AN: Are you all angry at me for dragging Ulquiorra down in the last chapter? To be honest, he was really mean and callous to begin with... He asked Yammy to kill her in the manga. At least in this one I just made him threaten her job :)
Here's the second part of Orihime's team building, my original favorite section in the "Team Building" chapters. A lot of things are going on. Its not my "most favorite" out of everything I have written now, but its almost at the top of the list. The one I enjoyed the most is still a few chapters down the road. Until then, you can enjoy this one first. Have fun!
Disclaimer: Bleach and its characters are owned by Tite Kubo
Shades Of Gray
Chapter 07: The Team Building II
"Management means ... the substitution of thought for brawn and muscle, of knowledge for folkways and superstition, and of cooperation for force. It means the substitution of responsibility for obedience to rank, and of authority of performance for the authority of rank."
- Peter Drucker, Father of Modern Management
"The fuck, Ulquiorra! Why the hell did you butt-hit my face, we're supposed to be team mates!"
Grimmjow hollered into his ears as the blue haired man behind him held on to nurse his nose, just immediately right after he had promptly brought down the butt of his paint ball hand gun at the Sexta's face. Grimmjow's other hand, and the whole length of his arm, was currently wrapped tightly around Ulquiorra's neck, almost to the point of strangling him. He irritatedly nudged his head away, trying to avoid getting choked to death from the Sexta's grip. His temper was boiling, and he was seeing red.
"For being stupid. Shut up. And don't breathe on me, I don't want to get poisoned with your morning breath," he gritted.
"Dammit Cuatro, stop being so melodramatic, it's just freakin' alcohol!"
He ignored the man on his back, and instead looked down at the team building course. The woman wasn't joking when she said today's itinerary was specifically for him. She booked an area in Karakura specifically designed for paintball, but with the added twist of being situated at a nearby moderate level vertical climbing rock face. They were all given ropes, shoes, harnesses and chalk bags, paintball masks, handguns and holsters, and then formed teams of three. The first team to have all of its surviving members to reach the top of the rock face, and gets the opposing team's flags, wins.
He got Tia and Grimmjow for his teammates. Somehow, he suspected the woman intentionally gave him Grimmjow to see what exactly he would do with a banged up six foot one Neanderthal, post hangover, which he wasn't all pleasantly happy to be with.
When the whistle went off, arbitrated by Barragan, he promptly came up to an unsteady looking Grimmjow and dragged the hungover Sexta to him, slinging his colleague's arms over his shoulders. Tia, catching on with the plan, shoved a half aware Grimmjow closely behind him. He quickly wrapped one of the available ropes around the Sexta, and finally knotting the ends across his own midsection, to make sure Grimmjow was in place and as snug to him on his back as possible. He knew Tia should be able to handle herself when they arrived midway ledge and dropped a rope down for her, but his other teammate was nursing a hangover and could barely stand.
And now after an excruciating thirty foot climb, with still fifteen more to go, the idiot suddenly came to and was hollering his mouth off. It didn't help that another idiot was egging Grimmjow on.
"Holy fuck Grimmjow, you look like you're back raping Ulquiorra!" a hysterically laughing Nnoitra called from the ground.
"You sick ass! Piss off Nnoitra!"
To say that his ears was being assaulted by his blue haired colleague was an understatement.
"Sexta, if you don't shut up I'm going to drop you. You're shouting at my ears," he retorted as he tried to solidly hang on the wall, despite the overgrown weight pressing on his back.
"Dammit Ulquiorra, stop being an ass!" He can feel the Sexta's spit raining on the back of his head and the nape of his neck. "You just dragged me here on your back without even consulting if it was ok with me!"
He doubted that his teammate realized he was shouting his voice off directly at his ears. He wasn't unfamiliar with the distortion effects of alcohol the morning after. He rolled his eyes.
"Just shut up and keep shooting at them, will you?" he reminded his teammate.
He looked over to see the other teams. Starrk was with Lilynette and Gin, while the other team was comprised of Aizen, Nnoitra and the woman.
He noticed she was actually doing relatively better than the last time they met. Nnoitra was belaying for her, and she even managed to take a couple of shots at them. Aizen was surprisingly also belayer free, but moving at a relatively slower pace than him. Gin turned out to be the surprise, as he snaked up with unexpected effortless ease across cracks in a roundabout way.
It looked like at least one from each team knew how to solo climb. It wouldn't have bothered him, he knew he could outmatch Aizen, and from the looks of it, possibly Gin, except at the moment he was also hauling a six foot one drunk Neanderthal on his back. He was heavy, and Ulquiorra was inching himself slowly through the holds with extreme effort.
He cast an eye on his boss. Aizen was actually matching the woman's speed, and providing some lateral support. His eyes narrowed. Aizen never sullied his hands with any of them. He suddenly realized that, that in itself, was out of the ordinary. But then again, Grimmjow was practically on top of him, and he never would've imagined such a scenario at all, either. He eyed a ledge a few feet to his right.
"Sexta, I'm going to have to jump to that portion over there to get to that midway ledge. Can you give a little momentum so I can carry us over?"
