AN:/ HEY GUYS, I have a beta and I'm so excited.
I'm still looking for the story and exams are over. Yahoooooooo.
Recap:
"Well men, it's time to get back to the firm," Mr. Thomas announced. The men got up from the floor after talking to the children about how they wanted the room to be like. Ulquiorra and Erik stayed seated. They waited for their co-workers to leave the room so they could explain to her about the trip.
"It's to prove how you work?" Orihime confusingly said.
"Yes," Ulquiorra answered.
"Okay, I understand. I'll see you at home," Orihime replied.
Ulquiorra nodded and he left along with his partner.
Chapter 17: Japan
The screen flicks on (again)
Everyone settles down comfortably. Yammy snickers, Grimmjow grunts and Nnoitora has his face plastered with that crazy trademark grin of his. The lights flicker off and the screen lights up, once again. The mood in the room seems heavy.
"h ... h... How long will you be gone?" Orihime asked hesitantly, trying to make to make a little conversation at the dinner table, but pretty obviously afraid to do so.
"Mr. Thomas said until the end of February." Ulquiorra replied keeping any sign of emotion out of his voice and went back to eating his beef curry over jasmine rice. "oh, I see." Orihime murmured with an undertone of sadness. She too went back to eating her meal. The entire time they were eating, everything was silent. No one spoke anything. Except for the clinking of the silverware and the light thud for the tea cups filled with green tea, no other sound could be heard. This only added to the tension. Ulquiorra finished first and went into the kitchen to put his plate and cutlery into the dishwasher. He then went upstairs to pack his stuff for the long, long trip tomorrow.
Orihime was still eating her meal, thinking about how lonely she was going to be when Ulquiorra wouldn't be there. She unintentionally let out a dejected sigh , as if she'd just lost her battle. Absentmindedly, she got up to go into the kitchen. Not seeing where she was going, she bumped into the fridge on her way." Ttttt..., ouch it hurts..." a lone tear escaped her eye and slipped down her smooth cheek. She reached to wipe it, but those silly little droplets, they won't stop." why am I crying?" she thought " I must have gone mad...(sob).. pretending..."she choked on her tears"...pretending... that ..that ..i'm so happy...(sob) ... when actually...actually...so alone...all this...why lord.. oh merciful lord, why me... why me..?!" with this Orihime slid down to the floor, supporting herself against the fridge. She had now broken down into full sobs , her plate and silverware abandoned to the side and forgotten about for the time being.
(In the hall, Las Noches, Hueco Mundo)
"The poor girl" Szayel tsked "Ulqui shouldn't be so cold." "That bastard" Grimmjow muttered under his breath. "hey, you sound like you've gone soft, huh?! Don't tell me you're in love with gingy or worst , you feel the need to protect her like a brother." Nnoitora remarked snidely 32 perfectly white teeth, glinting off in the dark. Grimmjow turned to him, shocked, like a deer in headlights, blushing a furious crimson. This only added to Nnoitora's fun and he broke into hi ugly, irritating cackle.
"Now, you must not tease your brother, Nnoitora" Aizen reprimanded in his fatherly tone, eyes dancing with humour lurking on Grimmjow. "Humph" Grimmjow just turned the other way and carried o watching the screen play images of his "brother" and the princess in the real world." Someday" anger seethed into his voice, though it was only his mind talk "I'm gonna get you for this, Ul-qui-orra."
(meanwhile, back in the real world)
" The stress , the loneliness, the being away from friends, it must have gotten to me. I must not go in front f Ulquiorra this way. It's just before his trip and seeing me in such a pathetic state, he might get upset and cancel his trip." Thinking such thoughts, her spirits lifted and inside her, her heart did little flips. "w...what ... is this feeling.."Orihime asked herself, clutching her chest, her heart pounding furiously, and her cheeks glowing a beautiful, vibrant red. "I..I must not let him see me like this.." she shook her head furiously, as if to get rid of those feeling and got up, wiping her face and picking up her plate in the process, and moving towards the dishwasher. After setting her plate in, she got out the ice cream German chocolate cake from the freezer. She cut herself a piece of the deliciously heart warming treat. Leaning down on the kitchen counter, she took out a fork from the drawer and proceeded to eat the heavenly delicious dessert.
"It's going to be lonely in this house." She got lost in thought again. "It feels just like back at my old apartment. I wonder why?"
