Author's Note; Thank you so much for reading! I really appreciate it.

Just so you are aware, the "F" word is used twice in this chapter, although it is used in a completely nonvulgar, not-obnoxious way, and that truly makes all the difference. But, just so you know....

The shivering wind rustled my hair, sending it flying all over my face. It was difficult to see through the strands, but I knew the path to Karakura High School well, being that I walked there everyday to and fro. That was our designated meeting place; he, Ulquiorra, would open his Garganta there, allowing us to proceed to my new…home. A shiver not caused by the incessant wind traveled across my skin.

It was difficult to believe that I would be living in Hueco Mundo, the alternate land for Hollows. Another chill touched my flesh; I'd be constantly surrounded by lost souls. The thought sort of made me go still inside, like a saddened freezing, yet I kept walking. I hung my head as the wind beat against it, not too sure what I was feeling.

The howling wind seemed like only a distant roar in the back of my head as I focused on the image of Ichigo attempting sleep. He was still vivid and clear in my mind; the way his breathing was quicker than it was when he was asleep, how his eyebrows were creased together in that constant frustrated expression of his, how his hands were then curled up into fists as if he were attempting to squeeze the uneasy feeling out of himself...

But.., that was how Ichigo always acted.

He always wore a scowl, but it was soft and was mostly caused by confusion or agitation rather than pure anger. His hands were always balled up, sometimes to the point of turning his knuckles white. Why he did that, I wasn't too sure. But maybe it was due to his natural urge to protect, as if there will always be a fight around the corner and he had to be prepared. No matter where he went, you could count on him to don tightly clenched hands, and because of this you felt so much safer.

So….if these actions of his were so common, then why did they seem all the more special?

A soft, warmer tint reached my cheeks that not even the cold breeze could wipe away. I rested my hand upon my face, embracing the warmth, and continued my walk with the wind still only playing in the distance. Instead, my footsteps pounded against the sidewalk with incredible force, or so it seemed.

Thump. Thump. Thump. echoed through my skull, reminding me of the ticking of a clock. Each thump, I realized, was bringing me closer to Ulquiorra…bringing me farther away from Ichigo.

The warmth that had once fluttered around my cheeks was gone in almost an instant, ice cold dread replacing it. If a freezing wind couldn't touch my cheeks, yet mere thoughts of Ulquiorra could…

I stopped walking, probably not even noticing I stopped, and looked up at the stars. Blinking and shining, I felt mocked.

"Fuck," I whispered, the single word wavering.

Yet they continued to sparkle and I just felt all the more embarrassed. I shut my eyes tight, enclosing the tears that threatened to spill. The extra moisture that needed to be freed stung and caused me to cringe. But I would not allow the stars the satisfaction of seeing me cry.

What would Ichigo think of me right now if he were here? I asked myself. The image I had captured of him floated steady in my mind. I concentrated on that for awhile, calming myself down a bit. If a simple thought of Ichigo could obliterate the cold Ulquiorra brought…. I smiled.

I slowly lowered myself onto the sidewalk, my bottom finding a comfortable spot. After a moment, I settled and stared back up at the sky, almost expecting the stars to of dimmed at my slightly risen spirits. But they stood firm, glowing like they had only a few seconds to live.

It sickened me.

I shook my head with frustration, closing my eyes, which were still stinging. As my head sharply went back and forth, unintentionally spilled tears flew from my lids and it was as if I could hear them splash and pound against the sidewalk whilst I still couldn't hear the wind.

I shook, wondering what had happened to that image of Ichigo, that soft and comforting recollection. I threw my head back, my auburn hair out of my face, screeched "FUCK!" out into the air, and ended with a throaty inhale, followed by a tear-filled choke.

"My, what a vulgar word to come out of your mouth." a cool voice sounded behind me. I yelped and my eyes went wide with fear.

His voice sent a sense of cold to every inch of my body, my ears ringing with the frost. I was terrified, staying in my same position and not moving a muscle like my life depended on it…because it was very possible that it did.

But after a few minutes of this, I grew horrified, for I could sense nothing behind me and complete silence all around.

Had he gone? Had it been, do I dare even wonder, my imagination?

I gulped slowly and began to slowly turned my head, inch by inch, dreading what I would see. Though when I finally turned my neck enough and was staring straight behind me, there was nothing to be seen.

My tear streaked face went into a pouty and confused look, my eyebrows lowering and my lower lip sticking out in a frustrated way. I wiped my eyes, sniffing, and shook my head to "shake out of it."

Turning back around, I screamed as I looked up to see him looking down.

