Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this story except the plot.
chAngE
Chapter 4: Untold Stories- Hallway Secrets
Thankfully, Las Noches seemed to be empty. Not a single Arrancar was in sight, but that didn't mean that Yoruichi lowered her guard for a second. An enemy might appear from any corner anytime. Given that she and her teenager companion were wearing reiatsu-concealing and invisibility bracelet fashioned by Urahara, the ex-Shinigami wasn't taking any chances. On the other hand, Orihime was so lax. She was walking along the corridors of the Hollow fortress as if she was merely strolling around her home. Corridors to corridors, the caramel-haired girl wove in and out, knowing exactly where to go despite the fact that everything looked the same. Yoruichi had to wonder, how come Orihime knew the place so much?
As if reading her thoughts, Orihime broke the silence and spoke, "There were days that I wasn't allowed to go outside… On those days, Ulquiorra toured me around Las Noches..."
A wistful smile appeared on Orihime's face as a rush of memories came over her. Images, sounds and sensations from the past filled her senses. A green cero. The sound of clashing metals. A monotone voice. Mad cackling. Blood. His arms around her.
Orihime's steps slowed down to a halt as she turned to an oh-so-familiar hallway. It was a rather spacious one compared to the past corridors she and Yoruichi have been through. That wasn't what stuck her most though. It was the memory associated with it that did.
Orihime's violet-tinted grey eyes swept along the hallway. Nothing special could be seen in it, if one didn't know where to look that is. There! Orihime spotted it. A remainder of what transpired in this hallway on her third night in Las Noches. She walked towards the wall slowly. Upon reaching it, her right hand reached up and traced barely visible cracks on it. A soft sigh escaped her lips. She then turned to her companion and asked,
"Ne,Yoruichi-san, want to hear another story?"
The dark-skinned woman in question blinked in surprise, but nonetheless, she nodded. Being the cat she was, she was truly curious on what happened between Orihime and her captor. And so, another untold tale unfolded, bringing Yoruichi into a world of grey, the line where black and white met.
It was, at first, just a peaceful walk around Las Noches with her and Ulquiorra walking side by side instead of their usual "Ulquiorra in the front and Orihime behind" walking order. She was rambling all sorts of things about the Living World to him but occasionally asking a few things about Las Noches here and there. Ulquiorra would answer her questions without disclosing too much information and would sometimes ask his own queries in turn. Needless to say, Orihime was enjoying herself as she narrated to him the anime Rurouni Kenshin.
"A sword that protects? That is a ridiculous and childish notion," commented Ulquiorra when Orihime talked of Kaoru Kamiya's beliefs on the sword, "The sword is a weapon that was made to kill. That is an irrefutable fact."
Orihime giggled. Kenshin did say something along those lines but he also added a few optimistic lines afterwards. Those words were the basis of what Orihime used to respond to Ulquiorra's comment.
"It's a childish notion.. but it's not entirely impossible you know? After all, a weapon is just a tool and a tool is what its owner makes it to be. In Kenshin's case, he used his reversed-edge sword to protect others and thus supported the Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu's ideals," said Orihime.
Ulquiorra looked at Orihime through the corner of his eyes and replied, "Yet you said a while ago that the Hittokiri Battousai became a wanderer and started protecting the others around him as a way of repentance for the lives he took. He did not do it for the Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu's ideal of a sword that protects."
Orihime chuckled nervously, put a hand over her head and said, "Ehehehe.. Now that you put it that way… You have a point…"
Silence fell. Orihime took it as a sign to continue to with her talking.
"Anyways, Kenshin's really cool being the protector of others!" Orihime exclaimed.
"This 'protector' you speak of is a delusion," Ulquiorra's voice cut in the air as he stopped walking to face Orihime,
"There are only two kinds of battles. One is a battle where you fight for your life. The other is a battle where you fight for your pride. A 'protector' is nothing but an illusion created by this 'protector' looking for a more powerful means to sustain himself just because the weak cannot sustain its hunger [1]."
Orihime blinked in surprise and also stopped in her tracks to meet Ulquiorra's gaze. She has never thought of things that way. Was Ichigo like that too? She couldn't help but wonder. But ah.. Ulquiorra had a point, but Orihime believed there was more to life than merely black and white.
"Your words are true…. But.. I believe that those two battles fight for the same thing.. and it's to protect one's heart," the words flew out of Orihime's lips.
Ulquiorra's face was a mask of apathy, but the look in his eyes showed a renewed intensity at the mention of the heart.
"What is a heart?" Ulquiorra questioned and then started walking away, "You humans keep throwing the word out of your lips. Always blaming it for the courses of action you take. However, the heart is just an organ that pumps blood to your bodies. Now tell me, where and what is this heart you speak of?"
Orihime trailed behind Ulquiorra, head bowed and thinking over her words. The "heart" was… It was just something every humans knew of.. But Ulquiorra was not human. Orihime had to remind herself that he was a Hollow. But that didn't mean that he had no heart or couldn't get it back. After all, her Sora-niisan got his heart back… Also, it's because the heart is….
Orihime grasped one of Ulquiorra's sleeves with one hand and stood still, effectively stopping Ulquiorra from walking too. Orihime brought a hand up to her chest and then looked up at Ulquiorra with soft yet resolute violet-tinted grey eyes.
"A heart is in the hand we reach out and the hands we embrace. It is born when we care for or think of someone... born from the bonds we make with others.. When we die, we entrust our hearts to our friends and the people we care about wherein it will live on… By battling either for our lives or for our prides, we are also battling for the heart that we plan on entrusting to others…" Orihime explained.
