Reign Over Me
Chapter 25: Rain On Me
Grimmjow watched the two captains get dressed for their mission with the Espada. He noted the differences between the ways they did things. While Soi Fon did everything in a tight, methodical way, Yoruichi was far more relaxed. However relaxed she may have appeared, Grimmjow had a feeling she was very aware of everything that was around her. Right now, they were in the armory, getting several little things they might need. Wonderweiss was sitting on the floor next to Grimmjow, playing with a red ball. Yoruichi looked over at them.
"So what does the kid do? He doesn't exactly strike me as the dangerous type," Yoruichi said. Grimmjow looked down at Wonderweiss.
"Why don't you try taking that ball from him?" Grimmjow gave her a sly grin. Yoruichi raised an eyebrow. She walked over to Wonderweiss and reached for the ball. Wonderweiss saw her coming and moved it from within her grasp. Yoruichi frowned and tried to take it again. Wonderweiss moved it again. Not wanting to lose, Yoruichi used her speed to gain the upper hand and took the ball from Wonderweiss. She stood up straight.
"Ha! You're not so tough, kid. Pretty good refle..." Yoruichi stopped when Wonderweiss suddenly had the hand that wasn't holding the ball in a death grip. She turned only to get it twisted behind her back. The ball fell from her hands and Wonderweiss released her and chased after it. He sat back down next to Grimmjow and continued to play as if nothing had happened. Yoruichi leaned against the wall, rubbing her wrist. She glared at Grimmjow.
"What are you giving me that look for? You took the ball from him." Grimmjow hid his laughter. "So ladies, what makes the Second Authority any different from those Eleventh Authority punks?" he asked. Soi Fon and Yoruichi looked at one another. Before Grimmjow could do anything, Yoruichi was behind him and Soi Fon was on top of him.
"We're very different from the Eleventh Authority. We're in a totally different league," Soi Fon said, leaning down to Grimmjow's face. Then she was gone.
"League? They do not even play the same SPORT as us. Whereas the Eleventh Authority is all brawn, we're all stealth and tactics," Yoruichi whispered in his ear. Then she, too, was gone. Grimmjow blinked and the lights in the armory went out. Wonderweiss paid no attention and continued playing with his ball.
Grimmjow stood up and moved around the shelves, looking for the women. He had been given the ability to see in the dark for some reason. Nel had always said it made his eyes appear like they were glowing. He listened carefully for any noise the women made. Instead, he decided to talk to them.
"So, what makes a good operative for the Second?" Grimmjow asked as he prowled around. He looked up as he saw what he thought was a body on top of one of the shelves.
"In the Eleventh, you have to be good at one thing: fighting. In the Second, you have to be good at a few things: fighting..." Soi Fon's voice rang out from somewhere in the room. It was hard for Grimmjow to pinpoint where.
"… tactics and, most of all, you have to be," Yoruichi said. It sounded like she was above him.
"... good at being bad," Soi Fon whispered in Grimmjow's ear. Grimmjow's eyes widened and he turned to grab her only to find that she was gone. He saw a body land on his outstretched hand. A pair of glowing yellow eyes met his glowing blue ones.
"We're the fastest beings alive, Grimm; me being the fastest. How do you think I was able to keep up with a speeding van?"
"I doubt you're faster than Stark," Grimmjow said. He tried to grab Yoruichi only to find that he was touching an after-image.
"I have seen Stark's speed. I must say that I am impressed. But, we'll never know until we race. Rarely, and I mean RARELY, do I ever just haul ass for the hell of it."
"Tell us, Jeagerjaques," Soi Fon said.
"What, little bee?" Grimmjow flinched when a foot made contact with the back of his head.
"Are you good at being bad?"
"What the hell kind of question is that?" The lights came back on. Grimmjow tried to hide his surprise when he saw both captains stand on either side of him.
"The kitty will do, Soi."
"I suppose so, Yoruichi."
"What should I expect?" Halibel asked Ulquiorra. She too was getting dressed.
"These new soldiers Aizen has are... different," Ulquiorra said.
"Like the one I fought before?"
