So this is kinda late to start now but the idea came to me just now and I haven't seen a Bleach version of A Christmas Carol so I thought I would write one (sorry if anyone has done this already! I didn't make sure it hadn't been done!,) anyway on with the show as it were... Lots of OOCness and possibly a bit of Grimmichi cause I can't resist.
A Christmas carol – Part One: the announcement
Aizen was dead, dead as a doornail, that much was true. He had been for years, and Grimmjow's soul had not thawed an inch.
He walked through the London streets, the snow compacted by thousands of pounding feet into an ice rink. His steps were solid and careful. He looked around him at the busy Christmas Eve scene. Street sellers talked animatedly to their customers and passer by alike. He gazed at them briefly, azure eyes sweeping over them, sharp and cold as ice. He rounded a corner to be greeted by the sight of the Las Noches offices, his workplace. They were the biggest property owners in London, with thousands of tenants across the city. He paused at the door, sharp ears detecting the din of chattering employees inside. He leaned heavily on the door and forced it open.
"What do you think you're doing?" his voice was almost a roar as he burst into the offices, the workers falling over themselves as they tried to look busy. None of them had the guts or stupidity to answer back to him; continuing hurriedly with their work as their boss removed the hat that was crushing his blueberry hair and hung his heavy coat on the stand. "Good, Christmas as an unemployed man would not be a good one!"
"Sorry Mr. Jeagerjaques" a few of the braver employees mumbled their apologies to him, not looking up from their work.
Grimmjow didn't feel the cold in the offices, but his employees were hunched at their desks, heavy winter coats still hung about their shoulders as they scribbled in their books. The blue haired man moved to his desk at the back of the building, nearest the open fire which served as the only method of heating the large and draughty building. He had sat and busied himself for little more than ten minutes when a shy cough announced another presence in his office. He looked up to be met with dark eyes enclosed behind half framed glasses.
"Ah, Mr. Ishida" he set his pen down on the mahogany desk and gave his employee more attention "What is it you want?" he pierced the thin, yet tall, man with an icy stare.
"Well, sir, we were wondering-" Uryuu Ishida paused as a mumble of discontent flowed through the offices behind him before correcting himself "I mean I was wondering if you would be so kind as to-"
"Get to the point will you!" he waved an impatient hand at Ishida, eager to get on with his work.
"Yes, sorry sir, could you please put some more coal on the fire, the offices are cold and-"
"You have a coat Mr. Ishida, which should keep you more than warm enough. Get back to work" Grimmjow's voice matched the chill in the office perfectly as he spoke to the man.
"Mr. Jeagerjaques-"
"Back to work Mr. Ishida!" Grimmjow slammed his fist onto the desk forcefully, the loud bang stirring a jump from the dark haired man. He turned on his heel quickly and left his boss' office. Grimmjow rolled his eyes and picked his pen back up off of the dark wooden desk.
"Brother!" a shrill female voice filled the office, accompanied by a cold draught as the door was opened and closed behind the curvaceous woman.
"Neliel, what the hell are you doing here?" he had no ounce of pleasure in his voice at the arrival of his only relative. She swept her sea green hair to one side before answering him.
"I came to wish you a Merry Christmas brother!" she smiled, her big eyes wide with happiness, the eyes she had inherited from their mother.
"Humbug!" Grimmjow let his pen drop to the desk again, furious that he had done basically nothing in the twenty minutes he had been at the office. If there was one thing he hated it was lack of productivity. In fact there were lots of things he hated, and Christmas was at the top of the list.
"Oh Grimmy! Don't be so miserable! It's Christmas!" she tried to coax some happiness out of him, never one to give up on a lost cause. Grimmjow winced at the use of his childhood nickname.
"Please leave if you have no other business here Neliel, I have lots of work to do! I cannot be kept in luxury by a rich husband like yourself!" he spat the words at her, enjoying the way her features dulled at his words. "Anyone waltzing around with 'Merry Christmas' on their lips should be boiled with their own turkey!"
"Very well brother. She walked towards the door, opening it onto the cold street outside "Merry Christmas!" she called back as she closed the door behind herself.
"Merry Christmas" the chorus of his employees sent Grimmjow's blood boiling. He growled low in his throat, staring daggers of ice at them.
"Shut up and get on with your work! Or you will have a very unemployed Christmas and new year!" his voice was back to a shout again, watching intently as they returned eagerly to their work. Having finally regained control of the offices Grimmjow could get on with some actual work.
What seemed like only half an hour later aqua eyes glanced up at the clock above the fireplace. Seeing that it was nearly five thirty he looked out across the office.
"You can close up now" his deep baritone filled the space easily "I shall see you at eight o' clock sharp tomorrow" he closed the book on his desk and returned it to its shelf.
"But sir, it's Christmas day tomorrow" Ishida stared at him incredulously, almost as if he had grown another head.
"And?" Grimmjow stared back at the raven haired man, the straight strands framing his angular face. Ishida pushed the glasses back up his nose with the middle finger of his right hand before turning away from his boss.
"Sir, if I may contribute, we will not do good business tomorrow, everywhere else will be closed for Christmas" a slim man with emerald eyes and raven hair spoke quietly yet surely. "It will be a waste of coal to heat the offices"
Grimmjow stared blankly at the normally silent employee, Ulquiorra, and nodded slowly to acknowledge he had made a good point. "Very well then, take tomorrow off if you must" a wave of excited murmuring broke out among the employees "BUT be here at six o' clock the next day!" he increased the volume of his voice over the chatter. His request did nothing to dull the worker's spirits and they went about tidying away the day's work, chatting excitedly and swapping plans for the next day.
