"Umm…" A blank stare.
"Wha-" The fall wind blows softly, rustling the grass. Still as a statue, emerald eyes stared.
"Ulquiorra…" Orihime tries again, struggling to find words under her visitor's intense gaze. "What's… going on?"
Her question was met with silence. The stoic teenager's eyes, deep and hard as emerald, darken. Orihime drops her gaze, suddenly staring intently at the untouched lunchbox on her lap, orange hair sliding gracefully from over her hunched shoulders. She and her pallid companion were seated in the shade of a large oak tree on the school property.
They were face to face and finally alone, and although this was the perfect opportunity for Orihime to get answers to the millions of questions buzzing around in her mind, her former captor was making that impossible. Ulquiorra was looking directly at her, angrier than she had ever seen him.
The grey-eyed teenager remembered the events of just an hour ago, and how they had gotten to where they were now.
"Inoue Orihime belongs to no one but me. She forfeited her freedom to me eight days ago, and agreed to serve me of her own free will." Ulquiorra placed his ashen hand against the center of Orihime's back and pushed her up against him. Perhaps this will make the message clear. "This woman's body and soul exist only for my purposes."
Looking around the now-full classroom, Ulquiorra had to admit that he hadn't gotten the reaction that he was aiming for. Logically, he should have received looks of fear and resignation. Instead, his classmates stared at him with emotions ranging from admiration to shock to disgust. The redhead who had attacked his woman was staring off, her mouth agape, lost in her own sick fantasies. Ulquiorra had no idea what had brought on such unexpected reactions, and he did not care to know.
In any case, it would seem that because the trash are unable to sense my reiatsu, they are unaware of the danger I pose to them… It will be time-consuming to intimidate them on an individual basis…
"Human." Ulquiorra's cruel emerald eyes bore into the eyes of the perverted bespectacled woman, even while unsure if she could even hear him at this point. "Listen carefully. Inoue Orihime belongs to me and only me. If you ever touch my woman again I will not hesitate to dispose of your meaningless existence." Ulquiorra spoke slowly, his level voice echoing ominously through the silent classroom. Although he could not, at the moment, crush all of the trash into submission, humans were familiar with the concept of ownership, right?
As if to further assert his point, Ulquiorra pulled Orihime closer to him, rage barely controlled. Looking into his woman's eyes, the former espada saw shock, confusion, and… was that relief he saw there as well? This woman feels relief? What reason would she have to be relieved to see me here… How strange this woman is… Ulquiorra had spent all day pretending to listen to the principal lecture on and on, enduring odd pains all over this damnable body of his, but this girl's entrancing eyes made it worth it.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Rukia spat viciously, her violet eyes on fire, verbalizing the anger that had overcome her the moment Ulquiorra entered the room. The shinigami was certain that this episode was going to send Orihime right back into the traumatic state she was in the night prior.
"I believe that I have already informed you." Ulquiorra spoke cuttingly, annoyed that this had been brought up yet again. How he loathed redundancy. "I am here for Inoue Orihime. If you have a problem, then address your complaints to Urahara Kisuke." Turning back to his woman, he found her eyes shining, causing a wary impulse to overtake the former forth espada.
"Ulquiorra! You're OK!" Orihime shrilled as she jumped off the ground and wrapped her arms around his neck, capturing his defenceless human body in a death grip. His emerald eyes widened in surprise. "I'm so happy that you're alright! I was so afraid that they were going to kill you! Everyone was looking at you like –"
Ulquiorra stood as still as an iron beam, making no move to remove the obviously overjoyed teenager from his person. Although he was as aloof as always on the outside, the willowy Arrancar's insides were burning. Orihime's voluptuous body was flush up against his, instigating even more odd sensations in the Arrancar. Ulquiorra was finally sure that there must be a serious malfunction with his gigai, as, despite himself, he raised a hand to the small of the girl's back and pushed her closer against him.
"Get your disgusting –" Uryuu started, seething. It was enough seeing Ulquiorra so close to Orihime, but for Orihime to actually hug the Arrancar was more than Uryuu could take. Inexplicably, the Quincy was burning with jealousy. But before he could say any more, though, the navy-haired man was abruptly cut off.
"Watch your mouth, Ishida! Have you really changed so much in the last month that you'd pick on the new kid?" The teacher strode into the room, attendance book in hand, and made her way over to her desk. "Yo, Schiffer, save that stuff for later. Come up to the front and introduce yourself."
