Okay everyone, time for some news: I've worked out most of the specific details of the climax of the story, it's just a matter of getting the last ten or so chapters (plus interludes) written and posted. Another point I wanted to address is why these updates are taking so long is because I've had to go back and do some rewrites of the last several chapters I'd written, in order to transition more seamlessly into the grand finale.

Next, I want to say thanks to darkmachines, Ie-maru, and gorguts5, the last of which I'd like to respond to: My thought was that he'd only be left with a broad overview of the different realities- like he wouldn't recall specific conversations. As for the one where Urahara was the traitor, I just pulled it out of my head as a sort of "what if" scenario. The reference to him being a prisoner of the 12th is a direct homage to one (possibly even two) fanfics that I remember getting into and enjoying, only to discover the story was abandoned by the author.

Oh, ahead of time, the character of "Mei Westward" previous appeared in chapter 64 (or the 75th post, if you like). I'll have a little bit more to say in the closing notes, but for now, I hope you guys enjoy this.

WARNING: This Interlude includes consensual semi-explicit depictions of both F/F (Yuri) and M/F, as well as implied 'Bi' and F/F/M Threesome content.

TO FORGE A
BETTER TOMORROW

Interlude 09.
"Diplomatic Relations"

Huecco Mundo...
Division Fourteen HQ...

Lisa Yadomaru looked at the display in front of her, narrowing her eyes. "...B-5."

Katsuro Onigiri looked up from his display. "Miss." He replied with a smile.

The Vizard frowned at hearing the response, adjusting her glasses. "Lieutenant Onigiri," the woman started, as she inserted a white peg into the display. "I fail to see the appeal of this game."

"Lieutenant Yadomaru," the red-haired Arrancar began, his smile widening. "I think that you're only talking like that right now because you're not winning."

"How in the hell did you even get this thing?" Lisa asked irritably. "I mean, I was in the Living Realm, during the 80s and 90s, back when this board-game was super popular- and it was stupid back then!"

"Really now, Lisa," Onigiri teased. "If you keep scowling like that, those lines between your eyebrows every time you're mad, they're going to end up being permanent."

"Damn you, Katsuro!" The dark-haired woman cursed her fellow Lieutenant. "If that's how you wanna do this, then fine!" She exclaimed. "So just git on with things and make your damn move!"

Onigiri leaned back, a confident look on his face. "D-8."

Lisa gave an outraged expression, then bolting to her feet. "That's it!" She exclaimed. "If we really are going to continue on with facile game, then I need a drink!"

With that, she departed from the table. "As long as you're up, bring a cup for me." The Arrancar swordsman commented, placing a red peg into his display. "Oh, and Lieutenant, don't forget to put a red peg into ship once you're back with the booze." He called out with a big grin.

This succeeded in eliciting a frustrated scream from the woman, before she returned to their table and planted the bottle of sake and cups down, then haphazardly stabbed a red peg down with far more force than was predicated for a a small plastic ship model on a children's board-game.

Smiling, Onigiri filled their cups. "If my watch is right," he started, holding up a pocket watch and checking the face. "Then the Captain's been gone for almost an entire day's worth of time," he remarked, taking a sip from the small ceramic vessel. "I wonder how things are going?"

Lisa, by comparison, downed her cup in one go, before looking at her wristwatch. "From what I've seen of you Arrancar, I'm sure it's all quite tedious, with far too many displays of bravado!" She replied, refilling her cup.

"Wait, that watch," Onigiri started. "Am I mistaken, or is that a genuine Rolex Datejust Tiffany & Co?"

A secant passed...

"Oh, yeah, it is." She replied, starting to smile as she looked to the watch in question. "I won it in a department store lottery, back around 1990... I think was worth around a million Yen..." Lisa trailed off, before looking back to her counterpart. "Wait, why do you know so much about watches?"

. . . ...o.o.o... . . .

Unknown Location...

Captain Nelliel-Tu Obberschank, of the Fourteenth Division, sat up in the large bed. The green-haired Arrancar let off a protracted yawn as she stretched her arms and arched her back, giving off a contented sigh as she heard the sound of her vertebrae 'popping'.

That done, she relaxed with a slight bounce of her ample breasts, her unencumbered main of luxurious mint-green hair spilling down around her back and the rest of her shapely body.

She rested her hands upon her lap, the bed-sheet still covering the lower half of her body. That sheet, the same thin layer of material was being shared with the two other lounging individuals that lay on either side of her seated figure... At the moment, the former Tercera Espada could hear clearly as at least one of her two bed-mates moved with a rustling of fabric.

"Hmm, Lady Nelliel." Cooed a feminine voice to her right.

The green-haired woman turned to the figure of the brown-haired Arrancar, as she shifted onto her hip, her brown-eyes meeting with the gray-eyes of the Captain. "Good morning, Mei."

