JC: It's my first time writing an UlquiHime fic. I've been a fan of this pairing for over two months now. I stopped watching Bleach three years ago after the Soul Society Arc, simply because I got tired of it. I only got interested again because of the pairing. Strange, right? Well, sometimes I'm drawn to a particular anime when I know there's a place for romance to bloom. I'm not expecting Bleach to turn into a full romantic drama, but I can't help being such a fangirl for Ulquiorra and Orihime.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. Kubo Tite has that right.

Love behind the Mask

Chapter 1: Sudden Indifference

Have you ever been in love? I have. And it made me so vulnerable. Love opens your chest and your heart, and it could only mean that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up defences so that nothing can hurt you, then one person walks into your life and then you give yourself to them. The fickle thing called Love only ate me and left me crying in the darkness. Love hurts. It doesn't only hurt my heart but my soul as well. It ripped me apart. Despite this, I wish I could fall in love once more, though I know it only leads to trouble. A lot of people are aware of that, yet they are willing to fool themselves and gladly just to feel they were in love, in love. And I'm one of them. I wish I could feel my heartbeat rise again, and gaze into warm eyes, and give myself to him.

It was hard to believe it had all come to an end. The Winter War had finally come to a conclusion. All of the Espada were defeated, all deceased except for a certain three. The Thirteen Court Guards of Seireitei, who fought bravely in the battle, were victorious, though none of them would possibly consider it as true victory. Brave souls have lost their lives, many were battered and injured, many were still hanging onto their rope of life, and even if peace was eminent, they knew it was merely temporary. Their nemesis, the cruelest and most manipulative man that ever lived, Sousuke Aizen, had disappeared again. His plan to destroy Karakura Town, a haven of vast spiritual energy, went down as Ichigo Kurosaki stopped him. And when he had no means to win against the substitute Shinigami, Aizen tricked everyone with his Soul Slayer and made his escape. There were no traces of him anywhere, not even in Hueco Mundo. The threat was still there, it was still real. Everyone knew that he was going to return.

It was difficult to believe any of it had happened. It had all been chaotic when it began. It had been the start of her turmoil, her punishment, a long term of sadness and despair for her in Hueco Mundo, the place where the fallen souls take refuge. And now suddenly, she was going to begin a new life.

Weeks have passed since the war. Everything was going back to normal…or so it seems…

Orihime Inoue walked up the broad steps of the Las Noches Medical Room with a strange mixture of anticipation and trepidation which gave her a slightly nauseated feeling in her stomach. She was going to see her captor once more after long weeks of pain and anxiety, hopes and fears that at times became almost intolerable. She was slimmer than she had been, but still her lovely figure doesn't go unnoticed. Her face was still flawless, giving her beauty a great distinction. Her orange-hair, smooth and silky, flowed down to her waist. The two hairpins held her hair in place. She wore an outfit consisting of a short, white, pleated skirt, white-colored, black-outlined half-sleeves worn from wrist to upper arm, and black-colored, white outlined ankle boots. She also wore a white colored, black-outlined sleeveless top.

She had spent less time outdoors than usual lately, spending very possible moment with him in the medic while he was incapacitated.

An Arrancar coming out of the main door held it open for her and she smiled her thanks, barely noticing the grateful glance he cast over her as she passed him. That Arrancar was one of the few remnants of Aizen's past reign over Hueco Mundo. Clad in green attire with a mask covering half his face, he was one of the lower-classed Arrancars whose job is to serve. After Aizen had disappeared, the surviving Arrancars severed their ties with him and decided to live as they see fit.

He was awake when she walked into the room, sitting up in bed, his dark head turned to the door as she came through it, emerald green eyes watching her walk towards him across the floor, making her nervous.

As she sat on a chair beside his bed he turned his head a little away from her. The scar that began from his forehead, then slashed across his cheek stood out like a sore thumb. The treatment they had done after the major repairs to his vital organs, broken bones and torn flesh had not been completely successful. Orihime sighed, thinking how useless she was to him. She couldn't even heal. Even if she wanted to, she temporarily can't. During the last battle with Aizen, she had exhausted her Rejecting abilities entirely to erase the Hougyoku from existence. According to Shun'o, one of her six fairies, they needed great amount of time to regenerate their spiritual powers again. It was only two weeks ago that she got two of her abilities working at an efficient level again.

