Ch 4

-"I feel empty inside," Akari complained softly, sounding somewhat confused.

-A feeling of dread filled Szayel; how could she already be angsty if she's only lived for a few moments?

"How do you know what it's like to feel empty?" he asked, irritated,"you've not experienced life yet."

-"I don't know," she muttered apologetically, "It's just that I feel hollow in here, and sick. " She put her hand to her stomach

-"Oh," Szayel felt somewhat guilty but more stupid for not putting "hunger" into his list schema of "empty feelings". He stood and looked her full in the face , prepared to notify her that he would go find her something to eat when he realized that hunger was not a typically experienced feeling for an arrancar. What have I created? He thought.

-"I will—go get you something to eat," he stammered. He decided to stick to his original plan only because he didn't know what else to say.

"Where?" she asked.

-He was taken aback. He certainly was not prepared for her questioning personality or eagerness for everything.

-"The kitchen," he responded almost irritably.

-"Can I come with you?" she asked

-"no," he said flatly. His mind however was anything but "flat"; Thoughts and worries were running rampant. He decided that he would have to keep a close eye on her as she seemed the type to accidently wander and get herself in trouble or be over-curious. How was he supposed to keep an eye on her if he went into the kitchen, he asked himself.

-"Yes, you can come with me, but not because you asked," he told her. He could not let her think she had any influence on him or she would be sure to try to take advantage of it, he thought.

-"Ok!" she beamed. Her happiness almost disgusted him. She seemed interested and happy about everything and anything.

- He ran his fingers through the scalp of his hair. The shock of the wet hairs on his skin reminded him that he was still wearing a drenched pair of pants. "Turn around or close your eyes or something alright? Don't look at me," he added walking back to his wardrobe. He quickly found a new outfit, dried himself with the towel he had thrown onto the floor and re-dressed. He threw the wet towel into one of several woven baskets along the wall; they each had their own purpose and this one was for towels only. He tossed the arm of a shirt that didn't make it entirely into its basket in and threw his wet pants into the basket next to it. He checked again that he didn't leave any corners hanging out. He hated when a corner or sleeve hung over the basket- it looked so messy.

- "Ok," Szayel said, "can you get—" before he finished his phrase, Akari had already fallen over.
"No, no you cannot," Szayel answered himself. He pulled her back up with her arm slung over his shoulder. "This is going to be easier if you just don't try to walk yet," he told her as he swung his other arm under her knees and carried her to the door. She was quite light, but it was still awkward for him to turn the door knob and shut the door behind them.

-He took her to the center wall of the antechamber and pushed. What was constructed to look like a wall opened up into a large bare hallway. Akari's eyes grew wide and she goggled at everything with wide eyes. She held onto Szayel's shoulders tightly and used him to hold her steady as she looked behind them, above, in front of them, and the tiles beneath his feet.

-They passed through several halls, all of different colors and geometric design. Szayel hurried around each corner and past each door, almost frightened that someone would see Akari. She was not ready to be shown and he was still having his fun with her without veryone else knowing about her existence. He wanted to keep it that way. He slid through a bare white door at last into a vast and modern kitchen.

-The bright chrome cabinets and appliances were contrasted black cabinet doors, and black and white granite countertops. Everything was very sleek and streamlined. The place was obviously a very beautiful and modern place when clean, but as it was shared by all Espada, dishes of sorts lay out on the counters and various items that would not fit into a cabinet were either also on the countertop or in large bags against the walls. Szayel sat Akari onto one of the large permanent islands in the center of the room. "Do you know anything you want to eat?" he asked. He was quite unaware of her intelligence or how much she already knew of her world. She shook her head.

-"What's that?" she asked, pointing to a bag of fruit.

-"That—is Halibel's. No one can have that," he smiled, "but I like your taste. This is my cabinet. Ocho." He indicated to the cabinet in front of them with a chrome 8 inlaid in the black wood. He opened it. A perfectly arranged array of all sorts of bags and boxes or plain colors sat in their strict order. "It's nothing really exciting. I don't even know what would work in your digestive system," he thought out loud, his eyes examining labels. He shut the cabinet. In the corner of his eye, he caught the figure of an arrancar standing at the far end of the room.