A/N: So we're counting down days of school. I'm a grad this year, not telling you what I'm graduating from, but that means it's extra-chaotic for me with writing speeches and sitting through the girls in my class discussing what they're wearing to our party afterwards. –groan- After that, I get to drive 14-15 hours in the car between my younger sister and my hyperactive cousin, both of whom are in middle school and crazy hyperactive. Ulquiorra, I'm sorry, but I think we'll have to tie you to the top…
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, jeez. Or else Ulquihime would totally be canon. Sorry, Jordan.
My sweet Orihime,
I do not know where to begin. The multitude of what I have to say to you would wear out this pen from ink and I would still have more to say.
Firstly, Tia Halibel suggested that I write you. She approached me whilst I was eating the rare food that I do consume - an omelette this time. Since I only eat regular food rarely, the food that I do eat I prepare for myself. Although hunger is usually triggered by trauma. Maybe this was enough to be considered a trauma.
I consider it a trauma, to be sure. Since I was completely unfeeling before I met you, events that took place were not enough to ruffle my feathers and I simply trudged through life unbuffered by happenings. Thusly, it is safe to say that this is the worst thing that has ever happened to me. Ever. I do not remember a time when I have been left feeling so out of character. I have a pressure on my chest, sitting over my ribs, an emotion I struggle to put a label on. It could either be grief, or loss, or pain, or any multitude of others. Perhaps I should pay a visit to the human world and pick up one of those 'teen romances' to see what they think heartbreak feels like.
I am not going to spend so much time telling you about myself. I am sure you are not interested in flipping through tomes of suffering. I would rather think about how this has occurred. If Aizen-sama is true to his word, then I have been erased from your memory. This notion sets my thoughts in turmoil. Is he filling your head with slippery lies about me? Did he tell you that I hurt you or tortured you in any way? I sincerely hope not. I could not bear it if you saw me once more and ran screaming in the other direction.
To tell you the truth, Orihime, I have only known you for about two or three weeks as of this transcription. But in those two or three weeks, I have loved you more than all the love you have ever received in your entire existence. It was as if I lived under a sky, with normal stars, nothing too spectacular. Then you shot across my sky like a fiery comet, a shooting star, burning it's bright way across my nondescript sky. But now that you are gone, I am blinded by your brightness. I can no longer see the stars.
Since you no longer have a memory, I shall tell you about yourself. Firstly, you talk a lot. And what you say about yourself and your life in Karakura Town has helped me shape an image of you. You once had an older brother by the name of Sora, who passed away when you were nine. Since he died, you have been living alone. Where your parents were during this time, alas, I cannot tell you. You were reluctant to speak of it.
You have a very close friend under the name of Arisawa Tatsuki who is a nationally known karate champion. You love to cook and from what you have told me, you seem to have a very strong preference for odd foods. You often lament on your friends' unwillingness to eat your food. You have many stuffed animals and asked me often if I would go and get one for y -
Someone knocked violently on Ulquiorra's door, and, startled, he let the pen clatter to the desk. He frowned, not recalling inviting anyone to his rooms. Then his frown deepened as he remembered that there were people out there like Grimmjow, who didn't need an invitation and certainly didn't wait for one. Annoyed, Ulquiorra resigned himself to having to deal with his crass comrade's attitude for now and lagged his way to the door. He unlocked it and pulled it open, his eyes closed in acceptance of his fate.
"What do you want, Grimmjow." It was not a question. But the noise of surprise that came from the other side of the door definitely did not come from Grimmjow. In fact, Ulquiorra would be surprised if it was from a male at all.
