Author's Notes:
Once more, here we go~
So did everyone have a nice Halloween? I did, for sure :D I went to this amazing Halloween party organized by the Otakuthon staff and had an amaaaazing time :3 We danced the night away to Para Para and anime music, all in cosplay ;D Too much fun to handle for one night, my legs still hurt from all the dancing (:
And I went trick-or-treating, yeeeey (: Got lots of candy. A very peculiar story, almost spooky, happened to me on Halloween night, but more on that next chapter as it intrigued me so much that I decided to insert it into the story itself O:
And once more, here we go for the thank yous (: Thank you all for reviewing, you are making me immensely happy by reviewing, y'know. I updated sooner cause I remembered a lot of people asked me update soon, so I made an effort and wrote faster today :D So thank you KakushiMiko, Sath-chan Blues Kitty, Fox573, dimonyo-anghel, Skyeh, Coolgirl150, tifalochrt, TTfanTT and TimelessTears for your heartwarming reviews~
So here you go! Hope you enjoy (: Title of the chapter is spanish for "Rip It Off" for those who don't speak spanish (:
Warning: OOC-ness (duuuuh) and violence, and I don't remember if there's swearing, but if there is, can't say I didn't warn ya O_O"
"Morning..." Grimmjow yawned as he got up and stretched, rubbing his head.
"Morning..." Ichigo answered with a yawn, too lazy to even stretch.
Ulquiorra simply mumbled in his half-asleep daze.
"Were you okay sleeping on a mattress like that?" the youngest of them asked as he rolled off the bed and fell down on Grimmjow's mattress with a groan.
"Yeah, it's actually quite comfortable." The blue-haired Espada muttered as he watched Ichigo lie down a couple of feet next to him.
"I'm just surprised we could all fit in my room." The orange-haired teen shrugged, looking at Ulquiorra. The smaller Espada had been given a smaller mattress and was squished in between Grimmjow's mattress and the closet where Rukia usually hung out when she came to visit. Then again, he didn't seem to mind the tight space as the tranquil, tired expression on his face proved he was content with what he had.
"Yeah, sorry about busting in like this." The Sexta whispered again, slightly embarrassed.
"That's okay. Now that you're on our side, I have to do whatever it takes to help you get better. Although I can't erase everything..." Grimmjow froze at that. "I can help you learn how to live." Ichigo smiled. "So." He pushed himself up and stood in front of Grimmjow with a grin. "Welcome to the Kurosaki residence. Make yourself at home."
Speechless in front of all this kindness, Grimmjow gaped for a moment before lowering his gaze and blushing. Of all the people who'd ever help them in time of need...
"Thanks, Ichigo..." he whispered. "I can't thank you enough..."
"It's okay, don't mention it." The teen smiled.
"And... sorry." The Sexta added in a breath just below a whisper.
"What?" a shocked expression crossed the Shinigami's face. Grimmjow, the fierce and Almighty Sexta Espada had apologized? Had he heard right? "Did you just-"
The cat-like Arrancar cut him off by sinking back into his sheets and hiding his burning cheeks in his pillow.
"I said I'm hungry." A muffled sound came from the pillow.
Ichigo stared for just one more moment before smiling lightly and nodding.
"Yeah... Wake Ulquiorra up and I'll go get us some breakfast..." he suggested before leaving.
Grimmjow only removed his face from the pillow once he made sure Ichigo had left. His cheeks were turning red fast as he realized he was building ties with the person he wanted to kill only a few days ago. Then again, if his heart said it's a good thing, he figured he should just continue doing whatever he was doing.
"Oi, Ulquiorra, move your lazy butt out of bed." The Sexta roughly nudged the Cuatra's shoulder, making him roll and hit the closet with a groan before getting up and glaring at his assailant. He was just about to say something when Grimmjow's gaze neutered. "And don't you dare pull ranks on me."
The Cuatra's mouth shut as soon as it was opened, and the two sat in an awkward silence for a while.
"So, what's up?" Ulquiorra finally asked, staring out the window on the other side of the room, next to Ichigo's bed.
