Pain and Pleasure Chapter 8

Pain and Pleasure
Chapter 8
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Sensei told the new blue haired student where to sit. This place just happened to be two seats behind Orihime. But the young girl didn't take much note of it; it was just another new student.

The class continued and Orihime busily copied down all the notes the teacher had on the board. Although while doing this, her mind wasn't present. Every swift move of her hand was mechanical as her mind was racing with thoughts of what she would come home to today. She was thinking about how her daily life would be now that Ulquiorra was there.

Where he would sleep, what he would do during the day, and what her friends would think if they ever caught sight of Ulquiorra. Orihime was a bit worried over the fact that he couldn't exactly go out in public; the sun and people's reactions would both be a problem. But then it came to her that there wasn't anything really wrong with his appearance. She was certain though most people would find a problem with it….but to Orihime none of  that mattered. Who cares if he's a demon?

It came to a point where her hands stopped writing, and she rested her cheek in her palm, thinking about Ulquiorra. From any other person's point of view, they could easily tell that she was daydreaming, and that included the teacher.

"Orihime!"

Spazzing out upon hearing her name being called, Orihime quickly recollected herself.

"Y-yes?!" Her entire face turned red from embarrassment. Things like this happened often to her. She could hear some of the other student's sigh in annoyance.

"Honestly Orihime," Sensei started, "it's as if you're tying to make this a daily occurrence."

"Sorry…" She muttered under her breath. Her eyes were glued to her desk in embarrassment. Her eyes ran over her notebook and she was surprised to see not notes from the lesson but instead doodles of a bat human looking creature that mirrored Ulquiorra's appearance.

'I must have done this without even knowing.' She said to herself, still slightly shocked.

"Alright Orihime…" the teacher massaged her forehead in exasperation. "Just please see me after class."

Once class was over, there was Orihime receiving a lecture from the sensei. She even took her notebook to check if she was even doing anything productive in class. Her anger though only rose upon seeing the doodles.

"Orihime seriously, I know you're a bright kid but you're always daydreaming in class."

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From outside the classroom a certain someone was eavesdropping on the conversation. He was leaning against the wall next to the door; his blue locks of hair fell over his face as he listened. Any sort of information on this girl would be helpful for this type of mission.

Grimmjow had to earn Orihime's trust, and fast. He thought about what he would say to her when she walked out. To be honest he wasn't the kindest and sweetest man you could cross, but we was good at acting I could tell you that.

One might even ask why someone with the likes of Grimmjow would agree so easily on this mission. He was a rebellious, rude, and a reckless individual. Well for that…there were many things Aizen could easily do to have anyone obey him. All he needed was that person's weakness and considering he was God, he had the ability to learn it just with a simple glance.

Grimmjow, and all the other angels were trapped with no way out, and no one ever speaks about or against it. They just do what they are told, and that is exactly what Grimmjow was doing.

The sound of feet tattering against the ground began to echo and before the blue haired angel knew it, the human girl was walking out of the classroom.

Orihime stopped abruptly upon nearly bumping into him. "Ehh! Sorry!" She called out once regaining her balance. She heard a grunt in response and looked up to realize it was the new student.

Without saying anything else she quickly stepped aside and continued walking down the hall.

It all had happened so quickly that Grimmjow was unable to think of what to say in that moment, and he had lost his chance. Well first of many chances he would try anyways. He turned around and watched her continue walking down the hall.

The idea of following her came up, but Grimmjow immediately shunned it knowing it wouldn't be the best way to gain someone's trust. It would freak her out if anything. But then it hit him…..

"Uh….OI!" He called out, loudly.

Orihime jumped slightly and curiously turned around. She could see the new student from over her shoulder.

"Yes?" She asked. She didn't need to speak so loud though, for the hallway was empty and she hadn't gone that far in those short few seconds.

Grimmjow leisurely made his way towards her, trying to pull off the most believable confused face he possibly could while pulling something out of his back pocket.

"I'm a bit lost here….I don't know where the rest of my classes are." He pulled out his class schedule and held it out once he reached her. By then Orihime had turned fully to face him.

Judging from the information he received from Ichigo and Rukia about this girl, she seemed like someone that was pure and utterly violent. So it surprised him dearly to see a heartwarming smile plaster itself across her face. It actually made him take a step back.

"Oh I can help you." Orihime said as she eagerly took a hold of the new student's schedule. Her eyes ran over it and she was surprised to see that they had quite a few classes together.

