I sort of sped-edited this chapter. I hope it's okay :P

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach

-----------------------------------------------------------

She opened her eyes, and stretched. Yawning, she sat up slowly, and rubbed her head. The bed was comfortable, and the large, silk canopy that hung over it was a nice touch. There was a soft breeze blowing through the curtained windows, and it reminded her that she left the balcony doors open.

Everything was white and black.

At first it had made her uneasy, but now she did not mind. Sliding out of the covers, she padded across her room and headed for the large master bathroom. Pausing to look at herself in the large, full-length mirror, she sighed and disappeared in the bathroom.

The white villa was large. It was not as big as the ones that belong to the former Shinigami ex-captains, but it was a good size. A living room, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen...everything that she would need. New clothes were brought to her once in a while, and everything that she ever needed was provided for her. It was not that bad of a life, she knew, because she had more the most people generally did.

But she was never happy.

It had been five years since she had laughed. Part of her said that she should just give up and get used to living in the Arancar's world. However, there was always a little voice inside her that kept telling her to hang on for another day because people could be coming for her at any time.

"You're just fooling yourself, Orihime..." she murmured out loud to herself.

She knew that she was different because she felt different. Sometimes her own voice and thoughts scared her.

After she took a shower and dressed, she left the villa. Walking across the complex, she headed towards the main building. She was due for a breakfest appointment with Aizen. Las Noches was never a place she liked to go, it always gave her the creeps. As soon as she could get it over with, the better.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

"Missy!"

She turned her head as Rupee bounded towards her. Nodding her head slightly, he took her hand and kissed the top of it.

"You look as lovely as ever."

She could not help but smile slightly. It had taken them all a while to get used to her, but after healing their wounds and keeping track of them for so long, most of her Espada patients had warmed up to her. They were always cautious of her, but at least they stopped threatening to kill her. Most of the time anyway.

"Thank you." she said, "You seem in a good mood."

"Of course." he said, "Today is a new day. New battles, new victories..."

"Seems like you know your priorities." she nodded.

"Course. Food, fighting, women. It's not that hard. Maybe fighting a little more, or maybe...well, you get the idea."

She smiled, and nodded again.

"Well, you know, speaking of that subject..." he nudged her with an elbow, "...Grimmjaw has been all weepy and moopy since you got in that fight two days ago."

"Huh?"

"Don't look so surprised!" he beamed, "He's just too dumb to admit it."

Oh no.

"Go talk to him at least." Rupee folded his arms, "I'm getting tired of him making mistakes for not having his mind on the task at hand."

"I wouldn't speak to that jerk if someone paid me." she said, glaring at him, "He can just go take a flying leap over the cliff for all I care."

She turned around towards the building.

"Come on, Inoue-san!" he said, calling to her, "Cut him some slack! He's just an idiot!"

"An idiot without manners!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------

He chuckled at that, watching her disappeer into Aizen-sama's part of the complex. Turning towards the training fields, he frowned. She was a hinderence around the city, a BIG hinderence. His thoughts wheeling back to Grimmjaw, he let out an irritated sigh. The bastard was too hung up on her. Sure, she was like a breath of fresh air, but she was also a reminder of how impure they all were.

Orihime healed them, generally kept management of the Healing Room, and most of the medical personal. Nothing happened without her knowing about it, and most people did what she said because she had a temper when she needed one. She was smart, beautiful, and kind. Generally, the Arancar ignored her. All was going alright around the base until last year...

He did not want to think about it. As many violent battles as he went through, nothing had ever shook him. EVER. Not until he remembered walking into the darkly lit room just to see...

Laughing grimly to himself, he cursed his own opinions. He was a little soft when it came to her. She had a way of sneaking into people's mind and changing their feelings. Many of the Arancar he knew would even dare to protect her if something should happen. The truth of everything was that they owed their lives to her many times over. Although they did not have ideals or honor whatsoever...personal pride was part of the matter.

"You're late." Ulquiorra snapped as Rupee stalked onto the training field.

"Shut it." he said, "It's you're job to escort her, fearless leader. What if something happened to her? Again? Aizen-sama would not be pleased."

"Inoue-san forbid me to assign her a bodygaurd. She said it was ridiculous." he replied, "I will not and do not have the patience to argue with her."

"What about Grimmjaw?"

Ulquiorra glared at him.

