Chapter 14

In a slow graceful motion the demon returned his arm back to his side and slightly tilted his head into her direction.

"Get up, Inoue Orihime." he spoke in a low monotone.

Orihime complied trying to stand on shaky legs as the remains of her shock wore off. She did not expect this turn of events, or to run into him here. After all this time and waiting he still just stood there and casually looked at her like they've only seen each other yesterday. His nonchalant attitude was always a mystery, but right now Orihime was simply annoyed by it.

Nothing ever shook or surprised him. Even under the gravest of circumstances he would still remain completely impassionate even if the whole world exploded. He was his own master, his own god, always invading her world without asking.

"I need to speak with Kurosaki Ichigo." he said turning to Rukia.

"Everyone is up ahead." she replied a little surprised, "I will go meet with them." then ran off disappearing into the smoke.

Ulquiorra looked at Orihime and took a few steps towards her. "You are being careless. If you don't measure your strength, you won't complete another mission."

"You don't have to bother with me." she said curtly. "We were expecting you to come much earlier. Everyone thought that you would never show up."

"It is my duty to be here and to fulfill the obligation from five years ago."

Orihime studied him with uncertainty. She simply could not accept that everything that he did was only out of his sense of duty.Whether it was the wrong time and place did not matter any longer. She had to find out for herself. This has been eating her for the last month and she almost gave up on the idea that Ulquiorra still harbored anything that resembled feelings for her, convincing herself again that she had to forget the past. But every time she thought she succeeded, she failed as soon as he came into her view. He was her magnet, her curse, her undoing. Orihime knew that this had to be resolved once and for all with some form of closure.

"And that's all it is?" with a few easy strides she was finally face to face with him.

"What do you expect me to say?" he asked with his usual indifference. "To yield to your ridiculous human sentimentality?"

"I expect you to be honest with me, and with yourself. If none of it matters to you, I will accept it. I just need to know the truth."

"This is all meaningless. We don't have the time to…"

"Tell me!" she interrupted him, "Tell me that I am nothing to you and I will never bother you again!"

Ulquiorra stared down at her. Even though he did not show it, Orihime knew that her question took him by surprise. She did not expect him to confess his love for her. Love was pretty much impossible with him. And neither did she expect a declaration of any kind. Orihime just wanted to know what went on inside his head. Even if he said "yes", even if she was no bigger than an insect to him, that was still better than not knowing.

"Please..."

"I cannot." he replied quietly.

Orihime sighed lowering her head. "You're impossible." she said leaning forward and pressing her forehead against his chest. "Why is it so hard for you to say what you mean?"

Despite her bold familiarity, Ulquiorra did not flinch or move her away. He stood perfectly still letting her rest against him without saying a word. The warmth of her skin sent tiny jolts of electricity through his body but he welcomed the sensation. It made him feel he was alive. For the first time in five years he finally realized how much he wanted to experience this again, to feel the familiar ache in his chest as soon as she was near. All of his attempts at trying to suppress it, until there was nothing but numbness, became useless as soon as she appeared in his life again. Effortlessly, Inoue Orihime eased five years of emptiness as soon as she touched him.

Realizing that she will not get an answer out of him, Orihime shifted and finally pulled away.

"Are you just going to leave after this is over?" she asked, reluctantly raising her eyes to his.

"I will do what is necessary, and so will you."

"But…"

"We have a mission to complete. Everything else is irrelevant." He said curtly, but Ulquiorra knew that it was far from the truth. And the truth wasn't something that he dared to admit even to himself.

Orihime lowered her eyes staring at the ground. Talking to him was pointless. Ulquiorra was stubborn and proud who rarely revealed his emotions even to her. Getting the truth out of him was simply impossible.

"They are here." she heard him say again.

Orihime followed his gaze seeing something coming towards them. Soon, Grimmjow, Nnoitra, and a few other Arrancar stood several feet away from them.

"Have you taken care of the rest of the enemy?" Ulquiorra asked them.

"Yeah, looks like they stopped for now." Grimmjow answered. "And look who is here!" he switched his gaze to Orihime.

"Looks like your little pet is a big shot now." Nnoitra grinned looking at her uniform.

Orihime smiled faintly at their usual tactics. After all these years, they remained as brash as always.

