5 Battle for Hueco Mundo
"El Directo" Chad said in his husky voice, as another hollow evaporated before him.
Chad was deep in battle with the captains and lieutenants that where dispatched to Hueco Mundo to assist the small group that went to rescue the human girl, Orihime. The Soul Society thought that it was beneficial to assist in the retrieval of the young woman considering her unique gift.
Chad plowed through the lesser hollows like a bull dozer. He was strong and large. Yasutora Sado or Chad, as Ichigo called him, was the tallest boy at the school back home. Ichigo was the only other boy that came close to his height. He was the storybook idea of the strong, silent type. Orihime always laughed at herself when she thought of Chad in this way. She would laugh a little more when she thought that some day he might be some woman's idea of tall, dark and handsome. Deep down Orihime admired his strength, character and his resolve. He might be called noble by some, but most especially a true friend.
Orihime and the others arrived to everyones surprise. None where expecting them yet. Lieutenant Koutestu turned to the group as she was not engaged in battle. She rarely went into battle as a combatant. She was the second seat of squad four, who's primary responsibility was medical support.
"I wasn't expecting you three. Where is Lieutenant Ibarai? Wasn't he with you?" she asked the group.
"He went to the human world, Lieutenant." Rukia responded, "Where is Captain Unohana?"
"She left for the human world with the substitute soul reaper, Ichigo Kurosaki." Koutestu stated, suddenly puzzled she asked, "How was Renji able to travel to the human world? Aizen sealed the Garganta. None of us are able to leave until it is reopened or Captain Kurotshuchi can open it from this side again. He has been working on it ever since he opened it for Captain Unohana and Kurosaki earlier."
"Well,...." Rukia began while scratching her head. "he went with an arrancar."
"WHAT?!" Lieutenant Koutestu yelled at her.
"He is not our enemy." Orihime said very solemnly as she stepped forward.
"I know there are a lot of questions about him. No one has really understood my motives for returning him to life, but I have them nonetheless. He protected me from Aizen and the other arrancars. He is a good person deep down and I know this. He is not our enemy and will protect those that stand with us."
Orihime was very strong in this conviction about the mysterious espada that she had saved. She stood very still with her head down slightly and her hands at her chest. Everyone that knew her could tell that what she said she believed with the utmost. It was hard for Rukia and Uryu to deny this assertion of hers.
"We need to get to Ichigo, the captains and to Ulquiorra." She suddenly said almost yelling.
"Ulquiorra?!" Koutestu said quizzically.
"Ulquiorra Schiffer was the fourth espada." Uryu started.
"The fourth espada." she said in a concerned and panicked whisper.
"He is not the same as he was before." Uryu could see the despair in the lieutenants face.
"When Orihime resurrected him he lost his hollow hole and mask. As well as his fourth ranking. The tattoo that states his rank among the espada did not return; instead a different mark appeared that no one can figure out."
Lieutenant Koutestu looked around at the group of friends hoping that someone would explain farther. When no one would speak up she inquired further,
"What kind of mark?"
"It's a six pointed flower shape." Uryu said
Orihime gasped. She had no recollection of this. Orihime found that she was having trouble remembering some of the recent events. It was coming back slowly. She moved her hand to her hair pins knowing the shape well. She wondered why that shape? She looked at Uryu hoping but not expecting any explanation. She looked away and became lost in her thoughts and emotions.
"Well, you guys will have to stay here with us. Things aren't to bad around here. With the espada either killed or in the human world, and having two captains with us, we are getting very little confrontation from any of the remaining arrancar that have any kind of intelligence. The biggest problem is from the lesser hollows that will suddenly storm us." She turned and looked over to the large boy fighting off another hollow.
"Your friend over there has been very helpful in holding them off."
It was Chad. Orihime came out of her stupor and smiled to see her friend again, and to see that he was healed and well again. The hollow disintegrated when Chad made the final devastating blow. That was the last for now. The large boy was only breathing slightly heavily. He stretched out his arm and the strange armor that wrapped it disappeared. He turned to look at the newly arrived group. He smiled when he saw his friends. He moved toward them slowly as Chad was not the kind of person to come rushing in excitement. He looked down at Orihime and gave his usual grunt.
"Good to see you too, Chad." Orihime told him.
