This was a cruel amount of time to have in between chapters. I actually didn't realize how long it had been since I last updated. I got caught up with school :(

Chapter 8: Cat in a Crowd

After getting back to the apartment, Yukiko promptly pulled out her futon and went to sleep despite it still being mid-afternoon. To make things more irritating she completely ignored Grimmjow's demands for answers regarding her flash step. Words or no words, it was obvious that that was what he wanted from her the whole walk back. In a last ditch attempt to force answers out of her, he sat on her chest and smacked her in the face, claws slightly out. Her face scrunched but she simply turned over, leaving him to slide off.

He shook the frustration out of his body and sat on the table to take in his options and think for a minute. I don't want to sleep. Looks like I have nothing to do except get back to looking for the shop.

Decision made, he crossed the room, jumped up and out the window once again. When he landed in the grass, Grimmjow looked up at the blue sky and breathed in the comfortably cool air. It was all a stark contrast to Hueco Mundo, reminding him that even though he's made a few trips to the World of the Living and that one trip to the Soul Society, he hadn't spent a significant amount of continuous time in either. The only place with such weather that he spent a lot of time in was Los Nochas, though the company there soured the time. Especially towards the end. At least I got a good fight with Kurosaki out of it. The former Espada added to himself.

Grimmjow padded his way down a new street than before. While it wasn't empty it also wasn't crowded, just a few little groups of teenagers and an occasional adult walking along, none of whom pestered the Arrancar. He decided that this time around he will just walk forward as long as he can rather turn down the streets. As he did, he couldn't help but feel annoyed at the sheer height of the buildings and wall around him. He never felt small before. Even when he was and Adjuchas he was accused of being small, though he never felt it. Why would he when he was capable of standing above everything around him by just tearing them down lower than him? But now… he had to scurry around the ground like a rat. It was pathetic. All he had to do to fix this was find Urahara, but that was proving to be more difficult than it should. Finding one man in a city full of people was never this hard when he could move as fast as he wanted, and open a pesquisa.

It took quite a bit of walking but eventually Grimmjow came to an end in his straight road, forcing him to choose left or right. Not really thinking it matters at this point, he chose left. After doing so the sidewalks became gradually more crowded, getting his hopes up that maybe he was getting close to the shopping area that he ended up in when he discovered what happened to him. His pace gradually increased until he was almost running down the pavement. He was even beginning to feel a slight sense of familiarity with the surrounding buildings. However all hope that he had found a good checkpoint in his search was abruptly torn to shreds when he saw the grocery store that he had entered with Yukiko the previous day. That's why this place felt familiar. He thought, disappointed.

Not willing to quit just yet, he continued on past the store. The side walk was crowded with people exiting the building, arms full of bags though. While trying his best to avoid a woman in narrowly heeled shoes, his tail was stepped on by another foot. "NYAAA!" He bellowed out a kitty scream and ran full speed out of the crowd when the man lifted his foot startled.

Out of the crowd of feet and into the road, just in time for a silver car to come speeding at him. It blared an obnoxiously loud horn, and swerved as Grimmjow continued to sprint across the street, narrowly missing another car and reaching the other side. He felt himself panting and his paws dripping sweat as he looked at what he just escaped in horror. What the hell is wrong with humans?!

Grimmjow then whipped his tail a few times to test it out. It hurt but, was fine. Giving one last glare at the crowd and cars, he went on his way. The Arrancar walked at leisurely pace now since he didn't exactly have anything to do until he found Urahara and was doubtful of making it there today, even if he found the right track.

With the grocery store getting further and further behind him, the wandering creature was growing more aware of his empty stomach. Part of him wanted to turn around and retreat to Yukiko's apartment for a meal, but he wanted to keep going. He's barely into new streets after all. He instead sniffed the air for a moment. Nothing. I'll just find something later. He thought to help convince himself to continue on.

He once again became encouraged again, though this time cautiously, when he saw a decent crowd of people walking towards the same direction on the other side of the street. Checking for oncoming cars, Grimmjow wanted to cross but there were still a continuous stream of them. When he looked for another way to get to the other side of the, a tree branch perhaps, he instead found a cluster of people facing the street with the same thing on the other side. While looking at them, the cars all slowed then stopped and the people all began walking across the street in mass. Grimmjow realized this was his opportunity and ran across the street too, zig-zagging through the stationary cars until he was safely back on the other sidewalk. Once there he trotted after the still moving stream of people going in the same direction in hopes of finding that crowded shopping district. If he did then he might be back in his real body by dinner.

