Edit: I forgot to revise the raw doc before uploading, so it was all one chunk of text with no indication where notes start or end; this should be fixed now. Returning to the original stuff now...
Let's just put this here before we get to the meat of this: I have not caught up on BLEACH ever since… well, since Naruto was FINALLY ending and I caught up with both. The last chapter I've read was Ichigo jumping off that place with God and shit to rejoin the fray as the quincies started the next attack on Soul Society. It's been so long, in fact, that I had no idea what the hell Orihime's techniques were called so I had to look it up. All in all, if I made a booboo, it's easily because of my really hazy memories since apart from the first arcs, I don't feel like reading or watching more of that pretty-looking but dragged-out and nonsensical vomit of a story. Not even for me son Ichigo, dear Orihime, kitten Grimmjow and queen Rukia. (Then again, Kubo's writing doesn't make sense in the first place, so fuck it. Considering that, I'm almost not sorry for making a placeholder villain without name, face, motive and context. Kubo also would have put in a blood type and his grandma's name next to the zanpakutou's for the one chapter he was relevant in, wouldn't he lmao…)
That being said, enjoy, hopefully.
The attacks had no effect and her shield just shattered into a million pieces; they were driven into a corner, leaving no place to run to. There was a split second where she thought of how she could possibly help the unconscious Renji and injured Chad crouching behind her before the blade pierced her chest, driving all attention of her body towards the source of pain. As a choir of voices echoed nearby, she was vaguely reminded of her injury from when her brother became a Hollow- this… was nothing like it. After the shock set in, it felt barely like a mosquito bite- how odd. Did all fatal injuries just pinch a little, and make people feel woozy?
All Orihime could remember from that last moment was the increasingly loud static buzz in her ears, and a glimpse of warm blood trailing down from where her heart would be.
Then, as she collapsed, her consciousness returned, the pain disappeared completely and the scenery abruptly changed to… whatever it was meant to be. Although she had to admit that the oddly familiar vista was easily one of the most gorgeous places she had ever seen: pointed ivory towers on buildings, just like in fairy tales, reaching for the brilliant blue skies, all overgrown with rambler roses of white and a curious lime green complexion with streets and hills in between… as far as the eye could see.
Shaking off the déjà vu and wonder, she grabs the place where a gaping wound had been a minute ago- there was, however, nothing to be seen. But, this was not right- she was on the battlefield just now, and… kind of… died, maybe? After freezing up at the thought, she jumped up: if she still exists somewhere, a chance she could return to where she was also exists. This, possibly a part of Soul Society (which would have been odd, actually, as those weapons should be able to harm the soul within her body, but it was not the time, nor place to think about that), is not where she's supposed to be. Her powers were needed elsewhere.
Barely could she finish up the line of thought, she was knocked off her feet again as the whole area was shaken to its core. Cracks ran up the sides of the towers, walls and across the streets, and soon the whole place started falling apart, tumbling into a terrifying, bottomless abyss that this piece of heaven seemed to stand on.
As a go-to instinct, she was already calling out for Shun Shun Rikka- only for nothing to happen. In fact, all the petals on her hairpins were absent.
Skimming her surroundings to find a safe place for the time being, Orihime's eyes catch a single white cobblestone road to the side, seemingly resisting the catastrophe. She immediately starts crawling down from the clearing to follow the path, wherever it may lead.
As most of the fairy tale landscape gets cleared out of sight, she can see where she's headed for: a little shrine of sorts, sporting six pillars and a statue, the base being thickly woven in by roses. Maybe that was the reason it still stood so firmly in midst of the destruction- the roots held the brittle white substance together. What made it still float, however, was a mystery.
She stumbles onto the platform just as her personal yellow brick road leading to hopeful salvation gives into the force- the thorns on the bushes and vines dig into her skin, but she quickly dismisses it all to take a closer look at her new surroundings. She's in a hurry and anything that could help to get her out of trouble, or even better, back to her destination, would do.
The only thing that stood out, though, was a sword lying in front of the now ruined statue that was damaged by the tremors still trying to erase this last little haven from existence. Her breathing stops for a moment- the sword… was a katana bearing a green hilt, one she would recognize even in a drooling coma of being shaken awake in the middle of the night.
She crawls over to the weapon, reaching for it carefully, then draws it. It's surprisingly light- at least she imagined swords of any kind would weigh a bit. Even the sheath is heavier than the weapon itself. Once she puts the former down to hold the item in both hands upright, though, she notices something being off- her hair also lifts slightly, having gotten lighter, and the tremors under her knees had already stopped somewhere down the road.
