I Hate That I Love You - Chapter 12: Mai Daaringu

Looking up at the tall gates of Los Noches sent a wave of relief through me. I was almost there, back to Orihime's presence as I now rightfully won her comfort and loving kisses. I was going to give out soon. I could feel it slowly approaching me. I was experiencing fatal injuries. I've lost too much blood and my organs were holed and crumpled. Hopefully, I'll make it in time...

The halls were quiet; all that was audible was the sound of my trickling blood slashing on the marble floors. I didn't plan to come to Aizen first. Screw him. I planned to go to Orihime and start telling her the truth about my real whereabouts. Her room seemed so far away as I carefully limped there, using the walls for support.

Then, an overwhelming pain from my back was sent through me as I gasped. In the next second, I was on my face and against the polished floor. I was paralysed and I couldn't move toward her any closer. Not even a last kiss before I completely disappeared from the face of the earth. A pool of blood was created around me in an instant. Then, I blacked out.

"Grimmjow, Grimmjow, Grimmjow..." Orihime said repetitively out the window, and to the dessert in a whisper. "When will you come back?"

"Inoue-chan?" Ulquiorra called for the fifth time for her attention.

She finally responded. "Hm?" She twisted around to meet his gaze.

"It is time for lunch. May I escort you to the cafeteria, or do you want me to bring you the tray here instead?" he told her.

She blinked twice. How long has she been waiting and gazing out the window? "Thank you, Ulquiorra-kun, but I'm fine. You may go ahead." Orihime waved a hand nervously at him for him to leave. "I'll skip it today so I can-"

"Wait for Grimmjow?" he completed for her in an aggravating tone. "He will be most likely back tomorrow. His mission might take a while. There is no point waiting around for his arrival. I thought he explained this to you already." If he does come back, he added mentally.

Orihime looked back out the window petulantly. "Please. Go on without me. I'm not planning to escape if that's what you're worried around," she said without having to stare at his lazy green orbs.

He sighed. The Espada could not physically force the girl to eat. Aizen will be most unpleased if he did. "Suit yourself." And with that, he stalked out of her room.

As time passed, she only felt more abandoned. The promise... the one that he made. He should be keeping it, she thought. Finally, she decided to kill time by choosing to roam around the corridors for a while. Everyone was having lunch, there should be no one there willing to hurt her for now. Orihime took the halls that avoided Aizen's office and the cafeteria. She ignored the roars of her empty stomach and proceeded without looking back once. Tap, tap, tap, her footsteps echoed off the walls. The auburn-haired girl couldn't quit thinking of the idea of Grimmjow never returning again. Suddenly, she felt a wave of forlorn wash over her. Then, her vision grew blurry and her lower lip quivered. It took Orihime a moment to realize that she was crying.

Plop, plop, plop... Something in the distance interrupted the silence. Curious to see what it was, she stopped at her heels and looked over her shoulder. The sound was like a faint dripping echo. Water? she reasoned. As if Orihime was pulled to it, she decided to follow the noise. With each turn and curve toward it, it grew more audible. A scent that made her stomach twist and turn as it rummaged in her nostrils. She took one step back after realizing what it was: blood. It was undeniable; the salty and rusty smell was giving it away.

Her walks turned into jogs, her jogs turned into runs. Orihime had to help the injured Arrancar. Even if they told her to go away. Then a sound of something heavy dropping on the floor followed after the final drip. Orihime abruptly skidded to a stop and fell back on the cold floor in the sight before her after rounding a corner.

"Grimmjow-san!" she whispered loudly. The Espada that she was waiting desperately for was... Dead? She quickly shook the thought out of her head. She quickly crawled with haste toward his fallen figure, despite the red fluid that pooled around him. "Grimmjow-san?" she shook him. Stillness followed. "Grimmjow-san!" she tried again in desperation. Orihime didn't have her hairpins with her, how could she save him before he was permanently this way. It was said that she could only heal those who still had a little cling to life. It she took too long...

"Help! Help! Can anymore hear me! Please, I need help!" she cried at the tops of her lungs. She knew well that she alone couldn't carry him to Aizen to ask for the pins, and if she went now to him and asked for it, surely Aizen wouldn't believe her – Grimmjow's reiatsu wasn't even lingering in the atmosphere anymore. "HELP!" her throat soon became sore.

Orihime propped Grimmjow to lay in her lap soundlessly. His face was twisted into an expression on permanent pain and suffering. Where ever she laid her hand, there was blood on her palms and fingers. Not even a twitch or a jerking movement indicated if he was still alive.

"HEL-!" A hand quickly covered her mouth before she could finish. Fear suddenly ran through her. The girl turned pale because she knew she couldn't defend herself. Who would protect her now?

"Be quiet, Inoue-chan," the person said. "You'll attract a crowd." The voice had a familiar monotone to it.

Orihime twisted around to see Ulquiorra rather than someone who would try to kill her for making noise during lunch. "Ulquiorra-kun! Gri-Grimmjow-san is –"

"Yes, I can see that," he interrupted before she finished. "I'll do what I can. Hurry and try to let him stand."

She nodded vigorously. "All r-right," she couldn't keep her voice from shaking uncontrollably.

The two carried Grimmjow's unconscious body to Orihime's room in a rush and laid him in the bed. She didn't care if his blood was staining her sheets. "Please! Hurry and get my hairpins!"

In a whirl of black and white, Ulquiorra disappeared through the door. I'll have to thank him later, she thought. As she gently settled down his head on the pillow, her eyes were drawn to a pink scar on his chest and arms. That mark…

Badum, badum, badum...

