tampered | (no subject)

(no subject)

When; April 7th, around 7:00 PM
Rating; PG?
Characters; Inoue Orihime (

fivelifetimes) & Ishida Uryuu (

anti_buttons)
Summary; Ishida asked to speak to Orihime in person, and she agreed.
Log;

The sun was setting as Orihime stepped out of the apartment building. As the time neared seven she had let Tatsuki-chan know she would be going out and had grabbed a light jacket before leaving. She hoped the weather would stay this nice.

There were signs of spring everywhere as Orihime made her way to the west entrance to Xanadu. That was where Ishida-kun had asked to meet her. She had been surprised...and a bit nervous.

Was he mad? Would he ask her to reverse the trade? She knew Ishida-kun preferred working things out on his own but this time was different. Orihime felt greatly responsible for what had happened.

Absentmindedly she raised her hand to touch the pins in her hair. It was a habit; they brought her comfort. But as her fingers brushed against them she felt the difference and remembered that they weren't the ones her brother had given her.

In the place of the blue hibiscus hairpins was a pair of plain silver wire bobby pins. Orihime wouldn't have felt right wearing anything besides the simple ones; not until the month had passed and she regained her original ones along with her powers.

A month without them...was a small price to pay for helping a friend, she thought to herself.

The west entrance was in sight and she quickened her pace, hoping she hadn't left too late.

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Uryuu had been early. He could not help but be, simply out of habit and a deeply ingrained need to be prompt. One could never, he suspected, entirely acclimate to the loss of a limb - after all, people spoke of ghost pains for years following. But it was strange, all the same, to see the sleeve of his jacket filled.

Of course he was grateful. After the pain, he had felt so relieved, so thankful that it dizzied him, that he felt nauseous and ashamed of it, because -- because arms did not grow on trees.

He made a point of not staring down the road leading to the entrance, denying even a desire to do so. Flexing his fingers in his pocket, he waited until he could hear her approach to look up, to quickly look Inoue-san over -- everything in place. Hands, feet, arms, legs.

Something felt different, but for the immediate moment, he let himself breathe.

"Good evening," he said, stiffly, at a loss.

Orihime was relieved as well -- she could finally see for herself that it had worked. Though she was trusting, a small part of her worried that there would be some loophole, or some trick that would come with the trade. But so far it seemed that everything had gone as planned.

"Good evening!" she quickly replied, and stood a couple feet from him. "I hope that Ishida-kun wasn't waiting long."

She sensed that he was tense, so she kept her tone light and cheerful. Orihime didn't want to pressure him.

...And since she was almost positive about what he wished to speak about, she didn't mind delaying the inevitable.

"... Not at all."

Closer now. He lifted his hand to adjust his glasses - the "old" one, as habit had quickly had him relying on it for that frequent, habitual movement. Looking at her through his lifted lenses, Uryuu struggled to pinpoint it.

His eyes roved over the bobby pins for the third time. On the fourth, he realized he could not feel her reiatsu. Ah.

Uryuu exhaled.

"Is it permanent?"

Orihime remained quiet as he tried to pinpoint what was missing. She wasn't sure if he was gathering his thoughts, or if she should speak again.

When he figured it out and questioned her, Orihime quickly began to explain.

"No! Only for a month." She fought the urge to touch the wire pins and instead clasped her hands together behind her back. "The deity I spoke with said he would only take them for a month. And in return, Ishida-kun would have his arm restored!"

And now she was smiling. "I think...in this case, I got the better part of the deal. Because for something like that --" I would have gladly given up much more. But she stopped herself before saying that.

Only a month. The thought was fleeting: what if my arm disappears then? He dismissed it with a swift ease. Dwelling on that was futile, considering never mind speaking it. If it happened, he would handle it then. And now, why had he dragged Inoue-san out here, gratitude choked on whatever it was that filled him with a nervous, frustrated anger?

Uryuu had liked those hairpins. Gifts from her brother - everyone knew - and later her abilities. He remembered Soul Society, her self-doubt. For her to... For Inoue-san to... he breathed to find his footing, his words, and lost them with her smile.

With a sigh, all that was left was,

"Why?"

Why? That seemed like such a silly question to her. But Ishida-kun was serious.

And the answer to that question suddenly seemed complicated. How would she explain it when she herself hadn't even stopped to think 'why' to begin with?

It was true that Orihime felt she owed him. Afterall, he had been injured so many times trying to save her. But she would have made the deal even if she didn't feel responsible.

