Chapter 34

Notes:

Fun Fact, if you didn't already know: All of Orihime's shun shun rikka are named after flowers:

Hinagiku: a kind of chrysanthemum

Baigon: plum blossom? not sure

Lily: obvious

Ayame: Iris

Shun-o: Sunflower

Tsubaki: Camilla

If she had a seventh fairy, what kind of flower do you think it would be named after?

The moment Orihime had the address to the club entered into her phone, she found a quiet off-street and summoned her shield Rikka, forming a platform that she could ride on. She didn't care if she was spotted. She needed to get to Eriko as quickly as possible.

It turned out that everything was relatively close when you could fly over buildings and disregard traffic.

Before ten minutes had passed, she was standing in front of a dilapidated looking storefront with an unlit neon sign that read Deep Azure. She started banging on the door. "Riruka! It's me! Let me in!"

When she didn't immediately receive a response, she called her former business partner.

"What?" the woman complained. She was standing outside of a VIP room with Yukio. She could feel the wildly fluctuating spiritual pressure. At times it was barely there and other times it felt like it was going to choke her. The spiritual pressure also felt Hollow, and there was no way either of the Fullbringers were going to get eaten by one today.

"One of you better come and open this door or I am going to break it down," Orihime growled.

Riruka scoffed. "Look, we haven't gotten Eriko out of that room. There is something in there," she said. "I don't know what the hell it is."

" I will deal with it. Just let me the fuck in! Now!" Orihime felt the erratic activity of Eriko's spiritual pressure, and she started to lose hold of her own self-control. If she didn't see the girl in the next couple of minutes, this building was going to have structural issues.

Riruka had to yell at one of the idiots who was setting up the bar to open the door. There was no way she was going to deal with that mad, hot-headed bitch.

It wasn't fast enough for Orihime. "Tsubaki!" she barked, and a nanosecond later, the door was split down the middle in two pieces. Orihime marched inside, following the pulses of scared, dark energy coming from the opposite end of the building. She sent out a pulse of her own spiritual pressure, hoping Eriko would recognize it.

When she got through the hall and into the bar part of the club, she scanned the room and saw Yukio and Riruka standing in front of a door. She knew right away that Eriko was behind it. Why the hell were those two losers just standing there, doing nothing?

By the time she was a few paces away, her spiritual pressure was so elevated that they were able to see a large aura of golden energy surrounding her. Anyone with any amount of spiritual awareness would have been able to see it. "Is there a reason she is still behind that door?" Orihime asked, her eyes cutting into them.

The pink-haired woman had to actually stop from visibly flinching. "Yeah, whoever is behind that door is going nuts. Do you not feel that? Is that Eriko? What is she?"

"Yes, that's her, you cowards!" Orihime roared, the anger rolling off of her in a shockwave. She had reached her limit. Without warning she spat, "Baigon, Hinagiku, Lily!"

Three golden swallows sprang from her temples and the woman directed them with her hands, pointing them forward and pulling them apart. Instantaneously, the other two Fullbringers were tossed away from the door like ragdolls, pushed apart by the force of her shield expanding between them.

Yuko had pushed her into a room where a man sat in a chair. He was wearing a suit and had blonde hair. Eriko started shaking. "Eriko, this is Mister Smith. You're going to serve him drinks today."

"No," Eriko stammered. She cowered away from Yuko and glared at her. "You're a bad woman and I hope my dad kills you."

"I don't expect you to understand, girl. Your dad owes me. If he wants you back, he'll pay me," Yuko whispered in a harsh tone to her. "This man paid me a lot of money, so do as you're told."

"Fuck off." Eriko's voice was full of malice and anger.

"What did you say?"

Eriko knew she shouldn't do it, because she wasn't really experienced, and the fear was getting to her. She didn't want to have anything to do with Yuko now. It didn't matter if the woman got hurt. She was bad. She was evil.

The girl took a shaky breath and let those dark thoughts and feelings overwhelm her.

Orihime had half a mind to send Tsubaki sailing through the door, but she wasn't sure where Eriko was. It could be disastrous to shoot blind. She hoped she might be in luck as she placed her hand on the knob and turned it.

She was. She didn't hesitate to throw the door open as soon as the latch disengaged. "Eriko!" she yelped, as soon as she saw the girl. "Eriko, stop!"

