AN: Hi guys! Thanks to Ulquiorra9000, I now realize a mistake that I have been making in my writing! If you guys see anything I can improve on feel free to tell me! I am an amateur that has only written a few stories so I need all the help I can get! Btw, Ulquiorra9000 has some Bleach stories, you should check them out! :) ENJOY!

Chapter 10

Ulquiorra noticed the pain in her eyes and sighed. "It seems you misunderstood what I had just said." Once he saw the girl finally facing him and meeting his gaze, he went on. "During our project we researched many emotions such as love and what humans do when they are in love, the simplest being sharing a kiss." He could tell that she was not following what he was saying and sighed once again. "I kissed you because I am in love with you, Orihime."

Ulquiorra watched as Orihime's eyes grew to an unbelievable size. The moonlight made the spread of red on her face completely visible. He could see her trying to think of what to say, words failing to escape her mouth. Her plump lips were separated from the shock of his confession. Finally, the girl managed to say something, though it was only four words.

"I don't believe you," she quietly said, unable to break away from his gaze. It was as if she was in some kind of trance where she couldn't move and had to use all of her will power just to say those four words.

Ulquiorra sighed again, something that he found himself doing a lot with Orihime. He slowly leaned toward the girl, his glance changing between her eyes and her lips. His pale fingers reached toward the girl just like before and he cupped her chin once again. Closing the gap between their lips, he molded his into hers once again ever so gently as his bottom lip was in between Orihime's. Slowly pulling back in the slightest, still so close that they could feel each other's breath and could almost hear each other's rapid heartbeats, the boy quietly said in a low voice, "Do you believe me now, onna?"

Orihime slowly shook her head, completely stunned at what just happened. The two had shared yet another kiss and it was just as explosive as the first. After shaking her head, Ulquiorra moved in once again and pressed his lips against hers. There was the third kiss. This time, the boy gave enough space so that they could look each other in the eyes. "T-There's no way you love me. I-I'm loud and annoying a-and I eat strange food and you are quiet and elegant. There's just no way."

"But I just said I loved you, did I not? Yes, you are excessively loud and you do eat strange food that appears to be inedible. There are times when you annoy me. All of that is true, Orihime," Ulquiorra replied. He then grabbed both of her hands. "But you are also kind, intelligent, and humorous. You amuse me to no end, onna. Your smile lights a fire in me and you are the only person in a long time to show me what love is."

"S-So you have loved another girl before?"

"Yes. My mother."

"Oh. No other girl?"

"Absolutely none. You are the first, onna."

"B-But we've only known each other for a week!"

"Aren't you the one that said love cannot be understood? I love you, Orihime. Do not keep making me explain myself. I am well aware of how I feel." Without breaking their gaze, Ulquiorra bluntly asked, "How do you feel about me, onna?"

"I-I don't know."

"Think."

"I-I can't."

"Maybe this will help you figure it out," Ulquiorra said, leaning towards the girl once again.

Once their lips met for the fourth time, Orihime's eyes began to feel heavy and she finally allowed them to flutter closed. With his bottom lip in between her own, she began to kiss back, sucking on his lip, fully enjoying the sweet flavor. She then adjusted her body to face him and wrapped her arms around his neck, finding that to be her favorite spot to place them. Ulquiorra then began to lightly push her back so that her head was resting on the armrest of the couch as she laid down. Orihime ran her slender fingers through Ulquiorra's locks of black hair. Resting on one of his arms, Ulquiorra moved his other and placed his hand on her curves. This time, Ulquiorra was the one to venture deeper into Orihime's mouth as he slowly slid his tongue inside to meet hers. Their tongues danced as their breathing became heavy once again. Finally, he retracted his tongue and slowed down the kiss and eventually ending it altogether so that they could talk once more, Orihime still laying underneath him.

"I don't believe you kiss every boy like that, do you?" he asked, a hint of sarcasm in his low voice.

Orihime smiled gently and shook her head. "No, I don't," she answered, still keeping her arms wrapped around his neck.

"Well then, onna, what do you believe that means?"

"It means I love you, Ulquiorra."

