Ulquiorra tried to sleep that night, but it was to no avail. He kept tossing and turning, kicking on and off the blankets, and even laid on his stomach for a bit. Hitsugaya was fast asleep, dead to the world and seemingly unbothered by Ulquiorra's insomnia.
"I need…fresh air," he mumbled, climbing out of bed and walking outside. He sat on the roof to think, holding his blank zanpakto against his lap. He had begun making a habit of sitting on the roof. He kind of liked it, being perched on the roof up high, able to see the town below him. It gave him a sense of comfort, like when he could perch on top of the dome of Las Noches and no one could reach him.
"Good evening," said a man's voice.
Ulquiorra's head snapped in its direction. He had been so unfocused he didn't notice any spiritual pressure of anyone approaching him. To his surprise, a slender black cat with a silky short coat was padding its way towards him on the rooftop.
"You look shocked," he said, sitting down next to Ulquiorra and curling his tail next to his own body.
"Last time I checked cats were not on the list of creatures able to speak in the human world," Ulquiorra replied. "Or I am hallucinating, which would not surprise me at this point." He held up the blank zanpakto. "You wouldn't happen to be Mercialego, would you? Although I thought that meant bat…"
The cat laughed. "No, sorry, I'm not your zanpakto. My name is Yoruichi. I'm a…friend of Kisuke Urahara."
Ulquiorra relaxed. "Ah. I see."
"I just arrived back from a trip," Yoruichi said. "And I was dying to meet you. It's not every day an arrancar as powerful as yourself is on such friendly terms with a human."
"Unfortunately for you, I am not much of a conversation partner," Ulquiorra said.
Yoruichi chuckled. "You're certainly modest. Men could learn from you. Often times they talk too much and don't know when to stop."
Ulquiorra was about to respond when he felt a strong reiatsu. Yoruichi perked up as well, his ears flattening against his skull. "Arrancar!" He hissed.
Ulquiorra stood and grabbed his zanpakto. "They feel stronger this time." This isn't good. They could cause major damage to the town.
Ulquiorra began his rush towards the arrancar's location, followed close behind by Hitsugaya, who had also felt the disturbance and had evacuated his gigai. The two said nothing to each other, but they both understood that they would be working together against these foes.
The two managed to hide their presence behind a building nearby the garganta that had opened in the sky. There were five arrancar, all modified and resembling the more monster-like hollows. They were led by a human looking arrancar, but something was off about their reiatsu. It was like it was...pulsing, like a human organ. It was slightly unstable, but when it was strong it was as powerful as Grimmjow's.
"Our main concern is to prevent them from using their ressureccion," Ulquiorra said. "Especially the one in the center. The reiatsu from his release alone could kill many humans and destroy much of this town."
"That's comforting," Hitsugaya groaned.
"Come out, Ulquiorra, I know you're there," said the leader arrancar with a sing-song voice. His voice was light and airy, yet full of a sort of poison.
Ulquiorra did as told, but Hitsugaya stayed hidden in the shadows. The former espada floated to the edge of one of the buildings, his hands in his pockets. "I am here. What of it? Last I checked trash like yourself doesn't give me orders."
The arrancar, who possessed long blonde hair and a toothy mask around his neck, gave a wicked, wide grin. He was thin as a rail and had an obviously unpleasant personality. Ulquiorra thought he recognized him as one of the discarded numeros, but a simple numeros shouldn't have had reiatsu this strong. "Calling me trash? Oh that's rich coming from a human lover like you."
"What is so wrong with my lo…interest in a human," Ulquiorra stated. "We all used to be one at some point. Our powers come from the desires we had as humans. It is only natural that I--"
"Shut up and just die already!!" The arrancar screamed, aiming a bala at Ulquiorra, who promptly dodged it. It was about to explode into a building, but Hitsugaya gave away his hiding spot in order to deflect the damage. The arrancar laughed. "Fighting alongside a Soup Reaper? You have absolutely gone insane!!!"
