Here is another chapter for you. I apologize for any OOCness.

I don't own Bleach.

Chapter 2

"Do you know what it feels like to have your very heart ripped out of your chest?

This was it to me. To see my mother lying there on the floor in front of me, the life faded out of her eyes. That day something within me died along with her.

I can't tell what it was but maybe it was that thing people refer to as a heart. I really don't know. But I know that all my dreams and hopes died that day.

My character turned cold and indifferent to the world surrounding me. My heart turned to stone and my eyes lost all of its former charm, equalling the cold emerald gem now not only in colour but also in its lifelessness.

For some time I actually foolishly believed that life would go on and I would once again find happiness.

After I saw my mother brutally murdered I spent many time grieving over my loss, the only person in my life that actually cared about me. I cried many nights until sleep dragged me into its dark abyss, torturing me with nightmares until I woke up screaming and sweating and always alone.

I didn't have any relatives left I could go to so I was sent to an orphanage. It was living hell on earth and worse. I remember the first day I set foot into the dirty halls of the Hueco Mundo orphanage.

I was a boy of seven years, my mother's funeral was only two days ago. Until then I had stayed with neighbours but they couldn't afford to keep another child with them permanently. Another child meant another mouth to feed, another body to wash and cloth. Where I come from everybody had to see how to make it for themselves, charity was a luxury nobody could afford.

The orphanage was in another part of the town, it was still a mess but not as bad as my former home.

As I entered through the dark and heavy doors of the large grey house the first thing I noticed was the distinct smell of piss invading my nostrils. Not that I wasn't used to it but it still wasn't pleasant to smell. It was a dark and dirty place, the narrow corridors had many doors left and right. Leading to other childrens' rooms I assumed. I didn't know how things worked in here, but they made sure I would soon learn.

In there nobody cared about me, whether I lived or died was my problem and mine alone.

After one of the caretakers, a large thin man with silver hair, welcomed me at the front door he took me to the director's office. The silver haired man had a frightening aura around him, although he always smiled his eyes were cold and whispering unspoken threats. His presence intimidated me and it was a relief to be finally alone in the director's office.

It was a big room with shelves and cupboards leaning on the walls and in the middle stood a huge dark wooden desk with all sorts of papers on top of it. Behind the desk was a window that let some of the daylight illuminate the otherwise dark room.

After waiting for a while I heard the door click behind me and the man who entered was a tall brunette man with glasses. For the first time I thought I had actually met a nice person, after my mother. How wrong I was.

"Hello my dear son. I am Mr. Aizen, take a seat. Have you been waiting a long time?" his smile was the perfect mask for the perverted mind hidden behind it.

"No sir," I never was one to talk a lot, but after my mother died it was reduced to the most necessary.

"Good. I am very sorry for your loss and I hope we can help you in overcoming your grieve," he sounded sincere and at that moment of time I actually believed him.

"Well, Ulquiorra Chifer, here in Hueco Mundo our kids share bedrooms with three others, meaning you will be in a room of four people. We already picked a room for you and we hope you will get along with your room mates. They are all very nice boys, eager to meet you. They are all about your age.

"The children here also have to go to the public school that is in this area. Your schoolbooks will be provided by us, they are second hand, from the older children. As for our rules, breakfast is at seven in the morning, lunch will be provided in school during weekdays and on weekends it will be at 12 o' clock, dinner will be at 6 o' clock in the evening, and breakfast is at 7 o' clock in the morning, make sure you wake up early. As you are under thirteen years of age your bedtime will be at 9 o' clock nights.

"I guess you already met Mr. Ichimaru he is one of the head caretakers here, the other one will be Mr. Tousen. I think you will meet him shortly.

"That is all I have to tell you, do you have any questions for me?" he had a trustworthy paternal air about him that eased my worries and I felt more comfortable in his presence than in Ichimaru's.

"No sir."

"Well then let me show you to your room," with that he got up from behind his desk and led me outside.

The orphanage was a compound of three different buildings surrounding a cobbled yard. The one I just exited was the middle part, it was as high as the others but not as long. I learned that the west wing was for the children from the age from five to twelve and the east wing was for the children from thirteen to eighteen, once you turned eighteen you had to leave the orphanage. The middle part, the north wing, was reserved for infants and administration.

The yard looked as broken down as the buildings themselves. The cobbled stone was broken and there were a lot of holes in the ground, all was grey or dark brown. A place befitting for myself.

We walked across the yard, where I first saw some of the other children, as we passed them by they looked at me curiously, inspecting me with their penetrating gazes. When we entered the west wing we walked to a room on the first floor, all the while Mr. Aizen told me about my room mates. There was a boy my age named Grimmjow Jaegerjaques, a boy one year younger than me named Szayel Aporro Granz and his brother who was a year older than me who was called Yylfordt Granz.

