Chapter 5
Feathers
i"Remove yourself from the floor and follow me. I will not hesitate to drag you," Orihime Inoue slowly got off of the floor and made her way to the Espada. She never raised her eyes off of the floor to look at him or his stoic composure.
/i
Slowly Orihime dragged along behind Ulquiorra. His footsteps rang crisp and clear while hers were muffled by her depressed shuffling. Her dejected eyes never left the floor in front of her. She never bothered to wonder what in the world Aizen wanted to talk to her about.
There was no hint of emotion on her face or in her eyes. The only thing giving her away was her slumped, shuffling walk and dragging footsteps. After what seemed like hours, the Espada abruptly stopped, waited for Orihime to catch up (as she had fallen behind because of her page) without turning around, and continued when he felt she was close enough.
Before long, they arrived in front of Aizen's throne room. Ulquiorra knocked and entered; Orihime followed.
"Ah, my dear Orihime! I do hope you have been faring well here in Las Noches," Aizen Sosuke smiled saccharinely. Orihime, who had lifted her eyes to look him in the eyes, nearly gagged on the mendaciousness that was rolling off of him in waves. Even she, naïve as she was, did not have to be told to know that this man told nothing but lies.
iDo not trust him,/i she warned herself. Orihime knew that if she began to believe him, she would be misled and used. She did not glance at Ulquiorra as he turned to leave the room without further notice.
"Please, take a seat," Aizen Sosuke motioned nonchalantly at the huge white table in front of him, line with chairs on each side. Orihime noticed for the first time that this must be the room where the Espada held meetings with him.
So she would not seem discourteous, Orihime took a seat two chairs down from where Aizen sat. Aizen pretended not to notice the distance between them and began to speak.
"I have a very important task for you, Orihime…"
iAt the same time…/i
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" Ichigo screamed as he clung to the back of a giant worm, heading towards Las Noches.
"Get off of me!" Ichigo yelled. Pesche was stepping on Ichigo's head.
"You hurt Bawabawa's feelings!" Pesche continued stomping on the substitute Shinigami's head.
"Um… I don't think you should do that," Chado said.
Ishida Uryuu pretended to ignore the scene happening in front of him. Instead he focused on the castle in the distance.
"That must be Las Noches," at Ishida's statement, Pesche hopped off of Ichigo and climbed on top of Bawabawa's head to get a better look.
"Wahhh!" Dondochakka began cry when Ichigo grabbed him and began yelling at him.
"Teach your friend some manners! You don't stomp on someone's head for no reason at all!"
"B-b-but you called Bawabawa a 'thing'," Dondochakka's tears and cries increased. Ichigo let go of him and clenched his fists, resisting the urge to punch the two idiots he was now forced to deal with.
iHow the hell did I get stuck with these two?/i Ichigo fumed. He really regretted asking them for help. His anger quickly subsided when he saw the little girl who was friends with the two idiots looking out across the sand with an unreadable expression. Ichigo wasn't the only one who noticed.
"Nel-chan! What is it?" Pesche bounded over to her side, crouching down until he was right in her face.
"Huh?" Neliel snapped out of it when Pesche's nose was pressing against hers. "It's nothing!"
A genuine smile spread across Nel's lips.
iShe seems rather odd, /iIshida pondered where the three of them came from. They were obviously not normal hollows, but they definitely couldn't be Espada. The partially removed mask on Neliel proved that she was an arrancar, but what about her two friends?
iWell, no use pondering over that, I guess, /iIshida shook his head and turned his attention to the castle. It seemed to be just as far away as it had been five minutes ago. Ishida's quick mind jumped to a conclusion.
"No way…"
"Hmm?" Chado and Kurosaki turned their heads to look at the Quincy.
"That castle must be enormous. It seems as if we aren't drawing closer at all," Ichigo frowned, realizing Ishida was right.
Their pondering thoughts were suddenly interrupted.
"Yo," a familiar red-headed Shinigami appeared as if out of no where; at his side was another black-haired Shinigami.
"Rukia! Renji!" Ichigo exclaimed. "What the hell are you doing here? How did you find us? Didn't old man Yamamoto forbid you to help me save Orihime?"