"Let us take this somewhere else," Ulquiorra said. He gestured towards a forest, where there were bound to be less people and buildings for them to damage.
The arrancar's target was apparently Ulquiorra, so they had no argument against following them. Hitsugaya stayed close behind them, but had managed to hide himself again from view.
Ulquiorra landed on the ground, his hands in his pockets, but ready to draw his sword is necessary.
"I am Zyrik Vanor," the arrancar introduced himself, landing in front of Ulquiorra. "And I am going to kill you."
"Quite confident, facing the fourth espada without your fracciones, which I will assume that is what those things were supposed to be," Ulquiorra said.
Zyrik's eyes narrowed. "My power has greatly surpassed yours, even in your released state." He drew his zanpakto and held it in front of him. "Now slither, Lagartija."
Ulquiorra felt chills from the reiatsu that came from Zyrik's sword release. This arrancar was strong, and unusually so. He had the same reiatsu levels of Grimmjow in his released form, and Ulquiorra had trouble lately with Grimmjow in his base form. The fourth espada was not going to give up, but he was no longer going to tread so lightly. He removed both his hands from his pockets and drew his sword, taking a defensive stance.
Zyrik laughed. He stepped forwards, his ressureccion having transformed him into a bent over white creature with sharp claws and a long boney tail. Unlike normal ressureccions, however, he possessed purple pulsing membranes around his skin, which appeared to be the source of his massive reiatsu. "Oh? Are you scared? Of course you are once you've seen me."
Zyrik lunged for Ulquiorra at an incredible speed. Ulquiorra barely managed to dodge, Zyrik's sword slicing open Ulquiorra's cheek. His wound healed up nearly instantly, but he was more concerned about Zyrik's incredible speed. Ulquiorra began blocking blows from several different directions, having some difficulty matching Zyrik's movements. Was there something wrong with him? No, Ulquiorra felt fine.
It was his opponent. He was faster.
Ulquiorra knew he would have to use a cero to find an opening. He felt more comfortable with that thought while out in the forest, but causing a massive amount of damage would still be inconvenient for the humans.
"What's wrong? You look confused," Zyrik taunted. "Aw, are you worried about the humans? Should I go kill that lovely Princesa of yours? Will that make you take me seriously?!"
"No!" Ulquiorra shouted suddenly, losing grip of his emotions. Rage boiled from the pit of his stomach. How dare this garbage threaten Orihime to his face. He lunged for Zyrik before his mind could clear from the taunt.
This was exactly what Zyrik had hoped for. Ulquiorra's wild lunge with his sword was easy for him to dodge and counterattack. He impaled Ulquiorra with his long bony tail through his stomach. Ulquiorra felt his entire body feel ill. Was this some sort of poison? Was it the same poison used on Orihime? Ulquiorra'a mind was reeling, and pain seared from the wound as Zyrik forcefully removed his tail and threw Ulquiorra to the ground.
Ulquiorra tried to prop himself up, expecting the wound to begin to heal. It did not, and instead somehow seemed to get worse. The poison began to burn through his flesh, and Ulquiorra grit hit teeth to keep from screaming.
"You barely gave me a fight at all!" Zyrik yelled, kicking Ulquiorra in the chest repeatedly as the former espada lay helpless on the ground. "Is this what Lord Aizen's Espada were like? Pathetic! We always knew it would be us instead."
Ulquiorra, through the pain, was trying to piece together what Zyrik had said.
"Honestly I expected more from your arrancar friends."
Hitsugaya, a long dragon made of ice behind him, was glaring at Zyrik. "Now that I've finished them off…" He pointed his blade at Zyrik. "…I can take care of you."
Ulquiorra couldn't say anything. All he could do is watch from his helpless position on the ground. He could barely breathe, as his blood slowly filling his lungs. He had vomited blood all over himself and the ground. He knew he must look absolutely pitiful. He wished he could have died right then and there…again. That familiar hopelessness returned to him, and Hitsugaya "saving" him meant nothing to change that. Ulquiorra wasn't strong enough anymore to protect Orihime from her foes.
