Ok, so another chapter, yay! This makes 21 now and I can't express how happy I am with the continued interest in this story. So just a quick question, are the characters well...in character enough? Just curious lol. So answer me that in your reviews and I'll get on with the story.

Chapter 21... Worry

Orihime dropped down on her couch. She'd had an exhausting day at school, and an even more exhausting day at work. Everyone was so happy to have her back at the school. She had told them she'd missed everyone too much to finish school where her aunt was and that she was glad to be back. In all honesty, she was worried about her hybrids. She hadn't had any contact with them since she'd come back. Even her soul pager wasn't sending messages through to Tia or Stark. And they were the ones she really wanted to contact. Maybe it was time to try someone else. She shook her head. She needed to make dinner before she worried about work.

She went into her kitchen and made some pork rice with a sugar glaze. She also made a fruit salad with soy sauce. She took the bowls to the table and set out plates for her and Ulquiorra. He should be home any minute. He'd had to leave while she was at work to meet up with Urahara for some items for his gigai and she'd had to walk home alone. She didn't mind really, but she'd been used to him being around her all the time. It was nice.

He walked in the door a minute later, and she had to fight the wide grin threatening to take over. He always gave her strange looks when she did that. "Dinners ready!" she said. He took a step into the kitchen, and stoically sat down. Wordlessly he took a portion of the food and devoured it. Orihime could never tell if he liked what she made or if he ate it not to hurt her feelings. He was the only one that never found an excuse not to eat her food. So maybe he liked it. He stayed at the table until she finished eating and took the plates. He always did dishes for her. Maybe he was afraid she'd hurt herself with a knife. She'd done it before.

"I'm gonna take a shower, and then you can," she said. She went into her room and grabbed some clothing and took a shower, humming nonsensical tunes the whole time. She exited and dressed in a thin cotton shirt and some drawstring night pants. She dried her hair with a towel and ran a brush through it. She stared at her reflection. She'd changed a little since before the war. Her face was slimmer, as was the rest of her body. It must have happened in Las Noches when she'd first tried to starve herself. Before Ulquiorra had threatened to force feed her. Strangely though, now the slimmer look made her face look more mature. And she was. Being a Captain had done that for her. She wasn't the same Orihime that she was back then. Maybe that was why it was so exhausting going back to school. A knock on the door brought her out of her reverie. She opened the bathroom door, looking at Ulquiorra questioningly. He shook his head and pointed at the front door. Sensing, she felt Tatsuki behind it. She pulled up her watermelon grin and threw open the door.

She greeted her friend and invited her inside. She offered her friend leftovers which the girl immediately refused, saying she'd already ate. Tatsuki shot a glare at Ulquiorra. Ichigo had told Tatsuki that Ulquiorra had kidnapped her. Orihime knew it was because Ichigo didn't want Ulquiorra to live with her. Ulquiorra finished the dishes and got clothes and went to shower.

"I can't believe you won't listen to me about him! Not only do you live with a guy, its a guy who kidnapped you and was under orders to kill you!" Tatsuki shot at her. That was the usual conversation starter for the two of them anymore.

"He just wants to protect me now," Orihime replied. Then they changed the subject. Neither of them wanted to fight. They laughed, joked, and did the usual for a while. Tatsuki pointedly ignored Ulquiorra when he came out of the shower and he said nothing to her. The two girls slept in the living room, one on the spare futon and the other on the couch. Ulquiorra slept in Orihime's room. She couldn't help but wonder if he minded the smell of her on her sheets. She'd wash them before he slept in them next time.

The next morning, Tatsuki excused herself to go shower and get ready for her meet later that day. It was Saturday, and Orihime was off work and out of school. Orihime waves goodbye to her friend and shuts the door. Ulquiorra walks out of the bedroom looking as put together as usual. Like he hadn't even slept. Maybe he hadn't. Orihime goes into the bathroom and brushes her hair and teeth, getting ready for the day. She steps out of the bathroom and into the bedroom to change. When she's finally done, she looks at Ulquiorra.

"Can you sense any of the other hybrids near by?" she asked. She knew some had gone to 13th and Karakura was 13th's area. Ulquiorra nodded at her, and they left the apartment, locking the door behind her. Orihime trusted his pesquisa better than her ability to sense someone, so she followed him to a tall building. The hybrid was sitting on the roof, but jumped down upon seeing Orihime. Orihime greeted him and asked the question that had been on her mind. "How's things going in Soul Society?" she asked. The hybrid's face turned grim.

