What It Means to Love

"Is that your bankai?"

"Hi Ichigo! Hanayo loves your story, but Hanayo is not allowed to take it."

Ichigo wakes up to see a little girl seated in front of him staring at his new form. Hanayo went from excited to sad to excited again as she was able to experience the world outside with Orihime. She got up and held Orihime's hand and they quickly left the Dangai as Isshin was unable to hold it back anymore.

"Let's hurry, Aizen is probably already there. I'll protect our friends; you just focus on beating Aizen."

…

[Present time.]

Hanayo finishes devouring the story of Gin Ichimaru, his life as a Soul Reaper. In order to revert a fatal wound like this, the root of this reality needed to be erased. Anything less than his whole story from joining the court squads to his ultimate death would cause his wounds to revert. Gin has essentially become an amnesiac and would take a lot of time to acclimate to the lack of memories.

"Rangiku, he'll be fine. But the price he paid is losing all of his memories from the point he met Aizen. His Hakusui was destroyed by Aizen, and the reality of becoming a Soul Reaper was erased. This means that he will revert back to however strong he was back then."

"I don't really understand, but it means Gin won't die, right? Thank you, Orihime."

Rangiku began crying again, with Gin still in her arms. The shock of experiencing death and then suddenly losing more than half of your life's memories would leave him unconscious for several days if not weeks. Orihime only hoped that captain-commander would accept this as punishment and not seal him away.

Ichigo had long since left to confront Aizen, and now that she was finished dealing with Gin, she began to prepare a barrier over the town. It did not take long with Hanayo's power. Orihime was slowly getting stronger as Gin Ichimaru's career as a Soul Reaper was being imprinted into her soul.

'That was worth a year's worth of memories. The memories of being a captain will be extremely useful.'

"Orihime, is that you?"

"Tatsuki! It's good that you're safe."

"That person… was that Ichigo who was just here?"

"That's right, but don't worry, he won't lose. I have to go now. The town will be safe and everyone will wake up in a few hours."

Orihime and Hanayo disappeared and arrived in front of her home. She unlocked the door and stepped inside. It was very nostalgic being back home after a long period of time away. Although it had only been a few months, she had spent four additional months inside of her inner world training.

When she walked into the living room, there were cans of beer and underwear all over the floor and hanging on various objects. Orihime couldn't help but burst out laughing. She had mentioned to Rangiku to use her home if needed, but this was unexpected. She went into her room and everything was untouched.

'That's quite considerate of her… I hope Gin and Rangiku can be together in the end.'

While she was reminiscing, Hanayo jumped out the window and started running to the outskirts of town. Orihime facepalmed, this was exactly what she feared would happen. She chased after her, afraid that Hanayo would remove someone's existence on a whim.

They reached a forest right outside of the Karakura town barrier, and Hanayo was staring at a tree. She tilted her head in confusion and then turned around as soon as Orihime arrived. She pointed at the tree and exclaimed.

"Can Hanayo join them in playing Hide and Seek?"

Orihime looked around and didn't see anything. She considered canceling her bankai since her Reiatsu was getting low. The main reason she kept Hanayo no hime active for so long was to test her limit and also increase it. Then it hit her, literally and figuratively.

An arrow made out of spirit particles destroyed her primary defense. Orihime understood what Hanayo was pointing at now, but she could not fathom how she had the ability to see into the shadow world. Six soldat appeared—Quincy divine soldiers. These were the weakest of the Wandenreich, Yhwach's army, only able to defeat ordinary Soul Reapers.

Two of them went after Hanayo and the other four after Orihime. They clearly did not know Hanayo was a released bankai. When she saw them coming after her, she clapped happily. After the arrow had hit Orihime, Hanayo knew she could play with these people. One of them reached out to grab her only for Hanayo to 'tag' his chest.

"You're it!"

The soldat looked down and his chest had a large hole in it. This was not the power of warping reality, this was Hanayo's raw strength. The hole had formed so abruptly that the blood in his body didn't immediately react to the missing tissue. After a few seconds, a fountain of blood gushed out and he fell to the ground.

The other soldat froze in fear and looked at the little girl in front of him as if she were a monster. Hanayo only made a disappointing sound and turned her attention to him. At that moment, he felt as if a predator was staring at him with pity. He crumpled to the ground as Hanayo's hand obliterated his head with a wave of her hand.

