• • •
"Stop!" Kurosaki yelled, his eyes widening as he watched helplessly as the Hollow headed straight for Orihime and I.
I was so focused on the Hollow, I didn't expect Orihime to try and shove me out of the way. My guard was down at my back, which allowed her to actually shove me out of her way, as she took the brunt of the Hollows attack as I tumbled to the floor.
"Orihime!" I yelled out, angered that she'd do such a thing. I was supposed to protect her, even if I was the one getting injured! She wasn't supposed to sacrifice herself!
I winced at the sight before me; the Hollow had succeeded in landing a bite on Orihime, covering from her shoulder to mid-chest. Her arms were wrapped around the Hollow's large head, almost as if she was hugging it.
"Inoue..!" Kurosaki muttered, as he made his way closer. He held a hand out to me, which I shakily took as he pulled me to my feet. We both watched in horror as Orihime's legs gave way and her knees met the ground.
"Ori…Hime?" The Hollow asked, shocked. Its eyes were wide in shock, as it stuttered her name over and over.
"I'm sorry, Sora-Nii." Orihime spoke, choking slightly over her words. "I…wanted you to hear all the fun things that happened at school, the things I like, the people I like… At the beginning, all I did way pray every day. But, I thought that that wasn't doing any good. That I shouldn't just show you me being sad… that you would worry if that's all you saw. That's why I wanted to show you! That I'm happy! That you don't have to worry about me!" Orihime's voice was strong, before beginning to quiver slightly as she looked down once more after meeting the Hollow's eyes. It had released her from its mouth not too long ago, but the damage was already done. "But… That was making you sad… I didn't even realize… Sora-Nii… I'm sorry for making you sad. I love you…"
Using up all of her strength to form those words, Orihime grew limp and fell onto the floor. Her name was called from everyone; the Hollow, Kurosaki, and me, all at the same time.
"Don't panic! She can still be saved!" Rukia exclaimed as she finally found her way into the apartment from its front door. Orihime's apartment was like mine; it was on the second floor. In her human form, Rukia wouldn't be able to jump into the apartment like Kurosaki and I had. So she had to take the long way around and find her way in. "The 'Chain of Fate' on her chest hasn't been broken yet! As long as that is connected to the body, the spirit isn't dead! Jun or I can still use our Kido to save her!"
"Orihime, Orihime!" The Hollow cried out as it slithered over towards her fallen body and leaned over it. Rukia and I rushed over to her, yelling at the Hollow to get out of our way. We needed room in order to heal her; I knew I wouldn't be able to concentrate with a Hollow looking over my shoulder, and I doubt Rukia would have been able to either.
I straightened out her body, laying her down on her back. Looking up towards Rukia, I gave her a questioning look. Did she want to heal Orihime, or did she want me to? Before any more time could pass, I decided that I was going to heal her so Rukia wouldn't have to exhaust her, still drained, reiatsu. I ran over the proper incantations in my mind, watching as my hand started to glow a bright green. Lowering my hand to her wound, I watched as it slowly started to heal itself.
"Orihime, I knew…" The Hollow began, watching me heal its sister. "I knew that you stopped praying so you wouldn't worry me, but I didn't want you to stop. When you were praying…your heart was all mine."
"You… What are you looking at?" Kurosaki asked as he slung his Zanpakuto over his shoulder. "Her hairpins, weren't those a present from you? Inoue told me about them. She told me that they were the first present from her brother. That's why she wears them every day."
From the corners of my eyes, I could see the Hollow turn towards us once more, staring down at Orihime. Its eyes widened once they locked onto the small flowerlike hairpins that Orihime was wearing in her hair.
"It's the same," I began speaking, causing everyone in the room to turn their attention on me. "Those that die and those that survive are both just as sad as the other. Those that get left behind feel so alone. You were caught up in your own loneliness that you forgot all about hers."
"I never noticed," The Hollow softly spoke. Its head was turned towards the floor, before it slightly bobbed. Turning, it slithered over towards Kurosaki and wrapped its claw around his Zanpakuto.
"Hey! What are you…?" Kurosaki asked, surprised once the Hollow grabbed his Zanpakuto. Even furthering his surprise, the Hollow used the tip of the sword to break his own mask. As its mask chipped away and fell towards the floor, Kurosaki's eyes widened. "Why did you do it?"
