Aaaah... Took me long enough, but I did it. Chapter Niiiiiiine! These past two chapters were a little tough on me, 'cause, if you hadn't noticed, my strengths lie in depicting actions sequences! SO. This was a bit of a learning experience. I had a lot more fun with this than I thought I would now that I look back on it... (Y'know... Now that it's DONE) But, now I can get on with this!
Enjoy Chapter 9!
Before another word could be said, Rukia suddenly rushed at Ulquiorra with Shunpo, her zanpaktou already drawn and swinging down at Ulquiorra's head. Ulquiorra intercepted it with his own sword, easily keeping her at bay as he tried to reason with the raven-haired shinigami,
"Wait a moment! Calm down!" Before he could say anything more, a second figure appeared to his left beside Grimmjow and thrust his zanpaktou forward, crying out,
"Howl, Zabimaru!" The flat top of the spiked zanpaktou rammed into Ulquiorra's blade, the blade extending and pushing him through the sands until he finally pushed his own feet out to cancel out the motion. Renji's blade retracted, but Rukia wasn't done, though. Far from it, she was in a rage — a rage clearly visible in her furious glare.
"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" Rukia turned her sword upside down, morphing it into the pristine white work of art that is known to be in Soul Society. The long white ribbon extended outward and followed Rukia's movement as she spun her zanpaktou into a horizontal position before reciting,
"First Dance, Tsukishiro!" Rukia slashed outwards, summoning a white circle of light underneath Ulquiorra's feet. Ulquiorra leapt straight up into the air, but the circle glowed brighter, forming a cylinder of light all around him that filled rapidly with ice. Ulquiorra brought his left hand up to his face just as the ice consumed him. The ice began to crack, but before the entire structure could shatter, jagged blades of energy shot out through the cracks as they gleamed a bright green. The cylinder crumbled, the ice falling into ever smaller and smaller pieces until the ice column disappeared, leaving Ulquiorra to stand in the air with his mask veiling his face.
"Enough!" he shouted, sheathing his zanpaktou before disappearing in a static-emitting blur of Sonído to stand in front of Rukia. She swung out at his face, but Ulquiorra easily caught the blade in his right palm just before it made contact. Renji flung Zabimaru out in its whip form to attack Ulquiorra from his left, but he also caught the Shinigami blade with his opposite hand. Ulquiorra turned his attention from the now-secured bladed whip to look into Rukia's burning stare, the ex-Arrancar's morphed voice resonating,
"Calm yourselves! We don't mean any harm! Let us explain ourselves before trying to strike us down." Rukia could only bow her head down, her eyes shaded and revealing nothing as she whispered,
"You killed him. . ." Ulquiorra flinched slightly. He knew this was one way this whole situation could have panned out, but he had hoped it wouldn't come down to it. The blade-whip trapped in his left hand suddenly flung out from his grip and retracted as he noticed Grimmjow walking toward Renji, drawing his sword without any particular rush as the Shinigami prepared himself. Ulquiorra almost panicked, calling out to the Sexta, "Grimmjow, don't—"
"You killed him," Rukia interrupted, repeating the fact half to herself, half to the Espada who still grasped her sword. Rukia lifted her head, and Ulquiorra could see the crystalline gleam in her eyes. He could tell she was almost at the brink of tears. "The two of you killed him, and you expect us to still be calm!" Rukia pushed the masked Espada back and jumped away from him at the same time. She started to pierce the ground in front of her until four marks were made, and her next attack was ready,
"Second Dance," she cried, holding back the tears that wanted to burst forth. Not again, she thought. An image of Kaien Shiba flashed through her mind as she pointed her blade towards Ulquiorra Schiffer. She glanced upon Ichigo's motionless body.
I don't want to lose him again!
"Hakuren!" The frigid wave of reiatsu-turned-ice charged toward Ulquiorra from Sode no Shirayuki's tip, threatening to consume him. Before the ice could reach him, though, a triangular orange shield spawned in front of him, forcing the ice to stop and spike outwards, deflecting at multiple angles off the shield. The shield dissipated, followed quickly by the ice as Rukia turned around to see Orihime rushing towards them.
