Yo! For those of you who have read my two previous stories and have chalked me up as an all humor writer, it's safe to say you're partially right. I really enjoy writing stuff that's light-hearted, but this multi-chapter idea just kept jumping up and down in my head and wouldn't shut up, and when the possible plots start screaming at you and whip out a bat, threatening to hit you in the shins if you don't write them down already, well, who am I to deny them any further?

Also unlike my two previous stories, this one's going to be a lot more Orihime centric, but no worries, I could never write a Bleach fic without Ulquiorra to steam up the place, heheh

So, cheers to my very first attempt at seriousness! Oh btw, not all the chapters are going to be this short, I'm going to try and push myself to write much longer chapters, lest I be whacked in the shins by a crazed plot with a chair =) I hope you all like it!

Disclaimer: Sadly for me, I still don't own Bleach

"Insanity is the only sane reaction to an insane society." -Thomas Szas

Chapter 1

"So, please remind me again, why exactly do you wish to work in my facility?"

Orihime fidgeted under the man's piercing gaze as his two partners looked on, a fox-like smile on the silver haired one's lips.

"U-um, I want to be a psychiatrist and I thought that working here would maybe give me some good experience." Despite her nervousness, the lie slipped easily from hours of rehearsing it in her head.

The man smiled as he rested his cheek against a relaxed, closed hand. He observed her for what felt like an eternity until he seemed to have come to a decision. His smile enhanced. "Well then, Miss Orihime, welcome to the Las Noches Psychiatric Institute."

The gray clouds hung in the sullen sky as Sosuke Aizen gave Orihime a tour of his large institution. Orihime walked a few steps behind her new employer as he indicated to various wings of the building and listed off a number of rules she was to follow if she wished to work here. Orihime was only half listening as her mind was already pre-occupied, opting to stare down at her shoes. "As you can probably imagine, Miss Orihime, I am a very busy man," She quickly looked up at the sound of her name. "so I'm afraid I must return to my office now, but I'll let one of the other assistants know that you're here and they'll tell you everything you need to know. But for now, feel free to survey the building on your own until six o'clock, at which point you may go to the main dining hall, someone will be there to escort you." Aizen-sama, as he told her to address him as, smiled and Orihime felt a shiver go down her spine.

"Good luck." She watched his retreating back until he turned a corner and was no longer visible. She let out a breath she wasn't aware she had been holding. There was something about him that made the blood in her veins run cold, as if the pressure of a thousand worlds was suddenly dropped on her frame.

The hallway he had left her in was completely empty when she was finally able to move. She looked around for a clock, but was unable to find one to see how much time she had to herself. Orihime rubbed her upper arms as she walked around, her eyes observing the white walls, pausing at the occasional white door when she thought she heard something on the other side, and smiling shyly at whomever passed her, which was seldom.

She guessed she had been walking for about a half an hour and had only seen about two other people, one she assumed was some sort of doctor, judging by the white coat he wore, and how he seemed to not even notice her and was instead focused intently on the clipboard in his hands. She had only gotten a short glimpse at him when she passed him in the hall, and a shadow of her old smile played on her lips when he pushed his glasses up with one finger, reminding her of Ishida-kun. Strange, she thought, she'd never seen a doctor with pink hair before.

She sighed and looked out the window that lined the top half of the wall, the sky only a shade away from her own silvery orbs. The air was chilly, despite the summer season, the green of the grass looked dull in the melancholic weather. The tips of her fingers brushed against her lovely hairpins when she tucked a few loose, auburn tendrils behind her ear as her steps resounded in the hall. Her nerves were beginning to get on edge in the silence when all of a sudden her ears perked at a faint noise, it sounded like laughter.

Orihime quickly turned a corner, eager to escape the eerie stillness. Her shoes tapped against the tiled floor as her pace quickened. She followed the sound until she ended up in front of a set of double doors. She leaned her frame slightly towards the door and listened to the muffled talking and chatter coming from the other side. She smiled at the prospect of an actual human encounter in this solaced place, and stood on her tip toes in an attempt to see through the small window in the door, but was only able to make out a few blurry images due to the glass of the window having a fog appearance, for privacy no doubt.

The hall was empty on both of her sides, and Orihime really didn't want to wander any further without knowing where she was going. She should probably be getting to the main dining hall by now, and to do that she would need directions. Her knuckles rapped on the door. She waited a bit, but no one came to answer and the noise continued without halt.

Taking a reassuring breath, she gripped the knob of the door, slowly turning it as the noise from the room spilled at a much clearer volume. For a split moment, Orihime was unsure if she was in the right room, well, not that she was supposed to be in a specific place or anything.

It was loud, all the sounds meshing together to form one jumbled cacophony. If she concentrated, Orihime was able to single out the sounds of rough laughter, boisterous conversations filling the air, and the occasional hand slamming against a table or someone's back, various card games being played to entertain the room's many occupants.

Despite the amicable resonance, Orihime could tell that the people there were far from light-hearted. Feet tapped incessantly against the linoleum floor, fingers rapped continuously on the tabletops, dark shadows underlined most of the eyes in the room, eyes that had a drained look to them, but darting around enough to show that the person wasn't all dead just yet.

