Another shorter one before the action picks back up. It's like 90% fight scenes for a while after this, so have fun.
Part I
Grimmjow was "between duties."
(Grimmjow was wandering around because he had nothing better to do. The human was still holed up in bed somewhere after her "fight", and most everyone was too busy dealing with the invaders to so much as spare him a glance.)
He was also thinking a lot about what that freak had said, the good, the bad, and the ugly. He couldn't help but look closely at all that was around him and wonder…
Turning his eyes down he wondered a little quieter. It was Gin, walking his way and (Shit!) looking at him.
"Grimmjow, could I have a word?"
For a moment he had the urge to say something snarky, something that might just get him pinned to the wall like a fucking butterfly, but in the end he just shrugged and said, "Is it about tomorrow, because I've been to every single one of those things, and I think I get how this works."
Gin's smile widened, and wasn't that a good sign? "Close, but not quite. It was about the meeting today. All Espada were required to attend, and, as you know, Lord Aizen does not take kindly to those that refuse him."
"And?" Grimmjow deadpanned. "Don't know what the hell that's got to do with me."
The Shinigami let out a chuckle. "Not much, I suppose, but Grimmjow, I must ask, where's Luppi?"
So, that was what he was after. Grimmjow wouldn't back down. "The little pissant annoyed me. I decided to pop his head off. It's hardly the worst thing to happen in Aizen's Court."
"You're right, there, but really, I must wonder… Did you think doing such a thing would improve your chances of getting back into the court?"
"Eh, who's to say," Grimmjow brushed off.
Gin's smile didn't waver at that. If anything, it seemed to grow, the Shinigami tucking his hands into his sleeves. These were all bad signs.
"Well, as long as I no longer have to go through the trouble of hunting him down, I suppose it's fine," he said casually. "Ah! But before I forget, I wanted to tell you something about our recent battles. I thought the fates of those involved would be of interest to you."
"There's not much to know," Grimmjow scoffed. "We all saw what happened to Cirucci."
"Yes, and how tragic it was, but I was referring to old Dordoni."
Grimmjow froze. Gin's smile turned cruel.
"Did you know, that when we retrieved him from the ice, he was still alive? It was either a stroke of incredible luck, or something Miss Orikasa did on purpose. No one really knows. Poor fellow didn't last very long, though, not after what Aizen's guards did to him."
"Why are you telling me this?" Grimmjow growled. Gin ignored him.
"I believe his exact words were, 'Dispose of it,' but it was pretty hard to hear with all the crying and begging Dordoni was doing."
"You're lying," Grimmjow said with a grin, but he could feel sweat gathering at the back of his neck. "Dordoni would never beg."
"Maybe," Gin said with a shrug, "but when's the last time you've seen him?"
That had Grimmjow pausing.
"I just thought you should know." Gin was already walking away, just radiating satisfaction.
"You were the one that put me up for this fight," Grimmjow said lowly. "You said it'd be fun or some shit, right? So why come at me with this now? What's your game, Shinigami?"
"Really? I clearly remember Lord Aizen ordering me to pass on the message to you about the fights right after the meeting." He drew back in mock surprise. "Oh! But that's not what I told you was it. Ah, silly me."
He walked away, leaving Grimmjow too stunned to do anything but watch. How could he do anything else when one thought was ringing in his head like a gong.
Shit.
Shit!
SHIT!
He hurried down the hall, into his rooms, and slammed the door behind him. He shut himself into his tiny quarters, nearly falling into the gouged wall.
There was no denying it now. He'd been played, plain and simple, by Aizen, by Gin, by the whole rotten lot of them. Now they were just waiting for that freak to tie up loose ends, because that's all he was, right now, a loose end in the way of Aizen's final plan… whatever that plan was.
He was going to die, he realized in that moment. If not tomorrow, then many days later he would be dead in service to… him.
That thought hit him hard. It had him staring at the wall mind spiraling until it settled on one thing.
The freak had given him a choice, as shitty as it was. He could stay with the Shinigami who had made up his mind on killing him already or run like a fucking coward to the ones that were still mulling it over.
