Bleach Pornography Story: Bury Into Me

Chapter 10

Of all the places Grimmjow had pictured himself when he defected a year ago, nothing quite came close to the sheer absurdity of being back in Hueco Mundo with Ulquiorra. He’d planned on getting the hell out and staying that way, on forging his own path separate to both the Soul Society and Las Noches, and certainly on getting himself away from his tentative and temporary ally, Ulquiorra, before they both lost it and attempted to kill one another. And yet, here he was, a badge-carrying member of the Gotei 13 with Ulquiorra as his fellow lieutenant and occasional (it still just felt wrong to say it) friend, traipsing around the menos forest on a mission. All in all, his current situation was simultaneously bringing back memories and fucking with his head.

Seriously fucken weird how things change…

One thing had not. He still loathed Hueco Mundo with every fibre of his being – the vast sands, the lifeless ‘trees’, the silence and the monotony. At least now Sosuke Aizen’s fake sky had been removed and things were back to normal. Seeing this place in daylight had always been jarring to Grimmjow. Still, this situation only served to remind him of things he’d tried to forget, like the desperate gnawing hunger, the lust for power, the feel of flesh between his teeth and, later, the submission of servitude. He’d fought here, lost limbs here (albeit, temporarily), and made the decision to betray the man who had made him Grimmjow here. It was only that last memory that brought him any joy; remembering the expression on Orihime’s face when she’d realised that her freedom was a possibility never failed to make him smile.

Well, that an’ the expression on Luppi’s face when I rammed my fist through his chest. That was pretty fucken sweet. Kami, that prick was annoyin’.

Still, he was on edge. It was Bee’s turn to throw sidelong glances his way, as she seemed to have shaken off her earlier hesitancy as soon as she’d stepped through the garganta. Taking a deep breath and letting it out, he attempted to relax in order to reassure her.

It didn’t work. Soi Fon slowed her pace after exchanging a few brief words with Ulquiorra, letting him lead as she hung back to talk to Grimmjow.

“My turn. What’s up?” Her tone was light, but she seemed genuinely concerned. He shrugged in response. “Nothin’ that’s gonna interfere, Cap’n Bee, never you worry.”

“That isn’t what I asked”, Soi Fon rejoined.

Grimmjow scowled. “Look, let’s jus’ say I really don’ feel like talkin’ about it. Anyway, why you got Ulqui leading?”

Deciding to let the matter slide for the moment, she muttered, “Does he know you call him that?”

Grimmjow gave a twisted grin. “Maybe he does, maybe he doesn’t. Not like I do it to his face since you’ve been all ‘Grimmjow, no pulverising the other lieutenants’.”

She scoffed. “I never said that. I wouldn’t leave you such an obvious loophole. I said all Gotei 13 members, outside of captain authorized training sessions. I also made a threat.”

“Yeah, somethin’ about eyeballs and a rusty spoon, I wasn’t listenin’.”

“Obviously, because it wasn’t your eyeballs I was threatening”, Soi Fon pointed out tartly. “As for Ulquiorra, I may be senior here, but he knows this place well. I’d be mad not to defer to that. Apparently he used to reside in a cave close by that sounds like a decent base for our search of the forest, so I am leaving us in his capable hands.”

“What ’bout my capable hands, Bee? You’ve always seemed to enjoy – gah!”

Retracting her elbow from his ribs, Soi Fon couldn’t help but smile slightly. “We’re on duty, do try for a vague sense of decorum.”

“That your way of askin’ for some Captain/Lieutenant role play, Bee? ‘Coz I’m up for it if you are.”

With a snort and a flash of a grin, Soi Fon shook her head and kept walking, as Grimmjow strode on by her side, the smile on his face disappearing once more as he stared out at the horizon.

They continued on, trudging across the shapeless land for several hours before Ulquiorra stopped, raising his hand. Grimmjow cocked his head.

“You fucken serious? What’s here that’s different from the rest o’ this shit hole?”

