This was slightly inspired by song 'The Noose' by Perfect Circle and contains some of its lyrics. The theme it was written around was of 'child', however it contains several other darker and in my opinion, more complex themes. Virtual cookies if you think you know some of them. This was originally written as a "drabble" for the lovely ladies at FLOL's Hichihime thread; you guys are the best! ^^

Enjoy!

She sensed it was him before she actually saw him. He was sitting stretched out on the floor just underneath the open window with his arm resting on his one uprisen knee and his head hanging down as if he were bowing or perhaps praying, two things he would never do in all his existence. His eyes were closed peacefully, and he wore the same clothes that her husband had been wearing just before he'd left the house, minutes earlier. Of course he would be; they were the same person.

Well, she thought as her eyes trailed emotionlessly over the ever present smirk plastered on his face, that wasn't entirely true. There were many distinct differences between the two men. Their minds worked differently, even if from the same base instincts. There were things each self wouldn't do, and they mostly revolved around what the other self would. They were the living Yin and Yang of souls. The black one having white in its core and the white one having…

Black. Black sclera with vivid golden irises rose up to meet her gaze. She'd met the eyes of a predator, in the books of nature's laws, that was death. She could feel his eyes mentally taking her apart; in more ways than one, while she found herself drowning in the gold pools. She'd once wondered why she could never see through his eyes, why they seemed so…dead, when he could decipher her so well. Why she couldn't bring herself to come to the conclusion there was nothing there, she didn't know.

She felt the oxygen in the air dissipate around her the moment his watery echoing voice filled the air. The worse part was that under the distortion she could still hear the voice of the one she loved.

"So glad to see you well, Princess. It's been a while," he purred softly. It had become a habit of his. He always called her that, even when he had declared himself that she was his 'Queen', plus, she was far from being the child she once used to be. Perhaps it had to do with her name; Orihime.

His eyes narrowed in amusement and he straightened up off the floor. "Years, I believe," he appended breathing in her scent. He reached his hand out to touch her face and she flinched away. This caused him to smirk rather toothily in response.

"Aw, I'm hurt Hime," He laughed, debunking his own admission. "After all this time, this is how you greet me? You wound me." He held his hand over what would've been his heart and pretended to be in pain. It wasn't that he didn't feel pain, Orihime knew that much at least, it was likely one of the few things he could feel. He just didn't take it the same way as a normal person would; rather, he toyed with it. To him, it was better than nothing, she guessed. As for his heart…she wasn't entirely sure.

"Where…where is Ichigo right now?" She asked, trying her best to keep her voice as steady as possible. Who knew what kind of mood he might be in; she had to be careful.

"Oh, he's fine, just sleeping. Was more worn out than he thought he was it seems," he mused, sounding pleased with himself at breaking through Ichigo's carefully drawn up barriers that he had built within his mind to contain the hollow. Ichigo had been feeling ill recently, and while neither she, nor he, had said anything, she could tell he wasn't at his fullest. Could she have healed him and gotten rid of whatever it was? Perhaps, but he wouldn't want to be of trouble to her even if she insisted that he wasn't any. And also, a voice deep in her subconscious noted, there was the one standing before her now...

She bit her lip and shoved those thoughts away. She was better than that. And this wasn't about her anyway, was it?

His grin faded into that of a small dim lit smile. "So Hime…where is she?"

She swallowed and took a step back, desperately wanting to search for a weapon she could possibly use but unable to look away from the one before her. "Wh-who?" She choked out.

He frowned and narrowed his eyes dangerously, taking a step towards her to fill the gap she was making. "Don't play dumb with me, Hime. I know all about it."

So, she'd been right in her conclusion; he was just playing with her.

"I hate that. Don't say stupid things like that to me," He commanded sharply, moving toward her room, not bothering to ask Orihime for permission. She was frozen. He always seemed to leave a chill as he passed by, awakening goosebumps all over her arms. She shook her head and forced herself to move. She pushed through the bedroom door in after the hollow and her eyes fell upon the reason Ichigo had been able to keep it suppressed for so long.

Bright auburn hair was strewn out all around the young four year olds' head, her eyes closed in a deep sleep. She was a beautiful child; a perfect combination of her mother and Ichigo. This was the child their whole world revolved around, particularly Ichigo. She was such a good girl; it hadn't taken long for her protective instinct to awaken living with Ichigo and herself and while she, much like the two of them, wished for strength to protect, she found herself far weaker than she would've liked-again like themselves. Looking down upon the tiny girl clutching her covers close to her body, it was in moments like these she appeared most fragile. For some reason he'd never been sure about, it worried Ichigo. For Orihime, the reason stood before her.

She watched his back, tense, ready to fight him off if she had to. She should've done it already, she thought to herself. He looked over the child, unmoving.

"He honestly thinks it's his. You know that right, Hime?" He said suddenly. She said nothing. She couldn't detect if his tone was mocking or terse but it caused the knot in her stomach to tighten.

He laughed harshly. "You know why he named this kid what he did?"

Her eyes widened profusely at this. "…Why?"

