My muse apparently hates me. It suddenly goes crazy for five and a 1/2 months, but when I want to write something in particular, it abandons me. Now, normally, I would just leave the story alone and focus on something else. The only problem is that I am most certainly not giving up five and a 1/2 months worth of chapters because of a block on one. So I'm going to skip the prologue, give you a short summary of my take on Aizen's death (inspired by the episode where Orihime decides she's going to erase the Hogyoku with her abilities), and go straight on with the story – after an even smaller portion of extra info that you might want before continuing, although I hope it doesn't make you not want to read.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. If I did, Gin would be alive… Although, I'm a GinRan fan, so that would mean no ShuRan, and no way in hell am I writing anything else.
"I'm sorry, Ishida," Orihime whispered. The wound had been mostly healed, and he would survive, but he was still passed out and showed no signs of recovering any time soon. He would surely still be waiting here in Hueco Mundo, with no one but Ulquiorra to guard him. And she didn't trust him much. At least Chad was there too, but he wasn't powerful enough to stop Ulquiorra. The world was at stake, and everyone was going to make sacrifices. Aizen had to be stopped, even if the whole of Karakura and Seireitei were massacred. Or else, it would be all of Earth and Soul Society instead.
She released Uryu before anyone could stop her and sprinted away to Las Noches. "Inoue!" Chad shouted, but she was long gone before he could get her.
"Inoue!" Rukia gasped as Orihime fell onto the floor. Rukia dashed over to restrain her, but Orihime's months of practice did not fail her and she dodged nimbly to the side, knocked Rukia over and ducked low enough that Renji tripped over her.
"Sorry!" she shouted over her shoulder as she raced toward where the garganta had vanished.
"What are you doing?" Mayuri demanded.
"Open it, please," Orihime begged. Having no reason to deny her, he shrugged and opened it. "Thanks," she panted.
"I want to come," Kenpachi announced. "Yachiru, go in front. I can't make reishi."
"M'kay!" Yachiru agreed as she hopped off Kenpachi's back. Orihime ran after Yachiru and Kenpachi followed the two.
She arrived just in time to see Toshiro lower Momo to the ground, staring in horror at the bloody wound through her stomach. Wasting no time, she ignored everyone.
"I'm not here," she hissed behind her. In the heat of battle, no one even noticed her as they hacked at Aizen.
"Hide behind me," Kenpachi ordered. "I'm no idiot. When not just my life, but life itself, depends on the outcome of one battle, I'll make sure we win it. No one's going to see you."
"Soten Kisshun," she whispered almost inaudibly. "I reject." She made sure that the light was dim enough, only someone who was looking could see it. Which is why Aizen's eyes widened mid-battle as he used an excessive amount of power and dodged nimbly. He stared at the Hogyoku in terror as it slowly undid him.
"Gin!" he roared. "Get that woman!" He gestured to where Orihime hid behind Kenpachi. Everyone turned, and they were confused for a second as they could only see the bigger man. Then they must've sensed her spiritual pressure. Gin made quick work of Kenpachi, disposing of him before he could react. Gin grabbed her and shunpo'd off.
"Inoue!" Ichigo yelled in alarm.
"I'm after her!" Yachiru declared.
"Me too!" Kenpachi insisted as he rose from the ground. "This wound is nothing!"
As they neared the building, Gin grabbed her hands and held them. "What are you doing?" Orihime demanded.
"Shhh," Gin hissed as he lowered her to the ground. "Raise your spiritual pressure. He'll think you're putting up a fight." Orihime eyed him warily, but obeyed. "5… 4… 3… 2… 1…" Gin counted, then put his hands in front of him. "Bakudo #26, Kyokko." Orihime watched as her hands faded into the color of the ground.
"What does that do?" she challenged.
"What's important is that it hides your reiatsu," Gin told her. "He'll think that I killed you, so he won't be suspicious. Eventually, he'll come after me, but he won't be able to find you even if he kills me. Which he won't, or should I say can't, if your ability works fast enough."
"There he is, Ken-chan! Get him!" Gin dodged nimbly and sighed.
"It's okay, Mr. Kenpachi," Orihime assured.
Yachiru stared at her. "Ken-chan, Jiggles spoke! Why can't I see her?"
"Kido," Gin explained. "I hid her physical presence and reiatsu. Raise your spiritual pressure so he thinks we're fighting."
Kenpachi glared at him. "Don't order me around," he snapped as he did what Gin said.
"I wasn't," Gin retorted. "I was suggesting something."
It was over. Orihime could sense that she was done through her power. She recalled it. "You can remove the kido," she announced. Gin frowned at her, then recalled his own power.
"Jiggles!" Yachiru exclaimed. "Thanks, Creepy Smile!" Gin grinned at his nickname.
"I want to go back," Orihime announced. "Why?" Gin asked. "They'll be able to take care of it."
"They've still seen his shikai, and we don't know for sure that Ichigo hasn't," Orihime pointed out. "I haven't."
"Fine, but one last piece of advice," Gin agreed as he picked Orihime up. "If you see his shikai, touch his sword. That'll make you immune, so long as you keep your hand there." Orihime nodded. Gin dropped her off and said, "Keep your reiatsu hidden, we'll sneak up on him together while he's occupied." He gestured to Ichigo, who was the only one left fighting besides Isshin and Kisuke.
Eventually, they formed a plan. Gin slid between Ichigo and Sosuke as the former struck, stopped Ichigo's sword with one hand, grabbed Sosuke's and yanked it away. Sosuke's eyes widened. "Gin," he roared. "How dare you betray me!" He kicked Gin in the gut and grabbed the sword.
