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Prize of Victory	By : NovaAlexandria Category: Bleach > Het - Male/Female Views: 87205 -:- Recommendations : 8 -:- Currently Reading : 8
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor make profit from this snippet

Chapter List
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Ajuga darted between feet and legs, moving through the crowd without a single pause. She had a mission from her mother and she was not going to fail her first real mission.

She managed to get off the streets and onto the roofs, leaping across them with ease and quickly made her way towards Szay�s house. She had never run so fast in her young life and she found herself panting with exertion.

Finally, the huge glass house came into view and she bolted through the front doors without a moment�s hesitation. She got several startled looks as she came to a halt and sniffed the air briefly before taking off after the strongest trace of Szay�s scent.

Cries of alarm rose up behind her as she ran down the halls, but she ignored them. A few people tried to grab her, but she easily outmanoeuvred such poor moves. Her claws dug into the slippery floor as she raced around corners and even bounced off of the corridor walls a time or two to get around someone in the way, or another obstacle.

Finally, she found her target and charged into the room, ignoring the large display of monitors and the people sitting at the various stations who turned to look at her in surprise.

�Ajuga-chan, you can�t be in here,� Nemu admonished firmly, getting up and moving towards her.

�Szay, Szay,� Ajuga cried urgently, ignoring Nemu and the few people that slid into the room behind her, trying to catch her. She deftly side-stepped Nemu and slipped a little on the polished tiles, until she saw a glimpse of pink hair and white mask.

Szayel turned to face her as she raced towards him. He blinked at her in surprise as she skidded to a halt before him.

�42, 28,� she reported proudly, with a large amount of heavy panting from her exertion. �Mama said to tell Szay 42, 28.�

�Nemu,� Szayel snapped, and the woman immediately left off trying to catch Ajuga. Instead, she turned to one of the computers and quickly typed something into the console.

�Hai, Szayel-sama�

Ajuga was just happy to collapse on the cool floor, filled with pride at completing her mission and eagerly awaiting the praise she knew must be coming her way.

Szayel motioned to the people who had been chasing her away to leave before turning his full attention to one of the screens. The monitors changed and displayed two large scarabs, rainbow like wings spread and touching with a shimmering pool between them.

�Amazing!� Szayel exclaimed happily. �Nemu, take the appropriate equipment and the dead weight and go, quickly now!!!� he ordered, practically squealing with delight.

�Hai, Szayel-sama,� Nemu bowed before departing.

Szayel turned his attention back to Ajuga. She looked up at him expectantly.

�Excellent work, Ajuga-chan,� he smiled at her. �As expected of my favourite experiment.�

She beamed happily up at him, but didn�t move just yet. The floor was wonderfully cool. He turned back to his equipment and since he didn�t say anything, Ajuga presumed it was safe to stay right where she was, although maybe a foot to the left where that part of the floor hadn�t been warmed by her body yet.

　

　

　

Karin wasted no time deploying her troops as soon as she got the earpiece from their fourth seat so she could listen to Szayel�s instructions. She hadn�t expected Ajuga to have made it already, and had honestly only given her daughter the mission to keep her on track.

The fact Ajuga had already reached Szayel and correctly conveyed the message simply astounded her. Then she pushed all of the pride that filled her aside for the moment and focused on the battle at hand. Szayel would deal with the Portal and she had a Division to lead in their first combat mission with her as their acting Fukutaichou. What�s more, she had to lead them while making damn sure none of those blasted cockroaches managed to take a bite out of her.

�What we really need to do, is get Szayel to make Raid Cannons,� she muttered.

�Fukutaichou?� one of her men hesitantly asked.

�Nothing,� she sighed. �Alright you scurvy half-witted dogs!� she roared, gaining the attention of her troops. �You know the drill, you know the lines. They are like lambs coming into the slaughter. Get into formation, and let�s swat us some bugs!� she barked.

�Hai, Fukutaichou,� her division roared back at her as they clashed with the first wave.

She let herself flow into the battle, fist and foot leading the way as her reiatsu-infused body moved amongst the swarm; crushing and collapsing carapaces wherever they landed.

When the situation called for it, balls of Kido fire and nets of Kido lightning exploded around her. She felt a rush of familiar reiatsu and let a groan escape her as the bugs around her suddenly exploded in ichor and a too-well-known presence appeared behind her.

