“C’mon, don’t you want to be festive and celebrate New Year’s with everyone?” she said, trying to perfect the circle she’d painted around his eye. “—Hold still so I can finish painting your face, Kurosaki-kun!”
“I’m pretty sure I can be festive without paint on my face,” he grumbled in protest, yet squirming less now. “Jeez…I hope you plan on getting your face painted on. I don’t wanna be the only one walking around like this.”
“E-Eeh?!” she responded, a bit incredulously. “…W-Well no, I didn’t plan on it! —But if painting my face would make you feel better, then you can go right ahead, if you’d like!”
She blushed a little bit, offering him the brush she’d been using.
“Good,” he said with a grin, taking the brush from her. He leaned in a bit so that he could draw properly, but soon a confused look crossed his face. “…What the hell am I supposed to draw anyway?”
Her blush deepened at the sudden proximity, the redhead trying her best not to turn away and hide her face out of reflex.
“A-Ah, well…” she started, trying to collect her thoughts. “I suppose you could just draw some o’s and x’s? That’s what I did for you! —Ooh! Or if you wanted, you could even put a cat nose and some whiskers, eh?” she added, a bit excited at the idea of having an excuse to imitate a cat all night.
“You already put the x’s and o’s on me, so I’ll do the cat thing then.” He rolled up his sleeve and started to draw, determined to do a decent job. Carefully, he made three brushstrokes on each of her rosy cheeks. He then swirled the brush on the tip of her nose, darkening it. Taking a step back to check out his work, he smirked and gave her a thumbs up.
“Looks good on you!”
She held perfectly still as he painted her face, internally chiding herself for allowing her cheeks to redden even more than they already had. And then, almost too soon, he’d pulled away. Orihime could feel the wet paint on her cheeks and nose, tickling her skin as it dried.
“So you really think I’ll make a good cat, hm?” she said, chuckling. “I won’t disappoint, Kurosaki-kun!”
“I’m sure you won’t,” he said, laughing along with her. It was obvious that they both looked rather silly, but Ichigo didn’t mind. It was part of the festivities, after all. Even though he protested it at the beginning, he was having almost as much fun as Orihime was. Ichigo squinted slightly as he looked down the way—dusk was already upon them, so nightfall was soon to follow.
“I think there’s a festival in town that we can go to,” he suggested, tucking his arms into his sleeves. “If we go now, we can probably get there before it gets too dark. You in?”
“Aah, yes of course!” she responded almost instantly, clasping her hands together as she leaned towards him in a surge of excitement. She’d hoped that her good fortune for the passing year would continue to reward her in the next, as Orihime always treasured the time she’d get to spend out with Ichigo in a setting like this. While she knew that her feelings would ultimately remain one-sided, she couldn’t deny that she was extremely happy she’d invited her out— and for New Year’s, no less!
“Er— aah… —I mean uh—” she started, catching herself blushing when she’d realized how suddenly close she was to him. Instantly, she pulled back, her demeanor growing timid as she tried to salvage whatever utterances she’d made before. “S-Sure I’d like to go, Kurosaki-kun— it aah— sounds like a lot of fun!”
She mustered a smile, her cheeks still rosy.
(Source: princessandstrawberry)