He didn't get any response. Instead, he felt a slow, heavy breathing coming from the man on his back. Indicating that despite the awkward position, the idiot actually managed to nod off again. No wonder Grimmjow was suddenly heavy.
"Sexta!"
" -WHAT?" Grimmjow jerked behind him at suddenly being brought out of his sleep.
"I'm going to propel us with a jump," he gritted, "can you give me a hand at the count of three?"
"How the fuck am I supposed to give you a hand?" He hissed, trying to point out that they were indisposed at the moment, still clinging on to Ulquiorra's neck. Ulquiorra rolled his eyes. This was ludicrous.
"Just lean towards that direction at the count of three, if you can manage a jump, the better, do it," he commanded, nodding his head to a section of the cliff.
"You're mental, Cuatro."
"Just do it, you imbecile. And keep shooting afterwards… and I don't mean with your mouth."
"Hell with it, shut your mouth, let's freaking go!"
A thousand expletives ran through Ulquiorra's head from being told to shut up by the eighty kilogram man on his back. Grimmjow was the one shouting at Nnoitra the whole time and barraging noise to his ears. If the pain he was feeling was actually reality, his ears would by bleeding profusely right at this very moment from all the abuse it's taken.
"I'm going to count it off," Grimmjow still hollered loudly, "One, two… THREE!"
Ulquiorra was waiting for "go" while the man at his back jumped at "three", and both were instantly thrown off balance by the mistiming. Ulquiorra clambered to grip the nearest crack he got his hands on to avoid slipping both of them to oblivion – at the moment, which was thirty feet down.
"- DAMMIT GRIMMJOW!"
"- WHAT THE FUCK ULQUIORRA! I SAID THREE!"
"Nya-yah… Wat da heck are ya two love birds doin'?"
Both of them immediately looked up at the sound of the silky voice, to see a smiling Gin hanging with one hand ten feet away from them, and the other pointing a gun.
Grimmjow, who was comfortably friendly with a gun – any type of gun – quickly raised his and pulled the trigger. It wasn't the best of aims, but it was good enough to stop Gin from firing. The silver haired man reacted instantly and would've been hit with a blue paintball if he did not quickly slithered out of position to the left. He was unexpectedly fast.
"Haha.. gotta be careful with Grimmy 'ere, wouldn't want lil' boys to play with wick'd toys…" he teased, and started snaking up again in a zigzag way.
"Dammit Gin! You already have my next month's salary!"
"Can we avoid the conversations until later? We're thirty feet off ground here," Ulquiorra retorted.
"If you're so worried about falling, why the hell didn't you put on a harness, you dumbass?! Are you trying to get us both killed?"
Bad enough that he was carrying Grimmjow, he had to put up with his comments. "Shut up, Sexta. You make one more useless comment, I will drop you, you imbecile, make no mistake."
He heard Grimmjow give a snort.
"Ok fine, Cuatro. On three, you got that? Really this time, on 'THREE'."
"Fine, count it off."
"One, two, … THREE!"
Both of them leapt simultaneously and Ulquiorra latched on the midway ledge, climbing to stand on top of it. He immediately tied one of the ropes he was carrying, and dropped them down to Tia, who took it on her hands and straightaway started deftly climbing up. He didn't have to worry about her – she was actually military trained by Israeli forces, being part of the military team during the Entebbe, Uganda incident, before being court martialed during her late twenties. Although its been years, she should still have the skills still ingrained from climbing such a basic course. He knew she was also good with a gun, only second to Starrk, the department unanimously agreed gunslinger. He wouldn't be surprised if Starrk believed in ka-tet and was previously called Roland Deschain in another life.
He scanned the rest of the teams to see their status. Gin was already nearing the top and would likely set up and drop a rope for Lilynette and Starrk once the girl arrived midway, which was very likely soon. Starrk could handle a climb with a rope himself quite efficiently, so the bottleneck was with Lilynette, but that would be premature thought, at the least. He knew she only wanted to try climbing herself, but once Starrk arrived at the midway point, it was going to be an easy piggy back for her relatively light weight, on the way to the top. Trust both Primera team leads to laze about and ignore the rules – both of them only wanted to have fun and lacked the competitive streak. He could see Lilynette giggling while she propelled herself upwards, while the senior Primera looked bored and whacked out at the ground, holding steadily on the belay ropes. The main problem would be Gin when he and Grimmjow reached the top.
The woman was also almost up to the midway point, a much bigger lead than Lilynette, and he could see Aizen ahead rigging a secondary top rope and belay setup for her. Nnoitra was still on ground, cussing no less, hurrying the woman forward. He narrowed his eyes. Although she was doing much better than the last time he saw her, she was out of place in the whole Arrancar team leads - they collectively called themselves the Espada – and most of them had criminal and military records. Precisely why they were working at Arrancar Corporation and were all quite handy with their hands and feet at the moment. Suddenly he wondered why Aizen decided to hire the woman. She was completely out of place. Even stranger was the clearance to trust this newcomer with their personal records – they were extremely confidential, with all their histories – he knew, because he was the one who provided Gin the hard copies to pass to her, after all.
And the strangest thing of all was that although completely surrounded by violent individuals – and he was quite aware she knew – she looked simply unfazed by all of them.
