Here's the next chapter. Enjoy :D
Thanks to gmsephiroth for the beta!
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach
Dead. She was dead.
Orihime stared into the void around her, wondering where she was. Did the afterlife look like a black void? That was so stereotypical.
Orihime-sama.
She jumped as if she had been electrocuted. Turning around, there was a figure of light standing behind her. Covering her eyes to get a clearer view, the being was smiling at her.
"Who...Who are you?"
Silly girl, you were careless and died.
"I'm dead?" Orihime gasped, "But-"
There's still too much to do, it's not time to die yet.
Orihime frowned, "But...maybe its-"
Better if you died?
She was quiet then, looking away from the glowing figure. For some reason, she did not feel alarmed by the strange figure's presence, maybe because it's energy felt so familiar.
We all have a role, Orihime-sama. You're role will come soon enough. You were given this massive power for a reason.
"Why me?!" she roared, "Why-"
Because you wanted to help.
"I..."
The glowing figure floated over towards her.
This war was predestined. It was predicted many millennium before hand, and there is no way to get around it. Key players are needed to end it, or it will simply continue. The balance between life and death can been upset by this war, and it is time the it was stopped. You were given this power for that reason.
"But how will I know what to do with it?" Orihime shook her head, "I'm only a human being, I don't anything about this! How am I supposed to know what to do?"
The being seemed to smile.
You'll know.
Grimmjaw felt her fall limp in his arms. The medics were already rushing towards them in the distance. If she died, Aizen would be livid. This whole...incident would screw everyone, not just those directly involved.
In the distance, he spotted Tak at the head of the crowd. Pushing Grimmjaw out of the way, he watched as the Arancar medical team began to work over her. The wound was so deep that the blood had already soaked her clothes red.
"Damn it!" Tak swore as she ruffled through her supplies, "Damn fragile weak humans!"
Grimmjaw could not manage to say anything as he watched them desperately work over her. The color had completely drained from her face, and it was then that he realized that there was something cold in his hand. He looked down to realize that he was still holding her hand.
She was really dead.
"I'll need to go inform Aizen-sa-"
Tak gasped, "Grimmjaw-sama, look out!"
The air from his lungs was promptly cut off. Everyone watched in sheer horror as Orihime's other hand promptly shot forward and locked around his throat. Grimmjaw grabbed her arm in order to try and release himself. Shit, she really was strong...
"Let me go-"
A burst of light surrounded everyone, and he could hear screams and yelling in the background as her energy aura flared around them. What the hell was she anyway? Some sort of monster?
There was something else.
His own reiatsu was falling. She was sucking out his own energy.
"Stop!" he roared, trying to release her hand, "Woman, you-"
She was taking too much, and he doubted that she even knew what she was doing. Struggling as hard as he could, he could not seem to break free from her grip. How did she get so strong?
"Hey-" he gasped, feeling his mind being to daze, "Orihime!"
There was a snap and the light cut off like it had been simply switched off by a switch. Opening his eyes cautiously, a pair of brown eyes were gaping up at him.
"Grimm...jaw?" Orihime stared at him.
As she spoke her hand lost its grip and she fell into him, bowling him over where he sat. Laying on the pavement, most of his own energy drained, he could feel her warm breath over his bare chest. Letting his head roll back, he passed out.
She was alive again.
Part of him was relieved by that.
Ichigo sat at the table, staring at her back. What was he supposed to say after that story?
Orihime still could not believe she managed to tell him about the whole experience. Of course she omitted a few parts out, like the part where she was almost violated by Noritora, but it was the first time she had told that much of the incident to someone that had not already known about it.
"Inoue-"
She smiled at him as if she had just been telling him a fairy tale about bunnies and fluffy clouds, "Kurosaki-kun?"
He looked up at her eyes now, she was smiling so gently at him, it made the guilt in the back of his mind worse. If he had been stronger the first time around he could have rescued her and spared her all that pain. In truth, it was all his fault that it had happened. She had almost died, or rather, she had been killed once already.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for listening." she told him, "Would you like some more tea?"
"Ah-"
She leaned forward to pick up a cup to pour him some more tea, and he heard a crash as the cup slid from her hands and shattered on the floor.
"Oh my goodness!" she cried, "I'm so sorry!" kneeling to the floor to pick up the shards.
"It's alright. I'll do it." he said, kneeling next to her, "I don't want you to cut yourself."
Her hands were shaking.
"Inoue? Are you alright?"
