So... I decided to have a bit of an early start today and... here we are!
Something I cannot believe hasn't come up 'til now. The melody Orihime plays on her flute is a traversal flute version of Kokoro, the original version which is sung by Rin Kagamine. When I first started Nakama, and when I became a fan of the Ulquihime pairing, that song was a favorite of us fans for the two of them. There's a particularly beautiful AMV in youtube for it, if you want to look it up. If you're an Ulquihime fan you'll love it. You can also find instrumental covers of the song there, including flute ones, if you want to get an idea of what it sounds like when Orihime's playing it.
A lot of stuff happens in this chapter. Brace yourselves, this is your last warning! The biggest battle of the Winter War's coming!
Also, one more thing, or rather two. First, is there's anyone left who prefers the original, canon Orihime to this verse's, then in this chapter you'll find Orihime particularly OOC. If you've come to love this version of her as much as I have, this is where she reaches the limits of her character, as she becomes who she was always meant to be.
Oh, and if anyone's interested on an explanation for the past-lives names used, their meanings and all that, let me know, I have it written down somewhere. And I promise you, I didn't draw them out of a hat, there's a reason for each name. Though, as I recently discovered, most of them cannot be found in the common baby-names websites (I did all this before those websites were even a thing, using actual translators).
And the last thing. Please remember that if you kill me I cannot post the next chapter... see you in a week!
Chapter 41. The Beginning of the End
Orihime was sitting seiza on a dune, a few yards away from the white walls of Las Noches, in direct view of the hidden side door into the fortress. She wasn't sure if it was because, with the whole place being effectively a labyrinth Aizen didn't believe she'd be able to find her way, or if he had truly deluded himself into believing Orihime was his ally (part of his 'family' as he insisted on calling them all). She'd have thought it impossible, it was ludicrous to believe that anyone would truly believe that someone like she (a Nakama!) would switch sides at the drop of a hat, even (especially!) under duress; and Aizen was said to be a genius, so naivete or foolishness couldn't be the cause. And yet… it wouldn't be the first time, would it?
She could remember, back when she was Amekimi, Kyoshi had made a point to teach her everything he believed she ought to know. She'd been educated as though she were truly still her father's daughter and an heiress to the throne. And while a child's inexperience, and the iron-clad belief of one's father to be all-knowing, all-powerful, almost a god in one's eyes, might blind said child to the parent's defects… once the child became an adult, it was different. Amekimi's father had had three wives: her mother being the third, a miko he'd met while on a war campaign. Ayame had fallen in love with him during the time Arashikensei's men were camped near her temple and when the war caused the death of all the people in her village except her, he offered her a new home, and a new life, as his wife. She accepted. They were a true match, something that couldn't be denied… and something his other two wives didn't like.
The other two wives, had come to be thus under very different circumstances: Takara had been the eldest child of a very rich lord. A very beautiful woman, always dressed in the finest silk and covered in jewels, she'd been the symbol of the kingdom's wealth and prosperity… a trophy wife, in the truest sense of the word. Kyoko on the other hand, had been, at the core of it, a hostage. The only daughter of Arashikensei's most vicious enemy, the marriage was both meant to pacify her family, while at the same time serving as a warning; they all knew who'd pay the price if her father or brothers were to try anything…
Reading through old reports and diaries years later, Amekimi couldn't help but wonder how her father had missed the signs. From the start the situation with the first two wives had been a recipe for disaster. They each may have known and accepted what they were getting into, marriages in circumstances such as theirs not at all uncommon in that era. What had been rare, was Ayame's and Arashikensei's love-match. That was when things began going wrong. Because while the other two could accept that their husband would never love them, they couldn't stand him loving another. Especially one who seemingly didn't 'bring anything' to the marriage. Nothing but a baby girl born less than a year later. And if things hadn't been bad enough by then, the fact that Arashikensei so clearly loved and doted on Amekimi certainly was the final nail on the coffin. But the part that hit her the hardest back then, had been realizing that all the signs had been there. They had known, Arashikensei and Kyoshi both had known who was ultimately responsible for the death of Hina-chan and Haha… and instead of ending the problem once and for all, they chose to send Amekimi into hiding and trying to handle things internally. Perhaps it was that Arashikensei hadn't wanted to deal with the consequences of killing the daughter of a very rich ally, or the rekindling of the war against his worst opponent, but it had all happened anyway! It had all gone to hell. Amekimi had spent most of her life in a secluded palace, a bird in a golden cage, she'd never known freedom, not really.
Orihime exhaled. It was curious really, how so many things reminded her of her past lives, since arriving to Hueco Mundo. And the very first… the very first had been the reason she'd chosen to stay at all…
"Utokui…" She exhaled.
"Hime-chan!" She heard Grimmjow calling her, the lilt of mischievousness that always reminded her of Giichi, and which had made her see through the fragment of hollow mask and the dark reiatsu and truly see her old guard in the Arrancar, shining through in her nickname.
A part of Orihime couldn't help but wonder if everyone else heard it, the underlying respect at the core of that nickname. The fact that the term was no longer meant to mock her, it was her title, her identity… she somehow doubted it. Aizen was always too busy to be around when Grimmjow did it, and while Ichimaru had probably heard it a few times… well, truth was Orihime was never sure what to think about the silver haired shinigami at all. It was as if the man were a puzzle with pieces that didn't fully fit together.
Orihime put down her flute as the melody came to an end. It was the same melody she always played. The one always in her thoughts. It brought her peace, helped her hope that things might just go right this time around… somehow.
"Freaky bastard freaks me out…" Grimmjow muttered in a low tone.
Orihime looked behind him, to the retreating Acidwire. Most of the times he was the one to guide her outside in the afternoons for her 'break'. It reminded her of the inmates in a prison, how they would be scheduled for time outside, in a courtyard… and it wasn't that far from the truth, was it? Regardless of what Aizen might insist on calling it, she was a prisoner (even if it was, at least in part, by her own choice).
"Why?" Orihime cocked her head to a side, curious.
"Wha…?" Grimmjow did a double-take, probably not having expected her to hear him, or at the very least, not expecting her to question him on it. "He just does! You remember what I told you about us hollows. And how hard it is to get to be an arrancar?"
Orihime nodded, not knowing where he was getting to, exactly.
