Heh. That was easy.

Grimmjow cracked his knuckles as soon as the shinigami fell to the ground, sapphire eyes staring down at the unconscious man's body which lay in a crumpled heap. The man was just an ordinary shinigami, so he was rather easy to knock out. He was patrolling the area when Grimmjow found him. Bending down, Grimmjow tapped the man at the side of the face several times. He did not respond. Grimmjow raised an eyebrow. He really was out cold.

"Sorry, man," Grimmjow apologized. "But I need to borrow something from you for a bit."

Standing up, the teal haired arrancar dragged the unconscious man into an empty house, made work of stripping the shinigami of his uniform before donning them and placing his own uniform in a bag, making sure to work quickly before the man woke up. He had about thirty minutes before the man regained consciousness, give or take.

After adjusting the sash of the shinigami uniform that he now wore, Grimmjow pulled up the hood of the uniform. This was perfect. Not only were they about the same size, but the man's uniform also had a hood, which was perfect for hiding Grimmjow's hair colour. Making sure that the cloth that covered half of his face was still on, Grimmjow walked out of the house, murmuring a "thank you" to the unconscious shinigami as he walked past the man.

Outside, Grimmjow breathed in the air in Seireitei. Even though he had just arrived here, he could immediately see the difference between Rukongai and Seireitei. The area where he had arrived at in Rukongai the day before was in pretty poor shape. The houses there were shabbily built and everything there just looked plain miserable, even the residents. Seireitei, however, was a different story. By just taking one look at the place Grimmjow was able to tell that it was well taken care of.

So far, his visit here in Seireitei was going smoothly. Although he had to go against Aizen's new rule in order to get here and it took him awhile to get a nosy Szayel Aporro Grantz off of his back, he did not give a shit. Now that he was here, he needed to find Ulquiorra. And hopefully, this time he would not be potentially killed.

Well, then. Time to go find someone who he could get some information from.

Hands in his pockets, sapphire eyes scanned the area as he walked, exploring the place, the only things lending him light were the lights from several buildings and the faint glow of the moon. In this outfit, no one batted a single eyelid. To them, he looked like any other shinigami that stayed there in Seireitei. Now, where should he start looking? Grimmjow bit the inside of his cheek as he thought. He was about to ask a passerby when he spotted a group of drunken shinigami walking out of a bar.

He grinned.

That would do.

He could not have asked for a better place. If one wanted to find information, where better than a bar? Not only was it a place where most of the shinigami gathered, but it was also a place for socializing, so Grimmjow had no doubt in his mind that at least one person there would know about the location of Ulquiorra Schiffer's home. And nearly everyone there would be intoxicated; it would be easy to wheedle information out of any drunkard there and no one would notice him either. The probability that the informant won't even remember giving out such information the day after was even better.

As soon as he entered the bar, the smell of alcohol reached his nostrils and Grimmjow also found that his conclusions about the people in the bar were spot on. Most of the shinigami were already drunk and no one paid him any mind, which suited him very well. The bar was well lit and clean, unlike the many shady looking bars that he had visited before. Even the customers looked respectable, though most of them were drunk at the moment.

Choosing to sit on a stool by the counter, Grimmjow tried to decide who to ask.

That brown haired shinigami who had a pink, flower patterned ladies' kimono draped over his shoulders? No. That man may be drinking sake like there was no tomorrow, but he did not show any of sign of getting drunk, just a little tipsy. And judging by the looks of his uniform, he was a captain, just like Ulquiorra. He would not be an easy person to fool. And how about his white haired friend? Scratch that. The guy had already passed out from consuming too much alcohol. What about that bald guy with that girly looking guy? No good. It seemed that they were just getting started to drink. The blonde woman with the huge boobs in the corner maybe? The guy with the 69 tattoo inked onto his cheek that was sitting right next to her? Or maybe that meek, blonde guy with the funny hair...

"'scuse me, are you lookin' for someone?"

