Adult-FanFiction.org : Bleach

Prize of Victory 2
By : NovaAlexandria
Category: Bleach > General
Views: 56251 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 5
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor make a profit from this story
Chapter List
- 36
- 37
- 38
The First Domino Teeters

Ajuga woke to the sound of someone frantically pounding on the front door. Judging by the faint scent that the breeze carried into her room, that someone was Renji. She sat up intending to find out why the redhead was on their porch, but Lilinette beat her to it. There were few reasons she could think of for Renji to be here so late, and the only excuse she could imagine for him showing up without Abisara and Vindula involved something happening to Szayel. Only death could have pulled him away from his charges if they were in danger. That meant the twins had to be fine, probably safe with their mother if Ajuga were to hazard a guess.

She cloaked her reiatsu, a habit she�d gotten into when there was information to be had, in particular, the kind that made the adults around her censor themselves� or lie to her. Following Renji and Lilinette to Starrk�s room without either one noticing her shadowing them wasn�t hard. The hybrid girl stood outside the door, her sharp hearing easily allowing her to eavesdrop on their conversation.

Unfortunately, Ajuga nearly gave herself away as curiosity gave way to rage. Renji�s story wasn�t pretty, but she managed to wrestle her anger under control before she let her reiatsu flare and betray her. Instead, she retreated down the hall when they stood to exit the room. While she wasn�t worried about Renji, she didn�t want Starrk or Lilinette catching her and ordering her to her room, as if she was nothing more than an in-the-way child. She stayed one step ahead of them as she sprinted back to her family�s quarters, only to realize that they seemed bound for her parents� bedroom. She quickly ducked into the sitting area to let them by, taking cover in the unlit room�s shadows as they passed. Only then did she make for her bedroom. If they were going to talk to her mother, it would be wise for her pretend to be asleep, lest Karin figure out she�d heard what Renji had to say.

As much as she�d wanted to follow her mother, the First and Renji when they�d finally given up on waiting and left for the Palace, Ajuga had to settle for pacing the grounds of the Estate. She could hide from everyone but Karin and as much as she wanted to charge to Szayel�s rescue with everyone else, she knew that going would only distract her mother. She even considered waking Jushiro up for some company to help her deal with the stress, but he needed to get what sleep he could. With the Swarm coming nearly every other day, the Taichou were overworked and exhausted. Waking Hana up wouldn�t work either, as her childhood playmate was in as bad a shape as �take-ji when it came to needing rest.

She had to settle for working off her frustrations by physical means. While it kept her busy, it didn�t make the waiting any easier and she�d made four laps of the entire Estate, her tail lashing in distress, before she detected her family�s return. Even better, her father was with them and they had Szayel in tow, though Renji was nowhere to be seen.

A wave of relief washed over her as Ajuga quickly made her way back to her room. She knew her mother would check for her and she didn�t want to get an earful for being up and about. The girl got the feeling that her mother was worried less about a lack of sleep on Ajuga�s part than she was worried that Ajuga might figure out what was going on. If that was the case, she was going to have to disappoint her mother. She could smell Szayel from here, his blood a sharp, metallic scent in her nose. The disgusting reek of Aizen�s cum, as well as Gin�s, made her want to tear out her sinuses and she had to pinch her nostrils shut. Breathing through her mouth was a little better. Her other hand clenched into a fist and shook as she tried to calm down before her mother detected any agitation to her reiatsu.

She tracked her parents, only creeping out of her room once her mother was back in her parents� suite and her father had left the Estate. She had no idea where he�d gone, since he�d been up all night on patrol, but as long as he wouldn�t be back too soon, she�d be able to do what she wanted. Starrk had collapsed back into the futon and the pile of pillows and blankets he called a bed and Lilinette drifted off to wherever it was she bunked down.

