Orihime Inoue

is a Human living in Karakura Town. She is a student at the Karakura High School, where she is in the same class as Ichigo Kurosaki and her best friend, Tatsuki Arisawa.

Appearance
Orihime is a teenager of average height. She has brown eyes and long, waist-length burnt orange hair. Her most noticeable physical trait is her surprisingly curvaceous figure for a teenager, especially in terms of her large breasts. She wears her hair in bangs tucked behind her ears with hairpins, which she only removes to sleep, as they are worn in the memory of her brother. Orihime initially wears her hair with a full but parted fringe before pulling most of her bangs behind her ears as she was ready to leave for Soul Society, a change noted by Tatsuki.

Personality
Orihime is friendly, humorous in her own way, sensitive, caring, and kind. She comes off as naive and rather clueless, which is at odds with her exceptionally high marks in school. She is a member of the Handicrafts Club and likes to invent very ridiculous sports to play with Tatsuki (such as "base-cer," a combination of baseball and soccer). She is not very good with technology; a member of the Handicrafts Club once remarked that she is not smart enough to use a cell phone, which is why she does not have one.

Orihime likes Asian flower print clothes and comedies. Orihime cooks and eats strange food at home, although she also likes some normal food. Aside from Rangiku Matsumoto and Tessai Tsukabishi, no one shares Orihime's tastes. Her favorite food is red bean paste, and she likes putting butter on sweet potatoes. She enjoys cheese and butter most of the time. She tends to zone out with her mouth open and loses track of what she was thinking or dreaming about. She also tends to have an over-active imagination and gets carried away thinking of implausible scenarios, such as portraying herself as a futuristic and highly destructive robot in an assignment asking a student "How do you see yourself in the future?".

Orihime has also demonstrated that she is perceptive when it comes to people's mental and emotional state, especially in regards to Ichigo Kurosaki, able to tell what kind of driving force is pushing someone. She has a crush on Ichigo, and later falls in love with him. She has revealed these feelings both to Rangiku Matsumoto and to Ichigo himself, though he was asleep at the time. She has exhibited traits that appear to have some connection with Ichigo, such as the uncanny ability to detect Ichigo by scent and sense his Spiritual Pressure even when masked by the Vizard, and an awareness of what mood Ichigo is in, sensing his feelings of anguish, disappointment, or worry, even feeling pain herself when she sees Ichigo getting hurt.

History
Orihime lives by herself in Karakura Town, and is supported by her relatives living elsewhere. Previously, she lived with her older brother, Sora, who was fifteen years older than her. She and her brother were raised by a drunk father and a prostitute mother, who always argued and beat their children. It is unknown if her parents are still alive.

When Sora turned eighteen, he ran away with Orihime, who was three years old, and raised her from then on. For six years, Orihime and Sora lived in harmony despite the fact that Orihime was bullied in school because of her unusual hair color. One day, Sora gave Orihime a pair of hairpins. However, Orihime refused to wear them because she said they were childish. On the same day, Sora was wounded in a car accident and died in the Kurosaki clinic. Orihime has worn the hairpins ever since. A year after Sora died, Orihime met Tatsuki, who defended her from the bullies. They became best friends.

Agent of the Shinigami arc
She initially appears with Tatsuki walking through the school corridor, discussing her odd tastes in food, which her best friend does not share. A distracted Ichigo Kurosaki collides with her and knocks her to the ground. After he apologizes, she acts strangely and begins to make excuses while fleeing the scene. Later, she is seen at her home being watched by the ghost of her brother, Sora. The next day, Ichigo and Rukia Kuchiki come across Orihime as she is walking home from purchasing groceries for dinner. When they find her, it is evident she has been in some sort of accident although she appears unsure if she was hit by a car or not. Despite this, Rukia notices a strange bruise on her leg which she later reveals was made by some form of Hollow. This is confirmed when Acidwire attacks Ichigo, who identifies him as the spirit of Orihime's brother.

Meanwhile, Orihime has Tatsuki over for dinner, revealing more of her crush when she becomes distracted by the thought of Ichigo's previous offer to walk her home. After dinner, both girls begin hearing loud noises after Orihime's teddy rips and falls from its shelf. It is then that Acidwire attacks and pulls Orihime's soul from her body, leaving the Chain of Fate unbroken so that she doesn't initially die. Horrified, Orihime witnesses the Hollow attack her best friend, who becomes scared and confused, even when Orihime touches her (due to the fact that Tatsuki cannot see either of them). Ichigo soon arrives to attack the Hollow but still hesitates in finishing him off, being flung from the building in the process. Acidwire then reveals his true identity to Orihime, who is skeptical at first because she doesn't believe her brother would do such horrible things as trying to hurt others. She finally believes him when she sees his reaction to her hair-clips and thus becomes concerned when he and Ichigo begin fighting once more. Again, due to his identity, Ichigo hesitates and loses his sword as a result. Acidwire attacks Orihime and she embraces him during it, despite his exclamation that she should die for him. In the anime, Acidwire attacks Ichigo who is saved and shocked when Orihime takes the hit herself. Orihime apologizes to her brother for causing all this, which results in him being able to temporarily crack his Hollow mask and regain some control over his actions. She awakens in time to bid him farewell before he sends himself to the Soul Society with a smile upon his face.

While both Tatsuki and Orihime's memories are modified by Rukia, this event enables them to start developing spiritual awareness. She once again encounters a Hollow when Uryū lures a massive number to Karakura Town for his challenge to Ichigo. At this time she tries to get her friends to run quickly from school, in actuality, to run away from the Hollow that was stalking them that they couldn't see. The Hollow, Numb Chandelier, uses her ability to control various students and forces them to attack Orihime, with a shocked Chizuru Honshō unable to prevent her left hand from clenching itself around Orihime's neck. The classmates begin surrounding Orihime and begin gripping her when Tatsuki arrives to defend her from the onslaught, confused by the actions of her fellow students. When Tatsuki tries to fend off the assaults and protect Orihime, she is controlled as well with one of the Hollow's seeds implanted within her. Seeing Tatsuki in tears brings back old memories of the days when Orihime was bullied for the color of her hair and when Tatsuki saved her, thus Orihime decides it is time for her to protect Tatsuki in return for their friendship. This desire forces a change in Orihime whose powers begin to manifest for the first time as she declares that the Hollow made a mistake in hurting her friends. Orihime then notices numerous spirit beings flying over her head discussing whether or not Orihime recognizes their existence. These six spirits, who call themselves Shun Shun Rikka, briefly explain their powers for Orihime, which she uses to defeat the Hollow and heal Tatsuki. Afterwards, Kisuke Urahara takes her and Yasutora Sado to his shop, where he explains their powers to them.

Soul Society arc
After Rukia is taken back to Soul Society, everyone immediately forgets about her except for Orihime and the other powerful people around Ichigo. She confronts Ichigo about this and highlights for him the possibility that even if he does rescue Rukia, she may be captured again and taken back to her world. Despite this, Orihime already knows that he's made up his mind to go rescue her. She decides to join Ichigo on his rescue mission along with Chad, Uryū, and their guide Yoruichi Shihōin. For this, Yoruichi informs them that they have to train in order to go to the Soul Society and survive. Orihime asks Uryū to train with Chad and herself but he declines. Their initial lessons with Yoruichi prove difficult and they are unable to unlock their powers once more until Yoruichi asks them to remember how they felt when their powers first manifested; with this her powers appear again. She congratulates Chad when he finally unleashes his power and yet destroys the building, with all of them having to run away afterwards. On their last day with their friends, while the others leave with Ichigo's father to find seats at the Fireworks Festival, Orihime stays and has a small chat with Tatsuki. Orihime chose to tell her that she was staying at her Grandmother's house when she was actually going to Soul Society and it appeared that Tatsuki knew more than she was pretending to about the situation. The two decided to enjoy their time together regardless. Orihime received the same message from Urahara as Ichigo and appeared upset that he thought she had no sense of humor. Orihime is impressed and ecstatic when they enter the underground training facility at Urahara's Shop. Orihime, Chad, Uryū and Ichigo are lead by Yoruichi into the Dangai Precipice World that connects both the world of the living and the Soul Society in order to achieve their goal of saving Rukia from execution.

While running to Soul Society, despite Yoruichi warning her not to, Orihime uses her shield against the Dangai cleaner, saving their lives but severely risking hers in the process (which annoys Yoruichi). After being forced to take a back seat against the giant Jidanbō Ikkanzaka during the failed attempt at entering the Seireitei, Orihime takes over the job of healing the guardian with help of the surrounding citizens. When they reach the home of Kūkaku, it is shown that Orihime is able to create the Kidō cannonball fairly rapidly and easily compared to the others. When Ichigo experiences problems in forming any sort of sphere with his Spiritual Pressure, Orihime sacrifices her own food in order to save some for him when he refuses to come for something to eat. She enters the Seireitei using the Kido orb along with the others, being propelled through the barrier in the large projectile. When their large cannonball begins to disintegrate, the influx throws Orihime away from the others with Uryū. She catches their fall with Santen Kesshun. Despite the use of her shield, she does obtain some injuries from the fall, having passed out, waking to find herself thinking Uryū is Ichigo before realizing he would have had to administer first aid to her shoulder while she was unconscious.

