Greetings everyone! I apologize for another really long wait. This time it wasn't lazyness, but a technical problem: my hard drive died again... second time in 6 months. I assue you that I haven't been washed away in the flood yet... though there's a slight possibility that I may be encountering some issues due to that if it rains next week. Regardless, here's chapter 23! -Airumel 4/26/13
-Chapter 23-
Midnight found all residents of a small shop in Karakura, Japan, sound asleep. All but one.
Grimmjow could not sleep. The darkness of the night felt so much more normal than the light and heat of the sun. As he lay on the roof staring at the stars peeking out between clouds he tried to make sense of everything that had happened. Here he was, moping about in the human world when he should be returning to Hueco Mundo to reclaim his position as the Sixth Espada. It wasn't that he wished to serve Aizen, rather he missed the feeling of power he had held. He had held the respect he deserved.
What was holding him here? The hopes of saving a girl who was for all intensive purposes, a shinigami. Or was it the fear of going back after having been the disgrace of all arrancar?
Restless and seeking to escape the thoughts in his head, Grimmjow found himself once again wandering the shop.
The dark shadowed halls made the building feel even smaller. Passing by a plain stretch of wall, the Espada felt something out of place. Stopping in his tracks, he turned to examine the wall. As his fingers brushed the surface he was sure of what he thought he had sensed. Abruptly, he pushed at the wall which swung inwards without so much as a creak to reveal an even darker hallway. A soft glow of light came from far down the hall. One silent step at a time, Grimmjow walked towards what he knew was at the end of the hall.
On principle, Grimmjow trusted no one but himself and his few fraccion. This secret door only confirmed his suspicions about the shady shopkeeper. Why hadn't he told him about this?
Zezuri lay on a cot hooked up to various machines with blinking lights and faint beeps.
Blue eyes gazed upon her lifeless form. She looked so weak, so fragile, so... human. Grimmjow was suddenly struck by how much he'd forgotten already. She had been human. Or was she still?
Watching the rise and fall of her chest in the faint light of the machines, he half wondered if she was really there in front of him. "Zezuri...?" he asked, half hoping she would wake up.
The brunette girl's form remained unresponsive. It was then Grimmjow regained his senses. This wasn't Zezuri. Or at least it wasn't her soul. Someone must have found her body; but how was she still alive? And where was Airi's for that matter? Looking around the room he saw nothing but darkness. Casting out his senses he felt nothing more than a whisper of Zezuri's presence.
A sudden urge to grab her and run off seized Grimmjow's mind and for a second, he really considered it. Shaking his head, the Espada knew that course of action would get him nowhere. Where could he go? And what was the point? Her soul was in the Seireitei. Taking her inanimate body gave him no advantages that he could see. Besides, this whole situation was insane. He couldn't be the king of Hueco Mundo if he was always protecting a defenseless human girl. Exasperated with himself, Grimmjow hastily moved toward the exit, but not before taking one final glance over his shoulder.
Bursting outside of the shop he drew in a deep breath of air. The compactness of the shop was as suffocating as the storm of thoughts in his mind. Snow was lightly falling and already a fine layer of white powder covered the concrete surfaces of the front walk. It was the final straw for Grimmjow; he had to return to Hueco Mundo. With a sudden fury, the Espada tore open the air in front of him and entered the darkness.
Zezuri was beginning to fall into the routine of waking up early to train with her various mentors. This morning would be the first she would spend training with Captain Kyoraku Shunsui of the Eighth Squad. As she followed a poorly drawn map Renji had made for her, the girl couldn't help but wonder what this captain was like. She had heard from Rangiku and Isane that Shunsui-taichou was notorious for being more than a little bit of a flirt. Though he never made more than a remark to anyone, the women of the Seireitei seemed a little uneasy talking about his mannerisms. An uneasy feeling welled up inside Zezuri's stomach as she approached the front gates of the division.
