Face Off

A giant axe appeared in his hand and came down onto Orihime. The dense red Reiatsu caused overwhelming pressure, making it impossible for her to move out of the way. She had left herself wide open when she went to help Soi Fon's. Orihime was moments away from being slashed, when she decided it was now or never.

"Bankai, Hanayo no hime: Senbazuru"

An orange shockwave burst out from Orihime, knocking the axe backwards. Orihime's body exploded into a thousand paper cranes. As the paper cranes flew around, a silver mask was revealed. The storm of paper cranes flying around settled and a little girl with black hair came into view. The cranes all flew into her sleeves. Her clothes matched that of a Soul Reaper.

There were a few cranes which flew around her like sentries. The little girl sat in the air playing with the nearby cranes as they flew past. Baraggan waited for a moment but the girl did not do anything. He began to laugh.

"What a pathetic bankai. You are too weak and have not fully mastered it. Although you give off the pressure of a bankai, it seems that there is nothing to it."

Soi Fon clicked her tongue and looked over at the little girl who was completely distracted. She had no choice but to take matters into her own hands, however, Baraggan was too quick. He had already appeared next to the little girl and swung his axe down on her. It sliced the girl in half and blood sprayed everywhere.

"A quick end for your miserable existence."

However, one of the paper cranes burned and fell out of the sky. Once the ashes scattered, Baraggan found himself standing where he was before striking the girl down. Meanwhile, the girl who had just been cleaved in two was standing without a single scratch.

"I don't like that story! Bullying Hanayo is not nice!"

Hanayo held her hand out and hundreds of paper cranes flew from her sleeve, forming an axe larger than Baraggan's. Then she used Shunpo, appearing next to Baraggan and striking him down. Baraggan put his hand out to catch it, expecting it to be stopped by his time slowing ability.

However, the paper axe simply went right through him. Hanayo skips away unworriedly from him toward Soi Fon while swinging the axe around in her hand lazily. There was no shockwave, no collision, or any indication that she had hit Baraggan. However, his arm up to the shoulder was gone.

Soi Fon looked over at the young girl that was standing in front of her with fear. She could see on the paper axe, a drawing of Baraggan's skeletal arm and the purple and black sleeve holding an axe. It was as if her sword had robbed the existence of his weapon and turned it into a painting.

"Impossible! Such a small ant cannot defeat me!"

A large wave of purple flames spread out from Baraggan towards the group. Soi Fon had nowhere to dodge because it had eclipsed everything, even coming in from behind. She prepared to Shunko and make a run for it, but Hanayo stood up on her toes and patted Soi Fon's head.

"Hanayo protects big sister, good story!"

Another paper crane burned into ashes and the ocean of death energy vanished. Baraggan stood there, still shocked about his arm. But then realizing a sense of déjà vu he looked over at the girl who threw a wave of paper cranes towards him. They flocked together and flew into him. Knocking at his body repeatedly. He had tried to avoid it, but the cranes' numbers allowed them to cut him off.

The strangest thing was, the more the cranes chased and smacked into him, the smarter they seemed to be. He tried to release his death energy, but all it did was dye one of the cranes purple without any visible damage. After the cranes stopped slamming into him, they all flew back to the girl.

However, the originally plain white cranes had all turned purple and black, with various flame patterns. Baraggan screamed as he realized he no longer had his power. The cranes returned to her sleeve, and the little girl yawned, cupping her hand to her mask.

"Big sister, you can play with the ugly monster now, Hanayo is sleepy."

Soi Fon nodded unconsciously and activated her bankai with apprehension. A large rocket-like projectile appeared around her arm with a blast shield and targeting visor around her shoulder. She fires the missile at him, its speed incredible and with a homing effect.

"I really did not want to have to use this, but it seems I cannot carelessly approach him."

Baraggan saw this and for the first time felt fear. With half of his powers gone, all he could do was try to outrun it. However, he was not able to get out of its radius before it exploded and destroyed a large portion of his body. Realizing he was dying, he shouted in indignation about how he is the king of Hueco Mundo, denouncing Aizen.

Once the rest of his body faded away, all of the paper cranes flew out from Hanayo and created a whirlwind around her. Once the cranes disappear, Orihime was left standing there. Her clothes had changed from the Hueco Mundo outfit to that of Hanayo's outfit which resembled a shihakusho.

"Phew, I did not know how that would go."

"What exactly is your bankai? Did you seal his powers?"

"Well, Hanayo no hime is inexperienced and does not know how to fight. But she loves stories. She can alter reality to fit the story she wants to read. If she likes someone else's story, she will take it for herself. If she really doesn't like a story, she will erase it from existence."

"Are you saying you have no control over your bankai?"

"C-captain, I only recently learned it. But you are right, it is best I don't use this around too many people, or she might turn against my allies. I can leave simple commands, so I told her to only take stories from Baraggan."

"Why didn't you just tell her to not target her allies!?"

"She's a naïve and a bit spoiled. Hanayo does not understand something like ally or enemy, only her own desires."

This was why Orihime didn't dare use her bankai lightly. She needed more training in her inner world. There was a major flaw that she did not dare to mention. The thousand cranes represent a thousand memories. In order for Hanayo to turn reality into fantasy, one of those cranes is sacrificed.

Fortunately, upon discovering her bankai and settling her inner demons, the whole of her memories from both lives resurfaced. If Orihime focused, she could remember any moment up to either of her births. During that battle, she burned away her first two years of life from her previous world. Hanayo no hime is certainly frightening, she was worried it would become a banned bankai like Shinji's.

Before Soi Fon could ask any more questions, a massive Garganta opened up in the distance. Orihime did a quick survey of the battlefield and saw that every Lieutenant and seat member were out of commission. Instead of Yamamoto taking action, Kenpachi dealt with the Resurreccion of the three Fraccion under Tier Harribel. Additionally, all of the other captains except for Soi Fon and Sajin were unable to continue fighting.

Orihime recognized one of the two figures inside the Garganta. The one she knew was Wonderweiss, an artificial Arrancar. The large monsterous Arrancar that came with Wonderweiss blew away the flames of Ryujin Jakka, freeing Aizen, Gin and Kaname.

Orihime heads towards the captain-commander to assist in facing the three traitors. Although she used a lot of Reiatsu, she had recovered most of it. This was due to her bankai. Parts of the stories Hanayo took would be shared with Orihime. Her spiritual power had improved and she gained a lesser temporal field. Anything within one meter of her would be slowed down slightly when it was active.

She arrived beside captain-commander Yamamoto and bows slightly. Orihime was certain he had noticed her use bankai, because he gave her a look of intruige. No matter what, he was in charge of who would eventually become captain, so she decided to greet him.

"Captain-commander thank you for sending a rescue team for me and protecting Karakura town."

Before he could reply, the Visored arrive in a dramatic fashion. Shinji appears next to Yamamoto with a Shunpo and greets him. They have a conversation about grudges and allegiances, but Orihime did not bother to interrupt. When he said they were allies of Ichigo, both Yamamoto and Shinji looked over at Orihime.

Wonderweiss begins to moan loudly interrupting the tense moment. The large, grotesque Arrancar beside him begins to spill out its guts, revealing it to be filled with Menos Grande. The Visored go into action, showcasing their abilities. Kaname engages with Shinji and Sajin, and Yamamoto faces off against Aizen. Meanwhile, Gin uses Shunpo to arrive in front of Orihime.

"What, do you want a round three now?"