A/N - Ack, sorry for the late update! I've been trying to get all of my Christmas things out of the way, and things just keep on appearing as I finish one thing.
Well, I considered it for a while, and I decided that if I started to add length to my chapters, I'd get bored. Nuff said. In order for me to keep a consistant update pace, this is the length that I can keep up. I hope that's alright with everyone, and I really really appreciate the reviews! They motivate me so much!!! Once again, I apologize for the wait.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach!
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Opening her eyes slowly, Inoue opened her eyes slowly, rubbing them gingerly as she tossed around in her bed, turning to face the other direction. Her back ached from having to sleep on the floor. As uncomfortable as it had been, she missed the frail cot that had occupied up to last night.
She glanced up to the bed opposite of herself, and she quickly noticed that Ulquoirra was gone. Inoue had figured as much, not expecting the cold arrancar to waste any time more then neccesary on something like sleep. She sat up quickly, instantly regretting it as a sharp pain erupted from her back. It had been a long time since she had slept on anything other then what she had become accustomed to.
Standing up, Inoue noticed a small tray of food set at the base of her bed, along with a small pile of folded clothing. She glanced at it hesitantly, but as her stomach grumbled loudly, she didn't favor the idea of skipping breakfast.Who had left the food was something she didn't know, as usually, food was brought to her when she knocked on her door in the morning.
She at the meal silently, staring around the room, picking out things that were different from her past room. After she had finished, she grabbed the pile of clothes, finding a dress with the exact same style of the one she was wearing now. Regardless, she changed into the dress finding that it was, in fact, slightly different. Instead of the plain white with black lines, there was a small blue flowered that decorated the chest of her dress.
Inoue walked around the room for a time, finding the view of the moon even greater from the window in Ulquoirra's room. Before she had much time to watch it, the door slid open quietly, revealing the familiar cold espada.
"Your powers are needed," he said monotonously, his hands held behind his back. She nodded simply, following him towards the infirmary.
"What exactly do I need to fix?"
"Apparently some of the arrancar managed to get into a fight with some of your former companions," he stated simply, quickening his pace slightly. Inoue's eyebrows furrowed slightly. It would be so much better if they all just left now. She wasn't worth saving. Ulquoirra glanced over his shoulder for a moment, curious as to her silence. She glanced up, her eyes meeting with his empty ones. He turned around, stopping in his tracks for a moment. "It isn't worth it to worry about your friends so much. If they were smart enough, they'd consider that you joined of your own free will."
Inoue vaguely felt tears for at the corners of her eyes, but she blinked them again, "free will. Is that what you call it?"
"Yes. You joined us of your free will. Why else would you come?"
Her eyes widened in surprise, "have you even considered that I cared about my friend's safety enough to go with you?"
He shrugged slowly, turning so his back was facing her, "whichever you want to believe. It doesn't matter now." Inoue bit down on her lower lip, eyes down to the floor.
She followed the espada until they reached a large dark room with a high ceiling. There were a large number of beds lined up against the walls, only a small amount of them actually filled. It commonly resembled a hospital from Earth, of course, it was much less welcoming. She followed Ulquoirra over to one of the beds, where an arrancar resided, covered in blood. He held a hand over his abdomen, perhaps trying to stop the bleeding, but it was obvious that it wasn't doing anything.
"Heal him." Uquoirra commanded, not a single trace of sympathy covering his face. She nodded reluctantly, swallowing harshly to keep her breakfast where it belonged.
She placed her fingers on her temples, directly upon her flower pins. They were cold to her touch; room temperature she figured, realising how cold it actually was. "Shonou, Ayame; Souten Kishun, I reject!" A faint yellow glow formed around the arrancar, and he coughed loudly in surprise. Orihime noticed a small trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth, and she winced slightly.
Ulquoirra glanced at her lazily, taking a moment to inspect the blue clips that held her hair back. "So, how exactly do they work?"
She looked over to him, slightly surprised that he would take an interest in her clips of anything. "Um, I've been told that they pretty much depend on the strength of my heart. Each petal represents one part of it." She concentrated for a moment, trying to remember everything that she had been told in the past. "Lets see... There's Tsubaki, Hinagiku, Baigon, Lily, Shonou, and Ayame."
He turned his cold gaze back to the suffering arrancar, and a vague smirk crossed his face. "How worthless." He slowly unzipped the top part of his uniform, revealing the small hollow hole in his neck. He subconciously traced a finger around it, swallowing roughly as if in pain. "One day or another, that heart of yours is going to be ripped in two," he turned back to her, his eyes meeting hers, "then what will you do?"
Orihime bit her lower lip softly, her eyes falling back to the man upon the bed. She didn't respond, because she knew that she was right. It was amazing that she could even use her powers in a circumstance such as this. It's true, her heart had been near breaking as she left Ichigo's side that night that seemed so far away. After she had confessed her feelings, it felt like her soul had been ripped out when he wasn't able to respond.
After several minutes of uncomfortable silence, she finished up her healing process, satisified with how much she had done. The espada nodded at her approvingly before leading her to the next bloody person. Softly, she felt a familiar reiatsu in the distance, and she gasped silently. "Ichigo..."
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Ichigo's eyes lit up suddenly as he stopped in his tracks, Uryuu nearly bumping into him.
"Kurosaki-kun! Don't stop so suddenly like that! I almost crashed into you!" the Quincy shot at him, pushing up his glasses. The orange-haired shinigami paid in no heed as he looked up above, finding nothing special.
"I thought I just sensed Inoue-san." he stated simply, a small tinge of excitement on the tip of his words. Ishida's face lit up considerably after hearing this.
"Inoue-san is here!? Where is she?" he questioned, getting eager while the shinigami moved not a step.
"Shut up, dammit. It's too hard to focus with you shouting in my ears. Anyways, aren't you the pro at sensing peoples reiatsu?" Ichigo muttered, half as a joke to the black-haired boy.
He flushed slightly, taking extreme embarressment in the fact that the incompentant death god noticed their friend's reiatsu before he did. He closed his eyes momentarily, trying to pick up a trace of it. Very faintly, he felt a small aura, extremely different then any other in the area. "Yes, I believe I sense it as well. It's close."
"Yeah," Ichigo agreed, his back still turned to the Quincy. Nell remained silent as she hung from his back. A nervous look covered her face, but Ishida paid in no attention. Anything could get this girl riled up, and he preferred her quiet. Before he knew it, the orange-haired death god had begun running again, this time tracing his hand along the stone wall. Ishida instantly recognized what he was doing, and he did the same thing, except on the other side.
The reiatsu was close, yet it was in an area completely different then where they were. If there was any sort of explanation, it had to be some sort of hidden area. The Quincy ran on, his white cape flowing behind him as he sprinted off towards the unknown.
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Well, there's chapter 4 for you. Hope it wasn't too bad. I am very aware that these chapters are short, but my attention span has like.. a wall against writing anything longer. Believe me, if I try to make these any longer, about 70 of it will be useless descriptions that would make my fat dogs get bored (that takes a lot in case you were wondering.)
See you next time XD