Chapter Forty One:

Sabotage and a Familiar Face

Seren sneaked out amid the cheering and slipped out the door. She wiped her forehead. Boy, am I glad I'm out of there, she thought.

Awww. But it was so much fun! Rabaeth whined.

Shut up, she snapped. For some reason, she felt an all too familiar coiling of bitterness in her gut- jealousy. Nonsense! She had done the right thing. The coiling receded to a gentle tickling of emotion in her throat. No, I don't regret this at all. I don't care at all for Grimmjow, she lectured herself furiously.

You're the nonsense, Rabaeth snickered away in her head. You DO like him.

Well, either way, he's better off with Kimi. She said bitterly. I am nothing good for him. My only plans for the future are to break out of here and get myself killed by a shinigami so I can return to the life cycle, and hopefully be reborn with a happier life. I don't need to leave him behind hurt. I know how that feels.

You're just sabotaging yourself. So one chance was ruined, you're just going to give up on square one?

Pretty much. Seren sighed. This awful day just won't end, will it?

Not at this rate. Rabaeth summed.

For awhile, Seren's thoughts drifted to her and Grimmjow. He may be stupid, but he had a good heart- err, hole. He wouldn't betray her, at least. Probably not. Well, that was all she could hope for in Las Noches. Plus he was hot…

Shut up, you damn hormones! You got me into this in the first place! She lectured herself again.

Well, you have some sunshine finally coming your way. Familiar faces always cheer people up. You might want to check Ulquiorrra's room again, Rabaeth snickered away.

Wait! What do you mean?! Seren asked. But Rabaeth lay silent again.

She growled. Stupid Rabaeth and his cryptic hints.

Oh well. It's not like she had somewhere better to go.

"To Ulquiorra's room then," she murmured softly.

This is awkward. Seren stood at his door, fist raised to knock, but too scared to do so. She couldn't rely on Ulquiorra's being tired to prevent him from taking her to Aizen.

Oh wait, he hadn't told him yet. Well, that was weird. Speaking of which… last night made no sense at all.

That's what she gets for being asleep for a week and then trying to do too much.

The door's not going to open on its own Rabaeth said sarcasically.

I know. She replied.

Just as she raised her fist to knock, the door slid open from underneath her fist. She looked down, surprised, then looked up.

"What are you doing?" Ulquiorra looked at her.

Oh, bummer. He was back to his no-fun-kin self.

Maybe if she hit him over the head…?

"Well, it doesn't matter." He continued. "I was about to go get you. There's someone here for you."

"What?" She asked, confused.

He mutely opened the door wider. She stepped inside, and looked around.

It couldn't be… could it?!