Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, shape, and/or form, own Bleach. Otherwise this wouldn't be a fan-fiction. However, the random human fans/audiences are mine [basically character additions to highlight the story]. I also do not own the second song in this chapter, but the first is my creation…!
Author's Note: Here's chapter one, guys/gals! I hope you enjoy it just as much as I enjoyed typing it~!
Key
Word—text and/or express on word in the middle of thoughts
Word—thoughts and/or express on word
Word—extreme emphasis on shouting and/or word of "meaning"
WORD—change of scene and/or character shouting
[Number]—change of POV according to Espada rank
A Change in Atmospheres
I
A Year's Worth of Change
One Year Later…
Clear yet visible light poured through the sparkling glass of the well-kept window in the tidy kitchen. The gray light was the perfect addition to the gaunt kitchen that might as well be a sepulcher. In fact, the whole titanium-bronze alloyed castle in its entirety might as well be with its distraught atmosphere, yet sumptuous at the same time. If only the sumptuous castle wasn't so feckless, then it could make for a great home for many a lifetime. Although it was gloomy, it was kept clean and devoid of any random, murky areas. The cleanliness was ubiquitous for such a huge and barren place, but that only made it slightly enjoyable; for one needs a jocular atmosphere if one wishes for guests.
Fortunately, that wasn't the case for this young fellow.
Ulquiorra Schiffer drew a hand across his ivory forehead in a failed attempt to remove his ebony bangs from his eyes, knowing full well that they were not quite long enough to tuck behind the ears—and never will be. His emerald-jade, agnostic doe eyes scanned the dead kitchen with their usual acuity, eventually ceasing their intermittent search yet again when a crusted spider came into view. He stood tall and began his graceful stride over to the daily filth for the fiftieth time that day. Spiders were quite common in the house; however, deceased spiders were actually rather rare. He crouched down to the spotless tiles in front of the pristine white wall, knees bent, and examined the verdant critter as skeptically as he did any other material. He blew at the lifeless spider, eyes flashing when its tiny body shimmered beneath the light. What a curious shade this spider was. He wondered if he had just discovered a new breed and began tallying just what the reward would be for such a discovery. He leaned forward and precariously pinched the spider between his index finger and his thumb, careful not to mare the specimen any more than what the spider's short lifetime may have cost it. He brought it up to eye-level and turned it this way and that, easily memorizing every detail. It sure was different, with its glimmering, dark green and metallic black fuzzy body. Without a critical eye, the ordinary viewer would've missed the small tufts of cerulean blue at the tip of each antenna. It sure was a color like no other spider he had seen before in his amount of days spent in the human realm.
Huh.
Standing tall once again, he wiped the dust from his new black skinnies then walked over to the first drawer in the kitchen. He quickly opened it and pulled out a Zip-lock bag, holding it against his leg and slipping his free hand into the bag so as to get it unstuck. He retrieved his hand and held it open disdainfully as he hesitantly dropped the deceased creature into the bag, taking precautions so as not to mar the tiny critter. As closed the bag, he allowed his thoughts to wander back in time, but not so far that it drew him into an emotional depression; he didn't much like human emotion and the distress it brought with it.
How long has it been? Six human months? Ten? A year? Yes, it had indeed been a whole human year since his resurrection. How could it have been that long already? He shut his eyes, disheartening images flitting before them so he reopened them and swiftly turned around on his heels, reburying the painful memories for the fourth time that human day. Why did it have to hurt so? He thought only physical pain existed in its temporary reprieve, but ever since he experienced "human" emotions…no; you've gotten through this many a-time before, so be gone, nefarious truths! Ulquiorra abruptly shook his head and started to his study as his next destination, replacing his dark thoughts with having his assistant look up the odd spider species.
ELOQUENTLY DESCENDING THE MARBLE STAIRCASE, Ulquiorra reached for the small chain above him and pulled, causing the bulb to glow a bright yellow-white, illuminating the desolate space around him; the basement was the only area he couldn't care less for of what state it was in.
Five minutes had passed since he returned to the enervated manor from his visit to his office at Harajuka Enterprise, and already his thoughts were muddled with images of the past. Why couldn't the dreaded fragments leave him be? Wishing to distract himself, he had turned to the basement to gather his banal gardening tools, praying that the tedious business would do the trick. He snatched up his hand-woven basket filled with them and pulled down the chain again, reluctantly ascending the marble stairway yet again. Even if it was not at all reprieving; at least he'd have newly-trimmed roses tainted black.
