Chapter 32

Ai looked at Yuko, who was pacing the floor of their small apartment. She didn't know what the big deal was with Cifer. The guy was an asshole. Yuko was stressing herself out over nothing.

"He's not supposed to be with anyone," Yuko stated for the hundredth time.

"I assure you he's well attached to Kurosaki. She's a bitch, anyway. Did you know they gave all of us a talking to about appropriate behavior in the workplace?" Ai said. The short-haired woman sighed. "They had Eriko's birthday there last Monday. She was telling Satomi that she wanted to go to a themed cafe, but her dad wouldn't let her because it's too expensive."

Yuko turned her head and looked at her roommate with a raised eyebrow. "That man is rolling in cash. He never buys anything extravagant."

"Having a girlfriend who is pregnant and has a kid… Things get pricey when going to Tokyo. You know how expensive it was to live there," Ai said. She picked up a nail file and began to file her pinky nail into a sharp point. "The only thing Cifer has going for him is his good looks. From what I've felt going past him, he might have a sizable dick."

"Tch." Yuko rolled her eyes. This woman had no fucking clue. "Okay, so throw out the plan of actually taking Eriko. I'll just lure her away from him and then if he wants her back, tell him I need money. The boss man might understand that, right?"

Ai stared at the other woman. "You're pretty far past due on paying him back. I don't think he's going to put up with much more delay on your part. Why'd you ask Yukio for a loan? Why not ask your parents?"

Yuko shook her head. She was going to make her own way in life. It wasn't her fault she had some money trouble. Being a waitress at a bar didn't bring home much money. No one wanted an old woman for a hostess anymore. She was tired of selling her body for sex. "Which themed cafe in Tokyo? Did Eriko mention that?"

"You're going to go through with this?"

"I'm still her mother! At any time I can just waltz in there and take her." The conversation stopped because Yuko's phone started chiming. She looked at the screen and swore. "Speak of the devil."

"You're late," the bored, tired voice on the other end of the call said.

"I know. I need a couple more days, again. I have the rest of the money coming," Yuko said. "It's a sizeable chunk of change, Boss Man."

It was as if a crackle of irritation traveled through the receiver and slapped her in the ear. "Why do you insist on such theatrics, Yuko? I am not, nor have I ever been, your boss. You are batshit."

"C'mon Yukio. I think a person of your upbringing would appreciate the title. Don't worry about the money. I'll have the rest of it for you."

Now the voice was quieter, and a bit more mature sounding, as the young man's irritation took a turn for the deadly. "Don't worry? You want me to not worry?" A long pause, then he followed up with a rasping kind of whisper, "Instead of concocting whatever harebrained ideas you continue to fail at, how about starting to accept the fact that you're a washed-up hooker and become a snack bar Mama? You can sing Enka, right?"

A sneer fell over Yuko's features, but she had to fight for the tone not to come through the phone. "I've already accepted that. Thanks. Are you going to give me more time or not?"

"You've had enough time. You know why you failed as a hostess? You are a shitty person, Yuko. You were a shitty hostess, and rumor has it you were a shitty hooker. You are aware that hostesses are supposed to be charming and serve drinks, right? Fucking salarymen is not actually a job requirement. The fact is that you're just a dumb old cow with no soft skills. Get a real job! You have two days." With that the call ended.

Yuko's eyes hardened as she turned to Ai. "I want you to text me when Eriko steps foot into that cafe."

Ai did as Yuko said and texted her the next day when Eriko walked in with her father and the orange haired kid. She seemed put out about something. It wasn't fifteen minutes later when Yuko came in the door.

No one seemed to notice her at first as she slipped inside and started browsing the gift side of the shop. Yuko made sure her back was turned to the other employees.

It was Ulquiorra who came up to her. "Can I-What are you doing here?"

"Calm down, Ulquiorra. I came to take Eriko out to a cafe… I picked the closest one I could. It's cat-themed," Yuko said as she turned around. "I don't know why you're so against me wanting to reconnect with her."

"You do not know why? Is there even a brain between your ears? Are you an imbecile?" Ulquiorra hissed at the woman.