It was a bit disconcerting to see her surrounded by savages like them. But it was probably a puzzle for another time. He needed to get an eighty kilogram monkey up fifteen more feet to the top. He could tell Grimmjow was still a bit shot out, and despite the current situation, Nnoitra, with his long legs, would easily scale up when the woman arrived midway. Which would probably be in less than five minutes.
"Are you awake yet, Grimmjow? It would help if I wasn't carrying deadweight up."
"Dammit Cuatro! You think I'm have a fucking nap right now? I've been up hours ago. You're just rubbing me the wrong way, you freak. This is the last time I'm going to hang around you and letting your filthy hands on me!"
He sighed at his teammate's brash reply, wondering if the idiot actually filtered anything. "Fine. As long as you're awake. We're going up. When we get there, Aizen and Gin will probably be waiting on us. Try to forget they're our bosses, and remember to point the gun at them and make sure you hit."
"Ha! These babies are not going to let me down, and I'm going to fucking hit Gin's smirking face with them," he raised the gun in his hands in the air to reiterate his point.
If it wasn't bad enough he had Grimmjow for a teammate, but he also had to put up with his next comment.
"Giddyup, Batman," he smirked.
Well, it looks like the woman has been warm enough to befriend this idiot and know about the abominable tumbler.
But a conundrum for another day. He heaved himself to the second part of the rock face, with the Sexta still tied behind him. There's going to be hell to pay later when this whole preposterous debacle was over.
"Inoue, that was great!"
"Thanks, Kurosaki-kun!"
Ulquiorra glanced back as he took in the two orange heads in conversation. Apparently, she asked her friend's help to arrange this whole arrangement. He looked down at himself, as well as the colorful mask he had on his hands. He was splattered green and yellow all over his chest. He sighed.
By the time both he and Grimmjow arrived at the top, Starrk and Lilynette had also already arrived and immediately raised both their artilleries at them. He got the bulk of the paint on his body, mostly green, since the Sexta was snugly hidden behind his back and was throwing shots at the first team, hitting both Gin and Starrk right on their faces.
Aizen was on the other end of the field and shot him repeatedly in the face, unsuccessfully trying to do a hit on Grimmjow. Hence the completely covered yellow mask in his hands. Immediately right after, the woman climbed up and shot the first colorful thing she saw – which was also him.
He was essentially Grimmjow's human shield and the primary walking target for everyone else, since he had the gargantuan monkey tied to him and couldn't even defend himself or roll away from the firing line. He only had time to put on his own mask before all hell broke lose. Trust the Sexta to take advantage of that.
The woman was eventually hit by Lilynette, but not before Aizen rounded her up. He grabbed Orihime and used her as a human shield, and when Grimmjow hesitated, the top man of Karakura's Arrancar Division finally landed a shot on Grimmjow right between the eyes. Aizen eventually waited for Tia to arrive, but was surprised to find himself with blue paint splattered on him before he could release a shot at her. Nnoitra gunned Tia down at the back right after, then strutted to get their flags and claim victory.
He sighed again. He was a sorry sight, even he knew it. He just dropped himself and sat cross legged on the hard dusty floor, and closed his eyes.
And Barragan was going around taking pictures.
He heard slow steps rustling towards him, but ignored them altogether. He was slightly disoriented with that idiot Grimmjow breathing down his neck the whole time. He took a few breaths to neutralize himself and reached for a small container in he kept in his side pocket, popping a pill into his mouth, and swallowed.
"Yo."
He looked at clean blue sneakers on the dust-covered ground, and glanced up to find the towering orange haired boy looking down at him.
"I guess you're the unfortunate one that got creamed, huh? There's always one in a paintball. I got creamed the last time I was in one too." He slowly extended his right hand to offer to help him up.
Ulquiorra stared at it. He saw scars across the knuckles. Old ones, one on top of the other, all over the four protruding joints. One of them was slightly off and asymmetric. He glanced at the other hand, noticing that they had similar scars.
"Kurosaki Ichigo."
Ulquiorra reached out and held on, feeling callouses all over the boy's palms, particularly at the base underneath the knuckles, and unsurprisingly, also at the fingertips. A strong, firm grip. He tugged Ulquiorra with a balanced jerk to bring him up. He stood up and dusted his pants for a few seconds, before turning his attention back to the boy.
"Ulquiorra Cifer."
"So, I guess you're the one Inoue was setting up this whole joint for," he eyed Ulquiorra closely, studying him. The scowl looked like a permanent feature on this face.
"So she said," he replied in monotone.
"She was working on it for a while, she seemed quite sure of what she wanted."
"It's her job."
"Yeah…well, she wanted it perfect. We had to scour several sites before we got this place. Specifically needed a outdoor climb."
He merely kept his silence.
"You were pretty good out there. I would be hard pressed having a guy almost twice my size draped on my back while getting up the course at the rate you were going."
So he was looking. He inspected the boy. "He was an idiot and impecabbly stoned."
