A/N: It seems I've become pretty slow in writing lately, so I apologize for not updating in over a month. I've been kinda busy (and most likely will continue to be), so please don't forget this story just yet. Now I personally think this chapter is a little weird, since I was in a weird mood when I wrote it, but I hope you enjoy it regardless. Comments and criticisms are welcome. Until the next time.
VII
"Grimmjow's gone really soft on Ulquiorra lately, don't you think, taichō?"
The tone of voice Ichimaru Gin used when he made the comment caused Aizen to tear his brown eyes from the television screen he had been watching in a while so that he could gauge the man's expression better. Although he was proud of his skill in reading and understanding people, the manipulative ruler of Las Noches still had to admit that he hardly ever understood how his silver-haired subordinate's mind really worked despite the fact that Gin had been his right-hand man for decades.
Following the routine that had been formed since they had become aware of Ulquiorra's intention to befriend Grimmjow, Aizen and Ichimaru were in the control room, spying on the two Espadas' interactions through a camcorder which was disguised as a Hollow desert locust. The look Ichimaru's face was having, however, was not a kind of look Aizen expected to see from his subordinates.
Ever since Ulquiorra had started his little experiment, the ever-so smiling Shinigami had taken his personal interest in it and had gone all of his way to support the Cuarta Espada's action. Therefore, Aizen expected Gin to look more pleased when the two Espadas had finally warmed up to one another. However, instead of a genuinely pleased expression, there was a small pout on the former Third Division Captain's face, which indicated that something was not to his liking.
Looking at the screen again and saw that Grimmjow and Ulquiorra were still walking in the forest of Menos, Aizen turned to face his subordinates and asked, "And is that supposed to be a good thing or a bad thing for you, Gin?"
Ichimaru sighed. "A little bit of both, I'd say."
Aizen raised an eyebrow, urging his favorite lieutenant to continue.
"Ah, how to say this? I'm glad they're getting close coz it means Grimmjow will forget he wanted to kill me for those heart-shaped rice balls I gave them," replied the sly Shinigami, "but on the other hand, there'll no longer be any fun for me if they ever see eye to eye. I mean, if they're already friends, then there'll be no reason for Ulquiorra to come and ask for my advice, so I can't give him some ambiguous ideas that he'll surely misinterpret and drive Grimmjow crazy as a result."
Upon hearing the explanation, the brown-haired Shinigami chuckled.
"You really are twisted, Gin."
"Well, that's a part of my charm," Ichimaru noted. "And what 'bout you, taichō? Do you really think it'll still be fun for us to watch if they really become all lovey-dovey?"
Aizen smiled slightly.
"Unlike you, Gin, I don't take pleasure in playing pranks on others," he claimed, "and even if I do, I still doubt their relationship would become 'lovey-dovey' as you said any time soon."
"How can you be so sure about that, taichō?" said the silver-haired prankster. "I mean they are Hollows, and Hollows are simple beings that only act upon their instincts. They aren't as good at pretending to be something they're not as humans or Shinigami. Once they care about someone, it will definitely show."
"They are Arrancars, Gin," the brown-haired Shinigami pointed, "so they should be a little bit more complex than normal Hollows. From what I see now, it will take a long time for Grimmjow to finally admit that he comes to care for Ulquiorra, and not to mention, it would take much longer for Ulquiorra to understand the concept of emotions well enough to act upon it. Thus, we'll have a show to watch for another while."
"But even so, they'll come to term with their feelings at some point."
Aizen chuckled.
"Yes, you're probably right," Aizen said in that gentle tone of his, "but of course, should that time ever come and things ever be less interesting to watch, we can always try to break them up."
In response to his boss's remark, the silver-haired man laughed.
"Lemme guess, if you're bored of watching them fight, you'll just try to patch things up between them."
A smile on Aizen's face became broader as he commented, "You know me too well, Gin."
Ichimaru shook his head.
"To think just a moment ago you called me twisted, Aizen-taichō."
