Verloren
Grimmjow was given a second chance at life. A chance to finish business and change what made him turn into a hollow. Lost in the world and trying to figure who he is and what happened to him, his only clues are in a foreign stranger.
Kapitel I- Traum
Grimmjow awoke to the sensation of someone poking his cheek. Faintly he could hear what sounded like someone addressing him. He couldn't recognize the voice. Heck he felt completely blank. The feeling of the sheet and bed were foreign.
"Allo. Mein Freund."
The words sounded off. He recognized them, but it felt like years since he'd heard them. He cracked his eyes open, blinded at first by the sunlight, but then two faces came into view. His mind scrabbled to place who they were, but he couldn't remeber. Everything was a big haze.
"Oi! Grimmjow!"
He jolted up from the bed at the more forceful use of his name. Pain sparked through his chest at the sudden movement. "wo.." the syllable felt odd on his tongue. "Wer?" more unfamiliar words seemed to roll around in his mouth.
A bright light shined into his and and he immediately shut them tightly again while growling. His eyes burned and watered a little from the action. voices were muffled around him as he felt someone tip his head back and apply a small amount of pressure to his eyelid. It felt weird but forced him to open his eyes. This time he was able to make out a small flashlight and the face of a middle-aged man. He closed his eyes to the light again only to be addressed with a soft voice.
" öffnen." He somehow recognized the word and opened his eyes again. "Gut. Schließen. Und öffnen." Grimmjow responded to each command confused at how he knew the words. "Gut."
The light went away and the hands holding his head up laid him back down gently. He closed his eyes again and listened to the voices and the strange language he somehow knew. He could tell they were talking about him, but he didn't really understand. Everything was foggy, like he was on the edge of remembering something, but there was a wall infront. He knew he should recognize the faces and voices. He knew the language, but he couldn't figure out why. It had felt like he'd been living another life very far away from this place. Orange flashed through his mind's eye and he jolted up.
"Kurosaki!"
The sudden movement startled all the occupants of the room and thoroughly confused them. He frowned a bit. The name sounded familiar, but he couldn't place it and couldn't even fathom why he knew it or whatever importance it had. The only thing he knew was that Kurosaki was somehow linked to the color orange.
"Oi Grimmjow."
He settled down again and closed his eyes again suddenly feeling tired. It felt like he hadn't slept in ages. Maybe if he slept it'd become clear.
Isshin had been proud to know that Ichigo had followed pretty much in his steps and gone toward medicine. He was smart and strong and Isshin knew he son would be great in the medical field. The sad part was that he was going to miss Ichigo while he was in Germany for a foreign exchange program. Sure Ichigo didn't live at home anymore, but he'd still been attending school locally and visiting fairly frequently. He was going to be in Leipzig for five months. Five whole months! Isshin knew Ichigo would be fine, but Karin and Yuzu were going to miss their big brother and obviously he was going to miss him as well.
Ichigo had gotten particularly high marks in his classes and had thus been chosen to with a handful of students to go into the program. At first he'd thought to decline thinking of his duty as a shinigami, but his friends had assured him that they in conjunction with members from soul society would keep Karakura safe while he was gone. After much deliberation he decided to go. Deliberation that included both Hitsugaya and Shuuhei threatening him if he didn't. He had definitely wanted to go. Infact he'd spent the greater part of his summer learning as much German as he could to make things easier. He wasn't as confident in speaking it as say his own native tongue, or even english, which he'd learned all through his prior school curriculum, but he did feel he could hold out a basic conversation.
Ichigo was nervous about going though. He'd suffered plenty of grief in his younger years because of his hair color. And though he was stronger now, would he be ridiculed for his nationality? his height? or his broken speech? He couldn't be sure. To an extent most insults now rolled right off him, he just didn't want to end up losing his temper or starting a fight. Just because all the big events had happened didn't mean Ichigo didn't keep his body and spirit trained. He'd stayed in constant training just so that he'd never even have the chance of letting anything that tragic happen again. Besides, he'd missed Zangetsu's voice and if the annoying jibes of his inner hollow when he'd had the brief stint of reiatsu-less existence. All in all he was strong and knew it, and he really didn't want to accidentally hurt someone for flaring his bad temper.
