Chapter 5

Four figures stepped out of the portal into the peaceful night of Karakura town.

"Let's get this shit over with."

"What's your hurry? Let's enjoy this."

"I'll enjoy this once Kurosaki shows up."

"What the fuck? So he can kick your ass again?"

"You bastard!"

Orihime ignored Grimmjow's and Nnoitra's verbal outbursts and went back to the last thing Ulquiorra told her right before they set off to the human world. He said that finding traces of Harribel's and Starrk's riatsu and using her Shun Shun Rikka was the best way to revive them. The fact that their spiritual powers were outside of Hueco Mundo was probably the reason why Orihime's past attempts failed.

"Concentrate." she heard Ulquiorra say.

Orihime closed her eyes trying to mentally find the riatsu. She finally saw a dim glow in the distance and extended her arms outward.

"Sōten Kisshun, I reject." she chanted pouring all of her concentration into the faint surge of power. It was very weak, but Orihime was still able to intercept it. She had to hurry before her friends got here. Even though the bracelets did their job, she was sure that her powers will not go unnoticed.

More than anything Orihime wanted to avoid a confrontation. It wasn't because Grimmjow and Nnoitra were itching for a fight, but because she was afraid to be seen as a traitor again. Soul Society already branded her as one but Orihime was indifferent to it. Her friends, though, were another matter. She wanted them to understand that she had no choice, but the anxiety of them failing to see it still lingered in her mind.

Gradually, Orihime felt the spiritual power being sucked into her shield and the traces of two bodies started to appear inside of it. She concentrated even harder. Ichigo and the rest probably already noticed her riatsu and were heading their way. Just a little bit longer and it will be over soon.

After a while, the bodies were finally restored, and Orihime lowered her shield.

"Pick them up and let's go." Ulquiorra ordered looking at Grimmjow and Nnoitra.

Grimmjow was about to yell in protest of being bossed around, but Nnoitra interrupted him.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" he grinned looking at Ulquiorra.

Ulquiorra knew very well what he was talking about. Two very familiar spiritual powers were coming their way, but he remembered his promise to Orihime. He absolutely had no intention of fighting anyone tonight.

"We did not come here to fight. Our goal is complete. Let's go." He responded.

"The hell we didn't!" Grimmjow yelled in protest.

Ulquiorra glanced at him, not betraying a single emotion. "I am not going to repeat myself."

And then Grimmjow felt a surge of power blasting through his body, the intensity was overwhelming. Ulquiorra didn't just order him around; he was more powerful than ever. And that pissed Grimmjow off to no end.

Muttering profanities, he finally yielded and picked up Starrk. Nnoitra, not wanting to suffer the same fate as Grimmjow, followed suit and grabbed Harribel. Without another word, Ulquiorra opened the Garganta waiting for them to step in. But before they did, they felt familiar presence behind them.

Orihime reluctantly turned around seeing Ichigo and Rukia gaping at them.

Nnoitra cast a glance at Ichigo, his grin widening even more, and without another word disappeared into the portal. Grimmjow looked angrily at Ulquiorra, but seeing the look of indifference on his face, begrudgingly followed Nnoitra.

Ulquiorra looked at Orihime, "Are you ready for this?"

Orihime did not hide the fact that she was scared, but she had to face her friends somehow.

"I am." She replied.

Ulquiorra closed the Garganta and turned to their visitors.

"Inoue, what is going on? Where have you been?" Ichigo finally asked, his gaze switching to Ulquiorra. "And you are alive!"

"Irrelevant. And she is not any of your concern." Ulquiorra said before Orihime could respond.

"The hell she isn't!" Ichigo yelled back, "Was that Grimmjow and Nnoitra? What is going on here?"

"Please! We didn't come here to fight." Orihime interfered.

"Get away from her now!" Ichigo ignored her, looking at Ulquiorra.

"That girl is one of us." Ulquiorra replied calmly, "Even if you manage to take her away, it will not change."

"That's not for you to decide!"

Ulquiorra moved his gaze to Orihime, "Tell them."

She hesitated only for a second gathering her resolve. "I am going with Ulquiorra."

"What?!" Ichigo yelled.

"You manipulated her!" Rukia exclaimed drawing her sword.

"No! He did not!" Orihime protested, "I went with him willingly!"

"Inoue…" Rukia half whispered shaking her head in denial, "But why? Why didn't you come to us?"

"Because…"

But before she could explain, Ichigo interrupted her.

"I've had enough of this! I don't know what you did to Inoue, but she is coming with us." He said unsheathing his sword and launching at Ulquiorra.