"Okay, okay...maybe it's not a good idea." Rupee sighed.

"What's not a good idea?"

The blond Espada glared at all of them, Yami approached from the left. Wyce was gone on some other training bit, so they would not need him for today. Grimmjaw scratched his head and yawned.

"Late night?" Rupee asked.

"Shut up, none of your buisness." Grimmjaw gritted his teeth.

"Oooh, touchy." he said, "Damn, Grimmjaw, if your so upset about Inoue just go suck it up and apologize-"

"I would not talk to that bitch if she was the last living organism in the fucking universe!" he roared, and stomped past them.

He ignored everyone's strange looks and marched off by himself. It was all her fault anyway for the way she was. There was no way he was going to apologize when she was the one that was always mooping around.

Mooping around because of Kurosaki.

Grimmjaw hated even thinking the name. He hated Ichigo Kurosaki, and not just because he was supposed to be the enemy...because he just loathed him.

...Ichigo...Ichigo...why didn't you...save me...

It was something he would never forget. Grimmjaw would never forget that night for the rest of his life. Although, he had a feeling that no one in the squad would forget that night two years ago even if they tried...and they had tried.

Stopping a moment, he stood outside the window to the large banquet hall. She was at her daily breakfest meeting with Aizen-sama.

"You're reports are efficient as always, Inoue-san." he said, "I am quite impressed. You make a wonderful doctor."

"Thank you, Aizen-sama."

"You take such wonderful care of the Arancar. They all have a high opinion of you."

"Thank you, sir."

He chuckled, "I heard that you had an argument with Grimmjaw the other day."

"It's nothing I can't handle." she said.

"How have you been feeling lately? Have the nightmares subsided?"

"Yes, sir." she lied.

"Good, good. Report to your duties, and make sure Gin checks in with you today. He was injured in his sparring match with Tousen the other day."

"Yes, sir."

Grimmjaw could almost feel the hate that seethed off her soul for Aizen Sousuke. She stood up, bowed, and left. He could not really blame her, it was Aizen-sama's fault that she was in the position that she was.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

He heard the door to the Las Noches palace close. Grimmjaw looked at the white sky, and frowned.

Damn you, Kurosaki. Damn you for leaving her here, you bastard.

The big doors opened, and she caught sight of him. Making a face, she marched off.

"Hey!" he yelled, "Don't scoff at me like that!"

She did not say anything.

"What? You're ignoring me now? That's a goddamn blessing!" he said.

"When you have something intellgent to say, maybe I'll listen." she calmly replied, smiling back at him as if she was just greeting him warmly. Then, she proceeded towards the medical wing.

Grimmjaw gritted his teeth and let out a roar in frustration.

"Wow, that was great!" Rupee smiled, "She really told you off that time, Grimmjaw! You must have really pissed her off for her to actually talk back this time."

"Yeah." Yami frowned, "It's your fault anyway, why are you putting up such a damn fuss?"

"Since when did you dorks ever care about things like this?" Grimmjaw snapped.

"It's the way it goes." Rupee folded his arms, "So suck up your pride, man, and go apologize."

"It's not my fault!"

"God, you don't know anything about women, do you?" he shrugged, "You apologize even if it's NOT your fault."

"That's dumb." Grimmjaw frowned.

"That's life." Rupee smacked him on the back and shoved him along the path, "Now get out of here! You're cramping my style."

Grimmjaw shot him a deathly glare as he walked towards the building. He might as well get it over with, he did not want her to take it out on him next time he was wounded and ended up in her Healing Room.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

She stood in her office, going through the reports. They were due tommorrow, and there were only a handfull left to finish. Sitting at her desk, she spread them around and stared at them. Slowly alphabetizing them all, she stacking them again and slowly began scribbling the information on each.

Taking the newly finished report, she got up to walk across the room to set it into the cabinat.

She was not paying attention to the paper on the floor.

Orihime shrieked as she slipped, feeling her legs slip out from under her. She fell into something hard, feeling a pair of arms circle around her as she tumbled forward.

"Damn it..." he murmured, wincing slightly, "...you alright?"

Orihime looked up, and gasped. Grimmjaw had caught her, whacking his head on the filing cabinat as they went down. She lay with her face pressed against his chest, his long legs stretched around her. A few years ago she had found a way to regenerate limbs with her powers, since then, Grimmjaw had been gifted with two arms again. It was one of the reasons why he did not like her, because he owed her more then he was willing to admit.

