A/N: Yay, I got a follower :D Even though I don't have any reviews yet, that made me so happy that I'm uploading Chapter 2 early ;) I've got about 65 pages written on my computer already, so it shouldn't take too long for me to update. It might take longer when/if I reach the point where I have nothing more written. Any suggestions for the plotline/side-pairings will still be taken into consideration, assuming I can make it fit ;)

Chapter 2

Grimmjow looked around. No one was looking for him at the moment, and he wasn't needed. He casually walked out of Las Noches, entering the deserts of Hueco Mundo outside. It wasn't uncommon for some of the arrancar, himself included, to go hunting other hollow when things got dull, so no one would think it strange for him to do this. Just when he had gotten outside Nnoitra appeared in front of him.
"Going somewhere, former sexta?" he asked with a sneer. Grimmjow growled slightly.
"Shut up Nnoitra. I'm gonna hunt some lower hollows. Now move" he said. The lanky black haired espada moved aside, keeping a smug smirk on his face.
"Yes, I can see how you would need the training…" he said, then frowned before blinking a bit.
"What's up with your eyes?" he asked. Grimmjow looked confused.
"Whaddaya mean?" he wondered. The lankier man shrugged before moving inside the fortress of Las Noches.
"Nuthin'" Nnoitra said, and the doors closed.

As he left Grimmjow flipped him the bird before moving far enough away from Las Noches that what he was going to do would not be immediately noticed. He did hunt a hollow, absorbing the reiatsu it carried, but he didn't continue hunting, nor did he return to Las Noches. He made sure he was alone, and proceeded to open a garganta. The rip in reality opened, allowing him passage between Hueco Mundo and the human world. As he left the desert his final thought before the garganta closed was
"Fuck you, Aizen"

Ichigo sat in the classroom as usual, bored out of his mind, when the doors opened.
"Oh, class, it seems the exchange student has arrived, come on, introduce yourself" the teacher said. A girl entered the classroom. Her brown hair reached far down her back, and her appearance showed her to be from a western country, as she clearly was not Asian.
"Uhm, hi. My name is Summers Dawn, I'm 15 years old and from Sunnydale in California" she said. The teacher smiled and showed her to the desk just behind Ichigo's.

When class was over, and lunch break began Dawn approached the orange haired boy and his friends.
"Hi, do you mind if I eat with you guys? I don't really know anyone here" she asked.
"Sure, please have a seat" Rukia said. Dawn sat down and got her lunch out.
"You're from America, right Dawn-san? How is it there?" Orihime asked. Dawn smiled and shrugged.
"Not too different from this, I guess. We don't have school uniforms, and we're a bit more casual, but overall I haven't noticed much difference… Then again, I only arrived yesterday…" she explained. Rukia was looking at her strangely, and sent Ichigo a look.
"Oh, before I forget... You wouldn't happen to have seen this guy anywhere around here before?" Dawn asked, pulling out a photo of a grinning boy with dark brown hair. The Japanese teens shook their heads.
"Not as far as I can remember, why?" Ichigo asked suspiciously, though he couldn't help feeling as though the boy was somewhat familiar.
"He's a friend of my family and myself... He's been missing for a while, and the last trace of him indicated he might be here... We can't give up on him, as he wouldn't give up on us..." she explained, feeling that she could trust these people. Besides, she wasn't telling them anything of the supernatural. Orihime sent her a compassionate gaze.
"I hope you find him then. We'll be sure to tell you if we see him" she said, giving the brown haired American girl a hug.
"Thank you, I appreciate it" Dawn said honestly.

As they said goodbye and walked their separate ways after school Rukia got a hold of Ichigo.
"I didn't want to say anything while she could hear us, but Dawn-sans aura seems strange. She definitely has reiatsu, but it's nothing like I've felt before... " she stated.
"Really? I couldn't feel anything" Ichigo shrugged. A Look from Rukia shut him up.
"I don't think she works for Aizen or anything, but I think we should be careful with her... We don't know anything about her yet" she explained. Ichigo shrugged, and they walked the rest of the way home in relative quiet.

Dawn arrived at home to find the rest of the group in different states of research.
"Hello, I'm back" she said. The group looked up from their work.
"Oh, hi Dawn" Buffy said with a slight smile.
"I asked some students in school, none of them could remember seeing Xander anywhere" Dawn said as she put her schoolbag down, grabbing her books to do some of the homework.

After they had eaten dinner Dawn slumped down in the couch. The TV in front of her flashing with standard news reports on stuff she didn't really care about.
"Have you made any progress?" she asked as she shut the thing off. They all responded negatively.
"Not a trace anywhere..." Willow said.
"But it's just been a day, I'm sure we'll find something soon!" she quickly added. Spike grabbed his trench-coat and threw it on.
"Whatever. It's getting' dark outside, I'll be checking the streets for information, see if I can find anything" he stated and exited the apartment. Buffy quickly pulled on her leather jacket and her boots.
"I'll go patrol, with two of us out there we might stumble across something" she explained before leaving in the opposite direction of the platinum blonde vampire.