"Huh?" Grimmjow said, distracted from his current mission.

"Are you lookin' for someone?" This time, the question was accompanied with a tug on Grimmjow's sleeve.

Annoyed, Grimmjow turned to see who the hell it was that was talking to him, and found a short, young male sitting on the stool next to him, looking up at him, his cheeks flushed. Grimmjow scowled, irritated. "Who the hell are you?"

"Me?" The young man pointed at himself. "I'm Hanataro Yamada. Hehe. What about chuuu...? Hic!"

Grimmjow's eyes widened. This guy was drunk; he was practically falling off of his seat, and he was holding on to the counter for support.

"Heyyyy... You have pretty eyes. Is that eyeliner...?" Hanataro giggled, reaching out with a finger to touch the teal marking at the side of Grimmjow's right eye.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Grimmjow grabbed Yamada's wrist before he could accidentally poke his eye out. When Hanataro began to whine about how unfair and mean Grimmjow was being, Jeagerjaques' eye twitched. The man stank of alcohol too, making Grimmjow wrinkle his nose. "Get a grip of yourself, will you-" the teal haired arrancar started, but then stopped when he saw something that made him stare. He let go of the smaller male's wrist slowly. "... You're a... shinigami?" he said in disbelief.

Hanataro looked down at his uniform. "I guess I am," he said happily. "Are you a shi-shi-shi-origami as well...?"

How did this little shrimp become a shinigami?

But a shinigami was a shinigami, and maybe this little guy knew something about Ulquiorra. "Hey," he said, making Hanataro look up at him with wide eyes. "Do you know a shinigami called Ulquiorra Schiffer?"

Hanataro nodded. "Yeah! Ukelala is the new captain of the fifth division." A dreamy look crossed his eyes, and he sighed, "He's pretty. Has pretty eyes too. Green like that jewel... What's it called? Ruby? Diamond? Oh, nyaaa..."

Uke- what now? Deciding to ignore the odd twist that the smaller male had given to Ulquiorra's name and his ramblings, Grimmjow leaned forward eagerly, his heart beating fast. "Do you know where he lives?"

There. Right to the point. The man was so drunk; he probably would not even find the question strange.

"Ah?" Hanataro stopped in the middle of his rambling. He knitted his eyebrows together, tapping his finger on his chin, thinking as he tried to remember something. After a moment or two, he grinned, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Yeah, I know where he lives!" the young man said happily, making Grimmjow's heart soar. "Come on-" He grabbed Grimmjow's hand "-I'll show you!"

"I can walk by myself, you know!" said a rather agitated Grimmjow.

Hanataro, who was obviously not listening, continued to hum merrily as he dragged the taller man along with him, completely unaware that he was dragging around one of the most feared Espada like a ragdoll. Now, if Hanataro was not drunk, and was his usual timid and nervous self, he would have most definitely run away before even contemplating with associating with such a fearsome enemy. "We're almost there!" Hanataro chirped as he made another turn. "Ukelala likes staying in secluded places, you see!"

"I can see that," Grimmjow said, taking note of the directions that they took for future reference.

"Watch out!"

"Eh?"

But Hanataro's warning came a little too late, for a low hanging branch smacked Grimmjow right in the face. "Fuckkkk...!" Grimmjow swore.

Grimmjow was about to reprimand Hanataro for warning him too late when the smaller male suddenly stopped and pointed at a cosy looking house in front of them. "There it is," Hanataro said happily, looking incredibly proud of himself. "That's Ukelala's home. Isn't it cute?" He let go of Grimmjow's hand, allowing the blue haired arrancar to step forward and get a better look of the house. Even though Grimmjow did not answer him and was staring at the house, Hanataro did not seem to mind. He had found something shiny – a coin – on the ground and was playing with that instead.

"..." Grimmjow ignored Yamada's squeals of excitement over the new found coin and concentrated on taking in the sight before him.

