Chapter 2: Was I Dreaming?

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(Lots of thank yous! My gratitude to J (Thanks so much! Good to have you reading along.), Matt (I favor a slow burn, so there will be a lot Grimmy and Ichigo have to get through to really fall in love. But like vacations, getting there is half the fun!), Frea (I am on it!), Whatislifegurl (I love writing his rude humor. He's a hoot!), AnnaVeraS (Sure thing! I will keep the chapters rolling.), Kittykins (You've got it, kiddo!), Winterheart2000 (You write a good hook too! Come on, publish something! I promise I'll support you 100%. We need more writers, and this is a great place to grow.), Picklez80 (So glad you like it!), Periwinkle (Here you go, and more is coming.), Aizenfan6969 (It's really Kubo who created that dynamic, but I am happy I get that into the stories I write.), Beaker (It has that really good feel to it. I'm having fun with it.), Wildwind13 (Oh, there will be thunder, lightning and fireworks when this comes out!), ShariBerry89 (Love you back!), PrivateCaller (Kenny/Bya will be a lovely side dish too!), and Willow (Here you go! Enjoy.) Love all, Spunky)

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"Idiot," Harribel said under her breath, brushing the sweat off of Grimmjow's damp forehead, "you should have listened to Nel and waited longer to come back here."

"Eh, f-fuck you. I needed a bath after that little freak's vomit shower," the Sexta Espada groaned.

"You could have been devoured by weaklings," the hollow governor scolded him, "Had Nel not caught up with you…"

"I would've avoided the fresh round of spit she just covered me with. For the record, the next time I pass out, just let me get well or die on my own. Her healing power is damned gross!"

"It may not be so palatable, but it is a powerful healing gift, and it's why you're alive. You were nearly killed by Kurosaki Ichigo. And the wounds, surprisingly, indicate a viciousness that I wouldn't expect from him."

"Oh yeah?" Grimmjow scoffed, "Well, you've never seen the fucking monster he turns into."

Grimmjow paused and frowned as a flash image of the partially hollowfied human distracted him for a moment.

"Are you all right?" Harribel teased, giving him a feigned look of seriousness, "Should I call Nel back in here?"

"Ugh, no!" Grimmjow spat, "Keep that brat away from me."

"Promise me you will not get out of bed until I tell you to, and I will opt for less…"

"Disgusting!" Grimmjow provided.

"Less extreme healing measures."

"Fine. I'll stay in bed. I won't go anywhere, except for a bath to get the sweat off occasionally."

Harribel smirked.

"You have a unique fascination with cleanliness. I don't know if it's fitting for a hollow."

"I don't like to stink," Grimmjow huffed, laying back against the pillows, "Just because we live in a hellhole, doesn't mean we have to smell like one."

"I happen to agree," Harribel said more softly, "but with the deaths of so many of our elite officers, our world is more savage right now. Grimmjow, I know you're not interested in any kind of leadership, but I do need help keeping order."

"You want me to be your enforcer, fine. I'll enforce the laws out there, but I'm not hanging around the place Aizen filled his fucking lies with and…"

"You know," Harribel, "Las Noches wasn't built by Aizen Sosuke. It was here before he came and it is here, now that he is gone. It is not the place, Grimmjow, you're feeling disgust over being one of his victims. We should feel humiliated, but we have to continue to survive."

"Easier said than done," Grimmjow sighed.

The two paused in their discussion as a healer arrived, bearing a food tray. The hollow youth set the tray in front of Grimmjow, then gently removed and replaced the bandages on the Sexta Espada's healing wounds. Harribel sat quietly, watching until they were alone again.

"You seemed to have some horrid dreams," she said, picking up the conversation again, "You kept mumbling about someone named Ginger. I was surprised to sense that, amidst everything, you had mated."

Grimmjow gave her a blank look.

"Huh?"

Harribel smirked at him.

"You think I can't tell? Remember, I was there when Nel healed you. You mated recently."

