Hi again! Unfortunately, school came first this week, with tests and such. So, I updated later than I had hoped. It might be slow updates for the next couple of weeks as well. Thank you for all of the reviews, I hope to hear more from you about what you think!

Chapter 9

Orihime

Ulquiorra began speaking, and with a nervous tension, Orihime listened. He had kept emphasizing that she needed to prove her loyalty to Aizen to stay alive, and now was her test.

"Your friends have invaded Hueco Mundo." He said it in his monotone voice, helping Orihime keep her composure even a little. Still, the sentence bounced through her head. Why in the world would they come to save her? She had appeared to be a traitor to them the last time she was in the world of the living. Orihime was even helping the enemy!

"Why?" She asked, half-facing Ulquiorra. She knew it was a stupid question, but she was hoping he would say something, anything, besides what she was thinking. Maybe they were just coming to vacation on the nice sand?

"Why else?" He stared blankly at her, and she could tell that she was testing his patience a little by asking that question. "In order to save you. They don't have any other reason."

Her heart fell into what felt like the deepest pit of despair she had ever seen. Her friends were going to die and Orihime knew it. She had done this to save them! Disbelief clouded her mind, and panic began to claw its way into her body. "In order to save me?" If..if they were doing this….then…everything would fall apart…any sacrifice…Her thoughts came in spurts, and she felt frozen.

"That's right." Ulquiorra's tone seemed bored, but the look in his eyes was trying to reprimand her and remind her about her new loyalties. Her mind still could not focus, no matter how much Ulquiorra's eyes were trying to help. "But that shouldn't matter to you anymore. Both your body and mind belong to us now. That's what it meant…when you put on that uniform, Inoue Orihime."

His words washed over her like cold water. She remembered what she had to do. Orihime had started this, and now she needed to finish it. "Yes."

"Say it," he prodded, "Why do your mind and body exist?"

Her mind, overloaded with its emotions, seemed to shut down. Instead, something like a robotic Orihime answered. "Yes. I exist for Aizen-sama and his desires."

Had she truly been paying attention, she would have seen a flicker of relief flash across Ulquiorra's eyes. Her mind, though, had refused to comprehend anything but the moonlight shining softly onto the cold floor. She remained standing there, in silence, for hours.

Aizen

Oh my, Aizen thought. That was interesting. The cameras had flickered for a minute, and then he had gotten footage of what seemed to be his most loyal servant breaking the captive into another loyal servant. However, he thought while leaning against his propped up arm, what one sees is never exactly what one gets. Ulquiorra might be beginning to lose his usefulness. The thought made Aizen slightly frown; who would he get to fulfill his every whim once Ulquiorra was gone?

"Somethin' on your mind m' lord?" Ah, that was it. He would just have Gin or Tousen fill the spot of loyal lapdog.

"I am just getting rather bored of this game, dear Gin." The words came out velvety from Aizen's mouth. He got the satisfaction of seeing Gin look a little nervous. "I feel that everyone, at some point, will replace their lapdog and start a new game."

Gin still looked a little nervous. Aizen smirked. This was more fun than watching the drama of his stoic Espada anyways. "However," Aizen continued, slightly enjoying the reverberation of his voice in the large room, "I still want to get every last bit of fun out of the old game first. Tomorrow, we will witness the end of Ulquiorra."

Bowing, Gin decided now was the time to exit the room. Aizen chuckled darkly in anticipation of the following day.

Ulquiorra

Ulquiorra frowned slightly as he walked down the hallway. Orihime had not responded at all how he had hoped in the beginning. Fortunately, with a little prodding, she had said what she needed to. The feeling of needing to protect the woman was becoming quite a bother. His mind quickly calculated- no, he did not think that the conversation had sounded too forced. Sure, he might have sounded like he was leading her a little bit, but he was sure it would be understandable to Aizen-sama.

Pain shot through his shoulder, and he moved his hand quickly to check on its condition. There was no hole; no blood…his muscle hurt…could…could the pain be from stress? He, the great fourth Espada, was tensing up from stress. Criticizing himself roughly, he decided the rest of the afternoon he would not contemplate the woman or these foolish emotions.

Just as he was debating on what he should instead do to relax, he felt a strong reiatsu quickly approaching him. The hand that was on his shoulder moved back into his pocket, and he turned to face the direction he was being approached from. When the strong reiatsu seemed almost there, it disappeared. Slightly puzzled, Ulquiorra moved forward and around the corner to investigate. The hallway seemed empty and normal. Continuing his investigation, he walked down the hallway a little further. The second door to his right cracked open a miniscule amount, and he heard a voice whisper, "Come 'n here, quick." Curious, he moved the door open a little more and entered the dark room.

"Stop playing games, they are hardly amusing. Tell me why you were following me, trash." Ulquiorra coldly said, a little less than amused that the lights were still off and he was unsure as to who he was in the room with.

"Now, now…That's no way 'ta treat a friend." The voice sounded strangely familiar…The lights flickered on, and the now dimly lit room showed Ulquiorra that the mysterious person was Gin. Thoroughly not amused, Ulquiorra made to leave. Gin loved to play games with the Espada, so something like this was common in the halls. A quick movement and Gin had grabbed Ulquiorra's arm. Displeased at the sudden warm contact, Ulquiorra frowned and waited for Gin to say why he had stopped him.

"Ya might wanna listen 'ta me this time." He dropped Ulquiorra's arm, but Ulquiorra patiently waited for Gin to finish speaking. "Your life depends on gettin' outta here by tomorrow. Th' man you think of as a god…he's gonna kill 'ya. 'nfront o' the woman."

Ulquiorra thought carefully about the situation. He truly had only existed for Aizen. He had no goals or ambitions of his own, and following someone stronger than him, Ulquiorra had hoped to find a purpose. Confused, he decided to get more information. "Why would Aizen-sama decide to eliminate me?"

"Dunno. Somethin' 'bout you not bein' useful anymore. Don't need 'ya in his plans, I guess." Gin still wore that disturbing smile through telling him all of this.

Ulquiorra grew unsure of whether to trust Gin or not. Turning to face Gin, Ulquiorra decided to ask him one more question. "Why did you decide to tell me this?"

Gin's smile drooped a little, and he answered without the usual slightly playful tone. "Cause nobody should have to deal with watching the one they love killed."

The words chilled Ulquiorra as he sonidoed to Orihime's room.