Ensnared

By Galatea

Disclaimer: While this story was written by me, all the characters and places in this story and from Bleach are of course the property of Tite Kubo.

Comments: I started writing Ensnared because I felt like I was a little put off by the representation of Ulquiorra & Orihime online. I did quite early think to myself, "There's definitely something in this – some kind of chemistry" but I was very unsure that Ulquiorra and Orihime's relationship would be in any way easy.

I think sometimes there's a tendency to envision Ulquiorra as a Mr Darcy of Bleach – full of pride but essentially a good person underneath, but having watched the anime representation of Ulquiorra a few times now (I'm working on getting the manga) I couldn't honestly see him as an anti-hero. There's a violence in the way he speaks which is more than just functional. He is, clearly, a man fascinated by the human condition – making Orihime a figure for intense scrutiny – but moving from a position where he is threatening Orihime frequently with detailed descriptions of violent acts he would need to perform on her to a position where he is dotingly overprotective can really be the undoing of a good fanfic. I've tried not to do that here.

Held

"Woman, I'm coming in".

Orihime didn't even realise she had been in such a deep day dream until the hiss of the door behind her brought her back to wakeful thought.

Ulquiorra cut a stern silhouette for a moment as he passed the threshold, the bright light behind him making Orihime remember the stark illumination inside the Kurosaki Family Medical Facility. She thought how strange it was that she had never seen a light bulb or even a lantern or plug socket anywhere in Hueco Mundo.

If something powered Los Noches then it wasn't the National Grid.

He stood, as she had come to realise was his wont, with his hands in the pockets of his white hamaka. Orihime had only ever seen him take them out when he was about to destroy something; and even then only to attack more dangerous enemies. When he'd kidnapped her, mutilating the men who had been entrusted with her guardianship, she hadn't even seen him move, much less power up a cero or release his zanpakutou. Powerful hands indeed.

She could tell without needing to probe into the depths of his hidden reiatsu that he was beyond her own powers of comprehension in strength. Yet for all of that, she found herself before him now having disobeyed his orders as if he didn't have the ability to burn her to ask by just lifting a finger.

She didn't need to look directly at Ulquiorra's inexpressive features to know that he was looking at the tray that still held her mid day meal. It was past 6 now, and the food was long cold. The edges of the salad were starting to yellow a little and curl.

Obtaining salad within Hueco Mundo was impossible. Ulquiorra had had to send Hollow out to human farms in the middle of the night to raid crop fields just to get it. The Hollow had largely ravaged the farms, slaughtering hundreds of cattle and setting crops ablaze. It had been a miscalculation on his part. One of very, very few. He sometimes forgot that he had been one of those rampaging beasts once himself.

Aizen's smirking expression still lingered in his mind's eye as he'd arrived in time to see Ulquiorra return to Los Noches through a Garganta, a lettuce tucked under one arm. It was strange, Ulquiorra thought to himself, how Aizen still delighted in childish humour. One of his less admirable qualities.

"5 a day," he'd been reminded by their supreme ruler, who had barely been able to hold back a chuckle. "Humans will wilt and die without it."

Inoue lifted her right arm and cradled her left elbow with her palm, like a child stood in a head master's office. Finally two huge green irises glared back at her unblinkingly.

Ulquiorra said nothing, but turned towards the door, muttering the word "Open," through gritted teeth.

"I'm sorry," Orihime interjected now, her limbs feeling stiff and incompliant, her stomach starting to churn. "I'm sorry; I should have... that is to say I am not ungrateful to whoever made this... I shall eat my next meal, I just... Sado-kun..."

"Be. Silent. Woman."

Orihime had never seen Ulquiorra exhibit anything comparable with an emotion before. Neither had she ever seen him raise his hand to her, but at this moment he pointed a black tipped index finger right at her chest. Though she knew he wouldn't – couldn't – fire at her, the air around his hand rippled and something like a tiny lightning bolt cracked and popped in the air, then scurried up his sleeve.

"I told you that if you did not eat I would force it down your throat, so you have only brought this on yourself."

"No, please, I..."

