A/N: You can tell you're not Aizen when most of the things you do don't go according to plan. At this point, I estimate that 90% of this story is not according to its initial plan. Oh, well... not that it really matters, you can't miss what you never see anyway, so I don't even know why I'm saying this. Anyway, I hope the story is to your satisfaction.
XVI
Grimmjow was a bit surprised when he heard an alarm going off while he was walking in one random hallway. He never knew that there were alarms installed in any part of Las Noches, but then again he wasn't observant to begin with, so there was a chance that he might have overlooked them. Nevertheless, he could tell its meaning without having to guess. It meant that the invaders had already made their way into the Arrancar's stronghold.
A sadistic grin appeared on his face at the thought. They broke in just at the right moment. He was just getting bored of waiting.
As he had already marked his prey since a long time ago, Grimmjow didn't waste any second to search for said prey's spiritual presence. Once he pinpointed the location of his target, Grimmjow hastily made his way through the mazes that were Las Noches corridors to make sure that no one would get to Kurosaki Ichigo before he could.
He was halfway to where he located the Substitute Shinigami when he suddenly heard a loud explosion coming from the direction he was heading to. He quickened his speed to see what was going on only to stop when something fell on his head.
Grimmjow looked up. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw a huge hole in the bright artificial sky. Before he could begin to wonder what had caused such a hole, the answer came to him in forms of two spiritual pressures. One belonged to his target, Kurosaki Ichigo, and another belonged to the Cuarta Espada, Ulquiorra Cifer.
"How the hell could Ulquiorra get here so fast?"
From the intensity of the reiatsu he felt, Grimmjow could tell those two had already engaged in a battle, though it was hard to tell who was getting the upper hand. Since he knew there was no use in staying there and hazarding a guess, the Sexta Espada made his way up to the hole in the fake sky.
Grimmjow didn't quite make it to the top of Las Noches' dome when another explosion went off. The wave of the explosion pushed Grimmjow a few feet back down, followed by countless debris.
One of the reiatsu was lifted, and Grimmjow felt as though his heart stopped when he realized that the pressure that faded away was not the enemy's but Ulquiorra's. He still didn't know what was going on, but that was definitely not a good sign. He quickly broke the momentum and rushed back up once again.
Once he reached above the roof, he saw a lone figure of Kurosaki Ichigo in his bankai form. The Substitute Shinigami was removing the Hollow mask from his face with his left hand while in his right hand held a black sword that was soaked with thick crimson liquid.
Grimmjow widened his eyes and looked around frantically. When he spotted a white figure lying in the pool of blood on another end of the roof, Grimmjow couldn't remember how to breathe. He didn't know how he brought himself to where Ulquiorra was, but somehow he was there, holding Ulquiorra's severely injured body against his chest.
"Oi! Ulquiorra! Regenerate yourself, dammit!" he yelled. Ulquiorra didn't answer him, so Grimmjow shook the man's body. "Hey, answer me! This ain't funny!"
Grimmjow felt his eyes burning as he madly shook Ulquiorra's body. He felt as though his heart had been ripped apart and then chopped off into pieces. Deep down he knew he wouldn't be able to wake his lover up from that sleep no matter how hard he shook him, but he still refused to accept it as the truth.
He kept on with the shaking, not noticing how Ulquiorra's body gradually became lighter and lighter. And afterward, Grimmjow's anguished yowl could have been heard throughout the whole Hueco Mundo when Ulquiorra's lifeless body dissolved into dusk and disappeared with the desert wind.
"Ulquiorra!"
Grimmjow screamed at the top of his voice. He suddenly opened his eyes to be greeted with a black ceiling. Quickly he turned to his right, hoping to see Ulquiorra there, but all he saw was a white mattress. Although everything told him what he saw earlier was just a nightmare, Grimmjow still quickly rolled himself out of bed, darted to a white door that led to a shower room then forcefully opened it.