"You're delusional," Grimmjow muttered, "I got torn apart by Kurosaki, then I stumbled around for awhile and collapsed."

"Well, you seem to have found someone while you were stumbling around. You had a lot of semen on you."

"Shut up!" Grimmjow roared, sitting up, "Just shut the hell up, okay? I was fighting, not mating! I don't want a goddamned mate! I have enough whiny little twits hanging around me. I don't need little baby twits to have to watch out for."

"Ah, that's right," Harribel remembered, "You appear to have mated in Pantera's form, so your mate will conceive multiple babies."

Grimmjow's teeth bared and little claws began to grow on his fingers and toes.

"KNOCK IT THE FUCK OFF!" he yelled, swiping at her, "No one's having any goddamned babies here! I don't know why you wanna keep jerking me off about this. Get the hell out and leave me alone, before you make me split my stitches!"

Still smirking, Harribel rose and walked to the door. She paused, still facing away from him.

"Stay in bed, Grimmjow," she advised him, "I need you well soon."

"And I need you to leave me alone and let me fucking sleep. You said sleep. I'm trying to sleep now. Will you get your ass out and let me do that?"

Harribel exited the room and found that Nel had been hiding behind a column and watching.

"Grimmjow is pretty angry," Nel observed.

Harribel nodded.

"He has a right to be. Aizen perpetrated a terrible humiliation on all of us. I feel shame in having trusted him."

"Nel does too, but Nel doesn't go around kicking things and swearing a lot like Grimmjow does."

"He is also dealing with his loss of honor in losing his battle with Kurosaki Ichigo."

Nel shifted back and forth uncomfortably.

"Nel is kind of glad Itsy-go won against Grimmjow, because Itsy-go doesn't really like to kill anyone."

"Ichigo fights to protect, not to kill," Harribel agreed, "When his enemy stops fighting, Ichigo is merciful. Although, Grimmjow doesn't see it as mercy, but as an insult."

"Grimmjow is silly," Nel sighed, shaking her head, "He doesn't like killing either, but he says he has to or something will kill him instead."

"Boy logic," Harribel complained, "He needs to grow up. If you will excuse me now, I need to rest."

"Okay, but Nel has one more question."

Harribel looked at the toddler hollow questioningly.

"Did Grimmjow really find a mate?"

The lady hollow shrugged.

"It seems like he did. There were signs of recent mating when we found him."

"Nel is confused. Nel knows that Grimmjow likes boys. Nel saw him on top of Tesra before."

"You shouldn't be invading people's privacy like that."

"Harribel knew about Grimmjow and Tesra?"

Harribel nodded.

"Tesra was one of Grimmjow's fraccìon before Nnoitora defeated him and claimed Tesra as his."

"Grimmjow liked Tesra a lot," Nel giggled.

"But they weren't mates. I know you understand the difference between boys and girls, Nel."

"Nel does," the girl-hollow snickered, "although Nel likes the stories of the noble boys who can have babies. Did Harribel know that Kuchiki Rukia has a boy cousin who is a real breeder male?"

"A real breeder male?" Harribel repeated curiously, "Are you sure?"

"Uh-huh," Nel answered, nodding, "Rukia told Nel that Rukia's cousin, Tetsuya, was once having a baby, but that the baby died. Nel was sad and started to cry."

"That is sad," Harribel agreed.

"Do you think Grimmjow is sad that Tesra died?" asked Nel.

"I think he is very sad that Tesra died," the lady hollow confirmed, "I think that's part of the reason he's so angry now. He's mostly angry at himself, for not taking Tesra back from Nnoitora before Nnoitora got him killed."

"Nnoitora was horrible," Nel sighed, "Nel isn't sad that Nnoitora is gone. Nel misses Tesra, though. Tesra was nice to Nel, even though it made Nnoitora mad. I wonder if Grimmjow's mate is nice or mean."

Nel thought for a moment, then frowned.

