Chapter 8

El Principe Despierta ("The Prince Awakens")

Ulquiorra's eyes slowly opened, adjusting to the light that came from the windows. He blinked a few times, his mind rising from the tendrils of sleep, while his eyes finally focused. He was in Orihime's bedroom again covered by her blankets in her bed. The room was free of sound, and Ulquiorra relaxed against the calm silence.

Moving his hand from beneath the covers, Ulquiorra pressed a hand against his covered chest. He recalled being cut by the Hollow, but he didn't feel any pain. It was likely that Orihime healed him with her abilities shortly after the battles.

Though Ulquiorra wanted to feel gratitude for being healed, another emotion rose in his fragile human body. The moment he reached his hand out to her, Orihime Inoue had become imprinted in his mind. No one else could fill that space except her. Anyone else, and Ulquiorra would have allowed the Hollows to eat them.

What was it about Orihime Inoue that made him take action? In Hueco Mundo, it was her heart. In the Living World, it was her heart. Was it always her heart and he never realized it?

What was it?

"Ulquiorra!" The sound of Orihime's voice made Ulquiorra to glance at the bedroom entrance just as she opened the door. Orihime's smiling face brought Ulquiorra back to reality, and for a moment, he felt relieved she was her usual self. "Ulquiorra, are you hungry? I'm making dinner right now."

He pointed at his chest to indicate where the Hollow cut him. "Did you heal me?"

Orihime nodded, her smile widening with pride. "Yup! But that was two days ago!"

Ulquiorra could only stare at her, but part of him wanted to ask more questions. A part of him was filled with too much pride to bring up any strange inquiries. However, something was making him feel anxious. He realized with a serious guise the almost painful feeling that came from the lower part of his body. Something needed to get out of him. He just didn't know what.

"Did you put something inside of me?" Ulquiorra questioned, turning Orihime's happy guise into a perplexed one.

"No, I didn't," she answered, bringing an anxious finger to her mouth and thinking. "Do you feel strange?"

Ulquiorra sent Orihime a glare. "There is something wanting to get out of my body," he stated as simply as possible. He knew how easily embarrassed Orihime became whenever he brought up any…anything. Instead, he chose his words more precisely in order to avoid any more wasted time. He was aware of something pushing out of the lower part of his body. "It is not food I desire."

Orihime tilted her head, even more perplexed. "I don't get it," she replied with a blank expression. "Something wants to get out of your body and you're not hungry? What could it be…" Her voice trailed off, and her eyes grew wider suddenly. "Do you need to use the toilet*?"

Ulquiorra lifted an eyebrow, uncertain of how to react to her question. "What is this toilet you speak of?"

With his inquiry, Orihime's face became red, confirming that the said "toilet" was indeed something embarrassing for her. Whatever it was, Ulquiorra was sure she would have trouble explaining it without stuttering or rambling incoherently.

"Well, uh…" Orihime began, proving his thoughts true. "It's a place one goes to for…relief."

Now Ulquiorra was perplexed. "Relief of what?" Ulquiorra questioned, the strange feeling turning into a burning sensation. He tried to push it back down, but the sensation didn't dissipate.

Orihime laughed nervously, oblivious to his pain. "I guess you wouldn't know what a toilet is, right?" Ulquiorra pinned her with a hard gaze, making her more flustered. She released another nervous chuckle. "I don't really know how to explain this to you." She snapped her fingers suddenly, her face brightening up. "I'll just show you!"

Ulquiorra followed her out of her bedroom, the sensation easing only slightly. It seemed that walking briskly reduced the pain. She opened a door in the middle of kitchen that he had overlooked. Smiling, Orihime waved him inside. To his dismay, he found it to be a tiny room with only a white, glassy chair in the middle of it. How was a chair meant to bring relief to a person?

When he glanced back at Orihime, she leaned into room and pointed at white chair with a meek smile. "That is a toilet. You stand over it, lift the lid, pull down your pants, and, um," she stated, turning a darker shade of red, "let what's down there into the water." As if she wanted to save herself from embarrassment, Orihime quickly shut the door with an anxious, "Do your best**!"

Ulquiorra stared at the toilet, contemplating how to decipher Orihime's rather vague instructions. So, this was the toilet that she spoke of earlier. Should he just follow her instructions, and the sensation would disappear? The urgency to release the tension in his pants became strong, and Ulquiorra decided it was better to follow the instructions than to pay a price that he was certain would come.

Standing over the chair and lifting its white lid, Ulquiorra found water in the bowl. This must have been the water that Orihime told him about. Ulquiorra performed the next instruction, taking a hold of his pants from the sides and sliding them to the floor. By doing so, he discovered another limb to his lithe body that he never noticed before. It was small but it was slightly hard with a rounded head at the tip. Touching it gingerly, Ulquiorra realized that the new limb was sensitive to touch.

He looked at the water. "Let what's down there into the water." As soon as he recalled Orihime's words, the tension in his new limb broke, and to his surprise, a yellow liquid rushed out of its tip. He watched with amazement, feeling his body relax while the yellow water stained the clear water. He wondered if this new limb was as functional as his arms and legs. To his dismay, the new limb hardly moved as much on its own, but he could control where the yellow liquid went. Using his new found muscle, he navigated the liquid towards the center of the water, being sure not to splash the sides of the white bowl. For a long time, the liquid ran until Ulquiorra saw that the limb refused to push out any more.

"Are you done?" called out Orihime from the door. She was probably standing guard at the door in order to make sure his "relieving" was going well. "If you're done, you grab that handle on the side of the toilet and push it."

Ulquiorra followed her instructions, noticing a metal handle sticking out of the side of the toilet. He pushed it with his finger, but it did nothing. Perplexed, he tried it again, and this time, the handle gave away a little bit. He heard a loud sound from inside the chair as clear water rushed into the bowl from a mysterious source. The yellow water swirled inside into the hole at the bottom of the bowl until the clear water had replaced it, the toilet quickly becoming calm and quiet.

What happened to the yellow water? thought Ulquiorra, staring down at the white chair. Did the chair suck it away? Was he feeding the chair? Out of curiosity, he pushed the handle again, and the water disappeared into the hole again.

The Living World was truly strange to him.

Next chapter: El Principe Practicante

Thanks to lack of sleep, Orihime makes a funny decision for Ulquiorra.

*In Japan, there are two separate rooms, so if you refer to the bathroom, it's literally a room for bathing and/or showering. A toilet is a better description for the, well, toilet.

**Although in English, a person would say, "Good luck!" in Japanese, people say a conjugated form of ganbaru, which translates to "Do your best!" It's normally in these situations that you'll hear this word.

A/N: I thought it would be interesting to put in a chapter about Ulquiorra's lack of knowledge regarding the Living World. What do you think? Did I capture the "glassy, white seat" well enough?