Author's Note: Hurray! Another UlquiHime fic! I have read countless fics of Orihime and Ulquiorra and I eventually decided to write one myself. This is my first attempt at UlquiHime, as well as a mature fic. I hope you guys like it! Please read and review!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters. If I did, Ulquiorra would have had his way with Orihime LOOOONG ago.

Ever since he had first laid eyes on her, he knew she was special.

Not in the good kind of special, either. The bad kind of special. The kind of special that would eventually get her in trouble. And that day was now.

Ulquiorra Schiffer had instantly been drawn to her unique powers. The ability to reject fate was something he had never seen done before and yet, all Orihime Inoue had to do was to use her hair clips, it seemed.

"It was a little more than speculation," Ulquiorra told his master, Lord Aizen Sousuke, "but my analysis this time allowed me to decipher the basis behind her ability."

"What do you think?" Aizen asked as he sat neatly upon his throne, his chin cupped properly in his hand as his eyes never left the Espada before him.

"I think it is a power," Ulquiorra told the man, "that you could benefit from, Lord Aizen."

The fourth Espada could tell that his words had found favor in his Lord's eyes as Aizen's sly grin slowly quirked up into a full blown smile. "I see. So where is she now?"

"At the very least, it seems that she is not in the real world," the pale Espada replied.

"Well done, Ulquiorra," was all Aizen had to say to give his minion permission to carry out the next phase in their mission.

"My pleasure," Ulquiorra replied. And with that said, the young male disappeared through the dark portal.

How long had it been since she first arrived in Las Noches? Days? Weeks? Months? Time seemed to flow by differently in Hueco Mundo than it did in the human realm. Or at least, it felt that way to Orihime Inoue. It probably hadn't been too long ago since she had first seen the darkness that lied within the walls of Las Noches. But to her, it felt like an eternity.

This was the last place in the universe that Orihime would have liked to be at. But what choice did she have? He appeared at her out of nowhere with threats as clear as they could be…

"Come with me, girl," the man had said. "Do not speak. You will say yes."

At that time, Orihime was frozen in her tracks. What more could she do but listen?

"…Anything else, and I will kill. But not you—I'll kill your friends. Do not ask any questions. You have no rights. What you hold in your hand is the rope to the guillotine above your friends' necks. Nothing more." The gaze of the Arrancar had been so intense, so chilling…

"Understand, girl, that this is not a negotiation. It's an order."

It's an order, Orihime had repeated in her mind. How was she supposed to know that from that moment out all she would be doing for countless days would be accepting orders?

"Aizen-sama desires that power of yours and I am under orders to bring you back unharmed. I will say it once more," the Arrancar had continued to speak, "Come with me, girl."

Orihime's mind often replayed that horrific evening. Her life was no longer hers after that one meeting of fate with Ulquiorra Schiffer. She had often wondered what would have happened if Ulquiorra had approached her while she was beside her friends; beside Kurosaki Ichigo…Would he have still threatened her? Or if Ichigo Kurosaki would have put a stop to his evil plans and defeat him on the spot?

Well, one cannot undo the past. What is done is done.

Orihime sat down on the solid white couch of her tiny room, a heavy sigh escaping her lips as she stared up at the ceiling out of boredom. There was nothing but a couch, a bed, and a wooden chair in her miniscule room. And neither the bed nor the couch were very comfortable…Everything about Las Noches was agonizing for the human girl. Not only was it lonely but there was also the fact that the entire "castle" was completely void of color. Everywhere she turned the cold color of white stared back at her tauntingly, reminding her of her colorful days back when she was just a regular high school student.

For the first time in her life, Orihime had longed for her school uniform. These traditional white robes signified not only Lord Aizen's alliance but the loss of her colorful world, it seemed. The girl dusted off some imaginary dirt off her cloak to occupy herself for a few moments. A visitor would be making his daily rounds momentarily to check up on her.

As if on cue, a knock was heard at the door.

"I'm coming in," came a familiar, monotonous voice.

Why did he even bother knocking? Orihime wondered to herself. He always let himself in, whether she liked it or not.

Ulquiorra entered in calmly and quietly, one hand in his pocket while the other hand carried a small plate of food. His skin was as white as each of the walls in Las Noches. His deep green eyes were the only color on his entire body except for the teal tear marks that stained his cheeks. His jet black hair clashed with the white robes that he wore upon his skin. Even so, the mixture of black and white seemed to work for this Espada.

