Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Ginger Snaps ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

A/N: Quick update since I know that writing about Gin is going to bite me in the ass in the next few weeks. And a bit more background on Orihime since I'm aware she's coming off as OOC.

I do not own Bleach, if I did - they would have just come out and said that Koga was Byakuya's father, rather than beating around the bush and doing that whole "raindrops as tears" cliché. If you watched the filler episodes, you know what I'm talking about.

Warning: Crazy ass manga spoilers.

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Orihime woke up in the early afternoon the next day and pulled the thick blanket off of her face. She still wasn't used to the brightness of the sun, even if it was muted through the translucent screen on the door. She was glad that she didn't go overboard with the sake the night before, otherwise she would be in agony right now. It was bad enough that she sat up half the night in shock over her intense makeout session in the back hall of the 1st. Just thinking about Ukitake made her subconsciously bring her fingers to her mouth again. His lips were so soft and warm. It was unlike the demanding and possessive kisses she had shared with Ulquiorra. Oh man, she was thinking about him again. He's gone. Stop. Thinking. Now.

Since she was still wearing the reiatsu binders, it was a lucky thing that Captain Unohana was allowing her to stay in the 4th's spare barracks indefinitely, at least she knew that no one would ever dare to harm her here. It wasn't that she had any threats specifically, or that she felt any murderous intent toward herself, it was just that she was used to having to sleep with one eye open due to almost everyone ALWAYS wanting her either dead or naked in Hueco Mundo.

She was relieved that the Captain-Commander had decided to seal her reiatsu for the time being, even if it was out of fear that she might "reject" the existence of certain people, or possibly all of Seireitei. HE still didn't fully trust her, and she honestly didn't trust herself. She was still too jumpy, always seeing shadows lurking out of the corners of her eyes and sometimes having dark thoughts that were so unlike her - or unlike the person she used to be. In time she hoped that she would be stable enough to head back to the real world, to see her friends again, but she knew that wasn't possible right now.

Sitting up fully, Orihime spied a note had been slipped under the door while she slept. Daring to hope it was from Captain Ukitake, she crawled halfway off the futon to reach it. Upon opening it, she was only slightly disappointed that it was from Rangiku, letting her know that "The best way to cure a hangover was to keep drinking!" Ran wrote down the address of the bar over by the 8th that her and Captain Kyoraku were heading to for their hangover cures.

Poor Ran, Gin should have probably killed her rather than leave her bleeding and incapacitated on that roof. It may have been more merciful. Orihime mentally slapped herself, she was thinking like one of them again. Not good. Really, really not good.

If she could catch Rangiku sober for a half a minute, she could talk to her about what she noticed with Gin in Hueco Mundo. But she needed Ran's head straight for this conversation, because Orihime wasn't sure if this knowledge was going to hurt her more. Gin had died in a horrible way, and honestly it might be better to keep her mouth shut and let everyone in Soul Society believe what they wanted to.

Brushing her teeth, trying to tame her hair into some semblance of order, and dressing quickly in one of the 4th's spare uniforms, she headed out toward the 8th division to begin what she knew was going to be an uncomfortable day. But all her days in the past year were uncomfortable - she could never shake the bad thoughts or stop wondering if anything lurked in the shadows, and she began to think it would have been more merciful if Gin, Grimmjow, or Ulquiorra would have just let her die in Hueco Mundo as well.

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Even though it was a Sunday, it was barely two in the afternoon; Orihime arrived to find the bar packed. It seemed that everyone was drinking off their hangovers. It wasn't hard to find her friends - Ichigo and Renji were loud as hell comparing their heroics while in the desert, Rukia looked bored because this happened all the time, Hisagi was stealing sake from Renji's bottle while the redhead was distracted, Rangiku and Captain Kyoraku were flirting shamelessly with each other, and Kira sat in the corner looking like a kicked puppy. And everyone, with the exception of Rukia, was thoroughly inebriated.

Orihime sat down unnoticed in the last empty seat next to Captain Kyoraku toward the end of the table intending to keep to herself for as long as possible.

"Orihime! You made it!" Kyoraku exclaimed loudly, throwing an arm around her shoulders and clasping her body to his. "See I told you guys she would come! How are you doing?"

She flinched at the sudden smell of stale sake and noted that he probably hadn't changed his clothes since the party last night. She turned wide-eyed over to Rukia for help, only to find her chuckling openly at the poor choice of seating. Turning back to Captain Kyoraku, she noticed that even though he was smiling wide at her, it didn't reach his eyes. They seemed hollow. They seemed to reflect what she was feeling day to day, and she couldn't figure out how he had the energy to pretend otherwise. But if he could do it, so could she. "Fake it to make it!" she remembered her brother Sora saying about one of his business meetings.

Orihime gave everyone her best million-watt smile. "I'm great! Better than ever! And I'm starved! I could really so for some waffles with bean paste, do they carry that here?"

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Reviews are pretty sweet, and they let me know what I need to improve.