Phantom Murderer or Gentleman8

Orihime shuffled to school in a world full of depression and despair. Someone had broken into her house in the middle of the night and stole Phantom right out from under her nose. First she lost her brother, now her dog. Was this some kind of way destiny was telling her that she was unfit to have someone who made her happy in her life?

The first bell rang just as she was walking through the gate leading to the schoolyard, but she didn't run to class like she normally would have. She just kept dragging her heels across the concrete as she unconsiously walked into the school and to her classroom with time to spare before the second bell.

"Orihime, you're finally here!" Chizuru squealed and hugged her tightly. Suddenly she froze and retracted her arms like she had just embraced a cactus. "You smell different."

"I do?" Orihime asked through a fake smile. "I haven't changed my shampoo or anything." She sniffed her shirt collar. Everything smelled the same to her.

Chizuru edged up to Orihime and smelled her like a drug dog inspecting a high school gym locker. She jumped back, pointed her finger accusingly at the distressed girl, and screamed. "Who have you been sleeping with?"

Orihime's eyes widened and she blushed in embarrassment. "What? I haven't been sleeping with anyone!"

"Then why do you reek of male?" Chizuru interrogated. She was glowering down at Orihime and fidgeting with her glasses like she was a special investigator questioning a possible suspect. "The only way anyone would smell that much like someone of the opposite sex is if they had been sleeping with them all night! I know. I've smelled Renji on Rukia many mornings."

"Hey, that's hitting it a little below the belt, Chizuru," Rukia scolded.

The red head pushed her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose. "Well, it's true. So who was it, Orihime? What's the name of the man who's going to pay for sleeping with you without your consent?" Chizuru was getting more and more hostile by the second.

Orihime threw her hands up in defense. "Really, Chizuru, I haven't been sleeping with anyone! I don't even sleep with Phantom!" She paused and gazed at the floor with dull eyes.

Phantom had slept in her bed with her last night from what she could remember. Did the kidnappers sneak into her room and steal him from her bed? Had they really been so close to her without her knowing? The thought made her shiver.

"What's wrong, Orihime? I was just kidding," Chizuru apologized.

"No. It's not that," Orihime choked. "It's just that. Phantom's missing."

"What?" Rukia asked in disbelief.

Orihime nodded. "I woke up this morning and he wasn't anywhere in my apartment. When I was about to leave, I noticed that my front door was unlocked. I think someone broke in last night and kidnapped him."

"Come on, Orihime," Rukia said soothingly. "I doubt someone broke into your house just to steal Phantom. You probably just left the door unlocked and he probably found a way to open it. I'll bet he's just walking around town searching for you right now."

"Do you think so?" Orihime asked. She was starting to feel a little better. Maybe she had just forgotten to lock the door, and Phantom was either curled up on the sofa at home or on his way to school right now after realizing that she had left the house.

"Orihime," a voice said.

Orihime turned around and saw Ichigo standing behind her. There was something in his eyes that had been missing ever since that fight almost a month ago.

"Oh, good morning, Ichigo," she said and smiled sweetly.

"I'm sorry to hear about your dog," Ichigo continued. "I'm sure you're taking it really hard after loosing your brother and all."

Orihime raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Ichigo looked slightly confused but quickly discarded the feeling. "I heard that your dog was dead. Are you feeling alright?"

Any comfort Orihime had felt suddenly disappeared. Phantom was dead? No, it couldn't be. He wouldn't have gone down easily, and someone would have called her if he had been hit by a car. Her number was inscribed on the dog tag of his collar...which was in her schoolbag.

"Phantom's...dead? Where did you hear that?" She asked a little more hostile than she had intended. "Who told you he was dead?"

Ichigo raised both of his eyebrows. "Actually, I saw him. Some kid brought him into my dad's clinic early this morning. He didn't have a collar or tags on him, but he looked like your mutt. At least, from what I could see, he looked like your dog."

"What do you mean?" Orihime asked breathlessly.

"Well, I'm not sure how to explain it," Ichigo began. "To be perfectly honest, the dog was hard to identify. He was covered in pretty severe wounds. It looked like someone had really gone to town on him before they dumped him under the bridge where the kid found him practically dead."

"Then how do you know if it was really Phantom?" Rukia demanded. "It could have just been some other dog with black fur."

Ichigo answered her question with one of his own. "How many other black dogs do you see with green eyes?"

Orihime felt the strings of her heart slowly snap one by one. Green was not a usual color for a dog's eyes to be. That's one thing that had attracted her to Phantom in the first place.

Tatsuki walked through the door and over to where Chizuru, Rukia, Orihime, and Ichigo were standing. "Hey, you guys, what's up?"

"Phantom's gone missing," Chizuru answered immediately. "Orihime said that he was nowhere in her apartment when she woke up this morning and that her front door was unlocked. Rukia tried to knock some sense into her, but Ichigo started saying that some kid brought dog that looked just like him into his father's clinic and that he was dead."