The girl did not respond. Orihime glanced around the room. It didn't look good. Yuko lay in an unnatural position on the floor, and a suited man sat on a chair in the center of the room, struggling for breath. The spiritual pressure in the room was suffocating. "Eriko!" Orihime screamed, trying to get through to the distraught girl. Orihime had to emotionally remove herself from the situation for a moment. Eriko's hair had been hacked and she wore a short skirt and a tight, revealing top. Her small feet were crammed into high heels and her face had been done up… Orihime had to focus on not joining the girl in a spiritual pressure ragefit, however much she wanted to.

"Shun'o, Ayame," she said instead, in a wavering voice. The dome that formed to enclose Eriko was strong; the girl's spiritual pressure was no longer asphyxiating the other occupants of the club. Orihime poured as much soothing energy into her dome as she could possibly conjure, which, under the circumstances, was not nearly as much as she would have liked. She only hoped it would be enough to get the girl to lower her attack.

Her eyes felt heavy as Eriko felt warmth encompass her. It was calming and gentle. She had felt this before. It was Orihime. She looked around and saw the woman standing near the door. That was all it took for Eriko to sob, breaking her concentration. This energy was love. This energy was affection. It was safety.

The girl sniffled, sobbed, and started bawling before she dropped to the floor onto her knees, next to Yuko. Her birth mother stared at the ceiling with glassy eyes.

Orihime quickly moved over to the other side of Yuko. She appeared dead. Orihime found that she had no acceptable feelings about this. She felt cold. The woman deserved it. However, one look at the little girl on her knees had her regretting this reaction. "Eriko?" the woman said in a gentle voice, raising her hand to Eriko's arm. "Eri-chan, tell me what happened."

"I'm a bad person," Eriko mumbled.

Orihime touched the woman on the floor with her other hand. Her body was cold. The redhead looked up at the girl's stricken, terrified, guilt-ridden face. This was unacceptable. She could not allow this sweet little girl to carry this act of self-defense with her for the rest of her life.

Without a word, or any other indication, Orihime widened her dome to include Yuko's body. She poured more and more and more spiritual pressure into it. She prayed silently to Ichigo, and Sora, and Rukia, and Byakuya, and even Rangiku. She begged whatever higher powers that may be in the universe to help her now. She couldn't let Eriko down.

A minute and forty-five seconds later, Yuko's eyes blinked. The woman coughed.

"What? Who-What the hell?" Yuko muttered as she pushed herself up. "Why the fuck are you here, Kurosaki? How did you find me?"

Eriko was quick to scoot away from Yuko. "What happened? She was dead!"

"No, Eriko. She wasn't. You didn't. You couldn't." Orihime held the girl tightly, kissing the top of her head. "You must have stunned her. It happens to animals all the time. Do you want to say goodbye before we leave?"

"Hell no! I want to go! Is Dad here? I feel him nearby."

"I don't know sweetie. I don't think so, he was waiting for you at the train station in Naruki. But remember Riruka? She's just outside that door. I'm going to have her take you outside while I talk to Yuko, okay?"

The girl looked at the pink haired woman who was peeking in the door. She then threw her arms around Orihime in a fierce hug. "No, I don't want to leave here with anyone but you."

"I know sweetheart. I'll be right there." Orihime didn't push the girl away, though. Instead, she pulled the sweater she wore over her short-sleeved shirt off and put it over Eriko's shoulders. "I want you to put this on and go outside with Riruka. I will be out there in less than two minutes. I don't want you to hear the kind of language I am about to use on that woman," Orihime said, giving the girl a look that meant business.

"Okay, but you'll be right out?" Eriko asked with pleading eyes. She didn't want to be away from Orihime or anyone else she knew for very long.

"I promise. You know you can trust me, Eriko," Orihime said, giving the girl a squeeze on the shoulders and a warm smile. "Riruka, please take her outside. At least to the hall. Close the door behind you," she added without looking away from Eriko.

Riruka had heard the tone from Orihime before. Ginjo had attacked Ichigo, and the woman had laid into the head Fullbringer. "C'mon Eri-chan. I'll get you some water. Don't look back. You're going to be alright." Before the door shut on the three people in the room, Riruka looked at Yukio. "You might want to trap Mr. Smith. He needs to pay for this after Orihime's done."

Orihime overheard. "Do it now. He doesn't need to see, I mean, hear, this," she said as if she were only making a suggestion.