"Yeah, I kinda noticed that," the boy waved his hands towards a Grimmjow now lying on the ground and virtually conked out. "The others weren't bad either." His eyes went towards Gin, Aizen and Starrk, and finally ended with Nnoitra. Ulquiorra noticed that they were only the entirety of the men in the Arrancar group. The boy's brown eyes finally settled on the woman, who was farther away from them, talking excitedly with Lilynette. Both of them were laughing at Grimmjow who was snoring on the dusty, hard caked ground.
"Considering your friend is looks dead stoned at the moment, I'm surprised he managed to hit two shots in the face at first try. He's pretty handy with his gun." He continued in a casual, offhand manner, but Ulquiorra noted that the amber eyes said otherwise.
Ulquiorra shrugged noncommittally.
"You're all pretty handy with a gun," the boy again reiterated.
Ulquiorra deadpanned, his face betraying nothing. "We merely made it a point to get into the activity. It's of no worth for your friend if we did not get ourselves into the game and did not play hard."
"I can see that." The boy casually nodded towards Grimmjow. A few feet away, Lilynette and the woman were still laughing to the Sexta's immobile, post-alcohol state.
"You seem to play hard enough to consider use human shields, like your blue haired colleague other there," the boy expounded.
"I didn't have sufficient time to release the ropes around me," he answered simply, carefully avoiding the implied meaning the boy was insinuating.
"Yeah, I saw that, too." His eyes came back to Ulquiorra, almost with a hint of challenge in them. The fool didn't seem to be apprehensive in any way, despite the insinuation he was implying of them.
"I don't know what's up with you guys, but I've seen enough to know I didn't like the way your friends grab women for human shields."
This is ... interesting. He kept silent and merely eyed the boy, not bothering a response.
"Just because you guys hired her doesn't mean she's exclusively yours, maybe you can remind your friends that."
"Maybe you should ask her yourself, instead," Ulquiorra stated blandly.
"I-"
Before the boy had the chance to finish his sentence, he was cut off as the woman came on to the both of them with her bubbling giggles. The change with him was startling, to say the least.
"Kurosaki-kun!"
"Hey Inoue."
"I see you've met Ulquiorra-san," the woman chirped heartily, looking back at the both of them. "I didn't think you would be carrying a hang-over Grimmjow from last night!" she clapped excitedly.
"Woman, I told you to call me Ulquiorra –"
He noticed the boy's eyes tense up at his words, wondering what caused the sudden concern.
"And I told you to call me Inoue Orihime, and you never follow through!" she answered brightly. Then suddenly, her whole face crumpled. She whimpered.
"Ieeee! Is that from me?" She was staring at a large yellow paint mark that splat across his chest in stark horror.
Without warning, Ulquiorra got the wind knocked off him, and he found the woman suddenly grabbing his midsection and hugging him tightly, at the same time apologizing profusely.
"Sorry! Sorry! Ulquiorra-san! Sorry! I didn't mean to!"
In irritation, he stared at her while she continued to mumble her excuses. He did not like being touched, much less by a woman, and someone he has barely known for two weeks. He grabbed her shoulders and tried to pry her apart from him, glancing at the same time at her friend, being careful not to put too much force to hurt her. She wasn't budging. He must've looked quite hopeless at her orange haired friend, unsure what to do at this situation, prompting Ichigo to also speak up.
"Inoue, I'm sure he's alright. He doesn't mind, right, Ulquiorra?" Ichigo suggested, also tugging her shoulders gently away from him.
"But I shot him!" she whimpered, turning her head to face her tall, orange haired friend, still not letting go.
"Inconsequential, woman. I'm in one piece," he followed the friend's example and pushed her gently back to extract himself. He felt her release hesitantly. He tugged his splattered shirt to straighten them out, looking back at the scene in front of him. He didn't miss to notice the tightening on Ichigo's lips when he called the woman in front of him. But it was gone in a quick flash.
"Alright… if you say so…" she quietly conceded.
"Yes," he answered, eyeing her cautiously for any other unexpected attack.
To his curiosity, she suddenly changed moods in a flash, from her quiet, apologetic disposition to a sunny one, turning to her friend. "You remember him, do you Kurosaki-kun? He was the one I was telling you about, the one who was nice enough to help me when we went to the indoor climb a while back... when Renji slipped his foot."
A recognition flitted on the boy's face. This time, he lost some of the tension on his face. "Oh didn't recognize him, he was way up enough to see," he glanced at Ulquiorra, "Thanks man. We do owe you one for helping her out. My friend holding her up was being careless."
He eyed the boy coldly.
"I would have been more correct to say that you should refrain from getting idiots in keeping your friends safe."
Ichigo balked at the pointed statement the man exchanged.
He looked at the boy. "The woman here would have had her spine cracked in two from dropping at such a height. There wasn't even a person manning to place a crash pad underneath her. You were clearly the imbecile in charge."
"Ahh—ahh… Ulquiorra-san, I'm sure Kurosaki-kun is already feeling repentant from that incident, no need to –"
"I'm just pointing out how irresponsible he is."
Seeing how pointless it was to rein the Cuatro's audacity, Orihime turned to Ichigo instead, to make sure he wasn't affronted by her colleague's sharp tongue. Ichigo was quite short fused. Sometimes there was no telling how he would react.
