One month earlier
Ulquiorra's words still echoed in his head as Szayel wandered the halls of his domain. A whole month of no missions. He couldn't help wondering what his fellow Espada had offered in exchange for that little arrangement.
"Szayel Aporro-sama!" said Lumina, with Verona close behind. "The materials you required. We obtained them for you!" They stopped a few feet in front of him, pride shining in their eyes.
"Oh?" Szayel said, smirking. "You're certain you got everything?" They nodded enthusiastically. "Where are they?"
"Hey, stop that!" Verona said to Lumina, who was poking him in the side.
Lumina said, "We put them in the spare room, just as you told us to. But we don't understand. Why are they so necessary for your experiment?"
Szayel moved past his Fraccion, ignoring Lumina's question, and headed over to where his next experiment would take place. He pushed the door open. His Fraccion had indeed completed everything he ordered. They had even opened up the floor, exposing the natural sandy ground of the desert.
He switched on the light and looked around. Now, where had those two placed the—ah, there they were. Szayel found all the materials scattered about in a corner of the room, just waiting to be used. He smiled at the variety. Picking one he started dragging it to the center of the room.
"Plants? What, are you changing professions and becoming the gardener of Las Noches?"
Szayel clenched his teeth. "How the hell did you get in here, Nnoitra?"
Nnoitra leaned against the doorframe. "Those idiot Fraccion of yours let me in. It wasn't that hard to convince 'em." He snorted. "Oh, but I need to talk to him. It's a matter of the utmost urgency. Blah blah blah. You really should train 'em better, Octava-san."
"Utmost urgency, huh? I didn't realize you knew such big words," Szayel said, rolling his eyes.
Nnoitra glared. He pushed himself from the doorframe. "You're avoiding the issue. What the hell is with all these plants?" He crinkled his nose at the tree Szayel had placed in the center of the room.
"It's for an experiment. What else could it be for?"
The pink-haired Arrancar knelt down and started digging a hole in the sand. When Nnoitra didn't respond, Szayel looked up. He was greeted with the sight of a large grin plastered across the Quinta's face.
That was not a good sign.
"For Pet-sama, right? Why, Szayel! I never knew you were such a romantic." Nnoitra pointed to the other flowers still in the corner. "I'm sure you'll give some bullshit reason why you're doing all this though."
Szayel ignored his comment. He dropped the tree in the hole and covered it with the sand. Digging a device from his pocket, he pushed a button. "One of my first experiments with Pet-sama, as you call her, was to let her go outside Las Noches. I wanted to provoke a happy response from her, and I thought the change in scenery would do. But when we got outside, and she came to realize she was the only living thing here, the thought upset her. She even created drawings in the sand of a sun and flowers and trees. So it is my belief, my hypothesis, that if she were exposed to these things here, she would exhibit a happy or elated response."
"You couldn't just take her to the human world and let her see plants that way?" asked Nnoitra, his eyebrow lifted. "And why do you care if she's happy or not?"
"No, I can't take her to the human world. For two reasons: one, Aizen-sama would never allow it, and two, there are too many extraneous variables to be considered. At least this is a controlled environment."
After a few minutes the tree completely wilted. The leaves turned brown and formed a pile around the bark skeleton.
"Hmm, that was much shorter than I thought it would last," Szayel noted, pocketing the device. He started digging the plant out from the ground and tossed the now dead plant to the side.
"What did you do?" Nnoitra demanded.
Szayel wiped his hands clean. "Nothing."
"Nothing my ass! The plant died minutes after you pushed the button on that thing of yours. You obviously did something."
Szayel took the device out and tossed it to Nnoitra. "I doubt a stopwatch could've killed a plant. As I said, I did nothing. Plants from the human world cannot survive in Hueco Mundo. It must be the combination of the lack of water and the reiastu-laced environment." He looked over at the other plants that were wilting as well. "I suppose I have my work cut out for me." He grabbed a small flowering plant and headed for the door.
"Hey, you never answered my question!" yelled Nnoitra, following Szayel out into the hall.
