Authors Note: Again, thank you to my lovely reviewers! You guys keep me going. To those who have read but don't have much to say I guess, please do drop me a line; let me know what you like and don't like. I do love all your comments. :) If not, I do hope you enjoy. Here is the next chapter. This will mainly focus on Orihime's work with a bit of IchiHime and wee little UlquiHime. :). Also, a much much bigger chapter this time to make up for the smaller chapters before. :))

Art: As my older readers must have noticed, I changed the picture associated with this story. I basically took Tite Kubo's artwork and created the collage with an app called MeituPic. I quite like it actually, gives off the feeling of a multi pairing drama which is what this is.

Music: As and when its relevant, I ll try to add some music, which was probably playing in my mind while writing the chapter. The lyrics don't always associate with the plot, but the music somehow speaks to it. So for the very beginning and end of this chapter, I was listening to this music, so you can play it if you want: watch?v=5d3VB4_Gjpk

Disclaimer: Tite Kubo created these amazing characters. I just hope I can give them more romantic action and character development in an AU where they aren't so busy fighting each other. ;)

Chapter 5: Breaking Resolve

Orihime had a good feeling about this. She had worked her ass off in the last few weeks, developing every minor detail of an idea that had finally struck her after a moment of inspiration. She had tried to imagine all possible concerns with the idea, and she had prepared a presentation that she was genuinely proud of.

What was more surprising, she didn't mind the sleepless nights and the long hours it had taken. She felt genuinely excited about her idea and the work she had put into it.

Her work had also helped her take her mind of the strange happenings in her love life. For one, the kiss with Byakuya and secondly the fact that Ichigo had called her about the fifteenth time this week. But mostly the kiss with Byakuya.

Orihime was new to the whole arranged date leading to marriage thing, so she didn't know if it qualified as a real date. After all Byakuya WAS meeting other women too. And they had mostly talked "business" till the last time he had come unannounced. Till then, Orihime had considered Byakuya the same way he was considering her: were their values similar? Did he seem like a decent enough person to spend a lifetime with? With love out of the cards, did they have enough in common to sustain a lifetime partnership? Did he want that with her and more importantly did she want that with him?

Of course Orihime had noticed that Byakuya was attractive. More than the normal 'attractive male' attractive. Actually cancel that, he was practically a god and she often felt like a frumpy mortal in his presence. However she knew that looks were not the only deciding factor in love or life. Also when it came to looks, there were plenty attractive males around her.

There was Ichigo, who by all conventional standards was a complete hottie; even her friends Renji and Uruyu were very good looking. Also despite his overly serious and sour attitude, Ulquiorra was extremely hot, practically as blindingly beautiful as Byakuya up close actually. Heck even her bosses Aizen and Urahara were extremely attractive, even if she would rather die single than consider romancing the two evil geniuses as she liked to call them in her thoughts.

So yes, it wasn't that she was taken by his looks. No, it was the fact that for the first time, she had had fun chatting with Byakuya. Usually his lack of expressions was intimidating. She briefly mused at how Ulquiorra was equally stoic, but it usually drove her to poke fun at him or want to pinch his cheek.

But Byakuya's stoicness made her feel that she should be on her best behavior. However in a patriarchal society like hers, it wouldn't be completely out of ordinary to have such a relationship with her husband. After all, women were supposed to respect their husbands, and she definitely respected Byakuya. Maybe that's why she hadn't rejected the idea of marrying him, despite the fact that he scared her.

But was she prepared for that dorky fun Byakuya? Would she even see that Byakuya again? Could their last spontaneous meeting and kiss mean that if she ever entered into matrimony with Byakuya, there was a possibility that they could fall in love?

Orihime's heart thudded at the possibility. She had never known any love except Ichigo. And she had to admit even the idea of loving Byakuya felt very very different. It was like looking into an older more mature and elegant future version of herself. A version that was older and more refined to keep up with the noble and meet all the expectations set upon her by his family, yet grounded enough to match him and his quirkyness at every step.

Byakuya was much older than Orihime; about ten or so years actually. And he had lived a lifetime while she was just blooming. He had started his own company, travelled the world, fallen in love and married a woman, fighting for his love. But more importantly, he had loved and lost.

A 'business deal, make babies and look alive' type marriage was one thing. An active companionship and romance; quite another. The possibility both excited and scared Orihime.

Which is why she was thankful that she had the amount of work she had.

"Inoue?"

" Oh hey! Kurosaki kun! Umm fancy bumping into you on the train! You don't usually take this line right?" Orihime was surprised to find the other cause of her emotional turmoil on the subway with her.

"Yeah, I was coming to see you actually."

What was it with the men in her life coming in unannounced at the one time she was most likely to be out of sorts and in no mood to socialize?! Also, just her luck to bump into one of them on a crowded train in one of the most dense cities in the world!

