A/N: Wow, guys, it's been almost a year and a half - I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to disappear like that! Believe it or not, I had this chapter mostly written back in March 2016; it needed pretty heavy editing and my life got kinda nuts (I ditched grad school, completely changed careers, moved places, started my own business, got a second job, and somehow ended up with lots of duties at the dojo where I train). And then the Bleach ending happened and, even though it ultimately doesn't really affect this fic, I totally lost motivation. I have this fic planned out to the end and do intend to finish it, however long that takes, but I'm still struggling a little with motivation and work owns my soul (10-12 hours a day, usually 7 days a week), so updates may be slow. Apologies in advance!
Also, this chapter was originally over twice as long, but I figured I'd find a good cut-off point so I could post what I had already polished - the rest still needs some work - so you guys didn't have to wait even longer. I've been working on it on and off for over a year, so if the writing seems off or drastically different from the other chapters, that's why. I'm still working on recovering my writing voice for this fic!
Two sets of footsteps echoed in the seemingly endless expanse of narrow hallway – one was lighter, a barely heard tap against the marble floor; the other, louder, dragged across the ground, as though the person was perfectly capable of moving silently but couldn't be bothered to.
Under the steady white-yellow light emitted by the sconces high up on the walls, Hoshi glared at the feet of the moody espada walking next to her.
She fully appreciated that he was put out – this entire situation was a right pain in the ass for everyone involved. But, honestly, she was the fish out of water here; and his sullen mood, which had suddenly increased ten-fold over the course of the past hour or so, was not helping in the slightest.
Hoshi only had the vaguest recollection of what had transpired immediately after Harribel had failed to open a garganta. Something about checking the transmission signals in the main control room. Grimmjow must have told the blonde espada about not being able to get through to Soul Society or the world of the living, she realized now, though her muddled brain had no memory of it. The three fracción had run off to do as asked and the shinigami had been left sitting on the large marble stairway, with the two espada for silent and very awkward company.
Her panic had left her cold and imperceptibly shivering, the chill of the marble under her palms only making matters worse. Physical discomfort aside, however, her rational thought had started making a comeback. And by the time the arrancar women had returned – to report that all communications, surveillance, and other high-level forms of technology were inoperative for reasons unknown, and only the basic functions of the fortress of Las Noches were working – Hoshi had even regained some semblance of regularity in her breathing pattern.
The air of the room had stilled as this new information slowly sunk in.
'I see,' Harribel had finally said, the first one to break the heavy silence.
Grimmjow, predictably, had been far less accepting. ''You see?!' The fuck is that supposed to mean?!'
Casting a withering gaze over the brim of her collar, the blonde arrancar had quietly stated that if he had some magical solution to their predicament, she was sure they would all love to hear it; if not, he should cease his shouting and cooperate.
The Sexta Espada had muttered several curses under his breath and had scuffed the floor with his foot, but had disengaged all the same. He had feigned disinterest, Hoshi had noted, by leaning against a large column, just off to the side of their little group, and studying the ceiling intensely. She'd had no doubt, however, that at least one of his ears was carefully trained on their conversation.
'You will need a place to stay,' Hueco Mundo's ruler had continued in her low, rich voice. 'You may reside here, with myself and my fracción, until we can regain access to either Soul Society or the world of the living, and send you back.'
Gratitude didn't begin to describe what Hoshi had felt at hearing Harribel's words.
Ever since the blinding realization that she was stuck here for an indefinite period of time, her overactive imagination had been supplying her with graphic images of her roughing it in the desert: alone, armed with only her sword, a walking stick and a cloak, drinking sand and chewing on rocks and eternally running from hollow that wanted to eat her. A scenario taken right out of her worst nightmares, the kind that set upon her now only after the most stressful of days, and she'd wake up from her fitful sleep thrashing and sweating and heaving as though she'd just had a three minute sparring bout with Ikkaku. Except that it wasn't a bad dream anymore; it was real, it was chokingly, clawingly real.
