What if…

Chapter 3

A/N: I present you chapter 3. If you guys like Noinel as a couple I suggest you watch 2 videos on youtube; one is Neliel Noitra Black Tears witch is a video of their story told by Noitora's perspective mostly with Kuroi Namida from Nana playing in the background and Noitra x Neliel with Unmei no Hito by Fujita Meiko, which is a similar video. The people that have designed the art for these videos are extremely talented and both songs fit the couple and their story. I definitely recommend you to check them out if you want some Noinel angst, plus both songs are amazing.

Disclaimer: Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo, I only own this fanfiction.

Chapter 3: Orihime's first visit

Noitora was wearing his old uniform and was very grumpy. He wanted his other uniform back, but he had to wait before their uniform designer could fix it. On his way to his castle he had come across Harribel who had informed him that Orihime along with some guy named Chad and a Shinigami would visit them soon. Harribel had insisted that he should be the one to inform Nel and despite his protests, he couldn't really say no to the stronger Espada. So now he was on his way to Nel's private quarters. Nel had been quite lucky because Harribel decided to move to Barrangan's old quarters and thus she had taken Harribel's.

He didn't even knock when he arrived at her room and he entered giving a good scare to Dondochaka who was cleaning the room. "Where is Nelliel?", he asked annoyed.

"S-She… is still in her child form…", informed Dondochaka.

Noitora frowned. "I already know that, you dumbass. I'm not here to fight her. I was supposed to tell her something."

"She-she is taking a bath right now…", mumbled Dondochaka.

Noitora sighed and moved towards what he guessed was the bathroom despite Dondochaka's protests. He opened to reveal Pesche sitting next to the bathtub while Nelliel was barely visible in the water due to the bubbles.

Pesche gasped and Nel shrieked. "What are you doing in here Noitora?! You shouldn't enter the bathroom while a lady is using it!"

"I'll keep that in mind for when I see a lady.", replied Noitora with a bored expression. "You're still in this form anyway and I'm pretty sure that the bathtub is covering your body completely even if you are back to your adult form. I remember Harribel saying that this room only has a bathtub anyway, so I knew that you wouldn't be in a shower or something and I'm pretty sure that I would have heard it before entering. Besides why is he here?", he said pointing at Pesche.

"I'm keeping Miss Nelliel on the surface so that she doesn't drown.", said Pesche proudly.

Noitora stared at him dumbfounded. "… Right…" He still wasn't used to how weak Nel was in this form. "Anyway, I came here to tell you that our Pet will be visiting along with some Chad guy and a Shinigami soon, so when you're done you should come to welcome them or something.", he said scratching his neck.

Nel smiled. "Orihime is going to visit! Yay!"

"Yeah, whatever…", he said turning to leave.

"Wait!", said Nel suddenly much to his and to Pesche's surprise. "Pesche, can you leave Nel alone with Noitora? It will be ok. He won't try anything unless he wants Harribel to deal with him."

Pesche nodded reluctantly and he shot a glare at Noitora. "Make sure that she won't drown."

Noitora nodded with an annoyed expression and Pesche went outside. Noitora looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Actually, Nell wants to understand you, Noitora. Nel thinks that her approach with you was wrong and Nel believes that even though you were bad, Nel also treated you wrong."

Noitora blinked at her. "First of all, stop talking on the third person and second do you think that now is the best time for you to tell me this? I mean you could have waited to get out of the bathtub first."

Nel sighed. "Nel can't help the way she talks in this form. Nel can't control it. And yes, Nel wanted to tell you this as soon as possible.", her eyes shone with determination.

Noitora sighed and looked at the door. "Well, I guess I could try getting along with you if you try too. I mean that's what the other three… (he remembered the no swearing rule)… Espada want from me too. I'm warning you, though. I'm more messed up than you think." He turned to look at her and gasped horrified and fell back hitting his head on the wall.

Nel smiled at him, now back in her adult form, sitting obviously more comfortably than before in the bathtub. "Don't worry. I know."

Noitora rubbed his head and glared at her. "Fuck Nelliel! Do you want to give me a heart attack?! Warn me when these transformations occur!"

Nel giggled. "Ok, I'll try. Now be a dear and pass me the towel."

Noitora flinched and felt heat rising to his face. "Wha-"

"Of course, you'll turn around first.", she said, still smiling, but her voice was definitely threatening.

