A/N: No, this is not a IshiHime fic. Ulquiorra will be the main love interest of Orihime for the duration of this story :) Just in case you are panicked by the interactions between Ishida and Orihime in this chapter.

Chapter 2: The Hat

The route to Uryuu's house took her out of the city's proper limits, past the surrounding suburbs, and into the country side. It wasn't too long of a drive, but the house was secluded from the main city. She pulled onto an unmarked paved side street. The narrow road was unlit and flanked on either side by dark woods. It curved around what started as a small hill and turned slowly into a steep granite cliff. The final turns of the street were incredibly steep. She didn't notice herself holding her breath, but she worried about her poor car's ability to go up such steep turns in the cold rain that could be turning in to sleet soon.

By the time she couldn't hold her breath any longer, she had reached the main driveway of the house. It was a wide, paved, and long driveway that led to a double garage. The house itself, hung onto the side of the granite cliff, and glowed with the small lawn lamps that lit the walkway to the front door. Orihime smiled at the house. Because it sat so high on the hill and on the side of the granite, she could easily see it from far away if she was in the right part town. She parked her car and grabbed only her keys and the hat, which she threw on her head right away once she got out of the car. The rain and let up a little bit, but it was very windy this high up on the hill. The rain came at her from all different directions and, as Orihime pocketed her keys in her trench coat, she had to hold onto her hat to keep it from flying off her head. The wind whipped her bright auburn hair around her face, its tips getting wet from the rain. The weather made Orihime had to squint to see clearly in the dark driveway, but she could have found her way to the door even if she were blindfolded. She scurried up the steps lit by the small lawn lamps. When she was safely in the shelter of the veranda, she brushed her now soaking wet hair away from her face and adjusted the hat on her head. As she lifted her finger to ring the doorbell, she paused, suddenly becoming self-conscious about her appearance. She hadn't had enough sleep for the past two weeks, her hair was unwashed and a wet mess, she wasn't wearing any make up, and her clothes consisted of a plain burgundy long sleeve shirt, that she liked to wear because it usually fit neatly underneath her scrubs, and a pair of old faded jeans, the bottom half frayed from wear and washes. Orihime bit her lip looking herself over before scolding herself for bothering to even care. Why should it matter what she looks like now? It's not like they were dating anymore.

She rang the doorbell impatiently as a sudden gust of wind made her shiver. She shuffled her feet back and forth waiting for a reply. After what felt like an eternity, she rang the doorbell again and waited. The wind was howling for her to get inside, but no one seemed to be answering. She walked over to the thick fogged window next to the door and peered through. There weren't any lights on. Orihime had assumed that Uryuu would be home. He usually didn't work late on Fridays and he always kept his cars in the garage. Orihime took a step back from the house so she could see its entirety. There were no lights on except for a few small glows that probably came from a lamp or a computer screen left on. She frowned, disappointed that it was clear he wasn't home. Dejectedly she walked back to her car, not caring now about getting wet or the cold. She grabbed her hat halfway to the car and pulled it off forcefully out of bitterness.

When she got back inside her car and started the engine, she threw the hat in the backseat, not wanting to see it now. She sat for a moment in her parked car, engine running, and fans blowing hot air finally. Was he avoiding her? She had tried calling a few times. It had been so long since they'd seen each other and the last time they saw each other, he had rushed away so quickly she didn't even have a chance to ask how he was doing. These thoughts made her sad, so she pushed them aside, put her car in drive, and started home. At least by now the traffic won't be so bad, she thought.

She drove well over the speed limit to get home. Despite the heat finally working, she was in wet clothes with wet hair and was starting to shiver. To distract herself from darker thoughts, she turned on the radio; a peppy pop song sung by a woman with a sultry voice came on singing about "the games love plays on us." When she finally got back into town, she was glad to see that the traffic had indeed let up.

As she followed the usual route back home, she thought about seeing Ulquiorra again. She always thought he was kind of cute, but now…as a human adult he was incredibly handsome. He still had the same startling intense green eyes, framed by thick eyelashes that any woman would be jealous of, and his hair hung a little bit shorter than she remembered but still was long and sloppy enough to get into his eyes. He had an aura about him that some men seemed to have that said: I don't care about anything- which only makes a woman want to make him care even more. He…he made her feel excited, giddy in fact. She smiled to herself as she stopped at a red light, now tapping her fingers on the steering wheel to the upbeat music from the radio. She wanted to talk to someone about seeing him and it burned to not have someone to tell. She looked at what street she was on: Emerson Drive. The driver behind her honked his horn when the light turned green and Orihime was still staring at the street sign. Why not? She thought, and quickly made an illegal right turn from the left turn lane. More cars honked. Today was not her safest driving day.

