Forever and Always

Chapter 14 - Operation 'Avoidance' commencing

"Okay, spit it out. Why the hell are you two here?" Ichigo ground out. He and Byakuya had never gotten along well and the fact that the Captain of Squad 6 was calmly sitting across from him, in the World of the Living no less, drinking his tea as if he didn't have a care in the world annoyed him beyond belief. In fact it was infuriating him. A lot.

"My sister hasn't informed you then." Renji wanted to smack his hand to his forehead. Did his captain always have to try and go on a confrontation course with Ichigo?

"I think we have already established that fact, thank you very much." Ichigo had to have had a bad night because even though he was normally irritable when it came to Byakuya, this was a long way beyond that. Although, if one looked at the way his captain was nursing his cup of tea, then one would also assume that he had had a sleepless night too. Renji shook his head. It was frightening how alike those two could be at times.

"We're here on a mission from the Soul Society." Renji said quickly. They were in a public place and he didn't want to be the one who would have to go around modifying everyone's memory if both men came to blows. Somehow he ended up in the position of the peace maker a lot lately.

"What mission?" Ichigo cocked his head to the side.

Obviously not in the mood to even try and be discreet Byakuya sipped his tea before saying; "Aizen has escaped." The reaction they got caught them off guard.

Ichigo blanched as he fell back into his chair. "It wasn't just a dream then?" He looked dazed.

"What do you mean?" Byakuya narrowed his eyes at him over the edge of his teacup.

As if in some kind of daze Ichigo turned to him, his eyes slightly glossed over, obviously remembering something unwelcome. "About two weeks ago I had this really strange dream. In it all you guys were meeting because Aizen had escaped."

"You had a dream about this?" Renji looked at Ichigo in surprise. Ichigo normally wasn't the one that was normally particularily spiritually aware. It had always been one of his biggest weaknesses. Rukia had often said that he leaked his spiritual energy like a tap.

"Yeah." Ichigo nodded but then seemed to revert back to his old brooding self. Renji heaved a sigh of relief, he hadn't liked seeing Ichigo appear vulnerable in any fashion, it just didn't fit the personality of the tall, orange-haired substitute soul reaper.

Seeing someone enter the shop he turned to the two of them. "There's also been something else that's bothering me." The other two men perked up. "Is there something like spiritual twins or something?" At their blank faces he tried to explain. "Renji, you remember Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez? The sixth espada?"

"How could I forget." Ichigo accepted Renji's darkening expression as the answer he had wanted. No one had been able to forget what had happened in Hueco Mundo. Neither noticed Byakuya's hand tighten as he heard the name. It was a name that he'd never thought he'd have to hear again. Obviously he had been wrong.

"Well the thing is, recently I met a man, or to be more accurate, saw a man here in the World of the Living who also went by that name. I know a relation of his, she works here at the restaurant. The thing is though that despite carrying exactly the same name, the guy looks and acts completely differently to the Grimmjow I met in Hueco Mundo. What's even more perplexing is that this Grimmjow has a similar spiritual signature as the sixth espada. I had Uryu check it out, since I obviously can't." Ichigo grimaced at that. He hated that his spiritual powers were gone, even more now that he knew that Aizen was out in the open again. "And he said that despite the two being similar, this man's was most definitely human. A bit above average but not so much that he could have developed any powers or even be trying to conceal existing ones. And that's why I'm asking. If there is a chance that the spiritual powers split up and created two copies or parts of itself. Because that could be potentially dangerous if a man like Aizen were to find them again."

"Interesting..." Byakuya murmed, taking another sip of his tea. Ichigo scowled, did that man have truly nothing else to say but 'interesting'?

"Nemu might know." Renji leaned forward to grab another piece of toast. As the whole of the Urahara shop would be able to confirm, Renji ate quite a fair amount of food to say the least.

"She's here too?" Ichigo snapped back to reality, having been lost in thought.

