Chapter 1: Instinct and Insolence

"God damn it!" Grimmjow cursed as he felt the bones in his hand crunch when he struck the solid wall. That damn bastard was too fast!

As if reading his thoughts, Ulquiorra's emotionless voice rang out behind him. "You're too slow, trash. You have to be better than that if you wish to even touch me."

Grimmjow growled, pushing himself away from the wall and striding toward the other man. "Trash, am I? We'll see about that, now won't we?" A maniacal grin spread across his face as he lunged forward, catching Ulquiorra off guard just long enough to catch the man's sleeve. Ulquiorra twisted out of the way before hitting Grimmjow on the back of his neck, causing the other man to lose his footing and hit the ground. Before Grimmjow could retaliate, the door to the training room opened, and Kaname Tosen calmly walked into the open space where the other two were standing.

"You have a mission." Grimmjow scowled at the ex-captain's voice. The two had never gotten along, and it was even worse now that Kaname had taken his arm. Not that it anyway impeded Grimmjow's fighting skill. Nothing could do that.

"What mission is that?" Ulquiorra sounded completely indifferent, but Grimmjow knew better. The other man had been getting bored lately, and a trip to the world of the living was probably just the thing to cheer him up. Not that he cared about Ulquiorra's feelings.

"You are only to observe the substitute soul reaper, Ichigo Kurosaki, and his group of accomplices. Nothing more." Having said that, Kaname turned to leave.

"Hold up, you! You haven't told us anything yet! What if we get found out? Can we kill them then?" Grimmjow didn't like the thought of just being a freaking peeping tom on those kids without at least having a little fun. And fun for him involved a lot of blood and pain. Plus, he owed that orange-haired soul reaper a little payback for that damn scar on his chest.

Kaname stopped but didn't turn around. "You are only to watch, arrancar. Nothing more. Did I really need to say anything else?" Kaname left the room without so much as a backward glance. Blind bastard.

"How boring." Ulquiorra slowly turned to face Grimmjow. "It looks as if you won't be very much fun on this trip, hmm? I suppose I'll have to do all the work while you sulk."

"Who's sulking, idiot?" Grimmjow scowled again, pursing his lips as he thought about the assignment. It could be worse, he mused. He could have been stuck with that fruitcake Luppi. At least Ulquiorra knows his own gender.

He spun around, almost knocking into the smaller man. "Are we going or not? I'm bored now, and I don't like being bored." Ulquiorra just looked at him before going out the door. "Thought so," muttered Grimmjow, before following him out.

The world of the living is definitely different than Hueco Mundo, thought Grimmjow, gazing at the lights of Karakura Town through the rip in the sky. Ulquiorra was beside him, probably waiting for him to get his ass in gear and get out, but he could take his sweet damn time if wanted to. Nobody would rush him into anything.

He jumped a little as Ulquiorra said, "Are you going?" He hated to admit it but the other guy kind of creeped him out every now and then. It was just that freaking voice of his...

"Yeah, yeah. What's the rush, stupid? Are you that eager to get back to Aizen and his squad of loonies? Because I'm not."

"Of course not, trash. However, you are really the only one who has a problem with being in Hueco Mundo. I am quite content with my position. You should really develop more self-control."

"Your position? What, as the fourth strongest espada? I would want to be the first, not that damn Starrk! How did he get to be number one anyway? Did he sleep his way to the top?" Grimmjow ran his right hand through his hair, getting agitated at the thought of his former rank of number 6 in the espada. He was better than that fruitcake that replaced him, anyway. Even with one arm. So why was he demoted again?

"You truly have a temper, Grimmjow. You seem to make problems with everyone and yet you resolve none of them. You have no strength of will."

"I'll show you freaking strength of will, you dumbass! Just watch!" With that, Grimmjow launched himself out of the rip, leaving Ulquiorra staring after him with the blank expression of a confused snake.

"What did I say?"

"liiiichigoooo!" Ichigo cringed as a soft ball of orange plush landed on top of his head. A squirming, angry ball of plush, but who the hell cares about that?

"What do you want, Kon? Shouldn't you be back at my place? Someone could see you out in public like this."

The stuffed lion frowned, somehow starting to cry frustrated tears. "Where's my Rukia? I haven't seen her for years! When will she be here?" Kon started to yank Ichigo's hair, making Ichigo grab him and throw him into a trash can as he walked by. Kon, the persistent bastard, just climbed out attached himself to Ichigo again, now smelling like mustard and stale beer.

