Notes: KSH verse, 2002 May. The part where Grimmjow explicitly asks Nel's blessing is more or less when they first reunite with Ichigo (2002 April), and this is after that. The namesake song was first recorded by The Temptations, but this remake is the most popular version.
"War! Good God, y'all
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing!" -"War," Edwin Starr, USA, 1970
"I AM THE WARRIOR, AND HEART TO HEART YOU'LL -EEK!" Nel immediately hid the hairbrush she was singing into behind her underwear-clad body, the tape still playing off to the side, as Grimmjow entered the room.
"I'll let you get dressed," Grimmjow said, leaving to wait in the hall.
He reentered the now-quiet room when she called him three minutes later, taking in her neon leotard, tights, and leg warmers.
"You look like you got run over by a box of crayons," he smirked.
"You're just saying that because you haven't been in this world since '79!" Nel poked a finger at him.
Grimmjow narrowed his eyes, leaning in, "Well, you haven't since '86!"
"Oh, yeah?" Nel fought back both Grimmjow and laughter, standing over him, "Well, we're both here now!"
Grimmjow rose, following her, "Oh, yeah? Well I don't even know what we're actually arguing about!"
The two paused and broke into laughter.
Catching his breath, Grimmjow sat down on the bed Kisuke had provided him when they had come to the living world, "I think I needed that."
Nel resumed her seat on her provided bed next to his, "Yeah, me too..."
"So," she tried to keep the conversation going, "Everything went well meeting Ichigo's dad last night?"
Grimmjow nodded, "yeah, actually. He's a little crazy, but kinda in a fun but embarrassing way, not in the evil way. Kinda like you."
Grimmjow took a sweatshirt to the face before continuing, "He approves of the whole thing, since Ichigo's over 16 but under 18 until July..."
Grimmjow fell silent, gazing at the floor beneath his feet as if the thirty years of damage to the wood floor was art.
To a punk, Nel conceded, it might have been, but it didn't explain the look on his face.
"What's wrong?" Nel asked, laying on her side and looking up at him.
"It was war,"Grimmjow shook his head, "and I don't even know if they ever thought of me as a friend, or worth being friends with... but..."
"Your fracciones..." Nel stated more than she was asking.
He looked at her, his eyes pained-the difference in age between the two often seemed less like the nine years he actually had over her.
"A part of me feels like I'm betraying them."
Nel looked aside-down from her angle on her pillow, "Actually, I've been thinking the same kind of thing myself."
Grimmjow arched a brow in confusion, "But Pesche, Don, and Bawaba were fine this whole time."
"Not my brothers-your friends...I didn't-It's not like I didn't think of them as my own friends, too...You know Rukia?"
Grimmjow nodded, "We talked it over since she's staying with Ichigo... I know...she killed DiRoy. She's a soldier...it was war...you like her?"
Nel nodded.
"Well, Ichigo was her ally. And none of us either wanted to be there...or had a choice."
"At least he's gone now."
Grimmjow looked off to the wall beyond which Tia shared a bed with Noitora. Nel's eyes followed his.
"Some people are monsters regardless," she remarked softly before sitting next to him, laying her head on his shoulder.
He tore his eyes away from the wall, turning to his other side to wrap Nel in a tight hug in the privacy they had for the moment.
"So what do you think of Rukia?" She asked once they parted.
Grimmjow shrugged, averting his eyes again, "If nothing else, I have to respect her strength. But I don't hold anything against her, actually. I know, I know I should, but I know she should, too... She doesn't, and I can't. So... I don't. What do you think of Ichigo?"
Nel smiled, "I think he's pretty nice. And I think you two will do good together."
Grimmjow patted her on the arm, "I think you will, too. Go get your girl."
Nel looked out the window that faced the street to the back of the house, not much visible from only the second floor, "I think I will."