Well, if he was dead either way, he may as well go out with a bang.
Part II
The next time Rukia "awoke" she was in her room. No, not the one back in the Human World. She would never be so lucky. That was alright, though. She didn't need it.
It wouldn't be luck that would get her through tomorrow. It would be Sode's kindness, and it would be her own skill. If her Hollow was willing, maybe even she–
"They're here."
It took Rukia a second to realize who had said that.
"What are you talking about?" she turned to her Hollow, the mask staring back at her from the vanity mirror.
"Who else, your friends. The alarm rang while you were 'away.' They'll be in the palace any minute now."
Rukia's words got jumbled up in her chest. She wanted to cheer. She wanted to cry. This was perfect!
"Then this'll be even easier than I thought," she sighed out. "All we have to do is wait it out for the right moment. We meet up with them and… we're home free."
That was what she said, but what she thought was: They came for me. It weighed on her, heavy and comforting. They really came for me.
She stood up, her brave-face firmly in place.
"What do we know about this place?" she asked quickly. "We know we can pull this off, but how?"
"Don't know don't care," the Hollow yawned. "Also, he knows."
"…What?"
"The lapdog. He knows what we're up to. I told him."
"What?!" Rukia yelped. "What did you tell him?"
"I am not scared!"
A new voice cut through, Rukia jerking back in surprise. It came from the other side of the door and was completely unfamiliar.
"Then go in there and help me teach her a lesson!" another whispered.
"B-but you saw what she did to Lady Sa… I mean, Cirucci."
Rukia turned to her Hollow. "What did you do?"
"Exactly!" the other Arrancar continued. "We need to avenge our Lady, and we can't just do that by…"
"What are you two doing here?" another voice growled. This one was instantly recognizable. Grimmjow.
"N-none of your business," the braver one tried, though she suddenly seemed much less sure of herself. "You don't… You don't outrank us anymore, so back off."
"…Move."
It was just one word, but the two Arrancar were stunned into silence. Rukia heard a few hesitant steps, then a few more, and finally she heard running. Then, her door slammed open, her Hollow choosing that moment to disappear on her.
Great.
Grimmjow stalked in, slamming the door shut behind him. He leaned back against the frame, stared Rukia in the eye, and without a hint of irony said, "We're finding those loser friends of yours and getting the fuck out of here."
Rukia felt like she missed a couple of things, a few steps that got her to this point. "Uh… what?"
"This is what you wanted, right?" he snarled. "For me to help you?"
"…Are you on my side now?" she asked incredulously.
"Fuck no!" he snapped. "The second that bastard's gone you're next."
"So… you still hate me?"
"Yes," he said exasperatedly, "just a little less than that fuck, Aizen. Please keep up. Now are you willing to do this or not?"
"Excuse me for having a hard time following," Rukia snapped, somewhere mid mental breakdown. "What did my Hollow even tell you?"
"Not much," he admitted, "but can I say that she, and by extension you, are creepy as hell?"
"That's fair," she said quietly. "Now spill. How do I know this isn't just some trick?"
Grimmjow grimaced, leaning back further. "Aizen killed Dordoni after that fight of yours. We're officially two for two on dead Arrancar, and I decided I didn't like my odds. Doesn't help that Gin basically came out and said that Aizen wanted me dead."
Rukia stared at Grimmjow, eyebrow raised.
"What?!"
She glanced away. "Nothing! It's just… wasn't it a little obvious, that he wanted you dead, I mean?"
A look of rage flashed on his face followed promptly by denial and then embarrassment. "Okay, I was being stubborn about it."
"That's an understatement."
He sent her a harsh glare, one that she held. This quickly lapsed into an awkward silence as Rukia realized that she had no idea where to go from here.
When Tatsuki had her heel turn moment they at the very least had mutual respect. She even liked to think that they could be friends, given the right opportunity. What did she have with him?
"So…" Grimmjow scratched his head. "What's the plan?"
