Chapter Three: Miss Murder

Dreniar took a moment to hunt pin down the location of the other Fraccions in service to Orihime. Conejito was on the move, putting off loads of spiritual pressure. Cirucci was a bit harder to pin down. Finally, she found the signature, but it was faint. It was pretty clear she had just lost a fight. She'd have to pay back whoever did that. Utter bitch or not, you didn't mess with someone's allies.

However, she felt something else wandering the fortress. It was faint, but she would recognize it anywhere.

"That... shouldn't be possible." Still, she had to keep her priorities straight. Cirucci first, then Conejito, then return to Orihime. She could check this out on her own time.

Ichigo charged the silent Espada before him. She moved to block, but it was clear she had almost no experience with a sword. Still, she seemed to have enough power to compensate, being forced to take a step back, but not much else. Her spiritual pressure flared to life as she slowly pushed him back, and he could have sworn for a moment that it felt familiar.

He didn't have long to think though, as she suddenly broke his guard. But instead of attacking with her sword, she rammed her fist into his gut, before delivering a quick kick that knocked him through a wall.

Not giving him a chance to get up, she lunged at him with her blade, aiming to stab him through the gut. He parried in the nick of time, though once again her sloppy swordsmanship made itself apparent, as she swung awkwardly at him over and over, hoping to simply overwhelm him with the sheer onslaught of blows. Focus on blocking her blade, he failed to notice her knee rising up, and was stunned by the blow to the stomach. This time, he couldn't block her swing, barely dodging, a massive slice down his chest.

She refused to let up, switching to a focus on martial arts. A flurry of punches and kicks rained down upon him, though he was getting more used to it. It was starting to remind him of his old fights with Tatsuki, and he moved to adjust. Stabbing his blade into the ground, he began to counter punches with punches, a strange rhythm forming between them.

This change would prove to be his downfall, as suddenly, the Espada drew her blade and swung. With no blade to block, and no time to dodge, Ichigo put his arm in its path. He felt the cold steel bury deep into his flesh. He bit back the pain, but refused to back down. He could almost feel her scowling at him.

Suddenly, there was a searing pain. He looked down, and he could see her arm, buried up to the elbow in his gut. He stared back up at her mask face, but there was no pride, no satisfaction. He saw only sadness in that face. Slowly, he stumbled backwards. "You could have done that from the start… couldn't you?" She nodded solemnly. "You know, you look so familiar…" His vision began to swim, blood dribbling from his mouth. "Well, if you're done holding back… so am I." He raised his hand to his face, and the mask began to form.

Suddenly, there was a burst of spiritual pressure behind him, and he felt the icy hand grip his neck for only an instant before he was slammed face first into the ground.

Orimime looked up at Ulquiorra. "You didn't have to come here. I was doing just fine."

He wiped his hand on his shirt before putting it back in his pocket. "You were holding back. I can comprehend not wanting to hurt your friend, so I simply took care of it for you."

She scowled at him before turning to Ichigo, orange light bursting to life as she began to heal him.

"Leave him. We have more important matters to take care of."

"No."

Ulquiorra raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"I said no." She didn't even bother to look at him. "If I leave him, he'll bleed to death." Ulquiorra said nothing, but made no motion to stop her. Patching the hole in his chest, but not, he noted, any of his other injuries, she stood. "Now, you said we had important things to do. What is it?"

"An ex-Espada, presumed dead, has been found roaming the halls. At her time, she was the third highest ranked among us. Given recent developments," He spared a cursory glance at where Aauroniero had died, but made no coment. "We could use her. But she has been weakened considerably. You're help is required in bringing her up to full strength."

Orihime simply nodded and, sparing one last glance at Ichigo, they were off.

"I've seen some serious mistakes over the years Cirucci, but nothing quite tops ripping your own arms off."

"Go to Hell, Drenair."

"I'm sorry; I couldn't hear you over the sound of me carrying your grievously wounded ass. Be glad Lady Orihime is the best healer in existence, or the Exequias would probably be killing you rather than waste the effort of training an Arrancar to fight without any arms. Now then, Conejito is…"

Just then, Conejito appeared in a burst of Sonido, grabbing Drenair by the shirt with a panicked look in her eyes, ignorant of the armless Arrancar she was carrying. "Drenair, thank goodness, I need your help!"

To her credit, Drenair recovered fast. "Conejito, the last time you asked for my help, we woke up the next morning on top of Huecco Mundo, hungover, broke, and, oh yes, how can I forget, our clothes were missing! What possible reason would I have to help you?"

"I helped kill Aauroniero!"

Cirucci sat upright from where Drenair had dropped her. "Really? I'd clap, but my arms are gone!"

Conejito looked over, briefly forgetting her concerns. "Wow, how'd you manage that?"

"She ripped them off because she was wasting to much spiritual pressure." Reaching down, Drenair picked up her 'friend'. "Okay, so, you killed Aaurniero. You've seen the way this place works. Creepy bastard probably tried to eat you. I think Orihime can vouch for you. Speaking of which, we need to get moving. Now then…" She stared off into space for a moment, hunting for her superior's spiritual pressure. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me. Well, you're in for a treat. Looks like you get to meet Nel."

Authors note: Wow, I seem to make a lot of short chapters. This one's barely over a thousand words. Ah well, it's how I write.

For the curious, Drenair is an OC, but Conejito is actually from the anime, specifically the Karakurizer filler, though she never actually got a name. She was close enough to a blank slate that I could pretty easily use her.

I wonder when someone will notice what I did with the chapter titles. Anyway, please leave reviews, they make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.