Here's another installment of le story. See, I can do french.

Anyway, Ichigo and Ulquiorra are a little out of character in this chapter and for that, a thousand apologies. I am currently workning on the next chapter as we speak and the one after that is totally instilled in my brain ball so just bare with me.

Enjoy!

Monsters clawed at her. Their horrible teeth were coated in thick saliva the spewed and overflowed down their greedy faces. Their claws were razor sharp and thick. They were coated in dark dried blood. They reached for her.

She tried to back away, but her body was paralyzed. Nothing would move, only her head. She tried to scream, but she choked on the air that filled her lungs. She tried to cough violently, but her chest wouldn't move.

A painful burning sensation lodged itself in her throat, her eyes burned terribly with tears. Her lungs felt as though they were bursting apart at the seams. Her head began to swim as the airless blood cells reached her brain.

The monsters made their way to her, their growls loud, vicious and ferocious. Her heart went into overdrive as panic and fear consumed her entire being. The pain in her chest and throat was overwhelming. She attempted a scream once more as the monsters bit into her hand, sending a white hot flash of pain through her arm.

She sat up awaken, heart racing, gulping mouthful after mouthful of cold burning air in to her lungs. Cold sweat covered her body. She looked to her hand to make sure it was still there.

It was wrapped up, a faint throbbing pain radiated from the hand.

"What the…" she briefly wondered if the dream could have been a reality.

"Orihime are you okay?" her face burned as she recognized the voice. Turning her head ever so slightly, she spotted Ichigo closer to her side than she realized when she woken up. He was sitting on the edge of his chair, a look of undisguised worry etched in his features. He was speaking, she struggled to single out his voice from the millions of voices that was asking questions in her mind.

"…okay? How does your hand feel? Do you need anything?" Ichigos' husky voice contained some elements of sleep underneath the worry. She shook her head, more to wake herself up than to answer the question. A dull pain throb in her head when she did the action, so she stopped, lifting the hand that wasn't wrapped, only to find that it was connected to an I.V. Her eyes widened when she saw it.

"Wh-what happened?" she searched his amber eyes for answers as to why she was in the state that she was in.

"You mean that you don't remember?" he asked, his eyes were incredulous. She shook her head, biting her lip against the pain. He ran his hand through his orange spikes, parking it on his neck. "Well, um…you hurt your hand and cut an artery and lost a lot of blood. I guess I can see why you wouldn't remember…you were pretty drunk," he gave her a soft smile.

Her face burn with embarrassment. She was drunk in front of Ichigo of all people! Sometimes she would get drunk when Ulquiorra was around, but this was Ichigo! She didn't even want to guess what he was thinking about her!

She groaned and laid back down on the bed, covering her face with the arm of her injured hand. She couldn't believe that she was drunk! In front of Ichigo! She couldn't get over the embarrassment.

She heard his soft chuckle. She peeked at him.

"Orihime, it's nothing to be embarrassed about. So you were drunk," he shrugged. "After what you've been through yesterday, I say you deserved a couple of drinks." She stared at him, not believing that he wasn't angry with her.

"So…so you don't think that I'm an…alcoholic…or a anything like that?" she asked, her words small and shy. He shook his head and gave her a bright smile.

"Of course not. I just found something out about you. Apparently, you can hold your alcohol and you own a fake I.D. and that you can take a guy in a bar fight," he chuckled at that last one. Her eyes shot open.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Oh…yeah, you cut your hand because you hit a guy in the head with a beer bottle," he saw her horrified expression. "I'm certain that he's alright. Chad said that he was still breathing when you left."

"Saddo saw me!"

"Yeah, he's the one that brought you here," she groaned louder, closing her eyes. She really wanted to die. She assaulted someone, Saddo had to bring her here and she was drunk in front of Ichigo. Top it off with Aizen and her life being ruined and it all makes one huge reason for her not to live.

She heard him shifting. Soon, she felt his hot hand on her forearm and on the side of her face. she opened her eyes in alarm. Her heart banged like a wild animal in a cage in her chest. She took a deep gulp of air, inhaling his scent.

He leaned close until he was very nearly on top of her. She pressed herself futher into the bed, trying to hide her rapid heat beat from him.

