On the rooftops of the school, as Orihime ate in the classroom below, a meeting was being held without the knowledge of any normal student. Tatsuki, Ichigo, Rukia, Chad, Uryuu, and Rangiku sat in a circle, the atmosphere tense.

Rangiku, wearing Soul Reaper clothing as she was not pretending to be a student for the day, was the head of the conversation. "So now you all get it?"

"It did seem to simple before." Rukia muttered to herself.

Ichigo, as usual, was livid since he had been kept in the dark. "You're okay with this?! Orihime is in danger, just because you wanted to run some tests!?"

"For once," Ishida muttered, pushing up his glasses, "I am inclined to agree with Ichigo. Why are we risking Ms. Inoue's life simply for the purpose of your research?!"

Matsumoto sighed, crossing her arms underneath her generous breasts. "Look, I don't like this any more than you do. But orders are orders. And if any of you try to interfere I have orders to take you back to Soul Society to be tried."

A wince was shared amongst the teenagers, all minus the confused Tatsuki. No one wanted a repeat of getting caught up in Soul Society's laws.

"So, we just act like nothing's happened?" Sado's deep tenor broke the silence.

"Pretty much." Rukia muttered.

"Wait," Tatsuki broke in. "I don't get it."

Everyone looked back at her.

"What the heck are you talking about? This… Soul Society wants to test his… heart? They want to see if he has a heart? And if they can somehow give one to all these hollow things?" She pushed a hand through his hair. "Of course the guy has a heart. He's up and walking around, isn't he? Earlier when he was that creepy bat monster thing he had a hole through his chest, but now he's human. Right?"

An uneasy look was shared between the soul reapers of the group. "Well… that's a question for some other time." Rangiku said slowly. "You might want to ask Orihime or the espada himself.

Another thing Tatsuki had noticed. No one called him 'Ulquiorra' in the group. It was always the hollow, the arrancar, the espada, and once he was even referred to as a vosto lordes. She found it odd, like they were referring to him by a label than no one but Orihime could seem to look past.

"Okay, so that makes sense… I guess." Tatsuki rubbed her forehead with the tips of her fingers, trying to fight off the headache she could feel coming on. "But why are you all so nervous about this? Letting him live like a human doesn't sound like a bad idea."

"Because," Kurosaki snapped. "He could hurt her."

"Uh, he could. But so could you, or Ishida, or Kuchiki." She looked over at Chad, smirking. "Not him, though. He loves cute things too much."

"What do you mean?" Rukia asked, confused.

"Well, what makes you think he's going to hurt her? Haven't you been listening? Orihime says he never once hit her or anything. Sure, he was a total asshole to her, but that's men in general for you. So why do you all seem to think she's in danger with him around? From what I saw in the classroom, he seems pretty apt to protecting her."

They all shared a look of confusion.

"Gees." Tatsuki rubbed the back of her head, closing her eyes. "You're all pretty stupid, you know that?"

"Hey!" Rangiku pouted, sticking out her bottom lip. "That's not very nice."

"Yeah, but it's true." The martial artist sighed. "You can all calm down. He's not going to hurt her."

They looked like they didn't want to trust her. But…

"Fine." Ichigo finally said. "If you say so… then we believe you. But don't think we won't be watching him. I swear, one wrong move and he-"

"Save me the heroics." She laughed. "I'm with you there."

So the group dispersed, seeing that lunch hour was coming to an end. Ichigo and Rukia started of together, Chad heading over to were Keigo was looking for Ichigo, and Uryuu going down to his next class since he had nothing better to do.

"You're a human, right?"

Tatsuki looked back at Rangiku. "Yeah. Why?"

The woman sighed. "Watch out for her, but if worse comes to worse…" She sent the girl a look of warning. "Don't try to engage the arrancar. He could kill you with his bare hand. Maybe even his spiritual pressure alone. You just be there for Orihime."

Tatsuki groaned. "I'm not saying I'm gonna just stand by. But… I'll try to keep that in mind."

Rangiku nodded, and then just like that was gone, hurrying off in a flashstep to get back to Urahara's so that she could return to Soul Society and report.

"Yeesh." Tatsuki stood, heading off to find Orihime. "These guys are all crazy."

~)o0o(~

Orihime had that feeling. It was like the day before she had been kidnapped. The day before arrancar had first shown up to battle in Katakuta town. The day before she had been attacked by a hollow with only Tatsuki and Chizuru around to help. The day before her brother, Sora, had come back to attack her as a hollow. The day before her brother had died.

Every single one of those days she had gotten the feeling. The unsettling feeling that there was just something not right happening. And always, she was right.

She was hoping with all her heart that this time was a fluke.

"Onna."

Orihim smiled when she looked up and found that Ulquiorra was standing in front of her. He had walked her home last night, too. It seemed that he wanted to walk with her on his second say of school as well. That made her smile.

"Hi."

His eyes narrowed. "You are troubled."

How did he… none of my friends can ever tell. How…?

As if he was reading her thoughts, he answered. "Your expression. It was troubled before you greeted me. And your greeting alone lacked it's usual enthusiasm. It was simple to deduct that something was amiss."

"Oh." She smiled lightly, starting the walk to school. "I'm fine, really-"

"Do not lie to me, woman."

She sighed. "I just… I feel a little off is all."

"That is all? A feeling is disturbing you?" He stopped, stepping in front of her. "That does not seem like all that is the matter."

