Days had been passing in the blink of an eye. With each day coming to an end, Orihime's hope of being rescued began to dwindle more and more. Her friends continued to battle everyday but she was unable to tell if they were victorious in their battles or not. For at least half of every hour, the girl would stare outside the window, praying for her friends' safety.
It had at least been over a week since Ulquiorra called her beautiful. His words continued to ring like a bell in her heart for that was the only compliment she had ever received from him. On the downside, his visits were less and less frequent. He would only walk into her room to bring her food or to take her to shower. Usually, she would be ecstatic over these visits but these days he seemed distant somehow.
Ulquiorra would hardly say anything to her besides, "eat," or "time to shower," in his typical impassive voice. He barely looked at her with his piercing gaze when he entered…Orihime wondered if she did something wrong to upset him or if he was beginning to grow tired of her presence. The very thought of Ulquiorra growing tired of her caused a sinking feeling to form in her stomach.
The girl's eyes fell upon a stack of five books resting neatly on her wooden table. Even though he had been secluding himself from her, he would bring her a new book every other day. Orihime couldn't help but smile to herself at thought of him trying to lift her boredom. Ulquiorra didn't seem to be the type to care if she was entertained or not…
Whether she was bored or not, that didn't change the fact that she was still a prisoner in this lonely place. Ever since Aizen-sama had brought her that lovely gown, he hadn't summoned her once. She figured he was extremely busy in trying to deal with the intrusion of her friends. She inwardly wished he would constantly summon her so she was able to make sure he wasn't attacking her friends himself.
Orihime cuddled up into a ball on her couch, wrapping Ulquiorra's cloak around her tightly. He hadn't asked for that particular shirt back, thankfully. She used it as her only source of warmth and comfort. It wasn't as consoling as Ulquiorra's actual embrace, that is, but it would do.
When she wasn't reading or praying for the safety of Kurosaki-kun, her mind would drift towards that special moment. It would replay over and over in her mind as she tried to recall every single detail. Sure, she was greatly embarrassed over the fact that she had been in the nude but he had actually hugged her. The very thought caused a tiny smile to form as she snuggled deeper into his coat.
"I've brought you your dinner," said an all too familiar voice from inside the room.
"Oh, Ulquiorra! I didn't hear you come in," peeped out Orihime as she looked up to him with a blissful smile.
As she expected, he turned away from her. Why was he isolating himself away from her? A little over a week ago, he called her beautiful and hugged her and now he didn't want to have much to do with her. What kind of guy did that?!
"Hey, Ulquiorra?" Orihime asked quietly as she continued to peer up at him.
He disregarded her rather scornfully as he reached for a plate atop of a cart that one of the servants had brought in. Unfortunately, today would not be a glamorous meal—just a plate of rice and a small bowl of cold miso soup. Even so, it was better than nothing.
"Ulquiorra?" the girl repeated, wondering if he heard her or not.
"Do not talk to me. Just eat," the Espada said rather frigidly as he shoved the plate towards her.
Orihime's shoulders drooped in a sorrowful sulk from Ulquiorra's callousness. Why was he so mad at her? Why was he being cold?
"I will but I just wanted to ask you something," she whispered softly as she picked up the fork that rested neatly upon her plate.
"I do not wish to hear it," he retorted in an empty tone as he straightened himself up. "I will return in thirty minutes to see if you have eaten everything."
The girl watched in grief as the Espada turned her back towards her. She wanted to stop him but she didn't know how without being disrespectful…He wasn't the type to take orders from a pleading human like her.
"If you don't hear me out then I refuse to eat," Orihime managed to blurt out. Much to her surprise, Ulquiorra stopped dead in his tracks and turned around to face her. It was better than begging for him to stay…
His eyes glowered down at her harshly, instantly making the girl regret she ever said anything. "Then I shall force it down your throat," he replied insensitively as he made his way to the door once again.
"W-why are you being so mean to me, Ulquiorra?!" Orihime cried out unintentionally, unable to hold it back anymore. "You told me you were worried about me a week ago and now you won't even talk to me! What did I do?! Why do you hate me all of a sudden?!"
The black haired male glanced at her over his shoulder, watching her reaction. "I am incapable of hatred, woman. I am incapable of feeling anything. I do not worry about you nor do I wish to engage in conversation with you unless ordered to. Aizen-sama has not provided me with any instructions as of recently, due to reasons I cannot say."
Orihime stared up at him in disbelief as the cold words poured from his lips like poison. Ulquiorra could see the obvious pain in her eyes as he stepped out of her room, closing the door behind him. "Thirty minutes," he said once more.