All the students had arrived in class, save for Ichigo and Tatsuki, and the bell had already rung. Reluctantly releasing Orihime, Ulquiorra walked coolly up to the front of the class as everyone took their seats. Orihime's friends surrounded the jubilant and much-relieved girl, demanding to know exactly what had happened between her and the sexy foreigner.
As for the other students, their reactions to their new classmate were mixed. The guy's skin was unnaturally pale, his sad eyes impossibly green, and he was wearing make-up black tear marks down his cheeks. Despite the newcomer's unmistakable hotness, he looked seriously disturbed. He was violent, and obviously overly-possessive. Even the most flirtatious of girls were not going to go there. The men in the classroom, however, had to give the freak his props; no one had ever been able to get the beautiful Orihime-chan, let alone get her tied to their bedposts for eight steamy days and nights.
Subconsciously, the mere presence of the serene teenager with black tear streaks weighed down on everyone's shoulders. If you were a shinigami, you would know that this was because an extremely powerful hollow that was masking his reiatsu was in the room, but even a normal human could tell that this person was someone you'd want to stay away from. When the room finally went quiet, the pale and willowy young man, his hands in the pockets of his grey uniform, spoke in a deep tone both detachedly aloof and suffocating in its weight.
"My name is Ulquiorra Schiffer. I am from Canada. I will be staying in Japan for as long as Inoue Orihime is here." Despite hating to repeat himself, it was evident that humans were slow, and so repetition was therefore necessary. Ulquiorra's toxic green eyes darkened as he glared at everyone in the class, and a few choice people in particular. "If any of you approach Inoue Orihime in any way that undermines my ownership of her, there will be severe consequences. This is your final warning." A heavy pause ensued.
"Uh… Ok…" The sensei replied warily. She could already tell she was going to be having some trouble with this kid. She figured she had better keep an eye on him. Motioning to the desk directly in front of hers, the spunky young teacher added: "Schiffer, you can sit right here."
Without even turning his head, Ulquiorra lowered his cold expressionless gaze to the desk. "That seat is unsatisfactory."
Without another word, the black-haired former espada glided to the seat to the left of Orihime, against the window. The seat was currently occupied by one of the woman's trash friends.
"Move." The Arrancar's dark piercing eyes sent shivers down the girl's spine. Danger signals were going off like crazy in her head, and she had to suppress the impulse to run out of the room immediately. She did, however, jump out of her seat and dash to the farthest empty seat within the boundary of the four walls.
Ignoring the stares of his new classmates, some furious and some terrified, and most somewhere in between, Ulquiorra took to doing all he planned to be doing at this 'school' place: watching Orihime. The former espada sat with his back upright in his chair, eyes somehow managing to overwhelm the orange-haired girl beside him even while only gazing at her from his peripheral vision.
Uncomfortable under Ulquiorra's intense glare, Orihime tried to ignore him, suppressing the questions that were bubbling to her lips. For some reason, her kidnapper seemed weird today. Not just that he was in a gigai, which was enough of a change already, but he seemed so much angrier than usual. Usually, almost nothing could get to him; he was as unmovable as a statue. Had something happened with Urahara? Suddenly worried, the grey-eyed girl glanced at the former espada beside her, concealed by a veil of orange hair.
Orihime's gaze was met with the stare of Ulquiorra's emerald eyes. He didn't care what anyone thought, the notion hadn't so much as crossed his mind; he stared openly, unapologetically. The grey-eyed girl found his gaze overpowering, feeling heat rise to her cheeks. Diverting her glance, Orihime stared pointedly at the chalkboard, listening intently to a lesson that went in one ear and out the other. She could still feel Ulquiorra's penetrating gaze on her, unyielding and unmerciful. This is going to be a long hour…
Orihime really couldn't understand the former espada's anger. Was he angry at Chizuru? Rukia? The situation in general? And why was he staring at her like that all class? Orihime's inferiority complex prevented her from considering that Ulquiorra thought of her as anything more than the bearer of the power of event rejection, and, as a result, no answer came to mind.
And when class finally ended, he told me to follow him out here… I thought that he would tell me the real reason he's still here, and what he wanted at my school, but he's just been staring at me without blinking for, like, five minutes now…
"Inoue Orihime." Ulquiorra's deep melodious voice drew the girl from her contemplation. "Eat your meal."
"Wha-What?" Orihime, despite having heard this command from him a hundred times in the last week, was caught off guard. The pale teenager continued to stare at her intently, drawing a light blush to the redhead's cheeks.
