New Beginnings
Title: New Beginnings
Author: Ragna (afteriwake)
Pairing: Ichigo-centric with Orihime
Rating: PG
Spoilers (if applicable): Spoilers up to chapter 467, but set in an AU after that.
Warnings (if applicable): None
Summary: It might be hopeless to attempt to rebuild their friendship, but he’s going to try.
Authors Notes: Written for kathy20121, who gave me the prompt “Is it too late to remind you how we were?” for Ichigo/Orihime. I may have answered this prompt already, not sure. Inspired by my J.R.R. Tolkien class (halfway through with The Two Towers, yay!). Also, I slipped in a Doctor Who reference. I’ll write a fic for the first person who catches it, any fandom I write. Happy hunting!
---
She was humming. He watched her hum, and sing, and laugh. He watched, now, but he never joined in. After Tsukishima, after the fight, it wasn’t the same. He wasn’t her hero anymore. Tsukishima was for a while, and before whatever it was he had done had worn off he was the one who helped kill him, even if Byakuya had been the one to do the deed. He had been the one to kill Ginjou, though, even though Ishida had said he’d done it so she didn’t revile him completely. At least Ishida was still talking to him. None of the others were.
Tsukishima had done far worse than he’d thought, or maybe he’d done exactly what he’d intended. Ichigo would never know. Yukio’s design, whatever it had been, was to keep them separate, and by the time Ichigo was done, Ginjou’s cooling blood on his hands, Byakuya had dispatched Tsukishima and he hadn’t had time to ask questions before Orihime and Chad had woken up. They knew something was wrong, something with Tsukishima and Ginjou, but not the fact that they had been the bad guys.
Only Ishida and the shinigami had understood. Byakuya, Renji, Kenpachi, Ikkaku, Yachiru, Hitsugaya and Rukia. They were the only ones who had understood that death was necessary to escape. Rukia had managed to avoid killing Riruka, or at least make it appear to all that the girl was dead. It turns out in the seventeen months they’d been away from him she had picked up some higher level kidou, and Rukia had always been especially skilled at it. She’d only been dead, or mostly dead, long enough for the room to disappear.
To her credit, she had managed to stop Chad from going berserk over the deaths of his friends, but the heartbroken look on her face when Chad had turned his back on her had even made his father try and comfort her. They talked now, him and his father and her. Rukia, too. It was a weird situation, that his closest human friend was someone who had originally plotted to help him gain new powers, then steal them away. But no one that Tsukishima had cut would deal with him more than they had to, even his sisters. So Riruka, Ishida and the shinigami were all he had left.
It was the two women in his life that were convincing him to do what he was about to do. Rukia because she was Orihime’s friend, too, and Riruka for reasons she hadn’t wanted to share just yet. He guessed that if Orihime forgave him, maybe Orihime would forgive her, too, for her part in the whole mess. So now, with the tree area deserted and Tatsuki pulled away on “pressing business,” it was just him and Orihime. And suddenly he realized just how bad an idea this was. He sighed, then turned away.
“Kurosaki?” he heard hesitantly. He lowered his head. He’d lost the honorific that showed they had been close, once, long ago. “Did you need something?”
“Nah, it’s okay, Inoue,” he said, taking a step away, then another.
“Oh, okay,” she said, and it was the tone of her voice that made him stop.. It was disappointed, almost like she had hoped he’d say more. He turned around and saw her looking at him, eyes wide and curious, but a small sad smile on her face. “I just thought…never mind,” she said with a sigh, looking down onto her lap. Only then he saw it was a book. Maybe if he stuck to something simple he could start healing the breach.
“What are you reading?” he asked, moving towards her again.
“The Hobbit” she said, her smile a little less sad. “My brother had liked it, and had read it to me when I was younger. In English. He said it sounded more beautiful that way.”
“Are you reading it in English?” he asked, moving closer to her.
She nodded. “Yes. He was right. The author made the beautiful language of the elves and I always liked it. I always wished I could speak like them, and live in Rivendell, and be in that world rather than this one.”
“I feel like that with some of the Shakespeare plays I read,” he said, lifting a hand up to his hair and running his fingers through it.
“Have you read this book?” she asked. He shook his head. “You should. And read it in English. It sounds better that way.”
“I will,” he said with a nod.
“The Lord of the Rings trilogy is good, too. I like Legolas a lot. And Gimli is funny. Did you know they shouldn’t be friends? Elves and dwarves aren’t friends. But they’re good friends, even so.”
Ichigo nodded. “It’s good that they’re friends.” He smiled at her, and she gave him a tentative one back.
When she looked away she took in a sharp breath. “I need to go,” she said, scrambling to get up. “Tatsuki-chan is heading over here. We were supposed to have lunch on the roof.”
“I can go so you guys can eat here,” he said, glancing at the oncoming storm that was a pissed off Tatsuki.
“Okay,” she said. She gave him a small smile, and he turned. And then she grabbed his arm and he stopped, turning back. “Read this and tell me if you like it,” she said, handing him the book. “Promise me you’ll read it?”
“Yeah, I will,” he said with a nod. Her smile grew and he took maybe five steps away before Tatsuki got to Orihime. He turned the book over in his hand. He would read it, and then talk to her again. This was a good start to rebuilding the broken bonds of friendship that, just maybe, weren’t as shattered by Tsukishima’s cuts as he’d thought they’d be.
