Authors Note: Hi Everyone. This is my first time writing fan fiction. So thank you for taking the time to read it. I am very busy with my graduate studies, but I will try to update this story every two- three weeks at least. I usually don't upload a chapter until the next one is written out anyways. This story has multiple pairings, namely UlquiHime, ByakuHime, IchiHime and though not the focus, there is some RenRuki and IshiNemu (implied). The main character here is Orihime and the focus of this story is Orihime's love life. I hope you enjoy it! Some characters might appear a bit OOC (especially Ulquiorra), but thats because he is a human in this story. It is AU.

By rating it M, I mean that it will have mature themes, which will not be too dark, however these are adult situations based on decisions these characters make. They are also not limited to romance, but go beyond in terms of how the culture they live in affects these characters and also workplace politics. There will also be lemons and approximately one very controversial and slightly dark scene that touches on a sensitive issue that I won't spoil as of now. I'll try to keep it light and fast paced enough in terms of reading.

EDIT [Oct 30, 2014] {IMPORTANT}: Hi guys, I had a request. Initially I hesitated about asking people to leave reviews as I didnt just want to ask for them and thats not why I am writing this story. I started writing this story as I was looking for something like this, but didnt find it here on fan fiction. Then the story came to me and I thought, why don't i write this as there must be people like me, who want to see these characters in complex adult situations and go through love triangles or quadrangles.

However through this process I have realised that reviews actually matter a lot for a writer in the writing process. I cherish each of your reviews (its actually more engaging than even following or favouriting the story), and can sometimes keep me going. I can see there are many views (over 1500 as of now), but I would like to hear from my readers too. Just a: nice, not nice. or even hello would be nice. Reviews make a very big difference for writers, as there is a lot of effort that goes into developing and writing a plot, doing relevant research and putting material that is of decent quality.

After all that work, if you don't see any response, that can really dishearten the writer. Anyways hope my readers enjoy the story and please please do RandR.

Disclaimer: The characters don't belong to me but Tite Kubo. The plot, AU and story are mine.

Chapter 1

"Sora chan! Lets do your homework now." The auburn haired woman called out to her son. Grey eyes fell on a little boy, who had a scorn etched on his face.

"Sora chan… what happened?"

" I want to play" the little boy said in a soft voice, his eyes downcast.

"You can play after we finish work Sora chan." Orihime smiled at her son. He was a quiet boy for most part, not causing trouble. But he was a kid in the end.

"But… Daddy said I cannot…"

"Sora chan… You know that you can after you finish your homework. Now come here, lets see what Ukitake sensei has asked you to do, ok?"

Quietly the 4 year old walked to his mothers arms, sat down and opened a small notebook.

"We have to write about family."

"Oh, great! What will Sora chan write?" Orihime knew Sora was able to scribble basic sentences. If they happened to be 3-4 words long.

"Fam..i..ly is mommy and daddy and kitty."

Orihime beamed at her little bundle of joy. Yes, family was mommy and daddy and Sora and kitty. Yet few years ago, her family had only consisted of herself. How had she gotten so lucky?...

5 years ago

Orihime was going to be late. She knew it! She had been working in one of the largest urban planning company in the world called Aizen Corporation, which was co-owned by Sousuke Aizen and Kisuke Urahara. Urahara didn't think any part of his name had the gravitas to go up into the company name and Aizen had wholeheartedly agreed.

Orihime worked as an analyst under Urahara Kisuke, typically developing client projects, for various municipalities in and outside Japan. While she didn't know much about urban planning, she had liked the fact that her work could affect how people experienced their surroundings; and after graduating from Tokyo U, accepted Aizen's job offer.

That was two years ago. Orihime lead a simple life. Born in Karakura, she never saw her parents. Apparently they weren't very nice people. Her older brother Sora was all the family she knew, and a distant aunt in Tokyo who sent her minimal financial sustenance when Sora passed away on the eve of her 12th birthday. But what she lacked in family, Orihime made up in friends. Or so she liked to think.

She had been very close to Tatsuki, that is until academic overachievement had brought her to Tokyo U while karate had taken Tatsuki to Kyoto. While they tried visiting each other in vacations, Tatsuki's karate, Orihimes extra classes and internships and the fact that tatsuki still called Karakura home while Orihime had left the town for good, meant that they barely met once a year.

