Episode 3: Grim's Request And Demand Part 1

Ichigo was dumbstrucked at the sight of Grim being a new student in the classroom. First he shows up as a soul reaper, then he shows up as a student in his class. Ichigo prayed that he wasn't some visard that wanted him to join some evil cult thing bent on wanting his skills or whatever. He still had annoyed headaches from when Shinji was a student there, asking him to become a part of his group. As he looked back, he mentally rolled his eyes as he saw the student taking his seat right next to Ichigo's, unfortunately in the exact same spot Shink sat at.

"Please don't ask. Please don't ask. Please don't ask." Ichigo kept thinking to himself.

"Hey Ichigo..." Grim started, putting his hand on Ichigo's shoulder. Ichigo just groaned a bit, annoyed he would have to go through this stuff again.

"Look, before you ask, I'm not going to be your friend!" Icihgo said, irritated. Grim just took his hand off Ichigo's shoulder, a bit confused and surprised at the fact he would react to something, even if he didn't know what it was.

"Ehh...Ok...Actually I was just wondering where Orihime is." Grim statted. Ichigo blinked a bit surprised and relieved that it wasn't about joining some weird orginization thing.

"Oh, she's sick today and..." Ichigo stopped though as he realized something. "Hey, how do you know Orihime anyway?" Ichigo asked, looking intently on Grim. Grim just scratched the back of his head for a few seconds before replying.

"Oh well...I uhh...heh heh...Sorry and all but I was sorta eavesdropping. My bad dude." Grim apologized, laughing a bit to himself. Ichigo just looked at what the teacher was talking about, trying to forget Grim's question. The thing was that he couldn't have just been eavesdropping from outside the door, or he would've been in the class sooner. Also, when Katsuki told him about Orihime, Ichigo just entered the classroom practically, so he should've seen Grim on the way there. He decided to find out about it whenever he had the free time that day...

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Nel giggled to herself as she splashed around in the bath tub with Yuzu. Yuzu always had to take a bath with Nel, because one: She needed to get washed up for the day as well, and two: Nel was always scared of taking a bath by herself. It wasn't the part about being by herself that frightened her, it's just that Nel never could get used to being in the water by herself, seeing how spending heck knows how long in the desert, and never once seeing water before. Yuzu didn't mind it though, seeing how she could get cleaned up herself as well, and being pretty much the care taker for the house, she figured it'd be a less waste of water this way. After about five more minutes of letting Nel play around, Yuzu decided to end it.

"Ok Nel, get over here so I can scrub your hair." Yuzu said, grabbing some shampoo.

"O-tay!" Nel said happily, moving over so she was sitting in Yuzu's lap as she got her hair washed. Nel played with the soap that formed from the shampoo as Yuzu scrubbed her hair. Even if she was scared of the water, if there was one thing she liked playing with in the water it was always the bubbles. There was something about the way they felt and the fact they popped that always amused Nel, even if she couldn't understand why for herself. The two of them looked at the door as they heard banging from the other side of the door.

"Who's there?" Yuzu asked.

"It's ok Yuzu." Karin replied. On the other side of the door, she was holding her dad down to the ground, simply by using her arms to pin them down.

"Ack! C'mon! It's my job as a father to watch my...er I mean wash my daughters!" Isshin complained, trying to break free. Yuzu and Nel just blinked a bit as they starred at the door, hearing the argument between Karin and their father.

"Why does Eshin want ta watch us bathing?" Nel asked, looking up at Yuzu. Yuzu just shrugged as she went right back to washing Nel's hair. As Nel played with the bubbles, Yuzu sighed as she wondered what Ichigo would be doing right now.

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In the desolate, foggy graveyard, many of the dead are warshipped. Among the many columns of the gravestones, people leave their prayers as guidances to help those towards the next life. In the quiet region of the dead, a cloaked figure stood out. It walked towards the vast amount of graves until it finally came to the one it was looking for. In it's hands were a bundle of flowers from blossoms to roses and to many different assortment of flowers. A tear could be seen rolling down the cheek of the figure as it kneeled, setting the flowers on top of the grave. The figure put it's hand to it's face as the weeping could be heard from this poor, misguided figure. The figure stopped though as it heard walking behind it. It quickly turned around in panic, hoping to not have been found out. It let out a sigh of relief though as it saw Hitsuguya walking towards it.

"Oh, it's just you." The figure said, pulling it's hood down, and revealing itself to be Momo. Hitsuguya stopped only a few inches away from the hooded figure.

