Unlike most days, Orihime's house was bustling with activity. Orihime had taken a break from her project to make lunch for everyone. Ichigo, invited over to work on said project, currently held a petty debate with a bored Aracelis over who would win in a fist fight. Ulquiorra had separated himself from the commotion by taking an incredibly long shower; he seemed tired today, not in the mood for visitors.
And then the doorbell rang.
"Could you make sure that doesn't burn?" Orihime asked the feuding pair before leaving to answer the door.
Aracelis barely registered the request. "No way, kid. I'd win," she continued, brow twitching because Ichigo wouldn't be convinced. "I literally have a century's worth of combat experience." Apparently, he thought they were an even match with her in a gigai. That sounded like an insult to her. The argument she started as a joke had gained some actual feeling by this point. "If we weren't standing in Orihime's house, I'd show you you're no match."
"Are you making a bet?" Ichigo said, irritation obviously growing. Maybe she shouldn't have poked fun at him being powerless a moment ago; riled the guy up real quick, she found. Nah, she would totally take the opportunity to fight him. She didn't have any outlets for her aggression now that she couldn't tear a hollow apart or spar with Ulquiorra- punching him while they were in these gigai's didn't seem right to her, since It could actually hurt him.
"I-Ichigo," Orihime squeaked from the living room, voice rising an octave. Her tone immediately broke the glaring contest between Ichigo and Aracelis. "Could you come here?"
"Yeah, coming!" he called back before turning to the hollow with a stern expression. "Watch the stove. I don't know what she's cooking, but she'll be upset if you ruin it."
"Are you ordering me around?" She raised an eyebrow, uncrossing her arms over her chest as she shoved herself away from the wall. He gave an exasperated look, making her break her façade to chuckle at him quietly as she passed him. Much of his entertainment value came from how worked up he go over teasing. "Dude, learn to take a joke. Unlike you guys, I don't mind her cooking. I'm not going to ruin it." On purpose, she mentally added when she stepped in front of the stove. If they left her too long, she might accidentally do something wrong. Obviously, she never was a great cook. The last time she even thought about cooking was when she watched a middle school's cooking class; being an invisible hollow, she had her fun messing with the class's work instead of learning.
As soon as Ichigo reluctantly left the room and Aracelis gave the pan an experimental stir, she crept to the kitchen's doorway. They couldn't possibly expect her to not eavesdrop in such a small house. She wanted to know why Orihime sounded nervous.
Orihime laughed anxiously as Ichigo greeted their unexpected guest: Rukia. She hadn't seen Rukia for months, since she went to the Soul Society to, you know, do her job- it was easy for Orihime to forget that Rukia was a soul reaper quite a bit older than them and not a regular classmate. She was happy to see her, but… Well, some warning would have been nice considering she was harboring hollows.
Rukia looked between the two, noticing the awkward mood right away. The oppressive silence in the room was only broken by one problematic sound. "Is the shower running?" Rukia asked, peeking around Orihime.
"Oh, no!" Orihime waved her hands, trying to dismiss the question while keeping herself calm. She failed at both. Ulquiorra must not have sensed Rukia in her gigai… And she knew he had a habit of taking very long showers. 'Think!' she screamed inwardly. "I, um, must have left the sink running! Haha, silly me." She laughed, knocking herself on the head.
More silence. "Aren't you going to turn it off?" Rukia questioned when Orihime stood in place.
"Rukia," Ichigo said, trying to take attention from Orihime as she panicked over what to do- it's not like she could subtly yell at Ulquiorra to stop, and she definitely wasn't going in to tell him. "What are you doing here?"
She opened her mouth to answer, but the smoke coming from the other room quickly distracted her. Rukia pushed past Orihime and Ichigo, the other two following her with varying degrees of acceptance and defeat.
Aracelis bit her lip as she desperately tried to recall any information she might know about stopping charred vegetables from smoking. She had already turned off the burner and moved the pan, but she couldn't remember if she should put water on it or not. Her fuzzy memory only offered that some sort of kitchen fire made explosions or something when water's thrown onto it; she should have focused more on the lesson than playing ghost. She'd hate to blow up Orihime's apartment…
She wasn't very surprised when Orihime brushed past her to take the pan to the sink. Water had been the solution all along…
"Seriously?" Ichigo's irritating voice asked from behind.
