– Stray –
"Grimmjow, no, and that's final!" A blond woman replied curtly, pulling along a small boy in the sea of people.
"But Auntie Hali!" A small boy of eight began to protest, puffing up his cheeks for effect.
"My answer isn't going to change, Grimmjow, so drop it."
"Hmph!" a frown crossed tanned lips as the one called Grimmjow allowed himself to be pulled around. He hated this… He didn't like going here… it just smelled… ew. There were all those people walking with masks on their faces, carrying around deadly looking pointy silver-things. He shuddered. He hated hospitals.
But they were there for a reason. Said reason was his Uncle Stark. Who got into an accident just last night. Crazy sleepy old geezer. Who in their right mind would drive the highway at three in the morning? Ah, well. There wasn't much damage done, anyway, his uncle only got minor bruises and was sent to the hospital just to get them cleaned. So why were they there? Bills, right.
"Good morning, how may I help you?" a desk nurse greeted cheerfully as they approached her.
'Get me the hell outta here,' Grimmjow replied in his mind but said nothing aloud. He could see that his Aunt was worried, he wasn't much of a heartless bastard to add to her grief. His Aunt and Uncle were the ones he lived with – they were the only family that he knew. He knew that his parents had abandoned him ever since he was a kid but he didn't brood on that too much. He didn't care. If those fuckers didn't like him, then he sure as hell didn't like them either. Yes, at age eight, Grimmjow knew how to swear.
"Thank you." He heard his Auntie say before dragging him off again, rushing towards a flight of stairs.
And he was here again, why? Oh right. Because there's no one to take care of him back at their house. But for the love of god, he was eight! He can very much take care of himself, thank you very much! Still, Halibel didn't trust him to stay home by himself. He'd just place it on her sort-of-maternal-side and he sort-of agreed to come in the end.
The blonde woman went down a long corridor before stopping at a large white door at the end. Of course it was white! Everything in the damned hellhole was white! Jeez. Didn't those people know any other color? How did they go choose the color theme anyway?
'So what color should we use for the walls of our hospital?'
'Red!'
'No, no. It will blend in with the patients' blood, gotta keep track of their blood loss, you know.'
'Green!'
'Heavens no! What if they vomit on the floor? Can't clean that up properly I suppose?'
'Yellow!'
'It's too darn bright. And it reminds me of pee and the ooze that goes out of injuries.'
'You're right, ew.'
'I've got it! White! It's so clean we'll be able to see all the blood, guts and vomit that our patients will throw at us!'
'What genius! White it is!'
'Hurrah!'
Grimmjow snickered quietly. What the hell was that about? And why did his mind provide him with voices that had a British accent?
"Halibel…" a familiar and weary voice greeted as they entered he door. "And you've brought Grimmjow along, too…"
His Auntie hurried over to the bedside where his uncle lay.
Stark had a lazy smile on his face as he watched them come nearer. He had a gauze pad stuck to his left cheek and bandages around his right forearm but other than that, he looked fine.
Halibel took the seat beside the bed while Grimmjow placed his arms on the hospital bed's mattress, looking curiously at the room in general.
"Tell me what happened…" the blond woman's voice said, sounding very anxious despite her cool front.
"Well, I was just going back from work…" Stark began and Grimmjow instantly cut off the rest of the man's words. He was so not hearing that. It's not that he didn't care; accidents happen all the time right? And he already saw that his Uncle was alright, why know the details of some accident still?
While his Aunt and Uncle continued to converse, wide sapphire eyes scouted the room for anything interesting. His eyes roamed the entire ward once. Twice. Still nothing but injured old men and women. In white. Boring.
He caught the stormy gray eyes of his Uncle. He pouted, showing that he was very much disliking this place. He then pointed towards the door, asking for permission to explore the place. Stark let out a sigh but nodded discreetly; Halibel was still fussing over him to notice the short exchange. Grimmjow grinned widely before tiptoeing his way out the door. Stark was a nice man – no wait, scratch that – Stark was a GREAT man; very great indeed.
Once he was out of the ward, Grimmjow scratched his head; now what? Deeming that he should maybe check around the other rooms, the blue-eyed kid went and did just that. Come on, he's eight and inside fucking big building. What else do you expect of a child?
Grimmjow was humming softly as he opened doors slightly and peered inside for a moment before closing the door shut again. He didn't want to get caught snooping around; no siree. He was already at the opposite end of the hall; the doors along the way contained nothing different from the room his Uncle was in. If there wasn't anything interesting in this last door he was giving up and giving his final verdict on the damned hospital, which was suspiciously close to BORING.
