Author's Notes:
YEHHH~ UPDATE!
Kay, so I have been delaying this forever. Procrastination powahh~ I started this yesterday night and finished a couple of minutes before writing this very sentence. So... you can imagine that you could have gotten this chapter much earlier if I hadn't been such a procrastinating bitch? ^^;
In my defence, I've actually been STUDYING for my math exam Monday. Wish me luck, I understand the stuff I'm supposed to know, but I can't stop panicking cause math is definetely NOT my forte ):
Also, thank you to Nightcore for distracting me during my writing. Thank you to Death Note for grasping all my attention during the last week. And Kuroshitsuji for having such a sexy sexy demon in it ;D (I do not like Ciel, by the way. Spoiled brat.)
L Lawliet will live on forever~
Yeah, back to the subject. I'd like to thank all my lovely reviewers, as accustomary, and here is the list of all the awesome people who were kind enough to leave me a thought or two (: So big thanks to Yamapikarya, Kakushi Miko, Katakanion, Tifalochrt, CoolGirl150, Sblack13 and TTfanTT for the amazing reviews (: Couldn't do this without you guys, honestly ^^
Alright then, without further ado, HERE'S CHAPTER 5!
Warning: Chapter contains swearing, lots of OOC-ness, light Orihime-bashing and light sexual content.
ENJOY~
"Oi Grimmjow." Ulquiorra poked Grimmjow in the shoulder, watching as all he got as a response was a terrified gasp. Grimmjow was breathing heavily, harshly, his breaths rasping. His eyes were wide and unfocused, practically bulging out of their sockets, and he was lying down unmoving. Dried tear tracks were easily visible on his cheeks.
"Ah, this is a problem." Urahara sighed, sheathing Benihime calmly and stepping up next to Grimmjow's unmoving body.
"You think?" Ichigo growled, quickly kneeling next to the blue-haired Espada and checking his pulse. Erratic and dangerously fast.
"We should get him inside so I can fix his mask back on." Ulquiorra suddenly said, darkly looking around.
"You know how to fix him?" a light lit up in the youngest teen's eyes, a light of hope.
"Yes, but we must hurry."
"Fine." The blond shinigami sighed and lifted his green and white hate a little to scratch his head. "Bring him over to my place."
"Oh, I intended to." The Cuatra simply replied. "Your house is full of reiatsu and it'll help Grimmjow heal faster. Also, yours has more space to work than any other house." He bent down and gently turned Grimmjow on his back. Although still conscious, he wasn't very responsive, which lightly worried the Arrancar. Just how much internal damage had been done?
"Alright, I'll set up a workplace for ya. Seeya later!" Urahara grinned cheerfully, and with a wave, flash stepped out of sight.
"Do you need me here, Ichigo?" Yoruichi asked, stepping next to the teen.
"We can manage on our own." The orange-haired boy decided.
"Alright. Later." The woman nodded, and without even making a move, shunpoed away.
"Alright... Now..." Ulquiorra sighed. "Let's get him to Urahara-san's house without getting people to notice..."
...OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...
The silence was broken with the sound of sliding sheets. In a half-daze, Ichigo snapped out and whipped his head towards the black-haired Arrancar, who slid up the bed sheets up to Grimmjow's chin and sighed.
"You done?" the orange-haired teen yawned, stretching.
"Yes. I have successfully replaced the mask in its original position and now, all his body has to do is regulate its activity and decrease that fever, and as soon as his reiatsu starts flowing again, the mask will reattach itself to his body." The Espada nodded, rubbing his back in pain.
"Hey, you've been at this for about four hours. Lie down a little, you look exhausted. Besides, a little more sleep than usual will do you good." Ichigo decided.
"Ichigo, I'm a Hollow, Hollows do not have the same trivial needs as humans, therefore-"
"Yet you are an Arrancar and share various traits with human, which includes your need for sleep, especially after having spent so much energy and effort on healing Grimmjow." Ichigo interrupted calmly.
Green eyes gazed at Ichigo's delicate face, analysing the expression. Ulquiorra finally sighed and yawned.
"Alright."
"Well, I'm going to the adjacent room cause there isn't enough space for all three of us here, so if you need me for anything..." the Shinigami got up and stretched. "I'll be sleeping."