"The one about 'Pet-sama'? I know. I was ignoring you," Szayel said, holding the plant in one hand, while closing the door with the other. "It's not a need to see her happy that drives me to do all this. I don't care if she's happy or not. It's a need to know why she reacts the way she does. Her reactions are…abnormal."
Szayel started walking to his laboratory. "I think you can find the way out on your own, Nnoitra. Don't let the door hit you on your way out."
"Finally!" Szayel rubbed his eyes, sitting back from the microscope. "I'm done."
It had taken nearly the entire month to find and genetically alter the weak spots in the plants' DNA. Szayel also took the time to alter their maturation cycle, so all the flowers would blossom at the same time. The DNA of the grass and flowers was easy enough to modify, taking a total of two weeks. The trees, on the other hand, weren't. His Fraccion had to make a few trips to the human world to obtain more specimens before Szayel finally had a breakthrough. Now all the plants needed were reiatsu and artificial lighting to survive.
All he had to do was plant them and Szayel would be set. He removed his gloves and, tying a lab apron around his waist, called to his many Fraccion. The threat of a severe punishment if a plant was so much as bent hovered over them as their master placed the plants in their hands. Taking the last one he walked into the room, nodding at the trees and flowers placed in a corner. He grabbed the first unsuccessful tree experiment from before and tossed it out a side door, into the barren environment of Hueco Mundo. A couple of hollow-lizards inspected the tree curiously.
Just in time. Ulquiorra's mission-free month was coming to an end.
Before Szayel forgot he retrieved his clipboard and started writing:
Experiment 3: Exposure to other living organisms
Methods: An environment was created to replicate the natural environment of the participant using various flora and fauna. The different species are listed on the next page. The plants were genetically modified in order for them to survive the harsh environment of Hueco Mundo, as well as to synchronize their maturation cycles. No other changes were made.
Null hypothesis: There will be no change in the participant's behavior.
Alternative Hypothesis: The participant will exhibit behavior characteristic of happiness and/or elation.
Once he was finished, Szayel took an orange handkerchief from his pocket, tying it in such way to keep his hair from getting in his face while he worked. He planted the trees first, then the flowers, taking time to consider which plant would go where, to achieve the most naturalistic-looking environment.
The room was nearly ready. All he needed was to add the last finishing touches.
"Szayel-sama?" called Verona from the door, not looking at the Octava Espada. "I hate to interrupt, but there's an Espada meeting you've been asked attend."
Szayel brushed some of the soil from his hands onto the apron. "When?"
"Well…" Verona scuffed the floor with his shoe. "Now."
"What?! Why didn't you tell me this earlier, idiot?" Szayel pushed the Fraccion from the door and kicked him down the hall.
A "But we told you two weeks ago!" came from Verona as he skidded away, not that Szayel cared. He sonido-ed from his domain to the Espada meeting room in under ten seconds, relieved neither Aizen nor Ulquiorra were present. He made his way to his seat and sat, ignoring the stares and snickers of the others.
"Nice headgear, Szayel," said Grimmjow, snorting. "Never knew orange would be a good color for you."
The other Espada burst into laughter. Even Harribel's face relaxed in such a way that was different from her usual stony expression.
Szayel's eyebrows furrowed briefly until he remembered: the handkerchief. He pulled it from his head and tossed it onto the table, pink strands of hair framing his face. Yammy leaned over a few seats away to get a better look at the piece of cloth.
Nnoitra put his elbows on the table and leaned forward. "So, Szayel, I guess everything is going well with your little gard—" There was a swift kick to his shin. "HEY! What the hell was that for?"
"Oh my, was that your leg, Nnoitra?" asked Szayel, pushing up his glasses with his middle finger. "I really must be more careful."
Nnoitra slammed his hands against the table. "Szayel, you—"
"Whatever you two are fighting about can wait," Aizen said as he entered the room.
"Aizen-sama!" Yammy bellowed, shooting up from his seat. "Ulquiorra said he'll be late because he's returning the woman to her room. He told me to tell you."
