Penny For Your Thoughts

-Beyond the Fear-

One second Grimmjow was scouting the area for a strange spiritual pressure with Kein standing before him, and the next everything around him was simply gone. He gasped as he looked around to be surrounded by an emptiness that seemed to outshine Hueco Mundo's never ending silence. Los Noches was nowhere in sight and neither was Kein. All there was, was himself like it had been on countless occasions before he formed a Fraccion and before Aizen ever came into the picture. All that seemed to accompany him was the sand that still stayed beneath his feet as he stood in this formless white void.

He was not amused.

"Its obvious this isn't real! Show yourself you damn coward!"

Barked as he did in his usual irritated nonchalant attitude, there was simply no answer, but then suddenly he felt his body contort and flick inside as it felt like joints had cracked suddenly on their own. It wasn't painful as it was more of a shock than anything else as he fell to all fours, a strange old fear began to creepily grip his heart from the ashes of his mind.

"Nngh…w-what…in th'hell?"

Forced to his hands and knees, Grimmjow felt his power fading as his body began to change like it was de-evolving, his pure Arrancar form shifting in a downward spiral that ignited crippling thoughts within the Sexta Espada.

"N-NO! You've got to be fucking kidding me! T-This…this can't happen. I'm already AN ESPADA!"

And then without any given warning, his once human like appearance had morphed back to his original Adjuchas transformation as his hands and feet became pitch black paws and the jacket and pants that adorned his body were now merely white scaling, his shape downsized into Panther form.

"Son of a…this...t-this can't be…" as he looked himself over, his sword now gone, the fear within him began to rapidly grow in strength, his power diminishing. Soon enough his Adjuchas body began to soften like a nicely formed stick of butter slowly melting and losing its shape.

"No! NO!"

Then within the emptiness of the white void came a voice that seemed to ring out like a golden chime calling his name as the form of a female like maiden burst from the silence of the madness as it caressed Grimmjow's nearly formless face.

Darkness sprung out from madness and madness faded to reality as the white voids that entrapped the two were now gone. Grimmjow opened his eyes only in time to be able to register with his mind that he was enveloped in a red glow. And it was then he realized…

"A Cero! Sh—"

"—no time to explain!"

Kein suddenly shouted as she picked Grimmjow up, threw him over her shoulder and leapt immediately away seconds before the Cero impacted, causing an explosion as the wave of reiatsu pushed at them in mid air as the two nearly spun out of control. Separated, they stopped their bodies from flying further as they turned around and looked upon the ground. There were Menos Grande everywhere and Los Noches far in the distance behind them. It wasn't the Menos Foregrounds, but they were surely on the outskirts of Hueco Mundo.

"What the…how the hell did we get all the way out here?"

And just then Kein and Grimmjow simultaneously felt their powers decrease as they found it difficult to keep themselves up in the air.

"Nnngh damn it! Grimmjow, do you still sense that spiritual pressure from earlier?"

"No, it's completely gone. Who or whatever it was must have the ability of illusion, but they also must be extremely weak or they would have attacked us directly by now. I don't think they'll be coming back any ti—HEY WATCH IT!"

Before Kein had a chance to react, Grimmjow threw himself upon her, wrapping his arms around as he pulled her away from an oncoming Cero from behind and underneath them. Normally she would have sensed it on her own, but her senses were still a bit weakened as well as her power from waking up from the illusion she was in not to mention going inside of Grimmjow's and awakening him from his own. Her hands were placed upon his chest as he held her close out of protection, watching the Cero blast by.

Kein blushed.

She wasn't used to Grimmjow going out of his way to protect her. It was then Grimmjow had caught sight of yet another one and quickly flying at them from below.

"DAMN IT!"

Still keeping her wrapped in his arms, he speed stepped them both down to the ground below, releasing her from his hold as they stood upon the sand. "We need to take these things out or they'll follow us back to Los Noches."

"Right!"

Although their powers had been drained to an extent, they still had plenty left over to take out the wandering group of Menos Grande.

