I Hate That I Love You - CH 11: Trade
Kurosaki pulled out his weapon from my back quickly, sending another shooting pain through my body. I fell on my back, just below where he stood. the whole world rocked and went against me. It was like every nerve in me just shut down by that single movement. I could feel the blood quickly escaping through the wound. I would be drained completely soon. I looked up at him as he wore a face with no emotion. Then I weakly chuckled; it hurt my lungs. "Look who's on the ground now," I said, spewing blood.
He looked at me with bemusement, as if asking "Why are you still laughing? You're going to die."
"I'm not," I answered his unspoken question. "Not yet." Then I grabbed the hilt of my Zampaktou that was lying beside me. Everything I did hurt every part of my body. It was painful to breathe, to move my mouth... it was painful to reach for my only chance of survival. Then I called out, "grind, Panthera." I guess he was pretty stoned from surprise when my wounds healed and I physically morphed into something else. In a matter of seconds, I was able to swiftly spring on my feet.
My appearance changed to something more feline and predatory; teeth, jagged and sharp; black claws descend on my fingers and feet; a whipping tail whooshed in the air; my hair, long and flowing and my ears become one like a Panther's. Then, my clothing changed to become a form-fitting white segmented armour, similar to my original Adjuchas-Hollow form. Finally, blades rising from my forearms and calves came. A sadistic grin spreads across my face to top everything off.
"How did you...? What the hell are you?" Kurosaki demanded, suddenly choosing to step back a bit. He eyed me because it looked like I was never injured.
"We completely heal when we enter our Resurrection form. It's not over yet, Shinigami, Hollow or whatever you are." I snarled. "Now, let's get this show on the road."
Then I took a deep breathe and roared, sending out shock waves that threw him back fifty meters away from the amount of force put in it. I soared through the thin, musty air of Karakura Town after him and clashed arm-to-sword with him. I felt brand new at this state – like feeling victorious after winning first place after years and years of failing. I could spring around faster with these powerful legs. I glided around easier, whipping my slim tail at him. Soon enough, a dark and ominous purple cloud hung about this town as our battle was distorting the atmosphere. Hand-to-hand combat is what I was originally skilled at – that's why I never take out my Kanata. Destruction was my ideal word. Meanwhile, Kurosaki depended on his lousy hand-and-eye coordination.
He found an opening in me somehow and cut me across my chest, spilling red blood. In return, I spun around wildly with a leg pointing out, looking like a hurricane. When my foot slapped his face, half of his mask came off. I laughed in amusement. With another kick that landed on top of his head, Kurosaki swirled down toward the ground once again. The sound of many of those metal contraptions beeping filled the streets. I was destroying his town too – a town in which Orihime was never going to return to.
Quickly, he shot up like a bullet and we intersected each other. Both of us were dripping in blood and in sticky sweat. Each bruised and injured. Right now, we were in a tie game.
"You're trying hard, I see," I commented too casually for someone who was bleeding.
"Of course I am!" Kurosaki responded.
We withdrew from each other in a single jump back, gasping for air.
"What if she – doesn't want to go – back?" I asked between breaths.
"Why would Orihime want to stay in a place where she is always 'being beaten into a plump'?" he questioned.
I chuckled. He looked at me with a peculiar expression because he was missing on a very important fact: she sorta does want to stay. I'm not very sure myself. Maybe that's why I never told her were my mission was. I was afraid of taking the chance of putting the idea of coming home in her head.
"What the hell is so funny?" he demanded.
"What's the point of telling you when you're about to die?" Then, we instantly came back into feuding over Orihime Inoue.
I clutched his black kimono at the collar in a fist and he watched in sudden shock as an Ultimate Cero formed. In a matter of seconds, I released it and he was pushed away through two tall buildings. Then the Getsuga Tenshou came at me next. I easily dodged it using Sonido. Then he was behind me in the next second.
"I'm not falling for that again!" I snarled, swiftly turning around and aiming to inject my hand through his heart. I could almost taste victory. This battle was coming into an end soon...
Then my hand stopped mid-strike. It took me a moment to register that he caught my hand. Those gold eyes bore into mine with negligence. Using his Zampaktou, he pushed me downward – with the blade to my arms – toward the ground and hard cement.
"I will get Orihime back!" he repeated as we both cut through the air.
"Over my dead body," I bellowed.
Finally, my back went through a series of buildings that were constructed with glass. My spine was close to snapping at the amount of strength he used. When I finally landed on flat ground, something heavy and made of metal landed on top of me. To add to the dilemma, he used his Getsuga Tenshou at me and it burned my skin. It threw my back into a light pole. It landed horizontally on my abdomen. I felt like hell this time. Something told me that I was going to lose. Yet, I decline that because I refused to give Orihime back to this asshole. I had to get up and fight...
He made contact with his foot and my chest, pushing out all my oxygen in a huff. Kurosaki had a grin on his face. He pointed his Zampaktou at my throat as I looked up at him.
"I win, Jaegerjaquez Grimmjow. Time to hand Orihime over," he said.
"No..." It hurt to talk. "Quite the contrary." I pointed my elbows at him and shot my Five Darts, and he was totally unprepared.
Kurosaki was sent flying back as he received my secretive attack that could cut through a fifty-foot thick iron wall. That was one of my ultimate attacks – there's no way he could withstand that.
I still felt like crap even if I knew I won the battle. I should be laughing wildly and breaking things for the pleasure, right? Instead, I lay on the cold cement with a light pole on my abdomen. I threw the pole aside and staggered to my feet. My spine felt swollen and brittle, like a door hanging on one hinge. I didn't want to be stuck in this world paralyzed.
I limped over to where Kurosaki was, leaving a trail of shiny red blood behind me. He was on his back in a sidewalk, looking lifeless. The mask was slowly breaking apart until it was completely gone. I could see the exact points the darts entered his body, because there were splotches of blood on certain areas in his beaten-up state. His heart was still slowly beating, not quite dead yet but a few hours away to reach its cold hands. He couldn't get up and fight anymore. The Shinigami was done.
Then his eyes slowly opened to see my figure standing over him like a tall building. "I couldn't j-just have... That means... Orihime..." his eyes looked alarmed.
How badly I wanted to stomp on his ribs or poke a hole through his chest where his heart kept its chamber. Yet why was I not rubbing it in his face that I won? "Like the deal described, I get to keep the girl since I won," I croaked.
"I?" it was barely above a whisper.
"I mean Aizen," I added quickly. "But hey, don't worry so much, Kurosaki – she'd in good hands. Trust me." I hated how gentle I was again.
"How do... do you know my n-name?" he asked.
"She tells me lots about you."
Then I heard fast-paced footsteps coming this way. "Ichigo! Ichigo!" his friends called on top of their lungs.
Kurosaki sighed. "I promised them I would get her back."
"I got a promise to keep too, Shinigami. Excuse me while I try to keep it," I said, raising a finger and poking the air. The portal opened to reveal the black void.
I made my way towards it and stepped in, making my first trail of reishi. My back gave me piercing stings of great pain with every step I took. My foot would sometimes slip off the edge as I desperately walked. Why did I hesitate to kill him once and for all? Why am I leaving him for his friends to heal his deep wounds? I got an answer that I found after a minute: because he was Orihime's friend.
A/N: There you have it! Grimmjow wins! I'm not very experienced on writing out battle scenes, so I hope it's not confusing. Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed.