Hey everyone! Sorry for the wait! Chev and I have been a little busy with school and field work and stuff... But, here's chapter 16! I literally just finished writing that last bit, hope you enjoy! And just so you know, this chapter starts a few days after the last one ends. -Airumel (9/12/12)
-Chapter 16-
Pain was the first thing Airi felt. It hurt to think, it hurt to breathe, it hurt just for her heart to beat. She had given up on living, but something, an unfamiliar, yet gentle power had blocked her way out.
Someone wanted her to live.
This thought alone recharged her will to survive. Struggling with all her might, she forced her eyes open and almost cried out in the pain the dim light of the room brought.
As her eyes adjusted to the light, she found herself staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling. Polished wooden beams stretched from one side to the other; clearly this was not anywhere in Las Noches. Where am I? She wondered.
Muffled footsteps came down the hallway. Two sets, Airi counted while still exploring the ceiling with her eyes, as pain prevented further movement.
The door slid open.
"S-she's awake!" exclaimed a nervous young male voice. The two sets of footsteps made their way to the side of her bed and peered down at the captive arrancar.
Alarm seized Airi as she immediately recognized one of the black-clad figures as the last person she remembered fighting.
"Calm down," she spoke, "We're not here to harm you. Honestly, you're lucky to be alive." Matsumoto's words were tinged with an inhospitable tone, as much as she believed saving the girl had been the right thing to do, she still wasn't sure why she'd done it.
"You... we fought... I'm... glad... you're... okay..." Airi spoke slowly, testing her voice against the pain.
Disbelief temporarily crossed the lieutenant's face, "Why? You are my enemy! That's what happens in a fight."
"I... didn't... I'm... not..." Airi struggled for the right words, "I don't... want... to hurt... anyone..."
The words sounded true enough, maybe her hunch about this girl was a little more founded after all. She'd heard the report from Rukia about Kurosaki's encounter with her. Apparently the arrancar resembled someone he knew at school.
"Where... am... I?" the arrancar asked.
"Tenth Division's central building. Welcome to the Seireitei," the lieutenant answered sarcastically with a hint of sadness. She wasn't sure what would become of the wounded girl when she recovered, "I'm the second in command here, Rangiku Matsumoto."
"A-and I-I'm Y-yamada! Hanataro Yamada!" the younger shinigami abruptly introduced himself, "B-but I'm from F-fourth division..." his voice trailed off into a murmur as he fidgeted with the strap of a bag slung over his shoulder.
"I'm... Airi... Citnalta..." Airi introduced herself weakly, "It's nice... to meet you... out of battle..."
The lieutenant looked at Hanataro and back at the girl, "He saved you... well, actually, he saved both of us."
Hanataro looked away, embarrassed by the lieutenant's praise.
"What... about... Z...Zezuri?" Airi asked beginning to fade back into sleep. She was exhausted and amazed that something as simple as a conversation could be this hard to carry on.
"She's in the Sixth Division, being held for questioning and observation," replied Matsumoto matter-of-factly.
Airi willed herself to keep talking, "She's... okay? Right?"
"Yes. The girl is in much better shape than you are. We took her without too much of a fight."
The arrancar didn't respond. She'd fallen asleep with the faint hint of a smile on her face.
The two shinigami looked at each other; they needed to report this to the General right away.
Several days had passed since the last incident as Zezuri sat on the polished wooden porch. She hadn't heard anything about Grimmjow or Airi and was beginning to worry. A soft breeze brushed by her but she didn't seem fazed by it as she continued to look in the distance.
"Hey, I've been looking for you! I thought you left without an escort." Renji said interrupting her privacy.
"No... I already know it's mandatory for someone like me to always be watched..." she said, slightly bitter.
Renji shifted his eyes away from her with guilt. "Well you can ask to go somewhere, I just can't have you wandering around alone. Not all the shinigami around here are all sure of your intentions to your presence," he warned.
"Hm, in that case I want to go see Airi," the brunette said.
"Yeah right," the red-headed lieutenant sighed, "Except even I don't have permission to go there."
