A solemn howl shattered the peaceful morning air.

Ulquiorra shot up, pulling Aracelis to her feet with him. Orihime rushed into the living room, pajama top paired with her school uniform's skirt. The three stared at each other as the ominous howling intensified.

Orihime ran for the door first, face determined as she launched into one of Ulquiorra's strategies. Ichigo would be pissed if he knew she would be holding off the hollows, alone, so they could flee to Urahara's. That's why they didn't tell him anything.

"How many?" Aracelis asked quietly, following Ulquiorra to Orihime's room so they could jump out the window to hopefully slip away unnoticed. She could only hear one extraordinarily loud hollow. Although, anything could be waiting outside, even Clematis herself, and she wouldn't know. A crash warned that Orihime already faced the noisy enemy.

"One here, a few in the distance," Ulquiorra answered, opening the window more forcefully than necessary. Ulquiorra's eyes narrowed as he hesitated a moment. "She didn't know where we were staying, as I believe Kurosaki is also under attack. Presumably, Urahara is as well." Clematis planned to flush them out of hiding. She likely sent dozens of hollows into the city to hunt any substantial spiritual pressures, or specific people Clematis thought would harbor them- so even a powerless Ichigo couldn't hide.

He crawled out the small window, gripping the edge before dropping to the ground. She bit her lip before doing the same, damn gigai's ankles feeling the shock. Ulquiorra steadied her for a moment, face devoid of expression as he focused on the situation.

"This way," he said, walking towards the street. After a second he glanced over his shoulder like he realized something. "Pull up your hood." She immediately did. Blue hair didn't exactly blend in like black. The gigais couldn't hide appearances from hollows Clematis likely showed mental pictures to. It's a good thing he noticed because she was far too busy trying to find hollows she couldn't sense.

They fast-walked in tense silence, eventually entering a busier area with more people walking to work or school. The crowd was completely oblivious to the horde of hollows flying overhead. Clematis had never been the sanest, but sending an army of hollows into Karakura like this after already having the Soul Society on edge… The local soul reaper was already running down the street like a police siren as he went to fight- or run; she couldn't tell. That other friend of Orihime's had apparently taken charge of hollow extermination anyway. The area would be swarming with soul reapers if the siege didn't end as quickly as it started, though. Clematis might actually get killed if she appeared while Ulquiorra and her were still hidden. What a pleasant thought.

A hollow landed on a nearby building, the wood and metal buckling under its weight, people screaming as they ran to avoid debris. Ulquiorra and Aracelis tried to calmly walk to the other side of the street while keeping their faces turned away from the hollow as it's large eyes scanned over the area. A screech made her fake heart leap to her throat, thinking it found them. Ulquiorra grabbed her wrist, gently pulling her along. The sound of it taking flight again calmed her, if only a bit. She hated not sensing them before they came into sight. Even if she trusted Ulquiorra to-

The whoosh of sonido made her hair raise. Ulquiorra stopped walking, taking a slight step back and in front of Aracelis. She looked over his shoulder, eyebrows coming together. An Arrancar. She… she recognized this Arrancar. The startling orange eyes and half-mask covering their lower face…

While tense, Ulquiorra did not immediately attack his former servant. The Arrancar did not change their stance in anticipation of battle. Instead, they reached into their shirt, pulling out a small notebook and a pen.

"Harribel had me watching Clematis." They wrote quickly in explanation. Aracelis had wondered who survived the war, and if they were following Harribel as their new leader. And Harribel, unsurprisingly, had an eye on the weed. So much for her attempt to maintain peace with Clematis pulling this stunt. "Urahara is the focus. Gillian targeting humans to distract. Arrancar with them. Said warn you not to go there," they continued, pen scratching against paper hurriedly. "Then I go help humans."

Without further words, they used sonido again, unceremoniously disappearing. They weren't quite as polite now…

"Trustworthy?" she asked as Ulquiorra took to walking again.