For the majority of their mission, Orihime is grouped with Uryū. Despite receiving some secret attention from the beginning of their journey in the Seireitei, their time was relatively uneventful compared to the others, having only three encounters in total with the members of the Gotei 13. They dodge a possible encounter with Kenpachi Zaraki only to be found by Jirōbō Ikkanzaka of the 7th Division, who sneaks up behind Orihime and tries to kill her with a sneak attack, only to be prevented by Uryū's swift action. Orihime immediately takes the initiative and attempts to kill the much larger Shinigami, but her Koten Zanshun attack fails with Tsubaki even getting injured. Her opponent calmly deduces that while he hasn't seen such a power before, her attack had lacked killing intent and thus, would not work on a Shinigami like himself. Later, when Uryū defeats him, he changes tactics and moves to attack a defenseless Orihime who is unprepared for the attack. However, Uryū gets in between them and soundly defeats him once and for all. Orihime is impressed with her friend's progress but begins to lament about her own self-worth in battle, not feeling she achieved as much as he did in her ten days of training.

The next time the pair of them are seen, they are dressed in Shinigami uniforms. It is revealed that Orihime had an idea of stealing the uniforms from unsuspecting members of the Gotei 13 so that she and Uryū could move around more freely and she achieves this by knocking out some low level Shinigami. She attracts the attention of Toshimori Umesada of the Ninth Division, resulting in Uryū protecting her from his advances before he is called off. The pair renew their search for Rukia, unaware that they are being stalked by the Captain of the Twelfth Division, who reveals himself to have been hidden within the walls of buildings around them.

Later, Orihime reveals that Tsubaki is still injured and that she is having trouble healing him from their previous confrontation with Jirōbō Ikkanzaka. The pair are then confronted by Makizō Aramaki of the Eleventh Division, who does not believe their story as they are without their Zanpakutōs. They are saved by members of the Twelfth Division, but Uryū gets suspicious and figures out something is wrong, warning Orihime of the danger before the Twelfth Division Shinigami explode. Orihime managed to perform Santen Kesshun just in time to protect herself, Uryū, and Aramaki from these explosions. Aramaki becomes confused as to why Orihime saved him and why she became upset with the loss of those that had pretended to help them earlier, noting that it wasn't out of fear that she cried. She refuses to run away to save herself when Kurotsuchi is interested in her abilities. However, Uryū threatens Aramaki into running away with her in his arms to get her away from the impending battle between him and Kurotsuchi, although the latter initially tries to prevent his target from getting away.

Orihime and Aramaki are found by Yachiru Kusajishi and brought back to the Eleventh Division quarters where she is questioned by its members. The whole group, with Orihime travelling upon Kenpachi Zaraki's back with a jealous Yachiru, run for the barracks where Uryū, Chad and Ganju Shiba are being held and break them out of jail. Orihime and her friends witness Kenpachi challenge Sajin Komamura, Kaname Tōsen and their vice-captains to battle before being dragged off by Yachiru in order to find Ichigo.

They travel to Rukia's execution grounds but only arrive when Ichigo is battling Byakuya Kuchiki, they notice the large Reiatsu on the way and Orihime automatically identifies it to be that of Ichigo's. Orihime explains their reasons for rescuing Rukia to a confused Aramaki. Uryū tries to get Orihime to leave the dangerous area but she refuses to do so, wanting to wait until the battle was finished, despite the danger of being so close to the battle. . When the fight concludes, Orihime runs to Ichigo as he is falling only to have him hurt himself on her head as he did so, leading to her to panic and apologize repeatedly for the mishap. She gets over excited when Ichigo enquires if she was hurt at all and replies that she was useless and everyone had had to protect her. With tears in her eyes, she expresses her regret that she was unable to help Ichigo in any substantial capacity and that she was simply glad that he was alive following the dangerous events, for which Ichigo thanks her for her concern. Orihime also doesn't hear Isane Kotetsu's transmitted message to all the highly ranked officers and Ryoka, due to her not being in contact with the Fourth Division while the others, whom had been injured, had been healed by them at some point. While they manage to save Rukia, they are unable to stop Sōsuke Aizen, the mastermind behind the entire scheme, from departing for Hueco Mundo, something Orihime watches from bottom of the hill.

While healing Ichigo following Aizen's escape, she is noticed by others of the healing division, mainly Yasochika Iemura and later Captain Unohana, who surmmises they do not need aid as Orihime's abilities would suffice. They stayed for a week in Soul Society while the others recuperated following Aizen's escape. During this time, Uryū fashioned them all some clothes that would be more suitable for the living world, with Orihime's outfit being redesigned with lace decorations. Orihime over analyzes things when she comes to the conclusion that Uryū has feelings for Rukia simply based on the dress he'd fashioned for her. While bringing the dress to Rukia, she finds that her room is empty and Rukia is not there, something she reports to Ichigo later when she still can't locate Rukia. Orihime displays impressive physical strength when she follows Ichigo in climbing to the third floor of the infirmary where Byakuya Kuchiki was recovering. They continue their search for Rukia, refusing an invitation to come drink with Rangiku and the others as they headed towards the Shiba household. She is there to witness Rukia's determination to stay in the Soul Society before being shown to the Senkaimon by Ukitake the next day. Before leaving, she gives Rukia the dress Uryū had made for her insisting she have it in the process. While the rest of the Gotei 13 look on, Orihime leaves with the rest of her friends into the Dangai Precipice World and homeward.

Bount arc (anime only)
Note: Events occurring in this arc are only in the anime and do not constitute canon material.

In the anime, Orihime returns to school where she finally starts to talk to Tatsuki Arisawa again. During that morning, Renji Abarai turns up outside in a Gigai calling for Ichigo, who runs out of class. Later that evening, Orihime is visited by the spirit of her dead brother, who assures her that he got to Soul Society safely and he will never become a Hollow again. Meanwhile, Renji's phone picks up a spiritual anomaly near Orihime's house and he informs Ichigo of this. Chad and Uryū also sense this. Back at Orihime's house, her brother starts to behave strangely and suggests going outside. When Renji, Ichigo, Chad and Uryū arrive, there is a huge door (which somewhat resembles the Gates of Hell) floating outside Orihime's house. She is then sucked in while three shadowy figures stand on the rooftops laughing. The next day, everybody at school, including Tatsuki, seems to have lost their memories of her existence.

The shadowy figures rope Ichigo and the others into playing their "games" to get their friend back, eventually kidnapping Chad instead of returning Orihime. One of the shadowy figures impersonates Orihime beforehand, and turns into a tall thin man with a moustache, glasses, and top hat who reveals himself as Kurōdo. Next, a thin teenager with a zipper hood appears and introduces himself as Noba, and finally comes the girl who was phoning them, named Ririn. Chad is then sucked through the gates leaving the group down to three.

After some more games, the three strangers are revealed to be modified souls in Gigai forms. They return both Orihime and Chad, but insist that one member of their group has been replaced by an impostor in the process. The next game involves them finding the impostor over the course of the school day as their classmates disappear. The impostor is eventually revealed to be Chad. The final challenge involves rescuing Chad. Ichigo eventually realizes that Urahara is behind the whole thing.

Afterwards, Urahara reveals to the group that Uryū has lost his powers. Yoruichi arrives and tells them that Bounts have appeared. Urahara explains to the group about the Bounts and because they have high spirit powers, they might be targeted. He also tells them that the three mod souls have Bount detectors inside them. He then pairs Orihime up with Kurōdo who takes him home, in pill form, and puts him into a rabbit bag. As she is admiring him, Kon, Chad, and Noba (inside a turtle plushie) turn up. As they are talking, Noba and Kurōdo detect a Bount and the two run off to stop it from absorbing somebody's soul. They find that they are too late and are confronted by Ryō Utagawa who then walks off. They sense Ichigo is in trouble and run to find him just after Ryō Utagawa has carried off Yoshino Sōma. Orihime realizes Rukia Kuchiki has come back to the real world and she invites her to come to a restaurant while Ichigo and Chad exchange confused looks.

After the three bring Rukia up to date with the situation, they go back to Ichigo's house and talk, during the middle of which Renji barges in. Orihime then continues to help Ichigo and the group fight the Bounts and help in fending off the Bounts, as they have taking a liking to the Quincy. She goes to the hospital with the others where they are attacked by Hō and Ban and their water element dolls. They escape outside the hospital to find that its raining, much to their horror but Ganju rescues them although Uryǔ walks off during the fight. They manage to later rescue him from the mansion, although almost destroy it in the process. Orihime later teams up with Rukia and Kurǒdo to defeat the Bount Yoshi when she attacks them. They are unable to hit the Bount as when they do she is able to protect herself with her doll. Mabashi shows up and takes the battle over from Yoshi. He forces Orihime to fight Rukia, who is possessed Mabashi's doll, Ritz. Though reluctant to harm either Rukia or the Bount, Rukia's momentary ability to overpower the doll gives Orihime enough motivation to free Rukia from the doll's control. Following this, after the lieutenants go to the Bount Cave, Orihime goes to the cave with her friends. While there, they struggle against Ugaki's doll, Gesell, with Orihime trying to help Rukia before she and Ichigo are trapped by the shadows only to be freed when Rangiku arrives on the scene. Renji and Ichigo go on ahead and Sado stays behind to watch over Orihime as she heals the wounds of Rukia and Rangiku. As she does this, she a Chad both notice something coming towards them which is revealed to be Uryǔ, who intends to use his new Quincy weapon to send the Bounts to Soul Society so he can defeat them there and have revenge for Yoshino's death.

