SEPTEMBER 25 – EVENING
…
…
…
Katsuko was moved to Grimmjow's room after what happened. She needed to have someone watching her now. Why though? They took her Zanpakuto. Wouldn't that make her harmless to them?
As she stepped into the room, she noticed that was similar to the one she was in except for the furniture being placed in different places. Hearing the door shut behind her, Katsuko stiffened and moved away from the door to let him pass through. Grimmjow turned to face her and looked at her with a face that showed he wasn't pleased with the arrangement. "Do what you want but don't bother me. It's bad enough I have to share my room with you, I don't need you giving me problems. Oh, and don't even try escaping or else I'll make you regret, got it?"
He was serious.
If she tried another escape attempt… well she might have an idea what might be in store.
And anyway, she couldn't readily escape like last time. She didn't have her Zanpakuto with her. Even with Kido, it wouldn't be enough to push through her enemies.
Katsuko nodded.
Seeing her nod, Grimmjow moved away from her while shutting off the lights and tossed his sword on the bed where he promptly lied down on without another word. He was going to sleep now. He turned and lied on his side to face the wall, giving his back to her. She was left to stare at his back and the obvious absence of his arm. She breathed through her nose as she finally decided to step away from the door and towards the couch. The only light in the room came from the window, allowing her to find some guidance in the dead silence.
Her body was exhausted from today's events.
She trained with Rukia and Inoue.
She got captured.
She tried escaping.
Too much happened.
And now, she needed some rest.
Perhaps, after resting, she could think clearly and plot her next move if she thought of anything. But for now, she needed to close her eyes and sleep… in the same room as Grimmjow, the guy she tried to attack once. She wasn't going to lie and say she wasn't afraid of being in the same room as him. The last time she saw him, she understood how powerful he was. And without her Zanpakuto, she didn't feel like tasting that power.
So, to put comfortable distance between them, she silently grabbed the pillow on the couch as she passed by it. Grimmjow could hear her footsteps going to the farthest corner of the room. She dropped the pillow on the ground and settled herself on the floor.
It felt much safer like this.
Her eyes lingered on his back for no reason.
Now that she was comfortable, all she could think of was home. She couldn't stop think about it. She wanted to be anywhere but here.
…
...
…
Katsuko let out a whining sound as she sat on the couch with her feet up onit. She was respectful enough to remove her shoes to do so. Kensei was next to her reading some magazine. The others were also doing whatever. They were all waiting. For what? Lunch. Hiyori, Mashiro and Ichigo went out to buy food for everyone. But it was taking too long.
"Hungry." Katsuko frowned as she set her arms on her knees.
"Just be patient." Kensei replied, flipping a page. "We're all hungry. If you start complaining, the others will start too."
"But this is getting ridiculously long, you have to admit." Rose commented. He was this close to getting a bag of chips to tide himself over.
"It's because Mashiro is there." Lisa reminded them. Yeah, knowing her, they were taking many detours and driving Ichigo insane.
Katsuko pouted and leaned closer to Kensei to read what he was reading. Maybe that would make the clock jump ten minutes ahead. What was there to do now but try and pass the time to forget the hunger?
He glanced at her and found her pouting as she joined his reading. At least she wasn't complaining in his ear.
"Kensei… what if we just continued my training...? Wouldn't that pass the time?"
"What?" Kensei quirked and eyebrow at her with a deep frown. "Forget it. I'm hungry."
"Boo."
Rose smiled fondly at the sight but quickly blinked with surprise when Shinji decided to plant himself on the couch horizontally, his long knees were pushing Katsuko against Kensei, making the both of them frown.
"Would it kill you to stop hogging all the space on the couch?" Katsuko clasped one of his knees to roughly shake it back and forth. He rolled his eyes and pulled his knees a bit further up to give her space. "I'm not gonna sit on the floor." Shinji told her as he opened one of his magazines.
"What, your bony ass hurts on the hard floor?"
Shinji paused. "Whose ass are you callin' bony?!" His ass was just fine!
"Did I stutter?" Katsuko stuck her tongue out.
Shinij scowled before quickly reaching for the backscratcher and attempting to swat her on the head. Katsuko quickly reached over to smack the tool out of his hands. When she was wide open, Shinji grabbed the space between her neck and shoulder and squeezed, making her squeak and fall face first into his magazine.