Once the coast was clear, Ajuga moved stealthily though the hallways until she reached the spare room where her father had dumped Szayel. The nasty odour of abuse had faded, covered over with the strong smell of the soap he had used to scrub himself and the clean scent of running water.

�Szay?� Ajuga called softly.

The only answer she received was silence.

�Szay,� she called again after counting to ten before sliding the door open.

What she found both startled and dismayed her.

Szayel laid face down, naked and shivering on top of the futon, dead to the world. His damp skin and hair glistened with a few stray water droplets in the early morning light that seeped in under the short curtains. Being in the same room as him let her sensitive nose pick up the very faint scent of cum and she cursed foully under her breath while she crept closer.

Szayel didn�t even twitch as she pulled the blankets out from under him and tucked them around him, trying to make him more comfortable. She grabbed a towel and managed to get most of the water out of his still-soaked hair. Other than a bit of bruising she spotted around his rear, he seemed in relatively good health and the scent of blood was barely noticeable now that he�d bathed. It was nothing compared to what she had picked up on her mother in the past.

As he wasn�t going to answer any questions in his current state, she curled up next to him and caught up on the sleep she had lost fretting over him. The quality of her sleep was shallow at best. She remained poised to react the moment he stirred. Szayel slept well past lunch and when she awoke, it looked like he�d hardly moved at all. Ajuga reluctantly had to leave his side to make sure �take-ji got his medicinal tea before returning to her silent vigil.

�Seems like I�ve done this a lot lately,� she sighed to herself. �It�s getting old and troublesome.�

That reminded her of Byakuya and she decided to crash the Kuchiki Estate later and make him spend some time with her, whether he wanted to or not. Ajuga would be damned if she was going to let him mope his life away, not if she could do something about it. All she could do right now involved helping him forget his woes for an hour or so while he instructed her in the calligraphic arts, if he allowed it. It was the last part that had proven tricky.

She�d had a little success coaxing him out from behind the high mental walls he�d deliberately and recently erected around himself. Ajuga had gone so far as to sneak into the Kuchiki Estate with her calligraphy kit and a sheaf of rice paper. His dead eyes briefly sparked in amusement while she nagged and lectured him into a teaching session. It had been going splendidly, until Yammy had returned home and Byakuya�s barriers went back up. Before he�d locked his psyche away, Ajuga swore she had never smelled such a strong wave of despair on another person and taking a cue, she�d hastily removed all evidence of her presence before Yammy could come in and break up their lesson himself.

The thing that truly frightened Ajuga was the gratitude that had briefly crossed his face as she�d scrambled away. He obviously didn�t want to be caught by his �master� doing anything but waiting and the girl guessed that Byakuya might not just be afraid for himself.

�Still, for that hour, he was his old self again. Or at least, he was the person I remember. I don�t know what that bastard Yammy did to him, but I WILL find a way to fix him,� she vowed.

Her father returned around midafternoon, reeking of sweat, his own blood and, oddly enough, Renji�s blood as well, but not in any volume that made Ajuga believe the two were doing anything more than sparing. She shrugged it off as nothing more than her Papa and Renji dealing with some stress and her father�s good mood told her that the fight had been entirely voluntary.

�How is he doing?� Grimmjow asked her as he strutted into the room.

�Still sleeping,� Ajuga sighed.

�Good,� he grunted and inspected a cut on his shoulder, peeking through the fabric to look at the wound beneath it. �Huh. Red�s getting faster with that whip of his��

�You should probably take a shower before Mama gets home,� Ajuga suggested.

�Probably,� he agreed and grumbled a few words that sounded like �sneaky, tattooed baboon� while he took in a bruise on his midriff.

�Papa?�

�Hmm?� Grimmjow paused on his way out the door.

�Why does Aizen hurt Szay so much?�

Her unhappy-sounding question made him pause, as if trying to figure out how to answer her. Then Grimmjow sighed and ran his fingers through his sweat and blood matted hair, his features darkening.

