A/N: YO! I'm finally back~ with the rather sad, dreamy and dramatic epilogue~ I found it cute actually x3 so enjoy, and thanks to all the reviewers and favoriters and followers!
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach (I somehow always forget to put this…)
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Tatsuki's POV
I sigh, skirt flapping in the autumn wind, my bag hanging lopsidedly on my shoulder as I stand in the middle of the path, searching the crowd milling around me for the familiar shock of blue hair. "Hey." His voice reaches me before any sight of him does, making me jump and automatically slam my fist into the air next to mine as a reflex. His hand catches mine in its grip just inches away from his face, and he laughs amusedly before letting go while I scowl at him. "Don't do that," I manage to mutter before I see him pulling out chips from his own bag and offering them to me. And just like that, my resolve to kill him evaporates and I accept the offer, tearing it open and cramming actual fatty, oily food into my mouth. I swear, school food just has to have all fats and oils sucked out from it. But Grimmjow still seems to get enough from it (and somehow got more bulky and buff than he already was). That guy's a freak. I just get skinnier (which is a complete miracle in itself) and I'm virtually skin, bone and muscle now.
But that's beside the point. The two of us walk over to the boarding side of campus to dump our bags before going down to find the seniors in the mixed martial arts room to spar with. That's one of my two ECAs, something I just do outside class, and the other is art. Grimmjow takes mixed martial arts and music. He actually plays the piano pretty well, and most times he plays while I sketch in one of the small music rooms that are tucked away behind the boarding school. We've been here for about a month, and this new life wasn't hard to fit into. Coincidentally, his room is right above mine, and my roommate dates his roommates, so we found a way to cheat the system and me and my roommate's boyfriend swap rooms at night.
Maybe it's because I'm lonely and crave affection at night, or maybe it's just the alcohol and snacks Grimmjow always seems to pull out of his bag like a magician, but I like staying in his room, laughing with him, talking, discussing all sorts of things and copying each other's homework. When we sleep, it never goes further than kisses and his comforting embrace, and I like it that way. He never pushes for anything, y'know?
Some funny incidents seem to happen when we are around. Once, while I was walking through the forest at the back of the school to get to the music rooms where I agreed to meet him, I encountered a short man (and by short, I mean shorter than me) and he was gabbling about how he would give me good grades in the school and in return I gave him sex and money. He claimed that he could pull strings for me, and I stood, smiling slightly, but my muscles were tensed in anticipation of Grimmjow. I felt his reiatsu coming in and he stopped in a bush somewhere behind the man, listening in on the conversation. I bit back a smirk while the man continued ranting, and waited for the right time to attack him. That male didn't wait for me to agree to his plan or not, and his filthy hands went towards my blouse and bag. That was when Grimmjow burst out from behind the bush and we gave him a punch each at exactly the same time, knocking him into a tree and he fell unconscious. The police arrived and wondered how we got a criminal who has been on the wanted list for a few months already. Figures, huh?
At night, everything changes, in a way. Grimmjow is ever the gentleman, but he seems wilder, sleeker, and sexier, I admit. Calling him my boyfriend would be weird, because it would seem like I own him, and he is not a possession of mine. It is hard to imagine the unconquerable Grimmjow being enslaved to me, Tatsuki Arisawa, isn't it? To tell you the truth, I am rather scared of the day when he decides that I'm too boring for him, and he leaves, while I am left alone, again. It's irrational, I know, but I still wonder. It vanishes when he takes kisses me so hard that we leave an indent of my head on his pillow, just like that day in the Vizard Warehouse when Lisa caught us, and sometimes his kisses turn as gentle as the one he placed all over my neck and shoulder, light but not hesitant, leaving happiness growing in the pit of my stomach. But as I say, it only happens at night. We have never advertised the fact that we were a couple, and my only close friend in the university is my roommate, besides Grimmjow.
We discussed boys once, and she definitely has way more explerience than I do when it comes to boys. She agreed that Grimmjow was sexy (I didn't say anything, but she claims my face said it all) and she grinned while patting me on the back. Grimmjow was a good catch, in the way she put it, and she makes it look like Grimmjow is a fish. Talking to my new roommate is really amusing, and she's my current closest friend.
This sounds really cliche, and I know it's quite impossible, but I wonder if we could be together forever? I am not the kind of girl who wants a Prince Charming on a white horse where the two of us could ride together into the sunset, unlike Inuoe. I just want a companion who could hold me when I'm tired and sad, who can make me laugh when all I feel like doing os curling up into a ball and crying my heart out, someone who can heal their scars and let me heal theirs. Did Grimmjow fit all these categories? Maybe. Have I healed his scars? Maybe his scars of being shunned from humanity, and lack of companionship. Maybe. So many things I didn't and couldn't confirm, and yet I feel happy. Complete. Is that how it feels to be in love? Maybe.
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I am quite sure that one can die more than once. If not, there is no other way to explain why my physical body is collapsed on the street and my soul is drifting around like this around it. They said that my soul would never leave my body until shortly before my death, so does this mean that I'm dying? I don't know, but the only things that I can confirm is that Grimmjow is kneeling next to me in his gigai, and even though he can feel my reiatsu, he looks worried. He then kisses my body's lips in his arms, not caring about the bystanders or the car owner who is still sitting at the wheel, frozen in shock. I can feel the phantom feeling of Grimmjow's lips on mine back when I was in my physical body, and just like that, suddenly, my soul is sucked back into my body. The pain becomes very much distinguishable now, and I gasp, my head lolling against his chest. I can only barely feel him lifting me and holding me close before the pain drags me down and I faint.
