Raaaaah! An update. Thank god. I'm really struggling with the writers block lately, I swear having a 'proper' job is turning me into a soul-less corporate zombie. Plus, I kinda screwed myself with the set-up from the last chapter. But, hopefully this should be good - a bit less action, but another... surprising appearance, let's say :)

Enough crap from me... gotta get on with it :)

Helpless, useless, again….

She had promised herself she would get stronger… had promised herself she would help him. But all Orihime can hear is the thumping of her own heart, as she watches Ishida and Sado taken out in the space of a breath, Renji's blood splashing over a white-boned arm and Rukia's torn shihakusho, and sees the slim black blade begin to descend toward wide, determined amethyst eyes.

Ku….chiki….san…

Her fingers are already flying to her hairpins, her stomach twisted with that awful knowledge that she will be too late. That she had once again just stood by and done nothing, nothing while her friends were butchered.

And then… The arc of the blade is stopped by a thousand shimmering, shining petals.

Orihime feels her shaking legs give way beneath her, and she falls, barely even aware of the scrape of gravel against bare skin or the sting of her knees hitting the ground though the sheer weight of her own relief.

Grey eyes, cold in a face devoid of passion, regard the scene – not a detail missed, not a wound unobserved, and she shivers under that penetrating gaze.

"Enough."

A growl is Byakuya's only answer. Those eyes flicker towards the upturned face of his sister, determination now replaced by confusion and slowly dawning hope, and the blood trickling from the mouth of the figure held in her arms.

"I would prefer not to have to train a new fukutaicho so soon."

A bone-white mask is raised to the sky, a howl echoing through the bloody tang of the air. And battle is joined.

Orihime watches for a few moments in shock. So fast… her eyes can't keep up with the swirl of delicate, viciously pointed petals and the flicker of black blade and blood-stained claws. What she does catch is glances of masks… of yellow-black eyes in bone white, or cold grey in impassive porcelain. Her heart lurches, and her fists clench at her sides.

There is nothing… nothing she can do…

Except…

The scent of blood pervades her nostrils, and she tears her eyes from the fight going on in the sky above them.

Ishida… Sado… Renji…

She looks toward Kuchiki-san first, holding Renji in her arms, her face stained with tears as her lips move in silent entreaties. Renji… but… her eyes move away, towards Ishida's crumpled form, his white uniform increasingly stained by red. At the unnatural angle of Sado's metal-sheened arm…

They weren't shinigami… only human… could they…

Paralysed by indecision, Orihime stares between her fallen friends. She has to make the right decision! If she goes to the wrong one first… any one of them…

It would be her fault… if they died because she chose wrongly!

"Ah! Rukia-sama!"

Orihime hears the cry behind them, sees Rukia's eyes widen in shock and her head slowly swivel until her disbelieving sight rests on a nervous figure clad in black, the characteristric green strap of the fourth division's first aid pouch across his chest.

"Hana… tarou?"

Orihime allows herself to breathe again as the small medic hurries to her friend's side. Thank god… His arrival breaks her paralysis, and quickly, she crawls to Sado's side, the giant Mexican being the closest. Checking him over quickly, she is relieved to see that, though his arm is certainly broken and in more than one place, his life itself doesn't seem to be in danger. That means…

Ishida. He is conscious, barely, eyes screwed up tight in pain and breathing ragged.

"In…oue…" he manages to croak out when she reaches him, her eyes widening at the gaping wound in his gut. She is almost grateful that the pumping of blood from the wound is enough to block her sight of her friend's torn entrails.

"Hold on," she tells him, concentrating on the wound already as she calls out her healing powers. The glowing golden light surrounds her hands, then spreads to envelop the archer as Ayame and Shuno'o quickly get to work.

"Inoue…" Ishida wheezes her name again, and she frowns.

"You shouldn't talk, Ishida-kun. Just rest for now. You'll feel better soon," she encourages, concerned about the weak state of her friend.

Ishida's lips curve, very slightly, and he allows his eyes to close as he feels the warmth of her healing begin to encroach against the darkness threatening him.

With Ishida quiet, Orihime once again lifts her eyes to the sky. She can still make out little of the blurred battle taking place above their heads.

I couldn't stop them being hurt…

She feels a tear begin to well in her left eye, and blinks it away fiercely, trying to focus on pouring her energy into the form before her.

I couldn't help them…

Another tear welling up, and she sniffs. Was this her role? To stand by uselessly as her friends got hurt? What if they had been hurt worse? What if Hanatarou hadn't come? If she hadn't got to Ishida in time… if she'd gone to Renji first…

It'd be her fault they died…

And now was just the same. She could help them, but only after they'd been hurt… and she couldn't do anything to help the battle she could hear, if not quite see. Kuchiki-taicho was fighting against that thing… he was protecting them…

But…

Above her, combatants part, blood staining the perfect haori of the Sixth Division Captain. Orihime watches in amazement, fear clutching at her heart as the sword slips from his grasp, falling tip-first towards the earth.