�I don�t know. Maybe because he�s a sick, twisted fu� uh� guy� he answered, suddenly correcting himself and looking down the hallway nervously.

Ajuga didn�t blame him. She had caught her mother�s scent just as her father was about to earn a tongue-washing. Karin did not appreciate foul language, and she had no problems smacking her mate up the side of the head to remind him of it. In fact, Ajuga couldn�t help but to remember the one time Karin had scrubbed both of their mouths out with soap when Ajuga had accidentally slipped up once, uttered a curse word and confessed she had learned the word from her father.

It turned out that cursing was the least of his troubles.

�Grimmjow, what in the hell�?�

Karin stood in the doorway and took in her mate�s bruised, bloodied and torn-up state. Her eyes narrowed dangerously and Ajuga tensed.

�Red and I just�ah� blew off some steam,� he replied, eyeing her mother warily. �He needed it. The guy was about ready to do something really dumb back there. Better with me than with Aizen.�

�Seriously? Can�t you two find some other way to work off your anger?�

Karin snapped this out, her voice thick with exasperation.

�Shhh! You�ll wake up Sleeping Beauty.�

Grimmjow gestured towards Szayel, still peacefully slumbering as Karin moved to the side of the bed. The admonishment served to temporarily divert her mother�s attention.

�Has he come around at all yet?� Karin asked worriedly. Ajuga shook her head.

�Nope, at least, not as long as I was here, but I was gone for about twenty minutes while I got �take-ji his tea and made sure that he and Byakuya-san stopped working long enough to get some lunch.�

�He�s probably been out the whole time,� Karin sighed and moved around the bed to sit next to Ajuga. Her mother checked his temperature, pulse and breathing rate and difficulty. The snoozing Espada�s condition apparently met with her mother�s approval, since she made a small, satisfied sound.

�He�s fine, just sound asleep. It�s no surprise. He was awake for the last four days straight. Ajuga, will you do a favour for me, and watch him while I go and tan your father�s unthinking hide for being an idiot?� Karin asked sweetly.

�Oi!� Grimmjow protested, while Ajuga�s eyes got a bit bigger.

�I�ll start on dinner after I�m done with him and I�ll have Lilinette let you know when supper�s ready,� her mother promised.

�Alright,� she easily agreed, thankful that she wasn�t the one in trouble this time.

Karin stood up and walked towards a quickly retreating Grimmjow, who held his hands up defensively as he backed away from his furious mate.

�Um, Mama?� Ajuga called just before her mother could leave the room. Karin paused while her father made a mad, if temporary, dash for safety.

�Hmm?�

�Can you keep the �tanning� quiet? I don�t want to hear it, or smell it.�

Ajuga gave her a look of disgust. Karin laughed in response and shook her head.

�Sorry Ajuga, but this time I am going to smack him,� her mother told her. �You�d think he would have learned the last time I chewed him out for dragging Abarai into an all-out brawl.�

Karin offered her daughter a conciliatory smile before as she launched herself into a Shunpo, disappearing in a small wave of wind. Ajuga listened intently and then shook her head as she heard the distant sound of flesh hitting flesh, followed quickly by her father yelping as her mother caught up to him. Of course, she knew her father had let her mother catch him; he was much faster than his mate after all. Still keeping up appearances seemed to be the order of the things around here lately.

Gods, there were times that she swore she�d never understand her parents� relationship and there were other times she was glad she didn�t get why they did some of the things they did. Ignorance, she figured, really was bliss at times.

Ajuga tried not to notice how her father grumbled at dinner that night, although there was no real heat behind it. Her mother acted pleased with herself and the rest of the household seemed bound and determined to ignore the situation entirely and valiantly tried not to snicker at the sulking Espada. Grimmjow�s sore hind end served as a distraction from the unspoken drama lingering around the dinner table.

