"Hey, Ichigo, you're just in time." Karin told him from the "dining room" table as he opened the door.
"Really? That's great." He responded, closing the door and walking over to the empty spot at the table.
"So did you two talk about what you needed to discuss?" His father asked him while setting the plates of food down on one side as Yuzu did the same on the other.
"Uh, yeah. I hadn't seen him in a while so it took a little while."
"Was that guy some kind re-enactor? He had a sword in his belt."
"Yeah. He's from the stage group. I helped move props and scenery and stuff around at one of their plays one time and he wanted to know if I could do it again. He had to tell me about the plot of the story too, for some strange reason." He stated while sitting down at his seat, everyone having already done so.
"I figured as much. It was either that or he was some sort of special swordsman who'd come here to do battle with you." His father responded, though the last part of the sentence was spoke with some humor.
"Not far off." Ichigo thought.
"Yeah, right. I asked him why he had that sword in his belt when he was outside school and he said it was to help him stay in character."
"It sounds like he's really committed to his part."
"You got that right. He's so obsessed with it he'd probably kill whoever his enemy was in the play in real life."
"I sure hope not. Especially if you're going to help him out." Karin added as Yuzu brought them all utensils and sat in her chair again.
"He must be a good actor; even when I was just standing there I felt as if he was some sort of warrior who'd been swept up in a great war and who might get swallowed by it. Dying in the end for something that didn't even involve him."
Ichigo dropped the fork he'd been starting to pick up back onto the table.
"Damnit." He thought, gritting his teeth.
"What's wrong, Ichigo? Is something the matter?" Yuzu asked him worriedly.
He glanced at her and then bowed, his head centimeters from the plate's food.
"I'm sorry everyone. Please excuse me, it's an emergency." He apologized, quickly getting up from his chair and running to the door.
"Ichigo!"
"I'm sorry, someone could be in danger!" He apologized again, closing the door behind him as he ran in the direction of Chad's house again.
"He's right. Regardless of what his objective is, Grimmjow isn't a part of whatever war's going on. And if the man who stole his sword if part of that 'race' then someone could get killed over nothing."
He ran towards Chad's once more, wondering what he would do once he got wherever Grimmjow was headed.
The wind was blowing loudly and strong, pushing and pulling at whatever it could touch.
Luckily, this high up in the skyline, all that was available were stout, strong buildings and flags firmly affixed to metal poles as well. Those things, and Grimmjow Jeagerjaques; the most immovable object of them all.
It was dusk now, and atop one of the city's multitudes of skyscrapers he stood, his gaze fixed on a building with a glass floor at the top, one that almost looked like a greenhouse.
He felt it. His sword was close by. In that skyscraper. There wasn't a single thing between him and his sword that could stop the proud Arrancar from reaching it and taking it back. No more playing around; this was a fight to reclaim something that he wouldn't be without and nothing, be it Kurosaki, Solomon or that freaky vampire chick, could get in his way.
He dove off the skyscraper he stood atop, heading towards the entrance of the building.
It was entirely possible to destroy the bottom of the building with a Cero. But he didn't want that. Regardless of whether it killed them or allowed them to escape, the people who'd stolen his sword would be getting off easy. Grimmjow was going to get his sword back, and he was going to make the people who'd stolen it pay for what they'd done.
A heavenly tune wafted throughout the greenhouse, entrancing all things within it; chiropterans and plants alike. The song delicately stroked the glass walls that kept the room stable and contained, as if asking the glass if the wind could come in and listen as well, and carry the song to the rest of the world on its limitless wings.
Plants swayed ever so slightly, either in fear or absolute awe of the pitch and tone which reverberated beautifully throughout the whole floor of the building. Long-dead fossils almost seemed to come back to life, the secret song whispering a secret to them that seemed to call old memories, immaculate and horrible, back from their tomb beneath the floor.
Diva's arms floated in the air, held aloft by an energy completely beyond her control as her body shaped and molded to the song's every verse and note, her eyes closed to increase the all-encompassing experiencing.
Her chevaliers sat at the table listening as well and just as caught up in the blissful and yet tormenting requiem of a more than century old being.
The song's pitch raised significantly, threatening to shatter the glass of the greenhouse and pull a kamikaze wind into the building. And then the singing stopped, and the spell was broken. The memory disappearing and leaving behind nothing, as if nothing had been there to begin with.
Diva's eyes opened and her mouth closed, not an ounce of her breath lost over the beautiful and yet tragic song that had so entranced everything in the room.
"Absolutely marvelous singing as always, Diva dear. I hope you will bring such a heart-filled performance at the shows I've set up for you as well."
"Of course, Nathan. I would fill the whole world with my song if I could."
"I can think of nothing more splendid. The entire world able to hear that immaculate voice of yours. I wish it were already so."
She smiled at his praise, looking at Solomon.
"Did you like it, Solomon?" She asked him.
"Of course, Diva. I don't believe there is a single creature in the world that could not."
Her smiled deepened and she closed her eyes, leaning back against a column.
"I wonder… if Saya would like my song."
Solomon's smile lessened somewhat and though she could not see it the girl seemed amused at the change in expression nonetheless.
"Even more…" She began, opening her eyes and staring off into the sunset.
"I wonder if that man would as well."
"You mean the young man you played with earlier today? I'm sure he would agree that your voice is nothing short of perfection."
She giggled under her breath, a unique thing that she had taken a liking to doing when feeling playful.
"Oh you're just saying that Nathan. It's okay though, because I know how much you love my song."
Her eyes drifted to the sword that lay imbedded at the far end of the room, directly opposite the elevator by several dozens of yards.
"He's here." She stated before an explosion could be heard at the bottom of the building.
"Are you sure it's him? It could be Saya and the Red Shield." Nathan stated, as calm and smiling as she was.
"No. I can feel when he is close. And I can feel when Saya is close. She is nearby… but it is him."
Solomon stood up, walking towards the elevator.
"Where are you going, Solomon? Don't you want to stay here and protect mother?"
"I shall leave that to you, Nathan. I will intercept him and attempt to suppress him and his violent tendencies before he meets her again. We can't have him tearing up the sky-high abode our Diva loves so well." He spoke, calling the elevator.
"Besides, if he wishes to harm Diva then he won't make it within ten floors of her before he's defeated." He stated as the elevator opened and he stepped into it, the doors closing behind him and soon taking the chevalier down towards the man.
Diva purred something that approached humorous satisfaction.
"You seem awfully eager to see this man again, Diva. Tell me, is there something about him that you like so?"
She continued gazing off into the sunset.
"He's free."