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: 3,557
A/N: HOMG! 25 reviews for last chapter alone? You guys are amazing! (hands out Ulquiorra-shaped e-cookies to all)
Ok, so I posted this a few hours before it's technically Wednesday, but it's close enough, right? I'm sure no one will be complaining…
Enjoy!
The two of them stayed this way, Orihime holding Ulquiorra's hands in hers, until there was a loud crash and the front door was blasted off its hinges. In the doorway stood Ishida, bow in hand and an arrow stringed in, ready to fire, Sado with his transformed right arm, and Rukia and Ichigo in their shinigami form. Ichigo had his zanpakutou in his hand and ready to attack.
The two stared at the group on the doorway for a moment, looked back at each other, and reluctantly let go of their hands. Orihime stared at the door that was now on the floor with a frown while Ulquiorra looked at her nakama with disdain.
" Ulquiorra! You bastard! Get the hell away from Inoue!" Ichigo demanded, pointing his sword at him. " I swear! If you did anything to hurt her, you're dead!"
Meanwhile, Rukia, Ishida and Sado went over to Orihime's side and began to question her.
" Inoue-san, are you alright?" Ishida asked.
"Yeah."
" We felt an increase in reiatsu originating in this area not to long ago. We were worried that something might have happened to you," Rukia explained, looking the orange haired girl over for any injuries.
" I'm fine. Really. Minna, thank you for coming, although it wasn't necessary," Orihime said, scratching the back of her head lightly, a sweat drop forming.
" No, it was. Something terrible might have happened to you," Sado interjected.
Ichigo was still staring Ulquiorra down while Ulquiorra just stared at the orange haired shinigami with disinterest. He wasn't in the mood to fight with him at the moment, considering the events that had just happened.
' Anyway, if we were to fight here, we would only cause more damage to Inoue's apartment than they already have done,' he decided, looking at the front door that was currently lying on the floor in front of him.
" Ulquiorra. What was that increase in reiatsu right now?" Ichigo demanded, his sword still pointed at Ulquiorra.
Everyone else turned their attention to the two. After a minute, a gasp was heard from Ishida, Sado, and Rukia as they took in the former Arrancar's appearance and noticed the lack of the mask that usually adorned the left side of his head. Their mouths dropped open slightly and it took a few moments for them to regain the ability to speak.
" W-What on Earth? Inoue, what happened to his mask?" Rukia asked the girl, pointing to the area where his mask had once been.
Ichigo took a few seconds to stare at Ulquiorra before realizing the lack of a mask on the other being's head and lowered his sword slighty. His eyes widened.
" What's going on here? What on Earth happened to your mask?" Ichigo asked.
Ulquiorra said nothing. The six stood around in uncomfortable silence until the power returned and the apartment was filled with light. They all blinked at the sudden brightness. Once their eyes had adjusted, Orihime cleared her throat, gaining everyone's attention.
" Ano…. maybe we should all sit down?" she said, pointing to the table in the middle of the room.
After they all got situated, the group sat in silence. It was clear that there were tons of questions that they would like to have answered; it was just a matter of which one to ask first. Eventually, Rukia took the initiative to begin the conversation.
" What happened to the Arrancar's mask? I mean, it's obvious that he was able to remove the rest of it, but…how? Also, where is the mask?"
Inoue and Ulquiorra shared a glace. He nodded to her and she took it as her cue to start filling them in on what had happened, minus certain…details.
" Well, you see, Ulquiorra and I were talking and such one minute, and then the next, he was clutching his head in unbelievable pain. I tried to figure out what was wrong with him but he couldn't answer me. Then, we both heard this cracking noise and I looked around to see where it had come from. When I looked back at him, I saw that his mask had many small cracks in it. And then suddenly, his mask broke," she explained, taking in the looks of her friends as she relayed to them the events of only about half an hour ago.
Ishida sat there, his chin in his hand and nodding slightly. Sado's eyes widened a few times, but other than that, his face remained the same. Rukia's face had a look of shock written all over it the whole time, clearly surprised that something like this could even happen. And Ichigo…well, he looked absolutely lost. He scratched his head and looked up at the ceiling, hoping that he would be able to understand better. He didn't.
