XVI

The Unstylish Hat

"Where did this girl come from again?" A voice meandered into my lazy train of thoughts. Finally, the world was starting to return back to my brain.

"Don't know, honestly," Another voice gurgled somewhere far, far away.

"Isn't she your cousin? My point is, shouldn't you know?"

"Probably, but think of it this way; Do you know the exact location of all your first, second and third cousins Ichigo?" I settled back in the world of the awake. The second voice was itchingly familiar. Was it Ulquiorra? Was it time to be beat up again? Somehow, this thought felt wrong. I tried to figure out why. It hurt my head to think. That could be an issue.

"Do I even have a third cousin?"

A page complained as it was turned, "Probably."

The conversation paused and I wondered about drifting back into a drug-happy sleep. That concoction was still at home and slipping tea in my system. Twitching a toe, there was time to be lazy, but now, I wanted to know the mess that I was in. I lay still. Maybe these two would help out with this problem.

Right on cue, the first voice came back, "…isn't she a little young to be your cousin?"

"Technically, she's my second cousin twice removed. It just gets complicated from there so I just say she's my cousin. What happened to formalities, eh?" The reply was quicker than normal.

I was this guy's cousin? I didn't realize that a hollow could have a family tree. It wasn't like two hollows could be around each other long enough for reproduction without at least trying to nibble on each other's toes. Nah, they rather went straight for the head.

I had to take a peek at this newfound relative of mine. Cracking an eye open, I studied something very white. It took my brain a second to realize that I was pretty sure this guy wasn't the ceiling. Moving my view a bit, I found the source second voice.

My moan was just audible. Why? Why? Oh why couldn't this guy just leave me alone? Had I done anything to hurt him? Well, actually yes, the tea. Stealing goods was pretty harmless though, if it was a limb or something, I would understand. With tea, not so much, just go out and buy another one for goodness sake.

"Looks like she's coming around Urahara, I'll get Dad," Keeping my eyes in slits, the orange hair teen aimed himself for the door.

"Don't bother, I'll take care of her," Urahara waved a hand, "just close the door. She's a bit shy, if I remember correctly."

The teen shrugged and the door carefully closed. I popped my eyes completely open and the rest of the room came into focus. It was one of those plain rooms that gave the same appeal as a stale piece of bread.

"I officially welcome you to the World of the Living. Congrats on making an evolutionary jump," He grinned as I pushed up myself in the bed and rubbed my face. Coffee would have been real nice.

This time around, I gave myself a second to realize how weak I was. Every single muscle screamed and cried at every single movement I made. My stomach and chest were burning hot as well. I quickly calculated how far I could escape. Maybe to the end of the bed, if I was lucky.

"Do you mind telling me how you managed to go from an Arrancar to a full blown human in a matter of a day?" He casually asked. The green hat shading his eyes from the morning sun light that leached through a closed window.

I checked this data to make sure he was right. Skin clung tight across the area were my hollow hole was. That was kinda disturbing. It was hardly necessary to touch the spot. I could hear the mondo beat of the new organ in my ears. I felt normal. What was the difference of having a heart or not?

Looking at the shinigami, I asked the first question that popped up in my mind, "Why do you wear that stupid hat?"

I could have been grinding my vocal cords against sand paper, it stung so much. I sure wasn't going to tell him that. My fingers felt the scar that was growing a mountain range across my neck.

"What?" he took the hat in his hands and dusted off some invisible dust, "You don't like it? I think it's quite stylish."

"It's not."

"That's your opinion, I think it's a wonderful addition to my façade."

"Nope, it's stupid. Who likes that color green anyway?" I jabbed. There was something comforting about getting under someone's skin.

The shinigami placed the hat back where it belonged, "It's a nice green, it reminds me of-"

"-barf." I finished.

"No, it doesn't, it's the color of…" I stopped listening. My brain had hit "instant replay" on my last night as an Arrancar. Aizen's words and the Espada's explanation, they were as sharp as a sword in my mind. Slowly though, Ulquiorra 's face faded away as my last view of that world. I blinked it all away.

"I died," I stated flatly. Urahara stopped mid hat rant. I mumbled a better explanation, "L-Lor…no…Aizen ordered Ulquiorra to kill me. He slit my throat," I touched my puckered neck and moved my scarred chest, "and then broke my Chain of Fate. I blacked out…I think-I thought…I died," I finished. It was hard to say it. It was a bit difficult to wrap my mind around those thoughts. Maybe it's because of the fact that I was still alive.

"Huh," the shopkeeper sank back into his chair as I grappled around with this weirdish new reality.

