A/N: Here we are, chapter 10! This is the last chapter, guys. *dramatic sigh*

I had to finish this before my test week, and it's been hectic with school lately. Wow, what a ride XD

***

Chapter 10: This is my goodbye

Orihime slid open the rice paper door. Seated on the cushioned floor were two figures of imminent power: Kuchiki Byakuya and Yamamoto-Soutaichou. The latter lifted an eye to watch her come in. Orihime took care to close the door behind her gently, with eyes cast downwards.

Formality was in the air.

***

"Hey, how did it go?" Rangiku asked, tilting a sake bottle to meet her full lips.

They were seated around the coffee table of the Tenth division. Rangiku, Shuuhei, Izuru and Orihime stared at the cluster of sake bottles and cups in front of them. Luckily, the division's captain had gone home for the evening.

"Hm..?" Orihime idly looked at Rangiku, not really listening. She was the only one in the group without a sake cup in hand.

"I said- Hey, why aren't you drinking?" The blonde stopped in her track and eyed the younger girl suspiciously.

"I'm underage," Orihime graciously explained.

There was a gurgling noise beside her, and she turned to see Shuuhei choking on his own drink. That idiot.

"Bullshit," he coughed, and Orihime wasn't sure if he was actually laughing. "What about that last time you went drinking with us?"

Orihime grimaced. "Well, one does learn from one's mistakes, you know? I obviously don't want a repeat of that episode again, ever."

Kira and Rangiku blinked in confusion. The latter had a sparkle in her eyes as she normally did when she sensed a gossip waiting to be discovered.

Noticing this, Orihime deftly changed the subject. "But if you were asking about my progress evaluation with Yamamoto, I'd say it went pretty well, Rangiku-san."

"Really?" Kira smiled. "What kind of things did he ask you?"

"Oh just general stuff. He was being really nice. It was quite surprising that he didn't try to test me at all. Not on my social skills or knowledge of history as Byakuya had warned me about. He just asked how I was doing and if I had adjusted to living at the manor."

"Oh? That's good. And was Kuchiki-taichou there with you?"

"Why, of course he was. Just sitting there being stoic as was required, while I rambled on with my praises about his teachings to Yamamoto."

Her three friends stared at her incredulously.

"What?" Orihime cocked her head in feigned innocence.

Rangiku not-so-subtly leaned into Kira and whispered loudly, "Jesus, I think they've brainwashed her."

Orihime chuckled. "That's lame, guys. What are you trying to say?"

"Well, ya see kid, we haven't seen you in like a week, and now you're being all Lovely Lady on us. I thought you hated Kuchiki-taichou?" Shuuhei took the liberty of explaining.

"That's right, I did." Orihime stated matter-of-factly. "But now I think he's…wonderful…" The last word she uttered with a dreamy sigh.

Shuuhei, Kira and Rangiku exchanged panicked glances.

"For the love of Gods! What ever happened to you?" The dark-haired man exclaimed.

"It's alright Shuuhei, we've all been there." Rangiku gave Orihime a sympathetic, knowing look. "It was just a matter of time. After all, who can resist Kuchiki-taichou?"

Silence reigned. The male vice captains seemed uncomfortable.

"I still don't get it," Shuuhei blurted out. "What's so great about HIM anyway? He's so stuffy and arrogant and-"

"Ah, but you haven't lived in the same house as and spent time with him, or you'll see how really kind and funny and sweet he actually is. Not a lot of people know that." Orihime said with a goofy smile on her face.

"Yeah, tell that to his dead wife. I'm not sure how she died, but I figured she probably hung herself after being insisted by her own husband to call him 'sama'."

"That's mean!"

"You guys, settle down," Rangiku ordered with a friendly tone. The tone also told them that if they didn't do as they were told, she was going to drown them both in jugs of sake for ruining her peaceful drinking evening. "As far as I can see, Orihime-chan is just having a nice, harmless little crush. A phase all girls go through."

Noticing the younger woman's pout, she added, "But of course, if this crush doesn't go away soon, you better do something about it."

Orihime perked up. "Seriously?"

"Of course! I mean, you're leaving soon, aren't you? In a week?"

"Six days, actually."

"Yeah, like I said. You need to take this opportunity to get it all out of your system." Rangiku said firmly.

