Orangette Destiny
Safe and sound…?
Disclaimer – I don't own Bleach or Code Geass. Bleach is the property of Tite Kubo and Studio Pierrot and Code Geass is the property of Sunrise and Ichiro Okouchi.
Warnings – Strong abusive language, strong violence, Orihime possibly OOC, possible yuri (unsure yet) and possible lemons (again unsure)
Orihime did not know where she was as she slowly faded into consciousness. The last thing she could remember was running through the Garganta in a desperate bid for freedom from Sosuke Aizen and his army of Arrancar and then, just as she saw a light at the end of the tunnel; as soon as she passed through, she remembered falling and then everything else was a muddle. Her memories were in one back massive jumble. Her thoughts were all jumbled and right now, she found herself too tired to sort them out.
She was too tired to think straight or even contemplate on her current situation. All she knew was that she had escaped from Aizen and that she must've fallen asleep at some point. The room she was in was rather dark, but Orihime figured that it was because it was dark outside. She felt herself lying on a comfortably soft almost fluffy surface that made her feel comfort and at ease and for the first time in a while, she felt that she could just let go of her troubles and relax. Too tired to really string her thoughts together, she just went with what came into her head and was content to just lie in the bed she was on and fall aimlessly back to sleep.
She suddenly heard voices, causing her to look towards a small ray of light coming in at the bottom on the wall to her right. Knowing that she had found the door, she didn't pay the voices any attention. They sounded too far and distant to be heard coherently and all she could hear were soft mumbling sounds that sounded somewhat soothing. She knew that there was more than one person talking. In fact, even though her skills in sensing spiritual pressure weren't all that great, she could easily determine four people standing outside on the other side of the door. She guessed that they were talking about her and she didn't know why, but she didn't feel threatened or intimidated by those people Their voices were soft and gentle and quiet. It was clear that it was not an argument, not that Orihime was in any state to care. She just allowed the distant mumbles of the voices lull her to sleep and she slowly fell into a dreamless world. For the first time in a quite a while, Orihime had a nice peaceful sleep without the fear of Aizen and the Arrancar waking her up.
Shirley stood outside her room in the girls' dormitory along with Rivalz as she explained what had happened earlier to Ashford Academy's principal, Ruben K. Ashford was standing with his granddaughter, Milly facing Shirley and Rivalz while nodding as he contemplated on what to do about the girl his granddaughter's two friends had found. He had just been finishing up on the day's business when Rivalz had burst into his office telling him about the Japanese girl he and Shirley had found and from what Rivalz had said, even though the boy had not come and outright said it; it seemed that the girl had been raped. Ruben sighed as he knew that dealing with this would be trouble.
Personally, he had nothing against the Japanese despite his family's former noble status before the assassination of one of their most influential benefactors and long time family friend, Marianne vi Britannia. Many of his family's housekeepers, maids and other servants were Japanese and they had no objections about their jobs. He wasn't someone who looked down on people because of their nationality and was quite happy with his employees' attitude, especially Sayoko Shinozaki, whom his family's ward, Nunnally got on so well with. Just so long as people left him and his family alone, he'd leave them alone.
Anyway, back to reality, he listened intently as Shirley finished her explanation and then gave him a questioning look, mutely asking him what he intended to do with the girl.
"She's in your room sleeping, right now, isn't she?" he said as he gave the door to Shirley's room a brief glance.
"Uh huh," Shirley admitted with a nod, "I honestly didn't know what else to do. She clearly didn't know where she was and I think she thought she was back with whoever… did that to her. I thought that she'd be safest in my room for the time being. After I put her on the empty bed in my room, she just cried herself to sleep."
Ruben nodded with a sigh as he rubbed his temples.
"What are you going to do to her sir?" Rivalz asked curiously, giving the principal a questioning stare, "You can't seriously be thinking about handing her over to the police, could you? You know how they are with El… Japanese."