Thus, she'd had every intention of leaping at the hospitality offered to her, surprise openly etched on her face – after all, out of all the hollow around, Harribel was by far the best choice; the only choice, really, she had mentally rectified – when she had stopped dead in her tracks.
From behind the tall, regal figure of the Tres Espada, the three fracción had glared at her, daring her to accept the offer, their unmistakable gesturing promising her a certain death if she so much as thought to do so.
At Hoshi's hesitation, Harribel had glanced over her shoulder, a slight frown creasing her brow – and her fracción had been the picture of pleasantness, nodding fervently in support of their leader. Their murderous gaze had returned the moment her attention had reverted back to the shinigami.
The peach-haired woman had politely turned the offer down – reluctant, disappointed, and fretting once more about her chances of survival on her own, but what else was she supposed to do? Pushing her luck with those three was definitely not an option. The loud two would not hesitate to cut her up into little bits the moment Harribel was not around, and the other, vitriolic one would probably dump poison into her water; the long-haired arrancar was subdued, but clearly the nastiest of the group.
'I am extremely grateful, Harribel-sama, for your generosity,' Hoshi had said, with a brief inclination of her head. 'But I must decline. I don't wish to be any more of a nuisance than I have already been. I can look after myself, and will stay out of your way.'
Harribel had dipped her head slightly further down behind her high collar, frown deepening and arms crossing in front of her chest, considering the shinigami's words; in the end, she had accepted her decision. She had then turned to Grimmjow, who had been busy still pretending none of this affected him, and in no uncertain terms had effectively assigned him to be Hoshi's chaperone for however long she remained here.
His reaction had been every bit as expected – violent, colorful, and loud.
Hoshi chanced a glance up at him now. Still dark-faced, still sullen, hands still angrily thrust in his pockets. She let out a quiet sigh and resumed staring at her own feet.
She could completely understand Harribel's reasoning. A shinigami running loose around Las Noches, freely and unsupervised, was certainly ill-advised from any hollow's standpoint. But if she said she wasn't just as upset about this development as the blue-haired arrancar plodding along next to her, she'd be lying straight through her teeth.
The silent brooding only lasted a few more moments.
"Why the hell didn't you stay with them?" Grimmjow burst out, as they climbed another flight of stairs.
"Because I don't particularly feel like dying," Hoshi answered, her voice flat and tired.
He stopped and turned to look down at her in complete confusion from his perch a couple of steps above. "Huh?"
She frowned. Had he really not been paying attention? "Well, Harribel's fracción would have killed me if I had said yes," she explained slowly.
Grimmjow's face informed her that he obviously thought she was crazy. "Have you lost your fucking mind, Shinigami? They said they agreed with her!" he stated loudly. "And even if they didn't, doesn't matter. They're her fracción – they're gonna suck it and do whatever she says."
Hoshi held back a snort of laughter before managing to choke out a response. "You clearly don't know women."
He went blank-faced for a minute, utter bafflement overtaking his sharp features, before choosing to outright ignore her statement and go back to fuming.
"What I do know is that I'm stuck taking care of your sorry ass!" He marched up the last couple of stairs, each step echoing decisively in the emptiness of the stairwell. "I'm gonna make Harribel pay for this."
Hoshi took a deep breath and expelled the air in a big puff, blowing strands of hair out of her face. She tried to look on the bright side: better to be attached to this espada than to no espada at all. He was still the second-highest ranking person in Hueco Mundo at the moment. Chances were that everyone else would leave her alone as long as she didn't stray too far from him.
As charming and agreeable as he may be, she thought with biting sarcasm.
She had also noticed that there hadn't been any signs of other hollow the whole time they had been walking. Curious; perhaps the others avoided Grimmjow as a matter of course. Not that she blamed them, if that were the case.
At any rate, and far more importantly, she was relatively safe with him; he wasn't likely to harm her since he still owed her. Right?
Right. Though the little voice inside her head didn't sound quite as confident as she pretended it was.
