Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ The Heart in My Hand ❯ Part 6 ( Chapter 6 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

semexx: Thanks for the comments here and on fanfiction net. You have so many valid questions that show you take in nearly every or maybe even all details. I’ll try answering those questions now, but keep in mind that this is an AU and this is a work in progress, so some questions will only be answered with the flow of the story. To some questions I may never have an answer either.
Considering your questions about clones and clones merging, I must say that I won’t go further into this topic. We will have only one Ulquiorra here. I am not much interested in having many Ulquiorras running around.
Ulquiorra’s as a Human, Hollow and Arrancar lives are separate. With each life cycle, he’s more or less a new individual. Him being jealous in his Human life doesn’t mean he is now. His Human and Hollow lives are completely different. His Hollow and Arrancar lives are pretty much similar, though, since he hasn’t changed much. His mindset has somewhat changed – as a Hollow he used to be much more passive. Aizen had given his life a purpose when he turned him into an Arrancar. But this is just the theory I’m using in this fanfic.
About Ulquiorra being capable of deeper emotions…the title of this fanfic already implies that he is. As the story progresses further, so will his personality.
Now how could Aizen find out about Ulquiorra’s Human life? I doubt he could, haha You got me here. I don’t think Ulquiorra looks similar to what he looked like as a Human. Maybe some features, like dark hair or green eyes or something, but this is already guessing. Well, let’s say there’s something that records all energy/reiatsu signatures. Whether a Human, a Hollow or an Arrancar, there’s something distinctive about it that can be recognized in all of them and attributed to one person. So maybe that’s how Aizen knew. Again, this is just me making excuses.
Love triangle (Orihime/Ichigo/Ulquiorra). Yep, we’ll have some of that. Not much, but just to make Ichigo curious about what would Ulquiorra do if Orihime became too insistent. Now the reason why Ichigo broke up with Orihime will come in later chapters and I would not want to elaborate on that. I’ll just say that no, they broke up not because Ichigo realized that he was gay. Ichigo isn’t gay. I’d say bi.
I haven’t read the manga but I did my research on Bleach Wiki, so I know most of what’s going on in the newest arc and new dangers of Wandenreich and whatnot, but that won’t be included in this fanfic. I simply felt it was necessary to include all of what Ichigo was, so I cheated a bit to make the list more impressive for Ulquiorra, haha
I did plan on including Grimmjow since I think he must be alive. His death was never showed at least. I am not very certain about this, though. We’ll just have to wait and see where the story goes.
Thanks again for your questions, it’s a pleasure to know you’re such an attentive reader. Will be waiting for more comments ^_^


Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach – it belongs to its respective owners. This fan fiction is not a commercial project, and I am not making any money from writing it.
Warnings:
1. Yaoi (male x male). Ulquiorra x Ichigo and vice versa. Other pairings?
2. Ichigo – almost 19 years old; Ulquiorra – probably a few hundred as a Hollow and about a decade or so as an Arrancar?
3. Post anime (haven’t read the manga).
4. Alternate Universe.
5. I’m not a native speaker, thus expect various language oddities.
6. I’m not very familiar with all the details in the anime, and I am also new to Bleach fandom, so I will be straying away from the canon quite frequently. I do my research but Bleach is a vast universe that is not so easy to grasp. I must admit, though, that there are also things in the anime that don’t make sense to me and I take the liberty of recreating certain parts of this universe as I see fit.
7. Looking for a beta-reader for this fanfic. You must be a native speaker and at least better at English grammar than I am. Please write me an email if you’re interested.

The Heart in My Hand

by chayron (lttomb@yahoo.com)

Part 6

It was quiet in the shop and Ichigo could hear the soft patter of rain against the roof and walls. Ulquiorra had finally stopped eating and had stacked the two nearly empty boxes on top of each other on the floor next to himself. He was clearly sleepy now, trying to stifle yawns, and his usually incredibly green eyes were somewhat hazy. Ichigo caught Kisuke watching him and raised a questioning eyebrow.

“I know he’ll try to take revenge on Mayuri,” Kisuke said. “Don’t get involved.”

Ichigo’s eyes widened innocently. “Me? Get involved? Never!”

The former captain let out a tortured sigh. He knew Ichigo was going to. He always had and always would as long as he deemed it was necessary. Kisuke didn’t even know why he had opened his mouth. It was necessary that Ulquiorra interfered – the Arrancar simply had no other choice. Ichigo was going to follow him, either to stop him or to help him, most likely both at once, but he was going to follow Ulquiorra.