"Ichigo went to get us breakfast. I guess we just hang around and wait for him to come back." Grimmjow told him as he directed his gaze at the same spot Ulquiorra was staring at. The sun was shining bright today and it looked beautiful outside.
That is, until there was a suddenly shadow, startling the two Ex-Espada, who jerked out of their trance and stared dumbly as two Shinigami appeared in front of the window and opened it, sneaking inside while muttering things t each other. Obviously, they hadn't been noticed.
"Ichigo's gonna be surprised..." the girl giggled as the red-haired man rolled his eyes.
"Sure."
That's when the two turned their eyes to the room, and gazes crossed.
"Espada!" the black-haired girl and the man exclaimed, pulling out their zanpakuto swiftly.
"Shinigami!" Just as promptly, the Espada jumped up and drew their zanpakuto, each side pointing their weapons at the other.
"What are you doing here?" the girl cried out roughly as she clutched her sword tighter.
"Same question here, Shinigami." Ulquiorra winced as pain racked through his half-healed ribs as the sudden movement.
"Shit, what do we do, Rukia? We're no match for them alone..." the male whispered.
"Where the hell is Ichigo?" the girl, Rukia, seethed in response.
As if answering, the door opened at that very moment, all eyes upon the teenager who strode calmly inside the room, a platter carrying their breakfasts in his arms.
There was a heavy silence and then Ichigo sighed.
"Renji, Rukia, please lower your weapons." He muttered uninterestedly.
"Ichigo, what the hell is wrong with you? Are you blind?" Renji all but yelled, making the two Espada tense. Feeling the tension in the air, Grimmjow made a move to release, but pain shot up his arm, making him cringe and clutch his shoulder where his arm had almost been cut off the other day.
"Grimmjow, Ulquiorra." Just as calmly, Ichigo put the breakfasts down on his desk. "Please lower your weapons then. These two are friends of mine."
Still weary, the two Espada exchanged glances before deciding that showing them they had no harmful intentions was the best idea. Slowly, their zanpakuto slid back into their sheaths and the sheaths fell to the floor with an audible clang.
Stunned, the two Shinigami simply stared as the Arrancars lowered their weapons and stared at Ichigo for more directions.
"Alright." The teen cheerfully decided. "I think we can eat."
"About time." Grimmjow muttered as he grabbed the plate Ichigo was handing him.
"Yeah, I'm starving." Ulquiorra rolled his eyes as he accepted his serving.
"I'm sorry." Ichigo grabbed his plate and stuffed some bacon in his mouth before turning to Rukia and Renji, who looked about to faint at the sight of the threesome. "Did you want any of this?" he asked, putting his plate out towards them.
"W-Who are you and what have you done with Ichigo?" Rukia demanded, putting her sword out so close to Ichigo he could feel the coldness from the blade against his forehead.
"Ichigo Kurosaki, substitute shinigami and representative of Karakura Town, at your service." Ichigo stared at her dumbly. "I just happen to have two previous members of the Espada recovering from their otherwise-fatal wounds in my room." He munched on a sausage.
Rukia kept staring.
"B-but y-you... t-they... I-I..." she finally sighed and sheathed her zanpakuto, sitting down on Ichigo's bed. "You'd better have a good explanation for this, Kurosaki." She glared at the Ex-Espada who did their best to ignore her murderous gaze and munch on bacon and toast.
"We do." Ichigo assured her with a smile as he drank some milk and sat down on his chair.
"Start from the beginning." Renji muttered, following in Rukia's footsteps and sitting right next to her. "Why the hell are they here?" he forcefully asked, gritting his teeth and almost getting the strong-willed Espada to shrink under the hateful glare. Why did everyone hate them so?
"Long story short. Aizen went berserk –as usual- and killed all the Espada and these two managed to escape." Ichigo summarized, seeing as the Arrancars obviously didn't wanna talk about it.
Surprisingly, though, Grimmjow directly addressed the subject right after Ichigo finished explaining. It was just a couple of words, but it made Ichigo realize that they were finally recovering from the blow of losing everything they'd grown up with after such a short time.
