Author's Note:

Alright, lesson learned! I promise I'll keep this story on a happier note from now on, since it seems like people didn't enjoy the previous chapter as much. Thank you to the few of you (Kimikozumi, SoulMore, Glorilian, and scarletsaber) who reviewed the last couple chapters; your support keeps me writing! Especially big thanks to Kimikozumi for being so encouraging!

I hope you all enjoy this chapter; feedback (whether positive or negative) is always welcome!

Chapter 9: Needle in a Haystack

The headline the next morning read 'Student attacked by monster? Parents outraged; university promises to investigate.'

Ichigo found out about this when his father crashed into his room at eight in the morning and launched himself at the sleeping teen. Reflexes born out of years of morning attacks woke Ichigo up in time to deflect his father's first attack, kick him in the stomach, and send him reeling backwards. Isshin grinned. "Very good, son!"

Ichigo flopped back down on his pillow, rubbing sleep from his eyes. "What's so important?" he mumbled. "You do know it's a Saturday…" He had been hoping to sleep in, especially after staying up so late waiting for Grimmjow to awaken, but that was clearly a futile desire. When his father decided to wake him up like that, there was no going back to sleep.

Isshin tapped a rolled-up newspaper against his palm. "You were up pretty late last night, son. What were you doing?" His smile went goofy. "Talking to a girlfriend?"

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "As if. I just couldn't sleep."

His father's expression sobered, and he tossed the newspaper onto Ichigo's chest. "Would it have had anything to do with that?" There was more than a hint of steel in his tone, a reminder of the captain he'd once been.

Ichigo glanced down at the article, as well as the grainy, darkened photo that accompanied it, and winced. "Um, well…" He heaved a sigh and propped himself up on an elbow, debating how much to tell his father. It was obvious that Isshin knew something, but Ichigo had no idea how much. Though his father tended to take a laissez faire approach to his son's business, Ichigo knew that he kept in touch with Urahara – parental protectiveness outweighed his desire to ignore the events of the spirit worlds. Ichigo didn't particularly want to lie to him, but he also didn't want to explain the current mess.

Isshin's eyes twinkled. "Why don't you read the article first, then explain?" he suggested.

Ichigo groaned, but complied.

Student Attacked By Monster? Parents Outraged; University Promises To Investigate

An evening's fun turned dangerous last night for a couple of university students, provoking parental inquiries about the safety of their children at the University of Tokyo. Late last evening, university freshman Rentaro Onoe was walking along the outskirts of the Kyu-Iwasaki-tei gardens when he was attacked by an unidentified assailant. The assault left him with gouges in both shoulders, resembling claw marks, as well as numerous bruises and other lacerations. Despite the serious nature of his injuries, the University of Tokyo Hospital reports that his condition has stabilized.

He was not able to give a statement to police, though he kept babbling about invisible monsters with claws until the hospital sedated him. Police say that he is in shock, but a hospital attendant disagrees. The only witness to the actual attack says that he saw a hulking man in a monster costume yank Onoe-san off of a girl whose name has not been released, also found at the scene, and pin him to the ground before fleeing. The witness claims that Onoe-san was assaulting the girl; Onoe-san disputes this claim. The girl was also taken to the hospital; a confidential source says that she is recovering from drug overdose. Another two witnesses came upon Onoe-san as the suspect fled, but both say that they saw nothing.

While the attack was captured on video, the picture is too blurry to identify the suspect. Police ask that anyone who has any information report it to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police. They urge citizens to remain calm, and promise that they will apprehend the suspect in short order.

Ichigo set the newspaper down and winced. If the attacker was a hollow, as they suspected, things were about to get very messy. He scowled. "Okay, yeah, I was up late because Hat and Clogs told me to watch the initial reports of this." At least it hadn't been a school night.