"Kurosaki-kun, you have to forgive Ulquiorra-san here, he's… a bit frank for his own good…"
"I can see that." He turned towards Orihime, whispering, ignoring the man who just attacked him. "Are you sure this guy is not related to Ishida? He's got the same telltale nasty tongue with me." He pointed at Ulquiorra.
"Eh… not that I know of…"
Ulquiorra watched the exchange between the two friends with something akin to interest as they walked away from him. Both were reduced to bantering and embarrassed apologies, although he did notice this Ichigo was standing protectively over the woman, his hands extended and draped lightly over the woman's shoulders. Was the boy the woman's partner? Was that the reason why he's seen him with her all three times they've met? She clearly took this boy's opinion highly, if he was the first person she approached for a task at her job. And the boy was actually perceptive enough to recognize all of them weren't your average run-in-the-mill yuppie, and even actually threatened them to keep away from her. He tsked. Or what?
She was working with them eight hours a day, five days a week in the office. With the likes of idiot Grimmjow and Nnoitra in the vicinity. Its hardly possible for him to assure the woman would be safe. Which brought him back to his earlier thoughts of the woman. He looked in her direction. She ran back up to him alone, after dispatching her orange haired friend away.
The woman approached him, smiling.
"So Ulquiorra-san, how'd you find it this time? Had fun?"
"It was acceptable."
"What? Only acceptable? I would've thought you'd like that."
He stared at her, and looked down at his painted shirt.
"Oh, that. Well, you were a human target, weren't you?"
"I wouldn't be, if I hadn't had to carry the Sexta on my back."
"Yes, I saw that. I thought it was funny," she giggled.
"I will not be mocked, woman."
"Oh no.. no.. not you. Its just that, Grimmjow was so huge, and he was hanging on to you like a scaredy-cat."
"He was breathing on my face, it wasn't very humorous to me."
"Well, don't worry, you were pretty impressive. So... how much did Grimmjow weigh, anyway?"
"Likely about eighty kilograms."
"Oh, no wonder you could pull me up the last time so easily, if you were able to carry Grimmjow without any problems. Hmmm... " She tapped her lips, "I guess you wouldn't have a problem carrying me either, huh?"
His eyes blinked.
"Excuse me?"
"Can you give me a piggy back ride and run around? I don't think I haven't been carried on the back since I was a kid…" she looked hopeful.
"You can ask your orange-haired friend to help you with that." He tersely pointed out. Ridiculous.
"Oh, you mean Kurosaki-kun? But they're not much fun when it comes to those things, they think I'm childish," she explained carefully, as if it was of the utmost consequence. "You guys, on the other hand, are like kids. I especially like Grimmjow, he's funny, except the violent outbursts you guys typically have."
"Then get the blue haired idiot to carry you around."
"I would probably, but you look a little more secure than he is. He's been bumping his hands and feet at me since we met, accidentally, of course. It wouldn't do if he suddenly let go carelessly." She smiled, waiting.
He narrowed his eyes. He didn't like the way she was asking him to give her a piggy back ride. He was not a donkey.
"Don't be ridiculous, woman."
Maybe the woman was not entirely normal, after all. He stared at her, her smiling features completely oblivious to any sort of indecency from this ludicrous suggestion of hers. No one in their right mind asked people they barely know to carry them for fun, and he was not known in the office for being particularly friendly with anyone, much less the person in front of him. She could have some sort of mental problem – no one could be that enthusiastic and inanely happy like the dimwitted, persistent child that she is. Yes, that would make more sense for Aizen to hire someone like her, broken much like the rest of them in their own way, although how that would help their situation was currently amiss for him. Everything about her is fidgety, her hands flitting back and forth, or making gesticulations while talking, her voice overly enthusiastic, almost dripping with happiness every time, her head flinging this way and that in agreement or disagreement. He did not like unnecessary movements, so the only thing he did was what he would always do to people like her. His eyes bored into those large brown eyes – almost like doe eyes – and blanked out the rest of the annoying distractions. Most of them would eventually look away in due time. If there was a staring contest, he doubted that he would lose.
Except her eyes were proving distracting as well… most people would just look away. But she just looked at him, unaffected, her irises perpetually flitting this way and that, and constantly blinking, and all the while still waiting at him. He could see the crinkle in her eyes as she humorously smiled at him while she anticipated for his response to her request. But he did already, didn't he? What is she waiting for? What is wrong with her?
"You do know I have a name, right? Why do you insist on calling me 'woman'? My name is Orihime. Say it. O-RI-HI-ME," she chirped.
"I will call you whatever I like, woman."
"Aww come on. What if we saw each other on the busy streets? You can hardly call me without having the rest of the female population turn to you either."
"First off, I will not 'call' you when I see you on the street. So the odds of your suggestion happening are completely non-existent."
"Its not just me, is it? I mean, you must call Harribel-san something when you work with her or see her down the hall in the office, right?"
Silence.
"You mean you never called her by her name at all?"
"I am already acknowledging you by calling you woman. Be thankful. Please do not make a fuss out of it. Its tiresome."
"But you call Grimmjow by his name, right? You don't have a thing against women, do you?"
"Idiot."
"What? I'm not!"
"I meant that is how I refer to him. Idiot."
"Fine. How about Nnoitra?"
