Alright, here's 25!
cheeky half-demon: wasn't it? Lol and arigatou, i try.
Reminder to readers: I do very much enjoy reviews, so feel free to talk!
Uh, disclaimer: i dont own bleach cough i wish cough
Chapter 25
Hara's POV
Grimmjow and Hara slept for a long while, curled up together under the covers.
It wasn't until the light coming from the dusty window was at its brightest that Grimmjow grunted and sat bolt upright. Hara stirred beside him, opening an eye,
"What is…it?" she muttered sleepily. He didn't answer as he stared at the closed door. Hara sat upright and gave a soft giggle, "Grimmjow…your hair…" His hair was messy and standing up in odd spots, "You've got bed head…" He stared at her for a moment, before staring at the door again. Hara reached out and touched his side, "Grimmjow?" He turned and stared down at her,
"Kurosaki… he's here."
"What-?" began Hara, but at the same moment the door blasted open. Grimmjow was on his feet in an instant,
"You!" snarled the orange haired boy as he stormed into the room, his sword drawn and pointing. Grimmjow stood there staring at him, looking very pissed. But before either could do anything, Ichigo was smacked in the face by a shoe,
"Agh!" yelled Hara, "Get out!" Grimmjow stared as she leapt to her feet and shoved him towards the door, "Who the hell do you think you are, barging in when people are sleeping!?"
Ichigo was about to answer, but Hara shut the door in his face, "Next time knock!" She then turned around and put on her shoe, before searching the room for the other. Knocking came from the door; Hara went over to it, "Give me a goddamned minute!" she yelled, and the knocking ceased. In the background laughter was heard, followed by what sounded like Ichigo yelling. Hara continued her search for the missing shoe; her search leading her to under the bed.
The whole time Grimmjow stared at her. Peering up from the side of the bed Hara stared back, "What?"
"What the hell was that?!" he had a grin plastered on his face. Hara stood up, slipping into her shoe,
"I don't like when people barge in on me when I'm half asleep." She shrugged, "I mean, its bad manners, ne?" Grimmjow chuckled and ran a hand through his hair to straighten it,
"Whatever you say," It was Hara's turn to chuckle; suddenly she looked around,
"Hey, did you see a brush or anything?" Grimmjow shrugged as she ran to the dresser, "Eh, never mind, I found one." She began to brush her long hair. When she was finished she tossed it to Grimmjow who ran it through his hair a few times, "Hey, what do you think the strawberry wants?" He tossed the brush back to her and shrugged,
"Hell if I know." A battle grin broke across his face, "Maybe he wants to fight." Hara grinned,
"Maybe, but you should let yourself heal up a little more first." Grimmjow frowned,
"I could beat the crap outta him now!" he gestured to his chest where the wounds were, "I'm fine! I-!" Hara jumped on him and lightly poked a wound, "Ow!"
"Nya! I win." She laughed, "You're not healed up enough." He glared at her and she smiled, "Oh come on, he isn't going anywhere, you can beat him up another time." Grimmjow rolled his eyes and grabbed Pantera before walking to the door, Hara following with Lucien hanging at her hip.
Ichigo wasn't outside the room, but out in the main part of the building. As Hara and Grimmjow walked out, they saw him and Hiyori arguing heatedly. Grimmjow made a sound as he stopped on the ridge above the two, his hand in his pocket. The scar he wore that Ichigo had given him was slightly visible at the top of the tank top shirt, which Hara now noticed was the same style and color of Kensei's.
Hara sat beside him, her legs dangling off the side of the ridge while rubbing her eyes and yawning loudly.
"Kurosaki," said Grimmjow, staring down at him, "What the hell are you doing here and what the hell do you want?" Ichigo stared up at him,
"I could ask the same of you," he replied. The two stared at each other for a minute, as if sizing each other up.
"Well Kurosaki? You going to just stare or are ya gonna talk?" Ichigo's eyes moved to Hara, then back to Grimmjow.
"I have a few things to ask you. First of all… What happened…to your arm?"
