A-Z Pairing-Drabble meme!
I wanted to set myself a challenge, and so, I stole this from hollie_alr , and edited it to make it a pairing-specific meme though, because that's what I want to write about =)
The Great A-Z Multifandom Pairing Drabble Meme!
This is how it works:
1. Pick a letter.
2. Pick a prompt that starts with that letter (ex. K is for Keyhole)
3. Pick a pairing (Ulquihime ( Read more... )
The Great A-Z Multifandom Pairing Drabble Meme!
This is how it works:
1. Pick a letter.
2. Pick a prompt that starts with that letter (ex. K is for Keyhole)
3. Pick a pairing (Ulquihime ( Read more... )
This wasn’t like her - Orihime was well aware of that. She wasn’t normally the one crouching behind the school toilets, her cheeks red and her eyes puffy - that was the place of a girl who had just been dumped. And Orihime had not been dumped … But she was there in the ‘dumped’ position regardless, her arms folded on her knees and the wall behind supporting her in the strange position.
She could hear Tatsuki calling for her, but Orihime didn’t answer - she didn’t want anyone to see her like this. She hadn’t even told anyone about how she felt for ….
Orihime repressed a dry sob at the images that had come with the thought of the name. Why couldn’t she just bleach her mind? Burn away the images - maybe then she’d be able to face him when she went home tonight. Her stomach gave an uncomfortable twist as she wondered about what would happen - what would she say? What would he say?
A gentle hand on her shoulder broke Orihime’s thought-process, much to her relief, and when she reluctantly she looked up, Tastuki was looking at her, her chocolate brown eyes swimming with concern.
“Orihime, what is it?” she asked in a soothing voice, and though Orihime knew that Tastuki was simply worried, she couldn’t answer the question yet - she didn’t want to face it yet. And so, she hid. She buried her head into her arms, blocking out the rest of the world.
She heard the sigh escape Tastuki’s mouth, and Orihime wondered at the expression she might be wearing, but she refused to look up. She didn’t want anyone to see her weakness anymore than she wanted to admit it.
“You don’t want to talk about it?” Tatsuki asked, and Orihime flinched at the barely concealed hurt in the voice.
“Not yet,” Orihime whispered, and she could hear Tatsuki hum thoughtfully. There was a slight pause in the hum, and then, her tone conveying her discomfort, Tatsuki asked, “Should I get Ulquiorra?”
Orihime’s head snapped up at the same time that an invisible hand took hold of her heart and squeezed. “No!” she almost yelled, suddenly grasping at Tatsuki’s arms maniacally - she didn’t even remember standing up, “I can’t - I can’t -!” Whatever Orihime was going to say, the words were drowned out by the sob that wrenched itself free of her throat and the red haired woman let her head fall into Tatsuki’s collar bone, her shoulders shaking with the effort of not crying. She’d done too much of that already.
Tatsuki took hold of her hand gently, forcing the images and thoughts from Orihime’s mind as she focused on the touch. And, not for the first time since their meeting, it was as if Tatsuki had become Orihime’s lifeline, anchoring her so that the self doubt and pain wouldn’t sweep her away. Slowly, Orihime looked up at her friend, a little concerned about Tatsuki’s potential reaction. As she met her eyes, Orihime was temporarily startled by the intense look on Tatsuki’s face - her mouth a hard, displeased line, and her eyes burning protectively.
“Did he hurt you?” she asked, and it took a moment for Orihime to realise she meant Ulquiorra. As she looked at Tatsuki, Orihime felt that she had already decided he had, and Orihime suspected she was deciding on the best way to make him pay.
“No,” the Orange haired woman breathed, “He didn’t … Not intentionally …” Orihime sighed deeply and pulled away from Tatsuki, her arms clutching at the other as though she were trying to hold herself together.
Tatsuki watched the back of Orihime for a moment, a confused frown on her face - it was true, Orihime didn’t look as though she’d been physically injured, but then why was she crying, and why had she objected to Ulquiorra’s presence so much? Why had her eyes filled with so much hurt in the moment his name had slipped from her tongue? Tatsuki didn’t understand, but she wasn’t going to force Orihime to talk if she didn’t want to either.
She could offer her time though, and a chance to get away.
“Come on, Orihime. Let’s go home,” and Tatsuki didn’t leave Orihime a chance to protest, she simply took hold of her childhood friend’s hand and lead them away, towards the school nurse.