The two friends had become somewhat close while they trained together back before they went to Soul Society to rescue Rukia. That seemed like forever ago to the young woman now. So many things have changed since then, and things where going to change again. Orihime knew that every time they had something like this happen things always changed. It was that change that always scared her. It was never good. Ichigo always grew more distant, and that's what always made it unbearable. Without any warning things became fuzzy and she felt weak. Her strength was leaving her. She dropped to her knees and clutched her chest as she began to breathe heavily. Rukia rushed to her side. Rukia laid Orihime back gently and told her to relax. The darkness took her.
Her memories came over her as they had before. Her thoughts swirled around Ichigo and Ulquiorra. She couldn't stop thinking about the two of them. Her feelings for Ichigo and her growing feelings for Ulquiorra. She became increasingly confused by the whole thing. She had liked Ichigo for so long and she never doubted this. So, how could her captor and jailor suddenly make such a noted mark on her heart. She tried to think about Ichigo. He had always protected her and had come here to rescue her. However, it was Rukia that had the most effect on him. She knew that she did not bare the same hold over him as Rukia did. The bond that Ichigo and Rukia shared could not be set aside and was in no way deniable to her. The thought overwhelmed her and she couldn't be sure if she was crying. The sensation was there but she knew she was not conscious and couldn't be sure if she was physically crying.
With a slow shift from Ichigo to Ulquiorra she began to regain her composer again. Slowly drifting back in her memories the past came back to her. She was a captor again and Ulquiorra her jailor. No not her jailor, she thought, her caretaker. He never really treated it that way. He was under orders to care for her. Drifting into a memory she was in a large white room with little lighting. She was in a large porcelain tub. The warm water encompassing her whole body. The tub was so large that she could fit all the way down in it and just get her chin to the rim. She could easily drown in it if she wasn't careful. Leaning back in the soothing water she drifted slightly into a sleep. It was so relaxing and freeing, like she wasn't in Los Noches at all. There was a soft knock at the door that startled her.
"Are you finished, woman." the familiar voice belonged to Ulquiorra.
"Y-Yes" she blurted out, "one second, I'm not dressed." she squeaked.
"You have five minutes. Understood." he said coolly through the door.
"O-O'kay." she stammered as she flew out of the tub.
She grabbed a towel and franticly dried herself off. She yanked on her clothes but was not dry enough for them to slide on as easy as usual. She struggled to get the top of her dress situated. The door opened behind her and she gasped. Spinning around while grasping the top of her dress she saw Ulquiorra standing there with his hands in his pocket they way he always did. Holding the top closed she informed him she was ready to go, thinking that she would fix it back at her room. His emerald eyes looked her up and down. Orihime became uncomfortable seeing him look at her in this way. Perhaps he would strike her for not being ready. Perhaps he was curious why she held her hands like she did. She was really confused at his expression. Without warning he quickly moved in close to her and she closed her eyes waiting for whatever was to come. Without expecting it she felt two warm hands on hers, pulling hers apart. She tried to resist seeing how her top was not on all the way. He stopped pulling her hands, and said softly,
"Let me help you."
She was floored to begin with. His voice was so soft and caring. What was he playing at. Her eyes flew open to look at him. When her eyes opened and focused she could see nothing but his eyes. A sharp piercing green that looked at her very intently. She began to feel a burning in her stomach. He looked so soft and vulnerable at this moment. Her hands relaxed and dropped to her side. Staring at him all the while in complete awe; he opened her top slightly, but as not to expose her. He tried to adjust the top of the arrancar dress, but her still wet skin made this difficult.
"You did not dry yourself sufficiently." he said coolly
"Uh, sorry." she whispered in embarrassment; with a blush coming to her cheeks.
"I will give you a little longer if that suits you." he turned to exit the bathroom again.
She just stared after him for a while. He seemed such a different person at that point in time. What was this? She wondered as she peeled off her dress again. The towel was on the floor at her feet. Drying herself off better this time she meditated on Ulquiorra's behavior just now. Quickly time was lost to her thoughts and the door opened again and she screamed loudly throwing the towel around her. Whirling around on her heel she came face to face with Ulquiorra again. His face remained as it ever did and any bit of emotion could not be detected.
"We better go now." was his monotone response to the naked girl in front of him.