"Son of a bitch."
There was another silence and then Rukia sighed.
"Then why would we give a damn what happens in Hueco Mundo?" she looked away, crossing her arms.
Grimmjow forced himself to drink some milk to choke down the angry scream that could have easily torn out of his throat. After all, who wouldn't feel angry -and somewhat sad- for being hated for something they couldn't help?
"I'm with Rukia on this one, Ichigo." Renji gave him a sympathetic look. "They're Arrancars, we're Shinigami. They're Espada, and we strive to wipe all worlds clean of Espada. They're Aizen's soldiers, they serve our greatest enemy. Their goal in life is to eliminate us just as our goal in life is to eliminate them."
Grimmjow's fingers twitched and he subtly reached for his zanpakuto, wishing more than anything to shut the two annoying Shinigami up. They didn't know anything, they couldn't judge them like that! It felt unfair to have people look down upon them and actually BELIEVE they belonged to Aizen. It infuriated him to no end.
Thankfully for everyone in the room, Ulquiorra suddenly snatched Grimmjow's wrist, squeezing. The Sexta turned around and stared in surprise at the Cuatra, who was giving him a dead serious warning stare.
"I'm sorry to intrude upon your conversation." The ebony-haired Arrancar cut in before anyone could add anything. "We are not Aizen's anything. We live, breathe and remain conscious of our surroundings. It would be someone unfair and irrelevant to call us anything but free men." He glared at the two Shinigami, who stared back with as much surprise as on Grimmjow's face.
And here was Ulquiorra, the least reactive of all Espada, standing up for their rights.
Coming down to the real world sure had changed them a lot already...
"He's right." Grimmjow snatched his wrist out of Ulquiorra's grasp and rubbed it for a moment before getting up. "Minimal respect would be appreciated." He headed for the door and paused as his hand clenched around the handle. "Thanks for breakfast. I'm going out for some fresh air."
And he exited.
"I'll follow him." Ulquiorra excused himself and threw the Shinigami a look before running out after his companion.
"I don't see why you have to care." Rukia immediately commented after he'd left.
"Because. They hold lots of information we could use on Aizen. Besides." He looked Rukia straight in the eyes even if she tried to divert her ashamed gaze. "They were wounded and teetering on the brink of death. I couldn't just let them die. They're hurting too. I have to help them."
"You can't help everyone you find." Renji commented. "They're your enemies. As soon as they're recovered enough to start fighting again, they're gonna try and kill you."
"I don't believe that." Ichigo confidently answered, his gaze unwavering. "Aizen killed their comrades in front of their eyes. He abandoned them to die. I'm pretty sure they put up the tough guy facade, but who knows what he's done to them in the past. He destroyed everything they grew up with and he tried to kill them. Do you still think they'd follow Aizen after all that if they had the choice?"
The Shinigami looked at each other and looked away right afterwards. After a little silence, very tense between the three teens, Rukia got up.
"I'm sorry. I guess I didn't consider it that way." She apologized.
"It's cool. Grimmjow might take it a little personally, but I'm sure they'll forget soon." The orange-haired teen laughed.
"Speaking of which, if you feel like you're in the need of saving something, I think you might wanna save that cat down there." Renji commented, pointing out the window. Ichigo rushed to his side, only to be met with a hilarious sight.
Grimmjow was sitting up in the tree a little further away from his window, his face somewhat sad as he held a random street cat by the paws, holding it up in the air. The cat meowed in fear as the Espada shook it a little, continually meowing in Grimmjow's face as the Arrancar kept gently shaking it, his expression unchanging. Below him, Ulquiorra was trying to coax him to let the poor thing go and get down from there.
Ichigo grinned, and then suddenly started laughing at the scene before him. They looked so innocent even though they've gone through so many tribulations.
Still laughing, Ichigo pulled the window open and felt the sun caressing his cheek. What a beautiful day.
"Oi, Grimmjow, Ulquiorra, get in here for a moment." He called, catching both Arrancars' attentions. Grimmjow threw him an uninterested look and finally put the frightened cat down on the branch, petting it a couple of times before getting up and jumping to his windowsill, with Ulquiorra following close behind.
