Just as Orihime was healing the students who had been knocked unconscious, Ulquiorra asked, "Won't they find it strange that you healed them? They were all given a severe beating by me."
"This"
My advice is not to treat them.
Orihime looked at Ulquiorra's serious face and smiled brightly, "Aren't you afraid of becoming famous?"
Ulquiorra said with utmost seriousness, "Based on my understanding of World of the Living school life, this kind of fame helps my independence; otherwise, I'd be entangled in endless social activities."
"Haha, alright," what could Orihime say? Besides, Ulquiorra was right; how would she explain healing these people later?
Ulquiorra rose to fame in one battle, instantly becoming one of the school's top fighters, ahead of only a handful of others like Sado and Ichigo. This caused the second and third-year delinquents to exclaim in astonishment, "How come all the first-year freshmen are monsters?"
For Ulquiorra, this infamy did reduce a lot of social problems, but it brought with it more. For example, some of the girls who had given him notes before were now more attentive, their words revealing a wildness that Ulquiorra couldn't understand.
Of course, the same method was used as always: tear up the notes. So, after the second period, some older students, at the request of a certain 'goddess,' came to cause trouble.
So during the second period's break, a bunch of students below witnessed a brutal one-sided beating on the rooftop. It was truly horrific, and Ulquiorra showed absolutely no mercy, even hitting the woman along with her.
The whole school was in a daze; the playground was in chaos as everyone watched Ulquiorra beat eight people in a 1v8 fight. Then Ulquiorra was called to the principal's office.
But a phone call quickly arrived. Ulquiorra a man of action, planning three steps ahead for every one he took, having already arranged everything meticulously. The call came from the Undead side, and the school council politely saw Ulquiorra out.
Ulquiorra quickly became the best student in the entire school, without a doubt, and no one compared him to anyone else anymore.
This move left Ichigo and Sado bewildered. They also possessed this ability, yet had never used it. Thinking about it, all the beatings they'd taken before were practically a huge loss.
But when did Ulquiorra arrive at the school?!
At lunchtime, the six of them went up to the rooftop. The wind was unusually strong on the rooftop today because no one else had come up there. The blood from the previous victims was still a shocking sight.
"You're too ruthless!!" Ichigo, admitting he hadn't beaten a classmate this badly in all these years.
Ulquiorra expressionless. "I simply chose the quickest solution for me; otherwise, their social antics would have dragged on endlessly."
"Social behavior?" The group of five was completely dumbfounded; it was the first time they'd heard someone define fighting in such a refreshing and unconventional way.
"So what do you do after school?" Sado asked. Although he wasn't a real thug, he was part of that circle, so he knew them all too well; they wouldn't let this go unpunished.
"I've already taken care of it."
The other five could already guess Ulquiorra's approach. After school that afternoon, as Ulquiorra stepped out the door, he was met by more than twenty thugs carrying baseball bats, steel pipes, and daggers.
Ulquiorra was completely fearless and immediately engaged the group in combat. To avoid killing anyone, he grabbed a baseball bat and broke an arm and a leg on each of them—a total of 27 people, 54 severed limbs, regardless of gender.
From the moment the fight started, the sound of him swallowing was constant. Every time a limb was broken, there was a massive spitting sound. The students had never seen anyone so badass. Was this some kind of Terminator straight out of a movie?
What's even more incredible is that when the police arrived, they verified Ulquiorra's identity, bowed to him, and took all the thugs away. Ulquiorra didn't encounter any trouble whatsoever; he didn't even have to give a statement.
So the next day, wherever Ulquiorra went, students automatically made way for him, and teachers treated him with utmost respect during class, even answering questions with trepidation. Why on earth did they insist on Ulquiorra to answer questions?
However, Ulquiorra showed great respect for his teachers and answered questions quickly and accurately, with a 100% success rate, regardless of the subject. After a few days, Ulquiorra became the teachers' darling. All teachers like good students; no matter how powerful their background, academic excellence is the only true measure of success.
The group of five, especially Orihime, witnessed Ulquiorra's transformation from a socially Kongbu figure into an exemplary student from beginning to end, and in terms of public opinion, Ulquiorra completely held the moral high ground.
Orihime sensed this shift in public opinion, most notably in Tatsuki Arisawa's view of Ulquiorra.
At first, Tatsuki said Ulquiorra was a big hooligan, probably the young master of some gangster. A few days later, Tatsuki said Ulquiorra was indeed a Europe nobleman, worthy of being Romania nobleman's young master, truly amazing.
