It was an autumn day like any other in the human world. The looming sun hung high in the afternoon sky, bathing the earth in its golden rays. The students of Karakura High School casually went about their business as usual, chattering, bickering, and laughing. Very few knew how close they had come to facing annihilation at the hands of Aizen Sousuke and his Espada. To these blissfully unaware teenagers, life continued uninterrupted, the events of the previous day causing not so much as a burp in the everyday routine of things.
Within the relaxed and carefree atmosphere of the schoolyard, Orihime Inoue and Ulquiorra Schiffer were caught in a bubble of tension. The world of gossiping schoolgirls was a world apart from where they sat. In the ominous shade of the giant oak tree, time seemed to run slow. The air between the two was heavy and charged, neither able to make any sense of the other.
Orihime looked around her, if not to indulge in the nostalgia of her halcyon days, then to avoid Ulquiorra's cold stare. The school was just as she had remembered it. Her friends were the same, too. Nothing had really changed, even after the cataclysmic events of the last few weeks. The only difference that Orihime recognized was that the birds had flown south, and without them, the air now hung silent and motionless.
The orange-haired girl's eyes ran across the ground at her feet, her hand rubbing against the soft dampness of the soil. Red and yellow leaves were scattered all around her, already dry from the unseasonal heat. The grass and soil beneath, however, were still moist, and an earthy scent still lingered in the air. There had been a thunderstorm the night before… Last night…
Troubled grey eyes narrowed in melancholy. Everything around her was the same. She had walked to school as usual, talked with her friends as usual, but why, then, did everything feel so strange to her? Orihime knew that it was because she was different. The last seven days had changed her. Not in a bad way, but maybe not in a good way, either. It was almost like the life she had lived up until then was missing something, that there was something off in the chemistry of everyday living. Orihime couldn't manage to feel steady and satisfied in this normal, mediocre life. The redhead kind of felt lost, disoriented. And the driving force of this feeling was sitting directly in front of her.
The ever-caring girl raised her eyes to her stony companion. He hadn't moved so much as an inch for fifteen minutes already. Not that that was out of the ordinary, no, he had behaved much like this in Hueco Mundo as well. He spoke only when he had something important to say, only moved when movement held a purpose. As a result he rarely spoke, and moved only to get from point A to point B, seeing that most things, in his mind, were trivial. And Ulquiorra didn't waste his time on trivial things.
But, for some reason, the notion that the stoic forth espada hadn't changed from when he was in Hueco Mundo disturbed Orihime. So much had happened, his life had been turned upside down, so how could he remain so unperturbed? It wasn't human.
Completely forgetting that Ulquiorra wasn't supposed to behave like a normal human, Orihime was sure that he must be hiding some kind of pain or anger behind those piercing emerald eyes. The redhead felt compassion towards the Arrancar, and this sentiment, mixed with her gratitude towards him, stirred in her the irrational urge to get him to open up to her. Despite the Arrancar's undeniable cruelty, the kind Orihime truly believed that all Ulquiorra needed was a friend.
"Nee, Ulquiorra?" Orihime raised her voice while staring down distractedly at her unagi and red bean paste tortilla roll. This question was really difficult for her to voice; she had no idea how her former captor would react. Ulquiorra was still gazing at her, but his face seemed more relaxed after the several minutes the two had spent in silence. Something in his eyes told Orihime that she had his permission to continue.
"Are you, umm… sad… that Aizen is… dead?" The anxious redhead formed the words hesitantly, then looked up to see Ulquiorra's reaction. There wasn't one.
"Because, you know, he was your superior…" Orihime added nervously with a giggle after a moment of awkward silence. "And, from what I've seen in Soul Society, subordinates are usually really attached to their superiors. Rangiku-san told me that Hinamori-chan was devastated when Aizen pretended to be murdered, and—"
"No." Ulquiorra's voice cut in, effectively silencing the girl before him. Why was it that she babbled so much when she was nervous? "The bonds that the shinigami have amongst themselves are useless to Arrancar. Seldom are relationships formed, and when they are, the bond is momentary and for mutual gain." Ulquiorra paused, allowing the woman to soak in his words. Her expressive eyes shone with fascination.
