I'm still caught up with some craziness in my personal life and therefore both Trust to Hope and Angels & Demons are on hold. I know it's been a while since I've updated Angels & Demons, but somehow I'm unable to concentrate enough to write either of the two stories. I have everything about the two stories planned but I'm not in the frame of mind to pen them down.

To the anonymous reviewers: I thank you for your reviews. I just wish you could drop in a signed review so that I could respond to you. FFNET doesn't let me respond to unsigned reviews and I would really like to reply to some of you.

Since the reviews have crossed 150, my shoutout is due. Thanks to: Kornluv44, Darisy, Cerice Belle, LuluMonk, Nicole Tsukiyomi, TheCatWithTheHat, Cherryvampiress, Xtremefairy, Rin Sessys Girl, Ulquihime 7980, Kohryu, AkuRokuTurkTrainee, guest 1, Adultswim12, aryaputra, lovely, Szerion, Spirit of the Damned, Ichiruki27, Guest 2, guest 3, Ati-Cha, lovely-smile, Anon, randomfan17, Sakura's fire, MontesiaKurosaki6, topamgagktheretopangagk, LittleMargarita, Fairyarah, crono, QueenAlexiel, im ur misconception, guest 4, AutumnSunshine, Zigra, I'llBiteYouToDeath, Ugnyte, XCynicalX, LuluMonk, Orihime 4-or-6, GapTeethBlueHair, guest5, venus hawthorne, lovely rain dancer, Belit Lihara, guest6, guest7, Waca, guest8, guest9, guest10, guest11, frawg360, NephandiMan

Beta: The super awesome Cerice Belle

Chapter 10

PAST

Crap! Talk about overkill! All Ulquiorra had wanted was to ensure that she wouldn't come closer to him. The things she did to him scared him and he wanted to stay away from her as much as he could. But he had a feeling that she wouldn't listen to him if he told her. So he would have to do something to push her away. All the way to school, he kept pondering what to do but couldn't come up with a satisfactory course of action. He spotted her in the corridor long before she saw him. He wanted to push Grimmjow away and rush to her, talk to her, listen to her voice and let her laughter wash over him. At the same time he wanted her to stay as far away from him as possible. A crippling fear grabbed him as he realized that she was coming closer. Despite appearances, Grimmjow was a sharp guy. He didn't want his blue-haired friend to figure out that Ulquiorra Schiffer was losing the battle against a girl who was armed with smiles, beauty and innocence. So when she smiled, he did the only thing he knew how to do, defend himself with offense.

Unfortunately in his bid to do so, he was harsher than he had intended to be. The look of hurt on her face was like a punch in his solar-plexus. He couldn't bear to look at her face and turned away, feeling miserable. She had been right, he was a jerk. From the covert glances he stole at her he could see that she was really upset. He wanted to go to her and explain, but he couldn't. It would negate everything he had achieved thus far. When that lesbian girl put her arms around Orihime, the feeling roiling inside him had been extremely unpleasant and he almost choked on his glass of water. He turned it into a cough, masking his scowl behind the paper napkin. When she had shot out of the lunch hall, it was all he could do to not follow her. He kept thinking about her all through the weekend. On Saturday evening, he had even driven over to her house but upon reaching it, he continued to drive. He didn't have the courage to stop by. His dreams on Sunday night had been plagued by the orange-haired girl and for once, even after he had woken up from his recurring nightmare, he had been able to fall back to sleep.

He reached the school early on Monday; all the while he was telling himself that it had nothing to do with the desire to see her once more. Incidentally she was early as well and she spotted him almost immediately. Much to his chagrin, she walked straight to him. He turned around and started walking away when she called out.

"Ulquiorra, wait! I need to talk."

There weren't many people in the school yet but the few that were around had started giving them curious glances. The rumors would not be too far behind, so he decided to nip it at the bud. When she came close to him he whispered fiercely "Later. Not right now. Not here."

As expected, she started to protest "But …"

"LATER!" he ground out, "At the park, this evening."

Without giving her a chance to object, he walked away. As the distance between the two increased, Ulquiorra started to curse himself. Hadn't his plan been to avoid her at all cost? Why had he suggested that they meet at the park? He didn't doubt it anymore. He was losing his mind and this girl was the cause of it all.

