As she waited for the final minutes
of the 4 hours to end, Orihime
wondered what she should do. It
seemed that food had an influence
that needed to be controlled. If they
ate the fast food, the additives
made her act strangely. She was
sure about that if they went to the
Italian Restaurant, Ichigo would eat
too much and fall asleep. So, she
should insist they eat something
else. Ichigo did not want to go to
the Sushi bar last time. She'd have
to come up with another
alternative.
As she remembered the events of
the last 4 hours, she noticed that
some things did not change. Ichigo
said he hated science projects and
the Shinigami Battle Licence had
alerted Ichigo to the presence of
the hollow both times. Thinking
about this, Orihime remembered
something that Jidanbo had
mentioned. Some events could not
be changed, especially if they were
caused by an external influence.
She didn't understand why Ichigo's
comment about science projects
was repeated. It seemed to be a
trigger for something. Orihime
looked at her hands where she was
holding the charm. Should she
repeat the last 4 hours?
It was really a question she didn't
have to ask. She wanted Ichigo's
love and friendship. Orihime had
restored the friendship, she hoped,
but had made no progress in
persuading Ichigo to fall in love
with her. She would repeat the 4
hours. As she sat looking at her
charm, she felt it heat up. That
meant two things. The 4 hours was
up and fate had accepted the
change. That made her feel better.
She would still have Ichigo's
friendship.
Quickly now Orihime invoked the
charm again: 'Kurikaesu. Repeat'
She felt the same strange
sensation as though she was being
pulled backwards. It was only for a
moment and then she was walking
down the street with Ichigo.
'Let's eat here,' said Ichigo as they
passed a burger chain.
'Another trigger phrase,' Orihime
recognized, but that was only to be
expected. The 4 hours commenced
with Ichigo's comment.
Orihime shook her head. 'I don't
think that is a good idea, Ichigo.
Now she was repeating herself.
'How about we try that seafood
restaurant?' Orihime pointed at a
restaurant that had only opened
recently. 'I hear they sell two meals
for the price of one if you eat
before 6.00 pm. Want to try it? I'll
pay,' Orihime said quickly as she
noticed Ichigo's eyes stray to the
Italian restaurant.
'Seafood is good for the brain,'
Orihime reasoned as she saw
Ichigo frown. Maybe they could
have a healthy light meal and
Ichigo wouldn't fall asleep.
'Okay. I would have liked to try that
Italian place. I hear you can eat as
much as you want,' Ichigo
responded as they entered the
restaurant. 'I'll let you pay seeing
you suggested it.' He looked at her
stunned face and grinned. 'Only
kidding. We'll go Dutch. Why it's
called that I don't know. Maybe the
Dutch are either very miserly or
very sensible. I've never met
anyone Dutch,' Ichigo mused as
they were seated at their table.
The waitress handed them the
menus and quickly reeled off the
day's specials. As Orihime expected,
Ichigo chose the biggest meal on
the menu, most of it deep fried with
a side order of chips. She looked at
him questioningly as he placed his
order. Orihime chose some grilled
fish and a salad. She wasn't that
hungry.
Ichigo appeared to notice her
questioning glance as he ordered.
'I don't get to eat much junk food,'
he explained, shrugging. 'Karin
insists we eat properly at home.
She's so responsible for a kid her
age. When I go out, I eat junk food.
It tastes good.'
Orihime smiled at Ichigo. It was
nice he'd answered her unasked
question. As they waited for the
food to arrive they discussed the
science project. It wasn't her topic
of choice, but it kept the
conversation going and gave her
time to plan her next actions. They
would eat and then go to her place.
Should they work on the science
project? They'd already worked on
it twice and she wanted a break.
Their meals arrived and Orihime
was unprepared for the size of
Ichigo's meal. As he dedicated
himself to stuffing his face Orihime
played with her salad.
'I hope that isn't too much food for
Ichigo,' she thought. 'I really don't
want him to fall asleep again.
Maybe we could just talk tonight. If
I could understand more about
Ichigo, his needs, his desires, I
might gain an insight into how I
could make him fall in love with me.
Or if we could relax together I
might learn more about him.' As
she thought over her recent
conversations with Ichigo she
remembered that he had not
answered her questions about love.
Was he in love with someone else?
Did the person love him in return?
The fact that he had not answered
those questions and had not
turned around when she asked
them, seemed to indicate that he
was in love, but not with Orihime.
The thought was not one she
wanted to contemplate. She pushed
her plate away, her appetite
vanishing as her dread rose. Ichigo
didn't notice, so intent was he on
his meal. Why hadn't she thought of
this before! Okay she had been
distracted but that was no excuse.
She quickly thought about who
might be the object of Ichigo's love.
At one time she thought Ichigo
liked Tatsuki, but he just treated
her as a friend since they returned
from Soul Society. She quickly
pictured the rest of her female
classmates. Ichigo had shown no
preference for spending any time
with them. Since they returned he'd
spent most of his time with Chad,
Uryu and her. Of course he spent
time with Mizuiro and Keigo. It was
hard to ignore Keigo when he chose
to be annoying. She steeled herself
for her next thought. Could he be in
love with one of them? The thought
worried her as she had never
pictured Ichigo as anything other
than heterosexual. Why would she
as she was in love with him? His
behaviour to the males had been
basically the same, except he was a
little nicer to Uryu, but nothing
overtly sexual. Maybe he was sorry
for the ex-Quincy. No, Ichigo was
not in love with Uryu.