Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.
Szayelaporro Granz was in a meeting with Aizen when things began to go wrong. Of course, the meeting was an interrogation asking him if he'd known that Grimmjow was taking all his fracciónes to the human world, breaking orders in the process, because he wanted to kill something. He hadn't known, not until he'd felt his aniki's reiatsu disappear through a garganta. He hadn't told Aizen that, leaving his answer as a basic "no, Aizen-sama. I did not."
That had satisfied his self-proclaimed God, until Tousen had said that one of the fracciónes that had gone with Grimmjow was dead. It wasn't Yylfordt – otherwise he would have known – but the fact that any of them had died was a blow. If nothing else, Yylfordt would be upset and he would have had to try and cheer him up. Not that he was very good at that.
It was when news of a second death – still not Yylfordt, but one of the stronger fracciónes nonetheless – reached them that he was dismissed, Aizen frowning slightly. He hadn't hung around, disappearing out of the room with a polite bow and heading back to his laboratory.
He was halfway there when his own reiatsu stirred, feeding the parasites within his aniki's body.
No!
Yylfordt would be fine. It was only a minor injury. Nothing worse than he got in training. He didn't even know why he was worrying.
Oh, yes he did. It was because two of the fracciónes were already dead. Yylfordt was one of the strongest of that group, second only to Shawlong and Grimmjow himself, but that didn't stop him from worrying that, this time, his stubborn aniki had bitten off more than he could chew.
For peace of mind, he decided to finish walking the distance to his lab. The parasites taking his reiatsu were also recording the strength and abilities of Yylfordt's opponent. He only needed to see that they were weaker than him to relax. Yylfordt would never be beaten by some low-level shinigami.
The results pleased him. Whoever it was, they were only weak. He turned away, ready to continue with writing up reports, when his parasites told him that Yylfordt had released.
That was unexpected. Szayelaporro did not like the unexpected. Not when Yylfordt was involved. He always knew what his aniki was going to do. Always.
Still, he had to trust that he knew what he was doing. Maybe he'd got bored. Yes, that was probably it. Or his pride wouldn't let him take the beating that had just finished lying down, and he was going to teach his opponent a lesson.
Ah, yes. Nothing to worry about. See?
He went back to his work, trying to ignore the nagging feeling that something was wrong. He was just feeling the effects of his reiatsu being sent into Yylfordt's body, to heal those wounds he'd received.
A frantic beeping erupted from the monitor behind him and he whirled around, eyes going wide as he realised what it was saying.
Yylfordt wasn't fighting a weak shinigami. He was fighting a fukutaicho.
Take the fight seriously now, he begged silently as he watched the figures mounting, and felt far more of his reiatsu channel through the link as Yylfordt took another wound, more serious this time. Please, aniki.
He consciously channelled more reiatsu to the parasites, his work forgotten as he gripped the side of his desk hard enough to crack it. Yylfordt would not die. Yylfordt would not die. Yylfordt would not-
He screamed as he was cut off from the parasites.
No. No. Nononononono!
Forget being cracked. Under his fist, his desk shattered into pieces, the fragments fighting to get through his hierro. They failed, but he wasn't paying attention to that, anyway.
Aniki…
Tears spilled down his cheek even as he reviewed the data, searching for a reason – any reason – that he might have been cut off. Anything except the obvious. Yylfordt wasn't dead. Yylfordt couldn't be dead.
For once, he refused to believe the raw facts. The data was lying. It had to be.
He must have spent hours trying to force the data to fit his ideas. The fact that Yylfordt hadn't been to see him since returning was something he dismissed, even though he always visited him after a mission.
He must be keeping Grimmjow company.
A broadcast entered his head, courtesy of Aaroniero, the novena.
"Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez has been removed from the ranks of the Espada. All Espada are to report to Aizen-sama to greet the new sexta."
Szayelaporro didn't want to go. He hadn't proved that Yylfordt was still alive yet.
But a summons was a summons, so he checked his appearance, not wanting to appear weak in front of his peers, who no doubt knew, or would soon know, that Yylfordt was-
No. He's not dead.
Once he was confident that there was no sign that his composure had ever slipped, he left the security of his lab, those results still on the screen for him to pursue further when he returned, and headed towards where he should be.
Aizen was happy to crush any and all hopes he had the moment he walked in.
"I am sorry for your loss, Szayelaporro," he said, his voice clearly anything but sympathetic. He had never cared for Yylfordt. Nonetheless, he accepted the condolences as would be expected, refusing to reveal the turmoil inside – Yylfordt was not dead. He couldn't be dead – as he took his place in the room, ignoring the looks of his fellow Espada.
Luppi Antenor was an interesting arrancar, and not one Szayelaporro cared for as he smirked, clearly more than happy to have finally gained the promotion he had been seeking for years. Their ranks once again numbering ten, they were forced to listen as Aizen summarised what had happened, that a taicho and two fukutaicho had been lying in wait in Karakura Town, slaughtering the pathetic fracciónes with ease and severely injuring Grimmjow.
When Szayelaporro finally located his aniki's master, lurking outside the fortress and staring up at the eternally-crescent moon, he thought that the injuries looked far more likely to have been inflicted by one of the shinigami that ruled them, as opposed to by an opponent.
"Where's Yylfordt?" he demanded of the silent arrancar. "Why isn't he with you? He's always with you."
Grimmjow gave no indication that he was even aware of his presence, which Szayelaporro knew to be a lie. Demoted and missing an arm or not, he was one arrancar never to be underestimated. Szayelaporro had liked that, liked the security that therefore extended to his aniki.
Now it was just frustrating. All that power, and he had been unable to protect Yylfordt.
He asked a few more questions, demanded why his fracciónes had been sacrificed for no reason, anything that might get a reaction out of the unusually silent arrancar, but surrendered when it became apparent that he would have had better luck talking to a wall.
As he walked away, he didn't look back. Grimmjow had lost any respect he might have once received from Szayelaporro.
Back in his palace, the doors locked and trapped so extensively that not even Aizen would be able to enter, he let himself go, screaming and destroying anything in his path. He lost many fracciónes, but that meant little to him. They were replaceable.
Yylfordt was not.
I suppose this is technically a companion piece to Destruction Alone, only this time from Szayelaporro's point of view.
I've always liked the idea that Szayelaporro never hated Yylfordt like he claimed to when talking to Renji. Things just didn't add up, and he is a good actor.
Thanks for reading!
Tsari