He opened his eyes quickly. In front of him stood both a male and female Arrancar, looking about the ages of human seventeen year olds. The male had floppy light brown hair with amused dark eyes, a hollow hole at the base of his throat, and two white horns protruding from his skull. He was wearing a plain white hakama jacket and hakama pants that had black bars varying in thickness as they descended down his legs. The female had shoulder-length black hair that curled in at her neck, flapper-girl style. Her eyes were wide and inquisitive, and a white circlet rested at her forehead. Her outfit was high-collared, and circled under her breasts, covering one hip but not the other, revealing an off-center hollow hole that sliced through her right ribcage. She had on a short skirt and thigh-high socks that revealed silver daggers tucked into the hems.
"Hi, Ulquiorra-sama!" waved the female.
Irritation rose. "Who are you, and what do you want with me?" Ulquiorra asked, itching to return to his letter.
"I'm Daisuke, cuarenta tres Arrancar. And this is Emiko, cuarenta dos Arrancar. We're your new Fracción!" announced the male.
"No, you're not. Remove yourselves from my presence," Ulquiorra ordered in a monotone.
The female – Emiko – pouted. "Yes, we are," she said. "Aizen ordered it."
Ulquiorra noted the lack of honorific with interest. "Why on earth would he do such a thing?" he demanded. "Espada have always been permitted to choose their Fracción, or lack of such. Get out of my chambers; I hope to never see your faces again." He attempted to close the door, but Daisuke stuck his foot in it cheerfully.
"Aizen said that in light of recent events, he thought you might enjoy some company," he informed Ulquiorra.
The latter cursed under his breath. So that's what Aizen was up to; he was spying on Ulquiorra. "This would not be the first time I have disobeyed my master," he said. "I have no interest in either of you. Leave now before I am forced to assist you."
"Aizen told me not to tell you this, but I think you should know that my younger sister is the one you saw right before you were knocked out cold, just yesterday," Emiko said. "Her name is Anómino, the sexagésima sexta Arrancar."
Ulquiorra stood very still and eyed the duo in a new light.
"Like I said, Aizen told me not to say anything, but disobeying people is always way more fun than obeying them," Emiko said with a bashful grin and a shrug to go with it. "Especially when it comes to Aizen, King of Souls, Lord of Dance and Wizard of Oz."
"You forgot Bearer of the Bitch Curl," Daisuke added, nodding.
"Yeah, that too," Emiko agreed.
Ulquiorra stepped back. "I shall hear you out. But that does not mean that I will –"
"Yippee!" Daisuke cried, and scurried under Ulquiorra's arm. Emiko followed after, eagerly making her way into the room.
"Oh, man, your bed is so comfy!" Daisuke exclaimed, bouncing on it on his butt. Eagerly, Emiko joined him, and they jumped together on Ulquiorra's bed while laughing loudly. Finally they bored of that and climbed down, beginning to explore the rest of the room, leaving Ulquiorra shocked in the doorframe.
"Check out his closet! He's got, like, a million uniforms up in here!"
"Ooh, I bet this is where he hangs his sword up!" Emiko discovered, pointing to a rack on the wall.
"This pen is, like, totally awesome." Daisuke held up the pen Ulquiorra had been writing with, admiring the bat design engraved on it. "Ooh, whatcha writing? "My sweet Orihime –"
Ulquiorra came out of his trance and sonido'ed across the room, snatching the papers out of Daisuke's hands. "None of your business."
"Touchy, touchy." Daisuke held up his hands. "Didn't know you wrote novels, Ulquiorra-sama. Romantic ones at that."
"Ooh, lemme see!" Emiko called from across the room, where she had been rummaging in his bureau. "This thing's completely empty!"
"I don't write romantic novels," Ulquiorra said crossly.
"Deny it all you want," Daisuke said, shaking his head profoundly.
Ulquiorra cursed under his breath. Baka! It was just his luck to get stuck with these two morons. They would be the death of him. No way would two Arrancar this irritating be his Fracción.
"If you do not show me why I should allow you to stay on as my subordinates in the next twenty seconds, I will Gran Rey Cero you both into ash," he threatened.
"Jeez, he's such a Debbie Downer." Emiko crossed her arms. "Fine. But I am sooo sitting on the bed."