"In terms of strength, I suppose. I was still able to hold him off with one hand. His movements were erratic, as if he were not aware of what he was doing and just attacking the closest thing in sight," Ulquiorra said.
"A berserker." Halibel slipped her mask around head but did not pull it up. She looked at Ulquiorra. "And you are physically stronger than me. How did you defeat said berserker?"
"He wore a type of mask. I slammed him into the roof face first and the mask shattered. He fell unconscious. The woman Stark was fighting also wore one. Stark broke hers. She did not fall unconscious, but became sane again." Ulquiorra recalled when the one named "Lisa" had attacked the one controlling their transformations. "They apparently are not always in control of their actions. They even attacked the ones controlling them. It was grisly."
"What was the damage?" Halibel asked. Ulquiorra walked over to Halibel and grabbed hold of her side. She looked over at him, a little surprised.
"Imagine that I ripped this much flesh out of you," Ulquiorra said. Halibel looked up at him in what appeared to be horror. "The one called Lisa did it as if it was nothing. Her strikes were causing the woman's shield to break. I have a feeling that if I had been struck, she would have killed me."
"So our best bet would be to avoid at all costs until we figure out a way to combat them?"
"There seems to be a frequency that they react to. Perhaps Szayel can find it," Ulquiorra said. Halibel nodded.
"Sounds practical. Let's go. Nnoitra is our transportation." Halibel noticed the look Ulquiorra was giving her. "What? He insisted and considering this is a rescue mission from Aizen's compound, he IS the best driver. Plus, he won't let me out of his sight." Halibel mumbled the last sentence as she exited the room. Ulquiorra just followed her out.
Orihime sat Kyoka Suigetsu down. It was the second time that she had seen the sword that day. The sword seemed to gather an enormous amount of negative energy in a short amount of time. Orihime did not know how. But every time she came back to negate it, she had to put more effort into it. She had only been there for about three days and she was already exhausted.
What's causing the sword to erode away like this? Orihime thought as she ran her hand over the top of it.
"All the negativity," Ayame said.
"All the evil," Shun'o said. Orihime looked at her two companions. "We can keep rejecting the negativity that enters the sword. But your will is not into it, Orihime. Unless you want the sword to heal, it will only come back and you will have to keep putting yourself through this."
Orihime nodded. She did not want to help Aizen. She did not want to be of use to him. She did not care if the sword broke into a million pieces and Aizen decided to kill her. At least she would have done one thing right. He would lose his stranglehold on the world.
"I don't care what happens to me, Shun'o. I don't care how many times I have to do this. I don't care how much it drains from me. I'm not giving more than I have to." Orihime stood shakily. She used the wall to support her as she walked to the door.
As soon as she exited she suddenly got a heavy feeling in her chest. She almost fell over when a hand closed around her arm, catching her. Orihime looked up when she did not fall. She saw that a small was holding her up. She looked at who the hand was attached to. A woman was smiling kindly down at her. Orihime swallowed. The woman looked oddly familiar but Orihime could not place where she had seen her. The woman's presence was as heavy as Aizen's if not heavier, but it was so much kinder. Still, she was scary. A taller woman was standing next to her.
"Are you okay, dear?" she asked her. Orihime nodded, standing up straight. The woman looked her over. "You don't look all right. In fact, you look quite sickly." The woman faced her fully. Orihime caught the full blast of her presence and gasped. She nearly passed out. Seeing this, the woman reached in the basket she was carrying. She held out a cookie to Orihime, a smile on her face.
"What's that?" Orihime asked.
"What does it look like? It is a cookie. Eat it. I promise you'll feel better," the woman said. Orihime looked at the cookie and then the woman. She hesitantly took the cookie and then took a bite. After swallowing, she felt a great deal lighter. "Feel better?"
"Yes, ma'am." Orihime finished the cookie. "I'm Orihime Inoue."
"Ah, yes. You must not remember me. I'm Retsu Unohana. I'm the Chief Physician of the Fourth Authority. This is my deputy, Isane Kotetsu." Unohana gestured towards Isane. Isane bowed towards Orihime. "I take it Sosuke brought you here," Unohana said. Orihime nodded, her face darkening slightly.
