Prize of Victory

Warnings: none really for this chapter other than Grimmjow's language

Grimmjow stirred as he slowly came too. He was slightly confused as he had no recollection of falling asleep in the first place and he was much warmer than usual. He did recall sleeping with Kurosaki’s sister and the memory of it was enough to make him horny as hell.

He could almost still feel her tight heat wrapped around his…..

His eyes shot open to a sea of black hair as something warm shifted in his grasp, causing his morning erection to shift pleasantly inside of her and he shuddered in delight.

“Shit.” He cursed silently.

He never let any of the broads he fucked actually sleep with him. As soon as he was done with them they left or he kicked them out, whichever came first. And here he had not only passed out after screwing her once, he had passed out still INSIDE of her.

That had to be the most pathetic thing he had ever done in his life, granted the list of pathetic things he had done was pretty damn small and most of it had to do with Aizen.

Karin shifted in his grasp again, no doubt highly uncomfortable. That shift caused another wave of pleasure to shot through his groin and up his body, causing him to growl softly. She froze and fear spiked through her reiatsu.

“Hold still a sec.” He grunted.

He took a few calming breaths to regain a small semblance of control over his body before carefully shifting them about until she was once more on her hands and knees beneath him. Even that shifting almost caused him to lose it, but he would be damned if he was THAT pathetic.

He normal dealt with any morning erections in the shower with Mr. Lefty, but she was so hot and tight around him it would be a waste of seed to let it go down the drain when there was a warm body already under him.

She let out a whimper as he began to move in her. Her walls were long dry now and it was difficult to move. He reached a hand under her and began to play with her nub, forcing himself to hold still.

She let out a gasp and shivered under him, causing him to shiver in response. He felt the pleasure he was giving her start to flow around him and he started to move slowly again.

He didn’t last long and if it hadn’t been such a great ride he would have felt ashamed at cumming so quickly. He shuddered violently as lights exploded before his eyes and he shot his load into her.

It left him gasping for breath and he pulled away from her to stand at the end of the bed. She didn’t move just yet and he took in the view of her on her hands and knees soaked in sweat with a small trail of his cum flowing down her right thigh. It almost made him hard again.

He quickly averted his gaze and looked to his own sweat and cum soaked body. They both desperately needed a shower and he could hear Yuzu puttering around downstairs. He let his eyes fall back upon Karin, who was laying on the bed now and holding the blankets up to cover her nude body.

“Shower.” Was all he said.

She looked up and him and gave a nod of her head. He took the time to study her body once again as she crawled out of bed and pulled the kimono on. She was walking stiffly and his male pride swelled to know he had done her so hard she could barely walk.

There were two bathrooms in the house; one was the main one the girls used the other was the private one in his room. Only the main one had a shower. He held the door open and smiled amused as she ducked under his arm and into the bathroom.

He blocked the door before she could close it and her eyes widen deliciously when she realized he planned on them showering together. She bit her lip and stepped nervously to the side while he locked the door and walked past her, turning the tap on to his preferred temperature.

He turned back to look at her, holding the curtain aside. She let her kimono fall once more to the ground and stepped into the shower. He followed right behind her, firmly enjoying the view of the water running down her frame.


She had prayed he would come to and permit her to go back to her room before Yuzu woke up, but that was clearly not going to happen. Maybe she could tell her sister that she had been out jogging or something.

No, she could never lie so blatantly to Yuzu, and jogging was a rather pathetic lie. Neither one of them were permitted off of the property for safety sake.

“I should have included that we would keep this …‘arrangement’… from Yuzu.” She thought wistfully to herself.

His order to shower was met with relief and she ducked under his arm to head to the bathroom where she planned on scrubbing her skin until it was raw.

His catching the door and locking it behind them was not something she had expected. He turned the water on and looked at her expectantly. She felt nervous all over again but let the Kimono slid off of her body and stepped into the shower.

The water was nice and hot and she kept her back to him as he crawled in behind her. She closed her eyes and let the water run down her face, retreating into a different world. It lasted all of one minute before he spoke.

“Your hair’s wet enough.” He grunted from behind her.

She let out a cry of surprise as his hands grasped her hips, picked her up easily, and set her down behind him. The hot water was now blocked by his own body. She stared at him in disbelief but his back was turned to her as he soaked his own soft blue hair.

