I really don't know what has gotten into me. I can't even update decently and here I am with another new fic. Oh please kill me now.

So, because I am always having these random ideas pop out of nowhere, I think I'm gonna close up my beta shop or any other extra works that do not involve my own fan fics. It's all draining, I know, and it's all my fault.

Forgive me for another one of my multi-chaptered attempts.

Summary: Heiress, beauty, and brainy – these are the traits that best describes Inoue Orihime. But when a sudden twist of fate traps her into a despicable arrangement, she leaves. When she almost successfully ran away from her glamorous life, she met an accident. In her dying moments, she talked to a devil who claims that he wants to help her. She lives, miraculously unscathed, but when she wakes up, someone has granted her wishes… and the devil wants something in return…

Tempting Eve

Kurosaki Ichigo x Inoue Orihime

Rated M

Chapter One

Death Trap

In the year 1990, somewhere in Karakura in the Kantou area of Japan, a beautiful princess was born to a king and a queen.

A king and a queen who owned a shipping company, a robotics and technological research institute and factory, and a chain of hotels and restaurants. In other words, this princess was your modern-day royalty. There was no need for fancy titles. All you needed was a certified pedigree made of endless cash and reputation.

The princess lived in a spacious and stylish estate covering acres of lush land. She was tucked securely within one of the forty-five rooms within the manor, surrounded by only the best. She was taken care of by numerous sitters and maids.

She grew up in the midst of the best private tutors inside and outside the country. She learned English, Cantonese, French, German, Spanish, and Deutsch. She was trained by notable madams in the arts of finesse, as well as the best teachers in music and art.

Indeed, she was trained in so much that when she reached the age of 16, she was already a genius.

What's more, she had a beauty that could make anyone stare in wonder.

Her face was on TV and print ads for their conglomerate since a tender age. Everyone knew who she was. And all of her physical traits were improved because she was totally unselfconscious of her beauty and had a heart of gold.

She was Inoue Orihime, daughter of Inoue Sousuke and Inoue Aya.

"O~RI~HI~ME!" a loud, singsong voice penetrated her cloudy train of thought.

Orihime blanched, nearly groaning in despair. But she held her back straight, just as she always had for the twenty years of her life. As predicted, she was engulfed in a suffocating hug that threatened to squeeze her soul out of her body.

"Chi…zuru," she choked out, barely able to stick her head out from the tangle of constrictive arms.

Hongo Chizuru, her former classmate and odd friends, did not even bother to see the condition of the assailed. Like her lesbian self always allowed her to do, she squeezed and groped at anything she could get her hands on, taking advantage of the fact that Orihime was too kind to do or even say anything to her.

Before Orihime could let out another cry for help, her rescuer came in no time, as if sensing her distress. A punch threw the lesbian to the opposite wall of Orihime's vast room, knocking out the redhead.

"Serves you right, pervert," Arisawa Tatsuki venomously said. She turned her attention towards her harassed best friend. "Seriously, Orihime, how many times do I have to tell you to tell Chizuru off? Or at least shove her! Protect yourself because I won't always be here to protect you!"

"H-hai," she replied, her voice taking on a far away tone.

"What's the matter?" Tatsuki asked, observing the way Orihime twirled her uniquely colored hair.

Auburn. Honey orange. Burnt orange. Light red. Red orange. However you may choose to call the color of Inoue Orihime's hair, inherited from her mother.

"Nothing."

The karate champion knew that Orihime was lying.

"Liar."

Orihime sighed. There was no way around this.

"I want to run away," she said out of nowhere.

A few seconds ticked by and there was no response from her best friend.

WHACK!

"OW!" Orihime screamed. "THAT HURTS!"

She rubbed her head with vigor, almost seeing stars in her line of sight. She could feel a bump starting to form at the spot where Tatsuki hit her with a hard bound book that was unfortunately lying around her room.

"You almost split my head," she added, biting back the tears of pain sprouting from her eyes.

"You deserve it," Tatsuki fired back. "Run away? What kind of immature act is that? And you'll get Uncle and Auntie worried! Orihime, don't do that to your parents. Whatever issue you're dealing with, face it! Or at least tell us!"

Orihime's head bowed down in defeat.

"I'm getting engaged," she mumbled.

"What?" Tatsuki asked, not hearing what Orihime just said.

Orihime sighed. When I repeat it, it sounds worse and worse…

She took a deep, painful breath. "I'm getting engaged."

"WHAT?"

"I guess she already knows," Aya said wryly, taking a sip of her coffee.