"The bond between the Arrancar and Aizen was no exception. Hollows gave up their freedom in order to serve Aizen, and in return were transformed into Arrancar. There was no emotional attachment behind this bond, and a Hollow would have had no qualms breaking the pact the moment they were sure that they could survive the treason." Although Orihime was still curious, her eyes betrayed some revulsion at what she heard. Ulquiorra did not expect the human girl to understand.
"So, Hollows don't have friends? Don't you ever get lonely?" Suddenly, Orihime was overcome with pity. Did Ulquiorra never have even a single friend? She supposed, then, that it wasn't for no reason that they were called "Hollows."
"Hollows do not feel emotions such as loneliness, happiness or sadness." Ulquiorra knew that this must be true, it was common knowledge to all those who had ever set foot in Hueco Mundo, but verbalizing this age-old cliché made him question the truth of it. If Hollows could not feel, than why was it that he had been overwhelmed with countless feelings from the moment he had set eyes on the woman so many weeks ago?
"You can't feel sadness? That's ironic," Orihime giggled, tracing with her eyes the black tear marks that flowed from Ulquiorra's eyes. "But you know, I don't really believe you. Even though people, in Soul Society especially, are always saying that humans and shinigami and Hollows are all really different, it just sounds to me like everyone's racist! I think that everyone's more alike than anybody thinks."
"Racist?" Ulquiorra gazed at the grey-eyed girl before him questioningly. The word was vaguely familiar to Ulquiorra from his time as a human, but there was no way that Ulquiorra would be conscious of such a phenomenon. In Hueco Mundo most of the inhabitants did not have the power of discrimination, let alone enough energy to waste to act upon it.
"Well, you see, in this world, there are a lot of people who think that their race is better than all the other races. This causes a lot of wars and violence, even though people are more tolerant now-a-days." For some reason, to be able to explain something to Ulquiorra that he didn't know before made Orihime feel smart. She never thought she would be aware of something he wasn't; Ulquiorra just struck her at the kind of person who knew everything. "Soul Society acts like it's above all that, but then it holds such prejudice against Hollows! I mean, I don't think that it's possible that one whole race of people are ALL bad, you know? It really bugs me!" Orihime finished by crossing her arms under her chest energetically with a huff.
"You do not think that Hollows are evil?" Behind Ulquiorra's unchanging mask, he was amazed. He had been quite convinced that all beings residing outside Hueco Mundo (who were aware enough to make such judgements, of course) thought of shinigami as the absolute good and Hollows as the absolute evil. After the experience that the woman had in Las Noches, it is even more surprising that she does not despise all Hollows…
"No way!" The vigour with which the busty teenager responded was alarming. "I've met many Hollows who have redeeming qualities!"
"Such as?" She couldn't mean him, could she? Inexplicably, Ulquiorra's heart soared at the possibility.
"Grimmjow!" Orihime exclaimed cheerfully, unaware that Ulquiorra suddenly felt like Ceroing to death the nearest bystander. "I was getting beat up by these two Arrancar woman, and Grimmjow came in and saved me!"
"He did that because he wanted you to heal Kurosaki Ichigo. It was only for his personal gain." Ulquiorra's voice was tense, his urge to kill rising with every word the woman spoke.
"Which is also good! Because if I hadn't healed Kurosaki-kun then, he probably would have died! And Kurosaki-kun is a very important friend of mine…" Orihime's sweet voice faded away dreamily as she fantasized about her long-time crush, oblivious to the ice-cold and ever-expanding aura of death surrounding the emerald-eyed former espada.
"I have known Grimmjow for a long time, and I can assure you that any good he did was accidental, woman." Ulquiorra sounded through clenched teeth, trying to keep his voice under control. It was ridiculous that he should be so easily enraged, even though his emotions were aggravated by the various pains in his body.
"Well," Orihime countered defensively, "There was also my older brother Sora, who died when I was young and who came back as a Hollow last spring."
