And then it happened. Out of all the times for it to happen, it just had to happen now.
"I can't believe it's that time of the month again!" Orihime grumbled to herself in frustration. Her low growl of agitation echoed off the walls of her lonely prison cell. The orange haired female banged her head on the concrete wall before she rested her forehead against it. "Why now? Why today?"
This was her first time being on her menstrual cycle since she had entered into the perils of Hueco Mundo. Even though she had been locked away in Las Noches for over two months now, her period had been postponed for some reason. It was probably due to the fact her body had been malnourished for quite some time. She wasn't eating hardly anything and exercise had been out of the question in her empty room. She had lost tons of weight since her arrival in Hueco Mundo—no wonder she hadn't have had her period.
That is, up until this point.
"Why, why, whyyyyyy…" she whimpered to herself as she continued to rest her forehead upon the cold, cement wall. "What do I do? Do I ask the servant to get me some tampons or something? Do Arrancar even have periods? Do they even know what they are?" This was definitely the worst timing. Lord Aizen would be requesting her presence any moment now! And to make matters worse, he always insisted she wore the lovely white gown he had given her.
This was absolutely horrible. There would be no way he wouldn't find out she was on her period! But, did it matter if he found out or not? The night she and Ulquiorra had made love was forever buried in her memory. The entire reason they slept together was in order for her to get pregnant.
But of course, she never did get pregnant. As to why Ulquiorra chose that precise moment to pull out, she wasn't sure. All she did know was that Lord Aizen had wanted her to get pregnant and she clearly wasn't. If he were to find out, she'd be in a horrendous amount of trouble.
Even worse, Ulquiorra would be in trouble.
She slightly shuddered at the thought of Lord Aizen's wrath. Orihime pressed her lips together as she pondered on what to do. She could always fake an illness and say she was far too weak to visit Aizen herself. She wasn't a very good actress but to be truthful, she certainly looked sick.
She only went to the bathroom a few times a day. Each time she was there, she could only get a glimpse of herself in the mirror since she was always pressured to take as little time as possible. She certainly wasn't a beautiful sight to look at it…Her hair was always tangled and her face had even grown thinner. Dark, ugly circles had formed underneath her pale eyes while her cheeks had lost their once lovely, pink glow. She had even gotten to the point where she could count her own ribs…
That was another problem. Weren't pregnant women supposed to be on the heavy side? She was supposed have a child imbedded in her womb, and yet, here she was skinny as a rail. She certainly didn't appear as if she was pregnant.
It had been weeks since Aizen had requested the girl's presence. The last time she had seen him was before she and Ulquiorra had made love. The servant Arrancar simply told her that Lord Aizen was far too busy with making preparations to leave for the human world. As to what those preparations were, the servant would never say. If Aizen were to gaze upon her frail form, he would know in an instant she had not conceived a child.
And that was even more noticeable then her being on her period.
Perhaps faking an illness would be the best route to go. She could curl up on the couch and pretend that she was too weak to stand up. Or perhaps she could even fake fainting! Oh, but it would be troublesome if Aizen decided to visit her himself…
But as long as he kept his distance from her, he would never notice. She could wrap herself tightly in a blanket and he would probably be unaware of the truth. Or perhaps he would change his mind about visiting her at all and hurry up and take his departure to the human world…
Either way, she needed to play her cards carefully so that he did not find out that there was no child within her.
Orihime slowly sauntered over to the couch where she laid down tiredly. To be truthful, she felt that she didn't even need to fake being sick. Her entire body ached as her stomach churned with the most unpleasant of aching pains.
This was indeed a horrible day.
Before she had any time to think of another way to fool Lord Aizen, a knock was heard at the door. Orihime couldn't help but perk up her head as the door opened slowly, a small leap of hope bursting in her chest. "Ulquiorra?" Orihime found herself whispering in disbelief.
Much her to dismay, the person who stood at the door was none other than the irrelevant servant Arrancar. The Arrancar looked at her through its skull-like mask that looked suspiciously like the skull of an elk. "Lord Aizen requests your presence now. Are you ready?"
