Disclaimer: wasn't myn in chap 1-y wud that hav suddenly changed?
The orange glow disappeared. It was gone. The small yet ridiculously powerful object that had caused all this mess – was gone. Relief washed through every fibre of Orihime and Ichigo's bodies. And then the astonishment set in.
'I did it,' Orihime whispered, in awe. Ichigo briefly squeezed her hands.
'Yes, you did it,' he murmured in to her ear, just as astonished as she was. He felt a bit ashamed actually. He knew she was stronger than anyone including herself knew, but that she had this much potential?
Orihime laughed in disbelief then turned to face him with shinning eyes. 'We did it,' she beamed. Her smile was so radiant, so bright, that he couldn't help but grin back. With the intensity of trying to destroy the Hougyoko gone, they suddenly realized just how close their faces were. How warm their intertwined hands felt. They jumped apart blushing furiously.
'I...uh,' he stammered.
'heehee...uhh,' she stammered too. He looked up to see her looking straight back at him, mirroring his expression. The faint blush. The repressed longing? Unconsciously they flexed their hands.
I can still feel your presence linger on my skin...
The moment shattered as an unbearable amount of reiatsu engulfed them. Las Noches' very foundations shook with the pressure of it. The walls became a road map as cracks began to form. The palace gave a mighty groan, before the ceiling began to cave-in.
Shit, there's no time to get out, Ichigo thought. Without a moment's hesitation he jumped at Orihime, wrapped his arms around her protectively and let his momentum drop them on the ground, so that he was now on top of her.
Ichigo winced, knowing that in a few seconds, his back would bear the full force of the ceiling falling down. Seeing the huge chunks of ceiling coming down, Orihime raised her hands above Ichigo's back and wordlessly willed her shield in to place. The debris fell all around them and above them, sitting on her shield.
Ichigo raised his head to look at her. They were chest to chest. She could feel his heart beating through the fabric of their clothing.
'Thanks. You okay?' he asked her. She just nodded, not trusting her voice. He was just about to ask what the hell that was, but was stopped as a second wave of reiatsu rolled around them.
Ichigo was about to get up and break his way through the debris, but a cold familiar voice stopped him.
'Thank you Orihime for your help,' Aizen drawled. At first Ichigo thought that Aizen was near but the strong wave of reiatsu didn't feel like his. He's magnifying his voice again.
*
'Truly, I could not do it without her.' You could hear his signature twisted smile in his voice.
'I didn't truly intend to ever go to the Spirit King...rather have him come to me.'
Yamamoto-taichou's eyes widened in realization.
Aizen seeing the comprehension in the Captain Commander's face smiled.
'Yes, you're probably wondering how I knew. Let's just say, I have a talent for information gathering.'
'What the hell you on about?' Yoruichi shouted, her voice carrying over the 100 metre distance to Aizen.
Of course. How rude of me,' he mocked. 'Let me explain. What you don't know is that all the spirit energy in the world originates from the Spirit King's World and also eventually goes back to it. It's a fine balance; The amount of spirit energy going in and out of there. I realized early on that Orihime's powers could send things back to the Spirit King's World. Now for the balance to be maintained when something as powerful as the Hougyoko is sent back...who do you think will come here?' he chuckled darkly and the sound made Yamamoto's skin crawl.
Another strong wave of reiatsu spread through the air.
'Ah. I see our main guest is almost here,' Gin grinned.
*
Orihime and Ichigo stared at each other; eyes wide open in the same horrified expression. Orihime's fists curled around the material on Ichigo's back as he grabbed her arms tightly.
'What have I done?' she whispered brokenly, breathing heavily.
'Shhh, it's ok, you didn't know,' Ichigo tried to comfort her as his own insides twisted.
'It'll be okay, we'll fix this,' he murmured, before slicing through the rubble around them. He lifted her gently in to his arms and flew out of the remains of Las Noches. She shivered violently in his arms always repeating the same sentence; 'What have I done?'
He stroked her hair over and over, the way he would a child. He looked up and his breath caught in his throat.
'What?' They were surrounded by 40m tall black impenetrable walls, snaking across the land in ominous paths. A maze. Ichigo tried to fly above it but was thrown back down by a transparent barrier. His grip on Orihime tightened as he just about managed to land on his feet.
Once more Aizen's voice rang out.
'I thought we could entertain our main guest as well as our current guests with a little game,' he said in his bitter sweet voice.
Another wave of reiatsu wrapped itself around the lands of Hueco Mundo, but this time it was stronger and more pronounced.
'Our guest has arrived.'
A/n: sooo what do you think?
Reviews are much appreciated-as an English lit and lang student criticisms and comments are really useful (I can sell this as 'school related to my parents).
Thanks for taking the time to read this chap-hope you like it!
Missy xxx