A/N: Well, this is my first Bleach fanfic, so here we go! :D First, let me set things straight. I hate Orihime so much. She's probably my least favorite character in all of Bleach. Including the bad guys. But for some reason, that crazy fangirl in me won't shut up about how precious she is with Ulquiorra, so I couldn't resist writing an Ulquihime fic. :3 Oops. Spoiler alert. Haha anyways, if you dislike useless Orihime as much as I do, this story will hopefully be satisfying to you. As always for me, the first chapter is a little rough, with not much action, but please give it a chance. :) I promise things will get better after this chapter! (I hope. O.o)

Chapter One – That Day

I am seventeen years old, and I am a senior at Karakura High School.

My life is pretty average. I'm actually considered the most popular girl in school, though I'm honestly not sure how that happened; I'm notoriously clumsy and often described as naïve, despite being ranked in the top ten in my class. But I'm friends with just about everyone, so I guess that's why. Well, and I'm sure my…ahem…voluptuous figure earns me points with the male population.

Despite all that, I've never had a boyfriend before. I used to like a boy named Ichigo Kurosaki, the most popular boy in our school, but he never returned my feelings so I eventually got over him. Since then, I've never liked anyone else, nor had any desire to.

Until the day I almost died.

My name is Orihime Inoue, and this is my story.

The day started out as any other, with my morning classes whizzing by. I scored a 100% on the test we got back for calculus, the highest score in the class. In high spirits by the time lunch rolled around, I happily grabbed my bento and went over to my three best friends: Rukia Kuchiki, Tatsuki Arisawa and Rangiku Matsumoto. People always thought Rukia and Tatsuki were sisters and Rangiku and I were sisters, but the friendsbian relationship we all shared tended to quickly dismiss such thoughts. Or else it led to rumors of lesbian twincest. Either way, we had our male friends, Ichigo Kurosaki, Yasutora Sado (more commonly referred to as Chad), Uryuu Ishida and Renji Abarai to discourage the spread of unwanted rumors.

"What do you have for lunch today, Orihime-chan?" Rangiku sang, coming up behind me and rubbing her cheek against mine as she tried to lift the lid of my lunch.

"Red bean paste yakisoba and cheesy shrimp!" I chirped excitedly.

"Ah! That's my Orihime for you—such a tasty-sounding lunch!" she squealed, releasing me to grab her own bag.

I beamed up at her. "You can have some if you'd like. I packed an extra serving in case!"

"That combination sounds lethal," Tatsuki muttered to Rukia, who nodded in agreement. They both grinned innocently at me as I turned to look at them, putting a hand on my hip.

"I heard that, you two!" I stuck my tongue out at them, and we all laughed and headed up to the roof, our usual lunchtime haunt.

Everyone who knew me knew that I had…exotic tastes. The fact that Rangiku was the only one who could stand my cooking, let alone like it, only added to the sister rumor.

When we reached the roof, we saw that the boys were already waiting for us, seated in a semicircle on the ground. "How did you guys get here so fast?" Rangiku asked incredulously, rubbing the back of her head in confusion.

If there was one girl in the school who was universally acknowledged to be more attractive than me, it was Rangiku. She was stunning, with wavy blonde hair that fell to her waist and pale blue eyes, and a figure even more voluptuous than my own, if that was possible. However, it was also universally acknowledged that she was an incurable airhead and possibly the laziest person in the school. The only reason she had failed her classes last year, and thus had to stay back a grade (putting her in the same grade as me), was because she refused to do her schoolwork. I was tutoring her this year in math and history, so hopefully she would be able to graduate with us. This was, after all, her second time being held back. She had told us outright that if she failed this year she was dropping out of high school.

"We came up here while you guys were busy looking at Orihime's cooking abominations—I mean, her lunch." Renji smirked as he leaned back and bit off a bite of his onigiri.

"Oh good. So you missed the part where we discussed what a loser you are." Tatsuki beamed brightly down at Renji, whacking him on the back so hard that his onigiri came spraying out of his mouth.

"Tatsuki, what the hell!" he cried with a grimace.

