bChapter 8
Lunar Return/b
iOrihime Inoue skipped home, ignoring the looks that she (always) got from passing strangers as she greeted them with a big, genuine smile.
"Oh, no…" Orihime realized she had left her door open and unlocked. Running the last few meters to her door, she ran inside.
Just as she rounded the corner into the kitchen, she saw a clean kitchen floor. There were no traces of the glass anywhere, except…
There was a shadow holding a now empty dustpan and broom. He had frozen when he heard Orihime enter her apartment.
"Onna," it sounded like a whisper to Orihime, but the voice was unmistakable.
Orihime crumbled to her knees, "Ulquiorra-san…"/i
He did not move an inch. He did not blink. Ulquiorra Cifer just stared at the woman, emotions dancing across his eyes for a split second before he realized how pathetic this was and his face returned to the same stoic composure that trademarked him. His eyes ran over every inch of her, noticing her bandaged arms and hands, and the dark circles under her eyes.
iHe's alive! He's not dead… Ulquiorra-san is alive!/i Orihime's mind was overjoyed by this newly found truth.
She felt as if she couldn't breathe, as if she were frozen in time.
Neither of the two moved, neither of them spoke a word. After what seemed like days of just staring at each other, Orihime broke the silence.
"B-but I thought you were… Didn't you… Kurosaki-san, he…"
Ulquiorra still did not speak, keeping his usual calm manner; after all he had never been one to break a silence, and his newly found heart didn't change that fact. Orihime knew Ulquiorra would not speak about the matter, probably because he himself did not know exactly what had happened to him; but as it was, she did not want to break the silence between them either. She wanted to stay in this moment forever; she wanted the peaceful, happy silence between them to last.
"Inoue-san!" a frenzied Quincy burst through Orihime's open apartment door and skidded to a stop.
"Inoue-san… why are you sitting on the floor?" Orihime sighed with relief. Apparently Ishida-kun couldn't see the faint ghost outline of Ulquiorra.
"I'm sorry, I came home and…" Orihime promptly stood up, embarrassed.
Inside realized that Orihime felt uncomfortable with the fact that she was vulnerably sitting on her kitchen floor when he burst into her apartment unannounced.
"Kurosaki's dad call my father and he told me what happened to you… are you alright?"
"Hai!" Orihime nodded with genuine sincerity.
"Oh, okay. Well then, I guess I'll talk to you later? Should I call to check on you later tonight?" Ishida still couldn't help but feel that something was off about her…
"Oh no! You don't have to go to the trouble and call me! I'll be fine. Besides, we have school tomorrow," Orihime smiled a saccharine smile.
Deciding that Inoue-san didn't want to talk about it, Ishida nodded, apologized for barging in, and left.
iWhy couldn't he see Ulquiorra-san?/i Orihime wondered. Deciding to ignore the fact, she turned her attention back to the miracle at hand. Ulquiorra was alive and in her apartment.
She looked at him and noticed that he had set the dustpan on the kitchen counter and was now leaning against the wall. Orihime wondered why he hadn't spoken a word to her yet.
iWhat is it about this woman that makes me loose who I have built myself to be over the past centuries as an arrancar? I was certain that emotions and a so called "heart" were just human hindrances./i
The Cuatro Espada had always strived to seek out knowledge. He had always longed to know all there is to know, thinking that this form of intelligence would clear up the mystery of the human heart. Yes, he despised most humans, labeling them "trash", casting them aside without a second glance. Yes, he thought of emotions as unnecessary and handicapping; but this onna, whom he knew to be extremely gentle and caring (even for her enemies), had cracked, if not completely shattered, the until know invincible wall of knowledge and reason he, Ulquiorra Cifer, had strived so long to build.
Ulquiorra Cifer also despised being pitied. He despised it along with being weak, vulnerable. Knowing that at the moment, Ulquiorra seemed to be pitied by the woman, which in turn made him feel weak and vulnerable, the Espada decided to deter Orihime Inoue's thoughts for the time being.
"Onna, what have you done to your arms?" He spoke in his unwavering, monotonous voice. Orihime lowered her eyes, ashamed that she was being chided slightly by him, but immediately perking up and smiling embarrassedly.
iHe's talking to me!/i Orihime couldn't have been happier. i But now I have to explain my injuries to him…/i
Orihime internally groaned at the thought, knowing that it had been her own clumsy fault.
