"Dammit, where the fuck could he be?"
Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez kicked the dirt under his feet, fed up and exhausted. He had been searching for Ichigo Kurosaki for the past few hours, only to realize that the soul reaper was nowhere to be found.
He was positive that this was his hometown. Karakura, wasn't it? Yet the Arrancar couldn't catch a trace of his rival's spiritual pressure. He was pissed, to say the least. It's been months since the end of the Quincy blood war, months since the two of them last interacted, and even longer since Grimmjow had been craving a rematch.
He had been preparing for this moment for a hell of a long time. When he wasn't visiting the world of the living, the former Sexta Espada would be training in Hueco Mundo, devouring lower-class hollows and fellow Arrancar to increase his spiritual pressure, all in hopes of becoming stronger –much stronger than he had ever been. Grimmjow made a vow to himself that he wouldn't face Ichigo again until he was certain that he would beat him, adding that he'd rather die than endure yet another humiliating defeat at Kurosaki's hands.
The plan was simple. He would appear in the world of the living to find Ichigo, then he would remind the bastard that he still owed him a rematch and refuse to leave until he gave him exactly that, then he would proceed to beat the crap out of the Shinigami until the bastard was officially dead. And maybe for the hell of it, Grimmjow would devour his soul, just like he does with every other opponent he fought. Everything would work exactly as planned, the Arrancar had concluded.
Except, of course, there was one problem. His opponent had to actually show up before any part of his scheme could take effect. And after hours of searching every corner of Karakura town, there was still no sign of him.
Annoyed and exhausted, the blue-haired male trekked on, letting his mind run elsewhere. He looked up from the ground and began surveying his surroundings, stopping occasionally to gaze at a passersby, or to read the symbols on the street signs –anything to ease his boredom. He was in a rather crowded part of town. People were rushing past him, chatting animatedly amongst themselves and carrying bags of goods. Cars zoomed past him on the streets, birds flew over his head, some landing on the sidewalk in front of him to peck at some leftover scraps of food.
The Arrancar watched as a few birds landed beside his feet to munch on a slice of bread. For no particular reason other than to pass the time, Grimmjow kicked at them, causing them to squeal and fly away in alarm.
He smirked, enjoying the sensation of causing terror in others, even small animals in the world of the living. That feeling of satisfaction was short-lived, though, and Grimmjow soon returned to his wandering, his smirk turning back into a frown. He continued to observe his surroundings, taking notice of all the sights he's never seen before.
For the first time, the Arrancar began to muse about how different the human world was from Hueco Mundo. The bustling city life that he was currently surrounded by was a sharp contrast to the barren, desert wasteland that he was accustomed to. Never in his existence had he seen so many trees, so much life blooming around him. Deep shades of green were beginning to transition to hues of red and orange, signifying the beginning of autumn. In contrast, his home-world of Hueco Mundo was devoid of any trees, of any form of life. Everything in his world was dead, doomed to live a cursed existence for the rest of eternity.
And Grimmjow was no exception.
He wasn't surprised when not a single pedestrian stopped to look at him or even attempt to make conversation. He was a hollow, after all. Most humans weren't able to see his kind. The thought actually comforted Grimmjow, and for a moment he thought about all the mayhem he could get away with, the amount of fear he could instill in these humans while remaining invisible to their eyes. Just thinking about it brought a sinister smile to his face.
Can't believe I haven't thought of that earlier, he mused. His mind starting swarming with all the possible shenanigans he could pull. Maybe he could use his cero to blast the windows of all these buildings, scare the living daylights out of these punks. Or perhaps paralyze everyone with his immense spiritual pressure, devour their souls, flip over some cars while he's at it. Maybe burn down a couple of trees too? Anything to get the public cowering in fear, he decided. Yeah that would certainly be fu-
"G-Grimmjow?"
"Huh?" He froze in his tracks, glancing behind him to meet the gaze of the unexpected inquisitor. It was a young woman –a human to be exact, and one that could actually see him. Her deep grey eyes stared back into his hooded blue ones, surprise making its way onto her features when realizing that she correctly identified the male before her.
"You," Grimmjow said, recognizing who the woman was. Her long auburn hair, big grey eyes, and all-too familiar reitsu was enough to confirm that. She was the girl who was taken as captive in Las Noches, back when Aizen was still in power. The same girl who healed his left arm, and the reason he was able to regain his ranking as the Sexta Espada.
Being as oblivious as he was, though, he couldn't remember her name. Whatever she was called, she was a close friend of Kurosaki, Grimmjow realized. The exact same person he's been trying to hunt down for the past several hours now. She probably knows where he is, he thought to himself. Guess my luck hasn't completely run out yet.
"What are you doing here?" The girl asked him. She had just finished shopping for groceries at the adjacent marketplace, arms full with bags containing all her brought items. The last thing she expected to see on her way home was a former Espada, roaming the streets of the human world as if he was a human himself.
Grimmjow only smirked at her question, moving towards her until they were only an arm's length away. "Nothing, just looking for an old friend. I don't suppose you know where I could find him?"
