Chapter 19:
Remembering Uryu, Orihime hurried down the hall to meet him as they planned.
She left those boys behind in that room, healing them as much as she could while they were defenseless and unable to move. Believing they were out of danger, though still full of concern for what they would do now that they recovered, she sped down the hall as fast as she could.
Panting slightly, she stood behind Uryu who was standing in the middle of the hall, facing Yua.
Orihime looked at the scene before her. Yua was standing there with her devoted love-drunk lunatics and Uryu was facing them without a word, back to Orihime. Among the throng was Ichigo as well as another boy from their class. The rest of them held faces she didn't recognize so they must have either been from Yua's class or the ones near it.
Ichigo looked sick. His face was pale and he had dark rings under his eyes. He looked unsteady in all senses of the word. Honestly, it looked like he wasn't fully aware of where he was, like a child in a crowd or a sleepwalker. He was staring at Yua, but his eyes were unfocused, looking through her and into the distance. He had to keep her in his sights but couldn't bring himself to focus on her features.
Many appeared to be the same way. They had the same looks in their eyes and weren't very steady on their feet.
Yua seemed unaware of any of this, smiling all the while, basking in their company.
Orihime looked away from them to turn her attention to Uryu.
She was sorry she had him wait. He must have been trying to stall Yua until she came. Orihime couldn't see Tatsuki but trusted that she was hiding nearby. She wanted to apologize to Uryu but now wasn't the time. They had to take action.
"Uryu," she said. "You ready?"
He didn't respond.
"Uryu," she said a little louder, thinking he couldn't hear her with his back turned. He was standing between her and Yua, too. In fact, he was directly between them, standing in the middle of the hall, the distance between Yua, Orihime and himself the same.
This was strange. He didn't want to be anywhere near her. Had he moved closer in order to keep Yua from leaving? She knew she had taken her time in returning but…
"Uryu," she said again. "I asked if you're ready. Remember?"
"Yes," he said. "And I don't want to do that anymore."
"Why not?"
"Because I'd rather be with Yua now."
Uryu slowly turned around to reveal the smile on his face. He looked like a boy whose first crush decided to accept his love. He looked so happy.
But it was all fake. That smile wasn't true happiness. He was made to think it was. These feelings swirling within him weren't normal. The way in which bis body and mind processed them weren't normal.
That expression wasn't normal.
"It's not so bad, Orihime. It feels really good, actually. I see why they never want it to stop. I've never felt so complete. Why would I want to stop this?"
"Uryu, this isn't normal. It's not love."
"Heh. Sure feels like it to me. There isn't a thing I wouldn't do for her."
A part of him knew Orihime spoke the truth. It was something he had confirmed himself, but now he just couldn't convince himself of this, choosing to ignore it.
She was asking him to fight his feelings. The feelings he had towards Yua were just as strong if not stronger than the feelings he had towards his friends. Orihime telling him to stop was like asking any love-struck teenager to end their relationship with someone just because another didn't like them. Like if his father were to tell him to abandon his friends because they weren't Quincies. He rebelled against that order so he was certainly going to rebel against this one.
Orihime looked from Uryu to the boys gathered around Yua. Chad. Ichigo. Keigo and Mizuiro were missing. Where could they be? Had they been attacked like the other boys? Had they lost the competition and were left bleeding somewhere? Were they too small to be seen over the hulking victors or the tall skinny students missing their ties and the top buttons on their shirts from fights?
Some had blood on their uniforms. Some had visible wounds from scuffles and torn clothing. Some sported fresh bandages, having just escaped from the nurse's office to get here. Many of them were still unstable on their feet. One could barely walk from a leg injury but the drive to be with Yua was too strong. It dragged them here, pulled in by a scent Orihime herself could not detect.
Few seemed to be aware of where they were, staring into the distance through Yua. The rest were focused on Yua as if she were the last morsel of food on the plate and they were all starving.
All of them. Her friends, her classmates, students she didn't even know by name. Reduced to this.
She couldn't take it anymore.
"Yua, you have to stop," Orihime pleaded. "Please, stop using that perfume."
It didn't matter if she knew what they were up to or not. With Uryu joining forces with the enemy and Tatsuki nowhere to be found, Orihime had to settle this on her own.
