As perceptive as Orihime was, her affection for Ichigo could blind her to things that were obvious to everyone else. This was especially true after their struggles in Soul Society's heavenly realm, as it took her a few days of being home before she realized something about Uryuu just seemed...off. Once she did notice, she felt a heavy pang of guilt for not realizing sooner that of course something would feel off. The things the Quincys made him do, the choices he'd been forced to make... It would tear most people apart.
So was that what was going on inside of her friend too? Was he just that good at hiding it, or just too proud? It wasn't as if he had many people he could confide in -- she was sure he'd rather slit his wrists and do push-ups than unload his feelings on Ichigo. But he did have her. He seemed to soften a little for her sake sometimes, so...should she offer? Would that offend his pride?
Well, if that happened, she'd rather apologize for an error made out of concern than ignore what he was going through when he just needed someone to listen.
Finishing her shift at the bakery, she loosened the strings of her apron and marched toward the stock room. She'd have to feel out the situation and improvise, most likely. If she just dropped by out of the blue, she couldn't salvage an accidental blow to his pride like she could with a flimsy excuse for being there. So she'd just drop off some day old bread, the way she did for Chad.
'I came to see how you were doing, Ishida-kun!' 'I'm fine of course, why wouldn't I be?' 'Oh, I meant I wanted to see if you were eating enough whole grains. Here's some bread!' 'I understand now, ha ha ha!' 'Ha ha ha!'
Hanging up her apron, she pushed open the door.
There was no bread.
"But...there's always leftover bread..." she blinked, puzzled, and suddenly alarmed. If there was no bread to bring by, there would be no excuse to open up a conversation without a convenient fallback fib!
"Oh, are you looking for the leftovers, Inoue? I told Matsuo-san she could have it this time," her supervisor called out.
Well. That was fair. Orihime took the bread home most of the time, but of all days...! There was nothing to be done for it. Orihime squared her shoulders and picked up her bag, rifling inside until she found her billfold. "Can I buy a dessert, then?"
* * * * *
And so it was that Orihime kept the oversized cupcake cradled close to her chest, the umbrella held protectively over the treat as she hastened down the rain-spattered sidewalks of town.
'There was no need to check on me. I'm not a toddler to be fussed over.' 'But I heard it was your birthday! That wasn't true?!' 'You've been misinformed.' 'No sense letting this cupcake go to waste then, let's eat it together! Ha ha ha!' 'Ha ha ha!'
It still wasn't as good an excuse as the bread story, but it would have to do. Stepping up onto the front porch, she pressed the doorbell and stood back. Never mind the fact that she still had flour in her hair. Or dried batter on the side of her jaw. As long as he was really okay...
Was he alright? He was, all things considered, but he definitely wasn't as alright as he should be. After finishing off the battle with Ywach Ishida had realized something: he really hadn't been as much of an asset to that mission as he would have hoped to be. They were all his people, his tribe, and yet in the end it had been Kurosaki who had taken him down. He wasn't irritated about it, not at all, but it was still a fact of the matter. Yet again Kurosaki had saved the day, and yet again Ishida had found himself simply watching and unable to fully contribute.
Was that all he was good for? Simply watching? He couldn't complain, he had no reason to, so he had decided to bottle it all up. So much of his life he had simply bottled everything up and refused to say anything. Even with his 'friends' had consisted of him remaining silent as he just watched and thought to himself about each and every one of them.
Inoue? She was always at the front of his mind, always someone that he wanted by his side and to fight with, but she wanted to be with Kurosaki- of course. Did that irritate him? No, he only wanted what would be best for Inoue after all. If she truly loved Kurosaki then who was he to get in the way?
Just stay silent as always, that's what he had told himself.
So on that fateful day he hadn't been expecting a visit from her at all. He had been looking forward to remaining silent, to being alone, and to possibly get some sewing done that had long been forgotten. After he heard the doorbell he quirked an eyebrow, unaware of just who was at the door. Once he opened it up he saw her standing there, beautiful and vibrant as ever, and he felt something twist inside of him.
No Uryuu, he told himself, remain quiet, as always.
...Still, there were things he couldn't just ignore and he had to mention them.
"Good day, Inoue-san..." he sounded rather skeptical, and that was only because he was preoccupied with her face, or rather, what was all over it, "...just get off work?"
"How did you guess?!" she stared at him, amazed at his powers of perception.