Yuko smiled at him. "May I remind you that you are in your place of business and there are customers around? It doesn't look good when you insult a potential customer, does it?"

His mouth opened and closed several times. He had to think carefully before he started yelling. Deep breath in, long exhale. He performed this action several times. "Eriko has no desire to be around you, Yuko."

"I am still her mother. At any time I could relieve you of your parenting duties."

That did it. Those words sent his spiritual pressure spiking.

Orihime had come around the corner in time to hear Yuko's words, and the resulting spiritual rise struck her like the heat of opening a super-heated oven with the force of a hurricane wind. She staggered back a step before taking a deep breath and pushing her own spiritual pressure out to counter it and stay in balance. Then she looked at the other woman and spoke in a cold, calculating tone, "In point of fact, Yuko-san, you could not. How many lawyers do you have on retainer?"

"This isn't your fight, Kurosaki. Please keep your nose out of my business. You're not Eriko's mother," Yuko said, the smile still on her face. "I just want to take Eriko out. I want to spend a bit of time with her, Ulquiorra. You know, do something that you can't do."

The green-eyed man bristled and glared at the black-haired woman. "No. I won't allow it."

"Then I'll just ask Eriko myself," Yuko replied. "You seem to forget I spent my entire pregnancy without your help and I struggled for the first three months of her life before I delivered her into your care."

Orihime rolled her eyes and shook her head. This woman was an idiot who relied on emotional threats with no basis in legality. "You think you have a leg to stand on, Yuko? You're hilarious. Get out of my shop before I call the police. You're not welcome here."

"We will see about who has a legal leg to stand on," Yuko said. She turned around and stopped as she saw Eriko standing there. "Eriko, happy birthday. I know I missed the day. I came by to-"

"I heard," Eriko said. She looked between the woman who gave birth to her and her father. Hearing the words that came from Yuko's mouth were a slap to the face. Her dad always acted like he was the victim when it came to Yuko and the circumstances that brought about her conception. "You didn't help her when she was pregnant with me?"

"Eriko, please. This is an adult conversation-"

Once again, she interrupted. Ulquiorra seemed shocked that she would even dare do this. "It concerns me. Don't you think I would want to decide if I would want Yuko in my life? Should I wait until I go off to university to attempt some kind of relationship with her? Maybe I'll reverse it this time; cut you completely out of my life, Dad."

"Eriko, that is no way to speak to your father," Yuko stated. "I know I've done a lot of wrong, but this is an attempt at-"

"Manipulating." Ulquiorra's tone was not joking as he spoke the word.

"Shut up and let me finish," Yuko replied. "I know I can't be your mom. I know I don't deserve that. I can at least be your friend, right?"

Orihime caught Eriko's eyes for a moment. She gave the girl a loaded stare and shook her head, before raising her eyes to Yuko. "I warned you, Yuko. I suggest you leave before the police arrive. They are on their way," Orihime growled as Satomi came to stand behind her with the wireless store phone in hand.

"I want to go with Yuko," Eriko said.

The look on Ulquiorra's face was heartbreaking. He looked at his daughter with a look of hurt in his eyes. It was like she had physically stabbed him. "Why?"

"Because everyone deserves a second chance. Isn't that what you always say?" Eriko replied. The girl crossed her arms over her chest. "Or does that only apply to some people?"

Orihime approached Eri and bent over to look her in the eye. "Eri, think very, very carefully about what you are doing. There are some things in life that you cannot take back," she stood up after that and stood by Ulquiorra's side, putting a hand on his back. She could not even begin to imagine the pain he must be going through at that moment.

"Well, seeing as I've been planning this day for months," Yuko said, turning to look at the man. "We should go. I'll bring her home later, or should I drop her off here?"

A sneer was directed towards Yuko and the only thing keeping him from destroying the woman was the fact Eriko was watching and Orihime was beside him. "I will be waiting for her at the train station in Naruki City. I want her back by ten. If she's not, I will find you, Yuko."

Yuko waved a hand as if his threats meant nothing. "Calm down, Cifer-san," she said in a simpering voice. "She'll be back. We'll go to the cat cafe, have fun, and I'll accompany her to the train station."