Sighing, she turned her back to him again and pulled her bottle of shampoo off of the rack.

“Somehow I get the feeling that even if I had demanded to keep this arrangement from Yuzu he would have denied it. What have I gotten myself into?” She wondered, feeling depression weigh on her.

Her hands fell from her hair and hung limply by her side. She really should have thought this through.

She gasped as his hands once more grasped her hips and switched them around.

“Will you stop doing that?” She hissed at him, turning around to glare at him.

The result was she got a full view of his water soaked body. She hadn’t really looked at him before, but now she couldn’t help but admit he was very well built, and not in one of those jock ways either.

He was lean. All toned muscle and sinew. Even had she been as spiritually unaware as Yuzu was she would know that this man had power just by the way he looked and held himself.

“Or what?” He asked with a smirk, breaking her out of her thoughts.

“Just, please stop that.” She sighed.

“You are getting soap in your face.” He grinned at her.

She turned her back to him again and rinsed her hair out. She felt his hands on her hips and she slapped them, side stepping around him to let him have the shower head again while she grabbed her bottle of conditioner.

A tap on her shoulder and she whirled to glare at him, only to have the sponge dripping with soap meet her face. She looked at it in confusion for a moment before she took it from his hand and he turned his back to her. After a moment he looked back at her pointedly.

“Does he seriously expect me to wash his back?” She thought half amused, half surprised.

It was clear that was exactly what he was expecting. She almost threw the sponge back at him but decided against it. She scrubbed his back quickly and he turned around to grab it before she could throw it at him like she wanted to from the start.

He stepped to the side and she took the invitation to take the shower head once more to rinse the conditioner out of her hair. She froze when his hand fell on her shoulder and she felt the sponge rub her own back.

“It is an old human saying, is it not? I will scrub your back if you will scrub mine.” He whispered into her ear.

She nodded her head numbly. Suddenly, he was just gone and she looked behind her to see the curtain fluttering closed, leaving her alone in the shower.

It was only then that she realized her heart was pounding. She leaned against the wall and sank to the floor of the shower. She was finally alone. She was sore, but she was surprised she didn’t feel much of anything.

She thought she would be furious or depressed at losing her virginity to him like this, but the only thing she was concerned about at the moment was what story she was going to make up for Yuzu to explain why she wasn’t in bed.

When she finally finished washing up and stepped out of the shower, she was alone in the bathroom and a quick scan of the house showed that Grimmjow was already gone wherever it was he headed to during the day.

She got dressed and went down the stairs to the kitchen, where Yuzu was just finishing a rather large and delicious looking breakfast.

“How was your shower?” Yuzu asked pleasantly. “I started breakfast while you freshened up.”

“It was nice, thank you.” Karin smiled at her sister.

If her sister thought she had been in the bathroom she wasn’t going to correct her. The cup of strong, black tea was just what she needed this morning.

“Karin, is something wrong?” Yuzu asked wordily.

“Gomanasai, Yuzu. I didn’t sleep very well last night.” Karin offered as an explanation.

“Oh.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Karin smiled at her. “I’ll be fine after I eat something.” She assured her. “And looking at this meal I don’t even know where to start!”

“Okay then.” Yuzu said, but the look on her face showed she didn’t quite believe her.

It was enough for now and Karin hadn’t been lying. She really hadn’t got a lot of sleep last night.


Two months later…..

“You call that a strike? I could do better in my sleep.” Grimmjow taunted her.

“Shut up.” She snapped at him irritable. “You have been doing this a lot longer than I have.” She grumbled under her breath.

She didn’t know what in the seven hells possessed him to suddenly decide to train her. It’s not like being able to fight was going to do her any good. It did help to take her mind off of her situation.

“We are done.” He suddenly declared, expertly tripping her and pinning her to the ground.

She glared up at him. He always ended their sparring sessions with her on her back and him pinning her to the ground.

“Are you done, Grimmjow-san, Karin?” Yuzu asked from the porch.

“For now.” Grimmjow grunted, getting up off of her.