"Sometimes arrancar do come to be naturally, of course." Grimmjow shrugged. "They're weaker than us, the Privaron Espada… they were Arrancars before Aizen ever came and brought his nifty little jewel with him. But they were demoted, became the Tres Cifras, when those of us created by the Hougyoku proved to be better. Acidwire is an anomaly… or more like an abomination, because while, like the Privaron, he evolved on his own, he wasn't a Vasto Lorde or Adjuchas when he did… hell, he wasn't even a Menos at all! He was a single hollow, and somehow when his mask broke, he didn't die, or lose himself, he became an arrancar. That should have been impossible!"
"Is he very powerful?" Orihime hadn't felt much from him, but she might be wrong.
"Not at all!" Grimmjow snorted at the thought. "Makes one wonder why Emospada keeps him around at all. Je! I guess some wonder the same regarding me, huh?"
"He trusts you." Orihime said, fully believing it.
"Nah!" Grimmjow shook his head. "Utokui might have trusted me. But he's not Utokui, not anymore. And that's something you need to get through your thick head, hime-chan. Because we both know that sooner or later things will get moving, and when they do… you will need to fight, for your life above all others, and you cannot hesitate when it comes to him. You cannot look at him and believe that because he was once your guard he will choose you again. He's chosen Aizen, and that means he's your enemy."
Orihime knew that Grimmjow meant well, he was trying to help her and yet… and yet she couldn't give up, not now, not after everything she'd done to get where she was. And besides, if Grimmjow had remembered, who said Ulquiorra couldn't as well?
"You're going to ignore me completely, aren't you?" Grimmjow rolled his eyes, he didn't even sound mad, just resigned.
"I'm sorry." Orihime shrugged and sighed a bit at the same time.
"Don't know why I'm even surprised." Grimmjow muttered, mostly to himself.
Orihime knew Grimmjow was right on one thing though, things were going to get moving, and it was going to happen soon. It had been a week since Aizen had called her for a private meeting, where he'd reiterated his plans from that day in Soul Society, his desire to become the Spirit King. Orihime was also quite sure that she hadn't misunderstood him when he suggested that she might becoming his Queen (the mere thought made her shudder). But it wasn't even just that, their meeting had taken place in his private office. Not the one where they'd spoken the first time, when he'd surrounded them by monitors where she had to watch her nakama fight and almost die in their attempt to rescue her. No, his real office was very different, sparse almost, considering the man was a megalomaniac with delusions of being King of all three worlds… They'd talked about his plans, about the Nakama (a reminder of how Aizen had kept his word, he hadn't gone after them, and wouldn't… as long as Orihime stayed), about how much help she would be when the time came… and then he'd shown her the Hougyoku.
It wasn't like Orihime hadn't been quite aware about the existence of the jewel. Though there had been a few things she hadn't known. Like the fact that Aizen had created his own, and then fused it with Kisuke's, that it was that which allowed him to use it and act so much sooner than those in Seireitei expected him to. It wasn't even that Orihime hadn't considered the possibility of doing something about the Hougyoku, because she had. When first telling Karin about her decision to stay, that had been her excuse (not that she actually needed to use it, but she'd still had it ready). And yet, she'd spent all the days since then more focused on Ulquiorra, on who he'd once been. She hadn't even begun making a serious plan on how to get rid of the Hougyoku. She wasn't sure anymore if she could do it. Could she push aside her own personal feelings, her hopes, her dreams and do what was needed? Could she give up on her own heart, her very soul, and do what needed to be done? No matter what it cost her? Because she knew that if she did it, if she focused all her attention, her power, into erasing the Hougyoku, that would be it, there would be no going back, she'd never again be so close to Ulquiorra, have the chance to see if he might one day remember her, the old her, like Grimmjow had… then again, perhaps Grimmjow was right and that was never going to happen anyway…
Orihime closed her eyes, letting out a sigh that held so much emotion Grimmjow said nothing at all about it. Grimmjow was such a conundrum, there was so little of Giichi left in him anymore, though still enough for Orihime to have recognized him. Enough to allow him to remember pieces of his life, to remember her, and Utokui, and Shaolin, Shaolin… they hadn't really talked about his old lover, nothing beyond the fact that she'd died that day, and that Amekimi never saw her spirit in all the years she spent hiding in the ruins of her palace. Then again, they all had died, with the boys turning into hollows eventually, Amekimi being reincarnated, first into Kiseki, who died much too soon, and then into herself, Orihime.
Grimmjow had been around her so much over the last week. He helped her train (according to him she was a bit rusty, but it was good to see that all the time spent training Amekimi hadn't gone to waste; he seemed to take greater delight in her defeat of Zatara since remembering he was one of those who'd originally trained the princess), he was there to escort her wherever she needed to go if Ulquiorra wasn't, and he tried to be there during her time out of Las Noches every night. At first it had seemed like a coincidence, but after a week Orihime was quite sure he'd taken back his place as one of her guards without saying anything to her. Ulquiorra was the only one who might have noticed, but if he had, he said nothing about it.
"Can you play something else, anything else?" Grimmjow asked when, after another long sigh, Orihime pulled the flute back to her lips.
For all answer Orihime went into a new melody, it wasn't perfect, but still the closest she could get to the song Aileen had been singing last Sunday. She wasn't even halfway through the song when Grimmjow cut her off.
"You know what? Forget about it." He blurted, before turning away.
Orihime observed him quietly through her lashes, even as she changed to a different melody, not her usual one, something simple, an old lullaby. A part of her couldn't help but wonder silently if Aileen's melody had given him the same foreboding feeling it gave her…
xXx
Sunday was a quiet day for the Soul Society, a welcome respite after the chaos of the past couple of days. The Kurosaki-Nagaken had joined the shinigami in putting Seireitei to rights after the destruction caused by the rebelling zanpakutou. Karin also spent a lot of time brushing the hilt of Tenreikou with her hand. She didn't even need to speak with the spirit, with the two of them having been a single soul for her whole current life, the phoenix knew already everything Karin did. Still, her physical presence was a comfort Karin thought she'd never have again. She and Toushirou didn't even bother trying to hide the shift in their relationship, and most people didn't react to it at all. Most of them had seen it coming a mile away, some had even believed them to be together for months, since the King's Seal debacle at the very least. It was much like what had happened when Ichigo's and Rukia's engagement was revealed the day after her birthday. While there were some who knew them to be married already, most believed that they were simply dating and to be married in the summer, and that was just fine for them. Rukia in particular had been very happy to be able to wear her engagement ring the right way publicly.
