Chapter 24
Eriko felt a dark shift in pressure outside. The only other person who seemed to recognize it was Kazui. It made her nervous that she could feel these things. Kaz had explained they were hollows, those bad things that ate human souls. Her father explained in detail why the creatures came to the world of the living. Orihime explained what happened when one of them arrived.
A shinigami killed them. They were sent along their way.
Moments later, the pressure was gone. It happened several times that day, and each time the feeling became more and more intense. The last time it happened, Eriko felt like she couldn't breathe. The students were working quietly, so Eriko got up and went to where her father sat at the front of the class.
"Eriko? What is it?"
"I can't-It's hard for me-I can't breathe."
The man stood and guided his child out of the room. As soon as they were out in the hallway, Ulquiorra looked at her. She was paler than normal and sweating. Something was wrong. He had felt the hollows but tried his best to ignore them when they entered the atmosphere. It looked like Eriko wouldn't get her wish of being able to ignore them and be a normal human. A sigh went through him as he fished his phone from his pocket, dialing Orihime's number.
"Hi, what's up, darling?" Orihime asked, sweet tones tempered with mild concern. It wasn't often that Ulquiorra called during class time.
"Eriko is having troubles," he answered. "She says she can't breathe, and she is pale and sweating. I have no clue what is going on with her."
"Does she have a fever? Do you think she might be sick? I can come and bring her to the apartment to lie down if she's ill; I'd be around to take care of her."
Ulquiorra studied the kid for a moment. "Do you have a fever, Eriko?"
The girl shook her head. "Pressure, I can feel it outside. There are hollows," she said in a gasping, breathy way.
Oh. "She says that she can feel the hollows. There's pressure."
"Hmmm," Orihime considered this. "I think I should come and get her. I can let her lie down upstairs under a dome until she feels better, and then tonight I think we should talk about having her checked out. What do you think?"
Checked out? Why would-Oh… Orihime meant by Urahara or Ishida. A heavy sigh left him. He didn't like the idea the first time and it still rankled him. "I do not like this, but yes," he replied. "I will call Urahara. I don't think we should involve Ishida in this. I do not trust him and I do not want him to have access to my child."
Orihime sighed, a wrinkle of stress appearing on her forehead. "I know, I don't trust him either, but I worry about Urahara. Maybe we can, or you can, ask Isshin his opinion? I know we can trust him."
They could trust the elder Kurosaki, but still, Ulquiorra didn't think the other man was equipped to deal with something like this. He was a human doctor. He did not specialize in special souls or whatever it was that Urahara did. Ishida was the same way. "We can ask if he can be there for Eriko and maybe keep Urahara in check. This makes me wonder though…"
"About what?"
"All those times Eriko couldn't breathe as a younger child. Was it actual sickness, or was she feeling spiritual pressure then?"
Orihime's mouth fell open. There might be something to that theory. "I would not be surprised if you're right, Ulquiorra," she finally replied, something akin to wonder in her breath. Then she swallowed down her pride and told Ulquiorra the truth. "About Urahara… It's not that I have a good reason to mistrust him… It's personal. It's petty. If you trust him and Isshin trusts him, then I have no reason to object to him examining Eriko."
This concern that Orihime had in her voice worried Ulquiorra. "That is the thing, I do not trust him completely, Orihime. I have my misgivings about anyone examining Eriko. When they suggested it in March, I almost went ballistic."
"They? Oh, you mean Isshin and Urahara, right?"
"Yes. That was the first time the two had seen her. I've tried to keep her away from all of this."
"Looks like you don't have a choice, now." Orihime sighed in surrender. "If he hasn't tattled to Soul Society about her by now, I doubt he has any plans to do it. Anyway, I'll be at the school in a few minutes if you want me to pick her up in the office."
Again, he looked at Eriko. She seemed a bit better, but the girl still had a pinched expression. "I think that would be for the best. I will send her down there to wait, and then call Urahara."
"Okay, tell her I'll see her soon. I love you."
Ulquiorra echoed the sentiment and ended the call. He told Eriko what was going on before he made another phone call. This one took less time than the previous conversation.
