Alright, so I fixed this little problem with the centering thingy, because it just didn't look right...But I haven't made any changes so it, it's still the same with errors and such. Um, I would've had the next chapter out, but then I realzed...I got the wrong chapter sent to me, so it's going to take A LITTLE longer to get chapter 6 out. Until then, I'm working on my Kimblee and Greed story...YAY! sort of...I'm pissed that I've been working on the wrong chapter, but oh well, a minor set back I suppose lol.

No disclaimer because we all get that I don't own tite Kubo's work :3 all characters are his..But the ideas of what's going on are mine...I think...Anyways! XD

Chapter V: An Evening In Winter

It was just like any other December morning. Cold, & windy with a blanket of snow to cover the entire city for miles!

Her body was always use to warm temperatures, but today wasn't going to that day to have one nice snow day. Ren had woken up with a stuffy nose & a head cold that just wouldn't stop throbbing for the life of her.

Groaning in discomfort, she turned over to the night stand & reached for the 100th time for her third cup of water.

"Damn...This sucks..." She sniffled & took the tissue box in her hands, blowing her already reddened nose, groaning once again from the terrible aches & pains that consumed her sore muscles.

"Here's the ice pack you asked for Ren." The little Arrancar tiredly looked over to the door then smiled at Ururu who had placed the large ice bag on the night stand next to the tissue box Ren had just put down, prior.

"Yeah, & here's some hot tea to help you out, too." Jinta also placed the cup down on the night stand which made Ren smile even more, but not before giving a loud rasping cough that stayed constant until she took the cup of tea by its handle & sipped at the warm/hot liquid...

Made to perfection… "Aw…Thanks guys. You both have been a real big help today."

"Yeah yeah, don't mention it. Mr. Urahara told us that he would have Mr. Espada watch the front of the store today, so you should be covered until you feel better." Ren nodded & sniffled again, only to suddenly cock a brow as she gazed up at the ceiling, curiously, "Wait, Grimm-San's watching the store today?" They nodded.

"Oh boy, I hope he doesn't scare away the customers..." She laid back with a sigh then turned around to fall back to sleep, "Thanks again guys, tell Kisuke I'm really sorry about not coming in for work."

"We will, I hope you feel better." Ururu replied before closing the door gently behind her.

Ren had to admit, those kids were one in a million. She began to smile to herself when she thought about kids. To her they were the greatest thing our creator could ever think up.

Innocent, happy, playful, full of life & energy…Alive...They were always running around laughing & playing without even a care in the world.

It must've been great being their age, although...

Ren had to admit, she never remembered much of her past, even if she knew she originated from Hueco Mundo, she never knew how she really came to…Be in this world! Actually the more she thought about it, the more her childhood seemed like it never happened, like she had amnesia.

All she remembered about your past was her anger & rage for things, which seemed to be nothing more than a bad dream that she had ions ago.

With that thought, the girl quickly shook her past from her mind & grabbed her ice pack placing it on her forehead, which seemed to melt the ice within seconds, at least that's what it felt like.

"I Hate Being Sick!" She exclaimed to herself one last time, before turning over towards the & fell back into a sickly slumber. Hoping by the next time she woke up, she would feel at least a little better. But, she had a feeling that was a very slim chance...

~Downstairs~

"Grimm-San! Just the person I was looking for!" Grimmjow didn't seem to want to listen to Hat & Clogs today….

He was too busy training himself again, with no help, no opponents & for Grimmjow…Truthfully, it was getting a little tired-some.

"What is it?" He asked plainly looking down at his hand that had returned the dark red cero back into his hand.

"I have a big, big, big favor to ask you."

"What is it this time? Unclog the toilets? Wash the dishes? Vacuum the rugs? Dust your fucking knick knacks! Stop me at any point here old man!" He exclaimed, angrily. He hated how this had turned out, he was ruthless when anyone got in his way, or made him do anything that he didn't feel like doing, but now he had been reduce to what humans calling chores.

Yet, no matter how much that Panther glared at the Shinigami, Kisuke merely smiled waving his face.

All the man cared about was Grimmjow doing his job & that was to help in anyway he could if another war broke out or if something were to go wrong in anyways shape or form he was suppose to be there to help; period.

"Now, now Grimmy Grimm..."

"And stop calling me that! Why is it with everyone & giving me these God awful nicknames? It's Grimmjow! Grimmjow! Grimmjow! GRIMMJOW!"

Kisuke only waved his fan & laughed loudly back at the Espada, then turned on his feet as he walked back towards the elevator, "Alright alright, but come on, we've got a lot of work to do today & I don't want the store to be late for opening."

"I thought what's her face was opening the store?"

"Ren-Chan's not feeling well, unfortunately. She woke up with a really bad case of the head cold." Grimmjow's ears perked up a bit to hear that the girl that had was always been around to show him how to deal with this new life was sick.

Don't ask how, but when the mysterious Hat & Clogs turned his head to the panther, he seemed to notice his qualm & smiled behind his fan, "But don't you worry, Grimmjow...She'll be fine."