Renji rolled his eyes, "We couldn't let you go off an kill yourself on this suicide mission."
"Orihime is our friend just as much as she is yours, Ichigo," Rukia simply replied. Ichigo shook his head. No matter how many times things like this happened, it never ceased to amaze him that his friends were ready and willing to help him, no matter how desperate the situation may seem.
iAnd in the walls of Las Noches…/i
Orihime's mind was functioning a mile a minute. What exactly had just happened back there? Why had Aizen Sosuke trusted her to that extent? Or ihad/i he really trusted her? Was there some secret motive behind his actions?
Unlike the sluggish, depressed pace Orihime had set on her way to Aizen's throne room, her pace now was crisp and clear, matching Ulquiorra's. Ulquiorra was taking Orihime back to her room after her meeting with Aizen, though it seemed as if he was ignoring her and pretending he were walking through Las Noches alone.
It seemed like mere seconds before they arrived in Orihime's chambers.
"I will return shortly with your meal," This was the only action, verbal or physical, that Ulquiorra had shown to acknowledge her existence. Orihime barely nodded in acknowledgment, unknowingly mirroring his stoic face and behavior; without another word, Ulquiorra turned and left, leaving Orihime to her thoughts.
Shortly afterwards, just like he had said, Ulquiorra returned with a tray of food for her. He said nothing as he entered her chambers, set the food down, and left again. Orihime was not hungry and ignored the food. She had crossed the point of caring what her captors thought of her. It did not matter to her anymore if they thought of her as ungrateful. Plus, she was so caught up in her thoughts and speculations, she continued to fail to know the familiar forms or reiatsu drawing steadily nearer…
iMeanwhile, on the back of a giant worm…/i
The rather large group now sat in a circle, pondering what their next move should be when they reached Las Noches.
Ichigo's mind wandered a lot, and he often found himself thinking about how his trio consisting of him, Chado, and Uryuu, had suddenly become a "free-for-all". His "one-man-suicide-rescue-mission" was now a "four-men-one-woman-three-hollow-and-a-giant-worm-suicide-rescue-mission."
"I think we should split up and look for Inoue," Rukia suggested.
"But what if someone gets seriously injured in a fight?" Ichigo worried.
Renji punched him and rolled his eyes, "Always so pessimistic. Ichigo! You think we can't handle something as simple as finding Orihime-san?"
Ichigo glared at Renji for punching him and then grimaced at the sky, "It's not that… It's just that these aren't the Arrancar we've been fighting. We're dealing with Espada…"
Pesche and Dondochakka nodded furiously at Ichigo's statement. Everyone else knew that Ichigo was right, but no one was able to admit that they weren't sure that they would survive a one-on-one fight with one of Aizen Sosuke's Espada.
Uryuu changed the subject for a moment, "I think we should alert Inoue that we're here to rescue her."
"But how? If we send out bursts of reiatsu, the enemy will also know that we're coming," Rukia interjected.
"How much you wanna bet they already know we're coming?" Renji argued. Everyone else looked at each other urgently, knowing Renji was probably right.
"I still don't think it's a good idea," Rukia stated, in a slightly lower tone.
"I agree with Rukia," Ichigo's statement surprised Renji and Uryuu.
"What?" They chimed.
"Inoue will know we've come to rescue her soon enough. Either one of the Espada will tell her, or she will sense our reiatsu when we are fighting," Kurosaki's well-thought out statement made sense to everyone.
"Kurosaki's right," Uryuu finally said. Everyone nodded in unanimous agreement. Their minds quickly went back to their tactics of how to infiltrate Las Noches. None of them expected how quickly the next twenty-four hours would go by, leaving them in a completely different situation than the one they were in right now.
iIn a lonely white room within the walls of Las Noches, several hours later…/i
iKurosaki-kun, Ishida-kun, Chado-kun, Renji-san, Rukia-chan… What are you doing here?/i Orihime wondered why on earth they had come to save her. Though she was naïve, she knew that her friends knew they were on a suicide mission.
She had kept herself busy following her friends' various reiatsus as they fought countless battles. Orihime cried as she felt Chado-san's reiatsu drop. Soon thereafter Rukia-chan's reiatsu disappeared as well. What was happening? Surely they hadn't lost… Or had they?