Wait! Why am I thinking like I'd go back to Yukiko's after I'm free from this cursed body. There's no way. Once I have the real me back I'm going after Kurosaki like I wanted from the very beginning. The Arrancar was adamant in his decision. He was only with Yukiko because she was a meal ticket after all. Even if the oddness of the girl in every way intrigued him.

FOCUS! He ordered to himself.

He slipped in close to the crowd and followed along, careful of the feet around him. He was right to be cautious it turns out. The humans seemed to be going underground. He might not quite know where he ran through to get to where Yukiko picked him up, but he knew that he didn't run underground so he instead continued on his way.

Or at least he wanted to but his cat legs were weak, and all the walking he had done that day was starting to hurt his feet. He needed a break. Knowing better than to lay down within reach of humans, he looked around for somewhere a bit more secluded. It was far from ideal but the only semi-protected place that seemed to be around was beneath a sidewalk sign displaying a special sale for the food stall behind it.

Grimmjow padded into its shade and flopped onto the shaded pavement. The cat rolled to his side and stretched his legs and toes, even extending his claws and rested his cheek on the hard surface. He sighed as he let his sore paws stop working and just watched the humans as they went about their lives, completely unaware of how many times they were all nearly destroyed by forces and armies they can't even perceive. Of how many times they had been saved by Kurosaki. They owed their souls to the boy and they didn't even realize it. It honestly irritated him. It wasn't that he cared about the orange-haired anomaly, but he couldn't stand entitled, ungrateful insects like these. The more thought he gave it the more annoyed he became and his tail thumped against the ground more rapidly with the feeling.

Just ignore them. He told himself as he rolled onto his back, causing his front paws to naturally tuck loosely against his chest. Mentally, he felt stupid laying like that but physically it was somehow comfortable so he didn't move. Grimmjow felt like he was starting to doze off but a smell found its way to his nose, reminding him that he was hungry. He swiftly flipped himself back to his feet and looked for where the smell was coming from.

The stall behind his little hideout was actually cooking some kind of meat. He peeked out to read what the sign actually said. "10% off Frankfurt". He had to admit, they smelled good. And he was hungry. Now all he had to do was figure out how to get one. He knows people, especially kids, could be quick to give what they thought was a starving cat food, but he has never and will never beg for a meal. He'd rather blatantly steal it.

The Arrancar laid in wait underneath the sign for a customer. It took maybe five or so minutes, longer than Grimmjow appreciated, but eventually a customer approached and ordered a Frankfurt. It was a boy, probably only a year or so younger than Kurosaki when they first met, so he knew this would be an easy target. The moment the food wrapped in a napkin was in his hand the cat shot out and hooked himself onto the boy's ankle with a snarl.

The unlucky human screamed and kicked his leg. More importantly he dropped the meat. Grimmjow quickly released the boy and caught his meal then make a quick race to a new location before either his victim or the stall worker had a chance to do anything. It took a couple of minutes of running, but eventually Grimmjow found an alley that he deemed empty enough to eat his food.

It was good, and since it was sized for snack to humans it made a perfectly sized meal for a cat's body. He had to put it down, careful to keep the paper between his meat and the disgusting alley concrete, before he proceeded to pull off pieces of it to fit in his mouth. He wasn't more than a few mouthfuls into his Frankfurt before his sensitive ears picked up on a drawn out sound from behind him. The Arrancar turned to face its source, a gray stripped stray alley cat. He didn't think about it, and still didn't care, but he probably just wandered into its territory with food. Now, of course, the flea bag wants Grimmjow's prize.

Like hell that's going to happen. The hungry Arrancar thought.

He faced the animal and, somewhat against his will, puffed his body up before letting out a hiss. The stray charged at his black intruder, a challenge Grimmjow accepted head-on. He leaped into the gray animal, they became a furry ball of angry screams and hisses, both trying to claw and bite the other. The chaotic mass that they became moved all around the alley and they crashed into a pile of exposed trash. Grimmjow ignored it but his attacker seemed to become spooked. Knowing that the animal was now afraid, the black cat charged at it and the stray turned and ran as quickly as it could into the alley and squished itself into the tight space between two buildings. With the disgusting animal gone, the Arrancar returned to finish his meal.