It struck a nerve instantly, so Aracelis whipped around, ignoring the third person in the room to glare at Ichigo. "Hey, I didn't do anything wrong! I stirred it like I was supposed to and it just suddenly decided to do this!" Which was true. She had remembered to stir the pan even while listening to the awkward conversation in the other room- and trying to place the visitor's somewhat familiar voice. Speaking of the visitor, Aracelis moved her attention from infuriating Ichigo to her. Black hair, short, petite, big eyes staring at her with revelation...
"You!" She blurted out, pointing a finger at Aracelis accusingly. It clicked in Aracelis's mind that this was Ru… Rukia! "I recognize your voice!"
"My… voice?" Aracelis tried to recall when she had spoken to Rukia, because she was positive the soul reaper had never seen her before. Then it hit her. She immediately cursed Clematis's name, since the weed had been the one to trap her behind Rukia to create this situation months later. She was sort of impressed Rukia remembered her voice. She'd only yelled like one sentence at her. "I warned you not to go that way," she mumbled, noticing she had already lost the soul reaper's attention. She thought maybe being helpful and warning Rukia not to go towards the Ninth would have improved her standing at least a tiny bit. Instead she was ignored.
"Orihime! What's an Arrancar doing here?" Rukia demanded, obviously taken aback. Aracelis figured it was like finding out a soul reaper had taken over your home while you were out for a few days. Aracelis wrinkled her nose, noticing she just compared herself to Aizen.
Of course, as Orihime sputtered, Ulquiorra decided to join the mess developing in the kitchen. In true Ulquiorra fashion, he had a minimal sense of modesty, and walked into the room wearing pants, shirtless, a towel draped over his shoulders to catch the water dripping off his still wet hair like he had gotten out in a hurry. Aracelis quickly noticed she was the one most distracted by him…
It seemed an appropriate time for Aracelis to say, "Wow, if she's upset now, wait till she finds out one of the Espada is here too."
Rukia spun around, taking a step back from Ulquiorra, looking wholly offended he stood in the doorway behind her. "Orihime, Ichigo, what is going?" she asked again.
"Let's go to the living room," Ichigo said in resignation, walking past the crowd. "It's a long, weird story. We might as well sit down."
So, they gathered in the living room, sitting on the floor in a circle. Rukia chose to sit opposite of her hollow adversaries, Orihime and Ichigo on either side of her. In the name of peace, Ulquiorra ruined having a perfect circle to sit as far away from Ichigo as the small room allowed. Aracelis ended up nearly on his lap so she wasn't in Orihime's. Rukia carefully watched the hollows with a look between irritation and curiosity. Ulquiorra's expression revealed nothing, while Aracelis couldn't help frowning slightly. If Orihime and Ichigo couldn't convince their friend they were no threat, they may face having the Soul Society after them, or be forced to flee from the area. Given the situation, they couldn't afford to leave the relative safety of Karakura with Clematis searching them out; they would need Urahara's help if the weed came herself. A battle with the Soul Society would likely leave them dead as well.
Orihime explained much of the situation, from a brief summary of her time in Las Noches where she met the hollows, to Ulquiorra being near death and appearing before her for help, to Aracelis's arrival, and then finally to how two hollows ended up in gigais in her house. The fact they were essentially a couple was brushed over for more important facts like motives. Everyone chimed in, some information forgotten or purposefully left out, but Rukia eventually nodded.
"All right, I guess its fine as long as they're not causing any problems," Rukia said, arms still crossed over her chest in reluctance. Orihime's pleading look made Rukia sigh. "I won't tell the Soul Society about this either."
"Rukia," Ichigo began after Orihime finished her victory cheer. "Are you really here just to visit, or did something happen? You haven't been back for a while."
The soul reaper replaced the confused smile she wore while Orihime celebrated to one of seriousness. "There's been an increase in hollow activity in Karakura again. Given the town's history, the Soul Society decided to investigate."
