Chapter 17

The Torment of the Body that Cares

"Where is he?! Where did he go?!" demanded the hysterical young women as Ishida attempted again to calm her.

"I don't know, Inoue-san," he repeated. "But I'm sure that he's alright. He said that he was going to make sure that you were safe."

"But why would he leave?!"

Orihime burst into tears, burying her face in her hands as her shoulders shook with the violent sobs. Feeling a bit awkward, Ishida gently wrapped an arm around her comfortingly. To his relief, Orihime sank into his half-embrace, calming her crying slightly.

"Why wouldn't he wake me first?" she whimpered. "It's not safe! He said so. And he didn't take his gigai! Oh, Ishida-kun, we have to find him right away!"

"Inoue-san," said Uryū hesitantly. "I don't know where he is, but there is someone else who might know."

Ulquiorra had not been in Soul Society for more than an hour before he realized that he was a fool. He had known for all of his Hollow lifetime, and indeed had had it confirmed to him during his time as one of Aizen's Espada, that the word of a Shinigami is not to be trusted. Why had he acted now as if it were otherwise? Before entering the Senkaimon, he had delivered his Zanpakutō to his captors as the little Shinigami captain assured him that his request for clemency would be considered and that his voluntary surrender would speak in his favor.

During the passage, he had been "guarded" by several Shinigami with drawn weapons. Once through, he had been met with a group of guards who immediately placed spiritual suppression cuffs on his wrists and ankles, severely limiting his reiatsu. Once this was done, the young Shinigami captain had instructed the others to place him in a cell and had then addressed himself to Ulquiorra, informing the latter that he would speak to the Commander General immediately. All of this, Ulquiorra had expected.

The short Shinigami had left, and Ulquiorra had been taken away. Far from being placed in a prison cell as he had expected, however, he was taken to what was clearly a laboratory. Unease had filled him, and he had considered attempting escape then and there, but the suppression devices already placed on him as well as the absence of his Zanpakutō made him hesitate. By the time he was inside, it was too late. He was taken to a room where far stronger suppression devices were placed on him. His jacket was removed, and he was fastened to a table by bonds that, in his now weakened state, he could not hope to break.

The bonds had not even been fully secured before an individual entered who, judging by the inhuman face alone, could have been Shinigami, Arrancar, or something else altogether. The madness in the other's eyes would have rivaled that of Szayelapporo Granz. The broad grin completed the horrific face, enhancing the insanity that seemed to emanate from him.

"Ulquiorra Cifer, Cuarta Espada," chuckled the strange Shinigami. "I would ask you to confirm, but I see that that is no longer a guess." With another chuckle, he ran a long, sharp fingernail over Ulquiorra's gothic tattoo, clearly exposed now that his jacket was gone. "I've read much about you and your comrades in the copious notes that your Octava Espada compiled. You have many interesting abilities. At the moment, I'm especially interested in two of them. Perhaps you'd care to tell me about them yourself?"

Ulquiorra stared at the other with a perfectly cool, indifferent expression. Did this madman truly expect an answer? No. Time with Szayel had given Ulquiorra ample insight into a mind like this, and he knew that no answer was needed.

"No?" grinned the Shinigami. "Just as well. I'll want to experiment myself to see how they work. The first is what your comrade called Solita Vista. I understand that you have the ability to record what you've seen and replay it by removing your eye and then crushing it in your hand. Tell me, is this ability something that you choose to activate and deactivate? That is, will your eye record everything that you see, or only that which you want it to relate?"

Ulquiorra made a conscious effort to keep himself relaxed and not tense his muscles in expectation of what was to come. Damn you, Szayel, he cursed inwardly. This Shinigami meant to take him apart quite literally. At this point, he would normally have turned his head away and closed his eyes, indicating that he had no intention of answering. Given the question just asked, however, he had no doubt that such an action would be interpreted as his own pathetic attempt to protect his eyes from the reach of this Shinigami. That, he would not do. Hence, he simply turned his gaze to the ceiling, keeping his expression always impassive, and not closing his eyes.

"Well, if you don't care to tell me," continued the other, "then I suppose I'll have to find out for myself. Nemu!" With that, he reached forward and, more carefully than Ulquiorra would have expected, took hold of Ulquiorra's right eyeball and forcefully yanked it from its socket.

Ulquiorra did not react. The pain was considerable, particularly in his weakened state, but it was not more than he had experienced in the past. As he had never shown pain in the past, no matter what the circumstances, so too he did not show any pain now.

The Shinigami held up the white and green orb, observing it closely while his female assistant leaned forward to examine the empty socket in Ulquiorra's skull. The Shinigami then turned again to Ulquiorra.