"Please, stop! Don't fight!" she pleaded as her Shun Shun Rikka returned to her hair pins. The timid girl slowed down, walking up to Rukia and taking hold of Kuchiki's lowered blade by the hilt. "Please, Kuchiki-san. Put away your sword." Rukia flinched visibly, having just realized what she was doing at that moment. She gazed uncertainly into Orihime's eyes, and relaxed, if only slightly. What am I doing? Her Shikai faded, returning her sword to its sealed state before she sheathed it uncertainly into its scabbard. Kuchiki exhaled shakily, adrenaline still running through her body.
"Thank you, Inoue. I'm sorry." The pair of them turned to Ulquiorra, who had walked toward them in a state of surprise. She saved me, he pondered. She wanted to save me. . . Orihime was the first to speak, beginning slowly,
"Ulquiorra . . . Why . . ." She stopped for a moment and walked over almost unwillingly to Ichigo's body, which was laid down on its back rather than its front thanks to Ulquiorra. After all, he couldn't just leave Kurosaki just as he was when he killed him, face-first in the sand. Orihime stood right next to Ichigo and crouched down onto her knees to the right of Ichigo's body, Rukia having followed her and standing beside her.
"Ulquiorra, why did you . . ." she tried to begin, but sobbed for a moment before bringing strength back into her words, "Why did you do this?" Ulquiorra walked over to her, dissipating his Hollow mask before answering,
"It . . . Wasn't intentional . . . From what Grimmjow told me before you arrived, I had been turning back into a Hollow. I had no control over my body . . . That's when I . . . When I killed him." He finished with a tone of finality, at last having told her truth. At this point, Grimmjow and Renji had walked up to the rest of them. Thankfully they're not fighting, Ulquiorra thought. Behind Ulquiorra, Chad, Ishida, and the three Arrancars had walked over to the group. Ulquiorra had noticed that the other two friends of Kurosaki's didn't really help out, but he could tell they were simply sizing up the situation. The one called Ishida had his Quincy cross ready . . . And that larger one seemed to have been more than ready for battle, but the two seemed to be waiting for an opportunity . . . Interesting.
"Hurry up and heal him, woman." Everyone in the group turned to Grimmjow Jaguarjaques, looking at him with incredulous expressions on their faces. "What? I need this orange-haired bastard over here to be in top condition before I can show him just how much stronger I am than him!" A feral grin formed on the Sexta Espada's face, but Orihime stared at him in fear.
"You want me to heal him just so you can fight him again!" she asked with deep concern evident in her voice. But just as the rest of Ichigo's friends were about to burst out in protest, Grimmjow roared out,
"You're damn right I do! And you!" Grimmjow pointed at Orihime, "YOU'RE gonna make sure he's back on his feet," and now placed a thumb on his chest, "'Cause I'M gonna tear him a NEW ONE!" This time, though, it was surprisingly Chad who spoke up in defiance of the overwhelming Espada,
"What makes you think we're just going to let you fight Ichigo by himself?" Grimmjow's grin faded into a scowl of irritation.
"Look at it this way. Would ya rather have him stay dead? Besides, he'll probably be as eager to fight as I am, and I hardly see him as the type who wants help in a one-on-one duel." Grimmjow's grin returned with this final statement, as everyone had nothing more to say at this point. Ulquiorra stood silently, contemplative of the situation at hand. He was unsure of how he even felt about the situation. That is, he knew Ichigo's friends were against healing him to fight, but he personally did not concern himself with the ethics of it. Meanwhile, Orihime unleashed her healing barrier, trying to fix Ichigo's perforated torso. She agreed with Grimmjow on one point: she wanted Ichigo to be alive, so she got to work. He had a multitude of cuts all over his body, which was stained with various streaks of blood that were quickly fading thanks to Orihime's rejection technique. The orange gleam of the shield reflected in Zangetsu, which was lying to Ichigo's left.
There's an . . . Incredible reiatsu wrapped up deep within Kurosaki-kun's wounds . . . I can hardly reject it! Orihime concentrated harder on Ichigo's chest wound, dried chips and flakes of blood rising out of the gaping hole along with dark spirit energy. Finally, it began to slowly close in on itself, the dark void being filled in with healthy human skin. Suddenly, Ichigo blinked, the life suddenly back in his eyes as he twitched back into conscious existence. He turned his eyes to the right, letting them fall upon his healer.
