Disclaimer: I do not hold ownership over Bleach or Touhou.

If such a thing called 'happiness' exists, it should be something which resembles the limitless nothingness.

Nihilism is having nothing, and having nothing to lose.

If that is not 'happiness', then what is?

The things reflected in my eyes have no meaning.

The things that could not be reflected in my eyes do not exist.

There is nothing…

In you…

And in me.

Darkness.

That is what met Ulquiorra after his death. He had expected this, that eternal nothingness would be what ones such as him had coming after he was slain.

Yet, he still thought. How could that be? He was dead, slayed by Kurosaki Ichigo on the top of the fortress Las Noches. He should not be able to think in his death, his brain having totally disintegrated along with his body.

Slowly, he notices that thinking was not the only thing he was able to do. He could feel. He could feel his arms, his legs, and his torso as he laid on something soft and comfortable, with what feels like a thick sheet covering his entire body from the neck down. Quickly, he realizes that the darkness that he sees was not caused by his surroundings, but was merely there because his eyes were closed. Does this mean that he was still alive?

Ulquiorra entertained the idea that he had been sent to Soul Society, that being slain by Kurosaki's blade purified his soul and sent him to the home of the shinigamis. However, if that were the case, then how was he able to remember who he was? Souls that go to Soul Society generally lose all memory of their previous life. He still had all of his, up to when he took his final breath.

Realizing that theorizing won't get him anywhere, Ulquiorra did the only thing he could do right now.

He opened his eyes.

He found himself staring at the wooden ceiling of some kind of structure. Slowly, as he still could not believe that this body was his, he straightened into a sitting a position. He felt the sheet that covered him fall to his waist, and found that he had been laying in a futon. He saw that he was in a traditional Japanese bedroom, with thin paper walls and shoji screen doors. Gentle light filtered through the paper door that presumably leads outside, signifying that it was early in the morning.

Well, at least he knew that he wasn't in Hueco Mundo anymore. There was no daytime there, and the fortress of Las Noches was not capable of simulating daylight cycles. With the chances of him being in Soul Society close to null, he could only assume that this was the human world.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps was picked up by his ears. Uncharacteristically, Ulquiorra found himself tensing. His right hand went to his left hip, instinctively reaching for Murcielago, and discovered that it was not there.

The footsteps got closer, its pace seeming becoming more drawn-out as it neared his position. Finally, the owner of the footsteps stopped in front of the room he was currently in.

Ulquiorra readied himself as he saw the shadow of the footsteps' owner from behind the shoji screen, his or her hand reaching the side of the door. Finally, the figure gripped the door's corner, and slid it open.

Emerald eyes with slitted pupils met mesmerizing blue ones as Ulquiorra took in the appearance of girl before him. Her hair, a rich silver color, formed a bob cut that was tied at the top by a lopsided black ribbon. Her dress was green, with white puffy sleeves, a black bow tied below where her collar is, and white frills that extended shortly from the ends of her skirt. Her outfit was decorated by what appears to be small white ghost insignias along the edge of her skirt with one on her shirt pocket. Attached to her back were two swords, one being a katana and the other being a wakizashi. The longer of the two had a flower design on the hilt, an actual flower tied to the end of its scabbard. She was small in stature and had a youthful look to her. In her hands was a tray with a steaming bowl and a cup.

What intrigued Ulquiorra the most, however, was the white floating blob that hovered behind her. As large as the girl herself, this blob looked like what humans today would call a "ghost", except it reminded Ulquiorra of those "marshmallows" that he had seen a few times while he was surveying the human world. It followed her loyally, as if it was some kind of pet.

"Oh, you're awake!" she exclaimed as a smile adjourned her face "I was getting worried about you."

"I was asleep?" questioned Ulquiorra as the girl stepped through the doorway, the ghost following her in. On the outside, Ulquiorra's face retained his trademark stoic expression. Inside, however, Ulquiorra watched the girl's actions cautiously, not knowing what she would try to do as she approached him.