Aizen smiled slightly.
"But seriously, how come Grimmjow changes his attitude so fast? They've only been out there for a week," Gin continued to complain as he turned his eyes back to the screen, which showed that the two Arrancars were still somewhere in the middle of the desert with Ulquiorra frowning slightly while looking at a navigator and Grimmjow standing close to him, pointing at one direction.
"It is not that difficult to understand actually," Aizen remarked. "After all, no matter how much you hate one person, it is still possible to have a change of heart after having been treated with kindness by said person for some time. Besides, you should have known from watching them that it isn't as if Grimmjow hates Ulquiorra for any other reasons aside from his own prejudices, so it is not unusual for him to change his attitude when he gets to know Ulquiorra better."
After hearing his boss's logic, Gin became quiet for a moment as if he was in a deep thought. Although his eyes remained close, his broad smile seemed to have faltered slightly when he objected, "But weren't we treated kindly by the people in Soul Society, then, taichō?"
Aizen could understand what his subordinate was trying to say with that question, and he didn't have anything else to say but, "Yes. However, an act of betrayal has nothing to do with love or hate or else there would not be cases when we betray those we love, or even worse...ourselves."
As a response, Ichimaru's lips curved up slightly into a much colder smile than the one he had been wearing earlier, yet he said nothing to the comment.
Knowing that his subordinate could only be that quiet when he was scheming up something, Aizen once again had to wonder what kind of plan Gin was cooking in that little head of his. He doubted he would ever find out before that plan had actually been played out, but he was not about to try to stop the man. After all, he didn't think Gin could ever be a real threat to him even if that man really tried, and even if he could prove to be wrong about that, it still would not matter. What really mattered was that he had something to do to pass the time so he would not die of boredom before he could crown himself as the new Spirit King.
Meanwhile, deep in Hueco Mundo's desert, completely unaware of the fact that they had been starring in Aizen and Ichimaru's most recent favorite television show, Grimmjow and Ulquiorra were trying to find their next destination with the help of a small navigator that Szayelaporro had given them before they left Las Noches.
"Are you sure this thing is really working?" Grimmjow asked as he leaned over Ulquiorra's shoulder to look at the navigator in the Cuarta Espada's hand. "Coz it says we're already here, but this place sure as hell doesn't look like it's been occupied by any Hollows."
It was either Ulquiorra did not notice that Grimmjow had invaded his personal space and been standing so close behind him that if Ulquiorra's turn his head only slightly, their Hollow masks would certainly clash, or he didn't mind that the closeness, since Ulquiorra neither tried to step away or warned Grimmjow off. Instead, the apathetic Arrancar kept his focus on the navigator and smacked it on the side for a couple of times as if by doing so, the result on the screen might change.
Seeing that Ulquiorra had yet to answer him and kept hitting the electronic device in his hand, the Sexta Espada decided to reach out and snatch the thing from the Cuarta Espada's hand before it would really be broken.
"Give it to me. You're gonna break it for real if you keep hitting it like that," Grimmjow commented, wondering if somehow his short temper had rubbed on Ulquiorra during the week they were alone together. "Aren't you supposed to be the calm one of us?"
After he got a hold of the device, Grimmjow violently shook the navigator as if doing so would make the screen show a different result.
"I doubt your way is any better," Ulquiorra stated and suddenly turned toward his blue-eyed companion.
Since it was a sudden move, the Sexta Espada could barely dodge before the horn part of Ulquiorra's helmet actually poked into his eye.
"Oi! That's dangerous!" Grimmjow cried, instinctively touching where his mask was hit by Ulquiorra's. "If you're gonna turn this way, just fucking say it."
"It's your own fault for standing that close to me in the first place."
Had it been anyone else, the person who delivered the line might as well blush when he or she were saying it; however, since it was Ulquiorra, the emotionless Espada only spoke his line in a matter-of-fact tone. Even so, that comeback was still enough to render Grimmjow speechless for a moment, as the Sexta Espada came to realize how much he had got close to Ulquiorra lately, not only in a figurative sense but in a literal sense as well.
