Beside You In Time Ch.4

Chapter Four
Halfway Gone



Ulquiorra had cleaned up the tray and decided to take a nap before bringing the woman her dinner. It did not take long for him to doze off after he had laid down on his bed…







Ulquiorra Cifer was sleeping soundly. Little did he know that his captive, Orihime Inoue, was in grave danger. He never noticed a formidable reiatsu nearing Orihime's chambers.

What is this reiatsu? Orihime couldn't help but feel a little bit panicked when she realized that the source of the tremendous reiatsu was heading towards her. Who's spiritual pressure is this?!
She did not have to wait long for her answer. The door to her chamber was flung open without and warning. Orihime's eyes were wide with fear when she saw the menacing-looking Espada standing in the doorway. He was wearing the same white outfit that everyone else in Las Noches wore and had yet black hair. His eyes were narrow, and all of his features long and narrow.
She jumped when he began to speak, "What the hell are you scared for?" An evil grin was plastered across his face. Orihime could nearly taste the amusement radiating off of the Espada. With a sudden burst of reiatsu on his part, Orihime was brought to her knees.
Out of pure instinct, Orihime scrambled away, not bothering to stand up since she knew the man would just force her down again. She moved all the way to the far corner of the room without taking her eyes off of the lanky Espada; He never moved an inch. Instead his smirk just seemed to be getting bigger until it reached from ear to ear.
When he saw she couldn't back up away from him any further, the Espada slowly began to make his way over to Orihime.
Orihime's mind was in a complete state of terror and panic.
Ulquiorra… where are you?! Her thoughts automatically went to her captor. She frantically searched for his reiatsu, hoping to find it near. To her dismay, she noticed his relaxed, sleeping spiritual pressure rather far away, in another part of Las Noches.
Orihime watched in terror as the menacing figure was slowly nearing her, only a couple of yards away from her now.
Just as the Espada reached her and was going to reach his arm out to pull Orihime off of the floor, the frightened girl shouted, "Santen Kesshun!"
The Espada's grin nearly vanished as he quickly pulled his hand back.
He growled something profane, making Orihime flinch at his words.
With a sudden burst of unimaginably strong reiatsu, the Espada weakened Orihime further and broke through her shield, grabbed her by her collar and pulling her up…


Meanwhile…

Kurosaki Ichigo was preparing to go to Hueco Mundo alone. Urahara Kisuke had (of course) offered to help Kurosaki after hearing about his determination to save Orihime. Kurosaki was planning on leaving within two days' time…


Back in Hueco Mundo…

Orihime was gasping for air. The ferocious eyes of the Espada glared at her as he growled another profanity at her and tightened his grip on her collar pushing her against the wall behind her with one hand.

With a start Ulquiorra woke up. It took him a minute to regain his senses and realize what had awoken his unusually sound sleep. When the green-eyed Espada realized the tremendous reiatsu that had awoken him and which direction it was coming from, his eyes widened, disturbing his usual stoic expression, even if just for a millisecond.
Quickly, Ulquiorra Cifer made his way to Orihime's chambers.