10
WHAT SEEMED TO STRETCH ON ENDLESSLY AS IF IN ETERNAL MEASURE, Yammy fell from the black-turned-purple sky. He wondered just how much longer he would continue to drop. It wasn't his fault that a random flying chicken came into his line of sight, tantalizing him into stepping out of the safety of the gargantua to capture the livid thing. Then, like a true fool, he had quickly found himself descending the frigid human sky at high speeds, completely misplacing his knowledge of how to "stand on thin air". Oh, what a stupid fool he was [and still is].
He passed through yet another cloud and a sudden sneeze itched at his internals as a result. He managed to release the damned blast of spit and air, then crossed his arms, getting comfortable with his predicament. He yawned and, again, wondered just how much longer he was going to fall. Surely it couldn't be too much longer; the human sky couldn't be that vast!
…
Right?
Yammy stretched out his aching legs before him as the harsh and frigid air whipped mercilessly against his back when he noticed that the sky had turned to a light blue. Whoa, so now it went from purple to blue like how it went from black to purple before? Did that mean he would be landing soon? Oh, this better—
His thoughts were cut off as he made rough contact with the earth, his prolonged force from speed/acceleration and large mass causing a huge hole to mar the grass beneath him. Well, what used to be the grass, at least. He scowled, howled, bickered, and bitched about how awful a landing that was and stood up, holding his back with one hand as he bent forward and the other hand resting on his knee. "Ohhhhhhhhh man did that hurt…!" He cried and rubbed his back continuously. He suddenly popped open his squeezed eyes when he felt bile rise in his throat. "Oh, fuuuuuuu…"
He was unable to finish his sentence, hacking up the contents of his last, hearty meal [consisting of mainly hollows, of course, considering there are no chickens in Hueco Mundo].
"Ugh," he wiped carelessly at his bulbous lips, "there goes that golden roast [well, golden hollow]…" He squinted his eyes at what looked to be petunias and black roses not very far before him. "What the…" Being one to voice his thoughts, he looked around him and carelessly shouted, "Is this a garden?", exasperated.
"Isn't that obvious enough," answered a calm, monotonous voice from his left. Yammy whipped his head to the right moodily.
"Who said that?" He [finally] looked to his left, only to see a petite male with shaggy ebony hair and deprived emerald eyes. "Ulquiorra…?" He gaped. Ulquiorra hesitantly stepped forward then, allotting a few moments of time to pass before parting his lips to speak.
"You're even more unintelligent than in my recollections, Yammy Llargo."
4
TAKING HIS TIME WITH APPLYING HIS GARDENING GLOVES, Ulquiorra had stopped before the living room sofa to set down his gardener basket in order to dress in his gardening gear, when a huge 'kaboom!' resonated from outside, affecting his manor by filling it with uncomfortable vibrations. What was that? It seemed to be coming from his garden, so he quickly pulled on the second glove and scooped up the basket, accelerating his stride to a faster pace in order to quickly feed his curiosity. He did live in the middle of nowhere, after all.
He opened the back, wooden maroon door just in time to hear Yammy's thoughtless outburst. The big guy always had been quite the stupid one. "Isn't it obvious enough?" He made sure to come out like his usual self so-as to give the lout a hint, but then he pulled another hair-brained move: he looked in the other direction. Was the idiot so dumb that he couldn't figure out something as simple as pinpointing the direction of sound? Or had he grown deaf?
"Who said that?" The baka finally turned to face Ulquiorra and jaw-dropped upon laying eyes on him. "Ulquiorra…?" He gaped like a guppy.
"You're even more unintelligent than in my recollections, Yammy Llargo." He finally spoke after he stepped from the marble porch. "What brings you here to my human manor?" He dared not draw any closer and awaited the idiot's response patiently.
"Wh-what do you mean, what brings me here? I thought you died!" He stepped toward him. "I mean, I know you did—I felt your presence vanish like dust in the wind!"
Ulquiorra visibly sighed and motioned for Yammy to follow him. He wondered if the idiot had any brain cells to notice that he had quoted a human song by some band called Kansas. Then again, the only reason Ulquiorra had such knowledge was because he was forced to listen to a human thing called 'music' in the office because his assistant blared the beats every day as well as other raucous morons outside his secluded box. "Come along now, Yammy, let's go talk inside."
The brute immediately brightened up and took a large step forward, causing his recent vomit to slosh around his foot. "Do you have any chicken, perhaps? This flying chicken passed me earlier and…"
Ulquiorra tuned him out, currently transfixed by the rotten, chunky liquid around Yammy's foot. He narrowed his eyes visibly, wrinkled his nose, and glared at it in utter disgust.