Because they have already reached their goal- the shrine began to fall slowly into the unknown.
The hold on the sword gets firm as she's reminded of the darkness awaiting below and fear overcomes her. Looking up to the quickly fading sky above, she wishes she could do what shinigami can, standing on thin air, or… at least have wings. Wings... to fly.
Back to her friends.
"If that is your wish," a long heard voice calls out, sending a shiver down her spine as the other's presence becomes tangible, gentle fingers covered in silky fur reaching out to adjust her hold on the sword, "I could be of help."
Looking back up, she sees him, also looking towards the now dim source of light in the distance. There is no doubt: it is Ulquiorra, as she had last seen him. With her, right here, right now.
His gaze shifts towards the broken monument in front of them, and his features become noticeably unamused soon enough: "I would have preferred to stay out sight, out of mind, however… they will have to pay for what they have done to you."
She has no idea what to say, and is frozen in an emotion she cannot quite pinpoint. Or, to be more precise, she feels numb. As if the further away they get from the bright blue sky somewhere up above, the more exhausting the simple task of existing gets. 'What they have done to her'… they, or rather that man… stabbed her. Almost definitely killing her in the- oh. So that's what this is about.
This magical plane was her.
She wasn't simply dying- her soul got hurt pretty bad, too. She was disappearing, in every way and form possible. And the reason she's here at all is probably because of the Qatra Espada in the first place.
Then he does something unusual that snaps her out of the sleepy limbo- he blinks. "It is certain that you do not want to perish as of yet," he starts, then turns his face entirely towards her. "Will you entrust your flesh with me… Woman?"
If Chad were more expressive, he'd been beside himself- in a noticeable way, if nothing else. The least he could have done was to try and pull her out of the way, broken arm and abdomen injury aside. Hell, he wouldn't have been able to protect himself, save protect Renji and get Inoue out of harm's way if Byakuya did not jump in to distract the enemy while Ichigo managed to pipe down enough to be able to think clearly again. Or go on a rampage, that seemed to work out most of the time, too.
Except, this one time… it would have been for naught.
He felt really bad for Rukia who tried her best with magic, too. She had spent most of her power already on fighting earlier... there was only so much that could have been done. She looks so distraught. Looking at Inoue right now... he didn't even know what to make of it. She didn't even seem to be in pain…
Ichigo's battle roar can be heard from above at last, drawing their attention. If he realizes how bad the situation is… he will raise literal hell on the spot, that's for sure. Then telling Ishida and Tatsuki will be another thing he'll never forget.
Thinking about that, he glances back to where she's lying and jumps a little.
Because was lying there a moment ago- but not anymore.
While the body is still on the ground, with the wound healed -as little as it meant-, her soul… was not. She was on her feet again without making a noise all along, seemingly unfazed by the blood drenched clothes. But, she was definitely not bleeding anymore, either- he looks up to her face, and freezes up in shock seeing a white mask covering most of it.
Rukia also looks back by then, and is just as taken aback- all the more when she stays silent and starts to assess the overall situation while looking around. Others don't notice, at least not until a wave of reiatsu is released as she draws a zanpakutou, of all things, that they didn't even notice at first. People don't really have the time to see that stage, though, as a moment later the blade disappears and she sprouts wings and horns and...
Rukia gasps as she realizes what the glimpse of that sword reminded her of as Orihime steps forward and lifts one arm, sparking a spear of pure energy into existence and takes aim.
Ichigo has a hard time to decide if he should be relieved, worried for her… or for his own safety, because whether that deep turquoise colored thing pointed at him and this asshole is what he thinks it is or not, he'd rather not be around to find out. Then, to his surprise, Orihime nods her head to the side- she wants him out of the picture- after short consideration, he complies. His opponent also takes note of this, lowering his weapon as the shinigami retreats- but stays put. Ichigo is guessing that the rather brutish guy is probably also confused by the turn of events and doesn't even see her as a threat, even though her spiritual energy is very different and also much stronger than from before. Hell, he's probably pissed that she survived in the first place. Same for the remainders of the posse, a few dimwits even join him for an impromptu discussion on the development despite him standing in the crosshairs of an unknown attack. Even Ichigo had learned meanwhile that new things have to be probed before running straight into an attack- to be precise, it was back when he saw something disturbingly similar to what she was holding the first time.
