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spira_rp2013-03-03 10:31 pm
lawlietschiffer) wrote in spira_rp2013-03-03 10:31 pm
Entry tags:
I can't let anyone interfere
Since the day Midgar had fallen, L had been busy.
He'd salvaged everything he could from Shinra's computers, had broken into their security systems, and had quietly and systematically erased all trace of Aizen and the Arrancar, if not outright prevented them being noticed in the first place. Orochimaru's death had been a footnote to his day; he'd barely left the computer except to inform the relevant people.
The following days had been similar. L had slept little, picked over sweets and extremely sweet tea, and divided his time between actually going through all the information he'd taken from Shinra, making arrangements to have someone brought to the Palace, and trying to find out more about the Ryoka and his allies that Grimmjow's party had run into.
The Ryoka were always an anomaly that popped up on his proverbial radars and then dipped under them again with some degree of frequency. He'd mostly heard about Nel's team's encounter from hearsay around the Palace, but he'd looked into it regardless.
From the reports it seemed there was at least one new one among them, but what really had L trying to track them down was the possibility that this one hadn't been encountered before because he was the Ryoka mentioned in Shinra's science and technology division's files. He made a thoughtful noise and bit his thumb as he read over the information about the Ryoka that Shinra had got their hands on. It seemed they hadn't managed to hold onto him for too long, but they'd still managed to gain some potentially useful information.
To hand that information over to Aizen or not, now that was a question. Aizen may want it, and it would certainly be useful for the Arrancar since they kept running into Ryoka, and this one in particular had managed to keep pace with Ulquiorra, who was highly ranked among them, but some bone deep part of L was reluctant to just hand Aizen useful information. It wasn't a question that required an answer now, however; Aizen was still away, and would be for some time yet.
The Berserker and his allies had moved on to Rabanastre, for the time being, but L couldn't be sure if they planned on staying there or moving on once travel got back to normal with the disruption to the airports. He needed to get in touch with his Rabanastre contacts to find out more.
His hand drifted away from his mouth as he reached for the sweets he had on his desk. They were little biscuits, in the shape of animals, and L picked one up and bit its head off without taking his eyes from the screen.
He'd salvaged everything he could from Shinra's computers, had broken into their security systems, and had quietly and systematically erased all trace of Aizen and the Arrancar, if not outright prevented them being noticed in the first place. Orochimaru's death had been a footnote to his day; he'd barely left the computer except to inform the relevant people.
The following days had been similar. L had slept little, picked over sweets and extremely sweet tea, and divided his time between actually going through all the information he'd taken from Shinra, making arrangements to have someone brought to the Palace, and trying to find out more about the Ryoka and his allies that Grimmjow's party had run into.
The Ryoka were always an anomaly that popped up on his proverbial radars and then dipped under them again with some degree of frequency. He'd mostly heard about Nel's team's encounter from hearsay around the Palace, but he'd looked into it regardless.
From the reports it seemed there was at least one new one among them, but what really had L trying to track them down was the possibility that this one hadn't been encountered before because he was the Ryoka mentioned in Shinra's science and technology division's files. He made a thoughtful noise and bit his thumb as he read over the information about the Ryoka that Shinra had got their hands on. It seemed they hadn't managed to hold onto him for too long, but they'd still managed to gain some potentially useful information.
To hand that information over to Aizen or not, now that was a question. Aizen may want it, and it would certainly be useful for the Arrancar since they kept running into Ryoka, and this one in particular had managed to keep pace with Ulquiorra, who was highly ranked among them, but some bone deep part of L was reluctant to just hand Aizen useful information. It wasn't a question that required an answer now, however; Aizen was still away, and would be for some time yet.
The Berserker and his allies had moved on to Rabanastre, for the time being, but L couldn't be sure if they planned on staying there or moving on once travel got back to normal with the disruption to the airports. He needed to get in touch with his Rabanastre contacts to find out more.
His hand drifted away from his mouth as he reached for the sweets he had on his desk. They were little biscuits, in the shape of animals, and L picked one up and bit its head off without taking his eyes from the screen.
no subject
Ulquiorra stood, holding the door open in one hand, his eyes wide. L turned to look at him. “Ulquiorra,” he said his voice trailing off as his throat went dry and his heart thumped in his chest.
