Hey everyone! Sorry for the long hiatus. I just got through with a really big move cross-country. I've decided to upload more chapters, so stay tuned. We've got somewhere around 13 written already and some are quite long. -Airumel
-Chapter Five-
Morning was heralded by the entrance of breakfast.
"I guess the sun doesn't ever rise here, or we're on a pole pointing away," observed Airi, looking out the window over a plate of toast.
"What excellent hypotheses, Miss," the sound of clapping accompanied an eerily happy voice.
The girls stopped eated as the pink-haired man with glasses from the prior day entered the room.
"Hueco Mundo has no sun, that's why no organisms here are photosynthetic," Szayel smiled at Airi.
A cold shiver shot down her back and she suddenly felt like throwing up. She wanted to ask about the implied lack of oxygen, but not this man. Besides, she was breathing just fine.
If Szayel noticed Airi's repulsion, he didn't notice it, "Well, as promised, I'm back!" he looked in Airi's direction. "And the lord of the castle has permitted me to a playdate with one of you."
Airi's skin crawled, she wished he was not looking at her. She dreaded her very existence at this moment and lost her appetite.
"If you are done eating, we should get started right away." he continued merrily.
Airi's stomach dropped but she had no choice but to follow him as Aizen's dark gaze was upon her. Zezuri watched her friend rise from her bed gloomily as she feared for her safety.
"What-?" she was going to ask what they were going to do with Airi until she was cut off by Aizen.
"Don't fret, she is in good hands. I suggest you be remain in your room quietly. Grimmjow, see to it will you?" he turned his eyes toward the espada who was about to lose it.
"What about Luppi?" he asked angrily.
"Luppi is off on another mission for me. I need you to remain with our guest," he ordered gently.
The leader made to leave and paused for a moment, "Why don't you take her for a walk, Grimmjow, seeing as how you both are rather restless,"
Grimmjow watched Aizen exit. "Damn him..." he muttered as the footsteps became distant in the white halls.
Zezuri remained seated on her bed and kept her eyes to the floor. She was worried about Airi but there was nothing she could do.
"C'mon! We're going!" barked Grimmjow as soon as he was sure Aizen was gone.
Zezuri rose to follow the guard out the door as silent as a mouse.
"Who does he think he is? Trying to push all this on me... I should be doing things other than babysitting humans. It makes me sick," he growled.
"Well I didn't ask for this either!" Zezuri retorted.
The blue-haired Espada continued his rant.
Zezuri became so frustrated with his complaining, that she quickened her pace and passed him. She had no idea where she was going, but she was so distracted with her thoughts and too upset to care, that she hardly noticed.
Grimmjow watched her with confusion and frustration, "Hey, you idiot, we're turning this way!" he called out. Zezuri paused and turned around only to storm right past him again.
"Knock it off! You have no idea where you're goin'!" he commanded.
"I don't care..." she said with a quiet sob. Zezuri was becoming emotionally frustrated again.
"Hey don't be mad at me! I have no idea what is goin' on either!" Grimmjow tried to keep up with the brunette.
"Well if you're so powerful, why don't you stand up to him since you hate him so much!" she continued walking until Grimmjow grabbed her by the neck of her cape.
"Just what are you trying to say...?" he glared. Zezuri remained silent and avoided his gaze.
Grimmjow was going to blow a fuse. The red glow that had incinerated her pillow last night began to build in the palm of the angry arrancar's palm, "Say it you little-!" he was cut off from the sudden appearance of Gin.
"Aizen would not be pleased if you incinerated his guest, Grimmjow." he calmly strode toward the two. Grimmjow released Zezuri from his grip as she continued to look away.
"She may be his guest, but I ain't his slave!" Grimmjow argued.
"That may be, but you fear him as much as the others, despite your 'rank'." Gin knew he wasn't helping Grimmjow's mood any but he needed to save Zezuri from being turned into a pile of ashes. Besides, if it came down to a fight, the silver-haired man was of his abilities. He put his right hand over the hilt of his sword, ready to draw at a moment's notice.
