Stand by you, when the world falls away [Active, Closed]

[abueloslegacy]

Characters: Chad and Orihime
Content: With Ichigo gone, Orihime is determined to learn the extent of her powers, and asks her closest remaining friend to help her do so.
Location: De Mott Clinton Park
Time of day: Early Morning
Warnings: None

Comments

[if_iweretherain]

Orihime was trying not to be seen. Attempting to channel the ancient ninjas and learn their arts, she darted from building to building. She had promised Kurosaki not to go wandering around on her own, but he was gone now, and she would be fine. She would have to be.

Karate black belt the girl might be, but she was clearly no ninja. Chad would catch sight of her long before she popped out of "hiding" and greeted him. When she saw her friend, she slipped from the shadow of a building and waved, jogging over to him. "Hello, Sado-kun!" He didn't usually wear sunglasses, did he? He looked... kind of how a secret agent might look if a secret agent wore bright pink shirts. Inoue never really noticed the shirts though. They were just part of her friend.

"I know how tired healing makes me here, and how much harder it is, so I'm not so worried about that today. But since it's so much harder, that's all I've done while I've been here. I... was afraid that someone would get hurt and I wouldn't be able to help." Her voice got softer as she spoke that last sentence, but grew much more determinedly optimistic as she continued, "I met with some of the other healers a couple days ago, and we discussed ways to make things work better. I have people who I know can help everyone if I'm not at full strength, so I wanted to see what Tsubaki and Hinagiku, Baigon, and Lily can do here." She smiled up at him. "How badly are your powers limited in the city?"

If Orihime's smiles were a little more fragile or forced than usual, she knew that her companion would never comment on it. And he probably missed Ichigo just as much as she did, another reason he was the first person she'd wanted to see after realizing Kurosaki truly was gone.

[abueloslegacy]

Sado did, in fact, note Orihime darting from the shadows well before she emerged into the open, but he had the decency not to say anything, and even put on a little show of being surprised by her before waving with a small smile. Orihime's biggest weakness had always been her confidence, and unfortunately recent events had only made things worse. If he could make her feel a little better by playing pretend, he happily would.

Listening to the girl's rambling words, Sado could tell she had been putting a lot of thought into this. He could also tell from her smile that at least some of her usual bubblyness was forced. Not only had her confidence been hurt, but the loss of Ichigo had been a blow to her heart. Ichigo might have missed how she looked at him, but Sado hadn't.

He had to wonder for a moment if he was doing the right thing. Certainly this was not what Ichigo would have wanted. Teaching her to fight would just risk putting her in further danger, and he had always been dedicated to protecting all his friends, especially in recent days when the danger had grown so great.

Still, in this instance Sado had to ignore what Ichigo would want. Ichigo was his best friend, and that would never change, but Sado was not him. What's more, he knew the pain of being left behind, and he would not inflict that on anyone.

Deciding to answer her question first, Sado smiled and put his hand on her head. "I can summon my arm armor, but only the one I had in Soul Society. I can only generate about two blasts a day however."

He paused for a moment to think of how best to test her abilities in the way she desired, and settled upon an idea. "Why don't we test your shield first?"

[if_iweretherain]

Orihime listened closely to everything her friend said. Considering how few words he tended to use most of the time, each one he did express was all the more valuable. "Alright," the girl told her friend agreeably when he set forth a plan. "Should I be shielding myself or somewhere else?" As soon as he gave his answer, she immediately got started. It was going to be a very busy day, and she was going to use every minute of it to the fullest. If filling every minute made it easier not to think of Ichigo, that was simply a beneficial side effect.

She could summon them without words even here, but if there was a chance it would improve her focus and make things slightly easier for her, Orihime would take it. "Hinagiku, Baigon, Lily," she said, concentrating on the trio. The smile that appeared in the same instant they did they did was considerably more real than her previous one. They were a part of her and had never really been gone, but she hadn't actually summoned them, seen them and heard them speak, in too long, and she'd missed them.

Tiny Lily gave her a playful salute, the pink-haired fairy's good-natured cheeky grin in place as usual. Baigon was his ever impassive self, arms crossed over his chest, and only greeted her with the slightest nod. By far the most vocal of the three, and the fairy besides Tsubaki most likely to berate her for never giving him a chance to do anything, Hinagiku's greeting was the one Orihime could least predict. The somewhat odd-looking slender fairy did yell his words, but only because that was the way he usually spoke. She should have known he'd be all business, "It took you awhile, so let's not waste anymore time!" Inoue nodded vigorously. "Right! Santen Kesshun, I reject!" she exclaimed, putting all her will into the words.

[abueloslegacy]

Sado looked around for a second, before pointing at a nearby tree. "Let's start with that."

Stepping back, the teenager idly began searching the ground for a large rock, discretely giving Orihime the time she needed to become reacquainted with her power. Sado had to admit he often wondered about what it would be like to have his own power manifest in a personified way. He had to acknowledge that given his power's Hollow nature it was likely for the best that it didn't, but some small part of him wondered if it would allow him to connect more strongly to his Abuelo's teachings.

