Here you go! I don't own Bleach.
The Prince and the Slayer
Chapter Two - Kill Me, or Let Me Go
Hitsugaya grunted and tried to sit up. His head hurt. He opened his eyes slowly.
"Are you awake?" Ulquiorra asked flatly, standing at the foot of the bed. He'd been watching the white-haired man for a while now, waiting for him to wake up. "I didn't hit you that hard."
Hitsugaya clenched his teeth. "Don't think that I'm not a worthy adversary."
Ulquiorra crossed his arms. "I'm sure you are. But, right now, you're just the man who killed my servant before he had time to draw me a bath."
That caught Hitsugaya off guard. He knows I'm a slayer, he knows what I've been sent here to do, and this is what he's concerned about? He took a look at the prince. Still naked, but now covered in blood. He took a quick look down at himself, then back up, slightly bewildered.
"It's not yours. I just figured that I'd help myself to the servant before he got cold. He was already dead, and there was no reason to waste it—and I was hungry." The way Ulquiorra said it, so simply and smoothly and coolly-it made Hitsugaya's stomach turn.
"Kill me, or let me go," he spat angrily.
"Take a bath with me," Ulquiorra demanded.
Hitsugaya blinked. "Come again?"
"You ruined it, so now you can fix it."
"I don't think so," the captain growled, only to be met with a sneer.
"It doesn't look like you're really in a position to do anything about it. I was just giving you the chance to go willingly." Ulquiorra shrugged. "But, if I have to force you, then I don't really have any qualms about that either. That could be fun for me."
Hitsugaya was done with playing games. "Your kind disgusts me," he growled, fighting against his restraints.
"Why? Because we were born with power? Because we put that power to use?" Ulquiorra's eyes narrowed in a rare display of emotion. "It's your kind that's disgusting. You humans who exterminate what you don't understand in an attempt to reach the top of the food chain in the name of justice. You're too weak to accept that you're just another link in the food chain, no matter what intelligence you're capable. Humans are animals, just like every other species." Ulquiorra pulled the captain up off of the bed. "You, who cannot accept the naturality of predatory death, are trash," he hissed before throwing the man to the floor.
Hitsugaya rolled onto his back and sent Ulquiorra a hateful glare. "How can I accept the deaths of those I care for as simple acts of nature?"
"The same way a mouse accepts he will be devoured by a snake. The same way a snake accepts that his survival means hurting mice. You didn't ask to be born as victims of murder, but we didn't ask to be born as murderers. And there is no alternative. How can you justify the dying out of an entire species because you don't like what evolution has bred into their genetics?"
As much as the rage ate away at him, Hitsugaya saw truth in those words. Still, he wasn't ready to let go of the ideals ingrained in him since birth. Vampires are evil, and slayers eliminate them for the sake of the innocent. "I can't believe there is no other way. I can't believe that nature has decided we should perish at the hands of you...monsters."
Ulquiorra cocked his head to the side. "It isn't as if vampires outnumber humans, and it is unlikely that we ever will. We don't require sustenance daily, it is difficult to conceive, and the incubation of a fetus is longer than that of a human. We can't possibly be humanity's downfall. Just that of the unlucky."
The way he said everything as if death didn't matter made Hitsugaya's blood boil. "It doesn't justify the loss of life."
"You think I haven't lost people too? Lost family and friends to the Slayer's Crusade? Vampires are just the next target with which humanity may wage war. And when a new species appears, they too will fall victim to humanity's callous naivety." Ulquiorra crossed his arms and stared at the other man for a moment. "My bath is getting cold. If you won't join me, you may remain here."
Hitsugaya detested being detained, and every day he did not give into the vampire prince's requests was another in which he was kept confined in that room. He'd tried to escape, but even for him, it wasn't possible. Still, it wasn't all bad. He wasn't tortured, he was well fed, had his own toilet, and even had free reign of the room in which he was held. But by the end of the week, he desperately desired to bathe, the one thing he hadn't been allowed to do. Or, rather, the one thing he refused to do, since his only chance at doing so came when Prince Number Four himself came in and said, with that stupid, plain face, "Take a bath with me."
Hitsugaya's response was always negative. And Ulquiorra always stuck around for a while, socializing with the slayer, being friendly—or as friendly as that man got. In the end, he would ask again, and Hitsugaya would repeat said negative response. But his will was breaking. He felt dirty and swore he could smell himself.
It was getting to that time of day where the prince would come in, and Hitsugaya debated giving in. Maybe by playing along with that guy's ridiculous desires, he'd finally find out why he was being held prisoner. Find out what happened to his squad. Even manage to complete his mission.
But...hours passed, and the prince didn't come. And no one came in his place. And that was even more frustrating then dealing with the prince himself.
"What the hell?" he shouted through the door. "Why are you still keeping me here like this?" Nothing about his time here made any sense, and the more he thought about it, the more he disliked it, especially now that the routine had broken. "Kill me, or let me go!" He banged on the door angrily, kicked at it and threw his hands around and sent items around the room flying, all to no avail. No one came. He went to the door again, furious. "Kill me, or let me go!"
Ulquiorra stood outside of the door, listening to the slayer's temper tantrum. That was what he'd been waiting for this entire time, to see the man finally give in. He patiently leaned against the wall until the noise died down, then opened the door to see Hitsugaya sitting angrily on the bed.
"Get out," he growled.
Ulquiorra folded his arms across his chest. "Why? Was my presence not requested?" He took a few steps toward the bed. "You made quite the ruckus, didn't you?"
Hitsugaya only responded with a hateful glare.
"Take a bath with me."
"No."
"Why not?"
That question honestly caught Hitsugaya off guard. "Why should I?"
Ulquiorra shrugged. "Because I want you to."
"For what reason, exactly?" That had been another very irritating point.
"Because I find you attractive."
Hitsugaya blinked. Out of all the possible responses...he had not clue what he expected, but surely that wasn't on the list. "Come again?"
"I find you physically appealing. I am interested in you in a sexual capacity. Call it what you want."
Hitsugaya understood the words he was hearing, but it still didn't compute. "So, what...you want to...sleep with me?"
Ulquiorra rolled his eyes. "I'm just asking you to get in some hot water while naked. You don't have to read into it."
Hitsugaya eyed the man suspiciously. Why on Earth had he been contracted to kill the strangest prince? Or were they all like this? "I'm not interested in men."
"That's not what I asked you."
"So, then—"
"It's not as if I'd rape you. Are you going to do what I want, or not?"
For the first time, Hitsugaya wondered if the stone-faced prince was genuinely irritated with him. If anything, he was pleased he'd finally gotten a rise out of him. "Why should I trust that you'll do nothing indecent?"
"Has my care of you in the past week been anything but a show of good faith? I'm not interested in forcing you to do anything. I just want to enjoy you while I can."
The white-haired captain hated it, but the truth was that it had been nothing but comfortable, as far as holding someone against their will went. And the thought came back to him again that if he just gave in to the idiotic demand, the entire ordeal might be over. "Okay," he said finally. "I'll take a bath with you."
