Chapter one: "Bring back what once was…"
It was a sunny day, too sunny for her liking. The redhead looked out of the window, like she often did, stuck in one of these little daydreams of hers. She almost could not remember the place she had been taken to, the place where she had been held hostage. Had it been a year already since she returned? It was a certainly unpleasant memory and she should have been grateful for it fading away into uncertainness. However she could not. There were still so many questions, questions she was eager to find the answers to as well as she feared that answers.
The teacher was enthusiastically telling the pupils about Japan´s qualities when it came to economy and financial businesses, but his words did not reach her. When she looked at him, his lips just moved without producing any sound at all. Her guess was that she was spacing out again. As soon as her distracted brain picked up the thought she forgot to bring it to an end.
Instead she thought about if what she was thinking about for a few days now was something one should even consider to think about. She did not know if it would work or not. She did not know if she even wanted it to work, but she knew she just had to try. Try her best. Something inside her said that she had to take her chances that she had to be absolutely sure.
When the bell rang she did not get up immediately. She needed a few more moments just sitting here thinking. A soft pat on the shoulder finally got her out of her daydream. She looked up to find the concerned face of her friend Tatsuki Arisawa, who was glancing down at her.
"You have been spacing out again, haven´t you?" she asked a little bit accusingly. While that usually was a specialty of hers, that particular expression was new. Tatsuki seemed to be really worried. However Orihime did not want to talk about it. Not even with her best friend.
"I-I am s-sorry, Tatsuki-chan!", she exclaimed.
"No big deal", she shrugged. "Come on now, let´s go home already."
Smiling as to not raise any further suspicion she packed her bag and the two girls left their classroom together.
"Weekend is finally here!", Tatsuki cheered. She stretched herself as if she wanted to get the past week of school out of her system.
"Mhm", Orihime mumbled quietly.
Her Gaze as well as her thoughts was wondering off once again. Both focused on the orange shock of hair that was walking in front of them. Or more precisely the boy which said hair belonged to. It was always kind of awkward to see him, but today it was especially weird. Not really bad or entirely unpleasant, but not entirely good either.
"Kurosaki-kun", she greeted him. "Are you walking with us?"
He slowly turned around, his arms crossed behind his head. "Inoue, Arisawa…yes, fine with me."
Lately she had come to realize that she was not as tense as she used to be a year ago around him. She could look at him now without having the butterflies in her stomach flap their wings furiously. However as of late said butterflies had gotten alarmingly lethargic.
It probably had something to do with him being different than a year ago. After the battle in fake Karakura town he had changed. No, even before that. Though he was still stubborn as a mule and easily annoyed, his attitude was no longer likable in a kind of twisted sense. He was no longer just a teenager plagued by puberty, but a very sad and bitter person.
She inwardly let out a sigh. With her powers she had tried to bring his back, but it had not worked. His inner Shinigami seemed to have vanished along with his abilities. As if that would not have been enough, they had not heard anything from soul society or Rukia ever since they had defeated the traitor Aizen. She did not know what hurt him more.
On their way they did not talk much. Tatsuki tried to lighten the mood here and there, but she did not quite succeed. Orihime had to admit that she was relieved, when she finally stood in front of her door.
"Guess we´ll see you on Monday then, Orihime" Tatsuki said as she put her hand on the auburn haired teen´s shoulder and patted it softly. In fact she drew her friend a small smile.
The two waved goodbye – Ichigo only after he had gotten a rather hard hit on the back of his head. As they turned around, Orihimes shoulders dropped. The smile faded from her face. Unnerved she opened the door and stepped into the hallway. She threw her bag carelessly into a corner and hurriedly pulled off her shoes.
Filled with anticipation and excitement she stormed into her bedroom and opened her wardrobe. She took a few deep breaths of air to calm herself down, then she began to work herself through the many outfits she had collected over the past years.
Now she knew why something inside her had kept her from throwing it away. She had banished it to the back of her closet and the back of her mind, yes, but she had never forgotten it completely. She had never wanted to forget. The fear maybe, the desert and the eternal night, but not the clothes she wore or…him.
On the outside the white dress was not much of an eye-catcher anymore. It was ripped to shreds in some places, full of dirt and because of that it did not smell very nice. She had neither stitched nor washed it. Right there at the sight of her old uniform she stopped for a moment. Was it really the right thing to do or was it just an act of selfishness?
Whatever if may was she was beyond the point of no return now. Cautiously she picked it up and put it on the empty table near her bed. Today was the day at last. Now she would see for her own if it worked or if it did not.
With trembling fingers, she tied her hair into a knot. She made sure that all the windows were closed. The smallest breeze could undo all her work and she could not let that happen.
She picked up the brush and the bowl which she had prepared yesterday evening. Carefully, so as not to lose any precious grains, she began to brush off Hueco Mundos sands and dry dust.
However not just dust and desert. With utmost care she made sure that the dirt got into the bowl until the time her fingers started to hurt and the fabric under the brush began to roughen up.
It was not much, only a small heap of sand. Nonetheless as she had hoped and believed, not all of the particles were white, like the wasteland of the vast Hollow Empire. Some of the sand grains were of a deep black color. A fact that hinted all too clearly to their origin.
She had not used her powers for weeks in order to be sure that she could give everything she had. Soon it would be over. The wondering, the thinking, the uncertainty. Finally she would be able to set her mind at peace and bury these thoughts, start again or continue, depending on the outcome of her little experiment. Though she was frightened and self-conscious, she held out her hands above the bowl and took a last deep breath.
Then she softly whispered: "Soten Kisshun ... I reject."
What do you reject, Orihime? Tell us! Oh, you want to wait until the next chapter is out? Fine with me, but the readers probably would like to know! They can always ask questions or give some feedback by reviewing though... ;D
Thanks again to OveractiveImagination39 for betareading the story.
And also: Thanks ulquihime7980 for your review! :3
