Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach!
Summary: Orihime's marriage is crumbling before her very eyes due to infidelity. She seeks comfort with Ulquiorra, only to begin an affair of her own, and, ultimately, finding everything she ever wanted. UlquiHime, IchiHime, IchiRuki, oneshot
Alright, don't ask how this universe works. Let's just say...uh...somehow Ulquiorra escapes all the Aizen mess without being killed and takes residency in the human world. I've seen some fics that do this, so don't completely throw me under the bus for that.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this! It's my first attempt at an UlquiHime - which has grown to be one of my very favorite Bleach pairs - and I hope you review! They are very much appreciated!
Keep Bleeding, Love
"Will you marry me, Orihime?"
"Oh, yes, Ichigo! Of course!"
She bounded into his arms and he kissed her full lips, feeling like the luckiest man alive.
"I love you...so much, Ichigo."
"I love you, Hime."
---
The day of the wedding, she was visited by an old friend.
"Ulquiorra!" She said, her heart doing a certain kind of lurch that only happened when the arrancar was near, "You came! I'm so glad!"
He ran a hand through his hair, emerald orbs looking forlorn, "Yeah..."
It was quiet, Orihime was overwhelmed by seeing him once again. Ulquiorra didn't know what to say, for she looked so utterly breathtaking in her wedding gown. But he knew what he had to tell her.
"Don't get hurt, Orihime."
The confusion on her face was instantaneous.
"Just...be careful around him, okay?"
Because he had seen the way Ichigo looked at Rukia. And he knew Orihime had not. He knew the orange haired maiden was just as naive as ever.
"Come see me if you need anything."
He left before Orihime was able to ask anything else.
---
The bride was beautiful, all dressed in white lace and silk.
Orihime had always been naive. The picture of innocence and purity and downright cluelessness.
This showed when she didn't notice the slight disarray of her bridesmaid's violet dress and ebony hair. Didn't notice the pink in her cheeks as she kept stealing glances at the groom, or the way she looked guiltily at Orihime when she said, "I do".
She also didn't notice that when Ichigo kissed her, his eyes drifted to Rukia.
---
Their honeymoon was the most romantic night of Orihime's life. The beach on Jamaica was gorgeous, and the two walked hand-in-hand on the clean sand, washing their feet in the waves and holding each other close with love in their eyes.
He was gentle as he made love to her. Stroking her gently, looking at her with utmost devotion as he entered her and heard her gasp his name in ecstasy, gripping his hair between her slender fingers.
Ichigo wondered if Orihime saw the guilt hidden deep within his eyes.
He also wondered if she knew he was still in love with Rukia.
---
"I'm going to the store, Hime. I'll be back in a bit!"
Orihime turned to him, eyes alight with her childlike innocence. "Alright! Would you mind getting some milk too?"
He kissed her lightly on her lips, "Sure, no problem."
"Be safe!"
"I will." He smiled a forced, hollow grin.
Ichigo returned at midnight that night.
And didn't even have the milk she requested.
---
He wasn't being unfaithful.
She had to keep repeating this, like her own personal mantra, each and every day, or she would no doubt go insane.
Each night, Orihime would be the one to initiate sex. And each night, he would give it to her, almost as if he was doing it to make up to her, or to keep her satisfied. He would never be the one to make the first move, not since their honeymoon.
She saw the guilt in his eyes though, growing stronger each night.
Until, finally...
"I'm sorry...I'm not in the mood, Hime." He kissed her temple. "Maybe tomorrow night."
This would continue.
The same process, each and every night.
And each and every night afterward, she would cry herself to sleep.
---
She received a text from Ulquiorra. Orihime didn't even wonder how he got a cell phone; she only smiled when she read his words.
I'm always here if you need to talk.
She entered her message slowly, trying to phrase herself correctly, but in the end, she only produced two words.
Thank you.
---
He obviously didn't know she was home when he passed by the house, Rukia walking beside him, her intent, violet eyes focused on his chocolate ones.
He said something, she laughed, and Orihime felt her heart breaking even more.
Then, Ichigo did something that only someone as bold as he was would do.
He bent down - she was so much shorter than he was - and pressed his lips gently against hers. Right in front of Orihime's own house.
She raced back to the kitchen, not wanting him to know she had seen him, knuckles growing numb as they clenched the broomstick tighter and tighter, tears forming in her eyes as she furiously swept the floor.
The door creaked open.
"Welcome home, Ichigo!" She smiled brightly, hoping that by regaining her childish appearance she could erase the memory from her mind.
"Oh," Ichigo said dully, "hey, Hime. What's for dinner?"
She bit her lip to keep it from trembling. "I'm not sure, actually. Would you mind making something yourself? I have an eye appointment."
"Oh, no problem."
That would be the first night she saw Ulquiorra.
---
She knocked on his door, a lump in her throat, tears threatening to spill over.
Luckily, he was the one who opened the door and not some other person.
Immediately, she was in his arms, sobbing her eyes out onto his chest, feeling the warm familiarity that came by being with Ulquiorra.
He just stood there, holding her in his arms, stroking her hair gently and pressing his face against the crown of her head. He couldn't make out a word of what she said other than, "...cheating...Rukia...I know he...cheating! Ichi...cheating!"
Ulquiorra's heart went out to her as he pecked her lightly on the forehead and led her inside the house.
"It's alright, Orihime. I'm here. It's alright."
She hated to admit it, but she felt right at home in Ulquiorra's arms.
---
When she stumbled upon Ichigo's email, a message in particular taunted her.
From: Kuchiki Rukia
To: Kurosaki Ichigo
Come over tonight, k? Love, R.
In a rage, she shut down the computer and slammed her dainty fist into the table. Her knuckles throbbed, along with the painful stabbing of tears in her eyes.
Just then, her husband's voice came at her from the door frame.
"Hey, honey, I'll be back in a little bit. I'm going to the store."
She pulled herself together, her always faithful "oh-there-is-nothing-going-on-here" smile coming to rest upon her pretty features.
"Okay, I'll be waiting!"
He pressed his lips to her temple, but Orihime couldn't feel any life in the gesture. She knew he was pretending not to notice the tear stains underneath her eyes.
"Bye. I love you."
"I love you, too."
But they were hollow words, filled with nothing except the familiarity of what used to be.
---
"Ulquiorra?"
"Yes?"
"What does it mean to love someone?"
"I thought you of all people would know that."
A bitter smile spread across the woman's face, "I thought I did."
He cupped her cheek in his hand, fingertips brushing lightly against the soft skin.
"You'll find it again."
She wondered why her heart sped up at that.
---
Orihime picked up the phone, prepared to dial Tatsuki's number, when she heard that it was already in use.
"Rukia..." Her husband's voice came in, clear and loud, over the line. He was in the living room, "I can't wait to see you."
A girlish giggle, "It's crazy how much I've wanted you all this time."
"I'm never enough, ne?"
"Last night was wonderful, I must say, I'm addicted."
"You and me, both."
Her eyes narrowed in anger as she threw the phone across the room, shattering it into several pieces that would be easily put back together.
Unlike her heart.
---
That night, she visited Ulquiorra with one thing on her mind.
Orihime arrived on his doorstep at around nine at night, the bugs swirling around the streetlight. Her fingers clenched in her coat, nervous, but not about to regret what she was going to do. Hell, Ichigo may look like he regretted fucking Rukia, but he never showed it. He just got more and more lifeless in the house, as if he didn't want to be around her. As if being around someone like Orihime was sucking the life out of him, and making him want to go to his mistress even more. Besides, if he even cared about her at all, he wouldn't be screwing around with one of her supposed best friends.
The chilly breeze blew at her hair as she knocked on the door, wanting to jar Ulquiorra out of his slumber.
He answered on the third knock. "Oh, Orihime." He said, shocked and yet...not shocked. Most likely taking in her lifeless appearance. "What are you doing here so late?"
Orihime tried to ignore the fluttery feeling she got in her stomach as she remembered exactly why she was here.
She pressed her lips against Ulquiorra's in a tender, passionate kiss.
His emerald eyes widened, but then he gave in to what he wanted for so long. To hold this woman in his arms and have her want him as much as he wanted her.
He kissed her back, deepening the kiss with as much as he could, not caring that the woman was married. Her husband didn't care, so why should he? He fisted his hands in her hair and brought her inside his house.
Clothes were shed like they were nothing as the two made their way to the bedroom. Ulquiorra parted from her and looked her in the eyes, "Are you sure you want this?"
"Yes," Orihime replied, her eyes looking deep into his, "I've wanted this for a while..." She pressed her lips against his neck and breathed in, "Ulquiorra."
He about lost it then and there. Ulquiorra wrapped his arms around her slim form and held her tightly against his own as he splayed themselves on the bed. Fingers searched, grasping, holding, needing something that Ichigo hadn't given her. Love with his whole heart. Not some half-assed attempt at it, but the real thing. And the way Ulquiorra kissed her with such reckless abandon, passionate, fiercely devoted, she could feel that he loved her.
And when he entered her, she cried out his name with such meaning that Ulquiorra himself believed that she loved him too.
They both knew this was more than a fleeting moment.
For the first time since she was married to Ichigo, Orihime felt alive.
Loved.
---
Orihime came home from work and found a pair of dainty, black lace panties in their bed.
She didn't own a pair of underwear like that.
After that, she slept on the couch.
Or in Ulquiorra's own bed, wrapped like an important bundle in his arms.
---
She pressed herself harder against his length, feeling a moan build in her throat.
"I..."
Ulquiorra grunted as he slid himself inside her, his lips at her ear.
"I..."
Before she could get the words out, her voice turned into a breathy whisper, "Oh, Ulquiorra." Her voice caressed his name softly, much like he was doing to her now with his hands.
He groaned in pleasure as he climaxed, his body falling gently on top of hers. His lips softly touched hers and he murmured, moving down her throat, "Ah...Hime..."
"Would it be strange to say..." She panted, feeling complete, "...that I...love you, Ulquiorra?"
She felt his lips curve into a smile against her neck, "No."
Orihime let out a sigh of relief.
"Because it is the same for me, too." He said, moving his lips down her collarbone to the valley between her breasts. "Always have, always will."
She felt tears build in her eyes as she felt him go lower, to her navel.
"Thank you..."
---
"I'm pregnant."
Ichigo's eyes lit up with disbelief and wonder, "What? Are you serious?"
Orihime fiddled with her skirt, the band of her wedding ring gleaming mockingly at her.
"It's remarkable, isn't it?" She said brightly, a smile on her features, "Since you've been sleeping with Rukia more than me."
His chocolate depths lost their shine as the meaning behind her words took root in his head, "No, Hime. I'd never - "
Even his excuse was dull, meaningless, and fake.
Just like their marriage.
She bit the inside of her cheek and felt blood in her mouth.
"Liar."
---
Ulquiorra's soft hand rested on her bare belly, the thumb making little circular motions as he stared lovingly at her.
"Is it mine?"
Orihime giggled and kissed his forehead, "Of course. I didn't tell you that Ichigo wouldn't even touch me two months after our wedding?" Though her tone was joking, her eyes turned hard, like stones, "You're gonna be a dad..."
Ulquiorra grinned, a rare gesture only seen by Orihime, "And you're going to be a mother."
"It's a strange world..."
"The strangest."
---
"You're cheating on me."
"Yeah," She said as she ironed her favorite dress. Scoop necked and red, just for Ulquiorra. Like Ichigo would care if she dressed up anyway. "And you're cheating on me. What's new these days?"
When had she become so bitter? Orihime hardly recognized the sound of her own voice, hard and resentful, as she slid the hot iron across the wrinkled clothes.
He looked shocked as he stared at her, comprehending what she just said, as if he didn't know she knew about his trysts with the beautiful, raven-haired woman.
The next words out of his mouth were forced, but they seemed to bring everything together into one horrible little package with the sick, twisted bow on top.
"I think we need a divorce."
She placed the iron down on the board and turned to face him, a wistful glint in her eyes as she smiled with remorse, replying with a sharp tone.
"You read my mind, Kurosaki-kun."
---
Months passed, her belly got larger and larger, and the divorce papers were filed. She was now Inoue Orihime again, instead of having the Kurosaki tacked on the end. She felt free. Now the name would be a part of her past, nothing more.
She went into labor just days after the final papers were signed.
And little Tatsuki was brought into the world, a bundle of orange hair and the largest, greenest eyes anyone ever saw. No doubt the baby belonged to Ulquiorra.
No doubt that Orihime was proud of that fact.
Because, in actuality, wouldn't anyone want a tie to the best thing in their life, instead of the worst?
---
Moving in with Ulquiorra was the best decision she had made in her life. He cared for her stronger than Ichigo ever did. Just feeling the faint touch of his lips on her, to see the way he was with his daughter, made Orihime's heart feel like it was full to bursting.
They were like two halves of a whole, she realized. Where as her and Ichigo were just opposites, Ulquiorra completed her, as cheesy as it sounded.
She had put Tatsuki to bed in her room and walked in their bedroom.
Their bedroom. Their house. Their daughter. How she loved the sound of that!
She moved under the covers beside the ebony haired man and pressed herself against his side, her arm wrapping around his bare chest. Orihime nuzzled her face against his neck and sighed, feeling content.
"Do you want us to wake Tatsuki?" Ulquiorra said, turning his face to meet his eyes with hers, "Because that's the direction you're heading if you keep up."
Orihime giggled and gave his neck a chaste kiss.
He rolled on his side and gathered the beautiful woman in his arms, holding her tight. It was wonderful to hear her laugh without the hard, bitter tone anymore. To see her smile like her old, naive self again. To see her eyes light up at even the most trivial things. Ulquiorra placed his lips against her cheek and moved down to capture her mouth with his.
They parted and Orihime held him a bit closer, feeling her heart doing flip-flops in her chest.
She gazed into his deep, emerald depths and saw everything she ever wanted. Someone for her to love, and love her in return. Someone to be with her during the good times and bad. Someone to have a child with, though she never thought they would have one this early. Someone to...just accept her.
Orihime didn't know that Ulquiorra was thinking the exact same thing.
And as they held each other in the bed they now shared, Orihime felt content for the first time in a while. Truly happy.
She also never felt more certain about anything.
"I love you."
Ulquiorra kissed her lightly and rested his chin on top of her head.
"Really? I didn't know that." He joked and a deep chuckle sounded from his chest.
Orihime giggled and then sighed.
She was glad this was her future.
End.
Okay, this was a bit...different than my usual Bleach fics. First off, it doesn't feature Rukia as a main character. Secondly, well, the format's different than usual. And I just liked it like this, lol. All centered and everything. Wow, talk about a dork!
Let's see, this is my first attempt at the wonderfulness that is UlquiHime! I know some parts might be OOC, but I really don't care. I liked how everything turned out. I think, under the circumstances, that this may be how they would act, so...that's my reasoning.
So...yeah. I hope you enjoyed this fic! Please review with your feedback!
Arigato!