The sudden opening of her door made her jump and turn around to see who had entered her room. She was surprised to see Ulquiorra standing there.
"I see you have noticed your friends' reiatsus. There is no need for you to become excited by such a trivial fact. I am positive it has not escaped your attention that two of your companion's reiatsu have dropped dangerously low, if not completely disappeared. The fate your friend's chose cannot be hindered or altered. No matter what you do, they will die," Ulquiorra spoke in such a monotonous tone as he slowly made his way across her room until he was standing only a couple of feet away from her. Orihime's eyes filled with more tears; this time they were tears of hatred.
iWhat is this man's problem? No… he is not a man. He is a monster, a hollow./i
Before Orihime knew what she was doing, her hand pulled back and her palm came crashing down hard on Ulquiorra's cheek. The unexpected force behind Orihime's hand jerked Ulquiorra's head to the side; his eyes widened slightly with surprise. Instead of hitting her back, Ulquiorra turned on his heels and quickly left Orihime's chambers.
Orihime stared in shock at her hand. Had she really just slapped him? She internally hit herself, regretting her instinctual actions right away. Being the innocent human she was, she knew she had to apologize the next time she had the chance. For unknown reasons, a new onslaught of tears reached her eyes. Before she knew why, she crumpled into a heap on the floor and wept.
iWhy have they come to save me? I am a burden to them… and I am the reason they will all die! /iOrihime's thoughts only increased her tears.
For what seemed like hours, she cried and cried and cried. Finally, her tears ran dry and she dozed into a fitful, exhausted sleep.
Orihime Inoue woke up with a start. What was this sudden reiatsu? This familiar reiatsu…
iNo way.../i Orihime's eyes widened. iWhy would /itheyi be here? In Hueco Mundo?/i
They were there… helping to free her? Shinigami from Soul Society? But why? The all too familiar reiatsus of Kuchiki Byakuya, Zaraki Kenpachi, Kurotsuchi Mayuri, Unohana Retsu, of Isane Kotetsu steadily grew nearer to Las Noches, frightening and exciting Orihime more and more.
iAm I really going to be rescued? Am I going to be free?/i Orihime's expression continuously switched between an excited and hopeful smile and a worried frown. What price would her friends, and now Soul Society, to free her?
Hours passed. To Orihime, they seemed like years. The continuous fighting kept her on edge constantly. She couldn't stop pacing back and forth in front of the lone window in her room, staring at the backwards moon.
Her eyes suddenly widen as she felt another familiar reiatsu increased tremendously.
"Ulquiorra-san… Kurosaki-kun…" she felt a sob building in her throat, but she bit it back. Ichigo was now battling Ulquiorra… Did he even have a chance?
All too quickly her unspoken question was answered.
"No…" Orihime sank to her knees. "Kurosaki-kun… Kurosaki-kun!"
The orange-haired girl couldn't hold her tears and sobs back any longer. Her tears streamed down her face and fell off her cheeks to the carpeted floor.
Less than a minute later, Orihime's despair was interrupted when the door to her chambers was suddenly flung open with force.
"There she is," a female arrancar hissed, "pouting over her dying friends."
The arrancar's voice was mocking and pierced Orihime like a knife, only increasing the tears running down her face.
Suddenly she sinidoed over to where Orihime was crumpled on the floor and kicked her, sending the girl flying onto her back. A gasp escaped Orihime's throat when her head forcefully hit the wall behind her. Barely a split second later, her attacker kicked her again.
Orihime coughed up blood onto the white carpet.
"I think you should stop… Aizen-sama will be furious as it is," Orihime hadn't noticed the other female arrancar. A brief sigh of relief left Orihime's lips before she realized that her attacker wasn't going to let up. Feeling a sting on her cheek, her head snapped to the side as she was slapped.
"What the hell do you bitches are doing? Aizen specifically said that you should leave her alone. Just because that shit Ulquiorra is out fighting doesn't mean you can kill her while he's gone," Grimmjow was even more angry than usual.
He punched the arrancar silently standing in the background hard enough to send her flying into the wall, leaving a dent. Immediately going to Orihime's attacker, he punched her, causing her to sprawl on the floor several feet from him. Without warning, he released a Cero and killed her.