His uniform billowed white against the pitch black sky, the stars complementing him with their luster. His green eyes pierced and eliminated whatever peace of mind I had possessed before, and as I tried to imagine Ichigo all I could think of was Ulquiorra's hand lowering to the collar of my shirt and lifting me up to that it was my turn to be looking down on him. My feet were far off the ground and my nerves told me to struggle and kick around but I was unable to. His eyes literally pierced me so that I was bound, unable to move, and completely under his command.

"Didn't I ask you to meet me at your school, woman?" he commanded an answer, his single toned statement worse than any raised or lowered voice.

I couldn't breathe as I attempted to speak. If possible, he frowned even more. "Are you incapable of talking? I thought I heard you nice and clear when you screamed profanities at the sky," he sounded bored which frustrated me beyond belief. Couldn't he tell I was simply overwhelmed? Shouldn't he be smirking with his black lips, knowing that he had that sort of power?

Anger flared through me and I cranked my leg back and swung it with as much force as I could muster. My foot connected with his hard abdominals and I gasped in pain as my toes throbbed.

I thought I had caught a quick glimpse of something similar to surprise or shock reach his eyes but it quickly vanished. So instead of glaring at a man with a little emotion across his face, I stared dead straight at a man who looked bored, uninterested, and most certainly not amused. He simply stared back as if observing my soul. But of course, his face showed that my soul wasn't anything special, nothing to be excited about, and a waste of his time for not the slightest hint of expression was visible on this man's face.

"Well?" he drawled, slightly rolling his eyes up to the black night, past me. "Why are you not present at our agreed meeting point?"

I moved my gaze up and down his body, sizing him up. After observing his lean and muscular body, after concentrating on the rough and strong hand grasping my collar, after getting a huge dose of those merciless eyes….

Yup, I concluded. This guy can kill me if I say the wrong thing.

I cleared my throat. "Please excuse that, Ulquiorra, I was just simply saying farewell to my hometown-" I flinched when his eyes came upon me with an 'Oh please,' look. "...In my own special way." I did my best to hide my emotions as well as he does, but I could sense my failure.

He kept me elevated like that for awhile, never ceasing staring at me.

Does he…ever blink? I wondered, never seeing him take even a second-long break from staring into my own earthy eyes.

I saw his gaze wonder occasionally, observing my attire as well as how I held myself; I tried to give the impression that I was the strong, "give me what you got" type of girl, staring at him with, what I thought to be, defiance. I wished that the gears in his brain were cranking, thinking "This girl could be trouble," and "We sure got ourselves a handful with this one," and maybe even "Aizen-sama was wrong about this girl; she wouldn't be as easy to abduct as we had thought,".

I blinked, not opening my eyes back up as a faint smile tugged on my lips at the idea of those thoughts entering such a strong being.

I heard him say, barely audible "What is there to be smiling about?"

I opened my eyes up, looking back at those mocking stars. I could see a film of red slide over my eyes as anger swept back into my body. I suddenly and jerkingly averted my gaze down to down at him, and murky brown met electric green.

The world froze, and it was just brown and green; those were the only things that mattered.

My mouth lightly fell open as the emerald pools drowned me, suffocated me, engulfed me. I let out a gasp as my head fell back, my eyes back on the stars. I was dizzy and confused and the stars were dancing, spinning around the sky. Ulquiorra's grip slightly loosened as I came to slowly, my breathing taking its time to return to normal.

What…the hell just happened? I thought with wide eyes, not even daring to look back at him. What if it happened again? Was I scared that such a sensation might return?

But…I kind of liked it. I thought with a guilty grimace. How could swimming endlessly in the eyes of such an evil man feel good? How could it feel so…right?

I bit my lip hard, tasting the hard iron of blood. The strong taste reminded me of the position I was in and I finally officially "snapped out of" that insane sensation I just experienced. This was no time to contemplate how the world froze like that, how those eyes frosted me over until I was just barely alive.

I hesitantly looked back down to see him staring at the ground. He seemed lost in thought and I watched him think with a slightly tilted head. I was highly acute to the feeling of his knuckles grazing my neck and his palm brushing occasionally up against my collar bone. His soft white skin stood out against my "pale" peachy skin…or would it be that my skin was the one that stood out? Another thing I pondered about while I allowed Ulquiorra to think; the minutes crept by.

I was marveling at his muscles rippling through his uniform when the grip on my collar disappeared, then suddenly and horrendously appeared at my throat, dangerously grasping at my neck.

I gasped in shock as my air supply was cut off and I stared in horror as his gaze moved up to mine at a glacial pace. He looked displeased at my reaction and only strengthened his hold. I rasped for air, only getting a few sharp inhales that weren't close to satisfying my lungs.

He looked me up...then down. And when his emerald's came back to my face, I watched with terror as the tiniest and most miniscule smirk dressed his lips.