"Oh! Umm is everything ok?" She asked.

"I have the same question for you Inoue. I... I mean We ..were all a bit worried about you. I mean I have USMLE exams coming up so I get how crazy work can be sometimes, but if you need something we are there for you. I am always there for you." He gave his kind smile and Orihime found herself melting looking into his brown eyes. Damn hormones! It sucked being young and surrounded by nice attractive men! Wasn't she thinking of Byakuya literally a few seconds ago?! Bad Orihime!

"Umm... Thanks Kurosaki kun. I am nearing the big day with the client presentation so things should lighten up after that. But knowing that my friends are there for me means a lot." Orihime smiled. Did she see a bit of disappointment in Ichigo's face when she mentioned the word friend? Nah... Must be hormones. She would have to check when her period was due. That would explain her messed up emotions and raging hormones.

Or maybe it's that emo bat! Maybe he was releasing some sort of weird pheromones that makes sane women PMS around him! Yeah! That must be why I have been so moody since he arrived!

Orihime pumped a fist in the air, exalted by her insight. Ichigo sweat dropped and nervously looked around. Ah great! Everyone in the carriage had noticed.

"Umm so Inoue do you want to grab dinner or something?"

"Huh? Ah... No no it's ok Kurosaki kun! I got some bread and jello and I'll probably eat and walk! Can't waste a moment or I won't be able to defeat batman!"

"Defeat batman? Have you joined some crime syndicate Inoue?"

"Nnn..noooo! Why would you say that?!"

"Well... Batman is a nice guy. So if you are planning to defeat him..."

"Batman is NOT a nice guy! He is the reincarnation of Hitler..."

Ichigo sweat dropped again. There she was again, going on about some weird happenings in another dimension. And why was he playing along? Oh yeah, because he was prone to getting carried away with Orihime's antics. An image of them going bohahahaha ala don kanonji flashed in his mind. Errrr...

"Suuurreee Inoue. Well if you are busy then all the best! Go get batman!" Ichigo sighed, feeling a bit disappointed.

"Thank you Kurosaki kun! I KNEW you would be on team Hime."

"Oh yeah! Absolutely! As long as you don't plan to have any weird team gestures, I am on board!"

Orihime laughed. She hadn't hung out one on one with Ichigo in a while. She was glad that her initial days of awkwardness around him were long gone. Ichigo was not Rukia, but he could still cheer her up in his own way.

They said goodbye at her stop, and Orihime briefly thought it was a bit rude of her to send him back after he had clearly come all the way out just to be with her. But she would make up for being a bad friend to all her friends once she was done.

With newfound resolve, Orihime walked towards her home, looking forward to another long night of work.

Orihime looked outside at the Tokyo skyline from the conference room. It was a wide and sunlit room with wide windows facing the massive skyline. It was still 7 AM and the sky was a beautiful shade of pink. Orihime took a deep breath.

Today was the day of the presentation. The day the clients would decide whether they wanted to go with Aizen Corp's idea or not. All the hard work, tears and blood for the last three weeks and it would all culminate into the big presentation. And yet there was a possibility that her idea would be rejected. After all Ulquiorra had warned her about the client's nature. Also his research notes were extremely insightful and thorough and they too indicated that the client liked grand and showy.

However Orihime firmly believed that their job was not to manage the client but ensure that they were serving the ultimate customers. Hopefully she would be able to make the clients see things her way.

Orihime felt a knot in stomach. Ugh! The nerves had been getting her since the past afternoon. She had blazed through the weeks with sheer willpower but now that the presentation was a few hours away, she had started thinking about what would happen if the clients rejected her proposal.

She heard the door of the conference room open.

"Good morning Inoue san."

" Ah! Cifer san! You are here early."

" I can say the same about you. Is everything set for 10 AM?"

"Yes. I finished everything last evening. But just double checking."

"Hmmm. Good. I am in my office if you need me." With that he turned around and left. Strange, Orihime hadn't expected him to show up so early. Maybe the guy didn't really have anything better to do than work. The thought made her feel a bit sad.

Ulquiorra paced in his office, feeling uncharacteristically antsy. One could almost say he was nervous. The woman had said she was ready, yet she hadn't even forwarded him a copy of the presentation. So, just like the clients, he would be hearing her for the first time.

Such recklessness was not like him. He liked knowing so he could analyze every tiny detail for possible flaws. Being lead into the unknown was not his thing. He hated it. But he had handed over the reins to the woman. And she had not bothered to involve him any further from that point on.

It wasn't that she was playing games. Ulquiorra guessed that she was simply too uncomfortable ordering people around. So she had done all the work herself. With all the time on his hand, Ulquiorra had contemplated devising a back up plan in case the woman made a complete fool of herself. However swooping in with a better idea while she was failing was akin to one-upping her. So he had stopped himself from doing such a thing.