In another part of Karakura a garganta opened to reveal a white clad, blue haired arrancar sneaking in. He took care to actually conceal his reiatsu, as he wasn't here to pick a fight with shinigami this time. He carefully stepped down onto the streets. Most people might not be able to see him, but just to be on the safe side he had wrapped some bandages around his abdomen, effectively hiding both his hollow hole and the tattoo marking him as an espada. His outfit, hair and mask fragment would draw enough attention from the few who could see him, but with some luck he'd just be seen as a weirdo. If someone were to see his hole it couldn't as easily ignored...

As Grimmjow walked he realized he hadn't really thought about where he was going, or even what he was doing here. He sighed and decided to look at the emptying shops around town. People were moving around, walking home, exiting stores. Some noticed him, stared a bit before moving on, others simply kept moving, or even bumped into him. He got frustrated, but chose to ignore it. As fond as he might be of a good fight he didn't like killing innocent people. It might be a leftover habit from his old life, but killing someone who clearly were unable to fight back just didn't sit right with him. He looked through the window of a store and saw a black leather jacket, clearly designed for women. An image of a blonde girl armed with a wooden stake flashed in his mind.
'Buffy' his mind supplied. He shook his head and moved on. Nearly bumping into a man clad in a black trench-coat.
"Oi, watch it punk," the blonde man sneered before moving on. Grimmjow remained staring at him for what felt like hours, but likely was nothing but half a minute. Something seemed familiar about him, and also, his reiatsu seemed off... he didn't seem to be human. Mentally shaking himself he kept moving, not really sure about where he was going to go. He sure as hell wasn't going back to Hueco Mundo. He'd be punished for leaving, effectively disobeying Aizen, and also... he just couldn't keep working for the maniac of a shinigami. Thinking he could be a god. Grimmjow scoffed. As if. He might be powerful, but a god? Hardly.

"Oi! Grimmjow, what the hell are you doing here?" a familiar voice sounded. Grimmjow looked up and frowned. He'd been careless. He should have noticed the substitute shinigami earlier. The overgrown knife of a sword the orangette wielded pointed towards him, as the boy kept his eyes trained on the espada. Grimmjow put his hands up, attempting to show the boy that he meant no harm.
"Chill, shinigami. I come in peace," he said. Ichigo nearly did a double take at that lame line, it sounded as if it was taken from some bad science-fiction movie. Slowly the weapon was lowered, as he watched the espada carefully.
"You expect me to believe you didn't come here by Aizen's orders?" the teen asked skeptically. Grimmjow nodded.
"As if I'd voluntarily follow that stuck up son of a bitch," he said with a grin. He didn't feel like fighting the kid tonight. Ichigo blinked slightly, but followed his instincts and attached his sword to his back. It was still in a position where, should the other attack, he could still reach it, but at least he was willing to give the arrancar the benefit of the doubt.
"You mean you don't want to follow him?" he asked, puzzled.
"Fuck no! Only reason I joined him in the first place was for the power he promised. Fuckin' stupid of me too, as I shoulda' expected him ta screw me over. Treats us like slaves," the blue haired arrancar spat. Ichigo was surprised at the venom with which the espada spoke of his 'leader'. It wasn't quite what he'd expected.
"But if you aren't here on his orders, why are you here at all?" Ichigo asked. Grimmjow shrugged.
"Dunno really... Felt like it, I guess. I can't return now though... He'll kill me, or worse," he held back a shudder.
"For what?"
"We're not supposed ta go here without his permission. We can barely do anything without his permission. Personally, I think he's a fucking sadist, and he wants us ta fuck up just so he can punish us for it," Grimmjow scowled as he kicked a random soda can into a trashcan.

Ichigo was genuinely surprised. He'd never expected an arrancar to be like this. Grimmjow noticed.
"Didn't expect a hollow to have feelings did ya?" he grinned. Ichigo flinched slightly at being read so easily.
"Most hollow run on instinct alone, but as you evolve to adjuchas, or higher, you can regain emotions, and a mind. Some even remember how they died and stuff... It varies greatly between individuals though..." Grimmjow explained. He didn't know why he told the young shinigami all this, but he just felt like it.
"There are surprisingly many half-decent 'people' in Hueco Mundo, though most of the ones coming here are either weak and dumb, or simply looking for a fight," he said. While there weren't exactly a bunch of friendly hollow there, there existed some decent ones who, while not nice in the sense humans were, wouldn't deliberately hunt humans.
"'sides, the strong ones need to feed on someone of at least shinigami-level in order to have any value. Coming here to eat human souls is completely pointless after you've evolved to that point," he shrugged. Ichigo watched him, and seemed genuinely surprised at this.