�Ajuga?� Grimmjow asked.

�With Szayel,� she answered, relaxing briefly into his embrace.

�Good.�

The fraction of a moment was over and the two separated; him to slice another Locust in half with Pantera while her fist crushed another�s face. The swirl of battled consumed them both.

　

　

　

The city alarms started wailing far off in the distance and Ulquiorra paused briefly indecisively. On one hand, Aizen had ordered him out here. On the other hand, Orihime was back at the city, pregnant with his child.

The indecision did not last long. Based on the numbers displayed on Szayel�s little invention, Aizen�s orders had been completed. He had no idea what Aizen expected him to find or look for out here, nor did he care. Orders were orders after all and Ulquiorra was the sort that didn�t question those orders often.

He headed back to the city, pausing almost immediately when his ears picked up the sounds of the Swarm before him. He quickly concealed himself and approached more cautiously, not because he felt trash like this could seriously harm him but because he understood that even he could be overwhelmed and that far more valuable information could be learned when one approached things practically.

�A lesson that fools like Nnoitra and Yammy could stand to learn,� he couldn�t help but to think condescendingly.

He felt no panic or any other strong emotion coming through the Claim, so he knew Orihime was perfectly fine, wherever she was. She had promised him the moment she knew she was pregnant that she would avoid the front lines and instead help out with the injured at the 4^th with Unohana-taichou.

There were not many places safer for her than that. With no threat to kin or Kami, Ulquiorra felt no reason to rush home, and instead deemed it wiser to see what he could learn from behind enemy lines.

Finally spotting the Swarm moving like a black snake across the sky before him, he kept his distance from it while remaining concealed and following it backwards towards its source.

He had to admit that the originating point was an impressive sight. Two giant scarabs, rainbow-colored wings raised in an arch towards each other until the tips touched, stood facing each other. In the space between the wings a portal shimmered.

The Swarm came gushing out of the opening like a flow of black water. To the side, he spotted two more Scarabs coming in for a landing, confirming the fact the creatures could use their wings for flight.

The wings appeared normal until the two new Scarabs faced each other and spread their wings. As soon at the tips touched, they shimmered and lit up like the interplay of lightning between storm clouds. A flux of power rushed through the wings before another portal was ripped open. Instead of locusts, this portal produced the large, lumbering beetles.

Ulquiorra had seen enough. Without hesitation he drew his blade.

�Tozase, Murcielago,� he whispered firmly.

The familiar wash of his power returning to him rushed over his body. When the influx was over he spread his own wings and launched himself at the Scarab Portal Generators. Pure energy formed in his hands and he let loose the first spear of energy.

All four lances pierced through their targets before the Swarm even had a chance to realize he was there. The four targets wailed in agony and he had to quickly cover his eyes as the creatures wings broke contact with each other.

The resulting explosion and light show from the disrupted portals was impressive and the noise left his ears ringing while the light left him temporarily blind. Only his enhanced heirro saved him from what have been a rather demeaning gutting as the Swarm finally took notice of him and descended upon his form.

�Trash,� he muttered as he summoned another spear of energy.

He tore through the swarm, ignoring their pathetic attempts to bite him. Eventually they did manage to get a firm hold on him, even if they could not pierce his skin.

�A foolish waste of time,� he admonished them, trying to shake them off.

His eyes did widen momentarily when he noticed that one of the beetles had turned its attention to them. He realized too late that it intended to spit its acid on him while he was caught.

�Clever,� he conceded.

That acid was strong enough to burn through him, and the ones holding him. While they could not puncture him, the sheer mass and number of the Locust holding him prevented him from moving much.

It was one hell of a near miss and he hissed in agony as the caustic liquid spewed towards him, clipping his left wing and arm. The Locust holding him dissolved, freeing that side of his body.

He forced the agony of his melting wing and burning arm aside as he summoned another lance and aimed it at the beetle before it could fire again. It let out a satisfying scream as the lance impaled one of its many eyes.

The thing�s death throes tore up large sections of the Swarm and he was able to free the rest of himself from the Locust holding him in the resulting confusion.

Ulquiorra cursed silently as his left wing refused to work, far too melted to embrace the air and his arm was burning extremely painfully. He had clearly overstayed his welcome and spotting no more of the scarabs, he let himself retreat back to the city.