Ulquiorra stared at him for a long moment, heart pounding in his ears, and then turned, letting go of the door to allow it to swing shut. Lawliet had known all along; it was too much to process right now.
L hesitated at Ulquiorra's reaction, and then slipped off his perch on the chair and crossed the short distance to the door, catching it, and catching Ulquiorra's shoulder as his nephew moved to leave. “Quiorra-chan,” he began.
Ulquiorra's answer came in a ringing crack, pain blossoming across L's jaw and sending him off balance. “Don't call me that,” Ulquiorra said, in fluent Rozarrian, his gaze fixed on L from the corner of his eyes. His lips were thin and pressed tightly together, and his hand balled into a fist.
L sat himself up on the floor, wincing faintly as he pressed the back of one hand to his face. He could taste blood, and he wasn't sure if this was Ulquiorra's own strength, or if there was a Hollow involved in it somewhere. “You hit harder than I remember,” he said, quietly.
“You knew,” Ulquiorra said, his tone leaden, and reiatsu wavering, restrained but with difficulty.
L looked up at his nephew for a moment before he frowned, nodding his head just the once. “I knew,” he confirmed. He was resigned to having this conversation, after all this time trying to ensure it never came up.
“You did nothing,” Ulquiorra continued. His parents, his family, had gone to Gongaga, had died in Gongaga, and Lawliet had known all along what was going to happen there.
“There was nothing I could do,” L replied, quietly.
Ulquiorra was faster than he remembered, too, he realised, and stronger, as L found himself dragged to his feet by the front of his shirt, held in a grip that was unbreakable, at Ulquiorra's eye level. He struggled to get back onto his feet, but was being held too low to be comfortable once he had.
“You of all people could have done something,” Ulquiorra replied. Aniki, a genius by his own claim, should have been able to do something. He knew; he could, should, have warned them.
“I couldn't have stopped it,” L told him, one hand gripping Ulquiorra's wrist but not bothering to try and pry his grip away. Ulquiorra was so much stronger than L had ever known, stronger than he'd ever realised, even with the Arrancar procedure factored into the equation.
“You could have stopped them going.”
L hesitated. How to explain what he'd thought at the time to Ulquiorra, whose reiatsu betrayed what his level tone tried to hide. “You have to understand, Quiorra-chan, I was in a difficult position.” He didn't get any further, barely registering the movement, but he felt the force to his chest, the ground slipping out from under him. He hit the wall behind him with a crack that ripped through his shoulder, before crumpling to the floor again. There was a sharp pain in his chest when he took a breath, and he knew Ulquiorra had probably fractured a rib or two, as well as his collarbone. L winced, wrapping the arm that it didn't hurt to move over his chest and pushing himself to his feet again. “If I warned them,” he continued, “then what would your mother have done? I couldn't expect them to keep the information to themselves. They were her family.”
Ulquiorra approached, smacking L with the back of a fist that felt more like a brick, making L see stars for a moment as he picked him up and slammed him back against the wall, causing L to give a small cry as a shock of pain tore through his chest again, hand at his throat. “And they were yours,” Ulquiorra replied.
L struggled against the pain that was shooting through his head and his chest, his next words becoming strangled. “Yes,” he admitted, his voice breaking. Ulquiorra was strangling him slowly, but not enough to actually send him unconscious. “They were, as are you, and I did what I thought was the best for you all.”
Ulquiorra's eyes widened again for a moment which seemed to drag on in stunned silence, and then he punched L, so that L felt his nose break, and his teeth loosen, and then dragged him away from the wall again and kicked him, reiatsu flared to its peak for a second as L flew backwards with the kick, landing in a heap on the floor, and struggling to sit up again. He could taste blood and his head and jaw pounded.
“I was supposed to be there. You thought I had been.” Ulquiorra's eyes were still wide with the shock and realisation, that L had admitted as much landed like a rock in his gut, and in his head he could hear the sibilant laughter of something that was enjoying this moment far more than it should.