"Haven't I already informed you?" The Arrancar's tone betrayed his irritation with the creature before him. "Nothing has changed since Aizen's death. Just because we are now in the human world does not signify that you are free. You still belong to me, woman, and I will not have you dying before you can be of use."
"Be of use?" Orihime saw her opening. Gathering her courage, she looked the stoic man before her in the eyes. "How could I possibly be of use to you?" The air became heavy.
"That has yet to be determined," Ulquiorra stated after a moment's pause.
"But I don't understand… If you don't know what you want with me, then why come all the way to Karakura Town, and get a gigai, and enrol in my school?" Orihime's curiosity was getting the best of her, making her speak louder and quicker. When she was finished, Ulquiorra just gazed at her emptily, and Orihime scolded herself for getting ahead of herself.
"That also has yet to be determined." The dark-haired teenager didn't like admitting how little he knew, but figured that an answer was the best way to ensure that the girl kept speaking. He found her voice calming, especially in his current condition.
"Well," Orihime wasn't ready to give up yet, but she spoke more carefully now. "Where did you get the gigai from? Was it Urahara-san who made it for you?"
"That is correct." She seems excited… because I am answering her questions?
"Why would Urahara-san do that if you used to work for Aizen?" Orihime was subconsciously leaning forward, overly eager to hear what her former captor had to say.
"I do not know. I have not yet given this odd gesture of his any thought." Ulquiorra knew that he would have to get to it soon if he didn't want to fall into any traps, but he was much too distracted with thoughts of the woman. Although he found this utterly pathetic, not to mention shameful, he couldn't seem to help it.
"Ok… Oh, right!" Orihime couldn't believe she had forgotten. "Why are your tear marks black now, instead of green? It looks like make-up…"
"Urahara Kisuke said that if I wore black make-up, the humans would avoid me. It would seem that green tattoos would bring me unnecessary attention." Ulquiorra finished by closing his eyes, black cascading down his cheeks like tears of blood in the darkness. The solemn teenager only wanted the attention of one human; everything else was a waste of time.
"Oh, yah…" Orihime leaned back, bringing her pointer finger to her chin and raising her eyes to the sun-light branches above her in a thoughtful look. "I guess green tattoos would attract attention. People would probably wonder if it hurt to get tattoos there, 'cause the skin beneath the eye is really sensitive and stuff. And green wouldn't scare anyone away. It's such a beautiful colour…"
Orihime finished, looking into Ulquiorra's striking emerald eyes, her own eyes widening in surprise at the intensity with which he was looking at her. Ulquiorra had never seen the grey-eyed girl like this, so light, so unrestrained, so free. He was again abruptly glad that he had decided to come live in the human world instead of abducting Orihime again and bringing her with him to Hueco Mundo. The various pains he was suffering through in this gigai were well worth it if it meant he could see her face light up so openly.
"You know, Ulquiorra," Orihime laid her lunchbox on the floor, and brought herself on all fours to get closer to the Arrancar. Aside from the widening of his eyes, Ulquiorra's surprise was undetectable. "You're really handsome. I know that it's kind of an awkward thing to say, seeing as how you kidnapped me last week, but now that I'm back home… and I'm not afraid of you anymore… I can take a good look at you. And you really are beautiful."
Orihime raised a hand to Ulquiorra's surprisingly warm cheek, and she could almost imagine seeing some trace of a blush beneath her fingers. His eyes were wide, but he did not look as angry as he did before. Orihime brought her peach-coloured index finger to Ulquiorra's ghost white skin, tracing the line of black make-up that marred the perfection of his face.
"I think it's your eyes," Orihime continued, blushing furiously. She didn't know why, but she couldn't stop herself from telling him this. Some part of her really wanted to let Ulquiorra know how beautiful he was, for him to never doubt his magnificence. "They are so big, and such a gorgeous green. Like the grass, or the leaves…"
Ulquiorra, for the first time in his recollection, was left speechless. This woman found his eyes beautiful? Her with her warming grey orbs, so dazzling that they could only be compared to the light of her innocent soul? Such beauty as hers could not be found anywhere else in the world, and it was ridiculous that she should not know that.
Ulquiorra wanted to tell her that she had obviously never seen her eyes as she smiled, but one sensation in his body was quickly making his thoughts dissolve completely. Looking at the blushing Orihime, her curvy body practically hovering over him, an unbelievable pressure was suddenly building within him. The hot pressure was even more excruciating than that other pressure that made it painful for him to walk.