Hoshi trotted after him, pushing aside the door that he so courteously let swing in her face after having gone through himself. She took another deep breath, this time with gritted teeth.
"So, where are we going?" she asked, once she was certain that her tone only conveyed a fraction of the annoyance she actually felt.
They were now on one of the high bridges that spanned the sunlit area under the massive dome and appeared to connect the large structures scattered around to the main body of the fortress. She still couldn't see an end to the horizon, no matter which way she looked.
Bright blue eyes briefly flashed in her direction over a slouched shoulder. "Back to my tower."
That was… unexpected, to say the least. Keeping a close eye on her was one thing, but Hoshi had always figured him to be highly territorial; the type that didn't share anything with anyone, first and foremost his privacy.
"… I'm staying with you?" she ventured.
"Fuck no!" Grimmjow whirled on her, jabbing a finger in her face. "You're just staying in the same building! My rooms are off limits! Take one step in and I'll fucking kill you!"
And there it was. Hoshi mentally ticked another checkmark next to her name on the ongoing scoresheet she kept tally with in her mind. "Trust me," she said, closing her eyes and waving his finger away, "I had absolutely no desire to room with you."
"Tch," he grumbled and stalked off, heading for the gray tower up ahead. "There's a couple other rooms you can pick from on the lower levels. That's as far as I'm willing to go, so that bitch better be happy."
The unnecessarily massive doors of the tower opened automatically for them when they approached.
Hoshi tilted her head slightly in confusion. Motion sensors, maybe? Her eyes darted all around the doorway as she passed through it. But I thought the power was down…
Most unhelpfully, the two door panels swung shut behind her with a solid 'thud,' leaving her in almost complete darkness.
Blinking a few times, with her face fully scrunching up, Hoshi waited while her eyes adjusted to the lack of light.
She stood in a large, square room that was empty and undecorated save for the fluting running along the walls. Her escort was already half-way across the glassy blue floor, and she hurried to join him.
Grimmjow stopped in front of a door on the opposite side of the room.
"This here is mine," he said, jerking a thumb towards it, his face set in a mild scowl. "You can't come in."
Hoshi fought the urge to roll her eyes. "Yes, I got that already," she replied, a strained half-smile on her face.
"Ulquiorra's place is two levels down, and Nnoitra's old rooms are on the ground floor and go into the basement," Grimmjow sounded off, almost lazily. "Pick one."
She directed her gaze at the floor as she mulled it over, biting her lower lip in thought. Despite the fact that Ulquiorra had lived with her for months in Soul Society and he had shown no interest in returning to Hueco Mundo, Hoshi felt more than a little weird at the idea of living in his old residence. Especially given his nature. She figured that she should, at the very least, have his permission.
"Who's Nnoitra?" she asked. If she was going to stay in anyone's rooms, she wanted to know exactly who they were.
"Doesn't matter, he's dead," Grimmjow immediately answered, with clearly no intention of elaborating further. At her insistent stare, he let out an annoyed huff. "The fucking asshole who tried to kill me by landing a cheap shot!" He pulled the left flap of his jacket aside and pointed to the long, crescent-shaped scar that decorated his neck.
Hoshi's slender eyebrows shot up. Oh, him. The espada that Zaraki ultimately defeated. She'd heard more than she cared to about him, honestly, from all parties involved. Inoue in particular had shuddered quite violently when the subject had been brought up unexpectedly one day, and the peach-haired shinigami had found herself wondering at the time if it was really only battle-shaped memories that had prompted that reaction.
She decided she'd pass. At least she knew from first-hand experience that Ulquiorra's living habits entailed a great degree of cleanliness.
Still…
"Is there nothing else?" She practically squirmed as she asked.
Grimmjow's expression fell. Hoshi could tell, even in this low light, that he was vastly unimpressed with what, no doubt, he considered nitpicking. "What, not good enough for you?" he scoffed. "I guess there's the room the princess used when she was here."
Slate blue eyes widened, and she stared at him in disbelief. "You're offering me a cell?"