"Good morning, Zezuri." The lieutenant of the division, Nanao greeted the brunette girl and led her to the front porch. "If you'll just wait here, I'm afraid the Captain hasn't quite woken up today. Mornings aren't exactly his forte." She dashed off inside.
Zezuri chuckled, of course, the most she had heard about the Eighth Captain was his reputation to sleep away every moment of daylight. If his lieutenant let him.
Today was no exception to this rule and Captain Shunsui was snoring loudly, lying on his futon despite being fully clothed. A large decorated hat was tipped low over his eyes to block out the morning sun while his pink haroi was wrapped around him like a blanket.
"Captain, wake up! Zezuri is already here!" The sounds of an exasperated Nanao rang through the division as she hollered at her captain.
"Zzz... Oh, that time already? Say, Nanao-kun, why don't you take care of it for me today? I'm still tired..." He tilted his hat further over his face as if he could deflect his lieutenant as easily as he could the sun.
"You mean still hungover! Get up!" She swiped off his hat, allowing the sun to shine right into his face.
Cringing, the Captain admitted his defeat. "Alright, alright... I'm up."
Five minutes later, the Captain finally trudged into the main entrance of his division. Dark circles hung under his eyes as he tried to wipe the rest of the grogginess away. Sleepily, he looked around the room to find Zezuri tracing her finger on the floor in boredom. "Ah, it's been awhile, but I could never forget a cute, innocent face like that." He smiled at her.
Zezuri jumped up in surprise; she hadn't heard him come in. She looked at the captain, not knowing what to say. After all the warnings she had been given about the man's tendencies she found herself caught off guard by his flattery.
"Unohana has told me that you need some serious training in strength. Hmmm..." He looked over her quietly.
"W-what?" She stuttered, wishing he would stop looking at her.
"You still don't have a Zanpakto... That's not good." He groaned. "How can I teach you swordplay?"
He was right, Zezuri had noticed there wasn't a single shinigami without a Zanpakto. "What about some kido?" She tried to ask.
"No, I'm no kido master. That is 5th squads department, and Aizen used to be their captain. That devil even knows forbidden kido..." He muttered.
Zezuri remembered Aizen had begun to train her to channel her kido, but nothing in specific.
"I can teach you some basics. But, I won't go easy on you. Even though you don't have a sword, I can help you gain stamina with simple exercise for now. " he lead Zezuri outside as she already felt worried. "First off, laps around the training grounds! Well, off you go!" He sat under a shady tree.
Despite being autumn and early in the day, Zezuri found it was rather warm out in the sunny courtyard. She looked reluctantly at Captain Shunsui for a moment. This was such primitive training compare with the kido Unohana had made her practice.
The Captain caught her glance and winked.
It was all the motivation Zezuri needed to get moving as she wanted nothing more than to be out of his vision.
After something of an hour of straight running, Zezuri was ready to collapse. Her lungs ached as they struggled to take in enough air and her legs were beginning to shake with every step she took. Even in life she had never been much of an athlete, preferring the quieter activities like art and video games. For a moment she felt herself begin to break into a bout of homesickness, but Shunsui was yelling something to her.
"Now is not the time to quit! Aizen won't take pity on you! You're better than him! Right?" The pink robed Captain yelled encouragement from under the tree.
Easy for him to say, thought Zezuri, as she watched him drink some cool water, her throat yearning to get some herself. "I can't anymore until I rest..." She let herself fall in her tracks in the trampled grass. "This running isn't getting me anywhere!" Zezuri wondered if she would ever get a Zanpakto.
"Hmmm, well, I do have another method... It's quite dangerous though..." He said, giving the girl hope.
"I-I'll do it! Although... I could use some water..." She said, still panting.
