Chapter Text
A world of infinite night and sand. Home of the creatures called Hollows. Atop the canopy of the stronghold known as Las Noches where the Arrancar resided. Led by the traitor of the Soul Society Sosuke Aizen, the most powerful Arrancar ruled over all the others and the lesser Hollows: The Espada. It was there at the highest peak of Las Noches where an intense blast of red spirit energy exploded. As the dust settled, the horned figure of a Hollow with flowing orange hair stood, two horns jutting out of its skull head. One of the horns was snapped off, the intensity of the Cero it fired off causing the skull mask to crack and shatter. Underneath was the Substitute Soul Reaper Ichigo Kurosaki, collapsing to the ground lifeless. The human girl Orihime Inoue rushed to his side, stunned by the animalistic onslaught he wrought while the Quincy, Uryu Ishida laid against the rubble with the Soul Reaper’s zanpakuto pierced through his gut when he attempted to stop the Hollowfied being from killing his opponent Ulquiorra Cifer, and left arm severed from his brief skirmish with the Cuatro Espada.
Off to the side, Ulquiorra barely stood as he managed to survive the blast that he set off when severing the horn of the Hollowfied Ichigo. Having already been cut so deep that his internal organs were damaged severely and his left arm and leg were amputated, his regenerative abilities were working overtime to keep him alive. As he watched the caramel-haired girl weep for her dear friend, the pale white skin that covered Ichigo flew off him and went to fill the gaping hole in his torso that the Arrancar had inflicted upon him.
“I-Ichigo?” Orihime asked quietly before Ichigo lifted himself up to his knees, confused about what had transpired.
“Am I...? Didn’t I have a hole in my chest?” he asked as he felt his toned chest, seeing that the lethal blow he was dealt was no longer there. His chocolate brown eyes turned to the girl with concern. “Orihime, are you all right?” As he gazed at her, Orihime smiled sadly, tears welling up in her already puffy, red eyes. As he stood up, he then noticed Uryu with Tensa Zangetsu sticking out of his stomach. “Uryu?!”
The Quiny glanced up with a wry smile on his face. “So, you’re back to being yourself again.” He was in rough shape, but he knew that he wasn’t on death’s door just yet.
Ichigo continued to gaze upon Uryu with a horrified look on his face. “That wound… Did I--?” he asked, trying to recollect everything that happened while he blacked out. No, blacked out wasn’t the right word. Died…
“You’re tough.” Ulquiorra spoke up, causing the hairs on the strawberry-blond’s neck to stand, ready to get back into the fight if needed. Performing a Sonido, the Arrancar appeared before the Quincy and plucked Ichigo’s weapon from his stomach before tossing it back to the Soul Reaper, the blade sticking in the ground at his feet. Uryu’s face twisted in agony as the searing pain of his wound took hold of him. “Take it. Let’s finish this.”
Ichigo looked back at Uryu with a concerned look on his face. “Was I the one who stabbed Uryu?” he asked quietly before glancing back at his opponent.
“That’s none of my concern.” Ulquiorra stated plainly as he conjured up a Lanza del Relampago, simply ready to settle the score and end their battle, his clawed hands curling around the glowing green shaft.
“Your left arm and leg… Did I cut them off too?” Ichigo continued to question the Espada, his brown eyes not once breaking from the yellow eyes that peered through the Arrancar’s green sclera. “If I did, then cut my left arm and leg.”
That request caused Orihime to gasp in horror, having already once seen Ichigo killed before her eyes moments earlier. “Ichigo!” she cried out in disbelief. Ulquiorra was equally dumbfounded by the boy’s request as his usually emotionless eyes widened.
“The guy you were fighting before was me in a Hollowfied and unconscious state. It wasn’t the real me. If we’re gonna settle this it won’t be fair unless I’m in the same condition you’re in!” Ichigo explained his reasoning, only wishing to have a fair fight with his archrival among the Aizen’s Espada.
“Do you even hear what you’re saying, Ichigo?!” Uryu chastised in a feeble attempt to reason with his former enemy.
