It's been a long time! But it looks like I'm back. (Maybe.) Don't expect regular updates, but know that this isn't on hiatus anymore. :)
Enjoy!
- Zip -
Orihime stared at the school, eyes wide, unable to believe that once upon a time Sora had been the nervous one and she'd been the one bouncing her backpack in anticipation.
Her daughter could barely stand still, the girl was so excited, and Orihime didn't blame her, but the school she had once loved as a kid now seemed so… threatening. What if her daughter went through the same things she did? What if the girl came home with her long hair forcibly chopped off? What if-
"You will listen to your teacher." Ulquiorra told the girl.
"Yes, sir!" She saluted him.
He raised an eyebrow, but went on. "And if you have any trouble with these human children then you will deal with it quickly and quietly. Do not allow them to make a fool of you."
She turned serious in point two seconds. "Yes, father."
Orihime's eyes went wide. "Ah-ah, ano. No, no, no, that's not right!" She waved her hands frantically, snapping her daughter out of her sudden serious stare. "If they are mean to you tell the teacher! Promise me you won't hurt anyone, Ayume, you shouldn't be mean!"
"But daddy said-"
"Yes, I know." She shot a look at Ulquiorra, who just stared back at her, unaffected. "But daddy never went to school, so for once, he doesn't know."
"Ooooh." Ayume nodded.
"Try your best to make friends, but don't feel bad if you get bullied. Some people have very sad hearts, and so they take it out on others. It's never your fault. Okay? You can stick up for yourself, but don't resort to violence. That will make my heart sad."
Nodding her understanding, Ayume bounced again, watching as some kids walked past them and into the building. "Okay, I got it, mom!" She happily piped. "Can I please go now? I want to meat everyone and my teachers!"
Ulquiorra stepped forward. "What is our address and phone number?"
"You already asked and I already answered."
He narrowed his eyes at her, causing her to quickly recite both. "Good." He intoned. "And what is your story?"
She sighed. "I really have to stick to it? It's so boring. Can't we make me a-"
"The story?"
She frowned, scuffing her shoe on the ground as she did. "My name is Ayume Cifer and I was born in Spain, but I was raised here in Japan on a little farm on the north eastern coast. Me and my family, Orihime Cifer and Ulquiorra Cifer- my parents- recently moved here to be closer to family. The family I speak of is my father's sister, Tia Halibel, and my mother's close friends."
"Very good. And if anyone asks about your special marks?"
"Sticker tattoos."
"And you know you must tell us if anyone see's them, correct? If they are discovered them we will have to cover them with-"
"I know, I know, dad, we've been over it a trillion times now! I've got it, please, please, please can I go to school now?" She clasped her eyes together and put forth her pouty eyes, willing her father to let her off the hook even if she had interrupted him.
Ulquiorra looked over at Orihime for permission to release their daughter.
She nodded once, solomly.
He sighed. "Fine." He put a hand to his face as she cheered, twirling in a circle. "You may go."
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She hopped up on her tip-toes and hug her father around the waist quickly before turning and doing the same to her mother, long black braid whipping behind her as she moved. "I love you! See you after school!"
And then she was gone.
"Second grade." Orihime dryly choked out.
"It's not too late to ask that Urahara man to alter her gigia to look her age so she may first go through kindergarten."
Orihime shook her head. "No. She'd be bored out of her mind."
Ulquiorra hummed his agreement.
"Should we go? I'm worried…"
He smiled, reached out, and took her hand. "She'll be fine."
Two weeks later
As usual, Orihime was dancing around the bakery, flying from oven to oven as her cakes finished baking. Her mind was filled with thoughts on frosting flavor, far from her child while the girl was at school.
Ayume had flawlessly melded into school life. She liked her classmates, she said, and the teacher said the class liked her just as much, and every night the girl came home excited to go back the next day. She already had a best friend, a small girl with big brown eyes named Rei. The girl was very quiet, but Ayume liked her enough, and so Orihime figured the girl must be a sweetheart.
Her phone started to buzz, and so quickly Orihime set down a pan of cupcakes and happily answered. "Hello?"
"Hello, is this Miss Cifer?"
Her good mood faltered. "Y-yes. This is her. Who is this?"
