Sorry for the wait, writers block is a bitch. Now presenting: Chapter 7!

Chapter 7: An Afternoon Stroll

Grimmjow slowly stretched out his legs under the weight of something thick. He was still under the comforter, only there was no Yukiko now. As tempted as he was to get out from under the slightly suffocating blanket, the memory of the chilled apartment the previous night was making him reluctant to leave the toasty space. He officially decided to just stay put and tried to go back to sleep but now that he was awake he was starting to heart gentle clatter and scrapping from outside the blanket space. Moving to the edge of the blanket he peeked his face out and was surprised that it was actually warm outside of it too. Leaving the blanket entirely, Grimmjow stretched again, this time arching his back, and looked towards the source of the noise. Which, of course, was Yukiko in the kitchen area.

He trotted over to the table and sat down on top of it. She was unaware that he had woken up and was still focused on her cooking. He yawned as he waited for her to finish. While watching her, the Arrancar noticed the oven was open and he could see waves of heat escaping the little space. So that's why the apartment is so warm now. Honestly it was so warm and comfortable to him in the room that Grimmjow was feeling very tempted to just take it easy and do nothing for the day but if he wanted his body back he couldn't take it easy and lay around. He had to find the shady Shinigami.

Yukiko turned a knob on the oven and the red glowing metal bars inside of it turned black with the power now cut off, and turned around with a bowl and plate in both of her hands, almost jumping in shock when she saw that Grimmjow was sitting on the table. She looked like she chuckled but her cheeks were a bit pink, like she was embarrassed. {"Good morning."} She said as she placed the bowl and plate down before going back to prepare a second set.

Grimmjow simply nodded in reply and looked down at the meal on her side of the table. Grilled fish and white rice. While he was studying the food his, smaller, share was placed in front of him and then she made one more trip for a glass of something orange and sweet smelling for herself and a bowl of water for him. He took a few mouthfuls of water first then made quick work of the grilled fish, not even really looking at the rice before staring at her fish. Why should she get more? He thought irately. Looking up to see if she was watching, her eyes were closed and she looked like she was thinking as he munched on rice, Grimmjow took the two steps across the table and reached for her fish. Unfortunately for him all he got was his paw caught by a pair of chopsticks. He glared up at the unfair woman who glared down at him. They continued, both knowing full well that the first to break will be the one who doesn't get the fish. Grimmjow was certain he will outlast the human woman, a possible benefit of his current condition was that cats can watch something for much longer than any human. But it wasn't that easy; rather than try and out-glare Grimmjow, Yukiko used her perfect hold on his paw to lift him off balance and force him to stumble back to his side of the table. Once she let him go she pointed the sticks at him and said {"Eat your own food."}

She was about to take a piece of her fish but stopped and got up, taking the fish with her, to clean the chopsticks now that they've been used to handle a cat's paw. Grimmjow gave a low growl at her and looked at his rice. It was not nearly as appetizing looking so instead he investigated the sweet smelling, orange drink in her cup. It smelled a lot better than the rice. So how should he go about getting a taste? He considered just sticking his paw but that would be like drinking something that he stepped in and neither he nor Yukiko win with that. Maybe he could figure out a way to pick up the cup? It seemed like the only option so why not. Grimmjow settled on his back feet and gripped the glass with his paws and arms as best he could and just as lifted it off the table it was lifted away from him.

Yukiko looked down at him, holding the glass, and looked irritated. {"Are you trying to spill my juice all over the place?"}

Grimmjow flattened his ears and hissed at her. There was definitely something demeaning in the nonexistent tone of her voice. Give me a taste of that damn drink woman! He shouted mentally pointing at the glass than his water with his paw. Yukiko sighed and picked up his water dumping it and poured a bit of the same orange drink in the bowl. Grimmjow took a few licks and decided he liked it much better than water, tapping the jug she had poured from to demand more; she complied, though was still frowning at him.

