A/N: Okay, three things: 1. I'm sorry about Moonlit for those of you who want me to update it, but I felt that this story was a lot closer to turing into the figurative butterfly than it is(I'm still working on it though), 2. the lines indicate POV change, be it from one character to the other or to third person...though you'll probably figure that out quickly enough, and 3...

Disclaimer: I, to my utter disappointment, bear no ownership to any characters or plot of Bleach.

If I did, Ulquiorra would still be alive. Ya know, bad guy turned good and then ends up with the female protagonist. But that isn't happening and that's why we of this fandom write as if he were still among us.

Also it has been brought to my attention that this story is very similar in the beginning to another so...

SECOND DISCLAIMER: the beginning of this story was inspired by Blumberberry's Pain and Pleasure.

HERE WE GO!

Orihime was walking out of the grocery store. It was well past the daylight hours. Well past the time she should have gone to bed for the night. Well past the time that anyone would have been around to save her.

The soft, padding footsteps were not what caught their attention. Nor was it the crinkling of the bags that held her purchases. It was not even the undeniable physical beauty she possessed, the long, flowing sun colored hair, the swell of curves, or long, shapely legs.

Though they may have thought they attacked her for those reasons, it was not so.

It always has been and it always will be that impure and sickly souls will be attracted to the pure soul. The pure soul that only roams the earth once every thousand years. The pure soul that resided inside her body.

The one man quickly became two, four, and finally five men that were following her unsuspecting form. Silently and stealthily they followed her every step.

As it neared midnight, one of them whistled out to her, gaining her attention. She turned her head in surprise, eyes widening in fear when she saw her following party.

"Hey, sweetheart!" Her face paled. "Why don't you come with us? Have some fun?" Raucous laughter followed.

She began to run, knowing the black intent of her pursuers.

Normally I would have brought Tatsuki or one of the guys with me if I was going out this late, not that this was a frequent occurrence. I took a turn, in an attempt to shake them off my trail, only to hit a dead end.

A person walked into clear view from the darkness. Four more men followed behind. They were dressed in black and bore the stench of alcohol. I cringed as they sauntered ever closer to where I stood, cowering in fear of what I knew what was going to happen.

"Oh, we got a good one this time!"

"Grab her, dammit!"

"I saw her first!"

"We can take turns, right?!"

I couldn't run, there was no way out. I was trapped as a bird in a cage. So I did the only thing that would get me any help. I screamed at the top of my lungs.

Before I knew what was happening, I was roughly pressed against the brick wall; the man in the middle held my body flush against his. I felt something hard protruding from his pants press against my thigh. "Oh god." I rasped, struggling to get him off of me, but it was useless. I was going to be violated in the worst form I could imagine. There was nothing I could do about it. They were just too strong. They outnumbered me five to one.

I could barely see anything, the moon was still hidden behind a cloud, as one of the man's hands crept up under my shirt. My body filled with disgust. I writhed about, straining desperately to get him off me, but the man only guffawed.

"P-please! Don't do this!" His hand slipped under my shirt. I was about ready to scream for help again when-

I saw the darkness behind my attackers move, startling me into abrupt silence.

The shape wavered as it slowly crept down the brick wall. I was able to just make out a long, narrow, black form with what looked like two white lances pointed towards the ground. It slinked and slithered down to the ground. I honed in on the peculiar shape rather than what the vulgar men were saying they were going to do to me.

I determined that whatever it was, it was coming down to where I was.

"Let's just do this!" I focused once again on the terrors that had plagued my mind seconds ago. Gaudy laughter surrounded me. They started to paw at my shirt, their drunkenness making them unable to use their hands properly. I struggled, trying to break free with my legs, kicking as hard as I could.

And a huge gust of wind whipped through the alley. The moon shone out of the wispy clouds in eerie silver light.

"Who're you?!" I couldn't see who it was at the end of the alley, but I heard the sounds of someone being choked.

The men that were holding me down stopped what they were doing and turned to see who had interrupted them.

I could make out the shape of a man about thirty feet away at the entrance of the alley before I was thrown to the ground.