"This is Miss Yamazaki, from the Katakuta Elementary." Orihime's grip tightened on the phone. "We're sorry for calling, but your daughter is sitting in the principal's office. We'd like both you and your husband to please come down to the school. We've already called him, so you don't need to worry."
"Has something happened?" She quickly shrugged on a sweater, waving at her fellow employs in distress as she headed for the door. "She's not hurt, is she?"
"Your daughter is fine, ma'am. It would be best if you came and saw the situation for yourself, though."
When she arrived at the school Orihime wasted no time in bolting from the bus she'd taken, noticing that Ulquiorra was being dropped off by a co-worker just ahead.
"Ulquiorra!" She yelled, running to his side.
He calmly waited for her before they both hurried into the school, where they were greeted by the secretary who had called them.
"Mister Hazuki will see you now."
They were both ushered into an office just down the hall, Orihime with her lip between her teeth, Ulquiorra with a dark scowl and his hands shoved deep inside his pockets.
Their daughter was sitting in one of the three chairs present, her back to them. She sat tall and proud, and that alone was enough cause for suspicious. As the principal called them in, both Cifers took a seat.
"Thank you both for coming on such short notice." The man began.
Orihime snuck a look at Ayume out of the corner of her eye and felt her heart falter for a moment; there was a large purple bruise causing her daughter's eye to swell shut even as they spoke.
"If it is for a good reason, than it is no problem." Ulquiorra tersely answered.
"Ah, yes. Well, as you can see, little Ayume here got into a bit of a spat today."
Ulquiorra's eyes flickered to Ayume's bruise for a single second before he looked back up at the man before him. "Yes, that would be quite apparent." He ground out.
"I'm honestly not sure what to do about it, either."
"W-well what happened?" Orihime asked.
The principal sighed. "Some boys from the sixth year class hung a boy from the fourth year class on a fence post by his underwear." He began. "Instead of getting a teacher when Ayume happened upon them, she took matters into her own hands."
Orihime and Ulquiorra both turned to look at their daughter- the former with wide eyes, the former almost unsurprised.
"Ayume, I told you not to solve your problems with violence…" Orihime almost whispered. She was close to horrified that the young girl had hurt another soul, but then, with her sense of justice and love for people combined with her father's distaste for 'trash,' it really wasn't all that surprising…
Ulquiorra looked back at the principal. "Did she dispatch these boys?"
"Well, there were three of them against her, but… yes. Two went home pretty battered, and one is on his way to the hospital with a broken nose." He cast a look of mixed disapproval and bedgruding respect at the young girl before him. "She somehow managed to only walk away with a couple scrapes and a black eye. Does she take martial arts?"
"I've taught her how to fight." Ulquiorra lamented.
"It won't happen again." Orihime swiftly promised.
This got a rise out of the silent girl. "Mom! You can't say that! What if there's someone else who needs help? I can't just stay out of it if somebody could get hurt!"
The principal pressed his lips into a thin line. "Next time get a teacher."
"What if they can't stop the boys, though?"
"…" He was quiet. "If that is the case, then you may not have a choice…"
She grinned. "Okay! I can do that, sir!"
The man nodded. "Now, about your punishment."
Ulquiorra rose a brow. "Punishment? She took the morally correct course of action, did she not?"
"Morals aside, this school does not allow violence. She will not be allowed back for the rest of the week. When she comes back she will be expected to make up all the work she was unable to do while she was gone."
"Three whole days?" Ayume looked like she might cry.
"That is acceptable." Ulquiorra decided.
And when Ulquiorra decided something would work, there was no way he was going to let it not. After a few more words, the family was allowed to leave. Orihime went back to work, as her shift had only barely begun when she arrived at the bakery, but Ulquiorra didn't mind taking Ayume back home.
Once Orihime was gone and it was just him and his daughter on the train, Ulquiorra leaned over, not looking at her.
"Do they fear you?" He casually asked.
She answered with a sorrowful tone. "Yes."
He fought back a grin and straightened in his seat. "Good."
Eyes wide, she turned to stare at him in apparent shock. "What?"
"Forgive me. I meant to say shame. Shame on you, daughter of mine. Shame, shame, shame." He shook his head, still holding back a smile, and refused to budge as she began to quietly giggle.
"Don't tell your mother." He quietly added as they arrived home.
"My lips are zipped."