Tatsuki glared at Ichigo. "Really, Ichigo, you think Phantom's dead? Then where's your proof? I won't believe a word of it until I see justifiable proof." She knew "Phantom" wasn't dead. He was sitting in the theater, talking to Mademoiselle.

Ichigo sighed and dug in his pocket. "I hoped that I wouldn't need this, but I guess it can't be helped," he pulled a picture out of his jeans and held it up for them all to see, "here. Do you believe me now?"

Orihime nearly fainted. It was a picture of a severed, green eye. The eye was covered in blood and still had the cord attached to the back of the sphere. She was going to be sick.

"The mutt's eye was just barely hanging on by a thread, and when we set him down on the table the eye just snapped free and landed on the floor." Ichigo returned the picture to his back pocket. For a person telling one of his friends that her dog was brutally murdered, he didn't appear too sorry about it.

Tatsuki was about to inflict some serious damage to the orange haired boy's head when the teacher ran into the room.

"Class," Ms. Kurenai rushed in a panicked voice, "I need you to listen very carefully. One of the custodians found three gas leaks in the school. The principal has instructed all of the teachers to send the students home for the day, so any homework, projects, labs, or anything else that was scheduled for today has been moved to tomorrow. Now please exit the building in a calm and organized manner."

Why is it whenever you hear that you get to go home early you go completely berserk, no matter what the cause? There could be a blizzard, a bomb in the boiler room, a gas leak, or a fire. Once the school's higher ups say that students get to go home, everyone goes insane. That's pretty much what everyone in that classroom did, except for Orihime and Tatsuki.

"This is awesome!" Rukia squealed. "We get to go home early!"

"Yeah," Chizuru seconded, "and since we're all here it counts as a full day!"

Tatsuki walked beside Orihime the whole way off of the school premises. "Hey, Orihime, I'm sure Phantom's still alive. Ichigo probably just said all of that to get a rise outta ya. He never really did like Phantom, especially after those thugs attacked us a month ago and he took care of the guy who beat him up so easily."

Orihime nodded. Ichigo was right. How many dogs did you see with green eyes, much less with black fur and green eyes? The picture of the severed eye kept playing in her head over and over again.

Tatsuki frowned and stared at the ground.

"How am I supposed to help him?" she had asked Mademoiselle. "I just heard about this whole thing! What can I do?"

"It is not so much as what you can do. It is who you know," Mademoiselle answered. "You know Orihime Inoue better than anybody in this school, except for say Phantom here."

Ulquiorra closed his eyes and finished buttoning his shirt. He was not amused by Mademoiselle's sense of humor.

"At any rate," Mademoiselle continued, "if anyone asks who Ulquiorra is, I want you to tell them that he is your great-uncle's, nieces, brothers, son twice removed. If they do not understand that, then say that it is just easier to say that he is your distant cousin who happens to be my nephew."

Tatsuki's head was spinning like a top. "He's my uncle's, mother's, niece's, daughter's, son who happens to also be your nephew and my distant cousin? Ugh, my head hurts!"

Mademoiselle nodded and smiled. "Precisely. If I have learned anything in the thousands of years I have been alive, it is that the more complex and confusing something is the less chance there is of them questioning it. It is especially true when it comes to one's relatives. If I had told you that Ulquiorra was my great-great-great-granddaughter's, nephew's, niece's, son, would you have questioned me?"

This sent Tatsuki's head on a whole knew Tilt-a-Whirl. "My brain hurts just thinking about it." She slowly sat down and placed her head between her knees.

"As will many others'," Mademoiselle informed. "Once their brains are full to bursting you will just say that Ulquiorra is a distant cousin of yours. And if they ask about his relations to me, just say that he is my nephew and that you are not related to me in any way."

And so began Tatsuki's jack-hammer headache. She had remembered to make her "relationship" with Ulquiorra as confusing as she could possibly make it, but that was about it. There was one other thing that she remembered Mademoiselle explaining.

Even though Ulquiorra's time in his human form was limited, he could postpone the countdown by morphing back to his dog or winged beast state. That would stop the clock for as long as he was in either of the two bodies. It had been decided that he would spend his evenings as Phantom as not to worry Orihime, a little to late for that, and use the his days however he see fit.

"Tatsuki," Orihime said shyly; saving her friend from her confusing thoughts.

"Yeah, what is it, Orihime?" Tatsuki replied. She could already feel her headache subsiding.

"Do you think we could go to the ice-cream store," Orihime's voice was so quiet it was barely audible, "and maybe see if Phantom's lying underneath the bridge afterward?"

Tatsuki smiled halfheartedly at her friend. "Sure," she turned at the corner and walked towards the small ice-cream store down the block. "To bad he won't be lying under the bridge," she thought.

