Road to Redemption

Chapter 11: Transparent

A/N: At long last I can upload! Sorry for the wait everyone. I'm currently buried in essays and schoolwork. Don't worry I'm halfway through so I expect to finish soon and go back to writing. Thanks for you feedback and patience. I hope you like the chapter! Thanks for reading! (the song above is the one playing during Ulquiorra and Orihime's dance)

©Bleach and it's characters don't belong to me, They belong to Tite Kubo and Shonen Jump. Only Anna, Shizuka and Hanabira belong to me.

Chapter 11: Transparent

The night passed away in the blink of an eye and the early hours of the day had already slipped through her fingers. Orihime's head was a mess, she wasn't sure what was taking a bigger toll, the situation with Ichigo or the discovery she and Ulquiorra made.

She had been sitting beside the window for almost an hour now. The snowy landscape was soothing to look at, she was petting Kukkapuro's back as she tried to make sense of it all.

"Woman. You're worried yet again." Ulquiorra commented.

They had only lived together for about a month now, but the arrancar could already read her moods, along with some expressions from their other friends.

Ulquiorra handed her a cup of tea. "Are you feeling unwell?"

"I'm fine. Just have a lot to think about." She took a sip of the tea before glancing out the window again. "Ulquiorra, I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?"

"I just... I promised to show you all of the great things about the world of the living, and so far all I've done is sulk. I'm really sorry."

The arrancar sighed. "There's no need for you to apologize. It's understandable for your mood to be weary due to recent events. If am to be honest I've immensely enjoyed our time together, the comforts of this world are enticing, and the majority of you aquiantances are agreeable people." He sat down beside. "But if I was forced to chose, I'd say your company is the most favorable aspect of my life here."

She couldn't contain her smile as he said that. "I can't tell you how much that means to me." She gave him a hug. "Thanks Ulquiorra, you really know how to cheer me up."

***
He was strangely pleased by the woman's words. They spent the rest of the morning lounging together with Kukkapuro.

Orihime kept ignoring the constant ringing of her phone. Just by glancing at it Ulquiorra could tell who were the callers.

"Are you certain you don't want to speak with them?"

"I'm certain. Right now, there's not a single thing I can say to them."

Ulquiorra nodded. He turned off the phone and placed it on the table. Before he could say anything they all felt a strange spiritual pressure.

"Hollows." The woman picked up Kukkapuro and headed for the door, with Ulquiorra closely following.

The pressure came from the shopping district they had visited a few weeks prior. There was an abundance of hollow, reigning from small to gigantic size.

"I suppose this is a good opportunity to test the results of our training." he told her. "Try to take out the big ones"

Orihime nodded. "Koten Zanshun, I reject!" she yelled fiercely. Instead of one ray of light, she released an attack similar to a bala. Hundreds of small bursts of light took down one of the bigger hollows.

Ulquiorra was taken aback for a second. He quickly snapped out of his daze and began taking down the smaller hollows.

Every so often he'd check on Orihime's progress. She was doing well against the hollows. There was a moment when he was ready to intervene, since the hollow managed to break through her shield but to his surprise, the woman has foreseen this and once the shield broke, it's shards stabbed the hollow as he got close to her.