Isshin sighed. "If the Gotei 13 get wind of this, they'll send a task force to hunt down and slaughter every hollow in the city." His eyes flicked over to Ichigo's closet. "Then they'll be forced to modify the memory of every human who even guesses that this wasn't an ordinary attack by some crazed psychopath. It'll be one of the biggest coverups since World War II." He tapped the blurry picture to the right of the article. "Any idea who this is?"

Ichigo didn't need to look at the picture, but he did anyway. It had clearly been taken from the video clip that had been playing on the tv only hours previously, and depicted the unknown assailant glancing to the side as he pinned Onoe to the ground. Most of his face was obscured, but his broad shoulders and overall size spoke of a powerfully-built man – or arrancar. Ichigo shrugged and started to speak, then realized that he hadn't actually told his dad anything about the trio of arrancar that had attacked them. He hastily backpedaled. "Well, I, uh… I'm not sure. It's too dark and the photo quality is too poor to make out any details, and it's not like I know a whole lot of arrancar." The figure did look suspiciously similar to Marrok, though; he and Grimmjow had agreed on that much before retiring to bed.

He scowled. I hope it really is Marrok; we don't need yet another arrancar running around and messing things up. Four arrancar in one city were at least three too many.

Isshin lifted an eyebrow, but he didn't call Ichigo out on his evasions. Instead, he shook his head. "Well, keep an eye out." Then he reverted to his usual goofy self. "Now, son, get out of bed!" He plucked the newspaper out of Ichigo's hands and gave him a broad grin. "I expect you down for breakfast in ten minutes; Yuzu is making pancakes! No lying abed like a slug today, there are too many things to do! Your mother would never forgive me if I let you turn into a lazy couch potato, after all."

Ichigo groaned. "Alright, alright, I'll get up if you leave me alone." When his father showed no signs of leaving, he rolled his eyes and threw a forceful side kick into Isshin's gut, sending him flying out the door. He hit the opposite wall with a bang and slid down it with a foolish grin on his face.

"Very…" Isshin coughed. "Very good, son!" The last word was muffled as Ichigo slammed the door in his face.

"Man, your family's batshit insane," Grimmjow commented, emerging from the closet now that Isshin was safely out of the way. "How do you put up with it?" He ran his fingers through his electric blue hair, then propped his hand on his hip, mischief sparkling in his azure eyes.

Ichigo felt his mouth go dry. Grimmjow wore nothing but a pair of loose pants, revealing a heavily-muscled chest that looked disconcertingly human without the presence of his hollow hole. The old scar on his ribs from Ichigo's Getsuga Tensho was the only thing that marred his tanned skin; the gigai bore no signs of his recent injuries.

Grimmjow cocked his head to one side and smirked as Ichigo's cheeks flushed. Judging by the way he was posing, he knew precisely the effect he was having on Ichigo's teenage libido, and was enjoying it immensely.

"Uh… it's not that hard," Ichigo muttered in answer to Grimmjow's probably-rhetorical question, deliberately turning away and rummaging in his dresser for his clothes.

He didn't realize that he'd given the espada the perfect opening until Grimmjow chuckled lowly. "You sure about that?" he purred, and Ichigo blushed hotly.

"I… you… just shut up!" It was eight in the morning on a Saturday – his brain wasn't awake enough to play those sorts of games!

Grimmjow huffed with amusement. "Now, why would I do that?" he teased, taking a step forward.

Ichigo spun around and managed an approximation of a glare. "Because… because…" He couldn't come up with anything better, so he settled for the childish, "Because you're being a jerk."

Grimmjow lifted an eyebrow in amused skepticism. "That's the best you can do?" When Ichigo didn't reply, he laughed. "So, what'll you give me if I do?" He ran his tongue over his lips and smirked at Ichigo, whose cheeks were cherry red as his hollow muttered a few choice suggestions.

The substitute soul reaper refused to rise to the bait. "How about I don't kick your ass all the way to Hueco Mundo?" he muttered, yanking a pair of pants of the drawer with more force than necessary. Grimmjow's smirk broadened, and he rolled his eyes. "Let's just get through breakfast," he suggested.