With a disdainful glance backward, the pale lieutenant replied with a sigh, “I am not as reckless as you, Grimmjow. When Aizen took me out of here and offered me the power I now have, it did cross my mind at the time that such a shift might not be permanent. As such, I imbued my territory with a slight part of my reiatsu. It’s miniscule enough not to attract any predators, but anyone attuned to my spiritual pressure can feel it.”

Nel’s eyes widened as he spoke, her gaze shifting to a particular point on the sand. “He’s right. I can sense it now I know what I’m looking for.”

Ulquiorra nodded. “Precisely.”

Grimmjow opened his mouth to reply, before a strange expression crossed his face. Soi Fon raised an eyebrow. “Something the matter?”

Scratching the back of his head, the blue-haired arrancar mumbled, “I can feel it, too.”

Nel started to giggle. “Awww, you two really are best friends forever.”

As Soi Fon snickered, Ulquiorra closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose and muttered darkly, “You’ve been spending too much time with Rangiku again, haven’t you Neliel?”

With a shake of her head, Nel grinned. “Nah, if that were the case, I’d accuse you of flirting instead.”

Grimmjow growled. “I didn’t ask to be fucken ‘attuned to your spiritual pressure’.”

“Well it’s certainly not something I was hoping for either”, Ulquiorra snapped.

“As charming as this all is, can we keep the unresolved sexual tension to a minimum?” Soi Fon asked with a smirk, as the two fumed silently and glared at her. “How do we get there, seeing as the forest itself is underground?”

“Cero”, Ulquiorra replied. “The simplest way is to shoot down and open a path.”

Soi Fon frowned. “Not kido?”

He shook his head. “No, it has to be a hollow-based power. Kido would attract attention we don’t want.”

“That seems logical”, Soi Fon conceded. “Get to it, then.”

Ulquiorra sighed. “This is a job best left for someone with a talent for using cero and controlling it.”

“And that’s not you?” Soi Fon was surprised, to say the least. Of all those assembled, Ulquiorra seemed the one who most embodied the idea of control. She turned to Nel, who added, “Not me either. I’m very much a weapon in hand kinda girl, if I have to fight at all. No, Grimm’s the one for this job, as much as it pains Ulquiorra to admit it.”

“Every tool has to have some use”, Ulquiorra muttered.

“Is that your subtle way of callin’ me a tool?”

“Just shoot the damn cero, Grimmjow.”

With a grin, he walked forward, intent on the patch of sand in front of them. So fast the Soi Fon could barely follow the movement, his arm shot out, his right hand glowing blue, and he fired. For a split second the cero seemed to just sink into the sand, but then the ground beneath them began to shift as the earth fell away from the point of impact. Bracing herself, Soi Fon mimicked the others and stepping forward, letting herself fall as the wind and sand whipped around her. The impact was jarring and unexpected, the dark hadn’t lifted enough for her to see the ground but the cero-light from Grimmjow’s hand that flamed to her left enabled her to come to the conclusion that, rather than having reached the bottom, she and her arrancar companions had landed on the branches of what looked like a large tree. With a frown, she reached forward to touch one of the immense branches, only to gasp and pull her hand back after she made contact.

It’s not a tree at all! It has the right shape, but it feels almost like stone, of all things.

“It’s quartz, or somethin’ like that.” She pivoted on the spot, only to see Grimmjow staring intently at the not-tree as he continued. “Nothin’ living in Hueco Mundo, after all. We’d hardly have real trees, what with the lack of sun and rain, plus the sheer number of idiots who’ll cero anythin’ they see.”

That reminded her. “I wouldn’t have picked you as the type to use cero.”

He scoffed. “What? Didn’t think I could do it?”

Soi Fon shrugged. “Not at all. I just thought you were more like the members of the Eleventh and disdained anything that wasn’t brute force.”

Grimmjow shook his head, a slight smile on his face. “Really Bee, what part of blastin’ shit out of the way don’t sound like somethin’ I’d enjoy? And the only reason those guys hate kido is ‘coz they can’t do it. Needs too much concentration and self-control.”

