Chapter 1: 1.32 am
Tatsuki sat in one of the back rooms, fidgeting nervously with the hem of her skirt. She checked over herself in the mirror, making sure the dress was still straight and that there were no creases in its soft sky blue material. Her gloved fingers smoothed down the dress lightly before dancing along the hem again.
"Tatsuki! You ready?" Her best friend popped her head into the room, her pretty face shining, alight with happiness. Tatsuki smiled at her friend rather forcefully, saying:" I've been ready since half an hour ago, Orihime!" Her friend smiled back rather dreamily in her own world, oblivious to her friend's discomfort.
"I can't believe I'm really marrying Ichigo!" Orihime said, her lips parted into a small, shy smile as she patted her poufy pink dress down.
"Y-yeah..." Tatsuki sighed softly, making sure her friend didn't notice it.
"Okay, let's go then!" Orihime clung onto Tatsuki's arm like she had done since childhood, still smiling absentmindedly as Tatsuki led her friend out of the back rooms. "Let go, I have to go in first, remember?" Tatsuki gently pried her friend's long fingers off her arm and stepped away from her, hiding a sad smile as she did so.
Today was Ichigo and Orihime's marriage, and she knew she shouldn't spoil the festive, cheerful mood by acting sad. The war had ended five years ago, and the two of them had been dating since then. Tatsuki remembered how she had been inexplicably sad when they had announced it, and everytime she saw them she had a pain in her heart, like a barb that she couldn't pull out, and couldn't explain why it was there in the first place. Then she had finally come to her terms with her own feelings, and couldn't do anything about the pent up emotions within her. So she devoted herself to studying and training, and had worked her way up to University, and was now number two strongest in the whole of Japan (including the males).
She reflected on the last few years as she stepped into the banquet room holding a basket of blue flower petals (in contrast to Rukia's white ones and Rangiku's soft pink ones) and put on an outer smiling façade. All she really wanted to do was to curl up in somebody's arms and cry her heart out about the last few years, but she steeled herself as she strew the flowers out in front of her. Rukia was dating Renji now, and Rangiku was with Ichimaru Gin, who had been miraculously resurrected. Tatsuki knew everything even though she didn't show it and didn't discuss it with anyone, including the reason behind the sudden appearance of a group of new transfer students in their school after the war ended (calling themselves the arrancar). She was still single (thankfully, she thought at first, but now she wasn't as sure).
Sighing, she finished her walk down the aisle and sat down with an empty basket at her appointed table for the bridesmaids and the groom's representatives, with Rukia and Rangiku as well as Renji, Chad and Ishida joining them. Technically, the bridesmaids' boyfriends could join them too, and the same courtesy was extended to the guys (they could bring their girlfriends). Tatsuki sighed to herself as her friends' dates joined them one by one, and the small table lit by flickering candlelight was soon full. Tatsuki realized her loneliness was even more prominent than ever in such an event, and sat in the corner eating quietly, listening and watching from the sidelines as she had always done, on the edge, in the shadows of people who had done things greater than her. She picked up small little changes in everyone throughout the night, and predicted to herself that Rangiku would soon get drunk off her arse, Gin would attempt to bring her back to her senses, Rukia would feel sick soon from eating too much and retire slightly earlier with Renji, while Ishida and Chad would be slightly drunk, but still half sane. She was squeezed in the corner of the table, nobody taking much notice of the quietly sad girl in the corner.
(~o0o~)
Finally, Tatsuki couldn't stand it anymore and excused herself from the table, leaving the cold noisy banquet room just before Ichigo and Inuoe could take pictures with the group. She stepped outside of the room, her blue flats clicking softly against the marble floor. Her footsteps echoed in the large corridor, and Tatsuki found that she liked that sound. After visiting the washroom where she washed off half her make-up (she didn't want to return to that room again), she found a door that led to a balcony, and she slipped outside, breathing a sigh of relief. It was warm tonight, she realized, with only a slight breeze, ruffling her hair and skirt slightly.
"Hey." The deep, masculine voice that sounded next to her made her jump out of her skin. As she looked closer at the dark silhouette which she didn't notice at first, the first thing she saw was blue hair glinting under the starlight, and mentally ran through the people she knew had such a voice and hair.
"Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez," she finally smirked at the tall male. "Sexta Espada, hmm?" she added as an afterthought, leaning against the railing. Said arrancar grinned, taking another swig of what smelled like liquor.
"Arisawa," he acknowledged even as she took the bottle from him and took a gulp herself.