Rivalz stared at Shirley who had shot him a glare, causing him to correct his word of address while referring to the Japanese people.
"Sorry," he gulped with a nervous tone.
Shirley's look became content and she turned to stare at the principal as she was also curious on what she had planned for the girl. For once, she was glad that she did not have a roommate. The last thing she wanted was hearing complaints from someone who looked down on the Japanese people about a Japanese girl in their room. Shirley knew that there were a lot of students in the school who were very anti-Japanese and who would hold the girl's presence in contempt because of her heritage and if things were different in the girl's home dimension and that version of Japan was free and independent, Shirley knew that it could lead to a potential disaster. She could not believe just how cruel some people could be and was glad that none of those hateful people were her roommate. She knew that she would not be able to stomach their presence if one of them was her roommate and demanded that the girl leave.
"You do bring up a valid point," Ruben said, acknowledging Rivalz's point, "We can't simply hand her over to people who'll probably toss her out to the cold. How old would you say she was?"
"About Nana's age, maybe a bit older, I'm not really sure" Shirley replied with a sigh, "But I'd say she's fourteen or fifteen; sixteen at the oldest."
Ruben closed his eyes and nodded as the three academy students stared at him curiously; knowing that he was contemplating something.
"Grandfather?" Milly asked, speaking up for the first time since deciding to accompany her grandfather.
Ruben remained silent for a good few minutes as the three students looked on curiously, wondering what he was thinking. The silence that seemed to wash over the hallway was almost deafening. One could easily cut the tension that was gathering with a knife.
After a while, Ruben nodded with a sigh as he rubbed his temples
"Okay, I've decided that we're not going to send her to the police," he stated in a strangely dejected kind of tone before turning his head to stare directly at Shirley, "Miss Fenette, since you found her, I've decided that for now, she's to stay with you in your room until we can determine where she came from and get in touch with her family."
He then grimaced and it was then that the three students understood his strange tone; he was expecting them… or more specifically, Shirley to protest and complain and was preparing for the earful that he felt he was going to get.
However, Shirley just nodded with a sigh, greatly surprising Milly and Rivalz who expected her to raise her voice and start an argument with the principal.
"If that's your decision, then I'll gladly play host to her for the time being," Shirley replied, though from the look in her eyes, it was clear that she had issues with that arrangement, "However, I must point out that I don't think its wise for her to be in my room all day and yet, I don't think it'll be safe for her to walk around campus either."
Ruben nodded, knowing the anti-Japanese attitude that went around the school. It would be rather problematic if the students saw the girl on campus. Most students would probably just leave her alone and stick with shooting her hateful glares or fearful looks. However, he knew that there were a few who would take it a lot further and probably try to hurt her. This caused him to shake his head in disgust.
From what Rivalz and Shirley had told him, the girl had clearly been raped and was suffering from psychological trauma and to think that she was going to be taunted, ridiculed or beaten just because of her Japanese heritage made him feel rather ill. He knew that there were those in Britannia who honestly didn't mind foreigners and were appalled at their treatment and that some of them were students at his family's academy. However, many Britannians just could not stand the idea of having foreigners in their midst no matter where they were from. Even foreigners from the other two super powers, the Euro Universe and the Chinese Federation were looked on with disdain and revulsion, probably because Britannia and many of its people felt that they were better than everyone else and could not stomach the fact of the Euro Universe or the Chinese Federation proving them wrong.
Whoever that girl was, Ruben knew that she was in for a hard time and no doubt, Shirley was probably going to be in for an equally hard time since she was the one playing host to her and many could see her as a "number lover" as those who were openly sympathetic to the native people of countries that Britannia had conquered were called and Ruben knew that "number lovers" were regarded in pretty much the same light as Honorary Britannians; traitors to their people.
"Yeah, but are you going to confine her to your room Shirley?" Milly asked, wondering if letting the girl roam around campus was a good idea.
Shirley shook her head with a determined look on her face.