Ulquiorra was walking towards the woman's apartment. He had been instructed to go home due to a gas leak in the school along with the rest of the student body. The only problem was that he did not have a home when he was in this body. So instead he went to the only place he knew he could at least visit, Mr. and Mrs. Taka's.

It was only about ten o'clock, since he had decided to take the long way home, but it was already hot outside. The weatherman on a TV screen he had passed when we had walked by an electronics store had said that it was going to be ninety degrees and humid. It was not a good day to be wearing a dark brown, long-sleeved shirt, even if it was thin, and black jeans.

Ulquiorra walked onto the small apartment complex and noticed an old man trying desperately to start a lawnmower. It was Mr. Taka. He was drenched with sweat and had a pained expression on his face.

"This darn thing," he huffed. "I've got to get this starter fixed one of these days."

Ulquiorra walked up to the old landlord. "Excuse me, sir. Would you like some help with that?"

Mr. Taka jumped in surprise. He hadn't heard Ulquiorra walk up to him over the constant whine of the mower's engine. "Uh, yes, thank you," he said gratefully. "Thank you very much."

Ulquiorra had never started a lawnmower before, but he had witnessed other men do it before. He mimicked their movements by holding the bar to the handle and pulling on the starter cord. The mower roared to life with one, swift pull.

Mr. Taka's jaw nearly fell to the ground. "Why, thank you, young man. There aren't to many of you around these days who'll just stop and help an old man like this. I really appreciate it."

He reached for the mower's handlebars and Ulquiorra gently swept his hand away. The old man was already perspiring furiously. Continuing with such strenuous physical labor could not have been good for his health.

"How about I mow the yard? You look like you could use a break," Ulquiorra suggested. He was trying to sound as polite as possible.

"Why aren't you a sight," Mr. Taka exclaimed. "First you start my mower. Now you're offering to cut the grass. I admire your enthusiasm, son. It's not everyday I meet a young gentleman such as yourself." He stood next to Ulquiorra and pointed at various points of the yard.

"The grass needs to be cut in the area up to the fence line. There's a few trees to go around in the back and the one here in front. Be careful of any hoses that might be lying in the yard, but I think I got them all rolled up. Do you have any questions?"

Ulquiorra shook his head and pushed the lawnmower until it was pressed up against the fence. He had no idea how to mow a yard, but he had watched many people do it before. All he had to do was copy what they all did and he would be fine.

It took Ulquiorra a half an hour to mow the yard; causing Mr. Taka to nearly have a heart attack. Normally it took at least two hours to mow the entire area, and the fastest time anyone had ever cut it was an hour. He had cut it in half that time and had cut it perfectly.

"Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle," Mr. Taka said in disbelief. "It usually takes me two hours to cut this monster, and here you did it in a quarter of the time. I'm impressed, son."

"Thank you," Ulquiorra said. He was panting slightly. The heat had forced him to tie the woman's deceased brother's shirt around his waist so it would not obtain any sweat stains. At more than one occasion a few girls would stop on the other side of the metal fence and watch him.

"Here," Mr. Taka held out a tall glass of water, "you look like you could use a drink."

Ulquiorra took the glass gratefully and downed its contents in two swallows. It was hot and there were girls watching him work, but it felt good to be doing some kind of physical labor in his human body again. He had forgotten what it was like to feel a kind of pride after completing a strenuous task.

There was a cry and he and Mr. Taka ran to the tree in the corner of the yard. There was a little girl with long, braided, brown pigtails, wearing a red, coverall dress and a yellow t-shirt crying under the tree.

"What's wrong, Ayame?" Mr. Taka asked.

"M-my k-kitten's stuck in the t-tree," the little girl cried, and pointed to a branch about halfway up the tree. There was a small kitten with blue eyes and brown fur with a white chest and paws clinging to a branch approximately fifteen feet up.

"Not again," Mr. Taka sighed, and turned to Ulquiorra. "Could you stay here with her while I go get the ladder?"

Ulquiorra untied the shirt from around his waist, receiving a wave of sighs and gasps from the mob of five girls standing on the other side of the fence, and gave it to the old man. "Hold onto this, please."

Mr. Taka took the shirt. "What are you doing, son?"

Ulquiorra walked underneath the lowest branch, which was still five feet above his head, and jumped; grabbing the limb easily. He pulled himself onto the branch and began climbing the tree until he was able to gently grab the frightened kitten and tuck it into the crook of his arm. "That girl is making quite a fuss over you."

The kitten mewed in reply and started purring.

Ulquiorra slowly descended the tree and dropped to the ground. He knelt down in front of the little girl and held out her kitten. "Here you go."

There was an eruption of applause from his fans as the little girl smiled at him and grabbed her cat. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" she squealed as she hugged her squirming kitten. No wonder the thing ran up the tree. The girl kissed Ulquiorra's cheek in gratitude and ran back into the apartment complex.

