-1Orihime sat in the white room numbly. How long had she been in the hollow world? She couldn't tell-- alone in this boxed in room. She hated everything. The neatly pressed white dress. The white sheets on the white mattress on the white bed on the white carpet. In the white room.

She hated it all. Except him. He had an attraction to him-- alien as it was. His marble skin and ebony hair. His emerald eyes and slitted pupils. The lines down his face-- like a path of painted tears. She did not hate him. Quiet and seemingly emotionless as he was, Orihime could not hate him. As much as she wanted to for putting her in this emotional cage, she couldn't.

She had been too nervous to confess this love to him, however, and her gazes watched blank features. Her awkwardly voiced thanks fell on deaf ears, her blushes unseen. She watched him constantly.

Orihime was startled from her musings when the door opened. She looked up into his eyes. Eyes that never failed to hold her attention. Eyes that showed no liveliness-- yet overflowed with emotions hard to explain in mere words.

"U-Ulquiorra-san." She stuttered, awed by him. He had someone behind him pushing a cart with some food.

"Aizen-sama ordered us to bring you food and make sure you eat it." He voiced, showing no emotion.

"Thank you." She said quietly. "But… I'm not hungry." Orihime blushed and looked at the white floor.

"Leave." He ordered the person behind him. "Leave the cart and the food."

"Y-Yes sir." The befuddled servant replied.

As soon as the door was closed, he turned to her.

"Something is troubling you." He said to her, actually showing some concern in his voice. "Tell me."

Orihime looked into his eyes, tears forming in hers. "Well, I-" She broke off and took a long, shuddering breath, "I feel like I should hate you. Like I should hate you with the very fibers of my being. I should hate you for bringing me here." She took in another large breath. "But, I don't. I don't hate you. I… I…" She looked down. "I love you." She whispered almost inaudibly.

The hollow sat next to her. "You shouldn't. We're too different."

Orihime was startled. He hadn't said she shouldn't love him because he didn't love her, just that they were too different.

"You're human," He explained, "I'm a hollow. We're a different species entirely."

"You're wrong." She said to him, looking back up, "You were once human. Besides," She said, laying her hand on top of his and fitting her small fingers in between his. "Our hands can fit. So long as our hands fit, we're the same." She raised it to eye level. Ulqiorra stared at their clasped hands.

"That is what was bothering you?" He questioned softly. "It isn't that you are surrounded by hollows in an alien world. That you're imprisoned in this white room. Its that you love me and shouldn't?"

"Well, those as well," She reasoned with an embarrassed smile. "But, I've made peace with that."

Ulquiorra smiled. Yes, b Ulquiorra /b smiled. Orihime had never seen something so heartwarming. The smile seemed fragile, like it could break into a grimace at any given time. But it was heartwarming, never the less. She smiled back.

It was not to last, however, as he remembered why he was in the room. He gently pulled his hand out of her loving grip and picked up the plate. Setting it on her lap, he handed her a fork.

"You should eat." He said softly. "Dying will do nobody good."

Orihime's smile faded. She looked at the meal with sad eyes. She speared a morsel and put it in her mouth. She chewed slowly, wondering if hollows ate real food like this.

"Ulquiorra-san," She began, "Do you eat food like this?"

"No." He replied blankly.

"Oh." She said in slight surprise. She knew that Aizen had to eat, but she had never known if hollows ate food. It didn't take her long to finish, and Ulquiorra left soon after.

"Thank you." She whispered as he closed the door.

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Ulquiorra thought about what the woman had said. She loved him. Why? He had no particular features to him. At least, not as far as he knew. Yet, she was still in love with him. He put his hands in his pockets and walked down the hall. He had put her in an impossible situation, taken her to an unfamiliar place, and threatened to kill her friends.

But she did not hate him.

He furrowed his brow. Had he been this full of emotion as a human? His emotions were rare and fleeting, often thought to be non-existent. He was an arrancar-- The third most powerful and dangerous of hollows.