"What are you doing out here Momo? It's foggy out here and the visibility is thick." Hitsuguya statted, a bit sternly.

"I know but..." Momo replied, looking back at the bundle of flowers set upon the grave. As Hitsuguya looked, his eyes widened before he grabbed the collar of the cloak Momo was wearing, pulling it harshly towards his face.

"What the hell are you thinking Momo?!" Hitsuguya stammered, scarring Momo a bit. "How could you still love him after all he's done, huh? Did you forget how he almost killed you, or how he attempted to destroy all of Karakura town, just to rule over Soul Society?!" Hitsuguya shouted. He gritted his teeth as tears began rolling down Momo's eyes. He was mad at himself for being so irrational towards Momo. It wasn't that he hated her for doing this, it's just that he was worried. If someone saw her doing this, she may be held for being in a conspiracy with Aizen, and Hitsuguya didn't want that. He sighed as he let go of his grip, taking a few steps back.

"I'm sorry Momo." He apologized. Momo just sniffed a bit as she tried to wipe away her tears.

"I'm not c-crying because of t-that..." Momo started, still trying to get control of herself. Hitsuguya looked at her a bit curiously, wondering what it was that brought her sadness.

"Then what's the matter?" Momo remained silent for a few seconds before she responded.

"It's because you remined me of Aizen..." Momo said silently. She didn't even have time to react as Hitsuguya had his blade up to her neck. She just stood there, frozen in fear.

"Don't EVER compare me to him!" He shouted, as he pushed Momo back. He simply walked away, not even listening to the souds of tears that ran down Momo's face. Even the way he threatened me, and the way he held his sword...it's just like Aizen...Momo thought to herself, bringing even more pain to her heart. Hitsuguya was feeling torn up as well. He couldn't understand how she could love him after all he's done. He stopped as he saw Matsumoto looking at him. The two of them weren't visable due to the thick fog that coated the graveyard.

"Don't you think that was a little harsh?" Matsumoto asked. Hitsuguya just looked away as he continued walking for a bit till he was a few feet away from her.

"I worry about her." Hitsuguya statted, not even looking back. A shrill silence filled the graveyard a bit, only letting in the sound of wind. It was broken when Hitsuguya finally spoke. "Say, Matsumoto?" Hitsuguya started, trying to get her attention. Matsumoto looked curiously at him.

"Hm? Yes?" She replied.

"Do you think...Do you think that I sort've act like...Aizen?" Hitsuguya asked. Matsumoto was a bit silent, hearing the whole conversation between him and Momo.

"It...Depends..." She replied, increasing Hitsuguya's confused look.

"Depends on what?"

"...Who you're asking..." Matsumoto replied, beginning to walk in the same direction as Hitsuguya. Hitsuguya just looked at the ground, going into thought about what Momo had said about him. Am I really like Aizen? Hitsuguya thought to himself.

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"Ack!" Grim yelled as he was pushed up against a tree. Ichigo grabbed the color of his outfit. It had been a few hours already, and everyone was just leaving school. The onlyl thing that Ichigo held on his mind though was why the heck this guy shows up one night, and shows up at his school like Shinji, except for the fact that he wasn't here for him. It bothered him though, because he knew for a fact that the guy was here for a reason, but as to what it was remained the question.

"Ok now talk!" Ichigo yelled.

"Sheesh, are you always this hard on new students?" Grim asked. Ichigo just tightened his grip as he pushed Grim a bit harder onto the tree.

"Why are you here? You show up one day and the next day you act like you just met me." Ichigo stammered.

"Well, technically this is the first time actually meeting you so..." Grim started to reply, before Ichigo pushed him back a bit against the tree. "Will you cut that out?" Grim asked irritated, swatting away Ichigo's hands.

"Why are you looking for Orihime?" Ichigo asked. As he looked more closely though, he noticed a strange chain around the guy's neck, and going down into his shirt. He could have sworn he saw the exact same chain somewhere else, but he couldn't remember where. "What is that around your neck?" Ichigo asked. Grim looked sternly on this before changing his experession, pulling the chain down a bit deeper so it was less visable.

"It's...nothing." Grim replied, before walking away.

"Hey!" Ichigo said, running up to him. "We're not finished yet!" Ichigo shouted. Suddenly, a huge explosion shrouded the area in nothing bust dust and smoke. As Ichigo tried to look around, he couldn't see Grim anywhere. Damn. Ichigo thought to himself, knowing that he had escaped. When he looked back, he noticed how a large dark figure could be made from inside of the dust. It took awhile, but Ichigo smirked as he saw a simple hollow taking shape. But to his surprise, something about the hollows mask was different. The mask itself was all boney, and with the hollows shrill screaming, it's mouth didn't move at all. Ichigo glared at the hollow, knowing that either way, he'd have to destory it one way or another. Digging through his pockets, he quickly dug out and swallowed his Gikongai, trasnforming into his spiritual mode. Kon coughed a bit as he began to breath.

