Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ THE CAPTIVE ❯ Chapter 1

God fucking dammit.

The arrancar prowled back and forth in the small space of his cell, aqua eyes frequently narrowing on the locked bars, before the sight of his captivity sent him prowling again.

This was humiliating. And boring. Damn that little shinigami bitch for catching him by surprise and freezing the top layer of his skin and keeping him immobilized long enough for some little hatted freak to come along and then he found himself here.

Captive, behind bars, like an animal, in Soul Society.

Damn damn dammit.

He'd already tried cero'ing the lock on the bars, or ripping opening the garganta to go back home, but it hadn't worked. There was some weird force field around this cell, blocking his attempts to get free.

Stopping, Grimmjow kicked at the chair in the cell with him but refused to sit in it. This was an outrage. A disgust. This was no place for an Espada. Even a former Espada. He'd rather be dead than kept captive.

How fair was that. She was stuck on babysitting duty. This was totally bullshit.

Just because she'd been the only one to toast an arrancar without a bankai that left her qualified to keep an eye on it while the captains could determine what to do with it.

Coming into the hold of her division, Rangiku held a tray of food, but what exactly did these things eat. She came in just as he kicked the chair over. Feisty one wasn't he. "Oi. Quit it."

Oh a shinigami. Goodie. Maybe she'd be fool enough to come into the cell with him and he could get his hand around her neck. Worried about the retaliation from the other shinigami? Nah. Whatever they might do to him would be nothing... He was as good as dead when he got back to Hueco Mundo and in front of Aizen again. At least his capture hadn't interrupted the precious mission.

Ch'. Whatever. Ulquiorra owed him. Fucking owed him.

Glancing over his shoulder at the shinigami, he quirked a brow. What? They couldn't even send someone intimidating? They send their princess? Smirking, he just jerked his foot to kick the chair harder, and sent it flying across the cell against the wall, splintering into pieces. "No."

"Do all of you behave like spoiled rotten children?" Rangiku sighed and set the tray on the floor. Her eyes went to the shards of wood which had once been a very expensive and very old chair. She groaned. That would likely come out of her paycheck if Hitsugaya had his way.

...now he had no chair. Whatever. It had been a pansy little chair anyway. He'd grown quite accustomed to Aizen's overly large furniture. Shrugging his shoulders, he leaned across the wall and turned to eye the woman. "Come in here an' say that."

Always one to live a little on the edge, the blonde stepped within arms reach of the bars. "Is this good enough for ya?"

His fingers against his hip twitched, a grin coming over his lips but still he stayed put against the wall. So not only the princess, but the stupid princess. He stayed still for a moment, looking away almost bored, but then in flash was across the small cell, his arm lunging through the bars. If he could get his hand around that white neck, or a cero to the face. Even if he couldn't gather a full cero, even just a tenth the power of a complete one would leave her as nothing but a splash of blood across that far wall.

However she took a single step back, putting herself out of reach and drew her zanpakuto in that same instant holding it to his belly. "Don't even try it."

"Ch'..." Growling, Grimmjow retracted his arm back through the bars and curled his fingers around one, not moving his body back away from her blades. "Ya don't scare me, shinigami. If I had mine an' you had yours, things would be very damn different. Where is it anyway. Jus' tell me so I don't have to rip your entire city apart to find it."

"It's with a friend." She smiled sweetly and put hers away. Reaching back with her foot, she pulled the tray over and shoved it at him. "Hungry?"

"Jus' for your head on a platter." Grinning at her, the arrancar turned and ignored the tray of food, and returned to his wall to lean. Captivity was ridiculously boring. Damn.

"I like my head where it is, thank you. It looks good above my tits."

"Not that good."

With a flick of her foot, she upturned the tray of food and left it to sit on the floor. "That should make it easier for you to eat, you dog." Without another word the woman turned and left the prisoner to sulk.

Aw, he hurt her feelings. Smirking softly, Grimmjow ignored the upturned tray of food and walked over to lay down on the small bed in the corner of the cell. Ow, dammit, what was this thing, just a board? Probably. Damn shinigami. Whatever. He wasn't eating a damn thing they gave him. It'd probably have poison, or some little test ingredient they had to see if they could undo the hougyoku's effect on an arrancar.

Uh huh. No way. He wasn't being their damn guinea pig.

He'd just have to survive off of the reishi this place was made up of. Until he could get the hell out of this place.