Had he lost…?

And then the word comes, barely hearable, the Captain's voice as quiet and controlled as always.

"Bankai."

And now, there are a hundred, a thousand swords disintegrating into vicious metallic petals, so many that she can no longer see the figures before her. Until the petals begin to move purposefully, twisting themselves into fierce, fact attacks, and a howl echoes once again through the night sky as the battle begins anew.

He was fighting for them…

Except…

How could anything survive that battle? So many blades… if that were to hit anyone, even… even…

Ichigo…

The tear finally escapes, leaving a heated track down her cheek as it falls.

I don't know what to do…

Kuchiki-taicho was fighting to help them, to stop the.. the… thing… but…

But that thing was Ichigo…

And he had fought for all of them so many times, saved them that many times, and if Kuchiki-taicho couldn't stop him… if he could stop him…

"Ku…"

The whisper escapes her lips, more tears coursing hotly down her cheeks as she forces her eyes to stay on the swirl of a thousand miniscule sword fragments, on the swipe and cackle of claws. Orihime would swear at that moment that her insides have contracted together, every organ twisting itself into knots from the sheer force of her distress.

"Ku… ro…"

I don't know what to do…

"Kuro… saki…"

I don't know how to help him!

"Kurosaki-kun!"

No longer a whisper, her agonised cry seems to echo through the sky, bounce off a million tiny blades, magnifying and growing until it seems to shake the air around them.

And, amazingly, it all stops. Byakuya – Kuchiki-taicho – has fallen to one knee, breathless, his haori torn and blood dripping from one hand. But Orihime's eyes are focused only on one figure. On only one set of eyes – yellow irises in black sclera, focused on her.

And it growls that odd, tight sound that almost sounds like her name.

And then lunges, straight for her.

"Kurosaki-kun!"

She barely feels the whisper of movement, of something, someone, passing her… her wide, frightened eyes are focused only on the black-streaked mask and the black blade aimed at her heart.

Until the shadowy figure appears behind the lunging body, and a voice – almost amused – speaks, even as quick, tan hands thrust some unseen object through the hollow space in the middle of the bone-white chest.

"Yare yare, Ichigo, that's no way to treat a pretty girl…"

And yellow and black eyes widen, and…

Disappear.

And Yoruichi lands neatly, on her feet – of course, orihime thinks dumbly, cats always land on their feet – and glances back casually at a panting Sixth Division Captain.

"Maaaa, Byakuya-bo, I thought you'd be fast enough to take him by now!"

Alright, so I wimped out on actually describing the fight between Byakuya and Ichigo. Sorry, but a) I'm not great at fight scenes and b) even if I was, there was no way in hell I was gonna manage to describe the movement of a MILLION PETAL BLADES. Plus, it wouldn't have fit in with any of my character viewpoints, and I'm not breaking story structure and flow to change it.

But a note on this chapter, before people complain that Byakuya couldn't have held off a full-hollow Ichi:

Yes, you're probably right. Except, first, Byakuya wasn't expecting Ichi's hollow mask, and was taken by surprise - in this timeline, this battle is taking place two years after that, and you can bet Byakuya's done his research and come up with something that might stand a BIT of a chance against a hollow Ichigo.

Second, here, we don't know why Ichi's gone full hollow. In the manga, when he went, it was to protect Orihime - well, she wasn't around this time, so there's gotta be some other reason (which may be revealed later). Also, in this story, hollow Ichi has irises, whereas if you look at the manga, he didn't... so, this is a slightly different situation and, in my eyes, since Ichi is all about protecting people, without that someone to protect he;s just not as strong.

Lastly, Byakuya hasn't beat him, just worn him down... which was the whole point in the first place :)

Anyway... comments, criticisms and thoughts are welcome and encouraged, please...!

Btw, I actually watched the Hollow-Ichi/Ulquiora fight in the anime the other day and was quite impressed. I'd sort of given up on the anime when the last filler arc started (though I did watch a couple episodes, and it seemed a damn sight better than the last two) but maybe I should give it another go. At the mo, I'm just praying that Kubo has a bit more up his sleeve... we've only had once proper 'twist' in months.

I've also still not got around to posting that Shuuhei-centric story... mainly because I'm blocked on the first chapter. Which is annoying, because I've already written chapters 2 and 3. Dammit.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed reading and as always, please let me know what you think - loved it, hated it, spotted a spelling mistake, want to beat me over the head and tell me to get on with it, whatever works for you :)