"He's also another idiot."
She pursed her lips. "You have an awfully limited vocabulary,…."
He kept staring into her eyes, hoping she would just get the point and leave.
"How about Aizen? He's the boss, you wouldn't by any chance call him an idiot, would you?"
Ulquiorra is pretty much at his wits end. The conversation was absolutely inconsequential, and he was not known for small chat, and this one was entirely without merit. He did not understand why he was still standing there talking to the woman. Although he had to admit, she is not a horrendous sight to behold, he knew from memory that she was shapely, the conversation itself was absolutely devoid of imperative substance. Maybe it is the outright ridiculousness of it all that was keeping him at his place. The last few times she was within speaking vicinity of him, he was still ascertaining the reality of the person in front of him. Sparks were still flying out this way and that when she spoke, and by now he was entirely sure that the person in front of him was not an illusion of the mind – she existed, living, breathing and all, complete with all the bodily functions that was both disgustingly human and necessary. Her interactions with everyone proved that. So did the big splotch of yellow paint splattered across his chest.
"Oh wait. You called him Aizen-sama the first time we talked! I mean, not the first time, but the time when we officially met in the office- "
Orihime was startled when the normally stoic and unresponsive man took a step towards her and closed the gap between them, but this time his chest and his face towering over her and only inches from hers. Her voice eluded her and her words were stopped short as she automatically looked up and realized how close Ulquiorra was; Whether or not it was the warmth of his body due to the proximity, or the creeping embarrassment that was suddenly flushing the blood to her face, or both, she didn't know. All she knew is that she was close enough to be asserted immediately by her senses, made more acute by her own self awareness. She could smell the raw, dry earth and dust that covered his body from his climb earlier, merged together with the sharp, synthetic smell of the drying paint on this chest. On top of both was also a scent of something strong and distinctly aquamarine. She could hear the slight rustle of his ebony black hair as the wind turned up and disturbed the edge of his short tresses. She could see the tiny splotches of forest green and canary yellow paint splattered at the ends of his sleeves. But all that was merely secondary to the deafening silence and stillness coming from the man in front of her, his face as stone cold and as dispassionate, yet his eyes, contrary to the blankness his features otherwise portrayed, looking more dangerous and threatening than she'd ever seen. Despite the few times she had looked uneasily into them, he was always a step or two away. Being so close brought her inches from those eyes...and this wasn't random anger she saw. It wasn't irritation.
It was cold, calculated, and dangerous. His eyes were mere pinpricks, almost disappearing in a sea of green. It spelled an instinctive habit that had been done many times, and a certain secret anticipation of the aftermath only he knew of, that nobody did... including her. She could see absolute certainty in his sharp, green eyes. His eyes told more than what the rest of his blank face did. Infinitely more. He knew what would happen next... and she didn't.
For the first time, she was suddenly scared. Very scared. Scared because despite the past few incidents with him, she knew she was seeing Ulquiorra now... for who he truly is.
Cold. Calculated. Dangerous.
He uttered a single, solitary, commanding word.
"Silence."
She could sense his warm, masculine breath brushing past her cheeks as he uttered the lone word in strict command. His face was inches to hers. Her mouth became suddenly parched and dry, and the thudding heartbeat was frantically pushing against her throat and temples. Alarm bells sounded in her head. Too close.
She stood frozen, as she did the yesterday. But this was far more terrifying, because she knew he was in his primal state. His instinctive state. A state that did not think. One that did not consider. One that was as natural as killing for self preservation. He will not turn back. Her mind screamed a second time.
TOO CLOSE!
He saw her brown eyes widened to large round orbs, and Ulquiorra could see her pupils dilated. Normally he did not step so closely to anyone, but during his doubts of irritation, he completely forgot the commonplace concept of private space. In fact, this did not exist for him, he simply thought that everything was public, at least, his world extended outwards to those that surrounded and interacted with him, including those living and moving in it. They were an irritation to be reckoned with, but to his mind, they were fully within his realm, not theirs. It gives him a right to do whatever he pleased and respond accordingly. This little step did not bother him the least, as compared to average people, except for the fact that he had to respond to alien sensations to opposite beings in close proximity. But the irregularity, they always never last – there was nothing strange or new that cannot be fixed with the swat of his will, against others. Nothing.
He looked down to find the auburn haired girl flushed with reddened cheeks.
"I.. I…" Orihime stammered.
He started to move decisively, like a precision clockwork of a master artisan. He raised his hands to stop the woman's lips, to earn his silence. It was also then that he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Ulquiorra."
Interrupted with his thoughts, he turned to find a broadly smiling Aizen beside him.
"You wouldn't be taking retribution from our lovely human resources colleague, are you? I did hit you with more paintballs."
"No, Aizen-sama." He took a slight controlled step back, at the same time noticing the woman trying to regain her composure, sweat beaded on her forehead, slightly breathing irregularly, and moving slowly and carefully away from his direction.
Aizen similarly noticed, facing her and gracing her with a smile. "Orihime-san, that was quite a shooting you did back there," He raised his fingers to his lips, as if about to reveal a secret, but instead explained something else.
"Did you know that in the wild, some preys submit and surrender to the predator despite being uninjured, and could still have the possibility of escape?"