His small tanned hand grasped the silver doorknob, twisting it clockwise and quietly opening the door. He poked his curious little head inside. Lo and behold: the room wasn't a ward. It was a private room, and it looked like nobody was there. Grimmjow walked into the room, closing the door softly behind him. Wow, there was a bed, a couch, a TV, and a ref in there (not to mention that it was air-conditioned). He could practically live in there!
His small feet led him to explore the room a bit more, urged on by simple curiosity. He went over to the bed and went stock still with surprise at finding someone lying there. The room wasn't as empty as he'd thought.
A small child was lying, cocooned in the pristine white sheets. The kid's skin was pale enough to rival the covers and untidy ebony locks of hair was strewn around the head resting on a large fluffy pillow. The most curious thing about the patient was the roll of bandages around his eyes.
Grimmjow moved closer, staring unabashedly at the seemingly dozing child. Then again, he couldn't even tell if the patient was asleep, the kid could be dead for all he knew. Startled by the thought, the blue-haired kid froze. What if the patient really was dead? A grimace formed on tanned lips; well, he had to check… Slowly, cautiously, Grimmjow lifted his hand and moved it towards the unmoving child; he raised it above the metal railings that lined the edges of the bed. His fist was closed but his pointing finger was stretched out. The tip of his finger was half an inch away from the pale skin when he stopped. What on earth was he thinking? He should just get out of there. Grimmjow drew back his arm when a voice spoke –
"Who are you?" a quiet and emotionless voice asked.
The tanned boy jumped in surprise, his hand crudely colliding with the metal railing as he went down. "Shit! Who is that?"
"I asked you first, who are you?" the same voice queried.
"Well…" Grimmjow's teeth were chattering uncontrollably. Someone was talking to him and he couldn't even see them. Ghosts weren't real, right? "S-Show yourself first!"
"I'm already here. Small child lying on the hospital bed, ring a bell?" came the weary and somewhat sardonic reply.
Sapphire eyes turned to the patient and sure enough, the kid's mouth was open. Hah! So there wasn't any ghost! Nothing to be afraid of… unless the kid was already dead himself! Grimmjow backed away, stopping dead when his back collided with something. "A-Are you dead?" he found himself asking.
"Will you tell me your name if I answer that?"
"Holy shit, a talking corpse!"
"I am not dead, you." The patient child responded curtly. "Now, who are you and what are you doing here?"
"You're really not dead?"
"Yes."
Grimmjow could tell that the ebony-haired kid was already getting irritated so he answered hastily. "I'm Grimmjow, and, er, I just kinda stumbled into this room. I was visiting my Uncle with my Aunt and I sort of sneaked out… It was boring in there."
"Well there's nothing more amusing here, I'll tell you that."
Gaining confidence, Grimmjow went beside the bed once more, crossing his arms on the mattress. "So what's your name?" he asked, leaning towards the other.
"You went into the room without even reading the nameplate outside?"
"Come on… Oh, and why's your voice like a guy, when you look like a girl?"
"I'm a guy, thank you very much. As for my name, it's Ulquiorra."
"Nice name, Orra!" Grimmjow grinned.
"Orra?" If his brow wasn't covered with bandages, it would've been raised so high, it would go into his hairline.
"Yeah, well, Ulquiorra is quite a mouthful of a name, you know…" Grimmjow responded rather sheepishly. "And calling you 'Ulqui' is just weird. It's like… 'Ul' with… a 'weee'… It sounds girly, if you ask me."
"Fine." Ulquiorra conceded.
"So…" Grimmjow began, realizing that the bedridden kid wasn't going to start a conversation any time soon. "What's with all the bandages around your eyes?"
"I just got out of an operation."
"Huh?"
"Cornea transplant."
"What the hell? Can you translate that to idiot-language, please?"
A short chuckle escaped pale lips.
"Stop the laughing and get on with the explaining, kiddo!"
"I'm blind," was Ulquiorra's simple reply. He wasn't the type to just speak out to random people but something about this new guest of his just urged him to. Talking with this Grimmjow kid was easy, even though there was the unending string of cuss words every now and then, it was alright. He rather enjoyed it.
"Blind huh?" Grimmjow scratched his chin as his wide sapphire eyes were staring at the wrapped-up eyes of his companion. "So… You've been in an accident and got yourself blind?"
"Yes, two years ago." The ebony-haired kid replied with a slight inclination of his head.
