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Ashy-Hikari and frawg360: Na she didn't get chicken pocks. But you know, she could later on ^^ hehe it's a nice idea! I /might/ use it later, if you don't mind? We'll see how the story flows!
Chapter 2: Accident's Happen
Ulquiorra and Szayel watched in horror as a slew of chemicals spilled all over the woman.
A huge cloud of steam was created from the combination and they could hear hissing and bubbling, though no sound came from the woman at all.
Szayel sprung into action, grabbing a hose with a spray nozzle on the end and started washing the chemicals away and down the drain in the floor. "LUMINA! I'm going to permanently kill you if anything happened to her! Aizen-sama is going to have both our asses! Why were you running around in the laboratory anyway you stupid worm? You know the rules!" He berated the large round Arrancar, who was slowly crawling back along the floor away from the angry Espada.
"Szayel, if anything happens to that woman, Aizen-sama will have my ass. But your ass is mine." Ulquiorra stated crisply, his normally emotionless face betraying him, the tightly veiled anger slipping through.
Szayel grimaced, pursing his lips together, as he finished washing away the chemicals. Soon after, the haze started to clear.
The two Espada peered at the floor and gaped in shock.
On the floor where Orihime had fallen was a small child with fiery orange hair, two blue hairclips and wearing a miniature Arrancar uniform. She was soaking wet and shivering, her arms folded across her chest and tears in her eyes. "Why'd you get me all wet?" she cried, stamping her foot.
The two Espada looked at each other.
If looks could kill, Szayel would be a dead man. "I'll let you explain this to Aizen-sama, Szayel Aporro." Ulquiorra hissed.
Szayel paled and looked back at the little girl in front of him. "Inoue….chan?" he asked.
She glared up at him. "I'm not supposed to talk to strangers!" she said and she stuck her tongue out at him.
Szayel sighed before walking a bit away to a cupboard and pulling out a towel. Going back to the young girl, he crouched down to her level. "My name is Szayel Aporro Granz. What's your name?" he asked in his nicest voice.
"Inoue Orihime," she mumbled, eying the towel in Szayel's hands.
Ulquiorra watched them interact with slight interest.
"Nice to meet you Inoue-chan, here." He handed the towel to her, which she took immediately. "Dry yourself off."
Instead she wrapped it around her body. "Who's dat?" she looked over at the man with the strange green markings on his face. Her eyes lit up. "Clown!"
Szayel turned his head away and bit his lip to stop from laughing.
"No. I am Cifer Ulquiorra." He said dispassionately.
"Clown!" she exclaimed again.
He closed his eyes. "We—you, need to go inform Aizen-sama about…this." He said to Szayel as he walked out of the laboratory.
Szayel sighed, resigning himself to the pain that would be coming. "Come Inoue-chan, we must go."
She looked up at the pink haired man who was towering over her and pouted. "Do I haf too?" She asked, tightening the towel around her body as if it provided some protection from the strange room and people.
"Yes, now come along." He started towards the exit of the lab.
"Okay….Pinky wait for me!" she yelled trying to run after him on her little legs.
'Pinky?' he thought as he let out a breath of annoyance. Looking back he could tell she was having a hard time keeping up with the two Espada.
"Ulquiorra-san, why don't you carry her so that we may use sonido, otherwise this will take forever."
Ulquiorra glared at him, then he glared at the girl. "This is your fault. You deal with it." He said, turning from the two.
Szayel pressed him further, not wanting to be the one to carry the child. "Regardless, Aizen-sama appointed her your responsibility. You cannot just push it off on me. My only responsibility is to inform Aizen-sama of what has transpired and take the brunt of any punishment he wishes to deliver." With that he sonidoed away, leaving the Cuatro Espada with the child.
Ulquiorra closed his eyes and sighed inwardly. "Come here, girl." He ordered.
"Clown?" she asked, coming to the funny looking Espada and looking up at him.
"Don't call me that. Call me Ulquiorra-sama. I will need to carry you." He said emotionlessly as he picked the small girl up, cradling her against him and using sonido.
Little Hime closed her eyes and clung to the clown as her stomach did a bunch of flip flops. She wasn't sure who these weird people were but she knew she didn't like moving like this. It made her stomach hurt and head dizzy.
After several tense moments of sonidoing, Ulquiorra stopped in front of two large, thick, white double doors. Szayel had a slight smirk on his face as Ulquiorra put the small child back down.
"Don't like thatt!" she exclaimed, her face slightly pale and her stance woozy.
They let the girl rest for a few moments, as they didn't want any unpleasant accidents to occur while in Aizen's presence. When she was ready, they knocked on the large doors.