"That's some jump you got there," Mr. Taka said, handing Ulquiorra back 'his' shirt. "You know. I never got your name. My name's Mr. Taka," he held out his hand, "my wife and I own this little complex."

Ulquiorra grasped the old man's hand firmly. "My name is Ulquiorra, Ulquiorra Shiffer."

There was a flash in Mr. Taka's eyes. "Ah, so you're the young man my wife told me about this morning. I should thank you for helping her this morning, but I'm not sure if I should. My wife's been talking about you nonstop all day. I'm starting to get a little jealous," he laughed.

Ulquiorra failed to catch the humor in what he had said and neatly folded the shirt in his hands. "Is there anything else I can help you with, Sir?"

"Oh, please, call me Mr. Taka. I haven't been called Sir since I retired from the army," Mr. Taka scanned the yard and apartment building, "and, actually, there are a few more things you could help me with. If you don't mind."

"Not at all," Ulquiorra replied.

"You truly are a gentleman," Mr. Taka laughed. "Well, then follow me and I'll show you what else we need to do."

The first thing Orihime noticed as she walked up to the apartment complex was the hoard of twenty, no, thirty girls of all ages crowding around the fence. None of them lived here. What was going on?

"Excuse me. What's going on?" she asked a girl she recognized from her class. She had black hair that reached her shoulders and black eyes.

"Apparently the landlord hired a new maintenance guy," the girl said excitedly. "He is so HOT! He can come over to my house and mow my yard anytime."

Orihime slowly worked her way through the crowd. She couldn't help but hear some of the girls say something about the hot, new maintenance worker.

"Oh my god, he is so HOT!"

"I'm jealous of any girl who gets to live here!"

"Do you think he has a girlfriend?"

"I hope he's not married!"

"Oh, come on, he doesn't look old enough to be married!"

"I wonder how old he is!"

"Did you see the way he saved that little girl's cat from the tree? What a man!"

Orihime finally broke free of the crowd of girls and almost landed flat on her face. She looked around the complex. The only people she could see were Mr. and Mrs. Taka having a slightly heated conversation in the doorway of their house.

"I don't care if they are 'just girls', Kaete," Mr. Taka said sternly. "They have no right standing outside our gate and stare at him like that! He's a very well rounded gentleman who doesn't need to be pestured by hormonally crazed girls."

"I understand that, Nagato, but do we really have to get the police involved? They're just girls who happen to find him very attractive," Mrs. Taka replied, holding a glass of water in one hand and fidgeting with a brown shirt in the other.

"They find him attractive alright. One of 'em thought he was so attractive they tackled him to the ground while he was clipping the hedges. The look he gave that girl. I swear if that boy wasn't so much of a gentleman he would've thrown that floozy off of him and kicked her off the property in a heartbeat," Mr. Taka huffed.

"Yeah, he let you do that. What I don't understand is why we need to get the cops involved," Mrs. Taka sighed. "You know what they're going to say. They're going to tell us that since the girls aren't on our property they can't do anything about it. We'd be lucky if they even said anything to that hoard out there."

"I don't care!" Mr. Taka finally snapped. "That boy has one of the best work ethics I've ever seen in my life. I would appreciate it if he came around more often. I'd even let him stay here for free, but those girls!"

Mrs. Taka saw Orihime approaching and waved happily. "Orihime, how are you, dear?"

"I'm...alright," Orihime lied. "What's going on here? Why are there thirty girls crowded around the fence?"

Mr. Taka's eyes widened immensly. "Thirty! The last time I counted there were ten! That's it! I'm calling the cops!" He stormed into the small apartment.

Mrs. Taka quickly followed her husband. "Wait a minute, Nagato!"

Orihime stood in the old couple's doorway and blinked. She was confused. How had one man caused so much controversy?

"Just hear me out, Nagato," Mrs. Taka's voice carried through the house. "The girls won't stand behind the fence and watch him if they think he already has someone. Let's just try this first and if it doesn't work you can call the cops."

It was silent as Mr. Taka mulled it over.

"Alright, Kaete, but we're only trying this once. If it doesn't work, I'm going to call the cops. And if that doesn't keep them at bay, I'll get a restraining order," Mr. Taka warned. "So, who do you have in mind to make all those estrogen crazed, teenaged girls' enemy?"

"Someone I think he already has feelings for," Mrs. Taka said mischievously.

Orihime hadn't noticed that she had been leaning closer and closer to the door as Mr. and Mrs. Taka's conversation got quieter. She jumped back when the old couple came out of their apartment and laughed idiotically. "So, uh, what's going on?"

Mrs. Taka held out the glass of water. "Orihime, dear, could you bring this to the young man in the garage? I forgot all about it and unfortunately I can't leave my husband alone or he'll go and call the police."