"Your brother became a Hollow?" Ulquiorra's rage subsided slightly as he gazed at the girl before him, and found a great sorrow concealed behind her shining grey eyes. Her moods were like the ocean, rising and falling in waves, often without warning. Ulquiorra had seen many emotions play in Orihime's big grey eyes, and he wasn't yet quite sure which one he found the most beautiful.
"Yah, and even though he was violent and tried to kill me, he only acted that way because of his sadness and loneliness. And he even saved me when I was about to be hit by a car!" Orihime plastered on a smile, and raised her arms triumphantly. "Which proves both my points! Hollows can feel, and Hollows are not purely evil! Ding-Ding-Ding! Fifteen Love!"
Ulquiorra closed his eyes and remained silent, allowing the woman before him to enjoy her small victory. She was so beautiful when she smiled, even if the smile was forced. He did not want to drag her down to reality with the thousands to anecdotal cases that he could cite immediately from memory that proved that Hollows could not feel, or at least, could not feel anything beyond emotions such as fear, hatred, anger… He did not want to plague her innocent, naive mind with the nightmarish recital of the horrors he had both witnessed and participated in during those long years under that looming crescent moon. Ulquiorra would let her laugh gleefully, here in this world of Wholes, he would let her continue to believe in her idealistic nonsense, and he would protect that glowing smile, because he much preferred the warmth of her sunlight smile to the cold of the hollow moon.
"Nee, Ulquiorra," Orihime offered a bright smile to her former captor, her tone light and cheery. "Do you think that you could call me by my name from now on? I don't expect you to know this, but in the human world, being called by 'woman' is kind of rude."
"Very well, Inoue Orihime." Ulquiorra answered after a moment's pause. The change really was insignificant to him.
"Uh… actually, it's kind of unusual for someone to call someone else by their full name all the time…" Orihime continued, feeling awkward under the piercing gaze of emerald eyes.
"What is it exactly that you want me to call you, then?" Ulquiorra sounded in a clipping tone, suddenly irritated. He had heard her called by several names already in his short time on earth: Orihime-san, Orihime, Orihime-chan, Inoue, Inoue-san… If she had something in mind, it was idiotic of her to get to it in such a roundabout way.
"Umm…" Orihime backed away, surprised by his sudden anger. "Kurosaki-kun and my nakama call me Inoue, so—"
"Then I will call you Orihime." Ulquiorra stated with a tone of finality. He was not going to be putting himself on the same level as those trash friends of hers.
"Well, uh," Orihime didn't really know how to say it. "A boy calling a girl by her first name… it kind of implies that we're really close, and—"
"Than the designation is appropriate." If the woman belonged to him, than he should be the only one close to her. It should have been obvious to her, but at his words, the girl Orihime blushed furiously. Noticing the delicate crimson, Ulquiorra's irritation dissolved, as he was once again involuntarily awed by her beauty. How infatuating that shade was on her pink cashmere skin…
"Ulquiorra," Orihime was almost afraid to ask the question, not because she feared the green-eyed man's reaction, but rather, that her fears about him would be confirmed. "You… don't really think that all Hollows are… evil, do you?" Her inquiry was met with an expressionless gaze.
"Good and evil do not exist in Hueco Mundo." The simple statement baffled Orihime.
"What do you mean," Orihime questioned, wondering what thoughts lurked behind those serpentine eyes of Ulquiorra's. For some reason, she really wanted to know more about him, about what he thought. "How could good and evil not exist?"
"Good and evil are concepts generated by societal dogma and personal subjective judgments. Neither exist objectively, but instead depend on the existence of a culture by which such conceptions could be engendered and perpetuated." Ulquiorra spoke calmly to the fascinated girl. He couldn't understand why, but she seemed eager to hear what he had to say, perhaps almost as eager as he was to get into her head. "There is no society in Hueco Mundo. Hollows have no culture. All that exists is instinct, and only the fittest survive. There is no room in this scheme for such abstractions as good and evil."