"Describe the incidents and their timing," Ulquiorra all but ordered, breaking his silence now that the subject had been changed to one he could assist in solving. Rukia wouldn't be able to just go back and say she found nothing, after all. If she had some more information, she could make a much more convincing lie. At least that's what Aracelis guessed was going on. Ulquiorra might just be gathering intel for them to use, given that the Soul Society would have a better idea of how many hollows had been through. Having limited pesquisa created an issue when it came to things like this.
"It began about a week ago with an Espada-level spiritual pressure appearing and then disappearing." Rukia mistakenly glared at Ulquiorra. He might have taken the blame if Aracelis didn't interrupt.
"That was me." Aracelis bit back anger when the soul reaper gave her an incredibly doubtful look. She currently felt very insecure about her lost abilities with Clematis plotting something or another. The soul reaper struck the nerve Ichigo had already been poking. Then again, when she had followed her in Las Noches, she had made a point of concealing herself. Going from no spiritual pressure to an Espada's sounded odd not knowing it to be an ability.
"I knew I forgot something!" Orihime piped in before Aracelis could defend her pride. "Aracelis was Ulquiorra's Fracción, and she's actually pretty powerful! She came to Karakura when she'd been really upset, set on taking revenge on Ichigo because she still thought he killed Ulquiorra, but we worked it all out. So, no worries! Ulquiorra and Aracelis are both fairly nice when you get to know them."
"Maybe once you get past their attitudes," Ichigo muttered under his breath.
"Okay," Rukia said with a healthy amount of skepticism. She had probably seen actual reports of the energy readings. According to Ulquiorra, Aracelis had made a rather flashy entrance, her spiritual pressure at its highest peak including Grimmjow's, Ichigo's, and still some traces of Segunda Etapa. He told her had she maintained that level, she would have crushed human souls beneath it. She was apparently lucky he had forced her cero into the air too; it would have destroyed the entire park and everyone in it. "The other hollows started appearing a few days after that," Rukia continued. "They have been moving in pairs, and haven't been hostile. At first, they were below the Menos class, but have steadily increased in power since then."
"How many pairs?" Ulquiorra tensed at her side. He figured something out.
"At least twelve individuals have been identified."
Aracelis bit her lip; Ulquiorra didn't think the number had been that high. He said maybe four pairs… Aracelis looked to him for permission to share the reason behind the hollow invasion. His slight nod made her face the soul reaper again. "I may have been followed from Hueco Mundo. The hollows were looking for us, but… Well, they already found us. I don't know why they haven't been told to attack yet."
"Do you think it's Clematis?" All eyes went to Orihime.
How the girl already concluded the crazy… Right. Clematis was the only one crazy enough to send a small army of hollows into the human world to a town that was under intense scrutiny by the Soul Society. The thing that bothered her more was that Ichigo seemed to recognize the name, and she wanted to know just what Orihime shared with him.
"She is our most likely suspect," Ulquiorra confirmed, narrowing his eyes. "She enjoys meddling."
Rukia sat forward, expression back to one of seriousness. "How dangerous is this hollow?" A hollow capable of irritating an Espada, well, Clematis would sound quite threatening.
"She doesn't care about collateral damage as long as she ends up with what she wants." Aracelis leaned back, her shoulder brushing Ulquiorra's. She sighed heavily, anticipating Rukia's question before she asked it. "The problem is, we don't know whatshe exactly wants other than us."
"That doesn't make me want to leave you alone," Rukia said matter-of-factly. "If this hollow is going to come here and cause havoc, I'll have to report it."
"How strong is this Clematis?" Ichigo cut in.
"Rudbornn is a comparable comparison." At Ulquiorra's words, Rukia's face grew grim. She fought the bull. "While coming off as unintelligent, she regrettably is a decent strategist." He looked pained at admitting the weed could be such a nuisance to him, despite her being weaker. If it wasn't Ulquiorra speaking, they would have said it through gritted teeth. "Her ability has allowed her information from myself, Aracelis, Inoue, and anyone else she comes into contact with."
"She can read memories," Aracelis offered. "And then replay them to anyone she wants. They're deceptively realistic."
"They are." Orihime glanced at Ulquiorra before his cold glare sent her eyes to the floor. She nervously wrung her hands. "I could even feel physical pain when she used a memory of being injured."
