A/N: My gosh, I am SOOOO sorry for getting this chapter in so late. I am very mad at myself, I promise you that. D:

Anyway, forgive me major because this chap is very half-assed on my part. I criticized and criticized my work, but it never sounded right. Oh well...hopefully you guys will like it.

Bleach - Tite Kubo


Oh sacred moon,

Goddess of the night,

Forgive your servant,

As I spill blood tonight.

Chapter 9 - Consequence

"You left your room."

"I did, Ulquiorra-sama."

Sane had wanted so badly to jump for joy when her old caretaker had walked through the door. She'd lived with the scowls, anger, and crude remarks of the other arrancars for some time now. The worst of them – a teal-haired brute named Grimmjow – mocked her the most, telling her how inferior she was to him. But not one of them resembled Ulquiorra in any way. Not one of them was her teacher.

However, now that he was back, she'd done her duty as a student and admitted her failure. Now all she could do was await the punishment.

"Where did you go?"

Bowing her head even lower, she said, "The room next door. I met someone there."

Ulquiorra stayed silent, expecting her story to continue. The truth was he already knew that she'd met the human from the real world – Grimmjow had done him the favor of mentioning it several times behind his back. The problem was if the human had told her anything of importance.

"She said some strange things."

Bingo.

"She said I was a soul reaper," said Sane, shaking her head. "But that would be preposterous, of course."

"When were you first able to see?"

"Excuse me?"

"I dislike repeating myself, woman."

"Oh, well…" Now that she thought about it, Sane couldn't remember when her sight returned. The only thing she recalled was the blurry image of Ulquiorra-sama the night before he left. Then, the next day, she woke with complete clarity. She hadn't even noticed the difference, as if she'd never been blind in her life. Straightening her posture, Sane said, "I believe it was after Ulquiorra-sama's last visit."

He wasn't exactly surprised at this. Szayel had said she would regain her sight in three weeks, and he'd only been gone two. That business with the human girl had taken longer than he thought.

Yet back then, the woman's eyes had been pure white – a blank slate, completely devoid of color. How had they turned such a luminous shade of green in such a short amount of time? He couldn't take his gaze off her…

His mind twitched. And twitched again.

Stupid woman, he thought. Ulquiorra had never been frightened by anything in his whole life as an arrancar. He'd stared down countless hollows, stood up to fellow Espada; he didn't even have to struggle to become Aizen's 4th.

But his mind scared him. That thought he just had…

It made him shake inside.

Just as quickly as it had come, the notion was pushed aside. Ulquiorra vowed to his pitch black heart to never be swayed by anything so trivial again.

"Ulquiorra-sama? Something wrong?" Sane asked, stepping out of her comfort zone.

"Nothing of your concern."

"Understood." She said.

"Did the human say anything else?"

"Yes, Ulquiorra-sama. She…," Sane clenched her fists together. "She said you kidnapped her."

"I did."

"What? Why?"

"I see no reason to tell you."

"Is there a reason not to?" she argued. He merely had to look at her, and she winced. "Excuse my outburst, Ulquiorra-sama. I was out of place."

"I kidnapped her for Aizen-sama's purposes. That should abate your curiosity." He turned to face the door and Sane's newfound eyes bore into his back, just as they'd blindly done so many times before.

"She also spoke against Aizen-sama, saying that he, the hollows – all of us, in fact – we're all evil. We kill for sport. Is that true as well, Ulquiorra-sama?" she said, a subtle hint of anger in her voice. Ulquiorra-sama…I defended you! How can you speak such things?!

"All in due time, woman. Keep your mouth shut from now on."

And then he left. Just like he always did.

But why did Sane feel so oddly alone? She'd never had such a feeling before. Not now, not before. When Ulquiorra left her by herself, she'd sleep, eat, exercise; anything to pass the time until he came back again. But this was different. She wasn't sure what to do with herself. It was so quiet in her room.

She felt so alone.

"Havin' fun, brother?" said Grimmjow. He'd been quietly waiting outside Sane's room for his chance to poke fun at Ulquiorra. Only recently had the 6th Espada lost his rank in Aizen's army; and then, almost as quickly, gained it back after an unfortunate turn of events. Now, Grimmjow was back to causing subtle chaos within the walls of Hueco Mundo – as he was prone to do, of course. In his signature pose, Grimmjow leaned comfortably against the marble wall with his hands in his pockets. "Roped you in, hasn't she? You're such a ladies man!"

"Isn't there something else you should be doing, Grimmjow?" asked Ulquiorra.

"Course not," said Grimmjow, combing through his thick blue hair. "But I could be screwin' with that human chick right about now."

"Aizen-sama has decreed that no one but I shall tend to her."

"Your point?"

"You've already been punished once this month. Shall we call for a second? Perhaps you'll lose your other arm-"

"What'd you say?" The white collar around Ulquiorra's neck was ruffled where Grimmjow had seized it. His brawny knuckles tightened around the cloth, but Ulquiorra wasn't fazed.

"I suggest you don't anger anyone while your position as the Sexta Espada isn't compromised, Grimmjow. Aizen can always find another arrancar to replace you."

"You shut the hell up, prick! I swear, I'll-" Grimmjow fell silent. It was so obvious, the reiatsu coming from down the hall.

"Well, well, well, looky what we got here – a party! And I wasn't invited?" With the unmatched, unrivaled grin of a crazy man, Gin Ichimaru practically cantered towards the Espada. He cocked his head to the side like a confused dog; curious even. His strong reiatsu fell back to a normal, average state.

Poison laced in his words, Gin said, "Ya know, I really hate not being invited to parties."

Grimmjow was immediately pissed. His fingers were still latched on Ulquiorra's collar, but steadily came loose. He couldn't exactly afford to be in trouble at this point; even if his damned older brother was right. The 4th was staring at him impatiently until Grimmjow finally let go.

"Che!" he muttered, loud enough for the shinigami and espada to hear, and then sauntered away. From down the hall, he yelled, "You know she's messing with your head! You just don't have the balls to admit it."

"Well, that was fun," Gin said, ignoring Grimmjow's outburst. "Hope we can do it again sometime, eh Ulquiorra-san?"

"Your interference was not needed," Ulquiorra said plainly. He took the time to fix his ruffled coat and frowned – as best he could – at some of the now permanent wrinkles.

"A-ight, point taken. Just let me know when Grimmjow-kun goes crazy again." With a light wave, Gin turned his back on Ulquiorra. "Later."

So idiotic, Ulquiorra thought, but of course he'd never say it out loud. He could've easily handled the situation with Grimmjow, but no. There always had to be that small imperfection; a tiny mistake that changed the course of any given situation. And this time, Gin had been it. That underhanded assistant of a shinigami had purposely denied Ulquiorra the right to punish Grimmjow, and by doing so, deprived Ulquiorra of any authority…

He felt anger. A slight twitch of hate in his chest, but it was definitely there. Never had he felt such a strange sensation before. A defect, he thought. It was so small; he probably would've never felt it had he been preoccupied with something. It wouldn't be hard to ignore. Filing his index finger below his collar bone, he massaged the tattoo on his chest, where the sting was coming from.


A/N: Is Ulquiorra...feeling something? Omg, it's a revelation! XD

Forgive me again! It's shorter than I expected...

Review please?