"How are you today, Ulquiorra?" she asked, breaking the silence between them. "Nel said you can get up and walk around now. Um...I brought you your uniform. You must be itching to get out of those hospital clothes." She unpacked his uniform from her bag.

"I don't need help, woman," he said, coldly. "I'm not a crippled human."

Sadly she looked down on the clothes in her hands. "Of...course...not..." She dropped the uniform on the bed. "Should I wait outside?"

"Such a stupid question," he replied. "Why ask if it's painfully obvious?"

"Then just call if you need anything..."

As she closed the door behind her, she leaned back on it and sighed deeply. Why does he seem a lot colder than before? They had been together for weeks now and he had not felt so distant during those times.

The gruelling battle with Aizen left him scarred and crippled almost the point of death. It was his wish, his desire to face his creator and make him pay for the betrayal. The battle didn't end well for him, however, he proved to be a vital character in strengthening her resolve.

When she first met him, his body had almost been unmarked. Now his body was scarred, and, even though she knew it would heal over time, she felt that it was such a waste to spoil something which had been beautiful. However, the marks didn't actually ruin his image. She knew those marks were the ones he received for her—protecting her from attacks. When Aizen was about to blast her to kingdom come, he had thrown himself in front of her in an effort to shield her. He had succeeded.

Ulquiorra Cifer had always been handsome, with a cool and composed allure that drew attention to his slender yet muscular physique and his pale, hard skin. He had fairly short, unruly black hair and a pair of the most beautiful emerald green eyes she had ever seen. His eyebrows were distinctively thick and he has teal lines that descend from his eyes. The remainder of his Hollow mask lies on top of his head, forming a half-broken helmet. If he were human, no doubt that his success with girls would be faultless. A soft smile graced her lips as she promised herself to be closer to him.

The door suddenly opened. And since she was still leaning on it, she instantly fell backwards. Thinking she might hit the solid floor, she closed her eyes for impact. But she landed in the arms of someone instead. Ulquiorra caught her right on the mark.

Quickly she straightened herself and turned to look at him, wondering if he'll insult her for being such an airhead. He had always been good at giving rude comments about her, even when she was still a prisoner of Aizen. The face he showed her was hard and cold, the green eyes were narrowed. He was fully dressed in his uniform, consisting of a white coat over a black zipped-up shirt, a black sash, and a white hakama.

"I'm sorry," she said. "Guess I spaced out again...Silly me..." She lightly giggled.

His melancholic appearance remained unchanged as he moved passed her. She wanted to walk by his side, but he seemed to be walking deliberately a little away from her.

"Does it feel like home to you?" he asked out of the blue, surprising her a bit.

"It took time to get used to...but I have to admit that I do feel at home here now in Las Noches..." She wished she could shake the dreadful feeling that something was not right when she talks to him. She looked up at her former captor's face, to find him giving her a sharp look. "W-What is it?"

Ulquiorra looked away, and then said, "You're a strange human, woman. How can you feel at home in a world full of hollows? This is a place that is supposed to be feared by your kind. You do not even belong here."

"I know," she replied, grasping her left elbow with her right hand, "I don't belong in your world...but I don't belong in my previous world anymore... I have nowhere else to go but here. It's difficult to explain, but I've grown to like it here. And that's probably because you're here." She felt her face turning a little red.

There was a change in his eyes and she had noticed it flicker in surprise for a second. As he turned his gaze back at her, she felt her heart squeeze.

"How ludicrous. You are obviously being delusional, woman." Turning around and taking a step forward, he felt his insides turning upside down, as if it was impaling him. Pain rushed through his veins in mere seconds, causing him to drop on one knee.

"Does it still hurt?" she asked worriedly. "Maybe you should get some more rest. You haven't fully recovered yet.

He looked up at her, his eyes smouldering with annoyance. "I'm not frail. I don't need you fussing around telling me what to do."