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The next time I wake up, I'm in the hospital, on blank white sheets with the standard antiseptic smell invading my nose. I take in a deep breath of the cold dry air and turn my head to see Grimmjow sitting on the armchair beside me, flipping a page of the book he was reading unconcernedly. "You've been out for a week," he informs me, still reading and not looking up to face me before a word can even escape my lips. But my throat and lips are so parched I doubt I could have said anything anyway. "I called the Kurosaki bastard but none of them showed up, so yeah," he shrugs, and I smile rather sadly. Putting his book aside, he sits me up (avoiding all the tubes) and feed sme a cup of water, letting me take sips at a time while he keeps an arm around my shoulders. Finally, I speak. "Was I really close to dying?" "Your chain is only partially connected. If you choose to let go, you can leave if you want to. You still retain your powers though," he explains, pressing a kiss against my head. "Were you worried?" I ask instead, still trying to process what he had just said. So I was very close to dying, huh. Or my physical body was. "No. You'd come back in spiritual form anyway, if not I'd hunt you down in soul society," he smirks, arrogant, the usual Grimmjow. I smile rather tiredly in reply and my head rests against his arm. Already I feel exhausted from this bit of conversation. And that's when I know I've decided. To stay here and try suffering it out or to try out a new world where there might be more people to fight and bash? Even if there are things I want done here, I don't suppose it really matters, because as long as Grimmjow's with me, no matter where I am, I'm pretty sure it'll be fun. Maybe...
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Normal POV
Kurosaki Ichigo, Inuoe Orihime, Rangiku Matsumoto, Rukia Kuchiki and Renji Abarai burst into the hospital room just to see Grimmjow kiss Tatsuki's lips gently and lean back into his seat with a wearied sigh. "Grimmjow?" Rukia inquired as she set the basket of fruits on Tatsuki's bedside table, her eyes moving over to the silent girl on the bed and equally quiet Espada next to the bed. "You're late, Kurosaki," he said instead, his eyes flickering to Ichigo's brown ones, his blue eyes icy. The temperature in the room dropped twenty degrees almost immediately, and Rukia tried not to imagine what he could have meant by that, instead putting a palm on Tatsuki's forehead, noting the sickly pallor her face exhibited. "What do you mean?" Ichigo barked harshly, shutting the door behind him. Rukia ignored the two of them as she noticed something odd. Tatsuki was still, too still, and Rukia's brows furrowed upon the tiny detail. Her chest wasn't rising or falling in any way, and she was oddly cold, unlike a person who was supposed to have a fever. "She's dead." Grimmjow stated flatly, coldly, just as Rukia jerked her hand back, exclaiming the same thing. Everyone in the room froze except Grimmjow, who got up and picked up his book, phone and earbuds. He didn't even bother to say goodbye to the shinigami and just slammed the door behind him as he left.
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Grimmjow smirks as he sondioed over the rooftops, hurrying to get back to Karakura and leave his stupid gigai behind with Kisuke. Tatsuki is right beside him, shunpoing just as fast, a smirk on her face. "Did you see their faces? I don't think they even thought that I was there!" she laughs as the wind whips around the two of them, blowing her hair back behind her. He smirks in reply, pushing his blue hair away from his face. "You're sure? You're only nineteen, you know, and graduation is one year away," he reminds her innocently, and she laughs and pokes his side, almost making him drop off the roof in shock. "Hey, are you trying to kill me?" he demands, catching his footing and poking her back, but she dodges it gracefully and he suddenly finds that she is on his back. Rolling his eyes, he continues on his way, the extra weight not affecting him at all, and they arrive in Karakura after an hour or so of treading through the wilderness.
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Tatsuki's POV
Too many things happen in too short time. Grimmjow touches down in Kisuke's backyard, scaring Jinta as he fakes a homerun again, and just dumps his gigai there, hovering around in spiritual form as he cracks his knuckles and stretches, looking glad to be back in his original form. I grin and he does too while Jinta stares at us like the two of us had just grown three heads and Ururu runs in to fetch Kisuke.
"Well hello, Tatsuki-san, didn't think you'd be here so soon!" Kisuke Urahara greets me with an unfathomable smile, his eyes shaded as usual by his green and white hat. He hasn't changed throughout the years, still being the mysterious scientist that nobody understood except Yoruichi Shihouin. Said woman appears behind him as though summoned by my thoughts, and smiles at me, winking playfully, and jumps up to ruffle Grimmjow's hair. Her transformation is instaenous, darting into cat form and jumping onto Kisuke's head before transforming back into human, now sitting on Kisuke's shoulder, but the scientist just grins and taps his fan against his lips while she rides on his shoulder. The two of them are interesting, certainly, but I have never really associated with them and I stand awkwardly at a side as Grimmjow argues heatedly with them about sending me to Soul Society.