"Ichigo *cough* why the hell didn't you put me in your doll and bring that instead?" Kon stammered. He looked back though as he heard the large roar of the strange hollow, growing nervous. "But you know, it feels good to use legs again. I'll give it a try." Kon said, screaming as he began to run away from the giant monster. Ichigo just smirked as he grabbed his Zanpakto.

"Listen pal, I don't have time to deal with you." Ichigo statted, raising his sword above his head. At the same time, the hollow was charging at him with it's fist. "Getsuga Tenshou!" He shouted, swinging the massive blade down in one fell swoop. The discharge of energy easily cleaved the arm of the hollow in two, falling to the ground with a thud. Ichigo smirked as he saw this was way to easy for a regular hollow. But his look changed as he saw the severed arm that was cut right off, beginning to move on it's own, and leveitating back until it was reattached to the hollow's arm. The hollow roared again, as if sounding unamused and smirking.

"What the hell?" Ichigo stammered. The hollow began to charge itself straight at Ichigo this time. "Stay down and die!" Ichigo shouted, swinging his blade yet again, and repeating the same action. This time he cleaved the hollow in two, straight down the middle. He smirked again as he saw the two halfs falling on ends. But to his shock, the two parts began to move again until they were connected again, showing no sign of injury. Ichigo quickly blocked the hollows great punch, hearing the scattering of his own blade against the hollow's hand. "What the hell! That's cheating!" Ichigo complained, swing his blade back to get an opening. Wait a second. Ichigo said to himself, noticing something about the hollow's strange charge. It took him a full minute before he realized what it was. He realized whatever this strange hollow was, it was the same hollow he met the night before. He gritted his teeth in anger, knowing that Grim had something to do with this for sure.

"What's he trying to do?" Ichigo asked himself. "The hollow won't friggen die, and it can't harm me either. It's like he doesn't even..." Ichigo stopped as it just strucked him. "Orihime!" He shouted, looking in the direction that lead to Orihime's house. He was to distracted to block the hollow's attack again, causing him to get pinned down by the ground, only revealing his head. To his dismay, he dropped the sword when the hollow grabbed him. "Damnit! You're pissing me off!" Ichigo shouted, glaring at the hollow. The hollow just roared as it began to swing it's fist down towards Ichigo's head, prepared to squish Ichigo's head like a bug.

Meanwhile, Orihime walked over to her front door. She was feeling sick to her stomach the entire day, but luckily she hasn't thrown up that much, and she was starting to feel a little bit better. Even more, she was a bit happy and nervous today. She just found out big news, and she knew that she had to tell Ichigo about it. The only thing that made her nervous though was how Ichigo would take it once she told him. As she opened the door, she looked curiously at the strange person who was standing in her doorway. Her vision felt dazy a bit from the sun light, but she could tell someone was looking back at her. All she could do was hear what the man said.

"Well, we finally meet...Orihime." The man said, in a calm voice. Orihime squinted a bit, unable to see the face of the stranger. She rubbed her eyes a bit, somewhat helping her vision, and clearing the foginess a bit. As her vision cleared, she gasped at the strange man she saw standing in front of her. The man had black gloves on his hand and what seemed to be a high school uniform, much like the one Ichigo usually wears. She hasn't seen him before, but something about him seemed all so familiar. And that's what scared her the most; unable to tell where she's last seen him.

"C-Can I help you?" Orihime asked. The stranger raised an eye brow at this.

"Your words..." The stranger started as he began walking towards Orihime, and causing Orihime to nervously to walk backwards. "You remind me so much of her..."

"W-W-Who?" Orihime asked, frightened. She gasped a bit as she backed up into a wall, then looked back at the stranger. Her eyes widened as the man placed his back hand gently on her forehead, slowly going down to her stomach and then to her stomach. His eyes went blank though once his hand was touching her stomach. Orihime looked in fear as the man continued to look like he did now until his eyes changed back to normal. He grinned as just looked into Orihime's eyes.

