THIS IS NOT THE LAST CHAPTER! There is one more after this, and then the story will be over. I'm actually seriously getting sad just thinking about ending this... This chapter made me so sad! I must thank my amazing reviewers Kumani Arentoi and PirateZoro-san. You guys are awesome, and I love all my my wonderful reviewers! You guys are all amazing, not even kidding! Anyway, starting Monday, I'm on spring break, so this story will come to a close and some more stuff might get uploaded. I'm not too sure yet on that schedule... Enjoy the newest chapter of Don't Let Me Get Me, and as usual, beware of Reiko and Grimmjow's language.
Reiko walked quickly and quietly through the halls of Las Noches. She had somewhere she needed to be and had no intention of being stopped along her way. As she walked, she thought about the situation that had recently arisen. Orihime had been brought to Las Noches by Aizen. For what reason, she had no clue. It probably had something to do with the Hogyoku. Of that, Reiko had no doubt.
She had gone to see Orihime not long after she was brought to Las Noches. She only went because she had seen what Orihime could do. If she hadn't seen such a demonstration, she never would have considered visiting her. Her reason for going was her scars. She wanted to see if Orihime could heal the scars that marred her face. Orihime hadn't been expecting to see Reiko in her room. She looked scared to see her there. When Reiko asked her to heal her scars, she hesitantly agreed. However, when Orihime attempted to heal them, they had all begun to bleed profusely. As if he had known something was wrong, Grimmjow had busted in. He saw the bleeding and immediately took Reiko to Szayel. Szayel healed her, recreating the scars that she so desperately wanted to get rid of. Szayel had scolded her for thoughtlessness, to which she said, "Stop being such a fucking baby." He wasn't too pleased with her answer. Grimmjow, on the other hand, was laughing his ass off.
Reiko's reason for walking so stealthily through Las Noches was something she had sensed. It was Ichigo. She knew he was in Las Noches. He had come to take Orihime and get her back to Karakura. Reiko was sure he would succeed. He was too stubborn to give up and too strong to die.
Not long after she had sensed Ichigo, she had sensed Ulquiorra nearby. She didn't like that combination at all. Ulquiorra was strong, cold, calculating, and unfeeling. He would easily kill Ichigo without a second thought or a shred of remorse.
There was a sharp drop in Ichigo's reiatsu, along with a rise in Ulquiorra's. She cursed and started running. She would never admit it, but she was worried. She was scared that Ulquiorra would kill Ichigo and that Orihime would be killed once she had outlived her usefulness in Las Noches.
She was hurriedly trying to determine Ichigo's exact location. Normally, she wouldn't have a problem in doing so. However, with all of the fights going on around her, it was hard to pinpoint the exact location of Ichigo. Ulquiorra had left the location. Reiko didn't know where he went, and that made her nervous.
She felt Grimmjow and Orihime approaching Ichigo. She was curious about Orihime's sudden appearance with Grimmjow.
Why the fuck is Inoue with Grimm?
"Are you asking me? I was sleeping. I have no idea what's going on right now."
You're like a fucking pothead. Shut the fuck up if you don't have anything useful to say, Ryuusei.
When Reiko finally found where they were at, she cheered and raced there. Her eyes widened at what she saw. She almost gasped, but didn't.
Ichigo had a hole in his chest. It looked like someone had punched him.
Ulquiorra must have done that. He's got a fucking fetish for punching holes in people's chest.
Reiko looked over and saw Grimmjow sitting off to the side. He was watching Orihime heal Ichigo, but his eyes flicked over to Reiko a few times. He looked obscenely bored.
"What the fuck happened?"
Orihime jumped when Reiko spoke. She hadn't noticed that Reiko was there. She was too busy healing Ichigo.
"The fucking shinigami got hurt. What's it look like?"
Reiko glared over at Grimmjow before returning her gaze to Ichigo.
"He gonna be okay?"
Grimmjow shrugged. Orihime started to nod, but stopped. Reiko sighed and sat down next to Grimmjow. He lazily put his arm around her and pulled her close to him.
"How long is this gonna take? I'm fucking tired as hell."
"Didn't you get any sleep last night?"
"Fuck no. You need to get your bed resized, Grimm. It's so fucking small."
