Chapter 12

Grimmjow

Looked shocked, to say the least. His blue eyes widened in shock
and – was it fear? No, couldn't be. Grimmjow, scared of
Ichigo? Did those words even go together in the
same sentence? I didn't think so. Anyway,
Grimmjow, my would-be tormentor,
had been stopped by Ichigo. I
was so happy to see my
sweet strawberry
that tears
sprang
to
my
eyes.
"Ichigo!" I
exclaimed. His
face looked intense in
concentration; his chocolate-
brown eyes narrowed with focus and
determination. Kuro…saki? Grimmjow
managed. Kurosaki? How many more times
was he going to say it? As soon as I thought that, I in-
stantly felt bad. [Be nice, Orihime,] I scolded myself, then
thought, [Oops. Maybe I should pay attention.] I aimed
my attention back at the two men standing in front
of me. [Tee hee. Their hair is complimentary
colors.] For the first time, Ichigo's focus
seemed to slip; he looked slightly
confused. Wait. Grimmjow?
I thought that Ulquiorra
was the one who was
taking care of
Inoue?
Just
like
that,
Grimmjow
was back in con-
trol. He sneered. Yeah,
he was. He misbehaved. He
asked me if I wanted to visit the
human today. He thought he should
probably stay away from her.
He looked
superior. Ichigo's expression twisted in shock.
What? What did you bastards to Inoue? Grimmjow
snorted. Wouldn't you like to know. Let's just say you'll
find it…later.
Ichigo's face morphed into a mask of
rage and anger. BASTARD! he shouted, whipping
out Zangetsu. BAN! KAI! Reatsu swirled out
around him, making a black cloud storm
- but instead of staying to fight the
sexta, I felt his strong arm at my
waist. Let's go, Inoue, he
murmured in my ear.
I'll take care of
that mother
later.
Right now,
we need to get
you safely home.
My
eyes filled with more tears;
they ran freely down my cheeks.
I knew how much Ichigo's pride must
be suffering now; to have Grimmjow in his
sights, almost able to kill him; but if the burst of
reatsu disappeared, we'd never make an escape and he
would get caught in a fight that he might not be able to win.
So I just laid my head against his shoulder and cried as we sped home.