Chapter Four
Changing the Guard
Grimmjow didn't know what to do. He knew he'd messed up, but he didn't know how to fix it. But just the fact that Ichigo cried was getting to him, and he couldn't figure that part out. Why was it bothering him what Ichigo felt? Crying wasn't something that got you anywhere in Las Noches. Still, he left Ichigo sleeping and went to go find someone who might be able to help him.
He got to Starrk's castle and knocked. The door flew open and Lilynette glared at him.
"What the hell do you want?" she groused.
"I need to talk to Starrk. Not your dumb ass," he grumbled.
She narrowed her eyes at him but turned and yelled, "Coyote! Grimmjow wants you."
A few minutes later a sleepy looking Starrk came to the door and looked at him. "Yeah, what is it?"
"I need your help with something. Come on. Something's happened. With Ichigo." He saw Starrk's eyes widen a little, but he didn't say anything, he just came out of the door and closed it behind him. "I think we should get Ulquiorra and Nnoitra, too."
Starrk knew that Ulquiorra was guarding the human woman. Nnoitra was probably in his rooms. But they would both want to get involved if Ichigo was in trouble somehow. Starrk had just seen him, though, so he wasn't sure what could have happened in such a short time. Unless Ichigo had gone back to talk to the human woman again.
"I'll get Ulquiorra. You find Nnoitra. We'll meet outside Ichigo's rooms," Starrk said, nodding and stifling a yawn.
Grimmjow watched him go and then went to find Nnoitra. He went to his rooms. Tesla answered the door.
"Give me Nnoitra," he said to the fraccion.
Tesla frowned and then nodded, closing the door. A few seconds later, Nnoitra opened the door, looking down at Grimmjow.
"What is it?" he asked, looking annoyed at being interrupted.
"Something's happened to Ichigo we need to talk about together," he said.
Nnoitra's one eye widened, and he gave a nod. "Alright. You got the others?"
"Starrk's getting Ulquiorra now. We're meeting outside Ichigo's room. I'll explain there," he said, still feeling confused himself.
A few minutes later, they arrived, and Grimmjow looked in on Ichigo to find him still deeply asleep. He was glad of that. He was no doubt exhausted by what had happened. He shut the door and turned to find Starrk and Ulquiorra coming down the hallway.
"Alright, Grimmjow, what's this about?" Nnoitra asked, obviously already impatient.
"Aizen did something to him. He raped him."
The others were quiet for a moment. Then Ulquiorra, who unexpectedly spoke up first, looked at him. "He what?"
"I was coming to find him, when Aizen was coming out of his room. He said something about keeping a tighter leash on our pet, and that he was going places he shouldn't. When I got in there, he was still bound with some sort of kido and he was bleeding. I got pissed. Really pissed, and I don't know why. I ended up fucking him, just to get rid of Aizen, I guess. And he cried."
"He cried?" Starrk said, looking at Grimmjow.
"He cried," Grimmjow confirmed. "I didn't know what to do! I still don't!"
"What do we do? We can't just let him do this. He doesn't own Ichigo, or any of us, to be able to do this," Nnoitra said.
Ulquiorra nodded. "If he can do this to Ichigo, what are the rest of us worth?"
Grimmjow hadn't thought about that before, but now that Ulquiorra had brought it up, he had to wonder too. His thoughts ran to the Privaron Espada, those that had come before them. They had been disposable. As long as they were powerful, they were worth something to Aizen. The moment someone became more powerful, they became of little to no use anymore. Where was that line, and how were they to avoid crossing it?
"Something must be done," Starrk said slowly, looking around at them. "He goes too far this time. He came here to control us, and we've let him do what he wanted for this long. The question is, what do we do?"
"The Shinigami will be coming. He's already preparing for them," Nnoitra said as he thought. "They'll be after the woman he has. What if we give her to them, and send Ichigo?"
Grimmjow shook his head. "We can't just send them alone, not with what just happened to him."
"Then one of us goes, too, and the rest stay so that we can stay apprised of Aizen's plans," Starrk said, looking around at them. "One to take care of him, the rest to keep an eye on what Aizen does and foil any plans he might have to try and retrieve him."