Grimmjow moved out of his office and grabbed his heavy coat, swirling it over his shoulders and opening the dark wooden door, grabbing his hat as he walked through it. When he got outside he pushed the top hat onto his head, once again flattening the unruly blue strands to his head. The streets still seemed as excited and busy as they had that morning, chatter and bustling feet creating a thick blur of noise which irritated the blue haired man no end.
The walk to his house was a short one, lengthened slightly by the still icy streets which made his steps slower and more cautious. As he reached the end of the street, on which his terraced, three story house was situated, he saw two men standing outside his front door. One with pitch black hair which fell below his shoulders and dark eyes and the other who contrasted him with frost white hair and a much shorter frame.
"How can I help you gentlemen?" he sauntered up to them, still keeping his steps cautious on the ice.
"Good evening" the dark haired man strode towards him, his posture radiating his upper class background "Mr. Jeagerjaques?" his tone emphasised his question.
"That's me" Grimmjow stared quietly into the man's eyes, waiting for him to introduce himself.
"I'm Byakuya Kuchiki and this is Toshiro Hitsugaya, tonight we are here on behalf of the poor and homeless of London. We hope that you would be so kind as to make a small donation, seeing as Christmas is the time for caring for the less fortunate members of our society"
"Sorry gentlemen, I'm not interested in making any donations, thank you" he moved towards his black front door, the brass door knocker polished to a glint in the light of the street lamps.
"But Mr. Jeagerjaques, even a tiny donation would help someone in need to have a better Christmas, hundreds die in the cold at this time of year" the short, frost haired one stepped forward, Grimmjow had already forgotten his name.
"Well they had better do it then and decrease the surplus population!" he turned back to face the two men, who were lower than his eye level as he was standing on his doorstep. "Good night gentlemen!" the tall dark haired one opened his mouth again slightly, as if he was going to speak. However upon a piercing glare from Grimmjow both men turned on their heels and walked around the corner and out of the street.
"Damn charities!" Grimmjow mumbled to himself as he fished in his pockets for his keys. He took a glance at the brass door knocker, stepping back in shock as the metal shifted and changed until it resembled the face of his deceased business partner. "What the-" he moved forward again, feet shuffling only half a step back towards his original position at the door. "A-Aizen?" as he peered closer at the brass it shifted once more, back to the moulded shape of a roaring lion.
Grimmjow shook his head as if his hair were wet before holding his keys up to the lock. He was barely able to control the shaking in his hands as he unlocked the door and rushed inside. The hairs on the back of his neck rising up and tingling as he bolted the door shut behind him, checking it twice to make sure it was secure.
"Humbug!" he mumbled to himself when he was inside. Raking the match across the roughened box to light the candle he kept by the door was a part of his routine which allowed him to relax just a fraction. He left the lamps unlit on the first and second floors as he ascended the stairs to his bedroom. He looked behind him repeatedly, breath hitching as he turned his head; the prickling hairs at the nape of his neck giving him the horrible feeling that someone was behind him. "Dammit Grimmjow pull yourself together!" he mumbled to himself again as he nudged the door to his bedroom open, lingering in the doorway to allow him to survey the room. Once he was satisfied at the emptiness of his bedchamber he moved over to the fireplace. After shovelling a small handful of coal into the grate and letting it catch light he sunk into the plush chair and watched the flames dance.
A sinking feeling of being watched washed over him as he sat there, forcing him to look back towards his chamber door. What he saw there forced him to rise out of the comfy chair and back up against the fireplace. he opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, lungs and voice box not communicating with his brain so he could vocalise his thoughts. Instead he was forced to stand and gape at the apparition of his former business partner who stood in the doorway.
"Ai-Aizen!" he looked into the brown eyes of the ghostly form of his friend "Is it really you?" he glanced down over the dark robe which engulfed the tall, wiry frame, drawing in a shocked breath when he saw the almost infinite length of heavy chain coiled time and time again around the man's waist, arms and legs.
"Yes Grimmjow, I'm here to warn you my friend" his eyes were sad, worlds apart from the harsh, calculating look they possessed when the brunette man was alive. "Mend your ways Grimmjow" his fingers coiled around a few links in the chain around him "I forged these links when I was alive, every man I wronged, every family I cast mercilessly onto the street and every charitable donation I didn't make added a link to this chain. Now I must be bound by it for eternity" he waved his hand slowly in Grimmjow's direction.
Grimmjow felt a heavy sensation as the movement was made, cold metal materialised to rest against his palms. He looked down to see a chain wrapped around his own muscular torso, albeit much shorter than Aizen's, but it still coiled around him several times and more ran across the floor. "What the-?" he lifted the heavy metal up to his eye level, staring in shock at the well forged links. The metal seemed to resonate with the misdeeds he had already carried out.
"Tonight you will be visited by three more ghosts, the first will arrive when the clock strikes twelve" Aizen waved the chains away from Grimmjow's arms and waist, hauling up an armful of his own and moving towards the door "Heed their warning's Grimmjow, before it's too late!" a sudden wind made the fire splutter in the grate, once Grimmjow had seen that it wasn't extinguished and looked back to the door his business partner had vanished without a trace. Only the faint chinking of chains could be heard if he strained his ears hard enough.
"Humbug!" Grimmjow walked over to his bed, slowly shedding the layers of his work clothes before crawling under the covers for a good night's rest. He intended to be up early and make the most of a day without the distractions of his workers.