"Leave me alone, will you? I gotta go to school. Jeez." lchigo didn't want to think about Rukia. He had enough problems already, what with his inner hollow acting up. If he didn't get a hold on it soon, he could end up hurting all the people that he wanted to protect, and where would that leave him?

Kon finally gave up and went... somewhere. Ichigo didn't really care where the annoying little thing went as long as it wasn't anywhere near him.

"Ichigo! Hey, over here!" Ichigo looked up at the sound of Orihime's voice. She waved exuberantly as his eyes found where she was standing. Uryu and Chad were there, too. Uryu looked a little constipated, as usual, and Chad was his normal, stoic self. And he was wearing that awful pink Hawaiian shirt. Where did he get that monstrosity anyway?

"Hey guys. What're you doing?" Ichigo looped his thumbs through the straps on his backpack.

"Going to school, obviously." Uryu pushed up his glasses and turned, walking toward the school. He hadn't been very sociable since they'd returned from the Soul Society, and he had yet to confide in them that he'd lost his powers after battling the captain of Squad 12, Mayuri Kurotsuchi.

"Umm, Uryu is just in a bad mood today, that's all!" Orihime laughed uncomfortably and ruffled her hair. Her blue barrettes caught the sun, reminding Ichigo that none of his friends were really very normal. And he was the weirdest one of the bunch.

"Well, I guess I'm going to go, too. I'll see you guys later." Ichigo left his friends and made his way into the school, once again thinking of all the ways his life could go wrong. Little did he know, his life would be the last thing on his mind when he got home that day.

"Man, I'm so bored right now!" Grimmjow turned away from his view of the Kurosaki kid walking into the ugly building across from his current seat. Nothing interesting had happened at all, and who the hell knew where Ulquiorra was. Grimmjow was slowly going crazy with all of the nothing that was going on in this godforsaken world. Soon, if he didn't get some action, he would have to stir up a little trouble for the humans just to keep his sanity. What little there was, anyway.

Standing up, Grimmjow stretched, feeling the sharp absence of his left arm. If it was the last thing he'd do, he would pay back that bastard Kaname, even if it killed him. He turned his head back toward the girl and her dark friend as they also headed into the building. A few minutes later, a faint bell rang out in the building. Grimmjow blew out a sigh before sinking back to the ground. He let his vision go blurry as he prepared himself for the hours of boredom ahead. He didn't want to leave and miss the humans leaving. There was nothing worse than losing track of one's prey.

Grimmjow felt a slight presence behind him and whirled around, muscles tensed to attack. When he saw it was only Ulquiorra he relaxed slightly. "What are you doing here?"

"Are your subjects in that ugly building there?"

"Yeah, why? Shouldn't you be watching your group?" Ulquiorra chose to watch the soul reapers which included the ones called Renji, Captain Hitsugaya, Rangiku, Ikkaku, and Yumichika. Grimmjow didn't think the other man would abandon his post just to screw around with him, but the world was just full of surprises. He noticed Ulquiorra had a strange object in his hand. It seemed to be melting over his hand. "Is that some sort of strange food item?"

Ulquiorra looked down impassively at the thing in his hand. "The man told me it was called 'ice cream.' I decided to try it out of sheer perversity, I suppose."

"You're a pervert, alright. Eating human food like a common monkey," Grimmjow muttered under his breath. "Wait, you let a human see you?"

Ulquiorra nodded. "I saw no harm in it." He held up the ice cream. "I haven't tried it yet. It is not a very appetizing color, is it? I wonder if that human tried to fool me with poison or some such thing..." He looked at it almost suspiciously.

"It doesn't matter anyway. You won't actually eat it." Grimmjow stared in horrified fascination as Ulquiorra brought the ice cream to his mouth and licked it ponderously. He stared at it for a few seconds longer before saying, "It's cold," and throwing it over the wall. It splattered helplessly on the pavement below the roof, and a few ignorant humans looked around in puzzlement, trying to find the culprit.

"Heh. Knew it'd taste terrible. Now get back to your post, stupid. You have a job to do, don't you?"