The bell on the door chimed, and two officers in uniform entered the cafe. "We received a call from a Satomi Nakamura about a disturbance?" the older officer asked, scanning the interior of the shop.

"Yes-" Satomi started.

"Come, Eriko! We have a reservation to keep!" Yuko said, taking her daughter's hand. She didn't look at Ai. She didn't look back at Ulquiorra. She just dragged the girl out of the shop without another word.

"Satomi, please give a report about what happened to the officers, I'll be back in a moment," Orihime said, pulling Ulquiorra by the elbow toward the store window where they could watch Eri leave with that bitch.

She was worried. She didn't want to provoke Ulquiorra's stronger emotions, because Orihime felt he would be well within reason to want to lash out at Yuko, despite the dangers. After a few moments, she finally said, "Do you want to follow them?"

He shook his head, swallowing down the ire and rage that kept pushing its way to the surface. He wanted some outlet for this pain he was feeling. "Eriko already hates me today. If I bring her back, it'll push her towards Yuko more. She'll learn eventually that the woman who gave birth to her is nothing but a disappointment."

Orihime rubbed his back, feeling the prickly spiritual pressure that hovered over the surface of his gigai. She couldn't blame him. Yuko was damn lucky that Orihime only possessed a drop of Ulquiorra's spiritual pressure; hers was pulsating. "Do you want to go to Urahara's and blow off some steam? I have Satomi and Ai here. We'll be fine here at the shop. You can go and vent and go home to be ready to wait at the station?"

"I'm going to go on with my duties, Woman," Ulquiorra said. His voice was losing all inflection, falling into what sounded like an empty monotone. He gave her a side-eyed glance. "Otherwise, I will go after her. If I have nothing to do, that will be all I think about. When Eriko returns, I am going to make some changes. There is no reason she needs to accompany me here. She can go to Isshin's or return home after school. I've been too sheltering with her."

Orihime nodded; not because she thought Ulquiorra was too over-protective, but because she wanted to support his parenting decisions. "I understand. If you like, you can take over the walk-in inventory and do the things that require a lot of concentration…" Orihime suggested, trying to be helpful.

Taking a deep breath to ease his nerves, Ulquiorra nodded. His girlfriend seemed to know exactly what he needed.

Eriko followed Yuko as they walked down a busy street. They hadn't gone to Tokyo. A man in a black car had picked them up and driven to Kanagawa. She knew this was where Sato-san was from, but she didn't remember the place. Her grandmother would tell her stories about the city and her childhood.

They stopped in a store that sold clothing for girls. "It's a shame your father can't provide you with proper clothing," Yuko said. She walked over to a display of underthings and started looking through them.

"What do you mean?" Eriko asked, standing to the side.

"You're not wearing a bra. That's an important thing to have once you hit your age. It didn't even seem like your dad even cares about you," the older woman said.

"Orihime was going to take me to get a bra and some makeup," Eriko said, shuffling her feet. She felt uncomfortable around Yuko. She hadn't noticed it until they were away from her father and talking about personal things. "She's been busy."

"It's not her right. I'm your mother. I should be the one to teach you that stuff and buy you things. Your dad has kept you from me all these years," came the statement. Yuko sighed. "I'm not trying to make excuses, I hope you understand that. I wasn't ready to be a mother."

The girl with green eyes looked confused, but didn't say anything until Yuko turned with a bra in her hands and held it up to her. "Wait a minute! What are you-"

"Seeing if this is your size. I don't think you'll be very big in the chest area. I'm not that big."

"Sato-san had a big chest," Eriko said.

"Sato-san was a nosy bit-" Yuko stopped herself. "She didn't like me."

"I wonder why."

Yuko grabbed Eriko by the arm and steered her towards the dressing room with the tiny bra in her other hand. "Go try this on. When you're ready, I'll come in and check it to see if that's the correct size."

Ten o'clock passed and Ulquiorra stood at the train station. There weren't that many people who got off the train at that time of night. He stayed well until he knew there were no more trains running. He was even kicked out of the station. Walking back home, he seethed. It was one in the morning and his daughter was not in her bed.

He walked into the house and slammed the door, not caring if he woke people up. He wanted to destroy things.

