Title: Female Half of the Species - Expectations
Author: Shadow Arashi
Fandom: Bleach
Pairing: Ulquiorra x Grimmjow
Rating: PG-13 (for now)
Word Count: 1140
Summary: Ulquiorra discovers another side of Grimmjow and his obsession with the Sexta Espada finally kicks in.
Warnings: Second part of a 4 part story. AU story containing female!Grimmjow, some dirty words, romance and lemon to come. The story takes place in the beginning of the Espada.
Disclaimer: Bleach and all its characters belong to Tite Kubo, this fic is written for entertainment only and I dont make any profit of it.
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Against all of Ulquiorra's expectations, Grimmjow did not sleep with Nnoitra.
Not for lack of trying on the part of the fifth Espada, mind you. The man kept coming onto the proud arrancar, but the Sexta always rejected him with not so hidden disgust and irritation. It drove the fifth crazy but no matter what he did; Grimmjow always brushed him off like some kind of unwanted pest.
For some unknown reasons, it never failed to make Ulquiorra's heart skip a beat, though he couldn't figure out why.
Grimmjow was truly unlike anyone he had ever met, man or woman, human or arrancar. She was loud and dominating, always ready for a fight and demanding respect from all. She couldn't stand being looked down upon and frequently picked fights with Ulquiorra, claiming that the Cuatro was afraid of her whenever he refused to indulge her.
She was his polar opposite and Ulquiorra truly didn't know what it was about her that always had his eyes coming back to her.
She wasn't exactly beautiful the way Hallibel was without her mask; her features were too sharp for that and her hollow mask only emphasis the harsh quality of her face. She more often than not lacked any finesse usually associated with the female half of the species, instead seemingly to care very little for her appearance, and demonstrating certain habits that would not have looked out of place in some of her male colleagues. She couldn't be bothered to tame down her hair, zip her jacket properly (to the delight of Nnoitra and various male arrancars) or talk without swearing at least once.
And yet she had a certain beauty about her, an odd attractiveness that made everyone who ever laid their eyes on her take a double take.
Thus, Ulquiorra had discovered that her face actually was pretty when it wasn't twisted into a frown. The markings around her eyes were seductive and softened her features while highlighting her eyes. And for all Grimmjow's rudeness, she also had the innate grace of a feline; something Ulquiorra suspected to be linked to her released form.
And moreover, to Ulquiorra's quiet amazement, she had the utter respect of her fraccions, something that was not easy to win despite the appearances.
It was easy for an Espada to frighten their fraccions into submission, or to otherwise bribe them or use them as tools. However, Grimmjow had managed to secure for herself the trust and loyalty of her fraccions without anything but her own charisma. They followed her because they wanted to and not because they wanted to gain something from it, a rarity in Las Noches.
For Ulquiorra, Grimmjow was just one big puzzle that he couldn't make sense of. He couldn't figure out why the Sexta had such an edge over her fraccions, or why he was growing so interested in the lower ranked Espada either.
However, his real obsession with the Sexta didn't start until he was given a glimpse of another side of the wild feline.
He had been going to the training room to practice after reporting to Aizen-sama as he usually did when he heard familiar yells coming from the room.
Ulquiorra's eyes narrowed, inwardly feeling himself growing just a tiny bit exasperated.
Grimmjow was once again creating a commotion, from the look of it. And the task to get the angry panther under control was going to fall upon him.
The Cuatro felt oddly reminded of the first time he had met the Sexta, and shook his head lightly to rid himself of the thought. He then entered the training area, ready to put the feline back into her place.
Only to be left stunned at the spectacle once again.
Grimmjow still had her back toward the Cuatro but she wasn't yelling at her fraccions this time. No, this time she was standing protectively in front of the smallest of her followers - a snarky little thing named D Roy if he remembered correctly - who looked to be wounded, and literally hissing like an angry cat at Nnoitra who was looking smugly at the girl.
"Who said you could raise a hand on my fraccions, Nnoitra?!"
The fifth Espada grinned at her and licked his lips, his eyes never leaving the slender form of the Sexta.
"What's wrong Grimm-chan? I'm just having fun with them, that's all."
Grimmjow's eyes seemed to spit flames, her lips curling into a snarl and baring her sharp fang like teeth.
"Then why the fuck is D Roy bleeding? I don't know what you were tryin' to pull Nnoitra, but if you ever so much as look at them the wrong way again, I'll kick your sorry ass myself!"
"Oh really? And what can a pretty little thing like you do to me? Sexta-chan."
Nnoitra's grin widened before he disappeared in a burst of sonido, only to materialise just in front of Grimmjow. His hands flashed forward and grabbed the surprised Espada, pulling her against his chest and locking his arms around her waist. He bent his body over the smaller arrancar, obviously getting ready to try and steal a kiss from the struggling blue haired woman.
Ulquiorra felt his insides tightened at the sight and nearly gave away his presence when he saw Grimmjow kick Nnoitra right in the balls with a growl of pure fury.
Nnoitra let out an undignified squeal and fell on his knees, his face matching the color of his uniform.
Grimmjow turned away from the prone figure with a hiss, and immediately went back to her fraccions' side.
For the next five minutes she fuzzed over her wounded fraccion, calling him an idiot for not standing up for himself and several others very unflattering names. To anyone else, she would have looked abusive and down right mean to her wounded follower, but Ulquiorra (who was used to hiding his emotions and read the emotions of others) could clearly see her concern.
She truly cared for her followers, he realised with something like amazement.
And her fraccions knew it, as D Roy never once looked hurt or scared of his Espada, merely nodding to her words and quickly getting to his feet and complaining about the fifth being a dirty cheater.
Grimmjow merely snorted and kick her fraccion in the back of the head before walking away. She never once looked back to see if her fraccions were following her, but Ulquiorra's trained eyes could see the concentration in her face as she discreetly monitored her fraccion's physical condition by reading his reiatsu.
The Cuatro stayed motionless by the door for a long while after their departure, mulling over what he had just saw.
There was definitely more to Grimmjow than meet the eye.
Unknowingly to Ulquiorra, it was the true beginning of his obsession with the Sexta Espada.