Orihime finished the cake and put her plate in the sink to soak. She put the cake back in the freezer and got out some honey lemon shaved ice for Ulquiorra. She grabbed a spoon and went upstairs to find Ulquiorra in their room, putting in the last bits of his personals in the suitcase.
" There you are Ulqui. I bought you some dessert."Orihime chirped, smiling her oh –so-sweetly—sunshine-resembling smile.
Ulquiorra turned to see Orihime coming towards him with a bowl. he had an unreadable expression on his face. He stared at the so-called "dessert" the Onna was handing him. "Is it safe to consume this?" he thought, thinking back to the one time in Hueco Mundo when Orihime had given him a "cake" with salt, capsicum, garlic and other gross things stuffed in it. Ulquiorra groaned at the recollection of his state after eating the "special treat".
"I think I'll pass." He said simply only to curse and kick himself inwards for the sheen of the glinting tears in her eyes.
"You... you ...really don't want this?"Orihime asked with an innocent and heart -broken expression, staring at the bowl in her hands. "shit, what the hell?! I can't see her this way! Huh?! What the..." before he could dwell further on the question in his mind, his lips moved on their own accord and "what is this substance you are trying to give me onna?" maintaining a cautious distance between himself and the bowl. "it's honey-lemon shaved ice." Orihime said , her eyes lighting up. "I didn't know what you liked, so I did something simple for you." She smiled again, suddenly Ulquiorra felt something in his chest contract. He placed a hand over the place. "you okay Ulqui .. are you ill?!" Orihime asked him, worry clearly washing over her beautiful face" wait... when did i start thinking that onna was beautiful?!..."" Ulqui .." her sweet and persistent voice dragged him out of his reverie and "I'm okay, onna. Nothing to worry about."" Thank god ,I thought you were going to have a heart attack. But you're so young. But then even little children also have heart attacks these days. But then you are an Espada so i thought maybe you have an Arrancar attack but that makes no sense." Orihime mused, tapping her chin with her index finger , looking at the ceiling. " wow, " Ulquiorra thought "now that was an interesting piece of detailed thinking." Ulquiorra took the bowl out of her hands and stared at it. Orihime stopped her blabbering and stared on. She waited for him to try the simple dessert but she knew that Ulquiorra was not really used to people being nice to him or give him things that won't try to kill him. Good thing she wasn't like that. She beamed at the thought. Ulquiorra decided, with caution, to eat the dessert that Orihime had made for him. He took a small portion of it with the spoon and put it in his mouth. The sweet and tangy taste assaulted his taste buds but it slowed when the ice melted and made the taste more calming. Ulquiorra deemed it acceptable for his taste and kept eating it until it was gone. "So how was it?" Orihime asked in anticipation, dancing from foot to foot."It was palatable," Ulquiorra answered in the most calm voice he could manage. The sweet taste had left him craving for more but he simply couldn't ask for seconds and trouble the onna. Orihime shrieked in joy, her voice a blend of pure glee and happiness. She jumped and threw her hands around Ulquiorra grabbing him in a bear hug." Thank you so much Ulqui That's the first time anyone's praised my food. Thanks a tonne." Ulquiorra was shocked out of his senses at the sudden contact. he felt the strange thud again only this time it wasn't a single beat. His heart was beating at an unbelievable rate. " my... heart?.." he did not know what to do. No one had ever embraced or tried to come close to him. Of course, his demeanor had been so rude, his body language exuding nothing but that killing instinct. But this onna, since she'd come into his life... so much had changed... he'd lost control of everything. He just stood there awkwardly; bowl in hand frozen in the embrace. Orihime, not getting any response from Ulquiorra, pulled away with a frown on her face and realized their situation. Quickly she retracted her arms and took a few steps back. "I..I'm sorry..."" I..I..it's okay" she looked up , surprise clearly visible in her big grey eyes. "did Ulquiorra just stutter?!" she thought. " Oh god! Ulqui too feels embarrassed!"she giggled a little at the revelation. Ulquiorra who had averted his gaze to the other side extended his arm with the bowl still in hand. He gave her the empty bowl and went into the bathroom so he could get changed for bed. Orihime smiled and left the room to go to the kitchen so she could finish putting away the dishes. She came back upstairs and found that Ulquiorra was already in the bed. Orihime grabbed her pj's and went to the bathroom to get dressed, came out and climbed into bed, next to Ulquiorra. That night , Ulquiorra did not get any sleep.