"Does it matter how it is crushed?" he asked. "Must it be by your hand? Or can it be by another's? Must it be by a hand at all?"

Still, Ulquiorra did not move or speak. Chuckling at his reticence, the Shinigami took Ulquiorra's bound hand, pressed the eyeball against the palm, and closed the fingers over it. Ulquiorra would have liked to have fought back against this, but he knew that it would do no good. Any struggle or resistance on his part would serve only to provide entertainment to his captors. So, again, he forced his muscles to relax, allowing the Shinigami to press Ulquiorra's own hand over the extracted eyeball, crushing it to powder.

The sparkling dust filled the room, and the Shinigami researcher again cackled with glee as he watched Ulquiorra's final interactions in the Land of the Living with the little captain, where Ulquiorra surrendered his Zanpakutō. He followed their journey through the Senkaimon and into Soul Society, and he watched the Espada being brought into this very room. When the visions ended, the Shinigami actually clapped his hands in delight.

"Wonderful!" he exclaimed. "I must know how this works!"

Without further warning, and to Ulquiorra's surprise, the other reached forward immediately and roughly plucked Ulquiorra's left eyeball also from him. Ulquiorra could not fully suppress the surprised gasp which escaped him as this was done. With no sight then left to him whatsoever, he now found it a little more difficult to maintain his calm demeanor. His eyes had been all that he had had for most of his Hollow life. His other senses had opened to him with his Arrancar transformation, but he had still relied most heavily on his sight, using the other senses as tertiary enhancements to his experiences, never as primary. Even when he would, at times, relay information to Aizen-sama, using the ability that now so intrigued the madman who stood beside him, Ulquiorra had always had his second eye until the first regrew. Now, for the time it would take his weakened regenerative abilities to reproduce his most treasured organs, he was completely without sight. It was not the temporary rest of when he would close his eyes himself, either in boredom or mild frustration; it was not the temporary darkness of sleep; it was temporary, he told himself, but it was not by his choice. Knowing this, he knew too that he had no assurance that it would remain temporary: if the Shinigami had the ability to take his eyes from him now, and if Ulquiorra had no ability to resist, then his captor could and would do so at any time he chose. It was with great difficulty that Ulquiorra suppressed the shudder that rose within him at the thought of his dearest sense being now at the mercy and whim of the Shinigami counterpart of the mad Octava Espada.

Focusing on his resolve, Ulquiorra forced his breathing to remain calm and his body to remain relaxed. Whatever would happen would happen, and he would face it and accept it with the fortitude and indifference for which he was known. He would not yield to any sort of emotion, least of all to fear.

The Shinigami did not crush the second eyeball, or at least not in the little room. Ulquiorra's hearing and pesquia informed him as the other turned and left the cell, very shortly after retrieving his new prize. The female Shinigami remained, most likely still observing the empty holes left from the removed organs. No longer caring what they would think, Ulquiorra allowed his eyelids to close, knowing that there was now nothing for them to cover.

No sooner was this done, however, before a finger forced his right eyelid open again. A small device of some sort was placed on it, holding it open. Ulquiorra felt his muscles tense as the process was repeated with his left eyelid. Would they leave him with no dignity? Was he not permitted even a little peace while his body rebuilt itself? No. Why would he have expected it? The Shinigami was doubtless as interested in his ability to regrow his eyes as he was in the eyes themselves. Hadn't he said that there were two abilities in which he was interested at the moment? Ulquiorra felt that he could now guess what the second one was. Inwardly he sighed, not wanting to think about what lay in store for him now.

Even without having all of the facts, Ishida found himself silently cursing the stoic Arrancar. Orihime stood beside him, tears again streaming down her face, as she attempted to process what Urahara had told them.

"You're saying that they took him with them to Soul Society," summarized Ishida.

"Yes," nodded the shopkeeper morosely. "Yoruichi-san followed them, and she'll return with word as soon as she knows what they plan to do with him."

"We have to rescue him!" wailed Orihime. "Tōshirō-kun said that they were going to kill him! We have to save him before that happens!"

"Orihime-chan," soothed Kisuke, stepping forward to pat her head gently, "we'll do whatever we can. But you have to be strong now. Ulquiorra-san went with them of his own free will; they didn't capture him. You should try to trust that he knows what he's doing."

Ishida sniffed contemptuously. "He may think that he does," he stated, "but I doubt that he has any idea of what they have in mind for him."

"He knows," whimpered Orihime, shaking her head. "He knows that they'll kill him."

"I don't think that they will," replied Ishida, placing a hand on her shoulder gently. Then, with definite venom in his voice, he added, "That is, they won't, if the Shinigami decide to treat him as they would a Quincy." When Orihime looked at him, he continued, "You met him; the Shinigami I mean. The one who took and held my grandfather alive for some time before finally killing him. Do you remember?"

