Grimmjow flicked his sword to remove the blood before sliding the blade home in its sheath.
He honestly had no idea why he was killing people, or why people were trying to kill him. Tosen's summons had arrived on a hell butterfly and he'd reported for riot control duty. Which, for him anyway, meant hold his position and don't let anyone pass. He'd assumed at first that it would be rather boring. Who would want to take on the Espada of Destruction?
The answer was everybody. Grimmjow grinned happily. He wasn't supposed to take on his resurrection, but he didn't need it to handle these ants. It seemed the rukongai, or at least this part of it, was full of wannabe warriors who didn't give a fuck if they lived or died. And he was more than willing to oblige them with their death wish.
Another group was pelting towards him and he saw some of them stop as they saw the bodies littered around the arrancar. But the others just charged onward, expressions set and determined. Grimmjow wondered what they were fighting for.
He didn't get a chance to ask, though, even if he'd been interested enough to inquire. They tried to mob him and a few of them had some really crappy shunpo. It didn't help one bit and he slaughtered them all, painting the walls with their blood. Flicking the blood off Pantera again, he kicked away some of the bodies, making room for himself. He sniffed the air, enjoying the mingled scent of blood, sweat and excrement.
It couldn't go on forever though. Fewer and fewer enemies came to him and he was feeling bored when a hell butterfly finally arrived.
The disturbance has been rectified. Return to the Kuchiki manor, Quinta. Grimmjow scowled at the hell butterfly. The use of his new title was pleasant but he really wanted to know what the hell was going on. Finally shrugging he left the scene, glancing down at the pile of bodies. He briefly considered eating a few before deciding against it. None of them were powerful enough to really sustain him and he doubted their blood would taste much better than a shinigami's.
He didn't go right back to the manor, though. Instead he headed into the Seireitei to do a bit of shopping. He had a chit from Tosen that he could use to buy things with, although they were all on a budget. His was pretty low since he didn't have any fraccion to support, but he had a second chit from Byakuya. That would bill things directly to the Kuchiki clan and he planned to use that for anything he didn't want Tosen to see.
Almost immediately, Grimmjow realized he'd made a mistake. He didn't give a damn if people stared at him because he was a hollow but it was mildly uncomfortable when they were whispering about the blood on his clothes. The white showed the stains very clearly and Grimmjow grinned as he suddenly wondered. Was that why the shinigami wore black? To hide the bloodstains?
So he made his first stop at a clothing shop. The sleepy eyed girl working the place didn't bat an eyelash at the appearance of a blood covered Espada in her store. She just looked him up and down before leisurely pulling something out of the racks.
"This would be perfect for you." She murmured and Grimmjow looked at the yukata in surprise. It looked expensive, made of fine blue silk with random patterns of white that seemed to represent clouds. The silk was the exact same shade as his hair. "Try it on."
"Sure, why not." He was willing to humor her, mainly because it was loose fitting. He went into the change room and stripped off his soiled uniform, using it to wipe off some congealed blood from his chest and face before slipping on the yukata. "Hm." He murmured as he tied the belt, a brilliant slash of scarlet, around his waist. This did look good and it had the side benefit of hiding his hollow hole. Making a quick decision he opened the door and stepped out. "I'll take it. Mind if I wear it out?"
"Not at all." She purred and he wondered how expensive it was. He used his chit from Byakuya and she took it, dripping a bit of hot wax onto a document before pressing the seal into it. He had to sign, too, which he managed with reasonably good penmanship. She also gave him a bag to put his old clothing in, which was nice.
People still stared at him in his new yukata, but at least they weren't freaking out over the blood. Grimmjow took his time window shopping, but didn't see much of anything he wanted to buy. He did play with some interesting shit, like a handmade kaleidoscope and the glasses at the bug place. He didn't know why anyone would name their shop after a bug, but he didn't know much about shinigami culture either.
The one thing he did sample was the food. He put that on Tosen's chit, since he couldn't see why the shinigami would have a problem with it. It was all fairly cheap anyway. He bought a paper cup of fried sardines in tempura batter and amused himself by watching the people going by.
It was all so different from Hueco Mundo. The common citizens of the Seireitei walked around as though nothing was going to harm them, even now. But then, Tosen was really the one in charge and he loved law and order. The Seireitei was naturally orderly, unlike the Rukongai, so that posed no difficulties.
