Reflection

Chapter 15

Orihime moaned loudly underneath him as he surged deeper and harsher into her tightness. Her naked shapely bottom thrust up higher to deepen his thrust, her curves crushing his pubic hair every time he pushed back in to the hilt.

Long sweat-dampened ginger hair draped over the whiteness of his pillow, like a glossy silken curtain. He could see the side of her reddened face, her slightly parted lips and hear her sweet keening cries whenever he hit a certain spot within her. The way she tightened around him like a vice told him that she was close to orgasm and the thought of him bringing one to her had his punching hips move faster, his balls smacking the sweaty skin of her ass.

His fingers dug into the curves of her hips to pull her towards him, not that he really needed to because in spite of having the front of her upper body pressing down on the mattress, she still moved at the fast animalistic rhythm he had set. His eyes stared at the straight line of her spine and the tied up wrists just over her tailbone. A satin cord held them together and the sight excited him, most of all whenever she twisted her wrists in attempt to free them as her moans grew louder.

“Kurosaki-kun…!” her voice broke when he gave an extra hard push into her that him jab at her belly. He was being rough and she loved it. It was surprising how hard she could take it and how she begged for more. Not once had she complained at how he deep he was going or his speed. She moved her bottom side to side, making his cock shudder close to coming at how her tight walls shifted around him, massaging him as if it were multiple muscles moving at different speeds.

He would have liked if she had just said his name, but they were just getting started. His whole chest was sleek with perspiration and he could feel beads of it trickle down in slow tingling trails that ended at the curls just above his cock.

She cried out his name again, her face contorting in pleasure as her sex suckled his thrusting hardness and more wet heat sleeked over him.

Gasping at how her orgasm made her twitching muscles grip and pull at him, he bent over her back and gave one final push until he was sure that his cockhead was pressing directly at her womb. His mouth opened as he released himself. He could feel the come filling her insides and even coating the suckling flesh around him due to how unbelievably tight she was.

Panting, he couldn’t help but smile weakly at how she breathed harshly underneath him, her hips gyrating so gently in the aftershocks of her orgasm that it appeared that she wasn’t moving at all.

“Thank you…,” she whispered tiredly, her eyes closing in exhaustion.

“You thought that you could have her, huh?”

I just did. Ichigo mentally scoffed at the smug sounding Hollow inside his mind.

Ya’ think? Look over here and tell me what you see, King.

Too blissed out to argue, he looked in direction of the voice and saw a large mirror that was on the wall aligned with his bed. His body tensed in shock and his still hard cock shriveled at seeing what the mirror reflected.

His naked Hollow mounted over Orihime, smiling sardonically at him.

See? You can’t even truly have her in your dreams.

***

Ichigo jolted awake in his bed, his breaths coming out frantically as his eyes took in the familiar moonlit walls of his room that looked grey and depressing to him at the moment, especially after having such a dream to wake up to a cruel reality.

It had just been a dream or could he say a nightmare? For a moment while asleep, he had believed that it was all real. How fucked up it was to wake up to see the same walls and sense Rukia’s reiatsu in the small closet not far from his bed.

I hope she didn’t hear me or something.

Dragging a hand over his face to shake off some of the sleep, he then grimaced at feeling his other hand under his boxers, wrapped around the base of his softening erection. His fingers were wet with semen that was still warm from ejaculation and the entire front of his boxers was damp and sticking to his cock’s tip.

He couldn’t help feeling pathetic over waking up that way. How long had it been since he had woken up jerking off? Two, three years, maybe? He was practically an adult now and he had succumbed to something prepubescent boys unconsciously did.

It’s not like I knew I was doing it.

Slipping his come drenched hand out of his boxers to wipe it at the sheets before pulling it over the quilt to not look so guilty, he stared at the ceiling, thinking about what had happened that night.

She had rejected him flat out. He had tried to argue the instant she had asked him to leave, but she had just shaken her head and insisted that he had to go.

Orihime hadn’t been cruel about it. In fact she had been somewhat shy in requesting for him to leave her alone. Like she was asking him something impossible, which was pretty damned close. Ichigo knew that he couldn’t just stop thinking about her and that dream was a sign of it. He had been having dreams, but not a single one was as intense as that one. Could it be that his Hollow had brought it up to throw his superiority at his face?

It seemed like it. The Hollow had been as real as the dreamlike Orihime underneath him; that echoing demonic voice vibrating in his brain in its mockery.