Truly this woman evaded his comprehension. What was he supposed to do? Have faith in her? The mere idea was preposterous. Ulquiorra Cifer did not bother with mushy things like blind faith. It was one thing to know what she was doing and have conviction in it; completely another to just assume that she would be fine. Wrought with anxiety that the woman showed no inclination to seek his help, he had researched some information about her.

He had found that the only reason she had ever shared her workload was because Urahara would always specifically ask her that he wanted everything to be completed by the team for their development and so it was Orihime's duty to assign work to her subordinates to ensure their training and education. Ulquiorra had scoffed at that. Of course that woman would buy such obvious hogwash. Training his ass! Most people under her were lazy and incompetent and had more cunning than her. They knew how to shift the work on her and almost always managed to.

Ulquiorra sighed. He had known the woman for a few weeks now. He knew she was capable. Not because she had a fancy degree but because she had a keen mind and plenty of perseverance. However, he did not understand her way of thinking about things, which made it impossible for him to predict what she would do next. He wasn't worried that she would walk into that presentation unprepared. However he was worried what she would actually talk about, and most of all, that she would completely ignore his subtle warnings about the clients.

Ulquiorra sighed again. He would simply have to trust her.

As Orihime finished presenting her idea of a Japanese style resting area in the middle of Times Square, she felt something off. The clients were looking…. Upset? No, they all had different expressions. She looked at Ulquiorra, who gave her a nod, indicating that they leave the room and give the clients a moment to talk about their decision.

They left together and stood outside, Orihime now feeling a strange sensation in her stomach. She wasn't unused to stomach upsets, though they had gotten less frequent as she toned down her "experimental cooking". But this felt bad.

"That was… quite thorough." Ulquiorra said quietly.

"Thanks!" Orihime was surprised to say the least. Had the statue just complimented her?!

"I did not say it was likely to succeed. But in principle, the idea is novel and well thought out." Of course, stupid Orihime, for thinking batman would ever compliment me.

After about 20 minutes they were asked to join the clients inside the conference room. The clients, a group of four men and one woman from USJF looked somber to say the least.

Orihime sighed. This was a bit anti climactic, though expecting them to be excited about it was asking for too much she supposed.

"Is this your work too, Cifer san? " An ancient looking man asked Ulquiorra pointedly.

"We worked on it together." Ulquiorra answered easily.

"Well then I have to say I am disappointed."

Orihime blanched. Oh crap! The worse case scenario was happening…

"It is very thorough and well researched and I have to say the idea itself is also very unique. However I highly doubt that the City of New York would allow a resting area in the middle of the most crowded street in the world. It would be giving a free invitation to the homeless. There was no mention of a permit here so I am guessing you did not check with them. Furthermore, a resting area is private and covered. True, subtlety always has been an inherent part of our culture. But if people cannot see it unless they choose to rest, how are they to get the message of perfect harmony between the two countries?"

Orihime felt her eyes burning. No! She was not going to cry in front of the client. The first point was valid. And an oversight on her part. Ulquiorra had an entire file with jargon and details on legal permits and property laws in NYC. But somehow, in all the work she had, she must have missed looking into it thoroughly. Oh why hadn't she asked Ulquiorra to do it?! It was not like she minded him working on this. Why couldn't she just ask him to do something? Wasn't he under her command?!

"Finally, Cifer san; Aizen san spoke about a sakura field. We have been propositioned by some of the best urban planning companies in the world. Yet, when Aizen san proposed a sakura field, we were intrigued. Knowing his fantastic instincts about what works in terms of urban installations and the fact that he promised his best man would work on the project, we had thought it would be in good hands. However this project is completely lacking in the business acumen and perceptiveness you are known to display."

That crafty old man! Orihime knew he didn't believe Ulquiorra had come up with this idea. Yet, he was speaking at Ulquiorra as if it was entirely his fault. Just to make Orihime feel bad. Well, it was working very well. A few more words and she would be bawling her eyes out. This was worse than the worse case scenario. Not only was the client going to reject their proposal, they actually sounded mad and they were blaming it on Ulquiorra, who had warned her weeks ahead that this would happen. This old geezer had guilt tripping down to a science.

" Do you have anything to say to why we have wasted our time, Cifer san?"

"No. Aizen sama selects his employees on the implicit assumption that we have both the intellect and aptitude to ensure quality work. And quality work we have presented. The problem here is difference of opinion, and that I cannot amend."

Orihime stared at Ulquiorra. Was he… maybe… in that unaffected way of his… trying to defend her? Trying mind you, because it didn't sound like he had conviction in her work. He wasn't fighting for it. But he wasn't laughing at her face, telling her he said so. And, he was not correcting the client to free himself of any responsibility of what could only be described as a debacle. Orihime felt her throat clench with gratitude at the cold man.