Grimmjow vaguely wondered what Tosen was doing. The shinigami had no use for him at all so he was in the same boat as Yammy, being used as muscle whenever the need called for it. Whatever was going on, Barragan, Ulquiorra and Halibel were all up to their eyeballs in it. Starrk was too lazy and Zommari was off in Hueco Mundo, gathering up some powerful adjuchas and vasto lorde for Aizen to break when he could spare the time for it.
"Oh yeah." Grimmjow muttered. That reminded him, he needed to let Byakuya and Ichigo know that Rukia was still in Hueco Mundo. It was the least he could do.
Finishing off his sardines, Grimmjow jumped to his feet. He wanted to take a nap and this was not a safe place, not for him at least. Leaving with a bang of sonido he went back to the Kuchiki manor. He could rest there without fear. Well, except maybe fear of a little kid biting him in his sleep. Grimmjow grinned to himself as he ran.
That had really been quite amusing.
Things took an interesting turn that night.
Grimmjow wasn't sure where Kurosaki had gotten to and didn't much care. He was sharing a private meal with Byakuya and the food was excellent. The conversation wasn't too bad, either.
One thing his old fraccion had always been lacking was intelligent conversation. Nakeem and Di Roy had been near morons and the rest of them had idolized him. Getting them to give him an honest opinion had just been a pain in the ass, and the input was often so useless that he'd stopped asking. And to be fair to them, it wasn't like Hueco Mundo had a lot of topics for small talk.
Byakuya, on the other hand, had interesting things to say. It was a bit hard to get them out of him but Grimmjow had nothing better to do. So now he was hearing about how the shinigami society was structured and a bit about how Tosen was changing things.
"It sounds like you guys are strapped for taichou." He observed and Byakuya nodded, expressionless. Ukitake, Komamura and Kurotsuchi were dead. Szayel had taken over for Mayuri and apparently there wasn't much difference for the Twelfth Division. But Zaraki had gotten killed later – Grimmjow knew he could be dumb and stubborn, but the taichou had been suicidal to challenge Aizen like that – and five of the Divisions had been running without taichou before that. "I wish I could take the Eleventh. They sound like my kind of people." He said, a touch wistfully. That would never happen though. Tosen despised him and even if he didn't, Grimmjow was slated to be one of Aizen's broodmares. That pissed him off a bit, but he wasn't stupid like Kenpachi.
"The Eleventh is being dissolved. Since there are almost no officers left, the few remaining members are being assigned to new Divisions." Byakuya almost sounded regretful. Grimmjow wondered why. From what little he knew the guy pretty much despised the Eleventh and everything they stood for. "Three of the other Divisions are being disbanded as well."
"A lot of changes all at once." Grimmjow observed and Byakuya nodded. "You having a few desertions?" That might explain some of the better fighters he'd run into in the Rukongai. Byakuya shook his head.
"Not in my Division. However, in the divisions that have lost their taichou there have been many disappearances. It's difficult to tell exactly why they vanished, however." Byakuya sipped his tea, his expression serene. But his eyes were cold. Grimmjow was a bit surprised he could pick it up, but Aizen's moods could be pretty subtle and he'd painfully learned how to anticipate them. "Many of your fellow arrancar have not treated us as gently as you have."
"They've been eating people, have they?" Grimmjow asked, not terribly surprised. It was what hollows did. Byakuya nodded. "I'd like to say I'm just a nice guy, but the truth is shinigami taste terrible to me. I don't know why, it happened after I made arrancar." He'd eaten a few shinigami before that so he knew his tastes had changed dramatically. Byakuya looked at him thoughtfully for a moment.
"You have a very pronounced shinigami reiatsu, more than some arrancar. Perhaps that is why. Shinigami do not naturally eat each other." He said and Grimmjow blinked. He hadn't been aware that his reiatsu was any different from other arrancar. But then, sensing your own reiatsu was a bit like trying to look at the tip of your nose. "What do you think of the food?" Byakuya asked, clearly trying to lighten the topic and Grimmjow glanced down at his bowl. They were having marinated, seared duck with soba noodles in a clear broth. It was delicious but unfamiliar to the arrancar.