There was still some strain between Hana, Starrk and Lilinette. Thankfully, some of the distance between the First and Hana had vanished in the week after Nanao�s daughter had returned home. Hana was telling an attentive Lilinette how her day had gone, with no sign of the uneasiness that had marked her first few days back. Ajuga was relieved that the situation was on its way to a resolution of sorts. She and Hana hadn�t talked much about it, but maybe that would change. Ajuga figured that Hana was probably right to work things out with Starrk and Lilinette first. She considered both girls �sisters� and she didn�t like it when her family members, related by blood or not, weren�t getting along.

When she finished both dinner and her share of the clean-up duties, Ajuga went back to watching Szayel slumber. When the sun went down, the girl retrieved a few blankets and a pillow from her own room and made an impromptu nest on the floor, waking periodically throughout the night to see if he�d moved or showed any signs of distress.

Finally, a snort and the sound of a body stirring early the next morning roused her from her dreams. A rumpled Szayel, his hair in disarray and swathed in bedding like a caterpillar, looked around the obviously strange-to-him bedroom with no recognition in his bleary eyes. To Ajuga, he appeared to be much better. The dark smudges under his eyes were gone and he seemed coherent, if utterly confused as to his whereabouts.

�Morning Szay,� she greeted him cheerfully and he jumped, golden eyes training on her. Apparently, he hadn�t realized there was someone else in the room with him.

�Ajuga? Where am I?� he asked, perplexed. Ajuga grinned at him.

�You�re in one of the spare rooms at Starrk-ji and �take-ji�s Estate,� she answered promptly, and then frowned. �Don�t you remember? Mama and Papa brought you home the other night. You looked awful but you at least look rested now. It�s not too surprising, since you�ve been asleep for the last twenty-four hours or so. Mama said you had been awake for a long time.�

Szayel clumsily sat up and tried to get his hair under control with his fingers, but it didn�t help much. That led to the realization that he was naked and a blush that made his cheeks match his hair briefly flared to life. He subsequently clutched the blankets to his chest in surprise as he mentally chewed on that.

�Oh, that�s right�umm� ah, my clothes?� he asked sheepishly and looked around the room as if he hoped that his normal uniform might magically appear out of thin air. She stifled a giggle, since she figured he wasn�t actually asking �where� his clothes were as much as �who� had taken what few clothes he�d been wearing when they�d dragged him here. Instead, Ajuga rolled her eyes at him.

�Who do you think tucked you in, Szay?�

The Espada went from pink to bright red with embarrassment and the girl chuckled outright.

�Hold on, I�ll go steal something from Papa�s wardrobe.�

Szayel grimaced at the thought of wearing her father�s clothing, but he didn�t protest when she returned with a spare uniform. He pulled it on after she turned her back so he could get dressed. The hakama was loose on his thinner hips and the jacket was a bit too broad in the shoulders for him. He probably would have tossed the vest altogether if it were not for the faint scars adorning his chest. The kanji were fading, turning pale, but remained legible from the last time Aizen had carved them into his chest. Ajuga did her best not to stare at the message, clearly intended to remind Szayel of his place every time he looked in the mirror or down his front. She found such a perverted application of something as beautiful as lettering truly appalling.

�Ah good, you�re awake. Breakfast is ready,� Karin announced as she entered the room. �I believe Soi Fon, Rangiku and Tatsuki were supposed to see you today for their checkups as well?�

�Yes,� Szayel agreed. �That�s true. Thank you for the reminder, Karin-sama.�

�You�re welcome. We can leave after we eat, and I will hear no arguments from you�� Karin stated, pointing at the scientist and added the last part when Szayel opened his mouth to object. He subsequently closed his mouth, knowing when it was best to just back down. Breakfast went well and the pink-haired Espada downed at least two plates of food, to make up for the day of meals he missed. Ajuga and her mother shared a look while he started in on his second bowl of miso.

