Hey guys! Welcome to my new story! Im sorry for all the followers of "Night on the Town" (you guys are awesome btw), but i have decided to start this one before finishing that one. Don't worry yourselves, it WILL be complete, promise :D So this is a new idea i came up with. I actually had a dream that lead to a part of this story which lead me to think of the rest. It will be a longer one (right now guessing around 10 chapters) but this number could very well go up. I come up with new things every day :D Any ideas for future chapters are more than welcome, in fact i would love to see what you guys can come up with ^^ Also before each chapter there will be a song that (imo) outlines the chapter well, so if you want insight into what you're going to be reading, thats what those lyrics are there for. So, without futher ranting, here is a wonderful disclaimer X3

I dont own bleach, happy? Enjoy! ^^

Borderline, dead inside

I don't mind, falling to pieces

Counting in, violin

Let's begin, feeding the sickness

How do I, simplify, dislocate

The Enemy's on the way…

Show me what it's like

To dream in black and white

So I can leave this world tonight

Full of fear, ever clear

I'll be here, fighting forever

Curious, venomous

You'll find me, climbing to heaven

Never mind, turn back time

You'll be fine, I will get left behind…

Unknown Soldier - Breaking Benjamin

Things had been odd lately. Odd, to say the least-quiet, and dare he say calm. It seemed as though everyone was inactive, spending most of the day lounging in their rooms or crawling around the palace with no destination in mind. Even the more talkative ones such as Grimmjow were remaining under the radar recently. Why, he couldn't figure out. Very odd indeed.

Ulquiorra stood in the throne room, its massively high ceiling, the throne itself, and his master above him. The size itself was intimidating to the average mind. The rest of the large room was empty. He swore he could hear his master's breathing, the sound echoing from the walls. The walls were void of any color or windows, all that show on their surface was a blinding white. The floors were a mirrored surface. They only served to let others see the fear that was held in their own eyes, and rightfully so.

It was right to fear Aizen, he was anything but a kind hearted person, if one could call him a person.

The fourth stood respectfully, waiting for his Lord to say something. It was Aizen's way to make his minions wait for periods of time before speaking, something to do with more intimidation, he guessed. However, Ulquiorra showed no fear. He very rarely showed any type of emotion in fact. He was emptiness, void of any feelings that otherwise plagued others. Some would call it an advantage, and this is what he had called it for hundreds of years. However, recently this notion was becoming quite unpopular with the Fourth Espada. He didn't know what these things he had been feeling were, and to say they vexed him a bit would be an understatement. It was a constant battle to keep these things hidden under his mask. No one was to know of this ailment he was going through.

"Now, Ulquiorra," Lord Aizen finally began, "I want to talk to you about a very important task I have for you."

The man got up from his large white throne, and began to walk down the stairs to stand in front of Ulquiorra. He never flinched, even in the presence of raw power itself.

"I am yours to command, master," he replied to the brown haired man in front of him. An evil smirk crawled onto the man's face

"As you a well aware of, everything is going as planned. The Shinigami have been scared back to their precious Soul Society, bruised and bleeding. Total victory is not far away," he spoke with such confidence. What he said was true, though. Many of the Shinigami had been defeated, and their armies were scattered and weak. The ones that had not perished in battle had escaped back to Soul Society to regroup. Although what this would really do for them, he hadn't a clue. They didn't have the numbers or the strength to defeat the Arrancar anymore, if they ever did.

"I know how you are Ulquiorra, you like things straight to the point, so I won't bother with details that waste your and my time. I no longer have any use for that woman, Orihime. She is doing nothing more than dragging us down at the moment, and I can't have that is our hour of victory," he started. A growing pit in Ulquiorra's stomach grew even more at his master's words. The room suddenly seemed unbearable to him, and he had an unknown desire to leave immediately.

