Author's Notes:
I have alibis!
I had a whole bunch of exams (and actually, I still do :/), I was sick (and actually, I still am xD), I had a bunch of other work to do and first concentrated on finishing my Naruto story (IT'S DONE! With over 300 reviews, too ^^) and yeah, life's harsh :/
Guess whose birthday today is... ULQUIORRAAAAAA! Happy birthday, Ulqui-chan, love youuu :D
So thanks a bunch to Hotaru-Jaegerjacquez, COOL ULQUIGRIMM FANFIC. LOVER, summerrayah, Razzer, Kakushi Miko, X3 Too lazy to log in, Yamapikarya, Katakanion, deadpoolhulk, CoolGirl150, TTfanTT, sblack13, KamiKari519 and .lolcatsrule. FOR ALL THEIR PRECIOUS REVIEWS! I REALLY APPRECIATE IT, GUYS AND GALS (:
Ah, and by the way, X3 Too Lazy to log in? xD Of course I'll write more, as long as I have fans like you who are... ready to... send rabid squirrels to... rip my face off O_O" Okay, forget I said anything xD As for the seeing issue, I believe the Arrancar are visible since Aizen was the one covering them first (for the sake of the story, come on xD) so now they're visible, yey. And for the food, yeah, I know, but apparently, according to Gin Ichimaru (flashbaaaaack), whoever has reiatsu feels hunger. So technically, seeing as they're Espada, they have reiatsu, and get hungry. The end~ Thanks for the nice review (:
SO yep, yep, enjoy.
"So boys, care for breakfast this morning?"
A plate of delicious-looking eggs and smoking bacon was shoved in front of the Arrancars' faces as soon as they stepped down the last step on the stairs. Their gigais' stomachs rumbled as the sight and smell of food, but Urahara's mischievous grin reminded them that there would be consequences if they ever dared to accept.
"No thanks, Kisuke-san." Grimmjow growled, pushing the plate away and stepping down. The two reached the front door and grabbed their bags, packed with all the clothes they'd used for the last week and pulled on their shoes.
"Leaving so soon?" Urahara pouted.
"Yep, sorry, you won't find any reasons to pull any favours out of us." The blue-haired Espada chuckled as he pried open the front door. "But thanks again for that training cave place of yours. We'll be back soon to use it. Till then." He waved his hand and exited.
"Yes, thank you Urahara-san." Ulquiorra bowed. "Without your help, I could never have saved Grimmjow."
"No problem!" Urahara laughed joyfully. "Besides." His face darkened although his ever-present smirk remained plastered across his face. "We can't haul a corpse over to Soul Society, right?"
The Ex-Espada shuddered and turned around, nodding.
"How many days left?" he whispered worriedly, feeling a knot clench in his stomach. His eyes wandered to Grimmjow, who was arguing with Ichigo, who had come to pick them up before going to school. He had no idea how much time had passed. Maybe it was for the best. Grimmjow had a violent and impulsive character by nature, mask or no mask, and counting down the days would have made him antsy.
"Not long." Urahara whispered back before pushing him out. "Alright then, go have fun and enjoy all the time you have left!"
"Morbid wishes." Ulquiorra sighed and waved before shoving a hand in his pocket and headed for Ichigo.
"Morning, Ulquiorra." Ichigo greeted as he joined them.
"Good morning Ichigo." Ulquiorra made a light effort to twitch the corners of his mouth up.
"Alright, so what are we doing today?" Grimmjow asked right off the bat, already bored.
"I'm going to school, seeing as our break week is over, but you two are free to go around and do whatever you like. Just don't get lost." The youngest teen shrugged.
"School?" Grimmjow wondered out loud. "Sounds boring."
"It is." Ichigo chuckled. "But I can't be just a substitute shinigami all my life. I have to get a permanent job soon and the only way to do that is complete my studies at school."
"Ah, life's so much easier when you're dead." The Sexta snickered.
"Contradictory claim." Ulquiorra commented.
"Ah, whatever."
"Alright, I'll be late if I keep chitchatting like this. If you want, you can come with me till I get to school and then you can leave to do whatever you like." Ichigo suggested calmly.
