Memuro poked the corpse-like body lying on the floor. "What happened to the Narrator, Rakuen-sama?"
"I think she's been killed." Pulling out a hat similar to Sherlock Holmes' Rakuen placed it on her head. "It's a mystery! Let's get to solving it, Memuro-chan!"
Taking one more look at the Narrator's body Memuro nodded. "Okay! Let's go!" She agreed, running after her friend.
The Narrator rolled over on her stomach and sighed.
Mm…So tired…
Memuro looked down at the few arrancar that had given into the shinigami that had overtaken Las Noches. The small arrancar ran to and fro, serving the shinigami that were waiting there.
"…I'm feeling somewhat unnerved." Memuro mentioned, sipping the tea a small green haired arrancar had served her. Grimmjow opened his mouth to tell her she was just being "fuckin' stupid" but she continued. "And no, I'm not just being stupid. I can feel that there's something wrong with Rangiku-fukutaichō and Hitsugaya-taichō."
Mayuri glared at the group from the other side of the hall "Don't be foolish. The other taichō are there, along with Yamamoto, they will be able to control the remaining espada."
The sexta espada glared murderously at the scientist, but Memuro stopped him. "I think the foolish one is you, Kurotsuchi. With how long it's been, and the fact we've had no contact, I think things have turned bad."
"Something doesn't feel right about Karakura Town either." Ichigo added, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.
"I think the battle will be coming to a close soon." Retsu mentioned, speaking up for the first time. "The espada's numbers have dwindled, and now only Jeagerjaques-san remains."
Grimmjow's interest seemed to be piqued. He grinned manically at the concept of being the strongest, highest ranked espada. "The others are gone? Then all that's left is Aizen and the other shinigami?"
"The last message that was sent to us informed us that on the other side the espada were defeated, as well as Kaname-san. They also mentioned that the Vizard had appeared." Isane stated formally. She seemed to be the only one keeping in close contact with the human world. "All that should remain is Ichimaru-san and Aizen-san."
Anger filled Memuro at the thought of her friends fighting to save Karakura Town while she sat there not doing anything. "If Aizen were here I would tear out his heart with my own hands." She hissed, hatefully glaring at his throne.
Resting calming hand on her shoulder, Grimmjow sneered at anyone who gave them, mostly directed at him, a nervous look. Turning his attention back to her, he attempted to reassure her. "We'll get our time."
She ignored everyone else in the room and just let his words soak into her. He was right. They would get their time.
Rakuen looked around the kitchen curiously, holding up an unnecessary magnifying glass as she scoped the room. "I've found my first clue! The jar of peanut butter is sitting open on the counter!"
"And what does that mean, Rakuen-sama?" Memuro asked.
"I'm not quite sure. But let's write it down in our notebook anyway!"
As everyone continued waiting Ichigo suddenly perked up. "Something's happening."
Before anyone could figure out what he meant, the whole of Las Noches began to quake. The walls crumbled, the floors began to shift out of place, and the ceiling of the structure fell.
"Hinagiku! Lily! Baigon! Santen Kesshun, I reject!" Orihime cried, opening a shield that covered everyone in the room from the falling debris.
Memuro held onto Grimmjow, confused and feeling a slight bit of fear. "What's happening?!"
Through the dust the loud shriek of hallows accompanied with the tearing sound of a garganta could be heard. The shaking seemed to stop as a bloody and frenzied Aizen appeared. His normal calm and powerful disposition had broken apart and been replaced with untamed rage."Everyone will die!! You are all going to face a horrible end now!!!" He cried hysterically.
Ichigo pulled out his sword and glowered at the manic shinigami. "Aizen!! This ends now!"
"This will not end! For gods there are no endings!!" Aizen spat at him, raising his own sword to strike those gathered in the remains of Las Noches.
The shinigami pulled out their swords, as well as Grimmjow, while Ichigo launched himself in his enemy's direction and pulled on his mask. The two clashed together, metal meeting metal, reiatsu meeting reiatsu.
And the chaos increased. Memuro ran at the already battling shinigami and released her sword directly to bankai. As Ichigo pushed the crazed former captain back, Memuro took that chance to land a harsh kick directly to Aizen's side, causing several ribs to crack.
