Title: The Rain that Binds
Pairings: UlquiHime with a bit of IchiRuki and some one-sided IchiHime and IshiHime. Other pairings may be added later.
Rating: T
Spoilers: Up to chapter 282 of the manga
Word count: 3,443
A/N: The moment we've all been waiting for! Enjoy!
From now on, the story will be updated every Wednesday and Saturday, so...look forward to that!
Orihime walked through the aisles of the market, putting items into her basket without much thought. If she had been paying attention, she would have noticed that the only items she had were a bar of soap, toilet paper, and some bleach, none of which were edible. Instead, her mind was focused on a certain green eyed Arrancar who was currently residing in her apartment.
' When was it that Ulquiorra became so important in my life?' she thought for the second time, putting in some butter and ketchup. ' Was it when he started helping me with my homework? When we went out shopping this last weekend? When he saved us?'
Closing her eyes, she thought further and further into the past, analyzing every moment the two of them had shared together. Snapping her eyes open, she had reached a conclusion.
' It was that time,' Orihime decided. ' When he and Grimmjow began to fight, and Grimmjow used his caja negación, sealing Ulquiorra in some unknown dimension. When Grimmjow told me that it would seal lesser Arrancar for all eternity, I remember feeling a wave of fear rush through me. Even though I didn't understand it at the time, I had been worried about Ulquiorra. Would he be ok? Then, Grimmjow explained that Ulquiorra, being an Espada, would break out in a couple of hours. For some reason, hearing those words, that he would be ok, strengthened me.'
Looking down at her basket, she noticed that most of it was filled with non-food items. Smacking herself lightly on the head, she walked back and put most everything away. After she made her second round through the market, this time with food items in hand, she paid the cashier. Taking her bags, she made her way to the entrance of the store, only to notice that…
' It figures. The one day that I don't have my umbrella with me, it is raining hard.'
She sighed.
" And of course it would have to be cold as well. Mou! I guess this means that I'm going to have to run as fast as I can or else I'll get sick."
Taking off her coat, Orihime put it on her head and ran as fast as she could from the market to her apartment. She could see the puffs of breath coming out and feel the numbness on her face and cheeks as the rain pelted her mercilessly. The cold, in combination with her running, was beginning to irritate her lungs. She resisted the urge to cough.
' Why do I get the feeling that Ulquiorra is going to reprimand me?'
Ulquiorra looked up from the book that he was reading and stared out the window. It had not been raining when Orihime had left the apartment, but the rain was now coming down heavily, distorting the image outside the window. He sighed.
' She must be trying to make herself ill, going out in this frigid, pouring weather with no kind of protection...'
He heard her insert the key into the door to the apartment and open the door. Despite trying to use the coat as some sort of cover, she still managed to get soaked. Her hair was drenched and her clothes were sticking to her shivering form. Removing the coat from her head and placing it on the coat rack, she took off her shoes and cried out,
" I'm home, Ulquiorra!"
Putting his book down, he walked over to her to take the bags that she held in her hands. She held on to them tightly, walking to the kitchen while he continued to get hold of them. Finally, she released them and began to put the food away.
" Inoue, the food can wait. If you stay in those cold, soaked clothes, you are going to make yourself ill," he said, grabbing the food from her grasp and pushing her out of the kitchen and towards her bedroom.
" But I can't let you do this by your…"
His hard gaze cut her off. Resigned, she made her way to the bedroom and changed into something more comfortable and dry. She then made her way to the bathroom to towel the water out of her hair. Making her way back to where he was, she walked into the kitchen only to find that he had already put everything away. She was slightly surprised, glancing at him to find that he was already sitting on the couch in his usual spot. She walked over to him and sat down.
" What reason do you have for not bringing an umbrella with you when you could clearly see that there was a possibility of rain on top of the fact that it is unpleasantly cold out?" he demanded, staring at her out of the corner of his eye.
She scratched her head and let out a nervous laugh.