"Nel wonders something," she went on, "Kuchiki Rukia told Nel that breeder males need reiatsu infusions while the breeder males are pregnant. If Grimmjow mated with a boy noble..."

"I don't know of any breeder males here," Harribel assured her, "I am pretty sure that Grimmjow mated with a female."

"Oh," Nel said, tilting her head, "that's good."

"We should both get some rest now," Harribel suggested, "Good night, Nel."

"Good night, Harribel."

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Byakuya sat quietly at a desk amidst the clutter of scientific apparatus in Kisuke's laboratory, making entries onto a laptop, while the shopkeeper pored over a set of notes from his last experiment.

"Hmm," the noble said, frowning at the information in front of him.

"Something wrong?" Kisuke asked, looking up at him.

"I am not sure," Byakuya answered, checking the information on his screen, "I have been entering the numbers for Ichigo's latest tests, and for the most part, it looks as you said…that Ichigo is losing his powers gradually. However, there are signs in his reiatsu monitoring that indicate flares and drop-offs that are sharper than expected."

"I noticed that also," Kisuke affirmed, "But, it still falls into the range one might expect from a person with Ichigo's strength."

"Hmm, I also noticed that his hormone levels are unexpectedly unstable."

"Well," Kisuke said, smirking, "he is a young adult male."

"I have been fully educated in human anatomy," Byakuya said, frowning, "This is not normal. If Ichigo was a shinigami, it would also not be normal…unless, one was a breeder male."

Kisuke turned his head slightly away to hide the little reaction in his eyes.

"That's right," he said solemnly, "You'd know more about the breeder males than I would, having one in your household."

"But, Ichigo is not a shinigami or a noble, so these readings do not make sense."

"Well, there are a lot of things going on with Ichigo right now, and I can't be sure it's not a testing fluke. I'll run the tests again and see if there's something wrong with the data."

"Very well," the noble said, standing, "I have finished the entries. I will need to…"

He broke off as Tessai entered the lab, wearing a worried expression.

"Boss, Shima Kurushimi has just arrived with an injury."

He turned to face Byakuya.

"It is your bodyguard," Tessai reported.

"Tetsuya was injured?"

"The injury itself was minor, which is probably why he neglected to have it healed here. But the hollow had a disruptive reiatsu that caused Tetsuya-san to weaken and lose consciousness. Kurushimi-san found him and brought him in."

"Where are they?" Kisuke asked.

"I have them in the first guest room."

Kisuke nodded and led Byakuya out of the lab and to the guest room. Halfway down the hall, Byakuya skidded to a stop as a large, hulking form entered the hallway from the kitchen and stepped into his path.

"Whoa!" Kenpachi laughed, stepping back as Byakuya glared at him, "Sorry about that, Kuchiki. You all right?"

"I am trying to reach my cousin, who has been injured. Get out of the way."

"Injured by what?" Kenpachi asked, a little glint in his eye.

"It was nothing," Byakuya sighed impatiently, "A weak hollow, but with a disruptive reiatsu. Please move aside. I do need to get by."

"No problem," Kenpachi said good naturedly.

He let the noble pass, then followed him into Tetsuya's guest room, where he found Kisuke and Tessai along with Byakuya, at Tetsuya's bedside. Shima Kurushimi stood near the door, watching as Tetsuya was treated.

"You found Byakuya's cousin?" he asked.

"Yes," Kuri confirmed, "although I didn't know until I got here and Tessai told me who he was. I know of Kuchiki Tetsuya, but like most, I have never seen him in person. I found him collapsed and his horse in a panic. I stabilized him and brought him here."

"Did you see the hollow that did it?" Kenpachi asked, grinning.

"I think Tetsu-hana dispatched it pretty easily."

"Oh," the bigger man said, looking disappointed.

He frowned for a moment, then glanced up again and smiled at the way the Shima leader continued to watch Tetsuya's care so closely.

"You like him, huh?"

"What?" Kuri asked distractedly.

"That guy. Byakuya's cousin?"

