Love Bites Chapter 6

"You said what?!" spluttered Tatsuki, coughing and gasping for air as she tossed the packet of pretzels aside. Frantically punching below her sternum in an attempt to unlodge the blockage threatening to go down her windpipe. "Geez warn me next time you decide to drop a bombshell while I'm eating! Do you want to kill me?!" she rasped in a croaky voice, sending death glares across the kitchen to the chuckling Orihime. "It's not my fault you overreact to everything" she said as she took another slice of bread out of the loaf tin; rolling her eyes at the disgruntled sounds emanating from the small table in the corner of the room as she idly buttered bread on the counter, failing to conceal the small fading chuckles that were a result of her wheezing friend's hilarious reaction.

"There's more danger in your kitchen rather than out there on the battlefield" Tatsuki grumbled as Orihime went over to set the table for dinner. "Hey I won't have you bad mouthing my cooking again" Orihime threatened taking out a rolling pin from a nearby cupboard, brandishing it in a menacing way "Or else."

"God sometimes you really are more terrifying than the vampires you know Hime. You should seriously think about enlisting, you'd scare half their forces to death with that scary face and deadly weapon. Especially wearing that pink apron, Ow!"

"Eh, oh so sorry my hand slipped" Orihime said in a cheery, soprano sing song voice as she returned to the stove ducking to avoid the slipper that zoomed over her head. "You're lucky that didn't land in the soup" she scolded turning to frown at Tatsuki who was massaging the top of her head.

"You started it" Tatsuki pouted whilst retrieving the fallen bag of pretzels, reclining back on her chair absentmindedly shoving handfuls into her mouth as Orihime diligently attended to their dinner. "But seriously Hime wow, I can't believe after all this time you're giving up with a simple 'thanks for everything' why didn't you tell him how you feel?"

Orihime sighed as she poured the steaming hot soup into two large bowls. "I told you already, he's with Rukia. There is no point in saying anything now and creating any awkwardness, I know what his answer would have been anyway. Besides I'm ok, sure it's painful but I know that this is for the best. I'll survive." Her customary cheery smile did not reach Orihime's eyes and couldn't escape her best friends notice as she set the bowls down on the table.

"Hmm if you say so" Tatsuki said as she blew over a spoonful of soup attempting to cool the hot liquid. "You're a lot stronger than you used to be Hime; it's good to see that you're coping with everything: the Ichigo situation, the hollow attack god that must have been horrible." At the mention of the hollow attack Tatsuki could see that Orihime was beginning to close up, hiding her true feelings and emotions behind that false cheerful smile.

"Yeah it was really scary! I was so lucky I made it out in one piece!" Orihime chirped, desperately struggling to control the shaking of her hand, causing the soup on her spoon to spill over onto the table.

Tatsuki leant over and used her napkin to soak up the wasted liquid as her other hand reached over to grip Orihime's still trembling hand. "Hime, talk to me. You don't have to hide from me, I can relate to what you went through." Tatsuki's grip tightened and a frown formed on her face as she continued "The things I have seen out there are things that no one should ever see. I didn't think that I could hate those bastards and their sick creations any more than I could, but I was wrong. They will pay, we will win this war Orihime believe me!" Her words were spoken with so much vehemence and anger that Orihime jumped slightly at her friend's sudden outburst.

Orihime sighed deeply, her sorrowful, mournful gaze locked with Tatsuki's. "It was just like when I was a child, the same scene from my nightmares coming back to haunt me. It was worse, much worse. I couldn't move or do anything for those poor soldiers. That thing it… it could see me hiding but did nothing. It just looked at me and left, why?" Her voice had begun to tremble slightly; Tatsuki gripped her hand even tighter encouraging her to continue.

"I'm scared Tatsuki, I think that I am somehow connected to all this. I feel like I am being watched all the time. The massacre of my family may not have been just coincidence as Urahara led me to believe. I feel it's all linked somehow." Her melancholy eyes watched the steam rise from her bowl as Tatsuki's frown deepened.