Orihime oscillated between elation and apprehension. She looked forward to meeting him at the park but was also nervous about what he had to say. The day passed in a haze and later Orihime would remember little of it, except for the one time when her eyes met those beautiful verdant eyes. He didn't look away and neither did she. There was no trace of anger in them, however she wasn't sure what was the emotion that the eyes held. All she knew that those eyes played a tune that her body seemed to love to dance to. They drove her to the point of distraction. Over the weekend she had decided that those eyes were her own personal brand of heroin and she was completely addicted to it.

Finally, having practically sleep-walked through the day at school, Orihime made her way to the park as soon as she could. He was there, left hand in pocket, right hand covered in cast, hanging by his side. He was looking at the canal. He was so still that Orihime wondered if he had fallen asleep while standing upright.

"Ulquiorra?" she said tentatively.

"I wasn't sure you'd come," he said, although from his tone Orihime suspected that she wasn't meant to hear those words.

"How could I not? You called me," she replied softly.

Ulquiorra turned to look at her and Orihime's heart skipped a beat. There was something in those magical eyes of his that made her feel like she was special. The two of them stared at each other without saying a word. She was feeling things that she couldn't name. She was acutely aware of his clean scent. It seemed to her that she was enveloped by his presence. All of a sudden, seemingly from nowhere she was overtaken by an intense desire to hug him.

The thought shocked her into action and she quickly turned away, both to escape the spell of his eyes and to hide the embarrassed flush on her cheeks. Behind her, she heard him shuffle slightly. Just as the silence had started to seem awkward, he spoke "What was it that you wanted to say?"

She heaved a sigh of relief and turned to face him. "What happened on Friday? Why were you so angry?"

A shadow of an emotion came on his face but was gone before Orihime could grasp it. "Yeah, about that," he said after a pause, "don't talk to me while we're in school."

She was perplexed, "What? Why?"

He sighed, "Haven't you heard those rumors about me? Don't you know what kind of a reputation I have? What do you think will happen if someone sees you talking to me?"

She shrugged, "Those who want to talk will talk, regardless of our precautions. And as for the unsavory rumors about you … and your parents, I don't believe them. Not one bit."

A small, sardonic smile twisted his lips, "Then you belong to a very small group of individuals. But I have to ask, why don't you believe them? You hardly know me."

She shrugged and turned to face the canal, "I know Karakura Town. I have seen it up close and I know it isn't pretty. It has teeth."

He raised an eyebrow, "You too?"

"Not me personally," she replied slowly, "but Sora, my brother, he's been bitten by it. I was too young to feel the real impact and he sheltered me to a great extent, but I saw what it did to him, it wasn't pretty."

To her surprise, Ulquiorra was silent. He didn't ask a single question or offer her a word of comfort. Somehow, Orihime found it relieving. He was allowing her to be, giving her time and space. Without meaning to, she found herself speaking of a past she hadn't shared even with Tatsuki.

"My father had anger issues. He wasn't as bad when Sora was growing up. In fact he was alright when I was a baby. But when I was about four, my mother died of a liver failure. Somehow, in his mind, I was responsible for it."

"Was it bad?" he asked gently.

She pondered on his question for a while, "I think it was. I mean he did break my leg once because I accidentally broke a vase. But the thing is Sora protected me. If it hadn't been for him, I think things would have been worse. Then, as soon as he was able to, Sora took me away from him. I haven't seen him since. I don't even know if he's alive or dead."

He nodded and continued to remain silent and Orihime was glad for it.

"After Sora took me in, people wouldn't let him be in peace. They would constantly tell him that he was not being fair, taking me away from my father, especially since I lost my mother and that he was much too young to 'play parent', blah, blah, blah. Not one of them paused to think what it must have been like for a twenty year old to take a nine year old's responsibility. He put a hold to his life, so that I could live. No. All people saw was a young man, overstepping his 'boundaries'. It bogged him down sometimes but he never let it affect me."

"He seems like a good person," Ulquiorra said finally.

Orihime smiled fondly, "Yes he is. The best brother in the world! But that's beside the point. The point is, if Karakura can be so unkind to a great guy like Sora, I can totally see them being cruel to you."

He looked at her, "Do you mean to say that I'm not a good person?"

She looked at him baffled, "What? No! I …" she paused. It took her a moment to realize that he was teasing her. She grinned, extended her hand and said, "Friends?"

"Would you listen to me if I said no?" he asked flatly.

"Not particularly," she said with a laugh.

"Thought so," he said dryly as he accepted her outstretched hand, "But, I would still say refrain from talking to me at school."

"Done," she answered brightly. "Can I ask you something?"