The meat seemed to improve in taste after he beat out another animal for it. A feeling that gave him some satisfaction, that would have made him smirk if he were able.

His belly finally full, Grimmjow took a second to look at the sky and realized that it was starting to get a bit darker. He wasn't sure how long he had been searching since returning to the apartment with Yukiko but it was obvious that the day was on its way out. He had only just gotten used to navigating the lowly area that it sidewalks. He didn't want to test himself by waiting until dark to return to his temporary lodging. Not yet at least. So, the Arrancar decided to finally call it a day and began his return trip.

()

There was something tickling Yukiko's nose.

It wasn't something physical. A smell maybe?

She wasn't ready to wake up. She was still exhausted from her earlier activities. Yukiko decided to ignore it by simply rolling over to her other side and burying herself deeper into her blanket. But now there was something pushing on her left foot. What was it?

The pushing sensation became more forceful, and a small hand-like feeling was now shoving at her foot. Whatever was interrupting her sleep wasn't getting to a stopping point fast enough, which means she has to end it.

The cranky woman sat up in the dark and saw a black cat trying to shove her foot out of its corner on the futon that he apparently thinks is exclusively his. {"Grimmjow. Cut that out."} She demanded.

He wasn't looking at her though so he didn't know she had said anything. Yukiko withdrew her feet and bent over to get face to face with the cat but stopped short before saying anything. He watched her, maybe waiting for her to speak. What came out wasn't the "Get your own futon." that she intended. Instead it was, {"You stink! What have you been doing?"}

The pair of blue eyes looked away and a grumble sound could be heard.

Yukiko was tired and didn't want to deal with this. But at the same time she wasn't going to be able to sleep with the stench that coated Grimmjow in her bed. The woman looked at the cat and said point-blank {"You're getting a bath."}

He growled at her words.

{"Either you get a bath, or you stay outside until it rains and washes you off."}

He growled a bit again but this time got up and skulked over to the door that lead into the little bath room. When Yukiko got up herself, she realized that she was still wearing her day clothes and that she hadn't bathed that day either thanks to her nap. Which apparently lasted the rest of the day, seeing as it was now 8:13 PM. At least Grimmjow isn't staying out the whole night causing trouble. Or whatever he does when he leaves. She thought.

Yukiko pulled fresh pajamas from her dresser and could hear the cat calling to her impatiently. Shut up already. I'm coming.

She grabbed a pair of fresh towels from their place in her closet and finally opened the door for them to enter the bathroom. The woman dropped the towels onto the floor and turned on the water sprayer, adjusting it to a comfortable temperature on her hand. Looking around, she found Grimmjow sitting next the towel. {"Come on. Let's get this over with."}

His tail flicked once against his side and he trotted reluctantly to her and the water. Care to only kneel so that she doesn't get her clothes wet, Yukiko began rinsing down the black cat. To her utter disgust the water was running off of him in a greyish color. {"Your black fur does a good job hiding how dirty you really are."} She said, well aware of the fact that he wasn't paying attention. He was too busy glaring hatefully at the wall.

She started running her fingers through his fur now too, trying to work out some of the loose grim and dirt. He immediately tensed but gradually relaxed under her touch. By the time she stopped the water to instead use some of her shampoo on him, it smelled like the ocean so he can't throw a fit over it being girly, he had actually sat down and seemed utterly relaxed and at ease being scrubbed over by her. Now he just needs to start purring. She thought mischievously. Yukiko was certain the Hollow would throw himself in front of a train before he ever allowed himself to purr in front of her. Probably any human. She decided to push her luck and started rubbing the suds on his head and face. He looked at her but immediately closed his eyes, probably to protect them from the shampoo. He seemed more or less okay with the action so she continued on down his legs and in between his toes, which he also didn't seem to mind. It was only when she tried to scrub through his tail that Grimmjow took issue with her. He growled slightly and tucked it close to his body, giving her a sour look when he did.

