(A/N) Plot building chapters ahead, just giving you a heads up. Whole new batch of oldie but goodie characters for you tho so maybe that'll ease the frustration of no gor or sex.
anyways, hope you are all staying safe out there. to echo 9/10 of the world rn- stay the fuck home. Also! forgot to mention int but good song to mood set with last chapter is Ruelle Deep End . any suggestions to go with this one? LMK in the comments.
Chapter 19
The woman opened her eyes to find herself in a room filled with light. The effect was only heightened by clean white sheets spread over her. She didn't recognize the room she was in, what she could see from her position lying down. Where was she? How did she get here? And why did this feel like a familiar situation? Her mind began reeling and she closed her eyes trying to block out the images flooding her of what had previously transpired to land her in this… place.
The smell of fresh blossoms drifted in on a light breeze filtering through the open window and she breathed deeply with a contented sigh. The soft scent relaxed her and she stretched her aching body as she tried to sort the confusing images in her mind.
She had vague impressions of greenery- a garden?- and people in black milling around. They had tried talking to her but her head was spinning and she couldn't focus. There was a man with grey eyes that looked like he understood. He- had he helped her? Yes! He protected her. He protected her from that other man. Teal hair and hole as black as night right through him! He was terrifying.
The woman gasped sharply in the bed as she remembered the utter terror and desolation she felt. No one had seemed to know what to do and there was a threat near. He could hurt or kill-! Her vision ran red as she struggled to recall more. Try as she might, before the garden there was only white…
Remember. Blood red. Bankai.
The sounds of shuffling paper near her made her sit up with a start. She was breathing heavy and couldn't help but let out a yelp at the sight of a thin blonde man sitting caddy-corner to her bed at the corner to the room. He raised weary eyes up to meet her own. Despite his gentle smile, his eyes looked irrevocably sad. He wore what looked like a black uniform and a sword in a sheath leaned against the seat next to him amid piles of barely organized papers.
"Hello," the man said gently, "I'm glad to see you are awake."
She stared at him with saucer eyes as she pulled herself from her thoughts even as a cold sweat still lay in a sheen on her brow. She looked quickly around the room at the unfamiliar surroundings before looking back at the slight man. "Where am I?" she asked in a trembling voice.
The man's sad eyes seemed to reflect pity in them. "You are in the infirmary of the Division 9 barracks," he replied, "The captain seems to have distinct worry about your wellbeing."
The woman's face screwed up in confusion, "The what?"
With a soft sigh, the man shut the large book on his lap. "You are in Soul Society, being taken care of by the members of the 9th division and their captain, Hisagi Shuuhei," he said patiently, reading the girl's face to see if she was following. "Soul Society is where souls go when they have died on earth," he further explained, "You came in under somewhat odd circumstances and so are being cared for here."
He could see the gears turning behind her black eyes as she looked at him passively, trying to make sense of what he had just told her. After Hisagi had told him how she had been back in Captain Kuchiki's garden, he was just grateful that she seemed to have ability to think. He had volunteered to watch over her to give him some much needed study time alone, but he had been worried that she would wake up raving.
"So," she said slowly, scrutinizing him warily, "you are a member of this 9th division then?"
"No," Kira responded, smiling softly, "I am actually studying for a captain's exam of my own. I volunteered to watch over you for the away time it would give me and as a favor to my friend. I'm Kira Izuru."
"Nice to meet you, I'm- huh," the girl led in politely but stumbled as she tried to remember anything at all, "I'm Ma…M… Mar…?"
Kira watched with definite pity as she faltered. It was clear that she remembered literally nothing from before she came to Soul Society; less than most, even. "Mara," Kira supplied her, having mercy on her struggle, "Your name is Mara. It is nice to meet you as well."
Mara, she thought to herself. The word seemed foreign to her, but it seemed to fit the empty spot in her head where her name used to live. A small comfort settled in her at the gift of identity that she had just been given. I think he's right. My name is Mara. "How did you know that?" she asked him, focusing her dark gaze on him with uncomfortable intensity.
"You have multiple tattoos, apparently. The name came from the one on your right arm," Kira answered quickly. He could understand her suspicion and fear. He watched her flip over her right arm and look at it quizzically before heaving a sigh. "I will alert Hisagi that you are awake. Do you need anything?"
"I- no," Mara replied in a voice laden with resignation, "Thank you though… Kira."
