Corroded Spirits

Corroded Spirits: 13

Chapter 13: Renewed Character

 "Mm.." Orihime moaned quietly, opening her eyes to a dark-lit room. It hurt to move her body, so she decided not to. She moved her eyes, trying to get sights of her surroundings with just her peripherals. It was hard to see anything. "Where am I?" She asked herself. She turned on her side, feeling a slight pain in her chest. Moving her elbows, she managed to prop herself to sit up. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness, and she could make out what seemed to be scientific equipment. She had no idea where she was, and she wasn't going to take her time figuring out where.

 "He-hello?" Orihime called, removing the heavy covers off her body. She shivered when the cold air rushed to her skin, quickly grabbing the covers back and draping them over her shoulders. "Hello?" She called again, this time louder and firmer. Her voice sounded hoarse, as if she had just recently screamed or shouted. Again, she felt a pang in her chest, it was so hard it caused her to grunt and place a balled fist against it. "What is this? Ulquiorra, there's something wrong... My chest hurts i-" Orihime stopped, when she felt something lacking in the air.

 "Ulquiorra?" Orihime called, looking around. She scanned the room, as swiftly as she can, despite the absence of light. Her eyes grew more and more fearful at every turn of her head, and every realization that her Arrancar companion was nowhere to be seen. "Ulquiorra!" She called again, her voice starting to get weaker. A door from the other side of the room suddenly swung open, jolting the girl in her place. Her slight jump had startled the 4 captains that had just entered her room and took a second before entering. "Glad to see that you're awake, Orihime-chan." Ukitake said.

 Orihime held the covers around tighter as they came to the side of her bed. She noticed Toshiro, Byakuya and Retsu all glare at her slightly, only making her all the more cower in the covers. "W-what's g-going on? W-here am I?" She asked. Ukitake looked at her oddly but replied with a still-soothing voice. "You're in the 12th Division's Barracks. You were taken here a few-" Orihime suddenly cut him off. "Wait.. I'm Soul Society?" Orihime asked, in obvious horror. The 4 captains all look at her in bewilderment, as if she was spatting out nonsense. And oh,  how she was. "How long have I been here?" She asked immediately, her tone becoming demanding. The look of confusion on the captains' faces juts grew more and more obvious. "A-about a 13 weeks.." Retsu said.

 The enlargement of her eyes didn't go unnoticed by the captains. "No! No! Ulquiorra! Ulquiorra!" Orihime yelled, frantically moving about in her bed. The 4 captains were so caught off guard at her sudden outburst, they had no idea what to do. She tried getting off the bed, but her legs, somehow paralyzed, made her fall down to the floor. "Inoue-chan please calm down!" Ukitake yelled in alarm. Orihime, wouldn't listen. She kept screaming, shouting for the same name. The captains all worked together, trying to hold her in place, but she was exerting such physical force it was almost impossible to do. "Ulquiorra! Ulquiorra!!" She kept yelling.  Slowly, the room was beginning to tremble, and a spike of Reiatsu was starting to fill the air. "What the hell is this?!" Toshiro yelled, trying to overcome the great pressure.

 Thinking quickly, Retsu held out an open palm in front of Orihime's face. She waited a while, until eventually, Orihime's eyes dulled, and she hung her head. "Did you really need to put her unconscious after just waking up?" Ukitake asked. Retsu sighed. "We need to check her Reiatsu levels. And her neurological waves as well..." Ukitake volunteered to pull the girl up to her feet and placed her back into the bed. "This girl just keeps surprising us." Toshiro stated faltly. "To say that it's surprising hardly fits the feeling, Hitsugaya-taichou." Byakuya remarked. Retsu looked down at the girl, and the horribly terrified expression on her face. "What is happening to you, my girl?"
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 Today was different. Very truly different. During the human woman's stay, she had persisted. Persisted so stubbornly, her faith in her worthless 'nakama'. More likely to that orange-haired brat that Aizen had been recently interested in. Insisted that they would grow stronger. Stronger by the day, until they would be able to stand equal to Aizen and his army. Those were one of the things that Aizen had also specifically tasked Ulquiorra to do, when tending to the girl.

