Disclaimer general: See chapter 1.
Further disclaimers: Grimmhime fluff and a very mild smut scene, language as always.
A/N: Again, thank you to all who read this
I've added my thoughts and interpretations on Ichigo's origins. It's a very short scene but I felt the need to add it.
Expect the next update to take a little longer.
And please, leave a comment or review on your thoughts about this story. Especially this chapter, for I'm not very satisfied with it.
"Battle of Battles, Part 2"
She was angry. Very angry. And slowly turning into a Hollow. The white of her eyes had turned black -just like Ichigo in his Vaizard form. The mask that covered her entire right half of her face was smooth with sharp points at both the top and bottom end. It was completely white as snow. When she opened her mouth, an inhuman gnarl came out. She ran towards Aizen, raising her right hand that was slowly being covered with the same mysterious white matter as well. Lunging back her arm to increase the power of her throw, Orihime thwarted several small claw-like spikes at him. Immediately, Aizen let go of Grimmjaw and protected himself from the claws by holding up his left arm at his face's height. To his dismay, the claws exploded at touch, emitting a cloud of acid that was slowly eating itself through his cloth. Aizen didn't have the time to think of a counter attack for she had used the moment of explosion to jump up right before his nose. Again, she lunged back her arm and wanted to pierce him with the Hollow matter that had formed around it, but Aizen was wiser and quickly jumped back with shunpo. Orihime let out another gnarl, traces of saliva dripping out of her mouth. This time she tore back both of her arms and from both of her hands, bolts of claws came flying to the man that used to remain calm in every situation.
"This is a bad turn of events." He blocked most of the attacks with his sword and avoided inhaling as much acidous cloud as possible. He released his zanpakuto, whispering the words that were required to awaken its illusive powers. However, he did not get that far as to finish his chant. Orihime stomped with her right foot, and a massive wave of Hollow spiritual pressure sent everything flying, including those that were lying on the ground to opposite ends.
"What the fuck's going on?!" Grimmjaw managed to pant as he freed himself from a boulder that buried him.
"It's her wrath..." Ichigo's voice echoed from his left. He had barely avoided things flying and was leaning against his black sword, catching his breath. "We have to stop this before she completely becomes a Hollow."
For once, Grimmjaw agreed to what his enemy had said. Orihime was becoming more like he was. Shouldn't he actually be happy about it? She would soon be one of his kin and if she lost all her humanity, wouldn't that be great? The feelings he had started to harbor, those petty human feelings could be wiped away in an instant. And yet, this was not what he had hoped for. In the end, it was the fragility of her existence, that faint smile she gave him whenever glances met, the moment she had cradled herself in his arms not too long ago; those precious memories he had gained were the reasons he had grown attached to her. Sure, things would be easier if he didn't need to watch for her anymore, but losing humanity would also mean losing faith, love and compassion. She would only regard him anymore as a toy for reminiscing that what she had lost.
"If ya still have the strength to talk, I'd say you still have the strength to fight, fuckin' brat." He glanced at the orange-haired kid next to him. No way that either of them had the strength to last against Aizen.
"Maybe, depends on what that small brain of yours is thinking."
"Che," Grimmjaw spat blood and looked down at him. "That's for you to say, jumping here in and causing a commotion." Short silence. Ichigo smirked at Grimmjaw.
"So?"
"Can you take on Aizen for a minute or so? I'll try to distract the banshee bitch causing havoc and then I hope you figured out something to make her stop transforming before she rips me apart."
"We'll see. Just fuckin' hurry up on your side."
"Heh." They didn't need to exchange glances. There was a mutual understanding. And that was, to stop Orihime's wrath. She did beat the crap out of Aizen though; he was panting and his clothes were all torn. Whenever somebody came close to help him, she would blast the entire area away with releasing extra spiritual pressure. Her gnarls had slowly turned into the typical shouting pattern of Hollows and shook fear into those that knew her well.
Suddenly, a familiar face appeared right before her eyes. She knew this person, this Espada with the bright turquoise hair and the despising smirk on his face. She could not remember who it was though. Was he foe or friend? Regardless of that fact, he was standing between her and her enemy. He needed to be destroyed. Just as she was about to attack him, Grimmjaw tugged his right arm beneath her breasts and shoved her with all his power as far away as possible, burying her beneath a pile of rubbles and debris. At the same time, Ichigo had snuck up from behind and attacked Aizen. However, Aizen being Aizen had noticed Ichigo and with one swift move, he sent Ichigo flying against some remnant of wall and making him spit more blood. He then moved up to Grimmjaw.