The only friend from high school she had was Rukia Kuchiki, who had originally transferred from Tokyo and went back to Tokyo with Orihime after finishing high school.

Orihime smiled slightly at the thought of Rukia. Rukia was one of her dearest friends. She was always decisive and sometimes abrasive. Yet she always had Orihime's back when Orihime needed her. However her relationship with Renji was keeping her rather busy.

Orihime sighed. Living in a metropolis like Tokyo was daunting enough, it could be especially daunting for a single woman approaching quarter life crisis.

I have no luck in love. Orihime sighed forlornly.

"Now now Orihime chan. Even if you are all of 10 minutes late, its nothing to be upset about."

"AAAAARRGGHH" Orihime screamed and jumped aside.

"Oh, urahara san, its just you!" she sighed and took in her surroundings. Per usual, she had day dreamed all the way from her home, through her subway ride, into her office.

"Now, now Orihime chan, I much prefer the shocked reaction to this, you know." Urahara looked at her meaningfully. For all his kindness, the man creeped Orihime out every once in a while. But not as much as his partner Sousuke Aizen, who seemed more like evil incarnate.

Why am I working for these clowns again? Oh yeah because I am almost 25, still a virgin, no family, all of one friend, and I have no clue what I want in life or in love. Yet I still need to pay my bills. Dreams and love can wait.

"Err Orihime chan… I think a fly just entered your mouth.."

"Whaa… Ahh… Sorry Urahara san. I ll get back to work now. Thank you for being understanding about me being late."

Bowing her head, Orihime quickly made her way towards her cubicle, opened her computer and went through her work e mails. As she read through the most recent one, she let out another long sigh. It seemed like one of her subordinates, Loly, had not finished the work she had been asked to do, had taken the day off and managed to blame her for her inability to communicate the work to her properly.

This wasn't an unusual happening in Orihime's life. She was not conflict loving, which made people often see her as a pushover. Not surprisingly, she found herself in the middle of various office politics, which usually ended with her doing a huge chunk of work and not getting any credit for it. Turns out, she would have to start working on something her subordinate was supposed to work on.

She decided she would have a word with Loly when she came into office, rolled her sleeves, and got down to working.

Only to be interrupted by her phone ringing. She looked down. It was her teenage crush and nemesis.

"Ah, hello, Kurosaki kun. I am at work now. Is everything ok?"

"Aaah, Inoue… Yeah, everything is fine. I, um, wanted to ask about the dinner you are planning at your apartment tonight. How many people are coming?"

"Ummm, I think its Rukia chan, Renji kun, you and Ishida kun. Nemu chan is away so she wont be joining us. But that's it. Why?"

"Well… I was wondering if I could bring someone over. I have a plus one. Is it too late to tell you now?"

It was too late. It would always be too late and too inconvenient and annoying for Orihime to put up with one of Ichigo's "dates" as he liked to call them. Orihime swallowed.

"Um, no its fine Kurosaki kun." It is not fine you emotionless dolt. Do you even know me? Have you completely missed out on the fact that I have held a candle for you all of my adult life?! "Does she have any dietary restrictions?" So that I can make sure I make a meal that will leave a terrifyingly horrible taste in her mouth!

"Umm, I don't know her so well Inoue.." Of course you don't. When have you needed to know the names of the girls you do?

"Whatever you cook is fine. Thanks so much for being flexible! I ll see you tonight!" And just like that he hung up.

Orihime kept her phone down, staring at the computer screen.

She hated her life. She hated the bullies she had to call co-workers. She hated her job. She even hated her pitiful heart, which would not move on from a man who was either ridiculously dense, or so uninterested in her that he made it a point to flaunt all of his "dates" in her face.

She had really thought things would change once she moved to Tokyo. Ichigo had overshadowed most of her high school years. That and being smothered by Tatsuki. She also hated being dependent on her aunt. So she worked hard, kept her grades the best she could and got into Tokyo U with a full scholarship; no mean feat really.