Yukio gave a bored sigh before pulling a small device from his pocket. He pointed it at the man who was gasping for breath in the chair before tapping the screen. Eriko almost screamed as the man blinked out of sight. She saw that before looking at Orihime.

Orihime turned and smiled at Eriko once more. "I'll be right there," she said as she watched Riruko lead her out of the club. Once they had left, she closed the door to the VIP room, and Orihime turned to Yuko. "So, do you have anything to say for yourself?" the pregnant woman asked, her icy tone reflected in her merciless expression.

"You're a bitch. You've somehow swindled Ulquiorra. Did you use the same trick I did on him? Drug him and then fuck him?" Yuko said as she tried to stand. "He wasn't even that good."

"This is what you choose to waste your last words on? You're pathetic, Yuko. Do you know what you did to that girl? Do you know that she blamed herself for what happened to you when she was just trying to defend herself?" Orihime was giving Yuko a chance. All she wanted was a glimmer of remorse from the woman.

"She's my kid. I'm her mother."

"And?"

"Her father owes me," Yuko snapped. She finally got to her feet, wondering what drugs she had taken to feel like this. "Where is he?"

"He's at home, waiting for our daughter to return," Orihime growled. Yuko was not making this easy. Or maybe too easy; it depended on one's perspective.

"It's fine. I'll have more opportunities to get her back," the woman said, slightly swaying. She sneered at the redhead. "You're both freaks, with how you look. That's why I gave Eriko up. Green eyes are unnatural."

"You know what is unnatural? A woman willing to sell her daughter for profit. You are unfit, Yuko. You will never see Eriko again." Orihime took a step toward the other woman as a warning.

The room swam and Yuko finally collapsed into the chair. "I needed money. I'm too old to get good paying customers."

"And you would make Eriko pay the price?!" Orihime screamed, stomping toward the other woman and looming over her. "You had better have a good reason for this, Yuko. This is your last chance," she snarled, raising a finger towards the other woman's forehead.

A scoff. "I don't have to justify myself to you, of all people!"

"Because you never could," Orihime muttered in a hollow tone, her eyes deadly. "Belladonna, I reject," she hissed.

A tendril of swirling dark purple and teal spiritual pressure came out of Orihime's tear ducts and spiraled around her arm, moving like an unnaturally-fast-growing vine until it reached the tip of her finger and pierced the other woman's skull. There was no physical damage, but all anyone had to do was see the look on Yuko's face to know that she wasn't really there anymore. Her pupils dilated and she started drooling and foaming at the mouth. She lost control of her bladder and bowels. Her limbs shook and then went slack.

She did not stop breathing, though.

Orihime's chin raised in disdain as she watched the arrogant woman before her fall into a puddle of unintelligent, broken half-human. Yuko deserved worse than death.

It wasn't until her Shun Shun Rikka started swarming her face that she relented; the purple and greenish-blue spiritual tendril receding back into the woman's eyes, turning her sclera black until the effect faded. It was only then that Orihime felt a pang of regret. It wasn't enough for her to reject what she had done, though.

"Have a nice life, Yuko, whatever that is for the rest of it, anyway." Orihime muttered before turning to leave. She didn't look back.

Eriko sat in the passenger side of the car in silence. They had ridden this glowing triangle to where Orihime had parked the vehicle. Neither of them said anything. As soon as they were on the ground, the girl started shaking violently. She made a beeline to her dad's car and shut herself in it. Her dad's space was safe. Orihime was safe.

The redhead had assured her that no one else would ever hurt her.

Eriko shook her head. Orihime had done something to bring Yuko back. That blonde guy had done something to the other man. Riruka poorly explained over a bottle of water that there were people with special abilities and left it at that.

Again the shivers started. Eriko had to wrap her arms around her knees to keep them from becoming too bad. That first wave of darkness was so intense, that the girl knew Yuko probably died with how she dropped to the floor. No one laid like that comfortably or on their own.

She was a bad person. Her mom was a whore. Eriko would probably grow up to be like her.

Orihime was keeping close tabs on Eriko's emotional state, not only on how she appeared, but the tone of her spiritual energy. Things were going from bad to worse. She decided to stop on the far west side of Tokyo in a wooded wayside off the expressway. She pulled into a parking spot and turned the car off before turning her body towards Eriko.