"Let go!" She squirmed.
"Not until you take back that ass comment!"
"Good grief." Lisa watched the two.
…
…
…
"HAHAHAHA!"
I put a hand on my face as I exploded in laughter. It did not fit the sight of the room I was in. The room had blood splattered on the doors and floor while the bodies around my added more to the décor. And yet, even when the smell of iron was so strong and sickening, I laughed hard.
I lifted another hand so stare at it before set it down on my knee as I doubled over with more laughs.
"…Y-You're… a monster."
"Haha…! Huh? Pfft, what?"
I looked down condescendingly at Chad who was missing a large portion of his side. His blood bled into the tatami mats.
"Oh man, you have no right to say that." I slammed my foot on his neck, cutting off the air. "You, who tainted white lilies in red that day all for pathetic sick ambition." I felt his hand grab my ankle, making me press even harder. "How does it feel to watch it fall apart in an instant? Do you regret? Do you resent us even more? Tell me, what does your tiny little existence have to say for all of this? Hey! I am talking to you! It's rude not to answer someone who's talking to you."
Chad weakly fidgeted under his foot.
"Oh, oops."
I lifted my foot off his neck.
Chad breathed in relief.
But I just slammed my foot back down on his throat.
…
…
…
Katsuko's eyes shot open. Her body was sweating and she was trembling all over. She lifted her hand up to her face and saw how badly it was shaking from that dream.
She dreamed of something... something bloody...
Chad was in it... and... I think... he was bleeding...?
But like when she usually dreamed of her friends, it was hazy.
She just remembered the blood.
She buried her face in the pillow.
I can't even relax in my dreams.
SEPTEMBER 26 – MORNING
"Wake up."
Katsuko jolted awake when Grimmjow roughly shoved her shoulder with his foot, scaring her awake. She sat up quickly and looked around, trying to remember what was happening. She was able fall back asleep at some point after waking up, and this time, her mind was at peace. Grimmjow knew that she had trouble falling back asleep because he heard her wake up suddenly in the silence.
And because of that, she kept sleeping in.
She and Starkk should be sleeping buddies.
"What?" Katsuko grasped the pillow and held it close to her chest as if it were a shield. She found it intimidating that he was looming over her like this.
Grimmjow just moved away from her sight to point his thumb behind him towards the table that had a tray of food. "Ulquiorra had food brought in. You either eat it or don't, I don't care." The Arrancar that brought it in would be back within an hour so it really wasn't his responsibility. Once he said his piece, he wandered over to the window to sit by the edge.
Katsuko stood next to the table with a look of apprehension. It looked decent.
But...
It was just a glass of water and what looked like… some white grass.
"Are they fucking with me…?" Katsuko whispered to herself. She hesitantly looked over to Grimmjow who was just staring out the window with immense boredom. She really wanted to avoid talking to him unless it was absolutely necessary but… this needed to be addressed. "What the hell is this…?"
"Hah?" Grimmjow looked at her and found her pointing at the white grass. "Food, what else?"
"… It looks like weeds."
"And I'm telling you that's food, idiot. We don't have the same food." He stated the obvious. Hueco Mundo wasn't rich in nature, but it had some edible things lying around. When he didn't have a human form, he would often find himself eating that snowy-white grass.
"… Is it safe?"
"Should be."
"What do you mean should be? How can I eat it if—"
Grimmjow growled and glared at her. "Look, I don't fucking care if you eat it or not. I'm telling you it's food, that's it." If that was a clear sign of the end of their conversation, she didn't know what was.
Sheesh.
Katsuko turned away from him with a frown to face the food again.
Aizen said he needed something from her.
He wouldn't just sprinkle the grass with poison, would he?
That would defeat the purpose of going through the trouble of bringing her here.
And she couldn't just starve herself either.
She needed to be healthy.
Fine.
She pulled out the chair with immense annoyance.
"I'm eating weed."
…
…
…
This time, Katsuko obediently stayed in the room after being left alone. Grimmjow stepped out, warning her one more time to not make his life harder. He obviously didn't tell her anything about where he was going. But all she knew is that she was basically given space to think and be at peace for a while. She should enjoy it while she still could.
Sighing, Katsuko leaned back on the backrest of the couch. She was letting the food digest in her stomach. Surprisingly, that grass had a nice kicking flavour. It was good. But now, after she finished her breakfast, there was nothing left to do.