Grimmjow wanted to destroy everything, yet, Gin was right, so he decided to keep his cool, "Hmph... I'm not afraid of that bastard..." he snarled.
"We'll see..." Gin grinned, then turned to Zezuri. "You'd be better off not angering him anymore, Princess," after patting her lightly on the head, he disappeared down the hall, leaving the two quarrelers standing alone.
Zezuri felt very awkward but did not want to apologize to the bully. She kept her eyes on the floor, fists clenched tightly.
"Whatever..." Grimmjow decided to take the lead again. But when he looked back to see if Zezuri was following he noticed she had gone. "What the-!" he heard small footsteps running in the other direction. He couldn't believe she would try to pull another escape stunt in front of him. Yet she had and his baffled expression quickly turned to anger as he sprinted after her.
Zezuri darted down the hallway and took a right into another one. The lighting in the hall started to become dimmer the farther she went. She was trying to find where they had taken Airi and to get away from the man who wanted to rip her throat out a moment ago. She'd find Airi and then they'd escape! This time for sure! Anywhere outside had to be better than in here!
She was running so fast she didn't notice the halls becoming darker and darker until she stumbled into a what seemed to be an empty room. Zezuri was trying to muster up the tiny bit of courage she had left as she felt around the abysmal darkness.
"I have to get through this..." she thought, her hands shaking. Suddenly her hands touched a smooth surface. She traced her fingers across it until she felt giant pointy objects followed by a heavy,warm and foul breath. Zezuri reeled back in terror and fell to the ground. She couldn't see anything but she heard to the breath of whatever she'd run into.
"Ahhhhhh... It seems that we are blessed with a human soul..." it said eerily. Zezuri suddenly noticed a pair of yellow eyes in the dark and she froze with fear.
"Perhaps this is a gift from that powerful Shinigami... Aizen... I have not had a meal in so long..." it creeped through the dark with a hungered lust toward the shaking girl. "I will savor this for another eternity!" it continued, opening its menacing jaws. Zezuri coiled herself onto the ground
A bright flash engulfed the room and Zezuri saw, for a brief second, a large black monster wearing a mask being blown across the room.
"Tch, you're more trouble than you're worth..." a voice said with a harsh tone.
She found herself being dragged up roughly by her savior.
"How stupid are you, woman? You thought you could get away!" he roared.
Then the hollow from before managed to crawl its way over to them, falling apart as pieces of flesh tumbled to the ground.
"Grimmjow! Espada or not, how dare you interrupt my feast!" it bellowed as it tried in vain to devour Grimmjow, rushing with its jaws open for the kill.
Grimmjow quickly grabbed the hollow by its large mask and released another concentrated blast of energy upon the attacker, obliterating it.
"Aizen's orders... Can't eat the guest." he said feeling so much better now that he got to kill something.
Zezuri looked up at him with fear and a little disgust at his demonstration of power.
"Enough.. let's go." he ordered.
Szayel led Airi down many flights of stairs. She was beginning to wonder how deep under the ground they were getting when her captor came to a halt in front of a large set of white double doors.
"Welcome to my lab," he held a door open and gestured for her to follow.
She complied wordlessly, as she knew he'd easily catch her should she flee. Szayel had informed her of his rank as the Eighth Espada; he'd been rather chatty on their way down, but Airi hadn't listened to much of it. She was too worried that she was about to become the newest specimen in the twisted man's collection.
"Now if you'll have a seat in that chair over there," he pointed to a lone white chair amidst a jumble of large machines, "I'll be over as soon as I find my collection vials!"
Airi stepped carefully across the floor noticing all of the cords that criss-crossed in a tangled web. She could feel the surge of electricity in the air and distracted her attention from Szayel's words by wondering just how much energy was needed to run all of the equipment. Strange buzzes and humms emitted from several of the machines as well as some clicks and the occasional whirring from the one nearest the chair. She remained standing, heart pounding, as she awaited the unpleasant return of the crazed man.