"Quite a few people are." Renji began. "Actually we were here to ask if you and the others could meet us and the rest of the group dispatched here to organise the whole thing at Urahara's. Something strange happened to us on our way here and we were wondering if you guys might know something."

Ichigo furrowed his brow. "What exactly..." But was interrupted when a tall, black-haired waitress arrived at their table. Her lilac eyes twinkled as she smiled and respectfully greeted both Byakuya and Renji. Renji blushed slightly and stuttered out an answer while Byakuya just nodded in return. Talk about being as cold as ice.

She then turned to Ichigo. "Ichigo, your break's over and Ine's gonna kill you soon if you don't hurry it up. Not to mention what..."

Ichigo stood up quickly. "Okay, okay I get it Kura, I'm coming." Turning back to the other two, he inclined his head in farewell. "I'll pass the message along. See you at Urahara's then." With a wave he turned around and nearly ran back to the staff door. Both of them watched him go.

"I guess we'll see him tonight then." Renji turned to his captain.

As usual, Byakuya just kept silent and nodded as he got up. Both of them put their money plus a small tip on the tray that Ichigo had left and turned to leave the shop themselves. By the time they reached the door Renji wished that they had been able to use the staff entrance to leave. Neither the women here, nor the women in the Soul Society seemed to understand that Byakuya Kuchiki had a frozen rock instead of a heart that only warmed up when Rukia was involved and his sister complex kicked in.

~.~.~.~.~

When Grimmjow and Nel left the shop, Grimmjow had turned around a last time to wave good-bye to Ari. They had come in to inform her that they would be going shopping for clothes. Nel had jumped up and down like a small child that couldn't wait for Christmas while Grimmjow had just worn a pained expression on his face. But after waving and while still turning around, Grimmjow had seen him. Byakuya Kuchiki. He was sure of it. And knowing that Ichigo and Rukia, Byakuya's relation of some kind, were close friends and seeing Ichigo at the same table only confirmed what he feared. Pulling Nel out behind him and onto the closest bench she had looked at him strangely.

"Grimmjow, are you alright?" Nel's eyes looked worried.

"This is a disaster Nel, an absolute disaster." Grimmjow hid his face in his hands.

"What is?" Her eyes were wide and innocent, like those of a young child.

"Didn't you see him?" Grimmjow turned to her, unable to believe that Nel hadn't noticed.

"Didn't see who?" She was starting to get annoyed at his cryptic manner.

"That man."

"Who?" Her expression was starting to get the annoyed frown she'd nearly constantly worn in the past when she had been dealing with him.

"Byakuya Kuchiki."

"Am I supposed to know him?" She cocked her head to the side, looking adorably like a sweet little puppy.

"Haven't you been listening to anything I've been telling you the past two years?" Grimmjow looked at her with an incredulous expression on his face.

"I have, but you talk a lot when the day is long." Grimmjow sighed. He should have expected that.

"We must not let him and nee-san meet. Do you remember that part at least?"

She shook her head. "Nope."

He resisted the urge to bang his head against the lamp post. He reconsidered it quickly though, it would only hurt.

"Why musn't we let them meet?" Grimmjow turned back to her.

"Because he's someone from the past. Someone who was important to her. Before I died in the Soul Society and got pulled into Hueco Mundo I remember them being partners. That was about a ninety years or so ago. When we were still with nii-san. I don't know what happened after that though." Grimmjow's expression darkened involuntarily. He hadn't expected to be caught in the onslaught of memories that were now flooding him. "I don't know when exactly nee-san passed away in the Soul Society but her spirit quickly manifested itself here after she left that world. Something must have happened though because since then she absolutely refuses to get involved in the fights or happenings that go on in any way or fashion."

"And you don't want her to meet this Byakuya Kuchiki because you think that it might open old wounds or the like." Grimmjow nodded at her inference. Despite her childish personality, Nel was uncommonly sharp. It was one of the things he loved about her.