“Oh, right,” Kisuke said, remembering. “I want to scan him again and check how his wounds are closing up.”

Ichigo found himself nodding then frowned. It was as if Kisuke was asking his permission. “Why don’t you just tell him that?”

The former captain rolled his eyes and fanned himself irritably. “He doesn’t like me and he trusts me even less.” He snapped his fan shut and pointed with it at Ichigo. “And it’s faster this way – I don’t need to write.”

From the end of the fan that was aimed at the red-head’s chest, Ulquiorra’s sleepy eyes rose to Ichigo. He was thinking about asking they went home faster so that he could sprawl all over the futon or the bed, whichever Ichigo would provide him with, and get some sleep.

When he was told about the delay, the discontent frown set on Ulquiorra’s face and it was clear that the idea of getting back into the apparatus didn’t please him. Kisuke watched Ichigo point at his own body then Ulquiorra’s but the Arrancar gave him an apathetic look and didn’t move. Ichigo patted his pocket and held his hand out for the notebook in Ulquiorra’s. The former captain could tell that the Arrancar was toying with the idea of refusing to hand it over.

“Ten minutes,” Kisuke said with both hands raised in the air, fingers spread. “It will only take ten minutes.”

The Arrancar ignored him but pulled the notebook out of his pocket and held it out for Ichigo. The red-head scribbled down a few sentences and passed it back. Ulquiorra read them and an even deeper frown set on his face. He put the notebook back into his pocket, stood up and went towards the machine.

“What did you tell him?” Kisuke wondered, standing up as well.

“Just that you might find a way to make him recover faster and then he could go back to being a bloodthirsty bastard sooner and…” Ichigo trailed off with a grunt. He did realize that Ulquiorra was tired and suspicious of everything. Still, he couldn’t help feeling irritated. Ulquiorra having told him that he had no right ordering him around had somehow made him more susceptible to the Arrancar’s negative reactions to his requests.

When Kisuke turned the apparatus on, Ichigo wanted to remind Ulquiorra that he had to undress but the Arrancar’s clothes flickered and then disappeared even before he could open his mouth.

“Convenient,” Ichigo said, averting his eyes from the Arrancar’s white alabaster back. He took note that Ulquiorra’s skin was still covered in smears of dried blood. Lately, he hadn’t noticed any blood on Ulquiorra’s front, the Arrancar obviously having cleaned it off with whatever means he had managed to muster up.

When Ulquiorra was inside the machine, Kisuke pushed a few buttons and it set to work with a low soft hum. The former captain turned to Ichigo, who had retreated a few meters away from the apparatus and now was motioning for him to come closer.

“Could we use the hot spring in the basement?” Ichigo asked. “He is still covered in blood and it’s impossible to remove it using water here.” He knew he was asking a big favor – there weren’t many who knew about Kisuke’s secret training grounds. There was, however, not much point in hiding it since he was certain that they would need to use it in order to make sure Ulquiorra regained his power.

The former captain gave Ichigo a searching look but the red-head could see that Kisuke had similar thoughts concerning the matter. Kisuke nodded.

“I’ll ask Ururu to get everything ready.”

Ichigo wondered what exactly “everything” was but then decided that it probably included towels and soap. The hot spring had also regenerating abilities, which should increase Ulquiorra’s recovery. Or maybe it only worked with external wounds, Ichigo was never sure about that.

Startled, Ichigo looked at the machine that had just pinged loudly. Kisuke walked back to it to pick up a few papers it had spat out onto the floor. Studying them, he left the room in search for Ururu. He returned almost at the same time when the machine stopped whirring and the lamps blinked out. Three more pages dropped to the floor and Kisuke pushed a button to make the tray slide out of the apparatus.

Just as Ichigo had expected, Ulquiorra was soundly asleep. He shook the Arrancar’s shoulder lightly to rouse him and then had to lean back as Ulquiorra sat up suddenly, his hand shooting up for his throat. It stopped just a few millimeters away, the sharp white nails almost touching the red-head’s skin. Ichigo heard Benihime sliding back into the sheath. Completely still, he watched confusion clear from the bleary emerald eyes, then Ulquiorra’s arm dropped back to his side. The Arrancar slid off the tray, his clothes reappearing and solidifying before his feet touched the floor.

“And?” Ulquiorra asked, motioning at the papers in Kisuke’s hands.

