A/N: Holy crap, I am on a ROLL! Three chapters in two days? I AM A BEAST! Well, I have not much to say again, except for the fact that his chapter is dedicated to BlackVelvetBand. Check her stories out, 'cuz they is real good! She's left FFNet to be a starving artist for a while, so here's a pint hoping she's successful, and, if she's not, well, maybe she'll have some good stories to tell. God bless ya, mavourneen!
Idon't own BLeach, so quit yer bitchin'.
Anyways, here we goooo…
CH 4
Caged Beast…
"I know who you are, Old Man Yamamoto."
The Captain-Commander of all Soul Society, Genryuusai Shigekuni Yamamoto, grunted in grudging approval at the Sexta Espada's statement. It was obvious that Aizen was as well-organized as had been thought, even going so far as to ensure that his cohorts were informed as to the greatest threats they faced.
Not that it had done Aizen any good, in the end.
"Do you know why you're here, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez?"
Said figure rolled his eyes. "First off, can you let me sit up? Staring at you like this is giving me a cramp."
Yamamoto, to his credit, did not react very much to this blatant stall tactic. Instead, he turned his slit-eyed gaze in Sui-Feng's direction. She nodded, going to the wall. She fiddled with…something, and the table suddenly lurched, much to Grimmjow's surprise.
"SHIT!"
The old man turned that same slit-eyed gaze upon the Arrancar on the slab, which had gone to an angled vertical position. Grimmjow was now supported by the metal bands around his limbs.
Not very comfortable, but now he could see what was what.
Sui-Feng moved past the slab to stand by her leader, giving a slight swell of spiritual pressure as she did, the equivalent of a shoulder-shove.
"Dyke…" growled the captive Arrancar.
She paid him no mind.
"Now, if you feel you can answer my questions…"
Grimmjow turned his attention back to the grizzled old warrior before him.
"Yeah, no."
A single eye opened a bare fraction of an inch beneath a hoary brow…
…and Grimmjow gasped as if punched in the gut.
The eye closed again.
"I'm sorry…I do not believe I heard you, youngster. At my age, the hearing is not what it used to be. Could you please repeat what you said?"
Grimmjow gasped and choked from the shock of sheer power that had erupted from the old man's eye. He'd known that Yamamoto kept his eyes closed to keep his power in check, since the eyes were where the greatest loss of bodily reishi occurred…
…but, jeezus, that was ridiculous!
"W..wa…water…" he gasped. "Water…"
Yamamoto sighed. He gave a quick motion to Sui-Feng, who gave a smile of gleeful malice. She went to a corner of the room, and grabbed a pail of very dirty water that was there. She brought it back…
…and proceeded to throw it in the face of the winded Arrancar.
"Drink up."
Grimmjow gasped for air again, but managed to get a swallow of the stagnant mess down.
It tasted Godawful.
Kind of like defeat.
As he was recovering his breath again, a motion in the back of the room drew everyone else's attention. The double doors were opening…
…and in walked Captain Retsu Unohana and Lieutenant Isane Kotetsu.
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Retsu stood stock-still, taking in the scene before her. Captain-Commander Yamamoto was standing there, as authoritative as ever. Captain Sui-Feng was as well, holding an empty bucket and looking like a cat amidst a nest of baby birds. And, on the metal slab, with slashes and bruises covering every inch of his body, was what was left of Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez.
She became aware of a feeling of pity welling up in her breast. A small gasp behind her told her Isane was experiencing the exact same thing.
Retsu took a deep breath.
"What is the meaning of this, Captain Sui-Feng?"
The diminutive woman whipped her angry gaze from the pathetic form on the table to Unohana. "What did you say?"
Retsu allowed a hint of steel to enter her tone. "What. Is. The. Meaning. Of. This?"
Isane shrank back from this confrontation, feeling distinctly uncomfortable. She shouldn't be seeing two captains conflicting with each other, and in front of Yamamoto, no less.
This could get ugly.
Retsu continued. "I was under the impression that the assessment of the prisoner," she nodded at Grimmjow, "was not to begin until I was present, in order to make sure that he was healthy enough for the proceedings."
Sui-Feng thrust her jaw forward pugnaciously. "I was acting under the Captain-Commander's orders, Retsu. If there is an issue here, take it up with him." She stuck a thumb at Yamamoto.
Retsu looked to him.
He gave a short bow of his head. "My apologies, Captain Unohana, if you feel I slighted you."
