The Open Window

Chapter 1. A Strange Bond

Author's Note: We've just realized that since there happen to be two of us, these notes should actually be called Authors' Note. Yikes. Slow Moment O' The Day. Anyway, we're finally on chapter one! ALL RIGHT! Time for disclaimers!

Disclaimer: We, the writing team Maii, do hereby NOT claim Bleach, whether it be the anime or the manga, as our own work, simply because of the fact that it is not. We would also like to disclaim any ownership over any of the original Bleach characters, such as Grimmjow J., and so on, and so forth.

Akatsuki Kaine, however, is all ours. Mwahahahaha! O.o

"Hey, you-, Grimmjow," I caught myself on my slip, saying his name at the last minute.

"What is it?" he asked, not bothering to turn around to face me.

"You know, of all the Arrancar I've seen, you're weird lookin'."

He stopped suddenly, me nearly crashing into him as he did so. I was just walking, not paying attention to anything in particular, following the other Arrancar as he led the way, so I hadn't been watching. Besides, who knew he'd be stupid enough to just stop, right smack dab there in the middle of the hall? The Arrancar that'd been leading us to Aizen paused as well, an eyebrow shooting up in amusement.

"'The hell you just say?"

"Well, I mean, every one of you has those skull things," I explained, rolling my eyes at his recurring irritation. He seriously needed to lighten up."You, on the other hand, you've just got that small piece of skull, right there."

I pointed, barely resisting the urge to reach out and touch the hard, pale piece of skull on the side of his mouth, a set of white teeth glaring from his cheek. There's that same strange kind of spark between my hand and Grimmjow, standing so close. I shake my head, the sudden thoughts disappearing.

"It's just kind of weird, is all." I shrugged, walking on behind the other Arrancar. I can't help but grin as I pass him. It's so funny to read the different expressions as they come onto his face.

"Oh, maybe this one's even weirder than you, Grimmjow," I remark, kneeling down to look at the blonde haired, pink eyed Arrancar. "What's your name?"

He stares, a dull moan coming from his mouth. He tugs my hair and smiles. "Wonderweiss."

For some reason, he reminds me of myself whenever I have a slow moment. Just the way he sat, how he kept his hand close to his mouth, his eyes wide. "Huh. Nice to meetcha." I hold out my hand to greet him properly, and before he could pull his other hand away from his lips to shake it, I'm pulled up by the back of my collar and thrown over one Grimmjow's shoulders. My hand is so close to the hole in his stomach, I'm tempted to mess with it…

I can feel him scowl. "Quit getting so distracted, dumbass."

"Oops. Maybe later, then." I wave good bye to Wonderweiss, and allow Grimmjow to walk further into the huge room.

"Welcome to Las Noches, Akatsuki."

Ah, so this was Las Noches. Fancy. "You're Aizen, then?" I ask nonchalantly, taking a good look at him as Grimmjow practically yanks me from his shoulder.

It's a big room, and at the top of the very smooth pillar in front of me, there's a man sitting in a chair, a speculative expression in his features. His brown hair, a color similar to that of his eyes, is pulled back, leaving only a single stray strand out before his face.

My gaze isn't focused on him for long; it switches easily to the thing that blocks my way as I try to take a step forward. I look down, not entirely surprised at the sight of the dead Arrancar's body on the ground, a crimson pool of blood surrounding it.

"And this," I muttered to myself as I realized the tattooed six, my mind flashing back to the six tattooed on Grimmjow's back, "is this work of Grimmjow." I rearrange the ring in my belly, thanks to Grimmjow, it'd gotten pushed at a weird angle.

"Damn right."

"Why'd you have me brought here?"

"I'm in need of your services," Aizen replied casually.

"Somehow, I find that hard to believe." The Espada stood before me, gathered before Aizen, and I could guess that there were also more Arrancar around. The castle was huge. Why waste the space?