"Thank you," said Aizen, sitting down while motioning for Yammy to do the same. A second later the door opened, and Ulquiorra took his seat next to Aizen. "Now that everyone is here, we can begin."
Half an hour later the meeting concluded. Most everyone headed back to his or her respective domains. Ulquiorra and Szayel lingered behind, waiting until the room had emptied before talking.
"Have fun spending quality time with our precious Orihime?" Szayel asked as he rose from his seat, his hands behind his back.
Ulquiorra didn't answer. He chose to glare at the Octave Espada as he stood. "I've already been assigned a mission, starting tomorrow," he said, and left.
Initially Szayel could barely contain his glee, anticipation swelling within him, but now that he stood in front of Orihime's room, he wasn't sure. How would she react to seeing after a month? His hand rested on the handle as he contemplated all the possible reactions from none at all to relief to—
He stopped himself, pushing the thought far from his mind. That was ridiculous.
The door creaked open. Orihime was sitting at the table, a thick book in her hands. Her head snapped over to him. Her face, which had been scrunched in concentration, lit up as she called Szayel's name. She rushed over to him and commented on their long absence from each other's presence.
Szayel had to agree—but it was worth it.
While they made their way to his domain, Orihime told him how Ulquiorra allowed her room to leave her room. The news came as a surprise, considering how adamant the Cuatro Espada was on keeping her contained a little over a month ago. But as Szayel thought about it, the news seemed less shocking. Ulquiorra probably wanted her to know which Espada to avoid.
Szayel scoffed. "Ulquiorra's motivations are easy too figure out."
"I really missed you, Szayel-san," Orihime said suddenly.
Szayel's brain stopped. He turned to Orihime, her cheeks colored a faint pink.
"I-I mean, I missed talking with you."
"You're too kind." Szayel ignored the foreign feeling of regret that passed through him. He turned the conversation in another, more comfortable, direction. "Do you not enjoy the Cuatro Espada's company?"
He had no idea a simple question would lead to a somewhat convoluted conversation involving boats, lifesavers and other things that only Orihime would think of, and how they compared to reaching out for someone. And yet, as strange as it was, Szyael understood what she was trying to get across.
"You can only reach out so many times before you realize that they're not going to reach back. So, in the end, you have to pull away to save yourself from more pain," said Orihime, a distant look in her eyes.
Szayel considered the change in Ulquiorra's behavior since he was assigned her guard. It seemed Orihime's powers of deduction were a bit off this time. In Ulquiorra's own way, he had been reaching out to her. She simply didn't know because it wasn't as apparent to her as it was to him.
"Are we talking about the lifeboat metaphor still or real life?" Szayel joked.
Orihime's demeanor shifted from sadness to mock-irritation. She pointed a finger at him, as if it could do him any damage, and laughed. "I don't know," she said. "You're the only one who has reached out. I mean, I haven't spent any time with the other Espada, not really, but you actually ask me questions and seem interested in what I have to say. It's…nice."
Szayel noticed her content smile. If she only knew.
Before he could change the subject again Orihime interrupted him, curious about what he'd been doing for the last month. It was a rather good segue, if Szayel thought about it. He teased her imagination with the possibilities.
"I've been working on something very important."
Her face brightened up for a second time. "I wish I could see it! Oh…but if it's important I guess I can't. It's probably something for…Aizen-san."
"Actually, no," Szayel replied, taking her to the room that had taken a whole month to finish. "Here we are." He opened the door, and placing a hand on the small of her back, nudged her into the room. "Enjoy, Orihime-san."
Looking around the room again, Szayel was rather proud of the work he accomplished. If he didn't know any better, he would've thought they had found a rip in the fabric of time and space itself, one that opened up into some unimaginable paradise.
Orihime gasped softly, her hand on her mouth as she took in her surroundings.
The place was so bright that, when she looked up, she half-expected to see the sun shining down on her. She didn't, but there was a bright blue sky dotted with white clouds. On the ground was a carpet of green grass. Orihime was tempted to pull off her boots, to feel the lushness of it beneath her feet. A few trees were scattered around the room, providing an umbrella of shade from the artificial sun. She couldn't help the swell of happiness when she noticed a couple of cherry trees, their petals falling like snow.
