Yo! Been a while! Sorry for not updating sooner, but I've been busy...and... not many ppl are reviewing! TTTT Only one has stayed consistent cough cheeky half-demon cough Come on ppl! Must I beg? I know there's more of you reading this! Shall I name you? I mean, you favorated it and or put it on alert...so come on, is it so hard to comment? I need to know I'm doing good from you guys too! Now you shall be named! xXxThe Infamous JackelxXx, I'm-So-Loveable, Twilightxeclipse12, blizardwolf1!
If I don't get too many reviews, then I tend not to update quickly! So come on you guys!!
. okay, done with my begging/rant
Oh, and cheeky half-demon: I know XD At first I'd think the store owner's would kick him out for causing trouble, but... I think they'd be too afraid to at the same time.
Chapter 31
Hara yawned as she leaned against Grimmjow, her eyes closing sleepily. He chuckled, and she opened an eye to stare at him,
"What?" her open eye narrowed, "Why are you smirking at me?"
"Well," he said in a soft growl, "I was thinking, 'finally'."
"Finally?" she asked, her other eye opening. He grinned,
"You've been dragging me all over the place all damn day… I was wondering when you'd finally burn out." Hara laughed quietly, tilting her head up to stare at him, a smile on her lips,
"Eh, I'm just resting…" she said. He shook his head at her and then looked at their small apartment; Hara followed his gaze and frowned,
"Stupid furniture won't be here till tomorrow…" she growled. The apartment was empty of any furniture whatsoever, the only things that were in there were Grimmjow and Hara, and a huge pile of bags.
Hara had to admit, she had done pretty well. She had bought everything they needed, some furniture; a bed, dresser, kitchen table, chairs, couch, TV, and a bookshelf thing for anything else they might need. All of those things wouldn't come until tomorrow, on a big moving truck. The pile of bags was full of new clothing, bathroom supplies, CD's, a laptop, CD player, a playstation 3 with games, and whole bunch of DVD's that Hara liked and knew Grimmjow would probably like.
Besides shopping, earlier that day they had gone back to Shinji's place and thanked him again, returning the clothing, and some lunch which they all shared.
Then it was more shopping before Hara and Grimmjow turned home exhausted.
Suddenly Grimmjow's stomach growled loudly, jolting Hara out of her thoughts. She began to laugh, unable to help it.
"Hungry, are we?" she managed to say. He raised an eyebrow then smiled as her stomach answered,
"Very." Hara got to her feet and stretched, before suddenly growling to herself,
"Damn! I forgot to get us a phone! We could'a ordered take out!" Grimmjow laughed, he didn't know what a phone was, but not having it seemed to make Hara hilariously angry. She turned to face him,
"Why didn't you remind me?!" she accused. He stared at her,
"How was I supposed to know?! What the hell is a phone anyway?!" The next few seconds were silent as Hara stared at him, the corner of her mouth twitching as she fought a smile. A second afterwards, she started laughing again,
"I'm sorry," she said between laughs, "I forgot you're not used to all this human world stuff." He rolled his eyes in response.
A knock at the door stopped Hara's laughter,
"Hara-san?" called a voice.
"Orihime, I thought I said it was okay to just call me 'Hara'…" she smiled as hung off the open door. Orihime smiled,
"Sorry, it's a habit. Uh, anyway, I was wondering…" her eyes fell on Grimmjow, his new clothing, and the large pile of shopping bags before they were on Hara again, "Oh my goodness, you guy's sure shopped, didn't you?" Hara nodded,
"Yup! But the dang furniture won't here till tomorrow evening…"
"Where are you going to sleep then? There's no bed or anything…" Hara shrugged,
"The floor or something, I don't know-"
"You both can come and stay in my room tonight if you want; I have a couch bed pullout thing!" Hara smiled,
"But what about those two shinigami friends of yours?" said Grimmjow stepping forward, "Where'll they sleep?"
"Toshiro-san sleeps on the roof, so it won't bother him. And Rangiku-san and I can share a bed!" Hara looked at Grimmjow, waiting for his answer.