Closing his eyes, he turned on his side so that he was facing the wall. He had to return to school the next day. Ochi-sensei had already called his father about missing two days and the last thing he wanted was more shit complicating his life. In part, he was looking forward to going to school because he would see Orihime, yet something dampened down his eagerness.

The pitying look she had in her eyes when she had opened the door of her apartment in dismissal. She pitied him and his sexual approach. It was like a bucket of ice had been thrown on him. All she had to do was ask him to stay and he would have given up everything, including Rukia who was too angry to sleep in the same bed with him anymore. To be honest, Rukia was the first thing he would have forgotten if only Orihime had responded.

I could be with her right now. A flash of heat passed through his groin at the thought. He rarely had such realistic dreams. He had even smelled her faintly sweet scent.

“Thinkin’ stupid stuff again, eh I-chi-go?” the Hollow’s usually darkly gleeful tone held a tinge of anger that Ichigo caught immediately.

Fuck you, bastard! Get out of my head! You’re messing everything up!, he scowled without opening his eyes.

“Am I, King? You’re the one fucking everything up! If you hadn’t started screwing around getting close to her when you know she doesn’t wantcha, you wouldn’t be in this mess!” there was a disdainful snarl in the Hollow’s voice. “This just proves my theory that you are a perpetual fuck up! Nothing you do is right, mostly when it comes to those you ignore! And here you are the one that’s supposed to know more crap than I since you go around walking freely, but you still don’t know SHIT! Being stuck inside of you is a pain in the ass! I have to watch you screw up over and over again and now that I do something to fix a mess, you start taking it apart! Just give up with some goddamned dignity and mind your own business! You weren’t interested before, why the change now?! Is it that you are a freak that likes something only when another starts likin’ it, huh?! Is that it?! Don’t like the fact that she doesn’t make goo-goo eyes atcha anymore?! Is that what you like?! Having someone kissing up to you like you’re their fucking hero all the time?!

Shut. Your. Fucking. MOUTH! You don’t even know what the fuck you’re talking out so SHUT UP!

The Hollow didn’t say anymore, but that didn’t keep him from snickering in satisfaction at Ichigo’s inner yell.

Grinding his teeth together, he realized a bit too late that the Hollow knew too well which buttons to push to overkill his near nonexistent ego. Everything he had enjoyed shouting in his mind rung true and his perceptiveness pissed him off. The twisted son of a bitch could read him so easily and all of his shameful unacknowledged secrets were lain out bare to his taunts.

He silently swore that if the Hollow had a chance, he would kill him. He was certain that he was waiting for the right moment to end his life just to have complete dominion of his body. It was bad enough that he was driving him insane by making him compete against himself and reminding him of the things he couldn’t control.

Sometimes having things in a defined order became too comfortable and having Orihime stop silently loving and yearning for him was what had thrown everything in his life off balance.

***

Tatsuki was waiting in the front steps of the school. For the last couple of days of having Orihime ignoring her she had concluded that talking to her about the Hollow wasn’t the best approach. Her friend could be open about many things, but reserved when it came to others and that Hollow went directly into the reserved section.

“Where’s that blasted Ichigo?” she muttered to herself, one of her legs bouncing as she rested her elbows on her knees. It was annoying to wait and there was no way of knowing if Ichigo was coming to school that day or not. He had been missing for a while and whenever she went to his house, his father and sisters always said that he was just ‘out’.

Yeah, right! More like hiding off somewhere feeling pitiful!, she scoffed knowing how her friend thought when things spiraled downwards. He either went to brood by himself or would spend days walking, thinking too much, and forgetting the other fellow humans that existed in the world. He could spend days doing that routine. Walking, thinking and dwelling on things that seemed unfixable; that was the Ichigo she knew.

She had noticed his shifting attitude the day it had all begun. It had been the day right after Orihime had been kidnapped from her apartment. She hadn’t known at the time what had happened, yet she had felt a change in Ichigo’s behavior. He had become closed into himself, withdrawn from everyone including Rukia. He was a true idiot if he thought that no one had seen him becoming darker and more distant over the last week.

I still need to talk to him about that guy. There’s something that doesn’t seem right.

Rubbing her teeth together in exasperation over how long he was taking on getting there, she finally stood up. She guessed that she would have to go back to his house once again to talk to him if he happened to be there.

Sighing wearily, she scanned the front courtyard of the school and then her stiff shoulders sagged in relief.