Between the orange juice, a few bites of rice and the quarter-a-fish Grimmjow would hate to admit it but he was already full. He didn't finish his meal and it turns out he was lucky that the woman had thwarted his attempt to take hers' because he'd probably feel disgustingly full if he had. She must have been giving him smaller portions than her all along but he never noticed because he was practically starving every meal. The reasoning felt obvious to him now: tiny body, tiny stomach. The Arrancar laid down and decided to let his meal digest a bit before leaving, as he did Yukiko finished her breakfast and cleared off the tabled of the food but left the bowl of left over juice. Grimmjow heard her put her elbow on the table as she sat down but didn't care, he was full and comfortable which was not a state that he often would be in before so he wanted to enjoy it for a few minutes.

He felt something bugging his stomach but he figured it was probably all of the food he ate. But the feeling didn't so much come from inside his stomach as outside. Utterly confused he lifted his head to look and saw that Yukiko was poking his belly, which was sticking up because of how he was laying. Grimmjow looked at her and growled deeply. She pulled her finger up but didn't retract her hand; instead she smirked and said {"You have a food baby."}

While Grimmjow had never heard that phrase before he could guess what it meant and hissed at the rude woman, swatting at her hand too since she was nice enough to leave it close to him. Yukiko was getting faster at avoiding his attacks though so all his claws caught was air. The Arrancar got up and jumped down the table and sat under the still closed window, he wanted to leave. Keeping his back turned purposely so that she wouldn't bother trying to say anything to him he waited until she got the message and came to open his window. It didn't take long, and he wasted no time in jumping up and through the opening. He landed in grass and was pleased that the previous night's chill was no longer present outside either.

Picking a direction, Grimmjow simply started walking. It's not like he has any clue where the Shinigami Shop is or any way of finding it other than searching on foot, but he would need to be smart about it even if it meant it might take a while. Since he can't remember how far he initially ran when he became a cat, or even what and where he made turns, only that he made some. Instead he would try to find the streets with a lot of people shopping since that was where he first saw his whole reflection and he knew it would at least mean he was on the right track. It would be helpful if he could find where Yukiko picked him up as a start but he has no way of communicating that to her.

It didn't take walking too many streets for him to realize that many of them looked similar, at least from his angle. He would have to pay close attention to the signs that identified each one as he passed by them if he hoped to remember his way back. He also caught himself passing by the same signs a few time, meaning the walkways had taken him in circles, something that he was not a fan of but it did give him some hope that there would be multiple ways of getting to where he needed to go rather than just getting lucky and finding the exact same way back.

Noticing a large patch of shade around him, Grimmjow decided that while it may not be as high as he's used to, a vantage point is still a vantage point. So he slipped through the bars on a gate and used his claws to shimmy his way up a tree. It gave him a decent view of the surrounding walkways and buildings; all houses he realized. He's probably not anywhere close to where he needs to go. Maybe I should go ahead and turn around to try a different direction from the apartment. He wondered to himself.

Done wasting his time going in a direction that was surely wrong, Grimmjow jumped down from the tree and when he was on the ground his sensitive ears detected a quiet and deep sound. His ear twitched in the direction of the source and he could tell that it was coming towards him quickly. The Arrancar turned to see his attacker and was faced with a large black and white dog charging directly at him, snarling and barking. Fortunately for Grimmjow, animals like dogs have no clue how to adapt when the animal they perceive as prey doesn't act like it. Rather than bolting like it was surely expecting him to do, the cat sprinted forward at his attacker, going low and slipping right past the animal's striking zone, and launching himself up and sinking his teeth deep into the dogs neck and latching his claws into its head. The dog thrashed its head and neck, desperate to make the cat release it. Grimmjow did let go and was thrown back a couple of feet, facing forward to never take his eyes off of the animal. There were obvious tears to its face and the dog was clearly pissed. It tried charging at Grimmjow again. Not wanting to continue dealing with this loud animal, the Arrancar gave it an extra second to get closer to him, then turned and ran back through the gate. Grimmjow easily slipped through the bars; the stupid dog on the other hand slammed face first into them, too focused on the cat to notice anything else.