"Really? So you've been here for two long years already? That must've sucked…" the blue-haired child was now standing on tiptoes, his face peering too close at that of the patient's. Awe and wonder had settled upon the boyish features.
"Not exactly, Grimmjow… And can you please not breathe in my face?" Ulquiorra asked, feeling quite unusual at having someone's hot breath against his cheek.
"Whoops, sorry…" the tanned boy apologized, inching his face a bit farther to give privacy to the ebony-haired kid.
"It's alright… Anyway, your question… I didn't spend the past two years here…" the pale one explained. "Two years ago, I did something stupid and ended up blind. I had to stop studying in school and my parents had to hire a home teacher so that I could still have my education. All that time, though, they never gave up and eventually, they found out about some operation that could possibly restore my sight. It was lucky that they found a compatible donor as well. I underwent the surgery three days ago and now I'm here."
"Wow…" Grimmjow's eyes scanned the room intuitively, "So, uh, where are you're parents? They didn't leave you, now, did they?"
"Of course not," came an indignant reply. "They just went out to get food… It's right about lunch time I suppose."
"I see… How long do your folks take to eat lunch?"
"Around an hour. Why?"
"So you're just left here by yourself?"
"Yes."
"You just lie there and do nothing for a whole hour?"
"It'll just be for a week, and then the bandages will be taken off and we'll go home. No more hospitalization unless something goes wrong… I'm supposed to use that one hour for rest, you know…"
Sensing some hidden meaning in those words, Grimmjow asked uneasily, "Er, am I bothering you?"
"Not really."
"But you just said you're supposed to be resting…"
"Rest, yes, but I must admit it's gotten pretty boring just lying here day and night…"
"So… I can stay?"
"It would be fine with me… but didn't you say you have an Aunt with you or something?"
"Oh shit, you're right!" Grimmjow backed up in alarm. Halibel was going to broil him when she realizes that he'd sneaked off; which the woman had already probably did.
"You'd better go…" the bedridden boy ushered.
"You'll be okay by yourself?" uncertainty filled sapphire eyes.
"Of course."
"I – Well, I'll try to come by again tomorrow," Grimmjow vowed and he promptly grasped his new friend's pale hand that was simply lying on top of the pristine sheets. "I'll see you again, Orra. Bye for now." With that, the blue-haired boy rushed out of the door, preparing to hear another earful from his Aunt.
Pale hands gently grasped each other, small fingers softly running on the porcelain skin. Ulquiorra buried himself deeper into the white blankets, his mind replaying his unexpected visit over and over. "Grimmjow," he murmured quietly. "What an interesting boy…"
– From G to U –
"Where have you been?!" Halibel was nothing less than seething when her young nephew slipped back into the ward.
"Sorry, Auntie Hali," and Grimmjow looked true to his words, his too-blue eyes downcast as he mumbled his apology.
"You haven't answered my question, young man." Emerald orbs fixed upon the child before her.
"I made a new friend…" the tanned boy answered, still looking down.
"Friend–? Grimmjow, this is a hospital! People here have illnesses, what if you get infected?"
"Sorry…"
An exasperated sigh passed the blonde woman's lips. "It's alright. Just… tell me where you're going next time, alright?"
"Next time?" Grimmjow finally raised his head to meet his Aunt's gaze.
"Yes, apparently, your Uncle has to stay in for a few more days…"
"I can come too when you visit him, right?" too-blue irises shone with barely suppressed excitement.
"Of course. I daresay I'd like to meet this 'new friend' of yours soon…" Halibel smiled kindly.
– From G to U –
"Orra!"
A loud greeting preceded the entrance of an eight year-old boy with bright blue hair. He pushed open the door and bounded into the room, his Aunt looking rather reproachful as she followed in his wake. It was a new day and they had come by the hospital again, the first thing on their agenda, though, was a visit to Grimmjow's new friend – after much pleading and begging on the young boy's part.
When he bounded into the room, however, Grimmjow was faced with a very much different scene from his expectations. Ulquiorra was not lying in the hospital bed as he did yesterday; instead he was sitting upright with two adults on either side of his bed. Two adults that he didn't recognize. The man and woman looked down at him in utter surprise, eyes wide and with frowns upon their lips.
"Who are you?" a busty woman with long waving teal hair asked, taking her attention away from the patient in between her and her husband to look skeptically at the boy.
Shocked to the core at this unexpected turn of events, Grimmjow hastily took a step back, colliding against his aunt's legs. "Ah-Um… I…" his eyes looked up helplessly at Halibel.