After her mother and Szayel left with Soi Fon for the appointment, Ajuga slipped out and made her way towards Aizen�s Palace, pausing only to grab some easily-carried food items from the market on her way. She effortlessly avoided the Palace patrols as well. In Ajuga�s opinion, the guards needed to stop being so predictable, if not downright lazy and pay more attention to their surroundings instead of going through the motions. Of course if they did that, she conceded, she�d have a harder time sneaking past them as she made her way towards Unohana�s garden.

Then again, Ajuga asked herself, who would want to sneak into the Palace in the first place? What idiot would be dumb enough to try and kill Aizen? It wasn�t as if the Palace Guards had to worry about people getting into the place. No one she knew wanted to spend any more time there than necessary.

�The guards are little more than ceremonial decorations anyway. I doubt if any of them have ever seen real combat� she thought derisively, deliberately ignoring just how closely she fit her own description.

In her own defence, Ajuga admitted that she didn�t stand a chance of killing Aizen, even if he deserved it for hurting Szayel and Gin and almost blinding Jushiro. However, she wasn�t here to play the role of an assassin, as tempting as it was to fantasize about being one. She had a different sort of mission in mind for today.

The traces of Gin�s cum she had picked up on Szayel had her worried about her silver-haired friend. Ajuga knew that the servant would never hurt Szayel without an order from Aizen and for all she knew, Szayel had been forced to hurt Gin too. She wanted to make sure he was alright and maybe find out what had happened. Asking Szayel would be a waste of time. He would refuse to tell her the truth, because he wouldn�t want her to do something stupid and because she suspected her father�s Claim would render him unable to discuss anything about it with her.

She waited in the bushes for about half an hour until she was certain Gin was alone in Unohana�s quarters. Aizen�s scent had faded to almost nothing and that told Ajuga that �Kami� had probably left for the 1^st Division to attend to matters there. If there was one good thing Ajuga could think of to say about Aizen, it was that he did manage a Division. He gave it his full attention, when he could have pawned the job off to someone else. For a �god� who had the power to sit back and relax all day while forcing others to do his bidding, the jerk actually did his job as far as administration. From listening in on her mother and Nanao�s conversations, Ajuga knew that he would have helped out with the battles more if his own power wouldn�t have been just as devastating to their forces as it was to the Swarm. Aizen was, for all of his many, many faults, a �hands-on� ruler.

Of course, there was such a thing as being �too hands-on�, as she�d also learned from her mother and Nanao, and of late, Hana, when they�d described the amount of detailed paperwork each of the other Divisions had to complete each month. Ajuga suspected that the paperwork was really �busy work�. It would be hard for the remaining Shinigami to plan a rebellion if all of their time not spent fighting was spent filling out useless reports in triplicate.

�Micro-managing prick. He makes Szay look �normal� on the attention-to-detail front,� she thought with a shake of her head.

A nicely-executed leap got her up to the balcony and she strode in, catching sight of the man she was worried about down on his hands and knees as he scrubbed the floor. It had been a while since she�d seen him. He was still far too skinny for his height. Ajuga would bet her last coin that if he went outside on a blustery day, the wind might pick him up and carry him away. His hair had grown out over the years. It nearly brushed the floor while he scrubbed the tiles. It was almost as long as �take-ji�s and it looked as if it had been at least a year since anyone had allowed him the use of a comb.

Ajuga couldn�t smell any of his own blood on him, and she didn�t smell Aizen on him either. While she could detect some of the latter, there wasn�t enough of it to really make her nose wrinkle. Most of Aizen�s scent in the room centered on Unohana�s bed, which made complete sense, given that she was his wife. Gin almost smelled unmolested by comparison. At least he looked freshly bathed.

�Gin-san,� she called.

