InsaneJournal

Who: Ichigo Kurosaki, Orihime Inoue
What: Talking about dreams and things, and spaghetti noodle soup. Orihime’s cooking is questionable, at best. *hands Ichigo some Tums*
When: Recently, this month.
Rating: Lowish. Some language, cuz it’s Ichigo. Orihime's cooking gets a rated F for Failboat.
Status: Complete!



In her little student housing room, Orihime was very excited. She had invited Ichigo over for a “home cooked American meal” that was supposed to be spaghetti. Considering she had only a very small range to cook everything on, she didn’t have to hustle too much to stir everything. It also meant that she kept reaching for everything nearby to ‘flavor the sauce’ and there were a lot of wrappers and open bottles and chopped up sticky things on the cutting board.

She paused and put her hands on her hips, blowing her hair up out of her eyes. Keeping busy like this kept her from remembering the dreams she had of her brother dying, which was so similar and yet so different than what had happened here. It must have been the move away from home that caused it, and Orihime tried to remain upbeat and smile, despite it all. She had a crush on Ichigo ever since she first saw him at school, and it was exciting to her that they were in the same place. It was almost like fate brought them over in a big moving van together!

...or a moving boat. Since a van couldn’t go across the ocean unless it had blow up tires, and she imagined a cartoon dog with a cigar hanging out of it’s mouth driving it, and he was rough and grizzled and coughed a lot because he smoked too much, and some of their belongings were falling out of the back of the floaty truck but he didn’t notice, because he was on a deadline....

By the time Orihime blinked herself back into reality from imagination land, the spaghetti sauce was a boiling angry greyish-red pit of splattering destruction.

“Ahhh!” She flailed and then ran around the kitchen trying to find a lid to slam down over it, so the ‘flavors’ didn’t escape or get cooked out somehow.

Ichigo thought, so far, that this place was extremely strange. He was here with the urging of his father, who had promptly kicked him out of the house because he needed some extra something or another. Whatever, old man. So, he’d said farewell to Karin and Yuzu, then made the trip here only to find Orihime already here and world of other Japanese people as well.

Well, he couldn’t really refuse Orihime’s offer, though he remembered her cooking well, and he remembered that her cooking wasn’t always that great. Still, it would be nice to let her try and it would be good to catch up with her again. He rang the bell at her address, waiting patiently for her to answer with his hands in his pockets. He wondered if some guy named Renji, or dumbass as Ichigo liked to call him, had found Orihime yet and stalked her like he had Ichigo.

Renji had yet to stalk Orihime or anyone else, because he was too busy stalking Rukia. Or not really stalking as much as offering to hang out with her, because if any two people know what a hardcore pain in the ass Byakuya could be sometimes? It's those two.

Orihime, on the other hand, was happily going through her daily life, if not for remembering that bad dream. She was all too happy to hear the knock on the door, because she liked being with her friends, and missed being at home sometimes. Only sometimes, because she always tried to make the best of things wherever she was.

The door flew open and Orihime had the world's biggest grin on her face, even if her face also had little speckles of red and gray stuff over one half of it. And she was a;sp wearing a slice of tomato on her left boob.

"Kurosaki-kun!" She bowed and nearly bonked the top of her head into his chest. He looked good, like the Ichigo that she remembered from school, and she was happy and relieved that some things never changed. Realizing she was staring at him, she began to speak in Japanese, "It's so good to see you! Come in, dinner's almost ready! I think I've learned a lot about Italian cooking thanks to my classes? And it's so versatile that you can add just about anything to the sauce and it tastes great! How have you been?"

He smiled down at her, grateful that Orihime seemed so happy to see him. He inclined his head lightly in greeting himself, offering her a gentle expression in return. “Hello, Inoue,” greeted Ichigo in his usual manner...somewhere in between proper and overly casual. He somehow mastered that skill, when it suited him.

“You can add just about anything, huh?” remarked Ichigo as he slid off his shoes and stepped in to her quaint little area here. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it reminded him exactly of Orihime for some reason. Which is what it should do, of course. He inwardly grimaced, though. Orihime saying that she was adding just about anything to the sauce made him wonder what she thought was suitable to add to it.