"Ulquiorra?" Orihime came jogging toward the entryway from the kitchen where she had been watching for him to return at the windows.

"What?" he asked as he took his shoes off and threw them with enough force to leave a scuff mark on the wall. He turned and looked at Orihime. "You should be asleep and resting."

Orihime had her hands near her mouth, nervously making her body as small a target as possible. She had never seen him like this before, and although she wasn't afraid that he would purposely lash out at her, she was afraid that whatever was bothering him was bad enough to make him lose sight of how strong he was. She took several slow steps backward and asked, "Where is Eriko?"

"She never showed up. I waited until the trains stopped running. Yuko is going to die. She lied," he stated in a cold voice. He was having enough trouble keeping his cool. Talking about it just made him angrier. "I can't detect her spiritual pressure. It's possible that Yuko took off with her."

Orihime's spiritual pressure flared before she recoiled it. "Doesn't she have her phone? Can you track it?"

His head shook back and forth. Eriko didn't even have her phone on her. He had told her to leave it at home as punishment for getting mouthy with him. "Her phone is in her room. I was stupid. I should have had Yuko arrested for trespassing. I will not make this mistake again."

Orihime nodded. "This is not good. Do you want me to make a report? I can talk to Urahara and see if there have been any unusual spiritual disturbances nearby. What about Yuko? Do you remember her phone number?"

"I don't know her phone number. I've never talked to her in the past-The last time I had a conversation with her we were being intimate. I'm not counting the first time Eriko met her," Ulquiorra said. He clenched his fists and walked past Orihime to the kitchen. He opened a cupboard and reached for the bottle of sake he kept there.

Orihime gave him several moments of privacy before she joined him in the kitchen. When she did, her voice trembled as she spoke, her own anger seeping into her words, "We're going to find her, Ulquiorra. We're going to find Eriko and Yuko is going to pay. Nobody gets away with hurting my family. I promise you that she will pay." She watched Ulquiorra drain his glass and refill it, not taking his eyes off of the cup. She sighed, resigned that he was doing the best he could under the circumstances. "I am going upstairs. If you need me, for anything, just call to me or come to me. I will do whatever you need, but right now, it seems like you need to be alone. I love you, Ulquiorra. Do what you need to do to get through tonight."

She left the kitchen without touching him, despite her own overwhelming desire to comfort him. Somehow she knew that it wasn't what he needed right now. He needed to deal with his immediate reaction on his own, she thought, as she went up the stairs. It made sense. This was a problem that was rooted in a time in his and Eriko's lives that had nothing to do with her. He would likely need some time to process his feelings without her influence.

When Orihime got to their room, she sat in a meditative pose on the bed and closed her eyes, carefully expanding her net of spiritual awareness as far as it could reach, searching for any trace of the girl she considered her daughter.

"You told my dad that you would have me back."

"Yeah, well, I'm having such a swell time with you, kid. Stop complaining," Yuko said as she drank from a bottle of beer. It was around two in the morning and Eriko was still awake. "Can't you go to sleep?"

"That bed doesn't look clean, and is probably uncomfortable." Eriko stuck out her bottom lip as she watched the woman. "What do you want?"

"Huh? Want? Your dad owes me. I only want what I am due," Yuko replied with a bitter tone.

Eriko frowned. It made sense now why her dad and Yuko were not together. "Will you take me back tomorrow?"

"Sure, sure. Gonna grab a couple of photos first. Gonna make you pretty."

The next morning, Eriko was screaming her head off. "Stop! No! What are you doing?! Yuko! NO!"

If anyone was in the rundown apartment building, they would have thought it was just some fight. But inside that dirty apartment, the woman that gave birth to Eriko was sitting on top of her daughter's back and had a pair of scissors in one hand. The feeling of the shears against her long black hair was traumatic, and hearing the snips made Eriko scream louder.

When Eriko was allowed to stand, she had no flowing locks that would brush the small of her back.

"If you would have held still, I wouldn't have cut so much off!" Yuko scolded.

"Why? Why did you do that? Do you know how long I've been growing my hair? My dad is going to flip shit!" Eriko screamed back.