"No, I won't keep her in my room," she said in a fierce tone and looked at the other three people present, daring them to disagree with her, "If I did, she might as well be a prisoner and I won't have that. I don't care about what anyone else says or thinks of me for allowing a Japanese girl in my room. If I'm branded as a number lover, so be it. I never really liked what our people are doing to those people anyway. It's horrible and cruel that people are being treated like garbage in their own country."
Ruben, Milly and Rivalz all nodded in agreement. That was the one thing they could agree on. However, it did not change the fact that the girl's presence would undoubtably cause problems.
"Couldn't she become a ward of your family sir?" Rivalz asked Ruben as he turned to face him, "Many of your house staff are Japanese. I'm sure you have room for one more."
"I already have two wards in case you've forgotten," Ruben replied, giving Rivalz a stare that told him that he had already ran that idea by, "Lelouch and Nunnally are my wards and I do see what you're getting at. However, this is just a temporary arrangement until I can reunite the girl with her family. It's nothing long term. I don't know how long this will take."
He then paused as he turned to concentrate his gaze on Shirley.
"Miss Fenette, I can trust that you will help her get over her fears," he went on in a serious tone with a hard look in his eyes, "I understand that she was completely out of this world when you found her, am I right?
Shirley nodded.
"You have no idea," she thought as she remembered that the girl had come running out of a portal and noting the irony in the principal's "out of this world" statement, "Unfortunately, her stay could be longer than you think considering she has no family in this dimension."
It was a fact that Ruben's search for the girl's family would no doubt be a lost cause. The girl just wasn't from this world, so she could end up staying for a long time before people from her own dimension came looking for her and she had to wonder, would the people who raped her come looking for her or would her friends, Ichigo, Rukia and the others Shirley remembered the girl mentioning come looking for her instead? Perhaps both parties with come. In any case, Shirley made up her mind to find out as much as she could about the girl and she vowed to help her get over the psychological trauma caused by whoever raped her.
Milly stood as she stared at her grandfather, knowing that he was covering for Lelouch and Nunnally when he explained to Rivalz why he decided not to have the girl as a ward. His reasoning was good and not completely a lie, but Milly knew the truth. The truth was that Lelouch and Nunnally Lamperouge were in reality, Lelouch and Nunnally vi Britannia, the children of the late Marianne vi Britannia. Milly didn't know the details, but Marianne was assassinated and it led to her family's disgrace and because of it, the Ashford Family had lost its noble status. However, after the assassination, Milly knew that Lelouch and his father, the Emperor, Charles zi Britannia had a disagreement of sorts, though Milly didn't know what it was about, but it led to Lelouch and his sister both being disowned and disinherited and they were sent to Japan back when it was still known as Japan as political hostages to be used as diplomatic tools. However, when war between Japan and Britannia broke out, they were both pretty much forgotten about and Lelouch approached the Ashford Family since they were friends of his late mother and they agreed to help him and Nunnally hide out while making it seem that they had both died in the crossfire. They both took the surname Lamperouge and became wards of the Ashford Family, but in reality they were prince and princess of Britannia.
Milly knew that her grandfather didn't want the girl as a ward in case she discovered this and exposed it to the school. Lelouch had once confided in Milly that he believed that if their secret were to get out and their true identities were exposed then all their friends would abandon them and they'd be right back where they started as political bargaining chips and Lelouch swore that he would not let that happen. Milly had stressed that her family would not be able to shelter them forever and Lelouch agreed, but told her that he'd make sure to make it last for as long as possible.
Sooner or later, someone was bound to recognise Lelouch or Nunnally. She had been to Prince Clovis's art museum before and saw many of the paintings; all painted by Prince Clovis himself and she noticed that some of them had Lelouch and Nunnally in them when they were children along with their mother. Someone could very well see Lelouch or Nunnally or maybe both and recognise them from the paintings and could very well bring it to the attention of someone in authority who would easily be able to put two and two together and would be able to unravel the entire façade. Even if that didn't happen, Milly knew that it was only a matter of time before their secret would be exposed. Since the war ended, Milly knew that Lelouch and Nunnally were only free on borrowed time.
