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"Women, you need to eat." Ulquiorra restated for what felt like the hundredth time.

Orihime just continued to sit there against the cold wall, her eyes vacant and staring down at her hands.

"Why are you so upset?" Ulquiorra questioned, surprised that he was slightly curious.

"My heart… feels like it's going to explode… I… I…" Orihime whispered before tears once again began to fall.

"Your heart?" Ulquiorra looked down at the girl before him. Heart? He couldn't comprehend that… but he could tell it was painful. Her face was miserable, her hair disheveled. Her eyes held something that Ulquiorra could only guess was hopelessness. That was when he understood.

"Kurosaki, Ichigo." Ulquiorra said brusquely.

"That… wasn't… Ichigo…" Orihime choked out, her hands tightening in her lap.

Ulquiorra stared at those hands, so tiny as they clenched and unclenched. But why should that matter?

"You were expecting something else."

Orihime couldn't respond with words, she just silently nodded her head.

"What were you hoping for?" He found himself asking, the words just finding their way out.

Ulquiorra was defiantly curious, curious despite himself. He found himself wondering why, but only got a vague feeling to answer. A feeling he couldn't put a name to.

"I…" Orihime whispered as she swallowed back the burning feeling of tears in her throat, "I…"

"Tell me." Ulquiorra found himself saying. Quietly- not nice- but gentle enough. Completely out of character for him. Once again he found himself wondering as to why he cared at all.

Orihime bit her lip. She looked into Ulquiorra's eyes and something seemed to break within her. She seemed to be unable to hold it in any longer and the words started to pour out. "I was hoping that he'd still be my Ichigo… That he would come and smile… That he would say everything's all right… That somehow he would make everything okay… But that person was not him… it couldn't be…" she whimpered here, her hands tangling themselves in her hair.

"That was Ichigo Kurosaki."

"No!" Orihime screamed as her tears fell to the ground, "That wasn't Ichigo!"

Ulquiorra was puzzled. There wasn't much that could confuse him, but this idiotic girl did. Why couldn't she accept the truth?... And why did he care?

"Ichigo Kurosaki is now an Espada. In short, he's an advance hollow. He's dead. I killed him myself, my very own hands piercing through him. I saw his life end then begin again as something not quite living. He is now something made only of hate."

Orihime seemed to freeze.

"The one you know as Ichigo Kurosaki doesn't exist anymore. He's an empty shell. He has no heart."

Orihime's hands dropped slowly from her head. She stared off into the distance; the only movement was the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. She seemed to be numbed by the truth, caught in between not being able to accept and not being able to deny what was happening around her.

"But…" Orihime whispered, her voice quivering with something, "But what am I suppose to do now?"

Orihime looked at Ulquiorra with desperate eyes. Her eyes seemed to be shouting her feelings, not hiding anything. It seemed to all be clearly painted all over her face. But Ulquiorra couldn't understand. These feelings, emotions, weren't things that he knew how to comprehend. Ulquiorra tilted his head as he tried to piece these odd emotions together. He felt something, seeing such a small girl sitting by herself. She looked so insignificant, so worthless. Then it clicked.

Lonely.

This girl before him was lost and lonely. Her very world that she knew had slowly been torn away, stained red with blood. The blood of the people she cared for, the blood of her friends. Her only savior had been taken and turned into a villain.

He understood it now.

But that didn't mean he knew how to help.

Him and the girl just continued to stare at each other. Neither knew what to expect, neither knew what to do.

They were at an impasse. One which Ulquiorra knew they didn't have the capability to overcome… but he still found himself wanting to help this girl. He didn't know why, it all confused him, but he wanted to change. He wanted to change so that he would be able to overcome their impasse and help her. He had a strange urge to see her smile.

Ulquiorra turned on his heels and walked outside of the room, unable to take it anymore. He leaned against the cold wall of the hallway, listening as the girl started crying again. He wanted to go back in. But he wouldn't... Yet something was drawing him back in. He couldn't understand. For once in his life, Ulquiorra felt himself not in control. He pushed off the wall and walked down the hall at a brisk pace. He didn't know what to do.

He was scared.