Chapter 10

Gracias Super Pareja de la Campaña Competencia ("Super Thanks Couple Campaign Competition")

Orihime couldn't believe she was doing this! Was she trying to get a bad reputation? Standing against a brick building, Orihime tried to steady her racing heart. Why did she decide to do this alone? Why did she have to do this in the first place?

This is Ulquiorra's fault! Orihime accused her new roommate with a scared expression. She squatted, holding her knees as she fought back tears of humiliation and fear. If only he was a bunny! A cute, Espada bunny! Her imagination came up with an image of a pink bunny with an Espada uniform, but no matter how cute the bunny appeared, she wanted to cry.

The only reason tears refused to fall down her face was because she had promised to help Ulquiorra. Who knew that he, of all people, would be so…easy to arouse. He was the empty Ulquiorra Schiffer, not some regular guy from her high school.

Come to think of it, Orihime thought, standing up and leaning against the building, I took in a total stranger into my home without thinking. What is wrong with me? She peered at the building across the street. There was a small, single sign above an inconspicuous black door that read "Sex Shop".

She was going to help Ulquiorra. She wasn't one to break promises. Even if it cost her, she was going to repay the debt she owed him. With these thoughts, her energy revived. She buried her foot into the ground, ready to make a dash for the shop. She wished she had Tatsuki's speed, but her breasts normally got the best of her. They were just too large to keep from bouncing.

As Orihime established her footing, her cell phone rang, its sound piercing her concentration. She panicked, scared that someone would recognize her and nearly dropping her cell phone in the process. "H-hello?" she whispered fiercely into the cell phone.

"Inoue," came Sado's voice from her phone. Orihime relaxed. "Where are you right now?"

"I'm near…Family Mart," Orihime told her friend hesitantly. She didn't feel comfortable telling him her real location. He would probably look at her with an intense look that said, "You're a pervert!" Orihime shook her head to shake away her thoughts. No, Sado wasn't that kind of person to judge.

"Your door is open," he stated.

"Huh? My door? But I locked it on the way out." Orihime recalled putting the key into the lock and hearing it click loudly before she went running for the Sex Shop.

"Ulquiorra isn't here."

"What?"

"Ulquiorra isn't here," Sado repeated nonchalantly.

"Oh, no," Orihime breathed, her body growing hot with frustration and worry. She had left him there alone, but she never guessed he would leave the apartment on his own will, especially in that condition. Ulquiorra holding the clothes against his thing flashed through Orihime's mind, causing her to blush. Why would he leave her home? And where would he go? "Sado, could you stay at my apartment for a little while? I'm going to look for Ulquiorra."

"Ok," came Sado's simple answer. Orihime relaxed slightly, knowing her friend was dependable given the situation.

"I'll be back soon."

"Ok," Sado said before hanging up, leaving Orihime with a worried expression on her face. Where could Ulquiorra have gone? It wouldn't be so hard to look for someone if he had a cell phone. Orihime turned away from the Sex Shop and took the street that led to her apartment. If Ulquiorra had left her place right after she left, she hoped to find him along the way.

Ulquiorra's flushed face flashed through her mind as she recalled his earlier…situation. How could he walk around with that to be totally seen? Then again, she never explained to him what not to do when that kind of situation arose. How could she, a girl, explain to him, a boy, that his body wanted to have sex? She felt embarrassed just thinking about it.

Still, the situation proved that Ulquiorra was a guy after all, and the things she did might arouse him in a sexual way, whether he liked it or not. If only she wasn't so naïve, she'd understand the things that set him off in that way.

Next time she saw Ulquiorra, she would have to explain it to him, and maybe, push him towards the Sex Shop. At least his non-existent reputation wouldn't get tarnished.

"Thanks Campaign!" a woman yelled out, holding up a sign that said the same thing. Many humans walked by her, ignoring her calls, but she continued to scream out at them with a desperation Ulquiorra found atrocious and alluring at the same time. The marketplace was livelier during the day than at night, and many people walked along the streets, looking into store windows and purchasing various items. From many women's bags, Ulquiorra spotted vegetables. He remembered Orihime coming home with many bags filled with the same vegetables.

