Summary: When disturbing voices and figures start tormenting Inoue in her dreams, what does it mean? Aizen is locked up, right? And why is Ichigo suddenly remembering these strange lines? Five lifetimes… One Love? IchiHime!

A/N: Okay, this is my newest attempt at an IchiHime story, but! I've decided I was done with oneshots so get ready for a longer adventure! Enjoy

Nightmare Realm

Chapter 1: A Wicked Voice

Orihime ran down a pitch black hallway, no end in sight and not really sure how she got there in the first place. There were no walls, yet she felt the place was about to crumble around her. She felt as if something was chasing her, an unknown figure that was just about to catch up, she could almost feel his breath on her neck. Picking up her pace, the scene grew more and more vivid as an invisible grip tightened around her throat. Her lungs screamed for air, but she couldn't breathe. She tried to move, but found herself paralyzed, unable to scream, unable to cry, she felt the terror around her, her skin burning, the grip around her neck tightening even further.

"Orihime"

She heard a painfully familiar voice call out to her in slow motion, sending shivers down her spine. The invisible hand around her lost its grip and she was now falling, not able to move any part of her body…

She woke up with a gasp, covered in a cold sweat. Breathing heavily, she wrapped the blanket tighter around her trembling body. She moved her shaky hands to cover her face, and found that it was already wet; she could taste the salty tears on her lips.

She looked around her, as if to make sure that everything was alright. And it was. Her bed, her room, her stuff animals, the scent of cinnamon cookies she had backed for tomorrow's lunch.

It was just a nightmare. A full blown, bizarre and insanely real nightmare.

She felt a sharp pain on top of her head as she glanced at her clock and realized she had only slept for 2 hours. And there was no way she could go back to sleep now.

Another restless night was ahead, and she sighed at the thought of it as she lay back down trying not to think of the scenes that just took place in her mind.

This had been the forth night in a row that she had not slept well, but tonight was the first time she had actually heard someone call out her name like that. Out of all the horrible things she had witnessed in her nightmares, that was probably the worst. The bare thought of it was enough to make her heart beat faster and tears start forming at the corner of her eyes once more. She clenched her eyelids shut, trying to think happy thoughts, but that seemed ridiculous at this point.

She would tremble and cry silently till dawn.

Ichigo stretched and yawned widely, making his way to Karakura High for another oh so exciting school day, as he noticed two familiar figures walking towards him.

"You look as joyful as ever, Kurosaki" he heard his Quincy friend's sarcastic greeting, if you could call it that, and decided to ignore it.

"Good morning to you too" Ichigo murmured, "What's up, Chad?" he added lazily, not really waiting for a reply as he kept walking, his two friends quickly catching up with him.

The three nakama entered the already crowded schoolyard, as more of their classmates joined them.

Ichigo could hear them analyzing last night's game in the background, but found himself too lazy to join the conversation. He seemed too lost in his own thoughts to engage in any kind of discussion. That was probably why he found himself surprised as they reached their classroom.

The girls were already gathered around a desk in the center of the classroom as he entered, but what caught his eye immediately was the absence of his auburn haired nakama as she was usually the center of attention, with Chizuru drooling after her and Tatsuki shouting out death treats.

He sat at his desk, aimlessly gazing through the window, his mind trailing off again.

"Himeeeee-chaaaan!"

The inarticulate scream of his crazy lesbian classmate brought him out of his thoughts, as his gaze turned to the door, only to see the girl he had just been thinking about.

Orihime dragged her feet across the floor, as her female admirer ran in, her arms wide open for a hug and ready to grab her front. The contact never happened however, as Tatsuki grabbed the girl by the back of her uniform. Orihime, who usually played the part of the peace maker in these situations, tiredly advanced to her desk and stumbled to her seat, sitting down uneasily.

Ichigo observed her closely, as she unpacked her bag in a very an Orihime like fashion. Her movements were slow and not very energetic, her face lacked the usual bright smile and just then he realized, she didn't even greet him. In fact, she hadn't seemed to notice him or any of their other friends for that matter.

Something was off and he could feel it, just by looking at her drained expression, he knew she wasn't being her usual self.

As class was about to start, he forced those worried thoughts away from his mind and tried to focus on the lecture and maintain his attention there as long as possible, but kept glancing back at her, only to find her lost in her own thoughts, as if she was only physically present.

Ichigo frowned as he turned back to stare at the blackboard, to anxious to concentrate on keeping notes, he figured he'd just copy them from Ishida. Was he being too paranoid? For a second he found himself feeling ridiculous about looking too deep into this. She could have just been having an off day or something! And since when was he the one to overanalyze other people's behavior anyway?

