Okay people, Ichigo's gonna get a bit hysterical. Remember that he's had everything ripped away from him and that though he's trying to carry on, he's doing a bad job with it.

Also by popular demand I've started a completely Uryuu/Tatsuki fic called "Escape Me". So feel free to check that out if you're enjoying them in this story!


"So, what did you want to talk about?"

Orihime took a deep breath, looking at Ichigo. The young man looked back at her, his hands shoved into his pockets. Orihime stopped, looking up at him, unsure of what to say next. She knew she had to say something, that whatever she said had to be perfect. It just had to be. Because this was a long time in coming. Because she knew that whatever she needed, whatever it was, it as not Ichigo Kurosaki. No, it was not. Not anymore. Maybe, just maybe, it never really had been him. That wasn't important though. What was was how to tell him that even if it had been, once, it was not the case anymore. The problem was that she didn't know how to tell him that.

Because the truth was, Orihime did not know if she was truly ready to give up Ichigo Kurosaki.

She still felt safe and warm in his embrace--most of the time. And she knew a part of her would always see him and would think that she was home. That home was anywhere he was. No matter how much it hurt, no matter how hard it was sometimes, a part of her--no matter how small--would always rejoice when she saw him standing there. When his embrace was around her. When all she could feel was him, when he took over her senses. She knew, as she had for a long time, that Ichigo Kurosaki was her first love. That he always always would be her first love, the first boy she had ever kissed or held hands with. Or saved the world with. She didn't think she would ever be in love with a boy who was quite like Ichigo ever again. It wasn't like they could save the world again, or do anything else that they had.

Orihime took a deep breath, her fingers running against the edge of her skirt as she tried to think of what to say to him. How was she supposed to tell the first boy she had ever loved that there was a big chance she no longer was in love with him? More importantly, how was she supposed to tell him in a way that wouldn't break his heart anymore? She had no idea. Raising her eyes, she met his own as best she could. He deserved that, she knew he deserved at the very least, that much. And it came to her then, that honesty was another thing he deserved. He deserved for someone to tell him the truth, even if it was the smallest thing she could do for him.

"Its over, Ichigo," she said softly.

"Yeah," he said, his voice low, "I'm surprised you stayed as long as you did."

"What?" she asked, her eyes wide.

"Stop it, Inoue, you never really wanted to be with me--"

"That's not true!" she cried, cutting him off, horrified to feel tears gathering in her eyes, "I wanted to be with you! I wanted to be with you more than anyone else in the world! You were the one I said goodbye to--"

"Exactly!" he cut her off, his voice strong, "I was the one you said goodbye to. You said goodbye to me Inoue. I never understood why you stayed with me. Especially when he came back."

Orihime's eyes widened at what he was insinuating. Her breath caught in her throat as tears stung her eyes. She had not been with Ichigo because of pity. Not in the beginning. Even now she wasn't sure pity was the right word. But what he was accusing her of, what he was accusing her of was terrible. It was what her mother did. And if there was one thing Orihime Inoue wouldn't stand for, it was being called what her mother was.

"No!" she shook her head, "you're wrong!" her eyes rose to his, "I loved you! That was why I stayed with you! It was you who never loved me! All this time, I've been nothing more than a replacement for Rukia Kuchiki and we both know it!"

As soon as the words left her lips, Orihime wished she could snatch them back. They were true, they both knew they were. But even so, the raw look in his eyes, the echoes of her voice, they were a terrible combination. A fact only made worse by the fact that she had caused them. She had been looking for the perfect words and instead she had shouted something terrible. Something she had not been sure of until the moment she voiced the words. Until she saw the look in his eyes. Until she knew that they were, if not the right words, then certainly the truthful ones. She had been a replacement for Rukia. And the worst part was that she knew it. Somewhere, deep inside, she had always known it. But she hadn't cared. She had only wanted to be with him, however she could.

"Rukia's gone," he said, his voice angrier than she had ever heard of it, "just like everything else that was in Soul Society. Its gone, Inoue, and there's nothing we can do about it."

"Its not all gone!" she cried, reaching for his hand, only to have him move it away, "its not. We're still here, Ichigo. Me and Sado and Ishida and Urahara--" Ichigo looked away, "he doesn't hate us Ichigo. Even after what happened, he still cares about us--about you!"

"Well he shouldn't! What kind of fighter--" he broke off, "she's dead because of me, because I had to be the hero."

Orihime closed her eyes tightly in a failed effort to stop the tears that slipped down her face. She had no words to contradict the statement. She didn't think there was a person on earth who did. Yoruichi had died because of Ichigo. Because he had been so intent on taking Gin down that he hadn't seen Tousen out of the corner of his eye. Hadn't seen him until it was too late. Until Yoruichi had shoved him out of the way and been locked in his bankai herself. Kido, Shunpo, nothing had worked against Tousen. It had only taken a minute, maybe two, before the barrier cleared and Yoruichi's mangled body was revealed.

