It was a shame that only one part of Murciélago could fit inside his house. The bigger half wouldn't fit in, no matter how hard Ulquiorra pushed at it. It just made the box dent and warp.
Whatever, Ulquiorra thought, climbing inside his house. His box, really. The larger piece of Murciélago he left on the outside of the box, tucked under an old blue tarp that he had scrounged from someone's garage. It sent a little chill down his spine.
"Murciélago," he whispered.
He curled up - the park was a long walk from his house, and it was dark now - and fell asleep.
**!**
"Hello, Grimm."
The small boy turned to see a pale hand on his shoulder. "Yo, freak," he sneered. Ulquiorra's facial expression did not change, silent in the face of scorn.
"You know that freak?" Grimm's friends said incredulously.
Grimm looked at Ulquiorra uneasily. But he was still young; it never occurred to him to lie. "Kind of." He zipped up his white jacket, his palm sliding over the white and black striped panther prowling over the right breast. Then he turned and faced his friends, leaving Ulquiorra to rub his hands tiredly over his weirdly wrinkled spot.
The man he'd seen in the park yesterday just would not leave his mind. Every time Ulquiorra thought of him, a shiver wracked his body, and his bones ached. Who was he? And why did he seem so familiar?
The Sensei at the front of the room clapped her hands. "Okay, boys and girls. Find your seats!"
Ulquiorra sat down in the nearest desk. Glancing to his left, he saw a girl with hay-colored hair and a scowl. To his right was Grimm. Grimm shot him a sneer.
"All of you know how to write your names, correct?" Sensei called. There was a flurry of nods from all around Ulquiorra. His eyes widened in panic. No, he did not know how to write his name. He lived in a box off of East 55th street! When would he have learned something like that?
Sensei narrowed her eyes at him. "Can you write your name..." -she looked down at her list- "Ulquiorra?"
Her gray eyes widened, and she drew in a sharp breath. Her eyes settled on him, then moved out, focusing on the girl next to him, focusing on Grimm. She pressed a hand to her heart, took a deep breath, and focused her orbs on Ulquiorra. "Well?"
Ulquiorra's heart thumped wetly in his chest. He swallowed. "No, ma'am."
"Well, why ever not?" she asked. Then her eyes fell on a note on her papers. "Oh, I see. Well, everyone, I will pass out a paper and pencil. I want each of you to print your names on the paper. As neatly as you can! If you mess up, turn the paper over. When you're done, I will come around and tape your names to your seats. Any questions?"
"Yes. What happens if we mess up another time?" Grimm called. His cronies laughed. Ulquiorra's eyes narrowed in disgust.
"Then you will have to choose which mistake you prefer, Mr. Grimmjow," Sensei said calmly. Grimm wilted. "Okay, everyone. Here I come."
She slowly began making her way up and down the rows of desks. Grimm received his, and, gripping his pencil tightly and unnaturally, began to write his name. The letters were large and ballooned, but they were nonetheless letters. Far better than what Ulquiorra could do.
Next to him, the blond girl was printing her name. Her letters were short and squat, and her lines were bold. Ulquiorra looked to see her facial expression, but her collar was turned up, covering the bottom half of her face. He glanced back down. Hallie, her card read. Hm.
"Ulquiorra," the Sensei said quietly. His attention snapped back. "Do you need a hand?"
"Yes," Ulquiorra said truthfully.
"Pick up your pencil." She leaned over him, her auburn hair brushing the back of his neck.
Ulquiorra closed his fingers unnaturally around the pencil. He lifted it, and with his other hand attempted to make the fit more comfortable. How did people do this every single day? he wondered.
"Good." Sensei put her hand over his. Her hand was warm and chalky feeling. "First comes the U..."
Together they traced the letters in his name. Her skin was so much darker than his, each finger looking orange compared to his own. He was so busy watching the contrast that he didn't notice when they finished the A and his name was written.
"Thank you, Kurosaki-Sensei," he said respectfully.
"You're welcome," she said, and wrote one more thing on his name tag. Then she moved to the front of the room, and Ulquiorra squinted at the extra note.
It said MURCIÉLAGO.
Surprised, he looked up at her. She winked. Then she moved back up and began writing on the board.
**!**
"Ichigo, I'm not kidding you. There are three Espada in my kindergarten class!"
Ulquiorra froze. He had been walking out to recess when he'd passed the music room. The door was slightly ajar, and the voice coming from within was definitely Sensei on her cell phone.
"Which ones?" she said. "Hmm...6, 4, and 3." There was a pause. "Okay, um...I can't say their names, someone might hear." She paused. "Yes, they have the same names. Okay, how about blue, green, and yellow? No, not Nnoitra! The other yellow one. Yes, her. And the other two...Well, talk to Urahara-san! I don't know what to do. But don't tell Renji-kun or Rukia, okay? I don't want the Soul Society to know." There was another pause. "Okay. See you later. Love you, too."
