-1Tainted

Chapter Two

By: Midnight Lost

It had been nearly two weeks since Orihime was set 'free' within the confines of Las Nochas. Now free to wander the halls of the large palace, she had come to learn its layout fairly well. Mostly with the help of Haibel, who would accompany her on her strolls. Aizen had given her a larger room, similar to his; which she later found out that it was his room she had stayed in before. With her new room came new luxuries. Her meals were more extravagant, and not as bland as her previous meals were. Also, she was allowed wine with her meals. She didn't believe herself to be old enough to drink yet, however she thought it would have been rude of her to ask for anything else. Now she stood on her balcony, watching over the barren landscape. Every now and then she could see the movement of one of the hollow animals that inhabited the dessert. Though, the events still played back in her mind. Nnoitra on the floor before her, glaring up at her. She knew he was dead, after all; she was the one who took his life. Even with that knowledge, that image of him still haunted and frightened her. She shook her head to get rid of that line of thinking and focused on something else, if not more depressing. The Soul Society had abandoned her here…. Ichigo had abandoned her. This caused anger to burn within her, a feeling she had not felt in years.

"It hurts doesn't it?" a voice startled her. She looked around but saw no one else in the room. She first thought it was Aizen, but the voice sounded like that from a girl. A girl around her age.

"Whose there?"

Laughter. "I'm over here" the voice called echoed around her. "Come here"

Orihime began looking in every nook and cranny of the room to try and locate where the voice was coming from, but to no avail.

"Has it been so long that who have forgotten who I am?" the voice asked in a teasing hurt voice.

"Who are you?" she screamed.

"I'm you." the voice laughed as the entire room begin to spin wildly around her, everything went pure white for a split second; nearly blinding her. She lost her foot and fell onto one knee, using her hand to catch herself as well. However it wasn't the hard floor from her room, it was a lush meadow. Slowly she found her feet again, looking around. In front of her was herself. But in her Arrcanar outfit. It was then that she noticed she was wearing the traditional black Soul Reaper robe. She began to notice other differences between the two of them now. Her doubles eyes were yellow, surrounded by black. Filled with anger, hatred, lust, and jealousy. The very emotions she had tried so desperately to lock away. Her skin was paler then her own, other then her lips which were covered in black lipstick. But the main difference that caught her eyes was that her double had pitch black hair. Giving her a rather sinister and intimidating appearance.

"That's right, you remember me now. I am the very embodiment of everything you strived to cast away in your life."

"I…" she was at a loss for words.

"Your anger."

"No."

"Your hatred."

"Stop." Orihime moved her hands up to shield her ears as her doubles words echoed through her mind.

"Your jealousy."

"Stop"

"Your lust." the double smiled mischievously.

"STOP IT!"

"I'm surprised Hime-chan."

"W-what?"

"Three of the four emotions were all directed towards two people in general."

"It wasn't their fault, they had to leave so they could…. So they could…." Orihime tried to defend her friends, but hung her head in shame. She couldn't defend them if she didn't believe her own words to begin with.

"They had to leave because they came ill prepared. They were too weak and only managed to put you in more danger!" dark Orihime said. "Ichigo didn't come here to rescue you. He came looking to fight. A Stronger opponent to challenge him. He got more then he bargained for. None of them even considered that Aizen could have killed you because of their actions."

Orihime stared at her darker form wide eyed. She wanted to speak, but couldn't. Mostly because these words were the very thing that she was thinking, that had been boiling up inside of her and eating away at her.

"However, the last one I mention was focused on someone else entirely." She smiled again and looked onward into a small clearing in the meadow, as a soft moan was heard. Orihime followed her eyes and gasped at what she saw. She saw herself in her room, with someone else in a rather erotic fashion full of passion. It wasn't Ichigo….it was Aizen she saw with herself. This caused her to blush in embarrassment.

"Now now Hime-chan, don't be embarrassed." she smiled. "After all, its good to be honest with yourself."

Dark Orihime began to move forward, closer to Orihime. Orihime watched her other self wide eyed as she moved closer. However, she did not move away from her, she had to stand her ground.

"What do you want from me?" Orihime found herself asking.

"I can help you." Dark Orihime replied. "I can help you become stronger. After all we don't want a repeat of what HE tried to do." Referring to when Nnoitra tried to rape her. This sent shivers down Orihimes spine. Of course she didn't want another experience like that. She may not be so lucky next time if it were to happen.

"How can you help me become stronger?" It was strange, but she felt compelled. She didn't want to always rely on others to defend her. She wanted to be able to help them and defend herself. No longer will she be a liability to her friends.

"Keep me locked away no longer, and I will give you the determination to get stronger." Dark Orihime replied, pointing towards a small door that had appeared behind Orihime, It was a simple grey door, with a small barred window at eye level. Much like a prison door. A small key was in the lock. She knew what she needed to do. She was the one who locked away these emotions, she was the only one who could release them. Her heart began to pound in her chest as she reached out for the key. Beads of sweat rolled off her brow. Grasping the key she closed her eyes and turned it, unlocking the door. Bracing herself for something to happen, and something did; however not what she expected. Opening her eyes she say her dark form standing at the door way. The next moment she was embraced in a firm hug.