"The funny thing is, I can't even remember it hurting," I watched a line dance in a pattern on a monitor nearby, "everything else was so…clear."

"The Espada you were with earlier, Ulquiorra Schiffer, killed you then?"

"Yeah," I refocused on the shopkeeper, "I think he knew he was going to have to kill me from the start."

He raised an eyebrow. "And he never said anything?"

"Nope," I wondered why I was giving all this information like free popcorn. I was as weak as a fly and who knew? The shinigami could have his friends on their way to take care of some ex-Arrancar business. Might as well spill the beans now.

"Did he give you a reason before…he did it?"

"Putting it lightly, aren't you?" I laughed, it hurt like I had just swallowed a hairball of needles, "Ulquiorra Schiffer killed me after telling me how much of a failure I was."

That sentence stung even more.

"A failure to have special abilities?" Urahara was fascinated. I could care less.

"Yes," I felt the exhaustion of this whole event climbing back onto my shoulders again. All I wanted to do was curl up in a warm ball and snooze.

"Did he point out any?"

I rested my head against the headboard, "Any what, Urahara?"

"Abilities."

"Oh yeah, he went on about how I was weak, useless, and imperfect. Oh, let's not forget a misfortune. Basically he said that dirt was better than me," I closed my eyes to the world. It was such a great way to leave the world, knowing that you were completely worthless. Just as comforting as a punch to the face.

"For once in his life, Aizen was wrong."

I cracked an eye open, "For a second there, I forgot how cuckoo you are."

"No, not cuckoo, a genius," He waggled a finger near my face.

"Sure. Whatever floats your boat. What's my ability oh genius one?" He frowned at my overuse of sarcasm, but hey, he wasn't the one on the hospital bed.

"You're here, aren't you?"

"Sure," My head was turning all fuzzy with the thought of sleep.

"You just transcended death, while tricking it. If that's not one fancy skill then I don't know what is."

"I suppose you are right," I sighed as my lack of enthusiasm and sleep dragged themselves in my voice.

The shopkeeper studied what had to be mile long bags under my eyes. Tapping his finger a couple times against the chair, he stood.

"I'll let you rest," The shinigami carefully patted my head, and I couldn't help but relax into this very strange human action, "but remember, only myself and Isshin Kurosaki know who you really are. The rest of the world thinks that you are Sola Kiri, a human and my long lost cousin who's gone through some things that she doesn't want to talk about."

His wooden sandals clattered to the door and I shot one more question at him, "Just one more thing, how did you find me?"

I heard the amusement in his voice.

"Ulquiorra Schiffer dropped you off at my doorstep. Even I couldn't refuse an Espada."

The door clicked shut.

Thanks to sesshy13, RandomFan (your words made me tap dance, literally, I can tap dance, I took ten years on dance lessons), metsfan101 and Nizuna Fujieda

Also, big round of cheers goes out to my beta Rose202, who always seems to go beyond the act of duty. Even if that means hanging off the edge of a mountain! :)

I am evil. I have to accept it.

Here I am, tying up all these loose ends and then BAM I unknot all of them with one sentence. I guess, that's my style. Keeping you all on your toes, that's one of the funnest things I can do with a plot. Any ideas of what Ulquiorra thinks he's doing? I am interested to hear your theories.

Second best line from Sola: "Why do you wear that stupid hat?". Seriously, I mentally ask Urahara that all the time, he could have wore an awesome fedora or something...but no...a green and white striped bucket hat. Can't judge someone by their style, I guess? Maybe if I saw the hat in person I would understand the awesomeness of it that I am apparently missing.

Also on a random note, I learned that it is "National Sarcasm Month". It should probably be renamed, "National Sola Month" but hey, I'm not going to argue. So, go forth and terrorize the world with your sarcasm! And when they get offended just say that October is the month for it. :)

Oh my! I didn't realize that my readers would be so kind and generous with reviews. Thank you to all of you even if you didn't review. I love to see this wonderful support. It makes me a very happy writer and makes this story worth all the effort that I put into it.

See you next week!

-Quin

My wish is getting fulfilled but it is not there yet! It would sure be a recognition to me if SDtI got 40 reviews. If this review goal happens, I will post a chapter after this story ends with a couple Sola oneshots, drabbles and things of that sort.The best part is, if you review with a fan fiction account, I will reply with a quote from the next chapter. You get to know stuff that others won't see for another week. Fun huh?

Bleach, Ulquiorra and co. do not belong to me but to the awesome Tite Kubo. Sola is my own creation, therefore copyrighted to me (she disproves of this).