Okay kiddies, its Ulquihime smexy time! They get kinda hot and heavy. Nothing explicit, just hot. So, yeah, if you don't like makeouts, then look away.

If you like 'em, read on.

It was the darkness that woke Orihime.

Belayed by the moonlight that slipped through the windows, she opened her eyes to see it was night time. Slowly pushing herself up, Orihime winced as her head throbbed. She had slept the whole day. She felt numb, as if someone had ripped out everything she was. Numb but not uncomfortable, just unfeeling. Slowly her gaze moved about the room she was in. It was a small room, simple really with a desk and a chair and a bed that she currently occupied. It was messy as well, clearly lived in, but there was an order even to the chaos.

Still laying down, Orihime took a deep breath, trying to shake off the lack of feeling. An odd scent flooded her nose and instantly she felt her body relax. It smelled like cool. Like endless earth and night and unmovable things. It felt like stability, like the world could end all around her but that smell would remain. All things cool and solid, they were in that smell. Turning her head to the room, her eyes sought out the familiar objects. The school uniform thrown on a chair, the ipod charging on the desk. She recognized the blue coat she could half see in the closet, though it was not yet cold enough for such a thing. She knew where she was and yet she could not bring herself to move, to feel afraid. Slowly she pushed herself into a sitting position, the blankets sliding off her shoulders into her lap.

She reached up and touched her hair, looking around at the contours of Ulquiorra's room. It was a strange thing to think she was there, in the place that he had made his own. She pushed herself up to her feet, her socks touching the cool floor underneath. She did not bother to look for her shoes as she moved towards the door of his room, quietly pulling it open. It was dark and quiet throughout the shop, the moon the only light she could see. Still she found no fear in the dark, just an odd sort of comfort the daylight no longer seemed to offer her. Her fingers moved across the wood of the door frame as she stood in it, lingering in Ulquiorra's room. She knew she needed to go home and yet she could not bring herself to move.

Especially not when she heard the click of talons against the floor.

Orihime moved forward, just enough to see the shape moving through the darkness. Most of him was lost to the shadows, the darkness swallowing him whole. But even in the shadows she could see the green in his eyes, she could see his posture, the way he carried himself even when he had a tail and a wingspan. He still was Ulquiorra, perhaps in some way he was more himself in the form he currently resided than he was any other way. Orihime pressed a hand to the doorway as he moved closer, stopping just out of reach of the light. His eyes looked at her calmly, moving across her in a way that Orihime had long since recognized as concern. Though the injuries he was checking for were physical ones, they were injuries none the less.

"You are awake," he stated, his tone formal, another sign he had been worried.

"Yes," she said, "were there many Hollows?"

"Enough that my presence was required," he told her.

"Did you use a lot of Spiritual Power?" Orihime asked.

"I am fine," he said, avoiding the question completely.

Orihime caught her lip in her bottom teeth. He stood there, close enough that she could smell the same scent clinging to him. But more than that she could feel the Spiritual Power, his Spiritual Power. It was just as unwavering as his. Everyone else she had encountered their Spiritual Power had shown something. Rukia's icy one, Byakuya's oddly sharp one, Ichigo's burning one. But Ulquiorra's was unique as well. The closest way Orihime had ever been able to describe it was like the ground. It could change, she had felt fluctuations in it before, but it was the steadiest power she had ever felt. Constant. She felt it now as well, unconfined, though they both knew he should have returned to Urahara's lab to go back to the gigai that would contain it. He made no move to go, he simply stood there in the shadows.

"Why won't you eat the Hollows?" Orihime asked. Ulquiorra said nothing, "wouldn't they help? With your Spirit Power?"

"It is irrelevant," he said.

"But Ulquiorra--"

"I will not consume them," he said, his tone flat, no room for argument to it.

His hand reached for the light but Orihime moved quicker, her fingers grasping his. She held his hand away from the light, stepping into the shadows in front of him. The entire time his yellow eyes did not leave hers, his gaze sharp as she moved in front of him. Slowly Orihime let go of his hand, her fingers moving to the skin of his chest. He was just as warm in this form as he was in his gigai. She could feel him holding himself very still as she stood in front of him, her hands resting on his chest, her eyes squarely locked with his.

Ulquiorra did not trust himself to move.

She was in front of him, touching him and all he wanted was to slam her against the wall. To rip her cloths from her body. To destroy the haunting image of perfection she portrayed. Even in the moonlight she looked as though she had captured the sun. And yet there she was, standing in the shadows, her breath ghosting the skin of his chest. He could feel her heart beating, he could see the rise and fall of her chest. He did not think it was fear on her features, though he wished to God it was. Fear would mean she was not there, not in the darkness, not in front of him standing there as she was. Not touching him, so carefully, not so easily. As if he was not frightening, not at all.

"You should be far away from here," he told her.

