Grimmjow was just barely awake when they dragged him from the room again. The sedatives from the day before were still slowing him down and he was groggy right up until someone tipped a cup of coffee down his throat while he sat on the bathroom floor, hearing the pounding feet and cheers of the stadium above him. Less than a week, he thought. He just had to make it to the end of the week, then the market would be over, there wouldn't be fights every day. He could find a way to escape and—most importantly—kill Cino.
Cino came in moments before the fight. He had shackles in his hands—different from the ones already restraining Grimmjow. These had about two feet of length between them.
"What is that for?"
"Today's match. It will be similar to yesterday's except for one thing."
"What?"
"You will have a partner. The two of you will be attached by this."
Grimmjow narrowed his eyes. Great. His best option would be to hack off the arm of whoever got chained to him and go solo. He rose before Cino's men could grab him and pretended to be unfazed.
"Whatever. Who is it?"
"You'll see soon enough."
He felt a jolt of unease at Cino's smile and started to wonder if this had to do with the punishment he'd been promised.
When he was taken out the main door, he knew for certain it was.
"You've gotta be fuckin' kidding me."
Yuzu was trembling between the two large men who held her.
"Grimmjow..."
He struggled but they clamped his arm in the shackle and hers as well.
"She's just a fucking kid," he argued but it made no difference. Cino watched on from a few feet back. Grimmjow locked eyes with him just before he was shoved out the gate. "You bastard!"
The gate slammed down behind them. He and Yuzu were in the shadow of the end of the tunnel, not yet revealed to the public. The announcer was still explaining the rules—only one couple left standing. Grimmjow ignored all of that and held the shoulders of the trembling girl before him.
"Just keep up with me, okay?"
She nodded, shaking harder when the crowd gave a roar and they knew the match was on. The riffles came up through the bars in the gate. It was time for them to go out into the arena. But Grimmjow felt the chain pull taught when he started to move. Her bare feet were stuck in the dirt, she was unable to make herself go out there.
"Yuzu." He tugged but it was no good. He was given a warning shout by the guards but he moved back to her and bent down to look her in the eyes. "Here," he took her hand, "I'll get us through this, okay? Just hold onto me."
He got the slightest nod. This time she walked with him. They stood on the edge of the ring and saw the other pairs all around. They were already armed. Grimmjow looked down at his feet and saw the short blade. He picked up his weapon. People were already cheering his name. It seemed his act from yesterday had only won their favour more. He stood hand in hand with Yuzu—a fact that did not go unnoticed by any eye in the arena as all the other partners were far apart. Grimmjow noticed all the men were chained to a woman. He clenched his jaw in disgust, and knew that all of this was because of him and his act of rebellion.
"Are you going to kill them too?" Yuzu asked as if she could read his thoughts.
"...I don't know." He glanced at her. She stepped closer into him as they waited for the signal to commence.
The whistle blew.
The women screamed.
Grimmjow had been ready to run, but he stood frozen when he watched at least half of the men turn and cut through the forearm of their partner, hacking through the bone until the limb was amputated so the men could free themselves.
Yuzu screamed, watching it happen. Grimmjow tightened his grip on her hand, but he wondered what he would have done if he'd been chained to anyone but this girl.
"Come on."
They ran. Grimmjow went straight for the men who'd freed themselves. Now, he could kill these slaves without hesitation and without guilt. Yuzu did her best to keep up to him but she just wasn't as fast. He ended up dodging a strike rather than delivering one. He never let go of Yuzu, keeping her behind him as best he could. He parried another strike but the man used his advantage of having both arms free and came back with a punch that broke the espada's nose.
"Fucker." Grimmjow blocked another sword swing and came back with a kick before the man could punch him again.
"Grimmjow!"
He pulled Yuzu back against him when the second man attacked and they barely ducked under his swing. Grimmjwo came up fast enough to get him in the gut. The blood spewed out on both of them, he heard Yuzu scream but there was no time, he dragged her away from the body and met the next attack from his first opponent. Again, his movements were slower than normal and he met the swing a little too late and at the wrong angle. His opponent's blade glanced off his but continued into his arm. He couldn't help but holler as it gouged into his forearm.
Then when the man brought his sword up he struck Grimmjow across the face with the butt of it.