Ulquiorra frowned as he recalled the incident at Orihime's home. After Orihime disappeared from his sight, he had thought that the strange sensation in his new limb would subside. To his surprise, it remained rigid, and any kind of movement felt strange to Ulquiorra. He decided to wait for her to see what kind of "help" she would give him.

He had turned on the TV, and two deer appeared on the screen. One was a mother deer and the other was a cute baby deer—even Ulquiorra couldn't deny it. At once, Ulquiorra could feel his heart melt a little bit as the two. The next moment, the deer were running and the mother deer was shot down. By what, Ulquiorra had no clue. He only felt a sense of sorrow emit from the television's story. The energy he had gained from the earlier incident faded away, especially when the baby deer frantically called out for his mother. Ulquiorra did not understand this kind of ache, but the deer's sad cry left him feeling rather sad, too. The Living World wasn't as weak as he had originally thought.

Part of the television's story concerned him. If the deer were easily killed, couldn't humans be just as easily killed? The Hollow preyed upon spiritually-strong humans. Orihime was prey. Ulquiorra hadn't liked these thoughts at all. He had already protected Orihime, yet trouble seemed to be around every bend in the Living World. Ulquiorra decided it was better to be near her than to wait needlessly near the window. Thankfully, his mysterious and rather cumbersome limb finally gave up and slackened under his mental stress, allowing Ulquiorra to move as much as he wished. So he left Orihime's home, tracing her spiritual energy towards the marketplace.

Although he didn't care about what others thought of him, he quickly noticed how many people looked at him strangely as he went on his way. He walked slowly and precisely, trying to keep his uncovered feet from becoming some human's shoe victim. Already, he had experienced what it was like to have his precious toes trampled on, and it hurt worse than he expected. Unfortunate for him, the human pressed past him without an apology and disappeared into the throngs of people. If only he could wear his strong boots from his Espada days, he thought with a slight frown.

As he walked, Ulquiorra sighted a crowd of people formed around a shop window. He couldn't see what kind of items the shop sold, but it seemed that the place was attracting many humans like flies. Out of curiosity, Ulquiorra decided to look at the sight that held everyone's interest.

In the center of the crowd, two couples stood together and a man in a black suit with a curly mustache held his stance before the couples, a microphone in his hand. "Ladies and gentleman," boomed the man, maintaining a wide, fake smile. Ulquiorra was already beginning to lose interest in him, though his tie was of an atrocious design. He wondered how anyone could possibly think that was interesting. "Now, for us to begin the—" The man suddenly struck an awkward pose that earned giggles from the crowd. "Super Thanks Couple Campaign Competition!" He grinned wider as everyone began to applaud and cheer ecstatically.

The man surveyed the crowd, a look of pride in his eyes. Ulquiorra wondered why something so mundane could garner this man's happiness. He watched to see how everything would unfold.

"In order to get the—" And again, the man struck a more awkward pose. "Super Thanks Couple Campaign Competition!" He returned to his normal stance, moving around the couples that stood in the center. "We need another couple! Just one more couple! It's not a competition unless it's between three couples!"

Ulquiorra observed the other humans with interest. In Hueco Mundo, no one really volunteered to do anything unless it was out of their own murderous satisfaction. In the Living World, it seemed that people were asked to participate in something. The man in the suit continued to coax the crowd—most of which were girls—to enter the competition, but some retorted, "We're single!"

Laughing, the man returned, "Then find yourself a man!" He turned, moving from one side of the crowd to the other. "Any man will do! Just partner up! If you and your partner win, you can split the prize!" With that, the girls in the crowd squealed and chattered excitedly, deciding what they would do if they had their male friends with them.

Ulquiorra smirked. The man in the suit was controlling the emotions of the girls to get some attention. He wasn't very tactful—after all, Ulquiorra could see right through his plan—but he was engaging. Ulquiorra decided to continue watching the commotion. If there were no volunteers, the man would be forced to do nothing about his silly competition.

Without warning, someone grasped his arm with two hands. Ulquiorra looked down to find a girl he didn't know holding him with both of her hands. Her long, brown hair and soft brown eyes reminded Ulquiorra of Orihime, but this girl was not Orihime.

"Excuse me," she said, her voice a little more high-pitched than Orihime's voice. "Could you enter this competition with me?"