Of course it wouldn't have been Ulquiorra. Orihime had to contain a displeased sigh as a small lump formed in her throat. "Actually, I'm not feeling too well right now…I think I'm too weak to stand," the feeble human said as she tried to muster up the most pitiful voice she could form.
The Arrancar continued to look at her with its beady eyes, "I'm afraid you don't have a choice. Lord Aizen requests your presence." The Arrancar's voice was deep and raspy. It sort of reminded Orihime of an old man's voice.
Orihime let out a small, dry cough as she refused to budge from her comfortable position on the couch. "I'm sorry it's just…I feel so sick today. I need to lie down for a little while. I'll probably faint if I get up…" The girl wondered if her pitiful act was working at all on the Arrancar. She didn't consider that the servant would probably get in trouble if he didn't fetch Orihime. Even so, worrying about that Arrancar's safety was the least of her worries.
The servant straightened himself up as he approached her, "Then I shall carry you, my lady. What Lord Aizen wants, Lord Aizen gets." He reached out his skeletal hands as he stood over her.
Orihime hadn't have thought of this scenario. The servant was a lot shorter than her and looked very weak but still capable of carrying a skinny human girl like herself. "Um…Don't you think that would be inappropriate? After all, I am with child. I'm not sure if Lord Aizen would appreciate a weaker being like you touching someone as delicate as I."
Orihime was never the type to say such cruel words to another being—even a lesser ranked Arrancar. However, she had no choice. If she had to hurt his feelings in order to keep him from touching her, then so be it. She would just simply have to apologize at a later time…
The servant Arrancar dropped his hands as he watched the girl continue to clutch onto the blanket that shielded her. The girl was right—Lord Aizen would probably be furious to know that a mere servant touched his precious princess. Only an Espada would be worthy enough to touch Aizen's little toy.
"You are right. I am sorry for such a suggestion. I shall inform Lord Aizen of your condition and ask what he would rather have me do," with a small bow, the servant took his exit, leaving Orihime to exhale a heavy sigh of relief.
That was a close one. As long as Lord Aizen didn't see just how thin she had gotten, everything would be all right. She could do this. She could handle this!
Several minutes had passed and Orihime was beginning to lose doubt that Lord Aizen would actually make time in order to come visit her. After all, he was a very busy man. There was no way he would take time out of his hectic schedule to go visit a sick, pathetic girl.
Sadly, all her hopes shattered as a tall, handsome male entered into her room without knocking.
"Ah, Orihime, my servant has told me that you were too sick to see me. Is this true?" rang out the voice that belonged to none other than Aizen Sousuke himself. As usual, his brown hair was slicked back as a sly grin played upon his attractive features. "Tell me, is this true?" His voice was calm and gentle like a soft breeze.
For a moment, Orihime found herself frozen. Her lips quivered as she stared into his dangerously serene eyes. His very presence shook her body to the very core. The human would just never be able to get over just how much power that seemed to radiate off of his striking body. Her throat began to grow dry as she opened her mouth to say something, only to find her words stifled.
"It's all right, Orihime. I can see it in your eyes. You're feeling very unwell today, aren't you? But I'm not surprised. I blame it all on that servant of mine. He just didn't seem to treat you with all the love and tender care that you deserve," Aizen said softly as he slowly walked over towards the fragile girl. "If only Ulquiorra was the one who was taking care of you. He seemed to do a marvelous job, didn't he?"
Orihime continued to stare up at the dominant male above her. At the very mention of Ulquiorra's name upon his devious lips, goose bumps began to arise upon Orihime's flesh. She wanted to glare at him and accuse him of her current state. After all, it was his decision to strip Ulquiorra of his job as her caretaker and place such an uncaring Arrancar in his place. He was the one to have her ordered to this God forsaken prison in the first place.
