Theme #11: Alone
For Ravefirell
Ever since Ulquiorra moved into this neighbourhood, he was alone. Regarded as a weirdo due to his much too large clothes on his frail, skinny frame, large green eyes and his much too pale skin, Ulquiorra was alienated by all of his classmates in school. None of the kids in his neighbourhood wanted to come near him either. And the fact that Ulquiorra was a quiet child did not help matters either.
Despite being alienated, Ulquiorra did well in school. He was intelligent and he was a fast learner. However, this led to jealousy amongst the students. Most of them did not think that it was fair for the weird kid to do so well, and so, this led to Ulquiorra being bullied occasionally. It was not unusual for Ulquiorra to return home with several scratches and bruises on himself. His mother would often worry and fuss over him, but he would always say the same thing; that it did not matter.
As time passed, Ulquiorra's optimism about finding a friend in the new neighbourhood wore thin till finally, the little boy just gave up trying. And hoping. Retreating into his own little shell, Ulquiorra became anti-social and cold, though he still felt lonely. No matter how much he tried to act as though he did not care, the fact remained that Ulquiorra was still a child. A very lonely one at that.
Today was just like any other day; Ulquiorra got up, got ready for school, sat alone on the bus to school, and attended classes. Sitting on his favourite swing at the school playground, the little boy kicked at his sneakered feet as he waited for class to begin. It was recess time now, and the rest of the kids were having fun playing together. As usual, Ulquiorra was left alone and ignored. Not that he minded. He was used to this sort of treatment now. Sighing, the little boy leaned back on the swing until he was hanging upside down and he came face to face with something that nearly made him fall down from surprise.
"Ack!" Ulquiorra grabbed onto one of the chains holding up the swing just in time before he could fall down.
"Hey, Ulquiorra," said the blue haired boy nonchalantly. He bit into the red apple that he held in his hand. "What are you doing hanging upside down?"
The raven haired boy narrowed his eyes, breathing hard. "You," he whispered, the distain in his voice apparent. "What do you want?"
He shrugged. "Nothing. I just wanted to hang out with you, I guess." Taking another bite from the apple, he continued, "So, what's up?"
Ignoring what the boy said, Ulquiorra righted himself on the swing so that his back was now facing the blue haired boy. He did not want to talk to him right now. Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez was the new kid. Since he was everything that students here considered as normal and cool, he was quite popular.
Now, Ulquiorra would not have minded him as much as he did right now if not for Jaegerjaquez's habit of following him around. He always turned up when Ulquiorra least expected it and each time, he would want the same thing; he wanted to spend time with Ulquiorra. Why he wanted to do such a thing when Ulquiorra did nothing to encourage him to do so was beyond him. Once, Jaegerjaquez even gave Ulquiorra a single flower, a daisy, tucking it behind Ulquiorra's ear. This action only earned Grimmjow a cold glare from Ulquiorra. The boy was downright annoying.
"So... Wanna play on the see-saw together?" Ulquiorra heard Grimmjow ask.
"No."
"How about if we play catch?"
"No."
"What about-"
"No."
"Aww, you didn't let me finish-"
Ulquiorra turned around to glare at the boy. "I would not like to do anything with you, thanks. Now go away, trash."
Being the idiot he was, Grimmjow ignored that. Instead, he leaned towards Ulquiorra, looking at him curiously.
"Don't come too near me, idiot!"
"Why is Ulquiorra always alone?" he asked, going straight to the point.
Scowling, Ulquiorra retorted, "Because I want to be."
"But doesn't it get lonely?" the blue haired boy pressed. Before Ulquiorra could respond, Grimmjow started talking again. The boy was a chatterbox; he could talk the ears off of anyone. "A circus is coming to town this weekend, do you want to go?"
No response. Why couldn't he just go away?
"There'll be lots of things to do there. There'll be games. And we'll be able to watch the acts there. I'm really looking forward to seeing the stuff that they'll pull there! I heard that the Strongest Man in the World will be there as well-"
Didn't he get it? Ulquiorra was not interested.