Yuzu for her part, some of the older shinigami had been giving her side-along glances most of the morning, or rather, to the zanpakutou on her back, those old enough to remember Muramasa. But since it was known that she'd met with the Captain Commander already most decided that if she was still carrying the zanpakutou after that, then Yamamoto must trust her with the blade. Or rather, he trusted that Kurosaki-Nagaken Yuzu, unlike Muramasa's old wielder, had no dark intentions, no desire to conquer or subjugate, which should keep Muramasa well under control.
In the months since the revelation of Aizen as a traitor and his plans to conquer the Spiritual Throne, Yamamoto had been forced to rethink many things. So much that he'd once believed to be true (shinigami turning into hollows, monsters, and not being able to come back; humans with spiritual powers not being trustworthy, Quincy always being a danger) had been proven false since the first arrival of the Nakama (with the Visored, the fullbringers, Réalta, and the Nakama themselves the finest examples). Yamamoto couldn't help but wonder if perhaps he'd gotten too old. He was powerful there was no doubt about that. Might even be the most powerful shinigami still, but the Nagaken-Kurosaki teenagers were still growing, in age, experience and power. The Commander suspected that one, or all of them, might be able to surpass him one day. But beyond power, Yamamoto was aware that he was old, set in his ways, the old ways… it might be time for someone else to lead, someone more open minded, more willing and able to deal with the challenges the new generations were bringing forth… but not yet, not just yet. Not until Aizen was dealt with. That problem had begun with Yamamoto in charge, right under his nose and with him being none-the-wiser, he'd see it through.
On Sunday night Rukia, Ichigo, Karin and Yuzu left back to the Human World after dinner in the Nagaken estate. Byakuya had been invited and, as always (at least in the last year) he cherished the time he got to spent with his sister. He also had to admit that he enjoyed spending time with the Kurosakis. While at first sight they, especially Ichigo, might seem crass and uncouth, the truth was very different, and much more complex than that. Getting to know each of them had shown Byakuya that Ichigo was very much like Nagaken Karin used to be, the young man was without a doubt powerful, a shinigami, and yet he was unsure of his own place in the world. Something understandable considering him being both human and shinketsu shinigami at the same time. While learning of his heritage, and his marriage to Rukia seemed to have given him a better hold onto his spiritual standing, he still held onto his human side tenaciously, refusing to give up on that part of him:
"I think it's because of his kaa-san." Rukia confided in him once. "She was human and she… she was everything, the whole world to Ichigo, when he was a child. While he's managed to exorcise that particular ghost of his past since defeating Grand Fisher, the part of him that's human, that is what he inherited from Masaki-san, so I don't think he'll be giving it up any time soon."
"You know he'll have to, some day, especially when the time comes for the two of you to claim your place as the heads of the Nagaken Clan." Byakuya said quietly.
"I know, and he does too." She exhaled. "Maybe it would be different, if he could actually see his kaa-san, know she's alright. But while I'm sure she must be somewhere in Soul Society by now, what with Grand Fisher finally dead, I just haven't had the time to actually look for her…"
Rukia had never actually asked, but then again, she didn't have to. The very next day Byakuya had put some of his best men on the job, they hadn't been able to find the woman yet, but he'd no doubt that if Kurosaki Masaki was, indeed, in Rukongai, they would.
"Ehm… Kuchiki-dono?" A voice called to him unexpectedly.
Byakuya turned, catching sight of a young woman with lightly tanned skin and long red-black hair in a thick braid down to the small of her back, she wore a pale pink simple kimono. Byakuya knew her to be Rukia's attendant, but that was all.
"I have a message for you." She said simply, voice quiet, standing half in the shadows, head respectfully down.
Her whole pose was everything one would expect from a servant except… except for the quiet thrum of power beneath her skin. Byakuya could barely sense it, he might not have, hadn't she been so close, and the hall empty except for them. It made him wonder who she was really, and how she'd come to be in the service of the Nagaken Clan. But that wasn't what was important, not right then.
"A message…?" He questioned, intrigued.
"Tell her to let go." Yailen said quietly.
Byakuya blinked. Tell her to let go? Let go of what? And who was he supposed to tell that to anyway? Who was the message from?
"You will know the who, and the when, when the time comes." She only half-answered his unasked questions.
Byakuya opened his mouth, probably to question her, when one of the guards arrived in a hurry, loudly apologizing for keeping him waiting as he unlocked the front gate of the estate to allow him out. As it was night already, and with recent events, all Nobles had kept their properties closed for the most part. Byakuya just acknowledged him with a nod, before turning to question the handmaiden. It was too late, she was already gone. So Byakuya just closed his eyes briefly, wondering why not just the Kurosakis, but apparently also everyone connected to them, including their servants, must make things so complicated; and then he left.
Yailen just watched him from the shadows of a column, several yards away. She had no idea if she'd done enough. Even as simple as her message might have been, it'd still count as the second time she'd messed with destiny… she could only hope it'd be enough.
"Guess I will have to trust you, Kuchiki Byakuya… her life's in your hands now…" Yailen murmured, head turned up towards the night-sky.
xXx
It took everyone by surprise when Aizen called a meeting that morning, and so early, most had been still sleeping when the call came. That surprise only grew as they realized that everyone was there. The Espada, and Orihime sitting at the long table with the three shinigami traitors, and the Arrancars who served as the Espada's fraccion (and Aileen) standing against the walls. Orihime was among the last to arrive, with Grimmjow at her heels. It had taken a while to convince Nel to hide in the bathroom with Dondochakka and Pesche, and while she felt bad for not being able to do more to protect the small child-looking arrancar, she knew she couldn't leave any of her Rikka behind, as it might call the wrong kind of attention, both towards her, and Nel herself.
"I have a bad feeling about this…" Grimmjow muttered under his breath.
Orihime nodded in agreement very discreetly before hurrying to her seat, on Ichimaru's right, who was in turn on Aizen's right. Tousen on Aizen's left, and across from Ichimaru. And after them came the Espada, with Yammy at the opposite end of the table.