"If it's fine with you, then whatever," he shrugged. Hara smiled,
"Okay, cool! So, when do you want us to come over?"
"Well, have you two had dinner?" asked Orihime. Hara shook her head,
"Uh-uh, we were just about to go out to eat-"
"If you want, I was just about to make dinner… the both of you are welcome to come and eat too, that is, if you want to."
Grimmjow's stomach rumbled, and both girls began to laugh. "That's a yes then, ne?" laughed Orihime before twirling away. Hara and Grimmjow followed the bouncing redhead down the hall to her room, where the smell of food attacked them.
"Smells…" began Hara,
"Good…" replied Grimmjow, nearly drooling.
"What is…this?" growled Grimmjow as he poked the mysterious substance with his chopstick,
"Oh it's my special soba noodles, soy, red bean paste, and taiyaki salad!" she replied, through a mouthful,
"It's good!" cried Hara as she munched away at it. Grimmjow stared at them, then at the bowl. He swallowed and stared at it, his eyes wide. Did it…just…move?! He thought, as he stared at the bowl of goop. "What's the matter?" asked Hara, staring at him as if he were the odd one.
Grimmjow closed his eyes; I can do this…right? "Uh, nothing." He replied, forcing himself to take a bite.
Surprisingly, it was edible enough that he didn't have to put on a façade. After a few more bites, he felt both girls' eyes on him.
"Wha?" he asked, an eyebrow raised. Hara nudged his side, and he got the message, "Oh uh…It's good." He grumbled, though he would have rather eaten something a little more normal, like the food at Shinji's.
Suddenly the door opened and in walked Matsumoto and Hitsugaya, the latter wearing a frown on his face that turned to a look of alarm as he saw Grimmjow at the table.
"Orihime, you did save us some dinner, right?" asked Matsumoto, plopping herself beside Hara.
"Uh of course I did!" she cried, getting up and making bowls of the odd food. Hitsugaya crossed his arms over his chest,
"Don't bother with mine, Orihime. I'm not hungry. Thank you."
"Oh okay," she replied, passing Matsumoto a bowl. Hitsugaya stared at Grimmjow and Hara before going to the window,
"Goodnight." He grumbled, before leaping out of sight.
"Agh…" growled Matsumoto, "Taicho's no fun…" she took a bite, but some fell onto her half revealed breasts, "Oh, damn it all," she laughed, "I'm always dropping things on them…" Hara grinned and shook her head while Matsumoto wiped away the food, before turning to see Grimmjow gawking.
Grimmjow froze as Hara glared at him, looking apprehensive and apologetic, before turning away with annoyance. I'm a guy, give me a break… he thought, frowning, It's not like I'd do anything…
Hara, Orihime and Matsumoto began chatting, Hara wanting to hear their accounts on Ichigo's Rukia rescue mission. When Orihime mentioned Kenpatchi being defeated by Ichigo, Hara exploded with tea, spraying the table in her surprise,
"What?! Kenpatchi was beaten by strawberry?!" Grimmjow patted her back as she choked; Once she was able to breathe again, she wiped at her mouth, "Sorry about that… But him beating Taicho… I can't believe it." Matsumoto grinned,
"It's true… He beat Ikkaku too…" her grin widened, "If it's alright with you, I think I will call him Ikki too…" she guffawed, "That'll piss baldy off for sure." Hara grinned,
"Now I can see Ichigo beating him, Ikki doesn't fight full out unless he has to. But Kenpatchi never holds back…" she shook her head, "Tch. Must have been his lucky day."
"This Kenpatchi…" said Grimmjow with a huge grin, "Is he that strong?" The three girls stared at him,
"Now, Grimmjow…" said Hara, "Don't go picking fights with captains, at least not yet…" a trace of a grin was on her face, "I'd love to fight him myself, just to show him how much stronger I've gotten, but," she turned to Matsumoto, "You guys didn't report us, did you?"
