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Week 1, Tuesday
[In a less frequented part of Ikea, away from all the fake apartments where most people are congregating at, Ichigo meets Alex - his eyes still a little red and swollen from the crying.]
...Hey.
[He scratches the back of his head - because despite the public breakdown, it's still embarrassing and mortifying to be seen bursting into tears in public, of all places - and tries to gather his thoughts together, to explain in a way that doesn't sound absolutely pathetic.
They're a team, right? So she deserves to know, but....
...He already feels like the weakest link they have - so showing more weakness on top of everything makes things feel worse.]
I, uh...
...I knew someone. Back when I was alive. She...she loved finding weird food combinations, and...
...I just...remembered her, is all.
...Hey.
[He scratches the back of his head - because despite the public breakdown, it's still embarrassing and mortifying to be seen bursting into tears in public, of all places - and tries to gather his thoughts together, to explain in a way that doesn't sound absolutely pathetic.
They're a team, right? So she deserves to know, but....
...He already feels like the weakest link they have - so showing more weakness on top of everything makes things feel worse.]
I, uh...
...I knew someone. Back when I was alive. She...she loved finding weird food combinations, and...
...I just...remembered her, is all.
no subject
It's not like she's any better about dealing with loss. And she's out here parading around the same lie.
Alex isn't quite sure what to say. ]
Yeah. I - sorry. Wish I'd had a handkerchief or something to offer you. It's hard when you get hit by memories like that. Kinda crashes over you like a sleeper wave.
You wanna talk about her?
no subject
[He swallows, staring ahead of himself for a moment before nodding slowly.]
Yeah, I - I think...that'd help.
[Closing his eyes, he thinks back - feeling that familiar wrenching, painful stab in his chest when he remembers Orihime's smiling face, tries not to think of how she looked when she died right in front of him, hair and blood splayed out on broken, dirty marble - ]
- Inoue. Her name was...Orihime Inoue. I, uh...I remember her offering me bread she'd cooked from the bakery she worked at - we had a game, you know? I'd act like it was awful, and she'd say that then I wouldn't get any, and...we just teased each other like that. And...she always tried out different combinations of food, whenever she could - said it was more interesting that way.
[He's smiling, despite himself - and as he speaks, it's obvious from how he holds himself, from the soft, gentle look on his face and his tone of voice that he was in love with the girl he's talking about.]
...They were still tasty, though. Somehow. I always thought...maybe that was just how she was. That she could see past things that shouldn't have been together and still made them work.
no subject
It's - nice. It's nice to have people that you've got those familiar routines and jokes with. And it's hard when they're not around anymore.
It's hard to lose the people who feel like they were the only one who understood you. Or saw things the way you wanted to, or saw you the way you wanted to be.
When they're such a big part of you? It's hard to act like you're still a whole person without them. Or like you've forgotten them, like that would ever be possible without it changing who you are.