Doomed From the Start

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The Great Below
Sequel to Abandoned
Theme #10: You Belong to No One
By Renegade Raine

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“Staring at the sea
Will she come?
Is there hope for me?
After all is said and done

Anything at any price
All of this for you
All the spoils of a wasted life
All of this for you”

“The Great Below” – Nine Inch Nails

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It had only been a couple of hours since he had left Hueco Mundo, but his presence in Karakura Town was already detected by Urahara’s reiatsu detector, while everybody hid and trained in the new underground hideout he made a few months ago, which had the additional effect of masking everyone’s reiatsu levels. While everyone else sneered and cursed at the image of the Sexta Espada on the monitors, Orihime looked on in silence as she watched him, trying to figure out why exactly he was seemingly just walking around the town.

Normally, Grimmjow was an easy one to read, as he had sworn that he would kill Ichigo Kurosaki, no matter what it took. However, as Orihime analyzed the expression on his face, she didn’t think that he had that intention in mind at the moment. She had been around him long enough to know that when Grimmjow was looking for a battle, a huge grin would cover his face, his eyebrows would furrow in a specific angle, and his eyes would burn like fire in anticipation as he marched forward.

However, as she analyzed him on the monitors, his disposition seemed more distressed as he continuously paused to try to detect any reiatsu in the area. When he would find nothing, he would grit his teeth, clench his fists, and would frantically glance around the area before moving on.

As he continued to walk through the streets, Orihime watched him curiously, wondering what his business was in her hometown. However, as she gazed upon the screens, she noticed that with every step, he was getting closer to her house. Looking down at the ground, Orihime wondered if he was looking for her, but then remembered that he had told her that he didn’t even care about her, so she disregarded that thought, even if a part of her wished that it was true.

Wistfully, she gave a sigh and turned away from the screen. Even if Grimmjow was rude and for the most part, immoral, she knew that if he gave even the slightest hint of requiting her love, she would have thrown away everything she had in Karakura Town to be with him in Hueco Mundo, the place she despised with every bit of her soul. However, he had looked her in the eye and told her that he could only love himself.

Orihime realized that she had originally initiated the detrimental relationship they shared, but at that moment, she had never felt more hurt in her life. Perhaps she was being naïve, but she had hoped that Grimmjow saw her more than just a sex toy, but he made it obvious to her that their relationship to him was just a way to pass the time. Although Orihime didn’t seem to have too much of a problem with their affair before, she finally had enough. She wasn’t sure if it was because she had matured enough to realize what she was doing or if it was because she realized the greater importance was for her to be with her friends, rather than the self-decrepitating relationship she locked herself into, but Orihime knew that she had to leave Hueco Mundo at once, or she would lose the last of her sanity.

So after Grimmjow had confirmed his lack of compassion for her, she put on the cheesiest smile she could manage and bid farewell to him and their relationship. When she was absolutely sure that no one was around, she fled from her room and thought she would make a clean getaway from Las Noches, but when Yammi blocked her escape, she knew that her escape wouldn’t be as easy as she had planned. Reaching for her hairclips, she gave the Espada a focused look before silently commanding Tsubaki to erase him out of existence.

Normally, Orihime would be hesitant to use her destructive power, but after learning that her power altered the events of God, rather than harming people, she became more accepting of her power. However, normally she would have at least felt a little pity watching her enemy fade away, but as she watched Yammi perish into nothingness, she didn’t feel a thing. It scared her that she had grown so apathetic, but she supposed that it was the effect that Hueco Mundo had on her.

She had then fled from the scene, not even bothering to look behind her until she was well into the desert that surrounded Las Noches. Although she wasn’t quite sure of her power’s extent, she then summoned her Shun Shun Rikka, hoping they could help her find a way out of Hueco Mundo. Luckily, it seemed to be within her power, and she soon found herself back on the streets at Karakura Town.

She thought it was odd that she couldn’t detect any familiar reiatsu traces once she got into town, but she still headed towards Tatsuki’s house, as she figured that her best friend must be worried sick about her by now. However, before she could reach her destination, she was stopped by a whole assortment of Shinigami and other humans she knew before she left to Hueco Mundo. Orihime smiled a little sheepishly and giggled.

“Is this supposed to be a surprise party?” she asked. “Because you all sure surprised me!”

The air of apprehension then dropped from the group as most of the group, aside from Ichigo, Ishida, Chad, Tatsuki, and Rukia, all looked at her with a weird expression.

“I told you dumbasses that there wasn’t anything to worry about!” Ichigo exclaimed and then gave a sigh. “God, I can’t believe he made us bring the entire group to confront Orihime, of all people!”

“Don’t you find it odd that she just kind of wandered in here?” Urahara asked. “With as much security they put on Inoue-san here, I highly doubt that they’d let her just come back. So please, Inoue-san, explain to us why you’re here.”