"How vile."
6
PULLING DOWN HIS SHADES TO ONCE AGAIN COVER HIS CERULEAN EYES, Grimmjow pushed open the heavy double doors after receiving confirmation from the other two. The crowd from both sides of the velvet carpet erupted into even louder cheers and squeals than before upon spotting the rambunctious blunette, the pink-haired wonder, and the long-haired, violet eyed prick. Camera flashes appeared from all around, making Grimmjow—yet again—realize just how grateful he was for the human invention of sunglasses. He was sure his gigai would've gone blind before without them to aid him. He stuck his hands in his pockets, feeling bare, when his left hand felt something soft. Growling, he pulled it out, saw it was a tissue, and threw it back into the crowd behind him rudely, simply wanting to rid of the trash. The fan-girls mauled it like wild animals and even fought one another for it. It was brutal, but also humorous to witness.
Once the limousine doors shut behind them and the tinted windows went up, the popular trio burst into hysterical laughter:
"That was so vulgar yet so hilarious at the same time," Szayelapporos cackled.
"And did you see that girl's face?" Nnoitra looked to his right at Szayelapporos and Grimmjow and almost teared up in overwrought joy.
"Priceless!" The three chimed in unison and howled together; then recollected their former dignities and wiped at their eyes.
"So why are we doing this band thing, anyways?" Szayelapporos brought up again, after a year of ignoring the question. "And just why would we name ourselves, Espada Reborn? How lame is that?"
"Does there always have to be a reason why with you, Szayelapporos Grantz?" Grimmjow examined his thumb closely, out of boredom, and tapped his nails against the door handle; distraught.
"Yeah, what Grimmjow said," Nnoitra joined in. "'Sides—I kind of like it~" He slurred and giggled unprofoundly.
Szayelapporos looked at him in disgust and face-palmed. "Yes, but there has to be a deeper meaning to the title to name it as such." He turned to Grimmjow, who sighed in turn and leaned back in his seat. "Pray tell, good Sexta."
"It just serves as a good reminder of our past lives and what we lost, okay?" Now of course Grimmjow knew the real answer, but he wasn't about to tell the pink-haired fairy, especially when in front of the spoon. That guy hates 'faggots' with a burning passion, and he wasn't about to give him more of an excuse to pick on him. Hell to the no!
"Huh. That's an odd reason. Why ever would you want to be reminded of that bastard?" Nnoitra nudged Szayelapporos so that the force of his inertia would cause him to bump Grimmjow in a ripple effect. Grimmjow rolled his eyes after getting shoved and rested his head on the door's window.
"Obviously not the Aizen part, you guys know I hate that fucker." Grimmjow observed the many cars they passed and frowned, trying his best not to let the memories of his past cloud his brain.
"…oh come on now, Szayel, I'm sure you'll enjoy it~" Nnoitra inched closer to Szayelapporos so that their legs were touching. Szayelapporos inched away in turn and ended up bumping Grimmjow again, who was too lost in his thoughts to notice nonetheless care.
"I-I don't know about this, Nnoitra." He glanced at Grimmjow, then back to Nnoitra. "Plus, Grimmjow's in here and what would he think of us…?"
Nnoitra sighed and ran his long fingers through his jet-black hair, squeezing his eyes shut. "Like I give a fuck what he thinks!" He popped open his eyes and licked his lips, "now come 'ere, pinky~" His eyes flashed haughtily and he snaked his arms around Szayelapporos, scooping him up to sit on his lap. He lifted up Szayelapporos' chin to face him and gazed into his topaz eyes for a few sweet moments before mashing his thin lips against Szayelapporos' in an erotic fashion.
Grimmjow closed his eyes and banged his forehead against the car window. He scowled, remembering the biggest mistake of his hollow life and cracked open his eyes again, shaking his head violently. He wasn't in the mood to have a breakdown; especially in front of Nnoitra and Szayelapporos. He sighed and turned his head to address Szayelapporos about where they should go next when he caught sight of what they were doing. Jaw-dropping, Grimmjow widened his eyes and he smacked his back against the door. "Wh-what the hell?! Why couldn't you two wait until we reached the hotel? Porque?!" It wasn't that he personally cared what they did or how they acted, it was just that it filled him with envy to see that they could 'love' each other while his mate was deceased, forever out of his reach. Szayelapporos had jumped into the air upon hearing Grimmjow's shouts and ended up hitting his head on the roof of the limousine. He pushed off Nnoitra and scooted back into his place next to Grimmjow, dusting off his pants.