He wouldn't hesitate to march around and search for Ulquiorra in his current a buck naked state if he hadn't heard the sound of water running and spotted Ulquiorra's lean figure standing in a shower stall, letting the shower run down his head while he absently lathered his body. He sighed in relief. Grimmjow knew he should just leave the man to the privacy of taking a shower, but the nightmare was still so vivid in his mind that he decided that he would just join the man in that small booth.
Ulquiorra dropped the soap bar as he was suddenly brought out of his reverie by a tight embrace. He furrowed his brows slightly when he felt Grimmjow pressing his head into the crook of his neck.
"What's with you, Grimmjow?" Ulquiorra asked as he tried to remove Grimmjow's arms from around his body so he could continue with his shower. "I'm trying to take a shower here."
"Let me hold you like this for a while," Grimmjow mumbled to Ulquiorra's shoulder, holding the shorter man even tighter.
Ulquiorra sighed. For a moment, he thought Grimmjow might be there to try to coax him for another round of sex, since the man had proved to be quite insatiable at times. However, he sensed something different in Grimmjow's touch, and not to mention the fact that Grimmjow simply held him still without making any other moves, so Ulquiorra could only decide that it was not the case.
The Cuarta Espada let the water run until he was sure that all the soap was rinsed from his body before he reached out and turned the shower off.
"What's wrong?" he inquired.
Grimmjow took a deep breath.
"I had a nightmare, and you weren't in bed when I woke up," he replied in a serious manner, and when he felt Ulquiorra's body moving slightly, he quickly added, "Don't even laugh."
"It is not in my character to laugh to begin with," the stoic Espada pointed. "In any case, can you either let go of me or grab me a towel?"
Since he was given options, Grimmjow opted to keep one arm around Ulquiorra and used another one to grab a power blue towel from a rail. However, instead of handing it to his lover as he was asked, Grimmjow wordlessly used the towel to dry Ulquiorra from his head down.
Ulquiorra used the chance that Grimmjow loosened the embrace to turn around to see the man's face, and he could tell that the man was greatly troubled by something.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Ulquiorra asked as he gazed into Grimmjow's blue eyes while he reached up and tried to wipe away the small drops of water that sprayed to Grimmjow's unruly hair.
Grimmjow shook his head and wrapped the towel around Ulquiorra's waist before he held the man again. No matter how much the nightmare had shaken him, there was still no way that he could tell Ulquiorra that he dreamed Ulquiorra was defeated by some trash and just disappeared into the sand.
"As I said earlier, let me hold you for a while."
Since he was not an expert when it came to lighten up people's mood, Ulquiorra simply allowed Grimmjow to hold him and gently ran his hand along Grimmjow's slightly wet hair.
"You ain't gonna say I'm being stupid? Getting all worked up over a nightmare," Grimmjow wondered, as he closed his eyes and rested his head on Ulquiorra's shoulder. Though he still couldn't quite erase the horror he had felt from the dream, he somehow began to feel more at ease.
"I understand how nightmares can be quite upsetting sometimes."
"So you've had nightmares, too?" Grimmjow wondered.
"I have this recurring dream about how I started out as a Hollow," Ulquiorra remarked softly. "To tell you the truth, it isn't the most pleasant thing to dream about. In fact, whenever I had that dream, I would stay awake for the whole night afterward."
Grimmjow was somewhat surprised by that fact. He was under an impression that someone like Ulquiorra wouldn't understand a concept of nightmare, since even if the man should ever have a bad dream, he probably lacked ability to care.
"Really? I never knew you had trouble sleeping," Grimmjow commented.
"That's only because I never had one when you were around."
The reply was simple, yet it was able to make Grimmjow's heart jump. He wondered if it would be alright for him to believe that his presence had become special to Ulquiorra in some way.
"I'm glad to hear that from you," Grimmjow noted. Then with a soft chuckle, he added, "though you probably just meant to say that I've exhausted you too much for you to actually have a dream."
"That may be one of the reasons," Ulquiorra said noncommittally, "but in any case, you sounded like you've already felt better."
"More or less," was the Sexta Espada's vague replied as he took a deep breath, taking in the scent of the soap that still lingered on Ulquiorra freshly washed skin, before he finally released the man from his embrace.