A blur of blue was seen as Grimmjow appeared and slashed at Aizen, which he carefully blocked, but left open the free space for Ichigo to land a blow. The three jumped away from Aizen as a flow of cherry blossom petals flew past them, slashing through the evil "god" repeatedly. The blossoms cleared as over a thousand arrows flew past from Uryū's bow, and nailed their lone enemy. As the dust cleared again, Zabimaru's snake head was thrown in the wounded ruler of Las Noches' direction, knocking him back to whatever remnants of a wall still stood. While Zabimaru retracted Sado dashed past, releasing his Brazo Izquierda del Diablo, and attacked with la Muerte.
The severely wounded former captain fell to his knees in the rubble. Ichigo, Memuro, and Grimmjow walked over to him. Aizen's craze seemed to have passed, and he reverted to his calm.
"Your end is now." Ichigo stated, staring down at the nearly dead shinigami.
Aizen looked over at the three of them and coughed up a mouthful of blood. "I already told you, gods will never die."
Memuro sneered down at him. "You are far too pathetic to ever be a god."
Ichigo almost seemed a little sorry for him. "You won't harm anyone ever again." He then turned to Retsu. "Is there any way we can take him back to Seireitei and keep him contained there?"
The fourth division captain shook her head in reply. "He has done too many horrible things to be forgiven of him. Our orders would be Aizen-san's immediate elimination."
Light reflected off of the metal of a sword and Aizen's head rolled to Ichigo's feet. "And that is why you're pathetic, shinigami." Grimmjow growled at Ichigo, sheathing Pantera. "You never go in for the kill! You need to learn to finish what you start!"
Looking down at his feet, Ichigo sighed. "You're right…" He then looked up determinedly and stared eye to eye with the only remaining espada. "Aizen might have been undeserving scum, but there are others who deserve to have a second chance. It's up to us to decide."
"There are no second chances in real life, shinigami!" Grimmjow shouted. "You may have been lucky until now, but against real monsters, evil monsters, you'll die if you go easy on them. It's kill or be killed in real life!"
He couldn't reply. All Ichigo could do was wonder if Grimmjow was really right. Was there no hope for people to reform from their evil ways?
Memuro placed a hand on Ichigo's shoulders. "I think this is a time to agree to disagree. It's really over now, so let's just go home."
Watching her smile at him seemed to reassure him somewhat. "Yeah, I'm sure they're all waiting for us."
"Ah! Another clue!" Rakuen smiled, picking up an apple shaped candle.
Memuro stared at it as well. "But what does it mean, Rakuen-sama?"
They both stared at each other for a moment, until Rakuen exclaimed, "It means we must find more clues!" And they both continued searching.
As the shinigami and the sole arrancar walked through the garganta, the other shinigami pulled out their weapons again.
"Another arrancar?! What's going on?" Tōshirō asked, staring directly at Memuro.
"We can handle one more." Shinji stated, pulling down his mask again.
Grimmjow reached for his weapon as well, but Memuro stopped him as she stepped in front of him. "Please step down, Vizard. And Grimmjow is on my side, Hitsugaya."
The small captain narrowed his eyes. "Have you forgotten your place, Chiyote? It's Hitsugaya-taichō."
She shook her head in reply. "I'm afraid it no longer is for me."
"Memuro-chan…" Rangiku whispered, watching her from behind Tōshirō.
"Forgive me, Hitsugaya, but I hereby resign from my position as third seat of the tenth division." She stated, determination showing clearly on her features.
"And just where do you expect to go, Chiyote?" Yamamoto asked, walking over to Memuro and Grimmjow.
Scanning the crowed Memuro locked eyes with Keisuke. "I was hoping that Urahara-san would be willing to help the two of us."
The enigmatic blonde looked at the two of them; a shine seemed to show in his eye. "Well, I know I can arrange a gigai for Chiyote-san, but to make one for the arrancar would be quite intriguing…"
"There's no way I would allow an arrancar to live in the human realm." Yamamoto declared, watching the two of them.
