Wiping a sweaty brow, Grimmjow shielded his face, squinting up at the midday sun. It was boiling and he was prickly with sweat. The grey button-up shirt, his leather blade halter and firearm holster was sticking to him, making it damp and uncomfortable.
"It's too hot!" Shinji groaned out.
Shooting a glare at the long haired man, Grimmjow's hands tightened into fists. "It won't bother you in a second."
"Whoa!" the blonde cried out, raising his hands, placating. "There's no need to get your panties in a bunch."
"Shinji," Grimmjow growled, throwing another bad look his way as they – Shinji, Tier and himself – cut their way through the thick brush of the forest.
Tier glanced back at them, narrowing emerald eyes in irritation. "If you wish everyone to know we're here, continue with your petty argument," she said shortly. "Otherwise keep it down."
Shinji exhaled noisily from the back, rolling his eyes and putting his arms behind his head. "God I'm bored."
"I will shove my sword through your throat Shinji," the blue haired man snapped fiercely, "I swear to fucking god. Please just shut-up!"
Shinji gave him a critical look for a moment before he grinned lecherously. "You're just frustrated because no-one's been... oiling your sword, huh? Huh?" He punctuated each 'huh' with a finger sharply in his back.
Grimmjow rounded on the man swiftly; certain he'd popped a vein. It was hot and they'd been walking for hours already trying to get back to camp and Shinji had been talking non-stop. He was hungry, thirsty, tired and his patience was wearing down like an old rope. "You filthy motherfu-"
"Shush!" Tier commanded as she ducked behind a tree trunk, holding a finger to her lips. She glanced out to the green and brown screen that was the forest, noticing a clearing.
Grimmjow immediately squatted down, sneaking over to where the blond woman was, glancing back to see Shinji also ducking down and approaching a tree nearby.
"What is it?" Grimmjow whispered, head cocking to the side as he strained to hear whatever had alerted Tier.
She flattened herself against the tree once more, reaching for her small dagger strapped across her rather impressive bosom. "I think I heard a voice."
Straightening, Grimmjow held his arm up, pushing Tier back slightly as he glanced around the tree. There was a small clearing ahead but he couldn't see anyone.
It was then he heard it however – the distant sound of hacking.
"Is that… someone cutting?" Shinji muttered across the small distance between them, brow rising in disbelief.
"Nobody would be stupid enough to be out here except them," Grimmjow spat as he unclipped his gun, nodding at Shinji who unsheathed his sword. "Let's go see who our visitor is."
They moved silently, sliding out of their perspective cover to step forward slowly, eyes scanning the trees carefully before suddenly a fierce hiss was heard and a battered young woman stumbled from between the branches, screeching like a banshee.
Not a second later she was followed out by an orange haired young man who wielded a giant sword, almost the length of his body. He was roaring, the sword strangely graceful and fluid in his grip as he whipped it towards her, dancing away from her grip when she tried to bat him.
The woman whined as the sword made contact with her arm from a swift slice, severing it from her shoulder in only seconds. The woman screamed desperately, black and yellow eyes flashing in anger and she jumped away from him immediately.
The young man didn't hesitate for a single moment as he charged at her once again, completely disregarding how absurdly dangerous it was to just attack head on. He gave a cry and swung his sword downwards and watched as the sword slid easily through flesh and bone – from shoulder to hip – separate with a sickening slicking noise and fall to the ground with a heavy thud.
Panting harshly, the man straightened, wiping his own blood from a cut above his eyebrow before he shot a bemused look at the dead woman. His face relaxed momentarily and he glanced at his right hand where he grasped his sword, lifting the monstrosity slightly.
Suddenly it became apparent the stranger somehow figured out that there were people watching because immediately, deep brown eyes were flicking between the three of them.
"Who the hell are you?" he demanded, crouching defensively, sword clasped firmly in both hands.
They glanced at one another, a mix between amusement and confusion. Shinji clearly wished to speak and he did in fact open his mouth to do so when the man spoke again.
"Are you here to kill me as well?" he demanded, glaring at them as he dug his heels into the dirt more firmly.
"What the fuck are you babblin' about?" Grimmjow snapped as he levelled his gun at the man dangerously. His fighting desire was like a bad itch, the pent up frustrations of the day making him easily riled. Not that he wasn't any other time. Plus, he hated these types the most – scavengers – because that was clearly what he was. Nobody would be playing around in the forest without anyone else around unless they were scavengers.