Her husband peered over his newspaper to look at her. He grinned. "Tatsuki always has a way to express herself."

"If you put it that way," the beautiful and seemingly youthful 45-year-old said, chuckling slightly.

"What's wrong dear? You barely touched your food," Sousuke commented, finally putting his paper down.

"I'm worried about Orihime," she admitted. "I feel like what we're doing is wrong."

Sousuke sighed. "Must we have this talk again? You know that we're only worried about her future. Even though she has everything, she's still naïve, Aya. She can't continue avoiding this issue."

"We've arranged for her to be married to a young man we haven't let her meet since she was young," Aya said. "I don't see the justice in that. I guess we were overly romanticizing. We can't entirely be sure that arranged marriages work."

"But ours did."

"Well, ours was a special case."

Sousuke was silenced. He only hoped that Orihime would have the same happiness.

"She said we were rushing things," Aya added, her voice faint.

"Then what do you suppose we do?"

The woman remained silent, unsure of what to say. She knew that their darling daughter was far too obedient to let her thoughts be known. Especially if her parents told her to do something. As a mother, Inoue Aya did not want to take any chances regarding her daughter's future, most particularly of her feelings.

"We'll talk to her later," she finally said. "She hasn't spoken a word about this engagement."

Sousuke observed his beautiful wife, giving in to those forlorn purple eyes. Eyes that was very similar to Orihime's when she heard about the news of the engagement.

"Alright," he agreed. "Let's just be glad that we and the young man's family haven't publicized anything yet. Or else, it would be a far much worse mess to clean up."

A soft hand covered his. "Don't worry. I'm sure whatever mess it is, you can clean it up."

Sousuke laughed. "You have a lot of faith in me."

"Of course I do. I'm your wife."

"Why are you being so immature about all of this, Orihime?" Tatsuki said, crossing her arms along her chest. "You should just tell your parents what you think and be done with it!"

"B-but," Orihime stammered, "I don't want them to get disappointed."

Tatsuki sighed in frustration. "Seriously, Hime, it's like I know your parents more than you do. They won't get angry! They love you too much to put you through any situation that might inconvenience you!"

Orihime hung her head in shame. She had been doing that for a lot of times now. "What do you think the other party would say?"

"Screw them," came a blunt answer. "For all we know, they're the ones after your money and inheritance. So it wouldn't be too hard to say no to them."

Right. My inheritance, Orihime thought. She was indeed lucky in so many ways. She had a loving mother and father. She had every material possession with the highest quality in the world. She can have everything on a whim.

But when it comes to ordinary matters… like falling in love and hanging out with friends, she always had to be careful. Many people had tried to take advantage of her. Even though her kindness did not show it, she knew who these people were and she was subtle and effective in spurring their advances. However, in a situation like an arranged marriage, she did not know how to deal with that.

When she was fifteen, she found out that her parents' fairy tale wedding wasn't as colorful as she thought it was. It wasn't really perfect.

Her parents despised each other. Inoue Sousuke was a man with so much fortune that he was arrogant and self-centered. His ego knew no bounds and somehow, women were drawn to that. He was an inveterate player and an excessive party boy.

Natsume Aya was his opposite. Refined and soft-spoken, but with a brave and feisty fighter underneath the dolled-up appearance, she had been set up for various marriage interviews and proposals which she promptly turned down.

Apparently, their parents' ways were ended when their families decided to bring them together in a forced engagement. Orihime knew the details, since Tatsuki had been starry-eyed and nosy enough to research about it. After the marriage, her father did not cease in his playboy ways and her mother would simply ignore it despite the humiliation.

Until one day, Inoue Aya's first pregnancy shattered.

The unborn baby boy, supposedly named Sora, was lost. Aya had been battling life and death and somehow, it made Sousuke see sense.

And the rest was part of the re-written fairy tale…

Orihime had been naïve enough to think that she would have the same outcome as her parents' marriage, but she was awakened to the sordid reality. Most of the wealthy bachelors she had been acquainted with were actually terrible in their own ways. They had no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

Except for him…

"Don't tell me…" Tatsuki said, her voice amazed and aggravated at the same time. "That boy you've been dreaming of?"

Tatsuki seemed to be talking loudly a lot today, that much was certain. Orihime did not have to wonder why. She was the cause of her friend's dismay.

There was this boy that she had been dreaming of since she was five years old. After that little chat she had with his father about finding a man to marry exactly like him.