The two corners of Ulquiorra's mouth tugged upward and he no longer fought it. He smiled at the girl underneath him, genuinely happy for the first time in years. This girl, whose long orange locks was spread out underneath her like rays of sunshine, had changed his life drastically in ways that nobody else could, for better and for worse. How could somebody do this to him in only a week? Orihime was a miracle and Ulquiorra realized all of his dreams and hopes were stored inside of her. He knew he couldn't be without her.

"I must go now, Orihime. It is late and we need to rest for school. Tomorrow is our last day to work on our project," he said, amused at the small pout on the girl's face when he said he had to leave.

"But we are already finished!"

"We can still polish it up. Get some sleep, onna." With that, he leaned in and placed his lips against hers for their fifth kiss that day. This one was short but still precious and sweet. Orihime then walked him to the door to see him off, inwardly praying he would change his mind and stay. He never did in the end, for obvious reasons, and walked back home.

When he reached his house, he entered to find Kyoko sitting in the living room, waiting for him to get home. It was almost midnight, she should have been asleep. When the petite lady realized her stepson was home, she greeted him with a warm and gentle smile. "Welcome home, Ulquiorra."

Usually, he would simply walk upstairs to his room, ignoring the look of pain on her face as he did. Today, however, he was feeling quite gracious and told himself he would work on their relationship along with his relationship with Orihime. Thus, the boy asked, "What are you doing awake?"

He could see Kyoko's eyes widen and the happiness reflected in her eyes at his response. Had he really ignored her that much that this simple question was enough to get this reaction? Nonetheless, Kyoko answered, "I was waiting for you to get home, silly! I can't go to bed until I know you're safe!" Ulquiorra didn't know how to reply to this, so he didn't. Kyoko saw that he was trying desperately to make a conversation with her and she refused to give up as well. "Do you want to watch this with me?"

"Your romance shows are rather foolish. I would never watch something like that."

Kyoko sighed and then giggled. "Alright, alright." She then reached for the remote and turned the TV off to give Ulquiorra her full attention. "So how was spending time with that girl? What's her name?" Ulquiorra's eyes widened. How did Kyoko know about Orihime? The young lady read his expression well and continued, "I saw you two walking a couple of times on my way to work. She's the one that you've been hanging out with everyday right? So what's her name?"

"Her name is Orihime, Inoue. She is in my class."

"I see. She's a very pretty girl! I'm sure she gets all the guys huh?"

"What do you mean?"

"All of the guys at your new school like her, am I right?"

"Oh. I suppose."

"Do you like her?"

"I love her."

Kyoko's big, brown eyes widened and her jaw dropped in shock. She knew that there was something between them considering the amount of time that they spent together but never imagined her stoic stepson to come right out and admit that he loved her. "Wow, she must be somebody really special if she's got someone like you acting like this huh?"

"…She is. I am going to bed now."

"OK! I'll see you tomorrow!" As Ulquiorra began to walk towards the staircase that lead to his room, Kyoko felt the need to say one last thing. "Oh, Ulquiorra. Thank you for talking to me. I knew that it would be hard for you to adjust but thank you for trying. I really appreciate it." Ulquiorra dipped his head in a nod to let he know he heard her. "Oh, and bring your girlfriend over for dinner. Your father and I would love to meet her. Bring her over tomorrow night!"

Ulquiorra was reluctant to the idea of bringing Orihime over but knew that if he was going to make an effort with his stepmom this would be a good first step. He was also sure that Orihime would be ecstatic that he was inviting her to meet his parents. Thus, he nodded once again and went to his room for what he hoped would be a good night's rest. He laid in bed but he didn't get much rest, however, as his mind kept replaying what his stepmother had said.

"Bring your girlfriend over for dinner," he remembered her saying.

This bothered him more than it should have. Not because they were going to meet, though he was anxious for Orihime to speak to his father, who he hadn't had a real conversation with in years. No, instead it was on the term girlfriend. The boy realized that the two of them never defined what the kiss- or should I say kisses- meant to them. Seeing as how he had never experienced anything like this before, he didn't know what it meant to have a girlfriend. What was the difference? What was the use of having some stupid title defining them? He didn't know.

"I wonder if the onna minds that we did not define anything," Ulquiorra thought as he stared at the ceiling.

