Chapter 15: Deserving
Like some sort of prisoner escort, Orihime and her used-to-be-captor were marched down town to Urahara's shop. Chad had been kind enough to give the unconscious Tatsuki a piggy back ride of sorts, knowing that when she came to she would want to know just what was going on. Ichigo had sort of wanted her to stay at Orihime's, afraid that when the karate master came to she would take out her anger from the situation on him in the form of violence. But, of course, with a stoic tear-streaked face behind her, Orihime had adamantly refused to leave the girl behind.
When they had gotten there, Rangiku had been waiting. She had told them, while waving a bottle of sake in the air, that all was fine.
"Come in, have a drink!" She merrily called, just as soon as Tessia had shown them in. Kisuke was sitting beside the busty shinigami, a faint blush covering his face as he had already consumed much of the bottle in her hand. Ulquiorra had looked utterly confused to Orihime, who knew just how to read his face. Sure, to anyone else, he didn't look like his expression had changed at all. And maybe it was just her imagination, but… she felt like she could read him.
"Matsumoto? What are you doing here?" Rukia asked, a little surprised at how fast the lieutenant had gotten to the world of the living.
"I'm here because of the Espada!" She merrily announced, throwing her hands in the air after slamming down her bottle of sake. "Soul Society is still recovering from the war, and we didn't sense any fight break out, so I was sent here to see if anything peaceful could be worked out!"
Kisuke nodded sagely, his eyes hidden by the shadow of his hat. "That would be correct, I guess, from the looks of things. He's walking in here of his own free will, right?"
"As if any of you trash could force me to do something against my own will." Ulquiorra answered, staring down the store's owner. "I believe the woman has a request for you."
Well, Orihime thought as she broke out in a cold sweat, though her smile stayed glued to her face. He doesn't beet around the bush.
"Does she?" Rangiku smiled aloofly, broadly, and a little drunkenly. Just how much of that bottle had she consumed…? Oh, there was an empty one next to her thigh. And another one a little ways off… "What do you have to say, Orihime-san?"
She laughed nervously, feeling her palms start to sweat as she tugged on the hem of her shirt. "Well… you see…"
Her friends were all staring at her, minus the sleeping Tatsuki, clearly confused. None of them had been informed of her wanting to speak with Urahara.
"I was thinking. You know, since Ulquiorra-san isn't working for the bad guys anymore, and because he's not a soul reaper or anything, plus because he's not a human-"
"I am sure that even this trash can see what it is that I am." Ulquiorra interrupted her, a surprise to everyone but herself. "Do not continue to babble, woman."
"Ah. Well, that's true!" She happily smiled, suddenly not feeling so awkward. "Well, I was thinking that maybe Cifer-san could stay here! In a gigai like Rukia-san."
For a second there was a beat of silence. Everyone was looking at her like she had grown a second head, minus only Rangiku and Kisuke. Even Chad seemed to think it was crazy.
"I think she's onto something." Rangiku finally said, breaking the silence. "Let him stay here! We don't have room in prison for him right now!"
"He's supposed to be dead anyway," Urahara said from behind a fan. "I think that if he has a second chance at life, he can decide what to do with it, Espada or not.
"Oh fuck no!" Ichigo growled. "Are you all forgetting that this bastard kidnapped her?! That he worked for Aizen? I killed him, damn it! He's a bad guy! He's an Espada!"
Orihime turned around, smiling at the seething substitute soul reaper kindly. "That's all in the past now, Kurosaki-kun. Besides, I've forgiven him for kidnapping me! It's not like he had much of a choice."
"This is a horrible idea!" The orange haired teen went on, throwing his hands up in the air. "As far as we know, he's back for you! We can't be watching you all day and all night, Inoue! It's not safe to have him here. Hell, we don't even know why he's here in the first place! He's supposed to be dead!"
"Oh." She frowned, looking down at her shoes. "Actually… Um, I'm the one that brought him back."