"Who thought you would be lecturing me on responsibility. I suppose I should go, though. I wouldn't want one of my subjects to die and me miss it." Ulquiorra flashed, disappearing in less than a second, leaving Grimmjow alone with his thoughts, which was quite a dangerous place for him.

"Back from school already, son? If I didn't know better I'd think you didn't have any friends! But of course the son of a popular guy like me wouldn't be alone on a Friday night, now would he?" Isshin Kurosaki belted out a laugh as Ichigo slinked through the door, just avoiding his father's attempted tackle. Isshin slammed into the wall and popped back up, nosebleed in full swing with a huge grin on his face. "That's my boy! Great dodge, Ichigo!"

"Dad, when are you going to stop trying to attack me? Aren't you even worried that you'll kill me or something one day?"

"Come on Ichigo! Don't be a sissy! If I didn't know better I'd think I had three daughters instead of two! Be a man and give your old dad a hug!" Isshin crashed into the fridge door as Ichigo opened the refrigerator to get a bottle of water.

"Jeez, Dad, give it a rest. Ichigo just got home." Karin, Ichigo's sister, stomped into the kitchen. "Plus, you don't want to break the house again, do you?"

"Haha. I guess not." Isshin swept a sheepish hand through his spiked hair as he patted Karin's head. She scowled, narrowing her eyes before joining Ichigo at the counter. He was making himself a sandwich, knowing that dinner was a ways off since there was almost no food in the fridge. However, he wouldn't be surprised if his youngest sister Yuzu could whip up something for dinner anyway, even with the limited supplies.

"I'm going up to my room Dad. Yuzu, you'll call me when dinner is ready, right?" He said, as he saw her come into the room from the corner of his eyes.

"Sure, Ichigo. That'll be fine! That is, if you guys would stop messing around and get out of the kitchen so I can work!" Ichigo left her yelling at Karin and his dad, carrying the plate with his sandwich up the stairs. He didn't pay any attention to his surroundings as he set the plate on his dresser and went to his closet to put up his uniform. However, just as he got the shirt off, a voice rang out, startling him and bringing him spinning around to face the window.

"Now, I don't think it's polite to undress when you've got company in your room, now is it?" The man seated on the window ledge had his one arm resting loosely on his bent leg. The fingers twitched restlessly as Ichigo fumbled for his substitute soul reaper badge that allowed him to take his soul reaper form. Before he found it, however, the man flashed and appeared before him, wrenching his arms above his head and shoving Ichigo into the wall beside the open closet. "No no, none of that now. We're just going to have a friendly conversation. There's no need to bring swords into it."

Ichigo winced at the painful pressure the man was keeping on his wrists. He gritted his teeth and gave a savage smile equal to the one currently curving the other man's lips. "Well well. It's you again. And yet you're looking a little worse for wear, now aren't you, Grimmjow?"

Grimmjow felt a sense of excitement seeing the boy's face echo the violence in his own

expression. "Yes I am, thank you for noticing. Still, I don't think my looks are in anyway damaged by this little loss. I'm the amazing Grimmjow Jaegerjacquez, after all."

"Oh, so you're a circus performer, now? What, did Aizen get tired of you throwing tantrums all the time?"

"Oh no, on the contrary, boy, I've been gifted with the very special task of watching over you and your passle of little friends! Isn't that lucky for you?"

Ichigo began to struggle even harder. Grimmjow tightened his grip on the boy's arms just in case he mustered up enough strength to break his hold. "Stay away from them, you freak! Touch them and I'll kill you!"

"My, my. I think I'm liking this side of you, Kurosaki. I never knew you could be this fun. I thought you didn't have a killer instinct like mine."

"I'm nothing like you, monster. I only want to protect my friends! When have you ever wanted to protect someone besides yourself in your entire life!"

"Well, there's no need to be rude. Here I am, thinking I was fortunate that I disobeyed my orders to talk to you and you just go on insulting me." Grimmjow tightened his grip even further. Even with only one arm, the pressure was immense, and soon Ichigo could feel the bones in his wrists start to fracture. "That's really not very nice of you." Grimmjow leaned in closer to the boy. "But I like that in my prey."

"Orders? What orders?" Ichigo closed his eyes, trying to block out the pain. If only he could get a hand free then he could get his badge and turn soul reaper. Grimmjow watched the thoughts flash across Ichigo's face. The kid was easier to read than a book. With pictures.