Ichigo stood up to face the intimidating captain-commander. "You shouldn't make decisions for a realm that you don't even live in." He stated, looking determinedly at the shinigami. "I will watch over Karakura Town, and Chiyote-san and Grimmjow will help."
"Yeah," Shinji added, making his way over to them, grinning like a mad man, "Plus if the arrancar ever feels the need to attack anyone innocent, we can always…contain him."
"Ya won't need to!" Grimmjow glared, staring hatefully at them.
"Please, let's just do this peacefully." Memuro mumbled, placing a calming hand on Grimmjow's shoulder. "We're better off having Grimmjow on our side; he will be a great asset in the future. But you all know that. In fact you're all simply afraid of what he could do."
Yamamoto merely ignored Memuro's speech. "I will leave them under your charge, Kurosaki Ichigo. If anything is to happen to the human world because of the arrancar, it will come back to you."
"Now, now…I don't think that all this tension is necessary." Kisuke said, placing his hand on Ichigo's shoulder. "I believe the war is over now, so why not allow everyone to return home?"
A goofy smile found its way across Shunsui's lips. "That sounds like a great idea. Wouldn't you agree, Yama-jii?"
After a moment, Yamamoto spoke again. "We will return to Soul Society. But I will be keeping a close eye on this world."
"That's alright. This world will be perfectly fine, so send as many shinigami as you'd like." Memuro stated, smiling assuredly. She then pulled Ichigo away from the others. "Thank you, Ichigo, sincerely. I know that everything wouldn't have worked out if it hadn't been for you."
He seemed to be embarrassed, but happy that she had said that. "We all worked hard."
"That may be, but now I'd like to ask one more favor of you…" Smiling nervously, the former third seat rubbed her hands together behind her back.
"Rakuen-sama, could this be a clue?" Memuro asked, picking up the empty beer bottles stashed under the Narrator's bed.
"Hmm…I don't believe it is. But this," Rakuen held up a pair of ripped jeans, "is obviously a clue!"
"If you say so, Rakuen-sama."
"Ah! Ichi-nii's bringing another girl home!! Does Rukia-chan know about this?!" Yuzu asked, obviously shocked at the new woman standing in the doorway.
A fist collided with Ichigo's cheek and sent him flying into the wall. "Ichigo! Bringing more women into this household?! You're such a horn dog!"
Memuro giggled at the strange family, and walked into the house followed closely by Grimmjow, who had a firm hold on her waist. "Sorry to intrude." She smiled apologetically. "I'm Kurosaki-chan's…pen pal Chiyote Memuro, and this is Jeagerjaques Grimmjow. The two of us came from…Europe. We're interested in finding a home here in Karakura Town, but for the moment we have no place to live. And that's when Kurosaki-chan was nice enough to offer to allow us to stay here, at least until we're able to rent a place of our own."
Yuzu and Isshin were both in tears at the story Memuro had made up on the spot. Karin scoffed and walked away. "You're all idiots." She muttered, sipping her soda.
"You're welcome into our home!" Yuzu smiled, motioning her arm inward as if to invite them in. "I'm Kurosaki Yuzu, and that's my sister Kurosaki Karin, we're both delighted to have you here."
"And I'm Kurosaki Isshin!" Isshin smiled, taking Memuro's hand and kissing it goofily, then taking Grimmjow's hand and having his crushed by the arrancar's pure power. "Nice…to meet you…" He chuckled, rubbing his throbbing hand.
Taking hold of Grimmjow's hand, Memuro laughed nervously. "Now, now, Grimmjow-kun, let's just get things settled. Then we need to talk to Urahara-san about that loan."
"That's right!" Isshin shouted again, running over to Ichigo and attempting to tackle him, but it was quickly deflected. "Ichigo! Move you things so you can be comfortable on the sofa, I'm sure your room will be enough for your guests!"
The orange haired teen seemed to grumble some sort of protest, but went to do as he was asked anyway. He really just hoped they wouldn't be staying for long.
"Well, welcome to my shop!" A large grin was hidden behind a small fan as Kisuke greeted Memuro and Grimmjow. "And, what can I help the two of you with this fine afternoon?"