Orihime thought hard. She thought back to when she and Ishida-kun had traveled together through Soul Society to try to rescue Rukia-san. She remembered the Shinigami Taichō who had met them and offered to take them both alive. She shook her head again.

"No," she said quietly.

The voice from the distant past that had haunted her in half-remembered nightmares, even though she knew that Soul Society was now on her side, returned to her: "Woman, would you consent to be my test subject? ... Rest assured, I'm gentle with the ladies. ... I'll limit drug therapies to eight times per day and mechanical experiments to only five times per day." The thought of Ulquiorra being in the hands of such a being was enough to make her sick.

"No! We have to save him!"

"Inoue-san," interrupted Kisuke again, waving his hands. "Yoruichi is in Soul Society now, trying to find out what is happening. Until we know that, there's really nothing that can be done."

"We could go after him!" exclaimed Orihime. "We rescued Rukia-chan. If Kurosaki-kun helps us, and if Sado-kun──"

"I'm sorry to have to remind you," interrupted Kisuke, "but Kurosaki-kun would be of no help this time, and I doubt very much that you would succeed without him."

Orihime bit her lip, lowering her gaze to the floor. "There has to be some way."

Urahara and Ishida exchanged hopeless glances, and the shopkeeper shook his head.

"We'll do whatever we can," promised Kisuke, forcing a fake smile across his face. "But until Yoruichi-san comes back with news, we'll just have to wait."

Mayuri's questions were not endless, but they were unpleasantly numerous. Regarding Ulquiorra's Solita Vista alone, he had enough questions to fill over a week's worth of testing. For example, what was the maximum length that could be recorded by the Espada's eye? Was the recording process left to his discretion, or was it a natural, unstoppable phenomenon? Was there a difference in the quality of one eye over the other? Could the eyeball continue to record information after it was removed from the body of the Arrancar? If both eyes were removed at once and crushed at once, then would the visions appear in a more 3-dimensional aspect, as if the viewer were seeing things with two eyes him or herself?

Even before the testing of these had been finished, others began. Mayuri had no qualms about researching several aspects of the Arrancar's being at the same time, having no regard for the well-being (either physical or mental) of the subject, so long as he lived through the experiments. Ulquiorra quickly found that Mayuri knew about Ulquiorra's greatest strength being his regenerative abilities. While the others of the Espada had traded healing for strength, Ulquiorra had maintained the ability to restore his own body from any wound, so long as his brain and vital organs remained intact. Concerning this concept, Kurotsuchi-taichō had even more questions than of his eyes: which of Ulquiorra's limbs and organs would regrow if removed, and to what extent? How quickly would they regrow? How many times? What if they were merely damaged but not removed entirely? Would some extremities regrow more quickly than others? Would lack of nourishment and sleep affect the speed of his regeneration? What of concurrent injuries? That is, how many injuries could he sustain at a single time before his body would lack the strength to restore itself without help? When multiple injuries were inflicted at once, would the body heal the smallest first or the most dangerous first? What effect would spiritual suppression devices have on the regeneration? Already, enough of these suppression devices were placed on and around Ulquiorra to prevent the latter from escaping; how would increasing their suppressive forces influence the regeneration process?

Then, regarding his vital organs, how badly could these be damaged before they would be unable to regenerate? Which were truly considered vital? Before beginning testing in this area, Mayuri assured the Espada that he had taken the precaution of making several copies of Ulquiorra's various organs, such that they could be replaced by himself should they not regenerate properly. He smilingly informed Ulquiorra that he (Mayuri) would never allow a research subject to die before every possible experiment and observation was complete, hence Ulquiorra should have no fear on that score. Mayuri reaffirmed this when, on the fifth day, he announced that he was going to temporarily sever Ulquiorra's head from his body, wanting to see whether the body would attempt to regenerate the head, or whether the head would attempt to regenerate the body, or whether perhaps both would occur, giving two copies of the Arrancar. Ulquiorra knew that neither would occur, and by that point he found himself secretly hoping that Mayuri would not be able to restore his (Ulquiorra's) life after this horrific experiment.

He was disappointed.

Indeed, by the end of the first day in Kurotsuchi-taichō's hands, Ulquiorra had decided that it would have been far better to have challenged the little Shinigami to whom he had surrendered himself to a fight to the death. Of course, he would have allowed the other to win in the end. Death by a Zanpakutō, regardless of where his soul then went, would have been far, far better than this.