"Orihime…there's no need for you to be embarrassed or worried about who you are…I find it amazing that you can chug beer like water," he offers her a smile. She was certain that the human heart wasn't meant to beat as fast as her was at that moment. "I also think that its awesome that you can handle yourself against some pervert in a bar. The only thing that upsets me about that is that I wasn't there to take care of you myself," she swallowed a huge lump, her face burned crimson.

"…Ichigo…"

"IIIICCCCCHHHHHIIIIIIIGGGGOOO OOOOOO!" Isshin jumped out of nowhere landing a foot in his son's face. Ichigos' face burned red with embarrassment and anger. He jumped to his feet, his hands balled into fists.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU CREEPY OLD MAN!" Ichigo yelled at his father.

"Ichigo, our young patient has just woken up, I don't think that she's well enough for you to be putting the moves on her," his father said with a proud smile on his face. Ichigo face burned brighter as he sputtered an excuse.

"I wasn't- it was not- you don't …Aurgh! SHUT UP OLD MAN!" Ichigo yelled, upper-cutting his father in the chin, seeing him fly across the room. Orihimes' eyes widen in surprise.

"Ichigo! You can't hit your father," she said rather stunned.

"Oh Miss Orihime! I'm so glad that you can see the error of my sons ways! You are truly a girl of great respect! If only you were around to see how he treated me on a regular basis!"

"Get off her you perv!" Ichigo shouted, pulling his father away from a jostled Orihime.

"Hey! You can't keep this beauty all to yourself! Besides she's obviously too good for you!"

"DAD!" Ichigo exclaimed.

"He's right you know," Karin stated coming into the clinic with some linens and a bored expression. "Orihime is way too pretty and smart to even be your friend Ichigo, let alone someone for you to try to push up on."

"Karin! Not you too!"

"Ooh, she's really pretty! She even has the same hair as you Ichigo!" Yuzu exclaims happily, also carrying linens.

"Oh God!" Ichigo groaned.

"So Ichigo…is this the same Orihime from you dreams?"

"Gah!"

!

Ichigos' family had all left after about half an hour of teasing him fussing over her, for it was a school day and they needed an education. Ichigo wanted to skip and stay behing, but after pleading looks from Orihime and her vehemt assurances that she was fine in the care of his father, he finally conceeded and went to school.

Isshin changed out her I.V and he checked the cut on her hand. While he gently prodded and poked about, she watched him with great interest. She was looking for the bits of Ichigo in him.

Although they didn't necessarily look alike, they had the same expressive eyes, or rather, they had the same expressions. If Ichigo walked around with a huge goofy smile on his face, she could clearly see him looking like Isshin. She giggled at the thought of Ichigo with a goofy grin. Isshin looked to her, a gentle smile splayed on his lips.

"You have an infectious laugh," he complemented, wrapping a blood pressure cuff on her upper arm. She giggled a bit more, her cheeks red.

"Thank you…also, thank you for helping me."

"Oh come on miss. It's my job, and also my pleasure to help any friend of Ichigo. Especially one as pretty as you," he said wiggling his eye brows. Her face burned bright red.

"Oh, you flatter me too much Mr. Kurosaki," she said looking down. It was quiet for a moment as he took her blood pressure.

"Do you mind if I ask you a few personal questions Miss Orihime?" Isshin asked, completely serious.

"No, not at all." He looked hard at her, as if trying to decipher a code.

"I read your file yesterday night and I noticed that you were in the Karakura Mental Institution for Girls for a few months as soon as you came from America. And from what I gathered last night, getting drunk isn't normally one of your past times," she looked down, shame and embarrassment coloring her face. she felt the beginning of tears prick the back of her eyes.

"That isn't really a question," she stated sadly.

"I was wondering what could have happened to make such a young, beautiful girl do such horrible things?" he asked, concerned etched in his features. Orihime bit her lip in an attempt to keep from crying. She could think about all of her tortured past, but she's only ever told one person about her past and then he ended up becoming a part of it. She wasn't sure if she would be able to tell him, if she would even want to tell him. She swallowed thickly;

"It's a really long story…I…I wouldn't even know where to begin," she said, a tear escaping as she made up her mind.

