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Chapter 28

Grimmjow's heart dropped to his feet as he watched his father crumble into sand just like any other vampire. He was now indistinguishable from any other who has fallen and if anyone saw that pile of sand they wouldn't be able to tell that it was once a great vampire, clan leader, and an even better father. He just looked like any other pile of sand that needed to be swept outside because it was making the floor dirty.

Grimmjow's stomach was turning and he kept on blinking to make sure that what he was seeing was real, that this wasn't some fucked up dream that kept replaying in his head. Every time he opened his eyes the sand was still there scattering across the floor with a smug asshole standing above it wiggling his feet into the sand just to prove that he won and he saw himself superior and above the great Stark.

If Grimmjow had time he would have cried out to his father and take all his rage out on the one who now wielded a wooden stake and a self-satisfied look on his face, but he needed to listen to his father's final request. Instead of attacking Aizen who just looked plain sadistic with an evil fire in his eyes and an insane, bone chilling smile, he just ran past him to try and get to Shinji.

"Holy shit," Shinji nearly shouted when he saw Ichigo. He was guarding the exit making sure no one who they didn't want to escape got out. He mostly stood guard there just to appease Nnoitra and avoid his wrath. Apparently he was a lot more obedient than Ichigo ever was even though he didn't seem like the type. Nnoitra would have gotten seriously pissed if Shinji joined he fight and ended up getting hurt. The entire room would have become a blood bath. What kind of relationship did they even have? I didn't matter right now. Grimmjow's main concern was Ichigo.

"Get us out!" Grimmjow roared. He didn't mean to sound so angry, but with Ichigo laying in his arms motionless and his father's death his mind was in a whirlwind of emotions. It was taking everything within his power to not put Ichigo down in front of Shinji and march back into the battle field to rip out Aizen's jugular.

Shinji knew what to do before Grimmjow yelled at him rudely. He motioning his hands to make a doorway out of the space, but for some reason one didn't form. He tried to do it again, and again, his movements becoming more panicked as he tried to break through the space. "I can't get us out. Something is blocking me from opening the space."

Shinji motioned to the fight going on between the enraged chimera that didn't seem too pleased that his master has eroded away and Rukia who looked dismal at the thought that by appearance her father looked more upset that his master died and was taking it out on his daughter that he didn't recognize. "He must be the one blocking me. Kaien was amazing at trapping people in protective spaces and it looks like that thing has an idea on how to do the same thing. It's gonna take some time for me to break through it."

"We don't have time." Grimmjow roared motioning to Ichigo who was lying still in his arms, losing any sign of life.

Shinji cursed and looked up to the ceiling. "Isshin forgive me for what I'm about to suggest." He said as if Isshin could actually hear him. For all Grimmjow knew he could, he didn't know how shinigami worked. "Grimmjow, I think it is time for you to turn Ichigo."

Grimmjow was taken aback. His heart was racing at the thought of having to do this now without Ichigo's consent. He wanted to do it under different circumstances, the circumstances being to do it in the comfort of his own home, his father being alive, and Ichigo being awake. It looked like that wasn't possible anymore though. His dad is dead and Ichigo was about to follow him and from the looks of it he was close, too close like he won't even be able to survive the vampire venom.

"It's too dangerous." Grimmjow growled glaring harsh daggers at Shinji. Shinji doesn't deserve to have his anger taken out on him, but Grimmjow wasn't exactly good at hiding his emotions and he was overwhelmed. He brought Ichigo closer to his chest as if having him closer would protect him and hopefully bring down the fever that has erupted like Mount Vesuvius. "What if he doesn't make it?"

Shinji grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him, something that he wanted to do for quite some time. "He is definitely not going to make it if you don't change him now, dammit."

Grimmjow blinked as if clearing his eyesight would help clear his head and think of a better alternative, but he couldn't find one so he had no choice, but to try Shinji's idea. He quickly bent over and laid Ichigo on the floor below him. Grimmjow didn't believe in gods (except for shinigami apparently) for as long as he could remember, but he prayed to every god that was believed to be real by man before kneeling forward, kissing Ichigo on the lips hoping that that he would be able to kiss him while he was conscious in the future, and bit down on his neck.

Ichigo was lying down on the glass of a building with Shiro right beside him panting like a dog that just ran away from the pound. His stomach rose and fell in short breaths, quickly bringing air into his lungs and he could feel an incredibly aggressive fever even from inside his inner world. The sun beat down on them aggressively. The world may have been sideways, but someone needed to tell the sun that because it seemed to follow them just so it could broil them under the light and lying on top of glass was only making him hotter, but he didn't even have the strength to move from its scorching heat.

