It happened one day, when Ulquiorra had been out to buy milk at the convenience store. Earlier, the woman had discovered that they didn´t have any for the breakfast next morning, and, wanting to prove himself useful, Ulquiorra had offered to go. Never mind that the shopkeeper had given him the milk for free, in exchange for Ulquiorra promising never to come back to the store again. But, seriously, how was he supposed to know that you had to pay?

Whatever. He got the milk, didn´t he?

Trumping up the stairs to the apartment he and the woman shared, Ulquiorra opened up the door with his key. Stepping inside, he went straight to the kitchen, knowing the woman would be there cooking dinner. He could smell the oven-roasted chicken all the way out in the hall. Turning around a corner, he called out to her. When he got no answer, he quickly walked to the kitchen, and, slightly worried, opened the door forcefully.

"Didn´t you hear me woman, I said-;

But he never got any further than that. He stopped in the doorway, hand still holding the doorknob, completely paralyzed by the sight that met him.

The woman was in the kitchen, but it didn´t seem like she heard him. She was standing in front of the stove, her eyes closed. A small smile was playing on her mouth, her body slowly moving back and forth in gentle, rocking motions. Sometimes, she would shuffle the thing on the frying pan around to make sure it didn´t burn, constantly keeping her eyes closed. From time to time, she would include her arms in the motion, raising them high above her head, and slowly spinning around herself. The motions seemed oddly familiar to Ulquiorra, and with a shock he realized what was going on.

The woman was dancing.

And no matter how hard he tried, Ulquiorra couldn´t stop staring.

He watched her move, still rooted to the spot by some unknown force. Her movements had become more complex; involving her feet's and legs. She had turned off the fire under the frying pan, and had moved from the stove, now occupying the small empty spot next to the kitchen table. She was moving more freely now that she didn´t need to be aware of hitting the things standing on the stove. She continued rocking her hips back forth to the beat of music only she seemed to hear, and even with the slightly more wild movements, she still somehow managed to look elegant and relaxed, as if the movements were natural to her. Fully using the space around, she quietly and deliberately travelled around, her feet tracing intricate patterns on the floor. As Ulquiorra watched her delicate, controlled movements, her whole body working in perfect harmony, a stray ray of sunlight from the window above the sink caught her, illuminating her like a spotlight on a scene. She smiled a little wider, almost as if she could feel the sunlight on her skin. Moving a little, the sunlight enveloped her completely, and her hair seemed to sparkle, her skin shining with a vibrant luster.

The woman was beautiful, Ulquiorra realized.

Ulquiorra was a little startled by the thought. He had always known the woman was pretty. Practically every guy, with the exception of Kurosaki and the Quincy archer, who both had girlfriends, was trying to get her attention. It wasn´t like Ulquiorra didn´t understand why. The woman had a nicely curved body, long hair in a pretty auburn color, a pretty face, and a nice personality. It was not like that came as a shock to him. But, while the woman had always been pretty, this was the first time he had ever thought she was beautiful.

While Ulquiorra had concluded this, the song in the woman´s head had seemingly ended, and she was standing still, her arms raised straight into the air in one last elegant move. Almost as if in a trance, his body moved by himself, walking to where she was, standing in front of her, blocking of the sunlight. Almost as if sensing his presence, the woman´s eyelids fluttered, revealing her grey orbs. For a moment, she just stared at him, then almost as if she just saw him, jumped back in surprise, her cheeks flushing with red color. When she spoke, she was stammering the words in embarrassment.

"U-Ulquiorra-kun! I´m so sorry, I didn´t see you there! U-um, did you see that just now?"

Ulquiorra simply nodded, not knowing what to say. He couldn´t see what reason she had to be embarrassed. She was blushing so hard now that her head had the same color as a tomato. Seeing that he didn´t understand, she tried to explain.

"I-I don't usually dance in front of others. It's something my brother and I used to do, but after he died, there wasn´t anyone to dance with, so…"

That was it. Even though the woman´s dance had been elegant, she had still seemed to lack something. Like there was something missing.

She needed a dance partner.

He silently took her hand in his, raising it until it reached chest height, his other hand gently touching her back. If possible, she flushed even more.

