Disclaimer- I don't own Bleach, I don't even have any bleach so my whites are a little not so white.
Chapter 19
Lies and Illusions
Sayomi had her chin in the palm of her left hand and her elbow propped up on the white desk she was sitting at as she played with a knob with her right hand. Her blue eyes were watching the screen with amusement and there was a smirk on her face as she pushed the knob up a notch and tapped a button on one of the keyboards.
"An' just what do you think you're doin'?"
Jumping in her seat at the sound of the voice behind her, Sayomi spun around to scowl at her brother. "Thanks for almost giving me a heart attack, Gin. I thought we were past the trying to kill each other thing?" She snapped snottily.
Chuckling as he walked fully into the surveillance room, Gin patted Sayomi on the head. Her face pulled into an annoyed glare as she growled and swatted the hand away from her, patting her hair down once the hand had been removed.
"I'll never get tired of that look. Ya look like a kid again," Gin teased happily.
"Maybe I should've just killed you," Sayomi grumbled.
"So who should we play with today?" Gin mused as he took the empty seat next to Sayomi.
"We haven't played with Ulquiorra yet," Sayomi replied, spinning back around to face the monitors.
"Are ya sure you want to play with the emo kid? He can be a little creepy."
"So? I want to see if his face can move."
"Alright then," Gin said. "So how ya doin', little sis?"
"Fine, why?" Sayomi asked, keeping her attention on the corridor that Ulquiorra would walk into once he left Orihime's room after having her dinner delivered. She hoped the poor girl ate, Orihime had had to heal her shoulder the night before and while she didn't know much about how her powers worked she knew that she needed to keep her strength up and not let herself waste away.
"You seem sad and you haven't even been teasin' Grimmy very often, I think he's gettin' worried."
"I'm just distracted. I keep wondering how everyone else is doing, but then I remember I'm trying to forget so it shouldn't matter."
At first Gin didn't reply, but the silence in the room was ripe with a forlorn sadness. "It gets easier," he finally said.
"I hope you're right," Sayomi sighed.
Sayomi lay on her sofa, one hand behind her head and the other resting on her stomach as she stared up at the annoyingly white ceiling above her. Even in the darkness she had let her room plunge into she could see the ceiling and walls, they practically glowed they were such a bright shade of white. Her sharp ears caught a strange buzzing sound and her pale blue eyes immediately began to try and track down the source of the sound, flitting from side to side until her hand snapped into the air. Wrinkling her nose, she opened her fist and let the now dead fly that she noticed had a little white mask on its head fall to the ground carelessly.
"We're about to have company," Sayomi murmured absently.
There was no knock or call before the door flew open and an angry blue haired Espada appeared in her doorway, framed by the light of the hallway.
"Can I help you, kitten?" Sayomi asked blandly, examining her nails disinterestedly.
"Lets go," he grunted, nodding his head towards the hall.
A white eyebrow tilted up and blue eyes cornered over to the man in her doorway. "Excuse me?"
"Aizen's asking for us."
"Is he now?" she replied blandly. "What a surprise." Sarcasm wasn't something she exhibited often, but she wasn't surprised that Aizen wanted to see them. News had reached just about every single person that lived in the entirety of Hueco Muendo that Sayomi had succeeded in getting the information that Aizen wanted from Kisuke, now all she had to do was report it and she wasn't exactly in the mood. Her shoulder was still sore from nearly being ripped off and Orihime had been upset by the fact that the man who had done it was apparently a friend to their little group. Sayomi had had to reassure her several times that it wasn't her fault and she would be fine before Orihime grudgingly dropped the topic entirely, though the sad look in her eyes didn't disappear.
"You're making this difficult. Either you go willingly or I'll drag your ass there. I'm not in the mood to be lectured by Tousen, so lets go."
Glancing up at the ceiling and sighing, Sayomi pushed herself off the couch, letting her hair cascade over her shoulders. She was wearing long white hakama and with them she wore a long white coat with a deep v-neck that laced up the front with a black ribbon. There were slits on either side of the coat to allow her to move more freely as well as in the back, it almost reminded her of Ulquiorra's usual clothing choice, almost, hers was much more stylish. Her feet were bare at the moment, but she grabbed her boots which had somehow managed to stay free of blood, unlike everything else she had worn and slipped them on before standing to walk to where Grimmjow waited for her.
"I have a bad feeling about this," she said quietly, rolling her stiff shoulder and stretching her neck.
Grimmjow frowned. "You're not the only one."
They walked to the meeting room in silence and once there Sayomi chose to step up beside Gin. Somehow that's what she thought she was supposed to do when he turned and grinned at her. Folding her arms over her chest, she leaned back onto her heels and waited patiently for the meeting to begin.
"Thank you all for joining us again so soon," Aizen began, looking out over the long table of his Espada members. "I thought that you would all like to hear that Sayomi has accomplished her task, she was wounded in the process which was the reason for the delay. Sayomi," he said, turning to smile at her and gesture at the full table. "Would you like to share what you learned?"
