Karakura Town, Karakura First High School, Year One.
Today, the class once again welcomed a new transfer student.
And why "again"?
Because the last transfer student had been Rukia Kuchiki.
"My name is Ulquiorra Cifer," the boy standing at the front of the classroom said flatly.
That cool, detached expression paired with his delicate, almost fragile-looking frame instantly captured the hearts of most of the girls in the class.
They all stared at him with sparkling eyes.
"Ulquiorra, could you tell us a bit more about yourself?" asked their homeroom teacher, Ms. Misato Ochi, who found his introduction far too brief.
Ulquiorra looked at her. He genuinely didn't know what else there was to say. He had no likes, no dislikes, and nothing about himself he considered worth mentioning.
Under the faintly puzzled gaze of those sharp green eyes, the teacher suddenly felt a strange pressure.
"A-alright then," she said quickly, "if you've got nothing else to add, you can sit in that empty seat over there."
Ulquiorra nodded once and quietly walked to his desk.
Ichigo Kurosaki watched him with mild surprise.
Wait, that's the same guy I saw a few days ago, the one I thought was cosplaying?
So he was actually a transfer student? Maybe he'd just been scouting out the school beforehand?
Rukia, meanwhile, also glanced at Ulquiorra. Something about his aura felt unusual, but her soul pager wasn't detecting any Hollow presence nearby, so she soon looked away.
Ulquiorra, however, glanced toward Ichigo. To his perception, Ichigo looked like a massive, honey-coated cake, an unbelievably tempting feast.
The boy's reiatsu was spilling out uncontrollably, radiating in all directions like an open flame. No wonder Hollows were constantly being drawn to him.
Ulquiorra felt no particular judgment about that. So long as those Hollows didn't bother him, he wouldn't bother them.
But neither did he consider them "companions." If they were killed, it was nothing more than natural selection.
Then, his gaze shifted to another presence, one that evoked a strange, instinctive revulsion.
Why?
"Do Hollows naturally feel hatred toward humans?" he wondered. "No, that's not it. That person must possess some kind of power that repels Hollows."
He made no move to investigate further; he would simply ask Kisuke about it later.
The first class ended soon after.
Ulquiorra understood almost none of it, having no prior knowledge of human education whatsoever. Still, he decided he'd need to study later to blend in properly.
When the bell rang, most students couldn't help sneaking glances at him. Unfortunately, his cold, unapproachable demeanor kept nearly everyone at bay.
"Hey, Ulquiorra," Ichigo spoke up casually, seemingly immune to that chilly aura. "You from overseas or something? Your name's kinda unique."
"Overseas… you could say that," Ulquiorra replied. Hueco Mundo was technically another world, after all.
"I figured," Ichigo nodded. "So, you're an exchange student, huh? Where exactly are you from?"
Ulquiorra just looked at him silently. Then Ichigo added, "A few days ago, you came by our school, right? Were you checking the place out ahead of time?"
Ulquiorra met his gaze, then nodded.
"Ha, thought so," Ichigo said, satisfied. His curiosity sated, he didn't press further.
"Um… Kurosaki-kun," came a timid voice.
Ichigo turned and blinked. "Inoue? What's up?"
He couldn't remember her ever talking to him voluntarily before. She usually looked kind of nervous around him, so why now?
Orihime Inoue flinched slightly at his sharp eyes but mustered her courage. "You and Ulquiorra-kun seem to get along okay," she said softly. "Could I ask you to show him around the school?"
"Isn't that the class rep's job?" Ichigo asked.
"The class rep asked me to ask you, hahaha~" Orihime scratched her head with an awkward laugh.
Ichigo didn't get why she was laughing, but when he looked around, at their nervous class rep avoiding Ulquiorra, and at the transfer student sitting alone, he understood.
It wasn't that Ulquiorra was rejected; everyone was just too intimidated to approach him.
"…Alright," Ichigo said at last.
"Thank you, Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime said, smiling in relief.
Ichigo sighed and walked over to Ulquiorra. "Looks like I'm supposed to show you around the school."
"I see. Thank you," Ulquiorra replied politely.
So Ichigo led him around to the courtyard, rooftop, gym, restrooms, and other basic areas.
"You seem pretty easy to talk to," Ichigo commented on the way back. "Why doesn't anyone else come near you?"
"I don't know," Ulquiorra said simply. "But I don't think you're in a position to ask. You don't have many people around you either. That girl earlier seemed afraid of you."
Ichigo chuckled awkwardly. "Yeah, well, it's the hair. Makes me look like a delinquent. Most people keep their distance. I've got a few friends, but not many."
Before he could say more, Rukia suddenly appeared, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him toward the exit.
"Wha, what the hell, Rukia?!" Ichigo shouted.
"There's something we need to deal with! And Ulquiorra-kun, sorry! I'm borrowing him for a bit!" Rukia called back as she hauled Ichigo away.
Ulquiorra blinked, mildly confused, until he noticed Ichigo's body lying on the ground moments later.
The next instant, he saw a black-clad figure with a huge sword sprinting out of the school gates.
"A… Soul Reaper?" Ulquiorra muttered, frowning slightly.
He turned back toward Ichigo's body on the ground and sighed quietly.
Couldn't even hide it properly, could he?