"And then?" Grimmjow murmured, taking a step closer to Ichigo.

"Then we call Orihime."

"I've never seen anything like this before…" The orange-haired girl bent over Grimmjow's shoulder, peering through the golden glow of her Soten Kissun with a fascinated expression.

"So, can you fix it?" he growled, shifting his weight irritably. The constant dull ache, sporadically interrupted with spikes of fiery agony, had him ready to bite someone's head off at the slightest opportunity. Flirting with Ichigo had taken the edge off of his irritation, but dealing with Isshin's crazy antics during breakfast had brought it back in full force.

She gave him a reproachful look. "Of course I can."

"Grimmjow…" Ichigo warned, and the espada sighed.

"Thank you," he muttered, attempting to be gracious. It helped that the golden glow was already soothing away the pain, though the injury remained a nasty olive color.

They had flashstepped over to Orihime's apartment after breakfast, leaving their bodies behind in Ichigo's room. She had been happy to help, and had even offered to come to them, but Ichigo had suggested that they visit her, instead. His sisters still didn't know about Grimmjow's true nature, and Grimmjow suspected that they never would, if Ichigo had anything to say about it. He smirked. Personally, he wasn't so sure that Ichigo could keep them in the dark forever. Karin, in particular, was too wary, but even Yuzu was more observant than Ichigo gave her credit for.

Orihime prodded the glow with delicate fingers, and he winced. "Watch it!" Even the light touch burned against his inflamed skin.

She flushed. "Sorry, Grimmjow-san."

"Ah…" Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Ichigo glaring at him. "It's okay."

She smiled brightly at him. "I know it hurts, but don't worry, it'll be healed soon." She furrowed her brow. "How did you get this?"

Grimmjow shrugged awkwardly, the motion hampered by the glow around his shoulder. "Nelliel punched her lance through my shoulder." It had hurt like a bitch, too, but he hadn't expected the reaction afterwards. And how did Arietta know that it wasn't healing right? Had she and Nel been working together? But no, if that was the case, Nel wouldn't have delivered him to Ichigo: she would have just killed him. He scowled. This doesn't make any sense.

Orihime cocked her head to one side. "Grimmjow-san, are you alright?"

His scowl deepened. "I'm fine." Then, seeing her crestfallen face, he relented. "I just can't figure out why it wouldn't be healing properly."

"Oh, that's easy!" Orihime beamed at him. "There's some sort of poison in your bloodstream, concentrated around your shoulder, though there's a bit surrounding that gash in your stomach, too. It's a weird poison; I've never healed anything like it." She shrugged. "There's a little bit of reiatsu in it, too, but not enough to make it impossible for me to heal it."

Grimmjow's eyes narrowed. "Whose reiatsu?"

She nibbled on her lip. "Well, I don't recognize it, so I don't know for sure, but it feels like another arrancar to me." A faint blush suffused her cheeks as she turned to Ichigo. "Ichigo-kun, can you feel anything?"

He shook his head. "Nope, sorry. You know I'm not that good at that sort of stuff."

Grimmjow frowned and rested the fingers of his uninjured arm on his abdomen, seeking for any foreign reiatsu. It felt like sifting through sand to find a miniscule fragment of bone; he couldn't sense anything but his own power. "Are you sure?" he asked dubiously.

Orihime widened her eyes. "Of course! It's definitely a poison, and there's definitely weird spirit energy in it." She pressed her hands onto the golden shield and frowned in concentration. "Just enough to make this take a bit longer." As the glow intensified, her frown smoothed away, and she lifted her hands. "Don't worry, though, it'll be healed in no time!"

He still couldn't feel anything, but he decided to take her at her word. She had no reason to lie, after all, and it stood to reason that a healer would be able to detect even minute traces of reiatsu. But that didn't answer the most pressing question: whose reiatsu was it? He scowled. "Would you recognize Nelliel's reiatsu?" When she nodded rapidly, he bit back a snarl. If this isn't Nel's fault, then what the hell happened to me? The only other logical suspect was Arietta – she had a truly diabolical gift for poisons of various sorts, as he'd recently discovered. But he'd fought her months before his encounter with Nel, and hadn't noticed anything wrong in the intervening time. Fuck. He growled low in his throat. This is so fucking stupid!