"In any case, Grimmjow, you should take a shower since you already got wet," Ulquiorra suggested.
"And where will you be when I'm doing that?"
"It's already morning, so I'll go back to my room and change into new clothes before I do my daily check on the woman," the Cuarta Espada replied. "However, if you don't plan on going back to sleep, I can postpone that visit to later and have a training with you."
"If you want to get into new clothes, you can borrow mine," Grimmjow replied swiftly. "Don't go anywhere. I'll just take a quick shower and then we can train together."
Ulquiorra eyed Grimmjow again before he commented, "You certainly act strange today."
"Yeah, right, I do," the Sexta Espada admitted. "Just humor me, alright?"
Ulquiorra shook his head wearily.
"Even if I wanted to humor you, I still wouldn't fit into your clothes, so I'm going back to my room to get changed," the Cuarta Espada insisted with finality, "so take your time in the shower and try to clear your head from whatever your dream was. I'll be right back."
Grimmjow seemed to be disappointed to hear that from Ulquiorra, but he covered it with a shrug.
"Just make sure you're not getting there half naked, then," the Sexta Espada commented.
Ulquiorra rolled his eyes and retorted, "I never thought I would hear this from someone who always exposes his chest in public, but in any case, I still know a concept of decency."
"What the hell?" Grimmjow exclaimed as he couldn't think of anything he could say except, "since when have you become so good with making a comeback?"
Ulquiorra simply gave Grimmjow a hint of a smile as a response before he slipped past Grimmjow and headed to the bathroom door.
Grimmjow turned around and followed Ulquiorra with his eyes until the door was closed with a soft click, and it was then that Grimmjow began to feel upset again. Hitting his head softly to the wall of the shower stall, Grimmjow turned the shower on.
What was that feeling? And why could he, who didn't spare a minute to mourn for the deaths of his own loyal Fraccións, feel that much depressed from just a single nightmare?
When Ulquiorra returned, Grimmjow was already out of the shower and fully clad in his Arrancar uniform. He was in the middle of applying some gel to his blue hair to give it a spiky, messy style, but Grimmjow still turned over his shoulder to acknowledge Ulquiorra's presence and commented, "You certainly took long just to go back to your room and change your clothes."
"Actually I also went and grabbed us some sandwiches from the kitchen," Ulquiorra countered. "Though I must say you were pretty quick with your shower."
Grimmjow rolled his eyes up before he shrugged.
"There isn't really any point in spending a long time in the shower when we're gonna get all sweaty again after we spar anyway, is it?"
"Yet you spare your time to set your hairstyle."
"Well, I had to wait for you to come back, so why not?" Grimmjow replied. "Besides it'd be ridiculous for me to go out, looking like some wet kitten."
Ulquiorra took a moment to imagine Grimmjow in a wet state before he replied, "I wouldn't be too sure about that. I mean, yes, I'm more used to your messy-spiked hair, but you don't look too bad when you're wet either."
Since he didn't expect any kind of comeback from Ulquiorra, the comment almost made Grimmjow drop the jar of hair gel in his hand.
"What are you saying, Ulquiorra? Is that supposed to be a compliment?"
"You can take it whichever way you like. I was just giving you my opinion."
Grimmjow rolled his eyes and replied in a sarcastic tone, "Gee, thanks."
Knowing from experience that it would take a little while longer for Grimmjow to finish styling his hair, Ulquiorra walked up to sit on the edge of Grimmjow's unmade bed.
"In any case, I met Tōsen-sama at the kitchen," Ulquiorra stated. "He said the enemies had already escaped from the Forest of Menos since last night."
The mention of the invaders froze the Sexta Espada in place for a second before he closed his eyes for a short moment then continued dressing his hair.
"That guy sure never acts like he's blind, does he?" Grimmjow commented, shifting the discussion towards their blind General instead of discussing the enemies. "Anyway, I've been wondering about this since the last meeting, but how the hell did they manage to get a footage of those invaders to show us? If it was a footage from one of the forts, I'd understand, since Aizen probably had some cameras hidden there, but the pictures were from the desert, and now Tōsen can even tell that they've escaped the forest."
