The next time Shunsui woke up, he rather wished he hadn't.
The pain was severe. Every breath he took caused more pain, and even the tiniest motion jolted him unpleasantly. There was also severe pain on his buttocks and upper legs. Vaguely, Shunsui wondered what had happened there. Had he landed on something? He could remember a crunch. And he was terribly thirsty… without thinking about it, he moaned.
"Ah shit, are you awake?" Grimmjow? Shunsui blinked, struggling to focus. He quickly made out blue. "You need some water?"
"Please." He managed to say, his voice a faded rasp. His old sake bottle, still somehow intact, touched his lips as a hand lifted his head. Shunsui drank gratefully, gulping down the slightly stale, mud tainted water. It tasted like ambrosia. "How… is…?"
"The rest of us? We're fine. Pantera says he told you that?" Shunsui blinked before nodding as he recalled the conversation he'd had with the two zanpakuto. "You are seriously fucked up though. Don't ever do that again! We almost lost your hairy ass."
"Try… not to…" He said with a weak laugh that turned into a gasp as it simply hurt too much to continue. Warm hands stroked his face as he looked into concerned blue eyes.
"Hey. You just get better. It's going to be a long haul." Grimmjow said with shocking gentleness and he nodded slightly.
"What happened to my…" He trailed off, unable to think of a word. Grimmjow looked puzzled for a moment before he grinned, a quick flash of white teeth.
"Your ass? Lucky you, you landed right on a broken up old log. We took the time to get all the splinters out, to make sure you wouldn't get infected, but that shit's way low on our 'oh my fucking god it'll kill him' list so it hasn't got much healing. Sorry." Grimmjow sounded far too cheerful about it. Shunsui gave him a very weak glare.
"Hmph. Bet you enjoyed that…" He said, feeling almost too tired to talk. Grimmjow laughed.
"You know me! But really, no. That was all a fucked up mess too…" Shunsui felt himself drifting away as the arrancar continued to talk. The rough, rather pleasant sound of his voice soothed him easily to sleep, drawing him away from the pain.
If there were dreams, he didn't remember.
"Stone face is a motherfucking dick."
"Hm? What's going on?" Katen Kyokotsu asked as she made her move on the game board. Shunsui looked over at Pantera curiously. He'd sought his inner world deliberately, to free himself from the pain and speed his healing. Pantera was still in his humanoid shape, still lending all of his power to that endeavor. Right now he was sitting in the grass, his tail lashing irritably.
"He just got in a little fight with Grimmjow and I'm with Grimmfuck on this one. Douchebag doesn't understand how seriously Grimm takes being a pack leader. Does he really think he'd hurt you?" Pantera sounded very disgruntled. Shunsui frowned, wondering what he was talking about.
"What happened?" He asked and Pantera growled for a moment before responding.
"Grimmjow was working with Starrk to check over your injuries, make sure none of that shit was getting infected. So he had your pants down, you know? Then that dick said in that oh-so-fucking superior tone of his that if he, you know, fucked you it'd really mess with your injuries. Shit, what the hell does he take us for? Grimmjow would never fuck you like that!" Pantera sounded upset and Shunsui winced.
"I see." He could definitely see why that would anger Grimmjow. He took his duties as pack leader as seriously as any taichou took their responsibilities to their unit. It was one of the few things he could honestly say he'd always appreciated about the arrancar. "What did Starrk say?" He asked curiously.
"Oh, he managed to calm Grimmjow down before telling off stone face in a quiet way. I don't think he was listening to Grimmass, he's too loud and shit." Pantera said and Shunsui could picture that. Byakuya would not appreciate Grimmjow's style and manner of speaking. "Then he stalked out and the l'il guy went with him to watch his back. Grimm's with you and I dunno what stone face is doing. Don't care either." Pantera sounded irritated as he went back to his tail grooming. Shunsui sighed to himself.
"I'll have to talk to Byakuya." It would be hard for him to accept, that his fellow taichou had resigned themselves to their slavery. Or in the case of Toshiro, embraced it. But Byakuya needed to learn to get along or the two Espada would eventually exile him from the pack, or worse. Yammy had been a graphic demonstration of what happened when a pack failed to form. "And how did they say I'm doing?" He asked, changing the subject. Pantera perked up a little.
"You're doing great. You are one tough motherfucker, you know?" The hollow zanpakuto sounded like he approved. "Everything's healing up pretty fine. You're not out of the weeds yet, but it looks like you'll make it."
"Oh, good." That really was a relief. Shunsui swallowed, realizing his mouth felt dry. It was probably time to abandon his inner world in favor of sustenance. Fortunately, he could feel when his body needed things. "I should go."
