She was covered by a thin layer of cold sweat and had to clench her teeth together to keep them from chattering out of fear.
Orihime huddled in a corner of a random room she ran into when Nnoitora passed her in the hall and declared he wanted to play a game. She ran away when he started to corner her and he followed her calling out taunts and telling her what fun they where going to have together.
She brought her knees closer to her as she head his oily voice ring out calling her name, and then his laugh. Nnoitora seemed to know she was somewhere around there and was checking each room. His voice was coming closer and closer till she heard his voice directly on the other side of the door.
Orihime tried to make herself as small as possible behind the couch she was behind.
"Oh pet-sama? Ya in here?" Orihime clamped her hand over her mouth to keep her breathing from being too loud. She heard his footsteps walk around slowly… This man… this man was evil
He seemed mad about something in the hall and when he saw her he wanted to use her to get his anger out.
"Ooh, there you are." Orihime looked up right into his face and felt her face drain of blood. In the next instant she was seeing stars and halfway across the room.
"You sure are hard to find with that little spiritual pressure you have." He said as he walked slowly to her. Orihime looked up at him slowly and winced as he took a handful of her long hair and yanked her to her feet.
His hand went around her neck and held her in the air in front of him. "You do have a nice body here pet-sama." He muttered to himself as she gasped for air. "Let's beat it up a little."
And she was thrown back into the wall again. Orihime didn't want to make a noise but she cried out despite herself and Nnoitora leered down at her.
He was strong, Nnoitora only hit her twice, not even drawing blood, and she was already dizzy and seeing stars. The second hit did draw blood.
His boot came down on her hand and he ground his heel in it as she screamed. She felt her fingers break and heard them crack under his heel. Blood started to drip from the points where her bones had broken out of her fingers.
"You have a good scream there…" With a final twist of his foot Nnoitora lifted her shattered hand to his mouth and licked away some blood.
Orihime gasped and he looked at her and smiled before abruptly, without warning, Nnoitora dug his hand into her shoulder down to the knuckle. He twisted it once and drew it back out, covered in blood.
Orihime cried out and tears pooled in her eyes.
She couldn't take this. She would rather be passed out than take this pain, him getting his pleasure from hearing her cry out in pain.
Nnoitora stood and took a step back, surveying her for a long moment. Orihime looked up at him, her eyes looking into his.
"It's weaklings like you who bug me, accusing me with those eyes..." He promptly back handed her and lifted her to her feet once again by her hair.
She was blacking out. That was good… She thought that last hit to her temple drew blood or something… she could feel the huge bump that was growing there, making it hard to see and concentrate.
That was when the door opened and light flooded in. Orihime didn't look to see who it was, but she hoped it was someone who would help her.
The chances of that where slim.
"What are doing in my room Nnoitora?" His icy emotionless voice rang out. Orihime knew that voice.
Orihime saw the bed when she ran inside and knew it was a room, but she didn't expect it to be his room.
"Look what I found in here, trying to hide from me." He held her out as if she was a dead animal he hunted down. She was blacking out, and fast. The hand around her throat made it so she couldn't breathe, and she bet Nnoitora didn't even remember about it and was going to kill her. Tears streamed from her eyes as her eyes rolled back and fingers clutched at Nnoitora's hand.
He finally looked at her and just grunted something and dropped her on the ground in a heap. She put out her hand to catch her fall but it was her broken one and it landed full force on it and sent pain up her arm and through her body.
Orihime screamed and lay there with her face to the floor.
Did she just hear Ulquiorra…growl? No… she couldn't…
He just said something to Nnoitora… but his voice is so far away…
Orihime finally fell into the blissful blackness that over came her.
Orihime ached all over. That was the first thing she registered as she slowly awoke. The second was the soft silk pillow and covers over her. She was in a bed.
A comfortable one, if she might add.
She opened her eyes slowly and stared at the ceiling, bright because the light was on. Orihime tried to get up but pain coursed through her arm and her shoulder. She looked down to see the fabric of her shirt on her shoulder was ripped away and a white cotton bandage was wrapped around it neatly. Her bra strap must have been in the way, so whoever had bandaged her just slid it to the side so it was hanging off her shoulder. Orihime quickly put it back in place and winced as it pressed on her wound.
She looked down and her hand that was bandaged as well, and although she couldn't move it, or even twitch without it hurting so much as to send stars across her sight, she knew the bones were popped back into place.
"So you've awoken."
Orihime looked across the room to see Ulquiorra standing some way away by the wall with his hands in his pockets in the corner.
She didn't say anything for a second before she spoke hesitantly. "Where… where did Nnoitora-sama go?"
"Gone." Was his simple statement before he began to walk over to Orihime on his bed. "You were instructed to go straight to the dinning hall and eat your lunch, why did you come here?" He said at the foot of his bed, ice in his tone.
"I-I... he passed me in the hall… and I had to get away… He tried to corner me…" She stuttered and felt tears pool up in her eyes.
"Don't cry woman." He commanded her.
She wiped her eyes with her good hand.
He mused that for a second before looking at her broken hand. "Your wounds where bandaged to stop the bleeding until you woke up. Now that you're up, heal yourself." He said without blinking.
Orihime called out her Shun-shun Rikka and did as told. She let out a sigh of relief as she unclenched and clenched her fist still in the bandage.
All healed, she was about to untie the bandages on both her fingers and shoulder when a pale hand rested over hers and began gently untying them. Orihime tensed but then relaxed and just let Ulquiorra untie them. She watched his fingers move gracefully and pull the bandage off.
He moved to her shoulder and Orihime tensed again. Once he finished he ran his hand over the bare skin of her shoulder.
His pale fingers where so cold, but she guessed that's just how he was. Cold. She could understand that. Orihime shivered at his cold touch.
"Woman, are you sure you're alright? You're convulsing."
"I-I'm fine." She said hesitantly. "I just shivered from the cold…" Ulquiorra seemed dissatisfied with something and grabbed his silk sheets, wrapping them around her. Orihime felt shocked he would do this much.
He leaned back and stood farther away, backing up a couple paces into the shadow. He studied her silently with his emotionless expression for a second before he opened his mouth to speak.
"Has anything like this happened before?" he asked sharply. Orihime looked up at him with wide eyes. How had he known?
"Um… I-" Orihime stuttered and Ulquiorra's eyes grew hard and he took one step forward so, all in a rush Orihime finished. "Once or t-twice…"
"Who did it and where?" He said, keeping his voice calm without emotion just like his face.
"Nnoitora the first time…" Orihime winced at how bad he had beaten her then, but she had healed herself long before anyone had come looking for her and crawled back to her room without eating. "Two… others another time… I-I can't remember their names…" She thought for a second under Ulquiorra's sharp gaze, which was making her nervous.
She thought about their names… Aizen addressed them once in front of her before… It was like a light bulb went off in her head. "Lolli and Melony…" She said a tad bit reluctantly. Orihime didn't want anyone to get in trouble.
Ulquiorra seemed to be waiting for something and even though his eyes and face showed nothing, Orihime could sense his annoyance radiation off him like heat.
It was giving her a head ache and all she wanted to do was sleep…
"I asked you another question woman." He finally said.
Orihime jumped slightly at remembering. "Oh! Where… The first time… with Nnoitora-sama I was… walking to breakfast like ordered… and the other I was in my room and they came in…" Orihime winced at the thought that not even in her room she was safe.
Ulquiorra moved back to his corner, seeming to be thinking about something. Orihime sat up straight in bed watching him before she looked around.