"Still trying to protect aren't you? Even though the praying mantis wants to kill you. You are indeed so valiant." He was about to strike his sword into the surprised Grimmjaw when something else was faster. Or better, somebody. Somebody had entered the battlefield unbeknown to all participants. And this somebody had just plunged his zanpakuto into Aizen from behind. Blood spilled over Grimmjaw's face and body as the startled Aizen slowly fell over. Behind him stood none less than Isshin, Ichigo's father. He had a professional look on his face, as if it was not the first time he had intentionally killed someone. He pulled out his sword and watched Aizen lie on the ground, bleeding.
"Hah...what a surprise...to see you here..." Aizen spoke softly with a faint smile on his lips.
"Well I'm not surprised to see you here at all. After causing trouble in Soul Society, you had to come down here and do the same. You are really bothersome." Isshin retained his cold look. Touzen and Gin were alarmed to see him here. Obviously, they were afraid of him for they did not take any actions but remained tense.
"So...what brings you here? Surely not to visit an old pal?" Aizen managed to turn around and give Isshin a defiant grin.
"Well, let's see...being more or less responsible for killing my brother and beating the crap out of my son, you think I'd be here to sit and drink tea with you?"
"Heh, that orange-haired boy is your son after all..." Aizen coughed up some blood. "I should have guessed...considering the fact that he has a lot in common with the Shiba's."
Isshin's face hardened as he raised his zanpakuto against the dying man. "You hell of a don't deserve to die. For every person you've inflicted pain on, you deserve to suffer twice as bad."
"Isn't it punishment enough, lying here in my own blood and not being able to accomplish my go-" Aizen did not finish his sentence. His lips stopped moving and his eyes became hazy. Isshin gave out a deep sigh.
"I will not tolerate this any longer." It was Touzen's voice that had caught his attention again. Touzen released his zanpakuto and was about to attack when another sword crossed his path.
"Ah-ah, you think Isshin-taichou would come alone, now would you?" It was Urahara. Behind him, a rather displeased Yoruichi was standing as well as a scowling Ryuuken who had been dragged into Hueco Mundo against his own will.
"Wha-wha-wha-what the hell?! D-Da-DAD?!" Ichigo yelled from his point.
"Yo." Isshin just smiled and waved at his son.
"'Yo' is the only word you can bring out after appearing here in shinigami clothes?!"
"A-hahaha, guess I need to do some explaining, later..." He became his old goofy self again. Suddenly, from the other end of the area, a Hollow cry echoed. Orihime had managed to free herself from the boulders that had buried her and was fuming. Her entire face and both her arms were now fully covered in Hollow matter.
"Ichigo, now's not the time to be stuttering 'd-da-dad', you should be helping Ori-" Isshin was scolding his son who was so flabbergasted at the sight of his father that he didn't quite know what to say. However, his words were stopped by the action of one Espada with a '6'. Grimmjaw, at the sight of Orihime, had immediately jumped up to her. Fuck, she's gotta stop. How the friggin' hell am I to say that to a monster who's out of its mind?! All he knew was fighting. To kill anything that stood in his way. But that was hardly applicable right now. It was then when he remembered her smile, the stubborn gentleness she had shown, even when he had beat her up. He reached out to the thing that was once Orihime and pulled it close to him. Grimmjaw felt the immediate pain as it tried to break free from his arms by shooting acid claws into his already bruised body. Still, he held on.
"Stop." He didn't know what to do or what to say other than that. The monster kept fighting. For every attack, Grimmjaw hugged it even tighter. If gentleness is what makes me do such crazy things, then maybe gentleness can bring you back. He bent down and put his lips against her ear. "Orihime...wake up."
The monster immediately went limb with shock as its deadly eyes locked onto his. Was it a moment of reminiscence he saw in its eyes? Suddenly, tears were flowing from it. A loud crack was heard and the Hollow matter burst into millions of tiny shards, revealing a crying Orihime. It was probably the first time in his entire existence, whether alive or Hollow, that Grimmjaw smiled. It was a gentle smile, full of relief. He wiped off her tears with his blood-crusted, shaky hands and gently kissed her on her lips. Then he slumped down on her as his body had reached his limit. All that was left were Orihime's loud sobs as she broke down because of the weight, hugging him closely.
He slowly awoke. Ah, just a dream. It was the same darkness of his room that enveloped him, the same scent of...wait, this scent wasn't always there! Grimmjaw jerked up and looked around. There he could see a startled Orihime looking at him with that annoying worried face.
"What the hell are ya doing here, bitch?" He seemed his usual self, save the fact that he felt pain everywhere. Orihime smiled. It was this annoying gentle smile he couldn't resist, that smile that made her human. Thank god, she hasn't lost it.
"I'm glad you're doing okay." Her voice was shaky though. He noticed that her hands were clenched, gripping the cloth of her school uniform. Wait a minute, school uniform?
"What the hell are ya wearing?" He asked her in his annoyed style.
"Ah-ah, this?" She looked down on her uniform. "T-they want me to come back with them and sort of forced me to wear this, hahahaha..." Again, it was shaky and her laugh sounded so false, even a turtle would know it wasn't real.