"Fine. I'm feeling merciful tonight." Grimmjow let him go and flashed back to his perch on the ledge. Predictably, Ichigo took out his badge and smashed it to his chest, expelling his soul reaper spirit. His body flopped harmlessly to the ground, empty.

"Now we can fight on equal terms, arrancar." Ichigo drew his zanpakto and brandished it in front of him. Grimmjow just grinned joyously.

"Didn't I say I didn't come here to fight you? I just wanted to talk. I got so bored watching all of you that I was fixing to go out of my mind. It does the body good to get a little excitement."

"What? What are you talking about? You're crazier than I expected if you think you can just sit there and do... whatever it is you're doing!" Ichigo started shifting from foot to foot and Grimmjow's blue eyes followed the movement, smile still lingering on his face.

"You're just the thing I needed, you know that? I think I'm gonna go hunt down Ulquiorra now. Maybe we can go out for ice cream." He winked at the dumbfounded boy and saluted as he flipped backwards out of the window. He started down the street at a fast pace. He didn't feel like flying tonight, and he needed to burn off some energy anyway before he imploded with excitement. His night was just beginning.

Ichigo stared at the window in shock. He just left, just like that? What the hell was wrong with that guy's brain? His wrists gave a twinge of warning before Zangetsu fell out of his nerveless hands. Ichigo rubbed his hands together, trying to get some feeling back into them. The guy had a grip like a vise, he had to give him that at least. Even with one arm he was a pretty scary person.

Ichigo sighed and forced all thoughts of the blue-haired arrancar out of his mind. He picked up his zanpakto before reentering his body, feeling a momentary disconnection that quickly passed. His head shot toward the door as Karin entered.

"Dinner's ready downstairs if you want it. You looked a little beat earlier so I wasn't sure." She stopped, narrowing her eyes at him. "You look weird. Is something wrong?"

He laughed nervously, running a hand through his hair. "No, nothing's wrong. Why'd you think that?" His hand fell down to his side, and he stood there awkwardly trying to compose himself. He'd always felt his sisters saw too much, and he didn't want them to get involved with his problems any more than they already were. "I'll be down in a moment. Just give me a sec to change out of my uniform." He looked down at himself, realizing that he'd forgotten that his shirt was already off.

"Ok. I'll tell Yuzu and Dad you'll be down." She gave him a pseudo-concerned look. "You probably should get more rest. I think you're kind of losing your mind, Ichigo."

He growled at her and pushed her out the door. "Get out of my room, Karin. You're being annoying." He shut the door behind her and breathed a sigh of relief. "I love my family but God! Sometimes I just can't do it." He flopped down on his bed and buried his face in his pillow. I really hate that damn arrancar, he thought. I really, really do.

Sighing yet again, Ichigo dragged himself out of bed and made his way downstairs to where his family was waiting for him at the kitchen table. His problems would have to go on hold for now. There were more important things to take care of.

"Ulquiorra? Are you there?" Grimmjow yelled, cursing as he almost tripped over a broken pipe sticking out of the concrete floor. Ulquiorra was supposed to be here, seeing as he'd chosen this abandoned, disgusting warehouse as his base for their mission. Grimmjow had pitched a fit, refusing to live in that horrid place for even an hour, but nothing he'd said was able to change the other man's mind. Ulquiorra had thought no one would find them here since there was no discernable traces of spiritual pressure left anywhere in the whole building and it was so beaten down and out of the way that it was basically invisible to the common populace. Grimmjow had been grudgingly surprised at the other man's willingness to sacrifice comfort for strategy, but now he just thought he was a fool.

"Damn it Ulquiorra! If you aren't here and I came here for nothing then I swear I'm going to kill you! Get your ass out here now!" Grimmjow meant his promise. He never went back on his word.

"I'm right here, trash. Do you think you could be a bit louder? I think I can still hear out of my ears." Wow. Sarcasm from the emotionless robot. How shocking. Well, two can play at that game, thought Grimmjow.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Did pwecious wittle Ulquiorra hurt his ears? Come over here so I can kiss it better," Grimmjow snarled as his hand closed around the side of a concrete pillar. He ripped a chunk out of the beam, making dust rain down onto the filthy floor. "Or I could make it worse, whichever you'd prefer?"

