Admiral Orihime

After the tests, Orihime sat outside under a tree enjoying the view. Sitting like this really brought her to a state of serenity. She pondered life in general as she watched students bustling about. The semester hadn't started yet but there were hundreds of souls trying to take the entrance exam. Once they passed, they stayed in the dorms.

A young-looking man approached Orihime. She recognized him as a student but only that much. She figured he was a mob character, but this also meant she was starting to carve a life of her own in this world. She smiled up at him when he started talking.

"Hello, I'm Sixth-year Hitsuraku Kentaro. I haven't seen you around before, are you new?"

"Yes, hello senpai, I'm First-year Orihime Inoue. Nice to meet you."

"Oh, you're the incredible First-year that I have been hearing about. How did you do on your entrance exam?"

"I'm not that incredible. And I did fine."

From the gate, Rukia stood waving at Orihime dressed in a blue kimono with white flowers. She shouted out for her, causing a large crowd of people to gather and come look at the prodigal student. This caused Orihime much distress. She said goodbye to the senior and ran toward Rukia.

It was dually embarrassing, since students weren't allowed to use any techniques on school grounds without permission. Therefore, she ran on foot giving everyone a chance to watch her. When she reached Rukia's side, she grabbed her arm and quickly ushered her outside.

"Rukia, how are you doing."

"I am a lot better now, Orihime. I'm really excited that you're staying with us. It's only my brother, shadow guards, and servants at the manor."

"How… how is your brother?"

"He's all healed up! Although, he's been treating me a lot better than before. I can sense the guilt in his heart because of my sister. It has made me rethink my life and the guilt and regrets I've accumulated…"

"Let's go together."

"What... what do you mean?"

"You want to apologize to the Shiba family, right?"

Rukia nodded and walked towards the manor in silence for a while. She had teared up a little but managed to hold it in. Orihime felt this was a good chance to sail her ship.

"But, that's not the only regret you have… right?"

"I… don't know what you mean."

"A certain red-haired scoundrel from the Rukon district?"

"What!? I have nothing to talk to him about!"

"Really? Wasn't he rather cool risking his life and breaking the law to save you by fighting your brother? He's a bit dense and bad with words but…"

Before she could finish Rukia covered Orihime's mouth. She had turned red at this point and didn't want her to finish saying it. Orihime remained quiet, but occasionally gave her teasing glances.

"I heard from Captain Hitsugaya that Renji might get transferred to the world of the living for breaking the law."

This caused Rukia to stop in her tracks. Orihime didn't notice until her arm was pulled backward. She turned around and saw Rukia with a blank face.

"Is he really getting punished for that? It was all that traitor Aizen's ploy…"

"Oh, sorry for scaring you Rukia, he'll be fine. Byakuya already acquitted him. They probably just want to set an example and they need someone to monitor Urahara."

They walked silently for a while until Rukia finally spoke up.

"You're right Orihime. I should go talk to him before he leaves…"

Orihime nodded and smiled at Rukia.

'All aboard the SS RenRuki, whoo~whoo~.'

…

The Kuchiki manor was truly magnificent. It was a large compound made up of several lakes, ponds, grasslands and buildings. There were many cherry blossom trees planted throughout the compound which will make for a wonderful spring.

Standing by the large gates was a man dressed in servant uniform. He greeted Rukia and Orihime when they arrived, and escorted them to the guest courtyard she would be staying in. Orihime could barely sense the dozens of guards hiding in the shadows.

Along the way, the steward explained off-limits areas and the rules inside the compound. He also showed her the way to the training area and where meals will be served. Since she was a guest, her range of activities were limited by a lot.

However, given the immense size of the manor grounds, she still had more than enough room to wander. She was even given permission to make minor changes to the garden in her courtyard. Originally, she just wanted to get closer to Byakuya, but these living conditions were high class.

"Orihime, I've been meaning to ask, weren't your eyes brown before?"

"Uryuu asked me that too. I guess my eye color changed because of the fusion of soul and body? I'm not really sure."

'It was definitely because hogyoku finished renovating my soul for Byakuya. Hisana had purple and blue eyes after all.' Orihime thought.

"I promised to have tea with my brother, so I'll come by tonight." Rukia seemed convinced. Once they reached the main building of the guest courtyard, Rukia left.

Once Orihime settled down, she saw that her closet was packed with beautiful Kimono's. She looked through them and saw one light pink Kimono with a cherry blossom design on it. She changed and then went to look around her courtyard.

"Its already been a month since I came to this world. These times of peace are definitely going to be rare."

She thought about the future. Orihime wasn't sure what kind of trick Urahara planted in Rukia's soul, but it would definitely make future battles easier versus Aizen. She was amazed at how intelligent Urahara was. If she could help it, she wanted to stop him from dying.

Orihime smirked at the thought of Aizen and Yhwach's expressions when she scams them. Knowing the future and having the ultimate cheat, the hogyoku, is wonderful. She found a tree with nice shade and sat under it. Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.

…

When she woke up, it was already evening. She got up and stretched which led her to discover a pink haori was placed over her shoulders. Orihime assumed it was from Rukia since she said she'd stop by around this time.

'She probably left since I was asleep. We have plenty of time now so I'm not in a rush.'

She switched to a plain white kimono and began practicing her sword skills. Although it didn't suit her, not getting a perfect score on the entrance exam was irksome. After a thousand swings she put away her Zanpakuto and began her other training regiments.

…

The next morning, Rukia and Orihime met up at the training area within the manor grounds. Since Rukia hadn't been reinstated yet, she wore a plain kimono like Orihime. Additionally, since her powers still hadn't returned, she didn't have a Zanpakuto.

However, she wasn't at a disadvantage because Orihime's unique abilities were also sealed. She thought this would be a good opportunity to practice not relying on her barriers and healing. The two of them begin to have a war of Kido techniques.

At first, they were trading a few blows with Hakudo, and used the occasional Bakudo. However, this ended when Rukia accidently shot a large amount of dust and dirt into the air onto Orihime. After that, Orihime would replicate every Kido Rukia used perfectly out of spite.

Orihime noticed that her enhanced perception had many uses. She was able to read the hand gestures and rotation of Reiatsu quickly enough to duplicate it and counterattack with the same move. The competitive nature of their training caused Rukia to use up all of what little Reiatsu she had.

They decided to go take a bath together through Orihime's insisting. However, what they didn't expect was that Yachiru had snuck into the compound and joined them.

"Byakki is so stuck up, he said I can't come here whenever I want! What do you think Ruki-Ruki, Jiggles?"

"I think Captain Kuchiki isn't that bad, he let me stay here after all."

"It is a bit rude for you to show up un announced, Yachiru."

"Good then its agreed! I will be hosting the next Soul Reaper Women's Association meeting here!"

Yachiru floated over and climbed up onto Orihime's head, before jumping into the water. Orihime and Rukia looked at each other with resignation. Rukia left first since she was getting lightheaded, so Orihime floated over to Yachiru to talk privately with her.

"Hey Yachiru, do you like being with Kenpachi?"

"Of course! Kenny is the best."

Orihime looked at her sympathetically. She silently added Yachiru to the list of people she wanted to protect in the final arc. Orihime didn't like that this lovely bundle of energy would have to disappear in order for Kenpachi to release his Zanpakuto.

"Yachiru, when I get stronger, I'll definitely make sure you and Kenpachi can keep having fun together!"

"Hehe, jiggles, you say really weird things."