Speechless, she stared at him, and the tension bore an unbearable tightness in her chest. "I-I'm sorry..." she said. "I'll try not to fuss again."

"I highly doubt that," he said, getting back up slowly.

Silence enveloped them as the two stared at each other.

Then a cheerful voice calling out Orihime's name made her jump, and they both turned their heads to find another Arrancar approaching them. It was Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck or Nel for short. The remains of her Hollow mask were a skull on top of her head, featuring sharp curved horns. She has a crimson line that stretched horizontally across her lovely face below her hazel eyes. She has long, wavy, blue-green hair that seems to cascade gracefully like fine silk, and has a curvaceous body with ample bosoms. Her outfit was composed of a white-colored, black-outlined jacket over a black sleeveless shirt, black fingerless gloves, and a white flared mini-skirt with a black belt holding her Soul Slayer. She also wore a pair of black-colored, white-outlined, knee-length boots.

"Good Afternoon, Orihime!" Nel gave the orange-haired girl a gorgeous smile before crushing her body in a tight hug.

"N-Nel...I-I can't breathe..." Orihime managed to say.

Nel immediately released the human. "Oh, sorry about that!" she said, giggling. "So! Do you want to play with me today? I have a new game in mind and it's really fun!"

Since Aizen's disappearance, Nelliel was brought back into the ranks of the Espada. She was once again the official Tres Espada. The Espada were an elite group of Arrancars of immense strength and killing power. They were the best of the best in Hueco Mundo. But, despite being a strong and capable warrior, Nelliel was a pacifist and an extremely cheerful Arrancar.

"A new game? Sounds nice…But I…" She gazed back at Ulquiorra briefly. Sensing that he didn't want her around him, she turned to Nelliel again. "Sure, I'll play with you today," she said, faking a smile.

"Then it's settled! Meet me outside in 15 minutes, okay?" Nelliel said, shaking Orihime's hands vigorously in excitement. Then she spun around and started moving away. "See you there, Orihime!"

"It seems utterly ridiculous for a woman at your age to play games," he said in cold tone.

She lowered her head.

"Same goes for Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck." Ulquiorra slid his hands into the pockets of his hakama. "Excluding the Tres Espada, how can you humans find amusement in such childish games? Better yet, I should question your reasons for even playing with an Espada. You must have been so bored these past weeks, haven't you? Why don't you just go back to your own world and try to start a new life there? You are not meant to live among hollows."

She kept her head down, not able to answer him. She gritted her teeth, but that didn't stop a tear from falling. She made a move to leave his sight, but then Ulquiorra pulled her against him. She closed her eyes tightly and gritted her teeth again to keep back her tears. Her face was against his chest, his arms were tight around her. His face was against her hair, and she could feel his breath.

Everything would be all right, she thought ramblingly. Everything must come right for them. Still she felt as if she couldn't connect with him at all, unlike before. These past weeks were like a dream for her. When the war ended, she went back to Hueco Mundo with him. And when he couldn't do anything by himself, she was the one who took care of him. She nursed him back to health even without her powers. His regenerating abilities had gotten slow due to the injuries and great lost of spiritual pressure, so she did all she could for him. To her surprise, he had accepted her company during his days in bed. He may bear unapproachable coldness, but she was still able to connect with him.

But he was so different now. What changed him?

He moved his hands from their passionate hold on her and slid them up her arms to jerk her away from him. She looked at him in bewilderment, as if his face was that of a stranger. It was bitter, unspeakably strange and awful.

"Truly you are..." he drawled. "A complete bother." She was stricken, standing staring at the Espada frozen. He turned his back on her and slipped his hands into his pockets. "Go play your silly little games and leave me be."

Hesitantly, Orihime spun on her heels and walked away, her feet heavy as though she was walking in mud.

She praised herself for being able to put up a happy face in front of Nelliel when they played games. It was a mask she had to keep. She didn't want her friendly Espada to worry about her. They both had a lot in common. In terms of personality, they were both cheerful and sociable. And apart from their well-endowed traits, they both loved games and possessed a certain level of imagination and creativity. It was great having Nelliel as a friend. Their friendship began when Orihime healed the crack on her mask and her scar, and returned Nelliel to her original form. She remembered her first meeting with her when she was still Aizen's captive. Nelliel was in the form of a little girl back then, and she was pretty close with Ichigo Kurosaki. Her fraccion, Dondochakka Bilstin and Peshe Guatiche, were a lot of fun too.

