Hi everybody! it's your sad author. please don't kill me.... i'm sorry i've been SOOO busy. i have four honors classes, cross country (not anymore which is how i'm still on here) and orchestra. I'm SO SOOOOORRRRYYYY! school has taken over my life, split it into bit, eaten it, and declared it delicious to my face. therefore, to make it up to you, i have put chapters thirty six through forty two up for you!! Yay! :)

Chapter Thirty Six:

Seren + Wakeup Call + Hormones = Trouble

Seren woke up suddenly, gasping. Her spirit crashed back into her body with the force of a thousand ceroes. Her body broke out in a cold sweat, like icy droplets; she panted, breathing consciously for the first time in seven days. Her body shook, breath rattling in her throat. Her heart pumped furiously, wildly.

A series of sensations flowed to her mind; darkness- it was night out- cold- she'd kicked off her blankets- and, most of all- pain. She hadn't moved around in a long time, and the shock wasn't kind on her nerves.

For a moment all she did was sit and cough.

Silence, then she looked up.

It was a pair of green eyes, ones that felt like she hadn't seen in a century.

"Ulquiorra," she breathed.

"Seren," he replied.

They stayed there for a minute, looking at each other.

"Umm… yeah…" Seren looked away, the spell broken. "How long have I been… out?"

"Seven days."

"W-WHAT?!" She turned around, shocked. Rabeath had said that, but- "I've been out for seven days?" She didn't know whether she was shocked it had taken so long… or so short.

"Seven days. I thought I said it clearly."

Typical stoic Ulquiorra.

"That's not what I meant," Seren muttered. "I need to get u- OW." She groaned as she tried to move. "Uh, I tried that too fast." She rubbed her leg. "That hurt."

"I'll help you." Ulquiorra said, and grabbed her arm.

She was suddenly aware of his eyes on her. She was hyperaware of the tiny slit of cleavage that was revealed in her nightgown. Wait, what? Since when had she noticed those things- A chill ran up her spine.

"Don't touch me!" She cried. She jumped back ten feet, clutching her wrist. Ulquiorra looked at her, eyes wide. "St-stay away!" She shrieked.

"All right, that's enough, pet. This is boring, and you clearly have no fight left in you," Nnoitra mocked.

In an instant he had grabbed her, knocking Fuerda out of her hands. Seren's body gave way and collapsed.

Seren still fought. But there was no strength left in her. All she could do was keep screaming.

"SH'CHI! SH'CHI!"

"Seren? Seren?" Ulquiorra asked.

But all Seren could think, or feel, was Nnoitra's slimy hands on her. She shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself, and curled into a ball on the floor, hyperventilating from terror.

"Seren. Get up," Ulquiorra demanded, taking a step towards her.

"NO! STAY AWAY!" Seren screamed. He stopped, shocked.

She knew she shouldn't be so afraid… but those pictures kept haunting her. It was like your nightmare constantly replaying over and over in your head.

"STOP IT! MAKE IT STOP!" Seren screamed, pulling at her hair. "SHUT UP!"

Seren closed her eyes, trying to block the nightmare out.

She'd stopped screaming, but whispered it, one more time:

"SH'CHI."

The necklace broke apart into a thousand pieces, the pearls rolling around on the floor.

She writhed around, yanking at her hair, just shrieking into oblivion. "Stop it! Oh God, somebody help me!" Her eyes were wide, crazed. Tears rolled out of her eyes, of sheer horror.

Then she froze, and scooted away even further into the shadowy corner, and wrapped her arms around her knees and froze there, silently rocking.

"It's okay Seren, it's okay, it's okay. He's gone, he's gone…" She muttered to herself.

"Seren." Ulquiorra spoke for the first time in what felt like forever.

She looked at him. Then she blinked, and her crazed eyes seemed to clear, a little.

"…Ulquiorra?" She whispered.

"Yes." His hands were in his pockets.

"Ulquiorra… what happened?" She asked.

"After you passed out, Kimi broke in with Grimmjow and his fraccion. After that, I came in and attacked him. He left, then a healer came and healed you. You were asleep this whole time, until now. Afterwards, I reported Nnoitra's behavior to Aizen, who punished him. He won't bother you again… and if he does, I will kill him." A surprising note of viciousness entered his voice at the mention of Nnoitra.

"So… it's over?" Seren asked.

He kept forgetting that she was in a coma the whole time this happened. For her, he thought, it must have been just an hour ago.

"Yes."

"But what if he comes back? What if he does?" Seren didn't look like she could take it if he did.

"Then I will protect you. Don't worry." His voice was surprisingly reassuring. "Now wipe your tears. It's over."

