A/N: Is it just me or the GrimmUlqui fandom is kinda quiet lately? Oh, well, perhaps it's just me... Anyway, many thanks to all who has showed support to this story thus far. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Comments/criticisms are welcome, so don't be shy and review.

VIII

Grimmjow's eyes became as wide as a saucer as he looked at Ulquiorra, and he had to gulp when he saw how the emerald-eyed Espada crawled his way slowly towards him. That whole setting felt so surreal to him.

"Um...Ulquiorra... did you just say what I thought you said?"

Grimmjow could feel his sweat dropped when Ulquiorra nodded and gave him a smile. Just because of the fact that the ever so serious Ulquiorra smiled, no matter how small that smile really was, was enough to convince him that the Apocalypse was approaching.

"Yes, I said I liked you," Ulquiorra replied calmly, as he stopped to sit right in front of Grimmjow. Something deep down told the Sexta Espada that something was definitely not right and what he was experiencing could absolutely not be real, yet he could not stop his pulse from racing when the Cuarta Espada reached his hand out to touch his chest and asked, "and you like me too, don't you?"

"No, I don't," the blue-eyed Espada replied without any hesitation.

"You're definitely lying," Ulquiorra countered, tracing his hand sensually down Grimmjow's torso. "I can feel your heart beating so fast right now."

Grimmjow purred despite himself, but as soon as he realized what was happening he quickly caught Ulquiorra's hand and pulled it away from his body.

"What the fuck are you doing, Ulquiorra? This isn't like you!"

Ulquiorra, however, didn't seem to budge.

"I don't think you have any idea what I am really like, Grimmjow," Ulquiorra said with a sultry tone. "Now why don't you just admit that you like me, so we can get on with it?"

Grimmjow shivered. "Get on with what?"

"You don't have to act so innocent, Grimmjow, you know what I'm talking about."

The blue-eyed Arrancar gulped.

"That's right, I'm talking about sex or lovemaking, whichever you prefer," the Cuarta Espada confirmed his friend's thought. "I was told that it is what people do when they like each other. Now where should we start? Kissing, perhaps?"

Not only did he ask, Ulquiorra also dove in and captured Grimmjow's lips with his own while pushing the blue-haired man down to the ground.

It took all of his strength to break the forced kiss and push Ulquiorra off him, yet even then, the Sexta Espada wasn't sure how long he could keep Ulquiorra away. He didn't know what happened to Ulquiorra or if there was something wrong in the food the guy had just ate to make him act so uncharacteristically, but whatever drove the man to act in that way, it was definitely not funny.

"Shit! I never believe I'll ever say this in my life, but stop joking around, Ulquiorra!" Grimmjow said as he tried to get away from Ulquiorra's iron grip. "This ain't funny."

"Well, it's not supposed to be because I am not joking, Grimmjow," Ulquiorra replied in a serious tone. His green eyes were darkened with what Grimmjow wouldn't dare define as desire. "I am very serious about this."

With that said, Ulquiorra pushed Grimmjow down again. The smile that he put on his face earlier became sinister as he remarked, "Don't worry, Grimmjow, I have studied all of the mechanisms of sex, so you can leave it to me. I'll even be gentle..."

"NOOOOOOOO!"

Grimmjow screamed at the top of his lung as he shot up from where he lay. He could hear his heart beating so loudly while he tried to catch his breath. Strangely enough, Ulquiorra was no longer holding him down or trying to touch him in any strange places. In fact, the man appeared to be sleeping rather peacefully with his back turn towards Grimmjow's direction even though Grimmjow was sure his shouting could have woken anything within a ten-mile radius.

"Shit! Not that stupid nightmare again," the Sexta Espada said as he wiped away a sweat on his forehead with the back of his head. No wonder he was acting so meek while Ulquiorra was uncharacteristically bold in his advance. "And what the fuck is with this guy, still sleeping so soundly after all that?"

The blue-haired man narrowed his eyes as he stared at his sleeping companion with malice, mentally blaming him for his nightmare. He wasn't sure how Ulquiorra managed to sleep through the whole episode as being the fourth best warrior in Aizen's army, Ulquiorra had always been very well aware of his surroundings, that he would wake up at the second he sensed something out of the ordinary. Ulquiorra had to be really used to Grimmjow's presence to be able to sleep through Grimmjow's tossing, turning and, later, screaming. Either that, or Grimmjow was really ignorable to him.

"Well, on the bright side, I don't have to tell him I woke up because I dreamed that he jumped me. That'd be too humiliating," Grimmjow told himself. "Why the fuck do I keep having that dream anyway? It doesn't make any sense. That guy's asexual for all I know."

