A/N: I promise this is the last chapter where Orihime sleep-casts.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or BtVS.
Riley: These spells…these really work? I mean, can you really turn your enemies inside-out or learn to excrete gold coins?
Anya: That one's not so much fun.
Chapter 7: Normal Again
Living World
It had been a week since Orihime returned from Hueco Mundo, and though she was elated to be home and with her friends, she missed Ulquiorra and Grimmjow terribly.
Luckily, she was over her crush on Ichigo, so when he finally asked Rukia on a date, she was not heartbroken. Needless to say, her friends were quite surprised if not a little frightened when Orihime told Ichigo that she wished Rukia and him happiness but would beat him to death with a shovel if he hurt Rukia. (1)
Unfortunately, Orihime realized that her crush on Ichigo had merely been replaced with an even stronger crush on the stoic espada. Orihime didn't know if she'd ever see him again, and it often brought tears to her eyes.
She sighed as she prepared for bed. She had missed her fuzzy pink pajamas and her soft bed; that was certain. "At least I stopped using magick in my sleep," she told herself as she lowered her head to the pillow. She was asleep in minutes.
At the Urahara Souten, Ichigo, Rukia, Renji, Uryuu, and Chad were demanding answers. "You told us you knew what was going on," Uryuu insisted.
Urahara chuckled. "Actually, Ishida-san, I intimated, and I could very well have been lying."
Ichigo practically snarled and leapt up from his seat. "Are you going to tell us or not. We're wasting time here! One of us should be protecting Orihime!" Ever since Orihime's return, there was always someone guarding her in case Aizen attempted to kidnap her again. Of course, they decided they had to spare a few minutes to have this meeting, as they couldn't bring Orihime with them. They didn't want her to know what was happening as they thought it'd frighten her. None of them actually thought of asking her if she knew about it in the first place.
"Calm yourself, Kurosaki-san." Urahara smiled and waved his fan placidly. "I will tell you. I believe Orihime used some form of kidou that wasn't powered by reiatsu."
"I-is that possible?" Rukia asked.
Urahara shrugged. "I am not very familiar with the occult, but from what I have gathered, magick is real."
"You mean like magicians and magic tricks?" Ichigo asked.
Urahara smirked. "I mean like witches."
Orihime twitched a bit in her sleep. She was dreaming of Ulquiorra. He was walking away from her, leaving her in the living world as he returned to Hueco Mundo. Tears started running down her cheeks in her dream as well as in reality. She tried to call out to him, to call out his name. Instead, she uttered foreign words.
"I conjure thee by Barabbas, by Satanis, and the Devil." Power was palpable in the air around her, easily drawn by such a simple spell. "As thou art burning, let Oz and Veruca's deceitful hearts be broken. This way, I conjure thee by the Saracen Queen and the name of hell. Let them find no love or solace. Let them find no peace as well."
In the dimension of Arashmahaar, a daemon noticed the power and destructive nature of the spell Orihime was using.
"Let this image seal his fate, not to love, only hate." At the completion of the spell, the magicks dissipated as no actual picture of the intended targets was being burned. The powerful words amounted to nothing except a bit of residual magick making Orihime's hair slightly frizzy. That, and the notice of a powerful daemon.
A few seconds later, there was a loud "poof" noise, there was a large scorch mark in the middle of Orihime's floor, and a blue daemon with a rather wrinkled face was standing right in the middle of her bedroom.
With a deep voice and a great many theatrics, D'Hoffryn pronounced in a powerful voice, "I am D'Hoff – " It was then that he noticed that Orihime was not cowering in terror or stricken with awe. She was, in fact, asleep. Losing quite a bit of his gusto, the daemon sighed loudly. "Oh, come on. I came all the way from Arashmahaar and you're asleep?" D'Hoffryn trudged over to her bed and started to shake the girl so as to awaken her.
Orihime opened her eyes, gaining a bleary view of the world. She then got a view of the tall, robed daemon standing over her. "Ahhhhhhh!" she screamed, sitting up straight in bed. She subsequently knocked her rather hard head on D'Hoffryn's, sending him flying back. He stumbled backward, tripped on the hem of his robe, and went toppling into Orihime's wall. There was a crunching sound as one of the daemon's horns pierced the wall and proceeded to remain stuck there.
Orihime watched the daemon attempt to free his horn in vain. Eventually he turned his eyes to her and said, "Um, I – uh – I seem to be stuck. Uh – could you just…" Always accommodating, Orihime smiled widely and stood to help the daemon. Orihime held onto his head, inadvertently poking his eye, put one foot on the wall, and yanked his horn out of her wall.
Once the daemon was free and had dusted the drywall from his horn, he turned to the girl. "Who are you?" she asked.
D'Hoffryn puffed up a bit. "I am D'Hoffryn." He then got a good look at the girl. "Don't I know you?"
Orihime cocked her head in confusion. "Um, I don't think so."
The daemon scrutinized her for a bit. "Yeah, I do know you! You're Willow!"
Orihime looked surprised. "Um, no, sir. I believe you have the wrong person. I'm Orihime."