--

The night was eerily silent. None of the usual revelry which had gone on in the past. It was as if Seireitei had become a ghost town.

Rangiku smirked at the silly analogy as she padded through the cells once again. Clad this time not in her shihakushou, but in a thin white dress robe, she stepped into the area where the arrancar was holed up. There was a white sake vase tapping against her thigh as she made her way to the cell with the prisoner. Her eyes fell on the untouched food with a roll. Child.

This place was quiet. Even with its expansive hallways and chambers, Las Noches was never quiet. There was always something going on. But here... Dead silence. Every once in awhile, Grimmjow would hear the pad of feet on the ceiling, someone making their way down a hallway on some higher floor.

His brow quirked faintly but he didn't get up from his laid out position on the bed when he heard feet pad into the area just outside the cell. The slow drumming of his fingers against his abdomen did pause. Shinigami was back. "What. Nightmares scare ya? Come to make sure I'm still locked up tight?"

She leaned against the cell door and looked at him as she lifted the sake to her lips and took a sip. "Came to see what Gin threw me aside for."

The sound of the liquid sloshing against the ceramic bottle made the arrancar sit up and glance over at her. That was not tea. ...and that was not her shihakushou. "You're from Ichimaru's old division then, huh?"

Her, part of the third? Ha. Once upon a time she might have wished for that, but times had drastically changed. "Old playmate, you can say."

Playmate? Oh like a bed mate. Shifting on the bed, Grimmjow pulled his legs under him and bent a knee, his waraji clad foot flat against the bed and he perched his elbow on his knee. His pose was casual, but hard blue eyes watched every sip she took of the sake. "So far I ain't impressed with this place. Las Noches is better suited to them."

Without thinking about it and more or less noticing someone wanted what she had, Rangiku shoved her hand through the bars, offering it to him.

"What."

"Want some sake? It's good. Been drinkin' it most'a the night."

It was an offer he was only going to get once, and was frankly surprised he got even that. Quirking a brow at the woman, Grimmjow regarded her silently for a moment. The sake, unlike the food that was now a mockery to him, he knew wasn't poisoned. He'd been watching her drink it for the last five minutes, every slosh of the liquid inside the little bottle indicating it was getting less full with each sip. And he knew it wasn't getting spit out.

Hoisting himself up off of the bed, he made his way over and leaned a shoulder against the bars, taking the offered bottle. "All night, huh?"

The woman shrugged and watched as the arrancar's fingers reached out for the bottle. "Been a hellish day. Needed to unwind. No one felt like drinking with me tonight, and I hate drinking alone." She sighed and looked him up and down. If it wasn't for the mask, he'd be a perfectly fine specimen to spend a few distracted hours with to help dispel the loneliness. "Ya got a name? Or does Aizen just call you Thing 1 through 10 or 20 or however the many fuck you all are?"

"Looks like ya already been drinkin' alone for awhile though," Grimmjow said before taking a long swig of the sake. He felt it burn all the way down his throat to his stomach, and then he hung onto the bottle. She'd have to stick her hand in here to get it back.

Tilting his head to the side, he quirked a brow. No way he understood her right. No fucking way. She'd come here for his company? And more important than that, the shinigami didn't even know which arrancar they had? Well whatever. Good. He wasn't giving a damn thing up that they didn't know. "Yea I got a name. And Aizen-sama calls us what name we give him."

Rangiku shrugged. "Let's put it this way. I got tired of drinking alone." Truth of the matter was she found him interesting. Interesting in the same vein she found all challenging men to be interesting, especially the bad ones, and this one was as bad as they came. He played for the other team. A team in the deepest, secret recesses of her heart, she wanted to play on.

Feeling a bravado encouraged by the alcohol, Rangiku stuck her hand through the bars for the bottle. "Ya gonna tell me your name? I like to know the names of the men I drink with."

The bottle dropped from the arrancar's fingers as the tips of her fingers entered the cell, a grin spreading over his lips as she extended her arm the rest of the way in. Maybe some prisoners would realize their place, accept the companionship albeit reluctantly, and hope for some reward for good behavior. Grimmjow wasn't any prisoner though, and never hoped for anything for good behavior. All he could focus on was the fact that her arm was in his cell, and her zanpakuto wasn't on her this time.