"Please, Riruka, it's only going to take about twenty, no, fifteen minutes. Please understand—"
"Understand what? That your boyfriend's other kid is more important to you than your business? I could never understand that. She's not your kid, Orihime. She's not even your step kid. She's basically nothing to you," Riruka snarked.
Orihime spun on her heel and affected a somewhat threatening posture; her elbows rising off her sides and her shoulders and neck snaking toward the other woman. "Say what, now? Eriko is nothing to me? You take that back, Riruka!" Orihime snarled. Nobody threatened her family so flippantly without suffering the consequences.
The other woman rolled her eyes. "Really, Orihime, the theatrics are too much. You're always so dramatic. You're just pissed that your baby-daddy won't make an honest woman out of you. Seems to be a pattern with him, making bold declarations and then not following through. I'm still waiting for that paperwork he keeps mentioning. I guess I'll believe it when I see it."
Orihime growled. She didn't have time for this bullshit. "Whatever Riruka. You know what? I'll just close the shop while I'm gone."
There was no response from Riruka as Orihime took out a piece of paper, hand-wrote "Closed, be back in fifteen minutes", on it and taped it to the door before leaving and locking Riruka inside.
Orihime picked up Eriko and headed back to the shop. The girl was quiet as Ulquiorra signed her out to Orihime's care and began the short trip back. After Orihime parked, she asked the girl if she wanted any food or drink.
"No, I told Dad it wasn't anything serious. I just feel this dark pressure and it makes it hard for me to breathe," Eriko said.
"Yeah, we had some hollows in town today. Um, Eri, two of my abilities are to provide a protective barrier against physical and spiritual threats, and to reject events. What I'd like to do today is have you lie down and rest while I use these abilities on you. It won't hurt or bother you. You might see a bit of a light around you; maybe a little warmth, but it should restore the energy you've lost and protect you from any hollows while you, um, refill your SP?" she offered, unsure whether the girl would understand and/or accept.
Eriko looked at the woman with concern etched on her face. "Did my dad okay this?"
"Yes, he did," Orihime replied with a nod.
Her mouth pulled down at the corners and at that moment, the girl looked exactly like her dad when he was displeased. Eriko didn't want to acknowledge this SP stuff or the fact that she sometimes felt like she was drowning. "Okay," she said.
"Okay, do you want to watch TV or use your phone? You could get comfy on the couch or the bed."
How did Orihime know she had her phone? She wasn't really allowed to take it out of the house, but Eriko had been sneaking it out more and more often. "You won't tell Dad if I have my phone would you?"
"Honey, he knows," Orihime answered. "He hasn't said anything because he prefers that you have it in case you get into trouble."
Eriko was silent as she mulled this information over. She set down her bag and looked through it to find the device. When it was in her hand she walked over to sit on the couch. "This isn't going to hurt right?" she asked before laying down.
"Not at all. If anything it's going to feel really good. Lie back," Orihime said, raising her hands over Eriko's supine body and calling out five of her six fairies. First two covered her with an ellipse-shaped dome, and then the remaining three created a triangular canopy over her. It was nearly silent, save for a scarcely detectable hum. "That's it. How does it feel?" the woman asked after the domes were in place.
It felt like little sparks of energy flitted along the surface of her skin. The air felt too warm, and once again, a heavy pressure settled on her chest. Eriko felt trapped. She had to remind herself to keep taking deep breaths, but then she noticed the so-called fireflies, which caused her panic to dissolve. "They're tiny… Fairies are real? Dad says they're not. They're just plot devices in fantasy books."
Orihime smiled, as did the so-called fairies. "They aren't exactly fairies, although they look like them. They don't mind if you call them that, except Tsubaki," Orihime chuckled. "He gets offended."
"You had six the last time. What happened to the other one?"
"The other one is still in my hairclips," Orihime said, pulling a lock of hair away from her ear. "Tsubaki is my offensive ability. I don't need him now, so he's resting in here. I'm a Fullbringer; we use significant objects, like these clips, to wield our abilities."
Again the girl frowned. "What does it feel like? I can't describe what I feel exactly but I know it's angry… rumbly… squirmy. It's violent."
"And this feeling is inside you? Does it feel like it's from your brain or your heart?"
"Both?" Eriko shook her head before focusing on one of the points of light. "I'm not really sure."