"Yes."
"Don't look so down. I'm sure things will get better before they get worse. As a doctor, I am telling you to go get some rest, though. You do not look well, Miss Inoue," she said. Orihime nodded and sneaked off to her room.
Tatsuki was waiting for her. Ever since Orihime had revealed ever detail of the past six or so months, Tatsuki had been somewhat in awe of the whole situation. IT was almost as if she had no idea how to react to their current predicament. Then the real test of Tatsuki's nerve had come when Orihime had sent Tsubaki at her and Tatsuki had dodged deftly. When asked how she did it, Tatsuki had only replied that it seemed like the natural thing to do.
"Orihime, today is different," Tatsuki said, staring out the window. Orihime closed the door behind her. She walked over to Tatsuki and sat down next to her.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"It's getting so dark outside," Tatsuki said. She finally looked at Orihime. Some of the color had returned to Orihime's face. "It is the middle of the day, yet it is almost as dark as dusk."
"The clouds are blocking out the sun. They are heavy with rain. Maybe it will rain," Orihime said with a shrug. Tatsuki looked back out the window.
I think it's more than that, she thought.
"Okay, Cero. Remember that this tower also has CHILDREN. We don't want to be remembered for slaughtering a bunch of kids. Make sure every kid is out before you get nasty. Got it?" Apache said. Yammy eyed her lazily.
"Whatever. Can I just go?" Yammy scratched his head. Apache rolled her eyes and waved him off.
Yammy practically rolled out of the van. Mila-Rose and Sun-Sun had already gone on ahead to clear the building. Yammy was just reinforcement just in case someone like the 11th Authority came. As he turned the corner, he was in luck. Some 11th Authority soldiers were standing in front of the hijacked building. Yammy cracked his knuckles and walked forward.
"Yo! Why go in there when you can have fun with me?" Yammy yelled. The soldiers turned around, looking up at the massive man as he approached them. "I'm the Cero. It's a pleasure to meet you," Yammy said, giving an over-exaggerated bow. He grabbed one of the soldiers by head.
Up in the tower, Sun-Sun was confused. She was watching two people fight over who was going to help their apparently sick boss down the tower's steps. The handsome man with the white hair was watching with an exasperated look on his face. He shook his head and then looked at Sun-Sun.
"Sorry about this. Kiyone and Sentaro are just really... devoted," the head of the 13th Authority said. Then he went into a violent coughing fit. The fighting subsided between the two known as Kiyone and Sentaro. Kiyone was at her boss' side immediately. "I'm fine, Kiyone. Really," he said.
"Mr. Ukitake, you have to rest," Sentaro said. Ukitake waved a hand.
"I don't think our hijackers will allow that. I don't think she wants to kill me." He looked up at Sun-Sun. "Am I correct in assuming so?" he asked.
"You are. Let's go." Sun-Sun turned her back on them. Before walking off, she turned her head to the side. "It is inadvisable for you to try anything while following me. You could risk setting off the bombs," she said.
Ukitake smirked as he started to follow. The quiet girl was pretty gutsy to walk around without watching them. But then, he highly doubted that she was alone in the building. Someone was probably watching them from a safe distance. His suspicions were confirmed when they arrived to the foyer and seemingly out of nowhere, another female appeared in front of her. She, too, wore a mask. They conversed for a few moments before she walked over to Ukitake and looked in his eyes. Ukitake just smiled at her.
"Did you teach those brats to be that evil?" she yelled at him. Ukitake blinked at her for a moment. Before he could answer, Kiyone and Sentaro stepped up to her.
"Listen here, lady! Don't get in Mr. Ukitake's face like that!" Sentaro yelled. Mila-Rose glared down at Sentaro. She placed a finger on his forehead and flung him to the side. Ukitake was a little amazed at her strength. He looked back at Mila-Rose.
"As I was saying, what is with those little savages you have?" she asked. Ukitake smiled sheepishly.
"I hope they weren't too much of a bother. You came after snack time," he said.