Grimmjow smirked, mentally at least, at the dog that had been quick to stand back up and barked incessantly at him. "Mako! What's got you so worked up?" A man's voice was calling from inside the house.

An average man with average black hair and a plain grey shirt ran out from the door to see what was wrong with his creature. Grimmjow decided to wait an extra few second to watch as the human saw the blood dripping down the dogs face and a bit from its neck and panicked. He started swearing and screaming at Grimmjow about how a little cat could do this to his sweet dog. The Arrancar purred to himself at the feeble human's amusing anger before running down the street that he came from, making a few zig zags as the man had apparently thrown something at him. He honestly didn't care enough to find out. When he could no longer hear the human's shouting Grimmjow stopped his running and looked around to make sure he still recognized where he was. He did.

All right then. Time to pick a new direction.

()

Yukiko walked through the small neighborhoods smiling with a bit of a skip in her step. The previous night may have been chilly but it was now late morning and the outdoor air felt very comfortable. It wasn't as if she had any kind of appointment or errands to take care of today but she was not going to sit in her apartment all day; she'd go stir crazy. So she made a trip to a library not too far outside the residential area. She also, as she often did, packed a canvas, sketch book, and her boxes of paints and pencils for a trip to the park that she and Grimmjow had gone to the previous night. While she was a little doubtful that she was going to use any of them today she liked to be prepared in the event of a vision. It would be easier on her if she can record it in the moment rather than have to deal with the itch of needing to put it down through her whole walk home.

Hopefully I won't get one. Visions two days in a row on top of the late night trip will tire me out way too quickly. She was fine now but she did have a late morning in bed. She actually didn't wake up until a little after 10, and Grimmjow slept in a bit later than her.

The park was fairly decently packed with children running around the playground and parents watching from benches and picnic tables. Yukiko found an empty corner at a far table and settled there as to not disturb the families and opened her newly rented book; Art Through History. She had been wanting it for a while now and was excited that she finally got it. Apparently some high school students had been assigned some kind of art history research assignment and there was a waiting list for this book because of it. It was being wasted on those students in her honest opinion. A teenager being forced to look at these pictures and paintings wouldn't have a real appreciation of them, they would just be another assignment to them. But Yukiko did; in fact she was mesmerized by the designs and imagery. She had always loved painting and arts but was never exposed to true, historical art until these past few years. Now she was left to fill in the missing years of beauty as quickly as she could. Her only problem was that her eyes would never leave a picture until every line and stroke was deeply engrained into her heart. This book held images of nearly 15 paintings and she could probably spend the whole day looking without making it through them all.

Right now she was looking at Samuel Palmer's Oak Trees, Lullingstone Park. The way that only the single tree in foreground was given any defined detail while the background was left as only discernable blurs made her wonder what Palmer was thinking. Why did he feel that only that tree was important, or was there some other motive? She didn't know, and she might never know. Sure, people interpret the meaning behind paintings all the time and tell others what the reasoning behind a motif is but they aren't the artist. An interpretation is just that, an interpretation. Only the creator knows with certainty what an image means. Except for the cases of her vision paintings where even she has no clue what she's painting all the time, Yukiko knew exactly what was behind each brush stroke. Maybe that's the difference between great artist and people like me… She considered sadly.

Suddenly Oak Trees was thrown up.

{"AHHH!"} Yukiko screamed at the surprise interruption. A black cat had shoved its way under the book in her hands and pushed it up, out of the way so it could stare at her with its' shockingly blue eyes.

{"Grimmjow?! What did you do that for?"} The young woman questioned angrily. She's not sure why but Grimmjow seems to be rather into everything since this morning: her bed (though she was the one to put him there), her breakfast, her juice and now her book.

The cat mewed an answer that she obviously couldn't understand and turned to sit in between her and her book so that he could see what she was looking at. Yukiko released a muted groan since her view was now blocked by a fuzzy black head. He looked back at her and seemed confused. {"What?"}

He pointed to the picture with his paw.