Katsuko stared at the wall blankly while her hand touched her neck. After waking up in sweat earlier this morning, she couldn't help but feel icky. It was annoying her. Her head turned to look at the door leading to the shower room.
I might as well shower… they said I could use it.
But I don't feel comfortable being naked and afraid here…
But it wouldn't hurt to just wash it off, right? Grimmjow didn't look like a creep… If he wanted to take advantage of her, he could have done so while she slept. Or perhaps he didn't do anything because of his duty that Aizen assigned to him?
One thing was obvious though.
He didn't care one bit about her.
Those in the right mind probably don't want to do anything to me because Aizen is giving me special treatment… If someone were to hurt me, then might have to face his wrath?
But… Aizen doesn't get angry.
He's always so calm.
Even before…
…
…
Before what?
Katsuko's nose scrunched up when she couldn't finish that thought in her mind. Odd. Where was she going with that?
She just knew that Aizen was not someone to show anger like Ichigo… If he did lose his cool, it would be different…
I mean, obviously. Look at him.
She sighed.
Well… if someone tries anything when I'm naked and afraid…
Rip it off, I guess?
Katsuko breathed out heavily and pushed herself up on her feet with one hard push. Immediately, she staggered when she felt a bit lightheaded. She paused with her hand outstretched awkwardly as her vision turned somewhat gray and dark blue. It took only three seconds for it to subside. God, that headrush was a powerful thing. It would be terrible to experience that mid fight.
I hope I don't get any type of ailment while I'm here.
Katsuko straightened up and went straight to the shower. The purpose was to just wash off the sweat from this morning and hop right out. If there was any shampoo or body soap of any sort, she didn't feel comfortable enough to put it on her body. Her hair got a bit wet even when she awkwardly angled her head several times to clean herself, holding up her hair proved to help very little.
When that was done, she grabbed the nearest towel and quickly dried herself off. After that, she slipped back into her Shihakusho and stepped out with the towel around her neck.
Well, that was the only good thing I experienced so far.
All of a sudden, she felt something grab her by the neck. Her eyes widened in shock when she felt a pair of hands restrain her left arm behind her back. Warning bells immediately rang loudly in her head when she realized who was there. Why didn't she notice it earlier? How could she have missed the feeling of their spiritual pressure? How?!
It was Loly and Menoly.
Loly was the one holding her throat with a sadistic grin.
"Good morning, princess." She cackled, bringing her face closer. "Did you enjoy your little shower?" She whispered in her face, making Katsuko recoil. From the way Katsuko harshly struggled and how the two female Arrancars held her back, the towel around her shoulders slipped off her shoulders and was stepped on my Loly's foot. "Are you trying to look good for Aizen-sama? Huh?" She gripped her neck tighter, forcing Katsuko to grab her hand and try to pry her off.
"Get off me!" Katsuko finally screamed in her face, face full of rage and a mind with slight perturbation. If this was before she trained with Kensei, she would have stayed silent and ignored her.
But he had toughened her up.
She wasn't going to just let them touch her like this!
"No." Loly smirked, grabbing her right hand's wrist. "Did you know what I heard? Aizen-sama doesn't have a use for you." She laughed in her face, causing obvious confusion to appear on the Soul Reaper's visage. "He never had a use for you! That means I can do whatever I want with you without Aizen-sama getting upset with me!"
Katsuko gritted her teeth, trying to free one of her hands to use Kido again. She needed to get at least one of them off her! She tried ripping her hand away from Menoly only for her arm to get pulled back further, causing an uncomfortable strain. Fuck! "Aizen didn't go through all the trouble for nothing. He has one use for me." Katsuko managed to reply, sure of herself.
She had a bad feeling about this situation right now…
"Don't delude yourself." Loly sneered. Katsuko finally responded verbally to her, a response she preferred to her words. She was beginning to crack her. "And don't you dare address him so casually, you phony." She squeezed her throat harder. "I was right, you're nothing." Katsuko was shocked when a punch came to her face right after the grip loosened.
This was the first time.
The first time she got struck in the face like this.
"You don't deserve to stand by his side like that!"
Another one came.
"You're just someone in my way!"
When she sensed another one coming, Katsuko quickly grabbed her fist to stop her, glaring at her.
