Chapter 1 – The End
"Aizen, none of the rest of them matter anymore," Ichigo shouted. He hadn't looked back after Chad and Ishida had given him their vows. They, along with their allies from Soul Society, would handle the rest, but Aizen was up to him. "This is between you and me."
"Strange boy," Aizen said. He had lived for countless ages, yet he was still surprised and intrigued by this human who had managed to gain powers similar to his own just to challenge beings whose purpose he couldn't possibly comprehend. "This was never between us. You were quite helpful to me once upon a time, but you accomplished your goals did you not?"
"This was between us," Ichigo said, rage burning in his eyes as he leveled his sword on the evil former Shinigami. "The instant you took my friend our paths were meant to cross and now yours is going to end."
"Kurosaki-kun," Orihime said softly. Her hands were bound together, but she wasn't trying to escape. Aizen had promised not to hurt anyone, yet here were her friends suffering because of her, because they had still come for her.
"Aizen," Ichigo growled, practically spitting the name out, as the reserved former captain stepped down from his throne. His hand clenched involuntarily around Zangetsu and he idly realized that his zanpakuto had been in its bankai release for so long now that it felt as if it might never go back.
"If you'll be satisfied by my defeating you then prepare yourself," Aizen said. He didn't move to draw his sword, but simply stood slack as if waiting for something worthy of his interest to occur.
"I won't be satisfied until Orihime returns with us," Ichigo roared. He drew a clawed hand across his face and donned his hollow mask as he accelerated toward Aizen.
"Soren Sokatsui," Aizen said lazily. Twin shots of searing blue flame engulfed Ichigo's speeding form sending him off course. He skidded to a stop behind Aizen, his tattered cloak smoldering, and gathered his reiatsu for another strike.
"Getsuga tensho," Ichigo said. As he swung his blade each sweep released an immense twisting blast of red tinged darkness.
Aizen disappeared with flash step, but when he reappeared Ichigo's attacks followed him doggedly. Again and again Aizen flashed away only to find a dozen deadly bursts of dark energy clinging to his heels. Several of them slammed together or ripped into the thick stone floors as Aizen's flash steps became progressively quicker and more evasive.
"Interesting," Aizen said. Ichigo's eyes widened slightly as he realized that the voice was coming from directly behind him. "I was under the impression your vizard powers were on a shorter time limit than this."
"It's been over eleven seconds," Ichigo realized with a start.
"You're pretty slow aren't you," an eerie inhuman voice echoed from inside Ichigo's head. "I can't believe you managed to become king."
"How is this happening," Ichigo asked. He whirled and sent Aizen staggering back with a shallow cut running down the left side of his torso. His opponent didn't seem even slightly phased by the attack though. It was as if this were all an experiment or, worse yet, entertainment.
"Do you really have time to be asking things like that?" Ichigo's hollow asked, cackling maniacally. "The reason doesn't matter anyway, only the power. Now use it King, make us great!"
"That's right, nothing else matters now except," Ichigo said, his voice breaking off as his gaze focused on Orihime's distraught form as she sat looking on forlornly at the battle before her. Ichigo heard his hollow laughing faintly as he turned and faced his opponent.
"Shatter, Kyoka Suigetsu," Aizen said, drawing his zanpakuto.
"No!" Ichigo thought desperately. He poured out all the reiatsu that he could and used the speed of his bankai to appear within striking range of Aizen. Blades crashed together in slash and parry, thrust and counterthrust, but it was too late.
"Your hollow eyes cannot see through my illusion," Aizen said. Ichigo slashed at him in frustration only to see the evil shinigami flake away.
"I can still feel something," Ichigo thought as he concentrated on his surroundings. Aizen's illusion might be perfect to his senses, but his hollow senses could get a small inkling that something was amiss when charged with sufficient reiatsu.
"A valiant effort, but futile," Aizen said, his voice echoing throughout the room. Ichigo felt deep cuts open all over his body as he was expertly injured in a way designed to incapacitate and maim, but not kill.
"This can't be the end," Ichigo thought. He blindly used the speed of his flash step and his bankai randomly in an attempt to buy himself more time. The room was filled with the after images of his rapid movements, but still he could feel new injuries appearing as his opponent tracked his movements. Despite the immense power of his vizard form Ichigo was at last feeling the effects of all the battles that had led him to this point. Moreover, Aizen was in many ways the worst possible opponent he could face. Ichigo fought power with power well, but against subtlety his technique was turning up inadequate.