"Yes" she said as she walked over to the right side of his futon. There she lowered herself into a seiza position and set the tray filled with what he now identified as a bowl of rice soup and a cup of tea to the side. "You've been sleeping since I found you last night. Do you feel all right?"

"I'm well." Ulquiorra asked, his guard lowering a bit "You said you found me?"

"Yep!" she beamed "Although you didn't have any wounds on you, you were unconscious and I didn't know what was wrong with you."

"I see" said Ulquiorra.

"You looked like you came out of a battle though" she said.

"Oh?" said Ulquiorra curiously. This girl was not in the battle that he had fought before he died so how was she able to tell? "What makes you think so?"

"Well…" she started. Suddenly, her face started to turn red. Her gaze fell to her lap as she brought her hands up and pushed her two index fingers together. "…your clothes…"

"My clothes?" Ulquiorra said quizzically. He then took the time to evaluate his current state of dress. What he saw made his eyes shoot wide and froze him completely.

He was still wearing the Arrancar uniform, except his black sash was nowhere to be found. His white jacket had been shredded down the middle of his chest, revealing his slender yet muscular chest while his white hakama was littered with rends and burn marks. This was not the cause of his current state of shock, however.

What caused it was the hollow hole in his chest, or lack of one to be precise. The place where the gaping hole should be was filled, leaving only his bare chest. Quickly, Ulquiorra's left hand shot up to the left side of his head, feeling for the familiar bone-white helmet fragment that covered half of his head.

It wasn't there.

As the realization sunk in, Ulquiorra began to feel weaker. The two things that signified his status as an Arrancar, his hollow hole and his mask fragment. Gone. How could this be? If he had somehow ended up in the human world after his battle with Kurosaki, it should not have any effect on his appearance. Was he a hollow anymore?

Quickly, Ulquiorra took a survey of his being. To his mild relief, he could still feel his power coursing within him, if not weaker than it should be. Using his Pesquisa, he was still able to sense the spiritual power of those around him. He could also still feel the link to his zanpakuto, its presence somewhere close to his current location.

But then, if the power he had as an Arrancar was still present, what was he? Was he human? No, that can't be. He still had his zanpakuto. Was he a shinigami then? Impossible. There were no records of hollows being turned directly into shinigami after they were slayed.

So what was he?

"Um…are you okay?" the girl asked, a look of concern on her face. She saw that person before her, whose face usually remained expressionless, now had a look of disbelief plastered on it. His hand also was over his heart, squeezing it so tightly that she thought that he was in pain.

Brought back to reality, Ulquiorra realized what he had been doing the entire time. Catching himself, he allowed his face to return to its usual stoic appearance as he lowered the hand clenching his heart to his side. "I am fine. Do not worry yourself."

Suddenly, his vision became filled with white as something soft collided into his bare chest. Moving his head back a bit and grabbing the thing by its sides, Ulquiorra saw that his mysterious assailant was the blob from earlier. It squirmed in his hands, apparently wanting to be released so that it could tackle him again.

"Wawawawawawa! What are you doing!" exclaimed the girl as she rapidly waved her hands up and down in front of her in a comical fashion, a blush more pronounced than before covering her face. "Stop that, he could still be hurt!"

Eventually, the blob stopped moving in his hands, conceding to what the girl hand told it to do. Slowly, Ulquiorra released the blob, and it floated away from him. Now, it's seemingly content with just circling close to him, acting like it was curiously observing him.

Ulquiorra quirked an eyebrow as he watched the blob, curious about its existence. What was it? It didn't look like a plus, since it lacked the form of a human and did not have a soul chain coming out of it, and it most definitely was not a hollow. He had never seen anything like it, both in the human world and Hueco Mundo. Looking into its spiritual power, Ulquiorra was surprised to find that it had the same reiatsu signature as the girl.

"What is that?" inquired Ulquiorra, asking the girl who seem like she hand control over the thing.

"Oh, umm, that's…" started the girl as she fidgeted, apparently still a bit embarrassed about what it had done to him earlier "..that's my ghost half."