The brunette gave a leisurely smile in response to the greeting. "G'morning to you too, Captain." The sultry woman replied. "Or," she went on slyly, before leaning in to deliver a quick but heated kiss to her equally soft lips. "Would you prefer that I address you as 'Nell-chan'?" Mei asked teasingly, as she wrapped her arms around her shoulders and smiled as Nelliel reciprocated with a kiss of her own.

The woman in question smiled. "Just 'Nelliel' is fine." She answered, placing a hand on Mei's shoulder and pulling her in close, her other hand caressing her cheek. "That is, if you don't mind?" Nelliel asked, not waiting for her answer as she captured her lips in another kiss...

Mei's entire body shivered in response upon feeling the other woman's tongue moving against her own once again, her body responding as expected to the pleasant stimulation, moaning into Nelliel's hungry mouth, while the two women's kiss grew more protracted.

After a moment of this, Nelliel turned away from the breathless female, over to the individual on the other side of the bed. "You're not feeling left out, eh Grimmjow?"

The chiseled, blue-eyed and blue-haired figure emitted a deep rumbling laugh. "Not at all." Grimmjow answered, giving her a toothy smile, something almost predatory flashing across his eyes. "In fact," he went on to say. "I'm enjoying your little 'show', so please, feel free to continue."

Tilting Mei's chin up, Nelliel planted a final kiss upon her lips. "Now, Grimmjow," the green-haired woman started as she turned to regard the male Arrancar laying to the other side of her. "I really must say, I find your particular form of 'diplomacy' to be most... stimulating."

"I had a feeling that you'd enjoy it." The Sexta Espada replied, still smiling.

Even in the dim light, the definition of the hard lines and contours of his musculature, interrupted only by the Hollow Hole in the area of where his navel would be, before vanishing under the sheet the three of them were presently sharing. His growing cerulean hair was tied in a ponytail in the back.

"And what about Mei, was this her idea as well?" Nelliel inquired slyly.

"Of course." The other woman purred as she appeared behind her, draping her arms around Nelliel's shoulders as she nuzzled the long tresses of her voluminous sea-green hair. "It was my idea in the first place, to invite you to join us- to further diplomatic relations- though," she paused. "I could never have imagined that you would be so adept, and so veeery good, Lady Nelliel."

"You minx!" Both Nelliel and Grimmjow countered simultaneously, only for both of them to laugh.

At the same time as this, the male Espada pulled down his female counterpart, capturing her lips as his powerful arms encircled her slim waist. Drawing back, she smiled down at him. "Damn woman, you're insatiable, do you know that?!" He commented, punctuated by a faint chuckle.

"Don't forget about me!" Mei interjected, smiling as she inserted herself between the two Espada and hungrily kissed the Sexta's lips. "I'm not about to let you monopolize the Captain!"

"Is that a challenge?" Grimmjow countered, sliding his hand up through her chocolate brown locks, as he held the woman's brown-eyed gaze with his own. "Because if it is, you little vixen, then you'd better be ready to back that up- because I have no intention of letting you back out!"

Nelliel rolled onto her side, a smile spreading across her features as Grimmjow pulled Mei up so that she was now straddling his lap. She watched, enthralled, as the gorgeous woman shifted her weight in order to mount the handsome Espada, leaving her speechless as he began thrusting into the woman!

For her part, rather than feeling some sort of catty jealousy, she instead recalled how Mei had happily looked on in awe when it came time for her to be the one riding Grimmjow the night before... That being said, Nelliel in turn was content for the moment to just lie back and observe with a sort of odd mixture of lecherous curiosity and admiration as the two people coupled before her eyes...

The truth was that one of the things Nelliel had discovered about herself was that while she enjoyed feeling good, she also similarly enjoyed seeing others feeling good. So, all in all, the mint-green haired woman had to chalk the end result down in her book as a win-win!

Later on, that day, as Nelliel quietly donned her underwear (including her tabi) and moved to retrieve the thin white robe that served as the inner layer of her uniform, she heard the rustling of something moving behind her. Slipping it on, she turned to greet the source. "Well, hello there, Grimmjow."

"I never thought I'd say this," he began, a smile spreading across his face. "But after the events of last night, I'm left with no other choice but then to admit, Captain, that there is some merit in strengthening relations between our kind and the Shinigami." The Sexta Espada admitted.

"I was hoping we'd come to an understanding in the end." The former Tercera Espada replied playfully with a smile as she slipped into and fixed her black kimono, before she then tucked it into her matching black hakama trousers. "Though, I had a feeling you'd come around."

"Yes, well," Grimmjow started, brushing a hand through his hair and extending his arms outward as he stretched his back. "What can I say," he added. "You made a very persuasive argument."

The admission seemed to please the woman, as she let off a faint chuckle while finished securing the obi around her waist, then moved to retrieve Gamuza and her Captain's Badge- tucking the Zanpakuto into the layers of the obi and fixing the badge to her arm.