It looked like Ulquiorra was doing quite well. The house was painted in white and though it was not big, it was big enough for one person to live in comfortably. It really was a modest house, and it was a bit of a way off from the other houses. It suited Schiffer; Ulquiorra was not one for luxury or socializing. The garden was tidy, the grass neatly trimmed and there were no plants around save for the lone cherry blossom tree that grew at the front, providing shade to those who seek it. Since it was dark, Grimmjow could not really see much, but he was sure that the flowers of the cherry blossom tree were a beautiful shade of pink.

Getting closer to the house, Grimmjow looked through the gap that the curtains provided in the window. Judging from the lack of light, Grimmjow could tell that Ulquiorra was not home. Even the front door was locked, but that was to be expected. Grimmjow peered into the house. From here, he could see that the house was simply, yet tastefully furnished. Everything was simple, yet elegant. Seeing this, he could not help, but to smile. Even though Ulquiorra was no longer an arrancar and was now a shinigami, it seemed that his taste in decor did not change at all. The teal haired arrancar rubbed his cheek where the branch had hit him.

It was a nice place, especially since Ulquiorra had not been a shinigami for very long. Grimmjow was not surprised; he knew that whatever Ulquiorra chose to be in life, he would do the job well, and this place showed it.

If he wanted to break in... Grimmjow looked up. He could get in through one of the windows. Since that damned wall that surrounded Seireitei was nowhere near here, he would be able to float up there.

"So..." Hanataro said, his eyes bright, "What do you think of this place? Nice, huh?"

"Yeah, it is," Grimmjow responded, sapphire eyes settling on the shorter man.

"Goody! So what are we gonna do now? Oh, I know! Let's go back to the bar and-"

"No, we can't."

"Huh?" Hanataro was taken aback by the sharp tone in Grimmjow's voice. He pouted. "Why not?"

"Because, from here onwards, it'll just be me," Grimmjow sighed. "Thank you for helping me up to here, but this is it."

"Wha-?" Yamada knitted his eyebrows together in confusion.

"Sorry, Hanataro," he said apologetically to the confused man before balling up his fist and knocking him out.

Ulquiorra was exhausted. Today, he had spent the entire day in his office doing paperwork; going through reports, writing out reports and such. He had to write a detailed report on what had happened the day before when the arrancar broke into Soul Society even though he had already told Captain Yamamoto what had happened. Apparently, Captain Yamamoto wanted every important event such as that to be documented for future reference.

His vice captain, Momo Hinamori, was also helping out with the paperwork. They did not talk much, and only the sounds of the scratching of pen on paper and the rifling of paper filled the silence between them. They did not speak about what had transpired between them the day before, and that probably attributed to the awkwardness in the air. That, and the fact that Momo Hinamori had always seemed to be intimidated with Ulquiorra.

A frustrated sigh escaped Ulquiorra's lips as he crossed out the sentence that he had just written and wrote a whole new sentence. This was vexing. It was already ten, and he still had one more report to do. Even the candle on the table was merely a stump now, the flame on the wick flickering every now and then, and the wax dripping on to the table. Usually he did not mind doing paperwork, but today, he was not in the mood. He was much too tired; there were even bags under his eyes.

Once he was done, he reached out for another piece of paper when Hinamori placed her hand on top of his, gently stopping him.

"Don't worry about that, Captain. I'll take this one," she said.

Ulquiorra blinked. "No, no, it's quite alright. I can do this one by myself." He attempted to take the paper again when she stopped him once more. He gave her a strange look.

"Captain," she said, her voice a little stronger this time. "I'll do this one," she repeated.

"That's nice and everything, but-"

"I'll do it," she insisted. At the surprised look on Ulquiorra's face, she continued in a much gentler tone, "You should rest, Captain. You're tired and you've been working since morning. I'll take over from here."

"I..." For a moment there, Ulquiorra did not know what to say. But seeing the determined look on his Vice Captain's face, he decided that it would be better to let her do this than to argue with her. Standing up, Ulquiorra stretched his aching body. He sighed. "Thank you, Hinamori."

