"Don't you forget… you're nothing without me. And I'm nothing without you. I need you. Don't you dare ever leave me… or I will come after you and find you, Hime"
Orihime woke to the sound of her alarm that was… slightly quieter than usual? She groaned and cracked her eyes open, looking for where the alarm clock was. Tatsuki came bounding into their shared room at that moment, swiftly picking up the alarm on the floor (which Orihime had undoubtedly tossed across the room in her sleep), turned it off and ruffled the mess of covers, pajamas, and auburn hair that was her friend Orihime.
"Orihime, it's moving day! Let's get going – it's not every day you start university!" Tatsuki exclaimed as she pushed and prodded Orihime to get out of bed.
"Okay, okay, Tatsuki-chan, I'm awake!" Orihime replied, reluctantly getting up. "And it's not just me who's starting university – so are you!" Orihime replied, tossing a pillow in Tatsuki's direction.
Tatsuki easily dodged the pillow. "Yea, but I'm staying here at my parents' during university. It'll save me money and it'll be easier to get to my part-time job at the dojo. You're the one who's actually moving into residence."
Orihime's cheery attitude turned a bit sour as she contemplated this. "I wish you were moving into residence too."
Tatsuki patted her friend reassuringly. "I know you're nervous, but you have nothing to worry about. University's going to be great, you're going to make lots of friends." Seeing Orihime still hesitant, Tatsuki added, "And, if all else fails, don't forget that a bunch of my high school friends are also going to that school and living in residence!"
Orihime smiled a bit at this. "We're going to meet them tonight, right?" Tatsuki nodded. "Don't worry, Orihime."
A couple hours later, Orihime and Tatsuki lay on top of her freshly made twin-size dorm room bed, resting after unloading and unpacking Orihime's belongings into the small room.
It turned out that Orihime had gotten one of the only single rooms on her floor in residence, and while it meant that she had more privacy, it was also a very small room.
Orihime looked around the room from her vantage point lying down on the bed, and noticed again, how few belongings she had. It made her think back to the apartment she had lived in prior to moving into Tatsuki's room, and how many knick knacks and clothes she had had at the time.
It also reminded her how little she was able to pack before running away from that place and that man.
Tatsuki likewise was surveying the room and was happy to see mementos of the two friends in various spots in the room: a picture of Orihime and Tatsuki taped on the wall, the alarm clock that the two had shared, now gifted to Orihime, sitting on the desk. In a relatively short amount of time, Orihime had become something of a sister to Tatsuki, someone she loved and protected fiercely.
Tatsuki squeezed the hand of her friend lying beside her. "Sorry you didn't end up with a roommate." Tatsuki knew that the darkness of Orihime's past still occasionally gave her nightmares and general bouts of anxiety. She was hoping that Orihime would find a caring and considerate roommate who would take care of her and become a reliable friend.
Orihime squeezed Tatsuki's hand in response. "This way, you can come over whenever you want, Tatsuki-chan!"
Tatsuki smiled. Thinking about the time, Tatsuki bolted up and checked the time on the alarm clock. 8:45. She gasped. "Orihime! It's already 8:45! We're supposed to meet up with everyone at 9!"
The two girls bustled around Orihime's tiny dorm room freshening up for a night out. Tatsuki opted for some light makeup, a dark tank top that showed off her toned arms, and some dark jeans. Orihime, after Tatsuki vetoed a number of going-out outfits, was dressed in a dark purple cropped tank top and a black knee-length pencil skirt. Her long auburn hair was brushed straight down her back, with a couple of star-shaped pins holding her bangs back.
By 9:20, Orihime and Tatsuki were just getting to the bar that Tatsuki's high school classmate Mizuiro had picked for the group's meeting. Leave it to Mizuiro to know of the most popular places for drinks. It was busy – full of university students and young professionals alike. Tatsuki worried about even getting into the place because of the line, but Orihime was already at the entrance waving at her friend. "This kind man says that we can go on ahead!" she exclaimed, not noticing that the other people in line were glaring both at her and the smitten bouncer at the entrance to the bar. Tatsuki caught up to her friend, carefully avoiding eye contact with everyone in line she passed. "You're too kind, thank you!" Orihime beamed at the bouncer as Tatsuki grabbed her hand and led her into the packed bar.
When the two entered, it seemed as if all the men in the bar instinctively turned to observe the two beauties. A pair of dark eyes, belonging to a man sitting at the bar, were drawn to the bright auburn hair and the woman's alluring figure he witnessed. "Wow." He whispered under his breath. "You say something?" his friend asked beside him. After following his eyeline, he chuckled to himself. "I see – you saw something."
