"Get up sleepyhead! Can't have you sleeping all day can we?"

Ulquiorra opened his eyes in annoyance to Urahara's voice. He didn't know why, but ever since his imprisonment he had been incredibly tired, and often would nearly collapse. He took to sleeping unusual amounts to try and restore his energy, but to no avail.

"You'll be late for breakfast," Urahara continued, opening the blinds of Ulquiorra's small stuffy room to let the bright sunlight in.

Breakfast? "Oh. A meal." Ulquiorra raised to his feet. He was still dressed in his prison robes, not bothering to wear the spare dark green jinbei Urahara had offered him. "Don't bother. Arrancar do not need to eat."

Urahara tilted his head to one side. "Did they not feed you in prison?"

"I would assume they would know not to," Ulquiorra replied. He began to sway, and balanced himself against the wall.

Urahara started laughing. "Oh no…no wonder your reiatsu is next to nothing! You're starving to death!"

Ulquiorra's expression actually wavered into one of shock.

"Hollows in Hueco Mundo do not require nutrients, unless they are of the more powerful variety," Kisuke explained. "The Menos generally consume other hollows on their way to becoming a Vasto Lordes, but when Aizen turned you into perfect Arrancar, you stopped the ability for growth, and thus maintained your energy through the plentiful reishi that Hueco Mundo provides."

"Which is why I do not need to eat," Ulquiorra stubbornly insisted.

"Does this look like Hueco Mundo to you?" Urahara pointed out. "Either you're an idiot or you're just being stubborn about having to resort to human behaviors."

Ulquiorra's brow furrowed. "Fine. I will…consume this food."

The table was set with five places. At each place was a single bowl, a teacup, and a spoon. Urahara motioned for Ulquiorra to kneel at the place next to his around this round table, just as two people burst from the other room.

"Good morning," said a small waif of a girl with large dark eyes. She was wearing pink, and was carrying a large plate in her arms. A large man was following close behind her, carrying a large lidded pot in his hands.

The duo set down the items, and the man sat down next to Urahara, but the girl jumped up and exclaimed "oh, the tea!" And rushed back into the kitchen.

"I don't believe we've formally met," said the large man. "My name is Tessai, and you must be Ulquiorra."

"I don't see any other arrancar here," Ulquiorra said.

Urahara snickered. "Oh good it seems you do have some sense of humor." The girl returned and set down a teapot, then took her seat. There still was an empty spot, but this didn't seem to bother the group.

They folded their hands around the table and gave some kind of thanks. Ulquiorra was confused as to this strange ritual, and did not follow suite.

Urahara must have sensed Ulquiorra's hesitation, as he did not serve himself any of the food. "Don't tell me you've never eaten before," he grinned.

Ulquiorra closed his eyes, the first memory of his life coming to him in flashes. He was born with his mask covering his mouth, making him a strange hollow unable to consume. He had never taken a single bite of another hollow, at least that he could remember, and he did not partake in meals in Los Noches. He did drink whatever Aizen provided him, but he did not remember the experience as pleasurable. It was simply…something that Aizen had wanted him to do.

Urahara took it upon himself to serve Ulquiorra some food. "This is rice with egg." He pointed at the contents of the dishes. "You eat it with the spoon. And this is tea. You drink that."

"I know what human food looks like," Ulquiorra said, slightly annoyed as he dipped his spoon into the dish.

The flavor? Not as exciting as Ulquiorra would have thought from this seemingly monumental act. In fact, he felt like the act of constantly chewing and swallowing to be a bit of a chore. Still, he could feel his stomach filling, and his energy returning, so in an effort to restore himself he ate five servings before Urahara forcibly stopped him.

"Whoa there! There's not gonna be much left for Jinta when he wakes up," Urahara said. "Man…how much reiatsu did you lose?"


Ulquiorra stared down at his lunchbox that Urahara had given him for school, thinking back on his first experience actually eating a meal, with humans no less. He shoved it away, despite his body protesting. It was such a chore to eat, and he had no interest in doing so at the moment. He was too preoccupied to bother himself with it.

He was sitting at the back of the classroom, and his eyes scanned his classmates. They were happily chatting with each other in various groups; the males seemed to gravitate towards other males, and the females with females. Ulquiorra never had much of a chance to observe normal human behavior, outside of Orihime.

So this is the environment you come from? He thought as his eyes finally rested on Orihime. She was speaking to a handful of girls from their class; the most friendly seemed to be a girl with short black hair. Ulquiorra wished he could speak alone with Orihime, but the amount of people in this class made it impossible. He would have to speak with her after school, where hopefully he can get a moment with her.

He wasn't exactly sure what he was going to say to her when the moment finally came. Should he…ask her a question? What question could he possibly ask? He was having…emotions. Lots of them. He couldn't quite figure out what they were, but they began to cause him physical pain by almost constricting on his chest. I just want to know more about…your heart…

The day flew by quicker than Ulquiorra thought it would. He was confused about the subject matter he was expected to learn, and would have to ask Kisuke about it later. While Aizen had taught at least his Espada how to read, he had not really given the arrancar much of an education outside of a combat-oriented one. Ulquiorra had absorbed quite a bit of information mostly from books, which mainly belonged to Aizen himself, who was gracious enough to let the curious Espada borrow them.