He turned a grin onto her and Orihime was drowning in the black-gold eyes once again. "He was thinking about you. He thought you were an angel. Especially on that day she was born," he said, gesturing to the child behind him with a nod of his head. "He was 'captivated by the light that seemed to surround you'. You really had him, Princess. I must say you have an effect on demons like us."

Her already raw throat tightened severely. All the alarms in her head were sounding at this point. He took a step towards her.

"But he's naïve. It's a trait he shares with you," he continued, a large smirk playing across his face. "I wonder…why haven't you told him?"

His hand moved to her arm and grasped it tightly. He used it to pull her toward himself. A chill shot through her at his touch.

"Are you afraid of what he'd think?"

She swallowed hard. He lent into her neck with snicker and began to kiss it softly.

"Are you afraid of how he'd react?"

She shivered. She had to get him away.

"Maybe you don't want him to think of you as anything other than the illusion he's dreamed up."

She bit back a scream as his teeth sank into her shoulder. No. Not in her daughter's room. She had to get him away. He licked his lips as the blood trickled down.

"What will you do the day I finally get rid of him?" He tested her. She glanced fearfully over his shoulder at her still sleeping daughter. His daughter too.

He grinned, noticing her horror. Whether it was at the idea of their child waking up and seeing them or what he had just suggested would happen to the King, he didn't care.

"Or is that what you've been waiting for?"

There was no pause as his lips crushed into hers. She could fight with her hands if she wanted but the rest of her body would not comply. He knew how she worked. He would slowly take her apart. He was just getting started. When he was done there'd be no one left. But not yet, he wouldn't do it yet. Not until he had a chance to savour her. Not until she understood him in his thoughts and nothing else. Until every part of her knew…Until she was truly his; not her own, not the King's, just his.

Their tongues interwove, and battled until he forced control and he welcomed himself to explore the rest of her mouth, all while pulling her hips in closer and entangling his other hand in her flowing caramel tresses. Maybe she'd been an angel once but not anymore. He wouldn't allow that. Angels had to go to heaven, a place he could never go. He wouldn't have it. She was his. Heaven couldn't have her. If he had to tear the wings straight off her back to prevent that, then so be it. This delicious woman belonged to him and the child behind him proved that. She could never leave him now. He didn't care for the girl for any other reason. Though…she'd probably be useful later...

A pressure began to form in his head and he pulled away sharply.

"Dammit," he cursed. That was what he got for thinking of the child.

The King must've gotten restless at his thoughts, though he wasn't pushing him down yet so he had to have still been sleeping. Something about that girl caused his normally quite breakable walls to strengthen. Not that he wouldn't find a way around them, He always did.

He grinned down at his confused Queen, all the emotions on her face tumbling over each other. "It seems I gotta go," he hummed. "Ichigo will be waking up soon."

Her eyes widened at his name reminding her of everything his kiss had made her forget. He disliked that but he shrugged it off. He could bide his time. He'd been doing it this long now; he only had a little more to wait.

He let her go and started back out of the room, heading toward the window he'd left open. She followed close behind.

"He'll be back within the hour. If you don't want him to find out, tell him he went out to the store to get some medicine for his fever and must've been too tired and collapsed on a park bench. I've already got the stuff waiting by that same bench for when he wakes up and takes back control as proof of the alibi. He won't question it too much; it's been a while since I've even spoken to him so he won't suspect me.

"Although…" He grinned tauntingly. "You could tell him the truth…about everything…" She could hear the laughter in his tone. He knew her so well. She wouldn't even change the story he'd just suggested around. She wouldn't even say a thing. How was it that in all the years of his absence that his power over her was stronger than ever? Well, that she could answer; because his power was nothing more than the weakness that was always there. If she really thought about it, he never broke a rule that they, her husband and herself, wouldn't. If Ichigo wanted to protect then he would kill all those who tried to prevent that. If she wanted someone there to remind her exactly what her life was worth then he'd be there until her voice grew hoarse from screaming for him to leave. The sickest thing about him was probably that he wasn't sick at all. They were. More specifically, she was.

Thinking of her daughter in the other room, it was a wonder she'd ever received such a gift when she knew in her heart that she did not deserve it. Perhaps that was the punishment; to blind her with light only to later take it away. Orihime knew it would her hurt her as well should anything happen to her child. The universe would not be merciful to her.

He paused before he stepped out through the window and turned around to flash her one last mocking grin. "Oi, Hime?"

"Yes…what is it?" She asked without thinking.

He snickered and tapped the top of his head to indicate what he was talking about. "Your halo...? Just thought I'd let you know; it's slipping down to choke you."

And with that he disappeared out the window and into the black of the night. She didn't know how long she stood there until she heard the creak of a door fill her ears. She turned around slowly and saw her daughter waking out of her room with squinting, tired eyes. Orihime swallowed.

"…Mom…Mommy?" She was still half-asleep Orihime concluded. Her daughter looked around the room, searching, and then looked back up at her. It was funny. Though her eyes were brown like Ichigo's and her own, they were just like his in a sense; unreadable.

"Where'd…Daddy go?" She asked quietly. Orihime took a slow breath and her eyes traveled back toward the window.

"Your Daddy…will be back soon, sweetheart."

Well, there you have it. Please review!