Tatsuki rose from her bed grumpily, taking time to stretch before moving to her closet to dress. While she pulled on her clothes she ran through her list of homework and study plans to make sure she’d done all of her homework the previous night. She decided that she had as she finished buttoning her shirt and after a quick glance in the mirror she grabbed her school bag and left her room. She greeted her mother with her usual grumble, was chided by her father for being impolite, then ate her breakfast with indifference. “Thanks, mom it was great.” She commented while finishing her tea.
“You say that every morning Tatsuki.” Her mother responded.
“It’s great every morning.” She shrugged. “I want to get to school early, in case Inoue shows up so I can catch her up on what she’s missed.”
“You say that every morning too!” One of her brothers snickered.
“I guess I’m just predictable.” She replied with an imperious glare before she straightened herself and headed for the genkan. “I have practice tonight, so I won’t be home for dinner, could you put some aside for when I come home?”
“Sure sweetie.”
The teen shambled to school, thoughts on all of the material she would be catching Orihime up on. It was near the end of December, Orihime had left in September with Ichigo, Sado and Ishida, again. No one was worried, they never were, didn’t seem to care that three teenagers regularly disappeared from the world and neglected all of their responsibilities. Ichigo ad Ishida both had parents, so there was no excuse for them but Sado and Orihime were orphans so they flew under the radiar, which was unacceptable. If anything were to happen to them, no one would care or notice. No one but her.
Habitually she stopped by Orihime’s apartment, knocked on the door, checked the lights and then turned back down the stairs. She headed to school with a sigh. No return yet. She arrived at the school and sat in the grass under her favorite tree and watched all of the students stream in. She waited until the last straggling groups strayed through the gate before abandoning hope and heading to class. None of the missing teens showed up through the school day and on her way back home from karate, she checked Inoue’s apartment again. Still empty. They didn’t return the next day or week, or the week after that and the winter break started without Inoue returning.
Tatsuki woke early on the twenty fifth to her phone vibrating across her study desk she rose sleepily and flipped it open. The message on the screen stopped her heart. Tatsuki-chan! I’ve got so much to tell you about my trip, come by my apartment today please. She dressed in seconds and sprinted to Orihime’s building in the predawn light. When she bounded up the steps, the lights were on. Her heart leapt back to life and she choked for a second on her own emotion before she mastered herself and knocked on the door. Orihime opened the door and popped her head into the crack with a wide smile. “Tatsuki-chan! I wasn’t expecting you so early! I was just cleaning; I was going to shower and change. I guess it can’t be helped, come on in!” She pushed the door open wide.
“I could come back later, if you want to finish cleaning.” Tatsuki almost stuttered over the words, feeling like an idiot for running over here like a neglected puppy.
“No, you’re here already and I don’t want to waste any time.” Orihime gushed, grabbing Tatsuki’s hand and pulling her into a hug. The raven haired tomboy returned the hug and felt her whole body shudder. She bit back a sob but the other girl had felt it and dropped her head into Tatsuki’s neck and rubbed her back soothingly.
“I missed you too!” Tatsuki whimpered. “I missed you so much and no one ever tells me when you’re going to drop out of my life! And what the hell is this about coming back on Christmas! That’s a couple’s holiday. It’s like I’m your wife or something.” She couldn’t understand how she could be crying and angry at the same time, but it was happening. She pulled back from Orihime and crossed her arms. “Why’re you back?” She rubbed her eyes.
“To be with you. I didn’t know the human world date, it’s kind of fate that I would come back a couples holiday to see you. It’s funny really.” Orihime brushed her hands through her hair. “I bought a sweater last year, as a joke. I was going to put it on and cook normal food and tell you Tatsuki. I was going to tell you something I’ve always been way to cowardly to admit to anyone, that I like you Tatsuki.” The tomboy bit her lip and looked away.
“What kind of sweater?” She asked.
“I can show you!” Orihime scurried off before the she could stop her. She only waited for a few moments before Inoue returned with a blanket wrapped around her. “You have to promise not to laugh!” She demanded.
“I promise.” Tatsuki responded. The busty girl dropped the blanket and revealed a red felt sweater with two now white pom poms attached to the spots where a woman’s nipples would be. The most impressive feature of the sweater was the plunging v neckline that exposed her cleavage and came down to a point just below her breasts. The tomboy contained her laugh for a few seconds before she had to turn away. “That thing is ridiculous! There isn’t anything remotely sexy about that!” She remarked. Orihime looked away.
“You don’t like it?” She pouted.
“No, No, No! I love it. I just think that it’s funny!” Tatsuki tried to save herself but Orihime had begun to turn away. She caught her hand. “No, don’t be angry! I didn’t mean it that way! You look great, but it’s just too over the top. You don’t need to show off yourself to get attention, your personality will get you so much farther. I missed you so much. Let’s not waste time, tell me about your trip.”