Tatsuki pulled Orihime through the crowd, silently threatening all the men who were openly leering at her friend. She also inwardly cursed her group of friends for choosing to sit at the table furthest into the bar. As soon as Tatsuki saw some familiar orange tufts of hair, she called out to her friends. "Oi! There better be enough seats at the table – this place is crazy!" As they got closer to the table, Tatsuki gradually got sight of all her high school friends sitting around the bar table. Keigo and Chizuru already arguing, Ichigo and Ishida glaring at each other, and Mizuiro scrolling through his phone, likely planning for the rest of his evening's activities.
As the two girls approached the table, they were still being jostled by the more rowdy bar goers behind them, until a broad-shouldered man stood behind them, separating them from the crowds. Orihime, unsure of how to respond to a stranger standing so close was apprehensive until Tatsuki turned around, and instead of telling off the man for standing too close, gave him a big bear hug instead. "Sado-kun!" Tatsuki exclaimed. At her exclamation, all the friends at the table turned in greeting to Tatsuki, but each was taken aback by the other woman who stood in front of their table.
Each friend had been told about the purpose of today's meet up. Tatsuki had a friend (you have other friends? Keigo had whined), who was also starting at the same university, but who didn't have a lot of friends because she had finished high school through distance learning. Tatsuki had wanted to introduce this friend in the hopes that she could join their established friend group and be a little less lonely starting university.
Each friend had similar but slightly different reactions to the beautiful woman now joining their table. Keigo immediately started sputtering introductions, mispronouncing his own name in his haste. Mizuiro smoothly followed up by introducing both himself and the "bumbling idiot beside me." Tatsuki was surprised at how quiet Chizuru was. Instead of her boisterous self, Chizuru became timid and blushed as she shook Orihime's hand. Seeing that the other three seemed to have short circuited, Tatsuki quickly named the orange-haired Ichigo (who replied with a good-natured "yo"), raven-haired Ishida (polite smile and nod of the head), and the tall man behind them as Sado (who grunted quietly in response). Ishida, upon seeing the gorgeous woman in front of him, immediately questioned how Tatsuki could even fathom that she would ever be lonely on a university campus filled with hot-blooded males, but decided that that wasn't the point right now.
With Sado standing behind them, everyone shifted a seat over and Tatsuki and Orihime sat down at the table, so that Orihime was seated between Tatsuki and Ishida, with Sado standing protectively behind the two girls.
"Inoue-san." Ishida began. "I understand from Arisawa-san that you're also a freshman this year?"
"Yes!" Orihime nervously responded with a light blush. She had been a bit overwhelmed meeting all of Tatsuki's friends, and tried very hard to remember everyone's names by associating their name with some visible characteristic of theirs. Looking between the raven-haired man with glasses next to her and his orange-headed friend beside him, she thought that thinking of them both as devilishly handsome would not help her remember their names. I think this one was Ishida-kun? Handsome and… cool. Cool Ishida-kun.
"What program are you enrolled in?" Ishida inquired, both wishing she was and was not taking pre-med along with himself and Ichigo. While he admitted that Inoue Orihime was a beautiful woman who he wouldn't mind getting to know, he also wondered if he would be distracted if he had classes with her.
Orhime replied, "I'm currently enrolled in nursing," Ishida breathed an internal sigh of relief, "but I'm hoping to transfer into pre-med!" She added.
As Ishida nearly choked on his beer, Ichigo chimed in. "Did you say pre-med? Ishida and I are both in that program!"
"Oh really?" Inoue blushed. Both of them? Cool Ishida-kun and… rugged Kurosaki-kun.
Tatsuki interjected "If you need any help, just ask Ishida and Ichigo! I would maybe ask Ishida over Ichigo, though… I still have no idea how he got into pre-med-".
"Hey!" Ichigo scowled. "I may have not gotten the top spot like Ishida, but I was in the top ten-"
Orihime started. "Wait, you were both in the top ten for pre-med? That's amazing!"
Ichigo quieted after such enthusiastic praise, and Ishida turned a warm smile to Orihime. "If there's anything I can do to help, let me know. I'm happy to study together if you think it would be useful."
Orihime smiled. "That would be appreciated. Thank you Ishida-kun!"
"If I heard from Arisawa-san correctly, you're also living in residence, right Inoue-san?" Ishida inquired.
"Yes! In Himawari Hall."
Ichigo sputtered at the news. "No way! Ishida and I are living there too!"
