Gunfire & Paperhearts

Chapter 1: The wolf and the lamb

Summary: Ulquiorra lives a reckless life as a hired killer. One day he is bought by a mafia family to work as a young girl's bodyguard; Orihime Inoue. But what happens when the otherwise cold killer grows possessive of Orihime who's already engaged to another man?

Rating: 'M' for later chapters (Violence and Sexual Themes.)

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of the characters in this fic - they belong to Tite Kubo.

Notice: English is my second language, so please bear with any grammatical errors ^^ I'm still improving.

A/N: I just couldn't let go of this idea ^^' I have wanted to write a gangster-themed Ulquihime story for a while now, but I needed a good plot for it. So here it is ^^ As you guys might know by now, this is a AU fic (Another universe) But I'll try to keep everyone in character none the less x)

I'm still not sure how this fic is gonna end, or how long it's gonna be, but if I end up with another fic at 10+ chapters I'm gonna kill myself XD

Oh! By the way, this fic is inspired by the song "Cold (But I'm still here)" By Evans Blue.

Enjoy ^^

Ulquiorra had never worked as a bodyguard before… and if it wasn't because the head of one of the most famous and influential mafia families, 'The Porello family', had given him a massive amount of money; it would have stayed like that.

Ulquiorra was one of the most renowned killers for sale; his methods were quick, ruthless and he was a mystery to the police. They knew that he existed, and that he was the cause of more than 20 murders, but even so they never found any DNA or other evidence at the scene of the crimes… it was as if he was a ghost.

The only people who could get in contact with him were the mafia. They were the ones who hired him, and the ones who dared to contact him when a rivaling family became too much of a bother. He never chose a side; He simply followed the orders given, took the money he was promised, and then disappeared.

That was, until the Porello family contacted him. At first he was skeptical towards the job; to guard things did not come naturally to a man who's fingers were accustomed to the cold steel of a gun… but even so, they persuaded him with the largest sum of money he had ever been offered.

The job was simple; protect the young girl 24 hours a day until she turned 18 – by then, she would be married to another family's heir, and she would no longer be of his concern. It seemed like an easy job; 6 months with a 17 year old girl and hardly any trouble… or, so he thought.

Everything turned upside down when he saw her. It was unavoidable that his trigger hand would long to touch the young girl's flesh, to manipulate and smother, to crave and posses.

Orihime Inoue – the girl who would lead the otherwise cold killer to his death.

He was lead through the long corridors of the Porello family's main house by one of the many servants, who worked there on a regular basis.

As always, Ulquiorra's posture was cold, confident and indifferent. He was wearing a long dark trench coat, pants in a matching color and a white shirt underneath – the whole outfit was clean, in strong contrast to many killers who didn't bother to wear nice clothing, and it radiated a strong sense of control and style.

Even though the servant tried to hide it as they walked, Ulquiorra could smell his awe mixed with a slight sense of fear. It was not an unfamiliar feeling for him; to be feared with no apparent reason, but none the less he never killed without a direct order… and he was no thrill killer. It was pure business; not a perverse way of having fun.

"W-we will arrive shortly, M-mister Cifer."

Ulquiorra couldn't help but feel a slight sense of disgust by the way the servant struggled to form a full sentence. Fear was an unneeded emotion; fear made man weak, fear made man do illogical things and fear made otherwise rational people forget about their honor to save their already invaluable lives. They were Trash.

When they finally arrived, and the servant left; much to Ulquiorra's relief, he was lead inside a small room.

He had expected to meet the Porello family's head, the one who had offered him the job in the first place, but what met his eyes was something he hadn't braced himself for.

The room was rather small, the walls painted in a nice beige color, and the drowsy rays from the sun, shun through one of the many open window. It smelled like lavender in there… and even though several pieces of furniture decorated the room; a huge bed, a cupboard, a dressing table and so forth, Ulquiorra's eyes were unwavering from the young girl who sat in the middle.

Because of Ulquiorra's path in life which was soaked by blood and pain, he never regarded himself as someone who could see beauty in simple things. But even so, he was presented with the purest form of beauty in that moment… he was sure of it.