“Uh…I realized that I wasn’t doing any good in staying in Hueco Mundo, so I developed my powers and escaped.” Orihime explained. “It’s not like I enjoyed it at Hueco Mundo, you know.”

“You see? Those bastards at Hueco Mundo have done nothing to change her, so leave her alone already!” Ichigo argued before he turned to leave with most of the other group. Urahara, however, stayed behind.

“He’s wrong, isn’t he?” Urahara spoke suddenly. “Part of you has changed. Kurosaki-kun might not be able to tell, but then again, he’s also sort of an idealist. I’ll accept your explanation for now, but know that I’m keeping an eye on you.”

With that said, Urahara then turned around and followed the rest of the group. With a sigh, Orihime tilted her head down and looked at the pavement of the road. She really wished that Ichigo was right in the assumption that nothing had changed, but she knew very well that was not anywhere near the truth.

She knew that she seemed like the innocent one before, but if everyone could see what had really gone on in Hueco Mundo, especially concerning her relationship with Grimmjow, she knew that everyone would be in a state of disbelief.

Not only had she partaken in countless sinful encounters with the Sexta Espada, but she had also killed without feeling the least bit of remorse. Even if she knew that she would never mutter a word of it to even her best friend, Tatsuki, the stigma of it would haunt her forever.

However, as she watched Grimmjow on the security monitors later, thoughts of anger or regret did not haunt her. Instead, as she watched him look around frantically, she just wanted to find and embrace him until all his worries went away. Because although she knew he didn’t care how she felt, she still didn’t like to see anyone she cared about to seemingly suffer like he was.

“Let me go kick his ass again,” Ichigo finally spoke up. “If he’s around, then obviously he’s up to no good.”

“Now, now, Kurosaki-kun, don’t just rush into battles without preparing first,” Urahara said. “You might have defeated him once, but it’s very likely that he developed his strength to a higher level since the last time you faced off against him.”

“Then let me go with him.” Orihime spoke up.

“I’m very sorry, Inoue-san, but I-” Urahara argued, but was immediately cut off.

“You’re going to tell me that I’m useless again, aren’t you?” Orihime said with a dark look that was so foreign to everyone, that it caused some to experience a shiver down their spine. “But I can help! I can heal anyone’s injuries without muttering a single word. So please…just let me go with Kurosaki-kun.”

“Very well,” Urahara said after some thought. “But know that we will all be keeping an eye on you. If you should show any signs of being in cahoots with the enemy…”

“Would you shut the hell up about that already?!” Ichigo exclaimed. “She’s obviously not on their side, so quit bitching about it! C’mon, Orihime, let’s go.”

Silently, Orihime followed behind Ichigo as he left the underground base. Everyone else in the room watched the two leave before they went back to whatever they were doing before. Urahara, however, seemed less at ease, as his gaze still lingered on the door even a few minutes after the two had departed.

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Elsewhere, Grimmjow stood in front of a house that had traces of her reiatsu all around it. The traces were old, but it was the biggest lead he had found in the town, since he set foot in it. At first, he considered knocking, but sneered at the idea of it and kicked the door down instead.

“Where the fuck are you?” he called as he walked in the door. When no one responded a few seconds later, he started to walk throughout the rooms of the house, searching for any signs of her. In the first few rooms, Grimmjow found nothing of interest, and found himself slightly surprised that Orihime’s house was a lot more normal looking than he expected.

He passed by a framed picture of a man and sneered as he examined it. He had thought that it was a picture of some guy Orihime had a crush on or something, and denied feeling just the tiniest bit of jealously over it. However, when he took a second look, he noted the physical similarities to Orihime and figured it must have been her dead brother that she talked about a couple of times. Upon remembering something as trivial as that, Grimmjow scoffed at himself and walked out of the house before he could reminisce about anything else.

However, as he walked outside, he raised his head in an arrogant manner as he recognized the reiatsu of Ichigo, his rival, approach near. He grinned as he watched the orange-haired man appear in front of him, until he realized what he really had been searching for was hiding behind Ichigo. Instantly, his gaze fell off of his rival as he glared at Orihime.

“So that’s why you left, huh?” Grimmjow said before giving off a small laugh. However, he obviously wasn’t in a humorous mood, as Orihime noticed his reiatsu suddenly take on a more destructive nature. “And now you’re sending this second-rate Shinigami to finish me off, so you can forget everything between us.”

Confused by Grimmjow’s accusations, as well as his anger directed toward her, Orihime gave him a strange look before opening her mouth to speak. However, she wasn’t allowed the chance.

“What are you, stupid?!” Ichigo exclaimed. “Why the hell wouldn’t she leave a whirling cesspool of death like Hueco Mundo? Especially with bastards like you populating it!”

“You’re right, I am a bastard,” Grimmjow admitted, and then aimed his glare over to Orihime and sneered. “But she knew that from the very beginning.”

Realizing that Grimmjow was trying to get a point across to her, Orihime blinked a couple of times before finally speaking.

