"SHIT!"

Shaking his hand furiously in pain, Grimmjow glared at the orange barrier that blocked him off from the rest of the room, which he tried pushing through. He'd woken up once more, only a day after his last bout of consciousness, to find himself alone in his new body once again. Feeling strong enough to stand and move about, he had decided he wanted to explore his new… home. However, the barrier was stronger than he expected. "So, I guess I'm a prisoner," he hissed to himself, sitting back down on his futon. Food had been placed inside the barrier, a bowl of lukewarm sticky rice and fish sitting on a wooden tray. In the distance, he could hear the occasional footsteps and voices that penetrated the rice paper.

He leaned against the wall behind him, his blue hair starting to look mildly unwashed and unkept. His eyes traced the ceiling, listless and furrowed. "Where the hell is that woman?" he muttered. After all her talk of watching over him, she seemed to be sleeping on the job, so to speak. His eyes wandered back to the barrier, studying it closely. There didn't seem to be any discernable gaps, breaks, or weaknesses in it, but he knew he'd have to break out somehow. He hated being caged more than anything in this world. But, right now, he still felt too weak, and it was pissing him off as the seconds slipped on by…

Suddenly, the door at the other end of the room slid open, revealing a human boy, his eyes filled with confusion. Grimmjow glared at him, his head leaning forward to observe him. Upon seeing the Espada, the boy seemed flustered his eyes darting all around. "Oh, uh… heh, sorry 'bout that!" he called out to Grimmjow. "I kinda got a little lost. I'm still not used to this place. See ya!"

Before the door closed all the way, Grimmjow called out, "Hey, kid!"

The boy's brown-haired head popped back in, eyes filled with confusion and nervousness. "Y-y-yes?" he stammered.

Standing up, the blue haired Espada got really close to the barrier, arms crossed. He sized up the human, disgust in his blue eyes. "What's yer name?" he asked, his voice drawn out.

The boy seemed unsure of whether or not he should tell him, but eventually, he replied, "Uh, my name's Keigo Asano. W-who are you?"

A cocky smile etched on the Espada's face, puffing out his chest. "The name's Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez," he said proudly, his voice gruff, "The Sexta Espada."

Keigo's face went white, taking a step back. "Holy… holy shit," he said, his voice going high in fear. "You're the Espada that Mr. Urahara and Ichigo were talking about… n-nice t-t-to meet you, I guess?" He wanted to run far away from this room, but his legs felt like they were locked in place. And all he'd wanted to do was find the bathroom…

"Well, Keigo Asano," Grimmjow continued, his voice low and dangerous, "how would ya feel about… I dunno, getting me outta this barrier, eh?" The Espada put his hand against the barrier, emphasizing his issue. "It seems yer little friends locked me in, and I dunno bout you, but I'm not big on being locked up, ya know?"

Keigo had a nervous smile on his face now. "Yeah, I wouldn't be either, haha," he said, his breathing becoming more difficult. "B-but, I don't think Mr. Urahara would allow me to let you out, man. Sorry."

The smile on Grimmjow's face widened. "Ah, com'on!" he cajoled, "Ya seem like ya got a good head on yer shoulders! Those Shinigami bastards musta told ya that I'm not as strong as I was a… a week ago, it seems." Grimmjow's eyes furrowed at the thought of time going by so quickly without his knowledge. And the fact that he had been abandoned here, in this putrid plane of existence. Keigo noticed the break in his façade, feeling uneasy. Breaking from his momentary lapse of weakness, Grimmjow looked to Keigo again, his grin returned. "I won't be trouble," he said. "Ya got my word, kid."

Before Keigo could say anything, a voice piped up from the hallway, "Well, if you wanted to be let out, you could have just asked me."

Keigo jumped back, allowing Grimmjow to catch the sight of Yoruichi. His grin turned into a scowl. His chance to manipulate the human had been snuffed out. Yoruichi, understanding his plan fully, gave a playful grin, her golden eyes gleaming mischievously. "I'd understand wanting to stretch your legs," she continued, leaning on the doorway. She turned to Keigo now, saying, "By the way, Tessai was looking for you, he has some more shipment for you and Ururu to go through this afternoon. It's mostly human candy this time, and Urahara said not to eat any of it this time, got it?" Her face was semi-stern and her tone teasing as she pointed at him.