The Arrancar didn’t quite meet his eyes, his gaze sliding past his left shoulder, and Ichigo realized that he felt guilty. It was naïve to wait for an apology but at least the Arrancar felt uncomfortable.

The former captain raised the papers higher in the air. “I’ll need to study them first. Meanwhile, the two of you can go to the spring. Ururu should have everything ready by now.”

Ichigo hadn’t been certain if it would be easy to convince the Arrancar to go to the spring but as soon as it was mentioned, Ulquiorra agreed. Ururu led them to the basement and then opened the trapdoor leading to the training grounds. When they started climbing down the ladder and the size and purpose of the area became apparent, the Arrancar stopped in amazement. Ichigo, who had temporarily been allowed to enjoy the possession of the notebook, jotted down a few sentences to explain Ulquiorra that some time ago he had also used these training grounds.

Ururu saw them to the hot spring, left the toiletries near it and took her leave. Ulquiorra was still looking around, taking in the yellow hills and heaps of sand and rocks, the scattered trees, and the suspicious azure sky. When he turned around, he saw Ichigo lowering himself into the hot spring.

“She brought those towels for a reason,” Ichigo muttered, with an awkward motion of his hand at the pile of toiletries behind Ulquiorra’s back. The Arrancar ignored him, stepping into the hot spring completely naked. Ichigo averted his eyes.

“There are only the two of us here,” Ulquiorra said in a somewhat amused voice. “And you’ve seen everything already.”

“I think it’s fourth time already when I’ve had the courtesy,” Ichigo said with a snort. “But who’s counting.” He could see that the Arrancar didn’t understand what he had said but it was pointless to explain. Ichigo watched Ulquiorra sit down opposite him and get comfortable. The water felt pleasant and the Arrancar closed his eyes, starting to nod off almost instantly.  

Ichigo pushed himself off the rock he had been leaning on and waded towards the edge, to where the toiletries were arranged; if he wanted to leave the training grounds anywhere close to the current century, he had to take matters into his own hands. Wondering if he was about to cause an environmental disaster, he took a sponge and poured some shower gel on it. It didn’t quite look like common shower gel and the smell was a little funny, but it was obviously meant for washing.

“Stand up,” Ichigo said, tapping Ulquiorra on his shoulder. Ulquiorra was giving him a curious look but then he saw the sponge in his hand and it became clear to him. “Turn around,” the red-head said, illustrating with his free hand.

Ulquiorra had a fairly muscular back and wide shoulders even though he was slender, now even too thin. He was also about ten centimeters shorter than Ichigo and the red-head felt he was somewhat towering over the smaller body. The color of their skin contrasted as well. While Ichigo’s was tanned under the winds and the sun, Ulquiorra’s was white like alabaster. Brushing over the pale skin with the sponge, Ichigo marveled at the smoothness. He brushed the black strands off the nape to wash the neck as well.

The black Hollow hole set on Ulquiorra’s sternum right where collarbones met was giving Ichigo a quite eerie feeling; the water that ran into it ran out the other side. For some strange reason, he had an urge to stick his hand through it. He could only imagine how Ulquiorra would react.

There was no trace of blood on the back anymore and Ichigo squeezed the sponge into Ulquiorra’s hand, leaving the rest to him. He waded to the edge again and looked for something that would at least remotely remind him of shampoo.

Ulquiorra’s hair proved to be quite a difficulty. Ichigo tugged at the helmet then tugged with more force since it didn’t budge. He grunted as Ulquiorra’s palm pressed against his chest firmly, pushing him away.

“What are you doing?” the Arrancar demanded.

“What does it look like? I’m trying to wash your hair.”

Ulquiorra was staring at his mouth, giving him a confused look then it suddenly disappeared. “You’re trying to take off my…?” he trailed off, amusement clear on his face. “It’s a Hollow mask. You can’t take it off, it’s permanent. It’s a part of me. Don’t you know that?”

Ichigo felt himself blush lightly. “Well, of course I know that!” he said defensively. “It’s just that… Well, it looks like a helmet! How am I supposed to know? And how do you even wash your hair like this?”

Ulquiorra’s head was slightly turned while he was watching his mouth, obviously not understanding much, and Ichigo felt his embarrassment retreat. He returned to his spot in the spring and sat down again. The Arrancar dealt with his hair easily: washed the hair on the right side of his head as per normal and then shampooed the hair on the left side, pushing his hand under the helmet as far as it could go and then dunked his head into the water to rinse it.