"But how? If this Byakuya fellow spends even a portion of his time with Ichigo or even just sticks around for a while then they are bound to meet. And even if he doesn't recognise her due to her changed form, she will most definitely recognise him if he was important to her in the past. You know how much she clings to her memories." Nel looked at the sky expectantly, as if waiting for it to open up and reveal all the answers they needed to them.

"This means we have to start operation 'Avoidance'." Grimmjow stated grimly.

Nel couldn't help herself, she broke out in fits of laughter, her caramel locks dancing around face. "Operation 'Avoidance'?" She scoffed before beginning a new round of laughter.

"What's so wrong with that?" Grimmjow muttered in annoyance, looking slightly miffed. Nel felt incredible happiness stream through her, Grimmjow was himself again. In fact, all of them were. Being freed from Hueco Mundo and any other past obligations or ties, they had been able to come alive again in unexpected ways, their very beings becoming themselves again. They didn't need to pretend to be hollow, soul reaper or human. They could just be themselves. Sometimes it truly was a blessing to be reborn. Most of the time it was a curse though.

"Nothing." She snickered, still finding the name absolutely absurd.

"Hmpf." Grimmjow looked at her dubiously. "Let's go shopping first. After all we need to show nee-san what we got when she gets home tonight."

"Yeah, I doubt that she'll be able to escape before this evening." Nel's eyes twinkled as she remembered the pure chaos inside the restaurant.

"We can come up with a plan then." Grimmjow helped her up and both walked over to the curb, Grimmjow managing to successfully call over a taxi.

"Ryo?" Nel called him by his old nickname, the one he had possessed as a young boy.

"Yes?" Grimmjow turned towards her, confusion in his clear blue eyes.

"What was Byakuya like?" Grimmjow helped her into the taxi.

"Distant and closed off, a lot like her actually." He said quietly as he pulled the taxi door shut.

~.~.~.~.~

Humming happily to herself Orihime smiled. Seeing both Rukia and Rangiku the previous day had lifted her spirits immeasurably. She had spent the whole morning singing and humming happily while cooking some new dish for her friends. She wasn't exactly sure what it was because she had had to replace some of the ingredients with others since she hadn't had them in her appartment. But in her opinion it smelled and tasted delicious. She was sure that they would be happy to have some of her cooking to eat, they wouldn't be that accustomed to the World of the Living yet after not being there in over two years.

Ringing the doorbell to Ichigo's appartment yet again she smiled broadly, her face shining with happiness. Not only were her friends from the Soul Society back in the World of the Living but he had also arrived in Karakura that morning. He had been gone for a while, to start university elsewhere, but after the university had realised that he and his intelligence would be better off in a larger university they had reluctantly transferred him to the Karakura Univesity instead of keeping him at theirs. She knew, as well as he did, that if he went to University here that there was a high chance that he may run into past enemies. But at this moment in time neither cared. They were simply happy that they had been given the chance to be together more often. And anyway, he took the history course, a course that none of her friends were taking to her knowledge so he would be able to hide better than he would have been able to if he had shared any of his courses with those of her friends.

Hearing Rukia coming out of the bathroom and shout a quick "Be right there!" at the door, she allowed herself to frown in worry for a second. Nobody was allowed to discover he was here or who he was. And she was terribly frightened that if her friends found out her connection to him that they would be terribly mad at her for concealing his prescence from them. Uryu would be especially unhappy. She sighed at that. She hated to make her friends unhappy but she just didn't know how to tell them all. And she sure didn't know how to tell Uryu that she didn't care for him the way that he cared for her. Someone else had taken that place in her heart.

She had given up on Ichigo long ago. She had known that her heart had done this at least by the time when she saw him stare dejectedly out of the classroom on the day that he had met Rukia a year prior. She had known then, despite what others might think or believe, that she would be unable to conquer Ichigo's heart since it had already been conquered by a petite, raven-haired and violet-eyed soul reaper. He might not know it. She might not know it. But everyone else did. It was one of the reasons she guessed that Byakuya Kuchiki got along so badly with Ichigo.