At first no one really understood what the point of the meeting was. As Aizen went into a speech, not that different from the ones he'd given before. About power, and authority, and the Throne of Heaven. Orihime was sure she wasn't the only one half-tuning him out, until he said something that really called her attention:
"… and so we begin today." The former shinigami captain stated. "We begin to remake the world into a better place. One where we all have what we deserve. Gather your forces, for we attack Soul Society and the Human World at dawn today!"
"Wha…? No!" Orihime shrieked jumping onto her feet.
"Orihime-san…" Coyote began, quietly.
"Shut up bitch!" Zatara snarled at her.
"This isn't what we agreed!" Orihime snapped, unable to control herself. "This isn't…"
"Oh no, you see, I haven't forgotten our deal, Orihime-san." Aizen said, voice soft and dripping so much poison Orihime felt as if she'd die from the sound alone. "I promised to let your nakama go, I promised not to send assassins after them, and in return you'd stay. But I never promised anything about any places. The attack to Soul Society will keep the Gotei busy, and once they're all focused on that, then it will be Karakura's turn. The old fool and the rest will be so busy dealing with the first attack, they will never see the second one coming!"
And he knew, Orihime was sure he'd to know, that when he attacked Karakura the Nakama would fight him; and if they didn't even have the Gotei's backup, what hope was there? All his promises were worth nothing in the end. Then again, if he wasn't going to keep his promise, that meant neither did she.
"Go, prepare yourselves!" Aizen ordered to the Espada. "Espadas Primera, Segunda, and Tercera will lead the attack on Soul Society, you will leave in ten minutes! The rest ready yourselves, head for the courtyard and await my signal."
Orihime blinked, willing the mix of horror and despair threatening to swallow her whole aside, so she might focus on what needed to be done. She looked to one side in time to see Ulquiorra leave the room, Acidwire with him. He hadn't even cared… and just like that, she made up her mind.
"Hime-chan…" Grimmjow whispered, at her side.
Orihime vaguely noticed that they were the only ones still the room, everyone else having retired for their own quarters to prepare for the battle ahead.
"Grimmjow…" Orihime began.
"We need to get moving, princess…" Grimmjow insisted.
Orihime took a moment, just a handful of seconds to grieve for her missing heart, the heart she'd never be getting back, then she steeled her soul, and gathering all her resolve, looked Grimmjow straight in the eye:
"Go back to my rooms, get Nel and the others, and get them the hell out of Las Noches." Orihime ordered, in a tone that told Grimmjow she wasn't going to allow him to say no, then, almost as an afterthought she called on her power mentally and restored his missing arm, a small smile appearing on her face at the surprise her actions (and the fact that she did so silently) garnered: "Just thought you might do better having both arms."
"Che! I could have done just fine even with just one arm." He retorted, even as he moved his new arm this way and that, testing it, it felt just as good as his original one. "What about you?"
"There's something I need to do." She answered vaguely, it was time she did what she could to ensure that Aizen never achieved his goal. "Go!"
Grimmjow didn't like it, he really, really didn't, but his princess had given him an order, so he just nodded and sonidoed away. Orihime for her part, took a moment more to regret all that she was giving up, all that would never be, and then she walked out of the room as well, in an entirely different direction. Soon she was walking down halls she'd never used, but it didn't matter, her reiatsu sensing was such that she knew exactly where she was going… so focused she was on her goal she didn't notice the blood-red eyes staring right at her from the shadows.
xXx
In another part of Las Noches Coyote and Lilynette stood together as they waited for the signal to gather once again. Aileen was a few feet away from them, standing right under what little light came through the window, looking at the eternally-dark sky outside.
"Aileen-chan…" Lilynette began, hesitant for perhaps the first time in her existence.
Aileen turned towards them, the little light framing her body, giving her an almost ethereal glow.
"Today is the day we die." She said simply, her voice quiet and full of feeling.
"You know, there's no need for you to go as well." Coyote didn't question the veracity of the words or the origin of her knowledge, he knew her well enough, that didn't stop him from giving her an out though.
"I have stood by you for so many years, centuries, ever since my mortal life ended." Aileen said in a low but powerful voice. "You were there for me when no one else was. When my own father saw me as little more than a monster, an abomination, the spawn of the witch-wife who was burnt at the stake, a stain on his family name… you were my friend, you gave me a freedom I never knew while alive. I promised to be with you, always, and that's not a promise I will go back on now. If this is the day we're meant to meet our end, we'll do so together. All of us."
"Together." Lilynette agreed, a small, sincere smile on her face, rather than her usual smirk.
"I was getting tired of being Jenny anyway." Aileen said, as flippantly as she could.
"Aileen…" The green-haired arrancar began, voice wavering.
Coyote moved, faster than the eye could follow, in a fraction of a second he was in front of Aileen and her mask was gone. She didn't chastise him for it, just raising her head to look at him, red hair framing her porcelain-white skin, silver eyes sparkling like stars on her face. One side of her face smooth and perfect, but the other was heavily scarred, burned marks, the reminder of her terrible death so long ago. She'd long since learned not to mind them. How could she? when even with those scars her man still looked at her like she was the most beautiful girl in all three worlds. Aileen didn't even need Coyote to say a thing, she stood on her toes, hands high on his arms to help her keep her balance and kissed him right on the mouth.
xXx
Grimmjow was almost at the princess's rooms when he heard Nel's childish wail. It made him hurry, just in time to find none other than Luppi, his replacement as Sexta, beating up Acidwire, while Dondochakka tried very hard to keep hold of Nel and Pesche covered them, Nel for her part kept screeching about the Sexta being really bad and cruel, and whatever other gibberish Grimmjow wasn't really bothering to make out. Grimmjow took a moment to wonder where the emospada might be, and why Acidwire was in that room instead of with him, before mentally shrugging and deciding he didn't really care. Instead he leapt straight at Luppi. The new Espada felt it coming, fast enough he let go of Acidwire and turn to Grimmjow, though it still did him no good in the end as Grimmjow proceeded to punch him straight in the stomach, enough to make him breathless and then, when the replacement's mouth opened to try and breathe Grimmjow used his hand to take hold of his tongue, right where he'd his number tattooed, and viciously ripped it out before vaporizing the arrancar entirely with a cero at point-blank.
