Soul Butterfly Daycare: First Day of School
Disclaimer: I don’t own Bleach
First Day of School: Flashback. Orhime meets Ulquiorra on the first day of school.
“Come on, Hime. There’s nothing to be afraid of,” Sora told his sister gently.
Orihime trembled slightly and the toy kitty ear-headband she was wearing mimicked her movement and shook. Sora had spotted the odd headband in a children’s clothes store on clearance when they had been shopping for Orihime’s school clothes. The four year old had become enamored with the kitty ears and in the end, Sora had bought two pairs: one for his sister and one for her friend Tatsuki.
“It’s going to be okay,” Sora told Orihime encouragingly. She tightened the grip on her brother’s hand. Wide eyed, she peeked around his leg and studied the classroom. Blue cubby holes aligned the door and on the left wall were three sets of yellow book shelves with books and puzzles on it. A large, oval circle sat in the middle of the room and behind it was a large red rug. In the corner sat a teachers desk.
“It’s so big,” she whispered. Sora tried to discreetly remove her backpack while she was distracted, but Orihime wouldn’t let him.
“What if there’s an emergency and I need it to agape?” she asked him wide eyed. Sora frowned at her.
“You’ve been watching too much tv,” he chided.
“and it’s pronounced ‘survive.’
Orihime stuck her tongue out at him but her brother seemed to see through the act. She was afraid. His demeanor softened.
“I know it looks scary but you’ll get use to it. Remember, Tatsuki comes back from her vacation next week, and she’ll be in the same class as you,” Sora told her warmly. Orihime bit her lip and looked down, wishing more than anything that her best friend could join her now. Sora had promised that school would be fun but everything seemed scary to her.
She didn’t recognize any of the other kids.
“Look there’s Ichigo!” Sora exclaimed and pointed over to a little orange haired boy that was pulling a stuffed toy rabbit from his bag. Orihime brightened when she saw him and his mother. She knew Mrs. Kurosaki from when since she was very little. The nice lady had use to come by and bring dinner for her and Sora when they had first moved into their own apartment.
“Hey Ichigo!” Orihime shouted and waved. Hearing his name, the boy looked up and smiled back. Orihime was just about to run over and say hello, when a shorter little girl with black hair came up to Ichigo and snatched the toy rabbit from his hand. They instantly started to bicker and Orihime lost her nerve.
Slowly, she slinked back until she bumped into Sora’s leg. He gave her a sympathetic smile.
“I’m not sure I’m ready for this big brother. Maybe we could wait until Tatsuki comes back next week and I can go with her,” Orihime suggested. Before Sora could respond, an old man with a long beard walked.
“Hello, I’m Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto,” he greeted. Orihime’s head head began to spin as she tried to process her teacher’s name. She was never going to remember all that!
“Old man Yamamoto,” she finally settled on saying. Sora looked at her surprised, and the four year old realized that she had said that outloud.
“Orihime this your teacher. You need to address him by his proper title,” Sora tried to explain, and shot Yamamoto an apologetic look. Her teacher wave a hand dismissively.
“I don’t mind. I understand it’s quite a mouthful for such a youngster.” Yamamoto studied Orihime’s profile curiously, with his eyes lingering a little longer on her kitty ears. She in turn, shuffled her feet under his gaze.
“We don’t get many four year olds. Are you sure the child is ready to attend our facility?”
Orihime still couldn’t tell if it was a daycare or a preschool. She felt Sora place his hands on her shoulders.
“Orihime is very smart. I know she can handle it,” he told Yamamoto warmly. Her teacher grunted.
“Very well. I’m about to take the children outside to tour the playground. Our line leader, Renji is standing over there, if she would like to join them.” Yamamoto gestured to a little red headed boy standing by the classroom’s exit.
“All right, that’s my queue to leave,” Sora told Orihime gently before bending down and giving her a hug. Orihime returned it enthusiastically.
“Please don’t go,” she whispered.
“You’ll be fine. It’s only for a couple hours and then I’ll come pick you up, okay?”
Orihime found herself reluctantly nodding in agreement. She would be strong. She would get through this. She would not be afraid.
Taking a deep breath, she marched over to the little red headed boy. Unfortunately, she had forgotten his name already and didn’t know how to start conversing with him.
“Alright everyone. It’s time to go outside. Please line up behind our line leader and we’ll head outside,” Yamamoto called out. Seconds later, the rest of Orihime’s classmates lined up behind her. Risking one more glance at Sora, who had gone to stand outside in the school’s hallway with the rest of the parents, she waved goodbye and then followed the line leader and Yamamoto out the door.
