Ugly Duckling
Bleach and its characters do not belong to me.
"Where is she…"
Orihime had been gone for 2o minutes.
I didn't mind waiting, but I was starting to get impatient.
Suddenly Sora popped out of the crowd with Mizuho in tow.
"Hey man! Having a good time?"
He looked around.
"Where's Orihime?"
I shrugged.
"She went to the bathroom with Rukia. She hasn't come back yet."
Mizuho furrowed her brows.
"We just ran into Rukia and Ichigo. Orihime wasn't with them."
That took me by surprise and worry set in.
"Umm… I'm going to go look for her."
They nodded as I left them standing there.
Where are you Orihime?
"I've got here at the warehouse. What do you want me to do now?"
I looked back at the unconscious Orihime I had tied to a chair.
Aizen pondered for a moment.
"Very good Loly."
He sounded happy.
"Do what you like. Scare her. Make her want nothing to do with Ulquiorra. Don't let her know I have anything to do with this. I'll be in touch."
He hung up.
I smiled as ideas filled my mind.
"Hurry and wake up Orihime. I'm going to have so much fun with you, you little tramp."
I narrowed my eyes when I saw how happy my uncle looked.
I made my way over to him.
"You look like your enjoying the festival."
He nodded his head.
"My students are having a good time. That makes me happy."
I rolled my eyes.
"Yes, cause you care about them so much."
He raised an eyebrow.
"What are you getting at Grimmjow?"
I glared at him.
"I don't trust you. You're planning to do something to Orihime. Why?"
He narrowed his eyes at me.
"You're accusing me, your uncle, of wanting to hurt your little crush? Must I remind you that I took you in after your parents died when no one else wanted you?"
I flinched but kept glaring at him.
"I never said you'd hurt her. Just that you're going to do something. Choose your words more carefully Aizen."
I left him speechless as I walked away.
I couldn't find Orihime anywhere. I had walked all over. She was nowhere to be found.
"Dammit!"
I reached into my pocket for my phone. I'd try calling her.
My phone wasn't there.
"What?"
I searched my other pockets. My phone was gone.
"Shit!"
I started looking around for someone I could borrow a phone from.
"You can't find her can you?"
I turned around to find Grimmjow staring at me.
I glared at him.
"What are you talking about?"
He sighed.
"Orihime's missing."
It wasn't a question. He already knew.
"Bastard! Where is she? What did you do?"
He shook his head frantically.
"I didn't do anything. It's my uncle."
I didn't believe him.
"Whatever Grimmjow. If she's hurt, I'll kill you."
I started to walk away but he grabbed my arm.
"Listen to me! It's my uncles doing!"
I wrenched free of his grasp.
His voice sounded sincere and I remembered how Aizen had threatened Orihime.
"How do I know you're not helping him?"
He gave me a pleading look.
"I would never hurt her."
I scoffed.
"Says the guy that hit her."
He flinched and guilt filled his eyes.
Then determination set on his face.
"I will help you find her."
"Ahh…"
I groaned as I came to. My neck and back hurt like hell.
I was very uncomfortable. I tried to shift my position but something inhibited me.
I realized my hands and feet were tied to the chair I was sitting in.
What the hell…
I blinked away the grogginess and took in my surroundings.
I wasn't sure where I was. It was dark and empty.
"Ah. You're finally awake."
That sickly sweet voice surprised me.
I looked in its direction.
"Loly?"
She smiled and sauntered over to me.
"What's going on? Why am I here?"
She giggled.
"You're my captive silly. We're going to have fun."
I didn't understand.
"What are you talking about?"
She glared at me, all the niceties out the window.
"I want you to stay away from Ulquiorra. He's mine."
I couldn't believe how far she was taking this.
"You can't have him."
She smiled and slapped me across the face.
I gasped at the sudden strike. She grabbed my face, gently, and smiled at me.
"I don't want to hurt you, but if I have to I will."
I didn't believe her for a second. She was enjoying this.
"He doesn't want you Loly!"
She shook her head in disappointment.
She dug her nails into my cheek and scratched down my face.
I felt the skin break and blood welled out.
I screamed at the pain.
"What was that?"
My breathing became ragged as I tried to cope with the pain.
"I said… he doesn't want you."
She glared at me and I braced myself for the next onslaught.
Instead, she turned around and started walking circles around me.
"That's a very nice costume. Too bad it looks horrible on you. Let's fix that."
She ripped my dress. Tatters of cloth fell to the ground.
The cold air touched my exposed skin and made my shiver violently.
"Hmm. No wonder he likes you. You have big tits. That's about all you have going for you though."
I hunched over trying to cover myself.
"That's not all he loves about me."
I hissed the words out.
She laughed and I looked up in bewilderment.
"You think he loves you? That is so cute. You see, he loves me and only me."
I couldn't believe how deranged this girl was.
"I know he loves me. He never loved you Loly."
Anger filled her eyes and she lashed out a punch to my stomach.
Her strength surprised me. That blow to my stomach made me cough up blood.
"Stop lying to me bitch!"
Spat out the blood in my mouth and glared up at her.
"Go to hell."
I knew the best thing to do in my position was to keep silent, but I couldn't.
I wasn't going to give her the satisfaction.
She tried to reign in her patience and walked over to a table.
"I guess… we'll have to resort to crueler methods. My boss said anything was fine as long as I didn't kill you."
I caught onto her words.
"Boss? Someone's making you do this? Who Loly? Who?"
She laughed and turned around.
"That's none of your concern."
I spasm of fear cut its way through me when I say the knife in her hands.
She caressed the blade and smiled at me.