She drove up Emerson Drive which led to the outskirts of the city on the opposite side of town from her apartment. The tall dark closely spaced buildings gave way slowly to green grass and newly built stores and homes that did not go with the older darker parts of the city. The road soon became a boulevard, with grassy medians dividing the street and arching brass street lights. This was the newest part of town where most of the development of the city was taking place. Companies were establishing another stronghold in this part of town. Their buildings were large, warehouse-like, and looked so new they seemed to be fake plastic models instead of anything real. She pulled up to a large glass building designed to look like some kind of hexagon from the street. She parked in what she hoped would be a legal parking spot, and got out of her car, pulling the hat from the back of her car and sticking it on her head. It was still rainy steadily, except there was no howling wind here and the time spent in her car had warmed her up and even started drying parts of her hair, which unfortunately made it nothing but frizzy. Running quickly up the newly cemented sidewalk, past beautifully manicured lawns, and past a large sign that said "Ishida Healthcare," Orihime hoped her instincts had been right. She hoped that she would find Uryuu here. As if answering her question, she saw a tall dark figure leaning against a column in the front of the building. Yay! She thought as she skipped over to where he stood, underneath a protective glass pedestrian overpass. He gave her a keen look as he blew out smoke from his cigarette.

"Hi, Uryuu!" She said with what she considered half genuine and half fake cheerfulness.

"Inoue," he acknowledge, his face revealing nothing as he continued to smoke his cigarette. He called her Inoue last time she saw him as well. It hurt that he no longer would say her name, though she understood he was trying put a distance between them.

"I was hoping you'd be here," she said breathlessly as she leaned next to the wall opposite from him. "I went to your house, but no one was there. Where's your father?"

"We moved him to a hospice house near here. It's very nice, they try to make it feel like a real home and not a hospital," he explained. Orihime's eyes softened with worry at the news.

"Is he getting worse?" She whispered.

"They give him about a month," he said, taking another drag and keeping his eyes averted.

"Why are you smoking again?" She asked dryly, her eyes following the cigarette as it moved up to his mouth and back down again. She resisted the urge to fan the smoke away from her face.

"Why does it matter?" He countered. Orihime started to say that she was worried about him and that she cared, but she stopped herself. "What do you want, Inoue?" He asked briskly.

"A-are you working late?" She asked, trying to buy time to build her case for seeing him. He could hear the hope in her voice.

"I'm working late every night now. More and more of the responsibilities of running his company are falling on me now," Uryuu said, looking away from her and rubbing the back of his aching neck. He had a hard time looking at her face without wanting to give her whatever it was she had come looking for.

Orihime's heart ached for Uryuu. She knew how much he longed to please his father, how devastating it was to see his father dying, how stressed he must be feeling having to deal with so much new stuff that he had never studied or even been interested in. She wanted to give him a hug and hold him and let him cry on her shoulder. But he would not do that now.

"I miss you," she confessed. He looked startled at first and dropped his cigarette. Stepping on it and putting out the last spark, he didn't respond right away to her statement, and so she continued. "I miss you, Uryuu. I miss talking to you, telling you about my day, eating Thai food with you, hearing about your father." Still no response from him; he kept his gaze focused on the buckle of her coat, instead of looking at her.

"You're my best friend, Uryuu," she pleaded at last.

He finally looked at her with sad eyes and said, "I'm not your best friend."

"Tatsuki is always gone traveling with her team. I get a phone like once every two weeks and when we do talk, we barely have time to really talk," she paused, taking a moment to slow herself down. "You know more about my life than anyone else right now," she said in an almost whisper. He seemed to be struggling to decide what to do, his eyes, looking past her at the rain before meet her gaze again.