"Ah, sorry, I didn't realize you were such a baby that you couldn't handle a little pat on the back."

As the two went into a full blown verbal war, the rest of us sat down and took out our lunches. Rangiku eagerly accepted her portion of my wonderful, artistic cooking. As far as I was concerned, she was the only other one with a refined enough palette to handle my cooking.

Turning my attention to the others, I caught Ichigo leaning a little closer to Rukia as he said something to her that caused her to laugh. Rukia reached up and flicked him lightly on the forehead, and he grabbed her wrist to hold it out behind him. The small, delicate girl practically fell into his lap, both of them laughing.

They seem to be awfully playful with each other of late, I thought to myself as I absentmindedly stuffed some noodles into my mouth. I wonder what's going on. Ah! What if…what if they're going out?! I sat up a little straighter, my detective mode lighting up. Let's see…yes, they do seem awfully comfortable with each other, more so than usual…. And look! he just wiped some rice off of her cheek. Yes, they're definitely flirting. They're looking for any excuse to touch each other. I nodded to myself, proud of my observation skills.

"—listening to me?" Rangiku whined, waving a hand in front of my face.

"Eh? Oh, sorry Rangiku! I just, uh, was daydreaming a little, I guess." I laughed and rubbed the back of my neck in embarrassment, waving away her concern with my other hand. "What were you saying?"

"Yeesh, what are we going to do with you, Orihime?" she said in amused exasperation. "You're always off in your own little world." Rangiku rubbed my head affectionately.

"Rangiku! You're messing up my hair!" I laughed, swatting her hand away.

She laughed and popped a piece of shrimp into her mouth. "Anyways. As I was saying, have you noticed all the cute boys in our class this year? There are so many!" she said in amazement.

"Oh, I guess I haven't noticed." I cocked my head and tried to remember the new faces that had been in our class since school started a couple weeks ago.

"Oh, Orihime, you really are clueless," Rangiku sighed, shaking her head pityingly.

Did I just get called clueless…by Rangiku? I'm officially screwed….

"Hey! I remember a few of them…."

"Oh? Which ones?" she said with a smirk.

"…."

"That's what I thought. Really, Orihime. Don't tell me you haven't noticed Shuhei, Izuru, Grimmjow…."

Her list went on, but my attention was diverted when I thought I felt someone's gaze on me. Looking around at my friends, I saw with some confusion that none of them were looking at me. Did I imagine it? But no, I had definitely felt something. Tilting my head to look behind me, I thought I glimpsed a person standing on the topmost part of the roof, above the door that led to the part we were on. I blinked and looked again, but there was nothing there. Perhaps it had been the shadow of a passing cloud.

"Orihimeeee," Rangiku moaned. "What's got your mind drifting off so much today?"

"Ah, nothing!" I rushed to reassure her. "Hmm, yes, now that you mention it, I do seem to recall Shuhei and Izuru. They are pretty cute." I winked at her, and immediately my distractedness was forgiven as Rangiku launched into a tale of something she'd heard in the girls' bathroom earlier.

"I heard he's in a gang," she said excitedly. "Scandalous, isn't it?"

"Yes! How scary," I gasped. Who's she talking about…? "Ah," I said slyly, "what's his last name again?"

"Jaegerjaquez. Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez. He's such a hottie though, so I wouldn't mind getting to know him a bit better."

I recognized that look in her eyes—it was a look that said all resistance would be futile, because she would inevitably get her way. I hadn't seen one man escape her clutches once she spoke of them with that look in her eyes.

Eventually, the five-minute warning bell sounded, so we all packed up our lunches and headed back into the school. As I was about to slip through the doorway, I glanced up one last time. Again, there was no one there. Maybe it really had just been my imagination.

As the bell rang to signal the end of school, I sagged in my seat with a sigh. I'd gotten less than a fifty percent on the English test that we'd gotten back at the end of the day—the lowest grade in the class.

I can't keep this up. I have to raise my grades so that my aunt and uncle don't have to hear of this. I can't have them worrying about me. I can't have them taking me away from here. But it was the third F I'd gotten in English since the beginning of the school year. At this rate…. I sighed again, placing the test in my folder with a glare at the offending red ink stamped onto the page.