He wasn't supposed to feel pain in his inner world, but his real body was experiencing so much pain that just came out of nowhere that even in his mind he felt everything. At least he won't burn from the sun or the glass, but getting burned was the least of his concerns.

"How many times have we been in a near death situation?" Asked Ichigo to the soul that laid beside him that looked like he was in no better shape then Ichigo.

"Lost count," Shiro admitted. "Fer all you know this may be da las' time."

Ichigo groaned rolling on his side to face Shiro who looked at him quizzically. "If it is then it has been an honor fighting beside you."

Shiro looked at him and rolled his eyes at the corny line that just came from the orange haired shinigami's mouth before his expression changed to one of concern in an instant as Ichigo started to wail out in pain.

The only time one feels this much pain in their inner world is if they are close to death. Ichigo crying out may be proof that this really was the end even if it felt like they were sitting there baking for days. Time was weird there, but it looked like their wait in purgatory was over.

"That bastard," Ichigo huffed out. "Trying to turn me without my permission."

Shiro looked at him with an odd expression until he realized what was going on. The world flipped to his side as they fell endlessly to the ground that didn't seem to be getting any closer.

"Don' resist it. It may be yer last chance."

Usually when people are in the first stage of vampirism they have spasms or act like they are in a great amount of pain. It showed that their body was able to sustain it and try to fight it off, but Ichigo just laid still. Grimmjow was practically rocking back and forth on his feet mumbling that he couldn't lose him too. Shinji was observing Ichigo for any sign of movement.

"Fuck it, move on to stage two." Shinji ordered causing Grimmjow's eyes to grow in response to Shinji's reckless orders.

"It might be dangerous if he doesn't show any sign of resistance." Grimmjow argued even though he knew that taking the first step was risky in itself. It reminded him of the state he was in when Stark turned him all those years ago. He was in a better state than Ichigo then even though he was covered in third degree burns. At least he had spasms and showed signs that it was working and that his body was trying to resist the venom.

"Dude, this whole thing is dangerous." Shinji fought. "He won't drink your blood in that state so you're gonna have to feed him the old fashioned way."

Grimmjow hesitated, but followed the older shinigami's commands. He bit his lip and let a good amount of blood soak his lip before he pressed them against Ichigo and pried his lips open with his tongue. After he was sure Ichigo was able to take a good amount of blood he pulled away and hoped to see any sign of life.

Ichigo was still for far too long. It was almost long enough for Grimmjow to break down and cry or go on a rampage, whatever came first, he's been through a lot already, but before he could he rested his hand on Ichigo's chest and felt it rise. He was alive. If that was the case then he must be going through the changes and he will wake up in a day or two or something, he didn't care as long as he woke up. He would wait an eternity for Ichigo to wake up. Thank whatever gods out there that Ichigo was right when he said that he would still be able to change him.

"He's okay? That's great." Shinji breathed out a sigh of relief. "Hold on a little while longer. I almost got this protective space open so you can get him out of here."

The fight was a bit chaotic and it was beginning to run long. Nnoitra was starting to lose steam when fighting Harribel who looked like she wasn't even taking the fight seriously. Aizen finished stroking his large ego and decided that it was time for him to start hunting the one that has ran off. He looked down the hallway where he knew Grimmjow has gone with Ichigo in his arms. All he needed to do was kill off Grimmjow and the Jaegerjaquez clan would collapse and he should probably kill Ichigo off for good measure. That boy himself seemed to have made it his goal to get in the way of everything. It looked like he couldn't stop him this time though and he made an excellent pawn that deserved a merciful death.

He may have lost his scientist to him, but he was ready to lose that pawn even if it was a big loss. His purpose was finished anyway. Harribel will soon be able to claim Nelliel from the Jaegerjaquez clan by force if she had to. It seems she has fallen in love with her so it was clear that she was going to betray Aizen in hopes of finally getting to start her all female clan with her. If that was the case then she was probably going to be the next to die. He can't have any followers that betray him nor any followers sniffing around mutts like Nelliel. He had an image that he needed to withhold. If he didn't have that image then he would lose the followers that are flocking to his side.

His clan was expansive and he needed to start recruiting some stronger subordinates. Excluding Harribel who was bound to betray him his only strong subordinate was Gin. Gin was strong despite being unpredictable and free willed. The only reason Aizen kept him around was because he felt like he could still use him, but many times he just disappears without announcing where he was going. For example, right now. He was fighting with Grimmjow a moment ago, but when he ran off he didn't pursue him and then when Aizen took his eyes off of him for a second he was gone.