The Espada watched him leave, and as soon as the door slid shut, he groaned in weariness and dropped on the bedroll next to Grimmjow's.
"You'd better wake up soon, Grimmjow." He muttered to his wounded companion before shutting his eyes tiredly. "You'd better live to smile again..."
...OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...
"H-Hey, what's going on?"
"Why, nothing in particular, really."
"Any reason why the lights are off then?"
"Not really. I just think it fit the mood..."
"Where are you? Show yourself, you coward!"
"Coward? You're the one shivering, my dear Espada."
"S-Shut up! And let me go! Why am I here anyway?"
"I have... business with you."
"H-Hey! Wait! What are you- STOP!"
Gasp.
His upper body immediately shot upwards, letting him get up, clutching his sheets until his fingers were white.
He stared at the wall in front of him, slightly disoriented. Still trying to calm his breathing down to a normal pace, cold sweat accumulating on his temples, he tried to figure out where he was.
It was night, that's for sure. But the room was unfamiliar to him, so he panicked for a second until something moved next to him.
His eyes snapped to the person lying next to him and he relaxed slightly when he recognized Ulquiorra's small frame, peacefully sleeping with his back against him, hair spread on the pillow and sheets hugging his curled up form.
"Oi Ulquiorra." He called, desperate to hear a human voice. All he got in response was slight, monotonous breathing coming from the older Espada sleeping next to his bedroll.
Grimmjow sighed, flicking some stray strands of hair from his face. How in hell could Ulquiorra sleep so peacefully?
"Ulquiorra..." he whispered again, not receiving any more answers than last time he called him.
What time was it? How long had he been out? And more importantly, where was he?
His eyes fell to the clock hung on the wall facing him, and he squinted in the darkness to read the time. Two in the morning. Last time he checked, it was noon. Not that long ago.
Then again, he had no idea if he'd been out for days, or just hours. Maybe it had even been weeks. Recovering from a traumatic injury like that took long enough, so he wouldn't be surprised if he learned he'd been sleeping for over a week.
Not knowing made him crazy.
He was just about to call again and shake his fellow Arrancar awake when the door gently slid open. Whipping around immediately, he watched in awe as the tall, well-built form of a man stepped through the threshold. His eyes were drawn to the bright orange tuff on his head, darkened by the absence of light.
Ichigo stumbled to his side and dropped on his large bedroll.
"With all that noise you're making, you're gonna wake up everyone in the household. Shut up and get some sleep." He yawned, making himself comfortable in Grimmjow's bed.
Grimmjow blinked once, twice and then slowly reached out to poke Ichigo. All of this was ethereal. Didn't he just escape the worst of tortures? How could he still be here after all this? Was Ichigo real? Were both he and Ulquiorra just figments of his imagination?
No... No... Couldn't be... His finger slowly made a small crater in Ichigo's skin, and he watched in fascination as the hot skin beneath his touch reacted to the pressure being put on it.
So he wasn't hallucinating.
Cheeks burning in shame, he turned away from Ichigo and pulled his legs up to his chest, wondering why everything felt so surreal to him.
Ichigo hadn't reacted, so the Sexta figured he had already fallen asleep.
Steeling his resolve, he sighed and pushed his covers off of him, getting up on his wobbly legs, confirming the theory of having been out of a couple of days as he stumbled out of his sleeping area, then out the door, leaving Ichigo and Ulquiorra to their well-deserved sleep.
He wandered out into the hall and after spotting a staircase, decided to explore some more. He quietly snuck down the stairs and finally realized where he was when he arrived in the middle of an unlit candy shop.
He was in that Urahara person's shop.
Idly wondering what the hell he was doing there in the first place, his eyes fell to a trap in the floorboards, barely visible with the absence of light. The secret underground training cave place.
Without even thinking, he found himself heading for the trap and gripped the handle, lifting it. His eyes fell to the darkness practically pouring out of the trap and he wondered if it was dark down there too.
Guessing he'd just have to find out, he stepped on the first level of the ladder and started climbing down.
As soon as he took a few more steps, though, the world brightened, dizzying him. He had to let go of one hand to shield his eyes and groan as the bright light hit his unaccustomed eyes.
Guess not.
He waited a while, just hanging there, until his eyes got used to the brightness, and he started making his way down the ladder again. Halfway there, his vision finally returned to normal, so he simply jumped the rest of the way down.