"Yeah… Of course…", he said turning around and throwing her the towel. He could feel that his face had turned red and he felt stupid about the whole situation. Maybe he should have waited for her to finish her bath before talking to her. He closed his eye as he felt her pass by him and go outside.

"I'll let you out when I'm fully dressed.", she said and closed the door.

Noitora sighed and opened his eye. Nelliel had definitely started to change. She used to be so cold at him and she always had a sad look on her face as if she pitied him, much to his annoyance. But now she acted cheerfully like she did only with her fraccion. Living as a child had probably made her embrace her more playful and cheerful side and if he had to be honest with himself, he preferred the new Nelliel. It seemed to him as if she saw him as her equal and one of the things that he had always wanted was for her to acknowledge him and not call him a brainless animal. When he thought that he was about to die, she called his name and he felt fulfilled. She wouldn't call his name in the past unless she wanted to refer to him when she was talking with someone else or to talk harshly at him. But now she did it without hesitation. He would never admit out loud how much better it made him feel to be addressed by his name. He would never show weakness like that.

Most people would guess that his aspect of death was destruction or wrath or something, but it was despair. And Nelliel was one of the few who knew about it. That's why he always thought she pitied him. After all she always tried to be there whenever he got in trouble. She would lie and tell him that she did it because Aizen shouldn't be looking for a replacement for him. He always felt that she did it because she pitied him, but now she was admitting she approached him in the wrong way. That had gotten his attention, despite him not showing it. What did Nelliel want from him? Why did she care about the way she treated him in the past? Why did she want to understand him?

He was broken away from his thoughts by Nel opening the door, dressed in her old uniform, but with a smile on her lips, unlike the image he had associated her with when it came to that uniform. "Come on! We should go greet Orihime!"

"Oi, wanna fight afterwards?", he asked on impulse.

Nel frowned. "Not before the others leave. Now, come on!"

Noitora sighed. "Fine…"

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They had all gathered to the room they had decided would be the "Garganta room", formerly known as Orihime's room. Grimmjow and Noitora were bored and didn't see the point of being there, Nel and her fraccion were excited, Stark was sleeping while Lilinette was drawing on his face, Harribel had her usual expression and was surrounded by her fraccion, Ulquiorra seemed a little happy, though nobody could really tell since his expression was his usual one but his aura was definitely more pleasant, Tesla was looking at where the Garganta would open nervously and Gin had his usual fox like smirk.

The Garganta suddenly opened and three figures appeared. One was Orihime, the other was the human known as Chad and the third one was a blond Shinigami with big boobs that Ulquiorra remembered talking to Gin.

Noitora and Grimmjow grinned when they saw the Shinigami. "That is interesting.", said Grimmjow.

"It definitely is.", replied Noitora, his eye never leaving the Shinigami.

Suddenly the Shinigami smiled and hugged Gin who did the same, much to the others' surprise. "I've missed you too, Rangiku.", said Gin and the others could swear that his smile suddenly seemed genuine.

Grimmjow's and Noitora's grins turned into frowns. "That's no longer interesting…", mumbled Grimmjow.

"Well, if she likes that kind of guys, we dodged a bullet there…", said Noitora to make himself feel a little better.

Nel turned at them with a scowl. They both glared at her. "What?!", growled Noitora.

"Perverts.", said Nel simply and then turned to squeeze Orihime into a hug.

Orihime smiled at her. "It's good to see you Nel. Ichigo says hi. He is really upset that he can't come here, but we are all working on ways to fix the issue. He told me to give you this, though." Orihime offered Nel a book. "He didn't really know what you like and he wasn't sure whether you could read, but we both agreed that it still looks nice as a gift. Plus I had a bookcase in my room here, so I believe that some arrancar can read.", said Orihime.

Nel beamed at the girl. "It's such a great present! I love reading, don't worry about it. It's a pity that Ichigo can't visit, though.", she frowned. "Tell him that I love the gift."

Orihime nodded. Chad approached Nel and offered her an armband. "Kisuke told me to give you this. He is still working for a permanent solution, but he can at least help you with your current predicament. This device will warn you before you transform into your child form."

Nel's eyes widened in surprise. "That's great! That will really help with many things. Thank you, Chad. Tell Kisuke my thanks too."

Noitora approached them. Both Chad and Orihime got into defensive stances when they saw the tall arrancar. "So, your name is Chad, huh?", said Noitora.

