Grimmjow peered around the corner carefully.
"Grimmjow." Said a voice behind him. He hissed to himself as Ichigo tugged on his jacket. "You do know where you're going, right?"
"Yeah, yeah, shut up. I told you, Ulqui's got ears like a bat." He mumbled back before slouching out, hands in his pockets and a sullen expression. It was the kind of attitude that would make Numeros avoid him. When they weren't sneaking, Grimmjow had decided that 'pissed off' was a good tactic. Kurosaki stayed close to his back, keeping his head down.
The lack of doors probably sucked for the woman's privacy, not that Grimmjow cared. It sure was useful now, though. He managed to scope out the room before stepping inside, and Ulquiorra wasn't there. Maybe he was off on a mission, if they were lucky. He did like to work at night.
"Hey, woman." Grimmjow said gruffly as Orihime turned to him with a deer in the headlights look. He could feel Kurosaki tense behind him and sighed to himself. "Orihime, I mean. Whatever. Come here." She hesitated then stepped towards him. A rough, large hand suddenly slapped over her mouth and Grimmjow pulled her close. "Shhh. Don't say anything." He murmured so quietly, even Ulquiorra might not have heard. Behind him, Ichigo flipped down his hood for a moment and Orihime's eyes went even wider. "C'mon." He let go of her face and Orihime smiled, eyes bright as she looked at Ichigo. Grimmjow privately hated that look. She might not be his girl, but he wondered if Orihime knew that.
"Y-Yes." She whispered as quietly as he had, gathering up her skirts in both hands. Grimmjow decided that as soon as they were far enough away, he was going to rip those things off. They were pretty and all, but how could she run in them? Although if it came down to running she was dead anyway. No Sonido or even flash step.
"Orihime? Oh! I didn't know you had visitors – Grimmjow-sama!" The little Numero carrying a plate of food bowed and nearly spilled it as Grimmjow scowled at her. He thanked his lucky stars that Ichigo had flipped his hood back up as he took the tray.
"Yeah, I'll make sure she eats. You get lost." The Numero paled at his tone and babbled out apologies before high-tailing it out. Grimmjow dumped the tray on the table, stealing a sweet cake and munching it. "Where did he get cakes? Bastard's been holding out on us. Eat a little, woman. Don't imitate a bird." Grimmjow glanced at the doorway. They needed to give the Numero a bit of time to get away, if she saw them leaving, well… Orihime seemed to understand and took a cake, eating it slowly. When she was done Grimmjow led them out the door.
The rest was easy. Ulquiorra had to be off doing something, and all the other Espada were asleep or jacking off. There were plenty of Numeros, but they sure as hell weren't going to stop and question an Espada. Grimmjow grinned a little to himself. Aizen's security was pretty good… but it didn't do much against treachery. His grin faded as he thought about why, but he shoved the thought aside. He'd deal with that shit later.
As soon as they were safely away, he opened a garganta and hurried them through. Someone would sense that, sure as shit, and not just the arrancar. The fucking shinigami would sense it too, so the clock was ticking.
"Where we going?" He asked the two of them as Ichigo pulled the hood off his white cloak. They were in the middle of Karakura town, and while he'd been here before, Grimmjow had no idea where they were at exactly.
"We should probably go to Kisuke's. He can keep Orihime safe." Ichigo said and Grimmjow nodded. Aizen probably wouldn't be willing to launch an all-out attack on that guy, and as he was pretty sure he didn't really need the woman anymore anyway. Although he would still be pissed about losing her like this.
"I have no fucking idea where I am, so lead the way." Ichigo nodded and took point. Orihime was a little out of breath when they finally reached the place, and Grimmjow could feel an itching sensation between his shoulder blades. He was sure no one was watching him, but he could feel doom closing in. This was all taking too damn long. "Is this it? Because I have to run, like, right the fuck now." Grimmjow glanced around nervously. He was starting to feel something that felt like shinigami, and it wasn't just Ichigo. Then a hand touched his arm and he blinked, looking back and meeting brown eyes.
"Grimmjow… thank you." Ichigo hesitated a moment, then hugged him roughly. Grimmjow returned it, pleased at the gesture. "Are you going to be okay?" There was a shadow in Kurosaki's eyes and some serious worry in his voice. He was clearly starting to think and realize how hopeless things were for the Espada.