The two got back inside, ignoring Rukia and Renji, who were standing on the side, looking guilty.
"So first of all, we wanna say sorry." Renji muttered.
"Sorry." Rukia whispered.
"And I wanted to bring up the debate on Urahara-san's subject." The red-haired shinigami continued. "Urahara-san could help us, after all, he's very nice and he knows a lot of things. He's also very powerful so he could easily protect everyone from Soul Society."
"That's actually something we could consider, Renji." Ichigo's eyes lit up in realisation. "Of course. We could explain everything to Urahara-san, he'd understand for sure. I could even ask him if we could use his underground training cave for these two." He mused out loud.
"Ichigo, I'd like to remind you that if anyone from Soul Society learns we're alive and in the real world, we'll be dead before you can say 'ah shit'." Grimmjow pointed out.
"True, true..." Ichigo sighed. "But I think it's for the best. Let's go see Urahara-san. At worst, I'll just have to protect you and we'll find a solution. We'll improvise. We'll see." He shrugged.
Rubbing his arm self-consciously, the blue-haired Arrancar looked down. Feeling his distress, his fellow survivor briefly put a hand on his shoulder as an encouragement and managed to let the corners of my mouth twitch a little upwards.
"Alright then. You two change so we can leave." The orange-haired shinigami decided.
"Yes mom." Grimmjow snickered, grabbing his clothes from the nearby desk and walking out to change in the bathroom.
Ulquiorra, loyal to his quiet nature, simply grabbed his clothes and walked out as well.
Ichigo simply had time to pull his shirt off before Grimmjow came running back in, this time shirtless and in his hands, a bunch of bloody bandages.
"Oi Kurosaki, do you have any spare bandages? Damn slash wound is not quite closed and Ulquiorra says he'll kick my ass if I don't wrap it up in the next three minutes." He sighed, gesturing to the large, healing scar on his shoulder. It extended from a little part of his back, over his shoulder, and down until the top of his Hollow Hole. Truly a terrifying injury. Even more so when Grimmjow remembered Aizen was the one who had given it to him.
"Yeah, they're in the second drawer in the bathroom." Ichigo simply told him, pulling on a shirt.
"Kay thanks." Grimmjow called as he left again, the number 6 carved into his skin shining like an ominous symbol as he left the room.
The Shinigami simply stared until he was gone and turned back to Ichigo, who was buttoning his pants.
"We're coming with you, I suppose." Rukia smiled.
"Only if you want." The teen shrugged before heading for the door.
Once in the hallway, he quickly spotted the Arrancars hogging the bathroom and headed for them.
"Hurry up, let's just get this over with." He sighed as he watched Grimmjow struggle with his bandages, Ulquiorra hitting him across the head once in a while to keep him steady.
"Whenever Princess decides she'll let me work in peace." The Cuatra growled lightly as he tucked one end of the bandages inside and sighed. "There, done."
"About damn time." Grimmjow muttered, pulling on his shirt and hiding everything from sight.
Ichigo only noted the gruff attitude before they left for Urahara's house.
The walk was silent once again, with Ichigo in his human form accompanying the two Espada while Rukia and Renji strode from behind. They crossed the busy streets and passed by all the restaurants that were finishing up on their morning meals, watching few people walking by at this time of the day. After all, it was Sunday, and with the workdays just around the corner, everyone wanted to sleep in late while they still could.
The five teens got to Urahara's candy shop soon enough, too soon for the Espada's liking. They weren't looking forward to meeting one of the most powerful shinigami out there, that's for sure.
Ichigo entered first, met with the shabby inside of the fake candy shop. Grimmjow and Ulquiorra entered second, looking around curiously.
"Oi Ichigo, is that you?" A boy's voice suddenly came as a red head popped from behind a rack.
"Ah, Jinta-"
Before Ichigo could say anything else, the boy spotted the Espada, gaping.
"ESPADA!"
