Disclaimer: - I don't own Bleach. Kubo Tite owns Bleach.

WARNING MASSIVE SPOILERS

Shorter chapter than usual, sorry peoples. (

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The Losses Of war

It was the last day they had before they had to return to the real world. A lot had been accomplished, but a lot more still needed to be done. Ishida Uryuu had a lot to think about, but he was sure, with so many loose ends in the Real World Treaty, that he would be back very, very soon. He had a reason to want to come back and one reason was good enough.

He sat at the edge of Seireitei, leaning against the great wall. The wave of Arrancar attacks on Soul Society meant that the walls were constantly in place now, a morbid reminder of the war going on right now. He considered the many things that were discussed in the negotiations, but found himself returning to one image, Inoue Orihime. She was the locus of his world, and today he offered to escort her on a shopping trip in Rukongai. It wasn't that she was late, he was very early. It was not a date though, as he had dreamed it'd be.

He tried to figure out when he started to feel this way about his former classmate. They were both in the Handi-Craft club together in high school, but back then, he never thought of her that way. Ishida thought about the first time that he had actually fought for her. It was their first time in combat together, six long years ago, upon a rooftop in Seireitei. Jiroubou, the giant airborne weapons specialist singled out Orihime, because she was the weakest. But he had saved her and promptly dispatched the small fry Shinigami. It was when they finally faced Captain Kurotsuchi Mayuri, that Ishida realized he had first, truly laid his life on the line for her.

The thought of Mayuri angered him. He remembered the man's black and white mask like face, like some sort of stylized skull. His ridiculous lop sided hat that tapered to a very sharp point and seemed to defy gravity. Most of all, he remembered the apathetic look and cold sneer as he made ludicrous offers to entice Orihime to become a scientific test subject. Ishida had won that fight, sending Orihime away, but it had cost him his powers as a Quincy. He had never regretted it, it was against his Quincy pride to regret anything.

He clenched his fist, trying to control his anger as he recalled the photo of his grandfather, who Mayuri had experimented on, at least, what was left of him. That brought him back the events of the past few days. Experiments on humans, with or without power by the 12th Division, was a hot topic. The Representatives of the Real World demanded that they were to stop, permanently. Most of Central 46 had no problems with that, but Mayuri had claimed necessity and the need to know, not only for combat's sake but for medical purposes as well. It had become a contentious issue.

"Ishida-kun! Sorry I'm late!" the melodious voice of Orihime sang out, waking him from his thoughts.

"No, your not late. Inoue-san. I was early."

"Oh! That's good then. I thought I was late. I had to take orders from a couple of girls in class and Momo-kun and Isane-san and…" she rambled on as she was likely to do when she became excited. "So we got a big day today so we better get started early!" she grinned, full faced and child like.

Ishida nodded and called out for Jindanbou, the giant gatekeeper to open the gate. As they stepped out into the streets of Junrinan, the 1st district of West Rukongai, Orihime ran giddily from one store to the next, asking questions to various store keepers, dragging him by the hand like a rag doll. Ishida blushed heavily, wondering what they might look like to others.

Finally, at one food store, he had time to take a breath as Orihime tried to decide which items to purchase. He thought back to a time not long after regaining his Quincy powers, when he invaded Hueco Mundo with Ichigo, Chad, Rukia and Renji, in an effort to save Orihime. They all fought hard, only to have her captured again. The silly girl had explained her plan to them, she had willingly gone with Ulquiorra to Hueco Mundo hoping to find Aizen, and the Hyougoku, (1) and destroy it. He was the last person to leave, refusing to cross the Garganta (2), a portal from Hueco Mundo back to the real world. He wanted to stay behind to cover their escape, allowing passage to Orihime, but she had pushed him through at the last second before it slammed shut.

He waited and fought in the real world against an increasing number of Arrancars. The Hyougoku was definitely in use, creating more and more of the monsters. Six months later, like magic, she appeared in front of the gates of Seireitei, Hyougoku in hand. The charges of treason were dropped when she gave the item to the Gotei and in their presence, rejected its existence. She wouldn't tell anyone of how she escaped or what she had been through. She had returned to the battle front hardened, but at the same time with a sadness in her eyes.

"Inoue-san. How did you escape Hueco Mundo?" Ishida once asked.

"I had help," and she would say no more about it.