"No," he replied coldly. Ulquiorra pulled his arm away from the girl's grip and turned to leave. This was already becoming troublesome.

Another girl stood in front of him. "Join me," she said forcefully, narrowing her small eyes at Ulquiorra.

"No." Ulquiorra glared at her, desiring that her body move out of his way.

Suddenly, another girl and another girl popped up around him, coaxing him with their high-pitched voices to be their partner. Ulquiorra wished he could conjure up his lance at that moment. Why did he allow himself to fall victim to such human interests like crowds anyways? Fear gripped him as he realized that the girls wouldn't simply disappear. They just surrounded him, invading his personal space and moving in with desperate cries. He wanted to use his spiritual energy to make them crumble to the ground, but he knew it would only earn him his own persecution by Orihime's troublesome friends. After all, he still wasn't sure how much spiritual energy he actually possessed.

"Ulquiorra!"

He looked up to see Orihime running toward him, worry written all over her face. Ulquiorra was never so relieved to see Orihime than at that moment. Without hesitating, Ulquiorra pushed his way out of the circle of girls. He didn't know how he was able to get through the screaming pack of girls, but he somehow managed to meet Orihime.

She gave him a reassured smile. "I'm glad I found you!" She looked around at the crowd, her grey eyes piqued with curiosity. "What's going on here?"

"Congratulations!" came a booming voice, and the man in the suit appeared before Ulquiorra and Orihime. "This couple here has just won the—" Again, the man posed awkwardly. "Super Thanks Couple Campaign Competition!"

"What?" The girls from the crowd and the two competing couples at the center of the circle all seemed astounded at what happened. Even Ulquiorra and Orihime were dumbfounded for a moment.

Only the man in the suit seemed unperturbed by the sudden decision. "You two here—the guy with the dove-like skin and the girl with the orange hair—are the winners of this competition!"

"Excuse me, sir," Orihime began, waving her hands in an attempt to pass off the man's judgment. "We didn't want to enter this competition, so please give the prize to another couple."

The man looked at Orihime with wide eyes. He seemed even more astonished than the other people in the crowd, who glowered menacingly at them. Ulquiorra knew he was right; there was trouble at every bend in the Living World. They just appeared to be normal.

Before anyone could protest, the man in the suit burst into shameful tears, grabbing Orihime's hands. "I have never met such a kind-hearted person before!" he announced boldly, making Orihime give him a forced smile. Ulquiorra didn't like how familiar this man was being with her, but he wasn't certain if he should interfere or allow the man to assault Orihime's hands.

When a few awkward moments passed, Orihime seemingly confused but kindly permitting the intrusion, the man in the suit backed away, bellowing into his microphone with obvious zeal. "I've decided! Since this young lady and gentleman have shown great restraint in being prize-hungry people, they shall receive a prize, too!" The people in the crowd became restless at the comment, immediately turning their angered eyes onto Ulquiorra and Orihime.

In spite of Ulquiorra's lack of human interaction, he could feel a dangerous aura come from the crowd of people. It wasn't a Hollow or another spiritual energy. It was simply the crowd of people who had turned on them. Even Orihime took a step back to minimize the intense fury emanating from them.

"And since everyone is being a good sport," the man in the suit interjected, "everyone here can get one free item—with the purchase of two-thousand yen, of course!" All at once, the girls screamed with excitement, confusing Ulquiorra. It seemed something good dissolved the ill will of everyone, and the good energy fueled the man to become even more boisterous. He laughed before going to the door of his store and flinging it open dramatically, allowing the crowd to scream their way into the interior. The man, within the mob of people, managed to grab Orihime's hands again and place two envelopes into it before disappearing into the sea of people.

Soon, the sidewalk emptied, leaving a perplexed Ulquiorra and surprised Orihime standing together. Humans were the strangest creatures he had ever encountered. Never had he experienced such violent changes in personality before. He would be sure to stay wary of closely-packed crowds in the future.

Next chapter: El Zapato que Cabe

Orihime notices that Ulquiorra left home without something important.

A/N: I had to put in this awkward yet funny part in. And yes, Orihime is the kind of person to think she owes someone something, even to go as far as the Sex Shop to help out a friend. Wish I had friends like her! ('_';)

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