"Like your brain?"
"No, like your dick."
Orihime began to look very uncomfortable with the conversation. It was obvious she was trying to block it out, but was very unsuccessful. Grimmjow looked pissed at Reiko's response.
"Rei, do you really want me to prove you wrong?"
Reiko laughed.
"I don't think you could, Grimmy."
Grimmjow growled and smacked the back of her head. Reiko frowned and rubbed the now injured area.
"Dick! What the fuck was that for?"
"For saying I have a small dick, you fucking bitch!"
During the argument, Ichigo had been fully healed and had woken up. He was giving the two a very odd expression. He wasn't quite sure how to handle the situation he had just been placed in. He was watching the girl he had grown up with who had brand new scars all over her face arguing with a crazed Espada about the size of his…area.
"Uh…guys?"
"WHAT?"
Ichigo jumped when the two turned their fierce expressions on him. Both immediately changed. Grimmjow's held excitement for the upcoming fight. Reiko's was a bit odd for him. Her face showed the normal anger and fire, but her eyes betrayed her. Ichigo could tell she was happy that he was awake. It made him glad to know that she still semi-cared about him.
Grimmjow grinned and stood up. He grabbed Reiko's hand and pulled her up with him. He let go of her and pulled Ichigo out to fight with him.
"He's so fucking stupid."
Reiko looked over at Orihime and was startled to see a little girl with a hollow mask on her head by Orihime's feet.
"You two wanna head out with 'em? I know I sure as hell am. You wanna coe with, Inoue?"
Orihime hesitated to answer. Finally, when Reiko was about to leave, Orihime nodded. The little girl latched onto Reiko's leg.
"Please take me to Itsygo!"
Reiko tried to pull away from the girl who was now wrapped around her leg.
"What the fuck? Get off me you fucking brat! I don't even know you!"
"My name is Nel! Now take me to Itsygo!"
Reiko growled and started shaking her leg.
"Get the fuck off me, you fucking brat!"
"Take me to Itsygo!"
"FINE!"
Reiko turned to Orihime.
"Get the fuck over here, Inoue, or I'm leaving your ass."
Orihime nodded and grabbed onto Reiko's arm. Reiko shunpo'd with slight difficulty, most likely because of the crying Arrancar on her leg. When the three arrived at the destination, Grimmjow saw them. He started laughing at the sight of the crying Nel still attached to Reiko's leg.
"Get the fuck off me! I brought you here, now let me go! I fucking hate kids!"
Reiko eventually shook Nel off and growled at her.
"Don't fucking touch me again."
Nel started crying and hid behind Orihime. Orihime, being the almost kinda smart girl she is, put up a shield using her powers. Reiko refused to sit behind it. In fact, she sat in front of it.
"A-Asagiri, maybe you should-"
"No, now shut the fuck up. I wanna see this fight without any of your fucking orange shit in my way. If an attack comes this way, I'll move then."
Just as she said that, a misdirected cero flew their way. Grimmjow cursed when he saw the cero heading toward Reiko. He didn't care if it hit Orihime or Nel. He didn't want to cause Reiko any pain. Reiko frowned and held out her hand, stopping the cero. Furious, she threw it back.
"What the fuck, Grimm? Aim better, you bitch!"
Grimmjow growled.
"Fuck you! It was an accident! You know I wouldn't do that shit on purpose!"
"That's why I said 'aim better', dumbass!"
Ichigo stood and watched the fight between the two. To him, it sounded like they actually cared about each other, a feat he never would have thought possible. He looked up at Reiko.
"Hey, Asagiri, what's going on between you two?"
"We're in a fight, dumbass! What do you think?"
Ichigo frowned as he looked up at her.
"You don't have to be such a bitch about it!"
Grimmjow growled and glared at Ichigo.
"Don't call my woman a bitch!"
"Your woman?"
"Did you just call me your woman? Do you think you fucking own me? Fuck you, Grimm!"
"That's not what I meant, Rei! Calm the fuck down!"
Reiko huffed and said nothing. She leaned her back against the shield Orihime had made.
"Fucking cat…"
"Um…maybe you shouldn't use language like that around a little girl…"
"I'll use whatever fucking language I want!"