"You're very perceptive." She said with a faint smile. "But no, it's fine. I'm glad to see you care, Ulquiorra. But it's nothing to be concerned about."

"Hm." He was trying to decide whether or not he wanted to question her further. It seemed something was the matter, but as she said, he shouldn't have been concerned about it. If she was heading to school then it must not have been too much of a problem. He was not very in tuned to emotion, anyway. He shouldn't have been making guesses to hers.

"Oh."

He looked over at Orihime, noting that she had stopped walking and was now looking up at the sky.

"It's raining." She said softly.

And it was. Small droplets of water were falling from the sky, lightly pattering on the road and on their faces.

"It never rains in Hueco Mundo. Does it?"

He looked over at her, to answer no, and saw that water not from the sky was lightly dripping down her face. "What is the matter?" His voice was as soft as he had ever heard it. The sound surprised him, but he made no show of it. He came closer to her, shielding her face from the rain to watch what he now knew to be tears roll down her cheeks. "Onna?"

"I-I'm sorry, Ulquiorra." She wiped the tears from her face, looking a little startled at their appearance. "I don't know why I'm crying."

He knew the woman. She was strong. He had made her cry a couple of times, but he had to try very, very hard to get her to. He was knew something had to be terribly, terribly wrong if she was crying now.

And he could tell she was lying when she said that she didn't know why the tears were there.

He found himself saying something he never thought he would say. "Please."

Her eyes flew up to his, startled.

"Please," He said again, though this time he whispered it. "Tell me what is wrong."

"I… I…" A car flew past them, spraying droplets of water onto their clothes, which were quickly becoming soaked. She still didn't look away from him, though. "Your hair is getting wet." She finished. She moved her eyes to look at the black strands, plastered to the side of his face. "I've never seen it wet before…"

Raindrops rolled down from his hair and over his eyes, dropping from his thick eyelashes to land on the green tear streaks imprinted on his cheeks. The raindrops followed the path, making him look like he was crying too, despite his stoic expression.

She reached up, her fingers brushing over the tear streaks as if she could wipe them away. He didn't move, letting her hands frame his face without objection. Her thumbs repeatedly brushed over the streaks, her eyes searching his face for any hint of emotion.

"I wish I could connect with you… like the sky and the ground through rain…" She didn't realize was speaking she was so enthralled with letting the pad of her thump brush over his face. His skin was colder than the average human's, but not unpleasantly so. She sort of liked it.

"You are making your own rain." He muttered. His hands lifted to touch her face like she did his. His thumbs brushed the tears from her face, showing so much emotion though his expression remained constant and unreachable.

"Ulquiorra… the one who cries… But I'm the only one crying…" She was still searching his face, as if looking for some sort of answer printed along side the tears permanently written upon his face.

"Onna… what are you doing?"

Orihime found that she had removed one of her hands from his face and was now holding it over his right hand, trapping it on her face.

"I don't know." She breathed. "I think I might be looking for your heart."

"You are holding it." He said quietly. "You search for that which you already posses."

"What are we?" She breathed.

He seemed confused, though no one else would know. "You are a human, and I-"

"No." She interrupted him for once. "What are we?"

He watched as her tears stopped coming. Her eyes still a bit wet. Though, that could have been the rain. They were both soaked. Their uniforms were both sticking to them like a second skin. Her hair was now plastered to her form, just as his was. They were still just standing there, on the side of the road, getting soaked.

"… I do not know." He finally answered.

She neared him, shivering, seeking out his heat without realizing it. "I don't understand… it's like I've known you like this for my whole life. I don't feel like we've only just met… I know you."

He was silent.

"Can you promise me something?" her voice broke a little at the end. "Please?" Tears started to fall again, her small smile falling once more.

He knew it was a bad idea. He shouldn't promise when he did not know what she wanted. But could he really deny her something when she was crying again? "Yes."

"Promise me you won't leave me."

"… I do not understand what you are asking of me."

Her bottom lip trembled. "I… I just got you back." With that, her hands let him go. For just a second he was able to realize that he missed the heat of her hands on his skin. Then she was holding him to her, her arms wrapped around his torso. "So don't leave me again. Please!" She started to sob, her hot tears soaking to mingle with the cold rain that coated him.

"I can not promise you that. I do not control-"

She looked up at him, her eyes beseeching. Her eyes, full of tears, reached out to his heart and made it feel as if she was squeezing it. He found words he could not back up tumbling from his lips, just to please her. "I promise."

"Thank you." She managed, a smile breaking out from behind her tears. "Thank you." She stood on tiptoes, her lips landing on his cheek before he could move.

A scorching heat bloomed from the spot, his eyes going wide. His heart gave another pang, this one not uncomfortable in the least, as suddenly he felt… warm.

"You… you are welcome." He pulled back from her, not noticing her furious blush. If he had seen it he would have realized that the moment that had moved Orihime to give him the kiss was over, and despite it all, she was still a tad bit embarrassed.

"Now come," He said, finally regaining his composer. "We will be late."

"O-okay." She hurried forward to walk with him, forcing a smile.

But even with the promise, Orihime couldn't fight off the crushing feeling that something horribly wrong was about to happen.

.

Sorry about the late-ish update. Sorta had a bit of a problem in my real life this whole morning. Better-ish now, I think. Anywho, review if you think that you would like to bring a huge smile to my face. No joke, I beam like Orihime when I get those things. And ha, look, this one's long. Hope everyone enjoyed!