"Yes, you should. Make sure to eat something." Katen Kyokotsu said, her tone indifferent. Shunsui smiled to himself as exited his inner world.
His zanpakuto did not do mothering well.
It took a week for his body to heal to the point that he could walk.
During that week, things gradually settled down. It helped that Byakuya was not a loud, demonstrative person. By the time Shunsui was in a good enough condition to speak to him, Toshiro had already largely done the job. Although…
"You cannot be happy with this arrangement." Byakuya said in a low tone as Shunsui lay by the fire. The warmth was kind to his body and the pillow beneath his head was comfortable. The pillow consisted of Grimmjow's jacket, stuffed with rags taken from the remains of Starrk's uniform. He'd finally shortened the other half of his pants, muttering about making buckskin clothing as soon as the opportunity presented itself.
"Mmm." Shunsui stared at the ceiling of the cave, thinking about it. They were ensconced in a rather small cave that someone had found after the near disaster with Yammy. Really, it was very lucky for them that they'd found it. It had provided a perfect shelter for his recovery. "I don't know." He finally said as Byakuya looked at him steadily. "Sometimes I want to strangle him. But sometimes, I see what he could be. He's changing." Shunsui didn't think Grimmjow would ever be the kind of tactful person Juushiro had been, but that was fine. It wasn't his personality and, truthfully, he didn't want someone who would remind him of Juushiro. That would just be too painful.
"I could…" Byakuya started before stopping, a look of discomfort on his face. Shunsui blinked at him before the Kuchiki noble spoke in a very low tone. "It is likely there is no Kuchiki clan left to dishonor."
"No." He said sharply, surprised that Byakuya would even consider it. "I don't want him dead." The thought of it sent a pang through his heart. And besides… "Our inner worlds are merging. His power is what kept me alive, through all this. I don't know what would happen if he died." That was at least a concern Byakuya could understand. And it was much easier for him to articulate than his nebulous feelings for the arrancar.
"I see." Fortunately Grimmjow, Starrk and Toshiro arrived, cutting the conversation short. Unfortunately, something had clearly happened. Grimmjow was excited, grinning and splattered in blood. Starrk looked frazzled while Toshiro was annoyed.
"That was the best shit ever! Shunsui! You'll never guess what I killed today!" He said so happily Shunsui couldn't help but smile.
"A giant." He said, randomly guessing. He was surprised when blue eyes widened and Starrk and Toshiro both looked at him in surprise.
"I… how the… how'd you… what the hell?!" Grimmjow sputtered as Shunsui blinked and Byakuya frowned.
"I was joking… you killed a giant? Really?" That was new. They hadn't seen anything like that before. Starrk nodded before speaking.
"It was huge, at least five times my height." And the Espada was not short. Shunsui swallowed a bit at the picture this was painting. "Correspondingly broad but also rather deformed. It attacked us as soon as it saw us… It was extremely durable. Toshiro and I distracted it but Grimmjow made the fatal blow."
"Yeah! I took my resurrection and got that fucker right across the throat." Grimmjow said, recovering his joy at his achievement. "Bled him out in a hurry. Then me and Starrk ate a bit, it was tasty. L'il guy didn't want any."
"It looked human, aside from the size." Toshiro sounded troubled and Shunsui nodded. "…I am beginning to wonder where most of the humans from the Living World went." The small taichou said and Shunsui frowned. Was he suggesting…? Starrk nodded, agreeing with his companion.
"I very much fear the monsters we encounter are all that remains of many mortals." He said softly and Shunsui winced at the thought. Grimmjow just went to the sake jar, using the water inside the clean himself off a touch. "We cannot prove it but there seem to be far fewer people in this combined world than there should be. The Living World was heavily populated, was it not?"
"Yes, although it did have large wildernesses." Shunsui rubbed his face for a moment, remembering the strangely human faces on many of the monsters. Perhaps the Espada were right. "It doesn't matter. We can't do anything about it." That was certainly true and Starrk nodded, a resigned look passing through grey eyes.
"Yeah, don't think about it." Grimmjow said, which was likely good advice. "Well anyway, Starrk and I aren't hungry and we caught a duck. Where's the duck?"
"Um? Oh. Right here. I'll go pluck it and gut it." Starrk offered before leaving the cave. Toshiro went with him, likely to help. Grimmjow settled in beside him and Shunsui sighed as he felt that warm body curling by his side, the side that was further from the fire. Fingers gently played with his hair for a moment before Grimmjow started to sing.
Alouette, gentile alouette,
Alouette, je te plumerai.