Anyway, coming back to reality, Milly knew that the girl's presence on campus was going to cause problems, but unfortunately, there was nothing anyone could do about it at the moment. Here was a girl who had been found and had apparently been raped and was in need of help. Since her grandfather knew that the police would not help her, he decided to keep her here until he could find and reunite her with her family.
Outside, it was a rather peaceful night. The sky was crystal clear and the stars twinkled brilliantly like fireflies suspended up in the sky. A soft breeze blew, causing the leaves on the trees to sway gentle to and fro and the grass to wave gently. The only sound was the soothing sound of crickets chirping away and going about their business without a care in the world. Nothing stirred and it seemed that nothing could disturb this peace.
However, above the girls' dormitory building of the academy, a black line suddenly appeared, moving out in both directions from a fixed centre before the top and bottom of the line split apart much like someone opening their mouth and out walked two figures, Sosuke Aizen and Ulquiorra Schiffer.
"My, my, such a peaceful night, isn't it Ulquiorra?" Aizen asked as he turned his head to face the emotionless Arrancar beside him.
"It most certain is Lord Aizen," Ulquiorra replied, his voice devoid of emotion as his facial expression maintained its usual cold emotionless look.
"However, the peace can be rather deceptive," Aizen went on as he stared down at the building beneath them, "So deceptive that one would never suspect a thing."
Ulquiorra remained silent as he followed his superior's gaze down at the dormitory building, still as stoic as ever.
"Anyway, enough about that," Aizen continued to go on, "Everything's going according to plan."
"Yes sir," Ulquiorra replied in his usual dead emotionless tone, "As you predicted, the woman made her bid for freedom through the Garganta that led to this world."
Aizen nodded, displaying a deceptively sweet smile on his face. That smile always seemed to appear on his face whenever something went according to his plans. Ulquiorra knew that much. Aizen was someone who never seemed to lose his composure, nor did he ever seem to get angry. In the short amount of time that Ulquiorra had known him, he had never seen Aizen furious over anything nor did he see Aizen react angrily over failure or disobedience. In those instances, he was either all sweetness and smiles or acted as if he was indifferent.
However, Ulquiorra knew that his outward appearance and personality were both nothing more than a cleverly constructed façade. He knew Aizen well enough to know that he was someone who hid his true emotions well; so well in fact that even the smartest person alive would probably be fooled be it. After all, Aizen had managed to deceive the Thirteen Court Guard Squads for over a century into believe that he was a kind and caring individual who had their best interests at heart when secretly, he was plotting their destruction.
Yes, Aizen was a dangerous man. That much Ulquiorra knew. It wasn't only his deceptive nature that made him dangerous. He was also a master of tactics and improvisation. He could manipulate people without them being aware of it… heck, he could probably manipulate people who weren't aware of his existence into doing what he wanted and whenever his plans started to go wrong, he always seemed to manage to improvise in such a way to turn the situation to his advantage and turn the failure into success. Aizen had one main plan and seemingly countless numbers of contingency plans. After all, his plan to have that female Soul Reaper executed so he could claim the Hogyoku went horribly wrong and despite everything not going his way, Aizen had still managed to escape with what he wanted.
Ulquiorra knew that this was one man you did not want to underestimate. Doing so would undoubtably be the last mistake anyone who challenged him would ever make and it seemed he was aware of everything that went on within Las Noches as well. After all, he managed to flush out three treacherous Arrancar and have the Soul Reapers assigned to Karakura Town deal with them.
"Yes," Aizen spoke, bringing Ulquiorra out of his thoughts and back to reality, "I really must thank Szayel Aporro for providing me with the means to travel to this world. I always knew that alternative dimensions and parallel universes existed, though I never imagined I'd be able to travel to one before Szayel Aporro showed me that new invention of his."