"Inoue? And Rukia? What? What are you guys doing here?" The two girls smiled at him, relieved that he was back. Ichigo then looked past them, somewhat startled, "Ulquiorra . . . Grimmjow . . . You guys are okay," he sighed, relief clear in his voice.
"I'm still not happy about you wanting to fight him, Espada," Rukia suddenly shot out at Grimmjow, turning from Ichigo to stand and face the blue-eyed Arrancar, "Ichigo just died, and you want him to just up and brawl with you?"
"Listen up, Shinigami," Grimmjow snapped, the title rolling off his tongue like an obscenity, "Me and Kurosaki got some unfinished business to take care of, and I'mgonna make sure it's taken care of. So shut your damn trap before I tear another hole in yer gut, just like last time!" Rukia grasped her sword, ready to face down the Espada at a moment's notice,
"You bastard . . ."
"Rukia, stop." Kuchiki did just that, turning to Ichigo with surprise plastered over Rukia's face as he continued, "Calm down. I'm alright . . . Grimmjow," Ichigo addressed the Arrancar with a stern look on his face, "Don't worry. I'll fight you . . ." Determination visible on his face and clear from his tone, "And then we're all heading home." Ichigo smiled, looking at Orihime who blushed lightly and smiled back at him. After about ten more minutes, Ichigo was fully healed, his body and clothes both undamaged. He stood, taking hold of the cleaver that was lying in the sand next to him as he turned to face Ulquiorra and Grimmjow. The Substitute Shinigami looked over their bodies, taking note of the multitude of wounds they were bearing. Ulquiorra didn't have any grievous wounds thanks to his prior Hollowfication, just a variety of nicks and small slashes. These were accompanied by splashes of dried blood from wounds that had since sealed up by means of high-speed regeneration. Grimmjow was a little more worse for wear, with a few larger gashes across his chest to supplement all the minor scrapes and cuts that had mottled his skin with his own dried blood.
"Inoue," he said, the girl giving him her attention as he spoke, "Please heal Ulquiorra." Orihime's eyes shot open, but she said nothing as his gaze turned from Ulquiorra to Grimmjow, to whom he nodded and said, "And heal Grimmjow, too." Jaguarjaques merely frowned, advising Ichigo against it,
"Bad idea. I don't need your pity." Ichigo merely held Grimmjow's gaze, calmly stating facts to the Espada,
"It's not pity. You want us to fight on equal footing, right?" There was no reaction from Grimmjow, so Ichigo continued nonchalantly, "Or do you want to save all those cuts for an excuse when you lose?" Grimmjow's eyes widened, angering him enough to yell as he drew his sword, bringing it upwards just to fling it down on Ichigo, who brought Zangetsu up horizontally to parry. The swords connected, letting loose a loud, metallic clang upon everyone's ears.
"Excellent!" Grimmjow chuckled, a fierce grin lighting up on his face, "All right, let's have us a fair fight!" The two pushed off of each other, each one staring the other down as Ichigo rebuked with quiet zeal,
"You're on!" It hadn't seemed possible, but Grimmjow's grin got even wider, and what seemed like bloodlust glinted in his eyes. Ichigo swung his sword onto his back as it wrapped itself back up. Grimmjow sheathed his sword, still grinning at Ichigo, who had a serious, piercing gaze fixed on the Sexta. It was at this point that Orihime did as asked and summoned her healing shield to engulf Ulquiorra. She raised her hands to the shield, concentrating carefully on his wounds. Grimmjow plopped himself down on the sand, waiting eagerly for his turn to be healed. Shoulda freakin' told her to heal me first . . .
Ichigo walked over to the rest of his friends, Chad, Ishida, Renji, and Rukia all giving him worried looks while he was just smiling, happy to see his friends again.
"What?" he asked, the smile fading just a little as curiosity set in.