Grimmjow glared at him, obviously not receiving his attempt at lightheartedness. "You know what we need, shinigami." He growled, looking around the shop in disinterest. "Don't mock us."
A still lighthearted smile spread across his lips. "Ah, pardon me, arrancar-san. That was not my intent. I simply wished to know why you two felt the need to come visit me today; I don't know what your thoughts are."
Memuro smiled at Kisuke, pulling out a wallet that was filled with everything she had saved throughout her time working as the third seat of the tenth division, which turned out to be quite a bit of money. "I need you to assist us in a currency exchange, and perhaps to provide us in some goods that will keep our reiatsus level."
"Well," Kisuke's grin seemed to grow, "perhaps we could work out some details for your predicament."
"Hmm…" Rakuen hummed, stroking her chin. "What would peanut butter, an odd shaped candle, and ripped jeans have to do with Narrator-san's murder?"
"I'm not sure it has anything to do with it." Memuro mentioned, looking at the items that had been brought together.
Oh! I know!! It was Mistress Lavender in the underground mental asylum with the machete!
The two stared at the now conscious Narrator. "Haha! I knew those clues would help us discover what happened to you." Rakuen smiled.
Uhh, sure. Anyway, time for a long time skip~
The seasons had just changed again; spring had sprung upon the ever busy town of Karakura. Flowers were blooming, children were coming out of their warm hideaways to play in the sun, the whole town seemed like it had been born again.
A large mop of blue stuck its way out from under the blanket on the bed as a disheveled Grimmjow looked for his missing bedmate. "'Memu?" His voice seemed more rough than usual.
"I'll be right there." The sweet voice seemed to have a singsong ring to it. Memuro walked into the room, she carried a tray of freshly made pancakes that had been smothered with syrup, whipped cream, and strawberries. "Good morning, sleepy-head."
"'Morning." He grumbled, a light smirk on his lips as he watched her sit down next to him.
Memuro grabbed a strawberry and popped it in her mouth. "Well now, it's a wonderful day, still rather early, so what to do now?"
Both perked up as a small mess of blue showed over the edge of the bed. The blue slowly made its way around the end of the bed to the side, obviously trying to be sneaky. "I think I know something we're gonna do." Grimmjow smirked slightly, watching the tiny mop of blue hair.
"Hmm, I think I know what we should do…" The woman smiled, sneaking towards the edge of the bed. "I think it's…tickle time!!"
There was a playful shriek as the little blue haired girl was yanked onto the bed. The mother continued to tickle and play with the four year old girl as she smiled and laughed as well. "'Kaa-tan!! Stop, 'Kaa-tan!!" The girl giggled and squirmed, smiling and enjoying her play time.
"No, I think I like my tickle Sayo-chan time!" Memuro laughed, continuing to play with her baby girl.
"Otou-tan, help!!" She cried, grinning madly as she jumped into her father's arms. "Okaa-tan's tickling me!!"
Grimmjow smiled as Sayoko sat on his lap. "Then let's get outta here."
The two disappeared and reappeared outside of the second story window. "Bye-bye, 'Kaa-tan! Catch us if you can!!" The child called as she and Grimmjow shot off into town, running through the sky together.
Memuro smiled and ran after the two of them, laughing heartily. She quickly caught up with the two of them. Grimmjow grabbed her waist and planted a rough kiss on her lips. Sayoko twirled around, giggling happily at her loving family.
It had happened: she was happy. She had an amazing, yet originally unexpected, lover; a beautiful baby girl, (with a new child on the way, but don't tell Grimmy yet); a wonderful place to live, surrounded with all her friends. Memuro knew this is how she wanted to live, and how she was going to live for a very long time. Perhaps happy endings were attainable.
"Ahh, my life is so amazing!!" Memuro cried, hugging the Narrator tightly.
Rakuen nodded and smiled. "Well, I am very pleased with this. You didn't die and you completed the story, Narrator-san."
Yeah, this story did fight me tooth and nail at times, but I did enjoy working on it. Luckily it ended in a way I felt fitting. Thank you to all who read this story, I hope you all enjoyed this story! And thank you for your patience!
"Thank you!" Memuro grinned, waving at the audience for the last time.