The stone pavement soon turned into dusty paths as they walked towards the edge of the inhabited area of the district. Ishida looked over the rolling scenery and thought it looked similar to the hillside in which his father, Ishida Ryuuken, died. He started to remember his father, through a mix of admiration and hatred, hatred for not approving of him becoming a Quincy and admiration for the knowledge and strength that his father had. He had often thought about the words his father spoke during one of their many training sessions.

"Uryuu," Ryuuken's voice was as flat as his own. "Do you know why I never wanted you to become a Quincy?"

"No father," he had started to be more respectful since he joined the war. "You told me it was because it earned no paycheck and that the Quincies were a dying breed."

"That is partly true but it's more than that. You are a genius, Uryuu. One day soon, you will surpass me. Maybe, you'll add a new technique to the Quincy arsenal, along side those of the first Quincy, Ishida Souken. I knew you were going to be strong from the day you were born. So did your grandfather, but I never wanted you to live life like this."

"Then why?"

"I have taught you everything I know as a Quincy. Every technique the Quincy's ever developed, you know." Ryuuken placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "I have always wanted to protect you. I never wanted you in this world of danger. Your mother was a proud Quincy, and she died a proud Quincy. I didn't want to lose you too. No father wants to see his son go off to war"

Ishida remembered as if it was yesterday, "Father, I studied a man in school by the name of Edmunde Burke, a statesman during the French Revolution, he once said 'The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.'"

As the war widened, thousands of innocent lives were lost. His father finally joined in the battle. He was a great asset to the forces in the real world but as strong as he was, Ishida Ryuuken was still killed. He remembered that blood soaked night. His father had came to his aid when he was being overpowered by three Arrancars. They overcame the Arrancars together, but the arrival of Tousen Kaname sealed Ryuuken's fate.

Ishida had fought side by side with his father, but weakened from fight with the Arrancar they were no match to the former Captain of the Gotei 13. He remembered watching, as Tousen, with his Zanpaktou through his father's heart, fired a Cero at point blank range. He fled with the arrival of Urahara and Yoruichi but by then it was too late.

"Let's have lunch," Orihime's bright voice snapped him out of his daze. "I know a nice spot not far from here."

"Sure," he answered.

They reached an open field lined with trees and Orihime laid out a blanket she had brought. Ishida seriously hoped that Orihime did not cook the food they were about to eat. As if to answer his question Orihime chimed in. "Tatsuki made lunch! It'll be delicious."

Ishida smiled and silently thanked Tatsuki. He was sure she had done it for him. As he ate he started to reminisce yet again.

"You've been very quiet lately." Orihime asked.

"Sorry, I've been lost in my thoughts."

"What about?"

"Aizen."

At the mention of the traitor's name, both became silent, taking small bites of their lunch. Orihime eventually broke the silence. "Well, at least you defeated him in the end."

"I executed him." Ishida corrected her. "Ichigo and Captain Yamamoto captured him. Ichigo really wanted to kill him, for what he did to you, but I got to do it instead."

"They didn't want to give him a chance even with a new life did they?"

"No, they did not." Ishida answered solemnly.

The two sat quietly chewing on their food. Once again Ishida's mind relived that painful experience. Aizen had been captured and brought back to Soul Society, handcuffed and manacled in deathstone. His reiatsu drained, he was set upon the hill of the Sokyoku. His neck chained to the ground, and was left kneeling. Massive solid blocks of metal were placed beside Ishida for the execution. Everything being made out of spirit particles essentially meant the high density blocks acted like high powered batteries for the Quincy. He remembered the look on Aizen's bruised face and feeling no sympathy at all for the man. Ichigo simply glared at him, daring him to escape.

"So you're finally getting your revenge." Aizen said him with a crooked smile.

"You will die, with no chance in this life or the next one. I will make sure of that."

As he raised his bow and drew in more reiatsu from the feeder blocks Aizen had raised his eyes to meet his once more mocking him. "Don't miss Quincy boy, I really don't like to suffer."

He remembered wanting to say more to the man that he hated above all others, the man who killed Orihime, but he didn't. The two shot's he placed were perfectly clean, through his heart and head. Death came swift for Aizen Sosuke. He felt Aizen had gotten off lightly, but for a criminal of his class Soul Society and the Real World did not want to give him any opportunities to escape.

"Ishida-kun! Ishida-kun!" Orihime was waving her hand in front of his face, trying to get his attention.

"Sorry. I was thinking again."

"That's okay. I just asked what you think of Tatsuki's boyfriend?" she had that maddeningly cheerful smile on her again.

"I've only met him once. He's a sports photojournalist. Seems like a fairly nice guy."