"You WHAT?!" Rukia, Ishida, and Ichigo all caroused, staring at her in horror. Sado simply had wide eyes.
She laughed again, nervously, her eyes flicking back to the man they were all conversing about as if he wasn't even there. "Yeah. I brought him back… there was ash on my dress…" She suddenly furrowed her brow. "Actually, now that I think about it, I don't even know why my dress was in the closet! How did it get there? You all stared lying from the moment I woke up…" She didn't say it cruelly. She was just stating the truth.
She didn't catch her friend's winces when she said the last sentence, but suddenly, they were all trying to be a little more open. It may have been the guilt, or just the fact that the Arrancar had yet to lie to Inoue in such a way, or maybe it was just the lovely expression on her face that no one had seen in so long.
"I… I think maybe we should try it." Rukia slowly said, looking up out of the corner of her eye at Ichigo to gauge his reaction. After all, he had just recently gotten his powers back, and she wasn't going to rush him into such a situation as this if he wasn't ready.
He didn't look like he liked any of what was happening. But he didn't try to stop it, either.
"I think it's a wonderful idea!" Rangiku cried, taking another deep gulp of sake. "Let him stay. Kisuke, whip this guy up a gigai!"
"As you wish, Matsumoto." He stood up, grinning widely. "I hope you know that his expenses will be charged to soul society."
"Oh, soul society will be fine! In fact, why don't we pay for his living here, too? It's like having him imprisoned here, instead! Under the watchful eyes Rukia Kuchiki, Ichigo Kurosaki, Uryuu Ishida-"
"I'm not a soul reaper!" Said Quincy barked. "Don't count me!"
She blinked. "Oh. Okay then. Well, then just Rukia-san and Ichigo-san!" She looked over to Orihime, smiling brightly and with secret. "And of course, this is all because of you. So you'll really have to watch out for him!"
For some reason, that didn't bother the grey-eyed girl much at all. "Oh. Okay!"
"Looks like it's settled then." Kisuke took his leave, disappearing into the back of the shop to do as Rangiku asked of him. "It'll be ready in a day."
"Anyway!" Rangiku looked at the odd band of friends, smiling though her haze. "You better find a place to live, Espada! Don't be afraid to make it too flashy, you are living for free, you know!"
"Rangiku-san!" Rukia gasped. "You can't say things like that!"
"Sure I can!" The lieutenant laughed, waving a hand through the air.
"You'll be in trouble for doing this all without permission later." Rukia warned.
"Like that stopped you." Rangiku laughed once more, taking another sip from her jug. She looked back over to Orihime, and lazily smiled. "Besides," Now her tone dropped, suddenly serious and full of tormented longing. "I know how it is..."
She's talking about Gin. Orihime realized, a little more insightful from her time in Los Noches. Even though he was a bad guy… she really did love him…
"Where is he?"
Everyone stopped in what they were doing, looking over to where Tatsuki was calmly slipping down from Chad's back, awake once more, stumbling a bit. Her eyes were shaded by her hair.
"Tatsuki!" Orihime cried. "Are you o-"
The dark haired girl turned, her eyes training on Ulquiorra in pure hate. "You… you're the one that took her away. Aren't you?"
"You are correct." He replied stiffly, through narrowed eyes.
"I see." She stumbled forward another step, until she was standing right in front of Orihime and Ulquiorra. She looked up, her eyes glistening with anger, and raised her fist. Before anyone could do anything, she slammed it forward, right into Ulquiorra's cheek, as hard as she could muster.
His head turned to the side, eyes wide, under the force. But as soon as she drew back, intent on getting in another punch, though she was startled her first had so little effect, his eyes narrowed.
"Tatsuki!"
He deftly lifted his hand, catching her fist mere inches from his face. "It seems," He said, his voice never once wavering. "That being resurrected has decreased my reaction speed for the time being." His hand tightened around Tatsuki's, crunching, making the girl yelp in pain and surprise.