"Grimmjow?" a quiet voice asked out, Ulquiorra's hands tightened on the white sheets.
"You know that kid, Ulquiorra?" a man with long raven hair asked from the pale boy's other side, his visible onyx eye looking between his son and the foreign boy.
"I met him the other day, Dad…" Ulquiorra explained.
"Oh, you've made a friend! I'm so glad!" the teal-haired woman rushed back to her son and gave the child a big hug to her bosom.
"So is he the friend you were telling me about, Grimmjow?" Halibel asked, placing a hand atop her nephew's unruly blue hair.
"Yeah… I just didn't expect that his parents would be here…" the blue-eyed boy muttered.
"I apologize for my rudeness earlier," Ulquiorra's mother said, turning to their guests. Her hazel eyes now filled with warmth. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Neliel but feel free to call me Nel. This is my husband, Nnoitra," the raven-haired man gave a nod in acknowledgement. "And this is our son, Ulquiorra… And you are… a friend of his… Grimmjow, is that right?" the woman asked, flashing a welcoming smile at the tanned kid.
Grimmjow didn't trust himself to speak much and was very thankful when his aunt took the reigns.
"Good morning, Miss Nel," the blonde woman began, giving off a courteous air, "My name is Halibel and this is my nephew, Grimmjow."
"Nice to meet you all," Grimmjow spoke upon receiving a pointed look from his aunt.
"Nice to meet you as well," Nel replied, "Would you like to come up here, beside Ulquiorra? It's been a while since my son here had called anyone his friend."
The tanned boy looked up at Halibel who nodded her consent. Grinning from ear to ear, Grimmjow went over to the bandaged boy. "Hey, Orra!" he greeted casually as though they'd been friends for years.
"Grimmjow…" Ulquiorra's hand slowly traveled across his lap, moving towards the direction from where he heard the other boy's voice come from.
Somewhat guessing what the other was trying to do, Grimmjow captured the straying hand in both of his. "Yeah, I'm here…"
"So, Grimmjow, tell us how you met my son…" Nnoitra said from the right side of the hospital bed, eyeing the kid with a mistrustful look.
"I went with my Auntie to this hospital to visit my Uncle yesterday and then I got bored and began exploring the place…" Grimmjow answered with his brows furrowed; he did not like Ulquiorra's father one bit. "Then I chanced upon this room and that's it."
"Uh-huh…" Nnoitra frowned and looked down at the blue-haired boy who was keeping hold on his son's hand. His wife, however, had other concerns.
"Your uncle's in the hospital, Grimmjow?" Nel asked.
The blue-haired boy nodded but it was his Aunt who gave an explanation.
"He got involved in a minor accident," Halibel supplied. "He's currently staying in the ward at the end of the hallway."
"Really? We must see him… After all, you took your time to visit our dear son, right, Nnoitra?" Neliel glanced over at her hubby who immediately broke off his glaring contest with Grimmjow to reply.
"Oh, alright…" Nnoitra conceded, "But what about Ulquiorra?"
"Grimmjow would keep him company. Won't you, Grimmjow?" hazel eyes turned towards the tanned boy.
"O-Of course." The blue-haired boy responded.
"Will you be alright just by yourselves?" Halibel asked, looking worriedly at her nephew.
"We'll be fine, Auntie Hali." Grimmjow assured the woman.
"Let's go then…" Neliel said to her fellow adults and Halibel led them out the door. Nnoitra lagged behind and shot the tanned boy a glare, giving the kid an 'I'm-watching-you' sign.
Grimmjow only stuck out his tongue at Ulquiorra's father, returning the man's glare evenly. Only when the sound of the door closing did he turn his attention back to the blind boy.
"Hey," the blue-haired boy began, "Sorry for suddenly barging into your room like that… You didn't tell me that your parents will be here too early."
"Actually, you're the one who's too early…" Ulquiorra corrected his guest.
"Oh, okay…" Grimmjow's eyes dropped to his hands which still held Ulquiorra's in between them. He smiled at the view. "Well, your mom seems nice… I don't like your dad very much, he's always glaring at me for some reason…"
A small smile decorated the ebony-haired kid's face at his friend's remark. "My Dad doesn't trust other people very much…"
"Okay… So does that mean that you trust me?" the young Jeagerjaques asked, looking towards the bandages around the patient's eyes.
"I can't see why I shouldn't…" Ulquiorra replied, "And I just don't mean that in a literal way…"
Grimmjow chuckled. "Your mom said that it's been a while since you've had a friend… Why's that?"
