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[lastcomfort]

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[not_so_hollow]

[Hearing something like that should make him smile, but it just. Doesn't. Not with the way she seems to cry harder when he touches her head. Ichigo only seems to frown harder as he watches her, watches the way she straightens out and wipes her tears away.

And then she asks him why, and Ichigo reels a little bit, kind of taken aback by it. He shouldn't be surprised, Orihime is eerily good at finding the positive in any bad situation, but it's still something that catches him off guard right now.

The look is wiped away and replaced with a very serious one in an instant though. His hand never moves from her head as he speaks, and he squeezes the one still holding his gently as if to emphasize the emotions behind his words. It's insistent, the way he addresses it, almost fierce.]

That's... that's not all that matters, though! I know that you're always gonna try to see the positive or whatever, and that you try not to let things bother you but--[A shit, Ichigo has to yank his hand away from her head so that he can cough into his arm for a moment. Once the fit passes, he continues as if nothing just happened at all, though his voice definitely sounds quite a bit more scratchy.] I-I wouldn't take back what I did, I meant that in that trial, but I'm still gonna regret that you had to watch what got me there in the first place, and. And that you had to watch me die... again. You shouldn't have to endure that, Inoue, and I went and made you do it again. So... yeah, I'm gonna apologize, and I'm also gonna promise to do my best to not ever let it happen again. I don't... [Ichigo pauses, glancing away from her with that same hard frown.] I don't like it when you cry, and especially not over me.

[lastcomfort]

[ Orihime sucks in her lips as Ichigo speaks, feeling her heart clench in on itself as she swallows down her own insecurities. He's not wrong--there's a lot that matters, but she doesn't want him to worry about it. Because, at the end of the day, that he returned is what is most important. Ichigo always comes back. He always bounces back. He'll recover from this, too, and he'll be even stronger for it.

But she listens to each word, considering them carefully. Because these are his feelings and his fears and they deserve the attention and acknowledgment he's asking for. ]

Kurosaki-kun...

[ She breathes out his name finally. ]

Please don't blame yourself...you didn't make me do anything. I-I chose to be there.

[ She straightens a little, kneeling a little taller as if that will add weight to her own statement. ]

When I saw Monokuma announce your trial, I volunteered to be on that jury. Even before I knew what you were being accused of, I knew it couldn't be true. Kurosaki-kun isn't that kind of person and you proved that.

[ Orihime shakes her head, squeezing his hand back just a little. ]

...It bothered me a lot. It still bothers me. But I would rather it bother me and try to have stopped it than to have not taken that risk at all. It wouldn't have been fair for you to face that alone.

[ The sincerity in her voice and in her face should say just as much as her words alone. She shakes her head again, feeling new wetness form at the corner of her eyes. ]

I-I'm sorry that it wasn't enough...

[ She quickly starts to wipe away the building tears. ]

S-Sorry! I'm trying not to--

[not_so_hollow]

[Dammit, he. Went about that all wrong. First thing's first.

The hand he'd had on the top of her head is returning center between them, so that he can brush some of those tears away himself with a thumb. He looks sad, watching her, but he's forcing up a smile anyway, shaking his head.]

No, don't... I didn't. Mean to imply that I don't want you to cry if that's how you feel. I just [A sigh as he draws his hand back and sets it down in his lap. That sad excuse for a reassuring smile is dropping back down again, too.] Have a knack for making you do it, I guess, and that sucks. That's what 'm sorry for.

[Ichigo goes silent for a long moment, trying to come up with the wording for how to address what she's just said about the trial.] I don't want you to be sorry for that, either. They say it's the thought that counts and while it's not usually applied to somethin' like this, it does. I was gonna go down for what I did no matter what, Inoue, but having you fight, for me like that was... [The faint smile curling up this time is actually genuine, and Ichigo sort of absently pulls at a loose thread in the comforter he's sitting on.] ...it was comforting. And kinda awesome, I've never really... seen you get so. I dunno, fierce, or whatever. I'm really grateful, that you tried so hard. More than you could ever know. It's the rest that I regret.