"It's very good. Sometimes I miss the food I remember from my human life, though." He said honestly and the shinigami looked at him curiously. Grimmjow thought for a moment and tried to answer the unspoken question. "There was this fermented fish sauce. It went into everything. I mostly remember that and the wine. It tasted absolutely awful." Byakuya blinked at that. "It was this nasty vinegar stuff mixed with water and herbs. We drank it because it was safer than the water, cheap and good for you. It was also a macho thing. Only pussies drank good wine." Grimmjow vaguely remembered some of the men he'd served with making fun of those who ordered it. "I was a soldier." He added and then shrugged. "It was a very long time ago." He wasn't sure exactly how long, though. The years had melted together in his mind.
"You remember your past?" Byakuya asked and Grimmjow nodded.
"Yeah, although it's a bit vague in places. It was nothing really interesting." He said dismissively. But the shinigami just looked at him and Grimmjow could tell he wasn't buying it. "I came from a pretty well off family, but I was the fifth son. There was nothin' there for me and I wasn't any kind of scholar, so I joined the army." He said, vaguely remembering those days. The main thing he remembered was the heat. It had been a hot, humid land, especially in the summer. "I was good at it. I retired and got a farm, found a wife and raised some brats. Died in my sleep of old age." It had been a bloody and dangerous life but it had ended quite peacefully.
"Then why did you stay in the living world?" Byakuya asked and Grimmjow paused a moment, puzzled. Then he chuckled as he remembered.
"Shit, it was stupid… when I died, I really wanted to see the city." He said and the shinigami looked at him thoughtfully. "And after I was dead I realized no one could see me. I could walk into the senate, watch all those high-falluting bastards wheezing about, even explore the palace. So what the fuck, why not? I started walking. Walked all the way and I finally got to see the city." He'd never once been there, before his death. His unit had never been stationed there. "I was dead but I had the time of my fucking life. Imagine this old geezer – well, a pretty strong old geezer – wandering through that place for weeks, peeking into the secret orgies of the rich and famous." Grimmjow grinned as he remembered. Those had been some fun weeks. He could remember that part pretty clearly. "Then a hollow ate him." It had been the first hollow the plus soul had run into. He'd had no idea the afterlife had any perils and he had tried to fight rather than run. "But that hollow was no match for me. And that was the first step to becoming what I am today." Grimmjow shrugged. Unlike many hollows, who had painful histories, his was rather tame. He'd been a dangerous, aggressive man though and that had surfaced as a hollow. Byakuya nodded.
"It's too bad no shinigami found you and gave you konso." He said and Grimmjow laughed, sipping his tea.
"They tried! But the old man wasn't having any of that shit. No freaks in night dresses with barbarian swords were getting near him." He said merrily as Byakuya sipped his tea. It was hard to read his emotions sometimes but Grimmjow could tell he wasn't amused by that description of the shinigami. "It was probably just as well. I would have made a shitty peasant in the Rukongai." And he was sure he wouldn't have had the spiritual pressure for anything else. That old geezer had not been spiritually aware.
They were finished the main course and a silent unobtrusive servant took the plates away before bringing them a small sweet to end the meal. Grimmjow couldn't even begin to guess what it was. It was dark green, sweet and slightly chewy. He savored it slowly. It might not be the kind of dessert he would have chosen but it was still nice and he'd always had a sweet tooth.
"You can have mine as well." Byakuya offered and Grimmjow blinked at him, realizing that his dessert was almost untouched. "I have no fondness for such things."
"You sure?" He asked uncertainly. Sweets seemed like the best part of the kill to him. Why would anyone give them up? But the shinigami nodded so he shrugged and accepted the treat. "Thanks. These are pretty good." Although he didn't really like the chewy texture. It was like no dessert he'd had as a living man, although it did remind him of snails in aspic. Not the kind of comparison you wanted to make.
"I'm glad you enjoy them." Byakuya said politely but there was something odd in his eyes, something Grimmjow couldn't place. He gave the noble a questioning look, his mouth full, and Byakuya looked down into his teacup.
"I will be honest. I do not have much experience." He said quietly. Grimmjow was very surprised by the admission. Byakuya was a noble and in his experience, nobles didn't deny themselves anything. "The only person I have ever been with was my late wife, and not that often. She was very ill." He explained and Grimmjow couldn't help but be nervous.
