The next day found a light frost on the ground, a thin white-gray that covered the sidewalks and evergreen shrubs until it was burnt off by the timid sun. It was the coldest morning yet, but it didn't keep Orihime from running her errands. She finished her bit of shopping, finding that she was merely spending the day until she was to meet Renji at his place that afternoon.

Mrs. Tanaka had used most of his afternoon the day before and required him back that evening for a problem with a leaky sink, which had taken up most his remaining time, and Orihime was eager to make up for the lost time. His thirty day gigai test was slipping away, and she acutely felt the days passing as her free week from school progressed.

She came around the back of the alley along the fence to Mrs. Tanaka's backyard where the staircases to the upper apartments laced the rear of the building, surprised to see the aging woman's short form at the storage shed.

"Hi," she said loudly, bowing to the landlady that nodded to her as she moved small stoneware planters on an exterior stand, dumping water out of a few.

"If you're after Abarai-san, he's gone," the woman called, coughing, squinting at her in the bright sunlight. She wiped her mouth with an edge of the scarf draped around her shoulders, her neck seeming to disappear in the thick material.

Orihime stopped abruptly as her first boot set on the lowest stair step. "He's gone?" She blinked quickly, glancing at Urahara's shop rooftop that peeked over the fence. "Gone, as in --"

"With that orange-haired boy," Mrs. Tanaka said, clearing her raspy throat, waving a hand to her. "Go on in if it's open. Too cold to wait outside."

The relief that rushed Orihime surprised her. "Oh, Kurosaki-kun. Okay. Thanks!" She continued up the staircase, pulling her furred collar closer around her throat against the stiff breeze. The old woman's words had startled her more than she thought they should have. "I shouldn't have thought gone so quickly," she mumbled to herself as she reached the small landing at the top.

She glanced down at the woman who was still rearranging the pots, one hand holding her scarf over her mouth. Orihime bit her lip, just a little, turning her back to the woman as she tried the door to the apartment. It was locked, and she slipped her hand in her pocket, blushing a bit as she found the spare key Renji had given her.

She unlocked the door, entering the quiet apartment quickly before Mrs. Tanaka could see her. She wasn't sure why she felt awkward about letting herself in if the landlady was watching. She shut the door behind her, eyes growing accustomed to the dimmer light of the room. She slipped off her boots, knowing Renji was absent even without Mrs. Tanaka's aid.

She loosened her coat, smiling at the faint scent she associated with him. There wasn't much to prove Renji lived there, or anyone at all, she thought, looking around. The smell of him, that subtle hint of aftershave was almost all there was. On the futon was a pullover, the navy blue one, and on the counter she could see a coffee mug. That was it.

She wasn't sure if it was him, or just the shinigami style; sparse, nothing too permanent. She took off her coat and laid it on the edge of the futon, wondering where Renji had gone with Ichigo. She figured it was something related to Hollows.

Or Rukia.

She sighed, one hand pushing her hair over her shoulder, pleased at having both her hair pins back. She knew not much brought Renji and Ichigo together like the petite shinigami. Rukia Kuchiki had brought all of Soul Society to its knees when her life had been unjustly threatened.

Orihime tried not to let the long-buried envy seep into her mind. Rukia was important to a lot of people, and dear to a few. Even her brother had finally begun to act the role of older brother. So had Renji, and Orihime was especially glad for that.

The kitchen was empty, bare of what she considered the necessities. "Not even a cookie jar," she mused aloud. She was tempted to get him one. Maybe something with a monkey on it.

She shook her head. Too silly.

With a sheepish glance to the door, she went to the bathroom, hovering just at the doorway, seeing nothing that would indicate the room had been used recently save a half a bar of soap on the shower dish suction-cupped to the wall. She turned to look at his bedroom -- in his bedroom, as he had no door.

She took a hesitant step in, smiling at the sense of proximity to him she felt there that won out over the twinge of guilt. The futon was made, rather the thick brown jersey comforter passably straightened beneath a single pillow in a blue plaid case. She fought off the urge to pick it up, uncertain what such an action would lend.

Instead she went to the window where the lone tan curtain was swagged to one side, hooked over a plain nail driven into the white wall. Urahara's shop backyard was visible over the fence, her vantage point showing Ururu and Jinta trying to coax a squirrel from a tree trunk with a piece of pocky.

Orihime laughed to herself. The two children could get along if no one was watching, she decided.

