Chapter 39

Although Ulquiorra and Orihime had made up, he was still pissed off about the whole Kitajima thing. He waited until the following Saturday before he called the orange-haired male into his office… Well, Orihime's office.

This would be quick and hopefully the man would understand where his boss was coming from.

"You wanted to see me, Cifer-san?" Ichiro seemed entirely too cheerful.

Ulquiorra nodded and motioned for Kitajima to close the door. "I want you to leave Orihime alone." No frills or pleasantries would be allowed for this.

The younger man stared at his boss with a blank expression for several moments, then raised a finger and opened his mouth to speak, then closed his mouth and lowered the finger. He repeated this action twice more before finally asking, "But, what if she asks me to do something? Should I refuse? Can't she fire me?"

The green-eyed man's head shook back and forth. "She most likely won't be asking you for anything else. I'm the one in charge as long as Orihime is unavailable to work," he replied. "You will also refrain from texting her or reaching out to her."

Ichiro's brows knit together and he nodded, but said, "So you know about WordWise?"

"Whatever it's called. It will cease, do you understand?"

"Is it okay if I keep playing it with Satomi?" He was cute, but a bit of an idiot.

Ulquiorra looked at Kitajima with a mildly annoyed look. "I could not care less if you play with the Emperor. Unless Orihime specifically wants you to entertain her, you will leave her alone and do your job."

"Oh," he said, his posture and expression changing. "So it is okay if I talk to her as long as she's into it? I wasn't sure. I mean, I know you guys share the business and live together, but I wasn't sure if you were a couple or if it was just some… weird… thing," his nose wrinkled as he silently pondered the other possibilities. Maybe Ulquiorra was gay and they just wanted another kid. Maybe he was a live-in sperm donor. Who knew, these days.

This man was going to die. Ulquiorra's head snapped up faster than it seemed possible and his hand reached for the other, feeling that small nodule in the web between his thumb and index finger. If he obliterated Karakura town with his spiritual pressure, so be it.

Orihime wouldn't be happy about it.

That's what stopped him from crushing the dampener. The thought of his woman stopped him from killing an entire town. Ulquiorra took a deep breath and counted to five. "Why would you say that? Everyone else knows we're a couple. Does it not seem like we're together? We're having a child together!"

The orange-haired kid shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know!" he whined. "The girls, I mean, Tomoko and Akemi, were talking about how you flirt with them and how they think you'll ask one of them out soon. I mean, Satomi tells them that they're idiots, and Endo-san laughs, but I don't know…"

Ulquiorra laughed. It was rare to hear that sound from him, but he had to throw his head back and laugh. Oh, those stupid women. "Orihime is my girlfriend. I do not flirt with anyone. I do my job while being polite. If that is flirting, then those women need to think about who they allow into their lives."

Kitajima tilted his head to the side and sucked in a long breath. "I don't know, you stare sometimes. They think it means you want them. They are thirsty," he said the last part under his breath. "Anyway, I'm sorry, I didn't know she was your girlfriend. I mean, you're not married, but you're having a baby… I didn't think it was serious."

The green-eyed man looked at the other one with a deadly gaze. "She is my girlfriend. It doesn't matter if we are married or not. You will refrain from any flirting with her. You will not check her out. You will maintain a respectable distance from her even if she asks you to do something," Ulquiorra stated. He appeared collected but underneath the surface he was nothing but a ball of rage. The paper that was in his hand was crumpled up into a wrinkled mess. "Otherwise I can put someone else on deliveries and you can be stuck in the kitchen."

"Okay," Ichiro said, not quite sure if it was the right thing to say. "I mean, I can do that."

"Good. Please go about the rest of your tasks for today."

The young man nodded and left the office without another word.

Eriko made sure Orihime was asleep before she pulled Kazui into her bedroom. "We need to talk," she said to her best friend.

"What about?" Kazui asked.

Eriko sighed. "We need to help your mom. What do you know about this Soul Society place?"

"A decent amount," he replied, suddenly thoughtful as his chin rose a few degrees. It was rare that he was considered an expert on anything. "What do you want to know?"

