Grimmjow came in later. I had no idea how long I had slept. To my tired eyes Grimmjow looked different.
Despite the fact that his face was contorted with rage and humiliation, he seemed fine. But the again...
As my eyes cleared I saw a long scar that ran down the length of his chest. His left sleeve was flapping back and forth as he walked. The place where his arm should be was vacant.
"What happened?" I asked, standing. I was a bit unsteady since I was still half asleep.
"I went to Earth and fought the boy Ulquiorra had reported about." He grumbled. "It was against Aizen-sama's wishes, so Tousen cut my arm off. I lost my place as Sexta Espada and I lost my powers."
"Did you win against said boy?"
"Hell no." He snapped. "There were others involved."
He stormed around the room, trying to find something, (besides me), to take his anger out on. He kicked the wall by the window, causing a small hole. He hit and kicked the wall until the hole was as big as the window itself. He smiled at the hole and then fell down onto the couch.
"There's something else," I said, venturing closer to him. "Isn't there?"
Grimmjow pulled me down onto his lap. That was uncomfortable.
"All of my subordinates were killed."
"Who took your place as Sexta Espada?" I struggled to free myself, but Grimmjow had a vice-like grip, even with only one arm, that kept me in place.
"Luppi." was what he said. "That crazy, good-for-nothing bastard."
I ceased struggling. It was no use. Grimmjow was not going to let go.
The nerve of this guy! He figured that he could waltz right into my life, end it, have me thrust into the world of monsters and weird etiquette, clean up after him, and then give him pleasure? I decided right then and there that this was going to be the last time he touched me.
Ever.
~*~
When I woke, I was oddly surprised to see that Grimmjow was still sleeping. I had been planning on getting away from him once his arm relaxed as he slept, but alas, his arm never relaxed and I had fallen asleep.
Now that I knew he was in deep, deep sleep, I tried once again to free myself from his grasp. He rolled in his sleep, his right arm tightening around my waist.
I crossed my arms and leaned against the back of the couch. What. The. Heck.
Grimmjow woke then and looked at me with wide eyes, as if it was the first time he ever saw me. He blinked and pushed me off of him. Then he stood up.
I walked away from him and stood by the window. Perhaps what he did was because he was upset about everything that had happened yesterday.
No. No, no, no, no, no. I would not feel sympathetic towards this monster. For that was what he was. A freaking, good-for-nothing, monster.
Then I had to remind myself that I was a monster too.
"Did you figure out the name of your Zanpakuto, Kryse-chan?"
Chan? So he did have some respect. The word he used, Zanpakuto, confused me.
"Zanpakuto?" I asked slowly. Grimmjow looked at me with hooded eyes.
"Your katana." He said blankly. "Did you figure out its name and release?"
"Not yet, Grimmjow-sama."
"Bah." He said, sliding his hands into his pockets. "There's no need for all that etiquette shit. Why don't we just use our first names? Everything would be so much more easier. I wouldn't have to remember who's a sama, san, chan, or kun. Etiquette sucks ass."
Though his idea was entertaining, his language definitely needed improvement. Though, I suppose, I had no say.
"Do you remember what your power felt like the first time you transformed into a Hollow?" His eyes drifted from my sandals to my eyes and stayed there.
"Sort of...warm. And...hungry."
"Then your release has something to do with fire. Well then, I have to go see what Aizen wants."
We were silent. I heard bells ringing. That was how Aizen summoned the Espada. Grimmjow walked over to the door, cast another suspicious glance at me, and left.
Alone again, and with nothing to do, I leaned out the window.
All I could see was blue sky and white sand. Sticking up out of the sand were columns of red stone. This was how it was in Los Noches. The rest of Hueco Mundo was always in night.
I drifted away from the window. This room was boring. I thought back to what Grimmjow had said. His subordinates had been killed.
But hadn't Ulquiorra said Grimmjow stopped making underlings? And Gin. He had said that Grimmjow doesn't usually take on subordinates.
So why was I still here?
~*~
With nothing to do for days on end, I decided to come up with a name and release for my sword.
I unsheathed the sword and admired it's inky color. I set it gently on the short table in front of me and looked at it.
I wanted the name to be unique. I didn't want it to share the same name as that of a fellow Arrancar or a Shinigami.
Shinigami are the fighters who live in Soul Society. They protect human souls by getting them to Soul Society and by slaying the Hollows who wish to eat them.
Apparently you can die twice.
I watched my sword for a long time. From the time Grimmjow left in the morning to whenever he decided to return. He would always disappear into his private room, running his hand through his hair and muttering nonsense about Shinigami and Luppi.
Something was keeping Grimmjow on his toes. And I could smell how frightened he was.
He never talked to me outright about it. I just heard him speaking to himself mostly. Every so often he would ask me about my sword. I always told him that I still had no name.
"Aizen wants to meet you." he announced one day after a similar conversation. "Once you have your sword's name and release, that it."
"Why would he want to meet me?"
"Hell if I know. He doesn't usually interact with subordinates. Maybe it's because you are still you and not my Fracction."
He wandered into his private room. Aizen Souske, the most powerful man in Hueco Mundo wanted to meet me. Whatever for?
My sword wasn't responding, Aizen wanted to meet me, and I was dying to know what was in Grimmjow's private room. I had to figure something out fast, or I was going to go nuts.