"They already reached Orihime and appear to be helping her," he answered. He took an abrupt turn to avoid another shadow flying above, now heading the opposite direction of Urahara's. Then he already decided. Going to Urahara's now was no longer an option. Knowing Clematis, she had the hollows specifically targeting the weaker members of the shop to distract Urahara for as long as possible; she knew she wouldn't be able to fight him. With only a small window of opportunity, the question of when she planned her personal attack remained.

"Where are we going?" Aracelis already knew they would have to find somewhere to hide. The former servant found them incredibly fast, so a more intelligent hollow could do the same. Walking in the open bid disaster.

He never responded. His silence was far more meaningful, as it meant he had no idea either. Clematis could be almost anywhere, lurking in a Garganta. She had attacked Orihime before, and probably knew most of the city and hiding places too. Aracelis bit her lip, picking up her pace to match Ulquiorra's. After a few moments, they began running, following the humans as they fled from invisible forces crushing buildings and buckling pavement.

"There!" A low voice above them hissed, a horrific symphony of howls responding. Aracelis kept running as she looked up. A damn Adjuchas with lines of spiked plates and bear-like face stared down on them like ants.

Ulquiorra abruptly turned, his running much faster than hers as he began breaking the human façade. "Stay out of sight," he said as they ran down the path into the park, trees helping hide them from aerial view. The ground shook as hollows landed, indenting the earth with massive sets of claws and bulky bodies tearing through trees. They surrounded them, Aracelis noticed, feeling the quakes all around her. As Ulquiorra ordered, she picked a tree, quickly scaling it despite the bark cutting into her hands.

No sooner than that, the hollows advanced. The bear-faced Adjuchas ripped through the trees, glowing eyes searching, before it snarled, "Where's the other one?"

Ulquiorra narrowed his eyes, raising a hand as the bear's mouth dropped open. As a red cero flared to life, a bala struck the bear, its face scorched, mask cracking before shattering. It howled in agony, thrashing, blindly running forward to crush Ulquiorra underfoot. Another of Ulquiorra's bala finished the creature.

More hollows replaced the defeated one.

Aracelis watched helplessly, fingernails digging into tree bark. Ulquiorra, he was trying to stay hidden by using bala instead of cero. Quick bursts of energy made it more difficult to detect exact location, but still. He had to fight in a restrictive gigai to hide the depth of his strength, or the Soul Society would be their next enemy. Engaging in battle, no matter when or who, would give them away. More hollows would arrive with every passing second. The possibility of soul reapers intervening increased with the number of hollows.

And she could do nothing to help. She cowered in a tree while he fought a hopeless battle. She was useless in this fake body, a danger to him and herself outside of it. Her teeth ground together painfully as she watched him dodge the sharpened claws of a leaping hollow as another tried to snap its jaw over his head.

A stray cero sliced through the ground next to her, the tree toppling as it uprooted. Aracelis jumped from the falling mess of branches, scurrying, staying low to the ground as she tried to avoid drawing attention. Ulquiorra's bala hit the ground a short distance from her to send up a small dirt cloud to conceal her. She ran, ran as fast as she could over uneven, battle-torn soil. The shadow of the next tree came into view. Her hand reached out to grab a lower branch.

"Hello~"

The sickly-sweet voice was followed by Aracelis being plucked from the ground, thorns digging into her sides as vines coiled around her. She tried to scream to Ulquiorra. A vine quickly covered her mouth, her teeth biting into it painful like it was made of rock. In less than half a second she found her back pressed against a body. Everything behind her was pitch black; they stood in a Garganta, Clematis attempting to hide her presence despite being in her resurrección.

"Aw, it's been so long!" she chirped, swaying while Aracelis struggled against the vines with incomprehensible insults. "I've missed you sooo much, Aracelis."

Her eyes widened as she squirmed harder. Thorns slashed open her skin, wounds not healing in the gigai. But she couldn't stay captured, not standing in a Garganta where Clematis could drag her to Hueco Mundo or read her memories to steal every scrap of information possible- if she hadn't already. She worked her arm free, blindly reaching back, nails striking the stone-like skin of Clematis's forehead. Her nails scraped downward, reaching her eyebrow, about to gouge into her eye.