Walking through the front gates of the school was Ichigo with his constant companion, Rukia. Tatsuki frowned slightly in puzzlement over how strange they were acting. Usually they would walk closer to one another, but now she saw that though they were together, they had an arm’s distance between them. The looks in their faces were tense and cold, as if they were two strangers without any form of verbal connection that happened to be going to the same place.

Not going to ask.

Ichigo’s flat amber eyes met hers briefly and held, showing that he instinctively knew that she was waiting for him. On some rare occasions he was good in reading people. If he could be good at it all times, then he wouldn’t be having relationship difficulties. Tatsuki wasn’t an expert, but girls understood other girls and Rukia’s stiffness spoke volumes of how her relationship was entering rocky territory.

Does she know about Orihime-chan? She hoped not. If Rukia ever found out about her boyfriend’s body going out for nookie with her friend, she would have a fight in her hands.

Tatsuki for one wasn’t going to allow the shinigami to lay a hand on Orihime. It wasn’t that she particularly disliked the other girl; there was just something about her that had rubbed her the wrong way. Like whenever there was a Soul Society problem, the girl would split their groups apart during lunch to discuss strategies. She had noticed that from the very beginning. A problem arose and Rukia was already whispering and pulling Sado, Ishida, Kurosaki, and Inoue into a corner or another spot in the school grounds, far away from the rest of them.

That was like practically saying ‘You’re not part of this team, so butt out.’ How annoying it was to have someone that just showed up so unexpectedly start tattering long lines of friendship that had held firm for years. It was a bullshit segregation system that the ‘new girl’ had begun in her involvement with Ichigo.

I bet that if she hadn’t shown up, Orihime-chan and Ichigo wouldn’t…

The couple reached her and without sparing a glance to the short brunette, Tatsuki, though ashamed, felt a sense of divine justice when she said, “I need to talk to you in private, Ichigo.”

Her eyes flitted over to Rukia to see how she had taken that little brush off. From how Rukia looked down at the floor, tightening her small pale hand on the strap of her backpack, she hadn’t liked it one bit but knew how to back off. Tatsuki almost admired her for it.

She might not be my favorite person, but at least she has some dignity and doesn’t throw jealousy fits.

“Ah, okay”, though he made a weird face over her serious tone, Ichigo nodded.

“I’ll be in class,” Rukia said flatly, taking Ichigo’s agreement as a cue to go inside the school. She might as well have said nothing at all because her boyfriend didn’t even blink when she had spoken.

Okay… still not going to ask.

Once Tatsuki felt that the girl had entered the glass doors behind her, with a jerk of her head she signaled to Ichigo that she wanted to have their impending conversation in an empty spot in the courtyard. Most of the students were going inside the school so they would have plenty of privacy to discuss what she had running through her mind for the last couple of days

Just take everything one step at a time. She didn’t know if Ichigo would have a similar reaction to Orihime’s in completely shutting her questions down.

They both headed to the spot close to some windows of classrooms on the first floor.

“You want to know about him, don’t you?” he asked lowly as soon as they came to a stop. He was still standing by her side, and though his head was slightly turned her way he wasn’t truly looking at her.

“Yeah,” she said in a sigh, grateful that he wasn’t beating around the bush, “Orihime-chan didn’t tell me much.”

“If I tell you will you tell me what she said?” he asked quietly, his eyes narrowing a fraction though those sad amber orbs weren’t focused on her face.

Surprised by his question she quickly weighed her options. Orihime had pretty much said close to nothing to her about the Hollow, but she was certain that she would be greatly embarrassed if she found out that she had told Ichigo what she had said.

“I really need to know…” he whispered and her eyes widened, both of her brows shooting up. Her childhood friend seemed to be even more perturbed by the situation than her. Not that she should be all that surprised since he was right in the middle of the conflict.

“Yeah… I’ll tell you.” Saying those words made her throat hurt. Orihime hadn’t made her promise not to tell, but Tatsuki still felt as if she were betraying her trust. There just was no going around it. If her friend was in trouble, she needed to know even if it meant telling her secrets.

This is for her own good, that was the only thought that had pushed her to agree.

“What is it that you want to know then?” his questions was tentative and obviously carefully said, proving that he himself didn’t know how to proceed.

“Everything… From beginning to end. I feel like there’s parts missing”, she frowned, turning to face him.