The young girl had beautiful pale skin; much alike marble and it seemed flawless down to the last detail. Her eyes were a deep brown color that seemed to suck the mere breath out of his lounges when she slowly lifted them to look at him, and the long wavy locks of auburn hair that cascaded along her fragile shoulders framed the soft curves of her face in the most perfect way he had ever seen before.

Ulquiorra had never been too fond of women; they were usually dumb, vulgar or greedy. They didn't own a single drop of shame and they had never been anything beautiful to his merciless green eyes.

But she was different.

Even though she hadn't uttered a word yet, he could tell that she was not like the others. She was young, yes, but the way her eyelashes fluttered slightly by surprise when their eyes met and the way a soft smile slowly formed across her thin lips to make him feel welcome, made the cold killer feel something… just a slight sensation of something he couldn't put words on.

"Good morning, Mister Cifer." Her voice was delicate and smooth like silk. "I'm sorry that my father isn't here yet but he said that you could stay here until he returns." Her smile widened further and she tilted her head lightly as if she was trying to study the man before her. "Are you one of my father's new men?"

Ulquiorra didn't know what to say. Not because he was at a complete loss of words, but because there was simple too much! to say.

He quickly cleared his throat and gathered his thoughts. He wouldn't falter by such a simple thing. "That depends." His answer was calm and monotone. "I've not accepted his job yet."

The young girl smiled again; an even wider smile that made the impassive killer shiver lightly. "So you are! Ulquiorra Cifer?" She rose from her seat and slowly, with small delicate steps, approached him. "I'm Orihime Inoue, nice to meet you." She offered her hand in a fluid motion. However, Ulquiorra's eyes were focused on something else.

Even though womanly curves hadn't been his greatest passion in life until that point, he couldn't help but notice how sinful her body was… and at such a young age. She was wearing a white summer dress that stopped by her knees which, too obviously even for Ulquiorra, presented every curve of her body on a silver plate. Her waist was narrow and her arms thin; small and petite… but even so, she had curvy hips and a bust that he figured most women would be envious of. She was a woman… but yet, her eyes still radiated child-like innocence.

Afraid that his eyes had lingered at her for too long, he gently accepted her hand – holding it carefully between his pale fingers as if he feared that his mere touch would end up breaking her. In a gesture most men did when meeting women, but a thing he had never done until that point, he fell to one knee and brought the young girl's hand to his lips.

He didn't notice how she blushed slightly, but simply placed the coldness of his lips towards the soft skin at the back of her hand. He didn't taste her, even though the temptation of slipping his tongue out was overwhelming…

So that was the girl he would be working as a bodyguard for… The mere thought seemed ridiculous to him. He understood that she needed protection, she was seemingly fragile and trusted blindly in others; especially, by the way she had announced her name to him without second guessing his intentions. But to make him! her bodyguard? It was like asking for a wolf to guard a lamb.

"Do you know who I am, woman?" his words were cold and calculating as he stood up again. The way her deep brown eyes fluttered slightly in surprise by his question, did nothing to make his resolve waver. "Do you know who 'Ulquiorra Cifer' is?"

The young girl shook her head lightly so the long locks of auburn hair cascaded along her face. "I only know that you are here to talk with my dad…" She answered. Ulquiorra could feel the honesty in her words. "Is there… something I should know about you?"

He figured that it was best that she stayed ignorant, unless her father chose to tell her about his occupation… "All men have secrets." He stated calmly. "And sometimes they're secrets for a reason."

"Secrets?" The young girl simply smiled – as if she didn't understand the seriousness of his words. "Well, I have secrets too." Ulquiorra held back the urge to blink his eyes in confusion as she continued to speak. "And if you promise to keep it to yourself, I'll share one of them with you."

Ulquiorra sighed softly. He figured that perhaps she was! A child at some points… "Very well," He chose to play along. "If your need to share such things with me are inevitable, I shall not stop you."