His room was neat, if not bare. A round tea table with a chair someway off, a couch pushed like hers against the wall with this bed directly parallel on the back wall with another small tea table next to it. The white desk with the chair she spotted was on the opposite side of the room, and she spotted a door by that she suspected to be the bathing room. There was a window exactly like hers and in the same spot directly above the bed. There was a pillow stuffed in it to keep the moon light out and Orihime eyed it for a second before looking away quickly.
Orihime didn't notice, but her hand had been rubbing the sheets repetitively. She forced them to stop although the silk felt nice.
It had been a while since she'd been in a bed, (Orihime didn't have one in her room and slept on her couch) and she thought she's never been in one this soft or expensive.
The very mattress seemed to be made of a cloud, and the pillow (the one that wasn't stuffed in the window) seemed to be a little cloud too. The sheets were a soft white silk that felt like heaven on her skin.
She was very tired, but forced herself to stay awake, just looking from Ulquiorra in the corner watching her to his bare room.
Orihime wondered when he would tell her she could go.
She hadn't been looking at him at the time, so she jumped slightly when he finally spoke.
"Woman, I have concluded something." Without giving her time for a response he continued. "I was put in charge of watching you and it seems I am not doing my job to the full expectation of what Aizen-sama expects of me if you're not even safe in your own room." He did pause here, as if musing over what to say. Orihime waited. "From now on you will stay in here, and when I leave I shall lock the door; only I can open the door if it's locked. You shall not leave here unless in my presence, understand?"
Orihime stared at with horror in her eyes. She could think of nothing worse then being condemned to share a room with… him.
And now she couldn't leave anymore. That was one of her favorite things, being allowed to leave her room at will. Now she couldn't even do that.
"I'm going to be leaving now." Ulquiorra stated while Orihime just stared at him in shock and horror. "You may have my bed if you wish." He said before opening he door and shutting it behind him.
Orihime stared at the door, wondering why he made such a sudden escape.
She didn't care. She didn't like his presence anyway. What Orihime did care about was that she had to share this room with him.
She could have his bed? Where would he sleep? The couch? Orihime just couldn't picture Ulquiorra, with all his cold grace, sleeping on the couch. Would he sleep in the bed with her?
Orihime shivered violently at the thought.
The bed was tempting, (it felt so nice!) but Orihime got off wearily and headed to the couch instead. Not bringing a sheet with her, Orihime just lay down and used the arm rest as her pillow, wrapping her arms around herself.
After feeling the softness of Ulquiorra's bed, this didn't seem all that comfortable…
Ulquiorra walked down the hall to this room swiftly, no thought really moving around in his head. He tried to keep it bare as not to think about what a mess he had made of the situation he was now in and how that mess was in his room now. He had stopped by her old room to get her a new uniform since hers ripped and carried that across his arm.
As stated he had locked the door, which he very rarely did, and knew no one but him could get inside. (Unless they broke the wall but no one but Grimmjow would do something like that to his room.)
It had been almost a full two hours since he left her and even though she did look pretty tired, Ulquiorra figured she would be awake by now if she did go to sleep.
He tried not to feel sulky that he would have to sleep on the couch now, but he really didn't mind if that meant Orihime would get a good rest. She needed to be in top shape so she can use her powers to the full potential.
Ulquiorra put his palm against his door and released a tiny bit of reiatsu out of that palm. The door gave way and he walked inside.
She had turned the light off, which he didn't mind, but when his eyes swept across his bed Ulquiorra frowned slightly. Only slightly.
Oh so slowly, Ulquiorra's eyes slid to her sleeping form on the couch.
This would not work. Ulquiorra didn't much care for this woman, it wasn't his job to make her feel welcomed or to reassure her or anything. His job was to simply keep her healthy, well rested and fed.
He had realized when he was thinking about Orihime and how she wasn't safe to be left alone, that he needed to do his job to his full capability. Healthy, well rested and fed.
One couldn't be too well rested on a couch.
Ulquiorra went and swept her up in his arms smoothly without even jostling her. She muttered something but her ignored her and gently set her down on his bed, setting her uniform at the foot of it. He put his covers over her and lay her head gently on his pillow.
Ulquiorra frowned again when he noticed how warm she was compared to him. Surely that wasn't healthy… or was it him who was just cold? Either way…
He arranged the pillow under her head and glanced up quickly at the pillow he long ago shoved in his window just to make sure she hadn't taken it out. Ulquiorra didn't like the moon. In his opinion it was beautiful, always full, a sky with no stars. He was sad it covered the barren waste land known at Hueco Mundo, and that made his heart twinge.
Ulquiorra didn't want to look at the moon anymore when he realized it made him sad. Sad is not a good emotion. To Ulquiorra, any emotion was not a good one, emotions got in the way of thinking and made one weak, but sadness was the most horrible one to feel.
Ulquiorra looked down slowly at the sleeping woman in his bed and surveyed her face for along time.
He felt something in his chest when he did this… he felt… he felt like he was looking at the moon.
How could something so beautiful be in a place like this?
Ulquiorra quickly took a step away from her and retreated to the shadow of the corner he had earlier occupied. Very silently, he watched over the sleeping woman.
Orihime woke slowly. She turned yawned and stretched, all without opening her eyes. She curled in on herself slightly and smiled. She was comfy…
She was comfy. Orihime finally opened her eyes, which widened in shock. How had she gotten to the bed?
"Are you fully awake now woman?" Orihime looked up at his voice. He was once again him the same corner as before, but now the lights were off and that cast him in shadow. Orihime couldn't see very much of him.
"Umm… yes…" She said slowly. She thought Ulquiorra nodded slightly, just a little inclination of his head.
They sat in silence for a long time. Orihime couldn't tell if he was looking at her or not in the shadows and that made her nervous. Should she ask about the bed?
"U-Ulquiorra-sama?" He didn't acknowledge her in anyway so Orihime went on. "If I take the… umm… Where are you going to sleep?"
"The couch." Orihime bit her lip but Ulquiorra continued into something else now that the silence between them was broken. "You're new clothes are at the foot of your bed, the bathing room is there."
Orihime didn't like how he said "your" bed but slowly slid off and grabbed her clothes anyway. She walked across the room and into the bathroom feeling his green eyes on her the whole way. Orihime let out a sigh when the door closed between them and pinched the bridge of her nose where a new headache was forming.
She had to spend nearly every moment now, with him? He was so hard to talk to, not to mention her enemy… or was he? Orihime had pledged herself to Aizen… but that doesn't matter in any case.
Orihime quickly changed and looked at her blood stained torn uniform. She supposed she could fix it with her Shun-shun Rikka but instead Orihime just threw it in the trash bin.
Like everything about Ulquiorra, his bathroom was bare. Other than the basic necessities for a bathroom it had little else. A silver comb on his white marble counter, a toothbrush, (Arrancars brushed their teeth? Orihime supposed they would but it seemed weird to her for some unfathomable reason) and a look inside the built-in drawers of his counter showed a couple spare uniforms and plain white towels.
That was really it.
When Orihime walked out she stopped to see the bed was all fixed and neat (not even a wrinkle) but Ulquiorra was now sitting at his desk sorting through papers. That was fast.
Orihime stood looking at Ulquiorra work for a second before going to sit on the couch where his back would be to her.
She noted how straight he sat, how little he seemed to move. She could only see once in awhile him pick up a pen and scribble something or he had the habit of tapping his foot slowly, but when he caught himself doing this stopped instantly.
Orihime found herself standing and walking silently to stand behind him. She leaned over slightly and watched him write, not paying attention to what he was writing, just the movement of his fingers and hand, the graceful swish of his wrist.