Ulquiorra was at a loss. What? Her ghost half? Does that mean that she was the offspring of a spirit and a human? How was that possible? Never in the length of time that Ulquiorra was alive had he ever heard of the successful production of a half-human and half-spirit individual. It just was not possible. Spirits could not even touch the living, let alone breed with them. Could the girl be lying to him? No, it didn't seem plausible. What could she gain from lying to him in this situation?

So how was it possible?

"I see" Ulquiorra said with a bit of uncertainty leaking from his voice before he asked her something. "What is your name?"

"Ah!" squeaked the girl, snapping out of her embarrassment and bowing slightly "Sorry for being so rude. My name's Konpaku Youmu, pleased to meet you. "

"Understood" stated Ulquiorra "Konpaku-san. May I ask where I am right now?"

"Oh, you're in Hakugyokurou, the ghost shrine of the Netherworld." Said Youmu.

Again, Ulquiorra was stumped. Both were places that he had never heard of before. None of those places pop up when cross referenced with Hueco Mundo and Soul Society. Where they in the human world then?

"Wa!" exclaimed the girl, as if she "I forgot! I still have to cook breakfast for the Yuyuko-sama!"

"Yuyuko-sama?" questioned Ulquiorra as Youmu stood up and prepared to exit the room to perform whatever duty that demanded her attention.

"Yes, she's the mistress of this shrine" she said as she wore a panicked look "I have to get her meal ready soon, she usually wakes up just a few minutes from now!"

"I see"

"Ah! But your clothes are still ruined…" she said, contemplating this particular predicament "Oh! Please wait a minute."

She ran out of the room with her ghost half trailing behind her, leaving the screen door open as Ulquiorra looked curiously out the door, wondering what she had in mind. A few seconds later, Youmu returned, holding in her hand a bundle of green clothes.

"You can wear this for now" she said "they belonged to my teacher, but he's not here now so you can borrow them."

"…why?"

"Huh?" Youmu asked "What do you mean?"

"Why are you helping me?" Ulquiorra questioned. He was a stranger to her. How could she be sure that he did not seek to harm her and the rest of her household? If it had been him, he would've left him to die where he was rather than take the risk.

"Well…" she said with a sad look in her face "…I couldn't just leave you like that, you could've been really hurt. I would've felt guilty if I hadn't done anything when I could."

There it was again. Compassion. A thing of the heart, the concept that he only had just began grasping. Ulquiorra knew it would be a while before he fully understood what it means to have a heart.

"I'll check up on you after I finish everything" she said, looking apologetic "I'm sorry it's so sudden, but I really have to finish making breakfast."

"I understand" he said "Go, I can take care of myself."

With a nod, Youmu ran out the room with her ghost half again, her footsteps echoing down the hallway until it could not be heard anymore.

Ulquiorra let out a tired sigh. There were many things that he did not understand. He would have to question the girl again so that he could full grasp his situation right now.

Looking to the place where Youmu had been sitting, Ulquiorra found that she had left tray of food behind. Suddenly, he felt hunger overcoming him, like he had not had a meal for days. Grabbing the tray, he carried it over to his lap, picked up the spoon, and started devouring the bowl of rice soup.

After cleaning the bowl of its contents, Ulquiorra let out a satisfied breath. Setting the bowl aside, he picked up the cup of tea. He looked into the cup, and furrowed his eyebrows as he saw a reflection of himself on the surface of the drink. His left hand went up to his face, fingers trailing on the area under his eyes.

His tear lines were no longer there.

He winced, finding farther proof that he was no longer a hollow. He needed answers. He needed to know what happened to him and where he is right now.

Closing his eyes, Ulquiorra brought the cup up to his lips and took a sip. Almost immediately, his eyes flew open. Grimacing, he quickly moved the offending drink away from his mouth. He gave the cup a death glare, as if it had done something unforgiveable to him.

This tea was definitely not on the same level as the tea he was used to drinking. He would have to rectify this as soon as possible.

