BRUISE ME PRETTY

Chapter IV. The Horror

The nights slipped by in Las Noches in differing speeds. Some days, Rangiku slept for so long that she never realized it was the next day. Then, there were days like today where every second that went by was like a nail scratching against her until it drew blood.

Rangiku was not a foolish woman by any means. She knew that her strength needed to be built up. After about a week of idly waiting and healing in the confines of her private dormitory room, she finally felt as if she had recovered all of her spiritual pressure. Her wounds were also completely gone.

Gin had not visited her since the night he issued her such a ghostly warning. She was, however, provided with clothing by a nameless female Arrancar. The outfit consisted of the traditional white pants worn by all of the hollows in Las Noches as well as a white vest that hugged her frame. The material went all the way to her neck in the form of a stiff collar, and much to her disappointment, no cleavage was revealed, though her shoulders and arms were fully exposed. She wondered if Gin had played a part in the designing of her outfit.

She didn't like the look. Not one bit. She knew she looked better in black, and the white made her come off as pure and angelic. It made her normally sharp and strongly pointed face seem softer somehow. She seemed feeble. But today wasn't the day to worry about her image of frailty. It was about locating Haineko. She knew that even with Haineko, she was still a slab of meat ready to be chopped up in the eyes of the Espada. But it would provide her a sense of security and possibly allow her to escape the smaller fries.

Unlike with the search for Orihime, finding Haineko would be straightforward and quick. She had never lost sense of Haineko, even during her moments of unconsciousness. As she deftly jimmied the repaired lock of her door, Rengiku slid out of her room and quickly headed down the halls of Las Noches. There were more Arrancar wandering around as compared to her last escapade, but they did not interact with her by any means other than staring. She moved hesitantly at first, but when she realized no one would harm her, she picked up the pace.

Finally, the Lieutenant arrived in front of a set of double doors. She knew Haineko lay behind them, but as she pulled and pulled, the doors would not budge. She tried not to cause a scene, but the eyes were on her anyway, so she adopted a screw it mentality and fired a Kido spell. The doors did not give way, but one of the handles fell and clanged onto the floor. She reached her arm through the orifice and unlocked the door. Once through, she quickly ran to her zanpakuto and slid the sheath into the loop of her pants.

Her eyes caught the glimmer of Orihime's hairpins, and Rangiku grabbed those, too. She wasted no time and quickly left the room, knowing someone would be arriving soon to assess the damage and see what was taken. She began working on locating Orihime again, refusing to leave without the girl. Since she was on her spiritual A-game today, she could make out the human's reiatsu much more easily this time. The connection was not as strong as the one she felt with Haineko, but she definitely had a concrete path to follow.

The trail of Orihime's spiritual pressure lead Rangiku to a small cafeteria where various Arrancar sat at tables. How funny that they ate food when their life force did not require it. Though, upon closer inspection, Rangiku noticed that most Arrancar were merely socializing, and those that were eating were only eating delicacies such as chocolate cake. They ate for fun, not because they required the sustenance. How gluttonous, Rangiku mused, though she knew she was not one to talk, especially with her off-and-on bouts of alcoholism.

Rangiku's eyes landed on the similarly hair-colored girl, who was picking at her food gingerly. She sat next to Ulquiorra Schiffer, an Espada that seemed to serve as her bodyguard. No, that sounded too positive. He was her personal enslaver. Rangiku felt her stomach roll in sickness at the sight of him. She would have to play things off and not alert the Espada as to her ploys.

"Orihime-chan~!" Rangiku sang with her lips twisted into a sultry smirk. She approached the girl, who upon seeing and recognizing Rangiku, smiled brightly. "Where did you get the food? And is there sake?"

Orihime pointed to an area along the far west wall of the cafeteria. "Oh, they have the food there! It's mostly deserts since Arrancars don't eat food. But wait... Don't Shinigami do that too?"

"We work a little bit differently than them. Souls do not require food. But souls with abnormal amounts of spiritual pressure feel hunger. Not in the same way as humans, but similarly." Rangiku had already been delivered food this morning, however. "I'll just eat some of your food!"

"O-Okay!" Orihime blinked.

"Woman, you will get your own food. She is to eat her meal or I will feed it to her." Ulquiorra stared across Orihime vacantly into Rangiku's eyes.

"Sheesh, talk about uptight. You gotta deal with this loser every day, Hime?" Rangiku waved a dismissive hand at the male and turned her full attention to Inoue.

"Well, they don't let me wander around by myself usually." Orihime, despite being a normally cheerful person, couldn't mask all of the sadness in her voice. She had been a captive for too long.

Rangiku wish she could tell Orihime that they were getting out of her, but she had to keep her flamboyant and uncaring ruse up for now. "Well I have express permission from Gin...to have a sleepover!" Rangiku shouted in excitement. "So let's get started. You can brush my hair and we can take a bath together. No boys, though. But have fun thinking about that. I know you're just hanging around innocent little Hime to see her boobs," Rangiku teased.

"I am interested in no such thing. Furthermore, I have not been notified of this approved social event."

"Guess you better take it up with Gin, then." Rangiku shrugged.

"I do not answer to Gin. I answer to Aizen."

"And who is Aizen's right hand man?" Rangiku stole a strawberry from Orihime's tray. "We'll be in a room. Locked door. You've got nothing to worry about~"

"I will verify this with Aizen."

Rangiku shrugged. "Go for it."

Ulquiorra stood up. "Do not leave this cafeteria until I return, woman," he spoke to Orihime before leaving.

Rangiku's smile faded, and she placed a hand on Orihime's wrist. "We're getting out of here right now. Miss these?" Rangiku pulled out Orihime's hairpin and placed them on the table before her. The human girl's eyes lit up. "Shun Shun Rikka!" she exclaimed quietly, grabbing the item.

Rangiku stared heavily. "We've got to be quick about this, okay?" Her mouth was open to continue, but she was interrupted as the cafeteria doors slammed open.

Gin Ichimaru sauntered through the lunchroom, dragging a corpse behind him. The smile on his face touched both ears. With a quick swing, the corpse was thrown onto the table Rangiku sat at. It rolled slightly until its face cocked over toward the Lieutenant. Rangiku felt her stomach turn to hot acid, and her eyes widened in a mixture of hysteria and rage.

"Captain Hitsugaya?!" she screamed, standing up and backing away in shock. The room around her went silent. It turned black. Everything was gone except for her dead Captain's body and a smugly watching Gin Ichimaru.

Guess who has finished this story entirely on her computer? This gal! :3 I figure I'll post a chapter once a month? Or bi-weekly? I don't know what the normal rate of posting should be. Love hearing from you guys! Once again, excuse my grammar uh-ohs, because I am lazy and shameless and don't ever re-read my shit in fear I will hate it and throw it away. -PB