“Grimmjow, what are you trying to s-“ she said meekly, before getting cut off again.

“I don’t know why all why all of you assholes seem obsessed with Orihime, but there’s no way I’m letting any more of my friends to suffer because of any of you guys!” Ichigo shouted before drawing his zanpakuto out.

Grinning sadistically, Grimmjow drew his sword out as well and immediately rushed forward to attack Ichigo. However, he was stopped when an all too familiar orange glow stopped him.

“Does it make you happy that you finally got your pathetic knight in shining armor that you always dreamed of?” Grimmjow asked bitterly.

“Grimmjow, why are you acting like this?” Orihime asked, as she hadn’t been afraid of him before, but now the aura his reiatsu gave out absolutely terrified her.

“Remove the shield.” Grimmjow muttered.

“No!” Orihime protested.

“How many times do I have to tell you, woman? One of us has to die, and it ain’t gonna be me.” Grimmjow growled. “Now get rid of that god damned thing, so I can kill him once and for all!”

However, before Orihime could say no again, Ichigo had gone around the shield and aimed for Grimmjow’s back. Feeling herself tremble, she lifted a hand, causing another shield to block Ichigo’s attack. Naturally, Ichigo recoiled in shock.

For a moment, Grimmjow’s expression nearly mirrored Ichigo’s, but his face quickly shifted in humor as he tipped his head back with laughter. Furrowing his eyebrows, Ichigo looked away from Grimmjow and gazed at Orihime questionably, who was now staring at the ground.

“Orihime…what-?” Ichigo mumbled out, but stopped when he saw a tear trickle down her face.

“I don’t want either of you to die,” Orihime sobbed. “I know this probably makes me a traitor, but I don’t even know which side is the right one anymore!”

Ichigo was now speechless as he watched Orihime struggling to wipe her tears and looked over to Grimmjow, whose expression softened slightly as his gaze was fixed on the woman. However, it was short-lived as he scowled.

“Quit your damned crying, woman,” Grimmjow said. “You know I fucking hate that.”

“I’m sorry.” Orihime said with a sniffle and made an extra effort to wipe away her tears.

Ichigo only watched the display between the two, and felt even more confused. Was there something going on between the two? Had Urahara been right in suspecting that Orihime could be traitorous?

However, Ichigo was snapped back to reality when he noticed Grimmjow quickly turning his head with an uncharacteristically frightened expression. It was then when Ichigo sensed the monstrous reiatsu approaching as well.

“Fuck…” Grimmjow muttered, knowing it was Aizen headed straight for them. He knew it was useless to run though, so he just stood in place until Aizen made his presence known to every one else. Without wasting another moment, Aizen turned his gaze to Grimmjow.

“Grimmjow.” Aizen spoke in his calm, but commanding voice.

“Yes, Aizen-sama?” Grimmjow grumbled, making damned sure not to glace at him directly in the eye.

“Why is it that you’re not guarding your post at Hueco Mundo?” Aizen

“Guess I got lost.” Grimmjow said dryly, and promptly fell to his knees as a result. Struggling to get up, Aizen only merely narrowed his glance a little as he continued to interrogate him.

“Perhaps I should have told you beforehand that Ulquiorra, your brother, was kind enough to let me know that you stepped foot off of our premises,” Aizen explained. “Now…tell me what reason you have for being here in Karakura Town.”

“So he tattled on me, huh?” Grimmjow said with a half laugh. “It’s good to see that some people never change.”

For skipping around the question, Grimmjow felt the pangs of Aizen’s reiatsu crush him even harder, causing him to flinch in pain.

Orihime could only watch in horror as Grimmjow struggled on the ground. Never before had she seen him this helpless, but she knew that her power was probably nothing, compared to Aizen.

“I’ll only say this once more,” Aizen said. “Why is it that I find you wandering around the streets of this town?”

“Is the dumb shit deaf now?” Grimmjow spat out. “I clearly told my ‘brother’ that I lost something and that I was gonna get it back.”

“And what exactly was it that you lost?” Aizen said with a raise of his brow.

“Tch, have you forgotten that the chick over there escaped?” Grimmjow asked and then smirked through his pain. “I think you’re gettin’ senile.”

This time, Grimmjow braced himself as he successfully anticipated another reiatsu attack from Aizen.

“Grimmjow, I think you’re well aware of the fact that Ulquiorra is the one I appointed to be her caretaker.” Aizen said.

“Yeah, and we all saw what a hack job he did at that,” Grimmjow said with a roll of his eyes. “I mean, the dumb shit was just standing around the halls doing nothing when I saw that she was gone. Someone has to take initiative, and he clearly wasn’t!”

“That’s not the full truth though, is it?” Aizen said with a small, but intimidating smile.

Grimmjow didn’t reply, and soon coughed up blood in result of his silence. Aizen then took a couple of steps toward the suffering Espada, but was stopped with one of Orihime’s orange shields.

