OCs (c) Me

Bleach (c) Kubo Tite

The Bleached Chronicles

Chapter 14

"Mm…" Chihiro moaned softly as she started to regain consciousness. She couldn't remember much, but she did remember feeling a lot of pain and someone holding her in their arms.

"But who…?" she thought as she tried hard to remember more. She felt someone stroking her head softly and thought that she was home for a moment, because the way the hand stroked her head was so similar to her mother's. Maybe she was home. Maybe all of this was just a strange dream, that it wasn't real.

"Ma-" Chihiro moaned as she slowly opened her eyes, everything gray and hazy for a moment. When her vision cleared, she spotted a dark-skinned woman with blonde hair sitting on the bed as she pulled her hand back. Chihiro felt her heart drop at this, she had really thought that she was back home, but she wasn't. It wasn't a dream after all.

"Are you okay?" the woman asked softly, her voice in a monotone. She nodded slowly, who was this woman? The woman sighed softly in relief.

"Yes…who-?"

"My name is Tia Halibel, the treca Espada. You saw me in the meeting room." she explained as she stood up. Chihiro thought back to the meeting, and recalled seeing her there, standing next to Ulquiorra.

"Oh, I remember! It's very nice to meet you. My name is-"

"Chihiro Kururugi-san. It's okay, there's no need to introduce yourself. It's also a pleasure to meet you." she said in return. Chihiro smiled before she looked around and examined her surroundings, she had no idea where she was.

"Where am I?" she asked curiously. Halibel laughed softly as she stared at the girl.

"You're in my room. After Grimmjow saved you, I requested that you would be temporarily moved to my room. At least until another room was prepared for you." She explained. Chihiro nodded before sitting up. This caused the woman to place a hand on her shoulder as she looked her over, not sure if she should be moving around yet.

"Are you sure you should be sitting up? Are you in any pain?" she asked, concern clear on her features. Chihiro shook her head as she smiled.

"No, I'm fine!" she chirped. Then she paused, remembering the events from before she passed out. "What happened to Yammy-sama?"

"I don't know. He's currently with Aizen-sama." Halibel answered. She nodded before slowly getting to her feet, stumbling a little before the woman steadied her.

"Are you sure that you should be up and about? You-"

"I'm fine. I'm not in any pain at all!" she assured the woman. Hearing a knock at the door, the two turned and stared at the door blankly as noise began to erupt from the other side.

"Hey, why're you knocking on the damn door?"

"Because Halibel-sama said not to come in unless we knock, dumbass!"

"Says you, gorilla legs!"

"What did you say, you little shrimp?"

"Shrimp? Why I-"

"If you two would quiet down, maybe we could go inside." another voice said calmly from outside before Halibel sighed.

"You all may come in now, and please try to keep your voices down." she said in a monotone. Immediately, three women walked into the room with the Tres Ae in tow. They looked at Chihiro warily before the Tres Ae flew to her, the happiest of expressions etched into each of their faces.

"Chihiro! You're okay!" they cried in unison as they tackled her, hugging her tightly. She laughed happily as she hugged them, rubbing her cheek against their small muzzles.

"Mae, Rae, Tae! You're all okay!" she exclaimed. Then she turned to the three women, who were eying her with various looks of wariness and disgust.

"Oh! Um…h-hello." she greeted softly. The three women looked at each other before the tallest, a tanned woman, stepped forward.

"Hi. My name's Mila Rose. This is Sun-Sun and Apache, we're Halibel-sama's fraccion." the woman, Mila Rose spoke, as she motioned to the two smaller women behind her. Chihiro nodded as she smiled.

"Hello Mila Rose-san, Sun-Sun-san, and Apache-san. My name is Chihiro Kururugi, it's a pleasure to meet you!" Chihiro greeted happily. The three women looked at each other before looking back at her. They had no idea why she was being so nice, so they were a bit suspicious.

"Why're you being so nice? Is this some sort of act?" Apache growled as she glared at her. Chihiro's smile faded as she shook her head, confused.

"N-no…"

"Apache, Mila Rose, Sun-Sun. Be nice." Halibel warned from where she was standing, her arms crossed. The three fraccion flinched and nodded.

"Yes, Halibel-sama." At this, Chihiro shook her head.