�Damn it Ajuga!� Gin cursed as he jumped and nearly knocked the bucket of water over. His hand shot out and he grabbed the edge of the bucket just in time, keeping it upright. Both of them let out a sigh of relief. It wouldn�t be the first time such an accident had occurred when she startled him. He gave her a hard look and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. �Ya gotta stop doin� that!�

�Sorry,� she apologized, feeling more at ease once she realized he wasn�t hurt. He was exhausted but thankfully unharmed. Then she swallowed and crept closer. Screwing up her courage, she leaned in, catching his blue-eyed gaze with hers.

�What happened the other night?� she asked carefully. �With Szay?�

He stiffened before turning his attention back to his rag and bucket of soapy water.

�Not too much. Why d� ya ask?� he asked nonchalantly, trying to sound as if the question hadn�t thrown him.

�Because Papa and Mama dragged Szay home yesterday morning and he smelled like Aizen� and you,� she answered.

Gin froze, the hand holding the rag going still. The tired man sat up with a deep sigh, moving into a kneeling position. Then he looked at her, studying her for a moment before running his thin fingers through his hair, or at least, as far as he could run them before they got caught in a mess of tangles.

�Ya really wanna know?� he asked sadly.

�I am not a little girl anymore,� Ajuga answered and folded her arms across her chest, giving him a gruff look of her own before her expression softened. �I also brought a bribe.�

She held up the small paper bag she had brought with her and gently shook it up and down. The paper and the contents inside rustled, indicating she had more than dried persimmons to ply him with this time. Gin�s eyes zeroed in on it and she suddenly suspected that he hadn�t eaten yet today, almost feeling bad about using food as an inducement when he was obviously hungry.

�Fine,� he said, breaking down and giving in. �I�ll tell ya what happened, but ya did na� hear it from me, got it?�

�Of course not.�

Ajuga walked over and took out the container of miso soup handing it to him before she pulled out the wrapped grilled fish. It was still warm and fragrant and her mouth watered as she caught a whiff of it and she�d had a full breakfast too. Ajuga could only imagine how it must have smelled to Gin.

�Go ahead and eat first. I probably weigh more than you do these days!� she declared.

�Ya spoil me Ajuga-chan.�

He offered her a pathetically thin smile while tucking into the food, gulping down a third of the miso before deliberately lowering the waxed paper container.

�Hmm,� she agreed, sitting down across from him and waited for him to finish eating.

Gin took his time devouring the unexpected meal. Ajuga guessed that he knew better than to eat too quickly when his stomach normally had to cope with a half-starved state. If he gave into his impulses, his shrunken stomach would rebel and he would throw up whatever he took in. Aizen made sure he was fed just enough to remain a decent source of household labour and even then he occasionally missed a meal or two. Ajuga waited with all the patience she had acquired learning to hunt, for that was what she was doing, hunting. In this case, she was on the prowl for information, rather than dinner.

When Gin finished, he handed Ajuga the garbage to take with her. It was too dangerous to leave it here where Aizen might find it. They�d been careful so far and Aizen hadn�t discovered any of the times either Ajuga or Unohana had slipped him food. If he did know, then he�d chosen, for some reason, not to punish Gin for eating what was handed to him. That didn�t mean that Gin and Ajuga wanted to test how true that theory might be. It was better to hide any and all evidence, just in case.

�Are ya sure ya wanna know?� Gin asked her, his voice serious.

�Yes,� she said resolutely. �I want to know everything. Every crime Aizen has committed against Szay�, everything he has ever done to hurt or torture him.�

�Alright. Jus�� don�t do somethin� stupid after I tell ya, like go after Aizen. Ya won�t win.� Gin hissed the warning at her. He gestured to his scarred, skinny frame, as if to underscore the message, just in case she didn�t understand. �Trust me. I already tried it.�

�I won�t,� she promised him, bracing herself for what she was about to learn. Part of her wanted to hear that it couldn�t possibly be as bad as what she�d imagined.

In that respect, Ajuga was right.

It was worse.

Much worse.