Yukiko put her hands up defensively. {"Okay, okay. I'll just rinse you off then. Close your eyes, please."}

He complied and she washed all of the suds off his body. When she was finished and turned off the water he shook himself, his ears making a slapping sound against his head, and walked over to the towels still on the floor. The woman wrapped him in one, rubbing it against him a bit as she did, and then opened the door for him to leave the room. Instead, Grimmjow made himself comfortable in his little towel nest and refused to get back to his feet.

Yukiko wasn't stupid. He may look like a cat but he wasn't. He was a man, and she was not going to get naked in front of him. Since he's being so good and kept his claws wrapped up in there… She thought with a smirk, and picked him and the towel up, tightened it like he was a burrito, and all but dropped him outside the bathroom, quickly shutting the door between them. If he had any complaints he kept them to himself seeing as there was no obnoxious yowls from him.

She tied her long hair into a bun to prevent it from getting wet, not needing to wash it tonight, and worked quickly to clean herself. Despite washing Grimmjow and herself, she was still incredibly tired and had a deep desire to return to her sleep. She probably spent less time washing herself than she did the cat; though, even if he's smaller he was filthy.

The now dried woman exited the bathroom wearing her pajamas, a cotton blue flannel shirt and pants set, and walked lazily past Grimmjow. The odd little creature had been rubbing himself vigorously against the towel to dry himself, though he stopped at the sight of the woman. She didn't care, and instead curled back up in her blanket and was asleep before Grimmjow had finished and made it to the futon.

The next morning, thanks to all of her sleep, was an early one for Yukiko. She was fully rested and got up since laying down wasn't going to fill her stomach. She was careful to not kick the sleeping Hollow out of his place on the bottom left corner of the thick bedding. She didn't want to wake him up just yet, it was only 5:48 in the morning after all, so she made sure to be extra quiet as she opened her refridgerator and pulled out some eggs and beacon. Yukiko was in the mood for a Western breakfast; they were good and she hadn't had one in a while. She started by getting three strips of bacon and slicing them into small cuts before putting them on a frying pan to begin cooking. She then cracking open three eggs and beat them until they acceptable and then added in some milk before stirring some more. She stirred the frying bacon and then poured most of the beaten eggs onto a second pan; while that started she diced up some little mushrooms and tomatoes. The sound of sizzling grease from the meat worried her for a second and she turned to look back at Grimmjow. He was still in a dead sleep, completely unmoving. He must've been tired. I wish I knew what he was up to when he leaves. She didn't like it but the chances of her getting an answer was very unlikely; so she did what she can do this very moment. Finish breakfast.

She removed all of the bacon bites from their greasy pan and put them on a separate plate, which she patted down with a paper towel to soak up the grease. Everything was ready so she started adding the diced up mushrooms, tomato and pieces of the cooked bacon on top of the egg patty. Then with a well-practiced technique, she folded the egg in half and created a perfectly shaped omelet, which she easily scooped off the pan and onto a plate. She poured herself a glass of orange juice and sat at her table. {"Itadekimatsu."}

She'll cook Grimmjow's plate later.

()

When Grimmjow woke up, he couldn't even figure out when he fell asleep. He must've been more exhausted than he realized since it was a dead sleep. As far as he felt, like he laid down, blinked, and it was morning. He wasn't sure where Yukiko was but she was nowhere to be seen in the tiny apartment.

He stood up from the futon and checked the bathroom and toilet doors. Both were closed with no light on. He turned to check the window. It was open, of course. He was about to jump up to the window but as he was passing the low table something caught his eye. He jumped up and found something covered by a napkin next to a bowl of orange juice. Realizing it must have been food left for him, Grimmjow hooked his claws into the napkin and pulled it off to reveal an omelet. It smelled a bit cold and was probably cooked a while ago. Just how long ago did she cook?

He took a bit of the egg dish and was happily surprised that it contained meat and was even enjoyed the mushrooms and tomatoes that she added in there. That she was so good at cooking might have a bit to do with the way he was becoming so comfortable with the woman. No. I'm not getting comfortable with her! He insisted to himself. Last night in the bath was a complete fluke because of how tired I was. I absolutely did not enjoy her rubbing my back. And I 100% did not briefly entertain the idea of that scenario occurring again but with my proper body.