His feet contacted with the ground with a light thud, and he turned around, gazing at the endless world in front of him.
Training area, huh?
His gaze lowered to his left hand, and he slowly raised it to his face and suddenly bit the center of his palm, his sharp teeth digging into his skin. Blood welled up from the deep puncture and immediately started flowing on his upturned hand as soon as he let go. Almost on reflex after seeing the blood, his hand rose up, pointed towards a rock in the distance.
It'd been a long time since he'd had a decent fight.
All these losses had been making him weaker, rusty and incapable of doing anything constructive.
All because of Aizen.
Anger and disappointment bubbled up within him. A light glow started appearing in the palm of his hand, taking the form of a small ball.
The memory of Aizen holding him like that, making him powerless and weak, it made his blood boil.
The small ball started crackling with reiatsu, getting bigger and bigger.
He hated him. He hated him so bad, for everything he'd done and hadn't done. He resented every last bit of him, from that mocking smirk to that sadistic look in his eyes. From the way he pretended to care to the way he looked down on the Espada. And how he dared to call them his. He hated him with his entire body, mind and soul.
The light blue glow gained power and grew bigger, now bigger than him, blinding him with a bright teal light that was even harsher than the fake sun shining on the dome of the training cave.
"I hate you. I hate you. I hate you, I hate you, I HATE YOU!" a fierce snarl ripped his usually handsome face in half as he grabbed his firing arm with his free arm to steady the powerful blast that would follow.
Aizen's familiar, hated smirk appeared in his mind. Even in the safety of his mind, he was present. Even in the only sanctuary he had left, he was there, torturing him, paining him, ripping him apart in every way possible.
In a way, he only wanted the pain to stop. The pain in his heart. It made him wanna tear open his own chest and rip out the goddamn organ and crush it to pieces just to end the pain. Anything to get the pain to stop. Anything to get Aizen out of his life.
"Get out of my HEAD!" he finally roared releasing all the pent up reiatsu as well as the anger, fear, pain and sadness in his heart. "Gran Rey Cero!"
A large blue light engulfed his vision for a second, and then the huge cero shot out, spiralling lightly as it headed for the rock in the distance for which the Espada was aiming for.
He simply watched in morbid fascination as his most powerful cero headed for the worthless piece of landscape and blew it up immediately on impact. All the energy put behind that last cero was released as an earthquake shook the ground under his feet, demolishing everything within a three-mile radius of the rock he'd aimed for. He even felt some of his own reiatsu brush past him, a cold feeling washing over him as he slowly dropped his hand.
How delightful it'd be to see Aizen break down like that.
How delightful it'd be to see him crumble and fall, just like that rock.
The image replayed itself in his mind over and over again, and a small smirk appeared gradually on Grimmjow's face, extending and extending until it was a huge evil grin.
And he laughed.
He laughed with no intention of stopping, releasing all the madness whirling in his ecstatic brain. The beautiful image of Aizen lying on the cold, unforgiving ground, his own blood staining his usually oh-so sarcastic face made his heart stop and his skin crawl in pleasure.
What he'd give to see that image come true.
All he'd give...
All he had left to give...
He had no material possessions and it wasn't like he had any personal values or elements he hadn't lost already.
No, all he had left was himself.
Then if that was what it took to defeat Aizen...
He'd put his entire being on the line, let his fear die and abuse his body until he could push his limits forward.
That's what it meant to be strong.
No matter how much pain came with it, he'd take it. He'd tackle everything that was thrown at him with everything he had...
Because without pain, there is no strength to go by. True strength is the power needed to surpass that pain. And he was sure that somewhere deep inside, he had all the power he could ever want.
...OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...
Ichigo woke up to the sunlight pouring in from the window above him, hitting his face directly. He groaned and got up, stretching, and finally realising where he was.
Why was he in Grimmjow's bed?
Oh right, he'd come to crash here last night after being woken up by Grimmjow's incessant calls for Ulquiorra.
Grimmjow!
His head immediately turned to the empty sheets next to him and he gasped. The Espada was in no position to be up and about already. It had only been 2 days since Aizen had assaulted him and he was sure that the Arrancar would start pushing himself harder now that he realized he was vulnerable.