"It wasn't supposed to be a cell!" he shot back. "It was for Ulquiorra's fracción, but that bastard thought he was better than the rest of us and never had any, so they just stuck the princess in there. But, yeah, there's bars now on the windows." His eyes suddenly glinted in the dark, and a feral grin split his face – the first she had seen for at least an hour or two. Grimmjow leaned in closer, face hovering over hers. "Wouldn't recommend it; makes it tough to escape from if you have to."
Hoshi – still entirely undecided as to whether she preferred the petulant and sullen Sexta Espada to the dangerously gleeful version or not – chose to ignore this evident attempt at frightening her. "So, Inoue lived next door to Ulquiorra? Did she know?"
A thoroughly disinterested shrug was her only response.
"What about Nnoitra's fracción?" she inquired. Perhaps one of their rooms was available. Perhaps –
"Tesla lived with him."
"Oh." Hoshi, thwarted, frowned and worried her lip again. She cast a glance at the arrancar (still standing uncomfortably close, she might have added) quickly running her eyes over him. Looking away at nothing in particular, she somehow worked up the nerve to clear her throat and ask her next question before the long pause became too awkward. "What about yours?"
Grimmjow blinked at her for a moment. He pulled back out of her space and nodded his head at a door further down along the wall. "Over there. But you can't use it. It's out of order."
"What do you mean?" Hoshi quirked her head. If she didn't know any better, she'd have said that his voice sounded a little strained. But, then again, her mind supplied, what else is to be expected after all the shouting he does on a regular basis?
The blue-haired hollow walked over to the door in question and turned the handle, flinging the door open for her and stepping to the side.
Hoshi followed him. Her mouth hung open involuntarily once she beheld the all-too-familiar bright desert landscape that lay on the other side of the doorframe.
The room… well, there was no room, actually, to speak of. The floor was almost completely missing, and most of the walls were gone too. It seemed like this had once been the entrance hall to a residence that had been comprised of multiple stories, but none of those had escaped the destruction either. This place must have been blasted apart by an enormous force, she assessed, whose aftereffects looked suspiciously like those of a cero.
A whisper of wind danced along the tops of the sand dunes below and raced up to where Hoshi was still leaning out of the doorway – carefully – on the small ledge of protruding marble, to play across her face before finally coming to die in her hair.
Well… she concluded, he wasn't wrong, per se. It is most certainly uninhabitable. But… what the hell happened here?!
Stepping back, she looked over her shoulder at the rest of the tower's interior. It was perfectly intact – the damage appeared to be contained solely to the fracción's quarters. Definitely not due to a battle, then, she determined.
The shinigami faced the arrancar standing behind her.
"What happened?" she asked, hesitantly, her curiosity getting the better of her.
Grimmjow shrugged again, somewhat stiffly this time, and turned his head away from her. "Beats me."
… right, she mentally drawled, continuing to stare at him. And Soifon is my favorite captain. Hoshi remained utterly unconvinced by his proclamation of ignorance, but decided she had more pressing matters at the moment to be poking at things that were best left alone.
She reached out for the knob to close the door. Having done so, her index finger slowly trailed along the cold, round metal until it reached the end and fell off abruptly.
"Ulquiorra's place it is, then," she stated with a long sigh. And let's hope that when he finds out, he's in an uncharacteristically charitable mood.
Hoshi had barely finished talking when Grimmjow, without a word, took off at a fast pace. He led her back across the blue-tiled floor to where the stairwell was, down two long flights of stairs, and through another maze of hallways that, again, had absolutely no distinguishing feature. By the time she realized that they had finally come to a stop in front of a plain, unmarked door, she was thoroughly disoriented.
The hollow beside her made no move, so she tried the handle.
It was locked.
Of course! Hoshi thought irritably. Can absolutely nothing go smoothly today?
She turned to her chaperone. "Do you have the –"
A tiny explosion sounded, as Grimmjow pointed a finger at the door handle and blew it apart with a cero. The door swung open inwards, a small trail of smoke still issuing from the brand new hole in the metal.
