Okay, so wow. I haven't written anything at all in the longest time and I thought I might as well give up on writing in general (since it's just a hobby anyway), but I came across this story I wrote over a year ago and I thought I'd share it with you guys. I hope you enjoy it. (:

Sacrificial Treasure

An Altering Tale

Orihime gawked back at her reflection in the school bathroom mirror. Her skin was chalky pale and blanched, ragged. Slightly dark bags blemished the skin under her large grey eyes due to lack of sleep from studying for her final exams. Her breathing had finally returned to normal after more than a few minutes of panting.

Her weary, drained body had just undergone another round of regurgitating any sort of contents inhabiting her stomach. She was only ever so grateful that she was able to escape from her classroom, arrive at an unoccupied stall, and hold her ridiculously long auburn hair back just in time before the revolting vomit left her system.

She leaned over the sink, holding her lengthy tresses back with one small hand and allowing the sink tap water to trickle and fall into her cupped palm. She rinsed out her mouth with the artificial taste of the tap water, gurgling, spitting, and rinsing as much as she possibly could. Having this nauseating taste in her mouth had always made her need to throw up yet again. At this point, she had been considering carrying a few packs of gum with her wherever she went.

Feeling as though most of the sickening flavor in her mouth was gone, she rinsed her face and attempted to practice a few bright smiles in the mirror. Never in her existence had she had to attempt to fake smiles, excluding times during her childhood, but especially throughout the current stage in her life.

She was the happiest teenager alive. She had an amazing group of friends, one whom she could go to for any dilemma, especially her two best friends Tatsuki and Rukia. But even better, she had literally received a dream come true. Ever since the summer before her first year of high school, she had started crushing on a certain boy in her neighborhood and little did she know that he would returned those simple and pure feelings when they had begun attending the same high school a few months later. They had become friends quite quickly and soon afterwards both their romantic feelings for each other bloomed and they both fell into a willing relationship full of love and care. One of almost three years. And during the course of those three years, they had gone through so many joyous and perilous experiences. She was truly grateful and she loved him with all her heart, but with the latest event that occurred in her life, she could not help but only think about that event and how much her life was slowly changing.

Surrendering to her pitiful attempts of smiling (when she really did not feel like doing so), she exited from the small bathroom and walked down the hall back to the classroom she had abruptly ran out of.

Entering the spacious room crowded with occupied seats and curious eyes, she strolled in quite awkwardly, her eyes glued to the floor, fingers laced together behind her back.

"Inoue-san, are you okay? Do you need to go to the nurse or anything of that nature?" Ochi-sensei worriedly asked the self-conscious teen.

"Um… no, no, that's fine. I'm all right now, just a… false alarm," she guiltily lied through a minuscule hushed whisper. She added in one of her bright trademark smiles knowing that would somewhat reassure her teacher.

"All right, well, if you need to go to the nurse later on or something, you can go without my permission if it's urgent," she declared, then motioning with her hand for Orihime to get back in her seat.

Orihime nodded and quickly shuffled back into her chair. She could feel most of the class' eyes on her, but the students finally just went back to doodling in their notebooks or texting due to Ochi-sensei's drawling lecture on some shenanigans they would consider a foreign language.

But for those who actually did care for her, their eyes were all still on her. Eyes filled with sincere concern and apprehension because none of them had a single clue as to what was going on with the usually jubilant girl, not even Ichigo, her boyfriend. Her behavior was gradually changing and not only did he notice this alteration, but her friends as well. Ones who were growing anxious and troubled for her day by day.

She knew they were all staring at her, burning holes through her clothing with their anxious gazes. Just with the acknowledgement of those actions from her friends, brought her to feeling even more at fault. She did not desire for the people she cared about to go through anything difficult, especially if she was the doer and responsible for their stress.

Ichigo just watched Orihime intently, following her every motion with slight movements of his light brown eyes. He could not help but feel fretful about whatever it was that was bothering her. He knew she had not been feeling very well as of late, but he did not expect her having a minor bug to get her so down. Because of this, he was helplessly drawing the conclusion that there was definitely something more. Unfortunately, he had absolutely no knowledge as to what that "something more" possibly could have been. Just that mere fact, tore him to shreds. Her keeping anything from him was so unfamiliar and beyond him. Just grasping the meager idea, he was finding to be so truly difficult, thorny.

But he recognized that if it was a matter which was strictly significant, she would most definitely come to him and express whatever it was that was weighing her down. Chaining her light heart. Trapping her in a cage. She would, wouldn't she?

Ichigo grabbed at his bright orange hair in frustration, turning away from Orihime. He could not begin to doubt her. What kind of a boyfriend of almost three years would ever do that? But even more, how could he question her when all she ever did was display true reliability and faithfulness?

He would wait and linger for her, without complaining, to tell him whatever it was that was burdening her. Just for her. Just for them.

Deciding to distract herself instead of dwelling on this current issue, the auburn-haired young woman rested her chin in her hand and fell into a daydream as she faced the window, staring out into the light blue sky and listening to the merry birds as they called to each other in a melodious song of beckoning.