"Alright, let's go, it's not like we have anything better to do." The blue-haired Espada shrugged.
The walk to school was punctuated by a dreadful silence. None of them spoke, simply listening to cars pass by or kids walking to school, talking about how they spent their last week.
They only spoke once stopping in front of the school gate.
"Well, you're not allowed past this point, so, uhh... Run along now." Ichigo's bored look said everything.
"Ah, I'm sure we're just gonna get bored and go crash in your room or something." Grimmjow sighed. "There's nothing to destroy in this town..."
"Grimmjow, please try and refrain from destroying anything while I'm gone." Ichigo winced bemusedly as all three of them chuckled.
"HEY ICHIGO!"
All three of them suddenly turned to see Rukia and Renji arriving in school uniforms, waving.
"Hey boys!" Rukia greeted as soon as she stopped next to them.
"Morning." Ichigo greeted, looking annoyed. "Why are you still here?"
"Figured I'd stay a bit and go back to Soul Society with you three." She shrugged, making Ulquiorra wince and Grimmjow freeze.
That's right, he'd almost forgotten they'd have to go to Soul Society very soon. How many days did he have left? Not a lot, huh?
"Ah, you two better leave soon." Renji piped in. "I can see Orihime and Ishida coming, and I'm sure they'd recognize you without a second glance if they saw you."
Five pairs of eyes snapped to the duo of people talking as they came out the school doors, noticing Ichigo almost immediately.
"You're right, we should make ourselves scarce." Ulquiorra decided, wincing when the girl didn't recognize them and simply waved, running.
"For once, I have no objections." Grimmjow growled, turning away from Orihime. "Let's go."
"Seeya after school, Ichigo." The Cuatra added before the two Ex-Espada ran off into the street.
"Kay, so what now?" Grimmjow asked as soon as they were out of eyesight.
"I think we should go drop off our bags at Ichigo's house and see what we can do from there." Ulquiorra nodded.
"Ah, this town is boring." The Sexta complained.
"I'd be more inclined to say it's peaceful." The Cuatra shrugged. "Unlike Las Noches, or any of Hueco Mundo, in fact."
"But there were people there..." Grimmjow's eyes darkened. "And we all knew each other and lived with each other... We had our own inside jokes, we fought all the time, and we understood each other..." nostalgia was clearly written all over his face. "But here, everyone's so distant..." he watched as a girl with her music from her music player blasting loud in her ears passed by, completely ignoring them.
"I understand, but this is the world we have to get used to now..." Ulquiorra encouraged him as they turned the corner that led to Ichigo's house.
"I know, I just..." He shook his head and suddenly chuckled. "Who am I kidding? This is what happens when you get attached to someone. What's happened to the bloodthirsty Sexta Espada who ripped people's arms off and beat them with it? What happened to Grimmjow Jaegerjacques, the violent, sadistic psycho who enjoyed hearing people scream in pain and cower in fear? What's happened to me?" his laughter slowly died down until he was left staring at the ground, kicking a few random stones.
"Isn't it for the best?" Ulquiorra whispered with a light smile. "Think about it. You might not be as violent as before, but you finally have a chance at life. Isn't that a worthy cost?"
Grimmjow thought for a moment, and sighed as they entered the Kurosaki premises.
"I guess. I still expect to get stronger though. Imma kick Aizen-bastard's ass one day for everything he's made us go through, so I can't just lie around and pretend my world is changing." He grabbed the front doorknob and twisted, opening the door and walking inside.
"You know... The world always changes around us but weakness will always remain. Through all the pain, believe in who we are right here and now... That's all you need to believe in." The Cuatra raised a pale, bony hand and settled in comfortably on Grimmjow's shoulder, getting him to stiffen. "Besides, we promised. No more pretending."
If the Sexta wanted to reply, he didn't have the chance because the voices of two little girls laughing reached their ears, thudding footsteps rushing down the stairs. Almost instantly, two little girls ran into their view, the black haired one chasing the blond.
The black-haired one was wearing a red cap and a t-shirt with jeans shorts and white socks. The blond was wearing a yellow dress and no shoes nor socks. Both of them, looking around ten years old, were screaming in joy as they chased each other.