“Stop it, he’s had enough!” Orihime cried out, not being able to bear to watch Grimmjow writhe on the floor any longer.

If Aizen was surprised by her actions, his face didn’t show it, as he merely turned his face back to Grimmjow and gave him a condescending smile.

“It seems that a mere human woman has to save you now.” Aizen said with some humor in his voice.

Orihime ignored him and knelt down to heal Grimmjow’s injuries. Grimmjow glanced up at her face briefly before looking to the side again.

“Stupid woman,” he muttered. “You should’ve run when you had the chance.”

“You might not care about me, but I don’t like to see people get hurt.” Orihime said while concentrating on healing him.

Grimmjow said nothing in reply and only watched in awe as the orange light quickly healed the bruises on his body. He had seen the woman heal several times before, but even now he was still fascinated by her power.

The moment didn’t last long though, as Aizen snatched Orihime and clasped a hand around her neck. At first, Grimmjow wasn’t too worried, since he had put his hand around her neck to try to scare her before, but then he noticed that Aizen’s thumb was pressed quite hard against her windpipe. His intent was to kill.

“Now’s your chance to prove that you feel nothing for the girl.” Aizen said, ignoring the gagging noises from Orihime.

“What the hell? Didn’t you say you needed her power?!” Grimmjow exclaimed as he picked himself off the ground.

“Yes, her power would have made everything easier for me, but it’s obvious that she won’t cooperate,” Aizen replied. “Therefore, the only alternative for her is death.”

“Let her go!” Ichigo yelled as he attempted to slash Aizen with his Zangetsu.

Grimmjow watched as the Shinigami zipped past the corner of his eye and sighed. As he expected, Aizen easily deflected his attack with his one free hand and even broke his zanpakuto. Orihime’s condition, meanwhile, only seemed to get worse.

Seeing no other way around it, Grimmjow hesitated for a moment before putting his hand on the hilt of his zanpakuto. He knew what he was about to do would guarantee his own death sentence, but for some reason, it didn’t matter to him at that moment.

“Grind, Pantera!” he chanted before he transformed into his released form. Without wasting a single moment, he immediately dashed toward Aizen and took a swipe at the hand that was strangling Orihime. His claw barely scratched Aizen’s arm, but it was still enough to cause him to draw his hand away from Orihime’s neck.

Orihime quickly fell to the ground as she heavily panted, trying to get oxygen back into her lungs. Aizen kept his gaze on Grimmjow, giving him another condescending glance. Grimmjow just kept his eye on Aizen, focusing to react to whatever move he’d make next.

“Grimmjow…you…you saved me!” Orihime said in absolute surprise after she finally gathered her breath.

“What are you, stupid?” Grimmjow scowled, not taking his eyes off of Aizen. “Get the fuck away from here!”

“But…!” she stammered.

“I said go!” Grimmjow yelled, baring his sharp teeth.

“How very chivalrous of you, Grimmjow,” Aizen said in a mocking tone. “Out of all the Espadas, I least expected this kind of behavior out of you. But then again, you have always been a problem to deal with, so I suppose it really shouldn’t have been too surprising.”

“You really like to hear yourself talk, don’t ya?”

“Very well, if you want to die, then I shall hasten the process.” Aizen said before disappearing in a flash.

Turning around sharply, Grimmjow tried to block the incoming attack, but when he saw that Aizen was actually aiming at his side, his eyes widened in panic, until he saw Ichigo appear to block the attack with his reformed Zangetsu. Grimmjow then groaned in annoyance as Aizen gave him a condescending laugh.

“It seems like you’re being saved a lot lately,” Aizen said before posing his sword to attempt to hit him again. “It’s disappointing.”

“I don’t know what the hell’s going on here,” Ichigo droned, turning around to face Grimmjow to reveal that his mask was on his face. “But I know that we both have a score to settle with that guy. We might hate each other, but we can have our fight after we kill this bastard.”

Grimmjow looked over at Ichigo warily before turning his gaze back at Aizen. He hated having to rely on the help of a Shinigami, but he knew in this situation, he didn’t have much choice. Deciding that he’d take out his frustration by skewering Ichigo later, he rushed on ahead to fight Aizen, alongside Ichigo.

Orihime could only watch as the three battled. She knew that both Grimmjow and Ichigo wanted her to get away from the scene, but as she said earlier, she didn’t want to see either of them get hurt. And knowing how reckless the two men were, she figured that the chances of them getting serious injuries were pretty high.

As predicted, it wasn’t long until she saw Ichigo fall down from the sky. Luckily, she summoned a shield and cushioned his fall. Quickly, she healed his cuts, and even healed his Hollow mask back on his face (despite the fact that she hated it, as she knew that Ichigo wasn’t the same when he wore it), before backing up to allow him to speed back into battle.

