Crimson and Ebony Chapter 2: Red and Blue Part One
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All this white was going to drive her mad...
The blank walls were too bright to her eyes, to stark and lifeless. It made the feeling of being trapped worse, it made her claustrophobic. Those blank walls that squeezed in upon her like some horrid deathtrap and made her unable to breath.
She ran out of there, fast as she could which was considerably faster than most. She could sit under the false sun for hours, and the thought of returning to the barrenness within made her soul ache. it was getting to be too much...
Two weeks she'd been in this bleached white hell, two weeks of nothing but white, white, white. White walls, white hollow masks... black souls...
She'd done as Aizen asked, she integrated herself into the "community", she watched his Espada. She'd found nothing so far. Not that she was giving it her all. To put it lightly, her heart was not in her work.
When Aizen had come to her after her alloted recovery time she'd managed to pick up what she thought of as her "Arrancar persona". She'd changed the way she walked, the cadence of her speech, her attitude, so that she could fit in without seeming suspicious. She'd observed the Arrancar around her after that, categorizing the different "types" she found.
The third Espada, for example, Tia Halibel was a quiet and reserved type who generally only spoke to her fraccion, and even then very little. It seemed to Tatsu that this woman possessed a rare set of morals in this brutish subculture.
Whereas the fifth Espada, Noitra, was the opposite. A man completely without morals or restraint. He was an animal to the very core.
It was the sixth Espada, Grimmjow Jaggerjaques, that she chose to imitate, as his attitude seemed more common than the others. He was cocky, and full of attitude and bloodlust in equal amounts. It was easy to pick up on his lazy slurred speach and confident demeanor. And she could be agressive when she needed to be.
But despite her efforts, and despite the fear that threatened to send to into a panic at every moment, she was still a prime target for the Arrancar...
-//-
"My children, I would like you to meet you newest sibling." Aizen's voice, always sounding half-amused, like everything was a poor joke. "I hope you will come to accept her, as she shall be working as my assistant from now on..." It was something they'd agreed on, an excuse for her to report to him. Giving her Espada rank was a death sentence, so this would have to do.
Protests rang, and Tatsu did her best not to quake under the accusing eyes of the Arrancar. One particular gaze was considerably more murderous than the other, a woman in even skimpier clothing than Tatsu herself, and high black pigtails erupting in curls on top of her head. Loly? Was that her name? She couldn't recall. But the girl undoubtedly wanted her dead. Was it jealousy? The woman apparently worshipped Aizen, she was even giving the human girl, the ryoka Inoue Orihime, a hard time. She seemed to think that they were somehow "close" to Aizen. And that was a right only Loly bore, apparently.
"You stay away from Aizen, you fuckin' whore bitch!" The girl had snarled at her, her blonde sister Menoly standing behind her.
"I'm the whore? Looks like you want to be. What, you couldn't satisfy Aizen-sama?" she asked cockily, raising a cool eyebrow at the enflamed female. The woman had growled and both her and her sister had made to attack her. Thankfully, they were slow and they never managed to get a hit in before they were interrupted. When they spotted Gin Ichimaru watching them, they'd quickly dispersed.
"We'll get you next time, Crimson whore..." they promised.
-//-
But it wasn't those two that worried her, it was the ones with more power...
The Espada were suspicious of her. They knew she was hanging around them more than she should be. They knew she was up to something, though they didn't know what. And she spent every day afraid of what the consequences would be if she was found out.
She wasn't afraid of death, she welcomed that, it would be a release from Aizen's dreadful hold on her. But she knew enough about the creatures surrounding her to know that she would never get off that easy. And whatever punishment she received would be worse than the hell she was already in.
So she bided her time, waiting for the moment when a spark of hope might release her from the blank nothingness that now consumed her entire being.
The only thing that roused her was that first fight. And the many that came after.
Why they felt the need to challenge her strength when she obviously didn't have any...
-//-
“Oi, woman!” The voice was gruff and demanding, immediately putting her on the defense.
“What?” she snarled. “I ain't got time t' deal with any lowlife idiots right now!”
But when she turned around, it wasn't a “lowlife” but an Espada. The sixth Espada to be precise.
“Ah, Grimmjow-sama, forgive my tone, I didn't recognize you...” She offered a careless smirk, which he threw back at her.
He was a large man, taller than she was, though she was tall for a woman, and she was forced to look up as he stepped in just a little too close for comfort. His broad chest radiating heat out towards her. He didn't say anything for several moments, which made her nervous and she retreated slightly from his muscular torso. He flashed a malicious grin, which caused something inside her to quiver. His messed, vibrant hair was falling in his face, and the jewel bright colour reminded her of another who smiled so wildly.
He would be handsome, she supposed, if he wasn't a monster. As a shinigami she may have been attracted to him. But she was resistant to even the strongest of charms from a Hollow. So she just glared while she waited to hear whatever it was he wanted.
“So, tell me, woman...” he began, looking her up and down, sizing her up. “How exactly does a skinny chick like you get Aizen's attention? I always figured he'd go for somethin' with a li'l more meat on her.”