Grimmjow knew he was in trouble when he felt the ground under his hands. The blow had stunned him and he felt Yuzu desperately shaking him to keep him conscious. When he didn't get up fast enough, she stood.
"Yuzu..." He blinked furiously trying to keep the black from his vision. He saw his sword and reclaimed it just as she hit the dirt from a brutal punch. The man stood above her, ready to drive his sword down on her but Grimmjow came up and got him under the ribs. He sputtered and fell off the end of the blade into the dirt.
"Shit." Grimmjow was breathing hard and still trying to focus. All around several opponents were still alive. He saw one woman running, dragging half a body behind her where it was still attached to her arm. He saw one pair working together, holding their chain taught and clotheslining a man. He saw another man cut through a young girl who looked barely older than Yuzu.
"Grimmjow are you okay?" Yuzu was sitting, her lip cut and chin bruised but her concern was for him. He looked to the deep gash on his forearm. It was bad and it was weakening his grip on his weapon, but he nodded and stood up again.
"We're going to die, aren't we?" She seemed oddly calm now, surveying the others as they killed one another. Her face was smeared with blood that had fallen down on her from one of the men Grimmjow had killed. Her school girl skirt and tights were so out of place in the arena, as was her round face and sad eyes.
"No," he said, suddenly gripped with renewed anger for their circumstances. He forgot the rest of the arena for an instant and saw only her—mixed with the tearful gaze of the boy he'd killed. "I'm going to save you, Yuzu."
She stared back at him. "Okay."
She gripped his hand tight. They moved together, skirting along the edge of the ring so as not to leave their backs exposed. They heard the bark of dogs and Grimmjow cursed, knowing the canine beasts beaten and trained to crave human flesh had been added to the mix. He'd encountered them in another match this week and after what he'd seen them do to men he didn't hesitate to end them. It was harder to do, though, with two backs to watch and only one injured hand to wield the sword. He managed to cut one before it got him but another raked Yuzu in the calf before he cut through its spine. Three rips tore through her tights and bled. She tried putting pressure on it but yelped in pain.
"I'm sorry," she apologized, knowing she would slow them down.
"Here." He knelt down. "All you have to do is hold on."
She understood and got on his back, clinging like she had on Ichigo's back when they'd taken a long walk and she'd grown too tired. She leaned her head into Grimmjow's shoulder and for one instant felt like she was a little girl again and her brother was with her, protecting her.
Then sword clashes brought her back to her reality and she watched over Grimmjow's shoulder as he cut a man's jugular. Her grip tightened. Grimmjow stood still, catching his breath and waiting for the next ones to come for him.
"Yuzu."
"Yes?"
"Close your eyes."
She did. She held him all the tighter and buried her face into his shoulder, never seeing how he killed the man and woman who came at them. She could feel all the motions of his body, the chain that linked them together tugged on her wrist but with her so close he could now use his left hand. She heard the crunch of bones and Grimmjow strained with all he had. She painted pictures of him breaking someone's neck but she never saw it for real.
She felt him stagger and his head knocked back against hers briefly. There was growling and Grimmjow hissed in pain but still she didn't look. She heard pain filled yelping then a dull thud. She heard a man scream not far away but hungry growls soon took over and she heard tearing fabric and flesh.
She only opened her eyes again when her back hit the dirt and she rolled away from Grimmjow until the chain between their arms pulled taught. She coughed out the dry dirt she'd breathed in and looked up to see Grimmjow on all fours, one hand clutching his stomach. A man towered above him—a quick glance around showed he was the only one left—and a closer inspection of his attire told he was a volunteer—or perhaps more accurately, a plant from Cino. The crowd probably couldn't see the details of the man's clothes, the bulk of body armour under his shirt, the glint of brass on his knuckles. Now he sent his boot into Grimmjow's gut. The espada choked and spit blood before dropping. He lay half conscious, but the man didn't finish him, instead he turned to Yuzu.
This was Grimmjow's punishment—to watch her die. Maybe he'd die too, maybe Cino had some way out for him so he could continue to use the espada to slaughter slaves and rake in cash.
The man stomped down on the chain between them, pinning them both to the ground. Yuzu sat as far as she could, trying to face him with confidence but there was no hiding her fear as he raised his sword.
