Chapter 4

Inoue Orihime sneezed.

"Bless you." Her best friend, Tatsuki said as they walked out of the school gate.

"Thanks."

Today was great. She managed to get an A on her art project, spent more time with her crush Ichigo, and aced her fitness test. It was like the day couldn't get any better.

I completely forgot about that puzzle I was going to show Abarai-san. Orihime thought as she turned to Tatsuki.

"I need to get going. There's something I have to do. See you later!" She shouted as she ran as quickly as possible.

"Make sure you pay attention to where you're going!" Tatsuki shouted back.

"I will!"

She really couldn't wait to show Renji something that she recently discovered. It was so weird. There were two pieces of papers, one red and one blue. They were both cut out into circles and 1/3 was cut from each. You hold them in each hand, look, and determine which one is bigger. Now the pieces were cut the same size but for some reason, one is bigger than the other. Orihime thought it was pretty neat when she discovered that one eye can see something in a bigger view and the other eye can see something in a smaller view. She wondered if that was possible and how Renji would react to it.

Then she heard someone shouting her name. "Inoue-san!"

She turned around and saw Urahara, standing by a pole close by the street where her house is on.

"Urahara-san! What brings you here?" She asked in a curious manner.

She began to wonder if Soul Society was in trouble again.

"I just received a message from Abarai-san." The mention of Renji's name perked Orihime's interest. "There seems to be some bad news concerning you."

Bad news? What kind of bad news? She thought as Urahara waved his fan towards his face.

"When he called, he mentioned something about puzzles and riddles you've been showing him lately. Though the things you've been showing him have interested Seireitei, someone there is not pleased about it."

"I've started showing Abarai-san some that I learned when he came to visit. It started when Asano-san showed me the 1 + 1 = window… Does he know who's not pleased?"

Urahara raised an eyebrow but didn't bother to ask about the window riddle or whatever it was she mentioned. "It seems that the puzzles you've been showing him is disrupting Abarai-san's performance. Kuchiki Byakuya is heading here to have a talk with you."

Oh dear. She didn't know that the stuff she's been showing was slowing Renji down.

"Renji wishes he can come and stop him but he was stripped of his rights of coming here."

Poor Renji. She felt bad.

"During the message, Ukitake dropped a little piece of information. Kuchiki wasn't allowed to come here but it seems he snuck in behind Yamamoto's back."

Wait, Byakuya's already here?

"I-Is – "

"Yes. He's here but I don't know where. If I were you, I would head to a friend's house, Kurosaki-san's perhaps."

Yeah… That seemed like a good idea. She can fight but she was more on the defensive side. She had healing powers and a shield to protect her and she didn't think her shields could withstand Byakuya's power. If she remembered correctly, Ichigo went up against him and defeated him. Maybe he can protect her but then again, she didn't want to disturb Ichigo.

"There you are." A low voice spoke.

She watched Urahara as he looked who was behind her and frowned. Orihime gulped. Byakuya has found her.