Author's Note- I drabble. U drabble. We all drabble. But Orihime and Ulquiorra drabble a LOT (what is this, my 50th UlquiHime?) Just wanted to upload something before the end of this month, so... here goes something not even worthy of being called a oneshot.
She once asked me why it was, that every time she peered into my eyes all she could see was disgust.
"Our definitions differ."
Inoue shook her head, her flooded eyelids tossing droplets of glimmering tears left and right, stubborn against Ulqiorra's testimony. "But why does that mean you have to hate us so much?"
A human. Opening her mouth to excrete words like that. Oblivious to her situation; a blinded rabbit still knows when to flee from a vulture, yet this human couldn't sense danger emanating from her query. Couldn't sense the bloodlust oozing from my pores.
"You've asked me this before, so I'll explain it once -- and only once. We Espada bathe in blood. Delve in it, pour it onto our faces, soak our skin with it. You merely glimpse it in moments when you, for instance, accidentally issue a papercut upon yourself, and even then you quickly hide it with patches and band-aids -- but we live blood, even let its scarlet liquid pour down our throats. Crimson, burgundy, ruby -- the different shades fascinate us, and we can even smell them from miles away.
She was lucky then; I wanted to kill her, but the only thing moving was my mouth.
"And all this is because of you foolish beings, attacking us since the beginning of time until all that surrounds us is red-stained flesh. The entire Hollow race has been swimming in a sea of bloodstained tears since the conception of both human and Shinigami, and it's because of your kind that that fate was forced upon us. We, the most superior race conceived, permeated by you." Inoue began to open her trembling, revolting little mouth, but he cut her off swiftly.
"Yes, foolish girl, don't deny that although the beautiful, acidic venom surging through our veins is what powers us and keeps us moving, you merely shudder in cowardice of the concept. That is the definition of an Arrancar, that is the difference between you and I, and that is the reason we loathe your kind -- because of what you are: humans. And that's why you're prisoner here. Soon enough all of you will be; it's time you joined the Hollows in their despair."
"But… can't you just accept our differences? You were once a human, before your life as a Hollow, weren't you? Did… something happen back then to make you hate your own --"
She could not digest the fact that my title makes me what I am; she did not understand my defintion, even though I had just spelled it out for her.
"Nothing concerning the likes of you." He flung the dish containing her dinner onto her lap; bits of slop burst from the tray and onto the floor. "Now consume."
Inoue shoved the tray away from her, refusing to drop the topic. With the unmistakable glint of determination in her eyes, the question, like an overflowing jar of blood, "Then please! At least answer this: What is the definition of a Hollow?"
I am the definition of a Hollow. One who lives in Hell. One who has bathed in lava for so long, his exterior has become that of the devil. "The definition of a Hollow ... is Ulquiorra Schiffer."