"Oh, great. That's just… just great," she muttered to herself, before confronting the blue-haired arrancar. "And how am I supposed to lock it now?"
"You're not." He smirked, placing one hand on the door to stop it from swinging back again, and waltzed in.
Hoshi felt both her hands balling up into fists as she entered the room.
If he thinks he can burst in whenever and entertain himself as he pleases, he's got another thing coming. I swear, I'm going to kidō the shit out of this door.
Still fuming, she set her bag down on the small table by the entrance and was opening her mouth to speak, when Grimmjow spun on his heel and headed right back out of the room.
"Let's go."
"Go?" Hoshi jumped, startled, forgetting for the moment that she was mad at him. "Go where?"
"To get you clothes, stupid," he answered, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. He nodded his head at her. "It's bad enough you smell like a shinigami, but you keep wearing that and you'll be someone's next meal in no time. At least try to blend in."
Hoshi stared at him, dumbfounded. The rude, homicidal hollow did have a point. For once.
With a sigh, she picked up her bag again and resignedly followed him out the door.
Standing in the still, dim air of the impossibly tall chamber, Byakuya silently admitted to himself that he may have made a mistake.
A quick glance to his left informed him that Kurotsuchi most certainly thought so. The man's painted visage contorted in seething impatience as he argued with one of the members of Central Forty-Six about the intricacies of operating a garganta; not that the nobles cared in the slightest.
Byakuya closed his eyes. Having once been imprisoned in the Maggot's Nest, one would have thought that this lunatic would know better than to speak out of turn here.
Still, the current head of the Kuchiki household felt a rare twinge of something that bordered on guilt as he watched the Captain-Commander's back tense up and his head turn over his shoulder to tell Kurotsuchi to stay in line. He very possibly had made a bad situation even worse.
When he had gotten the message from Akon, who had been heading the observation team monitoring Hoshi's mission, that, for reasons unknown, they had been unable to open a garganta for her to return, Byakuya had headed straight over to the Twelfth Division to speak with Kurotsuchi directly. Kurotsuchi had blathered on in scientific jargon, but from what Byakuya gathered he had no idea what was happening or how to fix it. They had lost all communication with her as well. One hour became two and two became three, and still no sign of Hoshi or of Kurotsuchi showing any concern beyond utterly misplaced curiosity at the phenomenon. Finally, Byakuya had had enough. Determined not to lose an officer to another division's incompetence, he had dutifully gone and reported the incident to the Captain-Commander.
Captain-Commander Yamamoto had spent a few moments in thought before sighing in resignation and requesting an audience with Central Forty-Six.
They had not taken it well. Beginning with what they perceived to be, in the first place, the Captain-Commander's overstepping of his authority in ordering such a mission to Hueco Mundo without first clearing it with them or even mentioning the recorded disappearance of hollow.
Nevermind the fact that the jurisdiction of Central Forty-Six is supposed to be primarily judiciary, Byakuya thought to himself.
A change in the tone of the voices speaking caught his attention, and he forced himself to focuson the proceedings.
Ah. We have moved past assigning blame to the Captain-Commander and onto declaring Hoshi defected. How ridiculous.
Etiquette was one thing, but he'd rather die than have the pride and reputation of his division smeared like this, as though the Sixth Division harbored traitors like some of its brethren.
"If I may – " Byakuya began.
"The captains will be silent!" A disembodied voice floated down to the center of the room from behind one of the numerous wooden panels that hid the members' faces. "Any further breaches of protocol will result in both divisions being confined to their barracks and placed under observation until further notice!"
Looking over to the Captain-Commander, who gave him a brief shake of his head, Byakuya bowed his head in acknowledgment and stood down.
Drawing upon years of practice, Byakuya easily schooled his features into a neutral expression and steeled himself to endure however long this pointless exchange would last.