Quickly the blue-haired man jumped back a couple of steps so that there would be some distance between the two of them.
"Anyway..." Grimmjow said, changing the subject, "...since we're here already, let's explore the area a bit. Though it doesn't look like there's anything here, we still can't give anyone a chance to say that we fail at our job because we don't look thoroughly enough. I'm going that way. You search wherever you feel like."
With that said, Grimmjow dashed off to the direction he had pointed earlier and acted like he wanted to turn the ground over to find any trace of Hollows that might have been there like Tōsen had reported, so he would not have to think about why he would want to be that close to Ulquiorra that he unconsciously moved into the man's personal space as if the apathetic Arrancar had drawn him in. Even though deep down he knew that it was not the case, he would just tell himself that he only wanted to be that close to Ulquiorra because they had eaten too many low quality Hollows in one week that his subconscious mind demanded that he got himself a better quality food.
"Yeah, that's right, I'm not attracted to him. I just want to eat him up," Grimmjow muttered to himself. "Fuck! That doesn't come out right either."
Meanwhile, Ulquiorra quietly watched his blue-haired friend from afar and told himself that the wielder of Pantera only acted like he wanted to scream his head off because the man was frustrated that they were sent to that location for nothing. Knowing Grimmjow, Ulquiorra decided that the Sexta Espada would feel better after having been left to his own device to destroy something without being disturbed, so he decided to head for another direction and started his own search.
Even though he was supposed to concentrate on searching the area, the emerald-eyed Espada still glanced over to the direction of his partner from time to time. It was not because he did not trust Grimmjow to do his work properly, but it was because he wanted to check if the Sexta Espada's mood had returned to normal. After all, the wielder of Pantera had been unusually frustrated since they arrived to the location.
During the whole week they had spent outside of Las Noches's wall, Grimmjow had gradually become less moody than when he normally appeared in the palace. In fact, aside from some curses here and there, Grimmjow was almost civilized. Ulquiorra figured it might have something to do with the fact that the mission gave Grimmjow some other things to do so he wouldn't have to wander aimlessly in the hallways, looking for someone he could pick a fight with to get rid of the boredom. Therefore, for Grimmjow to stay mad for that long, there had to be some reasons.
Since there was no way that the raven-haired could have guessed that Grimmjow's disposition had nothing to do with the situation and everything to do with him, he could only wonder what was the cause Grimmjow's current mood.
The Cuarta Espada might have assumed that his colleague had lost his temper due to the fact that the area Lord Aizen had specifically asked them to investigate turned out to be empty. However, since the man appeared to be uncharacteristically calm when they first arrived at the area and found that it was empty and only began to act weird afterward, Ulquiorra wasn't quite convinced that it was all because of their current situation.
Brushing the thought aside, Ulquiorra turned his focus back on searching for any hints or signs that might indicate that there used to be Hollows in that area. Grimmjow would come around soon enough and by himself, so there was no point for him to be concerned about the matter.
And certainly enough, his thought was confirmed when Grimmjow suddenly turned to his direction and shouted something that sounded like, "Hey, Ulquiorra! Come and take a look at this," without showing any sign that he was still frustrated about anything. In fact, he even looked amused.
Since shouting back would be rather uncharacteristic of him, Ulquiorra simply headed toward Grimmjow to see what had got the man so excited and allowed the concern about Grimmjow's behavior to slip out of his mind.
It wouldn't be until much later that Ulquiorra would think that perhaps he should have paid more attention to Grimmjow's strange behavior instead of just letting it go like he had done.
"What is it?" Ulquiorra asked once he was certain that he was within Grimmjow's hearing range.
Grimmjow pointed at a stone plate on the ground right before him, so Ulquiorra walked to the Sexta Espada's side and looked down.
"Those who trespass this place shall be eaten," the wielder of Murciélago read. "And by whom exactly?"