The confused Arrancar had to resist the foreign urge to pull the woman on top of him. He was not going to do something senseless just because his broken gigai wanted him to do it. He could only hold his breath against her sweet scent as she explored intently with her eyes his every feature. Ulquiorra breathed a silent sigh of relief when Orihime pulled back, her embarrassment finally getting the better of her.
"Eat now, woman." Ulquiorra managed in a strained voice, after a few moments of silence. These inexplicable bodily sensations had been unnerving him all day, and this last one was sending him over the edge. The usually cool Arrancar tensed up, looking as if he were about to explode at any moment.
Neither the pressure nor the heat subsided, even as Orihime opened her lunchbox and began eating. Her face was still flushed from being in such close proximity to Ulquiorra just a moment earlier, and the innocent crimson colour of her cheeks seemed to further power Ulquiorra's insane desire to press her body as close to his as it would go.
This gigai must certainly be defective…
A man and a woman stood beneath the autumn sky, the heavy silence between them broken only by the whirling of wind and the distant rustling of leaves.
"So… That's it." Tatsuki was at a loss for words. Orihime, her best friend, was all this time facing such great danger, all alone. Her heart sinking through the floor, Tatsuki couldn't believe she had failed the one she cared most about.
"Yah…" Ichigo knew it wouldn't be easy for Tatsuki to hear. "I haven't been able to sense Ulquiorra's reiatsu since he showed up after Aizen was defeated yesterday, but I'm sure that he'll be back for Inoue." Ichigo paused, his eyes determined, making sure that Tatsuki knew that he was swearing this to himself. "I won't let him hurt Inoue again. I will protect her this time."
"I think you're a little late, Ichigo," The shinigami's life-long friend said, chuckling weakly. "I stopped by Orihime's place this morning, and the guy who answered the door called himself Ulquiorra Schiffer."
"Wh-" Ichigo spluttered, eyes wide. That Arrancar stayed overnight in her apartment? "What?"
"Crazy, eh? After everything, that guy had the gall to tell me that Orihime was sleeping and to go away, as if he owned the place." Despite the seriousness of the situation, Tatsuki couldn't help but laugh at Ichigo's face. "I was about to sock it to 'em, but that Urahara guy stopped me."
"Urahara? The sandal-hat guy?" The orange-haired Vizard eyed his childhood friend incredulously. Was Urahara really protecting Ulquiorra?
"Yah, and he told me something really weird, telling me to relay it to you, even if I don't believe it." Tatsuki looked into Ichigo's eyes, unsure with how this would go over. Hesitantly, she repeated the bit of information. "Urahara-san told me that… Ulquiorra is in love with Orihime."
"Wh-What!" Ichigo's mouth dropped to the floor, his mind conjuring his memories of Ulquiorra. Never had Ulquiorra done anything to even suggest that he could feel anything even akin to love. "That isn't possible! That guy's the most cold-hearted bastard I've ever seen!"
"I know, I know…" There was one piece of news that was even more difficult for the black-haired teenager to convey. To Tatsuki, it was beyond the scope of the possible. "But the worst thing is that Urahara also said… that Orihime loves him back…"
"What the fuck is that bastard saying!" Ichigo was furious. That shop keeper was risking Orihime's life because he thought that Ulquiorra and Orihime were in love! "There's no way that Inoue would like a bastard like Ulquiorra!"
"I know that it's impossible." Tatsuki said, her eyes brimming with pain, her fists clenched. There was no way this could be happening. Tatsuki was the only one who knew that Orihime had been in love with Ichigo for years now. Her feelings for that man were so strong; there was no way that they could be forgotten so easily. Especially not for the man who had kidnapped her, called her trash, and ordered her killed… "But don't do anything about that guy just yet. I need to talk to Orihime."
Ichigo looked down at the petite girl before him with tumultuous brown eyes. Although she was so strong, Orihime's suffering hurt her like nothing else could. What a mess this is…
"Alright, Tatsuki."
On ground level, three more people were drowning in tension. Yasutora, Uryuu and Rukia had taken their lunches outside, sitting silently at a picnic table. In view, their friend Orihime and one of their sole surviving enemies, Ulquiorra, were seated together. A moment ago, the comrades had watched as their friend had engaged the Arrancar in conversation. To their disbelief, she was acting more or less like her usual cheery self around him.