"Oh my!" Clematis hummed, vine wrapping around Aracelis's wrist, snapping it. Aracelis bit down on the vine over her mouth, stifling a scream. These people and breaking her wrists… "Now, now. That wasn't very nice, trying to take my eye out. I need those." The vines around Aracelis's torso tightened, crushing her, fracturing bone. Blood dripped down her sides, her vision clouding with black spots. "If you're going to misbehave, you'll have to go to bed early."

Through the settling dust, she saw Ulquiorra. As her hearing began to fade, as her eyelids grew heavy, she deliriously thought, I've never seen him so visibly livid before.


Ulquiorra saw Clematis crushing Aracelis from within a Garganta. That alone triggered a reaction; not some planned action, but a rash lashing out. His bala knocked away the two hollows intent on charging him. His other hand reached into his pocket. It took less than a second to accomplish, less than a second to potentially worsen everything.

He left his gigai.

The fake body fell backwards. He felt the lingering pain of incomplete organs as his feet dug into the ground. His hand found his sword, the hilt almost reassuring in its familiarity and power. Sonido landed him directly in front of Clematis, inside the Garganta, before she could even pull backwards. His sword easily sliced through the vines ensnaring Aracelis. He grabbed her just as Clematis's smile faded, as she raised masses of writhing vines to reach for him instead.

He caught the shirt collar of his gigai before it hit the ground. With both Aracelis and gigai in hand, he retreated a distance away, still hidden in the trees. He set Aracelis down gently. By then, his rational brain recognized he had released a large amount of spiritual pressure, and that he needed to re-enter the gigai immediately if there was any hope of the Soul Society not appearing in the next few minutes. Seeing as how he had already screwed up, he used the brief moment before combining back into the fake body to use pesquisa.

Urahara had begun his approach, still fighting Clematis's sudden army. This was no longer just the moth's soldiers; the number of Arrancar on top of the other ranks hinted at a sudden need for leadership in Hueco Mundo aside from Harribel- mere dissent from Harribel's rule didn't account for the hollows following another. Some of the hollows had also fled battle, not returning to Hueco Mundo, but just running away from Karakura. Clematis herself stayed hidden in Garganta.

Once he was back inside the gigai, he was at Aracelis's side. She remained unconscious. Her gigai had been so restrictive it disallowed regeneration, leaving her condition… dismal. Blood covered deep wounds wrapping her torso. Her breathing was labored; he feared she might have numerous broken ribs. Organ damage and internal bleeding were highly possible. As he considered his next actions, he wiped blood from her cheek.

He had two options; fetch Orihime or remove Aracelis from the gigai. Both options were rather difficult to accomplish given the situation. The path to Orihime remained surrounded by patrolling hollows, perhaps even Clematis if she opened a Garganta in the sky to relocate him- that is likely how she found them to begin with. Currently, Urahara would have to separate Aracelis from the gigai, the odd glove method Ulquiorra had used not enough to force separation given the added restrictions of her gigai. Reaching Urahara had the same issues as Orihime with the added risk of Mirro being conscious and panicked.

"Aw, did you try to run away?"

At the sound of her infuriating voice, he straightened his back, stiffly turning towards her, standing between her and Aracelis. He said nothing. There would be no preventing her from monologuing. In fact, if she became enthralled enough in her own voice, he could perhaps aim a bala directly into her head to permanently put an end to her. No matter what she said in hopes of taunting him, the worst had already happened. Aracelis's injuries hurt him more than anything the weed could say now.

"Are you ignoring me?" she whined, dramatically pouting before a grin split apart her face again. "Since you've been ignoring my attempts to get you back to Hueco Mundo, I suppose I'll give you a prerogative now. It's really simple, dear Ulquiorra."

Clematis remained guarded despite her theatrical posing. She left no openings, knowing that even in a gigai, one precise hit from him would kill her. It frustrated him, standing there, doing nothing as she stood mere feet away in the entrance of another Garganta, a barrage of violet ceros charged. Aracelis coughing between sharp breaths made his fist clench tightly, painted nails digging into his palm.