Karin rolled onto her shoulders before flipping up onto her feet. She grabbed the towel Yuzu handed her and wiped the sweat from her face before accepting the glass of water and started to pace around the yard to cool down so her muscles wouldn’t seize up.

Yuzu watched her while Grimmjow disappeared. He never worked up a sweat. She was small game compared to him, which led her back to the question of why he was even bothering to train her at all.

“I am going to start on dinner.” Yuzu announced.

“I’ll help after I take a shower.”

Yuzu nodded and disappeared into the house. Karin finished cooling down before heading up to take a shower. She let the hot water run down her body while she leaned against the wall.

She had giving up trying to pretend there was nothing going on between her and Grimmjow before the first week was even out. She had never expected him to be this demanding on her body and every night since their deal he had summoned her to his room and had expected her to spend the whole night; pinning her to his body and not releasing her from her obligations until after what was now a traditional morning shower.

Every time he did take her it was always from behind with her on her hands and knees. He always prepared her as well, either with his mouth or oil he kept in a drawer beside the bed.

So far he seemed content to use her body to his will and hadn’t commanded her to do anything more than lay there and let him have his way with her. She wondered how much longer that would last.

She was brought out of her musing by a spike of fear in Yuzu’s reiatsu. Karin froze and quickly scanned the house. There was a powerful presence in the kitchen that she didn’t recognize.

Cursing, Karin quickly jumped out of the shower and pulled the dirty, white uniform Grimmjow had giving her to train in back on before running out of the bathroom and jumping the stairs to land at the bottom.

She drew what was left of her reiatsu about her as she had been training to do and sprinted to the kitchen. There was a man in the kitchen Karin didn’t recognize, but by the feel of his reiatsu he was clearly an Arrancar. To her relief he was no where near as strong as Grimmjow.

“One of the other’s fraccion or something?” Karin guessed. “ What the hell does he want and why is he here?” She wondered. “What do you want?” She challenged.

The Arrancar turned to face her before turning his back on her to return his attention to Yuzu.

“I wish I had known such a scrumptious meal was hiding in this house.” The creature purred. “Come dear, spread those legs and lift that skirt of yours up and I might take you easy.”

Karin saw red and Yuzu almost fainted. She lunged forward, foot leading the way and aimed for the back of his knee. The Arrancar gave a surprised yelp and in that moment of distraction Karin grabbed Yuzu’s hand and bolted, pulling her sister along.

“Fucking Bitches. I am going to gut you both.” The Arrancar roared.

Karin dragged Yuzu from the house and ran down the street, drawing the attention of the few shinigami who had survived the war. Karin didn’t expect any help from them and she was right. Their reiatsu was no where near the Arrancar on their tail and to interfere would only lead to their own deaths. They were a broken people.

“Karin.” Yuzu cried in panic.

“I know, just keep running.”

She heard the static sound of the creature’s Sonido as it appeared before them. Karin didn’t hesitate a moment as she gathered her reitasu about he once more and poured it into a rock as she kicked it at the creature.

The Arrancar let lose a scream as it nailed him in the fore head, going in deep and knocking him to the ground. Yuzu gasp and Karin jerked her sister to the right to keep running.

“I need to find help. Anyone.” She thought desperately.

She began to scan for any reiatsu that seemed even vaguely familiar. It was difficult to do while running and trying to keep tabs on the Arrancar that was chasing them. There was another sound of Sonido and Karin barely had enough to time push her sister to the side and out of danger before the Arrancar’s leg collided with the arm she had brought up to block.

She cried out as she was sent careening off to the side and smashed painfully into the side of a fence, breaking it and tumbling to the ground in a pile of splintered wood. Her arm ached but she was pretty sure it wasn’t broken.

“Karin.” Yuzu shouted and tried to run to her.

“Run you fool.” Karin shouted.

Yuzu stopped, but before she could move the Arrancar came up behind her and grabbed a fist full of her hair, causing Yuzu to cry out in pain.

“Bastard, leave her alone.” Karin shouted, trying to drag her bruised body out of the pile of wood to get to her sister.

“Fucking bitch. You know, I think I am going to fuck this bitch right here while you watch and then kill your piss poor……urk.”

Karin’s eyes widened in surprise as Yuzu was suddenly dropped to the ground. The Arrancar’s face had a look of pure terror as it stared down at the one who was now holding him up from the ground by the throat.