By the end of the second day, he had decided that it would have been better to fight every Shinigami that Soul Society sent, killing them all, one by one, until he was finally slain himself. He would start with the little Shinigami who had taken him prisoner rather than killing him and had then consigned him to his current fate rather than to a prison cell, and he would continue with every Shinigami who dared to enter his sight thereafter.

By the end of the third day, he decided that before destroying all of Soul Society and every Shinigami in it, whether they opposed him or not, he should return briefly to the Land of the Living and kill Kurosaki Ichigo, very slowly and painfully, as payment for his daring to convince the former Espada to come to the Land of the Living in the first place.

By the end of the fourth day, Ulquiorra had given up on his hatred of those who had caused him to be in this position and had decided instead that he had been right from the start: that no emotion was worth the pain of loss and that emotions in general were an inhibition to ultimate happiness, and that happiness was indeed achieved by perfect nihilism. No love; no hate; no joy; no sorrow; no comfort; no pain. Where nothing existed, there was happiness. That was, once again, his goal, his ambition.

It was, therefore, less than a week before Ulquiorra ceased reacting at all to any of Kurotsuchi-taichō's experiments. From the start, he had refused to react emotionally. He would say nothing. He would indicate nothing of what he was feeling or thinking, so far as he was able, even though the maniacal captain would press him with questions almost constantly throughout the experiments. By the time five days had passed, he stopped showing even pain. Nothing could produce a reaction in him.

Even when Kurotsuchi decided that he wanted to examine Ulquiorra's Espada tattoo in his own, unique way, the Arrancar remained expressionless, although, it must be admitted, it was very difficult to do. Mayuri wanted to know how Aizen had managed to permanently mar the flesh of one whose body returned to its natural state whenever damaged. However, rather than examine it as was, he informed Ulquiorra that he wished to run tests that required the tattoo to be in machines in which he could not fit the entire Arrancar. Therefore he cut deeply into the flesh of Ulquiorra's chest, down the center and around the entire left side, then scraped and lifted the full piece of flesh right off of his bones, such that for the space of several seconds (until his regeneration began to work) a person could clearly see the Arrancar's actual ribs, not merely their imprint beneath his flesh. Mayuri had had no interest in this sight, however, and had simply left with his prize, leaving Ulquiorra to cough up a little blood from the few wounds to his left lung, until his body restored itself. Even so, Ulquiorra refused even to show pain.

The closest that Mayuri came to producing a reaction was not in taking Ulquiorra's tattoo (which did not reappear on the regenerated flesh), but rather when, on the sixth day, Kurotsuchi-Taichō decided to remove the final piece of Ulquiorra's Hollow mask ─ his half-helmet. Upon being informed of what was about to happen, Mayuri's ever observant eyes noticed the slightest trembling in the Espada's hands. Curious about this, Kurotsuchi-taichō pressed the matter, describing the process in detail, but the reaction was not repeated. Ulquiorra lay with an empty expression, ignoring the Shinigami. He had seen the masks of other Arrancars removed by force (not through the Hōgyoku), and he knew the pain and damage that it would cause them, but this was of no consequence to him. It was not the pain that he feared. His mask was what identified him as what he was. Its existence proclaimed to all that he was Hollow; its broken state declared that he was Arrancar: ascended above the state of a normal Hollow. Its pristine condition (no cracks) showed that he was strong enough or at least cunning enough to defend himself against all who would come against him. It was an integral part of his identity. Yes, he had been visibly without it for some time while in the faux body that Urahara had provided him, but he had been able to bear this mental discomfort with the knowledge that it was still firmly in place in his true form. The thought of having it removed was enough to spur him to action, to make him actually want to fight back. Even in this extremity, however, Ulquiorra's ever-present self-control was enough to hold these futile longings in check, although he could not fully hide his abhorrence of the suggestion.

The process was, indeed, excruciating, and, when it was finally torn from him, the mask came away with both flesh and hair, ripped from the side of his head and face. Even so, the Arrancar refused to show anything to his tormentor beyond the small reaction he had shown at first. Gradually his regenerative abilities began to work as the Shinigami Taichō watched with glee. His face rebuilt itself; the hair regrew; but the mask did not reform. Kurotsuchi-Taichō was clearly thrilled with this development and ordered his lieutenant to keep a close watch on "the subject" for any sign of the mask returning. Ulquiorra simply continued to ignore them both. He had, by this time, accepted the situation. One might accurately say that he had fully abandoned hope. Indeed, he was now only waiting to die.

"I'm a bit surprised with young Hitsugaya's persistence," said Yoruichi, licking her paws calmly. "He's insisting that the Arrancar should be allowed to return here to live with Orihime."

"Are the others agreeing with him?" asked Kisuke.

