"Why do you always keep your neck covered?" She had asked him once. Her and her questions. He found he missed them now. "I mean, none of the other Espadas cover their hole." He didn't know why he remembered that question, he didn't remember any of her other (numerous) ones. He only faintly recalled blinking at her and turning away.

He supposed he remembered it because it had made him think. He had always covered the gothic 4 on his chest, he thought it stupid not to. NO reason for the enemy to know what they were up against. Let them underestimate him, trash as they were. They would be easier to dispose of that way. But his hollow hole…

She had asked him again, a long time after, probably out of sheer boredom. "Why don't you show off your hole the way the others do?" She had probably been thinking of Grimmjow and his pride, classing all of the Espadas by that maniac's standard. He had ignored the question again, simply delivering her food and leaving. She had watched him leave, but hadn't called out to him.

Why did he cover it up? It was supposed to be a symbol of pride after all. It was what set them apart from Shinigami (besides the difference in power, of course.) The truth was, he supposed, that it was not something to be proud of. Not for him. To him, it only showed his lack of a heart, of emotions really. It symbolized all of his lose and pain and suffering. He had few memories of the times before he was a hollow. He seemed to remember a wife and a smiling little baby, but maybe that wasn't right. It mattered little now.

As his body began to disintegrate, he took one last look at the auburn haired girl that had first reawakened his slumbering heart. It felt as if the darkness at the edges of his vision was the darkness of his hollow hole. It felt like it had finally won. As it dragged him down, he refused to let go of the picture of that fiery auburn hair. He would et it burn and fill the place where his heart should be, let it fill the emptiness in his neck.

A/N: Ah yes... Good old Ulquiorra. I love him dearly. This is kind of random, but I was just kind of... reflecting on how Grimmjow openly displays his hollow hole, but Ulquiorra always keeps it covered up. At any rate, this is not particularly Ulquihime, but it could be. If you squint your eyes and rotate your head 150 degrees.

On a compleatly different note, I've always imagined Ulquiorra as German. He's about 24 or 25, just out of college, recently married.... Yeah, Schiffer just sounds German to me.

I've always thought of Grimmjow as French too, but maybe there's just something wrong with me. :D

Thanks for reading! Reviews are always welcomed! *cough cough cough*

-Amagake

P.S. Don't expect any thing else from me for a little while. My teachers are trying to kill me with homework.