The more he denied such possibilities to himself the more flustered he got. His only saving grace was that he was alone. He was so caught up with his thoughts that when he heard the door shut he nearly jumped off the table. Grimmjow looked at Yukiko, who stared back looking a bit amused. She definitely saw that she scared him. She removed her shoes and sat at the table across from Grimmjow as he continued to watch her. She put down a thick book with a metal spiral with a pencil tied to it by a cloth strip for its spine and rested her cheek in her hand, still smiling.

The Arrancar narrowed his blue eyes at her, unhappy at her for the stupid smile. When she sighed and turned her attention to the book she brought and started drawing, he settled himself and finished his meal. He licked his lips for any crumbs and started lapping up some of the juice. With his breakfast finished he was going to start his daily search for the Shinigami's shop but was feeling sore and heavy footed after the previous day. He wasn't keen on taking the day to relax but it was hard to not be tempted. His current body was obviously not built to handle constant physical activity. He didn't want to waste time though. He wanted his body back.

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.

Yukiko had a sour look on her face. She obviously knew who it was. The woman, very clearly, reluctantly stood and opened the door. It was that man from the government that she called an asshole and nearly threw a fit when he first saw Grimmjow. "Good morning, Yuki-chan!"

He looked behind her and saw the black cat sitting on the table. "Creature." He said distastefully.

Ass-fucker. Grimmjow mentally regarded him with narrowed eyes and the tip of his tail slowly curled and thumped down repeatedly.

"Matoi-san informed me that you actually saved that cat, and that you hadn't adopted or purchased it. Is that correct?"

Yukiko nodded her head yes.

"Honestly, why didn't you just tell me so the first time? There's no reason to hide your heroics from me." Something about the way the man spoke pissed Grimmjow off. And if his words weren't enough to tell that the human was a creep, then the way he reached to touch Yukiko's face, which she quickly backed away from, was.

The Arrancar felt a deep growl build in his throat. Is this bastard going to get to the reason he's hear, or did he just come to perv on Yukiko?

The man brushed her rejection off and walked into the apartment without actually being invited in and sat at the table, eyeing Grimmjow with barely disguised disgust. Yukiko was clearly irritated, but he could see her take a deep breath, wipe her expression blank and close the door to join them at the table. She must be used to him acting like that. The cat realized.

"Ready for today's lesson?" He asked with a smile that had every bit of as skin crawl-inducing quality to it as that silver-haired Shinigami that worked with Aizen, Gin Ichimaru.

If the woman was bothered by it, she refused to show. Instead she just nodded.

"Alright! Let's start with a review over our previous, and very first lesson." He seemed too excited.

Yukiko sighed and then started moving her hands into a sequence of gestures that totally confused Grimmjow.

"Yes, yes! Very good. However, remember. I want you to say what you are signing so that I know that you actually know what you're showing."

She frowned slightly at that. She redid the gestures and this time said {"Hello. My name is Yukiko Ametsuchi. It's nice to meet you."}

Grimmjow was shocked. He had never heard of a language that was completely hand gestures. But he could also tell that Yukiko was uncomfortable about having to speak what she's signing. It seemed odd to him since she only ever spoke to him. Ever since she found out that he can read her lips she's stopped writing out messages.

"Alright. What else did we go over?"

She gestured again and this time said. {"What is your name?"}

He prompted her to continue, so she did. Speaking with both her hands and mouth. Just not with a voice. {"Thank you. Please. Excuse me."}

She seemed to just be listing her words, wanting to get it over with. Can't blame her. This guy gives methe creeps.

"Alright then. Let's get started with today's lesson!"

He turned his back to pull something out of his bag and when he did, Grimmjow caught Yukiko flipping the man off. The only bit of sign language he knew.

Ok. This I've gotta stick around for. He thought with an inner smirk.

Yay Comments! (´｡• ω •｡`) :

Insanity294: Thank you :)

bleachTG.: You think? Thanks! (I know that isn't your full username but it's the only way the system won't blank it out for some reason)

Mun3litKnight: It's just the beginning. She's got plenty of more tricks to show ;)

Rileyyheartt: I'm sorry the wait was so long. I honestly didn't even realize that it had been so long since the last update.