Three figures hopped from rooftop to rooftop, searching for something. Or, to be more specific, two hopped from rooftop to rooftop and one of them was carried. It embarrassed Saya to be carried around, even more so when there was someone else with her and Haji. Yet something about this boy seemed different. It still bothered her that as Haji and Ichigo, the substitute soul reaper they had met, jumped effortlessly from one building to another, searching for Diva and "Grimmjow", that she was being carried along like a child by her chevalier. But it didn't bother her quite as much as it normally would have.
They came to a stop on the roof of a tall parking garage and Haji let Saya down to stretch her legs as the two males scanned around for their enemies.
"So what makes you think we'll be able to find them?" Saya asked curiously while stretching.
Ichigo kept looking around as he responded.
"I'm not sure. Usually I'm not very good at tracing spiritual pressure, but for some reason I can sort of feel where Grimmjow is. It's almost as if the line between his being a spirit and his being a human has… grown thinner."
It was difficult for any of them to search for the duo with just their eyes right now, since they had waited until nighttime before setting out, but there really hadn't been any choice; Ichigo may be invisible to most people but Haji and her weren't. In this case it was really choosing the lesser evil; during daytime they could see better and were more likely to be able to discover where the two were, but were likely to get spotted jumping from one building to another. While at nighttime they were much less visible and it was easier to search without drawing too much attention, but it was cripplingly difficult to spot the two. It was almost like a twisted game of hide-and-go seek and the game reference made her instantly think of Diva and her childish mind. However, she couldn't afford to become enraged right now, it wouldn't help anything.
"So, do you see anything?" She asked.
Ichigo shook his head.
"Nothing."
"Haji?"
"I don't see them."
She looked down and tried to think of a way that would be more efficient than this.
Diva tended to prefer open spaces, most likely as a result of having been locked in the tower for so long. And Ichigo told her that Grimmjow would most likely prefer a resting place up high or at least not inside. That was the only thing that gave them a half-decent chance of finding the two in this huge city; they would likely be outside and someplace high up.
"What should we do? If we just randomly search around like this then we might never find them. We need some sort of plan."
Ichigo stared off at nothing for a second or two and then started walking towards her.
"Saya, didn't you say you know where they were before? Let's just go there and check the place out again and then check around the area. That's a good place to start."
She thought about it for a moment and then nodded her head.
"That seems like a good idea to me. Haji?"
"Yes, that sounds like a good plan." Her chevalier agreed.
"Well alright, let's go." Ichigo spoke with an enthusiasm that contrasted the seriousness of their search.
"It's more like a hunt."
She shook her head to get the thoughts out of it.
They had to get going.
A wet feeling on her shoulder caused Diva to awaken, despite the midnight hour. Normally she'd have continued sleeping without a thought, but with her babies here she wanted to be more careful now. However, no enemy greeted her, but rather the feelings were a few raindrops that pattered down onto her.
Diva instantly covered up her babies as best she could, but the girl's thinness was not coming in handy for a change. As she endeavored to protect her unborn from the light sprinkle Grimmjow seemed to wake up in response to it as well. He didn't rub his eyes or anything as he sat up.
"What're you doing?" He asked like she was horsing around.
"They're getting wet, Grimmjow. Help me keep them dry."
"Or what? They'll drown in their little cocoons? The things are probably impervious to… whatever. I wonder if they bounce. 'Cause if I you like playing games and stuff so much we could set up a volleyball net and everything and then spray-paint 'em yellow or something and-"
"No." She spoke seriously.
"Take it easy. I try to joke with you once and you go all… well, emo mother on me."
"While you're talking like this my children are getting wet."
He almost recoiled in surprise at how serious the girl sounded.
"Fine. If you're gonna be like that…" He trailed off while walking over to the stairwell's little "building" on top of the roof and yanked on the roof of the room.
"Come on ya little…"
With a wrenching noise he pulled the roof from its meager foundation and dragged it along the top of the building's walls before setting the other end down on the ground, creating a "lean-to".
"There. You happy now? He asked, kicking the baby clothes and stuff underneath the cover and sitting down, placing his back against the outside walls of the now-topless room.
She picked her babies up and ran over beneath the cover as well and set them down beside Grimmjow before sitting down herself.
"Yes. Thank you."
He scoffed, and looked away.
"What?" She asked, looking at him.
"You go from not caring about what's going on to being so finicky about whether it's starting to rain or not."
"My babies were-"
"The cocoons were fine. And it's starting to drizzle. They're hardly about to be blown away by a friggin' hurricane."
She frowned.
"It sound like you have something on your mind."
"As a matter of fact I do." He responded, looking at her with a scowl.
"Then speak."
"Like I said, you changed so much in regards to what's going on with people that it was like watching an ocean dry up. You didn't care about anyone but yourself and then bam, your stomach gets cut open and there's actually something you think is worth caring about just because it came outta you."
She scowled as well, but it didn't deter him from speaking his thoughts.
"For all those differences you've got from all those stupid humans you're still just pathetic in one way; you're led around by your stupid DNA. Oh look, babies. I have to care about them now because their mine-"
He was cut off as a loud sound came out through the air.
Grimmjow's eyes were wide, and his face looking away from her, his cheek momentarily swollen red as she brought her open hand down.
"You went too far."
His eyes trembled for several moments.
"Alright… that's it."
A second later he burst up and knocked the roof from its perch, allowing the beginning of a rainstorm to fall down on them.
"You think I care whether I hurt your feelings or not? Feelings you've only got now because something fell out of you? Don't delude yourself for a second missy, into thinking that I care about you at all!"
Her scowl, despite Diva having to cover her babies herself again now, moved to an uncertain frown.
"You said you did; before-"
"Yeah, well that was before I knew the 'I'm a mommy' thing had bent you over and made you its prat. You're nothing but a pathetic, maladjusted, child whore!"
She recoiled and her eyes looked up into his, wondering whether they were the eyes of the man who had spent all this time with her, or the eyes of the "panther".
"Stop."
"You can get turned to stone or whatever happens when your sister's blood gets in you for all I care. Your stupid little spiders too. Way I see it, if that stupid twin of yours is too moronic to see how much of an idiot she is my little promise is void!"
"Stop!"
"Oh I'll stop. I'm stopping right now. See ya."
"Wait-"
It didn't matter what she said; he turned away and there was a sound of displaced air. Then he was gone.
"Just like that… he left."
Her whole body trembled as the rain began to intensify in magnitude and she saw lightning strike down somewhere. And as she felt the water droplets beating down on her and her unborn children, Diva felt something dripping from her eyes. There was a thunderclap, and she sat up all the way.
Diva rubbed her eyes and put her babies up against the wall, covering them with the dresses he had gotten to keep them warm. After that, she stood up, and calmly turned around. Her glowing blue eyes met the fiery red ones of her sister's, as the short-haired girl drew her sword and ran her hand along it.
"All I need to do… to keep my babies safe… is kill you."
Once more thunder barked into the sky.
"Whether I survive that or not doesn't matter."