"Let's get you out of this wet rain," he said, straightening up and leading her inside. She followed him, walking a little bit behind him but still close enough to see the side of his face. He looked so tired. Why was everyone in this world so tired? Was adult life wearing all of them out? Orihime wished for younger days when she was perhaps…20 and only cared about going to rock concerts, dancing at the local bar, and gossiping with girlfriends. That was almost seven years ago though, which for some reason seemed like an eternity.

They walked inside the ghostly empty building, their footsteps echoing across the otherwise silent lobby. Most of the main lights had been turned off, except for a few accent lights over potted plant trees, large murals and painted signs. He took her silently over to the elevator, where a soft ping of a noise indicated that it was already waiting for them. When the elevator doors opened, Uryuu put out a hand holding the door open and allowing her to walk in first. He was always gentleman, thoughtful, kind, honest, and loyal. It broke her heart as much as it did his when she told him she couldn't marry him.

She gave him a reassuring smile as he stepped into the elevator after her. Uryuu gave her a half smile, which made Orihime feel about twenty times better. Hitting the button for the 11th floor, Uryuu said, "The upside is that my father's meticulous work habits have left behind very orderly documents that are easy for me to deal with, except for the fact that there's so much of it."

"Don't you have an office full of secretaries to do that for you?" She teased him, trying to ease the tension.

"They're called administrative assistants, and yes, I do have a good army of them- although, most of them are pretty useless," he said, giving a short laugh that told Orihime he was relaxing. His laugh is nothing like Ulquiorra's laugh, Orihime thought distractedly.

"Well there is only one Uryuu," she smiled, remembering to take off her hat. He looked down at it, and gently took it from her.

"This old thing is getting so tattered," he frowned. "I can fix it for you, if you want…" He offered hesitantly, looking up at her with hopeful blue eyes. Orihime hesitated for a moment; she didn't want to give him the wrong idea. Uryuu was always offering to do things for her: pick up dinner for her, fix whatever around her apartment was broken, watching her favorite shows that he absolutely hated, and even offered to replace her old broken car with a new one. Sometimes she feared she let him do too much.

"Yeah…that would be great," she finally said and instantly was rewarded with his full genuine smile.

"I can't believe you still wear it. I remember when I first made this for you," he twirled the hat around his index finger. The elevator doors opened and they walked into a hallway with walls completely constructed out of glass. Every perfectly organized and clean office was visible, including the main office they walked into. Orihime was glad when she saw there were blinds that were pulled up that could be released to give some privacy into the office. How horrible would it be to never have any privacy? What if you were taking a personal phone call, or wanted to change shirts, or picked your nose? No one wants to see that, Orihime thought.

"I'm sorry this place is such a mess. It's kind of been chaos lately around here," Uryuu said feeling extremely embarrassed.

"Oh, this place looks great!" Orihime reassured him as they went over to settle down in the little lounge made up of a glass coffee table, black leather and chrome love seat and a black leather club chair. Uryuu took the club chair immediately, dispelling any anxiousness Orihime had been feeling about having to sit in close proximity to each other.

It was so odd…how could two people be so comfortable with each other and still feel so awkward? This awkwardness is totally my fault, Orihime thought. He had always been there on and off through college as she dated him occasionally. But she also dated other guys. If he got jealous, he hid it very well and expressed nothing but a desire to give her what she needed, even if it was freedom. He waited patiently while she fought through med school and listened to her when she complained about her classes and comforted her when she lost her first patient. He had been her first…

"Have you had dinner?" He asked, disrupting her from her thoughts. He was getting up shortly after having just sat down. Orihime sat on the edge of the leather love seat feeling too stiff to sit back and fully relax. "Here, let me take your wet coat. Are you cold? I might have a blanket around here somewhere." He was never overly eager and he was never overwhelming. Even now, his sentences and questions flowed with the steady pace of an old friend and not an anxious ex-lover.

"No, I haven't had dinner. I'm actually starving!" She said, her tummy growling in agreement. He laughed as he took her coat from her.

"Your stomach always speaks its mind," he said hanging up her coat and walking over to the desk. Uryuu pulled out a number of take-out menus. "We have….many choices. Unfortunately, late nights usually means no time to cook."

"Well, obviously you've been missing my homemade red-bean paste bread," Orihime said laughing. She remembered how sick it made him the last time she made it for him.

"Mmm…" His politeness did not allow him to comment. He showed her a fan of several takeout menus, "Your choice."