Enough was enough! No more!
Loly's eye observed the way her dark brown eyes glared at her in silence. They seem to flash orange as they carried intense anger towards her. There was no fear… no terror she was trying to stir inside of her. No, they just seemed to shine even stronger in response… as if Loly could not break her even a little.
What the hell?
Those eyes of hers…
"Your eyes… Why the hell are you looking at me like that? Those eyes… no matter what I say or do… you look at me as if you think you're better than me!" Loly grabbed her hand to make her let go. "And I can't stand it!"
Menoly suddenly found herself slammed against the wall behind her. Katsuko could hear her painful gasp as her grip loosened, giving her more freedom. Loly was shocked at her resistance. Why couldn't she stay put?! When Katsuko was regaining her footing, Loly grabbed her by the hair, yanking her forward. With a growl, Katsuko reeled her foot back and rammed into her shin.
"Ahh! Fuck!" Loly screamed as she let go of her hair. "You piece of shit!"
Katsuko was about to kick her again until Menoly kneed her in the back, forcing her to bend over with a hiss. "Don't you ever quit?! Get a life!" Katsuko roared at her. She felt Loly make a move to punch her in the face again. Katsuko grabbed Loly's wrist with her right hand and started digging her nails deeply into her skin.
Now she was marring her body?!
Loly could only feel intense anger as Katsuko kept glaring at her without a crack in her courage. It pissed her off so much that she couldn't stand to look at those eyes anymore. Those eyes that got to see Aizen from up close…
those eyes that mocked her…!
Those damn eyes—!
Loly suddenly found interest in the ring on Katsuko's finger.
It made her smirk with an inward breathy laugh, mocking.
"What a pretty ring."
…
…
Two fingers were thrusted into Katsuko's left eye.
Pain.
Excruciating pain.
Red.
Katsuko was probably screaming.
She couldn't tell from the pain and how Loly laughed at her.
But her throat burned.
The Soul Reaper dropped on her knees when Menoly let her go. Her hand left instantly flew up to her left eye. The feeling of warm blood slipping through her fingers and splattering onto the pristine floor shocked her, adding intensity to the way she gasped and moaned in pain.
"Loly…!" Menoly stared at the girl who almost curled into a ball as she cradled her eye socket. "Isn't that going a bit too far?"
"Shut up!" Loly snapped, smirking at the girl who finally found her rightful place: on her knees before her. She flicked her hand and let the blood stain the floor. The two girls stood around her like predators around a weak, easy prey. "Why does it matter? Aizen-sama doesn't need her, right?!" She lifted her leg and slammed it into her side, throwing her against the back of the couch.
Katsuko could barely feel that one.
My eye…!
The girl wailed as the pain kept flaring.
Too much. Too much. Too much.
TOO MUCH!
It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!
IT HURTS!
"Gaaaahhhh…!" Katsuko cried out as her blood spilled.
"Don't let your opponent think you're finished by leaving openings."
Katsuko listened to Kensei attentively as they sat together during their short break. She asked him what he thought after training her for a while now, curious to know his opinion. He was basically her second instructor after Urahara. She wanted to know what this man thought of her abilities so far now that she grew stronger.
And he was quick to tell her about he noticed.
"My openings?"
"You do it often when I beat you down." Kensei pointed out, leaning back against the rock she was sitting on. "It makes it easier for me to exploit them."
"I didn't realize I left myself open that much…"
"That's because you're so focused on attacking me without defense sometimes. You can't be stupid like that." He lolled his head back to look up at her. "Don't let your opponent think you're finished, and don't give them the opportunity to hit you again. Fight back harder."
With a nod, she smiled. "Got it."
"I hope I see that you did."
"Damn it…" Katsuko breathed.
Kensei…!
Katsuko hastily ran around the couch just as Menoly and Loly aimed their legs at her. She clumsily stumbled into the arm of the couch as she put distance between them. She needed to calm down and rethink her strategy. Right now, she was too worked up to focus Kido in her hand to push them back. Her hand gripped her hair as it covered her eye.
She could see it now.
Her good eye could see the intent to kill on Loly's face.
No way was she going to let this Arrancar kill her. Hell no.
I am going to survive this stupid ordeal!