"Soul Society is planning on putting all of the inhabitants of Karakura Town into an induced sleep and then replacing the actual town with a fake. Four pillars will be erected around the town to enable them to swap the real town for the fake. The real Karakura will be protected in Soul Society while the battles are fought in the real world," Sayomi explained blandly, smiling at Aizen once she finished.
"So all that we need to do is destroy those pillars and the real town will be at our disposal?" Szayel inquired.
"It won't be that easy," Sayomi replied, not caring that the question was not aimed at her, but had been meant for Aizen. "Urahara is working on something that would allow a broken pillar to remain useful. On top of that, do you really think that they would leave the pillars unguarded?"
"Sayomi is right. The pillars will undoubtedly be guarded," Aizen said, leaning back in his chair and folding his hands in his lap. "But that won't be a problem."
"I don't see how that's not a problem," Sayomi replied. "You have made the entirety of Soul Society angry and I'm sure that more than one of them want something more than to just defend their home. I'm sure there's someone who will want revenge and that can be a very powerful motivator, I would know after all. How can you know that it won't be a problem, there are still ten captains and their lieutenants as well as the three lieutenants that you left behind and only ten members of your Espada."
"Ah, I forget that you haven't had much of a chance to see the members of my Espada in action, but there's no need to worry, Sayomi. Not all the captains and their lieutenants will be present, some of them will be occupied elsewhere. That's actually something that I'll be needing your help with," Aizen informed her smoothly.
She nodded her understanding, but couldn't help but feel ill at ease. She knew that part of capturing Orihime was to lure Ichigo, Uryu and Chad away from Karakura. It would take a few soldiers off of the battlefield, something that was always appealing to the one doing the attacking. She had made sure that she would have some time to prepare for Ichigo and the others by destroying the only suitable location Kisuke had for creating a Garganta, but she also knew that it wouldn't take him long to rebuild it, especially with how determined Ichigo could be.
"The other reason I wanted everyone to gather together again was because I thought you should all know that I have plans on making Sayomi your future queen. Which is why it means so much to me that you trust her."
Sayomi's eyes widened at the rather unexpected statement, but she didn't say anything, only turned her blue eyes to Aizen and blinked before tearing her gaze from his and lowering her eyes to the floor. She wasn't the only one to be surprised, there were murmurs around the entire room and several dirty looks were cast in her direction.
The corner Sayomi had backed herself into was beginning to grow smaller and narrower with each little thing that Aizen did to make sure she had nowhere left to go but back to him. She knew that a few more smart moves on his part and she really wouldn't have any choice but to do exactly as he wanted, to crawl to him and beg him to help her. She was hoping to be able to use a few tricks of her own, a lustful man could usually be won over easily by a few coy words or a flick of the hair, but this wasn't just a man that was lusting after her. He wanted every part of her under his control and if things didn't turn around soon, he might just get his wish.
The meeting was dismissed shortly after, but Sayomi stayed beside Gin, carefully avoiding the eyes of every person that walked past her. Gin nudged her in the arm and tilted his head towards the door once the room emptied out, she was about to follow after him when Aizen stood up and called for her.
She turned around slowly, but met his gaze unwaveringly. "Yes?"
"I'd actually like you to join me for dinner. You and Gin can play with the hallways later," Aizen told her and despite the smoothness of his tone, she knew she had no choice.
"Of course, I'd love to," she replied, smiling at Gin and waving before following Aizen from the room.
"There's no need to be so tense, Sayomi," Aizen said, glancing over his shoulder at her as she walked a few paces behind him. "It's only dinner and you can leave after. I'd just like to talk to you, you seem to be opening up a bit, but you're still not entirely willing to become my queen, are you?"
"I told you before that I don't want to be someone's entertainment and I don't believe for a second that you would view me as anything but your own personal play thing," Sayomi answered brazenly.
Aizen's lips quirked upwards at her response. "And I told you I have no use for a whore, Sayomi. I am a man and, yes, I have the needs of one, but," he turned around to face her at this point, forcing her to stop in her tracks to look questioningly up at him. "I would rather spend my life loving one woman rather than many... You're scared of me, aren't you?"
Sayomi didn't reply to his question, he already knew the answer if he was asking. Her body language was probably a dead give away anyway regardless of how hard she tried to make it seem like she was scared of nothing. Her breath hitched in her throat when he reached a hand towards her face and ran the backs of his finger lightly over her cheekbone before leaning closer to her.
"I'm sorry that I frighten you, Sayomi," he whispered in her ear. "But I promise you there is nothing to be afraid of."
Her eyes clenched shut and she pursed her lips in an attempt to keep her breathing regular as her hair was brushed from her shoulder and Aizen kissed her neck softly, his lips then traveled upwards, stopping at her chin where they lingered for a moment before he pulled away from her.
"See, I am capable of being gentle," Aizen said, placing a finger under her chin to tilt her face up to his as she reopened her eyes. "I meant what I said, Sayomi, I want a queen and it will be you. I'd like it if you would at least give me a chance."
