"Ren?... Ren? REN?"
Orihime was on the verge of a meltdown. Not only did she have to listen to those hard, heavy lies, but her friend had gotten hurt protecting her! She was truly helpless, wasn't she?!
"Ahaha! Hahahahaha! It happens in every single timeline. Every one! Only this time, it's someone else. Even with fate altered so badly, so skewed, you are still protected from a fatal blow by someone!"
'Timelines?!' the group thought.
"Orihime," Ren groaned in pain as he held himself over her.
"Are you a sun? Or are you full of faith in the world?" he asked gently.
BOOM!
A sweep of wind blew Ren off Orihime, and a heavy pressure descended from the sky onto everyone.
Even Rise could barely stand, and after years of fighting in the Metaverse, all different Shadow nests, and in reality, it was still hard to stay on her feet. The Thieves couldn't even flinch before they were slammed into the ground.
The ground around the team cracked and groaned under the weight of the formless pressure, the masked Shadow approaching slowly. The mask began to shift and formed into a radiant, multicolored mask.
Pointing at Ren, the Shadow said, "Diarama."
It fully healed him. It was as if he had never been injured.
The Shadow turned to Orihime and asked, "Do you accept this result? Cero."
A black beam tore through the air directly at Ren. Orihime's face went pale, and she forced herself to move as much as she could, but it wasn't enough. Even as she threw herself in front of the attack, it still blew through her shoulder like a hot knife, landing directly on Ren.
Right through his heart.
"REN!!!" Orihime's voice tore with pain.
'Again! Someone I cared about died again! What's the point of fighting when I'm so weak?!' she mentally screamed.
"You son of a bitch. I don't care if you're me or not! No one hurts my friends!" Orihime roared with false bravado, forcing herself forward. Her knees dragged against the ground, her hands bleeding as she pulled herself forward. She grabbed the Shadow's leg. "I can reject you! You can reject me! I don't care! Just heal my friends and leave them alone!"
"Good. Recarm. Diarama."
"FUCK." Ren jumped up.
"Don't overreact, Trickster. It was all an illusion. You know that."
"It surprised me, alright?! What the fuck!"
"RENNNNNNNN!" Rise cried as she ran over, along with the rest of the team, giving him a tight hug.
"Thank god. Or Buddha. Or Yama. Or whatever. I'm so glad you're safe," Ann cried, and Ryuji wiped his eyes and patted Ren on the shoulder. Morgana sat on Ren's lap while shivering.
"My name is Maria. Remember what to reject and what to accept, my little lamb."
The mask on the Shadow broke, revealing a beaming Orihime. She was slightly older. She smiled and turned into an opera mask, landing on Orihime's face and merging into her hairpins. They faintly pulsed, and the mask returned to her face as she burst into blue flames.
Stepping out, she had the same white dress that her Shadow had worn in its human form. But now, it was made like a combat dress of white leather. The skirt still somehow flowed, and it didn't restrict her movement at all. She gave a blinding smile to the team and ran to Ren as fast as she could, knocking him over with a hug.
"DIA. DIA. DIA. DIA," Orihime yelled, casting it on Ren.
"Wait, calm down! I'm fine!" Ren yelled, quickly reaching out to stop her, when she suddenly passed out, falling onto Ren and crushing Morgana between them.
"Thank goodness," she muttered in her sleep.
"Poor girl," Rise muttered. "Be sure to support her, everyone."
"Of course!"
"Orihime is our friend!"
"Don't look down on her! She is strong!"
Orihime just smiled in her sleep and hugged Ren a little tighter.