Ichigo had done as much prepping as possible in the coming weeks of his trip. He'd learned that the details of the program had given him a little bit less stress. He'd be sitting in on lectures and serving as a student proctor for pre-med student testing, as well as helping in the campus hospital and working part time for a pre-arranged doctor. His grade would be determined on how well he met the requirements for those things. It had relieved him to know he wouldn't be forced to take tests in German, or forced to do reports in front of full lecture halls.
His living situation had also worried him at first. Luckily he had found a small relatively cheap flat within walking distance of the Uni. It would allow for privacy during his stay and was in a fairly quiet area. The best part was the small grocery that was literally on the corner of the bulding. The location and convenience were all pretty much perfect. He'd mostly chosen the place for those reasons anyway. He could deal with a small space, and a studio living setup. He'd expected as much anyway. All in all, he had been preparing amply for the end of summer.
When he'd stepped off the plane in Germany with his fellow students, he hadn't know what to expect. The chosen exchange students had been given a guide that had met up with them at the terminal and had warmly greeted them. The guide had spoken very fluent english with them. Ichigo had been relieved by that. As much as he'd practiced, he didn't feel quite ready to be thrust into german-speaking. He figured he'd get enough once the semestre started up.
The next week had been spent getting his place set up, meeting the doctor he'd be working with, and learning the campus. To his pleasant surprise, Ichigo found that he quite enjoyed the area. He had made note of several places to check out when he had time. The hospital and doctors offices he was to be with were all very welcoming to him and had been quite impressed with his knowlege. Ichigo had been focusing in pediatric medicine, more specifically psychiatry. His father had wanted him to go more into surgery, but his time fighting made him feel his hands were not fit for the task. Besides, his own battles within his mind had made that space an interest to study. Essentially the doctor they had set him up with was the head of the Psychiatry department. Ichigo had been surprised and truthfully a bit intimidated. The guy had an upstanding reputation and was incredibly smart. As soon as Ichigo had gotten to sit down and speak with him though, he realized that the whole reason for his high regard was because he was so down to earth.
By the time the actual semstre had started Ichigo had felt a bit more comfortable and confident. He'd met a few of the other students through his work at the hospital. For once, despite his different background, he didn't feel out of place. All the classes he was going to be observing had been relevant to his focus of study and despite getting lost a few times due to quick lecturing in a language he had only scratched the surface on learning, he'd found them to be very interesting. Luckily he'd made a few acquaintances in these classes that had offered to go through the things he didn't quite catch.
Often times he found himself sitting in a small pastry shop a few blocks from the campus with those same acquaintances going over the lecture and helping him by explaining the missed parts in English since they obviously did not know Japanese. He realized though, that since that had happened, he was begining to catch more of the language. He was pleased with himself.
(2)
"Oi Grimmjow. Wie geht's?"
Grimmjow turned to the one voice that he'd become used to hearing since his supposed return from a thirteen year old death. "Ich bin m de."
"wirklich? Warum?"
"Meine Träume."
Grimmjow turned back to the window he'd been looking out. He frowned as he felt the stare of the room's other occupant. The guy had claimed he knew him, but Grimmjow couldn't think why or how. He'd been 'back' so to speak, for a while now. A few things had become familiar, and some things seemed to just scratch at the very back of his mind. The problem was that he didn't really care all that much to remember. Sure he wanted to know who he was, and the like, but all this thoughts revolved around orange and why it was such a vibrant thing in his mind. Most of the time he went through the motions. Kilian would try to talk to him and then when he delivered no more curt answers the guy would get quiet and meekly stare at Grimmjow if there was something he really wanted to say. It actually irked him. Most of the time he would just ignore it and go about his business.
"Grimmjow..?" Kilian prodded softly. Grimmjow growled, disliking the submissiveness in the guy's voice.
"was ist es?" He snapped while continuing to look out the window.
"...Nichts."
