Chapter 4

As Orihime's alarm played its delightful tune, the girl woke up and did her morning stretch. She then went through her normal routine of getting ready for school and quickly left for school. The girl was in a rush to meet up with her best friend before school, knowing that Tatsuki was still worried about her after what happened that previous Saturday when Ichigo admitted he had feelings for Rukia. Honestly, she still felt terrible and kept replaying their conversation in her head and it was driving her insane.

"If only that magic potion was real," she thought to herself.

Finally, Orihime could see Tatsuki waiting in their usual spot and ran up to her. As she neared her best friend, she was immediately pulled into a tight hug as she could feel Tatsuki rub the top of her head as if she were a dog.

"I know it's hard, Orihime, and I know you are getting tired of pretending around everyone, but please hang in there. I may not know anything about love, but I do know that there is somebody out there for you and I'm sorry but it isn't Ichigo," she said, still stroking through Orihime's mane of hair.

"Thank you, Tatsuki. I don't know why, but it feels like I'll be OK. It's hard to explain because I feel so sad… yet so relieved. Maybe I just needed to hear Kurosaki-kun admit his feelings before I can start moving on," Orihime replied, giving her worried friend a gentle smile. "I just hope that I don't get paired with Kurosaki-kun today for project week! I'm definitely not ready for that!"
"Shit, that's this week! Hopefully sensei puts us together!" The two then continued their walk to school while Tatsuki discussed in great detail her newest prey in karate club, cheering Orihime up in the meantime.

Class had started rather boringly that day. All of the students were anxious to find out who they were going to be working with for the rest of that week and were disappointed to start the day learning about geometrical proofs. Though Orihime felt the urge to stare at the boy she longed for, for years, she managed to resist it and stay focused, deciding that her grades are far more important than her nonexistent love life.


"Since it's almost time for lunch, I'll tell you all what you've been dying to hear now. I would advise using your break to get to know your partners better and set up meetings outside of school because I guarantee that you will need to work on this outside of school as well as in this classroom," the teacher started, finally giving the students something to look forward to, hoping they would get paired with their friends. "You'll notice that none of you will be paired with your friends. I know that there has been some slight tension since the merging of HMHS and KHS, so I thought I would pair one from each school together or those that never really spoke to let you all get to know each other better. Hopefully this'll get rid of most of the fighting in the hallways." Students groaned and voiced their complaints before the teacher started listing pairs.

Orihime listened tentatively for her partner. She had hoped to get somebody that would be kind to her. While she had sympathy towards Grimmjow and Nnoitra, she most certainly did not want to work with them outside of school and would never be comfortable being alone with them. As she listened, she heard that Tatsuki was paired with Ulquiorra, making her jealous because she would not mind being partners with him. Uryu was with Hallibel, meaning that they would definitely ace this project, also making her jealous. Ichigo was with Nnotria, Rukia was paired with Nelliel, and Sado was with Szayelapporo. Finally, she heard the teacher call out her name along with… Grimmjow.

Orihime could feel her friends' heads quickly turning to face her. The girl slowly turned to look at Grimmjow and was quickly given a nasty glare followed by a smirk. She knew that this wasn't going to end well. Then, she could feel somebody grabbing her hand and pulling her out of her seat. Looking up, she saw that it was Tatsuki dragging her towards their teacher.

"Sensei, with all due respect, would it be OK if Orihime and I were partners instead? I don't trust Grimmjow with Orihime with great reasoning," Tatsuki bluntly stated, loud enough for Grimmjow to hear. Orihime could hear him cursing under his breath.

"Sorry girls, but the main point of this exercise is to help everyone get used to the merging. It would be unfair if I put you two together," the teacher answered, disappointing both of them. "However, if you are more comfortable with Schiffer-kun, I can pair you with him instead, Inoue-san."

Orihime felt relieved but didn't want to force Ulquiorra to work with her. She looked back at him, only to be met with piercing emerald eyes. He made no signs as to whether or not he was OK with this solution.

"What do you say, Schiffer-kun? Would you be willing to work with Inoue-san?" the teacher asked. Finally receiving a tiny nod of affirmation, the teacher sent both girls on their way. Though Tatsuki didn't want to work with Grimmjow either, she knew that she could handle herself against him and felt much better about this project, though she did worry about her grade now.

Orihime quickly walked over to her new partner, feeling nervous to be around him once again. It was over a week since the two had spoken and she really knew nothing about him, other than the fact that he doesn't like sweets. "Hello, Schiffer-kun," she said with a shy smile.

"I am unable to provide my house as a meeting place," Ulquiorra replied, completely ignoring her greeting and getting straight to the point. He did not even look her in the eyes.

"Oh, that's fine! We could study at the bakery if that is OK with you! Or at my apartment! It would be a lot quieter there, actually."