Hitsugaya entered his bankai. The cold air from the sword release felt good to Ulquiorra's rising bodily temperature. Hitsugaya then proceeded to freeze and cut Zyrik in two, almost so effortlessly it made Ulquiorra want to die on the spot.
"Without your distraction, I would have never have been able to catch him off guard," Hitsugaya said, kneeling down next to Ulquiorra. He picked up the arrancar, who would have protested if he had the strength. "I'm taking you to Urahara for treatment. Try to stay conscious."
Ulquiorra felt ashamed being carried bridal-style by a tiny Soul Reaper, and felt like his dignity couldn't have been lower. Grimmjow helped bring him inside, and despite Ulquiorra expecting him to poke fun, the sixth espada was rather sullen and respectful for once. Nel was beside herself, wishing she had gone to help against the arrancar.
"They've been defeated," said Hitsugaya, trying to put Nel's fears to rest. "They are strong but nothing I couldn't handle. I'm relieved they allowed the officers assigned to this mission to leave Soul Society without having their Spirit energy sealed."
"Were they that much trouble?" Urahara asked as he began to take a look at Ulquiorra's wounds. "Yikes, this must hurt Mr. Arrancar."
"I've already died once," Ulquiorra said. "The real injury was to my pride." His voice wheezed hoarsely, which then ended in him coughing up more blood all over Urahara.
"Okay! New rule no talking because I think you'll puke your insides out if you do," Urahara ordered.
Ulquiorra obeyed and closed his eyes to rest.
When he awoke, he was bandaged and hooked up to a bunch of machines. Ulquiorra sat up and clawed at the needle in his arm, but a ragged and unpleasant smelling Urahara forcefully pushed Ulquiorra back down. "Stay down. Try not to move. The liquid in that bag is the only thing keeping you alive. That poison infects arrancar drastically differently than a human. Do you want to turn into those monsters?"
Ulquiorra thought back to the disgusting version of a resurreccion he witnessed the night previous. "Perhaps…if it gave me the power to defeat them."
"You idiot, you'd actually hurt Orihime by just being around her if that poison was in your body," Urahara pointed out. "Your original ressureccion if I'm not mistaken was so powerful you could have destroyed Las Noches, and your reiatsu changed into a unique form. You don't have a need for lame poison upgrades. To be honest that sounds like a downgrade to me."
"You like to talk," Ulquiorra said. "There is no point in living if I cannot protect Orihime and keep her safe. I would cast myself into darkness to protect her, and never touch her again if it meant her safety."
"Touch you say?" Urahara grinned. "Did ya get frisky with miss Orihime?"
"I don't…" Ulquiorra blushed and averted his eyes away from Urahara. "You are worse than Grimmjow."
"I meant to talk to you about your ressureccion anyway," Urahara said, pointing at the blank Zanpakto lying next to Ulquiorra in the cot. "Did Aizen ever teach you how to enter your inner world?"
"There was no need," Ulquiorra said. "Upon becoming arrancar, when we took our more human-like forms, the hollow power latched on easily to the swords assigned to us. We really only heard it tell us its name, but since we technically are our ressureccion, we do not commune with them."
"How did you obtain a second release then?" Urahara asked.
"Oh. That," Ulquiorra sighed. He felt a little embarrassed about the nature of his power, but he knew pure honesty was best when dealing with Urahara. "The farther into despair I fell, the stronger I became, until one day I could just…take that form. The Espada's power comes from their aspect of death, as mine is of Nihilism. I…suspect I have lost my powers due to my contact with Orihime. She…makes me feel hope, which is completely counter to my source of power." He clenched his fist. "I've known that I have to abandon her to keep her safe, to regain my powers again, but the pain of that keeps me from--
"All right you talk a lot," Urahara interrupted. "Don't give me that abandoning Orihime crap. That is the *worst* thing you could do to her. I don't know if you'll like this idea very much, but I think we should take the Soul Reaper route regarding your Zanpakto."