His eyes were still looking ahead. It was annoying that he was too cowardly to look at her directly in the eyes while talking about such a serious matter, yet it was clear that he was having a difficult time with the subject.

“Parts missing? Like what?”

“I thought that this was me asking the questions,” she glared at him darkly, seeing that he was trying to change the subject on her.

“I know. Its just that I can’t really tell you anything if I don’t know more about what Orihime told you,” his eyes sharpened for a brief moment before that nerve-racking empty quality returned. Tatsuki couldn’t help but shiver at the cold dead glaze in his gaze.

Narrowing her eyes on the side of his face, she supposed that he was right. For all she knew the Hollow probably had found a way to shut him out and Ichigo was just as clueless as the rest of them.

“She… She talks about him like he’s some kind of… misunderstood victim,” she spat out the ‘misunderstood victim’ part and Ichigo stiffened at the words, his jaw clenching so hard that it was a miracle he didn’t crack his molars.

“That’s Inoue…”, his hard face softened slightly into an almost rueful smile.

“Yeah.”

He shot a quick glance at her from the corner of his eyes. He appeared to be debating inwardly what he was going to say next.

“He is the opposite of me, or at least I think he is.”

Finally something… Intrigued and anxious, she listened to him patiently, knowing that every word he said could be of importance.

“I don’t know much about the guy, only what other Vizards have told me about their inner Hollows… He’s supposed to be nothing like me. From how he complains and yells, everything I do seems wrong to him. I don’t know…”, he lifted a shoulder with a grimace. “He’s very nasty in everything he says and doesn’t hide a thing. He always tells me what he’s thinking, though lately he has been kind of off with me, keeping quiet most of the time. I think that it’s because of Inoue…”

“Do you…”, she took a deep breath, unsure if she should ask, “Do you know all that he has done to her?”

Some redness stained Ichigo’s cheeks as he gulped before nodding.

“Has… has he hurt her?” that was the most important question on her list. Orihime could have been hiding a lot of things in her denial.

“Not that much…”, his voice began cracking and Tatsuki began to fear that he was about to end the conversation right then and there. “The-the first night when he had taken her out of her apartment…” he trailed off, his face twisting as he closed his eyes at remembered pain.

“What happened, Ichigo?” she pressed, sharpening her eyes on his agonized expression.

“He had forced her to do disgusting things with him. Knowing her, she probably didn’t tell you much, but he made her do things with him and he… finished…” From the way he had said ‘finished’, it was evident that they hadn’t had sex but had ‘finished’ in another kind of way.

A gasp got stuck in her throat as her eyes trembled. Not knowing if she was going to scream or jump on Ichigo in order to hurt his Hollow, she put a hand over her mouth while her other hand was clenched into a painfully tight fist at her side. Taking a couple of deep breaths, she managed to keep from yelling and acting violent. The Hollow was part of Ichigo, so hurting the Hollow would be like hurting him, right? That was what kept her from attacking at all. It wasn’t Ichigo’s fault that he couldn’t control the thing.

What’s making him come out though?

“I remember waking up on top of her and…”, he coughed behind his hand, opening his bleary eyes that were always staring forward at nothing and no one. “I saw her tied up and crying there, saying how sorry she was and that it was all her fault.”

This is… sick.

“The Hollow told me that night something about her being his. He sounded so sure of himself and from all that has happened he was right because now Inoue defends him all the time,” the words left his lips so low and bitterly that she felt there was some envy backing them up.

“What do you mean ‘defending’?” her brows knitted together.

Tatsuki hadn’t seen Orihime close to Ichigo any time recently. Could it be that she had defended the monster at lunch and that was why Ichigo had yelled at her?

“I-I fucked up… big time,” he smiled a self-loathing mirthless smile.

Suddenly feeling her anger boil, she asked sharply, “What do you mean you fucked up?”

“I tried to talk her out of seeing him anymore and offered myself.”

Her jaw dropped.

He’s still with Rukia and he’s selling himself to Inoue so she wont be with his Hollow anymore?!

“But she just doesn’t want me. When I kissed her she pushed me away and told me to get out of her apartment, and kept insisting that I needed to fix things with Rukia…”

Breathing heavily through her nose, she thought just how stupid Ichigo could be in doing that to Orihime when all she had wanted was his love. Her friend had given up gracefully, though heartbroken when he had started his relationship with Rukia.

How his actions had completely twisted Orihime’s good intentions towards him and that joke of a relationship with the shinigami made Tatsuki swing her open palm at the side of his face without thinking it twice.