The green eyed boy nodded and finally met the girl's grey eyes and asked, "Are you going to stand there the entire day?"

Orihime felt her face turn red as she quickly sat in the chair in front of him. She was clearly no longer comfortable and was actually feeling embarrassed. As she started to calm down, the two started talking about what they could do their projects on. More precisely, Orihime kept giving ideas that were constantly being shut down by her silent partner. Finally, Ulquiorra offered a topic that Orihime did not care for much but knew he would choose anyways. The two were going to research about how human bodies react to certain feelings and emotions.

As the school day grew closer to the end, the pair decided to go to Orihime's apartment to begin their projects. The girl hoped she had cleaned the place up before she left, but could not remember if she did or not. As they walked, Orihime felt uncomfortable in the dead silence. She had tried to start a conversation before but was ignored. She didn't remember him being this closed off before. Finally, she thought of a question that he might be interested in answering. "So why did you choose to research the human body and emotions?" she asked. She then followed it up with a joke. "Are you interested in someone?"

Ulquiorra shot her daggers at the last part but answered her questions anyways. "No, I am not interested in anybody. The world is full of idiots that are far too predictable. Yet at the same time they surprise me with how they deal with their emotions. I find them to be a nuisance and can never fathom why humans react to situations the ways that they do. The answer must be located in their body, such as their neurons or something else in accordance."

Orihime found herself to be fascinated in his response, though she believed he was thinking far too much about something that she believed nobody will truly know the answer to. "I don't think it has to do with anything as simple and scientific as that," she started, gaining the attention of the boy next to her. "I think it's because of our hearts."

The dark haired boy stopped in his tracks, prompting Orihime to do the same. He then lifted one of his arms and held his hand lingering over her chest where her heart was located. "Your heart? You say that word so lightly. As if it were something that one could hold in the palm of one's hand. But my eyes see everything, nothing can escape them. What they don't see does not exist. If I tear open your chest will I find it there? If I shatter your skull will I see it there? That is how I have always lived. If it is because of what you call a heart, then it is the heart that causes you pain. It is because of your heart that you will die."

Orihime would be lying if she said she wasn't afraid at first. However, she gently grabbed the boy's hand and placed it back by his side and looked at him with a warm smile, setting a warmth in the boy's chest that he had never felt before. "You are thinking to literally, Schiffer-kun. Don't forget that you are a human too, and though you may not have experienced all of the emotions that everyone else has in the same way doesn't change that. You will shed tears, laugh, and smile like the rest of us soon enough."

Though he did not believe her words, Ulquiorra couldn't help but feel as though he had just lost to this girl once again. Thus, he snatched his hand back and the two walked the rest of the way in silence until they reached her apartment. Before unlocking and opening the door, Orihime hoped one last time that her apartment was clean. Upon walking inside, she did not see anything out of place and sighed from relief.

"Your apartment is a mess," Ulquiorra bluntly stated, surprising the girl.

"W-What do you mean?" she quickly asked, looking for any trash she had left lying around. She had found none, however.

"You have clothing on the couch although there is a laundry basket right beside it."

Orihime looked onto the couch and her face was instantly set ablaze. He was right, for there were clothing that she was planning on putting away but never did sitting on top of the couch. The fact that there was a mountain of unfolded clothes on her sofa did not embarrass her. No, what embarrassed her was the fact that some of her undergarments were on top of the pile for anyone's eyes to see. In particular, a pink, lacey see-through bra and matching underwear on top made Orihime want to run to her room and never come out. There was no possible way that he did not see them. So, Orihime did what any other person would do in a stressful situation and simply pretended it did not exist.

"What do you mean? I don't see any clothing," she said, squeezing her eyes shut and refusing to acknowledge the situation any longer.

"That is because you have your eyes shut, onna."

The girl kept her eyes shut and refused to open them until he heard Ulquiorra moving towards the couch. Opening one of her eyes, she found Ulquiorra picking up her laundry and placing it in the basket. He paid no attention as to whether or not he was touching her undergarments. This caused Orihime to squeal and she quickly ran over to grab them from him. She then threw the rest in the basket and ran them to her room, where she sat on the bed curled in a ball.

"What are you doing, onna?" she heard Ulquiorra say beside the bed.

"I must be hearing things," she thought to herself, "because there is no way he would just come in my room without permission." The girl slowly lifted her head to find that she was wrong and he did in fact come into her room. Without a moment of hesitation, Orihime picked up the closest pillow and smacked him upside the head with it. "GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" she yelled, loud enough for her neighbors and possibly the rest of the world to hear. The boy, who now had unkempt hair blocking his eyes, turned around and left the room. Orihime could tell she had ticked him off, but she didn't care because she was now mad as well. As she was sure that Ulquiorra left her apartment altogether, she stayed in bed and covered herself with her soft blanket, muttering about how much of an idiot her partner was.