Grimmjow watched the girl's face and waited for her to say something. Finally she lifted her head up, her auburn hair falling over her shoulders as she handed the slip of paper back to him.

"Your next class is actually the same as mine, I'll be glad to walk you there." She tilted her head to the side in a friendly gesture.

Grimmjow was taken back. He didn't expect her to be one of those happy go-lucky girls, but he'll go through with it. This was going to get him somewhere. He rubbed the back of his neck and nodded.

The walk to their next class was pretty silent. The blue haired angel followed the human down the halls, passing by some students here and there. All of which stared at him for his absurd hair color. He grinded his teeth in anger and clenched his fists. He had to keep calm if he wanted to complete the mission.

If he didn't…then…..

"And this is it."

The sound of Orihime's voice freed Grimmjow from his thoughts.

"Thanks." He grunted. He wasn't really good at things like this. Sure he could easily pull of a face of lies and get away with anything, or battle some of the fiercest demons out there, but this type of job just seemed different. It seemed so much more fragile.

"I'm Orihime Inoue, by the way….oh ha, that rhymed." She stuck her hand out with that smile still on her face.

Grimmjow took her hand and shook.

"Grimmjow Jagerjaques."

"Nice to meet you." Orihime said, only before walking into the classroom to her usual seat.

Grimmjow watched her from the doorway. So far he managed into coming in contact with his mission, for the rest he must find a way to befriend her.  And at that he chose a seat that wasn't to far or to close to the human.


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Upon pulling open the door a gush of cold air swarmed around Ulquiorra's face and the light from inside caused him to flinch. Realizing it wasn't sunlight and had no effect on his skin, the demon peered inside the refrigerator.

Orihime had told him if he was hungry to look in the fridge. But everything he saw seemed…inedible. Not only because it was natural for him to eat souls and only souls, but just even with his little knowledge on the types of things humans ate, this seemed nothing like it.

He grunted only before closing the door and then he was left there in the dark room. Taking a deep breath, Ulquiorra took in the scent of the human's soul. He could feel his skin tingle as the amazing feeling coursed throughout his body.

Her home smelled like her and what a sweet scent it was. Ulquiorra turned around, careful to keep his wings close to himself as to not knock over anything, and made his way to the dining table where lay a partially open box.

Curiously he opened it and examined the containments. It was full of old looking photos. Ulquiorra picked a few out, his black fur on his hand smoothing away the dust. The first picture in his hand contained a small human girl with beautiful auburn hair playing in the snow. He thought it to be the human girl.

In the next photo he found a young man with brown hair hugging the little girl. She was wearing a cone shaped hat and there were balloons in the background. She was smiling and Ulquiorra brought it closer to examine it. His fingers brushed against the paper and over the little girl's face.

He would never forget that smile, the one he saw the day he first came in contact with that human.

For the next few photos it was mostly the younger Orihime with the young man. Ulquiorra wondered as to whom that exactly was. Then after several pictures he found one with the back facing up, and writing printed on it.

"From here on it I promise to be a big girl."

Turning the sheet over to see the picture, Ulquiorra saw a somewhat older Orihime. She was still a child, but her hair was shorter and she was wearing similar blue hairpins to the ones she already wore.

He reread those words, and questioned as to what they could mean.

After a while of rummaging through the box, Ulquiorra reentered the girl's room. He could feel the heat of the sun beating against the window and began to tremble slightly. This type of routine you could call it was very different from what he was living the past two years. Usually at the moment he would be asleep in some type of abandoned house or in the forest. After sleeping all last night he knew it would be impossible to try and sleep now.

His entire life consisted of sleeping, eating, and traveling. Now though. He wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do. In frustration, Ulquiorra laid on Orihime's bed face down.

He was hungry. Sure the scent of the girl's soul was enough to sustain his energy (just barely though), but he was having that craving into physically being able to put a soul in his mouth and feel it run down his throat. He turned his face to the side and blinked heavily.

The hole in his chest, he could feel the pain singe around the sides as the pleasure from the girl's scent was slowly fading away. Ulquiorra wasn't sure how much more of this he could handle. He cringed in pain and restlessly snatched one of the pillows on the bed and brought it close to his chest.