Walking down the hallway, she saw her room again, the place where she was once held captive. It was a plain white room, sporting only one window with three bars, a carpet, a dining table, and a large sofa where she used to sleep on. Standing in the room, remembering her times with him, Orihime gazed at the pale moon.

She slowly took out the pins on her hair. "Because of what I did, I can't go back to the real world... It's not like I can't though... There's no place left for me in that world anymore." A sigh escaped from her lips. "And if I don't belong here, where else should I go?"

She wrapped her arms around herself, remembering when he had held her. He held her so roughly, but surely there had been warmth there. Perhaps she had over-reacted—maybe he had lied to her. Ulquiorra was never the type to show emotions openly. How can he tell her to go back when he was the one who suggested coming back with him in Hueco Mundo? His words had been crude, but maybe he was simply trying to be cold on purpose. Perhaps he wanted to be alone since he has recovered.

She headed out of her prison and went back to her bedroom. Before she had departed from the real world, she took most of her belongings from her apartment. She had decorated her once seemingly boring white bedroom and made it more attractive. A queen-sized bed sat on one side of the room, with a bedside drawer and a lamp on top of it. There was a study table to the left of the bed. A bookshelf was right across the bed. Her room featured a bathroom as well.

She decided to have a shower. Standing under the warm water, she used perfumed soap, and after drying herself, she applied lotion over her skin, giving it a silky sheen. With a towel wrapped around her curvaceous body, she walked into the bedroom. She dressed slowly into her Arrancar ensemble and fixed her hair.

It was almost time for dinner. She always had dinner together with Ulquiorra, Nelliel and her fraccion. They didn't care if they had to eat in the medical room. It was always lively to eat with others around. Although Ulquiorra found their company annoying at first, he eventually got used to it. Since he was up and walking again, she figured that they would eat dinner in the dining area. By the time she got there, she only saw Nelliel and surprisingly Grimmjow.

Grimmjow was a male Arrancar with blue spiky hair and eyes, and also has green lines below them. His attire consisted of a white hakama and a black sash, a white ragged jacket with an upturned collar. The inner lining was black, and the sleeves were rolled up. Grimmjow wore his jacket open, revealing his muscular chest and his hollow hole on his abdomen. The remains of his mask consisted of a right jawbone. Because of his past battle with Ichigo, Grimmjow has a large scar on his torso.

He was the first Espada she had ever healed. He served as the subject to show off her powers to Aizen and the other Espada. Though he appeared to be laid-back, he was actually impulsive and violent. He has a dangerous temper and a blunt, sarcastic, and sadistic personality.

She considered him to be really scary at first. But now she viewed him differently. Sure, he had threatened her more than once before. Nonetheless, there was no denying the fact he saved her once, though he demanded a favour from her afterwards. He also has some code of honour in him too, much to her surprise.

He, along with Ulquiorra and Nelliel, was revived by her powers. Indebted to her, though he expressed disgust for that matter, he joined the others in the battle against Aizen. Frankly, he was more than obliged to kill the man.

Their relationship had gotten a bit better over the past weeks. He may insult her and often display his horrendous temper towards her, but he never gets physical and poses any threats. And he doesn't mind having her around in Las Noches, as long as she doesn't bother him.

"Hey, woman!" Grimmjow called out.

"Um, yes?" Orihime promptly replied.

"Get me the champagne in the fridge and make it quick," he demanded.

"Orihime is not your personal maid, Grimmjow," Nelliel said, "and I would prefer if you start talking nicely to her."

Grimmjow shrugged. "Shut the damn hell up. I don't need to get lectured by you." He then looked at Orihime with serious eyes. "And why are you standing there like an idiot? Get moving already."

"Y-Yes sir!" Orihime said, running off to the kitchen.