Orihime watched this before her eyes moved to the back of his neck and she observed how graceful he was and how his hair moved when he looked around at his papers.
"What are you doing woman?" Orihime jumped as Ulquiorra spoke, not even stopping his writing or looking around at her. How had he known she was there?
"Uhh… oh, nothing…" Orihime backed up a little when Ulquiorra finally did turn around to look at her. He eyed her for a second as she continued to back away and sat on the couch. For a second more Ulquiorra studied her before turning again and readjusting his paperwork into neat files.
Orihime thought he looked a little flustered, but was sure it was her imagination.
When Ulquiorra seemed content with his piles, he stood and went into the bathroom without looking at Orihime. A few minutes later she heard the shower start up.
Orihime didn't know what to make of that, so she just leaned back into the cushions and gazed at the pillow stuffed window. She used to always look up at the moon in her old room, but now she couldn't.
Orihime wondered why Ulquiorra did that.
While Ulquiorra showered Orihime's stomach growled and she had to laugh at herself. She supposed it was nearing, if not past, dinner time. Should she ask Ulquiorra to take her to the dinning room, or would he bring her food here?
She decided to just wait to see and began to pick at her sleeves absentmindedly.
When the water turned off Orihime looked toward the bathroom until Ulquiorra stepped out a couple minutes later, his hair wet and zipping up his jacket.
He pulled his cuff down and looked her in the eye. "Are you hungry?"
Orihime nodded mutely. Ulquiorra nodded and his hair dripped slightly. He walked out and opened the door, looking back at Orihime. She stood slowly and began to follow him. Orihime followed his swift movements down the hall and watched the water droplets slide down his hair, making it shine.
Orihime followed him all the way to the dinning area and he sat down across the bench from her, watching her eat. Orihime felt weird having her every move watched but eventually got used to it.
Ulquiorra didn't eat himself, although she knew arrancar could because she could see Yammy down the room scarfing down food. Ulquiorra just sipped at some tea a servant brought him without making him ask. Orihime supposed this is what he always got.
In her own tea, Orihime started to dump sugar cubes in it. If it was less than eight, it wasn't sweet enough, but if it was more than eight, it was too sweet.
"Woman, you could get sick from sugar overdose." Orihime looked up at Ulquiorra while dumping the last cube in.
"Not likely. I always have this much and never had a stomach ache."
Ulquiorra's face didn't change but his eyes followed her cup as she lifted it to her mouth and until she took the first sip. Then he looked at her face as if scrutinizing her reaction. Orihime just looked at him calmly and tried her best to ignore the Espada.
It wasn't easy. Every move he made caught her attention, although he rarely did make a move. Ulquiorra kept his hands in his pocket until he extracted one to take hold of his tea. When he did this Orihime would watch his fingers delicately grab the side and watched his lips as he drank. She would watch his neck he swallowed and then his hands again as he set his cup down.
Orihime didn't know why she was so fascinated with Ulquiorra's movements, but she was. Only once through dinner did Ulquiorra make any other move than the usual when he reached for his cup.
Just as Orihime finished she was putting her spoon down when she wasn't paying attention to where her arm went and knocked over her half empty tea. She thought it was going to fall and spread tea all over them, but so fast she could barely see, Ulquiorra reached out and got it.
Orihime's eyes went up from watching the tea cup to Ulquiorra's face, who was watching her as well. For a moment they held each other's gaze but then Orihime looked away and Ulquiorra straightened the cup.
They both stood and a servant that was hovering some feet away until she would be useful came over to clean up. Orihime bowed to her, which she always did and the servants where always surprised at and noticed Ulquiorra twitch as she did.
They walked in silence again as Orihime followed him down the halls. She eyed Ulquiorra from behind and sighed to herself. She wondered if she would ever get used to sharing a room with him. She surely didn't want to and missed just yesterday when she had her own room.
As Ulquiorra opened his door Orihime stood quietly until he turned, waiting for her to go in first. What, did he think if he went first she would turn around and make a run for it? Hadn't she followed him all the way here?
Orihime walked inside and once again sat on the couch as Ulquiorra went and sat at his desk again. Didn't he ever sleep? Orihime was already tired and she had more than enough sleep today. It seemed that he hadn't had any in the past day or so.
After a couple hours passed of Orihime sitting on the couch thinking about life and Ulquiorra just scribbling on some paper, Orihime decided she would sleep.
She looked from the bed to the couch, back to the bed and to Ulquiorra and then repeat the cycle. Deciding to leave the bed for him Orihime lay down and was getting comfortable when his voice rang out.
"The bed." Was all he said, his hand didn't even stop writing. Orihime stared at him.
"Excuse me?"
Did Ulquiorra just sigh? No, Orihime must have imagined it. He carefully set his pen down and turned around. "I've already told you before. You get the bed. You need to be well rested and you can't get a good night sleep on that."
Orihime stuttered, trying to protest. "I… I..." Ulquiorra's gaze hardened and she stood, walking over to the bed. When she sat down at the edge he seemed satisfied and went to writing again.
What was he even writing?
Orihime sighed quietly and unzipped her boots, putting them neatly on the floor. After that she got under the covers and lay there watching Ulquiorra. Feeling a little peeved by the bright light that he had turned on she turned around so she was looking at the wall and put the pillow over her eyes.
When did she prefer the dark to the light? She realized it was since she came here, to this prison. Orihime pulled up the covers so only her head was showing and tried to fall asleep.
It took her awhile to even accomplish that because in the silence of the room she could hear every scratch of pen on paper as Ulquiorra wrote…
Ulquiorra finally stopped his hand when he was sure the human girl was asleep. He turned and looked at her sleeping form for the first time and thought it odd she had covered her face with a pillow.
She was faced away from him but he knew she was asleep from her breathing. Ulquiorra switched off the lights since he didn't much like them anyway. He figured she would like the light and kept it on.
When he did this she muttered something that sounded like, "thank you." Ulquiorra looked at her silently from across the room. He admired the way her body curved and the way her hair was sprawled out about her. Ulquiorra moved silently and swiftly.
He moved to the edge of the bed and looked down upon her for a brief second, wondering if he should touch her or not.
Against his better judgment Ulquiorra leaned over her and gently grabbed her wrist, lifting it off her and out of the way because it was gently resting on the pillow to keep it from moving. He then gently took the pillow and moved it under her head.
Ulquiorra set her arm across her waist and leaned back into a standing position.
Orihime was still for the most part facing away from him but he didn't mind.
Turning on his heel, Ulquiorra went to the couch and lay down stiffly. He was really just waiting for Orihime to go to sleep because (for some reason he himself didn't know) he didn't want her to see him sleeping on the couch.
It seemed… unlike him to sleep on a couch. He himself really couldn't imagine himself sleeping on it and kept thinking about how uncomfortable it was compared to his own extravagant bed. Ulquiorra lie on his back and stared at the ceiling thinking about nothing in particular when he closed his eyes silently and turned to lie on the side of his head without the mask.
This was one of the best times for Ulquiorra, sleeping, because in his dreams there where no secrets, no lies, not even the ones he tells to himself. All the thoughts he forbids himself to think in his waking hours, all his emotions, they all come out in his dreams.
In his dreams is the only time Ulquiorra can be who he was always meant to be.
When Orihime awoke Ulquiorra was already up and gone. She didn't know where he had gone off to but the door was locked and her breakfast (still hot) was waiting on his tea table.
Orihime ate slowly and decided on taking a shower. She walked to the bathroom, yawning and turned on the water. It was weird, she thought, that they even had running water here. Aizen sure did have a lot of things she wouldn't believe he would be able to get access to here.
