Stockholm Syndrome
"Two of a kind and no-one home
I'm in a crowd and I'm still alone
Can't you see these skies are breaking?
Cos one of a kind is all I own"
Hueco Mundo. Someday around December.
How many days had passed since she firstly arrived that place?
No, not place… Calling it "that hell" would probably me more appropriated.
However, in some ways, she couldn't say she was sad with her choice; she accepted the proposal of going to that place without thinking twice, especially if it was to protect her own friends.
The pale, bright moonlight was the only kind of lightness that could be seen at that room; a considerably large room, with nothing more than a bed and a chair in a white minimalistic design with some details in black, giving a slight contrast to the deep white walls as well. For anyone oblivious that entered the room, the first thing they'd notice was how empty the room was. And not only in the lack of furniture kind of way.
It was empty because it looked like a prison; and, in a more obvious way…
It was a prison.
Looking at the raven dark sky, the orange-haired girl would only count the days until Aizen could be defeated and she would finally come back to her home, to her friends, to her Kurosaki-Kun.
But she knew he wasn't going to be defeated, as much faith she wanted to put in that thought; he was the almighty Aizen Sousuke, wasn't he? The same man who betrayed the entire Soul Society and created an army of his own. Deep down, Orihime knew her fate was almost inevitable; she'd be with him for the rest of her life.
"Maybe when death comes… It won't be that painful," She murmured to herself, eyes showing both sadness and acceptance; and a hint of disagreement when it comes to her own thoughts. Even so, she knew it wouldn't be painful; her heart was with her friends and, there, she was nothing more but a walking body.
A small sigh escaped from her full pink lips, as a sudden surprise and a small amount of fear could be seen in her eyes at the moment she heard her door room open.
"Woman," She heard a deep, cold voice from the door; the same voice that she heard every single day.
It was Ulquiorra.
Eyes that once were slightly widened now went back to normal. Inoue calmly looked at him, as if she was waiting for him to continue to speak. And as she expected, so he did.
"Aizen-sama needs your presence." Ulquiorra coldly said, not a hint of emotion in his tone; nor a hint of expression in his face as well. Just like that, cold and indifferent. Somehow, it didn't bother Orihime at the slightest.
Aizen, on the other hand… She wasn't sure if he either scared or intrigued her. For what it's worth, she'd choose the first option.
Not a hint of expression could be seen on her face as well; Inoue knew that the Arrancar's boss called for her presence daily, and if she had a way to see the hours from a clock or know which hours would be in the Living World, she'd say he'd always call her at the same hour every day.
Slowly, Inoue got up from her chair, starting to follow Ulquiorra who, with no other words, simply kept walking towards Aizen's room. The door was incredibly big, painted in white as well with some slight tons of grey. Somehow, she wondered why the brown haired male liked to put so much white in everything.
The throne room seemed to be bigger than she first saw it; but then again, she realized she would find it enormous no matter how many times she has been there. How many was it again? Inoue seriously couldn't remember. She never stopped to count how many days had passed since her daily visits to Aizen started, but the days since she arrived in Las Noches.
Wednesday. 20 days.
"Welcome, Orihime."
Some might say that it is impossible to be God, or to act like one. Indeed, it was impossible for most beings, such as Hollows, Shinigamis and dare him to say, humans. But there was no God; and someone had to become one.
And so did Aizen.
The tall male had everything thoroughly planned and extremely calculated. Some would call him a traitor, but he saw it as nothing but mere arrogance. There is no betrayal when you were never truly faithful to something or someone. And even so, with his Arrancar army and three former captains on his side, Aizen wasn't faithful to no one but himself.
And as he had planned everything, the arrival of Inoue Orihime to his kingdom wasn't different.
Sousuke intended to use her as a distraction; to make her friends come save her in Hueco Mundo so he could – finally – arrive in Karakura to destroy the town and build another Ōken.
And yet, he enjoyed her company.
Having Inoue Orihime's daily company at his throne room was something unexpected – even for Sousuke himself. The same man who calculated and forecast everything surely wouldn't expect to enjoy and be pleased with the company of a human.
But not a mere human.