She shook her head sideways in the negative.
"Some physiologists call this altered state the 'immobility' or 'freezing' response. It is one of the three primary responses available to reptiles and mammals when faced with an overwhelming threat, the other two more commonly known, as fight and flight," He expounded in a scholarly, gentle manner to the girl. "In fact, many indigenous people view this phenomenon as a surrender of the spirit of the prey to the predator, which, in a manner of speaking, it is."
"Its precisely what our Ulquiorra here was in, when he was standing in the middle of the field, immobile, when you shot him." His smile broadened warmly when she looked at Aizen in askance on his explanation, but recalling what transpired earlier.
"You were quite the predator, Orihime," he smiled, "Make sure you do not immobilize our Ulquiorra in the future with your natural predatory instincts." He gestured towards Ulquiorra, who was standing blankly and silently beside him, sharply contrasting to Aizen's open and inviting arms.
"Besides, did you know that immobility states are also intrinsic in humans... In fact, it is something we acquired when we were still primates living in the wild and wasn't on top of the food chain yet. Interesting the relationships of evolution has passed on, no?" He smiled. "Wouldn't do to have our Cuatro espada here immobilized, otherwise I would never have him to get his work done on time for me, yes?"
Ulquiorra eyed his senior warily as Aizen continued his conversation with Orihime. He knew a reprimand when he saw one, and he knew he was directly at the receiving end of it, despite appearances. He stood by and waited, flustered by his absolute lack of control on his bearings, while displaying no outward signs of his thoughts. Despite the fact that it was minimal, he was best known for his control. He did not make mistakes, especially obvious ones, in front of people outside the office, where people like his woman's friend so clearly close by.
He transferred his attention on the auburn haired woman in front of him, now already animatedly talking to Aizen. He shouldn't have been easily distracted. Whatever was in store for this whiff of a woman, it was imperative that he respond as he always did – whether woman, Grimmjow or that fool Nnoitra – with his head in the right place. It is merely stated for a fact that the effort of engaging with them was not worth it. No, not at all.
He turned around without repose, and walked away.
Aizen looked kindly at the his young, new human resources employee. "So Orihime, how do you find the first two weeks of the job? That was a good bit of team work you arranged back here."
"It's fine, although I did have a bit of a hard time trying to start, but it was okay once I had the ball rolling." She cautiously eyed the boss of Arrancar Corporation's Karakura Division. The many times she has been with him, he merely smiled and have kept his silence. It was the first time he had actively engaged her in conversation.
"How did you find the people in the office so far?"
"Well, they're a bit rowdy…" she meekly replied.
To her surprise, Aizen chuckled. "Rowdy is such a polite word. Hardly what I would use to describe our little Karakura team."
She smiled in earnest.
"Do you have any concerns about the environment?" he inquired.
"Eh? Oh no, its particularly fine. I just bump into Grimmjow a lot, but things are progressing quite well with him, actually."
"Oh? Tamin' da pussy?" Gin came over, "ello lil' Princess, nice climbing ya did back der."
Before she could eye the silver haired man with suspicion, it was immediately overridden by his blunt words to describe the Sexta. Her cheeks flamed.
"Nyaaa... what a reaction," Gin laughed, "He likes his Panthera nickname… I jus like ta call him pussy ta aggravate him. It seems more suited ta him by all means," the CFO smiled at her. "You've certainly tamed 'im ta have him coming over ya fully drunk last night. He's barely been chummy wit' anyone in a while. Nice going."
She blushed further with embarrassment. Even if it was Gin, it was the first reasonable compliment she had actually received from him. It was good to know they recognized that she was making a bit of a connection.
"How do you find Nnoitra?" Aizen asked.
"Well, he's a little bit scary than most…" she continued meekly at the two board of directors in front of her, a bit self conscious of the attention she was getting.
"Even compared to our Cuatro espada? You must be joking," Gin chuckled.
A reminder of the green eyed man suddenly put her in defensive. "Oh Ulquiorra-san is not all that bad. Most of the times he's quite mild mannered –"
"Ya mean he doesn't talk or react much, rite?" Gin interjected.
She hastily defended. "I mean, he's occasionally short fused, but he doesn't make any physical contact of sorts. I mean, sticks and stones right, but names are just names..." she trailed off. What was she saying? Saying bad things about her colleagues in front of these two top people of the company?
"Oh, ya, but it seems ya got his temper flaring aside from him interestin' outburst yest'day," Gin added, "I haven't seen that in a while, Aizen. The last and only time I recall was when he socked Grimmjow after meeting him fo' the first time an' having a few friendly exchanges."
Orihime back pedalled. She didn't want to get anyone into trouble. Even if it was Ulquiorra. "Wait… I mean, he doesn't get irritated all the time… just once, really. Its nothing much, but there was just some rather verbal exchanges, but I don't mind them." Have to say something nice, and truthful. "He always keeps his head, and he looks to be reliable and trustworthy," she added.
"You are correct in thinking that, Orihime. He's my most trusted Espada here, both in terms of getting things done, and responsibility. I trust him absolutely."