If Aizen didn't decide that it was time to kill Grimmjow then he would have been more frustrated and if he wasn't so cocky then he may have predicted what was going to happen next.

From the back of the room even more troops filed in. It was too bad that they weren't his own. Szayelaporro's chimera was meant to keep the protective space from opening, but it looked like that blond shinigami was able to pry it open or one of the people from the outside that was now starting to block every exit. There were some familiar faces that one would expect to see such as the Hitsugaya boy and the woman that always accompanied him. Then there was a face that he didn't recognize like a shinigami with dark hair and stubble that may have opened the space blocking them out. There were faces that shouldn't have been there like Nelliel and that pale, newest addition to the Jaegerjaquez family. Then there were some faces that he didn't expect to see like that hunter boy, and the very well-known Kisuke Urahara all being led by his supposed subordinate.

Gin approached him nonchalantly as if there was nothing to be worried about and he wasn't in danger of getting his head ripped off or a wooden stake in his heart. As he stood in front of Aizen his grin only became larger and threatened to tear open his face. "Sorry, but this is payback for taking out the Ukitake clan. What, you don't think I would have known that you were the reason my clan died out?"

The death of the Ukitake clan was one of those mysteries that are just written off as unfortunate events. A hostile hunter guild find a very well hidden and cautious clan and they are all murdered while Gin was gone. Forensic science observed by a very famous supernatural scientist, Mayuri Kurotsuchi showed that there were abnormalities in the remains of the fallen vampires which were discovered by Toshiro Hitsugaya and Rangiku Matsumoto. Rangiku was there the day the hunters came in and she was able to escape to the Hitsugaya clan. Gin returned to a destroyed home with no family or friends and had to leave, living alone on the streets. It was too dangerous for him and he was soon taken in by Aizen where he investigated the truth behind his clan's destruction from suspicions that he originally had.

"I knew you would find out, but I assumed that you were smart enough to do as you were told and not go behind my back. You haven't made any moves for the four years that you've stood by my side."

Gin shrugged, "I know a thing or two about going behind someone's back. Like this." Gin said shoving a wooden stake into Aizen's back. Aizen cringed at the unpleasant feeling of wood enter his system, but instead of turning into sand like he was supposed to he remained there with only blood dripping down his back.

"You see my dear friends, Aizen here has had some experiments performed on him and it makes him a bit more difficult to kill." Gin explained. "I would introduce you to the man who has done this, but he is now that pile of sand there. He was torn apart by your lovely Ichigo."

Toshiro observed the pile of sand that spread across the floor that was originally Szayelaporro. He shifted his hands through the remains and saw some oddly colored chunks of what seemed like rocks or some kind of gems hidden inside. He must have been hard to kill, but whatever Ichigo did to kill him must have been brutal, probably more brutal then the procedure to make them resistant to wood.

"I knew Kurosaki was like you, Urahara, but the last time I saw him he wouldn't be able to pull something like this off." Toshiro commented.

"I have faith in my son." The man that Aizen didn't recognize said hinting that that man was probably Ichigo's father. "Now will you excuse me for a second? I need to go help out my niece." He said before approaching the fight going on between the short vampire/shinigami girl and Aaroniero.

She looked at him from the solid block of ice that Aaroniero was now trapped in. He walked over menacingly and simply flicked his fingers. From that simple movement the ice shattered and chunks of the frozen chimera exploded, bouncing off the walls. Just from that simple movement one of Aizen's forces was destroyed. There was no way he could get out of this.

Aizen eyed a chunk of ice that slid by his feet that contained part of Aaroniero's brain. If he didn't know it before then he knew now. This was game over. The plan he spent years upon years working on was now crushed.

Ichigo woke up a week after the fight with Aizen. Everything ached yet he has never felt so alive. He pulled out the IV that was attached to his right arm and was connected to a bag of blood with complete disregard of why it was there in the first place. He was disappointed to see that he was the sole occupant of the bed. The last time he was knocked out for a long period of time Grimmjow never left his side even when Renji came to visit him. He's never been so close to death and Grimmjow left him to lye alone and there wasn't even Renji or Rukia sitting next to him for when he woke up. He was irritate, more irritated then he should be. Seriously, why was he so irritated?