"BAN…KAI!"

"GRIND!…PANTERA!"

Their powers enveloped in unison as it exploded from where they stood, Kein's sword transformed to a beautiful scythe and Grimmjow's body morphed to a similarity of his Adjuchas form. Lifting both his elbows, Grimmjow fired off his Garra de la Panetera as unevenly cut crystallized green stones shot forth, each targeted to a Menos in his sights. The stones exploded upon impact, easily taking out each one that they touched.

"Goukyuu Jigen!"

Kein called forth her attack as a frightening yellow silhouette of the grim reaper appeared and within seconds transformed into a slicing deadly reiatsu. Raising her hand and flicking her fingers downward in a clawing like manner, the attack separated into five different portions, each of them equally deadly as the other as they targeted five Menos Grande. The two went at it for about ten minutes or more before they had finally cleared the area. Back to their normal forms, they went about their way of making it back to Los Noches as they flew next to each other in mid air.

"My only guess is whoever attacked us, somehow managed to take us to an empty locale and lured the Menos to our location. The only thing that suggests is they aren't strong enough to take us on. It's an Arrancar no doubt."

"I thought they were all wiped out?" Kein asked back in question, a bit surprised.

"It must have been one that Aizen didn't get to or it's just now evolving to that form. In that case, it's likely that it might be just testing its powers to see what they can do and to what end. It's a good opportunity since we're the only ones around here as perfect test subjects. Whatever the case I don't think it'll be bothering us again anytime soon, but just keep your wits about you."

The remainder of their flight was quiet more or less as Kein reflected back on the illusion she had seen. At first it didn't bother her too much, but now it began to truly sink in since there was nothing else for her mind to be occupied with.

"I can't believe I brought you here. What a waste of time and energy. You aren't worth a drop."

The words echoed and repeated in her mind, her teeth clenched as her face took on a forlorn expression. It only took a moment before Grimmjow had casually glanced at her for a second as he saw the look on her face. She didn't seem to notice he was looking in her direction as she was flying a few inches ahead of him.

"What the hell is bothering her now?" He wondered in irritation as he kept his thoughts to himself, not wanting to ignite what might be an awkward conversation, but it was then he also thought back on the illusion he had encountered. It was disturbing and it was a fear he hadn't thought about in decades. It was still there however, lingering in the back of his mind even though it was impossible at this point for him to de-evolve.

"What did you see?" He suddenly asked her out of the blue.

Kein gasped as she glanced over at him. She wasn't expecting him at all to even bother asking her. Looking back in front of her, she let out a heavy sigh as her speed slowed down until she came to a final halt in mid air. Grimmjow soon stopped as well as he slowly floated over until he was a couple of feet in front of her.

"Well, get it off your chest so we can go back already."

Again, she was shocked. He actually wanted to know what was bothering her. He stood in a nonchalant stance with his hands in his pockets no doubt, but the expression on his face was a bit more softened then it usually was, but he was listening nonetheless.

"You saw an illusion, right?" She asked. "More or less," he answered simply.

They locked gazes for a moment before Kein cast hers away and to the side. She didn't want to particularly go into detail of what she saw; neither did she feel that Grimmjow wanted the long version so she summed up her illusion with just one question.

"If you truly wanted me gone…from here…you would just simply say so right? I mean…you would just flat out tell me to leave…if you didn't want me here?"

Grimmjow flinched, baffled a bit by her question as he felt the answer to it was rather obvious, but he reminded himself that his own illusion was just as disturbing in its own way so it helped him to not be as impatient with her.

"Of course I would. What makes you think I wouldn't?"

Kein swallowed hard as her heart tensed. "Right," she agreed simply, but her expression spoke otherwise as it didn't seem like she was entirely convinced.

"Kein..." he stated her name without a hint of harshness to it as he imagined the level of discomfort to her illusion "…I don't know what exactly it is you saw or heard, but it wasn't real. If I didn't want you here I would have kicked your ass out a long time ago. If I felt you were a waste of time then I wouldn't have even considered bringing you here in the first place."