Clearly they were far superior to her own.
But never mind that, she'd come over for a reason. She didn't want to waste his time talking about herself, that much she knew for a certainty. Cheerfully she presented the box, and the fib was ready to go...
...but...
...Somehow it didn't seem right to lie about her reasons for being there. Uryuu was always alone, always doing things by himself. Maybe he needed to know that his friends truly cared about him.
"Er...well...I brought you this for your birthday, even though it was in November. But really I wanted to make sure you're okay." She rubbed the back of her head awkwardly with her other hand. "Am I interrupting anything?"
So she didn't even know about the dough on her face... Ishida didn't even say anything about it, not really, he just gestured to what was on her face. It was his own silent way of informing her that she must have rushed over her immediately.
Well her words were.... unexpected, to say the least. He was certain that she would have been glued to Kurosaki's side, especially after the final battle. Kurosaki was the one that defeated Yhwach in the end. He had... just helped, just a little.
Still, he was grateful that Orihime had decided to check up on him.
"You're not interrupting anything at all," he smiled at her, a rare smile that he really only saved for her, "and why wouldn't I be okay?"
He wasn't okay, not really, but her concern was appreciated.
"Mm? ...Oh!" She used the cuff of her coat sleeve to flake off the dried batter from her face with a sheepish grin. It was a little embarrassing, but she was grateful he'd told her instead of letting her walk around town in an oblivious state. What if she'd tried to have a heartfelt conversation with him looking like such an uncaring slob? Yikes! "Thank you, ha ha!"
His question did give her pause. He wasn't outright denying it, he was deflecting the subject with a rhetorical question. Her smile faded a little as she studied his face, trying to understand what he was saying beneath the surface, and what would be appropriate to even say in response.
At least he invited her in, she could accept that with a cheerful nod. "Thank you! I wondered what your house looked like anyway. I bet it's sparkling clean!" She followed him inside, politely removing her shoes and unzipping her coat. "I'm sorry I didn't come by sooner. Sometimes it's hard to tell if you don't mind being bothered or if you'd rather deal with things on your own. I figured I'd take the chance just in case! You'd tell me otherwise, ne?"
What was he trying to hide? What he had always been trying to hide from her- exactly how he felt about her. She was stunning, someone that really captivated his attention, and he had no choice but to bottle up his feelings for her. Surely now that the battle was over and done with he could tell her, right?
Wrong, always wrong.
"It's... yeah, something like that." She was right, his house really was extremely clean. It was the home shared between a doctor and his son, after all. His father wasn't around right now, luckily, so Ishida had the whole house to himself. He reached out to her, offering to take her jacket from her.
Wait, so... she was waiting for him to call her over? Well that certainly was foolish, he was never good at being the one to initiate anything. Ah, unless it was some sort of fight with Kurosaki.
"...Ah s-sure thing, Inoue-san, I would tell you if I would rather be left alone. But it's fine, really, I wasn't doing anything today,"
Your company is much appreciated, he wanted to add, but didn't. He turned away from her, now putting away her jacket that he grabbed from her. Once he was done with that he gestured for her to follow him.
She did so, trying not to rubberneck too much. Of all her friends, she probably knew Uryuu the least, so the chance to glean some small insight on what he did when he wasn't training, studying, or sewing was something she couldn't pass up.
Even if it meant she was being a little nosy.
"So what are you planning to do now? In the long term, I mean." Orihime folded her hands behind her back, looking up at the back of his head. "Are you going to apply to any colleges, or move straight to employment?" She knew his father ran the hospital, so it wouldn't surprise her if Uryuu chose that path as well. But it also wouldn't surprise her for him to rebel and veer off to find his own destiny either.
It was sad really, that Ishida knew so much about everyone else but they hardly knew anything about himself. Well, that was just how he let things happen as well, he didn't want people to know anything about him. Especially of his home life, of his relationship with his father.
The long term, huh? Ishida hummed to himself as he turned away from her, heading back towards the living room. Their house was a fairly big size, since his father was a doctor, and it was definitely roomie enough for the two of them. Ishida went to sit at the table in the middle of the room, sitting with his knees tucked under him as he waited for Orihime to join him.
"I'll most likely apply to colleges," his expression was replaced with a frown and he moved to push his glasses further up his nose, "my father wants me to become a doctor, like him."
Which he really doesn't want to do.
Doesn't seem like he ever showed much interest in it...