Katsuko ran off the moment Loly lunged at her, swivelling around the table in front of the couch. Then, she rammed her foot into the table to knock it into her legs, making the vase on it fall off and roll around without breaking, and sending her colliding into the couch. Her head harshly bounced off the armrest, a harder surface that no doubt stunned her.
Again.
She was knocked down by that Soul Reaper.
It was as if she was forcing her down her on her knees.
"You stupid—!"
Katsuko swiped the vase from the floor and let out a cry as she smashed it on her face. Menoly cried out Loly's name as she saw the vase break smash into pieces. The vase was able to obviously cut her face. It cut so badly that a narcissist would fall into a coma if her face was theirs. She bled on the floor while Menoly flew to her side. She almost made it. Katsuko quickly blocked her path and grabbed her arm before ramming her foot into her gut, sending tumbling backwards a few feet and to the floor. She had taken a page out of Kensei's book.
Loly got up and tried grabbing her neck. Katsuko ducked and side stepped around her before swiping up a shard from the vase that she broke. When she got back up, Loly aimed a punch for her face again. But Katsuko leaned back and kicked the back of her knees, forcing her on her knees as if to lower her head from being too high. When Loly was down, she readied the shard, plunging it into Loly's calf, causing her to cry out in pain.
That would stop her from moving.
With another shard in her hand, a longer and sharper one, Katsuko backed away from the two while panting, her other hand flying back up to her face to shadow her eye.
"How dare you—!" Loly screamed, ripping out the shard and holding a hand up to her face. "You're finished! I'm really going to kill you this time! I swear I will! There won't be anything left of you!"
"You're dead!" Menoly shouted at her, a Bala ready in her hand.
Katsuko narrowed her eye.
SLAM!
The three girls flinched when they heard the door slam open.
There was a pause of complete silence.
"Who the fuck gave you permission to be in my room?"
Grimmjow stood at the entrance of his room, one hand in his pocket, and one sleeve swaying from his rough movements just now. One foot was seen dropping back on the floor. He had kicked the door open. Seeing his ward still in his room pleased him, but seeing two shitheads causing trouble and dirtying his floor with her blood only served to annoy him. His blue piercing eyes landed on Katsuko who stared at him in surprise. Her grip on the shard loosened. Her knees buckled and she finally allowed herself to relax a bit. Grimmjow wasn't someone who allowed others to do as they pleased when it would serve to annoy him. She understood that now. He would deal with them.
He turned his gaze to the two shitheads who were staring at him like a couple of deer in headlights.
Menoly jumped when she saw him step into the room. "Uh oh…"
Loly gritted her teeth and struggled to get back up. Her black bangs swayed. "We were just leaving anyway! You don't need to get some damn upset—" she was cut off when Grimmjow grabbed her by the throat and slammed her down on the table, creating a loud sound in his room. Her head collided hard against the surface. Her eye widened when she saw the dangerous look in his eye. "I said who the fuck allowed a pissant like you in my room, huh?"
"G…Guh…! Aizen-sama… won't let you get away with… this!"
"Oh yeah?"
His hand tightened.
"Okay, we'll leave! Just let her go!" Menoly made a move to run towards him, but Grimmjow scoffed and picked up Loly with his hand still around her neck and pitched her towards Menoly, throwing them both against the wall with a harsh slam. Katsuko, who was watching the whole ordeal, kept her eye on Grimmjow as he glared at the two across the room.
"Now, if I catch you vermin in my room one more time. I'll destroy you." Grimmjow literally growled out that last part. "Now, get the hell out."
Reluctantly, Loly and Menoly started making their way to the exit of the room. But they knew it wasn't going to be over with just this. Loly made her goal clear: she wanted Katsuko dead. This was only reprieve. The nasty glare, that Katsuko chose to ignore, made it crystal clear. But she couldn't find it in her to care right now. She was still holding her bloody eye pitifully.
Her eye…
The nerves in her eye were on fire…
There's no way that it survived…
She could remember those fingers that pressed into her eye…
The sadistic smirk that widened as Loly shoved them deeper before violently ripping them out…
Katsuko frowned sadly as her resilience weakened. Why… is this happening to me? I didn't ask for this… All I wanted… was to do something to protect those I care about… That's all I wanted… Why did it all have to lead to this?
She barely even noticed Grimmjow standing before her looking down at her pathetic state.
Why?
With her good eye, she looked up at him and opened her mouth to say something as she slowly lifted a hand.