"And if I willingly agree to be your queen.. what's in it for me?"
"Everything you could ever want."
'All I want is you dead,' she thought as she managed a small, shy smile.
The following day Sayomi went in search of Gin, but couldn't find him anywhere and with as large as Las Noches was and as unfamiliar with it as she still was, she was having a hard time pin pointing his exact location. No one she saw spoke to her, but almost everyone seemed to be more respectful, bowing their heads to her or stepping out of her way. Jealousy was a powerful thing and many of the residents of Las Noches were not happy with her rather quick and unexpected rise to the top. Most of them wouldn't do a thing, knowing full well that to challenge her would be like challenging Aizen himself and no one here would dare to do that. Except for her, but they didn't need to know that and it.
When she had no luck finding Gin in his rooms or the surveillance room, she made her way back towards Aizen's quarters and the meeting halls, hoping that he was there somewhere. The fact that she was unable to get a clear reading on his whereabouts was beginning to grate on her nerves, as it was she hadn't seen anyone in over thirty minutes and she was running out of places to look for her squinty eyed brother.
"Ulquiorra," she called suddenly, sensing the emotionless Espada just around the next corner. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she turned the corner to almost wind up in the black haired man's arms, well it was more likely she would have wound up on the floor since he probably would have just stepped out of her way. "Uh, have you seen Gin? I've been looking for him, but I can't get a good fix on him."
"He's with Aizen-sama in the great hall," he replied. "I was just asked to bring you there."
"Oh." A sudden sense of dread began to build up in her stomach, she didn't understand it, but as she walked beside Ulquiorra something was telling her to turn around and not go with him. She ignored that voice, opting to figure she was just being paranoid. The second that the double doors began to swing open, grinding quietly against the tile of the floors, she knew she should have listened.
'Sayomi-sama,' Fuyukaze warned tensely.
'I know, Fuyu, the scent of blood is fresh in here. But whose is it?'
"So nice of you to join us, Sayomi. You got here quicker then I expected."
The voice was followed by a dull thump and Sayomi's head snapped towards the sound and the voice that she immediately recognized as Aizen's. He was standing just behind the last pillar of the hall on the left. She could tell that he had his sword drawn and there was a puddle of blood at his feet, but where it was coming from was unknown to her. She barely heard the sounds of the doors closing behind her as she took another step, her eyes focused on the blood at Aizen's feet.
A pale hand came into view, followed by the sleeve of a bloodstained robe. Taking another step forward she was able to see the face of the man that lie dead on the ground before Aizen. She stifled a sob and brought her hands to her mouth to muffle any other sobs that might threaten to slip past her lips as her eyes began to water.
"Gin," she half sobbed as she stared at the face of her brother that was contorted by the pain of his final moments. "Why...Why did you.." She couldn't force the words from her mouth as she tore her eyes from the pale face that would forever be etched into her memory to look at his killer. She could feel the many emotions swirling around inside her, ranging from sadness to hate and her hands clenched at her sides in an attempt to keep the cool demeanor she had built up while in Hueco Muendo.
"This is what you wanted. What you betrayed all of your friends for, isn't it? To kill him," Aizen said, a slight twitch of his wrist sending an arc of red droplets from his sword onto the tile behind him before he slid the steel blade into the sheathe at his side. "I thought that as a gift to show you that I will give you whatever you want, I would give you what you came here for."
"Bastard," she spat, tears freely pouring down her cheeks as Aizen took a step towards her and then another. For each one he took towards her, she took one back until icy fingers encircled her arms, holding her in place. She hissed as she glanced over her shoulder at Ulquiorra.
"You came all this way for revenge," Aizen began as he neared Sayomi who was eying him suspiciously as she tried to not press her body into Ulquiorra's as Aizen's hand slowly reached for her. She couldn't evade the icy fingers that brushed over her cheek and made her want to vomit, all she could do was fruitlessly turn her head away. "You hated him, didn't you? You wanted him dead, your own loving brother who would have done anything for you. Even betray me."
Sayomi's eyes widened and she sucked in a surprised breath. "What?" she asked shakily.
"He tried to kill me, Sayomi. Just because I want to be the one to take care of you now."
"No. He wouldn't have-"
"He did. He wanted to protect his precious little sister by killing the man who plans on taking everything from you. I will have you, Sayomi, you will be mine," Aizen murmured coldly. "Even if I have to kill everyone you once loved, you will be mine."
She shook her head with a hollow laugh. "No, I won't."
She took a deep breath and Ulquiorra was forced to take a step back as blue and white reiatsu bloomed around her with a thundering crash, her hair whipped around her body and the loose fabric of her uniform did the same. With her head lowered, she raised her right hand out to her side, without a word her bracelet disintegrated and Fuyukaze's deep blue sheathe appeared in her hand. When she finally looked up to meet Aizen's eyes and saw the smirk that resided there, her eyes narrowed and in a quick, graceful move she had unsheathed Fuyukaze and charged at him.
