1000 Years: One Shots (Part 1)

39. Burst Bubble

Title: Burst Bubble (530)

Genre: Family/Mild Romance

Characters: Ichigo and Orihime

Summary: Orihime's "world" comes crashing down and she

Notes: I had a request to elaborate on the theory proposed in "Different Set of Twins". This isn't a sequel though. I may write a few more one-shots with this scenario.

Rating: K+

Burst Bubble

Orihime found herself walking along the sidewalk outside of a shop. The summer weather beat down and she found her mind caught off guard by a sudden flutter of iridescent bubbles floating in front of her. She watched as the bobbed up and down in front of her face and finally she reached out one finger to touch the bubble, only to have it pop. She turned her head to see that one of the shop owners had placed a bubble machine in the open door way in an attempt to attract customers.

"I remember blowing bubbles with Sora. It was a lot of fun, like how making the snow bunnies was fun." She found her mind drifting off, trying to remember what amounted to a more happy time, when she was with her dear older brother. Something had bothered her since the incident with the Fullbringers, something she had a problem putting her finger on. Orihime found herself walking again, only to turn heel and walk into the shop in hopes that she could get the item she wanted.

Here eyes looked around until they fell upon the package of bubble mixture and plastic wand. She scooped it up and went up to the register to pay for the item. The price was reasonable and she headed to the park, where she saw crepes being sold and she went and bought one with the oddiest flavor before going over to a park bench and sitting down, munching on the treat. "Wouldn't it be romantic to sit with Ichigo eating crepes and blowing bubbles."

The girl found herself swallowing suddenly, causing her to cough and have to hit her throat with her fist. Something bothered her, something she couldn't place her finger on. "Let's see... it bothered me ever since we met the Fullbringers. They said one of them, one of the ones I can't remember, messed with my memories. But what does that have to do with why I am so frustrated when I think about my own brother. Sora was a great brother."

Fingering her phone, Orhime ran her fingers lightly over the keys as she debated whether or not she should make the call. Finally she pressed the numbers and the phone rang a couple of times. "Uryu-kun?"

"What is it Orihime?"

"Do you remember the incident with the Fullbringers? What am I saying?" A smile spread across her face. "Of course you would remember. Do you remember though what memories of mine were tampered with?"

"I believe they were the ones of your older brother."

"How so?"

"He replaced your older brother in your memories with himself."

"So I was calling this person brother?"

"No... you actually were not. You called him by his first name. Why do you ask?"

"I'm not sure. I'll let you go." She closed her eyes and looked up at the sky as she held onto her crepe. Her mind thought about what Uryu had told her. "If he replaced my brother in my memories wouldn't I be calling him brother as I always called him brother in my memories. Or did he change that in the memory as well? Or did I come to not call him brother later on because I realized we weren't related to each other."