"Could be worse," Ulquiorra said.
"You're still recovering, but once you're well we can get started," Urahara said, turning to leave the room.
"Urahara," Ulquiorra called after him.
Urahara spun around. "Hm?"
"Don't let Orihime see me like this," Ulquiorra said. "I don't want to see her at all."
Urahara nodded in understanding.
Ichigo sat up and rubbed his forehead. He looked with bleary eyes towards the clock by his bedside. 10 am. He had overslept, but he usually did on a Saturday.
"Ichigo!" Came Yuzu's voice from the other side of the door. "We ate breakfast already but I set some aside for you!"
Ichigo mumbled some response and began to change into some clothes. He ran his fingers through his hair, not really caring much about combing it, and sped downstairs.
"Hey where's Karin?" Ichigo asked, his mouth full of his breakfast.
"Oh…she…just left," Yuzu said carefully.
Karin, who had been making several disappearances from the house lately, made Ichigo feel uneasy. With the unusual behavior coming from his friends of late, Ichigo decided it would be best to follow Karin to see where she was going. Yuzu protested when Ichigo flew out the door, leaving an unfinished breakfast behind.
He spotted Karin walking down the street, and he hid from her view. She was by herself, dressed in a pair of shorts and a tshirt. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, other than the fact she was headed in a direction Ichigo had never seen her go.
These streets…this is near Urahara's, Ichigo thought. There's no way she…
Sure enough, Karin's destination was indeed Urahara's store.
Ichigo hid behind a wall and watched closely. Calm down, she's probably just going there to buy candy or something. Urahara's crazy but he wouldn't turn my sister into a Soul Reaper…would he?
"Oh, hello Karin!" Smiled the girl Ururu. She was sweeping up in front of the shop as Karin approached.
"Oh, hey," Karin said gruffly. She never was very good with people, and it made Ichigo feel concerned for her.
"Oh shut up! I'm bein' gentle with it okay?? Leave me alone!"
Ichigo's blood ran cold. He knew that voice. It brought back a sensation of instant danger, activating his fight or flight response. There's no way...there's no way….
Sure enough, a familiar face with slicked back blue hair appeared carrying several heavy looking boxes. He was dressed in an apron, and didn't seem very threatening. Ichigo stared for a few dazed moments, before collecting himself in confusion.
How can I see him? Ichigo thought in alarm. Maybe it's just a human that looks like him? No…there's no way…
Grimmjow's face snarled and he looked in Ichigo's hiding spot. "Hey idiot quit spyin' on us! If you got business here then just hurry up and get on with it!"
Ichigo wanted to run, but he couldn't leave Karin with someone so dangerous. He leapt out of his hiding spot and clenched hid fists. "DAMMIT WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" he shouted, somewhat out of concern for Karin's whereabouts but mostly directed towards Grimmjow.
Karin looked shocked and guilty, as if she had been caught in the act of a crime. Grimmjow immediately dropped the boxes he was carrying and took a defensive stance. "If it isn't Kurosaki!" He growled.
"The hell? Where's your mask?" Ichigo pointed out. His confusion was starting to affect him physically; he was getting a headache.
"This is a gigai you moron," said Grimmjow. "Gotta wear it. Boss' orders."
"Boss…?" Ichigo asked.
"Calm down Ichigo," Karin suddenly snapped. "Grimm's not gonna do anything to you. He works for Urahara."
"He…what?" Ichigo blinked. He stormed for the front door, unable to process this any longer. "Urahara!!" He shouted, bursting into the shop. "Urahara where are you, you bastard!!"
"Ichigo? Is that you??"
Before Ichigo could react, he was tackled from behind by someone, nearly knocking him to the floor.
"Oh Ichigo! I've missed you!" Came the cries of a young woman.
"N-nel??" Ichigo exclaimed the moment he recognised her.
"Oh you remember!" Nel grinned, elated. "Urahara said Nel wasn't allowed to see Itsygo yet, but Nel's not breaking any rules since you came to Nel!!" She began reverting to her childlike state of speech due to her excitement.
