Hi again! I'm really happy that lots of people read the first chapter. And I even got two reviews! So here is chapter 2! Enjoy!

Chapter 2

"Hmm…" said the girl with long orange hair in a shihakushō as she paced back and forth in front of the town's guild hall. She had practically spent all day hiding behind a couple of shrubs, trying to work up the nerves to finally join the exploration guild. But if felt that every time she tried to take a step towards the guild, she would just take two large steps back. Now the sun was setting and she still no closer to joining the guild than she was this morning.

Maybe I shouldn't join. She thought as she stared at the entrance.

"No." she said as she emerged from the bushes. "I refuse to be paralyzed by this fear any longer!" She hesitantly took a few steps forward. "This is it. Starting today, I'm going to be brave!" She puffed up her chest and marched towards the entry.

You can do this Orihime! She chanted in her mind as she continued onward. You are brave. You are not a fraidy-cat. As she continued on, she didn't notice that she had stepped onto a circular wooden platform.

"SHINIGAMI DETECTED!" a loud voice cried out. "SHINIGAMI DETECTED!" At that moment, Orihime frozen, unsure what to do next. "WHO'S REIASTU IS THIS!" the disembodied voice said as Orihime broke out in a cold sweat. "THIS IS ORIHIME'S REIASTU!" Orihime didn't know what to do. Should she continue on or at least answer back. But her knees began to shake uncontrollably.

"Waah!" Orihime cried as she retreated to her safe haven behind the bushes. She sat there, holding her trembling legs close to her chest. "That scared me half to death." She said as she finally stood up and took a long glance at the guild. "I can't…" she turned away, her gaze cast downwards. "I can't even bring myself to go inside. I thought today would finally be the day I stopped being so gutless…" she sighed as she pulled a strange looking stone with marking from her kosode shelve. "I thought that maybe if I had my special treasure with me today, I would finally have to courage to join. But…" her eyes began to get watery. "I'll never be anything but a coward!" she cried as she ran away. As she passed a large bush, she didn't notice that a Shinigami with black hair that reached to his shoulders and feathers adorning his eyelashes had come out of hiding.

"Hey Ikkaku," he called out as another Shinigami, this one with no hair, followed. "Did you see that?"

"You bet I did, Yumichika." He said as he drank the last bit of his sake. "That little wimp had something valuable with her."

"Indeed she did." Yumichika plucked his Zanpakutō out from the bush and placed it on his hip. "I think we just found ourselves a new target." He said as the two Shinigami began to follow her.

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"What a discouraging day." Orihime wiped away her tears as she walked along the beach. She wanted to join the Shinigami Exploration guild more than anything in this world. To go on amazing adventures, see new and exciting things and to meet new friends. But the more she thought about this, the less realistic it seem. Those Shinigami were assigned dangerous jobs. They would have to fight against hollows and sometimes even Arrancars. How could a little coward like her face such dangers when she couldn't even have the courage to enter the guild? Maybe it was for the best that she didn't join. At least she would be safe. She looked up to see bubbles floating through the evening sky. The tiny lizard hollows had finally emerged from their burrow, now they were blowing bubbles from on top of the hills that overlooked the ocean.

"What a beautiful sight." Orihime said as she watched the bubbles sparkled as they flowed over the sea. She loved coming down to the beach when she was feeling down. The view was always enough to heal her spirits. As she watched a bubble float away, she noticed something orange colored laying on the shore. "What's that?" Curious, she took a few steps closer to see that it was an unconscious boy. "Oh no someone collapsed on the beach!" she ran to the boy. "Hey, are you ok!" she asked as she shook him. She tried to wake him up but to no avail. "What am I going to do?" whoever he was, he was in pretty bad shape. He had only the lower half of his shihakushō, leaving his chest bare. His body was covered in cuts and bruises. And a burn make that ran down his right side told her that he must have been struck by lightning. Then she remembered her shun shun rikka. "Sōten Kisshun." She called out as two beams of light shot out from her hair pins created a barrier around the young man. "I reject!" Orihime watched vigilantly over the boy as she healed him. She may be a lousy fighter and a chicken but at least she was a decent healer.