They were almost done when Ichigo noticed a little shadowy shape slithering over the sandy ground. Ulquiorra sensed the new presence and turned to look at a black cat that stood on the edge of the hot spring. Ichigo suppressed a groan. Seeing the lack of reaction from Ichigo, Ulquiorra ignored the cat, continuing to rinse his hair.

“I thought I’d see how you two are doing,” Yoruichi said, sitting down on her hind legs, her tail coming round to wind around her front paws. She cast an appreciative look at Ulquiorra’s chest then her gaze slid down his stomach, down to where the white alabaster skin met water. Definitely content with what she saw or imagined, her eyes rose back to the Arrancar’s face to see a questioningly raised eyebrow.

With a soft laughter, the cat slid into the warm water and swam deeper into the pool. Yoruichi swam around, the small black paws paddling through the water rapidly. She found a nice spot and settled there.

Ichigo started at the loud booming sound of Yoruichi’s transformation. He and Ulquiorra stared at her bare shoulders above the water. Most of her chest was also visible, the water masterfully covering the darker nipples. She grinned at them and Ichigo turned away. He muttered under his breath indignantly. Ulquiorra, meanwhile, curiously investigated the blurred reflection under the water. A few seconds later he turned around and went to the edge where the toiletries were. Grabbing a towel he threw it at Yoruichi.

“I was told these were here for a reason,” he said. Yoruichi raised her hands to catch it, her breasts rising up from water. “Must have been this reason,” he continued, amused and at the same time pleased by the sight.

To his horror, Ichigo realized that Ulquiorra was flirting back. The concept was so foreign to him that for a few seconds he just stared at Ulquiorra blankly. He couldn’t even begin to fathom what he would do if they suddenly decided they needed some time alone. Could an Arrancar even be interested in a Shinigami? What he was supposed to tell Kisuke? What was Yoruichi doing here anyway? And what was…

“What are you doing?” Yoruichi asked when Ichigo dunked his head under the water and didn’t resurface for a while. “Hey,” she wondered, smacking the back of his head. “Are you trying to drown yourself?”

Ichigo raised his head out of the water to give her a glare but then quickly averted his eyes from the two lulling mounds in front of his face. She was going to be the death of him; absolutely shameless. And he wasn’t even a shy fifteen-year-old anymore. What was she thinking? Then Ichigo heard the faint sound of footsteps and saw Ulquiorra walking away from the hot spring, already dressed. Ichigo went after him, wading through the water in big steps. He hesitated only a moment then, without a look back, he threw his Shinigami robe over his shoulders. Rushing, he peeled the wet towel off his waist and started dressing.

Disappointed, Yoruichi watched them go. Just as Kisuke had said, the Arrancar was a very interesting specimen. There was something about him that piqued her curiosity. With a sigh, she left the hot spring and took a towel that Ichigo had left for her; the red-head wasn’t so much fun anymore as he had been back in the day. After wringing her hair off, she wrapped herself into the towel and turned towards the exit.

“So did you have fun?” Kisuke asked when he saw Ichigo and Ulquiorra walking back into the living room. Ulquiorra frowned then turned to look at Ichigo, who then jotted down the question for him.

“Yes,” Ulquiorra said with a nod. He pointed at Ichigo. “He almost tore my head off.”

Ichigo sputtered. “I did not! I was just trying to wash his damn hair!”

“And then we also saw another one with big…feet.”

Closing his mouth, Ichigo turned to look at Ulquiorra but the Arrancar was already walking towards the machine. “Anything interesting?” the Arrancar asked Kisuke, giving him a questioning look.

“He looks much livelier,” the former captain noted to Ichigo.

“Yes,” Ichigo agreed bitterly, “revived by big feet.”

All of them sat down at the table again. Kisuke arranged the papers from the machine on the table while Ichigo pulled out the notebook and got ready to record the most important facts for the Arrancar. The soak in the spring made Ulquiorra hungry and he opened the box with the cake again.

“According to the data, his vision should already be back to normal,” Kisuke said. “Ask him if he has any complaints about it.”

Ulquiorra didn’t and Kisuke leafed through the documents, finding another one. “His internal organs are healing nicely, tissues growing back,” he summed up. “At this rate, he should completely recover in three or five days, including his hearing. It will, however, take more time to recover his normal body weight and energy levels.” He stopped to wait for Ichigo to catch up to him. Ulquiorra read the notes and nodded then shoveled some more cake into his mouth.

