i feel the love, and i feel it burn, down this river every turn

[oyashiromama]

[The trial, as usual, was taxing. It's for different reasons every week, but what it all comes down to is there are fewer of them than there were, and that keeps on happening. The note comes, as it always does, earlier than last week, but still with some delay. There's a note slipped under everyone's door. ...One under Gold's door because of course Silver will be staying there, she knows.]

Please come to the dining room, if you would like not to be alone. There will be food, and there will be some cards and board games if you need a distraction.

- Hanyuu & Elda

[True to that, there are a variety of foods. It's nothing too fancy. Rice, grilled fish, eggs in various styles. ...No creampuffs this time, it seems Hanyuu thought that would be a little in poor taste. Also a bunch of fries? ...Really spicy fries, like incredibly so.

On a far table, board games brought from the games room have been left out, along with many decks of cards.]

Comments

[introspects]

Would he really be okay with that? Doesn't...he know?

[ she just doesn't want silver to feel awkward or anything?!?! ]

[foundfate]

Inoue-san, what do you think he and I were arguing about right before all of you showed up?

[introspects]

...I don't know?

[ SHE REALLY DOESN'T ]

[foundfate]

[...he really should have expected that, he knows what kind of person Orihime is, this really shouldn't have surprised him-]

He was telling me that I should tell you about my feelings, because I would regret it if anything happened to you. And I was telling him it was a bad idea, because of a lot of reasons.

[introspects]

Oh...

[ oh. so. that's....what happened? she's turning even redder now, all the way to her ears-- ]

...How do you feel about telling me, now?

[foundfate]

[There was also some angst in there too but-]

W-well I already told you most of it before.

[...by writing it on her forehead. He should probably say the words.]

I. Um. I...

[He makes a frustrated noise suddenly. Why is he so bad at talking about feelings?]

I like you a lot, alright? I like you, and I don't even want to think about how horribly wrong things could go in the future, because all I want to do is think about things right now.

[introspects]

E....eh...?

[ WAIT NO SHE DIDN'T MEAN THAT-- ]

I-I just wanted to know if you regretted writing on my forehead-! Oh, Watanuki-kun!

[ she is going to die. she is going to die and watanuki is going to be the culprit. week 6's victim confirmed too many feelings ]

T-That's so romantic! I-I don't know what to say... [ she's just hiding her face in her hands. help. help her... ]

[foundfate]

But that wasn't even particularly romantic!

[Hell, he fucked up his grammar while speaking. That was a horrible love confession. He's clearly a horrible boyfriend (oh god he's somebody's boyfriend he can't handle that thought-) and he needs to fix it right now.]

H-hold on! We need a do-over! If you want something romantic, let me try again. I think I can do it better.

[introspects]

[ that is by far the most romantic thing anyone's ever said to her?! she's blushing so hard right now she can barely speak. why are they doing this right now after three people just died. ]

N-No! That was--that was fine! Ah, don't stress out over it!

[foundfate]

[It's really easy to forget the death for a moment when you're so focused on not being a horrible jerk of a person to someone you care about.]

But it could have been so much better! Aaaaah, this is what I meant before: nothing ever goes smoothly when I'm involved!

[introspects]

N-No, really, it was great, Watanuki-kun! I-I properly heard your feelings, a-and--you know how I feel, so--

[ she is fretting so much?! watanuki stop this ]

[foundfate]

[They're both fretting and Watanuki is getting so worked up over it and he doesn't really know what to do to fix it-]

Aaaaagh, I give up!

[Maybe simplicity is the best.

He'll just. Grab for both of Orihime's hands.]

I like you.

[And then, a pause as he turns beet red.]

...O-Orihime-san.

[introspects]

[ she's surprised when watanuki grabs her hands; they're larger than hers, but they're really warm and sort of soft. she looks down at their unity for a few moments, even as he uses her first name, and she turns as red as he does.

to hear her given name in watanuki's voice... it's surprisingly sweet, melodious to ears and it plays again inside of her heart. ]

I... I l-like you too... Kimihiro-kun.

[foundfate]

[Oh god they're holding hands and her face is red and she used his first name-]

Ah. Um, good. I like that.

[Her using his first name, he means.

And the rest of it too but what's the point of explaining things.]

[introspects]

O-Oh...it's...okay?

[ he used her first name, so it only seems...right? ah, it's making her heart flutter. he's so sweet. ]

Uwah...

[foundfate]

Yeah, it's okay. This is all okay.

[And hopefully it's enough for now, because he feels like he's going to pass out from the stress and mixture of feelings from today.]

[introspects]

[ don't worry. it's more than enough. ]

Okay. [ ... ] Thank you, Kimihiro-kun.