"We'll be together soon...Kassandra..." The man whispered into her ear. Orihime's eyes widened as the man removed his glove. Something about being as close to the man's hand made her feel uneasy. It only grew as he brought his hand closer to her face, just ready to touch it. Right when it was about to though, she instantly vanished, causing the man to grow in anger. "No!" He shouted, smashing his fist into wall. As Orihime opened her eyes, she saw that she was being carried by Ichigo, who appeared to have blood dripping a bit from his head and arms. When she looked back, her eyes widened as she saw an explosion of riatsu filling her entire house, and destroying everything into one large blast.

"M-My house!" Orihime complained, both shocked and scared of what this strange man wanted with her. Ichigo looked back as he felt the riatsu, gasping as well. He knew that Grim was after her, but didn't expect him to have so much spiritual pressure. Ichigo knew that whoever this guy was he was no ordinary shimigami. He looked back down to Orihime, somewhat worriedly.

"Are you ok?" He asked as he descended down to the ground. Orihime nodded.

"I'm fine...Thank's Ichigo." Orihime replied. She stood up once Ichigo had landed to the ground. "What happened to you?" Orihime asked. Ichigo just looked away for a bit, feeling somewhat embarassed about the wholw situation.

"...I was attacked by a hollow." Ichigo replied, quietly. Orihime blinked curiously.

"What kind of hollow? Arracnar, Vasto Lorde..." Orihime questioned, wanting Ichigo to fill in the slot.

"It was just...a hollow." Ichigo replid. Orihime looked at Ichigo surprised, but based on his injuries, she didn't want to make Ichigo feel any worse.

"It couldn't have been normal though. I mean, how could you haev a hard time with a regular hollow?" Orihime asked, trying to sound as kind as possible. Ichigo just looked at her with a somewhat depressed experession.

"It wasn't just a regular hollow, Orihime." Ichigo replied, looking at his sword. "Every time I cut it, it just came back together. I even tried cutting it in half, and the stupid thing just reattached itself."

"Then how did you beat it?" Orihime asked. Ichigo remained silent to himself for a few seconds before looking back at Orihime.

"I..." Ichigo wasn't able to finish his sentence, as an explosion of debris and dust scatttered everywhere, originating from the road they were near. Once everything was dissipated, the hollow looked at them, ready to attack at any moment. Ichigo grunted in anger as he grabbed his Zanpak to, standing in front of Orihime. "I couldn't. I had to escape from it." Ichigo yelled. Orihime could tell he wasn't yelling because of her, it was because of the hollow and how much it irritated him.

"How are we going to kill this thing then? If we just run, it'll eventually find us, or it'll just go after more people." Orihime statted, worriedly. Ichigo gritted his teeth as he knew she had a point. Running away wasn't an option at this point, and if they did others could get hurt because of it. That's when a sudden burst of spiritual pressure filled the area. Ichigo's eyes widened as he knew who's it was. As if on que, Grim appeared on top of the strange hollow's head, looking down at them. The only difference was the fact he was in his pitch black cloak, and had his gloves back on.

"You!" Ichigo shouted, angered by the fact he was trying to harm Orihime. Grim just smirked.

"I'll make this easy for you Ichigo Kurosaki. Hand me the girl, and your life will be spared." Grim commanded. Ichigo just smirked, causing Grim to raise an eye brow at this.

"I haven't even shown you all I can do yet." Ichigo said, aiming the sword directly at Grim. Grim looked curiously at what Ichigo was about to do. "Bankai!" He shouted, exploding with a burst of riatsu that shot straight towards Grim. Grim's eyes widened for a moment before he quickly vanished from the hollow's head as it was engulfed in the blue riatsu that appeared from it. He quickly reappeared in the sky, looking back at the now headless hollow. He grinned as the hollow simply regenerated it's head, blinking a bit. As he looked back at Ichigo, he was a bit surprised to see Ichigo's outfit and sword had changed.

"Interesting." Grim said, looking at Ichigo's changes. "It seems you're a better subject too test my new powers on than I thought." Grim said, holding out a large black pole. Ichigo looked at it confusingly until it began to grow off a black aura. His eyes widened as a scythe grew from the top part of the pole, arching down at least a fourth of the size of the pole.

"W-What is that?" Ichigo asked, somewhat shocked by the strange shimigami's scythe.

"This, my fellow shimigami, is the ultimate Zanpakto, ever made." Grim replied, taking a stance. Ichigo just smirked.

"Orihime, wait here, ok?" Ichigo said, looking back at her.

"But Ichigo..." Orihime started to reply, wanting to tell him something. It was too late however, as Ichigo instantly vanished, reappearing as he clased his blade against Grim's scythe.