"It's no problem, Captain."

Picking up his zanpaktou, Ulquiorra hesitated. "Hinamori?"

"Yes?" she said as she began to write on the paper.

He cleared his throat. "I'm sorry about how I acted yesterday."

She smiled then, the first real smile that she has ever given him since he became a shinigami. "It's alright," she said sincerely. "Now you should go rest. See you tomorrow, Captain."

Ulquiorra nodded, leaving the dark haired girl to work on the last report. "Please remember to lock up," he reminded, before closing the door behind him.

The walk back to his house was not a peaceful one. Ulquiorra's mind was constantly plagued by what had happened the day before, and... And that odd dream that he had. If it happened only once, he would have been able to ignore it, but twice now he had visions of him dressed in white, with a strange, broken half of a helmet on his head, and green tear tracks that went from the bottom of both his eyes to his jaw, once while he was wide awake and the other time when he was asleep. And also, there was a blue haired man that was present in both visions.

These past few days have been crazy, and it all began since he met that arrancar. Since that day, his peaceful life turned upside down. Before this, he had never been plagued with visions, visions that were beginning to make him question his past life even more. Who, and what was he? Was there really a reason after all for the shinigami here to be wary of him? If that vision of him talking with people who were no doubt murderers was true, then didn't that make him one too, if he was working with them, even though he had apparently decided not to kill that boy, whoever he was?

Ulquiorra Schiffer shook his head, trying to rid himself of the images.

Those visions don't mean anything. They're just that. Visions.

Once he had arrived at his doorstep, Ulquiorra pulled the house key out of his pocket and slipped it into the keyhole, unlocking the door. The door opened noiselessly. He really needed to get a shower and much needed rest. He was not able to sleep well the night before due to the strange dream that he had, and now he felt like he was going to collapse. Closing the door behind him, Ulquiorra locked it once more before making his way to his bedroom, his footsteps echoing throughout the empty house as he walked up the stairs.

Taking note that the place looked exactly how it looked like since he left it that morning, Ulquiorra reached out to open the doorknob of his bedroom door once he reached it. Switching on the lights, Ulquiorra let a sigh escape his lips. Finally, he was going to be able to relax and not think about work or worry about anything else. As far as he was concerned, now that he was home, those problems did not exist, and he refused to acknowledge them. At least until work the next day.

And now, now he needed to take a nice, relaxing shower before he retired to bed.

After undressing himself, Ulquiorra put his shinigami uniform into the laundry basket before stepping into the bathroom.

Grimmjow brushed the small pieces of shattered glass from his pants from when he had punched the window and landed in the room. Good thing he had a thick hierro or else his hand would have been bleeding by now. Heh. It took awhile for his eyes to get used to the darkness, but once they did, Grimmjow saw that he was in what was probably the guest room. The room was pretty much bare except for a bed, a dressing table and a cupboard. Save for his steady breathing, the house was silent; Ulquiorra was not back yet, he was thankful for that. At least this way he would be able to take Ulquiorra by surprise instead of having it the other way around like the day before.

Standing up, Grimmjow pulled the cloth that was covering the bottom half of his face off and decided to explore the place, careful not to make too much noise. It was a good thing that Ulquiorra's house was a little way off from the other houses or else he would definitely be in trouble right now.

Even though he always hung out with Ulquiorra in the Cuarta's room, it felt strange being here in his new home. He felt like he was a stranger. Though it probably had to do with the fact that he had to break in in order to get in here, when in the past, Ulquiorra's room was always open to him. At this thought, Grimmjow guiltily remembered what he had done to that young shinigami right after he helped him, and the look on Yamada's face right before. After knocking him out, Grimmjow had dragged him to a place nearby where there were a lot of shady trees, leaving him there.

It could not be helped. That man would slow him down, and would only be a burden.