A few minutes later, Grimmjow was struck with a critical blow, and was caught with Orihime’s shield as he fell down. Once she healed his injuries though, Orihime looked at him curiously as he stood up and just watched Ichigo and Aizen fight.

“There’s no way we can win like this.” Grimmjow said as he observed the two.

“Then what are you going to do?” Orihime asked and then sighed. “It’s not like you can run away.”

“As if I’d ever run away,” Grimmjow scoffed. “What I’m saying is that we’re fighting a losing battle. Neither me nor Ichigo has the abilities to defeat Aizen.”

“I wish I could help, but my powers wouldn’t be too much help against him.”

Orihime looked up at the fight with a melancholy look on her face, as Grimmjow seemingly had an epiphany and finally looked over to Orihime.

“The Shinigami bastard and I don’t have the power to take him down…but you do.” Grimmjow said.

“Wait…what are you talking about?!” Orihime exclaimed.

“The very first day I saw you, I remember that pompous bastard talkin’ about how you can reject things from existence,” Grimmjow explained. “So all you need to do is make it so he was never born.”

“But Aizen isn’t a normal being when it comes to power!” Orihime interjected. “There’s no way he’d just stand there and let me hit him with Tsubaki.”

Grimmjow seemed to consider Orihime’s words as he took on a more serious expression, trying to think up a way to get around the complications of the battle. He looked up to Ichigo and Aizen’s battle again before letting off a little laugh.

“So this is how it’s gotta end, huh?” he commented to himself before resuming his usual feral grin and turning around to look at Orihime. “I’ll give you all the time in the world to use your fairies of yours.”

“What…how?”

“The only way…I’ll hold him in place, and you will take both of us out in one hit!” Grimmjow proclaimed.

“But Grimmjow…it’ll erase you out of existence too!” Orihime said in a panicked voice.

“Yeah…isn’t that what you want?” Grimmjow asked, his mouth forming into a slight frown. “With me gone, you probably won’t remember all the things we did, right? Then you can go marry that god damned Shinigami up there and have a whole motley crew of brats. Besides, it’ll give me satisfaction that I took asshole-sama with me into death.”

“That’s not what I want though!” Orihime protested, taking a few steps forward.

“It’s not about what you want!” Grimmjow yelled, but calmed down long enough to explain the situation to her. “Either I can die, take Aizen with me, and the whole world can continue on its pathetic existence. Or, you can have not only me die, but have your little Shinigami friend die as well. Then Aizen would force you to use your power, making him even more powerful, and who knows how many people he’ll kill after that. At least this way, you can have your god damned Shinigami to fulfill all your stupid little fantasies.”

Without hearing another word, Grimmjow again turned around to face the battle.

“Grimmjow! It’s not him that I want!” Orihime cried out in desperation. “It’s you! But you told me that you didn’t care…that’s why I ran away.”

Grimmjow instantly stopped upon hearing her words, realizing just how much of an idiot he really was. In that moment, he wanted to turn around and kiss her or tell her that he had been a fool. Hell, he even briefly thought about abandoning his plan. But he knew he could do none of that. For her sake alone, he continued walking into battle.

In despair, Orihime frantically tried to come up with some kind of alternative, but could think of nothing. In silence, she watched the next sequence of events unfold when Ichigo first struck Aizen with a surprise attack. After that, Aizen retaliated with a kidou blast, which destroyed his Hollow mask. Soon after that, Aizen then struck again, causing Ichigo to crash to the ground. With him momentarily distracted, Grimmjow took the time to fly above him and then rushed into Aizen, using his body as a projectile.

The two crashed into the concrete, which created a large cloud of dust to form. Aizen picked himself up and didn’t see Grimmjow near him. Before he could try to sense his reiatsu though, he felt a pair of claws grab him from behind with such force, it caused his blood to run across his nails.

“Do it now!” Grimmjow yelled. Perturbed, Aizen looked across to Orihime and gave a sardonic laugh.

“Using the girl’s power to destroy me?” Aizen spoke in a mocking manner. “She doesn’t have it in her to use you as a sacrifice. Am I right, Miss Inoue?”

Orihime quivered trying to touch her hairpins, but was hesitant because of the said sacrifice that she would have to make.

“You see, Grimmjow? Try as you might, you can not save her,” Aizen boasted. “In the end, the girl, along with her power, belongs to me.”

“You’re wrong. She doesn’t belong to you, the Shinigami trash…or even me.” Grimmjow said, with his facial features softening at the last part of the sentence. However, his face converted back to his fierce look as he growled the next line. “She belongs…to no one!”

“Grimmjow…” Orihime said in wonder, speechless by the display he just gave.

“Quit fucking around!” Grimmjow yelled at her. “Do it now!”

Orihime looked down at the ground, still feeling a little hesitant, but finally made up her mind and looked up with a determined face. Within moments, her Shun Shun Rikka were gathered in front of her. Instead of the usual friendly greetings though, Orihime went straight to business.