Everyone was clad in white, most likely the patient uniform, the problem being that Orihime couldn't tell who was part of the hospital staff, since everyone was dressed pretty much the same way. The overhead lights caused the white uniforms to take on an almost blaring quality, Orihime's eyes straining a bit from the brightness of it all . She thought they all looked kind of intimidating, and searched for the nicest looking person in the room she could ask directions from, when her silver eyes landed on a very familiar face, and her heart almost stopped in her chest.

Sitting in a chair by himself next to the window was the auburn beauty's entire reason for being here, staring down at the front lawn from their third story height, his brown eyes clouded over in thought, not taking in anything of the outside world.

"Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime's hands trembled a bit with emotion as she hurried to her friend's side, paying no mind to all the stares she was getting. Ichigo started in his chair, his eyes widening when he saw her bounding towards him.

"Inoue! What are you doing here?" She stopped right in front of him, misty eyed. She couldn't believe that he was there, at only arm's length away. His hair was as uniquely orange as ever, even the strong way he held himself hadn't changed, the only difference she could see was that he was now wearing completely white clothing like the rest of the room's occupants. Realizing he had asked her a question and she was just standing there gaping like an idiot, Orihime quickly wiped her eyes with her sleeve and laughed in relief.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Kurosaki-kun, I was so worried," she gave a smile that could outmatch the sun in it's brilliance, her emotions getting the best of her. Ichigo stood and looked happy to see her too, his usual scowl being replaced by a small smile. The man that had constantly been in her thoughts apologized for having worried her and she just barely repressed a blush.

"How did you get in here? I thought they didn't allow visitors during the weekdays," his brow furrowed in confusion. Orihime fidgeted a bit under his curious gaze. "Well, you see, heheh, I actually got a job here, it was the easiest way I could think of to make sure you were doing alright, and I didn't want you to get lonely here all by yourself! And since it's summer, I could use a job and all, oh Tatsuki'll be so glad to know you're not dead!"

Orihime inhaled deeply, she had managed to cut herself off early before she scared him away with a full on rant. Ichigo blinked a bit at the top speed she had been speaking at.

"You got a job here? That's great, Inoue." Orihime nodded her head and noticed the dark rings outlining her friend's eyes. Now that she was closer, she also noted how his clothes looked wrinkled, his index finger was quickly tapping against his leg, and his brown eyes seemed different somehow, darker.

"How have you been doing, Kurosaki-kun?" She asked, worried.

"I'm fine, just...haven't been getting a lot of sleep lately." His tapping increased and she noticed he had been blinking a lot, like he was afraid of dozing off for even a second. She fidgeted her hands a bit and shifted her weight from one foot to the other. She hadn't seen him in over a month, and already she could tell that something inside of him had changed. Her voice was quiet, but her eyes stared intently at his.

"You know, if you ever need to talk about anything, I'm always here. Nobody blames you for what happened, not even Ishida-kun...-" Something in Ichigo snapped, and in a flash his hands were wrapped around both her arms in a bruising grip. She gasped and looked at his frantic eyes with something akin to fear. His whole frame now seemed to be in a sort of frenzy.

"That wasn't me! He was in control, not me, please Inoue, you have to believe me." The hands gripping her upper arms tightened. Orihime could only stare at the person in front of her, could only look at the dark eyes that were drilling holes into her skull. She didn't know what he was talking about, wasn't sure what he meant about not being in control. She wanted to ask him, but the question died on her lips when his eyes continued to bore into hers. His chest heaved a bit from his slightly ragged breathing, and she could tell that something had definitely happened to change him this much. This wasn't the same Kurosaki-kun she remembered, the Kurosaki-kun she remembered would never lose his cool like this, would never harm her in any way. The person in front of her continued to constrict her arms, willing her to deem the words he was saying as truth.

"Please, you have to believe me!" She flinched when he raised his voice.

"O-of course, Kurosaki-kun, I believe you," even she could hear the shaking in her words. He was about to say something when two hands suddenly clasped down heavily on his shoulders .

Ichigo stiffened, releasing his hold of her and turned his head to see two men clad in white, almost like the patients only with jackets instead of shirts, standing on either side of him.

"Kurosaki Ichigo, I think you've had enough free-time for today." One of the men said intimidatingly. Ichigo's breathing was shallow and uneven, he looked like he was having some internal conflict with himself over whether or not to go peacefully or to fight. Orihime stood stock still and watched silently as after a moment, his whole posture tensed. Her blood turned to ice when she saw something that she had never wished to see on his face ever again, not after what happened last time. A smile showing his white teeth formed at the corner of his lips and she shuddered when a dark chuckle released from his throat.

The two guards sensed that he was going to struggle, and the one on the right quickly whipped out a needle and syringe from inside his white jacket. The other seized hold of Ichigo's arms when he attempted to lunged at them and pinned them to his sides. The guard swiftly inserted the needle into Ichigo's arm with a focused hand, the clear liquid flowing from the syringe to the grappling teen's veins. The fire in his eyes died down as his body slumped in their grasps.

The two men promptly took hold of his arms and proceeded to drag his limp body from the now silent room, though none of the other occupants bothered to watch the scene before them, having seen something like it at least once in their time spent at the institution.

All the while, Orihime had just stood and stared silently at the display, one arm at her side, the other holding onto her upper arm, the dull throb from where Ichigo had gripped it still present.

Right before the two guards reached the door, one of them turned back to the quiet girl. "Inoue Orihime," her eyes shifted up to look at the one addressing her, but her face did not leave it's downcast position,"Aizen-sama welcomes you to Las Noches."