"Hmmm," Orihime said looking at the array. She closed her eyes and randomly picked one of the menus. "Haha, it looks like we're having Mexican food from Taco Palace."

"Hey, don't hate on Taco Palace. They have excellent fajitas." He responded. As they discussed their menu choices, Orihime couldn't help but slowly melt into the comfort of a familiar routine. When he went to go call in the order, she stood up and took the time to check out the rest of the office. Most of the stuff belonged to Uryuu's father, file cabinets, medical journals, fiscal reports, reference books on every subject related to healthcare equipment and business management. A very convincing and realistic fake plant sat in the corner. In a far corner of the office, between the glass window and the last book shelf, Orihime found a sterling silver picture frame of Uryuu and his father on his college graduation day. Both men had on a reserved smile for the camera, but Orihime knew the Ishidas: those smiles actually showed both men's extreme joy on that day. It made Orihime smile to just look at the photo.

"Hey, the food will be here in about twenty minutes. But I actually have to take this business phone call…you don't mind do you?" He asked, hiding his anxiousness.

"Oh no, not at all. Do you want me to wait outside or in another office?"

"No, that's not necessary. But you might want to refrain from any loud yelling or screaming while I'm on the phone," he said casually with a half-smile over his shoulder as he returned his attention to whoever had called him. Oh, how she had missed this familiarity, this comfort! Everything felt so good between them. She hoped it would stay like this. Maybe this is a sign that we can put all that stuff behind us and just be friends now?She thought. But a small part of her knew better. It would be a long time before things would be completely okay between them. She had broken his heart and it was clear from the way he looked at her now that his feelings had not changed.

Things were perfect between them. They were the perfect couple. Everyone they knew said so. Tatsuki said she had a bachelorette party already planned (this was before he actually proposed though). Orihime couldn't deny how good things were between them. His unassuming and patient love soothed a cold part of her that had been present for most of her life. That cold part came from years of living alone, being more independent than anyone could have ever guessed, and from keeping herself personally locked away. Sure, she had close friends, but there was a reason why she had never been able to get a roommate, no matter how many times Tatsuki pleaded or Rukia implied for her to be a roommate. She never lived any boyfriend and she never owned any pets. Ishida was the only boy she had ever actually said 'I love you' to (at least the only boy who had been awake when she said it to him), and even that kind of intimate confession was difficult for her. People assumed her open and honest heart meant that she would let anyone inside, and that just wasn't the case.

She returned to the lounge area and sat back down on the love seat. Uryuu's voice was low and quiet and Orihime could barely discern what they were saying. Absentmindedly, she picked up one of the random magazines on the coffee table and flipped through it without actually looking at anything in it. This entire room screamed of Ryuuken, except for Uryuu's briefcase that was on the floor leaning against a leg of the coffee table. A devious little smile came on Orihime's face and she dropped the magazine and pondered if he still carried…she gave a quick glance at Uryuu who was talking away with his back to her. As fast as she could, she prided open the briefcase and stuck her hand inside feeling around for…Aha! Found it!She thought as she pulled out his small sewing kit. She quickly stuffed it back in the briefcase before Uryuu could turn around and catch her snooping where she shouldn't be. She giggled inside of her head. Uryuuis stillUryuu. Dependable but…she thought at first and then tried desperately to not follow that thought with the word 'predictable.'

Uryuuis a wonderful man, and someday he is going to make some lucky girl out there very happy, Orihime thought to herself, she just isn't me.There were so many things she loved about him. She loved the gentle smile he always gave her when they woke up. She loved how he was never crabby in the morning. She loved all the sewing they did together, although in the past few years that rarely ever happened because of their busy schedules. She loved how he was never late and when he was he'd call her and tell her first. She loved how he knew her so well that he would dog-ear pages in the newspaper or in magazines with stories he knew she'd enjoy. And while other people (cough, kurosaki) would get annoyed when Uryuu took it upon himself to give an extensive explanation of something, Orihime would take in every detail he shared with genuine interest. She loved how smart he was, loved how he could just state random facts of trivia off the top of his head whenever it pertained to whatever show they were watching on TV. She loved how she could never win when they played scrabble.