"I'll go. I think out of all of us, Aizen trusts me the least," Grimmjow nodded. "I'll take them both when the Shinigami show up."
"So, what do we do, then?" Nnoitra asked. "We just pretend we don't know what's going on?"
"We report to Aizen that Grimmjow has defected and taken the woman and Ichigo with him. We don't need to tell him that we know why they left, just that they have." Starrk looked around and sighed. "This will get complicated."
"What will get complicated?" came a voice from nearby, startling all four Espada into turning around to see Gin smiling at them.
"What do you want?" Nnoitra asked. "This is Espada business, not Shinigami business."
"Ah, but it sounds like ya are plotting together. That could be bad for us." Gin came closer and Grimmjow had to wonder how much he'd heard. They hadn't even known the snaky bastard was there.
"It doesn't matter," Grimmjow growled.
"Ah, but it does," Gin said, looking around at the four of them. "Aizen has done something you disapprove of, it seems, yah?"
"Disapprove?" Grimmjow snapped before he thought. "He raped Ichigo!"
Starrk put a hand on Grimmjow's shoulder but the damage was done. Grimmjow had already let his anger override his sense when it came to the situation.
"Why would ya all care about that? Isn't he just your fuck toy?" Gin tilted his head to the side; his eyes barely slits as he stared at them. "Is it that ya don't like that Aizen touched your toy, or is it more than that?"
Starrk turned and looked at him. "Something tells me that you are not surprised by this."
Gin looked around at each of them, then back at Starrk. "You plan to betray Aizen over this. Interestin'. I shall have to watch how this plays out," he said, turning and walking back the way he'd come.
"What do we do about that?" Ulquiorra asked.
"Something tells me he's not going to say anything to Aizen," Starrk said, narrowing his eyes as Gin disappeared from sight. "As it is, the Shinigami are coming already. We should prepare. But first, let's check in on Ichigo."
-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
Ichigo was locked into a nightmare that wouldn't let him go. It was as though Aizen's attack was on a loop in his brain, and he couldn't get away from it. No matter what he tried, he couldn't seem to free himself from the terrible events. Aizen, who he'd almost seen as a type of father figure, had done something he never would have imagined. He had always been so free with sex, he thought it was somewhat strange to be so affected by it, because after all, that's all it was. But was it? Was it not more? It was a deep violation of everything Ichigo knew, and it tilted his world view on its side. Everything was sideways in his dream world, and he didn't understand it.
"Ichigo?" he heard, and at first, he couldn't tell if it was in his dream or outside of it. "Ichigo!" the voice insisted. That had come from outside, he thought. Maybe he could break free?
His eyes fluttered and he found himself staring at Grimmjow. Without thinking, he flinched back from him, and he saw the look cross his face as he stood back up. He looked around and saw Starrk sitting on the end of the bed, and Ulquiorra and Nnoitra standing nearby.
"What's going on?" he muttered, trying to let the vestiges of sleep fade from the corners of his mind.
"We're going to fix this," Grimmjow said, but didn't come near him again.
"Fix what?" Ichigo said, sitting up in the bed and looking around.
"What Aizen did can't stand." Grimmjow crossed his arms and glared at him.
Ichigo shook his head and waved it off. "Just leave it."
"Leave it? And what if he does it again?" Starrk said, surprising Ichigo with the strength of that statement.
"He won't. It was just I made him angry, that's all."
"Being angry is no excuse to do what he did," Ulquiorra said, bringing Ichigo's attention to him.
"But he can do whatever he wants. He owns me," Ichigo said, sighing sadly. He remembered that clearly, now.
"He doesn't own you any more than he owns the rest of us. You are one of us," Nnoitra said to him.
"But I'm not! I'm different! I'm not a real Arrancar! I don't have a mask, and I don't have a hollow hole! So, what does that make me?" Ichigo said, looking around at them. "Am I human like that woman said? Is that why I'm not like you? I don't even have a resurrección!"
Everyone was silent for a moment then Grimmjow moved and sat down on the bed beside him. Ichigo didn't mean to flinch again, but he did as he took his hand.