"Poor Orihime," Aizen cooed out as he knelt down in front of her until they were both eye-level. "I hope you know that you are very precious to me. The second my servant told me of your unhealthy state, I decided I better quickly come to your aid. You see, it would be very bad if something were to happen to you, my beloved Orihime."
The fiery haired girl hated the way he would say her name in such an alluring, taunting way. She found herself wrapping the blanket tighter around her trembling body, afraid Aizen was going to rip it off her at any given moment.
"I'm sorry to have inconvenienced you, Aizen-sama. Please forgive me. I'm just feeling a bid under the weather today…Nothing too major." Orihime whispered softly, trying her best to conceal her rising anxiety. She bowed her head slightly, orange strands of hair slightly falling over her face as she did so.
Aizen reached up to tuck those few strands behind her ears, "Now, Orihime, it must be something major. If it wasn't, then I assume you wouldn't have missed out on a private meeting with me. You must know how important it is to see me when I call upon you, don't you?" He said softly as he leaned in closer to her. Orihime could feel his warm breath upon her cheek as she could feel red flags of danger going off within every fiber of her being.
Something was wrong. And she could feel it.
"You know, it's been awhile since we've had a meeting, hasn't it? I want to apologize for that. Things have just been so busy on my end. Plotting to destroy your precious Karakura Town isn't easy," he breathed out quietly into her ear. His voice sent shivers of warning down her back as she found herself quickly withdrawing away from him.
Wait. Did he say he was plotting to destroy Karakura Town?
"Now, Now, Orihime. No need to get upset with me. It's just the way things are. You see, Soul Society just refuses to give me what I want. If they had, there would be no need to destroy Karakura Town. But I'm afraid I have no choice. I do hope you'll find it in your heart to forgive me," Aizen continued as he tenderly stroked the top of her head, entangling his fingers through her orange curtain of succulent hair. "After all, you only have a few months left until the little monstrosity is born." His voice came out in almost a purr as he sat down on the couch next to her, causing her feel extremely anxious.
Orihime bit her lower lip as her body trembled lightly from his intimidation techniques. Block him out, Orihime. Don't listen to him. He's just bluffing. Kurosaki-kun and the others will stop him for sure! Orihime kept reassuring herself in her mind. There's no way Lord Aizen could destroy her home town! Soul Society just wouldn't let it happen. Ever. End of Story.
"You won't be able to," Orihime found herself babbling out before she could stop herself, "You just won't be able to win against Soul Society."
She wanted to take back the words the second she uttered them. She should've know by now that no one speaks back to Lord Aizen. That is, without some sort of punishment following… Instantly, Orihime began to flinch and cover her head, expecting Lord Aizen to strike at her.
Instead of lashing out at the helpless girl in front of him, Aizen simply grinned widely at her attempts to sound confident. "Oh? And what makes you think that?" He watched the girl closely as she tried to scoot away from him, still clutching onto the blanket as if her life depended on it.
The healer didn't know how to respond to such a question. Did she really think Soul Society would be able to stop him? Did she really think that Ichigo Kurosaki could also put an end to his evil crimes? If he did, then that would mean that he and the others would have to abandon their attempts to rescue her. They would need to focus their attention solely on fighting Aizen Sousuke and defending Karakura Town.
Orihime brought her knees up to her chest as she embraced herself tightly. The truth was that she really didn't think anyone could truly stop Lord Aizen. She had seen what he was capable of. And now that he was in possession of the Hogyoku, he was pretty much unstoppable.
But it didn't matter. What mattered was that she needed to belief in the strength of Soul Society and in the strength of her friends. If they could somehow at least weaken Aizen, then that might just give her enough time to erase the Hogyoku's existence with her own powers.
She knew of the risks. She knew that if she used the power that was within her magical hairclips to eliminate the Hogyoku's being, then it would cost Orihime her life. But none of that mattered anymore.
She just needed to believe.