It was Soi Fon’s turn to scoff. “Self-control? You? Who are you kidding?”

His grin widened as he leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Trust me Bee, if I didn’t have any self-control, you’d never get to leave my bed.” Soi Fon’s eyes fluttered closed involuntarily as his lips traced a path down her neck, until they abruptly pulled away. Her eyes shot open to glare as he straightened up and walked along the branch before turning back to her, his lips quirked into a smile. “C’mon Shaolin, we don’t wanna get left behind, now.”

With a growl she leapt after him, as he turned in the direction of Nel and Ulquiorra’s combined reiatsu. “Grimmjow, you do realise you’re going to pay for that, right?”

He chuckled as they sped through the ‘trees’. “That’s what I was hopin’ for.”

xXx

The location Ulquiorra lead them to was perfect – deserted, difficult to find and roomy enough for the two tents they had packed to be set up, as the forest was cold enough to require the extra protection and warmth. That, however, brought up the problem of sleeping arrangements. The simplest solution would have been to divide them by gender, but everyone’s blood ran cold at the thought of Grimmjow and Ulquiorra sharing a tent. Soi Fon knew who she’d rather be sharing a tent with, but decided not to speak up. After all, her reasoning wasn’t exactly professional and she didn’t want to force Nel into a situation she wasn’t comfortable with. Soi Fon didn’t know the other captain well and, while Nel and her lieutenant seemed to get along, they were extremely different. The last thing Soi Fon wanted to do was impose a sleeping arrangement on everyone that made them uncomfortable, even if that meant that she couldn’t continue her and Grimmjow’s own ‘arrangement’ on this mission.

It had surprised her, therefore, when Nel had suddenly volunteered to stay with Ulquiorra. It worried her, too. Nel was Grimmjow’s friend, it was possible that she knew about his current situation and was trying to help, but Soi Fon couldn’t stop herself from feeling nervous as she wondered just who else was aware of what was going on between her and her lieutenant. After Ulquiorra and Nel had offered to take the first watch and scout their surroundings, Soi Fon sat in her tent, preparing to confront Grimmjow.

She didn’t have to wait long before he joined her.

“So Bee, now that we’re alone – “

She cut him off abruptly. “Who knows?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Who knows what?”

Soi Fon cleared her throat. “About us. Nel sharing with Lieutenant Schiffer seems awfully convenient.”

Grimmjow took one look at her face and began to laugh. “Bee, you really are fucken oblivious, aren’t you?”

She bristled at the insult. “Of course not! Do you think I’d even still be alive if I was unable to maintain a decent awareness of my surroundings?”

He shook his head, still chuckling. “I don’ mean that. I mean all the interpersonal crap.”

Dumbfounded, Soi Fon could only utter a faint, “What?”

“Shit, you mus’ be the only one in the Seireitei who don’t know Nel and Ulqui are together.”

She blinked. “What – together together?”

“No other kind”, he replied with a grin. “What else have you missed, Bee?”

This was starting to worry her. “Who else should I know about?”

Grimmjow considered this. “Well, Shunsui and Nanao.”

She gave him a withering look. “I’m not that oblivious, whatever you might think. I’ve also caught on about Kisuke and Yoruichi, and Aizen and himself.”

With a grin, her companion continued. “Now that was a love affair for the ages. Ok, well what about Kenpachi and Captain Unohana?”

Soi Fon grimaced. “I’ll give you a hint – never walk into a closed exam room unannounced. Kenpachi visits her on her breaks.”

Grimmjow snorted. “Caught ’em at it, didja? Alright then – Captains Kuchiki and Abarai.”

“You’re shitting me.” He shook his head and her eyes widened. “How did I miss that one?”

He shrugged. “I think you were beating me up at the time. I’d also advise you to prepare ahead of time for Ichigo to grow some balls and talk to Rukia, and for the Tenth to really heat up the concept of Captain-Lieutenant relations. Not that we aren’t doin’ that ourselves already.”