"W-what are you doing, Ulquiorra-kun!"

"Being your dance partner, obliviously."

The woman´s eye´s widened with surprise. Then, smiling widely, she took something out of her left ear, and handed it to him.

"I see. Then you need this."

He took the small object in the woman´s hand, and copying her, put it in his ear. Soft music immediately sounded in his ear, surprising him. So this was how she danced with no music. The instrument was a single piano, every note played carefully, though never so much that it slowed down the pace of the music. It was classical, elegant.

Letting the music guide him, he and the woman moved in sync, their hearts keeping up the same pace, staring into each other´s eyes the whole time. Slowly, carefully, he led her around the tiny space they had, following the will of the music. His skin felt electrified where her body touched his. His hands were beginning to get sweaty, and his artificial heart was thumping suspiciously fast. He had to speak to Urahara about getting his gigai checked. This wasn´t normal. He felt anxious, and yet excited. He silently wondered what the feeling was, trying to regain control over his body, to end the spell compelling him into doing things he had never done before.

Such as dancing.

The song slowed down, nearing its end, and they both slowed down with it. The woman looked up at him, her eyes glazed as if she was dreaming. Ulquiorra felt as if he too was caught in a dream, unable to control his own actions. He had a vague feeling that something was wrong; that he had forgot something important. Unable to remember what it was, Ulquiorra was broken out of his reverie when he felt something small and light press on his chest. Looking down, Ulquiorra saw that the woman had laid her head on his chest, leaning slightly on him. Then the music ended on a soft note and they both stopped at the same time. For a while, neither of them said anything. Finally, the woman broke the silence.

"Thank you, Ulquiorra-kun." Her voice was bristling with emotion, and Ulquiorra felt a surge of horror. She was going to cry. He had no idea what to do when humans cried. But, when she looked up at him, she didn´t look sad. She looked happy, though a little embarrassed, a small pink spot on her cheeks, and small tears in her eyes.

"I didn´t do anything special." The woman let out a small laugh at that, looking at him funny.

"Still, thank you, Ulquiorra-kun." Slowly, as if afraid of startling him, she circled her arms around him, drawing him closer, until finally, she engulfed him in gentle hug. A little surprised at first, he slowly put his arms around her small frame, copying what he had seen Kurosaki and that small shinigami do so many times. She tensed for a moment, but then relaxed completely in his arms. For a little while, they stood there, perfectly still. The world had quieted down outside, engulfing them in silence. Then, Ulquiorra suddenly caught a scent in the air, obtrusive and strong.

"Woman?"

"Yes?" Her voice came out as kind of muffled since she had her head pressed against his chest.

"Do you smell something burning?"

Silence.

"Oh my god, the food!" the woman ran back to the stove, and opened the oven. Big, black clouds of smoke gushed out, and seconds later, a high screaming tone filled the room, and water started pouring from the ceiling. Ulquiorra readied himself, thinking that a hollow had attacked, but when he felt no hostile presence, he relaxed. All the while, to woman was frantically running around, alternating between stopping the water from the ceiling , and trying to shut off the screeching sound, which Ulquiorra had now identified as coming from a small machine on the ceiling. Grabbing it, he gave it a quick hit, silencing it forever. In the meantime, the woman had somehow, succeeded in shutting off the water. Walking over to him, she looked apologetically at him. "I´m sorry, Ulquiorra-kun, seems I forgot the food… I´ll just go talk to the landlady, and then we can order some pizza, okay?"

He just nodded, and she smiled at him, seemingly back in her usual happy mood.

"Then I´ll be right back!"

Following her with his eyes until she closed the door behind her, he then turned around to regard the situation. The food stood on the table, burned, wet and ruined. A few places were black with the remainder of the smoke. The room, not to mention him and the woman, was completely drenched with water. The night was definitely ruined.

Looking at his hand, he could still feel a light tingle where her hand had touched his.

So why... did he still feel kind of happy?

A/N: This is the first of a series of short stories I´m planning to make. Since I´m new here, I thought I would start out with oneshots, instead of starting a long story I wouldn´t be able to finish anyway. So, I hope you enjoy this first installment, and if you do, stay tuned for the next chapter. And, lastly, please review! It makes me happy when you do! :)