D'Hoffryn waved his hand as though flicking away her argument. "You were Willow though. I'd recognize that magick anywhere."
"Magick!" Orihime squeaked. "Oh no! I used magick again? What did I do this time? I didn't hurt anything did I?" D'Hoffryn gave her a confused look. Orihime quickly explained. "I do spells in my sleep."
D'Hoffryn continued to stare at her for a moment before he burst out laughing. "It's not funny!" Orihime insisted. But D'Hoffryn couldn't stop chuckling. (2)
Uryuu twitched then jumped to his feet. "Do you sense that?"
"Sense what?" Renji asked.
"I don't sense anything," Ichigo said.
"You never do," Uryuu muttered.
Before an argument could ensue, Chad stood as well. "I sense it, but I'm not sure what it is."
Uryuu shook his head. "Me neither."
"Is it an arrancar!?" Ichigo exclaimed.
"No," Uryuu said. There were a few sighs of relief, though everyone tensed at the Quincy's next words, "I've never felt a reiatsu like it before."
In Orihime's apartment, Orihime and D'Hoffryn were sitting at her table drinking tea. D'Hoffryn had explained to her that in her previous life she had been a powerful witch, and that the spells she was performing in her sleep she had probably cast in her previous life. "Willow, huh," Orihime said. The name sounded familiar, nice. Of course it did. It's her name. Or it was, in any case.
"Yep," the daemon responded, sipping his tea. D'Hoffryn had explained that her imaginary family, Buffy, Xander, Giles, and Joyce, had actually been her friends when she was known as Willow. It was a slight comfort for Orihime. At least she knew she wasn't insane.
"So," said D'Hoffryn, setting down his tea. "The reason I came is to offer you a job."
"A job?"
"As a vengeance daemon."
Orihime was startled. "Oh, I don't want to be a daemon, and vengeance is kind of a bad thing, isn't it? That's not exactly the kind job I want!"
D'Hoffryn stood, regaining his intimidating aura. "Orihime, your power is great. You will make a fine vengeance daemon." (3)
Orihime hopped to her feet as well. "But please, D'Hoffryn-sama, if I was a vengeance daemon, I'd have to hurt people. I don't want to hurt people!"
Annoyance flashed in the powerful daemon's eyes. "That is your answer?"
"I-it is," Orihime stammered.
D'Hoffryn's voice took on a menacing edge. "I'm sorry to hear that." There was a moment of tension before D'Hoffryn seemed to deflate back to the daemon Orihime had been having tea with not moments ago. "Oh, well. Here is my talisman." He pulled out a brown disk from his robe and handed it to the girl. "You change your mind, give us a chant." Orihime nodded noncommittally. With another "poof" and scorch mark on her floor, D'Hoffryn was gone.
The next moment however, Orihime's front door was knocked down by a group of concerned friends.
"Inoue!" Ichigo yelled as he, Rukia, Renji, Uryuu, and Chad tumbled through her door into her living room. "Are you okay?"
Orihime looked startled. "Of course I'm fine, Kurosaki-kun. Why wouldn't I be?"
Uryuu fixed his glasses as he explained, "We felt a strange reiatsu coming from your apartment, Inoue."
Orihime smiled brightly. "That was just D'Hoffryn-sama! He was offering me a job as a vengeance daemon."
Orihime's friends gazed at her incredulously. "Inoue, what was it really? This is important."
A hurt look entered her eyes. "You don't believe me? But his talisman's right here!"
Ignoring the talisman that emitted no reiatsu and, according to shinigami, was therefore harmless, Rukia stepped forward and placed a hand on Orihime's shoulder, "We do believe you, Inoue! We really do. We just wanted to be sure."
"But – " Ichigo began, but a subtle kick in the shins from Rukia silenced any protests.
"We'll see you tomorrow, Inoue," Rukia said, quickly hugging her friend before dragging the boys out the door.
Once outside, Ichigo launched at Rukia. "What was that about? We needed to know what that reiatsu was!"
Rukia sighed. "We weren't going to get anything out of Inoue," Rukia argued. Ichigo huffed and sat outside Orihime's door to guard her home.
Inside, Orihime was still slightly hurt that her friends chalked up her experience to her overactive imagination. Will they ever believe me?
The next morning, Orihime awoke early. She dressed quickly, nearly tripped over the shinigami she found in front of her door, apologized profusely, and then made her way to a shop she'd never entered before.
She was glad Ichigo wasn't following her as she entered the shop; she was sure he would disapprove.
She walked through the door of the dimly lit magick shop, eyeing the curious wares lining the walls.
An elderly man with a thick eastern-European accent and an aura of mystery said, "Ah, come in child. What can I do for you today?"
"I've been unwittingly doing spells in my sleep, and a daemon called D'Hoffryn told me it was because I was a witch in a past life. Can you help me?"