Airi had been leaning up against the window using the IV stand for support when Urahara and Shinji had found her shortly after the sun rose. The light dusting of snow made her shudder; it looked too much like the white sands of Hueco Mundo. But at the same time it reminded her of many long past winters spent playing out in the frozen precipitation; skiing, snow ball fights, building creatures well over her head out of it. While she knew she would never be able to return to that life, the thoughts of what she was about to attempt today filled her with hope that perhaps she could remain here instead of returning to Hueco Mundo for eternity.
"Are you ready?" asked a cheerful Shinji, entering the room.
The girl nodded as she turned to face the two men. "I am." Slowly, she crossed the room doing her best to hide how much of an effort it was still taking her to move.
A wordless exchange passed between the Vizard and shopkeeper. Urahara wasn't sure this was the best idea at the moment, nor was Shinji. But what choice did they have? Both had noticed the disappearance of Grimmjow and knew their time had been cut down even more. Instead of a matter of days they had yesterday, the Espada's departure had reduced Airi's window of opportunity to mere hours.
The concerned look on the faces of her new comrades was misinterpreted by Airi as a lack of speed on her part. She quickened her pace trying not to look like she was stumbling as much as she felt she was.
"You'll have to go without that." Urahara indicated the IV still in the girl's arm. Despite using all the caution he could muster, Airi still winced as the needle was withdrawn from her arm. Putting a hand on the needle site, Urahara cast a quick kido to seal the wound. "Let someone know the second you feel you are about to pass out." His glance was as stern as his voice.
Airi shivered, sensing the shopkeeper wasn't telling her something.
"Let's go!" Shinji's voice contained enough enthusiasm to shake the ill feeling from Airi's mind. Taking her hand he led her down the hall.
They came to the back storage room where a panel in the floor had been removed to reveal a ladder into the depths below. "Do you want to go first?"
Thoughts of falling to her death danced in front of Airi's eyes as she peered down into the expansive cavern below. Would she be able to stop in mid-air in her current state. "Uh... I can." She answered before she could talk herself out of it.
Shinji helped the girl onto the ladder and watched her descend slowly.
At the bottom of the ladder, Airi discovered the cavern had been painted to resemble a sunny day. Reminded briefly of another such room, she looked for differences.
"You! Duck! NOW!" An impatient female voice yelled as a short girl wearing a red track suit dashed at her.
Instinctively Airi followed the orders as a sandal whooshed over her head and impacted with Shinji who was nearing the bottom of his descent. A loud THUD sounded as he lost his footing and fell the final rungs to the ground landing on his back.
"Owww..." Shinji moaned.
"You're late, moron!"
"Airi... I'd like you to meet Hiyori..." Groaned the Vizard as he sat up. "And Lisa, Love, Hachi, Kensei, and Mashiro..." He gestured to a small group of people standing in the background. Everyone seemed to be giving the girl in red plenty of room.
"Uh, nice to meet you?" The statement sounded more like a question as Airi held out a hand to Hiyori.
Hiyori rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever. We're short on time. Can we skip the introductions?"
"Here, you can use this for the time being." The 8th captain placed a plain looking Zanpakto into the brunette's hands. "It's dull and old, so you'll be at a disadvantage until you can make it your own." Knowing that Zezuri would never truly be able to learn how to be a shinigami without a Zanpaktou of her own, Kyoraku had rummaged through the division's old supply room to see what he could find. Normally, shinigami received their blades when they entered the academy, but the girl's power had to be kept under close observation so that route was out of the question. "Should work just as good as one that wasn't used, but it's the best we can do for now."
Accepting the blade meekly, Zezuri couldn't help but feel this was punishment for being so slow to control her own.
"Are you ready?" Kyoraku asked his pupil.
Zezuri nodded and readied the battle stance she had seen Renji use. Yet, the captain did not return the pose, instead he stepped to the side.
"Oh, you thought you were going to fight me?" Kyoraku chuckled and adjusted his wide hat. "I'm afraid you might pick up my bad habits if we tried that. I'll do you one better; you'll be fighting yourself." The captain paused for a moment as the girl continued to give him a quizzical look. With a quick gesture of his hand, he cast a quick kido.