If it came down to a fight, she would do it, but she tried with all her strength to get through to Yua, hoping that she would see reason and surrender the perfume. If only Yua knew how dangerous it was.
Orihime bowed her head to Yua, begging. Yua laughed at her.
"Please, Yua. Please! You have to stop using it."
"Why would I do that?" she asked with a snide chuckle.
"Can't you see what it's doing to them?" Orihime pointed at the crowd pressed close to Yua, but she saw something different from what Orihime was seeing. "You have to stop!"
"You're just jealous. Just like that Tatsuki girl. She tried to feed me the same load of crap."
"You don't know what that perfume actually does!"
"Duh!" said Yua. "Of course, I know what it does. I've been using it for the past couple of weeks. It's a love potion. I spray it on and guys worship me. I'm not an idiot. Any dimwit can figure that out."
"No, you don't understand," Orihime plead in vain. "It doesn't do what you think it does. It's dangerous!"
"That Tatsuki tried that same ploy, too, but I'm not that easily tricked. If I didn't fall for it then, I'm certainly not going to fall for it now."
"It's not a trick. Please, I'm telling you." Orihime thrust out her hand. "Give me the perfume!"
"And I'm telling you I'm not falling for it! I know what you're trying to do and it's not going to work." Yua was getting irritated by Orihime's constant begging but the boys gathered around her gave Yua confidence, so she didn't try to evade, instead choosing to stay and put Orihime in her place. "You're just jealous."
"No, I'm not. I-"
"Please," Yua scoffed. "We may not be in the same class but I know all about you. Don't think I haven't seen the way the guys look at you as you walk down the hall. I hear them whisper about you and smile. I've seen them drool over you and how you pretend not to notice."
"But-"
"You get the attention of all the guys in your class and others because of that huge rack of yours. The way you skip down the hall with that big smile and carefree attitude, your long flowing hair, big baby doll eyes and that oblivious act you put on that gets their attention every time. That innocent act might work on them but I know you're not that stupid. You know what you're doing and now that they're not giving you attention anymore, you want it back."
"No, I-"
"You want them all to yourself. You have to seduce every boy in the school just to make yourself feel better. You're so in our face about it, too. My friends and I have talked about you, too. How you must love the attention. How you pretend not to know."
"But I-"
"Well, my chest might not be as big as yours, but that doesn't mean I'm worth any less than you are. And now I'll never be ignored again. How does it feel to be on the other side of things, Inoue? You want that attention back. That's the only reason you want to take this perfume from me. You don't want anyone else to have that kind of attention."
"That's not true!" Orihime shouted to get a word in edgewise. "I don't care about getting attention. None of that's true!"
"So you say." Yua wasn't convinced.
Orihime didn't know if trying to convince Yua otherwise would help convince her to give up the perfume or if it would just be a waste of time. Uryu did say that Yua's boyfriend had broken up with her shortly before getting the perfume. They all agreed that Yua was using it to overcompensate. She felt inadequate and hurt because of that incident so the perfume must have been a godsent to her.
"You're the one who's using the perfume to make yourself feel better," Orihime accused. "I know guys can be jerks sometimes but this is not the way to handle it. You're using magic to force someone to like you. That's wrong. No one can force someone into loving them. If you're looking for love, you have to let it happen naturally. Otherwise, you…"
Yua wouldn't let her finished, detesting a lecture from someone she didn't have a high opinion of.
"Inoue, you expect me to see the light just because you preach it?" She rolled her eyes. "What girl doesn't want attention? I don't love any of them, but they're willing to work hard to win me over. Who wouldn't love that? Maybe I'll find someone I like more than the others, but right now, just let a girl enjoy the attention, huh?"
"It's not the attention you want, trust me."
"Trust you? Ha! You're going to lecture me about that, too, huh?"
Orihime had to steer the conversation back to what really mattered at the moment but Yua wouldn't let her, so she had to blurt out her demand once again.
"Yua, please, give me the perfume. You can't use it anymore. It's too dangerous."
"No matter how many times you say that I'm not falling for it. You just want it for yourself."