Ichigo lifted an eyebrow. "Grimmjow…" he began in a warning tone.

Grimmjow slumped back against the wall. "I wasn't growling at her," he muttered, folding his arms across his chest. "Stop being so overprotective already."

"Oh, it's alright, Grimmjow-san; you should see Ichigo-kun when he's injured." She giggled. "He growls, too! Like a giant bear!" As she spoke, she gently wrapped her hand around Grimmjow's wrist and returned his injured arm to his side. "And, to answer your question more fully, I'd definitely recognize it; this is not Nel's reiatsu."

Ichigo was still stuck on her prior sentence. "I do not!" he protested indignantly, scowling in mock anger.

She giggled harder. "Well, you certainly don't sit still very well," she teased.

To his surprise, Grimmjow felt jealousy surge within his chest as he listened to them banter. Another low growl threatened to rumble its way out of his throat; he firmly squashed it. What do you care? he reprimanded himself. It's clearly been way too long since you've had a good fuck, that's all… Now more than ever, he missed Pantera – her sardonic sense of humor would straighten him out in no time. But she still slept deep within his inner world, waiting for her vessel to heal.

He sighed. Dammit, Pantera… heal faster! It was oddly lonely without her commentary in the back of his mind. He could feel his reiatsu reserves slowly replenishing as the wound in his shoulder drew closed, but his zanpakuto showed no signs of awakening. He scowled. "Can you fix Pantera?" It came out more brusquely than he had intended, and he winced. "Please?"

Orihime blinked at him in puzzlement for a few seconds before comprehension lit up her face. "Oh, you mean your zanpakuto!" She bit her lip. "Could I… could I see her?"

Grimmjow reflexively hesitated for a moment, wary about handing his zanpakuto over to anyone – in the deserts of Hueco Mundo, such an act was the definition of idiocy. But here in the living world, there weren't monsters on every side waiting to pounce on the weak or foolish. Besides, if he didn't trust Orihime now, he might have to wait weeks for Pantera to heal.

The last thought was what decided him. Taking care not to move his healing shoulder, he reached down and unclipped Pantera from his sash. "Here."

Orihime accepted the blade from him with careful hands. They shook slightly, and she kept glancing at Ichigo, but when the substitute shinigami nodded encouragingly, she set the fragments on the table. "Oh, she's beautiful," she murmured, bending over the glittering shards. "Very… you."

Silence reigned for a few minutes, and Grimmjow turned his attention back to the puzzle of the foreign reiatsu in his blood. If it wasn't Nelliel's power, what was it? And how had it gotten into his body? Despite his best efforts to restrain himself, snarls kept bubbling out of his throat. Someone had fucking poisoned him, and he was going to tear them to shreds!

He didn't notice the way Orihime was casually edging away from him until she bumped into the table, knocking a teacup off the edge. Then he felt ashamed of himself. "Sorry," he muttered.

Orihime plastered a cheerful grin on her face as she turned to face him. "Don't worry about it. I know you must be stressed out about Pantera and your injuries. But look! Your shoulder is almost entirely healed!" She tapped a finger on the glowing shield and nodded approvingly. "In fact, I think this can come down now."

As the glow dissolved, Grimmjow rotated his shoulder in a cautious circle, then grinned. "Perfect!" He bared his teeth. "Now I can hunt down that little bitch and make her pay for yesterday!" He could already imagine her terrified face as she begged for mercy under his claws, but this time he wouldn't be stupid enough to grant it. Oh, no, this time I'm not stopping until there's more of her blood on the ground than in her body.

Orihime winced. "Um… who are you talking about?"