"What did you give them for snacks? A bucket of sugar?" Mila-Rose nearly screamed. Ukitake shrugged. Mila-Rose sighed and pointed to the door. "Take them out so I can finish up here. We must hurry. It looks like rain."
Nanao Ise stared at the shorter being in front of her. She had been having a hard time telling if it was male or female. Then it had spoken to the one who was obviously a female. She had said something rather demeaning and the response from the short one had come out in a totally different voice. Needless to say, Nanao's whole perception of the one called "Sexta Beta" had changed.
"Head Kyoraku, where is the boiler room?" the female known as the Tercera Beta asked. Kyoraku looked up happily at the voluptuous woman.
"What would you want with the boiler room? Besides, you're better off asking Nanao about something like that. I wouldn't know where the bathrooms were on this floor if it weren't for her," Kyoraku said. Nanao sighed. The Tercera Beta nodded and looked over at Nanao.
"Miss Ise?" Nel asked. Nanao looked at her.
"I'd be far better off showing you than telling you," she said. Nel nodded.
"Primera," she said as Stark and Zommari walked in the room. Stark fought the urge to sigh as he met Nel's eyes. "Miss Ise will show you where the boiler room. Won't you Miss Ise?" Nel asked. Nanao gulped as Stark was suddenly in her face.
"It's on the basement floor," Nanao sputtered out quickly.
"Excuse me," Stark said as he wrapped his arm around Nanao's waist and pulled her closer. Nanao only had time to look at Kyoraku once. Then everything blurred out of sight.
"Wow. He's pretty fast," Kyoraku said with a grin. He looked at Nel. "My Nanao is safe, right?"
"Don't worry, Head Kyoraku. Primera is very... delicate with women. I'm more concerned for his well-being actually," Nel said. Kyoraku raised an eyebrow. "No matter what, he will not strike a woman."
"Such an honorable man."
"Such a lazy one," Luppi said. Nel smacked him in the back of the head. Kyoraku smirked and looked back at Nel.
"What have you all done with my employees?"
"They are safe. You needn't worry about them," Nel said. She glanced at Zommari, who checked a watch on his wrist. He nodded at her and headed for the door. As he opened the door, Stark and Nanao came back into the room. Stark released Nanao and she went spinning into Kyoraku. He caught her deftly.
"So... fast..." Nanao whispered into his chest. She looked up at Kyoraku.
"Faster than me?" he asked. Nanao stood up straight and straightened her clothes out. She turned away from Kyoraku, fixing her hair.
"Perhaps."
Nel looked at the two for a moment. Then she shrugged. She motioned for Stark and Luppi to get moving. After they left the room, she faced Nanao and Kyoraku again.
"Five minutes." She glanced out the window of the office. "It looks like rain."
Yoruichi, Soi Fon, Grimmjow, and Wonderweiss stood across from the 2nd Tower. Grimmjow had to admit that the ladies had a point about their tower needing to be renovated. It looked outdated and ancient compared to the other towers he'd seen. He glanced over at Wonderweiss, who was looking up at the sky quizzically.
"Well, at least the barrier is still up," Soi Fon said. Yoruichi looked at her.
"And why is that a good thing?" Then she realized that Soi Fon was probably going to evaluate her men while all of this was happening. "Soi, the barrier being up presents a problem; a BIG problem. The only way we can break it from the outside is by using..." Before Yoruichi had finished, a bright red light flew past her peripheral vision. Soi Fon turned her head at the explosion.
There was suddenly a hole in the barrier. Grimmjow faced the ladies.
"Problem solved," he said. He glanced over at Wonderweiss. "Let's go, kid." He patted Wonderweiss on the head. Wonderweiss stood and followed Grimmjow down to the tower's entrance. Soi Fon and Yoruichi followed.
Inside the tower's courtyard, they were quickly surrounded. Yoruichi counted in her mind how many were there. A total of 25 came to attempt to stop their ambush.
"State your business!" someone yelled. Soi Fon laughed.
"Since when do you ASK someone what their business is when they break in?" she asked. She walked forward, removing her mask. Grimmjow raised an eyebrow, wondering what she was doing. Yoruichi just shook her head. "You could all be dead right now. I can't believe this bullshit I'm seeing. You aren't fit to work for me!" Soi Fon yelled.
