It took several seconds for Orihime to comprehend what Aizen had just suggested. "Excuse me?" she squeaked. She could hear murmuring from the people around her. She looked around and spotted Ulquiorra staring at her in the same, monotonous expression; it was absolutely unreadable.
"I said," Aizen replied, "how would you like for your powers to be strengthened? I have the capability to do this. All of the hollows in this room have benefited from the powers I have given them. You have already made a decision to follow me." He paused. "To enhance your abilities would only be the next natural step."
Orihime's heart and thoughts raced. If I refuse , he'll know for sure that my heart isn't truly in the alliance I have made with him! If I accept his offer, that would make me an absolute traitor to Kurosaki-kun and my friends! And who knows what kind of effects his power would have on me? What kind of monster would I turn into? And who knows the kinds of things he would make me do…would this mean I would have to become a hollow? She shuddered at the thought.
Aizen interrupted her thoughts. "You do not need to make the decision now. I will give you some time to decide. However, if you refuse…" He took another step towards her and spoke in a softer tone, "…just understand that the power of the Hogyoku is also quite extraordinary. There are ways to mimic powers already in existence. It is a nuisance, however, and the results are better when I improve upon existing abilities rather than from scratch. Nevertheless, Orihime…just be forewarned that you are not entirely irreplaceable."
His intimidation was astounding—she could feel beads of sweat forming on her forehead. "Yes, sir. I understand."
"Very good. You are dismissed. Ulquiorra will escort you back to your room." Within a flash, he was once again at the highest seat in the room. There was more murmuring from those around her. Other hollows also slowly popped out of the room, one by one. She noticed Grimmjow Jammerjaques giving her an arrogant smirk as she walked by him, but she ignored him and kept walking.
She and Ulquiorra walked side by side outside of the doorway. She looked down at the floor as she walked. As soon as they had walked a few yards away from Aizen's throne room, Grimmjow appeared before her and blocked her path. He gave her a wide, threatening grin.
"So, are you gonna accept?" he teased.
Orihime's cheek turned slightly pink. She chose her words with caution. "I will use the time Aizen-sama graciously gave me to weigh out my options. I have always wanted to improve my powers through my own efforts, but Aizen-sama's offer is very, very tempting."
Grimmjow guffawed and cursed. "He's giving you the offer of a lifetime, and you're talking about doing it on your own? I can't believe this girl!"
During the course of Orihime and Grimmjow's exchange, Ulquiorra had continued walking. He paused and turned towards them, "I would advise you to refrain from speaking to her any longer. She was instructed by Aizen-sama to return to her quarters."
"Who was talking to you?" Grimmjow barked.
Ulquiorra retained his blank expression and merely replied, "As I said, Aizen-sama gave an order, and I am seeing to it that she obeys without delay. You would do well to do the same. Don't you have some work to do?"
Sneering, Grimmjow took several steps forward and cursed.
Unfazed, Ulquiorra turned around. "Woman, you were instructed to return to your quarters. I suggest you leave this babbler in the hallway and follow me."
"Are you trying to start something, Ulquiorra?" It was clear that he was itching for a fight; Grimmjow looked as though he would draw his sword at any minute.
"I do not have time for these games. They are a waste of energy, and I do not engage in bouts with trash."
"You son of a…"
But they were interrupted by Gin Ichimaru.
"Well, well, well. Seems like I can hardly leave ya alone for a minute before you go around chasin' the girls, huh?" Gin remarked.
Grimmjow turned up his nose. "I was just on my way out."
"Yeah, I'm sure you were." Gin retorted. "Any more delays an' I'll have to have a word with Tousen about this." Gin's eyes opened slightly to reveal tiny menacing slits.
Grimmjow's eyes narrowed. He briefly looked down at his left hand and rolled his eyes. "No one around here likes to have any fun." He sheathed his sword and disappeared.
Gin looked over at Ulquiorra and Orihime with a smirk. "Have a good night," he stated provocatively, and disappeared.
Ulquiorra put his hands in his pockets and continued walking as if nothing happened. Orihime followed, her thoughts flying, reasoning, justifying, and grieving. However, she was not so distracted as to ignore that the emptiness had returned once more. This annoyed her; was her desperate situation making her more susceptible to gloom? She looked up to face the back of his head. I wonder whether he knew that Aizen was going to give me this ultimatum. Even if he did, he wouldn't have told me. He seems like the kind of person who keeps secrets. Orihime reflected on this. She laughed internally. Not because it's a secret, but because he doesn't care about secrets. Ulquiorra-kun telling me secrets…She thought of him whispering little gossip stories into her ear. This notion was so foreign to his character that Orihime couldn't help but smile. But then her smile turned into a very soft chuckle, and this turned into an audible giggle.