"While I can understand your suspicion fairly well," he answered, not at all fazed by my inattentiveness, "I assure you that you are needed. Stark, why don't you…help Akatsuki display her abilities?"

He stepped from behind the crowd, his uninterested expression matching my own. The First Espada, Stark. I'd seen him, too.

"Hey, you've only got a small little piece of skull, to-,"

I think he was surprised, Grimmjow, when I sent a small burst of power to shove him into the back wall of the room out of my way as I blocked a blast of Cero, and flipped out of the way of the other one that came surging at me. I sent a happy wave to Harribel, Espada number two, as I blocked a sudden kick from Stark. I'd seen her too; she was pretty kick ass. Her eyes widened before she crossed her arms in front of herself, looking away. There was some kind of attack coming at me from behind, I really hadn't been paying attention, so I dodged it, just slightly moving my head and ducking not even two inches to the left of the attack.

Surprisingly, the smallest of cuts appeared on my neck. I smiled, a smile of dark amusement, and turned, my hand rising.

"Try not to die. I'm having too much fun," I joked, feeling the power as it surged through my palm. The hot white blast was aimed straight for Stark, and he was immobile, held tight by the invisible threads I'd strung up around the room seconds before. He managed to barely dodge, but not before I was behind him.

I tapped him once on the shoulder. "You're it.

"I'd prefer not to let this carry on forever," I muttered, cutting the threads. "If you have a problem with it, Aizen, then find somebody stronger than Stark, here. Maybe if you're lucky, they'll kill me quickly."

I bit my lip to make a point again before turning on my heel and leaving the room. I heard footsteps but didn't waver at the sound of them.

"What is it?" I asked, not turning around. It wasn't as if I didn't know who it was.

"Why didn't you try to kill me? You could have-,"

"It wouldn't have been any fun, had I killed you," I lied.

I walked away before he could ask any more questions; he'd probably picked up on my lie. It's not as if I could've explained it to him anyway, the way my power worked. I didn't understand it myself. Only that it dealt with masochism and sadism.

Damn the outfit, it was so damned uncomfortable. Who would wear something as bare as this in such a cold castle? I looked up from the piece of material I was fidgeting with to find Grimmjow in front of me, blocking my way to the rest of the hall.

"What now? You know the way out of here or something?"

"We're going to the room."

"What-?"

I was cut off as he threw me over his shoulder once more, stalking down the hall.

"'The hell is this?!" I exclaimed, beating on Grimmjow's back for him to let me down. He's moving faster now, navigating the twists and turns of the castle without a second thought, despite the darkness of the halls, it was late in the evening by then, and the many different directions each open space seemed to open into. As soon as he finds the door to the room, he slams it behind him and tosses me onto a couch, looming over me as I rub my sore back.

"Did you have to be so-,"

"What the hell is your problem?!"

"'The hell are you talking about? I-,"

"Why'd you push me out of the way earlier?"

"Not that it's any of your business-,"

"Answer me. Why'd you push me out of the way?"

"It wasn't your bleedin' fight, was it?"

"I don't understand-,"

He wasn't referring to the fact that I'd pushed him out of the way. I knew what he couldn't understand, because I too, couldn't understand it. I'd spent all day thinking about it, since there'd been nothing to do, there was nothing on television, and my stomach was far from empty. Grimmjow had been pretty unoccupied as well, and it was when we first touched, given it was accidental, we'd both been reaching for the latch on the window, that we both noticed it at the same time. His expression…his eyes had been so wide…There was some kind of bond that existed between the two of us, even though I'd never seen him before, outside of one of my visions.

Authors' Note: O.o What's going on here??? Oh, noeeeeeeees! (Sorry, it's kind of cute.) Anyway, we hope you enjoyed, and we're also very happy to say that we have peoples with story alerts on this story. Hurrah! Thank You! [We like reviews, too, dontcha know?] [And yes, we've started on the next chapter, already.]