"Sweetheart, you have been through something horribly traumatic. It's normal for you to feel all the feelings you are feeling. I have two questions for you right now, and I think you can handle them. The first one is, would you like a hot drink?"

Eriko nodded. "Can I have some hot chocolate?"

"I can get that for you. My second question, and you can answer me when you have the hot chocolate, is do you want me to make your hair back to the way it was?"

The girl didn't need to waste time to give Orihime an answer. She nodded. "Please? Yuko said I looked like a baby while my hair was long. I needed to look more grown up. I screamed at her and tried to fight her but she-she cut it."

Tears threatened to form in Orihime's eyes, but she blinked them away. "You did well, Eriko. You were so brave. I'm so proud of you. You can stay in the car or come with me to get the drinks," she said as she opened the car door and went to the line of vending machines in front of the car.

Because Eriko could see her, she waited in the car. Orihime returned to the car two minutes later and passed Eriko a can of hot chocolate. She had one for herself that she set to the side. "Okay, you can start on that, and then we'll get your hair back. If you want to talk about anything while we do this, feel free, okay? Ayame, Shun'o, I reject," she said, her eyes smiling at the girl.

This time Eriko could clearly see the small people as they flew around her head. They were tiny things, dressed like some older folks dressed. They looked like the people she saw in Old Reo's kung fu movies. "They're pretty," she said before taking a sip of the drink Orihime handed her. "I'm-I'm a bad person, Orihime. I'm going to be just like Yuko. She's a horrible-a horri-" the words stopped as she started to sob again.

"You're right, Eriko," Orihime started in a serious way. She wanted the girl to understand that she wasn't just brushing her concerns under the rug. "Yuko is a horrible person. She is mean and selfish and manipulating and soulless and everything that you are not. You can never be like her. You will never be like her. You are good. You love your family and you care about people. You hurt her today, that's true, but you had to. Self-defense does not make you a bad person."

"But she is part of me, just like Dad's a part of me. Maybe she gave me the bad part of herself," Eriko said. She was trying hard to keep her composure, but it wasn't working. She started crying everytime she got herself calmed down.

One of Orihime's Rikka, Ayame, chirped, "Eriko-sama is good. Eriko-sama's reiatsu is her own," the fairy grinned.

Hearing the fairy speak made Eriko's mouth form into an O. "They can talk," she said in disbelief. "Wait, what's reiatsu? And how do you know I'm good? Daughters of whores can't be good."

Orihime smiled at her. "Do you think I'm good, Eri-chan?"

Again, Eriko nodded at a question the redhead asked. "Of course you're good. Your mom and dad must have loved you."

"Eri," Orihime's eyes relaxed more and her smile softened. "My father was an abusive alcoholic and my mother was a prostitute. They did not love me. They were cruel and selfish and they did not raise me after I was three years old. I am a good person because your parents do not determine who you are. Your blood doesn't make you good or bad, just as it doesn't dictate who your real family is. You are good, Eriko. I love you."

The girl's eyes went wide, showing off a lot of the green irises. This information she was given conflicted with how she imagined Orihime was raised. In Eriko's mind, she was loving and caring because that's how her family was. It was just how Kazui's extended family was. "I didn't know. I thought...I love you too, Orihime. Thank you for helping me. I still think dad is around. I can feel him."

Orihime felt a flutter in her belly and had a passing thought. "Eriko, may I have your hand for a minute?"

"Why?" she asked holding her hand out, palm side up.

Orihime took the girl's hand and placed it palm-down on her belly. "Is this what you feel?"

A wondrous look came over Eriko's face as she felt something under her hand. This was exactly what she had been feeling. "Did you eat Dad? What is that?"

Orihime laughed a big belly laugh, causing Eriko's hand to bounce up and down on it. "No, silly. That's your baby brother. Or sister, but I kinda think he's a boy. He takes after your dad a bit, but only in the good ways," she added a wink for levity.

"Oh," she said, retracting her hand. "Are you going to tell Dad about what I did to Yuko?"

"I'm going to tell him that you protected yourself and that I'm so proud of you. I know what you did scared you, honey, but it was right. It was the right thing to do and god forbid if anything like this ever happened to you again, I don't want you to hesitate to protect yourself." Orihime paused, observing the look of horror that was descending over the girl's features again. "But, there is one thing; we need to train you to understand your power. You did more than you wanted to today. I can tell. With training, you'll be able to decide what you want to do and do it, instead of your power just taking control for you. Right now, you're like a baby with a match; no, a baby with a flamethrower. A baby can't control the fire. With a little training you'll be like one of those French pastry chefs with a flambe torch, only using it to make perfect little creme brulees."