About half an hour passed and Orihime felt much calmer, so long as she didn't think about him touching her underwear. Now, she felt guilty for hitting him and driving him out of her apartment. She was sure he would never speak to her again, let alone do this project with her. "Guess I'll have to work with Grimmjow again."

Upon entering the living room, she was surprised to see Ulquiorra sitting in front of Sora's shrine, seeming to give prayers. As he heard Orihime's footsteps grow nearer, Ulquiorra stood up to face her. "I thought you left," she quietly said, unable to look him in the eyes. His jade eyes were much too piercing for her at the moment.

"You said to leave to room, not your apartment," he replied, staring at the girl in front of her, fascinated by the faint blush on her face and the fact that she couldn't look him in the eye. "Did you want me to leave?"

The girl quickly faced him and exclaimed, "No! I'm very sorry for getting so flustered earlier and hitting you with my pillow…"

"I do not need an apology."

Orihime stood nervously and glanced at her brother's shrine. "Thank you for keeping him company. I'm sure he gets lonely sometimes and not many of my friends think to pray when they visit anymore. Which I don't blame them for! It's just surprising to see somebody kneeling in front of his picture."

"Was he your significant other?"

"Oh gosh, no! He's my older brother! I'm sure he would be glad though that somebody thought he was young enough to be my boyfriend!"

Ulquiorra analyzed the girl's face to make sure she wasn't about to cry, for he definitely was not experienced in cheering people up. If anything, he would tell her that shedding tears is a waste of time, get annoyed, and then leave her to cry alone. Seeing that she appeared to be fine, he decided that they would now begin their project. The two started with basic research on Orihime's computer- Orihime doing the typing while Ulquiorra stood as the overseer- of how the human body reacts in certain situations that give specific feelings. Though Ulquiorra was the one to propose this topic for their weeklong project, he was not as interested as his partner. Looking at the girl's face, he could see her grey eyes lighting up when they got to the feeling of happiness. They found that four chemicals are released in the brain that are targeted by receptors to give the feeling of happiness.

Next was what causes the feeling of love. Ulquiorra eyed the girl next to him and noticed that her grey eyes that were previously bright were now dull and saddened. Being the observant person he is, he had known that Orihime harbored feelings for the carrot-headed boy in their class, who in turn loved the short, black haired girl. He found their constant bickering to be quite annoying. Why was Orihime in love with him, especially when she knew she had no chance? This annoyed Ulquiorra for how could somebody hold such annoying and useless feelings when they will never be reciprocated? Deciding not to ask about it, the two read on about love.

"It says here that scientists argue about how love is created," the boy started, "and that most believe it is caused by two hormones called oxytocin and vasopressin. It also states that oxytocin is giving during the process of reaching an orgasm, which they believe strengthens the feeling of attachment. This means that love is not an actual thing, it is just being attached and connected emotionally for the time being. Meaning that you can love anyone as long as you are stimulated through the process of sexual intercourse and that the feelings will leave thereafter. There is no such thing as love, just foolish clinginess and fear of being alone."

Orihime blushed as the topic of sex was briefly brought up. She then replied with, "I-I don't agree with that at all! Scientists think they can just explain away feelings but in reality they can't be explained! I think that love is different for everybody. You don't need those hormones to feel love, you just do. And people can definitely fall in love without doing… that."

"You are arguing with scientific facts? With what evidence? How are you more educated in the topic of love when your own feelings for Kurosaki are not even reciprocated and never will be?"

Orihime's jaw dropped in shock as she was just dealt with a devastating blow from her partner. How could he say that so bluntly without caring about her feelings? How did he even know about them? Were her feelings that obvious to everybody? If Ulquiorra thought he had made the girl mad before, he had another thing coming. Finally, she answered with, "As you just said, Schiffer-kun, scientists argue about this, meaning that they are not scientific facts. As for my evidence, it is because I have felt the feeling to know that it isn't something as simple as two hormones coming together. Where's your evidence, huh? That's right, you don't have any because you don't have any feelings or consideration of anyone else's. I was wrong before. You'll never shed tears, laugh, and smile like the rest of us because you are nothing but dead inside. And don't bring up Kurosaki-kun again." She then shut off her computer, stood up, and walked towards the door. Opening it, she said, "I'm feeling tired now. We'll continue our project tomorrow."

Ulquiorra walked to the door and put on his shoes. He faced Orihime and gave one last look with his emerald eyes piercing through her as if they were sucking the life out of her. The girl wondered if this was his form of shooting daggers at somebody. He then left without saying a word, leaving Orihime to go to her room and cry once again. Needing her best friend, she called Tatsuki and the girl quickly rushed over. Orihime definitely had a lot she needed to say, and though Tatsuki was a great listener, she knew that what she was going to tell her was never going to be enough to get rid of the empty feeling that has been lingering inside of her.