Grimmjow shifted his eyes from the dirt to his superior & growled gritting his teeth, "What makes you think I care. The girl can handle herself! I'm sure one day of being sick isn't going to kill her." Kisuke laughed again then nodded.

"Awe come on, you don't have to be so blunt about it, but you're right, she certainly is a strong survivor..."

After that comment everything went silent during the elevator ride up to the house, but when they'd reach the top, Grimmjow was the first to step out, seeing the red head, Renji sitting at the front with a cup of coffee, "Oi, Mr. Urahara! Where's Ren this morning?"

"Sick, I'm afraid. She woke up this morning with a head cold." Renji chuckled a bit & sipped his coffee again.

"Well, what can you say, that girl's never been one from cold whether…"

"You're the one to talk...Shinigami..." Grimmjow suddenly growled to one of the many rivals, but Renji only glared back at him with 'Che..' "I don't care for the girl much is all I'm saying. She's sweet...I'll admit that, but I still don't trust her."

"Tch, Bastard. You know, last time I check Red, the cold was never anyone's friend, so why don't you just shut your mouth before I come there & shut it for you."

"SAY THAT AGAIN ARRANCAR TRASH!"

"WHAT WAS THAT?"

"Come on you two you're going to wake Ren-Chan up, & trust me if her temperature's any where near as bad as Tessai said it is, we're going to be in a lot of trouble if we do. Mostly, likely you two will the gist of her beatings."

The boys backed away from one another, glaring the other down until Renji was the first to walk off with his cup of tea in hand. "Hmph. Whatever..."

Grimmjow was gritting his teeth as he watched him stomp off, but quickly the Espada sighed it off, hoping that the feel of wanting to kill Renji would go away.

Attempting to further calm himself, the panther turned to the desk, seeing the computer was already on for him, & the empty chair that Ren usually sat in, awaited him, "Alright, so what exactly am I doing?" He asked turning back to Urahara who only seem to have a blank expression on his face.

"Oh! Right! Well, as you know we have our stocks coming in today, so I just need you to put in the codes on the computer, sign these boxes off when the delivery man gets here &...Hmm...what else am I missing?" He stood there for a good minute before shrugging then smiled back at Grimmjow, "Well, I can't say what it is at the moment, but hey, if I remember, & important, I'll let you know. Have fun! I'll have Ururu or Tessai make some lunch for you when noon comes around. Until then!"

Grimmjow spat over to the side before walking out onto the porch for a quick breather, leaning his back against one of the support beams with a sigh of frustration, "I can't fucking believe this...Me, out of all people it had to be me that got stuck in this place. This really blows." He shifted his once irritated glance to the falling snow.

In some way, even though it was cold, he couldn't help but feel tranquil when he began to remember the first sign of snow. It was just months after he had arrived in the world of the living...And after that stupid holiday that the humans celebrated passed… What was it called? Oh yeah…Thanksgiving… God, the mere thought of the holiday made him want to puke, but when he remembered Ren sitting on the porch with him…She seemed to noticed something white falling from the sky…

Look! Snow flakes! Ren's voice echoed in his head, her surprised & excited smile looked back to him with glee. Sometimes he began to wonder if this life was somehow too much for him. In a year he had made a companion, even though he wouldn't admit to himself or anyone else that Ren and him were 'friends'.

It was tough for him to know that he had someone now...Someone...He could really...Trust? He could tell her anything & she'd give him advice on it, if he was confused & angry on why he was here, or why they didn't just kill him off, she would soothe him by changing the subject, talking about a dog she saw walking by, or how last nights dinner was; whatever random thought would pop into her head he would end up forgetting all of his problems.

Before he knew it, he began to wonder to himself...Had he actually begun to actually like the girl?

He laughed lightly shaking his head, his right hand slapping against his forehead seeing the realization of what he was thinking about, "What the hell is wrong with me? I despise everything & yet here I am thinking about a stupid woman because she's so nice to me. Can I actually trust her though? ...Could I?"

Before he could actually answer his own question, again he dropped everything & growled as he fixed his opened, button-up black shirt, rolling up his sleeves before walking back inside to walk over & stare at the computer with a twitchy eye, "Alright...How hard could this be…"

He sat down in the chair & began to click around, organizing the files, putting in codes & such...But just as he started, he only ended up finding a file that he would have rather kept on the back burner...

Her Erotica Files...

HOLY HELL! SHE ACTUALLY LOOKS AT THIS CRAP? SHE'S A BIGGER PERVERT THAN ME!

By 2:00 in the afternoon, Grimmjow had finally finished up with the filing & began signing the boxes off for the trucker that had just arrived. After signing the few that were left, he signed the board that the trucker had asked him to sign.

"Thank you sir, you have a nice day now."

Grimmjow never answered the man, but watched intently as the trucker took off with two of his buddies down the street in the huge red truck.

"Awe! Wonderful! Everything's taken care of then?" Grimmjow didn't answer but rubbed his head of some sweat then looked to Urahara who seemed to notice an odd expression he had never seen on the Arrancar's face, "Is Ren still in bed?"

