Chapter 16

It always surprises me how quickly things can spiral out of control when you least expect it. Like the flip of a switch or the spark of a match. Sudden and unstoppable and just as unpredictable. Because one split second is all it takes and, living in a castle full of the most dangerous creatures to exist, a split second is all they need.

Just one second, plain and unexceptional as Grimmjow makes his way past Nnoitra, uncaring as if the other poses no threat to him at all and, really, that's the mistake, the split second that sends everything careening out of control faster than I can keep up because this is Nnoitra.

The same crazed, deranged bastard that managed to get the upper hand on an Espada a full five ranks above him and fucking wreck her. So it should have been no surprise. It really should have been completely expected that bullying the ranks under him would come to him as easily as breathing.

So we all should have seen him stopping Grimmjow in his track coming. Grimmjow included, but none of us had. Or at least I hadn't and, knowing Ulquiorra, he probably hadn't cared enough to even consider it or warn us for that matter.

As it is, Ulquiorra does nothing to intervene. Seeming as unimpressed with the rising danger as he is with the world, with life as a whole. Instead, he just watches as Nnoitra shoots an arm out, using the Zanpakuto in his hand to effectively stop Grimmjow's exit as he moves to tower over him.

"Going somewhere, Sexta?"

It's the emphasis on Grimmjow's title, the subtle reminder of rank, that sends a chill through me at the clear indication of just how much danger Nnoitra actually poses. To me and any other creature unfortunate enough to be weaker than him. Where every other Espada had been more than content to wait until Aizen's protection is lifted before having a go at me, Nnoitra just simply hadn't.

So what would make attacking Grimmjow any different?

It's almost like watching a train come careening out of control then, fast and impossible to stop. A complete and total train wreck. It's only the safety of Ulquiorra's presence that keeps the worst of the terror at bay as Nnoitra shifts, the movement too fast for me to truly track as he strikes.

And Ulquiorra, damned stoic Ulquiorra doesn't so much as blink when the scene in front of us turns into Nnoitra spearing Grimmjow against the wall with his sword. I all but choke on a scream then, hands coming up too to stop the noise as I watch Grimmjow shoved and pinned against the wall.

It's one thing to watch a fight you already know is coming and all the gore it will bring with it. It's a whole other thing to be caught off guard by unexpected violence. To be witness to blood and gore that shouldn't be happening. And it's the terror of it coupled with the utter fear of knowing exactly what Nnoitra's violent outbursts feel like that keeps me from seeing the real results of his attacks. That blur my vision so I can hardly make out the scene in front of me before I turn away. At least until Nnoitra crackles, loud and deranged and more than a bit hysterical.

"What is this?" he croaks around his laughter. The words are directed at me and, just like watching that damned trainwreck, I can't keep my eyes away from the gore. At the sound of his voice, my gaze is right back on them, the morbid curiosity too much to fight off as I take in Grimmjow's speared form. "Does the pet princess actually care? Well that's surprising, isn't Grimmjow."

Expect Grimmjow isn't speared. Not really, anyways. The sharp ends of Nnoitra's Zanpakuto have missed, whether intentionally or not, I don't know. So instead of spearing him to the wall, Grimmjow is caged in by the dual tips, the curve of Nnoitra's oddly shaped Zanpakuto more than wide enough to effectively hold him. Caged in by the sharp edges as he is, Grimmjow has no choice but to hold still or risk the razor edge of Nnoitra's Zanpakuto slicing into him.

The relief that feels me then is as overwhelming as it is shocking, confusing. I fully expect my confusion to be mirrored in Grimmjow's eyes but, when I meet his gaze, all I find is something that looks a lot like quiet resignation.

What the fuck is going on?

"But it's such a shame, isn't it Grimmjow?" Nnoitra continues, turning his sneer Grimmjow's way as he does. The smile that curls Nnoitra's lips then is as cruel as it is dangerous when he leans closer to fully tower over Grimmjow. "To care so much for someone who's already tried to kill you once."

If I needed any indication to know that no one was fooled by my pathetic attempt to disguise both Grimmjow's in Karakura and Nnoitra's attack as fall, this would be it. Though, that Aizen had even allowed such a weak lie to go by unpunished probably had more to do with him being preoccupied with Orihime's arrival and the impending attack than him actually believing anything that's made its way out of my mouth.

Case and point, his utter disregard of my warnings about his upcoming failures.