It didn�t take long for him to be spotted again, or at least scented, perhaps through his blood. Whatever that acid was made of completely nullified his regeneration. In fact, he swore the stuff actively ate away at his flesh.

The Swarm once more descended upon him. He slashed at them and batted them aside. His vision went black as they swamped him. Suddenly there was what could only be described as a stirring amongst the bugs. Ulquiorra could only stare at them in incomprehension as the Swarm suddenly abandoned him, clearly having found what they deemed a more worthy target.

Whatever it was that had caught their attention, the Fourth Espada was grateful to it for allowing him to make good his escape and avoid any further of rather demeaning mauling.

　

Karin cursed, uttering words so foul she felt her own ears burning. She had gotten careless, too busy worrying over her troops that she had missed the one that finally got through her guard with its pincers.

Like the previous time she�d been injured, the Swarm seemed to pause before frenzying. Cursing again violently, Karin quickly segregated herself from her troops as she suddenly became the next best thing to the blue light special.

She fled the battlefield the best she could, heading away from the city and knocking aside any bugs that got before her. Eventually the sheer wall of creatures did force a halt in her retreat.

�Son of a fucking bitch!!!� she swore, glad her daughter wasn�t here to hear her swearing like her father.

The Swarm formed a living wall around her, chittering excitedly.

�We meet again at last. I had feared you had died,� a familiar voice declared.

Karin shot a poison-filled glare as three Generals materialized from the Swarm before her. White Knot once more stood in the middle with two new generals by his side.

�A pity you aren�t,� she sniped back.

�As sharp-tongued as ever,� he chuckled.

At least Karin though it was a chuckle, it sounded more like chalk grating on a board to her.

�What the hell do you want?� she demanded.

�Nothing has changed save that the stability of the worlds has worsened and the boundaries weaken.�

�You are right, nothing has changed, not even my answer. Fuck off!� she snarled heatedly.

�The realms must be stabilized.�

�I told you idiots before, putting me on the throne would be like putting a bandage over a gapping chest wound. Aizen would just massacre the people of another city, walk in, and kill me. Find a way to kill Aizen, and then, only then, would I consider your half brained plan!� she said firmly.

�We are done negotiating. You will come with us now.�

�Like hell I will,� Karin spat.

She smiled and suddenly went very still.

�zerren�er?� Lefty demanded in a pleased buzzed.

�No,� Karin�s smirk widened, �I just don�t want him to miss.�

�Desgarrón!!!!� came a furious roar from behind the living dome.

Karin remained still as blue blades of pure energy slashed into the earth around her, kicking up chunks of earth, large rocks and dust, leaving large rents in the ground. Debris ricocheted off of her hastily-erected Kido barrier.

The swarm scattered in panic as Grimmjow landed beside her; fangs bared and ears laid back in obvious rage.

The dust finally cleared, revealing the three Generals. With a hiss of rage, Grimmjow kicked off from the ground, catching the first one around the neck with a clawed hand. The creature struggled weakly as its throat was crushed.

The other two scattered. Karin wasted no time chasing them down, but was waylaid as the Swarm descended to block her from following them. Behind her Grimmjow finished crushing the throat of the unfortunate General he had captured and tossed the carcass aside before launching after her and their prey.

�Did they harm you?� he demanded as he easily caught up to her.

�They were trying to kill me again,� she answered.

He snarled and took off ahead of her. His speed far outstripped hers, and reluctantly she gave up the chase. Both of the Generals and Grimmjow were faster than her. Despite her own interest, Karin turned herself back to the main battle and the Division she was in charge of.

She would leave the hunting to those better suited for it. But first, she needed to see about the small slice in her leg. It wouldn�t do to let anymore of the damn locusts get another taste of her blood.

�I need to get Szayel to make me some bloody bug dope,� she sighed to herself. �So the next time one of them manages to bite me they won�t recognize the taste, and if all goes well, they will even flutter off to die miserably somewhere,� she added vindictively.

　

　

　

　

Panic hit him, instantly distracting him from his current target. Fortunately, Grimmjow�s heirro was such that the worse that happened was the damn locust�s pincers grated annoyingly against his skin.

The battle had raged about them and during it he had once again gotten separated from Karin. This time the distance was great, and getting greater. Worse, the panic racing through their bond did not abate. If anything, it got worse.

�Fuck,� he cursed.