His hand locked about her wrist and wrenched her arm the rest of the way in and kept a tight hold, slamming her up against the bars. This would be a lot easier with two arms, but fuck that. He'd told Ichigo he didn't need the second one against him, and hadn't, he didn't need it against this shinigami either. "Much rather get myself outta here than chitchat with' ya."

Luckily for the blonde she had both of her arms, and thankfully she'd had enough to drink to dull the pain from being forcibly smacked against the bars of the arrancar's cell. Moving her other hand quickly just inside the bars of the cell, she muttered an incantation quickly and clearly under her breath. "I command thee! Mask of meat, all creation, flutter, those that bear the name of man! Truth and temperance, merely stand a claw against the wall of the faultless dream!! Hadou 33: Soukatsui!!"

A hiss fell from the arrancar as the mid level kidou hit his scarred chest at close range, but it didn't make him release his hold on her. He could take a hit from a high-powered bankai, that from her had only stung a bit. He did jerk a bit harder on her wrist and move his hold from her wrist to her neck, being sure to rub his arm against the curve of her breasts as he grasped her throat. "I know your name, shinigami. I heard Ichimaru talk about ya once. Compared ya to someone. I think ya best let me out if you wanna live, Rangiku."

She hadn't come as defenseless as she'd appeared. She wasn't that stupid. With her free hand she flipped her robe back from her leg, and quickly palmed the dagger she had strapped to it. She growled and stabbed it through the arrancar's wrist with a grin. "I'll letcha out if you can manage one simple task for me. Clap."

The former Espada just growled dangerously and flexed his hand around her throat, starting to tighten his grip. "Don't perform tricks for a fuckin' shinigami." His wrist throbbed but he ignored the pain and the blood running down his arm, focusing instead on her. She'd look good dead, with his blood smeared over that thin white nightgown of hers.

This was pushing it even for her, but there was no other motivator than self-preservation. Staring hard at the troublesome arrancar, once again she began to chant and this time had the use of both her hands and the full strength of her reiatsu behind it. "First Movement: Shiryuu, Second Movement: Hyakurensan, Final Movement: Bankintaihou. Bakudou 99 Bankin!"

Grimmjow just kept the grin and kept squeezing as she started spurting a long list of words. Soon enough she wouldn't be able to say a damn word -- but that soon wasn't soon enough for the arrancar. The highest level bakudou hit him like a pile driver, pinning his one arm behind his back and dropping him to his knees, immobilizing him.

Giving a feral growl, the arrancar narrowed his eyes at her through the bars and gave a tug to his arm. "The hell is this?!"

Rangiku dropped to her knees coughing and clutching her throat as blessed air once again channeled through it. Just behind her she could hear the clamor of feet alerted by the sudden flair of a vice captain's reiatsu. Cool icy blue eyes glared viciously and triumphantly from beneath her bangs. "Gotcha."

The small surge of shinigami came into the holding area and took one look at their vice captain before the cell was unlocked and they went in cautiously but quickly to deal with the arrancar.

"It was our error to not bind it in the first place," came a cool serious voice from the doorway to the holding cell as Hitsugaya stepped forward, looking into the cell. Even under the hold of the top-level bakudou, the arrancar was struggling and he could feel the grips of the kidou starting to loosen on the creature. "Hurry."

It was as he'd told Ichigo, about the hollows Aizen had access to... This one was surely once a vastrode. It was as they feared. And this was just one of... how many, of Aizen's demons?

He sighed softly and offered a hand down to his vice captain. "Are you all right, Matsumoto?"

Rising to her feet, with the help of her captain's hand, she nodded. "Sober, unfortunately. I was careless. My apologies for rousing you all." Her hand came to her neck, rubbing it soothingly. No doubt it would be completely black and blue tomorrow. Great. "I'll supervise his restraints and keep watch over him the rest of the night."

Hitsugaya frowned softly, taking note of the broken bottle of sake on the cell floor, but didn't his scold his vice captain further. At least not in front of the enemy and the other division members. They'd both been careless. He only nodded faintly, and turned his attention to the arrancar.

Who'd just gotten enough of his movement back to give a jerk of his arm, still half pinned at his back, to slam his elbow into the abdomen of the shinigami attempting to get the dagger from his wrist and the weapon away from him.

"You are charged with the assault of a Gotei 13 Vice Captain Officer, arrancar, prisoner number 127--"

"Blah, blah, blah."