The Arrancars simply watched in disbelieving confusion as the kid ran out with a huge bat in his hands, a girl coming out from the back with a huge machine gun on her shoulder.
The air was tense, and Ichigo simply sweatdropped as the Espada put their hands to their zanpakuto, ready to defend themselves.
"Oi, oi, calm down everyone."
All eyes went towards the staircase as a tall man with blond hair walked down to meet them, as calm as a summer breeze. He tipped his striped green and white hat and smirked.
"I welcome you to our humble abode, Espada. Please follow me. We've been expecting you all." He led them to a trap door with a cynical smile.
"Of course you knew, it's not exactly like we're hiding anything. Besides, even if you did, you always put your nose into everything so you'd know." Ichigo muttered as he followed Urahara, the Arrancar following awkwardly as they shrank under the boy's murderous glares. The girl was calm, collected, yet her analytical eye was scouring all over them, as if scanning them.
The four of them simply went down a long ladder, and to the Arrancars' surprise, ended up in a vast underground cavern.
"Where... Are we?" Grimmjow whispered in wonder as he noticed the cave went out for miles and miles.
"My underground training cave thing place." Urahara laughed, leading them towards a fountain a bit further off. "Now hurry along, we'd like to speak to you two a little about... stuff."
Gulping down nervously, the Cuatra and Sexta looked at each other, then Ichigo's back, and with a sigh, headed towards the fountain.
Once there, Urahara motioned for them to sit down, and they promptly did. Once they had all sat down, there was a small silence before-
"Meow~"
All eyes went to the fountain as a black cat came out from behind it, its paws softly padding on the dirt floor. It calmly walked towards the group and finally decided to stop in front of Grimmjow, who shrank under the feline's glare.
"Uhh... Good kitty?" he tried, awkwardly rubbing the cat behind the ears.
"Ah, Grimmjow." Ichigo winced, watching the cat smile. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. I'd get away as soon as possible because-"
He didn't even have time to finish his warning as the cat disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Grimmjow coughed, and watched as it cleared.
As soon as it did, his cheeks became tomato red and his eyes widened. In front of him was sitting a butt-naked woman with long purple hair, staring at him questioningly.
"So you like cats, huh?" she purred suggestively, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Ah!" Grimmjow closed his eyes and jumped back, curling up into a ball. "Not cats who randomly turn into naked women!"
Behind him, there was a thump as Ulquiorra fainted.
"Here, here Yoruichi-san." Urahara smiled as he handed the naked woman some clothes. "Go get ready and we'll get started."
"Sure." She got up and looked at Ichigo, who had his face plastered against his palms. "Oi sweetie, you wanna peek?" she giggled amusedly, watching him turn so red, it looked like he'd gotten sunburned.
"No way, you psycho woman! Go get dressed, for Yama-jii's sake!" he swore, leaving Yoruichi to laugh and hide behind a rock to change.
"Is it safe to look?" Grimmjow whispered, peeking from the corner of his eyes.
"I believe so..." Ichigo whispered back, opening his eyes and scanning around for any naked women.
"Good." The Sexta sighed out in relief and crawled to Ulquiorra's side, who had fainted out of shock, poking him in hopes of getting a reaction. "Oi lazy butt, get up."
After a moment, Ulquiorra groaned and blinked, clutching his head.
"What the hell-"
"Black cat turned into a naked woman and you fainted. The end." He blue-haired Espada snickered, giving him some room as he sat up.
"And they said Hueco Mundo was full of weird people..." the Cuatra glared at nothing in particular then crossed him arms.
"Alright then..." Urahara cut in, his tone serious. "Tell us, Grimmjow, Ulquiorra, why you are here."
The two Espada looked at each other and nodded, starting their tale. Yoruichi joined in –fully clothed this time- a little later and sat down next to Urahara, listening intently.
"And that's when orange-head over there found us and took us in." Grimmjow finished the last part on a wistful note and diverted his eyes from the blonde shinigami's analytical gaze.
"I see..." Yoruichi nodded, completely serious as opposed to her previous behaviour. "So old Aizen has finally lost it."