"How about you start from the beginning."

!

Ichigo was forced to go to school that morning. He didn't want to, he wanted to stay at home with his father and keep an eye on Orihime, to make sure that she would be okay. But both she and his father insisted that he goes on to school, so he did.

He was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't even realize he was walking towards Orihimes' apartment. He was so out of it.

He saw Ulquiorra at her door, a pale fist prepared to knock. The same fist that took down two of the assholes that had the gall to harass her in front of him. Ichigo had to admit, the guy could fight. His moves were deadly and precise and quick. His two guys were out before Ichigo was finished with his one guy.

For a moment, he was irritated, wondering why he would be at Orihimes' door. An irrational flash of white hot anger surged through him. But he calmed himself down when he remembered that Ulquiorra normally walks with Orihime to school.

"Hey! Ulquiorra," Ichigo called to him. Ulquiorra froze at the door and slowly turned to face Ichigo, an impassive, inquisitive look on his face. "She's not there, she's actually at my fathers' clinic. She won't be in class today," Ulquiorra let the information sink in. Finally he pulled himself away from her door and made his way down the stairs. His curious eyes were trained on Ichigo.

There was an awkward silence. Neither boy knew what to say to the other. The fact that they both felt strongly for Orihime loomed above them as they walked to school together in thick, tensioned filled silence.

After long moments of this unbearable silence, Ichigo decided to speak up.

"So…nice weather we're having,"

"What do you want Kurosaki?"

"How do you know Orihime?"

"How is that any concern of yours?"

"I…I just wanted to know…you two are so close…" he trailed off looking away and grabbing his neck. Why did he have to be such a loser?

Ulquiorra looked at him for a long time, not saying anything, just watching him.

"We used to date," he said blatantly, without emotion.

Ichigo always had a feeling that they dated, he even suspected that they were dating currently. But hearing out loud was a totally different story.

His heart went into overdrive and his face burned red. Again, that white hot fury boiled his blood. He wanted to destroy something, to hurt it. Actually, he wanted to hurt Ulquiorra. It was irrational and completely wrong, but it didn't stop him from wanting to hurt him. Ulquiorra went on;

"But I ruined it…I hurt her…and now, I don't even know how to make it right…" he said quietly, not looking at Ichigo. Ichigo was absolutely stunned. How would you possibly ruin a relationship with Orihime? Why would you want to do anything to ever hurt her?

He was finding this pill a bit difficult to swallow. Orihime hasn't ever, since Ulquiorra shown up, given the indication that he'd hurt her. In fact, she was always with him, as if they were reunited lovers.

"Why did it take you 2 years to see if I was okay? You didn't even call after Sora died!"

"Orihime, that's not true-"

"Oh I forgot the one 49 second voice mail you left on my phone."

"You changed your number,"

"I'm surprised you noticed,"

Oh yeah, when he first came, Ichigo overheard their conversation. She sounded pretty upset with him that he didn't call her for two years, even after Sora, who must be her brother, died.

"What did you do to make her so angry with you?" Ichigo asked. If Ulquiorra was surprised by this question he didn't show it.

"I did something unforgivable."

!

"Finally I make here to Karakura and I feel that my life is going to be better, but it's not. It's started all over again and no matter where I go, my past follows me and ruins my life all over again. I just wish..." Orihime bit her lip, trying to hold back tears that already escaped. "I just wish that…my past would stay buried forever…I just wish I could escape it," hot tears soaked the blanket in which she was under. They stained her face and salted her tea.

A tissue was handed to her by Isshin, a look of concern and understanding painted his features. She looked up at him with a smile of gratitude.

"You certainly have been through a lot. More than any one person should have to go through. You're obviously a strong woman, being able to withstand all that life had to through at you,"

"But I couldn't withstand it all. I just failed at suicide, that's all," she said sadly, unable to look him in the eye as her face burned with shame and embarrassment.

"Well…you could see it that way…The way I see it is that a young woman so filled with strife and grief and pain was able to find light even when she had given up all hope. It is unfortunate that you attempted suicide more than once, let alone three times, in your young life. However, instead of dwelling on that, you've moved past it and you were able to start your life over again and again.