Grimmjow leaned on one arm against the wall, eyebrows slightly raised, as the screeching finally died down from inside the women's changing rooms and two arrancar exited. One was fuming and breathing erratically, the other was frantically dragging the first one out into the hallway, and both were completely oblivious to his presence.
"Boo."
A strangled scream issued from one of them, though, if asked, the espada would be hard pressed to say which one. He didn't care enough to distinguish between the two – as far as he was concerned, they had both repeatedly proven to be equally stupid.
"Grimmjow!" Loly yelled accusingly, spinning around to face him.
"What do you want?" Menoly asked hurriedly, taking a couple of steps back. She seemed to be far more worried than her companion. Or maybe she just had a better memory.
Grimmjow grinned at them, teeth flashing wildly. "Just keeping an eye on our guest. Can't be too careful, you know."
"Guest?" Loly asked, confused. Not a moment later, shock contorted her face. "You mean the shinigami?!"
"Yeah," he replied disinterestedly, examining his nails. "She'll be staying here a while."
"What?! Why?!" Their indignation almost made him want to chuckle. As though they had ever been important enough for anyone to let them in on that kind of shit. Dumb chits.
"Dunno," he casually lied, not wanting this conversation to last any longer than it had to. Just listening to their voices gave him a headache. "Harribel's orders."
"That bitch!" Loly spat out. Her hands balled into fists and one foot stomped loudly on the floor. "Who does she think she is, ordering us around?! If Aizen-sama –"
"Who?" Grimmjow asked sharply, fixing her with his bright blue gaze.
Both female arrancar froze.
"Hah. That's what I thought," he smirked. Pushing off the wall in a large, lazy motion, he started sauntering towards them. "In any case, the shinigami's with me." Using sonído to close in on them the last few paces, he grabbed Loly's face in one hand and powered up a cero in the other. "You know what that means. Or do you need a refresher?"
Menoly, clearly torn between avoiding a repetition of last time and helping her friend, hovered just beyond Grimmjow's reach and attempted to distract him. "You're protecting shinigami now?!"
"Tch. You really are stupid," he drawled, sparing her a glance over his arm. "I'm saying that if anyone's gonna mess with her, it's gonna be me. I'm watching her for Harribel, so she's my prey. Anyone who interferes" – he let the red light in his hand grow brighter – "gets blasted to bits."
The arrancar in his grasp renewed her struggling, as the other girl finally moved to help her.
With a rough shove, the espada released Loly's head, causing her to crash backwards into Menoly, and snuffed out the cero. "Now, beat it."
The arrancar women, despite what was clearly their best effort at maintaining composure, quickly turned tail and ran down the hall and out of sight.
Grimmjow shook his head and made his way back to his place against the wall. Of all fucking people to run into. If he'd known those two would be here, he'd have brought the shinigami along later.
He leaned his back next to the door, and slid a leg up to rest against the wall.
"Still alive in there, Shinigami?" he called into the room.
"The only thing that's dead are my eardrums." The reply was quick and snarky, albeit a little shaky.
He snorted. Good. He'd been starting to think that he was the only one who found those two irritating. Well, Harribel's three stooges wanted to kill them too, but they were just as much of a pain in the ass, so their opinion didn't count as far as he was concerned.
After a moment, curiosity got the better of him. "How the hell did you get them to leave?"
"Kidō barrier, they couldn't break through to get to me." Her voice reached him slightly muffled this time, as though from behind fabric. "What's their problem, anyway?"
"Tch." Grimmjow let his eyes drift up to the ceiling, memories causing them to narrow. "They've got a sick up their asses because they used to be Aizen's personal aides. Somehow, they've become even more fucking annoying since he left."
The shinigami poked her head out of the room.
"You're joking," she said flatly. "Here, too?"
Grimmjow frowned and slightly tilted his head to the side in confusion.
Without offering any explanation, the peach-haired woman shook her head, rolled her eyes, and went back into the dressing room.
A minute or two passed in complete silence, save for the faint sound of clothes being selected, donned and subsequently discarded.