"Now we are one, once again." Dark Orihime whispered as her body begin to merge into Orihimes, It was over in a matter of seconds. Orihimes Soul Reaper outfit reverted back to her Arrcanar outfit, thankfully the rest of her features remained the same. She didn't think she would look good with black hair. Closing her eyes she let out a sigh. She felt the same, and yet different, more confident.

When she opened her eyes again, she was back in her room. It looked as if time had stopped while she was in her mindscape. Though after such an experience, she was mentally exhausted. Laying down on the bed, she closed her eyes again.

"Perhaps I'll help with that other department also, after all. He is cute."

Orihime blushed again and inwardly scowled at the voice. In a few moments she drifted off to sleep, though her inner self couldn't help but to place a certain dream in her mind to tease her some more.

Aizen entered the room to find her asleep on her bed. He gave a sly grin as he looked upon her. He couldn't help but acknowledge how beautiful she looked when she slept. He had come to see how her new room suited her, though seeing her asleep he didn't want to bother her. She would be the only person to see his kinder side. He turned to walk out of the room but was stopped.

"Aizen-sama?" she asked sleepily as she sat up from her bed.

"I came by to see how you liked your new room my dear." he replied to her.

"Thank you, it's nice. Um" she bit her lip, how was she supposed to ask him for more.

"Yes?" he asked.

"I was wondering, if you could help me become stronger?" she looked down at the floor.

"So that you can turn on me later?" he asked suspiciously. He may be nicer to her now she was no longer a prisoner, though that didn't mean he fully trusted her.

"No, of course not." she defended herself. "I want to become stronger, for you Aizen-sama. My mind, body and power belong to you for your desires Aizen-sama." she repeated the words Ulquiorra had burned into her mind when she was originally brought her.

"I see, I shall talk it over with my Espada." with that he left Orihime to her thoughts.

Nearly an hour had passed before her door creaked open again. Though it wasn't whom she expected it to be. Standing at her doorway was Loly and Menoly. Both were avoiding any eye contact with her. Remembering the last time the two had paid her a visit, she trembled a little. She knew she still wasn't strong enough to defend herself against these two, and this time Grimmjow wasn't around to save her again.

"We… we never had a chance to say thank you for healing us." the blonde arrcanar said, nudging the other as she said so. This surprised Orihime. She never expected them to thank her for what she did.

"Even after what we did, you still helped us." The black haired girl spoke up, looking up at Orihime.

"That is my way." Orihime smiled. "I don't like to see people hurt, if I have the power to help them; I should help them."

An awkward silence hung over the three for a few seconds before Menoly spoke up again. "Aizen-sama called for an emergency meeting with the other Espada……"

"It's about me." Orihime commented before Menoly could continue. She already knew what the meeting was about. Looking out her open balcony, "I asked Aizen-sama if he could help me get stronger. So that I can help him during the war against the Soul Society." she paused for a brief moment. "As you both already know, my current reiatsu is weak. No use to anyone at this point."

"That's not true!" Loly spoke up, which surprised both Menoly and Orihime. Considering the hatred the black haired girl had for her for being Aizen's favorite at the time. "You were able to fend off Nnoitra long enough for Aizen-sama to arrive." she paused for a moment, as Orihime looked at her wide eyed. "Yes; we heard about it."

"Well, at least your new room is bigger then your last one." Menoly half joked, as she attempted to stir this grim topic into another, more cheerful direction. It worked. Loly had caught on to what Menoly was doing, and followed. The three of them continued to chat amongst each other for another fifteen minutes. Moving over towards Orihime guest area. For the first time, she actually had a pleasant conversation with other people since she arrived here; and with the least likely she could imagine.

"So, if Aizen-sama allows you to be trained; who do you think will most likely train you?" Loly asked.

"I would guess either Ulquiorra or Halibel." she replied.

"Why those two?"

"Well, since my arrival Ulquiorra has been my care taker. So he would be a natural choice for Aizen-sama. Halibel has become…..almost like a sister to me after what happened." she half smiled, as memories of the attack seeped back into her mind.

"Do you think you would ever want to return to your home and see your friends?" Menoly asked. Orihimes facial expression turned cold at this question.

"Why would I want to return to see the very people who abandoned and betrayed me?" anger flared in her eyes. "The next time I see them, I will kill them for Aizen-sama."

The rest of the conversation was cut short as Ulquiorra and Halibel entered the room. Both Loly and Menoly shuddered in the fourth espada's presence. The two of them paused for a moment as they looked over the three. Under the fourths cold star Loly and Menoly slowly stood up to leave.

"You may stay." another voice came from outside the door. Few seconds later showed who the voice belonged to. Aizen. "She is no longer a prisoner, so she is free to have visitors. In fact I encourage you two to be friends with her." he said. "After all, she is the newest member of our army." His eyes then shifted to Orihime. "Your training will begin tomorrow. Both Ulquiorra and Halibel will be your trainers. They will not go easy on you."

Authors Notes: I had a bit of a hard time with this chapter. Trying to map out the conversation between the three girls so that they seemed somewhat in character, though I still think I failed with Loly and Menoly. Oh well, Orihimes training towards the dark side begins in the next chapter!

Disclaimer: In writing this story, I do not claim any ownership over Bleach, its characters, or its storyline. This was written for pure entertainment only. ^^