I thawed out instantly; my world was no longer frozen but aflame with anger and agitation. My leg, thinking by itself, attempted another legitimate kick, swinging back and charging with all its efforts to somewhere…anywhere that would cause him some sort of pain. But his free hand caught my calf, twisted it with a sickening snap, and dropped me to the hard ground in a blink's time.

I cried out as I felt the excruciating pain of a broken leg, whimpering at my hard fall, and cringing at the look Ulquiorra gave me now. It lacked that maddening smirk; his face only held those heart stopping eyes which were full of disgust.

I panted, not holding back the tears my eyes were releasing as I frustratingly tried to find the words…..

"Sōten Kisshun!" I yelped, coming to the realization. A warmth tickled my temples and I kept the pain at bay knowing I was soon to be healed. "I reject!"

I finished the summon, watching as an orange light wrapped around my contorted leg. I sighed and wiped away my pain-filled tears, feeling the pain my leg went through evaporate. A minute went by and the light faded away from my calf, returning to my pins.

I sniffed, straightened my bangs out of habit, and titled my head upward, glaring. His eyes still held pure distaste, but mingled in with that was curiosity. "So this is why…," he muttered to himself.

Gently biting on his charcoal lower lip, he bent down, wrapped his arm around my waist, and lifted me up so that I was hanging out of his arm, his hand effortlessly holding my side.

"Let me down!" I yelled unintentionally loud, squirming. "This is barbaric!"

But he simply started the way to Karakura High School, his feet barely making a sound compared to the steps I had made.

"Firstly, you will address me with formalities. You will speak my name as Ulquiorra-sama." I weighed his heartless words, staying silent for a few moments. After a minute, I wriggled a little, getting as comfortable as I could get in this very uncomfortable position, and nodded. "Yes, Ulquiorra-sama." I prepared myself for a long lecture.

"Secondly," his voice shook my skull, "I will be the one looking after you while you live in Las Noches. I will expect respect and obedience." He said his words firmly and I tried to imagine his wrath if I went against him. My shoulders tense with the thoughts, I murmured "Yes…Ulquiorra-sama."

We travelled in silence for awhile, him making absolutely no noise while I gently made gasping breaths for his forearm was crushing against my lungs. This is no way to carry me, I thought, my eyebrows cinching together. But then they shot up as I remembered I was wearing a skirt; this carrying position then made me feel exposed.

I did my best to move my skirt down more to cover my bottom without using my hands, but to no prevail. After struggling as quietly as I could, I went limp in his arm, giving up.

I felt his eyes move down to my face, inquiring what my movements were about. "What was all that?" he asked, making my accusations spot on.

"It's just…," I started, "The way you're carrying me is uncomfortable and I don't see a need for it." He cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh really?" he said with mock interest.

"Yes, really," I said, not letting him phase me. "Please, Ulquiorra-sama? Would you let me down? I have no intention of leaving…I've given up." I said honestly, noticing my voice wavered at the last of my sentence.

He continued walking while looking down at me, but I stared straight ahead, hoping that he'd show some respect towards my wish. Then, his eyes went away from me as he said indifferently "As you wish."

I then realized what he'd do a second before it happened; his grip vanished and I went crashing onto the cement, letting out a cry at its impact.

"Now what seems more uncomfortable?" he questioned. "That fall you just took or being latched in my arm?"

As I struggled to get up, I felt a blush enter my cheeks. Being in his arm…wasn't half bad. The strength radiating off of him, the scent of nothing but pure masculinity, his hand gripping my side…

I smacked myself as hard as I could, the sound echoing against the wind. He stopped in his tracks and turned around, placing his weight on his right foot as he stared at me. His eyes seemed to glow in the night; two glimmering green specks.

Ulquiorra just stood there, watching the undoubtedly odd scene. He evaluated me for a few seconds, then pivoted, walking away. I saw him shaking his head as his voice called out abruptly "Thirdly, none of that. It makes you look nothing less than ridiculous. You are required to present yourself in a mature, upright way. But do not let yourself get too confident; you are lower than us Espada. One step out of line in our books, and you take what you get with open arms."

The wind stung my eyes as I jolted out of my fantasy and slapping frenzy. I sprinted to catch up, my legs appreciating being able to move. I stopped just short of his back, halting, then keeping up with his walking pace.

"Hai, Ulquiorra-sama," I said.

It was not until I was too used to darkness, too deep to hear reality, too suffocated to control my senses, too broken to make sense of what was happening …that I realized that the thought of running away hadn't reached my mind when I was freed from his clutches. I willingly chased after him, more than welcomed my fate to be sealed around these horrible people.

I… was walking away.

...This is about the length of what a normal chapter will be. Roughly 3,000 words, although I can't promise it won't go over at times. (;

Thanks again for reading! I would love it if you provided a review since knowing what others think is a great thing when it comes to writing the story. So...yes, thanks! /Author's Note End-