Lamenting Enchantment (A Bleach/Ulquihime fic)

Chapter 3

This is not my story! All credits go to The. Teal. Rose. on Fanfiction.net. This story belongs solely to the author.
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Chapter III

Making Friends with Shadows

Find beauty not only in the thing itself but in the pattern of the shadows, the light and dark which that thing provides.

-Junichiro Tanizaki

The days progressed in much the same way, Inoue was alone for the most part save for precise times when a meal would be brought to her, always led by Ulquiorra as if his sole purpose was making sure she ate when she was supposed to. He said as much when she finally asked him about it, stating that it was his duty to make sure she stayed alive for Aizen.

The conversations between he and her were minimal and he would always stay solely for the duration of her meal. Sometimes Inoue wondered why he never ate anything and found that it was rather difficult to venture such an inquiry; he seemed incredibly opposed to reveal anything about himself, no matter the magnitude of the inquest.

At one time, during her third and final meal of the day, Inoue looked to Ulquiorra to see that, as usual, his gaze was fixated upon the door. She wondered if it bored him to have to sit through her supper, for surely there were many other things he could be doing.

With a resigned sigh, she ate the last of the food on her plate and then gathered everything back onto the tray as she always did.

"Finished?" Ulquiorra asked, rising to leave.

"Yes," Inoue replied, placing the platter down.

"Very well," he turned, "I will send someone shortly to retrieve the cart."

As he took a step towards the door, Inoue called out to him, not sure as to his reaction at hearing her say his name.

Turning to look at her, he said nothing.

"Is it alright if I address you like that?" Inoue asked, somewhat anxious as his expression was always frustratingly unreadable. "I mean," she laughed uncomfortably as she brought a hand to her head, "I'll have to call you something."

"If that is what you wish, I don't see how else you could possibly address me" Ulquiorra turned and then left the room.

Inoue closed her eyes and heaved a sigh of relief as she lowered her hand, he hadn't seemed all that angry, though she knew she wouldn't be able to tell if he had been.

Since then, she continued to call him by his name and was content to find that he didn't seem to mind.

However, during her times of solitude, Inoue found that she was still susceptible to depressing thoughts and did all she could to distract herself from them. She could hardly say that she looked forward to her meetings with the Espada, but it did provide an escape from the reality of her situation.

All in all, there were but three times a day, about 15 minutes in length apiece in which she was not completely left to herself.

23 hours and 15 minutes a day was far too much time to constantly have to avoid all thoughts that would potentially break her resolve.