{"The painting? What about it?"} Horrible choice of question since he can't answer but it's the best she's got this second.

Grimmjow growled slightly, likely in annoyance, and pointed again at the picture then at her. He wasn't an idiot, she thinks he's not anyways, so that he's questioning if it's hers is very unlikely. {"Why am I looking at this?"} She guessed.

He nodded yes.

{"I think it's beautiful. I have trouble taking my eyes of beautiful things."} She explained with a smile.

The cat still looked confused but didn't attempt to question her anymore.

Now that her focus has been broken Yukiko felt incredibly stiff. She must have been sitting here for a while without noticing. She hadn't paid attention to the time when she arrived at the park but it was currently 2:26 according to that clock, making it probably closer to 3. She doesn't know how long she had been sitting there but it felt like it must have been a long time so she stood and stretch out her arms and legs.

As she did, Yukiko was shocked for the second time within that five minute period. She unexpectedly felt a Garganta being ripped open just across the playground, exactly where the previous night's one had been. What?! This doesn't make sense! A hole opening in the exact same spot only 12 hours apart? That can't be true! She tried to reason desperately but just as her power had alerted her, a tear in the air that looked like teeth opened wide for another Hollow; this one made Yukiko think of an anthropomorphic lizard. The real difference between last night's Hollow attack and now was, however, that now the park was packed with people.

Even if she wants to help them she can't fight hollows; she can only escape them. Besides the Shinigami of this town is fast, he'll be here any second. She tried to reason with herself as the Hollow stomped forward with pounding footsteps, and swiped its tail around itself, breaking a tree in half. Luckily, while none of the humans can see the Hollow they can perceive the affects it has on the world and the tree breaking was enough to send the parents and children in a panic to run and find safety from the anomaly. All of the frightened humans running seemed to excite the Hollow though and it smashed the swing set, leaving it as nothing but a crumpled piece of metal.

Where is the Shinigami?! Yukiko wondered, concerned that he will be too late to prevent someone getting eaten or killed. Oddly, she could hear that Grimmjow growled amidst all of the screaming and panic and looked at him to see that he looked only slightly annoyed, once again not concerned about the fact that he was in an incredibly fragile form.

The Hollow had picked its first target and was racing towards a small boy who couldn't be any older than six. Not able to wait any longer, Yukiko gathered the feeble amount of reiatsu that she was able to store in her body and concentrated it to flow beneath her feet, and flash stepped to the boy picking him up and stepping back towards a woman that was screaming a boy's name, probably his mother.

The Hollow gave her its full attention and ran straight at her. She was obviously faster thanks to her flash step and used that to jump on top of the Hollow's mask and over its body, diverting its direction away from the evacuating people that had been behind her. Then she would let it run in and get close to her, just for her to flash step out of its range. She didn't have much reiatsu to use and she had no way of actually fighting the hollow so she was focusing on keeping it busy while a Shinigami, any Shinigami at this point, got here.

Yukiko could not be more thankful when she finally felt an explosion of spiritual pressure and when she did she stepped to her abandoned belongings, grabbed them, scooped up Grimmjow who was sitting there watching the whole thing, and used flash step another three times towards her apartment building. She didn't want the Shinigami to find her. It would only lead to questions that she was not keen on answering.

She stopped using her flash step when she sensed the Shinigami in the park and started running normally until she turned a corner where she stopped to drop Grimmjow and catch her breath. She hadn't repeatedly used reiatsu like that in a long time.

The young woman readjusted her grip on her bag and book and resumed walking to her apartment, still short on breath. The entire way back she could hear an upset, black not-really-a-cat cat meowing incessantly at her; probably something regarding her flash step. Or being carried. Either way she was not really keen on talking to him right now either. Flash step is skill based rather than power based meaning it didn't take much to use it. But when you don't have much to give, like her, it's exhausting and all she felt like she can handle at this moment was curling up for a nap. In fact that's exactly what I'm going to do. She decided and continued to ignore Grimmjow with nothing else on her mind.

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Mun3litKnight: Thank you, and she sure does.