Ulquiorra stared impassively at Grimmjow, cold green eyes not showing the least bit of fear. "Did you have fun with the substitute soul reaper, Ichigo Kurosaki? His spiritual pressure is lingering all over you like constant shadow. He must have been very agitated."

"Fuck! You can sense that?" Grimmjow ran his hand through his hair. "I thought I gave it enough time to wear off. I guess it didn't go too well." He looked at Ulquiorra, unusually solemn. "Are you going to tattle to Aizen?" He drew in a breath as Ulquiorra did the scariest thing he'd ever seen.

He smiled.

"Ichigo, are you okay? You look kind of pale today?" Ichigo smiled weakly at Orihime's concerned tone. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just didn't sleep very well last night. Bad dreams, you know?"

Orihime gasped. "Oh, I know all about bad dreams! There was this one I had a while ago where there was all of this cool food laid out on a pretty table, like at a feast, but there was no one around to eat it! So I thought 'It would sure be a shame if all this food went to waste!' and I started eating it all. There was spaghetti with dark chocolate sauce and blueberry meatballs, and salmon yogurt, and orange—"

"Orihime! I get it!" Ichigo laughed. She was the same as always. Nothing could change Orihime Inoue.

"Heh heh. I guess I got a little carried away, huh? Oh well, I'm glad that was only a dream. The food was good, but I had a really bad stomach ache after I'd finished eating everything. I was fine when I woke up though, so that was good!" She smiled cheerfully up at him. "Did you feel better when you woke up?"

He smiled halfheartedly back at her, not wanting to worry her with unneccesary things. "Not really, but I'm sure tonight will be better. I'll just go to bed earlier, I guess."

"Yeah, that's a good idea." She paused at the walkway to her home. "Thanks for walking me home, Ichigo. You didn't have to, you know. I would have been fine."

"Well, you never know what kind of creatures you could meet on these streets." Like a certain blue-haired maniac. "It wasn't any trouble. Take care, Orihime." He turned and started toward his house. Orihime called after him, "Bye Ichigo! You be careful too! I've been feeling some strange presences lately so be on the lookout!" before going into her house. Ichigo smield humorlessly. He knew exactly what the strange presences were and he was ready for them. Bring it on.

Grimmjow tracked the boy from his friend's house all the way home, feeling like a creepy loser who had nothing better to do than stalk a teenager to his house. To make things worse, Ulquiorra was with him, though he hadn't said a word since they'd left the warehouse. Grimmjow frowned as he remembered what happened after the other man had given that disturbing smile.

"Of course I won't tell Aizen about your little mistake," Ulquiorra said, teeth beginning to show in what had to be the most terrifying smile Grimmjow had ever seen. "As long as you take me along next time you go to see him."

"What! You've got to be kidding me!" Grimmjow sputtered, trying to think of a reason the other guy would want to come with him. "That's a stupid favor! Why?"

Ulquiorra wasn't fazed. "I want to see how you two interact. I find emotions fascinating." He paused. "Only when they are not my own, that is." He looked up at Grimmjow. "If you don't comply with my demand, I will not only tell Aizen of your disobedience, but I will also say that you have taken to life in this world too completely and it has tremendously affected your own skill and rationality. I would recommend that you be disposed of." He narrowed his eyes slightly, looking more like a snake than ever before. "You know that I will do it. Have no doubt. I care nothing for you."

Grimmjow scowled heavily and started to protest before realizing that the other man was completely serious about what he said. He would do it. The bastard had no reason not to and he didn't care anything for the lives of others around him. "Fine. You can come. But don't bother me or I'll scar your pretty face until it's unrecognizable. And don't touch the boy. He's my toy."

Ulquiorra just looked at him. "I understand."

"Fine then. But remember what I said." And with that, the two left the warehouse and headed out to find the substitute soul reaper.

Grimmjow growled low in his throat, not sparing the smaller man a glance. He said, out of the blue, "So I guess you decided to screw watching your group? I gotta say, disobeying your great lord and master Aizen doesn't seem like you."

Ulquiorra narrowed his eyes almost imperceptibly. Grimmjow only saw it because he spent so much time around the other man. "Aizen is not my master. I have no master."

Grimmjow laughed bitterly. "Yeah right, idiot. We all got a master and it's Aizen. At least he likes you. I mean, you're the sycophantic genius who hangs onto his every I am a rebellious troublemaker who is this close to being put down." He held his index finger and thumb about half an inch apart. "I've already been demoted."