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The sight was enough for Tatsuki to want to storm up to the Emo-Prince and demand to know what happened, but first thing was first - she had to take care of Orihime. And so, her duty set in her mind, Tatsuki pulled them along until they came to the nurse’s office.
“Scuse me!” she called in, and the nurse poked her head around to look at the door curiously. “Orihime isn’t feeling well, and so I’m taking her home. We’ll need to be excused for the rest of the day,” Tatsuki finished with a nonchalant shrug, and her tone left no room for questions. Nevertheless, the nurse looked at Tastuki suspiciously, only to peer over at Orihime instead.
Within seconds she wrote them both up slips to leave. As Tatsuki took hold of the slips, the nurse murmured, “Poor dear, I hope she feels better soon,” and Tastuki hummed with agreement before she led Orihime out of the school, wondering what the nurse understood that Tatsuki didn’t.
She had no way of knowing that curious, piercing green eyes watched them carefully as they left the school grounds.
---
Orihime could hear Tatsuki on the phone several hours later as she sipped at her tea morosely. It had been ages since they’d left school - and Orihime was yet to tell Tatsuki why she had been found crying. She was reluctant to do so, because the more she thought about it … The more foolish it seemed.
She couldn’t fight the flinch that came with that word though - he said that word far too often for it to not remind her of him. Orihime sighed and placed a hand on her forehead, her fingers twisting at the fine hair in her hairline.
“Hello, Mr. Emo-Batman,” Tatsuki’s forced, happy voice floated down the hall, and Orihime’s chest tightened - please don’t be here, she thought, irrationally. Of course Ulquiorra wouldn’t be there. He was probably at Katana class just then - “I’m just calling to inform you,” Orihime released the breath she’d been subconsciously holding as she realised Tatsuki was leaving a message, “That Orihime will be staying with me tonight, regardless of your thoughts. Bye!”
Orihime smiled half-heartedly as she imagined how Ulquiorra might react to that message … And then she groaned. Avoiding him wasn’t a viable option, not really. But at that point in time, it was all she wanted to do.
“Jeez, I still can’t believe you live with that guy,” Tatsuki muttered as she stepped back into the room, kicking a plush toy out of her way. Orihime just shrugged and offered her a smile, her fingers playing with the plush in her lap.
“What else was I meant to do? Soul Society wanted him to stay with Uruhara-san! You can’t even imagine the look of glee that had come over Uruhara-san’s face at that! It was scary!” Orihime worked hard to sound normal - she sounded off to her own ears though.
“I’m sure,” Tatsuki scoffed, rolling her eyes for affect, before focusing her gaze on Orihime’s face again. She hesitated, then asked, “Are you going to tell me why you were in Saki’s usual spot?”
It was Orihime’s turn to hesitate, before she sighed and looked over at the window, “It sounds so stupid now … And I’m sure you won’t like it…” she admitted, her tone unwilling.
“I don’t like the fact that you were crying!” Tatsuki growled, and a hand came to crash down on the desk, emphasizing the point.
Again, Orihime sighed, stalling for time, before she said in a small voice, “I saw Ulquiorra kissing someone,” and Orihime hated how much her voice trembled as she said it, despised the way Tatsuki’s room swam in and out of focus. She’d promised herself to be strong - when she’d come back from Huenco Mundo she’d promised herself she’d be able stand on her own two feet and yet … Here she was, crying again.
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“Ulquiorra’s going to come live with me!” Orihime told her best friend, her eyes shining with joy and her mouth a bright smile. Tatsuki didn’t like the idea much - this was the same creature that had stolen Orihime away - but she wasn’t given a chance to say so, for Ulquiorra walked over to them then, his expression one of resignation.
“Woman, it has been … arranged,” the Arrancar looked over at the man wearing sandals with distaste.
For a moment, Tatsuki was going to screech at him for addressing Orihime as ‘woman’, but then she was distracted by the soft pink hue in Orihime’s cheeks.
~X~
“Orihime! You’re coming with us to the movies this weekend right?” Tatsuki asked, glaring at the pale-creature that stood behind Orihime. Was there ever a time he wasn’t in her shadow?
“I’m sorry Tatsuki-chan! I promised Ulquiorra I’d let him teach me how to fight this weekend, and because Soul Society think the hollows will be drawn to Ulquiorra’s reiatsu…”
The rest of Orihime’s speech was a blur as Tatsuki wondered about the way that Orihime was fidgeting, blushing, and playing with her hair as if she was telling Tatsuki about a date she had.