"What did you think was going to happen?" he murmured. Ulquiorra never, ever raised his voice. "What did you think would happen if you didn't do exactly what I told you? Your body – your powers – are for the use of Aizen-sama. It is my duty to keep you alive by whatever means I deem it necessary. Apparently you think this is all some kind of little game."

A servant had appeared at the door with a fresh tray. It contained much the same things as the last. The old tray was taken, but instead of leaving with it, the servant returned a moment later with a second on his tail.

"Bind her and leave us, I will deal with the rest."

"Yes, Ulquiorra-sama," they responded in unison like two parts of the same clockwork. Orihime felt the breath start to leave her body and turned to frantically seek an exit. There was none, though. Just the same barred window with the moon shining brightly but carelessly down.

"No no," she started to cry, something Ulquiorra had grown quite accustomed to. The human seemed to leak often from her eyes. He had heard from other Arrancar that the human response was to offer comfort and to feel pity, but he gazed on impassively as the struggling and squealing female was pushed roughly down on to a metal chair, her wrists bound behind her and then fastened down by her waist, and her ankles bound to chair legs. It was a heavy seat. Even for all her mewling and sobbing it would not be possible for her to loose it from where it was bolted to the ground.

"Leave us." The servants acquiesced obediently and Ulquiorra flipped aside his coat tails to seat himself on the settee, skewering a piece of meat on the end of a fork. "Open your mouth," he said. His tone was soft, and seemed like the last warning before a great drop.

She hesitated only momentarily. She tried to form an "N" on her lips, but her captor's emerald eyes narrowed by the slightest of margins and instead, with trembling lips, she opened her mouth. He put the fork inside and rested the meat on her tongue, then said, "Bite."

She did so and he pulled back the implement. Orihime bit into the meat but it tasted very strange. She couldn't tell what it was – was it chicken? Beef? It had an unpleasant slimy quality to it, even as its juice began to flow down the back of her throat. Squid, maybe?

"Again."

Ulquiorra held another piece up to her mouth. Orihime found herself testing her bonds. How long would it take for her to call forth Tsubaki to cut through her ropes? And then how long would it take following that for Ulquiorra to turn Tsubaki to dust and fasten her down with something far more sturdy? Oh God. She felt a shudder wrenching through her muscles.

"Again." Ulquiorra pushed the meat against her lips and she obeyed this time. He pulled back the implement, lifting the knife in his right hand to put off another piece from what was on her plate. "Only children refuse to eat their meals," he said darkly. "Once you have no further purpose here I will no longer need to go to such lengths and you may die as soon as you please."

Orihime swallowed, "Ulquiorra..."

"Ulquiorra-sama," he corrected. "You are not my equal – you are trash."

"What is this I am eating?"

Ulquiorra held out a third piece on a fork. "Hollow meat."

The girl pursed her lips and fought off a sudden urge to be sick. Hollows... the same tentacle beasts that consumed souls and killed humans; that ate each other to become stronger; that made that most fearsome shriek. She thought of her brother, the great screaming beast that had burst through her wall, picked her up and tried to strangle her. If a Hollow was killed with a soul slayer then their souls were cleansed and they went to Soul Society. But what if a Hollow was killed another way? What if their "meat" was then eaten by a human?

Ulquiorra held up a third piece but Orihime flicked her head away violently. "No..." she cried, "No I can't, I won't."

"What were you expecting? Sushi? Okonomiyaki? You are a desperately stupid girl, aren't you?" Whatever moment of calm had fallen had now passed and he gripped her chin, bringing her around to face him as she frantically wrestled with her bondage.

"I won't eat it!" she shouted, tears streaming down her cheeks, "That's somebody's soul!"

"There have been billions upon billions of souls throughout history," Ulquiorra rose to his feet and dug long pale fingers into her beautiful auburn tresses, tightening until her head was still and her wide, terrified grey-blue eyes were staring up at him, "This Hollow may have murdered your ancestors, killed thousands of innocents, and the best he can possibly do for the world is to perish here in Hueco Mundo, making himself useful as something to keep you alive. I have devoured thousands of souls, and when your time of usefulness is at its end..." he lowered his lips down to the shell of her right ear and murmured softly and lustfully, "I will devour your soul as well."