"You should!" Orihime straightened from where she knelt at the other end of the table. "With grades like yours, you could easily get a scholarship at any university you wanted!"
And yet, his expression didn't exactly trumpet any joy or enthusiasm at the prospect. Why was that, she wondered? Did college seem dull after all of their adventures, or was there something else she wasn't realizing?
She lifted the lid of the cakebox and nudged his present closer to him. They could eat while they talked. He might find it easier to open up to her that way.
"But...you don't seem very happy about that. How come?"
At her comments he stiffens. He definitely doesn't want to become a doctor like his father, no matter what. He wants to stay far away from him, he wants to follow his own path, and most of all- he wants to still live his life as a quincy.
Ishida glanced over at her, offering her a sad smile before he went back to frowning at the thought. It wasn't her fault, she just wanted to encourage him, it wasn't as though she knew about what was happening in his life. He never told anyone anything, after all.
Ah right, the cake. He looked into the box, now taking it and moving it closer to him. He should grab plates for both of them, since he wants to share this after all.
"...It's complicated," and he had planned to just leave it at that, but Orihime had come here with a purpose. She had been worried about him after all.
"I'd just rather not become anything like my father."
His answer wasn't what she expected, but she couldn't be entirely surprised either. The relationship between Quincys was deep and complicated, and she knew so little about them to start with. But she did remember speaking with Uryuu's father personally at the hospital, and remembered the warning he had given her. He wasn't a wicked or selfish man, and he seemed to care about his son a great deal.
What should she say? Should she ask for more information? Was she being too intrusive? It was hard to know what was acceptable and what wasn't, and navigating the conversation was like trying to find the submerged stones in a deep and murky lake when crossing from one side to the other. One misstep and she might never reach a point where they could truly understand each other.
"What do you want to be?" she asked, resting her cheek in the cup of her hand. And why had his father wanted to become a doctor?
Man, he really needed to grab some plates for them. He figured that would be a good enough way of distracting himself, of maybe figuring out just what it was he wanted to say about his family life and his own decisions. Ishida got up suddenly, putting out his hand to tell her that he would be right back and he walked into the other room. The sounds of him fiddling around in the kitchen would become clear to her, and before long he had come back with two plates for them both.
After he had resumed his seat he began to cut the pastry for the two of them.
"...I just... want to be something of use, something that isn't a doctor," he frowned to himself, knowing full well that that wasn't a good enough answer.
"...My dad always told me that being a quincy was useless and that being something more profitable like a doctor was better. I just can't agree to that at all."
Orihime had made to rise, but settled back in once she was stayed by his hand. Maybe he just needed time to think it over before answering. It did trouble her to think that she might be asking about things that were far too personal, but so long as he appeared willing to talk, then...maybe this was what he needed after all. It made her feel a little better, anyway.
She watched his face in quiet curiosity as he explained his feelings. If anyone could understand the innate desire just to feel useful, Orihime could. Especially when it felt like healing just wasn't enough. In that sense, they were far more alike than they realized.
"You kind of proved that it isn't useless, though, ne? You saved my life in Hueco Mundo, when Yammy was about to attack me. That's about as useful as it gets!" she smiled awkwardly, rubbing the back of her head. "But I guess being a hero doesn't really pay any bills, if I have to be practical about it. It's a shame."
It wasn't as if she could just run around using her powers to cure cancer. She might be able to heal a few isolated incidents if she was very careful, but she wasn't crazy about winding up as an experiment herself if she got caught.
"You're wonderful at sewing," she pointed out, folding her arms on the table and shifting her weight to the other hip. "Maybe you could design clothes." A funny thought struck her, and she suddenly laughed aloud. "Ha ha! Maybe you can make doctor clothes incredibly fashionable!"
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no subject
So was that what was going on inside of her friend too? Was he just that good at hiding it, or just too proud? It wasn't as if he had many people he could confide in -- she was sure he'd rather slit his wrists and do push-ups than unload his feelings on Ichigo. But he did have her. He seemed to soften a little for her sake sometimes, so...should she offer? Would that offend his pride?
Well, if that happened, she'd rather apologize for an error made out of concern than ignore what he was going through when he just needed someone to listen.
Finishing her shift at the bakery, she loosened the strings of her apron and marched toward the stock room. She'd have to feel out the situation and improvise, most likely. If she just dropped by out of the blue, she couldn't salvage an accidental blow to his pride like she could with a flimsy excuse for being there. So she'd just drop off some day old bread, the way she did for Chad.