It was also then that Grimmjow glanced down and realized that he was a little more "excited" by that dream than he first thought.

"Shit! This is so fucked up," he muttered. "Maybe it's really time I joined Nnoitra's perverted club."

Knowing that he wouldn't be able to fall back asleep in that state, Grimmjow decided that it would be better for him to get out of the tent that he shared with Ulquiorra and try to cool his head before he returned, and he knew just where he needed to be.

Grimmjow walked quietly passed a few quartz trees that stood in his way from the campsite to the small canal he and Ulquiorra had located earlier before they decided to settle for the night.

A week had passed since the Cuarta Espada told him that he liked him, and ever since then, every time Grimmjow went to sleep, he would have some sorts of erotic dreams that usually ended up with Ulquiorra trying to have his way with him. And those dreams would keep him up for the rest of the night, as he felt too awkward to go back to sleep next to Ulquiorra after he dreamed that he was molested by the guy.

Those dreams might have something to do with the fact that he didn't have time to tend to his "need" during the time he was on a mission with Ulquiorra, but that alone still didn't answer why of all people he could have dreamed about, it had to be the apathetic Espada every time.

Some would say that a dream was a way to express one's suppressed desire, but Grimmjow would definitely not agree to that. After all, admitting to that would mean that he desired to have relation with Ulquiorra. Not that the thought was particularly dreadful by itself, but the fact that the dream also meant he wanted to be a bottom in said relation made Grimmjow cringe and tell himself he would rather die than admit to that.

"Like hell I'd ever be a bottom," Grimmjow said with a shudder.

It didn't take long until Grimmjow reached to the canal that was his destination. He bent down to test the water's temperature with his hand. Deciding that it wasn't too cold, the Sexta Espada discarded his clothes on the bank of the canal before he jumped in.

He later dove under the water, hoping that by doing so he would be able to cool his head and get his mind out of the gutter. Once he submerged his head completely, Grimmjow closed his eyes and allowed his mind to travel back to the point where his recurring dream had first taken place. Somehow he had to be surprised that even though it had been a week since then, he could still remember the whole incident clearly as if it had just happened the day before...

'...perhaps I do like you,' Ulquiorra remarked solemnly.

Grimmjow could hear a soft thud coming from somewhere near him, but it wasn't until Ulquiorra pointed, 'Your meat just fell into the fire,' that he realized where the sound came from.

When he came to think about it again, Grimmjow had to say that his response was rather retarded since he only replied with a, 'Huh?'

'Your meat,' Ulquiorra repeated and motioned to the campfire before he continued slowly as if giving an explanation to a child, 'it fell into the fire, so you should try to get it out before it was burned completely.'

Grimmjow jumped a bit as he realized what Ulquiorra was talking about.

'Oh, the meat!' he replied, as he quickly attempted to remove it from the fire with the stick. However, the Sexta Espada suddenly recalled that there was a more important subject at hand, so he dropped the stick and turned to Ulquiorra. 'Wait! Who gives a shit about the damn meat? Did you just say you liked me?'

'Yes, I did,' the Cuarta Espada confirmed. 'And what's wrong with that?'

Grimmjow shook his head. How did he expect Ulquiorra to act? That the black-haired man would avoid meeting his eyes and reply in a shy voice, blushing? That was sick. Real sick.

'Nothing,' Grimmjow replied curtly, leaving the "but I'm sure there's definitely something wrong with me" out of his sentence.

'If that is the case, then why did you act surprised?'

'I didn't act surprised. I was surprised,' the Sexta Espada claimed. 'Heck, I never expected you to actually say that you like me.'

Ulquiorra furrowed his eyebrow. 'Is it unusual for friends to say that they like one another?'

'Generally, no,' Grimmjow replied with a shrug. However, he saw a puzzled look in Ulquiorra's green eyes and realized that the Cuarta Espada would continue to ask him to explain why he acted that way if it was normal, so he was not off the hook yet. Once again, he cursed Ulquiorra for always having to be so rational. 'But it's still weird to hear that you like me after I've been living under the impression that you hate my guts for so long, you know? I mean, just think about it, Ulquiorra, how would you react if I said I liked you out of the blue.'

Ulquiorra blinked for a couple of times before he decided to put his stick of meat aside before he turned to meet Grimmjow's eyes and asked in a serious manner, 'Do you?'

Confused, Grimmjow had to ask, 'Do I what?'

'Like me, of course,' Ulquiorra clarified.