I'm going to die, Orihime realized. I'm really going to die this time.
The intimidating grin was returning to the Espada's face as Orihime Inoue was struggling weakly, trying in vain to get free of the man's ever tightening grip around her neck.
Orihime flinched again when she say his tongue lick his lips. Was that a tattoo on his tongue? Due to her endless imagination, she was conjuring up every possibly way that this situation could play out. Thinking of some of the more gruesome ways, she gathered her strength and kicked out at the man holding her against the wall (déjà vu much?) by her neck.
The Espada cringed as her foot hit him in a sensitive spot. Orihime noticed him slightly relax his death grip on her for a split second, and used the opening to push him away. She was running away from the Espada when he attacked her from behind. He pushed her cheek into the carpet with one hand and pulled her arms behind her with the other.
"You're such a pain in the ass," he growled in her ear.
Orihime squirmed beneath him, trying with ever growing despair to get away from the threatening Espada.
The man decided to have a little fun with her. He got off of her, letting her scramble away, making her way to the door. Just as she was reaching the doorway, he Sonidoed in front of her, slammed the door shut before her eyes. Disgusted by the pathetic look on the girl's face, the Espada slapped her, causing her to go reeling backwards.
Orihime cried out in pain as she hit the floor only feet away from the Espada. Her terrified eyes were glued to his ominous ones.
Why, why, why, why, why?! Orihime was stark with fear. What was this animal going to do to her?
As if on cue with her thoughts, the man closed the distance between the two. Fearing the worst, Orihime curled up into a ball just in time to block a horrendous kick to her stomach with her arm.
Orihime Inoue cried out in pain as she felt her arm snap in two. She looked up at the Espada towering over her figure; his grin just seemed to continually get wider the more pain he caused her. He didn't give her any time to recover from the pain of her arm before kicking her side.
Orihime heard a crunch in her side as the Espada's foot made contact with her ribs. This time Orihime just choked on her pain, tears beginning to stream freely down her face. The girl gave up all hopes of being rescued as her vision first blurred and then began to fade to black. The last thing she saw was the foreboding figure above her raise one of his legs to bring it down with crushing force on her left leg before she passed out.

Ulquiorra Cifer burst into the woman's room just as the Espada brought his foot down onto her left with a sickening snap. He had felt her reiatsu dropping dramatically on his way here, until he was in a state of panic when it nearly completely disappeared. Shocked and furious, yet keeping his stoic expression, Ulquiorra Cifer spoke, "What do you think you are doing in the woman's chambers, Nnoitra Gilga? Must I remind you that Aizen-sama warned you and Grimmjow Jeagerjaques specifically about the consequences of disturbing Orihime Inoue's wellbeing?"
When Nnoitra turned around to face the Cuatro Espada, Ulquiorra just became even more infuriated seeing the amused grin painted on his face.
"If you do not remove yourself from the woman's room and my presence immediately, I will do it myself," Ulquiorra's emotionless voice was even more saturated with menace than usually.  
Knowing that Ulquiorra was the stronger of the two Espada and that he would probable have some of his limbs torn off if he stayed, Nnoitra spat several disgraceful insults at the unconscious woman and made his way out of the room.
As soon as Nnoitra was out of the room and the door was securely shut and locked, Ulquiorra rushed over to where Orihime Inoue lay.
The pained expression on Orihime's unconscious face caused something to tingle inside of Ulquiorra.
What is this? It is not a pain… yet it is extremely unpleasant…
Turning his attention away from the tingling and to Orihime, Ulquiorra's eagle eyes saw every injury, from the smallest bruise to the broken bones. He did not know how to treat her wounds, as his only responsibility up until now had been to kill. Yes, he knew her wounds were not fatal ones, but he could not stand to see Orihime in pain. The thought of the woman waking up to such pain caused the tingling feeling inside of Ulquiorra to crescendo unimaginable until he couldn't take it anymore.
In one swift, clean motion, Ulquiorra picked Orihime up, Sonidoed to her bed, and every so gently spread her out on it. He paid special attention to the areas where Nnoitra Gilga had broken her bones, being especially careful to avoid contact with them to try and ease the woman's pain.
It seemed like days before Orihime Inoue's eyes slowly fluttered open.