"We are here to meet with the Shinigami." Ulquiorra said. "Kurosaki Ichigo is on his way."

Soon, Orihime felt the familiar riatsu approaching, and a few seconds later her friends were standing in front of them.

"Inoue!" Ichigo's said. "Are you alright?"

"She is unharmed." Ulquiorra answered.

"Took you long enough to show up." Ichigo scowled at him. "What was the wait all about?"

"We have business to discuss." Ulquiorra replied. "Aizen still has the Hougyoku and uses it to manipulate his armies. It also increases their strength and regeneration abilities."

Ichigo scratched the back of his head. "How do we get rid of it? Aizen has it inside of him so we can't just take it."

Ulquiorra's gaze shifted to Orihime. "This woman's rejection abilities can erase it from existence. Most of Aizen's powers come from it. So when it is gone, it will take the majority of his riatsu with it. But there is also a possibility it might not work because we don't know what kind of new power he is using."

"This sounds like a good plan," Ichigo said thoughtfully, "But what would happen to the Arrancar who were created with it?"

"There is a chance it will alter our existence by reverting us back to regular hollows. Or nothing might happen at all."

"What a load of bullshit." Grimmjow cursed, "We have to put ourselves on the line while those bastards enjoy their victory?"

"Hougyoku cannot be easily destroyed. It is possible that it can be rejected, but without implications."

"No!" Orihime cried, "I refuse. There has to be another way."

"It does not matter," Ulquiorra replied, "Your first priority is to defeat Aizen. And this is the best solution."

"It matters to me." she insisted.

Ulquiorra understood her persistence. She was worried, this much was obvious, and it gave him certain pleasure to think that he was important to her. But they had a mission to complete. Letting personal feelings take over priorities could compromise everything.

"You…and the rest of the Arrancar can be potential allies to Soul Society." Orihime said, "Surely there is a better way to defeat Aizen without putting anyone at risk."

"Resisting this is futile." he answered with finality, "One way or another, the final decision will insure the quickest and most efficient way to get rid of Aizen. Your obstinacy is only delaying the inevitable."

Before she had a chance to respond, a Senkai gate opened announcing the arrival of Soul Society. And a few seconds later Yamamoto and five other captains walked through it.

"You've kept us waiting long enough, Arrancar." Yamamoto said.

Ulquiorra looked at him dispassionately meeting a very accusing gaze of the Captain General.

"Due to the recent activity and increased attacks we have reasons to believe that Aizen is mobilizing for a full scale invasion into Soul Society and Hueco Mundo. We are expecting you and your subordinates to be available for assistance at all times."

Despite his authorial tone, Ulquiorra did not bother objecting to it. Hueco Mundo was not subject to Soul Society's influence, but the Shinigami still did not miss a chance to show their superiority over the hollows. And at the end they picked the safest option which guaranteed the least amount of loses on their side.

"More so," Yamamoto continued, "Aizen is most likely to make an appearance that will give us an opportunity to remove Hougyoku from him. We will ask Inoue Orihime to reject it, and you know what it means for the Arrancar."

"Maybe you should consider other options if the risk is high." Ichigo said.

"Other options will take months to analyze." Yamamoto replied. "We do not have the time for that. If we lose Aizen now, he might not reappear for years."

Ulquiorra tilted his head to look at Orihime, who was standing next to her friends observing the debate between him and everyone else. She was glancing anxiously from him to Ichigo to the Captain General with hope in her eyes, silently preying that they would reconsider. But the decision was already made, leaving her wondering if the price for defeating Aizen was too much of a sacrifice for everyone.

After the meeting at the ruins, the Arrancar and Shinigami separated to each prepare for the major battle ahead. But, despite the expectations, the next few months were uneventful save for a few usual skirmishes in the ruins. Ulquiorra and Orihime barely saw each other except during the fights in Karakura Town, and even then their meetings were short and quickly ended after brief encounters. But Aizen didn't let them wait for too long. One day, a giant portal opened above Seireitei revealing an enormous army of every single type of monstrosity that they faced in Karakura Town.