"Szayel Aporro and Ulquiorra requesting an audience with our Lord, Aizen-sama." The scientist said clearly.
After a minute of waiting they heard a voice, "Come in."
They swung open the large doors and walked inside.
Szayel quickly took the lead and bent down on one knee respectfully.
Tosen, Gin and Aizen stood before them.
"To what do I owe—"
"Onii-san!" The little girl charged past the two Espada and tackled Aizen, latching onto his leg.
(Onii-san = Big brother)
Szayel's head shot up, his eyes wide. 'Oh shit!'
"What is the meaning of this?" Aizen glared down at the small body and orange head of hair latched onto his leg. He could see two little blue clips sticking out of her hair.
"Aizen-sama…the check up you scheduled for the woman went perfectly! But then she tripped and fell into a bunch of bottled chemicals and this is the result…"
He glared at Szayel, "don't tell me this is the woman…" He wanted nothing more than to release a blast of reiatsu that would suffocate the pink haired Espada, but he dared not with the girl present.
"Onii-san…" Little Hime looked up at the brown haired man, she could feel the anger radiating off of him. Tears began to trickle from her eyes.
Aizen sighed inwardly, "Ulquiorra, take the girl while I deal with Szayel."
Little Hime looked back at Pinky. His face was drawn and white, an aura of fear emanated from him. "Onii-san, don't hurt Pinky!" she begged, clutching at Aizen's hakama.
Aizen looked down at her and couldn't help but laugh, much of his anger melting away instantly, "Seems as if she has a name for all of us…Fine." He glared at the Octava Espada. "Get out of my sight Szayel, figure out a way to fix this problem. And Ulquiorra, keep a closer eye on the girl, she's in a much more vulnerable state than she had been before."
Ulquiorra nodded, "As you wish Aizen-sama." He approached Aizen and the miniature woman. "Come with me, girl."
Her lip quivered as she looked from her Onii-san to the Clown. 'Why does Onii-san want me to go with the Clown man?' she thought, confused.
Pursing his lips Aizen bent down and gently removed the child's grip from his uniform, "go with Ulquiorra, do what Onii-san says." He said firmly, smiling down at the child.
Smiling, Little Himi nodded her head up and down enthusiastically. She would always do what her Onni-san said, even if it meant going with the strange Clown man! She backed away from him, still clutching the damp towel to her chest and turned to the pale man wearing makeup. "Okay Clown!" she said running to him.
Aizen turned quickly away and headed back to the throne, "I wonder what name she'll come up with for you two." He said, referring to Gin and Tosen who had been standing behind him, watching the entire spectacle.
Szayel stood and straightened out his uniform before following after Ulquiorra and Inoue-chan. Once outside he let out a relieved sigh and closed his eyes. 'That was a close one, who knew Aizen-sama had a soft spot for kids.'
"You got lucky, Szayel Aporro." Ulquiorra said tonelessly after Szayel had caught up. They were walking slowly, the girl in front of them setting the pace.
"You don't need to tell me that." Szayel hissed, his pride bruised by the fact that he had been saved by a mere child.
"How long do you think before you find a cure to…this." The Cuatro asked.
"I'm not sure. The contents of the vials she had spilt were the results of several different experiments; all successful of course. Though the problem being now is redoing all the experiments and then trying to combine the substances in a way that creates the same result. Then after all that, I must set out trying to find a way to reverse it." Szayel sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he walked. "It will take a while, but I'm sure I can do it."
"I see." Ulquiorra watched the child walking in front of them. She was walking slowly, the towel clutched in her hand like a security blanket, as it dragged on the floor. Occasionally she'd glance back over her shoulder at him, as if making sure he was still following her.
After they walked for about ten minutes she stopped and looked back at them, "legs hurt," she said and held her arms up.
Ulquiorra glared down at her.
Szayel smirked at the Cuatro Espada's obvious ignorance. "She wants you to carry her, Ulquiorra-san."
Little Hime started bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. "Peas!" She begged.
Throwing a glare over at Szayel that seemed to say, 'speak of this and die,' Ulquiorra crouched down and gathered the girl up in his arms.
Little Hime squealed in delight and hugged Ulquiorra around the neck, "Yay! Clown ride clown ride!"
Ulquiorra closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself. 'This is getting ridiculous,' he thought as he continued on down the hallway as fast as he could without using sonido.