"I'm sorry for what I did. I'll make it up to you. You have to understand, I didn't know what I was feeling. In fact, I still don't understand it, not really. But I think something is happening that's bigger than us. Bigger than Aizen's plans for the Ōken. We can't let this go. So, we're leaving. Me, you, and that woman. When the Shinigami come, we're going with them."
Ichigo looked at him in shock. "What? You're insane! We can't just leave Aizen! He'll find us!"
"We'll have the Shinigami to protect us. Others have hidden from him before, so we'll find out how they did it, and we'll do it too. We'll figure it out," Grimmjow said, squeezing his hand.
Ichigo looked at the others. "And you all?"
"We stay here," Starrk said softly. "We pretend that Grimmjow betrayed us alone. He'll install another sixth Espada. One we can't trust. But we go forward and hope he doesn't pick up on what we've all done. While we're here, we'll gather those to our side that will come. I believe Tier will stand with us and the tres bestias. Grimmjow's fraccion will be tested to see if their loyalty is with Aizen or Grimmjow."
Ichigo still couldn't believe what he was hearing. Starrk was the first, the Primera. And Ulquiorra was the fourth Espada, and Nnoitra the fifth. These were three of the top five Espada. And they would betray Aizen because of what he did to him? They would give everything just for him? His heart ached in his chest, and he felt tears well again, and this time he didn't stop them.
"You're crying again!" Grimmjow said suddenly, staring at him as though he didn't know what to do about it.
"I'm sorry, but I can't believe you'd do this for me." Ichigo wiped away the tears and looked at them. "You don't need to."
"Yes, we do," Starrk said with a nod. "What Aizen did is wrong. We cannot let it go that easily."
"What happens now?" Ichigo asked, not knowing what they would do now.
"We wait. And you aren't left alone, either," Grimmjow said with a nod. "One of us is always with you until the Shinigami show up."
"How will you know?" he asked.
"Aizen will inform us when they get to Hueco Mundo," Starrk said. "He will want us to prepare for them, and to do so we will be ready. He is already planning to take Karakura Town soon. The times may coincide, but they may not with everything that's going to happen."
"So now we just wait?" Ichigo said, pulling the covers up around him. He really wanted to go back to sleep, but then he feared the nightmares, too.
"We wait," Grimmjow said, picking up his hand and kissing the back of it.
Ichigo swallowed, confused by the gentle gesture from him, especially after the violence with which he reacted to what Aizen had done. He licked his lips and squeezed his hand in return and nodded.
"Okay," he whispered.
-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
Starrk made his way down to the gates of Las Noches. He'd been watching the Shinigami's progress with the rest. They were all curious if they would make it, and Starrk wanted to make sure that they were strong enough to protect Ichigo from Aizen if it came to that. Aizen was busy with his own plans, and he guessed that Gin had decided not to tell him that he'd come across them plotting with each other because nothing had come of that at all. He had to wonder at what Gin had planned and how their plans played into that.
The Shinigami came to the base of Las Noches and Starrk introduced himself. The dark-haired one with the black sword stepped in front of the others.
"Why should we trust you?" she asked.
"Because I will give you Ichigo as well as the woman," Starrk said.
She blinked, and Starrk guessed this was the sister to Ichigo. It would make sense, the way she hesitated when presented with this prospect. "Why would you do this? Why would you aid us?"
"Aizen has gone too far, and we want to see him safe," he said, looking at the small group they had brought with them.
The shorter Shinigami narrowed her purple eyes at him. "What do you mean, he's gone too far?"
Starrk debated telling them the truth. Would it matter to them? Or was it even his story to tell? He sighed. "If Ichigo wants to tell you what has transpired, he will. Either way, he needs to leave Hueco Mundo to ensure his safety."
The others who had arrived were silent for a moment. "We have to take the chance," the redheaded Shinigami stated, looking at them. "The chance to rescue Orihime and liberate Ichigo's soul?"
"It is almost too good to be true," the taller Shinigami said.