Grimmjow blinked twice before he raised his hand up to scratch the back of his head. He didn't know why the question could make him so agitated when he could tell for sure that there was no hidden meaning behind it. Even so, he still found it difficult to answer that simple question.

As it took his blue-haired friend a long time to come up with a reply, Ulquiorra took that time to remove the meat that Grimmjow had dropped earlier from the fire out before it could actually burn. Then he put it aside with his own portion of meat. He didn't prompt Grimmjow to respond quickly, but simply wait quietly for the answer to come.

'Well... yeah... I guess...' Grimmjow replied eventually, although it was hard for him to define what kind of like it actually was.

Ulquiorra seemed to have taken it all in a rather calm manner. He appeared to be in a deep thought when he looked down to the sand, trying to judge his own reaction to Grimmjow's reply. It took him a moment to finally look up to face his blue-haired friend.

'I don't feel that it was weird at all,' the Cuarta Espada commented.

Apparently, the answer didn't please the Sexta Espada at all, since he rolled his eyes before he turned away from Ulquiorra and muttered, 'Yeah, right. Do you even feel anything aside from occasional curiosity anyway?'

As he didn't expect Ulquiorra to catch what he had uttered earlier, let alone reply to it, the blue-eyed Espada face-palmed when his green-eyed companion supplied, 'I sometimes find things irritating.'

He had to wonder if Ulquiorra truly had no idea that some questions should be left unanswered, but then he came to a conclusion that the Cuarta Espada was really that much inept when it came to interacting with others, so he sighed.

'I didn't really expect an answer for that question, you know.'

'Then why did you bother to ask?'

Grimmjow felt like hitting his head on the nearest rock, but he knew hurting himself would not fix the way Ulquiorra was, so he stopped it as a thought. As he couldn't find a good comeback to that question, in the end, all he could say was, 'Never mind.'

The apathetic Arrancar tilted his head slightly as he observed his companion. Sometimes, Grimmjow's actions did not make any sense to him, but that was perhaps one of the reasons he was so drawn to that man. They were, after all, from very different ends of the spectrum, and once he got past the irritation Grimmjow usually made him feel, he found the man to be some kind of enigma that he wanted to solve.

Brushing that thought aside, the wielder of Murciélago turned his attention back to the subject at hand, 'Anyway, what now?'

The wielder of Pantera furrowed his brows. 'What do you mean "what now"?'

'I mean what comes after becoming friends and liking one another?' Ulquiorra explained himself before he turned to pick up the meat he had put aside earlier and began nibbling on it.

Grimmjow scratched the back of his neck. 'Hanging out and doing stuff together, I think.'

Swallowing his meat, Ulquiorra inquired, 'Isn't that the same as before?'

'Yeah, but what else do you expect to come out of friendship?' Grimmjow remarked, and once he saw that Ulquiorra moved his lips as if to reply to it, he quickly interjected, 'That question also didn't need an answer, by the way.'

'Oh...so basically, you're saying that there is nothing more to friendship than that then?'

The Sexta Espada shrugged.

'Yeah. Why, Ulquiorra? Do you expect something more from it?'

Ulquiorra furrowed his brows in a thoughtful expression, but after a moment, he gingerly shook his head and replied, 'Not exactly. I just assumed that there might be something more to it, but of course, that could be my misunderstanding.'

Grimmjow shrugged.

'Well, there's nothing else to it, so congratulations. You've learned all there is to learn about friendship,' Grimmjow stated, yet even though he should be glad that the so-called experiment would come to an end, and things would finally return to the way it was like he always wished; there was a part of him that felt somewhat lonely by the thought. He always told himself that the sooner he could get himself out of that experiment would be the better, yet when he sensed the end approaching, the wielder of Pantera found himself not wanting to let go.

'I suppose you are correct,' Ulquiorra agreed. 'There is no point in continuing with something when nothing should ever come from it.'

'Yeah,' Grimmjow agreed, although every word seemed to make it harder for him to breathe. 'Cuz that'd be pointless, ain't it?'

'That's right, but...' For the first time since they had known each other, Grimmjow believed Ulquiorra actually looked troubled. The man even took his time to look at the meat in his hand as if it might help him come up with what to say next.

'But?' Grimmjow prompted, not really understanding himself why that single word seemed to lift his spirit when he had always wished Ulquiorra's so-called experiment would finally end so they could return to what they had been before, which was colleagues who happened to hate each other's guts.

As the raven-haired Espada shook his head and replied with the word "nothing," the Sexta Espada sighed softly.