'I came to see how you were doing, Ishida-kun!'
'I'm fine of course, why wouldn't I be?'
'Oh, I meant I wanted to see if you were eating enough whole grains. Here's some bread!'
'I understand now, ha ha ha!'
'Ha ha ha!'
Hanging up her apron, she pushed open the door.
There was no bread.
"But...there's always leftover bread..." she blinked, puzzled, and suddenly alarmed. If there was no bread to bring by, there would be no excuse to open up a conversation without a convenient fallback fib!
"Oh, are you looking for the leftovers, Inoue? I told Matsuo-san she could have it this time," her supervisor called out.
Well. That was fair. Orihime took the bread home most of the time, but of all days...! There was nothing to be done for it. Orihime squared her shoulders and picked up her bag, rifling inside until she found her billfold. "Can I buy a dessert, then?"
* * * * *
And so it was that Orihime kept the oversized cupcake cradled close to her chest, the umbrella held protectively over the treat as she hastened down the rain-spattered sidewalks of town.
'There was no need to check on me. I'm not a toddler to be fussed over.'
'But I heard it was your birthday! That wasn't true?!'
'You've been misinformed.'
'No sense letting this cupcake go to waste then, let's eat it together! Ha ha ha!'
'Ha ha ha!'
It still wasn't as good an excuse as the bread story, but it would have to do. Stepping up onto the front porch, she pressed the doorbell and stood back. Never mind the fact that she still had flour in her hair. Or dried batter on the side of her jaw. As long as he was really okay...
no subject
Was that all he was good for? Simply watching? He couldn't complain, he had no reason to, so he had decided to bottle it all up. So much of his life he had simply bottled everything up and refused to say anything. Even with his 'friends' had consisted of him remaining silent as he just watched and thought to himself about each and every one of them.
Inoue? She was always at the front of his mind, always someone that he wanted by his side and to fight with, but she wanted to be with Kurosaki- of course. Did that irritate him? No, he only wanted what would be best for Inoue after all. If she truly loved Kurosaki then who was he to get in the way?
Just stay silent as always, that's what he had told himself.
So on that fateful day he hadn't been expecting a visit from her at all. He had been looking forward to remaining silent, to being alone, and to possibly get some sewing done that had long been forgotten. After he heard the doorbell he quirked an eyebrow, unaware of just who was at the door. Once he opened it up he saw her standing there, beautiful and vibrant as ever, and he felt something twist inside of him.
No Uryuu, he told himself, remain quiet, as always.
...Still, there were things he couldn't just ignore and he had to mention them.
"Good day, Inoue-san..." he sounded rather skeptical, and that was only because he was preoccupied with her face, or rather, what was all over it, "...just get off work?"
no subject
Clearly they were far superior to her own.
But never mind that, she'd come over for a reason. She didn't want to waste his time talking about herself, that much she knew for a certainty. Cheerfully she presented the box, and the fib was ready to go...
...but...
...Somehow it didn't seem right to lie about her reasons for being there. Uryuu was always alone, always doing things by himself. Maybe he needed to know that his friends truly cared about him.
"Er...well...I brought you this for your birthday, even though it was in November. But really I wanted to make sure you're okay." She rubbed the back of her head awkwardly with her other hand. "Am I interrupting anything?"
no subject
Well her words were.... unexpected, to say the least. He was certain that she would have been glued to Kurosaki's side, especially after the final battle. Kurosaki was the one that defeated Yhwach in the end. He had... just helped, just a little.
Still, he was grateful that Orihime had decided to check up on him.
"You're not interrupting anything at all," he smiled at her, a rare smile that he really only saved for her, "and why wouldn't I be okay?"
He wasn't okay, not really, but her concern was appreciated.
"You should come inside though, if you want."
no subject
His question did give her pause. He wasn't outright denying it, he was deflecting the subject with a rhetorical question. Her smile faded a little as she studied his face, trying to understand what he was saying beneath the surface, and what would be appropriate to even say in response.
At least he invited her in, she could accept that with a cheerful nod. "Thank you! I wondered what your house looked like anyway. I bet it's sparkling clean!" She followed him inside, politely removing her shoes and unzipping her coat. "I'm sorry I didn't come by sooner. Sometimes it's hard to tell if you don't mind being bothered or if you'd rather deal with things on your own. I figured I'd take the chance just in case! You'd tell me otherwise, ne?"
no subject
Wrong, always wrong.