"Of course," Orihime took the glass of cold water and ran over to the garage that looked more like a storage shed with all the individual rooms. She stepped into the shaded room only to realize that it was hotter inside than it was outside even with the door open. "Hello, is anyone in here?"

CLANG!

Orihime jumped slightly at the sudden noise and accidently kicked someone's leg. There was a man half under Mr. Taka's nineteen-fifty-three Oldsmobile. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't see you there!" She really hadn't, but the excuse seemed almost too fake.

"It is alright," a low voice replied. It was a very attractive voice from what Orihime could tell.

Ulquiorra had been slightly surprised by the woman's voice calling into the garage, and it caused him to lose grip of the wrench in his hand. It had slammed against the vehicle's axle and nearly hit his head on the ricochet. Now he was talking to her from underneath a ton of metal; not exactly how he had expected his first conversation with her to be. He rolled out from under the car and sat up

Orihime almost dropped the water she was carrying when the boy rolled out from under her landlord's car. It was no wonder girls were crowded outside the fence. He was gorgeous! The slightly messy yet neat, black hair, the piercing green eyes, the thin yet muscular body with a scar on his shoulder and ribs that only added to his air of mystery, even his voice was enough to make her blush like an idiot and go weak at the knees.

"Oh, um, here, Mrs. Taka wanted me to give this to you!" Orihime held out the glass of water, but she had more thrown it instead of handed it and splashed the water all over Ulquiorra's head. Now he was dripping wet; that wasn't helping her in the least. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry!"

Ulquiorra took a quick intake of breath as the cold water splashed against his body. After the initial shock, the water felt amazing.

"Do not worry about it," he said as nonthreatening as possible. "In fact, it felt nice. Thank you." He stood up and shook his head slightly to remove some of the water.

"Uh, you're welcome," Orihime replied. Her cheeks were glowing they were so red. Ulquiorra had tried to sound nonthreatening and accidentally made his voice sound seductive instead. It was almost too much for her to handle.

"What are you two doing in there?" Mrs. Taka called.

"Uh, nothing, nothing at all," Orihime yelled back. She turned back towards Ulquiorra and bowed. "E-excuse me! I have to go give Mrs. Taka her glass back!" She ran out of the garage before she could make an even bigger fool of herself.

Ulquiorra stood there and mentally cursed himself. The woman had been right there in front of him and he could not even bring himself to tell her his name. What was wrong with him? This is what he had wanted. To be human again so he could talk to her without frightening her. How could he have been so weak?

He was about to slam his fist against the vehicle's hood but stopped just inches from its exterior. Even though he was human, he could have easily dented the old man's Oldsmobile. Instead he walked over to the workbench and gripped the edges with both hands.

His heart was beating so fast it felt as if it was about to burst from his chest at any minute. He dug his nails into the hard steel of the workbench and felt the metal slowly form to the shape of his fingertips. Weak, he was weak.

Orihime quickly ran up to Mrs. Taka and tried not to shake as she handed her the empty glass. The amount of adrenaline coursing through her body was practically lethal. How could she have been so stupid in front of him? She didn't even know him.

"So, what do you think?" Mrs. Taka asked, taking the glass from Orihime's trembling hand. "He's pretty cute, huh?"

Orihime blushed an even deeper shade of red and nodded. That was all she could do. Her tongue was determined not to let anything out of her mouth so she wouldn't say anything stupid.

"Did something happen in there, dear?" Mrs. Taka asked. There was a slight smirk in her eyes that implied that she had expected something to have happened between them.

"H-he didn't drink the water," Orihime whispered. "I-I accidentally dumped it on him." She covered her face in her hands and shook her head back and forth. "I feel so stupid! How do you accidentally dump a glass of water on someone?"

Mrs. Taka  put an arm over Orihime's shoulders. "Oh, dear, dear, don't fret over it. I'll bet that it was probably the best thing he's felt all day. He's been working out in this heat since ten o'clock this morning. Having a pretty girl like you cool him off must have been heaven to him."

There was a loud bang inside the garage that made all three of them jump.

"I'll be right back." Mr. Taka quickly ran over to the garage and stepped into he blazing hot shade. He saw Ulquiorra, still dripping with water, clutching the edges of his reinforced, stainless steel workbench with one hand and his other hand balled up into a fist that was shaking on the table next to his head. "Are you alright, son?"

The sound of the old man's voice calmed Ulquiorra down enough for him to stop shaking. "No, I'm not. I finally have the opportunity to talk to her and I couldn't even tell her my name." The table began to whine in protest as his hand started bending the metal as if it were a piece of rubber. "What kind of man cannot even tell a woman his name?"