"No, Yua, you don't understand. You think you know what it does based on these results but you're not seeing the whole picture. You have no idea what's really going on. You think they love you, but this isn't love."
Yua glared at her and snorted in distain. "Uh, well, let's see." Yua looked at the ceiling in mock thought and counted off on her fingers. "I put on the perfume, guys look my way and are suddenly interested in me. The more I put on, the more they want me. The stronger it gets. They want to stay with me, go wherever I go, do things for me, listen to whatever I say, want me to be happy and never so much as look at another girl. Uh, sounds like love to me. Yeah, I think I know what's going on."
Orihime shook her head. "No. No, that isn't love. Love is when you put another person before yourself. You do what's best for them. What's happening here is obsession. Not love."
"Hmph, same thing."
"No, it's not the same thing." Orihime looked at the boys ogling Yua with a mixture of tension and emptiness. "If they loved you, they'd care about you."
"They do. Haven't you been listening?"
"Doing stuff for you doesn't necessarily mean they care about you. They could just be trying to win you over, not do it out of love. Do they know things about you out of compassion or obsession?"
"Who cares? It's the same thing."
"It isn't. Yua, their obsession with you is getting out of hand. They're fighting over you."
"So?" she asked with a scoff. "Girls like it when guys fight over them."
"Not to this extent. They're trying to kill each other. Yua, if you just looked at them, you'd see that this isn't right. They're not well. It's unhealthy. Why can't you see that?"
"Whatever they do to each other is their business. It's not my fault."
"But it is because you're using that perfume, knowing its power. If you don't stop now, things are only going to get worse. Yua, please. It's too dangerous to use."
Yua turned up her nose, refusing to engage any further.
"Yua, it isn't love! You have to stop!" Orihime begged, praying she'd listen, but it looked like Yua was ignoring her so she raised her voice, hoping her words would reach her. "What they're doing isn't love, Yua! Please, listen to me! Please! The more you use it, the worse it will be! It's not you they care about! Not the way you think they do. Yua!"
"Shut up!"
Something struck Orihime between the eyes and no more words came from her mouth. She looked down to see a glitter pencil bag Yua had flung to put emphasis behind the order.
Uyru saw the pencil bag collide with Orihime's forehead and flinched. He cared about his friend, but he cared about Yua more. Because he loved Yua so intensely, he couldn't bring himself to find fault in anything she did. Instead, he defended it, believing Orihime was in the wrong to badger her so.
This was the only thing keeping him from rushing to Orihime's defense. He stayed where he was and looked at Yua, finding the look of irritation rather cute on her.
Other than a red mark and some dull pain, Orihime sustained no injury from the throw. She didn't yell back at Yua for the action, either. She stayed quiet for a moment and then endured another rant from the girl.
"Will you stop annoying me with those pointless words? I told you before, you can't trick me."
Orihime didn't try to argue, staying quiet the entire time.
"I told you, I know what the perfume does. I'm not an idiot. And I know it gets stronger the more I use it. There is no difference between love and obsession. These guys will do anything I say because they love me. Finally, I get to be treated the way I deserve."
Yua thought back to the romantic walks she took with her boyfriend in town and the sodas they'd share. How he'd buy her a sweet from the shop or watch her model clothes in the store. How they would lazy around at one of their apartments and do nothing. How they would talk and laugh together.
She also remembered how he set limits during their outings. How he never bought her dinner, each paying their own way. How he wouldn't buy her every outfit she wanted and when she asked for something she liked in the store, he would decline. How she would want to go certain places and he'd refuse because it wasn't to his taste or considered it a pain. How sometimes he would play a video game during her visit and never give her a turn and told her to be quiet because she was messing up his score when all she wanted to do was talk and cuddle.
He wasn't the perfect boyfriend, but he still did things for her and told her how cute she was. They had a great time together, in and out of school. That's why it hurt so much when one day, after chatting and laughing like they always did, he sheepishly told her that he had to tell her something. When she demanded a reason for the breakup, all he told her was that he got bored.
She was the latest toy or cell phone everyone had to have, but after playing with it for a while, it wound up in the closet with everything else he had to have. Maybe there was a new model he liked better and didn't want to say anything to her face. Maybe he just outgrew her and didn't want to date anyone for a while.