Grimmjow smirked in satisfaction, he'd been wanting to do that for so long! And yet… when he first thought about it, about ripping out the bastard's tongue, it had been about recovering his place, about proving to the idiot, and to everyone else that he, Grimmjow, Jeagerjaquez and no one else was the Sexta… but that didn't seem too important anymore. He had other priorities now, like his little princess…
"You okay there freak?" Grimmjow asked crassly.
"I'm… alright…" Acidwire broke off mid-phrase to spit some blood to one side, then he brushed the blood from the edge of his mouth with the back of his hand, such a human gesture….
It was until that moment that Grimmjow realized the bastard Luppi had tore off the veil Acidwire usually wore to cover the part of his face that had no mask and what was revealed underneath… it was a surprisingly human face, human and… young. He looked hardly any older than Orihime and her group. It made Grimmjow feel even more freaked out. Even vasto lorde didn't have faces that looked quite as human as Acidwire's.
"Why are you here?" He finally asked.
"Ulquiorra-sama asked me to return Nel-san and her fraccion to the desert." Acidwire explained. "With the coming battle there will be no one left to see to them, they will be better out there." He made a pause before asking. "Where is Orihime-san?"
"Hime-chan…" Grimmjow began, intending to give the vaguest answer possible, only to snap his mouth closed when he realized something: "Why do you call her Orihime? No one calls her that in this place. Not even Aizen."
"Yet you call her hime-chan." Acidwire retorted.
"That has nothing to do with her actual name!" Grimmjow rebuked. "And I have my reasons!"
"As do I…" Acidwire replied evenly.
Grimmjow's eyes narrowed, but in the end decided it was pointless and shrugged.
"Well, you should go ahead and do what emospada ordered you, shouldn't you?" The blue-haired arrancar stated.
"Why are you even here at all Grimmjow?" Acidwire rolled his visible eye.
"Hime-chan asked me to get the brat and the others out, but since you'll be handling that I'll leave now and get back to her." Grimmjow shrugged.
"You're so intent on following her, why?"
"Because… why? Why's she so important to you?"
Acidwire stared at Grimmjow in silence for what seemed like forever, as if pondering on some very important things; then, right when Grimmjow was sure he wouldn't be getting an answer, it finally came:
"She's my sister."
That… Grimmjow had not seen coming.
"She's my princess." The blue-haired revealed, not willing to explain everything, but willing to give the other hollow at least that much. "And it has nothing to do with that bastard Aizen. It's just who she is meant to be."
"I'm glad she has you on her side then." Acidwire clearly didn't understand, but he knew there was no time for lengthy explanations. "You should get going."
"Yes, I should." Grimmjow agreed, turning to do exactly that.
"Grimmjow…" Acidwire called him back unexpectedly, a bit hesitant: "Do me a favor? Don't tell her about me."
"Why not?" Grimmjow turned fully back to him, narrowing his eyes at the other hollow, he really didn't like that. "She deserves to know."
"Because she has moved on." Acidwire… or rather Inoue Sora, explained. "The last time I saw her, before her arrival here, was right after I became a hollow. I'd been dead for over a year and she still missed me, cried for me. Even though she'd smile at school, in front of her friends, in the privacy of her apartment she'd cry. I'd thought she'd gotten over me, had forgotten me entirely; it was that belief which made me become a hollow, and I went after her… Her friends saved her. They couldn't destroy me entirely, but what they did was still enough for me to recover my sanity. And so I became what you see now. I fled to Hueco Mundo, terrified of hurting Orihime again if I stayed. And I've been here since. I was worried about her for so long… but now, now I know she's okay. She has grown into a beautiful, kind, powerful young woman. One who has made a life of her own now. The last thing she needs is to see me as I am and become sad all over again. I won't do that to her."
"Very well, I won't say anything if it's not necessary, but I won't lie to her either. She's my princess, and you're nothing to me."
Acidwire opened his mouth, wanting to ask what exactly was the deal about his sister being the Arrancar's princess, when they both felt her reiatsu spiking.
"Kuso!" Grimmjow cursed. "Get the brat and the two idiots to the desert, and don't come back."
"Grimmjow… you better keep Orihime safe." Acidwire hissed at him.
"Che! Like I need you to tell me that." Grimmjow snorted loudly, before disappearing in a burst of sonido.
xXx
Orihime was walking down a hallway, like so many others in Las Noches, right past the entrance to one of the many empty chambers in the place, when she could suddenly feel a reiatsu moving towards her. Very fast, a reiatsu she knew well… The auburn haired human teenager reacted instinctively as she threw herself into a roll before spinning around and adopting a defensive posture on one knee. She could feel as the hand reaching for her tried and failed to grasp her hair by less than a quarter of an inch.
"Zatara…" Orihime hissed, Tsubaki's nibankyuu materializing on her right hand without her needing to say a single word, her conviction more than enough in that moment.
"Time to die, little bitch!" Zatara snarled at Orihime, firing a chain of balas at her.
Orihime called her Santan Kesshun to protect her from the balas, waiting until Zatara stopped attacking to mentally will her Rikka to shift the shield in such a way that she stepped on it, using it as a sort of springboard to throw herself into the air, flipping above Zatara, fast enough that the balas the Espada tried shooting at her next missed their target entirely. Then Orihime took a deep breath to center herself and held her blade straight as she completed the arch. Zatara spun around and moved to dodge the blade; it wasn't quite enough, while she did manage to keep Orihime from cleaving her right in half, the orange blade still went deep into her right shoulder, almost cutting her arm right off.
Orihime landed lightly almost on one knee, absorbing the impact of the fall. Usually dealing such a gruesome attack would make her queasy, but the moment she'd left the meeting room she'd sealed away her soul entirely. Something necessary to achieve her objective, to not hesitate. In that moment the only thing in Orihime's mind was completing her self-imposed mission, nothing else mattered. Not those who might go against her, and not even herself. Zatara was in her way, which meant Orihime would take her out, and then continue.