But nothing came out.
Her throat felt dry.
Please… help me.
Her hand dropped.
She looked back down while biting her lip.
Right. No one was going to help her.
She was alone after all.
There was no way he was going to help her.
That was the reality of it all.
The blue haired Arrancar observed the way she stopped herself from asking for his help. She was smart. He wouldn't help her. This wasn't him helping her. This was him clearing out pests from his room. What happened to her was none of his concern. The only thing he wanted was to kill her ally, Kurosaki Ichigo. But if he was going to have look at her ruined face and eye everyday, he'd rather have it somewhat fixed up. Hence the reason why he reached down and pulled her up on her feet roughly. The sudden movement made her left hand move away from her eye, revealing it a little under her messy bangs. Yeah. There was no pleasure in seeing that.
Even though this man was her enemy, the way his hand felt warm on her arm brought the illusion of comfort after facing a traumatic injury.
"Wh-What…?" She felt bit frightened from the way he looked at her.
"If you're going to stay here with me, I won't have you looking like that." Grimmjow said simply before dragging her towards the door. He could feel her struggling to catch up. The use of Sonido made the journey easier as it brought them to a doorless doorway in a few flashes. There were a few Arrancars stationed in that room, and they were shocked to see Grimmjow with the Soul Reaper Aizen captured. He threw her into the room and gave them a simple order.
"Fix her."
Ashamed, Katsuko held up a hand to her eye and looked back at him. She didn't want anyone to see the damage done to her face right now.
"Don't hide it." Grimmjow clicked his tongue as he sat down to wait. "Let them fix it."
"But…" Katsuko muttered as a few female Arrancars surrounded her, telling her to follow them to the side where their medical supplies were at. Why would he do that? Was he doing on purpose to annoy her? Couldn't he see how distressed she was about this? She just wanted to be left alone!
A hand grabbed her arm suddenly.
"Don't touch me!" Katsuko snarled, yanking her arm away. The Arrancar froze when he sensed the hostility coming from her glare.
She looked like a wounded animal, unable to trust another being.
She didn't like the way they suddenly touched her when she wasn't paying attention. She didn't want to be caught by surprise.
"We just want to tend to yours wounds..." A female Arrancar reassured her, taking a few steps closer in face of her distrust. They didn't want Grimmjow to be angry with them for not being able tend to her yet. His obvious irritation only spurred them on to reassure Katsuko of their harmless actions. It seemed to be working since they could see her eyes become less frantic.
Damn it... I hate this...
Katsuko gripped her hair with the hand covering her eye.
She sat on a chair as the aids did their work.
Grimmjow, sitting down near the door, was watching the aids tend to her wounds. They pinned up her bangs, allowing him to get a better view of her entire face. It was hard to miss the sullen expression she had. From the moment he saw her in the throne room, he could not see any apprehension in her eyes as she continued grasping onto hope. The silent courage hidden behind apathy.
But now, that was gone… no it became dimmer.
He could see the creeping despair.
…
…
…
"Oh, dear."
Upon hearing the familiar voice, Katsuko's eyes slightly shifted upwards where the aids were blocking her view. But they started moving away to clear the path for someone. It was Aizen. In response to seeing him, she only blinked. For minutes, she endured and squirmed in pain every time the aids poked around and tended to her wound, trying to fix her as Grimmjow ordered. All of it left her done and just... halfway to numb. Which is why she was staring at Aizen with this half-lidded and almost lifeless stare. Was he concerned about his friend?
"Are you alright, Katsuko?"
He eyed the treatment on her face. Nearly the entire left half of her face was covered in bandages. Her dark brown eye that matched his own hue looked quite sullen.
"... I guess."
Aizen was being there for her. Great.
With one side of her head bandaged for her eye, she looked up at Aizen with her eye. His dark brown matching eyes took in the sight of her face. Gin and Grimmjow watched from the side as Aizen placed a hand on her left cheek as if to caress it comfortingly.
"It pains me to see you like this." Aizen stated, his thumb brushing lightly against the bandage. And honestly, with the traumatic event she just went through... it felt so good to have someone give her comfort. She almost leaned into his touch. "But I suppose I should be grateful that you're safe. That's all that matters."
"… fe… then… of those... Arrancars…"
"Hm?"
Katsuko averted her eye.
"… Nothing."
If you want me to be safe… then get rid of those Arrancars. Keep them away from me.
Grimmjow couldn't help but feel weirded out by the interaction. There was something about Aizen that he was doing… the way he was being gentle with her… it didn't feel like he was trying to convince her or manipulate her into thinking it was a kindness.
No, for some reason, he felt like it was much more deeper than that.
…
…
…
Aizen and Gin were walking together after leaving Katsuko with Grimmjow. The news of Katsuko's injury reached their ears when one of the aids from the medical room came to report it. It's not like they weren't expecting something like this to happen. Aizen purposely left that door open for Loly to hear.
He was feeding the animosity Loly felt for Katsuko.
He was making it so obvious that he was giving Katsuko special treatment.
Gin didn't forget the way Aizen smiled when he heard that Katsuko lost her eye.
The former Squad 3 Captain placed his hands inside his sleeves as he walked. "I'm sure that must have hurt for little Katsuko. Losing an eye must have been an excruciating pain."
Aizen smiled mysteriously. "That's why, if she wants to survive and avoid the pain, she will just need to learn how to defend herself."
She needed to remember to defend herself properly.
Katsuko followed Grimmjow in the halls with a half-lidded eye. She was obediently following him back to his room now that she looked presentable.
"Are you loyal to Aizen?"
"Why are you asking?"
Yeah. Why was she asking? Wouldn't it be better to just shut up? She knew that Grimmjow disliked this needless conversation with his ward. He made it obvious that he hated looking after her. He didn't want her bothering him.
I guess losing my eye is making me looser.
"You went out of your way to try and kills us that night… Tousen basically said you weren't supposed to be there… and…." she trailed off to look at the empty sleeve that used to have his arm fill it.
And now I see you have no arm.
I might be jumping to conclusions but… did you lose it after doing that?
"Oh, if it isn't the former number six." A voice suddenly rang on the side. It sound playful yet mocking. Grimmjow felt a surge of annoyance after hearing that voice. Katsuko didn't stop walking to look at the short Arrancar with short black hair because Grimmjow didn't stop. In fact, he didn't even spare him a glance.
Katsuko didn't bother paying attention to whether or not Grimmjow dropped her off to simply keep her inside so he can roam, or if he was going to sleep again. Her presence radiated pure melancholia, which is why she was already lying back on the couch with her head propped on top of a pillow. She didn't have the energy to walk a few more feet to rest on the floor in her corner. Her left hand came to rest softly atop her damaged eye, blinking blankly at the ceiling, trying to figure out if she could have saved her eye if she had done something different.
But why think?
Why even bother?
What's done is done.
She was left with one eye.
She was damaged.
Katsuko blinked slowly.
Yeah…
She couldn't even think of anything logical anymore.
She was tired.
Her hand dropped gently on her chest.
I just want… to sleep away this bad dream.
And sleep she did…
…
…
…
"Hello, Ichigo!"
I casually patted his back in a greeting, the first pat being a bit rough than the rest, causing him to look at me in surprise. He wasn't offended by the gesture. He was probably getting used to it now.
"Good morning, Katsuko." He smiled a bit while nodding his head as I finished my pats. His simple greeting made me grin before putting my hands in my pockets. We walked together in the corridor while ignoring those who stared at us as we passed them by. We didn't care much for how the others stared at us. I mean, they had good reason to… but we didn't really care.
There were also some bitter whispers. They weren't being discreet either. I scoffed and shrugged once. "Instead of talking behind our backs, why don't you put that energy in getting good grades."
Ichigo leaned a bit closer to me so he could speak in a hushed voice. "If you did not flaunt your pride so loudly, they would not have a reason to."
What?
I blinked in confused and stopped in my tracks. What's wrong with showing off? All I was doing is telling the blatant truth!
I ran after my friend with a whine.
"I do not flaunt!"
"You do." Ichigo smirked. "Very much so."
"Okay. In my defense, I do it for both of us!"
"And I don't recall asking you to."
"Aw, you're no fun."
The story cover has changed again! Should be easy to understand with this chapter.
Oh man, I can't wait for the next encounters between Loly and Katsuko...
No chapter next monday! It's my birthday on that day and I wanna chill after pumping out these chapters weekly x_x
Thank you for reading and I hope you have a nice day/night!