We stopped in front of one of the many wooden doors, the number 108 engraved in the middle of it.

"Welcome to your new home," Aizen said while opening the door. It was a small room with two bunk beds left and right, a little table, a closet and a dirty sink. It was by far no comfortable room. My room mates weren't present at the moment, which I was quite glad for. Although I wanted to meet them I also wanted to get used to my new surroundings, this new situation altogether, on my own. I walked into the room not even noticing that Mr. Aizen had left. Sitting down on the only vacant bed, the bottom bed on the left side, I scanned my new home my eyes landing on the small window next to me. You could see the yard and the children, some leafless trees and the grey sky, it was a melancholic view.

I don't know how long I sat there, absorbed in my own thoughts, but the opening of the door brought me back to reality.

"Shut up and no," an annoyed boy with light blue hair stepped in the room, screaming at someone behind him. He didn't seem to notice me.

"But why not it's only...," the voice was interrupted by the first boy.

"I said shut up. Yylfordt please shut him up," a slap was heard and someone moaning in pain.

As the little quarrel ended there were three boys standing at the entrance of the room. The boy with the blue hair now stood with his back facing towards me with him was a taller boy with longer blonde hair and a smaller boy with chin-length pink hair.

"Oh, look the new one is here," the youngest of them finally acknowledged my presence.

I stood up from my current position on the bed now facing my three room mates.

"Hm," the blue haired boy turned around studying me with an arrogant look.

"Hey, I am Grimmjow and these are Szayel and Yylfordt," he pointed with his thumb behind himself, introducing the group.

"Hello I'm Ulquiorra," I could clearly see that Grimmjow was the leader of this little group. An awkward silence followed the introductions because neither of us knew what to say.

"Ulquiorra, how do you like the orphanage?," Szayel was the first one to break the silence.

"I don't know."

"How old are you," the young boy seemed enthusiastic to get to know me.

"I am seven. How old are you?"

"I'm six, my brother is already eight, and Grimmjow is also seven. That means you'll be in the same class," he rambled on about the school, chatting animatedly while I only stood beside him, barely acknowledging him, until he said something out of the blue.

"I'm sorry," I was startled by his sudden apology.

"Why are you apologizing?"

"Because you lost your Mum and Dad."

"Ah, yes. My mum," I didn't know what to say, so I only nodded. Of course I was sad about my loss but I never expected any pity. I wasn't really in the mood to answer unnecessary and pointless questions so I just stared at the ground. The little boy before me however didn't seem to catch on to my mood and cheerily went on talking, I looked around me to the other boys but they were already otherwise engaged, leaving me alone with the hyper pink haired boy.

"Me and Yylfordt have been here for two years now," we sat down on one of the beds, him talking and me listening absent mindedly and nodding every once in a while. I couldn't remember what he talked about, he had said too much and I had listened too less, I could recall vaguely that he talked about his former home and his parents, I think he said they were taken away from home because their mother committed suicide and their father was in jail. I was still too occupied with my own thoughts to pay attention to him.

Our one-sided conversation however ended when a ringing noise came over a intercom I hadn't noticed yet. The other boys, knowing what it meant immediately got up and ready to go. As Szayel noticed my hesitation he bent over to me and told me, that this was the sign it was time to eat, he also told me that, if we didn't come right on time we wouldn't get anything. My displeasure towards this place grew by every minute I stayed in here."

Orihime once again lay the book on her lap to take a little brake. She shook her head slowly, she didn't want to believe that there were children, who had to deal with such a hard life. Although her parents also were alcoholics and violent people she never had to endure such hardships, she always had had her brother, who took care of her and raised her in her parents stead. It was also her brother who took her out of their family home to start a new family, just the two of them. As she thought about her past and how dear Sora was to her she wondered if there wasn't anybody like that in Ulquiorra's life. She wouldn't believe that there was no one he held dear in his life.

Sitting there in the uncomfortable chair in the poorly lit room the young doctor wondered what reason Ulquiorra had that he decided to end his life, could it really have been this terrible. From what she knew now he didn't have what you call a blessed childhood, but that couldn't be the reason. What else did happen in this man's life? The only way she could find that out was to read on, but she dreaded what she would find. If it was the reason for someone to take his life it sure wouldn't be good, what lay there hidden behind those pages. Sitting up straight she took the little black notebook into her hands, and rubbing her eyes a last time, she once again dove into the dark past of Ulquiorra Chifer.

I hope you enjoyed, review to let me know what you think.