"Yeah, I'll be fine." Grimmjow lied. He knew he was fucked. He couldn't stay in the living world, there was nothing for him to eat here without Szayel's condensed spirit energy pills. Soul Society was out too. He'd have to eat a lot of souls there, or powerful ones, like fukutaichou level. He didn't know how many fukutaichou were running around, but it wouldn't be enough. And he didn't like eating humans and plus souls anyway. They cried and ran and had kids and shit. Hollows, he at least knew damn well they would have eaten him if they could. It felt a lot better, eating something that was willing to eat him right back. So that meant his only option was Hueco Mundo. And with Aizen and all the other Espada after him, that option sucked balls. But it was the best he had. "I just have to get going before your shinigami friends show up. Later, Kurosaki." There would be no later and they both knew it. Grimmjow saw it in the hurt realization in Ichigo's eyes.
"Later, Grimmjow." The teen said quietly and Grimmjow could feel his eyes on him as he took off before he ducked into an alleyway. He was trying to mask his reiatsu as much as possible, and get away from Ichigo and Orihime. Opening the garganta right in front of the shop would let Aizen know where they were, and he didn't really want the shinigami to know either.
Once he felt he was safe, he began opening the garganta. But it wasn't an instantaneous process, and he could feel something closing in on him.
Come on come on come on… He growled to himself as he tore the garganta wider. He was just about to take a step inside when he heard the voice.
"Scatter, Senbonzakura." Sakura petals lashed at him and Grimmjow swore as the garganta snapped shut. They weren't like the seikamon the shinigami used, they required attention and willpower. Too late. He whirled to meet the threat. His only option now was to defeat the shinigami so he'd have the peace he needed to open the garganta.
"Fuck." He muttered to himself as he realized it wasn't just the black haired noble bastard. It was his fukutaichou, that Abarai Renji guy Aizen had thought about giving to him. And a white haired kid with alarming reiatsu was there, along with a girl who had boobs to rival Orihime. "Fucking great." He was going to get reamed. There were too many of them. He drew his sword. "Grind, Pantera!" If he was going out, he'd go out with a bang.
And there were a lot of bangs involved. Grimmjow grinned as he put the woman through a building, and wondered how the shinigami would convince the humans the damage had happened. Then he regretted losing his focus, as the stupid ice from the white haired brat slammed into him. He took out a street light on the way down before cratering the pavement. Pulling himself up, he swore and shook the blood off his face. His hierro wasn't protecting him fully against these bastards.
"Ban kai!" Grimmjow cursed as the red haired bastard shot some kind of fanged serpent at him. What the fuck was that? He dodged and fired his spines at the cretin, who dodged them… but one of them hit the white haired kid, pretty much by accident. The rest detonated in the air. Then the serpent tried to coil around him and he screamed as fangs latched onto his shoulder.
"Fuck you you fucking fuck!" He screamed before burying his fist right into the thing's head. The bones exploded and the serpent thing screamed before letting go. Then a blow hit him from behind, hard, and he was falling. He managed to get a grip on himself quicker this time, and Grimmjow saw it had been the big titty bitch. He attacked her, driving her back and slashing her chest, sending blood flying. Then he had to parry a blast of pink stuff from the grey eyed bastard.
It was hopeless, he knew it was hopeless, but he was just too damned dumb and stubborn to quit. His left arm wasn't working right anymore and blood was scalding his side, but he went after the grey-eyed noble with murder in his heart. He gave the bastard a good hit, too, before a dozen pink blades plunged into his body.
"Argh!" Grimmjow coughed and gagged on his own blood, spitting out a mouthful onto the shinigami's scarf. It was a petty victory, but the annoyance on that pretty face was worth something before ice and bone ganged up on him and sent him down onto a rooftop.
The landing was ugly, if you could even call it a landing. He skidded across the surface and lay gasping, eyes closed in pain as his resurreccion slowly vanished, his sword reappearing beside him. Forcing his eyes open, he gripped the hilt of the blade and began to force himself up. There was blood everywhere, splattered on the concrete and he glanced down quickly at his left arm before looking away. He could see the bone. He wouldn't be using it for at least a week, and he didn't have a week. He didn't have an hour.
Grimmjow looked up as the shinigami landed across from him. The woman was missing and he took a bit of pride in the fact that he'd taken her out of the fight. The others were looking pretty damn rough, too, especially the white haired kid. The red haired fukutaichou had some nice bruises and bloody wounds, but the damned noble was mostly untouched. Grimmjow wished him luck getting the blood out of his scarf, though, and a grin twisted his lips. Then he raised his sword, even though his hand was shaking and he couldn't catch his breath.
"It's over. Surrender, arrancar." The noble said calmly and Grimmjow laughed before spitting out another mouthful of blood at his feet.
"Come closer so I can bite you." He growled and the guy just looked at him with those calm grey eyes. Reminded him of Ulquiorra. Fucking jackass.
"Way of Binding 63: Chain Bonds." He said and Grimmjow hissed a vile curse as he tried to evade the kido. It was hopeless and he was yanked to his knees, his arms pinned to his sides with golden chains. The grey eyed bastard walked up to him, sword in hand.
