This fanfic is entirely dedicated to the focus on the building warrior friendship, and inevitable relationship between my Bleach OC, Kein Marasuna and Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez. This fanfic will be absolutely legit to the story going thus far for my Bleach Fanfiction Series. It takes place after the war with Aizen and just before the Fullbring Arc and my Bleach Movie Fanfic "Fragments of the Past".

I know I know, you guys are probably thinking it odd that I'm writing BACKWARDS in how Grimmjow and Kein ultimately forge their very strange and warrior like relationship, considering my Bleach Fanfiction Series is at the part where Ichigo and company enter Hueco Mundo to save Orihime, but xD I can't help it _ I only write what I'm inspired to write. ^^; I know, I'm a dork. But it'll be a nice change to read something not as emotionally heavy set like my GrimmIchi fic "Behind Closed Doors" that most of you have been reading (and yes I'm still working on it simultaneously).

This new fanfic covers every single detail and moment, or at least most of them, that eventually lead to what it will result to that is at various moments read in "Fragments of the Past". This new fanfic, even if its posted before my next few Bleach segments are done, will help explain a lot not only about Kein, but also about Grimmjow that a lot of people seem to be confused in or misunderstanding when in relation to the Sexta Espada. And it won't spoil anything too major in the still progressing Bleach fiction series I have going.

Side Note: For those who are new to my Bleach fanfiction series, you might want to at least read up on Kein's character profile before reading this otherwise quite a bit of it might confuse you if you don't plan on reading from the beginning of the series. It can be found on my deviantart gallery under the username DragonKeeper333. Go into the Bleach folder and you'll see the deviation titled "Bleach OC- Kein Marasuna".

Breaking in the Mold

…moonlight…

The crescent shaped white gem shined down upon the landscape as the ground shimmered like diamonds against a blackened canopy that stretched over the Hollow grounds.

…tornados…

Silent giants that spun at tremendous speeds, picking up debris and anything that was loose and disconnected as it gathered into a spinning pool of white blur for only a moment of time before dying again and fading into the sands.

…silence…

Of all the things that were abundant in this sandy wasteland, silence was the largest of them all, but amongst this silence existed two solitary beings as they took residence and began their elongated retrieve of training and fighting that seemed infinite in nature…endless…like the still towering buildings of Lose Noches…endless…like the number of Hollows that continued to devour and be devoured in the foregrounds underneath the sleeping giant that was Hueco Mundo. With Aizen and his army of Espadas gone, the sandy giant was now left to anything that lived in its purgatory existence.

However, what would seem like a hushed torture to some, brought about tranquility to another. For those who were used to being in the midst of noise and distraction could find this soundless place quite peaceful with nothing to bother them and nothing to get in their way. For those who were tired of being around invariable company with little space to themselves, they would find an abundance of open liberty to claim their own. Most importantly, to those who were born warriors and continue to live as warriors would find Hueco Mundo the perfect training ground if they bore any type of Hollow powers.

For Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, the Sexta Espada, this was home where he was born and where he was formed and made for battle. Bloodlust has no control. And if there was anything that Grimmjow had, was control. Sadism and violence go hand in hand, but Grimmjow did not display either one as frequently as one would interpret upon first impressions.

Maybe he came off as a monster and vicious to those who did not understand him, but from the perspective of a fellow warrior, Kein Marasuna, she understood him probably better then he understood himself. Grimmjow was not passionate for violence as one would believe. He simply appeared violent because he naturally displayed a power that many would be overwhelmed with and feared, not truly understanding.

He didn't punch through cement walls like they were butter because he was violent. He punched through cement walls like they were butter because of his power and abilities. No, Grimmjow had the true spirit of a warrior even if he displayed it in the strangest ways. There is a large difference between desiring to fight and needing to fight.

Nnoitra needed to fight in bloodlust so that he could fulfill his desire to die in a violent glorious death. And so he continuously killed and slaughtered even if the enemy was weak or of his own kind, but where was the point in that? That is not Grimmjow. Grimmjow is a hunter, a natural born predator. Hunters seek out only one prey at a time and they continue to chase the prey until they are satisfied, but the prey can't just be anything or anyone.