"At the moment, only Yamamoto has heard his full argument. The others have heard bits and pieces, of course, but mainly through rumors. They're having a captain's meeting on the subject tomorrow, and, as I understand it, the Arrancar's fate will be decided then."

Kisuke sighed. "I should tell Orihime-chan and her friends."

"There's nothing that they can do," replied Yoruichi, stretching a bit. "It would be better to wait until a decision is made and tell them then."

"Orihime-chan is coming over every day, begging to hear news," argued Kisuke. "I've only held her off by telling her that you hadn't returned. How do I keep telling her that I haven't heard anything now?"

"You're good at lying, Kisuke," smirked Yoruichi. "I'm sure that you can do it convincingly."

"Ah, you wound me, Yoruichi-chan!" grinned the blond Shinigami. He chuckled, then became serious again. "I suppose it would only make it worse if they tried to get into Seireitei to try anything."

"It would," nodded Yoruichi. "There isn't any way that they could do anything, particularly without Ichigo."

"Orihime-chan would try, even if she knew she couldn't win."

"I know. That's why we shouldn't tell her yet."

"She'll be upset when she finds out, you know."

"The captain's meeting is tomorrow. Just keep from telling her until then."

Again, Kisuke sighed dejectedly. "Life just gets so complicated sometimes."

Yoruichi simply smirked at him again before curling up on the mat. Life was always complicated.

Death seemed to dance around Ulquiorra's thoughts in an alluring and yet taunting manner. It was so close, promising relief from his suffering, but he now doubted that promise. He had died previously in the battle with Kurosaki and had then been cast back into this nightmare that most people called life. Pointless. Was he destined to live in an endless cycle of hope and disappointment, always reaching and never attaining? Was this his own Hell? After all, who could say whether his death this time at the hands of the Shinigami would bring the peace that he sought? Would it bring only more questions? More struggles? Would his mind at last be free from the agony of the unknown and unknowable, or would it again be cast back into this realm or another, still searching for answers that could never been found?

Aizen had promised him answers. He had promised strength, meaning, purpose. Before Aizen, Ulquiorra had wandered in a seemingly endless of pursuit of anything, until he had realized that nothing was what he truly wanted. He had found it. He had lain in that blissful abyss, that pure absence, until Aizen had found him. The promises; the assurances; these had drawn him from his solitude to follow another: to follow hope.

But Aizen had been defeated. Ulquiorra had been left with nothing once more, but this time it was less than nothing. Hope disappointed was worse than having no hope in the first place. Ulquiorra knew this. He had experienced it firsthand. So then why then had he once more embraced hope?

He knew now that he had been a fool for ever imagining that he, a Hollow, could live life among the living, mingling with their colorful, energetic essences as if he was one of them. A Hollow, thinking that he could live with a Human? That he could ... love a human? It was laughable. It was ridiculous. He had to have been mad to have even considered such a thing. He was a heartless Hollow, a being incapable of human emotion. His lot was with the dead, not with the living. Their lives were forever beyond his reach.

No one can touch the stars.

Orihime had spoken to him of "love." He had known then that it was foolishness. Had he not told her that it was a mere figment of their weak imaginations; a vain attempt to rescue them from the vanity of their short, pointless lives? So why had he himself embraced this nonsense, striving for what he knew that he could never attain? What madness had possessed to hope for anything beyond his empty existence? He was a fool. He had been drawn into the fantasies of a mind that he knew he could never understand. He had joined her building castles of "hope" and of "joy" and of "love" in the clouds of nonsense, failing to see that they would be blown apart with the slightest breath of cold, hard logic. He had been flying with her toward that which can never be reached, believing that which could never come to pass. It was nonsense. It was foolishness. Love was a non-existent idea. He could pursue it forever and never be closer to that foolish dream than he was here now on this table of torture. Life has no meaning. Life has no purpose. All is futile. All is empty. Love does not exist.

No one can touch the stars.

The captains stood in the hall of meeting as Hitsugaya-taichō presented the situation to all present. It had been a full eight days since the capture of the Espada, and the meeting to decide his fate had finally come. To be fair, for such a subject as this, Tōshirō knew that he should be glad that it had happened inside of a month. One week wasn't too long to have had to wait. Even so, he wanted this over and done with as soon as possible, preferably with a favorable outcome for the human friend of his lieutenant and ally of Soul Society.

"In summary," he said at last, "the Espada has requested a half-century hiatus, during which he would remain in the Land of the Living without eating human souls. I expect that he would consume other Hollows, if he needed sustenance, but these souls would be released when his own soul is purged. He has given his word that he will submit to the soul purge at the end of the hiatus, or, more specifically, when Inoue Orihime herself dies. He wishes to remain with her for the duration of her own mortal life. I see no reason to doubt that he is sincere, so I would suggest that we grant his request."