Just as Orihime was about to jump in she spotted a drawer that was left halfway open. Thinking Ulquiorra wasn't the type of man to leave things open like that without a reason Orihime slowly pulled it open.
Inside she found two extra uniforms of hers and realized Ulquiorra must have transferred them here when she was sleeping.
Smiling to herself, Orihime got into the shower and quickly washed herself and used Ulquiorra's shampoo. (Another thing she didn't expect them to have.)
Once dry and dressed she brushed the tangles out of her hair and put her beloved pins back in.
When she finally emerged from the bathroom she found that Ulquiorra was still absent. Orihime went and sat down with a sigh on his/her bed. She was bored here with nothing to do. Maybe she should draw something just to keep her mind busy.
Orihime jumped at this new thought and walked over to Ulquiorra's desk. She was hesitant to touch any of his stuff at first, but then Orihime just sat down and grabbed his pen in her hand. Thinking it was too dark (and wishing she could only have the moon light, but didn't want to upset Ulquiorra by taking his pillow out) Orihime went and switched on the lights then went and sat at his desk again.
Coming closer she realized she was mistaken before. He didn't have piles of paper, only one pile of papers that looked oddly like routine paper work and another one with just plain yellow-white papers. The other thing she mistook for just another pile, the thing he was writing in all the night before, was actually a note book all bound together.
Curiosity won over and Orihime flipped open the cover. The very first page was blank, and the next just had simply his name in elegant cursive across it.
It was the page after that that his story began. Orihime read page after page of Ulquiorra's journal. It seemed everything was kept in here, from the very moment Aizen had made him.
It wasn't as different as the way he talked, it was very straight forward and blunt. He wrote about his doings, and his findings, and an occasional thought on something but rarely wrote about his feelings toward something or his opinions.
Orihime stopped at a part where he was describing where he had came to get her and when he had told her to come with him.
At the end of explaining this transaction he had written he had gone back to Hueco Mundo, reported to Aizen and retreated to his quarters thinking about what he had said to her. The last sentence in this entry simply said, "When that woman joins us, nothing will be the same."
Orihime leaned back and blinked a couple times, wondering what he had meant by that. After a moment of thinking to herself Orihime read on. It was updated all the way to this morning where Ulquiorra had stated he was going out for a walk because he couldn't be stuck in his room anymore.
Everything was very detailed and sounding very much like a report more than a journal one kept for themselves.
Orihime read over the section again of where he had decided to make her stay in his room with him, something about not fulfilling his duty to Aizen. Orihime snorted to herself and read the passage from last night. Orihime read it out loud to herself quietly.
"I turned to find Inoue Orihime asleep in a puzzling position with a pillow over her head. Not thinking this appropriate, I moved the pillow under her head and went to sleep."
In his whole journal he only mentioned her sometimes, always in one sentence as if didn't want to write of Orihime and sometimes it was a very vague sentence, which he didn't usually do. Orihime wondered how much time had passed since she had begun to read. It was such a long notebook and her butt was asleep so she knew she had been sitting along time.
Orihime closed the book slowly and positioned everything on the desk as it should have been. She then went and switched off the light and sat down on the couch slowly.
Reading his journal hadn't given her a new light on Ulquiorra as she sort of hoped. It was all so… so emotionless. Just like everything about him
After about another hour or so of pacing, sitting doing nothing and being bored Ulquiorra entered with lunch. She felt a little disappointed she didn't get to leave, but didn't let anything show on her face.
Ulquiorra didn't leave but apparently there was a kitchen servant waiting outside because when Orihime was done he turned and looked at someone outside the door which he had left open. The servant came in with a cart and took her dishes away.
Ulquiorra went to stand in the corner he always occupied as if to get away from Orihime and once again shadows enveloped him. Since the dorms where the arrancars lived wasn't under the dome of fake sun, it was always night and always dark. Orihime didn't mind as much as she did in the beginning.
Orihime stood off to the side just staring at the waves in the bed sheets and trying not to think of anything at all. When he addressed her, Orihime felt a slight bit surprised but didn't let anything show on her face as she turned toward him.
"Woman." Ulquiorra said out loud. "Come with me." Then he left his corner and began to walk to the door.
Orihime turned and followed but dared to ask a question. "Why?"
"Because I told you to." He said, but when he looked over his shoulder at her he amended. "You have to exercise your muscles; I can't have you getting weak. We're going for a walk."
Orihime nodded slightly to herself and Ulquiorra turned away from her.
They walked along, sometimes passing people and Orihime was trying to remember her way around but the halls of this place were too complicated.
When they turned a corner and Nnoitora was walking past them, some other arrancar with blond hair following him, Orihime stiffened and cast her eyes away.
"Haven't seen you in a while pet-sama. Where ya been?" He asked her in his oily voice. Ulquiorra ignored him and kept on walking so Orihime followed after him as close as she could with out touching him. Nnoitora laughed at her and she quickened her pace slightly as she turned the corner Ulquiorra had gone into only to bump into him.
He didn't move at all but Orihime nearly fell on her butt. He turned and caught her wrist, which was the only thing keeping her from falling. Ulquiorra looked down at her with something that looked like disapprovement, but Orihime couldn't be sure.
"If you don't know how to walk, I don't have the patience to teach you." He said coldly before he let her go and she stumbled slightly.
Orihime rubbed her cold wrist, it didn't hurt but the chill from Ulquiorra had seeped into her, as her human warmth must have done to his hand because he rolled it once as if shaking something invisible off before retuning it to his pocket.
Orihime wondered how much longer they where going to walk because her feet where starting to hurt, but when they turned another corner she knew they where close to his room and going back.
She followed him like a puppy and waited as he put his hand against the door and opened it. He once again waited for her to go first.
Inside Orihime didn't stand around wondering what to do. She went straight to the couch and sat down gloomily while Ulquiorra went straight to his desk. She saw him flip open his journal and find his page. He began to write and Orihime sighed again, rubbing her wrist that he had held.
Once again Orihime awoke to find Ulquiorra gone. She sighed and stretched, reaching down for her boots all the while wondering if Ulquiorra slept at all.
Last night had been as boring as ever. She sat and watched him write for an hour or so, took a short shower and ate. He had the light on again, so Orihime had slept with her arm over her eyes all the while listening to him write. It was kind of soothing now that she was used to it, but she still didn't like the light.
Walking over Orihime didn't hesitate as she switched on the light, sat at Ulquiorra's desk, and opened his journal.
She felt guilty for a brief second about invading his privacy, but got over it and began reading his new entry.
He had written about his morning, about watching Yammy and Halibel spar in the training room, and how he had analyzed them. Then about him coming back to Orihime and the walk. She read the part about when she fell.
"Nnoitora is beginning to peeve me. His obsession with the human Inoue Orihime I am charged with taking care of is getting in the way of that. She seems positively afraid of him, and for good reason I suppose. Trying to get away from him as fast as possible, the woman had run into my back and nearly fallen. I had to help her keep her balance and can say I got a little angry with her for making me touch her.
I scolded her as her heat seeped into me and let her go, trusting she wouldn't fall. It seems that heat will not go away now."
He went on to explain the frivolous other things he did that night and this morning, but Orihime wasn't that interested in it.
Her mind was still on the paragraph about her.
His chill hadn't gone away either, she could still feel it. She hated comparing him but from the brief moments she touched another arrancar's skin, Grimmjow's when she healed him, Nnoitora's when he beat her, she once brushed her hand against a servants' by accident and none of their skin were cold at all. They all felt warm, like human skin.