~X~
“Inoue! How can you defend him like that? He doesn’t treat you with respect at all!” Ichigo argued with Orihime, his voice displaying his dislike of the pale ghost that had become a constant in their lives.
“It’s none of your business the way he speaks to me, Kurosaki-kun!” Orihime retorted, and Tatsuki looked over with curiosity, her thumbs hooked into the pockets of her jeans as she looked between Ichigo and Orihime. She couldn’t recall why they’d started arguing - possibly because Ichigo didn’t like how much time Orihime was spending with Ulquiorra.
As Tatsuki watched them, it hit her with the force of a wrecking ball that Orihime was fighting with Ichigo. And it was in that exact moment, she realised that Orihime didn’t have a crush on the sometimes-Shinigami anymore. When had that happened? And, more importantly, what helped her get over the fascination?
“… Oh,” Tatsuki breathed, and Orihime peeked up at her, her lashes wet from the tears she was trying to hold back. “Oh,” she sounded again, and it all fell into place so abruptly that Tatsuki was amazed she hadn’t noticed it earlier. Some best friend she was. “You like him,” she said needlessly, and Orihime grimaced at the words. Her smile was more sheepish than guilty though.
“I haven’t told anyone yet … Especially not him. I don’t even know how he’d react if he knew,” unconsciously, Orihime pulled the plushie in her lap closer and held it to her chest tightly. Tatsuki wondered if she realised it was an emerald-green bat.
“Alright…” Tatsuki took a moment to gather her thoughts, “That doesn’t explain why you were crying though.”
“I told you!” Orihime cried, a note of petulance to her voice, “I saw him kissing another girl…” her mouth puckered again at the image, and then she sighed, burying her head into the bat-plushie. “I know I have no right to be upset, I haven’t told him how I feel … and it’s not as if I own him simply because I revived him with my power - it’s because of my power he has the right to choose. It just … It hurts Tatsuki-chan!” Orihime looked up at her friend earnestly, “I like him - Maybe even more than I did Kurosaki-kun - but …” she sighed deeply before looking down at the bat in her hands, a thoughtful expression on her face.
“Orihime,” Tastuki breathed as she placed a comforting hand on Orihime’s shoulder, “What exactly did you see?” she hated to ask - but she had to know specifics if she was going to help at all.
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“She looked like she was our sempai, but I don’t know,” Orihime shook her head, as though trying to swat the memories away with the movement, “I just noticed her there, and then she bent forward and kissed him,” Tatsuki felt her mouth pull with frustration at the small hiccup Orihime couldn’t contain.
“But,” her mind searched for the upside, “did you see him kiss her back?” Stupid, stupid, stupid question, she instantly berated herself.
Orihime’s face seemed to be a reflection of Tatsuki’s mental facepalm, because the look she wore at that moment could only be described as a deadpan. “I kind of left in a hurry after that,” she said in a voice that sounded more like it belonged to Ulquiorra than the bubbly-Orihime Tatsuki knew.
“But … But … Then…” Tatsuki flailed about for words, she wasn’t really sure what she was supposed to say in moments like this.
She wasn’t given much chance to think about it though, for a few seconds later a dimensional rip opened up, and Ulquiorra stepped into the room, his cheeks stained with green which meant he wasn’t in his gigai. Soul Society was going to kill him.
“Tatsuki,” he acknowledged, although the tone was clipped, before turning his penetrative gaze to Orihime, who had resolutely turned her back on him, as if refusing to meet his eye would deny his presence there.
Because she was watching, Tatsuki noticed that Ulquiorra’s left eye twitched, and his fingertips flexed as though he wanted to take hold of Orihime’s shoulder and force her to face him. And at that uncontrollable flick, Tatsuki felt her patience snap.
“Emo-prince, we need to talk!” she snarled, and before Orihime could say a word - Tatsuki noticed her look over, her expression one of pure horror - she walked forward, took hold of Ulquiorra’s elbow and dragged him along behind her into the hallway, a move he, surprisingly, complied with.
As soon as they were in the hallway, and Tatsuki’s bedroom door had closed, Ulquiorra opened his mouth to say something. Tatsuki could see the clouds of irritation rolling over his face, but she didn’t care. She held a hand up and hissed, “No. You listen to me - I don’t care what things are like in the Arrancar-hollow-whatever world. You’re in our world now, and I want to know why. Why did Orihime bother bringing you back if you were just going to hurt her?”
