A/N: Okay, I have several things to apologize for. Firstly, I'm sorry I didn't update sooner today, I was at the Comicon for the day (it was awesome) Secondly, I realized that I failed to explain previously that this chapter and last chapter are two halves of what was really a SINGLE chapter, so for those of you who thought it cut off abruptly…. That's because it did. Sorry!

Anyways, thanks for all the reviews, and for reading this. I hope you guys enjoy!

Nihilism (part 2)

"Others realized that I was different from them more quickly than I realized it myself. Nearly the instant I left my birthplace, I found that I had a voice, though I still knew no words. When I tried to communicate with the first humans I encountered, they took fright at my appearance and attacked me," Ulquiorra's voice had risen above a murmur, although his tone was still low enough that Orihime almost had to strain to hear it.

"Why would they be afraid? I've felt your face…. It is not unpleasant, far from it actually, and the scars on your face don't seem scary," Orihime wondered out loud.

"You could not know this, for you lack sight, but I am colored strangely in comparison to others," he said flatly, "My skin is as white as the snow and my hair is as black as pitch, but that in and of itself is not entirely alarming," there was a sound as Ulquiorra shifted slightly, "My eyes are what frighten them. They are as green as a polished emerald or fresh leaves in the spring. The centers are not round like they should be, but rather, form slits like a snake or cat… This is what frightens people so… also, the marks upon my face are not scars. I was born with them; they are dark lines upon my colorless skin."

Orihime had been puzzled as to why green eyes would scare people at all, for after all, her own eyes had been blue once upon a time. But if his eyes were snakelike, it was different… she herself had never judged upon appearance alone, but for many people, a man with white skin and demons' eyes was a specter.

"They attacked," he continued after a moment of blank emptiness, "and I found myself to be stronger than they… nay, at the time I thought them terribly weak. But I know now that I am stronger than that trash. After a time, I was alone again, the previous inhabitants having been driven out or killed in their attempt to rid themselves of me. I never used my voice, for without words there was nothing to use it for. I did not understand them, and they did not understand me. I reveled in the silence and loneliness….

"But after that, a group from the shogun's castle came, samurai in their own right, who wielded blades of what seemed to me to be ice… the cuts I received were all at once filled with hellfire and packed with snow, burning and stinging. My own blood painted the earth red, although I did not fail in bringing quite a few of them to earth myself. Finally they were all dead, and I fell. I thought that I would not rise again and that all at once angered me and comforted me. To be brought down when I had barely come to life, and by a group of weak humans no less… I was furious. But at the same time, I had always sought nothing. What could be more hollow than death itself? I had always looked for my own form of peace, to be left alone by all things. If death could not bring me that, I did not know what could.

"Hours passed, and I felt that I must die very soon, for I could not move, and the blood that had rushed from my wounds had slowed to a thin trickle, as if I had bled dry. I had already resigned myself, for if I ever survived, what then, would await me? I had no reason to live. I faded into oblivion… but through it I heard a voice speaking. Strangely, I understood, thought no language had ever been spoken to me up to that time. It said 'Do you want to return to life?' I said nothing, but my intentions were clear. I found later that it was Aizen-sama who had spoken to me, and he who had brought me back as the fourth member of his following… he and two others, Ichimaru Gin and Kaname Tosen lead us. Aizen-sama gave me a reason to live, and so I served him… once he died I left the others, for they were fools, and no one should have dominion over me," He stopped there, and waited for her reaction. When the woman said nothing, he grew impatient, and asked, "Does my answer not satisfy you, woman?"

"That is a very sad story…" she said at length.

"You say that of me often," he intoned, "I do not understand why you should care, or why you would feel any emotion at all upon hearing of something that does not affect you."

"Everything affects someone else… But that's not what I came to talk about," Orihime said firmly, "I've decided that no matter what has happened in your past, I'm going to treat you based on what I know you to be since I have met you. If I treat you based on your past, then I am no better than the villagers who patronize me for what happened. You've done the same for me, and not treated me any differently because I'm blind… and you know, I believe you've changed since your brigand days."

"Men do not change what is in their hearts… only what mask they decide to wear for the rest of the world," Ulquiorra said quietly.

"Perhaps," Orihime replied, "but if one wears a mask often enough, it becomes his true face."

And this she spoke from experience.

…..

"You look tired, Ichigo," Tatsuki commented, coming upon her red haired childhood friend as he slumped against the front wall of his forge talking to Sado, "Hey Chad," she greeted with a smile.

"Hell yeah I'm tired," Ichigo groaned, "That damn demon brought some pals of his into the shop… not that I mind extra business, but these weirdos were pushy and I had to work faster than normal. I haven't recovered yet… That guy really is a demon, in both personality and body. A real jerk, ya know? Ulquiorra treated the others like dirt, but I could tell they knew each other pretty well because the woman-"

"Wait, demon? Ulquiorra? What?" Tatsuki interrupted. Ichigo shot her an annoyed look, his frown deeper than usual.