" Ah! Well, you see…it looked like it was going to rain yesterday too, so I brought my umbrella with me to school. The only thing is, I kinda forgot to bring it back home. And well, I couldn't really go back to the school to go get it, so…. I was just hoping that it wouldn't rain on my way back from the supermarket, or, at least, it wouldn't be raining too hard. I guess I jinxed myself, huh?" she rambled.
Ulquiorra was about to reprimand her for her forgetfulness when a strike of lightning flashed across the window and a crash of thunder was heard, bathing the whole room in darkness in the blink of an eye. Although Ulquiorra had no trouble adjusting to the sudden change in lighting, it took Orihime a few seconds to adjust to the new lighting.
" The power went out."
" What an astute observation."
Standing up from the couch, she made her way to the cabinets in the kitchen and grabbed a few candles and some matches. She strategically placed the candles around different places in the room, lighting them before returning to her seat. The two sat in comfortable silence, minus the second crash of thunder, for a few minutes before Orihime turned to him.
" I threw away the notebook. The one that I had been writing in that allowed me to transmit all your information to Soul Society. I destroyed it and threw it away while I was out," she repeated.
"Hm."
She turned her gaze back to the wall in front of them and continued to sit in silence for about half a minute until curiosity got the best of her.
" Ulquiorra. I know that you probably won't answer me, but I've got to at least try one more time before I give up altogether," Orihime started, gazing at his profile before continuing. " Why did you help us escape from Hueco Mundo?"
She waited a few minutes for him to respond. When he didn't, she let out a soft sigh. She was about to tell him that she had been expecting him to answer that way when he began to speak.
" Because you saved me," he responded, turning to meet her gaze, a strange look on his face that she had never seen before.
" Eh? Wha…"
" You remember the caja negación that the former sexta Espada used against me, correct?" he asked.
Orihime nodded.
" The device transports Arrancar into another dimension and traps them there for all eternity, as long as they are lower ranking. None have ever escaped from that dimension, to tell what lay in that other world…until now. Considering that it was developed by the octava Espada, it is not surprising that he would find a means to create a dimension that was…"
He paused a bit, trying to find the correct words to use. She was about to ask him to continue when he began again.
" Being an Arrancar, I am not aware of the conditions of Hell, but I hypothesize that the dimension the caja negación connects to is the closest to replicating those conditions in existence," he said, hearing her gasp.
' That's terrible,' she thought, a hand covering her mouth in shock.
" In that dimension, there is no light. Time is nonexistent. You cannot see anything that is around you; however, your senses are magnified considerably, especially your sense of touch. The pain of a scratch in that dimension is equivalent to having a limb cut off. And there are…beings there, not that they are visible in that darkness, that attack you. They take pleasure in each cry that escapes from your lips and you can hear your cries ringing in your ears for what seems to be hours after you have stopped screaming. It would drive a lesser Arrancar insane, and still, that is not the worst of it."
Ulquiorra saw the look of horror that spread on her face and considered stopping. However, he knew that she wanted to hear his reason for saving her and her friends and would give him no peace until he did. So, he continued.
" The worst of it all is that your ability to feel emotions is also magnified considerably. Not any of the positive emotions, though. All your guilt. All your anger. All your sadness. Everything. Combined with the heightened state of your senses, it would not take long for even the most powerful of the Espada to be driven to madness by the sensory overload."
Orihime looked at him sadly, unsure of what she should think about everything he had told her.
" But, you didn't," she said.
Ulquiorra's eyes turned downward and he took a few seconds to collect himself before he brought his gaze back to meet hers.
" No, I didn't. As I said before…it was because you saved me. Saved me from the darkness. The two hours that I spent in that dimension was an eternity. I did everything possible to prevent myself from slipping into madness. I imagined what I was going to do to Grimmjow once I escaped. I thought of Aizen and his goals. Nothing worked…"
He looked away from her to stare at the wall in front of them before looking at her again.
