Chapter 3

La Princesa Pensativa y El Principe Prudente ("The Pensive Princess and the Prudent Prince")

"Orihime!"

The call pulled Orihime back to reality. She saw the broom in her hands, the specks of dirt slowly trying to make its escape from the broom's former wrath. Orihime caught them before the wind carried them away.

"You'll get scolded if you daydream too long," Tatsuki said, a dust pan in her hand. The dark-haired girl held it down as Orihime swept the dust into the pan. Although Orihime busied herself with the sweeping, she knew that Tatsuki was worried. Again, Orihime was noticeably late to school and earned herself an extra afternoon cleaning chore. Thankfully, Tatsuki came to her rescue and volunteered to help her out. Tatsuki's kindness wasn't lost on Orihime. She was only being this helpful in trade for her friend's true thoughts. Something was on her mind, and Orihime wasn't good at hiding it.

Tatsuki dumped the dust into a nearby trash can before turning to her friend with a scowl on her face. "Are you gonna tell me what's on your mind or not?"

For a moment, Orihime considered telling her friend everything, but she decided against it. She didn't want to bring anything up about Ulquiorra until she was certain how he had come into the Living World. Until then, Orihime felt it was best to keep the truth from Tatsuki.

With the resolve in her heart, Orihime smiled and scratched her head. "Maybe I watched too much TV last night, so I feel a bit strange!"

Tatsuki immediately flicked Orihime's forehead, making the girl hold her head in pain. "Didn't I say not to do that?"

"I'm sorry…"

"Well, what's done is done." Tatsuki glanced at her watch, her eyes growing big. "It's almost five!" Grabbing her bag from the floor, she turned on her heel to leave. "My teacher will kill me!"

Orihime's eyes widened. "Oh, I'm late, too!"

Tatsuki glared at Orihime. "TV?"

Once again, Orihime had to tell a lie. "Un!"

And Tatsuki flicked her forehead. "Idiot! Learn your lesson already." With a wink, Tatsuki left the room. Tatsuki's presence faded into the distance, allowing Orihime to hurriedly finish her tasks. She returned to her heavy thoughts, trying to sort through all that Ulquiorra told her.

"I do not remember very much from before I woke up in the park. The place I was in, I could not see anything. I could not feel anything. All of my senses did not exist. I could not think. There was only darkness.

When I awakened, I was in the park. I walked out of the park and a Hollow attacked me in the marketplace. Simply put, I cannot remember the time between the fight in Hueco Mundo and waking up in the park."

It was simple enough to understand, but Orihime was still confused. How could a destroyed Espada in Hueco Mundo suddenly come to the Living World? As usual, she felt so lost.

It seemed that the sun had grown tired of being in the sky, and slowly, it drifted downwards in the distance. Ulquiorra wanted to see if the sun would transform into the white moon. He wasn't knowledgeably in how the Living World's system worked. In Hueco Mundo, it was day for a short time, and then the night would appear with the moonlight shining over the sand dunes.

To Ulquiorra, life continued in a strange manner in the Living World. Looking outside of the window, he stole glimpses into humans' lives. In the morning, when the sun first appeared, he saw an older man run down the street in a black suit that made a strange sound, like running water. Sweat poured down the man's old face as he ran by, huffing and puffing. When the sun was high in the sky and the air became warm, Ulquiorra watched more humans walk by the apartment.

It seemed that everyone lived in their own shell, trying to be less mortal than the other humans around them. The women carried bags of green things, the children played and pushed each other until someone cried for their mother, and the men rushed by in their black suits that didn't make any sounds.

Ulquiorra looked down at them with what he identified as curiosity. Who were they? Why did they exist in such simple, weak shells? What was their purpose, if only to supply Hollows with spiritual energy and die to become Soul Society's new citizens?

Somehow, he recognized something about humans. He felt the feeling grow within him, within what was left of his chest, as he fought Kurosaki in Hueco Mundo. The battle they waged gradually wore him, a creature of logic and indifference, into believing in more than a power he conjured from within his Espada body. From the recesses of his soul, he understood a thing such as a heart. His mask was evidence of once possessing one, yet, he felt no obligation to comprehend its meaning or purpose. When his life began to disappear, a fragment of realization emerged, and he reached his hand out to Orihime.