The Ex-Espada recognized them as Ichigo's little sisters.
The blonde one was the first to stop as the black-haired one toppled over her, dragging them to the floor.
"Karin!" she laughed, getting up and helping her sister up. "Be polite in front of our guests!"
"Ah, it's fine." Grimmjow muttered, embarrassed.
"I'm sorry, we haven't introduced each other yet! It's crucial if you'll be staying with us." The blond laughed and bowed. "My name's Yuzu!"
"I'm Karin." The black-haired one raised a brow at Grimmjow's blue hair. "What's your name, blue-head?"
"Blue-head?" a vein thudded in Grimmjow's temple.
"Calm down, Grimmjow." Ulquiorra sighed, putting a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.
"Grimmjow, huh? How about you, emo-kun?" Karin asked with a smirk.
"Emo-kun?" Ulquiorra gaped in anger and horror as the girl laughed.
"Calm down, Ulquiorra." Grimmjow laughed, mimicking his previous gesture.
"Ah, well this is swell!" Yuzu laughed and clapped. "Karin and I don't have any school today so we can help you get installed!" she ran for the stairs. "Come on!"
Karin ran up after her, motioning for the two Espada to follow.
All four of them made it to the top floor and headed for Ichigo's room, hearing Yuzu pushing and pulling things already. When they got there, they noticed the blond had pushed the desk further against the corner so that more space was open for mattresses.
"You two can sleep here." She sighed, pointing at the rearranged mattresses. "I'll wash some extra sheets and get you some pillows a little later in the afternoon. I'm sorry this is the best we have to offer, but we don't have any guest rooms." She laughed cutely, a slight blush adorning her porcelain face.
"Ah, it's uhh... okay..." The Espada fumbled around nervously, embarrassed that the little girl was doing so much for them.
"Ah, you two, you can put your clothes in here, too." Karin called from the wardrobe, dusting off a shelf. "Just make sure to keep it organized cause we ain't cleaning." She ranted.
The two Espada nodded and let their bags drop, opening them to pull out their clothes when Yuzu screamed in horror.
"Are those... dirty clothes?" she panted, almost hysterical.
"Y-Yeah, we've been at a friend's house for over a week now and he didn't have any washing machines..." the Sexta blinked, surprised.
"Oh dear!" the little girl gasped and ran for the wardrobe, pulling out a white plastic basket. "Here, drop everything in here, and I'll do the laundry right away!" she ordered.
"Y-Yes ma'am." The two Espada, shocked, nodded and dropped all their dirty clothing into the basket.
"Ah yes, I do believe you've never actually explored around here, so come with me, I'll show you around." The blond laughed and lifted the heavy basket in her arms, going for the door.
"T-That looks heavy, want me to take it for you?" Ulquiorra suggested with a soft blush.
"Of course not, I'm a grown woman, I can lift a laundry basket on my own!" Yuzu scoffed and left the room, leaving the Arrancars shocked and speechless.
What a weird family they'd stumbled into.
"The top floor is where the bedrooms are. The bathroom's at the end of the hall. My room is on the right to the staircase, and Karin's is on the left. Dad's room is next to the bathroom, facing yours and Ichi-nii's." She explained, walking down the staircase with the Espada and her sister walking right after her.
They ended up in the main lobby, still brightly lit.
"Facing the lobby, we have the living room, where we have the couches, TV, piano and video games." Karin picked up the tour guide duty. "Right next to it is the small dining area, adjacent to which is the kitchen. The door at the back of the living room leads to the Kurosaki clinic."
"And this is where you do the laundry." Yuzu opened a closet and popped the lid on a curious white machine and threw all their clothes inside. The Hollows watched, amused and curious, as Yuzu put white powder inside and slammed the lid shut, pushing a button. The machine instantly came to life, making weird noises. "And there you go! That's how you do your laundry!" she grinned proudly.
"Interesting contraption..." Ulquiorra nodded, curiously watching as the clothes spun inside, covered in white bubbles.
"Wait, don't tell me you've never seen a washing machine before." Karin groaned in desperation. "Ichi-nii warned us you were from a third-world country, but I didn't think your village was THAT retarded..."