" I was so close. Very close to giving in and letting those beings consume me until… I remembered the image of your face before the entrance to the dimension closed. When I did, I could feel my sanity return to me. For the rest of the time, I saw nothing but your face in my mind's eye. It kept me sane for the remainder of the time that I was trapped in that dimension. You were my light in that all-encompassing darkness."
Orihime's eyes widened and she could feel a slight blush forming on her cheeks.
" I…see. But, that doesn't really explain why you helped us escape," she pointed out.
Ulquiorra closed his eyes and sighed.
" I had to repay you, for what you had done for me…more importantly…"
He opened them once again, revealing to her an emotion that she never thought she would ever see, particularly from him: contrition.
" As the days passed, I saw that your light was starting to fade the longer you resided in Hueco Mundo and the fact was…I did not want it to. After I escaped, I resolved to help you escape. However, I was also aware that you would never leave your nakama behind, so, as a result, I understood that I would be obligated to help them as well."
Orihime took this all in, trying to make sense of everything that he told her. It was no wonder that he had never answered before when everyone asked him why he had helped them escape. His reasons for helping them were so…personal, so intimate. She felt as though Ulquiorra had just bared his soul, in a manner of speaking, and it humbled her to know that he had done so for her sake.
". …T-thank you…Ulquiorra. For telling me," she said, trying to keep herself from crying.
" Now you understand why I refused to answer this question before," he replied.
He saw the tears that were forming in her eyes.
" Why does it appear that you are about to cry?"
She tried pushing back the tears.
' Ulquiorra…'
" It hurts …to hear what you suffered through. Hearing you describe those things…all the pain…the ascending madness. It's as though I can feel what you must have gone through. And it hurts me so much," she said, tears starting to run down her cheeks, " to know that you had to deal with something so horrifying…because…"
Orihime started to break down into deep sobs, her head turned down as the tears ran down her face and dropped into her lap. Ulquiorra stared at her for a few moments before placing a hand underneath her chin, tilting her head up. Using the pad of his thumb, he wiped the tears away until her crying ceased.
Sniffling one last time, her hands moved to grab his arms, pulling them closer to her body. He was surprised that he was not as uncomfortable with the sudden contact as he expected he would be.
" I can't bear the thought of you suffering like that…ever…"
Orihime looked at him straight in the eyes and he couldn't help but avert his gaze to his lap.
' The look in her eyes…they are too honest…too kind…'
Suddenly, Ulquiorra felt her release his arms and move closer to him. He closed his eyes at the feel of her hand pressed against his cheek, causing a warm feeling to spread where her hand was touching it. He turned into it, relishing the feeling.
' It's the same as that time…when she linked arms with me…this warmth,' he recalled.
Her fingers slowly traced the lines of his tear marks and he resisted the urge to shudder. Suddenly, her hands left his face and they wrapped themselves around his neck, the rest of her body closely pressed against him. His arms were at his sides awkwardly and his body began to tremble slightly.
" I do not want your pity," he told her coldly.
She looked up at him and smiled softly, her eyes filled with warmth.
" It's not pity," Orihime said, pulling herself up.
She lifted herself slowly, ever so slowly, until her lips were closer to his. Ulquiorra moved his arms and gripped her shoulders, holding her in place before she could move any further.
"…Don't," he whispered, almost pleadingly.
It was too much for him, too much emotion. He knew that if he let her do what she was planning on doing, that things would never be the same again. He would never be the same again.
" Sh…don't be afraid," she whispered back to him.
His grip on her shoulders loosened and she began to move closer and closer. Their lips were millimeters apart now and they could feel each other's uneven breathing on their faces, coming out in pants. Both of their eyes were half closed. She could hear her heart beating erratically. Ulquiorra could feel a small trail of sweat making it's way down the back of his neck.
Slowly, she closed the distance between them and, closing their eyes, their lips touched.
It was nothing like Orihime had ever experienced before in her life. She remembered everything that she had ever read about a girl's first kiss in books and other sources.