Szayel bit the inside of his cheek to keep the laugh inside that threatened to break out. He never thought he'd see the day where Ulquiorra would have to baby sit a child. Chuckling to himself he parted ways at an intersection of hallways. "I'll get to work right away on the cure….Clown-san." He said before sonidoing away as fast as he could.
Ulquiorra sent invisible daggers at the spot the scientist had been standing seconds before.
"Where'd Pinky go?" the little girl in his arms asked.
Ulquiorra continued on down the hallway. "To make you some medicine."
At this the little girl made a face of disgust. "I no need no medicine!" she stated with the utmost authority a five year old child could muster.
Ulquiorra ignored her and instead stopped at the all-too-familiar door that led inside the woman's—girl's cell. Opening the door he walked inside, set her down, turned around and walked right back out, shutting the door behind him.
He had only taken two steps away from the door when he heard a banging and wailing coming from behind it.
Alarmed, he pulled it open to see what the matter was.
The little girl stood there staring up at him, tears in her eyes and the towel clutched in her little hands.
"What is it?" He asked, his voice flat and unwelcoming.
"Why you leave?" she asked in a small voice.
He closed his eyes, attempting to squash the annoyance and frustration that attempted to surface. "I have jobs I need to do, girl. You will stay here in this room until it is time for your meal." With that he turned and made to leave once again.
Immediately he felt something clinging to the back of his leg.
Perplexed he looked down to find the little girl sobbing against his hakama, the towel still clutched in one of her small hands. "No—leave—me…Don't—like—being—alone!" She got out between sobs. "Onii-chan always leave me alone! He always has jobs! No leave me!" She pulled at his uniform desperately.
Ulquiorra stood motionless for several moments, weighing his options as the girl continued to leak all over the back of his hakama. He didn't want to leave her in such a distressed state and Aizen-sama did tell him to keep a closer eye on the girl as she was much more vulnerable, mentally and physically.
Finally relenting, he turned around and gathered her up in his arms once again, "you're lucky all my 'job' consists of today is paperwork." He said under his breath as he made his way to his personal tower.
Luckily on his way there he did not encounter any Arrancar and had soon passed into the base of his domain. You could tell it was the Cuatro Espada's tower. The entire level was empty, eerie and in shadows, the sound of his footsteps echoed down the hallway.
After a while longer they reached a large double door, similar to the thick white one that gave entrance to the throne room. However this one was made of what looked like dark grey Sekkiseki stone with the number four engraved upon it.
He was about to set the girl down so he could open the door when he noticed that she had fallen asleep.
Turning around he braced his back up against the door and pushed. For anyone other than an Espada, the feat would have been nigh impossible. To Ulquiorra, it was nothing.
Slipping through the crack in the door, he shut it. Inside his room was, surprisingly, very earthly themed. The carpet was a brown and black grainy color. The walls were a very dark, scratchy beige. The ceiling, which was twice as high as a normal ceiling, had been painted to depict a bottomless pit, almost making it look like the ceiling would never end; or in fact, that there was no ceiling at all.
Across the far back wall was a long window overlooking the moon and barren sands of Hueco Mundo. Just off to the side of the window, in the back right corner, was a large four poster bed that looked to be made of polished and lacquered mahogany; its comforter and pillows were white. Sitting directly in front of the center of the window seal was a mahogany desk with a small lamp that was overflowing with paper. The back left corner of the room was occupied by a single door, which presumably led to the restroom. A ways off from the door there was a sliding door, which opened up into a closet. Between the two doors were several shelves and cases of (you guessed it) all kinds of books. In the very center of the room was a rusty colored sofa with a long mahogany coffee table in front of it.
Taking a few steps over to the sliding door, he pulled it open and grabbed an extra blanket and pillow. Turning around he strode through to the sofa and set the pillow down in the crook of the couch and then lay the child upon it. He covered her small body up with the blanket and made sure her head was lying correctly so that she wouldn't awaken with pain in her neck. He stared down at her sleeping form, surprised that he hadn't disturbed her.
Satisfied that she would be comfortable and would not awaken for a while, he turned back to his desk and began his 'work.'
Chapter 3 teaser: Ulquiorra closed his eyes. "You will address me as Ulquiorra-sama or Ulquiorra-san, Sexta Espada. I am your superior and you shall treat me as such." Ulquiorra said to the blue eyed, blue haired Espada standing behind him yards away.
"Ha!" He scoffed, "T.G.R.Y.H.T.G.R. Ulquiorra."
A/N: Brownie points (or Llama) to the person that knows what T.G.R.Y.H.T.G.R. means ^^
I also hope you like the little 'accident' I had planned ^^ I think it'll make for a really cute story and I haven't read anything like it! :D