After everyone was settled in – the Arrancar on the bed and Ulquiorra standing, facing them with his hands pocketed loosely – the Espada nodded at the other two. "Speak."
"Um, so I have this sister, Anómino. She's blind…and her zanpakuto has the power to erase memories."
"I'm sexy and I know it," Daisuke added.
Ulquiorra swallowed irritation. "So why does she need me?"
"She needs to see the image of the main thing she is making the person forget. So she could completely erase someone's memory, but it probably won't be as powerful. If she sees the image of something, though, the amnesia will stick for much, much longer."
Ulquiorra cursed under his breath. He had already come to the conclusion that the girl he had seen in Aizen-sama's throne room was the one who this woman was talking about. He could now only assume that she had brought him to the room in which Orihime's memories had been erased and let Anómino do her thing.
"Um…is something the matter, Ulquiorra-sama?" Emiko asked, leaning forward. "Did Anómino do something to you?"
Ulquiorra turned away and walked to the desk, picking up the letter and studying it. "Not to me, per se."
"What happened?"
Ulquiorra set down the papers and turned, closing his eyes. "I do not wish to discuss it."
"Yeah, but I do," Daisuke argued.
"You are my Fracción, you will do what I say," Ulquiorra ordered without thinking.
Emiko squealed, and Daisuke leapt up to do a victory dance. "Do you really mean it?" Emiko cried. "Can we really stay? Oh, please, Ulquiorra-sama!"
"I did not mean –"
"Too bad! You said it!" Daisuke gloated, waving his arms about.
Ulquiorra turned away with effort. Orihime would like them, he thought crossly. She'd love them, actually.
Suddenly a thought occurred to him, and he turned his gaze to the side, glancing at the two through his peripheral vision, watching Daisuke hit Emiko with a pillow. I wonder…maybe they would help me get her back? He didn't know how powerful they were. They could both be very powerful. Since they weren't Espada, their numbers did not gage their rank, so there was no way to solve that mystery.
And, there was one other thing. These two Arrancar were the first he had encountered in Hueco Mundo who did not address their master as "Aizen-sama," instead, they blasphemously left out the suffix. But for some reason, they addressed him as "Ulquiorra-sama." He wasn't sure exactly why this was. Maybe it was because something had happened to them against Aizen? Perhaps their master had harmed them in some way. But that didn't explain why Ulquiorra was held in such high regard to them.
Maybe Aizen had commanded them to address him as such, and they were acting under the overlord's law as usual, and were going to report his every move to Aizen.
Ulquiorra eyed the two suspiciously. It was better that he waited until he was absolutely sure they were on his side before he made his motives clear.
"If you two are interested in coming with me," Ulquiorra said quietly, waiting for the two to freeze in their pillow fight before continuing, "I suggest you make yourselves presentable. We are leaving right now."
Emiko dropped her pillow on Daisuke's head, since the boy was curled on his side on the bed, shaking with silent laugher. She blew bangs from her eyes and jumped off of the bed, brushing off her palms on the bed.
"Let's go!" she exclaimed.
Daisuke got to his feet, still giggling, and slid off the bed after her. Ulquiorra opened his door, and the two followed him out of his room, falling onto his right and left flanks and poking each other.
As they walked, Ulquiorra became aware of Nnoitra's presence down the hall. He drew in a breath and crossed his fingers inside his pocket, but it was in vain. Spotting a shadow detach from the wall and make its way toward him, Ulquiorra cursed every godly deity he knew with the most vulgar inner language he could think up.
"Hey, Bat boy. T'sup?" Nnoitra sneered as Ulquiorra passed. "Who're these brats?"
Behind him, Daisuke and Emiko ceased their poking and fell silent, eyeing the lanky Espada warily.
"These are my Fracción," Ulquiorra stated calmly.
"Ooh, are they now. Care to introduce me?"
"No."