"Uggh..." the boy let out a small moan as he began to stir.

"Thank goodness." She let out a sigh of relief. "Are you okay?" she asked as the boy sat up.

"Where…Where am I? "He asked as he slowly opened his eyes. Everything looked so unfamiliar.

"You're on the beach." She spook softly. "You weren't moving and I was afraid that you might have ... well you know. So I healed you." The boy turned to her, only for a look of horror to wash over his face.

"A SHINIGAMI!" he shouted as he scrambled a good distance away from her.

OH NO! Had Orihime done something to upset him? Or worse, did she have another bug in her hair. "What's wrong?"

"You're a Shinigami, aren't you!" he yelled.

"Yes." Orihime answered, not really sure why that would bother him? After all, wasn't he a shinigami too?

"So what's stopping you from attacking me, girl?"

"Why would I attack you, silly?" she chuckled.

What's with this girl? He thought as he kept eyeing her. Is she blind or just plain stupid? But then his glare narrowed. Or maybe she is just luring me into a false sense of security before she attacks me?

"Because I'm a Vasto Lorde!" he yelled. Orihime gave him a flummoxed look as she walked around him. Her eyes scanning every inch of his body, as if she were searching for something.

"Are you sure you're not messing with me?" Orihime asked as she kneeled in front of him as he shook his head. She had never seen a Vasto Lorde before as they were very rare; some say they didn't even exist. But she had heard tales about them being more terrifying and stronger than a thousand hollows combined. But this boy didn't even look like a regular hollow, much less a Vasto Lorde. "Then where is your hollow hole?"

"Are you blind?" he snapped. "It's right here!" he place his hand over his chest where the hole was supposed to be. But he press down, he could no longer feel the large void. It was solid and he felt a weird thumping sensation. Was that his heart? Since when did he have a heart? "It can't be." He crawled over to the edge of the ocean. He couldn't believe what he was looking at as he stared at his own reflection. His long, wild, orange mane was gone and in its place was short, spikey hair. His once hard plaster white skin was now normal color and fleshy. His razor sharp claws were now stubby and looked more like worms. But what shocked him most was his face. He no longer saw his large, protruding horns, his jagged teeth or his hollow mask. He had cheeks, eyes, and even a nose. "What happened to me? "

"Are you sure you're okay?" Orihime asked.

"Yeah, it's just," he placed his hands over his new cheeks. Never in his life did he think his body could radiate such warm. "I used to be a Vasto Lorde."

"What could happened then?"

"I'm not sure." He said as he fell backward on to the sand. "All I know is that I woke up in the ocean."

"Can't you remember anything else?" Ichigo thought long and hard, trying to recall what had happened before he had awaken. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember anything. Where was he, and how did he get transformed into a Shinigami? He just shook his head again. He turned his focus to the girl.

"You said that you healed me." he said.

"Umm, well, sort of." Orihime said as began to get all flustered. "All I did was heal some cuts and bumps. It's all I'm really good for since I'm not much of a fighter."

"Well, thanks for helping me." He said as he gave her a soft smile.

"Ummm, you're welcome." All her life, she was called useless by the other Shinigami. This was the first time anyone had ever thanked her. He was such a nice guy, a little strange, but still nice. "Do you remember your name at least?" she asked as she sat beside him. He stared into the sky, wondering that himself.

"Ichigo." He said after a moment. He recalled someone had called him that. He wasn't sure who it was or if that was really his name. But it was the only thing he could remember.

"Ichigo," Orihime repeated. "That's a nice name. I'm Orihime. Sorry if I was a little doubtful. It's just that there have been lots of Arrancars and bad Shinigami popping lately and you can never be too…" but before she could finish, she was suddenly hoisted from the ground by some bald Shinigami.

