Story Title: A Soldier's Honor
Pairing: Grimmjow/Orihime (GrimmHime)
Summary (extended):The war is over. Aizen has won. Lives have been lost, but the fight is not over. Inoue is back in Hueco Mundo, being used for her healing abilities. Grimmjow has a secret that she should know. When things are this miserable, it can bring people together. But will she remember him when she wakes up?
Disclaimer:I don't own Bleach or any of its characters, or plot. I just own my devious imagination!
Individual chapter rating: T for sexual references and language
A/N: Chapter seven… This is one of my longer stories, if I'm correct. So… Orihime's back in Hueco Mundo. That's all I can say about this one. It's pretty mellow, until the end… Cliffy warning, tehe. Lol, enjoy! R&R pwease.
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A Soldier's Honor
Written by Illuminate the Shadows
Beta'd by Innocent Sinner in Hell
Chapter Seven
Word Count: 2,236
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Hueco Mundo was sweltering, as far as temperatures were concerned. But Las Noches was cold. Cold and heartless, just like the creatures that inhabited it. It was so unlike the place I'd stayed in for the past few months; my home. From the very moment I arrived, I yearned to go back to Seireitei.
Extremely conflicted, I followed Grimmjow, who followed Aizen and Ichimaru up to the castle-like building. My prison.
'Grimmjow hasn't even spared me a second glance.' Struggling to walk in the sand, I felt my heart tear in two. 'Maybe he doesn't care anymore. Maybe he dislikes me, because I'm a Shinigami now. His natural enemy.' The other half of my heart spoke. 'Good riddance. He was all wrong anyway. He killed Ichigo.'
Ichigo. Dimly aware that we were in the corridors now, I grasped for some sort of pain, or depression… Anything. To my dismay, nothing washed over me but defiance toward Aizen. 'Damn him. Rukia better be okay. I hope no one else got injured… Or even worse…'
We were in the main conference room now. Aizen stood in front of his throne, smirking lazily, as if he'd just returned from a stroll in the park, not from massacring innocent people and Shinigami. Tightening my hands into fists, I waited for him to speak.
"I am glad you could finally return to where you should be, Orihime." Aizen's single eye pierced me, yet I held his gaze. "I don't like my belongings stolen."
"No one stole me." Had I just retorted back to Aizen?
His eyes narrowed slightly, and I felt rather than heard Grimmjow shift behind me. 'Just like old times.' Aizen tilted his head. "Indeed. Nevertheless, you've here now. And we still have work to do. Where are your hairpins?"
My breath caught in my throat, and I struggled to remain calm. 'They're gone. He wants me here so he can duplicate my healing abilities… The only healing power I have now is Rakuyo, and they can't copy the power of a Zanpakuto… Shit.' Swallowing dryly, I raised my head, thinking quickly. "When I died, they became entrapped in my… Necklace."
I was nervous he wouldn't buy it, or recognize my pause, but his expression remained the same. "I see. Your necklace?" Reaching up to my neck, I pulled the chain out from my kimono. It was a gift from Kira to celebrate my Zanpakuto Ceremony; nothing but an ordinary chain with a butterfly pendant. Aizen examined it from afar, and then nodded. "Very well. You will continue your work with the Szayels like nothing ever happened, yes?" He smiled merrily. "And your Zanpakuto…"
"Don't hurt her," I tried to say angrily, yet it only came out in a soft voice, hushed as if we were in a library.
Aizen's eyes softened the slightest bit. "She shall remain in my possession. Unharmed." Looking down, I nodded once in acknowledgment. "Take her back to her room, Grimmjow. And, just in case…" He waved a hand at Ichimaru, who moved over to the tall man behind me. Catching a glance as I turned around, I thought I saw a bracelet of some sort.
Nothing had changed about Hueco Mundo. Nothing seemed to have changed about me, either, yet I knew if I had been here only yesterday, I wouldn't have remembered a thing from my former visits. 'Ah, but it all came back when I saw Grimmjow. So I would've remembered one way or another.'
Grimmjow opened the door for me, and I moved inside. 'Same old room. Dull, lifeless.' I turned around as Grimmjow spoke.