"No!" Orihime screamed. Even the life of her attacker was important to her. She quickly rushed over to the arrancar's corpse and called out, "Soten Kisshun!"
An orange transparent shield appeared above the corpse. Shortly thereafter, the dead arrancar began to reawaken. Still furious and filled with hatred, she slapped Orihime again, this time with a mixture of disgust that she had been brought back to life by the girl.
Before Grimmjow could kill her again, the arrancar ran, closely followed by her fellow female arrancar.
"Get up," Grimmjow commanded Orihime. Not wanting to further infuriate him, she immediately complied.
"There is something I need your help with," without warning, Orihime was slung over the Sexta Espada's shoulder. A split second later they were sinidoing through Las Noches. Orihime's eyes widen as she realized that they were heading towards the spot where Kurosaki-kun's reiatsu had disappeared at.
Several seconds later, Orihime found herself staring into the lifeless eyes of the boy she held so dear. For what seemed like the hundredth time that day, Orihime crumpled into the floor, crying, this time holding Ichigo's head in her lap.
"Bring him back."
"Huh?-"
"You heard me. Bring him back," Orihime stared in shock at Grimmjow Jeagerjaques.
"Don't make me say it again," Grimmjow growled.
"Hai!" Orihime quickly called out her powers, hoping and praying they would be strong enough to bring her beloved Kurosaki-kun back to life. Orihime felt a sudden pang of guilt; but as quickly as it had come, it was gone again.
iUlquiorra's POV/i
iWhat is that woman doing with the Sexta Espada?/i Ulquiorra headed back to the area where he had defeated Kurosaki Ichigo only minutes before.
iWorthless trash, /ihe thought as he remembered how easily he had killed the substitute Shinigami.
iRegular (Orihime's) POV/i
Sweat formed on her forehead as Orihime concentrated on removing the saturation of reiatsu from the hole in Kurosaki-kun's chest.
iUlquiorra's reiatsu,/i Orihime thought, sadly. Why did they have to fight? What was the point in killing each other?
Orihime sighed. The world was cruel, she knew that, yet she still dreamed that maybe things could be resolved peacefully.
She watched as the thick green and black reiatsu left the hole in Kurosaki-kun's chest, dissolving into thin air. After all the foreign reiatsu was gone, she concentrated on closing up the gaping hole in his chest and returning his lifeless corpse to life. It seemed like an eternity later that Ichigo began to stir.
"Orihime," he smiled confusedly up at her.
"Kurosaki-kun," she smiled back, joyous. "Don't move yet, I haven't finished closing your wounds from your battle with Ulqu-"
"Grimmjow Jeagerjaques, explain to me why you have kidnapped the onna, brought her here, and let her heal Kurosaki Ichigo."
Orihime gasped as she heard the all too familiar voice of her captor.
"Ulquiorra-san," she whispered inaudibly.
"Onna, get away from Kurosaki Ichigo."
Not wanting to argue with the obviously perturbed green-eyed Espada, Orihime glanced apologetically at Kurosaki-kun before standing up and walking closer to Ulquiorra.
"Wait just a minute," Ichigo suddenly spoke, finding the strength to stand up and grab Zangetsu off of the floor.
"Ichi!" An unfamiliar voice chimed. A small green-haired arrancar child appeared from the rubble that Ichigo and Ulquiorra's fight had created.
Ulquiorra stared at the child with shock (which was only obvious to Orihime).
"Let's finish this, once and for all," Grimmjow growled, ignoring the child standing there.
Orihime saw an odd gleam in Kurosaki-kun's eyes as he attacked Grimmjow.
"Kurosaki-kun!" she called out in concern. Without warning, she found herself once again flung over the shoulder of someone (this time it was Kurosaki-kun's shoulder, though). Suddenly you were set on the flat hard ground of a huge pillar Kurosaki-kun. A split second later, the green-haired child, who had been on Ichigo's other shoulder, was sitting next to you.
"I'll make you pay, Jeagerjaques," were Ichigo's only words before he attacked the Sexta Espada, who had just appeared in the sand below the pillar.
