.
.
"Look at you. The Fourth Espada. Playing tea-time with the human," Grimmjow said. He reclined lazily against the couch, cat-like and studying a piece of lint off his shirt. "Aizen-sama must be laughing inside. I know I am."
Ulquiorra's eyes narrowed. Wordlessly he picked up the tray for Orihime's lunch.
"You should do her," Grimmjow said conversationally. "Aizen-sama said himself you could do with her as you saw fit. Provided you don't break her in half, of course."
Ulquiorra set the tray down. The china rattled, softly. "Grimmjow. I would watch what you say," Ulquiorra said. A warning in his voice.
Grimmjow shrugged, then moved to stand. "Everybody knows why Aizen-sama paired the two of you together," Grimmjow said.
"And why would that be?"
"Because you're you, and she's her, and Aizen-sama is as bored and perverted as the rest of us," Grimmjow said. Ulquiorra raised his eyebrows.
"You are suggesting Aizen-sama is attempting to have us mate?" Ulquiorra watched him, curiously. Really, the whole thing was rather absurd.
Grimmjow grinned and shrugged.
"Suit yourself," Grimmjow said.
Ulquiorra stared at him a moment. Then he picked the tray back up and knocked on Orihime's door.
xXx
.
The woman was losing weight. There were dark circles under her eyes and often he would open the door to her cell to find her crouched beneath the window, knees to her chin and staring at the wall.
This would not do. Aizen-sama had entrusted her to his care. It would not bode well for him if she continued to decline.
"Onna." Ulquiorra moved quietly, regarding her in the dark. "You are losing weight," Ulquiorra said.
Orihime lifted her eyes briefly, then lowered them back to the ground.
"You miss your companions," Ulquiorra said. "You are worried for them."
The woman nodded. "Hai," she said. Her eyes were dim.
"If I tell you we have not yet killed them, will you be reassured?" Ulquiorra stood, waiting for a reaction. There was none, just the briefest flicker of conflict on the woman's face, then nothing more. Ulquiorra understood that her friends' well-being was at the core of the woman's current state. He knelt down beside her and looked her in the eye.
"Your friends are safe," Ulquiorra said. A simple truth one might mistake for kindness. The woman's eyes brightened. He took it as an opportunity and pushed the little tray of food by her side.
"Eat," Ulquiorra said. "You must eat to keep up your strength."
"Hai." The woman nodded, then dutifully turned to the tray.
Humans were easy to manipulate. The woman was no exception.
xXx
.
"You've never had chocolate before?" Orihime's eyes were as wide as saucers as Ulquiorra stared at her, his face a perfect mask. As a matter of course, Ulquiorra took to having small side conversations with the woman, a necessary action to keep her from falling to despair. "Her powers may not manifest if she is unhappy," Aizen-sama once said. "Consider it your duty to keep her entertained." And so it fell to Ulquiorra that the woman stave off her loneliness by talking to him, sharing inane banter and pretending to be at least mildly interested.
"Espada do not eat the way humans do," Ulquiorra said. The conversation was uncomfortable. "We consume the souls of others. I would have thought you'd know that by now."
"Yes, but..." Orihime's brow furrowed. "But weren't you human, once? Didn't you have chocolate when you were alive?"
Ulquiorra blinked. "You forget, onna. I am the sum of many," Ulquiorra said. Many lives. Many souls. Many hollows who never tasted chocolate ever in their waking life. The woman looked confused.
"But in that many...didn't a few of them try?" Orihime asked. Ulquiorra's jaw tightened, slightly.
"What does chocolate taste like?" Ulquiorra asked. Not that he cared, but she seemed to enjoy the topic.
"Oh! It's delicious! It's sweet and sticky and I like putting it on ice cream..."
She was smiling now, clearly enjoying the memory. Ulquiorra cocked his head.
"Onna. If I were to procure this...chocolate...for you. Would this help you eat?"
The woman's eyes widened. A blush slowly crept up her face.
"I suppose this is a yes," Ulquiorra said. Orihime blushed, harder.
Humans were so very easy to understand.
xXx
.
