*slides in. Ok guys I typed this chapter with fake nails on so it took like 10 minutes to type a word. Not really, I just want an excuse for my long intervals between updates lmao. In all seriousness, it actually WAS somewhat difficult typing for those of you who care :) and one last thing, please note that since in this story, everything in the Bleach story line is kinda screwed up, that means that I'm basically going to rewrite the Aizen arc because I can lmao. Also, I kinda bs-ed the location of Urahara Shop for plot purposes :) Enjoy.

Chapter 25

What can a Pebble Do?

"I just don't understand why I even need the damn thing," Grimmjow grumbled passive aggressively, although somehow, whenever it came to the blue- haired man, everything always sounded more aggressive and not so much passive.

Mikan shot him a look. "Well, if you're just so willing to get your butt hauled to the Soul Society, then fine! I don't care! It's not like I want to put up with you and your smart ass- y ways!" Mikan shouted, and threw down Grimmjow's gigai, making him slightly flinch as he watched his fake copy hit the floor with a dull thud. Mikan stormed off upstairs, in an angry way that had Grimmjow completely baffled. What was she so upset about? He hadn't even said anything wrong, damn it. Humans were so sensitive. Especially the females.

He let out an exasperated groan. Lately, after the chibi captain had popped in for his little "visit," it seemed the girl had a temper shorter than a burning fuse. And he definitely didn't appreciate having to hold in half his side comments as if he were treading on thin ice 24/7. Which in some ways wasn't too far off. He'd rather kiss Aizen's boots and praise him as almighty than admit Mikan scared him sometimes. It was just those eyes. The way they'd sharpen from warm, comforting hazel, to wicked, unforgiving tones of brown. It creeped him out sometimes. Not that he could ever say that to her, or she'd pounce on his case again.

It was times like this, when Mikan was all mad at him and holed up in her room, that he half wished Strawberry and his posse were back from hell knows where. At least they were human and knew how to deal with her.

Or did Mikan want him to talk to her? Didn't she just say she didn't want to put up with him, though? Damn, she was so confusing!

"I didn't sign up for this shit," Grimmjow mumbled, snatching his gigai up from the floor and angrily stuffing his limbs into the suit, uncomfortable as it was. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he stomped up the stairs, much like an angsty teen after an argument. Down the hall, to the right. Grimmjow only hesitated for a second before barging into her room, where Mikan was huddled under a thick blanket pulled over her head, pillows built in a shitty fort all around her.

"What are you- seven?" He said accusingly, almost forgetting why he'd come in the first place. She looked so ridiculous, but in a way that made him want to swear loudly and sweep her into his arms so he could show the whole world how stupidly childish she was.

Mikan sank lower into her pillow fort. "L' me lone." Her voice was muffled by the blanket, but it was clear to even Grimmjow that she didn't really mean what she'd said.

"You don't mean that," He voiced his thoughts, slightly hoping that he was right. He could never tell with these mushy, complicated feelings and shit. He let himself in and walked next to her, moving a couple of pillows and huddling next to her.

Mikan let herself tip over to one side so she could rest her head on his shoulder. At least the one thing that remained constant in this whirlwind of life was Grimmjow. He'd always be insensitive, but nicely so, if that made any sense at all.

"If you're worried about what that Shinigami brat said about your soul, then don't worry. It's probably not even that big of a fucking d-"

"But it is, Grimmjow!" Mikan interrupted him. "Urahara isn't here, neither is Ichigo, and Orihime isn't either! We're all alone. I have no fucking clue what's going on with the whole Aizen thing, seeing as no one will even let me step outside, dammit, and on top of that my memories are fu-mfffhm!" Mikan shrank back as a large hand came clamping down on top of her mouth and successfully preventing any further noise from coming out.

"Will you calm down? God woman, you're giving me a headache. And if there's anything to know about the Aizen stuff, it's that I wouldn't let anything near you in a fifty- meter radius." He said, "So you don't need to worry about anything, got it? Just go back to your smiling and rainbows and shit and if anything happens I'll- " Grimmjow was stopped mid- sentence when he and Mikan were suddenly sent to their knees as the world took a complete one eighty and uninvited guests made their presence known.