" Wait, I don't get it. Why would his mask just randomly break off, anyway? I mean, you'd think there would…." Ichigo started before Ishida cut him off.
" More importantly, where did his mask go, Inoue-san"
She slapped herself lightly, laughing to herself.
" Oh yes! When the mask broke, it fell into Ulquiorra's hand and stayed there for a second before…well…I'm not sure, but it looked like it changed into something that looked very similar to reiatsu and then the reiatsu-looking thing made it's way to Ulquiorra's hollow hole and filled it in!" she said, holding her finger up as she finished her explanation.
The four looked at her blankly, taking in all they had heard from her.
" Was this what caused the sudden burst in reiatsu?" Sado asked.
"No," Ulquiorra stated, gaining the attention from everyone at the table. This was the first time that he had spoken since they had arrived at Orihime's apartment.
" Then, what was it?" Ichigo demanded, a dangerous glint in his eye that said that he clearly did not trust the green eyed being in front of him.
" The increase in reiatsu that you felt was the result of the reiatsu sealed in my zanpakutou being restored to my body," he replied, glancing at the sword that was propped up against a wall on the far side of the room.
The four stared at each other, trying to make sense of the events that had just been explained to them. Rukia frowned deeply. Being the most knowledgeable of the group about Arrancar, it was perplexing that she had never heard of anything like this happening before. She sighed.
" I've never heard of something like this ever occurring. I doubt anyone has, even Urahara-san or Yamamoto-taichou," she replied.
Looking around at each other, the group sat in awkward silence before Ishida cleared his throat and began.
" I guess that leaves just one question left. What does this make you?" the Quincy asked. He caught Ichigo's confused look and explained further. " You are clearly not an Arrancar anymore because you do not posses your mask any more and you cannot release your zanpakutou. You cannot be a shinigami nor can you be a human. This means that whatever you are, you are the only one of your kind."
" That would be correct," Ulquiorra answered, glaring at Ishida. " As for your question, I have no knowledge of what being I have become. What I am aware of is that I am no longer an Arrancar anymore nor am I human or shinigami."
Suddenly, Rukia stood and, grabbing the back of Ichigo's shinigami uniform, pulled him up from his sitting position. The other two's eyes widened and they stood up quickly. Then, the dark haired shinigami began pulling the male she had in her grip towards the front.
" Eh? Rukia? Damn you! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Ichigo demanded, grasping at the back of his collar.
She sighed. " Idiot. The only reason that we came here was that we feared that Inoue had been harmed in some way. Now that we see that she hasn't and now that we know why there was an increase in reiatsu in the first place, what is the point of staying here any longer?"
With that, Rukia pushed him out the door while he continued to fight her. The other two bowed to Orihime slightly before they made their way out the door, leaving Ulquiorra and Orihime alone again. Her glance made its way to the floor where her front door now laid, a frown forming on her lips.
" My door…" she replied forlornly. " Who exactly is going to pay to fix this?"
After Ulquiorra fixed the door, mumbling under his breath that he would kill a certain orange haired shinigami for ruining it in the first place, he made his way to the kitchen to find Orihime working on her dinner. He glanced over her shoulder to see what she was making and turned away, unsure what the creation that he had just seen was supposed to be.
' Thankfully, I do not require such sustenance for survival,' he thought.
He made his way over to the table and pulled out the thermos of reiatsu, screwing open the lid. He peered inside and saw that it was about half way full. Silently hoping that it would last until Yamamoto decided to return, if he ever did, he placed the container to his lips and tried to consume it. However, the reistsu stayed in the container, swirling around slightly. Confused, he brought the container to his lips and tried again, only to have the same reaction. Placing the lid on the thermos and closing it, he placed the container on the tabletop.