"Chocolate? Really..."
Aizen-sama was clearly amused. "You're taking quite a liking to her," Aizen-sama said. Ulquiorra gave him an elegant little shrug.
"It suits our purposes," Ulquiorra said. "You said so yourself, Aizen-sama. If we offer her what she likes, she will be more likely to eat. Her well-being is our first priority."
Aizen-sama's eyes glittered. "Then we shall make it so," Aizen-sama said.
The next day, Ulquiorra smoothly entered Orihime's chamber carrying a little tray of chocolate in his hand.
xXx
.
Unfortunately for Ulquiorra, the woman often mistook his duty for kindness.
Two Arrancar had broken in, throwing taunts and physically abusing her. Ulquiorra dispatched with them quickly. The merest flick of his hand, the two of them slammed unceremoniously against the wall. The woman sobbed and threw herself at his feet.
"Onna. Quiet yourself. You are making a scene," Ulquiorra said.
"I-I'm sorry, but..."
"But nothing." Ulquiorra stared at her, levelly. "This is not fit, even for a human. You are under Aizen-sama's favor. Stand up and take pride in that."
The woman sniffed, then stood up slowly. Her cheeks were red.
Ulquiorra turned. Behind him, the two Arrancar were crouching by the wall. They visibly flinched when he neared them. "Go, before I tell Aizen-sama of your petulance," Ulquiorra said.
The two Arrancar nodded and quickly fled the room.
"Cifer-san."
Ulquiorra turned smoothly. The woman blushed. "Thank you," she said.
Ulquiorra shrugged and left the room.
xXx
.
"May I...may I ask you something?" Orihime asked.
Ulquiorra studied her, quietly. It was rather intriguing, how attached the human seemed to get. In the first few days of her captivity, the woman wouldn't so much as even look at him. Now she confided in him as if he were one of her dearest friends. It was a strange but not entirely unexpected phenomenon.
"What is it?" Ulquiorra asked. The woman fiddled, playing with her shirt sleeves.
"What was it like..." her eyes flicked upwards. "When you...when you became a hollow. Did it hurt?"
"Hurt?" Ulquiorra tilted his head.
"I mean..." The woman struggled for words. "I know that you're made up of many hollows, and...and it's difficult to try to pinpoint...but there must be something in there that was you, at least...the you before you became Espada," Orihime said. "I was just wondering what you remember."
Ulquiorra sat down beside her, and carefully unbuttoned his cassock. The woman's eyes widened slightly. "The hole where my heart was," Ulquiorra said. He touched his center, tracing the edges with his fingertips. "There is no pain. No fear. No complicated emotions clouding the way. There is only reason left to guide me."
"But what about normal hollows?" Orihime asked. "What about them?"
Ulquiorra had been around the woman long enough to know she was thinking about her brother again, and what she was really asking for was reassurance. To tell the truth may tip her fragile psyche over the edge; Ulquiorra thought it best to soften the blow. "I can only speak for myself," Ulquiorra said.
"Do you get lonely?" Orihime asked.
"Lonely?"
"I get lonely sometimes," Orihime said. She glanced up shyly at him, then back at her hands. "I was just wondering if you get lonely, too."
The woman's eyes dimmed. There it was: that dull ache building up at the corners. "I'm sorry, that's silly!" Orihime said. She swiped at her eyes and swallowed.
Ulquiorra considered. Loneliness was a human emotion, obviously one the human was prone to feeling. He decided it would be best to agree with her, if only to keep her from throwing herself into an absolute depression. He sat next to her, the cushion from the couch sinking with his weight.
"Before Aizen-sama created us, our existence was a solitary one," Ulquiorra said. "I suppose you could say, before Aizen-sama, we were lonely. Yes."
"Oh..." the woman clutched her sleeves. "I think I understand. Why you're so loyal to him-it's because he brought you all together."
The woman curled up beside him, drawing her knees to her chin. "What will happen when...when Aizen-sama is through with me?"
"He will likely kill you," Ulquiorra said. The woman closed her eyes. A single tear spilled over.