She gritted her teeth, "Since when did you ever care about me?"

"Hey, hey..." he frowned, "...I just rescued you from splattering all over the floor, stupid! Maybe you could actually be a little less of a sulky bitch sometimes and thank-"

He flinched, damn it...he had hit his pretty hard. Reaching back, he touched the blood on the back of his head, and let out a vicious curse.

"See! Now I'm wounded!" he yelled, waving his hand in front of her, "What do you have to say about that, huh!"

Orihime sighed, he was right. It was not his fault and he was only trying to help.

"I'm sorry."

He stared at her wide-eyed. She apologized?

"Get up so I can take a look at that head of yours." she said, standing up. He let out another string of curses as he stood up, sitting on the chair in the corner as she retreated to the back for some supplies. Pressing a piece of gauze to the back of his head, she turned back to her things, "Hold this to your head till the bleeding stops."

He stared at her a moment, "Why do you help us if you hate everyone here?"

It was a question that shocked her. She never would have expected him to ask her something like that.

"Out of habit, I guess." she said, "I may be prisoner here, but that's not reason to let people suffer needlessly."

Maybe the fact that she was admitting that she hated everyone there hit him a little harder then he was willing to admit. Over the years, they had sparred in the training rooms as well as verbally, and even though he sometimes hated her with a flowing passion, he found himself growing too attached to her. Everyone else on the base started to recognize it, and had made a habit out of teasing him. 'Oh look! That's the guy that is in love with the human girl!' Whoever was the bastard that started that was going to get what was comming to him. Grimmjaw was starting to resent ever meeting this girl. Hell, sometimes he already did.

Sometimes, he wished that they had met under different circumstances. Maybe if they had, she would have feelings for him instead of Kurosaki-

Woah, don't go there.

"Every time you heal anyone here, it could cause the death of someone you care about."

"I know." she whispered softly, "I know that very well."

"Then why do you do it-"

"Gezz!" she snapped, "What do you want me to say, Grimmjaw?"

He caulked his head to the side, ignoring her rising voice, "I'm just trying to figure out how that brain of yours works."

She smiled at him, shrugging, she turned back to her work. Over the years, she found herself being a lot more straight forward and willing to jump up. Before when she would have hid behind someone, now she was the one that was rising to the challenge. Grimmjaw and the others were certainly a challenge, but there was something about him that made her nervous. Maybe it was because he reminded of her Ichigo sometimes, which would always cause her to remember unhappy memories. It was not his fault, then again, it technically was...

Grimmjaw had a vendetta against Kurosaki-kun. That was something she never forgot. There was silence as she worked on the back of his head. It was this point that he realized that she was so close to him he could feel her warm breath on the side of his neck as she inspected the wound. He could see her face out of the corner of his eyes. There were dark circles under her eyes.

"Thanks, by the way." she murmured.

Grimmjaw frowned, looking at the floor.

"Don't thank me. You're the clutz."

She glared at him,

"What do you want from me, Grimmjaw?" she roared, "What is it that you always try to come in here and strike a conversation with me just to argue? You do plently of that with everyone else!"

"I'm trying to figure out what you want."

"You don't even know what YOU want!"

He gritted his teeth, "I know EXACTLY what I want."

"Oh!" she put her hands on her hips, "Well, then tell me what it is and leave me alone-"

She did not even see it comming. Maybe because she was beginning to get frustrated and loose her temper, maybe it was because she was upset, or had a headache comming on, or something...she could attribute it to many different things. But it was too late to feel the arm around her waist, and it was too late to catch herself as a hand lay gently on the back of her head.

He tilted her head to the side, and pressed his lips to hers.

What...

He kissed her, pulling her against his chest, kissing her like he was about to devoure her. Her hands pressed on his chest, trying desperatly to hang onto the little piece of sanity she had left. She could feel him open her mouth and taste her, savoring every little inch that he had access to. She was frozen where she was, and did not even move when she start to feel a hand slid under the collar of her kimono...

He wanted her. He did not care that she was in love with someone else, or that she hated him, or that she was a human. He wanted her anyway.

What the hell am I doing?

He pulled her away from him, his hands clamped tightly on her upper arms. Grimmjaw stared at her like he had seen a ghost. Looking up into her wide, brown eyes, he suddenly came upon the rare moment where he lost his confidence.