Skinny?! I am not skinny! She thought, offended at his very tone and raising herself up to her full height and baring her teeth.
“Maybe this chick doesn't have to sleep with the boss to get his attention. He picked me 'cause he knew I'd get the job done.” She was sick of this argument, sick of trying to convince a thousand ruthless souls that she wasn't just Aizen's call-girl.
“Well it makes a guy curious...” Grimmjow said, chuckling deeply. “As to what exactly you can do that's so wonderful.”
“That's between me and Aizen-sama.” Now there was a warning tingle working up her spine, just what was Grimmjow getting at?
Through out this exchange the teal-haired Espada had slowly guided Tatsu further and further back. It was only a moment later when she felt her back collide with a wall and her eyes went wide.
Shit! He was cornering me!
The Arrancar licked his lips lewdly, looking over her body with a look that told her exactly what he was thinking.
“Get away from me, you pig!” she shrieked, completely forgetting to make her voice sound different. Forgetting that she was supposed to sound tough.
Grimmjow's grin only widened, “Why don't ya stop me?” he challenged, taking a final step closer and grabbing her wrists, pinning them against the wall, his body colliding with hers. “'Cause ya can't even scream for help now...” he purred. “I made sure we were alone...”
Panic bubbled in her throat blocking off any chance of a worthless scream. A quick check around her proved that he was right, there was no one else around for at least half a mile. Damn these endless corridors!
She turned her face away from his, inhaling sharply through her nose as she gathered herself. She was still a disciple of Soi Fon's, she was still trained by the best the Punishment Force could offer, she would not allow herself to be soiled by an Arrancar's hands on her. She opened her eyes slowly and looked at him coldly. She was a shinigami, and he was in big trouble.
“Release me. This instant.” she demanded slowly, as if he was too stupid to understand if she didn't spell it out.
That pissed him off, he was a little reckless, but he wasn't stupid. He pinned her more firmly against the wall, digging his fingers into the tender, pale flesh of her wrist until he was sure it would bruise.
“Or what? You're just Aizen's little bitch. Ya can't do anythin' to me.” he growled.
“Oh, really?” she hissed, bursting out like a fireball of energy.
She swept his feet out from under him, tumbling forward with him due to the grip he still had on her wrists. She kept her knees together, landing squarely in the centre of his gut and making him splutter and wheeze. She broke his hold on her, rolling off of him and getting to her feet in one smooth movement. She turned to run.
But he grabbed onto her ankle, pulling her down to the floor, dodging the kick she aimed at his face. She gritted her teeth and scissored her legs, gripping his shoulder in a vice-like grip and flipping him off of her. She scrambled to her feet just as he did, opting for a defensive position as he popped the joints in his neck. The look he sent her was chilling, and she swallowed hard. This was going to hurt...
“You play hard, woman. I like that.” he said, pasting a crude smile on his lips and lunging at her.
She barely had enough time to block before he was attacking again and she was thrown back into a wall from the force of the blow. She cried out at the impact, but remained on her feet, glaring at him through the bone-white mask on her face. She roared and flashed forward, aiming low and punching him right in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. She back up a step and went into a high kick, spinning and hitting him in the side of the face with the flat side of her foot. He went flying too, in a high arc, landing on his feet (a little wobbly) and aiming a murderous glare in her direction.
“That actually hurt...” he muttered, regaining his footing and charging at her.
“Wasn't supposed to tickle.” she quipped, ducking around his charge and landing on his shoulders, using all the weight and force she could muster to plow him into the floor.
When she jumped off she was hoping she'd knocked him out, but she should have known better. Before she had time to blink he'd grabbed her and pulled her onto the ground, rolling on top of her so she was crushed beneath his weight. She gasped and struggled but it was no use, he was considerably heavier than she was and she couldn't get him off, she was trapped beneath his larger body. He looked down at her with a triumphant grin, a bit of blood trickling out of the side of his mouth, and she trembled in obvious fear.
No, no, no, NO! This isn't over! This can't be happening! Her mind screamed at her, she was panicking, unsure what to do. Her reaction at that point was completely instinctive,
“Sakidasu! Aiyoku Yuka!” she called, a frantic hand gripping the hilt of her zanpakuto.
Bloom, Fragrant Passion...
She'd been given back her zanpakuto, merely as a precaution. She couldn't use it anyway, considering if she did it would reveal she was a shinigami. But, as Grimmjow had so kindly pointed out, they were alone. If she wanted her secret to stay safe, she'd need Yuka to silence him.
“Fuck!” Grimmjow screamed, a deep black mark covering his bare chest as he was flung back from her. In Tatsu's hand was a long bladed whip, with thin plated scales of flexible metal overlapping in a lethal length of slithering silver. The black mark on Grimmjow's chest spread like spilled ink, and suddenly erupted in green-black flames, scorching him with fire from the bowels of Hell.
The pain was incredible, his torso completely engulphed in flame and burning. He felt as if his skin was about to melt off. But even through the haze of pain, a fact registered in his mind.