Ulquiorra frowned. Her shifts in mood were not entirely unpredictable, and while Ulquiorra struggled little to keep up with them, he sometimes found himself wholly inadequate to the task. Aizen-sama did right to choose him, however; the others would blunder even worse, and the woman would be entirely suicidal.
In situations such as this, Ulquiorra found that humans responded best to touch.
"Onna. Calm yourself," Ulquiorra said, and he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Aizen-sama would dispatch with me as well, and the other Espada, if we no longer pleased him. But that does not change the fact that we too continue to be in his favor."
"R-really?"
"Yes." Ulquiorra watched her, carefully. He was too blunt before, and it had sent the human into a tailspin. Better to watch his words and make sure she is calm before he leaves.
He didn't move when the woman leaned against him, crying softly into his coat.
xXx
.
Grimmjow was leaning against the wall, grinning when Ulquiorra stepped out of the cell. "I see you two are bonding, now," Grimmjow said. He leered, suggestively.
Ulquiorra ignored him, making a point not to acknowledge him as he passed him down the hall.
xXx
.
What was it about this woman that inspired such loyalty? Such fierce tenderness among the humans and her kin?
It was regrettable that Ulquiorra could not remember the sum of his human life. Though he had the collective memory of thousands of hollow, he couldn't remember what it was like being bound to those sorts of attachments. It was irrational, illogical - it was beyond his realm of understanding.
The closest thing to family Ulquiorra ever experienced was watching Nelliel and her Fracción. She cared for them the way humans cared for each other, and the feelings were reciprocated. Even after they were banished, Ulquiorra would come across detailed reports of their sightings, the three of them playing together and protecting each other, living in the sand.
Ulquiorra was always different. Other. Even among the other Espada, Ulquiorra did not share their collective idiocy.
He watched the woman as she slept, then quietly shut the door.
xXx
.
"You are getting quite attached," Szayel said one day. He was working on one of his other experiments. Ulquiorra bristled, slightly. Szayel was lower-ranked, even moreso than Grimmjow. That he dared to speak to him in such a way offended Ulquiorra's sense of propriety.
"Your pet is quite becoming," Szayel said. "Grimmjow is under the belief that Aizen-sama wants you two to mate; I believe he just wants to observe your interactions, however."
"I do not remember speaking to you," Ulquiorra said. He moved down the hall.
"The others are talking, you know."
Ulquiorra stopped. He could feel Szayel watching him, analyzing him as if he were another subject in his lab. "They say you are developing feelings," Szyael said. He stepped closer, hands clasped behind his back. "I told them they were mistaken. The Fourth Espada has no feelings. None that I can discern, anyway."
Szayel grinned, then whispered in his ear.
"Grimmjow said if it were up to him, he would take that human and have his way with her. Ravish her until she was weak in the knees," Szayel said. "Surely you haven't thought the same."
And then Szayel was thrown backwards, Ulquiorra's hand around his throat.
"You dare to speak to me." Ulquiorra's grip tightened. "You are nothing but trash. And yet you dare to insult your superior. I should kill you now, only it would be a waste of my time."
Szayel wheezed, then clutched at his neck, pathetically. "Ulquiorra...sama," Szayel said. Ulquiorra's eyes narrowed. He dropped his hand abruptly, and Szayel pitched forward, coughing violently and clutching at his neck.
"You are mad!" Szayel said. Ulquiorra turned his back to him, walking down the hall. "Ulquiorra! Everybody knows!" Szayel shouted.
Ulquiorra ignored him, disappearing down the hall.
xXx
.
Ulquiorra had kept his contact with the woman at a minimum, seeing that she had fresh sheets and clean clothes and that the state of her health remained relatively well. That he somehow became the subject of palace gossip infuriated him. Ironically, the woman was the first to notice. "What's wrong?" Orihime asked.
Ulquiorra was still brooding on Szayel's words and Grimmjow's implications when he brought Orihime her lunch. She knelt down beside him, folding her legs beneath her. "You look sad," Orihime said.
"You are mistaken." Ulquiorra rearranged the tray, then stood. The human was more perceptive than he had given her credit; that she could read the slightest flicker of unease proved it.