"S-sorry," he mumbled and looked at his brown, gradient skinny jeans meekly, picking at one of the tear designs on it. Grimmjow's face relaxed into an impassive state and he turned to lean back in the cushion seat again, propping his elbow onto the side door to rest his cheek on his palm.
"Whatever; let's just take Nnoitra's jeep next time so that this doesn't happen." I take that back—can't believe I never noticed they were gay with each other!
"What's up your ass, Grimmjow?" Nnoitra smirked slyly at him. "Someone jelly?"
"No!" Grimmjow snapped then knit his brows together. "…I'm peanut butter." Nnoitra and Szayelapporos burst into a hysterical fit of laughter.
"Man, let's just get home already and prepare for the next concert on this Tokyo tour. Have you chosen the special song for our next location?" Nnoitra attempted to change the subject.
"Yeah," Grimmjow peered out the window once again when "The Comfort Zone" came into view. "Don't worry about that—I already decided on it."
/
"OHHHHH MY GOSH, Debby, you have to see this!" A bubbly, cherubic young girl with pink hair pulled up into a simple black clip bounded toward her trusty co-worker—and also her best friend—Debby.
Debby sighed and dropped the lettuce onto the BLT she was working on. "And just what might it be this time, 'Tasha?" She turned to face the over-exuberant girl and raised an eyebrow, giving her head a slight bobble as well for greater effect. She watched Natasha delicately lean against the sandwich counter and clutch at her 'heart' dramatically, taking in deep breaths.
"I…think…that…uh…" She coughed and wheezed, wiping at her tanned forehead dramatically. Debby rolled her eyes at her.
"Come on, 'Tasha!" She stabbed her knife into the cutting board. "Get on with it already; I have a BLT to finish." She rested a hand on her hip and glared at her, not wishing to lose her only job.
"N-Noitra's jeep f-from…Espada Reborn i-is out there, w-waiting for us t-take their order—ah-yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeee!" She shook her head back-and-forth and jumped up and down in pure joy. Debby's serious face quickly lightened up and she joined Natasha in her happy dance, clapping alongside her.
"Are you serious?! That is awesome! Ah-hahahahahaha!" She squealed and was unaware to their boss approaching them from behind and plugging his ears from their sounds of excitement.
"Ladies, ladies!" Natasha stopped jumping at once and covered her mouth, eyes bulging; Debby simply ceased jumping and ran a hand through her matted curly blonde hair tied up in a ponytail, turning around to look calmly at her boss. "I'm glad that you're having fun and all." He cocked an eyebrow at Natasha and she began picking at her nails, nervous. "But you're still at a working place and I expect you to work. So get back to that BLT, Debby, and you get back to the drive-in window already, Natasha." He threw his thumb over his shoulder and scowled, signaling the "or else I'll fire you" warning. He [finally] trotted off and Natasha looked up at Debby with wide eyes.
"That was scary," she mouthed then slowly turned around without tearing her gaze from Debby's straight face. Debby shook her head in disapproval and returned to her BLT, simply waving her hand at her.
Natasha bounced lightly when she reached her cash register again and adjusted her headset. "Hel~lo! My name is Natasha and I'll be taking your order this evening, so how may I help you?~" She beamed into the mic, excited for when the notorious black jeep would pull up.
"Well, we don't take too lightly to the sandwiches here, but we enjoy the frappes." Nnoitra's snake-like voice talked into the speaker outside the local McDonald's next to their hotel. "So if you could just prepare three large mocha frappes, that would be grand, Natasha~" He leaned in close and breathed into the speaker as if attempting to flirt with her.
Natasha almost fainted upon hearing Nnoitra's sexy voice and had to take deep breaths to calm herself; her boss face-palmed behind her. "O-okay s-s-s-sir…! Just pull around to the n-next window, please!" She squeaked at the end, but still managed to articulate her words. She blinked a few times then leaned out of her confined space to stare at her diligent BFF Debby, still working away. Debby actually looked up from her fish filet and gave Natasha a look of pity. Who would want to be that person who has to address a celebrity at their job, being forced to contain their over joyous excitement? Not Debby; she felt sorry for Natasha and even though she wanted badly to see Nnoitra's face, she couldn't bring herself to wander over there in fear that she would faint.