Lowering her eyes so she couldn't see him, Orihime thought about the way she had loved the way he made love to her. She loved the attention he gave her, the thoroughness of his love making, and that flash of need that she'd see in his eyes that betrayed all the darker passions he wanted to do to her. She loved how he never let sex get boring and, although there times where she thought some of his suggestions were a little ridiculous (wear bunny ears?), she always appreciated his efforts to try something new. She loved how he always tried to make her orgasm first before he did (what woman wouldn't love that?) even if sometimes she didn't care about orgasming. She particularly loved that time when he had tied her to a chair, with her hands behind her back, blindfolded her, and then proceeded to use his mouth on every possible part of her body.

Oh, there were so many things to love about Uryuu Ishida.

So why couldn't she make herself say 'yes' when he got down on one knee and presented her with the world's most beautiful diamond?

"Sorry about that," Uryuu said sitting down in the arm chair and putting down the bag of takeout food. Orihime snapped out of her day dream, nearly jumping at hearing Uryuu's voice.

"When did the food get here?" Orihime asked in confusion.

"Somewhere between the end of my phone call and your day dreaming," he said wryly, pulling out the food and laying it out on the coffee table.

"Oh, sorry about that," Orihime said, blushing in embarrassment.

"Don't worry," he gave a quick laugh. "I'm used to you occasionally zoning out of this planet."

"It's a good thing you don't hold it against me," she said with a smiling as she reached over for her fajita salad.

"How could I?"

"I don't know," she said hesitantly, thinking to herself, you certainly don't have a problem holding other things against me.They ate in silence for a few moments, both of them starving and eating faster than they realized. Outside the storm had ended creating an eerie silence compared to the previously whistling of wind and tapping of rain. As Orihime opened her bottled water and regarded Uryuu, she felt guilty. It seemed she was the one who couldn't move past their relationship, he seemed to actually be doing fine right now. Clearing her throat, she vowed to start a new page with Uryuu. They may have to rebuild parts of their friendship that their romantic relationship and breakup had destroyed, but it could be done. He was still important to her.

"Are you alright?" Uryuu asked, raising an eyebrow at her clearing her throat. "Is the food okay? It's not as warm as it should be since it took so long to get here."

"Oh it's fine! It's a fajita salad; it doesn't need to be warm to be yummy!" Orihime said, taking a sip of her water.

"Haha, that's good. We wouldn't want you fainting in the middle of surgery out of starvation."

Orihime frowned at that comment, feeling a heaviness growing in her chest. Uryuu noticed the change in Orihime's mood instantly. It had always been easy for him to read her emotions when many others only saw the happy cheerful Orihime. She wasn't doing well; he could tell from the moment she showed up, but he didn't want to address it quite yet because he knew it meant bringing up the broken engagement. But this frown on her face now, he could tell was because of something else.

"What's the matter, Inoue?" He asked softly. Orihime looked up at him with heavy grey eyes that wanted to cry but couldn't. Uryuu reached over and put his hand over hers, which were currently fisted at her side. Orihime took a deep sigh before explaining what had happened with Lilly in the emergency the other day. Uryuu listened patiently, frowning slightly with attention as she told her story.

"That ridiculous," he said sharply. "There's no way they can suspend you for that. On what grounds?"

"I don't know…I suppose for practicing unconventional methods of medicine not approved by the board certification."

"You saved a life. They should be grateful to even have you working there," Uryuu said firmly. He was annoyed beyond words, but his calm firm words revealed a mature control that he had spent years cultivating. "We'll get you a lawyer. We can fight this and win. They have no reason or evidence against you."

"No, please don't do that. Nothing official has happened yet. Let's just wait and see…"

Uryuu sighed. "Alright, but please keep me posted on what's going on. My father knows more about hospital administration than anyone in the world and he still has a lot of influence. A phone from Ryuuken Ishida's son might dissuade them."

"Thank you, Uryuu." She smiled gratefully at him. "I'll let you know what happens. Let's just wait and see for now. It's possible this will go away on its own."

"Okay." He said softly, picking at what was left of his dinner.

"Do you think…" She started hesitantly, "Do you think Soul Society might find out about this?"

"I highly doubt it. They haven't cared about us for years, and this poses no threat to them," he said confidently.

"Yeah, I know it's been a while since we've had anything to do with them. But we all agreed to retire and let the new shinigami's do the work. In fact, we're forbidden to use our powers without their approval."