Ichigo replayed the events of the last thing he could remember. He killed Szayelaporro with his new found power. He never killed anything but bugs during his lifetime, but he killed a vampire. He was hurt when he killed him though. He didn't know how he got hurt, but his lungs felt like they were on fire and then he woke up in his inner world and then…Oh shit.

Ichigo got up immediately, his vision spun only for a brief moment as he stood to his full height. He shouldn't be this physically able after sleeping for a full week. He shouldn't if he was human at least. Ichigo ripped the IV bag off of the stand and unscrewed the top. He brought the bag to his lips and started to down the contents. It didn't taste good, but it tasted a lot better than it was supposed to and he started to feel even better than he did before. His aches were going away and he felt like he could just run a marathon without training and not even break a sweat.

His feeling of irritation went away and he felt so much stronger, insanely strong, like it shouldn't be possible. He felt like he could lift a car. He gazed around the room. His senses were so much stronger. He didn't know a vampire's senses were this strong, but now he is experiencing it firsthand. He couldn't believe that's what Grimmjow felt all the time. Right now it was euphoric.

He could make out small details and imperfections on the furniture. He could hear movement of people outside of the room shuffling around the hallways. He could smell Grimmjow's shampoo, and it was close.

Ichigo followed the smell and found him sprawled out on one of the sofas face down. Ichigo's heart sank when he saw him. From the small movements that he made Ichigo could immediately tell that Grimmjow was upset and he was probably lying there longer than what was healthy. Knowing Grimmjow he should know that he was awake now, but he just didn't want to move even if it meant greeting him. He didn't know what was bothering him, but he knew it was his job to do something about it.

"Grimmjow, are you okay?" Ichigo asked hesitantly.

Grimmjow moaned and wrapped his arm around Ichigo's waist bringing him closer. It looked like he was happy to see Ichigo awake. "I feel a little better now that you are up." He admitted. "I just miss my dad."

Ichigo's body stiffened. From the way Grimmjow said that he could tell that whatever happened to his father it wasn't good and he could make a safe assumption about what happened during that fight to make him this devastated. He probably wasn't awake for that part, but he could tell by the way Grimmjow gripped him that it could only mean that one thing.

"I'm the new clan leader, but I can't even bring myself to leave this room." Grimmjow said in a quiet voice.

Ichigo was never very good at consoling mourning friends, but he could have taken a page out of Rukia's book for when he cried on the anniversary of his mother's death, but instead he decided to do what Renji would probably do if he was in his place.

Ichigo kneeled down and pulled a surprised Grimmjow over his shoulder. Ichigo's shoulders were not as broad as Grimmjow's so he needed to offer a lot of support to the vampire that was now slumped over his shoulder and threatened to slip off. Grimmjow would have thrashed and tried to break free if it was anyone else, but this was the first time Ichigo has ever done something like this and he was afraid that if he tried to kick around he would end up hurting him.

Grimmjow was a lot lighter than Ichigo would have imagined, but that was probably because of his new found strength and the fact that Grimmjow was being oddly cooperative. He didn't wiggle around or vocally protest. He just seemed surprised and was probably curious about what was going to happen next. "Hold on, you don't know how to control your strength yet." Grimmjow protested while Ichigo struggled to open the door with one hand without letting Grimmjow slip before placing Grimmjow on his feet outside of his room and closed the door behind him, using his body as a wall to prevent him from going back in to hide.

"There, step one is done. Leave your room." Ichigo said with a proud yet reassuring smile on his face.

Grimmjow didn't look amused by Ichigo's actions even if he knew that Ichigo was doing that for his own good. He returned Ichigo's proud expression with an expression that just seemed dead. He wasn't going to put up a front in front of Ichigo like he might have used to. He didn't have it in him and Ichigo deserved more respect than that. He was happy to see him awake, incredibly happy, but losing someone he has spent 200 years of his life with was draining him of all joy.

In any other circumstance he would be excited to see Ichigo as a vampire and paying so much attention to him, but with the death of his father his entire clan didn't feel the same and nothing felt right. The place felt lonely even though his father had very small presence in the household. There was still movement that could be heard around the house of his clan members passing every now and then and greeting Grimmjow as the new clan leader, but nothing felt real.

The first person to walk by him was Ulquiorra. He greeted Grimmjow with expressionless eyes and bowed slightly to him just like how he used to with Stark. He never paid Grimmjow respect despite him being his senior, but now it seemed like Ulquiorra viewed him differently and it only reminded Grimmjow about what happened and that there was nothing he could do to stop it.