The shiny black jeep approached the McDonald's drive-thru window and there stood Natasha behind the window, beaming like an idiot. Nnoitra was staring out of his window with a creeper smile plastered on his face while pulling up the whole time, too. "Hey there~"
Natasha's jaw-dropped and she pressed a button on the cash register, making the cash tray pop open. "Th-that would be 835 yen please, s-s-s-sir," she managed to say after forcing herself to open the window.
Again, her boss face-palmed behind her and turned around with his hands flung up in the air as if saying, "I don't know what to do with her."
5
RECLINING IN HIS LEATHER-BOUND SEAT, Nnoitra stared into the McDonald's drive-thru window with the most disturbing smile on his face. The girl behind the cash register, Natasha, visibly shook as she prepared their frappes. It was quite amusing, to say the least.
"Nnoitra, could you stop looking at the girl like you want to eat her? It's disturbing." Nnoitra craned his neck to peer into the back seat and grinned.
"You're just jelly because she's female and she has pink hair, huh?" He reached back and pinched Szayelapporos' cute nose. Szayelapporos smacked his hand away in turn and readjusted his glasses.
"Must I repeat what Grimmjow said yesterday? And her hair is dyed while mine is natural—there's a difference!" Szayelapporos screeched and leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms and looking to his right with a pout. Nnoitra's grin grew broader and he brought his hand back.
"Suit yourself, babe, but the truth is quite obvious enough~" He caught Grimmjow rolling his eyes in the passenger seat out of his eye and frowned. What was wrong with the kitty lately? He looked back to the window again and rested his head in his palm. The cash-register girl was currently holding hands with another girl with curly blonde hair and they were jumping up and down in time with one another, appearing to be squealing their heads off because the "boss" was definitely yelling his head off. There was also a complaining old man behind the counter inside the Mickey D's because his cash register man was currently squealing along with the fan girls. Were they that famous already? Human girls could be quite crazy…oh; the boss was approaching the window now, and man did he look angry. He opened the window-door and sighed, trying to mask his true feelings about the situation.
"I am terribly sorry for the wait, sirs, would you like a free sandwich to make up for it?"
"No, no—we'd rather not, thank you." Nnoitra gave his best business smile.
"Well." The old Japanese boss snatched up the drink carrier from Natasha and held it out to Nnoitra. "Here are your beverages and I hope you have a good day!"
"Good luck at the concert!" The girls giggled in the background and the old boss instantly snapped at them as the window shut. Nnoitra lifted off of the brake and pressed down on the gas pedal as the boss screamed away at them. Yep, the poor things were for sure getting fired. Oh well, it wasn't not like it mattered to him, anyways.
6
AS THE CAR CAME TO ANOTHER HALT AT A RED LIGHT, Grimmjow looked out the side window again and watched a random prep's many expression changes as she [finally] caught sight of him. She nudged the girl next to her in her little Prius and they squealed together in joy. Honestly, he just didn't understand why these girls got so damn excited over seeing them. He would agree that he was pretty damn sexy, but there were still other guys out there to choose from, and Grimmjow was not among them according to him. There was only one person he loved, and he was murdered. He could never love again after being so badly broken, he had decided. "Are we almost there, spoon-head?" The girl kept shooting him glances as they drove ahead and she struggled to keep up.
"I don't wear that anymore, so why do you still refer to me as that?!" Nnoitra scowled.
"Considering you still mock Gin and say Grimmeow, I don't think you have a say in this," Grimmjow growled at him, fed up with his shit.
"Alright alright, yeesh." Nnoitra took both hands off of the steering wheel and whipped his head to the left dramatically. "Let's just forget about all of this nonsense and have a great time at the stadium, okay?" Grimmjow rolled his eyes for the fiftieth time that evening.
"Never said I wasn't going to enjoy myself…"
STANDING BEHIND STAGE, Grimmjow looked to Nnoitra and Szayelapporos for confirmation of when to go out. He was wearing a white tank top with a brown leather jacket, blue gradient skinny jeans with blue converse (sneakers), and dog tags. The other two were pretty much wearing the same thing except Nnoitra's pants and converse were purple and Szayelapporos' were hot pink. Nnoitra nodded his head like a bobble head while Szayelapporos gave a slow, unsure nod. "Well we're going out there now, so be ready to jump right into our first number, boys!" He laughed and dashed out there, waving merrily to the screaming audience.
"I LOVE YOU, GRIMMJOW!" a random fan girl shouted trying to jump on stage; the guards had to pull her away. Grimmjow laughed a little awkwardly when he reached the microphone and shrugged, the crowd bursting into laughter at his response.
