Very short transition chapter since I wasn't entirely sure how to make this longer before the big pick-up. I'm sure all of you thought this story was dead, and I would too, but I've been thinking about this story a lot lately and really want to continue it. So excuses aside, here's something to show this story isn't dead just yet!
Grimmjow could feel the vibrations of the human's footsteps come closer and closer to is location. Without even noticing, the espada held his breath and tried to lay flatter against the wooden floor.
"Smudge?" another call came, much closer than before. Just as he expected to be found, the sound of a door closing caught both of their attention.
"Ichigo!" one of the young humans yelled. "We're home! Could you come help us carry in some of the bags?"
The figure soon disappeared back into the kitchen to assist his sisters in putting away some groceries. Although Grimmjow could hear all of them conversing on the other side of the home, he couldn't bring himself to move from his hiding spot. He was glad that his body stopped aching, even if a dull throbbing in the back of his mind remained. Grimmjow flexed his still itching paws, "If I didn't know better, I'd think these fuckers are trying to poison me." Carefully crawling from underneath the blankets, he slowly peeked down the hallway. It almost felt like his muscles were tenser than they normally were, even if he was nervous. Another side-affect from the drug, no doubt he thought.
Seeing that the coast was mostly clear, except for one of the lone humans lingering in the kitchen, the rest of the family had dispersed. Staying close to the wall, the cat slowly slinked forward into the living room. As careful as he could be, he made his way towards the stairs. If I can make it upstairs, I can at least fucking cut that bastard Kurosaki's throat!
Just as he was about to climb up the first step, his muscles tightened again. Pain rippled down his spine and into his body causing him to freeze in place. Grimmjow's jaw locked as mixed emotions floated his thoughts. The affects from the drug almost made him regress completely into a cat, mind and all; the pain would be much more bearable that way. However, he was determined to remain in the proper state of thought.
He almost fell to the floor when his muscles became lax again. The bell on his collar made a clanging sound as it rung, and bounced against his chest when he fell forward; only a few seconds away from face-planting into the wood. Grimmjow took large breaths, suddenly exhausted from this experience.
Vibrations once again were felt as the human from the kitchen tried to find out the source of such a strange sound. A familiar smell invaded the cat's nose as the figure drew closer, and he couldn't believe he didn't recognize the human that crouched over him. Even through the blurring vision, the bright orange hair was an easy give away.
"What's wrong, Smudge?" the teen asked.
A soft hiss escaped his lips as a large mass was brushed slowly down his back. While it gave Grimmjow something other than the pill's side-effects to worry about, being stroked by a human was far less appealing. As much as his mind willed his body to move, the muscles were far too exhausted to respond (not that the cat part of his thoughts wanted to remove itself from the human's petting anyway).
"Are you feeling better? How about some food? Sound good?" Ichigo asked as if the feline would respond at any moment.
Get the fuck away from me, Kurosaki. I need no such thing—Grimmjow quickly answered however was interrupted by the creature in his abdomen growling. Hunger soon boiled within his gut at the mention of nourishment, but the very thought of what was required to obtain it tempted Grimmjow to starve himself to death.
Taking the meows as a "yes," Ichigo picked up Smudge carefully and slowly up the stairs to his room where some soft kibble awaited the cat. Something in the back of his mind told him that the cat seemed heavier, maybe even larger, than when he last held him. He just brushed it off, though, blaming it on his imagination. There is no way that his cat would gain weight within the hour or two.
The rest of the day passed slowly with Ichigo drifting around the house, only stopping in to check on the feline every other hour. Grimmjow silently thanked the humans for leaving him alone for the remainder of the day. He was in no mood to "greet" them or even protest against their coddling. His body was heavy and the sexta espada felt much more tired than he has before in a long time. After drinking a small amount of water and tasting the strange food in the other bowl, he dragged himself over to the welcoming comfort of his box and passed out.