A/N: Chapter 4 for you all, special thanks to Firehedgehog for the review left behind :D I appreciate it, and yes, I do plan on keeping his appearance as hot and Grimmjow-ish as possible ;)

Chapter 4

About a week passed without anything in particular happening, and as time went by Grimmjow grew more and more annoyed and restless. About a day ago Ichigo had taken him to this Urahara guy to get him a gigai. The man had somewhat creeped Grimmjow out, but after talking to Ichigo for a while he had agreed to make the gigai. He was going to get it today, and frankly, he couldn't wait, as it gave him a chance to actually do stuff outside without having to worry about people.

Ichigo came downstairs and smiled at the espada.
"Shall we go?" he asked with a grin. He had noticed how agitated Grimmjow had been and knew the gigai would probably let him release a bit of that annoyance, as he'd be able to move around a lot more.
"Urahara said the gigai he prepared for you should be done by now," he explained, and the two left the house to get to Urahara's place.

As they arrived Urahara seemed to have been expecting them. He smiled behind his fan and brought them inside the Urahara shop.
"The gigai is complete, but I must warn you, I have only ever made gigai for shinigami, so I cannot say for sure whether or not this will work. Hopefully as an arrancar you are similar enough to shinigami for the gigai to work," he said as he revealed it. It didn't look too different from what Grimmjow as an arrancar did, but it lacked the hollow hole and mask fragment. The hair was still blue, and the marks under his eyes remained the same green as always.

"Let's give it a try then," Grimmjow said and entered the gigai. As he sat back up he noticed that the gigai suppressed his reiatsu somewhat, though he had already suspected as much it still was a strange feeling. He stood up and stretched his arms up above his head to test out and get used to the feeling of the fake body. Adorned with slightly loose fitting jeans, a tight black T-shirt, black combat boots and a silver chain with a Gothic style number six, not unlike his tattoo, he looked positively hot. Ichigo looked at him appreciatively, before catching himself and regaining composure.
"Thanks hat-n-clogs," he said as they left.

They had settled on not going back home just yet. It was a warm Sunday, and neither one of them wanted to stay in the house at the moment. Instead they opted to go out for a while, walking around town not really doing anything. Ichigo noticed Grimmjow still being somewhat tense, and had an idea. Leading the blue haired one back to Urahara's place he quickly asked to borrow the "training room". Urahara seemed to catch on quickly and gave his permission. Grimmjow watched with skepticism as the trapdoor was opened and Ichigo entered the basement of the shop. He followed, hesitantly, holding back a gasp as he saw the sheer massiveness of the "basement". Ichigo quickly ditched his body; dragging it to a place it was deemed to be "safe". Grimmjow could feel how much more powerful the reiatsu of the boy was when he wasn't restrained by a human body. Quickly he pushed Grimmjow out of the gigai.
"Let's spar. You seem to need it, and I could use the practice," he stated. Grimmjow caught on quickly and the fight was on.

Blows were exchanged, casually and lazily at first, but it quickly built up to more fierce blows. Ichigo frowned and looked at Grimmjow.
"Stop holding back," he said, pointing his oversized sword at him.
"I will if you do," Grimmjow smirked and drew his own sword. He probably wouldn't need to release, but if the kid wanted him to stop holding back, he would.
"Bankai!" the kid yelled and his sword shrank down until it was the size of a normal Katana. The shinigami's clothes had changed somewhat as well. Grimmjow ran at him, meeting his blade with his own. They seemed to be evenly matched, which surprised Grimmjow, as he had beaten the kid so quickly last time.

Suddenly Ichigo pulled his hand across his face, and dark reiatsu gathered into a white mask with red markings. Grimmjow's eyes widened. That energy... The kid had a hollow mask? His attack power seemed to have at least doubled, if not tripled with that mask added. Grimmjow felt himself having to spend more energy defending than he did attacking. Frowning he fought back, but the kid kept countering his attack. So far he wasn't taking any damage, while Grimmjow was getting more and more cuts. Growling slightly he pulled back, before shifting his grip on the sword.
"Grind Pantera!" he shouted. His sword began glowing, and soon he could feel his body morphing into one more suited for battle. This time it was Ichigo's eyes widening.