Orihime later accompanies Ichigo and the group to Soul Society after the Bounts go there to get revenge for their creation. While there they first search and find Kǔkaku's home and they sit and discuss how to deal with the new invasion after she allows then to stay. In Soul Society, the group split up to search for the Bounts in Rukongai. While searching, Orihime finds Ichigo. While they are speculating over where the Bounts might be, they sense Rukia is in trouble. The two of them arrive to help Rukia in the aftermath of her fight with Yoshi and relize Byakuya has saved her. Just then, a series of explosions occur in the Seireitei, severely damaging some buildings. She, Ichigo and the Mod Souls accompany Byakuya Kuchiki back to his house, where they wait patiently for news and are told Rukia's life is not in danger. Orihime has to warn Ichigo to remain calm when Ichigo gets angry because Byakuya refuses to aid his team instead of the Gotei 13, who all have orders in regards to the invasion. She informs the noble that she is still glad he is able to look after Rukia before leaving with Ichigo. The two of them run around all day with their Mod Souls before finally returning and collapsing at Kǔkaku's home, trying to figure out why the Bounts would go to all this trouble.Orihime is the only one impressed by Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko's ability to open the fisted hands above their house before they are destroyed by Ganju's friends. Orihime takes a liking to the boars and riding them as they go out in search once more.

Later, the group gets information of the Bounts' whereabouts, but they get split up when Ichigo and Uryū sense Jin Kariya, who is fighting Byakuya Kuchiki, and separately go to investigate. Orihime and Chad later reappear when Maki Ichinose tries to stop the group (which now includes Tōshirō Hitsugaya, Renji Abarai and Rangiku Matsumoto). Ichinose tries to kill the group, capturing them all within his Zanpakuto's barrier of light, trapping them so that their attacks are ineffective. However, Kenpachi Zaraki soon shows up and engages Ichinose allowing for the others to escape in order to get to the Seireitei to try and stop Kariya entering it. The group then return to Seireitei where they find gatekeeper Jidanbō injured after losing to the Bounts and three of the Bounts on the other side, having gotten in using a lever device. Upon seeing Ichigo and his group, Kariya uses his doll to destroy the device before the they can follow him and his comrades. Orihime uses her powers to heal Jidanbō enough for him to open the gate. Upon seeing how the giant was struggling, Orihime then decides to stay behind and heal Jidanbō, throwing Kurōdo through the gate before it closes. Later on, Orihime meets up again with Ichigo and the others, and heals both Chad and Uryū's injuries.

Arrancar arc
On the first day of the new semester, Orihime greets Ichigo along with Chad and Ishida. Things appear to be back to normal as Orihime is ambushed by Chizuru Honshō and Tatsuki, as normal, intervenes to extract Orihime from Chizuru's grasp. Orihime notices when Ichigo's badge starts to alert him to the presence of a Hollow nearby and she, along with Chad, fake a bathroom trip to follow Ichigo. While there, Orihime lets the others know that Uryū hadn't come because he's not been himself but realizes she should not have said anything. It is then revealed that they are being watched by a mysterious new character hovering above them in an inverted way. Orihime is distracted by a worried Ichigo as a new student arrives in class. The next day, Orihime arrives in school and greets both Ichigo and Shinji, who seems overwhelmed that she'd remembered his name and hugs her. This causes a bit of a ruckus with the other students who express jealousy and bewilderment, with Chizuru even threatening Shinji's life before Ichigo pulls him away. Noticing the change of behavior in Ichigo, Orihime and Chad confront Shinji after overhearing his conversation with Hiyori Sarugaki. They manage to get Hiyori's name out of her but before they can learn anything, Hiyori is carried away by Shinji although Orihime tries to stop them unsuccessfully.

Shortly after the arrival of Shinji, the Human World is invaded by two Arrancar, Ulquiorra Cifer and Yammy Riyalgo. From where the Vizard left them, Orihime and Chad feel the immense spiritual pressure consume the world around them and they rush towards its source to investigate. They arrive just after Yammy absorbs many souls, saving the lone survivor, Tatsuki, who was present when the two invaders arrived. Chad recognizes the huge Arrancar's strength and acknowledges that Orihime would not have a chance against him and advises her to take Tatsuki and run away. She does as he asks but stops when she witnesses the brutality with which Yammy deals with him in retaliation. She rushes back to him, realizing that he must have known the Arrancar were strong and that's the reason he'd previously asked her to run away with those that had survived the attack. Ulquiorra confirms Orihime as trash, but when Yammy goes to attack her, she uses her Santen Kesshun to block his attack unexpectedly, in an impressive display. She stands up with a determined look on her face, healing Chad to the shock of Yammy while Ulquiorra deduces her ability is more than simple healing. She decides to try and hold them off for Ichigo to arrive, determined to give him some peace of mind, using her Koten Zanshun on Yammy but to little effect. In the process, Yammy gravely injures Tsubaki, calling him little more than a fly. Ichigo arrives shortly after, as Yammy moves to try and kill her once more, saving her life with his sudden arrival. She laments to Ichigo, once again feeling useless after not being able to help everyone but he tells her not to worry and to leave the situation to him. She notices the change in Ichigo's Reiatsu following his battle with Byakuya and how it was so dark and strong it was suffocating and how it almost didn't feel like Ichigo's pressure. She runs away as instructed but again returns when Ichigo's Inner Hollow interferes with the battle and causes him to let his guard down and thus get injured by Yammy. The result is that Yammy finally lands a hit on her, smashing her away from him when she recklessly rushes to help Ichigo. The three friends sustain massive injuries, with Tsubaki, Orihime's only attacking capability, completely destroyed. They are saved by the arrival of Yoruichi and Urahara. After Yoruichi floors Yammy, she proceeds to Orihime, reassuring her that Ichigo is fine so that she could swallow the pill she was handing to her. Before she manages to attain this task, Yammy gets back up ad charges a Cero before Yoruichi realizes what he is about to do, not having the time to do anything at such close range. Despite this, both she and Orihime are saved by Urahara's ability to nullify the Espada's attack before it reached them using Benihime's special offensive ability.

Five days later, Orihime's appearance alarms her fellow peers due to the fact that both her head and the whole of her left arm are bandaged heavily thanks to her injuries. Orihime brushes off their concern, however, merely making it as though she had just fallen down the stairs instead of confronting two of the Espada. Ichigo arrives and appears worried and conflicted however, Orihime tries to seem as though her injuries don't bother, her, cheerfully greeting him as if nothing had happened. She has been trying to relieve Ichigo of his stress and guilt over the fact she got hurt, and gets upset when he refuses to do this.

This event prompts Soul Society to send a group of Shinigami to help defend the Human World, Rukia among them, who recognizes Ichigo's guilt and after getting him to defeat a hollow, drags him towards Orihime and forces him to apologize for his inability to protect her and for his depressing behavior. Orihime appears shocked at her return and later glad as Ichigo vows to get stronger to protect her, welcoming Rukia back in the process. While the return of Rukia helps to cheer up a depressed Ichigo, Orihime becomes conflicted with gratefulness and jealousy, feelings she expressed to the memorial picture she has of Sora in her living room, seeming upset. Meanwhile, the other Shinigami decide they can't stay at Ichigo's so Rangiku decides she's going to stay with Orihime and tries to persuade her captain to come with her. Although initially shocked, she lets Rangiku stay at her house while the Shinigami gets over excited and starts suggesting baths. While the Shinigami is in the bath, Orihime tells Rangiku about her jealousy, confiding in her about her feelings of inadequacy through the door after checking if the water was warm enough. This results in Rangiku immediately getting out of the tub and hugging Orihime, calling her a fool for feeling that way, hovering over her as she advised the girl not to be jealous of Rukia nor to let those feelings get the better of her as she is as equally as important to him as she is. They have fun after Orihime cooks and surprisingly Rangiku enjoys her food and they both have Ice Cream together.

During this time, a second invasion of Karakura Town occurs, this time led by Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez as he leads his subordinates to destroy anyone in the town with even an ounce of Spiritual Power so Rangiku asked her to look after her Gigai so that she won't interrupt the battle. Instead, Orihime tries to run to her guests, however she is held back by the Mod Soul inside of Rangiku's Gigai. Following Hitsugaya's win, Rangiku rushes to get Orihime for her healing powers to heal her captain. She is seen healing Hitsugaya when Ichigo's fight with the Sixth Espada finally concludes. While healing Rukia, she can't help but notice Ichigo watch on in concern, sadly closing her eyes afterwards. Rukia comment upon how greatly Orihime has improved her powers, following the speed she healed after being impaled by Grimmjow during the fight, although Orihime denies this.

After the second assault on the human world, Orihime becomes a little gloomy wondering if Ichigo is ok, but knows that he will be fine because, unlike the others, like Rukia, she can sense his Reiatsu if she concentrates. She realizes that at the moment, everyone is seeming gloomy, including Tatsuki and decides she needs to spend some time with her. However, her neighbor pulls her out of these thoughts when she is informed that her guests have brought something large into her living room. She stands enthralled by the large screen they brought into the room as the Commander of Soul Society finally informs them that they've figured out the true agenda of Sōsuke Aizen. She tries to leave what she considers to be an important meeting but is stopped by Yamamoto who states that she should stay as this involves humans as well. At the mention of the Royal Key Orihime becomes confused until Rangiku explains that Soul Society has a King and that he lives in an alternate dimension from the Souls and Shinigami. She is also horrified to learn of the creation for the Royal Key to be over one hundred thousand human souls. However, she further learns that Aizen intends to use Karakura Town and it's civilians to create the key, thus wiping most of them out. Yamamoto them entrusts with her the job of telling her people about this revelation so they can start preparing for the worst in the Winter War to come. She is able to track down Ichigo, who is at the Vizard base which is a feat within itself given that he was shielded and others could not sense him. She is then able to show her great intellect by deducing the barrier's abilities and how powerful it is. Furthermore, she manages to pass through the Vizard's barrier without much effort greatly surprising them when she arrives and is just a human. This feat amazes and impresses the Vizard Hachigen Ushōda, who created the barrier. She manages to inform Ichigo of Aizen's plans and is amazed to find that he is with the Vizard in an attempt to get stronger to stop him. She also marvels at how strong he is getting mentally and how his Reiatsu doesn't feel as dark nor as scary anymore.