It was not but a minute later that Orihime felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning curiously, she found a little girl with long hair and pretty bright eyes standing behind her.
“Hi! I’m Nel!” she introduced herself loud and cheerfully. Orihime smiled back and waved.
“I’m Orihime.” Nel hummed in greeting. Then her eyes shifted to the line leader.
“Would it be okay if I went in front of you?” she asked happily. Orihime blinked in surprise but saw no qualms with trading places with her.
“Sure!”
“Thanks!” Nel smiled and slipped in front of her in the line. Orihime grinned back. Maybe she would have a new friend!
“Hey you cutted!” a new voice called out. Orihime started to turn around before she felt herself shuffled further back into the line and a boy with glasses step in front of her.
“I was standing behind Nel and it’s rude to cut,” he told her in a chiding voice. Orihime felt like she was being scolded but couldn’t figure out what she had done wrong.
“No cuts!” a short, dark haired girl suddenly hissed before she shoved Orihime out of the way. Hard. The four year old took two steps back to regain her footing. Luckily, Ichigo was there to steady her with two hands on her shoulder.
“Are you okay?” he asked her in concern before weaseling his way to stand between Orihime and the dark haired girl who had pushed her.
“Y-yeah. Thanks Ichigo,” Orihime stuttered. Her cheeks began to pinken but Ichigo didn’t seem to notice. Turning his head, he glared at the dark haired girl.
“Rukia! Give me back my rabbit!” he hissed. Turning, he shot Orihime an apologetic glance.
“Sorry,”
“It’s okay,” she told him in a happy voice.
“Hey chic, no cuts! I was behind Kurosaki,” another little boy with spiky hair interrupted. Orihime felt one of his large hands grab her shoulder and propel her backward into another classmate so that he could take her place in line standing behind Ichigo.
Squeaking, Orihime turned to apologize to the boy she had bumped into.
The first thing she noticed were his green eyes. The second thing she noticed was his Batman shirt.
“Sorry I didn’t mean to bump into you,” she told him shyly. She watched as he looked her over appraisingly. Finally, he shrugged.
“It was an accident.”
Orihime waited a moment, expecting for him to jump in front of her like the other kids had, but the dark haired boy seemed to be content where he was walking.
“Don’t you want to go in front of me?” she asked. As if on cue, the large boy that had just cut in front of her turned back and shot the dark haired boy an annoyed look.
“Come on Slim Jim, hurry up!” he shouted. The dark haired boy - Slim Jim - ignored him.
“No thank you,” he told Orihime flatly. The four year old frowned.
“But I cutted in front of you,” she argued. Slim Jim mirrored her frown.
“No you didn’t. You just got pushed down the line.That’’s not cutting,” he asserted.
Orihime giggled.
“That’s very nice of you to notice, Slim Jim,”
“My name is Ulquiorra,” he corrected her. Orihime frowned and looked back at the bigger boy in front of her. Hadn’t he just called him ‘Slim Jim’?
“It’s a nickname. I don’t like it,” Ulquiorra explained as if reading her mind. Orihime nodded, but secretly worried over how she was going to pronounce his name. Slim Jim was a lot easier to say…
“I’m Orihime,” she said instead. Ulquiorra nodded.
“I like your ears,” he offered, thinking of Catwoman's costume. Maybe he had finally found another fan of the Batman franchise…
Orihime smiled. It was the first time anyone had said anything nice about her ears.
“Really? Thank you!” she exclaimed. Reaching in to her backpack, she sent a silent apology Tatsuki and pulled out the matching headband.
“Here,” she told the boy and shoved them into his hands.
“For my new friend!” she exclaimed. Ulquiorra frowned at the kitty ears.
“Batman had a cowl, not headband,” he told Orihime.
The four year old wasn’t entirely sure what a cowl was but she smiled at him anyway.
“Try using your imagination.”
“Woman, I’m not wearing this,” he told her deadpanned.
… Thirty minutes later the class came in from recess. Nel was chattering excitedly with Renji while Uryu hung back a little bit and listened. Rukia and Ichigo were still arguing over the rabbit. Orihime followed them, holding Ulquiorra’s hand while he patiently explained to her what a cowl was.
Behind them, a sullen Grimmjow followed with tissue shoved up his nose to stop the bleeding from where Ulquiorra had hit him for making fun of the matching kitty ears he and Orihime were wearing.
Ulquiorra had insisted that they were in fact bat ears.
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On a side note, this chapter was inspired by Meoiubanhbao’s fanart of Ulquiorra and Orihime that they made for my story. No one has ever done that for me before. I’ve never felt so honored. If anyone wants to see the picture, I’ve included a link in my profile. It’s adorable