"Whoa! Calm down there Nel, you'll crush him!" Came Urahara's voice.
Urahara looked disappointed at Ichigo's appearance. Ichigo on the other hand was filled with rage.
"What the hell?! When were you gonna tell me espadas were staying in Karakura Town!?" Ichigo shouted.
"I don't see why I should be telling you Soul Society business when you're no longer a Soul Reaper," Urahara said. He sighed. "What would the point be telling you something to worry over when there's nothing you can do about it? I'm not going to let you get yourself killed by doing something stupid."
Urahara's words sliced through Ichigo's heart like a sharp blade. Urahara wasn't stupid. Of course he wouldn't just tell Ichigo Soul Society business. It wasn't his place anymore. He stuck his hand in his pocket and clenched the soul reaper badge tucked away in it so tightly his hand began to hurt.
"If there is danger, Nel will protect Ichigo and Ichigo's family!" Nel said, closing her fists and punching the air.
Ichigo's mood was elevated, and he managed to smile. He hated others putting themselves in danger for his sake, but Nel was a powerful ally. As far as he could tell, judging by her adult appearance, Nel had regained much of her power. "Thanks Nel," Ichigo said quietly. He then turned to leave. "Guess I'll be going then."
"Not so fast!" Grimmjow said, standing in front of the door.
"Oh...dear," Urahara sighed.
"Get out of the way," Ichigo grumbled.
"Not without a fight, Kurosaki!" Grimmjow ordered.
"I don't have my powers!" Ichigo yelled. "So just forget it! I can't fight you even if I wanted to!"
Grimmjow's eyes narrowed. "I'm stuck in this meat suit, makin' me just as fragile as you are. We can fight like this, I don't care."
"No, no don't injure the poor boy," Urahara said, trying to diffuse the situation.
"I'm fighting him," Ichigo said in a fierce tone, silencing Urahara. He began stretching the muscles in his arms. "So are we gonna take this outside?"
Grimmjow'a face broke into a wicked grin. "Oh hell yeah!"
Ulquiorra had been bedridden for a few days, but a commotion outside of the shop had peaked his curiosity enough to crawl out of bed. Someone had neglected to feed him lunch, and he was about to go and obtain some himself when he heard shouting from the other room. He couldn't feel any Spiritual Pressure, so it must have been Grimmjow doing something idiotic again.
Ulquiorra's entire body felt like lead. He had to be given a much stronger antidote for the poison intravenously than Orihime, getting massive doses of it thrice a day. Urahara had, to Ulquiorra's horror, invented a needle that could pierce even an Espada's hierro. It was an odd experience being jabbed with a needle for the first time, but Ulquiorra was glad this prevented his death. The sooner the poison left his system, the better. He could then focus his energy on training with his zanpakto.
"What is going on?" Ulquiorra muttered, the arm with the IV stuck in it falling loosely at his side. He had to hold it steady as to prevent damage to the IV.
"What the hell are you doing up?" Urahara scolded him.
"I was hungry and you idiots haven't fed me," Ulquiorra snapped. "My spiritual pressure won't--"
"Calm down you're not going to die because your tummy hurts," Urahara grinned, handing a candy bar to Ulquiorra. "Here."
"This hardly qualifies as a meal," Ulquiorra groaned, opening the wrapper with his teeth and good arm.
Ulquiorra turned his attention to the front door and windows. It was wide open, giving view to to the front of the store, where two men were having a fist fight.
"…is…is that Kurosaki?" Ulquiorra asked.
"Yes it seems he and Grimmjow couldn't help but get into a scuffle the moment they saw each other," Urahara said.
Ulquiorra tried to hide behind a shelf, but Urahara stopped him. "No need to be shy. Ichigo can't see you, remember? You're not in your gigai."
"Ah…the gigai…" Ulquiorra had nearly forgotten he had left it at Orihime's. He hoped the soul candy wasn't giving her too much trouble.