"Well, I was making myself something to eat and then I dropped a glass of mushrooms and then I sliced my finger cleaning the glass up. Then I decided to get a dustpan and broom and when I found it I tripped over some boxes and…"
Orihime rambled on and on, visibly irritating Ulquiorra. Seeing this she stopped and smiled sheepishly.
iWhat a clumsy human this (my) onna is,/i Ulquiorra unknowingly softened his eyes to reveal the layers upon layers of concern and worry that had been hidden behind his unbreakable mask. The Espada was overly conscious of the strange feeling inside of his chest, that continued to build up.
It did not take long for him to drop his guard completely and let his heart take over, even if it was for the tiniest fraction of a second.
Before Orihime could comprehend what was happening, Ulquiorra was standing in front of her. Slowly he lifted a hand and raised her chin up to look into his eyes.
Orihime took a deep breath, mesmerized by the Espada's deep, green eyes.
"Why did you not call your Shun Shun Rikka to heal you, onna?" Orihime's eyes widened with embarrassment, and then narrowed.
"I wasn't thinking too clearly after slicing my finger open, breaking one arm, and spraining the other," Orihime's eyes widened, this time with shock, at her outburst. She quickly brought her hands to her mouth and apologized.
"Sorry, Ulquiorra-san…" Orihime whispered.
iWhy do I feel a bolt of excitement every time she calls me "Ulquiorra-san"?/i
"Onna…" Orihime raised her eyes, which she had cast towards the floor, to meet Ulquiorra's green ones.
"Hai, Ulquiorra-san?" The Espada felt the familiar excitement coursing through him for a split second.
"Why do you call me that?"
"Call you want?" The onna was puzzled. This slightly annoyed Ulquiorra, though he didn't let Orihime see this.
"Why do you call me 'Ulquiorra-san'? Do you consider me a…" Ulquiorra searched for the proper word, "friend?"
The word felt strange and foreign to his tongue. He had never been a 'friend' to anyone, and he had never been considered a friend by any other being, whether human or hollow.
Orihime felt a slight pang of disappointment. iWhy am I disappointed… could it be that I truly do… favor Ulquiorra-san?/i
Orihime smiled, trying to hide her slightly downcast mood, "Yes, Ulquiorra-san. You are my friend."
Ulquiorra felt a surge of adrenaline as the onna spoke these words. iBut why does she frown? Did I say something wrong? Did…/i
"I just…" Orihime interrupted his thoughts, "I… nevermind."
"What is it, Onna?" Ulquiorra remembered the melancholic expression Orihime had had the second before.
"It's nothing," she lied.
"No, it is not nothing. You would not have turned your lips down to a frown if something had not been wrong."
iWhy do I care that this onna is sad?/i Suddenly the thoughts that the Espada had thought while he was "dead" came flashing through his head.
iDo I really have feelings for the onna?/i
Ulquiorra frowned slightly at Orihime, staring right through her lie. Orihime sighed, knowing the Cuatro Espada would no stop pestering her until she told him what she had felt sad.
"It's just… I thought that… maybe you were more than a… friend," the girl blushed.
iMore than a friend? What does the onna mean with those words?/i Ulquiorra Cifer had never heard of this phrase before. How was someone more than a friend?
All Ulquiorra Cifer knew of were the terms friend and enemy, two opposites. You were either one or the other.
"Well," Orihime blushed a deeper red, "I thought we were more… lovers."
Ulquiorra's body tingled with an unknown emotion. He couldn't help but feel another shot of adrenaline shoot through his veins at the way she said the word "we".
iLovers? Does she… does she think of me as fondly as I do of her?/i Ulquiorra was slightly shocked by the thought. He wondered how anyone could ever feel fond of him. Ulquiorra Cifer was a monster, even in his own eyes; all he had ever known were death, hatred, enemies, and a strive for knowledge. The Cuatro Espada fought an internal battle with himself.
Was he supposed to drop his guard and stoop to the level of measly humans? But his Onna was a human; yes an extraordinary human, but still a human.