"Ulquiorra, don't!" Orihime worriedly reached out, closing her hand around his wrist, looking up at him with big pleading grey eyes. "You'll hurt her!"
He regarded her with a cold, hard glare. Slowly, he loosened his grip, until her hand fell out of his. Tatsuki snatched it back up, cursing, sending him deathly glares.
Ichigo and company had all been yelling the whole time, ready to draw weapons, but were now swarming around Tatsuki to see if the girl was alright.
"I'm fine, I'm fine!" She yelled, shooing them off. "I can take a hit! Yeesh, you're all a bunch of mother ducks! Especially you, Ichigo!"
That, of course, had started another fight.
Of to the sidelines, unnoticed by anyone but Rangiku, Orihime was looking up at Ulquiorra with a slight frown.
"Are you okay?"
"A human is incapable of harming me."
"… I know. But it's still nice to ask. And I know Tatsuki didn't hit soft."
"… She is surprisingly strong, for a human."
Orihime smiled, finally seeing some form of niceness from the man.
"But she is still trash."
The smile fell. Orihime sighed, linking her hands behind her back. She pursed her lips, looking at him with a tilted head. "You can be so mean sometimes, Ulquiorra-kun. Tatsuki isn't trash. She was my protector for a really long time!"
He blinked. "Woman, I fail to see why one as strong as yourself would need protection."
She widened her eyes in surprised, blinking rapidly. "W-what?"
"You survived a very long time in Hueco Mundo, despite physical and mental abuse. I should know, I myself was an avid tormentor of your mental health. This is no small feat, Orihime Inoue."
She didn't know why, but she found both a small blush and a gentle smile working their way to her face. "That was a compliment."
He said nothing.
"Thank you, Ulquiorra-san."
"It was not a compliment, woman. I would not waste my time with flattery. What I say is simply truth."
She laughed. "It was still nice! So thank you!"
Funny how the one who's supposed to be the bad guy is one of the only people who thinks I'm strong…
"Here's some money!" Rangiku, popping up out of no-where, thrusting hands full of yen into Orihime's arms before the girl could even gasp in surprise. "Now go while your friends are fighting!"
"O-oh. Okay." Orihime turned to Ulquiorra, barely holding all the money in her arms, and opened her mouth. Then she snapped it shut, her eyes widening as she looked down at the money in surprise. She turned back to Rangiku, stumbling over her words. "I can't take all this! You can't give me so much money, it's too-"
"It's for him!" She said with a happy shrug. "So you don't get to feel guilty." She gave the girl a firm push, spinning her back around to face Ulquiorra. "Now go on!"
She looked over her shoulder at the bustful shinigami, biting the corner of her lip. "If you say so, Rangiku-san…" She turned her eyes back to Ulquiorra. "The apartment next to mine is up for rent..."
"Then I will live there."
She smiled brightly, something feeling strangely… complete. "Let's go then. We don't want someone else to take it before we get there."
His eyes narrowed. "There is a time limit?"
"Well, I guess sort of, but-"
Before she could finish her sentence he had grabbed her arm, and in one blurred step they were standing back at Orihime's place. "Which way, woman?"
She blinked, startled. "Uh… this way…" She went down into the building under her apartment, slightly surprised.
Helping her by pushing the door open, the two entered.
"Remember," The Arrancar breathed into her ear as she passed. "You are the only one in here who can see me."
"Oh yeah." She smiled one last time at him, and then walked in, ready to buy the apartment for her friend without him even being there. After all, the apartment owner knew she herself was a little strange. It would make sense that her friends were the same. And besides, with this much money in cash, she doubted that anyone would care that the one going to live there was absent.
With a determined smile, Orihime rushed up to the man who owned the apartments. She had a feeling things were about to get a little crazier in her life, but…
She looked back over her shoulder at where Ulquiorra stood unnoticed by anyone else.
Yeah. Things seemed like they might get a little better, too.