"I see…" Orihime paused. "But won't that be, oh I don't know, suicidal?"

"Naturally." Kira put in.

There was a sound of someone fumbling at the door. All four of them looked towards it expectantly, Rangiku and Shuuhei in mid-swig of sake.

"Hey Matsumoto, you're still here? I forgot the form that Uohana-taichou asked me to sign, do you know where-"

Orihime supposed that Hitsugaya-taichou had by that time taken in the sight of all the sake bottles littering the floor, because he froze. Literally.

The room's temperature dropped by a considerable number of degrees.

"What the HELL are you guys doing in my office?!"

***

Orihime took a deep, nerves-calming breath, her wrist poised on the wooden door to the Sixth Division's headquarters. She had taken Rangiku's advice and came all the way here to try and force some "quality time" between her and Byakuya outside their lessons, which had already ended after her official one month punishment. Orihime, however, was still staying at his house for a few more days, waiting for the scheduled time that the senkai gate to the human world would be opened for her. She thought that she might as well use this time to her advantage. After all, if her attempts at humanizing Byakuya failed miserably, Orihime figured that she could always hide in the real world afterwards, preferably for the rest of her life.

"What are you doing here?" A familiar voice greeted her from behind. Orihime turned around to see the subject of her thoughts standing there, on his way into the office.

"Oh, you're not in there…" Orihime said, rather unnecessarily.

"That's right, I'm out here."

Orihime wasn't sure if he meant to be demeaning or funny- it was hard to tell.

"What business do you have with me, Inoue-san?" Byakuya asked, all formal again. That made it much harder.

"Um…" Orihime looked around for distraction, anything to keep her from melting into a puddle of idiotic goo at his intense gaze. She blurted the first thing that came to mind. "Lunch!"

"I'm afraid I don't quite follow…"

"Yes!" Orihime said thankfully, grasping on to her flash of idea. " Haha you do eat, right?" She grinned bleakly. "I just wanted to ask you to lunch."

"I already ate."

"Oh." Well, that was successful.

"What is it? Do you need money for food?" Byakuya asked in concern.

"N-no! That's not why I came." Great, now he thinks I'm begging for money.

Turning bright red, Orihime took a few steps back. "You know what? Never mind. Maybe later!" With that, she speed-walked out of the division.

What was she thinking? He probably only saw her as his little sister's friend. Byakuya Kuchiki was unattainable, unapproachable, un- OH GAWD. Rukia will be more than freaked. She'd skewer me!

In her daze, Orihime walked right into a concrete wall. Or at least, that was what it seemed to be at first. Closer examination determined that the hard block she rammed into was actually Renji Abarai.

"What's up Orihime?" The redhead smiled at her, all scarily friendly as usual.

Orihime rubbed her forehead but said nothing.

"Hm…came to flirt with the Captain, didn't ya?" He took in her flushed complexion, a glint of a knowing look in his eyes.

Orihime froze, before her friend erupted into a loud bark of obnoxious laughter.

"H-how…"

"How did I know?" Renji shook his head sympathetically. "Orihime, Orihime," he said in an almost tut-tut manner. "You told Rangiku." It was as if that should've been obvious.

Orihime wanted to smack herself for being such a pathetic loser. How could she have made the same mistake twice? Was it not for the blonde that everyone in Seireitei knew about her spitting on Byakuya's scarf, in the first place?

"Might as well broadcast it with a few hundreds of hell butterflies." Renji added, rather unnecessarily.

Just as Orihime decided not to dignify any of his comments with a reply, the conversation just took a turn for the worse.

"So, how did it go?" The redhead said nonchalantly.

"Must you even ask?"

"That bad, huh. Well, ya know what they say, seduce Kuchiki Byakuya or die tryin'" He said as a matter-of-factly.

"Who the hell says that?"

Renji shrugged. "What I mean is, if you're gonna go for it, make sure ya go all the way!"

Orihime considered this. Then something hit her. "Hey, Renji, are you really ok with this?"

The vice captain looked at her for a few seconds, seemingly gauging what she meant by the question. Then, he understood. "Contrary to popular belief, I do NOT have an undying love for my captain." He said grimly.

"Well, one just had to check…" Orihime mumbled guiltily. Renji was right, though. If she were at all to gain some respect from her peers, or from herself, for that matter, she really had to step up and stop being a coward.