And she had always known of Uryu's more tender feelings towards her. Back in Hueco Mundo he had tried so hard to save her. He had even stated that he wasn't going to help Ichigo, but to save her. And of late the possessive nature that he was expressing around her, always being so jealous and interrogating only confirmed that. She knew that she would have to tell him at some point that her heart was already given to another, but he would once again falsely believe that she meant Ichigo.

Even though she didn't.

She sighed. She really didn't want to think about what her life would be like if it got even more difficult than it already was. Emotionally that was. From the spiritual perspective and if you considered how little hollows had plagued them lately, her life couldn't be more simple and easy. But then again, when was life ever easy. Even before her spiritual powers had awakened and she had been sucked into the wonderful world of the soul reapers her life hadn't been simple. Although her troubles had been immensely smaller.

Suddenly the door in front of her opened, pulling her away from her pondering. She smiled brightly as she saw Rukia. So she had been right in assuming that Rukia had moved in with Ichigo. She couldn't imagine it any other way. It was probably annoying Byakuya quite greatly though. As far as she had seen and still could see, his sister complex had gotten even worse over the past two years.

"Rukia!" Orihime smiled happily as she hugged the small figure close to her. "I brought you some of my cooking since I know that you guys only arrived yesterday and probably didn't have much time to get something."

Rukia was proud to say that she managed to keep the grimace off of her face. Orihime's cooking was notoriously strange and she didn't want to imagine what her friend had exactly concocted this time around. She appreciated the gesture greatly though and so she smiled at her without abandon.

"Thank you so much Orihime, I'm sure Ichigo will be thrilled to eat it as well when he gets home today." She smiled at her friend as Orihime entered the house and put one of the containers in the fridge. Orihime was animatedly chatting about going clothes shopping and inviting Rangiku and Tatsuki to come along as well. As Rukia readied her small handbag she thought about inviting Nanao, Nemu and Yachiru along as well. The other women would probably need the reprieve after the past few days. She knew for a fact that Soi Fon would be with Yuroichi, the Captain of Squad 2 had been talking of nothing else the previous day. She would probably be making life a living hell for Urahara along the way. Everybody knew how much she despised the poor man. Not for the first time Rukia wondered what exactly had occured between the two of them which could have caused such animosity.

Picking up the remaining container Orihime and Rukia made their way out of the house, deciding to first go to Captain Hitsugaya's and Rangiku's appartment to give them the container of food that Orihime had made for them. Rukia managed to conceal a small smirk, Captain Hitsugaya would be anything but happy when he saw the large container of food that Orihime held, he couldn't stomach her food any better than the rest of them. She knew for a fact that Rangiku would be ecstatic though. She would probably make her captain eat it as well.

After that they would collect the other's and go out shopping and enjoy the day. They still had a few days left before the next half of their term began, they would use the time to its fullest and relax themselves and simply have fun with their friends. After all they hadn't seen each other in over two years.

~.~.~.~.~

Ari stepped out quickly of the restaurant to catch some fresh air. As she had predicted, the past three hours had been absolute chaos. Ichigo for one was about to snap. The advances that some of the women were attempting to make on him were grating on his last nerve. He hadn't slept well as far as she could see and from experience she could say that the poor man was about to explode.

None of them were any better off though. Kura had been awoken much earlier than all of them due to the ruckus created by the oncoming storm of customers. That she had had a late night before had meant that her sleep had also been cut short and her friend was about to blow a fuse herself. Normally the unwanted attentions she got from the men around her didn't bother her but right now, after four relentless hours of serving in a full restaurant, even her patience was reaching its limits.