Sighing, Ichigo stretched a little more and started walking towards the door when his eyes fell on Ulquiorra. The Arrancar was half-asleep, his eyes half-lidded and staring blankly at the ceiling, probably lost in an early-morning daze or deep thoughts.
In any case, he probably wouldn't like being left alone, so Ichigo decided to nudge him with his big toe. As soon as his foot touched Ulquiorra's shoulder, the latter jumped right out of bed, gasping.
The teen simply looked down, curious and somewhat worried as the Ex-Espada calmed his breathing and looked up at him.
"Ichigo...?"
"Yeah, good morning to you too. If you want, I'm planning to go get breakfast, so you can tag along. Of course, you'd need to get dressed in the clothes I brought you last night. Also, Grimmjow's gone."
It took a second for all the information to sink in, and finally, Ulquiorra sighed.
"He's probably downstairs in that cave place we went in before Aizen ambushed us. Practicing, getting his reiatsu to flow again, probably destroying things in general." He pushed himself to his feet and stretched. "Alright, so where did you leave my clothes again?"
...OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...
After getting dressed, both teens headed down the staircase, ending up in the candy store. The door behind the shop was open, showing Urahara, Tessai, Jinta and Ururu sitting around a table, eating breakfast.
"Oiiii, Ichigo!" Urahara called with a huge smile as he saw the teen walk by. "Won't you join us for breakfast?"
"Not if you're the one inviting." Ichigo brushed him off, knowing the antics of the older shinigami. He'd probably demand a service later on if he accepted.
"Now that was mean, Ichi..." Urahara pretended to sob, and Ulquiorra wondered once again what was wrong with all the adults he'd met. Even Ichigo's father had been like this. Was if common for human men to act like this?
"Yeah yeah." Ichigo sighed and opened the trap on the ground. "We're going downstairs." He informed them.
"Alrighty! Wish Grimmjow good morning for me! And tell him to close the trap next time cause it gets loud down there and people were trying to sleep up here." Urahara yelled back as Ulquiorra jumped into the void, Ichigo following, and pulling the trap shut behind them.
Completely ignoring the ladder, the two teens freefell towards the ground, watching in awe as a beautiful, huge cero exploded from a small blue dot in the distance. As they got closer and closer, the blue dot seemed to get bigger, until they landed.
That's when another blue came in, much brighter and much bigger, looking straight at them.
"Well, thank you for the warm welcome, Grimmjow." Ulquiorra groaned before Sonido-ing at a safe distance.
Ichigo simply realized what the blue glow was as soon as it shot out, making a weird noise, and heading straight for him.
A strangled cry tore from his throat as he dove to the side in the nick of time and rolled, miraculously untouched by the powerful cero.
"WHAT THE HELL GRIMMJOW?" he yelled, getting up and glaring the blue-haired figure that was advancing for them through the dust.
"Good morning to you too, Ichigo." The Ex-Espada snickered as he got close, watching as Ichigo scowled and dusted himself off. "Hey, I didn't see you there, okay?" he laughed as Ulquiorra appeared next to them just in time to witness Ichigo's murderous glare.
"Have you been up all night?" the Cuatra almost scolded as he glared disapprovingly at the light bruises on Grimmjow's face where flying rocks had probably hit him.
"No. Maybe. Yes." Grimmjow shrugged, making Ulquiorra sigh again.
"You know your reiatsu is too unstable for you to start abusing it like this. Get your rest a little longer and then-"
"Ulquiorra, please consider my feelings for a second." The Sexta cut in with a wistful smile on his face. "I just got owned by the biggest bastard in the whole wide world and you expect me to take it easy? Of course not! If I wanna beat him someday, I'll have to get stronger. No letting up on training just cause I'm supposedly still recovering." He huffed, shoving his hands in his jeans' pockets, mostly to hide the burns and lacerations on his palms caused by using the Gran Rey Cero too many times in succession.
He'd tried to control his ceros to aim better, but quickly getting bored, he'd decided to release his zanpakuto and get some training to control Desgarron better.
His only comment was the silent hope that somehow the landscape fixed itself soon so he could destroy it again.
"Alright then, you had your training, you've been up all night, right? Long enough. You're gonna be tired by two in the afternoon now, you know that?" Ichigo complained as he crossed his arms. "In any case, come upstairs and get dressed, we're going out for breakfast." He ordered, staring at the loose tank top and sweatpants the Espada was wearing.