' I do not understand. Why am I not able to consume reiatsu like I was able to do before? I can feel my body wanting to be replenished, and yet…'
He heard a growl coming from somewhere close and looked over at Orihime accusingly. She turned around at the sound and looked at him questioningly.
" What are you staring at me for?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.
" If you are hungry enough that your stomach is protesting at the lack of food, then you should hurry up and eat."
She blinked and continued to stare at him, a look of utter confusion written on her face. She was about to say that it was not her stomach that had growled when a light bulb went off in her head. A grin spread on her face, causing Ulquiorra to feel a bit nervous.
" What is with that smile, Inoue?"
Her smile continued to grow until she resembled a cheshire cat.
" Ulquiorra, it wasn't my stomach that growled. It was yours," she said, a slight laugh in her voice.
He looked down and placed a hand above his belly. He stared at it, as thought it would start talking and tell him why it had growled in the first place. He looked back at her and saw that she had returned to her cooking.
' I do not understand. Why would my stomach be growling? Unless…I am no longer able to consume reiatsu anymore…' he considered.
It then occurred to him that if his body was not asking for reiatsu to consume, then it was probably asking for…human food. He glanced at the girl in front of him wearily.
' I have been living with this girl for long enough to know that whatever food she may prepare would not be…' He thought for a moment, thinking of the right word to use. '…wise to eat.'
Orihime began to walk towards him with a bowl of food and sat down at the table. She began to eat before she noticed that he was not eating the reiatsu that was in the thermos like he usually did. Looking at him, she gave him a perplexed stare.
" Ulquiorra, are you not going to eat?" she asked, playing with the spoon in her hands.
He watched as she played with the spoon for a few moments before he answered her question.
" No. It would appear that I am no longer able to consume reiatsu as I used to do previously," he explained.
" Oh?" she said, a slight glimmer in her eye that he wasn't sure he liked all that much. " Does this mean that you eat human food now?"
He sighed, wondering if it would be worse to die of starvation or from her cooking. It had been a tie until he looked into her bowl and saw what was in it.
' I will survive a while without food,' Ulquiorra contemplated. ' After all, all I need do is consume enough water and I will last for at least a month.'
Before he could answer her question, he found a plate of food in front of him that she had apparently prepared for him while he had been thinking. He was about to tell her that the food was not necessary until he saw what was on his plate. It turned out to be a two slices of bread with some apple jelly spread on top. He stared at the food for a moment, trying to take it all in. It was…normal, which, for Orihime, was really weird. He opened his mouth to question her only to find that no words came out. Seeing his look of complete disbelief, she let out a small giggle.
" Surprisingly, I do know that my sense of taste is a bit…different from what other people would consider normal. That doesn't mean that I don't know what makes a food normal or not," she said, seeing his eyes widen even more so than they had been seconds ago.
"…How?" he said, as it was all that he could get out as he picked up a slice of bread and took a bite from it.
Bringing a finger to her mouth, she thought for a second.
" Well, I think of the most boring food combination I can think of, and, usually, that's what people consider normal," she decided, glancing at him for a reaction. " So, how is it?"
Swallowing, he stared at the piece of toast in his hand and then glanced up at her.
" Sweet."
Orihime sweatdropped slightly.
" I meant do you like it?"
" I do not hate it," he said, finishing off the piece of toast and reaching for the second slice.
A small smile lit her face and she started to eat her food once again. She glanced and saw him taking a bite into the second piece of bread, somehow managing not to get any crumbs on the table or himself. She shook her head slightly.
' I guess when he says that he doesn't hate something, it means that he likes it,' she decided, sighing softly. ' What wouldn't I do to have a translator that spoke Ulquiorrese?"
It was after dinner and Orihime was sitting in the living room knitting a scarf, this time a pale blue, while Ulquiorra sat next to her, reading the book that she had given him earlier in the week. Even with all the free time he had, he was still only half way through, although it didn't help that he had to re-read every line in order to understand what the book was saying.
He was about to turn to her and ask her why she thought this would be a book that he would enjoy when a small yawn escaped his lips. Ulquiorra's eyes widened for what seemed to be the millionth time that day as he tried to figure out what had happened. Orihime, who had seen him yawn out of the corner of her eye, smiled.
