Well, here we are again! So glad about the positive feedback from last chapter, because I was a little nervous about it.

And I want to give a special shout out to Guest reviewer Suransuran: That was such a beautifully written review and I loved every word of it! Thank you so much for enjoying my writing! I hope I continue to impress you!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Bleach or any of its characters.

Let's jump in!-

I shot up from the bloody ground, quickly gripping Hisagi's wrist before he could swing the sword down upon Ichigo's head. Ichigo, who just stood there, not lifting a single finger in his defense.

"Good, Hisagi. Good." His breathing was heavy and his eyes were filled with anguish as he stared at me, his arm still raised to swing. I tried my best to smile past the ache in my jaw. And I struggled to hide the immense effort it took just to raise my arm high.

"Orihime?" Hisagi's voice broke as two tears dropped onto his cheek. He stared at me as if he'd never seen another human being, then his eyes shifted, to stare over my head. And a broken piece of his humanity flashed in those tear filled eyes, and while lost in the hollowness he no doubt felt, Hisagi shoved me aside and screamed as he charged once more at Ichigo.

In my injured state, I crumbled to the ground, having no strength left in my bruised bones, yelling, commanding him to stop. Looking over my shoulder, I was forced to watch- helpless- as Hisagi gripped Vladimir with both hands and lifted the long blade over his head. Ichigo looked up and his mouth moved, and whatever it was he said, it halted Hisagi in his tracks.

Standing before the towering, bulking silhouette of Ichigo, Hisagi looked so small. Innocent in a way that I never wanted him to lose, yet I myself had stolen some of that youth, stripped it away with my blood and cries. Though, remembering back to the loss of my own innocence, this nearly seemed meaningless in comparison.

Ichigo's mouth continued to say words too low for me to hear, but the aftermath of them had Hisagi lower my blade, his entire body slumping in such a devastated way, that broke every piece of my cold heart. And I was about to speak out, to demand Ichigo take back whatever he'd said when, suddenly, Hisagi was throwing his body against Ichigo, with shallow hiccups and shaking shoulders.

I laid there, my body aching, in a daze. Completely flabbergasted.

Ichigo patted the top of Hisagi's head and looked over at me, in his gaze I saw a million apologies but also a haunting. I really knew nothing of Ichigo, of his past or his present, but as Hisagi continued to cry into his chest after only a few hushed sentences, I wondered if I was even strong enough to handle the weight of yet another person's sorrow.

I took a long cold bath later that evening. Immersing my entire body in the numbness of ice cold water for hours. After stopping by the healers room- who informed me that my ribs were merely cracked, a few fractured, but no breaks- I struggled my way clear across court. Ichigo and Hisagi right on my heels, both insisting I allow Ichigo to carry me.

As if i would ever agree to such a humiliation.

Hisagi's tears had dried fairly quickly, and after a second of getting his bearings, he remembered abruptly, me lying on the ground, and rushed back to my side. Like a puppy with a short attention span. And ever since he had not left me.

Even now, with my teeth chattering loudly, my body shuddering every few seconds, he sat on the ground beside the tub, his back turned like a true gentleman.

"I am fine." I informed him, once again, though I knew it would do little to no good.

It was even worse to think of Ichigo waiting outside, no doubt taking advantage of being alone in my bedroom to snoop like a proper spy. I thought of all the things he could find that would most definitely give him all the ammunition he would need to humiliate me further.

I forced my attention back to the matter at hand. The matter that's ears were starting to turn red.

I rose in a smooth motion, the water splashing over the lip of the tub. Specks of it hitting his hunched back, turning the grey of his shirt to a dark black. My modesty had been extracted from me years ago, and I no longer felt the need to cater to men's ideal that I must cover my flesh, that I must hide it behind layers until they stripped those layers away.

Hisagi never looked up as I retrieved a towel and began to dry myself, the smooth fluffy texture somehow felt scratching against my skin but I wrapped it around me and turned toward the door, forcing my teeth still as I mentally prepared myself for what I might find behind the thick wood.

"How do you do it?" Hisagi's voice halted me mid-step and I glanced over my shoulder at him. His head was still lowered, and he was shaking- hands fisted. "How do you stand up after something like that, and just move on? Never even looking back?"

He raised his head, and I faced him fully, honoring his words with my full attention. He continued, "When I close my eyes all I see is your blood, all I hear is your pain... and I just stood there. If it had been you, watching, you wouldn't have hesitated." He looked away again, ashamed.

"We all fall, Hisagi. No matter how steady we are, there will always be things that knock us down. What matters is how long you remain on the ground."

He got to his feet, and I thought for a moment, that he had taken my words too literally, but then when he looked up, and I saw in his eyes, a determination that could shatter stone, I nearly smiled. "Teach me how to rise, Orihime. I don't want to be a victim anymore."

I walked to him, and touched his shoulder, slightly surprised by the building muscle beneath, "That, is not something anyone can teach. It's a line you draw yourself; a line between victim and survivor. And only you can decide which side you stand on." I gave him a small, hopefully reassuring smile. "Find comfort that I have once been where you are. Yet, while I was forced to walk this path alone, you will always have someone to talk to in me, Hisagi. For as long as you should need it."

His face stayed hard for only two heartbeats more, and then, Hisagi crumbled, threw his arms around me, and wept. His tears seeping into my already wet chest. It took me, perhaps a second too long, to wrap my arms around him, in comfort.

