I sat around the living room with the other of Mistress Harribel's Fracciones, minding my own business. The three women were bickering, as per the usual, and Mistress Harribel was nowhere to be seen. Shrugging, I got up from the couch.
"Screw this. I'm going to the firing range." I mumbled
"Hey, when the hell did you start talking like Grimmjow?" shouted Apacci
"Sorry, I guess I'm just tired." I said, shutting the door behind me. As I trudged to the firing range, saw that woman again
"Hey! Menoly!" I said, waving
"Hey." She said, turning to face me "What are you doing out here this late?"
"You can tell the time in a place like this?" I asked raising an eyebrow
"It certainly feels late." She shrugged
A small silence hung in the air for a brief period, before I got an idea.
"Hey, I'm going to go down to the firing range for some practice. D'you want to come?"
She thought for a moment, looking at me with a little confusion before shrugging.
"Why not? It's not like I had anything better to do today."
*v*v*v*
*v*v*v*
Down at the range, we were practicing our separate Ceros. Now I could blast through a target over fifty feet away with only a basic Cero!
"You know, as long as I'm here, I want to test something." I said
"Yeah?"
"I've noticed that my Ceros are getting stronger and stronger, but I'm wondering if I'm getting stronger," I said, tugging on my jacket "Or these special clothes."
"So, what you're going to take off your clothes?" she asked, her face a mask of disgust
"Only the jacket." I laughed, sliding out of the long sleeves. I put my hands is the cero position and tried to focus my energy.
"Cero!"
Nothing happened.
"Well, now that you've found that out, can you put your jacket back on?" she deadpanned
"Yeah, yeah." I said, sliding back into the white jacket
There we sat at one of the benches that lined the back wall for a while, waiting for the targets to regenerate.
"Hey." I asked "There's something I wanna know."
"Shoot."
"Every time I needed to know something, every time I needed some kind of assistance, you've been there to nudge me on the right path."
She said nothing, so I continued.
"I'm starting to wonder if it's not a coincidence that you've been helping me."
"Well…" she began, before retreating into silence
"Yeah?"
"It's just… Way back when… when I was still alive, I was a mother."
Now it was my turn to stay silent. I listened carefully to her story.
"He had grown up to be such a strong young man. Full of life, hope and dreams. Then it was all taken from him. From us."
"What happened?"
"Bombs. From the sky."
"What?"
"We were in the wrong place at the wrong time. We were going to Europe, for a tour of the country…" she said, fists tightening on her knees "When the bombs were dropped. The airport was demolished, trapping us inside. The next thing we know, we were here."
My mouth hung agape as she continued her horrible story.
"When we turned into hollows, I was so afraid. So angry. I can't remember anything that happened while I was a lesser hollow." She said, a small tear dropping down her face "Nor do I want to remember."
"Why?"
"It was only when I became an Arrancar that I remembered something. Something horrible…" she cried, her tears dropping onto her long white skirt "I had… I had eaten my son…"
I could only look in horror at the woman before me. How could anyone do that?
"I don't want to know how many sons and daughters I had eaten to become what I am. I don't want to know how many families I destroyed because of my greed." She sobbed "But I thought when I saw you, I thought maybe… Maybe I could atone for my sins, by helping you survive this place without becoming a monster… A monster like me."
I struggled to find the words to reply. How could I? This woman had suffered so much. What could anyone say to comfort her?
Smiling grimly, I pulled her into an embrace "Don't be sad. You had no control over what you did."
"I know that!" she shouted, sobbing tears "I couldn't do anything! I couldn't do anything to save my boy! I was so powerless…"
"Then don't be sad for losing him." I said, sure a tear was running down my cheek "Be happy that you didn't make the same mistake with me."
She looked at me a moment, before returning the hug "He looked just like you…"
*v*v*v*
*v*v*v*
I walked back from the firing range, exhausted by the day's practice and Menoly's story. Such a poor woman. To feel such guilt for so long… It was amazing she wasn't driven mad.
I walked through the huge corridors, footsteps reverberating through the cavernous space above me.
'I sure hope Nnoitora doesn't show up again.' I thought 'I don't know if Mistress Harribel would be around to save me again.'
To my relief, the creepy tall man didn't show up.
His lackey did.
"Sirviente." Tesra said, standing against a wall
"Master Tesra. What can I do for you?" I asked
"For starters, you can tell me what you were doing with Menoly." He said intimidatingly, standing off the wall to face me
"Nothing sir. We were just talking." I said
Tesra grabbed my jacket and slammed me into a wall "Don't lie to me!" he roared, shoving his face closer to mine "I won't ask again. What were you doing with Menoly?!"
