Disclaimer: So...it's been a very long time. We all know what happened, and are still recovering from this said global catastrophe. Hope this finds everyone well though. With TYBW happening this kinda got my juices flowing again, and that I want to keep going with my Bleach fics. Hope you enjoy this chapter, and welcome back.

As We Know It

Chapter Six

In the few years that Rukia knew Tatsuki, she never thought that her friend would be the one to start planning enthusiastic trips. Rukia chalked it up to Ichigo and Grimmjow visiting, or did they move to town permanently? The details were murky, and the violet-eyed woman wasn't sure how nosy she could be with the new men.

'I mean, I do enjoy being around them.' Which was slightly off-putting for someone like her when it was in her nature to hold newcomers at arms-length. Look at how long it took Keigo to even put an arm around her shoulders?! Bad example, Keigo is a special case.

Rukia shakes her head to get out of her own thoughts, and glances over at the list Tatsuki was making. "You know, I don't remember ever doing any of these activities in prior summers. We just hung out, occasional karaoke sessions, and went to the public pools."

"This summer is a special summer," Tatsuki says while pondering over the gang's activity list.

Rukia hums and leans back in her seat. "Right, because your, well everyone's friends, are here. Friends you all seem to have failed to mention before," Rukia voiced her suspicion about the lack of ever hearing about Grimmjow and Ichigo.

"Really wasn't sure how or when their circumstance would change."

Rukia frowns and glances over to the two men they were talking about. "Their circumstances?"

Ichigo was currently sitting on the couch with Grimmjow beside him, they were both heavily engrossed in a fighting game on the PS5. Orihime was a cheerleader to both men, and Uryuu was berating Ichigo that he should have an advantage on Grimmjow. The reasoning was odd enough for Rukia. 'Because you've been a human your whole life? That's odd.'

Grimmjow cackles manically and jumps up in celebration. "Fuck off, Ichigo! I can beat you with these miniature puppets, and in real life!"

'Miniature puppets?' Rukia puts a hand to her mouth to contain her laughter.

A scowling Ichigo shakes his head while mumbling under his breath and passes the controller to the next player. Standing up and stretching he catches the stare from Rukia, whose eyes widen, and cheeks go pink from being caught. But she didn't advert her eyes. Smirking Ichigo goes around the dining table to the kitchen and makes himself busy.

"Oh, did you like what you saw?" Tatsuki breathes under her breath at Rukia, getting a mini rise out of her. "It's only been about a week or so, and you're already lusting. I don't blame you though."

"Shh!" Rukia hushes her friend and turns back to the notepad on the table. "What do you think we should do first?"

Tatsuki taps her chin in thought. "That's a fair question, and we need to space these out. Don't want to burn through them too fast."

"Why not the beach?" Ichigo suggests. He had put his arm around Rukia's chair and was leaning over her to get a closer look at the notepad. Rukia could feel his body heat radiating off on her, and in turn felt her cheeks get warm again at his proximity. Even though she felt shy, she just couldn't help leaning back slightly in her position to get a better view of his jawline. Shy and bold mashed together.

Ichigo knew damn well what he was doing and could feel Rukia's gaze on him again. Of all the years together, he knew what Rukia craved the most. Touch. And everything revolves a round touching her, for better or worse. How ironic is that? "What do you think Rukia?"

"Huh?" Rukia blinks her eyes rapidly a few times to get out of her head. She isn't sure why this dreamy-girl-like feeling was happening to her out of nowhere. Did she find these two new men that attractive? "Um, is this a day trip or a weekend kind of trip?"

"Now we're getting somewhere," Tatsuki says with enthusiasm, then wiggles her brows. "Ichigo probably chose the beach so he can get a good look at your body, Rukia."

It was the orange-haired man turn to blush now. "Shut it, Tatsuki! Anyways where are your car keys? We're out of snacks."

Tatsuki threw her head back and grunted in frustration. "You guys ate all my food? And so fast?! And you're not driving my car."

"I'll tag along," Rukia stands up, forgetting Ichigo's current position hovering over her. Effectively flushing their bodies together, Rukia was able to get the gist of how muscular Ichigo's body is. Thinking back on the beach trip, they may need to hurry up and pick a date. She's quite curious herself. She mentally braced herself for an onslaught of weird visuals with a ride along migraine, but it never came. 'Odd, but I'll take it. Plus, I need to get my prescription."

As the trio gathered their belongings to go out, Ichigo called out to Grimmjow tag along. He didn't have to "babysit" the arrancar in Soul Society, but the trust was at an all-time low in the human world. Let's not go down memory lane with Grimmjow's first visit to Karakura.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I wasn't going to let you ditch me and have Rukia all to yourself," Grimmjow mumbles, getting off the couch.

Between the two men Grimmjow is more upfront and daring. More handsy, flirtier, and just—more! He texts her late into the night, initiates conversations when together, flirts with her openly, and oddly enough he's been touchy too. Just pokes here and there, maybe he was trying to find her tickle spots. She couldn't tell, but secretly enjoyed the attention.

Tatsuki yelled over her shoulder to the rest of the gang to hold the fort down.

"Aye-aye, pilot," Orihime saluted to her best friend. As Rukia was shutting the door behind her, she could hear Chad's quiet-baritone voice tell Orihime that you say "Captain, not pilot".

The ride to the store was an entertaining one with the men fighting over who was going to sit in the back with Rukia—Ichigo won that round. Not to be outdone, Grimmjow made sure to utilize his phone and kept texting Rukia funny quirks about Ichigo.

"You like Shakespeare? You wear your heart on your sleeve?" Rukia turns to Ichigo with a teasing smile on her face.

Thinking of it as a memory returning Ichigo frowns and slowly nods his head. "How did
you— Oi!" The tell-tale signs of snickering came from the front seat, and Ichigo reaches forward trying to wrestle Grimmjow's phone from his hands. "Stop cheating!"

"Do better!" Grimmjow holds his phone away, but Rukia manages to sneak her arm through the gap on the left side of the passenger seat, and successfully snatches the device.

Stashing his phone in her crossbody bag, she glances up in time to see a predatory look pass over his face. "By the end of the night, I'll have my phone back. Guarantee it."

Once they got inside the grocery store Rukia split from the group and told them she'll catch up to them soon and veered off towards the pharmacy. Urahara had sent her prescription in ahead of time earlier that week and sent her a reminder that she needed to pick up her order. Rukia had gotten used to seeing ghosts here and there. When it's just her she'll talk to them, but obviously can't do anything for them but leave an offering of flowers. Her dreams are still as intense as ever...

"...are they even dreams?" Rukia muses to herself as she steps up to the pharmacy counter.

Behind the counter stood a timid young lady with a forked strand of bang in front her face. "H-How can I help you?"

"Uh, I believe there's an order to pick up for Kuchiki."

There was a loud crash from the back area and another employee, male with slicked-back red hair, popped his head out. "Kuchiki?!"

"Um, yes?"

The young man disappeared, and more crashing noises came from the back of the area. Rukia wasn't sure if she should ask if he was ok or not, and the young woman in front of her just stood there blushing lightly.

"Here it is," the red head came from the back with a small bag containing Rukia's medicine. "Ururu, ring her up!"

Rukia raises an eyebrow at the tone of the red head, but Ururu just kept blushing and quickly scanned the bag. Figuring out that it just must be how the red head speaks Rukia unzips her bag to get her card out.

"That'll be zero yen, no charge."

"Er, really?" Rukia asks skeptically.

"Insurance paid for everything," the red head spoke up and looked at Rukia intensely and with a familiar look, as if he recognized her. Or was he waiting on her to recognize him? To Rukia he seemed kind of familiar, like a nagging feeling, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"So, this is where you ran off to," a deep voice came from behind you as she felt an arm circle around her waist. "I didn't know you brats worked here too."

"Grimmjow," the red head said looking like he wanted to run.

"Jinta."

Rukia looks up at Grimmjow, clearly confused. "You know these two?"

"Yeah, I'm crashing with their guardian, who's a real piece of work."

Jinta smirks and shakes his head. "You've barely been here and you're already sidling up to a helpless victim. Does he know?"

Grimmjow's hold tightens a bit on Rukia's waist. "Of course, he knows, it's my day anyways."

"Your day? Are you guys really taking turns here?!" Jinta scoffs and crosses his arms over his chest. "I can't wait to see how this unfolds."

"I'll do whatever it takes to get what's mine, I won't be playing fair for long. Come on, Rukia," he leads them away from the two peculiar people at the pharmacy.

Rukia found herself lost in her head trying to rework the odd conversation Grimmjow had with the other young man. It was like they were talking in riddles, as if it was some inside joke, but not a funny joke. 'I'm getting ahead of myself here. Work one question at a time.' Grimmjow is crashing at Ururu and Jinta's place, who is their guardian? Shelve that question. 'Remember, Grimmjow and Ichigo, have lived here before I did...'