Hanayo turned to Orihime's side and saw that all but one had been taken out. These opponents were very weak, especially because they didn't realize her bankai had been active all this time. The one she did not kill was bound tightly in Bakudo. However, before she could begin interrogation, he began convulsing and the spiritual energy within him exploded—killing him.

...

"Hanayo is sleepy now, bye bye."

Orihime had deactivated bankai, causing Hanayo to turn into spiritual energy and return to Orihime. She looked down at the six dead Quincy and sighed. Although they were low ranking, they were given a small bit of power, so Quincy was appropriate. She pondered what to do about this.

Yhwach was still two years from reviving, but the Quincy should start to send the Jagdarmee to Hueco Mundo to capture Arrancar and use them as expendables in their army. Orihime considered revealing the Quincy threat, but a few strangely clothed dead humans weren't much evidence. She needed to lead a team into Hueco Mundo and collect evidence as a court guard member.

However, the only way she would have freedom to do something like that is if she became captain. Even then, the bureaucracy of Soul Society would delay her for quite a while. This would at least give her some time to chat with Mayuri about the possibility of creating a realm within the shadow of an existing realm. Perhaps he will discover the Quincy early and reduce the suspicion on Orihime.

Orihime stuck her hand out and created a glass orb with spirit particles. Six drops of blood were pulled from the bodies and mixed into the orb. Then, Orihime utilized heat and radiation energy to obliterate their bodies and the nearby terrain so the other Quincy couldn't find any evidence. All that remained was a large patch of cracked dirt.

A large wave of Reiatsu came from the distance and then disappeared. Orihime deduced the fight was ending between Aizen and Ichigo so she headed over to check it out. She managed to arrive just in time for Urahara and Aizen's conversation about the hogyoku and the soul king. Just as he was being sealed, Orihime ran forward.

"Wait, Urahara. There is something I need to get from Aizen."

Urahara wasn't sure but let her do it anyway. She had been captured by him for over almost two weeks so he figured there was some unfinished business. Orihime went over to him and smiled wryly at his current situation. His lower body was sealed and he had spears through his chest.

"Orihime, you understand the power of hogyoku as much as I. Release me and we shall rule together."

"Hm, tempting, but I could never trust you. Also, I have my own plans for that meddlesome 'king'."

She spoke the second portion close to Aizen's ear in a voice too quiet for anyone else to hear. Then her fingernails turned black and she touched Aizen's hogyoku. She pulled out a small pink sphere and inserted a bit of black energy into the hogyoku stealthily. Orihime naturally wouldn't sabotage the ultimate trump card, so she gave him a little extra. Aizen noticed what she did and was shocked.

"Now, you be a good traitor and stay locked up. Maybe one day you'll get to stretch your legs."

Orihime said to him with a wink. Aizen's mind would analyze and calculate for years after his sealing to figure out what she meant. It would become a little obsession of his. He used all of the information that he had gathered about Orihime to try and figure her out. Unknown to him, these few words had made Aizen obsessed with figuring her out.

Orihime walked away with the little pink soul, covering it in layers of Reiatsu to protect it. Urahara finished the sealing process and wished to ask Orihime about something, but she had already left. Orihime naturally went straight toward Rangiku. This little soul was a lot more unstable than she expected. Decades of being part of hogyoku had caused it to warp slightly.

She had used her power of rejection to revert it back to its original state, but that caused it to weaken considerably. Orihime thought it made sense, since this was snatched from Rangiku at a young age, before her Soul Reaper powers were developed.

Once she arrived, Rangiku was still holding Gin and had a distant smile. Orihime's arrival caused her to snap back to reality. She saw the little pink orb in Orihime's hand and her eyes widened. Something within her was rejoicing. It was as if someone she had not seen in a long time had finally come home.

"Rangiku, this is what Gin had been trying to get from Aizen. He is sealed now, and I got this back."

"What is it… this little thing is why Gin threw away our relationship? Why he was able to betray everyone? I don't understand, just what is it!"

"Don't you already understand? This is a piece of your soul that Aizen took from you as a child. Gin witnessed it all and had done everything to return it to you."

Rangiku was suddenly hit by realization. The memories from when she was ambushed by those three men was blurry, but she always felt like she lost something that day. Gin had often apologized randomly or given her a sad smile whenever he disappeared. Sometimes he had even mentioned getting "it" back to her.

Orihime released the little orb and it fused into Rangiku's body. The first thing she did was cry. The feeling of elation from becoming whole again and the realization that Gin did everything to return this to her caused her mind to collapse in joy and sorrow. Unable to determine what she felt, she just cried into Gin's chest.