Author's Note:
A warm thank you to AlleluiaElizabeth. If not for her wonderful review, I never would have attempted writing this chapter.
Subsequent days seemed to pass slowly for Orihime Inoue. Though she still struggled with her emotions, her experience with Kurosaki equipped her well enough to know how to hide her feelings. Forced to resume her original training methods, Orihime tried to make the best out if it. Ulquiorra's silence during their daily sessions made it much easier to be apathetic towards him, but the fact remained that she was slowly growing to know him through her training sessions. He was by nature a quiet man, so it was not entirely unexpected that some kind of connection could be fostered without the spoken word. She found herself gradually getting accustomed to the emptiness that surrounded him. This worried her, but the upside was that it made training easier. Through Ulquiorra's methodology, dutifulness, and astounding efficiency, she started understanding him a little more.
She even started growing fond of the unusual aspects of his character. He was unlike anyone she had ever known. She considered whether it was because he was a hollow that he was so unique, but her interactions with Lilynette and Starrk proved to her that not everyone in Las Noches was subject to such incredible apathy or attention to detail. Her intentions in distancing herself from him fluctuated, dulling one week and rejuvenating the next. The burden of guilt resided on either side of her dilemma—when she allowed herself to progress her training, she felt remorseful about her alliance with Aizen. By resisting Ulquiorra, however, she was subject to his discontentment. The more she thought about disappointing him, the more she realized just how much she valued his opinion of her. It was an ironic division between pleasing invisible friends and a nonexistent one. Nevertheless, even though she knew that she could not call him a friend, she would have offered her friendship in an instant had they been in different circumstances—or, perhaps more accurately, if he had been willing to accept it.
During the times she deferred from distancing herself, she would always give into conversation, albeit a one-sided one. Her voice could be heard by passersby in the hallways, despite her attempts to remain quiet. She usually walked next to him on her talkative days, asking him questions on the more brave ones. She got silence if he considered her questions pointless, as he typically limited his answers to queries pertained to training. Though it was not uncommon for him to look annoyed by her babbling, she noticed now that he no longer told her to stop. She took this subtle silence as permission to continue.
Lilynette was quite another story.
Often bored with Starrk's volatile depression, Lilynette periodically found her way to Orihime's chambers. They played cards and chatted, and Orihime was thrilled to finally participate in mutual friendship. She often felt conflicted about this, but Orihime was always one to extend her kindness to anyone who would receive it.
"Does this place have a kitchen?" Orihime asked Lilynette one day.
"Well, hollows don't really eat human food. I mean…we can, but it doesn't really provide us any nourishment. But obviously you need food, and Aizen and the other captains eat the same things you do, so there is an area in the palace where food is prepared. I wouldn't necessarily call it a kitchen, though."
"Can we go there?"
"Is today one of your outing days?"
"No, tomorrow."
"OK, then I can take you there tomorrow."
Lilynette left soon afterwards, as she knew that it was time for Orihime to train.
When Ulquiorra came to lead her out, Orihime did not hesitate to inform him of her plans.
"Um, would it be alright if Lilynette takes me out tomorrow instead of you?"
Ulquiorra thought for several seconds. It seems that her camaraderie with Lilynette has solidified. Though allowing them to assemble would surely please Aizen, there is still the matter of the danger within the hallways. Yet, it is my estimation that Lilynette is cunning enough to tout her connection to Starrk.
"I foresee no problems with your request."
"Thank you!" she cried, "I promise I'll be back in time for my last meal!"
.oOo.
The following day, Orihime and Lilynette set out into the palace corridors. They talked and laughed and gossiped. Orihime loved hearing all the stories about the other Espada, and Lilynette was happy to have someone who was willing to do things with her. Eventually the topic of food arose, and Orihime started explaining to Lilynette some of the dishes she would prepare at home.
"…so then I usually mix in the pepper, soymilk, and Coca-Cola together, you know, to give it a kick, and then I sprinkle it on the rice. It also tastes really good with red bean paste."
"Uhh…yeah…that sounds interesting."
"It's sogood, but no one ever believes me!" Orihime promised.
"Well, I don't think they have those kinds of ingredients here," Lilynette said.
"Oh, I can't wait to see what's in there! I've always been curious about where my food came from."