"Inoue," he called out, "Use your Shun Shun Rikka to protect Nel and yourself."
"Hai," she whispered. "Santen Kesshun."
An orange shield appeared before her, protecting herself and the child (whom she figured out was named Nel) from the flying reiatsu, sand, and debris. She tried to follow the fight between the two men, but couldn't keep up. Orihime sighed in frustration.
The two men stopped for a second as Ichigo backed up a little ways, before attacking. This time her had raised his hand to his face before attacking.
What was the change in his reiatsu? Was this what he had trained for when he was gone? But this reiatsu was so much more like…
Orihime's eyes widen at the realization.
iSo much more like Ulquiorra-san's./i she finished in her mind. iBut not just Ulquiorra-san's… it's more like Grimmjow's too.i
Puzzled by this fact, she tried to think of an explanation of why his reiatsu would change like this. She soon found her answer when Kurosaki-kun appeared in front of her.
Her eyes widened at the white and red hollow mask on his face. His eyes were those of a hollow, and reminded her of that night when Sora tried to eat her soul…
"Kurosaki-kun?" she whispered. Why was he like this?
"Inoue…" he apparently realized that his hollow powers were scaring her. "I will protect you."
Even through the hollow-eyes, Orihime saw the sincerity and determination with which Kurosaki-kun's voice rang. She forced a smile and nodded.
A split second later, Kurosaki was once again fighting.
"Why are you scared of Ichi's hollow mask? He's still Ichigo!" Nel nagged you. "You hurt Ichi's feelings. Now he's loosing! See!"
At that moment, Kurosaki-kun took an especially brutal blow.
"No… Don't die, Kurosaki-kun," Orihime whispered.
"Don't die… Don't die… iKurosaki-kun, don't die! Don't die!i" She shouted. Ichigo turned to look and saw Orihime standing there, clutching her hands to hear chest.
"You don't have to win. You don't have to fight for me anymore. Please don't die, Kurosaki-kun," Orihime begged. She didn't want him to die fighting for her.
Once again, he appeared before her.
"Thanks, Inoue," he smiled sincerely. She sighed with relief; but her relief was short lived. A second later, Ichigo was once again fighting Grimmjow.
Orihime sank to her knees, iwhy won't he listen to me?/i
A lone tear escaped her eyes. Hope filled her eyes as Kurosaki-kun had the upper hand in the fight. Grimmjow released his Zanpakutou, but still Ichigo was winning. It wasn't long before Grimmjow was dead and Ichigo was panting, blood dripping from his wounds.
To her and Ichigo's disgrace, another Espada appeared. It was the same one that had attacked her in her chambers, Nnoitra Gilga…
Ichigo was obviously exhausted and in no shape to fight another Espada.
"No!" she shrieked as the Espada was going to crush Kurosaki-kun.
"Ichi!" Nel screamed and Sonidoed to try and save him.
Orihime's eyes widened. Zaraki Kenpachi, Captain of the 11th Squad, had appeared and blocked the blow that would have killed both Ichigo and Nel.
iHe saved Kurosaki-kun… Kurosaki-kun won't die!/i
She rushed to Kurosaki-kun's side and began healing him.
iApproximately half an hour later/i
Why was it that Orihime always seemed to watch the battles? She thought of all that had happened so quickly after the battle between Kurosaki-kun and Grimmjow Jeagerjaques.
She had healed Kurosaki, expecting to be reunited with all her friends. Little did she know that Ulquiorra would appear, dragging Kurosaki-kun into a heated battle, luring him out onto the roof of Las Noches. Ishida had transported both him and Orihime to the roof of Las Noches as well.
Now the two of them were watching the two men fight from a reasonable distance, as their reiatsus were too overwhelming to be able to handle in a close proximity.
Orihime was doomed to watch her beloved Kurosaki-kun battle Ulquiorra, whom she came to realize she also cared for.
She found her mind hoping that neither of them would die.
iDon't die, Ulquiorra-san. Don't die, Kurosaki-kun./i Orihime stood there watching them fight, clutching her hands to her chest.
Suddenly, Ulquiorra (who had already released his Zanpakutou) revealed that he had a hidden power not even Aizen knew about.
