S&D, I must say, I love you. Along with all the favouriters and reviewers and whatnot. Y'all in the second group, you make me happy and keep me writing. Even though, ya know, I am, oh, pretty much done with the third book, and final book, in this trilogy. EEK. Anyway, I did update sooner.
And y'all should really read her comments sometime, my editors. She was droolinggggggg. xD Te amo mucho, mi amigo.
oOo
I slid into the seat in front of the iPad and started typing as fast as I could with just a few fingers. It hurt too much to use my right hand. Renji sat down beside me.
"What are you doing?"
"Goka lives in the human world!" I hissed, typing in his real name, as far as humans were concerned. It didn't take long to find his address. Pulling out my phone, I stashed the address in my notes, then closed it down. I had just woken up, which meant I really needed to get downstairs to relieve Kyo. We were keeping the Hollow frozen, eating at the beginning and end of our shifts, and sleeping on our off time. Getting up, I ran for the basement and slipped on water at the top, somersaulting down the rest of the stairs and slamming my head into the wall.
"Fuck!" I hissed, sitting up, away from the wall. Renji's head appeared at the top of the stairs, and he took one step, then followed suit, somersaulting down, and landing on top of me. His head stopped just two inches from mine, and I grinned again, then he pressed his lips against mine. A heated blush erupted beneath my skin and I closed my eyes, looping my arms around his neck. He rolled over so he was on the bottom, and I grinned again, despite myself. A few seconds later, a voice interrupted.
"Katsu, did you just fall down the stairs?" I pulled away from the kiss and sighed quietly.
"No, I somersaulted." I corrected. Renji chuckled lowly under me, and I squirmed against the feeling.
"Not funny." I whispered.
"I think it is." I narrowed my eyes and rolled off, then jumped to my feet.
And then realized there was an inch of water on the floor.
I shook my head.
"I'm so far away it isn't even funny anymore. Why is there water on the floor?" I asked, walking into the other room, then froze in the spot. Water was balled around our Hollow in a sphere, leaking out of a crack in the side.
"Stop!" the flow of water stopped, then the sphere lurched.
"The Hollow is pumping out water?"
"It's only been going on for about a minute!" Kyo hissed. It lurched again, and I flinched.
"It's going to explode."
"You think?"
"Let's get it outside!" I glanced at the back doors and they flew open. I kicked the sphere, and it flew outside, onto the fenced in grassy part. Cracks split, and water flew at me. I shut my eyes and turned away slightly.
"Reroute it onto the beach." a voice called. I opened my eyes through the spray that was closing in on me.
"Wait a minute." I muttered, turning in a circle. It was closing in around me. The last word I manage to get out before my air was gone, was "FUCK!" a single barb flew through the enclosed water and imbedded itself in my arm. I barely had time to close my eyes before the water disappeared and I hit the ground.
"And she fought to the end." a voice whispered. My eyes shot opened. Pull it out, now. My arm started moving, but a hand gripped my wrist, holding it away. Push hard. Get it out.
"Now now, Katsu. You already rejected me once. You were finally being happy again, so I thought it was a good time to try and destroy that again." my other hand flew out and nailed him in the jaw. He let go, and I yanked the barb out, then rolled away, holding in my screams. He laughed.
"You're so hard to deal with."
"Damn right." I panted, pushing myself up to my feet. Hands gripped the back of my arms and pulled me back farther.
"Katsu, go inside, now."
"I'm not just going to let you fight my fights for me!" Renji turned around and looked at me.
"I'm not arguing with you."
"Good. Then I'm staying." he gripped my arm again and pulled me against him, capturing my lips, and attention, again. Seconds later, he pulled away, and I sighed.
"You really have got to stop doing that."
"Go inside, right now." I glanced at Drake, then started for the door again.
"Oh, so this was the man that had you heartbroken when you arrived? You should know she's been very devoted. Shoved me off. Oh, are you trying to escape now?" he laughed as my hand touched the door handle. I looked back at him.
"Oh break your own wrist." and he did so, then screamed. I dashed inside, splashing through the water and up the soggy stairs, then up three more flights to my room. I skidded into the closet, and changed out of my pajamas and into khaki cargo shorts, a black sports bra, and a black, guy tank. Slipping on socks and tennis shoes, I cracked my knuckles, and slid out of the closet, then slunk around my room, looking out windows until I located the fight. Then I furrowed my brow, as Renji just talked to Kyo, Drake no where in sight, along with the Hollow.
"Found you." I screamed, but a cloth covered hand cut me off midscream, pulling me back against him, cold metal against my throat.
"Yes, before you ask, I work for Goka. He pays better than the Gotei 13." I tried to jerk out of his grip, and he pulled my back.
Now, one can never forget the bite of a knife as it cuts into your skin, and I'm pretty sure I won't forget the feel of this at all. It felt like someone stuck me with a needle, then pulled it down my throat, creating a line. I swallowed.