"Bitch!" Zatara shrieked, furious. "I will kill you! I will make you regret ever thinking you were good enough to…"
She never got to finish her tirade, as a moment later her head was rolling down the hallway, though only for a few seconds before body and hair turned into reishi particles and disappeared. Orihime said nothing at all, just dismissed Tsubaki back into her pins and began walking once again. She couldn't have known it, but her Rikka were worried. The way she was acting… it wasn't natural, it wasn't her. They worried how long it might last, and what might happen when she came out of it and realized what she'd done exactly. Their wielder wasn't a killer, not really, and much as Tsubaki might complain sometimes, they liked her as she was; when it hit her, what she'd done to Zatara… it wouldn't be pretty.
xXx
Soul Society was very quiet that early Monday morning, most shinigami still asleep. While there were areas that still required work after the recent debacle, all the priority repairs were finished already. There were those who even believed that the recent rebellion might have served to remind the shinigami not to grow complacent, with themselves or the Gotei as a whole. Even if they believed themselves to be quite powerful already, that wasn't cause to take it easy, not if they wanted to retain their allies' respect (and in those they now included their own zanpakutou spirits). The sky was just beginning to lighten, the sun nowhere to be seen just yet when Skye Kotori, current third seat of the 5th Division (and unknown to all but a chosen few, the legendary Kidou prodigy known simply as the Ave Blanca) began her day. She went through what urgent paperwork there might be, checked any missives that might have arrived during the night, and after ordering some tea, went looking for her superiors.
Kotori knew that most of her rank didn't have quite so many responsibilities, but she'd been serving effectively as acting lieutenant, due to the rather 'delicate' condition of Hinamori Momo, the actual lieutenant of their Squad. At times Kotori even wondered why didn't they just dismiss the other shinigami from service altogether, it had been made clear in the months since the revelation of the traitors that she wasn't getting better; no matter how many sessions of therapy they sent her to, Hinamori just refused to believed that 'Aizen-taichou' had betrayed her, Kotori honestly believed that those who expected Hinamori to recover one day were just deluding themselves. Even if they hadn't wanted to dismiss her when they didn't have a captain, that had since changed, also, everyone knew that Hinamori didn't like Amagai-taichou, and that was beginning to cause trouble within the Squad.
Kotori would never stop believing that Amagai-taichou assuming command of the Squad was a good thing. They had needed a new leader, and Amagai was a good, strong shinigami. They were fortunate that Yamamoto-soutaichou decided to offer him (and he accepted) the 5th rather than the 3rd, as would have been expected. They certainly were more in need of a captain than the 3rd. Shy and insecure as Kira might be, he was strong, he could handle the 3rd on his own; same as Hisagi with the 9th. Yamamoto had actually met with her in private and offered her the captaincy but Kotori refused. She had no interest in holding a position of such power. Besides, most people didn't actually know her powers, becoming a captain would require her to demonstrate them, and she had a very good idea of how they'd all react to Itsuwarino Mira… a zanpakutou that dealt with illusions, that could create near-absolute illusions after the revelation of the truth about Aizen's own Kyoka Suigetsu? Yeah, no thanks.
"Hinamori-fukutaichou…? Amagai-taichou…?"
What she found upon entering the office, was the last thing she ever expected: Amagai was on the floor, just by his desk, slowly but surely bleeding out; less than three feet from him Hinamori was unconscious, blood matting the side of her head from a blow to her temple.
Kotori cursed in a foreign language before using a kidou to communicate with the 4th:
"Unohana-taichou! Isane-fukutaichou! It's an emergency! Amagai-taichou and Hinamori-fukutaichou are hurt and it's bad!"
She sent out a sharp pulse of reiatsu so the medics would know where to find them, at the same time she called on a kekkai to place her two superiors in suspended animation. It might give her away to Unohana, and anyone else who knew enough of kidou to realize how powerful and hard to create such kekkai were, but it was an emergency and Kotori wasn't thinking clearly anymore. Her superiors were badly hurt, if she'd taken any longer to find them Amagai-taichou might have died! And they were in the office… that did not bode well. So Kotori left them and began trying to find whoever might be responsible.
Right as the sun began rising in the distant horizon Kotori gave up on her pursuits to answer the insistent summons of Sasakibe-fukutaichou on the 1st Division. As it happened, all captains were gathered already, except for Unohana, who no doubt would be handling the injured shinigami personally. Isane was there in her representation. Kotori shunpoed straight into the meeting room, landing in the between the two rows of standing shinigami.
She arrived right in time to hear Isane requesting permission to call on Kurosaki-Nagaken Yuzu to help. According to her, the zanpakutou rebellion had left many injured shinigami, the 4th had been working around the clock getting everyone healed, which meant that most of the shinigami healers were out for the count for the time being. Usually that wouldn't be so bad, especially with the injured parties inside a kekkai as powerful as the one Kotori had created, but if they wanted to question the two about what had transpired, they'd need to be healed first. Hence the request for Yuzu to be called. Only Inoue Orihime would be preferable, but as she was still in Hueco Mundo. Unohana and Isane were both quite aware of the extent of Yuzu's healing abilities and believed that if she were there it'd allow Amagai and Hinamori to recover much faster. So Yamamoto granted his permission and dismissed Isane so she might send the request.
"Report, Skye-sanseki." Yamamoto ordered, turning to the late arrival.
It was clear by the looks some directed at the two that at least some had expected something else entirely, perhaps for Kotori to be chastised for taking so long answering the summons? As if!
"Nothing, Soutaichou." Kotori deadpanned. "And I mean that literally. There were no tracks, physical or spiritual. No traces of anything at all. If we were to go by the evidence alone I would say that Amagai-taichou and Hinamori-fukutaichou attacked each other…"
"That's impossible!" Several of the captains scoffed.
"That's why I said 'if'," Kotori drawled. "As it stands the only ones who know what happened in that office, are Amagai-taichou and Hinamori-fukutaichou."
"That is why I approved the request for calling on Kurosaki-Nagaken Yuzu." Yamamoto nodded. "This meeting will be adjourned until we have more information. Dismissed!"
Yamamoto waited until everyone had left, everyone except for Kotori herself, to focus his full attention on her once again:
"What do you really think?" He asked, eyes fully open.
He knew he could trust her. The woman, whatever name she might be going by at the time, was one of the few people Yamamoto could say without a doubt had the welfare of Soul Society always in mind.