Ulquiorra raised his arm, effortlessly blocking the blow.

"This fight is futile." he said tonelessly "You cannot defeat me, even if you turn into a hollow again."

"Outta my way!"

"The girl has made her wishes known. Give up."

"Shut up! Get outta my way!"

"If you want to go anywhere else, you'll have to get through me first."

But before Ichigo could retort, he felt a surge going into his direction. Ulquiorra did not miss a thing. Both of them jumped back letting a bolt of riatsu pass between them.

"Whoa! I made it just in time!"

Ichigo swung his head around "Urahara!"

"It's you." Ulquiorra said looking at the one who helped him before.

"Hm…there are some pretty strange folks out tonight." Urahara said smirking. "How are you, Inoue-san?"

Orihime smiled faintly but her heart was racing. She had to drag Ulquiorra out of here before his and Ichigo's last encounter repeated itself. She still cared about Ichigo, and she did not want him to lose himself again. But her feelings for Ulquiorra were something different. He was certainly not a lover, but he was more than a friend, and she was confused more than ever. But Orihime knew one thing for sure, seeing him disappear again will be unbearable.

While Ichigo was busy saying something to Urahara, she came up to Ulquiorra and took his hand.

"Let's go before they notice." she said quietly.

Ulquiorra did not look at her but she felt him squeezing her hand. Without another word, he opened the Garganta, but before they could make another step Urahara interrupted them.

"A moment of your time, Schiffer-san."

Ulquiorra stopped without turning around.

"There are some things we need to discuss."

"Ulquiorra…" Orihime whispered, pulling him by the hand into the Garganta.

"Ulquiorra, wait!" Ichigo yelled after him.

Ulquiorra tilted his head slightly. "Give up, Shinigami. This does not concern you anymore. The Sun has already set in my hand."

Then, he and Orihime disappeared into the portal.

Urahara sighed. "This will be harder than I thought."

"What the hell is going on here?" Ichigo demanded.

"Urahara, do you know something?" Rukia frowned at him.

"Come to my shop, you two."

"He WHAT?!?" Rukia bolted to her feet in surprise.

"Kuchiki-san, it's really a lot less complicated than you think."

"But why did you keep this from us? We had the right to know!" Rukia yelled at him angrily.

Urahara shook his head in mild frustration. "It had nothing to do with you, but with Inoue-san's safety."

"How did it make it safer for her by not telling us?" Ichigo asked in irritation.

"You both would've come to me and demanded a passage to Hueco Mundo. Do not deny it."

Rukia and Ichigo exchanged glances.

"But how do we know we can trust him?"

"He rescued your friend and he keeps her safe."

"Why would he do that?" Ichigo insisted.

"If he isn't working for Aizen…" Rukia said thoughtfully.

"I don't think that he is." Urahara said.

"How do you know?"

"I think something happened to him in Hueco Mundo after the fight with Kurosaki-san."

They walked in silence through the corridors each lost in their own thoughts. It finally came to this. Her friends found out. What will happen next? Will they rush to Hueco Mundo to her "rescue"? Would they be able to actually realize that it's the last thing they needed to do? Once Soul Society found out about the Shinigami crossing over to this realm, it will be all over.

Orihime did not want to be left alone with her thoughts. Being by herself brought all kinds of ideas which made her even more depressed. She decided to follow Ulquiorra to see what was happening with Stark and Harribel.

They entered a large room. Grimmjow and Nnoitra were lounging lazily on the sofas and arguing about something. Harribel stood alone in the corner, with her arms crossed on her chest, and Starrk sat on a chair next to Grimmjow watching them fight.

As Orihime and Ulquiorra entered the room, the fighting stopped and all eyes turned to them.

"What the fuck took you so long?" Grimmjow grumbled.

"There were complications." Ulquiorra answered calmly.

"You hogged all of the fighting, didn't you? Greedy bastard."

"Wasting time on fighting was not part of the mission. And it was hardly worth it."

"That's weak! If it was me, I would've kicked Kurosaki's ass in one strike."

"Grimmjow, you do understand that our problem is not with that kid, right?"

"What?"

"Soul Society can attack at any minute. Wasting time on pointless fighting is weakening our defenses and diverts out attention from the bigger issue."

"What if he allies himself with Soul Society and his power grows bigger? What will you do?"

Hearing the question, Orihime turned her head and looked at Ulquiorra.

"If that happens, I will take care of him." Ulquiorra replied seeing Grimmjow grimacing in irritation. "I see you have no complaints about that."