"Arietta," Grimmjow snarled, flexing his fingers and envisioning driving them through her skull. "The bitch who fucked me up yesterday." First he'd snap off that shiny horn of hers, then tear her wings to shreds… then maybe force-feed her her own poisons and see how she liked them.

"Um… was she the one who poisoned you so your shoulder couldn't heal?" Orihime asked timidly.

"How the hell should I know?" Grimmjow snapped back.

Orihime flinched but held her ground. Ichigo took a step forward, scowl forming, but she shook her head. "Grimmjow-san, calm down. I can't help you if you're this agitated." She wrinkled her nose. "Besides, if you want to get that wound in your gut healed, you're going to have to sit still for a little bit longer." A wave of her hand sent her fairies soaring over to him; they hovered expectantly around his abdomen until he sighed and took a seat. Orihime smiled. "Thank you." As her fairies went to work, she settled back against the table and regarded him with a curious expression. "So, do you know why Arietta wants to hurt you?"

"Fuck if I know," Grimmjow grumbled.

Ichigo scowled. "They were talking about capturing you alive," he pointed out. "They've got to have a reason."

He had a point, though Grimmjow didn't want to admit it. In Hueco Mundo, there was no point in capturing a defeated enemy – death or freedom were the only two options, unless the hollow wanted to bring live prey back to their cubs. And somehow I don't think that's the bitch's goal. So what is?

Nothing was adding up. He had apparently been poisoned, but he had no idea when or how; hollows that he had defeated were now seeking to capture him. Arietta kept making cryptic comments that made no sense, while Marrok – if it really was him – had, for some unknown reason, injured a human university student. Mystery piled on top of mystery, and there were no solutions in sight.

He bared his teeth. Give me a clean fight any day, not this plotting bullshit. Skulking about in shadows was for shinigami, not arrancar; he had no patience for it. "Can we just hunt them down and kill them all?" he muttered.

"Don't you think you should figure out why they're hunting you before you kill them?" Orihime asked. When Grimmjow scowled, she shrugged self-consciously. "I mean, I'd want to know."

"You know, she's right." Ichigo nodded. "There's something we're missing here, and I want to know what it is." He drummed his fingers on the table and scowled; Orihime patted him on the shoulder.

Grimmjow fought back another surge of jealousy. "You know, it won't matter what they're planning if we kill them all," he bit out.

"There are far better solutions," Orihime chided. He glared at her, but she just smiled sweetly back, then announced, "I think you're healed now."

Grimmjow prodded his abdomen and grinned. "Thanks. Can you fix Pantera too?" He needed to feel her hilt in his hand again, needed to feel her slice through skin and bone like it was nothing.

Orihime ran her fingers over Pantera's shards and frowned. "Um, well…" She twisted the fingers of her free hand into her hair. "I think it'd be better if she recovered naturally. Now that your body is purged of the poison, she should be back to normal in no time." Before he could argue, she explained, "My power doesn't work so well around massive quantities of reiatsu, and a zanpakuto is basically an enormous mass of compressed spirit energy. I don't want to force something and mess it up."

Grimmjow considered her words for a minute, then nodded. "Good enough." She passed the fragments over to him and he slid them back in their sheath. "So, can we go hunt down those idiots now, or what?"

Ichigo sighed. "Fine. But we're asking them questions first, alright?"

The admonition was pointless.

They searched until the sun sank below the horizon, staining the world in shades of gold, but to no avail. The only traces of reiatsu were days old and faded, faint trails that dissipated in the slightest breeze and led nowhere. Either the elusive arrancar had returned to Hueco Mundo for the day or they were concealed under some form of veil that masked the scent of their power; Ichigo was inclined to believe the latter. A garganta, no matter how well-concealed, would have left a noticeable mark in the surrounding reishi, and they had combed over every inch of the city. A trio of arrancar were somewhat easier to hide than an interdimensional portal.

Still, we should have found some sort of trace of them, Ichigo thought with frustration. It's like they vanished into thin air! How is that possible?

Patience, Zangetsu counseled. As soon as they make a move, you'll find them.