This admission surprised Orihime, considering that Ulquiorra was merely the fourth team lead. It would seem more natural to trust your first hand than the fourth. Almost as if reading her mind, Aizen continued, "I believe you have met Starrk during your interviews?"
"Yes."
"Although him and his partner Lilynette are exceptional together, their personalities are somewhat to the lazy side and tend to procrastinate on occasions. But not too much. They are both fully capable to finish their projects on time, but their discipline are not as noteworthy as the Cuatro's. Additionally, it does benefit to be a one man team, after all."
She nodded, remembering how careful and obsessive Ulquiorra was during the past couple of times she's met with him.
A question popped in her head.. something she's always been curious. "Out of curiosity, ... do they work on similar projects?"
"No, I usually assign what is the most appropriate for them. The nature of their work differs based on their working style. It wouldn't make sense to have a mountain wolf to forage for fruits, insects and frogs while get a nocturnal bat to hunt for large four footed elks. To each their own. They will thrive in the right environment."
She was right. This really was a good company to work in. Management play to each person's strengths and minimize their weaknesses, so that they get full potential. And she realized that in the few sentences she had just had with him, talking to Aizen was quite easy. He talked more about how people are than most of the team leads she's met in the company. And he spoke casually as if he had a full understanding of his employees. He spoke less about technological jargon, and more about people and management. It also helped that he seemed in tune with her perspective... so far with her conversation with him, he concentrated mostly on natural perspectives, and could clearly understand effortlessly. It made her feel less pressured. In fact, she felt quite settled.
"In fact, how to you find our Cuatro?" Aizen asked.
She decided that it was alright to tell him the truth. He probably knew more about them than she did.
"He seems a little more detached to the others…."
"Yes, he usually works alone. That is the important point about him. He does not work as effectively with the others, but he does present a thorough and complete assessment to his work," Aizen smiled. "It would probably not come as a surprise, seeing that today's activity was a good match to him. I would chance an educated guess that you tailored this one with him in mind."
She beamed cheerily, finding that it was so easy to not have to explain things for once.
"His collaborative skills could be more beneficial if he cooperates much better with others. It is a challenging task, and I would even do it myself, but I have others to manage, and it seems that you have made a introductory rapport with him."
Introductory rapport? Really? Is that what that was? She was thinking more along the lines of antagonization, instead. She giggled inwardly.
"But let me make this explicit," he stated seriously, "Could I request that you concentrate more of your work on him? It would be an advantage to him, and to his colleagues."
She stopped, remembering what had just happened a few minutes ago. She had just had a glimpse of Ulquiorra... a sliver of him, and her mind spelled danger is all caps. He really was dangerous. Did she want to work on him?
But Aizen wouldn't have asked if he knew she wouldn't be able to handle it. He already explained his philosophy on managing his Karakura team. Playing on strengths, minizing weakness. And she's not going to let Ulquiorra stop her again. She could do it. "It would be no problem for me, but he has an irregular work schedule, and the fact that he works alone in his own floor. The chances that we meet are really quite small…"
"Do not worry about that. I will make arrangements, as long as you agree to this little request. Are we in agreement?"
She wondered what kind of arrangement Aizen was talking about. Ulquiorra, the coldly stoic man, would not welcome any sort of change in his routines, and she was oddly curious to find out what would be in store.
She slowly nodded in assent.
"Good," Aizen nodded in serious confirmation. "It seems I have made the right choice by taking you in to this company."
She smiled. And it seems like she has just found her mystery supporter. She glanced at Gin. He was still wearing his smirk.
Before Aizen went to join the rest of his team, who were looking at Barragan's pictures, he turned to her.
"Oh yes, Orihime. I would also like a report on the outcome of this and a progress report on a weekly basis. I find your thoughts quite refreshing, and complementary to what I expected from your background. You do not disappoint. You've done impressive analysis and work in the short time you've been with us, I appreciate that. Keep up the good work."
AN: Sorry, I did it again... Ulquiorra is now an official loser *evil snicker* But, oh look. Ichigo being protective, Aizen's being nice (can you imagine that?), Gin's being Gin, and a Grimmjow-Ulquiorra rapport (I really enjoyed that). Gawd, I really like the image of Ulquiorra being creamed by everyone, even by Orihime!
Hoped you liked the Ulquiorra POV. Though... just, ... please don't cream me, I know you guys like Ulquiorra, but then, as I said, he wasn't nice in the manga to begin with, either. I love him dearly to bits, too, honest. He's going to turn around, I promise! I mean, that's what makes me so excited writing this. It's just that these things don't happen overnight, that's all. Can you imagine kissing someone you absolutely hate from a class / in the office after just meeting them for two weeks? ...nah. :)
So, did you enjoy this one? Reviews please! Really, I'm serious. It's harder for me to write when my favorite chapters don't get any responses. It makes me wonder if its just all in my head, and I'd like to know if it really is. As they always, say, "you have to be cruel to be kind", so don't rein any negative opinions in. If you think you have something _REALLY_ negative and don't want to be harsh by posting it where everyone can see (unlike what Ulquiorra did to Orihime, lambasting her in front of everyone during the team building), then PM me instead. So, give it a go! Send me your impressions, it will help me, and you at the same time :)