"Strong stuff," she grimaced and took another sip. Grimmjow chuckled. The two of them were acquaintances from school, and she knew that he was going to the same university as she was. Passing the bottle back to him with a grin, she noticed a wall lamp and switched it on, causing a dim, flickering light to throw itself across the balcony. It lit up Grimmjow's face, and Tatsuki couldn't help staring at his sharp, predatory-like features illuminated by the light. He wore a formal black suit and blue tie that went well with his hair and eyes, and he had a wild, unconquerable feel about him. Tatsuki chuckled to herself, forgetting her sadness for a moment.
"Hey, you're Ichigo's friend, right?" Tatsuki nudged the taller male for the bottle.
"Yeah. Rivals too, and sparring partners. The last one mostly," he passed the bottle over without complaint. Tatsuki sighed almost inaudibly at that, recalling the days when she could defeat Ichigo easily, and he took her very seriously as a friend. Since he had defeated her, he had distanced himself further and further from her. Smiling sadly to herself, Tatsuki found herself taking another go at the almost empty bottle of sake. She could drink, contrary to Ichigo's accusation of her not being able to drink as she usually rejected any alcohol that the guys offered, choosing milk tea instead. She had grown taller too, thank god, and was now an agreeable height of 162 cm.
Tonight, however, she didn't care that she might get drunk off her ass and maybe end up in some random stranger's bed with her virginity stripped off her. Hell, she didn't even care that she just may get knocked down by a car on her way home. She just needed some escape from what she had endured for the past five years, and she wondered if she would ever find anybody else to love, somebody who would actually love her back, and treat her with respect. She had only had one boyfriend in her entire twenty years, and he had only been in it for her body. He survived for about a week until he told her that he wanted her body, and at that he was kicked out of Tatsuki's life without a single bat of her eyelid.
Sighing, she pushed herself off the balcony railing which she had been leaning against, and opened the door. Grimmjow didn't comment, and she was suddenly grateful for his quiet companionship. She exited the balcony and darted back into the room, picking off three more bottles of sake from the waiters' table, and nodding her thanks at the waiters. Tatsuki returned to the balcony, and Grimmjow was still there, his hands in his pockets, his head tilted up to look at the reddish night sky. There were no stars tonight, and as Tatsuki put down a bottle and held out the other to him, he wordlessly took it and uncorked it with his fingers. Tatsuki grinned a little at that, and accepted the bottle, taking a first gulp.
"You're not drunk even after the first bottle?" Grimmjow raised an eyebrow at her, noting that her fingers didn't shake and she didn't show the typical signs of being drunk.
"Same to you," she shot back. Definitely not drunk, Grimmjow chuckled to himself. They drank through another two bottles in silence until Grimmjow asked, "Won't they notice you missing?"
Tatsuki smirked rather sadly, taking another swig, and answered upon swallowing, "Nah, I'm in the shadows nowadays. You?" she directed his question back at him.
"They couldn't care less," he shrugged simply, and reached for the bottle.
"Why?" Tatsuki raised her head to look him in the eye properly. His eyes were a mesmerizing turquoise, and they had a sharp, alert, yet hazily sexy glint to them, catching Tatsuki unknowingly. An electrical current seemed to run through her, shocking her and lifting goosebumps all over her skin. Then she blinked and the moment was gone, and he lowered his face. He smirked dangerously, and said after a moment's thought: "They think I shouldn't hang out with Ichigo. Except Ulquiorra. 'Cos he likes Inoue." Tatsuki chuckled at that. Leaning back, she swirled the sake around and finished off that bottle.
"I'm tired..." she sighed.
"Of what?" Grimmjow glanced at the woman beside him as she hung her head between her legs.
"Of having to pretend..." From this, Grimmjow could already roughly guess what was bothering her. Hanging out with the Vizards had given him a peek into human emotions, and he was actually the most humane of the arrancar, surprisingly.
"Ichigo?" Grimmjow hazarded a guess, shocking the young lady into lifting her head before dropping it again. She seemed to sigh deeply before finishing up the last bottle and vaulting up lightly, surprisingly agile for someone who had just drunk at least two bottles of strong sake.
"Hey Grimmjow, I heard your fighting skills weren't too bad; wanna spar with me?" she grinned down easily at the blue-haired arrancar.
"Hmm... I'm around Ichigo's level. Can you handle me?" he chuckled, deep and throaty, making Tatsuki laugh as well.
"I'm the second strongest human in Japan, and anyway I've been itching to show off my actual skills to someone. Come on, I have the key to my dojo in the back room." She tugged on Grimmjow's hand, pulling him up with surprising strength.