"--a crime punishable by--"

Grimmjow just stared at the small white haired captain standing beside the busty blonde and his brow quirked and he grinned. He'd heard Ichimaru talk about the woman. And this one too. "How's Hinamori?"

Hitsugaya's words fell and he stared hard at the creature, eyes wide and a slight tremble moving through him before he regained himself. "I'll leave a gag, in case you find a need for it, Matsumoto."

"Thank you." She gave a bow to the boy and watched him and the others leave once the arrancar was sufficiently restrained and movement limited by the chains keep him within a short range. The woman stepped into the cell with him and sat in the new chair they'd provided for her.

"Ch'..." The arrancar muttered, glaring hard at the shinigami that retreated from the room, one or two nursing a bruised or broken rib, but otherwise unharmed. He gave a roll to his shoulder, tugging his arm free from the last tendrils of the kidou holding it behind his back, and jerked his arm a bit. His eyes took in the circlet about his wrist, and the chain going to the frame of the bed. Great. Just great.

He should have been able to kill one of those shinigami before they could do this to him. Specifically the one he'd been alone with.

And was still alone with.

Growling faintly but otherwise ignoring the woman, he slid down to the floor to tend to his wrist, and to continue testing the bonds they had him under.

Crossing one leg over the other, Rangiku did the same with her arms. "You won't be getting out of those, so might as well give up."

"Ya won't be winning this war, so might as well give up." Grimmjow just flashed a grin to the woman. He didn't see the shinigami doing that any time soon. Even though they should. Good. Made things more fun.

To hear her own doubts flung at her stung more than she cared to admit. Of course she would never let them known to anyone else, but it still nagged at her that she couldn't believe fully in her comrades and friends. She knew Gin too well to know he only sided with a sure bet and always won.

Rangiku sighed and went to the small window to glance at the moon. She said nothing. With men like him silence annoyed them more than rising to the debate.

Grimmjow rolled his eyes but smirked faintly. Her silence was her answer, all the answer he needed. Letting her have her little moment to think over her side's imminent defeat, he instead focused on getting some sort of wrapping on his wrist. Damn thing stung. Rolling his left shoulder, he shifted to get the end of his sleeve in his mouth and tugged at the white material to rip off a piece. He hated to ruin the uniform provided to him by Aizen, but it was ruined anyway from the fight against Ichigo.

Tucking the end under the little circlet about his wrist, with a smirk that the damned thing had a use to him, he set to wrapping his wrist with the strip of fabric held in his teeth. One learned quickly how to deal with only one hand, when not wanting to appear as an invalid in Las Noches. He knew how things worked. Survival of the fittest. The strong prey on the weak, single out the injured. He'd never let himself be pounced on by the damn jackals.

Unbeknownst to him or not, he had an audience in his dealings with tending to his wound. Once again she found herself muttering something under her breath. Suddenly a white glow surrounded Grimmjow's wrist and the gaping gash closed itself up. Rangiku dropped her hand and looked back out the window, leaning in the low sill.

Aqua eyes went a bit wide, blinking at his wrist that was just now half-wrapped, smeared in blood, but no longer open and bleeding. Scowling, he worked at twisting his wrist and unraveling the wrapping he'd gotten half around his wrist. One kidou ruined his arm, now another kidou healed his other. "The fuck ya do that for? I was takin' care of it."

She shrugged, but didn't turn to look at him. "Felt like it."

"Ain't thankin' ya." He let the strip of fabric flutter to the floor, adding to the mess in his cell. The only thing the shinigami had taken away was the scraps from the chair.

"Wasn't gonna ask ya to. I know you won't." Rangiku sighed and turned, her elbows resting against the window's ledge as she leaned back. One foot rose slightly to rest against her shin. Her gaze looked at the puddle of sake on the floor. Part of her wanted to go down there and lick it, but she refrained. Despite the clawing need for the substance, she wouldn't reduce herself so low in front of an arrancar. "What did he say about me?"

"Who? Oh right, Ichimaru." Right, he'd been trying to piss her off when trying to kill her. Eyeing his wrist again, he dropped his arm and slumped down to lean against the frame of the bed, stretching his long body out. Damn. Now that he didn't need to wrap his wrist, he was bored. And he couldn't prowl, because he wouldn't give her the satisfaction of seeing him tug at his chain like a dog when he came to the end of it. "Talked about your tits."