It was no surprise to her when Ulquiorra appeared in her path, blocking the way to Aizen. Not knowing the first thing about Ulquiorra's abilities she was leery about facing him, but as pissed off and saddened as she was at the moment she had no intention of letting him block her path to Aizen for long. She tore her nails through the air in front of her face allowing her hollow mask to form before she held Fuyukaze out in front of her, the tip pointed to the ground. The hall all but exploded due to the force of her spirit energy as she released the sword, letting it disappear into the tile at her feet, her lips moved but the only word that was heard was an angrily muttered, "Ban-kai" before the entire room was splashed with bright white light and gale force winds combined with snow and ice began to tear the room apart.
"I'm honored you'd go so far as to show me your ban-kai, Sayomi, but I don't see why you're so upset. I gave you what you wanted, or had you changed your mind, hm? Women really are so fickle and changeable," Aizen mused, his smirk still on his face as his clothes and hair were whipped around by the wind.
Sayomi's darkened eyes narrowed and a feral growl leaked from between her clenched teeth as her face twisted into an angry snarl beneath her mask. "There's no way you didn't know that I had changed my mind and you will pay for what you did to him."
She raised her right hand into the air, her fingers gracefully flicking in Aizen's direction. The freezing, churning winds behind her howled and swished passed her causing her long hair to blow into her face. Her wrist moved again, her fingers sweeping through the air to redirect the snow storm when Ulquiorra tried to disperse it with a sweep of his right arm. He managed to redirect some of the blow, but now all and now had several deep gashes on his arm. Sayomi had enough control over the sharp winds that she could attack him again without much of a pause. This time Ulquiorra couldn't deflect the icy wind that enveloped him, ripping through cloth and skin before hurling him into one of the pillars with enough force to break it in half.
"Now that we're alone let me show you just how thankful I am," Sayomi told Aizen, her voice starting out calm and quiet before rising to an anger filled yell.
Raising her right hand out to her side, there was a stirring and gathering of wind that solidified until she had a replica of Fuyukaze in her outstretched hand. With no hesitation, she took a single step and attacked Aizen head on. She hissed through her teeth when her blade met his with a screech that was lost as the already violently churning winds intensified, Sayomi pushed herself away from Aizen and at the same moment the winds directed themselves at the brown haired man, colliding with the ground with enough force to shake the entire room.
She was forced to turn her head to the side to avoid the spray of ice and rubble, but her eyes never left the spot where Aizen had been standing.
"It seems I've underestimated you, Sayomi," a cool voice said evenly, almost teasingly.
Sayomi's eyes widened as the dust cleared and she saw that Aizen was still standing in the exact same spot with barely a scratch on him. His robes were tattered around the hems and there was a scratch on his cheek that was leaking a small line of blood, but nothing else.
"Impossible," she muttered to herself.
She had been considered one of the strongest captains of the Gotei 13 and had never met someone who could withstand her bankai, except for Byakuya, but the final release for their zanpakuto was so similar that their attacks usually canceled each other out. But now, not only was she in Hollow form which made her attacks exponentially stronger, she had just attacked Aizen full force and had only managed to scratch him. She suddenly realized just how much stronger Aizen was than her and everyone else and though she had known that she stood no chance of beating him from the beginning, she had never expected the difference between them to be so great that she could only manage to scratch him.
"Not impossible, dear, you just underestimated me. Now would you like to calm down so we can talk this over? I'd really like to keep you from destroying this hall, it's one of my favorites."
She snarled in frustration, crouching slightly before raising both hands in front of her. With her blade parallel to the ground, Sayomi pointed one finger at Aizen and at the same time once again directed the full force of her bankai at him. Once she had gathered enough energy she fired a blazing red cero at Aizen along with her bankai. There was a rumbling as the flooring began to crumble and give out from the immense pressure that was being put on it. Once the red light of the cero dissipated, Sayomi flashed through the snow and ice that was still pressing upon Aizen, it did her no harm as she let out a small cry and lunged for the brown haired man.
Her sword pierced through his upper chest. Blood stained the white of his robe and Sayomi felt a small sense of pride at having been able to actually wound the man. That was until he simply raised his empty right hand and closed his fingers around the blade of her sword. He pulled the blade from his chest easily before his fist closed, shattering the silver blade of Sayomi's sword.
'There's just no way,' Sayomi thought in shock, her eyes widening in disbelief as she stared at the broken blade in her hands. 'This can't be real. He can't be so strong that a sword through his chest would barely affect him.. And to crush my sword, even if it wasn't the real thing, but only a part of my bankai... It' can't be real.'
'Sayomi-sama,' Fuyukaze yelled worriedly, snapping her out of her state of shock. 'Run! We cannot beat him.'