Without further hesitation, Ulquiorra took out a small round pill, an Artificial Soul Pill that Kisuke had given him ,and swallowed it.
Immediately, his consciousness separated from the gigai.
The artificial soul within the body looked up at him and said, "Don't worry. I'll play your part until you return."
Ulquiorra nodded and vanished using Sonído, heading straight for the immense spiritual pressure that radiated like a beacon.
Moments later, his artificial body simply sat down near Ichigo's abandoned shell, unbothered.
Ulquiorra soon found Ichigo again, now in Soul Reaper form, fighting to save the spirit of a small boy from a Hollow's grasp.
Watching from afar, Ulquiorra tilted his head.
Strange… what is that boy to him?
Why would he risk his life for someone he doesn't even know?
Neither Ichigo nor Rukia noticed Ulquiorra's presence.
His control over his reiatsu was flawless, and Sonído naturally suppressed detection, making him effectively invisible unless he chose otherwise.
After pondering for a while, unable to make sense of it, Ulquiorra returned to his gigai and resumed his seat in class.
"So this is what he meant?" he murmured. "To understand why?"
Over the following days, nothing much changed.
No one dared approach him, and he didn't mind. Each time Ichigo vanished to fight as a Soul Reaper, Ulquiorra followed from a distance to observe.
And so the days passed, until the weekend.
"Any impressions so far?" Kisuke asked him later at the shop.
Ulquiorra shook his head. "I still don't understand the reason behind their actions."
"Heh. No need to rush," Kisuke said with a knowing smile. "You'll get there in time."
Ulquiorra fell silent. He didn't see the purpose behind any of this, but he trusted Natsuro's words. He would continue, for now.
Then suddenly, his ears twitched. He turned his head toward the distance.
"What is it?" Kisuke asked.
"There's a Hollow… stronger than the usual ones," Ulquiorra said, his expression calm. "I'll go take a look."
Without another word, he vanished.
Kisuke watched the Arrancar's back disappear into the distance and smiled faintly.
So he's started observing Ichigo Kurosaki, huh?
Trying to understand human emotion by watching that boy, an interesting idea indeed.
If things went well, Ulquiorra might even become Ichigo's ally someday. And with his strength, that would be no small asset.
Ulquiorra soon spotted the Hollow in question: a humanoid creature with a serpent's tail and a half-shattered mask, slithering purposefully toward something.
He thought for a moment, then followed at a distance.
If he trailed a Hollow long enough, Ichigo would surely appear sooner or later, that much was obvious.
But to Ulquiorra's surprise, the Hollow's target turned out to be someone he recognized: the orange-haired girl who had once asked Ichigo for help.
If he remembered correctly, her name was Inoue Orihime, and beside her was her friend, Tatsuki Arisawa.
Even so, Ulquiorra didn't intervene. He simply watched as the Hollow's hand pierced Orihime's chest, tearing her very soul from her body.
Then, it turned its cruelty on Tatsuki, tormenting her relentlessly in various ways.
Ulquiorra glanced toward the distance. Ichigo's reiatsu was still far away.
"So… are they both going to die here today?" he wondered dispassionately.
But then, something unexpected happened.
Though weak, terrifyingly so, and clearly overwhelmed by fear, Orihime hurled herself at the Hollow in an attempt to protect her friend.
"Why?" Ulquiorra murmured. "She's so powerless, so afraid… yet she still chooses to act? How can she summon such courage?"
He watched as the Hollow lunged again toward the girl.
For a moment, Ulquiorra hesitated. Then, wordlessly, he drew his Zanpakutō and swung once.
The blade's spiritual pressure cut through the air, halting the Hollow's attack for an instant.
"Eh?" Orihime gasped as a flash of energy streaked before her eyes. She looked around but saw no one there.
That was when Ichigo finally arrived, his massive blade clashing against the Hollow's claws.
"It's Ichigo…" Orihime whispered with relief.
But before she could react further, the Hollow's tail struck Ichigo hard, hurling him through a wall and out of the building.
Ulquiorra hovered in the air above, watching silently.
"So weak," he said softly. "Such immense spiritual power, and yet he can't even use it properly."
He looked down at his own hand, thoughtful.
"Why did I step in just now?"
He couldn't answer.
Something inside him had simply said he should.
"But why?"
Ulquiorra shook his head. He didn't understand, and didn't dwell on it. He merely continued to watch as Ichigo struggled below.
When the Hollow opened its massive jaws, ready to devour Ichigo whole, Ulquiorra saw Orihime act again, charging forward, tears in her eyes, throwing herself between them to shield him.
If that were all, she surely would have died instantly…
But then the Hollow stopped. Orihime clung to it, whispering through her sobs.
Ulquiorra's eyes narrowed as he saw it, a Hollow ripping away its own mask, piece by piece, in agony.
And then, using Ichigo's sword, it ended its own life.
Silence fell.
Ulquiorra watched wordlessly, his mind turning.
Why did it break its mask? How could something so weak… even manage to do that?
That Hollow couldn't have survived even a single blow from him, yet it had achieved, however briefly, what few ever could.
"Was it because of that bond between siblings?"
He didn't fully understand. But in that moment, he began to grasp why Natsuro had sent him to the Human World.
Perhaps… this was the answer he was meant to find.
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