"Quite," Ulquiorra stated plainly, "What shall we do now Lord Aizen?"
Aizen chuckled as he continued to stare down at the building below them.
"For now, we leave dear Orihime to herself," he stated in a calm tone, though with a sinister undertone that would easily be missed, "Let her enjoy her taste of "freedom" for the time being. When we return to Las Noches, begin with the next phase of my plan."
"Yes sir," Ulquiorra said as he placed his right arm over his chest with his hand on his left shoulder and gave a bow, "And about the other orange-haired girl?"
"For now, she's not important," Aizen stated simply as he shook his head, "We'll capture her at a later date when we recapture Orihime."
"Understood," Ulquiorra said simply as they both turned and went back through the Garganta.
However, Aizen stopped right at the Garganta's entrance and turned his head back.
"Orihime Inoue and Shirley Fenette," he said to himself in a voice that was barely above a whisper as his lips spread into a deceptively sweet smile, "You two lovely ladies will serve my purposes greatly in future. However, take the time to enjoy yourselves for you both are now free on borrowed time."
He then turned back to face the Garganta and then walked through it before it closed in the same manner in which it had opened leaving no evidence of its existence or that the two people who had used it had been there. It was at that very same time; Lelouch Lamperouge came running into the main campus building. If he had been even a second sooner, then he would have noticed the strange looking portal above the girls' dormitory building and the two dots that were Aizen and Ulquiorra leaving before vanishing. Unfortunately, he just missed them otherwise he would've probably realised that something was wrong.
Orihime awoke to the sound of falling water beating down on a hard surface. She opened her eyes and blinked before realising that she was in an unfamiliar room. She suddenly shot up into a sitting position and frantically looked around. Where was she? She could hear birds outside tweeting away and she looked towards the window. The sun shone into the room and bathed Orihime in its golden splendour. Blinking again, Orihime started to look around once again, only this time in a less frantic manner.
The walls were painted a beautiful yellow colour that seemed to sparkle pure golden where the sun's light managed to hit. The ceiling was just plain white, but the carpet was a beautiful dark reddish pink colour with golden flower patterns decorated into it. Looking to the far right, Orihime saw a beautifully varnished oak-brown door with a bright golden handle situated near the far right-hand corner of the room. To the left was the window with white lines running both vertically and horizontally creating squares in the glass and looking down at the windowsill, Orihime noticed a golden latch at the bottom of the window, indicating that it could be moved upwards to let air in. The windowsill itself was a beautifully painted white colour and looked as if it was made of wood. Parted and on either side of the window were two long greyish blue curtains that when drawn over the window could help keep the light out to the point where it would be almost impossible to tell if it was night or day outside.
"Wow," Orihime said to herself in amazement, "Just what happened to me?"
She continued to study her surrounding, noting the dark brown dresser in front of her with a high-length mirror, three drawers to the right and a variety of accessories lying on the table that looked as if they had not been used for quite a while. Their was also a dark brown chair in front of the dresser with soft, comfortably looking red padding on th backboard and flat pat where one would normally situate their butt. Next to the dresser to the left and situated in the left-hand corner of the room was a dark brown four-drawer chest-of-drawers that reached stomach-level and on top of the chest-of-drawers was a back television set with its remote sitting in front of it.
Looking to the right she noticed a bed with dark pink covers and a light pink quilt draping down the sides with a beautifully varnished dark brown headboard. She also noticed that she was on an identical bed with a dark brown wooden bedside table with a black alarm clock sitting on top along with a pink-framed picture of a girl with long orange hair much like herself, only her eyes with a light yellowish green colour and she looked as if she was of western origin. Standing behind the girl, side by side were, Orihime guessed was her parents; a man with dark brown hair and dark blue eyes on the girl's left and a woman with light brown hair and dark grey eyes to her right.