Zezuri remained silent and went back to staring at the far wall across the grassy courtyard. She'd spent the last few days recovering from her last episode of whatever kept happening to her. At first she had been waiting for an order to be issued for her own death, but as time passed, she found nothing of the sort to have happened. Somehow, she found herself wondering about it nonetheless.
Renji looked down at the seated girl. A gentle breeze ruffled her hair. He wasn't sure what to make of the girl. She seemed harmless, but after her display of uncontrollable power, he wasn't sure about that. Yet, at the moment, the captains hadn't decided what to do about her. Capturing her alive hadn't been anticipated. Nor had the capture of the arrancar been on the list. Then again, in the past months since Aizen had shown his true colors, nothing had been as Renji, or anyone for that matter, had imagined.
"Will they... what's... what's going to happen to me?" she stuttered, too scared to ask out right, but she needed some sort of reassurance.
"Huh?" Renji's brown eyes widened, that's what she'd been thinking about... "Well... I can't say for sure, but I'd bet on two things."
Zezuri gulped and looked up at Renji expectantly.
Knowing the girl was concerned, and rightfully so, the lieutenant seated himself next to her, "One, they'll try to find a way to get rid of your powers."
"Oh..." Zezuri looked down at her hands folded in her lap. It wasn't as bad as she'd thought, but... she knew she'd miss having healing powers... and then she'd really feel powerless to help. After all, Airi and Grimmjow needed her still.
Black robes swished as Renji put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "But, on the other hand, they might decide to trust you with your powers and maybe teach you to control them."
"REALLY?!" Zezuri looked up, hope restored.
"Well, yeah. You wouldn't be the first who couldn't control your powers," he laughed nervously.
"You... can't?" asked Zezuri, curious.
"Well, I can... but when it comes to kido..." he paused and looked to the sky as if the words would be written above for him, "I lack finesse..."
Zezuri laughed, a small smile crossed her face. Renji's defense was so modest!
"Hey!" he shouted indignantly, "I'm not the only one!"
Struggling to contain another laugh, she apologized. "I'm sorry, just... everyone's always been so much more talented than me," she watched as a gust swept across the long grass of the courtyard. "I've always felt like the weakest link. I don't know what's happening to me and I can't control it. Just knowing that struggling with power is normal for someone like you... it's somehow comforting," she smiled at the red haired man.
Renji smiled back, he was really starting to like this girl now that she was opening up. "Maybe I can put in a word for you with the captain," clearly this girl was just a lost soul. She needed a bit of guidance was all. Hoping he wasn't just biased from being the one responsible for her, he made a mental note to report this side of the girl to Kuchiki-taicho as soon as he could.
"Really? You'd do something like that for me?"
"Sure, I at least don't think you're a threat. And you kind of remind me of someone..." he trailed off lost in thought about a certain childhood friend of his.
Zezuri smiled but didn't pry as she wondered who he was thinking of.
Three days.
It had taken three whole days to track down their hideout, but here he was. Urahara stood in front of a sprawling warehouse he'd passed without noticing countless times. The spell work was impressive, if Tessai hadn't pointed it out he never would have found it.
"Well, we found it, what now?" asked the black cat sitting at his clogged feet.
"We knock!" Urahara chuckled, poking the barrier with the end of his walking cane. "YOO HOO! SHINJI! ANYBODY HOME?!"
A small projectile made impact with the striped hat upon the blonde man's head, "Go away!" a voice accompanied the impact.
The cat sighed, "Well, that's good ol' Hiyori for you."
Urahara picked up a sandal from the ground, "You know, I'm not giving this baaackk~" he taunted swirling it around on his finger.
"Damn it!"
In a slightly more serious tone, Kisuke addressed his attacker, "You've been in hiding because of Aizen's forces nearby, I would assume?"
No response came.
"Well, that's what I'm here about. Please, I need to speak with Shinji," reasoning with his former lieutenant had never exactly worked in the past, but there was no choice here.
"Ya? Well too bad! He's not here!"
"Would you at least tell him that we came?"
"I ain't telling him anything from you! Rotten loser!"
Urahara sighed, a lot depended on this.
"Would you tell him that I came?" asked the cat.