He left without a word.
xXx
.
Who was this human? Why did she affect him, so?
There were too many questions. Ulquiorra didn't understand.
He stood in the dark, watching the woman's image flicker on the monitor. She was a small thing, a human, barely worth any attention at all.
He touched her image with his fingertips, frowning.
Aizen-sama had chosen him to perform this duty. To see to it that the woman remained safe and unharmed. Humans were such fragile creatures, and under the care of lesser beings, would break with a single touch.
Grimmjow. Szayel. They knew nothing.
Ulquiorra's jaw tightened. He switched off the screen.
He would speak with this woman, once and for all.
xXx
.
The woman was sleeping when Ulquiorra entered. A pale square of moonlight from the window above rested on the bed, outlining the woman's form. Ulquiorra watched. The woman stirred, then opened her eyes.
She should have been alarmed, but the woman was accustomed to his comings and goings. She shifted her weight in the bed, pushing herself up by the arm. "Ano...?"
Ulquiorra sat down beside her, the mattress sinking with his weight on the bed. "Do not move."
Ulquiorra studied the way the moonlight fell on her face. She was wearing only a thin nightgown, and her shoulders were bare. She shivered, slightly, and Ulquiorra noticed the gooseflesh that seemed to cover her skin.
Without thinking, Ulquiorra pressed a hand to her shoulder. The woman shivered, and he slid his hand down her arm. Her skin was warm and he could feel the residual heat coming from where she was lying on the blanket. She was so small. He could kill her without blinking an eye.
"Onna," he said. "Tell me about the human."
"W-what?"
"Your human companion, the one you call Ichigo."
"Kurosaki-kun?" The woman blinked. "He is kind," she said. Ulquiorra gripped her upper arm. "He...he is my friend."
"You are in love with him." Ulquiorra studied her, carefully. The woman blushed.
"Ano...maybe," she said. Ulquiorra noticed the flush creeping down her neck and settling down the tops of her breasts.
"Why?" Ulquiorra asked. His hand pressed against the small of her back, then settled around her waist. The fabric of her nightgown gathered under his palm. "He pains you, doesn't he?" he asked.
"I-" the woman blushed harder. Ulquiorra leaned forward, studying her closely. Her hair fell over her face; her lips were parted. He could feel the ambient heat of her skin. Her pupils were dilated. She felt so warm.
Slowly, Ulquiorra slid his hand up from the woman's waist to the crest of her ribs, carefully observing the woman's reaction. She didn't move; he could feel her holding her breath. Without preamble, he moved and gently cupped her breast over the fabric of her nightgown.
"Onna." Ulquiorra murmured in her ear. "Are you afraid?"
"I-" the woman flushed again. Ulquiorra brushed her nipple with his thumb, making her gasp. "Tell me," Ulquiorra said. He slid his hand up her thigh. "What do I inspire in you?"
The woman let out a choked gasp when Ulquiorra brushed his fingers against her clitoris, then probed her entrance through her underwear.
She felt warm and wet, and her breathing was jagged and labored. He rubbed her with the pads of his fingers until her head dropped against his chest, her body tensing and moaning softly into his shirt.
She came finally, shuddering against him.
They stayed like that for what seemed like years. Finally, Ulquiorra reached a hand to touch her face, but she flinched visibly.
"Onna," Ulquiorra said. And the woman began to cry.
xXx
.
Szayel was right: he had grown attached. And the thought of it pained him.
When he left the room, he saw Grimmjow leering at him, suggestively. "Yo," Grimmjow said.
The explosion that came nearly shattered the palace walls. Grimmjow stared, eyes wide at the hole where his head should have been.
Ulquiorra clenched his jaw, then moved past him down the hall.
xXx
.
The dust swirled. The wind stung his eyes, pieces of himself falling like caked-on sand.
"Onna," he said. "Are you afraid?"
There were tears in her eyes when he reached out his hand.
The woman shook her head.
"No."
A/N: I was reading chapter 353 of the manga, when this idea popped into my head. It feels a little incomplete, so I may expand on this later. We'll see :)