Chapter 16

"N-noitora…ah...hi." I stuttered trying to back away from him. He stood towering over me, coming closer and closer.

"It sure is nice to meet again now, isn't it?" He spoke, drawing out every word.

"Yeah…" I responded hesitantly, becoming more and more wary. Perhaps I shouldn't have let myself get cornered in a hallway.

"Surely, we have time to finish what we started right?" He asked, smiling widely down on me.

"I...I don't think that would be a good idea?" I answered, my voice getting tinier and tinier by the second.

"HIME!" Someone yelled down the hallway. Watching as he lost eye contact to look down the hall, I took the opportunity to turn and run to the person. Running down the hallway, I could feel his eyes bore holes into my back. Looking up, I tried focusing on the person who had just saved my ass.

"Nel…" I trailed off, coming to a stop in front of her. "How was…Grimmjow?" I asked, hopefully trying to change the subject from Nnoitora, considering how pale and frail she looked at the moment.

"Nothing happened." She answered curtly. Watching as Nnoitora turned the corner, finally turning her attention to me, her face began to color. "Right, someone said you ran out of the classroom, and I was worried something happened and –what is on your leg?" She babbled before looking down in horror at the bruises scattered across my leg.

"Oh this? It's nothing." I said coolly, trying to play it off. Before I told her anything, I would need answers first. "Anyways, did you see Rangiku or Gin anywhere?" I asked. A look of confusion passed across her face before answering.

"Um…no? What are you talking about, Orihime? They didn't even come to school at all today." She said, in a questioning tone.

"What?" I asked, they never missed school. Gin, especially, needed to be here to keep his men in check.

"Didn't they tell you? Gin got caught up in something last night, Rangiku got worried when he didn't show for the Espada Annual Monday meeting, and took off after him." She said, dragging me by the hand back to class. "I thought you knew."

"Oh." I said, as she opened the classroom door and took her seat. If they weren't here, who came to my class?

The rest of the morning went by without any disruptions. Nnoitora was out of sight, and the mystery of Rangiku was still left unsolved. It wasn't until lunch time did the day take a wrong turn.

I walked into the lunchroom, accidentally walking into a war zone in the process. I had seen people filing out in a hurried fashion down the hallways away from here, but I didn't think too much of it. Now? I wish I had.

Food was splatter in some areas, and yelling was seen everywhere. Almost every Espada and Shinigami were here; yelling at each other; invading everyone else's bubble. It was outrageous, down right humiliating to find them in this mess. I watched in silence as their combined voices just got louder and louder. Suddenly feeling a little fed up by this, I spoke up.

"This is pathetic! Are we seriously doing this now?" I screeched at everyone, trying to get my voice heard. There was a slight pause before the yelling continued.

"Who said you could tell us what to do?"

"What side are you on anyways?"

"You have no room to talk."

"This is school property!" I replied back angrily.

"And we were your team mates." Rukia said, coming up behind me. "But that didn't stop you then either?" She finished, sending me a glare.

"I didn't–," I started.

"Save it. I don't need your excuses." She replied, waving me off like I was nothing. "Shinigami! Fall back." She yelled over the yells and cries of everyone else. "We don't need to be mingling with these," she shot me a glance, "losers."

I had to admit, her words slightly stung. But it didn't hurt that bad compared to the pain I felt when I realized the Espada were giving me pity looks. Being the complete emotional wreck I was, I turned and left. I didn't want pity, I didn't want pain. But if I didn't have either, only a few knew how that would end.

The bell had just rung signaling that lunch was over and I was still sitting on the roof top. I didn't want to get up. I didn't even feel like moving. Slowly coming to the realization that I'd have to go to class sometime, I stood up and walked to the fence that blocked me from jumping off the roof. I held onto the fence while I nestled the top of my head against it.