“What the fuck is the matter with you, Ichigo?! Don’t you know that she loves you?! She has always loved you though I don’t know why, but she does! You’ve insulted her by telling her that bullshit! You practically treated her like a whore! That sonovabitch might be a part of you, but he’s not you! Get it through your skull! He’s not you! You are a totally different guy!”

Ichigo cupped his stinging cheek and finally looked at her, stunned at her shout that probably drew the attention of all students passing by to enter the school.

“What do you mean she has always loved me?”

“You really are an idiot!” she gritted furiously through her teeth. “That girl has loved you since sixth grade!” his eyes grew larger at the truth, but Tatsuki was going to keep going. She had to make him see what a fool he had been for all of the years he had ignored her friend.

“For that long?” he asked slowly as if not believing her.

Rolling her eyes, fuming at having to explain something so simple, she nodded. “Remember that day those eighth graders grabbed her behind the bleachers and pinned her down to cut her hair?”

His face tensed at recalling that day. That had been the day that Orihime had finally met Kurosaki Ichigo. Tatsuki shuddered. After they had become friends, Orihime had told her about the boys trying to do other things to her, but what stood out most in her horrid traumatizing tale was how Ichigo had appeared and saved her just before the attack had turned sexually aggressive.

Tatsuki had been just entering class from lunch when a couple of students had rushed in yelling something about Kurosaki beating up some guys and getting pretty banged up in the process. Curious about it, most of all since her friend had been dragged to the principal’s office after the fight, she had slipped out of the classroom to find out more. What she had found sitting in front of the office’s reception desk was a bruised disgruntled Ichigo and a small girl that trembled uncontrollably on the seat beside him. She had observed them from the other side of the glass in the hallway, wondering why Ichigo would fight just for any stranger. The girl went to their class, but she wasn’t someone in their group. If he had fought for her there had to be something powerful behind it.

That was when she saw the pile of shorn reddish locks the girl clutched to her lap as her shoulders shook in sobs. Ichigo had said something to her that Tatsuki couldn’t hear and the girl looked up, revealing her face that had some faint scratches. Tatsuki had gaped, finally understanding. Someone had attacked the girl, a girl she barely knew of, a girl that didn’t speak or bother anyone. She couldn’t see why anyone would want to hurt someone that was as sweet and shy as the girl that always hid her smiles behind her hand and jumped whenever someone spoke to her.

To Tatsuki it was barbaric, yet seeing how tears filling her eyes refused to fall, she thought that though she was a victim she was stronger than people would have thought. A concealed resilience hovered just underneath her broken appearance. It was almost unnoticeable, but still there and she had sensed it upon seeing how she mustered a smile for Ichigo before looking down at the balled up hair in her fists.

The sight of the girl whose beautiful hair had been cut so viciously had been branded into her mind, most of all when she heard from other students that her older brother died days after the incident.

Knowing that her brother was all she had, she decided to befriend her, not wanting to see that sight again. She had sensed the girl’s loneliness cloaking the classroom and how she always had downcast eyes, how she dragged her feet out of the classroom each day to just start running suddenly if someone raised their voices and frightened her.

It didn’t take long for her to realize that Orihime had developed a crush on Ichigo. She wasn’t sure if it was out of gratitude or admiration for his quick defense towards her. A crush was still a crush.

Everyone but him, saw it. Tatsuki would see how Orihime’s smile would brighten at the sight of him or how her voice would have a lightness and excitement whenever he was in the same room. How could he be so damned blind to that? Orihime had been practically yelling how she felt for him straight to his face.

He’s not that bright. Should have figured he wouldn’t notice.

Orihime wasn’t the kind of girl that fought or threw tantrums. No, never Orihime. She was the girl that suffered in silence and faced things bravely and conforming with the little others gave her. There was no limits to how selfless that girl could be. Tatsuki had known that after befriending her when she had asked why she hadn’t pressed charges against the older boys that had assaulted her.

“I didn’t want my brother to worry… or anyone to get in trouble because of me,” Orihime had told her quietly, shooting her a shy glance from under her bangs as they walked over to her apartment days after her brother’s death.

Her friend’s resilience was being tested now. Well it had always been under a never ending test with all of the bad luck the poor girl had suffered being born to abusive parents to later lose the protective brother that had been like her father so abruptly.