"Because I know that my friends would fight to the end to protect the ones they love. Kuchiki-san, Ishida-kun, Sado-kun, Abarai-kun, and even Kurosaki-kun came all the way here just to save me. They risked their lives and fought their hardest. Even now, they're still fighting. All their hard efforts are just to save me," Orihime began as she nervously tucked a few strands of hair behind her ears. "And since you're threatening their home—where all their loved ones live—then they're going to fight even harder. And everyone from Soul Society is going to do their very best, too. That is why…I believe you won't win."
Her voice was shaky as she spoke softly to him. The redhead figured her words would strike a nerve within Lord Aizen's being but that was all right to her. She didn't care anymore if he was going to punish her for her words. For her beliefs.
Even so, Aizen's grin just widened all the more by her tender words. "Oh my, how touching. I feel a little hurt, Orihime, that you don't believe that my impressive power will overcome your friends. But no matter. I will win in the end. And you're going to help me, Orihime." Aizen leaned in towards the girl as he tucked a finger underneath her chin, forcing her to gaze up at him with her frightened, silver orbs.
Orihime quivered lightly from his delicate touch. Aizen was such a powerful man to the point where she could even feel pulsing spiritual pressure emanating from his fingertips.
Aizen smirked lightly as he saw just how much supremacy he had over the frail human girl. The girl knew very well that he could crush her skull just by using his bare hands if he pleased to do so. Every breath she took all depended on Lord Aizen's mercy. Orihime was completely under his power and she knew it, too.
"Tell me, Orihime…How did it feel when Ulquiorra touched you? Did you look at him with this same exact fear in your eyes?" Aizen said softly as he continued to peer into her apprehensive eyes. "Or perhaps it was overwhelming with pleasure?" The man placed a gentle hand atop of the girl's thigh that was tucked neatly beneath the covers.
Orihime didn't know how to respond as Aizen brought his lips towards the base of her neck, "I am so jealous of Ulquiorra, Orihime. I would have loved to be the one to have claimed you but I'm afraid my seed wouldn't have provided you with a strong enough offspring." His tone was low and seductive which caused even more chills to dance along Orihime's spine.
"You're such delicate flower, Orihime. You're just so innocent and precious. Any man would be lucky to have you," Aizen continued as he brought his hand underneath the covers to slide her dress up past her knees. He could tell he was causing her nerves to skyrocket since she flinched from his every touch, no matter how gentle they were.
Orihime stifled a gasp as she felt his hand slip between the blankets. In a panic, she shot up from the couch, dropping the blanket to the floor. At this point, she didn't care if he saw her lean, malnourished body. She could find an excuse to explain how her stomach was not large but she couldn't handle his teasing any longer. One more touch from him and she would have lost her mind!
The handsome man gazed upon Orihime's body, a look of disproval crossing over his features. Something didn't seem right about the girl. Her dress appeared rather large on her as it hung loosely on her tiny frame. If he remembered correctly, Szayel Apporro Granz had told him that her body would produce an Arrancar child at a much quicker pace than a regular pregnancy. A typical human pregnancy took precisely nine months until the child was born. After a few months, the mother's belly would start to enlarge with the growing infant within it. Szayel had said that it would only take a human a few weeks before the stomach would start to enlarge because of the fast rate that an Arrancar child would grow.
So why did Orihime seem even thinner than usual?
Aizen's thin eyebrows furrowed in the slightest as he examined her closely. "Orihime, have you been eating properly?" the sovereign asked her as he continued to eye her suspiciously.
Orihime's cheeks flushed lightly as she tore her gaze away from him. "No, my Lord. Through my despair, I've lost my desire to eat," she admitted solemnly as she stared at a crack in the floor. That part was true, at least. Ever since Ulquiorra had denounced his position as her caregiver, she didn't feel the need to eat that much anymore. The food that her new caregiver had presented her with was foul and completely unfit to eat. It would only make her sick if she indulged in it. Since the servant Arrancar hadn't enforced the importance of her eating habits, she would only eat a few bites when she felt she could bare the pain of hunger no more.
