Panther Meets Sparrow
A shrill ringing broke through the heavy silence in a small room, the noise seeming to bounce off walls and grate nerves as it did so. A figure could be seen reaching a hand out of their nest of blankets to grope around on the nightstand for their phone, pulling in a deep breath and clearing their throat as they answered with a slurred ''H'lo?". A voice answered their hello with a cheery one of their own, barely containing the laughter seeping into their voice that the person who was so rudely awakened immediately took note of.
"Hello Jaku-kun! How are we this fine afternoon?" 'Jaku-kun' sighed and rolled over onto her back, tossing an arm over her face as she tried to ignore the fact that her room was unbearably stuffy.
"Kisuke. It's Monday afternoon and I get to work graveyard tonight as well as my own morning shift tomorrow. Somebody better be fucking dying." There was a chuckle and the snap of a fan on the other end of the line.
"Oh Jaku-kun! Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?" he asked, smirk evident in his voice.
"You woke me up on the wrong side of the fucking bed, don't even." A small, barely there voice on the other end of the line could be heard telling Kisuke to "Get to the point already and get Koujaku here, dammit!" causing Kojaku to sigh in relief, recognizing Kurosaki Ichigo's ever annoyed voice anywhere.
"Very well then, Ichigo-san, if you insist. Can you meet at the Shoten in thirty minutes, Koujaku-kun? It's rather important and we need a finesse that only you can give."
Koujaku sighed and scrubbed a hand over her face in annoyance, not bothering to hide it as she answered the ex-Soul Reaper. "It must be important if you're calling me by my full name. I'll be there as soon as I can." Koujaku promptly hung up and tossed her phone somewhere near the foot of her bed, sighing as she heard it bounce off the edge and clatter to the floor.
"Fucking Kisuke, fucking Tao for quitting, fuck today already." Koujaku lay in bed for another minute or two before getting up and shedding her pajamas, leaving them on the floor as she pulled on the pair of dark jeans she wore the day before and a black and white band tee-shirt she had plucked from the 'not-too-dirty-not-to-wear' pile on her desk chair. She took one look at her bed head in the mirror on the back of her door before deciding that hats where definitely the way to go.
Koujaku arrived at the Shoten fifteen minutes later, barely remembering to kick off her shoes at the entrance before she made her way into the back and towards the tea room where Kisuke usually held his meetings, biting down on the flat ends of her piercings in annoyance. She slid the door open and was greeted with the familiar sight of Kisuke's stupid bucket hat and plotting grin as well as Ichigo's bright orange hair, the Substitute Soul Reaper looking just as annoyed as she felt. There was also a man around her age sitting in one corner with his back against the wall, his hair a light shade of blue and his face showing disinterest rather than annoyance. Koujaku nodded to him in greeting and plopped down in the space next to Ichigo, crossing her arms over her chest and fixing the blonde with a glare.
"I have to be to work in less than four hours, so you better start talking and you better not beat around the fucking bush like you always do, chop chop mother fucker." Kisuke snapped his fan open and hid behind it, his eyes the only thing showing his amusement.
"Jaku-kun, you wound me! I would never beat around the bush with you! Why, you're practically my daughter, and I'm sure that after I die you would be kind enough to take over the Shoten and make sure that-" Koujaku made an angry noise and rose from her spot, already halfway to the door before Kisuke stopped her.
"Koujaku, sit back down." He ordered, a dangerous edge to his voice. Koujaku quirked a brow and stared at him from in the doorway, gauging his reaction and wondering how much she would regret it later if she just left. The look on Kisuke's face was intense enough to get her to comply at once, returning to her seat next to Ichigo.
"Jaku-kun, this is Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, ex-Espada." Kisuke motioned to the man against the wall, who fixed Koujaku with an intense glare. Koujaku blinked, confused as to why this Grimmjow person had anything to do with why she was here.
"Okay, and? What the hell does he have to do with anything?"
"Do you really not remember?" Ichigo asked, brown eyes boring into Koujaku's own red ones. Koujaku only shrugged. "He's an Arrancar. You know, a Hollow with Soul Reaper powers?" Koujaku was still drawing a blank. She didn't run around killing Hollows like Ichigo himself did, and therefore tried not to get in between said orange-head and anything that wanted to fight him or kill him or both.
"They first appeared here in the World of the Living several months ago and were the main reason Inoue-chan went missing." Kisuke explained, hiding his lower face with that stupid fan of his. Something clicked in Koujaku's mind just then, remembering Orihime talk to her about one named Ulqui-something that she had apparently formed a close bond with when she had disappeared.
"I think I remember Orihime talking to me about that after she came back. Isn't he supposed to be a bad guy or something?" The man named Grimmjow snarled at Koujaku, his teeth pulled back as if warning that she was treading in dangerous territory.