"In progress," she said firmly.
"Of fucking course it is," he muttered under his breath. "Whatever! It's fine! I have a plan! You tell those Shinigami friends of yours I'm with you. I kick Aizen's ass. I kick your ass. We all go on our merry fucking way."
"I… can't even begin to count how many things are wrong with what you just said." Rukia sighed. "Okay, how about this? We're having our big fight tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah, duh."
Her eyebrow twitched. "During those fights a lot of Arrancar are in the arena, therefore, not at their posts, and right after we have about half an hour of being alone before you're supposed to take me to the labs. Theoretically, that's enough time for us to make a break for it with no one to stop us. Then it's just a matter of finding my friends and leaving."
"That could work," Grimmjow said, as if admitting this personally pained him. "So, what, you throw the fight, we run off after. That's basically it?"
Her eyebrow twitched again. "It would probably be better if you threw it."
Grimmjow's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Why?"
"Because I have more self-control, and I'm honestly not convinced you won't use this as an opportunity to betray me the second you get your rank back."
"Self-control?" Grimmjow scoffed. "Is that what you call it when you go hog wild in an arena full of people?"
"That wasn't me!" She really needed to ask her Hollow what happened, didn't she?
"No, it was the bitch living in your head!"
"You just don't want to lower yourself to losing a fight against a human!"
Grimmjow guffawed. "Pot, kettle."
Rukia inhaled sharply, readied another retort and stopped herself at the last minute because, honestly, this whole thing was giving her a headache. "Then I guess we fight for real," she settled on. "May the best one win."
Grimmjow smirked. "Yeah, yeah. When we meet those Shinigami buddies of yours make sure to tell them in detail who kicked your ass and then saved it in the same day."
He was going down.
Part III
"Everything's going well so far," Kisuke drawled, half-smile on his face. "Honestly, I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop."
"Don't be such a downer," Isshin teased. "The kids made it to the other side. All that's left is for us to do our part."
"'Our part'… yeah." The scientist grimaced. "You think today's the day Old Man Yamamoto finally snaps and starts handing out Court Martials, because I've got a feeling…"
Isshin barked out a laugh, patting his friend on the back so hard he swayed. "Hey, the clan's willing to take you in if it comes to that."
Kisuke did not find this comforting.
The two were sitting in the Twelfth Division labs, Kisuke idly twirling in his office chair as Isshin kept an eye on his massive computer screen, numbers blinking back at him. According to Kisuke each line was supposed to represent one Reiatsu signature close to the Combat Pass. By his count there were a few more than there should have been, but it was plenty possible it had just picked up on some passing Hollows. As long as it looked about right…
Isshin looked at it again, blinking. "Uh… is it supposed to do that?"
Kisuke spun back around, ready to give a lecture on margin of error. Then, he laid eyes on the display. He saw the line of code that represented Renji, the numbers that gave his location, the lines below it…
He watched as each of those lines blipped out one by one until only Renji's was left.
"Don't tell me," Kisuke groaned, "they split up."
"Huh?!"
Footsteps sounded through the otherwise quiet lab, Jinta tearing around the corner in a panic. "Code Blue! Code Blue!" Kisuke suppressed a curse hitting the off button on the computer immediately.
Behind Jinta was a Third Seat looking very suspicious but far too intimidated to say much about it.
"Uh…" she started awkwardly. "An emergency meeting has been called, sirs. All Captains and their Lieutenants are to report to the Captain Commander effective immediately. You two were, um, mentioned specifically."
Oh, Kisuke could practically feel that Court Martial coming.
"Thanks for letting us know," Isshin said, ever the pleasant one. "We'll be by in just a minute." Kisuke looked back at his computer. He hoped the auto save function did its job and recorded that last bit.
"You ready to do this or what?" he asked grimly.
"Just like old times, eh?"
Sometimes Kisuke didn't miss the old times.
The first thing he heard upon entering the meeting room was this:
"Why is it always you two?" the Captain Commander asked tiredly. The other Captains were already seated in formation, some looking like they'd been there a while now.