Soi Fon lay back, staring at the roof of the tent. “Damn.”

“Don’t get yourself all worked up ’bout not knowing. Your focus is kinda elsewhere, after all. ‘Sides, you got me to give you all the gossip now.”

“Oh joy”, she drawled, before looking pensive. “How come everyone knows about Nel and Ulquiorra? They’re not exactly unprofessional about it.”

Grimmjow pulled on one of his gelled spikes. “Look, nex’ time you’re there and they think you ain’t payin’ attention, watch how they look at each other. You can’t fucken miss it. Especially Ulquiorra. He rarely does emotion; so on the occasion it happens, it really does show. So, no, neither of them know about us, though they mighta guessed.”

“Oh.” She pondered this. “What about Lieutenant Matsumoto and Third Seat Yukaya? Do they know?”

“Hell no. Didn’t you say you wanted discreet?”

“And they wouldn’t be?”

“Only when compared to Yumichika after a lot of tequila.”

“Kami, that’s… more than a little alarming.”

“Precisely.” Grimmjow stretched out alongside her, his gaze fixed on her face as she stared at the ceiling, frowning slightly.

“There’s something else I wanted to ask, too.”

Grimmjow raised an eyebrow. “Well, in a talkative mood today, are we Bee? Should we get a campfire goin’ outside for the story swapping?”

Soi Fon rolled her eyes and shifted over to face him as she punched his shoulder. “Ass. I just wanted to know what was with you when we got here. You seemed, I don’t know, tense.”

He flinched, his eyes hard. “Hueco Mundo and I… go way back. And it ain’t a comfortable association.” He rolled over to face her. “When you see anything that reminds you of your time serving the Shihouns, how does it make you feel?”

The sharp intake of breath from his companion was all the answer he needed. “You hate it, don’t you? You hate the feelin’ that you were once weak and you hate the reminder of submission, o’ being nothing’ but a pawn to them. Abject fucken servitude’ll have that effect on you. See, you feel all that, an’ you were servin’ someone who cared about you, who treated you like family. You feel that way ‘coz you’re you, and you’re just not meant to do anythin’ but lead an’ be strong. Here’s the thing, Bee – you and me ain’t so different. The point is, unlike you, I didn’t have Yoruichi or anyone like that. I had me, and some traitorous jackass with a God-complex tellin’ me that I was his creation and I’d best fellow orders. To me, Hueco Mundo is where I spent decades – no, centuries – constantly on the run, feedin’ off others for power and hidin’ from vasto lorde, only to end up that bastard’s whipping boy. So no, I ain’t keen to be back here. I can probably think o’ another hundred spec-fucking-tacularly terrible places I’d rather be, but that don’t mean I’m gonna let it get to me.” His eyes were dark as they bored into hers, his face set. “If you’re worried that I ain’t gonna do my job right, just come out an’ say it Bee.”

Soi Fon had been deathly quiet during this speech, but at the last line she jerked as though she’d been slapped. With a growl, she snapped back, “That wasn’t why I asked at all! I know damn well you can do your job. It wasn’t that I was worried about – it was you, you prick!” Ignoring the way Grimmjow’s eyes had widened as he stared at her intently, she continued to rage.

“You’ve been on edge all fucken day, don’t think I haven’t noticed! Well, excuse me for trying to be nice, because that’s all I was Kami-damned doing! ‘You and me ain’t so different Bee’ – no, we’re not, you got the part right. But if you’re so enlightened, why the fuck did it not occur to you that I was just making sure you were ok, like you did for me this morning? Unless you had some sort of ulterior motive then, in which case – “

“I’m sorry.”

“- you’re a complete ass for thinking tha – what?”

He sighed, running a hand through his hair as he persisted in staring at her. “I’m sorry. You’re right – this place does make me on edge. I hate it here, like I’ve never fucken hated anything else. I can’t help it, but that don’t mean I should take it out on you. So, I’m sorry Bee.”