Orihime is then met by Yoruichi outside the barrier and she brings her to meet Urahara at his shop. Urahara excitedly greets her but Orihime proves to be edgy wondering what exactly he wants her for. She observes Sado and Renji training, a little shocked that they were doing so already. There, she is asked to not participate in the coming battle as Tsubaki has still not been restored and so she has little offensive capabilities. Though part of the reason is Orihime's lack of combat ability, Urahara is really trying to prevent her from attracting Aizen's interest. When she runs off, Sado tries to run after her but Renji reminds him that her demeanor isn't suited for battle and killing other beings. Discouraged briefly, Orihime regains her confidence after talking to Rukia who states that it's not lacking power but lacking resolve in battle that's important. Rukia talks her into both of them helping one another to train. Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of the Vizard, Hiyori, who grabs Orihime and drags her off to the Vizard base. Hachigen examines her then, looking her over and in one instance turns her head until she thinks it's going to come off. He deduces that her hairpins are the source of her powers and act much like the Zanpakutō of a Shinigami. He also notices one is broken and Orihime tells him of how Tsubaki was shattered but despite this, Hachigen offers to fix him, shocking her. Hachigen also explains that Orihime's more powerful than she imagines as her powers are similar to his and she should be able to restore Tsubaki without any fragments needed to do so. Hachigen then restores Tsubaki to life, much to Orihime's surprise and happiness, expressed by trying to hug the disgruntled spirit despite his attempts to kick her away. Hachigen then advises her not to fight since he is not suitable for fighting either but still, gives her advice on how she approach situations as they present themselves to her. When she leaves, she sees Rukia who appears happy to know that Ichigo is safe with the Vizard. Then, determined to be an asset in the upcoming war, Orihime leaves for Soul Society with Rukia in order to train and improve her abilities.

Unfortunately, Orihime's ability does spur Aizen's attention. Upon seeing footage brought back by Ulquiorra, he decides to have her captured. A third invasion of the human world is ordered, intending to lure Orihime out. In the meantime, Orihime is training with Rukia within Soul Society, at the old training grounds of the Thirteenth Division. While doing so they are being watched by Rukia's Captain, Jūshirō Ukitake, who states that it is a beautiful thing that Rukia was able to make a friend in Orihime no matter that she was a human. When the third invasion commences, Soul Society alerts Ukitake who in turn alerts Orihime and Rukia. Orihime tries to hurry home with Rukia but is reminded that she doesn't have a Hell Butterfly and will need to wait for the journey to be made safe for her, which Ukitake is already on top of. The Senkaimon is finally completed mid way through the battle, and Orihime leaves Soul Society with two chaperone Shinigami. Ulquiorra intercepts her and her allies in the Dangai Precipice world, just as she was believing in her new found strength and will. Ulquiorra cuts down one of her escorts only to have Orihime immediately prepare to heal him and advise the other one to run away only to have him cut down as well, forcing Ayame to extend the healing shield to both of them, greatly showing her improve abilities. Ulquiorra is amazed by this but demands that she come with him, showing her the images of her injured friends and stating that she will agree or he will kill them. Threatened with the lives of those she cares for the most, she has no choice but to go to Hueco Mundo.

Orihime is next seen making a list of chores for Rangiku and Hitsugaya to follow while she is in captivity in Hueco Mundo, knowing they would be useless without her instructions. It is then revealed that Ulquiorra gave her a bracelet that covers her in a Spiritual Membrane to prevent anyone except the Arrancar to sense her Reiatsu while she is still in the World of the Living. He has given her twelve hours to get her effects in order and allows her to say goodbye to only one person during that time and that they are not to discover her presence as she is doing so. Meanwhile, Rukia is trying to call her, assuming she is still within Soul Society's domain but is unable to do so. Orihime decides to say goodbye to Ichigo and arrives as he is unconscious, healing, with his sisters asleep on his bedroom floor. She admits that there were many she could have said goodbye to, and lists her friends but picked him instead. She admits that this is the first time she has ever been in Ichigo's room and she comes close to kissing his sleeping form but cannot bring herself to do it. Instead, she breaks down into tears and admits that she has fallen in love with Ichigo and would love to do so five times over. She then heals his hand, thanks him and bids him farewell before leaving. Before going to Hueco Mundo, she writes a cryptic line in a notebook, as a message to the others, "Goodbye halcyon days."

Hueco Mundo arc
Unlike the others, who follow her, Orihime is taken straight to Aizen's throne room in Las Noches without travelling across Hueco Mundo. After confirming her name, from upon his throne, Aizen requests that she demonstrates her power for the benefit of the others present. Meanwhile Orihime is terrified by the complete loss of strength she feels in the presence of Aizen himself because of his immense powers. It is revealed that a beaten up Luppi Antenor is unhappy that their entire fight with the Shinigami had merely been a plan to lure Orihime out and get her to Hueco Mundo. Aizen then requests that Orihime heals the left arm of Grimmjow that had been completely destroyed by Tōsen after he'd disobeyed orders previously. Luppi is disbelieving, telling Aizen that it is impossible to heal an arm so completely destroyed into nothingness. Despite this, Orihime cast's her Sōten Kisshun spell upon the area Grimmjow's arm used to exist with Luppi continuing to yell threats at her as the arm begins to regenerate in front of everyone's eyes. This shocks everyone except Aizen and Ulquiorra, Luppi commenting he'd never seen anything like it. It is then that Aizen explains her abilities as the Rejection of Events, leading her to be able to trample upon the even the horizons that God himself has set in place. Following this, Grimmjow then demands that she heal a scar upon his back. Much to Luppi's horror, she does as Grimmjow asks in order to reveal the old 6 that had been rubbed out previously, with Luppi asking what he was up to. Grimmjow butchers Luppi to get his rank back, stabbing him in the abdomen with his hand and using a Cero to blow away everything from his waist upwards much to Orihime's dismay.

Orihime is assigned to a modest room as Ichigo, Uryū, and Chad begin their rescue attempt by travelling to Hueco Mundo, wondering why she was told to sit quietly when there was nothing to do anyway. She also questions whether allowing herself to be captured for the sake of her friends' lives was the right choice as she knows using her powers to aid Aizen's forces would make the upcoming war harder for her friends anyway. She decides to try and make herself appear worthwhile until her friends are ready for the war, only to be speechless when she feels the Reiatsu of her friends as they arrive in Hueco Mundo to save her. In the meantime, as the others make their way towards her, she receives a new outfit similar to that of an Arrancar, something that Ulquiorra remarks as looking good on her. He comes to her new quarters in order to advise her of the arrival of her friends in Hueco Mundo, by now including Renji and Rukia, and of their desire to save her from Aizen. Orihime appears shocked at this revelation despite Ulquiorra's insistence that it won't change anything because she was already their 'comrade'. He references her clothes as a representation of this and forces her to admit that her purpose now belongs to Aizen to use as he sees fit. Nnoitra Jiruga then approaches Ulquiorra to discuss Orihime's imprisonment and how she has been placed under the Fourth Espada's care. Ulquiorra states that Aizen did not need Kyōka Suigetsu in order to place Orihime under a spell and force her to come to Hueco Mundo, but allowing her to say goodbye to one person allowed her to believe she had some measure of control over the entire situation when she really hadn't and that her will to escape should start to melt away. He states that regardless if she had fallen for the trap, the result would be the same as to Aizen, Orihime's imprisonment is little ore than a game and she has little will or control over it all.

It is then revealed that Aizen has taken his manipulation of Orihime and the situation at hand one step further. He had Loly Aivirrne and Menoly Mallia bring Orihime to his chambers and to leave them alone despite their heightened protests not to do so. The two Arrancar storm off and it is clear that they feel great animosity for Orihime, especially Loly. Aizen then reveals his reasons for summoning her and progresses to show her a slightly deteriorated form of the Hōgyoku. He claims that showing her this is a token of his trust in her as his plans cannot be achieved without its powers. He marvels at her powers, carefully asking whether or not she was going to use her powers for him or not in a coaxing fashion. His ruse doesn't fool Orihime, she knows he doesn't trust her but the episode allows her to decide that there is something that only she can do and that's erasing the Hōgyoku from even existing in the first place.