Despite the fact that it was the very scent causing the pain, he couldn't help but smother his face in the pillow and breath as he pulled his legs up closer to his abdomen. He tried to focus on the smell instead of the pain. His entire body began to quiver as he held onto the pillow dearly.

Ulquiorra lay like that for some time. After a while the pain was almost gone. He began to think how living with Orihime would be like and how he would respond to her. They had so little interaction together that he wasn't sure how he should behave. In Hell he didn't have to worry about these sorts of things, and quite frankly he didn't care either. Back then he would just steer clear of everyone and keep to himself.

This situation made him question what he was used to. He knew nothing of human manners or behavior. The only thing he was sure of was that everyone was petrified of him. Whenever someone laid their eyes on him they would scream and runaway in terror. Maybe this was why it was hard for him to believe that this human girl could be so care free around him.

The sound of the front door opening awakened him from his thoughts. He heard the sound of the girl humming and knew it was Orihime.

Ulquiorra stayed in his same position even when Orihime entered her room to find him laying on her bed in a fetal position. It took her back…..and despite that she walked closer to him. Their eyes met.

Orihime took this in.

His inky black hair fell over his cheeks and he had his knees raised up to his stomach, holding a pillow close to him. She couldn't believe how….adorable it was. She really couldn't imagine any reason why those angels would try and hurt someone as innocent looking as him, at least that's what she thought anyways.

She dropped her bag to the floor. "How was your day?"

In response he merely blinked.

"Did you eat anything today?"

"No."

She sat beside him. Ulquiorra turned his head slightly to get a better look at her, but then she suddenly turned and their eyes met again.

"Do demons even eat?" She asked confused, scrunching up her nose.

Ulquiorra thought about answering…and where this conversation would lead to.

"Yes, we do." He replied calmly

"Like what?"

Ah there it was. A side of Ulquiorra wanted to get this over with. He wasn't sure how she would react if she found out about something like this or many of the other things he's done. But still deep down he wanted to know….he wanted to have hope at least one creature in this world would take him for who he was.

He slowly sat up and sat beside her, careful to keep his wings once again close to himself. She was still looking up at him curiously waiting for an answer and he stared ahead.

"Demons eat human souls."

There was a moment of silence as Ulquiorra concentrated his vision on the wall. At the same time he could feel the mood sink, hitting rock bottom. Still no reply from her and he finally turned to see her reaction.

Orihime had a shocked expression. Her eyebrows raised and her eyes stunned. When Ulquiorra's eyes met hers her mouth formed an 'o' and she shyly turned away. She tried to think about what to say next….this heavy silence was killing her.

"Have 'you' ever eaten a human soul?" She couldn't resist, she had to know.

Ulquiorra nodded, still looking at her. "Yes I have. Specifically those three men that cornered you that night, they were the last I had since then."

Orihime's eyes tripled in size upon hearing this. "So they're dead?"

What kind of question is that? Obviously if he ate them then they're dead. Ulquiorra closed his eyes slightly annoyed. He didn't really want to repeat what he had just said, because so far he wasn't exactly enjoying her reaction. The burning sensation around the hole in his chest returned. He didn't like this at all.

He nodded and grunted in response. "Regretting on letting me stay here?"

Suddenly, Orihime got up. Ulquiorra could only see her back, and she seemed to be shaking. His brows furrowed questioningly as he waited for her response. Finally she turned around.

Orihime held one of her arms close to her side and looked at Ulquiorra in wonder.

"No. I don't regret letting you stay here. You saved me and it's the least I could do." By the end of her answer her eyes had shifted from the ground, wary of the demon's unyielding eyes.

"What if I hadn't saved you? Would you still let me stay here?" Ulquiorra asked.

Orihime's eyes returned to his. His question had caught her off guard.

"I um…" She started.

"You don't need to put yourself in an uncomfortable situation…." Ulquiorra stood up, "because you feel the need to pay someone back."

His wings began to spread to their great lengths despite the confines of the girl's bedroom. Ulquiorra's eyes were still glued to hers as he towered over the small human. His wings were blocking the room's lighting so Orihime was left to stand in the demon's shadow.

Her expression changed to that of determination. "I'm not uncomfortable with you here and I don't want to think about the 'what ifs' when I know it wasn't that way. All I ask from you now is …answers."

Ulquiorra cocked an eyebrow, "Answers?"

"Yes." Orihime continued, "To some questions I have….if you don't mind that is."

Ulquiorra crossed his arms. "Go ahead."