"I don't know how you guys could find shrugging off a girl's love confession humorous, but whatever floats your boat I suppose." The crowd laughed even harder at that. "Alright then, are you guys ready to hear some dark music, because that's tonight's theme for our Tokyo tour!" He shouted into the mic to rile them up. It definitely worked, because the crowd went rather wild and he could hear a few people shout, "I picked the best night, yeah!" He laughed and thought to himself, this one's for you, Ulquiorra; I wish you were still here to hear this…
The stage went dark and a few sudden flashes of light appeared to have a lightning effect while Nnoitra played a crazy violin filled with the strongest, dark notes one could think of. It was definitely going to be a gothic night. Grimmjow wrapped his slender fingers around the mic and leaned forward when he sensed it was time for him to sing. "Crimson…" The front row went ballistic after hearing his majestic voice suddenly sing out amongst the midst of violin and electric piano harmony done by Szayelapporos, who knew to switch to drums once Grimmjow began the first verse. A few girls even fainted in the crowd, perverted males groping them as a result.
"Permeates the air, /gleaming beneath the sun./Why do I care?" Grimmjow lifted up his hands as if asking a question that would never be answered. "But seeing you before me,/brings munificent emotions," he leaned forward into the mic again and drew his blue brows together. "Why won't they go awa_y…?! He elongated "away" and jumped up and down a little, beckoning the crowd to sing along with him.
"I LOVE THIS SONG!" Shockingly, a male screamed while Nnoitra started up his epic guitar playing and Szayelapporos slammed down his drum sticks.
"What a twisted fate we have:/forced to play a major part in these 'wars'." Nnoitra sung a small harmony in the background to enhance Grimmjow's 'we' while Grimmjow sang beautifully into the microphone. A lot of people liked his determined attitude, and that was part of the reason why they had so many fans. That and the fact that they were hot and had a purpose to their band title unlike some druggies like the "Mushroom Heads". "Our Forbidden Love intact,/We were 'written in the stars'./A Shakespearian-like ending,/already in the afterlife./No soul for a rebirthing/so still lies the question:" Nnoitra walked up to Grimmjow's mic for the next line, "Will I ever see you again_?" They sang breathily to the crowd and Nnoitra immediately jumped back afterwards to grab his violin and play the after-chorus melody.
"Ashes…/Cover up the moonlight," Grimmjow looked solemnly to the ground as the strobe lights calmed down and flashed a little on his face. "I struggle through the masses…" He looked back up to the crowd. "…of sand with little might." He squeezed his eyes shut, then reopened them with a new-found light as he took the mic form its stand and crouched down at the edge of the stage, peering into the crowd with a scary look on his handsome features. "The reaper close behind me,/Waiting out our evanescence." He suddenly reached out into the crowd, but just as quickly jumped back as if shocked. "Why must you crumble at my touch—can you hear me?!" His face contorted into an angered expression on "can you hear me" and he practically screamed it. The crowd went nuts as he jumped back and began the chorus again, the strobe lights accompanying him in a flurry of flashing lights as he poured his heart out to the crowd, even though they would never understand what pain it caused him to sing such a "awesome" song. Nnoitra didn't jump back after singing alongside Grimmjow this time, but rather started the next line himself.
"I'm sick of being loyal," Nnoitra hummed and strung his guitar directly afterwards.
"Fighting's no longer fun," Grimmjow replied, making his voice a little scratchy on purpose for the part and tough.
"Now I'm forever with the sandy soil," Nnoitra looked up and leaned into the mic again, his guitar play speed increasing.
"Wish your death could be undone_," Grimmjow looked sodden as he sang the last part verse until Nnoitra joined in for the next virtualistic line.
"Lost,"
"In,"
"The,"
"Mem'ry,"
"Of,"
"Yesterday," Nnoitra and Grimmjow had taken turns on who said what word, Nnoitra starting, and then they joined in together on 'yesterday'. Nnoitra twirled around and strung his guitar crazily.
"What a twisted fate we have:/Forced to play a major part in these 'wars'," Grimmjow yell/sang into the microphone as the crowd went wild before him; teenage girls passing out right and left while guys air-guitared and 'cheered' beers. "Our Forbidden Love intact,/We were 'written in the stars'." Nnoitra played a long note on his guitar and they were silent until its echo ceased, then he joined Grimmjow by the microphone to harmonize the whispered add-in verse.
"You might be gone, but your over-flowing love/Will never leave my empty heart alone_!" They did a crescendo on 'alone' and Nnoitra began to crescendo his guitar in as well then jumped back to switch to his violin, Szayelapporos slamming away on his pink, sparkly drum set.