"Regarding Tōsen-sama, I suspect he has other ways to receive information," the Cuarta Espada noted. "For the matter of the recording from the desert, however, I cannot think of any proper explanation."
Grimmjow suddenly looked mortified.
"Crap! Now that I think about it, do you think Aizen saw what we were doing while we were on the mission?"
Ulquiorra closed his eyes as he thought about the answer.
"I have no idea," he said, "but if he could, it would explain why you felt like you were constantly being watched even though we were that far away from Las Noches."
"Oh, fuck!"
Ulquiorra looked at Grimmjow through the mirror and thought that the way Grimmjow's face changed color from red to white was quite interesting, though he couldn't quite understand why the Sexta Espada should worry about that now.
"There is no need for you to worry, Grimmjow," said the dark-haired Espada. "I'm sure if Aizen-sama had seen anything that displeased him, he would have already brought the issue up since we returned here instead of keeping it until now."
Grimmjow still didn't look any relieved. In fact, he looked even more mortified when he mumbled, "Now I get why Ichimaru came to greet us at the gate with that gift back then. He wasn't just letting his perverted imagination run wild. He actually saw it. Shit!"
With that, Grimmjow banged his head against the dresser top.
Ulquiorra furrowed his brows before he rose to his feet and approached to Grimmjow and placed a hand on the man's back.
"Are you alright, Grimmjow?"
Lifting his head slightly, Grimmjow replied, "Yeah, I'm fine. I just need to figure out the quickest way to kill Ichimaru Gin."
Ulquiorra shook his head.
"I don't understand why you hate him so much," the stoic Espada commented, "but it'd be best if you'd just ignore him."
Grimmjow sighed. "No, it'd be best if I could just stay ignorant most of the time just like you."
Ulquiorra furrowed his brows once again.
"I have no idea what you're on about, Grimmjow, but back to the subject of the enemies," the Cuarta Espada said, bringing the conversation back to the topic of the invaders. "Tosen-sama reckoned that they would arrive here by noon at the latest, so perhaps I should ask if you still want to have that sparring or you would rather save your strength to battle the enemies."
"Let's spar," Grimmjow decided and sat back up straight. "It'd be boring just to sit and wait anyway."
In the meantime, in the endless white desert, the group of invaders was making its way closer towards the white wall of Las Noches. Although they were supposed to be allies, they still couldn't stop themselves from bickering at one another from time to time, with an exception of one Sado Yasutora, who remained quiet on most of the journey.
"Man, this is a troublesome place," Zaraki complained. "If I'd known that I would spend most of the time trying to get to that fucking palace, I wouldn't have raised my hand when the old man Yama asked for a volunteer. I don't even want to think about how boring it would be when we have to get back to that Garganta after we're done."
"Stop whining and keep moving, Zaraki," said the other captain in the scene, Kuchiki Byakuya. "If it would make you feel any better, Kurotsuchi Mayuri said he would join us soon after he and Urahara Kisuke finished their preparation in the living world."
Kenpachi rolled his eyes and snorted.
"You've gotta be kidding me, Kuchiki. Since when can we actually trust that freak?"
The orange-haired Substitute Shinigami sighed as he thought to himself "not again."
"Anyway, Kenpachi, Byakuya, we're really close to their wall right now, so what is the plan once we get in there? Are we gonna stick together and start our search or are we going to spread out to different directions?" Ichigo asked while prayed that the answer would be the latter since he didn't think he could handle more of those pointless bickers.
"I don't think I should waste my time answering that question when you don't intend to comply with what I say anyway."
"Oi, don't start with me, Byakuya! What the hell is with that attitude, anyway?" Ichigo grunted.
"He hates your guts, Ichigo. Deal with it," Kenpachi pointed. "Anyway, you can go and rescue that friend of yours or hunt down some Arrancars, or do whatever the hell you want. Just make sure you don't get your ass kick, coz I don't want to waste my time to rescue your sorry ass."
"Hey, don't look down on me, Kenpachi. I've been training myself for this war."
