Well, this was bound to happen sooner or later. No one's done one of these with Ulquiorra, at least not as far as I know. Wish me luck! :)

Porcelain

Chapter One

It started off pretty normal, at least, according to Dante's memory.

He was kicking back on his couch, half asleep as Patty went on cleaning the office and Morrison went through his bills again. There was some rock and roll playing, but quieter this time around, if only for Dante to get to sleep faster. And he was about to, if the door hadn't swung open.

"A customer!" Patty yelled, running to the door. Dante's eyes opened, slightly annoyed he wasn't able to nap, but he sucked it up; sitting up as Patty greeted the guy. "Welcome!" She said, lowering her head, her hands folded in front of her. The guy said nothing; he only stared at her for a few seconds before looking up and looking around the office.

Dante shifted so he was sitting back against the couch, taking in this guy's looks. He was younger and shorter than Dante, but his figure suggested that he was well toned. He was dressed in all black, his clothes a bit tattered, not to mention dirty. He had shoulder length black hair and large emerald eyes. He was also naturally pale, but from Dante's viewpoint, he was paler than usual, probably.

The man had a hand on his midsection, and he could see a few drops of sweat dripping down his face. The guy didn't give the air of a man who could make a sizable pay. But he definitely needed help with something.

"You just gonna stand there or are ya gonna sit down?" He asked the guy. "Unless you're not here to hire me, then you may as well leave." Patty turned around to glare at him, while Morrison only watched, quietly. The man narrowed his eyes, but he proceeded to the couch opposite to Dante. There was a slight limp in his step, and once he sat down, Dante could easily see the bags under the guy's eyes. "What can I do you for?" He asked the man.

Again, silence. The man stared at Dante, concentrating on any and all details he could see about him. An analytical client. Not very common, but not something Dante hadn't seen before.

"You are the devil hunter that I keep hearing of." He said it more to himself than Dante, but the albino nodded all the same. The man sighed. "My name is Kadir White. You wouldn't guess it in this state, but I'm the CEO of White Manor Suites; a line of hotels across the country."

Morrison did a double take. "That's impossible. The CEO died five months ago."

"No, I disappeared five months ago. You might want to reread the article you read." He told Morrison strictly before turning back to Dante. "About six months ago, demons started showing up a few towns over, where I live. I didn't think much of it until a week later, when I noticed someone staring at me from across the street. He vanished after that, but with him, so did some of my employees. Naturally, I reported this, but I didn't know demons were involved until a few weeks later, when the attacks started happening near my apartment complex. And few days after, some of them let themselves into my home and were waiting for me when I got there."

Dante began nodding. Pretty cut and dry. "So, you're being hunted." He said.

Kadir nodded. "Yes, it appears that way. I managed to escape them, but the last few months haven't been easy." Dante simply gave him a gesture to tell him to continue. Again, Kadir sighed. "I invested in a safe house under an alias before I became successful, and after the incident, I went there and stayed for two months. I was found, though, and I've been forced to go into even further hiding. Homeless shelters, back alleys, changing clothes and names, and only moving at night to ensure I wouldn't be caught. This has been working up until three days ago."

The albino nodded. "Any idea why they're after you?"

The ebony shook his head. "I wish I knew. All any of them ever say is "come at once." Whatever for, I don't know."

Dante nodded. "Alright, then. You want me to get rid of this problem so you can get back to your life, I take it." Kadir nodded. "It may take some time. I hope you're willing to pay for a long investigation and massive slaughter."

"I am." He simply said.

"Good, then." Dante said, standing up. "First things first, I'm gonna need to check out the last place they saw you. You know where that was?"

Again, he nodded. "West Emberland Street, if I saw the sign right. I was chased through an alley, but I could see the sign from where I was hiding."

Dante nodded. "Let's go, then." He said, moving to grab his coat. Kadir nodded, but just as he stood up, he keeled over; Dante barely catching him before he hit the ground.

"Whoa!" Morrison let out, getting up as a startled gasp escaped Patty's lips. He went over to Dante, who just laid his new client down on the floor. "He alright?" He asked, slight alarm in his voice.

The albino sighed. "Yeah, he'll be fine. Five months of hell just caught up with him, it seems." He said, taking a knife out and tearing Kadir's shirt open. It was covered in makeshift bandaging, and his blood stained the cloth he used. Dante honestly didn't expect any less, he was surprised the man was able to walk in, let alone stay conscious. Regardless, he cursed a bit as he picked Kadir up and brought him to his bedroom.

And thus was Dante's first step into Kadir's hellish situation.

I did not expect that to go well. Okay, real quick. The way it's gonna work is that I won't be updating this story until I have the next chapter done. Which means chapter two is already finished, and chapter three is currently in the process of writing. I really wanna finish this one, so wish me luck! :)

~ K. Fang-sama