Orihime's face was twitching. She knew that Tatsuki was currently training in Fullbring. Once Tatsuki finished his training and saw Ulquiorra's true form again, he would probably destroy all her beautiful impressions of him. That would be truly tragic.
"Hey~ Tatsuki, stop being so infatuated. Ulquiorra isn't what you think," Orihime couldn't bear to see her friend hit by the harsh reality, so she had to give her a heads-up.
"Eh? Orihime, how could you say that about Cifer? Really," Tatsuki didn't care about any of that. "But speaking of which, Ulquiorra Cifer, according to the West, Cifer is a surname, so we all call him Cifer. Orihime, how could you call him by his first name?"
How can Orihime explain "me"? Should she say, "What's my relationship with him? We're acquaintances I've known for months?" Oh my god, someone help her!
But then a savior appeared! Ulquiorra suddenly appeared beside them. "You can just call me Ulquiorra. I don't really like my surname. The surname Cifer easily evokes Lucifer, which isn't a good name in my hometown. So I'm very grateful to Orihime."
"Oh~!" Tatsuki, unsuspecting, said, "Lucifer is a Kongbu Demons, right? If that's the case, then... Cifer, cough cough, Ulquiorra, are you a Christian?"
"Hmm," Ulquiorra's answer was concise and clear. His lying skills left Orihime speechless, because Ulquiorra was expressionless; you couldn't possibly read a lie from his face. Ha!
"Oh~!" Tatsuki was even more moved. "So, Ulquiorra, you don't say these things, is it because you're following local customs? Because we Japan like to use surnames, right?"
"Um"
"Wow~! Ulquiorra, you're so kind! As expected of a noble young master from an ancient family, you have such great manners!" It's rare for Tatsuki to be so infatuated. Tatsuki is the kind of girl who... right?
In fact, Tatsuki is incredibly powerful. She possesses a unique sensitivity, likely an ability granted by her Spiritual Power. She can instinctively sense the danger posed by certain individuals. This explains why, in the original work Tatsuki didn't particularly like Ikkaku and Renji, and why she was the first to warn Aizen upon seeing him.
However, her ability was completely ineffective against Ulquiorra in his current state, as Ulquiorra posed no danger whatsoever. Following Jun's instructions and the things Jun taught him, he seriously contemplated the meaning of life, and in the process, he finally temporarily set aside his Arrancar superiority complex.
Having let go of this idea, Ulquiorra no longer harbored any hostility towards humans. Of course, Ulquiorra originally had no hostility; he considered humans as ants, and naturally, there's no such thing as hostility towards ants.
Tatsuki was very popular and had a wide social circle. Thanks to her promotion, Ulquiorra's good qualities became known throughout the school, further increasing the positive feelings towards Ulquiorra among both students and teachers. It seemed Ulquiorra had already raised the school's reputation level to "Respected."
This move left the five-man group speechless. Even Uryū was at a loss for words, only able to give Ulquiorra a thumbs up. That was amazing! Absolutely incredible! It gave me goosebumps!
In their after-school life, the group of five also experienced the benefits of having Ulquiorra around. In less than three days, Ulquiorra became best friends with their contact, Reigen Shinchō, with whom he could talk about anything.
Before becoming a paranormal detective, Reigen Shinchō was first and foremost a true detective, and an extremely skilled one at that. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to access the supernatural through his mortal body. He is truly exceptionally talented in deduction.
Then he encountered Ulquiorra, who could be described as a logic machine. All of Ulquiorra's actions were based on logic; he didn't have the strange thoughts of normal people. Naturally, Reigen Shinchō loved this behavior pattern immensely.
Reigen Shinchō praised Ulquiorra as a once-in-a-century genius in the detective world, saying that if he continues down this path, he will eventually become a true Sherlock Holmes, a living god of detectives.
In resolving paranormal events, Ulquiorra single-handedly took charge of all the work, including planning, erasing traces, minimizing impact, evacuation afterward, and summarizing the findings. He handled the work that had previously been a nightmare for Uryū and completely useless for the others with remarkable efficiency.
After just a few missions, Ulquiorra was accepted by everyone. Uryū said, "Finally, I can relax! "Ichigo and Sado said, "Having someone like him around is really comfortable!" Rukia said, "I'm having a blast being a bystander!"
Only Orihime remembered that Ulquiorra was an Arrancar, and just three months ago, this man had threatened her with the lives of everyone here Orihime.
"What exactly do you want?" Orihime silently asked herself.