"Inoue, they have no sovereignty over us," he bristled. "Especially me. The Quincys do not serve Soul Society." Orihime still had a worried look on her face.

"It's going to be alright."

"No…I mean yes, I know things will be probably work out, but…but something else has happened recently."

"Oh?" He raised his eyebrows, surprised. Poor Inoue, she's had so much going on. I've been really selfish by staying mad at her. He swallowed guiltily.

"I saw Ulquiorra…"

Uryuu's mouth dropped open. He quickly closed it, putting himself in check. She told the story of how she encountered Ulquiorra that night in the emergency room. He watched her carefully as she told the story. Her eyes never met his once. She spoke fast, almost like she was out of breath. Something was…different about her. He didn't know how to react. As she told the story with great emotion, he was frantically trying to assess how he felt about the situation and what he should do.

"…So I don't know what to think. I mean, what do you think this might mean? Do you think the others might be around as well? Do you think he knows about all of us living in this city? He must have known, right? How could he not?"

"Inoue, I don't think you should make a big fuss out of this," he said standing up stiffly. He started cleaning up their empty food containers in order to distract himself. "Like he said, he's here on business. He probably isn't going to be staying very long. I'm also sure the university here is going to be really excited to have the foremost scholar in his field visit."

"But-"

"If you were worried about getting in trouble with Soul Society, this is what you should be worried about. We were explicitly told to stay away from them and let them live their lives."

"Well, it's not like I went out looking for him. He just showed up one night with a really bad head wound."

"Inoue, leave him be." He walked away from her and threw away the left over trash, and for a moment he stood there, facing the window and looking out into the darkness. Orihime couldn't see his face, but she saw his reflection in the glass window. His face looked dark and unreasonable in the harsh shadows of the reflection.

"Alright," she said softly, giving up on the topic. She was a little upset and disappointed with him. She thought he would actually discuss this with her, and the way he cut her off without even asking how she felt about the situation kind of hurt her.

"We should get going. I was planning on stopping by the hospice house to check on him." He said turning around, pausing for a moment as if waiting for her to catch up to where he was.

"Do you want me to go you with? Because I can-"

"No. No, thank you. He's probably going to be sleeping and the house keeps very strict rules about visitors after hours and keeping the house quiet." Uryuu pushed his glasses back in place.

"Oh, alright. But I would like to see him sometime," she said, standing up and reaching for her coat.

"I'm sure we could arrange that," he said, putting on his wool blazer. The two gathered their belongings as they prepared to leave the office. Uryuu made sure to lock the doors and set the alarm codes. Neither of them noticed the still damp purple hat that sat on the floor by the coffee table as they walked out. They both stayed silent on the elevator ride down. Things felt awkward again.

It was warmer out when they stepped outside and walked down the street. There was a lingering slight breeze, but the air felt humid with the leftovers of the storm. The research triangle of buildings stood dark and stoic in the night. They reached the end of the walkway and Orihime finally paused and looked directly at Uryuu.

"Thank you for dinner," she said. "It was really nice to talk again."

"Yes, it was nice." He said, his face not revealing much emotion.

"Maybe…maybe I'll see you at Ichigo and Rukia's baby shower?"

"Maybe. I'll see if my schedule permits it. Otherwise, I'll just send a present. No one will miss me," Uryuu said casually.

"That's not true. Ichigo and Rukia want you there. I know they sent you an invitation and they wouldn't have sent you one if they didn't want to see you."

"I suspect Ichigo's sisters probably had something to do with the shower planning and invitations."

"I'm sure Ichigo and Rukia had to give a guest list to them," Orihime pressed.

"Well, whatever. We'll see if I can make it," he said, his hand in his pocket jingled his keys anxiously.

"Okay. Well…bye Uryuu. It was so good to see you." She said, giving him a warm smile of regret. He waited a heartbeat, looking at her thoughtfully as if he wasn't sure whether she meant it or not.

"It was good to see you too, Inoue." He finally said. Orihime could by the tone of his voice and the look in his eyes that he really meant it, and her smiled widened, losing the doubt it had hidden.

"Good-bye, Ishida." She said as she turned to walk to her car. He didn't miss the change in what she called him, but he simply turned around heading to his car as well.

"Good-bye, Inoue."