Maybe that was just Ulquiorra, cold.
Orihime wondered if Ulquiorra could ever be warm again, and for a brief second wondered if she could make him warm again before throwing that thought away and locking it up.
Of course she couldn't. You can't warm someone who was made of ice.
Orihime sat crisscrossed in the middle of the bed looking up at the pillow in the window while Ulquiorra watched her from his corner. She missed the moon. It seemed like the moon was her only friend here.
"Ulquiorra?" Orihime asked. He didn't say anything but Orihime sort of expected that. She spoke again without turning to look at him. "Why do block your window?"
He didn't answer for a second in which Orihime did turn towards him. He stared at her from the shadows.
Orihime was about to give up, thinking he wasn't going to answer when he said, "Because it reminds me of you." He stood there and made eye contact with her for a brief second before closing his eyes slowly and turning on his heel, walking out of the room silently.
Orihime sat there for a second stunned.
She remembered his journal and remembered the only time he mentioned something about the pillow; "I lay in my bed as sleep eluded me one night looking up at the moon when I couldn't stand it anymore. I blocked my window and don't intend to uncover it anytime soon."
That was it. Orihime lay down and sighed to herself. That was way before she came here, how could he have done it because the moon reminded him of her when he didn't know her yet? Or did he cover it in the first place for a different reason, and now just dislikes it even more because of her?
Suddenly mentally exhausted she let herself fall back on the bed and closed her eyes.
"He's so confusing…" Orihime muttered to herself.
She reopened her eyes slowly and stared at the ceiling wondering what she was going to do. She sat up slowly and slid off the bed. Ulquiorra seemed to be gone more and more now. Like he didn't want to be around her.
She just sighed and began to pace around the room wondering if Ulquiorra would come back to bring her dinner later. She knew he only came back to his room at all was to feed her about an hour ago at lunch and he announced he would take her on another walk later.
Orihime supposed this meant he would feed her, and then walk her.
She felt like a dog.
Orihime's feet seemed to be tired of walking around aimlessly and went to the bathroom. Orihime stared at herself in the mirror. She noticed her hair had grown longer in the month or so she'd been here. She looked herself over, wondering why she looked the same when she felt so different. Orihime reached up and laid her hand flat against the mirror, watching her reflection do the same.
She met eye contact with herself and smiled. It had been along time since Orihime had smiled.
She supposed she was smiling because even though she had been through a lot and had changed in many ways, she was still herself. Still Orihime. A slightly different Orihime, sure, but still Orihime.
She dropped her hand and splashed water on her face before turning and slowly walking out of the room and sitting heavily on the couch with her smile still on her lips.
Ulquiorra was, to say the least, angry. He was angry about a bunch of things, mainly with that woman Inoue Orihime.
He thought about her much more than necessary and when ever he looked at her, and her at him, she touched something in his heart. Something Ulquiorra had spent many, many tiresome years burying so deep many thought it was nonexistent.
His emotions, and they where showing now. He was angry. Angry at her for making him feel, angry at himself for allowing him to feel, angry because his neck hurt and he missed his bed, and just plain angry because he knew he had to go back to her.
Ulquiorra couldn't go to his room at the moment so his feet automatically took him to another. Orihime's old room.
Shutting the door quietly behind him, Ulquiorra stood there in the dark and eventually looked up slowly to the window where the only light in the room was coming from.
The moon. He was beginning to think he shouldn't have come here. Walking over, Ulquiorra sat down elegantly on the couch and leaned his head back against the back of it closing his eyes.
It still smelled like her. He inhaled deeply and looked toward the moon again.
Yes, this was a horrible idea. Her presence was so strong in this place, although she no longer lived here.
Eventually Ulquiorra just sighed and shook his head at himself and settled down on her couch to rest.
He couldn't help the slight frown that crept on his face when he did this.
Ulquiorra did indeed miss his bed.
She didn't notice when he had entered for she had her face buried in the pillow and was lying face down on the bed. Orihime was crying, her shoulders moving with her silent sobs. Once in a while she would let out a sound; an intake of a shaky breath, muffled sobbing, or a hiccup.
He must have been there a long time, Orihime thought, because when she had finally got herself under control she looked up from her pillow to see him just standing in the corner watching quietly.
Orihime was mortified; she didn't want to show weakness in front of him. She wiped her face with the back of her hand and sat up slowly. They held gazes for a second before he spoke.
"Are you ready to go eat or do you want to clean up first?" He asked casually and without emotion like he just hadn't been standing there for who knew how long and watched her sob.
She didn't know what to say. Orihime bet her eyes where red and puffy and no doubt her nose was all red. She just nodded and stood, walking to the bathroom.
After shutting the door behind her Orihime slid to the floor and began to breathe in and out evenly.
After awhile of this she got up and splashed her face with water and fixed her wrinkled dress before going out to meet Ulquiorra.
He was now standing by the door, as if waiting to escort her somewhere. They where silent and Orihime thought maybe he was waiting for her to say something so she said; "I'm ready." But Ulquiorra just nodded slightly and continued to look at her.
Eventually her turned and unlocked the door. While his eyes where averted Orihime let out the breath she didn't know she had been holding.
He walked out into the hall and turned, waiting. Orihime scampered out the door after him as he led her to the dinning hall for her dinner.
She ate quietly while he didn't eat at all. Ulquiorra just sat there staring at her coldly as if annoyed about how slow she was eating. The servant who brought her food had also gotten him his usual tea but so far he hasn't taken a single sip, much less taken his hand out of his pocket.
When she finished Orihime got up when the servant picked up her tray, just as Ulquiorra did and he turned and began to walk away without waiting for her like he usually did. Orihime trailed behind Ulquiorra like a puppy and was a little angry with him.
He was being extra emotionless today, and colder. She had hoped he would soften up after awhile but like that was even gonna happen.
He probably thought walking back and forth from the room to the dinning hall was enough walking because he led her to his room again and when he opened the door they both went to their usual spots. Him to his desk and her to the couch.
It almost seemed routine.
Orihime sat and scowled at the back of Ulquiorra, who was vigorously writing in his journal. She wondered what he would do if he ever found out she read it.
She didn't know, Ulquiorra didn't seem like the type of man to just slap her, but that was an option. Would he make her go back to her room, not caring about her safety?
That actually seemed like a good option, but then again Orihime liked the security Ulquiorra gave her, even if she didn't like him.
For the latter part of the hour Orihime imagined possible reactions to what Ulquiorra would do if he found out she read his journal.
Eventually Orihime got tired and stood up, going to lie on the bed to get some rest. She noticed how when she sat down Ulquiorra's shoulders stiffened a little although she made no noise. He probably missed his bed, Orihime thought.
This thought made he smile a smug smile, and she decided to have some fun with him. She took off her boots, groaned as she did so and moving her shoulder like it was sore. Ulquiorra didn't look over but his hand stopped writing.
When Orihime lay down under the covers she sighed loudly like she had just been relieved of all pain and cuddled up. She fluffed her pillow and noticed Ulquiorra's head tilted slightly in her direction, as if wondering to look or not.
He did miss his bed.
Only a second after she closed her eyes she heard his hand begin writing again. She smiled to herself, reveling in the fact she had his bed. (It's his own fault, she was content with the couch but he told her to take the bed.)
She only wished he would turn that light off.
Orihime turned on her side folded the pillow over her eyes, trying to get some sleep.
Yawning, Orihime opened her eyes and sat up, stretching. She never knew what time of day it was, but her body seemed to be on a schedule because it felt like the same time she's been waking up.