"How are you going to go to the back room? You don't want to face, well, them, right?" Grimmjow glanced at the suddenly cheery black-haired girl who was pulling his hand. "Wait, what are you-" he stopped as she swung her legs over the railings, one hand in Grimmjow's and the other holding on to the railing. She sat there, swinging her legs, a soft sad smile on her lips as she surveyed the trees and garden underneath them. "Hey Arisawa, it's a fifth storey balcony, you know!" he exclaimed, gripping her hand tightly. She just smirked back at him, and still holding his hand, started walking across the railing, towards the wall.
"Well Grimmjow, I feel adventurous today, so I'm gonna show an almost-stranger my real skills, okay? You wanna see it?" she leaned in close to him, and somehow Grimmjow couldn't smell the alcohol on her breath, only a minty whiff, and her eyes were dancing with fire, her limbs strong and unshaking. "But you gotta spar with me, please?" she grinned, still standing securely on the railing, her face inches away from his, her grin devilish and slightly arrogant.
"Alright, but-" he stopped short as she let go of his hand and walked closer to the wall before putting a hand on it. Without turning her head, she said to Grimmjow: "Go into spirit form. Or else you won't see me." It wasn't an order or command, it was a warning. How'd she know about spirit form? She's just a mere human- Grimmjow stopped there as he watched the girl disappear from his astonished gigai eyes. He quickly changed to spiritual form, and found Tatsuki levitating in the middle of nowhere, smirking at him. Grimmjow was rarely shocked, but this time, he was stunned out of belief. "Okay, I'll spar with you," he grinned after getting over the initial shock. He couldn't wait to fight and see how well she could use her abilities in battle.
Tatsuki's face stretched into a proper smile and she held out her hand to him. "C'mon, I can levitate you too!" she held out her hand and Grimmjow took it, still shaking his head at her surprising abilities.
(~o0o~)
Ichigo glanced outside the banquet room at the window. There was a blurry spot, distorted, like frosted glass. "Hey guys, what's that?" He pointed at the glass, his brows furrowing.
"What's what? There's nothing there Ichigo, just a nice view of the garden," Rukia raised an eyebrow at him and took another sip of champagne.
"You can't see...?" Ichigo walked over to the window, rubbing his finger over the glass. The blurry spot suddenly shifted, and that made Ichigo blink, surprised. "Wait, Grimmjow?" Ichigo moved to see Grimmjow on a balcony a little further down from the window. At that moment, Grimmjow disappeared as well, and the blurry patch grew in size, moving across the window before leaving, and all that remained was what Rukia said- a nice view of the gardens.
"Ichigo-kun?" Inoue asked worriedly, joining him at the window. "Is there something-?" she glanced at him, then at the window.
"Nothing. Hey Ulqiorra! Where's Grimmjow?" Ichigo called to the arrancar that was sitting at the next table with the Vizards.
"He's on toilet break." The green eyes of the arrancar were cold as he answered. "Since half an hour ago," he added amusedly.
(~o0o~)
As the two of them walked on air past the window of the hall, Tatsuki snickered as Ichigo scratched his head, looking extremely puzzled, Inoue at his side, glancing worriedly at her new husband. This made her sour again slightly, and Grimmjow chuckled at Ichigo.
"He can't see us?" He smirked along with her.
"Only as a blurry patch on the glass, and he's wondering how a blurry spot can move." She grinned devilishly. Grimmjow broke out laughing again, and Tatsuki smiled, enjoying how his deep laughter rolled over her, making her relax again. After making a few funny faces at their friends like little kids, the two moved toward the back room.
"Y'know, you're the first mortal I've shown this to," Tatsuki said to Grimmjow as she dropped through the open window and made the two of them visible again. She picked up her bag and grinned at Grimmjow.
"I think hanging out with the Vizards has affected my IQ," Grimmjow chuckled. "Normally, I would never do that..." He turned to face the young lady. She just laughed and took his hand again.
"Hold on to my hand at all times when we're levitating, okay?" she instructed him, grabbing his hand tightly before opening the window again. The two of them slid down the wall carefully, and Tatsuki lifted their invisibility veil once they touched down.
"Let's walk there, like a normal person," Grimmjow suggested, leading her through the traffic. Tatsuki nodded, a grin still spread across her face.
(~o0o~)
They arrived at the dojo, panting and laughing from running crazily through the traffic in the rain, Grimmjow's coat wrapped around Tatsuki. "Thanks Grimmjow, and that was not a normal walk, unless you count jaywalking through 8 lanes of traffic a stroll through the park." Tatsuki snickered at the taller male and passed his jacket back once she unlocked the door and let both of them in. "Let's change first," she nodded at the changing rooms behind the main training room, and her eyes roamed up and down Grimmjow's body, measuring the size of the clothes he'd need. He wasn't too self-conscious either, and when she passed him extra clothes from those stored in the dojo he didn't complain, finding that they fit him just right.