"Oh, cool!" Orihime exclaimed. "I'm glad to know at least a couple people in res."
As Ishida was about to ask Orihime another question, the waiter came by their table and placed a purple sweet-looking cocktail in front of Orihime.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't order this!" Orihime said.
The waiter shrugged. "It's from the guy at the bar with the suspenders."
Nearly the entire table turned to see who this brazen fellow was; Tatsuki in fierce defensive mode and the rest wondering who this guy was - so gutsy as to buy a girl a drink who was clearly meeting with a big group of friends.
The man at the bar, with the suspenders, wore a white button-down shirt that was partially unbuttoned at the top. He had medium-length black hair and deep dark eyes that met Orihime's when she turned around. Surprisingly, the man wasn't alone. He seemed to be drinking with a friend who had slicked back hair and wore a dark leather jacket. His intense stare bothered Orihime and sent a chill down her spine.
Tatsuki scoffed. "Just ignore him, Orihime."
"Hmm," Orihime hummed as she slid off her chair and grabbed the purple drink. "I think I should return this to him."
Before Tatsuki could convince her otherwise, Orihime was already heading towards the man at the bar.
"Hi." The man started. "Tsukishima Shu-"
Before he could finish, Orihime calmly placed the purple drink on the bar and slid it toward him. "Thank you for the offer, but I will have to refuse."
As his friend doubled over in laughter beside him, he merely quirked an eyebrow. "Offer? I didn't offer you anything."
"You offered this drink, and I'm refusing it. Have a good night." And with that, Orihime turned around and went back to her table of new friends.
As Tatsuki watched the encounter from afar, a feeling of being proud of her friend washed over her. She was proud of how far she had come, but yet was still worried. "Hey Ishida, Ichigo," she started as Orihime started to turn away from the man at the bar but was still out of hearing range, "Keep an eye out for Orihime, okay?"
Ichigo and Ishida, and even Sado who had overheard the rhetorical question from behind, wondered why Tatsuki was all of a sudden so serious and protective. What must have happened in the past, they each thought, to make Tatsuki so worried about her?
As Orihime came back to the table, Tatsuki and Chizuru cheered her on for refusing the man's advances, and the rest of the evening passed with many drinks drunk and toasts to the new school year made.
At the end of the evening, as the bar was closing, Ichigo, Ishida, and Tatsuki, with Orihime being carried on her back, were walking back to campus. Though both Ichigo and Ishida had tried to convince Tatsuki to let them carry the tipsy and sleepy Orihime who had started to fall asleep at the bar, Tatsuki refused to let "Neanderthals" touch her and had insisted on carrying her.
"Arisawa-san," Ishida began after checking that Orihime was in fact asleep, "Earlier this evening, when you asked us to keep an eye out for Inoue-san… what did you mean exactly?"
Tatsuki sighed, and shifted Orihime so she would be more comfortable on her friend's back. "I'll tell you two, but please keep it to yourselves okay?"
After receiving non-verbal confirmation from her two friends, she continued, "I helped Orihime run away from an abusive boyfriend."
Neither knew what to say, and so she continued in the silence. "Orihime doesn't have any family, and as far as I know, I'm her only friend. I know she'll get hit on a lot at university, and I want her to have fun and date guys if she wants to, but part of me is still worried about her. I don't want to see her get hurt anymore."
The friends continued walking in silence, with nothing but Orihime's soft snores filling the silence. Each in their own thoughts, they were surprised when the usually stoic Ichigo broke the silence. "Your friend is our friend, Tatsuki," he started, "We'll take care of her, don't worry."
Ishida nodded at Ichigo's words, reinforcing the commitment.
With tears forming at the corner of her eyes, Tatsuki smiled. "Thanks, you guys. I knew I could count on you."
Elsewhere, in a dark room, eyes scanned a screen filled with names, pictures, birth dates, and class schedules. The scrolling stopped as a cheery auburn-haired girl with grey eyes came into frame.
"Inoue Orihime." A deep voice stated thoughtfully in the darkness. "Interesting. What is this little mouse doing playing in this part of the house?"
A/N: My very first FanFic! I'm a big fan of Orihime and I just want her to end up with all the cute guys (and girls) in Bleach. I thought it would be interesting to see what happens if she didn't meet everyone as Tite Kubo had written it…
Please let me know what you think and what you want to see happen next! Who do you think the scheming person is at the end of the chapter?
A/N 2: Apologies for the faulty first-time upload and thank you to the kind Guest reviewer who pointed it out to me. Hopefully it doesn't happen again!