Author: Ragna (afteriwake)
Pairing: Ichigo-centric with Orihime
Rating: PG
Spoilers (if applicable): Spoilers up to chapter 467, but set in an AU after that.
Warnings (if applicable): None
Summary: It might be hopeless to attempt to rebuild their friendship, but he’s going to try.
Authors Notes: Written for kathy20121, who gave me the prompt “Is it too late to remind you how we were?” for Ichigo/Orihime. I may have answered this prompt already, not sure. Inspired by my J.R.R. Tolkien class (halfway through with The Two Towers, yay!). Also, I slipped in a Doctor Who reference. I’ll write a fic for the first person who catches it, any fandom I write. Happy hunting!
---
She was humming. He watched her hum, and sing, and laugh. He watched, now, but he never joined in. After Tsukishima, after the fight, it wasn’t the same. He wasn’t her hero anymore. Tsukishima was for a while, and before whatever it was he had done had worn off he was the one who helped kill him, even if Byakuya had been the one to do the deed. He had been the one to kill Ginjou, though, even though Ishida had said he’d done it so she didn’t revile him completely. At least Ishida was still talking to him. None of the others were.
Tsukishima had done far worse than he’d thought, or maybe he’d done exactly what he’d intended. Ichigo would never know. Yukio’s design, whatever it had been, was to keep them separate, and by the time Ichigo was done, Ginjou’s cooling blood on his hands, Byakuya had dispatched Tsukishima and he hadn’t had time to ask questions before Orihime and Chad had woken up. They knew something was wrong, something with Tsukishima and Ginjou, but not the fact that they had been the bad guys.
Only Ishida and the shinigami had understood. Byakuya, Renji, Kenpachi, Ikkaku, Yachiru, Hitsugaya and Rukia. They were the only ones who had understood that death was necessary to escape. Rukia had managed to avoid killing Riruka, or at least make it appear to all that the girl was dead. It turns out in the seventeen months they’d been away from him she had picked up some higher level kidou, and Rukia had always been especially skilled at it. She’d only been dead, or mostly dead, long enough for the room to disappear.
To her credit, she had managed to stop Chad from going berserk over the deaths of his friends, but the heartbroken look on her face when Chad had turned his back on her had even made his father try and comfort her. They talked now, him and his father and her. Rukia, too. It was a weird situation, that his closest human friend was someone who had originally plotted to help him gain new powers, then steal them away. But no one that Tsukishima had cut would deal with him more than they had to, even his sisters. So Riruka, Ishida and the shinigami were all he had left.
It was the two women in his life that were convincing him to do what he was about to do. Rukia because she was Orihime’s friend, too, and Riruka for reasons she hadn’t wanted to share just yet. He guessed that if Orihime forgave him, maybe Orihime would forgive her, too, for her part in the whole mess. So now, with the tree area deserted and Tatsuki pulled away on “pressing business,” it was just him and Orihime. And suddenly he realized just how bad an idea this was. He sighed, then turned away.
“Kurosaki?” he heard hesitantly. He lowered his head. He’d lost the honorific that showed they had been close, once, long ago. “Did you need something?”
“Nah, it’s okay, Inoue,” he said, taking a step away, then another.
“Oh, okay,” she said, and it was the tone of her voice that made him stop.. It was disappointed, almost like she had hoped he’d say more. He turned around and saw her looking at him, eyes wide and curious, but a small sad smile on her face. “I just thought…never mind,” she said with a sigh, looking down onto her lap. Only then he saw it was a book. Maybe if he stuck to something simple he could start healing the breach.
“What are you reading?” he asked, moving towards her again.
“The Hobbit” she said, her smile a little less sad. “My brother had liked it, and had read it to me when I was younger. In English. He said it sounded more beautiful that way.”
“Are you reading it in English?” he asked, moving closer to her.
She nodded. “Yes. He was right. The author made the beautiful language of the elves and I always liked it. I always wished I could speak like them, and live in Rivendell, and be in that world rather than this one.”
“I feel like that with some of the Shakespeare plays I read,” he said, lifting a hand up to his hair and running his fingers through it.
“Have you read this book?” she asked. He shook his head. “You should. And read it in English. It sounds better that way.”
“I will,” he said with a nod.
“The Lord of the Rings trilogy is good, too. I like Legolas a lot. And Gimli is funny. Did you know they shouldn’t be friends? Elves and dwarves aren’t friends. But they’re good friends, even so.”
Ichigo nodded. “It’s good that they’re friends.” He smiled at her, and she gave him a tentative one back.
When she looked away she took in a sharp breath. “I need to go,” she said, scrambling to get up. “Tatsuki-chan is heading over here. We were supposed to have lunch on the roof.”
“I can go so you guys can eat here,” he said, glancing at the oncoming storm that was a pissed off Tatsuki.
“Okay,” she said. She gave him a small smile, and he turned. And then she grabbed his arm and he stopped, turning back. “Read this and tell me if you like it,” she said, handing him the book. “Promise me you’ll read it?”
“Yeah, I will,” he said with a nod. Her smile grew and he took maybe five steps away before Tatsuki got to Orihime. He turned the book over in his hand. He would read it, and then talk to her again. This was a good start to rebuilding the broken bonds of friendship that, just maybe, weren’t as shattered by Tsukishima’s cuts as he’d thought they’d be.