"What's that called again, Ulquiorra?" he continues when Grimmjow doesn't do more than stare up at him with disdain, white-hot anger churning in his eyes. Still, no matter the anger, Grimmjow knows better than to test Nnoitra's patience, so he does nothing to break free. Instead, he waits, holding still until he can find the moment to break free. "When you bond with the people trying to kill you?"

"Sympathizing," Ulquiorra answers, uncaring, uninteresting, un-fucking-impressed and something about it feels like some sort of betrayal. Not that it makes any sense that it does, or that it even should. Ulquiorra giving Nnoitra that word he's looking for shouldn't feel like a betrayal. Not when it's just a word, but somehow it sounds too much like an agreement to feel comfortable.

As if I could ever fucking sympathize with a manic.

"Ah, yes, that," Nnoitra says, lone eye locking on to me with all the ease of a person who doesn't have someone pinned to the wall, threatening bodily harm just by breathing. "You know, I also tried to kill her, Grimmjow."

If Grimmjow has anything to say on the matter he doesn't even show it as he continues trying to burn a hole through Nnoitra with the anger in his eyes alone. Ulquiorra though, cold uncaring, uninteresting, un-fucking-impressed Ulquiorra straightens just the tiniest bit at the admission. Caught off guard like he somehow hadn't known, like he hadn't seen first-hand the results of Nnoitra's violence.

Like he hadn't forced me to stand on bruised and buckling knees in front of his precious Lord Aizen.

"Do you think that means she'll sympathize with me too?" Nnoitra asks even as his gaze shifts to Ulquiorra, pulled there by his shifting. And his smile curls all the more, hysteria pulling at the corners of it as he sees Ulquiorra's reaction to his words.

And isn't that something? Something as unexpected as the scream still lodge in my throat. That Ulquiorra really hadn't known. That ever-wise and all-knowing Ulquiorra had somehow managed to miss that my attacker could have been none other than Nnoitra. Then again, he never bothered to ask. Having been healed by Orihime before we were alone again, there had been no point in asking. So my assailant has been a mystery to him all this time.

But not anymore and some part of me is oddly relieved that I can't be accused of snitching about it. Nnoitra's confession is almost a godsend, if only because it takes all the responsibility off my shoulders. But that's all it takes because the anger is still there, the indignation burning and churning and screaming out for revenge because, well, fuck him.

"Actually," I tell him, the words falling out of my mouth unbidden. Unwanted. Like vomit, they rush out before I can think better of them. Or even think at all, struggling as I am while the anger in me burns for revenge. "I think the word you're looking for is Stockholm Syndrome and the answer to that is, quite frankly, no."

"No?"

There's disbelief in both his voice and his eye when Nnoitra snaps it back to me. The smile on his face melts off then, twisting into something dark and angry. I meet his gaze head-on, not shying away from it now that my own anger has risen to meet it.

"Fuck. No."

The sneer on his face only deepens then, lips curling until they no longer cover the edges of his teeth. I don't bow under the look. I don't even move to cower behind Ulquiorra. Instead, I step around him, making my way towards Nnoitra in calm, even strides.

I'm not an idiot. I know I can never hope to beat Nnoitra. But I know someone who can and, while it goes against everything I'm hoping to achieve here, I can't find something in me that cares enough to stop myself from setting him up to meet his death. Not when Nnoitra seems set on hand delivering mine.

"And why the fuck not?" Nnoitra asks, the words coming out sounding more confused than angry.

I don't bother to stay out of Nnoitra's reach. Hell, I don't even consider the dangers of getting within arm's reach of him. I just walk until having to crane my neck back to meet Nnoitra's gaze gets too uncomfortable.

Grimmjow, for his part, continues to hold stock still. Nestled as he is between the wall and Nnoitra's Zanpakuto he has no choice in the matter. So other than to glare at us, he doesn't so much as twitch a muscle.

"Because there's no reason to," I say, locking eyes with Grimmjow when I do. He shoots me an annoyed look then, one full of all the anger I'm used to seeing in him. It's almost comforting to see it then. To see something normal in him when he's been acting anything but since Aizen's punishment. "No offense, but you're just not worth my time."

"But he is?" Nnoitra snarls, pulling my gaze back to him. There's a fire burning in his eye now. Offense fully taken, he makes no attempt to hide it as he rips his Zanpakuto out of the wall only to slam it forward again, impaling it that much further into the wall and inching it closer to Grimmjow's skin. "They both are?"

