Chapter Text
The next morning, Orihime didn’t remember talking to the police or what she had said to Ulquiorra about his telephone number. She didn’t remember going to the hospital or being examined and having her blood drawn.
All she knew was that she was dancing and then felt woozy, followed Momo up to her room, and heard Ulquiorra and Nel having sex through the wall. The next thing she knew, she was waking up in the hospital with Byakuya asleep in an armchair next to her bed.
She looked at him while he slept. He seemed exhausted but still somehow noble. His sleep was silent. He almost looked like he was not alive, until she shifted in such a way that made her realize she was wearing a hospital gown and not her formal dress. “Oh,” she said quietly.
It was enough to rouse him. “Good morning, Orihime. How are you feeling?” he asked, his voice much deeper and softer than she had ever heard it before. It made her belly pull in on itself slightly.
Orihime didn’t answer right away, first taking stock of what she knew and how she felt. After about a minute, she replied, “Well, I’m confused. How and why did I get here?”
Byakuya smiled a bit before he stretched his spine up straight, shoulders expanding as he limbered up his sleep-stiff body. “Well, Sousuke Aizen drugged you and the police wanted you to come to the hospital for treatment. They also took a blood sample from you. You did give your permission, although you might not remember.
Orihime frowned. “Why would he drug me?”
Byakyua’s unimpressed brows drew together and his chin dropped, looking across the room at her from under his brow bone. “Why do you think, Orihime?”
“No…” she said, shaking her head slowly. The headache was very mild. The IV attached to a bag of saline that hung on a rolling rack probably had something to do with her quick recovery. “You think he wanted to have sex with me?”
The seated man huffed a mirthless laugh. “I’m reasonably sure that every man at that party wanted to have sex with you, but he was the only one willing to drug you to get it.”
Orihime’s lips twitched. “Every man? Including you?” she teased, expecting him to deny it.
“Especially me, Orihime,” he answered plainly. “We are not at the point of our relationship where I would entertain thoughts of actively pursuing it, but that does not preclude me from wanting it.”
Orihime could only nod. Had she not still been hung up on Ulquiorra, she would probably be trying on her own to seduce Byakuya. He was objectively hot, and he was also her type. He had the gift of making her feel safe and cared for. It occurred to her that Ulquiorra never exactly made her feel safe. He didn’t often make her feel cared for, either. Her thoughts pulled inward as she reflected on that.
Byakuya always made her feel that way because he consistently demonstrated that he cared about her safety and wellbeing. He wasn’t perfect at determining what would or would not please her, but even when he got it wrong, he showed his concern for her in tangible ways.
Even the times when he felt distant and impersonal could be interpreted as a display of his concern for her wellbeing. He did not try to cultivate artificial intimacy by oversharing. He did not push or poke at her boundaries to find vulnerabilities. And until she began to show receptibility towards him, he did not display any kind of sexual interest in her whatsoever.
She recalled the way he danced with her before she had been so intoxicated the previous evening. She was surprised by the quick change in his demeanor, but not that much. Orihime had been the one to set that tone, and he simply responded enthusiastically.
She looked back over at the man in the chair, wondering what he was thinking. Why was he here with her? He had spent the entire night in that uncomfortable-looking chair. Certainly a person who was not invested in someone would never do such a thing. “Byakuya?” she asked quietly.
“Yes, Orihime?” he replied, his expression calm and unguarded.
“You stayed all night.”
He nodded. “Of course I did. I would never leave you in such a position of vulnerability. My honor as a Kuchiki would never allow it,” he said with a soft chuckle.
“Oh, it’s just a Kuchiki honor thing, is it?” Orihime teased gently, smiling at him and shaking her head.
“Of course it isn’t. I care for you, Orihime. You are an exceptional person. Your wellbeing is important to me, personally. Besides,” he trailed off, looking out the window for a moment and then back at her. “I feel like the connection we’ve been slowly nurturing over the past couple of months has grown into something substantial. Last night I had the impression that we were both able to see the potential of what we could enjoy together if we chose to pursue a romantic relationship. It is something I would like to explore as soon as you are back to full health, if you are willing, of course.”
He did not flinch or look away as he spoke or after he finished, instead holding her curious gaze. She let his words roll around in her head and took time to consider them. She could not find a legitimate reason to reject him besides still being hung up on Ulquiorra.
Ulquiorra’s actions at the formal had proved to her that remaining hung up on him was nothing but a painful dead end. Byakuya, on the other hand, had never hurt her. Taking a chance on him seemed like a good idea, conceptually at least. She was not ready to accept his proposal, but she could not find a reason to reject him, either. “I’d like to maybe take a step in that direction, Byakuya,” she began, choosing her words carefully, “but I’m still hurting because of what happened last night.”
Her forehead wrinkled when she realized that the words she chose left her with a gaping hole in their substance. “What all did happen last night?”
Byakuya took a deep breath and reoriented his body so that he sat near the edge of the chair with his knees pointed towards her. “I don’t know how much you remember, so I will start at the beginning of the formal,” he said and then went through an explanation of him gifting her the earrings, eating dinner, chatting, dancing, and then her sudden mood shift after she danced with Ulquiorra. He then reminded her of the House Championship awards and the jubilant celebration afterwards, which again ended abruptly when she saw Ulquiorra and Nel making out on the dancefloor. “After that, Miss Hinamori delivered a drink to you while I went to the bar. The drink she gave to you was laced with rohypnol. You drank about a third of it, and it is estimated that you ingested less than half a milligram of the drug, which is illegal in any dosage in this country, but likely caused you no long-term damage. After that, you and I danced briefly and then you became suddenly dizzy and disoriented. Miss Hinamori offered to take you up to her room.”
