Disclaimer: i do not own bleach or any of its charcters D:

Chapter 2

The orange haired girl could only think of one way to describe her English class, interesting, but not in a good sort of way. Well, it wasn't bad, but the students in this class were slightly stranger than she'd been expecting.

For the last minute or so, Orihime had sat listening to the conversation going on next to her. It was between three boys, one of which was surprisingly handsome with brown hair and warm eyes. He almost seemed out of place besides the silver haired boy and the blond. In fact, to the grey eyed girl, the boy with the silver hair was almost creepy, a smile constantly set on his lips and his eyes permanently closed.

'My Charmander is definitely going to evolve first.' This was spoken by the blond haired boy, he looked up from his game boy just long enough for Orihime to notice the color of his eyes, purple.

'Ya're wrong again, Wonderweiss. It's my Charmander who'll evolve first.' This time it was the silver haired boy who corrected the blond.

'Unfortunately, you're both wrong. Because it is my Charmander who will evolve first, I am the God of the Pokémon world, after all.' Orihime couldn't help but laugh to herself, the brown haired boy seemed awfully sure of himself.

If possible, at this the silver haired boy smiled even wider. 'Yea, yea. Just like ya're the god of World a' Warcraft an' COD.'

Purple eyes half closed in laughter, the blond boy spoke, 'You just got told, Aizen.'

Turning away from the three, Orihime realized that this must have been to whom Nel was referring when she said "game club nerds". They were definitely an eccentric bunch, thought the orange haired girl. 'If you're wondering, their names are Aizen, Gin and Wonderweiss.' Said the blond girl from besides Orihime suddenly.

Orihime nodded to Halibel. From the moment they'd entered the class the tanned girl hadn't spoken a word. She had however, guided Orihime to a pair of seats and sat down, indicating the seat next to her own for Orihime to take.

Said grey eyed girl was very grateful for this, she hadn't been sure as to whether Halibel would want to sit with her. It relieved her of the thought of sitting alone, she might of ended up right besides someone less than friendly if Halibel hadn't of offered her a seat.

Orange hair turned to look at the doorway, watching as students filled in. She noticed again the small black haired girl from her homeroom class. The tiny grey eyed girl found herself a seat in the back of the class and didn't say a word. 'And that's Soifon.' This was again told to Orihime by Halibel, who seemed to read every one of Orihime's thoughts.

'She's really cute, isn't she?'

'I guess, but don't say that to her face.' The tanned girl told Orihime, making a small face at the thought.

Orihime could not possibly understand why Halibel would say such a thing, surely everyone liked to be called cute. 'Why's that?' She then asked aloud. However, Halibel gave no reply. Her attention seemed to have suddenly shifted to someone who'd just entered the class. Grey eyes followed the gaze of aqua and equally watched as a boy found himself a seat. His hair was shoulder length and brown. From the moment he'd sat down it looked like he'd fallen asleep.

Ignoring the fact that Halibel hadn't answered her question, her gaze went back to the classroom door. Another boy had walked in, and Orihime couldn't help but to find him extremely handsome. His skin was pale like porcelain, and his jade eyes stood out in comparison to his raven hair. However, his face was completely emotionless, and the expression on its own was very intimidating.

Her watchful eyes followed until he sat down right besides the boy who'd snatched all of Halibel's attention. Grey eyes could have watched the boy for another long while, his presence was incredible, but she was interrupted before it became a reality. This was due to the fact that someone had stopped directly in front of her, beaming down. 'Hey,' he said, 'do you believe in love at first sight?'

Shocked Orihime froze. It had been the boy from her homeroom class, the one with the orange hair who'd stop just in front of her. She thought, rushed, for a sufficient reply. But it was completely unnecessary, for the boy continued, 'Or should I walk by again?' he asked.

Taking a moment to process the question, Orihime quickly realized it was a pickup line. She blushed furiously, the handsome boy had hit on her, on her. It hadn't been the first time someone had done it to her, but it was usually some creep outside of school, someone not so handsome and friendly looking. She couldn't find a reply for the warm eyed boy.