Yuzu bolted to her side as she stared in disbelief, and relief, at the Espada strangling the Arrancar.

“What the fuck you doing touching something that belongs to me?” Grimmjow growled dangerously.

“Grimmjow-sama? I didn’t….no wait.”

Karin’s eyes widened as the Arrancar took a cero to the stomach and went flying into the side of a nearby house and failed to emerge.

She remained frozen while Yuzu hugged her and sobbed. Grimmjow turned his attention their way before walking up to them. She could tell he was furious. She could practically see his reiatsu lashing about wildly and there was a cold snap to his blue eyes she had never seen before.

“What the hell are you doing off the property?” He demanded in a snarled bark.

“That man. He came into the house and… and…” Yuzu broke down and started sobbing brokenly.

Karin regained her composure and managed to finish dragging herself out from under the broken fence and held onto a sobbing Yuzu, staring him dead in the eye and refusing to show any fear.

“He came in looking for trouble so I grabbed Yuzu and ran.” Karin explained as calmly as she could.

He was definitely furious, but she had a feeling it wasn’t aimed at them. The way his face suddenly clouded and he stormed off towards the building only helped confirm her theory.

“Go home.” He ordered over his shoulder with a snap.

Nodding, Karin got to her feet and started to herd her sister home, hissing at the pain from the multiple bruises she got from her meeting with the fence. She caught a glimpse of Grimmjow disappearing into the house, followed quickly by the desperate pleading of the Arrancar shortly before she felt its reiatsu permanently snuff out.

“He saved us.” She realized shocked. “Of course he saved us. It was part of our deal.” She looked down at Yuzu.

Yuzu was still sniffing but it was clear her sister was regaining some composure and Karin let her walk on her own.

“Are you all right?” Yuzu asked worriedly.

“I’ll be fine, just a few bruises is all.” She quickly assured her.

Yuzu dragged her to the bathroom the moment they were home and started to check over her injuries. There were a few scrapes and some forming bruises, but otherwise she was fine. The pain was already beginning to fade from everywhere but her arm and lower back where she had collided with the fence.

She let her sister fuss over her though, knowing it was how Yuzu cooped with stress and handled the rather violent and frightening situation they had just been in.

A knock on the door caused both women to freeze before Karin quickly swept her reiatsu over the other person’s and smiled before jumping off of the bathroom counter and limping down the stairs to pull the door open.



Tatsuki frowned as someone banged on the door. Orihime and her shared a look of surprise before they both went to answer it. They really didn’t get visitors and the few they did get were always looking for Ulquiorra for one reason or another.

“Grimmjow-san?” Orihime asked surprised, recognizing the Espada immediately.

“I need to borrow you.” He grunted.

The two woman shared a concerned look and when it looked like she wasn’t going to move he scowled and muttered something about Karin, an Arrancar and a fence. Concern instantly crossed Orihime’s face the moment Karin was mentioned.

“Where is she?” Orihime asked.

“The house. I sent them home.” He answered before turning his back on them and leaving.

Orihime knew where that was. The first week she had scanned for everyone she knew and thus knew where they were all being held.

“I’ll be right back.” She told Tatsuki.

“Like hell. If some dip shit was dumb enough to attack Karin-chan what’s to say some dip shit wont attack you too? I am coming with you.” Tatsuki snapped.

“Someone needs to stay here in case Ulquiorra-san returns.” Orihime argued.

“We will leave him a note. He can sense where you are anyway, can’t he?” Tatsuki pointed back.

“Well yes, but.” Orihime sighed. “We will leave him a note.” She relented, knowing no amount of arguing would deter her oldest friend..

Tatsuki quickly wrote the note and together they headed out. They didn’t pass anyone they knew and before long they were knocking on the front door.

Orihime could feel the twins inside and a cursory scan of Karin showed only small signs of distress. In fact it was the black haired girl that answered the door and a visible scan showed she seemed to be alright.

“Orihime, Tatsuki.” Karin greeted them both happily before they ended up in a four way group hug as Yuzu came bolting down the stairs.

“I have missed you so much.” Yuzu added. “Would you like some tea? Have you heard anything from Niisan?”