“Tsubaki…I reject.”

From that point on, everything seemed to move in slow motion as Tsubaki raced toward Grimmjow and Aizen. Orihime didn’t want to do it, but she knew she had no other choice to stop Aizen. The worst thing for her though was that she knew that if she didn’t do it, Grimmjow would be disappointed in her.

Seeing the fairy-like creature race toward him, Grimmjow’s grin relaxed a little, reveling in his last few seconds of life. His eyes flickered to Orihime’s and realized there were so many things he wanted to say to her.

“Orihime…” he called out, instantly receiving the girl’s attention.

He wanted to tell her that he was sorry for all that they had done.

He wanted to tell her that he wishes that they could start back from the beginning.

He wanted to assure her that she was the only thing that he treasured in Hueco Mundo.

Hell, he wanted to tell her that she was the best god damned thing in his whole, meaningless life.

However, in the end, he could only bring himself to say two words.

“…I lied.”

He then dug that stupid little necklace of hers out of his pocket and clutched it for a split second, before dropping it onto the ground.

Orihime noticed that he dropped the trinket, and although she was at first confused by his comment, her mind flashed back to when he told her that he couldn’t love anything but himself. Realizing what he was really saying, she could feel a lump grow in her throat, but she knew how much Grimmjow hated it when she cried, so she held back her tears as she looked up to his eyes one last time before Tsubaki slashed through him, as well as Aizen.

Instantly, Grimmjow’s body started to dematerialize into smaller spirit particles. Intrigued, Grimmjow watched as the tiny spirit particles floated away from him. Just as he was about to disappear completely, Orihime stepped up and looked at his face with a sorrowful expression.

Both of them had been fools. Grimmjow had mistreated Orihime badly since the beginning of what could hardly be called a relationship and she had been too idealistic to realize that Grimmjow had a far different way of dealing with things than most people. However, if she had not run away, the two would have only continued wasting their lives away in their carnal affairs until she finally lost the last remaining shred of her insanity or he finally got tired of her and moved on to something else to alleviate his boredom.

Though the circumstances were unfortunate, this was ultimately the only way both Grimmjow and Orihime would finally understand what could have been between them. As Grimmjow faded away, the two looked at each other in silence, as if they both understood everything in that one moment before Grimmjow completely dematerialized.

Orihime bent down and picked up the necklace after he faded away. After inspecting it, she realized it was the necklace she had lost in Hueco Mundo and felt tears dwelling in her eyes as she realized that Grimmjow had been holding onto it and had probably planned on giving it back to her, as she knew that he wasn’t into little things such as that.

Before she shed a single tear though, she heard a groan a few yards away from her and mentally hit herself for completely forgetting that Ichigo was still injured on the ground. She was about to turn to go over to him, when a shiny orb caught her eye. Drawn by the light, Orihime picked it up and realized that it was the Hougyoku. Orihime froze, realizing that the one thing she needed to destroy was in her hands. However, healing Ichigo’s injuries were more important, so she turned around again, only to be shocked to feel the blade of a sword go right through her stomach. Confused, Orihime managed to crane her head up, but looked even more confused when she looked up to the face of her attacker.

“Y…you! Why…?” Orihime stammered before coughing up a little blood. “Urahara-san…why?”

Urahara looked at her with a dark expression, before his face took on the more exuberant expression she was used to.

“Forgive me, as this kind of behavior is rather inappropriate for someone who just did one heck of a favor for me, don’t you think, Inoue-san?” Urahara said in a strange, cheery voice before his eyes took on a terrifying look. “That fool, Aizen, was only a mere annoyance for me to reach my goal.”

Orihime tried to respond, but found it hard, because she was trying desperately to not cry out in pain. Urahara waited a few moments for her to say something, but then shrugged and continued talking.

“Really, I’m surprised none of you figured that it was me the whole time,” he said in a lofty way. “It’s funny how nobody ever questioned why I was thrown out of Soul Society. It was because old man, Yamamoto-san, figured out my intentions to steal the Hougyoku to gain power for myself. Obviously, I would need help, so I enlisted the services of Aizen Sousuke to be my partner in crime. That’s why I hid the Hougyoku inside your friend, Rukia, as I knew that Aizen would be able to retrieve it and hide it in another spot. The only reason I trained you, Ichigo, and Sado was because we needed a way to distract Soul Society and to keep all of you out of the dark. However, shortly after he obtained the orb, we found that its power was nearly depleted, so we had to think of a way to restore it to its full potential. That’s when you came into play, Inoue-san. It was obvious from the beginning that you had the power to manipulate the existence of anything by the power of your will alone. So therefore, I played my part in the play by saying that you were better off staying on the sidelines, knowing that it would attack your self-esteem, and Rukia would be the one to whisk you away to Soul Society, away from Ichigo, who was growing more powerful at an alarming rate. And of course, you know the course of actions that went on from that point. However, Aizen got too full of himself and planned on taking the power for himself. But it seems like you’ve solved that problem for me.”