"But, from what I saw in Las Noches, there was an existing society. There was Aizen and those other shinigami, and all the Arrancar. All of you guys together, didn't you make up a society? I mean, you even wore matching outfits…" Orihime couldn't remember the last time she was so pensive around someone else. Usually she just kept her opinions to herself and let everyone think that she was an airhead. Maybe, she realized, it was partially her fault that everyone thought that she was naïve…
"We were connected by our common allegiance to Aizen, but, as I previously explained, all of that was only on the surface. There was never an actual bond of comradeship between any of us." Although Orihime's view was flawed, Ulquiorra had to admit that she was perceptive. The Arrancar were created to be united under Aizen, but they were also just Hollows looking out for their self-interest. It was the contradiction of their existence: the whole versus the self.
"But Arrancar are sentient beings!" Orihime's eyes sparkled as saw another victory approaching. She never thought she'd be able to win against anyone, let alone Ulquiorra. "Even if you say that there were no bonds between you, as conscious people, bonds would have been formed without you even realizing it!" Ulquiorra offered a stony glare. The girl was intelligent.
"That is not possible." The Arrancar closed his eyes, his pride and his common sense trying to convince him of this statement. Ulquiorra had never been prideful in the least, but for some reason he didn't want to lose against this girl. And he had no idea why.
"Well," Orihime said with another one of her cute huffing motions, jiggling her oversized breasts. "I don't believe you. You're here because you want something from me that has nothing to do with my Shun Shun Rika, which means that you're not here for power, but for me." A blush rose to Orihime's cheeks as she spoke the last part.
"In other words," the orange-haired girl continued, smiling. All the pieces were now falling together in her head. "You're in the human world because of our bond! Somehow, I must have become your friend in Las Noches!
"And if that's true, then you have a funny way of showing your friendship!" Orihime exclaimed, chiding playfully now. "I could really have used a friend there, but instead of being nice to me like you were yesterday, most of the time you were really mean… and cold… not that you aren't always cold, but—"
"Foolishness. I was not 'nice' to you yesterday. Nor do I consider you my friend." Ulquiorra changed his mind, the girl was far from intelligent; she was more like a babbling idiot. The former espada glared at the brightly smiling girl before him coldly.
"Hey, that isn't a nice thing to say to your first friend!" Orihime started giggling uncontrollably. Ulquiorra was just so cute when he spoke harshly like that over nothing. He would kind of lean his head downwards, and glare with that oh-so-serious stone-like expression. Orihime couldn't understand how he could stay like that for so long without laughing. If she hadn't been so petrified of Ulquiorra in Las Noches, she would have found his crazy antics a great source of entertainment.
Even though Ulquiorra was still as harsh and cold as ever, he really didn't seem opposed to conversation. Orihime felt at ease talking to him, now that he wasn't so scary anymore, and for the first time in an eternity she didn't feel uncomfortable speaking her mind in front of someone. Even though he was judgemental and criticized everything unmercifully, his words weren't really coming off as ill-intentioned. He was even cute and funny, in his own way. Orihime was amazed; maybe she and Ulquiorra really could be friends…
"Ulquiorra," Orihime began after a few moments of comfortable silence, having gotten the giggles out of her system. "Earlier you seemed really… angry. Why was that? Did Urahara-san do something to you?"
"Yes. He gave me this defective gigai and expected me to be able to function with it." Ulquiorra replied after a short pause, his green eyes and his melodic voice hard, irritation evident in both.
"What's wrong with your gigai?" The orange-haired girl immediately became anxious. Was he in pain? Was he suffering? The stoic teenager considered ignoring her, but was dissuaded by the pleading and worried look in her big grey eyes. Ulquiorra closed his eyes, heaving an internal sigh.
"The head feels heavy and aches, making it difficult to concentrate. The nose is blocked and there is an odd pressure there that is making it difficult for me to breath. The throat feels coarse and dry, causing pain. The back is sore and I have been experiencing sharp pains there all day." Ulquiorra listed his complaints calmly, while Orihime listened carefully. It sounds like he has a cold…
"Odd sounds have been coming from the region of the abdomen at an increased frequency," The emerald-eyed former espada continued. His stomach is rumbling… Maybe he's hungry?
"Below the abdomen, there is also a pressure that has been increasing all day, making it difficult to walk." He's got to go to the bathroom? Why couldn't he figure that out on his own?