Keigo gave a nervous laugh. "I'll make sure I don't eat any this time, I promise." Yoruichi nodded, patting him on the shoulder as he ran off down the hall, happy to get away from the Espada.

The two cats alone, Yoruichi approached the barrier, her stride casual. "So," she said, her rich voice filling the room. "You wanted out, is that right?"

Grimmjow scoffed, "Damn straight, woman." He glared at her, analyzing her carefully. She would be a tough opponent if he tried to ambush her upon his release, but he wondered how much of a shot he'd have…

"Alright then," she said. She reached her hand through the barrier, her hand sliding in with ease.

His face scrunched into a confused scowl. "How the hell…?" he growled, staring down.

"Come on, big guy," she said. "If you want out of here, you need to grab my hand." Her fingers flexed, signaling him to bring his hand towards hers. Reluctantly, he did so, his larger hand roughly grabbing hers as she pulled him out. The barrier made no noise or resistance as he exited. Letting go of her hand, Grimmjow looked around a little, now confused why she'd let him out.

"Come on," she said, walking out the door. "If you're going to be living here, you need to know the place and the people who work here." He moved forward, rounding the door into the hallway, noting the many doors that went down on either side of him.

"Where the hell am I?" he asked, following her down.

She turned her head to him as they continued on, saying, "We're in Karakura Town, in a little place called Urahara Shop. Pretty interesting place for both humans and souls alike." She looked forward again, her lips twisted in a smirk. "And now, apparently, a safe space for disgraced Espada."

Grimmjow grimaced, the word "disgrace" hitting him. "Don't say that, woman," he growled. "I don't give a damn if Aizen has named me an enemy, I'm still a noteworthy Espada!"

She waved her hand in the air flippantly. "Whatever you say."

Before long, they stopped at one of the doors on the right, Yoruichi opening it gently. "This is our main storefront," she said, before stepping out the hallway. "This is where we keep all the fun stuff." Eyes narrowed, the Espada followed her, greeted by the stares of the store employees. He spotted Keigo in the corner, his eyes wide upon seeing him again. "Don't panic," Yoruichi called out. "I'm just letting the Espada out for some air."

From one of the aisles, a striped hat popped up, blond hair spilling out from underneath it. "Ah!" Urahara exclaimed. "Our guest's finally awake! Bout time, I was starting to worry!" Standing up and walking towards the two of them, Urahara adjusted his hand and brushed off his robe. "Grimmjow was your name, right?" he asked the blue-haired Espada. "Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, if I recall correctly."

Grimmjow puffed out his chest, staring down at the candy-store owner. "That's right," he sneered. "And just who the hell are you?"

Urahara lifted the brim of his hat a little. He hadn't realized the Espada was about an inch or two taller than he was. "I'm Kisuke Urahara," he said, his voice carefree. "I run this fine little shop here, providing wares to both Shinigami and the spiritually inclined of Karakura Town. Occasionally, we do get random humans who want candy." He shrugged. "It happens. Let's introduce you around, shall we?" He walked to the nearest person to him, bringing a slightly annoyed Grimmjow with him. "This here is Jinta," Urahara said, pointing to the small angry child on the floor, stocking the Hollow!BeGone! next to the slightly out-of-date Pocky. Jinta glared up at Grimmjow, the two of them sizing each other up.

"So the moocher decided to come out of his room finally," Jinta said loudly, standing up. He crossed his arms, staring at Grimmjow.

The Espada groaned. "This brat again…" he said under his breath, just enough so that Yoruichi and Urahara could hear it.

Urahara laughed, "I see you two have met already."

Grimmjow glared at him, irritation on his face. "This little brat right here needs to have his ass handed to him," he growled. "He's too big for his britches."

Jinta's eyes furrowed deeply, point at Grimmjow. "Whaddya say, ya damn moocher?" he yelled. "The only one too big for his britches is you, ya damn ba-!"