I let him cry, not feeling like he needed any more words.

I had never known, why it was seen as cowardly to cry. Why it is considered a crippling weakness. When your body is cut, it bleeds. And that is all tears are; the blood of the soul.

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Ichigo was standing out on the balcony, and had not looked up, even when Hisagi had hollered a goodbye.

I met him out in the night, making sure to keep a distance.

Even when I leaned against the railing, and looked up at him, he continued his glum stare into the dim city below.

I wondered what he had said to Hisagi. Wondered what could stop blood thirst in its tracks, with such ease. I hadn't had the nerve to ask Hisagi himself. Fearing what recalling the words would do to him; I had caused enough of his suffering today. Yet, I found myself with a similar worry, as I stood on the balcony with Ichigo. He had spoken the words so low, as if he hadn't wanted me to hear. I could understand his want for privacy- not that he'd ever given me any.

"I appreciate what you did tonight." I stated, speaking out into the city.

"No one has ever thanked me for giving them an unjustified beating." Ichigo's voice, I didn't think it could even become that bothered. "Look, I'm-"

"You gave me what I asked for." I straightened and he met my eyes. "Do not dishonor me with an apology."

Huffing a laugh, Ichigo crossed his arms across his chest, and shook his head slowly as he muttered, "You're one scary woman."

"I have let myself be destroyed countless times, for battles that were not my own. Do not think I wouldn't do more for something important to me." I paused, wishing I had not revealed so much. Then, I remembered all of the secrets Ichigo and his friends had entrusted me with. Showing themselves to me had been a gamble with their very lives and they were still here. They had trusted me with a great deal. And Ichigo's actions tonight, had earned him at least a small inch of my rarely earned trust. "We may not be allies in whatever war is coming... but you have helped my friend, and I will never forget that."

I offered him my hand. Which Ichigo stared at for a moment, the only sound coming from all the watching crickets. Then, Ichigo unfolded his arms, and reached out. We clasped each other's forearms firmly. A warrior's way of friendship, small as it was.

Ichigo didn't release our connection, instead, he reached up with his free hand and ruffled my hair, all the while grinning, even as I glared my annoyance. "I knew I would grow on you, Princess."

Despite all the rules I was breaking, despite the ache in every part of me, and despite the cold still seeped into my bones.

I, Orihime Inoue, Heir the the Golden Throne, Enforcer of Law and Princess of Destruction, smiled.

That smile was cut short as Ichigo's face changed, his eyes shadowed, as if he was staring at something very far away, he released me suddenly, stepping back. And seemed to be stepping into another role entirely. Everything about it reminded me too much of my father- and all the fake faces he was an expert at wearing. For when Ichigo looked back to me, everything about him was changed. His shoulders seemed broader, his face hard and unfeeling. And even his voice, which I had become accustomed too, was deep and unfamiliar. "Word from the rebellion. Bronze needs to see you."

And then I felt a gust of wind at my back, and before I had time to even swirl, I felt a prick at my neck and the world became fuzzy, and then went black.

How many times had I awoken in a strange place? How many places had I been taken to after my consciousness had been taken away by force?

I would add one more to that long list. Because when I was finally brought back to life, with a needle in my neck and a head full of swirls, I was in a dimly lit room. With a smell that rolled everything over in my stomach.

All I saw were dark figures, fuzzy but close enough to touch.

I jolted, suddenly standing, knocking over whatever I had been on when I awoke.

Was I hearing words? Sentences?

And then, like a slap in the face, everything became clear. I was standing in the warehouse, from weeks ago. Then, it had been filled with people, all stuffed into the large space. But now it was eerily empty. And silent.

Bonnie- Bronze, was suddenly before me, the gray of her eyes had flecks of green in them.

Her mouth was moving- I blinked once, twice, but still couldn't hear her words. I reached toward her face, my fingers looked so tan against her skin, her delicate freckles so small and dainty.

I don't know how, but somehow her face shifted, and then it was Ichigo looking at me, his hand moving back and forth in front of my face. He was so close, and I felt oddly confused by his proximity. In a whirlwind of memories, all flashing in my mind so quickly I barely had time to make any sense of them, I recalled the moments before I was here, in this world of silence and dizzy thoughts.

And my knuckle split as it cracked against his jaw.

I was yanked back as Ichigo mashed into the floor. I didn't resist the hands of my captor, I actually welcomed them, for without them I surely would have toppled over.

Ichigo's laughing words were the first to break through the layer of fog over my mind, "Yeah, that seems about right." He pushed up, jaw in hand.

"You drugged me." My voice sounded strained, for more reasons than I cared to admit. And, though Ichigo opened his mouth, it was Bronze that answered, "I'm sorry about that breach of trust, Orihime, but time is now of the essence, and I couldn't risk you declining my request to meet."

"What is this about?" Was what I had meant to say, but in my drugged state, there was no way to know what actually came out of my mouth. Thankfully, whatever it was, Bronze understood.

"There are more dangerous players now on the board, and I need you to tell me what coven they belong to."

I was shaking my head, her words too quick and jumbled for me to understand. She was there, shaking my shoulders. "Listen to me very carefully, Orihime, for we do not have much time."

I believe I nodded, the motion causing the room to spin, the ground rocked beneath my feet and I swayed.

Bronze opened her mouth-

And that was when I hit the ground.

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OOOOOOOO- WHAT IS HAPPENING?

Guess we all have to wait to see... :)

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Till next time-