AN:/ HEY GUYS, sorry about the late update. Enjoy

Recap:

Ulquiorra was anxious to check if the onna had perhaps, just like Janette, inquired after his well being or not. But he couldn't check his phone while driving. Eric took his phone from him and tried to read the messages but was dismayed to find the phone asking for a password.

"Ugghhhhh!" he groaned, "why are you so secretive?!"

Ulquiorra said nothing and kept his eyes on the road.

Chapter 20: Surprise Calls

Ulquiorra drove up to an abandoned clinic, which was three miles away from their hotel. Being a first timer in a building competition; Ulquiorra hadn't expected the contest to be held in a deserted building. He parked the car in the parking lot and Eric and he got out of the car.

"is it a ritual to start every contest in an abandoned building?" Ulquiorra asked.

Eric eyeing the clinic with distaste ,answered, equally if not more perturbed by the condition of the building, "Not usually but may they wanted to start in a very...um..different way...? This is the first time they're doing it like this I guess."

They went into the building and were shocked. They stood in complete awe of what they saw in there. The interior of the building gave no hints as to the clinic being abandoned. The amazing architectural details were totally like a punch in the gut to Ulquiorra. He felt ashamed at having shown his disgust for the building earlier. "Truly, beauty is what lies within, the outer appearance is just a façade.."Ulquiorra contemplated out loud. "Yeah dude,...this is...this is ...like a I mean like completely awesome! All this vintage architecture...wow!I wish Janette could have come with me. She totally loves such architecture. Totally her thing."

"Onna would have appreciated this beauty as well..." Ulquiorra added almost dreamily, and as if on cue, he could hear his Onna's joyous laughter ringing in his ear. He could see the sunlight reflect off of her beautiful auburn hair, he could see how her skin glowed when she was happy, how her cheeks turned red whenever he appreciated her cooking, he could remember how happy she had been to see him after she had returned from her first modelling assignment, he remembered all of her, her beautiful grey eyes, her laughter, her beautiful skin, and most of all, he remembered yesterday- the day when his onna had cried – for him. He could remember the feeling of desperately wanting to hold her tightly and never letting go, how he had felt the urgent need to kiss her passionately, right then and there. And he could very clearly remember those glistening drops of acidic water , falling from her equally glistening eyes, but only they weren't acidic water droplets- instead they were all she had wanted to say, but had withheld in hopes, that one day , he would understand, and accept what she had to offer him- her sincere, pure, true and undying love. He could still feel those tears sliding down her cheeks, soaking is shirt which indeed should have been wiped by his hands , he still felt that longing and self loathe at being so weak that he could not...SNAP!

And Ulquiorra was drawn out of his reverie by Eric. He had been watching for some time now, he had seen how one moment Ulquiorra's expression had been so soft, even tender, but had suddenly changed to one that of intense pain. He could see how he was in an internal dilemma, having already noticed how lost he had been during their journey so far. He had almost hit a truck and would have killed them both if it had not been the truck driver's manoeuvring at the right time. "Man! Still get the chills from the near death experience." Eric mused internally, reflexively rubbing his arms." Ah! This is the typical love-smitten-a-little-fucked-up-in-the-head-to-rea lise-and-with-a-little-too-huge-an-ego –to-accept-love-kinda guy." He smiled fondly in Ulquiorra's direction before suddenly snapping him out of his day dream.

After being forcefully drawn out of his self contemplation and self depreciation, and recovering from the initial shock, both men started to take in their surroundings more completely, noticing the intricate detailing of the interior.

It was glorious, like a dream come true for architects and art lovers all around the world. The high ceilings of the room were supported by highly carved marble pillars, the walls a cream colour were decorated with different scenes of the warriors of heaven and hell fighting at the Apocalypse. The carvings seemed to be the handy work of a master hand, one who knew his stuff, like those who were the descendants of the Merovingian masons. The tenseness created in those carvings could actually be felt it felt like a real battle commencing in front of their eyes. He could hear the screams of pain, the grunts of aggression and anger and when those blades of pure silver collided, he could see sparks flying. The air felt hotter as if he was surrounded by a ring of fire.