"I want you to kill her," he finished. Ulquiorra felt every muscle clench. The hair on the back of his neck bristled. This was the moment all those nightmares had all led up to. Every sleepless night, every time he woke up in a cold sweat; confused, disoriented. Waking up every time, unable to breathe, chest in a tight knot. So tight, it hurt. Hurt to breathe, to move. Hurt to do anything but bring himself more pain. They all ended the same, every single one. Each time, he would be standing in the throne room, waiting to receive orders from Aizen. Sadly, the order was always the same. 'Kill her', he would tell him. What happened next was always different, but he preferred not to relive any of it.

Thankfully, he hid this all well, and was sure his master didn't take notice of it.

"I don't care how it is done, but I want the end result to be the same," he said, looking deep into Ulquiorra's eyes. The intense green color of them never faltered, staring right back into the man's brown eyes. The black haired male knew this was another technique of Aizen's, a weak attempt to put him in his place to complete his will. "I trust you will complete this?"

Ulquiorra swallowed, struggling to keep his mask in place. His eyes remained the same, but inside, he was screaming. Complete turmoil was all that enveloped him. He was torn by his duty and the newly discovered sensations inside his chest. Torn by his want, and his need. His want to keep loyal to his master, but his need to have the woman in question be his. These two feelings would be the death of him…

"Yes, master," the Espada finally replied in his normal tone. It was becoming harder and harder to keep his voice from cracking, and he hoped Aizen would let him go soon. The older male backed away from him, satisfied with his answer.

"Good, good," he turned away and began walking back to his throne, "you have seven days to complete this. Be warned that if it not completed, there will be severe consequences for both of you," he warned with his normal tone of voice. None of this seemed to faze him at all, just business as usual.

He feared what would be done should he fail to complete the task set to him. Death would be a much kinder punishment, that was for sure. At least in death he could retain some of his dignity instead of having it stripped away. Aizen was not one for mercy when things didn't go his way.

"I understand, my Lord," was Ulquiorra's response.

Aizen made his way back up the stairs to his seat, sitting down with a grace uncharacteristic of such an evil being. The man himself was a contradiction. "Good, now you are dismissed. Sleep well, my dear Espada," he bid Ulquiorra, continuing to stare at him. Ulquiorra bowed before him, then turned on his heels and made his way from the room. The will to exit the area as fast as possible nagged at his feet, but he kept them in a constant pace. The disgust he felt for the man was well kept, but getting harder and harder to conceal. How he could sit and order a death warrant from him, and then bid him a good night's sleep, was beyond him. Just utterly disgusting.

When the tall doors closed behind him, a sigh of relief escaped his lips. It felt like coming up from deep underwater to the surface. He was able to breathe once more. The fourth gave himself a few moments to stand and collect his thoughts, before he began to make his way to his room. Luckily, it wasn't too far away.

The lights in the hallway were bright, blinding in fact. Everything about the place was white. It resembled a hotel really, in the fact that even though everyone was asleep, all aspects of the palace remained running. One would never know that it was the accepted time for the Espada to sleep. Servant Arrancar rarely slept, as they were expected to be available for use to the Espada at all times. They bustled around the halls at all times of day, even in the dead of 'night'.

O_o o_O

Ulquiorra's mind reeled. Seven days; seven days to kill her. Seven days to build up his courage and rid himself of these horrid aliments that were lassoing him in like prey. It's just an order, he thought to himself. Stopping dead in his tracks, he mentally slapped himself, shaking his head at his own thoughts. What am I thinking? A low, aggravated sigh escaped him. Seven days… What could he really do to save her? The amount of time he had was nowhere near enough to put together a fool-proof plan, even a faulty one would never even have enough time to mature.

As he continued walking down the hallway, he passed one of the servants that was attending to Orihime during the day. "Lord Schiffer, good evening," the little being said to him, bowing respectfully. This was quite normal, in fact servants were required to pay respects to their superiors, not doing so would ensure serious consequences.

"What is the woman's status?" he asked the servant in his normal tone.

"Normal, my Lord. She was given her food and I personally made sure she ate it," was his reply. He struggled to keep his resolve strong under the intense glare of the black haired man. His stare was beautiful, yet deadly.