"May I ask what it is you find so hilarious?" Ulquiorra's voice shattered her thoughts.
She immediately composed herself and solemnly answered "Oh, nothing…" She was tempted to say, "It's a secret," but decided against it.
"Something must have made you laugh. You were just given a very humorless ultimatum. What could you possibly find funny at such a time?" He stopped and turned his head around to look at her. The expression on his face was very serious, but this only made it worse. She decided that the only way to keep a straight face was to look at the ground.
When she didn't answer, Ulquiorra turned back around and scoffed.
Orihime remained composed throughout the rest of the walk to her room. When they arrived, she mumbled a brief thank you and goodbye to her escort. He said nothing, but upon looking at his face again, she quickly turned around, trying her best to suppress her laughter. As soon as the door closed, she walked to the opposite end of the room and let out a very loud and long laugh.
"I can't believe….I'm laughing at a time like this, but his face was so funny!"
After a few minutes of composing herself, she sighed. "I haven't laughed like that in a while…" She brought her thoughts back to the reason behind the lack of laughter, and the coldness that had briefly escaped her returned.
I have to think about what I need to do. I only have two options, and my heart is telling me to refuse. I don't want his help. Even though I'm a traitor, I'm really here to protect my friends, and by accepting Aizen's offer, there's no telling what could happen. What if I forget about my friends and turn out to be a real traitor? He said that he could strengthen my powers. What did he mean? I can already reject almost anything. The only thing I've never been able to reject was Tsubaki's death, but Ushoda-san helped me with that when he brought him back to life, and now I am capable of the same.
But then her thoughts drifted to the day Ulquiorra had showed up in Karakura Town with the hollow Yammy. She thought about how much she wanted to protect Ichigo, but couldn't. She was simply too weak.
I'm absolutely useless. All I can do is heal. She thought back to several weeks ago when she had sworn to herself that she would find a use for her powers and reject the existence of the Hogyoku. If Aizen strengthens my powers, I may not even need to be around the stone to reject its existence. What if I do retain all of my thoughts and feelings after I accept Aizen's help? She paused, crossed her arms, and began rubbing her shoulders. What if…what if I my offensive abilities grow stronger as a result? Her heart fluttered. I have always wanted to become stronger. And I could truly protect my friends, especially if my inward allegiances don't change. Yet, Aizen is very crafty, and he is not to be trusted. His helping me is surely part of some master plan of his, and I know that he's probably already calculated what my powers can do to deflect his plans. I cannot trust him.
Nevertheless, it truly is a tempting offer…
.oOo.
When Orihime had shut the door in his face, Ulquiorra was shocked to hear muffled laughter coming from within her room. Ridiculous, he thought. She has just been given the choice between life and death, yet she is humoring herself. I have heard that some humans resort to laughter as defense mechanisms. Yet, the woman has not demonstrated this type of behavior since her arrival in Las Noches. Perhaps she is beginning to suffer from a breakdown? This is unfortunate for Aizen. I will interrogate her tomorrow. If anything is amiss, I will report it.
.oOo.
Ulquiorra came to her quarters during the second meal the next day, before the servant came in with food. "I am outside. I am coming in," he warned.
Orihime was standing by the window, looking outwards. She didn't bother to look back at him. She knew that the servant would be inside within minutes to drop off the food. Apart from her usual "Hello," there was always an awkward silence between the time that he arrived and the time that the servant came indoors. As expected, the servant came, but before he left, Ulquiorra addressed him.
"Today you will wait for my orders to pick up the woman's dishes. I wish to have a word with her, and I do not want to be interrupted."
"Yes, sir," the servant replied.
Orihime looked up curiously at Ulquiorra. I wonder if this has to do with Aizen's ultimatum…is he expecting an answer from me so soon?
Ulquiorra merely stood by the door, as usual. When he saw that she did not approach the table, he blankly stated, "You will eat first, and then I shall have a word with you."
Orihime hated being ordered to eat. She walked to the usual chair, sat down, and began to eat. She noticed that he was staring at her differently. Usually when he watched her eat, it was with an indifferent expression, as though he was merely there to ensure that she remained nourished. Today, he was studying her. His eyes were very slightly narrower, and his gaze was more intent. It was barely noticeable, but she felt it, and though it made her uncomfortable, she dared not ask him about it.