“Yes to the first, no to the second.” Tatsuki answered as they stepped into the house.

“I’ll be right back.” Yuzu retreated to the kitchen while Karin led them to the living room.

“How have you been?” Tatsuki asked.

“Fine, and you two?”

“Alright, considering the circumstances.” Tatsuki answered.

“Grimmjow-san said you have been in a fight. Something about an Arrancar and a fence.” Orihime questioned.

Karin’s cheeks blushed and Tatsuki frowned. There was something different about Karin, such a comment should not have brought upon a blush, at least not that kind.

“He sent you over to check me over?” Karin asked embarrassed.

“Yes. Let me take a look at you. You seem fine but it wont hurt to patch you up anyway.” Orihime offered.

Karin nodded and in moments the golden shield enveloped her, healing all of the damage done to her body. Orihime frowned and shot a look at Tatsuki.

“What is it? Is she hurt more than I can see? No, that’s not it, I would notice an injury she was trying to hide. What else would……oh….oh great Kami on high. Please tell me it’s not what I think it is.”

Tatsuki gulped and once the shield went down moved to sit beside Karin.

“Karin… has something happened?” Tatsuki asked softly.

Karin frowned at her in confusion. Tatsuki was about to ask again with a little more forwardness, but Yuzu arrived with their tea.

“Oh, thank you.” Orihime thanked her.

“Your welcome.” Yuzu beamed. “Is Karin alright then?”

“Perfectly healthy.” Karin quickly assured her.

“It was nothing more than a few scratches and bruises.” Orihime agreed with a smile.

“That’s a relief. Why did no one try to help us though?” Yuzu asked confused.

“Because they were scared too.” Karin answered. “He was, well, let’s say he’s part of the forces holding this place. They didn’t want to interfere and draw attention to themselves for fear of being punished for intervening.” Karin explained.

“You mean you don’t know what’s going on Yuzu-chan?” Orihime asked surprised.

Karin shot her a look and the two older women frowned at her. Tatsuki saw her chance.

“Orihime-chan, why don’t you explain what is really going on to Yuzu-chan and I will take Karin upstairs to see about a change of clothes.” Tatsuki offered.

The two women shared another look and Orihime nodded.

“I can change myself.” Karin muttered.

“I don’t doubt it, but I am coming anyway.” Tatsuki said firmly.

Karin glared at her and she gave the girl back a look that suggested no amounts of arguing was going to persuade her otherwise. Grumbling, Karin stood up and Tatsuki followed her up the stairs.

As soon as they were in the bedroom Tatsuki closed the door and leaned against it while Karin did her best to ignore her as she stripped off the dirt stained, torn clothes.

“How has he been treating you two?” Tatsuki started.

“Fine. Most of the time he doesn’t even acknowledge us. How about you two?” Karin returned the question.

“Ulquiorra doesn’t seem to have much use for me, other than to make sure Orihime-chan is fed and kept fine.” Tatsuki answered honestly.

“And Orihime?” Karin asked, changing into a new pair of hakama.

“She’s doing alright.” Tatsuki answered.

“But?” Karin pressed, turning to look at the older woman now that she was once more fully dressed.

“Ulquiorra has taken a keen interest in her body.” Tatsuki answered honestly. “And you?” She pressed.

Karin turned to face away from her.

“What about me? I told you, Grimmjow doesn’t even really pay much attention to us.”

“Karin, you aren’t children anymore and Yuzu is becoming quite a looker, which is what I bet today’s scuffle was about. Are you telling me he hasn’t even started looking?”

She noticed Karin’s shoulders slump and she felt fear spike through her heart.

“Yeah, he noticed all right. But I wont let him hurt her.” Karin commented.

Karin would still not look at her though and that spike turned into a band that wrapped around Tatsuki’s’ heart and strangled her.

“Karin…… have you been….”

The look Karin shot her answered her question. It was one full of fear that her secret had been discovered.

“Oh Karin.” Tatsuki pulled her into a hug and sat on the edge of one of the beds.

Karins shoulders heaved a bit, but she wasn’t crying.

“Did he…”

“No.” Karin answered quickly and sharply. “He didn’t rape me. He…Yuzu…” Karin took a steadying breath. “He was looking at Yuzu and I knew what he wanted. I couldn’t let him do that to her. You know Yuzu, she would be convinced he was in love with her or something and that would hurt her when she found out he just wanted her body.

