Orihime Inoue was probably the kindest, bravest, and most resilient girl at her school. Yet, she had an unfortunate habit of bottling up her problems and not asking her friends for help, out of fear they would worry too much about her. Seeing others suffer hurt far worse than any suffering she had experienced herself in her life. All she wanted was to help people, and for them to never experience pain the way she had.

"Heya Earth to Orihime!"

Orihime was startled from her melancholy gaze out the second story window of their classroom, watching the rain fall in large droplets from the sky. She turned her head to see her best friend Tatsuki, who had poked her in the shoulder.

"Ah! Tatsuki! What is it?" Orihime asked.

"It's…lunch time Orihime," Tatsuki reminded her. "Usually that's your favorite time of day. You almost never forget it. You've been staring out the window for the past ten minutes!"

Orihime's eyes widened. "Really? It didn't feel that long at all. Anyway lets see what I brought for lunch today--oh." She rummaged through her bag, then looked up at Tatsuki with a red face. "I…I forgot to pack one. Aha silly me…"

"You? Forget your lunch?" Tatsuki asked in wonder. "Well…anyway my mom packed me a ton so you can have some of my lunch then."

Tatsuki handed Orihime a spoon, while she took a pair of chopsticks that were attached to her lunchbox. "Are you feeling okay? You've been a bit more…I dunno, scattered than usual."

Orihime didn't know how to answer that question. "Oh no, I'm fine Tatsuki. I've been staying up too late reading manga again. Don't you worry about me! I'll be just fine."

Tatsuki didn't seem to be satisfied, but she just shrugged her shoulders. "If you say so," she replied, shoving a bite of food into her mouth.

The truth, of course, was that Orihime definitely was not feeling okay. She wasn't sure what it was, but she had been feeling rather depressed since Aizen's defeat. Almost like she had lost something important, but she couldn't quite place what that thing was. She tried to focus her sadness onto her friends who had survived the war alongside her, and had suffered more than she had.

Ichigo had suffered the worst out of all of them. He had the literal weight of the world placed on his shoulders, only to end up sacrificing the power he had worked so hard to achieve in order to save humanity. Orihime had tried to cheer him up, but it was to no avail. For months Ichigo did nothing by lie in his bed, as slowly his spiritual awareness disappeared. He lost all interest in hanging out with his friends or doing anything extracurricular, instead going to school and returning home almost like a zombie. Orihime's efforts had been turned away so many times, she would cry herself to sleep, alone in her small apartment.

Orihime stole a look towards Ichigo on the other side of the classroom. He barely touched the food his sister had lovingly packed for him. He was sitting alone, Uryu a watchful distance. A small, bitter smile crept onto her face. Uryu had been able to at least help Ichigo the most out of all the friends by taking over his hollow killing responsibilities. Uryu was just as concerned as Orihime, and the girl knew this to be true, even though he didn't show it.

After school, Orihime began her dreary walk home. The rain really had picked up now, and she had left her umbrella at her apartment that morning. She sighed and pulled her jacket over her head to at least keep some of the rain off. She stopped by the convenience store for some packages of ramen for dinner, not wanting to put much effort into cooking.

She was soaking wet by the time she got home, water dripping onto her floor. She kicked off her shoes and stumbled inside. At least the ramen was wrapped in plastic, so the noodles weren't going to be soggy. She quickly changed clothes and hung up her uniform to dry before setting some water to boil in her kettle. She'd take a bath after dinner, she decided, pulling garlic butter out of the fridge, intending to top her shrimp flavored ramen with it. Butter was truly the best food known to man, and made almost anything taste better.

She sat at her table with her food, gave thanks for her meal, and dug in. She smiled up at the picture of Sora she had displayed. She missed him, but she knew he was in Soul Society somewhere, finally at peace and no longer subject to being tormented by his Hollow.

She lifted her bowl to drink the broth at the bottom, and exhaled with satisfaction after the warm, yummy liquid hit her stomach.