Rangiku looked down at herself with a bitter smirk and a shake of her head. "Bastard. What did he say about them?"

"Was buggin' an Espada to let him compare hers to yours." Glancing over at the woman, who was turned with her profile to him, he slid his eyes shut and smirked faintly. Much as he hated to admit it, no real comparison.

Her smirk widened. "And how do they compare?"

Shit. He wiped the smirk from his face. "I ain't comparin' a fellow arrancar to a shinigami, woman."

"Boo. You're no fun."

"Ya'd have to ask Ichimaru 'bout that anyway. I got no interest in her tits. Only look cos she lets 'em hang out."

Rangiku gave a poke to her own breast and sighed. Oh well. So much for an attempt at flattery.

Catching the poke, he lifted a brow before tucking his arm behind his head. "You touchin' yourself or somethin' over there?"

"Oh, please." Turning on her heel, she once again faced the window.

He laughed shortly and closed his eyes. She was easy to annoy. A good thing, too, since she was his only entertainment here. Staring at the moon was boring. Though it would at least be a good judge of time. "So why ya here, anyway. Ya said it yourself, I can't escape this chain."

"Boredom, denial, regret. Take your pick." Looking over her shoulder, she gave him a smoky look. "Or maybe I just find you irresistible."

His eyes were closed but he felt her look on her. Probably a look that would make a lot of men in this white city nosebleed and gasp and fall to their knees in thanks and praise. Whatever. "Ya came here drunk to drink with me. That last one doesn't sound too far off, Rangiku."

She shrugged. "You still haven't told me your name, Arrancar."

"Ya interrupted me. I'd been about ta, but you gave me a nice opportunity to try to kill ya." Opening up one eye into a slit, he glanced at the result of that and tugged at the chain before settling his arm back across his chest. "Grimmjow Jaggerjack."

"That's a mouthful." The clinking of the chain brought her attention back to the bed and the man beside it. "Wonder what else ya got that's a mouthful."

That made him open his eyes all the way and gaze across the room at her before he sat up form his sprawl and leaned against the bed frame. "I told ya my name, didn't ask for you ta like it. So you an' the other shinigami don't talk? I told the kid my name. An' ya wouldn't be able to handle it. Aizen-sama only promotes the arrancar that are perfect to the Espada."

She blinked, ran his words again through her head, and then suddenly laughed. "You really are such a child."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "What. Am not."

Rangiku smiled again and shook her head. It was best to say nothing at all. She shouldn't have said what she said in the first place. It was wrong and kinda creepy. Were it not for the reiatsu and the mask along his jaw it was easy to forget he was an arrancar and her enemy and not just a man who could suit her needs for a few hours.

"Ch'..." Grimmjow just eyed her sharply before he got up to his feet in a smooth motion and then tossed himself down onto the bed, showing no signs of discomfort at the hard flat surface. He rolled onto his side, giving her his back, and tugged at the chain in attempts to get comfortable. "Fuckin' shinigami..."

Turning to look at him, she took in the muscular lines of his back which tapered into lean waist and scrumptious backside. His legs spoke of power and strength. Even with the lack of an arm he was attractive. "How'd ya lose it? Your arm." Tentatively she pushed herself from the wall and stepped a bit closer to the bed.

He wasn't about to tell her Tousen lobbed it off and burnt it to a pile of ash that was later swept away, all in front of Aizen. So he'd tell her the same damn thing he told the kid. "Didn't need it. First time to the living world showed me I could beat all'a ya down with one arm tied behind my back, so I cast it aside. Don't need it..."

"Or more like you were a bad little puppy and someone chopped it off for ya."

"Not a fuckin' puppy and shut the hell up." He glared hard at the wall, aqua gaze going cold and dangerous. Too bad the wall held up well to broiling glares. "Ya don't know shit. I don't need it. Not then, not now."

"Hmmm..." She reached out and touched the end of what remained of his arm. Her finger rimmed the edge, studying. "Wow. Didn't think Tousen had it in him."

The arrancar jerked to sit up, his arm going across his chest to clasp over the stub of his arm. Dammit. He hadn't realized he'd torn that much of his sleeve off to bind his wrist. His eyes glowered at her, burning with anger and the faintest touch deep in the irises, of humiliation. "Don't ya have a moon to go stare at?"

"You're much more interesting than a silly moon, Grimmjow."