"I'm leaving Hueco Mundo in your capable hands, Ulquiorra," He turned to a solemn- faced figure to the far left, "I trust you to make sure nothing's out of place." His words left a hint of an underlying meaning and were honey- sweet, giving a chillingly innocent appearance paired with those diamond- cut eyes that held no mercy. Aizen turned away from the passive man and, in a quick flash, was gone.

Ulquiorra didn't flinch, much less blink as he knew Aizen had gone over to launch the attack on the Soul Reapers. And he had no concerns in Aizen- sama's abilities, seeing as he was bringing the other two ex- Shinigami as well Hueco Mundo's three strongest Espada.

Well... not that anyone knew he had his second...

Emerald- green eyes slightly shifted to the left, where a slight rumble behind the white walls was heard. A cold hand rested on top a green- hilted zanpakuto and Ulquiora... well.

Aizen- sama left him to get rid of any inconveniences, hadn't he?

Mikan flexed a wrist, and then an ankle. It didn't seem she had broken any bones, or that anything violent had occurred, seeing as her room was still completely intact. She was starting to feel an incredible sense of déjà vu, which just went to show how incredibly strange her life had gotten. On the other hand, the thing that unnerved her was Grimmjow, whose jaw was clenched and eyes more piercing than she had ever seen them. Mikan slightly flinched when he whipped his head towards her, firmly grabbing her wrist and sweeping her off the floor in a true bridal fashion.

Laying harmlessly and strewn halfway across the room was his zanpakuto, Pantera. Not like he couldn't fight his opponents with his bare fists, but it would certainly lead to a high percentage of bones shattered.

Mikan scrambled to grab hold of his shoulders, a strange, animalistic- half scream dying in her throat when Grimmjow nudged the window open with his toe and boldly jumping out from the 19- foot high ledge. Long hair whipped all around Mikan's face and in her mouth, her iron- clad grip on Grimmjow only digging into his shoulders more as his long legs stretched out to absorb the impact when the sidewalk and pavement slightly trembled with a heavy but firm landing of Grimmjow's feet.

To a third person, the scene would've looked like a blue- haired man jumping out the window, with a small, possibly a brown cat, clinging to him for dear life.

As soon as Mikan realized she wasn't dead (she confirmed this first by wiggling a few fingers to make sure she still had feeling left in them), she peered out of one eye, and then opened the other and gave Grimmjow a hard slug in the arm. He clearly wasn't fazed by the slightest, but Mikan still had to express herself somehow, and she didn't think jumping into the nearest lake would get her point across.

"Are you crazy?! If you wanted to go outside then why didn't you just use the damn door?" Mikan asked, flustered even more when Grimmjow pressed a finger to her lip. She arched an eyebrow, at this point, absolutely convinced that the Real World air was starting to affect his brain.

"Isn't it a little quiet around here?" He asked, holding Mikan closer to him by the slightest inch in an effort to appease his uneasiness. Mikan looked around the two and realized that the streets were actually deserted. It was about four in the afternoon, and yet not a single person was about.

It almost seemed... like a ghost town.

"I- I don't know, maybe? I j- Grimmjow, what's going on? Is it Aizen?" Mikan asked with the strains of fear creeping in. Why did it feel like she was about to get in a huge load of shit? There was that feeling of déjà vu again. And she had just been enjoying being alive when-

And at that time, Mikan felt her heart lurch out and leap onto the sidewalk when Grimmjow tackled Mikan to the ground, wrapping his strong arms around her as they tumbled across the pavement, being sure Mikan didn't hit the ground. From her barely- open eyes and blurred vision, she could see they were just barely in a narrow alley, enough that she was being entirely covered by Grimmjow's body, but half his legs were sticking out in the open. There was a quick flash of silver that sped past them, like a shooting star streaking by.