"Crraackle" a machine's monitor suddenly went full of static.
Airi jumped back in surprise. She hadn't realized she'd been leaning on anything.
The screen went blank.
Curious, Airi reached out for to touch the machine again.
A faint hum began as her hand neared its metal surface.
Pulling her hand back, the machine went dead again, "Must be a touch sensor..." she concluded, moving back to the chair as she heard Szayel return.
"No need to stand on ceremony, I just need to do a simple blood test for the moment," he grinned.
Trembling, Airi forced herself to sit in the chair as the Eighth Espada strapped her arms down securely and attached a new vial to a large syringe. She shut her eyes tightly and turned her head away from looking at the needle.
"If you could clench your left fist a little, that would make this go a lot easier," Szayel coaxed.
Airi complied and winced as she felt the needle enter her bare arm's vein. Aizen thought out this outfit well, she thought to herself, ignoring the discomfort as the needle was withdrawn. She opened her eyes as Szayel released her left arm and wrapped it tightly.
Grabbing the syringe off a nearby counter, Szayel headed for the back of his lab again, "Sit tight," he called behind.
"Like I have a choice," thought Airi as she tested how securely her right arm was still strapped in. There was no hope for escape, or even adjustment into a more comfortable position. She sat in despair listening to the machines for what felt like hours before the Espada returned.
"As I thought, you weren't taking the tonic. We'll have to do this the hard way," he sighed, carrying a new syringe in his hand. The vial on this syringe was not empty.
To Airi's horror, it contained the green liquid she had poured down the drain. "N-no!" she shouted and began to struggle against the restraints.
"You have two choices," Szayel approached Airi with care not to get within her reach, "You can either struggle until you wear out, or allow me to give you this dose peacefully. Either way, you're still getting it."
Neither was an option, thought the girl desperately. She pulled back on her arm as hard as she could, yet the strap holding her arm remained taught as if made of steel.
The pink-haired man watched patiently. He had all day.
After about ten minutes, Airi slumped in her chair. It was no good; she hadn't even felt the slightest amount of give in the strap. Pain seared in her arm along the areas where she'd rubbed the skin raw against the straps. Her other arm bled slowly from the needle puncture.
Szayel wasted not a second. Like a vulture waiting on the life to extinguish in a dying animal, he swept down upon her and with much precision and accuracy, injected the needle into her unguarded neck.
She didn't fight back or make a sound.
As the tonic entered her bloodstream directly, she felt herself drifting away slowly as a crackling noise drowned out everything else.
"Well, this is certainly interesting," remarked Szayel, backing away from the girl quickly. In his haste he dropped the empty syringe on the floor where it shattered.
The machines surrounding him whirred with electricity.
"Seems like it won't be too much longer now," he remarked and pulled out a notebook from his pocket to make a few calculations.
The crackling noise was deafening inside Airi's head. Yet, as it increased, it began to sound almost like a voice.
"...ri Citnalt..." the thunderous voice boomed.
"Who's there?" Airi called, recognizing her name.
"We are... terrible predicament..." the voice faded in and out of the surrounding static.
Straining with every effort possible, Airi tried to make out what the voice was saying.
"You... do not lose... cause your... humanity..." the voice continued as if unaware of any difficulty the girl was having.
"Who are you?" yelled Airi.
Static surged over all, but for a moment, the voice broke through, "...danger... release me..."
The static picked up again and the voice was lost completely.
Szayel kneeled before Aizen, who was seated on a large white throne.
"Your report?" the leader asked interestedly.
The pink haired man stood up and pulled his notebook out of his pocket, "The blonde is progressing rather quickly. I injected her with the tonic, as we planned, but what we didn't hypothesize was her reaction."
"Go on," Aizen instructed.
"Her aura started to develop. It's stronger than the level of the usual hollows, also as expected, but even more surprising is how much reiatsu she released," He handed the his notebook to Aizen who looked at the numbers scribbled with much interest.
