Disclaimer: Bleach? Absolutely not mine.
Hi, a new UlquiHime fanfiction for you, since The Red Thread will end soon.
The theme will be a bit unusual in this fandom, but still worth your time.
This one will be multichapters, but I still haven't decided how long it will take. Well, it won't be that long, anyway.
For now, enjoy.
"Orihime-san!"
A loud feminine voice echoed in the hall.
An orange-haired beauty stopped walking and swung her head to the source of the voice. She saw a petite young lady sprinted towards her. The black-haired beauty halted before her and panted roughly. She managed to calm down before throwing her orange haired friend a playful glare.
"I've called you for more than three minutes but you didn't even stop!"
Orihime scratched the back of her head nervously and gave her companion a wobbly smile.
"Eh, you see, Rukia-chan…..I was thinking of-of….red bean paste! Yeah, I was thinking of red bean paste for my dinner! That's it!" she exclaimed childishly.
Rukia just assessing her with those violet orbs suspiciously, which made Orihime gulped, before she yielded.
"Okay, I won't be mad at you. But you need to pay attention to your surroundings, Orihime-san! A stalker maybe after you, or worse, a kidnapper! And you don't even realize it!" she scolded.
"Ehehe. I'm sorry."
The violet-eyed lass sweatdropped. Orihime Inoue was famous for many things, especially for her beauty and gentleness. But she's also famous for being an airhead sometimes. It's not that the brown-eyed beauty was academically slow, but she definitely had habit of spacing out anytime and anywhere. Several boys in their class considered it cute, but her friend's bad habit worried her.
"Rukia-chan, what did you want to talk about?" the brown-eyed girl asked her curiously.
"Yes, about that, Nii-san asked me to relay his message to you. He said to meet him at his office after classes today."
Now, the one who Rukia Kuchiki called as 'Nii-san' was her own older brother, Byakuya Kuchiki, who was their English teacher in Karakura High. The boys were afraid of him, the girls swooned at him, and Rukia certainly idolized him.
Orihime bit her lip anxiously. Her grade was decreasing lately.
"….me-san! Orihime-san!"
Orihime jolted. Here they were having a conversation but then she just had to space out. Rukia shook her head in exasperation. Her friend really was a lost cause.
"Ah, Rukia-chan, what did you say?" she asked innocently.
Rukia huffed before answering, "Nothing, just don't forget to see my Nii-san after school, okay?"
Her friend nodded.
"Well, I have to go. I hope Ichigo won't complain at me for taking so long. Lunch break is almost over, afterall. See you later."
Orihime waved her hand as a gesture of saying goodbye. She had a smile plastered on her beautiful face when actually inwardly she was feeling jealous and guilty.
Back then, when Rukia called her, she was busying her thought not with red bean paste, even when she loved the said food to death. She was thinking of her long-time crush, Ichigo Kurosaki. No, not crush, because what she felt for him ran deeper than a mere crush. She loved him. Her heart always fluttered when she thought about him. She wanted to be with him, to grow old together, to be the one who welcomed him home in the future. For years she had waited for him to see her as someone special, not just a mere friend, but even a blind could see how he had his eyes only for the petite violet lass, and his affection was not unrequited. It was just a matter of time for them to be together as an item.
Orihime sighed. Her love life was not like what she wanted. She was jealous of her pretty little friend, but somehow it made her feel guilty whenever she thought about it. Because no matter what, if she could help it, she would be the one who had Kurosaki-kun at the end.
Knock. Knock.
"Come in," a baritone voice answered from behind the door.
Orihime entered Kuchiki-sensei's room reluctantly. The said teacher was busy marking paperwork.
"You called for me, sensei?"
Obsidian eyes saw straight at her, making her gulped.
"Inoue, sit down, please."
The brown eyed lady complied.
"Let's talk to the point. Recently, your grade decreases dangerously. Do you have problem with my subject?"
At this, Orihime shook her head.