Humans have hearts, he thought, watching a young woman walk her dog in the fading orange light of the sun. She laughed as the dog ran in front of her, its tongue hanging out of its mouth gleefully. Humans have souls. If for any other purpose, at least humans were the originators of the soul. Humans died and became spirits in Soul Society or Hollows in Hueco Mundo. They powered the Hollows who became Arrancar and Espadas, and they were protected by Soul Reapers. He thought of how all of the worlds—the Living World, Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, the Precipe Space—all revolved around one thing, one thing that first came from humans: souls.

Ulquiorra touched his chest, which was covered by Orihime's brother's shirt. Do I have a soul now? Since he was human, it was possible that he had obtained a soul. But this conclusion seemed to feel wrong to him. It wasn't that as an Espada, he had no soul. What he had before he still had at that moment. He had always had a soul. The moment he didn't have a soul, his time as a Hollow and Arrancar and Espada and a human again would not had happened. His soul, a unique part of being a spiritual entity, had the ability to transcend borders and worlds. If he thought of it this way, he recognized the importance of humans. He understood why they pranced around during the day in their little, weak shells.

The door to the apartment opened, signaling Orihime's arrival to her home. He heard her take off her shoes. "Ah!" Ulquiorra decided to check on her. With that woman, who knew what in the world would happen if she were left to her own devices. Already that morning, he had witnessed her fall headfirst onto the apartment landing because she was in a rush to dash out of the apartment without her shoes. The night before, a bunch of ill-placed pots and pans crashed down on her from an overhead cupboard. It was her who made Ulquiorra uncertain about humans' future in the Living World.

When Ulquiorra entered the kitchen, Orihime's eyes were narrowed at him as if she were angry. "Did you do all this?" She waved her hand at the entire kitchen area. There were candy wrappers and rice ball wrappers all over the floor. Opened bottles of ketchup, mayonnaise, and liquid chocolate were scattered along the small countertop.

Ulquiorra stared at her. "This was your doing, woman." He wondered what face she would make this time. Was it one that he knew? Fortunate for him, Orihime's eyes widened for a moment before she understood the meaning of his words. Quickly, her expression showed one of confusion.

"I…did this?"

Ulquiorra nodded. "Last night."

"Last night…I…did this?" Orihime's hand went to her head. She gave him a weak smile. "Ah! It must've been last night, right? Then I guess I was sleep walking again!"

"Sleep…walking?" Ulquiorra didn't know what that meant. He only remembered Orihime going to the kitchen in the middle of the night and making a lot of noise. It wasn't any of his concern to figure out what she was doing, but he guessed she was eating. When she returned to her bed, there was chocolate around her mouth and pieces of rice stuck to her shirt. Her eyes, which Ulquiorra noticed from his place in the corner of the room, were almost shut. It seemed strange at the time, but then again, most things about Orihime were strange.

Orihime began to pick up the wrappers on the floor. "Sometimes, I sleep walk and sleep eat. It doesn't happen too often, so you don't need to worry."

Ulquiorra watched her push the trash into a plastic bag and place the bottles in the refrigerator. Although she seemed bright and happy, he couldn't understand her. At least in Hueco Mundo, the only thing he had to deal with was giving her meals and making sure she was alive. But everything was different in the Living World. She was still living like she was waiting for someone to save her, someone to help her. Ulquiorra wasn't too good at these things. After all, his needs used to be the will of another's, and so, she wasn't of much use to him in reality. Now that he was human, he needed her—but he still felt like he should be taking care of her. Just her lack of self-control and her constant forgetfulness made Ulquiorra wonder if she had the capabilities to assist him.

Still, Ulquiorra needed the support, and in turn, he thought that he could try his best to adjust to his new human life. He couldn't help it. As a human, he was more sensitive to these thoughts. His actions needed to follow suit as well, he decided.

Next chapter: La Cuidadora Descuidada y Compania

Orihime and Ulquiorra have a misunderstanding, amongst other things.

A/N: Right now, I'm working on writing this fanfiction without using so much Japanese. Instead of using reiatsu, I've opted for the loose English translation, "spiritual energy". For other words, such as words ingrained in Japanese culture like clothing, I'll keep them in the writing.