"Did you hear that? She's curious about where her food comes from," came a female voice from behind them. Orihime and Lilynette turned around to find Loly and Menoly standing before them. Orihime's smile melted away. Lilynette's mouth twitched.
"What's the matter, Princess?" Loly sneered, "The food here not good enough for you?"
"Not at all—" Orihime started to say, but Lilynette cut her off.
"Cut the bull, Loly. You're not intimidating anyone today."
"Shut up, Lilynette. She wasn't talking to you," chimed in Menoly.
"I can handle this," growled Loly as she turned to her partner.
She looked back at Orihime and said, "Listen, Princess, I know your game. You come here acting all innocent, but I can see through it. You're a stuck up little wench, and one of these days you're not going to have your friends around to protect you. And I'm going to be right there waiting for you."
Orihime's stomach sank. She recalled her first day in Hueco Mundo, before she had even put on her garments. Aizen had essentially given her preference over the two girls, and to this day they resented her.
"Listen," Orihime pleaded, "I never meant to do anything to offend you—"
Menoly and Loly cackled ferociously.
"She thinks she's so slick! I already TOLD you," Loly shouted, "I KNOW what your game is!"
Consumed with rage, she clenched her fists and took several steps towards her rival.
"I dare you to take another step," challenged Lilynette. "Don't you forget who I am. I can have Starrk here in seconds, and if you mess with me, you mess with him."
"You're a traitor," spat Menoly.
"Please! Aizen doesn't care about any of us. You guys are really kidding yourselves if you think he ever gave either of you a second thought."
"Shut up!" screamed Loly.
"Or what? You can't do anything to me!"
Loly was boiling, but she knew she was defeated. She trembled in her anger before she finally calmed herself enough to give Orihime the dirtiest look she could possibly muster. She left soon afterwards, but not before leaving Orihime with a threat.
"Just watch your back, Princess."
.oOo.
Lilynette and Orihime walked in silence to the lower quarters of Las Noches, where the makeshift kitchen was located. Upon arriving, Orihime soon forgot her encounter with the girls in the hallways.
Orihime drew her hands to her cheeks and gave a pleased squeal. "Oh, my gosh!" Orihime yelped, "This is even better than I imagined!"
Orihime immediately traveled from corner to corner, opening cabinets, poking in drawers, and oohing and ahhing as though she had never stepped foot inside a kitchen.
"I know! I'll surprise Ulquiorra-kun by making my owndish today!"
Lilynette looked at Orihime in disbelief.
"You really love this type of stuff, don't you?"
"Yes, yes, yeeeeesssss!" she sang.
Lilynette just laughed, happy to be in the company of someone new.
.oOo.
Orihime made certain to clean her mess. Cooking had taken her longer than expected; there was no way for her to keep track of time in Hueco Mundo, so she was worried about overreaching her time.
She walked with Lilynette, proudly holding her tray with its own dish dome and cup.
"Are you sure you don't want to try any of this?"
"Um…no, thanks. Not really very hungry right now." Now I can see why no one ever wants to eat any of her food, thought Lilynette.
Orihime shrugged. "Thanks for telling the servant that I won't need any food today. I hope Ulquiorra-kun doesn't get mad, but it's been so long since I've prepared my own stuff."
Just when they were about to arrive at her chamber, Orihime noticed that the door was open.
"Oh, no! I must be late! I'll see you later, Lilynette-san!
.oOo.
Since Ulquiorra was not required to supervise the woman that day, he decided to use the time to continue perfecting Segunda Etapa. He had not practiced it since the incident with the libélula, so he decided to try his hand at improving his techniques.
He focused intently, shifting his reiatsu and jumping from the first to the second stage and then back again. Switching back and forth was extremely draining on his reiatsu, but he was determined to get the timing right. After several hours of persistence, he finally achieved his goal. Excellent, he reflected. Today has produced valuable fruit.
Despite his progress, he had exhausted his reiatsu levels. Coupled with the training session earlier that day with Orihime, the high levels of reiatsu concentration left him drained. Upon morphing back to his normal form, he realized that it was getting late and that the woman would soon be in to have her last meal. He traveled over to her chambers, but she was nowhere to be found. She must still be with Lilynette. It is no matter; she should arrive soon.