"In the same region, there is another pressure, stronger than the first, that has been rising and falling at seemingly random times over the course of today. It is accompanied by a searing heat that courses through the body and brings to mind strange images and impulses." Ulquiorra finished his list tonelessly, describing the inadequacies of his new body, as one might hear people list the negative points of buying a Mazda or a Saturn.
"Um, Ulquiorra, you realize that you're in a gigai, don't you?" Orihime laughed, noticing how cute the Arrancar was when he was clueless. How odd the grey-eyed girl found it that someone that had once seemed so terrifying could now seem so cute. An Arrancar in the human world really was interesting. "You're hungry, you're thirsty, you've got to go to the bathroom, and you've got a cold. I don't know about the last one, but it all seems like normal human stuff."
Glad that it wasn't more serious, Orihime approached the confused dark-haired teenager on her knees and raised her delicate hand to his pale forehead. Upon contact, the burning heat of his brow spread through her hand, feeling almost like it could burn her. Orihime recoiled from the touch, shocked. Oh my God! He's burning up! How is he able to just sit there and act like everything is alright?
Terribly worried, Orihime brought both of her hands to Ulquiorra's cheeks. She hadn't imagined the warmth before, it was still present, but its intensity had tripled. She pulled her hands away, and looked down to the watch at her wrist. Ten minutes left until the end of lunch period… We'll have to skip the rest of the day. I've got to get Ulquiorra somewhere before he passes out...
"Do not remove your hands, Orihime," Ulquiorra murmured in a tone Orihime could now recognize as weak. More surprising than his use of her first name, the increasingly pale teenager held Orihime's hands by the wrists, and pressed them gently against each cheek. "It feels… soothing…?"
"Come on, Ulquiorra, get up," Orihime rose to her feet, shaking with worry for her former kidnapper, and tried to lift the taller man up with her. He refused to move.
"What do you think you are doing, Orihime?" He looked up at her, his eyes glossy. The redhead wondered how she could have missed it before. What the general onlooker would say were imperceptible differences in Ulquiorra's countenance, Orihime now came to recognize as painfully obvious signs of distress.
"You're really sick, Ulquiorra, we've got to get you somewhere to rest." The grey-eyed girl pulled Ulquiorra up by his hands, and, this time, he complied. Thinking quickly, Orihime decided to bring the emerald-eyed teenager to her home, instead of to the school nurse. She would best be able to take care of him there.
Forgetting about everything else, Orihime held Ulquiorra's feverish hand and lead him towards her apartment. Walking silently down the long streets, Orihime kicked herself for not having noticed anything earlier. Sure, he was angry, but that alone couldn't have tipped her off on how sick he actually was. His face showed no trace of pain, he conversed as he normally did, held himself with dignity as he always did. Orihime knew that if it was her, she would have been bawling her eyes out and be making a complete martyr of herself. She could never be as strong as Ulquiorra was…
Realizing that that train of thought was taking her nowhere, the grey-eyed girl looked back at her ailing kidnapper. Although to the unsuspecting eye, nothing in his countenance was out of the ordinary, Orihime found now that he truly looked like he was suffering. She realized that the difference might not be that he held himself back from seeming in pain, but that he was, by nature, unreadable. Just like she was, by nature, expressive…
Orihime quickened her pace, Ulquiorra holding her hand and following her tiredly. The bright sunlight, she figured, must've been hurting Ulquiorra's head. A half an hour later, the two had arrived at Orihime's apartment. Opening the door quickly, she gently pushed the slender Arrancar in, and closed the door behind her.
Swiftly, the redhead led the ashen teenager to her bedroom, lying him down on her bed. As she wrapped all of her bed covers around him as snugly as she could, Ulquiorra gazed up at her with a questioning look. His mind was a jumble, a result of his deteriorating condition, but he was still amazed at how much the woman before him seemed to care for his well-being. For some reason, he couldn't manage to scoff at her concern.
"Just stay right here and don't move. I'm going to go get you a glass of water, okay, Ulquiorra?" The frantic girl was replied with a consenting grunt.