With that thought in mind, Grimmjow strode towards the door to open it when he heard footsteps. He stopped, his breath caught in his throat.

Ulquiorra was back.

Rangiku yawned as she stretched her arms above her head. That was definitely one of the best drinking sessions she has had in a long time; Shuuhei and Kira got pissed drunk after drinking just a few glasses of sake whereas she was able to hold her liquor even though she drank more than they did. It really was amusing to see Shuuhei and Kira talking and cuddling each other as though they were lovers when in reality, if they knew that such a thing had transpired between them, they would have been horrified. Rangiku chuckled as she patted her trusty camera that she held. She was going to enjoy blackmailing them with the pictures she took... Though she was not going to enjoy the inevitable lecture that her young captain would give her later.

She sighed. It was not easy to get away from work to have drinks with friends especially since Hitsugaya was always on her case about it nowadays, so she always treasured the times when she was able to do so.

Since Shuuhei and Kira were now lying unconscious on the table at the bar, Rangiku decided to head out for a walk before returning to her place. She had asked Shunsui to help get the two of them home should she return to the bar on the way home too late, so there was no problem there. And if she was not too late, having another drink or two could not hurt. Perhaps she could persuade Kyoraku to drink with her for awhile...

Twirling a lock of her wavy hair around her finger, Rangiku was about to head back to the bar when she heard a groan coming from under a tree nearby.

What was that?

Hand immediately finding the hilt of her zanpaktou, Rangiku narrowed her eyes as she walked towards the tree, thoughts of returning to the bar completely forgotten. As she inched closer, she could see a figure under the tree; whoever it was under the tree seemed to be asleep.

"Hanataro?" Rangiku gasped, her eyes widening when she caught sight of the person's face. She reached out, and quickly withdrew her hand when she saw the black eye that Hanataro had. "What happened to you?"

Hanataro clutched at his throbbing head. "I don't feel so good..." he moaned.

Ignoring his complaints, Rangiku bent down and held his face, her hands cupping her cheeks, making him look up at her as she examined the black eye. Upon seeing her serious expression, Yamada fell silent.

"Hanataro," Rangiku said slowly, "Who did this to you?"

"Ahh..." The dark haired male furrowed his eyebrows, trying to remember. He should not have drunk so much. His head was throbbing so much that it hurt. "I remember a man... He was a shinigami too..."

"What did he want?"

"He..." Hanataro paused, his eyes widening in horror. "He asked me where Captain Ulquiorra lives."

Rangiku froze. Could it be?

"Did you tell him where Ulquiorra lives?" she said urgently.

The look of shame on Hanataro's face was all she needed to see in order to know the answer. Rangiku cursed under her breath. Letting go of the dark haired male abruptly, she stood up, drawing out her zanpaktou as she did so. After the break in that happened yesterday, there was no way she could ignore this.

"Hanataro," she said. "Go and get back up. I'm going to Ulquiorra's house."

Grimmjow could hear the shower running. Closing his eyes, he tried to calm his nerves. Finding Ulquiorra's room was no problem; it was right across the room that he was in just now. He leaned the back of his head against the wall, his vision on the ceiling. Well. This was it. He was going to confront Ulquiorra and he was going to succeed. He had already hid Ulquiorra's zanpaktou in the cupboard, so there should not be any problem. It was a dirty tactic, but there really was not anything else he could do since Ulquiorra would not listen unless he was forced to.

Curling his hands to form fists, Grimmjow could feel his heart beating against his ribcage almost painfully. Somehow, somehow this just felt so wrong...

Before Grimmjow could contemplate even further on the matter, he heard the water from the shower stop. Screw second thoughts. There was no turning back now. This was it.

Inside the bathroom, Ulquiorra was done drying his hair with a towel and was now pulling on a pair of pants. He let out a breath that he had been holding in. He felt so much more relaxed now and sleepy as well. Trying to stifle a yawn, he reached out for the doorknob and twisted it open.