"Hm," Chad nodded.

"The demon Ulquiorra, sometimes known as Horobito or Nakiotoko, came to my shop and requested that I repair a blade," Ichigo explained slowly, as if speaking to a stupid child, "Then five other devils showed up and ordered three blades. Ulquiorra met up with three of them in the store while picking up his weapon and invited them to stay at his house until the swords were finished. I thought it would give me time to work, but that creepy tall guy came every day to stand outside… it freaked me out."

"Ulquiorra…. A demon?" Tatsuki repeated, dumbstruck. Ichigo straightened and put his hands on his hips, his rolled up sleeves coming a bit unraveled as he did so.

"Tatsuki, have you seen that guy? There's nothing else he could be. He's got eyes like a cat, weird marks on his face, and skin the color of sunbleached bones,"

"Hm," Chad confirmed.

The implications of this slammed into Tatsuki like a ton of bricks.

"The man that Orihime has been going to see…." She choked, "She called him Ulquiorra. And said that there were five others in his house when she went to see him before."

"What?" Ichigo said sharply, "You're sure?"

"Positive…" Tatsuki worried, biting a thumb nail nervously.

"Where is she right now?" the redhead barked.

"With him, I think."

"We'll have to tell her… I'm sure she doesn't know," Ichigo said lowly.

Tatsuki and Chad nodded in agreement.

…

Orihime was slipped into Tatsuki's house, blowing on her fingers, stiff with cold. Ulquiorra had walked her back to the edge of the forest, so half her body was warm from where she had linked arms with him, but her ears, nose, and outer extremities felt like blocks of ice.

"Tatsuki-chan?" she called, feeling along the wall to find her way into the next room, "Are you home?"

"Hey," the voice that called the greeting in a rough, tired voice startled her.

"K-Kurosaki-kun!" she cried, jolting, "I didn't know you were- I mean I just didn't expect-" She was cut off by a loud squeal and a jarring impact as Chizuru threw herself into Orihime's arms.

"Hime~!" the pink haired girl cried happily, "You're back!"

There was a shuffle as Tatsuki stepped out of the kitchen bearing tea and a small amount of food to share.

"Oh, Orihime, welcome back," Tatsuki smiled, "We missed you while you were out."

"Why is everyone here?" the redheaded girl asked her friend.

"Actually, Inoue, we had something to talk to you about," Ichigo said a bit grimly.

"We did?" Chizuru pouted, "I didn't know about this,"

"That man that you've been going to see…" Tatsuki sighed, "Hime, he's… well, I don't know, don't you get nervous around him? Even just a little bit?"

"Tatsuki," Orihime said with an edge to her voice, "You're the one who told me not to judge him harshly; I went to talk to him, and I have heard his story. I've decided that he's not like all the others."

"You know what he is, then?" Ichigo asked her, surprise in his voice, "And you still go…"

"Orihime, I want you to stop seeing someone… no, something like him," Tatsuki told her sharply. Orihime whipped around, silver eyes glinting.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but you had better be nice. He's not a thing, he's a person. Why would you even say something like that?" she sniffed, and had she been able, tears would have leaked from her eyes.

"Don't make my Hime cry!" Chizuru defended valiantly, hugging her friend close to her, receiving a watchful glare from Tatsuki.

"She doesn't know," Ichigo's voice had again acquired its exhausted tones.

"Know what?" the girl in question yelled furiously, stamping her foot in frustration. Her friends were talking in circles.

"Orihime, listen to me," Tatsuki demanded, "Ulquiorra is a demon. The demon. The Morobito, the Nakiotoko, whatever you want to call him. The thing that you go to see isn't human, not even close."

There was a brief pause as Chizuru's eyes grew wide with shock and fear, and then a clatter as she ran from the room, snatching her sandals as she went, reaching to throw open the door.

"Hey-!" Ichigo yelled, grabbed for her as she ran past to the door, but the pink haired woman eluded him, fleeing out the open door, "That's going to cause us some trouble, with that blabbermouth on the loose."

"So?" Orihime asked flatly, "Does it matter? Should it matter?"

"Inoue, demons aren't like us. They're stronger, faster, they hate our kind… From what I've seen, Ulquiorra is heartless," Ichigo told her, "He called his own comrades by number rather than name."

"It explains a lot, if he is a demon, but I don't care," Orihime's voice had softened, and she sat down calmly, "If he is stronger and faster, it doesn't matter to me, and if he hates us… with what humans have done to him, he has every right. I still…"

"Orihime…."

"I still love him."