"Hmm," Orihime gave it some serious thought before responding. After several minutes, she said, "Well, I only have those kinds of feelings when someone I love is being threatened, so I don't know if I can relate to how you are feeling. But, for me, it mostly feels desperate. I am desperate to help, or to protect, or to restore or reject or attack. I feel fear a lot. Fear motivates me to act, sometimes. But sometimes, like now, I'm motivated by love. I love you, Eri, and I want you to feel better." Orihime was quiet again and reconsidered what Eriko was trying to express.
When she took her eyes off the parts of Orihime's soul and looked at the older woman, Eriko could feel the panic appear again. She didn't know why she felt this way. It really sucked. "Whenever the hollows appear, I feel this pressure. It's dark. It feels bad. But it's inside of me."
Orihime's eyebrows rose a bit as an idea came to her. "Eri, when you feel that dark pressure, are you afraid? Or do you feel more, I don't know, um… Aggressive?"
"I'm not afraid. I feel angry. I feel like destroying things. I feel like hurting people when it comes, but then I can't breathe."
Orihime nodded. "I see. You're right to be concerned about these feelings, I think. However, I don't think you need to worry too much. What you need to do is talk to your father. I think he will be able to assist you." Orihime paused, and then added, "But you must actually listen to him, not blow him off like you've been doing. He is a lot smarter than you give him credit for."
Eriko scowled. "I know he's smart, but he treats me like a baby. I'm getting older and he treats me like I still need someone to keep an eye on me. I can take care of myself."
"I know you feel like you've got it all under control, and I know you are very capable in a lot of situations, but there is still a lot about the world that you don't know and a lot that you need him for. There is a reason humans are classified into children and adults. Children, even young women like you, still require supervision and guidance. There is just so much to learn. So much to watch out for. You can't know; you're not supposed to know. If you did you'd be paralyzed. It would be overwhelming."
She scoffed. It didn't seem like her father had grown up being different. Everyone around them accepted him for who he was and there were no arguments. "I just want him to stop being so overprotective. It's worse now that you're going to have a baby."
"You think so?" Orihime was surprised to hear this. "Well," Orihime took a deep breath and exhaled heavily a few times, trying not to get angry. "I don't think you understand how lucky you are. To have a father who loves you; who loves you as much as he does… Not everyone is that lucky."
The prickliness of Orihime's power spiked and Eriko's face screwed up into pain. She was getting irritated at the woman's words and it just happened. "Okay that was weird. I was getting mad because of what you said and it feels like I got zapped. I don't want him as a dad. I want a normal set of parents. I want someone who doesn't look or talk so strange. I don't want to hear all of those made up words."
Orihime retracted her Rikka and looked at Eriko with a hard expression. "You take that back, Eriko Cifer. Words are more powerful than you know. I know you would be devastated if something happened to him. And those words he uses are not made up. The sooner you accept that, the better off you'll be."
Those green eyes narrowed as she sat up. "No. I won't take them back. My dad needs to know that I'm unhappy. I wish he never met Yuko or brought me into the world."
"Suck it up, Eri. Your father knows you're unhappy. Everyone knows you're unhappy. You walk around acting like life owes you a perfect set of circumstances and that you're the only one in the world who has ever suffered. Newsflash, you're not. Everyone has it hard. You want to know why he treats you like a child? Not only is it because you are, in point of fact, a child, but you act like a big baby more and more lately! You're growing up. You're going to be a big sister. It's time you started acting like one!" Orihime scolded. She didn't yell, but she made no attempt to hide her disappointment or aggravation.
"I wish my dad never met you." With that Eriko pulled her knees up to her chest and hid her face behind them. She would probably catch hell for this later but at the moment, she didn't care.
"Too bad," Orihime said firmly. "I think you need a nap."
When Ulquiorra got to the cafe with Kazui in tow, he had a smile on his face. When he entered the building, the atmosphere felt tense. Had Eriko gotten worse? No, Orihime would have notified him if something went wrong.
Orihime walked out from the plant room to greet them. "Hello my dears," she said with a tense brow but a warm smile. "Kazui, would you mind helping Satomi, if she needs it, and doing your homework down here after you've had a snack? Ulquiorra needs to check on Eri; she's a bit sick," Orihime lied. Kazui didn't need to be involved in this.