Setting the cup aside and grabbing the bundle of clothes next to him, Ulquiorra slid out of the blanket and stood up. Unfolding the bundle, he found that it was a set of men's kimono, complete with a black inner shirt, a white kimono with a green ghost insignia on each upper arm, a green hakama, a green jacket with white ghost insignias on the chest, a black obi belt, and a length of white cloth to from the fundoshi.

Ulquiorra got out of his tattered clothes and began the process of putting on the articles of clothing. The fundoshi went on first, along with the black undershirt. Then, the primary kimono was draped over his body and tied traditionally with the obi. Next comes the hakama, fully covering his legs while still giving him room to freely move. Finally, the jacket was lowered onto his shoulders, competing the traditional Japanese men's look.

Looking himself over, Ulquiorra was satisfied with the comfort level that the clothing offered. He was no stranger to traditional Japanese clothing since Aizen had incorporated it into the Arrancars' uniform. The kimono was no more difficult to move in than his old clothes, and seemed to be made with maneuverability in mind.

With the problem of his current state of dress solved, Ulquiorra set out to find his apparent rescuer. Remembering that she said she needed to finish breakfast for her mistress, Ulquiorra expanded his spiritual senses in hopes to find the exact location of Youmu. What he found instead alarmed him.

Relatively nearby, he could identify the signature of Youmu's power. Next to her was another spiritual signature, one that more powerful than Youmu herself. With the information that he has, he could only assume that it belonged to the mistress of this shrine. Along with those two, however, Ulquiorra sensed HUNDREDs more signatures flying around in the atmosphere above him. Though they are not particularly powerful, the sheer amount of them caused Ulquiorra to become wary. Walking to the shoji screen that presumably let outside, Ulquiorra slid the door aside and took in his surroundings.

Sakura trees. Those are the first objects his all-seeing eyes allowed him to see when he exited the shrine. Tens, if not hundreds of lush sakura trees, all in full bloom. The scenery was fantastical, the pink trees swaying lazily as the winds blew through their branches and carried away their pedals.

The scene entranced Ulquiorra, his eyes taking in the beauty before him. It took him a minute to realize that he had another purpose for coming outside. Tearing his eyes away from the serene view before him, Ulquiorra sought the source of the hundreds of soul signatures that he discovered before. He found what he was searching for when he looked up.

White blobs. Hundreds of them, shaped just like the Youmu's ghost half if not a bit smaller. More numerous than the trees that adjourned this place, they were all flying in random patterns in the sky with seemingly no purpose at all.

More ghosts? Are these all spirits of the deceased? What are they all doing here? More question started to form in Ulquiorra's head, all which he needed to be answered soon if he was to keep his sanity.

From the corner of his eyes, Ulquiorra saw some of the ghosts in the sky had apparently took notice of him. A few of them broke off from the flying mass, and are now descending towards him at a leisurely pace. Ulquiorra became wary, but remained calm as the approached him. He doubted they could do anything to him, even when his power was a bit weakened. Their spiritual power was minimal at most, and he did not think they posed a threat to him.

When they reached him, they circled around him, acting like they were curious about his existence but were too afraid to actually get any closer to him. Unconsciously, Ulquiorra's right hand extended toward them, palm up as if tempting them to come closer. Finally, one of the ghosts was brave enough to approach his open hand, landing softly on it as if it was testing the waters for any possible danger.

Curious, Ulquiorra brought the ghost closer to him, his left hand reaching for what appears to be the "head" of the ghost. Once there, his hand stroked the ghost like a puppy. As he petted the ghost, it snuggled into his hand, seemingly satisfied with the contact if the two blotches of red on its "face" told him anything. At this, the rest of the ghosts deemed him safe and got closer to him, some of them resting his head and his shoulders while the rest of them pressed against his body.

Ulquiorra didn't know what to think. Although they posed no threat to him and were actually really soft to the touch, they approached him like they thought he meant no harm. If he were still a hollow, these spirits would most definitely run away from him since hollows prey upon human spirits. These ghosts however, seemed comfortable around him, as if they appreciated his company and actually like being in his presence. Was this more proof that he was no longer a hollow?