After class, students began to ask for "Komori" by name. Ulquiorra wished to avoid these confrontations, and simply left the classroom, ignoring them. He then waited for Orihime to leave, and began following her. She eventually broke away from her friend with the short hair, walking away from the school alone.

Does she always walk home alone? He thought. His eyes glanced towards other people walking about at this time. It wasn't late, but for some reason he was on a bit of an alert. Hollows did not concern him, the girl's powers were strong and most hollows were primitive creatures. It was other humans that concerned him. He knew nothing of how they behaved. They always surprised him, varying in extreme behavior from Aizen to Orihime.

She made it home untroubled, and approached what Ulquiorra recognized as her home. He knew this was the time he should approach her, but his body suddenly began shaking. It became difficult to breathe, and he felt something in his chest start pounding. Why am I…nervous…?

He took a deep breath and called out her name.

Orihime stopped and turned around. Her face was frozen, almost in horror. Ulquiorra swallowed. So many questions flooded into his mind, making it impossible for him to form a coherent thought. All he could muster to do it reach out his hand, feeling as helpless as he did the last time he saw her.

The girl hesitated for only a moment before locking her fingers in his. Ulquiorra felt warmth spread from her fingers to his, all the way down his body and into his chest. So this what what it would have felt like…he thought.

The pair said nothing and stood in silence, their eyes locked. Ulquiorra could not bear it any longer, and closed his eyes to focus on the feeling of her warm hand in his.

It was the next moment that shocked him. Orihime, her hand still locked in his, took her free hand and slapped him across the face. Ulquiorra withdrew his hand and opened his eyes in shock.

He placed his hand on his cheek and watched a crying Orihime retreat up the stairs and into her apartment. Ulquiorra could do nothing but helplessly watch her leave him as he nursed the sharp pain he felt. He didn't know why her slap hurt him unusually bad, but he decided it was the gigai, even though the pain in his chest didn't seem related at all.


"Ulquiorra, dinner's ready," announced Urahara.

Ulquiorra, not bothering to leave his gigai, had done nothing but sit on the floor staring at the wall since his arrival back at the shop. He had kicked off his shoes by the door and dropped his book bag, but had not removed his jacket or uniform. His knees were tucked into his chest, and his chin rested on the folded hands he had placed on his knees. His eyes were dead and lifeless. Being alive meant nothing, he decided. Why should he even try anymore?

Urahara frowned. "Rough day at school, buddy?"

Ulquiorra didn't respond.

Urahara crouched down next to Ulquiorra and poked him on the cheek with his closed fan. "Rejected that hard huh?"

Ulquiorra looked over at the man who had come to bother him. "The girl slapped me."

"My my I didn't think you were that kinda guy, Mr. Arrancar," Urahara smirked. "What on earth did you do to the poor girl?"

"You are so crude," Ulquiorra snapped. "I only said her name." And held her soft, warm hand…

"You know maybe?" Urahara said, kneeling down to a more comfortable sitting position from his crouch. "She's kind of still angry about you, I don't know, trying to kill and horrendously maim her friends. Just a guess here."

Ulquiorra felt a peculiar lump rise in his throat. Stupid malfunctioning gigai… "There is no reason for her to be angry. I was only acting upon Aizen's orders. I am no longer under Aizen, so therefor--"

Urahara hit Ulquiorra upside the head with his fan, which was now open. "You're an idiot."

Had this been before Ulquiorra's revival, Urahara would not have survived the former Espada's reaction. But now Ulquiorra's force of will was next to none. "What do I do," he said in a small, quiet voice.

Kisuke stood. "Try apologizing," he suggested as he walked out of the room.

Ulquiorra barely touched his dinner, shoving down a few bites before retiring to his room. He removed his uniform and flopped down onto his futon, staring at the ceiling. The sun was setting, shedding his room in a reddish orange color. The sun unsettled him. He preferred the darkness that Hueco Mundo provided, with only a white moon in the sky. It reminded him of himself: alone against a black nothingness. It's how he felt, at least.

He hadn't bothered to remove his gigai. He had decided he would remain in it as much as possible in order to adjust to it. He was in a strange enviroment, and this gigai almost felt like a safe container. He couldn't see his true self when he looked in the mirror, nor was his hollow hole present. It made him forget that he didn't belong there and it comforted him.

She was disgusted with me, he thought as he rolled over onto his side to stare at the wall. Why did he care so much about her opinion? Was it simply because he was interested in her? Why was he so interested?

He closed his eyes and imagined the warm feeling from holding her hand. That moment of his death, if he had stayed alive for just…a moment longer…

He opened his eyes. It was morning. He had fallen asleep imagining Orihime's warmth. His body felt stiff, so he rolled over and stretched out his arms.

"Oh good you're awake! Wouldn't want you to miss school!" Urahara announced.

Oh. School. "School is a daily activity?" Ulquiorra grumbled as he grabbed his uniform. Wonderful. He would have to see Orihime again with this suffocating feeling which made him want to do the exact opposite.

"You know you have to take care of the gigai like its your body," Urahara pointed out. "Please bathe regularly. The shower's over here."

Ulquiorra grimaced. More effort put towards this thing. "Disgusting," he murmured.

"Yes. You are," Urahara said, shoving a towel at Ulquiorra. "You are no better than a child in some areas."

Ulquiorra grabbed the towel roughly, his face hinting at the slightest scowl.