"Is Eriko okay?" Ulquiorra asked after the boy wandered off. He gave Orihime a puzzled stare. "What happened?"
Orihime waited for Kazui to hop away before taking Ulquiorra's hand and leading him away toward the stairwell. "She's not sick. We need to get her checked out sooner than later. This isn't just regular preteen angst. The hollows today had an effect on her. That… and I lost my temper with her today. I'm sorry. I probably overstepped my boundaries and said things to her that weren't my place to say."
The concern building in his mind grew as they went up the stairs. Ulquiorra didn't like to hear that either of the females in his life were dealing with bad things. Listening to Orihime tell him that the hollows had an effect on his daughter was disturbing. Listening to his girlfriend tell him that she overstepped her boundaries was almost unheard of. "Hey, stop for a moment," he said pulling on her arm a bit to get her attention. "Every parent has bad days, Orihime. It's bound to happen. Remember when I offended you with calling Kaz a little shit? I'm sure whatever happened wasn't that bad."
Orihime's lips lifted into an apologetic half-smile and she sunk into his body, giving him a squeeze around the middle and breathing deeply. She took a few more breaths before backing up again and looking into his eyes, shame weighing on her brow. "The difference is, you said that to me; I said it to her. I shouldn't have let her words get to me. I'm the grown-up." She sighed and added, "She does not like me today, and at this point, I'm not sure that I blame her."
His arms went around the woman, trying to comfort her. "You're the closest thing she has to a female parent. You're allowed to get upset with her at times. She's a kid, she'll get over it."
Orihime took all the comfort he was willing to offer her. "Maybe you're right. I hope so. Just to warn you, she is lashing out and saying really hurtful things about both of us. I don't want it to take you by surprise. I don't want it to hurt you. I think she's just overwhelmed with this new spiritual awareness. Also… she did not like being restored by my Rikka. She seemed very uncomfortable, almost in pain at one point. I don't know what it means, but I think she's dealing with some difficult emotions right now."
This wasn't even Orihime's responsibility, but she was dealing with it. Ulquiorra felt his admiration and heart swell for the woman in front of him. She was amazing and he was grateful she was in his life. As soon as they were on the landing he backed her up against the wall and slowly kissed her for a long moment. He only broke the kiss when he couldn't breathe. "I love you, Woman."
Orihime gasped, pleasantly surprised by his passionate display of affection. "I love you, Ulquiorra," she responded breathlessly, raising a hand to comb her fingers through his hair. Her eyes found his and fell into them, forgetting the stress of the afternoon for a long moment, and a small smile broke through the cloud of worry on her face before she said, "Thank you."
With that sorted out, Ulquiorra let her go and then opened the apartment door. His eyes zeroed in on his daughter who was curled up on the couch, fast asleep. She looked like an angel, but in the past few weeks, she had become more and more problematic. He had to handle this. "Eriko, wake up."
The child looked up at her father through sleepy eyes. "Why, so you can yell at me?" she asked.
"No, we need to talk. We need to fix this problem before it becomes too much for you to handle," Ulquiorra replied. He turned his head and looked at Orihime with a confused expression. What exactly had Eriko said to the other woman? "What is going on Eriko?"
"I don't want to be here. I want to destroy things. I am angry."
Ulquiorra remained speechless before he looked at Orihime again. "Could you give us a moment?"
"Of course," she said gently before going back downstairs.
The man looked at his daughter before he dragged a chair over so that he could talk to her. "Eriko, I want to help you. I don't know much about human children-"
"Then maybe you shouldn't have had any. I feel weird. I feel like all I want to do is hurt people. I want to see people suffer," she said with a nasty glare.
Her words pulled him into his memories and hearing all the times Yammy, Nnoitra, or Grimmjow said things like that. He knew there were times he felt like that, but Ulquiorra had suppressed the emotions, only unleashing his wrath when he was face to face with Ichigo Kurosaki. "How long have you had these feelings, Eriko?"
The child scoffed, throwing a glare his way. "Now you care? I've always felt this thing inside of me. Everytime I couldn't breathe I felt it. All you would do is take me to the doctor. They said I was sick. I don't think I was sick. What did you do to me? Why am I like this?" Her tone was malicious, the accusations evident.