"Yes mom." Grimmjow sighed amusedly and brushed past him, grabbing the ladder and starting his climb.
Ulquiorra sighed and followed, knowing very well that Grimmjow could have jumped halfway up the ladder but simply chose to waste time to irk Ichigo.
Ichigo did not seem to get it, though, as he growled in impatience and started climbing last.
The three got out of the trap with a few seconds of difference between each other and immediately headed up to their room. Urahara simply waved good morning to them as they walked by, Grimmjow smirking handsomely at the older man and raising a hand as a hello as went for the stairs.
He was... in a good mood today...
Once in their room, he quickly found a pile of neatly folded clothes on the table, recognizing them to be his.
Quickly stripping himself of his tank top, he grabbed the long-sleeved shirt and pulled it on. Once done, he shook his sweatpants off and quickly donned his jeans, not liking the way the cold air bit into the exposed skin of his legs. It was getting colder and colder, too, as winter got closer.
"Done?" Ulquiorra asked, startling him as he turned around.
"Hey, what're you here for? I'm not putting on a show, y'know." Grimmjow smirked. "Unless you want me to, that is." He smirked in amusement.
"Oh Grimmjow." Ulquiorra calmly pinched the bridge of his nose. "Grow up, will you?"
"That's like asking that Orihime girl to quit being such an annoying bitch." Grimmjow growled.
"Watch your language. Kurosaki won't be happy if he knew you mouthed off one of his friends." The Cuatra shrugged, although agreeing with Grimmjow. That human girl really got annoying after a while. He was just glad she hadn't been called up to heal them after they were found half-dead in that park not so long ago.
"I did hear." Ichigo's voice came from the adjacent room. "But I'll pretend I didn't." He smirked as he opened the door and walked inside, his things packed up and stuffed in his bag.
"Fuck off, Kurosaki." Grimmjow sighed, raising his hand towards Ichigo and flipping him off with a wild grin.
"Someone's happy today." Ichigo looked like he would say something else before Ulquiorra Sonido-ed, catching Grimmjow's extended hand and startling both teens.
"Grimmjow." He gave the hand a firm squeeze and pulling it down. "Your palms." He simply remarked, using both hands to pry open his companion's clutched fingers.
Grimmjow simply looked away in slightly shame as Ulquiorra stared at the deep punctures and lacerations on his hands, topped with the blazing burns caused by the ceros he'd been firing.
"You know." Ulquiorra tore his gaze from the injuries to glare at Grimmjow, who blushed and shrank under his gaze. "You didn't have to push yourself. You won't become stronger in just one night. Take it slowly. The less you hurt yourself, the faster your power will rise." He scolded, pushing the younger teenager to the ground and heading for the bathroom. "I'll get some bandages."
"I don't need help." Grimmjow muttered, hiding his palms once more.
"Shut up, Jaegerjacques." The Cuatra sighed as he came back, a roll of pure white bandages clutched in his hand. "Now gimme your hands."
"No!" Grimmjow protested stubbornly.
"Gimme." Ulquiorra repeated, getting down on his knees to reach Grimmjow's height.
"No!"
"Stop being such a baby."
"I don't need you, mom! I can bloody well take care of myself!"
"Obviously not."
"Yes I can!"
"Then why don't you? You keep hurting yourself like your health isn't important."
"I'm not a child anymore! Leave me alone!"
"You'd push yourself to the brink of death if I did that."
"I know my limits!"
"And yet you don't respect them."
"Of course I do. This is nothing at all."
"Oh shut up and let me bandage your hands."
Ichigo simply looked at the funny scene and tried not to snicker, watching at the Espada toppled one over the other, trying to restrain each other each for their own purposes. It warmed his heart in a way: watching the two fearsome Espada squabble over something as trivial as this. The worst part was... he never knew they could care... And yet, here they were, fighting to see who cared for the other the most.
Their argument ended when the Cuatra and Sexta came face-to-face, only a hair's length away from one another's face.
They both blushed, even more so when they realized their limbs were entangled with Ulquiorra's hand gripping Grimmjow's wrist by passing underneath the latter's left thigh and the Sexta's foot pushing down on the Cuatra's other hand. The ebony-haired male's foot was pushing against Grimmjow's shoulder in an effort to placate him on the wooden floor and the teal-eyed teen's knee was held up in the air because of Ulquiorra's arm.
