Chapter 6: Growing unsteadiness

A.N.: Sorry for the delay. I got caught up in trying to catch up on my request lists and other old projects.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

A few days later….
Karakura Town; Outside Tatsuki's House

Ichigo knocked on the door to his best friend's house. He felt happier than he'd felt in a long time. He'd spent the past few days with Orihime in his inner world, not wanting to let go of her for a second. He'd spent a little time in the Soul Society with Rukia and Kisuke, the former who was beside herself with joy whenever Orihime manifested. The memory of her friend dying in her arms had left a deep scar in Rukia's heart and seeing her here in this form helped mend wound it'd inflicted.

Kisuke, on the other hand, was perplexed by Orihime's appearance. According to him, this had never happened before and was curious about Orihime's effect on his zanpakutos. He didn't know how but Orihime being in Ichigo's inner world had somehow given him a new source of power to draw from, hence his sword's new appearance. And yet, Ichigo had the slightest suspicion that Kisuke knew more than he let on, catching him glancing at Orihime's manifested appearance with worried eyes.

But Ichigo could care less what Kisuke had going on in that head of his. He had Orihime back and he was happy again.

As he knocked on the door to Tatsuki's house, he wondered if there was some way to put Orihime into a corporeal body rather than just leave her as a spirit inside his soul. 'Doesn't matter…' he thought as he waited for the door to open. He put a hand on his chest and could feel Orihime's presence from deep within. 'Orihime's back. That's all that matters….'

The door opened up and revealed Tatsuki. The girl was wearing a white shirts and shorts, a towel wrapped around her neck and her body was sweaty from a workout. "Ichigo?" Tatsuki was surprised. She hadn't heard from Ichigo in days and was starting to get worried. "What brings you here?"

Ichigo gave Tatsuki a warm smile. "Hey, Tatsuki. Mind if I come in?"

Tatsuki let him in and led him into her room. "What is it? Are you okay?" She sat down on her bed and looked at Ichigo with worried eyes. "We haven't seen you in days. We…I…I was worried." She remembered how lost and broken Ichigo was after Orihime had died. Ichigo sat down next to her and she waited while he reached into his pocket for something.

"I'm fine, Tatsuki. I'm better than ever." He pulled out a bracelet and slipped it on. "There's someone who'd like to talk to you."

Tatsuki looked at Ichigo confused before the bracelet glowed. "Wha-" she started before a image started to shimmer before her. After a few seconds, Tatsuki laid her eyes on Orihime as she manifested out of Ichigo's inner world. "Or…Orihime?" Tatsuki whispered, her eyes filling with tears. "Is that… really you?"

Orihime merely smiled before wrapping her arms around her best friend's neck. "Hi there, Tatsuki…."

An Hour later….

Ichigo and Tatsuki sat on the bed alone. Ichigo's bracelet could only allow Orihime to manifest for a short while. The item was something that Kisuke cooked up but without further data about Orihime he could only do so much.

Tatsuki stared at Ichigo and smiled. "How are you, Ichigo?" She put a hand on Ichigo's shoulder. "Is Orihime alright?" she asked. "How is this even possible?" So many questions ran through her head.

"I don't know…" Ichigo said, closing his eyes and feeling Orihime's presence. "But Orihime's back. I don't know how but I don't care." He looked back at Tatsuki and took hold of her hand. "Tatsuki…I know that I've said it before but…I'm sorry." He looked away, ashamed at himself as the memory of that fateful day came back to him. "If I could take back what happened, I'd do it." His eyes watered as he remembered holding Orihime's lifeless body. "Orihime…."

Tatsuki could tell that despite the miracle, Orihime's death weighed heavily on Ichigo's heart. Deciding to act on instinct and to let Ichigo know how much his happiness meant to him, Tatsuki leaned forward….

Ichigo gasped in surprise when Tatsuki kissed his cheek, the sudden action making his heart beat faster. "Tatsuki?" Ichigo replied, confused at Tatsuki's kiss.

"Sorry," Tatsuki replied, her cheeks blushed. "I've always wanted to do that." She squeezed Ichigo hand. "I knew that Orihime loved you. That's why I pushed her to try and confess her feelings. But…" she looked away. "I've always loved you too."

Ichigo felt a little conflicted as soon as he heard that but calmed himself down when Orihime pipped in from within him and said that she wasn't mad at all. Leaning forward, he hugged Tatsuki tightly and smiled. "Thanks, Tatsuki. For everything."

Tatsuki hugged him back and laid her head on his shoulder. She was so confused yet so happy; she figured this was how Ichigo felt when he suddenly felt Orihime's presence. "Please, Ichigo…bring her back," she said softly. "I miss my best friend."