"Yes," I say as I fight to keep from reacting to his outburst. Swallowing back the rising panic, I let a smirk settle on my face. It's a shallow one, false around the edges if you look hard enough but, thankfully, Nnoitra would never bother to.

"And why is that?"

"Because they've gone against Shinigami and survived," I tell him, escalating things even though I know should be doing the exact opposite. But this is Nnoitra and the fire churning in my gut is all because of him. "Can you say the same? When all you've done is stay in here, trembling behind the castle walls, too afraid to face them."

"I am not afraid," Nnoitra grounds out between clenched teeth, the air around us going tense, deadly, and I'm sure the only reason he hasn't crushed me under his Reiatsu is Ulquiorra, but I don't care to be offended by it. I'll take whatever protection I can get.

"Then prove it," I challenge him, even as I wretch my gaze from him, all but dismissing him even as the conversation is far from over. "Soon this whole place will be crawling with them. So prove it. Show me that you're worth my time."

"And why the hell will I need to do that?" he challenges back, slamming his Zanpakuto forward again so that the edge of it skims across Grimmjow's skin. It pulls a grunt from him, the only noise he's made since Nnoitra's attack, and it makes my blood boil all the more at the sound of it.

"Oh don't start that bullshit now," I snap at him, shooting the Zanpakuto a pointed look as I do because, really, it's a little too late to act disinterested now. "Isn't that what all this is about, Nnoitra. Your hatred if being second-best yet again."

"You don't know anything," he growls out, the words low with a new level of anger. It's the quiet kind. The one that promises unimaginable pain when you least expected. Yet, even faced with this new danger, I don't cower away from it.

"I know more than enough," I tell him, mocking him even and not caring in the slightest that doing so will only bring me more pain in the future. If Nnoitra lives, that is. And I'm making damn sure he doesn't, of course. "Hell, I even know about Nelliel."

He starts at the name, unconsciously pulling back on his Zanpakuto as he does so it no longer grazes against Grimmjow's skin. The snarl that twists Nnoitra's lips then is absolutely feral, and if it wasn't because I have more to lose by doing so, I would have cowered away from it. As it is, I steel myself against it, scoffing as I do.

"But I'm sure you're not too keen about taking that trip down memory lane now, are you?" I ask even as I already know the answer to that. It's a no-brainer that he wouldn't want to talk about what he did to Nel given that Ulquiorra, his superior, is here to hear all about it. "So how about we make a deal instead?"

"You want to make a deal?"

There's something exasperated in his voice, almost hidden behind the anger but it's there nonetheless. Almost as if he can't fathom why I would want to strike a deal now. When it would be so much easier to let his brewing violence deal with me and be done with it.

Though, with Ulquiorra here, uncaringly watching us squabble like a bunch of toddlers, violence really isn't an option here. Not towards me, that is. Since Ulquiorra's been tasked with keeping me alive.

"Well, it's more like a trade," I tell him, turning back to Grimmjow then. Not that my eyes stay on him for long. They go to the Zanpakuto pinning him, skimming across the black metal until they land on the sharp, white edge. Surprisingly there's no blood from where it grazed across Grimmjow's skin. "You end this, whatever this is, let our little Kitty-Kat here go and I'll let you know where you'll be able to find the strongest of the Shinigami that are going to come to aid Ichigo."

"How can I know if you're telling the truth?" He snarls and I shuffle closer to the Zanpakuto, reaching for it. He lets me, uncaring because it's not like I have any hope of disarming him. Hell, I don't think I'd even be able to lift, let alone pull it out from where he's stabbed it into the wall.

"You can't," I say because it's the truth. Nnoitra has no reason to trust me. None of them do, Aizen included and I'd be more offended if they did. Because total trust like that would only mean that they view me as dangerous as a bunny. Weak. "But the way I see it, what do you even have to lose?"

Nothing.

He has nothing to lose, and he knows it. It's not like a chance to prey on Grimmjow can't possibly come again. Or like he can really do much more than rough Grimmjow up a bit. Something tells me Aizen isn't too keen on losing anymore Espadas with the imminent war just hours away from starting.

