Grimmjow growled as he heard the knock at his door, wrestling with his bow tie. Somehow he'd managed to get one hand tangled up it in.
"It's open," he shouted, the only person it could be was Chihiro. Musical laughter greeted him, the sight of him tangled the cause for it. He scowled attempting to yank his hand from the mess and succeeded in choking himself as the knot pulled tighter.
"Here let me," she muttered, moving closer to him. Grimmjow instantly stilled when he realised how close they were, her lips a dark red looked so kissable. A smiled graced her lips as his hand fell to his side. It seemed he'd forgotten about it. Quickly she tied it, fixing his collar while he was still out of it. Grimmjow looked marvellous in black and white attire, his blue eyes and hair looked brighter but it was his feral grin the made him seem so dashing.
"You clean up good Grimm, even got all the paint out of your hair," she remarked, snapping him out of his daze.
"Thanks Precious. You look absolutely gorgeous Chihiro," he murmured. It took her a second to realise he was talking about her. Ichigo had been forced to give him her fake name for tonight's function, but he still called her Silence so she wasn't used to that name coming from him.
Ichigo herself was wearing a strapless red gown covered in red and silver beads that glittered when the light hit them. The gown itself was virtually backless, her long red hair had also been pinned up in a bun. Her tattoo and scar covered in concealer for the night.
"Just let me grab my jacket and then we can go," he mumbled, Ichigo grabbed his arm stopping him.
"Grimm promise me that you will go along with whatever I say and do tonight. It's important you do so promise me," she begged, her grip tightening. He could see the desperation in her honey-brown eyes, he'd never seen her look like that. Something about it scared him.
"I promise."
So far she hadn't seen anyone she recognised and Grimmjow himself wasn't very social so they hadn't really spoken to anyone either. Ichigo was about to let herself relax and begin to really enjoy the dinner until Grimm groaned, smashing a fist into the table.
"Are you okay?" She asked, frowning. What could possibly bother this man so much.
"No, my father just spotted us and he's coming over. If he's here then that detestable little weasel will be skulking around somewhere as well," he muttered, standing as an old man approached them.
"I am Baraggan Louisenbairn, this idiots father," he grunted. Ichigo stood with a smile, wrapping her arm around Grimmjow's.
"Chihiro Miyama, it's a pleasure to meet you," she said in a voice a little different from her own. Baraggan smiled, Ichigo couldn't see how these two were father and son. He had a face like a leather boot and was more stocky than Grimmjow, his eyes a muddy brown.
"The pleasures all mine dear, why don't you ditch this stupid runt and join me. I guarantee a most splendid evening." Ichigo blushed, repulsed by the man, and moved closer to Grimmjow shaking her head.
"Christ dad, yer scaring her, back off," he growled, scowling. While the pair were busy fighting to be alpha male, Ichigo slipped her ring on to her wedding finger.
"Please stop," she cried, "I'm sorry sir but I plan to stay where I am."
"I see you found yourself a lovely dinner partner brother." The person that interrupted had a voice like silk, smooth and dark. A voice that could entice you to do anything. Ichigo shivered. All eyes turned to the new comer.
"Ah Aizen glad you could join us," Baraggan said, moving aside to make room for the man. Ichigo clamped down on her fear before it showed on her face, she locked it away for later. Slowly she stepped out from behind Grimmjow, fingers gripping his arm like a vice.
"Oh my, Ichigo how lovely it is to see you again," he said, quite shocked. She drew her brows in, acting confused. His voice made her skin crawl, especially when he spoke her name.
"Idiot," Grimmjow muttered, snorting.
"I'm sorry but my name is Chihiro." A frown appeared but only for a second before his ever-present smile returned.
"I do apologise, you remind me greatly of someone I once knew. I should have known, she was never as graceful as you," he replied, raking his eyes over her. Grimmjow growled at him.
"Get bent," he hissed, not happy with how he was staring at her. It was taking all his control not to punch the bastard.
"What are ya doing here anyways?" He asked, finally noticing her strong Chihiro's hold on his arm was. Now seemed to be a good time to pull all the attention away from her.
"What! Can't a father see how he's son is doing, even if he is a worthless piece of trash," he grunted, not even looking at Grimmjow as he spoke.
"In other words yer here to show off pencil dick. Look do as yer like but next time don't talk to me," he said close to shouting. How could he stand there and say shit like that when he couldn't even attend his own wife's funeral.
"Don't think you can tell me what to do boy," Baraggan spat, his face livid.
"Verdammtes stück scheiße."
"I see the wench taught you that disgusting language. She ruined you boy, could have done something with your life instead of this crap." Ichigo forced herself between the two, pushing Baraggan away from Grimmjow with little force, hating that she had to pretend to be weak.
"Please stop this," she cried, glaring weakly at the man in front of her.
"Where did you find this girl brother?" Aizen asked, greatly amused by the sight of her standing up against his father when she herself seemed so weak.
"I'm his fiancé," Ichigo said, taking her place by his side once more, showing both men the ring that adorned her finger. If Grimmjow was surprised by what she said he didn't show, though the other two were clearly shocked by the news.
"I met her at her job, completely by chance and asked her to model for me. It kinda developed from there," he explained, using a half truth.
"Oh, what do you do for a job Chihiro?" Aizen asked hoping to poke holes in it, thinking it was a lie. Hoping this woman was the fiery red-head he'd been searching for.
"I teach ballet once a week at a local school." That explained why she was so graceful, if he could see her back then he could finally convince himself this wasn't Ichigo. He saw her corpse, the girl was dead yet he couldn't shake the feeling she wasn't.
"My friend Nnoitra was harassing me to meet his girlfriend and he had tickets to a production of swan lake. He conned me into going with them and that's when I saw her. Chihiro was Odette, she was beautiful I couldn't take my eyes offa her. Anyways Neliel, Nnoi's girl, her cousin was one of the swans, she took us back stage so she could talk to her. That's when I saw Chihiro getting her nose bashed in by one of the other performers."
"He ended up having to pull her off me, the girl was mad I got the lead. Grimmjow took me to the hospital, I was new to the school and didn't really know anyone. I was so thankful that I agreed to model for his paintings. I saw a lot of him after that, it took me a while to realise I liked him, the poor man went through a lot of trouble over me," she said, blushing again. Grimmjow wrapped an arm around her waist, smiling softly. Ichigo didn't see it but his father and brother did, that was enough to convince them. He had never acted like that before. Baraggan nodded once his gaze stern, it seemed he approved of them.
"Well we're leaving, it's late and I've put her through a lot tonight," he said, leaving no room for arguments. Ichigo managed a few quick good byes before Grimmjow was pulling her along to the exit. Aizen watched the couple leave, that woman wasn't Ichigo. But that didn't mean she couldn't replace his beloved Ichigo.