'Oh, well, in that case, I guess I have to say it was good while it lasted,' Grimmjow commented, ignoring the tightness he felt in his chest. 'Anyway, I'm turning in for the night.'

Ulquiorra furrowed his brows in disapproval.

'But still haven't eaten anything.'

Grimmjow shook his head. 'I don't have an appetite.'

'Even so, you should still eat,' the Cuarta Espada commented. 'After all, we have spent some spiritual energy fighting those Hollows earlier.'

Rolling his eyes, Grimmjow remarked, 'I'll eat later when I feel like it. Happy now?'

Once again, Ulquiorra seemed to be puzzled by Grimmjow's action, but he didn't make any comment on it and simply said, 'Alright, if you insist so then, have a good night, Grimmjow.'

'Yeah, you enjoy your meal,' the Sexta Espada replied before he headed to the tent. However, before he entered the tent, he stopped for a moment as if to consider whether he should say what he would say next. Then he decided it wouldn't hurt to say, 'By the way, Ulquiorra, if you come up with a new experiment, let me know, okay? I might be interested to help.'

And without waiting for Ulquiorra's reply, Grimmjow headed into the tent...

After he felt that he would be suffocated if he should hold his breath any longer, Grimmjow emerged from the water and heaved for air.

Could it be that he had those dreams because deep down, there was a part of him that didn't want that experiment to be over? Could it be that somehow he wanted to hold on to their trial friendship even though he never intended to be in it or for it to last at first? Could it be that he hoped that Ulquiorra would insist that they bring their experimental relationship to the next level instead?

Grimmjow shook his head, making water splash around him.

It was a miracle enough that Ulquiorra still treated him the same way he had treated him since their friendship experiment had started even though said experiment was supposed to have already been over. To hope that the Cuarta Espada would want to pursue their relationship now that both of them agreed there was no point in keeping up his friendship experiment would be asking for too much. After all, knowing, Ulquiorra, the man would prefer to be all by himself, so the only way to change that was to make him be interested enough in the idea of having relationship, but that would certainly be difficult.

"Nah, scratch difficult. Make that impossible," he muttered.

"What is impossible?"

Since he thought he was alone in the area, the question made Grimmjow jump from his position, and that sudden movement caused him to lose his footing and fall under the water for a moment before he emerged again and spit the water out of his mouth. He then looked to the bank of the canal and saw Ulquiorra sitting there, looking at him with interest.

"Ulquiorra!" he exclaimed. "How long have you been sitting there?"

"For a while," Ulquiorra replied vaguely. "I must say I am a little surprised to find you here, however. I never expect that you would enjoy taking a long bath."

Furrowing his brows, Grimmjow snapped, "What? Do I impress you as a dirty, smelly man or something?"

"Not really," Ulquiorra replied. "Cats are known for their cleanliness, after all. However, it is also known that they do not particularly like water."

"I ain't a cat!" Grimmjow snarled. "What the fuck is with you and comparing me to one anyway?"

The raven-haired Arrancar looked somewhat amused by his friend's reaction.

"Because you are one no matter how much you deny it," Ulquiorra remarked in a matter-of-fact tone.

If it were anyone else who made that comment, Grimmjow was sure he would already be out of the water to kill that person by then, but since it was Ulquiorra, he simply glared at the man.

"You're never gonna change that thought, are you?"

Ulquiorra shook his head. "No."

"Why am I not surprised to hear that?" Grimmjow rolled his eyes. Moving to the bank where Ulquiorra was sitting, he asked, "Anyway, why are you looking for me? Do we have to get going already?"

"No, you can take your time. I was just curious as to where you could have been since I didn't see you around the camp, but then I found these," Ulquiorra motioned to Grimmjow's discarded clothes. "So I waited to see that you didn't drown in that canal, even though the water was only around your chest deep."

Grimmjow raised an eyebrow before he said in a teasing tone, "Oh? Don't tell me you were worried about me."

"As a matter of fact, I was," the Cuarta Espada replied earnestly. "You've been acting rather strangely in this past couple of days."

Even though he knew that Ulquiorra was right, Grimmjow still asked, "Have I?"

"You should know the answer to that better than anyone," was the stoic Arrancar's response. "So should I inquire what's wrong?"

Grimmjow did not reply right away. Instead, he turned away from Ulquiorra and leaned his head against the bank and looked up to the dark sky in a relaxed post. Still not meeting Ulquiorra's eyes, the Sexta Espada replied with a half-serious-half-joking tone, "Not unless you're prepared to hear the answer."

