This is after Even Through the Storm, which took place during summer vacation. It has been about two months and school has began. This prologue is exactly the same as the epilogue of Even Through the Storm, so you can skip it if you already read it.
Eye Of The Hurricane
Prologue
"Did you hear?!" Tatsuki raved to her friends, "Ichigo has a girlfriend!" The girls around her nodded. It was the biggest news of the new school year.
Tatsuki looked at Inoue. She was absentmindedly eating her truckload of sweets. "Inoue," Tatsuki yelled at her friend. Inoue instantly snapped her head up and looked around. "I'm sorry!" she bowed. Tatsuki shook her head and continued going on about Ichigo and Rukia. Slowly Inoue began losing herself in thought again.
'So…Ichigo has found someone…' she thought to herself. She looked up and saw the two of them eating lunch together. They seemed genuinely happy.
"What's wrong, Orihime?" One of the girls asked. Inoue looked at her in confusion. Suddenly she felt something wet fall into her lap. It was her tears. "Oh! I'm fine, really!" she cried, wiping them quickly. Her friends shrugged and went back to their conversation.
Inoue looked over at the happy couple. Her heart broke into millions of pieces. 'Why am I reacting this way?' she thought, 'Why am I not smiling like everyone else?' She quickly stood up and started running into the building. She ignored the calls behind her as she turned into the bathroom.
"Ichigo!" she cried to no one. Fat tears were rolling down her face. Her stomach ached with each hiccup she made. "Ichigo! Why do I feel this way?" She stood against a wall and sobbed loudly. Then she let her body slide to the floor. "Why, Kurosaki Ichigo…do I love you?"