Hanging from the ceiling was a light with a dark pink lampshade with golden edges with the light switch situated by the door on the right, which was sparkling gold and the actually switch itself black.
"Whoever lives here must be rich," Orihime thought as she continued to look about in awe.
The clock read that it was 7:15am and Orihime guessed that the sound of running water in the background was from a shower. She noticed what seemed to be a school uniform lying on the empty bed. The uniform consisted of a beige blazer with a golden outline and thick dark green cuffs and collar. There were also two rows of buttons at the front and a built-in belt that went round the abdomen area. There was also a white shirt and a light teal blue tie with a golden insignia with consisted of two wavy curvy lines moving downward and towards one another before curving upwards and away from one another where they met. There was also a point where the two lines started to curve apart shaped like the bottom of a chandelier and just above where the two lines met was what seemed to somewhat resemble a double-edged spear, the point at the top was a bit bigger and thicker than the point at the bottom. Orihime also noticed a mini-skirt the same dark green colour as the inside of the blazer and dark teal blue socks along with black shoes.
"This must be a dormitory room," Orihime said to herself, "And from the looks of it, it's a pretty posh school."
She found herself a bit startled when she no longer heard the shower in the background, indicating that whoever's room this was had finished washing themselves down. After a few minutes, Orihime saw a door next to the empty bed that she had not noticed before open and out stepped the orange-haired girl in the picture with a pink towel wrapped round her body, covering up her modesty.
"Oh, I see you're finally awake," the girl said as she turned to face Orihime; having noticed her because of her gasp with she stepped out of the bathroom, "You're a real heavy sleeper, you know that. Even my alarm clock couldn't wake you up."
Orihime just blinked at her, unsure what to say. Here she was in some stranger's room with no idea where she was and no memory of how she got there. The last thing she remembered clearly was running through the Garganta in a mad dash for freedom after seemingly catching Aizen and the Arrancar by surprise. She could vaguely remember the night before; hearing distant voices. However, aside from that, everyone else was a complete blank and she had no idea how to proceed.
"I understand that you must be frightened and confused right now and that's understandable," the girl said, obviously sensing Orihime's apprehension, "However, if you'd calm down and let me explain. I'm sure everything will be fine."
"At least for now anyway," she added, grumbling to herself, which Orihime found confusing.
"Um… what do you men?" she asked, giving the girl a questioning look of curiosity with just a hint of fear.
"I'll get to that later," the girl went on as she extended her hand towards Orihime, "By the way, I'm Shirley, Shirley Fenette."
Orihime stared at the hand for a moment or so before she hesitantly extended her own hand and took Shirley's in hers and they then shook hands.
"My name's Orihime Inoue," Orihime said in a more relaxed tone, somehow feeling more at ease and less apprehensive now that she had accepted Shirley's handshake, "It's nice to meet you Miss Fenette."
"Please, just Shirley will do," Shirley said with a friendly chuckle, "I'm not into formalities."
"O-okay, Shirley then, just where am I and how far is it to Karakura Town?" Orihime asked giving Shirley an almost pleading look.
"K-Karakura T-Town?" Shirley asked giving Orihime a confused look before remembering something, "Listen, Miss Orihime. I don't know how to say this but…"
"Oh no…" Orihime stated in a panicked tone, interrupting Shirley who stared at her in surprise, "Karakura no longer exists, does it? No… I can't believe he's done it already… after all that… my home's been…"
Shirley's eyes widened in surprise as Orihime started to break down as tears started pouring from her eyes and down her cheeks. Just what the hell was she talking about? What was going on in her world that would cause her to think that her hometown had been destroyed? Even though she didn't mention it outright, Shirley knew that that was what Orihime meant. She obviously believed that someone had destroyed her hometown, but who and why?
Knowing she would not get the answers to those questions while Orihime was in such a state, Shirley walked over to the bed Orihime was on and sat down next to her a slung an arm round her back, bringing her close.