As Ichigo's group separately make their way through Las Noches, along with the others she senses Chad's defeat at the hands of Nnoitra Jiruga. Ulquiorra walks in to her room, observing that she has also noticed that the Fifth Espada got impatient despite his orders but Orihime insists her friend is still alive. He does not reply to this, but merely summons the caterers to bring a food tray into her room. As he tries to convince her to eat, even going so far as to threaten to shove it down her throat advising it is her duty to stay alive for Aizen, she repeatedly insists that Chad is still alive. Frustrated, Ulquiorra tells her that whether Sado was dead or alive shouldn't matter and that all her friends are eventually going to be defeated soon enough anyway. He states that they should have known this from the start and that had they been his friends, the knowledge that they'd broken into Hueco Mundo without first testing their powers would infuriate him. Emotionally angry, Orihime responds with a slap across Ulquiorra's face. The Fourth Espada does not respond to this action but merely turns away, stating that if she has not eaten the food in an hour, he would bind her and force feed it to her. Ulquiorra leaves as Orihime breaks down and starts crying over the whole situation.

Later, Orihime senses Ichigo's defeat at the hands of Ulquiorra when he is impaled through the chest. Before she has a chance to react, her room is broken into by Loly and Menoly who claim they are going to have some fun with her. Loly proceeds to attack Orihime, berating the weakness of humans and the strength of Arrancar when holding her up by the hair. She gets even more angry when her victim shows no reaction to the attack, punching her further only to be told to quiet down by Menoly who is keeping watch close by. Just then, they are all surprised by a random explosion that signals the sudden arrival of Grimmjow who has come to Orihime's aid. He kicks Loly angrily when he goes for him, severely injuring her in the process. Menoly proceeds with an attack of her own that is caught and countered by Grimmjow's massive Cero, vaporizing most of her body and killing her instantly. Not finished, Grimmjow continues to beat on Loly, ripping off her leg while she screamed at him. He states that he does this to repay Orihime for returning his arm to him. His debt paid, he grabs her by the scruff of her neck and demands she come with him on an errand.

Before leaving, he asks her to fix her face but she takes the opportunity to heal Loly's leg, despite her protests, that got quite physical. She then rushes to Menoly and brings her back to life, her body rematerializing in front of everyone's eyes. For this, Loly refers to her as a Monster because of her extreme powers. After chaining her arms together to prevent her from escaping, Grimmjow drags Orihime to Ichigo, casting her towards his prone body, deeply shocking her because of his current lifelessness. Grimmjow then sits himself down expectantly, demanding that she heals his rival. Orihime experiences some trouble in doing so, while Nel Tu screams beside her, due to the large amount of leftover spiritual pressure from the attack on Ichigo. She demands to know who did it, surprised when Grimmjow informs her that it was Ulquiorra as he can tell it is a little signature attack of the Fourth Espada's. Eventually, Ichigo begins to show signs of life, Orihime's powers finally getting through to heal his wounds. When he awakens, he shows confusion as to why Nel is sitting on Orihime's shoulder while the two of them are relieved that's he's alive following his ordeal. Orihime is shocked to learn that the reason Grimmjow wants Ichigo healed is so that he can just settle the score. Before she can complete the healing process, Ulquiorra arrives at the scene. When Ulquiorra begins to advance into the area, demanding to know what Grimmjow was doing and what exactly he was planning causing Orihime to feel uncomfortable when he looks at her. When no reply is had, Ulquiorra demands that Grimmjow let her go as she was put in his care by Aizen but Grimmjow tells him where to go. Grimmjow then attacks him over the issue and results in him using a Caja Negación to imprison him.

Following this, the Sixth Espada has Orihime finish what she's doing when it comes to healing Ichigo. At first, Orihime stands her ground, not wanting to heal Ichigo just so Grimmjow can fight and injure him once more. As a result, he grabs her by the scruff forcibly and demands that she do it. When she still refuses, Ichigo comes in between them, demanding that he let her go. Ichigo then asks her to him and to heal Grimmjow of the injury he incurred from his short battle with Ulquiorra so they can both fight on equal ground. When she does heal him, he reassures both her and Nel that he will win it and to have confidence in him. After the two begin to battle, Orihime consoles Nel, telling her that Ichigo will win if he says he will and that was because he promised he would win. She assures Nel that the two of them should wait to see what happens and that they should believe in him. When Ichigo refuses to go full power against him, Grimmjow fires the large Gran Ray Cero at him, which happens to be in Orihime and Nel's general direction. After Ichigo dons his Hollow mask to protect her from the attack, she becomes shocked at the appearance of the mask, so much so that he has to reassure her over it and that she should be afraid of him, that using the mask he was going to finish this. When Grimmjow releases his Pantera, Ichigo advises her to use her powers to protect both her and Nel. Despite his encouragement, Orihime becomes unsure if it's really him under the mask due to his ruthless fighting style and dark power in their form. When he protects her from another of Grimmjow's attacks, she finds herself unable to look into his Hollowfied eyes without appearing terrified to do so, something that Ichigo notices before he resumes battle. She tries to mentally reassure herself over and over again not to be scared of him in this form, but she remembers how she can't even see her own reflection in his eyes and it gives her chills.

Nel becomes worried as she notices a difference in Ichigo, as she had never seen him be at a disadvantage while he was wearing his mask and she deduces it to be of some result of the effect Orihime's fear was having upon him and begins to yell her support and berate Orihime for not doing the same. To Orihime's surprise, Nel reminds her of the words she'd spoken before the fight began, about how Ichigo was kind and would use his power to win this no matter what. She states that Ichigo had gained this power to protect his friends and was now fighting the Sixth Espada in an all-out battle just to save her, suffering for her selflessly, to save her and he needed her to be on his side, to support him as well. This reminds Orihime that she'd originally come to Hueco Mundo to prevent the slaughter of her friends in the first place. She reflects that when she'd heard her friends had come to save her, she'd been happy and yet when she'd first seen the mask, part of her thought he actually hadn't come to Hueco Mundo for her despite the previous information. After this encouragement from Nel, Orihime is able to lend her full support to Ichigo, yelling for him not to die here. With tears in her eyes, she asks him not to get hurt anymore than he already was. This support allows Ichigo to have an increase in morale and to get back on form and to prevent Grimmjow from ending the battle. In the end, the support gives him enough resolve to block Grimmjow's most powerful attack so he can take his friends out of Hueco Mundo.

After Ichigo stabs through Grimmjow and ends the fight, he floats up to her, asking if she was hurt in anyway causing her to be glad that he was back to normal. After Nel exclaims her happiness, Ichigo expresses his relief that Orihime is ok as well, to which Orihime reacts in her old, cheerful way, smiling excitedly. Ichigo interrupts her by lifting her over his shoulder (extremely embarrassing her) in order to bring her down from the tower she's been on. Orihime insists she's heavy but Ichigo says that she's not as heavy as he'd thought she'd have been, prompting Nel to bite his leg for speaking that way to a lady. As she continues on about speaking to Ichigo about women and their weight, Orihime asks her to be quiet as she's depressing her even more. Ichigo states that he's about to take them with him as he goes to get Rukia and Chad. However, they are interrupted when Grimmjow gets to his feet. Orihime tries to stop Ichigo from fighting again but realizes he's thrown his sword away. Despite this, their encounter is interrupted by the Fifth Espada, Nnoitra Jiruga, who now wants to fight Ichigo, calling Grimmjow weak and pathetic for losing and to just die already.

Orihime tries to rush forward to help Ichigo, who is now under attack from Nnoitra, but the Espada calls forth his Fracción, Tesla, who grabs Orihime, momentarily distracting Ichigo as he does so. She accuses Nnoitra of being unfair and asking him to stop fighting Ichigo as he is already injured, to which Nnoitra explains that he is doing this because Ichigo is injured because war and battle just aren't fair to begin with. Watching the hopeless situation, Orihime contemplated attacking Tesla to free herself but the Arrancar reminds her that her clips were very fragile and could be destroyed at any moment, something Aizen has allowed if she attacks his Arrancar with her powers. Tesla warns her that if she attempts to attack him, he will destroy her Shun Shun Rikka hair clips. She can only watch before she realizes that Nel has disappeared, which Tesla remembers as well when he sees that she is searching for somebody. He then blasts apart the piece of rock that Nel had been quivering behind much to Orihime's concern, especially when she realizes something more is quite wrong with the small Arrancar as she's frozen in fear. It becomes apparent to both Orihime and Ichigo that Nnoitra knows Nel from somewhere. Nnoitra then reveals that Nel is, in fact, an ex-Espada herself. Orihime is shocked but Nel tries to defend herself, denying the charge as impossible. Orihime cries out for Nel when Nnoitra ruthlessly grabs her up in the air by her mask, revealing that it is broken because of him.

Upon seeing the increase of injuries upon Ichigo, her concern causes Nel to transform into her true self, shocking both Ichigo and Orihime herself. Orihime stands stunned after watching Nel dominate Nnoitra and blast him with a double Cero. Tesla rushes to his aid releasing Orihime, she in turn rushes to Ichigo's side declaring that she'll heal him only to find that he's watching Nel in a speechless manner. Nel turns around then, screams loudly and rushes to Ichigo, wrapping her arms around his injured form, holding him tightly as Orihime tries to get her to stop as her strength is greatly hurting him. Orihime reveals that Ichigo is unconscious just before Tesla is blasted from Nnoitra, who is still alive. As Ichigo tries to get up, Orihime reminds him he is still injured before he is knocked back by Tesla, who then takes Orihime captive again.