"Time for a bath!" she said to herself. She often did so to prevent herself from sinking into her true feelings, which came to the surface the easiest when she was alone.


"Good morning class! I have an exciting announcement to make."

Orihime actually remembered to pack a lunch this morning, be it a hasty one. She had some premade rice balls sitting in her fridge, which she packaged up along with a bottle of chocolate milk. It wasn't glorious but it would be tasty, as well as not make Tatsuki worry so much about her.

The class's homeroom teacher, Ms. Ochi, was standing with her hands on her hips in front of the chalkboard.

"We have a new student joining out class today!"

Orihime smiled. A new friend! Maybe that's just what she needed to help her get out of this current mood she's been having.

The new student entered the room on queue. He was short for a male student, but not as short as some of the girls. His uniform was neatly put together, all pieces accounted for and neatly pressed, making Orihime feel a bit self conscious of her slightly wrinkled shirt. His skin was pale, his silky dark hair contrasting beautifully against it. His face was handsome, but had some soft feminine qualities to it. Yet…his most striking feature was his large and brilliant green eyes.

His hands were in his pockets, his posture correct but not rigid. He had this air of confidence about him that made Orihime's heart start to beat a little faster.

As if he knew the thoughts going through her head, his eyes glanced in her direction, meeting hers.

Orihime's heart jumped, and she blushed and looked away.

Those eyes…she thought, but banished the thought from her head.

"My name is Komori Kuroda," the new student announced. His voice was deep, monotone, and soft. He wrote the corresponding kanji on the blackboard upon Ms. Ochi's request.

Orihime stared at her desk. She didn't dare look up at him again. Silly Orihime, making assumptions where you shouldn't, she scolded herself.

She shuddered when the fabric of Komori's sleeve brushed past her when he went to take a seat.


"So…Komori is it?" Keigo had immediately approached their new classmate once school had ended for the day.

Komori said nothing, not even acknowledging Keigo's existence, and walked out the classroom door.

"Oh my gosh! Isn't he cute?" "Yeah, hes so cute he probably could be in a boy band!" "He looks foreign! Do you think he's foreign?" The girls in the classroom had gathered to discuss their new classmate.

One of them turned to Orihime. "I saw him looking at you!" She said.

Orihime, who had been watching a bird out the window, looked over at the girls. "Ah…hah I don't know what you mean."

Chizuru, one of Orihime's classmates, came up behind the girl and hugged her. "Oh no! Some filthy new boy is making oogly eyes at my Orihime?! Unnacceptable! I shall be the one to take her--"

"WOULD YOU KNOCK IT OFF!?" Tatsuki yelled, pushing Chizuru off of Orihime. "But yeah I agree. That new guy kept stealing looks at her all day. What's the big deal anyway?"

"Its gotta be the boobs," said another girl.

Tatsuki decided to push Orihime out of the classroom to prevent any further harrassment.

They walked down the hallway for a bit in silence, until Tatsuki spoke.

"You look like you've seen a ghost--figuratively speaking. I know we actually can see them," Tatsuki said.

Orihime shook her head. "Oh! Uh…it's nothing. Just…" She looked down at her feet while they walked. "Our new classmate. He reminds me of someone."

Tatsuki raised her eyebrows. "Who?"

Orihime stopped walking. She looked up and smiled as warmly as she possibly could. "Oh its nothing! Really. I met him on one of my adventures, haha silly me."

Tatsuki sighed. "I'd drill you for answers more but I gotta head to practice. See yah Orihime. Be careful, got it?"

Orihime watched Tatsuki walk away, a sinking feeling growing larger in her chest.

She made her way home, glad that it was simply overcast today and not soaking her with rain. She felt a bit better, and wanted to actually cook something for her dinner this time. As she approached her apartment complex, she heard a voice behind her.

"Orihime Inoue."

Orihime spun around.

Komori emerged from behind a building, making it clear that he had been following her. Orihime's heart began to pound as the man slowly approached her. "W-what do you want?"

Komori said nothing, until he had closed the gap between them, leaving only a couple of feet of distance.