"It's fine," The Hollow spoke. His human face appeared, looking over everyone. "If I stay like this, I'll someday once again lose myself and come after Orihime. That's why, right now, while I have regained a small part of myself… I want to disappear."
"But why..?! You don't have-"
Kurosaki was then cut off by Rukia, "Ichigo! His decision is correct. Once you become a Hollow you will never revert back! Let him disappear!"
"Rukia!" Kurosaki exclaimed, shocked.
"It's all right, Kurosaki." I said, "You shouldn't worry. 'Cutting' a Hollow is not the same as 'Killing' them. Cutting them with the Zanpakuto washes away their sins, so they can go to the Soul Society."
"That's why Shinigami exist!" Rukia summed up, smiling.
The Hollow once more slid over towards Orihime, "Then goodbye, Orihime."
"Sora-Nii, have a nice day…" Orihime whispered, smiling up at the face of her brother as he finally disappeared. His slowly disappearing form looked shocked at first, but then soon sent a smile down to his little sister. And then, he vanished.
"He's gone." Kurosaki stated, as we all looked outside of the hole in Orihime's apartment. The moon and stars shone brightly from above, and everything finally seemed peaceful.
"Gone," Orihime echoed, as she sat up.
"How are your wounds?" Kurosaki asked, as he eyed the major improvement that my Kido had performed.
"Oh, yeah..! But, never mind that!" Orihime spoke, her eyes wide as she turned to face Kurosaki and me. "I have tons of questions I want to ask-"
Orihime was cut off when Rukia placed what looked like a lighter in front of her face, causing her to go cross-eyed staring at it. When Rukia pushed the button down, instead of a flame, a small explosion ensued as a little cartoon bird head bobbed back and forth on a spring. Orihime's face turned completely blank as she fell back on the floor.
"Inoue!" Kurosaki exclaimed, worried for his friend. After all, she looked like she was a zombie right now. He turned towards Rukia with a shocked expression on his face. "What did you do?!"
"Kiokuchikan, also known as memory replacement." Rukia explained as she showed the little lighter looking thing to Kurosaki and I. "It erases her memory of this event and substitutes it with a new one. We can't have her telling others about this."
"Kiokuchikan?" Kurosaki asked, looking at Rukia and me with a blank face.
"Yes." Rukia nodded.
"But I heard that you can't choose the new memories. They're completely random and different depending on the person it's used on." I stated, kneeling next to Rukia as she used it on Tatsuki as well, just in case she had seen anything. "This is the first time I've actually seen one."
"Random?" Kurosaki asked, as he placed his hand to his chin in thought.
"If you don't understand then wait until tomorrow." Rukia said, smiling.
• • •
"It's true!" Orihime exclaimed, her eyes wide. "A sumo wrestler really came into my room and shot a bazooka at the wall!"
The other girls in the classroom had blank looks on their faces. It was clear that they didn't believe a word that she said.
"You and your imagination…" Kunieda Ryo, a long dark haired girl from our class, said as she sighed. She returned to her lunch like this happened every day. Which I'm sure it might.
"That childlike mind of yours is really cute, Hime-Chan!" Honsho Chizuru said, while smiling and giggling at Orihime.
"But it really happened! Didn't it, Tatsuki-Chan?!" Orihime asked, lightly tugging on Tatsuki's skirt to get her attention.
Tatsuki looked a bit confused, but nodded her head slowly. "Um, yeah."
"What?! You saw it too, Tatsuki?!" They all yelled, looking at each other with wide eyes.
"Okay," Kurosaki muttered, a weird expression on his face that caused me to laugh. "I get it now. You used it on my family the other day, right?"
"Yep, I did!" Rukia proudly said, a hand on her hip as she smiled.
"It worked out well, didn't it?" He asked, sighing.
"It sure did," I spoke, nodding. "Although, I'm still a bit sore over the fact that the Soul Society won't give me one of those memory things."
"You'll get one when you're an official Shinigami." Rukia said as if it were no big deal as we made our way up towards the roof of the school for lunch.
"You mean that you're not an official Shinigami?" Kurosaki asked, turning towards me.
"Nope, I told you I was only a Substitute Shinigami. Like you are, kind of. Besides, I can't become and official Shinigami until I die. And I'm not ready to die yet. I've still got things that I want to do." I explained, and then shook my head. "Anyways, let's go and eat lunch already."