"And, with any luck," the Arrancar Captain resumed, picking up her sandals. "We'll all be seeing a lot more of each other in the near future." Nelliel stated as she slipped them on.

"I certainly hope so!" Grimmjow responded, grinning madly. "Especially, if it means more of the form of diplomacy that we spent the last night engaging in." He added luridly.

. . . ...o.o.o... . . .

Onigiri's sharp blue eyes focused, and he nodded to himself. "J-9."

"Gaghhh- oh, for fucks sake!" Lisa cried out angrily. "Damn you, y- you sunk my Battleship!" The woman announced in an almost accusatory tone, looking like she were close to flipping the entire table.

"Please, Lieutenant," Onigiri offered her in an appeasing tone. "It's just a game, after all, so I think it's hardly worth getting so upset over." The Arrancar went on as she shot up to her feat and began pacing about in an agitated state. "After all, if you're not enjoying this particular game at the moment, you're in luck, as I happen to have some other games we could try..." He paused.

"Wait, I think I know what'll cheer you up!" Onigiri proclaimed. "How about a game of Simon?" He offered, holding up the very game in question- the differently colored panels situated within the circular plastic disk promptly lighting up as soon as he announced it.

"Simon?!" Lisa fired back, rushing over to the table. "Where in the hell did you get that?" The Vizard spoke, snatching it from his hand and looking it over, the lights reflecting off the lenses of her glasses as scrutinized it. "Why, I- I haven't seen a proper one these things in almost twenty-five years!"

"Oh, that little thing?" He asked innocently, glancing to the object as she planted it down on the table that she'd previously been sitting at with him. "Let's just say, I have my ways."

The woman took a moment, removing her glasses and taking a breath, before returning them to rest on the bridge of her nose. "Katsuro." Lisa spoke, her tone totally different this time, as she calmly returned to her chair and wordlessly refilled both their cups. "You know, it's not nice to tease a lady."

"Ah, now that tone," the Arrancar responded slyly. "That tone... I must say, to hear it, it's far more like the Lisa that I've come to know." He remarked in a more candid and casual tone.

The female Vizard smiled knowingly. "So then, where does does that leave us?" She asked. "After all, the way I see it, while there's a lot of potential in your 'Simon'- and not just playing it, but also learning how you were able to acquire it in the first place." Lisa took a drink. "However, by the same rational, we can play a game of Simon later, in favor of other things." She finished suggestively.

"Really?" The crimson-haired Arrancar replied with a devious look, pausing and taking a drink before looking back to the woman across from him. "And, what pray tell would you suggest?"

"You two seem to having a good time." A familiar voice observed.

"Captain Obberschank," Lisa started, bolting to her feat. "W- we had no idea you were returning from your talks with the Unaligned." The bespectacled woman started. "Otherwise, if we'd known, we would have seen that you were properly received upon your arrival."

"Captain, are you well?" Onigiri asked, as Lisa moved to step aside.

"I'll leave the two of you to get caught up." The bespectacled woman offered.

The other woman just shook her head and smiled at her. "Please, Lisa," she countered gently, looking the 'corrupted' Shinigami Officer. "We've all been through so much, together," Nelliel took her hands in her own. "That you shouldn't feel any need to suddenly excuse yourself now."

Lisa could only blush and nod numbly in response, while her counterpart looked on. "Why Captain," Onigiri began, leaping onto his feet to greet her. "I hope you'll forgive my impertinence when I say that you're positively glowing!" He declared. "I take it, then, that the negations were productive?"

In that moment, it seemed as if an unspoken understanding existed between the two Arrancar, as the Captain of the Fourteenth and her Red Lieutenant exchanged nods. At the same time, the former Soul Reaper felt a sudden pang of jealousy and a tightness in her chest.

Resigning herself. "If you'll excuse me, I'll leave the two of you to-"

"No!" Nelliel interrupted, taking Lisa by the hand. "Lisa Yadomaru, you and Lieutenant Onigiri, the two of you- both of you are my right and left hands." The female Arrancar insisted.

"So please, stand with me," the green-haired woman entreated. "Lieutenant, please, both of you, won't you stand with me at my side, so that we can see this conflict to the end?"

Lisa, for her part, wasted no time as she nodded. "Of course, Captain, you can count on me!"

(- End of Interlude 10 -)

I'd like to offer some closing context... This was a hell of a lotta fun to write, especially the scenes with Lisa and Onigiri, which I'm proud of because they're not only good bookends and contrasts for the sexy content in the middle. I wanted to put in a lot of funny dialogue and references- the oldschool board games and the absurdly specific vintage Rolex Watch.

Also, the character I referred to- Mei Westward- is on the golden-ear actress Mae West. Now a days, she's probably best known (if you have any familiarity with classic cinema) for as being the originator of the iconic line "Why don't you come up and see me some time?"