She ate her food a little more quickly today, both out of curiosity and out of discomfort. "I'm done," she said when finished.
"Very well, then. I wish to have a word with you about yesterday."
Orihime quickly replied, "I know that Aizen-sama said he would give me time, and I don't mean to be disrespectful, but this is honestly too soon for me to make a decision…"
Ulquiorra cut her off, "Not about that."
Orihime gave him a quizzical expression.
"I am talking about your laughter in the hallway."
"My…" Orihime thought for several seconds before she realized what he was talking about. How could that possibly hold any importance? "Oh! That!" She gave a false chuckle and flapped her hand up and down at him. "That was nothing…"
"Do not hide it. I must know why you laughed so that I can make an accurate judgment about your psychological state."
"My…" her voice trailed off. She was confused.
"Yes. You were just given an ultimatum, and you began laughing but a few minutes afterward. At first I thought it was some sort of defense mechanism, but you have not displayed that type of behavior in the past. It is understandable for someone in your position to begin showing signs of instability."
"Instability? I, uh…no, not at all!" Now she understood. She was supposed to stay healthy, and suffering a breakdown would be bad for Aizen. How am I going to explain what I was laughing at without sounding like a total dummy? She remained silent before she started to speak, "You see…what I was laughing at was…well…I was just…just…well…thinking of something funny, that's all," she mustered. She felt sweat forming on her brow.
Ulquiorra's expression remained the same. "And what was that?"
"You mean, what was funny?"
"Yes. That is the exact question I asked you in the hallway, but you refused to answer. You then laughed once more when you were inside your room."
Orihime blushed. I was that loud?
When she remained silent, he responded, "If you do not tell me the reason for your laughter, I will assume that you really are suffering from some sort of mental instability. This will be unfortunate for Aizen. The ultimatum he gave you yesterday may be revoked. I'm sure you understand what this means."
She looked down at the ground. This is embarrassing. Does he really not understand laughter? What will he do when I tell him I was laughing at him?
He started to turn to leave, but Orihime quickly spoke up, "OK, OK. I'll tell you. It's just that it's a little…embarrassing, that's all."
Ulquiorra remained silent.
"Well…I was laughing at, what I was laughing at…what I thought was funny was, well…"she sighed, flustered. Her cheeks turned pink. Still looking at the ground, she softly replied, "I was thinking about…you… and then I laughed," she said quietly. Her cheeks grew red.
Ulquiorra raised an eyebrow. "You were thinking of me, and then you laughed," he repeated.
"Yes."
"How is this possible? What have I done to make you laugh?"
Her cheeks were on fire. "Well, it's not something you've done…it's more like something you haven't done."
"Elaborate."
His sober look was not helping. She sighed. "Well, after Aizen offered to strengthen my powers, I was sort of wondering whether you knew about all of it beforehand. And then I thought to myself, 'Ulquiorra wouldn't tell me about it even if he did know, because… because…well, because…"
Orihime looked up at him, but he remained with the same expression on his face, with his eyebrow cocked.
"…because I figured that you are the kind of person who keeps secrets," she quickly added, looking down again, "but not because they're secrets. I mean, well, what I mean is that…you don't seem to be the type of person who cares about something being a secret; it's just that you keep secrets because it's your duty or because you have no use for revealing any information to anyone…" She looked at him again. He seemed to be interested in what she was saying, but she couldn't tell because his expression hadn't changed.
"Anyway, when I got to thinking about this, what I thought was funny was, well…I thought of you…" she gulped hard, "telling me secrets, and well, I thought that the idea of you telling me any kind of…gossipy sort of secret was so utterly against your character, and I just thought it was really funny. Well, I just laughed because I thought it was it was ridiculous."
At some point in her dialogue, he had gone back to his usual stoic expression. After hearing her entire explanation, he merely looked at her and said, "It is."
He turned, faced the door, and began walking out of the room. Orihime stood still with her cheeks still burning. She could feel her stomach digesting the food she had eaten, and she felt humiliated. Now that I think about it, it wasn't that funny. She suddenly felt very tired.
As Ulquiorra turned around and locked the door, he could see her walking over to the couch. What absolute nonsense, he thought. From where does she get these odd notions? The idea of me telling her a secret is not humorous at all. It is an idea to be dismissed. Still, she was correct in identifying the nature of my character. It is notable considering how little about me she knows. And it is convenient that she is mentally intact. Nevertheless, I may still have to monitor her more closely for a few weeks to be certain. As he walked into the hallways, his thoughts passively dwelled on the woman in the room.
.oOo.