I'm not chained to anything except Grimmjow, and he's already dead, so I certainly wasn't earthbound. So what was I? I zoned out after a while, pondering that question, but Grimmjow pokes me before I can get an answer to my own question, and I jump and glare at him while he smirks and says, "They're sending us to Soul Society. You could try being a Shinigami there." I grin, amused at the notion of me wearing a robe similar to Rukia or Ichigo's. "The passage will be ready in a few minutes, Tatsuki-san, Grimmjow-kun," Kisuke motions just then, and I marvel at the speed and efficiency with which he does things. "Thank you!" I bow, at which Yoruichi laughs and tell me it's no problem. Kisuke smiles too, the same mysterious smile, and I wonder what he and Yoruichi have been through for them to turn out like this. So many unknown things. But Grimmjow jerks ne out of my musings again by taking my hand and the two of us step into the passage, me in a half-daze. Kisuke and and Yoruichi wave goodbye and the door starts closing behind us just as I see an orange-head bust into the room, eyes blazing with fury. I grin then, lips stretching into a wide smirk and I take Grimmjow's hand, where I know Ichigo can see us but can't follow us, and the two of us kiss, hard, before sprinting away for our lives, panting from laughter and the kiss, through the tunnel and out into Soul Society.
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New people. New places. New habits. New systems. Everything is new now, but as usual I slip into it like a fish into water (even if I do say so myself) and I am already a third seat under Nanao Ise who is my captain. I hear that Soul Society has changed since five years ago, and that Shunsui Kyoraku, the current joint head of the 13 divisions, used to be the captain of my division. And I also he heard that he is a hentai old man but Nanao is dating him so I don't suppose it's that bad. Nanao will keep him in check.
It's been two months since I arrived, but some of the shinigami are still shocked by the sight of me walking next to the Sexta Espada normally in town, and sometimes even Nanao doesn't suppress raising her eyebrow when Grimmjow stands around in my office watching me work. We've started training, and I really want to take on a Captain'a job, if not just to see on the shock on my fellow Shinigami colleagues' faces when they figure that I've mastered BanKai and can probably defeat most of them in barehanded combat. Ha, and I will also be the first captain to date an Espada. When Ichigo hears about this, he's going to be furious that I beat him to the spot even though he's a hero and technically has way more monstrous traits I than I do. Dying earlier has it's perks. That came out... Weird...
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I feel like throwing something at Ichigo. Fifty years later, he has died, and come to Soul Society, and he looks at me and can't recognize me. He is in the form of his youth, and so am I technically. He knows Rukia, Rangiku, Gin, Renji and everybody else, even Grimmjow, except me. I swear, that bastard is irritating even in death. The only thing holding me back from killing him again is the fact that Grimmjow has wrapped his arm around my waist and is whispering to me low words of caution. "As if I need those," I mutter back harshly, even though I'm thinking 'Thank God you're reminding me all this, Grimmjow.' He smirks, as though knowing just what I am thinking and I scowl back, standing up abruptly. He lets his arm fall from my waist and I silently thank him for knowing when to let go, and he stands too. I have perfected my "Captain faces" as Grimmjow so amusedly put it and I give Ichigo one that meant that I was leaving and there would be no more discussion (though there wasn't one in this case). Grimmjow pulls on his own jacket and I leave the room, already expecting Rukia and Rangiku to be outside the room with glasses, eavesdropping on us.
In a way, nothing had changed over fifty years. For one, I am still dating Grimmiow. We've agreed not to marry cos it was too formal and being tied down to one person for life gave both of us creeps to call me Mrs. Jaegerjaquez. Even if we love each other, both of us know and want freedom. Being in this relationship means I can leave when I want to (I won't even I can) and so can he. Freedom. Something else the both of us crave. Freedom from everything else that binds us; society, occupation, responsibility and people. Saying we're lone wolves are understatements. The two of us are too similar, but we fit, giving and taking in equal measure, and we are more than injured wolves licking each others' wounds. There isn't even a name for people like us. Or maybe there is. Maybe.
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When Tatsuki contacted Kisuke and Yoruichi, both had shrugged. "I don't know if anything happened," Yoruichi had said, but her bright golden eyes were concerned, alert and cautious. She was hiding something. Kisuke had smiled just like he used to do (and still did), his sharp green eyes darting around the room while the gears in his brain considered the possibilities. Then his eyes had turned to Tatsuki's and she read his eyes perfectly: To meet him soon in the human realm, in Urahara Shoten, where he and Yoruichi were still based. Ururu, Jinta and Tessai were still there too, and Tatsuki decided she would go, even if he had nothing to say. Just a visit after being away from so long, Tatsuki reasoned with herself, and had started preparations to leave immediately. These preparations included doing the enormous mound of paperwork presented to her, and she had to complete them by tomorrow. Dragging the next stack of papers towards herself, Tatsuki sighed and began filling it with more words as her pen flew across the paper, her concentration never diminishing as she finished report after report and form after form. She only heard the door opening and the shuffle of hesitant footsteps at the edge of her consciousness, and dismissed that as she worked later and later into the night.
At around 1am, the young man in the room spoke suddenly. "Err... Captain Arisawa?" Tatsuki glanced up sharply at that. Grimmjow never called her Captain and from the slightly confused voice she heard, she knew it was definitely not Grimmjow. Ichigo, she thought sourly. She didn't hate him, but the fact that she was the only one he forgot irked her to no end. She had gotten over him long ago, fifty years to be exact. So she held her temper and everything she wanted to say to him and asked instead, "Ichigo-kun. May I help you?" Respect. Something everybody deserved, even that bastard. "Captain Arisawa... You look familiar." He didn't screw around and got straight to the point. "I'm in your division from now on, and you strike me as really familiar." Tatsuki's brow furrowed after he stated that fact. "And?" she probed further, even though every single atom in her brain was screaming at her to kill the bastard a second time. "If you know me, can you help me? My wife died a few years back, could you tell me where she is?" The poor boy looked so lost that Tatsuki softened slightly, even though her pen never left her paper, still moving across at amazing speeds. "Name?" she pretended not to know Inuoe and looked curiously at Ichigo. Perfect acting skills came in handy all the time, she snickered to herself as Ichigo wrote Inuoe's name down in full, and hesitated a bit before asking, "Captain Arisawa, will I be a seated officer?" This jerked Tatsuki out of her inner musings and she placed the paper in her drawer before leaning back and scrutinizing the taller male carefully. He was such a change from the loud, brash boy from so many years ago, so much that Tatsuki wouldn't have recognized him. His looks were the same, but he was more somber, serious and thoughtful, no longer the noisy impatient brat and Tatsuki marveled at it. His body was still as good as ever, but that was not Tatsuki's concern. A seated officer... "No." she rejected finally, more to herself than to him, and his shoulders slumped slightly. Something has changed him, Tatsuki decided as he thanked her and took his leave, his brown eyes sad and even slightly despairing.