Silence fell between them, an impasse forming. No matter if Orihime pleaded to leave her hollow friends to go free, Rukia had a duty. Ichigo, despite wanting Orihime to be happy, understood the dangers it would bring and that he couldn't protect her. Even if Aracelis knew the reason for the hesitancy to leave them be, they needed Rukia to stay quiet. If Clematis was a threat to them, then having the entire Soul Society after them would be their death sentence.
"I merely suggest you kill the hollows Clematis sends." Ulquiorra said, rather than ordered, to break the standoff. "She is already aware of our presence here, and is now sending them in hopes of drawing the Soul Society's attention. She is attempting to force us back to Hueco Mundo, and into whatever trap she has set for us." Aracelis hoped his logic reached the soul reaper. It made complete sense to Aracelis, after all. If Clematis was under the impression Ulquiorra was at full strength, she would want to face them under conditions tailored to her advantage. And, if she believed the opposite, she would want to drag them there to have her fun without interruptions from soul reapers. She wondered when he concluded this all…
"If the Soul Society does not increase its presence," he continued, "she will change tactics, and likely come here herself to act as bait. Urahara has already agreed to assist in dealing with her should she enter Karakura." The day they noticed the hollows he already knew. After their 'dinner date' they went to Urahara's. He left to speak with the man; she had snooped through the store, much to the annoyance of the red-headed boy. "I guarantee her demise once another issue has been remedied," he said, eyes wandering to Aracelis's shoulder. His preference was to get rid of Mirro first before dealing with the weed's nonsense. She could fight for herself, then.
Rukia silently thought over his suggestion.
The odd sound of a window being forced open drew everyone's attention. A woman with bright orange-blond hair crawled in, smiling obliviously to the extra sets of eyes. Aracelis wished that the woman's entrance was the most bizarre thing about her, but it wasn't. The fact the woman certainly not in her teens wore the same uniform that Orihime did- and her chest fit even worse, more cleavage visible than Mila Rose- made this a very strange sight, even for a hollow.
"Orihime!" she said as she slipped into the room. "I hope you don't mind me letting myself in! I just…" She paused as she turned around, seeing some people that didn't quite fit in with who she expected to find in Orihime's living room. The way she leaned over as she pointed at Ulquiorra somehow made Aracelis incredibly embarrassed and nervous at the same time. She caught Ichigo glancing away with her. "Isn't that one of the Espada?" Somehow, she didn't sound offended, just curious.
"Hello, Rangiku!" Orihime greeted, smiling brightly like this was a completely normal situation for them. Maybe it was; how terrifying. "I didn't know you were here too!"
"And that is one of the Espada," Ichigo answered, still avoiding looking at Rangiku as her chest miraculously stayed in her shirt- Aracelis didn't want to say she was now staring, but she was, this beginning to seem like a serious program interrupted with outrageous comedy. Aracelis glanced at Ulquiorra, wondering what he thought about all of this. He had his eyes closed for a few seconds, taking a deep breath. Annoyed didn't begin to describe how he felt. A grumpy, sleep-deprived Ulquiorra did not like nonsense and company at all.
"I can't wait to hear all the details of how this happened." Rangiku squeezed herself between Rukia and Orihime to take a seat on the ground with them. She seemed a lot more… Easy-going than Rukia. "Don't worry, I already took care of those hollows," Rangiku said with a pout when Rukia gave a stern look mixed with a hint of exasperation. Suddenly she had her arm thrown around Orihime's shoulders, grinning. "I couldn't wait to see Orihime after all."
"She insisted on coming with." Rukia shook her head, dismissing the ridiculousness of the moment. She even gave a small smile.
"So, details! You two are both hollows, right?"
For a second time that afternoon, the story of how two Arrancar ended up living at Orihime's had to be told to a soul reaper. Rangiku's questions, though, were very different from Rukia's. Immediately she picked up on them being an 'item' as she put it. She made things much more awkward than needed. Some questions bordered on inappropriate. Only at one point did her cheerfulness slip, and it was to give a wistful, sad expression when their miraculous reunion was mentioned.
Eventually the conversation went full circle, ending once more on the current threat of Clematis.