"Santen Kesshun, I reject," Orihime incanted, raising her hands. A shield appeared between Sosuke and Gin, and to her relief, it worked. Instead of the shield shattering under his pressure, the force of the kick had the opposite effect and he bounced off before skidding to a halt. "Koten Zanshun, I reject," Orihime called, and Tsubaki flew forward. Don't hesitate, she reminded herself. He hurt everyone. He almost killed Kurosaki-kun, and he'll kill not only Kurosaki-kun, but Ishida-kun, Tatsuki-chan and everyone else if this doesn't work. Her gaze hardened, and she put all her spiritual pressure into the strike. He's a monster.
Tsubaki sliced into Sosuke's chest, where the hogyoku used to be. Sosuke's eyes widened, and in that moment of shock, Kisuke and Isshun lunged forward in unison, attacking him from either side. Sosuke hastily cut their blows off with his hands, but under the mask of Kisuke and Isshun, Ichigo put on his mask, yelled, "Getsugatensho!" and pressed his sword against Sosuke's earlier wound from Orihime. Eventually, the getsugatensho broke through Sosuke's skin and sliced him in half.
Seeing that the battle was won, Orihime passed out from a mixture of exhaustion and relief. The last thing she heard was Ichigo screaming, "Inoue!" and the last thing she felt was Gin, the closest person, catching her and laying her down somewhere.
"Kurosaki-kun… I'm okay…" Orihime mumbled in her sleep, dreaming of the events that had occurred yesterday. Blinking awake suddenly, she shot upright.
"Inoue!"
"Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime cried. "Ishida-kun! Sado-kun!" They were all sitting around. "Are you okay? Where are Kuchiki-san and Abarai-kun? Are they okay?"
"They're fine," Ichigo reassured her. "They went to the captains' meeting in place of Aizen, Ichimaru and Tosen. Some of the others did, too, but not many. I think it was special, because the most high-ranking shinigami are to be involved in…" He frowned. "Well, I'm not really sure. Important stuff."
Ishida rolled his eyes. "Honestly, Kurosaki," he sighed. Fixing his gaze on Orihime, he began, "That doesn't matter right now. Are you okay? You fainted during the battle."
Her eyes narrowed momentarily as she recalled her last memories. Then she gasped. "What happened to Ichimaru?"
"He… uh… he died," Ichigo muttered. "Aizen… he killed Ichimaru, before he died himself."
Orihime burst into tears. "I-I'm so s-sorry! It's all m-my fault! N-No one had to g-get hurt, if I was just s-strong enough to d-defend myself! I s-should've been a better f-fighter!"
"Shh, Inoue-san," Uryu hushed her. Orihime fell into his chest, then grabbed Ichigo and Chad and pulled the three into a group hug.
"Ishida-k-kun, I left you t-there, I never finished h-healing you! And S-Sado-kun, I s-should've healed you when I was d-done, but I c-couldn't, because I wasn't t-there! And Kurosaki-kun, then I f-fainted and couldn't heal y-you! And none of this would've h-happened if I could've just k-killed Ulquiorra and then you wouldn't have c-come to Hueco Mundo in the f-first place! It's all my fault!"
"No, it's not! You say that like you went willingly!" Ichigo grasped her shoulders and made her face him. "Ishida was healed enough that he didn't die. Chad's alive, too. So am I. The only person who died was Aizen. Now, if you had gone on and healed everyone first, Aizen would be the only one who wasn't dead. You're a hero, Inoue."
"No I'm not!" Orihime argued, but the tears that had stopped flowing were evidence that he had comforted her at least a little. "You could've killed him on your own."
"With the hogyoku, he would've destroyed the place. You removed it, though. That counts for something – no, that counts for everything." Orihime smiled and hugged him.
"Wow, Kurosaki. You said something smart."
"Shut up, four-eyes!"
"Make me, carrot-top."
"Maybe I will!"
"Then do it already!"
Chad sighed softly as Orihime hastily pulled Ichigo away as he attempted to make Uryu shut up.
You know how I said it would be a short summary? I lied. Sorry. Anyway, this is the extra information I was talking about above.
Pairings (Please don't just go away if you see something you don't like; there are several one-sided relationships too, if that's good enough): Ichigo x Orihime/Jinta x Yuzu/Keigo x Tatsuki/Mizuiro x Michiru/Chizuru x Mahana/Yasturo (Chad) x Lisa/Renji x Rukia/Yoruichi x Shaolin (Sui-Feng/Soi-Fon)/Izuru x Momo/Kenpachi x Retsu/Tetsuzaemon x Isane/Hanataro x Ururu/Byakuya x Nanao/Shuhei x Rangiku/Toshiro x Karin/Ikkaku x Mizuho (Keigo's Sister)/Uryu x Nemu/Kiyone x Chojiro
The main pairings are Ichigo x Orihime, Keigo x Tatsuki, Mizuiro x Michiru, Renji x Rukia, Izuru x Momo, Byakuya x Nanao, Shuhei x Rangiku, and Uryu x Nemu.
The main character is actually an OC, Tomi Chino. The secondary character is Izuru in the first half and Shuhei in the second.
One-Sided Pairings (The first name is who's in love, the second name is who's not): Rukia x Ichigo/Uryu x Orihime/Kisuke x Yoruichi/Mizuiro x Tatsuki
If you still don't like the pairings, but like my writing, send me a PM. I have plans for a sequel where everyone's basically reincarnated into their children, except without the dying part. I just rewrote one sentence three times, so I'm going to give you a simpler explanation. In the next thing I write…
Rukia's kid x Ichigo's kid/Uryu's kid x Orihime's kid
Does it make more sense? I hope so, 'cause I can't figure out a better way to put it. Anyway, if you send me a PM with a pairing/pairings you like, I'll use it – if I like it – in the sequel. I'll send you a PM when I start the sequel, if one or more of your pairings are in it.