[Orihime wasn't exactly sure what had happened, but she suspected she had died.
The last thing she remembered was stopping to help a sleeping Alternian, then seeing a big, black bush. A very relaxing big, black bush. That was just Orihime's luck - killed by a bush. How uncool.
As soon as she'd drug herself out of the graveyard and across the street to the Bara House, though, she found it empty. Thinking the other residents were probably out somewhere, she decided to go ahead and take a bath.
After an hour or so, she had managed to get rid of all the dirt and sweat and had dressed herself in a comfortable (khaki) set of sweats, but Ichigo was still nowhere to be found. Curiously, she checked his room and saw his bed was made; he must have either gotten up very early or not come home at all last night.
Deciding to let it lie for a little while, Orihime went ahead and straightened a few things around the house up. She brought a few scraggly-looking wildflowers in for decoration. She crushed some crackers and cereal up to make pancakes out of. Even after doing all these things, Ichigo was still nowhere to be seen.
Figuring he'd had enough time to show up or check in or at least let her know where he was, she decided to give him a call. And of course, that went to voicemail]
Hi, Kurosaki-kun! It's Inoue! I was just curious where you were and wanted to check in with you!
Ne, you should come home as soon as possible, though. I have some things I have to tell you. Oh, and I'm making pancakes! They'll be really good, I promise! And if you complain, I'll eat your share, too!
Bye bye!
[She doesn't sound angry or scared or anything but perky, really. But she really wanted to make sure Ichigo knew Aizen was out there now before he wandered around too much]
[Ichigo had been lying around Adachi's house, generally still feeling awful and numb and vaguely upset in ways that he didn't want to feel anymore. Everything was just too hard to deal with - why couldn't he just be left alone? His withdrawing from most of the world worked, with only Adachi around to see his despair and hopelessness (and even slightly encourage it).
He doesn't pick up the phone as it vibrates, not wanting to talk to anyone. What was the point? Just leave him alone in his dark pit in this house. He'd come back in a few more days...
But, eventually, he does turn on his phone and check his voicemail. Who called him? Jonathan?
When he hears Orihime's voice, it's like everything stops. He doesn't know how to feel, or how even to breathe as he hears her cheerful message, her perky voice chirping away in his ear.
...How could she be happy? She'd died, and he couldn't stop it at all. It didn't make any sense...
Before he really even realizes what he's doing, he gets up from where he was lying and heads back towards the house, opening the door and quickly going inside - homing in on the soul in his sight.
He doesn't say anything, doesn't alert her to his presence in any normal way...but for some reason, he thinks she'll know that he's come back.
[Orihime is busying herself with the fireplace, flipping pancakes, when Ichigo comes in. Of course she doesn't need sound to recognize him - truth be told, she barely needed to register his faint reiatsu either. She could recognize him just by his familiar smell, which came to her over the smell of the pancakes]
Oh! Kurosaki-kun, you're just in time!
[She turns and favors him with a bright smile. It won't do to let him see her sad or upset, even if she's nervous about Aizen. But as soon as she sees him, her smile fades at the edges.
He looks rough, like he hasn't slept in a few days. She knows she hasn't been gone long, but he still seems like he hasn't eaten in all that time either, and there are dark circles under his eyes. She shakes out of it after a second of surprise, then forgets all about the pancakes and runs over to him and throws her arms around him.
He might just tell her to go away again, but she can't stand to see him like this]
Kurosaki-kun, what happened?! Did you... Did you run into him?!
[She means Aizen - that's the only reason he'd look like this, right? Even if Aizen didn't seem to remember her, just him being there was cause enough to worry. But being this worried really didn't seem like Ichigo]
[After a brief hug, Orihime remembers that this is Kurosaki-kun and kind of self-consciously pulls away. She looks up at him, cocking her head to one side as a sheepish look crosses her face]
Then what...
...
You're not...
A-Are you mad at me...?
[Orihime actually feels the need to apologize and she doesn't actually know why. He just looks so miserable and she really would do anything to get him to be happy again]
[How could she even think that? He looks even more pitiful after he gets over his shock, eyebrows lifting in a worried way as he looks at her.
It's so like her to think he would be angry with her after her death, but it's anything but. If he didn't feel like he didn't deserve it, he would have reached out and pulled her in for another hug.
As it is, he just...stands there. Looking heartbreakingly miserable and upset, because he failed her.]
