Corroded Spirits

Corroded Spirits: 5

Chapter 5: Silent Start

 "This is a total waste of time." Toshiro mused to himself, as he adjusted his seat, on what was now a burning chair. 

Sure he had been ordered by the Commander to be one of the Captains to oversee Orihime's mental health; sure he had agreed, and accepted the heavy responsibility of seeing the girl everyday, and ask questions. But asking questions to a person who wouldn't even answer them was just exhausting. 

"Not only that.." Toshiro lifted his head from the position it was and looked back down at the girl. Orihime's eyes were plastered to the floor, and her mouth was moving, mumbling herself words that, to Toshiro, seemed unintelligible.

 Toshiro sighed and stood up from his seat. Orihime kept on mumbling to herself, and what it was, Toshiro no longer gave the effort to understand. 

As he looked on at her (now she was entertwining her fingers against each other, a trait that he had learned, during his stay at her apartment, was her way of showing anxiety) he suddenly remembered the time he had spent when he free-loaded at her apartment with his lieutenant. 

At the time, he found her quite annoying, and pestering. Telling him many things that he had to do, and what he ought not to do. The time when she complained about him bringing the large communication T.V. to setup in her living room. The many times, he had to endure eating, what she had called her "culinary dishes". Yes, a truly rambunctious girl.

 But later on, he found her cheerfulness, and bubbliness, similar to that of his lieutenant. The way how both of their personalities had reciprocated. How they got along so well. In the end, he became fond of the girl, in the same way he was with Rangiku.

 He appreciated how she cared over such little things. Especially the time, when she had somehow managed to get him into talking about Hinamori. She had lended quite an ear for him. He was incredibly embarassed when he, out of the blue, shed a tear, and ended up crying in front of her. 

But she didn't degrade him. What she did, was comfort him, like the child that he was. It only embarassed the young Captain further, but the gesture had been so kind, that he did nothing else but accept it. How a human like her, would have compassion that could go to such lengths, was beyond Tohsiro's imagination.

 Now seeing her the way she was. almost broke Toshiro's heart.

 He then turned, about to take his leave, but all the sudden Orihime spoke up. "We started out like this, too." Toshiro turned back around, looking at Orihime seriously. She was still twisting her fingers.

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 Orihime twisted her fingers on her lap, looking down nervously at the plate that lay on her table. She was unsure if the food that had been provided for her was platable, or if it was even edible at all. 

Just the look could put you off. And that was saying something, because Orihime knew food (being an 'exotic' cook herself) she knew her limits when it came to facing food. The dishes she alway cooked, were as always said by everyone "unsettling". She'd have to face an even more unsettling food herself, if one desired to rattle her nerves. And it would seem that she had met her match. 

Though, the sight of the poorly concoctioned food, wasn't entirely the reason why she didn't want to eat it.

 It was the third day of her period, and as usual, it was the day, where her stomach cramps were the worst. It absolutely hurt to move, let alone breathe. And it was quite obvious, that eating was out of the question. The only dilemma she had now, was telling the Arrancar beside her, looking down at her head, about it.

 "Why are you not eating?" Ulquiorra asked quietly.

 Orihime could feel a really hard twist in her stomach as she tried to answer, ending up letting out a low moan. Ulquiorra looked at her more closely, and noticed how her lips were pursed hardly and how hef fingers were twisting around themselves. As if she was enduring some sort of pain.

 "Woman... What hurts?" Ulquiorra asked. The question had been really sudden, that Orihime's head quickly snapped up. The action caused another pang of pain to hurtle around in her stomach. This time it was too unbearable that she hissed quietly and hung her head. "It seems that something does hurt." Ulquiorra stated flatly.

 Orihime looked up at him, hands now untwisting and on her stomach. Without speaking, Ulquiorra knew what was preventing the girl from eating. "Does your stomach hurt from your 'condition'?" Ulquiorra asked, making Orihime look back up at him.

 Ulquiorra knew about this certain condition of human females, known as 'menstruation'. It was quite unsettling for him, but after Aizen had assigned him to look after the human woman once she was in Hueco Mundo, Ulquiorra knew that he had to learn more about humans (females of the woman's age specifically) if he were to be fit to the task.

 And he found it quite irritating, that despite the fact that he had already learned about this, he was still very much unsure of what to do. The girl was still wincing quietly from the pain, and the caretaker assigned to her, only stood on his spot, looking at her, with an air of disinterest. "She cannot go on like this." He mused to himself.

 "Tell me what to do, woman." Ulquiorra said.

 Orihime slightly gasped at his words and wondered if she had misheard him. "Just comply already, and tell me what to do to lessen the pain." He said tonelessly. 

Quite baffled, Orihime moved further back against the couch. "I need to lie down for a while." She said. Ulquiorra looked at her, then back to the plate of her untouched food. "I-.." Orihime tried to say, cutting herself off to wince again. "I also need something to compress my stomach with... So it doesn't hurt so much.." She said. 

With a small sigh, Ulquiorra picked up the plate from the table and made for the door. "I'll be back."

 A while later, Orihime was now lying on her back, inhaling and exhaling, while holding the pillow that Ulquiorra had brought for her, against her stomach. "Has the pain lessened?" Ulquiorra asked, who was standing over just at her side.

 Orihime cracked a smile. "It has yes... Sorry I troubled you.." 

With the reply, Ulquiorra looked away, which Orihime found quite odd. There was a long silence, one that the two couldn't break for the next stretch of 6 minutes. He then silently walked back towards the door. He looked over his shoulder, and then at Orihime. He said nothing, and stayed there, staring at her once again in silence. When about another 6 minutes, or maybe longer passed, he turned back to the door, and left without another word.

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 Orihime stopped twisting her fingers before they turned white, which prevented Toshiro's idea of retracting them, otherwise. "We began with a silent start.." Orihime mused to herself. 

"Okay.." Toshiro said quietly, since he was unsure of anything else he should say.

 "Don't." Orihime said, with a little jump. She was looking somewhere at the back of the room, beyond Tohshiro's shoulder. 

Involuntarily, the captain looked back, and saw that there was no one there. "Thank you." Orihime said, now with relief. Shaking his head slightly, Toshiro backed up, and made for the door.