A tear slid down her cheek and to the floor. Looking up at her face, there were tears streaming down her face. She had not even realized she was crying, it had been such a long time since she allowed herself to cry that she was not even sure that she remembered how.
"I..." she said, trying to smear the tears from her face, "...I'm sorry-"
With a jerk, he yanked her into his arms, folding his arms around her, "It's okay. Go ahead and cry, Inoue."
She could not believe it. The man that she had been love with for the greater part of her life was holding her. Part of her was glad that she managed to live this long, now she could at least die happy.
Burying her face into his chest, she cried.
Ishida lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Unohana had left not to long ago after checking him over, and now he was alone to dwell in his own thoughts.
"Was it something I did?" she asked.
Ishida walked away from her, turning his back. She was glaring at him and that always made him nervous. Nemu shook her head, "You have always been so stubborn and ignorant of other people's feelings."
"That's not true."
"It is."
He gritted his teeth, did she enjoy making him suffer like this?
"I am still waiting for an answer, Uryuu." she told him, "Did I do something to you that caused you to hate me so?"
"I don't hate you."
"Liar."
Ishida was about to open his mouth to make a retort at her remark when he sensed something uneasy in the air. He frowned, running the familiar sense through his mind.
"Uryuu?" she was calling out to him.
He did not respond, still processing the feeling in his mind. It was very close, and very powerful. Almost so powerful that the energy was filling his thoughts.
"Uryuu?"
His fingers moved over the Zeele swords on his belt. One strike, that's all he would-
"URYUU!"
He gasped as a large Arancar hurled towards him. Beginning to draw the sword, Nemu appeared in front of him, crossing her arms over her chest. A shield rose around them, drawing the sword from his waist he turned to stop her. The shield was draining her energy to quickly-
"Nemu-"
The shield cracked, and Ishida watched as the blade of a zanpakuto shattered the shield and ran through her shoulder...
Ishida lay a hand on his forehead, he had a really bad headache and he was stuck in the Seireitei. Ichigo had told him to stay in the Soul Society for the time being. As troublesome as it was, Ishida was in no condition to fight whatever was in Karakura anyway. Fighting multiple Arancars over and over while protecting an injured comrade was not an easy job.
He still hated Shinigami after all.
Laying a hand on his forehead, he sighed, "It's all my fault, Nemu."
Speaking of which, he still did not know what happened to Nemu. There was an odd feeling in his chest whenever he thought about it. Sitting up, he pulled the yukata and sandals on, and left. Laying in bed for so long was a pain.
Part of him was still wishing that he what he was not what he was and she was not what she was and then everyone could be happy.
Maybe he would have to learn to be more open to possibilities. After all, his heart did not always follow his common sense.
Rangiku found herself cursing out loud again. Why the hell was she doing this anyway? Not only was she hiding out in a shack in the middle of Rukongai but it was freezing as hell and Gin had taken it upon himself to visit with the locals.
Why did she feel compelled to make dinner, or rather, to make dinner for HIM?
Gin was the enemy.
The door opened, "Honey, I'm home!"
Ran made a face, she sometimes could not tell if she was the dumbass or if it was him. Gin was carrying a stack of wood, and after stacking them he tossed another log in the fire pit. Stopping a moment, he sniffed the air, and then a wide spread across his face.
"Rangiku." he grinned, "Is that...stew?"
"What if it is?" she replied. Was she blushing? It felt like she was, she needed to stop now to avoid encouraging him. At the first chance she got, she had to get away. If he decided to drag her back to Hueco Mundo with him, despite what he said, then she would rather kill herself now or get lost in the woods first.
"Then it smells heavenly." he rest his head on her shoulder.
Oh gods, please don't give me hope.
Gin was always like that, giving her a mile when she could really only have an inch. Did he like teasing her?
"Well..." she picked up a spoon, there was a way to test him. Maybe she could try stirring his curiosity once in a while? "Why don't you try some?"
"Eh?"
"I think it might need more salt." she dipped the spoon in the stew and fed it to him. Gin stared at her a moment, and then licked his lips, "Well?"
He did not reply for a moment, there was a strange look on his face that she was not used to seeing.
"Gin?" she asked, "Is it alright?"
He leaned over and picked up the salt. She made a face, did it really need salt? Watching curiously as he promptly took a pinch of salt and smeared it over her lips. While she was still trying to figure out what it was that he was trying to do, he leaned over and kissed her.
Gin was kissing her. He had never kissed her before.
