A/N: This was inspired by a few things. "Song For..." by Rookiez is Punk'd, "Flavor of Life" by Utada Hikaru, and Satou's situation and self-imposed ultimatum in episode 11 of "Working'!". Needless to say, the latter kinda sorta wormed his way in here under the guise of a different name, although by no means is this fic meant to be a crossover.

Please forgive the disjointedness of the telling. I'm at the mercy of the muse, just going with the flow, and at the moment I'm not really sure where said muse is taking me with this ^^;

Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Kubo Tite.

On the bed, they laid face to face on their sides. With hands clasped tightly together, it was all she could do not to let her tears fall.

"Promise me?" implored Tatsuki.

Orihime could only nod in reply.

Tatsuki squeezed her hand in thanks, in goodbye.

Beyond the window of the train, the city sped by.

Orihime closed her eyes, Naruse-san's words echoing in her head.

"It's a start, ne?" said the head cook at the family restaurant she worked in. "A new beginning. For four years I held my feelings, never confessing. I tried to show it, but I was too afraid. And even the hints I gave never reached her.

"And then," he continued after blowing out a puff of smoke, "one day, I've just had enough. It was all or nothing, I decided. I put my job on the line, willing to sacrifice that and everything else."

He sighed as he ground out his cigarette on the ashtray. "And now here I am. Away from her."

"All or nothing," she whispered to herself. Years ago, she'd made that same decision. Her feelings overflowed, became too much for her to keep inside any longer, and she'd let them out, released them in words to the one man that had always held her heart.

When she received his response, she ran.

She could still hear his voice, soft and full of regret.

"Gomen, Inoue."

We are fools in love, aren't we, Naruse-san? We gave it our all, we gave out our hearts whole, and when it was given back in pieces, we ran from it. Was that really the only way to cope?

She'd had Tatsuki with her, at least. Shortly after that momentous day, they'd taken the train from Karakura and fled (destination: anywhere, any place, as long as it was away from him), the tracks meandering years away from their town, and those years saw in them changes neither had ever expected.

"Ne, Tatsuki-chan? Won't you come with me?" she asked with a tearful smile.

For once, her steadfast friend had been at a loss and hadn't been able to look her in the eye. It had puzzled Orihime then how readily her best friend caved to her request without the usual scolding regarding her sudden flight of fancy. The dark head of her friend could only give her a guilty nod as acquiescence, short of kowtowing to her.

And now those same tracks that had borne her away from heartbreak were taking her back, the wheels slowing down as they approached the station.

Orihime looked at the seat beside her. Five years, huh?

"Sleepy head," she whispered gently on the soft wispy hairs by the preschooler's ear. "We're here."

As the little boy began to blearily open his eyes, she pulled him against her, her arm shaking as she took a deep inhale of the familiar smell that begun to permeate the air.

"Mama and kaa-chan's home."

Clasped in one hand was the boy's much smaller one and on the other, a bundle. The straps of a backpack clung to her shoulders. With a deep exhale, she whispered, "Yosh!" and proceeded from the train station. If memory served her right, down along the street was the huge park adjacent to Karasu River where she and Tatsuki attempted to catch dragonflies, where she'd finally let her feelings out to him.

The river's just a river, she thought to herself. Just a body of water. The water from the past has long since flowed away, and the water there now isn't the water from then. I am not the person I was then either. None of us are.

Besides, he would've forgotten about it by now.

"Ne, mama?" chirped little Kurotatsu.

"Hmm?"

"Are we there yet?"

Orihime smiled a smile that did not reach her eyes, and squeezed his hand. There were people still to meet, things to organize. She hoped that none of these would take long, although the manager of the restaurant had told her to take what ever time away she needed. But she couldn't make such an imposition like that.

"Are you hungry, my little black dragon?" she asked instead.

"Uhn." Kurotatsu nodded in reply.

She pursed her lips as she tried to remember a nearby eatery, wondering if it still stood there. Two short blocks westbound, a right turn, and there at the corner of a busy intersection was Arashi-ya, still there.

Kurotatsu pointed with his hand, and she nodded, and he released hers to run to the glass door, standing up on his tiptoes to reach the handle, his face contorted with concentration as he tried to get the door open.