"Just be quiet, and maybe we still can get out of here quietly." and then, I blacked out. Again.
oOo
Waking up, I stared straight at the off white wall in front of me. About an inch away, actually. I blinked, then sat up. The entire room was the same off-white colour, even the floor. The only thing different in this virtually cubical room, was a vent in the ceiling. I groaned.
"I'm in an insane asylum."
"You could only wish." I shrieked at the voice, jumping about a foot away from the wall.
"It must be nice, to only have to tell someone to kill themselves, and have them do it."
"Uh... I don't recall ever doing that."
"Not yet, but it'll get easier for you." the voice said out of the wall, all around me. I spun in a circle, looking for the speaker.
"There is no speaker. These walls project my voice, whenever I want, wherever I want."
"Coward! Hiding behind giant walls? You have no right to be talking like you're in charge, because I can arrange to have that changed." chuckling from the walls.
"Child, even Yamajii would be intimidated by you and your uncle. You two both have the ability to slaughter an entire country, in seconds. Well, maybe only you. Your powers are significantly stronger than his."
"Whatever. You're still a coward. Words mean nothing in this world. You have to beat the answers out of people. There'll be no convincing. There'll be no coaxing. No word play. Because everyone in this fucking world, is way too aggressive!" I shouted, spinning around in a circle. More chuckling.
"I like you. You think realistically."
"Oh shut up, you fat hoe bag." a deep laugh.
"And you certainly are entertaining." I scowled, and glanced around.
"Shatter!" the walls cracked, like an earthquake worthy crack, and I heard a gasp.
"Impressive! These walls were supposed to be unbending to your affliction..." my scowled deepened.
"Oh you fag, just kill yourself, would you? It would make this so much easier to get out."
"No can do. Sadly, you haven't improved to the point of being able to surpass these walls."
"Watch me." I gitted out, exasperated.
"They won't crack again."
"Shatter!" after a second, pieces of cement or something started coming down around me, and I just closed my eyes. I really didn't want any chunks of cement in them. After a minute, I opened them again, and stepped out of the rubble, thankful for my shoes.
"Come get me Goka!" I yelled and a screeching erupted the silence after my call, and the gray walls were bathed in red light.
"Alert! Prisoner. Escaped. Prisoner. Escaped." a monotonous robotic voice repeated each time the red light blinked. I laughed.
"Shut up, alarm." the alarm above me shattered and the alarm became silent. I quickly dodged the falling red glass and started running. There had to be a way out, and if I couldn't find it on my own, I'd track down this Goka character.
Something told me to take a left and as I did so, I collided with someone. Falling back onto my ass, I winced, then looked straight at Drake. Jumping to my feet, I stood by his head, seething.
"Killing me will do you no good."
"I don't want to kill you. Just maim or seriously injure." my foot connected with his head, and a crack sounded. He gritted out a pained grunt and I dropped down onto my knees, quickly pounding him with my fists.
What felt like hours but was only mere seconds later, I was exhausted. Slamming in one last punch to the side of his head, he coughed up a glob of sticky red blood before, lucky for him, falling to the ground unconscious.
A strong feeling of guilt emerged from somewhere in my soul. Heaving a somewhat tired sigh I lifted him up with difficulty and lifted him onto my back, piggy-back style. I had a feeling he wouldn't like being carried bridal-style.
Walking as quickly as I could I took a right and then a left, continuing the zigzag pattern, completely managing to avoid everyone else. About twenty minutes later, I came to a dead end. I cursed angrily before turning around, and staring straight at someone at the end of the hall. They looked humanoid, and because of that, I knew to be wary.
"Shunpo." I blinked and glanced back over my shoulder at Drake.
"What?"
"Shunpo." he whispered.
"I don't know how!" I hissed.
"Try." I cursed again as I started running, then sent a wave of spiritual pressure into my feet. And in a flash, I was in an entirely new place; outside, as far as I could tell.
I glanced back at the barely conscious male on my back, "Why are you helping me?" I questioned as I began to walk.
"Why are you helping me?" he shot back, eyes narrowed. I groaned.
"You're such an ass-hole you know? First you slit my throat, then you kidnap me, and now you're helping me?" just what the hell was with this jerk?
"I'll explain everything later. Just for now, trust me."
"If you get me into another fight, God so help me, I will castrate you." he chuckled, obviously not at all believing my completely serious threat.
"I don't doubt it," he said with a slight grin,"now start shunpoing again and when it turns to night, don't stop." I pushed off again, and everything blurred around me. And I did stop. Two minutes into the nighttime.
Collapsing against a rock, I dropped Drake and threw my arm over my eyes.
"We can't stop."
"You try carrying someone heavier than you on your back and make that distance!" I cried. He sat up and wiped off the side of his head, catching the sight of blood.
