ANI: Because, obviously, I don't have enough to think about, with stupid school and everything, I'm going to start something new. Heavily inspired by 'At Alleghany Falls' by Virgins-and-Surgeons, so it's sort of kind of based off of that, but not totally. Well. I don't own Bleach, I'm a student. Honestly. Like I have that kind of money.
Title: Helter Skelter
Author: seinakyou
Theme: #54 Wire
Genre(s): Drama, General
Characters: Orihime, Ishida, Ichimaru
Word Count: 944
Rating: PG-13
Summary: It's amazing how quickly things can turn to chaos.
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When I get to the bottom
I go back to the top of the slide
Where I stop and turn
and I go for a ride
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Orihime has never been a complicated person.
When she wanted to do something, she would. If she wanted to be something, she'd try. When it came to her friends, there was nothing more to be said than everything.
Everything good, everything bad, but then everything changed.
Suddenly, she wasn't with her friends, had no one to support, no one to rely on, no one, nothing. Nothing at all.
It hurt, at first, the coldness of her protector and the loneliness and the long nights where she never slept, but just stared at the lopsided moon outside her window and began to hope, to dream, to wish upon a star that maybe they'd come for her.
Why didn't they get it? They said they got there the next day, that they had worked as hard as possible to leave as soon as possible.
But everything was wrong.
Months were hours, years were days, and Inoue Orihime had spent a year there and knew that something had changed.
Something strong had been borne out of the long, hard nights; the stifling silence; the tears; the cuts; the comfort she got from one person alone who she knew didn't mean. Along the way, Orihime became everything she had always sworn to protect and nothing like she'd been before.
She grew. She blossomed.
But still, she hoped. Hoped for a saviour that cared about her, hoped for something a little bit more than white walls.
It came, eventually.
Eventually came too late, so it seems.
Everything was wrong, didn't they see? When years were days, of course, absolutely, Aizen's army grew, so did his power, so did the power of everyone but them.
She cried when she first saw Ichigo again, not because she was happy, not completely, partly because she could feel the strong part of her slip away and be replaced by a simpering little girl who only seeks approval.
She's happy, but not herself. But god knows she loves these people, all of them, every single one and the thought of them being hurt actually makes her physically ill. She loves them, she waited for them, and now they're here, and she's happy, but you know what?
It hurts, too. Hurts to see Grimmjow, who was almost nice to her, be part of a bloody desert canvas painted by her friends. He was her friend, or something close to it. Sort of.
Maybe she's a bit soft.
But it does hurt, so she just doesn't understand it when Ulquiorra dies, and something in her legitimately rebels at the thought that he'd never be around to reaffirm her beliefs, but also to give her strength enough to follow them.
She cried. A lot.
And then Ichigo left, and she had to start all over. All over again.
And she was left sitting on top of a tower, thinking 'how do I get off of here?'
Enter Ishida.
Somehow, she gets transported down from the top of the tall tower, where she clutches a piece of Ulquiorra's blade as she found it, ignoring the deep gashes it left in her palms, because this was at least a very substantial memory of someone she know she could have liked.
She doesn't have many of those, so this one is all the more precious.
It's hard to hold onto as she runs, trying very hard to keep looking for the black of Ishida's hair in the cold white hallways that are almost, sort of familiar by now, even if she has no clue where exactly she is.
Hallway after hallway, turn after turn, and yet no end in sight, no natural light coming in, just harsh white light that makes her look even paler than she is, because it's endless night here.
She thinks it's pretty, and is struck by a sudden pang on gratitude for having a window in her room. At least she knew there was something else, something other than walls and walls and rooms and rooms and sudden flashes of colour that made her remember real life.
She thinks they just passed Grimmjow's rooms, actually. She wonder is she looks in there, she'll find blue hair on his pillow, or if he sheds at all. She never finds out, because they're getting close to the… throne room place, she's ure, this time she can tell where the hallway is.
They take the corner sharply, when something flashes in her peripheral like a thin thread of wire. She pauses momentarily, and it seems to be enough, for in that spilt second when Ishida hesitates too, and suddenly, there are spider webs cracking through his glasses and just as quickly, something flashes through his eye from behind her and retracts just as quickly.
She supposes this is mercy, both in the general sense that she was spared while he was not, and specifically, because she knows very well who this blade belongs to and realizes that this is indeed an honour, or something like it. She tries not to think, tries not to feel as she watches Uryu Ishida crumple before her, like ragdoll, or Kon after Ichigo punched him too hard and before Ishida fixes him. There's a small stream of blood coming from the back of his head, matting his dark hair, and she's glad she can't see his eyes because then he would be very, very dead.
Stiffly, slowly, she turns, trying to keep from trembling.
Behind her stands a tall man wearing blood soaked white robes and leaning on his sword. At her attention, he slowly raises a hand.
"Yo." Ichimaru Gin greets, hand cocked in a mockery of a wave. "I'm home."
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ANII: That's pretty much it. Kind of introductory, and not totally pleased, but this had to be written, so it was. Oh well.