Chapter 8

Fight or Flight

Nel had disappeared completely. All traces of her had gone- Pesche and Dondochakka had gone with her. No one knew what happened to her, though I had an idea Nnoitra and his pink haired friend had something to do with it. But, in this place... no one really cared if there was a dirty tactic involved. It was dog eat dog- if you couldn't survive, you were thrown aside and replaced.

My new room was about the size of a broom closet. It had a bed at least, but that was about it. I had to share a bathroom with the hollows and I felt paranoid about that fact. For the first few days, I tried to avoid eating or drinking anything so I didn't have to go. I rarely left my room.

It didn't help that Ulquiorra had taken it to avoid me; if I walked into the same room as him, he disappeared. I had a suspicion Aizen had something to do with that. I couldn't really guess what his motives were- if they were to control my power than wouldn't more situations like the one in the human world be more... substantial?

He had mentioned in passing my lack of will to want to fight, but all leaving me on my own did was make me want to run and hide. I did not like violence, especially when I was involved in it.

With Nel gone and Ulquiorra avoiding me, the place seemed much bigger and darker. I found myself reaching out every time I ventured from my room- looking for Reiatsu coming towards me, or trying to listen into minds of people near me.

Neither ever worked; the first day on my own I had walked into a rather shy and stuttering Arrancar. I was fortunate she was quite docile- I was positive, had it been any other one...

Well, I was in one piece for the moment, but I wasn't sure how much longer my game of cat and mouse was going to work. I was getting tired from the lack of food, if I was going to be able to have a chance at sensing any danger coming towards me, I was going to have to eat at some point.

A few times I caught myself wondering if this really was the preferable option to staying in the human world. It was lonely here- and I was at risk of getting quite badly hurt whenever I left my room. If I was in the human world at least the Shinigami may have killed me instantly.

There was no chance of them actually killing me here... Probably beat me around until I was within an inch of my life, but I would survive. They would make sure of that.

My stomach roared loudly and I sighed, staring idly at the ceiling in my room. There was no time here, but I seemed to have... tuned into the flow of things. It was some point between breakfast and lunch time, when the majority of the lower ranking hollows were often training. The Espada, at this point, were usually lounging around in their quarters.

If I was going to eat; this was the time I was going to have to do it.

It took most of my courage- which really wasn't all that much- to stand up and leave my room. I stood frozen in the hall way for a long amount of time, before I took a few steps towards where I could find food.

Some part of me hoped I would turn a corner and Nel would be there, acting as though she'd had no absence. But she was gone completely and she wasn't going to come back- I needed to get my head around that.

My stomach curled up within itself over and over as I wandered the corridors. It was almost all too easy- I hadn't walked into a single person, and I hadn't even been close to having to hide from anyone.

It was almost like the place was deserted and I wondered if that was really good. At least if there was some noise or hint of reishi moving around, I could get the idea of where everyone else was.

But everything felt dead.

I gulped, summing up the rest of my courage as I pushed the door open to the large hall where most of the low ranking hollow's ate. I wouldn't have to worry about most of them- they might say things, but I had overall learnt they were more scared to do anything. Being low ranking, and not very strong, they had no real uses and if they ended up causing permanent damage to me...

Aizen would probably finish them off.

The Espada, and their fraccion however, I was cautious of. They could most likely kill me within a second and no fear held them back. Aizen had seemed quite annoyed about having to replace Nel- if a little amused at the same time- and he seemed to show more restraint with them.

As long as they did not kill me, and as long as any permanent damage they caused wouldn't hinder my power... he would probably overlook it.

For that reason alone, I was always cautious of the company around me if I had for any reason, left my small room.

The room was silent, I could almost hear my heart beating it's self, and I gulped. I walked slowly at first- though using large strides to keep my pace even, and I kept my foot steps light and silent.

Slowly, I walked faster. My stomach roared at me, and I gulped lightly- the sound of my footsteps chasing me up the hall and-

"Running away from your own shadow?"

His voice was loud, and he followed his comment with a loud laugh. I froze in the spot, and I heard amusement.

I had expected Nnoitra at least, not...

"I wondered how long it would be before you got hungry and had to leave," Grimmjow mused. He held some sort of purple fruit in his hand, no intention of eating it, but he stared at it intently.

He was sat to the side of the room, chin resting idly on his hand- the fruit in his other as he tossed it up and down. He wore a bored expression, but amusement and playfulness flickered in his eyes.

His lips turned up into a greedy grin, and I shuddered away; wishing quite dearly I was not the mouse in this game. Grimmjow indeed, seemed rather gleeful. Like a cat, who'd finally cornered the bird he'd been chasing for weeks- the annoying bird, that sat on the branch just out of his reach, singing a little song... annoying him, teasing him.

Grimmjow appeared right in front of me before I could say anything, and I jumped back a little. His laugh echoed in the room again, and he stared at me intently. His eyes focused on me as I took a few steps back.

His hand shot out and grabbed my wrist before I could get away too far, and he let out a bored sigh. "Please don't run and make this hard."

It sounded more like he did want me to run- like it would just make the game more amusing. Or maybe because if I ran from him, it'd give him a... reason for doing whatever it was he was planning.

His eyes were less playful now, as if he'd only really intended to come and scare me- but now had other ideas. His expression turned contemplative for a few moments, and then malice set in his eyes.

I was positive, he had no intention of just playing any more and I tried my hardest to wretch my wrist from his grip.