She looked at him, and did as he said. She wiped her face sloppily with the back of her hand, like a lost child. "You'll protect me?" She repeated, again like a lost child.

"Yes. I promise you, Seren."

She sighed, and a sobbed a gentle hiccup. "Thanks," she whispered hoarsely.

A sudden rush of warmth flowed inside him. Of course he would protect her.

"I am going to go report your awakening to Aizen-sama." Ulquiorra turned away.

A sudden fear seized Seren. Her heart stopped.

"WAIT!" She screamed, grabbing his arm. "Don't leave me! Don't leave me alone!" She cried.

He stopped, looking at her dispassionately.

Or not entirely- for a moment, she saw a flicker of surprise- and something else- across his eyes.

"Let go of me," he replied. Seren blinked, then let go of his sleeve.

"I'm sorry," she said. "But," her eyes flared- "the last time you left me, I was attacked. Did you forget that already?"

He blinked.

She was right.

"Very well." He said.

Seren paused, surprised he'd relented so easily.

"Oh… thanks…" Again, she felt the weight of his eyes on her.

"I'll drop you off at Grimmjow's."

"Thanks." She muttered, gaze on the ground.

But he was already out the door.

She tried to sonido. Really, she did. Unfortunately, her body was so sore every step was agony.

"Seren, all you're doing is hurting yourself," Ulquiorra told her.

"I told you, I can do this!" She retorted stubbornly.

Ulquiorra resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

After another minute of pain, Seren surrendered. "All right. Go ahead. Carry me." She mumbled sourly.

"You say it like I'm making you move." Ulquiorra reminded her.

"Fine. Thank you." Seren was still busy making faces. His arms reached her back and legs, then swept her easily off her feet. The same surge of weight, imbalance, and then steadying she remembered.

But something else. Her heart skipped a beat, and heat rushed to her face.

Her jaw dropped. She hadn't felt this in… a long time.

Hormones.

She screamed inside her head.

WTF?!

I told you there would be side effects, Rabaeth told her.

YOU NEVER MENTIONED HORMONES!

Came with the package, he replied dryly.

The worst part was, it was ULQUIORRA. Why?! Why?! Why did such strange things keep happening to her?! Honestly!

Well, she hadn't noticed that he really did have beautiful eyes, and a handsome face. Not to mention nice hair. And he was very strong-

Shut up, brain.

"Is something wrong? You're making a face like you're ill," Ulquiorra said.

"I'm! JUST. FINE…" Her voice came out in a growl and then high pitched.

Ulquiorra blinked.

"So… anyways…" Seren said, trying to lead away from the awkwardness. "Anything interesting happen after I passed out?"

"No."

Grimmjow opened the door.

"The hell're you here for, Ulquiorra?" He jabbed rudely.

Then he stopped when he saw the woman by his side.

"Hey," Seren waved weakly. "It's been a while, huh?"

Instantly a pair of arms wrapped around her and she was shoved into his chest as he hugged her fiercely.

"Seren!" He yelled.

"Wha-?!" She heard several chorusing voices in the background.

"Seren?" There was another familiar voice.

"Ye-ya," she choked out. Her face being smashed into Grimmjow's chest. She weakly patted his sides. "Grimm, ya, ye should let go of me-"

"Grimmjow, you're killing her." Ulquiorra told him wryly.

"Oh. Whoops." He let go, and Seren crumpled on the floor, cherubs spinning around her head.

Kimi ran into the scene. "Wait! What's new?" She looked down at Seren on the floor. "Grimmjow, nothing's changed!"

"No.. I'm alive… strictly speaking…" Seren slurred from the floor.

"Well, get up then!" Kimi grabbed her hand and pulled her up. "Oh, Seren-sama!" She hugged her too, until Seren was choking- AGAIN.

"I swear, you're all out to kill me," she mumbled. She shoved herself away from Kimi, rubbing her throat.

Ulquiorra turned away. It was an unbearably cheesy love fest.

"I'll be leaving then," he announced.

"Wait!" Before Seren could have second thoughts, she grabbed him around his thin waist and hugged him.

Ulquiorra blinked, surprised.

Grimmjow and Kimi's jaw dropped.

"Holy shit, she hugged him!" Grimmjow said loudly.

"No kidding!" Kimi agreed.

Ulquiorra glared at all of them.

"That's for saving me," she said. "Thank you." Then she reached up on her toes and- peck- gave him a kiss on the cheek.

His face wasn't as cold as she'd expected. Rather, it was pleasant, like a cool sea breeze.

Uh oh. That one was definitely hormones acting.

WHY?! Why?! Why did she keep getting herself into such awkward situations!?

She heard Rabaeth snickering away in her head.

Shut up, brain. And Rabaeth.