The old man huffed and looked away, apparently he was done talking. His colleagues shifted uncomfortably before the woman next to him spoke.

"Ano.. We did have a hard time coming to an agreement about the project. It is indeed a novel idea. However even if we agree we are confident the City will reject it. Yamamoto taicho was simply concerned…"

"Make it quick Ise san!" The old man said testily.

"Umm, right." The woman shifted her glasses, not very unlike Ishida.

"While your proposal was very… umm, intriguing, we have decided not to go with it." She finished. Orihime felt herself going numb. I should have prepared better for the worse case scenario. Now batman will chew me alive once they leave. And I would not blame him for it. Heck I would have killed him if our positions were reversed.

Without further questions, they party stood up and walked out. The old man called Yamamoto stopped next to Ulquiorra and looked at Orihime pointedly.

"Aizen san will hear of this Cifer san. I don't appreciate my time being wasted like this."

With that he walked out, leaving Orihime completely crushed. Soon after Ulquiorra followed suit, simply too angry to speak.

Ulquiorra wasn't shocked by the turn of events. The moment Orihime had presented the idea, he knew it would be rejected. The woman had gone ahead and ignored everything he had told her. Whats more, she had completely ignored the memo on city permits. Most likely because this wasn't work one person could handle anyways. Why hadn't she come to him?

It was too late for that. He felt angry that she hadn't foreseen this. He had initially thought that her idea might be too far fetched for the client to buy. However ignoring basic orders was downright infuriating. It angered him even more that she had put the kind of work into it that she had.

She had created quite a brilliant project, complete with minute details and plans; work that with any other client would have earned her a contract and possibly a promotion. Yet due to her silly desire to do some greater good, she had wasted all that good work on a client that would never appreciate it. And he was completely helpless to do anything.

The woman didn't understand, dragging out even one single flaw (and a fatal flaw in this case) and then putting people on the spot for it using guilt and coercion; was something Genryusai Yamamoto would do. The man was formidable and sometimes downright scary. Ulquiorra knew that he wanted to know who had digressed and changed the initial sakura plantation idea, so he could ensure that Aizen would have to fire the said employee. And as idealistic and foolish as the woman was, she didn't deserve being fired for it.

Typically Ulquiorra would not have cared. But he found that for some reason the idea of Orihime getting fired (and knowing Aizen, probably having her career in urban planning decimated) was scarier than what might happen to him now that Yamamoto was pissed at both the proposal and his defiance.

Oh well, he didn't care much about urban planning beyond the opportunity it gave him to challenge himself and solve problems. He realized that Orihime was still in the conference room. Suddenly an image of her looking back at him sadly and then jumping through the glass windows flashed through his head. 'What a ridiculous notion.'

However in a matter of minutes Ulquiorra was in the conference room, only to see that Orihime had cleaned up and was packing to leave.

"Ah, Cifer san.. I think I'll take the day off. If that's ok." he could tell she was desperately trying to not cry.

"I can carry your bag." Ulquiorra didn't wait for her to reply and simply took her bag and lead the way. He sucked at these things. Also crying women petrified him.

As they reached the building lobby, Orihime grabbed her bag from his hand.

"Umm, I am… about the presentation." He could tell she wanted to apologize, but was having a hard time doing that without bursting into tears. So he decided to spare her.

"We'll talk tomorrow. You can go home and rest." He had meant it well, but in his flat voice it sounded a bit cold.

However the woman gave him a thankful smile and started walking towards the exit. As he saw her walking away, Ulquiorra felt his heart clench and was seized with the desire to run after her. Ridiculous! That would be pointless, he reprimanded himself. Yet he noticed that he had already walked a few steps towards her retreating figure.

"Woma.."

"Inoue?! Are you all right?!"

Ulquiorra looked at a tall orange haired man stride towards the woman. Was he her brother? He looked too unrefined to share the same genes as the woman.

"K..Kuro..saki..kun? W..Why are you here?"

"It was your presentation today right? Rukia, Renji and I were planning to take you out for lunch so I came ahead to save you from the clutches of batman."

Ulquiorra's lips thinned in a straight line. Maybe they are related then..

"Th..Thanks Kurosaki kun." Orihime's voice was hushed, very much aware that Ulquiorra might still be in hearing range.

"Are you ok Inoue?"

As if a dam had been broken, the woman came undone at these words, and as if on cue, the orange haired male ran to her, taking her in his arms. Not siblings then, Ulquiorra thought as he turned around and walked into the elevator.

Unbeknownst to him, the man next to him shrunk from the deadly aura emanating from the green-eyed man.