Then the man staggered and lost his balance. Grimmjow was on his knees. He'd hauled back on the chain, tripping up the man and while he was still stumbling, Grimmjow lurched from the ground and grabbed him by his ankle, dragging him back from Yuzu. The volunteer stumbled and Grimmjow succeeded in toppling him. He ended up beneath the man but got his hands back on his sword and tried to drive it up into his body.
It got through the layer of cloth but stopped against a metal plate in the old police vest beneath the man's shirt.
The man smiled.
Brass knuckles came at his face. He brought his already wounded arm up in time to save his jaw but the pain that shot through his forearm made him scream. He felt faint when the man backed off—again going for Yuzu first. Grimmjow knew for certain it was Cino's orders. He'd been played by the man who read his thoughts and emotions like they were an open book. He lay on the arena floor, barely moving, watching through hazed eyes as the thug closed in on Yuzu.
He watched her fists ball up at her sides, her terror filled eyes harden and her jaw set as she spoke to the man who would kill her.
And in some far away part of his mind, he knew who she was: he saw in her face all the same traits that had been in the boy who'd travelled with him from Tokyo to this damn place. But the realization never made it to his conscious mind that was flooded with the scene that played out before him.
"Coward," she called the volunteer. "Bully." She raged against him, against death, against the cruelties of this world. "Grimmjow," she hissed out when the man's hand clenched around her throat and he drew back his blade. "...Win."
He'd lost—he'd lost the fight, he'd lost her, he'd lost the very last part of his soul worth saving.
The blade hung in the air. Time slowed. He waited for it to be over. But it didn't. He couldn't let it. He'd promised her, but more, he'd be damned if he let Cino win.
"Fuck you!"
He came up so fast the word spun and he couldn't see for several long seconds but he knew what he needed to do and he brought his knee up between the man's legs. It was enough to get him to let Yuzu go but not to drop his sword. Grimmjow staggered away from him and Yuzu caught him under the arms helping him stay up. He leaned on her until the world stilled and then turned back to the man, keeping himself before the girl.
"Your fight is with me, you sick fuck," his words rang clear through the stadium and for the first time he noticed no one was cheering, no one was speaking. Everyone was on edge, waiting, hoping—they were on Grimmjow's side. As far as Grimmjow was concerned they themselves were as bad as Cino for partaking in this show, but somewhere along the line he'd won them over. He'd shown the boy mercy. He'd made them all feel bad. And now he stood here barely keeping upright trying to save the life of a teenage girl.
And they all wanted him to win.
"Yuzu pick up that sword." There was a blade near them from one of the bodies. "You cut him if he comes close to you."
"Okay."
"And you, you bastard." He stabbed a finger at the man before him. "Be a fucking man and face me, no matter what Cino's orders are."
The man gripped his sword. "My orders were to kill her and let you get me in the body armour and go down."
"Is that so? Well I guess I'll have to decapitate you."
"I guess so."
They engaged. The man caught Grimmjow's wrist before his sword could connect. Grimmjow let go of it at once to block the next strike. He dodged and staggered back.
"Here." Yuzu passed him her sword. He got it just in time to counter but the man now wielded both blade and the other sliced over his ribs. He ignored the hot sting and rushed forward, getting too close to the man for him to swing. He once again could not stab him because of his body armour but he succeeded in cutting into his bicep. The men roared in pain and fell away. His arm hung limp. Grimmjow gave him no chance to recover and cut at the same side, aiming for his collar. The man instinctively raised his hand to protect himself. Grimmjow cut through his fingers before his blade wedged into his collar bone.
His scream was long and agonized. It dragged out into a noise of disbelief and Grimmjow knew he'd finally won. He yanked the sword back out of the bone, causing another horrified cry. He lined his blade up with the man's neck.
"Cino," he called as he drew back the blade, "You're a fucking bastard."
The blade came down. It took a few chops, but the man's head rolled several feet over the ground.
And still the arena was silent. The sword slipped from Grimmjow's weakened fingers but it wasn't his knees that hit the ground.
She fell with the weight of all the horror he couldn't feel. She was crushed by sights that should make everyone in the audience scream in anguish but did not. She was overwhelmed by the violence, by the filthy darkness of the human soul painted in blood all around her. And the only noise that rang off stadium walls was her screaming sobs for the lives lost, the terror she'd felt, the utter loss of humanity she knew deep in her soul.