She returned to the dining area, pushing a cart with a small bucket of ice, a bottle of champagne, and glasses.

"Orihime, you don't have to do this for that jerk," Nelliel said.

"It's all right. I'm doing this because I want to," Orihime told her, as she poured a glass of champagne for Grimmjow. She then poured champagne for Nelliel. "Umm... Nel, do you know where Ulquiorra is?"

Grimmjow, who had just finished his drink, crushed the glass in his hand. "And why are you looking for that EMO shit?" he asked in a rough tone. "He's recovered, right? Just let him be by himself."

"Maybe he'd like some champagne too," Orihime said, ignoring Grimmjow unintentionally. "Hmm...I should go check the library!" She grabbed the bottle of champagne and two glasses before running out of the room.

Grimmjow was annoyed as hell, and Nelliel couldn't help giggling. He immediately sent a deadly glare towards her direction, but Nelliel kept laughing. "What is so damn funny, bitch?"

Nelliel took her glass and swirled the liquid just below her lips. "Seems like you hate being ignored by Orihime..." she muttered before taking a sip.

Ulquiorra was reading a book when she got to the library. "I brought champagne!" she announced happily. The Espada didn't make an attempt to even look at her as she approached. "Would you like a glass?"

In silence, he stood up and took the bottle and glasses from her.

She sat on the sofa while he poured two glasses, and when he had handed hers to her she expected him to sit beside her. However, he wedged himself in the corner.

"Umm...It's almost time for dinner," Orihime said. "Would you like to join me and everyone at the table?"

He met her eyes, but she couldn't read the expression in them.

Hesitating, she took a sip from hers and watched him follow suit.

"How are your friends?" he asked, breaking the small silence that ensued. "I believe you went to check up on them the other day."

"They're doing well..." she faltered before continuing, "without me."

His gaze was fixed on the drink he was gently swirling in the glass in his strong fingers. "It was the inevitable."

"I miss doing stuff with them."

The look he gave her was enigmatic. "You're lonely without them."

"Not really... Yes, it's hard for me to be away from them, but I'm quite happy here as well. There's Nel, Peshe, Dondochakka...and Grimmjow." She smiled at the thought. "And there's you."

He was looking down at this champagne, and stirring uneasily.

"I know it's kind of weird to have Hollows as friends, but isn't it interesting at the same time? You guys are different from regular hollows."

"You consider a being such as myself as your friend?" he said harshly, and Orihime gulped down some champagne, because she felt a frightening aura from him. "Ridiculous. Hollows and humans are not meant to deal with things such as friendship." He stood up, placing his glass down on the table.

There was something different about him, something very menacing. Was she imagining things? "You may think it is ridiculous, but I hold you in high regard. You're important to me, Uquiorra." Her voice was soft and gentle.

A strange sensation was felt around his hollow hole, something warm and tender. Yet, he remained composed, his eyes unwavering. "I am one of the most dangerous beings in the world. I can kill you with two hands behind my back. You cannot outrun me. You cannot fight me." Using Sonido, he pinned her against the wall in a flash, making her drop the glass on the carpeted floor. "We are too different. We cannot be together."

She stood there without moving, staying calm than she had ever been. "I don't care." His emerald eyes seem to glow for a second before they dimmed. "I don't care if we're different. We can still be together."

He released her and turned around. "Don't I frighten you, woman?" he murmured, his voice unintentionally seductive.

She moved in front of him and gazed into his eyes. "I'm not scared of you..." she whispered as she stepped closer. "Like I said...You're important to me." She reached out slowly, carefully, to place her hand in his.

He looked at her smooth hand, and then at her eyes. They were soft, beautiful, and dazzling. "You are indeed a strange human, woman," he sighed.

With that said, he used Sonido to make his leave.

To be continued...

JC: My first attempt in writing UlquiHime and Bleach. I just hope it turned out okay for you guys. Seriously, I haven't written in months now because I lacked the motivation. But now I'm more than inspired. Of course, since this is the first chapter, there are a lot of confusions, loose ends here and there, and so forth. Little by little, it will all become clear. You have to wait and see. That's all for now. See you in the next chapter.