Wohoo! Sort of quick update! Off we go!

Chapter 10: …But Something was Missing

Yukiko watched her reflection in the bathroom mirror working meticulously, combing her hair, ensuring there isn't a single strand out of place. Satisfied that her long hair had been completely combed down she began braiding a small handful from her temple to the back of her head, then repeated the braid on the other side, bound the two braids together while letting everything past the tie fall unbraided. She pushed the hair up and pinned it up to give her already thick hair added volume and hide the tie. She tweaked and tugged at the braids and hair beneath them until she was certain that everything was as it should be.

The woman took a half step back so that she could get a slightly better view of herself, from the chest up at least since that was all the space she had. She looked nice and well put together, with a powder blue button-up dress shirt with cuffed sleeves that went down just past her elbows and form fitting khaki capris. She put a charm bracelet on her left wrist and check her sterling silver studded earrings. Yukiko leaned in closer to the mirror and put on the finishing touches of black eyeliner, a thin layer of skin toned blush and a natural colored lipstick. She looked good. Adult-like. You should. You are 22 after all. She reminded herself.

She sighed and exited the little bathroom and found Grimmjow waiting by the front door. Impatiently waiting judging by the twitch in the tip of his tail. She had promised to take him back to where she found him and that was apparently important. The previous night she had thought to ask after they ate dinner and he answered that he needed to find someone and a busy street that looked like a shopping area nearby. He hoped to find the guy that he is certain was behind the transformation. At least she interpreted the reasoning as such. What he actually answered was "The bastard who did this to me is near a busy street with a lot of stores which is near where you found me."

He had also asked if she could just take him straight to the street he described but she refused. She hadn't been living in Karakura long herself. She only moved in a week and a half before finding him and didn't know the city that well herself so she wouldn't have any better method of finding the street he's looking for than him.

Despite the antsy Arrancar's eyes on her expectantly, she took her time. Yukiko flipped through her multiple sketch books, scanning the contents and settled on her most recently filled one then grabbed a large binder full of pictures of her past paintings. She was meeting a potential client and it always gave them a better impression of her and her abilities to follow her this routine. Dress nice. Look professional. Bring a work portfolio. Now that she does it, the whole process seems obvious but she was figuring it out herself and she made quite a few bad impressions on people due to appearance or lack of work samples. And this client in particular was an important one. A referred client. She couldn't disappoint.

Certain that she had everything she needed, Yukiko sat at her door next to Grimmjow, who looked ready to explode in impatience, and pulled on her only pair of nice shoes. White heels, short and strappy that all meet in the back and zips up. {"Alright, alright. I'm ready. We'll go."}

The cat was on his feet in a second and practically ran out the door the moment it opened. The woman sighed and chuckled at his excitement. Well I guess that's to be expected. He'd been trying to find the spot for weeks now.

Yukiko locked the door behind her and lead the way for Grimmjow. He was visibly restraining himself from sprinting ahead simply out of not knowing where to go. She walked them down a few streets and made a few turns, even passing the grocery store. Grimmjow wasn't looking around himself and taking in his surroundings like she noticed him to do when she takes him somewhere new. He must've gotten very familiar with the area. Maybe I should ask him to lead me somewhere one of these days. She joked to herself.

It took a little bit of walking past the store to get to the subway. She started descending the stairwell but stopped halfway down when she realized she was missing a companion. Grimmjow was sitting at the top of the stairs looking at her. {"What?"}

He shook his head then followed along. Yukiko bought her ticket and the cat slipped under the turnstile. It seemed that they came during the slow period since there weren't many people in the station. They had a few minutes until the next train so the woman sat down on a bench against the wall and Grimmjow followed her. Since he came along she decided to give him an explanation on the subway system. He's guaranteed to be using it after today. {"The subways go a long distance and they follow a schedule meaning if you miss the last once for the day you're going to have to walk all the way home or wait until the next day when the trains start moving again. The schedule posted on the wall where I got my ticket. This station is the closest to the apartment. It's just called Station G. We're going to be going to Station J. Do you follow so far?"}

Grimmjow nodded yes so she continued. {"The subways are often packed between 6:30 to 8 AM and then again from 4:30 to 8 PM so try and avoid those times. Under no circumstances are you to ever go down on the tracks! If you can't get back up quickly enough the subway train will kill you."}

The pair of blue eyes watching her narrowed at her command but he didn't verbalize any annoyance towards her. They waited ignoring one another until the subway pulled up and Yukiko walked on the open cart and sat on an empty bench, Grimmjow sat close though she suspected it was to avoid attention from the other passengers. The ride to their desired station was short, a mere 13 minutes, and by the time the cat beside her seemed to get comfortable they were getting off.

Next they were back up the stairs and outside. This area was closer to more families with children then hers and that was really about all she knew about it. Yukiko walked them about another 15 or 20 minutes, she really wasn't concerned about estimating a time, until they reached a familiar wall. She looked down at the Arrancar who was looking up at her. {"This is it."}

Grimmjow's tail perked up taller than she ever saw and he started walking away from her. It shocked Yukiko when she felt a sting of loneliness. Unable to stop herself she whistled for his attention. When he turned to look at her she wasn't sure she could get the words out. She probably wouldn't have been able to if she had a voice to begin with. {"Even when you get your body back… Will you come visit me?"}

She saw a wave of shock roll over the cat as his ears jumped at attention and his eyes widened slightly only for them to relax just as quickly. He looked away, though he didn't turn his back. He didn't nod or meow. He just stood. Then without giving her an answer, Grimmjow walked away.