“I can’t believe…you tricked us the entire time!” Orihime spat out, while wincing in pain.

“Indeed, I played so well into the kooky, but loveable and wise man part so well, that I almost believed it myself.” Urahara said with a sinister grin. “Now…I shall give you a death by my Benihime and collect your power with the Hougyoku. ‘Crimson Princess’…I don’t think there’s a more suitable way for you die.

Urahara then plunged the sword deeper into her stomach and grabbed the orb in Orihime’s hand. However, before he could snatch it away from her, Orihime gripped the orb as hard as she could and pulled it back away from him. Urahara looked annoyed for a moment, but then let out another smile.

“C’mon, Inoue-san…die already!” Urahara said in an odd mixture of a sweet and odious nature. He then pushed the sword to its hilt in Orihime’s stomach. “You and your power belong to the Hougyoku!”

Urahara then reached for the Hougyoku again, and nearly grabbed it out of Orihime’s hands. However, even though she felt like she was about to pass out, Orihime used the last of her strength to pull the orb away from him.

“I…belong…to no one!” Orihime said with difficulty, as her eyes burned with resolve. Knowing she was running on only the last fumes of her life, she managed to summon her Shun Shun Rikka for the last time. Glancing at the Hougyoku, she made her final command. “I…reject!”

Instantly, the Hougyoku in her hand exploded in a burst of energy and faded away. Upon seeing Urahara’s shocked and angered expression, Orihime laughed at the ridiculous expression, although it only caused her to cough up more blood. Urahara only grew angrier, until he heard a crowd approach behind him. Looking behind him, Orihime gave a faint smile at the crowd of Shinigami and an assortment of her friends from school. Tatsuki, Ishida, and Matsumoto immediately ran to her side to catch her as she felt herself fall backwards. She fluttered her eyes open and grinned through her pain.

“Good…bye…” Orihime managed to choke out before she shut her eyes for the last time.

When she awoke, she was alarmed as she was seemingly looking at her own body in a pool of blood. She turned to Rukia, who had a calm expression on her face.

“So I guess my body really is dead…” Orihime mused.

“Yeah…” Rukia answered.

“Oh! What about Ichigo? Is he alright?!” Orihime exclaimed, instantly reminded of the task she was attempting to do before being attacked.

“Yeah, unfortunately it was too late to save you by the time Hanatarou got over here, but Ichigo has been healed to a stable condition.”

“And Urahara? Where is he?”

“It was a shock to us all,” Rukia said with a sigh. “Yoruichi was especially taken aback, but she managed to hold it together long enough to fight and weaken him enough to hand him over to the authorities in Soul Society. He’s now in the prison with maximum security. There’s no way he’ll escape.”

“That’s a relief.” Orihime said with a bow of her head. “So what happens to me now?”

“Well, since you still are a plus soul, I can send you to Soul Society through konso.” Rukia responded.

“So I’ll become a Shinigami?!” Orihime asked. “I’ll be able to see everyone still?”

“Yeah, most likely.” Rukia said with a smile. “Although it’s hard to say where you’ll be dropped off, so it might be a while before you make it to the Seireitei. However, I know it shouldn’t be too long. You’ll make a wonderful Shinigami. We’ll all look for you when we can.”

“Alright…I’ll look forward to seeing all of you soon!” Orihime said cheerfully, but then remembered the events of the day and looked down. “Even if I wish there was someone else I could see…”

“Eh?”

“Oh…it’s nothing!” Orihime said, forcing herself to look cheerful again. “I might not be able to become the super gigantic robot I always dreamed of, but I’ll do my best to become a Shinigami!”

“I know you will,” Rukia said as she raised the hilt of her zanpakuto and tapped Orihime’s forehead with it. “I’m sure we’ll all see you soon.”

Orihime nodded and turned to wave at the rest of the group around her before everything turned black again. When she woke up this time though, she found herself on the ground of a completely different place. After picking herself up and dusting off her shirt, she realized that she was really in Soul Society.

After asking around, she found that she had been dropped into the thirty-fourth district. She knew it wasn’t the most ideal district to land into, but after hearing that there were eighty different districts and the higher numbered ones were harder to live in, she was thankful that she was put in one that was probably a lot peaceful than say, the eightieth district.

Wasting no time, Orihime instantly set off on her journey to the Seireitei. During her pilgrimage, she searched in every district she passed to see if Sora, her brother, had made it to Soul Society, but she was not able to find him anywhere.

When she finally made it to the Shinigami Academy, someone recognized her and instantly had her evaluated in a test. After impressing the observing instructors, it was decided that instead of the standard six-year tuition that most Shinigami hopefuls had to go through, she would instead attend the academy for six months to learn kidou spells and to also learn how to generate a zanpakuto.