"I see," Aizen handed the Espada the notebook. He grinned, everything was going according to plan, "Let me know what happens with the other girl."
"Of course, Aizen-sama."
When Airi awoke she found herself still strapped into the chair. She felt very stiff and attempted to move very slowly. Her left arm had stopped bleeding and so had her neck, she found as she reached up and felt the dried blood forming a scab. The static had receded from her mind and the room seemed eerily quiet. None of the machines were on. She wondered how long she'd been unconscious for.
A soft swishing noise in the hall made her heart start to race again. Was it the mad scientist back for more?
Instead a taller figure swept in silent as a shadow.
Airi recognized the man as one from the day she had been brought here. His strange helmet and exceedingly pale complexion were unmistakable.
A pale pair of hands released her arm from the restraints. "Can you stand, woman?" asked the man in a monotone.
Airi pushed herself to her feet stiffly, "Yes," she replied.
"Come," a one word command was issued.
The blonde followed the tall man out of the lab, grateful to leave it as far behind as she could.
By the time Airi was returned to the room, Zezuri was lying quietly on the bed and Grimmjow sat in the hall, not paying too much attention to anything. Zezuri noticed her friend's return and sat up.
"Airi, what happened!" she exclaimed.
Airi walked slowly to her bed.
"Tch, now even you're babysitting too, Ulquiorra?" remarked Grimmjow, not sure what to make of the higher level Espada's presence.
Ulquiorra remained silent and watched his charge make her way to her bed before departing. Only Grimmjow saw him leave.
"It was like a dream... a painful one..." Airi murmured.
Zezuri saw the puncture wounds on Airi's neck and winced, "What did he do?" she asked.
"He found out I didn't take the drink from last night. It looks like we're going to have to drink that green stuff one way or another... but he wouldn't say why..." Airi replied, putting a hand to her mildly aching head. "Are you okay?" she asked suddenly, wondering if they'd done something to Zezuri.
"Yeah, I'm fine..." Zezuri left her eyes to the floor.
Grimmjow stirred in the hallway, sitting in a more comfortable position.
"I still feel so tired..." Airi laid down, the bed where sleep quickly overtook her again.
Zezuri sat up, still awake and observed her friend sleeping, while she tried to ponder on what would happen next. She tried to figure out why they were here, but not much was coming to her mind.
Glancing over to the blue haired man she wondered if these 'arrancar' were just as captive as she was to Aizen. From what she'd seen, he liked keeping power and using anyone he found useful for his own means.
But why her and Airi? They were plain, ordinary humans, just two young girls who went to school like everyone else. Could it be they just picked at random and they had been unlucky enough to be swept away? Or was there a deeper meaning to their capture? Like in those stories where someone had a hidden power? Zezuri moaned with frustration as these ideas were so ridiculous and way over her head.
Grimmjow looked into the room to see what all the fuss was about but quickly looked away as he saw nothing out of the ordinary.
Zezuri felt that they were safer with him than the other creeps, despite that he had almost killed her earlier. The fact that he didn't care made him less of a threat to the girls rather than being used by Aizen or experimented on by Szayel.
All this wondering made Zezuri sleepy as well, as she rested her head on the pillow.
Airi awoke to the sound of footsteps nearing her bed. She opened her eyes and sat up slowly. Her headache still lingered, but she'd slept rather soundly. A plate of toast was thrust in front of her, which she took wordlessly.
"Grimmjow, you can go," instructed a voice in the hallway as she heard the guard grunt.
"Good morning," Szayel called as he entered the room after the grunt delivering breakfast had left. He wasn't alone.
"Look who's bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning," remarked Gin. As Zezuri was still sleeping, Airi could only guess that he'd meant her.
Szayel looked at Zezuri's sleeping form, "Well, this won't do," he put a hand on her shoulder and shook her gently.
"Huh?" a very groggy Zezuri blinked a few times and sat up.
"Good morning sunshine!"
"Eyah!" Zezuri jumped back in surprise and horror of the Eighth Espada's wake up routine.