Then, he noticed the two sources of spiritual energy in the shrine move, getting progressively closer to his location. He kept his back turned to the room and awaited their arrival, wondering what they would do when they found him.

He heard the other door to the room open, and a couple of footsteps followed.

"Ara, ara. What's this?" said an unfamiliar yet pleasant voice "it seems that the little ones have taken a liking to our guest."

At this, the ghosts detached themselves from him and flew back to the sky; almost as if they had anticipated that they would get in the way of the upcoming encounter. Turning to face the speaker, Ulquiorra set his sights on who he thought was the mistress of this shrine.

What he saw as one of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She had bright pink wavy hair reaching as far as her shoulders. Maroon eyes adjourned her gorgeous face, one that would no doubt leave men open-mouthed if they were to set their eyes on her. She wore a fetching light blue kimono with dark blue trim and white frills extending from the edges. A light blue mob cap covered her head, with a white hitaikakushi in the front that had a red spiraling ghost design on it.

Ulquiorra remained expressionless as she observed her, a feat that would most likely be impossible if he were any other man. He analyzed her soul further, and found that she had a signature that was more similar to the ghosts than it was to Youmu. Does this mean she was a ghost?

"I see that Youki's clothes seem to fit you well" the woman said happily "It really matches your eyes."

"It is satisfactory. I must thank you and Konpaku-san for lending them to me" says Ulquiorra.

"Ah, it's no trouble!" Youmu said with a small blush on her face as she waved her hands in front of her. She stood behind her mistress, her ghost half floating above her shoulder. "No one's using it right now, so it's fine."

"Indeed" the woman said with a smile as she reached into her kimono. Pulling out a folded fan, she spreads it open and started fanning herself lightly, with the fan covering the lower part of her face "We can't have you walking around in less than decent attire now, can we?"

"Very well" stated Ulquiorra "May I assume that you are the mistress of this shrine?"

"Yep!" she said cheerfully as she bowed slightly "I'm Saigyouji Yuyuko. Pleased to meet you!"

"I see" Ulquiorra said as he then bowed in return "I am called Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra Cifer. I apologize for not introducing myself earlier."

"Oh no! It's me who needs to apologize for running out on you like that." Youmu said as she bowed apologetically.

"Now now, Youmu. You didn't think that my hunger was more important than the wellbeing of an injured person, did you?" Yuyuko said with a teasing smile. Youmu lowered her head and blushed some more, something which she seems to be doing a lot this morning.

Ulquiorra noted that Yuyuko was someone who seemed easy to get along with, her cheery and playful personality nothing like the impression Youmu gave of her when she was panicking about cooking her breakfast. What caused Youmu to act like that back then?

"I understand. It is of no consequence." Ulquiorra stated "Rather, might I ask for a favor, Saigyouji-san?"

"Hm? What is it?" asked Yuyuko curiously, her head tilting to the side a bit.

"I would like to use your kitchen" Ulquiorra asked with serious face.

A question marked popped up on both of the girls' heads.

A few minutes later, Ulquiorra found himself in the large kitchen of Hakugyokurou. The girls watched curiously as Ulquiorra efficiently maneuvered himself inside the kitchen, searching the cabinets for something. Eventually, he found what he was looking for: a bag of matcha tea power, a chawan, a chashaku, and a chasen.

"…Wait for me in the dining room, I will be with you shortly" said Ulquiorra with his back to them as he looked for a pot to boil water in.

The girls could only nod dumbly as they watched him continue his activities with a level of diligence.

Sometime later, they all found themselves sitting seiza position on cushions in Hakugyokurou's dining room while Youmu's ghost half hovered around the room. Currently, Ulquiorra was putting the final touches to his creation, whisking the tea with the chasen so that it would achieve its signature rich consistency.

"It is done" announced Ulquiorra as he stopped whisking. He poured the tea from the chawan into three individual cups. He then passed one to each of the girls in front of him. The girls each muttered a word of thanks to him as they received their cups, still a little bewildered by his actions.