Zezuri noticed something move behind her. Searching the ground for what she had seen, only her shadow was to be seen. As she stared it began to move on its own before rising from the ground, standing before Zezuri.
"W-what is this!?" She said startled, taking a few steps back, and was more frightened as her shadow did the same.
"You should know. It's your shadow." Captain Kyoraku said calmly. "It will always do what you do. Basically it's a training dummy."
"I don't know any moves though!" She tried to explain.
"Neither does your shadow. All you have to do is fight yourself and observe your own style of fighting. Go on, try and strike it." He assured.
Zezuri stepped forward, feeling absurd, and readied her sword again. Soon she began to run towards her shadow, as it did the same. Both raising their swords to strike, and both coming into contact with a half-hearted clang.
"There you go, now try and land a blow to the shadow." He shouted from the side.
"That's impossible!" Zezuri moaned, "If it does what I do, how can I hit it!?"
"Just outsmart yourself!" The captain chuckled.
Zezuri let her shoulders drop with a sigh. This was crazy! What the heck did the captain mean 'outsmart herself'? Knowing she would just look foolish if she did nothing, she tightened her grip on the sword and swung again. Maybe she could move faster than her shadowy foe.
Around one hundred swings later, the brunette's arms were aching. How did everyone else make this look so easy? Both the Arrancar and Shinigami she had encountered seemed to move as one with their blades. Even Airi who Zezuri had bested in kendo, for the brief time they had spent at it, had been so adept with her own blade.
Lost in her thoughts she continued to slash at her shadow.
"There you go! I think your getting a feel for the blade!" Captain Kyoraku encouraged after a long while had passed.
She was getting used to attacking, but at the same time, she wasn't making progress fast enough. The feeling she had been drowning in over the past weeks flooded into her mind. Why couldn't she make any progress?! Her frustration levels peaking and arms screaming with exhaustion, Zezuri aimed to strike her shadow once more.
Something was different this time.
The shadow made no attempt to mirror her attack. Instead, it blocked the blow effortlessly.
"Uh oh, you seemed to have taken too long!" The pinked garbed captain smiled as he was reminded of his own similar struggles centuries ago.
"W-what do you mean?" Zezuri asked, gazing down at her shadow as she was still pressing her blade down on it. But it seemed to have obtained greater strength and countered her movement in one swoop, causing Zezuri to fall over. She gazed up at the dark figure approaching her, pointing its blade at her. Zezuri looked up past her shadow's dark blade. It now stood in a masterful stance looking rather formidable.
"The shadows begin to develop a mind of their own if its master has not defeated it within a few hours. Eventually, they get bored and will try to kill you." He shrugged, "I told you it was dangerous."
"C-can you make it stop!?" She trembled from the ground.
"Nope! You're still training!" Not making any effort to help, he continued to spectate.
This certainly didn't look like training anymore, thought Zezuri as she tried not to panic. She knew she was in deep trouble if she didn't think fast- no, she had no choice now. She had to defeat her own self.
Airi drew in a ragged breath as she deflected another attack from Hiyori.
"C'mon! What are scared of?" the Vizard taunted Airi.
Scowling the blonde arrancar hastily swung back at her opponent. The comment had hit a nerve. She was scared. Terrified of what they wanted her to do. Shinji's instructions echoed in her mind. "The first thing you need to do is get that release of yours under control. It won't be easy, especially in your state, but if you want to look human you'll have to change the balance on the inside."
Hiyori's blade clashed with Airi's for a second before the Vizard maneuvered around and found its mark.
The girl cursed under her breath knowing she should have been able to avoid that attack. A small gash ran up her forearm. Airi backed off and readied herself for another attack. Biting her lip against the pain, she clenched the hilt of her sword tighter trying to hold back the dark thoughts that were building.
"You're weak!" shouted her opponent and a voice inside her head.