"That's what I wanna know too," Grimmjow replied. "But you know, if this were some kind of crappy cliché b-rated horror movie, some ugly Hollows will pop up out of nowhere right about now."
"Well, then perhaps I should say that it is unfortunate for us that we are not in a 'crappy cliché b-rated horror movie'."
The blue-haired man raised an eyebrow.
"I'm surprised," he noted. "I thought you'd ask me what a 'crappy cliché b-rated horror movie' is."
Ulquiorra gave Grimmjow a look.
"I may not know much about human and Shinigami, but at the very least, I do possess some knowledge about their form of entertainment," said the apathetic green-eyed Arrancar.
"As I said, this is a surprise," the Sexta Espada noted. Then he added after he realized that Ulquiorra was still more or less glaring at him, "and I meant in a good way."
A scowl on Ulquiorra's face was deepened slightly as Grimmjow's latter sentence made him realize that for some unknown reasons, he allowed the azure-eyed man's word to get to him even though he had never had that problem before even when the Sexta Espada used much harsher insults. Since he couldn't quite explain why, Ulquiorra decided that it might be an effect from their friendship. Thus, he made a mental note to ask Inoue Orihime about it after he returned to Las Noches, and then switched his attention back to the stone plate that Grimmjow had found.
"Anyway," he said, "the fact that this sign is here means that Tosen-sama's report was not completely wrong. Judging from how this plate has yet to be buried deep under the sand, this place must have been occupied until recently."
"Yeah, but the question remains where the hell has the one who wrote this stupid warning disappeared to," Grimmjow commented. "Seriously, they should've come out here and try to attack us already. Or maybe we have to release some reiatsu so they'll know that someone has trespass the place?"
Not only did he suggest so, the wielder of Pantera also released some of his spiritual pressure.
"Do not release too much reiatsu. You might scare them off," Ulquiorra stated. "Or if they have already been too far away, it would be a waste of energy."
"I know that already," Grimmjow snapped back before he stopped his action. "Alright, now let's wait for someone to come and attack us."
In the end, Ulquiorra found himself sitting on a huge rock, watching Grimmjow circling around the area like a caged tiger. Although the Sexta Espada was the one who insisted that they stayed there and waited to see if anyone would return to carry out that warning, he was obviously frustrated that he couldn't simply desert that area.
As he felt that he would soon have a headache from watching Grimmjow's repeated action, Ulquiorra decided to shut his eyes for a moment. And it seemed that the Sexta Espada himself got tired of doing so soon enough, as Ulquiorra could sense the man walking up to his direction and then sat down right next to him on that rock.
"Are you bored of circling around already?" Ulquiorra asked without opening his eyes.
Grimmjow appeared to be a little taken aback, when he stated, "I thought you've already fallen asleep."
"No, but I felt that if I kept watching you, I'd have a headache, so I decided to rest my eyes for a moment," replied the wielder of Murciélago.
The blue-haired man chuckled.
"I can't imagine that anything could drive you to the point of having a headache," he commented. "But anyway, taking about eyes, what is the longest length of time that your eye can record and replay stuff?"
"Hm... I never actually timed it, so I don't really know," Ulquiorra replied in all. "Why did you ask?"
Grimmjow shrugged.
"I just thought that if Aizen asked to see everything that happened in this mission, he'd probably be bored to death," he said.
"If that is the case, I will only show him important moments," Ulquiorra stated.
"Does that mean you can edit things out as well?"
"Yes, so rest assure that I will not bother Aizen-sama with any trivial matters," said the Cuarta Espada, "like how you always address him without any honorific, for example."
The Sexta Espada turned slightly to eye Ulquiorra crossly, only to see that the shorter man had yet to open his eyes. Therefore, he snorted.
"It's not like I'd care if he'd ever find out about that. Besides, this is Aizen we're talking about, so the guy's probably known about how I behave behind his back already," the wielder of Pantera said before he raised an eyebrow and gave his friend a lopsided grin. "However, since you mention it, I can't help wondering if it's my imagination or you really did offer to cover my ass?"
