Hollows Can't Love

Will he shut up?

Ulquiorra appears from the air under the command of Aizen. He's in charge now. I pull Orihime into my back as she gasps at his presence.

"Not this bitch again." He makes eye contact with me and doesn't react to my comment. His eyes trail to Orihime's, making her uncomfortable. He makes his way closer to us, completely disregarding my presence, staring straight at Orihime while he speaks.

"Are you afraid? You're useless to Lord Aizen now. There is no one here to protect you; you are alone." So, I'm nothing to him. "It's over. You will die here. You will die all by yourself with no one to witness it." I choose to stay quiet for now, as I am in no shape to take him on. "So, I want to know how frightened are you?"

"I am not at all." Orihime stands straight up behind me putting a hand on my bicep. "You see, now I know that my friends came to rescue me. So right now, my heart is with them."

"What nonsense. You're not scared because your friends have come for you? You can't be serious. You really think that they can save you?"

"Absolutely." Orihime and I both claim in confidence. I feel Ichigo's spiritual pressure rushing this way, it's calm but raging.

"When I was told they were coming here to get us at first I was happy, but it also made me sad. After all the reason I came here was to protect them. I thought why did they have to come? Didn't they realize what I was trying to do? But then when I felt Rukia's pain, and when I saw Ichigo fighting with all of his might, I finally realize none of that mattered, but still I couldn't bear to see Ichigo get hurt, I desperately wanted everyone to be safe and that's when it hit me. They must've felt the same way that I do. I mean, if one of them suddenly went missing like I did, there's no question I would do the exact same thing for them." I nod in acceptance of her claim.

"Ridiculous. No matter what you think the fate of you and your friends it's already decided. Even if they do manage to find you it will not change the fact that you are going to die. There's no turning back from that now. Sharing your feelings with someone when you're on the verge of death brings some sort of comfort to you humans, it's an instinct to help minimize your fear and sorrow. But in reality, it is impossible to know another's emotions. Empathy is simply a meaningless human delusion."

"That may be true. It might be impossible to feel exactly what someone else is feeling, but when people truly care about each other, their hearts grow so close you can't tell the difference between them. That's what it must mean when they say two people are of one heart." Orihime speaks so confidently that it's puts me a bit off. Ulquiorra starts to walk closer to us, causing me to step more in front of the human girl.

"Your heart you say. You humans always toss around that word so casually as if you can hold in the palm of your hand. But my eyes can see everything. Nothing exists that I can't see so if I can't see it, it's not real, that is what I believe." He stops right in front of me, staring into my soul into my slitted eyes. "Tell me, what is a heart?" He raises his hand and points at my chest. "If I tore a hole in your chest, would I see it?" My body vibrates with a growl. He then raises his hand to my head and points between my eyes. "If I split open your skull, would it be there?" I hold my ground as Orihime whimpers worriedly for me. His eyes suddenly widen when he feels Ichigo's spiritual pressure.

"You pissed him off. Now face the consequences." I narrow my eyes as Ichigo slams through the ground up to the room we stand in. His Bankai still active as he looks at Ulquiorra intensely with a hint of anger. The espada looks at him with surprise as Ichigo lands on the ground.

"Ichigo..." He smiles at Orihime and I, glad that we are unscathed.

"Step away from them." His voice seems to rumble through me as if he was right next to me.