"I threw it away before I came," he said, "I thought I'd be too much of a hassle. I don't need two arms to kill you." Hara glanced at him, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. Ichigo smiled grimly,
"Is that right?" he was about to say something more, but Hara cleared her throat to catch their
attention.
"Oi! Strawberry, what else did ya want to know? I don't want to sit here all day." She yelled, swinging her legs back and forth. Ichigo's eyebrow twitched,
"Don't call me that!" Hara grinned but didn't say anything. "Why are you here? Did Aizen send you?!" Hara's grin faded as she stared at him, Grimmjow glanced at her, before glowering at Ichigo,
"Why the hell do we have to tell you, teme?! It's none of your business!" Ichigo stared up at him, his furrowed brows contracting even more.
"It's my business when my town is attacked, and especially by arrancar!" he turned to Hara, "And you! You betrayed the soul society, didn't you?!" Hara turned pale with a mixture of shock and anger, "I heard all about you and your broth-" Grimmjow and Ichigo's zanpakutos met in a flurry of sparks,
"Shut the hell up, Kurosaki!" snarled Grimmjow, "Unless you want to die, that is!" Ichigo glared at him,
"In that case, there's no need for me to go easy on you!" He jumped back and swung his sword down, "Ban Kai!" Ichigo was covered in a black smoke, before leaping at Grimmjow. Grimmjow caught the blade with one hand,
"Hah! It's just a ban kai, what's so great about that?" he threw Ichigo back, "Did you forget? You, with that ban kai, couldn't touch any part of my body…"
"Did you forget?" asked Ichigo pointing his zanpakuto at Grimmjow's chest, "From the technique of my ban kai…you received that wound!"
Hara stood up as she felt both men's reitsu rising; beside her stood Kensei and Shinji.
"This is going to be good," said Kensei, "Orange head's going to show off." Hara glanced at him; he had a slight grin on his face. Shinji on the other hand was grimacing, he suddenly turned,
"Hacchi!" he yelled to the pink and black haired giant, "A barrier if you please?!" Hara smiled and shook her head,
"That isn't going to stop him." And by him, she meant Grimmjow.
And she was right, as they found minutes later. Ichigo seemed to finally have enough, and he put his hand over his face as if pulling something down. Suddenly he was covered in black smoke again,
"Holy crap!" exclaimed Hara, "What the hell did you do to this guy?!" She felt Ichigo's reitsu rising spectacularly. Shinji grinned,
"Remember what I said about vizards?" At the same moment the smoke cleared, and Ichigo emerged from it.
"Wh…What is that?!" cried Grimmjow as he stared at Ichigo. A hollow mask covered his face, and his eyes were now hollow yellow. Ichigo lifted his sword and suddenly came at him, but Grimmjow was able to block. They stared at each other for a moment, Grimmjow with surprise, and Ichigo with a calm look. Suddenly Hara sensed something,
"Grimmjow look out!" she yelled, too late.
"Getsuga…TENSHOU!" yelled Ichigo, his zanpakuto sending out an explosion of blackness. Grimmjow disappeared into it as it blasted through the wall of the warehouse and outside.
"Grimmjow!" yelled Hara, as she sped after Ichigo who was going outside.
"Oi!" yelled Kensei, "What're you doing? You're not healed enough!" Hara ignored him and kept going, Grimmjow's not completely healed either… she thought. Ichigo turned around as she sped towards his direction, but she didn't attack him, instead she passed him and looked outside.
Grimmjow stood in midair, panting, his whole front covered in blood. He stared at Ichigo,
"Grimmjow, stop!" yelled Hara, "You're not healed enough!" Grimmjow didn't look at her as he watched Ichigo,
"I'm fine." He growled, "Just let me handle him." Hara opened her mouth to object, but Grimmjow spoke again,this time to Ichigo. "This power isn't shinigami, you bastard! In this month what did you do?" Ichigo stood across from him,
"Isn't it obvious?! I got stronger!" Ichigo sped towards Grimmjow in a flash of speed, hitting him with Getsuga Tenshou and sending him towards the ground. Suddenly Grimmjow formed a cero and sent it at Ichigo, causing him to leap back and send it skyward. As he did so, Grimmjow went at him, sending him towards the ground, but Ichigo blocked Pantera with his zanpakuto,
"It's over Grimmjow!" he yelled, as if he were going to win.