It wasn't until later that they realized Hueco Mundo's Spiritual Particles had heightened the abilities of their enemies.

Tousen had advanced towards them. Orihime had fumbled for her shield, fumbled for anything that could have saved them. With the last ounce of strength the former Captain had grabbed Tousen's ankle. From the horrified look on Soifon's face, Orihime realized she knew what was going to happen. No-one else did. The Goddess of the Flash had not seen fit to share with them the other use for Shunko. But she had grabbed Tousen and in a flash of bright light, the two of them had vanished. It was only when the smell of charred flesh reached their noses, when the ashes began to rain down on the rubble of Fake Karakura Town, it was only then that they realized Yoruichi had sacrificed herself to kill Tousen.

It had worked, they knew it had. But Orihime was sure she would never quite be able to forget the hollow, stunned look in Urahara's eyes. Or the wretched, broken battle cry Soifon gave as she charged the remaining enemies. The battle had roared up and swallowed them whole. There was nothing any of them could do anymore, not until it was too late. Orihime knew that Yoruichi had sacrificed herself to save them--to save her and Ichigo and everyone else. But it had been months before she could look at Urahara without seeing the look in his eyes as he had watched her die.

"That's not true," she said, "it could have been you--it could have been a hundred other things. She's dead because she wanted to see a better world--because she wanted the people she loved to survive, even if she couldn't."

"She didn't have to die! None of them did. So what? So we could survive as this?" he held up his hands, "what can we do now? We are powerless because of Soul Society. Because the people we thought we could trust turned around and they--they--" he stopped, seemingly too furious to continue.

"Ichigo," she began, stepping forward, her instinct to help him overriding everything else, "we can--"

"No," he cut her off, "no, there isn't any 'we' anymore. We were--" he growled, "we were who were were because of our powers. They were what made us. Without them, what are we? We're high school students, we're supposed to worry about grades and university and what? After school activities? Girlfriends?" he let out a bitter laugh, "I can't do it Inoue, not anymore."

"Ichigo, just because aren't dating doesn't mean i don't care about you. I do! Its been hard for all of us. We're trying to help each other but you have to let us in!"

"Let who in?" he demanded, "you? Sado? Ishida--who didn't have a piece of his soul ripped away? Maybe Tatsuki, after all a desk to the head sounds fine right about now. Or what about Ulquiorra? Because he didn't try to kill everyone, didn't try to, you know, end the world on multiple occasions. Do Aizen's bidding. No, that must have been another Espada. One that Soul Society didn't see fit to bring back--one I didn't kill trying to defend you!"

It was the second time Orihime Inoue had ever slapped someone.

With Ulquiorra she had been blinded by rage, white hot anger that had pulsed through her until slapping him was all she could do not to break down. With Ichigo it was different. She was aware of everything, of drawing back her hand, of backhanding him across the face, of remembering to keep her fingers pressed together so the damage went more to his skin, not to hers. She remembered his head turning to the side, her hand following the arc, both hands returning to her side. She saw it all but it didn't really register until she was standing there breathing hard, her fists by her side, her eyes taking in the fact his head was turned to the side, his cheek reddened by the hit.

Her eyes widened as sucked in her breath, her hands flying up to cover her mouth. Ichigo looked at her, his eyes locking with hers for a moment. In that moment she could see that he knew. He knew everything, everything she was not yet ready to admit to herself. Slowly he gave a nod of his head, as if she had confirmed something by slapping him.

"Thanks," he said, his voice oddly strained, "that was all I needed."

He turned around and walked off the hallway.

"Ichigo--Ichigo where are you going?" Orihime demanded, walking after him, "Ichigo you can't just--"

"Leave?" he asked turning around, "yeah, actually, I can. You guys don't need me. No-one needs a powerless teenager."

"We do need you! You need us--please tell me where you're going!"

"No, Inoue, you don't," he said turning around, "and I don't need you either. We're useless to each other, got it? So I'm going."

He turned around and walked down the final flight of stairs and out the doorway.

"Ichigo!" Orihime screamed after him but he just kept walking.

Half blind with tears, Orihime started after him but he did not slow, did not hesitate. Before she could figure out how to make her legs work, he was out of sight, lost to distance and the tears that overwhelmed her. Slowly Orihime sank down on the steps, pressing a hand to her mouth as she tried to muffle the sound of her tears. It was so much worse than she could have imagined. How he reacted, how he had just stormed off, maybe she shouldn't have said anything at all, Her breath caught as she tried to stop her tears but nothing happened. Instead she buried her face in her hands, knowing she deserved the cold air brushing against her neck.

Orihime heard footsteps behind her.

