A/N: Sorry :( This chapter was a pain and thoroughly resistant to getting itself written. Usually I'd be 2-3 chapters ahead―hence the previously quick updates―but then when I got to this...the whole train of progress just went *poof* I think I went through 5-6 restarts until the ball finally got rolling again, and even so this chapter went in a different direction than I'd originally intended. Yeesh. Funny how it worked out. Well, hope you enjoy this chapter even though I had a heck of a time with it ^^
I don't think I really can express how much your comments really encouraged me to plough on, but thank you very much for them :)

Flashback order: 2, 3, 7, 6, 5, 4.
The emboldened number is the current chapter. They're not written chronologically because I make this fic up as I go ^^;

Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Kubo Tite.

Revision notes: The full unedited and uncensored version can be found at the-tower-room dot livejournal dot com (no spaces and replace "dot" with period; there's also a link to it in my profile since I can't put a link here :/ ).

Chapter 7: Swept

"The Goddess of Autumn is just using you, you know."

"I know."

"And you're just letting this happen? Willingly?"

"Other gods rarely approach me unless they want to bring death to the one they wish to punish."

"And you're only too happy to be so accommodating?"

"You talk as if you're above this, like you yourself have never played the game."

"We've never come to you to bring death to an entire village over some petty reason."

"It is for petty reasons that the pride of gods are so easily injured. How is the Goddess of Autumn any different?"

"What else are you getting out of this other than her body? Is she worth it? Why are you so suddenly willing to take part in the game?"

"Boredom, maybe. Change. She showed me a girl."

"A girl?"

"She hates her, but..."

"But what?"

"I felt...every time I go to that village to usher another soul, I find myself seeking out the girl, watching her."

"...What are you trying to say?"

"I want to protect her. I want her to be mine."

Orihime stifled a yawn. She felt her body telling her that normally this would be the time when she would be receiving the Death God―and she could feel herself blushing at the thought that her body had been conditioned so―and then they both would fall asleep afterward. But the sky outside the banquet windows indicated that it was only early evening... She frowned. She could've sworn it had been early evening for several hours now.

She was startled by the goddesses' cackle of laughter. Beside her, Rukia rolled upon her cushion, clutching at her sides over Rangiku's regaling of her tryst with one of her temple followers, a man who apparently specialized in a position indicated by the tattoo on his cheek. As the night wore on and more wine were consumed, the celebrants have spectacularly let themselves loose. The Goddess of Love and Fertility herself had unfastened the front of her gown, and now whenever she moved, soft and beguiling flesh peeked through the fabrics.

Rukia's laughter slowly abated, a hand over her chest as she waited to calm her heart down, every now and again releasing a chuckle. She reached for a goblet and took a sip, a look of delight passing over her features.

"I remember this taste," remarked she, quaffing the drink. "I had this a few weeks ago, and apparently it made me really talkative."

Rangiku chortled. "You're a blabbermouth even when you're not drunk."

"I resent that!" gasped Rukia, sounding enraged.

There were a few seconds of silence wherein both goddesses just stared at each other before bursting into a fit of laughter and chorusing, "But it's so true!"

The well-endowed goddess collapsed on the cushion amid giggles, clutching to her an earthen jug. She crawled over to where Orihime sat, uncorked the jug and poured some of the liquid on the young woman's cup.

"Oh no," cried Orihime, "I think I've had too much wine already."

"Nonsense," Rangiku brushed off. "The night is still young, and will be staying young for a long time. Time moves differently in a god's realm; it exists beyond the temporal boundary of the real world. Besides, I know for a fact that the God of Life talked the God of Night into it."

"Ah," nodded Orihime, understanding dawning in her eyes. "That's why it felt like the night is lasting longer than usual, because normally around this time, I―" she immediately clamped her mouth shut, a blush suffusing her cheeks as she watched Rangiku's eyebrow raise higher and higher.

"Oh? Normally you would be doing what?" asked the blue-eyed goddess in a singsong voice. "Or should I say, who?"

Orihime held the cup over her face to hide herself, closing her eyes tightly as she felt the heat of embarrassment amplify.

"Oh, come now, there's no need to be shy." The goddess sidled closer. "So, which of the Death God's forms have you made love to?"

The young woman squeaked. She thought she'd reached the limit of how much her face could redden, but she was wrong as the goddess persisted.

"The white one? The black? Which is your favourite? The one that only appears at sunset in his house? That one is never ever seen by the real world, you know. The one called Ichigo. You're the first human to ever encounter that form since all the real world ever meet are either the black or the white."

Orihime raised her head, curiosity overtaking her embarrassment. "Really?" asked she, wonderment in her voice. "Why is that?"

"Like I said, time in the gods' realm exists outside of time in the real world. The day here could take a whole day and night there, whereas the nights here could last forever if the gods so wish. It is only when the sun sets in the gods' world does Ichigo manifest. It is only when the sun rises here does he transform into his other forms. Our sun is not the sun of the real world."

Orihime raised the cup to her lips, trying to process what she'd just been told. So Ichigo, the form with the spiky orange hair, only existed after sunset in the land of the gods. That would explain why her brother's book only showed his white and black moon forms.