Suddenly his mask shattered.
Ichigo and Grimmjow stared at each other in surprise, until Grimmjow's face broke out in a triumphant grin. He swung his sword downwards,
"This is the end for you, Shinigami!" They both plummeted towards ground, Ichigo not looking so 'calm' anymore and Grimmjow bloodthirsty.
Hara watched as Grimmjow twisted and struck Ichigo with Pantera,
"It seems like the power you just used now was pushed to the limit. It looks like once you lost your mask your breathing has gotten labored. Hey, it's over shinigami! I got fairly wasted by you, but, in the end, the fact remains that…with your power you can't beat me!" They hit the cement, Ichigo barely able to keep on his feet and Grimmjow just standing there. Ichigo tried to make his mask reappear, but nothing happened.
"Grimmjow, that's enough!" cried Hara landing nearby. Grimmjow tilted his head,
"Not yet it isn't." he kicked Ichigo in the ribs and sent him backwards, "It seems like that mask of yours can't be used once it's broken, eh?" Ichigo glared at him and tried again, but to no avail. Grimmjow smiled devilishly, "Nah…You're in the stance to take it out again so that can't be right. Could it be because you took too much damage? Or because you used up to much of your reitsu? Or does it have a limited amount of uses?" he shrugged to himself, "I have no idea what the reason could be, but that's okay. You see…the point is; he stabbed Pantera into his sleeves, pinning him to the ground, "At this moment, you can't bring it out. Am I right?" he asked, his one hand palm up, a cero forming. He turned it to point at Ichigo,
"Don't worry. A cero from this range…will blow straight through that head of yours!" Hara leapt towards them, I'm not one to interfere with fights, but this is going too far!
"Grimmjow, stop! You've made your point!" He was about to turn to her, but suddenly his hand froze solid.
"Huh?!" he said, surprised.
"The next dance…HAKUREN!" yelled a female voice. It was Rukia, her zanpakuto drawn. Ice exploded from it, going straight towards Grimmjow. He wasn't going to dodge it in time, so Hara leapt, Lucien flashing to shikai in an instant as she slashed through the ice.
Rukia stared at the two of them, especially Hara who was panting while holding her twin knuckle blades. The ice froze in large chunks around them, but none touched Hara or Grimmjow.
"Enough!" she yelled, glancing at Grimmjow and then Ichigo. Grimmjow stared at her, panting and covered with blood. She stomped towards Ichigo, quite aware of the blood beginning to soak through her bandages. For some reason, she wasn't healing as fast as Grimmjow. She guessed maybe it was because she wasn't a hollow like him, but she wasn't sure. Either way, beneath her façade of pissed off strength, she was hurting.
Rukia made to shield the wounded Ichigo, but Hara pushed past her roughly.
"I'm not going to kill him," she growled, "But," her eyes fell on him coldly, he stared up at her, "Next time you start pointing fingers, Ichigo… I'll be the one to put you in your place. Did you stop to think that maybe we weren't with Aizen?! No! You were rude and started picking a fight! Learn some manners so you don't get your ass whipped by us, eh Strawberry?!" Without waiting for his answer she turned around and limped towards Grimmjow, sheathing her zanpakuto. Shinji clapped,
"Well said." Seeing the scathing look Ichigo gave him he shrugged, "She's right Ichigo; you were the one that came ready to fight." Hara smiled at Shinji, then suddenly coughed, blood dripping from her lips. She dropped to her knees with a groan,
"Ow… well, that can't be good." She muttered, drunkenly wiping away the blood.
"The hell it's not!" yelled Grimmjow, going towards her. She gave him a weak smile, "Hey, Shinji, do something, will ya?" he growled as he lifted her onto his shoulder gently. Ichigo and Rukia stared; Shinji nodded, "Alright, come on then…All of you."
And so, he did something.