Eriko put a finger to her lips, thinking. She had overheard her parents arguing the other day, and was somewhat mad at her dad for what he had said to the woman. "How do we get there?"

Kazui managed to raise a single brow. "I dunno," he said, as if it was a stupid question for her to ask someone like him.

She sighed again then shook her head. He would be difficult. "Okay. My dad wants to go to this place to get that guy, right? Your mom can't exactly go, and for some reason my dad can't go. They need to fix this or nothing will get better. We should go for them."

Kazui chewed on the insides of his cheeks for a minute, considering his options. Then it came to him. He hummed for a moment, and then his eyes widened and found Eriko's with a grin as his fist came down on his palm. "I know who we can ask. Not only can she tell us how to get into Soul Society, but she can help you figure out how to use your… Your…" he gestured toward the space surrounding Eriko's body, "Stuff."

Her stuff? What was he talking about? "My what?" the girl asked, her brows coming together, looking very much like her father. "Why did you say it that way?

"I mean your powers. Your spiritual pressure. I know you have it, but I don't know what it is."

Ohhhh. "My dad says I'm more Hollow… I don't know what that means but… I'm not allowed to use them after I killed Yuko."

"Well… There's this place in Karakura. I have some friends who live there. They are like your dad, kinda. They don't live in gigai, though. They just live in their spirit bodies. They know about hollow powers, they have them."

"Are they those Vision people?" Eriko asked. She couldn't remember the word for what her dad said they were called.

"Vizards, yeah," he replied. "They have a place like Urahara's underground. Nobody will be able to know if you're practicing using your powers there."

The girl bit her lip and dragged her teeth across the skin as she thought about it. "How long will this take? Dad's talking about taking Mom-Orihime on some holiday. If they're gone long enough, we can totally pull this off."

Kazui nodded. "We should go visit Hiyori first. She is kind of crazy, but she is a fast teacher. You need to know how to do some basic stuff before we get to Soul Society, or you'll get caught right away."

"Like? Is it gonna hurt?"

The grin that split his face was of the evil variety as he chuckled. "It might," he said in a knowing way.

Eriko scowled at Kazui and stuck her tongue out at him. "Can we go see her today or should we wait?"

"If we're gonna do this, we should start now," he said, already opening the door and heading for the steps. "I'm going into Karakura, Mom. I'm taking Eriko to visit Aunt Karin. She said she was going to help us with our soccer stuff," he finished as he hit the bottom of the stairs and bounded toward the kitchen to grab some snacks to go.

"Oh?" This surprised the redhead, but she was truly too wiped out to care at the moment. "Say hi for me," she called from the sofa. "Make sure you stop at the cafe and make sure Ulquiorra doesn't need any help."

Eriko stopped and looked at the redhead before she walked over to Orihime and hugged her. "Do you need anything before we leave or are you going to be okay?"

Orihime smiled at the girl and grabbed her forearm, stroking it for a moment. "No, sweetie, just make sure you have your phone on you and charged, okay?"

She nodded and pulled the phone from the pockets of her jeans. "I got it and it's at ninety percent," Eriko replied. "We'll be back soon and we'll stop by the cafe."

"Okay. Give me a hug before you leave. You too, Monkey!"

Kazui came jogging into the room and put his arms around his mother's neck from behind the sofa briefly and said, "Bye!" close to her ear before bounding out the door.

Eriko rolled her eyes before following after the boy.

"What the hell is this, Kazui? Who is that?" said a blonde woman with pigtails as she spied the boy coming down the stairs. Hiyori's mouth was turned down as she stared at the kids.

"This is Eriko. She's my best friend. She's kind of a hollow, but kinda not. We want you to help us figure it out. Urahara said-" Kazui began.

"Oh god, not him. Urahara is dumb! She's a hollow?" Hiyori hopped down from the rock she was sitting on and moved towards the girl. The green eyes were unsettling along with the blank expression. "HACHI!"

"Yes?" a somewhat muffled voice answered in a drawn-out response. The huge, humpty-dumpty-looking man with a broom bottom moustache came into view a moment later. He was enormous. "Oh, Kazui. What a pleasant surprise," he said with a smile.