A noise from the other room made her spin to face the doorway, followed by footfalls. The steps were light, barely heard, and Orihime guessed at who it could be even before Rukia looked into the bedroom.

Her violet eyes grew large when she saw Orihime. "Hi, Orihime," she said, smiling quickly. "You're already here."

"Hi, Rukia." Orihime returned a smile, flushing a little at being caught anywhere. "I was just, well, looking at Urahara-san's shop."

Rukia nodded and joined her at the window, gaze resting on the children. "Renji said you'd probably be here soon. He and Ichigo got called out --" She shook her head, wiping the black strand of hair out of her eyes that fell across her face. "No one called them, Orihime, but they went to back-up a few from Twelfth when a group of Hollows showed up on the other side of town. Nasty bunch, sounds like."

Orihime nodded, trouble leasing her eyes. "I hope they're careful."

"They will be."

They watched the squirrel switch its bushy tail, black eyes intent on the pocky the children offered, tempted.

"They sent me off," Rukia said with a huff, crossing her arms over her thin chest over a coat that was too large on her. "Like I'm a probationary or something."

"They just don't want you to get hurt," Orihime said, smiling hopefully, nodding when Rukia looked to her. "They care."

Rukia tried to give her an indifferent look, but it came across as half-hearted. "I know, but with them and my brother caring so much sometimes it gets in the way of getting anything done. Even my Captain has had me step down from assisting for back-up this time."

Orihime nodded, hearing more than Rukia was putting into words. "It's different now." She didn't continue her original thought, eyes dropping to the worn wooden flooring. Her gaze went back out the window.

When Orihime left off speaking Rukia put a hand to the taller girl's arm, smiling. "As long as they're gone, let's get hot cocoa." She lifted an eyebrow when more of a smile came to Orihime's face.

The smile turned less genuine. "He won't be here much longer. After the testing is done."

Rukia caught on to what Orihime wasn't saying. "Well, he has to go back to Soul Society," she said, searching for an emotion she seldom used. "He'll be back. Not for weeks on end like..." It wasn't the right thing to say, and she realized it too late. "He'll ... he'll be back."

Orihime made herself smile. "I know."

Rukia wished she'd said something different, something more hopeful. "He'll find a way to come back. He's stubborn like that."

The truth of the statement made Orihime smile wider. "I hope so."

Rukia nodded. "I'd say we could go through his things while they're gone, just a little snooping, but he doesn't have anything in the place to go through. It's so empty here." She glanced around the room, spotting the photo of Orihime on the simple nightstand by the futon. "Except your --"

"They're back," Orihime said suddenly, grabbing Rukia's arm in hold that jolted the smaller girl. She pointed out the window into Urahara's yard. "It looks like Twelfth, too. It doesn't look good ..." she caught the edge of her bottom lip with her teeth, frowning. "I don't know. Maybe it's good."

Rukia stood closer to her to see over the fence.

Three members of Twelfth Division accompanied Renji and Ichigo to the back door of the shop, a few smaller forms in ragged schoolgirl uniforms over the backs of two of their shoulders.

Rukia looked to Orihime, who was paling at the sight of Loly and Menoly.

"Let's go," Rukia said.

Orihime and Rukia let themselves in the back door of Urahara's shop moments later, following the sound of mostly male voices ahead down the hall. The shop was warm, a few of the doors open to storage rooms, and Orihime's attention snapped to where Renji's gigai was slouched in a corner of a darkened room among the wooden boxes. Even after being privy to various gigais and their disposal at a moment's notice, the lifeless forms still sometimes gave her a start when discarded.

" ... stay dead this time," Ukaru was saying as the two girls caught up to the conversation in the room ahead. "Captain Kurotsuchi wants them back as soon as possible."

Renji, Ichigo, Urahara, Ukaru, and two other members of Twelfth Division were standing in a circle in the room. They looked to Orihime and Rukia as they looked in the open doorway. Urahara nodded to them, his smile tempered by the matter at hand.

"Come in, girls," he said, waving a hand to them. "Quite the catch today."

Renji's demeanor relaxed only slightly as Orihime entered the room with Rukia, his eyes on her recently returned hair pin. She took a few steps toward him as Ichigo watched carefully, his usual scowl easing. Ukaru stood with his hands on his hips, eyes tarrying on Orihime's figure in spots that made Renji step in front of her to block most of the fourth seat's view. The other two Twelfth members were ones Orihime hadn't seen before, a slightly built man who looked no older than a year-out academy graduate, and a thin woman who appeared almost angry to be there.