"It's... yeah, something like that." She was right, his house really was extremely clean. It was the home shared between a doctor and his son, after all. His father wasn't around right now, luckily, so Ishida had the whole house to himself. He reached out to her, offering to take her jacket from her.
Wait, so... she was waiting for him to call her over? Well that certainly was foolish, he was never good at being the one to initiate anything. Ah, unless it was some sort of fight with Kurosaki.
"...Ah s-sure thing, Inoue-san, I would tell you if I would rather be left alone. But it's fine, really, I wasn't doing anything today,"
Your company is much appreciated, he wanted to add, but didn't. He turned away from her, now putting away her jacket that he grabbed from her. Once he was done with that he gestured for her to follow him.
no subject
Even if it meant she was being a little nosy.
"So what are you planning to do now? In the long term, I mean." Orihime folded her hands behind her back, looking up at the back of his head. "Are you going to apply to any colleges, or move straight to employment?" She knew his father ran the hospital, so it wouldn't surprise her if Uryuu chose that path as well. But it also wouldn't surprise her for him to rebel and veer off to find his own destiny either.
i refuse to say that ishida WANTED to be a doctor
The long term, huh? Ishida hummed to himself as he turned away from her, heading back towards the living room. Their house was a fairly big size, since his father was a doctor, and it was definitely roomie enough for the two of them. Ishida went to sit at the table in the middle of the room, sitting with his knees tucked under him as he waited for Orihime to join him.
"I'll most likely apply to colleges," his expression was replaced with a frown and he moved to push his glasses further up his nose, "my father wants me to become a doctor, like him."
Which he really doesn't want to do.
Doesn't seem like he ever showed much interest in it...
And yet, his expression didn't exactly trumpet any joy or enthusiasm at the prospect. Why was that, she wondered? Did college seem dull after all of their adventures, or was there something else she wasn't realizing?
She lifted the lid of the cakebox and nudged his present closer to him. They could eat while they talked. He might find it easier to open up to her that way.
"But...you don't seem very happy about that. How come?"
no subject
Ishida glanced over at her, offering her a sad smile before he went back to frowning at the thought. It wasn't her fault, she just wanted to encourage him, it wasn't as though she knew about what was happening in his life. He never told anyone anything, after all.
Ah right, the cake. He looked into the box, now taking it and moving it closer to him. He should grab plates for both of them, since he wants to share this after all.
"...It's complicated," and he had planned to just leave it at that, but Orihime had come here with a purpose. She had been worried about him after all.
"I'd just rather not become anything like my father."
no subject
What should she say? Should she ask for more information? Was she being too intrusive? It was hard to know what was acceptable and what wasn't, and navigating the conversation was like trying to find the submerged stones in a deep and murky lake when crossing from one side to the other. One misstep and she might never reach a point where they could truly understand each other.
"What do you want to be?" she asked, resting her cheek in the cup of her hand. And why had his father wanted to become a doctor?
no subject
After he had resumed his seat he began to cut the pastry for the two of them.
"...I just... want to be something of use, something that isn't a doctor," he frowned to himself, knowing full well that that wasn't a good enough answer.
"...My dad always told me that being a quincy was useless and that being something more profitable like a doctor was better. I just can't agree to that at all."
no subject
She watched his face in quiet curiosity as he explained his feelings. If anyone could understand the innate desire just to feel useful, Orihime could. Especially when it felt like healing just wasn't enough. In that sense, they were far more alike than they realized.
"You kind of proved that it isn't useless, though, ne? You saved my life in Hueco Mundo, when Yammy was about to attack me. That's about as useful as it gets!" she smiled awkwardly, rubbing the back of her head. "But I guess being a hero doesn't really pay any bills, if I have to be practical about it. It's a shame."
It wasn't as if she could just run around using her powers to cure cancer. She might be able to heal a few isolated incidents if she was very careful, but she wasn't crazy about winding up as an experiment herself if she got caught.
"You're wonderful at sewing," she pointed out, folding her arms on the table and shifting her weight to the other hip. "Maybe you could design clothes." A funny thought struck her, and she suddenly laughed aloud. "Ha ha! Maybe you can make doctor clothes incredibly fashionable!"