She thought that with financial independence and a new setting, she could start her life fresh, meet new people, maybe even fall in love and get married. She was glad that the only friend who would be following her to Tokyo would be Rukia. That was, until Ichigo announced that he had been accepted in Keio for medicine and would be moving to Tokyo too. He seemed genuinely excited, and then shocked when Rukia hit him on the head and declared that she wished he wouldn't come to the same city as her.

But Orihime knew. Rukia was worried for her. And rightly so too, because all those plans of a new life and new love came crashing down as Orihime found herself hanging out with Ichigo every other time she did have free time. And watching him date a bevy of sexy, beautiful and confident women while she remained strangely closed to the male attention she had always attracted.

Orihime sighed again. She needed to finish this last document if she wanted to make up for Loly's tardiness. She couldn't get distracted now. With a heavy heart, she looked at her computer screen and started typing.

"Orihime!"

"Rukia chan!" Orihime hugged her petite friend whose red headed boyfriend was holding a large bottle of wine.

"Great, we got wine. Ishida is bringing some cake from that shop in Shinjuku you like so much too! Dinner for 4?" Rukia chimed as she took off her coat and placed the bottle in the refrigerator.

Orihime blanched. Rukia didn't know that Ichigo was bringing a date. Oh this was going to get ugly.

"Umm, Kurosaki kun is bringing a date… so its five." She said hesitantly.

Instantly Rukia's expression soured.

"Another one?! What is wrong with that dunce?"

"You know Orihime chan, you should just spike that idiots drink and seduce him… With his appetite.." But Renji never finished as Rukia hit him on the head. The couple started bickering about how Orihime seducing Ichigo was not a good idea at all.

"Errr… anooo… Rukia chan, Renji kun, its not like I could ever seduce anyone, so… ummm,.. ehehehe.." Orihime tried to dissipate the tension between the couple.

By the time Ishida arrived, Orihime Rukia and Renji were jumping around, Renji making vulgar jestures, Rukia sending flying kicks his way and Orihime gesticulating comically while scratching her head occasionally.

"Errr… Inoue san… Rukia san, Renji… Hello." Ishida sweat dropped.

"Ahhh Ishida kun, you got the cake!" Orihime used the diversion to escape from the battling couple and freed Ishida of the cake. Just then Ichigo arrived… with a dark haired purple eyed girl who looked quite unlike the long leggy model type girls he was usually found dating.

"Hey guys! So everyones here huh! I got some hard liquor!" he voiced, placing down a bottle of vodka and orange juice as his companion shrunk behind him. All noise stopped.

Rukia glared at Ichigo, while Renji watched his girlfriend and friend nervously; Ishida shifted his glasses and Orihime stood still. Then realizing the ackward silence that had creeped up the group she quickly chimed

"Ah Kurosaki kun, welcome! Come in! Oh is that your companion? Hello, I am Inoue Orihime. Err, I am Kurosaki kuns friends. We are all friends actually… "

" Calm down Inoue. Guys this is Senna. Senna the short midget there is Rukia, the red pineapple next to her is Renji, and the triangular man is Ishida."

"Who the hell did you call a midget?!"

"Pineapple?! I'll have you know that these glorious locks are.."

" Is calling me a triangle your pathetic attempt at humour Kurosaki.."

Orihime smiled. Soon her friends had started bickering, and Senna had joined in. The ice had been broken. Except in her heart of course. Orihime realized that no matter how many times Ichigo brought girls over, she always felt the same chill in her heart.

The rest of the night went by pretty uneventfully… from their typical standards that is. They found that Senna had just started at Keio, and Ichigo had met her while he was overseeing one of the QnA sessions for undergrads who wanted to go to med school. This was their third date. Unlike other girls in the past, Ichigo seemed to like Senna (and not just physically). As it got late, Ishida left to pick up Nemu (they had been dating for a while now). Soon Ichigo followed with Senna and finally only Rukia and Renji remained.

"Do you want me to stay over today?" Rukia asked Orihime knowingly. Orihime looked at her friend with sheer gratitude. Rukia wasn't very emotive or overly protective like Tatsuki, but she had always been there when Orihime was really down.

However she knew Rukia had work next day. And that between designing soft toys for her brothers company, The Seaweed Admiral, and completing her part time course in graphic design, Rukia barely had time for Renji. She started shaking her head but Rukia stopped her.