"No," replied Matsumoto, "I didn't think it would be a good idea." Hara nodded,
"Yeah, if they find out about me and Grimm, they'd put us in prison."
"Grimm?" he interrupted, "Are you giving me nicknames now?" Hara laughed,
"Yep!" His expression made her shake her head, "Trust me, it could be worse…" she and Matsumoto exchanged a glance,
"Yachiru," they said in unison. Hara grinned,
"She'd call you Grimmy, or something even weirder." Grimmjow slurped the rest of his food down,
"Like hell," he growled.
After dinner, Grimmjow stalked over to the already fixed and pulled out bed, where he plopped unceremoniously onto the blankets,
"I'm going to sleep," he grumbled, covering his eyes with the inside of his elbow. Hara looked at the bed longingly, her body tired. She decided that she'd stay up a bit longer with Orihime. Matsumoto had left after dinner, disappearing into Orihime's room and turning off the lights.
"Thanks for letting us come over, Orihime," smiled Hara as she quickly sped through the dishes.
"Sure!" replied Orihime in a cheerful yet hushed voice. Waking up either Grimmjow or Matsumoto would be a bad idea, and they would probably get an earful.
Hara placed the clean dishes in the cupboard, letting a yawn roll through her before she grabbed more clean dishes and put them away too.
"Hara…" whispered Orihime in a shy way, "C-can I ask you something?"
"Huh?" she turned around, wiping at her eyes. "Go head, shoot."
"Well, um…" Orihime's cheeks turned slightly pink, "You and Grimmjow-san…you're together-together, right?"
Hara sat down at the kitchen table, a small grin on her face,
"…Yeah." Her eyes flashed to the living room where deep snores could be heard before staring at Orihime, "Why do you ask?"
"I was just surprised, I mean…" she put up her hands in a non-offensive manner, "He doesn't seem like he's the gentle type…" Hara grinned, resting her chin in her palms,
"Well, the gentle type isn't my type," she laughed softly, "And, most of the time, you don't know who you'll end up with…it just happens, you know?" Orihime nodded slightly, her eyes giving away that she was thinking of someone. She frowned,
"But...What about Renji?" Hara raised an eyebrow,
"What about him?"
"Well," said Orihime with slight embarrassment, "I noticed that he seems to like you…" Hara frowned this time,
"Yeah," she sighed, "I know…" she pushed her hair back, "I wish he didn't… it would make things so much easier …"
"But he can't help it!" replied Orihime, "And he seems to have liked you first…" her eyes were downcast, "It's not fair…"
"Orihime," said Hara, "Just who are we talking about now? I don't think you are completely meaning Renji…right?"
Orihime blushed and didn't answer, fiddling with a misplaced chopstick. Hara smiled softly, "Ah, I see…" she muttered, "Its Ichigo, isn't it?"
The redheaded girl looked up sharply, her eyes surprised, before turning sad.
"Mmhmm…" she muttered, her cheeks flaring with color. Hara laughed softly,
"About Renji…" she said, "Him and I… well, if things didn't happen the way they did, it might'a been him sleeping on the couch instead… But, things aren't that way… I have Grimmjow, and Renji is going to have to move on…" she looked at the table, "I want him to move on… But enough of that." Hara stood up and came towards Orihime, "Now listen Hime-chan," she knelt down and put a hand on her shoulder, "I like you a lot… You remind me of me, in a way… Only you have a lot more innocence and compassion that I could never have…" Orihime looked up and Hara grinned at her, "Just try not to worry too much on Ichigo, ne?" she patted her shoulder, "Just be yourself and don't let bitterness sour the sweet girl you are… I'll be rooting for you, alright?"
Before Orihime could say anything more, Hara got up and walked into the living room, a smile on her face.
Grimmjow was sprawled on his back, his mouth half open and snoring. Hara chuckled and softly climbed into the bed, curling up against his side, her head on his chest and her arm around his waist.
"…Hara…" he purred in his sleep, rolling over and pulling her against his chest. She blushed slightly, before nuzzling against his chest and falling asleep.