"Well, if that so, care to tell me what your reason is?"
She sighed. It's not like she could tell him that she had love problem and it's gnawing her heart and mind. So, she chose for a vague answer.
"I was…preoccupied, Sir," she replied softly.
Byakuya raised one eyebrow.
"Of what exactly?"
Orihime hesitated momentarily before answering, "You know…..about my life."
Byakuya huffed. He knew about this girl, she was one of his sister's bestfriends afterall. Orihime Inoue lived alone after the death of her brother. Her parents left them since she was five. Currently, her aunt took care of her; well actually Orihime Inoue took care of herself because her aunt lived very far from Karakura and just taking responsibility in sending money every month. The girl was strong, he had to admit it. Maybe he didn't need to be so hard on her.
"Okay, I understand," he stated, "but you need to solve this condition, because I can't help you, even if you are Rukia's bestfriend. You are dismissed."
Orihime felt relieved. She was lucky her sensei knew her personally. Well, technically she didn't lie. Her life sure was challenging.
"Thank you, Kuchiki-sensei."
After showing her gratitude with a bow, she left the room.
An orange haired beauty walked alone on the almost empty street. That night was a bit chilly for her taste. Orihime sighed. Her not-so-thick coat definitely didn't help much. Today was a busy day for her. Her part time job in local bakery house was demanding, but, it's Orihime, and she certainly loved her job. Her boss was an eccentric blonde man who was so kind towards his employees. He ran the business with his wife, a beautiful purplish haired woman with a graceful-like cat. The bakery was so famous in Karakura, and today the customers were even almost thrice the usual.
The married couple knew about her tough life, so they often gave her free pastries and unnecessary bonuses. Orihime's eyes sparkled with childish innocent. She could eat red bean paste bread with wasabi everyday.
Suddenly, something caught her eyes. A shop, with unique display, stood there in the corner of the street. It seemed new because she was sure the place was empty after the previous owner sold it for he wanted to move out of the town.
Orihime jogged towards it.
'The night is still young so it's okay to pay a little visit to a new shop,' she thought, 'no one even waits for me at home, anyway.'
She shrugged and opened the door. The bell chimed, informing there was a new visitor. A middle aged woman with long ebony hair welcomed her warmly.
"Oh, I didn't expect visitors at this hour but you are absolutely welcomed here."
She threw her a smile.
"Thank you. Is this shop new here?" the orange haired lass asked as her eyes assessing the room.
"Yes, we just open today. Well, actually we'll open officially tomorrow….."
Orihime gasped and stammered, "I'm s-sorry, it was rude of me. Oh my, I should go."
The shopkeeper just smiled and shook her head.
"Nah, it's okay. Stay here. I've told you already that I'm glad to welcome you here. You can check the collections. Well, excuse me, I have to go to help my assistant in the back. If you need something just call me, okay?"
Orihime nodded. The woman left her alone to her device. Well, if the owner didn't mind at all, maybe she could go sightseeing for awhile.
The shop was not like your usual shop. At first glance on the collections, she realized the shop was an antique shop. Beautiful ornaments were hung on the wall, various antique crafts sat on equally antique desks, a shelf contained several old books, and so on. Everything was so refreshing for her even when practically every single thing there was much older than her.
From her peripheral vision, something shone. Orihime swung her head towards its direction. A beautiful hair ornament captured her attention. She couldn't fight the temptation to touch it.
"So beautiful…." she murmured softly.
The said beautiful thing was a kanzashi that usually was used as hair ornament of traditional Japanese woman. It was made of tortoiseshell and adopted a hibiscus-like form with four petals. At the end of each petal, dangling a chain decorated with mini pearls, but what had her mesmerized was not it. There in the center of the hibiscus an emerald stone was placed and it glowed beautifully, attracting anyone who dared to spare it a glance. Orihime traced the kanzashi gently. It looked fragile and she didn't want to see something so beautiful break because of her.