"No, no, the village isn't retarded." Grimmjow raised a brow at her tomboyish attitude, the complete opposite of her sweet little sister. "But its leader is. Big time." He sighed, Aizen's face flashing in his mind.
"Sounds interesting. You should tell me more about this village you're from someday." Karin nodded.
"I'll go make tea while you get installed!" Yuzu's face lit up as she ran into the kitchen, leaving Karin to lead them to the living room.
...OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...
"This technology never ceases to amaze me..." Ulquiorra whispered, caressing the TV remote and pointing it at the TV, pushing on a button and marveling when the channel changed without him having to get up and push the buttons on the TV.
"Yes, I agree." Grimmjow nodded, used to the monitoring TV's they had in Hueco Mundo, the simple screens with lots of complicated buttons and switches below them. Such simplicity was new to them.
"Hey boys..." Karin looked up from her portable gaming console and sighed. "Aren't you bored already? You've been at this for hours."
"No, no, there are so many new things to discover, after all." Ulquiorra waved a hand lightly, dismissing her statement.
"Well, Ichi-nii will be home from school in a couple of hours, so you'll have to keep occupied until then." Yuzu's pretty little head popped in from the kitchen door, smudged with barbecue sauce on the cheek. "Thankfully for you, I have the perfect job for you two."
"Oh really? A mission?" Ulquiorra instinctively asked, looking straight at her.
"If you want to put it that way." The girl shrugged and walked up to him, grabbing his hand and opening it, putting a bill of money in it. "We don't have any milk and bread left. Could you go to the supermarket and buy some so I can finish dinner?" she pleaded with big watery eyes.
"O-Of course!" Ulquiorra blinked, surprised, clutching the bill tightly. "We will do our best."
"Ah, and don't bring 2 percent milk." Karin whined, still at her game. "Look for the light blue package, skim milk. And white bread, black bread is disgusting."
The Ex-Espada processed this information for a moment, then headed for the front door.
"Kay, we'll be back soon." Grimmjow announced before they exited the front door.
"Human nutrition is so complicated." Ulquiorra whined, looking at the money in his hands.
"But this is what we have to deal with, right?" Grimmjow sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Skim milk and white bread, huh? I think we can do that."
...OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...
"Which one's skim?" Grimmjow asked in desperation as he checked two different cartons of milk, both light blue.
"I think they're both skim..." Ulquiorra analyzed carefully, reading the labels.
"Then why are they different?" the Sexta panicked.
"I don't know. Here, just pick the one that looks prettiest and hope it's the right kind." The Cuatra shrugged and sighed in desperation.
"And the bread? Did you get white bread?" the blue-haired Arrancar asked as the put one of the cartons back in its place in the fridge.
"Well, yes, but there were flat ones and square ones, so I didn't know what to pick..." the ebony-haired Arrancar sighed desperately, putting up two bags of bread: one toast and one flat bread.
"Well, the square ones look whiter than the flat ones, so pick the flat ones and let's go..." Grimmjow rubbed his neck with an indecisive expression on his face, then sighed. The two headed for the cash register without any other exchanged words.
"Good day, sirs!" the girl there greeted, taking the milk and bread from their hands and scanning it. "That'll be five seventy five, please." She smiled.
"Uhh, here..." Grimmjow handed her a bill with a twenty written on it.
"Thank you... One moment." She took it and put it in the cash, Grimmjow and Ulquiorra watching curiously as she counted some money and handed it back to them, along with their stuff in a plastic bag. "Have a nice evening!" she wished.
"Thanks." The Arrancars nodded, and, one of them taking the bag, the other, the money, they headed out.
"Well, it sure was stuffy in there..." Ulquiorra complained.
"I know, right? Hopefully, we won't need to go here again..." Grimmjow sighed, pocketing the money in his jeans.
"So now what? Which way do we go?" Ulquiorra asked, looking from one side to the other of the street.
"Well, if we go right, it's Ichigo's school, so we should go left to go home." Grimmjow analyzed.
"Right then. Let's go le-"
A tremor rippled through their gigai bodies as something suddenly happened. They didn't recognize it at first with their reiatsu dulled, but they blinked in surprise once they identified what was causing the shock waves in their spines.