When Nel reverts back into her infantile self before having the chance to finish Nnoitra off, Orihime appears worried while still in Tesla's grip. After beating on both Nel and Ichigo, Nnoitra fobs them off as worthless, advising Tesla to swap places with him to finish off Ichigo as he couldn't be bothered. After Tesla releases, Orihime goes to scream only to have Nnoitra shove his two fingers into her mouth and tell her to just shut up and watch as her hero is slaughtered. She is forced to watch helplessly as Tesla grabs Ichigo by the head before snapping his wrist and casting him aside. Both humans are shocked by the arrival of Kenpachi Zaraki, Captain of the 11th Division, into Hueco Mundo, with Nnoitra casting Orihime aside so he can immediately test how strong Zaraki's spiritual power is. Tesla moves to attack the captain, much against Nnoitra's late warning, only to be swiftly cut down by Zaraki as if he were nothing. Orihime shows more concern for Ichigo when Kenpachi kicks him out of his way so that he can fight. Kenpachi states that Orihime's kidnap was a cause of concern for Soul Society and contributed to Urahara working more speedily in order to complete Soul Society's orders regarding the war with Aizen.

While Kenpachi and Nnoitra battle one another, Orihime rushes over to heal a severely injured Ichigo only for him to request that she heal Nel Tu first instead. Although divided over the issue, after eyeing the small frame of Nel in her infantile form, she agrees with Ichigo but states that she will be back as soon as she finishes with Nel. Along with Ichigo, while healing him, she watches in shock as Kenpachi stabs through Nnoitra's 'eye' only to discover, much to their revulsion, that Kenpachi has stabbed right through Nnoitra's hollow hole. During this healing time, Nnoitra accidentally cuts off Kenpachi's eye patch, releasing his Reiatsu and allowing him to cut the Espada, which Nnoitra responds by releasing his Resurrección Santa Teresa allowing for his wounds to heal as the two classmates watch unable to do anything. With the increase in power, Nnoitra appears to take Kenpachi by surprise and cut him down while Orihime is still healing Ichigo. Following this, Nnoitra states that he is going to take care of the 'left overs' and heads towards Kenpachi's lieutenant, Yachiru. Leaving Ichigo, Orihime rushes towards her, with Ichigo discovering that while the Sōten Kisshun is in effect, the subject is unable to leave its protective dome unless Orihime allows it. Orihime erects her Santen Kesshun to protect Yachiru, but the small girl merely points behind Nnoitra and warns him to look behind him.

Orihime begins to wonder if Kenpachi can win after Nnoitra unveils another two arms and his ability to regenerate his arms. Along with the others, Orihime watches while Kenpachi uses Kendo to cut Nnoitra down once and for all, still healing Ichigo as he does. Following his victory, Kenpachi smashes through Orihime's healing barrier and demands that Ichigo take Orihime home with him now and leave the rest to them. Kenpachi then demands that she heal his wounds from his battle, which she agrees to do immediately. As she rushes over to comply with this order, the First Espada, Starrk appears in front of her before anybody has time to even notice his presence never mind do anything about it. Stating that he hates doing this but he'll be borrowing Orihime, he vanishes with her before either Kenpachi or Ichigo can attack him. Before she knows what has happened, she is being welcome back by Aizen who remarks that she looks quite unhappy by this turn of events. He comes in close and requests that she smiles and waits there for a bit until he destroy Karakura Town and comes back. Aizen explains that his reasons for kidnapping her have always been to draw the Shinigami to Hueco Mundo, keeping them preoccupied while he destroys Karakura Town. Her purpose fulfilled, he leaves her behind, giving her permission to reunite with her friends. This, however, is not made possible due to Ulquiorra who stands between her and Ichigo, who has come to take her back.

The New Captain Shūsuke Amagai arc (anime only)
Note: Events occurring in this arc are only in the anime and do not constitute canon material.

Fake Karakura Town arc
After Aizen leaves with Gin, Tōsen and the top three Espada, Orihime is left in the fifth tower with Ulquiorra watching over her as usual. He begins to ask her if she is afraid because there is no more use for her and that she will likely die here alone without her friends, wondering if that scares her. Orihime denies feeling this fear because her friends came to save her and thus her heart and spirit are always going to be with them. Ulquiorra mocks this reasoning but Orihime reaffirms it again for him. Orihime goes on to explain what she'd realized during Ichigo's battle with Grimmjow, about being a little happy they'd come for her but sad because she'd tried to protect them. She explains that feeling her friends gets hurt made her realize that her feelings did not matter in regards to the rescue, she just didn't want anyone to get hurt, because she would have done the exact same thing had anyone else been taken to Hueco Mundo instead of her. She explains to Ulquiorra that her heart and those of her friends are now beating as one. The concept of a heart greatly intrigues Ulquiorra because he is yet to see one and yet humans speak of it so freely. He wonders would he find one if he ripped open Orihime's chest or cracks open her skull. Before he does anything, Ichigo interrupts them, prepared for battle. Ichigo tell Ulquiorra to step away from her but the Espada states he has not been given an order to kill her, thus she is safe, but he will kill him. Ulquiorra draws his sword, surprising Ichigo, stating that Ichigo is somebody he has to destroy.

During the ensuing battle, Ichigo is able to withstand Ulquiorra's Cero without even using his mask, making Ulquiorra wonder if it was because of his battle with Grimmjow or if it was because of Orihime. Ulquiorra then goes on to ask if he was relieved to see her unharmed physically, and enquires if he knows about the inside and that rescuing her is pointless because of Aizen. This hints that Aizen has down something to Orihime, yet nobody knows if it is true. Meanwhile Loly and Menoly are making their way up the Fifth Tower, with Menoly having reservations about dealing with Orihime, while Loly wants to bring her down. Ulquiorra is seemingly evenly matched with Ichigo, until he finally cuts him. Ichigo suggests that its either because he's become more like a Hollow or else Ulquiorra has become more Human, suggesting Orihime has been having an influence on him, to which Ulquiorra reacts angrily be destroying the ground below him. As a result, he remarks how it must feel good to keep up with him even when he's at "this level," Ulquiorra proceeds to increase his reiatsu and attacks Ichigo with more strength and speed than ever before. Ichigo is about to be dealt a powerful blow in the back when Ulquiorra is repelled by Orihime, using Santen Kesshun while staring him down with a determined look upon her face.

After putting up a shield to protect Ichigo, Ulquiorra starts to mentally harass her by asking why she was protecting him and why she didn't protect him from the first blow. Ichigo then intervenes and thanks her but tells her to stay back for safety. Afterwards, Loly and Menoly arrive and attempt to torture Orihime again. This time, Loly calls her a freak to her face, wondering if she'd remember anybody as ordinary as her, and that now that Aizen was done with her, she could do what she wanted with her and thus begin ripping her clothes. Loly threatens to rip out Orihime's eyes if Ichigo comes any closer. Ichigo tries to save her but Ulquiorra stands in his way. To make matters worse, Yammy arrives on the scene. Yammy dispatches of Menoly and the defeats Loly easily, tossing them side like they're nothing, much to Orihime's distress. Yammy then asks Ulquiorra if he can kill Orihime now. Before he can act, Uryū Ishida arrives in time to save her as Ichigo is still in a deadlock with Ulquiorra. Uryū uses a land-mine (specifically developed Mayuri Kurotsuchi to be used on Arrancar) against him. Yammy falls several levels below, and as Ichigo returns to his battle with Ulquiorra, he tells Uryū to guard Orihime with his life.

The battle then intensifies as Ichigo unleashes his Hollow mask and the two go above the dome. Orihime is seen expressing grave concern towards Ichigo's safety, as Ulquiorra finally releases his Zanpakutō. Uryū then later notices how worried Orihime is and tries to reassure her as she stares up at the hole in the dome of Las Noches. She later becomes even more concerned after Ulquiorra fires his "Cero Oscuras," and asks Uryū to take her up above the dome, to which he reluctantly agrees. Uryū then demonstrates his ability to harden the Reiatsu of Hueco Mundo below his feet, like he had in the Garganta, but explains he'd only recently figured out he could do it in Hueco Mundo as well. Their conversation is interrupted as Ulquiorra's reiatsu increases while he changes in his Segunda Etapa form.

She arrives onto the top of the dome to find that Ulquiorra is holding an unconscious Ichigo with his tail wrapped around his neck Ulquiorra expresses interest that Orihime came to them, and advises her to watch closely as he kills Ichigo. She pleads for him to stop as he blows a giant hole in Ichigo's chest with a point blank range Cero Oscuras. Numbly, Orihime stares at the hole created by Ulquiorra and after he throws a seemingly dead Ichigo down the tower, she rushes to rescue him using Santen Kesshun to catch his falling body. Before she can reach him, however, Ulquiorra appears before her telling that Ichigo can't be healed even by her powers. Thinking quickly, Uryū shoots an arrow that Ulquiorra blocks with his wing giving enough time for Orihime to get passed him to Ichigo. Despite using her Sōten Kisshun on Ichigo, the hole doesn't appear to be close, and she begins to blame herself and panic. Her desperation only worsens when Uryū flies past her, having lost his left hand at the hands of Ulquiorra. He is then defeated by Ulquiorra and she shields him from the Espada while still panicking over and over about what she should do now.

Orihime desperately mentally repeats Ichigo's name before desperately screaming it, not knowing what to do. She fails to notice the transformation Ichigo's body was going through at that time, specifically his hair growing longer. Ichigo hears her and the sound of her voice triggers a change within him. He tries to move to protect her and Uryū, only able to do so by allowing Hollow Ichigo to take over him much to the great surprise of Orihime when he stands back up. However, both Orihime and Uryū see that Ichigo has transformed into a new state. Ulquiorra turns his attention back to Ichigo once again and the two of them resume their fight. The force of Ichigo's swipe was enough to destroy the ground, the shockwave sending he's friends tumbling away. Both Uryū and Orihime are concerned about Ichigo's current state, for he does not react to anything that is said to him, nor does he speak, merely yelling incoherently at his opponent.