"Awh, come on. Don't be a party pooper. Let's see…oh, by Aizen's left toenail. Is that nada's big sister? She's a cute little fucker. I'd even make her my Fracción if Barragan hadn't got to her already. Old shit, that one, but he does move fast, if I do say so myself…"
"I would appreciate if you would refrain from speaking of Anómino in that way," Emiko said as politely as possible from behind Ulquiorra. "Just because she's the youngest around here does not mean you can talk as if she was trash, with all due respect, Nnoitra-sama."
"Feisty, isn't she?" Nnoitra laughed, showing his slimy tongue, and took a quick step forward. He lifted one finger and put it under Emiko's chin, raising her head to look at him. "She's cute too. And she can see too, what a bonus! I wouldn't mind –"
Daisuke's sword was drawn in the blink of an eye, and he pressed the tip to Nnoitra's throat. The black-haired Espada rolled his eye over lazily to look at Daisuke, without removing his finger from Emiko's chin. The girl was trembling slightly, her nostrils flaring.
"Please remove your hands from Emiko," Daisuke said with a dangerous calm. "Let this be the last time you touch her."
With the hand he had been holding Emiko's chin with, Nnoitra pushed the sword away from his neck. A huge grin spread across his face, revealing piano teeth.
"Well, well. Protective Fracción you got there, Bat King. But on the other hand, you got the sister of your woman's handmaiden…man, really got your hands full. Hey, next time I see your woman, how about I give her a little kiss for ya? I sure wouldn't mind…"
"Touch her and die," Ulquiorra promised. It was not an empty threat.
Nnoitra cackled, glad he had managed to provoke Ulquiorra. "Suit yourself. Although who knows? I might not be able to hold myself back from a feast like the one your woman offers. Ah well. I better be going. See you around, fucker."
His cackle rang in Ulquiorra's ears long after he left. Ulquiorra was rooted to the ground, using every ounce of willpower he owned to not chase after the lanky Espada and slay him on the spot.
"Is something wrong, Ulquiorra-sama? Who's the woman the Spoonspada was talking about?" Emiko enquired, breaking the silence.
"Nothing of your concern. Come, we have yet to fulfill our mission." Ulquiorra began walking, and the other two had no choice but to follow.
The poking war was long over now; Nnoitra had completely ruined the mood. Emiko and Daisuke walked silently behind Ulquiorra, solemn as their footsteps echoed off the walls.
It was a quiet and awkward walk to the tercera Espada's quarters, but when they arrived Ulquiorra knocked and then glanced at the Arrancar behind him, not breaking the silence but communicating with his eyes. Then the door was opened, and Ulquiorra looked at the blond Espada that stood curiously on the other side.
"Halibel," he said, inclining his head with respect for the woman. "I have need of your services. Could you give…?"
He handed her the paper with the letter. Her sea-green eyes scanned it briefly, then looked back at him.
"You didn't finish," she stated.
"I am having questionable company for an unknown period of time. It is finished for now. I suspect that if I even think about signing my name, Aizen-sama will have me killed."
"I shall deliver it to someone who can give it to her. Either that or I will give it to her myself," Halibel said.
"Arigato gosaimasu." Ulquiorra nodded again. Stepping back as Halibel gently shut the door, he turned to his Fracción.
"Questions can come later, when we are alone again. For now, are you two hungry?"
"Yeppersirmicdoodler!" Emiko said.
"I like tomatoes," Daisuke said randomly.
Ulquiorra sighed and headed for the kitchen.
It didn't take long for them to reach the kitchen, but the walk was a lot less quiet. Emiko and Daisuke bantered for the entire way there, and by the time they got there he was so annoyed that he almost didn't hear it.
Almost.
"Yup! …Is something wrong, Lilinette-chan, you look a little green…"
Ulquiorra froze as the voice met his ears.
Her voice.
Orihime.
Dun dun dun...R&R?
Lol, Daisuke and Emiko are so fun to write.. XD