On to the next question, 'What did he mean about taking turns? Could he possibly be talking about Ichigo and Grimmjow?' Rukia realizes that Grimmjow still hasn't released his hold on her, keeping her flushed against his side. And that's when she felt a deep pulse in the back of her head, she groaned to herself and knew that Grimmjow was looking at her. Her best method so far was to just ignore the sensation until it became too much, and she wanted some answers first before her mind went blank.

"What did that Jinta guy mean about taking turns?" Rukia asks, side eyeing Grimmjow. "Was he talking about you and Ichigo?"

Grimmjow smirks and side eyes her too. "Maybe, but shouldn't you go ahead and take your medicine?" He could feel her reiatsu fluctuating at a steady pulse. It appears that her instinct was to fight to keep it stable, and yet she wasn't even aware that she was doing so naturally.

"Yeah, maybe you're right," Rukia opens her packet and quickly reads the instructions. 'One daily, preferably with a meal, but this should be okay.' She quickly pops one in her mouth, but she knew the effects were not going to be instantaneous. The throbbing had intensified way too fast for comfort this time around.

He then felt a sharper increase and decrease in her reiatsu. He grunts to himself and brings Rukia in front of him. "Don't worry, I got you." He pulls her close and uses his other hand to support her neck from behind, rubbing small massages with his thumb.

"Why does this hurt so much?" Rukia places her hands on Grimmjow's shoulders, not even caring how intimate their position was in public.

"It'll pass quickly," Grimmjow's voice rumbles smoothly. "I got you."

I got you...

"I got you."

After being held captive for a couple of days, Rukia was fed up with lying around the Sixth Espada's quarters and decided that she was going to leave. Dead or alive. She heard him leaving, maybe to hunt down Ichigo or the other soul reapers, who knows. One thing she did know was that she needed to find a way to regroup with an ally.

Slowly rolling onto her stomach, she contains the loud groan from slipping past her lips by grinding her teeth down. That Espada knew what the hell he was doing by only partially healing her. No wonder she kept passing out for large amounts of the day. At least he wrapped up her torso to keep the bleeding to a minimum. Managing to use her arms to push up onto her feet, Rukia used her hands on the walls to keep her steady.

Reaching the entrance of the room she peaks around the corner noticing no guards or for that matter felt any presence nearby. Breathing slowly out a breath she wasn't aware she was holding she guided herself down the unknown passage. There were multiple passages she paced her way through, keeping her reiatsu under wraps, but aimlessly wondering through the white fortress wasn't going to cut it. Focusing her mind, she searched for other soul reapers. Faint, but they were there, and Renji was still in the fight. Deciding to head in his direction she turned down another corridor, then felt a sharp pain in her abdomen. At this she let out a small gasp and felt her grip on her reiatsu slip a bit.

"Fuck this," she hisses and slides down the wall, clutching her stomach. After a few minutes the pain subsides, but then she felt an immense shift in pressure change from an Espada. "Please, not now."

"Then when?" A sickening voice echoes down the dark corridor. Emerging from the shadows a tall thin man stood. Eye patch, long black hair, and flexed power. This wasn't someone Rukia was ready for.

Said man used his sonido to close the distance between them and brought them face to face. "You look delicious enough to eat."

Rukia turns her face away from the repulsive man, but he grabs her chin to make her look at him. "Don't be a rude meal, or maybe I should make you run for it. I like a good chase."

Suddenly a hand reaches out and grasps the assaulter's wrist in a vice like grip. "Fuck off, Nnoitra. This is Aizen's meal."

Nnoitra lets out a growl. "Sexta, know your place." He yanks his wrist out of Grimmjow's grip.

"And you should know yours, but you play dirty so maybe you don't," Grimmjow ignores another growl from the Quinto Espada, while he threw Rukia over his shoulder causing her to cry out in pain. "As I said, this is Aizen's meal. If you used your broken brain, then you would've sensed the power within her."

Amid her resurging pain Rukia had to wonder what in the world was this Arrancar talking about? There weren't any hidden powers within her! Maybe it was just a bluff but...

Nnoitra clicks his tongue in disgust. "Hogyoku vessel, huh. Count your day lucky, reaper. Next time I sense you wondering around I won't hesitate to have you for myself."

Rukia shivers at his tone because it sounded as if he meant to have her more than just a soul to munch on. She gasps from pain again when Grimmjow uses sonido to bring them back to his quarters. Throwing Rukia down on his bed without any care, he runs his hands through his hair in frustration.

"You could at least be more careful," Rukia rasps out curling into a ball from the pain.

"You shut up!" Grimmjow yells with his voice dipping deeper from anger. "You don't understand the dangers that lurk out there. This isn't your typical Hollow ground that you reapers are so used to."