Coming back to her senses, Sayomi spun on her heel and attempted to flee while trying to distract Aizen with another flurry of the strong and sharp winds. He merely swatted everything away like it was nothing but a minor annoyance and watched her go. She was just about to reach the doors when she stopped suddenly, letting out a choked, harsh cough. Her eyes widened in confusion and uncertainty as she felt something warm slip through her lips and run down her chin. Everything seemed to slow for a moment before she was jerked painfully back into awareness and reality as something was pulled from her back. Looking down she saw that the once perfectly white coat she had worn was slowly turning red starting from a place near the center of her chest. She took a shuddering breath, gasping for air that didn't want to fill her lungs.
'This isn't happening...I can't die here...Not here, not with him,' Sayomi thought frantically, her eyes clenching shut as she concentrated on trying to calm herself down.
Taking another shuddering breath, Sayomi let herself melt into a state of peacefulness, let the feeling wash over her until all she could feel was a gentle and cool breeze kissing her cheeks. Her eyes snapped back open and she spun around, slicing through the air with Fuyukaze who she had released from ban-kai. Surprised by her sudden return to her senses as well as by the fact that she still had any strength left to fight, Ulquiorra couldn't fully move out of the way of the blow. She cut through his stomach easily before raising a booted foot and slamming it into him, sending him flying through the air. With one last look at Aizen who was watching in clear, unmasked amusement, Sayomi turned and fled, letting her mask shatter as she ran because it was taking too much energy to keep it on and stay in control of her mind and emotions.
She was having a hard time breathing as she flashed her way through Las Noches. She was surprised that despite the commotion, there was no one in the halls as she made her way to Orihime's room. Panting heavily, her left hand wrapped around her body that was beginning to hunch forward as she threw Orihime's white door open.
"S-Sayomi! Wh-what happ-"
"We need to go," Sayomi yelled, glancing over her shoulder with a scowl and turning to stand in a defensive crouch in front of Orihime with Fuyukaze held steadily before her.
"How do you plan on leaving when you can't open a Garganta?" Grimmjow asked pompously as he appeared in Orihime's doorway.
Sayomi clenched her jaw and released a small, feral growl. She took a step back as Grimmjow walked into the room, she didn't want to tire herself out anymore than she was since she knew she would likely run into several problems once she got in to the real world again.
"What are you doing?" She asked in surprise when Grimmjow raised his right arm to his side and a with a strange ripping noise created a garganta.
"Go," he said blandly.
She eyed him suspiciously before her eyes snapped to the door, Ulquiorra was on his way there and it wouldn't be long before he reached them. Scowling, she turned to Orihime. "There's no solid walkway in a garganta you have to create one by focusing your spirit energy to your feet. I can do most of the work, but I'll need you to go first, ok?"
Orihime nodded hesitantly, clearly frightened by the sudden and drastic change in what had so far been a rather boring daily routine.
"Come on," Sayomi said, lowering Fuyukaze and stepping just inside of the garganta to create the beginning of a walkway to the other side. She motioned for Orihime to go first and once the red headed girl ran through, Sayomi cast a look at Grimmjow, uncertain of his true intentions. Aizen would kill him for what he was doing, not only helping her escape but Orihime too, so why would he do it? "Thank you," she said before turning and fleeing into the darkness of the portal he had created for them.
The rip closed just as Ulquiorra appeared in the room with a static like sound that accompanied sonido. He eyed Grimmjow, emotionless. "So you can follow orders."
Kensei lifted his eyes from the knife he had been cleaning, his eyes widening as there was a dramatic shift in spiritual pressure. "Did you guys feel that?"
"Yeah," Shinji answered, removing his brown cap from his face and sitting up on the couch, scratching at his cheek as his face drew into a concerned frown.
"What do you think is happening?" Lisa asked, setting her magazine aside.
"I think Sayomi may have finally realized just what Aizen is capable of," Shinji answered solemnly.
Everyone in the warehouse went quiet. It was obvious by the declining strength of Sayomi's reiatsu that they could all feel along with the fearful reiatsu of the girl with her, that something massive had happened and Sayomi was in horrible shape because of it. Her health was rapidly declining and she likely wouldn't survive another fight, something that made several of them uneasy.
"What do we do?" Love questioned quietly, talking his sunglasses off to run a hand over his forehead.
"Nothing," Kensei answered and all heads turned to him in confusion, eyes wide and uncertain.
"But she's in bad shape, Kensei. If we do nothing she could die," Rose pointed out gently.
Kensei frowned and looked down at the knife he had been cleaning. "There are soul reapers here who are here just for her. If we interfere now we'll be giving ourselves up. Do you all really want to do that? Besides, I doubt we're the only ones who've noticed. Give it a minute and Sayomi will have help, what side they're on is going to be the biggest problem."
"You sure 'bout this?" Shinji asked. "She could end up being taken to Soul Society. It's actually highly likely that that is exactly what'll happen."
"She chose this, Shinji, she can deal with the consequences," Kensei answered blankly, though his face betrayed the tension he felt. He still loved Sayomi and he knew that she had had her reasons for doing what she did, but that didn't change the fact that he still felt angry and betrayed.