This wasn't fair. This treatment. I didn't even do anything wrong. All I wanted was to follow what I thought was right. I didn't mean to hurt anybody, and I made it clear to them that I'd only be the watcher. I promised I wouldn't get in the way and I wasn't going to even be in their little brawls.

Even after all this, they thought they had the right to be angry at me? I thought to myself. Gripping onto the fence even harder, I raised my head.

"Why?" I yelled. "Why must all you of be so complicated? I haven't even done anything wrong! Everyone…why can't everyone just see that?" I muttered, falling to the ground on my knees.

"Inflicting self-pain, are we?" Someone asked as the roof door came to close. Turning around to glare at the one that invaded my privacy, I bit my tongue before lashing out some not-so-kind words at an innocent bystander.

"Grimmjow." I muttered. "Of course, you'd be the one to find me. You always skip class to come here anyways, right?" I babbled loud enough for him to hear, as I walked back to the middle of the roof, away from the fence.

"Who else would be the one to find you?" He asked, shrugging his shoulders, throwing a wolfish grin my way.

"Nobody and that may have been the point." I pointed out, warily.

"You say you want to be left alone when in all reality, you just want someone to listen." Grimmjow spoke softly as he came to sit down next to me. "All we needed was someone who could listen." He mumbled, knowing he was treading on thin ice.

"Listen to what? Us complain?" I snorted. "Okay, so we find someone who's willing to listen and what? They don't want us to complain about how miserable we are, or what's getting thrown our way. What's the point of burdening someone else with our own problems?" I ended, frustrated.

"The point is that we can admit it to someone else. Whether or not they're really listening or if they even care, at least they were there when we needed them the most." He replied back, calmly.

I stared at him for a moment. His head was raised to the sky with his eyes half-closed. He was being really down to earth right now, and it wasn't…Grimmjow? It was different. Not that it was bad, but I guess I never really knew him.

"Who are you talking about?" I asked suddenly, feeling a sudden urge to understand.

"She listened to me. We'd have our little quarrels but they were never real. So how? How could something that seemed like it would never fall apart become so awkward? So distant?" He asked me with such passion in his eyes. Passion for her.

"Things happen, Grimmjow. If you don't like how it is, change it. You have a choice. Now go make a choice." I said, sternly. I gave away my freedom to make a choice when I started to put others first. Grimmjow was still an arrogant kid at heart that only knew how to follow what he desired. He had the right to go after what he wanted and not be damned about it.

He stared at me for awhile before scrunching his eyebrows together.

"Orihime. You speak like you know what you're doing, but when you think about it. You're as lost as I am." He stated before glaring at me. "Why don't you take care of yourself for awhile before trying to pull someone else back up?" He asked hoarsely.

"Why not?" I shot back in a puny voice. On the outside, I stood my ground; but inside, I felt like cowering and running away fast from this confrontation.

"Because," He started and paused to think, "if you try pulling someone out of the hole when you're already sitting there next to them, won't both of you fall back down even harder in defeat?" I bit my lip and covered my face with my hair. He was right, I had to admit but it didn't make me feel any better.

"You know what they say! The more times you fall, the stronger you get." I tried saying cheerily, only to choke mid-sentence.

"No. The more times you fall, the easier it is for you to get pushed down again." He pointed out, not even bothering to realize how personal this conversation had gotten. Still slightly petrified on how close he was getting to striking a cord, I reached over and tried pulling my legs against my chest, only to flinch at the physical contact between my hand and the scattered bruises.

"Ow…" I whispered, trying to carefully avoid touching that spot again.

"What is that?" Grimmjow asked, in rushing alarm.

"It's nothing really, just some–," I paused and stared at him for a minute, "I've been having these random black outs of a man with purple eyes. Today, I thought I saw Rangiku and I blacked out. I woke up with bruises where he traced my leg with his fingers." I spoke quickly, watching his eyes as a fire arose within them. He jerked up and stalked off, clenching and unclenching his fists.

I sat there a little while longer, trying to fit everything together and see how they connected.