"Like I said earlier, I would not trouble Aizen-sama with any trivial matters."
The grin on Grimmjow's face went smugger, as the blue-eyed man got into the mood to tease the emotionless man before him.
"Oh, come on, there's no need to be shy. You can just admit that you like me, Ulquiorra."
The last sentence from Grimmjow managed to make Ulquiorra open his green eyes and turn to look at him.
"Like you?" the Cuarta Espada repeated. Having been challenged suddenly by that sentence from Grimmjow, he found it difficult to give the man an immediate response. After all, he still did not know much about feelings and only have a really vague idea about what like and dislike actually were.
Seeing a puzzled look behind those emerald eyes, the Sexta Espada felt even smugger. Although he told himself that he couldn't care less whether Ulquiorra actually liked him or not, it was still fun to see how the normally calm and composed individual struggled to answer such a simple question.
Ulquiorra definitely took everything way too seriously.
"Yeah, 'like'," he prompted. "You know what that is, right?"
Since Grimmjow didn't bother to give him a hint, Ulquiorra had to try to recall the definition that he got from a certain ginger-haired woman, and from what he gathered 'like' involved enjoying doing something or being with someone and preferring to do so again should there be a chance.
"Hmm... well... I no longer find spending time with you bothersome or uncomfortable, so—"
"Wait a minute!" Grimmjow interjected, not waiting to hear the rest of Ulquiorra's sentence. "What the fuck do you mean 'no longer'? Is that supposed to mean you found me irritating before?"
Once Grimmjow finished his question, he wished he hadn't asked since the answer was already clear to him when he thought about it more carefully. They had hated one another until very recently, so there was no way that Ulquiorra would not have found his presence bothersome. Therefore, to ask that question made it seem as if he was bothered by how Ulquiorra thought about him in the past, when he shouldn't have cared about it at all.
And if that alone was not enough for him to regret asking, then there was also the fact that Ulquiorra responded to the question with a blunt, "Yes."
"Yeah, I was stupid to ask anyway," Grimmjow muttered to himself, mentally slapping himself upside the head.
"But as I said earlier, I no longer find spending time with you bothersome."
"So you do like me?" the Sexta Espada asked again, although he wasn't quite sure why he wanted to hear Ulquiorra confirm it so bad. After all, it was not as if he cared what Ulquiorra felt or did not feel about him. He could not care less if Ulquiorra hated him... or so he told himself as he felt his pulse quicken while waiting for an answer.
However, no reply came from the green-eyed Arrancar as the man suddenly furrowed his eyebrows and got to his feet.
Grimmjow would have thought Ulquiorra was acting shy if it hadn't been for a fact that he sensed some strong spiritual presence coming their way. Of course, those presences were nowhere near as strong as theirs, but he could still identify them as Adjuchas-class, so it wouldn't hurt to be prepared for battle.
"Jeez, just when things are getting interesting," Grimmjow grumbled. "Oh, what the hell, I'll just kill them all anyway."
Both Grimmjow and Ulquiorra had to jump away from their spots as they were suddenly greeted by a shot of Cero from one of the ten Adjuchas Hollows that suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
"I'll take this half, so you take the other," Ulquiorra said, motioning to his left. "Try not to get in my way."
Grimmjow snorted. "Che. That's my line."
With that sort of agreement, each Espada moved to a different direction just before those Adjuchas had a chance to make another attack.
Needless to say, the Adjuchas Hollows were nothing in comparison to the two Espadas even though there were ten of them, and all of them were at least two times bigger than the Espadas in size.
As he usually did in battles against those he deemed useless, Ulquiorra didn't bother to pull his hands out of his hakama pockets, much less drew his sword. However, despite how small and delicate he might appear to his opponents, the Cuarta Espada was indeed very strong that he had no problem taking down those Adjuchas-level Hollows down by just a few kicks.