The boy was cut off by the large hand that covered his mouth. Tessai stood behind him, his face stoic. "My apologies," he said, glaring down at Jinta from behind his glasses. "He's a bit of a brash boy. He means no harm."

Urahara turned to Grimmjow, "This here is Tessai, he's my right-hand man." Yoruichi cleared her throat, glaring a little at Urahara. "Ah, you know, besides Yoruichi, of course!" he corrected himself.

Moving along, they came across two more kids. "These two are Mizuiro and Chizuru," Urahara continued, extending his hands towards the two, who were dusting shelves with rags and washing surfaces.

Chizuru pulled down the cloth that covered her face, her mouth agape. "Uh… hey?" she called out. "It's good to meet you… Mr. Urahara, who is this guy?" She'd never seen a guy with hair that color in her life.

"This is Grimmjow," Urahara said, pointing his paper fan at the Espada. "He's a… guest."

Mizurio waved. "Nice to meet ya, Grimmjow!" he called back.

Grimmjow glared at the two of them in disgust as well. "I assume you two are friends of that Kurosaki kid?" he asked them. He wasn't entirely sure, since they could just coincidentally be regular human kids, but he felt they had some connection to the Shinigami.

"That's right," Mizuiro called out. "We've known Ichigo for a long time. You met him before?"

Grimmjow's scowl turned into a grin. "Oh yeah," he hissed. "I've met that bastard, alright!"

Before the two could ask him anything more, Yoruichi and Urahara pushed him forward, hurrying along before he could say too much. "Keep up the good work, kids!" Urahara called back. "Lookin' great!"

Next up was Keigo and Ururu, who were hauling crates to the far side of the store. Keigo tried his best to make eye contact with Grimmjow, while Ururu simply stared at the Espada. "You've already met Keigo," Yoruichi said, smirking at the kid.

"Y-yeah, hey," Keigo squeaked, giving a small, timid wave. The Espada looked at him passively, unsure of what he made of the boy.

"And this is Ururu," Urahara added.

The small girl bowed her head a little, simply saying, "Hello."

"We have one more person, and she's in the back," Yoruichi said, directing the other two towards the door all the way at the far of the store. She opened it, showing Tatsuki punching away at the sand bag in the middle of the room. Her face was dripping with sweat and cloth strips covered her hands. She looked up to see the three of them entering the room. "Good work, Tatsuki!" Yoruichi called out to her, "Keep up your form, though, you're bent a little too far forward!" Tatsuki, out of breath, simply waved in response. She didn't have time to ask who the blue-haired stranger was. She figured she'd find out later.

Closing the door, Yoruichi turned to the Urahara and Grimmjow. "That's pretty much everyone," she said, arms folded on her chest.

Urahara snapped his fan open, grinning ear to ear. "Yep!" he exclaimed, "Now you know who you'll be working with!"

Grimmjow's eyes narrowed. "Whaddya mean, 'working with'?" he hissed. "Are ya putting me to work in yer dusty store?"

Hiding half of his face behind his fan, Urahara said, "I sure am! You may be a guest, but you're here on an extended, indefinite stay, so yes, you're going to be working here! Better than making you pay rent, since you have no money."

"What if I say no?" Grimmjow countered.

Yoruichi chimed in this time, "Well, you could go back to staying in your cage till we need you. But, last I checked, you were dying to get out. I'd say this is your best option."

Urahara nodded, snapping his fan shut. "She's right!" he said, walking towards the cash register. "Try not to think of it as slave labor and more as an opportunity to build your skills!"

Skills? Grimmjow thought. Who does this fucker think he is? "Fine," he growled. "Whatever." It was better than roaming amongst the other humans…

Shoving a stack of clothes into Grimmjow's hands, Urahara smiled. "Good! Now, go get changed! You want to look like you belong here in the World of the Living. Besides, the uniform here strictly states no pajamas allowed." He pointed to Grimmjow's white robes. "Hurry now, we're burning valuable daylight!"

Minutes later, Grimmjow came back into the store front, wearing a long-sleeved dark blue shirt and black jeans, a green Urahara Store apron over his attire. He also looked like he'd showered, too. His face was twisted in general disgust and anguish. "Alright, Urahara," he growled. "Whaddya want me to do?"