“So he can’t transform yet?”

Kisuke gave Ichigo a look. “If he tries to undergo any of his transformations, he’ll either just faint or self-destruct; he doesn’t have the energy for that.”

“I see,” Ichigo muttered. He wrote this down and showed to Ulquiorra. The Arrancar didn’t react to the information in any way and it was obvious that he had known this.

The three of them turned to the door to see Yoruichi enter. She was still wrapped in a towel. In silence, she walked over to the table. Not ceasing to eat the cake, Ulquiorra pulled the bra out from under the table with his other hand and held it out for her.

“Thank you,” Yoruichi said, taking it. She kneeled in front of the table to look for the rest of her clothes. She seemed to be missing a piece. She raised her head to follow the Arrancar’s hand that was pointing at Kisuke’s pocket.

Both Ulquiorra and Ichigo watched the panties exchange hands. There was something absurd about the situation and Ichigo just sat, staring, pretending this wasn’t happening. Yoruichi and Kisuke’s relationship was a strange one. He would have expected them to have married ages, maybe centuries ago, and yet it somehow didn’t work. Was this exactly because of that? The incredibly long terms, actually, if with great spirit power level, never-ending terms? Humans, spurred by their short lifespan, were like hamsters in their spinning wheels: they went to schools, they graduated, found jobs, married, had children, died. Ichigo realized that he didn’t know much about these matters in Soul Society. They had schools, they had jobs. But did they even need to reproduce when they knew they would just be born again on Earth if they died? He, however, had seen children. Byakuya Kuchiki had been married, too. For how long, Ichigo had never asked and didn’t know. It wasn’t his business.

“Alright,” Kisuke said, clearing his throat when Yoruichi left. “So where did we stop?”

“At him not being able to use his transformations,” Ichigo said, the trail of his thoughts scattering but not disappearing completely.

With the fan, the former captain pushed his striped hat back off his eyes and leafed through the data again. He stopped at one particular page and tapped on a row of numbers there. “Have you brought the Shinigami robe he had on when you first found him?”

“Huh? No, I thought you didn’t need it anymore.”

Kisuke’s finger brushed over the numbers again. “Bring it with you next time. I’d like to take a closer look at it.”

Ichigo nodded. “Alright. So, is there anything else you found out?”

The former captain delved into the documents again but then shook his head. “No, that’s probably it. Just let nature take its course.” Ichigo gave him a funny look and it seemed as if he was about to say something. Kisuke waited but Ichigo just shook his head.

“What should I do with this?”

With a toothbrush between his teeth, Ichigo looked at a Shinigami robe in Yuzu’s hands. It was Saturday, the laundry day. Yuzu was obviously having difficulty seeing the robe, as she was holding it uncertainly, as if it might disappear at any second.

“Just leave it,” Ichigo said. “You can’t wash it using water from here.” He picked it up from Yuzu, lifting it in the air with his free hand. The red-head turned it this and that way, inspecting. It was a common Shinigami robe that one could see anywhere in Seireitei. There was nothing distinctive either about design or fabric. Except for a faint smell of blood it also seemed to be relatively clean. Wondering what Kisuke found so interesting about it, Ichigo dropped it in the corner.

It was almost eleven in the morning but Ulquiorra was still asleep, just like Kisuke had said. Using the opportunity, Ichigo went to Yuzu’s room to use the computer and download the syllabus for his philosophy lectures. He printed it out and started reading, underlining what he considered most important. In about an hour he went to the kitchen to make himself some tea. Ulquiorra was already there, sitting in his usual place, the empty lunch box in front of him. Ichigo found himself unpleasantly surprised. The notebook was on the table on Ulquiorra’s right, and Ichigo could see that the front page was filled with Yuzu’s neat writing. During last few months she had become much better at seeing spiritual things but it still had to be difficult to talk to someone you could barely see.

“Good morning,” Ichigo said, walking towards the kettle. Ulquiorra answered the greeting with a nod. The surprise and awkwardness must have shown on his face because Ulquiorra’s emerald eyes kept following him all the while from him setting the kettle to boil then getting the mug out and all the other small actions he did right until he brought the tea to the table.