“I didn’t know, Tatsuki…,” Ichigo whispered. “She never said anything.”

“She didn’t have to,” she said in a dull tone. “It was plain for you to see and now it’s too late.”

“What do you mean it’s too late?” stiffening, his voice had turned sharp.

“Because she finally found someone who sees her.”

Though she hated to admit it, the Hollow had done something that none of them could have.

He had given Orihime a purpose, as twisted as it was. For a girl that didn’t feel wanted for being her, the monster’s attention was a dark salve that brought out the strength she hid behind bright smiles.

For the first time in years, Tatsuki didn’t see Orihime suffering in silence. No. Now her friend was letting it out, setting that grief, and anger free, giving up on unconditional conformism and self-sacrifice. For once, she didn’t have to wince at how her friend was being trampled on by those she loved and were too self-absorbed to notice the true her.

I still don’t like the thought of that Hollow though…

“I can’t believe you, Tatsuki”, he breathed in disbelief backing away from her slightly as if she had lost her mind.

“I can’t believe myself either…” she said more to herself than to him.

***

She was sure she had felt the Hollow upon entering the school’s courtyard. Orihime bit her lower lip and walked slowly up the cement walkway that lead to the front steps of the school, keeping all of her senses pealed just in case she was wrong.

Is he really…?

Feeling some excitement and a bit of nervousness that was hard to hide, she tightly squeezed and twisted the strap of the backpack she let dangle from both her hands out in front of her.

Taking a couple of cautionary steps, she discreetly glanced to the side, certain that the dark caressing energy emanated from somewhere off to her left.

Her lips slightly parted at seeing the Hollow standing next to Tatsuki. Both of them had their backs turned to her and from how the Hollow nodded and stood strangely, he was pretending to be Ichigo again.

What is he doing talking to Tatsuki?

As if hearing her mental question, the Hollow’s pale face turned to the side and she shivered at how one of his feverish gold eyes raked her form. A familiar teasing smile lifted the corner of his thin pale lips.

Before Orihime could stop herself or run into the school like a coward, she felt her lips smiling back in greeting.

***

Author’s Note: Thanks to Boogermeister and Valmasy03 for reviewing! About the threesome, I had thought about doing one at first (because two guys is sometimes waaaaaay better than one), but then I thought that it would go against the plot of the fic. (I had originally planned on having Ichigo turning kinky nasty when he had been about to untie Orihime from the bed in chapter four). I might (strong might) write a threesome with a Hichi/Hime/Ichi sandwich (love those) in the future as a one-shot or drabble. Not sure yet since I plan on another fic connected to this one with Tatsuki/(?) (won’t tell, but you guys will be surprised at who her lovely man is going to be. HAHAHAH!!! I can’t help but droooooool.) and I have to finish my other one too. Hope you guys liked chappie! Hehehehe… Rukia is so going to find out… Oh, the anticipation! (And Ichigo had one hell of a rude awakening out of that nice wet dream, huh? That was like an astral bitchslap for the poor guy! *feels bad for him* Don’t you guys hate that it was all just a dream?! At least he got some though… Hehehehhehe…) At Sumeiia. Hehehehe… this pairing has a lot of smut potential and usually people tend to write them in more happy settings. I thought that they needed a change and some more realism. I think that if something like this would have happened in the Bleach Universe a lot of Orihime’s friends would be reacting this way. I try to keep them IC (makes it better since people could be like: That reaction doesn’t surprise me. LOL) Though I can’t promise there won’t be fluff (I would kinda suck at writing it. *grimace*), sometime in the future Shirosaki will have to adapt to humanity. Not too much though. I like him mean and unpredictable, but if he is going to want to be with his lil’ hime, he’ll have to conform with some human rules. (I hate the thought of changing him. I might just keep him the same while he secretly continues his mayhem. He’s just so sexy that way.) Love you like the fic! If anyone is wondering if Ichigo heard Tatsuki’s revelation, the answer is YES, but Hichigo took over just when Orihime came into the yard. And also, I wanted Tatsuki to turn into a sort of accomplice which is why I showed a profound facet of how she had always viewed both Orihime and Ichigo. (Sorry the end came out sappy! Its just that Orihime is finally starting to understand her dark ‘I want to do something for me’ side! *winces*) I kinda didn’t like this chapter. Please tell me whatcha think! (I’ll probably have to go over this whole story to make sure my grammar isn’t a complete and utter disaster since English is my second language.)