She nodded, but then peered around the demon's body to her bed, and met his eyes once more. Ulquiorra got the message and went once again to take a seat, Orihime followed suit.

There they were once again. The demon sat at the end of the bed, his legs over the sides and he was leaning his weight against one of his arms. His tail fell over the other length of the bed. The human sat on her knees on the opposite side with her fists curled into her school skirt.

"I know you told me before," She started, "But why exactly are those angels after you, other then the fact that you're a demon…you haven't done anything wrong….."

"Well if you assume eating countless of human souls as being accepted in your world, then I honestly don't have any other reason."

"Oh yeah…." She said awkwardly, "Well what about this, where did you come from?"

Ulquiorra shifted his weight.

"Hell." He answered simply. "I was sent to the human realm by the devil."

Orihime was once again taken back by these words. The small little world of Karukura Town she knew seemed to be shrinking in her mind upon hearing that Hell actually does exist.

"What for?" She pursued.

"He told me I had to…" He hesitated upon answering, "He told me I had to find something."

Orihime pressed her lips together, "Find what?"

The demon took an annoyed breath and turned his attention to the wall ahead of him once again, steering the human's curious gaze.

"The details given were a bit vague to a point that even I am confused. I don't even know what to do once I find whatever it is that I'm looking for."

"Hmm….."

Ulquiorra was expecting something else from her, but after a few moments of silence, he decided to turn his attention back to Orihime to see her reaction. But he nearly choked on his own breath once he saw that she was a whole lot closer to him, and was examining the fur on his arm.

How had she gotten so close without him noticing?!

His eyes widened upon seeing her begin rubbing that fur. Ulquiorra honesty had no idea how to react. Before he knew it though, Orihime had grabbed his arm, in order to be able to feel the odd sensation of his fur against her skin.

"Were you always a demon?" The human asked, still holding his arm.

Again with the questions.

Ulquiorra eased slightly away from the girl, wary of the pleasure he once again felt from her simple touch. It really was an endless cycle, for he knew what would come shortly afterwards.

"From as far as I know, which isn't very much."

"What do you mean?"

"Every demon is born as a child demon, the same with humans. For me though, I just woke up in this matured body of a demon with no memory of my past or where I came from or even my own family…." He paused, "If I had one that is."

Orihime's face softened with sympathy, he sort of knew what the demon was going through.

"So you're all alone?"

Ulquiorra lifted his gaze to her. "In a way….but the Devil took me in as if I were his own son, and even yet he banished me from Hell on a whim with barely any information."

The girl nodded, "I sort of know the feeling…of being alone that is." She realized how odd it was that in such a way she was able to relate to this beast from Hell.

"My brother died when I was young." She continued, "He was the only family I had….and ever since he was gone I had to take care of myself." It was somewhat sad to bring up these old things.

Ulquiorra listened to this, and something sparked in his memory. Her brother. He remembered seeing pictures of her and the young man…that must have been her brother……and how happy she seemed with him.

Ulquiorra didn't know much about humans or emotions since he barely harbored these things, but by the look of her face he could tell how deeply Orihime missed this man.

"I am sorry to intrude on your aching memories."

Orihime began to wave her hands dismissing the subject. "Oh don't worry about it! It was years ago, I'm all right, haha! Besides I was the one just pushing my memories into the conversation without you even asking about them."

By now she was rubbing the back of her head with an awkward smile plastered across her face. Ulquiorra just looked at her quizzically by her sudden change of moods so quickly, it was hard for him to keep up.

"Anyways…" She tried to restart the conversation. "Have you ever tried human food?"

Ulquiorra didn't like where this was going….

"Because I'm sure you're hungry since um…the last time you've eaten anything was days ago."

He did feel hungry but it wasn't for any human food…..

Orihime swiftly kicked herself off the bed and grabbed a hold of his furry hand.

"You can't say no until you've tried it!" She then proceeded to yank Ulquiorra off the bed and drag him out of her room and to the kitchen.

Despite her efforts Ulquiorra refused to eat anything. It was like trying to feed metal to a human. It was becoming more difficult for him though. It was as if he was surrounded by a tempting feast with this smell in the air and throughout the day all he had was that. But he was finding it increasingly difficult to keep down these urges and he was becoming more weak by the second.

Just the scent of this pure soul wasn't enough….Ulquiorra knew that tonight he would go out and finally eat something despite the angels that were after him.