His anger seemed to be stemming off from something else. Sure, the situation he found her in wasn't idealistic, but no fights were fought either. Rukia rolls onto her back, breathing hard from the effort and feeling sweat rolling down her temple. "What's got you so off?"

Not that she cared, but she couldn't help but pry. "You may be right about Ichigo," Grimmjow walks back over to his bed and glares down at Rukia. She swallows under his intense stare but kept her gaze just as steady.

"I told you. Now leave me be or kill me."

"You don't mean that," Grimmjow lowers himself onto his bed, leaning over and caging Rukia in. "I can hear it in your voice. Besides, I can still get plenty of use out of you."

"What do you mean?" Rukia asks sharply.

Grimmjow raises his hand and moves her hair off her sweaty forehead. Rukia narrows her eyes at him wary of his current motives. Her eyes widened when she felt warmth spreading across her abdomen, looking down, Grimmjow was using his powers to heal her more. Not completely, barely a bit at all, but she assumed it must have something to do with them being of different species, yet it helped ease her discomfort.

He catches her eyes and slowly lowers his head down, touching their foreheads together. "You can get us out of here. Now that I got you."

I got you...

Rukia slowly blinks her eyes, keeping them half open to adjust to her surroundings. She was lying down in a soft—bed?! Rukia opens her eyes fully and reaches out feeling the cool sheets on her arms and hands. Sitting up looking around she lets out a sigh of relief, she was in Tatsuki's room. But weren't they at the store? She remembers them being at the store when a massive migraine took over, and the way Grimmjow held her...

'Oh, how embarrassing.' Rukia felt the heat rise from her neck to her face. They were so close to each other, practically in a lovers embrace, and the way he spoke to her. It was as if he knew something was bound to happen. 'It was as if he knew...'

The door to Tatsuki's room opened slowly and the person she was just thinking about peaks in. His look softens once he notices Rukia sitting up in the bed. "Hey there," he mumbles softly and pushes the door behind him leaving it slightly ajar.

"Don't tell me I passed out?" Rukia asks the dreaded question.

Grimmjow sits close to her on the bed and smirks a bit. "You did, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle."

"Of course, you could," Rukia shakes her head slightly and looks off to the side. "You know, I had this weird dream about you."

Grimmjow raises an eyebrow and waits for her to continue.

"It was weird, it was like a white castle of a maze. Some crazy, scary guy threatened me," Rukia recalls. "And super tall at that, that's beside the point though. I think you had captured me."

"You think?" Grimmjow's voice dips lower. "Or do you know?"

Rukia hums, digging deeper into what she could remember. "Well, you said you had me."

"Had? As in past?"

"Ok, you said you got me."

Grimmjow couldn't help himself, but he didn't agree to Ichigo's "rule" of taking it slow. The wait in Soul Society was excruciating enough without her, but the years there with Rukia were like a soft fuzzy dream. Going out on missions with her, having their little date nights where she took him to different izakayas and other eateries. She filled his void soul with enrichment for he had divulged and relied on hollow souls for far too long. Obtaining power was detrimental to the Hollows, but it was also instinctual, and to get stronger in Hueco Mundo you had to eat. Or fail to be mindless rook in the trenches.

Then Aizen came along and well, the rest was history. So no, Grimmjow couldn't help himself when he practically dragged Rukia onto his lap. He's been without her for too long, and away from her touch, her scent. The least he could do was hold her close to him, right?

"Did I have you like this?" he asks lowly. Their faces were mere centimeters apart, their foreheads touching.

Rukia was breathless in the way she was just handled by Grimmjow. In the past week he did display more of a forward approach with her, and it isn't like she couldn't deny the attraction either, but she still wants to know more about him. Both him and Ichigo.

"In a way, yeah," there was still a nagging question in the back of her mind. "You seemed like you knew I was going to pass out at the store. Did you?"

"Lucky guess," he hated not being able to be fully truthful to her, but he couldn't force this. He must wiggle his way back into her heart again. He must make her fall in love with him all over again. That was something he could do; he had done before. He figures by the time she realizes what she's been envisioning then the feelings between them will be tenfold.

Rukia felt Grimmjow brush their lips together, a feathery touch. Yes, get to know him and Ichigo more, but who said she couldn't have fun while doing so? Or maybe she shouldn't? She doesn't even remember the last time she had done anything like this before. Wait, had she? Too many questions to think about, and honestly, she couldn't give a shit now.

