Bleached: Four Years Later

Chapter 6

Disclaimer: We don't own Bleach, just Airi, Zezuri, Eyon, and Cyerra.

Note: I must thank Enchantable for her input/suggestions for the chapter.

And since everyone on DA told me they'd like to see more Airi and more of the Vizards, wish granted. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!!!

"Shinji, if you're so worried, why don't you call her?" Lisa peered up over the top of a book she had been trying to read.

The leader of the Vizards had been pacing back and forth, true, Airi had only disappeared just under a week ago, but he had a sinking feeling about her disappearance.

"We all need our time away from each other. And since you don't go to school anymore, I'd imagine she was getting sick of being cooped up in here anyways," the other Vizard followed her friend's movements with her eyes. He kept pacing like a caged animal and it was getting hard to ignore. "Well... call her already!"

Shinji paused for a moment and glanced at the ground. "Nah, it's okay Lisa, it's only been a few days, she'll be fine," he said and went back to pacing.

---

Airi had just come to the conclusion that she was anything but 'fine' at the moment. She'd been unable to do anything but listen as Ulquiorra had informed her that she was now his fraccion. As far as she knew, the Fourth Espada never had fraccion. Rumors did say that Yammy had been his at one point, but that was highly unlikely.

"Back on escort detail?" Nnoitra stepped out of a room into the hallway as he addressed Ulquiorra. However, he kept walking, ignoring the fifth's remark. Airi stopped and glared at the extremely tall espada towering over them.

"Airi. Come." Ulquiorra ordered. Airi's feet moved before she could realize that once again her own will had failed against his.

Nnoitra's expression went from amusement to pure shock. "You didn't! You took that weakling for a fraccion?!" he laughed.

Again the fourth was silent. Airi hung her head as she passed the still laughing fifth espada as her rage built up; she wasn't weak, how dare he laugh at her and –" she stopped herself before the thought could finish. No, just because he had said she was his fraccion didn't mean she'd accept it. She'd already made up her mind to fight this as much as possible.

Ulquiorra led the way further down the hallways through parts of Las Noches further than she'd ever ventured. After awhile, they arrived in front of a door that looked exactly the same as all the others, but Airi could sense something special about this door. Ulquiorra put his hand on it and it split in half; part of it falling into the floor and the other part sliding up into the ceiling. He entered the room without a word. Airi peered into the blackness of the room before entering, wondering if it'd be full of hollows, like the ones he used to lead her to. As she stepped through the doorway nothing attacked her. In fact the room was empty of all life, save for herself and Ulquiorra, if one could consider the arrancar to be alive. The room was huge; the ceiling was a good forty feet (12.2 meters) above her head and the walls seemed just as far off. Solid black round columns ran from the floor to the ceiling in an organized fashion. Airi was in awe of the room, but felt the room really fit its owner.

"This is now where you will reside," the fourth espada spoke walking further into the room.

Airi glared at the back of his head. She hoped this would only be temporary, the thought of having to share a room… wait… share a room?!

"As in… we both share this room?" she burst forth with the question.

Ulquiorra looked over his shoulder; his eyes met hers and answered the question before he spoke. "As my fraccion, it would be odd if you did not reside in the same domain as I."

Airi wasn't sure why she had needed to really ask that; after all she knew that Grimmjow had kept his fraccion relatively close at all times, it just hadn't registered how close that was. However, that didn't mean she was going to stand for this.

Before she was able to protest further, her thoughts were interrupted by Ulquiorra stopping in his tracks. "I have a mission I must attend to for Aizen-sama. You will wait here while I am gone." He snapped his pale fingers together and split the air in front of him and walked through without so much as a glance of farewell.

Airi watched him disappear, feeling relived when the portal closed behind him. His last orders were something she had intended on doing in the first place. Her staying in his room for the moment would not be considered more proof of her situation. Nnoitra's comments had caused her enough embarrassment and she had no desire to find out what the other espada thought of her situation. She again gazed around the room, grateful that it was quite large. The far right wall caught her attention, as faint light poured into the room in four separate patches from a set of windows. Before she realized where she was going, Airi found herself staring out a tall window onto the vast desert of Hueco Mundo. The white sands reached out forever, but nothing out there was living, she remembered, but continued to stare out wondering if anyone had discovered she hadn't left on her own free will. "Shinji…" she muttered before falling asleep on the windowsill. The effects of all the day's trauma, the lingering effects of the transformation, and a hint of serum, all added together had suddenly caught up with her.

---

Since morning never came to Hueco Mundo, Airi had woken up alone in the dark just under the window sill she'd been leaning on. "I have a bad tendency to do that, don't I?" she muttered remembering another incident she'd done this. But she hadn't been alone then. Zezuri. Her only friend from her old life. Again she remembered the friend she tried so hard to block out from her mind. The pain from losing her to another society where she wasn't accepted was a deep wound. Knowing not to dwell on this, she turned her thoughts back to her life in the past four years. She had moved into the Vizard's warehouse and led a semi-normal existence. Attending high school, although she'd been about to graduate in her former life. Shinji, he had been going with her. Actually, her going had been his idea in the first place. Keeping tabs on Ichigo had been his reason, so they continued to attend school with him, Orihime, Ishida, and Rukia for the remainder of high school. After graduation, she had withdrawn to Vizard duties of slaying hollows and staying out of Soul Society's attention. Apparently, the Seireitei hadn't been the only ones searching for the Vizards. "Dang it!" she shouted, "That was SO stupid of me to go off like that. I wouldn't have ended up in this mess if… if… if I hadn't gotten into that stupid fight with Shinji." Tears of frustration rolled down her face. Most people assumed Airi didn't cry much, always giving off a strong aura, but when she was alone and no one could see she wouldn't hold back.