"Hollows..."
"I'm curious... Let's go see!" Ulquiorra, almost entranced, turned right, and started running, following the Hollow's reiatsu.
...OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...
Ichigo was calmly sitting in class, boring his pretty little head out as usual, when suddenly, something rippled through him. A Hollow's reiatsu.
He sighed and growled. The reiatsu was close, very very close. In fact, he could spot the large, snake-like Hollow in the schoolyard, looking around for prey to pounce on.
Gosh, what a pain. Every time a measly Hollow appeared in Karakura, he had to excuse himself to do it. Chad was absent today and Ishida refused to do it, telling him Hollows were Shinigamis' problems.
"Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime whispered urgently from next to him, snapping him out of his whiny thoughts.
"Yeah yeah, I'm going." He ruffled his hair and raised his hand to ask to be excused.
"Yes, Kurosaki?"
"Uhh, sensei?"
He never finished his sentence. The reiatsu suddenly fluctuated, going up and down. That meant... the Hollow was dying.
He quickly peered over his shoulder, out the window, towards the schoolyard. If his eyes could widen further, they would. His eyes landed on the snake-Hollow, lying down defeated on the ground with Ulquiorra sitting on top of its head, feet dangling in midair like it was nothing. Grimmjow was looking around, probably something to break the Hollow's mask with without having to hurt his gigai.
The blue-haired Espada's hands curled up around a thick branch and he lifted it, immediately bringing it upon the Hollow, instantly shattering its mask. It cried out before evaporating, letting Ulquiorra drop.
The two exchanged words very briefly, and suddenly turned their eyes towards Ichigo. Gazes met, and the Sexta grinned with a thumbs up before running out of the school boundaries. The Cuatra shrugged and bowed lightly before following.
"Kurosaki! KUROSAKI!"
The slamming of a book on his desk woke him up from his astonished state and he jumped, looking at the teacher, who was leaning over him, angry.
"You had a question, and now that I'm ready to answer, you don't even have the decency to look at me?"
"N-No sensei, I just thought I'd seen something outside!" Ichigo quickly apologized, shaking his head. "I just wanted to ask, uhh... if the answer to this problem is 64."
The teacher sighed and nodded, turning around to go back to the blackboard.
"Yes class, correct yourselves if you are wrong. The answer is 64. Now please turn your attention back to the class, Kurosaki."
"Yes Ma'am." Ichigo sighed in relief and looked to the side, seeing Orihime's and Ishida's gazes drilling into him.
Gosh, he really didn't want to explain.
Maybe he should start coming up with a lie right now.
...OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...
"That wasn't even a challenge." Grimmjow grunted, popping his neck.
"It was only a mere Hollow. We don't even need to change into our spirit forms if they are all weak like this. We can crush them just like that." The Cuatra shrugged.
"Alright, let's head home, it's already getting late." Grimmjow sighed. "Tch, and it's only 3 o' clock."
"You're right, Yuzu-chan is probably waiting for us, too." Ulquiorra's eyes fell to the plastic bag clutched tightly in Grimmjow's fingers.
The two walked in silence and turned the next corner, watching as a gang of teenagers, about as old as Ichigo, passed by them, laughing and swearing loudly.
"I don't like it here..." Grimmjow whispered as soon as they were out of audition's radius.
"You'll get used to it. Besides, they're just kids, they're young and foolish. They don't even know the price of their words." Ulquiorra comforted, noting that one of them had gotten away from the group. Without even saying bye, simply flipping his gang the bird for some reason, the teen laughed and started walking back a few feet behind them, probably going home.
"Hmm, I think he's stalking us." Grimmjow snickered, teeth glinting in the light as he smirked.
"Ha ha. Funny." Ulquiorra rolled his eyes bemusedly.
They walked in silence again, footsteps echoing on the sidewalk. Out of courtesy, as soon as Grimmjow realized the boy was walking faster than them, he cut a little in front of Ulquiorra to give the kid some space to pass.
The boy simply got closer and closer, and as soon as he was close enough... he grabbed Grimmjow's bag and pulled.