Airi leapt at Hiyori. "No, I'm not!" she yelled inside her mind frantically.
The sound of a raging sea overtook Airi's mind for a brief moment as she struggled not to let it win control of her mind. She was stronger than that.
White hot pain shot through the arrancar as Hiyori's blade lodged itself in her side.
The Vizard realized seconds too late that her opponent was not going to deflect the attack. Releasing her grip on the sword she watched as Airi fell to the ground.
"I think you overdid it, Hiyori." Shinji was suddenly standing next to the shortest Vizard.
"S-shut up! She's f-fine!" The cocky confidence was slipping fast from her voice.
The rest of the Vizards rushed over.
Kensei knelt next to the collapsed arrancar. "Good job, Hiyori. Were you trying to kill her?"
"Is she dead?" Inquired Mashiro.
As if to answer, Airi out a moan.
"S-see! She's fine!" Hiyori knelt next to Airi's side, trying to mask the relief with her usual scowl. "Why didn't you dodge?" She asked the girl.
Airi didn't respond as she grimaced at the blade still partially embedded in her body. "C-can you... get that...?" She asked weakly.
The shadow watched unmoving as Zezuri scrambled back to her feet and resumed her battle stance right away. Her mind was going blank again; she had no idea what to do now that she was facing a totally different opponent.
"Stop letting fear of the enemy control your thoughts. You are stronger than the shadow, you just have to prove it." The captain stated as the shadow leapt forth to attack.
Zezuri successfully deflected the attack, but the exhaustion in her arms was setting in. Her blade shook and vibrated with the attack. "This sword will break soon!" She thought, sweat dripping down the side of her forehead. The girl could almost sense how ancient the weapon was and how long it had lain unused, rusting from the inside out.
Soundlessly, the shadow moved in for a another attack. Swinging upwards with all her might, Zezuri stopped the attack that had been aimed at her head. The force of the blow pushed her back regardless of her stance.
After a few minutes of healing magic performed by the large Vizard known as Hachi, Airi was back on her feet. Though she had no physical wounds, the areas she had taken injury to still stung as if they were open.
"Ready for this?" Kensei asked.
Airi nodded.
Kensei was taking over for Hiyori, hoping to have a little more self control while fighting an injured opponent he didn't wish to finish off. "I won't hold back either."
"I understand."
"Here I come!" the well-muscled man unsheathed his sword and closed the distance between him and the arrancar in the time it had taken Airi to raise her own sword to block.
She blinked in surprise; she hadn't expected him to be so quick.
"He's not quick, you're just slow, weakling." The voice in Airi's head taunted her.
From atop of a rocky spire, Starrk watched the girl struggle against the Vizards below. Completely concealing his spiritual pressure, he hid from Airi. True, he had made the conversion from arrancar to Vizard, but his situation was different from the girl. For one, he was in excellent condition, something the girl would not be... perhaps forever for all they discern.
Secondly, he only had one dominant soul. Despite having been a hollow initially, Starrk's main desire for comradery held more power than his natural instincts to destroy. Airi, from what he had observed and sensed, had at least two souls battling for control. One was hollow, of that, there was little doubt. The other was the fading remains of her human soul. He had to admit how remarkable it was that she had been able to fight off the hollow's control as long as she had.
Finally, he had not been pressured with time. No one had known where he had gone, or even noticed his absence. The seireitei would be sending out scouts no doubt and Aizen always seemed to know where Urahara was at any given time.
Then something occurred to him. Someone was missing from the area. Stretching out his senses, the ex-Espada failed to find who he was searching for. Where was that blue-haired head-strong excuse for an arrancar?!
Before he had completed his thoughts, Starrk had flashed upstairs to find Urahara.
"You don't happen to know where Grimmjow went, do you?"
The shopkeeper had been enjoying a cup of tea at his low table while staring blankly at newspaper. Upon Starrk's sudden appearance, he jumped and dropped his cup.