The air was sweet with the perfume of blossoming flowers of every size and color. Most of them were smaller though, ranging in shades of red, orange or purple. Some of the flowers were foreign to her. In the very back was a group of roses in nearly every color, from red—intertwined with white—to a pale pink, and even some that were yellow with pink tips.
Orihime turned to face Szayel. "I don't—how were you…?"
Szayel smiled. "It wasn't easy, that's for sure," he said, following as she walked around.
"I'm confused," she said, trying not to step on any of the plants. "I thought there weren't any plants in Hueco Mundo. Not any that were alive. And even if you brought some from the human world, how can they survive?"
"I genetically modified the plants. All they need are reiatsu and artificial lighting, instead of water and sunlight. Both of are rather scarce here, as you're well aware."
Orihime nodded. Her gaze shifted between the trees surrounding them and the wide range of flowers. "Which were the hardest?"
"The trees by far. The grass was the easiest," he said, eyeing an oak and willow tree close to them. "The flowers, for the most part, weren't too difficult, though a dozen or so varieties proved more problematic than the rest."
"Which ones?"
"For example," said Szayel, a hand on her back as he moved her to a red flower, "the dianthus caryophyllus, more commonly known as the carnation, was a bit of a challenge. Similarly," he continued, taking a few steps until they stood before a sweet-smelling white blossom, "it took me a number of tries to get the gardenia jasminoides to take root—in a manner of speaking."
Orihime laughed at his attempt at a pun. Szayel smirked.
"The hardest were the roses," he finished, as they headed to the back of the room. "Especially the pink and white one. I never figured out why."
Orihime stepped closer to the roses and knelt. She reached out for one of the blooms, the velvety petals smooth between her fingertips. When was the last time she had seen something alive, let alone in such great variety? The feelings inside threatened to overwhelm her.
Szayel watched Orihime carefully, noting her posture, the way her fingers lingered over the delicate rose—anything that could possibly be relevant. Any moment now she would turn around with a huge grin on her face, or she would laugh, or exhibit some other reaction typically associated with happiness. Then, finally, his curiosity for this particular facet of her would be sated.
Orihime pulled her hand close to her chest. There was a small sniffle. Szayel brushed it off as his imagination, but then he heard it again, much louder. Not sure what to do, he knelt beside her.
"Are you crying?" Orihime didn't respond. Szayel placed his hand on her shoulder. "It wasn't my intention to upset you, Ori—"
Orihime faced him with unshed tears in her eyes. Before Szayel could react he felt her arms wrap around him, her head resting in the crook of his neck. He stiffened at the foreign feeling, her body flush against him. His arms hung limply by his sides. Szayel desperately tried to process what was happening, take note of things that could be added later to her file, but he found he couldn't. He was too distracted by the sudden sensory overload.
"I'm not sad," said Orihime, her voice shaky. A few tears ran down her cheeks. "I'm not."
Hesitantly Szayel's arms moved up to pat her back. The light patting felt nice, almost hypnotic, but Orihime forced herself to pull away. She looked up at him, embarrassed, wiping the fallen tears from her cheeks.
"Forgive me, Szayel-san. I didn't mean to do that," she said. "Sometimes when you're happy, that feeling wells up inside so much that it overwhelms you. And then the only thing you can do is cry." She laughed.
"There's no need to apologize," Szayel said, and offered his hand. He helped her to her feet. "I thought I had done something wrong, so I was worried." And confused. Again she had exhibited a reaction he hadn't anticipated.
Orihime shook her head. "Szayel-san," she said, and pulled on his sleeve, "that tree over there. What is it? I've never seen it before."
Szayel understood what she was trying to do and decided to indulge her, just this once.
"That plant?" he asked, as they headed over to the tree in question. "I believe that is delonix regia, the royal poinciana."
"Really?" Orihime smiled softly as they stood beside each other. "Tell me more."