"Hold up your wrist."
His voice was an emotionless monotone; what I remembered Ulquiorra's to be like. Not brave enough to meet his eyes, I held my wrist up warily. He snapped something around my skin. 'So I was right. It is a bracelet.'
"What's this?"
Grimmjow paused a few seconds before answering. "It'll keep your reiatsu concealed; cut off from you, so you can't try any kidous or… Whatever." He turned around. "And don't try to take it off, or it'll harm you." He headed for the door. 'So this is it.'
"Grimmjow?"
He stopped in the doorway, and never turned around. "What."
Tears began to collect in my eyes. 'Maybe it was too much time. Maybe he found someone else.' Swallowing thickly, I sat down on the bed. "… Nothing." The door closed with a click, entrapping me in the room once again.
'Maybe I was just a lovesick little girl.'
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His large, rough hand was clamped around my wrist tight. So tight, that I began to feel pins and needles in my fingertips from the pressure on my vein. Basically being dragged behind him, I followed the Sexta Espada down the white hall. I had no idea where we were going. I had no idea what time of day it was. And I had no clue as to what could be waiting for me at our destination.
I was pleasantly surprised, to say the least, when we entered the pristine Espada showers. "Aizen's letting you use these now."
The preparations were repeated again, yet it was right before I began to get unclothed when Grimmjow deviated. The shower head was spraying blissfully hot water, and steam filled the little cubicle. My hand was on my obi when I sensed him behind me.
Before I could react, I was pinned against the shower wall, his body trapping me. Fearing for my safety, I struggled until his hand came to my throat. Barely able to breathe, I shut my eyes and silently said my last goodbyes. 'I'm sorry Rukia… I'll miss you Kira…'
"Orihime, listen." My eyes opened at his tone; it didn't match his actions whatsoever. His face was carefully on the emotionless side. "I'm not gonna hurt you. Listen. Aizen's got some way of watching us… I dunno if it's hidden cameras or what, but they're all over the place. I have to act like I'm threatening you." Forcing my face into a mock look of fear, I nodded quickly. "Yeah, look afraid. Good idea. There's a camera or whatever in here, but I know for a fact that this room is one of the only ones that doesn't monitor sound. This is the only place where we can talk freely… Espada quarters are the only other places that aren't monitored. He can't see or hear in any of our rooms. Are you okay?"
Swallowing, I nodded. "Yeah." My voice was soft; breathy. His hand loosened on my throat a bit, decreasing the pressure. "Are you still going to escort me to the laboratory?"
"Yeah, I am."
The fake fear on my face was surely real now, if it reflected my real emotions at all. "Grimmjow, I don't have my hair pins anymore. I lied to Aizen. I don't have those powers anymore…" His eyes widened the slightest bit. "They're encased in my Zanpakuto now."
"Shit." He released me, turning and striding away.
When he said no more, I stepped away from the wall. I could no longer see him. "Grimmjow?"
"Get showering. I'll figure out something."
I untied my obi and let it fall to the ground before I remembered what he'd said.
"Grimmjow, he can see me in here?"
"Yeah, the perverted bastard. There aren't any showers that don't monitor vision, so you'll have to deal."
Feeling my cheeks heat up, I slipped my clothes off. Mortified, I took the quickest shower I could ever remember taking. Once I was done, I got dressed and came out to meet Grimmjow. Expecting to leave, I moved toward the door. He grabbed my arm, and I turned to look back at him questioningly.
"Tomorrow, just do what you would normally do. Try to heal whatever they have for you with that necklace. I have a plan." I nodded and looked away as if he was criticizing me, and his voice lowered. "I won't let 'em hurt you. Whether Kurosaki meant for me to protect you in your human life or not, I dunno. But I'm gonna keep that vow as if my life depended on it."
Slightly touched, I turned my head to look at him. "Because of Ichigo? Or because you… Care?"
His brows furrowed, and then he looked away. "No more questions," he murmured, pushing me out the door and into the hallway.
