Author's Note: I had this in my head for awhile, so I was happy to have an excuse to get it out. One day I hope to elaborate on it. Not that it's all that complicated.


VI. "Food/Drink"

Ulquiorra assumed Orihime did as she was told. So it came as an especial surprise when he walked in one morning to customarily "check up on her" to see her lying unconscious on the floor. Rolling her over, he noted the dark streaks beneath her eyes, as well as her sunken cheeks and peeling lips. Instinctively his gaze traveled to her waist and he noticed that her clothes, once snug and formfitting, hung loose around her body.

After having taken her to the medical wing to be fed via a tube, he returned to her quarters out of morbid curiosity. After a few minutes of poking around, he located the drag marks that led from the table legs to the window. Using his innate powers of levitation, he looked up and down the bars of the windowpane. There he saw traces of food: bits of noodle wrapped around the iron rods, shriveled leaves of lettuce resting precariously on the edge, and dried sauces pooling over the plaster. He was certain that if he looked out, he'd see a pile of rotting food surrounded by flies just outside her window.

Following that day, Ulquiorra obliged himself to stay with her and watch her eat, as well as occasionally after to make sure the meals stayed in her. Despite her sad attempt at suicide being foiled, Orihime was pleased that her efforts at least resulted in some more company.