"You," Grimmjow growled from behind Mikan. His plain gray T- shirt (complimentary of Urahara) was bunched in Mikan's steel- like grip. She had no fucking clue what was happening. But she did know that something- everything, was about to go to hell.

"My, well that's not a very nice way to treat someone, now is it?" came an uncomfortably familiar voice that sent shiver down Mikan's back. From where she and Grimmjow were positioned in the small alley, she couldn't see who the speaker was. Her vision was further obstructed as Grimmjow shoved her behind him and stood out in the open. Clearly, he intended her to stay behind the wall and out of the view of whoever it was that was speaking. But her heart couldn't help but drop as the bluenette stalked out into the open, clearly (she did her best to ignore how his shirt was riding up in the back and exposed his toned back) unarmed and dressed in his human garb.

"Cut the crap, Gin. What the hell are you even doing here?" Grimmjow snarled, his muscles tense like coiled springs.

The lavender- haired man let out a delicate, tinkling sound of a laugh. "Well what do you mean Grimmjow? I'm here on Captain Aizen's orders, of course."

Gin, Mikan's mind recalled. The name was so familiar, but she couldn't for the life of her remember where and when she'd heard it. However, that wasn't the biggest of her concerns seeing as it was obviously someone dangerous. And Grimmjow was about to scuffle with him. Unarmed. Now, Mikan had complete faith in Grimmjow's abilities, but that was usually when he was actually holding a weapon. Not a... rock?

"You creepy son of a bitch. You shouldn't have come here. And facing me alone? Ha! You underestimate me."

What? Quit talking smack to him you dumbass! Mikan mouthed to herself, mouth hanging ajar and eyebrows halfway up to heaven. He was crazy. He was literally, completely a lunatic and he was dead meat if she didn't do something fast. Think, Mikan, think! Where had Grimmjow left his sword?

The girl turned and looked around the narrow alley. From what she could tell, Urahara Shop was about two houses over, in the direction of Gin. And obviously, if she stepped out into the street to stroll on over, there was about a 99.99% chance she and Grimmjow would find themselves skewered on the pointy end of a zanpakuto. The .01% of course, being Gin happens to trip and fall on his own sword.

A rickety pair of stairs at the side of the alley led all the way to the top of the building complex. Since the houses were mostly conjoined or merely two feet and no less apart, it wouldn't be too much trouble for Mikan to skip on over. But how was she going to make her getaway without alerting the presence of Gin? After all, there was only so much time Grimmjow could buy with his bluffs before he was turned into a blue, well- done, Arrancar style shish kabob.

Mikan placed one foot on the first rung of the ladder, testing her weight before placing the other foot on as well. Slowly, she began creeping up the metal rungs, straining her ears for any sounds of Grimmjow dying. Not that she didn't have complete faith in him, of course. Complete faith...

"Complete faith... just remember, he's gonna be okay, he's gonna be okay," Mikan softly chanted to herself, trying her best to ignore the stinging sensation in her eyes. Well, shit! Out of all the times for her emotions to start playing monkey in the middle in her brain, why did it have to be the day with the highest percent change of her and Grimmjow dying?

"Hey you, creepy fuck!" Came a cringeworthy- comment from somewhere below Mikan, who was perched at the edge of the building. Curiously, she spared a glance near Grimmjow's direction and, to her horror, watched as he tested the weight of a rock in his hand and launched it at Gin, who still bore his notorious grin.

Grimmjow, you idiot! You stupid, stupid, stupid idiot! Milan screamed in her mind, all the while focusing on scurrying across the rooftops without being detected by Gin. She had a sick, twisting feel in her gut that Grimmjow was improvising 100%. As if his brash, charge- without- thinking fighting tactics weren't bad enough.

Urahara Shop was just up ahead. If she could make it down to the other side of the building complex, then she could grab Grimmjow's sword and get it to him before anyone ended up as a shish kabob.

Unfortunately, fate didn't exactly seem to be on Mikan's side today. Or ever, for that matter.

Just as she had placed one foot in front of the next, there was an oh- so familiar feeling of being pinned to the ground by an insane spiritual pressure.

