Green Eyes

The last thing that Orihime remembered was the world spinning and then smashing into the ground. The metal and stone around her were twisted and destroyed. She groaned and sat up. Standing in the sky above her was an Arrancar with three heads.

"I see. You tricked me. There were never five of you."

"Keke, how does it feel, Soul Reaper?"

"Yes, yes, I want to taste you slowly, so don't die."

"Are you feeling afrai—"

"How pathetic. You couldn't even maintain individuality after being transformed. You are no better than a Gillian."

Orihime realized she was facing an Adjuchas just based off its Reiatsu alone. She was trying to stretch for time as she prepared an original technique that is still untested. The three heads all roared in fury. They were completely unaware that all of the spirit particles in the area had been collecting around Orihime.

"You have angered us. We will rip you apart into three pieces!"

"Thanks for giving me a chance to recover, fool. I have never used this before, as it was just a theory. Be proud to be the first to witness it."

Her Reiatsu climbed to the peak and surrounded her in a thick golden light. Meanwhile, all of the spirit particles that she had gathered began to stick to her spiritual power and solidified around her. After a few seconds, a golden cloak that was crackling with lightning formed.

Orihime, now donned in a powerful Reiatsu, stood up and waved her hand. A column of golden light shot out from her sleeve and destroyed a third of the Arrancar's body. White substance poured out of the wound and began reforming the destroyed parts, while Orihime readjusted herself.

"I never cared for the heroes explaining their powers, but now I can kind of understand it. Listen here, ugly, this is a technique which I've created myself. I'm naming it Reikoromo (Spirit Cloak). It's made completely from spirit particles, which is constantly cycling through and enhancing my strength."

While the Arrancar finished healing the wounds, Orihime got comfortable with the surge in power, so they began trading blows again. Every fist Orihime threw, a column of golden lightning struck down. However, the Arrancar's healing capacity was unbelievable.

This level of healing was not normal for an Arrancar, so it must be their unique power. Orihime didn't see any other specialty, so that had to be the case. Although she mocked it, the multiple heads were able to launch Cero separately causing Orihime to block it with the cloaks full power.

One weakness was that during this state, she could not control Kido. However, the biggest weakness of this technique began to show after five minutes of endless exchanges. Blood started to trickle down from Orihime's arms and legs.

The technique trapped a lot of spiritual power in the cloak so it let off powerful attacks. However, she could not prevent it from leaking out and crushing her body at the same time. Fortunately, she noticed that the Arrancar's healing began to slow down and even one of the heads was destroyed beyond recovery.

This was a pathetic war of attrition that Orihime had to win. A surge of pain went through her arm and she clenched her jaw. The Arrancar took this as a chance to strike, and was about to land a clean hit, when two figures jumped out in front of Orihime. They were subsequently launched backward.

"Hitsuraku! Oshino! You idiots, are you trying to get yourselves killed?"

The two of them groaned on the ground several meters behind her. Their Zanpakuto's were completely shattered and they had a pool of blood around them.

"Orihime… we couldn't let you… fight alone."

In that moment of distraction, the Arrancar struck at Orihime again. However, the gigantic arm paused just before it landed. Rather, it was being held by a human-like figure with black hair, white skin, white outfit, and a partial Hollow mask—an Arrancar.

The man simply waved his free hand in a chopping motion and split the other Arrancar in half. Then, he turned to Orihime and waved his hand in a slapping motion. Unexpectedly, only the cloak was ripped from her body and there were no other injuries.

Losing the support from the cloak, Orihime fell to her knees. However, there was a look of extreme shock and panic in her eyes. The man in white walked over and looked down at Orihime. His cold, emotionless green eyes seemed to pierce right through her soul.

"So, you are the one Aizen wishes to capture. I have seen Humans, Hollows, Soul Reapers, and Arrancar. However, none of them evoked such a feeling. What is it about you that stimulates my instinct?"

Orihime never thought that she would be face to face with Ulquiorra Cifer, number four of the Espada, this early. After the initial shock disappeared, all the was left was determination. She would fight back with her life to delay him. A Vasto Lorde turned Arrancar would not be able to escape the detection of the Soul Society.

"That look in your eyes… perhaps I should just kill you..."

The two who were knocked away earlier ran in front of Orihime to protect her. Ulquiorra just looked at them while staying expressionless. He made a move to strike them down when Orihime shouted.

"No! Fight me, they aren't worth your effort!"

She ran forward and threw the two of them backward. Ulquiorra looked at her actions and seemed to make a decision. The air split in two behind him as a black line was drawn across it. Then, the line spread open and a void appeared—Garganta.

"You will come with me willingly. This is not a request, it is an order. Otherwise, I will kill these two, and then drag over every other soul and extinguish them in front of you as well."

Orihime gulped and realized that she was unable to escape her fate. Orihime was overcome with emotion. She now believed this would have happened no matter what she did. She knew there was no choice here. Ulquiorra would take her before Soul Society arrived, but still kill everyone here if she did not comply.

"If you are worried that I would kill them even after you go in, do not be. My orders were to capture you."

"I… know. Let me say goodbye first… please."

Ulquiorra did not say anything. At this point, Orihime turned and walked over to the two on the ground. She knelt down and looked around her shoulder before she started talking.

"I need to go to protect everyone. This was all my fault to begin with. Tell the reinforcements I have been kidnapped. Make sure they let Ichigo Kurosaki know. When you get back, go to the Kuchiki manor and tell Rukia Kuchiki as well."

Orihime stood up and didn't give them a chance to respond. She walked over to the Garganta and stood there without entering. Ulquiorra looked at her questioningly.

"What is your relationship with the Substitute Soul Reaper, Ichigo Kurosaki?"

Orihime smiled as she stared at the Garaganta. There was a good reason that she hadn't entered it yet and also tried to delay. She turned to look at Ulquiorra and said with a grin.

"You'll find out soon enough."

[Scan Complete… Descorrer Analyzed… Calculating Dimensional Kido… Completed. Initiating Remote Casting. Destination: Las Noches.]

'Scramble the destination to somewhere random.'

[Altering Dimensional Anchor… Garganta Unstable… Initiate Collapse.]

As Orihime fell into the Garganta, Ulquiorra's eyes widened slightly. He did not expect something like that to happen. There was no reason for him to have his guard up. However, she just altered the Garganta right in front of him. Before he could react, the void became unstable and shut in on itself.

Ulquiorra tried to reopen it and follow her through, but when he arrived at Las Noches, there was only him standing there. He did not know where she ended up, but Heuco Mundo was a large realm. Searching for her would take a while, if she did not die to the native Hollows.

Orihime landed on a sand dune and coughed for a bit. The pressure of a collapsing Garganta was terrifying. She looked at the sky and saw the endless black void, sparse clouds and a bright moon. Below her was a dune of white sand and an endless stretch of white desert.

The air was heavy in spirit particles which allowed her to begin recovering immediately. Around her were a few boulders and some tree-like crystal formations. She thought about Ichigo and all of her friends. Orihime realized that the plot was put back on track, regardless of her interventions.

She put her hand over her heart and paid respects to her former professor. The incomplete formula only needed the structure of Garganta and its method opening to be observed and calculated. With Ulquiorra offering both, she stretched her time to let hogyoku analyze it. Fortunately, she had second floor access to fill in the blanks.

"Thank you, Shishige-sensei. If not for your research I could not have saved myself there."