The second Ichigo left the room, Grimmjow entered her office, perching himself on her desk, his blue eyes searching over her face. She knew that he had probably heard the entire conversation, and also likely guessed all her thoughts before she even thought of them before they even occurred to her herself. "When are we leaving?" Right on the spot, as per usual, Tatsuki smiled dryly to herself and set down her pen. "Tomorrow, in the afternoon, after I clear all this," she leaned back in her seat with a tired sigh. Without a word, he got up and lifted her out of her chair easily, and she was so surprised she didn't retaliate until a few seconds later, in which he had already left the office and was already well on the way to the barracks. "Grimmjow!" Tatsuki protested as he held her close, keeping her arms at her side and ensuring that she couldn't move, much less in his iron grip. He just smirked down ferally at her, and Tatsuki knew that though she should be afraid, she wasn't. They stopped at the door of the barracks and Grimmjow opened the door, revealing a group of partying Shinigami who froze at the sight of her. "What are you guys doing?" Tatsuki's brows furrowed as she walked into the Thirteenth Division barracks, her voice low and dangerous. "We're celebrating Ichigo joining the division," a half-drunk Rukia walked over, a triumphant smile on her face. And just like that, the captain of the thirteenth division found herself being unceremoniously dragged by her vice-captain into the partying crowd, who had resumed making a lot of noise after the short-lived stunned silence upon seeing their captain. "Grimmjow! Why didn't you-" Tatsuki yelled over the crowd as she gestured at the mess they were making. In reply, he smirked and held up sake, and she rolled her eyes in exasperation. "You need to relax," he shouted back, and she sighed. She wanted the sake, but she didn't want to agree with Grimmjow either. "Admit it, you want to," Grimmjow appeared by her side and dangled the corked bottle in front of her face teasingly, grinning, before taking her hand and sonidoing back to her office. "Just thought you should know," he said nonchalantly as he uncorked the bottle with his teeth and passed the bottle to her first while she scowled but drank anyway. Wiping her lips rather sloppily with her captain haori, as Grimmjow knew she only did when she was stressed, she sighed and passed it back, the alcohol swirling slightly. "There's something wrong with him, isn't there? Grimmjow inquired as he took a gulp and sat on her office table, one leg hanging off the table, the bottle in his hand. He really was good looking, Tatsuki reflected as she surprised him by hopping onto his lap, resting her head against his chest. He knew that stance very well; she was tired but wasn't willing to admit it out loud, and expressed it only to him in thus way. Smiling slightly, he scooped her up effortlessly into his arms, the sake in his fingers as his arms cradled her back and legs. She had a small back room behind her office, a place she crashed at whenever she worked late into the night, converted into a bedroom. More often than not, Grimmjow found himself crashing there too. He rolled her onto the bed then slid under the covers, careful not to spill the sake, and passed the bottle over once both of them got comfortable. "In reply to your question, yeah, something happened. I already got our leave, we're leaving tomorrow morning," Tatsuki informed him after drinking. "Mmm," he nodded and set aside the bottle, flipping her over and kissing her deep and hard. She could feel him smiling into the kiss, and the slightly dangerous, animalistic glint in his eyes told her that it was going to be an interesting night.
XXX
Tatsuki stretched deliciously, working the kinks out of her limbs before snuggling even deeper under the covers. It was too warm, too tempting, she decided, to escape. Grimmjow wrapped his arms around her lightly as well, and she relaxed into his warmth. It was strange how he was an arrancar and yet was so warm, but she never minded or cared about that anyway. Her lips met the side of his smooth, bared neck and she kissed her way up to his lips, making him smirk down at her in a challenging way. They played this game all the time; try making the other make noise, any sort, and you win. He usually won, most times cuz he tickled her till she laughed and he wasn't ticklish for some strange reason. He kissed her back, softly, then pulled away with a devilish grin before kissing her again. Again and again, he didn't stop until she positively begged for him to kiss her harder. Then he finally burst out laughing and gave her exactly what she wanted.
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[A/N: AWWWWW they're sweet right? ;]
XXX
Sober once again, the couple stood at the door of Soul Society, already in normal mortal clothes, Tatsuki shouldering her backpack and headphones plugged in. Grimmjow's bag was slung lopsidedly from his right shoulder, his usual smirk already in place as they stepped into the tunnel. "Let's go for sushi later," Tatsuki suggested as the two started running through the tunnel leisurely, Tatsuki already planning what to do with a full day in the mortal world. "Yeah, and can we please eat some fried food? And go to a funfair? Please?" Tatsuki adopted a whiny voice that made Grimmjow cringe slightly but he shrugged anyway. "Whyever not?" "YAY!" Tatsuki did a mini victory dance just before the exited the portal and jumped into Urahara's living room, where there was no one in sight.