"There's an illness running through the divisions... they are on total lockdown there. Its bad. None of us can go back right now. There are a lot of people dying. That's all we know. They didn't have time to send details, and all communications have been shut down." he said. Orihime bit her lip.

"I should go over there. I can help," she said. The hybrid shook his head. Orihime looked at Ulquiorra pleadingly. She knew he could get her in. He shook his head. He wasn't willing to risk her getting ill. Orihime frowned. She wasn't a fragile little flower anymore. It wasn't fair that she was being treated like one.

Ichigo was down in the underground training area at Urahara's when he sensed Orihime and Ulquiorra dropping in. He scowls. He couldn't stand that Ulquiorra had come with Orihime. Like she was really safe with him. He meets them, ready to get whatever it was over with. The look on Orihime's face stops him. She explains what she knows, and Ichigo stared blankly at her. It sounded bad. And Rukia was there. Orihime gives him that pleading look. Ichigo narrows his eyes. "What do you want me to do that he can't." Ichigo told her. Orihime looked shocked. As well she should. It was the first time he'd openly said something that showed how much he hated Ulquiorra. But the girl just puffed out her cheeks and stood straighter. When had she grown a backbone?

"You can get me into Soul Society. I know you can," she said. Ichigo was quick to point out that Ulquiorra had a direct route there. Her cheeks deflated and she cast a look at the dark haired man next to her. "Ulquiorra-san won't take me," she said. Ichigo nearly laughed. So the bastard really did take at least a little care of her. Ichigo shook his head at her instead.

"I'll see what I can do, but if they don't want us there, I don't think there's any way we are getting in without Ulquiorra. Maybe not even then." Ichigo expected her to pout. The Orihime from before would have. Instead she just nodded. Ichigo didn't know what had changed her more... captivity or being a captain.

Uryu let loose an arrow at the hollow he'd come to face. More had appeared lately, but Uryu didn't think it had anything to do with the bad feeling he'd had. More likely it was because of the hybrid Shinigami from 13th that were now hanging around. He had to admit, they were throwing off his senses. Sure, Soul Society had given him an updated pager keyed in so that the Arrancar didn't set off the hollow sensor, but his own personal sense had been shot to hell. Which was why the hollow that was slowly dissipating had managed to get the drop on him. Now Uryu's dinner lay scattered across the ground. Lucky for him, it was all packaged items. He picked them up and headed back to his little apartment. Moving from his father's had been freeing. It had also been hard on his pockets. He'd had to pick up a job at a coffee shop. Now he couldn't get the smell of coffee from his skin. It was awful. But the tourists loved their coffee so it made for a good money. He unlocked the door, and set his groceries on the table. There were two messages on his answering maching. The first, turned out to be Orihime.

{'Hey just wanted to let you know that there's this mystery plague going on in Soul Society, and Ichigo and Ulquiorra-san wont let me go fix it. Figured as a genius you'd be curious to know more about it and might be willing to help me get in there,'} You could hear Ichigo making denials in the background. Uryu smirked. Orihime sure had learned how to be strong. Going as far as pretending to go to him to try to get Ichigo's help. The next message was confusing at first. The voice being the strangest thing. It was a lackluster, hollow voice. One that he knew.

{'I'm sure that by now you are aware of the current situation in Soul Society. I can also be sure of the fact that former Captain Inoue will attempt to enter the Soul Society. This cannot be allowed. We of the 12th Division are willing to offer you several... unique quincy items in exchange for your help preventing her entrance until the situation has passed. This will be my only contact until the situation ends. If she does not enter our grounds before my next contact, I will deliver your belongings personally. That is all.'} The voice of course, belonged to Nemu Kurotsuchi. It was strange, that with an illness going through Soul Society, that they wouldn't allow someone with the godlike powers Orihime had to come fix the problem. But maybe they were just trying to cure it, in case it showed up again and Orihime wasn't... around. Still they could just tell her that themselves if she showed up. So why the additional insurance? There was something strange going on. This was the bad feeling he had. He was sure of it. Which unfortunately meant, that he wasn't going to be getting his hands on those items.