That answer seemed to have caught Ulquiorra's attention somehow, since the Cuarta Espada leaned over, so that he could look at Grimmjow's face when he asked in a rather concerned voice, "How bad can your answer be?"

Turning to the side so that he didn't have to face Ulquiorra, Grimmjow replied, "Bad enough to keep me up all night at least."

Ulquiorra furrowed his brows. It was difficult for him to imagine what could have kept that fearless individual awake at nights. "It must be really serious, then?"

Grimmjow chuckled dryly before he turned around to give Ulquiorra a shrug.

"Nah, not really. But if you really hafta know, I'm sexually frustrated," the Sexta Espada replied, even surprising himself how frank he was even though he kept his tone light. But since he had already said it, he decided to continue, "You know, I haven't got any since we were out of Las Noches, so... well, you're a guy too, so you should know what I mean without me having to explain..." Seeing Ulquiorra's expression, Grimmjow grimaced. "...or maybe not."

Ulquiorra rubbed his chin. He didn't really know how they managed to get to that subject, but he didn't think it was strange, since from what he knew, friends should be able to share all kind of information, even if it was supposed to be a private matter.

"I understand the concept of copulation," the Cuarta Espada claimed. "What I do not understand, however, is why even someone as strong as you are would allow such a pointless act to have a control over them."

"Did you just call sex pointless?" Grimmjow asked incredulously. A part of him wondered what planet Ulquiorra was actually from.

"For us Hollows at least," Ulquiorra stated firmly.

The Sexta couldn't know how he should react to that remark, so he decided to just ask, "Why is that?"

"Because the only reason for copulation is to reproduce, and Hollows cannot reproduce," the Cuarta Espada replied. "Therefore, to do so would only serve to waste one's time, so why can I not call it pointless?"

Grimmjow looked at Ulquiorra as though the guy had just grown a few more horns on his head.

"Wasting time? Seriously? How can you just say that?" Narrowing his blue eyes, Grimmjow grinned. "Ah... I see... it's because you've never actually tried it," he accused. "I'm right, aren't I?"

Ulquiorra didn't have to say anything for Grimmjow to know that he was right, as the way the man gaped at him like a fish out of the water was more than enough to be an answer.

If he were to be honest, the Sexta Espada didn't find it surprising at all. After all, for a man who labeled most things he encountered as trash, it would be impossible for Ulquiorra to be so strongly attracted to anyone or anything that he would give in to the desire and committed the action he defined as pointless. Not to mention, Grimmjow always thought of Ulquiorra as an asexual being, so it would be more shocking to him if Ulquiorra had actually done the deed.

Feeling a little smug, Grimmjow turned to face Ulquiorra with half-lidded eyes, then he drawled with his most sensual tone, "Seriously, Ulquiorra, you haven't any idea how much you've missed out just because of that thought."

"I doubt there would be much to miss from something pointless in the first place," Ulquiorra said. Somehow, he didn't like where the conversation was going, so he decided that he should simply get up and leave Grimmjow to his own device. "Anyway, I should go and allow you to relax in your bath."

However, before he could do so, he was stopped by Grimmjow's firm grip on his wrist.

"Not so fast, Ulquiorra, I don't think we're done with our discussion."

"What else is there to discuss about it?" the Cuarta Espada wondered.

Although he knew that Ulquiorra would not go anywhere then, Grimmjow still kept his grip tight on the man's wrist just to make sure.

"Well, a lot of thing," Grimmjow replied. Staring deep into Ulquiorra's green eyes, he continued, "like how can you be so sure if you never give it a try."

Ulquiorra glared at the hand on his wrist when he replied, "If I have to try doing all pointless things just to prove that they are pointless, I would have no time to do anything else."

The Sexta Espada quirked an eyebrow as if to challenge that sentence.

"Oh? Are you sure you didn't just say that because you're too afraid to try it out?"

It would not be the first time that Ulquiorra would regret allowing the blue-haired Arrancar to get under his skin, but the Cuarta Espada didn't think through his words when he replied, "I am not afraid."

Grimmjow's blue eyes were darkened as a satisfied grin appeared on his face. He would find something to blame for his impulse later, but at that moment, he couldn't refrain himself from using his best seductive tone to suggest, "If that's so, why don't you give it a try, then?"

Without waiting for Ulquiorra's reply, Grimmjow yanked the wrist he had been holding. Taking the chance that Ulquiorra had lost his balance and had no choice but to fall downward, Grimmjow quickly sealed away whatever kind of complaint the Cuarta Espada had with a sensual kiss.

End of Chapter VIII