“So I…. I offered myself instead. He took the offer and I have been….sleeping with him since. I couldn’t… I mean… Yuzu. I couldn’t let him hurt her and if I tried to tell her he was just after her body it would have put us against each other.”

Tatsuki listened to Karin ramble on and just held her, rocking them both softly while fighting back tears of her own. She completely understood what Karin was talking about. Giving a fraction of a chance she would throw herself in Orihime’s place.

“Does Yuzu know?” Tatsuki asked when Karin’s rambling died down.

“Not about the deal, but I suspect she knows we are sleeping together and seems happy about it. How could she not know? He never lets me leave until after we shower in the morning so I am not there when she wakes up.”

Now that took Tatsuki by surprise. Even Ulquiorra didn’t ‘sleep’ with Orihime. Other than when his blood was boiling and he used her he otherwise ignored them. When he was done with her she always returned to her own room.

“Why would Grimmjow want to ‘sleep’ with her? From what little Orihime-chan has told me he hardly seems like the type to want to cuddle.”

Tatsuki frowned as she pondered it.

“ Karin was hardly even scratched, so why did he even bother to get us to come over to check on her anyway? Unless…”

Tatsuki looked back down to Karin and used her own limited control over her reiatsu to scan her. Karin was radiating a fair amount of reiatsu, granted no where near what her brother could or any of the Espada, but it was definitely on par with some of the lower Arrancar, and with training could possibly reach some of the more powerful fraccion.

“Has he been training you?” She asked nervously.

“Yeah. He just started right after our agreement. I thought it was weird but…” Karin stopped when she noticed the look on Tatsuki’s face.

She couldn’t believe it. It was impossible.

“What is it?” Karin asked nervously.

“Perhaps nothing.” Tatsuki answered absently. “ But perhaps everything.” She added to herself.

The look on Karin’s face indicated she didn’t believe her answer, but the teenager let it drop.

“I am still surprised he showed up.” Karin muttered. “He…. saved us, saved Yuzu. If he hadn’t arrived she would most likely have been raped right there on the street and there was nothing I could have done to stop it.”

Only now did tears threaten the corner of Karin’s eyes and Tatsuki held her closer, using one hand to rub her back. She understood all too well Karin’s frustration and tears threatened the corner of her eyes as well, for unlike Karin there was nothing she could do to protect Orihime.

“I am not foolish enough to think he really cares about us, but… he came. He didn’t have to but he did. And when he heard the man had come into the house after us…. I have never seen Grimmjow pissed, but he was furious.”

Tatsuki nodded in understanding.

“He really sent you guys over to check on us?” She asked.

“Yeah. Well, Orihime-chan anyway. I wasn’t going to let her go anywhere alone though.”

Both women froze when they felt a rather large, displeased reiatsu approaching their location. Karin frowned, not recognizing it but Tatsuki cursed. Both woman got up and headed down the stairs.

Yuzu was looking ill and Orihime sighed and was facing the door shortly before it was opened to reveal Ulquiorra.

“Onna.” He growled.

“Did you not get our note, Ulquiorra-san?” Orihime asked rather calmly.

Tatsuki and Karin moved over to Yuzu, who was breathing heavily at this point under the pressure.

The look of brief surprise on his face indicated he did not find the letter.

“No doubt he noticed we weren’t home and came straight for us.” Tatsuki grunted to herself.

“Hay, can you drop the reiatsu? You are hurting Yuzu.” Karin snapped.

Tatsuki looked at the girl in surprise that she would speak so strongly to someone as powerful as Ulquiorra clearly was without any trace of fear.

“That’s a Kurosaki for you.” Tatsuki couldn’t help but to think dryly.

Ulquiorra’s gaze drifted from Orihime to them.

“Karin-chan was attacked today and Grimmjow-san asked me to check her over. We were just about to head back.” Orihime explained softly.

His gaze shifted back to her.

“Come.” He snapped.

“Shit.” Tatsuki growled to herself. “ I don’t know if I want to skin Grimmjow for dragging us into this situation or Ulquiorra for overreacting.”