Ignoring the spilled hot water running off the table and pooling on the floor, Urahara met Starrk's gaze with a look as if he had discovered the date of the apocalypse. "That's what that signal was!"
At that very moment, the Sixth Espada was back in Hueco Mundo, staring at the looming walls Las Noches, wondering what to do next. Everything here had used to make sense to him; as black and white as the sky above his head and the sand below his feet.
Grimmjow was sure Aizen knew of his return to Hueco Mundo. Why then, did he fear reporting to the Ex-Captain? Sure, he'd raised a few rebellions in the past, but Aizen had never raised a hand to seriously reprimand him. Besides, he had survived the Seireitei and returned on his own. What did he have to fear?
Deciding that fear was a fool's emotion, he soon came to a decision to head straight for the throne room. Wordlessly, he sped off to rejoin his commander.
Approaching the giant doors of the throne room he spotted a familiar face, who seemed to be waiting for him. "Still alive, eh?" Grimmjow sneered at his fellow Espada.
"There was never any doubt that I would survive. However, we weren't expecting you would still be alive after the shinigami managed to overpower you and take the two girls." The pale faced espada said unenthusiastically.
Grimmjow glowered.
"Aizen has been waiting for you and for me to give you this..." Ulquiorra suddenly vanished and reappeared behind Grimmjow, his hand firing off a small cero.
The Sixth Espada was caught totally off guard but leaned backwards at the last moment. The blast caught the top of his shoulder, signing his already tattered uniform and the skin beneath.
"That's enough, Ulquiorra..." Aizen's voice issued from within the throne room. The two espada paused and entered the throne room, Grimmjow vowing to himself to get revenge later.
"I'm glad to see you have returned in one piece. We suffered enough injuries already. I must admit that I did not expect to see you alive, let alone returning to me. I cannot fathom why the Seireitei did not execute you on the spot when you gave up during the fight." Aizen spoke with a calm tone. "Now, tell me, what did they do with the girls? Szayel has been able to track your general location. How did you get from the Seireitei and why did you stay in the human world before coming here?"
"I bargained with a group of half-shinigami, half-arrancars in exchange for my escape. I gave them the whereabouts of the two girls when we were in the Soul Society. I had nothing to do with them after that." Grimmjow intentionally left out most of the details.
Aizen said nothing more of Grimmjow's 'rescuers'; he didn't need to. Instead he chose to glean more information on the Seireitei from his minion. "Did the shinigami hesitate to kill you and Airi because of that girl? She must have some sway over them now if they are willing to spare you. No doubt they discovered her 'powers'."
"Yeah, I'd say so. She kept begging them to keep us alive in return for her cooperation. But I doubt those bastards would have let me live for too long."
The Ex-Captain nodded in agreement. "Is there anything else you would wish to add to your report, Grimmjow?" Aizen stared back into the espada's eyes, as if pulling every single truth from his soul.
"No... Aizen-sama." Grimmjow looked away, wondering how much Aizen actually knew. Reading the intentions of the Ex-Captain was near impossible with the calm, confident smile he wore all the time.
"Very well. Ulquiorra..."
"Sir?" Asked the Fourth espada.
"I believe Urahara still has one of ours. Go retrieve her. I trust you won't fail as the Sixth has." Aizen ordered.
Ulquiorra made a quick bow. "Right away..." And with that, he disappeared.
"You're free to go, Grimmjow. I'll be expecting you to help us fight the Shinigami soon. You can even strike first if it pleases you." The Ex-Captain grinned larger knowing he had won this battle.
Feeling as if he had just been slapped across the face, the blue-haired Espada did not speak. Silently he left the room with a scowl.
Dun dun dun... Urahara let his guard down... again. (Isn't that the whole plot of Bleach anyways?) Thank you for reading! We hope you enjoyed! Feel free to leave any feedback, comments, critiques, reviews, whatevers! I do respond to each and every one! -Airumel