Ulquiorra simply stared, processing her words for a moment, before asking, “Hurt her?” and at the words his voice twisted with an emotion Tatsuki hadn’t expected to hear - surprise, for one, and also concern. For a moment, his eyes flickered to the doorway, before sliding back over to Tatsuki, a question in his eyes.
“First, you answer me,” she growled, completely unperturbed by the curls of reiatsu she could feel leaking out from under Ulquiorra’s control. “Why are you here Ulquiorra?”
“To retrieve the Woman,” he told her in a completely flat voice, and Tatsuki fought the urge to snarl in irritation.
“Not here,” she snapped as quietly as she could - she didn’t want Orihime coming out to stop them, “Why did you come to the human world?”
Uncharacteristically, Ulquiorra sighed, and his gaze locked onto the door behind which was Orihime. “What is it you want me to say, Tatsuki?”
“The truth might be a start.”
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For a moment, Tatsuki simply stared at Ulquiorra, an eyebrow arched as she thought through his words. What was he trying to say? “Are you saying you’re here because you want to be with her?” she asked him, her hand gesturing to the doorway Ulquiorra’s green eyes hadn’t left, her brow cocked with disbelief.
“Female humans are so annoying,” Ulquiorra muttered, before tearing his eyes away from the door to lock his gaze with Tatsuki instead. “I don’t know, Tatsuki. Being ‘with’ the Woman - I can’t understand the weight you put behind those words. What does it mean, to be ‘with her’? It’s irrelevant to me. All I understand is that I don’t feel …” he struggled with the words for a moment, looking for the right one to use to convey what he was … feeling, “… Whole,” Yes, that was a suitable word, “without her. If humans call that the want to be with someone - then yes, I want to be with the Woman.”
Tatsuki looked up at Ulquiorra, momentarily shocked at the words, and then she remembered Orihime’s tortured expression as she retold what she’d seen.
“Then why would you kiss another? That’s not the way it’s done here Emo-bat!”
Green eyes simply stared at her uncomprehendingly for a moment, and then he blanched, disgust evident in his eyes, in the pull of his brow. “You’re mistaken. I did not kiss anyone - that wretch threw herself at me before I had time to react,” and then his eyes darkened a shade, and Tatsuki struggled not to swallow and show signs of fear as she felt the waves of menace that rolled off Ulquiorra as he spoke, “If she’s hurt because you failed to clarify that fact before-”
“Tatsuki-chan isn’t to blame,” Orihime’s steady voice drifted to them from the doorway, and Ulquiorra’s head snapped around to look over at her.
It was peculiar for Tatsuki, because the instant Orihime was in his sight, she could almost see the way Ulquiorra’s tension left his body. Almost like … Like simply being in her presence soothed the demon within. And, now that she was paying the proper amount of attention, she could see the way Ulquiorra’s eyes focused on Orihime’s red cheeks, her slightly swollen eyes, and as he noticed them, his mouth tightened the smallest amount, showing his distaste and concern at the sight.
“It was me. I-” Orihime took a breath, steadying herself before she looked at Ulquiorra, and Tatsuki was mildly bemused to see the defiant look in her expression. “I was the one who mistook what I saw. The blame lies with me.”
Tilting her head as she watched, Tatsuki wondered if Ulquiorra’s menacing vibe was going to return at Orihime’s admission. What she hadn’t expected was the shockingly … tender look that came to his eyes.
“Foolish Woman,” he scoffed as he stepped towards her, stopping only once they were toe to toe, and the look the two shared expressed more than words could have - the silent exchange was intimate enough that Tastuki felt as though she had to look away to give them some privacy.
The two remained like that for a few seconds, and then Ulquiorra flicked his wrist so that the dimensional rift appeared once more, “Come with me, Woman,” he said with absolutely no inflection in his tone, but at the way Orihime blushed, Tastuki felt as though she’d just overheard something that had not intended for her ears.
“Sorry, Tatsuki-chan,” Orihime apologized, hugging her friend briefly as Ulquiorra stood in the rift, his very posture screaming impatience. “Looks like I won’t be staying after all,” and then she added in an undertone, “but, thankyou for comforting me,” before spinning about and following Ulquiorra into their apartment, her regular, cheerful smile back in place.
The rift hadn’t quite closed when Orihime asked, “What do you want for dinner, Ulquiorra?”
“Anything that comes directly from a recipe book,” he replied in a deadpan voice that had Tatsuki holding her sides with laughter, and Ulquiorra spared her one final glare - one that was softened by the barely discernable smirk on his face - before the rip closed completely.
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