Disclaimer: Bleach is property of Tite Kubo, not me.

Prologue

Rain... She thought as she stared blankly at the mangled body in front of her. A body... Her body... Huh? What's that sound? … Sirens, someone must have called for help. As she sat on the wet pavement of the sidewalk, she couldn't bring herself believe that what lay before her in the pouring rain was her body. She brought up a hand and tugged at the broken chain that once connected her to her own body. She was no longer alive.

Why?

She stood up slowly, her legs threatening to give out. Something flashed in the corner of her eye. She turned her head and suddenly she saw a shrouded figure standing next to the alleyway not to far from her. She saw the figure's glasses glint again under the street light. Who is that? Wait...

"Uryū? Uryū! Wait!" she shouted at the figure but it only made them run away. She had to find out his reason for betraying them, siding with the Quincy over his own friends. "Why Uryū? Why did you leave us?" she was crying now; chasing after the shrouded figure she was sure was Uryū Ishida, the chain making tinkling noises as she went.

No use. He's gone...

She stopped running, fell to her knees and started to scream. So many questions and emotions welling up inside her, she didn't know how else to deal with what she felt, the prominent feeling she had was the sense of betrayal. She did feel betrayed by Uryū but she also felt betrayal strongly linked to how she died... That's when she remembered. Ichigo!

"My, my. If you don't stop screaming like that, a soul reaper assigned to this area might hear you and think you're starting to transform into a hollow. We don't want that, do we? Orihime."

She immediately stopped screaming and throwing a fit and turned her head around to look behind her. She knew that voice, it could only be... "Urahara? W-what are you doing here?"

She stood up slowly and turned around to get a better look at the man before her. The mischievous shopkeeper was dressed as usual, the fan he always carried with him was in front of his mouth, eyes unreadable, his cane resting in the crook of his arm that held the umbrella which was shielding him from the pouring rain. "Oh stop it, Orihime! You're making me blush with that wandering gaze of yours," Urahara coyly said as he made a show of being embarrassed.

Orihime knew how he was, if she didn't get him to stop playing games now, she would never get anywhere with his man. "Stop fooling around, please. Answer my question, Urahara!"

Urahara immediately returned to his more serious demeanor and nodded. "Fine, fine. No one lets me have fun anymore. Anyways, to answer your question. I got a mysterious phone call 15 minutes ago saying that you had died in a battle against some invading Quincy. So here I am!" he turned more serious, the fan still hiding his mouth making it hard to read his face. "I have a proposition for you, Orihime. You have a few options in your current state."

"Huh?" Orihime murmured, looking down at the chain links dangling from her chest. "Oh, you mean..."

"Yup! Option one, I let you wander around until you get consumed by what ever you were feeling when you were screaming earlier and turn into a hollow, which means I get to kill you." he paused for a moment to let that sink in. "Option two, I perform a konsō on you, you'll lose your memories and go live in the Soul Society where you'll likely never be found by anyone you once knew. Though judging by the power you once retained as a human, you'll develop into a soul reaper eventually... And then there is option three..." he trailed off, his eyes glinting with mischievousness.

Orihime loudly swallowed before murmuring, "Option three...?"

Urahara lowered the fan he had over the lower half of his face, revealing a large, playful grin. "You allow me to make you into a Soul Reaper using the same method I used on Ichigo."

Ichigo... The name echoed inside her head and stirred up the large sense of betrayal she felt moments ago. This was her chance to make him pay for what he did to her. Orihime looked straight into Urahara's eyes, all traces of her usual bubbly self gone, "I choose option three."

R&R! - I think this site is lacking in some Orihime x Byakuya stories. I always think she'd bring out the best in those around her.