Morning
Orihime and Ulquiorra both awoke from their slumber to the wailing alarm clocks Orihime had set before going to bed last night. Ulquiorra got out of bed and ran around like a flustered puppy, switching off the irritating alarm bells, while Orihime sat up in bed, rubbing the last vestiges of sleep from her eyes. When the last alarm clock had been shut off, Ulquiorra stood next to Orihime and asked in an intimidating voice " WHAT. IS . THE. . ?""oh , ohaio, Ulqui." Orihime got up, blissfully unaware of Ulquiorra's growing anger, grabbed her rubber band and went into the bathroom. Ulquiorra just grunted and plopped down on the bed. A few minutes later, Orihime emerged from the bathroom, looking more like herself to see a sleep deprived, grunting-like –an-old-man-sulking-like-a-child Ulquiorra, sitting on the bed with his arms across his chest. "Ne, Ulqui, you'll be late. Get up. The bathroom's free c'mon." She went to stand in front of him, arms akimbo. "now don't be such a child." She spoke to him in a scolding yet playful voice." Where does she get this energy from at 4 in the morning.?!" Ulquiorra thought, getting up, still sulking." O hoi, sir. I'll make the bed and get the breakfast ready." Ulquiorra turned around to see Orihime standing in attention, mock saluting , with a serious expression on her face, a captain he couldn't see. He just rolled his eyes and the next second heard her break into unrestricted laughter ."ba dump" his " heart "was beating again. He willed himself to not look at the onna , laughing carelessly and quickly strutted into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. Ulquiorra went into the bathroom to take a shower while Orihime was making up the bed and cooking them a quick breakfast. Ulquiorra came downstairs dressed in black pants, a spiked belt, a gray tie-dye shirt , white vans sneakers and carrying his suitcase. Orihime passed him a piece of toast, he ate it, and Orihime ate her small meal and grabbed her stuff. "Ulqui, We need to get going before you're late for your flight," Orihime said, looking at her wrist watch. They left the house, got into Ulquiorra's car, Orihime turned on the GPS so they could find the airport and Ulquiorra drove out the driveway. The drive was a peaceful one. Orihime's morning store of energy had withered away and she was calmer than before. Ulquiorra as usual kept a stoic expression and followed the instructions provided by the GPS. They arrived at the airport, Ulquiorra parked his car and they went inside the place. Orihime found Eric near terminal 6 waiting for them. She waved to them from a distance. They quickened their pace and reached them.
"Hello Eric and Janette," Orihime greeted them with her lovely smile.
"Hello there Orihime and Ulquiorra," Janette greeted back. Eric nodded at her in greeting and gave Ulquiorra his ticket. Janette and Orihime were holding hands and talking to each other. Orihime 's mood looked mellowed down and there was a melancholic look in her eyes.
"Now," Janette spoke, grabbing everyone's attention," before you two go we need to give you guys the low down. 1. Don't do anything stupid; 2. Don't get into any trouble; 3. Be careful out there and 4. Come back home safely and win that contest," The men nodded their heads. Eric and Janette hugged each other and when they pulled back, Janette's eyes were hazy." Come back soon honey." she said." I will" Eric replied, his voice husky," i love you." "i love you too. "and with that the shared a passionate kiss. Orihime , feeling awkward, did what she considered right at that moment. She too hugged Ulquiorra and whispered in his ear. "I'll miss you, Ulqui." This time, though Ulquiorra's heart wanted to come out of his chest, somehow he managed to hug Orihime back. They broke their short contact and Ulquiorra said, "Take care, onna. Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone." "hmm..." Orihime murmured, eyes shining with unshed tears. With this the two men turned and walked towards the terminal, leaving behind Janette and Orihime, who were holding hands. Again the silver droplets trickled down Orihime's cheek and she hugged Janette, quietly sobbing into the other woman's abundant chest.
"Now now Orihime ... it's okay... I'm there for you... alright." She pet her head and drew soothing circles into her back." Let's go to my place, okay?"she asked and Orihime choked out an incomprehensible yes. The two ladies walked out the airport, the ginger head being supported by the other. She looked over her shoulder, into the growing swarm of people, trying to locate him," Take care, Ulqui, and come back to me soon..."
AN/: Review please