No, Grimmjow sought out to fight someone who not only who had the same passion for battle as him, but brought out the best of his abilities, forced him to survive and forced him to give everything he had. Hunters have patience of a saint in their search for the right prey, but when the prey is found, they never let go until the hunt is over. Kein was his prey, and Kein would continue to be his prey as long she provided a sporting game, as long as she desired to fight him and display her powers without mental boundaries or excuses. It took three fights to force her to show her full potential and he would continue to push her relentlessly to that point, even if it killed her. He filled her need just as she filled his. It was a yin-yang union through battle.

But this was not bloodlust. This was not violence. This was instinct and desire in its purest form. This is what drove Grimmjow and this…is what Kein loved most.

Kein Marasuna, born a Human, died a Human, lived as a Shinigami, quit as a Shinigami, and then…turned rogue. Through her adventures she had faced many enemies, like Grimmjow, and had to face many situations that forced her to find ways to survive. She was betrayed by Soul Society for having Hollow powers when they sentenced her to death, just as Grimmjow and the other Espadas were betrayed by Aizen when the now bound and captured Ex-Shinigami captain claimed he didn't need them anymore. The two warriors were all too familiar with survival and betrayal.

And they were also all too familiar with the search for just the right opponent, just the right prey to truly bring out their potential and to truly wield their passion for battle. This was the way of the warrior; to live life fighting and to die fighting gloriously as Nnoitra claimed, but not lost in bloodlust and not lost in endless violence, but through discipline, training, and display of power with an equal of choice and fairness in fighting and not holding back.

Despite Grimmjow's defiance under Aizen's rule and despite his constant display of not giving a shit, he had a code in never fighting his opponent unless they were at full strength otherwise what would be the point in killing them or even fighting them? It would be a waste of a battle and a waste of power.

No, Hueco Mundo is not hell. It was paradise.

This is the perfect training ground for warriors without any interruption or flicker of distraction. There were no citizens in the way to be accidentally harmed and no buildings or cities that could be damaged as collateral. This was all the two warriors wanted and this was all they needed…for now.

Cero

The blazing attack flared through the air and landed harshly upon Kein's chest. The attack sent her flying backwards as she plummeted against a wall, nearly cracking it from impact as she hit the ground below with a hardened thud. She panted and heaved for a breath, wrapping an arm around her stomach from sore ribs from an earlier wave of punches to her abdomen. They had been fighting for at least an hour or more and they had been training for at most a week, but she was not fighting with her Vizard mask or her Zanpakutou's powers. No, it was not allowed. Grimmjow had confiscated her weapon upon first arrival to Hueco Mundo after she had finally convinced him to let her come with him back home to the home of the Hollows. Although it didn't take much convincing as Kein had imagined.

Grimmjow under an honest notion was actually eager to be fighting her yet again, never imagining his last fight with Kein ended up being only but a warm up for things to come, however Grimmjow was not a guy to have tagalongs. He had Fraccion before, but that was different. They followed him because they wanted him as their king and naturally submitted to him, but Kein followed for different reasons, some of those reasons he already understood.

However, there were other reasons that he still wasn't sure of and because he wasn't sure of all her intentions it bothered him like a splinter stuck under your skin. And so in agreeance with him allowing her to stay with him in order to battle with him continuously, she had to give up her Zanpakutou and start from square one of survival tactics…his survival tactics.

With his last fight with her, he truly awed in the strangeness and variety of her powers and fighting style, but so much of it needed to be refined. So much of it was full of holes, no pun intended, that needed to be filled, and naturally he saw himself to be the key to filling those holes. She was willing and he was instantly domineering in her submission.

And yes, he would make her regret her decision in coming with him, not out of some misplaced sadism, but because if he was going to continue to have her as his prey seeing as there was no one else willing to do so, he was at least going to get a little enjoyment out of it even if it meant beating her to a pulp as she so deliciously from time to time loved to dish out on him when given the chance. Her time would come however, when she would be given the privilege of raining down a proper beat down upon the jawboned Espada, but she had to earn that privilege first through blood, sweat, and maybe even tears.