Grimmjow tests the water again with Rukia, lightly pressing their lips together. Rukia responds to his kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck. She gets a wave of déjà vu, and she got the feeling that Grimmjow wanted to take the kiss deeper. She knew she wasn't ready for that yet, one step at a time. He read her clearly through her body language and didn't rush. He will savor this small taste. Slowly pulling back he rubs his thumb across her bottom lip.

Ok, just one more small taste.

Wanting another kiss, he leans in, but the door to the bedroom opens. "Hey Grimmjow, is Ruk—."

Tatsuki stops dead in her tracks. "See, I'm glad I came in when I did!" Tatsuki shouts, pointing her finger at Grimmjow. "Rukia, I'm glad you're up, and Grimmjow, no sex on my bed!"

Rukia lets out a small noise and buries her face in Grimmjow's chest, getting a good whiff of his scent. Grimmjow lets out a laugh, resting a hand on top of Rukia's head. "We were not about to fuck."

"You might as well be! She's pretty much riding you!"

At that Rukia scrambles out of Grimmjow's lap and swiftly leaves the room. "This has been an embarrassing day," Rukia mumbles with her cheeks screaming scarlet. She could hear Grimmjow yelling back at Tatsuki that at least their clothes were still on.

"Rukia, are you alright?" Said woman turns to the voice and recognizes the concern on Orihime's face. For a second, Rukia thought that she was referring to what had just happened in Tatsuki's bedroom, but she quickly remembered her first embarrassment earlier that day.

"I am fine, but right now I'm extremely hungry."

Ichigo was observing Rukia from the couch when he saw his other two friend's walk out into the living room. One looked livid but was smiling, and the other one looked triumphant. Ichigo walked over to them and knew something had transpired. "Just couldn't help yourself could you."

Grimmjow smirk widens. "I just couldn't help, but to get a little taste."

"Bastard, you just couldn't build up to it? Wait a couple more weeks?"

Crossing his arms over his chest, Grimmjow scoffed. "Get off it, it was just one kiss," he dropped the shit-eating grin and lowered his voice. "This time she remembered us in Hueco Mundo, before we escaped."

"Well, aren't you lucky," Ichigo rolls his eyes. No wonder Rukia would allow Grimmjow to advance as fast. Her emotions were not completely in check then. Between the fight with Aaroneiro resembling Kaien and just her overall state of putting her feelings aside and assisting them to save Inoue. "Don't feel good for too long. She may just pull back anyways."

"We'll see about that," Grimmjow says, his words dripping with confidence.

Ichigo watches as Orihime tried to place a plate of food in front of Rukia, but said woman was not having it. But who would with it being piled with a bunch of baked beans drowning sushi.

"Hey, Orihime, I'll make her a plate," Ichigo leaves his friend side to help his woman out.

A thought passes through Grimmjow's mind. 'I still need to get my phone back.' He set his eyes on his prey and couldn't wait to make her squirm again.

[...]

Byakuya was having a meal at Kisuke's house when he felt a flicker of reiatsu surge. "You're going to have to do something about her spikes. The Hollows aren't as frequent with them, but if she can't control her surges naturally then we're going to have a problem sooner rather than later."

"I've came up with a solution until she can use the facility downstairs," Kisuke uses his chopsticks to grab a piece of the sizzling meat cooking in front of them.

"I find it to be a brilliant invention," Isshin piped up pouring the sake.

Byakuya grunts at that. "And where is this invention going to be set up?"

"At Isshin's place, in the back of the clinic," Kisuke places more marinated beef in the grill. "Rukia can't come over here anytime soon, and those modifiers I installed in her room are set to absorb like a barrier."

A black cat saunters through the door about a half hour into the men's dinner and takes a piece of cooked meat off a plate. "Rukia's episode today was a little extensive than before."

Byakuya's eyes narrowed. "Explain."

The three men listened as Yoruichi explained the mini event that happened with Rukia. They were all confident that a memory was triggered. Then it dawned on them that just because the memories were coming in doesn't mean that Rukia has "awakened". The main question of the night was, when will Rukia realize that these were not dreams, but in fact, her life?

A/N: Swear I could've added another flirtation part, but with Ichigo, buuuuut I think one day is enough! And I'm mad that legit only ONE DAY happened here! Trying to get back in the right mind frame, and kind of speed things up. Wanted to build off Grimmjow, and I did that..we got another glimpse of her time in Hueco with Grimm. Think next chapter gonna give Rukia time with the girls, and build off Orihime. Gotta get their friendship stronger before shit happens... either way around I'm having fun pulling things here and there and twisting it. And I know it's been YEARS but my goodness, shit happens. If you're still out there and around thank you! Guys make smart choices and stay safe!