He nodded.

"How did you break your hand?"

He frowned, "You don't give up do you?"

"Nope!"

He sighed, "Fine, I'll tell you. But only under the condition that you won't repeat the story to anyone."

She crossed her heart, "I swear!"

"I fell off a tree."

"What were you doing on a tree?" she was curious.

He looked uncomfortable, "I was … umm … trying to get a cat down."

Orihime bit the inside of her cheeks to stop the laughter from erupting, "And whose cat was it?"

He looked away as he replied gruffly, "My house keeper's five year old daughter."

She couldn't control it any longer. She dissolved into peals of hysterical laughter. She wiped her tears of pure mirth and said, "May I ask why you did it?"

"She was crying," he grumbled.

That caused her to dissolve into fresh wave of laughter. "Thank you so much for that mental image," she said after she stopped laughing, "I'm going to treasure that one. But seriously, you're a softie, aren't you?"

He did not reply to that.

"And cute to boot," she added sweetly.

"I firmly object to being referred to as 'cute', 'sweet', 'adorable' or any synonym thereof."

She grinned, "Point taken."

"So did you get a chance to talk to Ulquiorra?" Sora asked casually.

"Oh yes," she replied enthusiastically, "I did! I spoke to him for a LONG time. He even walked me home."

Sora suppressed a smile as he said, "Really? So what was he so angry at you for?"

"Well, actually …" she paused, "Now that you say it, I don't think he answered that question."

He laughed, "I like this guy more and more."

"He is a great guy," Orihime gushed, "not at all like the rumors paint him to be. You know, I even told him about dad. I didn't mean to, the words just came out."

"I would've been surprised if you hadn't told him," he said solemnly.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Sora shook his head, "Nothing."

She was a breath of fresh air in his life. He was completely besotted by her. He liked everything about her. The way her eyes would light up every time she saw him. Or the way she moved her hands while talking or the way she would twirl a strand of fiery hair around her finger as she contemplated on something. She had become his need. It had taken a while but he had acknowledged to himself that he had a huge crush on her. However, he knew that she wanted Kurosaki and he told himself that he was perfectly fine with it. Of course that didn't mean that he didn't experience occasional pangs of jealousy, but then he had always known about her choice. Moreover he treasured the relationship that had sprung up between them; he would do nothing to jeopardize it.

Over the weeks they had fallen into a routine and he was dependent on it. At his behest, she completely ignored him at school. However, they would meet at the park regularly. The two friends would sit there, watch the Sunset and then he would walk her home. He found her company liberating. She liked the fact that he was brutally honest with her and she would return in kind. They still argued over nothing but he enjoyed every moment of it. He found himself telling her things he hadn't even told Grimmjow. She was the first person outside of his 'house' who knew that often he would spend his nights lying awake. In fact, that was the very topic they had been discussing at that moment.

"So call me," she said with a scowl, "my phone is usually right by my side."

"Sometimes I wake up at 3 a.m." he told her.

"Yes, I heard you the first time," she said making a face, "And I still want you to call me, regardless of what time it is."

"You're insane," he said with a wave of his hand.

"Haven't we already established that fact about thirty odd times by now?" she asked seriously, "Is there a purpose to reiterate a known, although completely irrelevant detail?"

He raised his eyebrows, "You're talking like me."

"I'm flattered you noticed. However, do you realize why I partook in that little activity?" she asked, her face completely expressionless.

"Alright, you excel in impersonating me," he admitted, "but what is the point?"

"The point is that I don't want you spend your nights alone," she said.

"Excuse me?"

Realizing her blunder, she blushed, "N – n – no what … what I mean is … I… I don't like the fact that you lie awake through the night. It must be awfully lonely."

"I manage," he said with a shrug.

She shook her head, "No. Call me. No matter what the time, no matter what day, call me."

"If Sora came to know, he'd kill me. Not that I would blame him," he tried.

"Are you kidding me? Sora is probably your number one fan," she said with a grin, "Someday soon he's gonna come to you, asking for your autograph."

"But he hasn't even met me."

"Yes," Orihime nodded sagely, "A deliberate play on my part. You guys will start a Mutual Admiration Society, fangasming over each other and I'll be left in the bi-lines wondering what the hell happened. NO THANK YOU!"

Ulquiorra smirked slightly.

After a few moments of compatible silence she spoke again, in milder tones, "Ulquiorra, what do you see in your nightmares?"

He looked at her long and hard before saying, "The murder of my parents."