"You done in there yet?" Grimmjow asked grumpily. She was taking her sweet fucking time.
"None of this is wearable!" the woman answered.
The blue-haired arrancar grumbled. "No one's gonna care what you're wearing, come on."
"No, you don't understand!" Her voice was pitched higher, and more than a little desperate. "I can't actually wear any of this – are these even clothes?!"
"For fuck's sake, let's move," Grimmjow growled. "I swear I'm gonna leave you behind!"
"No." The door remained shut. "Not until I find some proper clothes."
He slammed a fist on the door, hard enough for the whole thing to shake. "Don't make me drag your ass out of there!"
"Grimmjow!" she yelled, suddenly enough to make him jump, though he would never admit to such a thing.
"What?!" he yelled back, even louder.
There was a short, tentative pause. "Would Ulquiorra have clothes in his room?"
Grimmjow frowned. Honestly… he hadn't thought to check. But he couldn't say that. "Maybe. That bastard's always looked like the type that'd have a hundred exact copies of the same uni– "
His sentence ended in a loud, colorful string of curses as he found himself plummeting to the ground, the door that he had been leaning on now thrown wide open. Turning to look over his shoulder, he barely caught a glimpse of black robes before they completely disappeared down the hallway.
Heh, hope she remembers her way back, he thought smugly. The smirk quickly faded from his face, however, once he realized that if she did get lost and ran into trouble, it would fall on him to clear it up.
Hurrying after her, the blue-haired arrancar discovered, to his endless surprise, that the shinigami had successfully found her way to her new quarters. He grudgingly supposed that even shinigami must have some sort of primal survival instinct that reared its head in dire situations, though it would be buried way down deep in comparison to that of hollow.
Several drawers and closet doors in the bedroom had been flung open, their contents quickly scavenged through and left lying scattered on the floor. The woman had already changed into a pair of Ulquiorra's hakama – slightly short for her, but she didn't seem to notice – and had appropriated one of the shirts in his closet as well. Though Grimmjow doubted the shirt was his. It was far too feminine-looking, with its form-fitting cut and low neckline, even if the shinigami hadn't been the one wearing it. Ulquiorra had probably made it for the princess. Him and his fucking weird hobbies.
Having changed into something far more familiar and, therefore, comfortable, Hoshi breathed a sigh of relief. "That's so much better."
She smiled to herself, for what was probably the first time that day. Ulquiorra's coat was too small for her – the realization that he really did have an extremely narrow frame struck her once more – so she had opted for the only top in the closet that was not a carbon copy of the others. Even if the tight-fitting fabric, the lack of sleeves, and her slightly exposed midsection would take some getting used to, at least there was actual clothing covering her legs.
Her relief was palpable, bright and, most unfortunately, short-lived, as at that moment her stomach chose to emit a loud, prolonged growl.
Sincerely surprised and more than half-embarrassed, Hoshi looked at Grimmjow in a slight panic. Between the shock of being stuck indefinitely in what was, quite literally, her nightmare landscape and losing all communication with Soul Society, not to mention figuring out the intricacies of her living arrangements, she had completely overlooked what was one of a shinigami's most basic needs.
"Um…" she began hesitantly. "You guys have… food… here… right?"
It was not an option. It was what made life in Rukongai so difficult for those with spiritual power. Shinigami had to eat.
"No." Grimmjow assumed a rare, serious tone and shook his head, frowning. "We don't eat that kind of food. You'll have to suck it and make do like the rest of us. Hunt hollow."
Hoshi's eyes bulged, threatening to pop right out of their sockets, and, just like that, the feeling of intense nausea and lightheadedness that she had thought she'd overcome hours ago returned with a vengeance. Bile, strong and acidic, started forming in the back of her throat. "What?!"