'Don't scare her, Ichigo.' Thankfully for Orihime, the blond beside her seemed to have turned her attention from the brown haired boy long enough to save Orihime.

'Ah, Halibel! I didn't see you there.' He said with a laugh and a wink. 'Looks like we've finally got a class together.'

'I suppose we do.' Said Halibel in reply, crossing her arms. Ichigo only smiled brighter at this and took a seat directly in front of the two girls.

Orihime watched as he turned back around to face them, talking as he did so. 'Sorry about that,' He said suddenly, directing his words at Orihime. 'I was just joking around, I'm Ichigo Kurosaki, by the way.'

The orange haired girl nodded, and replied 'It's alright, I'm Orihime Inoue.'

'Pleased to make your acquaintance.' He said before turning back around as he heard the teacher enter the room, telling them all to shut up.

Orihime spent much of the period switching views between Ichigo and the mysterious Raven haired boy from before. She was very tempted to approach him, but at the same time very wary. He looked very reserved, and Orihime could only guess that he would not be as friendly as the average person. She wondered vaguely if she would ever get the opportunity to talk to him without the worry of him simply rejecting or ignoring her.

Resigned to the fact that she probably wouldn't get a chance to talk to the boy very soon, she turned her thoughts to Ichigo. He had chosen the seats directly in front of her and Halibel. She couldn't help but to wonder if it had been for her or the blond that he had chosen that seat. Surely he could have sat anywhere, he seemed very popular from what Orihime could tell. And to top it all off, he'd spoken to her first in the class, out of everyone.

The orange haired girl allowed the thoughts and speculations in her mind to roam freely. The period past much faster because of this, at any rate.

Her next class, Orihime was disappointed to find she had alone. That's to say, none of her newly acquired friends would be in the same class as her. She stepped through the door of the classroom and was surprised to find herself, again, in the same class as the raven haired girl from her two first periods, Soifon. And alongside her was the small brown haired girl from homeroom.

She hesitantly made her way over to them, wondering if they would mind her company. 'is this seat taken?' She asked once she'd reached the seat besides Soifon.

'Go right ahead.' The girl replied, as her friend leaned forward to see beyond Soifon.

'Are you new here?' The small brown haired girl then asked, brows furrowed in wonder.

The orange haired girl nodded, 'I'm Orihime Inoue.'

'My names Hinamori Momo, but you can just call me Momo.' She continued, pointing towards her friend she then said; 'And this is Soifon.' The black haired girl simply nodded.

To Orihime's surprise the two girls were rather friendly with her, even though Soifon was a bit cold. But it was easy to tell that that was just part of who she was. Momo, on the other hand had much to share with her new found friend. She told the orange haired girl about her friend Rukia, who she was sure Orihime would love and then about her other friends Nanao and Kira.

To Orihime it was all very interesting, learning about new people was something she'd been looking forward to from the moment she knew she'd be changing schools. 'It would be great to meet your friends, they sound really nice.' She then told Momo excitedly.

Momo nodded enthusiastically in agreement. 'Why don't you have lunch with us tomorrow?'

Orihime hesitated, she wouldn't want to ditch Rangiku and the others, who she was sure were expecting her for lunch. However, it wouldn't hurt to hang out with Momo and her friends for a part of lunch, surely the three girls wouldn't mind. 'I might not be able to for the first half, I've already made plans.' She scratched the back of her head before continuing. 'But I'd like to spend the second half of lunch with you guys.'

In the end the three girls ended up all exchanging phone numbers, Momo had told her she would text Orihime halfway through lunch the next day to come and find her.

After this, the class seemed to have also passed fairly fast as Orihime realized she only had one period left ahead of her today. As she stood from her seat, she noticed for the first time in the last hour and a half, that the raven haired boy from the previous period was also in this class. She quickly turned to Momo and asked; 'Who is that boy?'

'That's Ulquiorra Schiffer,' Momo told her. 'he's kind of quiet though.' And it ended at that, it would appear as though there wasn't much to say about the boy.