Orihime frantically nodded and said nothing further. She didn't want to seriously anger the explosive girl in front of her. She instead turned her attention to the fight in front of her. A fight with Grimmjow was obviously losing. Even in his resurrección form, he couldn't defeat Ichigo.
Reiko jumped down from the platform she was on when it appeared the Grimmjow was knocked out. She walked over and kneeled beside him.
"Fucking idiot…"
Grimmjow's eyes opened and he stood. He didn't even seem to notice Reiko. He stumbled after Ichigo.
"You really think you could kill me? You think I'd lose to you?"
"It's over, Grimmjow."
"No!"
Reiko went over and grabbed his arm.
"Grimm, I think-"
A large, crescent shaped blade interrupted her sentence. It slammed forcefully into Grimmjow's side and knocked him to the ground. Without even trying to sense him, Reiko knew he was gone. He had endured so much abuse from Ichigo, there was no way his body could take another massive blow like that and survive. She turned to Nnoitra. Her hand twitched toward the hilt of her blade, but she didn't draw it.
"You…"
Her eyes began glowing a bright red. Her reiatsu took on a physical form and started swirling around her.
"You…You fucking killed Grimmjow."
Nnoitra actually had the nerve to smirk at her.
"I'll fucking kill you, you BASTARD!"
With a speed he couldn't hope to match or follow, she drew Ryuusei and slashed his stomach. She shunpo'd around to his back and knocked him on the ground. She pointed the tip of her blade at the back of his neck.
"Kurosaki, cover that fucking brat's eyes and ears. Inoue, you might want to do the same for yourself. This is gonna get loud, and you're not gonna want to see this."
Reiko waited for her orders to be followed before slamming Ryuusei into Nnoitra. She dragged her blade down the line of his spine, splitting open his back. Ichigo's hands couldn't keep Nel from hearing Nnoitra's pained screams. As much as he tried to look away, Ichigo couldn't stop watching. He could tell how angry and hurt she was just from her eyes. Her face was emotionless. Reiko smirked, breaking the mask. She leaned her mouth down next to Nnoitra's ear.
"I told you I'd kill you."
She removed Ryuusei from Nnoitra's back and shoved it through his head. Ichigo could hear her trying, and failing, to muffle her crying. She turned her eyes to Grimmjow and Ichigo could see the tears falling from her eyes. She turned her pained eyes to Ichigo.
"You let him die."
She stood and started walking over to him. The tip of her blade was dragging on the ground.
"You let my Grimmy die."
Ichigo saw her raise her blade and got ready to defend. As much as he hated the thought, he knew he'd have to fight her. He could see so many holes in her defense. She obviously was too enraged to care.
"I'll kill you, just like I killed Nnoitra."
She swung, almost lazily, at him. Ichigo was still so pumped up on adrenaline that he swung full force at her. She smirked and moved her neck into the line of his attack. Ichigo knew at that moment she was trying to make him kill her. His old friend's blood stained his zanpakuto as she fell to the ground. He had killed her.
Ichigo fell to his hands and knees. He let go of his zanpakuto and screamed. The memory of his zanpakuto cutting into his old friend kept replaying in his mind. He could feel Orihime's hand touch his shoulder and he flinched away from it.
"I-Ichigo…"
He could see Nel trembling near Reiko's body. She was staring down at it with horror. As much as Ichigo wanted to move her away, he couldn't. He saw Orihime grab Nel's hand and pull her away. Orihime couldn't tear her eyes away from Reiko.
Slowly, Ichigo crawled over to where Reiko was laying. He carefully moved her close to Grimmjow. He tried not to disturb her too much. Once he finished moving her, he stood up. Orihime had to help him stand properly. He looked down at his zanpakuto. It still had her blood on it. He couldn't hold it anymore. Not after it had taken the life of his old friend.
"Ichigo, we have to go…"
Ichigo shook his head.
"I can't… Not after…"
Orihime frowned. Tears were filling her eyes. She wasn't close to Reiko, but her life had been impacted by the green-haired girl. Being near Reiko made her feel stronger. Now that she was gone, she felt powerless.
Ichigo nodded and picked up his zanpakuto.
"Let's go, Orihime."