"Fuck." he let go of her. Standing up, he turned briskly and walked out of her office, "Fuck, damnit..."

Orihime stood there a moment, not moving from her spot. She could hear him marching loudly down the hallway. One of her arms moved, and she lay a hand over her mouth.

The knock on the doorframe scared the wits out of her.

"Orihime-san?" the blond ex-Shinigami gave her an odd look. Gin tilted his head to the side, an eyebrow half-cocked, "Is something wrong?"

She opened her mouth to speak, "No, nothing."

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Ichigo got out of his apartment that night all geared up to walk into the Eternal Realm and tell Hirako to take a long walk off a short cliff. Kon stood in the doorway, looking at him skeptically.

"Don't you think you should take Zangetsu?"

"I can summon him anytime. Plus, Eternal Realm is a big Shinigami hangout. I don't want it broadcasted any more around the Society of my dealings with the Vizards any more then it already is. It was too much of an effort to even convince Byakuya, Hitsugaya, and Ukitake-san to keep it silent." he slipped on his black gloves that had the fingertips cut off. He wore a leather jacket over his black jeans and black t-shirt, "Hold the fort, Kon. I'll be back eventually."

"I hope it's nothing too important."

"I hope so, too."

-------------------------------------------------------------------

"That little bastard better show up."

Shinji frowned, taking a drink of his alcohol. Seeing a figure walk over to him, a big smirk spread across his face.

"Ah, Hayori..." he looked up at her, "...did I ever tell you how sexy you look in that waitress uniform?"

She whacked him with a serving tray, "Can it, Shinji, I'm not in the mood. Besides, you know I'm not one for this mini-skirt crap. I'm just working her for the time being because I need a cover."

"You need to wear less men's clothes and start dressing like a lady."

"Who says?" she said, "Women's clothes aren't exactly the most functional thing around."

"Maybe not." he sneered again, "Then again, as your fiance, I would rather appreciate it."

She whacked him again, "ARRANGED marriage, idiot."

Shinji made a face, rubbing his head, "That doesn't mean I can't enjoy it."

"If you think that for one moment-"

The door opened, and even though the bar was bustling with activity, there was a remarkable dim in noise as Ichigo Kurosaki strolled in. After a few seconds, the noise returned, but there were eyes trained on him. Scanning the room, he spotted Hayori and Hirako, and went to find out what it was that they wanted.

"Ah, Kurosaki." Shinji said, "Take a seat."

"I have a lot of work to do, Hirako, this better be good."

"Oh, trust me, it is." he said, "Sit."

Ichigo took a seat and Hayori went to go answer the call of another customer. Looking at Shinji, he crossed his arms.

"So, how goes the nice career of education?"

Ichigo shrugged, "It goes. I get summers off, which is good because I'm certain the Soul Society would boot my ass into the next world if I didn't finish my work during the summers."

"I see, quite right." he said, then he sighed, "I'll be honest with you, Kurosaki, I did not call you here for good news."

"I assumed not."

"Hachi has been monitoring Karakura since the Espada began making their appearences. He monitors the space realms every minute of the day." Shinji folded his hands, "There was something very disturbing that turned up."

"What?"

"The barrier between the human world and Hueco Mundo is beginning to crack."

Ichigo frowned, "What do you mean...crack?"

"Meaning, that in less then a month, Arancar and Hollow alike will be able to willingly travel between worlds without any hinderences." Shinji said.

The Shinigami sighed, suddenly feeling like there was another ton of wieght dropping on his shoulders, "Just what does that mean?"

Shinji was quiet a moment, thinking about his answer, he replied,

"Most likely when that happens, Karakura will be completely obliterated." he then said, "Within the year, the rest of the world will be completely overrun."

"What can we do to stop it?"

Scratching his head, Shinji frowned, "We will have to fight Aizen and figure out how to disable this power he retained from Rukia Kuchiki, and to figure that out..."

Ichigo frowned, "...we'll need to partner up with the Soul Society."

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Because college is starting soon, I probably won't update again till September. Just so everyone knows. If i do update, it's only because I had a little extra time and was bored.

I have a feeling that some people are like 'what the hell' after reading this chapter. TRUST ME. I know exactly what I'm doing, so hang in there :P Send me a review and tell me what you think so far.

Arigato

Lilith