[Eep, I’m not too great with Hisagi. I hope this works for you anyway! I’m setting this in some hypothetical timeline where Orihime’s working with the 4th Division to refine her healing abilities and Ichigo’s training with the other Shinigami to get better control over his powers, and so they regularly travel between the Human and Shinigami worlds together. Uh, just go with it.]
an outstretched hand
“Sorry to disturb!” Inoue announces cheerfully. “Hisagi-san, you’ve been working since I got here! Have you moved at all in the past five hours?”
“I don’t think so,” Hisagi says, dropping his pen and stretching with a groan. “Damn, did I miss lunch?”
“That’s why I came,” Inoue says, holding up a bento box. “I made extra today. You can have some if you like, Hisagi-san!”
“Oh, are you sure?” Hisagi asks. They don’t know each other all that well, really – they say hi if they run into each other and last week, he’d once kept Inoue company while waiting for Kurosaki to return and the Senkaimon to be opened, but that’s about it – so the generosity is a bit of a surprise. Hisagi’s used to having to work harder to mooch off his friends.
“Mm!” She pushes the box over to him. “Kurosaki-kun’s talking to Kuchiki-san so I’ve got some time before I have to go back. Eat, eat! It’s not healthy to work so much, you know!”
“Don’t mind if I do,” Hisagi says, happily shoving his work aside and pulling over the bento box. “You came to lend the fourth division a hand, right? Did you have to bully anyone?”
Inoue giggles. “Noooo,” she says unconvincingly.
Hisagi studies the contents of the bento and wonders if this time, he hasn’t been a little hasty in accepting a free meal. The sauce is a disturbingly bright red. He can’t exactly back out now, though, so he picks up a bit (he’s not sure what it’s a bit of) and puts it in his mouth with all the enthusiasm of someone walking to their doom.
“Is it good?” Inoue asks.
Hisagi’s taste-buds have temporarily gone on strike. “Yep!” he says, and digs back in for more. Might as well finish it all while his tongue’s too numb to taste anything. “Just what I needed after all that paperwork.”
“Lieutenants have a lot of work to do, huh,” Inoue says sympathetically.
Hisagi grimaces. “Truth is, half of that is actually Rangiku’s. I’m lending her a hand for today.”
“Ohh,” Inoue says in an understanding voice. Hisagi freezes. It had been a far too understanding voice.
“I like helping Kurosaki-kun,” she says, simply, when he looks up at her.
“Oh,” Hisagi says, and looks back down at his food. Kurosaki, who’s clearly and hopelessly in love with Kuchiki. It’s probably about as impossible for Inoue to get her man, as it is for Hisagi to get his woman.
Inoue laughs. “It’s okay, it’s just how I feel,” she says. “Maybe one day it will change. You’re the same way, right, Hisagi-san?”
Hoping for a returning look of interest, knowing it won’t come, prepared to wait out the longing, looking forward to a day without its crippling effects. Hisagi pokes at a bit of the Something. Dammit, he’s not supposed to be sympathising with a human teenager a tenth his age!
Inoue’s smile is kind and wistful.
“Yeah,” Hisagi says reflectively. “I’m the same way.”
no subject
an outstretched hand
“Sorry to disturb!” Inoue announces cheerfully. “Hisagi-san, you’ve been working since I got here! Have you moved at all in the past five hours?”
“I don’t think so,” Hisagi says, dropping his pen and stretching with a groan. “Damn, did I miss lunch?”
“That’s why I came,” Inoue says, holding up a bento box. “I made extra today. You can have some if you like, Hisagi-san!”
“Oh, are you sure?” Hisagi asks. They don’t know each other all that well, really – they say hi if they run into each other and last week, he’d once kept Inoue company while waiting for Kurosaki to return and the Senkaimon to be opened, but that’s about it – so the generosity is a bit of a surprise. Hisagi’s used to having to work harder to mooch off his friends.
“Mm!” She pushes the box over to him. “Kurosaki-kun’s talking to Kuchiki-san so I’ve got some time before I have to go back. Eat, eat! It’s not healthy to work so much, you know!”
“Don’t mind if I do,” Hisagi says, happily shoving his work aside and pulling over the bento box. “You came to lend the fourth division a hand, right? Did you have to bully anyone?”
Inoue giggles. “Noooo,” she says unconvincingly.
Hisagi studies the contents of the bento and wonders if this time, he hasn’t been a little hasty in accepting a free meal. The sauce is a disturbingly bright red. He can’t exactly back out now, though, so he picks up a bit (he’s not sure what it’s a bit of) and puts it in his mouth with all the enthusiasm of someone walking to their doom.
“Is it good?” Inoue asks.
Hisagi’s taste-buds have temporarily gone on strike. “Yep!” he says, and digs back in for more. Might as well finish it all while his tongue’s too numb to taste anything. “Just what I needed after all that paperwork.”
“Lieutenants have a lot of work to do, huh,” Inoue says sympathetically.
Hisagi grimaces. “Truth is, half of that is actually Rangiku’s. I’m lending her a hand for today.”
“Ohh,” Inoue says in an understanding voice. Hisagi freezes. It had been a far too understanding voice.
“I like helping Kurosaki-kun,” she says, simply, when he looks up at her.
“Oh,” Hisagi says, and looks back down at his food. Kurosaki, who’s clearly and hopelessly in love with Kuchiki. It’s probably about as impossible for Inoue to get her man, as it is for Hisagi to get his woman.
Inoue laughs. “It’s okay, it’s just how I feel,” she says. “Maybe one day it will change. You’re the same way, right, Hisagi-san?”
Hoping for a returning look of interest, knowing it won’t come, prepared to wait out the longing, looking forward to a day without its crippling effects. Hisagi pokes at a bit of the Something. Dammit, he’s not supposed to be sympathising with a human teenager a tenth his age!
Inoue’s smile is kind and wistful.
“Yeah,” Hisagi says reflectively. “I’m the same way.”