Orihime glanced up at him before fiddling with her long, flaming hair nervously. She could feel his intense gaze upon her; the same gaze that had lead her to this horrific place. She shivered lightly as she continued to look away. Each time Ulquiorra entered her room, she felt the room's temperature drop by at least ten degrees. It probably did not, but his icy stare certainly made it feel as if it did.

"Eat," he calmly said as he set the plate of food down in the girl's lap. Something was different today, Orihime noticed. Normally a smaller Arrancar servant would bring in a cart of food but today only Ulquiorra had entered.

"I'm not hungry," the girl replied quietly as she continued to fidget with her hair.

Every day it was the same routine. He and the Arrancar servant would come in and bring Orihime her food. She would always say that she was not hungry and Ulquiorra would always threaten to shove it down her throat if she completely refused to eat. Then, he would give her one hour to completely eat all her food. Orihime would force herself to eat as much of the gruel that she was given as she could. After she could not stomach any more of it, she would slide the wooden chair over to the window and dump the remaining food out the window.

Ulquiorra had never discovered her secret as of yet. He would always just return one hour after to make sure everything on the plate was empty. So far, he had always seen the plate completely void of all food remnants. He had believed his threats had worked and had yet to carry them out.

That is, until Lord Aizen had discovered her secret. Cameras were hidden all over the castle of Las Noches—nothing would get past him.

Ulquiorra, ashamed that he had never realized that she never ate all her food, had promised Lord Aizen that things would be different. He would not allow her to defy him ever again.

"I was afraid of that," the Espada calmly replied, only to startle Orihime in the slightest.

"But I thought you could not feel fear, let alone any emotion," Orihime replied in a sharp tone. She did not mean for it to come out as harsh and sarcastic as it did but the nagging hunger in the pits of her stomach had caused her to be more irritable lately .

"Never mind that," Ulquiorra answered callously as he hovered over her, "There has been news that you have been defying my orders. That you are not eating everything I have given you." Personally, Ulquiorra could not have cared less whether the girl had eaten or not. But it was his master's voice that told him that Orihime was under his care and that he must do whatever means necessary in order to make sure the girl was alive and well. Or, at least just alive. Eating just happened to be one of those key things to survival.

Orihime stared up at him anxiously, an uneasy smile tugging at her lips, "W-whatever do you mean, Ulquiorra-sama?" she asked, trying her best to play innocent as she batted her long eyelashes at him. Ulquiorra was not falling for it, though. He could read her like a book.

"Do not lie to me, woman," Ulquiorra said flatly, continuing to stare her down, "it will only get you in more trouble." He waited patiently for a reply, yet all Orihime did was stare at the floor as if she was trying to burn a hole in it as big as she was so it could swallow her up. If only she had that kind of power…With an almost inaudible sigh, Ulquiorra reached for the plate on her lap, picking up a small piece of meat between his fingers.

"You leave me no choice," was all Ulquiorra said as he shoved her back roughly against the couch with one arm and forcing the piece of meat into her mouth with this other arm. His movements were so sudden, so quick, that they had caught Orihime completely off guard. Never before had the man touched her, let alone shoved food into her mouth! The girl sat completely frozen, her eyes wide as saucers as she stared back at her captor.

His fingers were ice cold as they pressed against her lips, just as Orihime had expected them to be. Orihime's mind was having a hard time registering what all was happening to the point where she was too shocked to even chew her food, let alone swallow it.

"Do you really want to make this even more difficult for yourself, woman? You should be grateful that I'm not actually tying you down," Ulquiorra breathed out, his mouth just inches from her ears. Even though his touch was cold, his breath felt warm against her skin. Despite the warmth of his breath, Orihime shuddered lightly before she began to swallow the food, not even fully chewing it.

Ulquiorra could not help but smirk lightly at her pathetic form. It was a smirk that was almost invisible, yet it was still detectable. "You really are worthless, woman," he said calmly, pulling himself away from her. Orihime said nothing as she stared in horror at her captor. Never before had she been so frozen with fear to the point she could not move at all. This man was so intimidating, so frightening…

Orihime barely had any time to think before another piece of raw meat was shoved into her mouth. The girl gagged lightly before finally snapping back into reality. Now that the shock was over, Orihime realized she could move freely. Ulquiorra was not even restraining her at that point since he found no need to. Apparently, he was wrong. In seconds, Orihime was struggling fiercely, her frail arms thrusting outwards to push against the Espada before her.