"Ca-Ca-Captain Soi Fon, ma'am!" They all dropped their guard. That was when Yoruichi struck.
Grimmjow's keen eye could not keep up with her body, if it was indeed her body he was looking at. Was she actually moving so fast that every time she stopped to attack she would leave an after-image? Her subordinates literally never saw her coming. When she had downed all 25 men in less than 15 seconds, she strode back over to them. Soi Fon was pulling back on her mask.
"What took you so long?" Soi Fon asked. Yoruichi narrowed her amber eyes. Soi Fon smirked beneath her mask and they headed to the tower where they left Wonderweiss to guard the entrance.
"Why are we going to your office, little bee? Shouldn't we plant bombs and stuff?" Grimmjow asked. Soi Fon rolled her eyes.
"Do you have bombs to plant, Jeagerjaques? If so, be my guest. If not, shut the fuck up and let me do my job," she said. Grimmjow frowned and looked back at the snickering Yoruichi.
"Don't you have an office?"
"No. I don't need one. I'm constantly in 'stealth mode.' I leave all the paperwork to Soi. That's probably why she's such a tight-ass," Yoruichi said.
Soi Fon kept walking, pretending she could not hear Yoruichi and Grimmjow making jokes at her expense. When she came to her office, she pushed the door open and almost screamed at the mess inside. Grimmjow and Yoruichi came up beside and stopped.
There were potato chip bags, empty and half-full, strewn across the floor and her desk. Empty soda cans and bottles were on the floor. There were burger wrappers, candy wrappers, and any kind of wrapper you could think of on the floor. The place was a pigsty. The person responsible had his feet propped up on Soi Fon's desk and was leaning back in her chair, snoring. A bag of cookies was in his hand, about to fall out. Soi Fon squeezed her fists together.
"OMAEDA!!!" she yelled. The much larger man jumped out of his slumber at the sound of his name. He looked to his right and left before finally looking directly ahead of him at Soi Fon, Yoruichi, and Grimmjow.
"Captain? Is that you?" he asked. Soi Fon did not need to answer. In less than a second, her tiny hands had themselves wrapped around his neck, trying to squeeze the life out of him. "Ca-Ca-Captain Soi Fon! You're ali-li-live!" Omaeda said.
"Of course I'm alive, maggot!" Soi Fon said as Grimmjow pulled her off of Omaeda. "Get your fat ass out of my chair," she said. Omaeda did as he was told. Soi Fon took his place. She looked at her desk and sighed. Then she began going through her drawers.
"Omaeda, why is there no one here?" Yoruichi asked. Omaeda looked over at his other captain.
"Well, uh..."
"And those twenty-five I took out in the front were the small-fry. Where is everyone?" she asked.
"The weather wasn't looking too spiffy, and we get bored enough here, so I gave them the day off," he said. Yoruichi shoo her head and Soi Fon punched him in the gut. Omaeda doubled over. "I'm sorry, captain."
"Not as sorry as you'll be in about five minutes." Soi Fon handed Grimmjow the intercom mic. "Ask everyone that IS here to leave. Nicely." She turned it on.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Sexta Alpha speaking. The Second Tower has been experiencing some technical difficulties of late and thereby must be demolished. The demolition is scheduled to begin in five minutes. If you do not want to die, get the fuck out. Thank you and have a pleasant day," Grimmjow said in the falsest voice he could muster.
When he finished, Yoruichi was banging her hand on the desk and laughing so hard she was crying. Soi Fon was glaring bloody murder at him. Omaeda was looking between the three in astonishment. Grimmjow shrugged and handed Soi Fon the microphone.
"What? I said 'Thank you and have a pleasant day.' What more do you want from me?" he said. Yoruichi looked up, wiping her eyes.
"I think saying 'get the fuck out' kinda nullified it though," she said.
"Whatever."
"Captain Soi Fon? Captain Shihouin? You are really going to blow up the tower?" Omaeda asked shakily. Soi Fon stood up, waving what looked like some sort of detonator in her hand. "What's that?"