As soon as Eriko saw the man, her eyes opened wide and she backed up. The man was huge, and it scared her. Her bottom lip trembled as she made contact with the stairs and fell on her butt.

"Eri," Kazui scolded as he hauled her up by the elbow. "That's Hachi. He is harmless."

The giant sat on the ground before the children. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Eri," he said, bowing.

Her gaze flickered between the big man and Kazui. "Are-are you sure? I mean..."

"Oh get over it!" Hiyori said. "How the hell are you part hollow? You're human."

Eriko flinched at the loud woman's words. "Uh, my dad… He's… he's… a former Espada?"

"Oh!" Hachi replied, sounding tickled by this information. "Such a nice girl with such formidable strength." The large male muttered a quiet incantation, holding a few fingers in strange, symbolic positions, until a transparent box formed around the girl. Then his eyes lifted to hers and he smiled again. "Allow your spiritual pressure to expand freely, Eri-san. I want to measure it."

The last time she had done that, she had killed her birth mother and almost ended the stranger's life. Eriko thought back to that incident, feeling that darkness swell inside of her. It erupted from her body fast and hit the barrier, a dark green surrounding her body. The energy that surrounded her pulsed with her heartbeat as it tried to find a weakness in the walls.

Hachi's barrier was strong and pliant, expanding instead of breaking before returning to its original dimensions. "Oh, very interesting," he commented with a serene tone. "Is there any more? Do you have a mask?"

"No," she answered with a shake of her head. "Something weird happens though."

"Show me. It's safe within the barrier," he assured her.

Looking at Kazui, Eriko shrugged. "I can't-I need help to show you. Urahara touched me with his cane and I think… I think I left my body."

That mischievous grin he sometimes employed to charm people without meaning to appeared on Kazui's face as he pulled a badge out of his backpack. "I don't think my dad will mind us borrowing his pass. It should still work," he said, referring to the palm-sized object. He sat and pressed it to his own chest and his soul immediately sprung free, black robes billowing as it rose from his body. "Wanna try?"

When the girl hesitated, Hiyori rolled her eyes at her. "From what I've heard from Urahara, you're supposed to be this confident kid, Eriko. Not that we talk to that ass a lot," she stated, folding her arms over her chest.

"I don't want to get anyone in trouble!" Eriko said with a scowl. She glared at the blonde and then grabbed the object from Kazui. "What do I do? Just put it on my chest?"

"Yeah, sit or lie down first so your body doesn't get hurt," he explained.

Eriko did as Kazui said and sat down. She pressed the pass against her chest, right where her heart was. Immediately she felt like she couldn't breathe. It felt like she was clawing her way out of her body before she found herself standing next to Kazui, wearing white again. "I hate that," she said to him.

"You get used to it," he said, nudging her shoulder with his. "Now, should we start training right away? Do you know how to stand in the air?" Kazui asked before immediately executing the technique, showing off.

She followed him with her eyes, before looking at the two other people. "I have no clue what to do," Eriko admitted.

"Can you manipulate your spiritual pressure, or have you no control of it, apart from release and retract?" Hachi asked.

"Uh, when I get mad or upset, it kind of lashes out I guess," Eriko said. She looked at Kazui before looking back at the guy named Hachi. "No one has really told me anything about what I can do. I know that I killed someone with it though."

Hachi closed his eyes and nodded without judgment. "This is good that you have learned how important it is to control yourself. Have you ever played with water from a hose, Eriko?"

"Not really. My dad says it's wasteful."

"But you understand the concept. You can control the flow and trajectory with the angle and pressure you use. Your spiritual pressure works in much the same way. If you are able to control the flow of water from a hose, you are able to control your spiritual pressure. Try it. I will make a barrier block in the air over there," he said, and did it. "Try to hit it with your spiritual pressure. Don't worry about breaking it, that won't hurt me."

She wasn't really sure what this guy was talking about but Eriko nodded. She tried to channel the energy surrounding her into one arm. She had to really concentrate and it made her head hurt. The girl groaned and then dropped her arm. "It gives me a headache. Why can't I just be like a nuclear bomb and just blast people?"