"He will assuredly send pursuit, and I am unsure who he will send. Perhaps an Espada, perhaps only fraccion, so Grimmjow is going to go with you. He is the sixth Espada and will be able to protect you." Starrk looked around. "Come, before we are noticed," he said, gesturing for them to follow.
"Karin, I'm not sure about this," the dark haired one in white said.
"Uryū, please. We came this far. We will rescue her, no matter what stands in our way," Karin said to him, eyes situated forward.
Starrk noted that the small Arrancar had tailed along with them, and he realized that it had to be Nelliel. He wondered what had happened to her, but it appeared her mask had been cracked somehow, reverting her to a child. Curious, he thought as he led them up to the room where Ulquiorra guarded the woman. They came up and Ulquiorra looked to them.
"They have arrived," he said, nodding. "The plan goes forward?" he asked Starrk.
"It does. I'll lead them to Ichigo and Grimmjow." He then pulled out a small black box. "I'll trap you in the Caja Negación, so if there are any questions, it will mean you will be accounted for a couple hours' time at least."
Ulquiorra nodded, and the others watched as Starrk placed the box at his hollow hole and it absorbed into him, binding him and making him disappear. Starrk then opened the door and Orihime came out.
"What's happening?" she asked. "Rukia! Renji! Karin! Chad! Uryū!" she gasped and came out, hugging each in turn, lingering on Uryū last of all. "You've come!"
"We couldn't leave you here." Karin smiled, then turned to look at Starrk. "Now, show us to my brother."
"Ichigo?" Orihime said. "Will he leave?"
"We've told him it is time for him to leave us, so I believe he will go without a fight," Starrk said softly. "I do very much hate to let him go, but Las Noches is no longer a safe place for him."
"I don't understand what's happened to make that so," Rukia said, narrowing her eyes at Starrk. "Why should Las Noches suddenly become unsafe for him?"
"As I've said, that's his story to tell, not mine," Starrk nodded and turned to lead them back the way they'd come.
They came down to another set of rooms and Starrk knocked on the door. They entered to find Grimmjow standing in the middle of the room with his arms tucked behind his back. He looked up.
"Finally. He's getting nervous."
"Yes, they're here. Time to go, Ichigo," Starrk called.
"I still don't want to leave," they all heard as Ichigo came out of the room to the side, dressed in his usual white outfit and hair wild about his head save the braids around his face.
"It is you," Karin whispered.
Ichigo tilted his head to the side. "The woman says you are my sister. I don't know what to make of this, yet so please don't ask for much. I'm only going at the Espada's insistence that I need to leave. And Grimmjow is coming with me, so that makes it okay."
"Enough talk, we must go before Aizen figures out what's happening," Grimmjow growled. "He'll send someone after us, but the question is, who."
Grimmjow put an arm around Ichigo, a gesture that got a curious look from everyone except Orihime, who didn't seem surprised. Starrk knew about the little show Ulquiorra had put on for her, so he was sure she would assume they were all Ichigo's partners. She was smart, after all.
"Now, you must go," Starrk said, nodding to Grimmjow. "Take care of him, and we will work from the inside to thwart any efforts to recapture you or him."
"You better do your part," Grimmjow sighed and pushed Ichigo toward the door.
Starrk watched them all leave and hoped that they made it. He supposed if they were caught or killed, he would hear about it.
-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
Ichigo was still not sure about the whole idea of leaving Hueco Mundo with these people. He still was amazed at the fact Nelliel was still alive somehow, despite having her mask cracked. He had liked her before she disappeared. He wondered exactly what had happened to her. Nnoitra would never tell him. He just said he "took care of her". Apparently, he hadn't killed her, though she was transformed into a childlike visage.
She led them back out to a massive worm-like hollow named Bawabawa. They all got on it and began to move away from Las Noches as fast as they could. Ichigo was impressed at the speed this creature could move, but it wasn't fast enough, because soon, five figures appeared in front of them.
"He would send my fraccion," Grimmjow grumbled as they prepared to fight.
They stopped and everyone dismounted the great worm. Grimmjow got out in front of the others. "It doesn't have to be this way. Let us go."
"We have our orders. You are no longer our king. You've betrayed all of us," Shawlong said, straightening his back and staring at Grimmjow.