Casting her gaze back into his, she could see the sincerity in them. Grimmjow wasn't the kind of guy that would bullshit someone, neither did he have reason to so she knew that his words speak truthfully and full heartedly and it was the first time he actually admitted to stating she indeed was worth his time. She then smiled lightly, finally casting her doubts aside. Seeing as he had gotten through to her, he turned his back as he readied to continue in flight, but not without first showing a rare once in a lifetime gratitude.

"By the way…"

"…huh?..."

"...thanks…for getting me out of that illusion."

He was thanking her? What a rare moment to treasure when the great Sexta Espada humbled himself to show a little gratitude. And then she gladly replied, "You're welcome…Grimmjow," stating his name with a gentleness as she felt her heart grow closer to him.

It seemed that with each passing day, he grew a little less harsh and a little less gruff, his sharp edges slowly smoothing over, and his hardened exterior opening up just a bit for inside viewing to his thoughts and emotions that he rarely displayed. There was indeed so much more to this man than meets the eye, but most of all she loved the fact that he had no problem speaking his mind. He had no problem speaking up if something rubbed him the wrong way.

She didn't have to second guess anything she was doing because if he didn't approve, he would simply say so. That was how the Sexta Espada rolled; always direct, never shying away from his opinion on a matter even if he was the only one to speak out whether someone supported him or not.

By the time they got home, both were rather burnt out from the power drained from them as well as the power dished out to get rid of the massive group of Menos Grande. It was time to sleep as the two warriors put their weapons away, stripped off unnecessary clothing and refreshed in the bathroom after splashing some water on the face and wiping off any dirt or grime. Kein was the first to finish in the bathroom so she was also the first to hit the bed as she laid on the inside as she always did and listened to the sounds of Grimmjow still rummaging around.

She turned on her side to face the wall as she still couldn't help but to think about the illusion she was in. It was something she couldn't quite get off her mind and she didn't want the blue haired devil to see a still fresh expression of trouble on her face. The idea of annoying him in any way at this moment was the last thing she wanted to do.

She closed her eyes and tried to sleep it away, but she didn't at all feel tired enough to conk out. However, in the midst of being in an emotional blur she felt the bed suddenly shift in movement as Grimmjow lay beside her, jacketless and only in his hakama. She flinched slightly, not at all expecting him to lie next to her in bed again like he did the night before. The night before she thought he only did so out of pity or because maybe he was tired of sleeping on the couch, but this time there wasn't really any reason for him to do so. He just simply did as he wanted.

Grimmjow continued to shift about a few more times before he was finally in a comfortable position, which was his usual position when laying down; arms stretched back and crisscrossed behind his head while his legs crossed over each other, the right overlapping the left. She could always easily feel his natural body heat emanate from his side that was but an inch or two away from her own.

Finally goading her nerves to give in, she flipped on her other side as she faced Grimmjow. She glanced momentarily at him to find his eyes were closed, but he was at peace more or less.

"Grimmjow?" She spoke his name softly.

"What?" He answered back in a surprisingly calm tone.

"What did you see…in your…illusion?" She stammered out lightly.

A moment of quiet passed between the two as Kein further inputted, "You don't have to tell me if you don't fe—"

"…I was de-evolving."

Kein gasped slightly with an intent to listen more than ever for this was the first time he was going to finally open up to her and reveal just a small part of him, a small part of his fears that is taking into theory that his illusion was based off of a fear as well. The second he said de-evolving she intuitively jumped to where he was going with this and automatically assumed his illusion having to most likely deal with the evolution of Hollows into Arrancar, but nonetheless she wasn't bound to interrupt him and so she listened quietly to him speak.