"Not bad. Your blade didn't shatter, so this means it'll be an interesting fight." Grim replied, pushing back Ichigo's attack.

"If you want it to get interesting, keep focused on where I am!" Ichigo yelled back, instantly vanishing. Grim's eyes widened at the enormous speed Ichigo used to vanish, then heard him reappearing a few feet from where he originated from. Before he could even gaze at him, he vanished again, before reappearing in one area, then in another and so forth. Grim looked all around him, surprised at the many images of Ichigo who appeared all around him, knowing that it was simply his speed that made these images appear.

"Quite impressive. I never even thought of using speed like that before." Grim complemented, enjoying the excitement he was getting. "But there is one minor flaw to it." Grim added, causing Ichigo to look at him, somewhat strangely. Without even making the slightest noise, Grim vanished. Before Ichigo could even begin to sense for his spiritual pressure, he felt a massive blow to his stomach as Grim punched his hand into it. Ichigo gasped a bit as he felt the air coming out of his body, his eyes going blank.

"The flaw is the fact you're bond to end up where one of your clones are if you keep running in the same place." Grim added, removing his hand from Ichigo's stomach. Before Ichigo could even break down to his knee, he was struck from the side by Grim's foot, getting shot at immense speed. Forcefully shrugging it off, Ichigo quickly flipped as he used his hand to help stop himself from flying, scattering dust from where his feet were. He stood quickly glaring back at Grim, putting one hand on his chest where Grim hit him.

"Even if it is a flaw..." Ichigo said, taking breaths inbetween words. "I still have...a few more tricks...up my sleeve." Ichigo said, concentrating his spiritual energy into his sword.

"Hit me with your best shot kid." Grim commanded.

"Getsuga Tenshou!" Ichigo shouted, releasing a black wave of spiritual energy towards Grim. Grim simply closed his eyes, stretching his arms out as he awaited to get hit. Ichigo looked at Grim confused, wondering why he wasn't even attempting to block himself from it. There was an explosion as the blast collided into Grim. As the smoke cleared, Ichigo's eyes widened as he saw Grim completely wounded. Blood dripped him his head, feet, and legs. What the heck is with this guy? He didn't even try to dodge it! Ichigo thought to himself in disbelief. Grim simply breathed in deeply through his nose, then breathed out a sigh of relief as he looked back at Ichigo.

"It's been so long to know what pain feels like. I thank you, Shimigami." Grim said, bowing in respect. Ichigo was just standing there, somewhat confused.

"Who are you?" Ichigo asked, wondering if this guy was even human.

"Ah, yes. I believe that is why you don't give me credit for showing me the proper respect." Grim said, instantly vanishing. Ichigo's eyes went blank as he felt something piercing through his chest. His vision blured as everything appeared to be mirroring back and forth. He heard Orihime letting out a scream as he slowly looked down to his chest, seeing the end of the scythe sticking out from his chest. "Call me the Grim Reaper!" He shouted, pulling out his scythe. Ichigo gasped as blood coughed from his mouth, and he slowly began to descend to the ground. Not even a few seconds later, Grim grabbed him by the throat, looking at him curiously.

"I'm surprised you didn't die. My scythe can tear souls apart, even if they're in the body of a human. You're something else." Grim said to himself, seeing Ichigo couldn't even turn his head from his mortal wound.

"Stop it!" Orihime shouted, catching Grim's attention. The sun was finally setting as the sky blended into the orange sun light that it was giving off. "If you want me so badly I'll go, but please..." Orihime begged, tears rolling down her eyes. "Don't kill Ichigo..." Grim just smirked at her request.

"Oh, I won't kill him. But I do find it interesting if I experimented a little to see what I can get him to do." Grim replied, opening a black portal behind him. Orihime's eyes widened, knowing he wasn't going to listen.

"Please! I want to tell him something! Stop!" Orihime shouted. Before she could do anything, the hollow which she had forgottton about pinned her to the wall from the street. Orihime struggled to break free, but found it useless as the Hollow had firmly pinned her. She cried a bit as more tears rolled down her eyes, feeling regret for not trying to tell Ichigo even when he was fighting. As she looked back, her eyes widened as she saw Grim carrying Ichigo into the portal, dragging him by the neck.

"Stop! Ichigo!" Orihime shouted, trying to waken him. Grim simply ignored her as he stepped through the portal, disappearing through it. "Ichigo!" Orihime shouted again, still with no results as the portal had completely disappeared. "ICHIGOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Orihime screamed. she knew she would never be able to see Ichigo again, and never be able to tell him...

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To Be Continued...