"Ah, it's okay Halibel-sama. They don't have to be nice to me if they don't want to." she reasoned as she waved her arms a little. The dark-skinned woman looked to her for a short second, before nodding in understanding.

"Very well. Now, has Aizen-sama prepared a new room for her?" she asked as she turned back to her fraccion. They nodded as Sun-Sun stepped forward.

"Halibel-sama, Aizen-sama requested Chihiro-san's presence immediately in the meeting room. He also asked for you to be there as well." she explained. The dark-skinned woman nodded as she turned to the girl.

"Then let us be on our way. Come, Chihiro-hime." she spoke as she led the girl towards the door, the Tres Ae following close behind as they landed on her head and shoulders.

-The Meeting Room-

"Good evening, Aizen-sama." Halibel greeted in a monotone as she bowed gracefully. Aizen nodded as he turned his attention to Chihiro, who had bowed as well.

"Hello, Aizen-sama. You requested my presence?" The man smirked at her before nodding, his hands folded in his lap.

"Yes, I summoned you here to see if you were well after what happened, and it seems that you are indeed well. Though I can assure you, Yammy has received his punishment and has vowed to not touch you in any sort of way from now on." he explained, his eyes on hers the entire time. Chihiro looked away in guilt for a moment, before nodding.

"I… see. Thank you… Aizen-sama." Grimmjow narrowed his eyes from where he was standing with the other espada, Yammy excluded. The man nodded as he leaned forward slightly.

"Your new room has been prepared as well, it is in the sexta tower, same as before. Grimmjow will escort you once the meeting has finished." he added. Chihiro nodded again and bowed.

"I am deeply grateful, Aizen-sama." with that the man turned to his subordinates, eyeing them carefully. "You are all free to return to your quarters, but not without introducing yourselves to Kururugi-kun, since you all graciously introduced yourselves to Orihime Inoue earlier." he ordered as he got up to leave. The other espada nodded and a few grumbled as they walked forward, approaching her one by one.

"Hello, my name is Coyote Starrk and this is my fraccion, Lilynette Gingerback. It is a pleasure to meet you, Chihiro-san." a brown-haired man spoke as he motioned to himself and a small blonde-haired girl at his side. He had what looked like the lower jaw of a shark hanging from around his neck, while the girl sported a one-horned helmet on her head. Chihiro smiled as she bowed.

"It's very nice to meet you, Starrk-sama, Lilynette-san." she greeted. Both smiled a little at her before walking away, allowing an older man to approach her.

"Hn, name's Barragan Luisenbarn." he grunted as he glared at her. Chihiro smiled a little, but inside she felt uneasy.

"It's nice to meet you, Barragan-sama." she smiled. He only grunted in response before leaving. Next came a man with an eye patch covering his left eye and a spoon-shaped hood.

"Hey, name's Nnoitra Jiruga. It's nice to meet a cutie like you." the man greeted as he grinned a toothy grin. She gave a weak smile, feeling uncomfortable under his gaze.

"It's very nice to meet you, Nnoitra-sama." she laughed weakly. He chuckled before blowing her a kiss and walking off, causing her to shrink back a little in response. Next came a dark-skinned man.

"Hello, my name is Zommari Leroux. I am Aizen-sama's most dedicated Espada." the man spoke as he gave her a bow. Chihiro nodded and bowed as well.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Zommari-sama." she greeted in return. He nodded before walking away, allowing a man with pink hair to step forward as he took one of her hands in his.

"Hello, my dear. My name is Szayel Aporro Granz. I am the octava Espada and famous for scientific studies here in Hueco Mundo. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, and I hope to one day have a discussion with you about your shikigami." the man spoke before bowing down and kissing Chihiro's hand, overdoing the greeting a bit. She giggled a little, a small blush tinting her cheeks.

"The pleasure is all mine, Szayel-sama." she giggled as he released her hand. He winked at her before making his leave, leaving a man with a strange mask to greet her.

"Hello. My name is Aaroniero Arruruerie, it is nice to meet you." the man spoke, his voice very distorted. Chihiro nodded as she smiled.

"Nice you meet you too!" The man bowed reverently before walking away, leaving only Grimmjow left as he walked towards her. She smiled sweetly as he came over, glad to see him. "Do you have to introduce yourself, too?"