"Oh! You'll be able to meet my parents too. They've been looking forward to seeing some of my school friends. Ma says she'll cook a nice dinner, too. When you come, don't mind my lil brother, Luppi. He's quite hyper, but is pretty harmless and-"
Ulquiorra raised a hand, stopping Grimmjow mid-sentence.
"What?" Grimmjow said, confused.
"What makes you think that we're friends?"
Sapphire eyes blinked in surprise. "Aren't we?"
"No."
Something that was unlike hurt crossed blue eyes, but Grimmjow quickly regained his composure. "Everyone needs a friend." He grabbed onto the two chains supporting the swing that Ulquiorra was sitting on, pulling it back slightly before letting it go, allowing the swing to move forward. When it came back, he pushed at Ulquiorra's back lightly. "Don't you think so too?"
"..." Ulquiorra tightened his grip on the chains, staring at the ground.
When Ulquiorra made no response, Grimmjow continued, "I think Ulquiorra is interesting." He pushed once more when the swing swung back. "Sure, Ulquiorra is always saying mean things to me. But I think you do that 'cause you're scared. Ulquiorra is actually nice." He held onto the chains, making the swinging motion stop. Ulquiorra looked at him sharply. "I'd like to get to know you more."
His words made the raven haired boy stare. For once, Ulquiorra was at a loss for words. When he finally spoke, he only shook his head and said, "Idiot", to which Grimmjow responded with a shrug. He knew that Ulquiorra would take time to open up to him.
~20 years later~
Ulquiorra Cifer was now a grown man. He was no longer that frail, skinny child from all of those years ago. Sure, some traits of his such as being rather quiet still remained, but the bitterness was gone. He was no longer cold, and he no longer lashed out at people out of fear. He was still Ulquiorra, just without the fears he had during his childhood. Remembering how he was like as a child, he could not help smiling. Ulquiorra sat on the swing in the garden, swinging himself lightly, enjoying the feel of the light breeze on his face. He hummed to himself softly.
It was nearly time for bed, but Ulquiorra did not care. He was enjoying himself. This still calm was something that he did not get to experience at work. Sighing, Ulquiorra was about to push himself back, when he felt a pair of warm hands close over his. Knowing exactly who those hands belonged to, Ulquiorra leaned back, his head resting against a solid chest. The person behind him bent down and nuzzled his neck.
"You've been out here all this time? It's nearly time to sleep," the person scolded him playfully.
"Yes. I just felt like I needed a breath of fresh air for awhile. Work has been overwhelming, Grimmjow." Ulquiorra smiled up at the blue haired man. "I wanted to think."
"I don't know what is it with you and this swing." Grimmjow chuckled, shaking his head. He knew that when Ulquiorra was like this, there was no use trying to persuade him to do anything else. So instead of trying to persuade him to come back into the house, Grimmjow tilted Ulquiorra's face slightly and gave the raven haired man a chaste kiss on the lips. "Don't stay out too long, okay?"
"Okay. I won't," he promised.
Later that night, as he lay in bed with his lover, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, the man's arm wrapped around his waist protectively, Ulquiorra could not help thinking about how lucky he was to have met the blue haired man. Sure, Grimmjow changed over the years, and was not exactly the same as before, but so did Ulquiorra. Because of him, Ulquiorra's days in school became much more bearable and he had a companion. Because of him, the empty void in his life was filled. Because of him, Ulquiorra learned to open up to others again. Tracing the handsome man's features, Ulquiorra could not help smiling, his head on the man's chest. Because of him, Ulquiorra was not lonely anymore.
And though the sleeping man could not hear him, Ulquiorra spoke, his voice soft;
"Thank you, Grimmjow."
DIOR CRYSTAL: Also written for the GrimmUlquiFC's 25K hits on DA. Heh. This fic didn't come out the way I wanted it to, but, oh wells. And also, to those who read House on the hill and reviewed, thank you very much for your condolences. I read them all and appreciate each and every one of them :3