' They said that there would be fireworks that exploded the second two lips touched or how the other person would taste like something sweet, like peppermint or strawberries.'
She could remember all the other metaphors that were compared to the sensation of a kiss and yet…none of them were even close. It was a feeling so indescribable that, no matter how long and hard a person tried, they could not put it down into words.
There was a small part of him, in the back of his mind, that had been reminding him that he was an Arrancar and that she was a human. A relationship between the two of them would be impossible. That he should throw the girl off of him and get as far away from her, lest she change him. Weaken him. The moment her lips touched his, that part of himself had been destroyed completely. After a moment, Ulquiorra moved his hands to wrap them around her waist.
They stayed like this, with her hands wrapped around his neck and his arms wrapped around her waist, for a few moments before they pulled away. She moved her head to rest it on his shoulder and let out a content sigh.
' My first kiss…' she thought.
Suddenly, Ulquiorra moved a hand to the left side of his head and gripped his mask. He sucked in a breath.
" Ulquiorra, what's wrong?" she asked, moving her arms to grip his shoulders and trying to make eye contact with him.
Unfortunately, his eyes were shut. Ulquiorra had never felt a pain like his before in his entire existence, including the time that he had spent trapped in the negación dimension. Pulling away from her, he moved off the couch and kneeled down, sweating rolling off of him. She got up and knelt in front of him.
" Please," she begged, " tell me what's wrong."
" …Pain…" he said before he let out a harsh groan.
The pressure in his mask continued to build and build until it felt as though he would pass out. The two could hear a cracking noise and Orihime looked around the room. Turning her gaze back to him, she could see the numerous cracks that had formed in his mask.
" What…?" Orhime started.
Suddenly, the pain was gone. The masked shattered, falling off his head and into his hands. Ulquiorra's eyes widened as he looked at the pieces. He was about to comment when the mask began to change into something that almost looked like reiatsu and began to move towards the area where his hollow hole was. At the same time, the two could feel his reiatsu flare.
And then, as suddenly as it had started, it was over. Ulquiorra looked at her questioningly only to see that she was doing the same. Looking down, he unbuttoned his shirt and heard her gasp.
" Y-your hollow hole!"
It was no longer there. She moved her hand closer and looked at him apprehensively. He nodded and felt her press the area where there was now flesh. After she removed her hand, he buttoned his shirt back up and stood. He looked out the window and saw that it was still raining.
" Ulquiorra, what…what happened…. just now?"
He turned and looked at her. He shook his head slightly.
" I'm…not certain," he answered.
He turned back to the window and saw his reflection. It was weird to see himself without the mask on the left side of his head. Instead, there were locks of black hair, some of it framing his face. He could see that his skin was the same hue as before and that he still had the tear marks that trailed their way down his cheeks. Ulquiorra turned to look at her.
" What…am I?"
" What do you mean, what are you?" Orihime asked, obviously bewildered.
He walked over to the corner of the room and picked up his zanpakutou that had been long forgotten since he first started living in her apartment. Walking back to her, he slid his sword out of its sheath. He stared at it for a moment, contemplating.
" Weep, La Muerta," he said softly.
Nothing. He could no longer feel his reiatsu that had once been encased in the zanpakutou.
' That would explain the rise in reiatsu I felt within myself earlier,' he decided.
Sheathing the sword, he propped it up against the wall. Moving back to his position in front of her, Ulquiorra stared at Orihime.
" What…am I?" he repeated.
" You already asked that…I don't understand what you mean." she responded.
" I am no longer an Arrancar," he explained. " Although I sense I am still able to use my Arrancar powers, I no longer have a hollow hole nor can I release my zanpakutou. I am not a human. I am not a shinigami. What does that make me, then?"
Holding his hands in her own, she looked up at him and smiled brightly.
" You're Ulquiorra…and that's all that matters."\
And here's the image that inspired the whole fic: http:// osm. icca. jp/main /bleach /img/ ulqui-hamen.jpg
Just take out the spaces.