Keigo spotted the Espada in his new clothes and nearly dropped the candy he was about to line on the shelves. He… he looks like a normal guy in that outfit! he thought to himself. What the hell?

He ran into Ururu, who said, "Are you okay, Keigo?"

The boy sputtered, placing the candy down on the table. "O-oh, yeah!" he stammered. "Sorry about that! Wasn't looking where I was going!"

Urahara grinned, pleased to see the Espada looked natural in his clothes. "Wonderful!" he exclaimed. "Your first order of business is haul those crates over to Keigo and the two of you will start sorting!"

Keigo, overhearing the order, murmured, "Great, more sorting…" In one fell swoop, Grimmjow picked up nearly twenty crates at once and brought them over to Keigo, who watched in shock as he placed them down before grabbing the remaining few. THIS GUY IS MEGA STRONG, WHAT THE HELL?! His jaw was down to his chest as Grimmjow brought the rest over without breaking a sweat.

"Ya got somethin' ta say, kid?" he growled at Keigo, sitting across from him.

Snapping his mouth shut, Keigo shook his head furiously. "N-nope, everything's good!" he squeaked. Grabbing one of the crates, he opened it and saw the Soul Candy packaging. "A-a-alright," he stammered. "These seem to be mostly Soul C-Candy. S-s-so what we're gonna do is sort them by color and stick them in these bins back h-here." Keigo pointed behind himself, indicating the large translucent bins on the shelves.

Grimmjow grunted, "That seems simple enough, I guess." He yanked one of the crates down and ripped off the top with ease. Keigo pulled the bins out from behind him and placed them in between Grimmjow and himself, subconsciously thankful for the barrier between them.

For the most part, the two of the worked in silence, the sound of Soul Candy being tossed into the bins the only noise coming from their side of the store. The others were busy at their own tasks as well, with Tatsuki popping in, sweaty and gross after several hours in the training room Yoruichi set up for her. "You seem to be doing pretty well so far," Yoruichi said, patting the girl on the back. "I knew you'd be a natural at this!" She handed the girl a bottle of water, which she chugged down.

Between gasps, Tatsuki managed to ask, "What… exactly… are you having me… do this for?" Tatsuki had initially believed she was going to be stocking shelves and cleaning like her friends, but Yoruichi had pulled her to the side and said that she was going to be on a strict routine.

"Oh, you know," Yoruichi said, dodging the question. "We need some line of defense for those occasional thieves that come in, you understand." She wrapped her arm around Tatsuki's sweaty shoulders, leading her to the back to take a shower. Tatsuki gave her a confused look but said nothing more, sensing Yoruichi's dodging.

Grimmjow watched the two women as they passed by, his blue eyes wary. "What's the deal with that woman?" he asked Keigo, who seemed startled by Grimmjow speaking up.

"You… you mean Yoruichi?" he asked, pausing in his work. The two of them watched the women close the door, chatting to one another. "I'm not really sure," he answered slowly. "All I can tell you is she's crazy strong and fast." He looked back at Grimmjow, who was staring at him.

"How long have ya worked here, then?" Grimmjow ventured. "Because ya must be new here if ya don't know bout the people here."

Keigo laughed a little, nervous. He tossed a green package of melon-flavored Soul Candy in the appropriate bin. "You got me," he admitted. "I started working here a week ago, not long after your fight with Ichigo."

The Substitute Shinigami's name made Grimmjow twitch. "You're also friends with that brat?" he asked. "Who knew that orange-haired freak would be so popular here in the World of the Livin'."

Keigo flinched at Grimmjow's description of Ichigo. He wasn't sure he really wanted to talk about Ichigo with him, honestly. "Well, Ichigo protects his friends," he said, tossing more product into the appropriate bins. "And we… we care about him."

Grimmjow glared at the kid, pausing in his work now. "What's carin' gotta do with it?" he hissed. "Where I'm from, ya care about something enough, ya might get it snatched right out from under ya. So it's always good to look out for number one." He pointed at himself. "In my world, yer the only one ya can count on. Friends'll stab ya in the back, one way 'er another." An evil grin crossed his face, leaning towards Keigo. "And, in this case, it'll be me stabbin' Kurosaki in the back."