"We do not make deals with Hollows!" snapped Suí-Fēng. "There's no reason to do so now."

"Didn't you say, however, that he spared your own life?" asked Ukitake quietly. "I would think that that fact deserves consideration."

Suí-Fēng pressed her lips together angrily but didn't answer. Ukitake waited only a moment before continuing.

"I also think that it is worth considering the fact that Kurosaki Ichigo ─ the one who originally defeated this Espada ─ is the one who is now responsible for bringing him to the Land of the Living. Perhaps the Hollow is not as he was."

Komamura-taichō frowned. "Regardless of how he may have changed," he stated, "he is still a Hollow and an Espada. As such, he is strong enough to do incredible amounts of damage, and we would have no way of stopping him without wreaking havoc in the Land of the Living. Kurosaki Ichigo may have defeated him once, but he would not be able to do so again."

"He's right," nodded Rose. "It wouldn't be safe to trust a Hollow to live peacefully among humans."

"Ironic," muttered Mayuri, looking at the Vizard captain with a sneer.

"Did you have something to say to me, Kurotsuchi-taichō?" demanded Rose.

"I just think it strange that you of all people would say that," replied Mayuri with a shrug. "After all, there isn't much difference between an Arrancar and a Vizard now, is there?"

Rose and Kensei both looked furious at this, but Shinji lifted a hand to mollify them.

"There's a world of difference," he replied firmly, looking darkly at Mayuri. "There are similarities in power, perhaps, but we are nothing alike in essence. Besides, you may remember that we Vizards secluded ourselves from the humans while we were in the Land of the Living. One of the reasons was that we didn't want to hurt them unintentionally. With an Arrancar, that risk would be far, far greater than it was with us. Rose is correct; it's not worth the risk."

"This Arrancar has been in the human world for some time now, causing no problems," argued Tōshirō. "We assumed that he was formulating some plan, and that that was why he had made no aggressive moves, but I now believe that he is speaking the truth when he says that he will cause no harm in the Land of the Living."

"No harm, you say?" grumbled Kensei. "Did you not say that he wished to be with the human girl? What does he mean to do with her?"

"I understand that they are ... emotionally attached," answered Tōshirō, trying not to stutter.

"Romantically, you mean?" smiled Kyōraku-taichō.

"Romantically?! With a human?" exclaimed Kensei. "Such a thing goes against the very natural order itself! It must not be allowed. Suppose that they were to produce offspring: what then? Would they be Hollow? This must not be!"

"Have you forgotten that Kurosaki Ichigo himself is a result of such an 'unnatural union'?"

"There is a world of difference between a Shinigami and a Hollow!"

"If the fear is that they will produce offspring," interjected Mayuri, "then I would not be concerned. I sincerely doubt that such a thing is possible."

"And if it is, you, of course, would be more than happy to know it, wouldn't you?" hissed Suí-Fēng. "Why shouldn't we suppose that you simply want more test subjects?"

"I am not advocating sending him back to the Land of the Living," retorted the twelfth captain. "To the contrary: I prefer to keep him where he is. I am merely stating facts as I see them."

"If he is indeed no threat, then I see no reason to hold him here as a prisoner," protested Tōshirō again. "Inoue Orihime likewise pleaded that he be allowed to stay with her. If we now──"

"She was his captive!" snapped Suí-Fēng. "Nothing that she says concerning him can be trusted. And as to him having caused no problems to this point, that is still no reason to assume that he does not have an underlying motive or plan that he is working to get into place. There is no reason to believe what he says about why he wishes to stay."

"If I may," came the gentle voice of the fourth captain. "I believe that I can shed a new light on this Espada's motives or lack thereof." Turning to the commander general, Unohana asked, "May I bring one of my officers into the meeting to testify? He has had first-hand experience with this Espada, more so than any captain here."

General Yamamoto frowned but nodded silently. With a smile, Unohana turned motioned to the guard at the door who opened it to reveal a cringing, frightened Shinigami. He entered hesitantly, bowing very low.

"Yamada Hanatarō," called Unohana gently. "Would you please tell the captains here what you told me about the Fourth Espada?"

"Um," stuttered Hanatarō, looking around himself fearfully. "Ulquiorra-sama was very kind to me. He saved me from the Hollows in Hueco Mundo, and he kept me safe. While we were staying in the strange world together, he helped me to help human souls who were being attacked by other Hollows. He never hurt me or any human soul."

"Perhaps you should explain from the beginning," smiled Ukitake. "For myself, I haven't heard this tale, and it is rather confusing. You spent time with the Fourth Espada in another world?"