Mara stared out the window as she departed and tried to remain calm as she observed her new surroundings. She could hear voices carried on the breeze, what sounded like shouted commands and group responses, but they were too lost on the wind to make out. Sun spilled across green lawns and cobble stone streets with packed earth paths leading of them into the grassy areas. Birds chirped from their hiding spot inside flowering trees that released soft drifts of petals like snow.
Well, I suppose there are worse places to wake up. Not that I can think of a single fucking one.
Mara smiled ruefully to herself, running her arms over her forearm with the useful tattoo on it, before the door of her room slammed open and startled her out of her reverie. She jumped and turned to look at the door before her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach. "Oh shit!" she cried as she jumped off the bed to move near the wall, her wobbly legs nearly giving out as her feet hit the floor. She dove behind the bed.
Him. It. What the hell is it and why is it here? I thought… but the man with the gray eyes!
"Well, good morning to you, too sleeping beauty! Get your panties out of a wad, I'm just here to check on you for the Cap, a'ight?" Grimmjow said roughly. He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms as he stared at the other side of the bed to wait for a response. Of course, he wasn't actually there for the captain, he was there for himself. He'd been passing that hallway for hours waiting to see Kira emerge. He trusted his senses on that first day but part of him wanted to make sure that he was right and that she wasn't his ticket out of here.
Feeling the room as she sat in fear against the far wall only seemed to confirm that she was as cowardly and useless as the rest of them. Nor rietsu, no power, no nothing. Fuck it. He'd tried to tell Hisagi that he shouldn't speak for her. He'd even told Hisagi that keeping her here was a bad idea- what good could she do them now?- but no. Cap had to go and open his trap and now honor that shit. Now, he got to deal with a cowardly little girl- whom he had to admit had surprisingly good reflexes.
Mara stayed silent on the other side of the bed, wondering what to do. This... thing… said he was sent from the captain, but he was bad, like bad bad. Wasn't he? Finally, she gathered her breathe and thoughts enough to respond. "You were sent by a captain?" she asked, still not rising from her spot behind the bed.
"Not a captain, doll," his deep voice replied, seeming to sneer in reply, "The captain. You are in the Squad 9 barracks, which means that the members-"
"I know that," she grumbled out loud, "but I'm wondering why the hell I am here and why you are who was sent. Who is this all-powerful captain, anyways? And who-"
"Slow down, woman," Grimmjow said with a sigh, turning to the side to look over the scattered papers that Kira had left behind. Even the wannabe captain's study guide would be more useful than this bitch. "You are in Soul Society because you clearly died in the world of the living. You are in this squad's barrack because my captain may just be an idiot, as most shinigami are. And he is not all powerful, which is how this mess started in the first place."
Grimmjow's candor only served to confuse Mara more. She finally moved and peaked just the barest bit over the edge of the bed, relieved to find that those disconcerting teal eyes were not fixed on her. The tall man seemed to be looking at something where the blonde previously sat, and she examined his strong profile. His look was exotic compared to the few people she remembered seeing here, with flaming teal hair to match his eyes, which had equally bright teal markings around them, and a white outfit consisting of just loose pants and an open jacket with the sleeves rolled up. He was buff and clearly not afraid to show off the corded muscles in his large arms and defined waist. Mara hated to admit it, because he was still inexplicably scary, but he would be really hot if she weren't terrified of him.
"Shinigami?" she asked hesitantly, still not daring to come out further, but the man thing still didn't bother looking at her.
"Well aren't you gonna fit right in with the crowd here. A shinigami. A reaper. Help the lost little souls get to this place, their supposed fucking paradise," he said bitterly, as he lifted a few sheets of paper to look at more under them.
Mara didn't miss the insult, but she didn't miss the anger in his tone as he finished that statement either. Her curiosity won over pride, however, as she preferred to get answers from someone who didn't seem to mince words. "You aren't a shinigami," she stated, earning only a snort in return which almost made her smile. Almost. "Then who are you? You said this was all members of the 9th division."
Grimmjow sighed laboriously, leaning his head back so as to roll his eyes back even further. "Are we really doing the whole formal intro thing?" he asked, annoyed. He finally slanted a look over at Mara, who's head peeked comically above the edge of the bed. "For real? Ugh… I'm Grimmjow Jaegerjaques, the combat instructor for the ninth, and I am most definitely not a shinigami."