Kimi's jaw dropped. Grimmjow just stood still like an idiot, gurgling while he tried to think of a swearword big enough to explain his utter shock and repulsion.

"Are you done?" Ulquiorra asked.

"Yeah. You'd better go before I try something else. I did just get up from sleeping for seven days," Seren agreed.

"Well then." He turned and disappeared without another word.

Seren turned around and looked at her crowd.

"What?" She asked.

"Holy shit, I'd better get Mila Rose for this one," Kimi said, then she raced away to Halibel's area.

Seren walked into Grimmjow's room, past the fraccion that were then gathered around, gargling just like their Espada.

Ha. She almost enjoyed this.

Shut up, hormones.

But he was handsome.

I SAID SHUT UP.

It was utter silence as Espada and fraccion, and Seren, gathered in a circle, playing card games. It was an unusually intense and quiet game, but the air was tense and crackling with tension.

Grimmjow kept gurgling. He was still trying to think of something to say to Seren.

"Y-you KISSED him, the EMO BOY!" He stressed. "ULQUIORRA! I'm shocked he didn't cero you on the spot!"

"You're too mean to him," Seren replied. "Besides, it wasn't that bad." The fraccion all just cowered behind their cards as the thunderous argument between Seren and Grimmjow continued.

"WHAT THE HELL, SEREN?!" Grimmjow yelled. "He's fucking ULQUIORRA! Doesn't that MEAN ANYTHING to you?!"

"Oh shut up, you're just jealous," Kimi said, announcing her return. She was back- with Apache, Mila Rose, and Sunsun.

"Ooh, sounds like you came back with a bang," Mila Rose said. "I like that."

"She actually kissed him?!" Sunsun said, scandalized.

"Yes," Seren said, eyebrow twitching. Really, why was everyone making such a big deal about this? "And you know what else? I LIKED it! Face it, he saved me, you know it, and I owed him a thanks!"

"So you KISS him?" Apache exclaimed.

"But I saved your stupid ass too!" Grimmjow yelled back.

"Well then!" Seren yelled back. "How about this?" She got up, walked across the room, stopped in front of Grimmjow on her tip toes, grabbed his face, and kissed him hard on the lips.

Kimi looked scandalized.

D-Roy's eyes widened.

Sunsun's jaw dropped.

Apache blinked.

Shawlong looked the other way.

Mila Rose cheered.

"There? Happy now?!" Seren asked. Then, without even breaking her composure, she walked away and sat back down. "Oh yes," she said, and pulled out a card. "I believe I've won this round, lads. I have an ace."

Silence.

Grimmjow was still busy gargling, trying to find something to say to her, but not finding a swear word bad enough.

"Seren. We need to talk." Kimi grabbed her with one arm, and grabbed Mila Rose, Sunsun, and Apache with the other.

She pulled them into a separate room, shut the door tight, and rounded on Seren.

"WHAT THE HELL, SEREN?! WHAT ARE YOU ON?!" She grabbed her head and started shaking it wildly. "WHAT HAS ULQUIORRA DONE TO YOU, SEREN!?"

"Umm… I dunno… oxygen?" Seren replied, eyes spinning.

"Stop it! You'll damage her more than she already is!" Apache flicked Kimi's hands away.

Mila sat down and put her hands on Kimi's shoulders. "Honey, we need to talk. Since when did you have HORMONES?!"

Seren blinked. "Well, since I woke up, actually."

"Shit, what was Ulquiorra feeding you?" Mila Rose asked.

"I don't think he fed me anything!" Seren argued.

"I bet it was some form of that date-rape drug." Sunsun suggested to Apache, who nodded back.

Seren stood up, furious. "What the hell, you guys? I kissed him because he saved my butt! Period!"

"No," Kimi said. "I saw that look in your eye." She pointed at Seren. "The old Seren would never have done that. It was your HORMONES. You did it because Ulquiorra is… well, actually, I don't know that one… but Grimmjow is hot and he has a perfect ass!"

Everyone froze and stared at Kimi.

"Goddamn Kimi, and I thought you were the good little church girl type," Mila Rose said.

"And how would you know he had a perfect ass anyways?" Apache asked.

"Well, it's quite obvious. You can tell because-"

Seren covered Kimi's mouth. "We don't need to know," she said firmly.

"Fine," Kimi said. "But can I at least tell you about the one time I walked in on him in the shower?"

"NO!" Seren yelled. "NO MORE, Kimi. Thank you."

"Huh, fine. So he's not your type. But he has a perfect eight pack too."

Seren tried to keep that image out of her head.

"I don't get cable, I don't get cable," she muttered.

No, but you do have me. She heard Rabaeth's evil laughter in the background.

You wouldn't.

I would. Just think about it…

NO! I WON'T!