Orihime ran through the streets of nearly destroyed Seireitei. Just an hour ago she was at the Kuchiki estate visiting Rukia and enjoying the little moments of peace they had. Everything was nice and quiet until a huge explosion blasted through the air followed by a wild roar. And a few moments later, the streets where filled with monsters rampaging through everything in their path.

She tried to sense for anyone familiar but it was useless. The clash of metal, smoke, yelling, screaming, bestial roar and more explosions were everywhere. They made her ears ring and clouded her vision. Orihime narrowed her eyes trying to see beyond the smoke, but there was nothing but fire.

The smell of burning flesh made her cringe and she covered her nose. Perhaps it was better that she did not see anything after all. Continuing to move forward, Orihime finally saw a slight movement in the distance and increased her pace coming to a clearing. There were several dozen monsters hovering over the bodies of the dead Shinigami, and as if sensing her presence they slowly turned their heads into her direction. Orihime swallowed nervously, seeing their dark and lifeless eyes staring at her. Jerking their bodies in violent spasms, they slowly started moving towards her increasing their pace as they came closer. Orihime braced herself for battle, but there were too many to cut down in one single attack. She had to be careful.

"Koten Zanshun, I reject!" she yelled watching Tsubaki slash through the first batch in one single swipe.

To her utter shock, the monsters fell down only to rise again in just a few seconds. This wasn't something that she had anticipated by a long shot. Not only did they completely outnumber her, but they did not die either. She threw Tsubaki a few more times but it was no use. The monsters rose every single time after each attack.

Seeing her dilemma, Orihime started to slowly move backwards hoping that they would not follow her. But, she wasn't that lucky. As soon as she began retreating, the monsters took off after her.

She started running not knowing where she was going. If I can't defeat them, maybe at least I can slow them down! But they quickly caught up to her. Tsubaki slashed through the front row and the creatures fell only to rise up again.

Orihime frantically looked around trying to think. There had to be something she could do against them.

"Koten Zanshun, I reject!" she yelled again. But this time, Tsubaki went through the walls of the surrounding buildings breaking them in giant chunks and crushing on the horde behind her. Orihime glanced back noticing that the monsters did not rise again.

With a sigh of relief she slowed down to catch her breath only to hear growling again. And a moment later, Orihime was laying on her back coming face to face with a monster. They stared at each other for a few seconds until it opened its mouth showing rows of deformed half-rotten teeth. Koten Zanshun, I reject. But before her fairy could come out, the monster sunk its fangs into her shoulder. Orihime yelled out in pain. Tsubaki! The tiny light impaled the monster through the chest having it collapse on top of her. Feeling herself being crushed under its weight, she tried to push it off of her only to hear the growling again. It rose over her the second time pushing its fangs into her skin. Orihime ground her teeth in pain. Warm blood gushed out of her wounds and ran down her body soiling her uniform. With the last remains of her strength, she managed to free one arm trying to reach for a brick lying nearby.

The monster roared out as soon as it connected with its head. Orihime hit it again and again until she heard a crack. Then it fell down on the grown writhing in pain. With one last try Orihime raised the stone over her head and brought it down as hard as she could. Splat! The monster finally stopped moving.

She slowly got up clutching one hand to her wound and trying to catch her breath. The pain was excruciating and she felt like fainting. But she couldn't collapse with the enemies being everywhere. Orihime scanned the area trying to find a safe place to heal and replenish her strength, but there was nothing bur rubble all around her.

"Yo!"

She jumped in surprise.

"Trying to get yourself killed while Ulquiorra is not looking?"

Grimmjow!

"W-what…are…you doing….here?" she asked panting.

"What am I doing? I was about to save your ass. But, damn, looks like I didn't need to."

Orihime bit her lip trying to suppress the pain. She could barely stand anymore.

"Hey! Don't think I just came here for that! There is some serious shit going on. So he sent me to investigate."

"Isn't he coming to help?"

"He will, but they have their hands full in Las Noches right now. That bastard Aizen sure outdid himself this time."

Orihime finally felt her legs giving out from losing too much blood and sank to the ground. From the corner of her eye she saw Grimmjow coming up to her.

"Fix yourself up," her said looking down at her. "I am not into dragging around girls who bleed all over the place."

Orihime closed her eyes pulling the last bits of her strength together.

"Hurry up and do it! It looks like Aizen finally made his appearance."