"I heard about the omiai. I want to know.." she said with finality. Taking his cue, Renji cleaned up some things and got ready to leave.

Once alone, Rukia and Orihime sat together with two buckets of ice cream that Orihime had laid in front of them.

"Ice cream huh? Nii sama can be a real tool sometime." Rukia sighed.

"No rukia chan! Kuchiki san was very polite. And um, kind." Orihime interrupted hastily.

Orihime had only met Kuchiki Byakuya twice now as a part of an omiai arranged by her aunt. Apparently the windowed noble's family was looking to find him another wife so he could get down to creating heirs. Orihime was from a normal family for most part, but her fathers side had some noble blood. Despite Byakuya's good looks and entrepreneurial success (Seaweed Admiral was the most popular plushie company in Japan), pickings were few and standards were high. The family wanted someone at least somewhat close to nobility, 100% Japanese, young and beautiful. Orihime fit the bill oerfectly and her aunt knew someone who had arranged the meeting. Orihime would have refused, but she owed her aunt too much, and the woman had rarely asked anything of her. So she had gone.

Only to find that the man she was on a blind arranged date on with, was her best friends older brother. It had been awkward to say the least. Byakuya of course, didn't recognize her. He didn't "meddle" with his sisters life, and the only reason he knew Ichigo was because the orange haired male annoyed him to no end.

Maybe it was because he didn't know of Orihime's relationship with Rukia, or because he was generally honest and to the point, but Byakuya had made the purpose of the meeting very clear, lest Orihime misunderstand.

His family wanted him to remarry, and this time not against their wishes as he had last time. He was looking for a marriage partner, not love. He was planning to move back to the family's ancestral home in Hokkaido and his wife would be expected to follow with him, live under the watch of the large noble family and make heirs. He was meeting Orihime, as he was other candidates, to see whether she would be suitable for such a life, as his family wanted to ensure that he could at least tolerate his wife.

Orihime had cringed at his harsh words, but she appreciated him being honest. She had only agreed to the omiai, thinking that as she had no luck in love anyways, she might as well give arranged marriage a try. As cold as Byakuya's words were, she at least appreciated that he was honest and she could tell how this would play out. She hadn't told Rukia, mostly because she was sure that Byakuya would reject her as he could surely get a much more elegant and classier woman to marry him and become the lady of the house.

However, after the second meeting, Rukia had found out and here they were, talking about it for the first time. She quickly filled Rukia in, taking care to mention that she appreciated Byakuya's honesty. Rukia on the other hand, turned red and looked positively embarrassed.

" I am so sorry Orihime! Nii sama is not a bad person. He is just a bit… direct at times. I just wanted you to know that while I would like nothing more than for you to be officially a part of my family, you don't need to accept his offer! Especially when he is making such a sour one.."

"Its ok Rukia chan! Umm, he hasn't made any offer. He said he wanted to keep meeting the eligible candidates for a few weeks at least! So I am sure things aren't even close to anywhere decisive yet! Frankly, I didn't think he would want to meet me again… I am sure he can do better…" Orihime trailed off.

"Are you crazy Orihime?! My brother should thank his stars a knock out like you is willing to consider his old ass." Clearly Rukia had been spending too much time with Renji. Orihime laughed, feeling much lighter than before.

The two friends chatted away into the night, not caring about the fact that they both had work the next day.

Kisuke Urahara stared at the report in front of him. As always, Orihime Inoue had finished everything, and all by herself. The work was impeccable and organized. However it lacked spark.

Urahara sighed. When he had first hired Orihime, he knew she would be great due to her warm nature and wild imagination. However somewhere in the two years of office politics, bullying and probably just life in general, she had lost that spark. She did her work, even her colleagues' work. Yet there was no imagination, no warmth in the ideas and reports she pitched.

He would have to change that. And he had just the right plan in mind. Without thinking further, he placed a call to the New York office of Aizen corp.

"Make it quick Urahara, I am busy" came a smooth voice from the other end.

"Hellooooo Sousuke kun! I have a request…"

On the other end, Aizen smirked. It had been quite a while since Kisuke Urahara had plotted something. This was going to be interesting.