Somehow Urahara forged some documents and hacked some computers because Ulquiorra was now a college student enrolled in some accounting courses at the university a town away. He had a phone that had been programmed with Grimmjow's, Nel's, and Urahara's numbers. He had been taught how to use the apps and the internet.
He was a smart creature. Anything could be figured out given enough time.
The only thing he couldn't decipher were his feelings. Whenever he thought of Ichigo Kurosaki, he felt nothing but disgust and anger. Why hadn't the boy just killed him when he asked? Why had he left things like that? Ulquiorra knew what would happen.
When his brain turned to thoughts of long coppery-red hair, and big dark eyes, these emotions would be all over the place. His frame of mind would shift from anger to affection. Irritation, annoyance, resentment would morph into fondness, sympathy, and tenderness.
Ulquiorra hated it. He didn't want to feel these things for this human.
There were times where he would look at Grimmjow and experience a strange pulling from the bottom of his stomach. He didn't understand this. Urahara said that his Gigai could experience things that humans did. He didn't like it.
The same thing happened when he would catch sight of Nel. Different things would happen though. His brain registered it as desire. It felt like what he experienced with Grimmjow but deeper.
If he lay on his futon in the room Urahara let him use, late at night, he could hear Grimmjow breathing heavily, grunting and quietly growling. He listened for Nel's labored breaths, small mewls and muffled cries. The two other Arrancars slept in one room. Were they mates?
Three months passed by before he got his answer. It had been the same thing every day for the last ninety days; get up, eat, go to classes, come back to Urahara's help around the shoten and warehouse, eat, bathe, homework, sleep. It was often implied as a complaint, but Ulquiorra had no problem with it. He was okay with the routine.
This morning, however, had been different. Grimmjow had gone somewhere early that morning, probably to his job. He did something with construction or demolition, Ulquiorra wasn't sure. He walked past their shared room; the door was opened. He could see Nel inside, and she was naked. His green eyes automatically slid over her body. Ulquiorra saw the blush on her face. He finally got to see what Grimmjow pointed out those first few days before he got stuck in the Gigai.
"Sorry," she said quickly covering her body with a sheet. "I thought I was here alone."
"No worries," Ulquiorra said. He was going to walk past the room, but he couldn't get his feet to move. His brain seemed to be listening to his groin.
"You shouldn't stare," she said. "It's considered rude."
"I can't look, but it's okay for me to hear it?" Ulquiorra said, raising an eyebrow. Hollows mated but it was rare, and most of the time it was to show dominance or a spoil of battle. He did not comprehend the humans and their awkward mannerisms. He did not understand why the former Espadas would have adapted to their ways.
The blush on her face deepened. "You've heard us?"
"Is Grimmjow your mate?"
"You can't go around asking if people are mating each other! That's impolite!"
"But you are mating."
"Uh, kind of?"
He drew his eyebrows together. "What is the purpose of it? You are the stronger Arrancar," Ulquiorra pointed out.
Nel looked very annoyed as she sat up, holding the sheet to her chest. "We're pretty much humans at this point, Ulquiorra. Grimmjow and I've been here for a long time. In Hueco Mundo sure, a couple of years is nothing but the passage of time is slower here. Our Gigais have the same instincts as humans. We get hungry. We need sleep. We need sunlight, water, and air. We like to have sex."
Sex? Sex? What was sex? He had only heard of the term mating. Nnoitra called it fucking but still. Was sex, mating and fucking the same thing? "What is the purpose?"
"Pleasure," Nel answered, the blush intensifying across her face. "It feels good. How old are you? Shouldn't you know this stuff?"
"I am centuries old, but I've never seen any need to mate with anyone," he replied. "There's no need for it."
"Have you ever felt desire?"
"Yes. I experience it when I hear you and Grimmjow at night. I feel it when Yoruichi isn't wearing much or is in the hot springs in the basement. I felt it when seeing you with little to no clothing on," he answered in a monotone voice. "What is your point?"
Nel sighed. "Could you turn around so I can get dressed?"
"I've already seen your body, why the modesty?" Ulquiorra was getting frustrated because Nel wasn't answering his questions. "Do you not wish me to see your body because you do not want to mate with me?"
Ulquiorra could have sworn Nel's eyebrows disappeared into her hair. The woman spluttered and flailed at a response, but she ended up shoving him out of the room and sliding the door shut as hard as she could.
With a scowl, he turned and stalked back down the hallway. He saw Urahara standing with a smirk plastered on his face. "Is something amusing?" the former Espada asked.
"Not at all," the blond said, fetching his fan out of his sleeve. The former Shinigami flicked the object opened and held it in front of his face. "Do you have any plans for the rest of the day? There are some orders I need to be fulfilled; before you ask, Jinta and Ururu are both at school."
He helped the blond Shinigami until he was hungry. He left the shoten and walked down to a convenience store that carried pre-made bento boxes. Ulquiorra did not like walking into grocery stores. He did not like being around large groups of people. The most he could tolerate were about two dozen humans at once. It was the most Arrancar he had been around in his life. He'd been around more Hollows, but he had killed them.
He paid for his purchase and was walking to the door of the shop when a blinding color stopped him. Ulquiorra almost dropped the bag that had his meal in it. Instinctively, his fingers tightened on the plastic and held onto the thing.
Copper.
It had been coppery-red hair. He rushed out of the shop only to look both directions. The person with the hair was nowhere in sight.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
His throat went dry, and he tried not to look disappointed as he walked back to Urahara's shop with his food. Was that Orihime? Had that been her walking past the store? How many people had that color hair?
Maybe he should ask Nel or maybe Yoruichi once he got back. Ulquiorra noticed he was close to the shop when he found himself face to face with an angry blue-haired human.
"Your ass is mine, Cifer. I'm gonna beat your face into the dirt!"
This was all he needed, he thought with a baleful expression on his face. "What have I done? Do you think you can defeat me?"
"You don't ask my woman to fuck you! You can't just sit around like an animal, screaming I want to fuck at every female," Grimmjow yelled at him. "Humans aren't—"
"I'm not human. I am a Hollow. I am a Vasto Lordes. I am an Arrancar. I am an Espada," Ulquiorra hissed. "I did not ask Nelliel to fuck her. If she does not want to be solicited, then please suggest that she wears clothing. Or better yet, why don't you two shut the fuck up at night."
With that Ulquiorra threw the bag in his hands at Grimmjow's face and took off running. He wasn't sure where he was going, but he knew he didn't want to be around that damn building anymore.