"I'm sorry, sir. Yes, sir," nodded Hanatarō, bowing quickly. "It was just after the battles in Hueco Mundo. I was separated from the others and left alone there." Hanatarō then went on to describe his being accidentally left behind in the world of the Hollows, Ulquiorra's rescue of him, and the subsequent time that he spent in the World of Worlds. He told of his desire to assist lost human souls that he could see through the gateways and of how Ulquiorra would help to rescue them, sometimes killing the Hollows that had attacked the human souls.

"Ulquiorra-sama was very kind to me," insisted Hanatarō at last. "He never hurt me, and he never hurt any of the human souls that we saved either."

"Why did he suddenly decide to go to the Land of the Living?" queried the commander general. "Did he speak to you of his intentions while he was there?"

"Ulquiorra-sama really didn't speak to me at all," the trembling youth admitted. "Well, he spoke to me when he said that he was going to the Land of the Living. He said that he would take me there too, if I wanted, but I didn't want it, so he didn't, at first. He did later though, and that's how I was able to return here. I think that he went because Kurosaki-san asked him to come. At first, he said that he didn't want to go, but he changed his mind when Kurosaki-san wouldn't stop asking."

"So you see," said Tōshirō, crossing his arms, "it is as I said. I see no reason to believe that he is a threat."

"You see no reason to believe that he is a threat," repeated Shinji, "but I see no reason to believe that he isn't. It seems that your arguments are based on silence: he hasn't done anything wrong, you say. But I don't see that he has done anything right either. Yes, he helped Yamada-kun, but he formerly helped Aizen too. He actually died for Aizen. What if he finds out that Aizen is still alive, merely imprisoned? Do you really think that he'll simply ignore that? And, if you do, are you willing to bet the lives of every human in Karakura Town, not to mention many Shinigami, on that?"

Tōshirō frowned but didn't answer. He pressed his lips together and lowered his eyes, considering what he should say. Before he could answer, however, Shunsui again spoke.

"I think that one important fact has been overlooked," he said with a gentle smile. "The Espada was not captured; he surrendered himself. Now, why would he do that? After pleading with Hitsugaya-taichō to allow him to go free, and even after escaping the Taichō's grasp, he returned and surrendered. Since his imprisonment here, he has not attempted to escape. I think I may have an answer: he's in love."

There were various reactions to this declaration, but Shunsui merely gazed into the distance, still smiling, as he continued to speak.

"Love does strange things to a man, you know. It makes any man act in strange ways. The Hollow wanted to stay with the pretty girl, but he didn't just ask for a week or a month or a year: he wanted to stay with her for her life. When the tenth captain here first tried to capture him, we're told that he had opportunity to escape, but he didn't take it, preferring to stay and defend the little lady. Then, when he did escape, he took her with him. When he returned to surrender, he left her behind. I'd say that his actions as well as his words point to a very strong emotional attachment to this female." Looking around at the others present, he concluded, "I'd be willing to trust him, at least enough to let him have a chance."

Matsumoto suppressed a shudder as she walked through the halls of the 12th division's research facility. This wasn't a place where she would normally come by choice. She was here on a mission today: the Espada was to be brought before the Gotei 13 for judgement, and she, as the lieutenant that had helped to capture him, was given the dubious honor of fetching him from his place of imprisonment.

"Lieutenant Nemu," she greeted the other with a slight bow. "I assume word was sent to you already?"

"Yes," replied Nemu blandly, bowing also. "You are here for the Arrancar."

Matsumoto nodded.

"Come," was the simple response.

Ignoring the crawling of her skin, Rangiku followed the apathetic lieutenant through a few more halls and into a testing room. There on a medical bed lay the Espada.

Rangiku could not fully suppress a gasp. True, the creature had appeared unnaturally thin and pale when she had last seen him, but now he looked even more dead than a Hollow would normally look. He lay flat on his back, strapped to an examining table by strong suppression cuffs on his wrists, ankles, waist, and neck. His eyelids were held open with small clasps, and he stared at the ceiling with a lifeless gaze. He wore nothing, although a narrow strip of cloth had been laid across his nether regions, giving him the barest semblance of modesty. What shocked Matsumoto the most, however, was that four thin rods had been thrust through him: one through each shoulder and one through each hip.

"What──" she exclaimed. "Why── What is this?"

"The Espada's body heals from any nonlethal wound," replied Nemu indifferently. "Kurotsuchi-taichō wished to know whether a wound which was not given opportunity to heal would scar, as would a human. These rods have been in him for fourteen hours now. The bleeding stopped shortly after they had been placed, but it was found that the wounds remained open. Skin did not form inside the holes around the rods, as would be expected."