"Ah, you're early, Tatsuki-san, as usual," Kisuke emerged from a screen out of nowhere, his fan already open and shadowing most of his face and his hat covering his dusty blonde locks. He really didn't change. Yoruichi entered the room in cat form, sitting down to wash her paws as Kisuke took off his coat and put it carefully around the black cat. In a flash, the black cat turned into the tanned young woman and she pulled the coat around her body before turning her eyes to Tatsuki. "You guys finally returned!" Tackling Grimmjow, she sat on top of Grimmjow's back while Grimmjow rolled his eyes, lying on his stomach with his chin on the floor. Tatsuki laughed and stayed put, not doing any of the like to Kisuke, and directed a questioning glance instead at the scientist, who smiled and shrugged in return. "Yoruichi-san, was there anything that happened to Ichigo?" Tatsuki inquired finally after Grimmjow flipped her off and she went to climb onto Kisuke instead, her arms wrapped around his neck. "You remember when he turned into a hollow and attacked you, the summer before you left for University?" Kisuke took up the thread instead, and Yoruichi just grinned as she plucked off his hat and placed it on Tatsuki's head. "What-? Yeah," Tatsuki replied as she took off the hat and gave it to Grimmjow distractedly, who smirked and balanced it on Tatsuki's head again, this time upside down. "Inuoe disappeared shortly after that." Yoruichi informed them flatly and she and Kisuke observed their reactions. Grimmjow's hand paused for a split second but he continued trying to balance the hat on Tatsuki while Tatsuki's brow furrowed and her hands stopped trying to push Grimmjow away. "Ichigo asked me to help him find her," she said finally and Grimmjow smirked as the hat stayed on her head and she leaned comfortably against him, not really taking note of what she was doing. "But why? She was happy, she had a husband, and she had friends..." Tatsuki trailed off uncertainly, looking to Grimmjow for help. "I'll guess, then. Ulquiorra?" Grimmjow looked up at Kisuke and Yoruichi oveerTatsuki's head. "Right on the spot, Grimmjow-kun," Kisuke smiled as he tapped his fan against his chin. "So he lost two very good friends in a month. He was never the same after that," Yoruichi concluded, finally sitting up straight as she crossed her legs and stretched. "That's it?" Tatsuki blinked and sat up again, bumping into Grimmjow's chin above her head. "It's serious, Tatsuki-chan. He has sudden memory loss sometimes, and he's lost. The only thing that stayed consistent was his fighting power and his Shinigami duties. Otherwise, he's a wreck," Yoruichi sighed and stretched out her legs. "And he used to be so fun to tease too," she shrugged and her eyes turned up towards the ceiling. Tatsuki didn't say anything but the gears in her head were turning as she settled comfortably against her new chair. Was she responsible for what happened to Ichigo? Emotional instability due to too many shocks coming his way? Finally, she clutched at her head and Grimmjow chuckled. She felt him vibrating against her back and rolled her eyes as he said, amused, "Thinking too much again?" "Shut up Grimmjow," she rebuked automatically and he laughed again, wrapping his arms around her waist and anchoring her in while she struggled to get out of his arms. "You're not going anywhere," he purred beside her ear amusedly and she gave up upon hearing that mockingly smooth voice, slumping into his arms and letting him have his way while the two of Yoruichi and Kisuke watched, lips twitching. "They're like us," Yourichi mouthed to Kisuke as Grimmjow playfully blew into her ear, making her jump and shriek at him in fury. "We were naughtier," Kisuke mouthed back, his face dead serious. Yourichi's lips twitched in mirth and kissed him, a wry smile on her lips. "Still is," she grinned as she stole his fan and got his hat from where it lay, abandoned on the floor, putting it on her own head and imitating Kisuke comically.
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"Yeah!" Tatsuki cheered as the rollercoaster plunged down, making her ponytail fly backwards while Grimmjow sat next to her in the car, his arms folded across his chest and his face unfazed as the rollercoaster went through the customary dips and loop-the-loops. "You realize that we're the only ones here?" he inquired as loudly as he could over the wind and Tatsuki's exhilarated yells. "Yup. They're most probably caught up gaming. The kids that is," Tatsuki yelled back, making Grimmjow wince. "Humans," he muttered as he leaned back to try to take a nap.
XXX
"Cotton candy!" Tatsuki squealed as she reached the stand and Grimmjow sighed as he pulled out another wad of notes, counting them off as Tatsuki got the sweets and snacks that she wanted. A boring Soul Society was better than a hyper Tatsuki, he decided as Tatsuki passed him a bag of cotton candy and a bag of popcorn, the two of them walking through the empty park in a comfortable silence.
When they got onto the Ferris Wheel and Grimmjow had finished his last bit of popcorn and started on the sweets, Tatsuki had sobered and was now staring out the car as it rose higher and higher into the sky. "I wish there were more people. You know, with the noise and everything. That's what makes a fairground, and this place is so ridiculously empty," Tatsuki sighed as she rested her head on the cool glass, watching the city and the cars shrink. "People start getting better things to do, I guess," Grimmjow shrugged as he took some of her popcorn without her noticing. "You're right." Her laugh was hollow and slightly bitter, but Grimmjoe smirked and held up his food. "At least we go this. We're going drinking later, right?" She ignored him and he knew his attempt at distracting her hadn't worked.
