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Rima: Thank you for reviewing! I'm glad you like the story and Little Hime! She's so cute I could put her in my pocket and take her home with me ^^;
Chapter 3: Patience is a Virtue
After a while he looked up from his papers to stare out at the stars of Hueco Mundo only to realize that several hours had passed. He stood and stretched his stiff limbs and joints. He greatly disliked sitting in any one spot for a length of time; one reason why he detested Aizen-sama's meetings.
Looking over at the couch, he could barely make out the young girl. The only way he knew she was there was by the small lock of orange hair sticking up out of all the white and brown.
Deciding it was time for her evening meal, he quickly left the room and sonidoed to the kitchens. There he ordered one of the weak servants to fix up the usual.
He was beginning to let his mind drift when sharp foot falls and the kitchen door opening caught his attention.
"Oi, Ulquiorra, I heard a very interesting rumor."
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."
At this Ulquiorra turned and stared at him with indifference.
"To get respect you have to give respect, Cuatro." Grimmjow grinned, secretly patting himself on the back for knowing a phrase that the Cuatro did not.
"I am your superior; you will respect my position, regardless." Ulquiorra stated with finality.
Grimmjow rolled his eyes as he leaned against the island, "Anyways, I heard a rather interesting rumor. Apparently you and Szayel somehow turned that woman into a kid."
Ulquiorra remained expressionless, "Szayel's Fracción did. I had nothing to do with it."
"Yea but look who has to play baby sitter and carry her around everywhere!" The Sexta laughed.
Ulquiorra mentally rolled his eyes at the Sexta's obvious attempt to bait him. "I will do whatever Aizen-sama commands." He stated, turning from his subordinate and retrieving the now ready meal.
"Tch, of course you will. You're Aizen's favorite, nothin' but a suck up." He called over his shoulder before using sonido to escape the kitchen and Ulquiorra's wrath.
'What a piece of trash.' Ulquoirra thought as he walked back up to his tower, food in hand. 'I see no difference in my duty between now and days ago when the woman was her real age. It has always been my obligation, then and now, to protect her and keep her alive.'
Reaching the large double doors, he pushed it open, entered, shut them and turned around only to find something latched on to his leg again.
"Where you go?" she cried up at him, jumping up and down as she yanked on his uniform.
"Release me, girl." He said, walking past her. "I brought you food."
She let go and followed after him excitedly. "Yay, food! What kind?"
He looked down at her out of the corner of his eye, "the kind you eat." He said flatly.
She giggled.
"Did I say something amusing?" He asked, setting the tray down on the table.
She nodded. "Funny clown!"
"I am not a clown. I am Ulquiorra." He said firmly, staring down at her now.
"Ulqora?" she tried, making a weird face in the process. "Uquira?"
He stared down at her. He could feel something odd trying to bubble up within him as he watched her struggle. Logically he should have been insulted that she would butcher his name, instead, he was amused. He crouched down in front of her and held up a finger, demanding her attention. "Ul-qui-or-ah." He said slowly for her.
She went silent and stared at him for a moment before jumping up and down, "Ulqui Ulqui!"
Grating his teeth he stood up and let out a breath, exasperated with the girl. "Get up here and eat your dinner." He ordered, pointing at the couch.
She pushed herself up on the couch and once she was situated, she stared down at the plate in front of her with a look of distaste. "What is it?"
"Food. Eat it." Ulquiorra said.
The 'food' looked like grey and green lumps of matter that had been squeezed out of oblong tubes.
"Eww I don't wanna eat that!" She made a face of disgust and crossed her arms.
"Eat it, girl!"
She stuck her tongue out at him. "No! I don't wanna!"
Ulquiorra's patience wearing thin, he picked up the fork and speared some food with it, "You will eat this, or I will hold you down and force it down your throat!"
She looked up at him with wide watery eyes and started wailing, fearful of the dark, angry aura emanating from the Clown. "You….you….you meanie!" she cried, her face now red and tear streaked.
Ulquiorra closed his eyes as the urge to choke the girl surged through him. After several moments of deep breathing he managed to subdue his inner hollow and calm down. He stared down at the sobbing child before him, who kept looking between him and the fork fearfully.