Upon exiting the bathroom, however, Ulquiorra felt someone clap a hand over his mouth and an arm being wrapped around his waist, keeping him in place.

"...!"

"We meet again, Ulquiorra Cifer," came an all too familiar voice, a voice that sent shivers up his spine. He hated that voice.

Ulquiorra scowled, and when that person removed his hand from covering Ulquiorra's mouth in favour for wrapping it around his neck, Ulquiorra glared at the teal haired arrancar from the corner of his eye. "Arrancar," he hissed, a feeling not unlike anger bubbling within him. "What do you want?"

"I want you to listen to what I have to say."

Hearing the arrancar's answer only made the scowl on Ulquiorra's face deepen. Not this again. Ulquiorra was sure that there was absolutely nothing that the arrancar had to say that would be of slightest interest to him. He was almost tempted to ask what was so important that the arrancar went to this length just to talk to him, but he decided against it. It was probably something that the arrancar's master had told him to do. The raven haired man reached up and gripped the arm that was wrapped around his neck. "I'd like to see you try," he breathed.

Hanataro felt like crying. How could he have been so stupid? He should not have taken up on Ganjyu's dare to drink that much alcohol when he knew that he could not hold his liquor. Now, because of his stupidity, one of the captains was probably in danger, and it was all his fault.

So caught up in his thoughts, he accidentally rammed into someone. "Ah, sorry!"

"Ow!" Hinamori winced, rubbing her forehead where Hanataro's head accidentally hit. "Eh, Hanataro...? What are you doing here?" she said, surprised. She did not see the young man often.

What he told her made her drop the stack of papers she was holding.

Grimmjow shoved Ulquiorra onto the bed, grunting as the pale shinigami continued to struggle. Damn it. Even without his zanpaktou to protect himself with, Ulquiorra was still one tough bastard. Grimmjow was having a tough time even trying to speak. Every time he tried to speak, Ulquiorra would attempt to punch, kick or injure him some way or another. The spots on his body where Ulquiorra had hit him felt sore.

"Damn it!" Grimmjow swore. "Ulquiorra, just give me a minute!"

"Get off of me, arrancar!" When Grimmjow did not respond, pale fingers reached up to wrap themselves around the Sexta's neck.

Oh, this was not going very well.

Grabbing Ulquiorra's wrists, Grimmjow pinned them down to the bed and straddled him, breathing hard from the effort of holding off an agitated Ulquiorra. "Fuck! Look, I'm not the bad guy here, so just listen, Ulquiorra!" he said exasperatedly.

"Do not call me by my name, arrancar," Ulquiorra bit back, trying to yank his hand out of Grimmjow's grip, but to no avail. They were so close now that Grimmjow could practically see the changing emotions in emerald eyes. Anger, suspicion, fear, shame, confusion. "And by your actions, I think it's safe to say that you are the bad guy here."

"Please," Grimmjow said, his voice soft, yet Ulquiorra heard it all the same. The sincerity in the Sexta's voice made the pale shinigami stop struggling. "Just hear me out. After this, if you think that I'm lying, I will go away. But for now, just listen."

Emerald eyes glittered as they glared up at Grimmjow. Ulquiorra pursed his lips. He could not say that he was not intrigued in the slightest with the arrancar's behaviour. It was almost as if he did not want to hurt Ulquiorra even though the raven haired man did not return the favour. Fine, then. He would allow him to talk, but only to satisfy Ulquiorra's curiosity as to who was this arrancar.

"Who are you?" Ulquiorra heard himself saying out loud.

Grimmjow seemed a little surprised with Ulquiorra's sudden question, but answered him anyway. At least Ulquiorra was cooperating with him now, if only a little. "Me?" he said slowly. "I'm the Sexta Espada. My name is Grimmjow Jeagerjaques."

DIOR CRYSTAL: As of today, it has been exactly one year since I joined FF. Again. Haha. Happy one year anniversary? Reviews are much loved.