Haruo and Manabu were off even worse in her opinion. The two of them had been working non-stop in the kitchen for the past four hours and she knew that after a certain amount of time in a steaming kitchen with a broken airconditioning the men would reach their boundaries soon. Both had already snapped at Ine for his interferrence in their work as well as lecturing about the speed at which they should cook. It had only taken inhuman amounts of control on both parts to not throw a pot at him and tell him exactly what they thought of as 'good cooking'. Ine had quickly vanished at their thunderous expressions and made himself scarce. He had appeared soon after though, manning the counter since even he couldn't stand listening to Harumi Kobayashi go on and on to her son about what a great deed he had done in procuring them so many customers. The man was on the verge of quitting himself, Hideki literally driving him up the walls with his manipulating manner.

And Kaito appeared to be having double the amount of stress compared to them. His father had apparently decided to visit the newly 'famous' restaurant at which his son worked and Kaito was now attempting to impress his father with his work ethic and whatnot. The poor man looked, quite frankly, like he was about to collapse.

For her, her troubles were of a more distant nature. That morning she had walked past a man with whom Ichigo had later conversed and she swore that she had briefly recognised his spirtual pressure when she had brushed past him. But that had to be impossible. There was no way that someone from her past could be here in the World of the Living. Or could there?

She sighed softly and leaned her head against the cool wall trying to relieve her headache. To top it all off a storm was gathering in every sense of the word. When Grimmjow and Nel had told her about the demons and their recent activities it had only confirmed her worst fears. When she and the others had escaped from the creator's dimension so many millenia ago they had nearly given their lives in sealing off the entrance and exit behind them. She guessed she should be greatful that the seal had held this long. It still hurt to think that those monsters were coming free though. She, along with Nel, Grimmjow, her lost brother and Nel's lost cousin were the last few of their kind. They were the only ones with the power to defeat these demons in large numbers.

In their world they had been known as the "Kyoro", also known as "Demon Slayers". They were the last of the two clans which had been responsible for eliminating large numbers of these horrible creatures. Of course there had been other demon slayers and there probably still were. The organisations had still been standing when they had fled. She and Grimmjow had been but ten years old at the time. They had been incredibly frightened and scared. It had, after all, been only a couple of years after the 'accident' which had awakened their ultimate powers. She looked down at her hands ruefully. Even now it was hard to sometimes contain the immense power they controlled. Being a Kyoro was hard for so many reasons. Especially due to the fact that she and Grimmjow were "Humana Angelicas" too. She sighed again. When had her life become so complicated again?

She looked up at the swirling clouds in the November sky and silently closed her eyes. The demons would come. And they could come soon. It wouldn't be long now, she could smell it in the wind. And if Aizen had truly banded up with these terrible creatures then it would be more than just her, Grimmjow and Nel in danger. It would be all of her newfound friends too. And despite all her misgivings about getting involved in other people's affairs, she wouldn't be able to allow that. Not over her soul. With a hard expression on her face she went back inside into the restaurant, deciding that right now her bigger problem were the masses inside the Kobayashi restaurant. She groaned softly. It seemed as if her pile of troubles was doing nothing but growing in size.

A/N: First off I would like to thank HappyFestus on their review on chapter 13, thank you so much. =) I would also like to thank anyone who put this story or its author on their lists, your support is what keeps me going when I'm not quite sure as to how the story should continue. Thank you so much all of you. =)

As already stated in my other story, "Memories", I have been having a slight writer's block concerning these two stories and am profoundly glad that I have overcome it. Speaking of that story, now might be a good time to cast a glance at it, despite it's unfinished status, since it does contain quite a few details of why Grimmjow is so determined to keep Ari and Byakuya from meeting. At least I hope it does that and not confuse you even more. =)

I promise that I shall try and be a bit quicker with the update for the next chapter, the ideas are all flooding into me now so it shouldn't be a problem. ;) I will also try and explain a bit more about the strange past of Ari, Grimmjow and Nel within the next couple of chapters and now that Rukia and Ichigo are finally in the same appartment again you can expect a certain meddling father to turn up to meet his 'third' daughter... =P =D