"A Shakespearian-like ending/Already in the after life./No soul for a rebirthing/The answer's very clear now:" Nnoitra quickly switched out to his guitar and joined Grimmjow at the microphone for the last line, both looking solemnly down at the crowd and grasping onto the mic for dear life.
"We'll never see each other again…" The crowd cheered enthusiastically and Nnoitra and Grimmjow high-fived, though no one seemed to notice just how depressing that was for Grimmjow. He really did wish that Ulquiorra could've been in the crowd, front row of course. Fucking Kurosaki…
The rest of the night went splendidly as it drew closer and closer to their finale. They would be performing a song from an English band, as was their tradition for every one of their concerts, called Skillet. The audience always adored the kick-ass effects they pulled off for their finales. This concert's theme was dark, so there would be a lot of smoke/fog for their finale and would be held in a creepy forest setting.
A hidden fog machine, with plastic bushel on top of it to help camouflage it into the forest setting, automatically switched on and smog began to billow out of it, covering the whole right side of the stage while the left fog machine switched on as well. A few stage lights cast one beam onto the otherwise spooky setting. Cricket noises and other critters of the night could be heard, unseen to the audience. A loud clap of thunder roared on the stage and some screams could be heard amongst the audience. The small cast of light died out, resulting in an eerie darkness on the murky stage set. Small specks of stars twinkled on a back screening to add a better visual and small patters of rain droplets could be heard, but the band members were still missing from the set scene.
"THIS IS AWESOME," responded a random male voice from the crowd.
A latch way down stage opened up suddenly, causing the fog around it to poor into the opening. The audience gasped, hardly able to contain their excitement. A cloaked figure standing behind a sparkly pink electric piano set slowly rose from underneath the latch until the floor tile lined up with the opening edges. A slender, peach-pale arm outstretched from underneath the cloak with long black fingernails and a lone austere Australian gem ring adorning the index finger. The hand began playing the slow, depressed piano intro as another latch up stage opened up to reveal yet another cloaked figure. Right after the tile latched up with the stage edge, the figure took two steps forward and wrapped its long, tan fingers around the black microphone resting on the moss-covered stand. It had black nails as well, but they were short and he wore many silver rings of different designs; mainly crosses. He leaned into the microphone and parted his lips, head bowed; only half of its face was visible behind the dark hood. The rain effect had also ceased by now along with the creature sounds.
"Despite the lies that you're making/Your love is mine for the taking." His voice was deep and whisper-like, attempting to sound like a faint spirit that came back to haunt his deceased lover. "My love is." He tilted his head to his left creepily while the third and final latch opened up to reveal a third hooded figure holding a sparkly black guitar on stage right. "Just waiting/To turn your tears to roses." They all flung off their cloaks right after 'roses'; Grimmjow in a more showy fashion since Nnoitra had to go immediately into his epic guitar intro and Szayelapporos still handling the piano part. The strobe lights flashed at a high speed and the lights thunder-clapped. Grimmjow snatched on to the microphone pole and breathed into it like some crazy scream-o singer. All of them were clad in all-black clothing with leather pants, skin-tight long sleeve top, spike belts and various other spike jewelry, heavy black eyeliner to add to the effect, spike themed platform leather boots, and only Grimmjow had a spiked leather jacket as he was the leader. He leaned in close to the microphone again and got a good grip on it, tapping his left foot along to the beat. The strobe lights slowing to an every ten seconds pace and Nnoitra stopped playing the guitar like it would explode any minute now as well as flipping his long hair everywhere.
"Despite the lies that you're making/Your love is mine for the taking./My Love is,/Just waiting,/To turn your tears to roses." He took the mic from its stand an walked to the edge of the stage, holding out his hand to the crowd below him and skidding along the edge, collecting high-fives. "I will be the one that's gonna hold you." He stopped in front of a girl with long, auburn hair and pointed to her. "I will be the one that you run to/My love is/A burning," He bent before a new girl and reached out to her, "consuming fire." He winked and ran backwards to the stage again while Nnoitra played the introduction to chorus notes, replacing the mic back to its rightful spot.