Thrown off by the momentum, Grimmjow whirled around and gazed uninterestedly as the teen, about seventeen years of age, tried to pry his bag away, laughing and yelling "give it to me!" like this was all some kind of joke. A couple dozen feet away, his gang was watching curiously.
Grimmjow didn't react to his taunt, but acknowledged that the bag might rip if they continued like this for too long. Instead, in a rapid flash, he raised his legs and slammed his foot into the side of the teenager.
He stopped laughing and let go of the bag, falling down and clutching his side, wincing. Grimmjow simply shrugged and turned around to leave, watching in mild curiosity as the kid got up and limped back to his gang.
"Hmm, told ya he was stalking us." He grinned once he was out of earshot again.
"Next time, let's put a bomb in there and let him take it." Ulquiorra snickered.
The two laughed as they crossed the street, spotting the Ichigo residence and clinic a little further away.
"If he could still run, though... that means I didn't hit him hard enough." Grimmjow made a tch noise and bit his thumb pensively.
"If you hit him harder than that, his ribs would break, or you could damage an organ, and then he'd legally have the right to sue you... Or something like that." The Cuatra told him.
"Well, now I know how to regulate my force then. I'll have to hit harder than that to break a Hollow's mask, though. I wonder if it'll hurt my gigai if I do so." He mused out loud.
"You won't know until you try. Not that I recommend trying to hurt your gigai." Ulquiorra smiled lightly as they opened the front gate to Ichigo's house and went for the door.
"Okay... This stays between us, okay?" Grimmjow simply added, and only waited for Ulquiorra's nod to open the door.
"We're back." The ebony-haired Arrancar stepped in first and kicked off his running shoes, walking into the kitchen with Grimmjow following.
"Took ya long enough!" Yuzu complained, taking the milk and bread from Grimmjow's hands. "Thank you, though!" she smiled appreciatively and headed back to her work.
"So where's your dad?" Grimmjow asked, looking around.
"Working. We have a critical patient at the clinic today, so he probably won't be joining us until dinner. Ichigo should be coming home soon, too, so we can all sit down then. Till then, though, I have to cook, so please excuse me." The little girl bowed apologetically and went back to cooking whatever she was cooking.
"Ah, the cashier gave us some money back." Grimmjow told her, holding out the little coins and bills.
"Put them on the table, thank you."
Uncomfortable with getting in the girl's way, the two Arrancars exited the kitchen, eyes falling upon Karin, who was deeply concentrated on playing a video game.
So now what?
...OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...
"Guys, I'm home!" Ichigo called as soon as he stepped in, dropping his schoolbag in the entrance alley and kicking off his shoes. "Grimmjow, Ulquiorra, I need to talk to you about today and I have important news I have to sha-"
His speech was once again interrupted as his eyes fell upon his blue-haired friend, sitting down next to his little sister in front of the TV, pushing buttons on a controller.
"Attack, dammit, attack!" Grimmjow growled, making Karin laugh and push more buttons.
"Hey Grimmjow?" Ichigo tried, getting close, but Grimmjow prompted him to hush.
"Shuuush, can't you see I'm trying to kick your little sister's butt at this game?" he whined, pushing more random buttons.
"Hah, keep trying, I'm this household's number one champion." The girl laughed, K.O.-ing Grimmjow's character. Grimmjow growled and almost immediately demanded a rematch, to which Karin gladly agreed.
Leaving the two to their gaming, Ichigo curiously poked his head into the kitchen, wondering what surprises awaited him at home. His eyes fell upon his other little sister who was up on the counter, pointing things in a cook book. Right next to her was Ulquiorra, wearing an apron and nodding at her instructions. His hands, some of his hair and his right cheek were colored white with flour, and he was beating an egg inside a bowl while listening to Yuzu.
"Y-Yuzu? U-Ulquiorra?" he asked, confused. Who were the two Espada posers and what had they done with the real Espada?
"Ah, Ichigo, welcome home!" Yuzu looked up and smiled. "You're just in time! Dinner's just finished cooking!" she grinned, hopping off the counter with Ulquiorra's help and running to hug Ichigo around the waist, marking his beige uniform with flour.