Orihime and her friends congregated up on the rooftop above their school for their lunch period. Whenever the weather was well enough, the sun exuding sufficient heat, they would always go up to the roof to eat their lunches. It had become an unspoken ritual over the years and their entire group subconsciously and contentedly obliged.

"Ugh, I am really not looking forward to these final exams," Arisawa Tatsuki grunted. Tatsuki had been Orihime's best friend since they were children having gone to the same elementary school together and defending her from bullies. A clique of girls had constantly harassed Orihime because she had gorgeous long auburn tresses and eventually even went as far as to cutting off those beautiful locks. Tatsuki, not even knowing Orihime, had protected her and tackled the snooty girls. Ever since then, they had been best friends.

"Tell me about it. I haven't even started studying yet," Ichigo groaned, to Orihime's left.

"Final exams aren't that tedious. If you study, then you should be fine. It's not that stressful," Ishida Uryu declared, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. Ishida with his long jet black hair was a ridiculously studious learner. He emanated pure intelligence in the way he spoke and all through his actions as well. He very much knew how to tick off his friends when it came to topics like these.

"Shut up, Ishida. No one needs your input," Ichigo retorted.

"It's not my fault you haven't been studying and just because of your true lack of knowledge, you will fail anyway, Kurosaki," Ishida glared.

Just before Ichigo could even snap a nasty reply back at Ishida, Orihime simply place a hand on his shoulder, signaling for him to stop the war that would have never ended between the two rivals.

After feeling her small hand on his shoulder, he looked toward her, silently letting her know he would stop. Being this physically close to her, he examined the bags under eyes and her usually natural rosiness' absence.

Observing the distress in his eyes, she instantaneously looked away and to her convenience, her friend, Kuchiki Rukia, offered her some food. The dish Rukia was holding out to her, Donburi, contained a myriad of ingredients that's smell sent Orihime's stomach lurching.

She immediately covered her mouth and nose to block out the smell and shield the world from any possible bile which would escape her mouth.

'Breathe Orihime, breath. Breath Orihime, breathe,' she consistently and repeatedly told herself. Those words soon became somewhat easier to apply to her actions when she felt Ichigo's large hand rubbing soothing tiny circles on her back. Shortly after, the urge to vomit subsided and she felt it more uncomplicated to breathe again. She gratefully smiled at her boyfriend for consoling her.

"Hime, why are you even in school if you feel so sick?" Tatsuki asked.

Orihime's eyes grew wide at the question, not expecting it in the slightest. "Um… well, I couldn't miss any schoolwork since finals are next week! And besides I only feel sick every once in a while. It's kind of strange actually. It's like I'm not always sick… just sometimes. It happens in intervals."

"Wow, that is somewhat odd," Ishida said, their other friend Sado quietly nodding his in agreement. "I don't think I could even quite come up with an explanation for that. Maybe those are the symptoms to some disease. You should go to the doctors so they can examine you."

Orihime's eyes bugged. A disease? That was too scary of a thought.

Ishida's words were just worrying Ichigo even further. A scowl danced across his brows as his features gradually darkened. Orihime felt him tensing beside her. "Why don't you be quiet and not say things like that, eh, Ishida?"

"Yeah, Ishida! Orihime, what do you feel though? At the sight of my Donburi, you looked as if you were going to vomit. And I assume that's what you did today during class when ran out of the classroom…," Rukia awkwardly asked.

"Um… hehe, yeah. And I'm sorry if I'm concerning you guys, but it's probably just a small bug and nothing serious at all," she smiled nervously. Only she herself knew this was something much more than serious and she felt ridiculously guilty for lying to her best friends.

Although her hesitation was merely minor, they all noted it nonetheless. But out of graciousness, they decided to act as though they brushed it off.

"We hope you feel better soon," Sado spoke out of the blue, his friends all nodding their heads in harmony.

"Ah, thank you very much everyone," she smiled genuinely. A smile they all observed to be a true one and not forced. Feeling somewhat satisfied, they all commenced in speaking about their weekend plans which would never occur due to their parents forcing them to be stuck in their houses to study for their final exams.

Hearing the bell ring, signaling the end of their lunch period, they all packed away their leftovers and strolled back to class smiling and laughing.

Ichigo felt as though he was the only one who was not pleased in the slightest.

Sensing the beautifully natural heat emanating from the sun, Orihime basked in its warmth, spreading out her arms at both sides, face towards the vast blue sky. She truly adored this hot and shining weather. Flowers were in full bloom, the sun was shining at its brightest, the birds chirped and sang, and it signaled the end of school year which was blissful for most students. This is what happy weather was for Orihime and when the weather was happy, so was she.

"Two more weeks of school left and then summer vacation and then college!" she exclaimed with a bright smile.

"Mhm," Ichigo shortly responded as they both walked to her apartment together.

Frowning at his dumpy and fruitless response, Orihime asked, "Is something wrong, Ichi?" Although she asked him this question, she knew all too well he was not all right in the slightest and she was most likely the culprit for making him feel this way.

Instead of responding at all, he just kept silent the whole way to her apartment. This completely dampened Orihime's previously bright mood. Ichigo rarely treated her this way and when he did, she felt absolutely terrible.