Ichigo scowled. That's not good enough. He wanted to find them now, before they had the chance to wreak any more havoc. They clearly didn't mind exposing their presence to ordinary humans – would they scruple to kill one? Lesser hollows preyed on unwary humans and plus souls alike, but they were no more intelligent than animals. Arrancar had no need to devour humans; mortals had far too little spirit energy to be useful. But that didn't mean they couldn't or wouldn't kill for their own perverse reasons.

King, you're being stupid, Ichigo's hollow spat. The hollow in the video didn't kill the boy, and there was plenty of time to do so. Stop fretting over ifs and think for once. The creature sounded petulant; Ichigo had refused to allow it to help him hunt, despite its protestations that it was a far better tracker than he was. Ichigo hadn't argued against that, but he hadn't wanted to give his hollow that much control over his body, either. It hadn't accepted his refusal calmly, and had spent the past few hours intermittently nagging him to let it out.

Because of that, Ichigo was too frustrated to admit that his hollow might have a point. Just shut up unless you want to be useful, he snapped back. Unless you know where they're hiding, I don't need to hear it.

"You're talking to yourself again," Grimmjow commented, sliding closer to Ichigo. They were resting on the hillside next to the river, watching as the last rays of sun turned the water into glittering fool's gold; the grass was cool and dry.

Ichigo rolled his eyes and threw himself back against the hill. "Yeah, well, there's nothing else to do, is there? We're stuck waiting for those bastards to emerge from whatever hidey-hole they've secreted themselves in, and we've got no clue what's going to happen next. There's a kid in the hospital, probably put there by what's-his-face, the bear-like one, and we're lucky that he's not dead!"

"There are two kids in the hospital," Grimmjow corrected, sounding bored. "The boy, whatever his name was, and the girl who they won't name."

The anger ran out of Ichigo like water out of a broken vessel. "Yeah…" he muttered. "Yeah, true."

"Hey, at least both are still alive," Grimmjow offered.

Ichigo shrugged halfheartedly. "One is raving about invisible monsters and the other, well…" He trailed off. They still didn't have any real information about what had happened that night, just speculation and reports from confidential sources. It wasn't even really their problem, except that an arrancar had chosen to get involved. But now we have to figure out why.

Was it just a random attack, or was there something else going on? Ichigo was inclined to believe the latter, as the former made no sense at all. But 'something else' was a gigantic territory to explore; Marrok's true motives were as elusive as a needle in the sands of Hueco Mundo.

Ichigo swore under his breath and sat up, feeling frustration boiling through his blood once again. "This is stupid. We can't find them, we can't do anything about them, and we've been running around like headless chickens for the entire day with nothing to show for it." He laughed bitterly. "And, to top it off, I probably failed that damn math test because of them." And you.

Grimmjow bared his teeth in recognition of the subtext. "You seriously need to pull your head out of your ass," he growled. Then he shook his head. "Oh, screw this!"

The next thing Ichigo knew, he was flat on his back, staring up at the irate face of the former sexta espada and struggling to breathe. He blinked dazedly, and Grimmjow gave him a feral grin. "How about this? You either stop whining on your own, or I'll make you shut up." His grin widened. "You know, I hope you choose the latter option…" He leaned closer, pressing Ichigo's shoulders more firmly into the dirt. For a moment, Ichigo wondered if the espada was going to kiss him again, but Grimmjow paused only inches away. "So? What'll you pick?"

In response, Ichigo bucked, twisted, and reversed their positions. "I don't…" he began.

The rest of the words were driven out of his mind when Grimmjow snarled and jerked his shoulders sideways, wrapping an arm over the back of Ichigo's neck and yanking the substitute shinigami over his head. Ichigo somersaulted forwards and landed in a crouch, then spun around only to fall backward again as Grimmjow launched himself forward.

They tussled in the dirt for several minutes, rolling over and over; neither side was able to gain a significant advantage. Grimmjow outweighed Ichigo by a good thirty pounds, which gave him an edge, but Ichigo had years of practice squirming out of various holds and locks – all those years of wrestling with his father had paid off. Every time Grimmjow managed to pin him, he was able to eel away.