Although unknown to Orihime at that time Ulquiorra had looked her up and down without even giving the slightest hint of movement.
"Get yourself dressed." was all he said.
Orihime nodded and expected him to turn around, but he didn't. So, with the towel still draped in front of her she reach down to get her dress. She turned herself around instead and tried to get the dress on again. It was not as difficult, but now the dress was wet instead of her. She struggled to get the dress up again. Without warning there were a set of hands on her hips. She gasped quietly. As before the hands were warm and soft. Not at all what she had expected from someone that seemed as cold as Ulquiorra. He moved his hand up her side slowly. She shivered at the touch, and his hands where gone. She almost regretted the shiver now, because his touch felt good against her skin. She tried to get her dress on again with shoulders slumped in regret. Then the hands where back at her side. She felt warm again with his hands on her skin. He slid his hand around her stomach and grasped the edge of the dress and pulled upwards on it. The other hand slid across her back and pulled the back of her dress up this time. His right hand that was wrapped around her stomach and at her left hip clutched her hip now and began to spin her around while the other hand pushed from behind. She pulled her arms up in front of her breasts although they did not hide much, and her eyes shut tight. So many varying thoughts raced through her head at that moment. She was at his mercy, being that there was no way for her to fight him off. Strangely, she didn't feel the need to fight him off. His hand grabbed one of her arms and straightened it out to her side. Her eyes squeezed shut even tighter. She felt the sleeve of her dress come onto her arm and she opened her eyes. He was carefully looking into her face while he did this. Then taking her other arm in the same manner and pulled the other sleeve on. He moved the back of the dress up onto her shoulders and reached down to zip the front up.
All she could do was stare right back at those beautiful green eyes of his. Looking at the green streaks on his cheeks she thought that they made it look like he had been crying and wondered why. He stopped the zipper at the bottom of her bust line and removed his hands from her. She looked down at the zipper suddenly aware at the stop in progress. Grabbing the zipper she continued to zip her dress over her bust line. A hand was suddenly on hers again. She looked up at him.
"Why do you hold out hope that your friends will succeed in rescuing you?" he asked coolly while staring at his hand.
He moved his hand over the last of the exposed skin, moving slowly across the crown of her breast and up to the collarbone and onto her neck. The touch was so soft and caressing. His touch felt like there were sparks under his fingers. She closed her eyes as she was beginning to feel dizzy under his caresses. She tried to concentrate on the question, but couldn't. Her mouth opened as she tried to respond but nothing came out. He trailed his fingers back down the same path on her skin. She became increasingly dizzy with every movement of his fingers on her skin. Never before had she felt this way. It was such a foreign feeling, but wonderful at the same time. Once again his finger traveled up her body again. She could feel he was so close to her now as the heat from his body radiated into hers. It was such a calming feeling.
"What are you doing?" she whispered weakly.
"I simply asked a question." was all he reply.
"No. I mean why are you..."
His hand moved up her neck and cupped her jaw softly. Orihime opened her eyes quickly and saw Ulquiorra moving in closer. He pressed his lips to hers softly. The heat that he generated was intoxicating her and she felt weak. She reached for his shoulders when her knees became shaky, but he grabbed her wrists. He turned her arms behind her back and the two where pressed against one another. She moved her lips away from his and breathed deeply. She had no control over her body now. This whole situation was so confusing. She didn't have any control and she was light headed.
"Is this one of your abilities as an espada?" she asked while gasping for air.
"What are you talking about, woman." he said sternly.
He cupped her by the back of the neck to steady her while still holding her hands behind her, now with one hand. He came in for another kiss, but was a little more passionate this time and Orihime's mind began to spin. She struggled against his hand to free her own. There was an overwhelming desire to throw her arms around him. As much as she struggled and tried he would not release her hands. She was starting to feel faint from the passion that swept over her and the heat that ignited between their two bodies. His lips moved from hers down to her jaw line and down to her neck. The feeling was overwhelming and strong. Orihime thought that she might burst into flames. This has to be some ability of his, in order to subdue people. That is a weird power. She almost laughed at the silly thought, but just then me moved to the top of her breast and began to gently suck on the fullness at the top that was pushed up by his body pressing against hers. She lost all of her senses again. He had complete control over her now.