Still, he couldn't shake this irritable, angsty feeling that had gotten under his skin off. What had disturbed him the most was the fact that his intuition rarely let him down.

The school bell rang and Ichigo snapped out of his jumbled thoughts, he picked up his schoolbag and slowly made his way out of the classroom.

"Kurosaki, Inoue-san, you coming?" he heard Ishida call out and glanced back to notice Orihime still packing up her bag, lost in her own world, she didn't even seem to register the question directed to her.

"You guys go ahead, we'll catch up" Ichigo replied, ignoring the amused smirk Ishida gave him before heading off with Chad.

Orihime seemed to have finally become aware of her surroundings, as she looked surprised to have found herself in the room alone with him.

He silently watched her pick up the rest of her stuff as he still wasn't sure how to start the conversation.

"Inoue?" he finally spoke, his voice sounding softer that usual. "Is… everything alright?"

She looked up at him with a confused expression, but quickly replaced it with a seemingly forced smile. "Y-yes, Kurosaki-kun! U-uh, why do you ask?" she stuttered as they walked together, making their way out of the school.

"I just noticed you spaced out during class, and you seem a bit disoriented… Is something bothering you?"

"What-ugh, no! Not at all" she started. "I just didn't sleep so well last night, you know? The little blue men just kept waking me up and…" she went on, as Ichigo studied her face, noticing the dark circles under her eyes that manifested her exhaustion.

Just then, she somehow managed to trip over her own feet and almost hit the ground hard but instead found herself in a pair of strong arms, holding her firmly.

"K-kurosaki-kun?" he heard her mutter against his chest, slowly looking up and meeting his gaze. Taking a good look at her, he noticed a light blush creeping on her cheeks and almost smirked at her, but reminded himself he had more important things to worry about as he helped her on her feet.

"I-I'm just a little dizzy, that's all!" she explained, avoiding his gaze, slowly distancing herself from him. "I'll see you tomorrow then, nee?"

"Wait, Inoue" he called out. "I should probably walk you home…"

"N-no!" she replied urgently. "I'm fine, really! No need to worry. Bye!" And with that, she hurried down the road, not giving him a chance to protest.

Ichigo rubbed his chin in confusion as he watched her walk away and decided to drop the subject for the time being. He didn't own her, nor did he have the right to force her to open up. But something was bothering her and he was sure of it. Or maybe he was just monitoring her too closely?

Ever since the Hueco Mundo fiasco he always kept an eye open for her, as his resolve to protect her was now stronger then ever. Especially since he had experienced the feeling of actually losing her, he couldn't make the same mistake again. Ever.

He frowned at the images his mind was creating, remembering the morning he first found out she had been kidnapped.

"Oi, Kurosaki!" an all too familiar voice stopped his train of thoughts. "Your rendezvous' finally over, huh?"

Ichigo shot the Quincy with a single icy glare, as he joined him and Chad and continued walking.

Silence filled the air until Ichigo finally spoke out. "You guys didn't notice anything weird about Inoue today, did you?"

"What do you mean?" he heard Chad's deep baritone reply.

"I mean" he started "She didn't seem like her usual self and…"

"Kurosaki" Ishida suddenly interrupted. "What happened in Hueco Mundo is over. Months have passed. She's safe."

"I know that" Ichigo never shifted his gaze from the ground. "But that's what we thought before too, and you know how it turned out."

"Ishida's right, Ichigo" Chad suddenly exclaimed. "Aizen's locked up, there's nothing he can do from where he's at. And there hasn't been any strange reiatsu ever since. Stop torturing yourself."

"And ask Inoue-san out already" Ishida added, as his face lit up with a devilish grin.

"Shut up" Ichigo snored and let the rest of the walk home go in silence. It turned out he was tormenting himself with disturbing thoughts for no reason after all. Ishida and Chad were right, Aizen was no longer a threat, and if a new enemy was lurking, they would have picked up on it by now.

He let out one last deep sigh, as he allowed his mind to wander off.

Little did he know, later that night a certain auburn-haired girl was going in for another round of the hell that were here disturbingly real nightmares.

To be continued…

A/N: Sooo, how was it? This kind of writing is really new to me, since all of my stories have been fluffy and well, positive? I wanted to make this one a little darker and angstier.

I know there hasn't been much of IchiHime, but I promise there's much more to come!

Still, I'd like to know what you guys thought! Is it worth continuing? If yes, please say so, so that I'll know writing this isn't completely pointless xD

Have a nice day

xo