Aizen glowered lightly as he stood up from his seat on the couch, strolling over to the shaking woman before him. "Orihime, you are with child, are you not? You should know how important it is to eat. If you do not receive the proper nutrients then the child will die." His voice appeared stern like how a condescending father would scold his disobedient daughter. The contemptuous man reached out his fist to seize her slender wrist tightly, trying to emphasize the severity of the situation as his intense eyes locked upon hers. "Do you know just how bad it would be for that child to die?"
"I-I'm sorry, my Lord. I promise, I'll start eating from now on," Orihime whimpered quietly as she winced from the intense pain that surged through her wrist from his tight grasp.
Aizen continued to glare at the woman as he brought up one of his hands to cup her chin roughly, forcing her to look at him once more, "A simple apology won't suffice if the child is damaged in any way due to your sheer foolishness. If I find that something has happened to the child, you will be of no use to me."
Worried tears began to sting the corners of Orihime's eyes as she looked up to him. This was no bluff—she knew he wouldn't hesitate to kill her if he knew she truly wasn't pregnant.
Aizen tried to hold back a scowl at the woman's pathetic behavior. She was just so reckless! How could she not eat even when she knew there was a baby growing inside of her? Did she not care about the baby's well-being? If something were to happen to that child, all of his future plans would be washed down the drain.
The woman looked so emaciated and pale—perhaps she was in an even worse condition than she was letting on. How could any of the servants not notice her ailing condition? She appeared to be nothing more than flesh and bone—so much less desirable than she was when she had first arrived in Hueco Mundo. Aizen could recall her beauty radiating throughout all of Las Noches the moment she walked into the door. He could never forget such a lovely sight…
And now there was a scrawny woman decaying away in his hands.
Lord Aizen tried to regain his composure as he released her wrist, his eyes never leaving her form. "Orihime, I want you to remove your clothing. I need to see your body in its entirety to make sure you are not in any worse condition than you appear," he stated simply as he folded his muscular arms over his chest.
Orihime's eyes were as wide as saucers as she was taken back by such a horrifying request. As if seeing her without the blanket was bad enough, now he wanted her to remove her clothes? This was bad. Really bad. If any blood happened to leak from her body, and if Aizen were to detect it, it would be over. He would surely kill her. He would massacre her.
The girl could feel Aizen's intense eyes upon her, watching her every move. If she didn't do as she was told, he would surely get even angrier than he already was.
This was a lose-lose situation for her.
"Do not make me repeat myself, Orihime. Take off your clothes," the male said in a much more stern tone. He wasn't about to yell at her—he knew a simple, serious tone would be enough to frighten the girl into doing as he instructed.
Within seconds, Orihime was sliding her white uniform from her scrawny form. She allowed it to slip off her shoulders and onto the floor as she stepped out of it. She gulped nervously as the chilled wind nipped at her bare skin, causing her to tremor softly.
"Now, step into the moonlight so I can see you better," Aizen ordered as his amber eyes swept across her entire frame, looking for any signs of damage. She was indeed a lot thinner than he had imagined. But that didn't mean there wasn't a child lurking within her womb. Szayel's predictions could have been a bit off. Since Orihime Inoue wasn't a regular human herself, the time it took for her to conceive could vary from that of a regular human.
But even so, something seemed a bit off about the woman. She looked as if she was hiding something. Something very deep and very personal.
"Orihime Inoue," Aizen said calmly, dusting off some imaginary dirt from his white uniform as he straightened himself up. "I want you to know that there is nothing you can hide from me. Your mind, body, and soul exist for me and me alone." His deep voice caused the human girl to shiver even more as she crossed her arms over her luscious chest.
She bit her lower lip as her eyes locked on the cement floor beneath her. She felt something trickle down her leg as her body froze instantly. She stifled a gasp as she immediately knew what it was, her heart nearly stopping its massive beating for a few, long moments.