"Alright, I'll just have to study harder!" I proclaimed determinedly as I stood and slung my bag over my shoulder.

"Orihime, are you okay?" Rukia asked, coming up behind me.

I turned to look at her and gave her a smile. "Of course! I just have to spend more time looking over the English chapter tonight. Heh heh, I really blew that test." Chuckling in embarrassment, I rubbed the back of my head and pasted a bright smile on my face.

"Are you sure?" she asked in concern, shifting her bag higher on her shoulder. "I know how important it is for you to get good grades…."

"Thanks for your concern, Rukia-san," I said sincerely, resting a hand on her arm. "I'm fine, really."

After one last assessing look, Rukia shrugged and returned my smile. "Alright. If you'd like some help though, I would be happy to go over the grammar with you sometime. I know I'm not the best at it either, but I'm passing."

"Thank you again, Rukia. I'll keep that in mind."

We turned to join our other friends, who were excitedly discussing our plans for the upcoming weekend. We were planning on going to the beach together before the weather turned cold. I couldn't wait for the four days between me and the beach to pass, but I had to focus on studying for English before I could think about having fun.

"You have to bring watermelons to the beach," Rangiku was arguing with Renji. "How else are you supposed to play Whack the Watermelons?"

"I said it'll be better if we don't play that game," Renji insisted. "You know I hate it."

"Ehhh, that's right, you had a traumatic experience in your youth, didn't you?" Rangiku suddenly teased, an evil glint coming into her eyes.

"How did you know about that?" he gasped, turning pale under his black tattoos across his face.

"Ah, sorry Renji, I didn't think you would mind if I told them," Rukia said apologetically, smiling guiltily up at our tall red-headed friend.

"Rukia!" he wailed. "I trusted you!"

Ichigo burst into laughter, slapping Renji on the back in amusement. "Didn't you say it was something about being attacked by the watermelons? And wasn't there something about a shark, too?"

"You little…" Renji gritted out, now as red as his hair. The two started wrestling, shouting insults at each other. "You wouldn't be making fun of me if you'd been the one sent flying by a giant watermelon creature with tentacles!" Renji growled, grabbing Ichigo by his shirt collar.

"Yeah right. That sounds like an octopus to me, dumbass," Ichigo shot back, wrapping his arm around Renji's neck in a headlock.

Rangiku laughed and whipped out her phone to videotape the fight. I chuckled and reached for my own phone, only to notice that it wasn't in the pocket of my uniform jacket. Where could I have put it?

I set my bag down on the desk to rummage around for my phone, only to come up empty again. I could've sworn I had placed it right here, in my pocket. Confused, I checked the pocket once more. Still nothing.

"I'll be right back," I said to Tatsuki, who was standing next to me as she watched the spectacle unfold.

"Huh? Where are you going?" she asked, giving me a curious look.

"I think my phone fell out of my pocket during lunch. I'm going to go up to the roof to look for it. You guys can go on ahead without me; I'll walk home on my own."

"Are you sure?" she asked, concerned. "Want me to take your bag and drop it off at your house for you?"

"Sure, that would be great, Tatsuki-chan!" I beamed at her, handing over my school bag. "Thanks! See ya tomorrow!"

I hurried off to the roof, worried that a janitor might have gone up there and found it. Maybe I should check the Lost And Found first. No, I'll look on the roof first, and if it's not there then I'll go to the Lost And Found. With my plan in place, I climbed the stairs to the roof.

Hurrying over to the area we always ate at, I scanned the ground for any sign of my phone. A glint of something metallic caught my eye, and I looked down to see my phone lying in the shadows of a wooden box. Relieved, I crouched to pick it up.

"Ow!" I exclaimed, pulling back as a streak of pain lanced across my hand. Flipping it over to examine the back of my hand, I saw four red lines streaked across the skin. "It looks like…a cat's scratch," I observed to myself. Suspicious, I got on my knees and leaned down to peer under the crate. In the shadows between the ground and the chunk taken out of the box at the bottom, I saw a pair of glowing golden eyes. "It really is a cat…."