"Ukitake's in on it, too," Isshin blurted out.
Ukitake let out a betrayed gasp.
"I know," Yamamoto said flatly, looking pointedly at the empty spot where Ichigo normally sat.
"For the record I had nothing to do with this," Hitsugaya piped in, not looking at where his own Lieutenant normally was.
"I know that, too."
The two stragglers sat, feeling quite awkward. Their normal seats didn't feel right, somehow. Kisuke resisted the urge to sit right in the middle of the room like he was on trial or something.
"Okay," the Captain Commander started casually. "Give the court an explanation. If I know you, and I do, you will have one."
He sounded… quiet, almost calm. It was then that Kisuke realized just how angry he really was.
"You must understand," Ukitake started. Good, Yamamoto liked Ukitake. "The children were dead set on going. It was all we could do to keep them safe. This way they'd at least be prepared and with supervision."
"The Combat Pass," Yamamoto muttered. "You gave it to them, and unauthorized at that, didn't you?"
"That was a… happy accident." Ukitake let out a nervous chuckle. Kisuke shook his head furiously, trying to signal that something had gone wrong, but Ukitake didn't seem to notice.
"There's more to it than that," Isshin grimaced.
"It was my idea," Kisuke said. "I heard how determined the kids were to leave and I decided to use it as an opportunity. What better time to invade then when you have scouts that have already paved the way, after all?"
Kisuke had no idea how this explanation would go over, as truthful as it was. It even slipped in his true intention, something that he knew the Captain Commander was not on board with. That was probably why, when the Captain Commander's face hardened, he was not surprised. Isshin looked on in dismay.
The Captain Commander let out a deep sigh. "Kisuke, I am hereby suspending–"
"Aizen's making an Ōken!" Isshin shouted.
Yamamoto jerked back, first indignant at being interrupted before realization dawned on him. "Impossible."
"That was what Kisuke's research pointed to, at least," Isshin continued. He turned to his friend. "Come on. Tell them."
Kisuke let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding. "At first," he started slowly, "I thought his goal was just to increase his power. It explained a lot of the research we had already decoded at that point, but when I met with Kurotsuchi he told me something, something that really had me thinking. He said that Aizen wanted to become a god."
"He's after the Soul King," Isshin explained. "Why else would he want a key to his palace and a literal ball of concentrated power? We just… haven't figured out what he wants to do with him yet, when he finds him."
"This changes things," Yamamoto muttered. "Kisuke, we will discuss your actions later, but… it seems your research has paid off."
"There's one more thing," Kisuke continued. "To make an Ōken you need one hundred thousand Souls, and he'll have to get them from somewhere. We have reason to believe that he's been using the Human town of Karakura as research grounds for many years, and that he will finish off his research by using its inhabitants for this purpose.
"With your permission, I believe I can put a stop to this, as long as we agree that the invasion needs to happen, and it needs to happen now."
The Captain Commander looked down at him, inscrutably. Kisuke refused to waver. "You've made your case, and though your tactics leave much to be desired, I'm inclined to agree." Kisuke let out a sigh of relief. "The situation is far more dire than I first thought. Kisuke, Jūshirō, Isshin, and Shunsui come to my offices. The rest of you await your assignments. We move at dawn. Understood?"
"Yes, Captain Commander, sir!"
Kisuke felt himself sag in place, many weeks', months', hell, years' worth of stress and planning suddenly coming into fruition in the span of minutes. This was it. It was finally going to be over.
This is a fun one. It's very dialogue heavy, and I naturally skew towards a more upbeat and comedic writing style, which fits Grimmjow and Rukia pretty well in my opinion. Funny enough this heel turn wasn't one that I had planned much in advance, but the second it was in my head I knew it had to happen, and I knew his personality was such that him going for it could be in character under the right circumstances, while, in my opinion, Ulquiorra would probably never do such a thing. He's kinda tragic in that way, in my opinion.
I… have a lot of feelings about this. Talk to me in the comments please so I have more excuses to feel.