"That glare is oh-so intense today," Clematis said offhandedly, giggling to herself before continuing. Time was precious to her, considering that Urahara and Orihime were on their way. "Come back to Hueco Mundo. See? A simple, simple demand! I don't even care if you bring Aracelis or not." She tilted her head, grin fading, voice lowering. "Or, if you don't, I'll send hollows here until the Soul Society hunts you down. Do you know what they did with Dordoni? They made him their puppet." Anger crept into her voice, a rare hint to her attachment to her longtime allies. If he knew she wouldn't immediately fire a cero at him and Aracelis, he might have taunted her about the mosquito. "I bet they'd love to have a little Espada to toy around with."

"Do you know how selfish you are?" she asked when his silence began to visibly irritate her. "You'd let soul reapers come after Aracelis instead of sacrificing yourself, wouldn't you? She doesn't need you anymore! You know that Urahara and Orihime can get rid of Mirro! Even I could now that I told her her sword command! But you'd rather drag her down with you, wouldn't you? Like you always have?"

Ulquiorra thought her increasing anger at his failure to react was almost humorous. She didn't have his experiences since the last time she had the audacity to attack him, and what he told Aracelis had been severely lacking in detail. Aracelis might not need him, but she wanted him. Despite everything, she wanted to be with him. If he tried to go to Hueco Mundo alone, if he handed himself over to the Soul Society, she would find a way to come after him. He trusted her to recklessly reject him trying to sacrifice himself. He accepted that. In her position, he would be act the same. He would try to avoid such outcomes, even if they were the surest methods of protecting her from others, because her reaction would likely endanger her. She made it clear that she would be inconsolable if she lost him.

Banishing doubt had proven itself an effective weapon against the past, against Clematis.

"I see," Clematis said, voice flat and expression blanking. "You're very conceited, Ulquiorra. If you think you can somehow protect her, you're wrong. You've never-"

He immediately lost interest in the weed's babbling. Aracelis's coughing fit worsened, breathing now desperate gasps. He turned around, and saw blood running down her chin, bubbling up from her mouth. Clematis damaged her organs. In her current position, she very well could drown in her own blood.

A vine stabbed through his back and stomach in retribution. He had considered the consequences of turning away from the enemy. Briefly. Aracelis took precedence, of course. As suspected, Clematis retracted the vine, standing to gloat before perhaps debating if she should finish him off now or later. He had created an opportunity, although he underestimated how painful being run through felt in the gigai.

He whipped back around, cero searing through her right side, taking a mass of vines and her arm with it. The cero had been weaker than usual because of the gigai, aim off from the slight miscalculation of how much pain turning quickly would cause. Still, he had dealt her considerable damage not soon to heal. As he held a hand to the gaping wound, blood running between his fingers, Clematis hissed at her wounds, swaying as she grimaced.

A strained grin pulled across her face. "You can choose how you die. Just know that I hate you far more than I like Aracelis. If she's in the way, she'll be dead too." The Garganta began closing around her as she hastily retreated. "See you in Hueco Mundo, I hope," she tried to chirp, pain making her voice tremble.

With the weed chased off, he stumbled to Aracelis's side. He managed to get his free arm under her arms to sit her upright. He found no energy to move her further than that. He let his arm slip down, keeping it around her, positioning his hand to cover one of the worse gashes on her side. His wound seeped blood at an alarming rate; he was already beginning to feel cold and lightheaded.

Using a cero had been risky considering the energy output and strain of preforming one in the gigai, but it successfully got Clematis to leave a few minutes before he estimated for Orihime's arrival. And they both needed that woman's bizarre ability at the moment.

"Aracelis?" Ulquiorra knew he wouldn't be conscious for much longer if talking felt this tiring. He needed to stay awake though. Those idiots would try to heal him first.

She grumbled quietly, weakly. Then she spat blood all over his shirt. At least the gigai damped his sense of smell, or this would be unbearable. He hated the smell of her blood…

"If I lost you, I would be the same," he mumbled, now talking himself in hopes he wouldn't pass out. Or from pain-induced delirium. His vision kept trying to fade to black, blood loss making his entire body feel heavy. "As irrational as you make me, you also…" He couldn't put scattered thoughts into words. Help, perhaps, being the closest generalization. "When you wake up, I do not expect you will allow me to go alone. I will still ask, but I already know… You would never accept that." He coughed a few times, laborious breathing making talking difficult. Maybe he would rest just a second…

The next thing he knew he heard voices, prompting him to force his eyes back open. Orihime ran towards them, clearly panicked, while Urahara and Tessai walked behind her, gauging the situation. Kurosaki was, thankfully, not with them. Ulquiorra didn't have the energy to deal with the boy right now.