He sighed, "at least try this. If you don't like it, then I will get you something else, is that understood?" he said in his flattest, most emotionless voice.
It took several moments for the child to comprehend what he said, but slowly she calmed down enough to nod and take the fork from his hand. At least he wasn't glaring at her and leaking that scary aura anymore.
He watched her as she took the food in her mouth and chewed for several seconds before making a face. However, to his relief, she swallowed it.
"Do not want!" she said, handing the fork back to him.
Taking the fork he asked, "then what is it you will eat, girl?" his eyes narrowing.
She appeared thoughtful for a few moments before finally exclaiming, "bread and bean paste!"
Nodding, he stood from the couch, tray in hand, "I will return shortly, stay on the couch. Understood girl?"
She nodded as she wiped a few stray tears aside, a small smile on her face. She was happy that the Clown wasn't going to make her eat the yucky food.
Turning, Ulquiorra rushed from his tower into the kitchen before slamming the useless tray on the counter, startling the Arrancar servants. "Get me two slices of bread with red bean paste on it." He ordered, daring them to question him.
He was so annoyed that he failed to notice the other powerful presence in the kitchen.
"What's the matter Espada-san?" a sinister sweet voice asked from the corner of the room.
Ulquiorra glared at the man who dared interrupt him, as he leaned back against the island, his hands in his pockets.
"Is the wee lil'child givin' ya a hard time, Ulquiorra-san?" he further inquired. He smiled widely, his eyes slits.
"The girl would not eat." He admitted, clenching his fists in his pockets. "I threatened to force the girl to eat and all she did was cry."
"I see. One must have patience when dealing with children, Ulquiorra-san. You cannot lose your temper with them as they are likely to become temperamental right back." He said, leaving his corner and walking out of the kitchen.
Ulquiorra glared after him. He vaguely wondered just how Gin knew how to handle children. He nearly shuddered at the thought. 'Patience?' he thought. 'Of course I'm patient, more like indifferent to the stupidity that surrounds me on a daily basis. If I can handle my idiotic subordinates, I can handle a child.'
Seconds later an Arrancar came with the requested food. Ulquiorra grabbed the proffered plate and moments later he was back outside his tower door. 'This is anything but a balanced diet but as long as the girl eats something, I will not have neglected my duties.' He told himself as he pushed open and closed his tower doors for the fourth time that night.
He strode over to the table and set the plate down before the now calm, yet bored looking, girl. "Eat." He ordered.
She looked down at the food and her eyes lit up, "red paste, my favrit!" she squealed, grabbing up a slice and shoving it into her mouth. After several minutes she looked up at the Clown and asked, "can I hav sum ting to dink?"
He turned from the girl without saying anything and went into the side room. Moments later he returned holding a small glass of water, handing it to her.
"Dank you!" she said again after taking a huge draught of water and handing the glass back to him.
He set it back down on the table and was about to sit down at his desk when the girl exclaimed, "Done!"
Turning back around, he returned to the table and looked at the plate. It still had one slice of bread on it. "You're not done. Finish it."
She folded her arms across her chest and stuck her bottom lip out, "but I'm full!"
Ulquiorra closed his eyes and suppressed the need to kill once more. Grabbing the plate he said, "Do not waste food. Next time, I will not be so lenient." He said glaring down at the girl.
Her lip quivered slightly, but she nodded her understanding.
After he had disposed of the wasted food, he returned to her. "It is time for you to get cleaned up. Come with me, girl." He turned from her and headed towards the door in the back. He looked back at the couch where the girl was continuing to stare at him. "Come. You need to bathe."
At this her eyes lit up, "yay! Bath time bath time!" she vaulted herself off the couch and tore past Ulquiorra into the bathroom. He shut the door behind her.
He was about to walk back to his desk when he heard the door click open behind him. "Clown?"
"It's Ulquiorra." He said firmly, turning around to face her, his hands in his pockets clenched so tightly he wondered if he might break through his own heirro. "What is it now?"
She looked at the floor, "I don't know how."