"Since Urahara is clearly more involved than he let on," Rukia began after a few additional moments of thought and discussion with Rangiku, "I'll let this go for now. I trust Orihime's judgement of you."
"Thank you!" Orihime bounced in her seat, smile radiant. The soul reapers and Ichigo smiled back at her.
Aracelis breathed a small breath of relief.
Ulquiorra wasted no time, though. He stood, saying, "We will leave you, then." If 'we' didn't tip Aracelis off, the way he held his hand out to her showed he meant both of them. Now. She grabbed his hand, letting him help her to her feet. He walked off to go find a shirt, letting her finish the conversation with a bit more politeness.
"You don't want to stay?" Orihime tilted her head to the side, eyes almost pleading her to stay. She wanted them to all be friends, Aracelis guessed. While not completely opposed to speaking with the two soul reapers about non-life-threatening things, Aracelis knew Ulquiorra's mood. He wanted out of the crowded house where he may offend the one's offering to overlook their presence. She wondered how he managed back in Las Noches, having to attend meetings filled with annoying Arrancar.
Aracelis shrugged. "I'll keep Ulquiorra company, so have your fun little get-together." They didn't need the prying eyes of two hollows ruining the mood anyways. She followed Ulquiorra to the door, catching the sleeve of the sweater he now had on- he must be feeling cold today. "We'll be back in a while, I suppose," she said as they stepped out the door. It was closed before anyone could give a response.
She was content holding onto his sleeve as he led her, as childish as it probably looked. He walked with purpose, some destination already in mind; she didn't know exactly where, but knew he desperately wanted quiet. Eventually they ended up at nearby park, Ulquiorra dragging them well off the paths before sitting down under a tree with a subdued look of relief. Seeing him looking so peaceful while sitting in a park, it drew a smile to her face while she simultaneously thought it was incredibly strange. He'd have dirt on himself, and wouldn't be all too pleased later.
"They are exhausting," he said as she sat next to him. Now alone, Aracelis gently rested a hand on his arm in attempt to comfort him. Ulquiorra glanced at her, but said nothing more, closing his eyes as he leaned back.
"You didn't sleep well, did you?" Or at all. The first night after spotting the hollows, he had never laid down, instead choosing to sit with her head on his lap in compromise when she asked him not to leave. Even when he did appear to be asleep, she wouldn't call it sound. He had rings forming under his eyes. If it got worse, he might look like he had been hit in the face. "You're worried," she said, mostly to herself. It bothered them both to not know what Clematis would do. Ulquiorra must have been trying to plan for every scenario conceivable, sleep interrupted as his thoughts ran. Not knowing, it always irritated him. Having a bunch of soul reapers in the house also tended to eat at the nerves. By now, he probably forgot what relax even meant.
"Even without the Soul Society's interference, we are in a precarious position. You will be at the most risk." Ulquiorra set a cold hand over hers, surprising her. He didn't open his eyes. "I am worried," he said, tone flat, but sincere in his own way.
"I trust you, Ulquiorra. You'll figure it out."
"Your blind trust, I do not understand it. However," his lightly gripped her hand, "I wish to believe you."
She leaned against him when he dropped her hand. They were hidden from any hollows not killed by the soul reaper. They had gone off the path enough that human chatter was lost to nature. It wasn't even very cold out today. She hoped maybe he would fall asleep for a bit. She didn't know how far he could push himself in the gigai, if they could get sick like stressed humans. After a break from the noise at Orihime's, they could go back and wait for the company to leave, and hopefully go to bed.
They both needed rest with all that was presumably to come.
Thank you for reading!
This would have been up sooner, as it has been done for a while, but then I had a fever for five miserable days -_- There are probably some mistakes I missed, but, well, I tried. I'm finally feeling better, so I'll probably start working on the next chapter soon.
Thank you to KimKat19 for following and/or favoriting!
hapia-chan- Tada! It was Rukia, since Aracelis had technically met her before- enough that she remembered her name; I hope the chapter was entertaining enough. And I did add Rangiku, so she could be the final straw to send Ulquiorra into a pouting fit. And no worries *wink wink nudge nudge* I already have another chapter with that in mind planned ;) Well, just as things settle in the human world, Clematis is making her plot- I'm excited for her part :) Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoyed the surprise!