Ulquiorra was silent for a few minutes. They cleared five more roofs before he spoke again. "I wouldn't think you would be concerned by that. But there's no time for that. The boy's house is right there." They stopped on top of the roof of the building across from the Kurosaki family's clinic and home. Ulquiorra looked at Grimmjow with no expression. "I will follow your lead." Grimmjow laughed humorlessly. "Yeah, you'd better. My promise still stands." He looked down to where the orange-haired soul reaper was just entering his home. "This kid's all mine."

Ichigo felt bone weary as he dragged himself through the door. He'd been sensing faint spiritual pressures all day, and it had gotten worse since he'd walked Orihime home. He recognized the pressure of the blue-haired espada. The other one felt vaguely familiar, and he felt like he should know it, but Ichigo just couldn't remember who it belonged to.

Ichigo frowned as his head was once again full of thoughts of Grimmjow. Why the hell was he thinking about that man so much? It was getting a little creepy. He looked up at the sound of Yuzu's voice as she walked into the kitchen with Karin. She smiled when she saw him standing by the door. "Hey, Ichigo. Why are you just standing there? Dad's asleep already. It was a hard day today. A lot of patients." She looked at him closely as Karin pulled a soda out of the fridge. "You look kinda mad. Something wrong?"

"Nope. Nothing you guys need to worry about." Ichigo smiled and grabbed a banana and a bottle of water before walking toward the stairs. "I'm pretty tired so I'm just gonna head to bed already. I don't really feel like dinner tonight."

"Okay. Hope you feel better, Ichigo. Good night." Karin also said good night and Ichigo smiled at them as he climbed the stairs toward his room. Right before he opened his door, however, he sensed two ridiculously strong spiritual pressures inside his bedroom. He dropped his backpack in the hall and changed into his soul reaper form before bursting into his room. "Why the hell are you here again! This time I swear I'll kill you!" Ichigo unsheathed Zangetsu and slid into a battle stance, legs bent and sword at the ready. Grimmjow just looked at him and laughed derisively.

"Cool down, little boy. We're not here to fight. It's the exact opposite actually." Grimmjow slinked closer to Ichigo, disregarding the bare zanpakto that seemed to quiver in the boy's hands. It obviously enjoyed battle, too, just as its master did. Ichigo was ready for the arrancar to make his move, but strangely enough, Grimmjow stopped about two feet away from him, not even trying to attack him. That was when the other man spoke up. His voice reminded Ichigo of shadows within shadows. He felt a shiver go through him, but did not let it distract him.

"It seems the boy does not like you as well as you think, Grimmjow. Perhaps you are delusional?"

"Shut the hell up, Ulquiorra. I never said he liked me, just that he was mine to play with. I never asked you for your opinion on it, dumbass."

Ichigo narrowed his eyes. The man was the same one who made that crater in the park. The one who was with that big guy whose arm Urahara cut off. Ichigo recalled the way he'd almost lost his life in that brief battle, as well as almost unleashing his hollow. He felt a dark, maniacal laugh slide through his mind, there one minute and gone the next. It was acting up again, and there was nothing Ichigo could really do about it. His hollow seemed to really enjoy the presence of the arrancars.

Deciding to match Grimmjow's surprisingly unthreatening approach, Ichigo sheathed Zangetsu, drawing the attention of the two men. Grimmjow's eyebrows went up while Ulquiorra showed no emotion whatsoever. The green tracks on his face looked even more like black tears in the shadows of his dark room, and why am I thinking this? Ichigo thought to himself. In contrast, the marks around Grimmjow's eyes just seemed to make him seem unconventional and fun. What the hell was wrong with him? Ichigo shook his head trying to clear out all these weird thoughts. Grimmjow found the sight amusing and said so.

"You look kinda funny shaking your head like a wet dog, Kurosaki. Want me to help you out?" He reached out and plopped his hand down on Ichigo's tousled orange hair. Ichigo snorted derisively before knocking his hand away. "I don't need your help, espada."

Grimmjow grinned even wider. "If you say so." He then flopped down onto Ichigo's bed without a second thought to his welcome. The other one, however, looked at Ichigo so intensely that he began to get a little uncomfortable. "What do you want?" he asked, a small tremor of nerves running through his voice.

"You are lower than trash to me. I want nothing from you." He turned to Grimmjow, who had a very annoyed slant to his eyes when he looked back at the smaller man. "This boy doesn't seem to be as enthusiastic about you as you are to him. Is it reasonable for you to pursue someone who has no interest in you other than to give you your true death?"

"Hell yes! I love a good challenge!" He shot an arrogant, triumphant look at Ichigo. Who the hell was this guy and what did he think he was going to do with Ichigo? Ichigo narrowed his eyes as the arrancar started moving in on him, slinking closer. He winced as his hollow started acting up in his head. He got really worried when he heard it speak. "Hey, King? Whatcha gonna do wit da pretty blueberry? Give 'em ta me an' I'll have me a little fun, hm?" Ichigo shivered almost imperceptibly at the hollow's eagerness. "Aren't you supposed to reflect the basic traits of my personality? I'm not gay!" Ichigo demanded of his other hollow laughed. "Sure ya aren't, King. It's yer call!" He cackled evilly again.

When Ichigo managed to separate himself from conversing with his hollow, he got a shock when he noticed Grimmjow standing flush against him, all in his personal space, sniffing his neck. The arrancar didn't seem threatening at all, though. Instead, he seemed almost confused. He looked up at Ichigo, a small frown marring his perfect brow. "Your scent changed there for a moment. It got a little… dark, I guess." He looked at Ulquiorra. "Did you feel the change in his spiritual pressure, too? It changed with his scent."

Ulquiorra nodded but seemed utterly uninterested in everything that was going on. He was currently amusing himself by staring out the window at a stray cat beneath Ichigo's window. The cat had a dead bird in its mouth, probably going off to eat it somewhere. "I don't really care about the boy, Grimmjow. Are we done here for the night? I find myself a little underwhelmed with you."

"Shut the hell up, idiot. Leave if you want to. I ain't going nowhere." He looked back at Ichigo, suggestive grin on his face, moving even closer than he had been when he sniffed Ichigo's neck. Ichigo felt a tremor of rage at the espada's arrogance. That was one thing he couldn't stand, people who thought everything and everyone was below their own level of power, intelligence, beauty, and anything else they had an inflated ego over. Obviously this arrancar was one of those people.

With his building rage distracting him, the hollow felt his chance and took it, rising up through Ichigo's mind and seizing power from the King. That arrancar was gonna get one helluva surprise, the hollow thought, feeling a wicked smirk cross Ichigo's face.

Grimmjow was taken aback when he saw the evil grin on Ichigo's face. When the boy opened his eyes, Grimmjow drew in a breath at the black and gold colors, so different from the normal human brown of the soul reaper's eyes. Not to say he was scared, far from it actually. Those strange eyes just made his excitement get stronger. He could feel Ulquiorra getting disgusted at his common reactions. The other man really did feel nothing, but sometimes when you pushed him too far, he would let you have a glimpse of the deep, endless pit that he held inside him. He was probably the only being in any world that could almost make Grimmjow truly fear for his life.

He turned his attention back to the soul reaper turned hollow who was looking back at him with an insolent light in his eyes. This boy was so full of surprises and Grimmjow was going to uncover them all. Slowly, painfully… completely.

He got distracted yet again when the boy slowly swiped his tongue over his bottom lip, giving it a subtle shine in the dark room. Ichigo's hollow was a tease, Grimmjow thought, pleased at this discovery. Hollows enjoyed bedding things with a little spirit in them. It didn't matter if it was male or female. Grimmjow in particular had gotten over that hangup even before becoming an arrancar.

When the boy bit his soft lip until it reddened, Grimmjow let out a low growl, which apparently amused the hollow to no end as his grin widened. "Like whatcha see, Grimmy darling?" His voice was different than Ichigo's, dual-toned and higher, yet raspier at the same time. He trailed his hand suggestively down Grimmjow's chest.

Behind him, Grimmjow felt Ulquiorra rise from his seat on the window sill, finally disgusted beyond his endurance. "I'm leaving," he said, before disappearing out the window. Grimmjow couldn't say he wasn't glad the man left. He was never one to lie. Most of the time. He focused on the hollow in front of him. "Now, where are we going with this?"

The hollow grinned. "Where ever ya want to, Grimmy. I got all da time in da world."