Orihime spent her last class of the day with Rangiku, it was physics. Rangiku was surprisingly smart, even though she might of not looked it. But then again, the same could be said for Orihime. Though, they didn't spend the majority of the class discussing physics related topics, they spent it chatting happily about their interests, and so on.

With this, the day ended quickly and on a good note. She walked home from school with her three new friends and watched as others she'd met today turned around separate corners, parting for the day from their friends. Soon, she also parted from the group, following a smaller street branching off the main one.

She noted that a few other students seemed to use this same street to get home, she spotted the blue haired, golden eyed boy from her homeroom class walking alongside a girl with black braided hair. Orihime couldn't decide for sure if they were a couple or siblings.

She equally noted a shock of silver hair walking just a few steps ahead of her own. It must have been Gin, the strange boy from her English class. And further off, in the distance, a raven haired student. It might have been Soifon, or maybe the other black haired girl from Orihime's homeroom.

In any case, they were all soon out of site as Orihime took a turn down another small side street and ended up in from of her apartment.

Entering the small building, she made herself something to eat and settled into the couch. Orihime remembered the events from the morning. She thought of how Ichigo, the very handsome and kind boy, had taken note of her, out of all people. She then thought again of Ulquiorra, the supposedly quiet boy, she didn't doubt that one. And then of all her new friends, Rangiku, Nel and Halibel and finally of Momo and Soifon.

Everyone had showed her so much kindness, so much kindness that she had not been expecting. She remembered when she left her old school how her best friend, Tatsuki, had told her to watch out for herself. She knew, of all people, that the world could be a cruel place.

But Orihime had a feeling that things would be better than alright. She believed in the kindness the other students had shown her and trusted that there would be much more to come.

Absentmindedly, Orihime played with her food as she thought of all this. She'd been eating something along the lines of salad and barbecue sauce, always the one to have strange taste in food.

After finishing her meal and watching TV for a while, Orihime's phone rang. She picked it up and curled the line around her finger. 'Hello?' She asked.

'Orihime?' The voice asked brightly. Orihime could recognize the voice, even if she'd only learnt it that very day. It was the busty strawberry blond, Rangiku. And surely enough, this was confirmed only moments later. 'It's me, Rangiku!' She exclaimed.

'Yeap, what's up?' The grey eyed girl asked into the receiver, looking out through the window.

'Do you feel like hanging out with us and some friends tomorrow, after school?'

Orihime waited a moment before answering, taking the time to watch someone ride by on their bicycle outside. 'Who is us?' She asked hesitantly, Orihime wasn't sure if she'd want to hang out with "us" if she didn't know who they were. For all she knew Rangiku could be part of a secret gang, though the mental image seemed to make the speculation all the more unlikely.

'Halibel and Nel, of course.' She said with a laugh, seemingly catching on to what Orihime was thinking. 'And the friends are just some kids from school that you probably haven't met yet, but I'm sure you'll like them.' Rangiku concluded encouragingly.

'I guess that'd be alright.' Orihime finally replied, much to Rangiku's contentment.

The conversation steered off into a new direction as Rangiku began chatting happily about her first day back at school. She'd told Orihime all about her classes and the friends she'd had in them. She even confessed to Orihime about the boy she'd had a crush on, Hisagi Shuhei, ever since the summer festival. According to her, he'd looked very manly while catching her a fish at one of the game booths. The grey eyed girl laughed inwardly, wondering what ever could be manlier than catching a gold fish?

The conversation lasted at least a good hour before Rangiku was called to dinner, they said their goodbyes and hung up.

Happy with herself, Orihime made her way to the kitchen to prepare a lunch for tomorrow, a cucumber and ketchup sandwich. Wondering vaguely if she should pack extra for her new friends, and deciding that maybe she would do that tomorrow instead.

After this, Orihime prepared herself for sleep and drifted off in the comfort of her bed.

well, here's chapter 2 for you all, i hope everyone likes it. sorry if it's kind of slow, I've been trying to get all teh character introductions and settings out of the way so i could start on the real story.
let me know if this is worth continuing with reviews ;)!