Ichigo hugged her tighter and breathed deeply. "I know. I'll bring her back, no matter what it takes."

The happy moment was promptly ruined when they suddenly felt a slight tremor beneath their feet. "Ugh, another one?" Tatsuki groaned as she looked around. It was a small earthquake but she was starting to get annoyed. "That's the third one in the past few weeks!"

Ichigo blinked, having not paid much attention to his surroundings since he was in the middle of grieving for his dead love. "Really? These keep happening?"

"Yeah," she said before the shaking stopped. "People have been looking into it but nobody can say why we keep getting small earthquakes."

Ichigo looked out the window and frowned, remembering the shaking that'd happened when the Soul King died. He'd been too devastated by Orihime's death at the time to think about it but now that the Yhwach, who'd replaced the Soul King, was dead, what was keeping the world together now? Were these the aftershocks from killing Yhwach or was something else afoot?

Shaking off any lingering thoughts, Ichigo turned his attention back to Tatsuki and decided to get back in touch with his friend….

Meanwhile….
Squad 12: Mayuri's Lab

Kisuke also felt the tremor and frowned, examining Orihime's dead body further. "What can this mean?" he asked. "Is Orihime's existence somehow linked to these tremors?"

His answer came from Mayuri Kurotsuchi as the mad scientist came up from behind him. "You know, there has been one mystery that's been puzzling me," he said as he looked down at Orihime's body. "Exactly how are we still here?"

Kisuke understood what his former protégé was driving at. "Yeah. Ichigo killed Yhwach. So then, how is the world still here without collapsing?"

Both scientists looked at each other and frowned. This was one mystery that wasn't going to be easy to solve….

Meanwhile….
Ichigo's Inner World

Orihime looked around Ichigo's inner world, wondering what she should do. Ichigo was asleep, leaving Orihime to wander about his inner world. She wandered about for a while but soon found herself bored. Deciding to venture out, Orihime exited Ichigo's inner world. She found herself back in her ghostly form, floating beside Ichigo's bed, the boy sound asleep. "Ichigo…" she said softly as she watched him slumber away. Smiling, she patted his head, not minding that her hand coulnd't really touch him. "Sweet dreams, Ichigo…."

Floating away, Orihime ventured out and checked in with her friends. She was happy to see the sleeping forms of Chad, Uryu, Tatsuki, Keigo and Mizuiro. Traveling to Urahara Shop, she smiled when she saw the snoring bodies of Tessai, Ururu and Jinta. When she went to Yoruichi's room, however, she saw that Yoruichi was tossing back and forth on her futon, a clear expression of pain on her face while she slept. Orihime's face soured as she saw how much pain Yoruichi was in. No doubt this was an aftereffect of Askin Nak Le Var's poisonous abilities. "Here, Yoruichi…." She put her hands to her heart and summoned her sprites. "I don't know if this will work while I'm a spirit but…Sōten Kisshun."

Orihime's golden barrier surrounded Yoruichi and, to her relief, she felt the poison in Yoruichi's body disappear. Soon Yoruichi had stopped tossing and turning in pain and began to sleep peacefully. Banishing her spirits, Orihime smiled at Yroucihi's sleeping form before turning to Kisuke's room, wondering what the scientist was up to. When she saw that the room was empty, she figured that he was in the Soul Society. "I wonder if he's okay."

In an instant, Orihime found herself in Mayuri's lab. "Geez! I'll never get used to that!" she said out loud. Looking around, she saw nobody in the lab at all. "I wonder if Kisuke's nearby?" Looking around, she realized just whose lab this was and shivered. "I hope Mayuri's not nearby…."

Floating around, she saw that the room was lit by a single lamp, its light shining over an object on a lab table. Orihime may have been dead but she still shivered when she realized it was a dead body on the table.

A dead body with burnt-orange hair….

Orihime put her hands to her mouth in horror when she floated near the cadaver before realizing in horror that she was looking at her own dead body. "It's…it's me!"

A thought occurred to her as she looked down at herself. It was such an odd feeling to look at her own body. She put a hand to her chest and wondered if maybe…just maybe…."Could I reject my own death?" Cautiously, she reached out for her body.

Only to scream in terror when her dead body's eyes opened up. What was horrific only became more terrifying when her body, her dead body, sat up on the table, the sheet covering her body falling down. But what was the most shocking was the fact that it wasn't her own hazel eyes staring back at her. The dead Orihime's eyes had black sclera and cross-shaped pupils.

Backing away, Orihime felt fear shake her to her ghostly core. "Who…who or what are you? And what have you done with my body?"

The dead Orihime's lips moved and yet her voice sounded like it was coming in stereo, as if someone was using her as a microphone.

"I am the Soul King. Hello, Orihime. It's time we talked."

To be continued