Grimmjow laughed loudly at my feeble attempt. "Honestly, so worthless... useless perhaps," he sighed, frowning. "I can't figure it out- even if you do have that ability, to read others minds... why he would keep you here?" He yanked my wrist and pulled me closer to him.

If it were a situation where I was not worried for my life, I would have likely blushed and been quite shy at how close we were. I felt alarmed, terrified. I was sure Aizen hadn't set rules on whether 'that' was allowed.

He scoffed, as if reading my mind himself. "I have more self respect than that, onna," he drawled the words with a slight purr to them. I shuddered and tried to back away. "There must be something else to you... something important," he sighed. "Your power can't be too important- he hadn't factored it in before..." He seemed rather to be thinking out loud, than really speaking to me. "You can't even use it properly, and you're weak and have no clue about anything!" he sighed, shaking his head; he sounded more frustrated now, and I felt increasingly scared.

"There is something about you... why hasn't he killed you yet? Anyone else and he would have done, so why not you, eh?"

He squeezed my wrist when I did not answer. "Feh, you don't even know anything! I'd be surprised if you could even feel the reiatsu in this place."

I stared down at the floor, biting my lip. I could be a crybaby- I usually was, but no matter what was coming... I wasn't going to cry. Not in front of him anyway.

"Pathetic, honestly!"

He lifted me up by my wrist with no effort, and his grip increased. Aside from him and I, the hall was empty; and the pop of my wrist coming out of place echoed well- as did the following scream which parted from my lips.

Grimmjow was amused.

"So fragile!"

He lightly tugged me up so I was eye level with him, and he stared at me confused. Maybe he thought I was hiding something from him, but... but...! I didn't know anything- I couldn't' do anything and...

I hate violence, but right then I felt an overwhelming urge to protect myself. To make sure I would come out with as little injuries as possible- if I had the strength to at least break out of his grip... the strength to at least run away from him.

I struggled in his hold, and he laughed once more.

He threw me this time, through one of the glass windows to the side. It shattered on impact with me, and more than a few bits of the jagged material lodged it's self into my back when I landed on the ledge outside.

I felt overwhelmed at the stench of the blood- my blood, and quite ill too. The light-headedness, from how far he'd thrown me, the impact and the loss of blood surely didn't help with that either.

If I could just... out run him. If I had the strength, the ability to protect myself a little! I wanted to survive!

Grimmjow chuckled more as he walked out, quiet casually, until he stood above me. "Perhaps that was overdoing it a little..." he sighed, picking me up by the front of my jacket and lifting me up.

I could feel more blood when he did so- a few pieces of glass fell out of my back, opening the wounds. I hadn't realised how bad it was- until I saw the fear on his expression.

He didn't seem panicked, but he had frozen. He was deciding something, I was sure of that.

But I didn't feel scared- more angry than anything. I wanted nothing more than to punch him in the face a few times. I wasn't in pain, that was true, but my whole body was numb. Either from the adrenaline, or I'd lost so much blood that now my mind couldn't focus on anything.

"Asshole," I growled out, spitting into his face.

Grimmjow snapped back into reality to glare at me; he backhanded me, growling. "You should be begging for your life!"

I just glared at him, not wincing when he hit me again. So he intended to let me die- if he left me here, there was a chance someone else could find me. I was positive I wouldn't be able to support myself if I tried to get up.

Things were slowly going out of focus, and so the only way I realised we were moving, was when I felt the slight rocking as he held the scuff of my jacket.

"Stupid onna."

The sudden... euphoric feeling as I fell. He'd dropped me off the ledge and, to my surprise, I didn't feel scared. I couldn't survive a fall like that; I couldn't even land on my feet! I had no energy to scream... but I didn't want to.

So I would die- I hoped that Aizen would at least humiliate him- as some sort of revenge... but I wondered if he would even bat an eyelid. Probably not. Perhaps he'd left me alone, figuring I would die... so he would not have to do it on his own.

I wish I could have at least gotten one good punch back to him... at least put up some sort of fight.

I closed my eyes and braced myself to hit the ground. I probably wouldn't feel it- I was barely able to feel blood running over most of my skin. If the impact didn't' kill me, it might end up wedging the glass into me more and...

Warm arms caught me and landed safely on the ground about a foot down. I wondered if Grimmjow had changed his mind out of fear of Aizen, or if his intention had only been to scare me to teach me... 'respect' or something.

My vision was blurred, but I expected I'd still be able to see the bright blue of his hair. Grimmjow wasn't stupid enough to let me die, was he?

Green eyes stared down at me- no confusion, no sadness, no softness.. no warmth... Emotionless, green eyes was then perhaps the right term; stared down at me. Ulquiorra's mouth was set down in a frown, but he was probably more annoyed about being covered in my blood.

I could see traces of red on his white outfit- and I wondered how soiled in blood my own usually white clothes were. I was unable to find my voice and ask him what happened, what was going on.

Ulquiorra stared up from where I'd been dropped, but I couldn't move to see in that position- nor could I probably even make out anything that far away.

Aizen-sama is not going to be pleased.

Before I could even react to hearing his thoughts- without even trying, and without being in any danger, his hand covered my eyes and darkness took over my vision. I wondered, briefly before my thoughts disappeared, if I would wake up again. If I would wake up in one piece- when would I wake up, would I wake up here? And... would I be 'human', or a spirit... or like them when I did?

"Rest, Onna."

Ulquiorra's words stopped my minds train instantly, and I allowed myself to relax and fall under his heavy influence. His words sounded warm and concerned... For Ulquiorra anyway.