"I could tell that just by your outfit. And what's with your blue hair? Hair doesn't come in blue," Mara said primly.
Snorting disdainfully again, Grimmjow released the papers he was flipping to turn his face toward Mara, who had now risen to lean her arms on the edge of the bed. "You're one to talk, doll," he said with a pointedly raised eyebrow.
Mara's eyebrows furrowed as she looked at him suspiciously, slowly reaching her head back to pull a thick braid from behind her back where someone had plaited it. Grimmjow had a hard time holding back a laugh as she flicked her eyes to the end and let out a small yelp. She quickly let out the tie and combed her fingers through her hair, pushing it in front of her face to see the multi-hued strands from black to light teal like Grimmjow's. "What the hell did y'all do to me?!" she asked in a screech, casting an angry and suspicious look at the espada.
"Oi, we didn't do shit to you! That's how you were when you came. What color is it supposed to be then?" he asked hotly.
Anger had driven Mara to finally standing to her full diminutive height, arms crossed in front of her chest. "I- I don't know but… not this… I don't think."
"They say that when you get here as a Whole, that your appearance is that of your soul, so I guess yours likes fucking blue. Don't get bitchy at me, it's you that is fucking useless at remembering!" Grimmjow said, an edge of irritation to his voice. This wasn't fun anymore now that she was not only useless, but also not afraid.
Useless. Mara didn't know why but that word made her angry. Angry to the tips of her toes and depths of her soul. She has vague impressions of feeling it, of trying to soothe away that feeling from someone else.
"…useless to you after you gave all this up…" a deep voice had rumbled through her mind. Anger. "… not a tool…" she had replied.
The snippet of a vision was gone as fast as it had come, rooting her in the spot. Was that- was that a memory? She couldn't recall anything except the snippets of feelings and a few words… and that voice. She new that voice. Remember.
Mara's eyes lit with in internal flame as she levelled a glare with Grimmjow across the bed. He looked perplexed but she didn't care about his curiosity right now. "You dare to call me useless? I'm here trying to pluck answers from some soul reaper cast-off to fill in blanks that I apparently shouldn't have. And a lot of good it's doing me."
Now, Grimmjows own anger flared as he turned fully toward the girl, stalking closer. He began to grin when he saw her cower and press against the wall at his approach, his hollow hole and sharp-toothed jawbone on full display. "Listen here, woman. I am not a 'cast-off' of anything. I am an Espada. I am the king. You would do well to remember that as you fumble through this sad shinigami existence that you are stuck in."
Grimmjow began to turn away, disgusted as tears started welling in her large, gemstone eyes. He huffed to the door and almost missed her quiet reply, "So you are held here no less than me. Tell me, Grimmjow Jaegerjaques, are you still a king if you're in chains?"
Whipping back around, Grimmjow prepared to rip into the woman. How dare she question his position? How dare she make him question his position?! But his rebuke died on his lips as he saw that her deceptively observant eyes were focused on her own slim arms where she had pushed up the sleeves of her robe. He could see her tracing the scars over her hands, wrists, and down her forearms that seemed to glitter silver on her pale skin- arranged like constellations of macabre stars. The marks were ruled over by her tattoos, splashes of black ink that stood out in stark contrast. He had been told she had them, so it came as no surprise, but the one on her left wrist looked familiar somehow…
Grimmjow let himself silently out of the room, rushing away before Kira came back and went to find Hisagi himself. They had a lot to discuss before he met that girl. At least the meet and greet wasn't a complete waste of time, Grimmjow thought to himself as he ran toward the captains meeting that he had no problem interrupting. Fuck protocol. He had found out three very important things today.
This girl was smart, observant, and they had to be very careful how they played this so that she wouldn't catch the deception.
This girl was powerful. It had only been a glimpse. A brief millisecond. It had looked as if she had zoned out, but in that second, more of her rietsu had leaked out and that little drop led him to a tidal wave. He didn't know how she had learned to suppress it so completely, or even how she was doing it, but that power was there for the taking, even if the doors on it had slammed back shut.
Most concerningly, however, was that this girl's tattoo showed that someone else knew about it. Someone else could reach her and already had at some point. He wouldn't ever forget that group that swept through Hueco Mundo only 7 years ago and it didn't take him long to place the design on her wrist. This girl, Mara, was marked for Abarai Renji.