"'Bad guy' is an extremely black and white term." Kisuke began, watching Grimmjow closely. "He did work for Aizen at one point in time, but due to his efforts in the War that resulted in the defeat of Yawach, he was granted leniency by the Soul Society and spared execution. He is the entire reason that I called you over here." Koujaku sighed and refrained from slamming her head on the table, opting instead to rub her eyes with her knuckles so hard spots of color bloomed behind her lids and stayed there even after her eyes opened.
"Oh my God, I'm not going to be able to go back to sleep, am I?"
"Afraid not." Kisuke chirped, a stark contrast to the serious tone he had just been using. "Grimmjow, although given leniency, needs to prove that he can become a functioning member of human society. If he proves himself, he can be allowed to live here in the World of the Living instead of in the Soul Society, where he would be under constant supervision and kept strictly within the walls of the Rukon District. Head Captain Kyoraku, as well as Captains Kuchiki, agreed to have him come here to learn before they forced him to stay in one of the prefectures of the Rukon Dictrict." Koujaku looked at Kisuke blankly, lost as soon as he had mentioned the Rukon District – whatever the hell that was supposed to be.
"I have no idea what the Rukon District is or who Captains who-the-fuck-ever are, but okay. I suppose that I'm the one that's supposed to teach him how to be 'human'?" Kisuke nodded his head, shit eating grin spreading out across his face.
"That would be correct, Jaku-kun!" Koujaku narrowed her eyes at Kisuke, hearing the 'but' at the end of that sentence.
"What's the catch?" She asked, coming to rest her arms on the table.
"I'm so glad you asked." he shrilled. "As you know, I currently have Tessai, Jinta, Ururu, and Yoroichi living with me, as well as Squad Six Lieutenant Renji Abarai staying in the guest room whenever he has a job here in the World of the Living. Therefore, I unfortunately don't have the room to house Grimmjow here at the Shoten. It was decided that he would stay with you since he is, after all, going to be learning the finer traits of being human from you." Koujaku slammed her hands on the table, staring at Kisuke like he had grown a second head.
"Are you kidding me?!" she shouted. "Why can't he live with Ichigo or somebody? I don't exactly have the room to keep him either."
"Don't you go dragging me into this." Ichigo said, glaring at Koujaku. "He tried to kill me. Multiple times might I add. There's no way in hell I'm letting him sleep under the same roof as my family and I." Koujaku looked pleadingly to Kisuke, hoping to change his mind somehow. The man only gave her a steady stare, silently telling her that she was going to have to suck it up and put her big-girl pants on and deal with it. Koujaku sighed and hung her head, rubbing her eyes tiredly.
"Okay, fine, whatever. Can I go now? My shift starts at 9:30, and if I don't want to fall asleep stocking the cooler then I need to squeeze a nap in before then."
"Yes, yes, go. Grimmjow, go with my sweet, sweet Jaku-kun; she will take excellent care of you and your every need." Kisuke snapped his fan closed and fixed the Arrancar with a piercing gray stare, his tone suddenly icy and dangerous. "Just know that if anything should happen to her, your fault or not, you'll have me to deal with." Grimmjow grimaced and Koujaku groaned, standing up and glaring at Kisuke.
"Why do you have to be so fucking weird about everything? And quit calling me Jaku-kun. it gives me a complex." Koujaku stood and opened the door to the room, barely managing to take a step out of the room before Kisuke called her back in. He held something in his hand and he tossed it to Koujaku, who caught it easily in her left hand. The woman stared curiously at it, seeing that it resembled a cat shaped PEZ dispenser. Koujaku turned her curious gaze to Kisuke, who was hiding behind his paper fan, the brim of his hat shadowing his eyes.
"What's this for?" She asked.
"Just in case." He said, his voice once again holding that odd protective edge behind it. Koujaku frowned but stuffed the item in her pocket, hating the fact that Kisuke always gave her cryptic answers to her questions.
Kisuke and Ichigo then followed Koujaku and Grimmjow to the front door, the orange-headed Soul Reaper walking the pair to the end of the driveway with his hands tucked casually in his pants pockets. The tenseness in his shoulders was the only thing that gave away how worried he really was. Koujaku waved goodbye over her shoulder and silently lead Grimmjow in the right direction.
"Hayashi-san." Ichigo said, his voice deep and authoritative. Koujaku turned around, a bored yet inquisitive look on her face. "Be careful. Call me if you need anything." Call me if he tries to hurt you. Koujaku nodded her head, thinking that the look he had on his face was much too serious for a seventeen year-old.
"You got it, Berry-tan." Ichigo's face immediately went from serious to playfully irritated, and he scoffed, turning his head to the side in an attempt to hide the blush that the childish name always gave him. Koujaku laughed, loud and booming like it always was and turned away, once more waving nonchalantly over her shoulder as she walked away.