"It wandered here after you didn't come home," Urahara explained, as if reading Ulquiorra's mind. "I did some maintenance on it. You still abuse the poor thing, and I can't imagine what state you'd be in if Orihime wasn't there for you."
Ulquiorra scoffed and rolled his eyes. He turned his attention to the two fighting outside. They were looking worn out and ragged, Grimmjow being pushed back by Kurosaki. Kurosaki then went to punch a finishing blow, but Grimmjow dodged it and kneed the human boy in the stomach. Kurosaki doubled over in pain and coughed up his breakfast onto the ground.
"Okay!!" Urahara said, rushing outside. "That's enough! You've fought, no need to give him organ damage."
"I'm not finished yet!" Kurosaki yelled.
"I've beaten you so give it up already!" Grimmjow growled.
"No!" Kurosaki cried. "Dammit why--" He hung his head in defeat.
To Ulquiorra's surprise, Grimmjow's face softened. "Hey…listen…" He extended a hand to Kurosaki to help him to his feet. Kurosaki appeared shocked, but took the hand anyways. "This wasn't a real fight! Ya don't got your powers or anything! It was just…loosening up the muscles. I don't care about beatin' you this weak. I wanna kick your ass when you've got your powers back."
Nel grinned. "Isn't Grimmy just the sweetest?"
"Woman! Will you shut up!?" Grimmjow snarled.
Ulquiorra raised his eyebrows. He didn't wish to encounter Grimmjow after witnessing such a display, so he decided to take his candy bar and make his way back to bed.
"I can sit up now. Teach me how to deal with this damn thing."
It was later that day when Urahara had delivered a proper meal to Ulquiorra. Urahara had just finished replacing Ulquiorra's antidote, and was cleaning up equipment.
"Your reiatsu is…questionable…" Urahara said carefully.
"I don't care. I have to get stronger," Ulquiorra insisted.
Urahara sat on the floor, his legs crossed, ans gestured for Ulquiorra to do the dame. The arrancar crawled out of bed, his legs wobbly from fatigue, carefully dragging the IV line with him.
"You place your sword across your lap and begin meditation," Urahara explained. "Focus yourself on the zanpakto. You already know its name so that's a huge step forwards."
Ulquiorra stared at the sword once he had placed it in his lap, then closed his eyes. Shutting off his mind proved to be a more difficult task than he originally thought. As an espada, his mind was always empty. Hell, his aspect of death was emptiness. But now all his head was filled with was anxiety. It was daunting trying to empty his mind, but the more he focused on his zanpakto and his own breaths, the more relaxed he became. It was a welcome calmness.
Ulquiorra opened his eyes, assuming he had fallen asleep. All around him was a gloomy darkness, like an overcast afternoon full of rain and sorrow. There was nothing to be seen along the horizon, the same thing for what seemed like miles.
He took a step forwards, and the sound of a gentle ripple of water came from beneath him. The entire ground seemed to be made of water, and Ulquiorra could walk across it. There was a reflection in the water, which finally settled once the water ripples calmed down, revealing Ulquiorra's face staring back at him.
Yet it wasn't Ulquiorra. It was Komori.
Ulquiorra touched his chest in disbelief. He was clad in the black garb that was customary of Soul Reapers, and his hollow hole was gone.
"What…is this?" Ulquiorra muttered to himself. "Why do I--"
A splash of water. Ulquiorra's head snapped in the direction of the sound. He reached his hand reflexively for his sword, but there was none tucked in his cloth belt. A thin figure was approaching him from the distance with slow and labored steps. Ulquiorra's chest constricted and his limbs began to shake from fear.
The figure finally stopped, around ten feet away from Ulquiorra. It was pure white, wings sprouted from its back, and a long tail was swishing behind it. The only color it possessed seemed to be on its face, where two brilliantly green colored eyes were staring out from am otherwise featureless mask. It said nothing, only stared at the intruder of its home before it.
Ulquiorra recognized this being.
It was his hollow.