Shinji sighed bleakly, shaking his head before lying back down on the couch and putting his cap over his face.
"Orihime, that bracelet.. take it off," Sayomi panted as they ran. She too pulled the small bangle that had been given to her to keep her invisible to humans off and tossed it behind her to leave in the darkness.
'Something's wrong,' Sayomi thought, her face was pulled into a grimace as she ran just behind Orihime. One arm was still wrapped around her torso while Fuyukaze remained clutched tightly in her right hand.
She was panting and becoming dizzy from the loss of blood. her muscles were on fire as they protested against the immense pressure she was putting on them to go faster. Relief washed over her when a line of blue appeared before them. They were almost out of the garganta.
Her vision suddenly swam nauseatingly and she fell to her knees, a bone rattling cough making her eyes clench shut as pain washed over her and she sprayed the walkway in front of her with her own blood that was beginning to fill her lungs.
"Sayomi!" Orihime shouted worriedly, running to the fallen girl and kneeling next to her with a look of worry and concern written on her face.
"I..I can't," Sayomi gasped as a spasm of pain snaked through her entire body and she let out a quiet cry, clutching at her chest.
Orihime looked towards the opening she could see in the darkness, they really were so close to freedom. To home and friends who she hoped would help them. "Come on," the red head said defiantly, putting Sayomi's blood covered left arm over her shoulders and wrapping her arm around her before carefully lifting her from the ground.
Sayomi grunted, but tried her best to stay on her feet as Orihime helped to support her. Her vision was beginning to grow gray around the edges and everything kept going in and out of focus.
"Almost," Orihime said, her voice strained as she struggled to keep Sayomi upright.
The white haired girl was beginning to sag forward and her knees were giving out with every other step. The second they stepped through the opening of the garganta, Sayomi sighed and let her arm slip from around Orihime's shoulders. Fortunately, the exit was only a few feet above the ground and Sayomi's body crumpled into the grass of a deserted park.
"Sayomi!" Orihime shouted worriedly, throwing herself to her knees beside the wounded girl who was breathing in shallow gasps as her face began to pale. "Souten Kishun, I reject," she said hurriedly. "Please hang on, Sayomi."
"Orihime!"
Snapping her head around, Orihime smiled weakly at Ichigo as he ran up to them. She wasn't sure what Ichigo and the others felt towards Sayomi, especially since Renji had attacked her the day before.
"What happened?" He asked grimly as he stared down at Sayomi beneath the golden glow of Orihime's healing barrier.
"Gin's dead," Sayomi said shakily, tears forming in her eyes. "Aizen killed him. I tried to kill Aizen, but I.. I couldn't even touch him." She started coughing violently, blood spraying her hands as she covered her mouth.
"You shouldn't talk, Sayomi, let me heal you," Orihime pleaded.
"No, I-"
"Would you shut up and let her you heal you, you stubborn ass," Ichigo shouted. "Besides, how are you going to help us fight in the coming war if you're messed up like you are now, huh?"
Sayomi blinked at him, confused by the way he was acting. She had betrayed them, had had them attacked, attacked Urahara and he still wanted her help? It didn't make sense to her. She would have questioned it, but instead her vision grew blurry and everything went black before she could.
"Y-you mean you trust Sayomi?" Orihime stuttered.
"Of course. She was trying to kill Aizen and end the war, right? She just didn't ask for help, which really pisses me off, but she's still our friend," Ichigo replied.
"That's good," Orihime sighed, smiling softly. "She was really worried that everyone hated her."
"We might not all be happy with her, but I don't think any of us hate her."
Uryu and Chad arrived just a moment later and the three boys exchanged glances, but said nothing as they all watched Orihime try and heal Sayomi.
"What is it, Inoue?" Uryu asked having seen the frown that had appeared on her face.
"I...There's something stopping me from healing her. It's like...there's something mixing with the wound and I can't get it out."
"Just keep trying," Ichigo said, his voice taking on a steely edge as he turned around to see Byakuya and Renji standing only a few yards away. "What do you want, Byakuya?"
The nobleman's eyebrow rose in annoyance at the familiar use of his first name. "You know exactly why I'm here, Kurosaki. Now stand aside, Himura will be coming with me."
"I'm afraid that might not be the best idea," Kisuke said, stepping into the clearing the group was gathered in, Yoruichi at his side, the woman smiled brightly at the slight twitch that Byakuya gave upon seeing his old teacher.
"And why is that?" Byakuya asked coolly.
"Because if you take her as she is now, she'll die," Kisuke answered seriously.
"You make it sound as if I should care," the gray eyed man responded coolly.
"Come now, little Byakuya, even you aren't that coldhearted regardless of what you'd like everyone to think," Yoruichi said, her voice light and almost taunting.
"Whether she dies now or later is of no consequence to me. She will die, Yoruichi, as a traitor should," Byakuya replied.
"You bastard!" Ichigo yelled. "You two were engaged, weren't you? How can you sound so uncaring? And she isn't a traitor! Don't you know her at all?!"