Grimmjow was thankful for the silence that followed and for the moment when Kilian turned his gaze away. He frowned, bored at watching all the people below on the street. His hands itched to do something. If there was anything that he hated more from his 'amnesia' was that it caused him to be stuck in long periods of inactivity. He was bored and restless as if his body was begging him to get up and do something with the seemingly endless supply of energy. He was just about to move from the window when a flash of orange streaked across his vision. He jumped up and watched as the figure walked in the direction of a nearby park.
"...gehe heraus." Was all Kilian got in warning as Grimmjow flew by him and out the door of the small apartment.
Kilian dashed after him grabbing his keys on the way. Never had he seen such a look of determination on Grimmjow's face since he had found him lying in an alley a while back. At first he'd been overjoyed to know that his middle school crush was alive and that he had been the one to find him. The amnesia had been icing on the cake. As underhanded as it was, he had hoped he'd be able to somehow get Grimmjow to notice him. But even now, he was out of reach. Grimmjow had shown gratitude for providing a space for him in very small ways, but even now, his mind was completely focused on something, or someone else.
As he fought to keep up with Grimmjow, he noticed them getting closer to the campus hospital. Grimmjow had been displeased the next second time he'd woken up there and had lashed out violently. Kilian didn't wish for Grimmjow to have another violent fit in the middle of the area just from the building reminding him. He pushed harder to keep up.
"Grimmjow!"
Surprisingly he stopped. Kilian jogged up to him wondering why he'd stopped and was now looking around confused. Grimmjow seemed to be looking left and right anxiously as if trying to find sight of what caused him to jet off in the first place. Kilian heard him sigh and take a deep breath before walking in the direction of the small pond in the park. He followed still anxious to see what had Grimmjow's undivided attention. He jumped when Grimmjow took off again, seemingly catching sight of what he was chasing. Kilian cursed the man's natural athleticism and ran after him. He was floored when he finally caught up to see Grimmjow grab a pedestrian with orange hair by the sleeve.
"Kurosaki! Bist du Kurosaki?" He yelled while dragging the other around to face him.
Kilian was horrified at the display in front of him. He had known Grimmjow had little regard for manners, but he was worried now that the man was randomly accosting someone on the street. He took notice of the white lab jacket and orange hair and things began to clear up. This man though looked too young to actually know Grimmjow. He didn't even look like he was from around here. He watched though as the man's eyes widened in response before narrowing as he quickly punched Grimmjow while uttering what seemed to be an angry 'get off.' Kilian heard Grimmjow growl but he grabbed the man again. Grimmjow seemed to be smiling through the angry facade. The orange haired stranger grabbed Grimmjow's wrist and tried to force him to let go. He stopped though when he noticed something that seemed out of place.
"Grimmjow! Warten Sie!"
Ichigo frowned. Grimmjow. He had thought the man held a striking resemblance to the dead espada, but he hadn't expected them to be one in the same. THis was the weird thing. Grimmjow was not a hollow. Ichigo stared then grabbed Grimmjow's chin and tilted his head to the left. In the place where the mask should have been were two deep scars. Also, this supposed Grimmjow didn't really seem to remember him. He was confused. Though he had never seen Grimmjow actually snuff out, he was certain he was no longer alive. Despite is all, he could never forget the man that was the closest thing to a true rival to him. The resemblance was striking and he knew then, it had to be so. He had some questions for Urahara now.
"Es tut mir leid." A smaller male had walked up and apologized to Ichigo. "Sind Sie ein Doktor?"
It took Ichigo a moment to realize the man was asking him something. He dropped his hold on Grimmjow's chin. Quickly his mind put together the words as he tried to remember the German he learned. "No-"
The man seemed to sense his ill ease. "Sprechen sie Anglisch?"
'Anglisch?' then it clicked. "Yea... I know some english."
A small smile was given to him. "Sorry about him." The man tilted his head toward the scowling Grimmjow. "He's a bit anxious. He has amnesia. What I've gathered is that orange and the hospital set him off."
"What?" Ichigo was slightly taken aback even though he has suspected as much from the desperate look in Grimmjow's eyes when he has been yelling.