He dropped before her. She looked up at his battered face but couldn't stop the tears that wracked her. She bowed her head. He closed his arms around her and held her against his chest while the whole stadium watched.
The men came out from the sides of the arena to collect them. Grimmjow's grip around Yuzu tightened.
"Let her go."
Grimmjow looked past Yuzu's shoulders. There were several men. They weren't making their move in front of the whole stadium, but Grimmjow had defied Cino. He didn't think the games master was going to let him walk away this time.
"Let her go." The guard repeated.
"If I do, you'll just kill her."
"If you don't, she'll die here, in front of this whole crowd."
They didn't give him more time to consider. Yuzu was pulled from his weakened grasp, released from the chain. Her shouts cut short with a hand around her mouth. They surrounded her so the crowd couldn't see. Grimmjow waited to be grabbed but they just left him where he was, kneeling in the dirt and the blood.
Cino's voice came on over the loudspeaker.
"Today, a special treat. A double bill." Grimmjow didn't need to listen to the rest. He knew Cino was announcing his permanent retirement from the glads.
The gates opened again. Three men in combat gear came out, already armed. It wasn't going to be much of fight. Grimmjow was already starting to see spots.
He looked up at the skybox. It was too far away for him to see, but he imagined that smile.
Fuck, he wasn't going to die on his knees—but he was going to die.
On the periphery of his vision, he saw movement in the crowd—more movement than the usual cheering or leaning over the rails. But he couldn't look or he'd lose any chance at getting in a last blow before he went down. He scooped the blade back off the ground, hardly able to keep his grip and he staggered to his feet.
The stadium was alive with screams. It was like thunder, pounding in his ears, through his body, louder and more powerful than his heat beat. It only occurred to him as he took his stance and prepared for the final blow that they were booing.
Fuck this world was messed up, that at his end, these assholes would actually protest his demise.
He deflected the first strike. He was surprised he even managed that. But the power of the hit was enough to send him staggering and he felt the thick, hot line open up on his back.
He collapsed again. His breath pulled in and out, slow.
This was it.
But the men weren't moving behind him. They'd come to a standstill.
"Who the fuck is that?"
Grimmjow turned back, seeing their eyes fixed to one side of the ring. He followed their gaze and saw a spectator had dropped from the stands and was standing in the ring with something in his hand. Grimmjow squinted. It was a sword. Someone with a sword had dropped in the ring—someone with a hood hiding a bad dye-job Grimmjow had done three weeks ago.
"Son of a bitch…"
The three guards turned in Ichigo's direction. "He's dead."
Grimmjow smiled. "No, you are."
It wasn't quick, because they had armour on, but it was still over the moment Ichigo's feet touched the blood soaked soil of the arena. At the sight of the blood and bodies, something was fueled in him. Grimmjow knew he must have just arrived, or he would never have watched the fight, let all those slaves die.
Grimmjow watched Ichigo destroy them. It was almost as satisfying as if he'd been able to do it himself. But it would be no good in the end. Cino had snipers all around the ring. In fact, Ichigo should already be dead, but he was able to slice through one man's neck. He was able to kick out the knee of the next man and strike him so hard in the side of his head he went limp at once. And he was able to face off with the last man, deflect his first strike and hit him in the neck with a closed fist.
There was pandemonium in the stadium. Grimmjow saw more men in body armour running through the stands. They were getting Cino out. The crowd had turned on him.
"Grimmjow."
Hands were on his shoulders. He blinked, taking in that face, those fierce, sharp eyes.
"He has snipers," were Grimmjow's only words.
"No he doesn't."
"Rukia?" Grimmjow tried to scan the sea of people but they were becoming blurry. A firm hand on his face drew his eyes back to Ichigo.
"It's just the two of us. Don't pass out. We need to move."
Ichigo grabbed him under the shoulders and pulled him up. Ichigo pulled his arm over his shoulder and put another around his back.
"Fuck," Grimmjow swore at the pressure on his wounds.
"Just hold on."
They were returning to the gates. Shit, this was going to be messy.