Eriko raised an eyebrow and considered the woman's words. She had no clue what the woman was referring to, but she shrugged as if she understood. "I'm never going to doubt Dad again. I'm going to listen to him."

"Oh shit!" Orihime said suddenly, then slapped a hand over her mouth and crumpled her brow in an apologetic way. "Sorry for swearing. I promised him I'd call him as soon as I had you but we were both kinda… you know. Let's call him now, okay? I will put him on speaker. Also, take a look in the mirror," Orihime said with a small smile as she fished her phone out of her purse.

When Ulquiorra's phone rang he was sitting in the cafe's office, still wondering what the hell was going on. What had he done to Yuko to make her hate him so much? "Hello?" he asked in a tired voice.

"Darling? I have someone here who really misses you," Orihime said before looking over at his daughter, cueing her to speak.

"Hi, Dad," Eriko said in a timid voice.

As soon Ulquiorra heard his daughter, he felt his body relax as his shoulders slumped. "Is she safe? Did she get hurt? Where is Yuko?"

"Yuko is either at her place of employment or in a hospital, I think. She will never bother any of us again. Ever ," Orihime answered, her tone leaving no room for doubt.

"I trust you used discretion and your better judgement?"

"I'll fill you in later, but yes. You know you can trust me. Eriko was a champ, though. She didn't let mean old Yuko get her way, did you?"

The girl blushed and shook her head. "No. I protected myself."

Ulquiorra sighed in relief. His daughter was safe. She was okay… at least physically. Mentally might be another story. "Okay. I'm going to head home. I will see you two there. Please, please hurry."

"We'll be there in an hour," Orihime answered.

When he arrived home, Ulquiorra collapsed on the couch. The man was beyond tired. He hadn't slept since Eriko disappeared.

Fifty-seven minutes after she ended the call, Orihime opened the door to the house. "We're home!" Orihime called out, already hearing Kazui's footsteps clamoring down the stairs.

Ulquiorra was asleep on the couch. His face looked tense. Eriko looked at Orihime. "Should I wake him up?" she asked.

Orihime sighed; he looked exhausted. Still, if it was her… "You better. He'd want to know the second you got here." She gave the girl a small nudge with her hand.

Eriko didn't go over to her father. Instead she walked over to Kazui and pulled him into a hug. She had never been so happy to see her best friend.

Kazui froze for a moment and then returned the hug. "Are you okay, Eri?" he asked in a gravely, worried voice.

She nodded and then let him go. "I'm fine. I just-" Eriko sniffled. "Sorry." The girl turned and moved to the couch where her father was and sat down next to him.

Immediately, Ulquiorra's eyes were open. He saw his girlfriend. He saw Kazui. Then he looked to the side with an alarmed expression seeing Eriko. "Oh my god," he stated. "Eriko..."

Eriko gave him a smile, tears filling her eyes. Her bottom lip trembled. She didn't care if there were people watching. She didn't care if anyone would mock her for it. The girl climbed into Ulquiorra's lap and hugged him just as tightly as she did Kazui. Perhaps even tighter. As soon as he returned the embrace she started crying again.

Orihime walked over to where Kazui stood and draped an arm over his shoulder, watching the pair on the sofa. She was starting to feel fatigued now that everyone was back where they belonged. She gave her son a squeeze and murmured, "I need to sit down." She walked over to the kitchen island and sat on a stool. She didn't mean to let her head rest on the hard surface, but she did, and soon was no longer awake.

"Shhh," Ulquiorra said, trying to soothe his daughter. After fifteen minutes he moved her off of his lap. "Go upstairs. Take a shower, then rest. What happened to your hair? I thought Yuko cut it?"

"Orihime fixed it for me. I'm so sorry Dad."

"I know, Eriko. Please. You need to take care of yourself first. Do as I asked, and then we will talk."

The girl nodded and went upstairs. Ulquiorra looked at Kazui. "I'm going to take your mom upstairs," he said.

The boy nodded. "I'll get the rice started for dinner."

"Why don't you make some eggs too?"

A/N: Well? What do you think of the new powers? Let us know! Thanks for reading!