Yua was never given a reason. The only explanation she had was him telling her that he got bored with her. He didn't attempt to talk it over with her or resolve any issues. He just stood up and left.
Now Yua was glaring angrily at the girl standing in the middle of the hall with the red mark on her forehead and solemn expression. This girl who dared lecture her about what love should be. No, not even that. Demanding that she surrender the item that gave her control and brought her joy.
"For once, I'm being treated the way I deserve to be treated. Now no guy can deny me anything. No one will ever leave me again unless I say so. For once, they're going to listen to me and give me whatever I want. Girls should be treated like queens, right? Well, now I'm queen of the school. I'm the star and everyone will give me the attention I deserve. I will never be shoved aside or ignored again. They'll do anything I say, my completely devoted servants, and there's no way I'll letting you take this away from me!"
Orihime knew Yua was doing this out of pain. As horrible as she was, after everything she had done to her friends, Orihime still couldn't hate her.
"Just because they treat you like a queen doesn't mean they have to be treated like lowly servants," Orihime said calmly. "I get that you want them to serve you, but…"
Orihime clenched her fists, knowing the expressions her friends wore without having to look at them.
"But even a queen is respected. I don't think they respect you, Yua. They're doing this because something in that perfume makes them. If it's the perfume that did it, none of this is real. And when you force things on someone, it doesn't always end well. Yua… now that they've become obsessive over you, I really don't think they have your best interest at heart."
Yua said nothing, frowning.
"They want to win you, but not out of love, but obsession. If they all want you on this level, with so much tenacity, I don't think they see you the same way you want them to see you. If you really think this is love, then it's possessive love and that's dangerous. That's why I'm asking you one more time…" Orihime extended her hand. "Please, please give me the perfume. For your safety, please give it to me."
Yua eyed Orihime with her usual crass and scoffed bitterly.
"Again with that," she said with a shake of her head. "Even if it is artificial, I have their love. Love is about being listened to. It's about obedience. If someone loves you, they'd do anything you say. They want to be with you all the time and shower you with gifts. That is love. And that is exactly what I have. They obey me because they love me. You can't refuse the one you love, after all."
Orihime was having a hard time refuting that, but she found a way. "Yeah. I know it's hard to not try to make the one you love happy. How hard it is to tell them no. But even then, I don't think it's about obedience. It's different."
"Then we'll agree to disagree," said Yua. "The point is, guys are finally listening to me and doing what I want for a change and you want me to give all that up. Whether it's out of jealousy or because my actions don't fit your morals, it doesn't matter. All you've done is waste my time and annoy me."
Orihime knew there was no way to convince Yua. She tried repeatedly with no results. Yua would either steer the conversation somewhere else or outright refuse to comply. It didn't matter whether Yua was refusing because she thought Orihime was jealous and wanted to have the power for herself or because she had become accustomed to her new life and aimed to keep it. No matter what, Yua was not going to give it up.
While Orihime's mind tried to think of a new strategy, Yua wanted her pencil bag returned to her. She looked at the boy on her right and told him to fetch it for her.
The boy took a couple steps, then paused. He looked back at Yua and returned to her side without picking up the bag.
"Go get it," she told him.
"I'd rather be with you," he said, unwilling to leave her for even a few seconds.
She took it as flattery and instructed Uryu to do it instead. He willingly went over and picked up the pencil bag.
Orihime grabbed his wrist as he stood up, closing the distance between them. "Uryu, don't you know what's going on? You know what it does. You've seen it."
"I know," he confessed. "But I'm willing to ignore it. Yua's more important. I want to be near her."
"You know it's all fake."
He shrugged. "When a book makes you cry, are your emotions fake?"
"Huh?"
"Those are fake characters. Their hardships aren't happening to you. It isn't your pain. Your sadness. Yet you cry when you read it. Does that make it fake? The tears you cry aren't real? The emotions you felt to produce those tears, are they fake?"
Orihime didn't answer.
"I don't think they are," he told her calmly. "Even if this was brought on by an artificial thing, the perfume, that doesn't mean the emotions I feel because of it are fake."
"But-"
"It's fine. Really. I don't mind it. I want to feel this way. It makes me happy."