The form of Grimmjow's release was stunning. His ears had grown long, pointed and covered in green fur. His hands had grown sharp claws and were covered in a thin layer of black fur. His feet were more like paws, and he balanced on his toes, rather than heels. As he grinned Ichigo saw sharp fangs, and in addition he now sported a long, sleek tail and his hair had grown to reach at least his lower back, if not longer. His arms, legs, tail and most of his torso were covered in white armor, protecting most vital spots, and the mask fragment on his cheek had morphed into something that more resembled a circlet on his forehead.

Shaking himself out of the reverie Ichigo quickly brandished his sword against the swift claws of the released Grimmjow. Both of them were grinning widely as they sparred, going all out and pushing both themselves and each other to the very limits of what they could do. Grimmjow used his claws with skill and alternated between kicking, scratching and punching to get the upper hand. Ichigo responded with different sword attacks including Getsuga Tensho. Both were exhausted and breathing heavily after a while. Cuts and bruises were apparent on both and they still seemed to be tied. The ground around them was cracked, and rocks were split or shattered. Both shinigami and arrancar had let loose with their strongest attacks, neither fearing death. Grimmjow lashed out with his claws a final time, and grinned as he saw Ichigo not moving out of his way. The mask adorning the orange haired boy's face had shattered somewhat during the fight, and all that remained now was a piece on the left side of his face. It covered everything from his cheekbone and up to his hairline, but nothing more. The yellow eyes on black sclera were somewhat disturbing, but Grimmjow ignored it as his final attack was about to make contact. Suddenly Ichigo reached out a hand, grabbing his hand, effectively stopping the attack. He raised his sword as he twisted Grimmjow around. He held Grimmjow against his chest with his black sword barely touching his neck. If he wanted to, Ichigo could easily have killed Grimmjow right there and then.
"I win" he said with the distorted voice the mask brought out. He let Grimmjow go, and removed the remainder of the mask. Grimmjow flicked his tail and had to take a few steps in order to keep his balance when Ichigo let go. His ears twitched somewhat in annoyance that the kid had beaten him, but he knew he had been defeated; besides, it was just a sparring session. He let his released form fade, before reentering his gigai. He watched Ichigo get back into his body and moving towards the exit. Grimmjow followed. He had gotten to release some frustration and tension during the fight, and was a lot more compliant than he would have been otherwise.

When they exited the shop darkness had fallen. Apparently they had been sparring for longer than they thought. Neither of them really worried, as they were both used to dangers, and anything hiding in the dark trying to attack them would be in for a nasty surprise.
"You fought well, shinigami. Why didn't you fight like that last time? You might have been able to beat me" Grimmjow said as they walked through the quiet dark streets.
"Might have been? Didn't I just beat you?" Ichigo smirked.
"Besides, a lot of what I just did were things I couldn't have done the first time we fought" he explained. Just as Grimmjow was about to say something else they heard a muffled scream.

They ran quickly over to an alley shrouded in darkness. Slowing down slightly they crept closer and saw a man trying to restrain a woman. He held a hand across her mouth, muffling her sounds of distress, and used his other arm to hold her still. Ichigo froze as he noticed the man's face. His forehead seemed to be somewhat bumpy, his eyes glowing an eerie yellow and as he opened his mouth and licked his lips in anticipation, Ichigo noticed a pair of long sharp fangs. Now, he had seen worse monsters before, he was a shinigami after all, but this was not a hollow... He couldn't feel any spiritual power from it at all... so what was it?

Grimmjow had not frozen at the "man's" appearance as Ichigo had. Instead he quickly leapt into action. Instincts honed from years of working together with the slayer on the hellmouth came back as he quickly pulled the vampire away from the frightened woman.
"Run" he stated, and the woman didn't hesitate to obey. The vampire snarled at him and lunged. Grimmjow guessed it was a fledgling, as it seemed unfamiliar with its powers. He punched the vampire, sending it flying into a wall. As it got back up Grimmjow broke off a piece of wood from some planks conveniently laying there, and as the vampire foolishly lunged at the espada he plunged the wood into its chest, turning it to a pile of dust in no time. Grimmjow threw the improvised stake away and brushed the vampire-dust off his hands.