(~o0o~)
"Hey Grimmjow, do you wanna fight using the gigai first or using spiritual form first?" Tatsuki asked when she stepped out if the changing room in her Karate uniform. Grimmjow was already there, standing, waiting for her. Both of them wore short-sleeved uniforms and long pants and Grimmjow's arms were bared, showing off his porcelain pale skin underlain with lean muscles that she could see very well. He grinned at her, baring his fangs, not missing out the fact that she was checking him out. Tatsuki smirked before tearing her gaze from his delicious looking arm muscles, and looked up at him calmly. "So?" she asked, circling around him, her bare feet making soft sounds on the floor mat.
"Spiritual form. I want to see the extent of your powers." Grimmjow grinned, excited to find a new opponent that would finally give him a challenge.
Grimmjow learnt a few more things about Tatsuki Arisawa that night. Firstly, she was a demoness in battle. Secondly, she had a zanpaktou. Thirdly, she was better in unarmed combat than she was with a zanpaktou.
When he found himself disarmed at sword point yet again for the tenth time, he rolled his eyes, laughing. "You're really good, you know," he chuckled while accepting his zanpaktou from her. "I wonder how Ichigo beat you in this state, honestly!" he exclaimed.
Tatsuki sheathed her zanpaktou, walking over and examining a cut she had formed on his cheek before answering, "He hasn't sparred with me for five years since the war ended. I promised, once, that anybody who wanted to date Inoue had to defeat me. He won, and at that time I was... Weak." She smirked to herself as she pulled away from him and withdrew a bottle of liquid from her bag. "Open your mouth," she instructed him, making him tilt his head upwards as she stood on a chair. She poured a single drop into his mouth, and as soon as it disappeared down his gullet, Grimmjow could feel himself healing, his injuries disappearing without leaving any scars at all, including the one on his cheek. Tatsuki took a drop of that potion too before storing it back into her bag. "So, ready? I got a new weapon recently, I wanna try it out. It works for my style of karate, so..." she rummaged in her bag again and pulled out a pair of tonfas.
"Those things are lethal in your hands!" Grimmjow exclaimed as he ducked and weaved from her punches and kicks. The tonfas served as a harder extension of her arm, catching his jaw and hollow mask, forming bruises all over his body. Tatsuki smirked and increased her speed so that Grimmjow had to increase his sonido speed as well to catch up with her. Her punches were accurate and deadly, raining down on him extremely fast, combined with powerful explosive kicks that tossed him into the air. She also moved lightning fast, disappearing from a spot and appearing somewhere else just before Grimmjow could hit her. "You're good!" he exclaimed, grinning happily even as he was defeated for the nth time. He could honestly care less about the mechanics of what she did, as long as it worked, and gave him a good challenge to work against.
(~o0o~)
"He said he needed some fresh air," Ulqiorra shrugged, unfazed by the pacing orange-haired young man in front of him.
"It's 11.30 pm, Ichigo, your wedding is over," Rukia pacified Ichigo. Inoue was watching anxiously, eyeing her new husband hesitantly.
"Umm... What's wrong with Grimmjow-kun leaving?" she asked timidly.
"We're supposed to train after this," Ichigo said, still pacing. "And I saw five empty bottles of Sake on the balcony! Drunk Grimmjow is not good to train with, and that Sake is even stronger than the one Rangiku drank!" Everyone looked to Rangiku at that, and she was hiccuping, obviously drunk. "That was only three bottles." Ichigo scowled.
"Chill, he should be around town somewhere, right? Anyway, he's an arrancar; he'd be able to deal with anything," Renji rolled his eyes at Ichigo.
"Let's go home already, look at the state Rangiku's in!" Rukia exclaimed, pulling Renji up.
"Ran-chan, it's time to go!" Gin slung Rangiku over his shoulder, chuckling slightly. "Congratulations, Ichigo! We'll be leaving first, bye bye~!" With his usual grin and a wave of his hand, Gin disappeared, probably using shunpo to return home.
"I shall take my leave as well, then." Ulqiorra stood up and bowed politely. "Don't worry about Grimmjow, he'll turn up," he advised before using sonido to return to his lodgings in the forest.
"Yeah, don't worry 'bout it Ichigo. You're training with him tomorrow anyway, right? You can kill him then." Renji gave his friend a strong pat on the back before leaving as well. Ichigo and Inoue glanced around the back room and picked up their things too before leaving, shutting the door softly behind them. However, there was a question still remaining in Ichigo's mind: something seemed missing, and it was weird, 'cos he was sure that all his friends were present and accounted for. Chad and Ishida had left earlier, and there was someone else... As Ichigo struggled to recall the face, name and voice, Inoue tugged on his arm, smiling earnestly at him.
"Let's go home, Kurosaki-kun!" She slipped her hand into his and his face relaxed into a smile, immediately forgetting about Grimmjow and that other person. Smiling gently back down at her, Ichigo led his new bride back home, smiling happily like an idiot.
(~o0o~)
Tatsuki mixed a drop of potion into Grimmjow's energy drink before passing it to him. It didn't do anything about the taste, but Grimmjow could feel his injuries healing up again. "Aish... Not fast enough yet!" Tatsuki sighed as she gulped down her own drink. Grimmjow blinked and glanced at her.
"What's not fast enough?" he asked casually.
"My attacks," she sighed, throwing her empty bottle over to the bin at the other end and it fell in neatly without her even looking up from her speed-measuring instrument she had taped on her arm. Grimmjow raised an eyebrow at her, wondering how the hell her attacks were not fast enough. "Hey Grimmjow, can I go all out next round? You'd better call out your resurrection too," she said, nodding at the arrancar.
"All out?" he wondered.
"Bankai," she replied absent mindedly as she pulled out her zanpaktou and ran her eyes over it. It was a long katana with a red hilt, sheath and sash, a razor sharp silver blade and it wasn't shaped weirdly; just a long, straight katana. But Grimmjow knew better; her sword could channel her reiatsu through it, and the reiatsu enhanced blade increased both speed and power. The katana was quite unremarkable, but Tatsuki wielded it so that it could suck out others' reiatsu and make it into her own. "I learnt that from a master," she told him with a smile when he asked.
"Umm, Tatsuki..." he probed lightly.
"Mmm?" The girl didn't look up, just continuing to run her fingers over her blade.
"Why don't you spar with Ichigo now that you're this good?" At his question, Tatsuki sighed and sheathed her zanpaktou before glancing sideways at Grimmjow.
"You really wanna know?" she asked offhandedly. He shrugged and answered, "You don't have to if you don't want to." Tatsuki grinned and hoisted up her shirt, making him blink and look away.
"He gave me this scar the last time we sparred," she poked his side to make him look and pointed to a thin, almost invisible scar on her torso, slicing diagonally across her stomach. "He still feels bad about it, and he doesn't want to fight me for some more reasons: one: I'm his friend and he doesn't want to injure me. Two: he thinks I'm weak. Three: he thinks, somewhere at the back of his mind, that I'm not worth fighting. After losing to him five years ago, we barely talk anymore." She smiled, a brave, sad smile.
Grimmjow sat in silence, digesting what she had just said. "Oi, Arisawa..."
"Call me Tatsuki already! You did just now!" she poked him jokingly in the stomach.
"Ichigo gave me a scar there too." Grimmjow's statement stopped Tatsuki in her tracks.
After a moment, she snickered softly and said,"He seems to enjoy giving people scars there, huh?" Grimmjow chuckled too at that. "Ahh, never mind, let's spar again sometime soon, Grimmjow. For now, I'm just so tired..." Sighing, Tatsuki leaned against his shoulder, the sudden warm contact making Grimmjow tense up for a moment before relaxing. Looking down at the young lady, he realized that she was sleeping, her eyes shut and her breathing even. She looked calmer, more peaceful, her lips relaxed into a sweet smile as she slept.
"Really, does she expect me to stay in this position in this place for the rest of the night?" Grimmjow chuckled to himself as he looked at the clock hung at the opposite end of the dojo. "1.32 am already? Might as well go home," he continued talking to himself strangely. With that, he swept Tatsuki into his arms, picked up her bag and his clothes and left the dojo, somehow managing to sling Tatsuki over his back and lock the door before using Sonido to travel back to the Vizored's warehouse, where he was staying, still grinning to himself and holding a sleeping Tatsuki in his arms.
Important note: This fanfiction doesn't belong to me but to the original writer Chocolatecatfish. I merely corrected it cause I don't have a beta profile and honestly I don't want one. I'm doing it in my own way and then posting the corrected version again. As in the other and future stories I am going to post, I change nothing about the actual plot, only correcting any grammatical errors or word orders and such things you know. I own nothing, not the story nor the characters or anything else.
If anyone has a complaint, then please PM me, especially if the author doesn't agree with what I'm doing.
See ya, Caroline98