White Hibiscus~ホワイト・ハイビスカス~
「十五」 Gloomy Games
Let's play a game, shall we?
Before we start, we have to listen to the rules.
I dragged Yammy's dismembered arm to the Arrancars in charge of medical aid.
"Ulquiorra-sama!" They rushed up frantically, upon the sight of a huge arm.
"This belongs to the Tenth Espada," I sighed as I recalled how the arm fell out of Yammy's body.
"With this level of injury, I'm afraid..." One of the female Arrancars examined the arm closely.
"Just stick it back."
"Right away!" The female Arrancar ran off to fetch her tools.
Espadas have high levels of regeneration, only if the organs get placed back at their original positions. The nerves and singular cells that are present in the body will repair them in no time. Even if not 100% of the initial power might be regained, it is always better than losing the entire organ itself. The lower the level of the Espada, the slower the organs regenerate - Yammy's arm took him 28 days to recover 60% of his strength.
Approximately twenty days ago, Aizen-sama had taken a new interest.
It was no longer about that boy anymore.
Instead, it was her, the orange haired lady and those spells that she used.
She had with her a power that could not even be defined by my analytical skills – she could bend time and space by simply rejecting with her mind.
"Ulquiorra," Aizen-sama approached me personally.
"Yes?"
"Do you think you can bring this woman over to Las Noches?"
"Yes."
"Well, she's a human girl. So...things are more complicated,"
"Why?" I could not figure out what were the complications.
"You need to lure her,"
"I'll try my best, Aizen-sama," To lure a person, a bait is needed right?
That was my understanding of the word "lure". Apparently, for humans, it was different.
"In order to lure her, you have to understand her,"
"I understand, Aizen-sama,"
"So you have to do your homework."
"I will set off right away, Aizen-sama," I took a bow and headed for the door.
"Ulquiorra," Aizen-sama spoke again.
"Her name is Inoue Orihime, just to let you know," Aizen-sama pointed out.
"I will remember that name, Aizen-sama."
"Good. When the time comes, we'll pick her up."
Rule #1: No cheating. Baits are purely strategical methods.
I stood and studied the way that female Arrancar attempted to patch Yammy's arm back to position. She connected the arm using bandages and stitched the wound with larger needles. Yammy was whining away at the amount of time consumed to treat the wound without realizing how lucky he was to be able to see his fallen arm.
"At the very least, you still have your arm," I replied.
"Yeah,"
"Unlike someone else who lost his arm completely, your rank as an Espada is still intact," I reminded Yammy how fortunate he was.
So, stop complaining, Yammy.
"Aizen-sama is calling for us," I headed out of his room. The stench of red blood was filling up the entire place – Yammy had crushed the head of the medic that had just completed her treatment sessions with him; he did that just to show off that his hand had been fixed. Trash or not, it was just not the right situation to display his prowess.
Yammy asked, "Why do you think Aizen-sama wants to see us now?"
"If he wants to see us, he must have his own reasons. By seeing him, we'll know the reason why,"
We reached the huge white door after three long corridors. All the Espadas have gathered except for the two of us, with Aizen-sama in the middle of a huge trapezium-like crystal display.
It was to mark the birth of another new Arrancar while demonstrating the abilities of the Hougyoku. Aizen-sama also took this opportunity to let the Espadas know that the Hougyoku will fully awake in two months.
Everyone present did not say a word when Aizen-sama placed the orb into the glass-like crystal – we were observing how we had been born. I was staring directly at how I must have looked like before I opened this pair of eyes – wrapped entirely in bandages and listening to each and every soul; how these people were judging you. I had remembered those details all over again – the three figures, the name that I was given and the numerical brand on the left side of my chest. The only thing that differed was that I did not have such a huge audience to witness mine. As the crystal shattered into a thousand fragments, the Arrancar tore the bandages apart in a violent manner - it looked up at Aizen-sama and breathed out his own name.
"You still remember, Ulquiorra? The orders I gave you a month ago?" Aizen-sama turned his attention towards me.
"Yes, Aizen-sama,"
"Execute it, Ulquiorra. I'm giving you the authority to take whoever you want for the mission,"
"Understood, Aizen-sama,"
Rule #2. It's okay to use a few decoys to confuse the enemies.
"Do you want to come along too..." Aizen-sama looked at the other figure sitting at the top of the corner pillar.
"Grimmjow?" Aizen-sama completed his sentence. He had just given the former Espada a chance to participate in this mission.
"Have you decided, Ulquiorra?" Aizen-sama asked.
"Yes," I nodded once.
"Yammy, Luppi and..." My eyes crossed paths with the partially-handicapped blue-haired panther.
"Grimmjow," I sighed.
Rule #3. Personal grudges aside, it's only a game.
"Good. Oh, and take Wonderweiss with you too," the leader of Las Noches smiled.
Aizen-sama would then return to his room and observe how the fights would go about via those screens.
Yammy was excited about heading back to Karakura Town again.
"Let's have some more fun again!" It looks like he has not learned from his painful lesson yet.
"I'll be watching everyone from the other side," I warned them not to do foolish things.
"Just create necessary havoc will do," I shot a glance at Grimmjow, the most rebellious among the four of them.
Grimmjow glanced at me once before he turned into the Garganta.
I have not determined how the game should be played.
Will you still want to play?
That's right, because if you said no, I'll start taking lives.
As I overlooked the three Espadas crossing over to the real world, I proceeded to open up another dark hole.
Let the die be cast, Aizen-sama.
Are you game enough, Woman?
yu-pon's note and the tiny tiny explanations:
Kyaa *receives bashing from everyone* --
Thank you for reading this chapter!
I ended it like that because... the 'abduction' part is an introduction of a new arc~
This story started with how Ulquiorra came into this world; so it should end with how he saw himself coming into the world (via Wonderweiss)
too much reading in between the lines?
Filament is a part of the Hibiscus flower. ( i did not take biology but.. haha thank you google)
Well, it a cluster of thin sticks that juts out from the long stalk that protudes out of the petal? XDD
"Let the die be cast";
so Aizen-sama casted the die - it means Ulquiorra goes on a 'point of no return'. (smiles)
it has a lot of meaning to that right. *nods nods*
little thank-you's:
I wish to thank everyone (all the visitors), who has read/supported silently/loved and hated it.
You spurred my imagination to fly further, (^_^)o
I wish to thank those who wrote reviews! Seriously Chapter 6 to 15 were written because I saw the reviews.
I used to write oneshots in forums so.. XDD Chapter 15 is like a feat to me.
(let alone to attempt another segment heehee.)
I also want to thank Kubo-sensei for breathing life into Ulquiorra-san.
With that!
Thank you for reading White Hibiscus : Filament~!
yu-pon deshitaaaa~~!!! (jumps back into the bunny hole)