Corroded Spirits

Corroded Spirits: 3

Chapter 3: Faint Memories

 "Wait, I think that you shouldn't press on with this." Ichigo said, as he followed Toshiro, Byakuya and Ukitake through the long hall. 

"If it bothers you so much, then why do you insist on coming with us?" Byakuya asked while taking a short glance over his shoulder. Ichigo only looked back sternly at the captain. 

"I think Kuchiki-taichou is right. Maybe you should sit this one out, Kurosaki-san." Ukitake suggested. 

Ichigo was about to answer, but Toshiro at the front spoke up. "We're here." They stopped at the familiar door that lead to the room, where Orihime was. Toshiro opened it without a second thought, and they all entered. 

 Ichigo quickly scanned the walls, as he entered, noting that the red blood that had smeared them the night before, were all wiped clean. The many Squad 4 officers must've stayed up all night long to clean it up. His eyes suddenly fell to the floor, at the spot where they had found the nearly dead Hanatarou. Just the thought made Ichigo's skin cold. Shaking his head, he looked up and set his eyes straight at the person they had come to talk with. "Orihime Inoue.."

 Orihime, who was sat on the floor, was running her fingers across the floor's lines, while humming something inaudible. "Orihime.." Toshiro called again. Orihime only kept tracing the lines on the floor, her humming slowly getting louder. 

"Orihime." Ukitake called patiently, still the girl wouldn't raise her head. Now she was running her nails on the floor, despite the fact that they were still crooked and split from the time when she clawed at the walls of her cell in Hueco Mundo. 

"Inoue!" Ichigo yelled, making the trio of Captains jerk towards him. While they looked at him, Orihime slowly raised her head as well. 

"Why are you calling me that?" Orihime said all of the sudden, making all of the boys look at her. 

"What did you just say, Orihime?" Toshiro asked.

 Orihime turned her head so she was at the right angle to look at all of them. "They never called me Orihime or Inoue.." She whispered, twiddling with her fingers. Ichigo's brows twitched in confusion, but the three Captains took it as a chance to half-question her.

 "What do you mean by that?" Toshiro asked. 

Orihime looked down at her fingers. "They always called me 'human', or just 'you', or 'pest', sometimes 'pet'..." She hummed, picking hard at her nails at each name. "But the name they called me the most, was 'woman'." She finished, with a hard, slash of nail against nail.

 "Are you speaking of the Arrancars?" Byakuya asked. But his question was unheard. 

"I can still remember." Orihime whispered to herself as her grey eyes began to look back.

---- ---- ----

 She shivered and winced, as the group of broken-masked Hollows that surrounded the hall that she was currently walking in. Their gazes and knowing grins sent shivers up her spine, and thoughts she knew that they wanted to do with her. Meant to do, had the Arrancar escorting her from behind wasn't there. 

 Back at Aizen's throne room, there seemed to be so few Arrancar. She knew that he was making an army, but she never realized they would be this many. "Keep moving." The Arrancar whispered behind her, as he laid  a hand on her shoulder, and slightly pushed her forward to pick up her pace.

 As they hurried on, the Arrancars began to spout nonesense at her in a language that she could not quite understand. But she could make out the words 'pest', 'pet', 'meat' here and there. For some reason, they seemed to be coming closer, drawing in on her at her each step. One of them was close enough to claw at her face; she only closed her eyes to shut away the sight to come. 

 Only it didn't. There was a loud swoop of wind, that caused her to open her eyes again. She looked up and saw all the Arrancars now drawing back into the shadows. She took her eyes off of them, and then looked over her shoulder, where her escort was standing.

 It was obvious that he had let out a considerable amount of Reiatsu to scare off the Arrancars, judging by the look he had. He looked slowly to his right and then to his left. "Lord Aizen has entrusted the care of this woman to me." 

Orihime mulled over the name given to her with a little disdain, but it was better than the ones that the Arrancars were calling her. Without a word from him, he pushed her onwards and they continued their walk. They stopped in front of a large white door, the last door, seemingly, at the end of the hall they've been walking in. Her ecscort moved to the side, (making no move to remove his hand from her shoulder), and pushed the door open with one hand.

 He and the girl entered together. The room was small, big enough for just one person. It was white all over, with only a small, lumpy-looking couch, a rag on the floor as furniture. And a single high window at the end of the room. It was definitely a prison cell. 

"Uh.." Just as she was about to speak, her escort removed his hand from her shoulder and turned back to the open door. "Uh.. uhm.." She muttered, but went ignored. 

"You will be occupying this room, for the remainder of your stay." He said, as he turned in the doorway and faced her. "I will be tending to your necessities, just as Lord Aizen had ordered, there will be no complications with that." He said, not missing a beat. The girl only nodded.

 "Uh.. T-thank you.. For scaring those Arrancars away." She said all the sudden before he could take a step.

 "Don't be ridiculous, woman. My actions are based on the orders I follow. Do not make the mistake of feeling the need to give me your gratitude over petty things." He said and walked off.

 The girl sighed quietly as the door shut loudly in on her, and she was all alone. Alone in unknown territory; away from the place she called home; and away from the people she called family. She turned and looked out into the high window, one that she will come to find solace in, throughout her stay. Thus, Orihime Inoue's days as the prisoner of Hueco Mundo began.
---- ---- ----

 "I remember..." Orihime let herself trail off as she looked up. Her visistors were no longer in the room. 

"They've left already." A voice said from the corner of the room. 

 Orihime fixated her eyes on said area and let it stay there.

 "What are you thinking about?" The voice asked. 'He' asked. 

"Faint memories.. Of you and me." Orihime said. There was the small spike of dark Reiatsu, and the glint of what seemed to be faint green eyes hidden in the dark corner. 

"Me too." Ulquiorra whispered.