A delighted giggle escaped Rangiku. "Drink some more," she urged, watching the young woman closely. "Good. Go on. It's a special mead made by the worshipers of my temple. All of it...yes...that's good."

Rukia gazed at them over the rim of her goblet, eyes dancing with interest.

The potent mead dribbled from the corners of Orihime's mouth as she downed the liquid, and she swiped the back of her hand over her lips, frowning at the taste.

"It loosens inhibitions and awakens passion," informed Rangiku, eyeing her attentively. "Depending on the individual, sometimes the effect is immediate, and sometimes it is gradual."

"What else does it do?" asked Rukia, head tilted to the side.

"It makes whoever drink really susceptible to my commands and teachings." Rangiku winked at her. "I just know the God of Death will thank me later."

As the goddesses spoke, Orihime felt heavy and light at the same time. She swayed, feeling her strength sap, and she fell forward, straight into Rangiku's bosom. Her mind grew clouded, and she felt the goddess lean down to blow gently in her ear, whispering instructions on what she ought to do as soon as she woke up as darkness rose and consumed her.

The unknown hour between night and morning saw Orihime waking up in the goddesses' banquet hall amid the scattered sleeping bodies of the celebrants, spooned against the Fertility Goddess's naked back, her hands cupped against a pair of soft mounds and one of her bare legs clasped between the goddess's.

She felt heady and hot, her garment twisted around her body, her mind seemingly heavy and full of haze, with an uncomfortable throbbing between her thighs. A moan of confusion escaped her as she carefully disentangled herself. Disoriented, she sat up and scanned the unfamiliar room, gaze landing upon the still awake Wasp Goddess and the Goddess of Cats, her mind not quite registering that she was witnessing a tryst. Even through her half-aware state, she shyly bowed her head toward them―who both seemed rather lost with each other―before rising and smoothing out her dress, tipsily grabbing a pair of slippers by the doorway and donning them, and then, in fits and starts, finally made her way to the quarters the God of Life had reserved for her and the Death God.

Hesitatingly opening the door, she peeked inside, running her eyes over the spacious and opulent room. She spied her husband sprawled upon the bed, topless and soundly asleep on his stomach.

Somehow, he'd reverted to his sunset form.

She entered, closing the door softly behind her so as not to irritate her pounding head and made her way to the bed. She bit her lip as she kicked off the slippers and climbed up to settle beside him, her movements tentative so as not to disturb him. She laid her head by his shoulder, thinking that she would promptly fall back to sleep, and was surprised and frustrated that she couldn't.

Orihime twisted and turned in an effort to find a comfortable position, beginning to get desperate, sitting up to pull her garment off and throwing it to the floor as she found her temperature too hot and unyielding. Somehow, being right beside the Death God amplified her feeling of feverishness. She felt ravenous; her body yearned to be filled.

She laid back down, gazing at the Death God, the fire from the hearth caressing shadows upon his skin. Dreamily, she leaned over and took a deep sniff of the musky scent at his nape, the soft short hairs at the back of his head tickling her cheek, her fingertips lightly tracing down his spine. He arched in reaction, though sleep continued to hold him.

On all fours, she rose over him, her knees on either side of his legs as her fingers kissed the air over his skin, followed the contours and planes of his back, not quite touching him. A small giggle escaped her as she leaned down to kiss the small of his back, her large breasts pressed against his rear.

She suddenly found herself nearly hanging off the edge of the bed, her hair brushing against the floor, laughing as blood rushed through her head. She was only saved from falling right off by a hand's tight grip on her ankle, as another hand grabbed a hold of her arm to pull her upright.

"You startled me," said the Death God, a puzzled look on his face as he cupped her cheeks. "I didn't mean to kick you."

Orihime panted as her laughter subsided, gazing at him with heavy-lidded eyes. She licked her lips before reaching up to kiss him and plunged her tongue in his mouth.

He drew away and rested his forehead against hers. "You've been drugged."

"I'm drunk on you," corrected she huskily, reaching up once again to recapture his lips.

Chuckling, he allowed himself to be drawn in by her desire, however artificially induced it might have been. He could feel her body calling to him, the longing so tangible that his hands seemed magnetized to explore every inch of her skin. Her own hands, meanwhile, delved on their own path of discovery as she never had before, her fingers leaving a tingling sensation on his skin where they touched him, untying the knot that still held his hakama in place.

Afterwards, the God of Death raised his head and stared at her, stroked his nose against hers before catching her lips with his own, communicating with his touch what he couldn't yet bring himself to say.

Orihime, through the haze that still filled her mind, felt a hitch inside her as she gazed at the Death God's expression. She couldn't maintain looking at him and accept what he was trying to convey, so she wrapped her arms around his neck and drew his head down to rest on her chest before she closed her eyes and willed herself to succumb to sleep.

It was only later, when he was held in deep slumber, did she allow tears to fall.

APPENDIX

Mystery Woman - Goddess of Autumn
Rukia - Goddess of Snow and the Arts
Rangiku - Goddess of Love and Fertility
Soi Fong - Goddess of Wasps
Yoruichi - Goddess of Cats
Ichigo - God of Death and the Moon (transforms into the black form, Mugetsu, during the new moon, and into the white form during the nights the moon is visible in the sky)

Thanks for reading :)
Jan/2011; revised 2012