There was that favourite sound of mine, fused with my least favourite one – Orihime was silently sobbing. I felt a strong sense of déjà vu. I've almost died twice now, and Orihime was always there to keep me alive. Each time, I had to hear her cry. I was placed in something soft this time, unlike last time's hard and cold floor, not to mention the presence of Ulquiorra. It felt like I hadn't seen her at all when I opened my eyes to gaze at her face that glittered with tears. I stared at her like it was my first time to lay eyes on Orihime Inoue. Yet that sense of guilt remained fresh.

Orihime stared at my chest where a scar of Kurosaki's Getsuga Tenshou stayed engraved. That look in her grey eyes suggested that she knew where I have been. In result, she didn't meet my eyes.

"Orihime..." I trailed off, hesitantly. "Feel free to call me a liar any time now." I knew she wanted to.

She shook her head with pursed lips. "That scar, those patterns of Zampaktou cuts... I know the one person that could have done that," Orihime whispered.

It felt odd to talk while I remained in her bed, so I made the effort to sit up. I heard a few joints pop. How long was I unconscious? "Hey, get me out of this thing first." I referred to the gold sheet that encircled me.

Her hands fell to her side without a fight and the hairpin-fairies returned to complete a blue flower design that clipped her hair neatly. Orihime didn't move from the chair she sat in, instead she looked at the wall like she saw right through me. I was aware that I wasn't fully recovered, because my body felt like a giant bruise. I threw my legs off the bed and faced Orihime.

She still refused to look at me. Then, she said, "I don't know what I'd do if Kurosaki-kun ended up killing you."

"I didn't kill him. Your other friends probably fixed him up before I could. I spared him, Orihime," I explained, feeling trapped in a corner.

She got up and wondered aimlessly around the room, absorbing what I'd told her. Maybe I was right about her still feeling something for the Substitute Shinigami. Eventually, I got up to take her wrists. "Why are you still crying? He's alive, I said."

Finally, Orihime turned to meet my gaze, her mouth hanging open. "Is that what all this is about? Jealously?"

"Aizen told me to-"

She cut me off, suddenly bursting into tears again. "You don't know me very well, do you? Haven't I explained everything to you before? Do I need to repeat it because you're deaf? I should-!"

Before she could continue with her tirade, I pulled her toward my chest and stole her words away with a kiss. Like before, it would start with careful and gentle ones, but it would grow into fierce and passionate ones. Instantly, she fell mutinous to it. I felt like I needed it after a long battle, though I half expected her to pull away and complain about her personal space. She did the exact opposite of that. Her hands grabbed my collar into fists and she pulled me closer as if telling me to never let go. We separated for only a moment so that I could carry her to the couch. Then she crawled until she was on top of me until her stomach was against mine as I leaned back toward the arm rest. Even if my still-bruised body felt the tingle of pain, I ignored it. Everything else didn't exist but Orihime for a while.

"I'm just glad you're okay, Grimmjow-san," she said when we separated from each other after a long minute.

"Quit it with the 'san' bull shit. Just call me plain Grimmjow." I finally mentioned it to her. The timing felt right.

"How about mai daaringu?" Orihime questioned.

I considered it for a moment. "That's fine too." It was stupid, but it was fine. I absently pushed the hair away from her angelic face.

"Do you remember what I said to you before?"

"You've told me a lot of things." I smirked.

"Well, try to remember this one. It was when I came in your room and explained to you why you shouldn't stay away anymore; the same night when you decided to keep that promise." Orihime's fingers traced around my mouth while she talked.

I backtracked and got hit with realization like a falling piano landing on my head. "You said that… Kurosaki is only part of your past now. He's just a friend. And-"

"You're the only one who has a place in my heart. No one else," she completed for me.

Those were the words that made me feel like I was king of the world – the same ones that drew me closer to her. "I knew that."

"Well, you should remember it next time then." Then she rested her head under my chin until I could feel her heartbeat against my skin. Her warm breathe tickled. We stayed like that for a moment until we could absorb that we were together once again.

"Who brought me here?" I asked. "I remember falling on the floor and nothing else." I almost forgot about earlier.

"Ulquiorra," she said. "He brought you in here and asked Aizen for the hairpins." I felt her smile. "I'm thankful," Orihime whispered.

Did I hear it wrong? "Who?"

"Ulquiorra," she repeated.

"Oh. Well..." I couldn't finish. "Where is he?" I asked instead.

"He told me to call him in after I was done healing you," Orihime explained. "So what was you're mission really about? Were you suppose to... kill Kurosaki-kun?"

I played with a lock of her hair as I answered. "Actually, I was just suppose to find out about how their advancing on the plot to rescue you and to kill Aizen."

Orihime frowned. "What did you find out?" she asked numbly.

"They're not coming because they had to go by the rules: Kurosaki or anyone can't come by orders," I told her.

"Oh well," I felt her shrug her thin shoulders.

I chuckled softly. "You don't want to be rescued?"

"Not if it means being taken away from you." She seemed appalled with the thought if otherwise happened.

"What if they came anyway?" I challenged.

"I'll tell them that I belong here with mai daaringu," she answered with confidence while she got to her elbows and looked down at me.

I remembered days ago when I said that if Aizen was done with her, she was going to be thrown away like garbage. I'm not going to let that happen, I thought. Then I brushed my lips on her collar bone and left kisses like fire. Next, I moved up her neck, and then her jaw line until I found my way to her lips.

"You know that I love you, right?" I asked her while she giggled at how I tickled her.

"Yes, I do. With my whole heart I believe that."

Then I thought of our first kiss and how I explained that I hated loving her. That seemed way back then. "Remember how I said I hate that I love you?"

"Yes. Why?"

"I don't think I hate it anymore," I said as my lips curled into a smug grin.

A/N: Yatta! I'm done my GrimmXHime fanfic! I felt kinda sad when I typed that final period. So send me a review and tell me what you thought of!

! I TAKE REQUESTS ! What else should I do after this story's done?