He had the most gentle smile. He would play with Orihime for hours, not even getting exhausted. He would always ask her if she was alright, being surprisingly clumsy in her dreams. He would always make her laugh and smile. He would bring her gifts every time they met in the secret gardens in the deepest confines of the Inoue estate.

Her dreams were so vivid. And as she grew up, they never left her. And as she grew up, he also grew up.

He grew to be a surprisingly tall and handsome young man. He even developed a serious look on his face which she found to be really funny but endearing. He would take her strolling along the lawns. Each night would be better than the last. And they would always end up hugging… then kissing… then so much more…

He had the most amazing shock of spiky, tangerine hair. His face was set in angles and planes that turned him into a monument of masculine perfection. His body was lean and toned, as she always blushingly witnessed him take his shirt off when they took a bath in the lake that had appeared out of nowhere in her mind. His hands were rough, but were always gentle in holding her, as if she was the most fragile thing in existence.

And he would always say, "I'll protect you."

That was it. And before Orihime realized, she was searching for him in the reality of her life. She would try to look for his traits in every single man that she met, finally giving up on the fact that she just wished for him to become a reality. To come and save her from the loneliness…

And she had not told a single soul. Except Tatsuki, who seemed to be thinking that the man of her dreams was the only reason why Orihime wouldn't even go out with anyone.

"Orihime!" Tatsuki scolded, her eyes blazing. "You have to grow up! When will you start thinking, even just for once, that this man in your head will never become a reality! And even if a person comes remotely close to his physical description, you wouldn't know for sure if your parents would even approve! Orihime, think!"

"I am thinking, Tatsuki," Orihime responded, stung by her words. "Do you think I'll be perfectly settled with anything that comes along my way? Of course I know that it's silly to believe in dreams, even if they're just so real. But you can't force me to do anything. Maybe I haven't grown up yet."

Tatsuki stared at her best friend, who was sitting at the edge of her bed. The curtain of auburn hair hid her beautiful face, but there was no mistaking the expression of pain and desperation in her face. For anyone else who did not know how it felt like to have your life suddenly controlled for you, one might think that this was a trivial thing to be upset over. But it was not. Orihime knew better. She was the type of woman who was a free spirit. She was an idealist, whose wings were clipped by reality.

"Please leave," she suddenly said, her voice quite not right. "I need some time to think by myself."

Her friend did not need to be told twice. She stiffly nodded once and strode across the room, dragging an unconscious lesbian behind her. She slammed the door shut.

Orihime winced at that sound, knowing full well that she had again hurt her friend by shutting her out.

But if things were getting this serious, then there was no other choice…

She had to escape.

Somehow…

Inoue Orihime did not know where she was going.

She had been driving for a steady 30 miles per hour across the curvy road of the countryside. A dangerous slope led to a thick forest down below and because of that she was especially careful.

The rain pelted softly against the windshield of her Porsche. She took a brief glance at her mobile phone that was propped in front of her and connected to her speakers. The soft tune of a foreign artist named John Mayer caressed her ears. Her phone had been programmed today so that she won't be able to receive any calls or text messages. She did not want to be wavered.

She knew that what she was doing was immature. But she did not want a controlled life anymore. She was grateful, that was certain. But as an adult, she needed a life of her own. She needed to take charge.

She tried picturing the man she was arranged to marry, but she could not. She did not need to ponder on these disturbing thoughts. She knew that people of the upper echelons of Japan would not take it well when a member of their society insulted another by running away from their engagement.

Make me different then, she thought with a challenge. She smiled to herself.

"Where is Orihime?" Aya said hysterically, trying to get a grip of her whirling senses.

Hiroshi, their butler, had just informed her that the young mistress had been missing from her room since early morning. The maids were not able to contact her through her phone. They had searched the grounds of the estate. They had phoned several friends. But there was no sign of her.

Orihime, Aya thought, what are you doing?

She knew her daughter. She would not do something as brash and reckless as this. She would not cause unnecessary worry towards anyone because she feared in becoming a burden towards others. But this…

"Contact the police station and send them photographs of Orihime. Send them our contact information," Sousuke barked, his back ramrod straight. "You," he said to their head of security, Hisagi Shuuhei, "find Orihime. At any cost. Don't come back here until you've found her."

"Hai, Inoue-sama," Shuuhei said with a bow, leaving with his men.

"No one is to inform the press about any of this," Sousuke added as the people of the mansion assembled to listen to any orders. "And if any of you is contacted by Orihime or a person Orihime is with at this moment, inform me immediately."

"Hai, Inoue-sama," they all answered.

The entire house was in a state of chaos. No one knew what to do.

Inoue Orihime was missing.