"Hey, you! What'd you do ta our buddy?" One of them slurred his words.

Sideways on the cement, I looked at the stranger.

I was met with something that I knew was not of this world. At first glance you could possibly mistake it for a man, as I had. The general shape was there; a torso, legs, arms, and a head with human proportions and placements. But then I noticed the bone-white horns, the fur on its limbs, the menacing, black claws and talons that adorned each finger and toe, and most prevalent of all was the hole in the center of its chest, appearing tattooed to bleed black blood.

But the part that disturbed me the most was its eyes. I could see even from this distance that they had a vivid green sclera and a glowing yellow iris crying black tears. And its focus, at the moment, was entirely and terrifyingly on me.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!"

The creature tore its eyes away from me, honing in on the intoxicated wreck swaying before it. As though lightning struck, the man was being choked by one of the creature's clawed hands. It leaned in close to the man's neck and opened its mouth slightly, appearing to breathe in slowly as a shadowy mass came out. As the last of the shadow left the man's body he started to crumble; when he was unceremoniously dropped he dissipated into nothing but ash to scatter in the wind of the night.

The remaining three men, in their states of intoxication, finally realized that the creature before them was not here to share the joys of cake and cookies. They tried to run past it, thinking that the alley was wide enough that it wouldn't be able to block them all from escaping.

Before they got within ten feet of it, the same force of wind as before stopped them in their tracks. A pair of bat-like wings thrust forth from behind the creature and easily blocked all escape out of the twenty foot wide alley. They even looked like they could extend further.

The creature spared them only a glance before, in a movement akin to lightning, lashing out with a whip-like, black, elegant tail at one, strangling him till not even a breath of air was able to find its way through his lips. The other one took only a second to capture with one hand, holding him effortlessly off the ground.

But its focus was not on its captives. It was on the third and final person. He was frozen with terror, trembling at the prospect of what would happen to him at this creature's hands. I watched as the creature studied the only man that was not captured as though pondering whether he was worth it. Only a few seconds later it slowly and deliberately looked away. And spoke, spoke in a voice that was so deathly quiet and velvety soft that I almost missed it. It said, "The darkness of your soul is insufficient for my tastes."

After hearing him speak, and it was most definitely a he, seemingly to the man he was strangling with his tail, he slowly and deliberately folded his wings so that the last man could pass.

I could only watch as, after the survivor had fled, terrified, into the night, he clasped his death-grip tighter, all while the humans gasped for air. The creature brought the men closer to his face. Unhurriedly, he shut his eyes as his lips parted, slowly breathing in until their bodies were nothing but ash in the air.

When he had finished enjoying his…meal… he turned and looked at me.

But I could not bring myself to be afraid. It was pure idiocy, the most delusional conclusion I've ever come to. But…there was just something in me that said he would not harm me, some voice that whispered from the obviously less rational part of my brain. He started to slink towards me with long, graceful strides, cautious, as though I could flee at any moment...even though he was blocking the only exit.

He stopped a mere few feet from me and reached towards me with one clawed hand, expression never betraying his thoughts or changing in the least. But he froze before coming within a foot of my person. His alien eyes stared at something that only he could see.

A cool feeling came over me. I hadn't realized that I was altogether too hot, burning, roasting, and scorched until I cooled down. It was eerie, creeping over me like a fog. But it was so nice, soothing, and calm. It was as if everything had been blaring at concert volume and had suddenly become quiet and peaceful. It was akin to that feeling of being so hot and humid that your shirt was sticking to you like a second skin and then a wonderful breeze granting you a reprieve. I shivered from the wonderful flutters all up and down my body, rousing something in me that was utterly foreign.

Regaining my senses, I sat up a looked directly at him, but still he would not focus. Then, as suddenly and unexpectedly as he had frozen in place, he recoiled from me, his features twisting minutely in shock and pain, his hand shooting to the hole in the center of his chest.

His gaze locked onto me as though I had wounded him irreparably.

His magnificent wings spread, about to take off. The demon's eyes met mine one final time.

And he vanished into the night.