Chapter X

Day and Night

I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day.

-Vincent Van Gogh

Inoue spent the rest of the morning in thought, as well as in dread for Ulquiorra's inevitable return with her next meal.

What had she done? Nothing in the world could excuse her actions. She had felt entirely overpowered within the moment and escape had seemed so impossible.

She thought of Ichigo but that didn't serve to alleviate any of her guilt. He was the man she loved and yet…she had kissed the Espada who would willingly kill him without hesitation.

Burying her face within her hands, Inoue forced herself to calm down. She hadn't kissed him because it meant affection or anything like that; she had kissed him solely out of pity and from a sudden desire to comfort him.

That was all it had meant, and Inoue sighed as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

She should've been stronger though, and she knew that it was something that had only served to confuse the Espada further.

Looking to the moon, she forced her mind to focus on her friends. It was imperative that she did not lose sight of her goal. Distractions would only jeopardize her decision.

Then, as the door clicked open, Inoue held her gaze away as long as possible, not feeling entirely ready to face her captor yet.

She felt his presence and grasped her skirt with her hands, her head lowered and her long hair serving to shield her face from him.

However, as the moments pressed on, she slowly lifted her face to look upon him. He merely stood, as he always did, posture straight, face passive and hands in pockets.

Standing, she looked to the tray laden with food but found that hunger eluded her.

However, despite that, she dutifully grabbed her plate and took her seat at the table.

Ulquiorra turned his back to her and absently stared at the wall opposite.

Eating in silence, Inoue couldn't help but allow her eyes to drift to his figure. He seemed the same but, something was undeniably different.

Something that had changed at the hand of a momentary, poor decision.

As the last bite of food entered her mouth, Inoue stood and placed the plate down before remaining standing, one arm grasping the other as if clinging onto the last shred of formality she still had.

They stood facing away from one another for an immeasurable amount of time before Ulquiorra finally turned, glanced at her briefly and then walked to the door.

He paused, his hand lingering upon the knob before continuing his exit and leaving Inoue to herself once more.

Watching him go, Inoue lowered her face and looked to the ground. Things had become worse than ever, and it had been through no fault of his.

With a resigned sigh, Inoue walked over to the patch of light upon the floor. Only one more visit from him and the day would be over.

She shook her head, but then the process would continue. Again, and again, and again.

Deciding to try and sleep some more, Inoue walked over to the couch and layed upon it, reveling in the escape it promised.

Sleep greeted her quickly, and Inoue was afforded formless visions within her mind.

Ulquiorra slowly walked down the brightly lit halls, his calculated footsteps barely echoing within the open space.

His eyes were set and distant but behind, within the recesses of his mind, a great many thoughts plagued upon memory and contemplation alike.

What had gotten into that woman? How was he supposed to react to what she had done? And, why was he seemingly unable cast it from his thoughts?

The entire ordeal had made him so….livid? Was that the right word for the brewing feeling within his chest?

He felt tempted to ask Aizen to take her off his hands and entrust her to someone else. However, at the same time, he knew that doing so would mean that the infuriating woman had bested him somehow.

He was prepared to never speak with her again, and to keep his distance unless the situation deemed it absolutely necessary for him to stand in her presence.

The intriguing aspects about her were far from the forefront of his desires and he felt as if he no longer wanted to try and decipher the mystery that comprised her entire being.

He was done with the experiment that was Inoue Orihime.

The most alarming thing of all, however, was the fact that for some unnamable reason, a creeping and untutored semblance of…warmth had filled him the moment she had brought her lips to his and that feeling lingered still.

Why was that exactly? And why had such a thing invaded his body where it was neither summoned nor even sought?

His command to his hand had not been obeyed as it traitorously went from pushing her away to mingling within the strands of her hair.

He looked down to the object of his disappointment as he removed it from his pocket.

He hated every tendon upon it, with every fiber of his being, he hated it for reveling within the soft and tantalizing tresses of the individual he now despised more than ever.

Humans were not meant to be so….mesmeric.

"Oy!"

Ulquiorra stopped and closed his eyes as he lowered his hand….Grimmjow, of all beings it had to be him.

"You look as if you are about to sever your own hand!" The Espada observed, pushing himself off of the wall and walking over to Ulquiorra.

The latter looked to the sixth with a practiced glare, "I know I say this all the time but right now I'm really not in the mood to deal with you."

Something in Ulquiorra's voice caught Grimmjow off guard a moment before he swiftly recovered, "Is that so? And…what exactly has roused your typically dormant emotions?"

Ulquiorra's eyes widened briefly before he collected himself and looked away, shoving his treacherous hand into his pocket.

"Not going to grace me with a reply?" Grimmjow sneered, "Can't exactly say that is one of your more unique attributes." He then crossed his arms, "come on now, I dare ya!"

Ulquiorra looked to his leering 'comrade', "You would be a fool to think I'd succumb to such a jest...oh wait," he tilted his head ever so slightly, "my mistake, I seemed to have forgotten that you claimed that title long ago."

Grimmjow lifted a fist and brought it down to Ulquiorra, stopping just inches from his face, "you're a cocky bastard, ya know that?"

He then straightened and allowed his hand to rest, "but you behavin' this way ain't even worth the trouble. You are, as they put it…listless, even more so than usual despite the presence of actual feelings on yer face."

Ulquiorra stared at him a deliberate moment longer before he maneuvered around him and continued his journey to nowhere.

As he walked away, the words that reached his ears caused a plummeting sensation within his stomach.