Orihime got up and was about to go take a quick shower when she froze in the act of sliding off the bed. She didn't know how he was there, he wasn't making a noise at all and she wasn't even looking that way, but she knew.
Her head slowly turned to look over her shoulder and she felt her eyes widen slightly. Ulquiorra was still here, he's usually always gone when she wakes up, not to mention he was still sleeping.
He was on his side, resting his head on the side his mask wasn't on with one hand over his stomach, the other slightly hanging off the couch. His face didn't look much different than it usually did. It just looked like he had his eyes closed.
Orihime stared at him for a long time before sliding fully off the bed and walking over to him.
He looked so… so vulnerable when he slept. His cold gracefulness was absent when he slept. She felt an insane urge to cuddle up with him but it quickly passed and she just stared at him.
He had unzipped his jacket in an attempt to get more comfortable, just enough for his hollow hole to show and she noticed his boots were on the ground. It was kind of weird looking at his bare feet, but Orihime didn't know why.
She sat down criss-crossed in front of him and decided to wait for him to wake up. I mean, he always watched her, right?
Orihime idly wondered what he would do and worried if she should just go pretend to be back to sleep.
She was busy watching his arm that was hanging halfway off the couch, looking at the muscles and veins and noticing how his fingers twitched slightly every couple minutes so she didn't see his eyes open and had no idea how long he was looking at her.
Orihime looked back to his face and jumped to see his eyes on her and Ulquiorra wide awake. She let out a squeak and jumped back slightly.
What should she say? He was just staring at her. Orihime opened her mouth but no words came out. She was frozen under his gaze. He spoke first.
"What are you doing so close to me woman?" He spoke.
"I-I... ah…" Orihime stuttered.
Ulquiorra sat up slowly and looked around. His hair was messy, the only time it's ever been messy, or at least in front of Orihime. It looked… wild. She couldn't figure out if he looked even scarier now or regular.
He looked down at her again and raised an eyebrow. Another first. Was it because he had just woken up and wasn't acting like himself, still sleepy? Still, Orihime just stood and took a step away from him.
"I'm… I'm sorry; I was just about to take a shower." She spoke quickly and then practically ran to the rest room, shutting the door behind her.
She listened with her ear to the door, wondering if she could hear him moving around but she heard nothing. After about a minute or so of not hearing anything Orihime sighed and just turned on the shower.
She spent as long as she could in there, as if she could wash away all her worries. By the time she got out her fingers where all prune-y. She dressed, brushed her teeth and hair and took a deep breath before going out to see if Ulquiorra was still there.
He was. Ulquiorra was at his desk again, writing while Orihime's breakfast sat on the coffee table a little farther off. He had turned the light on and put his shoes on. His hair was once again neat but Orihime didn't spot a brush or comb anywhere.
Ignoring him as he ignored her Orihime walked over and began to eat silently. There was way too much food for her breakfast, it seemed like she had two of everything. She was just about to ask when Ulquiorra stood.
"I'll be back in a little while woman, I have to go on a mission for Aizen-sama." He said. Orihime was surprised he even bothered telling her that. "I'm not going to be back in time to feed you at lunch time, so just eat your leftovers," He said, addressing the dishes for her breakfast. Then he was gone, out the door and gone.
Orihime sat there for a second, listening and waiting for a minute or so, before finishing her food in silence. When she was done Orihime stood and went to his desk, she sat down and casually flipped open his journal. The last time she looked at it was about a day ago when she bumped into him in the hall.
Briefly she flipped to around to see if he mentioned more about this mission he just said he was going to and found it. He was off to exterminate a colony of powerful hollows against Aizen with Yammy. Orihime felt something twinge in her heart. What if he got hurt? Would he return?
After that she went back to the beginning and read, re-reading parts about her.
"She asked me why I had covered my window. I told her the truth and then left. That woman is trouble. I left my room with no where in place to go, so I went to her old living area here and rested on the couch there.
It still held her scent."
She read the part where he walked in on her crying.
"She was sobbing and I stood there in my door way. I suppose I should have left but instead I retreated to the corner and waited till she got her self under control once more.
There where a few questions in my head, why was she crying? Had she been hurt? Does she need medical attention? How could I help her? Should I go to her?
Of course all of these thoughts were ridiculous.
When she finally noticed my presence the woman seemed horrified and retreated to the restroom to clean herself up."
He wrote about dinner but it wasn't really that interesting. Orihime was reading along when she laughed out loud, so hard tears where streaming from her eyes. There was just one sentence that made her do this.
"I miss my bed."
When Orihime sobered she read on and found the part where he had woken up to her this morning. She gulped to herself and read:
"I had just finished a dream about this woman when I opened my eyes and she was in front of me, staring at my hand. My dream did not do her justice; she was more beautiful with her hair still messy from sleep and her glowing skin, even in the dark light.
I had quickly shoved all these thoughts away from my mind when she had finally noticed of my waking. Once again she seemed horrified.
I could have laughed at the expression on her face if I would have allowed myself. Instead I asked her a simple question; why was she sitting so close to me?
She had no answer and once again retreated to the bathroom. I stared after that woman and sighed before preparing myself for the day.
With one look the woman could make my cold heart beat twice as fast."
And that was the end. That was where he had stopped.
Orihime leaned back in her chair, her hair beating fast in her chest. He dreamed about her? What where those dreams about? He called her… beautiful…
She wished he'd had written more.
Orihime closed his notebook almost robotically and arranged everything like it had been before walking over to his bed and lying down with her face in the sheets.
He was so confusing! She wished she could just ask him about all of this and he would give her an honest answer.
He'd probably kill her for reading any of that in the first place.
Orihime grumbled unutterably into Ulquiorra's bed.
She found herself thinking about him throughout the day. As you could probably guess there's not much to do when you're locked in a room like Ulquiorra's but Orihime kept busy mostly so she wouldn't think of him. .
She paced around the room for the better part of an hour, thinking of Ulquiorra's delicate hands, his fingers… his eyes…
When she realized what she was doing Orihime stopped pacing and went into the rest room. There she tried to keep her mind busy by brushing her hair, brushing her teeth (Again) fixing her pins. This only made her think of Ulquiorra's hair, and she began to imagine what it would feel like, she got lost in a daze fantasizing about running her fingers threw his hair.
Once again Orihime realized she was thinking about him and let out a sound between a grunt of anger and a sigh of exasperation.
Going back out into the room she nearly stomped to the couch and sat down heavily in defeat. How could you stop thinking about someone when you where in their room? It was filled with his scent, his belongings. He was really the only person she's talked to in nearly a week.
She eventually gave in and let her wind wonder… She imagined his face mostly, what it would look like if he laughed, like he said he could have this morning. She thought about what his eyes might look like, how they would shine with happiness.
Orihime was in a mood between sulky for caving in and thinking about him and apprehension because a little tiny part of her was waiting and calling for him to return.
Her stomach growled and she suspected it was around lunch time. Still Ulquiorra was not back. She ate her cold food and again went to sit on the couch and wait for his return.
Was he okay? She wondered. She imagined him again and thought he must be, someone as strong as him. But she still worried, even though she knew not why.
When the door opened Orihime stood quickly and nearly ran towards the door. She was surprised she did this, but later when she thought about it she knew why. Every time Ulquiorra left a little piece of Orihime's mind wondered and was scared at the thought of him not coming back from a mission that seemed so dangerous. She knew he was very strong, but there was always the fear of him not coming back.
Before she could stop herself Orihime enveloped him in a hug.
"You came back!" She cried. "Safe!"
Ulquiorra didn't move from her unexpected hug and the tray with her dinner on it tottered a bit and he adjusted his arm to move it slightly.