The blue-haired Arrancar was probably expecting her to tremble in fear. He expected her to know precisely who he wanted to see and what exactly he was planning to do with him. From all her days as a captive in Hueco Mundo, Grimmjow expected her to know at least that much about him.
What the Arrancar wasn't expecting, however, was for his question to be met with a denser-than-dense response.
"A friend? Oh, I didn't know you had friends here, Grimmjow!" the girl replied, her tone laced with pure innocence. "But then again, I don't know that much about you, anyway. To be honest I never took you as the type of person to have friends. You always seemed more like a loner to me…Oh, but I don't mean that in a bad way!" She started waving her hands frantically, dropping her grocery bags as a result and spilling some of the produce onto the sidewalk. "Oh no!" She crouched down and quickly started gathering her belongings, grabbing onto an orange just before it rolled onto the street. "I forget how clumsy I could be sometimes, I'm so sorry! It's just that, you being here just caught me completely off guard and I wasn't really sure what to-"
"Ugh! Enough already!" The Arrancar roared, silencing the girl immediately. He was seething with rage at this point, his patience reaching its near end. He was already exhausted from all his hours of trying to find Kurosaki, and the last thing he wanted at this point was to listen to this chick blabber on and on.
"All I want to know," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose to try to calm himself down, "Is where your boyfriend is. Ichigo Kurosaki, that name sound familiar to you?"
"b-boyfriend?" The girl repeated, her face turning scarlet at the insinuation.
"Yes, your boyfriend," Grimmjow affirmed. "Or whatever you humans call it, I don't care. I owe him a good ass whooping from the last time. I want you to tell me where he is, now."
"I..sure, yes, I would, but..it's just that.."
"What?" He asked, annoyed.
"Well, I'm afraid…I'm afraid you've got it wrong, Grimmjow," the girl said. "Ichigo isn't my boyfriend. He never was."
"Huh?" Instead of receiving another angry outburst, the auburn-haired girl was met with a look of pure confusion. "Then what the hell are you to him?" He demanded.
"Uh-well, I don't really..know," she began to stutter. "He's a good friend of mine, I guess. I care about him a lot, and he cares for me too. He's always so protective, and..and I do like him, a lot.."
She instantly covered her mouth, realizing her slip-up.
"I-I mean, as a friend, of course!" She defended, her face turning an even deeper shade of scarlet. "I like him as a friend! Nothing more than that! Heh heh.."
At this point, Grimmjow didn't know how to react. He only stared at the girl before him, who was clearly embarrassed, though he didn't completely understand why. Part of him was vexed at still not getting anywhere with Kurosaki's whereabouts, yet another part of him actually found the girl's flustered reactions to be…amusing. Something he wasn't expecting, that's for sure. He was torn between seizing her by the collar of her jacket and threatening her right then and there, or just walking away, postponing his rematch with Kurosaki for yet another day.
He decided to go with the latter option.
"Alright, whatever," he sighed. "If you happen to see him, be sure to give him the message," he turned on his heel, preparing to depart. "I don't like to be kept waiting."
And with that, the Arrancar soared into the air, disappearing behind a distant building, out of the girl's sight. Unbeknownst to Grimmjow, her gaze lingered on the spot where he disappeared, a sad smile forming on her face. She then reprimanded herself for acting so silly when asked about Ichigo.
"Gosh, that was so embarrassing," she muttered, covering her burning face with her hands. "I can't believe I said all those things. I really need to learn to stop blabbering so much!"
In the distance, a third party looked on as Grimmjow made his way towards them. Upon feeling the presence of a new spiritual pressure, the blue-haired Arrancar suddenly stopped, descending onto the nearest rooftop.
He stood before them, a scowl making its way across his face upon realizing who it was.
"Well, well," a voice greeted him. "Didn't expect to find you here."
He groaned, not in the mood for another conversation, much less with the likes of her.
"What do you want, Nel?" He ordered.
The green-haired female stepped closer towards him, maintaining her usual, calm demeanor. "I came here to ask you that, actually," she replied. "What is your interest in Orihime Inoue?"
He rose an eyebrow in confusion, until realization suddenly hit him. Orihime, huh? So that's what the girl's name was.
"Tch, what's that got to do with you, anyway?" He replied, annoyed.
Nel wasn't at all fazed by his rude response. It was typical of Grimmjow to be standoffish and avoid answering questions. Nothing new here.
She sighed. "If you're looking for Ichigo Kurosaki, you're wasting your time. He and his family are out of town. They won't be back for a couple of weeks."
At that, the blue-haired male cursed under his breath. Of course the carrot-head was out of town. Just his fucking luck. Now he has to wait yet another eternity before the two of them could fight again. Fantastic!
"Whatever," he replied. "I was about to leave, anyway. We done here?"
"Not quite. I came to find you at the request of Kisuke Urahara." His eyes widened at the mention of the familiar name, something he wasn't expecting to hear.
"Urahara, huh?" Grimmjow repeated, remembering the soul reaper he and Nel had allied with during the Quincy blood war. "What the hell does he want?"
She wasted no time explaining. "He asked that we meet him at once. We have a problem, Grimmjow."