"Oh no," Orihime whispered as she crouched down, taking in the puddle of blood beneath them both. She had been hurt in her own scuffle with the hollows, a bruise across her face, a few scrapes on her arms, but nothing serious; Ichigo might not kill him over leaving her to fight. He'd just complain endlessly.

"Aracelis first," he said, finding his voice too soft to sound authoritative.

"Ulquiorra, you're hurt worse. If you were human, you'd be…" Orihime ignored his glare, about to call forth her ability.

"Help Aracelis!" he snapped, immediately sending himself into a coughing fit now involving blood.

Orihime visibly startled at him shouting at her, leaning back, instinctually thinking he might lash out. "O-okay," she whispered after a moment of hesitation. Tessai joined her, helping her set Aracelis off to the side to begin her work properly. Ulquiorra missed Aracelis, his temperature seeming to drop several more degrees without her.

"I have to say, I didn't expect that Clematis to launch such an attack," Urahara commented as he came to stand by Ulquiorra. The humor in his tone grated on Ulquiorra's nerves. Aracelis was hurt. He wasn't in the mood for the soul reaper's quips. "I thought you said she wasn't very likable?"

"Something… in Hueco Mundo… changed," Ulquiorra said between breaths as his coughing subsided. He didn't have a conversation in him right now. "I… want to leave… the gigai. Heal me enough… just to do that." Tessai, having left Orihime to her work, kneeled to begin helping Ulquiorra.

Tessai nodded, agreeing with Ulquiorra without much fuss. "We will take you both back to the shop as soon as we are able," he added.

Outside of a gigai, the only place Ulquiorra could hide was in the shop's training ground. He'd have confronted Clematis there, in his resurrección, if it could have withstood it; even Las Noches crumbled with an Espada's release, the shop no match. Even outside his release, Clematis knew about the place from Orihime's memories, and would have forced him out by destroying the area. Thinking about this was infinitely better than considering the shameful fact he'd need to be carried to the shop…

He eventually stopped fighting unconsciousness. The physical pain was intense, he'd much rather be asleep while Urahara or Tessai carried him, and any plans he made while delirious would be suspect. And Aracelis, he trusted the woman would heal her injuries. Aracelis would be waiting for him when he woke back up, either awake herself or at least in better condition. Then they could plan their next move, together.

Together, Ulquiorra thought as he closed his eyes. He no longer hated that word. It sounded almost comforting again, instead of just painful.


Unfortunately, school is a thing again, and I'll probably go back to the two-week updates on the weekend to finish this up. I also, you know, don't want to rush these chapters considering their importance.

Thank you for reading!

Thank you cami3007 and WaterChestnut for following and/or favoriting!

MorteSangriz- Poor Orihime and Ichigo have been mentally scarred, that's for sure:) Thank you for reviewing and I'm happy to see you're still around, enjoying the story!

haipa-chan- I'm glad you liked the last two chapters! I wanted to at least touch on the sexual part of the relationship, since it sort of spiraled them into where they are now to begin with. Ichigo and Orihime, the poor, poor humans, scarred forever. I hope the return of plot went well, considering weedy stopped skulking to put on an elaborate show to deliver a tiny message. I'm glad ch52 was a good combo of tense and funny, since I wasn't sure about it. Ulquiorra's definitely not a people person; he's even less of a soul reaper person :) His list of people he tolerates is small indeed. Kind of happy you forgot about Rukia, though, since then it was more a silly surprise! (And moving, man, I can't even imagine how annoying that'd be.) Thanks for the review, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

030artastic- Aw, I'm happy you like the progression of Aracelis's and Ulquiorra's relationship :) Thanks for reviewing again! I'm glad to see you're still enjoying!