"Why Yoruichi-san, he'd lost it a long time ago." Urahara added, and the Espada couldn't tell if it was a joke or serious.
There was a small silence and then, Kisuke started talking again.
"Ichigo... You have to tell Soul Society about these two."
"WHAT?"
Both Espada and the teenage shinigami perked up at the suggestion at the same time, gaping incredulously.
"Urahara-san, don't you get it? They'll be executed without a second thought if Soul Society even hears of them being alive! We can't just hand them in like that after everything they've been through!" he argued.
"I know, but you're already in trouble for harbouring the enemy... don't you think it'd be a good idea to just hand them over and let Soul Society deal with them?" he suggested.
"Don't you get it? Soul Society doesn't care at all! They'll just label them as threats and kill them as soon as they can!" Ichigo was practically livid in astonished anger now.
"They won't kill them." Yoruichi calmly intervened. "They carry a lot of secrets and pertinent information on Aizen. Soul Society won't get rid of something they can still use. They're not that stupid."
Ichigo opened his mouth once again to argument against Yoruichi's facts but the scrambling of feet on dirt caught everyone's attention.
All eyes turned to Grimmjow as he pushed himself up and dusted himself off so calmly, it almost scared Ichigo.
"Listen, I just don't want to be treated as a tool anymore." He simply commented in a sober, almost depressed voice. It made Ichigo's throat run dry just at the sound of all the pain locked in it.
"W-Wait!" the teen barely managed to call him back as he turned around to leave. Grimmjow turned his head halfway back, staring at the younger male with dead eyes. "Where are you going?"
"Home." He simply answered. "I know the way."
And with that, he Sonidoed to the ladder and jumped, clearing about half the steps, then jumping again to clear the second half.
There was an awkward, almost ashamed silence before Ulquiorra got up as well, mimicking Grimmjow's previous move to dust himself off. Not even saying a word, he turned around and walked a few steps before stopping again. He didn't even turn around to sombrely pronounce his next words.
"Please, I beg of you to make an effort to consider, and thus treat us as conscious, living beings before making a decision. Our lives are in your hands, and it doesn't bother us as long as you recognize their actual worth."
And with that, he Sonidoed to the ladder as well and cleared in two jumps, like his partner had done, leaving behind one astounded teen and two musing shinigami.
...OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...
Ulquiorra caught up with Grimmjow a little afterwards, running after him as he exited the grounds around the candy shop and took to the street. It was now about half past noon, and the restaurants they crossed while walking in silence were bustling, busy during the lunchtime rush-hour.
"So..." Ulquiorra muttered after a while. He waited until they'd crossed the street to begin talking again. "Why'd you get mad?"
Grimmjow simply shoved his hands into his pockets and looked up at the azure sky, sighing.
"I wasn't upset... Just... Embarrassed that Ichigo has to protect us like this." He muttered. The two of them walked in silence a bit longer, switching sidewalks and stepping onto a dirt path that led them into a half-abandoned park. Behind it was the residential area where they were headed. "After all..." he left his unfinished sentence hanging and dropped his gaze to the dirt path. "We are only mortal."
"Eager to prove it, are we?"
A cold breeze whipped past the two Ex-Espada, chilling them to the bone. Time seemed to stop as they drowned out the peripheral noise and both of their hearts skipped a beat as they recognized the voice.
They didn't need to see to know who it was.
"Ai-" Grimmjow choked on his word as an enormous reiatsu locked his throat and made his heart leap. It took him a second to adapt to the pressure being put on his entire being. "Aizen..."
As if saying the name of his old master had pulled a trigger, more reiatsu seeped out, almost sending the Espada to their knees. Bile was quickly rising up the Cuatra's throat as his ribs cringed under the pressure he'd been put under for so long. He couldn't even begin to imagine what Grimmjow felt like at the very moment.
Surprisingly, though, the Sexta managed to move a shaky hand to his zanpakuto and clenched it firmly, gritting his teeth in the meantime. It really was hard to stay standing, even, with all this reiatsu pushing down on him. But after losing so many battles, he didn't wanna lose yet another one.