"Kurosaki, are you sure it's such a good idea to be fighting him right now? Shouldn't we just leave, now that we've rescued Inoue-san?" Ishida made a good point, to which Renji added,
"Not only that, but by the looks of it, that Espada's no pushover. Are you sure you can handle him alone?" Ichigo merely gave him a pointed look, eyes furrowed but a smile on his face,
"Don't worry so much, Renji. I can handle 'im. I want to settle this. Maybe we could get just one more strong fighter on our side, who knows?" Ichigo turned to glance at Grimmjow, who was lying on the ground, apparently taking a bit of a nap as he waited for Orihime to heal Ulquiorra. Nel suddenly came up to the orange-haired teen, asking him with doubt seeping through her voice,
"Itsygo . . . Are you really gonna fight him?" Ichigo was just short of stunned to see the little Arrancar on the brink of tears. He knelt down to put a hand on her head, trying to comfort her in spite of the broken mask in the way.
"Yes I am, Nel. Now, don't give me that look." Nel looked like she was about to bawl her eyes out before Ichigo said, "Hey . . . Don't make that face, Nel! It'll be alright."
At the same time, Orihime and Ulquiorra were having a quiet conversation of their own as Orihime healed the ex-Espada. Only moments after Ichigo had walked off, Ulquiorra said in a low tone,
"I'm sorry." Orihime's eyes shot up to meet his, the girl having been focused upon Ulquiorra's wounds.
"Eh? What for?" Ulquiorra wasn't looking at her, head turned away (and although he'd never tell anyone, he was trying to avoid making eye contact).
"That's what humans do, isn't it? When they wrong someone, it's only prudent for them to apologize for their actions, no?" Orihime just kept staring at the ex-Arrancar, not really knowing what to say. After all, she hadn't expected him to say anything of this sort, well, ever. "Well," he continued, his face now turned towards her, but his eyes still wandering away from hers, "I wanted to say that I'm sorry for having brought you here — for tearing you away from your friends, for making them think you had betrayed them . . . And for simply making you go through all this." Ulquiorra mustered enough will to glimpse into her eyes, but immediately sent his gaze downwards into the sand. He hadn't felt so humble before anyone except Aizen, though he had never felt so strange before that man as he felt now. He repeated, for the final time, "I'm sorry."
"It's alright." Ulquiorra now looked up at Orihime, more than surprised to see her with a modest smile on her face — no anger, no hurt evident in her expression. "I know that you were just following Aizen's orders. Right? And . . . That wasn't the real you doing those things . . ." Ulquiorra blinked, eyes going wide as she continued. She can't possibly know about my . . . other . . . self . . . can she? "I noticed you changing when you were fighting Grimmjow and Nnoitora . . . Your reiatsu, your demeanor, even the way you seemed to just look at things was different . . . And then when you turned human, I couldn't feel any part of your old self left. It was like you were someone completely different, yet somehow, still the same. But then, when you put that mask on . . . It was like the old you had come back. But even though you changed on the outside, I knew you were still that new person. I knew that you were just doing it to help me." Ulquiorra couldn't even speak, much less react consciously. But then she looked directly into his eyes and spoke soothingly,
"That's why it's alright, Ulquiorra. I know you didn't mean to hurt me. So there's nothing you have to be sorry for." Ulquiorra could only continue to gaze into her eyes, utter shock plastered onto his face as he comprehended the things she had just told him.
"O- . . . Orihime . . ." Orihime broke their mutual gaze into each other's eyes, clearing her throat as she announced,
"It's done. You're healed." Ulquiorra looked down at himself. His Espada outfit was completely repaired, with the zipper open slightly to reveal the spot on his chest where the Hollow hole would have been, but was now gone. It was strange for him to see his human hands, now flush with color, clashing with the white cloth of his sleeves.
"It's done, eh?" Grimmjow suddenly exclaimed, taking Ulquiorra's and Orihime's attention, "All right, woman. Get to it." Orihime dispersed her healing shield to send the Shun Shun Rikka in Grimmjow's direction, healing his wounds. In the meantime, Ulquiorra had some time to think.
I truly hadn't expected that to end so well . . . Wait a moment. Well? What am I doing? I can't delude myself. She's a human. But what am I, really? Nnoitora said I was human, but humans don't have this kind of power. Am I a Shinigami, then? Like the boy? Ulquiorra glanced over to Ichigo, who was talking in somewhat quiet tones to his friends. The Substitute seemed edgy and ready to fight. The boy . . . She went to him that night . . . I can't forget after all . . . To her, that boy is . . .