The look the man gave him was murderous; his eyebrows gathering tightly and jaw setting. "I asked you if you were here to kill me."
Shinji laughed. He had re-sheathed his sword and stepped forward, hands pressed into his pants pocket. "No, no! Of course not. We aren't scavengers, and we're clearly not hollows."
Frowning for a moment as he processed this, the stranger shook his sword towards them. "Explain what the hell is going on here you bastard! What the hell are hollows?"
They stared at the man in complete and utter amazement.
"How long have you been in this forest?" Tier asked in concern, taking a slow step forward, as if he were a frightened animal.
Snarling fiercely, he gripped his sword more tightly, knuckles white on the equally as white cloth hilt. "It's none of your business."
"Hey, hey! It's only a question friend," Shinji assured him, hands offered palm up in a gesture of peace.
"You're not my friend," the man growled at Shinji, swinging his sword to point at him before looking Tier in the eye. "And I don't wanna' have to explain myself to you. But I sure as hell want answers. What are hollows? Why did that woman attack me and who the hell are you three?"
"He's clearly confused," Tier muttered to Grimmjow, keeping his eyes on the young man. "What do we do?"
"I'm not deaf," the man rumbled dangerously from the sidelines. "You wanna' tell me what's the hell's going on? I'm a bit hot-headed so you might wanna' make it quick."
Shinji sniffed in bemusement. "You honestly don't know?"
"Know what?" he all but shouted back.
Grimmjow shook his head, laughing slightly in pity for the poor fuck. "Jesus, you must have been asleep for a long time. Welcome to the end."
XXX
Grimmjow glanced at the young man again as they trudged back to camp. They didn't end up explaining anything to him; Tier had reminded them of the consequences of being out for too long. Still, he reluctantly trailed them when they told him they were headed back to camp.
He appeared to be deep in thought, staring at his feet as he brushed branches away.
"What were you doing hanging around in the forest anyway?" Shinji suddenly asked, sidling along beside him.
The young man glanced at him but didn't speak immediately. "I don't know. I've been stuck here for a couple of days. There were some people out there, and I tried talking to the first couple I met until I realised there was something wrong with them."
The man's brown eyes narrowed darkly and he levelled a glance a Grimmjow. "Their eyes... they weren't right."
Shinji shared a look with Grimmjow, concern marking his features. "You... you haven't seen anybody else? How did you get into the forest?"
"No, just those couple of people and they all wanted to kill me," the man responded, clearly irritated by his own lack of knowledge. "And I don't know how I got into the forest. I woke up a few days ago with this sword strapped to my back and I just started walking."
"You hit your head or something?" Grimmjow asked dryly, wondering how the hell the man had managed to survive with no knowledge of what was going on and only a sword strapped to his back. The outbreak had began three months ago, he should have at least some knowledge of the situation.
The orange haired man practically growled. "No, you asshole. I just... look, I don't know! I can't remember my name, let alone how the hell I got here and you three are the only people I've met so far that have been even close to sane."
"Well, what the fuck do you know then?" Grimmjow asked dryly.
His eyes flicked up to meet Grimmjow's, fiery. "I'm looking for two people – girls – Karin and Yuzu."
"Right..." Grimmjow cleared his throat, nodding. "So that's all you can remember?"
"I don't even know if they're memories, or something I just have in my head, but the names... that's all I know at this point. And I need to – I need to find them. They're not safe."
Grimmjow was very frankly going to tell him that no-one was safe, but Shinji began to speak first.
"They're family?" Shinji asked; voice gentle and face – for once – sombre.
The young man flinched at the question, glaring at Shinji. "I... I don't know."
"It's my sister," Shinji told him.
It appeared to take the orange haired man a moment to process those words before he asked gingerly, "You mean she's missing?"
He smiled painfully. "I'd like to think so."
Confusion was clear on the stranger's face at the words but he didn't pursue the question, instead looking ahead to Tier.
"So, you can't remember your name, huh?" Shinji asked with grin, clearly trying to clear the air.
The man made a face, lips curling downwards as a sour look graced his face.
"Well we can't keep calling you 'you' all the time," Shinji told him pleasantly. "Got a name for yourself?"
"It's not like I've had anyone to say my name," he said slowly, clearly reluctant.
"We'll give you one then." Shinji grinned, walking backwards ahead of him.
"What about my esteemed colleagues?"
Tier slowed down just to give him a withering look.