Soi Fon blinked. Of all the things she had ever expected to hear Grimmjow say, an apology was up there with swearing off fighting, or coming out of the closet. The sheer unexpectedness of it left her unable to do anything but simply stutter, “It’s – it’s alright. And you… you were right. Not about my motivation to ask, but the rest… you were right.”

The corner of his lips quirked upward. “It’s been known to happen. On occasion.”

She gave him a tiny smile in return. “Should I notify Central 46?”

“Nah, get Nel to do it. They love dealin’ with her paperwork.”

Soi Fon considered this. “I once had a form she’d completed sent to me by mistake. It took me ten minutes to realise that it wasn’t the budget at all, but her shopping list. Her handwriting and comprehension of forms are… individual.”

Grimmjow snorted. “Indecipherable, more fucken like. The woman has a gift.”

“That she does”, Soi Fon replied before turning to face him once more, as she continued, her voice softer. “I’m sorry you got stuck here again. If you’d told me, I’m sure I could’ve turned down the mission.”

Shaking his head, Grimmjow replied, “Like the Captain Commander woulda ok’d that. No Bee, you’re the one for this job, and where you go, I go.” As if he’d only just realised what he’d said, Grimmjow cleared his throat. “Well that’s, uh, what lieutenants do, after all.”

It was strange, but Soi Fon couldn’t help but feel she’d preferred the way he said it initially. She shook her head as she dismissed that temporary bout of foolishness and shifted a little closer to Grimmjow, resting her head against his shoulder. “Fair enough. You know, I never thought I’d say this, but I’m actually glad you’re my lieutenant.”

Her eyes were already closed, so she missed the smile on Grimmjow’s face as he kept the excitement from his voice. “Really, Bee? Can I quote you on that?”

She scoffed. “Hell no. I’m even erasing it from my memory as we speak. Anyway, we’re on watch later, so we should get some sleep now.”

Careful not to shift the woman resting against him, Grimmjow tentatively pressed a kiss to her hair. “Sounds like a plan. Night, Bee.”

Sleep already claiming her, Soi Fon curled up a little closer to him and mumbled softly, “Night, Grimm.”

She didn’t see the way Grimmjow’s smile widened at the nickname as he cautiously rolled to face her, watching as her breathing deepened. After several minutes, having deemed it safe, he cautiously reached out to brush the hair from her face, before draping his arm around her waist and closing his eyes, settling into sleep.

Not so bad here this time around, I guess, especially with Bee. ‘Sides, not like we’re gonna be here more than a few days, right?

xXx

Three weeks.

Three Kami-damned weeks and they were still here; no clearer on anything than when they’d first arrived and it was starting to piss Grimmjow off something fierce. Well, not exactly no clearer – one thing was clear.

The menos forest was empty.

Complete silence reigned everywhere they searched, broken only by their footsteps and Soi Fon’s curt commands as they moved through, continuing their search. It was seriously unnatural, as far as Grimmjow was concerned. Sure, the menos forest had never exactly been party central, but deserted? Hell, even the slight spiritual pressure they had decided to give off in order to draw the beasties out had failed – there was nothing and no one here but themselves and the false trees.

It was distinctly worrying. Soi Fon herself had stated that the official post-war tally indicated that all but two of Aizen’s vasto lorde had perished, but that still left about a dozen of them scattered around the wastes of Hueco Mundo. If they weren’t in their natural habitat, then the most logical thing to assume was that they had already been recruited and were in Las Noches, which was far from a comforting thought.

All signs pointed to a looming disaster, and that it was only in Las Noches that they would find answers, an idea that none of the group relished. All of the former Espada had unpleasant associations with their old home and Soi Fon could sense it. Leading an unwilling team into an enemy fortress was hardly her favourite thing to do, and she was clearly waiting until they were sure that no other option was presented to them.