Je te plumerai la tete,
Je te plumerai la tete!
Et la tete, et la tete!
Alouette! Alouette!
Ohhh….
Alouette, gentile alouette,
Alouette, je te plumerai.
"Mmm, that song… what is it about?" Shunsui asked, feeling drowsy and curious. There was a pause in the song before Grimmjow chuckled softly.
"Plucking a bird." He said and Shunsui smiled, amused. The song made him feel vaguely sad and it only took a few moments to figure out why. He'd tried to learn French, once. Then he'd lost the books and only found them years later when Nanao happened to be cleaning up an old, dusty storeroom. Closing his eyes, he let himself doze off to the music. He woke up later when Toshiro and Starrk came back with the plucked, denuded bird and began carefully positioning it over the fire. Sitting up, he tried to help. His body still ached but he wanted to start moving.
Soon, they would need to begin travelling again.
Shunsui wiped a bit of sweat off his face, feeling a touch faint. The summer sun was beating down mercilessly and there was a river nearby, filling the air with humidity. That was useful for water but made the heat more oppressive.
"Hey, Shunsui, you okay?" Grimmjow asked and he looked up before nodding.
"I'm fine." He said as the arrancar eyed him with a frown.
"You don't look fine… Yo! Everyone, rest break!" He called and Starrk and Toshiro looked back. They had been taking the lead. Byakuya came up from behind and Shunsui sighed but didn't protest. Grimmjow was probably right, he was still recovering from his injuries and his constitution was not what it should be.
"I will go look for food while you rest." Starrk offered and Grimmjow nodded. The arrancar soon vanished into the bushes, Toshiro by his side. Shunsui glanced around, finding a good log to sit on as he rested. Grimmjow sat down beside him, glancing up at the sky thoughtfully.
"Pretty day, ain't it?" He said and Shunsui nodded. "I really like the sky. Looks just like my hair, don't it?"
"That it does." He agreed with a small smile, reaching out to fluff a bit of that wild hair. Although… "How does your hair stay like that? It always looks exactly the same." And the look was styled. Toshiro's hair had suffered massively without any haircare products but Starrk and Grimmjow were just the same. That was odd. Grimmjow reached up to ruffle his hair.
"When our masks were broken our appearances got fixed. I can't change this even if I want to. Sort of annoying. I wish I could grow a beard. And Starrk, he's said before he might like to shave his off. But if he tries it's back in an hour. Not worth the trouble." He said with a shrug. Shunsui sighed, softly.
"I wish I had that problem." His own hair was difficult, at best. Starrk had managed to fashion them a wooden comb but it still took forever to work the snarls out. Byakuya's hair was nearly as bad. It had looked superficially good but he'd spent hours working with the comb after Yammy was gone.
"You could just cut it off. Bet you'd look good with short hair." Grimmjow said and Shunsui smiled a little at the reminder.
"I did have short hair, back when I was in the Academy." That had been so very, very long ago. "I did look good, too. All the girls thought so." Perhaps that would be more practical. "I might do it." He would think about it. He liked his long hair and he'd worn it this way for a long time, but it was so much harder to care for without all the comforts of home. "Want some water?"
"Nah, I'm good." Grimmjow leaned back, gazing up at the sky. They just sat in companionable silence for a while as Byakuya watched for danger. The woods really felt very peaceful though. There had been no sign of any monsters for days.
Starrk and Toshiro came back when they were about ready to go. Interestingly, they had found something good.
"A very large berry patch. Carrying them would be impractical but we could stuff ourselves, then continue onwards." Starrk said and Grimmjow scratched his head as Shunsui nodded. Toshiro's uniform and face were a touch stained with berry juice. They had clearly paused to sample before coming back.
"Sounds good. Do we want to take the time though?" He asked and Shunsui thought about it for a moment.
"You know, I think we should. That would be delicious." The thought of fresh summer berries had a great deal of allure. He'd never picked them himself before, in all his life. He'd bought them sometimes from the market, of course, but he'd never once considered foraging for them. Now he wondered why. He could picture spending a lazy afternoon stuffing himself with berries, while stopping to nap and drink a bit of sake…
Much comforted by the thought, Shunsui smiled as they went through the brush. The berry patch Starrk and Toshiro had found was part of a scar in the landscape. Left by a fire, the bushes had taken advantage of the sun and the sandy soil. Ripe raspberries were everywhere and they all began to pick and eat. Shunsui savored the sweet flavor, the heavy juices. They all kept their eyes open for trouble, but nothing came to bother them. The closest they found was a very small bear who took one look at Starrk and Grimmjow before deciding to try his luck elsewhere.