"She's sooo happy now. I feel so happy for her! I feel so jealous of her happiness sometimes."

"One day you will be just as happy, I promise you," Ishida blushed. "It will happen one day."

"I hope so." She stared off into the distance. "Sometimes I wonder if it'll ever happen…"

Summoning his courage he faced her and with the most earnest look he could muster, "I promise you, even if I have to make sure personally, that you will be just as happy if not happier than her one day."

Orihime smiled at her good friend's kind words and thanked him sincerely. She continued gazing into the horizon lost in her own thoughts.

"Inoue-san." Ishida finally decided to ask once and for all.

"Yes Ishida-kun?"

"It's Kurosaki isn't it? You're in love with him."

They both looked down into the grass, unable to speak for what seemed like eternity. A soft sniffling broke the silence and Ishida noticed tears welling up in her eyes. He offered her a tissue which she took graciously. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"It's not your fault. Really I'm grateful I have such good friends. You, Tatsuki…" she smiled weakly. "When I was captured in Hueco Mundo, I was lonely. I hoped you guy's would never come. I wanted to finish my mission first. I wanted to prove I was useful."

"You are useful." Ishida said with a pained look.

"I wanted to be useful like Rukia-san. I wanted to be strong like her. But I couldn't," gently brushing away her tears, she continued. "When I heard you guy's came for me and I when I saw you guy's again, I was so happy. But I was also so sad because I hadn't done what I wanted to do. I failed."

"You didn't fail!" Ishida frowned. "I failed… I failed to save you."

"Thank you Ishida-kun," she smiled with puffed red eyes. "You didn't fail to save me. I didn't want to be saved."

Before Ishida could reply, a familiar reiatsu washed over like pollution on a sandy beach. "Hollow!" they spoke in unison.

"Stay here I'll go investigate!"

"NO! I will fight!" her eyes blazed with seriousness, a look Ishida had rarely seen.

"Okay then, stay close to me. Can you reach that distance with Shunpo?"

"No. I'll be too exhausted to fight if I did."

In one smooth motion Ishida swept her up and carried her bridal style. Summoning up some reiatsu to his feet, he used Hirenkyaku (3) to move from rooftop to rooftop, toward the Hollows. Within minutes they were staring at five large Hollows. Their mask showed pin-sized red dots in the pit like sockets, where their eyes should have been. They let loose a wail of sheer terror and moved towards them. The destruction around them was evident, as blood washed down the pavement and buildings lay in smouldering rubble.

As large as the Hollows were, to Ishida, they were just small fish. "Inoue-san, see to the wounded. I'll handle this."

"Okay."

He dispatched the first two Hollows quickly, their screams filled the air before they disintegrated into nothingness. Flashing over the next two, he fired in mid air as they spat clear mucous fluid at him. If he knew anything about Hollows, it was to avoid anything they spat at you. As he steered away from the spit, a smile of satisfaction tugged at his lips by the sight of his arrows finding their mark. He destroyed the last Hollow without too much problem and had begun to survey the damage from the roof top.

He caught another reiatsu coming at him and leapt away just in time. A sword swung through the air to where he stood a split second ago. As fast as he was, he could not avoid the full assault. His shoulder bloomed blood from the deep score mark. A second swing came just as fast. Aware of his new opponent, Ishida readied his bow, releasing three arrows simultaneously. His assailant leapt back onto the next rooftop, waiting. He did not need to see the face leering before him nor hear its maniacal laughter to know who it was.

"Uryuu! My lucky day! How's Ichigo?" he asked.

"Grimmjow!"

End Chapter 9

A/N: Thank you again to my great editor Shanon –bows down deeply- she did a great job. This was the iffiest chapter for me to write and was fixed perfectly.

(1) Hyougoku – Orb of distortion. The device which Urahara created and hid in Rukia's soul while she was still in Soul Society. It has the ability to allow Hollows and Shinigami to transcend their natural power limitations and add on the power of their other side. e.g. Hollow can gain Shinigami powers and vice versa. Cumulative effect to reiatsu by the looks of it.

(2) Garganta – The giant eye socket like portal that the Arrancar use to get from dimension to dimension.

(3) Hirenkyaku – Quincy version of Shinigami Shunpo. Main difference is as with all Quincy techniques it's powered by external reiatsu. Also cosmetic difference is that a blue disc like thing appears beneath his feet.

A/N: From the manga's perspective, I think Ishida likes Orihime so that's why I decided to start with that as a basis to his relationship with her. It's obvious she likes Ichigo so that becomes her basic relationship pinion.