He wasted no time running his hand along Pantera�s blade, barking out the release command and launching into a Sonido towards Karin. The Swarm was acting strangely, suddenly seeming to wall up.

In fact, when he finally caught up to her the damn things were making a solid dome out of their bodies around her. He quickly calculated where she was beneath the writhing mass and wasted no time slicing a path through them.

To his relief she was completely fine as he came down beside her. He spotted the three Generals and wasted no time in going after them. He felt very little satisfaction and his clawed hand strangled the first one as it struggled pathetically in his grasp.

It was too easy of a death for threatening what was his. The other two and Karin were already gone as he discarded the dead body. He caught up to Karin quickly and picked one of the two targets.

He grabbed it and let his clawed hand go through the back of the blasted things back. It screamed in agony as he pulled his ichor-soaked hand back through the hole it had created.

He wasted no time shredding it into ribbons. By the time he was done, the third one had escaped. He snarled in rage and turned his frustration onto the locusts all around him. He felt no further strong emotions from Karin and traced her back to the safety of the main lines.

He let his rage play out against the Swarm, knowing the last target had to be long gone. He hardly even noticed the battle was over until he felt the calming presence of Karin as she approached him.

She looked weary, but otherwise fine; and rather sexy covered in the �blood� of their enemies. He pulled her into his grasp and nuzzled her neck; he also ignored the insignificant others around them as he double checked for himself that she was fine.

His reiatsu scan revealed no real damage, exactly as his visual scan did. All he sensed from her was exhaustion and relief.

Her hands buried themselves in his hair shortly before gently scratching behind his ears. He sighed, taking in her calming scent and enjoying the feel of her reiatsu stroking softly against his.

Finally, his battle high receded to be replaced by the desperate urge to bathe. They were both sticky and reeked of insect gore. Yes a shower, one with a very naked Karin in it, sounded very nice about now.

He launched into a Sonido, ignoring her protest and bringing them back to the den. Ajuga would be fine with Szayel for a little while longer. Her protests had faded by the time they got to the bathroom.

He shredded what was left of her uniform with his claws. It was ruined anyway. Then he discarded his own clothing and pulled her into the shower with him. For the longest time they just stood under the hot water, holding onto each other, before he slowly and tenderly captured her lips with his own.

What followed was nothing more than tender love making, not the more passionate antics he usually engaged in and enjoyed after battle. For some reason, he instinctively knew that this was what she needed and wanted right now.

When they were finally done, both with the sex and the shower, he settled her into bed with a promise to retrieve their daughter. Reluctantly, she agreed and he could tell she had fallen asleep by the time the front door had closed.

　

　

　

Szayel was far too excited for his own good as he directed the remains of not only the four Scarabs into his lab, but the one general Grimmjow hadn�t left as a pile of shredded flesh. It would seem Christmas had come early this year.

Unfortunately, Nemu and Renji hadn�t been able to make it to the scarabs before Ulquiorra had neutralized them, but they were able to retrieve the corpses and the visual data he had acquired thanks to Karin�s timely delivery of the coordinates. All of the samples would be immensely helpful.

Thinking of Karin, Szayel frowned as a thought suddenly occurred to him. He hadn�t taken notice of Ajuga since she had delivered the information to him in the later part of the afternoon. It was fast approaching midnight and the idea of the child left to amuse herself in any of the laboratories made him scramble out of his seat to find her. He valued his life and if Karin discovered he had misplaced her daughter he was sure another spanking would be the least of his worries.

Fortunately, Ajuga was easy enough to find. The little girl had found her way to his bedroom and was curled up in the center of his bed, sleeping peacefully. He let out a sigh of relief and covered her with a blanket before all thoughts of the girl were quickly gone, replaced by the far more thrilling prospect of the new experiments waiting for him in his lab.

　

　

�Ulquiorra!� Orihime nearly screamed when he finally made it to the 4th Division.

The acid had not stopped consuming his flesh and his entire left wing had nearly been eaten away. His left arm was almost nothing more than bone and he thought, absently, that it hurt a hell of a lot. A lesser being would probably have been writhing in agony by now, but he simply bore it stoically.

�What happened?� Orihime cried as she forced him to lay down, an expression of horror on her face as she took in the extent of his injuries.

His answer was delayed as he held back a hiss of agony as he lay down on his chest to spare what was left of his wing.

�Beetle acid,� he answered once he was sure he could do so with a somewhat normal voice.