"Eat up! You're coming with me today!" he bantered happily.
If Zezuri had been anywhere close to hungry, she certainly wasn't now. Even Airi hadn't touched any of her food despite her stomach's protests.
"I don't want to," she looked up stubbornly at the creepy man.
He looked down on the defiant girl with an arched eyebrow, his voice became stern, "I suggest you eat in order to maintain all vital functions of your body. We don't need any complications later, do we?"
Zezuri let out a little "eep" and began to slowly eat her toast.
"Same goes to you, blondie," he admonished the other girl without turning to face her.
Airi bristled at the name but ate her toast and downed the glass of water. She guessed they weren't taking any more chances of her pouring the tonic down the drain.
Szayel waited patiently for the girls to finish eating before grabbing Zezuri lightly by the arm and guiding her out the door, leaving Airi and Gin behind.
Airi looked at the tall fox-like man. She'd seen him a few times before but now that she got a good look at him, she found that he lacked both the bone matter and hole of the arrancar.
Gin caught her questioning glance, "You're right, I'm not an arrancar," he stated.
She jumped, not realizing how obvious she must have been, "S-sorry," she stuttered.
"Nothin' to be apologizing about," he grinned, "I'm a shinigami."
"Huh?" Airi was taken aback, "Aren't those the people that kill hollows?" she asked recalling her conversation with Grimmjow.
"Yes, and no. Aizen, Tosen, and I all left those ways long ago," he remarked, "but that's not what I'm here to do. I'm supposed to teach you some swordplay today!"
Zezuri was brought to Szayel's lab as Airi had before.
"Sit," he said looking at the empty chair in the middle of the room. Then he walked over to his table cluttered with different tools, but he only grabbed the syringe that was identical to the one he used on Airi, filled with the same liquid.
Terror seized the poor brunette as she stared horrified at the needle. She wanted to scream but withheld it.
Szayel was impatient this time. He gently brushed his fingers through her brown locks before roughly grabbing a large handful hair. He yanked her head to the side as he moved some fabric of her collar to reveal her smooth neck.
"There there..." he said calmly, injecting the liquid into her body. Zezuri wouldn't cry out, no matter how much it hurt. She wished for it to end as silent tears streamed down her face.
When Szayel finished he gazed at her for a while, observing the girl react to the serum. But nothing happened, Zezuri didn't even feel any different.
"Hmm this is unexpected..." he said turning to toss the used needle into the trash.
He grabbed a flashlight from his desk that he used to examine her eyes. The bright light seemed to pierce Zezuri's retinas. But nothing was different about the girl, even after he checked all of her vital signs. Zezuri didn't ask anything, as she felt relieved there was no more pain, despite the stinging and burning on her neck.
"How disappointing. I guess you can go back to your room now," he summoned a grunt from further in his domain to escort Zezuri. She knew that on her account, it meant bad news.
Zezuri returned to the room to find that Airi was not there. She rubbed her eyes. The grunt who had escorted her was emitting some kind of blue hue as he walked away, but Zezuri didn't think anything of it as her eyes were already sore from crying. She suddenly started to feel very dizzy and fell to the floor.
"I think I'm going to throw up..." she thought, but her stomach held its contents.
Zezuri's head was ringing and her chest hurt more than ever. She felt like a burning car engine. No one seemed to be around to do anything as she collapsed onto the floor unconscious.
Airi had been surprised when Gin led her to a large empty room. She hadn't been sure what to expect when the ex-shinigami had mentioned sword fighting.
"Since you don't have your own sword yet, you get to use this," Gin tossed a bamboo shinai to Airi.
She caught it and was surprised at its weight.
Gin moved to stand next to Airi and drew his own sword.
Airi looked from the bamboo sticks bound together in her hand to the gleaming metal of Gin's sword.
"Don't worry," he chucked, "We won't be opponents just yet."
"Oh, okay," Airi sighed, relieved. She wasn't sure she was up to all of this yet.
He began to show her the basic swings and strikes, along with footwork and a few blocks.