Tearfully she turned her head to see Ulquiorra standing at the top of the stars, his emerald eyes looking down at her. She knew she looked like a mess, she could feel tears on her face and she knew her nose was running. Her hair was in disarray as well. Ulquiorra had seen her in such a state before, many times actually. She couldn't remember the number that she had cried in front of him. He always waited for her to stop, looking down at her with his emerald gaze unreadable. And Orihime had always tried to pull herself together so he didn't have to see her cry. But this time she couldn't stop. Even the sight of him sent her tears coursing down her cheeks in an unstoppable flow.

"I'm sorry," she said turning around, burying her face in her hands, "I can't stop crying."

She didn't hear him at first. Didn't hear his feet against the stairs as he came to the steps were she was sitting, her hands buried in her face and shoulders shaking violently with the sobs that spilled from her lips. Ulquiorra hated it when she cried, hated it mostly because it seemed uncontrollable. He had no idea how to make her stop, what to do to end the tremors. It was just that when she cried, there were no enemies he could fight, no limbs to be torn apart, there was nothing he could do. He had been given missions because of his abilities, he had been given a rank and a purpose because of it. But it was all useless when she cried.

Still he came to her, unsure of what he was supposed to do. He was sure that tearing Ichigo's limbs off would have made him feel better, but leaving her crying was something his body could not allow. Slowly he sat down next to her, on the same step where she sat cry. Carefully he reached out, unsure if he was doing the right thing. Slowly he placed his hand on her far shoulder, making sure his hand didn't surprise her. She didn't stop crying when he touched her, when his hand slowly slid across her back to cup her shoulder. And he managed not to draw back when she unexpectedly turned and buried her face in his shoulder, her tears soaking the fabric of his shirt.

His ears picked up on footsteps at the top of the stairs. Twisting his head, he looked up to see Tatsuki standing there. The girl was in a rather obvious state of disarray, her hair even more mussed than usual, her blouse slightly askew. Still when her eyes found the two of them, a look of satisfaction came into her eyes. She caught is eyes as he looked back at her, desperately wishing that she could tell him exactly what he was supposed to do. All he had ever see was her hugging Orihime, he didn't know what came next. But Tatsuki only gave him a slightly encouraging nod before turning and disappearing down the hallway. Orihime continued to cry helplessly against him.

"Orihime," he began, "what happened?"

Orihime only sobbed harder at the sound of her name. Throughout the fight all Ichigo had called her was Inoue. Inoue, like she wasn't his girlfriend. Like she was someone only fit to be addressed by her last name. Like she was nothing. It was irrational, she knew, he had called her Inoue from almost the moment he met her. But still, for some reason, those times had hurt. they had stung as if he had called her something truly insulting. And now Orihime found herself crying against Ulquiorra. Ichigo had said he didn't need her, he didn't need any of them. Orihime knew he was lying. He just had to be. He couldn't be serious, not after everything they had been through.

"I have to go after him," she said, pushing herself to her feet.

"I will go with you," Ulquiorra said.

"Ulquiorra I don't--" she began.

"You are in no state to be going anywhere alone," he said, cutting in gently.

Orihime nodded finally, hurrying down the stairs. Ulquiorra followed her as they hurried through the streets in silence. Orihime felt urgency fill her, as if she was hurrying towards some invisible goal. All she felt was a terrible feeling, as if she was racing against some invisible clock. Before she knew it her walk had quickened, to the point where she was almost running. Ulquiorra kept up with her easily, his stride matching hers. Orihime walked as fast as she could, but it was only moments before she broke out into a run. Ulquiorra said nothing, just matched her pace as he kept up with her. She ran all the way from the school to Ichigo's house.

He had long since shown her where the spare key was hidden. Orihime grabbed it without a moment's hesitation, opening the door to the deserted Kurosaki house. WIthout pausing even to kick off her shoes, she ran up the stairs towards Ichigo's bedroom, throwing open the door. Her breath caught in her throat as she surveyed Ichigo's destroyed, deserted room. She heard Ulquiorra come up behind her but she stepped into the room completely, her eyes moving around, taking in the damage.

Ulquiorra stared, slightly nauseous at the state of Ichigo Kurosaki's room. Cloths and books were strewn everywhere, as if someone had trashed the room. Even the desk chair was overturned, the lamp laying on the floor his own room was by no means neat, it was certainly neater than this. This looked as if someone had broken in, though from Orihime's tear streaked face, he was sure that it was quite the opposite. That someone had broken out.

Orihime ran over to the desk, looking around. There had to be a clue somewhere, something to tell them what had happened here. Why his room was so destoryed. she felt no Spiritual Power, not even the traces that she could. But there was no doubt in her mind something had happened. She moved to the closet, pulling it open and looking as well. Ulquiorra looked around, trying to find something that was out of place, trying to find whatever Orihime was looking for. His eyes found it, laying on the pillow.