"Nothing!" I said, wind knocked out of me "Why are you-"
"Forget it." He said, letting go of my jacket "Just remember one thing."
"Sir?" I asked, coughing
"If you ever, EVER, wrong Menoly in ANY way, you'll have me to answer to." He said, turning away and disappearing with his Sonido.
Wiping blood from the corner of my mouth, I got up and dusted my clothes off.
"Is everyone in Las Noches out to kick my ass?" I mumbled
*v*v*v*
*v*v*v*
Sitting back in my room, I pondered the events that led to me being here. Dropping onto the sand, the horrible monster, bleeding out in the cave, waking up in Las Noches, leaving the medical room, finding Mistress Harribel again, fighting and killing my first hollow, using my Cero Humana for the first time, the intruder warning. The intruders…
My mind dwelled on the intruders for a while. Who were they? Were they really after the girl? What were they going to do once they got here?
I had to know more. Making sure that Szayelaporro's spies weren't anywhere to be seen, I quickly Sonidoed over to where the girl was kept. I was about to open the door when I heard voices inside.
"-doesn't matter one way or another."
Ulquiorra! Pinning myself against the wall, I listened in on their conversation.
"Do you expect me to respond to your… Provocation?" he asked in his icy tones "Do you expect me to reassure you? Confirm to you whether or not he's still alive? It's a pathetic attempt. I'm not here to comfort you, either physically or psychologically."
A silence hung in the air for a while, before Ulquiorra began talking again.
"I don't understand why you care so much whether or not he's alive. Before this battle is over, all of your friends will be dead anyway. That's the truth. What does it matter if one is killed sooner than the others? They should have realised this was going to happen from the start."
"Stop it right now..!"
"If they didn't realise it, then they're fools and deserve to die for their arrogance. Either way, you should dismiss them from your mind. It's not worth the effort to remember them."
Ulquiorra paused for a moment before continuing again.
"If I were you, I'd be angry that they were all foolish enough to sneak into Hueco Mundo in the first place. Like lambs to a slaughter."
I heard a loud slap coming from inside the room, and gritted my teeth in anger. What the hell did he just do to her?! The air hung heavy with silence for a while, before I heard footsteps.
"I will come back here again. In one hour. If you haven't eaten by then, I'll tie you down and force it down your throat." He threatened "Keep that in mind."
As the doorhandle creaked, I quickly Sonidoed down the hallway and began to walk back to the door as the fourth Espada stepped out of the doorway. As he walked past me, I felt myself breathe a little in relief. Without warning, the fourth Espada whipped around and placed a firm hand on my shoulder.
"What were you going to do with the girl?" he asked in his cold, detached tone
"Girl? Wh-"
"Do not attempt to lie to me." He said, tightening his grip "What are you planning with the girl?"
"I… I want to leave here." I said
The cold man took his hand off my shoulder "Then leave. What trash like you does is of no concern to me."
Then he vanished into thin air. Seeing my chance, I opened the door with my key and stepped inside.
"Oh! Sirviente!" said the girl, standing up from the small table. She looked like she had been crying "I didn't know you'd be cleaning again today."
"I won't be for long." I said grimly "I need to know something."
"What is it?"
"Your friends. Who are they? When will they get here?"
Orihime faltered for a moment, unsure if she wanted to continue.
"Please." I said, desperation creeping into my voice "I need to get out of here. They're coming to rescue you. Surely you can convince them-"
"Please… just leave me alone…" she said, staring up at the barred window
"But I need to know..!" I said, reaching out
"Just leave!" she yelled, whirling around, face hardened in rage before softening again "I'm sorry… Please… Just go."
*v*v*v*
*v*v*v*
*v*v*v*
Omake the Second: Who Stole the Cookie from the Cookie Jar?
"Sirviente." Tesra said, standing against a wall
"Master Tesra. What can I do for you?" I asked
"For starters, you can tell me what you were doing in my pantry." He said intimidatingly, standing off the wall to face me
"Nothing sir. I was just-" I began
Tesra grabbed my jacket and slammed me into a wall "Don't lie to me!" he roared, shoving his face closer to mine "I won't ask again. Are you the one who stole my cookies?!"
"No!" I said, wind knocked out of me "Why are you-"
"Forget it." He said, letting go of my jacket "Just remember one thing."
"Sir?" I asked, coughing
"If you ever, EVER, steal my cookies, you'll have me to answer to." He said, turning away and disappearing with his Sonido.
Wiping blood from the corner of my mouth, I got up and dusted my clothes off. Reaching into my jacket, I pulled out a crumpled packet of chocolate chip cookies.
"My cookies now." I grinned, popping one into my mouth