(6/16/2013)

Orihime raised her eyes to see who the newcomer was. He was a really young man; just about her age… she meant the age that she looked like. On the other hand, he must be a very weird man; each piece of his clothing seemed to come from different eras. His torn white shirt had the style of the seventeen century while his baggy brown pants seemed to come from the sixteen century, and she was quite sure that his green cloak was way back to the fourteen century.

She shook her head. She was over imagining things again.

Suddenly he looked at her, and almost naturally, she did what she hadn't in centuries: she blushed.

Ulquiorra was the only one who had ever made her blush. She thought that she had lost that ability, but this man and the way he looked stirred something deep in her.

She immediately turned her head away before his brown eyes could meet with hers. Even so, her heart was still pounding rapidly at the way his orange hair shone so ferociously against the sun that it seemed like he was the sun itself. What was this feeling? Why did she feel like déjà vu, and that she had had these feelings before, that she had met him before, and that she had known him… from a long long time ago…

She grabbed her wrist with her other hand to overcome the sudden trembling that was coursing through her body. It was joyful yet unpleasant at the same time.

The man gave her a quick look but continuing to walk firmly and determinedly toward her old house, his green bag hung loosely on his back. Part of her was relived from, the tension his presence had caused, yet part of her was disappointed that he hadn't given her a second look… She shook her head furiously. Why should she care if he noticed her or not?

Even so, she continued watching to see what he was up to.

He was a strange man indeed, for it was over thirty minutes, and he was still walking in a circle. It was almost funny to watch him. It was only twenty yard from where she was sitting to the playing ground, but he had been walking mindlessly around and around the trees.

Orihime watched the young man in interest. She had met several people like him before, people with extremely poor sense of direction. Even when there was only a short distance from where they were to their destination, if there were barriers like houses, or walls, or trees, they would easily get distracted and be confused, and they would end up walking around the barriers instead of heading straight to their destination.

"Hum, do you need any help?" She asked softly, but somehow he was able to hear it. He smiled faintly and scratched his head in embarrassment. "That would be a great help. Thanks a lot."

"So you should turn right and just go ahead, passing through all the trees."

"Ok, turn right…." He immediately turned left, "and passing through all the trees." He walked ardently toward her direction. His face was bright, not in the least doubting that he was going in a wrong direction.

"No," Orihime said in a slightly louder tone, "just turn around and then go ahead."

"Turn around," He murmured to himself. Then he stood still and spun around. "180 degree." He turned 360 degree, "then another 180 degree" he turned another 360 degree, and seeing that he was still facing her, he smiled embarrassedly. "Let me try again." He said to himself. And so he turned some several "180 degree" only to head east into the forest.

Orihime sighed and stopped him before he strayed further from his true path. "Where do you want to go?"

"That yard." He pointed at the ground the children were playing.

"Just just follow me, ok?" She stood up and walked several steps ahead of him.

"Actually, I'm very grateful for your help, but it is very important to me that I get to go to that yard on my own, without help from any other person."

She shook her head mentally. Children these days were so stubborn. He should learn to rely on people once in awhile, especially people who were much older and wiser than himself (her, for example).

"Ok, so turn left." She figured that if she said one direction, he would do the opposite; therefore, to help him, she just needed to tell him to go in the opposite direction. However, much to her irritation, this time he turned left without any problem. If she knew any better, she would say he was born to be misled all his life.

Not being able to stand it anymore, she took his hand and led him straight to the house without giving him a chance to protest.

His hand was so big and warm, and it felt so familiar….

"Take my hand…" He scowled, yet his hand was glowing in the sun

When she came to her sense, they were standing at her old yard. It had been ages since she stepped her foot on this particular patch of ground. It was full of the utter most sweetness and bitterness of her life that she had no courage to return home ever since…ever since Ulquiorra died. She could have never imagined that she would stand here, centuries later, because of a stranger, a weird man with no sense of direction whatsoever.

Her tears ran down her eyes as she spotted the graves of Sora and Ulquiorra, both had been built by her hands, back in the grove next to the well in the east of the yard.

"Why are you two crying?" The children asked, part curious, part amusing of the appearance of two strangers.

It must be hilarious for the children to see two strangers holding each other hands, tears rolling quietly on their cheeks. She would have found it hilarious too, if she had not been too absorbed in her sentimental memories. What was he crying for, anyway? She thought as she quietly and softly pulled her hand out of his. He didn't seem to notice it. Instead, he wiped his tears away and kneeled down to the kids. Much to her surprise, despite of his weird appearance and somewhat obstinate nature, he seemed to be a very nice person, especially at the way he rubbed the kids' heads gently and smiled at them kindly, "hey kids, do you know a girl named Orihime Inoue?"