Chad relaxed a little. "Yes…"

"Well, didn't you take down a Privaron before I beat you?", asked Noitora.

"Yes.", replied Chad, not sure where this was going.

Noitora smirked. "Well, do you want to have a rematch with me? Don't worry. I'll go easy on you."

Chad flinched. "I'm not that strong as to defeat an Espada…"

"Well, you can be trained to do so. Also if Nelliel is kind enough as to demonstrate you a proper battle with me, maybe you'll learn something." Noitora grinned and glanced at Nel who sighed annoyed.

"You could wait.", she said.

"And what if you turned back into a child?", asked Noitora with fake worry.

Nel glared at him. "Fine, I'll battle with you. Chad you can come and watch. Tesla you'll come too, to remind your master to behave."

Noitora scowled. "I don't need Tesla to babysit me."

"Do you want to fight me or not", asked Nel with a smirk.

Noitora sighed defeated. "Come on Chad, or whatever your name is. But before that…" He turned to Orihime and Chad. "My previous uniform was good, wasn't it?", he asked with a nervous smile.

Orihime and Chad gaped at him. Nel facepalmed. "I can't believe you did ask them…"

Chad sweatdropped. "It was cool… I guess…"

Orihime thought for a moment. "You are talking about the spoon uniform, right?"

Noitora growled. "Oh, come on! Nobody has any sense of fashion in this room.", he grumbled and went outside followed by Tesla.

Nel sighed. "Come on Chad. I'll give you a good show."

Chad nodded awkwardly and followed Nel, without really understanding how he got in this situation.

Grimmjow sighed. "Do you have anything for me?" He'd rather not stay any longer than necessary with the crazies.

"I brought some snacks for everyone, but Ichigo also gave me something for you.", answered Orihime.

Grimmjow stared at her with interest. "What is it?"

Orihime scratched her cheek nervously. "Well, it is kind of a joke actually…" She presented him a small bag of catnip.

Grimmjow growled furiously. "That bastard! I'm gonna go to the world of the living and kick his ass so hard he will land here!"

"You'll do no such thing!", said Harribel annoyed.

Grimmjow growled but didn't say anything else to the stronger arrancar. Orihime sweatdropped and then turned to Ulquiorra with a huge smile. "I've brought you some stuff! I think you are going to enjoy them.", she offered him a book, clothes and a bat plushy.

Ulquiorra stared at the stuff confused. "What are all these things?"

Orihime's smile widened. "I'm gonna show you."

Ulquiorra held the plushy, not really understanding what it is. He looked at Orihime, trying his best to make his confusion visible.

"Oh, I brought this, because I think it looks like you.", she explained, confusing him even more.

"I don't look like that…", he said and looked at Harribel and her fraccion for confirmation that Haribel gave him with a small nod, though her fraccion were saying how cute the plushy looked.

"Not now, silly.", said Orihime giggling. Ulquiorra was dumbfounded. He was being called silly by a human girl. The human girl that brought him back to life and he had vowed to obey and protect. So he listened attentively to what she said next. "It looks like you resurrection. You know you've got wings like that and you look like a bat."

Ulquiorra was starting to understand. "I suppose you're right about that… But what is the purpose of this thing?"

Orihime smiled. "It has no purpose other than being your cute companion or you can use it as decoration in your room."

"… My cute companion…?", he repeated even more confused than before.

"You can have this on your bed for example or on a bookshelf.", explained Orihime. "And you can squish it whenever you feel stressed or down, the softness makes you feel better immediately."

Ulquiorra nodded. "I see. I have no other decoration in my room. I will treasure this one. Though, since I haven't felt stress before, I'm not sure I can use it for the last purpose."

"It's ok. I just thought that it was a nice gift. I'm glad you like it. Now, let's go to your room, so we can put it in the most appropriate place."

Ulquiorra nodded and was about to do as he was told when he noticed Grimmjow snickering while looking at him. "Why are you laughing?", he asked immediately annoyed.

"You and that thing… Hahahaha! It's ridiculous!", said Grimmjow and continued laughing much to Ulquiorra's irritation.

"Trash.", said Ulquiorra simply and moved past him. "Let's go to my room.", said Ulquiorra to Orihime.

Grimmjow whistled. "Well, it's finally happening! Ulquiorra is finally getting laid!"