Sitting idly against the wall, she heard Grimmjow's heavy striding footsteps draw nearer to her. Each sounding step sent a small chill up her spine as she struggled to get up, blood trickling down her chin from the corner of her mouth, her clothing beaten and tattered.

Speaking of clothing, she wasn't wearing her usual outfit of black robbing with blue stripes that looked similar to a Shinigami's uniform. She was wearing left over Arrancar clothing that was left behind after the war with Aizen and that had gone untouched. She didn't want to ruin the only outfit she ever kept that signified her nonconformity against the Shinigami uniforms, but also her signified meaning of her willing choice to become a rogue in defiance let alone the personal likings of just the outfit itself, and so she took up adorning herself in Arrancar clothing.

The outfit was simple enough, but one she rather liked. It was a jacket top that was closed at the front in a v-neck shape with an unfolded collar that only went half way up the neckline. The sleeves stopped at the bottom of the bicep with inverted angled v-cuts.

There was a diamond shaped panel that went in the middle of her chest as the rest of the jacket was tucked under a black belt like Grimmjow's and then stopped around the upper thighs, splitting in the front and curving down and around the buttocks. Below the belt was flat paneled pants similar to Nelliel's and shaped like bell bottoms, flaring out at the shoes.

There was a long rectangular panel that hung from under the middle of the belt and ended in a triangular sharp shape. A similar one was adorned on the other side. The shoes themselves were regular Arrancar boots while she retained the black gloves from her original outfit for better gripping since they were made of leather.

Grimmjow personally found it ironically amusing that she was in these garments considering that she was a hybrid of sorts being merged body and soul with an actual Arrancar. It was almost teasing in a sense, making him smile at the thought that a Shinigami had nearly become an Arrancar. The bitter irony was so sweet he could taste it.

"You may look like an Arrancar, but you sure as hell don't act like one. You're pathetic," he stated with a purposely harsh biting tone as he finally approached her, hands in his pockets and towering over her with his shadow.

Using the wall as leverage, she slowly and finally got herself to her feet, chuckling lightly as she replied,

"I-I'll take that as a…c…c-compliment."

Feeling she could stand on her own again, she lifted the weight of her back off of the wall she was leaning against as she staggered a bit to get a full stance, keeping her hands out and ready in a defensive position.

"And what the hell are you grinning about?" He asked abruptly in a rhetorical fashion as Kein's usual warrior like confident grin faded to a questioning frown.

"If you're grinning because you've convinced yourself that you've made some progression then you might as well take your sorry ass and get the fuck out of my home."

Her sighing frown had merged into near shock at his statement. It was true though; she did grin feel she was finally making some progression, but apparently she wasn't as much as she had hoped.

"Okay so maybe you've become a little quicker with your dodging and counter responses, but none of that matters if you constantly subject yourself to fear. You reek of it."

Kein gasped audibly in response and near confusion. Fear? Surely that wasn't the only thing she displayed in the entire week she had been here already. "I d-don't understand," she winced as a sudden sharp pain hit a fractured rib.

"Of course you don't. You lived with those damn Shinigami's far too long while they filled your head with hey great job's and hey you're doing better's. Makes me want to puke. They've never truly learned what it means to fight for your very existence. They've never had to spend day in and day out wondering when the next meal would be or what it's like scrounging for survival hoping that you never regress back into your inferior form. They don't have a damn clue. And all the while they've lost the ability to understand their own true frailties and how to train themselves to deal with them. You reek of frailties Marasuna and I'm going to beat them out of you until your skin is black and blue."

Kein gulped hard at the thought as it made her tremble lightly. As nice as it was to have complete and utter solitude from the interactions of the Human world or Soul Society, there was in turn no one there to help on the sidelines or as a referee. She made a choice to go with Grimmjow and there was no turning back now. Even if she did leave, the only thing she would gain is defeat and embarrassment of her own cowardice to deal with understanding herself and how to deal with the things that truly rubbed her that dug under her skin. However, despite the mental discomfort, she simultaneously desired this above anything else. If someone could teach her these things, she would be an idiot to overlook the opportunity.

