good excuse to hit
you," Kurosaki sniggers in response.
#28
-- Jousting
The
first thing she realizes he's better at than Ichigo: witty retorts.
#39
-- Share
He's
clueless as to what those vague-shade-of-white lumps piled on his
plate are, but even in all his lack of culinary expertise he's
relatively certain what they aren't --
regardless, he shoves one into his mouth, hears Inoue ask, "Is the
red bean paste and fugu okay?"
and manages to catch Kurosaki mouthing, 'Nice
knowing you,' before
passing out.
#46
-- Horizon
A
vague curve of the lips, his smile is perpetually out of reach, stuck
in no man's land, skimming the horizon -- Orihime resolves to catch
and bottle it for a rainy day, and in the mean time lets him borrow
hers.
#43
-- Nuance
Everyone
thinks that he's the hard one to read, but despite Inoue's open
expressions there's a depth of emotion buried in her
now-grey, now-hazel eyes
#07
-- Waste/Wasteland
A
spool of grey-morning-sky cotton to fix his uniform; the spine of a
second-hand chemistry textbook running parallel to the edge of his
desk; sensible food in
his refrigerator -- appalled at his unadventurous spirit, when Ishida
re-enters the room she waggles a finger beneath his nose and
announces in a mock-stern voice that he's whittled away too much
time on life's boring aspects.
#09
-- War
He'd
never hit a girl, but when a snowball hurtles into his face for the
millionth time Ishida decides to make an exception -- hunched within
his makeshift white fortress beside a pile of melting ammo, he
mutters maniacally about being a master of projectiles as Inoue calls
on their friends for cover fire during her next assault.
#37
-- Soliloquy
When she
catches him staring at his reflection, practising all those cool
lines ("On my Quincy pride, I will kill you!") uncontrollable
giggles bubble out of her mouth, making him start and blush.
#27
-- Jester
Twirling 'round in her cat outfit, she looks him up and down and says it's
a wonderful costume, prodding at the bells dangling into his
scowling, painted face; embarrassed to be seen showcasing such a
fashion disaster, he tells her she has bad taste in clothing and jokes
-- Ishida Uryū, the court fool?
#49
-- Victory
Their
twin phones buzz to life; they exchange a proud grin -- by third
period Ishida's flicking through the instruction manual, his inbox
filled with thnx's, xox's and :)'s and no clue how to go
about disposing the evidence.
#08
-- Whiskey
and Rum
A
sprig of mistletoe clutched dangerously in her hand, Rukia's
chasing Ichigo around the tree, their cacophony of mingled giggles
and stumbles creating a funny sort of carol -- slumped on the couch
beside Orihime, it's courtesy of the brain-cells he hasn't
destroyed that he resists the impulse to kiss her and instead slurs,
"Exactly how much rum did you put in this plum pudding anyway?"
#30
-- Just
If
plushies could cry he'd be bawling his shiny black button eyes out
-- seeing Orihime-chan walking hand-in-hand with that four-eyed
freak, Kon's convinced there's no justice in the world.
#34
-- Serenade
Unsteady
on their feet, Ichigo and Uryū stumble up-stage as the bar bursts
into raucous laughter -- the pair stutter and slur about aesthetics
and identities while Orihime, suspicion spiked, alternates between
sniffing Uryū's drink and casting wary glances at Rukia, who
winks, a mischievous smile playing on her lips.
#47
-- Valiant
Even
though his flip-flopping stomach has suffered enough abuse in its
lifetime, Ishida still manages to eat whatever she puts in front of
him.
#02
-- Waltz
Simple
and predictable, her anti-thesis -- he can't stop his eyebrows from
rising over the top of his spectacles when she wraps his arm around
her waist and begins leading the dance.
#40
-- Solitary
After
years of being ambushed by genuine laughter, spur-of-the-moment
questions and indigestion, Ishida eventually decided it was better to
be alone with company.
#32
-- Sorrow
Crestfallen,
Chizuru whispers, "But he's the wrong gender for you!"
#35
-- Sarcasm
"You
and Inoue?"
falls out of the boy's mouth; Ishida rolls his eyes, trying not to
laugh at the other's what-the-hell?! expression
and says, "No, Kurosaki, I'm gay."
#22
-- Quirks
Chest
swelling impatiently beneath him, brown eyes wide and beseeching,
it's with steeled nerves and gritted teeth that Ishida collects his
courage and finally overcomes those brassy buttons on her blouse.
#12
-- Blessing
Her
hand presses gently around his and laces their fingers, holding him
together as he says, "I might at least have your approval," the
edge in the words ringing bitter and keen -- "You might,"
Ryūken says and it's the only answer Ishida gets.
#50
-- Defeat
Orihime
takes his hand and pulls him from beneath his umbrella -- laughter
drowning out the noisy rain pitter-pattering around them, she drags
him into a puddle to teach him how to make rainbows.
Notes:
-#06: Purikura are the instant pictures from Japanese photo booths. After taking them you can edit them with stamps, borders, sparkles etc.
- #36 was inspired by another fanfic, Pop! Go the Buttons by ObscureAnimeWriter
- #39: Fugu is blowfish, which is highly poisonous. Even the best chefs have been known to botch this dish.
- #47 will make more sense if you've read manga chap. 193.
- #49: manga!Tatsuki mentions Inoue's so clueless she can't even use a phone. I doubt Ishida would have much experience using such a gadget either.