Did he forget all that had happened? Was he supposed to ignore all of these new, unknown emotions coursing through his entire body?
It did not take long for the Espada to finally snap, destroying what was left of the wall of reason and knowledge he himself had built.
Orihime felt an unexpected wave of fear and despair hit her when Ulquiorra did not speak. iWhat if he doesn't feel the same way I do? What if…/i
The woman's thoughts were interrupted by soft lips brushing against hers. The second Orihime realized what was happening they were gone, leaving a breathless Onna in their wake.
The couple just stared into each others eyes for what seemed like hours, when in reality it was less than a minute before they were interrupted, this time by the ringing phone.
Orihime broke the gaze and ran over to get the phone, tripping on the dustpan.
iNot again!/i Orihime's mind panicked. She couldn't catch herself since both her arms were injured. A flash of black and a split second later, she fell into the arms of the (her) Espada.
"Thanks," she breathed, blushing slightly, before reaching for the phone and answering.
"Inoue Orihime, hello?"
"Inoue-san! Are you okay?" Orihime because ever so slightly perturbed that Ishida-kun had decided to interrupt her "mushy" moment with Ulquiorra.
iHe couldn't have known,/i Orihime scolded herself for becoming irritated at her friend's concern.
"Yeah! I'm fine!" Orihime chirped happily. She heard Uryuu sigh audibly.
"Well that's good… I was really worried about you… I guess I'll let you get back to make up work! I'll see you tomorrow at school. Bye, Inoue-san!" Orihime stared at the phone, slightly shocked and puzzled. Usually Ishida-kun didn't rush their conversations. Shaking her head, she turned around to see Ulquiorra standing with his back against the wall again.
iI can see him more clearly now… He's not a shadow to me anymore./i Orihime smiled at this, glad to be able to see the face of her beloved Espada more clearly.
"It seems like you just got back from a trip to the moon…" Orihime thought out loud.
Ulquiorra stared at her, perplexed. Orihime shook her head, blushing again.
"It's just that…" Orihime decided that it was no good to lie to him again, so she told him the truth of what she had been thinking, "it seems like an eternity since I've seen you or talk to you, and now you're back, just like if you had taken a trip to the moon. It is rather far away…"
Ulquiorra smiled the most minuscule smile possible. Would he ever find the onna's (iHis/i onna's, he mentally corrected) rambling any less interesting? He would never admit it, but he slightly envied Orihime's constant optimism and constant imagination.
"I agree," Orihime looked Ulquiorra-san in the eyes, confused.
"Huh?"
"I agree with what you said earlier. We are… 'more than friends'."
Her heart skipped a beat. Orihime couldn't believe the words she had just heard; words that had come from the emotionless Cuatro Espada's mouth.
A smile spread across Orihime's face, happiness dancing across her features, as she skipped over to where Ulquiorra was leaned against the wall and wrapped her arms around him.
iShe's hugging me…/i Ulquiorra wondered if the warm feeling inside of him would stop growing, lest it explode out of his chest. Awkwardly, Ulquiorra said something that neither him nor Orihime would have ever imagined the Cuatro Espada saying:
"Onna, I am fond of you. You find ways to keep me infatuated with you undying optimism. You are the opposite of me: kind, gentle, optimistic… yet…"
Orihime cut off the Espada's words with a gentle finger placed on his lips, a loving smile on her lips.
"I am fond of you, too," Orihime stepped even closer to the Espada, placing her chin on Ulquiorra's shoulder and tightening her embrace ever so slightly.
"Welcome back from the moon," she whispered softly. Ulquiorra failed to notice a tear sliding down Orihime's face. A tear of happiness.
The Espada felt the Onna's heart fluttering in her chest, not failing to notice his own heart was reacting the same way. The stoic Espada fought the urge to end the embrace, to return to his stoic self. Awkwardly, Ulquiorra placed an arm on her back, trying to mimic his Onna's embrace.
The radio, which Orihime had completely forgotten about for the past few hours, continued playing, making the orange-haired girl blush slightly…
i And I know that I need you here with me,
From tonight until the end of time.
You should know, everywhere I go
You're always on my mind, in my heart, in my soul…/i