Eric moved his gaze away from the carvings to see a swarming crowd of people, differentiating into groups based on the companies they belonged to. He recognised some old faces that he knew from previous contests and saw some new ones that he didn't know.

"We can't afford to underestimate these hot-blooded young people," Eric thought. They walked further inside the building to look for their team before the competition started. Ulquiorra looked around him for someone challenging but it seemed that no one was up to his standard of competition. Eric tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to their team that was at the far side of the building that had a carving of Lucifer and God running at each other with their blades raised. They went over and wait for the activities to commence. After some time passed, more people came in and the volume of their voices became louder. Ulquiorra's head had starting to throb from the noise so he decided to answer Orihime's message.

Good morning UlquiJ I hope your flight was enjoyable. Murcielago says hello, be careful while working, don't over exert yourself, eat well and be safe. We miss you and call when you can –Orihime J

He smirked faintly at the little message, remembering the countless times the previous night she had asked him to eat only healthy food and sleep at the right time. He sent her a reply and started reading Murcielago's message.

"Hello master, I hope your trip has been and no harm has come upon you. I have some disturbing news; the mystery person had come last night in while Orihime- san was sleeping." Ulquiorra's mood changed drastically. He frowned, his jaw tightened and he involuntarily gripped the phone tighter. "but don't worry, I scared him/her off though I don't think Orihime noticed it one bit. I'll keep you informed on what's going on over here. –Murcielago."

Suddenly the air thickened and Eric, who wasn't really paying attention, found himself unable to breathe. He looked over to his partner to see him unpleased.

"What the hell!" he thought, "he's angry and the whole atmosphere around him becomes so demonic!"

"Hey dude, What happened?" Ulquiorra didn't answer; he kept reading the message from Murcielago over and over 'til he couldn't read it any longer. He sent his sword a return message. Eric watched with piqued interest for a while until Ulquiorra started coughing.

"Are you getting sick?"

"No, I'm not," answered Ulquiorra too quickly.

"Are you sure? I can call Orihime if you want," Eric asked. Ulquiorra's head shot up so fast that Eric thought he would get lashed to the other end of the room by the sheer force of it.

"Absolutely not do not call her, I can handle this sickness on my own without her help," Ulquiorra replied with a harshness Eric had never witnessed before. Before Eric could say anything a screen came out of the wall and an old man sat in this brown recliner, staring at them.

"Hello contestants! My name is Michael Lewis and I'm the founder of Enterprise of the Centuries Arts. I have done this work of architecture for 39 years now and I know my stuff. You have been chosen from all over the country to compete for the title of the Best Architect and Builder.

Now moving onto business, every day you will get an envelope with instructions that you must follow to the 'T'. There will be three judges; Mark Timps, Shirley Yank and I. We will be the presiding jury over, until we choose a winner. You have to follow what has been specified and if you do something different, then you shall be disqualified from the competition. You will be creating and constructing your building on paper and computer, and then you have to create a model with recycled materials. Then you shall have to build it from scratch. When we reach the last part you will provided with an electrician and interior designer. A credit card, which is only to be used for this competition will be given to cover expenses. If not used for that purpose, you shall be disqualified. Now the contests starts tomorrow rest up and so get some sleep. See you soon teams."

The screen went back into the wall and everyone began leaving the building. Ulquiorra and Eric were following the stream of people out when Ulquiorra's phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and answered it.

"Hello." Was his usual, sombre, monotonic response.

"Cuatro Espada, it's me Aizen."

"Father, if you don't mind me asking, how did you get my number?" Ulquiorra said, with a strain in his voice barely concealing his true feelings of his father." Wow!" he thought, "now that's one hell of father hater I have seen in a long time!"

"Easy child, Szayel got it for me."

Ulquiorra could practically see Aizen grinning on the other end.

"…..can I help you?"

"When are you coming to visit me and the family? And how's Orihime-chan doing? And when am I going to become a grandpa?," Aizen whined.

"beep,beep."

"Hello?"

The line went dead.

"Interesting." Aizen smirked, " Very interesting indeed."

AN/: Review please.