The shopkeeper immediately dropped his mysterious act, stood a little straighter, and smiled. When he spoke, his eastern-European accent was replaced with an American one. "Oh sure!" he said. "An actual witch, huh? I don't get many of those anymore. Mostly kids looking for spooky stuff around Halloween." (4)
The shopkeeper led Orihime back into the shop to a large bookshelf. "So, what level of spells are you doing? Must be pretty intense to warrant D'Hoffryn's attention."
"I don't really know," Orihime said. "I've always been asleep. Plus, I'm pretty new at this stuff…well, I am in this life."
The man nodded. Pulling out a rather large, leather bound book, he said, "Here we go. You're problem is control. You've got the magick, so you need to learn to control it. The spells in here are rather simple, but take a lot of concentration. They should help."
"Thanks!" Orihime said excitedly. She purchased the book and left the shop.
Orihime studied the spell book intently. The spells were familiar and oddly comforting. They came easily to her. Ever resourceful, she found a spell she considered extremely useful. It allowed her to create her own ball of sunlight, an instant way to dust pesky vampires. She practiced quite often, and after five days she was able to create a bright orb of light. She then decided to practice her spell and thereby her concentration in a more hectic situation. Thus she found herself sitting in a cemetery waiting for a fledgling vampire to rise.
Orihime was glad that her friends weren't keeping such close tabs on her anymore. They had become a bit more lax after almost two weeks with little arrancar activity. Otherwise, she was sure they would never allow her to go to a cemetery at eleven PM. She had hacked into the local coroner's office files and found the perfect candidate to practice her magick on. Now she just had to wait for him to rise.
The first hour went by rather quickly as she brought her chemistry homework to occupy her time. She became a little cold during the second hour, and by one AM she decided that chemistry homework must actually be daemons in disguise.
Leaning against a chilling gravestone, Orihime snuggled further into her jacket and reread the problem in her chemistry book. "0.10 molar sodium hydroxide is titrated with 0.50 molar acetic acid. What is the pH of the resulting solution?" Orihime practically growled. "This is so redundant! I've done ten problems like this by now!" The cold, grumbling girl rubbed her eyes before throwing her chemistry book on the grass before her. Glaring at the grave of the newly made vampire, Orihime grumbled, "Why don't you just rise already?"
As if granting her wish, a hand shot out from the dirt. Orihime jumped to her feet in glee. Quickly she cupped her hands before her and concentrated, ready to let the light blossom over her palms.
Then she waited for the vampire to unearth himself. And she waited. And she waited. After ten minutes of watching a flailing hand, Orihime took pity on the vampire. She released the gathered magick and trudged over to the vampire's grave, grabbed his hand, and pulled.
With her added help, the fledgling vamp was able to pull himself aboveground. Orihime stood patiently as he stood and dusted the soil from his clothes. "Thanks! I got stuck," he said, his daemonic visage and fangs belying his friendly smile.
"No problem!" Orihime replied, before getting down to business. The vampire was about to declare his thirst and decide that Orihime would be a tasty snack, when the reincarnated witch beat him to the punch. She once again cupped her hands and gathered enough magick to create sunlight.
"Hey, what are you – " was all the vampire was able to utter before a bright flash of light erupted from Orihime's hands. The daemon screamed in pain, and the smell of burning flesh made Orihime grimace. When her blinding light dissipated, the vampire was not reduced to ashes as Orihime had expected. Instead, his burnt body was writhing on the ground as he howled in pain.
"Oh, sorry!" Orihime apologized for her shoddy slaying attempt as she pulled out her stake. "Guess I need more practice." Orihime swiftly staked the suffering vampire. Once he was reduced to dust, she gathered her homework and left the cemetery.
On her walk home, Orihime heard crashes and thumps emanating from an alley followed by bright flashes of light. Curiosity overpowered reason, and Orihime decided to investigate. Peering into the alley, Orihime saw Rukia and Ichigo battling a large hollow. The hollow took a swipe at Rukia who dodged it nimbly giving Ichigo an opening to slash its mask with his zanpakutou. They really do work well together, Orihime thought as she greeted her victorious friends.
"Inoue!" Ichigo exclaimed. "What are you doing out here so late!"
"Studying," Orihime said, raising her chemistry book in explanation.
Rukia sighed. "Why are you studying so far from your apartment at two in the morning?" she clarified.
"Oh! I was waiting for a vampire to rise."
Both shinigami stared at their friend incredulously. "Inoue," Ichigo said exasperatedly, "go home and go to bed."
Orihime frowned. She could tell they didn't believe her. "Alright," she said resignedly before heading home.
A/N: Next chapter: Orihime's friends discover how powerful she actually is! Reviews are greatly appreciated!
(1) Okay, I'm sick of Rukia and Ichigo not admitting that they like each other, so I just went ahead and put them together. I also wanted to make Orihime threaten Ichigo in the same way Willow threatened Riley. That was just fun!
(2) I know D'Hoffryn's a little OOC, but he seems kind of like a fun-loving guy when he's not killing or maiming someone.
(3) D'Hoffryn's words from here on are all from Buffy.
(4) Can anyone tell me what scene from Buffy this resembles? Hint hint: Miss Calendar!