"No, Kurosaki-kun," Orihime's cry filtered into Ichigo's consciousness as he was knocked from his diverting movements and slammed into a nearby wall. No one noticed as her hairpins manifested themselves from her inner turmoil. "Please Aizen-sama, I'll do anything you want, you promised no one would be injured."
Ichigo's intuition tingled and he accelerated from his kneeling position just an instant before the entire area erupted from the effects of a powerful demon art spell. Tumultuous emotions invoked by Orihime's plea fueled a wrathful outburst of reiatsu that filled the room with flashing black blades and crackling whips of obsidian energy. Aizen groaned in pain and his illusion wavered as he took inevitable hits from Ichigo's frenzied attacks.
Ichigo spun in place, his blade cutting a ring of energy that sliced into everything around him save the area where Orihime still sat, mortified at his still worsening condition. Another blast of demon magic seared through the air, but Ichigo countered the attack with a cero that seemed to warp the very fabric of the air around him. Wind swept through the room from the concussion of the colliding energies. In the cloud of debris created by the blast Orihime could see Ichigo firing more bursts, lancing out destruction into the surrounding space.
Her hope, which had just barely begun to surface, was cut off as Aizen's sword burst out of Ichigo's midriff. Orihime tried to cry out, but her throat wouldn't work anymore. She could feel nothing except the ice water her heart had been plunged into as Ichigo slumped forward defeated, if not dead.
"How disappointing," Aizen said. He lifted Ichigo up by his head using only one hand to grip the orange haired boy's skull. Aizen was sporting some visible wounds, but he was still in relatively good shape. "I had just begun to have some interest in you."
Aizen walked across the room casually, like a man going to a dinner party, with Ichigo dragging behind him. When he got closer to Orihime he lifted Ichigo up so that they were face to face and Orihime was slightly relieved to see that he still lived, if barely. His eyes though. Orihime never wanted to see those eyes haunted with such terrible emotions and failure ever again.
"Tell him girl," Aizen said cruelly. "Tell him how you left to save him this suffering. Describe the torments you've faced on his behalf."
"I-I," Orihime stuttered, sobbing uncontrollably. "I'm so sorry, Kurosaki-kun."
"I-Inoue," Ichigo managed to choke out. "The one who is sorry…is me."
"Tell him," Aizen said softly, almost whispering now as he held Ichigo's battered body out toward Orihime. "You said you'd do anything, remember? Tell him why you left."
"It…it was because I didn't want to see anyone else get hurt," Orihime said, still sobbing.
"You know what I meant," Aizen said roughly. His eyes danced with rarely unmasked vengeance and spite. "Tell him your feelings. I want him to know before he dies."
"Inoue?" Ichigo said questioningly.
"I love him!" Orihime blurted out. She looked into Ichigo's eyes and knew that her own were filled with longing haunted by terror. "I love you, Kurosaki Ichigo."
Ichigo's eyes widened as her words hit him squarely and despite their dire situation he found himself solely focusing on them. This was the Inoue Orihime that he had vowed to go to any lengths for.
"Perfect," Aizen said, exulting in Ichigo's stunned response. He raised his sword for the killing blow. "Then I guess the only thing left for you to do is die."
"No!" Orihime yelled, her shackles bursting free of her wrists as she unconsciously exuded reiatsu. Aizen looked up and for the first time in his ancient life felt a slight tingle of fear course through his being as six small points of light erupted out of Orihime. "I reject!"
Tsubaki tucked in his wings and spun rapidly toward Aizen until he impacted like a point of light that left the evil shinigami flashing away for his own safety. Orihime didn't even notice the immense output of power from her normally ineffective attack as Tsubaki retook his position in formation around her looking rather pleased with himself. She longed to run to Ichigo's side and heal him, but she knew that the only way for her love to leave this horrid place alive was for her to protect him this time.
"So, the princess has some small measure of power after all," Aizen said smoothly as he composed himself a good distance away.
"You despicable man," Orihime said scathingly. "You lied to me, you made me lay open my heart as a sick joke, and you intended to kill him!"