"I can do it, I can do it," he called out to her as she approached, holding out a hand to stop her from helping him even as the door began to close again. It swung open suddenly, throwing the little boy off, and a familiar voice exclaimed, "EH? Nande kore?"

Orihime caught him as he stumbled, staring wide-eyed at the owner of the voice. "Ch-Chizuru-chan?"

"Hime-chan? It is you!"

She was gathered up in a pair of slender arms, getting strung along as Honshou Chizuru jumped up and down with joy.

"It's been five long years, Hime-chan? How have you been? Where have you been? You and Tatsuki suddenly disappeared and no one has ever heard anything about you two." Smiling through her tears, the bespectacled woman eyed her at arm's length. "It's great to see you're as lovely as ever." She looked around. "Where's Tatsuki?" She looked down, her smile freezing in place as she caught sight of the child hiding behind Orihime's leg. "Eh? And who is this?"

Orihime gave him a gentle nudge. "Kurotatsu?"

Wide-eyed, the boy slowly sidled from his hiding place and shyly spoke. "Inoue Tatsunosuke desu. Nice to meet you."

"Eh? Sooo cuuute!" exclaimed Chizuru as she bent down to take a closer look at him, and ruffled his hair. "Nice to meet you too. I am Honshou Chizuru. How old are you, Tatsunosuke-chan?"

Kurotatsu held out his hand, three fingers shakily standing up as he concentrated on getting a fourth to straighten up. It bent back and forth several times before finally taking its place with the rest of the digits. "Four," he said, a giant grin stretching on his lips as he finally accomplished the feat.

Chizuru clapped her hands in delight, ruffling his hair again to congratulate him on a job well done.

"I can't believe you're here, Hime-chan. And with a cute little one to boot. Aren't you just full of surprises? Oh, yeah...where were you about to go just now?"

"In there," nodded Orihime towards Arashi-ya.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that. Here, come on in." Chizuru opened the door and ushered them inside, leading them to her table. "Won't you join me? I thought I saw a familiar face through the door that I just had to see it closely. Please? It would really be a pleasure. We can catch up."

"Sure." Orihime tried to hide her reluctance.

"Order anything you want. It's on me."

"Oh, no, we couldn't possibly—"

"Please, Hime-chan?"

Orihime rubbed the back of her head, and looked down at Kurotatsu as he tugged at her hand. "Okay."

"Great! Have a seat! Have a seat! Wait till I tell the others—"

"—Chizuru-chan—"

"—I'm sure they'll be excited to see you again after all these years—"

"—Chizuru-chan—"

"—But I'm so happy I have you to myself right now. Am I the first to know you're here?—"

"—Chizuru-chan—"

"—And, oh yeah, where is Tatsuki anyway?"

"Kaa-chan?" Kurotatsu piped in.

"Kaa-chan?" parroted Chizuru, tilting her head as she frowned, and peered at Orihime over the top of her eyeglasses. "I thought you were his mama."

Orihime nodded. "Tatsuki and I...well, we were—"

"—EH? EHHH? Nande kore? Don't tell me my Hime-chan discovered the beauty of female love with Tatsuki? EHHHHH?"

"Shh, Chizuru-chan, please lower your voice."

"So that's what happened?" She eyed Kurotatsu as a thought dawned in her head. "And little Tatsunosuke is the product of your love?" She gasped, her hands flying over her mouth. "Hime-chan!" She cried as she shook her head.

"Mama, I'm scared."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Tatsunosuke-chan," sniffed Chizuru. "I didn't mean to scare you." She fanned herself with her hands. "I'm okay. I just—you really are full of surprises, Hime-chan."

"Sorry."

"No, don't worry about it," waved Chizuru. "So where's Karakura's ultimate karate champion anyway?"

Orihime bit her lip and stilled the beating of her heart. She lifted the bundle that she had been holding tightly and placed it on the table, carefully unwrapping it. Inside was a small, simple urn.

The scene before Chizuru suddenly became a blur as tears pooled in her eyes, and she took in a shaky breath, her head swinging from side to side.

"I came back," said Orihime in a tremulous voice, "to bring Tatsuki-chan home."

End note - some definitions:

gomen: sorry

kaa-chan: mom

nande kore: what is this (also sometimes translated as "what the hell" depending on the context)

Kurotatsu: black dragon

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Thanks for reading :)
Dec/2011