A/N- Hey Guys! Second chapter WOOT!! Please leave a review telling me how I can improve. I will try to write characters as in character as possible, but I might have to bend them a little for the sake of the story. Thanks!

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

Chapter 2

A Roadblock Arises

"Hey," he called from the couch," Whatcha doing over there? Are ya scared of me? If you are, your not being very smart. You should never turn your back on someone your scared of."

He flash stepped to her corner, and knelt down, trapping her. She could feel his hot breath on her neck as her whispered," 'Cause then you won't see them coming."

She waited for something to happen. She waited for him to go all psycho and stab her, or something along those lines. But instead he chuckled and stood up.

"Just kidding, of course. You take everything too seriously."

She risked a quick glance a moment later, and once again found him sprawled lazily on the couch. She felt a strong current of relief, until a knock on her door a mere moment later brought the panic back.

Aizen came in, looking from Gin to her. He looked at Gin again, questioning and slightly amused, and asked," Why is she shaking in the corner?"

Orihime glanced down, and sure enough, she was quaking and shivering. It was putting a serious dent in her "look strong" plan. She might as well have been crying.

Ichimaru shrugged and drawled," I think she's scared of me." Aizen looked at her for her to confirm or deny his answer. He had made his answer completely honest, just conveniently leaving out details of his little "joke". But his answer was truthful, so what could she do but nod her head?

Aizen smiled and said," I just came to check on her." He knelt next to her. "There's no need to be afraid of him. He won't do anything to you."

Of course you would think that. You weren't here.

"That's right," Ichimaru agreed," You and I may have had our problems in the past, but that's water under the bridge. Now," he stood up and spread out his arms," Let's hug it out."

Orihime gasped, and look at Aizen pleadingly. He looked expectantly back at her. She felt disgusted. He probably thinks this is amusing. But she couldn't refuse, not with Aizen waiting for her. She stood up slowly, and started shuffling towards Gin's outstretched arms. Her legs were shaking, and she stared at her feet, not wanting to make eye contact with either of the men in her room.

She reached Gin, and slowly wrapped her arms around his waist, intent on making this as quick as possible. The second she touched him, however, he lifted her a foot of the ground and swung her back and forth. She felt dizzy, scared, and embarrassed. It didn't help that when he put her down, she was so dizzy, she ended up falling backwards. So then he caught her. She would have rather fallen to the ground.

"She not very good at hugging," Ichimaru said lightly to Aizen," You should have her practice before you guys get married."

There was that word. Married. She felt the memory she had hid away blast to the surface, ready to get out. She squeezed her eyes closed to try to repress it once more, but it would go away. It kept bubbling and expanding, filling every inch of her mind with it, until it exploded out of her.

"I don't want to marry you!" she shrieked.

Stunned silence ensued. She opened her eyes in horror of her outburst. Aizen's smile was widening, and Ichimaru let out a soft chuckle. Aizen took two steps toward her. She wanted to take two steps away from him, but Ichimaru was still holding her, making it impossible for her to move.

Aizen stopped right in front of her. He lifted her chin so she was looking right into his hypnotic eyes. She felt so powerless, and she hated herself. She wasn't even strong enough to protect herself, much less anyone she cared about. But the longer she stared into his eyes, the less that mattered. She felt numb, and her thoughts slowed as she fought against the weariness that had begun to envelop her.

"You are so cute," Aizen said softly," when you think you have a choice."

He turned around and walked towards the door. "I'll be back in a half hour to check on her. You two have fun."

()()()()()()()()()()()()

"Your room is really boring," Gin pointed out," You should get one of those huge HD plasma screen TVs from the real world."

Fifteen minutes after Aizen had left, Ichimaru had resumed his tactic of talking nonstop about things she didn't care about. At least he wasn't filling in her side of the conversation anymore. That was an experience she didn't want to repeat. Still, she could deal with the annoying chatter, as long as he didn't corner her again. An echo of that horrible trapped feeling flowed through her, and she once more cursed her own weakness.

"Hey, Orihime, guess what Ulquiorra's mission was today. I'll give you a hint; it has to do with you."

She looked up, surprised. What mission could Ulquiorra go on that had to do with her? Unless… Did it have something to do with her friends? She felt worried. She had no idea how powerful Ulquiorra was, but to be the fourth Espada, he must be very strong. She hated the thought of her friends going against him.

"What was it?" she asked quietly. She looked up in surprise when she heard laughter.

"Silly girl, you have to guess," Ichimaru chuckled.

She let out an exasperated sigh. She was worried sick about her friends' safety, and he was playing childish games with her.

"Can't you just tell me? After all I thought we were friends."

That last part had been dripping with sarcasm. She didn't like that he called them pals, but she wanted to see if she could get anything out of it. The chances weren't very good, but it was worth a shot.

"I thought you didn't want to be my friend. You cowered in a corner just to get away from me. That hurt my feelings."

She felt rage flash red hot through her, despising Ichimaru and his mind games. Why couldn't he treat her like a person, instead of some toy used to amuse his twisted sense of humor? Angry words burst out of her, fueled by her fury.

"Just tell me! Does his mission have to do with my friends? Tell me!"

She was on fire now, feeling her powers rising in her chest. Somewhere in her mind, she knew she didn't stand a chance against Ichimaru, but she didn't care. He had known exactly how to unravel her, make her angry and irrational. This was only made worse by the fact that he was completely calm, his normal grin only widening as her nerves frayed.

"Your friends," he said slowly, casually," Do you mean Carrot Top and his band of Merry Losers?"

She, on reflex, swung her hand to try to slap him. It was a perfectly reasonable reaction, but she had of course forgotten that the man she was trying to slap was a former Gotei 13 captain.

He caught her wrist with ease. He was still on lying on the couch, completely relaxed. She tried to wrench her wrist out his hand, but his grip was too strong. Loose enough that it didn't hurt, but tight enough that she couldn't get out.

"You sure are violent today. I better keep a good grip on ya, or ya might hurt yourself," he grinned menacingly.

"Let… me… go!" She screamed. She felt a tingling sensation all over her skin, like static electricity.

Suddenly a familiar orange glow filled her vision, the color of her powers. But this felt different than her other abilities. It felt much more powerful, and almost… painful. The pain was growing with the power. Orange glow surrounded her, filling her, breaking her. She began thrashing with more fervor.

Only then did she realize Ichimaru had let go of her. The orange column that wrapped around her kept him out, like her Santen Kesshun, but much more powerful. She felt untouchable, invincible. The feeling was diluted by the unspeakable pain that ricocheted through her. Yet she felt a vague sense of satisfaction. Ichimaru had stopped smiling. He was looking at her with a confused and curious expression.

Her power was swirling around her now, like a tornado. The pain was intensified greatly, and she couldn't keep herself from crying out. She could hear the voices of her fairies, trying to calm her, but the pain blocked it out. It was as if every cell of her body was being torn apart, then rebuilt. I want to be somewhere else. Anywhere else. A flash of pain ripped through her, and an orange flash consumed her.

()()()()()()()()()()()()

A/N- The poll results are in. This fic will be... UlquiHime! Next chapter will be longer. Please review! Reviewers make my life better.