I Hate That I Love You - CH 9: Orange-haired Shinigami
Orihime threw the doors open as soon as she realized who was at the other side. "Grimmjow-san!"
It was the middle of the night, and I came over once again. That fucking meeting took way too long and I didn't have time to visit her. Well, here I am now, breaking the rules and adding on to my reputation.
"Hey," I greeted, walking in and shutting the door behind me with a distinctive click. I guess she had no intentions of sleeping either—her bed sheets were untouched as they remained in an orderly state though it was probably past one in the morning. Shut-eye was at eleven for everyone.
Her arms wrapped around me at once. "I didn't see you today at all! I knew you would come, though!" It sounded like I was her prince with shining armour who was going to rescue her from Aizen's grasp.
But she knew me too well. "Of course. Ulquiorra isn't going to hold me back." I smirked.
Orihime's smile looked like it could stretch to her ears.
We went right to business...
I craned my neck down to receive the soft kisses of Orihime Inoue; she was on her toes, giving them to me. I carried her up until she sat on the dresser and now we reached each other. Her arms wrapped around my neck and my fingers tangled in her brilliant hair. Like a spark of flame, it immediately turned into a fierce kiss. We would enjoy ourselves until Ulquiorra could bust me. I bet my reiatsu was going crazy. It went from so small that I could hide it, to stretched and free. I loved how she made me do that.
Then a small flicker of Ulquiorra's reiatsu occurred, meaning he had a slip to masking it, which also meant he was coming and a very high probability that he was mad too. I withdrew from her and frowned at how fast he noticed. Maybe he was expecting this and he stayed up too.
"I can get you off the hook," Orihime said as she jumped off the dresser. Then she used the mirror to smoothen her tangled hair, and she straightened her clothes.
"'Kay, thanks."
"So what was your meeting about anyway?" she asked absently.
Remembering what Aizen told me earlier, I decided to go with his suggestion for an excuse. "Nothing much. Just reminders for us Espadas." Lying was natural to me. It rolled off my tongue like it was my native language that I was speaking my whole life. "Hey... I won't be here in Los Noches tomorrow."
Orihime pouted. "Why?"
"I have to look for an Arrancar Aizen wants to talk to. I'm supposed to drop him a message," I said nonchalantly. I was making everything up form the top of my head.
"Where are you going to find this Arrancar?" she asked in a tiny voice.
"Just through the deserts. It might be a long way to the guy's place, so don't try to look for me. I'll be back at the end of tomorrow or two days from now," I explained. It was amazing how much she believed everything I said. There was no hint of suspicion in her voice.
Orihime grabbed my left hand and held it between her own hands. I'd miss the warmth of her skin. "You promise me you'll be back? It's nothing dangerous, right?" She swallowed.
"Yeah, I promise. Don't worry 'bout me." I gave back a half-hearted smile. Footsteps tapped closer toward the door. "He's here," I said as my head whipped to the door.
The doors busted open and it revealed Ulquiorra on the other side. He marched in angrily. "Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez!" he bellowed.
"I'm here, I'm here," I said, already heading for the door.
His jaw locked. "What did I tell you be—"
Orihime cut him off. "Ulquiorra-sama, he was only telling me about the meeting and his mission!" she explained.
Then his face looked like it moved into a twist of shock for a moment. "What did he say?" he asked her.
"It was a reminder for Espadas only. Also, Grimmjow-san is supposed to send a message to an Arrancar tomorrow," she answered vigorously.
Ulquiorra's face loosened. "Of course." He thought I told Orihime everything, didn't he? As he turned his attention back to me, one cold glare told me everything.
"I'm going," I grumbled, and started for my room reluctantly. I was in no mood to hear his tirade.
"Wise choice." He nodded, closing the door as he followed me out.
"Goodnight, Grimmjow-san!" I heard her call after me. Is that the last thing I may ever hear from her?
I stared into the portal of darkness that would somehow bring me to the World of the Living to find Orihime's ex-lover. My lips pursed into a hard line. I didn't want to go, I'm being forced to. Instead, I wanted to spend as much time as I could in Orihime's presence. Fucking Aizen couldn't pick someone else.