“Shinigami!” he howled, throwing his blazing figure at her, hands aiming to wrap around her throat. She flipped him over her shoulder, apparently unaffected by the fire, and planted a foot on his chest as the flames slowly dissapated, leaving that same, inky black mark on his chest.
“If you want the mark gone... You'll have to kill me...” she murmured, eyes flashing their true green behind the disguise. “As long as the mark remains I can burn you like that again...”
A flash of what almost seemed like fear appeared in his eyes for a moment, but it quickly fell and he snarled. “Bastard shinigami bitch!” he growled. He was fully prepared to make her pay for the pain she'd just put him through.
But he never got the chance, she'd gotten to her knees beside him and was tugging her shirt aside, pulling it so her chest was almost completely exposed. She pointed to the spot just above her heart.
“Kill me!” she demanded. In a moment of startling clarity she'd seen her opportunity to be free. To get away from this fate that drained her very soul. “Punch your fist into my chest and rip out my heart if you like! Just get it over with! Otherwise I'll bake you again!”
The sixth strongest Arrancar was thrown for a loop, staring at her in confusion. “The hell are ya asking me to kill ya for?” he asked, raising an eyebrow as he sat up slowly.
She snarled and pulled the “pendant” up over her head, removing her disguise. Her red hair turned back to blonde, her eyes to green, and the mask and hollow hole simply disappeared. “Look! I'm a shinigami! I'm your enemy, so stop asking stupid questions and just kill me already!”
Grimmjow looked at her face, catching her eyes and looking deeply into them, sensing her desperation.
There were a few moments of complete silence, so quiet as to be deafening. Finally, Grimmjow spoke, and his words made Tatsu's eyes widen in shock.
“No. I ain't killing ya just 'cause ya asked me to. What fun is that?” He grinned crookedly, and it was her turn to look confused.
“T-then fight me! I'll never beat you, right? You're an Espada, and I was only a 3rd Seat when I was a shinigami!”
Grimmjow chuckled, “Wasn't too bad for a shinigami actually, ya might stand a chance.”
A tormented look came into her eyes. “Sadistic bastard...” she sighed and waved a hand, her Zanpakuto went back into it's sealed form and the mark on Grimmjow's chest disappeared. “Then I'll just wait to be destroyed when you tell the others what I am...”
She stood, brushing herself off, offering him a hand getting up. His confusion rose as he took her hand, getting to his feet.
“Why do ya want to die so bad?” he asked.
“Because if I'm dead Aizen can't control me anymore...” she replied bitterly. What point was there in hiding her secrets now?
Grimmjow nodded, not completely understanding, but knowing why she was so eager to die.
“I'll make ya a deal, shinigami...” he said, grinning slyly. “You tell me what Aizen hired ya for, and I'll kill ya.”
She looked at him, eyes narrowed suspiciously. “You will? A moment ago you said you wouldn't...”
His grin widened. “Well I ain't going to kill ya right now. But I will eventually. And until I do, I ain't going to tell anybody else you're a shinigami.”
She frowned deeply. “And why wouldn't you?”
He laughed harshly and she flinched. “'Cause. I want to keep the satisfaction of killing you for myself.”
“I see...” She thought it over, while he waited, watching his expression. He was an asshole, and he was evil. But she was pretty sure he was telling the truth. And she got what she wanted either way...
“Well then, Grimmjow. You've got a deal. I'll tell you everything I know.” He grinned and they shook hands.
It was the strangest bond that any world had ever seen. A deathly deal, made in a world where one didn't belong, and the other didn't want to be.
-//-
“And then I kicked your ass, Grimmjow.”
She'd told him everything from her capture to her battle with him. And up until that last point he'd remained silent and listened.
“The battle might've gone in your favour for a minute, shinigami, but don't get cocky. I would've killed ya in the end.”
She nodded and sighed. “Yeah, and I would've been perfectly happy with that...”
“So what's your name?” he asked, and she frowned once again in confusion.
“My name?”
“Well it obviously ain't “Crimson Rayo” like you keep sayin' it is. So what is it really?”
“Tatsu. Aoki Tatsu.”
“Well, Aoki, ya have a pretty interesting story. I think I'm gonna keep my eye on ya.”
She smirked lightly, pulling the pendant back over her head and tucking her sword back into her belt. The disguise was back. “If you can keep up, you can certainly try.” she turned away from him, leaving, but just before she was gone she turned to him. “And, Grimmjow? Until you kill me, it's Crimson. Don't call me by my real name just yet... ”
He nodded and watched her go. And he wondered to himself just what he was going to do about the shinigami in their midst, or whether he was going to do anything at all.
“Well I know one thing...” he murmured to himself. “For a shinigami, she's got one fine ass...”
-//-
Chapter two for the win! It's finally done! I'm so sorry it took so long T_T
Tatsu: -sighs and lays on bed- This chapter was exhausting...
Are: -snickers- Wait until you see the next one, T. Then you'll be tired.
Tatsu: … Who are you making me have sex with!?!
Are: -laughs- You have to wait!
Tatsu: -cries- Damn you! I am not a whore!
Are: -whispers- Not yet maybe...
Review please! I worked really hard!
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