"Now, are you going to stay away from my Ulquiorra."
I took a deep breath so my voice would be steady when I answered.
"Never."
She nodded.
"I thought you'd say that. Very well. I'll change your mind."
She sauntered over to me. Smiling sadistically.
"Rukia! There you are. Do you know where Orihime is?"
She gave me a confused expression.
"What do you mean? When we left the bathroom she went back to you."
I shook my head.
"She never came back. Grimmjow thinks something happened to her."
Rukia glared at the blue haired guy behind me.
"Does he now? Since when did you two become friends?"
I rolled my eyes.
"That's not important. I lost my phone. Try calling her."
She scoffed and pulled her phone out of her dress.
She dialed and after a minute she shook her head and hung up.
"It went to voicemail."
She finally looked worried.
"Where could she be Ulquiorra?"
I shook my head.
"I don't know, but I'll find her. I promise."
She nodded and hugged Ichigo for comfort.
I turned reluctantly to Grimmjow.
"Come on."
He nodded and followed me.
"Please stop!"
I was choking out sobs. The pain was unbearable. I had lost count of how many times she had cut into me. My vision swam red.
"Are you giving in?"
I shook my head.
"No!"
She sliced into my thigh and I tried to scream but my throat had gone hoarse an hour ago.
"Ulquiorra…"
I had whispered his name whenever I got the urge to give in.
I wanted the pain to stop but I wouldn't give him up. He was worth this. I could endure it.
"He's not here to help you."
She knelt down to the ground and lifted my head up with the blade of the knife.
"This could all go away. All I need is your word. My boss won't be happy if I don't succeed."
That word again.
"Who's your boss Loly? Why is he doing this?"
She shook her head.
"I can't tell you that and as for why, I don't know myself."
She pushed the point of the blade to my chin and I flinched away from it.
A silver gleam bounced of the blade.
"What's this?"
She was staring at my necklace and reaching for it.
"Don't touch it!"
She laughed and touched it anyways.
"This is pretty. Why does it look so familiar? Ah! It's Ulquiorra's."
I was waiting for her to tell me he had given it to her as well.
"He was stubborn. I asked countless times if I could wear it, but he always refused."
I got a smug look on my face and she slapped me.
"I can't believe he would do this to me! Is he trying to say that you're more worthy than me? Is he cheating on me?"
Something dawned on her and she smiled.
"No! My Ulquiorra's not like that. He's playing a joke on you. That's what it is."
I had grown tired of her delusions.
"He gave it me because I am important to him."
She stabbed my arm with the knife and this time I really did scream.
"I am the most important person to him! Never mistake that!"
I hunched over as much as my binds would allow me.
My phone started ringing. It was hopeless trying to get to it.
She picked it out my skirt pocket and looked at the caller ID.
"Rukia? That's that black haired girl that goes out with orange top right?"
I didn't dignify her with an answer.
She let it ring its course before throwing it to the ground.
"You're a lot more stubborn than I thought you would be."
She grabbed her phone and dialed a number.
"Why is she calling me?"
I answered my phone.
"What do you want?"
I backed out of the room so no one would over hear me.
"She's not cracking. If I hurt her anymore she might die from blood loss."
I groaned at her incompetence.
"I'll be there in 5."
I hung up my phone and headed for the warehouse.
"My boss is on his way. He sounds angry. That's not a good thing."
I barely acknowledged Loly's words.
I was on the brink of falling unconscious.
"Why are you doing this…"
She giggled.
"Me? I want Ulquiorra all to myself. My boss has his own reasons."
I figured as much.
"Why are you going so far for him Orihime? He's caused you nothing but trouble."
I flinched away from the implication that this was Ulquiorra's fault.
"I love him. I've never been happier than I am now."
I heard a clanging and footsteps approaching where we were.
"You really can't get her to cave? She looks half dead already."
I recognized that voice and my skin crawled.
I looked up into the eyes of Aizen Souskue.
"Loly. Please leave. What I have to say isn't for your ears."
She nodded and obediently stepped out.
"You?"
He smiled and nodded.
"I told you. It'd be horrible if you got hurt. Mr. Cifer will do anything to prevent this from happening again. Even sign away his rights to his father's company. If he doesn't inherit, my corporation becomes number one in the world."
It didn't make any sense.
"But you're a teacher…"
He laughed.
"Only as a front. When I heard the Cifer's were moving back here I knew I had to get close to Ulquiorra. I needed a way to take him out. I hired some punks to jump him on his way home. They took an interest to you first Ms. Inoue."
My memory flickered to that terrible night and I shuddered.
"I saw the way Ulquiorra looked at you. I knew he cared for you, and I thought I could use that to my advantage. If I have you in the palm of my hands, I can get him to do anything you see. So I had Grimmjow take an interest in you. The idea being that if her were close to you I could get close to you and use you as leverage. Unfortunatly, my nephew actually developed feelings for you and refused to continue. Good thing he never knew my real intentions."
Hatred I had never felt before surged inside of me.
"That's when I discovered Loly. I decided to use her, and lure her here with the prospect that she would get Mr. Cifer back. And here we are. Now, I want you to give him a little message. 'Forfeit your rights to the company.' I'm going to leave him a note so I'm sure he gets it. You can't trust teenagers. Going to the police will be pointless. It'll be your word against mine. Good night Ms. Inoue."
He wrote his note and left it in my lap. He grabbed my phone and sent a text.
He left me there sitting in the dark. My mind was whirling.
Theres the reason behind everything. Because Aizen's a selfish greedy bastard.
The next chapter will be the last.
Reviews please. :O)
