If he wants a fight, well now he's got one

[joinmyreunion]

The Palace felt quiet. A number of the Arrancar were out on a mission with Aizen; only the weak, or the unpredictable, had been made to stay behind, but that number had not, apparently, included Grimmjow. Kadaj and Tayuya had been left to their own devices without him and Yylfordt around.

Three days ago, they'd had a quiet conversation. Kadaj hadn't done much talking, just nodded, and then later in the day had crept into the laboratories down the wing of the Palace that Orochimaru had made his own. Kadaj used to go down there a lot, three years ago. He'd stopped just after the Arrancar arrived. He'd fallen out with Orochimaru once and for all shortly after that.

He emerged from the labs a couple of hours later, showered, and then went into the underground training facility. He didn't come up again for a couple of days, although there weren't really people around to notice, except Tayuya, who went down to check on him a few times.

He'd slept when he came back up, and then went to look for Nnoitra, one of the Arrancar who had been judged too unpredictable to head off to a freshly made Necrohol. He found him in the kitchen.

Kadaj made his way over; an unusual intent certainty in his expression, and spoke quietly. "Want to let off some steam?" His manner was all wrong to be an invitation to spar, but that was what it sounded like, at first.

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[joinmyreunion]

"Yeah," Kadaj answered, sounding like he was looking forward to it himself, for so, so many reasons. "We need to get him alone, and now's our best chance. Are you up for it?"

Of course he was. Kadaj was as ready as Nnoitra, and not just because time was running short.

[prayingmantis]

Nnoitra stood up without another word. He looked down at Kadaj, half-visible eyebrow cocked and his expression almost unchanged.

"I've waited a long time for the chance to get even with that bastard," he growled, his voice like a saw. "Like hell am I gonna miss this."

[joinmyreunion]

Kadaj smirked a little, and nodded just the once to acknowledge what Nnoitra said. He knew the feeling all too well, and was a little relieved that he didn't have to tell Nnoitra any details.

Nnoitra didn't seem to need them.

"I'm going to bring him to the training facility in the basement," Kadaj said. "You can wait there, or come down after. It's up to you."

They'd need the space to fight, and starting a fight against Orochimaru in his own labs was a bad idea, not least because Kimimaro pretty much lived there, and no matter how sick that guy was, he'd almost certainly drag his sorry corpse in waiting off the table to fight for Orochimaru. Kadaj didn't want to face off against Kimimaro as well, and he didn't want to fight Orochimaru on his home turf, where the environment was his own. The training facility was more neutral.

It would also be much, much more difficult for anyone else still hovering in the palace to notice anything going on, and they could do without the interruptions. Even if the interruptions weren't members of the Sound Five.

He didn't want Tayuya to have any idea of what he was going to do. He hadn't told her about this part of his plan. He'd only told her he was going to leave for a while, soon.

It'd take her a long time to forgive him for this, no matter how things turned out.

[prayingmantis]

Nnoitra nodded. The training facility was ideal. Neither side had the home advantage and noise was expected from there. It wouldn't seem out of the ordinary, even if someone heard the sound of fighting. Bouts, even just sparring, rarely got an audience. They should go undisturbed.

Even so, he knew which option he was going with. "He sees me in there when he walks in and he'll know it's an ambush." Orochimaru wasn't stupid. "Get him there. I'll follow."

Nnoitra didn't care about the Sound Five. He had no personal ties to them. He didn't even think about Kadaj's relationship with Tayuya. He wouldn't feel a shred of guilt about what they hoped to achieve.