Orihime felt so defeated. Uryu had turned against her, knowing what it did.
She was unable to convince Yua, too. No matter what she said or how hard she tried.
If she chose to fight Yua, she would have to take on her, the students and her friends who had strong abilities. She didn't think she could do it by herself.
Uryu pulled away from Orihime and prepared to return the bag to Yua.
He stopped, looking at something on Yua's right.
Orihime saw it, too, and gave a little gasp of surprise.
Uryu's eyes followed it. Then, pencil bag still in hand, he quickly wedged himself between Yua and the student on her left.
"No," he said, shielding Yua with his body. "I won't let you."
The boy gave him a scowl. "Move," he ordered darkly, unhappy that Uryu was keeping Yua from his sight. When Uryu didn't move, he moved closer, threateningly. "You're in the way, now move. I want to see Yua."
"You can't," said Uryu.
"What?!"
Though his words fit the conversation, Uryu wasn't actually talking to the boy.
He was talking to someone neither the boy nor Yua could see.
He was talking to Rukia.
"Uryu, you have to get out of the way," she told him. "It's for your own good."
"No, I won't let you." He stood firm, making sure Rukia couldn't get to the perfume in Yua's pocket.
Thinking the words were meant for him, the boy Uryu was facing threw a punch at him. Uryu took the punch to make sure no one could get to Yua. With Uryu still in the way, the boy attacked him again with another punch.
"Knock it off," Yua told him.
The student looked torn. He knew Yua had given him an order and wanted to make her happy so he could continue to be near her, but Uryu was blocking her from sight. Uryu was in the way if his Yua. Making his choice, the boy punched Uryu again, defying Yua.
The punch was hard enough to send Uryu staggering backwards. He bumped into Yua who bumped into the boy beside her. He held her in his arms, protecting her from falling; something she found to be a noble gesture but fight-inducing for the other males.
"Who said you could touch her?"
"How dare you hold Yua like that," said another.
"You think she's yours?!"
The boy holding her embraced her tightly. "Of course, she is."
"You bastard!"
"Get your hands off my Yua!"
"She's mine, dumbass!"
The herd lurched forward and Yua found herself squished between half a dozen bodies. Uryu turned and tried to pull her from the mass but he was thrown to the floor by a powerful kick. While he was on the ground, another student stomped on him.
"Uryu!" Rukia tried to reach in to pull him out but more students came to finish him off. Rukia shoved them away. Since they couldn't see her, they assumed those around them were shoving and attacked them instead. Rukia pulled Uryu to his feet. "Uryu, stop this. What's gotten into you?"
Uryu watched horrified as the boys pulled Yua in different directions, each one claiming she belonged to them. He tried to dive in to protect her but was kicked and shoved multiple times until Rukia fished him out again.
"Uryu," she said but she recoiled when he spun around with a frantic look on his face.
"She's mine and I love her! Don't you dare stop me!"
"Uryu…" Rukia murmured, pulling away in shock.
Uryu turned around and started to fight his way through the crowd, crying her name. His fingers grazed her shoulder and a second later he was on the ground. Chad stood on top of him and tried to punch him. Uryu rolled away, got to his feet and the two squared off in the middle of the hallway.
"Rukia!" Orihime shouted from where she stood. "Her pocket! Left pocket! Get the bottle!"
She had no idea why or when Rukia came but there was no time to waste on questions. Her fortuitous arrival was just what she needed.
Rukia tried to get closer but something distracted her before she could get close enough to Yua's pocket.
In the back of the mob, Ichigo's body suddenly collapsed on the floor.
Fed up with everyone getting in his way and pressing him out and away from Yua, he had changed into a Soul Reaper and decided to get rid of everyone in his path swiftly and callously. He raised his sword, preparing to chop through the students in order to reach Yua.
Rukia saw the sword and abandoned her mission to protect the students instead.
She drew her blade and metal clashed on metal.
Ichigo barely looked down at her. She was just an obstacle to him. "Get out of the way!"
"Ichigo, it's me! Stop it!"
"I said get out of the way!" Ichigo viciously attacked Rukia who fought back.
A second later, the window beside them shattered and the two flew outside.
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