"No!" He stomped his foot and shouted into the mic while the crowd grew anxious, throwing screams and shouts everywhere. A guy covered in tattoos was currently fanning the red-haired chick he last approached; she had fainted. "You'll never be alone!" He threw his head to the side, but just as quickly looked straight-ahead again with a determined look in his blue eyes. "When darkness comes I'll light the night with stars," he slowly pointed up to the fake stars twinkling above them while tapping his boot to the beat. The crowd jumped up and down, filled with kinetic energy. "Here the whispers in the dark—No!" He cut himself off ad screamed again, getting into it while he pointed forward and could hardly contain himself from wanting to bob his head up and down along with the crowd. "When darkness comes you know I'm never far/Hear the whispers in the dark!" The strobe lights started up again in a wild motion and Nnoitra began the crazy guitar intro again, Grimmjow throwing out his right arm—along with the stand—to his right and thrusting his head to the left, mouth agape. He pulled the mic back up to face him again and breathed "whispers in the dark" into the mic again right on cue. The jocular crowd cheered wildly [as usual] as Nnoitra quieted the guitar again for Grimmjow to sing the second verse.
"You feel so lonely and ragged/You lay here broken and naked/My love is." He paused dramatically, thrusting his head to the left and back. "Just waiting—" He thrust to his right. "—To clothe you in crimson roses," he breathed haughtily into the mic, then snatched it up, running to the edge of the stage again. "I'll be the one that's gonna find you/I'll be the one that's gonna guide you," he lifted a random blonde's chin, grinning at her sadistically. "My love is/A burning, consuming fire." He let go and jumped back again for the chorus, giving the girl a small wink and internally laughing when she passed out in her pissed-off boyfriend's arms. Nnoitra's last notes rang and Grimmjow did a back flip to his spot and the crowd went wild. "No!" He screamed into the mic, "you'll never be alone!/When darkness comes I'll light the night with stars," his arm shot up into the air to point at the 'stars' again; head facing downwards with the mic underneath and foot tapping out the beat again. "Hear the whispers in the dark—No! You'll never be alone!/When darkness comes you know I'm never far/Hear the whispers in the dark!" He thrust his head to the left then back again, bobbing his head along to Nnoitra's guitar solo and Szayelapporos joined him in the background as well, returning to his guitar again when Nnoitra played the chorus beat. Grimmjow rested his head against the microphone and tapped his foot to time himself for his next move. He suddenly lifted his head again when Nnoitra began the intro guitar notes and backed up to stand atop a fake grass hill behind him near the center of the stage. He flipped off of it and landed before the mic stand, snatching the mic roughly from its hold and screaming "NO!" into it, flipping his head back and pointing to the crowd. The camera taping the concert zoomed out immediately after the 'no' to add extreme emphasis, then zoomed back in again on Grimmjow's scowling, serious expression for the next line. "You'll never be alone!/When darkness comes I'll light the night with stars," He pointed upwards again, but looked upwards this time, bringing the mic up to his face as well. "Hear the whispers in the dark—NO!" He looked back down again and grinned ferally to the crowd. "You'll never be alone!" He skipped back and hopped forward again for more effect. "When darkness comes you know I'm never far!/Hear the whispers in the dark!" He set the mic back on the stand again and put his face up close to it. "Whispers in the dark…! Whispers in the dark…! Whispers in the dar_k," he breathed out with a sigh and a visible, solemn expression. He backed up and threw his arms before him as if some odd force was dragging him back against his will while Nnoitra played the ending notes, Nnoitra himself and Szayelapporos joining him as well to meet up in the middle atop the grass hill. The strobe lights were going haywire by now. The thunder effects also started again, along with the rain pitter-patters. The strobe lights flashed twice to accompany Nnoitra's last two notes while the trio continued to be lowered beneath the stage, then the stage blacked out when Nnoitra finished. The crowd went wild with cheers and screams of satisfaction, fog still continuing to pour off of the stage even after the stage attachment closed shut after their dramatic exit.
10
"THAT FUCKING ROCKED!" Happened to resound from Ulquiorra's frivolous TV set and Yammy grunted, throwing his half-eaten chicken at the screen, turning off the TV entirely.
"Rocked my chickeny-ass; I missed the whole thing, damn it!" He bellowed out his complaint then lay down, pulling the comforter over him on the leather-black couch he laid on, hoping that maybe there would be a replay the next day so he could figure out just what the hell that was.
All he had seen was darkness and a bunch of crazy humans, after all. ■
Author's E/N: The last song is best enjoyed when actually listening to "Whisper in the Dark" by Skillet. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed reading this and would really appreciate it if you review! Even the shortest, lamest review is read because each and every review 'makes my day'! The next chapter will come up soon!~ (Maybe I'll start holding review questionnaires out of boredom possibly, but don't count on it!)