"Grimmjow and I went to the same school. He disappeared thirteen years ago." He sighed and looked at Grimmjow. "It's hard having someone you care about die and then years later, the pain is renewed when you find out they weren't really dead."
Ichigo scowled. "I'm sure." He could tell Grimmjow didn't have a single lick of interest in his current 'care-taker' as he was quietly mumbling what could only be curses in german. "Look, if you know those things set him off then I suggest keeping him away from here as 'I' work here."
"Yea, I'll have to do that. What was your name doctor?"
"Ichigo, and I'm not a doctor. Just a med-student."
Grimmjow stopped cursing to himself and turned his attention back to Ichigo a sense of recognition coming over him at the sound of the name. His eyes narrowed studying Ichigo as if re-commiting his entire appearance to memory. Kilian noticed and it made him nervous and even a little jealous. He could admit that Ichigo was good-looking- messy ginger hair, almond-shaped brown eyes, light tan, and slim build. Yes, the intensity of Grimmjow's stare worried him that once again he'd lose his chance.
"Ah, I guess I should get him back. Don't need him attacking anyone else ya?" He said while grabbing Grimmjow's arm and successfully interrupting his assessment of Ichigo. "Grimmjow, wir gehen." Grimmjow growled and shook his arm free, but started to walk to opposite way.
Ichigo stared after them watching as the two disappeared around a corner. His mind was full of questions. Once he was done for the day, Urahara was going to be answering some stuff for him.
"Oh Kurosaki-kun! To what do I owe the pleasure?"
Ichigo grimaced at the overly happy voice on the other end of the phone. "I have some questions for you old man. I hope you give me some answers too instead of leading me on."
"Oh you wound me so!" Ichigo could imagine the false pouting expression. "Is everything ok over in Germany?"
"I need to know a few things before I answer that." Ichigo said with some severity in his voice. Just enough to get Urahara in a more serious tone.
"Hmm...I see. Tell me what has you concerned."
"Is it possible for hollows to be reincarnated?"
He could hear the abrupt intake in breath. "Why do you ask that?"
"I saw Grimmjow...the human Grimmjow."
"You seem pretty certain. What made you think it's him?" Urahara seemed skeptical.
"Aside from him attacking me out of nowhere, he has amnesia, his caretaker even called him 'Grimmjow' and said they went to school together. The guy even said that Grimmjow disappeared/ supposedly died 13 years ago, which if time in hueco mundo passes like it does in soul society, that would be enough time for him to become an espada."
"I see. That does prove to be quite persuasive proof. I'm not for sure how time passes there, and I suppose that if his soul went into judgement and they deemed it so, he could be given a second chance. I'm not sure how the weighing of souls is decided." He paused, "There is the unlikely possibility that he is an illusion."
"Do you think it's possible to find out for sure by his spiritual pressure.?"
"Oh! What an excellent idea Kurosaki-kun." Ichigo could almost hear the grin at the next statement. "Of course, you'll have to be in your Shinigami form. Even if his physical body can't remember you, his soul should feel a pull toward your reiatsu."
"How the hell am I supposed to isolate him though? Others can see me here."
"I don't know. That is your decision since it was also your idea. Have fun Kurosaki-kun!"
"wait!" Ichigo yelled into the phone.
"Oh, by the way, I am sending you a universal translator for the souls you might be doing burials on. It only works on souls though." Urahara seemed amused by his own device. "Let me know when you get it. Ja, na!"
Urahara had irked Ichigo. He didn't really seem to know anything, but Ichigo doubted that to be the case. Ichigo supposed though, he could do what he always did. jump right in. Once it got a little bit later he was going to go out in shinigami form and flex his reiatsu a little to see if he got a response. He thought that just maybe that might reveal something to him.
Grimmjow awoke suddenly. He felt a heavy pressure on his chest and then it let up. He frowned not knowing what the feeling was. He gets up from the bed and pads to the window to look out. For some reason he stares at the moon and instantly hates it for the colorless light filtering in the window. He feels the pressure again and strangely feels a draw to it. Disregarding that all he is wearing is track pants and a tank top he quietly slides out of the apartment in the direction he thinks the odd pressure is coming from. He feels his body start to run pushing him to get there faster. The pull is so strong. That pulsing power is humming through his blood.