Orihime had something that rather intrigued the ex-Captain; her powers. The ability to reject everything around her, either if it is for her own defense, cure or, in her last resource, for the attack. Somehow, he truly found it to be fascinating.
And it was almost time for her arrival.
Sitting on his big, white colored throne, Aizen stared briefly at the enormous door; his head leaned against his fingers, with two of them slightly touching his face, with a small strand of his brown hair in the middle of it; as it always insisted to be.
Brightness took care of the entire room when the door was finally opened, revealing both Ulquiorra and Orihime behind it – and right in front of him. Sousuke, then, could do nothing but reveal a mysterious, calm smirk.
Even though deep down that smirk meant nothing but danger.
"Welcome, Orihime." His calm and polite, but rather cold tone echoed around the room, with a little hint of amusement embellishing his eyes at the moment he could notice her own showing nothing but fear.
"Is that good, Aizen-sama?" He could hear the cold – but respectful – tone of Ulquiorra as well, ignoring it for a small fraction of seconds as it was nothing. Yes, it was nothing.
"Yes, Ulquiorra,"
"You can go."
A small nod could be seen coming from the fourth Espada, leaving the orange haired girl alone with his Boss. For his own liking and for her disappointment.
"Are you scared?" Looking down at her, he couldn't stop himself from asking; even when he had the answer.
"…No."
Her answer had no effect to him other than pure, mere amusement. The thought of how she wanted to mask fear with braveness and, at the same time, not diminishing her one bit; she was brave enough to try attacking one of his Espadas at their first arrival to the Living World. However, there was a single thing that Inoue Orihime could never try to mask or hide…
Her eyes.
"Is that so?" The polite, but at the same time controlling voice echoed around the room one more time; brown eyes watching her own showing nothing but self-control.
Deep down, Sousuke admired the control she had upon herself. Anyone else without it would even go insane while in Las Noches or, in the last moment, do a foolish attempt to attack him in his own Kingdom. The same way he knew Kurosaki Ichigo would do.
Not listening to an answer, Aizen prepared himself to make her another question; his smirk making a contrast with his cold, deep brown eyes.
"Orihime, do you know why I called you today?"
Surprise was what hit the most, he could see it. At the same time, and the reason he would completely understand, was the confusion.
"For your daily visits… Isn't it?" Quietly speaking, the petite girl bit her own lip, not quite understanding what he meant with that question and, at the same time, afraid the answer he wanted was another one other than that.
Aizen Sousuke was an extremely controlling man, after all.
"No, Orihime, it wasn't just for my daily visits," With a small pause, his eyes finally showed some kind of emotion, even as imperceptible as it was.
He was amused.
And before she could say anything more – he already noticed her lips parting for her to speak -, the man made the first move by continuing and finally finishing his own sentence.
"I have a proposal for you."
Orihime's grey eyes soon widened, wondering of what kind of proposal that would be. Wasn't it enough to keep her captive? To threaten her friends so she could go to his kingdom?
Wasn't it enough to have hurt her friends in the past?
Apparently not.
"What is it?" Both fear and surprise could be heard into the soft and innocent tone the human had. Deep down, she was afraid Aizen would ask her something impossible for her to do, such as hurting her friends. A thing she really didn't doubt him of asking, and yet, had hope he wouldn't.
Of what she had heard of him, the man was one of the Gotei 13 captains by the time she invaded Soul Society with Ichigo, Ishida, Sado, Yoruichi and Ganju. She didn't really met him back then or even had heard of him; at least not until he faked his own death and betrayed every single one of the shinigamis afterwards.
Even for a girl who liked and tried to see hope in and for everyone, she wondered what made Aizen Sousuke to turn into that kind of monster. Or perhaps monster would be too strong of a word, even for him; but she couldn't deny he was a true psychopath.
However, for both Orihime's surprise and bigger confusion, his next words had an immense impact for the girl.
"I want you to return to the Living World."
A/N: Hello! This is my first story on this site as well my first AiHime story. I've made a few things to be AU, but they're only a little so I really hope you don't mind them. Also - I am sorry if there is any kind of OOCness, I am trying to make them as much IC as I can.
I hope you enjoy! x