Suddenly, Orihime was hovering over Ulquiorra, touching his face. No one knew quite how to react to that. It was obvious that the Arrancar was turned on by her, but the two men at the table weren't sure if they should intervene or not… Luckily for Uryuu's sanity, in particular, Orihime pulled away a moment later and started eating her lunch.
As for Rukia, she was beyond approach. Ever since leaving the classroom, she had been in a daze, unable or unwilling to answer the questions of her worried nakama. She looked incredibly shocked, disbelief and internal conflict colouring her face. The events of just several minutes ago were replaying in her mind again and again, as if they were trying to convey to her some hidden meaning.
The bell rang, signalling the end of class, and the beginning of the lunch period. Immediately, Orihime's desk was swarmed by her morbidly curious friends. Unable to move an inch, the redhead's girlfriends bombarded her with questions.
"So how long have you known each other," the curly-haired Mahana asked in a suggestive tone, raising her voice over the bustling of her classmates and the excited voices of her friends.
"Me and Ulquiorra?" Orihime couldn't think of an appropriate answer. She was a terrible liar, and there was no way she could come up with a convincing enough story to justify what her friends had witnessed earlier. She couldn't even explain it to herself. "We met two months ago, but we only really… got to know each other… a week ago." Orihime had anticipated her friends' shocked expressions.
"A week? And he's already so friendly with you? What a pervert!" Chizuru's eyes were burning dramatically with rage. "I'll show him who Orihime's master is!" This comment was followed by a sudden ten degree drop in room temperature.
"Ul-Ulquiorra...?" Orihime turned around, fear making its way into her eyes. The usually distant Arrancar was standing right behind her, staring down at the woman before him with disdain. She was like a bird caught in the gaze of a snake, unable to move, unable to look away, unable to breath. An eternity seemed to pass before he spoke.
"Come with me, woman." With that simple command, Ulquiorra turned his back to Orihime and walked away at his usual unrushed pace. Only when the emerald-eyed man looked back at Orihime did the girl break from her daze and sprint towards his retreating back.
"Inoue, wait!" Rukia shouted out, grabbing Orihime's forearm. The grey-eyed woman turned around, her vibrant orange hair whirling with her. Looking into her friend's worried, pleading eyes, a smile spread across Orihime's warm face.
"Don't worry, Kuchiki-san. I'm alright now, really. And even though Ulquiorra acts like that, I don't think that he's such a bad person." Orihime pulled the black-haired shinigami into a hug, whispering softly into her ear something that the redhead felt her friend had the right to know. "I owe him. He protected me in Hueco Mundo and his words held me together last night. Even though we belong to different worlds, and everyone calls him the enemy, I have to protect him."
Turning away, sending her friend one last warm glance, Orihime ran frantically after Ulquiorra, who had not bothered to stop and wait for her. A light smile graced the redhead's heart-shaped face as she followed her former guard, eager to find the answers to some of her questions, and perhaps find a way to pay him back for his oddly touching words. Ulquiorra's graceful allure and his imposing aura made students clear the way for him in the crowded halls. There were whispers all around the two, but neither of them took notice.
Back in the classroom, Rukia stood in silence. The classroom was empty except for Uryuu, Yasutora, and herself. Her two comrades were looking at the tiny girl gravely, unsure if they should ask what Orihime had said. Finally, Rukia murmured into the silence.
"Inoue… Is he… that important to you?" Rukia was stunned. She understood exactly what Orihime meant when she said that she had to protect him. She had felt the same way once before… How she had wanted to protect him, the one who was called Soul Society's enemy, her comrade who belonged to a different world.
They were just too different. Their worlds were never meant to overlap, but somehow, her feelings had refused to fade away… Co-Could it be that I...?
Staring off into space, lost in her own thoughts, Rukia silently ghosted from the classroom, her worried friends right behind her.
"Umm, do you want some of my unagi-redbeanpaste-tortilla roll, Ulquiorra? It's really…" Orihime trailed off, feeling self-conscious under his blank gaze.
"No." Ulquiorra sounded. He continued to stare at her.
"It's the last of my unagi, but I'm sure that you'll like it, you must be hung—"
"I said no. Finish your meal." The brisk former espada cut the redhead off, annoyed. Orihime went back to her meal, squirming under Ulquiorra's watchful emerald eyes.
"Yes… sir…" Orihime huffed internally. Why is this guy so intimidating?
If life had been complicated for Inoue Orihime before, it was about to become much more thorny.