The Dream

Orihime gets into a defensive stance and emerald flecks begin to float up from her blade. The golden swept hilt grows up her arm in the shape of a forearm protector. Grimmjow strikes without waiting once his partial transformation is complete. His claws streak through the air in a blue light with a powerful Reiatsu.

These ten blades of spiritual power were considered his strongest attack. When Ichigo was faced against them he was only able to survive through sheer force of will, also known as plot armor. Orihime smirked since breaking his strongest attack would surely affect him.

When the ten claw blades crisscrossed and made a direct course to hit her, Orihime turned her blade down and swung up in a deflecting motion. The spiritual power concentrated in the blades dissipated just like the Cero. However, instead of diffusing back into the surroundings, the green flecks began to swell with an intense spiritual power.

Once it reached its maximum Reiatsu, Orihime thrusted towards the shocked Grimmjow, and a beam of green light whizzed past his head, through the wall, and out the ceiling of Las Noches. The wind pressure from the attack caused his cheek and ear to split with a light blood trail.

While very similar to captain Ukitake, there were many differences in this ability. The counter is either as strong or less than the original attack. Additionally, the main attribute of Hanataba is rejecting all forms of energy.

Once struck by her blade, any energy-based attack returns to its original state of being unmolded spiritual power. This is a by product of the hogyoku's power. As long as Orihime understands the attack's origin, it can be returned. Sneak attacks with unknown assailants are extremely difficult or impossible to neutralize.

Fortunately, Orihime still has the ability to protect and heal, amplified by Hanataba's first release. There is a major drawback to the sword, however. It cannot cause injury directly. Only through countering and other special means. Her shikai was certainly among the top Zanpakuto's just from utility alone.

However, Orihime realized a huge problem against certain opponents. For example, someone using physical based attacks like Gin Ichimaru or Kenpachi Zaraki would completely ignore her ability. Additionally, facing Ukitake may end in an infinite loop of deflecting powers.

Orihime had considered if her power would work against the Captain-Commander Yamamoto, but realized that the nature of his shikai and spiritual power was innately fire. Returning it to its original state would not change its properties.

And finally, summoning type powers like Shunsui Kyoraku and Urahara Kisuke's bankai and Captain Unohana's shikai would be immune to her power, since they have their own intelligence. Orihime was aware of the weaknesses and was glad that she could brush up on rapier techniques using the Akashic Records.

Grimmjow undid his partial-transformation and stood there shocked. He could not believe Orihime was stronger than him. He thought about their first-time meeting and felt scared for his life. Grimmjow was convinced that if she wanted to kill him, she would.

However, the truth was far from it. Orihime did not have nearly as much offensive power as she did defensive. But she would not correct his misunderstanding. She slowly walked forward, reverting her Zanpakuto to the default state. Once she reached him, she simply smiled, causing Grimmjow to tense up.

"What… What do you want?"

"I want you."

Orihime's finger nails turned black and she shoved her hand into Grimmjow's chest. Before the bet, she had sensed that his soul wasn't transformed properly. She wondered if this was related to the fact that he had an animal form before becoming a human-shaped Arrancar. Because of this flaw, she decided to trick him into following her.

The main compulsion to do this was because she felt that she could strengthen him. By showing him her strength, albeit a ruse, then powering him up, she hoped to create a loyal follower. After several minutes Grimmjow began screaming as his body trembled.

He would have tried to stop her if not for the fact he felt his body getting lighter. His senses became keener. Even his spiritual power was increasing considerably. His skin was cracked in various places and his hair grew long with a darker shade of blue. Once she stopped and retracted her arm, he flopped to the floor and began panting.

"W—why? You won, so why did you make me stronger!?"

Orihime giggled at his question. Naturally, she intended to strengthen him regardless of the outcome. Of course, she knew she would win. The real bet was on Grimmjow's sense of honor.

"Since you are my follower now, I can't have you be a mere sixth rank. Now, you can beat that despicable Nnoitra and take his place as fifth."

Orihime realized her method of standing back and watching was not going to work. She had irrecoverably changed events. Although the general course was the same, the ultimate outcome may be completely different. After the incident in her inner world, she had decided to take in Grimmjow and Nelliel as close allies.

"Take some time to get used to your new strength. Don't worry about Aizen, I gave him what he wanted, so he should leave us alone… for now."

She had sensed Aizen leaving once she finished manipulating Grimmjow's soul. Although she wanted to avoid accelerating Aizen, as long as he was less than or equal to the same point as the original timeline, there should be no issue. What she had shown him was essentially the flaw in the hogyoku he was nurturing.

"In truth, you Arrancar are just a passing experiment for Aizen. He doesn't consider you all as his true subordinates, just expendables to help advance his agenda. I hope you consider the bet carefully in the next few days. Come to see me after beating Nnoitra if you accept."

Orihime walked past and entered her room while her heart was thumping uncontrollably. After modifying Grimmjow's soul, the power of hogyoku had been stimulated awake by a large margin. She could tell now that it was nearing fifty percent. This was the point that Aizen had reached during the battle at fake Karakura town.

Although, in the end, Aizen bypasses the awakening time and directly fuses with hogyoku. Attempting to subdue hogyoku instead of become one with it was his mistake. She could tell the difference in quality since she was one with hogyoku herself. Even if her body was destroyed, hogyoku would go all out to save her.

Orihime sat down and began to meditate to calm down. Since she had decided to strengthen herself, she needed to be brave. After a while, she entered her inner world and summoned the doors again. The first door was a memory buried deep within Orihime's soul. Therefore, the other one should be the same.

She grabbed the door knob and began to shiver in fear. She quickly forced herself forward and opened the door.

...

Suddenly, she woke up with a swift inhale. She looked around and realized she was in the back seat of a car. A lady with auburn hair looked at her through the rear-view mirror.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty. Did you have a nice dream?"

"Mom, it was so real, I became really strong and fought against monsters."

In the back seat sat a girl eight or nine years old with dark brown hair. Her mother giggled at the excited girl's response and turned back to the road. The girl suddenly had a strange foreboding feeling before the world suddenly went dark around her again.

When she woke up, she was lying in a pile of glass and debris. What remained of the car was completely crushed by the large eighteen-wheeler that slammed into them. She looked around desperately and could not see her mother.

The girl was taken to the hospital where she was treated for a few days and then taken back home by her father. Ever since then, his mood became worse and worse. Whenever he saw the girl, he would think of his late wife and binge drink.

Years went by, and the father remarried. However, the woman had a daughter as well, who was extremely jealous of the girl. When their father was drunk out of his mind or at work, the stepmother and stepsister would beat and berate her. One day, the girl tried to tell her father what was happening, but was beaten by him instead.

She would always crawl back into her small room and pull out a worn-out book. The pages had yellowed from age and torn in several places. The title was in English, but the words were in another language. However, the events depicted in the book made her feel safe. She wondered about the world in this comic book and wished she were a part of it.

Heroes that fought against monsters with swords and wonderful powers. Every night she would look at the pictures and escape reality. Imagining herself as one of the characters in the story and living out a fantasy. This went on for several years until a family member realized what was happening and was able to separate the girl from the abusive father and step-mother.

She lived with her uncle for a time, before moving out and living on her own. Soon after she began living her own life, her father passed away due to his alcoholism. She did not remember her childhood much. Her memories of all the trauma were suppressed. However, the death of her father triggered her traumatic memories and she turned to the internet to escape from reality.