He looked down at her silently and Orihime finally realized what she had done. She looked up at him and let her arms go, taking a step back.
Ulquiorra just stared at her without saying anything. His face looked even more blank than usual. Orihime bit her lip at the idiocy she's committed.
"U-Ulquiorra?" He didn't say anything. "I-I'm glad you're o-okay." She said quietly.
"Of course I'm okay." Ulquiorra said, his eyes sweeping the room. He walked around Orihime since her legs had apparently turned to jelly. He put down the tray on his tea table and looked at Orihime saying one word.
"Eat." Then he retreated to his corner again and was engulfed in shadow where Orihime could barely see him. She stood there for a second longer before obeying and going to sit down to eat.
Orihime was about halfway finished when Ulquiorra finally left his corner. He walked along the wall, seeming to try to stay away from her as much as possible. Ulquiorra stopped at the edge of the bed and quietly began to fix the wrinkled sheets. Orihime didn't pay that much attention to this and she bowed her head over her food because the awkwardness in the room was smothering her.
Ulquiorra was finished and as he proceeded to straighten the pillow while trying to get it in a perfect rectangle Orihime thought she would try to lighten the atmosphere.
"Ulquiorra?" She asked. "Do you perhaps have OCD?"
When those words left her mouth Ulquiorra's hands stilled from trying to arrange the pillow. Orihime looked to his desk. All the pens where arranged in a neat line and the piles of papers lined in a row across the top. "You're the neatest person I've ever met."
She looked back at Ulquiorra to find him watching her. For a second Orihime thought maybe he was angry she noticed this, or maybe he was embarrassed.
"Perhaps." Was all he said before turning away from her and straightening the pillow again. He really was a neat freak, how could she have never noticed before?
Orihime giggled and thought she saw Ulquiorra's mouth twitch as if it wanted to smile at it. Maybe her voice wasn't as annoying to him as she thought.
When Ulquiorra seemed satisfied with the bed he went and flipped open his journal, beginning to write. Orihime finished eating and (purposely) went to go flop down on the bed. She walked over and ran her hand across the sheets before very nearly jumping on the bed. She giggled to herself as she kicked off her boots and let them fall to the floor. Orihime looked up to see Ulquiorra had stopped writing and had his pen clenched in a fist.
This made Orihime outright laugh. Maybe it was the days being confined to this room, seeing no one but Ulquiorra and she was going mad, but she really felt bubbly at the moment. Orihime rolled herself in a makeshift cocoon with the top sheet and sat up with it wrapped around her like she was cold before just throwing it off and declaring she was going to take a shower. Ulquiorra didn't even twitch as she walked past him into the bathing room.
Orihime turned on the shower wondering why she had felt the need to mess up Ulquiorra's bed and then laugh. Maybe she was going mad… Anyhow, she showered and dressed into a fresh uniform before steeping out into the room. The first place she looked was the desk, but everything was neat in their usual places and Ulquiorra was gone. Then she looked around the room.
Orihime felt her eyes get soft at the sight before her. Ulquiorra was lying on his back on the bed, his eyes closed and his chest moving up and down slowly. He must have fallen asleep while attempting to fix the bed again or something.
Orihime walked timidly to the edge of the bed. Should she get in the bed with him or move to the couch? Should she wake him? Orihime bit her lip and without looking at Ulquiorra at all crawled in the bed across from him and curled herself in a ball, trying to make herself as small as possible. She then got up again just to switch off the light before getting back into bed, trying to stay as far away from the sleeping man as possible.
Orihime lay facing Ulquiorra and silently watched him sleep. He looked different when he slept. Orihime's eyelids drooped and she yawned.
"Goodnight Ulquiorra…" She sighed before closing her eyes.
Orihime felt very refreshed when she opened her eyes the next morning. She also felt strangely happy.
That happiness dissolved to horror before she could blink.
She was lying directly next to Ulquiorra, her head resting on his chest. Did she move when she was sleeping? Ulquiorra's arm was around her waist and the other was bent at the elbow over his stomach. She was lying on her side, both her arms resting on his chest.
Orihime looked up quickly to make sure he was still sleeping. She sighed when she saw his closed eyes. He wasn't aware of what he was doing, like when you hold a bear when you sleep. But she didn't know what would have happened if he had woken up first. Orihime tried to sit up but his arm wasn't giving.
The more she tried to lift herself off him the more he tightened it.
Why oh why was this happening to her? She wriggled and moved around but the only thing she succeeded in was waking Ulquiorra.
She had just stopped her attempt to pry his arm off her when she looked up at his face only to freeze when he grunted quietly and shifted position and his other arm reach up slowly to rub his still closed eyes. He. Was. Waking. Up.
Orihime didn't know what to do, should she pretend to be asleep again or be awake when he awakes?
She quickly made up her mind and took a deep breathe before speaking.
"Ulquiorra…?" She said timidly. His eyes opened slowly and they swept the room once before resting on her. Then she felt his body tense. Could he feel how fast her heart was beating against his chest? "Ummm… Do mind… letting go?" She asked.
Instantly Ulquiorra's arm slithered away from her and she sat up slowly.
Orihime didn't know how this could get anymore awkward.
For a second Ulquiorra looked at her before sitting up stiffly and standing just as stiff. Orihime could see his shoulders where tensed as he stuffed his hands in his pocket.
Without saying a word he headed to the bathing room.
As soon as the door shut separating the two rooms Orihime let out a breath and shook her head. What just happened? How had she moved from her ball in the corner of the bed? Orihime needed to clear her head, she wished she could leave this room and go for a walk. (By herself.)
She lay down back on the bed and crawled under the covers, hiding. Orihime lay there for a long minute before she heard the shower shut off that she didn't even notice Ulquiorra had turned on.
Still she didn't come out from underneath the covers, she just burrowed deeper. The door to the bathroom opened and she looked up and could just make out Ulquiorra's hazy figure through the sheets.
"What are you doing woman?" He asked.
Orihime didn't answer for a brief moment before responding. "Hiding."
"Why?" His dead reply came. Orihime was surprised he asked this.
"Why?" She repeated. Orihime flipped the covers so only her head was peeking out. "Because I have to."
Ulquiorra stared at her, uncomprehending. "Because you have to?"
"Yes." Orihime flipped back the cover.
She thought he would leave or go sit at his desk but Orihime was surprised when the sheet was pulled off her. Orihime stared up into his face for a long moment neither said anything. His hair was still slightly wet and hanging around his face. A single drop slid down and dropped on his jacket. Orihime's thoughts went blank as she stared up at this snowy demon. He was so… so beautiful.
"Don't hide from me." He said quietly. He turned to walk away when Orihime spoke.
"Look who's talking." Orihime said quietly, almost like a child. She then turned away from him and lay on her side with her arms across her chest. She didn't want to think the way she did whenever she looked at him. It was wrong.
Ulquiorra stopped when he heard this and looked over his shoulder slightly but Orihime was already turned away when he did this. Ulquiorra turned back away and stiffly walked out the door without saying a word.
Orihime gave Ulquiorra the cold shoulder while he silently set her food tray on the tea table like always. She was sitting on the couch ignoring him and staring at the wall.
It wasn't because she was mad at him, oh no, mostly she was mad at herself. She didn't quite admit it to herself but she liked the feeling of Ulquiorra's arm around her this morning, the way his chest felt…
Orihime was also a little embarrassed to tell you the truth. She glanced over at Ulquiorra when she heard his chair move and once again he sat down. She realized she hadn't read his journal for awhile and made a note to read his new entries later. (Yes she was still reading them and she didn't feel bad about it anymore. It gave her an insight to how Ulquiorra thought.)