They watch as he brutally cuts off Ulquiorra's hand, wondering if it really is Ichigo. The two of them are caught in the shockwave of Ulquiorra's Lanza del Relámpago attack that he misfired. Orihime and Uryǔ watch as Hollow Ichigo almost effortlessly defeats Ulquiorra and then uses a Cero at close range to finish, although he doesn't die. Uryū, in an effort to stop Ichigo from killing Ulquiorra in cold blood, restrains him with his hand but is stabbed through the stomach while Orihime screams out in panic. Hollow Ichigo then turns to Orihime at the sound of her voice and begins to stutter that he will help her greatly shocking her as she realizes what has happened. She starts to blame herself because she knows this has happened because of what she said to him unconscious. Just then, Hollow Ichigo begins to charge a Cero to fire at Uryǔ and she calls out for him to stop. Using the last of his power, Ulquiorra uses a Lanza del Relámpago to sever one of Hollow Ichigo's horns as Orihime watches in a shocked fashion and the attack explodes far away. The explosion shatters Hollow Ichigo's mask and restoring him to normal.

Under the stunned gaze of Ulquiorra, Orihime rushes towards Ichigo, willing him to wake up. They both watch as the hole in Ichigo's chest miraculously heals itself, unable to comprehend what has happened. Ichigo awakens fully unaware of the events that have happened. He attempts to finish his fight with Ulquiorra however the Espada is injured too badly and begins to fade. After requesting Ichigo to kill him, the dying Espada turns to Orihime, once again asking if she was afraid of him. He reaches out for her, and she does the same, telling him that she wasn't scared just as he fades away. Just as he dies, Ulquiorra has been influenced so much by Orihime and her friends that he realizes the heart is what he is holding in his hands as he dies.

Orihime is still on top of the dome, healing Uryū's injuries, as related by Ichigo.

Zanpakutō Unknown Tales arc (anime only)
Note: Events occurring in this arc are only in the anime and do not constitute canon material.

When Rukia arrives in the living world after sustaining injures from her rogue Zanpakutō, Orihime is called to heal Rukia. Later, when the man responsible for Soul Society's chaos, Muramasa, appears in Karakura Town, Orihime finds him. Muramasa attacks her, but faints due to his failing health. She then heals him, even though she knows that he is Ichigo's enemy. Orihime then notes that Muramasa's spiritual energy is similar to an Arrancar and that he is suffering great emotional pain. Ishida and Sado arrive on the scene and begin fighting Muramasa. Senbonzakura arrives to help Muramasa. Orihime watches as the fight continues Muramasa tries to use his powers to attack Ishida, but Orihime uses her Santen Kesshun, which is shown to be able to block his attack. Shortly thereafter, Rukia and then Ichigo also arrive on the scene.

When Muramasa succeeds in freeing his partner Kōga Kuchiki, Muramasa is attacked by Kōga, who claims Muramasa is no longer of any use to him. This devastating event causes Muramasa to lose control of his power; causing the vast number of Hollows he absorbed to be unleashed. Shortly afterwards, Muramasa unstable energy attracts all the Hollows in the area on to him, merging with him and resulting in him becoming a Hollow. While appearing mindless and rampaging, Orihime sees that Muramasa is still inside, trying to fight for control despite the emotional pain he is going through. She tries to reach Muramasa, but to no avail. Muramasa attacks her, but she blocks him with her barrier. As Muramasa makes another attack, Ichigo intervenes. The two clash for a short period until Ichigo appears the victor. Muramasa then undergoes another transformation, into a giant dome-like structure that swallows Ichigo. Orihime, wanting to help but devastated in knowing she can't, is forced to watch outside and have faith in Ichigo. Later, Ichigo breaks free from the dome with a defeated and dying Muramasa. After Muramasa apologizes for his mistakes, he fades away. While Orihime is saddened by this, Ichigo assures her that Muramasa died with his pride as a Zanpakutō.

Beast Swords arc (anime only)
Note: Events occurring in this arc are only in the anime and do not constitute canon material.

After Muramasa's defeat, Orihime is visited by Rangiku and her still manifested Zanpakutō spirit, Haineko. After learning about a new threat called the Tōjū, Orihime offers to help. She lends some of her clothes to the now Gigai-clad Haineko so she can see the living world. During their fun, they are attacked by one of the Tōjū, now transformed after fusing with a Hollow. Orihime uses her shield to protect them, before they are saved by Ichigo and Hitsugaya.

Powers & Abilities

 * Orihime's spiritual power manifests itself as six fairy-like creatures. No one can see these fairy-like creatures but her and other spiritually aware beings. They reside in her hair-clips which are shaped like six-pedaled flowers, each fairy is two points on a given clip when inactive. Through various combinations of the six fairies, Orihime has the power to reject fate by denying or undoing events in various forms. This power can be used for attack, defense, or healing (depending on the combination). Orihime's mood directly influences the effectiveness of her powers. Feelings like doubt or worry make them weaker, while conviction makes them stronger.

The Vizard Hachigen Ushōda comments that her hair pins, being the physical manifestation of her powers, is very much like the Zanpakutō of a Shinigami and that her powers resemble his own powers. The Arrancar, Tesla, when holding Orihime captive, warns her not to try to attack him as he can easily break the physical container of her Shun Shun Rikka, the hair pins themselves, stating that they are ridiculously weak. Sōsuke Aizen, in his explanation of the Hōgyoku, says that her powers were actually awakened from the Hōgyoku when she cursed her powerlessness with all her heart and the Hōgyoku answered her desire.

The fairies are separate manifestations of Orihime's spirit, each with its own unique appearance and personality, and each named after a flower:

Ayame

 * Voiced by, Tomoe Sakuragawa, English Philece Sampler
 * Ayame is a shy female spirit covered in a dress larger than her body. She is capable of healing together with Shun'ō.



Baigon

 * Voiced by, Kiyoyuki Yanada, English: Liam O'Brien
 * Baigon is a bald male spirit with a mask that covers the bottom of his face. He is brawny and has a large body. He is capable of shielding Orihime from attacks along with Hinagiku and Lily.



Hinagiku

 * Voiced by, Daisuke Kishio, English: Kirk Thornton
 * Hinagiku is a male spirit with a large eye patch that ends in a horn and is highly energetic. He is capable of shielding Orihime from attacks along with Baigon and Lily.



Lily

 * Voiced by Rie Kugimiya, English: Kate Higgins
 * Lily is a female spirit with bright pink hair, transparent yellow goggles, and a blue bathing suit. She has a tattoo on her backside. She is capable of shielding Orihime from attacks along with Baigon and Hinagiku.



Shun'ō

 * Voiced by, Junko Noda, English: Dorothy Elias-Fahn, Latin American Spanish: Javier Olguín
 * Shun'ō is a friendly young male spirit (who appears to be female in the anime) with a topknot. He and Tsubaki are usually the ones who talk to Orihime. He is capable of healing together with Ayame.



Tsubaki

 * Voiced by Toshiyuki Morikawa, English: Wally Wingert, Latin American Spanish: Jorge Ornelas
 * Tsubaki is a fiery male spirit who is the only Shun Shun Rikka capable of direct attack. He often strikes anyone who gets on his nerves (including Orihime). Because he is primarily focused on attacking, he is vulnerable to counter-attacks and has been injured several times. The stronger Orihime's anger and killing intent, the more powerful he becomes. However, Orihime's timid nature limits his overall power and has contributed to his injuries in the past. At one point, Tsubaki was killed by the Espada Yammy Riyalgo, who crushed Tsubaki into tiny pieces. Orihime was distraught by this, and since the pieces were too small to find, she couldn't bring Tsubaki back. But due to meeting Hachi, who said Orihime's powers were similar to his, Tsubaki is restored by Hachi despite having no pieces of him.

Techniques
Orihime's techniques involve incantations manipulating the Shun Shun Rikka into three different groups. Though Orihime initially needed to recite their kotodama to use her techniques, further training has rendered this unnecessary. Her kotodama consists of voicing the names of the members involved, followed by the technique name and the phrase, a reference to the nature of her powers.


 * is Orihime's defensive technique. The incantation arranges Hinagiku, Lily, and Baigon into a triangle that has the ability to repel the "outer shield." A 'shield' is raised between her and her enemy, and they repel the attack she receives. Because the barrier rejects negative events, it can also function as an airbag of sorts, allowing Orihime and anyone else nearby to survive a potentially lethal fall unharmed.


 * is Orihime's "healing" technique. The incantation summons Ayame and Shun'ō to form a half-oval barrier around whatever or whomever Orihime wishes. Their ability is to repel the "inner shield." The shield placed inside means that they repel the damage within a limited area. In other words, they return a subject covered by the shield to the state that they were before taking damage. Orihime is capable of fully restoring Grimmjow's destroyed arm from nothing, to which Sōsuke Aizen deduces this as "The Rejection of Events". Her ability is to limit, reject, and negate any kind of event that has happened to her target. It is an ability that returns her target to its former state no matter what has happened to them. It is far more powerful than "Temporal Regression" or "Spatial Regression" as it easily tramples into the horizon of events that God has decided. It is a power that trespasses into God's territory. Originally Orihime wasn't able to restore a destroyed Tsubaki but Hachigen Ushōda states that her reiatsu she should have powers very close to his own, therefore she should be able to restore him to his original form even without a shattered fragment. Later, she is fully capable of resurrect the dead. While Orihime can heal wounds quickly, it takes her longer to replenish the patient's Reiatsu. Large amounts of foreign spiritual pressure also make healing more difficult.