 Oversee the girl's needs. Maintain her physical health. And break down her mental will. She had proven to be quite headstrong the first few weeks of her stay. Sure, she complied to a great many things, but Ulquiorra knew and deduced that it was only on account of her fear towards them, who held total control over her life. Had she not relented to the first requests, Ulquiorra, solely given the right and authority to do so, would've forced her to.

 But today, the Arrancar, was completely flabbergastered at the sudden change in the girl's attitude. He had come to give her her meal, which he so often did daily. (3 times a day) When he had entered, he was surprised to find the girl, not in her usual place, which was below the high window of her cell, looking into a place, only she could see. Today, she was seated prim and properly on her couch. She was sitting with her back straight, and eyes forward, her hands laid neatly on her lap. "Good morning.." She greeted him, when he came to stand at the side of the table in front of her. "Or.. evening.. afternoon..." She trailed further.

 Her sentence trailed off in a way that told Ulquiorra, she waited for him to speak. "It is noon, onna." He said, without much thought. Orihime hummed, looking to the window. "Can't tell time right here.. It looks like it's always night." Ulquiorra ignored her words, as he set her food carefully on the table. He would've gone on like that. Silent, in and out of the girl's room as usual, but suddenly, she spoke up again. And this time, she made it very clear that she was speaking to him. "How can you tell time in Hueco Mundo?" She asked, looking at him.

 He stood back up when he finished laying out her meal, her question going unnoticed. He didn't need to reply. He didn't need to speak to her and indulge her on her ludicrous curiosity. He wasn't ordered to do so, therefore he had no obligation to do it. But for some reasons unexplained, he answered her anyway. "We've existed in Hueco Mundo for a long time. And even then, there was only constant darkness of the night, and the crescent moon." He stopped himself, to look at the girl, who had now picked up a bowl of her food and was proceeding to eat it.

 His thick eyebrows didn't stop themselves from raising an inch. That was another surprise. It was only a few days ago that she had refused to eat. And he had threatened to force-feed her, if she relented to go on her childish ambles. He hadn't done it, though, because although it was essential on his part to fulfill his duties to caretake for the girl, it would contradict to Aizen's major order: "Unless the girl shows any signs of retaliation, none shall harm her." What a difficult choice to make between the two. Following one would have to disobey the other, and vice-versa. Really... all for a human girl?

 And now she was eating, as Ulquiorra found himself sharing more about the Hollow World's time conditions. He had never bothered to tell anyone, anything about the knowledge he held of Hueco Mundo. Never. So why was he, all the sudden, telling this human girl all of what he knew? He was really starting to be puzzled by this girl. And she had only been there for 6 weeks. Ulquiorra wondered then, as the girl finished her meal, what else could she probably hold in store of her mundane mind that could further bewilder him. "Is there anything else you'd like to ask?" Ulquiorra inquired, not really meaning to 'mean' anything.

 Orihime, suddenly smiled, which made Ulquiorra quite uncomfortable. "Nothing. No more.. Thank you.. for telling me that." She had a different air about her as he looked at her, and the uneasiness grew too unbearable, Ulquiorra looked down at the table to clean her meal. He, as fast as only he could manage, with only he, noticing, turned to leave with the meal. "Oh.. and one other thing.." Orihime called. Ulquiorra stopped in his tracks, but didn't look back. "What?" He asked quietly. "I promise to keep eating my meals, if you'd tell me more about Hueco Mundo, Ulquiorra.." She said. Her words were in a way disturbing, that it was enough to make him turn and look at her. How'd she even build up the nerve to say something like that? Not wanting to linger on in the girl's company, Ulquiorra left with a slight nod, and closed the door behind him. As he walked, he contemplated about the girl's renewal of character, and how much it struck him.

 It was times like these, that Ulquiorra thought it was his mental will that was being broken down, and that Orihime was responsible for it.