She wanted Bankaguna and Ernesto to be proud to have her as their master more than anything and if this was the only way, she was going to do it, all or nothing. Furthermore, she desired above anything else to be with Grimmjow and there was nothing that would stop her now.

"You listening to me girl?"

He barked in question as her thoughts trailed back to the jawboned Espada, quickly answering him, "Yes! I'm listening. I just…I don't follow. When you talk of fears, I understand you in the general sense, but fears vary between individuals. What is it you're seeing that I'm apparently blind to?"

"Blind to?"

He grinned as he approached her with heavy abrupt steps, making her want to take steps backwards but there wasn't anywhere to go considering a wall was still behind her back as she was now planted against it, Grimmjow standing but a foot in front of her as he loomed over her with a deathly glaring snide gaze. "On the contrary, this particular fear is really the only fear that gets in your way, that hinders you beyond recognition. I'm going to teach you to deal with it whether you like it or not. You understand me Marasuna?"

Kein was still perplexed. What the hell was he talking about? And then suddenly the thought dawned on her, and it made her quiver inside like shaking of a rattlesnake's tail.

"Finally understanding? Your eyes say you do. It's that damn unfinished indented Hollow hole of yours. It may not be completely hollow through your abdomen, but every movement you make in a fight is your way of keeping your opponent from attacking that weak point. It doesn't matter what variety or style you use because it always ends up being around the same damn problem and its pathetic to watch you!"

Kein blinked in shock. He was right. He was completely and utterly right. Everything she did in battle was to avoid getting hit at her weakest point. Even if she wore protective underlying gear to help cover the area of skin, it didn't take away the hidden fear of getting attacked there. The last time she had fought Ernesto in her Inner World, he spoke over the very same thing, but Ernesto was more worried of making a point about her respecting his power then he was about teaching her to deal with her biggest weaknesses, but this was due to him also just caring about taking over her body more than anything else. He didn't give a damn if she suffered or not in battle.

Grimmjow however had different intentions. He wanted to get her to the point that he could battle her without anything to get in her way. Battling an opponent that had nothing to lose was more enticing than anything. Being pushed to his limits to near breaking points enthralled his senses and he wanted to feel that again and again and Kein was that source of ecstasy for him. And until a replacement comes along, not that he was necessarily looking for one, he was going to get every drop of satisfaction from this as he could.

Besides he was deciding to do all this effort and he wasn't going to leave empty handed. He would dish out the pain and she was willing to subject to it. No pain no gain as they say, but despite the thought of the result he would eventually get, it was going to take a gargantuan amount of effort considering he has to mold something that has already been molded. This irritancy boiled his blood and frustrated him instantly at the thought of having to babysit an amateur warrior.

"Because your strategies all evolve around the same damn thing, it makes you predictable! If you were an Arrancar you'd be eaten alive! A laughing stock of our race!"

It took a lot to provoke Kein, but certain things just nipped at her in ways that were grating. She gritted her teeth, clenching her fists in irritancy. She was becoming a bit tired of his insults, but they spoke a truth that no one else would speak to her, that no one else could see.

"Hits a nerve doesn't it? You should be angry. No, you should be in a rage at the thought of being held back by such ridiculous bullshit!"

A moment of silence passed as she felt like a child being scolded. Indeed it did anger her at the thought of being held back. Actually it has always angered her. She was sick of constantly trying to cover up in battle her weakest point. It distracted her from bettering herself and knowing how it frustrated Grimmjow, it made her feel less worthy of being his prey.

After meeting him for a first time on the plains of Hueco Mundo when leaving Soul Society to escape, she did everything she could to prove her worth to him and reason to take her with him back here. And now it just felt all she could display was disappointment. "You're right," was all she could respond with, not knowing what else to say.

"The only way to progress is to become tolerant of the pain it brings you."

The ultimatum shot through her mind like a blazing bullet as she darted her gaze into the Espada's eyes with a wild and frozen expression. She knew then what he was proposing. No, it wasn't a proposal, it was a prerequisite. There was no choice.

"Now wait a minute. I understand what you're saying, but this is not the way to go about this. You have no idea the pain it brings me. It's crippling. That's why I fear it so much."