"Because they won't be like humans; they can take it and dish it back," Kazui warned her. "This is important, Eri. If we're going to do this, you need to be able to handle yourself. At least the basics. Try again."

Oh. "Okay." She raised her arm again and focused, making sure her breathing was even and calm. She had to think of this like she thought of Kendo. She had to be disciplined. Feeling the power flow through her body, Eriko forced it to shoot out of the palm of her hand. It missed Hachi's barrier. "Oops. Was I supposed to do that?"

"It was a nice try," the large man said. "Try again."

He wanted her to try again? That first move just about drained Eriko. She slumped down before shaking her head. "Does that normally take a lot out of you?" she asked.

"No. Maybe you should try your zanpakuto," Kazui suggested, eyeing the blade at her side. "It might help direct things. You already know kendo. Use what you know to direct your energy. Here, I'll show ya," he said, pulling his own blade off of his back and slashing with it toward the box, calling out a phrase that wasn't immediately recognizable. There was a flash of golden light and the box shattered.

"See? It's easy. You just gotta aim," the boy said, sheathing his sword.

Eriko shifted her body before grabbing the hilt of the sword with her right hand. It was joined by her left hand. Having the weapon in her hand felt somewhat comforting as she focused that energy. It seemed like Hachi built another box with a wave of his hand. It shattered just as quickly as Eriko swung and quietly pleaded with her soul to make this work.

"Nice!" Kazui crowed, pumping a fist in the air. "What did you say when you slashed? I couldn't quite make it out."

"I was asking Komori to obey me," Eriko replied.

"Wow! You already know its name? Awesome!" Kazui said, punching her shoulder lightly.

Eriko scowled at him for a moment before she turned to the other two people. The blonde look worried. "What?"

"Hachi? What do you think?" Hiyori asked.

The huge Vizard shrugged. "She knows. Her father was an Espada. Her hollow power is likely more instinctual. It's not like us; she wasn't a shinigami first." Hachi turned his attention to the girl. "When did your power manifest?"

"I can't tell you!" Eriko squeaked. She turned bright red and frowned at the man.

"Oh c'mon what's so embarrassing?" Hiyori complained. She turned to Kazui. "Do you know when her powers manifested?"

The boy kicked at the ground and mumbled, "Um, y'know, girl stuff…"

"Kazui!" Eriko turned redder and she pouted. "It started after puberty hit."

"This is unsurprising," Hachi said. He was not interested in uncovering the girl's mysteries. He only wanted to help the kids out. "Do not worry, Hiyori-san. It seems to be a natural course. Eriko, I think you should practice air steps next, after you feel comfortable with your attacks. Why don't you and Kazui practice a bit and then you can come back again and we can do the steps?"

"Wait! I have some questions," Eriko said.

"What?" Hiyori asked.

"We need to get to Soul Society. How do we do that?"

The woman sighed and slapped her forehead. "Kazui? Does your mother know you're here?"

"Ha ha, no," the kid deadpanned.

"Why do you two need to go to Soul Society?"

Eriko looked at the ground for a moment before answering. "Our mom needs help. There's a guy there and only he can undo some spell or something. My dad can't go because the whole 'he's the bad kind of spirit' issue."

Kazui nodded. "Hiyori, you know you don't really care. We just need to get in, find this guy, and get him to tell us how to reverse whatever effect he has on Mom, and get out. She's having health problems and the doctor says it's serious. And Dad can't even sleep, and he is working all the time, so he can't even think straight," the boy argued, throwing the paternal title toward Ulquiorra without even considering what he was doing. As far as he was concerned, he and Eriko were fighting for their family's wellbeing; the name was simply a descriptor of the relationship.

The green-eyed girl opened her mouth then closed it. She looked at Kazui and then beamed a smile at him. "We just want to help," Eriko said.

"You can help by learning the basics," Hiyori said. Pulling a flip phone out of her pocket of her jacket, she waved a hand at the kids. "Hachi, make sure they do what they need to do. I'm gonna ask dumbass if he has information on anything going on over there."

Hachi nodded, turning toward the children again and started to explain the theory behind air-stepping.

A/N: Thanks for reading! So, these meddling kids... Think this is a good idea? Let us know!