Am I alive? Orihime waited for her eyes to focus on the light. Before they had completely focused, Orihime tried to move.
She gasped internally, too weak physically to voice her pain. Suddenly she felt cold hands pressing on her shoulders trying to gently keep her down and prevent her from moving.
Orihime's eyes finally focused.
Ulquiorra, Orihime's eyes shined slightly through her suffering.
"Do not move, woman,"
Even his stoic façade can be shaken. Orihime nodded slightly, glad that at least this form of movement did not cause her to cringe in pain.
I wish this pain would go away, I don't want to see the faint glimmer of worry in Ulquiorra's eyes, Orihime hated herself for a second for causing her captor to have to worry about her. Before she could sink further into her self-hatred, she heard a small voice.
"Orihime-chan," Ayame's voice was extremely worried.
"Guys!" Orihime managed a quiet whisper and a tiny smile as the rest of her powers appeared in front of her.
"Shh, Orihime. You are injured!" Shun'o was even more worried than Ayame.
Orihime would have completely forgotten that Ulquiorra Cifer was sitting beside her had he not spoken.
"Are these the powers that you possess that Aizen-sama spoke of?" Ulquiorra grabbed Tsubaki and examined him. He was intrigued by the fact that Orihime's hairclips had turned into six little fairy-like creatures.
"What the…?! Who the hell are you?!" Tsubaki was extremely perturbed, squirming and trying to get out of Ulquiorra's grip.
"What an easily provoked creature," Tsubaki's continuing insults did not faze Ulquiorra even slightly.
"Who are you calling 'creature', you…"
"Tsubaki!" Shun'o pulled him out of Ulquiorra's grip and scolded him. "Be nice!"
Orihime watched her powers, slightly amused, as they argued amongst one another. Hinagiku and Baigon were slightly to the left, staying out of the argument between Tsubaki and Shun'o.
When Tsubaki began to pull Shun'o's hair, Lily began trying to pry Tsubaki off of Shun'o without much success.
"Guys! Right now is not the time to be quarreling! We need to help Orihime. Shun'o, come here and help me heal her," Tsubaki released his grip on Shun'o's hair enough so that he could escape and rush over to join Ayame and heal Orihime.
An orange shield appeared over Orihime. Ulquiorra watched, astounded by how quickly he watched her wounds heal. Her bruises had just about disappeared, and her bones had re-grown themselves after five minutes.

So this is the power Aizen-sama spoke of, Ulquiorra watched as Orihime's powers healed her. Is it healing? Or is it something else…? Possibly more along the ideas of "rejection"…
Ulquiorra's hypotheses were interrupted by the disappearance of the orange shield, and the reappearance of Orihime's hairclips in her hair.
Slowly, Orihime sat up. She felt dizzy and blindly reached out for something to steady herself. Orihime blushed when her hands touched Ulquiorra and found herself clinging to her jacket.
What a peculiar woman. Ulquiorra couldn't help but stare back into Orihime's eyes, mystified by her. He noticed the red shade of her cheeks and reached up to touch them with one of his hands.
"Woman, are you sick? Your face is abnormally warm," the Espada couldn't comprehend the feelings causing Orihime's red cheeks.

Why is my heart racing? Orihime was so caught up in her emotions; she didn't realize she was still holding onto his jacket tightly. Slowly she released her grip and removed her hands from him.

Ulquiorra couldn't help but feel disappointed that she had removed her hands from him. Following Orihime's lead, Ulquiorra slowly dropped his hand from her face. He incredulously admired the fact that this woman continued to intrigue him.
How had he sunken to the level of being fascinated by a mere human? He was a total disgrace to Aizen-sama and his fellow Espada. The stoic Ulquiorra Cifer had felt the beginnings of true emotions.
Orihime's voice startled the brooding Espada, "Thank you, Ulquiorra-san."
Why is she thanking me? She healed herself.

Orihime smiled sweetly at Ulquiorra.
"I did nothing to deserve your thanks, woman."
She couldn't tell if he was being serious or if he was being modest.
"But you saved me! If you hadn't come when you did…" Orihime shuddered at the thought of what further tortures Nnoitra would have put her through.
"It is my duty to protect you. Have you forgotten that I am your captor, that you are my captive? It is Aizen-sama's will that you are kept safe. It is my obligation to protect you," Orihime realized what he was trying to tell her, and felt a tiny part of her break inside.
Does he not care? What about what happened…? He kissed me… I could tell that he wasn't resisting. Yet now he is pushing me away…

Ulquiorra felt a slight hatred for himself as he saw Orihime's pained eyes behind her innocent smile.
You imbecile! his basic emotions shouted at him.
I have no emotions! Ulquiorra's conscious spat back.

