Three Strikes

Once Orihime started to black out, Gin let her go and she started gasping. His words began to set in and she realized what he meant. Since coming here, Orihime was fearless and treated this world as a show. She had joked about getting killed a few times, but she never consciously considered dying was possible.

'Orihime doesn't die in the canon, so I can't die'

That was what she thought subconsciously. Therefore, no matter what actions she took, she thought the plot would protect her. The words Gin said were spinning around her head. It was the last thing she remembered before blacking out. While unconscious she appeared in her inner world.

There were many new things. A blackboard with the words Gin said to her written with chalk. Several monitors with scenes playing on loop. She focused on the first one and it was her first day here. Looking at the things she did caused her to cringe.

She looked at all the screens one by one and realized what was going on. This all represented the moments she was completely dissociated with reality. Moments where she considered herself above the forces of this world, and also where her chances of death were exceptionally high.

Orihime waved her hand and made the screens vanish. She stood in front of the blackboard and stared at the words. Gin wasn't the type of person to talk a lot. There were only few occasions where Gin monologued to someone part of the main crew.

The most prominent one was where Gin motivated Ichigo to get stronger. Gin acted like a sort of gatekeeper to battling Aizen. He warned Ichigo that he was not strong enough to beat him. Thinking back, Orihime thought that maybe Gin never expected to kill Aizen.

"Wow, I'm such an idiot. I can't believe I called him heartless and weak. Those words should be for me instead. He was blackmailed into being Aizen's underling when he was young, and has been trying to break free from his grasp all this time."

Orihime realized she was no better than Ichigo. She abruptly rose in strength and is able to contend with captains. She remembered cringing at how dense and dumb Ichigo was in various situations. But for someone viewing from the outside, it was naturally easy to judge.

Being the one in this situation, she practically has the same problems. Overconfidence in her strength and knowledge of the future has led her to feel invincible. Additionally, she constantly brushes up against authority and expects to get her way.

"Captains are all old monsters. They have experienced many things and have developed their strengths over decades. Leaping the chasm in a few months cannot fill the gap. It somehow feels like there is something missing in my soul. Something preventing me from growing—"

Orihime was interrupted because the shadowy structure she had been trying to reach all this time appeared right in front of her. It was a detached room, completely enclosed in walls, floor, and ceiling. At one side of this room were two doors.

One of the doors was designed in a modern eastern theme. It was a high-quality wood with a nice finish and simple molding. The other door was designed like a modern western door, painted and with a mass-produced design.

Orihime stared at the two doors for a long time before reaching out to the door with a western design. But when she touched the door knob, an icy chill came over her. She began to sweat and shake uncontrollably. She retreated and dared not approach the door again.

Turning to the other door, she approached it carefully and grabbed the handle. Seeing there was no reaction after a few seconds she pulled it down and opened the door. Orihime suddenly found herself in a small body, three or four years old. She was hiding in some sort of closet, and she could hear shouting in the room ahead.

Orihime wasn't sure what was happening and was about to open the closet when she heard a thud and the sound of bone cracking. A woman was crying and a man was saying something in a drunken stutter. Orihime could feel something wet on her face and realized she was crying too.

Suddenly, the door was pulled open, and an unkempt man was holding up his bloodied fist with a threatening expression. Before he was able to hit Orihime, a teenage boy knocked him to the ground. He ran over to Orihime and picked her up. Then he ran out of the building and Orihime blinked her eyes staring at the door.

The vision had ended, but Orihime could still feel the confused, scared, and sad emotions welling up. She realized this was a memory that must have been long buried within Orihime's subconscious. Which made her wonder, what would the other door show?

'If I can't even grab the door knob, just how traumatizing is the memory in there?'

Before she could investigate anymore, her consciousness pulled her out of the inner world. She was lying on the bed and there was a note on the table. Orihime got up and walked over to read it. She pulled it out from under a paper weight and unfolded the paper.

'This room has a barrier. Aizen will not find out about our conversation.'

"Tch, I don't know if he's being truthful or manipulating me again—"

Orihime sighed since she spoke out loud again. She quickly checked over her shoulder just in case but no one was there. The paper began to turn to ash in Orihime's hands and she went back to her room. She did not know how long she was gone, but Ulquiorra might give her trouble if he arrived and she wasn't there.

The trip back did not take long, however, she saw someone waiting outside of her door. With arms crossed, Grimmjow was leaning up against the wall next to her room. She was not in the mood to mess around with him so she directly ignored him and went for the door.

Grimmjow stuck his arm out in front of her blocking her way. Orihime stopped and stared at Grimmjow. She was tired of the people here already. She wished she could directly kill them, but knew she probably couldn't win if they went all out.

"Ho, I just regrew that arm and you want to lose it again?"

"Grr, you're lucky Aizen ordered us not to start conflicts with you—"

"Oh, then what are you doing here, Aizen's puppy?"

"Don't push your luck!"

Orihime gained small pleasure from angering Grimmjow. At the least, she knew he was honest. The kind of person that wears his emotions on his sleeve and does very little scheming. She also sensed something about his power, which caused her to smile devilishly.

"No conflict huh? Well, how about a bet then. I'll give you three chances to hit me with your best moves. If you win, I'll help you raise your rank. If I win, you must listen to my orders. Don't worry, I won't ask you to do anything that would get you killed by Aizen."

"Why should I go along with this? Do you think you're capable of having me listen to your order?!"

"Aw, what's wrong, scared you will lose? I guess what the other Arrancar say about you is true…"

"Gah! Who's afraid? I just don't want to accidently kill you!"

Orihime walked twenty steps away from Grimmjow and turned to him. He was confused at first and then realized what she was doing. He had completely forgotten his reason for coming here and was successfully goaded into this rigged bet.

Grimmjow didn't make a move right away. Orihime made a beckoning gesture which caused him to flare up. He drew his Zanpakuto and used Sonida to appear in front of her. She predicted this move based on his personality and was already prepared with Hanataba to block with her barrier. The force exploded in two directions as it was completely blocked. The shield did however show some damage.

"One."

This caused Grimmjow to be completely enraged. He slid his finger down the side of his blade and began concentrating a blue Reiatsu in his hand as the blood catalyzes it. Orihime was shocked that he would actually use Gran Rey Cero here. She confirmed that he really didn't think about anything once he was in the right frame of mind.

Orihime wasn't afraid, she held her sword pointed forward and got into a sideways stance. Once the cero was unleashed, she stepped forward and thrusted her blade into the oncoming wave of energy. Like a needle to a balloon, the cero simply popped and faded out of existence.

"Two."

Grimmjow had no idea what had happened. He could sense the dense bundle of power on a collision course with Orihime. After releasing it he realized his mistake and knew he would be punished severely. However, the Reiatsu suddenly disappeared. It was as if the spiritual power had gone completely inert and lost its shape.

His hands began to transform into claws and forearms grew backward blades. Orihime could tell this was only a partial transformation, since he did not want to alert others. However, she thought that was moot since he already used Gran Rey Cero. Aizen was probably watching from the shadows.

'You want a show, Aizen? I'll play one for you that you are familiar with. It's about betrayal.'