His hand went back to the plate and he picked up the fork again, proffering it to her, "Now eat. I want you to be a good meal."

"I can't," Orihime said weakly, "I can't, I'll be sick."

"You're starting to annoy me," Ulquiorra paced behind her and suddenly she was free. She immediately made to rise but his arm snaked around her waist and with a flick of his wrist he deposited her roughly on the settee, seating himself beside her then cutting off her escape by pulling her on to his knee. "If I must feed you like an infant then I will. When you lie awake this night I hope you will dwell on how tedious it is for others to have to take care of you like you were a defenceless child."

He picked up the fork again, but this time instead of seeking to get her to eat he put the food in his own mouth and chewed. He didn't look at her while he did so, but instead stared into the middle distance as if she was not worth acknowledging. Orihime did wonder what the purpose was in all this, but any such questions were shortly to end as she felt his hand tighten in her hair once more, but this time he applied pressure to the back of her head until her lips made contact with his own.

Wide eyed and terrified, Orihime braced her arms against his chest and pushed back, but as she did so his fingers just tightened more until her scalp was screaming in agony, long locks trapped between unrelenting fingers. She felt his tongue push the meat into her mouth and fought off an oppressive desire to gag. Soft and chewed the meat was easier to swallow and when she finally stopped fighting she felt his grip on her slacken and for a moment, with her lips still pressed against his and her eyes tightly shut - she felt the edge of a great void of emptiness, and reached out her hands to the gradually encroaching shadows.

The moment passed as quickly as it had descended. Ulquiorra moved only when he was confident that she had started chewing for herself, turned his head and took the next piece in his teeth, gnawing its rough texture and waiting for her to swallow before repeating. He did this another three times before the meat was finally gone.

Orihime felt amazed at how functional it all was to him. Ulquiorra showed no sign that he felt the act was in any way sexual. He remained with his mouth on hers just long enough each time to make the exchange. For some reason, Inoue had imagined that his lips would be cold like only a Midwinter could be, but strangely he felt warm to the tough. It was hard for her to get past the idea that this – the supreme form that a Hollow could achieve – was something living. Especially when something just behind those huge glassy green orbs was cold, dead and buried.

He put down the fork with a clatter and rose. Orihime slid to one side on the settee and put her palm to the back to her head to tease her finger through a new tangle. The patch of skin was still stinging.

"Don't make me have to do that again," he said unpleasantly, picking up the cloth napkin and cleaning his hands before dropping it on to the plate and sliding his hands back into his pockets. "It is my purpose here to maintain you, not to pamper you. Aizen-sama has told me to discover how you use your power and I will find out exactly where it comes from and how you use it."

"Y-yes..."

"Yes - what, woman?"

"Ulquiorra... sama."

He didn't seem to take any pleasure in her adding his title. She wondered whether he could take pleasure in anything – whether there was anything resembling humanity left within him. Once upon a time, Ulquiorra had been a soul – he had been a living, breathing man who had died. Whatever circumstances that had led him down this path - to the realisation that the rejection of that human side would preserve him was, surely, proof enough that at one point those emotions had caused him pain.

She longed from deep in her chest to know.

"I'll leave you to finish."

The door hissed open one more time and closed again. There was no lock, nothing was sealed here. Even if she did have the will to leave her cell, Orihime had nowhere to go and wouldn't have dared to go far in case she was accused of trying to escape. It would only take a matter of minutes for the lives of all her friends to be held in the balance again. Even Kurosaki-kun.

Ichigo...

She put her fingers against her trembling lips as she realised that she had lost out on the opportunity to give her first kiss away to her beloved school friend – the unknown object of so many heartfelt sighs and sleepless nights. How she wished now that she had had the bravery to plant her kiss against his mouth as he slept. Now, no matter how much she couldn't bear it, she would never escape the fact that her first real kiss with a boy had been stolen by Ulquiorra Cifer.