Nocturne – Chap. 1
A/N: This story is dedicated to unsunned, who begged me for an AiHime lemon. The story takes place after the timeskip in canon.
Summary: Post-timeskip but no spoilers. What will Orihime do when a notorious escaped criminal comes knocking at her door? AiHime, lemon.
(Originally posted 3/1/2011.)
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Orihime was in her apartment, humming to herself as she prepared dinner. "Hmm, sweet potatoes and rice with plenty of butter should be tasty," she thought as she slid the sweet potatoes into the oven on a baking tray and set the timer for one hour. The rice was already steaming on the stove top.
She went back into the living room to continue working on her homework. It had been a year and a half since the fateful events in Soul Society and Hueco Mundo. Once they had all returned to the real world and Ichigo's powers had vanished, her life had become calm and peaceful again. She was enjoying school. It was fun to be a senior. She had just turned eighteen, and had been working part-time in a bakery restaurant after school, serving pastries to customers, and making good money with tips.
In the meantime, she had submitted college applications and was hoping to major in exobiology and eventually become an astronaut. Before turning to her textbook, she pulled out a glossy brochure from one of the universities and once again drooled over the beautiful facilities and exciting research programs they offered. She sighed briefly. The only difficulty was money. Her relatives had paid for her apartment and a small stipend for living expenses, but that would end once she graduated from high school. She would be expected to make her way on her own then. Unfortunately, college was expensive. She had applied for scholarships and financial aid, and had studied hard for the national exam. But she had no idea how well she had done or if she had won any of the scholarships she would need to continue her studies.
She put the brochure away. It did no good to worry about such things now. She knew times were hard; in fact, her manager at the bakery had let her know that a full-time job after graduation was unlikely. If she didn't win a scholarship to college, her future looked bleak with no job prospects nor any source of income. But Orihime had never been one to let gloomy possibilities get her down. If there was one thing she had learned from her supernatural adventures, it was to enjoy what you did have in the moment, and to treasure the people you cared about. You never knew what would happen next. In the meantime, she would enjoy her life and her many friends at Karakura High.
As she was pulling out her homework, there was a knock on the door. Her brow furrowed. Who could it be? She wasn't expecting anyone tonight. She walked to the door and opened it, and gave a gasp of shock.
Two men stood outside her front door, one supporting the other, who appeared to be badly injured. The injured one lifted his head and gave her a pained smile. "Inoue Orihime," he said in a deep, soft voice that was all too familiar to her, even though she hadn't seen him for seventeen months, since he left her behind in Las Noches after telling her he was going to destroy her home town. Aizen Sousuke, the traitor shinigami who had wreaked havoc in Soul Society and Karakura Town, who had kidnapped her and used her as a pawn in his schemes for world domination and godhood.
She had thought he was in Soul Society's prison, locked up for twenty thousand years. And yet here he was on her front doorstep. His face was drawn and pale, but his handsome visage had lost none of its arrogance and pride. He was wearing a black silk shirt and tight-fitting black trousers under a long black coat. His coat hung open to reveal a crude white bandage wrapped around his torso, and he was pressing one hand tightly to the bandage. Bright red blood was seeping onto the bandage below his hand, clearly a recent wound.
He was evidently in substantial pain, and she could not feel his spiritual pressure, surprising since the last time she met him she could barely stand up in his presence due to the weight of his reiatsu.
"Aizen-sama," she whispered, her eyes moving from his wound to his deep brown eyes.
Orihime hesitated only a moment. Then she realized that she could not turn away anyone in such poor condition, even if they were her enemy.
"Please come in," she said politely, stepping away from the door and inviting them into her small living room. The other man, a cruder, shorter version of Aizen, was wearing similar clothing and had attempted to slick back his dark brown hair into a style similar to Aizen's as though trying to copy him. But on him the hairstyle, rather than looking attractive, only served to enhance his ugliness. Nevertheless, he gently guided Aizen into Orihime's living room and helped him to a seated position on the couch.
"Orihime," said Aizen softly, "please forgive me for barging in on you like this. However, as you can see, I am in desperate need of your healing abilities. Would you mind…?" he asked, indicating the wound in his abdomen.
"Of course," she said. Raising her hands, she said the words she had not said for many months. "Souten Kisshun… I reject," and watched as the golden light of her healing shield sprang into existence around Aizen's body.
He sighed and relaxed, slumping back onto the couch, his eyes half-closing. The eyes of the other man widened with surprise at the brilliance of Orihime's healing light.
There was silence in the room as the healing process finished. Then Aizen sat up slowly, his long fingers tracing over the bandage on his torso. He smiled. "Thank you, Orihime. I am most grateful."
Orihime looked at him, her eyes wide. "What—" she began.
"Yes, you must be wondering why I am here," Aizen said in his rich, deep voice. He looked at her searchingly. "To tell you the truth, I am here because I have nowhere else to go. I have lost all my powers and have become the prey of every shinigami or hollow with a grudge against me." His voice turned bitter. "I managed to escape from the Soul Society's prison, only to find that my powers had been depleted and that every man's hand was turned against me. I fled here to the world of the living, but even here, my anonymity did not protect me. I was attacked by thugs on the street." He glanced at the man with him. "If it were not for the kindness of my friend here, who would prefer to remain anonymous, I would have bled to death on the street."
He looked back at Orihime. "I remembered your address and hoped that you might not turn me away." He smiled again. "Indeed, I am very grateful to you for fulfilling my hopes."
Orihime's eyes widened. "I— you're welcome," she said. "But where will you go now?"
Aizen looked at her again. "There is nowhere for me to go." His voice was calm. "I would like to stay with you for a while, and I would ask you to help restore my powers. I think, with your abilities, it would take several weeks of daily treatments." He gazed at her, pride warring with desperation on his face. Finally his expression changed and he bowed his head. "I know I have no right to ask this of you, Orihime," he said softly, "but I have no other option."
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The next morning, the two men watched from behind the curtains as Orihime ran off to school. The shorter man looked at the taller, who was reclining on the couch, looking more well-rested after the first of Orihime's treatments.
"I can't believe she agreed to do this, Aizen-sama," he said respectfully. "Didn't you kidnap her and hold her prisoner once?"
Aizen's lips quirked in a knowing smile. "I knew she would agree to help," he said. He turned over on the couch and sighed. "She is incurably compassionate. I saw all this when she was my prisoner. Two of my Arrancar attacked her and tried to kill her. Not only did she refuse to fight back, but she even restored one of them to life after one of my Espada barged into the room and saved her by fighting off her attackers." He shook his head. "It was unbelievable. I did not understand it at first when I saw it on my video monitors. I had once thought to try to turn her to my side, but after that little demonstration, I realized it was impossible. However, as I had previously assumed, she can still be of use to me."
The other man grinned. "So you can use her now to restore your powers. Then what?"
Aizen smiled, and there was darkness in his smile. "After I am fully restored to power, then she will no longer be useful to me. I will then begin my plan to take my revenge on Soul Society… and I will give you power beyond your wildest dreams."
The man's eyes flared with greed and excitement. "What about her?" he leered. "Can I have her as my reward as well?"
Aizen looked at him, his expression calm and uncaring. "When I am done with her, you may use her as you wish."