As if the young girl had just won a huge argument, she smiled brightly and moved closer to him. He tried to ignore the faint scent of lavender that her body seemed to emit, as it persisted to invade his nostrils, and by the time he felt her small fingers at his arm – the fabric of his coat the only thing that kept them apart, he held back another shiver. She whispered close to his ear; "My favorite dish is… Sweat bean jelly with strawberry marmalade"

She pulled away and covered her face with her hands as if it was embarrassing… Ulquiorra, on the other hand, was the definition of one big question mark. "My father doesn't like my taste in food… he says it's not 'lady-like'" She laughed nervously. "So I'm trying to suppress my urges for such food but to no avail."

Ulquiorra managed to push the confusion aside, though it was hard to not feel puzzled by her sudden revelation. He figured that if her! secrets were linked to an unusual taste in food, she would be taken completely aback if he chose to share some of his own secrets with her.

Not that he had any intentions of doing so but…

Forced out of his own thoughts, he felt the young girl's fingers at his face – soft delicate fingertips that were strangely warm at his cold cheek. He was surprised at how his guard had dropped just like that… as if, it hadn't existed to begin with.

She was dangerous to him… his growing fascination towards her was dangerous; It made him confused, made him lower his guards and it made him crave for more of her. Like another fix you couldn't afford or get enough of.

He felt how she traced the tattooed tear marks that descended from his eye and onto the lowest part of his jaw. Most people reacted strongly to those tattoos, but her reaction was somewhat different; "Why would you choose to be eternally crying?"

He tried to conceal the confusion that slowly formed in his deep green eyes, but to no avail. He figured that it would be best, if he just told her the truth. "It's symbolic." He stated calmly. "Most people get a tear tattooed whenever they kill someone, but because I've killed too many to count even on both hands; I figured that this would be more suiting…"

The young girl didn't stop to trace the teal colored tear lines as worry slowly filled her deep brown eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, those soft pink lips parting and her tongue moving slightly to utter the first words, but the soft click of the door being opened made her silent again and she pulled away from him… as if she felt shame, her beautiful brown eyes lowered to the floor.

He suppressed the need to look over his shoulder at the intruder, so he fixed his eyes at Orihime instead. Ulquiorra noticed how she seemed familiar with the person who stepped inside... especially by the way she smiled softly towards the unknown person.

A deep voice, obviously belonging to a mature man, cut through the silence. "Mister Cifer, I'm glad you could come."

Ulquiorra slowly turned around to face the unknown voice. Even though he had never spoken personally with the Porello family's head before, he could tell from Orihime's expression that it was indeed him… her adoptive father.

The man before him was rather small; no taller than Orihime and with the first signs of grey mixed with the otherwise blonde hair that adorned his head. He was neatly dressed; wearing a black coat and matching pants, and even though he had only spoken one sentence so far, Ulquiorra could already feel the natural sense of authority in his voice.

"I can see that you have already met my daughter." The small man smiled weakly. "I am the Porello family's current head; my name is Aldo – no need for using my last name." He motioned towards the door. "Should we talk business at my private office? – I'll make sure that one of the servants are gonna bring us something to eat."

Ulquiorra, casting one last glance at the young girl who still studied his face with curious brown eyes, accepted the small man's proposal and walked towards the door out. "No need to trouble the servants; let's just talk about what I came here for."

He tried to ignore the feeling of the young girl's eyes as they dug onto his back. Aldo laughed softly. "Oh, we're a little impatient? Well, that's only good – just follow me, I'll show you where the office is."

In fact, Ulquiorra was not impatient… he just wanted to put some distance between himself and the young girl who had sparked a sudden sense of fascination in him. He needed to clear his nose off of the lavender scent that her body emitted, clear his eyes off of the deep brown eyes that still lingered In the back of his head… he needed to remove her from his being.

However, he knew what kind of talk he was gonna have with Aldo when they reached the office and he knew that he would be forced to talk about her again.

Never had a woman been so dangerous to him before… and even so, he couldn't help but love it in some twisted way.

A/N: Long live the sudden surge of inspiration! ^^ All reviews are eternally loved – They always brighten up my day ^^ Remember; because of school, updates are gonna be slow. Please bear with it x)