Orihime's grip on Ulquiorra's sleeve loosened to nothing. Instead, her hand made its way to take Ulquiorra's left hand. Orihime brought up his hand to the level just below his jaw and then entwined her hand with his.
"And that's why we protect others.. To keep our hearts and their hearts alive to beat as one…." Orihime added, "And that's also why I believe, you can have a heart too Ulquiorra-kun… and that I can entrust mine to you…. Because Ulquiorra-kun is different from the rest! "
Ulquiorra's eyes widened. Orihime's face heated up in a blush. Such cheesy things to say! Oh, and such a bold move taking his hand in hers!
Ulquiorra's lips parted, about to say something, when-
"Eh?" Orihime squeaked.
In a flash of sonido, Ulquiorra put one arm around Orihime's waist, jumped back and fired a bala just in time to counter the cero heading straight towards them. The spiritual blasts met, and the impact sent Ulquiorra, with Orihime, flying straight to a wall.
Ulquiorra's back met the wall hard with a crack. Orihime flinched in her guardian's arms, her mind racing. What had just happened? Had Ulquiorra-kun just protected her..?
"My, my what's this? Pet-sama's being gently cradled by Aizen's lap dog?" a slimy voice spoke in the background.
Ulquiorra let go of Orihime and stepped in front of her, his hand on the hilt of his sword. Orihime blinked at her guardian's back, unsure of what to do and what was happening.
"What do you want Nnoitra?" Orihime heard Ulquiorra's voice demand; a hint of a threat in his monotone voice.
"I just want to play with Pet-sama," came Nnoitra's reply, sending a shiver of fear in Orihime's spine.
Orihime unconsciously stepped back, her hands automatically fisting above her heart. She had out of curiosity asked Ulquiorra about the other Espadas…. And from Ulquiorra's unprejudiced descriptions, she had learned that Nnoitra Gilga, the Quinta Espada, was someone she wouldn't want to be alone with in the same room.
Orihime's expressive silver orbs found Ulquiorra's vibrant viridian ones. She blinked, and when she had opened her eyes again, a fight had ensued.
Clang!
The sounds of metal clashing and a mad cackling filled Orihime's ears. Orihime could only watch with a pounding heart as Ulquiorra and Nnoitra attacked each other; the latter swinging his zanpakuto viciously while the former parrying and striking with his word calculatedly.
"You're mine!" Nnoitra declared, his scythe above his head and ready to kill in one blow.
Orihime's heart skipped a beat. Ulquiorra was just standing in front of the Quinta Espada, not even bothering to shield himself.
"Ulquiorra-kun!" she frantically called.
Nnoitra swung down his weapon, grinning like a maniac. To Orihime, everything seemed to become in slow motion.
Ulquiorra cast a glance her way, and their gaze met- hers, a panicked stare while his, an empty but confident one.
"DIE!" Nnoitra yelled, suddenly firing a cero towards Orihime.
Time suddenly stopped.
Orihime paused and took a deep, shuddery breath.
"And then what happened?" Yuroichi questioned, her eyes showing a mix of emotions- enthusiasm to know more.. and apprehension of knowing the truth.
Orihime flashed Yoruichi a small smile and said before continuing her tale,
"And then.. I forgot who the enemy was…"
She was going to die.
Orihime closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable.
Lab-dub.
Lab-dub.
Lab-dub.
Orihime's eyebrows twitched…. Why was her heart still beating? Orihime opened her eyes…. And her heart almost stopped beating altogether.
Ulquiorra's face was mere centimeters away from hers, his green, green eyes boring straight through hers and his breathing a bit labored than normal. His arms were on either side of her head, his palms flat on the wall. The top of his pristine white uniform was torn into shreds, revealing his lean but toned body. Blood rushed towards Orihime's cheeks, and if it were any other situation, she would've gone all embarrassed and the likes.
But, she was in no ordinary position and this was Ulquiorra she was thinking about. He was a Hollow- an enemy and her captor- and he was bleeding….
He was bleeding because he had protected her.
A/N: It's been millennia since I last updated! I'm so sorry... :( And sadly, this chapter didn't quite turn out the way I wanted it to be but, I sincerely hope from the bottom of my heart that you still enjoyed reading the story and do not think that it was a waste of time... T_T
Anyways, I've made a deal with myself. If this story gets additional five reviews, I have to update it immediately after the day it got the additional five reviews. Plus, the fifth reviewer gets a gift (whether you can call it a gift or not). The gift is... the reader can request me to write a story for him/her (if he/she wants me to) that involves the pairing in the story (or any pairing I know of; my profile has the anime I watch).
I actually updated this story because it reached 5 reviews XDD Though I'm super late at updating it.
So, roseduchess7, thank you for reviewing and congratulations for being the fifth reviewer!If you have a request, go ahead and tell me :)
To the others who reviewed (Ike Shizuka, Red-Butterfly4Cat, XxLizzie-chanxX, and Goddess of Night Eternal Faith), thank you for the reviews! Re-reading them made me want to update this story again :)
And those who added this story to their favorites (DerseDreamer, Goddess of Night Eternal Faith ,Ike Shizuka ,Red-Butterfly4Cat ,madmc97 and shinigami88) and those who followed this story (Ayatane Elemia, Red-Butterfly4Cat, SelenaWolf, ShatteredHeartandSoul, XxLizzie-chanxX and madmc97), thanks a plenty!
Bye and have a good day! :D
Thank you for reading!