Bleach Inked Black: Open the Senkaimon

Is he coming? wondered Grimmjow, then turned abruptly towards Cifer, Zanpakuto at the ready, as he began draw his sword.
A gentle breeze brushed against his robe, and a footstep landed behind him. His eyes were now locked on an empty street.
His eyes widened.
For a moment he stood, unmoving. Slowly, his eyes lowered to his chest, unable to understand why he was suddenly in such pain.
What happened just now? he wondered, not realizing he was falling. Did he get me?
It hurt... like nothing else he had ever felt.
I can't even tell if I was hit from the back... or the front.
It hurts...
And suddenly, the dark-haired captain was beside him, as if he had always been there.
"You're slow," he said emotionlessly, looking down at Grimmjow with uncaring eyes. "Even when you fall."
"Ulquiorra Nii-sama!" Tatsuki cried out from her position on the sidewalk. The captain's eyes shifted slightly, again silencing her with a mere stare.
Grimmjow hit the ground heavily.
Kaien was still crouched on the ground, eyes wide in shock. It's been a while since I saw it... he thought, struck with fearful awe. I had to strain to follow his second attack. But his first one... I couldn't even tell when he drew his sword or put it back. His eyes were drawn to the fallen figure of Grimmjow. If I couldn't see it coming... he probably doesn't even know what happened to him.
Still... what was that extraordinary reiatsu he demonstrated earlier?
"What's the matter, Kaien?" asked his superior, voice barely varying from the impersonal, chilling tone he used with his sister and Grimmjow. Kaien looked to one side, avoiding Cifer Taichou's eyes.
"No... You didn't need to help me with a kid of this level, Taichou," he said, trying to divert attention from his confused emotions. Cifer Taichou looked at him over his shoulder for a moment, green eyes seeming to pierce Kaien's thoughts, then closed his eyes.
"Don't say that," he said. "If all I did was watch each time... I'd get rusty."
Kaien felt a chill creep up his spine. No, this man is... and I am...
"Grimmjow!" Tatsuki finally cried, breaking into Kaien's thoughts. "Grimmjow!"
Kaien rose to his feet as she vaulted over the railing dividing them and ran towards the fallen human. "Stop," he said, forcing back his conflicted fear, awe, and anger. He intercepted her and restrained her, one arm wrapped around her, the other grabbing her right hand.
"Let go, Kaien," she cried, looking at him with pleading eyes. "Grimmjow is..."
"What are you saying, baka?" he asked, forcing harshness into his voice. "Look! The kid is dead!"
The expression on her face as he said that made his heart twist in pain, but he forced it back, along with all the other emotions threatening to rise. She had to come back to Seireitei... she had to stand trial, but she didn't have to die. Not when the human kid had already paid the higher price for their crime.
He couldn't bear to lose her, not now.
"Don't you understand?" he asked, trying to keep his voice steady, failing. "By just touching him, your sentence would increase by twenty years. Why would you multiply your crimes for a dead person?"
And, she looked up at him, and the look in her eyes was so full of pain his breath caught in his throat.
"I'm the one that got Grimmjow involved in this," she whispered, voice cracking. "It's my fault he's dead! So what's wrong with my coming to him?!"
Kaien had no answer for her.
"So even if it would make your sentence harsher, you can't stay away... from this kid?" asked Cifer Taichou, standing over Grimmjow. This time Tatsuki meet his gaze, her pain and fear evident in her eyes.
"Nii-sama..."
Ulquiorra's eyes examined Grimmjow for a moment, then returned to his sister. "I understand, Tatsuki," he said, for a moment a hint of something besides his cold uncaring entering his voice, but his expression unchanging. "This kid... looks a lot like him."
Grimmjow's hand suddenly rose, trembling, and clamped onto Ulquiorra's lower robe. "'He's dead,' you say? 'Looks a lot like him'? Quit talking about me like I'm not here!"
"Grimm..." Tatsuki whispered, then her eyes widened as Ulquiorra looked down at Grimmjow again.
"Let go," he said, quietly.
"I can't hear you," Grimmjow stated, hand still trembling, blood still flowing, but still with that oh-so-familiar grin. "Look at me when you speak!"
"Souka... so you don't need that arm, then?" asked, stated, Ulquiorra, turning more fully on the dying human.
There was a patter of feet, and Tatsuki's foot slammed into Grimmjow's hand, knocking it from her brother's robe.
"W-what are you doing, Tatsuki?" gasped Grimmjow, bewildered. Tatsuki didn't look at him.
"You're just a human..." she said. "You're just a human! How dare you grab Nii-sama like that?! Know your place, kid!"
Grimmjow stared up at her, confused and hurt.
"Let us go, Nii-sama," she continued. "Through his actions just now... I, Tatsuki Cifer, have opened my eyes. Please take me back to Soul Society. I will atone for my sins."
"Matte, you! What are you saying?" said Grimmjow, struggling for each word. "Tatsuki... temae!"
"There is no need to inflict the final blow upon him," Tatsuki continued with the same, almost dead voice, so like her emotionless brother. "Leave him, and he'll eventually die on his own. Let us go, Nii-sama." And she turned, and started walking away.
"Matte, Tatsuki!" Grimmjow said again, voice gaining a little strength. "What kind of joke is this?! Look at me, hey!" She didn't respond. "Hey!"
"Don't move!" she screamed suddenly, as he tried to rise. "Take even one step from there..." she continued in a trembling voice. "Try to come after me... and I'll... I'll... I will never forgive you!" she cried, turning tear-filled eyes to him. "You will die anyway... so stay there and live, even if just one second longer."
Ulquiorra had been watching silently, but at her final words he let go of his sheath. "Very well, I will not inflict the final blow. With the two attacks just now, I've shattered his Soul Chain and Hakusui- Soul Sleep, the vital spots of the soul. He should die in less than an hour. And even if he does survive, his powers will be lost, Shinigami power as well as his spiritual energy. Kaien."
Kaien straightened. "Hai."
The Fukutaichou walked past the three others, and raised his again unreleased Zanpakuto into the air. The blade seemed to disappear as he pushed it forward, then turned.
"Open."


Derived from Bleach Episode 17: Ichigo Dies!

The list of things I am unsatisfied about with this episode is pretty daunting. It took me forever to finish, I can't stand to look at that picture any more and the segment of story was altogether too long for comfort. I might have to cut into two different episodes later, but I'm too busy right now and really wanted to get another episode up before I get even busier. Gomen!

In July I'm going to be very busy with work and writing the second half of my Bleach fanfiction, and I'm doing a lot of getting ready before then, so this might be the last Inked Black episode in a while. I'm very sorry, but I will pick it back after my busy, busy summer. Until then, I hope this will hold you over!

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