He continued for a while then moved to unzip her dress further. He had moved them against the tub and rested her bottom on the edge. Although she thought that they might fall back into it, they stayed completely steady on the edge. He continued to maintain the hold on her hands while he reached inside the top of her dress and cupped are ample breast. Caressing gently and squeezing slightly sent Orihime over the edge of reason. Without reason Ulquiorra suddenly stood upright and pulled away from the panting girl, and turned away from her.
"Interesting." he said to himself.
"What?!" she said breathless and alarmed.
"I can see that you are full of emotion." he said cooly.
"What?" she repeated to him.
The bathroom door suddenly flew open. In the door way was an espada with teal blue hair and eyes. Arrancar jacket and pants with his hollow hole right through the center of his abdomen. It was Grimmjow. Panic struck her as she stared at him glaring at her. He turned his glare toward Ulquiorra now, and a snide grin curled across his lips.
"Ah, Ulquiorra. I see you are taking good care of Aizen's little pet." he sneered.
"I was merely testing the limits of her emotional fortitude." he said walking over to the shocked woman.
He took her by the wrist and lifted her to her feet. He reach in and zipped her dress to the top.
"Lets get you back to your room." and he pulled her out of the bathroom with some mild force behind it.
Once in the hallway he placed his hands into his pockets and walked silently in front of the shocked and sad young woman. They arrived at her room, he opened the door and sent her inside before him as he always did. She sat down on the enormous white couch and placed her hands in her lap.
"I will return momentarily with your dinner." and he left her alone again.
He returned promptly with her meal. He placed it on the table as usual and walked to the window in her room and stared out of it in silence. They remained quiet for some time. Finally, he turned to her and said,
"I admit I was curious." he started, and Orihime gasped at the thought of 'being used.'
"You are very pretty for a human girl." was his shocking admission to her.
"For a human girl?!" she barked in anger. "And how many human girls do you know?"
Turning back to the window he did not answer. Her anger was boiling now at the thought of being used. Although, she could not shake the feeling of his hands on her. This was all wrong. She had liked Ichigo for so long and this arrancar had gotten to her. She burst at the feeling of betrayal towards Ichigo.
The feeling overwhelmed her but she was resolved not to cry in front of her captor. Instead she moved to the table and sat down to eat. The hope that he would leave her when she sat to ate was shattered when he sat in the chair across from her. Ulquiorra merely looked at her while she ate. His express was stern looking as always. Carefully he studied her while she ate her food. 'What could he be doing just sitting there like that?'
She started to get annoyed with his presence. It was the first time that she really wanted to be alone since being here. Her anger boiled quicker now. When she finished her meal Ulquiorra stood up and took her tray, and turned to exit the room. As he reached the door he turned to face her once more.
"It was for the sake of Grimmjow." was all he said, and he left her again.
"What is that suppose to mean?"
She thought about that while the darkness crept up again. She could feel the outside world and was glad that she was not going to stay out for as long as before. Her eyes opened slowly and she sat up. Rukia was next to her and the others could not be seen.
"Are you feeling alright, Orihime?" Rukia asked in a concerned and soft tone.
"Yeah, I just got really sleepy all of the sudden." she continued to look around, "Where are Chad and Uryu?"
"They are just the other side of that fallen pillar. They are fighting some hollows. Nothing to worry about they are small fry. Try to relax O'kay."
Captain Kurotshuchi was still working on getting the Garganta open again for everyone to travel back. There was no need for them to stay here anymore. There were no arrancar here that wanted to fight them. Besides the real battle was being waged in the real world.
"We need to get back." Orihime suddenly spit out. "We need to help the others."
"I know. It's being worked on, but I am thinking that we will really just have to wait for someone to come and get us." Rukia said in a disappointed tone.
"Things aren't going so well getting the machine up and running." Rukia looked at Captain Kurotshuchi as she said this.
The Captain started yelling at his Lieutenant, and started hitting the machine they worked on with something that looked like a wrench.
"You know Orihime," Rukia began and lowered her head. "That Arrancar that you saved said that we should wait here for him. He said that he would come back for us all."
"You want to know if he can be trusted, right." Orihime finished her friends thought.
"I believe we can," she started. "He really is a good person. I can't explain it fully. I just know."
"Either way, we should get back to the human world and help." Orihime said flatly.