"So? Everyone's been training too. And let's face it, Ichigo, lately you've got beaten up so many times it's pathetic. I don't know how you managed to defeat me that one time."
"What the hell?"
Rukia sighed and face-palmed. To be completely honest, all of the Shinigami could be completely childish and it was difficult to do something about it when the Shinigami in question were usually ones with authorities.
"In any case, Ichigo, Ishida, Chad, we will leave rescuing Inoue to you," Rukia cut in wearily. "Leave the Arrancars and Aizen to us Shinigami."
"Yeah, and once you get her, just get the hell back to Karakura Town where you belong," Renji added. "How you're gonna do that, though, is entirely up to you."
"So even Soul Society doesn't have any plan, huh?" Ishida asked before he pushed his glasses in place with his middle finger. "How typical!"
Renji rolled his eyes. "If you hate Shinigami so much, Ishida, why do you bother to join our side in this war anyway?"
"I'm not siding with you Shinigami. I'm just here to rescue Inoue-san. Besides, my pride as a Quincy wouldn't let me sit and do nothing when my hometown could be destroyed by some rogue Shinigami and Hollows."
"Yeah, yeah, we all get that already."
The group kept on nagging at each other until they finally stood before a huge wall that stood between them and Aizen's stronghold.
"So... are we even gonna bother with finding the front door?" Ichigo wondered as he looked to the direction of the wall that seemed to be going on forever.
"Screw the front door! I'm not wasting any more time searching," Kenpachi remarked. "It's not like we're invited here anyway."
Without further ado, Kenpachi unsheathed his zanpakutō and struck it down on the wall at full force without bothering to investigate what kind of material that was used to construct that wall.
Grimmjow and Ulquiorra were in a desert area in the middle of Las Noches, training. Both Espadas had already unsheathed their zanpakutō, though neither released it, while they were charging at each other in mid air.
Their swords crossed, and the Sexta Espada took one jump before he lunged towards Ulquiorra again with his full speed, but the Cuarta Espada parried the attack with his own blade. However, before either of them could break away and launch another attack, the two Espadas froze in place, as they sensed a wave of explosion that was soon followed by a huge amount of spiritual pressure.
Although there wasn't any alarm going off to warn them, it was still easy for them to tell that their enemies had already breached inside the wall.
Both Espadas looked at one another in the eyes before they wordlessly lowered their swords at the same time. After that, they descended to the sand below them.
"So they have finally arrived," Ulquiorra remarked as he sheathed his zanpakutō and turned towards the direction of where the reiatsu was coming from. "This is much sooner than Tōsen-sama calculated."
A look in Grimmjow's blue eyes changed slightly when he looked at the same direction as Ulquiorra did. He followed Ulquiorra's example and sheathed his sword before he turned to his lover and gazed at the man for a long moment. He would have asked the man to stay away from any battles had he not already realized that his request would be immediately shot down.
"Hey, Ulquiorra..." Grimmjow began. The nightmare was still fresh in his memory, and he knew he needed to do something even though he still had no idea what that something was.
Ulquiorra turned to Grimmjow and raised an eyebrow as if to encourage Grimmjow to continue.
Grimmjow opened his mouth, but he didn't have a chance to say anything when Aizen's voice suddenly came out into the desert and interrupted him. Although he didn't know exactly how the technique worked, he still knew that it was some kind of telepathic magic that the Shinigami used when they wanted to relay their messages to specific audiences.
"Greetings, my fearless intruders," Aizen spoke. "I think we have all been anticipating this day since the moment I had Inoue Orihime abducted. At first, I planned to express my greetings to all of you personally. However, since Soul Society has taken much longer to react to the incident than I expected, I'm afraid that some of my Espadas will have to greet you in my behalf.
"Even so, I feel I should inform you that I have already sealed the path that you all have used to penetrate into Hueco Mundo, so you will all be locked in here while I'm out to destroy Karakura Town and forge the King's Key. As for Inoue Orihime, she is no longer of any use to me, so you can feel free to rescue her, if you can, that is. In any case, I'll be going now.