"That's really weird, I've never known a hollow to show such restraint and leave a human unharmed." Tatsuki said as she scratched her chin "I really think you need to speak to Urahara or the Shinigami at Soul Society about this. Do you think it might be something to do with your powers? Like you've got a natural hollow and vampire repellent or something?"

Orihime shook her head "I don't think so, there was that vampire who hurt me and tasted my blood when I was a child." She shuddered recalling the events of that equally dreadful day. "I remember that he seemed to find it appetizing."

Tatsuki nudged her bowl to the side in disgust, finding her appetite had left her as their conversation progressed. "Fucking bastards" she grunted as she released Orihime's hand seeing that she had calmed somewhat and began violently tearing a slice of bread to pieces, needing to take out her anger on something. A small genuine smile formed on Orihime's lips as she watched Tatsuki destroy the bread. Her just being there with her in the apartment to talk to about her feelings and not hide them made Orihime feel a little braver than she was and that she wasn't on her own in all this.

"I will call Urahara tomorrow, I'd rather speak to him first than soul society. I don't want this to escalate into a full blown investigation and I end up as one of Captain Kurotsuchi's lab rats." Orihime murmured as she saved a slice of bread from Tatsuki's wrath to dunk in her soup, her appetite already fully recovered.

Oh god, she had momentarily forgotten about the other pressing matter. She swallowed her last spoonful of soup and cleared her throat anxiously feeling as though she might as well confess everything to her dutiful friend. "I also forgot to mention that I healed a soldier at the scene of the hollow attack."

Tatsuki's eyes looked as though they were going to pop out of her skull. "You what?! Seriously?! Was anyone there?! Did anyone see?! Oh Hime I know you want to save the whole world but you might have exposed the knowledge of your powers to the public, Shingami or worse the enemy!"

"I know it was stupid. No one was there, I checked before I began to heal him. Tatsuki I couldn't just let him die. I know I should have left but I couldn't. I just couldn't." Orihime exhaled loudly as she continued "I think the game is up now, I thought that he was unconscious when I was healing him but after I literally bumped into him on the way home earlier he looked at me with a mixture of fear and astonishment. He must have been awake and seen me use my powers. I guess I better expect a knock on my door from the Shingami or Captain Kurotsuchi soon." She laughed dryly thinking about the whole situation. How unlucky she was. "The universe must hate me."

"The universe doesn't hate you" Tatsuki said as she lifted her bowl to her mouth and drained it of soup, her appetite also having returned. "There are only so many times the universe can kick you in the face before you're rewarded. Maybe you'll meet a hot, muscly fireman tomorrow!" She said whilst wriggling her eyebrows suggestively.

Shrieks of laughter erupted from both women and pieces of bread were thrown by both in the direction of the other for the next ten minutes.

Eventually after the chaos receded, Orihime forced her guest to help her clean up the mess that had once been her kitchen. Tatsuki took on the role of dishwasher and stationed herself at the sink to tackle the mountainous load of dishes, the majority of which were not a result of their meal. "Still as lazy as ever I see" she teased as Orihime held a broom towards her in a threatening manner. "Kidding!"

They began their work in silence until Tatsuki began to hum an old song from their school days that resulted in them both going on a nostalgia trip singing all their favourites at the top of their lungs.

Once the kitchen was gleaming and sparkling, they trudged lazily to the living room area of the moderately sized open plan room. Orihime loved the fact that her kitchen, dining and living room were all in the one as she was able to rummage the cupboards for snacks during commercial breaks without having to go into the next room.

Tatsuki flumped down on the couch next to Orihime and began flipping through the TV channels. It was then that Orihime asked "Do you want me to heal it?"