"Honestly?" Kotori didn't actually wait for an answer, the question was a rhetorical one. "I think Hinamori-san should have been sent to a psychiatric facility full-time after her last evaluation. And she certainly shouldn't still hold a rank, any rank, in the Gotei. The things Aizen did to her, the way he wrapped her mind… she might be able to conceal it on the best days, but it's clear she still believes in the persona Aizen portrayed all those years. She cannot stand for anyone to insult him, to so much as suggest anything bad about him. She keeps inciting rebellion, barely keeping from outright insubordination. I know that everyone feels bad about what you allowed to happen to the girl, but you're only hurting the Squad, and the Gotei as a whole, by allowing her to retain her rank and authority. I know Amagai-taichou is at the end of his rope with her already, and the only reason he hasn't ordered her imprisonment is because he doesn't want to make it worse."
"I know this matter should have been handled earlier, but it hasn't been that easy." Yamamoto reminded her. "After the loss of so many a century ago, all the most promising shinigami moved through the ranks very quickly. We just don't have enough people to cover the positions. And then from the few who might be able to, refuse to do so…"
"Oh no… you're not making me responsible for this mess." Kotori shook her head. "I'm already doing my part, considering I didn't even want to be a shinigami at all! Not again. I told you a hundred years ago that blindly following Central 46's decision regarding the Visored would come back to bite you. That you should have investigated further, especially regarding what made the others get involved. You knew Yoruichi had committed no crime, yet you never questioned why she'd get involved at all."
"Her husband was being accused of experimentation, hollowification of high-ranking shinigami and treason, of course she'd get involved." Yamamoto retorted.
Kotori rolled her eyes, she didn't question how the old man knew that Yoruichi and Kisuke were married, even though they'd gone to rather extreme lengths to keep it under wraps, not wanting to risk the Shihouin Elders doing something to break them (or possibly just Kisuke).
"Yoruichi was the Onmitsukidou taichou, she knows about loyalty, she'd have never betrayed Soul Society, not even for Kisuke." Kotori retorted.
The two women had never been close, not at all. But Tessai had always been a good friend, to both her and Kisuke, so she'd heard more than a few stories about both the blonde scientist and his noble (secret) wife.
"The Kurosaki-Nagaken twins are here." Yamamoto stated after a jigokuchou informed him of that fact. "Amagai-taichou and Hinamori-fukutaichou will be treated and…"
He never got the chance to finish his statement, as a shudder in the air around them made both shinigami react:
"They're not the only ones who just arrived." Kotori informed him grimly.
They could both feel it, the huge reiatsu entering Soul Society, more than one source.
"Fukutaichou!" Yamamoto called.
Sasakibe Choujirou was in the room a fraction of a second later.
"Gargantas, at least three." Kotori enlisted, using her superior spiritual senses to pick up on things. "One over Soukyoku Hill, but the other two are farther away, somewhere in Rukongai."
"We're being invaded!" Choujirou exclaimed, shocked.
"All shinigami to their posts!" Yamamoto ordered authoritatively. "We're under attack!"
xXx
When Aizen felt the first pulse of reiatsu he was confused, he recognized the energy of the Hougyoku, of course he did. With his constant use of the jewel, especially since combining the two versions of it, he'd become intimately acquainted with its power. Even then, when not in use, he kept the Hougyoku in a special box, sealed. While he'd been considering the possibility of absorbing it, making its power wholly his, it was something he hadn't been ready for, not yet, not until he was ready to achieve all his dreams.
By the time he reached his office it was much too late already. In between the broken pieces of the sealing box was none other than Inoue Orihime, kneeling, panting… and the Hougyoku was gone… not even a trace of its power remained. Almost as if… as if it had never existed… He was so shocked by the sudden development, the former shinigami captain wasn't even sure how to react at all.
"What have you done…?"
He couldn't believe it, didn't want to, what she'd done, that she'd dared… she was a human! A brat! A weakling!
"What we Nakama do best: protect." Orihime said quietly, turning to face him.
She was still on her knees, clearly too weak to even stand, but that didn't stop her from smiling straight at him, fearless even in the face of death; it made him wonder, vaguely, in the back of his mind, if she really didn't fear it.
"Aizen-sama, we are ready…" A voice broke off mid-report as the newcomer took in the scene.
Orihime's breath stuttered against her will. The moment she'd willed her power to erase the Hougyoku… she'd felt the jewel draining so much of her, the energy at the core of her soul. She was almost sure it would kill her, but it didn't, somehow. Still, she was so drained, it was taking all her effort just to turn to face Aizen directly. Then, right as she was bracing herself for death… the last thing she ever expected, happened.
"Ulquiorra…" Of all the individuals she expected to see in such circumstances, she hadn't been expecting Ulquiorra… or more like, she hadn't wanted to consider the possibility.
"What have you done onna?" Ulquiorra hissed.
"You will never win…" She told Aizen with all the confidence she could. "We Nakama will ensure you never win."
"Whatever may happen today, you will not live to see it." Aizen hissed, losing his composure completely for perhaps the first time in over a century. "You will die here, alone."
"Whatever happens to me doesn't matter." Orihime said serenely. "I've done my part. I've taken away your greatest weapon. And I didn't just destroy, I eliminated it entirely from the fabric of the universe. There's nothing left of it, no notes, no trace, nothing at all. That jewel will never exist again…"
She wouldn't make it as if it never existed… in the first place because she wasn't sure she had the kind of power to do that, and even if she did… she wouldn't condemn the Arrancar to returning to their old existence. Some might be monsters, but there were some who she truly believed deserved a chance…
"Why would you do that?" Aizen asked, seemingly honestly confused. "Can you not understand what I'm doing here? The world I'm trying to build?"
"And who says you're the right person to build it?" Orihime challenged. "Who gives you the right to destroy everything that is for a dream of what you believe should be? Who says it'll be any better anyway? There can be no guarantees in the world, and your promises may sound pretty but they're also hollow. As you proved when you decided to go after Karakura, even knowing that wasn't something I'd ever agree with. You see humans as less, why? Because they don't live long? Because most of them don't have any special powers? You fancy yourself a god, but truth is you aren't that special."
"I am the most powerful shinigami to ever exist!" Aizen roared, he couldn't believe how a mere human girl could rattle him so much, even the Kurosakis hadn't been so bad!
"Aizen-sama, if you will allow it, I can deal with her, the others are waiting for you to head to the Human World." Ulquiorra offered. "You shouldn't bother with a piece of trash when your goal is within reach."
"Of course, Ulquiorra, I trust you will deal with her before joining us, you are an important part of us, after all." Aizeen nodded, though before leaving he turned once more to Orihime. "I'll give your nakama your regards, before I kill them all."