"I wonder where Inuoe is," he said finally after a few minutes of silence. She wanted to talk about that the most, so he let her. "I don't know, Grimmjow. It's just all so confusing. And how does Ulquiorra come in? She loves Ichigo. What's happening?" Tatsuki didn't turn from where she was, her eyes still staring out of the car, lost in her thoughts. "That woman is a fickle one," Grimmjow barked out a laugh, harsh and bitter, and Tatsuki's eyes flicked to his mocking blue ones for a second. "Want to know why I was on the balcony that evening?" Oh, that evening. Both of them would never forget it. "I used to like Inuoe." He didn't need to repeat himself to emphasize his point. He was angry, angry with himself, for unfathomable reasons. Tatsuki ignored the fact that once again, it was Inuoe, and instead concentrated on his anger. Why was he so angry? "Then Ichigo took her, and I could feel the change in her reiatsu. A short while after that, it was Ulquiorra. Fucking bitch. I never took her. She's a fucking whore. Literally." Tatsuki took his anger in quietly, and understood. Inuoe was a fucking whore. But Tatsuki was more perturbed by what he might not have told her, considering that he had concealed this from the beginning. Ignoring him, even though she could feel his eyes on her, she turned and resumed looking out the window.
When she finally turned back to glance at him, she was shocked to dee the quiet anger in his eyes. Normal Grimmjow was teasing, smirking and arrogant. Fighting Grimmjow was focused, attentive and insanely powerful. Angry Grimmjow was vulgar, short-tempered and full of hate. This Grimmjow... She couldn't place it under any of those categories. His eyes practically smouldered with moody, disappointed anger and his stare could practically kill. He wasn't looking at her, but out the window, eyes narrowed in his thoughts. This was the first time she was truly afraid of Grimmjow in all her time spent with him, and she was suddenly aware of the animalistic power he was exuding, and it would have crushed her, but he had put up a barrier such that it protected her from the reiatsu he was exuding. The kind, gentle side of him was mixed with a stronger, almost predatory power that he had, and she hesitated to call him. When she did, he turned the full force of those eyes on her, and she shrunk back into her seat. "You think I've been hiding things from you, right?" his voice was low, concealing all of his anger and whatever he was feeling, and Tatsuki couldn't read him this time. "I haven't. And if you don't believe me, I don't give a fuck." Tatsuki was stunned. He had never used expletives on her before, and she could only watch as he turned back. What could she say? She didn't mean that? Or that she did? Instead, Tatsuki gave up and also went back to staring out the window. This was way too complicated.
There was a moody silence before he said quietly, "Sorry." "What?" Caught off guard, Tatsuki blinked and looked up at Grimmjow. "It's supposed to be fun today. Kinda ruined it." He didn't try to offer a light-hearted smile which he knew he couldn't manage. "Yeah... Why didn't you tell me about it earlier?" "There was no need," he stated simply and the two of them stared at each other in the eye before falling apart laughing. "What a pair we are, huh?" Finally, they settled down with her in his lap. "I'm convinced we have some psychological condition," he smirked down naughtily and, without warning, blew into her ear, startling her for the second time that day. She jumped five feet into the air and started swatting at him, shrieking in anger. He laughed and fended her off with his hands before giving up and just grabbing her head and kissing her full on the lips, stopping all protests and thoughts in her head. Melting against him, she didn't notice the ferris wheel oerator standing awkwardly to a side, wondering whether they wanted to go another round. Since she had nothing better ro do anyway, said operator set the car off for another round on the Ferris Wheel under the fast setting sun.
XXX
Soft brown eyes opened to meet creamy pale skin on hard toned muscle.
"Oi. Get up."
There was no response from the mass of blue hair and the brown eyes turned into a scowl.
"Darn it Grimmjow, I know you're awake, release me won't you?"
Still no response. A sigh of exasperation later, the owner of the brown eyes gave up and lay back down, her head against where his heart should have been.
"I knew you'd give up. Go back to sleep. You need it." The clear, velvety voice rolled over her and she smiled wryly against his abs.
"You won't let me do otherwise anyway," she replied dryly, inhaling softly as his familiar scent permeated her senses again, and at this point she really couldn't do anything more anyway. He wrapped his arms softly around her, and they lay on the futon in quiet acceptance of the comfortable silence before Tatsuki's brain started moving again, slowly but surely. "No. Stop thinking." He interrupted her then, closing the distance between their lips for a kiss. It always worked. Fifty over years, and it never changed. He always used his body to distract her, and it always worked, surprisingly. She should have gotten used to it already, but she never did. Sighing rather reluctantly, she let herself relax into his embrace and let him distract her from everything she didn't want to think about.
XXX
"Ichigo was hallucinating. Inuoe isn't dead, Grimmjow." Tatsuki finally said as her fingers darted across his stomach lightly, her eyes fixed on the pale skin. "Then?" He wasn't surprised about that; he was waiting to hear what she wanted to say and why. "Her reiatsu; it's still present in my zanpaktou. As long as she is still alive, it will stay there. And I mean the reiatsu she has in her physical body. When you die, your reiatsu experiences a small change. Subtle, yes, but I would know." Grimmjow didn't doubt it and instead shifted slightly to make it more comfortable for him and for Tatsuki to speak. "She isn't dead. So the problem is, where is she?" Tatsuki was talking more to herself than Grimmjow now, but he didn't mind and just let her say anything that was running in her mind. "Can't you use your zanpaktou?" Grimmjow offered, which earned him an exasperated glance. "My zanpaktou isn't a multi-purpose reiatsu tool, Grimmjow. I can't track her at all."
