~Las Noches~
"My Lord," Stark bowed once, ushering Ulquiorra in with a narrowed glance from smirking gray eyes. "Enter," the voice was smooth, male as expected. But the man that awaited; turning once the door had closed with a soft click from Stark's hand…
A Shinigami?
The man wore black robes. Folded neatly over the back of a chair near the window was a white long-sleeved garment, the Japanese character for five was embroidered onto it. The man took one long look at Ulquiorra then nodded, smiling friendly. "I've waited a long time for this moment. I hear you gave Stark quite the runaround as well as others sent to retrieve you."
He stayed silent, immobile near the door.
"I was even more surprised at Halibel's report. You were…" the man paused, his eyes upturned thoughtfully to the high ceiling as if searching for the proper words. "Accompanied by a female Shinigami, were you not?"
Rukia.
"Yes." He answered quietly.
The man looked around seeming to expect another to materialize, "why is she not here?"
"I…" he hadn't been exactly told not to bring her along so the sentence forming on his lips was an untruth yet Stark hadn't either said she could have come with them. "You could have brought her," the man said peering at him through round glasses. He was unable to match the stare.
"If it would have set your mind at ease…"Ulquiorra knew the man had read him. "I did not believe the Arrancars of yours would not eat her if given the chance." The Shinigami's expression took on a surprised cast, "if ordered not to, they will obey. I have only to give the word and that girl of yours would be safe. Here."
He was being manipulated. Used. Twisted because of her.
"What do you want?" There was something he would have to give in exchange.
The man spread his hands as if to encompass the air, "you. Become a part of my army and you can keep your Shinigami."
Giving in was as simple as the sentence spoken, his desire to reach the cavern where he knew she would be, already occupying his thoughts heavily. "I will leave immediately and bring her here…my Lord."
The man known by all of Seireitei as Taichou of the fifth Division; merely smiled knowing he had won.
~La Valle de siete azahares to Karakura town~
In her hand, she stared down at the slender flower held tightly by the pale green stalk. The crushed petals still glowed with a luminescent light, her eyes turned upward to the dimensional rip torn by the blade of her sword; a trick he had taught her. The night sky of the living world glittered with a thousand stars, the darkness beckoning so unlike Hueco Mundo's perpetual sense of isolation.
Briefly Rukia considered opening her palm and letting the ever bloom drop. Her fingers even went so far as to relax, feeling the smooth stalk began to slide then she stopped. Lifting it back to the fold of her Yukata she slipped it inside; not everything was blighted in this world.
She took a step and then another and then finally crossed between the worlds. Reishii solidified beneath her feet allowing her to stand for a moment above the town she had entered, her eyes taking in the sight of the quiet rooftops and snug windows behind which the multitudes of humans slept. Rukia drew in a deep breath of fresh air, the portal behind her sealing soundlessly.
Distantly on the other side of the town she picked up the swift moving reiatsu of a large Hollow. Her brows knitted; she hadn't expected to encounter one of them so soon. This might ruin her plan of laying low for a while. But it…it ignored her. She was sure it had sensed her by now so why—?
~Hueco Mundo~
It was faint but he still picked it up: a remnant of her scent. Her reiatsu was too small to have left any trace, disappointedly Ulquiorra turned back from the cavern of the Lunas. Stark waited a few feet from the entrance, "find her?"
He considered the Arrancar's bored expression, saying simply, "no."
"So we can head back—" Stark sounded hopeful, thinking of his pillow with longing.
"She has fled to the world of the living."
~Karakura town~
"What is that fool doing?" Rukia watched from above while in the street below the Hollow she had sensed, charged with its fangs bared at the tall slender figure of a human boy. His face averted in shadow made his features unclear to her curious eyes, only the unnaturally bright shock of orange hair stood out in the darkness.
"I'll eat your soul!!!" the Hollow screamed, lunging fiercely with a long arm; Rukia moved then. Her sword flashed once downward, the severed appendage cleaving cleanly from the huge shoulder thudded heavily to the ground. "Stay back," she warned over her shoulder to the stunned human.
"You—SHINIGAMI!!!!" enraged the air swirled with the flux of the creature's hate. Calmly Rukia looked it over with an expression of disgust, "just shut up already." She twisted narrowly to the side avoiding its strike; her feet left the ground as she somersaulted through the air, aiming for the back of its large mask. A single stroke and it was over.
She landed where it had stood, the whole of the Hollow's being dissolving into a spiral of spirit particles. The human boy openly gaped at her, "who—who in the heck are you?!" Neatly she sheathed her sword, her head raising just the smallest fraction, her eyes finally in the dim light of the moon above taking in the breadth of his face.
"K—Kaien?"
~*~
"Could you possibly not reveal our location to Soul society?"
Stark had suppressed his reiatsu, immense though it was; Ulquiorra recognized the same trick from before in the cave. Unrepentant he turned swiftly in the sky above the town, following the trace of her reiatsu. His green eyes closed briefly, his mind touching on the opposite reiatsu flaring near her; another Hollow.
"H-Hey! You can't just—"He left his unwilling companion behind, racing across the moonlit night. A peculiar sense of palpitating worry stirred in his breast. In the wind that grazed his mask, he knew she had chosen to fight. The fool…she lacked the strength to defeat it. He had to hurry.
On the rooftop, his eyes were drawn to the multitude of spirit particles flowing up from the street below. He turned his gaze downward then, seeing her first, with her hand on her scabbard and the other sliding her sword in. He felt a rush of pride. She hadn't needed him.
But there was another with her…
He heard the rough wheeze from Stark's lungs as the Arrancar landed beside him. Ulquiorra heard her voice as it carried up to him, her focus entirely consumed by the human's face. Burning rage boiled up in his chest, his animalistic side—the dominant side wiping all else from his mind but the memory of that name falling from her lips in nightmarish sleep. He wanted her to say his name that way.
"K-Kaien?"
~~~Preview of next CH. 10~~~
Vaguely Ulquiorra felt the pressure of Stark leaning in close, whispering softly, "take her now."
"No." he said just as softly.
The Arrancar looked confused, "but didn't you—"
"No—let's go." He turned away forcefully from the sickening scene. The ache to rip out the boy's throat nearly overwhelming his meager control. "Well…if you say so," Stark muttered, following him through the portal back to Hueco Mundo.
Someday. Ulquiorra thought. It would be his name only on her lips and only him in her nightmares.
~*~
AN: Ulqui's definitely getting possessive now and he hasn't even learned Ichi's name yet! Yes, it is somewhat different then the start of the manga/anime. But remember it is slightly au after all ;) anyway thanks for reading and reviews-not-flames are appreciated. :)