Watching him move determinately, Ulquiorra gulped down. It wasn't that bad. He was stronger than Grimmjow. If Grimmjow could do it, then so could he.
His hand went to his zanpakuto and he struggled to pull it out. But just as he pulled it out, Aizen's reiatsu doubled, finally reaching its peak. It made the two Espada realize how meaningless they were, how weak they were, having been pinned down already by only about a third of Aizen's reiatsu. The pressure was now so hard that the dirt under them crumbled, making craters below their feet and getting them to sink a couple of inches.
As Grimmjow struggled to pull Pantera out, Ulquiorra simply struggled to keep holding onto Murciélago, and as an added bonus, to stop it from shaking so badly.
"Bastard..." Grimmjow managed to speak out first. "Y-You do know that with all that reiatsu you unleashed, all the shinigami in a five-mile radius will be here any second now?"
Even if Aizen wanted to reply to that, he never got the chance since the aforementioned Shinigami promptly appeared behind the lord of Hueco Mundo only milliseconds after Grimmjow pronounced his last syllable. Yellow, orange and purple hair fluttered into view as Urahara, Ichigo and Yoruichi flash-stepped behind the brown-haired ex-shinigami, all in a battle-ready position as soon as they landed.
"Well, this is an interesting development." Urahara commented wryly.
"Happy to see me, Kisuke?" Aizen smiled gently.
"Ecstatic, Sousuke." The blonde shinigami snickered humourlessly, his hand going to his zanpakuto. He was the only one to move seeing as Ichigo was having trouble moving with all the reiatsu around him and Yoruichi was busy assessing the situation.
"Ah, what a pain." Aizen sighed. "I simply came to kill my Espada and you come in and protect them?"
He turned his gaze towards Ulquiorra, who had brought up Murciélago but was struggling to breathe, and then turned to Grimmjow, who was fighting to draw the other half of Pantera out of his sheath.
"You know better than anyone that I don't take kindly to weakness. Being protected by the enemy, what a disgrace." He smirked. "I don't appreciate the weak, haven't you learned that by now?" a shudder rippled through Grimmjow's skin, old scars aching dully at the mention. "And you, Ulquiorra... Usually so strong, so obedient, so submissive-"
"Shut up!"
General surprise reigned in the silence that followed as all eyes were turned to the green-eyed Arrancar. He looked ready to collapse and his pained gaze barely held back the unshed tears.
"Never. Never again." He whispered, emotion locking in his throat.
"Well then... The weak will go first." Aizen shrugged like it was nothing and flash-stepped.
The Ex-Espada gasped and looked around, reacting a little after their old master made his move. The two Arrancar Sonido-ed and avoided easily, their hearts thundering.
And suddenly, it happened.
Somehow, Aizen managed to flash step in the middle of his previous flash step and double-stepped, not giving the Espada time to land and Sonido again.
All three flash-steppers reappeared at the same time. Ulquiorra ended up next to Ichigo. Aizen ended up where the Espada had been standing before they moved. And Grimmjow... Grimmjow ended up caught by Aizen by the wrist.
Just as he realized his position, he reached for Pantera, but Aizen was too quick to grab his other wrist and twist it around, making his shoulder joint pop at the dangerous movement.
"Come here, kitty-cat." The ex-shinigami whispered in Grimmjow's ear, letting go of the Sexta's arms and squeezing him against his chest instead. His hand coolly reached for Grimmjow's mask, his fingers caressing the rough surface of the Hollow mask.
Everyone suddenly stopped moving, even Grimmjow. The latter simply froze in terror as Aizen ran his fingers along his jaw line. What followed was completely and utterly predictable.
"I've always wondered what happens..." his fingers curled around the mask and a sharp pain assailed the Sexta's cheek as his old master started pulling. "When you pull an Arrancar's mask off."
What a lie.
Both Ulquiorra and Grimmjow knew he knew. He simply wanted entertainment.
"Entertainment..." Ulquiorra felt nauseous at the simple thought.
Grimmjow cringed as the pain got worse, fear evident in his wide blue eye.