Airi was struggling to lift her arms after what seemed like a whole day of practice. She wondered how much time had actually passed, but had no way of knowing.
"Okay, that'll be good for now," Gin called out, noticing Airi struggling. She had surprised him by being so obedient today; he'd heard from Szayel how much of a fight she'd put up yesterday. The girl actually wasn't too bad at sword play. She wasn't a natural, but she was picking the basics up at a decent rate.
Airi followed Gin out of the room, leaving the shinai up against the wall as she exited. It felt odd to be learning how to use a sword, but come to think of it, everyone around here carried one. She hadn't thought too much of it, but now she was starting to worry exactly why they all carried swords. And why bother teaching her? She wasn't anything special, was she?
They reached the room after a long walk in silence. Both were deep in their own thoughts.
"Airi!" Zezuri's voice burst through her friend's thoughts as she returned to the room.
Airi stopped and looked at her friend, a bandage adorned her neck, but nothing else seemed to have changed about Zezuri, "How are you feeling," she asked a little concerned nonetheless.
"Oh, uh, well, fine, I guess," she put a hand up to her neck, "It didn't go the way Szayel wanted."
"Huh?"
"I didn't react like you did, or at least I'm guessing. Nothing happened after he gave me the tonic."
Airi noticed her friend squinting, "Did he do something to your eyes?"
"Not really, just examined them with a light, but my vision's been blurring in and out since I got back. Everyone keeps getting fuzzy auras of light around them. Even you."
Airi put a hand to Zezuri's forehead.
"Hey!" she yelled stepping back, "I'm fine! Okay!"
A chuckle issued from Airi, "I believe you, just checking though," she concluded that Zezuri was probably just overtired and dropped the subject.
"Keep it down you two!" Luppi yelled from the doorway. He had been placed back on guard duty shortly after Zezuri had returned.
Both girls shot him a glare, but continued talking in a softer tone.
"So what did they do with you?" asked Zezuri, "you look beat!"
Airi sighed, "Gin was teaching me how to fight with a sword."
"Like a real one?"
"No, it was just a shinai, but the style wasn't kendo, it had more of a lethal feel to it," Airi remarked. The girls had visited an American dojo once, but the leader had been so full of himself that they'd found it rather off putting."I'm not sure I like where this is going."
Zezuri gulped. She hadn't really thought about the swords that everyone but them carried. She looked over at Luppi and saw that he too had one slung through his belt, "What could they possibly want from us?"
"I guess we'll find out at this rate."
"Yeah..."
Just as the two girls had begun to settle down and wait for food, Szayel showed up in the doorway.
"Time for another check up, miss," a reflection in his glasses showed he was clearly looking to Zezuri.
Zezuri attempted to rejected every ounce of obedience, but felt herself standing on the floor and walking towards him. She couldn't think anymore, instead she watched her feet move on their own, her eyes on the ground.
Airi watched her leave in dismay, but it seemed to her that the serum didn't have the same effect on Zezuri as it did her. She thought maybe it was different for the each of them, but she hoped it wasn't putting Zezuri through the same hell.
Szayel had his fingers pressed to Zezuri's neck, feeling her pulse, but nothing different seemed to be happening again. He looked down at her with disappointment as she looked around the room awkwardly. She wondered if they would try some other barbaric means of getting what they wanted from her.
"Aizen-sama has allowed me to use another form of torture on you." he laughed jokingly.
"Now he just wants to kill me..." thought Zezuri. She was not amused as her own fears had seemingly become true.
Szayel had gone into another room and then came out with a small gadget.
"This armlet was designed to radiate constant spiritual pressure into your body. For you it may hurt, these are for arrancar who need a boost while fighting," he placed it around her wrist and locked it.
Zezuri didn't feel too much at first, but then her whole arm felt a crushing and burning sensation. She wasn't sure what Syazel had meant by 'spiritual pressure', but then again, she was too scared to care.
"It will be weak at first but the longer you wear it, the stronger the feeling will become," he instructed. He then helped her to the door.