Orihime dashed to the kitchen, and quickly ran the cold water. Pulling out a glass from the cupboard, the redhead filled it with tap water. Stopping the tap's flow, Orihime found the aspirin bottle and withdrew two from the tiny white and cyan container. The schoolgirl then dashed back to her bedroom.
"Come, Ulquiorra, sit up for a minute. You need to swallow this." The anxious redhead helped the former espada sit up, and placed the glass in this right hand, and the pills in his left. "Put these two pills in your mouth, and then swallow it down with water. It will make you feel better."
Ulquiorra did as he was told, although somewhere in his cloudy mind he resented being ordered around by someone who was supposed to be his property. As he drank the cool water, he found himself yearning for more. He finished the glass immediately. Orihime got him another glass, and he finished that one also. She got him a third, and placed it at his bedside.
The black-haired Arrancar lowered his body onto the bed, allowing himself to indulge in the comfort of the mattress, and the sweetness of Orihime's aroma. The room, although overly bright in his opinion, held a sense of cosiness. In a way, Ulquiorra noted, the room and the girl matched.
The worried Orihime raised her hand to Ulquiorra's forehead, feeling the impossible heat burning beneath his skin. She really did want to soothe him. Ulquiorra closed his emerald eyes under Orihime's touch, and abruptly wished that he could feel more of her against him. A part of him wanted to bring her underneath the covers with him, wrap his arms around her, and never let go. To feel her warmth, her sweetness, to have it all for himself, forever. At that moment, Ulquiorra would have given anything just to have Orihime in his arms…
Orihime ran her slender fingers through Ulquiorra's silky black hair, massaging his scalp gently in an attempt to relieve his headache. Her movements were so gentle; they brimmed over with a kindness that was assaulting Ulquiorra's reason. Before he could keep the thought from surfacing in the convoluted haze that was his mind, the question posed itself before him, heavy and daunting: did he deserve to have Orihime in his arms?
He had kidnapped her from her home, stole her from the people that she loved. He had subjected her to all sorts of emotional trauma, the kind that most people don't ever recuperate from. He hurt her because she had confused him, sent him reeling off the course he had been following for decades. Her very existence had proved antithetical to his own, her agile mind taunting him as it did somersaults around his reasoning.
Out of pure spite, he provided the beautiful girl with equal retribution for his pains, tormenting her, pushing her to the brink of sanity. All because he couldn't understand her, because he hated her weakness and her attachment to that trash shinigami. And, more than anything else, because no matter how hard he tried, he could never seem to get any closer to her. Her beautiful eyes were always elsewhere, and sometimes he thought that he tormented her just to make her recognize his existence.
And after one week trapped in purgatory, where was this fiery goddess? Straining her fingers to sooth the pain of the one who had been her tormentor. Although Ulquiorra knew that he should not be questioning his methods (since when had he started questioning his methods?), he couldn't bring himself to berate the vagrant thought. Too tired to be disgusted with himself, the Arrancar recognized the feeling that had pooled in his gut: guilt.
Slowly, Ulquiorra opened his eyes, and piercing emerald met endless grey. They were just two people, souls who had encountered each other in the shifting sands of time, each so separate, each so different. But for one endlessly short moment, the two people seemed to connect, and beyond all words and roles and memories, there was an essential understanding. They could both feel it, the beginning of something new.
Ulquiorra closed his eyes again, overwhelmed by the feeling of the moment, and Orihime just smiled knowingly. The orange-haired teenager leaned further over the bed, massaging the Arrancar's scalp more vigorously. She knew that she still had to make him go to the bathroom, and cook him something to eat, but for some reason she just wanted to stay by his side for a little longer.
Orihime knew that if her friends saw her now, they would say that she was doing this because she was a caring person who loved everybody. And Orihime would agree; she was a caring person who couldn't bring herself to hate someone, even if that person was the enemy. But that wasn't the reason that the grey-eyed girl was by this Arrancar's side. With a smile, Orihime realized that she was here because, more than anything else in the world, Orihime loved her friends. And as long as her friend was in trouble, she would do whatever she could to help him.
And it would seem that, suddenly, Ulquiorra had become a very important friend to Orihime.