"Don't forget your place woman," Aizen said darkly, his eyes narrowing dangerously. He indicated Ichigo. "That one challenged me directly. He is too foolish to live. Your other friends though, they might still be saved, but only if you submit. Now resume your place before I lose my patience."
"I won't listen to your lies or help you anymore," Orihime replied defiantly. "And I won't let you kill Ichigo."
"Fool," Aizen said flatly. He lifted a finger and fired an intense blast of magic mixed with cero energy.
"I reject!" Orihime exclaimed. Three of her protective spirits formed a shield that easily absorbed the attack and even managed to splinter a portion of it back onto Aizen.
Aizen grinned smugly and used his flash step to quickly move from one place to another so that he could bring several blasts of energy to bear upon Orihime at the same time. She didn't dare move from the path of such powerful blasts because she was still standing near Ichigo.
"I reject!" She said again. This time Shuno and Ayame formed their shield like projection that was typically used for healing, but instead of healing they asserted themselves against Aizen's incoming blasts. The shield turned pitch black and swallowed up all of the energies directed against it.
"Impossible," Aizen said, unable to contain his surprise. He worked hard to evade or deflect the bright flashes of power as Tsubaki darted back and forth across the room. The air around the little flier visibly warped and twisted as he sliced through everything in his path and the concussions unleashed each time he collided with Aizen had force enough to wear away the surfaces of the thick stone chamber.
"You taught me more about my powers than you know," Orihime said, full of new confidence at her resolve. She could do this. She had to do this. She was the only one who could save Ichigo now and she wasn't about to fail. After all, hadn't she sworn to herself that she would quit looking at his back and start fighting by his side instead?
"Tsubaki, Lily, Baigon, Hinagiku," Orihime said, activating their abilities. Her attacking spirit nodded and transformed himself into a long ornate looking scythe. The three others settled themselves onto Orihime's left forearm where they formed a small shield's apex, rather than its boundaries like they typically did. Her remaining two spirits continued to circle in anticipation of further attacks from odd angles for them to intercept and absorb.
"Shatter, Kyoka Suigetsu," Aizen said humorlessly as he began to reform his perfect illusion. Orihime had started to move, but now hesitated as she realized that her eyes couldn't be trusted anymore.
"Don't worry," Lily said gently from Orihime's wrist. "Our eyes don't see as things from this world. Trust in us."
"Okay," Orihime replied. The healing shield of Shuno and Ayame turned black again and with a flick of her left hand it went flying in an arc that destroyed everything it touched. There was a flash and Aizen leapt out of no where, his zanpakuto missing the last five inches of its tip where it had come into contact with Orihime's power.
Orihime vanished and reappeared behind Aizen only to have spiritual fabric bind itself to her in a sealing spell. Aizen didn't have to say the incantation, but even he was taxed by so quickly and forcefully binding a target as powerful as Orihime. An immense metal cube had just begun its descent when a flash of cutting light erupted from the bindings holding Orihime in place and smashed the cube along with the rest of the spell.
"Tsubaki," Orihime commanded. The scythe shimmered and reformed itself as a short sword.
"It doesn't matter how many weapons it can turn into," Aizen said with annoyance.
"Ayame, Shuno," Orihime said as she continued to build her new weapon. The two spirits settled onto the hilt of the small sword and immediately its blade turned black. It crackled with tendrils of dark negative energy as she gave it a tentative swing. What appeared to be a thin cut in the air appeared, but did nothing else.
"You'll regret forcing me to use my powers," Orihime said as she grasped the extent of the sword's abilities. Three thin lines of emptiness sped toward Aizen threatening to tear him to pieces. He easily dodged, but Orihime was unexpectedly no where near him anymore. His instincts barely saved him as the black blade tore through the place where his back had been moments before. However, when he whirled around Orihime was gone again, back where she had started.
"You can't use flash step," Aizen snarled. He dodged again, this time as a large oval shaped disk of inverse reality generated by Orihime's powers threatened to devour him. The onslaught intensified and Orihime felt elation that she was actually going to win.
"This is it," she said, rallying her spirits for one final blow.
"Stop," Aizen yelled. His flash step couldn't avoid her attack so he did the next best thing. The darkness of Orihime's finishing blow evaporated harmlessly as the desperate shinigami traitor held Ichigo in front of him as a shield. "I'll kill him!"