"Something you should've gotten rid of, asshole." Soi Fon handed it off to Yoruichi. Then she looked back at Omaeda. "You're going to watch. Come on!" She pulled him off with Grimmjow snickering behind her.
Yoruichi caught sight of something strange out of the corner of her eye as they passed the window. She stopped walking to see if it would happen again. When it did not, she shrugged and kept moving.
That could not have been lightning. Still, Yoruichi took one more glance out of the window, it does look like a storm approaches.
Orihime opened her eyes. She was standing in a black void. She turned in a big circle. Once she finished a complete turn, she came face to face with a mirror. Orihime looked down. The chain was there. But there was something different about the chain. She held it up.
It's broken, she thought.
Suddenly, the chain started to... eat itself. It was the strangest thing Orihime had ever seen. Then she looked in the mirror. It was not her reflection that she was seeing. She was seeing someone totally different. She was seeing...
"Who are you?" Orihime found herself asking. She did not know if the person would answer.
"I am Kyoka Suigetsu, Miss Inoue. I have a question for you." A sword was talking to her. Or, the "spirit" of the sword, maybe. Orihime did not know how to describe it.
"What is your question?"
"You want to protect. You want to help. Why do you not want to help me?" the sword asked. Orihime bit her lip.
"You do bad things."
"I do only as I am told. By your reasoning, you should have allowed your friend Tatsuki to die. Did she not KILL? Did she not take a life of her own? Yet, she was only doing as she was told. Yet, when she was killed, you brought her back. But, you will not help me as I know you can," the sword said to her.
Orihime had no rebuttal. Were their situations the same? Orihime closed her eyes.
"No! You and Tatsuki are nothing alike. You are an inanimate object. You do bad things to people and I won't help you. At all!" Orihime shook her head. "Why am I arguing with a sword? Let me out of here! I want out!" she screamed. She opened her eyes to find herself surrounded with mirrors. All she could see was the sword. She looked down at the broken chain. She did not quite understand what was happening with it. "I said let me OUT!"
"Orihime!" Tatsuki yelled. Orihime sat up, throwing her friend back. She looked over at Tatsuki. "You okay?"
"What happened?" Orihime whispered. She put a hand to her chest. There was nothing there except her white tank top. Tatsuki stood and sat on the bed next to her.
"I think you were having a nightmare. She were squeezing your shirt and moaning. You sure you're okay?" she asked.
"I'll be..." An explosion in the distance caught Orihime's eye and she stopped talking. "Tatsuki, look." She pointed out of the balcony doors. Tatsuki's eyes widened. Soon after, another occurred that was closer in the Rukongai.
"Two explosions? They have to be towers, right?" Tatsuki asked. Orihime nodded slowly. She was about to stand when an explosion just to the left of the compound rocked the room. She almost fell off the bed before Tatsuki, with her newfound reflexes, caught her arm and held her steady.
"That had to be the Second Tower," Orihime said.
"What's going on?" Tatsuki asked.
"What do you think?" Orihime looked at her, a small smile on her face. Tatsuki nodded slowly. Then Orihime's smile disappeared. "But why three at a time?" she whispered.
Tatsuki looked back out the balcony doors while Orihime contemplated aloud the reasons why the Espada would be blowing three towers at once. She stiffened when she saw the masked figures land silently and smoothly on the terrace. The one who was obviously a male walked over to the door. She watched him break the lock on the door and enter. The female lingered outside for a moment before entering as well. Tatsuki noticed that Orihime had stopped talking. She was also looking at the two intruders, mainly the male.
"Ulquiorra?" Orihime whispered. Tatsuki looked between the two.
"Come, woman. We don't have much..." Orihime barreled into Ulquiorra, nearly knocking him over. Ulquiorra could only stand there and take the bear hug she was giving him. He slowly closed his arms around her body. Then he heard her sniffling. "Woman, you better not be leaking fluids on me."
"I'm not," Orihime said as she stepped back. She was wiping tears away. She looked at Tatsuki. "Can Tatsuki come?" She looked at Halibel. Halibel glared at Tatsuki.