"Hey, I never said anything of the sort," she said in a calm, gentle, kind and soothing voice that seemed to calm the sobbing girl, "What I was going to say was that you're not in your own world anymore. I don't know anywhere that went by the name Karakura Town and if there was in this dimension, it's probably a ghetto now."
Orihime looked up at Shirley, looking her right in the eye with a look of pure shock as she heard Shirley's statement, knowing that Shirley may have seen something normal humans weren't supposed to
"My friend and I saw you emerge from that strange portal yesterday," Shirley explained before Orihime could get a word in, "I don't know what happened to you and from the state you were in, I don't think I want to know, but you seemed to think you were back with your captors… at least, from the way you acted, I guessed that you escaped from someone."
"T-the Garganta…?" Orihime said as her eyes widened as she was about to push herself away from Shirley, but Shirley obviously anticipated this since she released her and moved a short distance away from her, though she didn't get up from the bed, "Y-you s-s-saw it?"
"Garganta, is that the name of that strange portal that opened like a mouth?" Shirley asked, staring at Orihime curiously.
Orihime nodded.
"Uh huh," she said, feeling there was no point in denying it, "All I remember is running through it and once I emerged at the other end, everything went blank, though I think I vaguely remember lying here at night and hearing voice, but I couldn't understand what they were saying."
Shirley nodded, knowing that Orihime must've been referring to the discussion both she and Rivalz had with the principal and his granddaughter right outside the door.
"What happened after you found me?" Orihime went on, asking her with a pleading look on her face, fearful that she may have said something she wasn't supposed to.
"Well, you ran to me and almost squeezed the life out of me," Shirley started to explain, "And then when my friend, Rivalz tried to pry you off me and accidentally… touched you where you aren't supposed to be touched in public, you lashed out at him and started screaming for some guy called Aizen to make "them" stop and then you shouted for some people… Ichigo and Rukia I believe they were called to come save you. After that you pretty much curled into a ball and mumbled to herself, though I think you mentioned Ichigo and Rukia again along with Uryu and Chad. I then had Rivalz go get the principal of the academy and brought you here where you cried yourself to sleep."
"Oh my," Orihime said in a shocked tone as her hands flew over her gaping mouth, "I-I didn't hurt him, did I? Is he all right?"
Shirley just smiled contently and nodded, knowing that Orihime was referring to the part where she had lashed out at Rivalz.
"He's fine," she replied in a dismissive tone, "And don't worry; he doesn't hold it against you. He also understood that you were not in your right state of mind yesterday."
Orihime sighed with relief, calming down somewhat, but she was still on edge, fearing that Shirley was going to bombard her with questions that she really didn't one to answer since it meant recalling those horrible memories of her time in Hueco Mundo as the punching bag and sex toy of the Arrancar; stuff she really wanted to forget. Just thinking about it sent shudders down her spine as she felt phantom sensations of what she had felt during those "sessions".
"Don't worry," Shirley said in a reassuring and soothing tone, sensing Orihime's discomfort, "I will admit that I know you were raped, but I won't ask about it. You don't want to talk about it and I know it'll be upsetting for you, so I'll just drop it at that. You were raped, that's all I need to know."
Orihime stared at Shirley for a moment and then sighed, looking down at the carpet.
"So, I've ended up in some kind of parallel universe?" she said, though Shirley was unsure if she was talking to her or herself, "How could that have happened?"
Shirley remained silent, unsure of how to answer that. What could she say to sooth Orihime's turbulent heart? Here was a girl who was clearly kidnapped, raped and who knows what else and now she was in an alien world; cut off from her family and friends and would probably be looked upon with disdain and revulsion in this world because of her Japanese heritage by the Britannians. To them, she would just be another Eleven since she looked no different from a Japanese person of this dimension.