"You know you can't beat me. Not then, not now," Grimmjow pointed out to them.
"We will," Di Roy growled and ran at him.
Immediately, the other four moved forward, soon to be engaged by the others. Ichigo ended up with Grimmjow, fighting Di Roy. Rukia faced off against Edrad with Uryū, Orihime and Chad were fighting Nakeem, and Shawlong was fighting Renji who was quickly joined by Karin. Yylfordt joined Shawlong against Renji after assessing the fighting for a few moments.
"Don't do this, Di Roy," Ichigo said, crossing blades with him. "You aren't as powerful as Grimmjow, and you definitely can't beat both him and me."
"You're nothing but a failed Arrancar," Di Roy spat. "You don't even have a resurrección. You aren't even worth this fight."
Ichigo bristled a bit, and then Grimmjow attacked from the other side. It was a short and vicious battle between them that Ichigo was a little shocked by as Grimmjow easily cut him down without a second thought. Ichigo turned and decided to help Orihime and Chad with Nakeem. He'd already increased in size once, and Chad was starting to struggle with him with his powerful arm. Ichigo slipped in between them and brought his sword up, stabbing Nakeem through the middle and surprising him. For a second Nakeem looked shocked, and Ichigo knew why. They all devalued him.
He turned and Rukia and Uryū were with Edrad. They seemed to be fine, and he glanced at Renji and Karin and noted that Shawlong had entered resurrección while Renji had summoned some sort of huge snake like thing with his weapon. Ichigo was vaguely impressed, though he moved to engage Edrad as the Arrancar avoided being hit by another arrow. Grimmjow ran over to help Renji with Shawlong and Yylfordt.
"You're nothing!" Edrad growled, summoning his resurrección as he engaged him.
Ichigo winced as he narrowly avoided being hit by a gout of fire. "Yeah, well, neither are you," Ichigo responded as Rukia engaged beside him with her ice-based attack. It was surprisingly effective against him, Ichigo noted. After a few minutes of exchanging blows, Ichigo went flying but it gave Rukia the chance to step in and exploit an opening while Edrad was concentrating on Chad moving in on his side. He fell easily before Ichigo could get back over there.
He turned and saw that Karin had broken off and was fighting Yylfordt while Renji handled Shawlong with Grimmjow's help. The others were moving in to aid their companions, but he noted that Uryū was sitting on the ground with Orihime putting some sort of gold shield over him. So, she was a healer of some sort, he guessed before he came up beside Karin.
"You are both not worth my time," Yylfordt said, moving to impale Karin.
Ichigo was too far away to do anything, though. He gasped and some instinct made him raise his sword, and he felt power of some sort racing through his being. He swiped his sword in the air, and from it, an arc of pure blue energy shot out, hitting Yylfordt before he could hurt Karin. Ichigo tottered and fell to his knees, exhausted by whatever that had been, and fell forward unconscious.
He woke a few moments later, under the golden shield Orihime used. He blinked and looked around at the concerned faces, and realized Grimmjow was right there beside him, holding his hand. He gripped Grimmjow's hand and sat up.
"What was that?" he asked.
"You tell us," Grimmjow said. "You've never done something like that before."
"We should get to Urahara's," Rukia said, looking around. "Grimmjow, can you open a portal here?"
Grimmjow stood up. "Yeah, I can take us to Karakura Town," he said as he helped Ichigo to his feet.
"I doubt Aizen will send anyone else immediately."
Grimmjow opened the garganta, and they all filed through it, coming out over Karakura Town. Rukia and Karin led them all back to this Urahara's place. As they got there, they were met by a man in a flowered shirt and another man wearing a green kusodo and hakama with a green and white striped bucket hat.
"You did it," the one in the hat said. "You brought them both."
"Yeah, but we had to fight a few Arrancar before we got here," Karin said.
Rukia grabbed Ichigo by the arm and pulled him forward, getting a glare from Grimmjow as she did it. "This is Ichigo."
The man in the flowered shirt came forward. "It is you."
"Who are you?" Ichigo asked, frowning because this man looked and felt familiar to him somehow.
"I'm your father," he said.