Jul 6
two lovers separated by the milky way and only allowed to meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from Argentina
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from Türkiye
seen from New Zealand
seen from China
seen from New Zealand
seen from Luxembourg
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from China
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from United States
two lovers separated by the milky way and only allowed to meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month
Happy Tanabata! 🎋✨
Should @ichihimextanabata be active this year?
yes
no
Star Light, Star Bright
The night air was stifling. Orihime’s apartment building didn’t have a/c and earlier in the week the fan that her brother had bought when they had first moved to Karakura had finally ‘given up the ghost’. Money was a little tight at the moment with buying graduation or wedding gifts for her friends and a birthday gift for her boyfriend, so a replacement fan would have to wait until next year or sometime when there was an amazing sale.
She had been able to fall asleep earlier as there had been enough of a breeze to make her apartment tolerable, but sometime after 1:00 in the morning Orihime had woken up feeling as though she were slow roasting in an oven. Rolling over, she had unlocked her phone to look at the weather. The temp read 26* C with 75% humidity. If she had thought knowing just how hot it truly was would bring her any sort of relief, she was sorely mistaken.
Lethargically and thoughtlessly, Orihime rolled onto her stomach and pushed herself into a standing position. Swaying slightly, she adjusted her stance, yawned and then padded through her room, somewhere in the back of her consciousness deciding that a drink of water might help lessen her misery. Out of habit, Orihime took the borderline threadbare robe off the doorknob and pulled it on as she let out another yawn. As she inhaled, she could feel the damp, heavy air swirl through her airways and not for the first time did she wish that she could live nearer to the coast where such oppressive weather would not be so noticeable.
When her hand banged painfully on a corner of the wall, Orihime immediately took that to be karma for such a horrible thought. Had Sora decided to take her anywhere else, she never would have met all her amazing friends...or especially her boyfriend.
Pausing at the entryway between the hall and the kitchen to rub her hand, she couldn’t contain her smile at the thought of Ichigo and how she could now freely do things just for him and not feel obligated to include everyone else. If she wanted to do some baking, she could make enough just for him and package it in a special way. If she wanted to write him a note encouraging him as he went through his mid-terms or finals in med school, she could and had a few options for how to deliver the note from dropping by his school or even his house without feeling like a nuisance. If she had free time from work, she could figure out how to do something around only one other person’s work/school schedule. Not that she was so focused on being a good girlfriend to Ichigo that she neglected all their friends and doing nice things for them, but if she was a bit limited on money, time or energy there wasn’t a need to wait until she was able to give something to everyone before she could spoil those she cared about.
Shaking loose from her wandering thoughts, Orihime groped her way to the cabinet containing her cups without too much trouble. Pulling one down, she deftly reached over to turn on the faucet, let it run for a few seconds until the colder water started coming through and then filled her cup. Taking a sip, Orihime felt refreshed and impulsively decided to step outside onto her overhanging portico to look at the stars. If nothing else, she hoped that doing something mundane like looking for constellations would help her brain waves settle into a more sleep-inducing pattern.
With barely a whisper of sound, she managed to open and close her screen door and then tiptoe over the weather worn boards to lean against the railing. Lifting her eyes and glass together, Orihime inexplicably felt a sense of pure happiness wash over her. Drinking in the sensation, images of those she loved dearly passed one after another before her mind’s eye and she took some time to be thankful for each one as she contemplated the ways they had been kind to her over the years. Certainly the ones she lingered longest on were Rangiku, Chad, Uryu, Rukia, Tatsuki and Ichigo.
Just as she was about to raise her glass and take another sip, a chill ran along her spine. Not an unpleasant or foreboding sensation, but one that chased any desire for sleep or relief from the sweltering heat away. Allowing her intuition to take over, Orihime’s eyes pulled away from the sky above to gaze upon the earth beneath. By the light of the stars and a few streetlights, she could make out a familiar figure striding casually along the sidewalk. In her surprise, confusion and excitement she failed to notice a rather bulky package in Ichigo’s arms.
Barely taking enough time to carefully shut the screen door and set down her glass on the kitchen counter, Orihime leaped like a ballerina across the floor, trying to make as little noise as possible so as not to disturb the slumbering occupants of the apartments surrounding hers. When she reached her front door, Orihime stood indecisively: should she race out to meet Ichigo on the landing stairs or wait to usher him into her front hallway? Either way, her mind frantically tried to discern what possible reason he could have for coming all the way out here at such an ungodly hour. Coming to the conclusion that she couldn’t wait any longer, Orihime unbolted the door, took a moment to re-secure the robe around her and step out onto the landing. She took seven steps before Ichigo emerged from the shadows of the stairwell.
He stopped when he saw Orihime, hesitated a beat or two then said in a low whisper, “Hey, Orihime.”
“Hi...” was her breathless reply.
Shifting on his feet, Ichigo used his free hand to scratch the back of his head in his usual embarrassed gesture as he said rather awkwardly, “I...uh...how are you?”
“Fine...you?”
“Uh...good, good,” the scratching became more vigorous, “I...uh...how was...are you...uh...I thought...”
Dropping his hand, Ichigo closed the remaining distance between them and gestured towards the package tucked in the crook of one arm, “Honestly, I came to give you this.”
Looking down, Orihime’s brain took a bit of time to process what the item was. Once she figured it out, her eyes went wide as she tilted her head back to meet her boyfriend’s unsure gaze.
Seemingly misinterpreting her expression, Ichigo immediately began a tirade of whispered explanations, “I was just going to drop this off at your door, I swear and then text you later to let you know. The weather’s been so brutal lately and I remember you making a vague comment about your building being a bit uncomfortable in really hot weather. I woke up about an hour ago and couldn’t go back to sleep, then I remembered that we had an extra fan somewhere in the attic and I figured I’d bring it over to see if you could use it. My dad heard me and claimed he thought I was an intruder but really just wanted an excuse to try and punch my lights out, but calmed down when I had him pinned to the floor and explaining to him what I was doing, but now that I think about it, this really was a dumb and creepy thing to do and I’m sorry.”
Shaking her head vigorously, the tears that had been pooling in her eyes spilled over as she whispered hoarsely back, “No, no, no...don’t be sorry. You are so thoughtful and I can’t...I don’t...I just...”
Relieving his of his burden, Orihime reached up trembling hands to cup Ichigo’s cheeks as she said in a low voice, “I love you...so very much.”
Star light, star bright
First star I see tonight
I wish I may, I wish I might
Have the wish I wish tonight...
In the early hours of July 7th, while most lovers were dreaming, a weaver princess kissed her true love.
IchiHimexTanabata starts… now!
IchiHimexTanabata ends... now!
see you next year (probably) :)
IchiHimexTanabata starts… now!
IchiHimexTanabata ends... now!
see you next year (probably) :)