Grimmjow's eyes practically glowed with excitement as the combat grew fiercer. "Now that's more like it!" he crowed, yanking Ichigo's arm behind his back into a hammer lock. In retaliation, Ichigo grabbed Grimmjow's wrist, spun, and pulled Grimmjow off-balance. Before the espada could react, Ichigo drove a front kick into his solar plexus and leapt backwards. The air exploded from Grimmjow with a huff, and he laughed breathlessly. "Much better!"

Ichigo gritted his teeth and came back with a flurry of punches, taking advantage of his lighter build to push his speed to the limit. Grimmjow retreated under the barrage, hands blurring as he blocked and dodged, before lashing out with his own attack. Ichigo only realized that the low kick was a feint when Grimmjow's foot slipped past his guard and smashed into the side of his head in a powerful roundhouse kick. Though his ears were ringing, Ichigo immediately retaliated with a series of hook punches and uppercuts, and had the satisfaction of knocking Grimmjow back with a particularly nasty punch to the jaw. He finished the combination with a driving front kick and grinned as Grimmjow went flying backwards.

His triumph was short-lived. Grimmjow skidded to a halt a few inches above the grass, flipped Ichigo a rude hand sign, and darted forward. Now it was Ichigo's turn to backpedal as Grimmjow threw kick after kick – spinning hook kicks, side kicks, roundhouse kicks, and more, all whirling through the air and crashing into Ichigo's forearms as he blocked them. He could already feel bruises forming.

Finally Grimmjow launched a high crescent kick and Ichigo spotted an opening. Before the kick could reach its apex, Ichigo darted in and slammed his shoulder against Grimmjow's, bringing his knee up into the espada's gut at the same time. Grimmjow grunted in shock and folded inwards. Before he could recover, Ichigo grabbed the front of his jacket and swept his legs out from under him.

He'd intended to simply take Grimmjow down, but the former sexta had other plans. As he fell, he seized the front of Ichigo's gi top and yanked, sending Ichigo tumbling to the ground on top of him. The air whooshed out of Ichigo's lungs as he landed on Grimmjow's elbow, and Grimmjow pounced on the opening.

"You know, I'm starting to think you like this position," he teased, pressing a forearm against Ichigo's throat as he settled his weight more firmly on Ichigo's hips.

Ichigo's mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water as he searched for something to say. Heat flooded his cheeks as Grimmjow bent down, locking eyes with the orange-haired teen. "I… um…" he stuttered. Is he… Even in the privacy of his own mind, he couldn't quite voice the question.

His face grew even hotter as Grimmjow drew nearer. Their breath mingled as the feline espada licked his lips; only a handspan separated their faces now. Ichigo's heart was racing, and it wasn't entirely due to the fight. Is he seriously gonna…

Then Grimmjow sat up. Ichigo gaped at him. "Disappointed?" the espada chuckled, brushing a tendril of sweat-soaked hair off of Ichigo's forehead. He didn't bother to release the substitute shinigami, who was unnervingly aware of the bigger man's weight pressing down against him. "What are you gonna do about it?"

"You arrogant, overbearing… gahhh!" Ichigo spluttered incoherently. If his current state of mind wasn't bad enough, the comprehensibility of his speech was further mangled by the presence of Grimmjow's arm against his throat.

Grimmjow favored him with a satisfied smirk. "Maybe if you ask nicely enough…" he purred, cocking his head to one side. He ran his tongue over his lips again and loosened the pressure on Ichigo's neck. Ichigo gratefully inhaled, then gasped as Grimmjow ran his fingers down his throat, tracing the vee of his gi top. The espada's smirk widened.

"You… Fuck you, I'm not begging for anything, ever," Ichigo spat without any real venom.

Grimmjow chuckled low in his throat. "Never say never," he teased.

Ichigo could think of no possible response to that.