It infuriated her to no end. This girl, Orihime had done nothing wrong and was in need of help and knowing that the persecution she would suffer just because she was Japanese would probably hurt any chances she had at recovery caused Shirley to develop a deep loathing for her own people. It was the Britannians who were in the wrong. They were the intruders here. They came and conquered Japan just to get access to the world's richest supply of Sakuradite. Japan wouldn't collaborate with the Britannians, so the Britannians had gone in and taken what they wanted by force and they pretty much demoted the native people and walked all over them. It served as a reminder to Shirley why there were terrorist groups in Japan. If the Britannians had thought that the Japanese would just roll over and let them do whatever they wanted to their country, then they were dead wrong. Unhappy with their demotion and the fact that they were being treated like nothing more than dirt in their own country would inevitably prompt them to rebel. It was human nature after all.
"I was also beaten," Orihime said, now looking at Shirley as her words brought Shirley out of her thoughts, "Beaten by two girls jealous of Sosuke Aizen's interest in me; as if I could ever love a disgusting man like him."
Shirley noticed that her tone became rather bitter with a hint of anger laced within.
"That man…" Orihime went on, her expression becoming one of absolute revulsion, "No… he's more of a demon than a man. He… he… he ruined my life."
She then broke down again and Shirley immediately went back over to her and wrapped her arm round her,
"There, there," Shirley said soothingly as she gently rubbed her hand up and down Orihime's arm, "It's all right, no one's going to hurt you here. You're perfectly safe."
"But for how long?" she added in her thoughts, referring to when she finally confronted some Britannians and the possibility that this Aizen could come looking for her.
Shirley found herself furious; furious at Britannia and its "we're better than everyone else" policies and the fact that they would not lift a finger to help Orihime because she was Japanese and furious at this Aizen character for Orihime being in such a state. She remembered Orihime had mentioned him the previous day, though she had addressed him as Lord Aizen. It didn't take Shirley long to deduce that she had complied with Aizen's wishes and played along with him… probably out of fear for her life or maybe… more likely, waiting for a chance to escape. How could someone do that to someone like Orihime and Orihime was so young as well; probably just a year or two older than Nunnally.
"That son of a bitch probably screwed her up for life," she thought as her free hand balled into a fist and she clenched it tightly till it was involuntarily shaking and her fingernails dug into her skin, though not enough to cause her to bleed.
She didn't know why, but for some reason, she felt compelled to stand by this girl and protect her. Maybe it was the fact they both had the same hair colour and Shirley had to admit that that did intrigue her, but it was just pure coincidence. However, coincidence or not, Shirley resolved that she would look out and stand up for her fellow orangette. She knew that Orihime would be in for a hard time in this world and she was going to help her through it come hell or high water and to hell with what everyone else thought. If she was going to be branded a "number lover" and booted out the swim club and gymnastic club, so be it. She was not going to leave this Japanese orangette girl to fend for herself in a world that she was unfamiliar with.
Author's Notes – Finally chapter two is up. Have to say that that took me forever with real life getting in the way. Anyway, Orihime's staying at Ashford, Aizen's planning something, and Shirley's beginning to turn against her people's beliefs and has resolved to help Orihime no matter what. So, what plans has Aizen got for Orihime and Shirley? Will Shirley face persecution because of her newly-found friendship with Orihime? How will Lelouch fare against a strategist countless times his superior and what about Ichigo and co? Will they discover that Orihime is in a different world and how will they get there? You'll just have to wait and see and all questions will be answered in future chapters. As for Shirley deciding to protect Orihime right off the bat, I like to think that it's sort of like Tatsuki deciding to protect her against the bullies that gave her such a hard time… at least for the moment, but in future… who knows. I haven't thought that far ahead. Next chapter will have Ichigo and co entering the story and the chapter will pretty much centre round what they're up to. Till next time. On another note, updates will be random and I will alternative between this fic, my Naruto fic and any other fics I may decide to do, but rest assured, I will not abandon any of my fics. Just expect long periods between updates in future.