Orihime's heart caught in her throat. She mentally prepared herself to summon her Shun Shun Rikka, but something in Komori's eyes told her he wasn't there to harm her.

Komori simply lifted his right hand, palm stretched out towards her, his eyes pleading desperately for something only she could give him.


"Now that you're officially on Team Urahara, let's get some things in order."

Ulquiorra, dressed in the white prisoner clothing assigned to him, was kneeling on the floor of Urahara's shop. Urahara talked so much that Ulquiorra had almost no need to speak, save for the few questions he was required to ask.

"First!" Urahara announced. "Very important rule. Don't kill anyone. Humans and soul reapers. Causing property damage is also highly discouraged." He sat cross legged on the floor across from Ulquiorra. "Second, you can't go telling humans about our existence. It would ruin the balance of things. Third…" he grinned. "…let's figure out what it is exactly you wanna do."

There was an awkward silence. Urahara sighed. "That was your queue, Mr. Arrancar."

Ulquiorra blinked.

"Do you have any desires at all? Any? It can be stupid for all I care. Just something to get things started," Urahara said.

Ulquiorra's chest suddenly squeezed at the thought of a memory that flooded into his mind. The beautiful, warm creature that his eyes had the fortune of beholding as he faded away. The…concept she taught him, the thing he only remotely began to understand just as his life had ended. "Heart," he murmured.

"What was that?" Urahara asked.

Ulquiorra looked up. "I wish to see the girl Orihime Inoue."

Urahara's brow furrowed. "Well you see…that's gonna be difficult."

"I do not see why that is--"

"I mean, I'm trying to not hurt your feelings here Mr. Arrancar but I'm pretty sure you've traumatized the poor girl. Oh and her friends wouldn't be too thrilled to see you either," Urahara said bluntly.

"I am no longer in service to Aizen, so their fear and distaste is irrational," Ulquiorra pointed out.

Urahara sighed. "You know I didn't want to make you tell me this but…tell me about this girl. Why do you want to see her so badly?"

Ulquiorra thought for a while to try and put his experience with Orihime into words. Instead, he finally resorted to ripping out one of his eyes and crushing it, allowing Urahara to witness his experiences. Urahara seemed all too impressed with Ulquiorra's regenerative capabilities, which seemed to still be in working order despite his depleted reiatsu levels.

Afterwards, Urahara agreed to help Ulquiorra come up with a plan to see Orihime. His plan eventually came into being that Ulquiorra could attend Orihime's high school, posing as a human. Urahara had connections to get...less than legal documentation for Ulquiorra, complete with birth certificate and ID. On top of those efforts, it took over a week for Urahara to complete a special gigai, which Ulquiorra was expected to wear nearly all the time. Ulquiorra hardly objected.

"Do you like it?" Urahara said, presenting the gigai somewhat proudly. "This will allow humans to see you. It also will keep that nasty Hollow reiatsu from attracting too much trouble to you. You'll appear like an ordinary human, to both spirits and other humans."

"Am I able to use any abilities while in it?" Ulquiorra inquired.

Urahara sighed. "No, but to be honest you probably don't have much abilities left anyways. If you haven't noticed, you don't have a zanpakto anymore. Squad 2 said that when they found you, you were completely naked without anything on you." He snickered a little bit.

Ulquiorra examined the features of the gigai. It…looked like him. Sort of. It had more life to its skin color, and was void of any hollow markings, such as his lip color and the lines running down his cheeks. The head had no hollow mask, which prompted Ulquiorra to cautiously touch the left side of its head.

"I tried to make a guess to what you looked like when you were alive," Urahara explained.

"I do not recall that," Ulquiorra said. "I doubt many of us remember, if at all, being human." He closed his eyes, a question bugging him. "Do you have any idea how I am still alive right now? Surely that boy informed you I was defeated to the point of turning to dust."

Urahara's brow furrowed. "I intend to look into that. Unfortunately I don't have any answers right now for you." He sighed. "Come on, let me show you how to put this on."