Uryu cleared his throat quietly. "Didn't you think she was a traitor until just a few days ago, Kurosaki?"
"Oh, shut up, Uryu!"
"Kisuke, we need to get her out of here. If she stays like this much longer the damage might become irreversible," Yoruichi said, she had crouched down opposite Orihime to look over Sayomi.
"So what are you going to do, Captain Kuchiki?" Kisuke asked curiously. "Will you let us save her, or will you take her back to the Soul Society and watch her die?"
"Like hell he's taking her anywhere," Ichigo snapped, his hand going to the hilt of the large sword strapped to his back.
Byakuya looked the group over with a stone cold look before his eyes came to rest on the unconscious Sayomi who was bathed in a gold glow from Orihime's healing spell.
"You know," Renji spoke up hesitantly. "The head captain did say he'd prefer she be brought in alive."
"He did, didn't he?" Byakuya replied after a moment's silence. "It would be rather trying to question a corpse, wouldn't it? Fine, treat her, but once she is recovered enough I am returning to Soul Society and she will be coming with me."
"Like hell she is," Ichigo muttered defiantly.
"So..do you know what's wrong with her, Mr Urahara?" Orihime asked nervously as Yoruichi carefully laid Sayomi on a mat on the wooden flooring of a room in the man's shop and home.
Kisuke frowned, his eyes studying Sayomi thoughtfully. "Sayomi's soul isn't that of just a Soul Reaper, it's part Soul Reaper part Hollow. The reiatsu that is mixing with the wound is that of a very powerful Hollow that allowed his reiatsu to leak into her. The presence of the reiatsu is causing the balance she has learned to maintain between the two opposing life forces inside of her to become unstable. It's a dangerous situation for her, there's not much we can do. She'll have to try and restore the balance, but in her condition with her soul weakened it won't be easy."
"So you need to get that reiatsu out of her soul, right?" Ichigo asked. "Then she should be alright?"
Everyone was gathered in the room that Sayomi had been placed in. Ichigo, Uryu and Chad stood off to one side while Byakuya and Renji stood on the other. Orihime stood a few feet away from Sayomi, while Kisuke knelt by the woman's side, Yoruichi remained standing opposite him.
"It's not that easy," Kisuke replied, sighing while scratching idly at his cheek and staring at Sayomi's motionless body. "If she was just a soul, like most Soul Reapers and Hollow, it would be no problem, but.."
Uryu frowned, but then his eyes widened briefly. "I see... Sayomi is a Soul Reaper and a Hollow. She's not human, even though she looks like one."
"Huh?" Ichigo grunted. "I don't get it."
"When Sayomi fled Soul Society she was a Soul Reaper who had had her soul tampered with by Aizen's experimental pathogen. The pathogen began to awaken a Hollow in her soul, but that's not really the point, the point is that souls cannot be seen by humans, Ichigo. Sayomi is in a specially crafted gigai and has been since she's come to this world. Even though she doesn't age the same and she won't die easily, she is basically a normal human woman in that gigai," Kisuke explained.
"I still don't get it," Ichigo said. "Rukia and Renji have been in gigai before and they can use those mod souls or gloves to get out of them. Why can't you just do that with her?"
Kisuke frowned. "Like I said; It's not that simple. Sayomi's soul has been trapped in that gigai for almost a century. It's more than likely had enough time to bind itself to the gigai."
"Are you beginning to understand now, little Byakuya?" Yoruichi asked the silent captain, having seen his eyes flicker uncertainly.
"You don't know if you can separate her soul from the gigai," he answered monotonously.
"Right. There's a good chance that trying to separate the two could very well kill her, but if we don't try, she'll die anyways," Kisuke stated grimly.
The entire room went silent, the tension in the air could have been cut with a knife it was so thick. Kisuke finally stood up and glanced at everyone in the room.
"Orihime, I'll need your help. Yoruichi can stay too, but everyone else should leave. I don't know what condition her soul is in since it's been in the gigai so long and I also don't need any distractions," he said.
The room was silent and had emptied of several of its occupants. Orihime, was nervously sitting just behind the top of Sayomi's head while Kisuke and Yoruichi sat near the girl's feet, grim expressions on their faces. Byakuya, who had refused to leave, stood apart from them near to the wall where he could keep an eye on everything that happened. Tessai entered after a moment, a small box in his hands before kneeling down beside Kisuke.
"Are you ready, Orihime?" Kisuke asked.
She nodded, swallowing heavily as she tried to gather her nerves.
Kisuke frowned down at Sayomi, unfortunately there was no way to slowly ease her soul from her body. He could probably find one if he had the time, but time wasn't on their side. Sayomi needed attention now. Using his cane for support, Kisuke stood up and nodded to Tessai. The burly man stood and carefully lifted Sayomi from the mats she had been placed on. Yoruichi stepped forward and helped to hold the unconscious girl up, leaving the area behind her clear so that if her soul did separate from her body it would fall on to the mats that had been set out.