Ulquiorra’s bat-like wings unfurled as he prepared to strike. “Fine. If that’s what you want, that’s what you’ll get.” As soon as he was about to lunge, his wings began to crumble into ash. His head turned to look at the sight, realizing that his time was up. “Hmph. I guess this is it. Kill me,” he said as he turned back to Ichigo, the human boy looking on in disbelief. His jaw clenched. His teeth grinding in frustration. “Hurry up. I don’t even have the strength to walk anymore. If you don’t cut me down now, you’ll never get to settle this.”
“No…”
“What?” Ulquiorra asked as his eyes began to shift back to their normal green appearance, the wide black tear trails on his face narrowed into thin green lines.
“I said no! I… I don’t wanna win like this!!” Ichigo cried out, causing the Arrancar to look on in shock.
He let out a scoff. “Even at the very end you never do what I want you to do.” Ulquiorra’s body continued to be carried off by the wind as he turned to the girl he had kidnapped under his master’s orders. “And just when I finally started taking an interest in you people.” The Arrancar lifted a weak arm towards Orihime with his usual emotionless face. “Are you afraid of me, woman?” he asked quietly as he met her brown eyes.
Orihime gazed at him in disbelief. He had taken an interest in them? Was she afraid of him? The honest answer to his question in the beginning was yes. She had seen him take out two Soul Reaper escorts when she was on her way back to the Human World from training in the Soul Society in a matter of seconds. But seeing him now, she didn’t wish for it to be the end. To see him fade to ash. “I’m not.” Instead of trying to reach his hand, she held out both of her hands. “Shun’o! Ayame! Soten Kisshun! I reject” And quickly, two of the Shun Shun Rikka darted from her hairpins and projected a barrier, retaining the remaining ash and Ulquiorra’s body, causing him to look on in shock.
“Orihime?” Ichigo gasped as he saw what she was doing, aiding their enemy.
“Are you mad?!” Uryu asked as he went to tie off the bleeding stump of his left arm until she could use Soten Kisshun on him. “This guy was the one who kidnapped you for Aizen!”
“It’s just as you said, Ichigo…” Orihime smiled sadly with tears budding up in the corners of her eyes. “You didn’t want to win this way. And I didn’t want it to end like this.”
“What folly it is to have a heart…” Ulquiorra muttered, closing his eyes. Though the slightest hint of a smirk formed as he relented, allowing the Shun Shun Rikka to continue to reverse the damage he had taken. “So be it. Ichigo Kurosaki… I will allow you to go forth this time. But make no mistake, we will have our rematch one day. You can be sure of that.” The Arrancar’s emerald gaze met the strawberry-blond boy as he simply stood by. “Go and aid your Soul Reaper friends. Then once we are both back in our peak condition, we’ll have a fair fight once more.”
Hearing the promise of a fair rematch in their future, Ichigo managed to put on a determined smile and nodded at his enemy. “Right… I’ll look forward to it.” He reached his arm out to grasp Tensa Zangetsu and looked to Orihime and Uryu. “You two stay here for now, I’m going back down to help the others.” he told them.
“Please, be careful, Ichigo.” Orihime pleaded as she looked up at him. Hearing her words, he gave a nod before grinning widely before leaping down from the room and into the canopy below of Las Noches.
Ulquiorra's emerald gaze looked on as he watched the substitute Soul Reaper leap back into the fray as Orihime continued to reject his fate. Feeling that he was no longer in danger of death, he shattered the barrier that was blanketing him with a quick strike of his hand. "That's enough. My regeneration will handle the rest, woman." he told Orihime, his demeanor still cold, there was a hint of warmth and appreciation for her mercy.
"After what Orihime has done, you're just going to shrug her off like that?" Uryu argued, wincing in pain before the Shun Shun Rikka began to work on restoring the Quincy back to full strength, his arm slowly piecing back together.
"It's all right, Uryu," the young woman told him with a smile, having heard the appreciation in the Espada's voice. "We won't need to worry about Ulquiorra for the time being. He's got to rest up a lot if he wants to be in top form when he fights Ichigo again! No interruptions!" Orihime's cheerful nature began to shine through despite still being in enemy territory.
Ulquiorra closed his eyes as he sealed his Resurrecion, reverting back to his normal state as an Arrancar, his clothes still tattered from the first stretch of his battle with Ichigo. "And you presume that I won't kill him again like this time? Truly you hold onto hopeful delusions." And with everything he needed to say, Ulquiorra descended down back into the interior of Las Noches to complete his recovery.