X-X-X-X-X
Several days after her arrival, and Kaida was going stir-crazy.
Cooped up in her and Grimmjow's room, all she ever had to do all day was think and listen to Grimmjow's colorful complaining.
They both ate in silence, and slept the same way, and then spent the day either arguing, which was a sight to see, though rare now, or ignoring each other, lost in the stifling silence, trapped in their own thoughts.
This particular day, however, about a week after her arrival, and Kaida had seriously had enough.
If she had to stare at that SAME patch of white wall any freaking longer, she was gonna go insane.
Then it hit her.
Back in Soul Society, she had observed several occasions when, bored to tears, Ikaku and Yumichika, and occasionally Kempachi and Yachiru, would just start fighting.
Training.
With a sly grin she stood quietly, as to not disturb the quiet mumbling of her companion, and walked across the room slowly, as though making her way to her bed.
She grinned fully, her back to Grimmjow, before shunpo-ing across the room.
She caught him completely off guard, knocking him over and pinning him to the floor, grinning at him, before leaping off him, careful of the hand that had just made a swipe for her.
"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR?!" Grimmjow yelled, jumping to his feet, glaring at her.
Kaida actually giggled, hopping form foot to foot excitedly. She hadn't had this much fun since before she had gotten to Hueco Mundo, and she had almost forgotten what actual "human" contact felt like.
Grimmjow growled at her, uncertain of what the hell was going on, but unwilling to turn his back on her. Slowly, he circled around the room, and she mirrored him, going the opposite way, suddenly exorbitantly bright red eyes locked on him.
And then she took a step closer, and vanished again.
If he hadn't been an Espada, he suspected she probably would have overpowered him a long time ago; even so, it was difficult to keep up with her speed.
She faked left, dodged right, and made a faint to the side, before catching him squarely in the ribs with a perfect right hook.
Slightly winded, he doubled over, catching her arm and twisting it, but too late. She was two steps ahead of him, using her weight and momentum to throw them both back, wriggling out from his grip in the ensuing pileup.
She danced across the room, her quick footwork never stopping, even when she came to a single spot, she was constantly moving her feet, breathing evenly as she raised her fists in a mock fight pose, eyes still trained on him as he pushed himself up.
He still wasn't quite sure what was going on, but she was a Captain, and hadn't tried to kill him yet. True, that right hook had hurt like shit, but there were no broken bones, just bruises.
She was pulling her punches, stretching this out.
Basically, he concluded, she wasn't fighting for real, she was play fighting, training, maybe just testing him.
He still wasn't sure, but he would play along.
He lunged for her from across the room, using his taller frame and longer legs to his advantage, eating up the small space between them with ease, but she was smaller and more agile, far more likely to slip through his grasp if he wasn't careful.
Another left faint, their right fists connected, and he was confused, until he felt the limb lock up. He swore under his breath as she came in for a high kick, aiming for his chest. He brought his free arm up to block, but suddenly the trajectory of her leg was changing, and she snapped the foot in right behind his knee, buckling the whole leg.
And then she was dancing away again, grinning outright now, a fine sheen of sweat covering her brow, hair falling into her eyes.
Panting, he grinned too, shaking out his arm and leg before going back in.
This time she came in straight at him, body centered, arms up to block around her face, then she was ducking, knees touching the floor as she skidded under his hakama, his curse was answered by a laugh as she came up behind him, a left punch aimed for his shoulder.
He barely blocked, before they were separating again, both grinning like maniacs, lost in the high of their fight, evenly matched.
Another step, and they were locked again, she coming in with a right faint, him with a left punch. She dodged, fainting right again before coming in on his left, skipping under his arm as it swung, before suddenly setting her feet. One hand gripped his wrist, the other coming up on his thigh as she came up into his stomach, her shoulder winding him as she made contact, knees snapping out, straightening her legs completely as she twisted at the hip, lifting him bodily off the floor with her momentum, bringing him crashing down on to the white stone.
They separated, her to stand beside her bed, him to stagger to his feet where he had landed, in front of the couch.
Both were panting heavily, chests heaving for air, sweat slicking back hair and making clothes stick uncomfortably.
But their eyes were locked, and their smiles were broad.
Kaida suddenly started to laugh, loud and long and clear, a bright, brilliant sound that rang off the walls, reverberating through the space as she fell back on her bed, spread eagle on her back.
As her chuckles subsided, Grimmjow collapsed onto the couch, grinning form ear to ear.
"Thanks Grimmjow." She said, still laughing.
"You're welcome, Shinigami. But next time, give me some warning first." He said, shaking his head. She stopped laughing, sitting up to glare at him.
"And give you the advantage?" she asked in mock indignation. He blinked, then laughed too.
"And don't do that." She said suddenly. He stopped laughing as well.
"What?" he asked, suddenly irritated. "Is laughing a crime now?"
"No no no!" she said hurriedly, raising her hands in mock defense.
"I called you by name, so why can't you use mine?"
He blinked at her for several long moments, watching her bright red eyes shift across his face curiously.
Finally, he grinned.
"Alright then, Kaida."
X-X-X-X-X
Yeah, the fight scene was fun to write…and it's just some random, useless fluff between the two of them there at the end, AAND more characters will actually make APPEARANCES in the next few chapters, and we will finally GET ON WITH IT!!
OH YEAH, BABY!!
…yeah, I'm done…
ANYWAY, READ, REVIEW, AND (possibly) GET A COOKIE!!
ARIGATO!!
WPD