At least, that was what Grimmjow had deduced from the conversations they’d had. Emphasis, he couldn’t help but think smugly, on the plural. That was the one thing keeping him from writing this off as one of the shittiest three week long sections of his life – Bee and the way she suddenly seemed to be talking to him. Sure, she wasn’t exactly given a lot of options when it came to who to turn to for conversation, but he was still feeling pretty damn good that she’d chosen him. If he was really lucky, then it might even continue once they returned…

Yeah, an arrancar could dream.

Exhaling, Grimmjow opened his eyes and came face to face with a still slumbering Shaolin, her brow slightly creased as she murmured something in her sleep. Her hands were pressed against his chest and, at some point during the night, one of her legs had curled around his own.

Not that Grimmjow was complaining.

But damn, I love the sleeping arrangements on this jaunt. There’s something to be said for havin’ Bee there when I wake up.

Well, somethin’ other than morning sex.

Not that I object to that…

Stirring in her sleep, Soi Fon suddenly went still, before her eyes snapped open to be greeted with the view – one very shirtless Grimmjow Jeagerjacques with sleep-tousled hair grinning at her.

Now that’s a view. I could get used to this.

Not that I’m going to. No… Just an observation.

She disentangled herself and stretched the drowsiness out of her limbs before dressing; aware of his eyes on her every move. She had been making a few too many of such observations lately for her peace of mind, but she put it down to the close proximity into which this mission had thrown them. Still, it was nice not to have to make the trek back to her apartment in the middle of the night. And Grimmjow was very comfortable to sleep on. And a surprisingly decent conversationalist. And –

A good lay, and that is it.

Even if he does make me laugh.

Shaking her head, she looked up to see him still gazing at her. She frowned.

“Don’t you know it’s rude to stare?”

He grinned. “The beauty of being me is tha’ no one expects me to be anythin’ but rude. You wouldn’t wanna take that away from me Bee, wouldya?”

She rolled her eyes as she smacked him over the head playfully. “Seireitei forbid. C’mon, time to get up.”

He raised an eyebrow suggestively. “Is that a request for sex, because I’m happy to oblige?”

She snorted. “No, it’s request to get yourself out of bed and be useful.”

Grimmjow considered this. “Well, I suppose it doesn’t have to be in bed…”

Hiding the smile on her face, Soi Fon unzipped the tent, throwing over her shoulder as she departed, “You aren’t out here in five and I’ll get Ulquiorra to wake you up.”

Re-zipping the tent and listening to him curse, Soi Fon reminded herself –

Just scratching an itch, Shaolin. It’s all we’re doing and that won’t change.

I really need to remember that.

xXx

What Soi Fon didn’t want to have to admit to the others was that she was planning on today being their last day in the forest. It was painfully clear that no further insights could be gleaned from their current location, and she knew that it was time to move on, whether they wanted to or not. All the same, she wasn’t quite sure how to broach this topic with the others, especially Grimmjow. Every time their conversations had touched upon this place, the hatred with which he spoke of it was palpable, infusing each syllable he spat out. A part of her knew that he’d be practical about it; that he’d follow her in because, as he’d said, that’s what lieutenants do. On the other hand, she regretted that he was about to be forced into this situation, returning to a place that had been a kind of prison to him.

I realise that the Captain Commander wanted the arrancar on this mission for their knowledge of the land, and Grimmjow especially for his reconnaissance training with me, but he had to know that it wouldn’t be a pleasant homecoming for any of them.

Still, I suppose that we should at least be glad he didn’t send Stark. He’s come to enough grief out here.

Of course, all this is irrelevant right now. I need to figure out how to break it to the rest of them that this is going to be our last sweep of the area…

While it appeared that they had thrown caution to the wind by using flash and sonido as they scouted, Soi Fon had decided that, given the deserted state of the menos forest, any spiritual pressure they might exude could help draw something out of hiding. So far it hadn’t worked, but it did mean that they could actually cover more area as they searched.

For all the good it’ll do us. There’s nothing here.