"Unlike Shinigamis, when a Hollow reaches an Adjuchas state, they have the chance of evolving back into a mindless Hollow if they don't continue to devour other Hollows to stay an Adjuchas. Once an Adjuchas evolves backwards into a simple Hollow, they'll never be able to become an Adjuchas ever again. When I had evolved, I never once looked back or even thought on the idea that I would ever become a simple Hollow again. I was determined to rise to become something more no matter what the cost and no matter how long it took, but the fear and evolving back was always there, always lingering. It's the fear however, that drove me and it's the instinct that went along with it to survive. That's what happened in my illusion. It was a very old fear materializing in front of me. Heh, it's kind of strange to feel it again, but it's almost…invigorating."

"Invigorating?"

"Yeah…it's like…it reminds me of what it felt back then, feeling that fear always chasing me, but never once catching me and it's the only time in my life that I felt like I was the one being hunted. It was a game of cat and mouse that was an endless drive that kept me going that made me feel alive."

Kein smiled. This was the first time they had an in depth conversation that didn't evolve around what he could do to help improve her or what she could do to better their battles together. Normally any questions he had were directed at her and about herself, but never once to do anything with him. Everything he stated seem to bring the puzzle as a whole that pieced together the Sexta Espada and it further proved her impression of him when they had first began to battle back in Karakura town.

"It was also the first time someone wanted me as their king."

"Your Fraccionez?"

"Yeah."

"Do you miss them?"

The question sat upon the air before Grimmjow answered in a heavy exhale, "Not really, but…" his thought seemed to trail off as Kein finished it with "…it was nice to have someone follow you to the top…to be witness to your rise?" It wasn't until Kein stated it that Grimmjow realized, she was right. He was never one to actively seek out company from others as he usually just did things on his own, on his own time and in his own way, but there was a niceness to having a small group of Fraccionez follow him, never actually getting in the way or hindering his wants and needs. They simply followed without question and supported him without fear of ramifications.

Shawlong was the most supportive. It wasn't something he actively acknowledged openly, but he never forgot the moment that he barked out during one of the major chamber meetings when Ulquiorra and Yammy came back from the living world and Shawlong merely backed him up verbally without thought or hesitation. Yes, there indeed was a strange niceness to having his Fraccionez that a small fraction of him missed.

It was also within this moment that Kein had finished his sentence and thought for him that he realized just how perceptive Kein really was and he found there was a strange niceness that wasn't necessarily annoying or overwhelming to have someone by his side that saw things the way he did and was able to finish off his thoughts. Over the time she has stayed with him thus far, he was really beginning to see just how much she was like himself, through battle and attitude, through understanding of instinct and the passion and drive for pushing themselves to the limits to better their abilities or if not to better, then to at least refine what they already knew whether that meant advancing in power or not.

Yes, there was a strange niceness to her.

Taking his gaze from the ceiling, he then glanced down at her. She wasn't looking at him at the time but she could see a shift in the angle of his face in her peripherals as it felt like he was looking upon her, causing her to shoot her gaze upward as their eyes locked onto each other. A chill went up her spine as she couldn't get used to his electric blue stare. It was so piercing and so wild even in his calmest of moments. Maybe it was the attitude or the jagged rigid features of his mask that added aggressiveness to his face, but nonetheless his stare is one that many cannot easily forget. She blushed again as she tossed her gaze downward and then…with daring notion…she nudged up next to him, his heat mingling lightly with her own and her intriguing scent began to fill within his nostrils.

Once again, such a notion of physical interaction, even in the slightest that didn't involve bloody knuckles or cracking ribs, was strange to him, but he quickly got over it as her eucalyptus scent seemed to put him at a calm.

He opened his mouth slightly as a silent gasp escaped, not knowing what to really do with the moment, but for one second he couldn't help but admit she had an attractiveness about her let alone to mention she had blue hair like he did and her eyes had such a fiery color that matched her attitude. And the much closer fitting of her Arrancar outfit revealed more of the curvature of her hips with a classic hour glass shape. These thoughts seemed to hit him upside the head with a blunt blurry haze as he lowered an arm and was about to place a gentle hand upon her head, but he shook those thoughts quickly away as he got a grip on himself and let out a deep exhale, placing his arm back behind his head and closed his eyes.