Become A Ghost

Become a Ghost, Chapter Twenty-Eight

"Orihime," Byakuya breathed. "You have -"

"I am the slave who rules the world," she finished, and the last spark flew up, forming the last point of the circle. "Bankai."

Golden light exploded around them, rendering them all blind for a long, paralyzed moment. It faded to reveal the ring had shifted to form an orb, gently bobbing five feet above the ground. In the center of the orb was Orihime, barely visible through the gleaming barrier. The orb began to shrink around her, and Byakuya realized that it was actually soaking into her, being absorbed by her body until it was gone.

...as was her clothing, which appeared to have simply disappeared. Instead of her shihakushou, she was wearing nothing but a scarf of what looked to be gauze woven from pure sunlight, drifting and winding around her body as if it were alive. Her hair was floating around her, like it would if she were underwater. Her skin looked different, too— it was sparkling, as if it had been dusted with gold powder.

And behind her head was a halo, with six small, petal-shaped spikes, all gleaming brightly, as if a little sun had taken position over her.

They all gaped witlessly at Orihime, even Aizen and his Espada, and for good reason: the gauze of the scarf was practically see-through, so the parts of her body it "covered" were still pretty much nude. A fiery blush scalded over her, and she began to wring her hands in dismay.

"Um. So. The being-naked thing was Tsubaki's idea of a joke," she mumbled to the knot she'd made of her fingers.

"Don't change on our account," said Shinji. His eyes were wide with delight, as if all his birthdays had come at once. Orihime's blush had faded everywhere but her face, which maintained its tomato-like hue at Shinji's comment. Byakuya shot him a glare that had the other man sidling away, for safety's sake.

Orihime in bankai would have been amazing by itself, and Orihime naked would have been even more so. Both at the same time had Byakuya nearly overwhelmed, and he made himself a promise to talk her into releasing her bankai at some point in the near future when they were alone.

Their opponents had begun to recover by this point, and the members of their group were engaging once again in their respective battles. Byakuya was just turning back to Orihime when fresh-scented air wafted by him on a current of sparkling light, and he spun to find that Orihime had dashed past to intercept an oncoming Hollow.

Orihime's embarrassment faded quickly when she noticed a little reptilian Adjuchas trying to sneak up on Byakuya when he was distracted by Shinji, and almost before she had a conscious thought about how to proceed, she was already doing it. It seemed like all she needed to get past her misgivings and worries regarding her powers (and her nudity) was for Byakuya to be in danger, and she went on Hollow-killing autopilot.

She was barely able to place herself between Byakuya and the Adjuchas before it struck, and the creature's claws struck her bare arm with a clang before bouncing off harmlessly. It was so weird, so counter to everything she knew and had experienced, that her shielding properties would have become a part of her body.

The Adjuchas reared back in shock, to be so rebuffed, but soon recovered and came in for another blow. Orihime held out her hand, and a shaft of golden light streamed from it, looking very sword-like. She made a slashing movement with her hand, and the light-sword passed through the Adjuchas, but left no wound behind.

Instead, a glimmering streak traced over where a sword would have struck, growing and expanding until the entire creature was overcome. It began convulsing, and in the space of mere moments, its more humanoid shape devolved as a half-dozen Gillians exploded out of it. They began roaring in wordless fury before advancing on Orihime.