Gin told her everything, pausing at some of the darker things to see how she might react to it before continuing with his terrible narrative. Ajuga was thoroughly shocked and horrified as the servant revealed that Aizen�s abuse of Szayel had been going on long before she�d been born, before the war, before Aizen and his Espada had ever left Hueco Mundo.

At first, she learned that Aizen had committed no real �crimes� against the scientist, from an Arrancar�s point of view. The true atrocities started after Aizen had ascended the Throne, when the ex-Taichou had been certain of his power base and felt comfortable enough to begin his subjugation of the then-Octavio in earnest. That was when the first real �rapes,� as a Hollow would define the act, began. All other �encounters�, wanted or not, had been from behind and Ajuga felt, growing sicker as Gin continued, that had Aizen been capable of doing so, Szayel would have long since been Claimed by him. In fact, Szayel himself probably figured that he was �owned� by Aizen at that point and it would have been a position of prestige to be the only Espada �Claimed� by Kami.

That is, it would have been until �Kami-sama� turned as abusive as Yammy and even bastards as bad as Yammy and Barragan didn�t force their pets to mate with them face-to-face. The breakfast she�d eaten hours earlier suddenly wasn�t sitting all that well in her gut.

Then she found out that Aizen�s violence towards Gin wasn�t actually the worst of it and she had to hang on to her last meal by sheer force of will. Ajuga didn�t want to get Gin into trouble because she couldn�t keep from tossing her cookies into the shrubbery. Still it was difficult to listen to and thankfully, fury replaced nausea almost as quickly as the nausea had started.

A rage fiercer than any she�d ever felt before raced through her when she learned about Aizen�s threats against both Abisara and Vindula. She didn�t doubt Gin�s assertion that so far, the threats were meant to keep Szayel in line. However, she was also sure that Aizen would carry then out if he thought he could get away with it� and as Gin went on, she discovered that she wasn�t the only one who believed that.

Gin informed her of an afternoon, a little over two years ago, when Aizen had commanded that Szayel bring Vindula with him, to report on something that had happened in Hueco Mundo. While Gin danced around what had happened in the other Realm, he told Ajuga that he�d expected one of two things to happen after Szayel�s meeting with Aizen. Aizen would either use the incident to initiate another �playtime session� with Szayel, or less likely, Aizen would hurt Vindula somehow to teach Szayel a lesson about keeping his possessions secure from thieves.

As it turned out, neither happened. Gin guessed that Renji, who Ajuga learned had tagged along as Vindula�s guardian, deliberately sidetracked Aizen�s attentions from Vindula by speaking up. Gin had been allowed to leave with the little girl and not being a fool, he�d fled with her to Unohana�s gardens. That had left Renji and Szayel with Aizen and the contents of a long, wooden box. When Gin had delivered Vindula to her father, Szayel had been pale, but physically unharmed.

Renji had been a different story altogether. �Red,� as her father called him, had been whipped, taking whatever ill will might have been meant for either Vindula or Szayel onto himself. Ajuga vowed to think a little better of the twins� guardian upon hearing this. She knew he was fiercely protective of the two children, but to provoke Aizen in order to get Vindula away from him? That took some guts. It also explained why Renji had shown up on Starrk�s doorstep, asking for help the other night, especially after the unnecessary and horrid threats against Szayel�s son.

By the time Gin was done she was shaking, desperately trying to keep her emotions in check and not do something foolish.

�Breath. Focus. Deep breaths. In. Out. In. Out. One. Two. One. Two. Think of the flowing kanji for river. Picture the peaceful depths of an ocean, the one you�ve only seen in books,� Ajuga chanted to herself as she ran through all of the ways to calm herself that she�d learned from her various teachers, from her father to Bya-san, over the years.

Eventually, her anger ebbed a bit, simmering at a controllable level instead of boiling. Ajuga was still furious, but she wasn�t about to fly in a frenzy to the 1^st Division to confront Aizen either. Doing so would only get her killed and land her friends and family in Aizen�s playroom.