"From you," she whispered, "because of what you are, because of what you've done," he said nothing as she stated it, "no," she said shaking her head, "not again. I'm not leaving, and I'm not going to let you push me away--"

He silenced her with his lips.

Ducking his head, his mouth captured hers. Her lips met his eagerly, her hands moving from his chest to his shoulders as she pulled him closer against her. His skin was hard still and she could feel the strange muscles that connected to her wings. If it had been any other time, if there had been light or something--anything, to stop him he would have. But there was not. She was against him, willing and eager and when the claws of his talons dragged lines down her shirt, shredding the fabric, her only response was to arch into his touch, her lips parting to deepen the kiss. Her breath was hot against his cheek as he backed her towards the wall, his hand pressing into her the bare skin exposed by her ruined shirt.

Orihime wrapped her arms tighter around him as her back hit the wall, his hand still pressed against her spine, claws resting against the skin of her hip. It was strange . His other was flat against the wall, bracing them even as her legs sagged, barely able to hold her upright as she pulled him closer, her fingers threading through his hair. He tasted just as he smelled. Like cool and dark and immovable things. Like stability. Like something that would always be there. The light did not matter, not anymore. Not as the fabric of her shirt fell to the ground, not as her chest seemed to be on fire from the one pressed so tightly to his. She felt every inch of his body pressed against hers, engulfing everything she was. Orihime did not care. However much she felt, it was not enough. It never could be enough. She wanted more.

She wanted everything.

She heard his wings flex, his tail swish and realized the danger they were posing with him as he was.

"Your gigai," she gasped.

"The shop is designed to contain Spiritual Power," he told her.

He pulled back fractionally, his eyes scanning her face. Perhaps she was not talking about his gigai, perhaps she was talking about stopping. Perhaps she was afraid, of the darkness, of him, of what was happening. His thoughts were disjointed, even as he tried to make them coherent. But it was impossible, not when she was against him. Not when her arms were around his shoulders, her lips barely an inch away from his.

"Oh thank God," she said pulling him down.

Not when she did that.

His lips moved from her mouth to her throat, the gentleness vanishing. Orihime bit her swollen lip as his marked the skin of her throat. She was unable to stifle the sounds that he elicited from her, her body pressing even more tightly against his. The hand he had against the wall left it, wrapping around her shoulders and suddenly Orihime felt as if she was drowning in the darkness. Drowning in him. Her eyes closed as she held him tighter, clinging to what sanity she had left for a moment longer.

Then she let go.

Uryuu stood in the doorway of Tatsuki's room.

Her mother had let him in. She had known him as their neighbors son, not in any other capacity. WIth a smile she had let him and he had walked to her room, following the directions given to him by the woman who had a longer version of Tatsuki's hair and the same bright smile. When he approached the door that would lead him to Tatsuki's room, he reached out and knocked on the door. A sound from inside the room was enough for him to open the door.

Tatsuki's room was a hundred percent her. Simple, clean lines were half disguised by the massive amount of clutter. School uniforms, informal, boyish cloths, even a few dresses were strewn everywhere. His eyes found her form, sitting on the seat below her window. She was in sweat pants and a tank top, her hair still wet from the shower. Her arms were around her knees as her shoulder rested on the glass. It was dark outside, the colors of the houses painting her skin a hundred shades of gold. She was not crying, just staring out the window, silent as the grave. Uryuu was both grateful she was not crying and worried for how quiet she was. He stood in the door, watching her, silent until she spoke.

"He's gone."

Uryuu nodded, not saying anything. Two words and she lapsed into silence. Tatsuki continued to sit there, staring blankly out the window. Slowly Uryuu walked over to the window. She only took up half of it. He lowered himself down, sitting next to her. She sighed, the sound almost shaky, the barest crack in the sound. Uryuu remained sitting there, his body angled towards her, his hands resting on his knees. He knew he should have found something to say, sitting there in silence was not going to do anything really. Nothing was made easier by the fact that Uryuu had never really been the comforting type, especially not when it came to a girl like Tatsuki. Aside from a few angry tears, he didn't think he had ever seen her truly sad. Certainly not like she was right now.

"Ah," he said, the sound a soft confirmation, "he will be back though."

"You aren't going to go drag him back?" Tatsuki asked, her eyes sliding suspiciously over to him.

"This is something Ichigo needs to do on his own," Uryuu said, "and I have never been good at dragging Ichigo Kurosaki to or from anywhere."

Tatsuki made a sound in the back of her throat, a sound Uryuu was certain would have been a laugh if it had been any other time. But it wasn't and instead of a laugh it was nothing more than a sound in the back of her throat. Uryuu sat there quietly, not sure what he was supposed to do. Sitting with an upset girl was not exactly something he was used to, especially not when logic said that he was the one who was supposed to comfort her. Tatsuki shifted abruptly before turning and looking at him, her eyes raw with emotion.