Yuko let out a laugh that made the green-eyed girl's blood run cold. "You're not going back to your dad, Eriko. This is your life now."

The night was rough for both of them. Ulquiorra never came to bed, and Orihime slept poorly; oversensitive to any blip of spiritual pressure that passed by. She staggered down the stairs and started a pot of coffee early. It was Sunday.

She looked around for her boyfriend. Unable to immediately locate him, she decided to make a call.

"Good morning, Hime-chan! To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Isshin, it's bad news."

She hung up after relaying all the details she could, asking her father-in-law to use any resources he had available to him to locate Eriko. Then she started her quest to locate the girl's father.

Ulquiorra was sitting out on the deck with the empty bottle of sake and a long forgotten cup of tea he had made. He was still angry. His daughter wasn't home. His first instinct was to break out of his gigai and search every inch of Japan. Yuko couldn't hide if he leveled Tokyo. All it would take is several of those green spears of energy to be launched. He shook his head and then pushed his face into his hands, feeling helpless.

Orihime spotted him then. She poured a cup of coffee for him and came out onto the deck, quietly opening the sliding door and coming to sit in the chair beside him, setting the steaming cup on the table between them. "How are you holding up?" she asked.

"Just barely," he muttered. "Her bed is still made."

She reached out and squeezed his hand. "I called Isshin. I want to go out to look today. We can both take a car; you can take Kazui with you to help with detection," she suggested in a quiet voice.

Ulquiorra shook his head. "I'm going to wait at the train station. She could turn up there. This is my fault. I should have been more forceful with Yuko. I should have done everything I could to keep Eriko from going with her."

Orihime's heart shattered as she listened to him and her grip on his hand tightened. "You did well, Ulquiorra. There was no best course. None of us expected Yuko to pull something like this. But waiting at the station is a good idea. You need to be there in case she shows up. I will take Kazui to Isshin's and we'll start a search party."

"Killing Yuko would be the best course of action. I should have done it the first time she initiated contact with me."

Orihime got up and stood before him, putting her hands on his shoulders and bringing her forehead close to his. "Ulquiorra, you need to focus. I know you're terrified and exhausted, but thinking about what you want to do to Yuko is unproductive. What do you remember about that woman? Where did she live? Where did she work? Who did she hang out with? Even if it's not where she is now, we can ask around and track her down."

"The last time I saw her was when I lived in Kanagawa. I never hung out with her outside of my old apartment, except to go to karaoke, a bar, or a noodle shop. I never went to wherever she lived," Ulquiorra replied. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I'm beyond terrified. I'm beyond exhausted, Orihime. What if something like this were to happen with Kazui? What would you do? I guess this is karma coming back and dealing a punishment."

Orihime got down on her knees and pulled him into a hug. "If it was Kazui, I would have all of Soul Society's Living-World-Curious scouring the planet. If it was Kazui, I would be in worse shape than you are." She squeezed him tightly, trying to impart some strength to him. "And you know as well as I do that there is no such thing as karma."

For some reason, that jogged her memory, even though it was a totally unrelated thought. She pulled back slightly and looked at his face, keeping her arms around him, and asked, "In that note you asked me to reject, didn't she say that she had followed you for years? That she had kept other women away from you? Where did you go and who did you know before you met her? Maybe I could find a lead."

The man looked at the redhead with deadened eyes. He shrugged. "I knew a couple people from university. They were mostly acquaintances. I didn't have any lasting connections with people."

Orihime sighed. "If you remember anything, be it the name of a bar you went to or the name of a person, call me. I won't stop until we find her, Ulquiorra. You would do the same for me."

As much as he tried, he could not remember anything about Kanagawa or the people he been friendly with while in university. All the names were muddled together. "Azure maybe? Azu? I don't remember all that well. I wanted to forget my life after the incident with Yuko."

Orihime nodded. "It's a start. Come, let's get ready. I know you don't want to - I don't want to - but you need to eat something and keep your strength. I'll get in the car and you go to the train station. Call me for any reason. I will let you know the second I know anything." She leaned forward and kissed his temple, murmuring, "I love you, Ulquiorra."

"I love you."

A/N: The plot thickens! What do you think?