�Thank you Gin-san, for trusting me with this. I promise I won�t do anything rash with this information,� she swore to him, even though she wanted to give into the temptation to do just that. It was all she could to restrain herself and despite her best efforts, the adrenaline coursing through her veins as she held herself in check made her hands tremble.

He gave a nod of his head while refilling his bucket with clean, soapy water. He�d continued to work while speaking to her. The chores could not wait and Ajuga could tell the activity had helped him keep himself under control, preventing a breakdown as he had related the distressing tales, especially during the parts that had included him.

�Ya should probably go Ajuga-chan. Aizen-Kami should be home soon,� he warned her sounding bleak.

�Yeah,� she agreed.

The dark-haired girl gathered the paper bag full of the empty containers and wrappers before leaving, but she didn�t head for home, not yet. She needed to find an outlet for at least some of this anger and she needed to find it quickly. Unfortunately, everyone she knew that might be able to help was either at work or had other duties. Then she remembered that Diaemus had the day off. She would never admit it, but Diaemus was a good match for her and she could probably talk him into sparring with her for a while. With that in mind, she made for the Fourth�s home and hoped Diaemus was there. As it turned out, she was in luck.

�Ajuga,� he greeted her as she marched into his house unannounced. He looked up from the book he was reading to regard her calmly, though one of his eyebrows went up as he took in her seething expression and the tension she was carrying in her frame. �Is it not customary for a guest to knock before entering?� he asked in that uppity voice he liked to use sometimes. Normally it annoyed her, but today she hardly noticed it.

�Sorry. Let�s spar, I got some major steam I need to blow off!� she growled.

That earned her a frown, but made no move to get up off of the couch, nor put down the thick book he was reading.

�Why?� he asked instead, looking at her intently and finally giving her his full attention, something he didn�t do very often. Ajuga made a frustrated, cutting motion.

�I told you, I need to work out some anger and everyone else is busy.�

�I meant, tell me why you are angry,� he clarified, finally setting his book down next to him.

Ajuga almost told him it was none of his fucking business, but paused and studied him. Diaemus continued to gaze at her calmly, waiting for an answer. Something about the way his green eyes looked into her blazing sapphire ones helped mitigate her temper. It was as if he was a wall made of ice and the more she tried to throw herself at him, the more heat he took out of her, until all that was left was a sense of exhaustion and despondency. He shifted slightly on the couch, a silent invitation to join him, and she did so without a second thought, flouncing down and bending over at the waist, her arms folded and resting on her knees.

�I learned some pretty depressing and disturbing things today,� she admitted softly after several minutes of silence between them.

He remained still, waiting for her to continue without pressuring her. Eventually, her mouth opened of its own accord. She hadn�t meant to let him in on everything, but it all came spilling out, every dark and dirty secret she had learned about what Aizen had done to Szayel and his family. She did manage to keep her source a secret. Thus began a rant about how helpless she felt knowing there was nothing she could do about it. Her anger flared again and soon, Ajuga found herself rising from the couch, furiously pacing from one end of the living room to the other. She was so worked up that neither she nor Diaemus noticed the sound of the front door opening.

As she related Gin�s story, Diaemus� normally calm and collected demeanour vanished and his expression soon mirrored her stormy one. His green eyes blazed with anger as she told him about the taboos Aizen had broken with someone he didn�t even own. Ajuga had just finished telling him about Aizen�s threat to use violence against Abisara, all in order to force Szayel to have sex with him as if they were mates, when they heard a sharp intake of breath behind them.

Who could it be? Huge hugs for the reviews. I am in a rush today, so enjoy. Next Chapter we switch to Orihime�s POV and things continue to escalate.
- 36
- 37
- 38
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Prize of Victory 2	By : NovaAlexandria Category: Bleach > General Views: 56251 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 5
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor make a profit from this story

Prize of Victory 2