Grimmjow's lips curled in irritation as he suddenly grasped upon her neck with his left hand and pushed her almost violently back against the wall. Her hands grasped onto the arm that held her back as she was unable to move or wiggle her way out. His grip was tight enough to feel the pulsating of her heart beat through her neck as it beat faster to the surprising movement he made.

And with his right hand he slowly began to unsheathe Pantera as she watched the silver blade flicker moonlight as a panic began to erupt inside her heart until the sword was fully withdrawn and held out to the side.

"Is that a complaint…I hear?"

She understood he was irritated, but this felt more than just simple irritation. Was he really that angry with her? What was fueling it to make him glare at her like that? Was he angry because of her protest? No, it was something deeper that boiled in him. He wasn't angry because she was sniveling. It was because he knew the true potential she could hone if she would only stop wasting her time with one measly weak spot. It was because he knew he could get a real enticing battle out of her if she'd just stop throwing away everything over that fucking Hollow indentation.

Before their third battle took place, while the war with Aizen was still going on, Kein had made a deal with Grimmjow that if he let Orihime heal Ichigo back to life, then she would fight him no bars held back. And during that particular battle, he felt she kept her end of the bargain.

However, even though that battle was fierce and exhilarating and even though Kein displayed all her powers as promised, she still mentally and physically held back not because of choice but because she had accidentally taught herself to constantly strategize her attacks around avoiding getting hit in her weakest spot. It was because of this grating mishap that Grimmjow was determined to beat the fear out of her, whether she was still just a woman or not.

Taking one last moment, he quickly took his left hand and instead grasped it over her mouth. He was going to run his sword through and he wasn't particularly in the mood to listen to her stifling screams from what he was about to do.

"Get used to it, because this isn't going to be the last time you feel this," he stated with warning as he readied his blade. Then within seconds he had thrust his sword just an inch or two above her tail bone as it ran through her entirely and into the wall behind, pinning her. The blade however didn't just pierce through an area of the indentation; it ran directly through the middle of it. The sensitivity of it started on the outward part of it, being the weakest pain points, and ending at the middle of it, being its strongest pain point. He hit a direct bull's eye.

The pain was instant and excruciating. The first waves of screams burst forth from her lungs so hard that it nearly pushed away Grimmjow's hand that covered her mouth from the sheer magnitude of the exhale. Tears welled up in her eyes as she was desperate to take in a breath as Grimmjow felt the skin on his hand being sucked inward.

It was then he knew he had to let his hand go so the girl could at least breathe, instantly regretting doing so as he uncovered her mouth, her screams within seconds pouring right back out as she hunched over, one of her hands gripping tightly enough upon his blade to make it bleed, while the other hand was planted against the wall behind her, her nails digging into the rough surface as saliva mixed with blood spat from her mouth and dripped upon the ground.

The sounds emitting from her mouth mixed between moans, groans, excruciating pants, screams, and agonized sobbing. It was so bad that it took the Arrancar by complete surprise. He had been stabbed by swords before, knowing what the pain was like and it was not something he was alien to so he knew for the most part what to expect, but this? This was just…...astonishing. Was it truly that painful for her? Was it truly that tender to touch? Was this…a mistake?

The wandering questioning thought instantly disappeared however as he convinced himself that no…this wasn't a mistake. If she didn't learn to become numb or at least tolerant to this pain, how else was she going to survive if she ended up fighting an enemy that would use this opportune moment to just simply kill her off? But he couldn't help but grimace just a tad at the scene she was displaying at this moment.

It was almost pitiful from a warrior's perspective…but from a bystander's perspective, this was more like torture. And he wasn't exactly the type of guy that enjoyed torturing his opponents like Nnoitra did. Sighing, he grasped upon the blade and quickly yanked it out from her body as she let out another yelping gasp, falling to her knees and instantly hunching over as her head dug into the sand. One of her arms wrapped around her stomach as the other was planted upon the ground, nails digging into the harsh landscape as her muscles were tensed without leeway or any signs of relaxing. Blood covered her back from being smeared upon the wall she was planted against as it also oozed out from the front of her abdomen. She was completely…

…exasperated…