“We got to go Karin.”

Karin nodded her head and Tatsuki quickly rushed after the other two.

“What are you getting so worked up for? It’s not like we ran off or anything.” Tatsuki demanded as she caught up to the other two. “We have a right to worry about our friends.”

He shot a glare at her but Tatsuki wasn’t about to back down. She jogged a bit to stop in front of him and to her surprise he actually stopped walking.

“Tatsuki-chan….” Orihime started.

“Not this time.” She snapped. “This isn’t your fault and I wont let him blame you for it.” She turned her attention back to the Espada. “I don’t care if you flay me alive, disintegrate me with a cero or crush me like a bug under your reiatsu, but I will not let you hurt Orihime-chan for this.”

“Tatsuki-chan.” Orihime gasped horrified.

“I doubt you can even begin to understand what real friendship is about, but that young woman was Ichigo’s younger sister, and weather you like it or not we are friends. If there was even the slimmest of chance she could have been badly hurt we would have gone to her.

“Had you gone home and read the note we left you would have known that. Do you honestly think we would try to run away? Where the hell would we run to? Hell, I don’t understand what you did to Orihime-chan but I do know there is no where we could go that you would not be able to find her. So why are you acting like such an asshole?” She finished her rant, running out of breath.

Orihime was looking at her stunned with a look of terror on her face. Ulquiorra just stared at her impassively.

“Did any of that even get through that thick skull of his?” Tatsuki wondered as he continued to stare at her silently.

“God damn it, say something.” She snapped.

“Return home.” He ordered.

Both girls nodded and Orihime snuck past him as they headed back to the house together. Tatsuki tracked his reiatsu, noticing it was heading off in a different direction than that of either house.

She felt relief wash over her. For a moment she had feared he planned on going back after Karin and Yuzu. They made it home without further incident and Tatsuki set about making them a pot of tea to ease their frazzled nerves, doing her best to ignore how badly her hands were shaking from the confrontation.

“How did Yuzu-chan handle the truth?” Tatsuki asked to break the uncomfortable silence.

“She was shocked, but I think I explained it to her in a way she was able to accept. She was worried about Karin-chan more than Kurosaki-kun though.”

That was an opener if Tatsuki ever heard one.

“It is as we feared.” Tatsuki sighed. “Karin exchanged her body for Yuzu’s protection. She says he hasn’t raped her, but I could tell he is rather demanding of her attention. Also…” Tatsuki sighed and looked out the window. “He has starting training her.”

Orihime nearly spilt her tea.

“Seriously?” She asked.

Tatsuki nodded her head.

“I can only think of one reason he would be interested in her getting stronger outside of possible boredom. Hell, I am not even sure he realizes what he’s doing. From what you have told me of Grimmjow, him showing up here to get you to heal such minor wounds doesn’t seem like him.”

Orihime frowned.

“You are right. He seemed….. almost concerned, and furious. I mean, I could understand him being furious, after all someone attacked something he perceives as his. But concerned?”

Their conversation was interrupted by the door opening. Both women looked up as Ulquiorra walked in, tucking his wings down to fit through the door. Both women shared a look before Orihime sighed and headed for his room.

“I swear to Kami on high if you hurt her I will find a way to kill you.” Tatsuki growled as he walked past.

He spared her a glance and kept walking, closing his bedroom door behind him.

She stared at the closed door in confusion. The look he had sent her was one she had never seen on his face before and she didn’t even know where to begin to decipher it.


Next chapter: We discover why Ulquiorra's in his resurreccion.

I suppose I should mention after checking birthdays, ages, etc Karin and Yuzu are both 16 now. Orihime also would have been 16, as they were 15 when the series started, this war was in December and her birthday was September.

Shooting for 2000 hits. I don't really expect too many reviews from this site because the PW thing is really annoying, (half the time I can't even tell what the words are suppose to say they are so blurry and if you guess wrong you lose your review) and I know how shy people are about reviewing the darker stories. Half the time I am one of them ;)

The climbing number of hits does lead me to believe people are reading this though. And though you may be too shy to leave a review, leaving a rating would be appreciated :)

Oh, I do have Annon reviews turned on so you do not need to have an AFF account to review. And I do enjoy constructive criticism.