"Well, here goes," Kisuke said, pointing the end of his cane at Sayomi's chest, there was a little skull and flame painted on it. Slowly, he carefully raised it and pressed the end into the center of her chest.
There was startled gasp from Sayomi, her eyes flew open and she began struggling against the grips that held her firmly in place.
"Just hold on, Sayomi," Yoruichi muttered.
"Her soul isn't budging," Kisuke said, his mouth drawing into a hard line.
"Keep trying," Yoruichi told him.
Sayomi's head tilted back and she screamed as Kisuke pressed his cane harder into her upper chest. Her soul was determined to stay in its shell and not come out of it. Kisuke's eyes narrowed and he tired to apply more pressure to force the soul out of the fake body. There was a slight give and his eyes widened before he pulled back slightly and then slammed the end of the cane into Sayomi's chest again. There was a blinding flash of light that was followed by a dull thump.
Orihime immediately went into action, chanting the spell that would cover Sayomi in a healing golden glow. She couldn't quite see what had happened, her eyes were still recovering from the bright flash of light, but as she blinked repeatedly she saw that the Sayomi lying in front of her wasn't the same Sayomi she had moments ago been looking at. That Sayomi was held in Tessai's arms as the man carried her broken gigai out of the room.
The woman before her was almost identical to the Sayomi that she had always known, but there were a few minor differences. Her snowy hair was longer, falling almost to her hips. Her face looked more refined somehow and her body seemed thinner, but it was hard to tell since she was draped in a tattered shinigami uniform with a white haori over it.
"I...I can separate the other reiatsu now," Orihime spoke up, her eyes sparkling hopefully. "I think I can heal her. It's going to take a while though."
"That's good, but she's not in the clear yet. Her soul is probably extremely weakened since it was relying so heavily on the gigai to survive," Kisuke replied solemnly.
"She'll be fine, I know she will," Orihime said quietly, determinedly keeping her hands held out before her.
Byakuya refused to leave the room that Sayomi was being kept in, saying that he didn't want to risk her waking up and running or having one of them move her in an attempt to hide her from Soul Society.
No one fully believed him.
He was currently sitting against one of the walls, his back straight and his posture rigid as his gray eyes watched Orihime try to heal Sayomi. The determined young girl was beginning to grow tired. It was evident in the little beads of sweat that were forming on her forehead and the way her face was beginning to show signs of strain. He somehow doubted the girl would be able to keep it up much longer, but then again she had already been sitting by Sayomi's side for over four hours, refusing to stop trying to heal the woman she considered her friend. She was concentrating so hard on this that she never noticed the door slide open or the young man that entered the room and knelt beside her with a glass of water.
"So how is she?" Uryu asked.
Orihime squealed, jumping in fright and nearly knocking the water from Uryu's hand in her surprise.
"Oh, Uryu, you scared me," Orihime breathed, putting her hands to her chest.
"Sorry. I brought you some water."
"Thanks," Orihime said with a smile, taking the glass and gladly taking a drink of the cool liquid. "I think I've got almost all of that dark reiatsu out and the actual wound is starting to close up, but...she doesn't seem to be getting any better."
"Don't worry, Orihime, I'm sure she'll be fine. Sayomi is too stubborn to give up," Uryu reassured his teary eyed friend, glancing at the Kuchiki nobleman briefly who snorted and turned his head away arrogantly.
"I've been wondering," Orihime said quietly.
"What?" Uryu asked, blinking at the concerned Orihime.
"Why did Sayomi go to Hueco Muendo? She wouldn't tell me, but I know she was trying to do something that she felt she had to do. She had that same look as Ichigo sometimes..."
Byakuya kept looking out the window, but he listened for what the Quincy would say. For what excuse he would give to try and redeem the actions of a friend who had betrayed them and lied to them all.
"Originally, because she wanted to kill her brother, he was-"
"Gin Ichimaru, one of the former captains," Orihime finished. "I know, they spent a lot of time together. I always thought they got along, they seemed so close."
Uryu nodded before continuing. "She changed her mind at some point, and when the last time she was here she told Urahara that she didn't want to kill her brother anymore. She was going after Aizen instead and she would do whatever it took to kill him. It seems that he wanted Sayomi for himself, as a queen and Sayomi was going to give him exactly what he wanted so that she could get close enough to kill him. From what Ichigo said earlier it sounds like Aizen killed her brother. I'm guessing he was hoping that it would win Sayomi over, but.. What?" Uryu grumpily asked the nobleman that had turned to look at him with a thoughtful frown.
"That's impossible," Byakuya said evenly. "Gin Ichimaru was here when she came through that garganta."
~A/N~
Hello! Hello! I'm hoping that I edited this chapter well enough, I'm not feeling too well and I kept tweaking little things around. Anywho, come chapter 21 there is a lot of new content and more Byakuya/Sayomi interaction.
As always, a great big THANK YOU to all of my lovely and awesome readers and reviewers! You guys are the best. :)
If you're feeling generous please feed the review monster on your way out, thanks!