A high-pitched sound came from Orihime's direction, Ulquiorra noticing she'd finished healing Grimmjow. Jaguarjaques grinned as he looked himself over, good as new. He turned to Ichigo, grinning,
"All right, Kurosaki. Let's get this started!" There was no start to the battle, though. Three rapid-fire bursts of Sonído turned the group's attention to the top of the horseshoe structure. The low timber of a man's voice could be heard from one of the three Arrancar who stood upon the structure's summit,
"My, my . . . Take a look at what we have here, amigos. A motley crew of invasores and two traidores." Ulquiorra's eyes narrowed in irritation. Grimmjow walked up, flanking him from the left, an equally irritated expression on his face as he called out,
"The hell are you three doing here? I didn't realize the last of the Privaron Espadas were so eager to get their asses kicked!" Irritated though he may have been, Grimmjow had other thoughts running through his mind.
These guys could pose a good distraction . . . Then I'll just have Ulquiorra to worry about . . . But that won't be a problem. Grimmjow glanced at the green-eyed man to his right whose gaze was still fixed upon the newcomers. The Sexta stuck his hands in his pockets, his right hand taking light hold of the object resting there. Meanwhile, Dordonii only smirked, not at all fazed by the taunts of one who was so much stronger than him. Cirucci was the one to speak this time, her words infused with scorn, but at the same time, excitement,
"You're traidores, sure, but we're not here for you. We're here for those kids behind you." The group of friends expressed their shock well, surprise quickly apparent on their faces. But Grimmjow wasn't thrown off one bit.
"Is that so? You gonna fight 'em then?"
"That's right," declared the third member of the group, Gantenbainne. "We're going to defeat them for Aizen-sama." The Arrancar with the afro was quite calm, arms crossed and waiting patiently for his opportunity to fight. Cirucci was calm, if a little restless, while Dordonii was right with Gantenbainne, though the sheer joy of the thought of the battle awaiting him was becoming more apparent in his smile. Ulquiorra wasn't all too happy about the prospect of having to deal with more enemies.
"I'm not going to let you do that, Privaron Espadas." Ulquiorra wasted no time in swiping his hand over his face, his horned mask appearing suddenly out of wisps of dark green. Frighteningly heavy reiatsu blasted outwards, crushing downwards onto the shoulders of everyone present. Ichigo and Grimmjow were handling it best, while Ichigo's friends were straining to stay on their feet, and the Privaron Espadas were having difficulty standing up straight, but with nowhere near as much difficulty as the humans present. Ulquiorra let his power subside, easing the burden of the weaker beings present. Grimmjow, in the meantime, was mentally plotting. Good! He's got his mask out . . . Now for the last step.
"Hold up, Ulquiorra," Grimmjow suddenly said, taking the ex-Arrancar's attention as the Sexta strolled forward. "I'll make you guys a deal," he yelled, addressing the Privaron, "Distract everyone but that orange-haired shinigami over there. He's mine. As a result, you guys get to have your fight. Deal?" This time it was the Privaron Espadas' turn to be surprised (not that they were the only ones). Ulquiorra turned to Grimmjow, flabbergasted by Grimmjow's sudden actions,
"Grimmjow! What are you—"
"Sorry, Ulquiorra," Grimmjow began, Ulquiorra only staring at him through his mask as the Sexta Espada spoke, "but I'm not letting anyone get in between me and my prey!" Before Ulquiorra knew it, Grimmjow had smacked his open palm into Ulquiorra's mask, and Ulquiorra could make out a small cube in between his mask and Grimmjow's palm. That's — !
Ulquiorra's mask glowed purple as the cube exploded into multiple bands of energy. A violet light glowed on Ulquiorra's chest where his Hollow hole had once been, while the bands of energy engulfed Ulquiorra himself before constricting and vanishing itself and the ex-Arrancar into nothingness.
Well, that's the chapter. I'll try to get these chapters out sooner than three entire WEEKS after the last one, but I do this for my own pleasure as well as yours. I'm not gonna rush myself. But I promise: I won't just let this end. Don't you hate it when a story does that? Anyway, please REVIEW. Opinions on characterization, as usual, are important. I don't want to make any of these characters, well, OUT of character; I'm trying to make them act in ways they're supposed to.
So, I expect to hear things from everybody! Reviews make me want to write this more, so... :P