"Yep, anything! It tastes really good," she promised, even though it was probably established that Orihime's taste buds tended to lean toward odd flavor profiles. She finally noticed the tomato slice and her eyes nearly bugged out, before she peeled it off and threw it so it landed with a wet slap into the tiny kitchen sink. It was a good thing she was used to living in one of those tiny Japanese apartments, since everything she owned was highly compartmentalized. The kitchen was only big enough for one person to turn around in, and half of that was covered in speckled sauce explosion.

"Have a seat! I have a little table on the floor there by the bed, just for meals. And I added in lots of things like onion and fennel and watermelon and lemon zest," she was saying, after lifting the lid and stirring the sauce wildly so it didn't explode again. "Meatballs...umm...blue candy powder...red bean paste...canned baby corn, candy corn since it's almost Halloween, chili powder, and some bacon bits!"

She was so proud of her creation as she put some noodles in a bowl and poured what looked to be discolored spaghetti broth over them. Now she had a real chance to impress her crush with her awesome cooking! ...and he’s going to fall in love with me as soon as he tastes it, and we can run off to someplace exotic to have a native wedding, while wearing leaves and flowers and there would be a shaman dancing around us waggling around rattles in both hands as a blessing, before the feast happens and everyone rows off in canoes afterward! Just wait! It can happen, right? I have such womanly intuition about these things! Um, no you don’t.

In her mind, it was going to be THE BEST WEDDING EVER.

She squeaked happily at the thought as she reached for some chopsticks. Because, also in her mind, that's how spaghetti was eaten. Ok? Ok.

Ichigo wasn’t one who would be really rude to someone like Orihime. To Renji? Yeah, the dumbass seemed to think that shouting to him about stupid glasses was the right way to communicate issues or whatever. But to Orihime? Nope, not in a million years. He wanted to keep her safe, just like his sisters, and sometimes he did think of her as his little sister that he needed to protect.

“Great, I’m starved!” remarked Ichigo, but at the list of ingredients, he cringed a little. “Eh, are you sure candy is supposed to be in the sauce? Not that extra sugar is bad or whatever, but I thought spaghetti was supposed to be with vegetables and whatnot, not with candy.” He grinned over at Orihime, trying to make his comment seem a little less...concerned and a little more gentle, like a friend just making sure that everything was okay.

He did move over towards the table though, settling down in the seat that she’d mentioned to him. He gave the spaghetti a curious glance, then motioned for her to try some first. “Well, um, ladies first, I guess!” he remarked with a small grin, wondering what it tasted like.


So much for her 'womanly instincts' because that was so not the way Orihime was viewing him, which was from the 'my future boyfriend' perspective. The wires. They be crossed in all sorts of wrong ways, here. D'oh.

Of course, she wasn't going to come out and say that to him! That would be rude. She was waiting for that moment when he swept her off her feet and carried her off into the sunset. Because that's going to happen and it happens all the time in all sorts of movies. Only that's not happening for reals.

"Oh yes, I taste tested it myself!" she gave him a thumbs up and used her chopstick to try one of the overcooked meatballs in the spaghetti noodle soup. It promptly crumbled to bits. "Oh no! I guess I should've used a soup spoon. He he he."

Undaunted, Orihime mixed it all up and then started to eat the noodles, making a mmmm! sound like it was yummy, and blinking at him questioningly like she wondered why he wasn't trying it, too.

The spaghetti noodle soup with a disintegrating meatball, seemed to stare accusingly up at Ichigo from the bowl. Why are you not putting it in your mouth? Are you not hungry? Do you have taste buds or something? How dare you. What's wrong? EAT ME.

Well, Ichigo thought to himself, here goes nothing. He shrugged, then offered Orihime a small smile in response to her offering. “All right, guess I’ll go ahead and give it a try.” He used his own chopsticks, since that’s what was available, and picked up some of his food. After his first bite, it was sickeningly sweet, almost to the point where he had no interest in taking another bite at all.

However, he did manage a grin and then a thumbs up in recognition to Orihime’s cooking. “Er, well, it tastes great,” commented Ichigo lightly, trying to sound more enthusiastic than he actually was. Really, he hated it. It tasted all strange and confusing to him, but it wasn’t all bad.

It had an aftertaste of candy! And vaguely? Of watermelon. It wasn't too bad after the second or third bite, when the tongue wasn't entirely rebelling against what was being forced onto it.

Orihime stopped chowing down and looked ecstatic, "Really? I'm so happy you like it! They're teaching us pizza next, so I'll find a way to make it on a stove top and invite you over again."