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I had just finished my breakfast when he came to get me. The halls were quiet, as usual. There was a sort of eerie aura that I didn't recall from my previous time here, and I felt on edge. 'I hope he knows what he's doing…'
"Grimmjow?"
Before I could blink, he had whipped around and was piercing me with a menacing blue stare. "What did you call me?"
Unconsciously remembering that this place was now constantly under supervision, I realized the harsh tone and frightening gaze was all an act. Swallowing, I hesitated, trying to come up with something that Aizen would find more appropriate.
"Jeagerjaques-sama…?"
His eyes softened slightly. "That's better." Spinning around, he continued down the corridor. "C'mon."
The two Szayels were waiting for us in the laboratory. "Orihime! Long time, no see!" The original Szayel greeted me. The other remained just as quiet as he'd always been. 'Come to think of it, I've never even heard his voice.' Anxious, I followed them around surgical tables and counters brewing different colours of liquids. 'Mad scientists.'
"So, we've been informed that the source of your powers is now your necklace?" Szayel looked up at me from the clipboard in his hands. Nodding, I pulled the chain from inside my white kimono. An alarm went off in my head. 'Grimmjow…' "I see. It seems as if we may have to begin all over again. Today, we will simply ask you to heal a simple wound, and observe." Shifting, I nodded. Szayel held out his arm and produced a small knife from his pocket. Pressing the blade to his skin, he cut through his white jacket sleeve. Blood welled up around the wound. "Very well. You may begin."
Swallowing, I moved closer, timidly raising my hands above his arm. 'I feel idiotic.' After a few moments of nothing happening, Grimmjow finally came to my rescue.
"Maybe it's that bracelet she's got on." Dropping my hands, I turned to look at him, the two Szayels copying my actions. "It suppresses her reiatsu. Doesn't she need that to heal?"
"Perhaps. C, remove it." The other pink-haired man came closer, standing before me as he worked on getting it off. My eyes fixed on his movements; I didn't notice him shift so the original Szayel was obstructed from my view. When the bracelet finally popped off, I raised my eyes to his. He was gazing right back, and although his expression was rather emotionless, his eyes told a whole different story. There was something… Hidden. Some secret. 'I could swear he's trying to tell me something.' He moved away, and the other Szayel looked at me expectantly. "Try now."
Yearning to glance back at Grimmjow, I raised my hands once more. 'Rakuyo? Are you there…? I need your help…' There was no response, and, once again, the wound on his arm continued oozing blood.
"What is this? Nothing's happening." Szayel looked at me suspiciously as I lowered my hands. "What's going on?" When I looked down and didn't answer his questions, he turned to Grimmjow, raising a hand swiftly, and murmured three or four words. Turning to look, my eyes grew wide as he grew still, every limb on his body tensed and stiff.
"You bastard!" Obviously, he didn't lack the ability to move his mouth. 'But everything else, it seems…' Fearing what would happen next, I looked at Szayel.
"You lied, didn't you. Your powers are gone. They no longer exist." Angrily, he came toward me. Moving away, I stumbled and fell. My back hit the wall as I scrambled back, eyes wide. "You know Aizen-sama will kill you now. He has no use for you anymore. And when I tell him…" He smirked. There was a soft noise, like the scrape of metal on porcelain.
I winced, shutting my eyes, as warm liquid splattered on my face and arms. It smelt of blood. It was blood. Opening my eyes, I stared in horror at the man above me. His eyes were nearly as wide as mine, and almost bugging out of his head. Slowly lowering his chin, he looked down at the sword that was protruding from his chest. His eyes rose to me, and his mouth moved as if he was going to speak. Instead of words, blood trickled down his chin. The life died from his eyes as the Szayel clone pushed his body sideways, the sword still sticking out. He slumped to the floor, motionless.
All too aware of the blood on my face, I raised my eyes, aghast, to the remaining Szayel. His hazel eyes shifted from his dead brother to me. Stepping forward with one foot, he extended a hand to me. Trembling from head to toe, I reached up and took it. He pulled me to my feet, and raised a hand to wipe my bloody cheek with his sleeve. "Let's get our stories straight now, hm?"