An embarrassing position to say the least.
They both looked away from each other and blushed harder as they slowly let go of each other.
"That's good." Ulquiorra whispered gently as he grabbed one of Grimmjow's hands and started wrapping it up. Grimmjow simply watched in shame as someone helped him once again. Why? Why could he ever take care of himself?
"You know, it doesn't make you weak if you ask for help."
The teal-haired teen's eyes snapped to Ichigo, who was kindly looking down on the Ex-Espada with a wistful smile plastered on his face.
"It just means I can't help myself. And if that isn't the definition of weakness in itself, then I don't know what is." Grimmjow whispered back, holding his other hand out to Ulquiorra as the older Arrancar finished bandaging his right hand.
"No... Asking for help... Is a great strength... It means you trust the other person enough to confide in him and it means you have the courage to place your life in the palms of the other person's hands." Ichigo smiled wider, leaning against the doorframe.
Grimmjow turned his gaze to the ground, not finding a reply to that. He was relieved when Ulquiorra saved him from an awkward silence by announcing that his hands were done.
"Alright then, let's go! I'm starving." The youngest teenager between them finally pushed himself away from the doorjamb he was leaning on and headed for the door, opening it for them. "To the food!"
The three of them all but ran down, their stomachs rumbling in anticipation. They were just about to leave when Urahara suddenly shunpoed in front of them and spread his arms out, stopping them.
"What is it?" Ichigo scowled, putting his hands on his hips.
"I have a surprise for you." Urahara grinned, pointing at Tessai who came in, carrying two long wooden boxes, almost as big as Ichigo. "You can't leave without seeing what I got you two." The large man dropped the crates and dusted his hands off.
"A... Surprise?" Grimmjow raised a brow, staring at the crates intently as if trying to burn a hole in them to see what's inside.
"Yes, yes, come now, open your surprises!" the blonde invited them in a sing-song voice as he led them towards the wooden crates. As they got closer, they noticed that holes had been punctured into the front, just big enough to let a hand through.
The two stopped in front of the identical crates, staring uncertainly at each other.
"Go on, put a hand through the hole and touch what's inside!" Urahara encouraged them, stepping back and grinning madly as Ichigo watched in wonder. What was he planning to do? What was inside those crates?
"Alright then... If you say so..." Ulquiorra slowly brought his hand up and positioned it in front of the hole. He felt weird and sick just by looking at his hand positioned like that. Who knows what's inside... Was it alive? Why couldn't they see it entirely?
"Fine..." The Sexta uncertainly looked at Ulquiorra and put his hand up.
Without another word, they shoved their hands in.
For a moment, they simply stared at the wood, their fingers curling up around cloth. And suddenly...
With the sound of wind rushing through a crack, the two of them disappeared.
"What the- What the hell?" Ichigo immediately responded by jumping back. "What happened to them? What's in there? What did you do?" he demanded immediately, glaring at Urahara.
"Ma, ma, Ichigo-chan." Urahara laughed, putting up his cane. "Wait for the surprise, you'll see." He suddenly wedged his cane in the opening of the crate next to him, Ulquiorra's crate, and pushed. While the wooden cover fell down with a creaking noise, he did the same to Grimmjow's crate.
Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise as the contents were shown to him.
There was a heavy silence dangling in the air, Urahara nodding in approval and Ichigo gaping at the contents of the box.
And suddenly, the two people inside the crates stepped out, the sunlight illuminating their faces.
Ulquiorra winced and closed his eyes for a moment, feeling misbalanced and light-headed. What had he touched anyway?
Grimmjow also looked lost and felt wobbly on his legs, his vision blurring as he looked at Ulquiorra just as the same Espada turned to look at him.
The shock was so high it was almost tangible as it hovered in the air. The first one to speak was Ulquiorra.
"G-Grimmjow... Your mask, it-"
"Y-Yours too." The blue-haired teen uttered, shocked. What the hell was going on? "It's gone..."
"And your face tattoos, they're gone too!"
"Yeah, the green lines under your eyes have faded as well..."
"What about...?" the Cuatra's hand flew to his chest, and he touched his left chest for a while, his eyes widening. He suddenly lunged for Grimmjow's stomach and poked him square above the belly button, surprised.
