The Reason

A/N: I am so sorry I haven't updated this fic but the bunny for it took a world wide vacation I think so I hope this chapter is welcomed.


Chapter 6


It had been four years since Orihime had entered the Soul Society. She had graduated the academy at the top of the class, learning to use her new shinigami powers instead of relying on her flowers all the time.


It had been hard the first few weeks, people continued to say that it was Vice Captain Abarai who got her in but as she climbed up the classes and proved her power, the rumors stopped at the realization it was her own ability that got her in.


Today was the day the recruits had been waiting for. They were going to go through testing to see which division they would be placed in. The newly graduated students had already went through the written testing and was currently working on the practical part of the exam.


First up was using their spell work to hit targets, arranged at certain yardage. Orihime hit nine out of the ten, only missing the final one but just millimeters. As she walked back to the congratulations of friends, she heard a familiar voice calling spells.

"It can't be. There is no way." , she thought as she continued to stare at the male.


"Orihime Inoue, please go to the gated part for your dummy hollow mission.", a teacher spoke.

"Of course. Thank you, Sir."


When they got to the gate, he smiled. "Remember, you have an hour to hunt down and kill the dummy hollow. If you run into problems or are injured, use a spell to send up red sparks and the captains, who are stationed around will come in and rescue you."

"Thank you.", she spoke and bowed in respect.

"Your time starts now. Good luck Miss Inoue."


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The captains watched as Orihime was constantly looking around. First she would scan the grass area, then the trees and follow with the sky. She eased around rocks to look, knowing that the hollows could be anywhere.

After spending twenty minutes looking, a howling sound was heard. Orihime immediately pulled out her zampakato and took a fighting stance. The hollow that came, froze her for a minute.


It looked exactly like the hollow of her brother, except this one had no hair. It was that scene that froze her for a split second and that was all it took for the dummy to attack her, cutting her shoulder. It howled at her again and Orihime raised her zampakato.

"KOKU HANA!"

The observers watched in shock as numerous flowers appeared over the hollow. The hollow then screamed in pain, vanishing as the flowers sliced into it. Orihime then stood to her feet, staggering and made her way back to the gate.

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Captain Unohana sighed as she patched up Orihime's shoulder. "It could have been worse, Miss Inoue. It was told to me you froze for a moment."

"Just a bad memory, Captain Unohana. I know we aren't supposed to freeze and I thank you for healing me. Something's are just better left in the past."

"You still did good. It only took you twenty five minutes to dispose of the hollow."

Orihime sighed. "That's too long. In a real battle, I would have been dead. Thank you for the treatment, Captain. Excuse me."


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At the end of the day, Orihime stood staring at the male she had heard speaking before. He turned to look at her, only to jerk his head forwards again to listen to the speaker at the front.


The female went through the divisions, calling out the names for them. Orihime sighed as she thought about the dummy hollow test, knowing that getting injured ruined her chances of getting in a good squad.


She smiled at the recruits as they were called for the Sixth Division. Her head shot up at hearing a name and she knew she had been correct in her thoughts earlier in the day. "Sado Yasutora."


She smiled at him as he met her eyes and the other recruits stepped to the side, viably shaken by his presence. She turned her attention back to the front.

"The final recruit for the Sixth Division, Orihime, Inoue. Sixth Division, please follow your captain back to the barracks to get your rooms and orders."


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Byakuya looked at the ten recruits. "I am your captain, Byakuya Kuchiki, this is your vice captain, Renji Abarai. You will answer to no other than us two. Tonight, get aquatinted with everything in the barracks and the division. Tomorrow, your training will start. Feel free to mingle with each other, lights are out at eleven. Make sure you are in your quarters then. Your names have already been placed on the doors. The sleeping arrangements are one to a room. That is all. Orihime Inoue and Sado Yasutora, remain behind. The rest of you are dismissed."

Byakuya and Renji took the two of them into the office and the captain nodded to Orihime.

"How?"

Chad chuckled. "I have been here for four years. I was in the academy with you. I picked to come to the society, never to return to the real world as a human. I felt you needed at least one friend who you knew before you died. You have grown in power, Orihime."

Orihime smiled. I am glad you are here, Chad. I missed all my ..friends."


Byakuya nodded. "More importantly, Orihime. There is something to discuss."


Orihime waited till he spoke.


"Today, you called your zampakato. What is it's name?"


Orihime swallowed. "Hana"


"And it has spoken to you?"


Orihime nodded. "Yes, Sir."


"How long have you known it's name?"


"Since the day I received her."


Renji chuckled. "You never cease to surprise us, Orihime."


Byakuya held up his hand. "We shall talk about that later. There is something more important. Today when you were in front of the dummy hollow, you froze. Why was that?"

Orihime closed her eyes. "The hollow looked like my brother did in that form. The only difference was that my brother's hair shown, this one's did not. It was like looking upon my brother again."


Byakuya nodded and released a breath. "I thought as much. For now I give you leave to go back to your barracks. You will be in the room you had before. I will talk with Chad for a while. Renji will escort you back to your room."


Orihime stood and bowed, walking out with Renji and shutting the door. Byakuya leveled his gaze on Chad.

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"What are your intentions to Orihime?"


Chad's eyes went wide. "I have no intentions then being her friend. I would like to know what this is about?"

Byakuya stood and walked over to the window.


"Someone loves Orihime. While he doesn't realize his feelings go that deep, it is only a matter of time before he comes to that realization. He has waited all this time while she was in the academy. I have seen women throw themselves at him and he ignores them. I do not want him hurt as he was before. I think Orihime is the right woman for him and that is why I haven't spoken against it."


Chad looked over with a nod. "It's Vice Captain Abarai, isn't it?"


Byakuya turned with a soft smile. "It is. As I said, he doesn't realize he loves her yet. I did not pick her to be in this division, based on that alone. I however, picked her due to her strength. I will not lie to you, it is very rare that a recruit straight out of the academy, can call an attack with their zampakato. I was shocked myself when she did it. Had I known about the hollow's form, I would have not allowed her to go in then."


Chad nodded. "I understand. Even I could see the hidden feelings when the vice captain had her butterfly form in his hands. I have also seen him hanging around the academy to get a glance at her. I will make sure that no other males approach her for other than friendship. They were both hurt, her by Ichigo and him by Rukia. I think they will do good for each other. But will there be a problem with him being a ranked officer, dating a non ranking one of his division?"


Byakuya shook his head. "Even if there was such a rule, I would override it for them. It is going to be hard to get them to admit their feelings. We can't push their choice but I do appreciate your help with this. I will inform Renji that your feelings are of friendship only. Maybe this will help him come forth with his own. I will see you in the morning."


Chad stood and bowed to Byakuya. "I thank you for your time, Captain. I will do my best not to let you down."

Byakuya smirked. "See that you don't Chad. Your strength is welcomed in this division."


The Sixth Division Captain locked up the office after Chad had exited and smiled. He turned towards the Forth Division, heading to see his own girlfriend. He just hoped that Renji would make his move quick because he knew that Orihime's powers would cause many males to want to be with her.


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A/N 2:

The attack that Orihime called out was "Koku Hana" which translates to "Cutting Flower". I wanted to keep her true to her flower theme that she has so I used that. However, Orihime's zampakato will be different. All she has to do is call out an action like cutting and combine it with the zampakato's name, making the effect. I was playing on Byakuya's way of when he orders his own zampakato to scatter.

I also wanted to keep her somewhat real to the way she uses her flowers to do their orders. While she will still be able to use them, I am having her rely on her zampakato for attacking instead of using Tsubaki all the time.

I hope I have cleared up misunderstandings and explained why her zampakato will be different.