[Orihime watches Ichigo's face practically melt into that horrible, miserable expression. She hates it and she can practically feel his anguish. If she hadn't just given him one, or she could convince herself it was in any way appropriate, she'd have hugged him again. Anything just so that he didn't hurt like that.
But she had just hugged him, and anything more would've been overstepping her bounds. So she stood there awkwardly, just a foot away, not knowing what to do.
It was obvious that her death had caused this. Seeing him in person, she could tell that now. But... why? He had told her himself that people came back, so why would he be so upset at this death in particular? It wasn't even like it was particularly gruesome or anything.
Instead of hugging him, though, Orihime finally reached out to tug at his sleeve]
Alright. Come on in and sit down, though. I made pancakes for us.
[Right...pancakes. He'd forgot all about those, what with his anguish over her death. Numbly, he nods - and his stomach chooses that moment to loudly complain.]
...Pancakes sound good.
[Honestly, if he didn't feel so bad, he'd probably have a scoffing remark on his stomach, on her cooking...something to lighten the mood.
But what was the point? This whole place was terrible and awful. Why should he even try to pretend that it wasn't?]
Let's go.
[Inside, so they can eat - and he can stop thinking of how badly he failed her, of all the pain that this place will eventually force her to feel.]
[He still seemed so unhappy - normally he'd say something flip about her cooking, but this time he just sort of limply agreed with her. She was almost totally absorbed in thinking about it as she went inside and started to fix him a plate.
Why? Why was he so upset? This sort of thing happened to people here all the time, didn't it? And she hadn't even told him what it was like - it wasn't that bad, and she thought she'd communicated that clearly enough so far. Don't worry about me, I'm fine, I'm not even scared or anything!
Then what...
Suddenly, Orihime's eyebrows went up as something dawned on her. If she was in Ichigo's shoes, and he had just died, she wouldn't care how much or little it hurt him - she'd be devastated either way. Aside from the death itself, he'd be gone for days. And there was always a possibility he just wouldn't come back; she'd seen the board outside the church, she knew sometimes people died and stayed dead. So maybe... Ichigo felt the same way about her dying.
Which would mean...
Orihime blushed as she realized why he was so sad. Her eyes moved from his plate back to him; suddenly she kind of wanted to cry. She had hurt him so badly without even realizing it. She had to try and make it up to him somehow.
She had to try and help him feel better.
And when she had a chance, she had to try and help him get his powers back, since that was no doubt a part of this]
Here. I thought you'd be hungry when you came home, so I fixed enough for everyone.
[She brought the plate to him, shakily, hoping he didn't notice her nervousness. As soon as she'd set it down in front of him, she went back and got her own. There was still something else they needed to talk about]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
10/3, around noon
The last thing she remembered was stopping to help a sleeping Alternian, then seeing a big, black bush. A very relaxing big, black bush. That was just Orihime's luck - killed by a bush. How uncool.
As soon as she'd drug herself out of the graveyard and across the street to the Bara House, though, she found it empty. Thinking the other residents were probably out somewhere, she decided to go ahead and take a bath.
After an hour or so, she had managed to get rid of all the dirt and sweat and had dressed herself in a comfortable (khaki) set of sweats, but Ichigo was still nowhere to be found. Curiously, she checked his room and saw his bed was made; he must have either gotten up very early or not come home at all last night.
Deciding to let it lie for a little while, Orihime went ahead and straightened a few things around the house up. She brought a few scraggly-looking wildflowers in for decoration. She crushed some crackers and cereal up to make pancakes out of. Even after doing all these things, Ichigo was still nowhere to be seen.
Figuring he'd had enough time to show up or check in or at least let her know where he was, she decided to give him a call. And of course, that went to voicemail]
Hi, Kurosaki-kun! It's Inoue! I was just curious where you were and wanted to check in with you!
Ne, you should come home as soon as possible, though. I have some things I have to tell you. Oh, and I'm making pancakes! They'll be really good, I promise! And if you complain, I'll eat your share, too!
Bye bye!
[She doesn't sound angry or scared or anything but perky, really. But she really wanted to make sure Ichigo knew Aizen was out there now before he wandered around too much]
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He doesn't pick up the phone as it vibrates, not wanting to talk to anyone. What was the point? Just leave him alone in his dark pit in this house. He'd come back in a few more days...
But, eventually, he does turn on his phone and check his voicemail. Who called him? Jonathan?
