Let It Snow by agatha midnite

[agatha-midnite.livejournal.com]

This my first ever Bleach fanfic so please bear with me? *smiles shyly* Hope this would turn out good. Yay to IshiHime!

Summary: Ishida confesses his feelings for Orihime under the falling snow. How would she respond? One shot. Post Arrancar Arc.

Disclaimer: I don’t own Bleach. It belongs to Kubo Tite himself.

He sighed as he closed his book. He laid it down on his table and took off his glasses to massage his temples. It was naturally relieving for him to read but this time, he didn’t feel he wanted to continue. He added more weight on the chair supporting him and closed his eyes. He was thinking about her.

It’s been a week since they went back from Hueco Mundo and they were successful in rescuing Orihime from Aizen. He couldn’t deny the fact the delight that suddenly flickered inside him when he saw her. There was this sudden urge of wanting her to be wrapped by his arms but was ceased because of a certain orange-haired shinigami.

Ishida knew that Orihime was in love with Kurosaki Ichigo and that’s another fact he couldn’t deny.

His eyes suddenly snapped open. It was killing him to accept that statement. Orihime isn’t just for Kurosaki. Ishida hated him for not seeing her. He hated the bastard for being so naive about her feelings for him. It was hurting her and he couldn’t bear to see that happen to her all through out his life. He always wanted to see her happy—her cheerful nature and innocent antics forming her true personality.

He stood up and decided to go outside for a walk. He couldn’t remember the last time he went out just for some leisurely activities. His daily routine would be going to school, back to his apartment and go to the grocery store for food. He grabbed his coat and went for the keys. As he locked the door, he was surprised to see a familiar figure standing in front of his apartment. Her angelic face, so peaceful and caring. Long fiery orange hair hanging freely at her back with two aqua crystal hairpins along the side. Her expression told him she was worried.

Orihime. It was all his thoughts could say. The two remained motionless; neither of them knew what to say. In Hueco Mundo, they weren’t able to talk to each other that much. It was just a simple Ishida-kun! and Are you alright Inoue-san? then afterwards, he passed out. She became busy concerning with their injuries and the next thing he knew, he was already at Urahara’s Store.

He wasn’t able to return to school immediately. Yes, his wounds were already healed. His body could hardly show any battle encounter but still, he didn’t feel like going. It wasn’t laziness that forced him not to. He just wanted to be alone for a while.

Realizing they were staring at each other too long for their own sanity, he decided to be the first one to speak. “Inoue-san, what brings you here?”

Orihime wanted to see him. She didn’t know why but when she was at school, since they returned from Hueco Mundo, she can’t help but think about the young Quincy. “Ishida-kun, you haven’t attended school for a week. I’m worried about you…”

He gently smiled at her. “You don’t have to worry about me, Inoue-san. I’m perfectly fine. Thank you.”

Finally, he saw her smile again, making her even more beautiful. He had always adored everything about her—from her pretty face up to her exotic cuisines.

“It’s a good thing I reached your apartment before you leave, Ishida-kun.” she said.

“I was thinking of walking around for a while…” He felt a little hesitant to continue. “… Would you… like to come with me, Inoue-san?”

Her smile widened. “I’d love to!”

He went to her side as they started walking. They could tell snow is fast approaching because of the chilly atmosphere that’s touching their exposed skin. She looked at him and asked, “The Karakura Park is a good place, do you want to go there, Ishida-kun?”

He simply nodded and they went on with their walking.

They reached the Karakura Park in only a few minutes. Seeing the gaudy decorations laced around the park, he wondered if there’s an event or something going on. There were people strolling around—children running with balloons, couples wandering, teenagers like them sitting noisily on the grass chattering. There were food booths around, cotton candies, bentos… but they were not that numerous. The whole scene was like a semi-Tanabata Festival and it was pretty unusual for him to see this situation—knowing him to be so indulged with books and needles.

They continued to walk until there were only a few people around. It was almost evening so the street lights started to glow. The sky was so calm, giving them a serene feeling. She went in front of him, her hands at the back. “Thank you for saving me, Ishida-kun. Thank you for risking your life for me. I don’t know how could I repay you.” She had already expressed her gratitude to everyone who rescued her except him.

When he met her gaze, a tint of blush came visible on his face. With his typical habit, he pushed his glasses up to cover it. “I-It’s nothing. You don’t need to thank me, Inoue-san.” …because I wasn’t obliged to do that. I really wanted to save you. I wanted to see you again. He asked his Quincy powers be back from his father so he could protect the one he cared so much. It was always been her why he longed for strength, why he wished for power. He’s willing to die just to make her safe.

She looked at the ground and made a weak smile. “You disobeyed your father because of me. You got hurt because of me. You nearly die because of me. Ishida-kun, I’m… I’m sorry. I was always a burden not only to you but to everyone as well.”

Instead of telling her that it wasn’t her fault and she was never a burden to everyone in words, Ishida pulled her and captured her lips by his. And that kiss said everything.

Considering it to be their first one, they felt surprised with the new sensation it brought. Having their lips pressed to someone else’s caused them to shiver. It felt peculiar at the beginning but because of his gentle nature, it turned out as if he had already done this before.

