Chapter Thirty Seven:

Who Says Card Games Shouldn't Be an Olympic Sport?

By the time they came back into the room, everything had settled down- a little.

It was an exceptionally intense game of cards again.

Seren eventually found she would easily forget her troubles and nightmares. She was surrounded by her friends and having fun.

But at the same time, the incident was playing in the back of her mind. She couldn't stop think about it.

I have to, she thought. It's over, it's over, it's over! It's never coming back! I'm safe!

But all the same, the terror kept coming back to her.

"I WIN!" Kimi shrieked, throwing down her cards, jerking Seren back from her daydreams.

"YOU CHEATED!" D-Roy yelled. "There's just no way! I have three aces!"

"GO FISH!" Kimi yelled. "HAHA! I have five pairs! And that's all that's left!"

"Then what about the fourth ace?" D-Roy yelled back.

"That's impossible! You can't have three aces, I have two!" Grimmjow yelled.

"I KNEW IT!" Kimi jumped up and jabbed a finger at D-Roy. I KNEW you were cheating! You must have had an extra ace! No wonder you always won!"

"No!" D-Roy yelled back, jumping up.

"Okay, okay, guys, calm down, before we get a fight on our hands…" Seren tried to calm the two of them down.

"NO! FIGHT, FIGHT!" Grimmjow, Shawlong, and his other fraccion cheered.

"Shut up!" Seren yelled.

"Hey, this is MY place," Grimmjow pronounced, "and what I say, goes! FIGHT!"

"Hotheaded ass," Seren muttered under her breath.

"Fine! Bring it on, turbanhead!" Kimi teased D-Roy, beckoning with her hand.

"Sure, ginger!" D-Roy retorted, drawing his sword.

"YEAH!" Grimmjow cheered.

Seren muttered and smacked herself in the forehead.

Kimi leaped at D-Roy, and the two grappled with each other and fell to the floor. Kimi furiously pulled out her zanpakutoh, and D-Roy did the same. They fell to with harsh clanging of sword. Ring, ring, ring! Kimi ducked a blow from D-Roy and stabbed from low. D-Roy leapt to the side, just in time to block another blow.

At the same time, Seren felt a rising excitement inside her.

You ought to stop them. You can, you know. Just think. You remember all your shinigami training with kido. You couldn't do that before.

Do you REALLY think I want to talk to you right now? She answered.

Aw, c'mon.

Seren gritted her teeth. The clanging was annoying…

"Grr!" She roared. She leapt up, pulled out Fuerda, and walked right in between them. With a sharp cling, she dove in and knocked both Kimi's and D-Roy's swords out of their hands.

She glared at both of them.

"STOP IT!" She yelled. They both stopped, staring at her, shocked.

"Damn!" Mila Rose called from behind her.

"Hey!" Grimmjow yelled. Seren's eyebrow twitched, then she spun around on him. She grabbed his collar and shoved her face next to his.

"You. Me. Now." She growled.

Grimmjow's eyebrows raised to the sky. "Well, I never was one to turn down a fight." He grinned wolfishly.

Seren stepped back. I have to test my new strength, she thought. I remember all of my shinigami training now… I just want to see what I can do. And who better to test it on than someone who really deserves a can of whoop ass?

Of course. Rabaeth snickered away in her head.

Seren pulled out her sword. "Let's go, Grimmykins," she smirked.

With that, she attacked.

She dove in, sword high- and was blocked. She spun and feinted to the left- Grimmjow followed her- then she stabbed to the right.

"Wow. You've gotten better." Grimmjow grinned. "What exactly were you doing while you were sleeping?"

Seren turned, braid swinging behind her. "Remembering," she hissed tersely.

"Huh? How does that help you?" Grimmjow stabbed to his right.

"You'll see." Seren's lavender eyes glinted, hard as silver. With that, she flicked her wrist, dropping her sword, then stepped forward.

"Wha-" Grimmjow ducked just in time to avoid being blown to smithereens by hakudo- white lightning. "That's new!"

Seren only panted, baring her teeth. She danced, flexible as a reed, hard as steel. She ducked, feinted, spun, and punched. Soon she had Grimmjow retreating.

It was so easy. All of her training came back to her- years and years of training as a vice captain and then on the royal guard ensured her a flawless polish. A wide smile broke out over her face.

Ha! She went faster and faster, forcing him to retreat, shooting kido and flame and lightning and ice. Grimmjow deflected them with his sword. He shot a cero- she ducked and rolled.

Then she started retreating- Grimmjow was gaining on her! Oh great- he was still stronger! She stepped back, fiercely fighting, but without her sword- which she had so foolishly dropped- she couldn't block his sword.

Grimmjow got a smirk on his face as he sensed victory- but it disappeared as a smirk slowly spread across Seren's face. She ducked under a sword thrust, got between his sword and himself, and jumped-

And her fingers were at his throat.

"Dead," she boldly declared.

Silence.

"You mean, that whole thing was one long feint!" Grimmjow looked at her, shocked. Seren smiled.

"Of course! And, I dropped my sword- stupidly…" She smiled nervously. "It was technique I-"

Suddenly she stopped, frozen by terror. She sensed a reiatsu. It couldn't be-

She spun around, braid swinging, finding what she expected.