Wow. I mean, wow. I’m so sorry about the lack of updates—life just did a total 180 for me. Entering and adjusting to high school is no easy task. But I come bearing a new, longer chapter of Elemental. Again, I apologize profusely for my inactivity. Also, I am quite aware of what’s going on with Karakura Town in the canon manga—this is an alternate reality, yes? Now that that’s clear, we can move on with the story!

XXXXVIII. Cadmium (cancerous)

Although Orihime thought her defenses were strong, she had to concede that he was something else entirely—it was as though she her own sanity turned to dust whenever she even thought of him. The knowledge of him being her greatest weakness was more frustrating than anything else; it ate away at her, until she became human once again.

XXXXIX. Indium (imposter)

She was surprised to hear their attack plan at first, especially when they told her that she was to pose as a fukutaichō. She wasn’t sure of what exactly they were planning, or how they were going to defeat Aizen and the Arrancar with bluffs, but she had no choice in the matter. After all, if she could see him again, she had nothing to complain about, did she?

L. Tin (screams)

He wasn’t one to even waste energy on pathetic concern for others, but there was something about the way she screamed in agony—a primative, raw display of the human parts of her that were still left—that made him shudder, maybe even pause. Those screams made whatever he did seem insignificant in retrospect.

LI. Antimony (intricities)

She refused to admit that there was much more to the situation at hand than what she was briefed on. No one could possibly predict the complications that would occur when her own sentiments were laden into the supposed war. She couldn’t see past the intricate web of consequences her actions would bring about; who would she rather betray, her friends or herself?

LII. Tellurium (precious)

Nobody knew of the struggles she went through, the battles she waged inside her mind. Not Ichigo, not Rukia, not even Unohana-taichō. What scared her more than anything, however, was not that someone might know, but that Ulquiorra knew. He was undoubtedly the last person she trusted with anything.

He was the enemy.

He was the target.

So why couldn’t she think otherwise?

LIII. Iodine (numb)

In all honesty, he was sick of feeling numb. He was sick of having to maintain this false nonchalance towards everything. And yet, he felt this obligation to keep it up, because if he didn’t, Inoue Orihime just might have seen his weakness and would strike him where it hurt.

LIV. Xenon (invisible)

Oh, how she wished she was invisible. Maybe then, everything—not just her body—would disappear. Her thoughts, hopes, dreams, desires—they would all vanish into thin air. That was the only way she could possibly hope to rid of the evil that was adorning her otherwise pure mind.

LV. Caesium (melt)

In the middle of a heated battle, she heard the words that she knew would destroy her from the inside out. Maybe if anyone else had said it, it wouldn’t affect her as much, but it was him. And he had the power to make her melt, as much as she wouldn’t admit it.

“I win.”