Beside You In Time Ch. 15

Chapter 15
Walkin' on Sunshine Pt. 2

The couple waited in line at the register in silence before Orihime paid for her groceries. Afterwards, they walked home at a comfortable pace, Orihime eager to put up the groceries and go clothes shopping for Ulquiorra, and Ulquiorra being dragged along behind the Onna; both of them carried too many grocery bags. As they walked, Orihime began to hum a happy tune...



After having dropped off the groceries at Orihime's apartment, Ulquiorra and Orihime made their way to the nearest shopping center. The Espada was glad that the latter had decided not to drag him along behind her as they walked.
That didn't last long…
"Ooh!" Orihime's eyes widened, longingly looking in the clothing store they were walking by. "Let's go in!"
Without waiting for a reply from Ulquiorra, she grabbed his hand and dragged him into the store.
Orihime stayed nearly oblivious to the Espada, only asking him what he thought of a shirt or a dress whenever she found a new article of clothing to squeal about. Deciding to take a break from the mentally exhausting task of "helping" (watching) his Onna clothes shopping, he sat down on a bench in the store several feet from her.
Why have I agreed to endure such torture? Ulquiorra was already psychologically exhausted. As he thought about how he had gotten himself (literally) dragged into this mess, he came to one conclusion: his heart. It was his heart that forbade him, in a sense, to do anything that would upset his Onna. Ulquiorra Cifer couldn't believe that a heart could be strong enough to chain him down so much. Of course it wasn't like he had to obey what his heart was telling him was "right"; the Espada just didn't like the feeling of guilt he felt every time his Onna wasn't smiling her brilliant smile.
His thoughts were interrupted by a couple that was walking by him. They were holding hands and swinging their arms back and forth. Each of the two had a huge smile on their face and couldn't seem to stop laughing at something. Ulquiorra stared after them as they headed to the other end of the store.
"What is it, Ulquiorra-san?" Orihime skipped to stand in front of him and stood on her tip toes trying to see what he had been looking at. Staring up at his Onna from the bench, he thought about the strange feeling in side of him. It was similar to jealously, but not nearly as potent. There was a hint of sadness present along with a strange urge.
Deciding that her Espada wouldn't answer, she plopped down on the bench beside him (holding an unknown number of dresses). Leaning her head back and to the side to rest it on the back of the bench and Ulquiorra's shoulder, she sighed contently. Several minutes later, Orihime broke the comfortable silence that had fallen over the two.
"Let's go pay!" Jumping up, Orihime struggled trying to carry all of the dresses she had picked out. Quirking his eyebrow the tiniest fraction of an inch, Ulquiorra wondered how his Onna could afford to buy so many clothes.

Ulquiorra looked visibly annoyed. His Onna had asked him if he would be so kind as to help her carry her bags, which were heavy and filled with clothes that she had bought for herself in the last ten or so stores. (Somewhere after seven, Ulquiorra had stopped caring and lost track.)
Finally, after what seemed like a century of walking and shopping for "Onna clothes", Orihime jumped.
"We're here!" Ulquiorra hadn't even known that they had been heading to a specific destination. Looking at the huge store in front of the couple, Ulquiorra observed that his store was different from all the other ones they had been in before. There were no frilly pink posters advertising sales, no bright girly colors plastering the walls both inside and outside of the store. This was a men's store.
An unexpected wave of relief hit Ulquiorra. No more waiting in endlessly long lines of chattering teenage girls, no more having to tell his Onna if a dress suited her or not (Ulquiorra would never understand why his Onna asked him if he like a dress. He could care less what she wore.) …
The sun was nearing the horizon in the west, alerting both Ulquiorra and Orihime that they had spent nearly all day shopping.
"At least the shops are open till 10:00 PM!" Orihime beamed and Ulquiorra (almost) frowned.


It was 10:30 PM and the pair was slowly making their way home, struggling with the weight of the numerous shopping bags. Orihime had wanted to get a taxi, but realized that she had spent all of the money she had with her on the all-day shopping spree. Ulquiorra kept a stoic expression and tried his best not to sag under the weight of the bags he was carrying.
Curse this gigai… It limits my physical strength, yet allows me to Sonido at will and retains my Espada-like senses. It seems that Urahara Kisuke is not as thorough as I have heard, Ulquiorra kept himself busy pondering everything, wondering about everything from why his Onna found pleasure in exerting all her energy to buy clothing to why his gigai felt like a sheet of slime and goo covering every inch of him.
"Finally," Orihime whispered as she mustered the strength to run up to the door of her apartment. As she went to unlock the doors, she suddenly felt one of Ulquiorra's hands on her shoulder.
Turning to see why the Cuatro Espada had touched her, Orihime's face turned serious when she saw a strange glimmer in his eyes.
"Wha-"
"Someone with a reasonable amount of reiatsu has been here," Ulquiorra answered before his Onna could completely form her question. Orihime's eyes widened as she set her bags down on the bottom step in front of her apartment.
"Who?" Who could possibly visit her apartment? Kurosaki-san was still in his coma-like state and all of her Shinigami friends were back in Soul Society…
"I do not know. Stay here," A split second later, Ulquiorra Cifer's gigai fell to the ground lifelessly. Standing next to the fallen skin stood the Espada. He looked just like he did in Hueco Mundo: white and black uniform, tear marks, hollow mask.
"You're back to normal!" Orihime beamed, seemingly forgetting the current situation for a moment. Not giving his Onna any signs that he had heard her, he walked closer to the door trying to figure out exactly who had visited her apartment.


An hour or so ago, in a house across town…
Ishida Uryuu's head snapped up. He had been diligently reading a rather interesting book when he suddenly felt a huge reiatsu pop up out of no where on the other side of Karakura Town. He immediately recognized the reiatsu and used his version of Shunpo to arrive at the origin of the reiatsu within seconds.
The only thing he saw when he got there, noticing that he was in front of Orihime's apartment, was a blur as the figures disappeared.
Ishida's eyes widened. Several black uniforms and one white and black uniform. He had no doubt in mind what kind of people the figures had been.


And back to the "normal" time…
"Shinigami," was Ulquiorra's simple reply.
"Shinigami? But why!?"
Why would Shinigami from Soul Society, and powerful ones at that guessing from the reiatsu, come to the World of the Living to see me? Orihime tired to think of a plausible explanation, but none came to mind.
"They had left. It is safe to enter the building." Orihime almost giggled at the way Ulquiorra said it, but suppressed it. Little did she know that Ulquiorra had his suspicions as to why Soul Society wanted to visit his Onna. And he wasn't very far off the target…

Meanwhile, in Soul Society…
"What have you found out about the Cuatro Espada?" Head Captain Yamamoto asked the two captains in front of him.
"My stealth forces have confirmed the reiatsus in the apartment. They belong to the human, Orihime Inoue, and the Cuatro Espada of Aizen Sosuke's army, Ulquiorra Cifer," one of the captains explained.
"That was one hell of a waste of time!" the other captain complained. "I wish that damn Espada would have been there… That'd have been the fight of my life!"
A demonic smile spread across the captain's face.
"Very well," Yamamoto ignored the comments of the latter captain. "I will decide our next moves and call a captain's meeting when I have come to a decision concerning this matter. You are dismissed."