"Tch, no. You already know my name." he scoffed as he reached out and bonked her head lightly, causing her to cry out as she began rubbing her head.

"Ow!"

"What did you do that for, jackass?" Rae snapped as she flew over, slapping the espada on the head. He growled as he glared at her, not at all effected by the blow. "What're you bitching about, runt?"

"Runt? Why I outta-"

"Rae, please!" Chihiro cried as she tried to calm down her temperamental dragon. Grimmjow watched as Rae began badgering Chihiro how she should've hit him or smacked him, before pinching the bridge of his nose. What in hell's name was he gonna do with this girl?

"Come on, we got another room prepared for you, and this time it's right next to mine, instead of down the hall. Just in case any of these bastards tries anything." Grimmjow explained as he reached out, placing his left hand atop her head. She looked up and smiled, before blinking in confusion.

"Grimmjow-! You're arm! How- when-?" she exclaimed as she stared at his arm, both surprised and happy that he had it back. He looked at her questionably before looking at his left arm, oh yeah. He hadn't shown her yet.

"That Inoue woman, she healed it. I'm the sexta again." he smirked. She cried out happily as she leaned in to examine his arm, placing her hands on his biceps to make sure she wasn't seeing things. Then something struck her.

"Then… what happened to Luppi? Was he demoted?" she asked cautiously. Something told her something bad had happened to the arrancar, but she didn't know what. Grimmjow was silent before turning away. He wanted to tell her that he had killed him, and be proud that he had killed the little fucker. But the thing was, he just couldn't look her in the eye and tell her that. She was silent as she stared at him, before her expression saddened.

"You… killed him, didn't you?" she asked. He was silent for a moment, before nodding.

"Yeah, I did." he answered, turning so that he could meet her gaze. She nodded in understanding as she looked at the floor, feeling a little bit of sympathy for the arrancar that tried to strangle her.

"I… see."

"Chihiro-chan!" both turned at the sound of the voice as Orihime ran towards them, Ulquiorra walking a few steps behind them as he stared at them levelly. She smiled as she held her arms open, embracing the girl as the two hugged each other.

"Orihime-chan!"

"Chihiro-chan, I was so worried! I heard what had happened and tried to come see you, but they wouldn't let me see you." Orihime exclaimed as she hugged her. Chihiro smiled as she patted her friend's head.

"It's okay, I'm fine now Orihime-chan. I'm glad that you're safe, I hadn't heard from you in awhile and I thought something bad had happened." She assured the girl. Orihime released her hold on the girl as she looked at her.

"But something did happen! You see, I was in Aizen's throne room and I was told to heal this man's arm: his name was Grimmjow, and when I was done he also asked me to heal his tattoo, and when I did he ripped his-"

"Ah-hem." both girls turned to see Grimmjow standing a few feet away before Orihime stiffened.

"Eep!" she squeaked as she shook with fright, trying not to meet the man's gaze as she remembered the events from earlier: when he had murdered Luppi. Grimmjow glared at her before grabbing Chihiro's arm, yanking her towards him.

"We're leaving." he growled as he dragged her away, leaving Orihime behind as she stood with Ulquiorra.

-6th tower, In front of Grimmjow's room-

"Grimmjow, why did you take me away?" Chihiro demanded as he continued to drag her, trying to release herself from his grip. He glared at her slightly as he released her, causing her to stumble a little.

"'Cuz that girl was annoying." he answered, annoyed. She walked around so that she was in front of him, holding her arms behind her back as she stared at him. He blinked at her, why was she staring at him? He was about to say something before she wrapped her arms around his torso and hugged him, causing him to stiffen in surprise. Before he could react, she pulled back and smiled at him.

"Goodnight!" she giggled before running into her new room and closing the door. He stared at it in bewilderment, not understanding why the hell she had just hugged him. But he could feel his heart hammering inside his chest and his skin tingle where she had touched him.

"Don't get any ideas. You're like a best friend to her, so that's why she hugged you." someone growled. He turned to see Rae sticking her head out of the door before closing it shut.

He stared at the door before he sighed, so was that why? If she saw him as a friend… did she see him as a man? Before he could continue on the thought, he walked into his room and slammed his door shut, before getting into bed and falling asleep.

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