She accepted the semi-apology with a slight nod of her head. "May I examine the prisoner?"
"You may."
Retsu Unohana stepped forward, calling, "Isane," over her shoulder. At this, Isane hopped to action, opening the satchel of supplies she had brought with her from the office.
"Lieutenant."
She froze at the harsh voice of Captain Sui-Feng, who eyed her suspiciously.
"What the blazing hell do you think you're doing here?"
Isane, who was not the bravest of people under normal circumstances, gave a small "eep" and snapped to attention, attempting to answer her. "I-I-I w-w-w-w-w-was o-ord—"
Sui-Feng was having none of it. "Well? Spit it out, you silly girl! What. Are. You. Doing. Here?"
"She has come as my personal assistant for this assignment, Captain. If you are going to criticize someone, then speak with me. Lieutenant Kotetsu is merely following my orders. Is that an issue?"
Sui-Feng alternated glaring at Isane and Captain Unohana for some seconds, then gave a wave of her hand. "Just don't make it a habit, Captain Unohana," she spat.
Retsu Unohana gave a small, disarming smile. "Of course not, Captain Sui-Feng. I would hate to disturb an animal in its natural habitat."
A harsh bark of laughter drew everyone's attention to their long-silent prisoner.
"Damn, dyke, you just got slammed!"
Sui-Feng's face grew an interesting shade of magenta at this remark. "Silence, you son of a bitch!" she shrieked, another knife appearing in her hand.
Grimmjow gave a sharp-fanged smile, accentuated by his mask-fragment. "I'm a son of a bitch? Well, you're a bitch…can I call you Mommy?"
A scream of sheer rage tore out of Sui-Feng's throat as she began stalking toward—
"ENOUGH."
The gravel-toned voice of the old man in the room drew everyone to a standstill.
Yamamoto pinned Sui-Feng with his closed-eye stare. "Captain Sui-Feng. You will control yourself and your temper, or you will leave this room." He turned to a sneering Grimmjow. "You will remain silent, unless directly spoken to."
He finally turned to Captain Unohana and Isane. "You may continue your inspection."
Retsu gave a small bow of her head. "Thank you, Captain-Commander. Isane. Come."
Isane, wiping the cold sweat of sheer fright from her brow, scurried forward with her bag. She passed Sui-Feng, who was nailing both her and Unohana with a deathly glare.
Sui-Feng turned to the Captain-Commander. "I can see I am no longer needed, sir. I have other duties to attend to."
Yamamoto nodded his head. "Dismissed."
And with that, Sui-Feng vanished.
It was fortunate that, for all his power, Yamamoto was unable to read minds.
The language her dark thoughts were utilizing would have made even him blush.
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Grimmjow watched as the black-haired Shinigami inspected his wounds. She had a cool washcloth in her hand, dabbing here and there at various cuts, washing the blood and dirt away. He had to admit, there was a part of him that really appreciated it. He had some fear about infection; in his current state, a fever could be deadly, and his dirt-water bath couldn't be beneficial.
Then again, he balked at the fact that a Soul Reaper was tending him.
But beggars couldn't be choosers.
The tall, silver-haired one captured his attention next. Unlike the black-haired one, who was almost ignoring him, she seemed very nervous indeed. He had seen her reaction to the dyke-captain, had smelled the raw fear rolling off of her when accosted. She kept flicking her eyes to his, and then focusing them elsewhere, as if fearing making direct eye contact would somehow hurt her.
He snorted.
'Weak.'
The black-haired one stood up, and turned to her assistant. "Salve Forty-Three, Isane, and some of Seventy-Nine as well."
"Yes, Captain."
'Isane, eh?' He kept listening.
"Uh, Captain Unohana?"
"Yes, Isane?"
Unohana. Retsu was her first name. Useful to know.
"Are you sure about Seventy-Nine? I'm not seeing any acid burns…Seventy-Nine isn't good for energy burns…"
She had a low, husky voice, pleasant to listen to. The other one, Retsu, had a high voice.
'Keep that in mind, Grimm…'
Unohana gave an amused glance at Isane. "Very good. Excellent attention to detail, Isane. What would you suggest?"
'She was testing you, girl.' They kept each other on their toes. Not a sign of distrust, though; more like the opposite. Nothing to exploit there.
He turned his attention to the old man to his left…and looked harder.
'What the hell…'
Unbelievable.
The old man had fallen asleep.
Standing up.
He rolled his eyes, and turned his attention back to his medics.
Time to plot his escape.
