Ichigo could have sworn he had seen Komori somewhere before. He was sure he had never met the new boy before, but something was familiar about the way he carried himself. His eyes were very distinct as well, but Ichigo was having a hard time placing it. Eyes like that are so unusual…he thought.
He was on his way home from school. He stuck his hand in his pocket, his hand brushing he most precious possession: the Soul Reaper badge. It had no practical use to him anymore, but he still carried it with him, perhaps in hopes it could connect him to that world again. It no longer alerted him of hollows, the skull-like insignia now lifeless, an eerie skeleton of once was. He sighed and shoved it back in his pocket.
He had done nothing but sulk since he had lost his powers, wasting his free time playing video games or reading manga. Video games had nothing on the real experience of combat, but it gave him something to do. He still practiced his swordplay while alone in his room, sometimes desperately calling out to Zangetsu for him to hear him. All people did was sacrifice themselves to help him. Even his own sword, who wanted nothing else than to protect him, had sacrificed himself to give Ichigo the power he needed to win against Aizen.
He arrived home, his father no longer greeting him with the customary attack "lesson". Their relationship became a bit more serious after Ichigo had learned his father Isshin was a former Soul Reaper captain. Isshin, however, did not speak of the fight against Aizen. It was like…it never happened.
Ichigo flopped onto his bed and stared at the ceiling. Usually he could not go a few minutes in peace without the annoyance of the mod soul Kon, trapped inside a trashy old stuffed lion, but even he was now gone. Urahara had taken the mod soul somewhere for "safekeeping", but Uchigo didn't know where that was supposed to be. Ichigo never enjoyed Kon's company, but now he was beginning to miss him.
"This is stupid!" Ichigo snapped, grabbing his pillow and throwing it against the wall. He had sat up during this, and now he buried his head in his hands.
His friends had been avoiding him. Chad was never a conversationalist, but even he seemed to be around Ichigo less and less. Uryu, Ichigo jealously knew, was in charge of Hollow exterminations. Ichigo assumed Chad was as well, but the latter was too respectful of Ichigo's pride to mention it.
The person that Ichigo felt the worst about was Orihime. She had tried to cheer him up, but all he did was push her away. Then, her mood began to decline, and she became less talkative and seemed to sulk a lot. He knew that she had suffered while in captivity to Aizen, and under that bastard Ulquiorra's influence.
He shook his head. He didn't like to think about that fight. It was one of his deepest regrets, his most shameful experiences, and he did his best to keep it suppressed at the back of his mind.
Hueco Mundo was a desert hellscape, cold and lifeless, with crystal trees scattered across the wasteland. The inhabitants of this cursed land were just as warped, their existence nothing of that but sorrow. Those who were lucky enough to evolve past this mindless beast stage into the arrancar, lived in what was now the ruins of the large palace Las Noches.
Tier Halibel was currently the strongest arrancar alive in Las Noches. After the defeat of Aizen, the remaining surviving arrancar turned their focus on Halibel as their leader. Of course, not all the arrancar agreed, and many violent fights commenced before Halibel rose victorious, bringing about some semblance of peace to Las Noches.
Of course, this did not stop those who opposed her rule, especially regarding some of her decisions. Her most controversial order was that she had allied with Kisuke Urahara, a Soul Reaper, and expected the others to do as well.
The one most loudly opposed was an arrancar named Loly. "You can't just go against everything Lord Aizen believed in!!" Loly screamed, once again having her daily berating of Halibel's judgement. "You've sided with a Soul Reaper--and Lord Aizen's worst enemy!!"
Halibel sighed. She wished she was still a murderous, honorless monster who could kill anyone in cold blood, even an ally. Loly was an annoyance, but what good would it do for her to murder her own comrade? "Aizen is no longer our leader. I am. My decisions are in the best interest of the arrancar. Unless you wish to challenge my position of power by dueling me, I suggest you leave my presence."
Loly gulped and scampered off.