There were footsteps. With a burst of speed, Ulquiorra sprinted away from the door. He turned the corner just as Sensei came out.
"Hello?" she called, but he was gone.
Ulquiorra thundered down the stairs. Bursting out onto the playground, he headed for the sandbox. He'd always been drawn to sand, for some reason. He just couldn't get enough of it. Even when it was in his hair, under his fingernails…he didn't care. He loved the gritty feeling of it when he rolled it between his fingertips. So he always played in the sandbox when he had a chance to.
Except there was already someone in the sandbox. It was that girl, Hallie. She was very blond. Her hair was raggedly cut, like she'd done it herself, and her eyes were a kind of turquoise. Her collar was folded up over the bottom half of her face, covering her nose and mouth. She didn't look up when she sensed him approaching.
"Hello," Ulquiorra said hesitantly.
Hallie didn't say anything. Her hands kept shaping the sand, and Ulquiorra looked down at what she was making.
"Hey," he said, surprised. "That's Las Noches." He recognized the shape from the one he'd made at the park the last two days. "How did you find out about that?"
Hallie didn't say anything, but her hands kept moving over the sand. Ulquiorra sat down to help her, stilling his hands when he felt eyes on his back. He looked up to see Grimm watching them with longing.
"What are you looking at those freaks for, Grimm?" his cronies called. Grimm turned away.
"Just wondering what freaks do in their spare time," he told them, just loud enough for Ulquiorra and Hallie to hear. Hallie's eyes narrowed a little bit. Ulquiorra shook his head.
"You might not believe this," he said, "but yesterday me and Grimm were at the park. He played in the sandbox with me. And then we played swords with sticks. I won."
Hallie's eyes widened, and she stood.
"Where are you going?" he asked her.
Again, no words passed her lips. Ulquiorra was beginning to wonder if she was mute. He watched her as she marched across the playground over to Grimm.
Grimm turned as she approached. Her back was to Ulquiorra, so he couldn't see what was happening. But then Hallie reached up and folded down her collar. Grimm looked down at her mouth. His eyes widened. His cronies whimpered. Grimm looked up just in time for Hallie to reach up and slap him across the face, right over his white spot. He doubled over in pain as Hallie dusted off her hands and folded her collar back up.
"Miss Halibel!" called the sensei on duty. "Miss Halibel, please come with me. There is no hitting on the playground. Please come with me."
Ulquiorra watched in amazement as Hallie marched over to the sensei, who waved over an older boy. "Mr. Starrk, please escort Miss Halibel over to the office."
The older boy, who had shaggy brown hair, gray eyes, and a solemn pull to his face, gently put his hand on Hallie's back. They walked off to the office, Hallie marching a little bit ahead of the boy, still not speaking. Her arms were crossed, and his shoulders were slightly slumped in defeat. She sure did a lot of marching. Maybe she was trying to make up for the fact that she couldn't talk?
Ulquiorra went over to Grimm, whose cronies had fled when Hallie had hit him. He was rubbing his disfigured cheek. The bleached white had turned a little pink.
"Are you okay?" he asked Grimm.
"I don't need your sympathy," Grimm snapped. "Freak."
"You know what my name is," Ulquiorra reminded him calmly. "We had this discussion, Grimmjow." He pronounced Grimm's real name harshly, and Grimm narrowed his light blue eyes at the pale boy.
"Yes, I do, Ul-kee-or-ra," he said, over-pronouncing Ulquiorra's name. Ulquiorra looked at him in disgust.
"See you around, then, Grimm."
"See you around, freak."Grimm howled with laughter, elated at coming out on top. Ulquiorra turned on his heel and stalked away as Grimm's cronies drifted back into place, his boxy T-shirt swaying. Sand had slithered down through the holes in his jeans, and into his dirty sneakers, but he didn't care. He loved the sand. Even when it was in his hair, under his fingernails…he didn't care. He loved the gritty feeling of it when he rolled it between his fingertips. So he went back to the sandbox to construct the city in his dreams.
So hey. I'd like to respond to some reviews here…
BetrayalIsBeautiful: Well, there's two more for you…so I hope you are satisfied! And, interesting pen name.
D4ancingD4wn: Yep, that's kind of why I started this.
Kajune: Weird! That's a real kowinkydink. I read yours…it was very interesting! I'm looking forward to reading more…
Icedragonshiki: It's coming. If you couldn't tell, the teacher is Orihime. I'm building up to the grand meeting now…
Fatalism-x-Nihilism: I'm glad it caught your attention.
XBlackened MiseryX: Wow! You sure know what you want. Well, here it is on a silver platter.
R&R?
-TheCatWithTheHat