A chill ran down her spine. It had been centuries since anyone had ever said her name, and she didn't have any relatives bore the same name. Why did he ask about this name, at this time, in this yard?

"Are you sure?" A scowl flashed through his forehead. "She has very big gray eyes, and short straight auburn hair… She was about this tall." He raised his hand up to his chest, still kneeling on the ground. Then he pounded his forehead into his palm, "Oh, I forget. She must be much older now. Do you know a girl with my description but at the same age as mine?"

"How old are you, brother?"

"How old am I, huh?" He scratched his head in confusion, turning to look at Orihime, then turning to look at the children, and then he began to count with his fingers clumsily. Giving up, he asked the children, "How old do I look?"

"The same age at this sister."

He turned to look at Orihime again. "How old are you?"

"Sixteen," Orihime answered rudely than she wanted, but her mind was clouded of this strange event and the even weirder man. How did he know her name? He seemed to know her, as when she was a little girl, but she had no idea who he was...And he couldn't have known her, could he? He was just a young man around sixteen years old while despite of her look, she had lived for more than five hundred years. Unless….

"Then I'm sixteen too." He said to the children, "so do you know a young girl at my age, with big gray eyes and auburn hair who likes to wear pink and love to daydream very much?"

All the fingers pointed at her, and for the first time, the young man looked at her carefully, deeply and sincerely. "Inoue," he stood up. "Inoue" he came up and hugged her, much to her discomfort. "Inoue, I finally find you."

Orihime tried to break away the hug as gently as possible, but the man was so strong, and he was in such a fiery passion that he was totally ignorant of the surrounding. "Inoue," he finally freed her, yet his hands grabbed her shoulders instead, "Inoue, do you remember me?"

"Who are you?" She asked.

"It's me. Ichigo Kurosaki."

"My name is Ichigo Kurosaki." He said softly, turning his head aside in embarrassment. Ichigo Kurosaki. What a beautiful name, she thought.

"Ichigo Kurosaki," she murmured to herself, wishing to say that name for the rest of her life. A name promised joy and happiness, adventures and fantasies.

"Ichigo Kurosaki." She murmured to herself. She knew not that name. The only thing she knew was that the name reminded her of pain and betrayal, of terrible journeys and nightmares.

"Inoue, did you forget about me?" The pain in his voice wrenched her heart too. She tried and tried, yet she could not bring herself to remember him.

"I'm sorry, but I think that you have found the wrong person. I cannot be that Orihime Inoue."

"But you are." He took one step closer, and before she could react, his fingers threaded around her pendant, and with one swift tug, he had wrenched it from her neck. He then let it rest on the palm of his hand and show her the words that were craved deep into the wooden surface:

IK&OI

Friend forever

He took off from around his neck the same pendant and showed her. It had the same words on it.

She shook her head. She began to have a headache. All she wanted to do was to get away from this Ichigo Kurosaki as far as possible. This man was a bad omen. He was dangerous. Her friends told her to stay away from him; that people with hair like him angered the Gods; and that misfortune would fall upon him and those who associated with him.

Seeing the look in her eyes, he cast his eyes down the ground. His voice was sad, "You can forget about me, but please don't give me that look. Anyone can give me that look, but if it's you, I don't know how long I can stand it." His voice was so soft, it seemed like he was murmuring to himself than talking to her, "I'm not a monster."

"I'm sorry." She took his hands. His sorrow was hers. How could she ever be happy again if he was sad? "I'm sorry but I cannot remember you."

"Then I'll make you remember me, no matter what it takes, no matter how long it takes."

A/N:

Hi all, thank you very much for reading this story. Huge hugs to those who reviewed. I can't tell how happy I am reading your kind words about my story. And reading them at least twice a day really brightens my RL

Sorry this chapter comes much later than scheduled. I still intend to update once a week if possible, so stay tuned. Of course alert always helps.

And do give me your comments on the story. It always helps me to improve more on my writing.

Last but not least, thank you, jylener22, you made it happen! What can I do without you.

If you are curious, jylener22 is my beta and it always thanks to her that I can update early. I have around 3 chapters in advance, but I now develop a habit to never post or update chapter without having it read by a third person. Just learn from experience, and I love this story too much to post it premature and unpolished.

As always, technical and writing advices are welcome!

And... Question time: Was anyone really surprised that it's Ulquiorra, not Ichigo? Any guesses on who is Ichigo and what is his relation to Orihime? Did anyone at the beginning of this chapter thought that Ichigo was really a stranger to Orihime? And how do you think I will take this story from now on?