"You say that you wish you escape your past and that it would stay buried forever. But I don't think that that's the right thing to do." She looked up at him, confused and unsure. "You see, our past is what makes us who we are. We are shaped and molded from our past mistakes and experiences. Unfortunately you've had a harder, more crueler past than anyone should. But shouldn't shun yourself and think less of yourself because of it, instead, you should just accept it as part of who you are. Stop running from your past and just accept that it is what it is. You can't change your past, but shouldn't stop you from looking forward to your future. And you shouldn't let anyone make you feel bad about it."

Orihime let the words seep into her being as she absorbed them. She hadn't ever thought to stop running from her past. When things got rough, she ran away instead of facing it head forward.

"I…I don't know what to do," she admitted sheepishly.

"What is it that you want to do?" he asked her.

She mulled this question over with deep intensity. What did she want to do? Well, she knew what she didn't want to do.

She didn't want to be afraid of Aizen anymore. She didn't want to be picked on anymore. She didn't want to care about what people said about her anymore. She didn't want to be confused, tired and hurt. She didn't want to move and start all over and be alone. She didn't want to lose control and get drunk again. She didn't want to hurt all over anymore.

"I want to…I want to…I want to be at peace for starter," one way or another, she thought to herself.

Isshin gave her a bright smile and patted her on her back, causing her to spill her tea.

"There you go! And how are you going to achieve that peace?" She thought hard. How was she supposed to receive peace?

Well for one, she could start by getting rid of the one thing, the one person that has made her peaceful life chaos time and time again.

"I need to make a phone call."

!

Gin finally came back home! Rangiku was so happy that she contemplated not going to school that day. But Gin would never approve and he would frown at her if she cut. So instead of staying next to his sleeping form that had found its way to their bed sometime in the night, she roused herself up from warm comforts of the bed and his body and made her way to the shower.

She let the piping hot water rush over her body as she tried to empty her mind of all the thoughts that jumbled about. The two biggest being Orihime and her nude picture and Gin and his mysterious whereabouts.

Orihime and her nude picture won as the image firmly implanted itself in her brain.

When she first saw the picture, she really tried to find some way to prove that it wasn't her. She really, really tried. But no matter how she turned that picture, it was the same Orihime that she knew and loved.

Except that Orihime was naked and posing seductively in front of the camera.

She closed her eyes tightly as she turned off the water, leaning against the wall of the shower.

No matter what Orihime did in the past, she was still her friend and she was going to need her today.

Once Rangiku was done with her shower, she then proceeded to finish getting ready for school. Clothes, makeup, make school bag, gather homework, and eat breakfast, brush teeth. It wasn't until she was almost out of the door that she heard Gin stirring.

She froze her hand on her foot as she shoved her foot through. All thoughts flew out of her mind as she dropped her things and ran to the back room where Gin lied in bed, his naked pale arm draped across his face. She stood in the doorway, watching him as he roused himself from sleep. His free arm that felt around the bed for her, when it met empty space, he gave a deep sigh and slowly removed his arm from his arm from his face, sitting up.

His squinted eyes met hers. She gave him a sheepish smile as he ran his fingers through his silver hair, giving her a sleepy smile. He reached out his arms to her, signaling that he wanted her to come to him. She bounded happily towards him and hurled herself into his arms.

She loved the way he smelled, fresh spring soap and alcohol (the one for cuts). She inhaled him deeply. Although he was only gone for a day, it felt like forever. Sometimes he would be gone longer than that and she would have to do without his scent for far too long.

"Welcome home," she breathed into his bare muscular chest. His arms tighten around her as he nuzzled her hair.

!

"Princess, to what do I owe the pleasure of your call?" Aizen answered his phone smoothly. He sat in his spacious office, an apron draped across his shoulders as the stylist worked on his hair.

"…I...I wanted to talk to you," she said meekly. Aizen felt his lips curl up in a smile.

"Of course you did, which is why you called. Unless you just called to hear my voice, if that's the case than I would be more than happy to oblige," he felt his smile grow marginally larger.