Exhausted from his training, he walked over to the blue sofa in Orihime's room and sat. He looked around the room, noting the worn cards on the table and the two cups of tea. From her meetings with Lilynette, no doubt. He waited patiently for her, wondering why the servant had not yet brought her food. Perhaps my training did not take as long as I had originally calculated.
He continued waiting, but the boredom was making him sleepy. Utterly fatigued from his earlier accomplishments, his eyes started drooping. He continued to sit, expecting either Orihime or the servant to come in at any time, but they never did. Slowly, his eyes sagged farther down to a close until he finally relented into sleep.
.oOo.
Orihime walked into her room slightly anxious at her lateness, but she did not see Ulquiorra.
"That's weird."
She suddenly remembered her encounter with Loly and Menoly in the hallways and grew apprehensive. Just as she was about to call for Lilynette, she heard deep breathing coming from her couch.
It sounds like someone's asleep...
Gathering her courage, she walked towards the sound. Upon discovering who it was, she was astonished to find a slumbering Ulquiorra on her couch.
Ulquiorra-kun's asleep!
On my sofa!
I didn't even know he slept!
She could not help but be fascinated by the sight. She stood above the sleeping Espada, taking full advantage of this opportunity to completely study his features.
He looks so human when he's asleep, she thought. Maybe he's not so different from me after all.
She found herself drawing closer to him to get a better look. She dared not blink; she would probably never again witness him in such a benign state.
Oh, he just…
looks…
… so…
Her stomach churned. She had drawn close enough to him so that she could now smell his scent. Should she be ashamed that she found it pleasant? As she gazed at his sleeping eyes, she grew mesmerized by how peaceful he looked, how utterly normal and non-threatening he appeared. Upon admiring him for several moments, she subconsciously drew her eyes across his nose, cheeks, and eventually to his mouth.
Her heartbeat quickened.
Having been so distracted by him, she failed to notice the single lock of orange hair softly falling from her shoulder to his chest. Had Ulquiorra not been the acute sort of man he was, Orihime might have lingered for far longer than a few minutes.
His eyes opened suddenly.
Orihime jumped back and screamed.
"You scared me!" she squealed.
Groggy-eyed and annoyed, Ulquiorra sat up from the couch. How long have I been sleeping? He had gotten very good at training himself to go days without sleep. He recalled having dreamt about something just then, but did not wish to dwell on it.
"I was going to wake you up," Orihime lied with a smile, "but you're already awake. I was so surprised to see you like that. But I'm so relieved, too. To think, Ulquiorra-kun actually sleeps!" she remarked happily as she went to put her tray on the table.
"It's Ulquiorra," he suddenly stated.
Confused, she turned her head to look at him. He sat with his back to her.
"What?"
"Do not refer to me as you would a human, I said."
His tone was very sharp.
"When you address me, call me 'Ulquiorra'. Call me only that."
He refused to look at her when he said this. Instead, he rubbed his eyes with his palm and rose from the couch. Orihime's face melted from happy to hurt. He really doesn't want to have anything to do with me at all, does he? she thought dismally.
"I was only…" but she could not find an accurate response to such an awkward request. His eyes continued to avoid hers.
I guess I can respect that.
.oOo.
His clothes were doused in the woman's scent. This is unacceptable. How could I have allowed myself to fall asleep in her chambers? He left her room soon after she had explained to him that she had prepared her own food. She tried to explain to him the dishes she had made, but he was not interested. He was too preoccupied with Orihime's essence lingering in his nose and he wanted to remove the distraction right away. As he walked towards his chambers, an agitating voice interrupted him.
"I heard that."
Ulquiorra froze.
He turned to face Grimmjow in the hallway.
"You reek, Ulquiorra," Grimmjow jeered. "I can smell her on you from all the way here."
Grimmjow knew just how to ruffle the right feathers.
"What business do you have here?"
"What's the matter, Ulquiorra-kun," Grimmjow quipped, "protecting your investment? You don't give Starrk any trouble, though, do you?" Grimmjow pushed himself away from the wall he was leaning against, "I hear he's been coming in to her room without Lilynette these days."
This fool really believes he has accurately measured my intentions with the woman?
"What Starrk does on his free time is of no concern to me."