"I owe a human my life," Halibel said to herself softly. "A human showed even monsters like us kindness. And for that, I shall do everything in my power to keep her world safe."
"This tastes so good what the hell is this?"
Grimmjow was stuffing food in his mouth at a somewhat alarming rate.
"They are called donuts," Ulquiorra explained. "The girl took us to a place called a Bakery, and I acquired a box of them. I am fond of them but I prefer them with hot sauce."
"Uh…okay," Grimmjow said, his face in a weird expression. "Human food tastes so much better than eatin' hollows."
"I wouldn't know," Ulquiorra said quietly.
"Ah yeah, right, Aizen said somethin' about that with you," Grimmjow remarked. "Weird. Never heard of that before. Isn't it kinda a hollow's THING to yah know...eat?"
"I don't know," Ulquiorra said, taking a donut for himself and topping it with hot sauce.
"Yeah you've always been kinda weird," Grimmjow said. "Even weirdos like Szayelaporro seemed more like the rest of us than you did."
"I don't know!" Ulquiorra suddenly outburst, slamming his fist onto the table. Ururu, who had wandered into the room and taken a donut, looked startled.
"Never thought you to be an emotional guy," said Grimmjow.
"Emotions are a human invention to explain their survival instincts," Ulquiorra said as he angrily took a bite of his donut. "They are useless and can be used to manipulate those who have them."
Grimmjow raised his eyebrows and said nothing. "Okay then why're you hanging out with that girl all the time?"
Ulquiorra took another bite of the donut and didn't reply.
Grimmjow grinned wickedly. "Don't tell me you got the hots for her. I mean she is pretty cute for a human, and you didn't jump at the chance when she was captured…"
"Say another word and I will kill you," Ulquiorra said, his voice breathy and dark.
Grimmjow took the hint and immediately shut up.
Ulquiorra had something to inquire of Urahara. It had come to his attention that it was normal for high school students to carry money with them. Orihime had bought the donuts for him, but he didn't wish to rely on her for things. He much rather would have gotten them himself without inconveniencing her.
Urahara was busy working in his workroom, Nel asleep on some kind of contraption, several cords attached to her hollow helmet and various parts of her body. There were a few monitors showing various facts and figures, which Ulquiorra assumed had to do with Nel due to the fact they were attached to her cords. Urahara was hunched over his desk, his back turned to Nel, and a bracelet in his hand.
"What do you want, Ulquiorra?" Urahara asked distractedly.
"I have an inquiry," Ulquiorra replied, his eyes scanning more of the room. This workroom was less unsettling than Szayelaporro's, but still gave off the same aura nonetheless. Some of the tools Ulquiorra wasn't even sure what they were for.
Urahara's brow furrowed, and he shook the bracelet-like object he was working on. "I can only build one thing at a time, and I think my efforts should be focused on the person closest to death!" He gestured at the sleeping Nel.
"I only came here to ask about money, but now I'm intrigued as to what you assumed I would have wanted you to build me," Ulquiorra replied, sticking his hands in his pockets.
Urahara shook his head. "Sorry." He took a deep breath. "Haven't slept in a while. I just have been bracing myself for you to ask about getting your zanpakto back."
Ulquiorra's eyes widened. "I had wondered where it was. But there is no rush for it to be returned. My released state is enough to destroy this town if I use it, and there is no immediate threat of enemies strong enough that I would even have to draw my sword."
"You're my favorite arrancar child," Urahara remarked. "So reasonable. Grimmjow would have thrown a tantrum." He chuckled to himself and looked in his desk drawer. He pulled out a worn leather wallet and produced a few pieces of paper money. He handed the money to Ulquiorra and said "here. You can have an allowance. Don't tell Grimmjow."
Ulquiorra took the money and stared at it, then folded it carefully and placed it in his pocket.
Orihime's spirits had been lifted as of late. She enjoyed showing Ulquiorra all the things she liked and places to go around Karakura town. Since he hardly had any responsibilities save for chores at Urahara's, he had almost as much free time as Orihime herself. She finally had company, despite him not having much of an enthusiastic presence.
