Chapter Text
The smell of disinfectant and cheap coffee always reminded Ichigo why he hated hospitals… and why he kept coming back.
“Here you go,” he muttered, setting the cardboard cup down on the nurses’ station with more force than necessary. “A caramel latte with extra whipped cream. Just the way you like it.”
Orihime looked up from her tablet, where she had been reviewing medical records, and gave him that smile that always made his heart race.
“Kurosaki-kun! You came again! You’re so kind… thank you, really. With this 24-hour shift, I don’t know how I would’ve survived without your coffee.”
Ichigo scratched the back of his neck, avoiding her gaze.
“It’s nothing. I was around translating some reports for the Oncology Department, and… it wasn’t a big deal to stop by.”
Orihime took the cup with both hands, increasingly overwhelmed by a thousand emotions she didn’t dare express, afraid of ruining the friendship they had built over these two long years. She took a quiet breath, trying to hide her feelings.
—You're the best. Honestly, I don't know what I'd do without a friend like you.
Friend.
That word hit him like a bucket of cold water every single time.
For months — almost two years — he had been bringing her coffee, fixing her laptop when it crashed at 3 a.m., staying up late to translate urgent articles “just for her,” and walking her to the parking lot whenever she finished her shift at night.
And she still only saw him as “the nice English translator.”
Ichigo clenched his jaw. How the hell am I supposed to tell her I don’t do all this out of kindness? he thought, frustrated at his inability to confess. He wanted to tell her that his heart had been left speechless the moment he met her. He wanted to tell her that what he felt for her was far more than friendship.
“Inoue, I have to go now,” the boy announced as he walked toward the exit. Before leaving, he stopped and turned slightly. “Don’t stay up too late, okay? Take care of yourself.”
Orihime couldn’t even say a word. She stood there stunned for a moment, overwhelmed by her emotions. All she could do was nod. She watched in silence as the boy she liked walked away.