Ulquiorra moved to leave, but Grimmjow was not about to pass this opportunity up. He still had not forgotten their previous spat in the hallway, and he was not above making petty accusations.
"So then you wouldn't mind if I roughed her up a little? She needs to learn how to fight—I don't think Aizen would mind, so long as she can still function, don't you think?" Grimmjow smiled devilishly.
It was completely obvious what Grimmjow was trying to do, but Ulquiorra was not one to fall prey to such pathetic attempts at provocation.
Calmly, Ulquiorra responded, "How you choose to relate to the girl is your business, not mine." Ulquiorra, however, was not through. As masterful at psychological intrigue as he was, he faced Grimmjow, his eyes deadest on making his next point. "Though, if I were you, I would do a little more research on her before you approach Aizen about your plans."
Grimmjow's eyes narrowed darkly, but out of pride he refused to ask.
The idiot fell for it. Ulquiorra continued, satisfied at how quickly Grimmjow could be hooked.
"The woman's strength is directly tied to her personality. The more violent she allows herself to be, the more powerful she becomes. This characteristic will remain with her after the transformation, and Aizen has designed it so that the Hogyoku will induce violence within her to increase her power. She is highly unlikely to remain the feeble person she is now."
"So?"
"Her memories will likely be fragmented, where she will only harbor negative emotions towards the people associated with them. She may or may not remember her past life, but she will remember her emotions related to your attacks on her former comrades, and she will remember you." He paused. "She has a very strong emotional attachment to the substitute shinigami you tried to destroy. It's quite possible she may retaliate against you."
Grimmjow's eyebrows twitched—was Ulquiorra underestimating him?
"I'll kill her, then."
"And destroy the only one of Aizen-sama's allies with the capability to heal an army in seconds? I highly doubt he would allow you to live after such blatant disobedience. "
A silenced Grimmjow clenched his fists. Orihime couldn't pose such a threat. In her current state, she was absolutely one of the weakest creatures he had ever encountered. There was no way she could ever put a scratch on him.
But he had indeed seen some miraculous transformations resulting from the Hogyoku. If she came after him, he would have no choice but to kill her. He didn't care about Aizen. He wasn't about to let some weak excuse for an Espada win a fight against him.
Ulquiorra left him with a final statement, nonchalantly planting a crucial idea in Grimmjow's mind as he headed towards his chambers.
"The woman can be easily appeased. She often confuses acts of duty for kindness. As easily manipulated as she can be, I wouldn't doubt that an act of repayment would be enough to quell her potential rage."
Grimmjow looked down at his left arm grudgingly. He did not like owing anything to anybody.
Hollows are not so difficult to manipulate, either, Ulquiorra mused.
.oOo.
Important Author's Note:
There's been something on my mind; I hesitate to mention it here because they say it's rude to discuss politics, but some new bills the U.S. is trying to pass might affect this website (translation: it could get blocked), so I thought I'd warn you all, especially my fellow U.S. citizens who have the power to change things.
A couple of new bills (SOPA and PIPA) attempting to halt internet piracy are currently trying to be passed into law. These two bills, if passed as law, will basically allow U.S. corporations and government the right to seek legal action against websites they deem as violating copyright infringement. What this basically means is that if a website is suspected of violating copyright infringement in any way, the website can be blocked (or even shut down?).
Now, I know that every story on this website is followed by a disclaimer, (e.g., I don't own Bleach or the characters, etc.), and I'm sure this website would have been shut down long ago had it really been violation of any copyright, but SOPA and PIPA carry a lot more teeth than current laws do. I certainly hope that the law, if passed, will not apply to this website, but I feel I have the responsibility to tell everyone I know about it. Websites like YouTube, deviantArt, LiveJournal...the list could go on...would probably be affected.
I apologize if I have offended anyone, because I know that some people support this law, but I just felt I had to say something. I never thought I'd see the day where such a treasonous infringement on free speech would happen in the United States. Anyway, there is still time to act. You can e-mail or call your senator or House representative if you are a U.S. citizen. If you are not a U.S. citizen, there are also international petitions against the bills. The link I have posted below lists ways you can act.
An excellent assessment of the law and how it affects you can be found here: http : / / www . 1stwebdesigner . com / design / how - sopa - pipa - can - affect - you /
...but without the spaces.