But she loved him.

Love. Ulqiorra thought, discontent beginning to bubble in his thoughts. What is love? Why is it that this human woman feels it towards me? Why do humans feel it so strongly? Why don't we

Ulquiorra closed his eyes anr rubbed the lids. Never had a simple human caused him so much… thought. This was a trying business. Aizen-sama had said this would be easy. All he had to do was bring the woman food. Now, it was turning into something he couldn't understand.

If Grimmjaw saw me now… He thought bitterly to himself. He stopped however, knowing that Grimmjaw always managed to make an appearance when he was spoken or thought of. Ulquiorra sighed, wondering what he would do next. Aizen-sama only told him to bring the woman food. Now that that was done, there was nothing to do. Should he talk to her?

Ulquiorra sighed again, knowing that what he was about to do would, inevitably, have consequences. Major consequences. He approached the door again and raised his hand to knock. Then lowered it. Then raised it again. After an awkward moment passed, he tapped slightly on the door.

He heard nothing and turned the knob. Orihime was sitting on the bed, staring out the small window at the moon.

"U-Ulqiorra-san!" she stuttered, standing up. "I-uh, um, well, you see,"

He motioned for her to be quiet.

"Explain something to me." He said. It wasn't really a request, but it wasn't an order, either. "What is love, exactly?"

Orihime looked startled at his request.

"Well, um, I- don't know." She softly admitted. "Its just- a feeling. Its like, as long as the one whom you love is here, everything is okay. And that your problems aren't really that bad. It just feels like no matter what you say, they'll understand."

Ulquiorra nodded.

"Then tell me this: why do you love me?" He inquired.

Orihime didn't answer for a moment.

"It seems like you aren't all you seem." She explained.

"I don't understand."

"Well, you see," She began again, "to me, it seems like you would have a lot to say, but you need someone to say it to. I feel like I could listen."

Ulquiorra remained silent for a moment. This was a truly thought-provoking conversation.

"Can you tell me something else?" He asked.

"Alright."

"Will you listen to me now?"

She smiled, and tears of joy collected in her eyes.

"Yes."

He sat down next to her. This moment was slightly uncomfortable for the both of them, but he did not show it.

"Do you feel so strongly about anybody else?" He asked after a pause

"Yes," She confessed, "Kurosaki-kun."

"Why?"

"He's a lot like you."

Ulquiorra thought back to when he had come to the human world to kill Ichigo. It did not seem, to him, that he was anything like Ichigo.

"Ulquiorra-san?" She asked.

"Hmm?"

"Did you ever love someone, or hate someone?" She asked, hoping he wasn't offended by her inquiry.

"I don't know." He said softly. "I don't remember."

He wasn't sure if he really wanted to talk at the moment.

"I- need to leave." He excused himself. He stood up and strode to the door.

"Wait!" Orihime begged. Crying, she ran to him and put her hand on his shoulder. "Please, don't leave me. Its so lonely in this room. Just, please stay with me."

Ulquiorra took her hand in his.

"Don't cry, woman."

Orihime threw herself onto him, clinging to him while her tears soaked his shirt. Ulquiorra embraced the sobbing girl.

"Don't cry." He said.

He sat down with her still crying on his chest. He stroked her hair comfortingly, aware of a strange sensation in the back of his mind. He couldn't identify it. Maybe this was the love she spoke of. Several minuets passed with them still in this embraced.

"I should leave." He whispered, feeling her shudders dying down. "You should rest."

He gently pulled Orihime to her feet and guided her to her bed. Her face was still buried in the fabric of his shoulder. He pried her from this embrace carefully and layed her on the bed. She looked up into his cold emerald eyes and saw something in them. It wasn't really something about the eyes themselves, but rather something behind it. There seemed to be a liveliness-- emotion, if you will-- to them. She contemplated the thought as he left.

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Alright, crackfic. Its really just a bit of a drabble, but I kind of like it. My first shot at romance. Leave a reveiw for me please!