"Hey girlie," he said as he shook the girl of her belongings. "I think you have something we want!"

"Let me go!" she struggled to break free but he was too strong.

"Hey!" Ichigo shouted as he made a mad dash towards the bald Shinigami. "Leave her alone, you dumb ape!" But then another Shinigami appeared in front of him and knocked him to the ground.

"Back off, carrot top!" the second Shinigami said coolly. "This doesn't concern you."

"She got nothing, Yumichika." The bald man said as he toss Orihime to the side. As she fell to the ground, something fell from her shelve.

"Really?" Yumichika shunpo to Orihime, snatching the item before she could hide it. "What do we have here?" he said as he stared at the small slab of stone with unusual markings on it.

"No!" Orihime opposed as she tried to retrieve it. "It's nothing!" but Yumichika gave her a strong shove that sent her crashing to the floor.

"Nothing, huh." Yumichika said with a smirk on his face. "Then I guess you won't mind if we take it." He shoved the stone into his pocket.

"That's my personal treasure! You can't have it" Orihime cried as she got back on her feet. "So give it back!"

."You hear that Ikkaku?" Yumichika snickered. "The town crybaby is giving us orders."

"Oh, is she now?" Ikkaku walked over to her, his hand on the hilt of his Zanpakutō. "If you want it so bad, then why don't you fight us for it?" Orihime glared furiously as she clenched her fist. She wanted show these two that she was not a crybaby. That she could be brave and she could defeat them if she wanted too.

Oh who am I kidding? She thought as what little courage faded away. Yumichika and Ikkaku were strong Shinigami. How could a coward like herself even stand a change?

"I can't." She mumbled as she sank to her knees. "I can't."

"What a wuss!" Ikkaku said as he away from her. "Can you believe this chicken actually thought she could join the guild?"

"Join it?" Yumichika laughed. "She doesn't even have the guts to get through the front door." Orihime could feel tears gathering as Yumichika and Ikkaku started laughing at her.

"Hey!" Ichigo shouted as he stood up. How dare these two pick on a helpless girl? "Give her back her treasure or else!"

"Or else what?" Ikkaku responded.

"I will take it back by force!" Ichigo shouted. He may not be a Vasto Lorde anymore, but he was certain that could take down these two thugs without his hollow powers.

"We might want to be careful with this one." Yumichika whispered to Ikkaku. "There something about this guy's reiatsu that's gives me the creeps."

"I agree." Ikkaku turned back to Ichigo. "Sorry, but we got to run." He said as he and Yumichika darted into a nearby cave.

"See ya, losers!" Yumichika called out before vanishing into the cave.

"Get back here and fight me, you punks!" He shouted, but before he could give chase, he felt Orihime grab hold of his arm.

"Don't go!" she cried. "There are a lot of hollows in that cave! You'll get hurt."

"But you can't just let them get away with it!"

"No, it's alright." She said as she forced a smile on her face. "That item isn't worth risking your life." But he just pulled away.

"Don't worry." He said as he ran to the cave. "I'll be back soon." Orihime watched helplessly as Ichigo disappeared into the cave.

"What should I do!" she asked herself. Normally she wouldn't dare go into a cave with ferocious hollows that could take her down as if it was nothing. She would just forget about her treasure and go home to sulk. But this time, if she did nothing then Ichigo would get hurt and it would be her fault. She couldn't be a coward this time. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. You can do this, Orihime. She chanted once more. You have to, for Ichigo's sake.

"Ichigo!" she yelled as she followed him into the cave. "Wait for me!"

A/N: Now I know I'm going to be told that Ichigo is a Visored, not a hollow and we don't know if he can be a Vasto Lorde, so let me address this right now. This is a AU, that means the principle of the manga and anime mean nothing in this story. And besides, I always thought of Ichigo's hollow form as his Vasto Lorde form when he fought against Ulquiorra.