The room was silent before Grimmjow spoke up again. "What if you could spread your reiatsu all over the globe to try locate her by identifying her reiatsu?" "I don't have that much reiatsu," Tatsuki sighed in regret as she flipped off Grimmjow and used his arm as a pillow. "Use mine," Grimmjow scowled. For a captain, she was very dense at times. Tatsuki considered the implications, the gears in her brain turning at thrity miles an hour, calculating about how much was needed. "And you could always ask Ichigo," Grimmjow shrugged, sitting up suddenly and catching her in his arms like she was just a rag doll. "C'mon, get dressed, there's a captain meeting today, right?" Grimmjow reminded her, smirking, as he laid her down back on the bed while she was still smacking her head about forgetting the meeting. "I'm showering first," he informed her and slipped into the bathroom.
XXX
"This is boring," Grimmjow suppressed a yawn as he stood next to Tatsuki. "I know," she mouthed back, her eyes still on the captain commander. They were still going through the ardous and long-winded introductions when Grimmjow fell asleep standing, and Tatsuki struggled to stifle the laughter threatening to burst out of her. Shunsui smiled at Grimmjow when passing, and Tatsuki could see him trying to laugh when he greeted her. "Your boyfriend sure is entertaining, Tatsuki-chan," he chuckled softly and she smiled in return. "He tries his best," she replied and Shunsui's smile grew as he finished greeting her vice-captain and Tatsuki nudged Grimmjow awake.
XXX
"Grimmjow, wake up! I obtained permission to go looke for Inuoe, and Ichigo, Rukia, Renji and Rangiku are helping us!" Grimmjow scowled at her and lifted his head from the bed, his blue hair a mess from his nap. "It's 1am, you realize? And is sleep ever on your mind?" he groaned as he sat up and ran a hand through his locks of hair. "Yeah, but I finished the paperwork! And submitted it! Lisa didn't look too happy to see me though," she smirked suggestively and Grimmjow rolled his eyes. "I do not want any image of Shunsui and Lisa in my head, Tatsuki," he sighed in exasperation and pulled her down to the bed. "Don't you dare blow in my ear again," she warned as she slipped under the covers and he wrapped his arms around her, her back against his chest, his lips already starting to kiss a trail up the back of her neck. She shivered against him, pulling up the blankets, and Grimmjow smiled against the side of her neck as he reached her ear. Licking up the back of it, he moved and soon, he was at the corner of her lips. In the course of that, the pair had shifted slightly, and she was now under him as he smirked down at her, his intention clear in his crystal blue eyes. She smirked back, knowingly, seductively. Then he dipped down and kissed her long and hard, her lips complying and moving back in the same way, just like both of them wanted to.
XXX
They were playing their game again, she noted as her lips moved slowly against his hard toned abs. She was never good at it, and he always won. Maybe it was because he was much more patient than her, and she couldn't wait to get anything that she wanted. He was ready to wait, because he knew he would get what both of them wanted in the end. Slowly, cautiously, his arms snaked around her, bringing her up to his neck. She couldn't protest, partly because she couldn't do anything about it anyway, and she couldn't speak, plus it wasn't like it was a bad thing. Her lips smoothed over his neck, up to his lips, and this kiss was slow and sensual, and Tatsuki was slowly losing herself in it. Before she knew what she was doing, she was moaning as his fingers lightly grazed her stomach and played up towards her neck, her breathing becoming slightly more erratic. He didn't need to say that he had won, because it was expected and they both knew that he had. He didn't even bother pulling his lips away as he turned them around, and his patience was once again rewarded with something that they both wanted.
XXX
His lust never showed in front of others, she noted. With Ichigo, he spoke politely, and was only rude or vulgar to particular people. And he still loved to fight, sparring almost daily with Ikkaku or Zaraki and herself, and sometimes even with Ukitake, who, despite being an invalid and retiree, was still as active as expected in the activities of Soul Society and the Thirteen Divisions. They started on searching for the long-lost female "war-hero" and Tatsuki started the kidou she invented herself.
Using their reiatsu, she transformed it into her own and expelled it almost instantly using the kidou, and the reiatsu was a combing reiatsu that spread into a thin film over the whole globe. Within seconds, she located Inuoe's reiatsu and reported the location and stopping the kidou. Despite being woozy, she stayed on her feet, determined not to show weakness to anybody.
XXX
Collapsing onto her bed about fourteen hours later, Tatsuki was so tired she could sleep for weeks. Feeling a warm body slip in next to her, she sighed and wrapped her arms around him, only to feel him gently hold her hand and place it on the hole in his chest. "What are you-" Tatsuki stopped questioning after his reiatsu started flowing into her. He had never done this before. Always surprising me, Tatsuki smiled slightly and closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth slowly spreading through her.
What she didn't notice, however, was that in locating Inuoe, Inuoe had slipped a bit of poisonous reiatsu into her. For what, Grimmjow had no idea, but it had obviously drained Tatsuki, so he was going to get rid of it. While pouring his own reiatsu into her, he absorbed just that slight sliver of poisonous reiatsu, wincing slightly when it entered his body. His reiatsu was rejecting it, but he resisted and made sure to remove Tatsuki's hand from his reiatsu core before trying to dispel it.
It didn't work. And in that moment, Grimmjow knew that he was screwed over. With about three or four days left to live before wasting away. Damn that woman, he thought angrily as he ignored the gnawing pain and flipped Tatsuki over. He didn't know who he really wanted to damn: Inuoe for being a whore, Ichigo for being a bastard or Tatsuki for being stupid.