She smiled and before she started eating again, she asked him, "What do you think of this place so far, Kurosaki-kun?"

Pizza, huh? He guessed that Orihime could even manage to make something as versatile as pizza taste yummy, but he wasn’t sure how she could work with that and really, he wasn’t all that interested at the moment. More concerned for his health. He grimaced through another bite, mentally preparing an excuse for a way to escape later.

“Well, I’ll look forward to it, then,” commented Ichigo gently, managing a smile. As for her next question, he leaned forward a bit with a frown. “It’s good and bad, I guess. My old man shoved me out the door without so much of a, “oh, you can go” sort of thing. Something about meeting people who I should know, whatever kind of nonsense he was babbling on about.” Ichigo shrugged.

“But it’s not all bad. Like you said, I did meet that crazy yelling dumbass,” Ichigo stated, smirking a bit at Renji’s failed attempt to politely warn him about future events.

"Oh, your dad did that? He always seemed a little...." Orihime didn't have an unkind word for people, so...weird? Strange? Kind of gung ho about everything? "...colorful. That's kind of a weird reason to send you all the way over here, isn't it? I mean, I'm not complaining! I feel better knowing you're here. Everyone's really nice! But I guess it's not the same as having people you know from home being here at the same time."

She ate some more noodles and looked thoughtful while doing so. When she was able to ask, "What did the crazy yelling guy want to yell at you about? I didn't understand it."

She looked a little sheepish about the whole thing, and she got the part about the sunglasses, but that seemed weird too. Oh well, she supposed everyone was a little weird, anyway!

Ichigo made another few half-hearted attempts at eating his meal, taking his time so he hoped that Orihime would finish before him. He had no real interest in finishing the meal, but what could he say? The last thing he wanted to do was to hurt Orihime’s feelings.

“And yeah, I know what you mean, there.” He shrugged briefly. “Oh, that dumbass? He wanted information. Claimed I owed him dumb sunglasses or something like that.” Ichigo took another bite, settling himself in for a grimace as he bit into the next part of Orihime’s meal.

She meant to ask more about that loud guy who complained about the sunglasses, but was momentarily diverted, since she was paying attention to Ichigo the whole time.

"Does it taste ok?" she asked, noticing the grimace. She was leaning forward, wide eyes blinking and full of wonder. "It's ok if it doesn't. I was trying all sorts of new things in it, and my teacher tells me that everyone's taste buds are different."

She smiled sweetly at him, not even aware that was her cooking instructor's way of saying Orihime's taste buds were super duper unique.

He took another bite of it just to show Orihime that it wasn’t all that bad, offering her a gentle smile in recognition, then he turned his glance back to her lightly. “Er, well, it’s not that bad, really, but maybe it’s not my thing,” he remarked finally, scratching the back of his head and really hoping that Orihime wouldn’t take it the wrong way. The last thing Ichigo wanted to do was to upset his friend.

He set his fork aside and offered her a grin, awkward as it was. “Though, it’s great that you’re trying new things, Inoue,” remarked Ichigo lightly. He wasn’t exactly sure what else he could say though, so in this awkward moment Ichigo put his chopsticks aside with a, “I am actually stuffed, though! It was pretty good!”

Oh, Ichigo. You are so nice to Orihime. It was awful and tasted like barf noodles and you know it.

"I knew I added in too much watermelon," she said, only slightly disappointed. It didn't get her down though, since she smiled and then offered, "Aww! Are you certain you don't want dessert?"

Dessert was a cake in the fridge that had green onions and pink cotton candy as the decoration, on a frosting that was supposed to be 'butter frosting' but was actually only butter with sugar thrown on top of it.

“Well, there’s always good things that come from trying something new,” remarked Ichigo lightly, automatically wanting to say ‘no way!’ to Orihime’s dessert, but knowing that he wouldn’t want to hurt her feelings like that. Instead, he smiled gently, and shook his head a moment.

“Er, probably not for today, but maybe next time, right, Inoue?” Ichigo stated lightly, rising to his feet and stretching a moment. “You keep that up and you’ll be a great chef in no time.” Yeah, right….but it was good for Orihime to have ambitions, and Ichigo was good to encourage those ideas.

“Ok! Maybe next time.” She smiled and nodded, looking pretty confident in what he said, and his inspiring her to do better. She also stood up and hesitated, before gently asking, "What really happened with sunglasses guy? It seemed like he knew you almost. It also seemed pretty silly to have an argument about something like that...and you mentioned that he wanted information. Is he stalking you?"