She knew she was keeping what she knew she shouldn't from Ichigo, but she just did not know whether she was prepared for the adventure of telling him what was really wrong with her. She never kept anything from him, but she found it easier to keep secrets that were a little too much to grasp or affected not only her but others as well. This secret… she did not even know where she would start or how she would go about the conversation whenever it was when she would tell him, albeit she did not plan on informing him any time soon.

She had gone so astray in her thoughts, that she barely almost noticed they had arrived at their destination. She pulled out her key as they arrived at her apartment door. Her hand shook as she held the key. Pondering so much on the current circumstances made her so incredibly nervous that she couldn't even hold the key right.

Ichigo sighed, noticing her obvious trouble. He grabbed the key from her hand and unlocked the door. Swinging the door open, they both entered the small living room and slipped their shoes off.

Orihime took a peek at Ichigo and noted how pensive he appeared. She was not the only one constantly lost in her thoughts today. Knowing better than to bother him, she slid into the kitchen to get them both some ice cream. She noted that ice cream was one of the only foods she could actually consume without feeling the need to throw up.

She filled his glass bowl with chocolate ice cream and hers with strawberry. She smiled to herself as she filled her bowl. The fact that strawberry was her favorite flavor for almost all sweet foods was not on purpose, but quite more coincidental. That always made her smile. She would always think of Ichigo when it came to strawberries.

She stored away the cartons of ice cream in the fridge, picked up the two cold bowls, and sauntered into the living room. She became aware of the fact that Ichigo was still drowning in a sea of deliberation, paying almost no attention to his surroundings whatsoever. She placed his bowl of the chocolate frozen treat on the table with a slight clatter, sitting down and already digging into her ice cream.

At the sound of the bowl touching the small table, Ichigo woke up from his reverie with a subtle jolt and examined the scene before him. Orihime was devouring her ice cream like a bug eyed child while a lone bowl of untouched chocolate ice cream lay before him. He faintly smiled at his girlfriend's actions; she was way too sweet and adorable for his own good. He did not deserve her after doubting her numerous times today.

He took in a deep breath to brush aside any uncertainties and grabbed a spoonful of ice cream and swiped it into his mouth. He allowed the cold treat to melt on his hot tongue, savoring the taste. Oh how he loved chocolate and the way this ice cream was cooling off his hot body.

In view of the fact that Orihime had already demolished her strawberry treat, she sat idly watching Ichigo relish his ice cream. She was content to see him so tranquil for once today. But soon that serenity was replaced with his previous behavior, only this time concern flashed across his eyes. Caught off guard by his sudden change in aura, she shakily sighed and felt it was the time to tell him what had been on her mind as of late.

"Ichi… I have to tell you something," she nervously whispered, her gulp being almost completely audible.

Ichigo was essentially taken aback at the fact that she was going to tell him whatever was going on so soon. 'Maybe this has been going on a lot longer than I would have known…' he thought to himself.

He took her petite hand in his from across the small table, nodding his head in encouragement to continue.

She did feel fairly uplifted with the gentle actions he displayed, but nothing could really muster the discomfort and true dread that racked her body mentally and physically.

"Um… hm… er… I don't know how to say this…," she shyly began.

"Hime," he said, forcing her to look into his eyes, sadness evidently present in his. "You know you can tell me anything and everything. Why should whatever this is you have to tell me be so hard? I love you; don't be scared."

The heart melting words rolling off his tongue struck her with an intensity she could not perceive. They had her tearing; she had to look away from him.

"There's… there's someone… else in the picture."

'Someone else? What does she mean so-? She…'

"You cheated on me?" he let go of her fragile hand, standing up with incredible speed, towering over her shaking form.

She looked into his eyes from her vantage point with true terror, shaking, her eyes larger than saucers. She could not even respond to his bellowing. I'm such an idiot! Why am I always such an idiot? Why did I have to say that to him?

"You're kidding me right?" he unsteadily asked.

"N-no, Ichi…"

He threw his arms above him, lacing his fingers together behind his head, frantically making a full turn in a circle.

Orihime could not believe, in the slightest, that she had chosen the worst set of words to express to him her current situation. Everything was heading in a completely different direction than anticipated. Everything was presently being misunderstood. She was in too much shock to even utter a word as she gawked at him wide-eyed.

He froze in his tirade and looked at her with the most wounded expression she would ever witness in her life. "I guess I wasn't wrong in doubting you so much lately, was I?" With those words said, he grabbed his bag and stormed out of her apartment, slamming the door in the process.

She winced when he slammed the door, but even more when he verbalized those words. 'I guess I wasn't wrong in doubting you so much lately, was I?' Those words continually rang in her ears, a crystal clear tear cascading down her cheek, framing half her chin as it descended to the carpeted floor.

"N-no, no, no…," each syllable she uttered increased in volume until she was almost screaming. She dropped on her knees, feeling reality rush in all too quick of a few seconds. Why had things turned out this way?

Please review if you'd like and let me know what you think. Do not leave any rude comments. Thank you. (:

~Yono~