Two more chapters left! XD I skipped the majority of the fight between the two because there's not much point to me retelling the entire thing.

Well anyway I hope you don't lose interest now when we're so close to the end! XD Please review and ENJOY! XD

13

Orihime, Nel and Grimmjow froze. Ichigo's fingers twitched. It was the slightest movement but it wasn't missed to the three.

'Ugh….Nel…and…Orihime?...' Ichigo's voice drifted across the perfect silence.

Grimmjow couldn't understand why he was feeling such a strong sense of relief. The numbing feeling faded away when he saw life returning to the chocolate eyes. The dead orbs filled with emotion and that warmth he associated with the human boy radiated from them.

'Shut up! Stop wasting time and heal him!' The more he tried to name those feelings and understand hem the stronger they became. Being around the source of all his trouble seemed to intensify his unexplainable desires tenfold.

'Grimmjow….What are you doing with Orihime?' The Arrancar made it his business not to look at Ichigo. He didn't want to feel anything else other than anger and murderous intent. Things he could understand. The tone of Ichigo's voice was not lost to him either. Was he going crazy or was there relief in the human's voice too?

'You shut up too! The girl's gonna heal you! I want you healthy when I kill you!'

'Grimmjow! You want me to heal him so that you can kill him?!' Orihime's horrified expression made him snap. He needed something that could be the focus of his pent up rage.

'Why not?! Would you rather I let him die?!Now hurry up! Ulquiorra will be here soon! Heal him before….'

Ulquiorra arrived.

Ichigo drifted in and out of focus. He was still gravely injured. Grimmjow and Ulquiorra were fighting. He tried to follow the fast movements but found it very difficult. Instead he took a moment to revise his situation.

Before he opened his eyes, as he was drifting away from Hollow Ichigo's vicious touch, he remembered the hollow's parting words and his shattering laughter.

'You think he will be different from me? Wake up Ichigo! Grimmjow is a hollow, just like me, and it's in his nature to destroy and kill! He's not any more capable of feelings than I am!...' And that's when he woke up.

Still, despite the fresh warning playing on his mind, he couldn't hold back a flooding sense of relief at the sight of the Sexta. In his heart he knew that what Hollow Ichigo said was the truth and only the truth but it wasn't like he could press a switch and all those feelings he shouldn't have had in the first place, would simply disappear.

'I'm not asking you, I'm telling you! Heal him!' Grimmjow's voice drew him back to what was happening. He couldn't see Ulquiorra anywhere and deducted Grimmjow won the fight. At least for now. He didn't think someone like the Quarto could be defeated so easily.

But most importantly was what Grimmjow was doing. His hand was clenched around Orihime's thin neck and she was clearly struggling with the grip.

'No! I won't help you kill him! I won't do it!' This answer only seemed to add fuel to Grimmjow's anger.

'You…'

Ichigo's arm shot out and caught Grimmjow's. Somehow he managed to find some scarce amount of energy. He couldn't sit around doing nothing while his friend was about to be killed. The need to protect gave him strength.

'Let her go.' The two made eye contact and Grimmjow immediately did as he was told. Ichigo's grip wasn't strong at all, and if he so wished he could have snapped that thin wrist like a twig, but the hardened brown eyes stirred something inside him. A warm, spreading sensation that he pushed down forcefully.

'Orihime. Heal me.'

'What?' She looked at Ichigo with questioning eyes. Did he not hear what Grimmjow planed on doing?

'Heal me. Heal my wounds. And heal him too.' That caught Grimmjow off guard. He expected Ichigo to celebrate at having the advantage. His chances of survival were next to nothing either way. Or was it pity?

'Shut up. I don't want your pity.' He spat the words out, hating the notion of being looked down on even more than losing the battle. He had to deal with that infuriating feeling every time Aizen looked at him. He detested that superior glint in the Lord's eyes.

'It's not pity. You wanted a fair fight right? Or maybe you want to keep your wounds so you'll have an excuse when you'll lose.'

In seconds the two were launching at each other, swords drawn, eyes gleaming. Feelings, hesitations, questions. They all paled in comparison to the feel of metal against metal and the thrill of good 'ol fighting. They were fighters and their swords did the talking for them.

'Fine. Then let's have a good clean murder!' For the first time in days, Grimmjow felt like himself and from Ichigo's shining pupils, he did too.

Things were exactly as they should be.

The two engaged in a wild struggle, vicious and crazed from the very start. Each one intending to end the other first. The swords clashed with destructive force wreaking havoc around them and reducing upstanding stones to rubble.