"No way," Orihime heard Ishida-kun whisper as Ulquiorra transformed into a being with black bat wings, claws, black fur reaching from his feet to his stomach and on his arms, and two horns.
iI thought arrancar only had one release form! What is happening?/i
Suddenly, in a quickly flash of speed, Ulquiorra killed Kurosaki-kun, piercing him once again in his chest, creating a hole like the one before.
"Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime shrieked. For the second time that day, she rushed to his side, ignoring the dense, depressing reiatsu engulfing her. This time though, her Shun Shun Rikka were of now use. She was too worn out and too oppressed by the incredibly reiatsu coming from Ulquiorra to summon her powers.
"Kurosaki-kun! Kurosaki-kun! Kurosaki-kun!" She cried. "Kurosaki-kun! Kurosa-"
A sudden burst of ominous reiatsu was released from Ichigo. Orihime stared in shock and horror as a now completely hollowfied Kurosaki-kun stood up to attack Ulquiorra. Her mouth was hanging open in shock as she saw the strength with which he attacked Ulquiorra.
"No… Ulquiorra-san," she whispered as Kurosaki-kun tore off one of Ulquiorra's arms and legs. As hollow-Ichigo went to slice open the Espada's throat, Ishida stepped in.
"Stop it. If you do it you will no longer be human."
Without warning, Ichigo turned on Ishida, and pierced him with Zangetsu.
"No!" Orihime gasped.
With a sudden burst of strength, Ulquiorra managed to cut Ichigo's hollow mask, causing his entire hollow-self to fall to the ground. The hard hollow skin crumbled away to reveal a normal Kurosaki-kun. With a sudden burst of light, the hole in his chest closed with the help of high-speed regeneration.
Ulquiorra stared, weakened and shocked. How could a human be this powerful?
Ichigo slowly stood up and stared around. His eyes traveled over a horrified Orihime to an injured, but relieved that Ichigo was back to normal, Ishida, and a nearly dead Ulquiorra.
"Did, did I do this?" He asked, terrified of the answer he knew was coming. No one replied, confirming his thoughts.
Ulquiorra grabbed the hilt of Zangetsu, who was still stuck in Ishida's stomach, pulled him out and tossed the sword towards Kurosaki-kun.
"Let's finish this," was his simple statement.
"Did I do that to you?" Kurosaki-kun asked.
"It does not matter."
"Yes it does! Cut off my arm and leg, too! Then we'll be even!"
Ishida's protests were cut off but Kurosaki's desperate shouts.
"Please! Then we'll be even!"
"If that is what you want," Ulquiorra began approaching a horrified Ichigo.
Orihime's eyes widened further as she saw one of Ulquiorra's wings begin to crumble into the air.
"No," she whispered. Why was this happening? Why did someone always have to die?
iUlquiorra-san! Don't die!/i Orihime's mind shouted as she forced her body up off the ground to run towards the dying Espada.
"Onna…" Ulquiorra's voice contained an unknown emotion, "Are you afraid?"
"I'm not afraid," Orihime replied, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks, her voice slightly cracking.
iNo, don't die! Don't die! Not now! Not yet!/i Orihime's mind desperately cried.
"I'm not afraid," she repeated. Ulquiorra reached an arm out, trying to grab Orihime's hand before he disappeared from existence. When she returned the gesture, reaching her hand out to grab his, he felt something inside of him fall into place. He finally realized just what he had been struggling to comprehend since he met the onna. He cared for her.
Ulquiorra finally realized exactly what the onna had meant with a "heart" all those times she had talked to him about it, trying to convince him that is existed. Yet he had always denied the existence of the "heart". What he could not see, he didn't no believe in. All that changed when he realized that he was holding the onna's heart in the palm of his hand during his last seconds of life.
Unbeknownst to the two men watching, the usually stoic eyes of the Cuatro Espada contained immeasurable amounts of apologies, pain, and fear; apologies for his ignorance, the pain of death… the fear of loosing his newly found heart.
Just as his hand reached hers, it turned to dust.
iGoodbye, onna,/i the Espada though as the rest of his existence turned to dust.
"Ulquiorra-san," Orihime choked.
He was gone…