Ulquiorra's reactions to things sometimes reminded Orihime of a small child. He wouldn't speak many words, but he looked at new things with a sense of wonder..his expression on his face hardly, if ever, changed, but Orihime began to notice subtleties in his eyes and movements. She began to believe that truly his aggressive and antagonistic behavior had stemmed from Aizen's control, and that he really was no threat to her and her friends at all.
"So does Urahara give you clothes?" Orihime asked suddenly as they were walking away from the bakery. Their routine had been, if Orihime didn't have handicraft's club, to go somewhere in town to get a snack, then take Orihime home.
Ulquiorra was busy chewing into a blueberry muffin topped with garlic butter. "Hm?" He swallowed. "He gave me extra clothes of his to borrow for when I am working."
"So you really don't have any outfits other than your uniform!" Orihime gasped.
"Does it matter?" Ulquiorra asked.
Orihime nodded fervently. "Of course! You need lots of outfits! Sometimes you need a different outfit for every day depending on your mood! Oh and how boring it would be to wear the same thing every day. Imagine wearing our school uniform--" She stopped. Come to think of it, Ulquiorra wore exactly the same thing while working under Aizen.
"That sounds useless," Ulquiorra said. "Having to think about what you wear every day. It is bad enough I have to eat so much."
"A lot of men aren't great at that sort of thing," Orihime went on. "But that's okay because their wives can pick out clothes for them!"
There was a bit of silence between them. Orihime blushed. Oh you dummy!! Why are you talking about wives?? That's not--
"Are wives some kind of fracciónes?" Ulquiorra asked.
"W-what? Oh! Uhm…" Orihime's heart beat faster. What should she say? How would she explain it to him?? "So it's like...when two people are super special to each other they get married! A wife is what you call a girl, and a husband is what you call a man!"
"A partnership?" Ulquiorra asked.
"Yes but it's even more important because they're in love," Orihime tried to explain, her face turning redder by the minute.
"In love you say," Ulquiorra said as he ate the last bite of his muffin. "What does that feel like? Or more specifically, how does one know that they are in this Love?"
"Well I…" Orihime thought back to the night she confessed to a sleeping Ichigo, before she was captured and taken to Hueco Mundo by the arrancar standing before her. How DID she know she was in love with Ichigo? Was it something that she just knew? Or…
Was it something she had to keep convincing herself of?
"You've grown unusually quiet," Ulquiorra remarked. "Was the question truly that difficult?"
"I think its when two people want to give all of their heart to each other," Orihime finally replied. "When they can rely on each other for everything, and just seeing that person brightens their day. Like…a warm light in a cold night…or the moon in the dark sky. Or the warm sun that gives life to everything…or…" The more Orihime spoke, the more she realized about her feelings for Ichigo. They were…unrequited. He may have been a light in her life...but she couldn't do anything for him during his time of need.
Tears began unwillingly spilling down her face. She tried to keep the knowledge that Ichigo didn't love her back suppressed, but it had been gashed open into a fresh, painful wound.
Orihime felt a cold hand on her cheek. Ulquiorra had brushed away the tear that had fallen with a gentle touch from the back of his good hand. "Why are you crying, girl?" He asked softly.
Orihime sniffed and looked away. She had never willingly cried in front of Ulquiorra, staying strong for her friends during her imprisonment. And now, he was…trying to comfort her? She felt confused and vulnerable. "Oh it's…it's nothing," Orihime said, wiping her eyes. "Just uhm…remembering something that's all. Oh, I'm home already. Well…bye! See you tomorrow!" She escaped up the stairs and straight into her apartment.
Why did Ulquiorra always make her want to run away? Was it because he scared her? No, that wasn't it. He was no threat to her or her friends at that moment. Maybe it was because his loneliness scared her, his solitary existence scared her, because deep down she could truly understand his emptiness.