Ichigo had to keep his shock from showing. Grimmjow, a hollow, had just saved someone. Someone he didn't even know... He knew the espada wasn't as bad as he had thought, but still...
"What was that?" he asked as he got over the fact that Grimmjow had actually saved someone. He still had no clue what the creature had been. Grimmjow walked over to him and gestured for him to lead the way home.
"I'll explain when we get back. You never know what's listening out here..." he said, and they walked home in relative silence. Each of them contemplating the other person's behavior and strength.

As they got inside Ichigo locked the door behind them. They removed their shoes and sat down on the couch.

"So, what the hell was that thing? It sure as hell was no hollow!" Ichigo asked with a frown. Grimmjow sighed and pulled a hand through his hair.
"To put it simply, that thing was a vampire," he said.
"A vampire? I thought they were myths?!"
"Like shinigami are myths? Nah, they're real. Real pain in the necks too... no pun intended," Grimmjow grinned slightly.
"First thing you need to know is that there are things that go bump in the night. Demons, vampires and so on... We hollows and you shinigami are just a part of the supernatural world. As far as demons go, vampires aren't that bad. They drink blood to survive, and infect others by sucking their blood 'till they're almost done, then they let the victims suck their blood. When one is turned the soul leaves the body, and in its place a demon steps forth, or something. Anyway, they can be killed by a wooden stake through the heart or by chopping their heads off. Sunlight will burn them, and if they are exposed to direct sunlight for too long they die. Holy water works the same way acid would on a human, and crosses will keep a vampire away as well," Grimmjow summarized.
"Also, be careful who you invite in. Vampires can't get in without an invitation from someone who lives in the house, but once they are invited you have to go through a whole ritual to un-invite them," he added.
"So... If vampires aren't so bad, what exactly is?" Ichigo wondered.
"Well, you have the stronger demons, and there are always someone trying to start an apocalypse or something of the sort..." Grimmjow shrugged.
"When you grow up on a hellmouth you sort of get used to it," he explained at Ichigo's surprised look.
"What exactly do you mean with hellmouth?"
"If I understood Giles correctly it's a gathering of demonic energy that can open a gateway to a hell dimension... Demons and vampires are naturally attracted to it and keep flooding to the town... Great fuckin' idea to build a town right on top of a fuckin' hellmouth, huh?"

Ichigo was a bit overwhelmed at the information he just received. He really shouldn't be that surprised. After all, both hollows and shinigami were supernatural beings, so it wasn't really too strange that there were others as well... Deciding to accept that the espada was telling the truth he sighed.
"Is that how you died then? Killed by a demon or something?" he asked, unable to stop the question from dropping out of his mouth.
"No. Not exactly," Grimmjow said, sending the teen a look that told him to drop the subject.
"Don't you have school tomorrow?" he asked, changing the subject. Ichigo groaned
"Yeah... We better get to bed... Night," he said with a yawn.

The scoobies were at a loss. They knew for sure that Xander was in this town, but they had absolutely no idea where he could be... At least Dawn did ok in school. She seemed to have made some new friends too. Buffy had been out patrolling the area, looking both for signs of Xander and for vampires to dust. While she was out the other night she had stumbled across something odd... A massive being with what looked like a white mask had appeared, chasing a man with a chain hanging from his chest. Just as she was about to chase after the beast the orange haired teen she had seen before appeared, wielding his sword against the being. There had been no battle to speak of, as the kid had finished off before the beast could do anything. Buffy had decided to stay hidden to see what would happen next, and saw the boy walk over to the man who had been chased. He talked about moving on and some place called Soul Society, before touching the man's forehead with the hilt of his sword.

It had surprised her at first, but now, as she'd had some time to think about it she figured the man had to have been a ghost or something, the kid appeared to have sent him to the afterlife. But she still had no idea what the masked being had been... She had asked Giles for information, but so far he'd found nothing. Sighing and rubbing at the bridge of her nose, she decided to call it a night and get some sleep. All these questions with no answers were giving her a massive headache.