"Orihime," Aizen repeated her name again softly as he took another step towards her. A tiny, underhanded smirk formed on his lips as he placed a gentle hand on her waist, pulling the petite woman against his powerfully built chest. "Stop shivering. I promise I won't hurt you," the male whispered tauntingly in her ear as the deceitful grin remained on his face. His voice may have appeared to be kind and gentle but Orihime knew better than to believe him for even a split second.
"At least, not until I'm finished with you. After all, you are indeed far more important than anyone gives you credit for," he purred out as he nipped seductively at her earlobe. His voice was low and husky as he teased her nonchalantly. Even the slightest of his movements caused the girl to flinch.
Aizen traced his fingers along the girl's delicate flesh, taunting her more and more with each passing second. Orihime closed her eyes as she tried to block out what the provoking man was doing. His warm hands were the complete opposite of Ulquiorra's cold touch. Even so, she silently wished Ulquiorra's icy fingers were on her bare flesh instead. Aizen's hands seemed more dangerous, for some reason. Hot like fire.
If she didn't pull away soon she would get burned.
All of a sudden, a particular sense of heavy pressure began to fill the tiny cubicle of her room. The sudden burst of pressure startled Orihime as she tried to balance herself, wondering what was causing the atmosphere in the room to abruptly feel heavy. Before she knew it, a massive pain filled her head, causing the most dreadful of headaches. For a moment she wondered if Aizen had hit her but he stood completely still with nothing but a tantalizing smirk upon his handsome face.
The male's hands began to trail downwards, caressing the skin of her bare thigh. Orihime opened her mouth to protest but couldn't find the words. Her body had completely frozen with fear as she could feel the blood draining from her face. Her eyes began to grow hazy as her vision blurred. The immense burst of pressure caused Orihime to feel rather faint. She could only assume the pressure was caused by Lord Aizen's radiating reaitsu. The man was so powerful, so intimidating… He was her superior and he was making it clear to her that she needed to obey his every word or else.
"Orihime Inoue," Aizen breathed out, his voice smooth as silk once more, "what are you hiding from me?"
Orihime could feel her legs about to crumble underneath her. She wanted nothing more than to escape the overbearing aura of his impressive reiatsu. Out of impulse, she reached for the man's arm to steady herself as she nearly collapsed to the cold, hard floor.
The girl would have told the man absolutely anything if it meant ending the overbearing energy that surrounded her. She was about to open her mouth to say something when all of a sudden, the intense pressure subsided. Orihime slowly slunk to the floor as she was unable to keep her balance anymore. She released her weak grip on the man's arm, trying to catch her breath in the process. Wondering as to why Lord Aizen stopped his torture, Orihime peered up at him, only to find utter surprise gleaming in his eyes.
Orihime blinked in confusion for a moment, wondering what caused the man to look so bewildered. He seemed confused and even a little horrified. That was rather out of character for the usually calm and collected man.
And then it hit her. He was staring at blood that continued to drip from the girl's slender legs.
Orihime instantly tried to wipe the blood away with her hands, desperately trying to cover it up. A nervous laugh emitted from her dry lips as she found herself babbling. "Oh, I can explain! You see, I cut myself shaving and I couldn't get the blood to stop! And then some kind of a robot came in the room and made the bleeding worse!" She couldn't stop the unintelligible words from spilling from her mouth as anxiety began to take over her.
She stared back up at Aizen, only to see that the shock and anger had completely vanished from his face, leaving him with that usual creepy, malicious smirk.
"Tell me, Orihime Inoue," the man said in his silky, calm voice, "You're not really pregnant, are you?"
Author's Note: Well is that a cliffhanger or what? XD Hahahaha! Sorry for the delay, people! School's kind of consuming my life right now so I'm not sure when I'll be able to update next. Could be next week, could be next month…But I hope you'll stick with me and see what all Lord Aizen has hidden up his sleeve! What will happen, I wonder? :3 Please stay tuned for the next exciting episode of MY MASTER'S VOICE! ^_^ Oh, and please read and review. It seriously encourages me to get off my butt and update a lot faster! :D