Is this it? Grimmjow felt weirdly calm as he met those calm grey eyes. He could tell this shinigami would kill him and not feel a moment of remorse. Kind of like a hollow, really. At least I'll die the way I lived, spitting and kicking defiance at the world. He smiled at the thought and did his best to break free of the kido, surging against the bonds. Then his eyes widened as the shinigami lifted his empty hand.
"Forced slumber."
No! Grimmjow's mind and will screamed rebellion, but his weakened body could not resist the kido. He slumped in the chains, head spinning as his soul screamed.
Then there was nothing but darkness and dreams.
Today has been a very strange day.
He's been testing hypnotic techniques on me, and it's pretty fucking funny. Because apparently, I am as easy to hypnotize as a rock. Ulquiorra would say I don't have enough working brain cells for it. I wonder if Aizen had this problem with me?
For once, I really am laughing. Clown faced bastard doesn't seem to mind though. Oh great, he's going to try drugs to lower my resistance.
Fuck my life.
"Kurosaki Ichigo." Ichigo looked up, surprised, as Byakuya walked into Kisuke's shop. Orihime was ensconced in a chair and drinking tea, waiting for the shopkeeper to come back with some normal clothing. Byakuya looked him over with a small frown and Ichigo blushed faintly as he realized he was still wearing the arrancar uniform Grimmjow had given him. "You're looking surprisingly well." There was an odd note to his voice and Ichigo frowned at him.
"They hadn't gotten around to doing much with me yet." Ichigo said, not entirely truthfully. But his feelings about Grimmjow were just too confused for him to mention what had happened to anyone, let alone Byakuya Kuchiki. Renji came in behind his taichou and Ichigo flashed him a quick smile before noticing the bruises. "Had a rough time with a hollow?" He was glad Grimmjow had gotten away before they showed up. There would have been one hell of a fight, otherwise.
It didn't occur to Ichigo that being within Kisuke's defenses, and with his own poor reiatsu sensing, he could have missed the fight occurring.
"Yeah, he was a tough bastard. Ichigo, we thought you died!" Renji gave him a rough hug and Ichigo squeaked before pounding his shoulder. "You look pretty good for being trapped by Aizen for weeks. How'd you manage it? And how'd you escape?" From the way Byakuya was looking at him, he wanted an answer to that too. Ichigo wondered uneasily about how Aizen usually treated prisoners.
"Well, he just didn't have time for me." He prevaricated. It might be close to true, since he'd let Grimmjow start. "But… he was going to turn me into an arrancar. One of the Espada helped me escape." Ichigo couldn't help the slight sadness in his voice. He'd been thinking since he'd gone into the shop, and he'd realized that Grimmjow had to be in a terrible spot now. He couldn't understand why the Espada had done it. He dropped his gaze to the ground and missed Byakuya's momentary pause, and the widening of Renj's eyes.
"Which Espada was it?" Byakuya asked softly and Ichigo blinked, looking up. He hesitated a moment but Aizen would know anyway, so maybe the information could help Grimmjow, at least a bit.
"Grimmjow, the sixth Espada." Ichigo shrugged. "He didn't seem to like the idea of me being tortured into an arrancar." There was a soft gasp and Ichigo looked at Renji. "Renji, is something wrong?"
"Uh, nothing." He said quickly and Ichigo frowned. But before he could pursue whatever this was, Byakuya spoke again.
"We will have to ensure that Orihime is well guarded, but you have done well, Kurosaki. Rest and recover." Byakuya said and Ichigo nodded, turning his attention back to Orihime. She was too pale and thin, despite the food they had been giving her. The two shinigami left, and he completely dismissed them from his mind.
"Taichou… what should we do?" Renji said in a low tone and Byakuya flicked him a glance.
"He is already being delivered to the 2nd Division and the 12th." Byakuya said softly and Renji winced, glancing down at the blood on his clothes. They'd all assumed Grimmjow had come to attack Ichigo's remaining friends, or cause some other chaos.
"But it's not right. He saved Ichigo and Orihime. Isn't there anything we can do?" Renji asked and, to his shock, Byakuya stopped walking and put a hand on his shoulder. Grey eyes met cinnamon, and they held a surprising amount of compassion. But also a strong resolve.
"No. He has information that could be critical to our success against Aizen, and he will not share it willingly. If he was interested in doing that he would have surrendered." Byakuya said and Renji had to admit he had a point. "And he is a hollow, a corrupted soul. When the time comes I will do my best to ensure he has a painless death, but that is all we can do."
"Yes taichou." Renji wanted to disagree, wanted to do something for the strong, brave warrior they had fought, but he knew in his head that Byakuya was right. The information the Espada had might be critical. "We're not going to tell Ichigo?"