" You yawned," she explained, looking at the clock to see that it was nearly midnight, " It's no wonder! You must be sleepy."
" Sleepy?"
She nodded slightly, putting her knitting away while she made her way to the closet to get the futon out. After she moved the table to a corner of the room, she rolled out the futon and looked back at him.
" Yeah, sleepy. You know, when you close your eyes and go to sleep. Apparently, it's something that you have to do now, along with eating human food," she said as she smoothed out the pillow.
He placed his book down and walked over to the futon that she was setting up for him. Nodding slightly, she stood up and made her way to her bedroom, calling out a "goodnight" before she closed her door.
Slipping under the covers, Ulquiorra lay down and closed his eyes, somewhat skeptical about the whole sleep thing. He wondered why it was so imperative for him to sleep anyway.
' Here I assumed that I had become a more powerful being after removing the rest of my mask. Apparently, this is proving to be false if I am required to eat human food and sleep.'
The last thought that went though his mind before slept overtook him was how Orihime had been forgetting to lock her bedroom door as of late.
It was weird for him to see his tear marks and the tattoo on his chest fade with each passing day. Also, he noticed, his skin was starting to turn from his unnaturally gray hue to a more peachy color like Orihime's, although he was sure that his skin would still be considerably paler than her own. He wondered how long it would take before the marks disappeared completely.
It had taken about a week for Ulquiorra to get used to all of the things that his new body required. It wasn't that it had been difficult to get used to, it was more that it was an inconvenience to him, especially compared to his Arrancar body that did not require human food or sleep or…any of the other requirements that were bothersome. The worst of it all was that he was beginning to feel a lot…warmer than he usually did, especially around a certain orange haired girl. Every time her hand touch his or her body would brush by accidentally, that spot would feel like it was burning. Every time, he would close his eyes and relish the feeling a second before he continue on with his routine as normal.
His routine was mundane, for the most part, and it would have gotten on his nerves. However, the evenings, when she would return home from school and tell him about her day made it bearable. It wasn't until after dinner that things became much more…enjoyable.
It would start out with her doing her homework and him correcting her, as per usual. They would be talking about some random topic that she had managed to bring up until suddenly he found her hand on top of his and saw her staring at him. Then suddenly, he could feel his body moving closer to hers as their lips pressed together once again. His arms would be wrapped around her waist and hers would be around his neck or her hands would be pressed against his chest ever so softly.
It was a Friday night and they once again found themselves in this same scenario. She was finishing up the last bits of her homework while he watched her. Orihime was doing quite well by herself, so there was no need for him to correct her work. He watched as her hand moved across her paper and stop.
Ulquiorra moved his hand to cover hers while his other made its way into her hair, pulling her closer to him. Closing their eyes, their lips touched. They thought that it would have been repetitive by now and yet, the energy from every kiss they shared felt the same as the first. His arms wrapped themselves around her waist and her arms found their way to his neck.
It was the same as it had been for the last few days until his tongue traced the line of her lips. She gasped softly; her hands clenched his shirt before she opened her mouth. He slid his tongue in, gently grazing every area of her mouth. After a minute, she did the same, tracing his movements exactly while letting out a low moan as their tongues touched and slide against one another in a slow and agonizing manner.
His hands slid from her waist to rest upon her upper thighs, creating small circles in the flesh beneath his hand. He felt her shudder slightly but pull closer to him as her hands began to make its way down his chest, moving her hands against them lightly. They continued like this for a few minutes before the two parted, panting to try and catch their breath while they stayed in that position. Both their eyes were glazed over and their faces were flushed.
" Orihime…" he whispered, not needing to say anything else.
She nodded and they kissed. He grabbed her around the waist and stood up, feeling her legs wrap around his waist. Ulquiorra repressed a groan from escaping. Her hands made their way to his shirt, slowly unbuttoning it. Somehow, he managed to walk to her bedroom and close the door behind him with a click.