"If you kill him then nothing will hold me from killing you," Orihime said fiercely, even though her eyes threatened to spill over in pain once again.
"You were going to kill me anyway," Aizen wheezed, unable to come to terms with the now revealed power of the docile little pawn he had once thought he understood. Whereas Ichigo had been wholly unsuited to fighting him, he now found himself utterly unsuited to fighting Orihime. The powers that let her see through his illusion and her ability to reject his attacks regardless of their power was too fearsome to even contemplate.
"Then we have something in common at last," Orihime said. "We both want Ichigo alive."
"Put down your sword," Aizen said. "I'll drop the boy."
"Agreed," Orihime said quickly. Her blade lost its black luster as she gingerly placed it on the floor, watching all the while to make sure that Aizen was keeping his part of the bargain. Aizen now appeared a rather broken and humble figure, one who had been shaken from an impossibly high pedestal.
Together they stepped back, Aizen making his escape, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. The grin turned to anguish as Orihime appeared in front of him and he finally realized how she was moving. She had somehow slid through the very thin slit her attacks of negative energy had left behind.
"You betray me?" Aizen asked, stupefied.
"You're the one who lied," Orihime said coldly. Sure enough, Aizen's fingers glowed with the beginning of a cero that would have scoured his defenseless opponents from existence. Two flashes emanated from Orihime's wrists. They were Ayame and Shuno, who had left the sword when Orihime had set it aside, rebuilding the void shield as they swept through Aizen's body. All that remained when they passed was a pile of bloody limbs, the rest having been swallowed up into nothingness.
"Ichigo," Orihime cried out, finally free to run to his battered form. He had defeated countless powerful enemies and weakened Aizen, all for her. Her shield reverted back to its soft healing form and descended on Ichigo barely conscious body.
"Inoue," Ichigo said softly, already feeling better now that her power was restoring him.
"You don't have to say anything," Orihime interrupted, barely choking back her sobs. Everything was ruined now. "I know you don't have any feelings for me. I know you love Kuchiki-san."
"Inoue, I don't love Rukia," Ichigo said, nearly choking on his surprise. "Besides, she's already got someone she cares for, though I'm not sure if that dense baboon knows it or not."
Inoue felt a swirl of emotions wash over her. He didn't love Rukia? Had her self doubts and apprehensions deceived her?
"T-Then, your feelings for me…?" Inoue asked, frightened to hear the answer.
"Inoue, I'm not good at feelings," Ichigo said, sighing. Orihime looked as if she might break down entirely so he quickly continued. "But I do care about you. You're my friend; you've been my friend as long as I can remember. It hurts me when I see you in pain, especially when you try to hide it away for everyone else's sake. I don't know what I'd do if you weren't there anymore. I want to protect you, even if you don't need it. I want to watch you eat all those crazy things you eat, and smile with you when you score high marks in school, and just sit and share ideas about anything that we want. I don't know what that is, but if that's love then I love you, Inoue."
Orihime enveloped Ichigo in a great hug as her sobs overflowed. Ichigo wiggled with distress at her reaction, and tried to calm her even though he was unsure of what to do. He hated her tears. If only he could make them stop.
"Inoue, what's wrong?" he asked as he stroked her long mane of soft fiery hair.
"Happy," Inoue blurted out, clinging to him all the more tightly as she burrowed her face into his chest. "So happy."
Ichigo smiled. Then he was happy too.
Elsewhere…
"Don'cha just hate when a plan falls apart," Gin said lightly. "I never believed Aizen-sama would be bested by just a slip of a girl."
"The path to justice may be obscured for the moment," Tosen replied. He picked up the Hogyoku from its resting place. "However, we will yet create that perfect future with the help of this."
"Are you sure you can use that?" Gin asked. He received no reply and so followed Tosen with a shrug. It should still be interesting.
AN: I'll probably let this stand as a one shot for now, but eventually I have a few other ideas of events that I'd like to see take place post-Aizen. I'm sure some things won't make sense without further explanation, but I think this is a reasonable interpretation of how Orihime's powers could develop and what her eventual role in defeating Aizen could be. Thanks for reading, all reviews are appreciated.
EDIT: I can't imagine why the story lost its formatting at first. Hopefully this fixes it.