"Where are you planning to stay then, if you can't return to Hueco Mundo?" he eventually asked, deciding to change the subject somewhat. Grimmjow froze mid-step. He hadn't thought about that.
"You haven't thought about it, have you?" Ichigo correctly guessed. The espada frowned and didn't meet the boy's gaze.
"You can stay at my place. Rukia has gone back to Soul Society for the time being, so I think it should be fine," Ichigo wasn't sure what had possessed him to say that. He hadn't exactly planned on having an arrancar staying with him, however he didn't want Grimmjow to sleep on the streets either...
"Why not. Lead the way," the former espada smirked and gestured with his remaining arm. Ichigo blinked. He hadn't really expected Grimmjow to accept so quickly. He led the way back to the house. Grimmjow noticed the sign of the clinic outside. As he was led inside and up to the boy's bedroom he could hear the sounds of others sleeping. Though it made him curious, he didn't say anything. Not until the boy reentered his physical body.
"Kurosaki, you're human?" he asked, genuinely surprised. He had thought something was odd about the boy, but didn't expect him to be this different from other shinigami. Ichigo nodded.
"You mean you didn't know?" he asked. Grimmjow shook his head.
"I've been meaning to ask... what happened to your arm?" the orange haired teen asked, while pulling a mattress onto the floor for the arrancar, cause he sure as hell wouldn't fit in the closet like Rukia had.
"None of your business, shinigami!" Grimmjow snarled, eyeing him suspiciously.
"Easy, I was just asking. Anyway, I can probably ask Inoue to heal it tomorrow, if you want to," Grimmjow blinked. He had just snarled at the boy, and he still wanted to help him? What kind of guy was he? Nevertheless he nodded slowly, watching as the orange haired boy yawned and lay down in his bed.
'He's not like any other shinigami, that's for sure' he thought as he lowered himself down on the mattress and did something he'd never expected himself to do in the presence of an "enemy", he lowered his guard completely, and fell asleep.

Grimmjow dreamed again that night. This time it was different flashes of memories from his life. Meeting Willow for the first time in kindergarten. The first time his father actually hit him. Hiding bruises from his best friends. Laughing with them. Buffy entering their campus for the first time. Learning of the supernatural world. Jesse dying. Fighting alongside his friends. Researching. Stopping apocalypses. Halloween; turning into their costumes. Arguing with Spike. Being beaten by his father for being out too late. Everything was coming back... He tossed and turned in sleep as the memories haunted him. Buffy dying. Them bringing her back. The musical demon. His fiasco with Anya. Dying. He was being shaken slightly. His father shaking and punching him, tossing empty beer bottles at him. Grabbing him and shoving the broken bottle into his abdomen.

"Please don't!" he gasped in English as he woke up, clammy and near panicking. Slowly he registered his surroundings and the worried brown eyes of the boy currently holding his shoulders. His own blue eyes calmed somewhat.
"What are you doing, shinigami?" he asked with one elegant blue eyebrow raised. The boy let go of him, letting him sit on his own.
"You kept tossing and turning, muttering in your sleep... I tried waking you up. What the hell were you dreaming anyway? I never thought I'd see you like that" he said. Grimmjow frowned.
"Memories. From when I was alive" he said dismissively, making it clear that he didn't wish to talk about it.

"I have to go to school, but I'll see if I can bring Inoue over to heal that arm afterwards... Try not to cause any trouble in the meantime, 'kay?" Ichigo said as he grabbed his bag and put on his shoes. Grimmjow rolled his eyes.
"Sure, good luck with that" he sincerely doubted that this Inoue girl could actually heal his arm. How could she heal something that wasn't even there? He watched the teen leave to school, and decided to take a look around the house. Ichigo's sisters had left for school.

Grimmjow walked back into Ichigo's room, looking through his closet for something to wear. He knew he couldn't keep wearing his espada uniform here. Relieved that he and the boy was about the same size he grabbed a pair of plain jeans, a black T-shirt and a pair of socks. Looking a little more he located a pair of boxers as well. He didn't really wish to put on the teen's underwear, but didn't really have much choice in the matter. Carrying the clothes and grabbing a towel he entered the bathroom and locked the door behind him.

Stripping down he entered the shower and let the water rinse away the sweat and dirt of his body. It had been ages since he'd had a nice warm shower like this. He borrowed some shampoo, he assumed it was Ichigo's, as the other one smelled much too feminine, and rinsed his hair as well. Shutting off the stream of water and stepping out of the shower he grabbed the towel and proceeded to wipe the water off his body. His blue hair hung damp and dripping down in his face, before he rubbed the towel through it. He looked at his reflection again, frowned slightly and looked closer... Strange... His eyes, previously a clear blue, now had a circle of chocolate brown surrounding the pupils and blending back into the blue. Nothing too noticeable, though it puzzled him somewhat. The shade of brown was the exact same as his eyes had been back when he was a human.

Thinking no more of it he carefully re-wrapped the bandages concealing his abdomen before pulling on the clothes he had brought along. They fit a bit snugly, but not uncomfortably so. Pleased with his appearance he left the bathroom and entered the living room, switching on the TV to watch some cartoons.

A/N: Thank you for reading :) Please leave a review to let me know what you think ;)