Reaching out to lift the box, I saw a little black paw extend through the gap and latch onto the little string attached to my phone. It started to pull it under the crate just as I lifted it off, revealing a tiny black kitten.

"Oh! You're so cute!" I exclaimed excitedly. The kitten looked up at me in fright, its short black fur poofing up to make it look twice its size. "There's no need to be afraid, little one," I cooed, slowly reaching out to it. It hissed at me, baring sharp little at me as my hand inched closer. "Now now, that's not nice," I scolded. The kitten looked up at me in silence, its ears twitching as if it was listening to me.

Slowly, I grabbed my phone and brought it away from the cat so I could slip it into my pocket. "There. That wasn't so difficult, was it?" I said with a smile.

The kitten mewled plaintively and inched closer to me, looking at my pocket with big, adorable kitten eyes.

"Aww, I'm sorry little guy. Or are you a girl?" I asked, suddenly realizing I knew nothing about it. "And what are you doing up here, anyways? Where's your owner?"

The kitten emitted a pitiful noise again, tugging at my heartstrings. I looked around, but didn't see anyone else around. Perhaps the kitten was abandoned? It certainly looked disheveled enough. Deciding to take it in and give it a home, I scooped the little thing up and rose to my feet, cradling it against my chest.

"Oh, you're definitely a boy kitty," I said with a giggle. He looked up at me reproachfully, and I laughed. "I know! I'll name you Kuro-chan!" The kitten began to purr and closed its eyes in contentment.

I smiled and began to head back to the door that led down into the school. Suddenly, Kuro-chan tensed and yowled, slashing at my arms with his little claws. I cried out, dropping the kitten instinctively. He landed on his feet and immediately raced off towards the edge of the roof. "Oh no, Kuro-chan, come back!" I called, fear gripping my heart as I watched him draw closer to the edge. Running after him, I watched as he jumped up onto the little ledge that ran around the edge.

I raced up to the ledge, coming to a halt as I realized he wasn't going to jump. I'd never heard of a suicidal cat, but one could never be too careful. "Are you okay? What's the matter, Kuro-chan?" Seeing that he was peering down at something on the ground, I leaned over the ledge to see what he was looking at. All I could see was other students leaving the building, nothing suspicious. "Come on, little guy. You'll be alright. Let's go take a look at what's bothering you. From the ground, not the roof," I said with a laugh. "Besides, I'll keep you safe. Let's go, okay?"

Kuro-chan finally seemed to relax a little. Scooping him up into my arms again, I turned to make my way back into the school. However, as I took the first step, my foot hit a broken bottle, the jagged edges raking against my ankle. I gasped in pain, automatically backing up. Unfortunately, I'd forgotten that the ledge was right behind me. My heel hit the wall, throwing me off balance. Gasping in shock and horror, I realized I was falling backwards. The backs of my legs scraped against the concrete as I tumbled from the roof, my arms automatically tightening around the kitten protectively.

"Ahhhhh!" I screamed in terror as I plummeted through the air, my eyes closing instinctively. This is it. This is the end. I'm so sorry, everyone. I love you all.

I never hit the ground. I felt the wind rushing past my body, heard my blood roaring in my ears, until it all abruptly stopped. After a moment, I became aware of the shrieks of the other students as they rushed towards me to see if I was okay. The little kitten was squirming in my arms, and I wasn't dead.

And then I realized that I was cradled in someone's arms. Opening my eyes, I looked up into the face of my savior…

…and was blocked by the raging ball of black fur that shot out of my arms to attack him.

A/N: Well well, who do you think her savior is? ;D Please leave a review to let me know what you think so far! Suggestions are also appreciated. And don't forget to Favorite/Follow if you enjoyed this chapter or think it's promising! :D

Also, I realize she was slightly pathetic in this chapter, but I promise she gets better. :) By no means will she be the main star of everything, in the way that Ichigo always manages to power up and defeat everyone, but she'll at least be useful. I suppose that's the most anyone can ask of her. *eye roll*