"What's up with Ulquiorra?" Ichigo whispered into Yuzu's ear, watching as Ulquiorra finished with his egg and put it in a bowl, mixing the contents of the bowl afterward.
"Nothing's wrong, I guess I just taught him the basics of cooking. He looked interested enough. And look!" she turned to Ulquiorra. "Ulquiorra, show Ichi-nii what you made!"
Ulquiorra blinked in surprise, finally having acknowledged Ichigo, and smiled lightly, pulling a tray from on the stove and holding it out to him.
"I made these with your sister's help. They look good, but they need to cool off a bit first." Ichigo's eyes widened as he spotted the slightly deformed, but beautiful chocolate chip cookies arranged on the tray, left out to cool.
"We'll eat Ulquiorra-san's cookies for dessert. Let's eat our meal first, though. Dad's working and won't be joining us, so pick a place." Yuzu nodded and ran to the stove, putting on some oven mitts and pulling out a big roast with potatoes and carrots scattered around it.
The Shinigami simply watched in confusion and slight awe as everyone ran around, putting things down, picking things up, and generally busy.
"Grimmjow-san, Karin, dinner!" Yuzu finally screamed.
"Coming!" came two simultaneous voices from the living room, followed by Grimmjow's groan and Karin's laugh. The two of them entered the dining area and plopped down on some chairs while Karin put down a bowl of rice in the middle, next to the roast, sitting down in her favourite place.
All went silent, and all gazes went to Ichigo.
"Nii-chan, aren't you eating?" Karin asked, grabbing a fork in anticipation.
"After all the effort Ulquiorra-san and I put into the food, too!" Yuzu pouted.
"O-Oh, of course I'm eating!" Ichigo rubbed his neck and sat down, looking around. The mood was completely different from what he was used to. Even Grimmjow and Ulquiorra, the merciless, bloodthirsty mercenaries chained to Aizen, had warmed up to human company. To think that was actually possible.
"Supermarkets are too damn scary." Grimmjow complained, stuffing some roast in his mouth. "Never goin' in there alone again!"
A collective laugh rang around the table, so contagious it even affected the dumbstruck teenager at the head of the table.
Ichigo simply smiled and helped himself, enjoying the sound of laughter coming from his friends and family.
No, he wouldn't ruin it.
He wouldn't ask Grimmjow and Ulquiorra why they went to kill that Hollow.
He wouldn't ask them what they did all day.
He wouldn't tell them they had to go to Soul Society tomorrow evening as Urahara had informed him on the way home from school.
No, he wouldn't say any of these things.
Not now.
Not yet.
Author's Notes:
That thing that happened to Grimmy? Yeah, that happened to me on Halloween night. Instead of Grimmy, it was me, instead of Ulqui, it was my best friend. I was holding Halloween candy, though, but the rest happened exactly as in the story O: I didn't kick him hard enough if he could still run... Meh xD
Ah, the joys of human worlds and skim milk :/ I've never made the difference between different brands of milk anyway xD
Anyways, last semi-filler chapter before the real action starts! And I have no idea what I mean by that cause from this point on, I'm improvising! :D Help me~ Any ideas are more than welcome U.U
Omg guys, 50 reviews? :D That makes me soo happeh~ Thanks so much for your constant support and reviews, I really couldn't have done any of this without you ^^ I hope I won't disappoint, and if you ever see something that's bugging you, anything, tell me, and if it's not crucial to the story, I'll see to changing it (: I aim to please, after all.
Once moar, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ULQUIORRAAAAA~ May the rest of your years be full of Grimmjow-ness and may you be spared the horrors of Orihime ^^ If I have time, I'll draw some fanart for him, but if I don't, I'll consider this chapter as his gift (: Although I bet he'd want to Cero my head off if he saw what I've done to his tough, cold demeanor ^^
Also, gimme a shout on what path you'd like this story to go on. Should I deepen the friendship between 6415? Should I go back to angsting and overcoming hardships? Adventure? Humour? Anything? D:
So yeah, hope you like it :D Let's hope the action picks up next chapter, any ideas at all are very welcome, and stay tuned. Oh, and please review. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please.