There were only five more days left to work on the Kuchiki.

***

Day 1:

"So… you wanna play a game?"

"No."

"Let's talk!"

"About what?"

"Stuff…"

"…No."

Orihime sighed. She was just getting a little irritated with the nay-saying noble.

"What is it? I have work to do." Byakuya asked emotionlessly, noticing that she was still there in his study.

"I'm bored!"

"Then go outside and play with your friends."

What did he think she was, a three-year-old? Seducing Byakuya proved to be a very challenging task indeed.

Day 2:

It was during one of their quiet meals that Orihime blurted out the unthinkable.

"You have really nice hair!"

Appalled by her own stupidity, she sat back on the chair and proceeded to munch her rice wordlessly. Maybe they could pretend like nothing happened…

"Thank you." Byakuya said without missing a beat, as calm and graceful as always. Orihime was suddenly reminded of the story she heard when she was a child, about a dog barking at the swan- wait, or was it barking at the moon? Anyway, the moral of the story was probably the same.

Day 3:

She let her pearl white yukata slip off her left shoulder just a little, taking care to leave a strand of long hair cascading down her exposed skin.

"Byakuya?" She peered into his study, somewhere near midnight. The noble was still working away at his report.

He turned to look at her for a second, before turning back to his writing.

"What do you want?"

"My room's so cold! I was wondering if you could-"

"Ask a servant to bring you extra blankets."

Day 4:

Orihime was eating lunch at a small restaurant in Seireitei, a place where working shinigami frequented. Renji, Ikkaku, Kira, Yumichika, Shuuhei, and Rangiku were there with her. It was like a small goodbye party. Orihime suspected she'd be too busy with moving the next day to see any of them again.

"So, hime-san, how's that seduction plan of yours working out?" Yumichika was the one to ruin her peaceful mood, casually bringing up the topic.

"Jesus, don't call it that." Ikkaku said, somewhat disgusted.

Did EVERYBODY know about this?!

"I…uh…"

Before she had time to finish her coherent reply, however, Rangiku cut her off.

"There's just one more day left, Orihime! What ever other tactics you have left, use them!"

"No way, I say she's hopeless." Shuuhei commented airily. He promptly got socked on the jaw by Renji.

"You don't know that! Personally, I'd bow to anyone who's willing to take my Captain out on a date. It'd make things a lot easier on me if he isn't so uptight all the time."

"I hear ya," Yumichika said pityingly.

Meanwhile, Orihime thought for a whole minute about drowning herself in the bowl of miso soup. Perhaps her next life would offer a more intellectual variety of acquaintances. The notion was entertaining, that is, until she realized that if she were dead she'd be sent to live in Soul Society for good.

But who was she kidding? Orihime looked around at them all, laughing and joking around her. Whether she admitted it or not, she loved these bastards.

They finished eating and left, most of them having to return to their divisions.

On her way out, Orihime had an unexpected encounter with someone she rather preferred to believe did not exist at all.

Kurotsuchi Mayuri was in his usual, creepy attire. He seemed to be standing there this whole time, waiting for her to separate from her group of friends. His anxious behavior resembled that of a man's, about to ask someone on their first date. Orihime was pretty sure, though, that that wasn't his intention.

"Ah, Inuoe-san! Just the person I wanted to see." He attempted nonchalance, as if he just randomly ran into her and was not in fact waiting around like a professional stalker.

"What do you want?" She asked curtly, not caring if it sounded rude. Byakuya was not there to correct her manners, and even if he was, Orihime didn't think he would mind it too terribly. It was Kurotsuchi, after all.

"I heard that you're leaving soon, and I was just wondering what your final answer to my proposal is…" Captain Clown fidgeted with his painted fingernails, an image one wouldn't want to witness in one's life, ever.

Finally, he blurted out. "Would you be my test subject?! My offer of minimum lab exposure time and all those perks still stands."

Orihime looked at him for several seconds. There was something that had been bugging her since the first time they met. She just HAD to say it.

"Kurotsuchi?"

"Yes?"

"Is that a zanpakuto in your pants, or are you just happy to see me?"

"…"

"That will be all." She smiled sweetly, and turned on her heels.