"Eriko, you're going to have to see Urahara. He can help you. I don't know what's going on with you. I have my suspicions, but," Ulquiorra paused and studied his offspring. She looked very angry -almost livid- at his words. "I think you might be coming into your powers. I'm not sure what those powers are, though. I don't want you to hurt yourself or other people."
"You don't care about me! If you did, you wouldn't have gotten Orihime pregnant. The new baby is going to come along and I'll be pushed to the side and you'll just overlook-"
"NO!" His voice was loud and boomed through the apartment. "Eriko, you are my first priority in life. That means I care for you. I have to discipline you and praise you. I'm trying to raise you to be a decent human. I have no clue what you said to Orihime, but you made her worry. You made her think-She's a good person. She cares for you. Kazui cares for you. The entire Kurosaki family loves you."
The girl crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't care."
Irritation was growing on Ulquiorra's face. He was beginning to reach his limit for dealing with stubborn and petulant children. "Fine, don't care. You're still going to see Urahara. We need to know what we're dealing with."
Orihime had heard the shout from upstairs but waited until she heard footsteps on the stairs to check to see what was going on. As she turned and looked up, she saw Ulquiorra's usually stoic face twisted into a worried frown. "How'd it go?" she asked softly.
Shaking his head, Ulquiorra sat down at one of the cafe tables. "She doesn't care if she's hurting people. She sounds like those violent Arrancars that Aizen made. I have to take her to see someone. Isshin deals more with humans, but I think Urahara knows more about other souls."
"I think you're right. It can't be put off anymore." Orihime sighed and stood behind him, kneading his tense shoulders. "No one said it was easy. Still… This is scary. I just want you to know that we will do anything we can to help, Okay?"
He tilted his head up, letting the back of his head rest against her chest. "You already do too much for me and for Eriko. I'm sorry she treated you poorly."
"Shh. We're family. Family never gives up. I know she wouldn't normally say anything like she did. It's a complete turn around from before. It makes me wonder if something has triggered her."
"I have no clue. The only thing I can think of is that being around people with tremendous spiritual pressure has somehow nurtured hers to grow." Ulquiorra dropped his head back down and sighed. He had no clue that raising a child would be this difficult. Eriko had been an easygoing kid up until a couple of months ago. "Her birthday is coming up. Maybe puberty triggered it?"
"It's possible. Let's let Urahara share his expertise before we go off on any more theoretical tangents. We're better off planning a birthday party for her or something until we know more. We have a month; it should be plenty of time."
"Your birthday will be arriving soon also," Ulquiorra said, grateful for something else to focus on. He turned his body and looked at his girlfriend. "Besides Eriko's antics, how do you feel today?"
She smiled. "Great. Well, great compared to last week anyway. I'm getting close to my second trimester, and by then I should have a good amount of energy. Fair warning though, that's when my nesting stage began when I was pregnant with Kazui. I think it's a fair guess that I'll do it again," she said with a chuckle.
"Nesting?" he asked, clearly confused. "I hope you'll be making this nest outside. I do not want any debris inside the house."
Orihime laughed hard enough that she felt the need to use a hand to support her belly. "No, nothing like that," she said between laughs. "Pregnancy nesting is like a compulsion to prepare your home for the baby's arrival. Reorganizing and decorating and shopping; things like that."
This was a more reasonable definition of the word. Ulquiorra smiled at her for a moment. "Ah, that I can deal with, though, I'm not sure there is much to organize or decorate. Our house is well put together."
She nodded. "We don't have a nursery anyway. Maybe a crib and a mobile and…" she trailed off, getting caught up in visions of baby gear and pastel pictures of bunnies and bears. After a moment she shook her head. All that stuff was tempting, but expensive and unnecessary. "Just the basics."
"We should ask Yuzu what is necessary."
Orihime scoffed. "I know I was sleep deprived after Kazui was born, but I remember setting up his nursery. I also remember donating lots of stuff I never used. So, do you want to call Urahara or should I?"
"I will," he said and stood. He gave Orihime another kiss before he made his way to her office to place the phone call.
A/N: Thanks for reading? What do you think about Eri's attitude problem?