He paused and became more serious as he described what happened next. He did not mince words or leave anything out. He confirmed that Ulquiorra and Nel had been having loud sex in the room next to Aizen’s. He told her that Momo and Aizen were trying to get her into bed, and that when Byakuya got into the room, Momo was nearly naked and was pulling down the zipper of Orihime’s dress. He told her about punching Aizen and then Ulquiorra coming out of his bedroom disheveled. Then he described calling emergency services and the aftermath of that, ending with both of them falling asleep in the hospital room.
Orihime sighed, nodding sadly. “I’m sorry, Byakuya. I have to be honest with you, Ulquiorra really broke my heart, and last night just kind of reopened the wound. I don’t know how long it will take to fix it this time.”
The man closed his eyes and nodded. “I see. This is not altogether unexpected, Orihime. It is only right that you protect your feelings at a time like this. But,” he paused again, taking a deep, slow breath and looking at the foot of her bed as he seemed to consider something.
“But what?” she prompted after a moment.
“But, Orihime, my fear is that if you return to campus this afternoon, you will be placed right back into the environment that hurt you. I don’t think you will be able to gain any perspective surrounded by the people and places that remind you of your pain. I would like to help you. I’d like to take you away to a family property for the rest of the weekend to relax and recover. No expectations. Just you and me and a peaceful cottage surrounded by nature. We will have separate quarters, of course.”
Orihime’s brow wrinkled and she stared at Byakuya. “Is that something you really want to do?” she asked.
“I would like nothing better, and that is the truth, Orihime,” he replied, a tiny smile on his lips.
She took a deep breath. She had nothing to lose. The worst that would happen would be she got an unplanned, mini vacation out of this. “In that case, I accept.”
***
It took an hour to get Orihime released from the hospital and another hour and a half to drive to where Byakuya’s family cottage sat on a picturesque lake in the Berkshires.They made small talk between stretches of comfortable silence while Byakuya drove through the small towns along the way that eventually gave way to twisting roads over hillier terrain.
“It’s really beautiful out here - I’ve never been this far west before,” Orihime commented as a particularly striking mountain peak came into view.
“Have you not traveled much?” Byakuya asked, clearly curious to know more about her.
“No, actually, I haven’t been outside of the Boston Metropolitan Area very much,” she replied.
“Hmm,” he replied, momentarily deep in thought. “I have traveled quite a lot. Maybe if things work out between us I could show you some of my favorite destinations. It would be a treat to be the person who got to show you the sights and delights of the wider world.”
Orihime laughed at his unintentional rhyme. “Byakuya, you’re a poet and you don’t even know it.”
“Oh, but I do, Miss Inoue,” he chuckled, and she laughed in return. “I do write a bit. I have never shown my writing to anyone outside of an academic setting, but I certainly do know that I am a poet; we both are.”
“I am, I guess. Rather by accident,” she said with an amused sigh punctuating the sentence. She glanced at him as he drove and smiled. This was nice. Being out here in his car was exactly what she needed to put the pain of the rest of the weekend behind her, literally.
By the time they arrived at the cottage - which was not a cottage so much as it was a gathering of rustic cottages with one larger, slightly more modern one in the center covered in charcoal black siding - it was nearly six in the evening. “I’ll show you to your room, Orihime, and then I think I’ll pop a pizza or something into the oven from the freezer. I’m sure you noticed that we are kind of remote out here, but we have a groundskeeper who lives on the property and always keeps the freezer stocked for impromptu visits just like these.
“That sounds great,” Orihime said. “Do you think I would have time for a shower before we eat? I feel pretty gross after being in the hospital,” she asked sheepishly as she followed Byakuya inside. The bright white interior with whitewashed knotty pine flooring was a stark contrast to the dark exterior of the place, and it was decorated in a slightly more textured - and expensive - minimalist style.
“Certainly,” he said. “Take your time. I’ll put you in the master suite; first time guests must wake up to the best view in the place. To miss out on the sunrise over the lake is a travesty.”
Byakuya led the way to the room Orihime would be using over the next couple of days and set her belongings on the foot of the bed. “Feel free to use the closets and the dressers. There should be towels in here, let me just check,” he said, walking through a door to a private attached bathroom and opening a cabinet. “Yes, there are plenty here. Please use whatever you find; we Kuchikis pride ourselves on our hospitality and would find it rude if you didn’t take advantage of the items here. Please make yourself at home. I’ll be in a room on the opposite side of the hall if you need me, but I think I’ll freshen up, too, before meeting you back in the kitchen. Is that agreeable to you?”
Orihime couldn’t help the small smile on her lips as she listened to him ramble about this place, trying to subdue the pride he obviously felt. She thought it was cute. “That is very agreeable, Byakuya. Thank you,” she said, feeling warmth in her chest and her cheeks.
Color rose in Byakuya’s face as well. “Good. Right. Alright. I shall see you shortly,” he said, walking backwards into the room across the hall.
Orihime watched him and closed the door to her room slowly, waiting until the barrier was shut before sighing and walking over to sit on the bed and take in the space for a moment. She honestly didn’t know how to feel or what to do. Her heart was still torn in two like it had been on that dance floor the night before. She wanted to take the time to heal the broken part and also nurture and grow the hopeful part, but the two pieces mixed like oil and water.
Right now the oily part needs to be washed clean, she thought as she pulled herself up and walked to the shower.