Confessing Cutie

With a heavy sigh you scratch at the back of your neck, a nervous tick entering your mannerisms as you speak up, “I just wanted to apologize for the…passing out thing from before.”

“H-Hey, it’s alright,” Ichigo mumbles, her gaze looking down at the floor as she softly and sadly speaks, “I-I understand…I-I’m not really ladylike so…I understand you freaking out and hating me fo-“

Before Ichigo can continue with her self-depreciating rant you place a single finger on her lips, something that causes a bright red blush to cross her cheeks while you offer up a small apologetic smile, “No, I don’t hate you Ichigo-chan, far from it.”

After you remove your finger from Ichigo’s lips you watch as she valiantly struggles for words, her throat clearing just a might too loudly before she releases her thoughts into the air, “b-but…th-the passing out a-and…and my confession…”

Once more you shake your head slowly, your voice rising as Ichigo’s fades into nothingness, “It’s just as Orihime-chan and Rukia-chan have been saying, I had been running for weeks on only a single night’s sleep so it was only a matter of time before I passed out somewhere…I guess it was just a case of really bad timing.”

Ichigo swallows loudly, her nervousness evident in every little bead of sweat on her brow and quiver of her voice, “S-So…you don’t hate me?”

“Didn’t I say that just a few seconds ago?” you chuckle, one hand gently patting the top of Ichigo’s strawberry blond head as you speak, “I don’t think I could ever hate you Ichigo-chan.”

Ichigo’s blush only serves to darken as you softly comb your fingers through her hair, her head bowing slightly as she whispers, “J-John-san…c-can…c-can I try again?”

You blink in confusion for a bit but a sudden realization hits you, a revelation that causes your lips to spread in a soft smile and accompany the slight nod of your head, “Of course Ichigo-chan.”

Removing your hand from Ichigo’s head you take a step away from the strawberry sweetheart, your eyes watching with a kind smile as she nervously raises her gaze from the ground to your face, “John-s…John-kun, my name is Ichigo Kurosaki. I might not act very womanly but I am a girl and I love you.”

Your kind and charming smile has Ichigo’s face to invent several new shades of red in the span of a few short seconds, her head bowing as your voice rises out, “I might be a little dense at times but I love you too Ichigo-chan.”

Ichigo’s head snaps up to look at you with wide eyes, her mouth gaping almost like a fish as she mutters, “B-But…I’m not cute or…g-girly at all! I-I mean, i-it’s not my fault but th-thanks to my old m-man I d-don’t know how to….be a girl…”

You silence Ichigo by taking a step closer, your body looming over her own as you bend down to roughly the same height as the stuttering strawberry, “I don’t know about that…no matter what that baka of a father has done to you, I think that you’re really cute Ichigo-chan.”

The darkness of Ichigo’s current blush far outshines her previous embarrassed flushes, her entire head looking like a bright red cherry as she yelps, “C-Cute!? N-No, y-you’re lying John-kun!”

As Ichigo tries valiantly to avoid your gaze you suddenly stop her wandering eyes and head, two fingers gently cupping her chin and drawing her face towards your own, “I never lie to the women I love Ichigo-chan…”