Urhara was a little surprised to hear that the panther was...Concerned & only opened his fan to hide his smirk.

"Yes, she hasn't moved since early this morning when Ururu & Jinta went to give her some medicine. Oh! Which reminds me, can you send her up some soup. Can't get over an bad cold without a good home made bowl of soup. Oh! And her medicine too. It's already ready..." Kisuke sang the last part as he walked away.

"I guess..." Was all Grimmjow said muttering a few curse words & 'this isn't my job' or 'have one of the little brats do it'.

Even though he wanted to help Ren in some way, his emotions were beginning to pull him in many different directions, it was getting difficult to tell what he was feeling anymore to him. He didn't feel like the same person around her anymore either, & that scared him...No...It terrified him.

When he finally reached her room he knocked on the door, not really noticing he was knocking loudly on it, "Hey woman? You awake?"

He carefully opened the door & looked towards the bed side seeing that her back was faced towards him, the sound of her soft sickly sighs escaped her lips as she slept.

Grimmjow sighed knowing he had to wake her up manually & placed the tray of food on the desk, then approached her squatting down in front of the bed.

"Hey, you, wake up, time to eat. Come on..." He growled a bit when she didn't answer, so he turned her over slightly; although when he attempted to wake the girl up, she only turned over wrapping her arms around his neck nuzzling his exposed chest, which threw him off completely.

"Whoa, whoa, easy..." He was surprised to find that she was still sound asleep, leaving him lost in thought on what to do with her.

Why was it so hard for him to be near her? Why was it so damn hard?

Suddenly he noticed a smile spreading across her lips, as if she was now in a peaceful dream...

He stared down at her puzzled on her expression...He seemed to always noticed her smiling, even when she slept...

At least sometimes, besides the fact that her nightmares would sometimes get the best of her...

But just then she gasped, her body trembled against him, as if she was cold.

For some reason, Grimmjow wrapped his arms around her shivering form, trying to assist in keeping her warm as much as possible, until he found himself gazing down at her, sighing as he did.

"You're so hopeless..." He muttered to himself before continuing to stare down at her...

Her bangs fell in her face; it seemed to glisten from the light coming from the hallway; he could even tell that she was seriously sick from her rosy cheeks, & her reddened nose.

Suddenly his eyes softened when she began to move around in his arms, mumbling something under her breath.

"Grimmjow..." It was faint but he heard her in all her grogginess. Whatever it was she was dreaming about he was obviously in it. He couldn't help but become curious as to what she was dreaming about and lowered his ear to her, listening to the few mumbles that escaped her lips.

"What is it?" He whispered hoping she would respond, luckily for him, she did, "Thank you..." He turned his face towards her, confused, "For what?" He whispered again now returning a gaze of curiosity. She slightly moaned in her sleep bringing her hand down to his right peck, no longer was she holding him from around his neck. For some reason her hands seemed to be awfully cold considering the rest of her body was nearly on fire…

"For...Being...Here...With me..." There was a short pause before he began to hear her choke, seeing that she was trying to hold back tears that had suddenly began to fall down her cheeks, causing him to widened his eyes more at the woman crying "...You're…My best...friend..."

Suddenly, her body heat begin to grow, her cheeks reddening more until her face filled with discomfort, "Ren?" She coughed a little shivering violently in her sleep; suddenly her breathing began to grow irregularly progressing into pants.

Grimmjow knew this wasn't a good sign, & gripped onto her tightly, shaking her in his grasp lightly.

"Hey Ren, wake up! Ren! Damn it kid!" He quickly picked her up from her bed, her still shaking violently in his arms as he ran down the stairs at top speed stopping with a screech of his heels when he saw everyone was in the living room. "HEY! WE GOTTA PROBLEM!"

Kisuke along with Tessai, Ururu, Jinta, Renji, & the rest of the gang that had arrived prior looked up from their conversation seeing the woman's body distortion, Grimmjow panting as he held her bridal style with a worried look on his face.

"Grimmjow? What's wrong?" Kisuke asked getting up from his seat.

"Not again..." Someone seemed to mutter under their breath, but Grimmjow didn't seem to care at the moment.

"I...I don't know, she was fine one second & the next she began to shake like this."

Kisuke quickly grabbed Ren out of Grimmjow's arms & studied her face, seeing the expression of distorted & extreme pain, "I see...Tessai-San can you bring her into the nursing room please? Quickly."

"Yes sir." Tessai grabbed Ren & hurried himself to the extra room they had in the back of the house, having everyone follow behind him besides Kisuke who went into the kitchen for something.

Grimmjow was subconsciously more worried than anyone else, considering this was the first time he had ever seen Ren go into shock from just a small head cold.

...Or was it something more than just a human's sickness? Maybe it was something Ren hadn't told him yet...But why? What was she hiding from him?...

Next-Chapter 6: No More Secrets

He needed to know

He needed to find out...

In the end, he'll find out her symptoms...

And more...

R&R! Yay R&R's! Okay, now on for the next chapter damn it! I can't believe I didn't look at what chapter I was on - That's what I get for being so far away from my own computer *sniffles* I miss my compooper...oh well.