Eventually Grimmjow and Koujaku were on their way back to the woman's apartment, Koujaku with her hands stuffed into the pockets of her hoodie and Grimmjow with a scowl on his face, his own hands shoved in the pockets of the jeans that Kurosaki had loaned him. The silence was mostly awkward, Koujaku still angry about Kisuke waking her up on a night she had to pull a double and Grimmjow because the three had been talking about him like he wasn't there. Koujaku finally broke the silence after about four blocks.
"So, are you in one of those Gigai things, or did you become human by some weird sort of miracle?" Her tone was nothing but curious, with no hint of malice in it what-so-ever, but that didn't stop Grimmjow from glaring at her out of the corner of his eye.
"What the hell does it matter to you, woman?" he demanded. Koujaku stopped so suddenly it took about two and a half steps before the ex-arrancar noticed, the blue haired individual coming to a stop and turning to see what the woman had stopped for. Koujaku had fixed him with a fiery glare, her hands on her hips in a way that told Grimmjow he had just done or said something very wrong.
"Let's get a few things straight." she said, marching up to him. "My name is not 'woman'. You will address me as Koujaku or Hayashi or nothing at all. If I ask you a question, I expect it answered and I expect it answered truthfully. I don't tolerate douchebags, let alone douchebags that are going to be living in my home for fucking free. Got it?" Grimmjow was taken slightly aback by her fierceness, never having encountered a female that was willing to stand up to him, let alone tell him what to do when it happened. Grimmjow nodded his head, watching as Koujaku narrowed her eyes at him one last time, as if sizing him up and figuring out the best way to disembowel him without getting blood all over her clothing, before walking passed him and further down the street.
When the two reached Koujaku's home, Grimmjow was surprised to see that she didn't live in an apartment like Inoue or a modern style house like Kurosaki did, but rather a more traditional style home like the Shoten. A large garden took up the entirety of the front yard, almost hiding the house from view. Stone lanterns lined a black stone walkway all the way to the entrance of the home, as well as around a pond that seemed to disappear into the back yard. Large momiji trees stood on either side of the porch, with more of them as well as sakura, tsubaki,and several willow trees around the edge of the rather large property, creating the illusion of being within a forest. As they walked up the pathway, Grimmjow could see that the property was much, much larger than was normal for a home so tiny, and made a mental decision to explore the garden at some point while he was here.
Koujaku unlocked the door and stepped inside, taking all of five steps within the home before doubling back and kicking off her shoes, stepping on the backs of them and leaving them in a heap in the entrance way. Grimmjow did the same, taking more time to unlace his boots and position them correctly along the wall before following Koujaku down the hallway and into the main portion of the house that was oddly modern and not at all like the traditional exterior. There was a kitchen to Grimmjow's right, complete with a table, four matching chairs and a large, rather expensive looking refrigerator. The living room was decently sized and held a large black box-type thing mounted on the wall directly across from a sofa and coffee table. There was another hallway that lead to where Grimmjow assumed the bathroom and bedrooms would be.
"Kitchen's over there, TV is there. I'll show you how to use it in a second. Follow me and I'll show you where you'll be sleeping." Grimmjow followed Koujaku towards the back of the house and entered what he assumed at first was the guest room, but upon further inspection of the disheveled bed and clothes on the floor, he figured it was actually Koujaku's room.
"This is technically my room, but I don't actually sleep in it much unless I need to work a graveyard, so you can use it until I get the spare cleaned up. Probably this weekend." She said, adding the last bit as if an afterthought.
"You work in a graveyard?" Grimmjow asked. Koujaku looked to him, confusion causing her brows to furrow and eyes to narrow as she tried to figure out what he was talking about. "You said you didn't sleep in here unless you had to work in the graveyard. What kind of woman works in a graveyard of all places?" he clarified. Koujaku then made an 'oh' sound and shook her head.
"No, I don't work in a graveyard. I work at a gas station, and 'graveyard' is a term used when people work the night shift." Grimmjow didn't actually understand what she was talking about, but he pretended like he did anyway.
"Because it's dead, get it?" Grimmjow still looked at her like she was insane, and Koujaku huffed and turned away.
"That was fucking hilarious." She muttered under her breath.
Eventually Koujaku showed him how to work the television before disappearing into her room to nap before her shift started, stumbling out in a rumpled collard shirt, black pants and jacket an hour and a half later, her phone stuck to her ear as she grumbled about being fifteen minutes late to whomever was on the other end. She bid Grimmjow a goodnight, telling him to 'Eat whatever you find. I'll be home tomorrow about two.' before breezing down the hallway and slamming the door closed behind her.
Grimmjow, with nothing better to do, fell asleep shortly after that.
Hello all! Something I've been working of for a while now, and thought I would post it just because!
This will be updated every other Friday, so the next chapter will be posted on July 14th! The second chapter is already done, so the next chapter should be done before the new one is even posted to keep up with the posting schedule!
I'm planning on keeping this to be no more than about 10 chapters so that it doesn't become a 75 monster fic that goes absolutely nowhere!