Grimmjow fell into a wall when Ichigo engaged with Cino's men. He heard the fight more than saw it. Then bloody hands were on him again, Ichigo forced him forward, toward the exit of the stadium.
"Wait." Grimmjow grabbed Ichigo's shirt and pulled him to a stop. "There was a girl."
"What?"
"She was with me in the ring."
But their conversation was interrupted by a loud band. Something had been overturned just beyond the gates. Ichigo and Grimmjow stared as bodies rushed past. It was a full on riot.
"This is chaos," Ichigo breathed.
"Where is Rukia?"
At the question, they heard a gunshot behind them, back in the stadium. Ichigo let Grimmjow go and ran back through the tunnel.
"Is it her?" Grimmjow called.
More shots. Ichigo's knuckles went white around the hilt of his sword.
"KID!"
Ichigo turned back to him, eyes wide. What had he seen?
"Stay here."
Ichigo ran back in. Grimmjow could only stand and wait. More shots sounded. He looked around the bodies. He got a gun, even found a clip. He pulled the hammer back and raised it, waiting.
"Kid!"
It was not Ichigo who came back in the tunnel.
Grimmjow shot the first of Cino's men in the eye. They must have been caught in the crowd of spectators, slowed down and unable to escape with their boss. Now they advanced, and Grimmjow knew they were not to going to let him live after what he'd done.
He shot another in the arm, but a third also had a gun.
Shit.
There was no way out except behind him, into the mob of people beyond the gates. It was his only choice. He fled.
Shots went off. He waited to be pierced but the man must have had bad aim because he got away. He at once got lost in a sea of people. He would have fallen if there had been room, but with so many of the spectators in the streets, he just fell into one after the other, pushing himself off them, staggering his way through them. The riot in the stadium must have spread, overtaken the entire Market, spawning a frenzy of violence. It was astounding really, how people could lose all sense so quickly. Grimmjow didn't mind though, if it meant Cino was done.
Another shot fired. The person beside Grimmjow dropped dead. He looked back and saw the men had not decided to let him go so easily.
"Damn it."
Another shot. Another victim. Grimmjow threw his arm back over his shoulder but he couldn't get a clear path to those chasing him. He got shoved and his hands hit the ground. He pushed himself up again but he knew he was done running. When he spotted a garbage bin he threw himself behind it. He waited with his back pressed against metal, gun clutched, prepared to shoot it out with the men.
That's when he noticed the hospital. It loomed before him, his prison of the last week. And somewhere in there, Cino was probably hiding. Somewhere in there, the strange girl who'd patched him back together after every fight, might still be alive.
"Sorry boys," Grimmjow stood, calm in the midst of chaos, "I don't have time to play."
They were startled at his sudden appearance, abandoning his cover. They'd meant to converge on him from all sides, but he caught them off guard and took the first one out. He turned to finish the others, but he wasn't as fast as he needed to be. He caught the second but saw the third pull back on the trigger.
The man lurched out of nowhere, a spray of blood and brain matter spewing out one side of his head. He collapsed, leaving Grimmjow the sole survivor. He traced the bullet path back to the stadium. He raised a hand to Rukia in thanks, but turned his back. With a guardian angel watching over his shoulder, his path would be clear.
He replaced the clip in his gun and headed for the hospital.
So FYI, there will not be a romance between Grimmjow and Yuzu. Grimmjow just feels protective of her-and from my perspective, Yuzu allows Grimmjow to be a hero for once, whereas with Ichigo he is the anti-hero. Don't worry, he's not going soft, but I do feel that Yuzu's innocence brings out the best in him, even though some of his need to protect her is out of spite for Cino, lol.
Anyway, thanks for your reviews.
*Junichi: I definitely did not think about the throat slicing scene properly when I wrote it, so I will remember that for the next time I write a mercy killing (oh my, how dark is my writing?)
*Aeden: I write this assuming Yuzu doesn't know who Grimmjow is. Ichigo was never forthcoming about any of his experiences with spiritual beings before the war and I imagined that when the war started the girls remained in the world of the living and when Ichigo was there, he did not want to discuss what was happening, or if he did, would discuss his closer friends that the girls would know like Orihime and Chad. But I do see your point, I'm glad you made it and I just wanted to explain how I approached the issue, because I did originally consider having her know him.
Thanks!
Riza