What I didn't know at the time, is how soon everything would fall into place and completely crash into everything I was working for.

Soul Society Correctional Facility; Present.

The young man walked towards his car with a victorious air around him. He was going to keep her protected, the lone man inside wouldn't ever be able to get outside. He would be forever stuck in there, never to see the light of day again.

He opened his car door and climbed in. Starting his engine, he jumped a little noticing that his phone was vibrating louder against his leather seats. Picking his phone up, he answered the incoming phone call.

"Hello?" He called into the phone as he drove in reverse to turn back around to town.

"Ulquiorra? It's Rangiku and Gin's been out of whack as of a few moments ago. I mean, last night, he didn't seem normal but now? He's not listening to me or acknowledging me. I don't think he even remembers that I'm in the car with him. His eyes have a blank look to them, and he's speeding down the road. I don't know what to do." Rangiku said nervously into the phone. Ulquiorra held onto his phone tightly, muttering obscenities along the way. He held his foot harder into the gas pedal, becoming paranoid about the timing of this all.

"What road are you guys on? Where is he heading?" He spoke urgently into the phone, trying to get Rangiku to hear him over all her non-stop babbling.

"We're going down the road to the correctional facility, and–," She said, rushing out her words. Her voice becoming louder in panic.

"Shut up, you wench." A monotone low voice echoed on the other line, cutting Rangiku off. Ulquiorra sat up straighter as he drove over a hill. He eyed the fast moving car coming from the other side.

"Was that Gin? Put him on the–," He stopped speaking and slammed his foot on the brake. He listened to Rangiku scream into the phone, and watched as the car he was eyeing swerved around and crashed into the tree. The front of the car was now battered and looked almost split in half, if it wasn't for the fact that the tree only came halfway into the hood.

Hanging up the phone and dialing 911, he jumped out of his car and ran to Rangiku's aid. As he spoke to the dispatcher, he began to try and pull Rangiku out. After the first few failed attempts, he managed to pull her out and lay her down on the grass, a few yards away.

Going back to the car, he froze. He opened the driver's door and stared at the empty seat. The seat had no indent and when he felt it, it had felt cold. It was like nobody was even there to begin with. How did Rangiku manage to get down here if she was in the passenger seat the whole time? He asked himself.

Cursing loudly, he took a step back and stared at the direction he was coming from. He felt as though it was all his doing.

A man with purple eyes sat in a chair, smiling in delight. He smiled at how easy toying with them was going to be. Rangiku was now half-dead in the middle of nowhere, Gin wasn't anywhere to be found, Grimmjow –now realizing the danger lurking ahead had became angry, and Orihime was so confused, that she didn't even know she was in the middle of this.

Everything was coming together perfectly, only a few more little games of letting the loose ends go and he would have her. Oh, he would have more than her in his possession. He would have so much more.

Welp. I have no excuse for why it took me so long. I truly am sorry it did though. It just got kinda hard to concentrate on our beloved WSSFH, I couldn't will myself to publish this chapter. Until now, now that school's out, perhaps all this alone time will be good. :)

Thank you those who have favorited/alerted/reviewed.

BlessedRain: And now, I've left you with a bigger DUN DUN DUUUUNNN! :) Hopefully, now that summer's here, my chapters will be longer because I'll have more time to sit and write.

Strawberry-Chappy Forever: It'll all come together soon...hopefully...I think...maybe? :)

lovely smile: Thank you! :)

ladycifer: All in due time, as for the appearing marks. Perhaps these visions aren't just visions? But also, perhaps something else?

Tuliharja: I know! Finally, I got them together. I wanted to build them, and now I'm doing it. :D

megan9669: Thank you! And I wouldn't not finish this, it is sad. When you have that one story you're following, and BOOM. No more. Completely devastating :)

splitheart1120: I love your little side note thingys. They can just make me sit here stumped for a little while :)

Don't forget to review, because you know. Everything's coming together, for better or for worse :)