With shoulder slumped over, Orihime glared at the door as it shut before glaring down at her plate. A deep scowl formed upon her as she slapped the plate right off her lap and onto the floor. She didn't get care if he punished her later for it…All she wanted was her friend back! Whether or not he believed they had once been friends, she believed it with all her heart. He had taken her to the beach, conversed with her, comforted her, and even held her.
And now…Now he was back to his usual corpse-like self. He was as empty and lifeless as a doll and as gentle as a stone wall.
It didn't make sense as to why he was being so cruel to her. With a heavy sigh, she got off the couch and trudged over to where her books lie. She had already read four of the five, each one a classic fairy tale that she had grown to love as a kid.
Her fingers traced the cover on the book she hadn't read yet, a look of hurt still lurking in her eyes. Maybe if she read a little bit, it would distract her from her impending doom for when Ulquiorra arrived. Not that she cared if he punished her…It didn't matter. He was no longer her companion but simply her caretaker once again.
She picked up the book and headed over to the couch as she plopped down tiredly. The book was so worn out to the point where the title on the cover was unreadable. With no further ado, she opened the book and began scanning the pages.
"Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess. She had a kind heart and a regal bearing. Her beauty was something every man desired and every woman envied. Even so, she ruled her country with kindness and dignity. The princess was so kindhearted that she was granted magical powers by her fairy godmother in order to help her country flourish. Should she ever be cast from the throne, her country would fall into peril."
Orihime had never heard of this particular fairy tale before. Animatedly colored illustrations were on every other page, creating an air of a colorful and jovial mood. She continued to read with high expectations, wondering what this story would bring.
"...An evil king from a neighboring country had his eye on the princess for awhile. His kingdom was constantly at war and was greatly falling apart. His country was known as the Evil Kingdom of Darkness for the sky was constantly covered in nighttime, never to see the light of the sun. The evil king believed that if he could somehow obtain the princess, his kingdom would prosper by using her magical powers. And so, the king ordered his faithful son, the dark prince, to kidnap the princess and bring her to him."
Why did this seem familiar? Orihime pondered lightly to herself. Perhaps she read this as a child and just currently didn't remember it. Although, the Evil Kingdom of Darkness seemed to fit the description of Las Noches up to a par…
"The prince was as handsome as he was deadly. With a loyal bow, the dark prince said to his father, "I will gladly do as you say." And so the dark prince went in search of the beautiful princess. He traveled into the princess's kingdom, only to find her innocently picking flowers in a garden. She had two knights with her—both very weak. With barely the flick of his wrist, the dark prince slaughtered her bodyguards. "Come with me," the dark prince told the girl."
This was definitely all too familiar.
"The princess tried to use her powers to save her knights but was unable to. She was instantly kidnapped by the dark prince and was taken to the Evil Kingdom of Darkness. Once there, she was placed in the tallest tower of the castle. The princess spent her days as a captive staring out her window, wishing that a prince from another country would come to her rescue…"
"I see you haven't touched your food," Ulquiorra's voice broke through Orihime's train of thought, startling her slightly. Had it really been thirty minutes already? "This is a very dire problem," the cold Espada continued, "I didn't expect you to throw your food on the floor and I had made no other preparations for another meal for you."
"I guess I'll just wait until tomorrow to eat," Orihime replied softly as she turned her attention back towards the book. She wasn't reading this time—she was only trying to seem distracted in order to avoid the Espada's wrath.
He took one step towards her and in a second, his tall frame towering over her. "You will eat your food off the floor. You chose to knock it over—this is your punishment for defying me."
"But…that's not sanitary," Orihime whispered, refusing to look up at him as her eyes locked onto the words of the page. She couldn't bear the sight of his bottomless green eyes looking down upon her.
"Like I said, you're the one that chose to knock it over. Now stop reading and eat," he demanded, his voice holding no signs of compassion with them.
Orihime didn't even flinch as she stared at the pages of the book, "I don't understand, Ulquiorra…This makes no sense."
The Espada bent down to pick up her plate as he scooped some of the rice back onto it with the palm of his hand, "What is there to not understand? All you do is eat."
"No, no, not that," the girl whispered, holding up the book to show him, "It's about me. I'm the princess in the story! And Aizen-sama is the evil king…And you—"
"Enough. Now eat," Ulquiorra told her. He was clearly in no mood to listen to her babble on about some garbage fairy tale.
With a small sigh, Orihime closed the book quietly while setting it down on the table. "All right, Ulquiorra-sama…"
This time, he didn't bother correcting her. The young male then he stood up straight and handed her the plate full of dirty food.
"Ulquiorra-sama…I don't want to be rude but I really don't want to eat food from off the ground," the redhead mumbled, grimacing at the dirt covered rice.