The answer came after a moment of silence, "Fine, I'll let him know that a fool walking his cat stopped by!"
"Thank you, Hiyori, that would work just as well," the cat's deep voice was sincere, "Come, Kisuke, we can't do anything more right now."
The setting sun cast long shadows across the courtyard when Byakuya Kuchiki returned from a lengthy captain's meeting.
Much had been discussed on every topic from general business to Zezuri, to the arrancars. Then again, they'd been discussing relatively the same topics over the past few days. But today had been different. Ranjiku Matsumoto, even though only a lieutenant had given a surprising report: the arrancar had woken up and had been concerned about everyone's welfare but her own. This development had spurred more interest in the direction of the girl under his own charge. Maybe she hadn't been lying about not working for Aizen. Yet he was still not convinced. Letting his guard down was dangerous and anyone who hadn't learned that lesson from Aizen's betrayal was a fool.
Silently he made his way through the barracks to his spacious office.
Before he even slid open the door, he sensed something was different. Where was his lieutenant scrambling with some long overdue paperwork? He wondered as he entered.
On his desk were neat stacks of paper. All of the reports Renji had been behind on were complete and up to date. As he silently marveled over the order that had been restored to his division, a sealed scroll caught his eye, placed carefully on the middle of his hand-carved mahogany desk. He broke the seal and opened the parchment, clearly this was the work of Renji, his chicken-scratch handwriting was undeniable. Intrigued, he read through it once, carefully, and then a second time, just to be sure. It seemed Renji had come to the same conclusions as he had. The girl was not Aizen's servant, but was this really proof? He glanced at a photograph on his desk, looking to it for answers.
Zezuri was out of her mind with boredom. Sitting on the well-polished covered porch of the Sixth division, she gazed dully at her surroundings. The high stone walls that surrounded the division seemed even more restricting than the distant memories of Las Noches's walls. At least she'd had someone to talk to back then. Grimmjow... Airi... what had become of them? It'd been close to a week now since they'd been brought here and yet no news other than Renji's assurance that Airi was at the very least, alive, had reached her. She knew there were things she was not being told, but then again, it seemed that the lieutenant captain didn't know much else either.
Judging by the sun's position, Zezuri gathered that it was around noon. Renji wouldn't be back for another few hours still. This information made her even more fidgety. She had to find something to do. Part of her wanted to try out her powers again, but the fear of going out of control was enough to quell the temptation.
Gazing around the courtyard slowly, a light breeze swept through the grass. Her eyes followed the sweeping motion until it ended under a tree by a far wall. It was an old tree judging by it's wide girth and thick branches. An idea suddenly popped into the girl's head. Rising to her feet, she left the covered porch that ran around the division and strode out to get a better look.
Upon closer inspection, the tree was massive. She hadn't realized it had been so far out despite her many aimless walks through the courtyard. Tall and sturdy, the large oak had grown right up alongside the wall. An added bonus to the situation; the branches were very low to the ground so climbing up into them was a rather easy process. She'd climbed very few trees during her childhood and it showed in her furtive scramble up the tree as a few smaller branches snapped under her weight.
A few times she would glance over her shoulder back to the division to see if anyone had noticed her yet. Somehow, no one had missed her sitting bored on various parts of the veranda. Possibly because she was always so quiet and lost in her thoughts lately.
Carefully, she made her way out onto a branch that touched the top of the wall. Knowing that if she looked down she would lose all of the courage she'd mustered just to attempt this escape, Zezuri focused on the tiled top of the wall in front of her.
Suddenly she lost her balance as her foot slipped. Trying not to make a sound, she held her breath as she clung to the branch and tried to lift herself up with the little strength she had in her arms. It was pure determination that gotten her back onto the branch.
As a small bead of sweat trickled down her forehead. Quickly, she made her way to the wall, but was a little dismayed as there seemed to be no other way over the wall but to jump. She knew if she fell, she would most certainly injure herself. Yet there was little time to think as she worried her absence may have been noticed by now. Cautiously with all the haste she would allow, the girl positioned herself on the edge of the wall and clutched the edge with her hands, letting herself dangle on the wall. Now she had no other choice but to drop, but the ground seemed so far away.