"See anything you like?"
The voice made her jolted and almost dropped the hair ornament. Luckily, it still remained in one piece after suffering her clumsiness.
"Oh, my God. I'm so sorry. I was lost in thought and almost drop this," she blabbered.
The shop owner just offered a smile.
"Well, at least you didn't really drop it. Now, do you like it?" she gestured towards the kanzashi.
Orihime stared at the said ornament.
"Actually, yes. Is this for sale?"
The woman nodded.
"Um, may I know how much is the price?"
"Well, because it's antique so it's kind of expensive. It's one hundred and forty thousand yen."
Orihime's eyes almost bulged. Almost. It was way too expensive for a kanzashi. She was a bit tight of money this month.
"W-well, it's really expensive. I think I can't afford it," she stated gloomily.
She really wanted to own that kanzashi. Something told her that she must have it. Maybe she could save her money starting today and get another part time job. That way in the couple of months she could buy it. But what if someone buy it before her? No, she had to make sure no one would have it before her. Begged to the shop owner, maybe? She seemed like a nice woman.
As the brown-eyed lady was busy with her thought, the shop owner assessed her. The young woman seemed to like the piece of ornament so much. She definitely looked sad when she learned the price. Maybe she could help her.
"Do you really like the kanzashi?"
The young woman nodded.
"Well, it can't be helped then. I'll give it to you for free."
She smiled at the orange haired lady. The said lady looked at her surprised. Her mouth agape.
"Oh, no…no….I can't….you shouldn't….." she started babbling incoherently.
The shop owner, still smiling, shook her head.
"I've never seen someone who wanted something from my collections this much. I have opened my shop for almost ten years, and this time I moved to Karakura because I heard it's some nice town. What motivated me back then to open my shop was to bring happiness and satisfaction to my customers. Since the shop is an antique one, the costumers were usually collectors who were interested in antique stuffs. But even those collectors didn't have infatuation to one of my collection like you've just showed me. I'm impressed because some young woman can value this old thing."
"But it's not fair if I can have it without paying."
"Well, if you insist, I'll let you pay. You can pay whenever you want, no matter how many years from now on. Don't push yourself to get more money because of it. I am a patient woman."
Orihime finally relented. She couldn't help but thank the shop owner for her generosity.
"Oh, anyway, you sure have sharp eyes," the shop owner stated.
At Orihime confused expression, she continued, "The kanzashi was claimed can bring luck to the bearer. I don't know if the rumor is true or not. I myself never think the luck that I have had for five years, since the kanzashi in my possession, was from that kanzashi. The previous owner told me it has magic, but well I never believe in that kind of stuff."
Orihime eyed the object on her hand. When she was little, she was very curious of magical things like in fairy tale. As she grew old, she started to believe that magic was just people's imagination, but the child in her never stopped believing.
She accidentally saw her watch and gasped. It's late already.
"Oh my, I didn't realize it's already this late. Sorry for intruding and thank you for the gift. I will do my best to pay it soon. And don't worry, I won't push myself."
She offered her an innocent big smile. The shop owner nodded smilingly.
"Thank you once again, umm…."
"Retsu. Unohana Retsu."
"Oh, I am Orihime Inoue. Thank you, Unohana-san. I will visit this shop often. I wish you the best of luck."
Orihime exited the shop and headed towards her small apartment hurriedly. She gripped the kanzashi in her hand. The smile never left her face that night.
Back in the shop, Unohana Retsu thought about the young lady.
"Orihime Inoue. What an innocent little being….."
T B C
Proverbs 23: 18
"There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off."
If you ask me where Ulquiorra is, well he will appear on the next chapter.
What do you think of this chapter? If you like the idea, please support me by leaving reviews, favorite, and following.
I post this to test the water. If you guys like it, the next chapter will come out soon, but if you don't, I think I need to start another fiction.
Okay, as usual, please visit my other fictions.
God bless you.