"Make a trail with reishi and keep walking forward," Aizen instructed. "Good luck." A little short for directions through an empty portal, don't you think?
I went along with it anyway. "Here goes another waste of time," I mumbled, leaving with trust that Ulquiorra will take care of Orihime for now.
I walked through the empty void with nothing to lead me but Aizen's unspecific instruction. I didn't even know if I was going forward. Is it possible that you could get lost here? It was like a black hole; meaningless and empty. The white road of reishi was the only thing that I seemed to find colour in. Everything was just pitch black.
A few hours passed as I kept moving toward nothing, until I saw a hole that perched upon the darkness. The hole had colour—blue background and white, soft-looking things that had some resemblance to cotton candy. I remembered that I saw the same thing outside my window at day time. Even though Aizen's version was artificial, it was surprisingly similar.
I reached for it...
Soon I was able to step in the hole with both feet and on mid-air as I compressed some more reishi under them. Then the hole behind me disappeared. I now stared down at this peculiar world. There were tall buildings and houses, plants that added greenery and strange rectangular-shaped contraptions that was made of coloured metal that moved on black, round items. It was cheery-looking, a place where Orihime blended into. I let myself fall and slowly landed in greenery. Grass, that's what it's called. It was this world's grey sand. The few people who passed didn't notice me. I was invincible to them of course. Now all I had to do was draw the bait with my own reiatsu.
I released it, unleashing what was bundled in me that I kept for battle use. Mine was a bit different from an ordinary Hollow. Kurosaki and the others would be coming to see what was causing all the strange reiatsu of course. Somewhere in the distance I felt a group of different reiatsus coming toward me: a Shinigami's, a Quincy's, a human's and... that was odd. The one coming at me the fastest was a Shinigami, yet there was a mixture of a Hollow's.
I knew at once that this reiatsu belonged to Kurosaki Ichigo.
"Ichigo, slow down!" a female voice complained.
"If you want us to work together in fighting this Hollow then slow down!" a male one added.
Another male gruffed in agreement.
"Just pick-up the pace guys. I don't have time to waste!" The last one was who I assumed to be him.
Then at the corner of my eye, I saw a glimpse of orange. I turned my head casually to see the Shinigami-slash-Hollow in a usual black kimono Shinigamis were fond to. His hair was a bright orange and his Zampaktou was as long as his body. He now wielded it, curiosity and anger battling in his eyes.
I realized that my lips curled in one corner as I felt some excitement coming along. "Hey," I greeted.
"Cut the small talk! What the hell are you?" he asked, one hand twitching on his side.
Soon enough, the female Shinigami with dark hair, the human with a demented weapon wrapped around his arm and the bow-wielding Quincy arrived at his heels. They were all surprised, while Kurosaki was more... itching for action like I was.
"Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez. Espada number six." I turned around to show the tattoo on the side of my arm for a brief moment. It displayed that I was in sixth ranking in the top ten Arrancars Aizen kept.
The Shinigami gasped with sudden realization. "Is that what Urahara-san was talking about? The Espadas working under Aizen?"
"You're absolutely right," I answered for Kurosaki.
"Then that means you have her!" Ichigo pointed his weapon at me, his tone, similar to a growl.
I decided to play dumb. "Have who?" I asked.
"Orihime Inoue!"
Looks like Kurosaki actually wanted to save her. I myself wondered why he didn't come to Heuco Mundo if he was as determined as he looked. It would have been entertaining in front of everyone if I was going to fight him there. It wouldn't matter anyway because he'd have to go through me to get the girl back for himself.
"Oh, that's the chick's name. Yeah, we have her. We're taking real good care of your friend," I said in an aggravating tone.
I grinned when his reiatsu seemed to thicken in my words. "Bring her back!" he demanded like I would just hand her over.
"And if I don't?" I challenged.
The others looked at Ichigo with sharp gazes, knowing what he was going to say next. "I'm going to have to kill you then," he answered firmly.
A/N: I seriously need to update faster… With school tests piling along, and distractions, I can only devote about fifteen minutes of my time each day. I will try to squeeze in at lest forty minutes next time! I promise I will try!