Rematch

"I don't know what you are talking about."

Orihime was upset because he had beaten her to near death. Now, he is trying to interrogate her. There was no way she would tell him with such insincerity. She stayed seated and waited for his reaction. Gin did not make any facial expressions, but instead, pulled his haori to the side, showing his sword.

"Oh, you want to resort to violence? Alright, I was hoping to test my new strength… It won't go like last time."

Orihime instantly formed her Reikoromo and initiated Shunko. She appeared in front of Gin with a Shunpo, grabbed his arm and flung him through her outer wall. Then, she jumped through the large hole and followed Gin who was still flying through the air. Midflight, Orihime saw a glint of light approaching quickly.

Instead of dodging or blocking, she grabbed the blade barehanded and flung him into the ground with the torque. He cancelled his shikai making her lose the leverage from holding his sword. The retracting blade sliced her left hand, leaving a thin blood trail. Orihime ignored it and pushed up against a platform of Reiatsu, diving at the falling Gin.

"Bankai, Kimishini no Yari"

Orihime felt blood trickle down her arm after a flash of light. She did not expect him to Bankai right away. His blade had pierced her forearm which she used to block. The wound healed in seconds, but the injury interrupted her tempo. She needed to go full defensive just to take a light injury.

Although her perception was enhanced, the speed of Gin's Bankai was no joke. While she was in mid-thought, Gin swung the extended blade down at her. The intense Reiatsu from his swing made it difficult to move out of the way. Orihime released her Zanpakuto, but left it sheathed. Shifting her body to the side, the blade made contact with a thick barrier covering her body.

Utilizing the force of the impact, Orihime jumped sideways. However, an explosive Kido force was coming to meet her position. This was an extremely powerful Sokatsui which destroyed everything in its path.

She didn't have time to think as she drew her Zanpakuto and sliced at the incoming wave of destruction. A streak of invisible force radiated from her blade causing everything it touched to disappear. The scene was akin to parting the red seas.

She then formed a platform of Reiatsu behind her and launched herself headfirst towards Gin through the gap in his Kido. She did not dare blink, because the speed of his bankai's extension and retraction was less than a tenth of a second each.

Orihime saw Gin retract his blade, and hold it in two hands. Then he moved the blade to the center of his chest. She knew what was coming, but she was a mere foot away from reaching him. She pushed her body to the limits to make up the difference and paid for it with her left arm getting pierced a hundred times. Gin had used a technique where he rapidly extended and retracting his blade.

Orihime would be in a much worse position had she not protected her vitals. The adrenalin coursing through her numbed her mind to the pain. She locked her right arm around Gin's neck and slammed him into the ground. Then, she pressed down on his neck with her foot and began a flurry of one-handed blows.

Her left arm was barely hanging on by a few chunks of muscle and tendon. However, she ignored the pain and continued to punch at Gin's torso. She could hear bones breaking and organs rupturing. Gin finally opened his eyes all the way and stared down at her with his bright blue eyes.

Blood trickled down both of their chins and down their neck. Their clothes and the ground were covered in blood. After finishing her assault, she jumped away to create some distance. She knelt down and her arm began healing. Upon closer inspection, a portion of the healing was being done by another power, not her rejection ability.

This was naturally the hogyoku, and off in the distance, unknown to Orihime, Aizen looked down and smiled. He had watched the whole fight and naturally ordered no one to interfere. Gin had been ordered to test her limits and try to push the hogyoku into action.

"Since you do not wish to do this the easy way, I will naturally discover your secrets the hard way."

Orihime was only angry at her situation, not directly Gin. Therefore, she healed him once she saw he was finished fighting. After all, it would be very difficult for even a captain to survive that much damage. She sighed and clicked her tongue. She was well aware that Gin was holding back, and realized that she had been tricked into fighting.

'Risking your life to reveal my secrets, so devoted to your role...'

Once her arm was completely recovered, she left. Gin was still wounded but it wasn't life threatening. Orihime had a feeling that this would not be the end of the random fights. She even had to reveal Hanataba's main ability. At least it is difficult to understand it from seeing it only once.

'Ichigo, hurry up and rescue me from these battle crazed idiots and secret schemers.'

Although she could reverse engineer the Descorrer and go back to the land of the living, it would cause too much trouble. Ignoring the issue with the Soul King, just escaping on her own may make things more difficult for Orihime later in regards to the Soul Society.

Once Aizen left and the Espada face off against the Gotei 13, she would conveniently arrive and fight alongside Soul Society. Orihime smiled at the thought. She had a few tricks that no one was aware of that would completely change the outcome of the battle.

She did not intend to prevent the final battle between Aizen and Ichigo, however, she did plan to make an impression on all those present. If she can show off her Bankai, the chances of getting captain would shoot up. Hopefully she will be higher on the list of candidates than the ex-captains turned visored.

Orihime created several platforms of Reiatsu and returned to her room. She summoned her power and restored the wall to regain her privacy, and then continued her Bankai training. Meanwhile, on the ground where she left Gin, Kaname Tosen had arrived and looked down at his wounded comrade.

"Pathetic. To be brought to such a state by an inferior opponent."

…

After spending several hours trying to reach the shadowy area of her inner world, she gave up. Orihime was certain that the origin of that area would reveal the secrets of her Bankai. However, it seemed she wasn't ready yet as it stayed the same distance no matter how much she traveled.

She decided to walk around Las Noches. Only a few scenes showed parts of this massive complex, but according to canon, it took three days to go from one gate to the other. That meant that the circumference of Las Noches would take twelve days to go explore.

The architecture was quite unique, with the ceilings being extremely tall, giving it a very imposing feeling. There was very little light in the hallways, just enough to see where one were going. As Orihime passed by a door, it suddenly opened and an arm grabbed her. Once she was let go, she was inside of a moonlit room with a simple stone table and bed.

Sitting at the table was… Gin Ichimaru. Orihime went to draw her weapon when she noticed Gin's sword away from his reach. She narrowed her eyes and looked at his face. To her surprise his eyes were open and his face solemn.

"What… what do you want?"

"Leave."

"What the hell, you dragged me in here—"

"Leave Hueco Mundo."

"What are you talking about? Are you mad that I beat you up? Well listen here, Ichi—maru, if I wanted to leave, I would!"

Orihime slammed her mouth shut and realized she just gave away the fact she could leave. The fact that she was tricked once again infuriated her. She slammed her fist down on the table in exasperation.

"You are really good, Ichimaru. No wonder you could lead Rangiku along by the nose for so many years, heartless bastard. Do you think you're the hero of this story? That you are the only person who can beat him? Well let me tell you something, you will die in the midst of rubble, having accomplished nothing!"

Gin seemed to be unable to hold back anymore. Orihime didn't know when he moved, but he was clenching at her throat. She couldn't breath and tried to gouge his eyes out but the difference in arm length made it impossible.

"You are weak. The only talent you have is your growth, but you have no will to fight; You have no instinct to battle. Your gifts are wasted, because you treat everything around you as a game. Wake up, this is reality!

"So, I'll ask that question back. Do you think you're the hero of this story? I know I am not, but you are clearly delusional. Do you really believe you can't die?"