Ulquiorra stopped midstep and stiffened, while Orihime turned red like a tomato. Harribel glared at Grimmjow, but it was Gin that decided to interfere. "Don't you have some catnip to sniff, Grimmjow?"

Grimmjow's smirk fell and he growled at Gin. Harribel thanked Gin with a nod and turned to Grimmjow herself. "You haven't helped at all with the repairs now that I think about it. Even Noitora and Stark have helped. Why don't you go and check Szayel's castle first traps?"

Grimmjow paled. "On my own?"

Harribel raised an eyebrow "I said the first traps. I'm pretty sure that the great panther king can handle it."

Grimmjow grumbled some profanities under his breath, but did as he was told. Ulquiorra nodded at Harribel and left the room with Orihime.

Harribel stared at Gin and Rangiku. "I suppose you two want to spend the day with each other?"

Gin nodded. "If you need me about anything though, call me."

And thus Gin left with Rangiku, leaving Harribel with her fraccion, Stark and Lilinete in the room. Harribel stared at Stark and he did the same. "I've found some of Zommari's booze in his room. Wanna try it?"

Harribel shrugged. "Why not?"

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Ulquiorra's and Orihime's walk to his room was quiet. Orihime seemed nervous and despite his collected and calm appearance, Ulquiorra was cursing Grimmjow inernally. He had made the atmosphere between him and Orihime extremely uncomfortable and Ulquiorra was certain he disliked that atmosphere. Ulquiorra decided that maybe he should break that silence. "Don't pay attention to Grimmjow. He is trash. And trash has no mind."

Orihime flushed and flinched. "I-It's ok. I've met guys like him before. They only care about making themselves look good. They can be annoying at times."

Ulquiorra nodded at her. They were about to reach Ulquiorra's castle corridors when they came across Loly and Menoly. Both of them gasped and stared at Orihime in shock. Orihime blinked at them and stood behind Ulquiorra awkwardly. "Uh, hi…", she mumbled

The girls stared at each other with very awkward expressions. Ulquiorra remembered what those two had done to her due to Loly's jealousy. "Apologize to her for what you did."

The girls backed away a little when Ulquiorra spoke. Orihime tried not to burst out laughing because despite his usual expression and stance, he was still holding the bat plushy and she found the whole scene hilarious and cute. She really appreciated that he cared enough to demand such a thing. But at the same time… "It's ok, Ulquiorra. They don't have to apologize. I've forgiven them."

Ulquiorra glanced at her, his eyes wide. Her kindness was something he had a hard time getting used to, but at the same time it fascinated him. He supposed it was part of the "heart" and he decided that he wanted to learn more about it.

Loly and Menoly though bowed their heads and did as they were told. "We are sorry for what we did. We don't deserve your kindness." It was Loly who spoke. "Don't be mad at Menoly. I put her up to this. It's my entire fault."

Menoly stared at Loly surprised. Orihime smiled gently and approached them and motioned for them to stand up. "I forgive you.", she said softly. "I'm going to visit often and I would rather be your friend than your enemy."

Loly gaped at her. "You want to be our friend?! Why? I treated you terribly. "

Orihime smiled at her. "It's really ok. We've all liked a guy so much that we wanted to eliminate the competition.", she said while Nel hugging Ichigo appeared in her mind.

Ulquiorra raised his finger to say that the explanation of Loly's behavior by Orihime wasn't the best comparison but then again he had no better explanation, so he remained silent. He did wonder though whether Orihime really thought about eliminating competition when it came to Kurosaki. He wasn't that oblivious when it came to her affection towards the substitute Shinigami, but he still didn't understand how you treated the person you supposedly "liked" or how you acted about it. Maybe he should ask her.

After finally leaving Loly and Menoly alone, much to the two arrancar girls' relief, they managed to get in his room. He placed the plushy carefully on his bookshelf as decoration and Orihime nodded in approval. "If Loly or Menoly ever bother you again, you should tell me immediately. Though most of the Espada dislike them so even if you were to tell this even to Noitora or Grimmjow, they'd also support you."

"Why do you dislike them?", asked Orihime confused. "I mean besides the fact that they act upon emotions like jealousy…", she mumbled while rubbing the back of her head.

Ulquiorra sighed. "The two of them approach the ones ranked above them and try to sleep with them.", he said with his usual expression and Orihime blushed. "They wanted Aizen's attentions because he was the strongest. That doesn't mean they haven't tried with the Espada as well."

Orihime stared at him and for a moment contemplated whether she should ask him. In the end she did. "Did they approach you too?"

Ulquiorra was expecting the question the moment he saw her thinking. "They did.", he confirmed. "I declined, obviously."

Orihime's eyes widened but she nodded, embarrassed to have thought even for a little that he was the kind of person that would sleep with the first who offered. He obviously was focused on his duty and he wouldn't bother with something like that. Besides, Orihime wasn't certain he even knew much about positive emotions and whether he had ever felt lust, "Sorry… That was a little rude of me…"

"I don't mind.", replied Ulquiorra. "You are genuinely curious about everything you ask and you don't have ulterior motives or the desire to mock me about this stuff, like Grimmjow or Noitora do."

Orihime smiled. She was glad he trusted her. "So, has anyone accepted their offer…?", she asked this time.

"Grimmjow and Noitora from what I have heard.", he replied.

Orihime nodded. "I guessed it would be these two… But didn't you say they also dislike them?"

"I guess they only care about fulfilling their desires and they don't bother that much about who actually fulfills them."

Orihime nodded in understanding. Ulquiorra stared at her for a moment. He wanted to ask her something but he wasn't sure about how she would receive his question. "May I ask you something?"

Orihime blinked at him. "Of course. I mean, I just asked about your personal life, so it's only fair that you ask me as well about anything you want to know." She offered him a smile and he was satisfied she had figured out it would be a personal question.

Ulquiorra thought for a moment before asking. "You said that when someone "likes" someone they want to eliminate the competition. Is that normal? And, have you ever wanted such a thing? You don't seem like the kind of person that would want to eliminate anyone, considering that you even saved Loly and Menoly after what they did to you."

Orihime stared at him surprised. She didn't expect him to even consider all those things, let alone care enough to want to learn about the right way to express adoration or act when you are jealous. "Well… It's normal to feel jealous when someone is close to the person we fancy and we might consider ways to remove the competition but that last part isn't really healthy. It's not right to mess with other people's relationships and if you really care about someone, you should let them choose what makes them happy. " , she said with a smile.

Ulquiorra seemed to think about the new information and after a while he nodded at her. "What about the second part of my question?"

Orihime blushed, but decided to be honest. "I was really jealous when Nel hugged Ichigo and I could only think that she should have remained a child. Oh, I feel terrible about such thoughts! I mean she was trying to save me…"

"So, you still fancy Kurosaki.", said Ulquiorra calmly.

Orihime froze and felt more heat on her cheeks. She never spoke about her crush on Ichigo, not that she was trying deliberately to hide it, but she didn't want to talk about her crush to everyone. Yet, Aizen and apparently Ulquiorra had used that in order to lure Ichigo to Hueco Mundo. She felt naïve to think that it wasn't that obvious. "Yeah… I've never really tried to keep it a secret, but I didn't realize how obvious I am."

Ulquiorra seemed to understand her discomfort. "Lord Aizen was a very smart man. He could understand such things. I personally wouldn't have understood about such a thing."

Despite the whole situation, Orihime giggled. "You need help with understanding the positive emotions. Don't worry, I'll help you. I will teach you about thinks like happiness, love and everything else that I can think of. I promise you that by the end of my lessons, you'll be able to recognize these feelings easily and maybe you will be able to smile in happiness like everyone else."

It was Ulquiorra's turn to freeze. Him able to smile in happiness? He never felt that emotion, thus he never had the urge to smile. Now he was curious. "I would appreciate you lessons."

Orihime grinned at him and he felt unknown warmth in his chest that made him relax. He described it to her and she said it was some sort of relief that he would be taught about the things that interested him. They shook hands because Orihime said that this was how you make a deal. Then she smiled again. "Come on! I've brought you clothes to try on."

End of Chapter 3

A/N: And I finally finished it. I apologize for taking this long, but I started working and at the same time I have to go to uni because I'm working on a hard project till the middle of May. I said to myself that I would work my fanfictions at night, but I managed to get sick and for a week now I have otitis that finally got better today. So yeah I was little too out of it and I couldn't really write much. I hope that now that I'm better I'll be able to work more on my stories. Anyway, thank you Ellieness and Bellaswan120 for reviewing and I'm glad you like my story so far. I'd love to see more reviews. Next chapter: Noitora's and Nel's fight. Till next time!