 * is Orihime's offensive technique. The incantation summons Tsubaki who has the ability to repel "both sides of the shield." He breaks through the enemy, puts up a shield inside, and repels the combined substance, thus splitting the enemy in two. While Tsubaki can cut through basically anything, Orihime's general dislike of combat and hesitance to use lethal force degrades the effectiveness of the technique, making him easy to counter and equally easy to injure.

Abilities
Spiritual Awareness: Orihime has keen senses in detecting spiritual energy, as such that she can sense Hollows and ongoing battles at a significant distance. If she concentrates, she can sense Reiatsu of people even within protective barriers.

Spiritual Power: Orihime is also able to get close to several battles between powerful opponents without being overwhelmed, such as the battles between Ulquiorra and Grimmjow, as well as Ichigo and Ulquiorra. During her basic training in Kidō with Kūkaku Shiba, it was shown that Orihime has a natural talent for precise spiritual energy control as she quickly mastered the technique.

Durability: Orihime is at least strong enough to survive separate assaults by Loly and Menoly, which involved physical attacks and the use of Bala, and minor assaults by Nnoitra and Tesla.

Hand-to-Hand Combatant: While a pacifist by nature, Orihime has shown to have a natural talent for martial arts. She reveals that Tatsuki has trained her somewhat in karate. According to Tatsuki, Orihime has the fighting skill of a black belt. Orihime was at least strong enough to incapacitate two unseated Shinigami soldiers.

Memory Chikan Resistance: Orihime was able to recall the event of her brother fighting Ichigo Kurosaki, even though the memory chikan has been used on her by Rukia.

Ichigo Kurosaki
Ichigo is a friend and classmate of Orihime's. The two do not seem to interact much until Ichigo becomes a Shinigami, Orihime’s own powers awaken, and they have to defend Karakura Town from approaching dangers. The crush she had on Ichigo from the beginning of the series eventually develops into love, which she confesses to him before leaving for Hueco Mundo, while the latter is asleep.

Tatsuki Arisawa
About a year after her brother, Sora, died, Orihime became friends with Tatsuki. Tatsuki protected her from bullies who bothered her about her long hair and men who asked her out on dates, and as a result, they soon became best friends. Tatsuki taught her karate up to a black belt level (yellow belt in the English dub) for her own protection. Orihime has stated that the length of her hair is a symbol of her friendship with Tatsuki, and that she will never cut it again.

Rukia Kuchiki
Rukia and Orihime started their friendship soon after they first met and became significantly closer friends as of the Arrancar Arc. In preparation for the upcoming Winter battle, Rukia takes her into Soul Society and trains her, increasing each others abilities in combat. While being a somewhat stern tutor, Rukia tells Orihime what mistakes she makes and how to correct them, earning a mutual respect of fighting ability between the two (not unlike Chad and Renji's relationship). She can relate to her more than anyone else in the current situation, and Orihime is the only friend in Rukia's thoughts right before she loses consciousness after her fight with Aaroniero, determined to keep moving for her while also trying to keep her promise to Kaien.

Ulquiorra Cifer
Ulquiorra is put in charge of abducting Orihime and taking care of her during her stay in Las Noches. Ulquiorra attempts to tear down Orihime's resolve during the imprisonment, especially during the start of her nakama's rescue, culminating in her slapping him in the face for insulting her friends (and Orihime breaking down into tears after being left alone). Ulquiorra does not understand the concept of the human heart and questions Orihime about it when they end up alone in the fifth tower. Before he dies, Ulquiorra reaches for Orihime's hand and, through her returned gesture, discovers what a heart is.

Rangiku Matsumoto
Rangiku seems to have a strong relationship with Orihime. She often takes Orihime under her wing and tries to cheer her up when she is depressed, and Orihime can usually open up to Rangiku, in one instance even confessing her feelings for Ichigo and her emotional turmoil to her. Also, Rangiku is one of only two people who seem to like Orihime's cooking, with the other being Tessai.

Yasutora Sado
Orihime and Sado have a somewhat strong relationship. When he first fought Yammy Riyalgo, knowing that he could not defeat the Espada, Sado told Orihime to hide with Tatsuki in order to keep her away from the fight. When Sado is defeated, Orihime returns to heal and protect him. When Urahara attempts to remove Orihime from the front lines, Sado strongly objects to this, saying that she has been very helpful and that her healing and defensive powers are vital to them. Sado's relationship is also shown in the Zanpakutō Unknown Tales arc, when she worries for him when he passes out from Muramasa's ability.

Uryū Ishida
At first, Uryū and Orihime didn't know each other very well, even when both being in the school's Handicrafts Club. During the Soul Society arc, the two got to know each other after being forcefully separated from the rest of their group when attempting to rescue Rukia. In the Arrancar arc, when Uryū learned that Orihime was taken to Hueco Mundo, he was willing to go rescue her by himself. Uryū has shown that he seems to have an understanding of Orihime's feelings towards Ichigo, like when he was fighting Byakuya and Ulquiorra. It also seems as though Uryū has a soft spot for her.

Sora Inoue
Sora Inoue and his sister Orihime Inoue were born 15 years apart. Their parents constantly abused them, causing Sora to take Orihime and flee once he was 18. One night three years before the storyline began, Orihime and Sora had an argument over the hairpins he had bought her. The next morning, Sora left for work, but did not speak to Orihime. That day, he died in the Kurosaki Clinic after being injured in a car accident. While alive, he is shown to have cared for his sister, whom he thought of as a daughter. He described their parents as such: "Our Mother was a whore, our Father a devil. When a child would cry they would hit it until it stopped. That's the kind of people they were." He raised Orihime until his death.

Video Games

 * Orihime has appeared in every Bleach video game to date, mostly as a playable character. Several of these games have expanded her Shun Shun Rikka's abilities, which she uses her Santen Kesshun for offensive tactics. In games where she is a supporting character, she normally uses her healing ability to replenish the life of the character.

Trivia

 * According to her character profile by Tite Kubo, her theme song is T'en va pas by Elsa.


 * She ranked 8th in the most recent Bleach popularity poll (she placed highly in previous polls placing 5th, 12th and 10th).
 * Her Shun Shun Rikka came 33rd tying with 2 others in the Zanpakutō popularity poll.
 * The color of Orihime's eyes vary from the manga to the anime. They are shown as brown in the manga while the anime depicts them as silver or gray.

Quotes

 * "I was proud of my hair color that my brother admired. I was happy to be told such things, so I grew my hair out ever since I was little. Soon after I entered middle school, 3rd years said they didn't like my hair color and cut it. I had no choice but to cut the rest short to even it out. I couldn't tell brother. "I felt like changing it" is what I said to dodge the question. Then my brother died soon after. I became alone. I stopped talking, even at school, and became more alone than ever before. The one who stopped me from being that way was Tatsuki-chan. Tatsuki-chan yelled at me for backing down and she looked out for me. I could grow my hair out again thanks to her. I will never have short hair again, because my long hair is proof of my faith in Tatsuki-chan."


 * (To Numb Chandelier) "'I will not forgive those who hurt Tatsuki!"


 * (Thinking about Tatsuki Arisawa) "Thank you, Tatsuki. Please do not worry, Tatsuki. Because Tatsuki will come find me, that's why I can go anywhere without worry. If the place I'm going is somewhere Tatsuki can't go, then please wait for me here, I will come back for sure. Come back to Tatsuki's side."


 * (To Rukia Kuchiki) "It's not frustrating at all. It's just... it's going to be lonely, not being able to fight alongside everyone. But being lonely isn't nearly as bad as being in the way. If I'm just going to be a hindrance to Kurosaki-kun, to everyone, then it's far better to be lonely"


 * (To Ichigo Kurosaki, who is asleep) "Kurosaki-kun, you know I had a lot of things I wanted to do... I want to be a teacher... I also want to be an astronaut... and also make my own cake shop... I want to go to the sweets bakery and say 'I want one of everything'... Ohhhh, I wish I could live life five times over. Then I’d be born in five different places, and I’d stuff myself with different food from around the world... I’d live five different lives with five different occupations... and then, for those five times... I’d fall in love with the same person..."


 * "I don't believe that he showed me the Hōgyoku because he trusts me... but, at least I have learned the location of the Hōgyoku... and... about my own power, too. Everything that has occurred... it reverses it all, and destroys the very event itself. Thank you, Kurosaki-kun, for coming to save me, but I've found something I must do here. And it's definitely...something only I can do. With my power... I will return the Hōgyoku to before it ever existed!"


 * (To Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck) "Kurosaki-kun... doesn't assure us he is going to win for that reason. Kurosaki-kun is a kind person. Whenever he uses strong words, it's like he's making a promise. I believe that, he makes a promise to himself. I think that he expresses his feelings in words so that he will follow through. So that's why it's okay. When Kurosaki-kun says he is going to win, he'll win for sure. So...so that's why we should wait and believe in him."


 * (To Ulquiorra Cifer) "Maybe it's impossible to feel exactly the same way as another person, but it's possible for people to care about one another and to place their hearts as close together as they can manage. I'm sure that's what it means to make your hearts as one."