Orihime saw Ulquiorra's expression harden into an unreadable mask. At that moment she knew he had cut his ties to her. A single tear welled up in her eye, but she wiped it away the second it began to brim over the edge.
I should have seen this coming; I was living a fairytale, expecting a happy ending. Ulquiorra is an Espada, and I am a mere human.

Ulquiorra was once again "hollow". He felt no pain, no guilt, when he saw the woman wipe a tear away. He was the same unemotional person he had been before he became infatuated with the woman he knew by the name of Orihime Inoue. Out of purse sense of duty and responsibility, not out of any form of emotion whatsoever, Ulquiorra stood up to report to Lord Aizen about Nnoitra Gilga's unacceptable conduct.

"I will return in the morning with your meal. Do not forget that Aizen-sama wants to speak with you tomorrow," how could his voice be so cold? Hadn't the two of them shared something?
The last shred of hope, the last light in her eyes, left Orihime when Ulquiorra Cifer closed the door behind him, not bothering to look back at her.



At the same time, in another world…

Ichigo was prepared to leave for Hueco Mundo. He headed down to the underground training area of Urahara Kisuke's shop.
"Kurosaki! Leaving for Hueco Mundo alone… are you suicidal?!" a familiar voice surprised Ichigo.
"Ishida?!" Ichigo wonder how the hell Ishida knew he was heading off to Hueco Mundo.
"We're coming with you."
We…? Kurosaki sensed an all too familiar reiatsu.
"Chado, you're coming, too?!" Ichigo's one-man rescue party had turned into a group.
"Sorry, Kurosaki-saaaan!" Urahara hid his face behind his fan.
Ichigo gave Urahara an annoyed look, but was not exactly mad. He was actually kind of glad that he had someone to accompany him to Las Noches.  
It did not take long for Urahara to open up a Garganta for the trio to pass through. Without looking back or rethinking their decision to go to Las Noches and rescue Orihime, they stepped into the Garganta and hurried through the dark hole to Hueco Mundo…



Meanwhile…

The last piece of hope was torn from Orihime Inoue's soul. She had been torn from the one she loved, and then the one who had comforted her, though one couldn't speak of "love", tore himself from her. The girl spent her night sitting on the floor, staring out the window, not thinking or feeling, just continuing to breath, though the purpose behind doing so was now also hidden from Orihime's understanding.
Orihime didn't move when Ulquiorra brought her meal. Neither spoke to each other. Instead, the Espada knocked once, entered her room, and without saying a word of acknowledgement to Orihime, set the tray on the table; just as quickly as he had come, he was gone again.
Eventually Orihime fell asleep on the floor. Her dreams were empty and broken. The feeling of hopelessness had followed her even into her dreams. As might be expected, she did not sleep long. Orihime woke up after a couple hours of sleep and awaited the day, not knowing what she would live for.

Ulquiorra was a robot. He lived to fulfill his responsibility to Lord Aizen and to repay the debt he owed the man who created him. Had Aizen-sama not created an Espada out of Ulquiorra, he would probably have become a savage, mindless, killing machine. (Though he turned out to be that anyways…)
Like a machine Ulquiorra made his was to the woman's room to bring her breakfast and to inform her that she was to meet Lord Aizen in his throne room. His thoughts did not wander; his conscious did not bother him. He was the Cuatro Espada.

Orihime did not notice three familiar reiatsu appear. Even though they were extremely far away and only trained persons could have sensed them, Orihime Inoue normally had no problems when it came to detecting reiatsu; especially Kurosaki Ichigo's reiatsu. But her body and mind were so numb that she could not sense even the approaching reiatsu of her captor until it was right outside her door.
She would have ignored Ulquiorra Cifer had he not spoken to her.
"Aizen-sama wishes to speak with you."
How long ago had it been sense she'd heard his voice? Even if it felt like years, she knew it had only been mere hours.   
"Hai," Orihime managed to choke out, almost silently. She did not make a move to get up off the floor and leave her room.
"Remove yourself from the floor and follow me. I will not hesitate to drag you," Orihime Inoue slowly got off of the floor and made her way to the Espada. She never raised her eyes off of the floor to look at him or his stoic composure.