Orihime drove along another curve, humming the melody of the song she was listening to. She was quite relieved and happy with every curve that she successfully drove through. She was not a very skilled driver, but she was acceptable, nonetheless. She was a bit doubtful if she should go through this particular highway, but knowing that people rarely take this road, she took it. At least she would be hidden here.

She would be safer.

Another curve, she thought. She was getting a bit dizzy but she paid no heed to it. This was no time for her weaknesses.

The rain came down harder than before. She had been praying that it would eventually stop, but it didn't. The street lamps were not much of a help, especially when it's raining this hard. She could hardly see a thing.

Oh no.

A flash of lightning temporarily obscured her vision. She blinked rapidly, trying to erase the dots that hindered her sight. A few seconds that she did not look where she should was proven to be deadlier than she thought.

In seconds, Orihime realized that she should not be turning right. Turning right would mean she would be heading straight towards the cliff.

In another flash of lightning, a silver Porsche fell off for about fifty meters, crashing in the dark forest below.

"Sir, madam," Shuuhei said, after hours of driving around the area. He had pulled off his phone within seconds of hearing this report from one of his contacts in the police department.

"Yes, what is it Hisagi?" Sousuke's voice boomed across the line.

"The young mistress' silver Porsche has been found, sir," Shuuhei said, his normally cool demeanor a bit fazed by what he heard. He was currently rushing to the place where his friend told him.

"Where?"

"It's in Naniwa, just outside Tokyo, sir. It fell off a cliff."

So painful…

Am I dying?

I can't see a thing. Where am I?

She remembered. She was driving along this dangerous highway when lightning temporarily blocked her vision of where she was supposed to go.

A wrong turn sent her crashing down.

Am I dead?

That depends if you want to be dead, a voice said.

Orihime tried to open her eyes, but she couldn't. Her eyelids, not to mention her entire body, were so heavy that she could barely move. She could hardly feel a thing except for something wet and sticky on her head and her legs.

She knew that it was blood.

"Who are you?" she spoke, her voice barely above a whisper.

An angel, it answered, its voice somewhat amused.

Orihime did not believe him. She knew that angels were supposed to have white wings, a blinding glow, and a warm presence. But he had none.

Instead, this person which she could not see had this gut-wrenching aura. It was as if he was killing her more. The suffocating pressure became more known to her when she finally opened her eyes to take a peek.

Dark.

Black.

Darker than even the blackest she had ever seen.

She could not make out a concrete form. All that she could see was a man's form, robes billowing along the wind and rain. But it was not like he was getting wet himself. Wings of the purest black sprouted from his back, spreading meters across. A long mane of hair was evident from her point of view. Aside from that, she could not see anything. Not even his face…

Now what is a girl like you doing in this treacherous place at this time of the night?

She knew that he wasn't talking. But she could hear him. He was talking in her head.

No answer?

"Running away," she said with effort.

You don't need to talk. Just answer with your mind. If it still works, that is.

Of course it does, she responded, doing what she was advised to do.

Why were you running away?

I was… being forced to do something.

Isn't that what it always is?

It shouldn't have to be that way.

You humans are just so… predictable. Running away because you don't get what you want. Disobeying just because you feel like it.

Who wants to be unhappy? No one does.

Yes, but it's part of living.

How would you know?

Because right now, I don't think you're happy in that state.

She could hear him laughing in his mind. It was true. Who would be happy at a time like this? But if dying would mean her pain would end…

But would it end others' pains? I think it would only start theirs.

Are you an angel? Why are you so concerned? Have you come to take me?

Not yet, Inoue Orihime.

You know me?

I know everyone.

I see…

So, what do you want?

What do I want?

Yes, he said with frustration, what is it do you want the most?

She stopped. She stopped thinking. She did not know the answer to that, and why would he even ask?

But before she could even think straight, the answer came to her. As easily as breathing. A simple and childish request.

I want to marry the man I love, she thought. I want to be happy with him. I want to marry for love.

So simple, eh? Such a child.

That's what I can think of at the moment.

Are you sure you want to make a deal with me?

So, you're a devil?

In the flesh. All you have to do is say yes.

Orihime inhaled sharply, feeling pain in every fiber of her being.

Yes.

And she knew no more.

Simple. Plain. That's what I call it. But I enjoyed writing it, so I hope you like it too.

Sousuke is of course, Aizen. Just wanted to make him good too. :D

Aya is of course, Orihime's near look-alike from Tenjho Tenge, Natsume Aya. :D

Other characters to be introduced later. Please leave a review.