"It's good to see you out," Ulquiorra said "and it's good to see you awake." He said regarding Ichigo. The way he said it made it seem like he didn't actually care, but Ichigo never really spent time with the guy nor has he even met him formally so he didn't really have any idea how to read him.

Grimmjow mumbled something that Ichigo couldn't make out even with his now incredible hearing. It looked like he was going to turn around and sulk back to his room, but Ichigo blocked him by pressing his back against the door.

"I was about to come get you." Ulquiorra continued. "It's regarding the final decision for Aizen's punishment."

"I can't believe the hunters still haven't found a way to kill him." Grimmjow growled.

"That's what I came to talk to you about." Ulquiorra said. "You see, they have a theory."

Grimmjow looked at him and waited for him to continue while Ichigo shifted from one foot to the other, not really sure if he was allowed to be hearing this.

"Aizen has undergone the same procedure as Szayelaporro therefore he can be killed by the same method as him." Ulquiorra said. "If I've heard correctly then he was killed with a blade of his own blood that was made by your mate. It is theorized that the only way to kill them is for having them in some way kill themselves."

Grimmjow's jaw tightened and looked over at Ichigo who looked just as shocked as he did. Ichigo never hurt someone with the purpose of killing them. He killed Szayelaporro, but he did it out of self-defense. He still didn't even know how he felt about it. He knew that he had to and killing Szayelaporro did a great service for the vampire community, if not, the world. Yet here he was being told that he may be the key to killing Aizen. If the hunters have been trying to kill Aizen then they must have him captured. He no longer posed a threat. Was there really a purpose of killing Aizen if they already had him restrained? It would be the equivalent of sentencing him to the death penalty.

"I was informed that you are required to go to a meeting as the head of the Jaegerjaquez clan to decide what is going to happen next." Ulquiorra's eyes then fixed onto Ichigo's and Ichigo felt his body turn cold. "The hunters would also like for you to attend."

Ulquiorra exchanged some more details with Grimmjow before he silently walked away. Grimmjow turned around and placed his forehead on Ichigo's shoulder and sighed.

"I don't wanna go to that meeting." Grimmjow said. "It's gonna be nothing but hunters deciding what we are going to do with Aizen."

Ichigo looked down at his unmoving position and patted his back. He could tell that that wasn't really the reason. After finally spending enough time with him he was finally able to figure out when he is being truthful or lying. He sounded truthful, but it looked like he was trying to convince himself more that that was the reason why he didn't want go.

"Are you sure it's not just because your dad isn't going to be there?" Ichigo questioned.

Grimmjow sighed again. It looked like he hit the nail on the head. Grimmjow has attended meetings like that before even though they were rare since Stark tended to steer clear of all that vampire politic stuff. Though when Grimmjow was with him he always felt like Stark had some kind of control even though he acted like he couldn't care less about what was being said or what decisions were being made.

"Yeah, maybe a little," Grimmjow said. "I always knew that I would be leading the clan one day because my dad was starting to get tired of it. I didn't expect that I'd become clan leader because of his death."

Ichigo cocked his head to the side when he felt a sudden cold wind. "Umm, Grimmjow," Ichigo questioned as his eyes wandered to movement that was coming up the stairs, "You said that your dad was dead, but isn't he right there?"

Grimmjow growled. Ichigo never seen him direct his anger at him like that, but he just did. It made sense since it wasn't exactly funny to joke around with someone that his supposedly dead father was right there standing in front of him waiting to speak with him. "Don't joke about shit like that." He said trying not to blow up at him, but Ichigo could still feel the heat resonating off of him.

"No, he's literally right there." Ichigo said pulling Grimmjow away from him and turning him around so that he could see.

"I don't see anything." Grimmjow said clicking his tongue, clearly losing his patients that was pretty thin to begin with.

Ichigo was puzzled, but Grimmjow seemed like he really couldn't see him. Wait, has he officially gone crazy? Did that vampire venom do something to his head or was he tripping balls on the drugs that they might have given him while he was asleep? No, that wasn't it. He's only seen Grimmjow's father for a second so his subconscious mind wouldn't have memorized every little detail about him, but that was definitely him.

Stark shook his head and decided to say something to reassure Ichigo as if he could read his mind. "You're the only one who can see me, shinigami." Stark said. "I came all this way just to deliver my final message."

A/N: We are almost at the end. To prevent this story from being forgotten forever remember to follow, favorite, and review. If you have gotten this far in the story I hope you are enjoying it and look forward to next chapter.