Grimmjow, on the other hand, seemed to have fun beating up the Hollows. After all, his specialty lay in destruction, so he couldn't see anything wrong with using his victims as punching bags to relieve all the stress that had been built up recently.
After all Hollows were defeated, Grimmjow took a look around to see if any of them were still alive after having taken such severe beatings. It was then that he saw that the Hollow that appeared to be the group leader was still alive, although very barely.
"And to think you wrote that warning," Grimmjow noted, rolling his eyes. "Maybe I should make you tonight's dinner."
However, before Grimmjow could deliver a finishing blow, Ulquiorra appeared by his side and stopped him with a soft touch on his back hand, just like the man once did when he came to stop him from releasing his zanpakutō against a Visored who came to Kurosaki Ichigo's rescue.
"This one is rather strong," Ulquiorra noted and then let go of Grimmjow's hand once he knew that Grimmjow would not do anything hasty. "Remember what we're here for."
Grimmjow rolled his eyes. If it were up to him, he would rather do away with that Hollow, but when he recalled what they were sent out there to do, he sighed.
"Fine, then, if you think he's worth it," the Sexta said, shrugging.
Looking down to the Hollow, Ulquiorra remarked, "Since you appear to be quite strong, we will give you a chance. Take this to Las Noches, the big white fortress in the middle of the desert, and ask for Aizen-sama's audience. He will decide whether you're worthy enough to be granted with more power and position in our troop."
With that said, Ulquiorra dropped a small pass in front of the Hollow then turned to his companion.
"I think we're done here."
As they found it unpleasant to stay around the place that had so many dead Hollows lying around, the Espadas decided to find some place else to rest for that night. While they both quietly did their tasks in setting up a camp, Grimmjow came to reflect what happened earlier before they were ambushed by the Adjuchas Hollows.
To think that he was actually so eager to hear that Ulquiorra liked him to the point that he was pissed off to be interrupted by those Hollows was extremely embarrassing. The only consolation he had was that Ulquiorra didn't seem to catch on with that fact, but even so, he still couldn't help feeling mortified by his own action.
He didn't know why he should be so excited and nervous to hear that answer like some lovesick schoolgirl who was waiting to hear a response from her crush after having made a grand confession when he was not a lovesick schoolgirl, nor was Ulquiorra his crush, and he had definitely not confessed to Ulquiorra. Not to mention that even if Ulquiorra actually admitted to liking him, it would completely be a platonic feeling, so there was nothing worth being excited about.
Of course, that didn't mean that he wished to hear that Ulquiorra held a romantic feeling for him either. In fact, he could not imagine the apathetic Espada professing his undying love to him, and even if he could, he was still unable to picture himself being affected by that action. After all, he was not a novice in the game of love. He had been confessed to for so many times that he didn't care to remember, and none of those confessions had ever made his heart beat faster.
Therefore, the only explanation he could give to himself at that time was that he had spent too many days in the desert that his brain got severely damaged by the cold and the sand, or otherwise he would never have acted as if he wanted Ulquiorra to like him.
"Shit! I've gotta stop thinking weird stuff or it'd certainly get awkward," Grimmjow said to himself as he looked at the tent he had just finished setting up.
Shaking his head as if he could get rid of all strange thoughts by doing so, the Sexta Espada then walked to join his raven-haired companion who was roasting two huge chunks of Hollow meat by the campfire.
Seeing that his blue-haired friend had sat down beside him, Ulquiorra offered the man one stick of meat. "This one is for you."
"Thanks."
With that, the Espadas quietly roasted their share of meat until Ulquiorra broke the silence.
"By the way, Grimmjow, about what you asked me earlier."
Grimmjow blinked. He didn't think he had asked Ulquiorra anything at all except—
"I've been thinking that if 'like' means having positive feeling when being around you and not finding the thought of repeating the activity unpleasant," he said, and Grimmjow couldn't help feeling his heart skip a beat when Ulquiorra continued, "then perhaps, I do like you."
End of Chapter VII