Ulquiorra almost hissed in exasperation as he stared at the child. "How to what? Run the water?" he asked coldly, pushing past her. He wanted to call her trash, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. She was just a child after all.
"Come here. I'll show you how so that you have no need to bother me with this in the future." He said firmly, beckoning her over.
The child nodded and stood beside him next to the tub, her arms folded across her chest.
Ulquiorra pointed at the two knobs. "See this red knob? This is for hot water. The blue knob is for cold water. You must run both of them for a warm bath so you do not burn yourself or get sick. Do you understand so far?"
She nodded enthusiastically.
Ulquiorra pointed at the facet, and the little stick protruding from the top. "To run a bath, make sure this is pushed down. If it's pulled up, you'll run a shower instead." Then Ulquiorra grabbed the stopper from the corner of the bath. "This object here," he put it in the drain, "stops up the tub so the water doesn't drain out as you run the bath. Can you remember all of this, girl?" He asked, once he'd finished his explanation.
"Yea." she said in a small voice. She looked around the bathroom as the Clown ran the water for her.
It was decent size and matched the same theme as the main room. The tile and walls were all earthly tones with white trim. The sink and counter was to the right of the entrance. The toilet was in the back right and the tub was to the back left. On the sink there were bottles of soaps, shampoos and other necessities. Ulquiorra grabbed one of these and poured a bit of it into the tub as the water ran.
She didn't see any toys.
"Ummm…."
"What is it?" He asked as he put the bottle back.
For some reason she got the feeling this Clown didn't have any toys, but she had to ask anyway. "Are there any toys?" she glanced at the tub, hoping he would know what she was talking about.
"No, I have no toys." He said, 'none that a child would find entertaining anyway.' He thought. He glanced at her and she looked as if she were going to cry again. He crouched down to her level once more. "Remember…Pinky?" he asked. He had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from smirking at the nick name.
The little girl nodded her head.
"Next time we see him, we'll see if he has toys. Okay?" He offered, not wanting the child to cry anymore that day.
She nodded her head enthusiastically.
He straightened up and turned the water off before the bubbles within the tub could overflow onto the floor. Reaching up into a high cupboard, he pulled out a couple towels and laid them on the counter. He walked to the door and made to leave, "Get undressed and clean yourself." He ordered once more before stepping out into his bed room.
Dimming the lights, Ulquiorra took off his jacket and threw it across his desk chair and proceeded to fall into the softness that was his four poster bed. Hollow in general don't need sleep. Though being Arrancar meant he was half shinigami, and after a day like today he couldn't help but want to, or at the very least, relax his eyes.
Letting out a deep breath, he buried the right side of his face into the soft blanket and pillow, his body going limp as he relaxed. He closed his eyes and let his mind blank out.
After an unknown amount of time, he was startled into awareness by the sound of the bathroom door clicking shut and the light pitter patter of footsteps on the carpeted floor.
He listened as she stopped nearby the table.
Little Hime looked between the couch and the bed, indecisive. She was afraid of the dark, she didn't want to sleep alone, but she was also afraid that the Clown would yell at her again if she woke him up. She wished her Onii-san were here, he would let her sleep near him. She frowned as she walked over and climbed up onto the couch, snuggling into the blanket and pillow.
Ulquiorra closed his own eyes, relieved that the child had gone to sleep without a fuss.
Chapter 4 teaser: Nnoitra swung Santa Teresa back as his lips flattened into a thin line. You could see the muscles in his jaw twitching as he ground his teeth while he desperately tried to repress the urge to kill the girl.
A/N: Soooo what do you think? What do you think the theme of my story is? xD Do you think Ulquiorra is staying pretty well in character? It's kind of hard keeping him in character as possible. I know that in canon, if he encountered a kid, he'd call it trash and walk away or kill it. But this just isn't ANY kid. This is Orihime, so he can't call it trash and walk away. He has to deal with it…and be as patient as possible. lol
Also I'm sure you're wondering why Ulquiorra has a toilet…well I'd wonder too. Let's just say it's something that Aizen added to every restroom in Las Noches for w/e reason. I'm tempted to call it a Hollow-toilet, just for giggles. SO CREEPY! (I would NOT use that!)