The pleasant feeling of her golden shield enveloped him. He let his eyes close in relief as the pain finally began to ebb after having suffered through it for Kami knew how many hours. Why in the world had Kami sent him that far away? Any farther and the acid would have had the time necessary to eat through something vital, like an internal organ.

Slowly the flesh of his arm repaired itself and his wing began to reform. When the last traces of acid injury had been rejected, the dome fell. He had about four seconds to rest before he found Orihime hugging him tightly.

�Onna,� he protested, almost squeaking as her grip on him tightened.

She sat back, holding him at arm�s length and he took several gulps of air.

�Don�t ever leave it that long again,� she admonished. �What if I had no power left? What if you couldn�t get here in time?! What if that acid had gotten to something vital?� she demanded.

�I would have removed the affected limbs,� he answered monotonously.

She looked at him, appalled, before laying into him about how foolish he was being. He sighed and let her tirade wash over him as he resealed his powers now that he felt it safe to do so and now that the acid had been cleansed from his body.

Orihime was quick to snatch Murcielago as the blade reformed before him and brandished his own sheathed weapon at him, demanding if the Zanpakuto agreed.

�I have said it before, Onna, Murcielago is simply my power sealed. It has no consciousness, thus asking for its opinion is meaningless,� he stated matter-of-factly, reaching out a hand to reclaim his weapon to put an end to her lecture.

Like the time on the hill, the weapon zapped him. He stared at it in annoyance while Orihime smirked in triumph. He really shouldn�t have been that surprised. Things rarely made sense around her. That was one of the things that made her so interesting.

�Orihime-san, I think it would be best to permit Ulquiorra-san to rest,� Unohana appeared beside them.

�I guess,� she agreed. �Just promise me you won�t do something foolish like that again.�

�Very well,� he agreed.

Orihime nodded her head in satisfaction before marching off to assist with the next wounded patient.

Ulquiorra briefly considered asking her to return his weapon, but in the end just sighed and laid back down to rest. She could hold onto the disobedient blade for now. The two deserved each other.

�I pray our child does not inherit her stubbornness,� he thought as he drifted off to a light slumber to regain his strength.

At some point Orihime must have realized she was carrying Murcielago, because when he stirred he found his Zanpakuto resting beside him. There was a faint trace of her reiatsu around the blade, indicating she must have just returned it.

He guessed it had been her retreating presence that had woken him. Feeling completely rested, he rose from the bed and returned Murcielago to its rightful place at his hip.

A glance at the time showed it to be rather late, well past midnight. He found Orihime tending to another patient. Her body and reiatsu were both exhausted. He frowned in displeasure.

�Onna,� he called.

She ignored him.

�Onna,� he called.

She completely ignored him. He doubted it was because she didn�t hear him.

�Onna,� he tried a third time, and this time she spun to glare at him.

�I do have a name you know,� she snapped in irritation.

He blinked at her in surprise at her outburst.

�This must be the result of the hormonal changes Szayel warned me about,� he guessed.

�I am aware,� he pointed out.

�Then use it. You are worse than Grimmjow, at least he uses my name now,� she growled.

He felt a flash of irritation at being compared to the Sixth. Yes, the hooligan had come a long ways over the past several years, especially after taking a mate and fathering a child, but he was still far inferior to himself.

�Orihime-san, please lower your voice,� one of the nurses asked politely.

She looked slightly abashed, but was still glaring at him.

�Orihime,� he finally sighed.

She smiled happily and before he knew it she was in his arms, hugging him. How the simple use of her name could create such a reaction was still a mystery to him.

�Again,� she purred happily.

�Orihime Cifer,� he muttered.

She froze in his grasp before pulling back slightly to study his eyes. He noted the confusion in hers before realizing he had never gotten around to letting her know she was now entitled to his name. Well, he�d been more than busy. It had simply been an oversight on his part.

�Say it again,� she demanded in a near whisper.

�Orihime Cifer.�

A smile touched her lips before she closed the distance between them and promptly passed out in his arms.

He held back a sigh of irritation. Nothing was predictable with this woman. But then, that was one of the best things about her. �Boring� was a word that simply did not describe her.

　

　

　

Still no life, just have time to post and run. Love the reviews, see you next week, and sorry but I haven�t had time to work on The Real King.
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Prize of Victory