"Yeah, well, I have no idea how this goes for shinigami." If Byakuya had been a hollow Grimmjow would have suggested a spar first. But he was pretty sure fighting didn't do much for the shinigami and telling him to just push him to the wall and fuck him would probably disgust the noble. "Um…" Grimmjow thought hard, delving deep into his past as a human. They had to be closer to shinigami.
It was sort of helpful. The old geezer had been an active bastard, right up until his wife had died. He hadn't been interested in men at all, though. But Grimmjow had his memories of romancing women as well as vaguer recollections from his dominant female souls. He had plenty of those, or he wouldn't have turned out this way in the first place.
So acting more on instinct than anything, Grimmjow found himself moving. He considered and discarded several suggestions – he was way too tall and masculine for resting his head on Byakuya's shoulder and gazing into his eyes longingly – and went with something more on the gender neutral side. He knelt down beside Byakuya, who was looking at him with well-disguised apprehension in those pretty grey eyes.
Kissing the shinigami was strange. At first, he was still and unresponsive. But gradually those soft lips responded and Grimmjow relaxed a little as a hand moved to slide through his hair, teasing the light blue strands. He returned the favor, puzzling a bit over the silver hair clips. He decided to just leave them and concentrated on what was available, running his fingers gently through that silky smooth black hair.
"Come." Byakuya said softly and Grimmjow shivered in pleasure at the note of command in his voice. Normally it would have pissed him off but when he was about to get laid, well… things were different.
They'd been eating in Byakuya's suite, so the bedroom was only a room way. Grimmjow shed his clothes easily and paused for a moment as he saw the shinigami looking at him curiously. He looked away, feeling a blush rising on his cheeks. What would the shinigami think of his hybrid body?
"You are not unattractive." He said and Grimmjow couldn't help but grin.
"Thanks!" He said but felt his blush receding. If Byakuya had told him he was great looking, he'd have been even more flustered and wondering if it was a lie. Not unattractive sounded honest and actually made him feel better about himself. A light flush touched pale cheeks and the Espada admired him for a moment. "You're not too bad yourself." He said in a lightly teasing tone. Under his taichou's robes, Byakuya's body was as hard and toned as he had expected.
Those robes really don't do a thing for him. He thought vaguely as he took a seat on the bed, stretching out in a lazy, catlike gesture. All the shinigami wear very similar uniforms, whether they look good or not. I wonder if that's why Aizen let us pick our own styles? Arrancar uniforms were black and white, but that was the only thing they had in common with each other. It let them pick out things that flattered their body types. Although… That meant they could commit some rather hideous fashion faux pas. Grimmjow tore his mind away from that as Byakuya sat down on the bed beside him, looking at him with uncertain grey eyes. I need to take the lead here, but not forcefully. Following that thought he rested a hand on Byakuya's chest and gave the shinigami another tender kiss.
Hands touched his shoulders, curiously exploring warm skin and taunt muscles. Grimmjow returned the favor, sliding a hand over Kuchiki's stomach and feeling the rippling muscles beneath the soft skin. That was nice, excellent in fact, and Grimmjow dared to make the kiss a bit rougher, more demanding. He felt his partner stiffen for a moment before taking the kiss almost passively. That was not what he'd been hoping for, not at all.
"Tch." Grimmjow muttered as he pulled away, blue eyes dark with lust and something close to annoyance. "You're making this hard on me, shinigami." He sighed at the small frown on Byakuya's face and rested his forehead against his chest. "I don't know what turns you on." He admitted and the frown turned into a small smile.
"You are arousing me, Grimmjow-san." He said and Grimmjow glanced down, surprised to see that it was true. "I like how… different you are. Please, continue." He said softly and the arrancar hesitated a moment before nodding.
It felt like he'd been given permission to indulge himself, and he did. Grimmjow set his hands to wandering, exploring the soft skin and strong muscles of the Kuchiki noble. Lips and tongue soon joined hands, and he enjoyed Byakuya's soft gasp as he caught a nipple in his mouth, teasing the flesh with his warm, wet tongue. Then he decided to indulge his evil side and use a little trick he'd learned as an adjuchas. Focusing his reiatsu carefully, he suddenly made his tongue ice cold. There was a startled sound and Byakuya arched as his skin was abruptly tormented by a bitter chill. Grimmjow pulled away with a grin, dropping the cold charge and letting his mouth warm.
"What… was that…?" Byakuya sounded undone by pleasure and Grimmjow purred to himself as he felt the noble's length poking his leg. That was nice.
