PANDORA'S BOX
Ulquiorra walked down the street with an umbrella open over his head. It was raining slightly, and Orihime had sent him to buy groceries. The bags clung to his forearm as he stepped casually closer to home.
Passing an alleyway, however, he was abruptly cut off by the sound of intense hissing and fighting. Ulquiorra lifted his head to the sound, seeing the outcome of a quick fight; a large tomcat standing over the body of a smaller brown cat. That's when he heard the mewing of a kitten, and spotted it behind a toppled-over trash can. The tomcat locked eyes with him before bolting, leaving the dead mother and her now-orphaned offspring in the drizzle.
Being apathetic though, Ulquiorra moved on.
Afternoon turned to evening, and the Espada was being sent back to the grocery.
"I don't think I'll ever understand that woman's need for specific flavors. Food is food, at any rate." He grumbled.
Soon, he came upon that alleyway again. Out the corner of his eye was the dead mother cat...and the little white fluff-ball that had curled up next to the body. Ulquiorra's eyes narrowed and he ended up stopping.
The kitten was sopping wet from the rain; droplets dangled on the end of its whiskers and drooped its ears. It looked absolutely miserable and cold there on the ground. When the umbrella and shadow overtook it, the tiny creature lifted its head up and looked through half-closed eyes at the dark blob above it.
Ulquiorra looked straight down at it, thinking.
The kitten looked straight back up at him, managing to lock eyes. It mewed weakly, too cold and hungry to do anything better.
The melancholy Espada turned his eyes away from it briefly, then back again.
Orihime would find value in saving it, regardless of its worth. But why? ...Bringing back Yammy's arm merely prevented the Espada from losing a member. It had purpose, and I had my duty. But a whole being, whose very existence meant nothing? Why do humans see the need to help those who have no impact on their lives? Whose death would pass without a single tear being shed? This creature's sole benefactor is dead. Were it to die itself, the world would simply keep moving forward.
Ulquiorra knelt down closer to the kitten and gawked at it in his own way. His eyes softened in reflection.
How would Orihime's world have moved forward if she decided not to save me? Would she have even considered my existence after that? Or would the memory of me simply fade to dust like the rest of my body?
He continued to look on at the pitiful wet kitten. Uncharacteristically of him, he finally reached down and pulled the creature into his hand, placing it into his coat where it would be warmer.
I see. It's not about wanting to save others...so much as it's the desire to be saved. My fate and this cub were once the same. Our very lives in the hands of someone who could have turned a blind eye and moved on without ever thinking back on it again.
. . .
In Soul Society, a meeting of the Captains was taking place. The room felt quieter than usual. Several of those present were still dressed in bandages, recovering from severe injuries sustained during the fighting of the prior week.
Before the Captain-Commander, SoiFon pleaded her case.
"The Arrancar are being lead by one of the sole surviving Espada. Considering that the human girl, that friend of Kurosaki Ichigo's who willingly went to Las Noches, healed the Tres Espada after we had already recovered her and brought her to Seireitei...I believe we should have reason to remain vigil in what they all might be up to." She stated competently.
"What could they be up to?" Hitsugaya argued from the side. "Aizen is gone, never to be seen again as far as they're concerned. Suggesting that these few Arrancar might still be plotting something is as futile as Icarus flying his wax-wings directly into the sun. I'm sure even they have better things to do than commit suicide by trying to set him free."
"As a Captain of the Gotei 13, why would you suddenly empathize with the enemy?" SoiFon argued.
"It's not that I'm empathizing with them." The pint-sized Shinigami retorted, "But when I fought with the Tres Espada...Aizen himself cut her down. The way she reacted, simply refusing to simply die by his hand like that, it gives me reason to believe the other Arrancar would feel the same way. What loyalty could the remaining members of that army have to a commander who both betrayed them and then lost?"
"There is also the fact that the Espada leading them helped defeat Aizen." Byakuya chimed in.
"How can you guarantee that? You only saw him leave Hueco Mundo."
"He made his loyalty to that human girl quite clear when he killed his own ilk to protect her. I believe that he would only be acting in her interests. So long as she is left alone, he will do nothing."
"I also saw him in the city." Rangiku stated, "He came specifically looking for Aizen and Kurosaki."
"And again, no one can verify that he actually fought against Aizen. The only one who saw the brawl was Kurosaki Ichigo himself and he's in a coma until further notice." SoiFon continued. "And even then, are we to change our policy on Hollows and those who served Aizen just based on the testimony of a Shinigami Substitute whose very existence flies in the face of a thousand years of our history?
"I can verify it" Came a voice. The lot turned their heads to see Urahara at the doorway of the room, with Shinji behind him. "I was there when pieces of the Espada were found after Kurosaki's last attack. Kurosaki himself was determined to make sure he survived, making it quite clear that Ulquiorra's presence was instrumental in Aizen's defeat."
"Hirako Shinji." Yamamoto stated, diverting the subject, "It's been a long time since you set foot in this room."
"A century, by my clock." Shinji replied sarcastically, "But the place is still as dusty and boring as it always was."
"You were called here for a specific reason." The old man muttered, sitting up straighter, "The Gotei 13 is not about to apologize for what happened to you or your group. Don't make the mistake of expecting that."
"I wasn't about to."
"Good. However...considering the...revelations of the last few months, the Central 46, myself, and a few other Captains here have reconsidered the circumstances for your original exile."
"You make it sound like we've been kicked out of here several times."
"One hundred years ago, we were lead to believe that the lot of you had dabbled in forbidden techniques...infusing your souls with the power of Hollows. There is nothing that can be done to undo the crimes committed on you, but Soul Society is not without its sense of justice."
"Justice...like sentencing one of your own to be burned alive until her soul is dust, because she 'made the mistake' of giving up her powers to a human? The same human who saved all our butts in the end?"
"Don't get smart with me, boy."
"I'm just not so sure I like the idea of teaming up with you guys again after all the shit you've done. Not just to the Visored, but to Kurosaki, and now to the withered remains of an army that doesn't even care about you guys now that Aizen's gone. Would we even be welcome? Retaking our places from before we got kicked out, acting like the last hundred years is just water under the bridge? The first time one of us puts our mask on or launches a Cero, are we gonna have half Soul Society turning on us just to save face?" Shinji lifted his hand and raked it across his face to manifest the very mask he spoke of, and continued saying those ominous words in the double-voice expected from that form, "Can the crotchety old farts of this organization handle that kind of change?" He moved the mask aside to reveal one black sclera and gold iris, "Look me in the eye and tell me how this is really going to work."