'Excellent! That's what I've been waiting for! To crush you with everything I've got! Isn't it the same for you?! Well? Ichigo Kurosaki!' The Arrancar's taunting words raised above all the noise of battle. His face had an expression of true contentment.

'No. I didn't come here to fight you.' Ichigo was surprised that he was able to keep so calm. When Grimmjow called out his name it sent a shiver down his spine despite the perilous situation he was in.

And what he was saying was the truth. He didn't want to fight Grimmjow. But he knew he had no choice and after seeing the look in the piercing azure eyes it was clear to him Grimmjow wanted nothing more than his death. He fought the bile building in his stomach. He knew from the get go that those feelings of his were one sided but it still hurt to be slapped in the face with the cruelty of reality.

'Don't lie! Admit it! You want to kill me! I hurt your friends! You know you want to rip me apart. I would if I were you.'

Grimmjow had to make Ichigo fight. Not only was the prospect of killing a helpless prey outputting but the thought of Ichigo not wanting to fight him was confusing. Why would he say that? Wasn't he the hollow who attacked him, raped him and hurt his friends?! Weren't those enough reasons for Ichigo to want to rip him to shreds?!

'Don't you know why I kept this scar?' He pointed to the cut across his chest, from shoulder to hip, left by Ichigo's Getsuga. The question was rhetorical, the answer obvious. 'Now I'm going to slit your throat and show you who's stronger!' He crossed his thumb across his neck to emphasise his point.

Ichigo watched him with vigilant eyes as Grimmjow leaped back and retreated his previously discarded zanpakuto. The two made eye contact and held it. The silence stretched for a moment, each one drinking the depth of the other's orbs.

'What's that look? Maybe you really don't want to kill me. Pathetic.'

'What?' Grimmjow hated those eyes. They made him feel strange and he wanted to rip them from the boy's sockets.

Faster than lightning they were at each other again, slicing and dicing. Wild sword movements met calculated ones and each man fought to get the upper hand and push the other back.

'Tell me Ichigo, what did you come here for?' The two were barely a step away from each other with the only thing separating them being their clashing swords.

'What do you think?! To save Orihime!'

'Ha! But when you saw her, your first thought wasn't to get her to safety, was it? Were you relieved to see her unharmed?' Grimmjow didn't miss the flinch passing across Ichigo's expression. As expected, the best way to get under his skin was to abuse his friends. 'But you can't see what's going on inside!'

'Did you guys do something to her?' For a second Ichigo saw red and only red. His feral instincts desiring only Grimmjow's imminent demise.

'That's the look I like. Ichigo!'

'What….?'

'You said you came here to save that witch? Well I've got news for you, boy. You're wrong. You came here to fight! You know I'm right! Your fighting instinct brought you here! You're a Soul Reaper and I'm a Hollow! We have to fight to the death! It's been that way for a thousand years! What better reason do you need than that?! Come on! Whoever stands at the end gets to live! So COME ON!'

With renewed vigour the two struck.

Ichigo landed harshly and his legs trembled under his weight. He took the blunt of Grimmjow's attack, intended for Orihime. Searing pain numbed his back, but he pushed it down.

'You want to protect her? How sweet.' Grimmjow smirked and pushed the churning jealousy he felt for the wench away. He regarded the heaving youth, his sharp feline eyes not missing the small cracks beginning to appear in his mask.

'What's wrong? Out of breath? But then…' The Arrancar let one of his spike missiles shoot at the giant stone platform behind him. Upon impact it exploded, sending chunks of rock flying every which way. '...You did take five hits. I'm surprised you're still standing.'

Ichigo held himself as straight as he could, fully intending on proving to Grimmjow that he was fine. His raspy, huffs weren't very convincing. An audible crack was heard as his mask crumbled a little bit more. He didn't want to admit it, but Grimmjow was right. He was losing control and he didn't dare reach for Hollow Ichigo's help too much.

'But your mask must be at its limit.'

'Oh yeah?' Defiantly Ichigo ran his fingers over the mask, mending the fissures. 'We'll see!'

'You're a though kid. You can take pain.' Grimmjow's sharp claws flexed, eagerly looking forwards to running themselves and carving the soft human flesh.

'Looks to me you're hurting pretty bad yourself.'

'Sorry.' The eyes met and sparks flew. 'You're wrong!'

Thank you for the read and please review! XD I'll update as soon as I can, and that shouldn't take so long...I hope...