When he hears Orihime's voice, it's like everything stops. He doesn't know how to feel, or how even to breathe as he hears her cheerful message, her perky voice chirping away in his ear.
...How could she be happy? She'd died, and he couldn't stop it at all. It didn't make any sense...
Before he really even realizes what he's doing, he gets up from where he was lying and heads back towards the house, opening the door and quickly going inside - homing in on the soul in his sight.
He doesn't say anything, doesn't alert her to his presence in any normal way...but for some reason, he thinks she'll know that he's come back.
She always did, after all.]
no subject
Oh! Kurosaki-kun, you're just in time!
[She turns and favors him with a bright smile. It won't do to let him see her sad or upset, even if she's nervous about Aizen. But as soon as she sees him, her smile fades at the edges.
He looks rough, like he hasn't slept in a few days. She knows she hasn't been gone long, but he still seems like he hasn't eaten in all that time either, and there are dark circles under his eyes. She shakes out of it after a second of surprise, then forgets all about the pancakes and runs over to him and throws her arms around him.
He might just tell her to go away again, but she can't stand to see him like this]
Kurosaki-kun, what happened?! Did you... Did you run into him?!
[She means Aizen - that's the only reason he'd look like this, right? Even if Aizen didn't seem to remember her, just him being there was cause enough to worry. But being this worried really didn't seem like Ichigo]
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He doesn't deserve a hug - he doesn't deserve her care. But eventually, he returns her hug in silence, shaking his head.]
No, it's not him.
[He's assuming 'him' is Aizen, but Aizen was the farthest thing from his mind at the moment.]
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Then what...
...
You're not...
A-Are you mad at me...?
[Orihime actually feels the need to apologize and she doesn't actually know why. He just looks so miserable and she really would do anything to get him to be happy again]
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[How could she even think that? He looks even more pitiful after he gets over his shock, eyebrows lifting in a worried way as he looks at her.
It's so like her to think he would be angry with her after her death, but it's anything but. If he didn't feel like he didn't deserve it, he would have reached out and pulled her in for another hug.
As it is, he just...stands there. Looking heartbreakingly miserable and upset, because he failed her.]
That's not...don't apologize, Inoue. please.
no subject
But she had just hugged him, and anything more would've been overstepping her bounds. So she stood there awkwardly, just a foot away, not knowing what to do.
It was obvious that her death had caused this. Seeing him in person, she could tell that now. But... why? He had told her himself that people came back, so why would he be so upset at this death in particular? It wasn't even like it was particularly gruesome or anything.
Instead of hugging him, though, Orihime finally reached out to tug at his sleeve]
Alright. Come on in and sit down, though. I made pancakes for us.
no subject
...Pancakes sound good.
[Honestly, if he didn't feel so bad, he'd probably have a scoffing remark on his stomach, on her cooking...something to lighten the mood.
But what was the point? This whole place was terrible and awful. Why should he even try to pretend that it wasn't?]
Let's go.
[Inside, so they can eat - and he can stop thinking of how badly he failed her, of all the pain that this place will eventually force her to feel.]
no subject
Why? Why was he so upset? This sort of thing happened to people here all the time, didn't it? And she hadn't even told him what it was like - it wasn't that bad, and she thought she'd communicated that clearly enough so far. Don't worry about me, I'm fine, I'm not even scared or anything!
Then what...
Suddenly, Orihime's eyebrows went up as something dawned on her. If she was in Ichigo's shoes, and he had just died, she wouldn't care how much or little it hurt him - she'd be devastated either way. Aside from the death itself, he'd be gone for days. And there was always a possibility he just wouldn't come back; she'd seen the board outside the church, she knew sometimes people died and stayed dead. So maybe... Ichigo felt the same way about her dying.
Which would mean...
Orihime blushed as she realized why he was so sad. Her eyes moved from his plate back to him; suddenly she kind of wanted to cry. She had hurt him so badly without even realizing it. She had to try and make it up to him somehow.
She had to try and help him feel better.
And when she had a chance, she had to try and help him get his powers back, since that was no doubt a part of this]
Here. I thought you'd be hungry when you came home, so I fixed enough for everyone.
[She brought the plate to him, shakily, hoping he didn't notice her nervousness. As soon as she'd set it down in front of him, she went back and got her own. There was still something else they needed to talk about]
But...
When you were outside of the zoo, did you...
Did you see Aizen?