"Ulquiorra--" Orihime trailed off as he walked over and picked up the envelope, coming over to her.

The color drained from Orihime's face as she looked at the envelope he offered to her. She reached out and took it from him, holding it in her hands before she grabbed the paper folded inside. She unfolded it, her eyes moving across the words that were written in Ichigo's strangely neat hand. The paper fell from her hand as she swayed on her feet, looking as if she was going to faint. Ulquiorra quickly reached out and steadied her, his fingers grasping her shoulders as he looked at her.

"Orihime what is it?" he demanded, his tone urgent.

"I--" she trailed off, "I didn't think he would--" she turned her tortured gaze to Ulquiorra, "its my fault," she whispered, her voice hollow.

Concern flooded Ulquiorra at her strange behavior. The way she was acting, he had never thought he would see it. Even at the darkest points, Orihime had always been very alive. It had been a source of endless frustration for someone who had been sent to protect and ensure she didn't do anything foolish. But the way she was standing there, it was as if something had ripped away everything she was. It was as if she could barely stand at all. It was a deeply troubling thing, one that had concern churning through him.

Ulquiorra looked down at the note that had helped send her into such a state, but all he could see was the other side of the blank paper.

"Come," he said. She gave no sign of hearing him, "we need to leave this place," he told her.

She continued to stare numbly ahead, as if she was lost to him. Ulquiorra quickly bent and swept an arm under her legs, another around her shoulders. She did not respond as he picked her up and carried her from the room, leaving the note and whatever else Ichigo Kurosaki had left behind. His concern was the woman in his arms, not whatever foolishness Kurosaki was dealing with right now.

Don't you get it? We're the only ones who can protect them anymore!

Ulquiorra tightened his grip on the woman in his arms who stared numbly ahead, Uryuu's words ringing in his did not respond as he carried her outside of the Kurosaki home, shifting her only to lock the door. Nor did she respond as he carried her down the street, back to the Urahara shop. He only had to kick on the door once before Jinta slid it open, his eyes widening at the sight of the two of them before they locked on Ulquiorra.

"Hey, you're supposed to be in school!" The red haired boy called, "Mr. Urahara! Ulquiorra's not in school again!"

"Huh? Wha--" Urahara came out, clearly having just woken up. His eyes took one look at Orihime and Ulquiorra before his gaze turned serious.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I do not know," Ulquiorra said, "she fought with Kurosaki, his room was a mess, she read a note he left and now she is like this."

"Well that's not good," Urahara stated coming over, "did you see what was in the note?"

"No," Ulquiorra said shortly, "I am taking her to rest. It is shock, nothing more."

"Well, you would know," Urahara said cheerfully, causing Ulquiorra to glare in his direction, "call us if you need anything! Come on Jinta, we need to call the school and tell them to send over the homework."

Ulquiorra winced at the voices before he turned back to look at Orihime. She had not changed, still staring blankly ahead. He carried her to the back of the shop, where the inhabitants of the place lived. Carefully he nudged open the door to his room, knowing she would be more comfortable on a bed then in the lab Urahara maintained downstairs. His room was, by no means clean. But it was tidier than Ichigo's had been at any rate. He walked over to his bed, glad for once that it was unmade and leaned down, placing her on it. She did not give any response as he removed her shoes and pulled the blankets over her, the movements easy and familiar to him. He had been her caretaker, her protector. In fact, it had been the first role he had been to her, well, second if one counted the kidnapping. He could do what he was doing now.

Protect the woman.

Protect Las Noches.

Ulquiorra swallowed thickly, his hand clenching on the blanket. No, it was not as simple as that. Not anymore. Because he was not simply protecting her. He was not pulling a blanket over her and going off to meet with the other Espada or to ignore Nnoitra in the hallway or even to brush past Grimmjow, one hand itching to cover the Hollow Hole to prevent another incident. That or to rip his arm off. No, he was protecting her now and instead of an apathy tinged with interest, he was worried about the tears that trickled down her cheeks. He need to get out of that room, he knew that much. Just leave, get out before the feelings in him got worse. He could feel the dizziness beginning as well and he knew if he did not eat he was going to pass out again.

He moved away from the bed, towards the door before he heard her voice.

"Will you come back?"

"Yes," he told her, watching as her head move slightly in response, "I will return."

By the time he did, she was already fast asleep.

Uh oh! Ichigo went crazy. What the heck was in that note?! But on the plus side Ulqui got to play protector again! (he totally likes it too). I'm sure he can help Orihime through this.

Don't forget to check out "Escape Me" if Uryuu/Tatsuki's growing on you like it is on me!

So please review! You review, I write! Its an awesome combo!


Review!