"No. It would only hurt him." That was true too, and Renji sighed to himself. He hoped the kid wouldn't hate them when he finally found out. He would feel indebted to the Espada, and Ichigo had such a strong urge to protect.
But there was really nothing he could do.
I think I did something really bad today.
I wasn't going to tell them about Kurosaki, about what I did with him. Shinigami bastards would kill him for fucking a hollow. Well, not for being raped by one, they're not that crazy. But was it really rape at the end? I don't think so. Rape wasn't the point of the whole thing, and Kurosaki was starting to figure that out.
But today… it was more 'endurance testing'. That's what he calls it. I call it torture, fucking sadistic torture with no damned point. He just wants to see how far he can push me, how long I can survive something. Too long, I'm too fucking strong. Do I want to die? Not yet, but… fuck. Fuck the bastard, I swear I will kill him.
I lost my mind though, somewhere in it. Started babbling about Kurosaki. I don't know what I said, but I have a bad feeling I said too much. I think he asked me some questions but I can't remember what I answered. Shit… I feel so fucking weak! If I get free again I'm going to kill myself.
Not because I want to die, but because I have to protect him.
Grimmjow looked up with a snarl as the door to his cell opened. Then his eyes widened as he saw someone he'd thought he would never see again.
"Grimmjow?" Ichigo sounded disbelieving as he looked over the Espada. Grimmjow followed his gaze, actually looking at the state of his body for the first time in over a month. He was still strong, but covered in scars, bruises and half-healed wounds of various sorts. Mostly needle holes and burns, these days. "What have they done to you? Damn it! Why didn't you say something about me sooner?" Ichigo snapped, sounding pissed as hell. It was a pretty familiar tone and it almost brought tears to his eyes, but the Espada refused to cry like a pussy.
"Huh?" Grimmjow had no idea why Ichigo was pissed, though. "Because I was worried they might kill you for fucking me, dumbass. Even if you didn't want to. How are you here?" Clearly, someone had talked to Ichigo about what he'd said under torture. But why were they letting the kid in his cell? And Ichigo wasn't in chains, so it looked like he wasn't going to be joining the arrancar in this hellhole. That was strange.
"I'm getting you out of here." Ichigo growled, producing a set of keys. "You wouldn't believe what I had to go through, and that bastard Kurotsuchi insisted on running two more tests on you," Grimmjow shuddered to himself as he remembered the last two sessions. They'd been bad ones. "But they agreed to drop the charges and let me have custody of you."
"Custody? I'm confused." Grimmjow growled as Ichigo unlocked the chains, but left the collar. "Hey, aren't you taking this off?" He really wanted that collar off. But Kurosaki shook his head.
"No, you'd do something stupid." The shinigami said and Grimmjow rolled his eyes, but privately admitted he was right. He was dying to do something stupid as hell.
"Is killing that clown faced fucker stupid? Because I want to do it so bad." He growled and winced as Ichigo slapped his shoulder.
"I know how you feel, but that would be bad. Look, it's going to be like this." Ichigo took a deep breath and Grimmjow frowned at him, waiting for the shinigami to explain as he rubbed his wrists, then finally got to give his hair a good scratch. It had been so long since he could scratch. "Most of what you've done was against me, personally. So I convinced them that I could keep an eye on you, and with what you did for me, they're willing to give you a second chance. They're going to put you in a special gigai that will gradually change you into a spiritually powerful human like me." Grimmjow found himself speechless at the prospect. A human? Him?
"Why in hell would the shinigami agree to this?" It went against everything they stood for. They sent impure souls like him on, why would they agree to turn an arrancar into a human? "What's in it for them?" He asked, suddenly suspicious.
"It was a pretty drawn out fight." Ichigo admitted. "I've been arguing with them for three days. Kurotsuchi actually helped, because he wants to see if his new gigai will work." Grimmjow's eyes narrowed and he cursed to himself. So he wouldn't be able to kill the clown faced fucker? Great. "Um, I might have made some threats. And after what happened with Rukia, I don't think they thought I was bluffing."
"This is all crazy as fuck. But if you think I'm going to turn it down, you're wrong." Grimmjow made his decision quickly. He wasn't looking forward to being human, but he was looking forward to more torture a lot less. He could figure out human. And… "Will there be cars?" He asked hopefully and Ichigo choked on a laugh.
"Yeah, there will be a lot of cars. Can you walk?" He asked and Grimmjow grunted, pulling himself to his feet. He wasn't sure how long he'd been in here, but he was only a bit weaker than normal, physically.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Lead the way." He'd do anything to get out of this place. And a curious part of him was wondering what living in the Living World would be like.
It was interesting.