"Fine. Let's move." Halibel walked over to Tatsuki and pulled her to her feet.
Aizen sat his teacup down. He looked at Unohana. The woman looked just as calm as he did as she watched the burning towers in the distance.
"I think Orihime is being a very bad girl. Momo dear, have Shinji send someone after my pet. I don't want her getting lost in the rain," Aizen said.
"Yes, Lord Aizen." Momo left hastily. Unohana looked over at him.
"Are you sure that your meddling at this time will not CAUSE the rain? The poor girl looked not like an angel of life but rather like one of death when I saw her," Unohana said.
"Then let us hope," Aizen picked his teacup up, "that she plays the martyr once again."
Orihime was on Ulquiorra's back while Halibel carried Tatsuki. While Orihime was used to the great speed of Ulquiorra, she wondered how Tatsuki was faring with Halibel. Orihime had to admit that she had never actually seen Halibel in action except that one time when she was fighting off of emotions. To see her on a mission was actually... different.
"Quinta should not be far from here," Halibel called to Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra nodded.
Orihime felt him shift her slightly. Wondering what he was doing, she saw him take her hand in his while still holding her with his other hand. She leaned down to hear him.
"If you ever do something like this again, I will never forgive you," Ulquiorra said. Orihime smiled. She nodded as he jumped to another building just behind Halibel.
Nnoitra perked up when he saw Halibel and Ulquiorra land a few feet away from them. It always made him quite angry that he could never have the kind of grace that Ulquiorra and Grimmjow seemed to have when they moved. Halibel was a woman; she was expected to be graceful.
Oh well. I'm taller, Nnoitra thought with a smug grin. He noticed that they had an extra body with them. Frowning, he had half a mind to get out and start yelling obscenities, but something made him stop that train of thought.
Something with a mask and a very mean disposition. He stuck his head out of the window.
"Watch out!" Nnoitra yelled.
Halibel put Tatsuki down and pushed her forward towards the van. She turned to see what Nnoitra was talking about. Ulquiorra and Orihime were just landing. She turned and looked back at Nnoitra. He was pointing up frantically. Halibel looked up. A blonde man was coming down towards her. He wore an odd mask that looked like...
"A bird beak?" Halibel whispered. She jumped out of the way as he came down on her. She barely blocked a punch. When it made contact with her arm, she winced a bit. The blonde man kept up his attack. Halibel managed to get hold of both of his arms. She pulled him forward as she brought her right leg up. He fell back, but was up immediately. A piece of the mask had broken off over his left eye and blood rolled down his temple. He was seemingly unaffected.
Ulquiorra wasn't kidding when he said they weren't aware of what was going on, Halibel thought.
Ulquiorra pulled Orihime to him and tried to move towards the van. Orihime continued to watch Halibel and the masked man fight. Halibel was more in control of her emotions this time, so she was faring much better than before. Halibel spared the two a single glance. Before they were completely clear of Halibel and the blonde one, the woman with the diamond-shaped mask appeared in front of Ulquiorra.
Just as Halibel shoved the blonde man into the wall, effectively shattering the remainder of his mask and knocking him unconscious, she also saw Orihime go flying backwards. Ulquiorra had shoved her back just as the woman with the diamond mask reached into his chest. Halibel's eyes widened. She started forward.
"Get... Orihime..." Ulquiorra whispered. He was holding the woman's hand in his chest as she tried to wriggle free. Halibel nodded slowly while rubbing her arm and walked over to Orihime, who was slowly regaining her bearings. Ulquiorra had tossed her a good distance from him.
"Where's Ulqui..." Orihime looked over at Ulquiorra and Lisa. She stood up without Halibel's help. "Ulquiorra..."
Halibel stepped back as something began to form behind Orihime's head. She noticed the girl's eyes were locked on Ulquiorra's attacker. Halibel watched the little blur behind Orihime continue to grow and grow. Orihime's eyes looked a bit clouded over.
"Koten Zanshun, I reject," she said. Then the light flew past her head, nearly knocking her Halibel over.