XXX
Living with a bug was irritating, Grimmjow acknowledged. He tired easily, but covered it up just as easily by training harder than ever. On his last day, he sparred enough with Kenpachi before retiring to watch Tatsuki work again at night. He had mixed feelings about all this: Whether or not he should tell Tatsuki, or demand that whorish woman to get it out of him. What a bother, and a waste of time, he thought to himself as he perched on Tatsuki's work table with a bottle of sake. Tatsuki had noticed some of his abnormalities, but he had brushed it off as training too hard in the day. Dense her actually believed him. Smirking slightly at her foolishness, he shrugged off the tiny bit of guilt about hiding another thing from her. He would survive until the next morning, and she'd know what was going on and what to do. If she didn't? A little voice inquired at the back of his mind. Well, then it's her loss and her fault, he replied irritably as his eyes flicked up to the clock. 1.32 a.m. What was that sense of deja vu? That day, more than fifty years ago, they had stayed up to this time, and she had fallen asleep. He smirked again as he saw her lying on the table, her eyes only staring blankly at her papers without actually processing what was going on. "Sleep time," he said rather mockingly and swept her up before she could protest. Sighing, Tatsuki let herself be led into her room and let Grimmjow tuck her in before falling asleep, her head on his chest and his scent all around her.
XXX
Tatsuki woke up with a smile, in a sudden good mood as she recalled all the good things that had happened yesterday. She shifted slightly, so as to not wake Grimmjow, but as usual, he was already awake and she looked up to see his usually clear blue eyes clouded over. He kissed her then, and it was different again. Soft but hard, slow but urgent, hesitant but forceful, sweet but demanding, but most of all it was worried yet reassuring. Something's off, Tatsuki realized blearily even as she was being kissed senseless and she could barely keep up with the barrage of emotions in that small bit of contact. As her hands ran up his chest, she didn't feel his usual heat. He was cold, icily so, and it was such a change that she jerked away in reflex. "Grimmjow, what's going on?" Touching her lips with her fingertips, she missed the contact already as he shook his head tiredly and he turned away from her. "What? Grimmjow!" She snapped and sat up (resulting in her sitting on stomach) and he sighed. Running her reiatsu check over him, she found the poisonous reiatsu already spreading like wildfire and instantly recognized it as Inuoe's. That day when he gave me his reiatsu, he took it from me. Sneaky bastard, she realized with a growl. Slinging him over her back easily, she shunpoed off to where Inuoe was staying temporarily and barged in, not caring that she was in the middle of making out with Ishida. "Oh for fuck's sake Inuoe, stop cheating on your husbands and boyfriends! What did you do to him?" Letting Grimmjow gently off onto the floor, Tatsuki punched Ishida into the wall (the wall fell on him) and grabbed Inuoe by the collar, slamming her into the other closest wall that was still standing. All this happened so fast Tatsuki was only a blur of black and white as Grimmjow smirked weakly from where he was. "Tat-tat-Tatsuki-chan!" Inuoe protested, scared out of her mind. "Don't call me that. It's Captain Arisawa to you,"Tatsuki spat contemptuously and pressed her forearm further into Inuoe's neck, pushing her into the wall so much that Inuoe started scrabbling at her arm even though there was no escaping Tatsuki's iron grip. "Fifty years hasn't changed you, huh, Orihime? But whatever. Heal him, and if you try anything funny that's an offence against me and I will kill you myself, you hear me?" Tatsuki threw Inuoe onto the ground, her brown eyes blazing in anger, hatred and contempt. An arrow whizzed towards her then but she caught it easily before it reached her heart and sent a dagger back, lightning fast, and Ishida crumpled back down into the rubble of the collapsed wall. Crying, Inuoe complied and Tatsuki stood over her as she took away all the poisonous reiatsu and turned it back into her own reiatsu. Tatsuki could do something similar, but her zanpaktou could not convert another's poisoned reiatsu into her own, Tatsuki knew. Grimmjow sat up after that, exhaling a sigh of relief as the poison left his system. "If you try anything again, I will report you, then kill you." Tatsuki informed her curtly, her brown eyes proving more than ever that she meant it. Frightened, Inuoe stood back and nodded as Tatsuki pulled her dagger out of Ishida sharply and cleaning it with a kidou. "You make me glad I'm not your enemy," Grimmjow muttered as he lifted himself up and stretched, making Tatsuki smile. "I wouldn't want to be your enemy either," she grinned and the two left Inuoe's place.
XXX
Tatsuki's POV
Inuoe has never been the same after that, amusingly. And you could say that this was the toughest part in our relationship, but we get over it quickly.
I wish I can say that we lived happily ever after, but in truth it is just a very normal Soul Society life, and I'm happy, as long as he's around, in a way. I know it sounds soppy and all, which is disgusting. But it's the truth. And who knows? Something else might pop up along the way, and we'll be there, and this time, we'll be the main characters. I haven't figured if it's a good thing or a bad thing, but let's just take it and go along with the flow, shall we? :)
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A/N: ANNNNNNNDDDDD I'M DONE! It was so drama D: and soppy D: oh well, if that's the way it turned out ^^ My first complete story ends here, and I hope you enjoyed it! I might be writing more, for all I know. I'm having mixed feelings about switching the story from ongoing to complete though xP It was fun! Thanks to everyone who has read/reviewed/given suggestions/favoritied/followed/helped me etc. etc.