She started to look a little worried, before she held up one hand in a karate chop motion. "Do you want me to help take care of it?"

For Orihime is convinced she comes with karate chopping action.

Ichigo grinned a bit at Orihime’s concern for him. “Renji, the dumbass? Nah, I think things will be okay. He just seemed worried. Said something about us maybe getting some dreams and that it might get weird here, but hell, I’m not worried about it. Whatever will happen, will happen.”

“But, if I do need some help, I’ll make sure I’ll contact you.” Ichigo shrugged after that, nodding in affirmation a moment later. Then, on his feet now, he reached over and patted Orihime’s shoulder a moment. “Well, thanks, Inoue, for the meal.”

"You're leaving already?" There was the teeniest, tiniest trace of disappointment in her voice, before she veered back on course and sounded chipper again. "I suppose you have a lot to do, because you're also here for school! I don’t want to keep you!"

She smiled at nodded, not offended at all, because that made sense. There was even a big thumbs up at him. Ok, FINE. There was also a little butterfly in her stomach that was knocking around in there, but that could have also been discomfort because she just ate watermelon candy corn spaghetti soup. And that would make anyone's stomach turn. Or maybe it was something else...

"Umm...Kurosaki-kun?" she ventured, wringing her hands together for a moment and looking off to one side, like she was suddenly unsure of something. "Maybe Renji the...loudmouth. Maybe he has a reason to be worried? There are lots of people on that network talking about dreams, and I had one too. Of when...my brother died. But that happened to me already, so maybe it was just...being in a new place. I think that's all it was? Wherever he is, I'm sure he would be happy and proud of me, now...not wanting me to be thinking about that all over again."

She peeked back at him and smiled, trusting him that it really would be all right, even though she still felt the need to confess that to him. Even so, she said softly, "Please be careful, ok?"

Ichigo glanced down at the girl whom he’d known since he was a kid himself. He studied Orihime with a small smile on his features, knowing he had to be strong and reassuring, but he also knew that Orihime always had this way about her that seemed to know more about the situation than what she ever let on. He offered her a reassuring smile, reaching out with one hand and putting that hand on her shoulder gently.

“I promise I’ll be careful, Inoue,” Ichigo assured softly, shrugging. “Besides,” he stated, lowering his hand from her shoulder, “I’ve got you here to look after me in case something happens, right?” Of course, poor Ichigo had no clue how Orihime would actually react to that comment, but the point was that he didn’t want her to worry at all. If he was right, based on Renji’s assumptions, then Ichigo’s dreams would only help make him stronger and were probably the reason as to why his dad had sent him here in the first damn place, if he knew his dad at all.

That hand on her shoulder and his reassurance had given her hope that everything really would be all right, no matter what happened. And what he said had her heart soaring, so much so that she had to keep herself from squeeing and glomping him so hard, she knocked him over.

Instead, she tightly clasped her hands together and her smile was practically beaming with enough radiance to keep Tokyo lit up for about a full year. She trusted and believed him when he told her that, because she knew that - deep down - Ichigo wasn’t the punk that everyone thought he was.

"Right! I better not keep you longer...oh, wait...." She slipped into English because she was supposed to be adapting. "...I am not keeping you long time, because you are having home works up to your eyeballs. Thank you for having meals with me, OK? Byebye, Kurosaki~kun!"

She unclasped her hands to give him a peace sign of victory! SHE IS TOTALLY GETTING THE HANG OF THIS.

Why did it seem like he was suddenly being rushed out the door? Ichigo just chalked it up to her being Orihime, and she’d always be a bit strange, but he liked her more for it. That was Orihime, after all. At her next comment, and the sudden switch into English, Ichigo gave her a curious look, wondering about the sudden change and choice of words.

“Er, yeah, course, any time,” returned Ichigo in English, his accent slight but for the most part he’d figured it out here. He was a remarkable fast learner when he set his mind to something, and he wasn’t afraid to conquer something new, especially if it meant survival. “Take care of yourself, okay, Orihime?” He still used English, then turned and waved behind him with putting one hand into the air in his usual style. He then slipped out the door, with full intentions of stopping some place to actually get lunch, maybe some soda just to make sure Orihime’s meal actually got digested quickly!