Tatsuki turned her gaze away from the TV screen with a smile on her face. Wincing slightly as the muscles in her face caused her wound to stretch painfully. "I was wondering when you were going to ask. Thanks for offering but I can't be the reason for you to expose your secret Hime. If I go back to base camp now with fresh, smooth face with no evidence of that bastard having sliced its blade down my face then there would be a lot of awkward questions to answer. I know what you're going to say 'I don't care my secret is going to be revealed eventually' but I do care, I want you to live as normal a life as possible in this cruel world. I am dedicated to Soul Society and our cause one hundred percent, but I know that your powers will be exploited if they find out what you can do. You will have no life, no freedom any more. I can't let you do that because of me."

Orihime's dejected expression caused Tatsuki's smile to falter momentarily, however it soon returned as she said "I've grown attached to it now anyway, don't you think it makes me look like a badass? Think of all the gorgeous guys I'll be able to tell my heroic tales of battle to, men dig scars you know. I'm probably going to have to hire you as my bodyguard to fight them off. Oh no, oh please stay away from me handsome, attractive young men! Oh how will I endure it?!" Tatsuki placed the back of her right hand on her forehead and fell back into the sofa in a swooning gesture. Orihime snorted with laughter as Tatsuki continued to portray scenes involving many adoring men. "You won't even let me have any say in this? They are my powers, I can't even heal my best friend now? " Orihime questioned, as she wiped her cheeks free of laughter tears.

"And let you take away my best feature? I don't think so. But seriously I'm ok, I still have my health and I'm alive. Although I was going to ask you to heal my legs, I still want to be able to wear my shorts without anyone staring at the small scars there too. I won't be able to walk out of the door without the admirers pouncing on me."

Orihime smiled at the strong, brave young woman in front of her. "Of course" she whispered as she motioned for Tatsuki to uncross her legs. She raised both of her hands over Tatsuki's legs and closed her eyes, concentrating on awakening her powers, feeling the familiar warmth spread through her fingertips.

"Woah! Dude I still can't get use to this its fucking awesome Hime! You're amazing!" Tatsuki gushed as she watched the various small cuts and grazes on her skin fade away.

Feeling terribly guilty for not being able to heal the horrific wound on her face, Orihime forced Tatsuki to let her heal scratches and scars on her feet, arms and back. Feeling slightly contented that she could at least do something for her.

After watching two horror movies Tatsuki deemed that she ought to move the portable guest bed from the living room into Orihime's bedroom so they would be sleeping in the same room. "You know just in case you're scared or have nightmares…" Tatsuki said as her eyes darted around the room nervously. "Uh huh" Orihime hummed amused at her friend's obvious fear.

As they began to turn off electrical items and lock down for the night Orihime asked Tatsuki how long she would be in Karakura Town, hoping to not show any negative emotion depending on what her answer would be. She didn't want to argue about the war tonight, enough crap had happened recently and they hadn't seen each other in ages.

Tatsuki shrugged "I'm not sure yet, they've given me extended sick leave to recover from my injuries. Maybe a month or two, let's see."

Orihime sighed in relief as both women entered her bedroom and began to settle down under the duvets of their respective beds. At least she would have her friend around for a while, she hated the fact that Tatsuki was out there on the battlefield and in constant danger. However Tatsuki was one of the most stubborn people Orihime had ever met and no amount of arguing or persuasion would convince Tatsuki leave the army. It was the cause of many previous conflicts between the two. Orihime thought sadly that this was the first time that they had been together in ages without it ending in an argument about the war and Tatsuki's involvement.

"Lights out, I'm sleepy" Tatsuki yawned as she got out of her bed to turn out the single harsh, bright light. "Can you still read in this light?" she said sleepily as she stumbled through the darkness towards her bed.

Orihime produced a small flexible light attached to a clip from her bedside draw and clipped it onto the corner of the book. "Ta-da, will this affect your sleep?" she said concerned the small light would keep her exhausted friend awake. Orihime couldn't believe that Tatsuki had stayed awake as long as she had, judging from the dark circles around her eyes it looked as though she hadn't slept properly in weeks.

"No its fine" Tatsuki yawned again as she drew the duvet up to her chin. "I hope you get some sleep Hime, sorry I can't stay awake any longer."

"Shush, don't be silly. You need to rest, we have lots of time to talk and have fun. Just sleep."