"I worry… these kinds of berries often mature twice, once in the early summer and once very late." Starrk said as Shunsui paused for a drink. He gave the man a curious look as he frowned at the raspberries. "If this is the early crop that is fine, but if it is the late…"
"Hm." Starrk was worried about the seasons changing. "Is there any way you can tell?" He asked and Starrk shrugged, lifting a hand, palm up.
"The late crop is usually larger and sweeter. I fear this may be the late crop, but I cannot know for certain." He said fatalistically. Shunsui nodded. "If we can find a good place to settle we should seriously consider it."
"I know." He did, and Grimmjow did too. He still didn't really like it but he was getting so tired of travelling. "I think you're right. If we see something, we'll stop." He said with a small sigh. Starrk nodded, a bit of relief flashing over his face.
"Thank you. I've already spoken to Grimmjow and he agrees." The gunslinger said and Shunsui couldn't help but smile. He was sure that normally, hollow packs didn't work like this. Seeking a pet's opinion after the pack leaders wouldn't make sense… yet it did, for them. He had a tremendous amount of influence over Grimmjow. The thought was oddly comforting. Despite the Claim, he was not powerless here.
They eventually left the berry patch, pleasantly full and energized by the brief respite. The rest of the day went by pleasantly, with nothing to see but birds and rabbits. Finally they settled in for the night and Starrk asked, very politely, if Grimmjow could take the first watch. That meant, of course, that he and Toshiro were interested in engaging their passions. Shunsui frowned to himself as he saw the tight look on Byakuya's face and the glint in his eyes as he looked at Starrk. He was listening to Toshiro, who seemed to be asking for something.
"We should at least pretend to be sleeping." He said softly to Byakuya, who looked at him. The anger in his eyes alarmed him. "This is consensual." He reminded the other man, who took a breath.
"He is a hollow. This is wrong." He said shortly and Shunsui just looked at him steadily before glancing at the two hollows. He wondered if they could hear. Starrk was probably too caught up in whatever he and Hitsugaya were discussing so intently but Shunsui knew Grimmjow's hearing was much better than any shinigami.
"Are they? Starrk is missing his holes and Grimmjow has lost his mask fragments. And their reiastu has changed." He said softly as Byakuya frowned, glancing away. "Let it go. There is no Hueco Mundo, no Soul Society. What do the differences matter anymore?" He couldn't help the sadness in his voice. Everything they had ever known was gone, replaced with this strange hybridization. Byakuya closed his eyes for a moment before nodding, slowly.
"I suppose you have a point. Very well. I will… sleep." He said softly before turning away. Shunsui hesitated a moment before mentally saying to hell with it. He curled up behind Byakuya, feeling the other man stiffen. "Kyoraku, what are you - ?"
"It's cold and my clothing isn't doing as well as yours." He said, which was nothing but the truth. His clothing had suffered badly, particularly with the demonic house. "Autumn is coming. You should get used to it." Shunsui was fairly certain that when winter set in, they would be sleeping together in a large pile. Hopefully by then they would have shelter that he could ward with kido, so a guard would be unnecessary. Byakuya frowned before sighing softly.
"We are letting them corrupt us. But very well. It is… practical." He said in a low tone and Shunsui nodded. Much of what the hollows did was very practical. Letting himself drift off, he was vaguely aware of Starrk's voice rising in passion. He hoped that Byakuya would be able to sleep.
They would have a long walk ahead of them tomorrow.
"Hey Shunsui, you shouldn't have gone to sleep so fast. That was the weirdest shit I've seen in my life." Shunsui looked up from his breakfast, a bit of squirrel wrapped in some greenery. The Espada was grinning widely, his blue eyes full of amusement. Starrk had a hand over his face while Toshiro was looking less than amused.
"Hn?" He mumbled before swallowing a bite of food. "What are you talking about?" Glancing at Byakuya he saw his fellow taichou was also baffled. Grimmjow's grin widened, if it was possible.
"Just the l'il guy topping Starrk. He's so much shorter, it was funny as shit!" He said and Shunsui's eyes went wide as he suddenly tried to imagine that. How could they even…? Then Toshiro spoke.
"Starrk, if he continues please shoot him." He requested and the gunslinger looked up, a homicidal glint in his grey eyes.
"With pleasure." He reached for his guns as Grimmjow suddenly darted off his seat, laughing. "…Hmph." Starrk settled back, an unwilling smile tugging on his lips. "He's an idiot." He said as Toshiro shook his head. Shunsui glanced at Byakuya and smiled as he saw a rare stunned expression on his fellow taichou's face.
These arrancar could be quite unexpected.