Orihime was stunned at his sudden actions. She didn’t know how to respond at first but her instincts taught her. She closed her eyes and kissed him back. Her hands started to crawl form his chest to his neck. He felt glad at her response and deepened the kiss. He pulled her dangerously closer, making his left hand cup her lower jaw and neck and the other around her waist.

As they parted for breath, she slowly looked up and saw pure, cotton-like white particles falling from the sky. It was snowing. Ishida didn’t mind looking at the snow. He preferred to look at the woman he was still holding. When she lowered her head to face him, he started to speak. “Do I have to repeat myself that you are not to blame?” He smiled. “Inoue-san, I love you... and that’s the reason why I went to Hueco Mundo.” He didn’t care if she’s still in love with Kurosaki, what mattered to him was he had already confessed his true feelings for her. He wanted her to know that Kurosaki isn’t the only guy in this world… that there are people around her who care for her so much.

She blinked once and then twice. She felt her face heat up enormously. She wanted to say something but not a single sound from her mouth came out. She felt her heartbeat skip for a moment as his words sink inside her. He waited patiently for her to respond but still, no word was heard. His smile started to fade away and was about to release her when Orihime tightened her grip on his coat. “I-Ishida-kun…”

She closed her eyes and gently smiled. “I’m sorry if it took me a long time to realize who I really love.”

Ishida waited for her to continue. She opened her eyes and looked at his deep azure orbs. “He had saved me countless times, protecting me from any harm and always putting my wellbeing first.” She reached for his height and gave him a soft chaste kiss on his lips, making the young archer astonished. “You always make me happy Ishida-kun and I always feel safe around you.”

Her smile widened and continued to look at him. “I love you too.”

Ishida couldn’t believe at what he just heard. Three-fourths of him expected she would push him away or say she couldn’t love him back. He was prepared with that conclusion. He thought she was still in love with Kurosaki… was he dreaming?

“Ishida-kun?”

He didn’t respond and instead, he hugged her tightly, as if convincing himself that this was real. She giggled and wrapped her arms around his waist.

Ishida had totally forgotten that it was snowing. He buried his nose on her soft hair, familiarizing the scent of his beloved when he noticed snowflakes sprinkled on her hair. “Inoue-san, I think—”

“It’s Orihime.” She told him, smile still plastered on her face. She placed her head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat.

He let out a light chuckle. “Orihime,” He started, feeling happy that he could finally call her by her first name. “I think we should go somewhere else… it’s getting colder here. You might get sick”

“My Quincy worries too much…” She muttered as if she was talking in her sleep.

“Of course I would…” He caringly let go and gave her a quick gentle kiss… so gentle, she would have missed it. He took her hand and they started to continue their walk around the park. Orihime rested her head on his shoulder, their hands entwined together. “Ishida-kun?”

He looked at her from the corner of his eyes.

“… Uryuu?”

“Hmm?”

“Where are we going?” Orihime asked him just out of curiosity. It didn’t really matter to her where he would take her. As long as they’re together, that was all she wanted.

Ishida smiled at her, getting hold of her hand a little tighter. “You’ll see.”

 

The End

 

In our country, parks were usually big. It’s more like a leisure place wherein you can sit down and relax with your family and friends. I just assumed the Karakura Park is pretty large enough to handle those kind of things—the food booths and everything. I apologize if the characters became a bit too OOC. Where they OOC? Please tell me if it turned out horrible, if it’s worse than trash or if it’s pretty good enough that I still have the right to write another fanfic. Teehee… I really love IshiHime and I’m hoping they would end up together in the manga.

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/_debbiechan_/]

Awww, that was sweetness. It did lots of good story telling things--a little exposition, an introduction of the dilemma, an unexpected visitor at the door, and a kiss!

At one point you switched from Ishida's POV to Orihime's and that seemed awkward--better to keep it all his since you started out that way. I was confused about the Tanabata fair---was it July already? But then you said it was Tanabata-LIKE and so something unexplained was going on. I kind of like that Ishida is clueless about these things.

I don't know if the kids would blurt out "I love you" so quick--Ishida because he's restrained and Orihime because she's totally into Kurosaki and it would be an abrupt thing, but who knows. They're so young.

This is NOT horrible. ^___^ In fact, it's pretty good for a first fic, and I hope you'll write more. The fandom needs more IshiHime sweetness!!!

[agatha-midnite.livejournal.com]

I apologize for the confusion. I was trying to imagine what the Karakura park may look like and then I remembered the parks in our place--colorful lights and decorations around, food booths and a lot of people around. Our parks seemed to be celebrating something always because of how it looked. It always had the cheery atmosphere all over the place. I used the "semi-tanabata festival" description because Ishida and Orihime went to a park that seemed to be celebrating Tanabata except that it didn't had fireworks and wishing temples/places(??).

About the immediate "i love you", I agree with you, I kinda realized the situation became too abrupt for them.<:D I'll also stick to one POV to avoid awkwardness next time. Thank you for telling me those things. I'll do my best to improve my writing. :D

[http://users.livejournal.com/_debbiechan_/]

One more thing: would you add your LJ name to the subject title too? Thanks. I'm re-doing my tags and I'm going to put authors and fan artists names in the tags too....