"Ah, well, yes, I suppose. He is beautiful."

"You might as well forget it," Kenpachi said, matter-of-factly.

"Oh, why is that?" Kuri asked, frowning curiously, "You don't think Byakurai would approve?"

"No, I don't," Kenpachi chuckled, "but that's not it."

"Then, what is?"

"Well, you see, I spend time at Kuchiki Manor sometimes and Byakuya's talked a little bit about him. Seems he was a prisoner…"

"In Itamigiri," Kuri finished, "I know this, but it doesn't explain why he would not be interested in me. He had a husband, didn't he?"

"Yeah, he had a husband, and they were gonna have a baby."

"But Tetsu-hana's husband was killed in the escape from the prison," Kuri added.

"And Tetsuya lost the baby. He was a wreck. Byakuya told me he didn't say a word for months. He visits his husband's grave when Byakuya visits his wife's every day. And just like Byakuya, he's turned down every offer to court him, male or female. Neither one wants to feel the pain again."

Kuri gave Kenpachi a little smirk.

"You say you spend time at Kuchiki Manor?" he asked, "Why is that? I've heard the way Byakurai insults you."

Kenpachi shrugged.

"I like to piss him off. Sometimes he gets mad enough to take me up on sparring."

"Like he did in Hueco Mundo, eh?" Kuri snickered, "Isn't that what got the two of you assigned here? Fighting each other instead of the enemy?"

"The enemy was fucked by then," Kenpachi scoffed, "I was bored. I got Byakuya pissed. It was meant to be."

"You enjoy fighting him that much?" Kuri laughed.

"Sure," Kenpachi said, shrugging.

"You ought to seduce him," the Shima leader teased, "be a lover, not a fighter. You would get in less trouble."

"Byakuya's a breeder male."

Kuri stiffened and blinked.

"I'm sure you weren't supposed to tell me that," he said, eyeing the bigger man, "How did you even find out?"

"We were a little punch drunk after our sparring in Hueco Mundo and before the healers got there. I tried to kiss him and he slapped me. I thanked him and asked him if he wanted to have sex."

"You asked Byakurai to have sex with you?" Kuri asked, covering his mouth.

"Yeah, you can imagine what he said. But, he slipped and mentioned the risk of getting one of us pregnant. Then, he swore he'd kill me if I told anyone. I can't resist a good fight, so I'm telling you."

"You're telling me so…" Kuri said, glancing at Tetsuya.

"You use that to pressure Byakuya for permission to date his cousin and Byakuya gets pissed at me for outing him about being a breeder male and he tries to kill me. Everyone's happy, right?"

"Except for one thing," Kuri sighed regretfully.

"What's that?" Kenpachi asked.

"Well, if I pressure Tetsu-hana, using the information against his cousin, Tetsu-hana will not forgive me. I am afraid you and I will both have to use other measures."

"Heh," Kenpachi chuckled, "Care to make a bet about far you're gonna get?"

"That would be undignified," Kuri huffed, pulling a little flask out of his sleeve and taking a sip from it, then offering it to Kenpachi, who also took a swig, "Besides, I would just be taking your money, because I tell you now. I am going to marry Tetsu-hana."

"Fat chance!" Kenpachi snorted, crossing his arms, "I call bullshit. I say there's no way you are getting in that pretty-boy's pants."

"And what makes you think that?" Kuri asked, frowning.

"Look, your heart's in the right place. I get that," Kenpachi said with certainty, "But look at us. Byakuya, Tetsuya, you, me? We've all been totally screwed when it comes to love. We've had it and then had it shredded in front of us. Hatred, sickness, just bad luck. It doesn't matter, because reality eats that fantasy we call love. So, fuck it. Fighting's good. I'll take that."

A look of sudden realization spread over Kuri's face and his jaw dropped.

"Ken-ken-nii, you've been in love and…?"

"I lived in the low Rukongai. I was young and stupid once too. Then I learned. Love is for suckers who wanna hurt. That's why I'd rather fight."