He was close. His pace slowed to a walk as he rounded a corner that led him into the park. At first he couldn't see anything, but could still feel that overwhelming pressure. The closer he got to the center though, a blurry image came forth. A figure started to form. It was then that Grimmjow saw the most beautiful and strangely familiar sight since he had awoken in the gutter. Black uniform billowing softly in some unknown source of wind, tanned skin, ginger hair, caramel brown eyes illuminated by the moonlight, and then the large sword stabbed in the ground that the figure was leaning on. It exuded everything that Grimmjow found beautiful. Power, confidence, strength- things he vaguely remembered wanting.
"Grimmjow jaggerjaques."
The voice was calm and quiet, but he heard it all the same and felt it pulling him forward. His mind was screaming threat, but the rest of his body was curious. what dangerous being was he looking at? He continued forward until he was a few feet away. when he was that close his head began to pound and the pressure on his chest came back. It caused him to keel over just a bit. And to him it suddenly felt invigorating, freeing, and more importantly familiar. He could feel himself grin.
"Das ist mein Name." He looked up from his bent over position. "Wer-" He swallowed overcome with a sudden need to be rude and instead flicked off the figure.
Ichigo had not been surprised when the blue-haired man appeared. He'd been fairly certain that this human was Grimmjow. This now confirmed what he'd assumed to be true. His pupils dialated at the rude gesture. It was definitely Grimmjow. He admitted only to himself that he kind of missed the drag out battles the two of them had gotten into. He got a heady feeling standing here now as if they were going to fight like old times and he couldn't help but goad Grimmjow on, so he said the one thing he knew would strike a chord.
"Weak." Grimmjow seemed confused so he picked his sword up and charged at him a small sense of glee happening when a tinge of fear came over Grimmjow's face. He stopped with Zangetsu poised just past Grimmjow's face and spoke again this time for him to understand. "Schwach." That said he flash-stepped away leaving almost no trace that he'd been there.
A/N: Hey all this is a brand new fic from me. GrimmIchi is one of my OTPs so it's surprising that I haven't written anything for them. This is kinda AU. Another what if scenario, just instead it's on Grimmjow's side. I'm making up a lot of things as I go, just kind of based on what I do know. This is going to be an eventual GrimmjowxIchigo fic, they just gotta do stuff before it gets to that point. I'm going to try very hard to keep people in character no fluffy romance Bs and no using the convenient excuse of Grimmjow's amnesia to make him something he isn't. Also, I am doing pieces of this in German because I always thought that Grimm's name came from German descent. Turns out that with some name etemology research that it kinda does. Please forgive me if you know German and I have written something incorrectly. It has been YEARS since I've spoken, much less used my German. I will make a nice little thing at the end of each chap with the words. Verloren the title was used because I'm sure that anyone with memory gaps feels a little lost. On the subject of Kilian, he's just a space filler OC he doesn't really play an integral role. I just wanted to have someone from Grimmjow's supposed pre-hollow life there.
Glossary:
Kapitel I- chapter I
Traum/Träume- dream/s
mein/meine- my/mine Freund- friend.
wo? wer?- Where, who
Schließen/ öffnen- close, open
gut- good
Wie geht's- what's up (roughly)
Ich bin m de- i'm tired
wirklich- really
warum- why
was ist es- what is it
Nichts- nothing
(ich)gehe/wir gehen- I'm going/ we/let's go
heraus- out
*Bist du- are you (informal)
Warten Sie- wait (proper)
Es tut mir leid- sorry/it's my fault
Sind Sie- are you (proper)
Sprechen sie? - do you speak_?
Anglisch- english
schwach- weak
*I had grimm use this merely to denote his lack of manners. you'll see that Kilian uses the proper version
Questions can be pm'd or email'd to me. I hope you enjoyed and will continue to read.