"Ow!" said Espada growled, clutching his stomach. "What was that for?"
Ulquiorra cocked his head and looked up at him, as if saying 'didn't you realize it yet?'.
And as if enlightened, the Ex-Espada turned around simultaneously to Urahara, who was grinning madly, obviously pleased.
"Gigai?" Ulquiorra asked first, flexing and opening his fingers to adjust himself to his new fake body.
"Yup, yup!" the older shinigami laughed. "Aren't I nice? I got you two some nice gigai bodies so that you can go around without people staring at your masks or without being afraid of letting your Hollow Holes show."
"W-Whoa, this feels weird..." the Sexta raised a hand and caressed his cheek where his mask used to stand. He'd never been in a gigai before... It felt entirely new to him.
"Ma, ma, look here, the surprise isn't finished yet!" the shinigami laughed, putting his hand in his pockets.
The Ex-Espada froze in anticipation and slight fear of what they had yet to receive. Their question was answered when Urahara pulled out two long candy dispensers. Ichigo visibly froze in his corner, recognizing the items.
"This is what you'll use to get out of your gigai and into your Hollow forms, if need to fight ever arises." The blonde threw one of the dispensers at each of them, and they both caught one with a delayed, yet precise move, their new bodies obviously not responding completely to their brains' stimuli. "Try one."
Each of them popped one candy out and stared at the small green spherical candy and threw it in their mouths.
A strange pulling feeling overcame their bodies once they swallowed the small pills, and they were thrust back once against, stumbling as they came out, dressed once more in their Espada uniforms, masks attached and holes as empty as before. The familiar weight of their zanpakuto strapped around their waists unbalanced them and they had to get a hold of the crates to keep standing.
"Don't worry, you won't feel dizzy while changing back and from your gigai bodies after a while. It just takes getting used to." The shinigami told them, but they disregarded him as the most unusual sight ever grasped their attention.
The sight of their gigai bodies moving on their own, turning around to meet their eyes.
Ulquiorra's gigai suddenly broke out in an evil grin and Grimmjow's gigai frowned, tears massing in the corners of his shimmering blue eyes.
"Well well well, what do we have here?" Gigai-Ulquiorra grinned, ruffling gigai-Grimmjow's hair. The latter just whimpered and retreated into the nearest corner, curling up and watching as Ulquiorra's gigai walked towards him, the same grin plastered on his face.
The real Espada simply gaped in astonishment and looked at each other, turning immediately to Urahara, who was still grinning and fanning himself with his fan.
"Those are Mod Souls. Fake souls that are implanted within a gigai when the used leaves the body to give them a temporary means of movement if they ever need to escape from a battle scene or something. It is to prevent the gigai from being damaged by being left alone." He explained cheerfully, watching in glee as gigai-Ulquiorra smothered gigai-Grimmjow.
"Oi, U-Ulquiorra-sama, t-that doesn't go there!"
"Oh hush Grimmjow-chan, you know you like it..."
"Okay, wait." Ulquiorra snapped out of his gaze, blushing as he heard what his Mod Soul had said. "So my Mod Soul is a rapist? What the hell is up with that?"
"Yeah!" Grimmjow's blush rose to match with his companion's as his Mod Soul screamed something that closely resembled to 'please stop~'. "And my Mod Soul is a bitch?"
"Well, the correct word would be uke..."
"Ow! Ulquiorra-sama, that hurts~"
"Relax Grimmy-chan, it'll only hurt for a second."
"But yes, the vulgar term is bitch." Urahara seemed to find it amusing since he covered his snicker with his fan.
Unfortunately, Ichigo wasn't as lucky as to have a fan, so he simply turned towards the wall and started laughing as quietly as possible, his lithe frame shuddering with every laugh.
"What are you laughing at, Kurosaki?" the two Espada turned around and glared at him at the same time, watching as Ichigo released his hold and started laughing in a higher voice.
"N-Nothing, nothing at all! It's just that if this goes on, you might assist to some disturbing scenes." He laughed, tears rolling freely down his flushed cheeks.
The Ex-Espada blushed harder and looked at each other, worry clear in their eyes. They had to stop them. The Mod Souls had already gone far enough. The memories had to stop flashing back to them.
"How do we get back into our gigai?" Grimmjow turned around immediately, glaring daggers at Urahara. Ulquiorra simply looked at the ground, a light frown decorating his pale face.