Ulquiorra lifted his cup up to his lips and drank, closing his eyes as he confirmed that the taste was satisfactory. The girls looked at each other, shrugged, and then started drinking themselves. Immediately both of their eyes became as big as dinner plates.

'This taste!' they both thought.

Youmu sat there frozen in complete shock by how heavenly the tea tasted. Yuyuko just kept drinking the tea, downing the entire cup in one go even when it's still hot enough to burn your tongue.

The tea magnificent. Everything was just right, it wasn't too sweet, it wasn't too bitter, and it seemed like it had every taste possible mixed into it. Compared to this, all the

"Haaaaaaaaaa…I'm in heaven~" Yuyuko said, her face full of ecstasy as she slumped down on her seat.

"It is nothing" said Ulquiorra with straight face, taking it as a complement. He was still taking slow sips from his cup as he watched the reactions of the two girls with a little bemusement. Youmu finally seems to snap out of her trance and continued to drink from her cup. Her ghost half moved closer and appeared like it also wanted a sip.

"Where did you learn to make tea like that, Ulquiorra-san?" Yuyuko asked, recovering a bit from her previous state.

"I have had a lot of time to practice" said Ulquiorra, remembering how he drank tea almost every day in Hueco Mundo since the day Aizen came to rule over it. Quietly, he sets his cup of tea down in front of him. "So, might I ask you a few questions, Saigyouji-san?"

"Oh? Sure, go ahead!" she said.

"Where am I?" Ulquiorra asked again, hoping to get a better answer this time.

"This place? This is Hakugyokurou, the ghost shrine of the Netherworld of course!" Yuyuko said.

"The Netherworld?" Ulquiorra questioned further.

"Yep, this is the place where ghosts go when they died and didn't to heaven or hell" Yuyuko cheerfully said.

That did not make any sense. He never heard of such a place in his entire life. If such a significant place had existed, he should have caught wind of it earlier from either his hollow brethren or the shinigami. Besides, he had already been dead, and hollows had three fates that await them when they are slayed: Soul Society, Hell, or nothingness. The Netherworld was not one of them.

"I have never heard of such a place" said Ulquiorra.

"Eh? Then how did you get here? You don't look like you're dead" said Youmu with a questioning face.

"Now that you mention it," Yuyuko contemplated "I don't remember ever inviting someone like you here, and the barrier between here and Gensokyo is still up, so it's not likely that you came from there either."

"Gensokyo?" Ulquiorra asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Both the girls stared at Ulquiorra, as if he had just said something impossible.

"You don't know what Gensokyo is?" asked Youmu with and astonished look.

"How is that possible?" asked Yuyuko with an equally astonished look "Are you somehow from the outside world?"

"The outside world?"

Yuyuko and Youmu looked at each other, then at Ulquiorra, then back at each other again. Eventually, they both let out as sigh at the same time. It seems like this man needs to be educated on an extensive topic.

"Well, where to begin?" Yuyuko said with a contemplating look.

[Girls are explaining...[

"...I see" Ulquiorra said as both the girls finished their explanation. After processing the information, Ulquiorra folded his arms in front of him "Allow me to relay what you have told me back to you in the way I see it."

"Un!" exclaimed the girls as they nodded their head.

"Gensokyo is a place that is separated from the rest of the world by a barrier that allows magic and youkai, monsters from Japanese folklore, to flourish peacefully as the rest of the world continued to lose belief in them." Ulquiorra listed.

The girls nodded synchronically.

"And the Netherworld, the place that we are in currently, is connected to Gensokyo but is sealed off by another barrier of great power."

Again, the girls nodded.

Sighing, Ulquiorra finally came to a conclusion. This was a totally different place from where he had been. There was no way Soul Society could've overlooked a place with such a large amount of individuals with exceptionally high spiritual power. It would have been a beacon for hollows that sought powerful souls, and would've caused this place to become infested with them. Yet, these two made no mention of their kind, and the situation with Gensokyo as they described it seems peaceful. All of this evidence combined with the inconsistency of the cycles of death, the appearance of spirits, and his apparent transformation all leads to one conclusion: something must have happened that kept him alive, changed his very being, and sent him here.

"Now that everything's been explained," said Yuyuko with a questioning look "can you tell us why you were lying injured in our garden, Ulquiorra-san?"

"…I do not know" Ulquiorra answered truthfully. Why was he here? Was there some god up there that saw fit to send him to this place? Or was here really a logical explanation for this? He honestly did not know the answer to these questions.

"Eh? What do you mean you don't know?" she asked, her increasing confusion apparent oh her face.

"…I was in a duel with one my enemy's strongest soldier." Ulquiorra explained "I had severely misjudged him, and was mortally wounded as the result. In the end, I lost consciousness while I was dying. I had thought I was dead until I woke up in the room that Konpaku-san had put me in after she found me."

It was technically the truth. He didn't think he should tell them the full truth yet, least they become a threat to him. He didn't have all of his powers yet and he assumed that his zanpakuto was still in their custody, so a full on confrontation with powerful individuals like them would probably not end well. Plus, for some reason that he could not phantom, he strangely felt like he didn't want them to know about the horrible things that he had done.

Not knowing this, the girls contemplated his current situation. Because of their nature, the girls could feel that the man before them exerted a sort of ghastly presence, a presence that seems to attract spirits to him. However, they both know there he probably wasn't dead, since only the dead invited by Yuyuko ended up in the Netherworld. He also doesn't exhibit the usual characteristics of someone who just died, namely the fact that his body was still corporal. And if he didn't know what Gensokyo is, chances are that was not where he came from.

Though these evidences lead towards him being an outsider, there were a few things that just did not add up. Judging from the clothes that Youmu saw him wear and the katana that he possessed, she deduced that the person in front of him was Japanese. What doesn't make sense is that almost no one in the outside world wore that type of clothing anymore, all having switched to a more modern design. Also, they weren't fools. They could feel the power that he exerted; the way he held himself was a testament as to what kind of strength he had. Combined with his ghastly presence and his obviously slitted eyes, this fact led them to believe that he was also not human. Was he perhaps a youkai, or was he something else entirely? Where exactly did he come from?

In the end, they brushed away their questions to address a more pressing matter.

"Ulquiorra-san, what will you do now?" Youmu asked.

"What will I do?" Ulquiorra questioned back.

"Well, you don't seem to know how you got here" Yuyuko elaborated "And it's not likely that you will be able to return to where you come from. Gensokyo is separated from the rest of the world, remember. Though it might be easy for someone to accidentally enter, it's much more difficult to leave. You may be stuck here forever."

That got Ulquiorra thinking. What WILL he do? He was probably presumed dead since he had been defeated by Kurosaki Ichigo. Even if there was a way to return to where he came from, he could never do so, not with the way he is right now. Though it might be difficult to accept, Ulquiorra knew he was no longer a hollow. Hell, he didn't even know what he is now. He had no mask and no hollow hole. Was he a human? Is this some divine retribution for the sins that he had committed? He didn't know, and he hated not knowing.

And according to the woman in front of him, he is most likely stuck here forever. What could he do here, in a world filled with powerful creatures of legend who sought to live their lives in such a carefree way? What purpose could he serve? What was there to live for?

The answer came to him from the soft beating of something inside his chest.

That right. The heart.

He was finally able to grasp one, to actually call one his own. There were still so many things about it and the emotions that it brought to him that he did not understand. He felt like an insatiable desire had befallen him; desire to experience what it truly means to have a heart.

Ulquiorra looked down towards his chest. He brought his right hand and squeezed the area where his beating hear is supposed to be. With a look of pained uncertainty, he answered.

"…I do not know…"

Yuyuko and Youmu watched as usually stoic expression of the man in front of them changed to something more sorrowful. Yuyuko closed her eyes and assumed a thinking posture. Eventually, her eyes flew open and a smile adjourned her face.

"Well, if you don't have anywhere else to go, why don't you stay with us?" she proposed.

"EHHH?!" exclaimed Youmu as she looked at her mistress with a shocked expression.

"You would…let me live here?" Ulquiorra asked. He was a bit surprised and skeptical. She would let a complete stranger that showed up one day in her garden with a weapon and tattered clothing stay with her? It seemed illogical.

Then, with his newfound understanding, he arrived at the answer. Perhaps it was out of goodwill? Was she doing this because she wanted to show kindness towards him?

"Well, it's not like I'm letting you stay entirely for free." Yuyuko said with a simile "You have to help out with the chores and do what I tell you to do, but other than that you can stay here as long as you like."

"A-are you sure this is okay, Yuyuko-sama?" Youmu questioned her mistress.

As the two girls talked to each other, Ulquiorra considered Yuyuko's offer. He had nowhere else to go, this world being something entirely new to him. There are many things he did not understand about it, and there was so much more he desired to know about the heart. Finally, there was this nagging feeling in the back of his head, one that told him to accept the offer for what it could bring in the future.

It took Ulquiorra moment consider his option. In the end, he gave his answer.

"Very well" Ulquiorra said. The girls stopped their discussion and looked towards him. He then bowed his head down toward the mistress of Hakugyokurou "I would like to accept your offer, if you would take me."

"Hooray!" Yuyuko said happily as she threw her arms in the air "Now I get to have Ulqi-kun's delicious tea every day!"

"Yuyuko-sama!" Youmu exclaimed "Please tell me you didn't offer him a place to live here just because you wanted to drink his more of his tea!"

"Of course not" Yuyuko said in a teasing tone "I also gave him the offer so that Youmu-chan can experience what it's like to live under the same roof as a man!"

"Y-Yuyuko-sama!" Youmu stuttered, her face as red as a tomato.

Ulquiorra watched bemusedly as Youmu chased Yuyuko around the dining room, the princess of Hakugyokurou laughing cheerfully as she eluded the hands of her subordinate while her ghost half trailed behind her.

He may be in a place that's vastly different from where he had come from. He may not be the same person that he was before his defeat. He may not fully understand what it means to have a heart. But…

Maybe. Just maybe…..

For a split second, the corners of Ulquiorra's mouth twitched up a bit.

Maybe he could find the answer here.

Author's Notes:

Well, here's the second chapter. I don't know what to say about it really. I kinda feel like I missed something when I was writing.

A bit of OOCness on Ulquiorra's part. I tried to ease his personality into one that actually had emotions, which had been what I planned from the start. I either did well in it or butchered it so much that you won't even know that it was Ulquiorra who was talking. Keep in mind, he's still going to be badass and retain most of his personality. But in the end, I want to show that he was actually developing feeling.

As for Yuyuko and Youmu, I did not know if I portrayed their personalities right. Honestly, Zun doesn't provide much in the way of character development in his games, and if I were to base this story entirely off the games, then all the girls would be talking in ancient poetic Japanese and/or nonsense gobbledygook, which would confuse the fuck out most readers. So, when it came to how they acted, I had to use my imagination.

For those of you who are wondering about the battle system of this fic, it's going to be based off of the fighting games like Hisoutensoku. Obliviously, Ulquiorra doesn't have much variety when it comes to energy based projectiles. I mean, I could use his Balla as danmaku bullets and his multiple levels of Cero as spell cards, but that wouldn't yield much in terms of fancy battles. He is a master hand to hand combatant and a sword wielder, so it makes sense to have battles that include physical damage as well. Thus, I feel much more comfortable writing the battle like this rather than just have him spam the fuck out of his Cero and winning matches easymode.

And for those who are wondering what the hell a chawan, a chashaku, and a chasen is, they are the bowl, spoon, and whisk that are traditionally used in Japan to make matcha green tea during tea ceremonies.

Well, as always, thank you for attending Story Time with Captain Senshi. If you have any comments or concerns, please leave me a review. Flames will be ignored because Fujiwara no Moku is present, and her flames are hotter than any of the flames what you mortals will ever be able to produce.