Orihime did her standard perusal of the shinigami, her skills as a healer making injuries her first priority whenever Hollows had been encountered. She saw no wounds on anyone as she stood nearer to Renji, who shifted more in front of her when the younger man from Twelfth tried to get a better look at her.

"Looks like the Arrancar problem is over," Urahara said, hand in his coat pocket, searching for his fan. "They've been slain, and are now in a storage room until Tessai returns from the market to put them under a binding spell. Until then, they should remain dead. A few hours shouldn't matter much."

"What about the Hollows?" Rukia asked.

"All taken care of," Renji said.

"Told you we didn't need you," Ichigo joked, poking her side with a finger until she gave him a stern look.

"You'll miss me when I'm gone," she said almost inaudible for anyone except for him and Orihime to hear.

"Wouldn't have this problem if someone hadn't blessed them with perpetual resurrection," Ukaru grunted, eyes hardening on Orihime.

She frowned, stepping back as Renji intervened.

"You're out of line, Ukaru," he warned. "Save it --"

"If it weren't for her we wouldn't have to keep cleaning up the streets," Ukaru said, pointing a finger at Orihime.

"Leave her alone," Ichigo said as Renji started to speak.

Ukaru shook his head, crossing his arms as Urahara found his fan and opened it with a loud snap. "No harm done -- not much, anyway," the shopkeeper said, his customary grin trying to disarm the situation rising, "and she's not to blame for your captain sending untested shinigami into battle."

The remark struck raw with Ukaru. He rose to his full height, taking a step toward Urahara. "I'll have you know this is our specialty," he said, taking a deep breath to expel the Twelfth Division mission statement.

"I'm leaving now," Rukia said in a lower tone to Orihime, then turned to Ichigo. "See you?"

He nodded, following her out of the room. "You are out of bounds," he threw back to Ukaru as he followed Rukia out.

The officer sent a menacing look to Orihime, who cringed against the doorframe. "She's the one we should have on the lab exam table," he said, leering look wandering over her again. "Celled up where she can be studied like the --"

"Shut up!" Renji's hand grabbed the fellow shinigami's robe in a fist, shoving him to the opposite wall that knocked the breath out of him. "Keep it to yourself! Another word and --"

"Gentlemen, please," Urahara said, the fan flicking before his face as he chuckled uneasily. "Please. I think we'd best dismiss the Living before we throw down any challenges."

He turned to Orihime, who had moved to the doorway, half out of it as the tension grew thick between the men. "It's best you wait outside. Maybe in Tessai's kitchen? I think he was having sweet bean buns cool for the kiddies."

For the first time Orihime didn't like the mention of her favorite sweet. She looked from Renji glowering at Ukaru to the other Twelfth Division members.

They hated her. All of them. Except Renji.

They held her responsible.

She nodded, unable to voice the small answer she wanted to make.

She slipped out of the room, meeting Renji's longing gaze only briefly.

She leaned against the wall in the hall as the door was shut quickly by the younger man from Twelfth.

"Listen, asshole, she's not to blame," Renji's voice was still audible despite the door being shut.

Orihime pressed her back firmly to the wall, as if to block out the words coursing through her mind. Ukaru's voice was too clear.

"She's unleashed an unknown hell on the Living, Abarai," he said cuttingly. "Nothing like what we've seen before. Arrancar are one thing; that Espada is another."

"You should've taken him down before this," Renji countered, his tone tight, barely controlled. "Twelfth is in charge of the town. Damn your research and do your job!"

"You calling out our Captain?"

Orihime resisted the urge to sink to her knees against the wall, ethical conscience flagging as she considered her recent actions from Soul Society's view.

Again.

"Aiding the enemy, playing like she was god," Ukaru said bitingly. "Traitor."

A scuffle ensued, a wooden chair or crate broken against the wall.

"Gentlemen," Urahara insisted, his tone more than hinting. "I think --"

The sharp metal sound of a sword being drawn was heard, followed by another drawn.

"Ah, no need for that," Urahara's tone was more urgent. "Put it away, Ukaru, Abarai. Renji, please."

Orihime hugged her coat closer, a trembling beginning in her knees as she tightened her fingers over her elbows.

Traitor.

Not since the War had anyone pinned the word on her. Then it had been Captain Soi Fon. Captain Unohana, who had simply given her an exhaustive physical, had made it a strict rule in her unit that no one was to use the term, for which Orihime was glad while she had been examined. Even Captain Kurotsuchi had been less invasive in his study, although verbally thorough.