Mr. Taka smiled slightly. Now he understood what his wife had meant earlier. He placed his hand on Ulquiorra's shoulders and chuckled. "A man who's fallen in love harder than an anvil drops on someone's head from the top of the Eiffel Tower. I used to be the same way with Kaete."

Ulquiorra's grip loosened on the workbench and he stared at the old man. "How would you redeem yourself if you were me?" He could hardly believe that those words had come from his own mouth, but then again he was having a hard time coping with a lot of new things. If he really thought about it, it did not really surprise him at all.

Mr. Taka ran his hand over his sandpaper like face. He had not shaved in a while and his wife was starting to get upset with him. "Me? Well, I guess I would go right outside, apologize for being so rude, and tell her my name."

Ulquiorra exhaled deeply through his nose, laughing silently at himself. "That is almost to simple."

"True, but sometimes it's the simplest things that have the most impact," Mr. Taka said, and patted Ulquiorra's shoulder. "Remember, young pup, I've been happily married to the woman of my dreams for over forty-five years. It might be a good idea to take an old dog's advice."

Ulquiorra closed his eyes and smiled slightly. "You may appear older than me, but I am old enough to be your great-grandfather's, father's, great-grandfather, if not older. To me, you are the young pup," he thought.

"So," Mr. Taka walked over to the door, "what are you gonna do?"

"What do you mean?" Ulquiorra stood up straight, feeling the cool water from his hair run down his back, neck, shoulders, and chest. "I am going to go out there and tell the woman my name."

Orihime and Mrs. Taka had been straining to hear anything the two men might have been saying, but with no luck.

"You know," Mrs. Taka said after three minutes, "that boy in there knows you."

"Huh?" Orihime stared at the old woman with wide eyes. "He knows me?"

Mrs. Taka nodded. "Mm-hm, that's what he told me this morning. You see. He accidentally ran into me and I had dropped all of my groceries on the ground. The young man was so nice to not only pick everything up, but he carried them to my house as well. "Anyway, once he had set everything on the kitchen table I asked him who had his heart all in a fix. There was a look that flashed across his face as his eyes quickly darted down the walkway towards your house; I felt like I was watching a good romance movie. He said that it was nothing at first, but I got the truth out of him, dear. I simply said 'I take it you know Miss Inoue' and do you know what he said?"

Orihime shook her head. This sounded like an excerpt from one of Rukia's romance novels. All that was missing was the part where the hero swept his woman away in his arms and kissed her passionately on the lips.

"He said, and I quote, 'she would not recognize me'," Mrs. Taka said. "Does he look familiar to you at all? Maybe you met him once when you two were just kids and you don't remember him." She sighed and smiled warmly. "He obviously remembers you from wherever you two must have met."

"What do you mean?" Orihime asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, nothing, dear," Mrs. Taka dismissed the thought with a wave of her hand, "nothing at all. Why don't we go and stand underneath the tree for a little while? There's not much shade under this walkway."

"Okay," Orihime followed Mrs. Taka over to the tree standing a few feet away from the garage and sighed. It was much cooler under the tree than it was next to the apartment complex.

"Kaete, could you come here for a second, please?" Mr. Taka called from the garage.

"Sure, dear," Mrs. Taka patted Orihime on the head and joined her husband in the garage.

"Actually, now that Mrs. Taka mentioned it. That boy does look familiar somehow," Orihime thought. "But, where have I seen him before?"

Ulquiorra had been standing on the other side of the tree for a few minutes before Mrs. Taka joined her husband in the garage doorway and left Orihime standing comfortably in the shade. He needed to think of a way to get the woman's attention that was not so dynamic that it would startle her, and was not so subtle that she would miss it. Finally he slowly walked around the tree and did the simplest thing he could think of.

"Hello."

Orihime jumped and slapped Ulquiorra square in the nose. There was an uproar from the mob of girls standing outside the gate as Ulquiorra barely flinched at the strike, and a small thread of blood slowly crawled out of his nose and onto his lip. He had not even felt the woman's hand make contact with his face.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" She held up her hands apologetically. "Y-you scared me. I didn't mean to hit you! First I spill water on you. Now I punch you in the nose! I am so so sorry! Here let me," she pulled a handkerchief out of  her breast pocket and gently held it to Ulquiorra's nose.

"Do not worry about it. I did not feel anything. If you call that a punch, you need to work on strength training," Ulquiorra said in an attempt at human humor. He had never been a very funny person; even before the curse.

Orihime stared down at the ground. "I know I'm not very strong."

Ulquiorra felt a twinge of pain in his heart. "I apologize. Humor is not something I excel at. I did not mean to hurt your feelings." He gently pulled Orihime's hand from his nose; the bleeding had stopped almost immediately after she had struck him. "I am sorry. I never introduced myself. My name is Ulquiorra Shiffer."