She raised her hand, calling them all to an instantaneous halt. Grimmjow eyed her as she stood there biting her lip, a look of intense concentration on her face as she stared at her shoes. He looked over to Ulquiorra and Nel, saw the expressions of resignation on their faces and knew what was coming next. He sighed, tugging on one of the spikes of hair hanging in his face, before voicing the thought that they all had.

“So, Las Noches then, eh?”

Soi Fon’s gaze snapped to him as she tensed. Whatever she saw in his eyes made her relax, sighing out the rigidity of her stance.

“It would appear so. I think it’s safe to say that we’ve exhausted this possibility.”

Nel shook her head. “I wish I could say I was surprised, but…” She trailed off, turning to Ulquiorra who was staring out at the horizon. “Penny for them?”

Ulquiorra’s lips quirked slightly as he shifted to regard her. “They’re not original enough to warrant the financial outlay. I had a sneaking suspicion it would come to this, so I’m hardly unprepared for the concept.”

Soi Fon nodded, her relief at their acceptance obvious. “We’ll pack up camp and head off tonight. Not that this place has days anymore, but – “

Almost as one unit, the four of their heads whipped in the one direction, toward the sudden flare of spiritual pressure that suddenly began to rocket toward them.

Shit!

As Nel’s eyes widened and Ulquiorra grabbed at the hilt of his sword, Grimmjow let off a string of expletives and turned to Soi Fon.

“What the fuck we do now, Cap’n Bee?”

Thinking fast, Soi Fon replied, “I don’t see anywhere that’ll offer us cover or better defence without us losing any chance of seeing who’s coming at us, so here we stay.” Cursing herself for not insisting that they conceal their spiritual pressure once they’d stopped, she barked, “Weapons out and ready! Cero first, once they get in range. Let them come to us. From the spiritual pressure it feels like there are a few – “

“Only one”, Ulquiorra corrected. “But it’s a vasto lorde.”

She swore to herself as the blur on the horizon became clearer and clearer on its approach. The swearing increased in volume as a bright blue cero sang past her ear, forcing their opponent to swiftly change direction.

“Damn it, Grimmjow! I like the various parts of my face attached!”

He grinned at her, Pantera unsheathed in his hand. “So do I, Bee. Don’ worry, contrary to popular belief, I do kinda know what I’m doin’.”

“News to me”, Ulquiorra muttered as Nel rolled her eyes and smiled.

“If you two can’t play nice, Soi Fon and I will make this a ‘Captains only’ battle.”

Two more ceros whipped past Soi Fon, this time close to her braids. Making a rude gesture to the figure behind her, her black eyes narrowed as she watched their foe draw near. It was a strange, slim spider-like creature, bone white but for strange green scales that were sporadically spread over its body, with large skeletal wings.

Knowing from experience that, despite how unworkable those wings appeared to be for flight, the creature might still be a capable flier, she faced her companions. “Release forms, and now. This one looks nasty. Nel, you know your own and Ulquiorra’s abilities better than I do – I’ll leave you to decide how to work this out. Grimmjow and I will attack straight on.”

She drew Suzumebachi and closed her eyes, calling upon her zanpakuto’s power, as she felt the other’s reiatsus shift and change around her. She opened her eyes to see Nel hefting her lance and pawing at the ground, eyes on the sky. Soi Fon looked up to see Ulquiorra on the wing above them, his vivid eyes intent on the scene before him. A soft growl to her left drew her attention to her lieutenant. She had to force herself to bite back a snort at the hair and the ears, but she couldn’t help but admit that the form fitting armour wasn’t entirely unbecoming…

She was jerked out of that train of thought by a cero shooting past her face – this time from the opposite direction. She growled and shot off a kido spell with her left hand that the creature dodged, and was about to order the attack when one of the hollow’s ‘scales’ detached and launched, slamming into her left shoulder. With a hiss of pain, she righted herself and tried to prise it off, only to hear an enraged roar beside her as Grimmjow threw himself at his opponent, Nel not far behind.