Keigo felt the fear rush up into his face, then a small feeling of rage following it. What did he really expect from someone who wanted to chop his friend to pieces only a week ago?

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Keigo replied, feeling a little braver now. His anger was getting the better of him. He felt his whole body tense up. "Ichigo's gone up against a lot of opponents and won. I doubt you'll be any different. Besides, he's still up and kicking."

Grimmjow tossed a package carelessly into one of the bins hard, seething. "Ya got a lotta confidence in that brat, don't ya, Keigo?" he hissed. "Wonder how yer gonna be when I rip Kurosaki's spine outta his back, his screams fillin' the air? Bet you'd lose that confidence right quick!"

Throughout his life, people knew Keigo as the light-hearted kid, full of jokes. He wasn't one to take life to seriously. But today, after hearing Grimmjow threaten to hurt his friend, he seemed to become an entirely different person. His eyes became hard, dangerous, his shoulder squared. His jaw stiffened as he said his next words, slowly. "If that ever happens, I bet we'll be hearing you scream as Aizen tears you to shreds." The tension in the room doubled, and so did the spiritual pressure.

Grimmjow didn't possess much, but what he did was increasing by the minute. "Ya got some guts, kid," he hissed, leaning forward. Their faces were inches away from each other now. "Ya got a death wish 'er somethin'?" But he realized that the spiritual pressure in the room was only partially his. The air around this human kid was significantly heavier than it had been seconds ago…

"Alright, hot heads," Tessai said, pushing the two apart. "Break it up. You both still have work to do. And, Asano, you mixed some of the wrong product together."

Without taking his eyes off the Espada, Keigo replied, "I'll fix it. Sorry, Tessai." With that, he looked away from Grimmjow, getting back to work. His jaw was still clenched in anger, but the pressure around him had decreased a little.

Grimmjow felt his head start to swim a little. Maybe he imagined it, but that little episode had taken more out of him than he expected. He began tossing more product into the bins, ignoring the stares of the others around him.

Evening came quickly, the light outside turning purple and crimson. The workers began to clean up and finishing their tasks, putting everything away as quick as they could. Keigo and Grimmjow still weren't speaking to each other, both stealing angry glances at the other. Yoruichi watched the two of them from a distance, suppressing a giggle. She hadn't expected Keigo to stand up to Grimmjow, especially not this quickly, but their interaction today had confirmed her suspicions about Keigo for sure. He was someone to keep an eye on. Although, all the kids had notable hidden potential, especially Tatsuki. She was impressed by her steady progress, readying herself to take Tatsuki to the next step…

"DINNER TIME!" Jinta shouted, slamming open the door. "COME AND GET IT WHILE IT'S HOT, OR IMMA EAT IT ALL, YA LOSERS!" Yoruichi laughed. Things didn't change around Urahara's shop, that was for sure.

"Sweet!" Keigo yelled, somewhat returning to his normal self. "Wonder what Tessai made today!"

Mizuiro shook his head, smirking. "You're always excited for food, Keigo," he said, laughing a little. "It's a wonder you're still so skinny."

Keigo grinned, "Always thankful for my good ol' high metabolism!" The two of them passed through the door, heading towards the dining area.

"I am FAMISHED," Chizuru said, stretching.

"You're famished?" Tatsuki said, her shoulders sore. "I've been training from the moment I got in this morning. I only had BREAKFAST."

Yoruichi patted her on the back. "Well, then this is a well-deserved meal for you," she said, encouraging her new pupil. "You did very well today, eat up as much as you can. Tessai's food is good for the soul."

Her eyes fell on Grimmjow, who finished stacking the crates. He looked back at her, his blue eyes filled with distrust. Her smirk lessened, her eyes more serious. "Good work today," she said. "Despite your little outburst with Keigo. You really shouldn't antagonize your work partners, you know?"

He scoffed walking towards the open door. "That kid's somethin' else," he said. "Does he know?"