Ulquiorra blinked when he saw Tsubaki fly past him and slam into the Lisa's head before him. Not only did her mask crack, but a large cut appeared on the side of her face. She released her hold on Ulquiorra's insides. Her eyes drooped and she fell to the ground in front of Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra stood there for a moment, holding the gaping wound in his chest.
Hm. It doesn't hurt. I wonder what that was she put in me, he thought. He looked down at his hand, seeing his blood mix with a thick black substance. Ulquiorra coughed a bit. Some of the substance came up with his blood. He coughed again and fell down. He could hear Orihime in the back, screaming his name.
"Ulquiorra!" Orihime fell on her knees next to Ulquiorra. He was not really focusing on anything. He was just staring straight ahead. "Ulquiorra!" She was choking on tears.
"Woman, don't start crying. The last thing I want to see is your tears," Ulquiorra said quietly. Orihime smiled a little. Then she looked him over. He had no idea that she could see straight through him; Lisa had pierced a hole straight through him.
"I have to fix you. Hold still, okay?" Orihime said.
Ulquiorra was not listening. He had stopped feeling everything. All he felt now was like he was above it all; like he was looking down on himself. He could vaguely see shadows around him. He blinked a couple of times.
"Take your time, woman. I don't even feel it," Ulquiorra whispered. Then he stopped breathing. Orihime gasped. Halibel's eyes widened.
"Ulquiorra? Ulquiorra?" She shook him a bit. When he did not respond at all, she glanced up at Halibel. Halibel just put a hand to her forehead in frustration.
"Try. I'm going to get Nnoitra," she said. Orihime nodded.
"Soten Kisshun, I reject." Orihime watched the shield form. After a few moments, she noticed nothing was happening. The wound was not closing. Orihime looked between Ayame and Shun'o. "What's going on?"
"We don't know. We can't reject this. Something is..." Shun'o stopped when she saw Orihime's face. "No, Orihime. Don't cry. We can try again." Shun'o nodded at Ayame, who also looked on the verge of tears.
Orihime stared down at Ulquiorra's body. When she looked at his face, he appeared to be sleeping. If was not for the gaping hole in his torso, that was what she would say he was doing. She could feel the tears coming. The wound was not closing. The blackness was not disappearing. He was not waking and chastising her for worrying. Orihime squeezed her eyes shut.
"Ulquiorra..." Her chest hurt. Every time her heart beat, it hurt. Shun'o and Ayame were still trying to reject Ulquiorra's death. "Ulquiorra..." The tears started to spill over just as the rain came down.
"Should I go get Pet-sama, Hal?" Nnoitra asked. Halibel sighed, rubbing her eyes. She nodded. Nnoitra started to get out of the van. Before he got far enough a bolt of lightning came down in front of him. He turned and looked back at Halibel.
"Maybe you should wait a few more seconds," Halibel said with a shrug. Nnoitra shook his head.
Ulquiorra, please... Orihime chanted in her mind. She was trying as hard as she could to heal him and he still was giving no indication that he was alive.
"Ulquiorra," she said. Nothing. "Ulquiorra!" Still nothing. Orihime slammed her fists into the gravel, drawing blood. Her chest was killing her. The image of the broken chain came back to her mind. Weren't they connected at one point? How did they separate?
"Orihime..." Shun'o looked back at her. Orihime looked at the two fairies. They were tiring and so was she.
"A few more minutes," she said. Shun'o nodded. Orihime stared down at him.
Ulquiorra, I can't do this alone. Please don't leave me, she thought.
"DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE, ULQUIORRA!"
Grimmjow turned his head as they landed on the wall leading to the Rukongai. He could have sworn he heard Orihime scream. And worse, he heard her scream "don't," "leave," and "Ulquiorra" all in the same sentence. He furrowed his eyebrows. Soi Fon noticed his frustration.
"Something wrong, Jeagerjaques?"
"I hope not. Let's go. Too much water out here. You'd think you guys would've checked the forecast for today," Grimmjow said.
"The big kitty afraid of a little rain?" Yoruichi asked.
"Hardy har-fuckin-har..."