"Well, what do we have here?" Came a whimsical tone. Mikan gritted her teeth and glared up at the shadow above her. Gin reached down and grabbed her by the scruff of her shirt, bringing her close to him as if she were a puppy. His eyes were closed, but Mikan still felt like as exposed as the day she were born with the slight tilt of his head and the lopsided smile he wore.

Death was so close. It was so close that she could feel the Reaper's scythe inching towards her neck. The ghastly breath of death was practically right under her nose and then...

"Hey! This fight's between you and me!" At the same time, Gin and Mikan both looked to the edge of the building complex, where first one, then two hands grabbed onto the ledge and heaved a slightly disheveled, out of breath Grimmjow. If it had been a less life- threatening, critically perilous situation, she might have face palmed herself at the pure frustration she felt towards Grimmjow at the moment.

But in a move that surprised both of them, Gin shoved Mikan towards the blue- haired Arrancar, who immediately reached out to wrap his arms around her.

Gin turned away from the two. Facing away from them, he raised his right hand up to his face and opened it, revealing the same stone Grimmjow had thrown at him previously.

"Grimmjow, you've really changed a lot, eh?" Gin asked in a somewhat rhetorical manner. "It seems as if you've become almost a different person entirely. Were you really expecting to win against me without even your sword?"

The aforementioned man narrowed his eyes at the Shinigami. His mind hadn't exactly processed what was happening. Was Gin... letting them go?

"This Human World's a lot different from Hueco Mundo. You'd be surprised... Gin," Grimmjow replied back.

There was a moment of silence in which no words were exchanged from either man. Then, Gin lifted his arm and threw the stone back behind him, slow enough to allow Grimmjow to catch it even in his gigai form.

"Consider it as a token of appreciation. You almost remind me of a person I could never become," said Gin. He flash stepped, and was gone.

Grimmjow didn't lose any time mulling over Gin's last words. He was alive, Mikan was alive, and Gin was... on their side? Who the fuck knew, but the first thing he was doing was taking off his prison of a gigai and then getting his zanpakuto.

Grabbing Mikan close to him, he flicked her forehead, hard.

"Ow!"

"You stupid dumbass! Why the hell were you trying to get closer to that guy?" Grimmjow shouted.

"Because I was trying to get your zanpakuto, dumbass!" Mikan shouted back.

"Whatever," Grimmjow muttered and ran to the side of the building. He cleared the jump to the ground with Mikan tucked under his arm like a sack of potatoes. Placing her exactly next to the wall, he said, "Stay here and don't move an inch," and sprinted inside the shop to look for Pantera.

Mikan huffed indignantly and crossed her arms angrily. She tries to help and in return gets reprimanded for it? It was a load of BS if she had ever heard it.

In the distance, but close enough that she could see it fairly well, there were multiple figures who seemed to be suspended in midair. Billowing white haoris and glinting edges of zanpakuto...

"Mikan!" Hearing her name being called, the girl turned around to see Grimmjow, who was back in his original Espada attire with his trusty sword strapped to his side. "Don't get out of my sight. We gotta find you someplace to be safe."

Shielding her eyes from the sun with one hand and pointing towards the figures with the other, Mikan said,

"I don't think that's even our biggest problem right now. Correct me if I'm wrong, but when all the captains and lieutenants of the Soul Society gather together, that's not exactly a good sign, is it?"

Grimmjow grabbed her tiny wrist with one hand and tugged her along.

"Guess we'll just have to found out."

"I was afraid you would say that."

Um ok, I'm officially sick of my own writing and this fix is such a mess and I have so many ideas for Kamisama Kiss and Kuroko no Basket fanfics lmao and I'm screaming because When Will This Fic Be Finished syndrome is setting in and I want to rewrite everything so bad because it's been like two years since I started this (holy shit!) and my writing has changed so much and this storyline has so many plotholes and yeah :'))) but ANYWAYS! thanks for reading, leave a comment, and have a faaaaantastic day see y'all in like five years.

- A