Naturally, her movements were to no avail. Ulquiorra snatched her wrist with one hand as the other rapidly reached for another piece of meat. "Do not make this become more unpleasant than it already is," the Espada coldly told her. Orihime used her free arm to grab his wrist that seized her own, desperately trying to pry his cold fingers away from her.

Despite his lack of emotion, Ulquiorra found the whole scene to be rather amusing. Orihime was like a helpless mouse trapped between a lion's claws. Just as there would be no hope for a real mouse against a lion, Orihime needed to realize that there would be no hope for her against him.

"If you would have just eaten as I had ordered you to, you would not be in this position, now would you?" His voice was still as flat as ever, despite his growing interest in the feeble girl's actions. Orihime was still desperately trying to pull his fingers away from her as she swallowed the cold lump of meat.

"Please! Let me go!" the flaming haired girl cried out, continuing to struggle against him as much as she could.

"Not until I am sure that you have learned your lesson," Ulquiorra quietly replied. Why was she struggling so much? She knew it was futile, yet she continued to act as if his touch were burning flames that were scorching the flesh right off her skin. He wasn't even injuring her and his grip was not even that tight…Why did she continue to fight against him?

Orihime was now beginning to fight against the tears that were threatening to pour out, "Kurosaki-kun! Help me! Please!" she cried out before another piece of meat made its way to her lips.

Her words stirred up something strange inside Ulquiorra. All of a sudden, he had the sudden urge to slap her roughly on the cheek. Even so, he resisted that temptation. That was something only a childish human would do who gave into their emotions. He was the fourth Espada—he had no need for useless emotions.

"Kurosaki-kun will not be able to help you. If you stop struggling and swear to me that you will finish your meal—every single bite—I will release you." Ulquiorra had tried his best to make himself clear, and yet tears began to sting at the corner of the girl's eyes. Did she despise his touch that much? Although her emotions were always easy to read, he would never fully understand her.

Orihime chewed the food roughly while glaring coldly at her captor. Or, at least, she was trying to glare. All she had managed to do was make herself appear more pitiful with her watery eyes and her mouth full of food, like a puppy who was upset for being hit with a newspaper. Ulquiorra just simply stared at her, his grip never wavering.

Seconds later, Orihime began to cease her struggling, letting her free arm drop to her side as Ulquiorra continued to firmly hold her wrist in his other hand. She had stopped trying to pull away from him as she continued to chew and swallow her food.

"That's a good girl," Ulquiorra whispered out in a husky voice that once again made Orihime shudder with slight fear. "Now, do you promise to eat what I give you? If you refuse to oblige, I will restrain you with the heaviest chains in Hueco Mundo and shove every ounce of food all the way down your throat. Consider this a warning—it will not be as gentle as I have just done."

If he called that gentle, Orihime did not want to find out what his rough side was like. "Y-yes, Ulquiorra-sama…" the girl mumbled, wiping at her tears with her free hand. "I promise to eat everything without a fight."

"Good," was Ulquiorra's only reply as he released his grip on her wrist. He withdrew from her completely, taking a few steps away from her. Once again, his hands found their way to his pockets as his arctic eyes remained on the girl's form.

Orihime finished wiping her eyes as she picked up her fork, slowly placing another cold chunk of meat into her mouth. She tried not think about what she was eating as she swallowed slowly.

"As punishment for throwing your leftovers out the window, you will finish everything on your plate without an ounce of anything to drink. Once everything is completely finished, I will then send a servant to fetch you a glass of water," Ulquiorra told her.

As if having food shoved down her throat wasn't bad enough! Orihime sighed heavily as she looked down at her plate of food, picking at a few pieces of rice before placing the fork against her lips. The food was disgusting, yet bearable. Orihime was able to force herself to finish every last bite on her plate, just as Ulquiorra ordered. The entire time, Ulquiorra's gaze never left the girl. Orihime even wondered if the Espada even blinked during that time.

"That was not so hard, now was it?" Ulquiorra said as he picked up the empty plate off her lap. "I will send someone to bring you a glass of water. Do not let this incident ever repeat itself, woman. Do I make myself clear? The next time you refuse to eat, it will be much more painful for you." With that said, the male left, his coat swaying behind him as he did so. The human watched him exit out of the room and shut the door behind him.

Once he was out of sight, Orihime silently wept to herself, bringing her knees up to her chest. How could he be so cruel? Would anybody here show her any ounce of kindness? Even more importantly, where was Ichigo Kurosaki?