"It's that pet of yours, ain't it?"

Pausing midstep to glance back to the other Espada, Ulquiorra found he had nothing to say. His only thought was…why did Grimmjow always choose to become observant in the most inconvenient of situations?

"I thought so," the sixth smirked before turning and confidently striding in the opposite direction.

Ulquiorra watched his retreating figure as his eyes slightly narrowed, never had he felt like destroying someone more.

However, his irritation with the captive woman far outweighed any and all frustration with Grimmjow.

Though, the one thing that disturbed him more than even that were the actions of his own feelings and thoughts.

What could he really do if he no longer had any control over himself?

He continued to walk as his confliction commenced and magnified as time ticked on. Only a few more hours and he would be forced to endure that woman once more…

It felt as if no time at all had passed and when Ulquiorra arrived again, Inoue was immediately brought back into the world of reality.

She lifted her gaze to see that he was staring down at her before withdrawing her attention altogether and rising from her position.

After standing, she made her way over to the cart, intent on finishing her meal without having to speak with him.

However, as she moved to cross the area rug that separated them, her foot caught on the corner and she felt herself quickly falling forward, the heat of embarrassment rising to her cheeks in anticipation of meeting the ground.

However, she instead found herself grasping the sleeve of the Espada, whom had moved to steady her.

A lingering flush graced her cheeks from the prospect of tripping as she simply gazed down at the ground behind him.

He had caught her on a single arm, but remained motionless otherwise.

Inoue straightened and released her hold quickly, "sorry."

She then made her way past him and eagerly accepted her dinner so as to focus on something else.

However, upon her second bite, she set her utensil down and sighed. She really was not in the mood to eat.

"Finished already?" Ulquiorra called out without turning to face her.

Inoue lifted her gaze and then muttered an affirmative reply.

The Espada turned and then walked past her to the door, "I will send someone for the cart," he stepped into the hall, "until tomorrow."

He neither paused nor even sent a glance her way as he disappeared into the hall.

Inoue sighed as he once again left her. She sat back against her chair and placed a hand over her forehead.

She needed to focus on something else, anything.

Rising, she lifted her fingers over the light before creating Ulquiorra's image within the shadow. She smiled sadly and then removed her hands, making her way over to the couch instead.

Sleep was the only thing she could really do….

The days continued to pass in much the same way, in which Inoue and Ulquiorra's interactions were limited to his three short visits. He no longer stayed past the duration of her meal and only ever spoke if he was informing her of something.

Inoue began to feel the same loneliness she had experienced when she had first arrived in Hueco Mundo and she also began to discover that it wasn't simply due to the fact that there was no one around to talk to but more the realization that she actually missed having Ulquiorra around.

Sitting on the couch one evening after her meal, the realization grew and grew until she could literally feel it overpowering her.

She missed the Espada who had captured her and stolen her future, the one who had threatened to kill her friends if she were to refuse him.

He was different though, and she could hardly blame him for behaving in the only way he knew. The mere fact that he hadn't in fact laid a hand on her friends or harmed her in the slightest allowed her heart to more readily open up to him.

She then suddenly recalled what she had thought as she kissed him, and that she had in that instant admitted to herself that she actually cared about him.

That hadn't been a lie, despite being caught in the moment, the true nature of her realization had been a sudden enlightenment into her actual feelings toward the Espada.

She wondered what he had thought of the whole ordeal and instantly regretted having not helped him understand what had taken place. She knew that the entire situation was something completely foreign to him and she felt guilty for allowing that confusion to plague him.

And what of Ichigo then?

Inoue thought of the man whom had always so completely captured her heart and wondered why it suddenly felt as if she were being forced to choose between he and the Espada. She had room in her soul for both but…

She never found out if Ichigo reciprocated her feelings toward him and she was quite certain that Ulquiorra didn't feel anything like that for her either, if he even had the ability to.

She also had to wonder if she would ever even see Ichigo again, though the very thought saddened her immensely.

Her future now belonged to Hueco Mundo and she almost felt as if it were time to leave her past behind.

Her life was not going to last very much longer as it was…

So what did she actually think of Ulquiorra then?

He certainly intrigued her in a way no one ever had before, and made her feel challenged while also giving her cause to strengthen her own beliefs. She more than anything longed for him to one day see things as she did, and that desire had not diminished whatsoever.

Comparing him and Ichigo was like trying to decide between day and night, so different that it was impossible to choose one over the other.

She supposed, however, that she was prepared to finally make a decision concerning the Espada. Whether to allow the uncomfortable dissention to remain, or to pursue the shadowed path that had been created upon the very first moment she had considered the possibility that he was someone she wanted to understand.

Looking to the door, she wished he would enter and stay as he used to, but…she knew that was a false hope. She wasn't going to see him again until the next day.

Lying on her side, Inoue found that sleep was evading her as her mind was far too filled with thoughts and accompanying emotions.

Tracing abstract patterns with a finger upon the fabric of the couch, Inoue contented herself with just laying within the silence.

Perhaps Ulquiorra no longer wanted anything to do with her, though...she wondered if that had always been the case.

Closing her eyes she recalled the way he had responded to her kiss and that in itself seemed to convey that he at least thought her a cut above the 'filth' he regarded all humans to be.

Or perhaps that had just been a response based entirely upon instinct, he was after all a creature who thrived primarily on that sort of thing.

It didn't matter though, for tomorrow she would try and speak with him, and hopefully come to some sort of impasse at least.