The boy then began to wonder about what the future had in store for them. They kissed. Many times now. So what did this make them exactly? Were they supposed to kiss again? He knew that they loved each other but he was unsure what to do with this newfound love. Maybe he should've talked to Kyoko about this more seeing as how she had more experience with this. Eventually, the thoughts that were constantly playing in his head began to drift away as he started losing consciousness.

Orihime stretched and yawned as her alarm clock played its melodious tune, signaling that it was time for her to wake up. Usually the girl would be wanting to hit the snooze button and stay in bed as long as she could, but today she burst out of bed with a newfound excitement. Seeing as how the previous night turned out, it was no wonder she wanted to get to school as fast as she could. She wanted to see the man that invaded her dreams. The man that kissed her and made her legs tremble with his touch. The man that continued to occupy her thoughts every day. She wanted to see Ulquiorra.

Rushing to put her uniform on, she popped a piece of bread into the toaster while she combed through her nest of auburn locks. Tossing all of her school supplies into her bag, she heard the toast pop up from the toaster. The girl brushed her teeth with fierce tenacity and crazy speeds so as to finish faster. Once finished with that, she slipped her shoes on, grabbed her piece of toast, and began to run towards the door to leave.

"Onna," she heard from behind as she locked the door. Ulquiorra's sudden voice scared her and she lout out a high pitched squeal, both annoying and amusing the boy waiting for her.

"U-Ulquiorra! What are you doing here?" she asked. Her face was getting warmer as she saw him and remembered all of their five kisses, each making her want a sixth.

"I am obviously here to walk you to school. Is that a problem?"

"Of course not, silly!"

"Good." As the two walked, Ulquiorra was the one to start the conversation, which was surprising to Orihime seeing as how she was always the one to talk nonstop. "Orihime," he started, finding himself nervous to ask her to come over for some reason, "My stepmother has invited you to come over for dinner tomorrow night."

"R-Really?" Orihime asked, her eyes wide and a faint spread of pink on her face. She was shocked for many reasons. One, she had known absolutely nothing about his family except for the fact that he loved his mother, who she also knew nothing about. Two, if his stepmother was inviting her to dinner, that meant that Ulquiorra has talked about her with his family, which brought butterflies to the girl's stomach. She knew that he wasn't the type to have people over at his house considering when they were first grouped together the first thing he said was that she couldn't come over. He truly made her feel loved knowing that he spoke about her to his family and only wished she could do the same.

"Yes. However you are not obligated to come."

"No I'll go! It would be nice to meet your parents!"

The only response Orihime received from her stoic partner was a slight nod and the two continued to walk the rest of the way in silence. During their silent trip, their hands accidentally brushed against each other, making the both of them blush. The two really did not know what to do after the night before. How were they supposed to know when neither of them had been in a relationship before? Once the slight color that clashed with Ulquiorra's pale skin vanished from his cheeks, he glanced at the girl beside him, recalling his thoughts from last night. He didn't want to label their relationship. Why would he? Why would he want to define their relationship, letting everybody know that she was taken and have all of the boys back off from her? Why would he want other boys to know they didn't have a chance with her? Why would he just want her for himself? No, he didn't want to define their relationship. Not at all.

Finally reaching the classroom, they took their seats and waited for class to begin. That day, Friday to be exact, was the last day the students had to work on their projects in class. The presentations were set to start on Monday and hopefully finish Tuesday. Luckily, Orihime and Ulquiorra were diligent students, always getting their work done and getting good grades. Though she didn't look it, Orihime was smarter than almost the entire school. Her intelligence was only outnumbered by two other people: Uryu and Ulquiorra, whose ranks were constantly changing between first and second in the battle of intelligence supremacy. Thus, they didn't need to spend their time working on it as they already finished it.

Ulquiorra expected Orihime to come rushing over to him the moment the teacher was done teaching. However, she stayed seated as she talked to her friend, whose name Ulquiorra could not remember at the moment. The one that had the short hair and was in the karate club. Ta- something. Five minutes passed while Ulquiorra shot daggers at Tatsuki, waiting for Orihime to hurry up and finish their irrelevant conversation. Now the two girls were laughing up a storm, irritating the boy even more. What could be so funny and important that made Orihime unable to sit with him? Finally, all of the girl's started to join her and Ulquiorra felt invisible like he had before he met her.