Ulquiorra's eyes suddenly locked onto the arrancar in a deadly fashion. The little servant suddenly knew he was in very real danger from the Fourth Espada. The whole staff of servants knew very well that the Fourth Espada was the last one you wanted to upset. He tended to be very unforgiving to say the least.

"What did you do to her?" he asked threateningly. He had the arrancar backed into the wall. He was cowering in fear of the deadly Espada before him. He knew that if the man decided to lash out at him, there was no chance for survival. When the Fourth went out, he went for blood.

"N-nothing my Lord! I just stood and made sure she ate like you had ordered!" he cried to his superior, desperation lacing his voice. Hearing his words didn't put Ulquiorra at ease however. In fact, it only infuriated him more.

"And you will be wise to continue to do so, trash," he added, before backing away. The smaller being simply remained in the same cowardice state. He didn't dare look at the power Espada, fearing that looks alone could kill. He wanted to appear as harmless as possible, and looking at the other male would only encourage him to fight. It could be the one action that broke his last bits of self control that were currently sparing his pathetic life. He would happily give up his reputation for his life.

"Get out of my sight, filth," Ulquiorra commanded, anger slipping out with his voice. His chest was tightening at a rapid pace. What was this? This gripping claw that ripped at his chest, as if tearing through the very gore that filled the cavity. It was painful, to say the least. Although if the pain was physical or mental, was hard to distinguish. Pain within the mind was always much harder to recognize. Pain in the mind was controllable, yet physical was not. …So why could this now physical AND mental state not be controlled?

What was this? This…feeling?

"Yes Lord Schiffer, as you command!" the little masked creature blurted out hastily at his superior's words, not wasting a moment in getting out of the situation as soon as possible. He scurried back in the opposite direction as quickly as his legs would carry him, until he was safely around the corner and out of sight.

Ulquiorra didn't bother to turn his head to see what was happening around in the other direction; he didn't care. Closing his eyes and sighing, he tried to get the lasso that seemed to be receding a bit to his relief. After noticing how hard it was to reopen his eyes, he decided that now was not the time to worry about such things. He was on a schedule, and next on it was sleep. And so, his journey back to his room continued.

He arrived at his room, his trip uninterrupted this time. The door stood erect in front of him, reaching up to the height of the ceilings. A large, black, gothic '4' was painted on the surface of the barrier, signifying it as his living space.

Pushing on the surface with his hand, it opened with ease for him. Artificial light flooded into his room like a wave of water, quickly filling the empty darkness. Sighing, the owner of the room walked into its space, the heavy stone grey doors closing behind him. All that was left was the darkness that had once again consumed the room. A small amount of light managed to enter from a large window on the far wall of his room. Staring at the large moon that was clearly visible, he wondered, is she looking at it as well?

Shaking his head to rid his mind of such poisonous thoughts. Such things were not of his concern, nor should he ever be thinking about them. It doesn't matter one way or another, he though, she will die within one week anyway by my hands… The very fists in question clenched for a split second. Ulquiorra tried to relax his body, although it seemed to be trying to tell him something, urgently. Shaking it off, he decided it wasn't important at the time. The next thing to be accomplished was sleep, and it was highly desired by the exhausted Fourth Espada. Moving closer to the large, dark covered bed that sat on the far right wall of the room. Lifting the blankets, he pushed himself up into the warmth and laid down on the soft pillow. He hoped tonight would be different than all the other sleepless nights he suffered through. Almost every night he was plagued by hellish nightmares that would either wake him, or leave him in a cold sweat upon morning. He hadn't a clue why these were happening, but the topic for them was always the same. …Her

Feeling that thinking about the matter would only make it worse, Ulquiorra closed his eyes and prepared for whatever his mind may throw at him that night.

And there you have it, first installment of this shindig. Poor Ulquiorra, he got quite the mission D: That Aizen sure is a sick mofo. What will Ulqui decide to do? That will come later ;) (lol i just teased you all, im so bad!)

And sounds like he's having problems sleeping due to nightmares? Wonder what that must be about.

Cookies to reviewers! Thanks guys! And if you thought this chapter was boring, i promise action in the next...no really, i do.

Cheers