That being said, he himself would like some answers. The looks, the technique, the reiatsu, even if the color scheme is nothing like remembered and closer to a total opposite… they are all very much like a certain someone's. Her behavior is definitely not like Orihime, either- but how this could come to be in the first place was the biggest question. He remembers his hollow self- if this was anything like that… indeed, all things considered, he is unsure how to speak up to her when reaching the group below. She does not really seem to pay attention to him at all and keeps glaring at the 4-man group she's been holding at figurative gunpoint. There is one important question still remaining, though… even if at this point he's not expecting an answer, and especially not a straight one.
"Uh… is it a good idea to throw that thing at such a distance…?" he asks, battling the awkwardness.
"Careful," she speaks up at last, preparing for the launch- it's seemingly directed at those in the distance instead of those around her, though; "it's still hot." The notion earns a sneer from her not-murderer who halfheartedly readies his blade again, lackeys following in kind.
Ichigo prepares for the worst standing in front of the others as the spear is thrown.
Soon enough it became clear that it wasn't necessary- while the impact was powerful enough to knock people over and throw some rocks around, the weapon was not one of mass destruction like in Ichigo's memories. Still getting the job done by knocking out two targets, incapacitating one, and not only wounding badly, but also forcing her offender on his knees as insult to injury for his overblown ego.
"They are less potent like this, as expected." she says, looking at one of her elegant little hands which just rained destruction, "This will suffice… she wouldn't want to annihilate them anyway. Isn't that right, Kurosaki Ichigo?"
"So… it really is you, then." the other notes, taking a suspicious closer look at his friend's new features one after another. "What about Inoue?"
"Very much present… and about to regain total control," came the answer as she (he…?) turned to face him; "Or would you believe I told jokes based on bakery products now?"
All Ichigo could muster was an "eh" before the bone mask fell apart and Inoue regained the features they all knew; the response was a short "ah" from Inoue, followed by her wobbling and then collapsing at last. There was also a sudden flash of light to the side as Byakuya finished the job of putting the raging bastard into his place, but the group did not pay much heed to it.
"Orihime, are you… okay?" Rukia posed the question, already by her side.
"Um… yeah. Yes! That was… I, he… no, we… were awesome." was her enthusiastic response while resting on her elbows, but not being able to maintain that any longer she just oof-ed to the ground. Being powerful was quite exhausting, but also… exhilarating. She looks to the left, where the sword… or rather her new zanpakutou, by all means, lies. She could get used to this. But more importantly… he was actually doing fine and somewhere safe. Super safe- it was such a relief. Now, about present problems…
"I… think I'll need a time-out, though. And heal Chad and Renji while I'm at it."
"Inoue… we'll manage." the tight-lipped boy stated; the vice-captain next to him was also blinking around, trying to make sense of his surroundings.
"Did I… miss something other than the fight?" he mumbled, noticing the air of the conversation. Chad ignored the question and made a single addendum:
"Take a rest. But first… go back to your body, please."
To quote an infamous webcomic: Don't turn your back on the body. It never bodes well, kids. Also, I hope the joke did not fly over everyone's heads, or the penny dropped as soon as Ulquiorra pointed it out lmao. Because I'm pretty darn proud of it. But I did not plan on taking all of the closure lightly… And quite frankly, I did not plan in advance for the entire second segment with the fight at all, but first of all, hey, practice for something I've never done tbh, and second of all, that's how writing works, isn't it…
As for actual author's notes:
First of all, in all seriousness: you bring in white hollows that are Aizen experiments. Who can invade other people's… bodies/souls/minds, whatever you wanna call it, where they can take their good damn time to regenerate, and they can also take over the body of their victim. Alright. Then you show us, even if as a neat little extra, that Ulquiorra IS one of them… AND THEN NEVER BRING NEITHER, AND ESPECIALLY THE CONNENCTION, UP AGAIN? KUBO. I'm sorry to say this but you… you are one bloody IDIOT. If you put the Checkov's gun on the set, you've gotta USE IT, goddammit. Geez.
Though, truth to be told… a healer with hyperregen and nukes would be way too overpowered (haha, being overpowered in Bleach, hahaha), even if they had to switch control and abilities each time. It also would be super satisfying, too. To see Hime thrash some assholes in a heartfelt beatdown with no sweat in a pinch after they looked down on her, even if it was Ulquiorra doing it.
As for the base idea of Orihime having him? Well, it came hand in hand with the data book that contained the backstory of Ulquiorra. There weren't many candidates to begin with, even if there is no answer as to when exactly he would have had the time to access somebody with this purpose, even accidentally. Also, hey, fanfic. And shipping goggles ahoy. Man, did the mangaka botch that also up like Hime's character arc… wow.