Grimmjow was already in the hall on his night watch duty as Szayel returned a weak looking Zezuri. The blue haired espada continued to ignore them as Zezuri entered the room.
"I'll be back in a couple of days to check on you," Szayel said and then left.
Airi helped Zezuri over to her bed as she almost fell over.
"What is this?" she asked, looking at Zezuri's wrist.
"Some kinda bracelet. It's supposed to radiate that spiritual pressure into my body. My arm feels like it's going to fall off! And everything seems to keep getting brighter and brighter!" she explained.
"Maybe you should get some sleep. Too bad they don't seem to have a bath here. That would feel nice," Airi sighed.
"We do have a bath. It's not like we are a bunch of dirty rats!" Grimmjow exclaimed, startling the unexpecting girls.
"It feels like I haven't bathed in days! Can you take us to it?" Zezuri asked.
Grimmjow regretted for joining the conversation again.
After another long journey down the halls, they came to a dimly lit room that looked more like a cave. There was a waterfall in the back with a pool for bathing.
"Are we going to get eaten by some sort of sea monster?" Airi asked as this was not at all she was expecting as a bath.
"Where do we change?" Zezuri began to turn red.
"Well you wanted a damn bath and this is it, so stop whining!" Grimmjow grew frustrated with the girls constant complaints.
Aizen then appeared with two arrancar grunts who had coincidentally brought two long cloths meant to be used as towels.
"I see you have found the baths. I'm sure you will be needing these," the motioned the two arrancar to hand over the towels to the girls.
"U-um is it really necessary for everyone to be here?" Zezuri asked, very embarrassed.
"Oh I am sorry. We will leave you, and Grimmjow will be sure to wait in the hall," Aizen said as the two grunts left. "But be careful, there is a horrible monster at the bottom of the pool."
Zezuri and Airi looked at each other as all appetite for bathing had left them.
"Sorry, that was a joke. Enjoy," he left with a clever smile on his face.
"Why do I have to wait outside again? I'm tired of this!" Grimmjow was having trouble keeping his rage in check again.
"You want to see us naked, you perv!" Airi yelled as the room echoed.
Grimmjow had nothing to say as his cheeks developed a slight pink hue.
"And don't even think about peeking!" Zezuri scolded as he went out into the hall.
Grimmjow left them to change as he sat angrily on the floor. "Like there is anything to look at..." he said under his breath.
Both girls left the towels wrapped around them as they stepped into the pool.
"It feels so nice," Airi said, relaxing.
"T-there really isn't a monster, right?" Zezuri worried.
"Please, I have had it with them trying to scare us. I won't let them ruin our one moment of relaxation," Airi answered annoyed.
"I wonder if this bracelet is waterproof," the brunette said, sticking her arm under the water. With nothing happening, she continued to submerge herself.
The two girls continued talking, trying to forget where they were and not think about all the bad things to come. Bathing made them feel normal again.
"Say... Zezuri..." Airi broke the silence.
"Yeah?"
"Do you think anyone has noticed we're missing yet?"
The question found Zezuri off guard; her friend had been keeping such thoughts to herself until now.
For a moment, only the sounds of lone droplets of water falling were heard from further back in the cavern.
"O-of course they have!" Zezuri shouted suddenly, "I'm sure everyone's really worried and looking for us!"
"Y-yeah," agreed Airi, splashing some water on her face, "Say, think that guy that tripped over you has noticed you aren't in his way anymore?"
"Whaaa?" Zezuri's face turned a slight pink hue as Airi let out a laugh, "Yeah, well, I'm sure your English teacher misses you zoning out in his classes!" she retorted.
Airi laughed harder and splashed water at her friend, "Psh, sure! I could have taught that class better than he was!"
"HEY! You two done YET?" yelled Grimmjow.
Obligatory bath scene. Chev's idea. Questions, comments and suggestions please! I love hearing everyone's thoughts and we do take the occasional suggestion into account. -Airumel