"Damn it. You kicked me hard."
"Uh, yeah. I was more than a little mad. And I thought I only hit you..." I trailed off, a smirk threatening to appear.
"Well, thanks for that. But we really need to get going. C'mon." he stood up, and offered a hand. I scowled at him, but took it, standing up.
"Just follow me. We're back in Japan... sort of." he trailed off.
"What?"
"Hueco Mundo, Japanese style."
"How?" he laughed.
"It may not look like it, but I'm a Lieutenant. People trust me, when they really shouldn't. Like you, for instance. Anyway, let's get going." he shunpoed off, and I followed. Thirty seconds later, he yanked me to a halt behind a rock.
"Stay. Right. Here." he commanded.
"I can follow directions, you know. I just choose not to." I grumbled as he jumped up into the air, standing several feet above me. Talons hooked around my arm, and my right hand flew out, nailing whoever grabbed me. I cried out as the skin on my hand resplit, and something crunched.
"Katsu!"
"No closer, Lieutenant." a hand settled on my shoulder, and forced me to my knees.
"Don't punch people with that hand, girl."
"Asshole." I spat. He squeezed my shoulder hard, and as I heard a harsh crack, I immediately screamed. Fuck. Broken bones HURT!
"Let her go, Goka."
"Drake, don't you even-" I winced as he squeezed harder on my shoulder, "think about it. Just run!"
"But-" he protested, taking a step closer.
"Go!" Drake hesitated before he disappeared. The bastard that was breaking my bone squeezed harder, causing me to scream once again.
"Bad move. Get her back, and get her healed." the taloned Hollow reached for me, and I seethed.
"Don't. Touch. Me." he froze.
"I don't need you help."
"You have a cracked shoulder and knuckles."
"I don't give a shit! I'm not going to take help from some low life that resorts to kidnapping!" I spun out and knocked him down with my foot, then bolted to my feet, and shot off after Drake. About three seconds later, a body slammed into mine, and we went rolling in the sand. I pulled my body in to protect my shoulder, and arms wrapped around my body until we stopped.
"Just relax. You're not going anywhere." I groaned
oOo
As soon as I came to, I knew I wasn't in the white room.
But it damn sure as hell smelled like it.
Glancing around, I knew I was hooked up to some device- like shackles, metal bracelets and anklets. Taking a few steps, I was jerked to a halt. Glancing back, I saw the blue string of spiritual energy, it looked extremely similar to a kido, holding me in place.
"Fuck this shit! You're a Hollow! Where the hell do you get all this advanced shit? and Kido too!" I shouted to the air.
"We make it ourselves. And that isn't a Kido. It's a spiritual energy rope that can only be dispelled by the one who created it." a voice replied.
My head quickly snapped to my left, not having seen the person sitting behind a metal contraption that looked a little like a desk. He looked humanoid too, except for the fact that he had deep blue hair, down to his waist. I narrowed my eyes at him, and he looked up at me then gave a half smile before he looked back down. I blinked, and continued watching him.
"Did you know, in debriefing, they warned us about you?" the Blue-haired Arrancar explained.
"What did they warn you about, the affliction thing or the aggressive thing?" I asked, genuinely curious to know.
"The beautiful thing?" he glanced back up at me.
"And they weren't lying." a shy smile lighted his lips, and my heart almost melted. Hell, if I was beautiful, this man was downright fake, he was so gorgeous. A door slid open, and I looked at Goka, and nearly melted again.
"Is everyone here this hot?" I muttered. Goka laughed, then joined the man behind the desk. Goka's hair was damn near white enough to blend into the wall; but it had a tinge of gray, making it silvery. It came down to his shoulders, and the ends of the layers curved outward. He had paler skin, and small, black, rectangular glasses, hiding his brown eyes. I closed my eyes. No melting. No melting. No melting.
"So," he questioned, "what will it take for you to help us? Money? Men?" I laughed, "Power?" leaning back against the wall, I opened my eyes and looked at him as he pushed his glasses up.
"Um, no, no, and no? How about," I fake gasped, "I'm not helping you!" the corner of his mouth twitched into a grimace.
He whispered something to the man at the desk, who clearly looked pained at the idea of whatever was going to happen. Suddenly, the entire white room changed. The backyard in the Hamptons showed up, and I glanced around, then screamed as loudly as I could, closing my eyes tight. On the grass, not ten feet to my right, was a very, very dead, Renji. Fingers lightly, but firmly, gripped my chin, two underneath, three on top.
"It's alright." Goka whispered in my ear, "If you cooperate, no one else will get hurt." I slid to the floor, feeling the warm wetness running down my cheeks. Arms wrapped around me shoulders and pulled me into the unfamiliar body of the owner. He can't be dead. Not really, right? I knew I was lying to myself. It's almost happened a few times already. I need to get over this fast, otherwise I'll be dead in an hour.
"I'll help."