Nemu stepped forward and yanked the rod out of the Arrancar's right shoulder. She then leaned forward to observe the hole, making comments to no one in particular. Rangiku decided that she was taking notes of the healing time, but she didn't care about that. Her own gaze was fixed on the face of the creature whom she knew was the current love interest of her dear human friend. The fact that he didn't respond to their presence and showed no hint of pain or even discomfort as the 12th lieutenant continued to remove the rods disturbed her. She didn't say anything about it though.

Once all four of the inflicted injuries had healed, Nemu removed the clips from the Espada's eyelids. She then fetched a simple white robe and several strong spiritual suppression cuffs before proceeding to unbind the Arrancar from the table.

Rangiku licked her lips. In this condition, he probably wasn't going to make the best impression on the gathered captains.

"The Espada has arrived, Taichō."

"Bring him."

The door opened, and Lieutenant Matsumoto appeared, escorting the former Cuarta Espada into the midst of the captains. Heavy, powerful suppression cuffs had been placed on his neck, wrists, and ankles, and strong chains bound these together. He wore a white robe, like those given to prisoners. It was bound around the waist with a single tie, but the robe itself was clearly too large for him, hanging loosely from his thin shoulders. Despite the obviously heavy weight of his bonds, the Espada stood tall and walked straight, his head only slightly bent forward and his eyes fixed ahead of himself. His gaze, however, was so empty and devoid of life that it would have been anyone's guess as to whether he actually saw anything before himself. There was no expression on his pale face, nor was there any life in his empty, green eyes.

Suí-Fēng and Hitsugaya, both having seen the Hollow in the Land of the Living, looked surprised.

"What have you done to him, Kurotsuchi-Taichō?" growled Tōshirō, frowning at the other.

"Tch, I have performed a few tests, nothing more," shrugged the 12th captain.

"He looks ... unwell," said Ukitake hesitantly, fully aware of the fact that he was speaking of a Hollow.

"Far less well than when I brought him here," confirmed Tōshirō, still looking at Mayuri through narrowed eyes.

"If you want to examine him, feel free to do so," snapped Kurotsuchi in an annoyed fashion.

He strode forward, took hold of the collar of Ulquiorra's robe, and yanked it off of the other's shoulders. The robe fell to his waist, hanging now by the tie there and revealing the pale skin of the Espada's back, arms, and chest for all to see. The Arrancar himself did not move or react to this.

"You'll find not a mark on him," continued Mayuri nonchalantly, returning to his place. "No scars; no injuries. My tests were all perfectly safe. Come! Examine him yourself, if that's what you want."

Ukitake looked a bit uncomfortable, and he didn't answer. Tōshirō merely continued to glare.

"I'm sure that there's no need to disrobe him here," murmured Kyōraku-taichō. "He's not in your laboratory, Mayuri."

"Tch," came Kurotsuchi's contemptuous response as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Hitsugaya, however, stepped forward. With a dark frown, he looked at Ulquiorra's left pectoral region.

"He formerly had a marking here, indicating his Espada rank," Hitsugaya stated, looking again at Kurotsuchi. "Where is it?"

"If you must know, I removed the marking." Kurotsuchi waved a hand dismissively. "What of it? It was only a marking. Without Aizen and the rest of his comrades, it isn't as though the ranking serves any purpose now."

"Did he not also have a fragment of a Hollow mask?" asked Ukitake. "I thought that all of the Espada had that as well."

"It was unnecessary for any function," sighed Kurotsuchi in exasperation. "I removed it also."

"What else have you removed from him?" growled Tōshirō.

"The Espada's physical condition is not under discussion right now," came Yamamoto's firm voice. "The question is whether to allow him to live in Hollow form and to return to the Land of the Living. The rest can be discussed later between yourselves as you like, but it does not pertain to the subject at hand."

Tōshirō's lips pressed together, but he returned to his place without another word. Yamamoto lifted his heavy gaze to rest on the diminutive Hollow before him.

"Arrancar," he rumbled. "We have discussed your request. Several here speak for you, which is something unheard of for a Hollow. However, taking their arguments into consideration, we are prepared to grant some of your request, provided you will abide by certain conditions set by Soul Society. Are you willing to swear to these?"

Ulquiorra's eyes never moved through this. Even as the commander general finished speaking, he continued to gaze unblinkingly at nothing. Several of the captains frowned, and Ukitake cleared his throat.

"Ulquiorra-san," he said quietly. "I understand that that is your name. We are willing to help you, if you will agree to it. Will you at least discuss it with us?"

There was still no response.

"If you refuse," growled Yamamoto, "then we may choose to treat you as the enemy that you, by nature, truly are. Is that what you wish?"

Even with this threat, the Espada did not move or speak. If he heard them at all, he gave no indication of it.