It was clear he wanted to hurt her, to see her be as affected by him, as he was by her, but while her heart did skip a beat and Orihime could feel dread filling her lungs, she didn't allow it to show in her expression. In the end, she had hope in her nakama. She believed they were strong, enough to handle anything and anyone that may threaten them, or their world. And she'd done her part, she'd taken the Hougyoku out of the equation. She'd done enough…
The auburn haired girl watched the megalomaniac shinigami leave the room, before her attention went to Ulquiorra, he didn't even bother with his blade, instead just charging a cero almost at point blank, it would be more than enough. She looked straight at him, even if she didn't have the energy to stand, she wouldn't look away, and she wouldn't close her eyes.
"Are you afraid?" Ulquiorra asked, he sounded honestly curious. "You will die here, you will die all by yourself with no one to witness it. So I want to know, how frightened are you?"
"I am not, at all." Orihime answered quietly. "Because even when we're far apart, even when we're not even in the same world, I carry my nakama in my heart."
"Heart?" Ulquiorra questioned. "Tell me, what is a heart? If I tore a hole in your chest, will I see it? If I split open your skull, would it be there?"
Orihime shuddered but fought to keep the horror his words brought her from her face. She loved him so much… always had and always would. She could never raise a hand against him. The mere thought of it… she remembered what she'd done against Zatara and it made her sick! That wasn't her! It wasn't supposed to be her! She'd been so focused on her mission, and she knew Zatara would kill her, but still; she'd fought before, many times in the last year, but she'd never killed another being before in her life! In all her lives! It was almost too much… And then to hear him say such things. She knew he was a hollow, it was in his nature, but in her mind's eye she could still see Utokui, her dearest Utokui, lying dead on the ground, covered in blood, with fire all around them. It would seem she'd really lost him, and would never find him…
"So let me ask you again, onna, are you afraid of me?" Ulquiorra pressed.
"No, I'm not afraid." It was the truth, she wasn't afraid of dying, she never had been, she was just so very, very sad. "Tell me Ulquiorra-kun… have you found what you were looking for?"
"Onna…" Ulquiorra really didn't like the way she could get to him, so easily, he was always so cold, almost unfeeling, except around her, there was just something about her…
"You told me, that day in Karakura," Orihime said quietly. "You said you were looking for something, have you found it?" She made a pause, waiting until his green eyes met her own violet-gray ones before driving the point home: "Have you found your heart?"
Ulquiorra fired his cero, and if it weren't because of the second cero that diverted it, it would have gone straight through Orihime's chest. The two of them had been so focused on each other they didn't sense the reiatsu approaching, until Ulquiorra's cero was deviated, and a moment later Grimmjow was right there, standing in between the two and facing Ulquiorra.
"Hey hime-chan!" Grimmjow smirked, eyes never straying from his fellow Espada. "I leave you alone a few minutes and you almost get killed! Well, not on my watch!"
"Grimmjow!" Orihime exclaimed, suddenly breathless.
"What are you doing Grimmjow?" Ulquiorra demanded, eyes narrowed.
"That's what I should be asking you bastard?" Grimmjow retorted. "Why are you trying to kill the princess?"
"You've deluded yourself Grimmjow, or she has deluded you." Ulquiorra stated. "This piece of trash is no princess. Just an onna who's no longer of any use to Aizen-sama…"
"There you go again… everything's not about Aizen-fucking-sama!" Grimmjow practically roared. "Used your own brain for a change bastard!"
"Are you turning really turning traitor Grimmjow?" Ulquiorra challenged. "Are you choosing to betray everything you are?"
"Not at all." Grimmjow smirked. "The truth is that this is who and what I am. The only difference between now and before, is that now I know who I truly owe my loyalty to."
"To a piece of trash…?"
"To a princess! To our princess!"
"She's nothing!"
"She's everything! She's Amekimi, daughter of Arashikensei, your King, in case you have forgotten that part as well! She's the one you swore to always protect, to guard with your life, and what are you doing? You're trying to kill her! For a bastard who will never deserve my loyalty, much less yours!"
Ulquiorra said nothing, and Grimmjow pounced on the opportunity and just kept going:
"And don't you dare tell me you don't remember her at all you emo-bastard! Don't tell me that you haven't heard that melody of hers in your dreams! That you don't dream of it all! The old times! The palace! And her!" His eyes grew sharp and he dropped into a battle stance. "Because if you dare say that to me… then I'll knock you on the head until your memories unscramble once and for all!"
The two Espada threw themselves at each other, ignoring Orihime's cries not to fight, blades clashing harshly, throwing off sparks and reiatsu everywhere and yet… and yet when Grimmjow went into a roll, leaving his back unprotected for a fraction of a second, Ulquiorra didn't take the chance to bury his own sword in it; and when Ulquiorra miscalculated a block, Grimmjow shifted his hold on his zanpakutou just enough that he shaved off the edge of Ulquiorra's coat instead of burying his blade in the other Espada's flank. It was almost as if they weren't truly fighting but… something else, almost training, but not quite. They were completely serious about what they were doing, they just weren't lethal about it.
Orihime wasn't sure where she got the strength from exactly, but when the next clash was followed by the two Espada pulling away at the same time, she took the opportunity offered to throw herself in between them. Grimmjow and Ulquiorra, already in the process of attacking once again, froze in the last second, the tips of their zanpakutou but a hairsbreadth from Orihime.
"Stop it!" Orihime cried out. "Just stop fighting, please! Not over me, never over me… Please, I cannot stand it…"
Tears were falling down her face, almost like rain, but she didn't try to brush them off, instead she looked straight at Ulquiorra, pleading with him like never before. Clear in her mind, like it was happening right then, she remembered the moment when she found his body, his soul was already gone and she could never find it, could never find him and now… now he was standing right there, without a heart of his own, and she wasn't sure if she had any heart to give at all. Her whole soul was in turmoil, between the realization of how cruel she herself could be, what she'd done to Zatara… knowing the potential existed in her, to be as cruel, as vicious, but she didn't want to be, not again, never again, not for anything… and Ulquiorra, if he could just look at her, truly see her…
And then it happened, Ulquiorra's green eyes look straight into her violet-gray ones, almost as if he were seeing straight through her, and a single word came out:
"Hidenka-sama…"