"Oh, just touch them, and you'll be sucked back in. That explains how you got into them in the first place."
"Alright." Grimmjow turned back to the two gigai struggling in the corner, and resisting the urge to blush, he started running towards them.
Gigai-Ulquiorra seemed to notice only when a shadow loomed over them, followed by a second shadow.
The two Mod-Souls shrank in fear as the real Espada towered above them, their faces hidden by the shadows, but sadistic gleams in their eyes.
"No!" Gigai-Ulquiorra screamed. "I won't let you take my Grimmy-chan from me!" he screamed, holding gigai-Grimmjow tighter.
"Game over." Ulquiorra simply sighed in relief and jumped on the gigai, watching its horrified face in satisfaction as he was pulled back into the fake body.
Grimmjow followed his lead, bending down and touching his gigai, who was looking up at him, shivering in fear and on the border of crying.
The two were pulled back in, and sighed once they felt lighter. Both opened their eyes at the same time, though, and realized their positions.
Ulquiorra was standing over Grimmjow, sitting on his lap while one of his hands trailed under his shirt and grabbed his waist, the other holding his partner's hands above his head. Grimmjow was leaned against the corner, one of his knees bent to try and throw Ulquiorra off and the other leg helplessly pinned down by Ulquiorra's body as his arms were secured against the wall.
It only took them a second to scramble away from each other, turning a deep-tomato red and shuddering. Nope, these Mod Souls were definitely not made for them.
"Oi, baka!" Grimmjow was the first to get up and point accusingly at Urahara. "Give us something else! These Mod Souls are stupid!"
Urahara sighed and shrugged.
"Guess I have no choice. Here, take these. They're both the calm and collected teenager type of Mod-Souls." He dug into his pocket and threw them a second pair of candy dispensers, one of which Grimmjow caught, and the other of which landed next to Ulquiorra, who looked up from his curled up position to spot it lying next to him.
The two of them made sure to grab the new ones, and angrily threw the old ones back at Urahara, who was too busy chuckling to notice and who received them straight in the forehead, making him topple and fall.
"Alrighty then..." Ichigo grinned once more and headed for the front door. "Let's go eat now. All this funny stuff has gotten me even hungrier." He poked his head back in, staring at the two Espada. "You coming?"
Grimmjow nodded and walked towards Ulquiorra, stopping next to him and putting his hand out for him to take.
"Let's go." He smiled lightly, watching as Ulquiorra scanned his eyes for a moment, then grabbed his hand to get up.
"Right." He simply forced a small smile and dusted himself off. Good enough for the Sexta as he turned around, dropped his smile, and ran for the door.
Food sounded extremely appealing all of a sudden.
Author's Notes:
Yes, food DOES sound appealing. Although I did just eat a few hours ago :/ Meh, I'll eat later -.-"
Well then, does anyone here present hate me for inserting humorous sexual content in this chapter? Yes? I'm sorry then. You can hit me. It won't happen again. No, seriously, it won't. I'm not good at this so I'll veer away from dark sexual humour and go for dark... dark humour xD
Yep, yep, dilemmas. They're everywhere. Thankfully for Grimmy, Ulqui and Ichi, they'll have time to mull over their dilemmas as I'll probably be procrastinating again xD
Also, I want to write a Death Note fic. And an Ouran High School Host Club oneshot. Someone stab me. I CANNOT start another story without finishing the three I have started right now -.-"
Also, a little note on those Mod Souls. I made Ulquiorra the seme cause everyone always regards Grimmjow as seme. I do too. I just figured it'd be funny to switch places (:
This chapter was originally supposed to be longer, at least double the size of the current one (which is still big, about 6k words O:) but I figured I might as well cut it in half and get you guys an earlier update.
Aaaand... The "read between the lines" thing from chapter 2 applies here too. Actually, it applies in every chapter. Pretty much. It's cool, I have 2 stories in one :D
Anyways, I'll stop talking now and kindly ask yeh to review. Did you know I FEED on reviews? Yes yes yes, I do (: Come on, is just one comment that much of a hassle? D: Even just a "good job" or "you suck" will do the trick, I just wanna know that people are reading this Q_Q
Kay, so REVIEW PLEASE~
No really, do it.
Don't make me send Ulquiorra's Mod Soul after you.