Grimmjow got annoyed seeing his grinning face, so he tactfully held back any comments.
Tactful as he was, he couldn't help crushing his foot as he walked based the idiot.
Shinji took it all in his stride, grinning widely at the stranger. "I'll name you..."
"You can't just-" the young man began to protest.
"Jin!" he shouted, thrusting a finger in the air. "I'll name you Jin!"
"Jin?" the stranger demanded. "Really? Why Jin?"
"Because it means gold," he explained with a smile full of teeth. "Of course, your hair isn't gold, it's orange. It's all the same though, you know."
'Jin' made a face, eyes narrowing, but he didn't comment.
"We're almost at camp," Tier spoke up.
Her face was impassive but Grimmjow knew she was telling them to shut-up, in her own way.
Grimmjow let out a satisfied hum, hastening his pace, Shinji and Jin not far behind.
Tier held up a hand as they approached the fenced of area – a reasonably large area of mismatched buildings – something that perhaps might have been warehouses at some point.
A man sitting atop a car by the tall gate matched the gesture, speaking to another person milling about the area who opened the gate for them.
Grimmjow's grin widened and he felt himself relax. Camp wasn't exactly safe, but it was better than being out there.
He cast a look at Jin who was trying to inconspicuously catalogue everything and frowned. The man may have forgotten who he was, may not know where he was, but Grimmjow didn't feel like he was acting the way he should. His mind seemed to be constantly ticking and he looked at everyone like he was trying to remember and analyse everything he was seeing.
Perhaps he was.
The man suddenly met Grimmjow's eyes but though Grimmjow gave a start, he didn't look away.
Suddenly Shinji was there, moving in to talk to Jin.
"You okay?" he heard him ask and the man scowled but still nodded.
"So, someone going to explain to me what the hell is going on?" He crossed his arms, glancing between Grimmjow and Shinji, casting a look Tier's way as well. "I mean, sure, nice set-up and everything, but I still have questions about those... things chasing me."
"You hungry?" Shinji asked suddenly.
Jin frowned, eyes widening in surprise. "Well..."
"I mean, you probably haven't eaten for the last couple of days, right? What about water?"
He looked slightly uncomfortable with someone asking after his welfare but he nodded jerkily. "Yeah, I guess I could eat."
"Let's go, we'll explain while you eat."
Grimmjow screwed his nose up, shooting a glare at Shinji. He didn't want to want to be part of this. Shinji could take the brat under his wing. He wanted to eat and sleep.
"Ichigo?"
Grimmjow turned to Renji's voice, scowling at the interruption. The quicker this went the better. What did he want?
Then he realised Renji wasn't talking to him, but staring at Jin.
Jin had looked up as the name was called, but while no recognition showed on his face, it was clear as day to Grimmjow that Renji knew him.
"Renji, what's up?" Shinji asked the tattooed man, clasping a hand on his shoulder as he began to move forward but Renji was clearly not paying attention and instead walked straight up to Jin.
They stood facing each other for a second, Jin's face guarded as he observed the man in front of him.
Grimmjow could tell he was cataloguing again, taking note of the man's height, his intricate tattoos that followed down his forehead and arms, and his long crimson hair, tied in a high, messy ponytail and he wondered what he was thinking.
Renji moved slowly, as if in a daze, left hand reaching up as if to touch Jin's face, though he didn't get there because the man knocked his arm back.
Then suddenly Jin was encased in a hug, Renji's face resting happily in the cradle of Jin's neck.
Then Renji was suddenly falling onto Grimmjow.
Grimmjow pushed the man off him with an irritated huff. "What the fuck?"
"Who the hell are you?" Jin demanded, rubbing his neck roughly. "Who the fuck is Ichigo?"
Renji's eyebrows shot up, his mouth falling open and in his desperation, he glanced at Shinji and Grimmjow before asking slowly, as if Jin was a child; "Ichigo, you know who I am, right?"
Jin's face was confused for about a second before realisation struck him. "You know me?"
Renji opened his mouth to speak, suddenly looking quite unsure of himself. "We... we're dating."
XXX
I'M SORRY!
I don't update forever, and then I give you a new fic? I am a terrible person but I couldn't help myself.
Please believe me, I'm working to update all of my stories, but life has other ideas unfortunately. I will try to get everything updated in the next couple of days, because I love you and I'm sad that we haven't been friends. Anyway, please R&R! I need all the love I can get! xxxx