A few minutes passed and the blonde arrancar got a hold of herself. She started to stand up but almost tripped; her jeans were in a sorry state, as was the rest of her outfit; the bottom of the left leg was torn outwards and currently under her right shoe. Carefully stepping, as to avoid any further mis-haps, she stood up. Her hand brushed one of her pockets. "Oh! My phone!" Airi rummaged through her pockets to discover it was missing. Her level of frustration grew from this new discovery. "I bet it fell out during the battle… hope it's not broken…"

Looking around, Airi became aware of the fourth espada's absence. However, a white bundle had been set next to her. Picking it up, Airi realized it was a new outfit. To say she didn't want to put it on was an understatement; she put it back down hastily and turned away only to realize that her current outfit was clearly not going to last much longer. She let out a sigh in defeat, retrieved the new garments and unfolded the clothes. "Well, at least this time it's made for movement… but still… why tights?" she muttered before changing. The new outfit was the usual white on black of Las Noches, but this time, the skirt only ran to Airi's knees and was split up on both sides. The sleeves went down to her elbows, but, like the skirt were also split open. A black sash went around her waist and now she had black fingerless gloves. The black tights were the worst part of this outfit in her mind; they were worse than the small heeled sandals that strapped up to just under her knees. "Yet another outfit not made for combat, but I'm guessing that's where I'll be…" More flashbacks crossed her mind of countless battles against the shinigami.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Ulquiorra's entrance. "I see you've changed," he stated looking her over briefly.

"Not like I had a choice," she muttered.

"I thought you'd prefer a new outfit; yours was not suited for any sort of movement."

Airi clenched her fists and glared at him for a moment; her constant defeat in the battles of wit fueled her anger further. "I-I could have fixed it!"

He looked her straight in the eyes and she suddenly released her clenched fists before she had the time to remember his new power over her. He released his power hold on her and turned for the doorway again. "I must inform Aizen-sama you have awoken."

"Why does he care?"

"You've been out for almost two weeks."

Airi's eyes went wide, "Two weeks?!" she repeated before sinking to the floor as Ulquiorra stared. "Two weeks?! Shinji…. Everyone? Why didn't they come? Didn't they notice the damaged buildings? The broken glass? My sudden disappearance?"

"Your friends aren't coming. They don't care about you."

"How… why…?" Airi was stunned.

"Isn't it clear? If they cared, they would have been here, and Aizen-sama would have destroyed them."

Airi fought her doubts desperately, barley clinging to any hope she could find. "They've always come for me! Ever since you left me with them! They'll show! You just wait!"

Ulquiorra gazed at her calmly, "You should abandon the pitiful hope you are clinging to; it won't happen."

The blonde hung her head in an involuntary defeat; she wasn't giving up on this yet, even if she was his fraccion, she wasn't going to lose her willpower, not to him, and certainly not to Aizen. Ulquiorra walked out of the room and the door slid shut after him. Airi wanted nothing more than to run from the room at that moment, but found her legs uncooperative.

---

"Shinji, have you heard from Airi?" Rose knew that this was a risky question to ask his friend, "You've been moping around for the better part of three weeks. You haven't even picked up Lisa's books lately."

"Maybe he just got bored from all the porn?" suggested Mashiro suddenly joining in on this conversation. The Vizards were having lunch in the air over their warehouse just because they could.

Shinji didn't say anything and stared dejectedly at his sandwich.

Suddenly a well aimed projectile in the form of a sandal made impact with Shinji's face resulting in the loss of a sandwich as it fell to the ground far below.

"Geez, yer annoying! Stop moping! You haven't called her yet because you're scared of her being mad at you!" Hiyori had stood up after throwing her sandal. "Well, if yer too scared then I'll call 'er!" She pulled her phone out of her pocket of her red sweat pants and was about to dial when Shinji spoke.

"Fine. I'll do it," he pulled out his own phone and found Airi's number. He hesitated for a brief moment before hitting the dial button. The phone rang once. Twice. Three times. Mid-way through the third ring the recorded voice of an operator came on.

"The phone number you are trying to reach is no longer available. Press zero to talk to a live operator. Pressons deux pour Français..." Shinji hung up before it could go any further.

"Shinji, what's with that look?" asked Love. Shinji's expression was pure shock.

"So she wasn't there, shouldn't you have left a message?" inquired Lisa.

The leader shook his head. "Her phone is no longer in service."

A shocked silence engulfed the group; all of their phones were made by Uahara himself, and like the shinigamis', doubled as hollow locating devices. For Airi to have destroyed it was unthinkable.

"Something's wrong," muttered Hachi.

"Everyone," Shinji's commanding voice was suddenly back, "We've got to search for her."

The group members nodded before splitting up suddenly from their lunches.

"Airi… please be alright…" muttered Shinji as he dashed off.

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