Furious with herself for being injured so quickly, Soi Fon ignored the fire in her shoulder and grasped her weapon, racing to join them. Manoeuvring swiftly on eight legs, the vasto lorde shot a cero at her, before turning its attentions back on Grimmjow, who dodged and weaved, slashing at its face with his claws. Avoiding the blast, Soi Fon flashed over to join Nel, as she tried to use her lance to incapacitate one of its legs. Both women were thrown back as the vasto lorde managed to temporarily force Grimmjow away and shoot another cero from its mouth in their direction, before turning back to meet one of Grimmjow’s fists. With a howl, the creature launched several scales in his direction, its fury growing as the arrancar dodged each of them.

As Soi Fon helped Nel up, she realised something. “Nel, what’s Ulquiorra doing?”

Her fellow Captain grinned, as both women leapt forward to attack their quarry once more. “I figured since we were more than a match for this one, we’d give a new idea a try.”

Wincing as she lunged forward to attack, her shoulder reminding her that she was wounded, Soi Fon raised an eyebrow. “What, and have him flap around up there doing nothing?”

Nel’s grin widened. “No – have him flap around up there letting us be the distraction.”

Before Soi Fon could respond, a black streak plummeted from the sky, sword outstretched. The vasto lorde barely had time to scream its rage, as Murcielago pierced through one of the thinner segments of the creature’s stomach, pinning it to the ground. The vasto lorde thrashed, but was clearly not dead. From his perch on the vasto lorde’s back, Ulquiorra nodded to Soi Fon, calling out, “I figured a live adversary was an adversary we could interrogate. Unless, of course, you’d prefer we just disposed of him.”

A harsh cackle escaped the throat of the fallen vasto lorde as its struggles slowed. “Traitors and shinigami scum, just what I was looking for. I hate to break it to you, but if it takes four of you to subdue one of me, then you’re going to be in a whole other world of trouble soon.” Drawing in a raspy breath, a crude grin spread over its features. “It’s going to make the Battle of Hueco Mundo look like a picnic.”

Soi Fon growled, as she grabbed the scale that had attached to her shoulder, digging her nails in and pulling it free. The pain made her head spin, but she focussed on the matter at hand. “Who sent you?”

That horrible grating laugh started up once more. “You think I’d tell? I’m keeping that little bit of information to myself, little captain. I know I’m dead, but I plan on my only regret being that I won’t see you all die.” It paused, before giving an even bigger grin. “Well, except you, little captain. You might’ve pulled my scale off, but the poison’s had plenty of time to sink in.”

They all froze, and Soi Fon felt her head start to spin as her shoulder throbbed anew. With a gasp, she slid down to sit on the ground as the creature began to laugh again, the act of standing suddenly too much effort for her. She looked up to meet the vasto lorde’s eyes as it gleefully informed her, “You’ll be dead within the hour.”

Grimmjow suddenly walked forward, an expression of murderous fury on his face as he turned to face the hollow. It regarded him with a slightly amused expression. “Oh, have I made you angry? Is there a problem, traitor? Because if there is – “

Swiftly and without warning, Grimmjow’s fist lit up with cero, before punching through the vasto lorde’s skull, not even giving it time to scream before it dissolved. It was a typically Grimmjow thing to do, Soi Fon thought as her vision started to grey, but he wasn’t smiling.

Which is odd. Nothing makes Grimmjow smile like wanton violence. Well, except – no! Fuck Shaolin, focus. Poison. That means…

She slumped forward, desperately trying to find the strength to pick up Suzumebachi as the sword spirit gave her an earful about being careless. Trying not to roll her eyes, Soi Fon hefted her weapon, staring at it briefly before turning it inward and resting the tip against her stomach. Taking a deep breath to steel herself, Soi Fon paused, looking up to see Grimmjow just as he turned to stare at her.

This is going to hurt like an unholy bitch…

Still, better than being dead.

Gritting her teeth and closing her eyes, Soi Fon plunged Suzumebachi into her stomach, screaming out the pain that seared through her as she blacked out.

It sounded far off, but she could have sworn that Grimmjow was yelling something that resembled her name.

xXx