"Ulquiorra," Orihime folded the practically clean handkerchief and tucked it back in her pocket, "that's a cool name. My name's Orihime Inoue, but I guess you already knew that. Mrs. Taka told me that you told her that you knew me this morning."

"Not exactly," Ulquiorra held out his hand, "it is a pleasure to meet you, Orihime Inoue."

Orihime placed her hand in his. "It's a pleasure to meet you too, Ulquiorra Shiffer." She felt better now that she knew he was not mad at her for spilling water on him or punching him in the nose. For the first time since this morning, she radiated a genuine smile that was enough to melt even the coldest of hearts.

Ulquiorra could feel a smile tugging at the edges of his mouth. He brought Orihime's hand up to his lips. "If I may?"

A fresh blush colored Orihime's cheeks a rosy pink. She had no clue what to say at a time like this. Who asked a girl if it was alright to kiss her hand anymore? Who even kissed a girl on the hand anymore? It was so old fashioned she found it unbelievably charming. She nodded in approval.

Ulquiorra gently kissed Orihime's hand and her face turned fifty shades of red all at once. It was one of the most adorable things he had ever seen her do in the month he had known her. The strings of his heart pulled with agonizing strength as this thought came to him. He had known her for a month, but to her they had only known each other for a few minutes. The thought was painful.

There was a loud cracking noise and they both looked up. The tree branch hanging above them had suddenly snapped and was plummeting down towards them. Ulquiorra grabbed Orihime by the waist and jumped out of the way of the oncoming danger. The dead limb had barely missed them and was now lying at the base of the tree.

Ulquiorra pushed himself up on his hands and stared down at the woman shaking beneath him. "Are you alright?" For the first time in his life, he was worried. Had she been hit by one of the branche's outstretched fingers? Had he jumped to far and caused her to hit her head? These questions chased each other around in his head like a dog tormenting a cat.

Orihime gazed up at the man who saved her. The sun was tucked behind his masculine figure and he looked like a god kneeling over her. "Yes, I'm fine."

For a split second, their eyes locked with each other. And for that split second, everything made sense. Orihime knew who this man was and everything that was happening to him. Ulquiorra knew why he loved this woman and realized that he would do anything to make sure that she was safe and happy. For a split second, they knew everything there was to know about one another.

"God almighty," Mrs. Taka's voice screamed, "are you two alright?"

Ulquiorra and Orihime snapped out of their trance and forgot everything they had learned in that split second. Ulquiorra was once again a man Orihime had met a few minutes ago, and he was not as sure about anything anymore.

Ulquiorra heaved himself off of the woman and helped her to her feet. "We are fine. I must have forgotten to finish cutting that branch earlier when those girls rushed me."

"That's it! I'm calling the cops!" Mr. Taka yelled furiously. "If those damn floozies hadn't have been here in the first place, Ulquiorra could have finished cutting that branch and neither of these two would have almost been killed!" He stormed into the apartment and the three of them heard his voice as he practically screamed into the phone.

"I should be leaving," Ulquiorra said dully as he put his shirt back on. "It is getting late. I would hate to bother any of you any more."

"Why don't you stay a while longer, Ulquiorra, dear?" Mrs. Taka suggested kindly. "My husband and I would be more than happy to have you over for dinner."

"I appreciate the offer, Mrs. Taka, but I must be going. You and your husband would not want someone like me around." Ulquiorra turned around was about to leave when someone grabbed his shirt sleeve. He looked behind him and his eyes widened. It was the woman who was holding him back.

"Then why don't you stay for dinner at my house?" Orihime proposed. "It's going to feel a little empty without Phantom being there."

Mr. Taka came out of the house and stood next to his wife. "Your dog's missing, Orihime? That's awful! How did that happen?"

"I-I don't know. When I woke up this morning, he was nowhere in the apartment and the door was unlocked," Orihime stiffled a sob, "I think someone might have kidnapped him in the middle of the night and killed him. Ichigo came up to me during school today and said that someone had brought in a beat up, black dog with green eyes early this morning, and that he had died shortly afterward."

Mrs. Taka held Orihime in a comforting embrace. "Oh, sweetie, I doubt it was your dog. Did Kurosaki say that the dog had Phantom written on the tag?"

Orihime shook her head. "No, but that's only because," she pulled the collar out of her schoolbag, "I have Phantom's collar right here. I never put it on him unless we're about to go out. Other than that I don't make him wear it. He doesn't like the way it feels on his neck but puts up with it when we're not in the house." She continued to cry.

"I still doubt it was Phantom," Mr. Taka said. "I have nothing against Ichigo's father, but the man's a doctor; not a vet. His son probably just saw the mutt and automatically assumed that it was your dog. I've seen dogs with green eyes before. It's not common, but it does happen."

Ulquiorra could not help but feel ashamed. The woman was crying all because of him. He had left her all alone, and now she was sad and hurt. He had to do something to make her stop crying, but what? He could not just morph into Phantom right here and now. What would they think? No, he had to think of something else.