Her hands were so moist with sweat and trembling with fatigue that she eventually lost her grip and fell to the ground. Zezuri landed on her feet, luckily, but pain surged up through her right leg.
"Shoot... I've sprained my ankle..." she thought bitterly, biting her tongue so she would not cry out in pain.
Closing her eyes and pushing the pain out of her mind, she tried to focus on where Renji had told her they were keeping Airi. She needed to see if she was as okay as the lieutenant had claimed she was.
"Squad 10... that was it I think he said... Oh, what's the use? I have no idea where to go from here..." she muttered quietly. A memory suddenly reminded her of another option: the Shinigami she'd met upon her capture had mentioned something about sensing spiritual pressure. "Just how on Earth do they do that?" She tried to picture Airi in her head, all of the memories they'd had together. This was a rather easy task as the two had been friends since they'd met when Zezuri's family had moved into Airi's neighborhood. As the brunette focused on her memories, she felt something pull her mind in a solid direction, but as she tried to focus in on it, the feeling remained very faint.
"She must be so weak... I can barely feel her..." the brunette tried to wander in the direction of her friend, but the pain in her ankle quickly became unbearable. "I can't let this slow me down. They'll catch me soon, I have to hurry..."
Her thoughts always turned to Grimmjow, she hoped he wasn't hurt from when she lost control. A good part of her was dying to see him. It was like a fountain that kept welling up inside her, and wouldn't stop. She felt her cheeks become red hot as she thought of the kiss. It was all so confusing! If only she could confirm how he truly felt. But he was an Espada and she was clearly a Shinigami. This thought saddened her and left her more bewildered. Quickly, shoved these thoughts out of her mind and resumed her focus on the task at hand.
At the same moment, another soul was searching for someone he had also been unable to find.
Super frustrated and quite annoyed with his target's antics, Ichigo Kurosaki forcibly slid open the doors of Urahara Shoten to find that once again, the shop was empty. A scowl crept onto his face. Ever since Soul Society had captured the two transfer students the shopkeeper had disappeared into thin air. However, the ex-captain had left a note for his comrade of which Ichigo had found on the shop's counter the first time he had come in looking for him.
"You said a week!" he yelled into the silent space.
His words hung in the dusty air for a few seconds as Ichigo let out a sigh. This was hopeless. He knew those two girls; he remembered them clearly from the first few days of the summer semester. Although he hadn't paid them much attention until he'd tripped over the brunette in the hallway, he had been shocked when it was announced a few days later that they had died of food poisoning. Why he hadn't connected it to Aizen's appearance in his school was unknown. Yet when he contacted Soul Society, no one had believed him. Mayuri, the creepy captain of the 12th division had been rather insistent that if indeed Aizen had set foot with a large group of arrancar, they would have known.
Only Urahara had seemed the slightest bit concerned, but it was hard to tell how the hat-wearing shinigami's mind worked. He'd tried to set the young man's mind at ease on the topic, and had, until now. Ichigo needed the truth.
Silently, he admitted that waiting any longer would be useless. Clearly Urahara didn't want to be found just yet. Just as he was about to turn around he heard the door slide around.
"What the hell took you-" started Ichigo.
"Kurosaki-kun! Just the person I was hoping to see!" shouted a voice the young man hadn't been expecting to hear.
"Shinji?" Ichigo turned to face the tall blonde man. As usual, a large grin shone on the Vizard's face.
"Kisuke told me I'd find you here."
"Huh?" Ichigo recalled the note. It had only said to show up at the store today. This must have been what he meant, but why all the secrecy?
"There's a storm brewing, didn't ya hear? We've gotta make preparations!"
Ichigo's face maintained its confused look.
"Well, ya coming or not?" Shinji started to leave.
"Does this have anything to do with the two girls from my school?"
"Only one way to find out!" called the Vizard over his shoulder as he walked on the well swept stone path away from Urahara Shoten.
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed! I'm not sure when you'll see the next chapter, but hopefully soon! :) We're in a bit of a slow spot so please bear with us. (I'd love suggestions if anyone has them) Later! -Airumel