"I see."
Silence. It was an awkward silence. He felt weird because usually, she'd be talking non-stop about the dumbest things ever. "What is it?"
Orihime remained silent, then tears began to flow. That's why I hate women. They tend to cry a lot.
"I-I wanted to say I'm sorry, for all the hurt I caused you...I-I didn't mean to mess you up a-and-" She reacted on an impulse and suddenly, Grimmjaw was hugged tightly by her; her sobs began making his bed sheets wet. He felt the warmth of her body, the beat of her heart that seemed to be beating faster than light. He tugged her, bringing her crying face up to his own and the rest of her body sitting on his lap.
"Che, that's why I hate humans. Especially females. They just cry all the time."
Orihime's face turned pink as she frantically tried to wipe away the tears. "I-I'm sorry, I-"
She couldn't finish her sentence. Grimmjaw had already pressed his lips on hers, his tongue preventing her from making any other sound. It felt so good that she responded to his enticing invitation. Even though his touches, his kisses were literally cold. In these arms she felt safe, regardless of the fact that he often had used them to show his power over her. She then recalled that he hadn't done anything like that recently. Instead, he had begun using those arms to shield her, to give her security. Grimmjaw pushed her down on the sheets, his body towering over hers. He released himself from her lips to give her air to breath.
"Ah- don't move! You need to rest from your-mnph!" Orihime was silenced once again with another passionate kiss. He plucked out her blouse and his cold hand slid beneath it, caressing her soft skin. She quivered a little because of the coldness. Grimmjaw halted, pulling himself away from her into an upright position. "Did I do something wrong?"
Orihime's eyes widened. Did I do something wrong? How did such words escape him? She giggled a little and sat up too. "No...I'm just not used to you touching me." She then advanced forward and kissed him, this time it was her warm tongue that was lingering on his. He dropped himself, tugging her along. Her hair had formed a closed space around his face and all he could see were here eyes. Those gentle eyes he had almost lost. He reached out to her face, gently caressing it.
"Do you remember what happened?" He asked. Orihime closed her eyes, nudging her cheek against his hand, before opening them again and looking at him with a sad look.
"N-not clearly. I recall having this feeling of weakness, not being able to help those that are important to me. Then I felt a weird tug and the next thing I recall was that I was hitting you even though you were already badly hurt and..." She was about to cry again.
"Stop whining, stupid woman." He brought her face closer to his and gave her a short kiss. "I was already badly hurt, so the stuff you did to me was just peanuts. I..." He looked away, staring at the wall. "My only thought was that I didn't want to see you become the monster I already am. That what makes you special to the rest of us is that you are what you are, human." Grimmjaw turned his eyes to face her again, and he looked into a pair of gentle eyes. Yes, never lose that smile. He kissed her again. This time, she was the advancing one. She had unbuttoned her shirt, revealing her soft skin he loved to caress; soon her skirt and underwear joined his pile of clothes on the ground. It was a very passionate love. He heard her moaning his name as he melted within her, her hands clasping him so tightly that he marvelled the strength she possessed. She was his and he was not letting anybody else have a piece of her, let alone let her return back to where she belonged. As she lay sleeping beside him, her hair being caressed, he realized that he had become dependent on her. Orihime had become the sun in the everlasting darkness of his very existence. He bent down and kissed her on the cheek before lying down next to her and closing his eyes once more to rest his body.
"I'm not letting her go."
Urahara had come to pick her up and had barged into the naked couple. Grimmjaw had his usual annoyed look and voice, clutching a highly embarrassed Orihime tightly.
"My, my, sorry to intrude on the lovey-dovey couple!" Urahara said in his dorky way before his face became serious. "I'm sorry, but no matter how much you want to let her stay here, I fear it's impossible."
"W-why Urahara-san? It's not like I'm needed anyway!" Orihime's voice was filled with something that resembled anger. Or so it felt. Her body, at the very least was trembling. Urahara gave her a stern look. "Staying longer in this place will increase the probability that you will transform again. And the next time that happens, there's no guarantee that you can return back again. Your body already is in a constant battle with the unborn within you."
The air was very heavy and Grimmjaw felt that she didn't want to leave his clutch; it seemed to him as if she was even holding on to him tighter. He sighed. Stop making me so weak, fuckin' woman.
"Then I'll go with her."
Startled looks from both. "Grimmjaw?" Orihime's eyes widened in surprise. Again, she had the worried look on her face. Urahara coughed. He seemed more amused.
"In your current state, I don't think Soul Society will let you stay in the human world for longer than 10 minutes."
"Whatever comes, bring it on!" Grimmjaw's voice was filled with ambition as he hurled one arm into the air, performing a mock punch. The sandal hat man laughed out loudly, hiding his grin behind his fan.
"I have a proposal for you."