Orihime went over to eat in silence. The tension in the room was nearly suffocating her.
After a while Ulquiorra just stopped writing, he didn't close his book or put his pen down, he just sat there. Orihime watching him curiously while she chewed on some dumplings.
She decided to speak for the first time since that morning. "Is everything alright Ulquiorra-san?" She asked. Ulquiorra's head titled to the side at her voice.
"Nothing," Was all he said. He then got up, put everything on his desk in its proper place and left. Orihime smiled quietly to herself and finished her meal slowly.
She finished and looked toward the door before walking over to the desk, sitting down, and flipping to the entry she last stopped off at.
He spent only one or two sentences explaining the completion of his mission and how easy it was. He then went on to explain Orihime's unexpected hug.
"Has the woman gone mad? Of course I would be fine but I can see why that would perhaps worry her. If I didn't return she would be trapped in this room until someone came looking for her. Still, I am not used to embrace and I don't know if I will ever become used to it.
I hope she doesn't do it again."
Orihime smiled at this part and a small voice in her head said "Do it again!"
He explained how he retreated to the corner to get away from Orihime because even that brief contact and through their clothes her warmth still seeping into him, warming his chest. Orihime didn't even notice the coldness of his skin when she hugged him.
"Her body heat seeped into my skin and into my veins. I couldn't say anything for a second from shock and was glad her face was not looking at mine so she would have seen the brief flash of shock that swept across it."
She read on to see his thoughts on her OCD comment.
"That woman may be right about something. She pointed out my cleaning habits. I've never had someone that close to me to notice. Perhaps she's right. I'll have to look into this subject of obsessive compulsive disorder."
Orihime giggled slightly. She liked Ulquiorra much more when she read from his journal.
Next Ulquiorra was writing about his thoughts on certain things when there was just a messy ink spot where it looked like he pressed too hard on the paper and that's where that entry ended and the one from the next day began. She supposed that was when he got angry over her messing his bed up.
"Yesterday evening I had gone to fix my bed when that obnoxious woman messed it up when I suppose I fell asleep although I don't remember the exact moment in which I did so.
I shouldn't have done that. I doubt that woman moved into my arms at night on purpose; we were both asleep and weren't aware that we had even moved.
I awoke to her calling my name and opened my eyes to see her lying down on my chest with my arm around her.
Quite embarrassing, I hadn't realized I was holding on to this woman so tightly until she asked for me to let go. I was looking at her face and observing the blush that colored her face while I let ago and assumed this was as embarrassing for her as it was for me.
I didn't notice at that particular second, but I didn't feel cold anymore. I actually felt kind of hot.
This woman is more trouble than she's worth. It is apparent her effect on me is not a good one."
He then wrote that he went to shower and think but Orihime paused and leaned back in his chair.
"More trouble… than she's worth…" She whispered to herself. Orihime closed her eyes for a long moment before slowly opening them again and staring at the notebook.
She leaned forward slightly and began reading again, but her heart felt a little heavier as she did so even thought she didn't know why.
"I walked out and Inoue Orihime was curled under the covers of the bed. For a moment I gazed at her figure, perplexed. Why would someone do such a thing?
After a moment I decided to ask. She responded that she was hiding and something stirred within me, some emotion.
I did not like this. I don't have the faintest idea why, but this I did not like.
My next actions surprised even myself. I went over and pulled the sheet off her, throwing it to the other side of the bed. I was shocked by her beauty, now of all moments. Her hair lay wild about her and-"
Orihime stopped reading right here and froze, rereading the previous sentence. He called her… beautiful…? Her stomach instantly went into butterfly mode and she felt her face get hot. He called her beautiful! She continued eagerly.
"Her hair lay wild about her and her cheeks slightly blushed. Her eyes stare at me startled but then become hazy.
'Do not hide from me.' I haven't the slightest idea why this particular sentence left my mouth, but it did. She then almost accused me of doing the very same.
This woman doesn't know me. This woman will never know me. I am but a weapon for my master to use; a monster. Hiding is all I know."
Orihime stared at this last sentence. Silently, almost robotically Orihime closed his notebook and put it in its right place. So that was what he was writing when he left so abruptly.
"Hiding is all I know." Orihime looked at the door, wondering when Ulquiorra would come back. She had something to tell him.
Ulquiorra sat on the couch with his head in his hands. A sign of defeat, something he didn't think he's ever done before.
What was this woman doing to him? This wasn't how it was supposed to be, it was just a mission, that's all.
How did- no, how could he have let it get this far.
Ulquiorra craved her touch, her warm touch. He wanted to see her smile; he wanted her to be happy. He wanted to let her see him, the real him.
How could he have allowed something like this to happen?
Ulquiorra looked up slowly and stood just as slow. Her scent was nearly gone from this room; she hadn't been here in a long time.
Ulquiorra sighed, collected himself and made sure no emotions where still on his face when he left. He walked down the halls to his room. His whole being was torn in half; he wanted to see her face while another part of him told him he should stay away longer until it was absolutely necessary.
He stood staring at his door before Ulquiorra laid his palm on it and silently opened the door.
After stepping inside the first thing he noticed was the darkness. The second was the light.
There was a pale light disturbing the darkness and it was coming from the window, which his pillow was no longer blocking. He stared up at it uncomprehending.
And that's when Orihime hugged him from behind.
Orihime held her breath as the door opened, letting the artificial light from the hallway stream in. Ulquiorra walked in the room and stood in the entry way looking at the moon while the door automatically shut like it always did, closing off the other light.
Orihime took a soft step forward and wrapped her arms around Ulquiorra's chest from behind. He tensed but she didn't care, she just continued to hug him.
"I know you don't care much for me, and I know you're just following orders," She started. Ulquiorra just stood there listening, not moving. "I just want you to… to know that you don't have to hide anymore. I… I think you're much more than just a weapon, a monster. You're much more than that Ulquiorra-san. Much more."
Orihime loosened her hold when he turned slightly, and then completely dropped her arms when he turned to face her and let them fall to her sides, limp.
"So you've been reading my journal I see."
"I'm sorry." Orihime whispered silently, staring at his chest, not looking at Ulquiorra's face.
They stood there in silence for a moment; Orihime not daring to look at his face and Ulquiorra staring at her wondering what he was going to do.
"It doesn't matter in any case, I don't need it anymore." He said. Now Orihime did look up at him. "I won't write my thoughts down anymore." Ulquiorra turned away and walked to stand under the moon light of the window.
Orihime stared at him, wondering what to say.
"I-I'm sorry Ulqui-"
"I don't need it anymore because I'll just tell you now." He said, still looking at the moon. "I won't hide from you woman, but you won't hide from me either."
Orihime closed her eyes slowly and smiled a little.
"Okay." She said softly.
"Okay." Ulquiorra repeated solemnly.
Orihime thought this was the beginning of something special. "So do you really think I'm…? I'm…"
"Beautiful."
Orihime walked forward and stood next to Ulquiorra as the stared up at the moon. She had a thought, and wondered if she should act on it before just deciding the most he would do is pull away. Orihime reached over and took hold of Ulquiorra's hand, entwining her fingers with his.
Ulquiorra looked down at their hands, startled. Should he let this? He looked up at Orihime, who was still looking up at the moon.
Her warmth slowly slid from her hand and up his arm, centering in his heart. He looked back to the moon. Yes, he should let this happen, because Ulquiorra was finally warm, and as long as Orihime was by his side, he always would be.
Done?