A loud snore interrupted the tail end of Orihime's sentence, she looked away from her book to see that Tatsuki had already fallen into a deep sleep. Her mouth was hanging open and a small trail of drool was escaping from the corners, threatening to soak the pillows beneath her head at any moment.

Orihime placed a hand over her mouth to contain her giggles as a result of friend's relaxed appearance and reached over to grab her phone from her bedside cabinet. This one's going in her Christmas card Orihime thought as she took a few pictures of the oblivious Tatsuki from different angles.

Satisfied that she had enough pictures to make a collage, Orihime put down her phone and attempted to read. She felt dead tired but avoided sleeping immediately, fearing that she would only get a few hours before the nightmares stole the rest of her sleep.

So she settled down, comfy and warm in her bed and began to read the large volume on the healing benefits of plants.

A loud crashing sound caused Orihime to jolt awake from sleep. Tired and disorientated, she sat up rubbing her eyes listening intently. She thought that it sounded like it was from outside, on the street below her apartment. The book and light lay next to her on top of the duvet, she had fallen asleep reading.

Shocked as this rarely happened, Orihime turned off the small fading light and set both items on the cabinet. She blindly searched for her phone in the darkness, after a few failed attempts she succeeded squinting painfully at the intense light of the screen. It was 03:55am, wow she had managed to sleep uninterrupted by nightmares for almost four hours. It must have been Tatsuki's comforting presence she thought as she got out of bed and crept silently towards the window.

Her head poked slowly through the curtains, keeping a firm grip on them to prevent any light from the street lamps flooding into the room and waking the still snoring Tatsuki. That girl could sleep through an earthquake Orihime thought.

The street was deserted; there were also strangely no parked cars on the road, except for one car which seemed to have crashed into a small grocery store opposite her apartment. The red brake lights at the back of the car shining brightly like two large rubies in the darkness. Orihime could see smoke rising from the hood of the car and thought she could make out a figure in the driver's seat. "Oh my god" she said as she whirled around to grab her dressing gown "Tatsuki, wake up. I'm sorry there has been a car crash outside and no one is around to help. I think the drivers still in the car." Orihime had shoved on her dressing gown and jeans not sparing any more time on her appearance, Tatsuki groaned as Orihime turned on the bedroom light "I'm going down now to see if I can help, I'll need your assistance though if I've got to carry the driver away from the car." She said as she slipped her phone and keys into her dressing gown pocket whilst clipping her hair pins onto the front of her gown. She left the room satisfied to see that Tatsuki was sluggishly getting out of bed and reaching for her boots.

Orihime raced down the stairs and out of the apartment entrance, finding it extremely difficult to jog in her slippers. As she reached the car she noticed that there was a large amount of blood on the pavement that she was unable to see from her bedroom window. Fear crept into her veins as she began to expect the worst.

She cautiously stepped over the blood and debris and slowly approached the driver's door. The light from the street lamps was very poor so she retrieved her phone from her pocket and activated the torch function she had installed.

The bright beam from her phone shone through the darkness around her. The first thing that she noticed upon closer inspection of the car was that the driver was in fact still seated behind the wheel. Although she nearly dropped her phone in terror as she realised that his head was missing. Orihime screamed as she hurriedly backed away from the car and out onto the pavement, ending up falling painfully on her backside.

"Orihime!" Tatsuki bellowed as she ran from the apartment towards her fallen friend. "What happened are you hurt? What's that blood on your arm?!" she panted breathlessly as she helped the shaken red head to stand.

Orihime rolled back the sleeve of her dressing gown to look at her arm. Her pale skin was still smooth and unharmed, it was then that she realised that they were standing in a small puddle of blood. "I'm fine it's not mine. Tatsuki the driver's head is missing, I don't think this was any accident." She began to tremble as she surveyed the horrific scene before them.

"You're a sharp one aren't you Princess?" a gruff voice echoed through the deserted street.

