"Orihime!" Ichigo yelled from the floor, unable to move from the pain. His human body was, after all much easier to damage and if one of Ulquiorra's ceros could hurt him so much in his Soul Reaper form…well I'm sure you can follow Orihime's train of thought. Basically, she knew she was screwed. There was no way she could fend off the small but powerful Arrancar before her, and Ichigo wasn't going to get up and help anytime soon.
Maybe it's best if I just go with him…
"Did you hear me, Woman?"
The regrettably familiar use of the word as her name had her attention turned over to Ulquiorra. He stood before her; right arm outstretched in an inviting manner, attempting to trick her into believing there was a choice involved.
I guess I should just go then…. But what about Ichigo!!
Her head snapped back towards her fallen comrade's now unconscious form.
Ulquiorra, understanding the small nuances of her movements, addressed her once more, "Come with me now and I might spare his life."
Orihime knew not to ignore the rare generosity and quickly took his hand and let him lead her away, but not without one last sad glance to the red head and what almost was.
Before she knew it they were standing in front of her apartment. Ulquiorra motioned for her to open the door, which had her fumbling through her school bag for her key. Upon finding it, she placed the small metal into the doorknob and turned it, unlocking the door and opening it.
"It's about time, Ulquiorra!" A familiar voice shot from the kitchen. Orihime gasped in surprise as she turned and saw none other than Grimmjow! The same Espada she had been daydreaming about not 4 hours ago.
She immediately blushed and turned away, earning herself strange glances from both Arrancar in the room.
OhmyGodOhmyGodOhmyGod…
"Jeez Ulquiorra, what'd ya do to her?" Grimmjow asked from behind the sandwich in his mouth. "She's about as red as one of these… tom- tom-…" He drifted off tilting his head to the side, eyebrows furrowed in an inquisitive look, "Well one of these juicy, red, ball things." He finished his thought and took a bite into his sandwich as he held up the small vegetable with the elusive name.
Or is it a fruit…?
Oh it doesn't matter!! The point is I have two Espada in my house and no idea what they want with me!
She panicked slightly as the thought struck her, and when she came to her senses she was startled almost out of her skin as she saw a pair of electric blue eyes staring into her grey ones.
"Ahh!" she jumped back and hit something solid, which turned out to be Ulquiorra's strong chest, causing her to jump in alarm once more and causing Ulquiorra to let out a much deserved sigh of annoyance.
"Grimmjow…" he started, "I hardly think this is any way to treat our new hostess."
Orihime, with a new found level of annoyance, burst back at Ulquiorra, "Well you're one to talk! You attack Ichigo and me with a cero, almost kill him, and then drag me over here without any sort of explanation whatsoever! I demand to know what's going on"
She crossed her arms, now satisfied with herself for telling him off…
"Wait you shot a cero at them!? No fair! You said..." Grimmjow's overly excited voice carried on until a thought distracted the small girl.
Wait, what was that word he used?
"Did you say, hostess?" she inquired up at the strange man before her. This silenced the complaints of Grimmjow as he waited to see how Ulquiorra would handle this one. The pale man merely nodded once, the usual lack of any sort of emotion behind it. Typical. This only confused the small girl further.
"Yeah," Grimmjow said, plopping unceremoniously on the girl's small couch and taking another bite of his sandwich.
"Did he stutter?" he said through a mouth full of sandwich… it wasn't attractive.
"N-No, he didn't…" she began, "I just--I don't get—"
"Perhaps an explanation is in order." Ulquiorra stated from behind her as he walked over to the couch and sat down next to Grimmjow. They both looked up at Orihime expectantly, waiting for her to take a seat so that they could start.
"Hai! I'll just go make some tea and we can—"
"NO!!" She jumped in surprise as both men yelled and looked at her with expressions that can only be described as one of pure terror.
"Please… no more tea…" Ulquiorra began.
"Just for once I'd like to have a meeting without bloody tea involved!" Grimmjow practically yelled.
Where Ulquiorra lacked life and emotion, the strange blue haired man made up for it in abundance.
"I swear if I have to drink one more drop of that shit I'll—"
"Grimmjow." Ulquiorra said calmly, attempting to stop the no doubt vulgar rant that the emotional man next to him was about to embark on. "Eat your sandwich."
Grimmjow took a bite, this one much more furious than the last, and muttered to himself something incomprehensible about weird old men and their tea fetishes.
Orihime blinked once at the men and their strange antics and then made her way over to the couch.
They seem so different now…
She pondered this further until Ulquiorra's smooth voice turned her attention back to the situation at present.
"We're going to have to ask you if we can stay here for a while. You see, the situation in Hueco Mundo is..." he trailed off attempting to find the proper word.
"It's fucked." Grimmjow stated, yet another bit of the sandwich currently swishing around in that abnormally large mouth of his.
Ulquiorra sighed at the use of the profanity, before continuing again.
"Yes, thank you Grimmjow." He said, earning himself a large grin from the blue haired man sitting next to him.
"But Ulquiorra, you didn't tell her the rest." Grimmjow stated, finally having something of substance to add to the conversation now that his sandwich had been devoured. Ulquiorra looked at him before turning his gaze to a still confused Orihime.
Just what the heck is going on here?
"Woman," he began. "We need your help."
A/N: Hey guys! I'm so sorry about the wait!! College just got ridiculously crazy… well I'm sure you all know how it goes. We hope you've enjoyed Chapter 4! Let us know what you think so far and we'll try to get out Chapter 5 much, much sooner. Sorry again. I feel horrible, I really do.
-B