"I'm blind, Grimmjow, I can't just come out to play anytime I want…" the pale kid answered. "Besides, not many people likes to associate themselves with the blind…"
"But you're not gonna be blind much longer, right?"
"I hope so…"
"Don't be so negative, Orra…"
"I'm being realistic… I heard that there's always a slight chance for the operation to go wrong…"
"Well blind or not, I'm still your friend…" Grimmjow declared with a grin.
"You mean that?" the pale hand in between tanned ones tightened their hold.
"Of course."
– From G to U –
"No!"
"Ulquiorra, sweetie, be sensible…" Neliel appeased, both of her hands holding on to the shoulders of the resisting child.
"Mom, I said no… I… I promised him…" the pale boy muttered, his small hands clutching the bandages around his eyes protectively.
"Him again?" Nnoitra raised a brow at his son's behavior. "Ulquiorra, listen, he's still going to see you, and you're still going to see him, whether or not that little brat's here when the doctors unwrap the bandages…"
"I don't want…"
"Now, now, Ulquiorra, I'm sure your friend will be glad to see you without your bandages… Let me remove them now, alright?" the kindly voice of the doctor did nothing to budge the ebony-haired kid's resolve.
"Orra! I'm sorry I'm late!" Grimmjow burst into the room, panting heavily from running. He quickly rushed over to his pale friend's side, filling in the space that the teal-haired mother had vacated for him.
Ulquiorra's father rolled his eyes but gave no comment, his attention falling back to his son.
"Grimmjow…" Huffs and pants followed the call as two adults entered the room. A blonde woman and a brunet man walked in, hand in hand, and they moved to stand behind the parents of the patient.
"Er… does this mean we can start now?" the doctor asked uneasily, receiving a nod from the patient concerned. "Alright."
Slowly, the doctor cut a line of bandage and began to unwrap the boy's eyes. It took less than a minute, and finally, Ulquiorra's face was free of the strips of cloth.
"Grimmjow?" Ulquiorra's voice asked quietly, his pale hand reaching out eventually settling on his friend's tanned cheeks.
"It's me, Orra." The blue-haired boy assured, placing his own hands over the other's. "Open your eyes…"
The ebony-haired boy nodded once and slowly, pale eyelids fluttered open, revealing the brightest green eyes that Grimmjow had ever seen.
"Grimmjow…" the pale boy began, his too-green eyes boring onto the face of the tanned kid before him.
"Can you see?" Nel's anxious voice came from the background but Ulquiorra's eyes were still locked on his fellow child.
"Mom… his hair is blue…" a deeply concerned voice pointed out.
The excited expression on Grimmjow's face fell in a split second as snorts of laughter erupted behind him. Scowling, Grimmjow took a tight hold on the pale boy's hands and removed them from his face, pulling the once-blind boy towards him as he did so. The force he used was excessive, such that he was now nose to nose with the pale-skinned boy.
"So what if my hair is fucking blue?!" Grimmjow asked with a bit more force than necessary.
Ulquiorra blinked slowly, realization hitting him; telling him that, indeed, Grimmjow's head was topped with a bright blue mop of hair. His eyes took in the details of the boyish face; the fierce expression, blazing sapphire eyes and sun-kissed skin. And then he realized how close he was to the other boy; the porcelain cheeks were promptly filled with a rosy color.
"Oi! What's your problem, huh?" Grimmjow shouted when he saw that the other kid was unlikely to reply.
At this, a small smile formed on pale lips and jade green irises were filled with joy. "Nothing at all. I'm very much glad… that Grimmjow is the first one I got to see…"
The response instantly wiped away all bubbles of boiling anger from the tanned boy. A grin fought its way to his lips and his hold on the other relaxed. "Yeah…" Grimmjow found himself replying. "I'm glad of that too…"
– From G to U –
A/N: Mommy Nel + Daddy Nnoi = Baby Ulqui? Works for me! Nnoi's got black hair and so does Ulqui; basically that's my stand… I had Stark and Hali as Grimm's Uncle and Aunt since I have no idea who in the Bleachverse had effin' blue hair… Grimm's parentless, just so it's clear… I somehow have the parents of my characters dead one way or another when I write fics… I realized that; wow.
Do not ask me about the hospital colors… I'm on crack, I suppose. And no offense to any British people out there, but the accent is really nice.
The ending didn't turn out like I planned when I started this ficlet but what the heck, it's the best I could do with it. Word count (without the A/N) is 4145. I have no idea why I'm counting the words but what the heck... XD