"So what do you say, Nnoitra?" I ask him without turning to look at him because my gaze is still locked onto his Zanpakuto. Glued to the edge of it as my fingers gleam over, tracing the white of it and not able to stop as they slip over the sharp edge. "Are you willing to make a deal with the devil?"

The pain is instant. Icy cold in its sharpness as the blade slices through the pads of my fingers. It shoots up my arm like a bolt, stinging and unpleasant as I rip my hand away. It's second nature then to curl my hand into a fist and squeeze the pain away while I choke down a curse.

Nnoitra yanks his Zanpakuto out of the wall as I do, the movement as jerky as it is sudden. It pulls my gaze back to him and I find him staring down at me in confusion. For all that I'm baiting him, and mocking him every second of it, the feral anger is gone. Washed away by the confusion that really has no right to be there.

At the sight of his confusion, I can't help looking at my fingers, wanting to check the deepness of the cuts on them. If only to see if they have some answers about his confusion because I must have hit bone or something for him to be acting like that.

Except I find nothing.

No blood, no cuts, not even a scrape. The pads of my fingers are intact, the skin unblemished, but the pain had been so real. Sharp and icy and lingering, but even as phantom waves continue to pulse at the tips of my fingers, there's nothing there to cause it.

I know Nnoitra's confusion is mirrored on my face then, but I can't fight it as I meet his gaze again. We stare at each other then. Neither of us is sure of what just happened or willing to comment on it at all so we just stay silent.

"Kenpachi," I mutter when the silence gets tense enough that Grimmjow, finally free, shoves off the wall. Eager to break the staring contest then, I turn to watch as Grimmjow blinks out, using Sonido to get away before anyone can stop him again. "The strongest Shinigami will be Kenpachi. You'll find him out in the dunes, but he'll make his presence known after Ichigo defeats Grimmjow."

"He'll kill him," Nnoitra says, not asking but I nod even as it's a lie. Because, no Ichigo won't kill Grimmjow, but Nnoitra doesn't need to know that Grimmjow will be one of the few to survive this whole messed up war.

None of them do.

"Find him, Nnoitra," I say, looking up to meet his eye again, hand curling back into a fist. I almost regret it then, as I catch sight of the confusion that has yet to leave his face. I almost regret sending him out to find his death, but the feeling doesn't linger. "Defeat him, then we can discuss as much as you want about your worth."

Especially not when the look vanishes to be replaced with distrust.

"He's not a part of the intruders," he spits out then, and I can't help but smirk at the sight of it.

"Nor is he a part of the ones that have just arrived," I tell him, savoring the way his eye widens at the revelation of even more intruders having already made into Hueco Mundo. Those new ones being Rukia and Renji. "He'll be part of the next wave. They'll be thirteen intruders in total. Think you can take them all, Nnoitra? Cause I'd love to see you try."

He scoffs then, a curse ready on his lips but I don't bother to stick around to listen to it. With Grimmjow gone, safe from Nnoitra's particular brand of crazy, I no longer have a reason to stick around. Let alone continue to talk to the lunatic. So we with my end of the bargain said, I turn my gaze back to Ulquiorra and make my way to him.

Ulquiorra watches me the whole way. I'm almost positive he never once pulled his gaze off of me through our whole interaction just from that. Though when I finally reach his side he's gaze drifts over my shoulder, no doubt going back to Nnoitra and it's only then that I realize I've done something incredibly stupid and dangerous.

Never turn your back to a predator. Much less one who's already physically attacked you before. But, with nothing for it now, I sure off the danger as I take Ulquiorra's hand in mind and start to lead him away.

With one last lingering look over my shoulder, Ulquiorra gives in easily to my tugging. He falls into step next to me, neither of us bothering to give Nnoitra any form of farewell as we do. Not that Ulquiorra necessarily has to anyways.

So without a word, we leave. Making our way back down the halls, I have no idea where I'm taking us. But too eager to get the hell away from Nnoitra, I don't stop until we're a good number of hallways away.

And it's only then that I feel like I can finally breathe. Doubling over, I palm blindly for a wall to steady myself as the last of the adrenaline drains out of me, leaving me trembling in utter relief to have gotten out of there injury-free.

"Well, that was something," I mutter at the wall, uncaring that it can't reply. It's only when Ulquiorra tugs me back to standing straight that I realize my hand is still in his. Or rather that I'm clutching onto his hand like a lifeline. "I honestly can't believe I survived that."

"He attacked you?"