Then he looked at Starrk, "Looks like you recovered your strength back without complications."

"Such a pain," Starrk gazed at hims wearily, "And I thought fighting would be over by now."

"It won't be over any time soon. That's why we need yours and Harribel's skills."

"I was afraid of that."

Harribel remained silent. Starrk stared into space. He never liked fighting, and now that he thought his fate was finally decided in the battle of Karakura Town, he was brought back to do the same thing over again. Why couldn't they just leave him alone? Aizen used and disposed of him before. What were the chances that Ulquiorra will not? But Ulquiorra was not Aizen, and that was his only hope. Starrk sighed. Things will get hectic again. Such a pain.

"Let's go." Ulquiorra finally broke the silence turning to Orihime.

Without another word, she followed after him.

"What did you mean when you said you will take care of him?" Orihime asked as soon as Ulquiorra closed the door to her room.

He put his hands in his pockets. "What would you have me say? Grimmjow needed to be put in his place."

Orihime cast her gaze down. "What do we do now?"

Ulquiorra knew what she meant. Her friends finding out could pose a serious problem if they decided to come to Hueco Mundo. However, Urahara was no fool. He might stall them for a while, or persuade them otherwise.

"We move forward with the plan. I am returning to the human world tomorrow."

Orihime shot her gaze up, "Why?!"

"Unfinished business."

"What are you planning to do?!"

"I need to meet with Urahara."

"What if Ichigo shows up?"

Ulquiorra studied her for a moment feeling the same ugly sensation as he did when he saw her running to Kurosaki's broken body back at the dome.

"So what if he shows up? I made you a promise that I intend to keep."

"What if he wants to fight you again?"

"Your safety should be your first priority, yet you still seem to harbor some illusions about the boy." Ulquiorra turned around and headed for the door. "I was mistaken about you."

"I do not!" he heard her say.

Ulquiorra stopped turning half way and looked at her questioningly.

"I did some time ago, but not anymore. I just don't want the dome to repeat itself."

Ulquiorra did not respond.

"Loving him made me nothing but miserable," Orihime said brokenly, "He would've never wanted anything to do with me, even after I swore to love him for five lifetimes."

"Why only five lifetimes? Why not longer?"

Orihime sighed wistfully, "I don't know. Would you be able to commit to loving someone forever?"

Ulquiorra did not respond right away. These skyrocketing emotions were still hard to deal with. Being near this woman made him feel both depressed and elated at the same time. He wanted to possess her, to keep her near him forever. But he couldn't force her, not again. The choice was hers, and the thought of her wanting to leave made his chest contract. Forever was a long time, but he did not care, not when it was her. Humans talked about love and friendship all the time like it was something they could hold in the palm of their hands. This heart….back then he couldn't comprehend when she told him about her friends coming to rescue her. But right now, it was all very clear to him. Love was not something he could hold in his fist or put in a cage. Love was free to give. Her love was her own. No matter how much he could try to persuade her to stay with him, how much he could threaten to hurt her friends, she would never love him unless he let her go.

Ulquiorra stared at the wisp of a girl in front of him, the strange creature who wore her heart on her sleeve and turned his world upside down. She was everything, all his hopes and desires encompassed into one single person. If she could only imagine the power she possessed.

He took a few steps coming to stand in front of her. Orihime looked up at him a little dazed. His actions were strange lately. But what he said next took her by surprise.

"I already have."

And he lost to her again.

Urahara sat in his living room quietly sipping tea. Explaining things to Ichigo and Rukia was not easy. Ichigo was one stubborn kid. Thank god that Rukia was a bit more level headed. After a long talk, they finally seemed to understand that Ulquiorra was different, and hopefully gave up on the idea that Orihime needed saving.

"Thank you for coming." Urahara suddenly said looking into space.

"The barrier is strong." a voice responded.

"I am always prepared."

A figure came out of the shadows.

"You had something to discuss with me." Ulquiorra said to him.

"Indeed. This is about Inoue-san. You and I both know that she can't hide in Hueco Mundo forever. Soul Society will eventually find her."

"There is no other way. "

"Even if you revived all of the Espada, they haven't undergone any significant changes like you have. You do not stand a chance against the whole of Soul Society."

"What do you suggest I do?"

"Give up Inoue. If she turns herself in voluntarily, there is a good chance for a retrial without execution."

"Impossible. There is also a chance they will kill her. There has to be another way."

Urahara hesitated for a moment. "There is another way but it is a lot more extreme."

"What is it?" Ulquiorra asked.

"A trade. Her release for someone else's freedom, and possibly life."