"I could care less what you want or don't want," he replied coldly as he sat down on the couch next to her. Orihime glanced at him from the corner of her eye before looking back down at the food.
"Why have you been so mean to me ever since the day you called me beautiful?" the girl whispered as she stabbed some of the rice with her fork. She wasn't hungry in the least and the thought of dusty rice just wasn't appealing."I thought you were beginning to trust me…to like me."
Ulquiorra slumped back into the couch, completely throwing away his formal appearance. "You're beginning to become a nuisance with your constant babbling," he groaned lightly, rubbing his temple in the process.
"I'm sorry! I don't mean to talk too much! But…I really want to know why you've been so cold to me. It's just that…you seemed so sincere when you hugged me that day," Orihime continued as she wrapped his coat around her undernourished body tighter.
The Espada had nothing to say in denial. He was sincere when he hugged her. He was truly worried about her when Aizen-sama graced her with his presence. Ulquiorra was truly captivated by the girl in every way.
And those books he got from the library weren't helping the storm that had been raging inside of him. Each one explained what was happening to his body in the most precise of explanations, clearing a few things up for him.
There was no beating around the bush—just as Szayel had said, he was indeed attracted to Orihime Inoue.
And that was unacceptable.
Ulquiorra had no need for feelings. No need for relationships. No need for her. And yet, his body was telling him otherwise. The only way to cure this attraction was by distance. If he began to isolate himself from her, perhaps those dreaded sensations would eventually leave on their own.
He stared at the girl's form, noticing the look of woe on her face. She was actually frowning over the fact that he had been mistreating her over the course of that week.
"Woman," Ulquiorra said, smashing the silence, "why are you troubled by my behavior? Isn't this exactly how I treated you when you first arrived here? You are my captive—my prisoner."
Orihime continued to stare down at her untouched food as she sulked lightly, "I just honestly thought you cared about me like I care about you. We're friends, Ulquiorra…I cherish you so much. But right now, you're hurting me."
"You are merely suffering from the Stockholm Syndrome," Ulquiorra stated as he leaned forward to sit up straight, "And you are incorrect. I am currently not inflicting any physical pain on you for I have not touched you."
Her gray eyes landed on him as she stared at him with a puzzled expression, "Um, what's Stockholm Syndrome?"
Did the girl know any useful information? "It is a term used to describe a paradoxical psychological phenomenon where prisoners begin to experience deep positive feelings towards their captor. This is usually due to the fact that they have no one else to depend on and are psychologically forced to rely on their captor for basic needs."
Well, he certainly hit the nail straight on the head.
With a small giggle, she turned to face Ulquiorra with a smile, "You're like my own personal dictionary! Hey, tell me the definition of what Lima Syndrome is--"
"Enough," he grumbled as he reached for her plate. Much to her surprise, he swiped it right off her lap as he stood up from his comfortable perch on the couch. "I will find you more suitable food to eat. Until then, sit here quietly."
With a nod, Orihime stood up from the couch as well and bounded over to the book she had been reading. Secretly, she was happy that he was at least talking to her again. This was better than nothing…
"By the way, Ulquiorra?" she asked as she parked herself on the couch once more.
He craned his neck to look at her, letting her know she had his attention.
"Lima Syndrome," the girl simply said. "It's the complete opposite of Stockholm Syndrome. It's when the abductors feel compassion or sympathy for their captives. The captors experience deep positive feelings towards their prisoner."
"Do not be ridiculous," the fourth Espada replied calmly, "I feel no such thing towards you, if that is what you're hinting at."
At least, none he was willing to admit.
With that said, he left Orihime the room to herself as she began to cheerfully read. She barely got through the first sentence where she had last left off until a strange sensation hit her in the chest like lightning.
Chad's spiritual pressure. It dropped completely.
She slammed the book quickly and stood up while closing her eyes tightly, hoping that it was just a false alarm. With her eyes sealed tightly, she focused on trying to detect all forms of spiritual pressure nearby. Of course Sado-kun was all right! He was probably just unconscious…
And yet, she couldn't feel a slither of his spiritual pressure.
"Sado-kun…" she whispered quietly, staring out the window, "Please…"
Author's Note: Hey guys :D I hope you liked this update! This one is a little bit short but I'll update ASAP ^_^ Thanks again for all the lovely reviews! They mean the world to me!! I still have a good bit more to add to this fic but I'll try not to make it drag on too much No worries—there will be some fluff scenes in the next chapter!!! So be on the lookout ^_~ Oh, and as always, let me know if there are any mistakes or anything ^^ And as usual PLEASE review :D Your reviews motivate me to update faster!!! I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH! Thank you again for all the lovely comments w