Ishida-kun was her friend, one of her nakama. It was without question that she would help him in any way she could. And Orihime was sure he would do the same if their positions were reversed.

So the answer was actually simple.

"Because Ishida-kun is important to me, and I reserve the right to help him -- even if he doesn't want help."

She borrowed a few of his own words from before, looking pleased with herself for remembering.

She had a knack for it; something he did not realize or acknowledge as he did not want to know it. But with or without his allowing it, it was true: Inoue-san had a way of rendering him speechless. In this instance, there was a deft subtlety to it; Uryuu recognized his words.

He looked away, at the flowers that had been growing even weeks ago, oblivious of temperature. Telling himself that it was the chill in the air that caused the flush in his cheeks, if there was, if the heat he could feel spoke true.

Important to her. He, who had been too weak to protect her from all of it. Too weak, and so she had had to save him, like this? It was...

Thank you, he meant to say. Had to say. Instead, "What if they had asked for more? Inoue-san shouldn't have... put herself in that position."

Another silly question.

She replied, voice a bit more soft now. "If they had asked for more, I would still have said yes." Then even more quietly -- "Ishida-kun...isn't upset, is he?"

Finally she voiced what she had been worried about all along. To her it was a completely valid question; Ishida-kun always tried his best to keep his distance from them.

'Them' being shinigami, and people who were friends with them.

Talk about inane questions.

It was all he could do not to visibly flinch at her response, and how absurd that was. Could she not - how could she not understand that, by caring so little about herself, by weighing herself as less important on the scale, she ...

Words he wanted to say, on a level before even the conscious, before they had formed solid and ready for elocution. But for once, or as always with Inoue-san, they were tripped up. Upset?

It wouldn't be very ...

"Of course not," he answered, though his voice was not the even, cold thing he had wanted, though his expression held too much in the tight line of his mouth. His restored hand sat in his pocket, clenched hard.

"I am -- grateful." Finally. "Thank you."

Instantly she felt relieved, and the smile from before returned. So Ishida-kun wasn't mad!

"I'm glad! And, you're welcome."

She refrained from saying anything like 'no need to thank me!', because he would disagree and she would have to insist and they would go back and forth...

And also because Orihime hoped that they were done with this topic for now. Even if Ishida-kun wasn't upset, she felt slightly awkward talking about it.

Absentmindedly twisting a bit of fabric from the sleeve of her jacket, she continued. "So everything is okay now! Ishida-kun should be more cheerful. Especially since it's spring..." She trailed off for a moment before continuing. "Tatsuki-chan and I decorated the video store! Ishida-kun should come by and see it when he has the time."

All that he had failed to express, all that he could not acknowledge: what did it matter, now? Inoue-san had acted. It was finished. Whatever he struggled with as a result had little bearing on the facts. It was easier to think like this, to feel that he had summoned her here only to thank her, when he looked at her.

If it had cheered Inoue-san, even a little, wasn't it all right? He would simply have to make sure she had no need to miss her abilities.

"Yeah," he agreed. "I have plenty of time right now... should I come tomorrow? Before I get too busy."

He began to walk, or made the motions with a look toward her, meaning, will you come? Walk with me. It was a cool night, but not too cold. The flowers were lit artificially, but the effect was not unpleasant.

Orihime only hesitated a moment before following him, happy the subject had changed and that they were carrying on a normal, friendly conversation.

"Tomorrow would be perfect!" she replied, matching his pace and walking by his side.

As she spoke Orihime let her gaze wander over the flowers for a moment. They were beautiful, and she thought that whatever magic kept them blooming even in colder weather was wonderful.

"Though what will Ishida-kun be busy doing after that? Work?" She turned her full attention back to him, curious.

"I need to find a job," he admitted. Strange, to be so prepared to settle. Finding employment, a means to make extra money - and for what? Initially he had thought to pay for treatment. Initially... now, to fill the hours. One could not search every minute of every hour of every day for the exit. But to fill it with that which would make this a norm?

A happy medium did not exist. He could not find the proper way to think of it, the one that would not drive him into corners, then circles.

"I may stop by the library. ... I hear I worked for some time at a Crafts Shop here, but..."

To resume an old pattern, however little he remembered it. It felt distasteful. His hands were tucked now into his pockets, to better resist the urge to pluck those flowers that resembled nothing in their world. Was that one every color of the rainbow? Did that other glitter like a diamond?

It was like something that, perhaps, Inoue-san would dream up. The thought made him smile, despite himself.

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