The house with two defenseless girls had been the worst choice possible to keep an Arrancar. Ichigo wasn’t certain he trusted Ulquiorra to this extent. Every time he saw Ulquiorra interact with his sisters, his whole body tensed. Subconsciously, he knew that Ulquiorra wasn’t interested in them enough to harm them, but there was more to that. Ulquiorra was a Hollow and obviously wasn’t fully in control of his instincts.

His father was going to kill them both.

Ulquiorra blinked when Ichigo’s forehead hit the table. “What are you doing?”

Ichigo didn’t say anything. He lifted his head and let out a reverberating sigh. Shaking his head, he took the mug and leaned back into the chair. Just as he was about to take a sip, the doorbell rang. A few moments later Yuzu shouted for him that it was Uryu. Ichigo left his tea and went to the corridor to greet him.

Uryu was taking his shoes off. “I just thought I’d drop by to see if he hasn’t killed you yet,” he said.

Ichigo rolled his eyes. Orihime had already announced the news just as he had known she would. She had probably even asked them to take care of Ulquiorra.

“Why isn’t he dead?” the Quincy demanded. “Do you know how dangerous he is?”

“Of course, I know,” Ichigo shot back. “He nearly much killed me back then.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m saying.”

“He did save your life, though,” the red-head pointed out.

“Just because it was convenient for him.”

“You know,” Ichigo didn’t give up, “instead of my horn he could have taken my head off.”

“He missed?”

With an indignant grunt, Ichigo led them to the kitchen then motioned for the Quincy to sit down at the table. Ulquiorra’s thick eyebrows furrowed at the sight of Uryu then he remembered.

“Does every of your friends know that I’m here?”

“I think they do now,” Ichigo said with a nod while fixing another mug of tea. He motioned at the notebook next to Ulquiorra’s right hand. “He can’t hear but you can talk to him using that,” he told Uryu. “Kisuke says his hearing should be back to normal in a few days.”

“Oh, joy.”

Ichigo turned to glare at the Quincy. “What’s your problem?” He shook his head when Uryu pointed at Ulquiorra. “Just have your tea and go home. We are doing fine, don’t worry.”

“It’s not really you I’m worried about.”

“Well, yeah,” Ichigo agreed, carrying the mug to the table. He set it in front of Uryu. “But I can’t just…”

The Quincy nodded. “I know.” He took the mug and blew at his hot tea. Staring at Ulquiorra, he took a careful sip and lowered the mug; it was still too hot. Ichigo just couldn’t leave him. Ichigo couldn’t leave anyone who needed help and it was obvious that Ulquiorra did.

“What happened to him?” Uryu asked.

Ichigo gave a sideways look to Ulquiorra, who was stubbornly staring at his empty lunchbox. “A lot of things,” he said, starting a conversation that would last about half an hour.

When they finished talking, their tea was almost cold. Ichigo wanted to tell Uryu about his decision to stop Mayuri, it just hung right on the tip on his tongue, tempting him. Nonetheless, he squashed the wish down – there was no need to drag anyone else into what might end in a disaster.

Deep in his thoughts, Uryu tapped the side of his half-empty mug with a teaspoon. Ichigo turned his head questioningly to Ulquiorra, whose face had suddenly acquired a funny expression. The Arrancar lowered his head to stare at Uryu’s mug.

“Can you hear it?” Ichigo asked, taking the spoon from Uryu and banging against the mug with it again, louder this time.

The sound that reached Ulquiorra’s ears was faint, booming as if it were coming from somewhere deep under water. It was shaky as well, disappearing and appearing then breaking off again. He watched Ichigo’s hand thumping the spoon against the mug again. He could definitely hear something.

Ichigo exhaled in relief when Ulquiorra nodded.

“Hurray, he’s one step closer to killing us all!” Kon rejoiced, jumping into the free chair next to Ichigo and waving his paws enthusiastically.

Holding the spoon in his hand, Ichigo turned to whack it against Kon’s soft forehead. With a yelp, the Modified Soul fell back onto the floor.

“That hurt!” he complained, standing up. He rubbed his forehead with his paw. “You’re so violent!”

“I’ll be even more violent if you don’t shut up,” Ichigo threatened. With an encouraging look at the Arrancar, he lowered his weapon back next to Uryu’s mug.

Ulquiorra took the teaspoon again and banged it against the mug. He could definitely hear it. He banged again.

“Alright, I’m off before I go deaf,” Uryu said, standing up. “Thanks for the tea.”

“Don’t leave me alone with these two!” Kon cried, rushing after Uryu.

TBC