The shinigami simply stared, unsure as to what to do.
"Stop!" Ulquiorra screamed, pointing Murciélago threateningly at Aizen, determined to protect his friend.
"Let him go, Aizen!" Ichigo backed him up, pulling out Zangetsu.
"Ichigo, wait." Urahara stopped him with a wave of his hand. "It looks like he's trying to rip off Grimmjow's mask. This could be bad. Arrancars who have their masks ripped off become much weaker, mutilated forever and revert back to their original Hollow forms." His grip tightened on Benihime.
"This is bad, we have to-"
Ichigo's words were cut off as a pained scream tore through the air.
All eyes turned to Grimmjow, who released another agonized cry that had been building up in his throat, weakly clawing at Aizen's arm snaked around his throat. The pain was quickly getting to his brain, sending him into a frantic panic. Half his mask was detached now and the agony was so horrible, he even forgot to breathe at some point. His heart did somersaults in his stomach every time another part of his mask was pried away from his skin.
"Grimmjow!" Ulquiorra yelled, panicking. Is this how it all ended? What could he do? They couldn't die now! "Hang on!" as Ulquiorra encouraged his weaker companion, another scream rang out, hitting another pang in Ichigo's heart. Helpless. That's all he was in a moment of need like this.
"Please stop..." the blue-haired Espada moaned, all but going limp in Aizen's arms. The pain was so bad he could barely keep his eyes open anymore.
At that very moment, Yoruichi finally made her move, flash stepping behind Aizen even before anyone noticed she was gone.
Surprised, Aizen let go of Grimmjow's half-ripped mask and flash stepped to get away. At the same time, Urahara drew Benihime and shunpoed, landing right where Aizen was about to land. And swung.
Seeing the blade fall and unable to flash step again, Aizen only had one choice remaining.
He dropped Grimmjow, who crumpled immediately without support, and drew his zanpakuto, blocking Urahara's slash and raising his leg to counter Yoruichi's kick. He then flash stepped again and appeared a little further away, sheathing his sword. A Garganta opened immediately for him as he snapped his fingers.
"Well, it's been fun, but you'll have to excuse me for the moment as I must take my leave." He smirked and calmly stepped into the portal, disappearing as suddenly as he came.
There was a small silence, and then Ulquiorra sheathed Murciélago, immediately running and kneeling next to Grimmjow who was still lying motionless on the dirt path in the middle of the field.
Author's Notes:
Waaah, everything's happening so fast Q_Q Not my fault, I'm just not very talented at writing action scenes xD
I had to research the effects of a ripped off mask. Apparently, Arrancars who have their masks ripped off revert to the shape they had even before they became Gillians. Think of Pesche and Dondochakka, if you like. Those two had their masks ripped off and replaced them with some worthless other fake mask to cover their disfigured face.
Then again, we can't have Grimmy's sexy little face disfigured, can we? ;D
Ah, Ulquiorra, so sensitive to black cats who suddenly transform into hot naked women out of the blue like that. Hmmm... Maybe that wasn't the best of examples O_O"
Grimmy likes kitties and so do I. That's why he was torturing a street cat at the beginning of the chapter. So now that the cat's still up in the tree, who's gonna save it? D: Actually, that cat's a little reference to Grimmjow in the anime. He was hurt and almost dead (although the kitty was just scared out of its wits O_O") and then just left there to die. Kay, so who saved him in the end? Did he die? D: Hope not, GRIMMJOW'S NOT DEAD, PEOPLE. That's Kubo's style. People you thought were dead come back on a moment's notice (look at Ichigo for example -.-") so unless Kubo-sama announces the death very obviously, the char's not dead. Grimmy's just forgotten, that's all. LOVE YOU GRIMMJOW~
Alright then, I'm off. Thanks a bunch for standing by my side so far, hopefully you'll keep reading till the end (: It would also brighten my day a whole lot more if you reviewed, because as you probably already know, reviews make me ecstasic. That is all.
LOVE YA ALL, SEEYA NEXT CHAPTER, PLEASE REVIEW FOR GRIMMJOW'S SAKE D: