Kagome's back hit her pink comforter and she groaned, splaying her body over the bed. She was utterly exhausted after the long day, even more so than she'd thought was normal after hanging out with her friends. Not to mention her head throbbed.

Maybe it was because they had brought Inuyasha up or because of that strange random explosion that had occurred at the park and knocked her out. Whatever the case, she just wanted to merge with her bed and sleep for the next century. A nice hot bath would also be nice, though now that she was comfortable in bed the idea of getting back up was unappealing.

Even if it was for a bath.

Maybe if it was a hotspring I could soak in, then that might be a different story, she thought.

Oh how she missed them.

There was a mute rustling of clothes and Kagome lifted her head just enough to peek at whoever entered through the window. Ulquiorra was back in her room, though she was starting to expect his random appearances.

And disappearances.

Kagome groaned, dropping her head back on her bed. Why did she feel like there was something she had been meaning to yell at him for?

She couldn't remember.

Whatever.

"Nice to see you again," Kagome greeted.

He moved closer, staring down at her with those intense yet indifferent emerald eyes. Against his ink black hair and incredibly pale skin, they really popped out. Had she ever seen such rich green eyes like his?

Well, there was Shippo who had quite the vibrant green eyes.

Not the same shade though.

"Has anyone ever told you that you have really pretty eyes? Seriously, I've never seen a shade so green before," Kagome mumbled.

She wasn't one to go around complimenting guys so randomly and easily, but he wouldn't stop staring down at her with a look that told her he found something wrong. Didn't make it better that he still hadn't said anything.

Wait, was that a glare? Why was he glaring at her?

"Something happened," he said, finally.

Kagome snorted. "Yeah, an explosion. Right in the park. My head hurts, still."

There was a pause.

A very long pause.

Kagome wanted to fidget, sensing something was wrong. The tension in the room almost seemed to change, the pressure suddenly suffocating.

She felt a dip in the mattress and in the next second Ulquiorra was over her, one arm at the side of her head supporting his upper body while the other lifted her chin to study her. His expression was as stoic as ever and the fact she couldn't read him made her anxious. She wanted to throw him off her, yet she couldn't bring herself to move or feel embarrassed. It was too serious. He was too serious, even for himself.

No.

He was mad, she realized.

She gulped. "What is it?"

"There is residual energy lingering around your head. What do you recall of today?" he questioned.

Kagome's brows furrowed. What did he mean by that? Had someone done something to her? Last thing she recalled was the weird explosion in the park before she blacked out. Before that, she was hanging out with her friends at a restaurant. Was there something else?

She yelped at the sudden stab of pain at her head.

There was something she was forgetting.

Something just out of her reach.

Ulquiorra clicked his tongue. "Your memory has been tampered with."

"What?!"

Another sharp pain.

Kagome jolted, clutching her aching head. When she turned on her side, he didn't stop her. A wave of dizziness hit her and she felt like she would throw up. She gritted her teeth, forcing herself to concentrate as she gathered energy in her hand. With a shaky breath, she encouraged her head to stop aching and the dizziness to subside.

The pain slowly dissipated and left a wave of haziness in its wake. She didn't stop, searching for the cause of her discomfort. It was vague, but she felt something clinging to her head. Now that she was actually concentrating, she noticed her memories weren't as clear as she thought.

Like a sheet of tracing paper with memories drawn in over her own.

"That jerk!" she yelled.

Ulquiorra pulled back just as she jolted upright.

She remembered now! The old ghost lady and her son and grandson. The Hollows. Ulquiorra appearing suddenly and then ditching her just as quickly. The Shinigami. The way the jerk had flashed something at her face after everything was settled, as well as how she woke up to the police and paramedics checking over the scene.

Oooooh when I find that guy again he is soooo gonna get it, she swore.

She couldn't believe he had just simply left them all there and passed out in the middle of the park. Unbelievable! What if another Hollow had appeared? Or some lousy human decided to take advantage of any of them?

"Just wait until I get my hands on him…-"

"I see you've recovered your memories," Ulquiorra said, bringing her back to reality.

Kagome coughed, embarrassed.

Wait, no.

Now she remembered why she was mad at him in the first place. She shoved him off her, though he seemed completely unfazed as he used the momentum to stand up. "And you! Why did you just leave all of a sudden?! You could've stayed and helped out!"

"You would've been fine."

"Like hell I was! I didn't even have a weapon on me. What if those monsters killed me?"

"Then I suppose they'd be in for a spicy meal."

Was he joking?

Kagome swore he was joking. Poking fun at her, even. Teasing.

Him.

She huffed, getting up. Now that she was annoyed, she suddenly had a little more energy in her. That bath was sounding irresistible now and she stomped out of the room. She was too tired to deal with him right now and would argue with him later. Boys were all jerks.

An hour later, her mother came into the room and grabbed some clothes.

A few minutes later, Kagome returned. When she asked if he had bathed at all in the past week, considering he was still in the same clothes she'd found him in and seemingly living outside, he responded no.

He was shoved straight into the bathroom.

Though they had only known each other for a week, Kagome was learning that Ulquiorra was not the type to easily open up about himself or let down his guard. He rarely went out of his way to do anything for anyone, including seemingly himself. He was content with just standing back and observing his surroundings.

Even when the night settled and the world calmed, he still stood stoic and observing, never dropping his guard.

"Aren't you tired?" Kagome asked.

He didn't seem to have a place to stay, which probably meant he'd been sleeping outside somewhere. He wasn't human, sure. But even demons and surely Hollows needed to rest. Inuyasha and her other demon companions definitely did.

"Whether I'm tired matters not. I'm fine as I am," he said.

So basically, he was tired.

Just too macho to outright admit it.

Kagome rolled her eyes and got up from her desk chair. She'd been restudying her math book, as after meeting with her friends she had the strong sneaking suspicion that she had definitely not been accepted to her preferred choice of high school. Which meant she'd have to try other schools.

Which meant more entrance exams.

She left the room briefly and came back with a futon, which she laid out on the floor next to her bed. A small part of her that still retained her normal teenager side told her she shouldn't be letting a man she barely knew sleep in her room with her, but she squashed it.

If he was still not fully comfortable around her after the week they've known each other, he definitely would not be comfortable in Souta's room or downstairs on the couch, where he was in an unfamiliar space.

Besides, he hadn't done anything to her yet. She'd stay optimistic that he wouldn't start now.

Actually, isn't Souta at his friend's tonight? She thought.

Well, whatever.

"You can use this to sleep in tonight," Kagome said.

He stared at the futon.

Then stared at her.

"You would let a strange man so easily sleep in your room? I'm not human, girl. If you've forgotten."

Kagome snorted. "Yeah, well. Wouldn't be the first time I've let a non-human do so. Inuyasha's slept in here plenty of times and I doubt you'd take it if I offered you Souta's room tonight, anyway."

When he didn't respond, she went back to sit at her desk and struggle over her math book. If he didn't want to take it, then whatever. But it was there for him if he ever changed his mind.

"This 'Inuyasha' you speak of… It does not sound like a human name," he finally said.

Kagome felt him move behind her.

"Because it isn't. Inuyasha's a hanyou," she replied.

"Where is he now?"

Kagome was not comfortable with this conversation and she was tempted to snap at him to leave it alone. She didn't though. He was just curious.

Hopefully only curious.

"He's gone," she said.

More silence.

Kagome shifted in her seat.

"What is this you're working on?" he asked.

Ulquiorra leaned over her shoulder, setting his left hand on her desk where it sat to support his body's weight. Despite being so near her, she barely felt any heat radiating from his body. Sometimes, he really did remind her of a statue.

"Math," she said simply.

"What are these symbols?"

"Equations."

His brows furrowed and she had the feeling he wasn't understanding. Finally it seemed, he was the one stumped on information. She smiled.

"If you're so interested, I still have math books from my previous grades you can look at. It'll make more sense if you start at the beginning."

He said it was unnecessary, yet he didn't outright reject the offer. Kagome got up again and went to fetch the books. She couldn't find them in her closet - not that she remembered ever storing them there - and figured her mother had put them away. Probably in the storage shed by the house. Her mother wasn't the type to throw things away needlessly, especially since Souta would need them after her.

It took her a bit but she finally found the first few grades worth of math books. When she came back to her room, Ulquiorra was sitting on her bed studying another of her school books she'd left on her desk.

Well, wasn't he one for knowledge.

He turned his gaze from the book to her, but his head remained facing the book. "You've returned."

Kagome nodded and walked up to him, handing him her first grade math book. "Here, take a look. Just don't damage it."

School textbooks were expensive, after all.

She went to her desk and rummaged through one of the drawers. A moment later, she pulled out a spare notebook and picked up one of her pencils. Kagome handed it to Ulquiorra, who looked unsure of what to do.

She giggled. "Try solving some of the problems. If you need help, just ask. The first grade book shouldn't be too hard, I don't think. But I'll be over here if you have questions."

Kagome left him the supplies and went back to her own studies. Or as she liked to call it, her own hell. She'd studied long and hard before her final dip in the feudal era for the entrance exams, but looking through the book painfully reminded her that she still hadn't fully grasped most of the concepts.

To think, before her feudal adventures in the past she was a top-grade student. Now, she barely was scraping by.

Kagome sighed.

This would be a long night.

Morning came and with it, the birds' songs and the sun's rays of light. Kagome sat up and stretched, groaning as she felt the kinks in her back popping. She'd stayed up late studying and as much as she wished to sleep in, there were things to do.

As expected, Ulquiorra was already up. She'd given him some spare shrine clothes while she'd washed his last night, but he was already back in his own white and black garbs.

He sat on her bed with the math book in hand, barely sparring her a quick glance before he was back to studying it. Seemed it was keeping his interest, if he hadn't grown tired of it.

Kagome pulled herself up off the futon and went to grab a change of clothes. She'd been so absorbed in her own math book last night that by the time she'd noticed how late it was, she had found Ulquiorra passed out in her bed. She'd been tempted to kick him off and onto the futon, but she had the sneaking suspicion that if she woke him up he wouldn't go back to sleep.

So she'd let him lay there.

In her comfortable bed.

While she took the futon.

Kagome sighed and left the room to change. She could hear her mother and grandfather downstairs, as well as the delicious smell of food wafting in the air. Her stomach growled in response and she realized that she was very hungry.

Right, I used up quite a bit of energy yesterday, she thought.

Kagome returned to the room. "You hungry? My mom's food is really delicious and she always makes extra. We can set a plate for you."

"No."

She crossed her arms over her chest and raised a brow. "Why not? You haven't eaten probably since yesterday. Aren't you hungry?"

"I do not eat human food."

"Oh?" Now she was really curious. "Then what do you eat?"

"Souls."

He didn't laugh. Nor snicker or chuckle or anything.

She blinked.

He was serious.

"Does that frighten you, girl?" he asked, now fully focused on her. Kagome could swear she sensed a hint of amusement in his tone.

"Not really, no. Kikyo did, too," she said.

Not that she liked remembering that.

"Actually, now that I think about it… Do the Shinidamachuu also eat souls? I've only ever seen them collecting and feeding her," she wondered.

They must have, right? Why else were they soul collectors if not. They always seemed to do Kikyo's bidding, though. It almost made her think that Kikyo had created them herself, like her paper shikigami. Kagome could recount only one other occasion she'd seen some that weren't hanging around the woman.

Kagome decided to push that question out of her mind for later, if she remembered about it, as her mother called for her from downstairs for breakfast. She walked out her room and was surprised to notice Ulquiorra followed behind.

She raised an eyebrow in question.

"You requested I join you," he answered.

Didn't he reject her initially?

Well, whatever.

That breakfast was an eventful one. The moment her grandfather realized there was an invisible stranger joining them, he immediately attempted to "exorcize" him. Her mother could do little to help. At least Ulquiorra didn't seem too bothered, even letting her grandfather slap a sutra or two on him.

If this was Inuyasha, there would be fighting and screaming.

Once she and her mom finally managed to calm her grandfather down, they ate. Ulquiorra was silent the whole time, ignoring the stares from her mother and grandfather, who could only see the chopsticks moving and the food suddenly disappearing when it reached his mouth.

Kagome wouldn't say it out loud, but it was pretty funny.

She could only imagine what it was they were seeing, as he was visible to her.

"By the way, Kagome. A letter came in for you earlier from that school you applied to," her mother suddenly said, coughing into her hand.

Apparently, she finally realized she was being rude.

Kagome took the letter from her mother and opened it. She knew before she even laid eyes on the contents that it was a rejection letter. She sighed.

Great, all that stress and hard work for nothing.

"Well don't keep us in suspense, child! What does it say?" her grandfather piped up. "Did you get in?"

She shook her head and slumped dejectedly in her seat. "I was rejected," she said.

Her mother was immediately out of her chair to comfort her. There wasn't anything else that could be done with that door shut. She'd have to apply to other schools in the area and hope for the best. Her family encouraged her to cheer up. It was only one school, there were still plenty of others, after all.

Kagome though had the unpleasant suspicion that this wouldn't be the last rejection letter.

"Hey Ulquiorra, wanna come with me to visit somewhere?"

It would be raining again, so Kagome pulled on a sweater and got an umbrella for the showers that would come soon. Ulquiorra was behind her, face glued to the math book again. He looked up, curious.

"If I were to accompany you, the Shinigami would come after to try and kill me," he said.

"Good. I still need to slap him for messing with my memories and leaving me unconscious in the park," she said, nodding. Then paused. It took her a moment to process what he said. She turned to him, confused. "Wait, what do you mean come to kill you?"

"I am a Hollow. It is a Shinigami's duty to exterminate us," he replied.

That didn't make sense though. "But you've been staying here for a week now and he hasn't come by once."

He didn't respond.

Just stared.

Kagome wanted to throw the umbrella at his head. It felt like he was silently mocking her.

"It is truly astounding how spatially ignorant you are, even to your own home."

She did throw the umbrella at his head.

Author's Note

I've kinda been thinking of making another story with Kagome and Bleach, except she's introduced earlier on in the story. But then I realized that as I'm dealing with the same character, her powers would pretty much stay the same in that story, too. And that might be spoiling them for this one. And also when I thought about what pairing to go with, I realized that working on this story has kinda hooked me on Kagome with Ulquiorra and I would just end up pairing the two together again.

Actually, would anyone even be interested in reading a story about Kagome dealing with the Aizen and Arrancar issues? They might be a bit overdone at this point so I don't know if people would be tired of it, even if it would be my own spin on things.

Hmm...