Was it true?

She'd asked herself the question too many times. Perhaps ... a little?

Unmeaningfully. Unknowingly. Without intention.

She moved down the hall, barely aware of Rukia and Ichigo's voices on the sunny back porch of the shop, the shinigami saying her goodbyes to her Living lover, her voice low, a softness evident that was usually not present.

Orihime unintentionally blocked the voices, both male and female, as she looked into the darkened storage room where Renji's gigai was. Her gaze shifted to the opposite side of the hall, into a room also dark, empty of anything but a few crumpled bodies by the larger truck door that the shop seldom used for deliveries.

Loly and Menoly lay in a heap, the black-haired girl prone, face against the floor. Menoly was beside her, on her side, blue hair mangled in blood, mouth gaping open.

Orihime looked in at them for a long moment, her work before her, the ever-resuscitated forms waiting for movement to be restored once again.

Ukaru was right, she thought. In his most basic premise, he was right. She was responsible.

She went into the room, the meager light behind her from the hall illuminating little of the Arrancars forms. She knelt, stretching out her hands over the figures, summoning Shuno and Ayame with unvoiced movements of her lips.

The silent kotodama breathed from her, the bubble surrounding both forms, Orihime's intention focused strongly on the task. She'd never tried to influence events alone, not without it involving healing.

-- A fellow power-wielder of time and space manipulation --

The words surged through her mind. Her concentration increased, frowning at the bodies.

-- You did what you had to -- Renji had said

She scowled more over the still forms, fingers tensing on her task at hand.

-- playing like she was god -- the words piqued her moral psyche, bringing a twinge of physical pain.

-- Rest up, love --

All senses nearly halted. The words weren't ones she had willingly summoned, coming from somewhere back in her mindframe that was unavailable to her conscious mind.

Her hands stilled, pausing, hovering over the unmoving Arrancar.

It was Renji's voice.

The words ones she'd never heard him utter.

Something from her imagination, she thought.

A body beneath her hands, inside the protective bubble, moved slightly. Menoly shifted, a snapping sound as one hand went to her side, the other to her temple, a sharp expression of pain claiming her face, green eyes flying open in shock.

An agonizing cry escaped the Arrancar girl, an abrupt sound that garnered immediate attention from the men arguing within the shop.

Orihime frowned, hands stiffening over the bubble as she leaned over it, legs braced as the Arrancar beneath stirred.

Renji looked in the doorway behind her, for a moment bewildered at what Orihime was doing. She was hunched over the pair of Arrancar, hands stretched in healing, her focus intent on the injured beings before her.

Even without speaking he had a devastating feeling what she was doing. "Orihime, what are ..."

She frowned over the bodies, oblivious to his words.

Menoly tried to rise to her elbow, her torso curling over her wounded ribs, a cry of absolute pain breaking from her. "Ughh!"

Renji rushed into the room, one hand gripping Orihime's shoulder. "Orihime!"

"I can do it, Renji," she said softly, eyes hardening on Menoly as the Arrancar looked up at them.

Her gaze was unfocused and she shook her head, mind taking in the dark room and auburn haired girl concentrating on taking her back to a time she was still mortal. She looked around hastily, eyes resting on the delivery door, one hand on the joint of her leg at her hip as a ripping pain coursed through it.

"Stop it! Stop it, please!" Menoly gave another cry, trying to move away from Orihime, her other hand clutching Loly's dead form by a wrist.

Renji's hands closed over Orihime's shoulders, shaking gently. "Break it off, Orihime," he said, her arms beginning to tremble beneath his hold, fatigue at the effort setting in over her.

"I can undo it," she said lowly, fingers quivering as she summoned the last of her strength into her powers. "I think she's close."

Menoly scooted her good foot under her and heaved herself up onto her undamaged leg, her hand still on Loly's limp wrist. She looked down at the dead girl. "Get up! Get up before she kills us!"

"Ah, Miss Inoue," Urahara said, entering the room with the three members of Twelfth Division following him, surprised at what he was witnessing, "you should let off. It's too much for you."

"I can do it," she mumbled, stepping closer as Menoly moved against the back of the bubble barrier, tugging at Loly's unresponsive form.

"Stop it!" Menoly dropped Loly's arm, staggering on her good leg, dragging her left leg that refused to bear her weight. Her eyes were wide on the shinigami as they advanced on Orihime.

Renji put an arm out as Ukaru reached for Orihime's shoulder. "Back off, Ukaru. You're not part of this."