After six months had passed, she had easily learned the kidou spells that focused on healing and protecting others, and now wielded a zanpakuto that took on the shape of two long hairpins in their unreleased state and also possessed all the powers of her Shun Shun Rikka in her human life.

Predictably, she was transferred to the Fourth Division, to serve under Retsu Unohana. Impressive with her hasty and efficient healing powers, she quickly rose through the ranks to become the Third Seat in the Division within two weeks. Most said that her powers were even greater than Unohana’s, but Orihime didn’t want the responsibility of being the captain of a Division right now, and knew that Isane worked very well with Unohana as her vice-captain, so Orihime was fine with being the Third Seat.

One day though, Isane came running to Orihime with an exasperated expression on her face. Rising from her seat, Orihime offered her a glass of water, which she accepted and quickly drank.

“What’s the problem, Isane-san?”” Orihime asked.

“Ugh…you know how the Eleventh Division is always getting into fights, right?” Isane started.

“Uh-huh…so it’s those guys this time, huh?” Orihime said with a giggle. “So what did they do this time?”

“Well, this new guy just came in there and barged in about a week ago, and ever since then, him and Kenpachi have been fighting non-stop for the right to be captain of the Eleventh Division. For now, the guy’s the Third Seat, since Ikkaku-san was finally talked into taking the position of being captain of the Ninth Division, but apparently it’s not enough for him.” Isane explained. “Unohana and I are busy healing Zaraki-san, as he’s suffering from a pretty bad cut through the chest, but we need you to heal the other guy. The others have his shoulder wound bandaged up, but we need you to heal it.”

“I understand! I’ll get to it right away!” Orihime said with an exaggerated salute and was about to run off, but came back with a sheepish look. “Uh…where was this guy again?”

With a laugh, Isane pointed her off in the right direction and set off to help Unohana with her job. Walking through the directed door, Orihime was a little nervous, since the man that Isane described sounded like someone you wouldn’t want to run into by choice, but it was her duty to heal anyone who needed help. With a sigh, she opened the door.

She was unfazed by the bare-chested man at first, as she was already used to varying degrees of nudity for her job, but when she looked up and saw a head of wild, blue hair, she felt her heart flutter as she took a double take. The man didn’t look at her, but he took on an annoyed expression as he sensed that she had been staring at him for a few seconds.

“What the fuck is wrong? Ya haven’t seen blue hair before or are ya just enjoying the scenery? Either way, any incompetent medic would-…” the man yelled before turning his head and stopping when he realized just who he was talking to.

“Grimmjow…you’re really here…” Orihime said with a dazed expression.

Grimmjow didn’t respond as his shocked expression mirrored hers. Finally, Orihime took a few steps forward and embraced him. She didn’t understand how it was possible for him to end up in Soul Society, but she didn’t care. If it was all just a dream, she was never going to let go.

Hearing her sniffle as she cried into his chest, Grimmjow wrapped an arm around her back as he stroked her hair with his other hand. After a while, he gave a sigh.

“Okay, enough with the crying already! God damn, if you took all the tears from all the times you cried, I bet you could make a fucking ocean!” Grimmjow groaned. “I’m just as happy to see you too, but did you forget that I’m bleeding from the shoulder?!”

Embarrassed, Orihime pulled herself away from him and inspected the damage. She then concentrated her energy for a split second and healed the wound within a minute.

“Eh heh…sorry about that.” Orihime said, scratching behind her head, but then looked down. “I’m just really happy you were somehow able to come here.”

Grimmjow said nothing and stood up. He walked behind Orihime and leaned down enough to whisper in her hear.

“So…after your shift, will it be your place or mine?” he asked huskily.

“EHH?!” Orihime cried out, trying desperately to hide the blush that covered her face.

Grimmjow only laughed as he headed toward the door. Orihime sighed in relief, figuring it was just a joke.

“My place, it is. Meet me outside of the Eleventh Division headquarters,” Grimmjow said with a shrug, but then turned around to flash the more devilish grin she was used to. “We’ll have a whole lotta fun, if ya know what I mean.”

This time Grimmjow actually left the room, but Orihime’s face was now beet red, as she knew exactly what he meant. She was so morbidly embarrassed, that she wished she could sink into the floor at that moment and never come out. However, she still had others who needed to be healed, so she blocked it out of her mind and walked out.

For the first time ever, Orihime finally felt complete.




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Author’s Notes

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GUESS WHAT? I’M NOT DEAD~!

Nope, I just have been busy moving lately (and my mother didn’t bother to plan ahead of time, so we’ve been gradually moving our stuff to our new location), and didn’t get a lot of time to write. But for the most part, we’re settled in, so hopefully I can get stuff out a little quicker now.

Anyways, the thing I probably need to address the most is the weird ass Urahara heel turn. I’ll just say that I needed a twist in the story to basically kill off Orihime, and I happen to probably be the number one supporter of Urahara being the main villain. Hell, I’m probably the only one that really thought about it. XD