Both women whirled around in all directions looking for the owner of that dangerous sounding voice. There was no one to be seen. Orihime began to panic; she looked around at Tatsuki to see her aiming her gun in all directions, her sword strapped in its sheath tightly around her hips.

"Stay close to me Orihime" Tatsuki whispered as they began to face opposite ends of the street, back to back. She unsheathed her sword and wordlessly passed to Orihime who gripped it tightly between her two shaking hands.

"Ahh! Are you going to try to attack us with those dangerous toys?" The voice sounded dangerously close Orihime thought as her eyes searched frenziedly for the source.

Both women flinched suddenly at the sound of roaring, maniacal laughter that resounded through the street, Orihime's intuition was screaming at her to raise her shield fast. Rapid movement flitted across her field of vision just as she tossed the sword to the ground and raised both her hands to form a large pyramid shaped shield around her and Tatsuki.

The sound of a sword hitting her shield and the explosion that followed rebounded off the surrounding buildings, echoing for what seemed like an eternity.

Tatsuki turned round in shock to see Orihime standing strong with her hands raised in a defensive position in front of her. "Hime…" she said in amazement as she followed her friends determined gaze to see who or what had attempted to attack them.

As the smoke from the explosion cleared a both women watched a tall figure rise from the ground. It didn't appear to be injured as it walked in long strides towards them.

"Ouch that hurt Princess! Ooh I was careless, I wasn't expecting that. What other secrets are you hiding?!" Orihime felt her heart rate and fear increase dramatically as she stared at the person in front of her.

It seemed to be a male Arrancar, one capable of extreme power and destruction judging by the exposed rippling muscles on his torso. His height dwarfed that of both her and Tatsuki, Orihime noticed as he continued to stride over towards the glowing orange shield. Glaring menacingly at the two women encapsulated within. He had a shocking shade of azure colour hair which was spiking out in all directions; the threatening eyes that were the exact same colour as his hair, leered down at them seeming to burn with an uncontrollable fury and bloodlust. The unusual green markings beneath his eyes gave them an almost cat like appearance Orihime strangely observed. She was unable to blink or tear her gaze away from the dangerous vampire before them, he continued to glare angrily at the two women until he suddenly tossed his head back and laughed wildly, exposing his elongated sharp canines. "What are you staring a ladies?! See something you like?! Why don't you come out and play!" He howled with unrestrained laughter as he observed Tatsuki's obvious disgust and Orihime's expression of pure terror.

A deep, strong voice cut through the booming laughter of the blue haired Arrancar "Enough Grimmjow." A slender, lithe figure approached the trio stopping to stand a few feet away from Orihime's shield.

The first thing Orihime noticed about the Arrancar was how pale he was, deathly pale it was unnatural contrasting strikingly against his messy, jet-black hair. He seemed about a head shorter than his companion but radiated an aura of power and dominance. Orihime turned her attention away from the now sullen, cursing Grimmjow (which she presumed was his name due to the second Arrancar's remark) to his companion who equally turned his full attention to her. "You can't fucking tell me what to Ulquiorra!" Grimmjow spat towards his ally. Ulquiorra… Orihime felt a sense of deja vu as she stared at the vampire. It wasn't until she met his eyes that she gasped loudly, her shield momentarily fading before she recovered from her shock to reinforce the power of her shield.

It was the vampire from her dreams, the one who had helped her when she was a child. His emerald eyes shone brightly reflecting the light from her shield as she continued to gawk at him. Those celestial eyes stared at her with indifference as he observed her bewildered expression. Permanent teal tear streaks appeared to be running from his eyes, over his cheeks down to his angular jaw. There was no mistaking it, he was the same vampire.

"You…You are…" Orihime began to mumble as he began to walk steadily closer towards the shield.

"Orihime Inoue, I need you to come with us."

There must be something seriously wrong with me, two updates in one month?! Whaaaaa?! I feel that Tatsuki and Orihime deserved some much needed bonding time before the chaos begins, apologies if its too long. So Ulquiorra and Grimmjow enter the story again, I wonder what will happen next?

Stay Tuned.