"Just a little trick. If I pull all the reiatsu out of a body part, it becomes cold." He said and Byakuya frowned. "Also numb, after a few moments." He'd made the mistake of keeping it up too long once and trying to talk had been difficult. He'd also bitten his tongue. Tossing those thoughts aside Grimmjow made his way down the noble's body, pausing to nuzzle sculpted abs. Byakuya smelled good, a scent that reminded him vaguely of flowers.
The musk of his arousal, though, was completely masculine and sang to ancient memories and current desires. Taking the shinigami into his mouth came as easy as breathing and Grimmjow savored the heady moan the noble made.
He was getting better at this. He knew it, could feel the female memories rising up and guiding him. He hollowed his cheeks, creating a better suction. He compared the taste to Kurosaki's and finally decided they were just different. The teen's hollow musk had made him more sour, more wild and animal-like. Byakuya was sweeter on his tongue.
Hands slid through his hair as the noble urged him on and Grimmjow stroked his thighs before moving his hands to his balls. He played with the heavy flesh, teasing him and making him gasp. There was a whispered warning and he stopped, pulling away before his lover could cum. Byakuya watched him with wide, lust glazed eyes as he slid up his body before suddenly impaling himself on the shinigami's cock.
Grimmjow grunted a little as he adjusted to suddenly being filled, his walls expanding to accommodate the thick length. He was plenty wet so it didn't hurt and he soon began to move, setting a slow and steady pace. Byakuya's hands were on his hips, urging him on and Grimmjow looked down. Bright blue eyes met grey and he saw a surprising amount of warmth there. Not just lust, but something else.
The arrancar had no time to puzzle over that as Byakuya began taking more control. The grip on his hips tightened as the noble thrust up into him, jolting his body with pleasure. Grimmjow let out a small, feral growl as he felt sweat beading along his hairline and beginning to trickle down his skin. The way Byakuya was filling him was just delicious and he was enjoying every moment of it.
From the look on his face, his partner was too. Grimmjow hadn't really expected that and he didn't think Byakuya had expected it either. Long black hair was spread over the bed, his hair clips were missing – when had that happened? – and sweat was beading along that pale, beautiful skin. Muscles tightened and flexed as Grimmjow rode him and the arrancar marveled at what he was doing. He'd gone from having no sex to suddenly having this. It almost made him want to thank Aizen.
But he wasn't going to waste any time thinking about kami. He'd found heaven and it was right here. Grimmjow gasped as his insides began to tingle in a very familiar way, wrapping tightly around that hot, throbbing cock. He met Byakuya's eyes just as he came, his walls rippling hard with his moment of release. The shinigami jolted with a hoarse sound and Grimmjow felt the gush of fluid filling him.
They stayed linked together for a moment, just looking at each other. Blue eyes met grey again and they were softer, almost tender. Then Grimmjow slowly pulled away, wincing at the gush of liquid down his thigh. Sex was messy and good sex was messier, he was finding.
"Did you want to stay?" Byakuya asked and Grimmjow considered it for a moment, before reaching for his connection with Ichigo.
To his surprise he was immediately hit by emotions. It was the first time he'd felt anything like it through the collars before, so it had to be very strong. It also smelled like the teen's hollow and from what Grimmjow was getting he was pissed. The Espada grinned wickedly, making Byakuya look at him questioningly.
"Nah, I better go back before Kurosaki blows up your home." He said, highly entertained by the jealous rage he was getting through the link. Byakuya frowned and he explained. "Hollows are usually monogamous because we are jealous as hell. It looks like Kurosaki's hollow thinks I belong to him or some shit. I'll need to go take care of that." Although the emotion wasn't all from the hollow, from what Grimmjow could tell. He thought they might be feeding on each other. But then, he'd been Kurosaki's first in so many ways.
"I see." Byakuya pushed himself up, watching as he quickly got dressed. Grimmjow glanced at him and saw a small frown on his face. So he wasn't pleased that the Espada was leaving? Did he really want him to stay? It made Grimmjow feel a bit tingly, that two powerful males actually seemed to want him. "Goodnight." He said softly as the Espada finished with his clothes.
"'Night. Sweet dreams." Grimmjow said with a smile before slipping out of the room. He felt great, loose and happy.
Now he just had to take care of an infuriated Kurosaki. That was going to be fun.