The trembling in her hands became too much for Orihime, the bubble suddenly dissipating as the healing spirits were exhausted, fleeing quickly to the safety of their hair pin. She put a hand to the hair clip, dizziness rushing her.

Renji's arm came around her waist as she slumped, nearly falling from the release of power.

Menoly stumbled back at the bubble's dissolving, eyes going to Loly for a flash of a second. She turned and bolted for the door, flinging it open and darting out it as fast as she could move while still injured.

Ukaru and his younger squad members ran after her, the fourth seat shouting orders as they went.

Orihime leaned against Renji, mostly for support, mind swirling from the sapping strength the reversal had taken. "It was easier than I thought," she said, clearing her throat, looking up to Renji. "It's possible."

He nodded, eyes settling on her lips as she smiled a little. "It's too much."

"It's far too much," Urahara added, stepping around them to look at Loly's dead body. "Dangerous, too, attempting both at once, and without knowing precisely where you are in the time regression."

She looked to him and nodded, but there was no apology in her expression. "It was easier than I thought, Urahara-san. Menoly was stronger, but I don't think she has any reviving abilities now. She's now where she was when Grimmjow killed her. And Loly," she said, glancing at the girl at their feet, "she's not getting up again."

Renji's arm tightened at her waist. "Don't listen to Ukaru," he said. "He's looking to lay blame."

Urahara crouched by the body of Loly, turning over the girl's arm, seeing no response. "I've got one table open in the basement, Renji. Can you put her down there for me?"

Renji looked to Orihime as she stood straighter. "You all right?"

She nodded, smiling at him, watching his eyes move from either of the pins in her hair. "I'm fine now."

He nodded and stooped to the Arrancar, his eyes flicking to the glass jar in a corner of the room that had half a dozen decanting reeds sticking out the open top. He looked to Urahara, suspicion in his tone when he spoke. "Get what you needed?"

The fan opened wide before the shopkeeper's face as he returned Renji's stare across the prone body. "Most everything."

Orihime clasped her hands before her as Renji picked up the lifeless body of Loly and slung it over his shoulder and left the room. She glanced at the jar and then to Urahara as he stood up.

"Your abilities are amazing, Miss Orihime," he said, smile hidden by the fan. "I'd still like to study them in detail, once all this Espada business is behind us."

She nodded. "I want to help."

"Good. Tessai will sit in more with us, I think. He'll be fascinated to learn what you're capable of." It took a great effort for him not to collect his sample reeds immediately, instead offering more of a smile to her. "Were you able to determine the precise moment of reversing their initial deaths from Hueco Mundo?"

She shook her head, sighing. "But I could feel it fluctuate, the spiritual pressure dimming. It was a little cloudy, I guess because there were two, but not as difficult as I first thought it would be."

She turned as Renji reentered the room, his attention sharp on Urahara.

"Will you be around to talk with Tessai later, Miss Orihime?" the shopkeeper asked, bringing a grunt from the shinigami.

"Well, I..." she looked to Renji, hoping for a hint as to her afternoon.

"She's got plans today. Maybe tomorrow?" he said.

She nodded again. "Tomorrow would be better."

Urahara contented himself with that, eager to attend his reeds. "I'll see you then, Miss Orihime."

Orihime was willing to feel the fresh air again on her face after the stuffy smell of death and confines of the storage room as she and Renji exited the back door of the shop. His hand was firm on hers as they made their way out the rear gate and into Mrs. Tanaka's yard, a lift about her spirits that had been absent since she'd resurrected Grimmjow.

"I have plans today?" she asked Renji as they crossed the small back yard in the cold of the bright day.

He grinned at her smile, planting a kiss on her cheek before escorting her ahead of him on the staircase to the third level apartment, watching her hair shine copper in the sun. "I have plans for you."

She turned on the fourth step to look at him, the height bringing her nearly eyelevel with him. "Oh? Something interesting?" she asked, feeling her cheeks warm despite the chilly air, anticipating his answer.

He put a hand on either side of the staircase rails, fingers covering hers there, his grin broadening at the hint of honeysuckle pervading her. "Maybe."

A sparkle glint her eyes, her nod slight.

"Unless you're spent after that reversal on the Arrancars."

She kissed him quickly. "Nothing a hot cocoa won't fix." She turned swiftly as he leaned in to kiss her more, skipping up the stairs with a giggle. "Come on!"

Renji chuckled, following.

Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed this story.