"Starrk, Baraggan, Harribel, gather your Fraccións and come with me to the living world. As for the rest of the Espadas, I will leave the intruders to your care, and as soon as you are done with them, follow me to the world of the living."
With that, Aizen's broadcast was cut off, as it seemed the Shinigami had left Las Noches with his small troop.
Ulquiorra looked up into the sky and sighed softly.
"I suppose a bloodbath is inevitable at this point," the Cuarta Espada commented, knowing that without Aizen around, at least one or two of the Espadas would be running around in frenzy, trying to kill as many enemies as possible.
"No shit," Grimmjow agreed.
"In any case, I will return to my post at the woman's captive cell," Ulquiorra declared. "Aizen-sama may no longer have any use for her, but the intruders will definitely head there and try to rescue that woman, so I can save myself the problem of tracking them down and just wait for them to come to me instead."
The Sexta Espada felt his heart wrench at Ulquiorra's words. Although he knew that Ulquiorra could take care of himself, probably much better than he ever could; the nightmare he had earlier that night was still very fresh on his memory. While he didn't believe there was such a thing like premonitions, he still couldn't help himself from wanting to prevent that nightmare from being realized.
As fast as his thought, Grimmjow reached out and caught Ulquiorra by an elbow to stopping the man from moving back to his post.
Ulquiorra turned over his shoulder and gave Grimmjow a questioned look. "Yes?"
Although he had already known what the answer would be, Grimmjow still felt the need to ask, "It wouldn't be possible for me to ask you not to fight Kurosaki Ichigo, would it?"
Ulquiorra felt something in Grimmjow's voice begging him to say that he wouldn't enter a battle with said Substitute Shinigami. However, the Cuarta Espada didn't want to give a promise that he might not be able to keep.
"I understand how you still see him as your prey and want to slay him," Ulquiorra stated, believing that Grimmjow only spoke that way because the man wanted to make sure no one would steal his prey. "However, if I meet him first, there is no reason for me not to fight him. After all, he is an enemy, and I have made my word that I would kill him with my very own hand should he ever become a threat to Aizen-sama and Las Noches."
Still holding on to Ulquiorra's elbow, Grimmjow lowered his head and looked at the sand when he asked softly, "So it's a matter of who gets to him first then?"
"I'm afraid so."
Grimmjow closed his eyes and sighed before he let go of Ulquiorra's elbow. However, instead of simply returning to his post, Ulquiorra turned fully to face Grimmjow and even reached to touch the man's face with one hand.
"Something is bothering you," the Cuarta Espada observed.
Grimmjow opened his eyes. Strangely enough, the first thing he saw wasn't Ulquiorra's face but rather the base of the man's neck, and a certain idea suddenly flashed into his mind at the sight. Perhaps, there was still something he could do, even though doing so would certainly enrage Ulquiorra. But at the very least, it would put his mind at ease.
The Sexta Espada placed his hand above Ulquiorra's and squeezed it before he removed the hand from his face. Then he leaned forward and gave his lover a long, deep kiss.
Although he didn't quite expect that gesture, Ulquiorra still accepted the kiss and noted how it felt somewhat different from all other times they had kissed.
It was soon afterward that he came to realize why it felt different, as he sensed Grimmjow slipping something into his Hollow hole before the man suddenly jumped backward and said, "I'm sorry, Ulquiorra."
Instinctively Ulquiorra glanced downward and saw a small black cube entering his Hollow hole. His green eyes were widened in surprise, and he turned his gaze towards Grimmjow. He didn't need anyone to tell him what the cube was or what it was for, since as an Espada, he knew how a Caja Negación operated, and he knew that it was only a matter of second until he was locked away in another dimension.
Ulquiorra didn't have enough time to ask Grimmjow why the man used the method on him, since darkness suddenly enveloped him.
Grimmjow looked at the empty space where Ulquiorra stood just a second ago with sad eyes.
"I'm sorry," the Sexta Espada repeated himself, even though he knew Ulquiorra was already far out of a hearing range, "but you'll be much safer this way."
End of Chapter XVI
Reviews are appreciated.