She could not help thinking about how gentle he was being with her as he kissed her, eventually scooping her up into his arms and sitting her on the wooden edge of the floor that surrounded the fire pit. His tenderness seemed to scare her a bit, more so then anything else he had been doing.
"Gin?" she whispered in the darkness as he pinned her to the floor, pulling her kimono off. She made no move to stop him, but she really did not want him to in the first place.
He was silent.
"Gin?"
This caught his attention. Looking up into her red face, his red eyes glowed at her as he asked, "Rangiku, do you trust me?"
It was a loaded question. She could not really say yes or no. So insteasd, she did the one thing that she always had to do with Gin in order to get him to cooperate.
"Only if you promise never to die on me."
His mouth opened a moment to contradict her, and then he closed it, "Ran-"
Before he could block her, her hands snaked out and locked around his throat. Her eyes was glaring at him in the dark, and he did not need to see her face to know the threatening look on her face.
"You're a fucking bastard, Gin." she said, "You come and string me along and then you leave without so much as a word."
He glared back, saying nothing. Then he watched as a tear slid down her face.
"You lead me along, Gin, and it hurts me. But then again, I let you." she said, "Because, you're the fucking bastard that I love. So you either make the deal or I'll kill you right here."
"Love and loss, right?"
"Who said it would be a loss?"
Gin then smirked back, "You were always able to match my wits, Rangiku."
"I've had a lot of practice." she said, "So promise, or no?"
"If I get something out of it as well." he said, "You must promise to fight with me when the time comes."
"I won't side with-"
"Not Aizen or the Seireitei." he said, "With me. Can you do that?"
It was a deal for a deal, a large risk on her part. Luckily, Rangiku was good at gambling when she put her mind to it.
"Deal."
He leaned over and kissed the tears from her face before she realized they were even there. It had been years she had allowed herself to cry, and he wasn't going to waste any of her tears that had been shed on his behalf.
There was no need for such unhappy thoughts. As long as things went according to his plans, everyone would end up happy in the end.
There was not a room left in the entire clinic.
"Well!" Isshin clapped his hands together, "This is a rather unfortunate oversight, isn't it Ichigo?"
Ichigo made a face, the old man was planning something.
"There are too many patients." Ichigo shrugged, "She can room in my old bedroom."
"Already taken up by Hirako-san." Karin replied from where she was tending to a scrape on a small child's knee.
"Its okay." Orihime smiled, "My old apartment should be available, again. The space-time-"
"No, you can't stay by yourself." Ichigo told her, "Not with all the weirdos that are after you."
"Then I wonder who has an place that can put up poor Inoue-san, hum, Ichigo?"
Ichigo knew where this was going, and it was a bad idea. Not that he was really against it, it was...just not a good idea.
"What about Tatsuki?"
"She's with Hansei-san." Orihime replied, "She's assisting him with his work for a while so I'll still be by myself."
"I wonder if there is some kind, generous, amazing person out there that would be willing to put up this nice young lady?" Isshin said, "I would hate to see her holed up in the supply closet on the floor-"
"She can stay at my place." Ichigo replied quickly, not wanting to hear the rest of the rant.
"That's my boy!" Isshin smacked Ichigo on the back, "I knew I raised you right."
"Kurosaki-kun's place?" Orhime asked, "B-But..." There was silence in the room, everyone was staring at her. She sighed in resignation, "Please forgive my intrusion..."
Orihime Inoue was going to be living in the same apartment with him. Kurosaki frowned, not really sure what to make out of the idea, or the strange feeling that he got from it.
There was a strange feeling in the back of his mind as well, and he could not seem to shake it off.
The shift in space-time opened, and the Espada stepped into the human world. Such pathetic, insignificant creatures human were. They were like a bunch of bugs that he wanted the squish with his foot.
There, he could smell it.
"Looks like I found you, my dear."
Noritora took in a deep breath and took off in the direction of Orihime Inoue's reiatsu.
Hello all!
Author's Note: It occurred to me the other day that there are a few mistakes throughout the story with names, places, etc. I've had a few people point this out to me and the fact that things sometimes clash with the comic/anime series. Although I am working to try and revise a few of the chapters to make sure that everything is consistent, please keep in mind that technically this story in an AU story ::obviously:: so not everything is going to conform to the original series. I started writing this story when the Arancar Arc was introduced in the manga, so a chunk of the names and some other things I have had to either make up, or wait until they are mentioned. I just want to remind everyone to thank you for your patience, and if something doesn't seem to be like the comic, there's probably a reason for it.
Thanks again. Send a review and tell me what you think!
Arigato
Lilith