Grimmjow threw his head back, blue hair strands violently whipping back, and let out what could only be described as maniacal cackling. "Should've seen the look on your face, Shinigami!" Eventually (and far too long, in Hoshi's opinion; she had come back from the edge of hot, white panic terribly unamused), he got himself under control – albeit still chuckling. "Aizen brought a shit ton of – "
Whatever finer points of dining in Hueco Mundo the espada was about to divulge quickly died on his lips, as the door to the residence was slammed open, with a resounding 'crack' from where it banged against the wall.
"It'th twue!"
Hoshi, startled by the unexpected commotion, had turned to look at the doorway and found it occupied by the tiniest arrancar she had ever seen. The little teal-haired girl was flanked on either side by what the shinigami could only presume to be hollow; it was as though someone had attempted to make a kid-friendly version of the monsters and failed dismally.
Her mouth went dry.
"What do you want, Nel?" Grimmjow complained, letting his head fall back and fixing her with a disinterested stare.
The hollow child pointed a finger at him. "Gwimmjow-thama brought home a thinigami!" she stated accusingly. She narrowed her eyes and lowered her voice. "What are your intenthionth with the wady?"
"None of your fucking business, brat. Get lost," he said, turning his attention back to Hoshi, declaring the conversation ended.
Nel's bright round eyes became like saucers.
"Could… could it be," she said in a quiet voice, "that Gwimmjow-thama kidnapped the thinigami to fill the hole in hith heart left by Itsygo?"
Hoshi could have sworn she heard a snarl as the blue-haired arrancar glared over his shoulder, his whole body almost vibrating with tension.
Nel continued, completely unperturbed. "It'th okay, Gwimmjow-thama, Nel mitheth Itsygo too!"
"That's it!" Grimmjow roared. "Come here, you little shit!"
With all the speed and precision of a large cat, the Sexta Espada spun round on his heels and pounced on the small hollow.
One loud shriek later, Nel was promptly punted into the air and somewhere into the darkness at the end of the hallway, as Grimmjow yelled after her to shut up and that he didn't care about the damn Shinigami Substitute.
"And I don't even have a fucking heart, idiot!"
The other two hollow had started to take off after the small, flying form, crying out her name in panic, when the espada grabbed the purple beetle-looking one by one of his skinny arms.
"Make her quit spitting out that bullshit or I will," he threatened.
The hollow gulped loudly and nodded his head vigorously, before taking off like the wind after his two companions.
The whole thing was surreal to Hoshi. Even given her current general situation, she decided this one interaction shot straight up through the ranks to firmly claim a spot in the top three for weirdest moments in her life. When Grimmjow turned back to her, the black look on his face daring her to make a comment – any comment – she simply stared at him blankly.
"There are child hollow?" she asked slowly, her Twelfth Division-wired brain having a bit of trouble processing this new information. Since when do hollow have children? Or are children?
"No," he stated roughly. "Just the one, and she's a pain in the ass."
Somewhere in the back of her mind, Hoshi thought she vaguely remembered Ichigo mentioning an arrancar kid that had helped them out; but, at the time, she had been busy laughing off Renji's tall-tale of horrifying clown-hollow that were chasing him in order to hug him because they were scared. She now granted that he may not have been exaggerating. Not in the slightest. "And the two with her are… ?"
"Her fracción. Or they used to be." His reply was brief. Whether he honestly didn't know anything about them or was simply being his usual, contrary self, she couldn't tell.
"Yes, but," Hoshi persisted, "what are they? They aren't like any hollow I've ever seen. Do they… naturally… look like that?" She tried her best to not think of how their forms were closer to base, mindless hollow wandering the wilderness than to the arrancar they purportedly were. She shuddered.
"Fuck if I know." Grimmjow shrugged, as helpful with his answers as always. "But they're the ones in charge of cooking around here." He saw Hoshi's face blanch and let a smirk cut across his features. "Still wanna eat?"
A/N 2: Hope that wasn't too disappointing! Ulquiorra, Orihime, and a bunch of other characters were supposed to be in this chapter, but since I cut it they'll appear in the next one. And for those of you that asked for more Ulquihime stuff, there should be a significant amount in the chapter after that :)