"No! no, of course not," she said quickly, horror colored her voice. "I wanted to talk to you about…you tormenting me," she whispered, as if she was afraid that someone would over hear her.

"Tormenting you? Me? Princess I'm afraid that you have me confused with someone else. I surely don't torment you," this was precious gold. He wished to the heavens that he could record this conversation. Although he was surprised that she was calling him so early. He, of course, foresaw that she would call him. but not this early in his game…was she breaking already?

"Aizen, we both know that for, whatever reason, you've decided to follow me around and make me your personal plaything in which you can torture whenever you felt like it," she huffed, slightly angry and still very much afraid.

"Princess, you make me out to be some sort of sadistic monster," he replied languidly. The stylist moved in front of him, sniping his chestnut brown wavy locks. The softly and slowly fell to the ground.

"Stop calling me Princess, and you are a sadistic monster!" oh, wow. She was getting a bit frustrated. Her fear and anger fueled him.

"Oh princess, you know I like it when you talk dirty to me," he smirked. He could hear her sharp intake of breath, and he could see her biting her lip in fury. A small laugh escaped him.

"Aizen, we need to talk. Is there someplace we could meet?"

He frowned. She wanted to meet him? There was no problem in this, in fact he was thrilled at the prospect of his princess wanting to see him. However, this wasn't according to plan. She shouldn't want to be meeting him right now, she should be begging him to leave her alone and stay out of her life. She was acting very peculiar. Then again, his princess was always a peculiar type of woman.

"We can meet at the Asuka Hotel where I'm staying. You know to talk, or if you feel like putting on another show for me," he suggested, hardly able to contain his dark laughter. He heard her swallow thickly and she was very quiet for a long time.

"…okay…I'll meet you in 3 days," she answered tightly. Oh this was indeed a treat. He would get a chance to see his little princess and perhaps, he might be able to cause a pained expression on her face.

"This time you bring the camera," he chuckled as she quickly hung up the line.

"Mister Aizen, I have finished your hair," the stylist said with a small bow. She produced a large, hand held mirror and showed her work to him.

His normally shoulder length, wavy brown hair was replaced with shorter, swept back hair, a single strand fell loose in front of his face. Without his glasses, the look was overall menacing and alluring. His previous mask of an innocent docile man was long gone. The corner of his mouth quirked up.

In only three days he would be able to play with his lovely again.

!

Block, block, kick, elbow, turn, duck, spin, hit, point.

"Point, Arisawa!" the announcer declared loudly.

Tatsuki didn't hear him. She could barely hear the roar of applause over the roar of her thoughts.

Last night she received a most disturbing text. Her best friend, posing seductively in front of a camera. Completely nude.

"Begin!"

Punch, block, block, roundhouse kick, block, tuck and roll, block uppercut, swipe, duck, punch, point.

"Point Arisawa!"

Breathing hard, she wiped the sweat that was collecting on her brow.

What was going on that nude picture of her best friend was being circulated?! Why hadn't Orihime told her about this? What was going on in Karakura high? She needed to get back there and do some major damage control. She needed to get back to Karakura.

"Begin!"

Tatsuki lunged towards her opponent, quickly ducking under their first attack, spinning so that she was back to back, against them and flipped them over her shoulder, following it up with an illegal strike to the chest.

"Foul, against Arisawa. Illegal strike to the chest. Arisawa disqualified," the announcers said loudly. She swore she could hear a smidgen of disappointment in his voice. Oh well, she would probably get another chance for this tournament. As for her best friend, she needed her right now.

She stalked out of the ring, towards where her bag was. Her coach was frantic and angry.

"ARISAWA! WHAT THE HELL WAS YOU THINKINK?! YOU KNOW BETTER THAN THIS, YOU WERE DOING PERFECTLY! WHAT IN THE HELL HAPPENED?!" he yelled at her. She grabbed her towel and wiped the sweat off of her face.

"I'm going home,"

Ooohhh! If I do say so myself, things are finally starting to get a bit more interesting.

I was going to have Ulquiorra do some payback to Ichigo for hitting him at Tatsukis' party, but then I was like, nah, that seems kind of unneccessary and un Ulquiorra like. But whatever. I will try to have another chapter posted before I go to sleep.