Shaking his head, Sado dismissed those notions for the moment. His powers allowed him to protect others, and did not need to do anything beyond that for himself. They were not for him, they were for the people around him.

Once he saw the shield was ready, he nodded to Orihime before turning to face the tree. Just from the look of it, her shield still retained much of its power to protect, something Sado was glad for but not very surprised about. Orihime's power had always been tied to her heart, and despite what some thought, her heart was stronger than any he had seen.

Winding up, Sado took aim at the tree, and let the rock fly.

[if_iweretherain]

Sado's strength had always been far beyond that of other human beings, even before his powers developed. The force with which the rock flew might have shocked any observers, but Orihime took it for granted.

It was not the ability of her shield to withstand an attack that concerned her. She was fairly certain it could hold against any attack without significant spiritual energy behind it, and even some with reiatsu. Likely the trio could not hold it against quite as much as they could at home, but what concerned her was not what the shield could take. It was her own ability to hold it that she doubted. Already she could tell that it would last far less time here than she was used to; she wasn't tired yet, but could feel the rapid depletion of energy that indicated fatigue would come all too soon.

The rock was deflected as she'd expected it to be, and she said to her friend, "I think it'll be okay unless it gets hit with too much reiatsu or I get too tired. I get tired a lot sooner, and it probably can't handle nearly as much spirit energy. I don't know how long it would last against anyone's powers, so maybe we should test that?"

Unspoken was the fact that she didn't think there was any way she could stand against certain people regardless of her abilities, Ichimaru among them. She couldn't let anything happen to herself again, because it invariably led to her friends in danger. Inoue didn't think she could bear watching any of them hurt again because of her.

[abueloslegacy]

Sado listened carefully to Orihime's own observations about her powers, noting down what she considered important about how they reacted. After all, no one knew her abilities better than her, and if anything was different she'd probably be the first to notice.

When she finished he was silent for another moment or two, before nodding and replying, "That sounds similar to how my powers have been drained. Still, we should test your limits." Chad had already worked his abilities until he passed out, seeking to know exactly how far he could push himself in a fight. While part of him railed against putting Orihime through similar training, he knew it was vital to her own safety that she be allowed to.

Still, they'd have to start with the basics. "Why don't we test your attack powers first, before you exhaust yourself?"

[if_iweretherain]

She nodded; what he said made sense. This was why Orihime had requested his help in the first place. Sado knew her abilities nearly as well as she did, and also knew what this place had done to his own powers. "Should I attack the same tree I was shielding?" she inquired. Inoue didn't really want to destroy the park in the process of evaluating her limits. There were more than enough places in the city that had already been destroyed. There was no doubt in her mind though that her abilities were long overdue for testing. Banishing the slight apprehension she felt from her voice, she spoke Tsubaki's name.

The gleam as Tsubaki took his true form was accompanied by small jolts of pain to her head as Orihime was kicked by a very small foot. "A BASEBALL BAT, WOMAN!?" As always, his voice was much louder than expected from such a small being. "YOU DIDN'T LET ME DO ANYTHING FOR ALMOST FOUR MONTHS, YOU THOUGHT A BASEBALL BAT WAS A BETTER IDEA!? And now, when you finally do summon me, THERE'S NO DANGER IN SIGHT! YOU COULDN'T'VE DONE THIS A LITTLE SOONER!?" Orihime winced as he scolded and tugged on her hair, but was unable to resist a small smile, ducking her face so some of her hair fell in front of it to her expression from the fairy. Tsubaki she had lost once before, and his presence had come to have extra significance because of it. She also knew he wouldn't hold back to spare her feelings if he didn't agree with something she'd done, so his was a good opinion to have, if occasionally slightly painful.

Finally unable to resist, a small laugh escaped her and the girl gingerly pried Tsubaki from where he seemed to be trying to tear hair from her scalp. Orihime carefully pulled the still somewhat irate and very vocal fairy to her for a hug, a rather diffucult feat considering his diminutive size. Her smile now fully visible to both Tsubaki and Chad, she raised the hand holding Tsubaki so that she could look him in the eyes. "Now that you're here though," she told him, taking Hinagiku's earlier advice to heart, "We should do what needs to be done." When he grudgingly gave his agreement, she concentrated on her target and spoke the words, "Koten Zanshun, I reject!"

[abueloslegacy]

Sado as a rule was generally rather unflappable, but watching Tsubaki's verbal and physical assault on Orihime elicited a stare from the teenager that from anyone else would have probably been blatant gaping.

Unsure of what exactly to do about this particular situation, Sado stood in silence until he was able to make out the small smile that somehow still managed to light up her whole face. Sado's own mouth twisted into a small smile at seeing how happy Orihime was, and he realized that the fairy must have just been expressing his concern in his own way.

He supposed Tsubaki and Ichigo had a bit in common that way.

Careful not to interrupt the touching scene before him, especially since Orihime looked so adorable hugging Tsubaki like that. Still, he made sure to pay close attention to see just how her offensive powers worked in Manhattan.