Day 5:

Today was her last day in Seireitei. Orihime still hadn't finished packing her belongings. Surprisingly, she felt a little sad about leaving, even though she also wanted to see her old friends again.

She spent the morning wandering around the house, checking each room to make sure she didn't forget anything. The gate would be opened at midday, so she still had some time left . Not that it would make a difference, anyway. Kuchiki Byakuya was as cold as he was known to be, even if she refused to believe it. As the end of their time together drew near, the hopelessness of her plan dawned on Orihime.

What, had she believed that, to him, she was a breath of fresh air, that she could change the man with her unique presence, or something conceited like that? Orihime was starting to realize now that too many years had passed, and Byakuya still hadn't gotten over his wife. By the looks of it, many years would still have to pass before any progress can be seen. It didn't help that Rukia's face was a constant reminder to him, living under the same roof, even if she was away often.

Orihime might as well just give up now, it would save herself a lot of trouble. This wouldn't be the first time her love went unrequited, anyway. Maybe she just had the tendency to be attracted to people guaranteed to be oblivious. Or maybe they knew how she felt, and purposefully acted as if they didn't. The thought alone was too depressing to dwell on, so Orihime went into the kitchen, in search of something to stuff her face.

It gave her time to think more reasonably, though. Whether or not Byakuya was the subject of her desire, it didn't really matter all that much. He was still her sensei, a man who gave her a worthwhile time during the one month that she'd stayed with him, and that was what truly mattered. Before she left, she just had to thank him.

Byakuya was away at the moment, probably at a meeting. Orihime wasn't sure if he'd be there to see her off, either. But if she couldn't talk to him face to face, she'd settle for an alternative. It might be easier that way, too, seeing as how their previous conversations went.

She came back to her room and sat at her desk. In the drawers, she found some pieces of paper, an ink bottle, and a brush.

Fifteen minutes later, Orihime looked at her note. It wasn't exceptionally beautiful, and the verses were nowhere near romantic. Its only redeeming feature was that the handwriting was legible, and she figured that the message at least managed to convey her sentiments. The words were raw and not at all ladylike, but Orihime thought that they suited her style very much.

She left it on the table and exited the room.

***

Later, a loyal servant of the house was to discover a small piece of paper in the empty guestroom addressing her master. It read:

Dear Byakuya,

I hope you find this poem to your liking, or at least up to your standard.

Thank you for everything.

Yours truly,

Orihime

P.S. I finally tried harder at calligraphy.

Pain

A cut, a bruise, a pounding headache,

Consumed in all fires of rage,

Impaled by warriors with ten blades,

Nothing hurts as much as my heartache.

Epilogue

"What, is that THING?"

A girl, resembling her so much it wasn't funny, at the moment was yapping for Ichigo.

"Kurosaki-kun!!!" She broke free from Uryu, after socking him in the crotch, and made a leap for the orange-haired teen with such a happy squeal it scared the shit out of Orihime.

With practiced ease, Ichigo sidestepped, and the gigai landed flat on her face. Yup. If there was the tiniest chance Orihime had with Ichigo to begin with, it was crushed to a gazillion particles by now. But surprisingly, she didn't mind too much.

There was a small party welcoming her return. One of Rukia's bright ideas. Orihime had enjoyed herself, catching up with everything that's been going on. After everyone helped clean up and left, though, she found herself staring out the window, her mind wandering off into another world.

Even when she was back at home, surrounded by her friends, those precious to her, Orihime couldn't help but think of Byakuya and their time in Soul Society. The man had taught her manners (or at least attempted to), had cared for her during those confined days, and trusted her enough to show his human side, however brief those moments were. He said the words she most longed to hear, something her parents never said, something that even her brother failed to say, no matter how effortless it had seemed on his part.

It was for these memories that, when she was captured in Hueco Mundo and her friends came to her rescue, the suspicion which had been growing forever since her time in Soul Society was confirmed. As Byakuya killed the last of the Espada there and saved her from that hellish place, she knew it more than anything she ever had. Despite how he denied it in the past, and would surely continue to do so, Byakuya Kuchiki indeed felt. And he sure as hell cared.

***

A/N: Thank you so much for all your support and reviews, you guys are so great! ^ ^

Let me know what ya all think of the ending, ok? Liked it, hated it, or whatever, just bring it on!

xx Mina