As Ichigo pulled a chair next to Orihime, the dark haired boy fought the urge to walk towards the carrot-headed boy and drag him out of his chair and away from the girl that he loved. Though he knew Ichigo was in love with Rukia and he had already won Orihime's affections, it still irked him to no end to see the two of them lauging together having a good time.

"Why don't you just go over there and get your girl?" the boy then heard from beside him. He was too entranced by his hatred to notice the shadow casted over his face by his lengthy friend Nnoitra, who had walked beside him along with Grimmjow.

"If you want, you can leave Ichigo to me and I'll kick his ass for you!" Grimmjow offered, a maniacal smile on his face.

"Shouldn't you two idiots be working on your projects with your partners?" Ulquiorra asked, not glancing towards them. "If you two were doing that instead of bothering me, this would not be happening." This was true seeing as how their partners were Tatsuki and Ichigo.

"We already finished, jackass. You ain't the only smart one around here!"

"…They did all of the work for you imbeciles, didn't they?"

The two misbehaved boys laughed together, giving Ulquiorra the answer to his question. There was no way those two would be able to get any work done. They were too distracted and downright unmotivated.

"Are you two a thing yet?" Nnoitra asked, eyeing the girl they were speaking of. Ulquiorra could see the lengthy boy's eyes move up and down her body. He then licked his lips with his abnormally long tongue, clearly imagining dirty scenarios. After receiving a swift blow to the gut, Nnoitra was hunched over- yet still managed to be taller than everyone in the class- and grabbing his stomach trying not to throw up from the impact. "…You bastard," he hissed, gritting his teeth with frustration.

"Next time keep your impure thoughts and glances away from her and I won't have to hit you," Ulquiorra replied calmly. Grimmjow chuckled only to receive a glare from Nnoitra. "And though it is none of your business, I suppose you could call us a thing."

The two other boys' eyes widened in shock, which Ulquiorra expected. It was surprising that the most popular, attractive, and perkiest girl in school and the queit, stoic, cold-hearted boy were interested in each other. What he didn't expect was the sudden burst of laughter that followed.

"C'mon, Ulquiorra. We aren't as dumb as you think! As if somebody like her would actually be interested in an emo freak like you!" Grimmjow explained, still cackling along with Nnoitra. Seeing as how serious Ulquiorra's face was, the two's laughing ceased. "Wait, for real? You two are together like not in your dreams?"

"…I suppose."

"What the fuck do you mean you suppose?"

"I am unsure. We have shared some… encounters and that was it."

"Oh so a one-night stand huh? I didn't peg you for that kind of guy!" Nnoitra said, proud of his friend.

"No, idiot. We confessed our feelings and I went home." Ulquiorra decided not to mention their five kisses for obvious reasons.

"So you guys aren't dating or whatever?"

"No."

"That sucks."

"…"

"It's because you are both cowards," Grimmjow bluntly stated. "You know what you want so why don't you just go and get it, idiot?"

"And what is it that I want?"

"You want that girl to be yours and yours only obviously. Even a dumbass like Nnoitra can see that. You want the princess to be your girlfriend, emo freak."

Ulquiorra scoffed. "Why would I want something as ridiculous as that? I am aware of her feelings towards me. I do not need silly titles to understand that."

"Just look at you, Ulquiorra! You were about to jump out of your seat and strangle Ichigo just for sitting next to the girl! And don't try telling me you aren't worried about the other guys trying to get with her! Shit, I might go for it myself since you are too scared to." Ulquiorra swiftly punched Grimmjow in the same spot he had punched Nnoitra earlier. The blue-haired rebel gave a toothy grin as he replied, "See? You can't stand the thought of somebody else being with her so grow some balls already and ask the damn girl out! You two are giving me headaches with how you keep dodging it!"

The dark haired boy sighed. Grimmjow was right. He needed the title. He needed the reassurance that Orihime would be his only. Ulquiorra needed to let others know to back off. The boy really hated when Grimmjow was right. "Fine. I will get her to be my… girlfriend."

AN: Thanks to everyone that reviews! By the way, I finally finished my first ulquihime story (people seemed to really like that one) so you guys should go read that one too! Please review! :)