"I just wanted to hit some sense into him, you know? It was like he was too stupid to realize that we were all there, that even when he fucked up we were still there," she made the same sound, shaking her head, "I just never figured he'd be the one to leave---again."

"I know," Uryuu said, "I do not look any of us did."

"God, I'm sorry," she said shaking her head, "I didn't mean to go all chick flick on you after we just--" she motioned between the two of them, I know this is weird and all--"

"Its not," Uryuu said, "not compared to everything else that has been going on lately," he added. Tatsuki shook her head in a failed attempt to hide her smile, "I suppose it was time for high school weirdness."

"Hey!" she said, nudging him with her foot, "you weren't supposed to agree with me."

"Well you did kiss me in front of our entire class," he pointed out.

"Oh and would you like to remind me who pulled who onto their lap?" she asked, raising an eyebrow, her smile contradicting his words.

"I have no doubt that had our positions been reversed you would have done the same thing," he told her dryly.

She laughed, a softer one than he was used to but it was a laugh none the less. She seemed a bit happier and Uryuu felt a bit of pride at that. He had cheered her up . He looked over to see her move. Tatsuki swung her legs over until she was on her knees. Not going for the floor, she moved across the cushions until she was right next to him. Uryuu watched her, his body turning to face her as she approached him. It should have been sexual but for some reason, perhaps because both were very aware of their martial arts ability, it was not. She settled back on her heels, her knees just touching his outer thigh.

"So," she looked at him, "are we dating now?" she asked, "I told you I'm not good at this chick-stuff!" she said hotly when he gave no reply.

"I just--I'm not sure," he said, "are we?"

"That's what I'm asking!"

Tatsuki glared. This was going to be harder than she thought. Much much harder. How did girls make this seem so easy? Uryuu seemed just as unsure as she did. They were both new to this situation, new enough that neither really had any idea what they were doing.

They were just going to have to figure it out.

"I don't think I would be very good at the romantic thing," Uryuu said looking at her.

"Yeah, I don't think I would be either," she said with a sigh, "we're not romantic. What are we gonna do?"

"I could help you with your archery," he said.

"And i could help you throw a punch a bit more like a girl," she said arching an eyebrow at his disbelieving look, "what? I can punch better than you. Be grateful I'm offering to help you."

He laughed at that as they both relaxed, more at ease. Tatsuki shook her head.

"So I suppose we should continue as we are," he said.

"Well I'm all for picking up where we left off," Tatsuki said suggestively.

Uryuu smiled and leaned forward, kissing her. Tatsuki returned the kiss, her head moving to the side. One of her hands rested on his leg as her other covered the prosthetic hand. Uryuu withdrew fractionally, looking down. He could feel her fingers on his wrist, just where it met the skin. Even now, even when people were used to it, they still reacted oddly to it. But Tatsuki stubbornly kept her hand there. He glanced back at her, surprised to see instead of confusion, just frustration on her features. Frustration at the fact that he had stopped kissing her.

"What?" she asked.

"Its nothing," he said, half surprised to find it was true.

"Come here," she said grabbing his collar and pulling him down once more, her fingers tightening against his wrist and prosthetic.

Hours later, Uryuu Ishida left the Arisawa house, a smile on his lips.

It had rained, in the time he had been inside. The ground was still wet, the lights of the street reflected in the darkness. Uryuu paused at the corner, tilting his head back to see the sky clear of clouds. The moon was heavy in the sky, unusually bright as it cast light down on the world below. For some reason he felt his smile widen as he took a deep breath. The world seemed new, somehow. As if some weight had been lifted. In a way, Uryuu supposed, it had been. Ichigo was confronting the problems he had tried to bury. He had found, well, something with a girl he never would have thought possible. And if he had to guess, Ulquiorra was off with Orihime, with any luck figuring out their own problems. It did not simply feel like the world had begun anew.

It felt like it had finally begun to move forward.

Even when he felt the Hollows nearby, he was unable to let his smile slip. Instead he took a deep breath of the fresh night air and turned, heading towards them. He broke into a run, his feet hitting the pavement rhythmically. There was a sound overhead, all he had to do was glance upwards to confirm that it was, in fact, Ulquiorra and not some other flying Hollow. He swooped down, landing in front of Uryuu. Uryuu looked past him towards the group of Hollows making their way towards Karakura Town.

"You didn't get out of that form, did you?" Uryuu asked.

"No," Ulquiorra said, "they must have felt my presence through the barrier surrounding the shop."

"Well I suppose we should finish them quickly then," he said pushing his glasses up on his nose.

Ulquiorra gave a quick nod before kicking off the ground, heading towards the Hollows, Uryuu hot on his heels.

Okay so the next chapter's probably going to be the last one. Maybe another after that but I doubt it.

Anyway. We'll find out what's in the letter next chapter.

Please review!