"What does your dog look like?" He asked.

Orihime stepped away from Mrs. Taka and wiped her eyes. "He's big, had sort of shaggy, black fur, and green eyes. He's not the kind of dog who would just wander up to people though. He's kind of distant."

"Hm," Ulquiorra pretended to think about the description the woman had given him, "I think I might have seen a dog like that earlier today before I ran into Mrs. Taka."

Orihime's eyes suddenly glowed. "You did?"

"Possibly, does he have a scar on his shoulder?

"Yes!" Orihime was radiating with joy. "Yes, that's him! That's Phantom!" She jumped up and down. "This is amazing! Now I can just go to your house and pick him up and-"

"I'm sorry," Ulquiorra said, "but I do not have him."

All the light in Orihime's personality was extinguished. "What do you mean?"

"I do not have your dog. I only saw him. Even if I had captured him, I have no place in which to bring him." Ulquiorra felt terrible for cutting the woman down when she was so happy. The minute he was alone he would turn into Phantom and go back to her.

"You have no place in which to bring him?" Mrs. Taka repeated. "Ulquiorra, do you have a place to live?"

Orihime's eyes widened and she stared at Ulquiorra. "You're homeless?"

Ulquiorra suddenly felt awkward. True he had no home when he was in this body, but when he was Phantom he lived with the woman. Technically he was not homeless, but his human form was.

"I have to leave. If I see your dog, I will return him to you." He ran out the gate before anyone could stop him.

"The poor dear," Mrs. Taka sobbed. "If I had known he had no place to stay, I would have been more persistent in having him stay for dinner. It's no wonder he's so thin. Who knows how long it's been since he's had a decent meal? And he was so polite this morning when I offered him a cookie, he would have turned it down had I not insisted."

"The next time I see him I'm going to hire him to help around the building and let him stay here as payment," Mr. Taka said. "It's the least I could do." He and his wife nodded and went inside. It was starting to get dark out.

Orihime stood outside her apartment door for another hour before going in. Ulquiorra was so nice. Someone like him didn't deserve to be living on the streets. If she ever saw him again, she would have to invite him over or something. He had saved her life after all.

A cool breeze rustled her hair and she shivered. "I better go inside before I catch a cold."

Ulquiorra had found a small piece of paper and an old shoestring at the park. He had gone into the small pet store where the woman had bought his collar and dog tags and used the pen to write a note on the paper before tying it to the string and wrapping it around his neck.

He returned to the apartment complex and waited until all of the lights were off to take off his clothes and drape them over the railing of the woman's balcony. "I hope this works." He morphed into Phantom and jumped down from the tree limb reaching up to the balcony. Mademoiselle had been right.

He quickly ran around to the staircase and sprinted to the woman's door. The woman was still awake. He could hear her feet shuffling on the floor.

"Please let this work," he thought, and pressed the doorbell before sitting down obediently.

The door opened and the woman stood in front of him. Tears were forming in her eyes and she flung her arms around his neck. "Phantom, you're alright! You're alright!" She cried into his thick coat.

Ulquiorra felt a mixture of joy and sorrow. He had caused the woman so much pain by leaving, but had healed her heart by simply returning in this form. It was a beautiful, yet horrible feeling.

Orihime noticed the piece of paper tied around Ulquiorra's neck and gently pulled it off of his neck. "What's this, boy?"

Ulquiorra looked over into the treeline on the other side of the fence seperating the complex's property from the building on the other side. There was nothing there, but he had to make the woman think there was.

"Is there something there?" Orihime asked and walked over to the stairs. She couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, but for a split second she could have sworn she saw someone on the other side of the fence. "Let's go inside and read this note, Phantom," She said and quickly ran into the apartment; locking the door behind them.

Orihime sat down on the couch while Ulquiorra laid at her feet. "I wonder where this came from?" She opened the note and read the beautiful script.

Orihime,
I found Phantom. It was surprisingly easy. He was wondering around the high school sniffing the ground. My guess is that he was looking for you. All I had to say was your name and he complied easily. Try not to get so worked up if Phantom ever goes missing again. You are much more beautiful when you smile.
With love,
Ulquiorra

P.S. Yes, I sign my letters 'with love' when writing to a friend. It is just the way I was raised. (I told you humor was not something I excelled at.)

Orihime felt tears pricking behind her eyes. He had not only saved her, but he had found Phantom too. She had to thank him somehow, but how? She looked down at Ulquiorra and raised an eyebrow. "Got any idea how I can thank him?"

Ulquiorra was enjoying this enough as it was. "I do not need to be thanked, woman. I am perfectly content knowing that you are happy. That is all that matters."

Okay, so he had not forgotten everything that he had learned in the split second their eyes met when the woman was lying beneath him.