Yoruichi's eyes narrowed. "Know what, exactly?" she countered. She wanted to know what the Espada was getting at.

"Ya gotta be pullin' my leg," he spat. "That kid's got some serious somethin' going on. He may not be a Shinigami, but he's got some hidden powers 'er somethin'. Don't tell me ya didn't know that."

Yoruichi said nothing, glaring at him. Grimmjow smirked, "Ah, so ya did know. Yer just staying quiet about it for now, I see. Well, he's gonna find out at some point. And when he does, I gonna wanna be there to see it. Should be fascinatin'." He passed through the door, leaving Yoruichi there, a grimace on her face. She just hoped it wasn't soon. They needed him to remain ignorant, but having him around Grimmjow was important right now…

The dining room was humming with excitement, waiting for the food to arrive. Grimmjow sat himself next to Mizuiro and Ururu, crossing his legs and resting his head in his hand. He felt an odd amount of fatigue falling over him, chucking it up to the fact that he'd been in recovery for far too long. His eyes felt heavy, but he still managed to survey the room, watching the humans interact excitedly. He found them all odd and annoying, his disdain for them written all over his face. But they mostly ignored him, babbling on and on about their day and how tired they'd be at school.

It wasn't long before Tessai brought out the food, with the hungry workers passing the bowls around, spooning it on their plates. Grimmjow didn't put that much on his plate, unsure if he'd even be able to stomach it, but his newly-acquire stomach told him he needed to eat something, at the very least. As soon as the rice and curry entered his mouth, he knew he'd be needing more, scarfing it down quickly. Ururu watched him eat so quickly he almost choked.

"You must not have eaten the meal I made you this morning," she commented. "That would explain why you're swallowing your food whole."

Stopping mid-bite, Grimmjow glared down at the girl. She must be the reason why there'd been lukewarm food in his room when he woke up that morning. "I didn't feel hungry then," he muttered, swallowing the food.

"I'll make sure to bring your meal tomorrow," she said. "That way you won't choke on your food again." She went back to eating her own meal, ignoring Grimmjow's eyes. This girl was fairly emotionless, but not as emotionless as that stick in the mud he knew back in Hueco Mundo. The very thought of Ulquiorra turned his stomach, so he focused on eating once more. It was gonna be a long, long stay here at Urahara shop, and he wanted to regain his strength for when Aizen decided to Invade Karakura Town. He was hell-bent on revenge…

A knock came to Urahara's door, catching the attention of the blond shopkeeper. His guard was up, since it was so late. He didn't usually get visitors this time of night, unless it was an emergency. Leaving his office, he entered the store front, cautious. He opened the door slowly, seeing Karin Kurosaki at his door, her face as expressionless as always. "Ichigo's little sister!" he exclaimed, surprised. "Karin, right? What are you doing here this late at night? Does your dad know you're out at this time of night?"

Karin sighed, her arms crossed. "We have somethings we need to discuss, and it can't wait till morning at this point," she said. Reaching outside of the door frame, she yanked something hard, pulling the form of Ichigo's body into view. Wearing his school uniform, Ichigo, currently possessed by Kon, laughed sheepishly realizing just how much trouble he was in. "I want to know where my brother is," Karin said, her tone even. "He hasn't been home in a week, and this faker here has been skipping his classes."

Urahara crossed his arms, staring at Kon incredulously. "Nice job not blowing your cover, Kon," he chided. "You had one job."

Kon sputtered, pointing to the same spot he'd been out of sight. "I didn't do anything, this crazy woman here exposed me!" he shouted.

"Oh yeah," Karin said. "That brings me to my second point."

Before she could say anything more, a young woman with long white hair dressed in gray and black appeared, a serene smile on her face. "Hello there!" she said cheerfully, waving her hand politely. "It's a pleasure to meet you." Though her Japanese was close to perfect, her American accent came through. Her very presence was different and off-putting to Urahara, who took a step back. He'd never met a being like her in his entire life.

"And just who might you be?" he asked, a smile on his face. The woman reached a hand out to him, prepared to shake his hand.

"The name's Ash," she said. "I'm here looking for my sister."