()

Grimmjow trotted away from the woman and her strange question. Just as quickly as he wanted to say "Hell no." he almost said "Why wouldn't I?"

Well, he couldn't say either so that saved him from embarrassing himself or hurting her feelings. He wasn't sure how she'd handle him if she could hear the words he wanted to say much of the time. He sighed and stretched trying to leave the confusion behind. Grimmjow wanted his body back, regardless of what it means for his situation with Yukiko. He carefully inspected his surroundings as he moved through the streets and sidewalks so that he can keep himself from getting lost. The area was all houses and he can hear children laughing and shrieking happily which kind of worried him. He's experienced the terror that is children when they think they've found a cat. The memory grubby hands and high pitched noises was enough to make him shudder. He checked the corners as he reached them on the look-out for the vile creatures. It was an odd thought but he was feeling relieved that Hollows don't reproduce themselves, more are simply made.

Not wanting to think about anything anymore, the Arrancar just focused on his surroundings and continued on his search. He now knew he was close, at least somewhat close, and he was excited at the prospect of getting his real body back. The longer he walked on four legs the more he hated it. Now he just needed to find Urahara and figure out a way to make him give Grimmjow his body back. It should be simple enough from here. Right?

Grimmjow heard a loud, slightly musical bell ringing. Wanting to see where it was coming from, he climbed up a nearby garbage can then from there a wall that rose up around the houses that filled the neighborhood. He still wasn't high enough so he rocked his hips to position himself properly then leapt onto a house. The building has multiple levels so it was a simple matter to jump up the different elevations until he was at the top of the house and it gave him a good view of his surroundings. He saw a tall squarish building not too far away. He could see a lot of movement inside the building and decided to ignore it. He took a look around him to see what else he can find from the vantage point. Off to his left there was a cluster of buildings taller than the houses and it gave him hope.

The cat made his way down the house then jumped from the wall directly to the ground, surprising a group of teenagers as he did. "Wah!" One jumped in surprise.

Grimmjow glanced at them and realized they looked familiar.

"Todo, you okay?" one asked.

This Todo guy had a bunch of little fading scars on his hand and arm. Really familiar…

"Hey… Isn't that the cat from last month?!" The third with a slightly crooked nose that wasn't that way last time shouted while pointing his finger.

Oh. That's why. The Arrancar realized with annoyance. As much as he would like to rip them up and beat them bloody he already learned from experience that he can't in this body. So despite the intense blow to his pride, Grimmjow turn and ran in the direction he needed to go, ignoring the shouts of the teenagers.

To his excitement he felt a sense of familiarity to his surroundings and continued forward, his tail lifting higher and higher as the feeling continued. After weeks of searching, he finally found the busy shopping area that he had been looking for. Certain of which way he needed to go from here he made a left turn and continued on down the street and looked at all the builds around him. He always stood so high above them all that the Arrancar never realized how massive they really were. The humans were dwarfed by the structures and he even more so. How can creatures as weak as humans construct such massive things? He wondered slightly. Sure Las Noches was considerably larger than any of these buildings, but it was built by Hollows. Hollows won't necessarily die if a piece a building falls on them while constructing it.

Grimmjow watched the buildings as he passed them. They seemed to be of the right appearance for where he was looking for and but no matter how much he racked his brain, the Arrancar just could not remember any details about the ones he passed or the turns he took. The good news was he was so close he can just use this street as a base point and only go so far down the turns before deciding it was the right way and try again.

And so he did this. For two hours Grimmjow systematically walked the streets and alleys of this little area of the Karakura Town. For two hours he walked and searched with the exciting hope that he was about to get his real body back. After two hours he found what he was looking for. The site where he came through to the World of the Living and was turning into a pathetic little cat. He was certain this was it. He saw it as he exited the Garganta. He was positive! It was definitely here, of that he was more certain than anything his entire search. Certain. And heartbreakingly disappointed.

It was just an open and empty space in a park that doesn't seem to get a lot of use. Urahara and Yoruichi hadn't done the experiment at their shop or home or whatever it was to them. They were out at a different location. And now, after a month of searching for this place, they weren't here. With probably no reason to come back.

Alone in a big clearing of dirt and patchy grass, the black cat sat with his entire body drooping as every drop of excitement and hope cruelly escaped him. If Grimmjow was a weak little human, he'd probably have started to cry. But he wasn't a human. He was a Hollow. A being without a heart. He will never cry. Never be capable of crying. He lost that part of himself when he formed the hole in his soul. The part that is able to feel the "softer" emotions as he liked to think of it since he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was he lost. All he could understand about it was when he felt he felt strongly and sharply. Not that he ever gave it a lot of thought. Why think about what will never change?

What do I do now? Where do I even begin to look? He tried to come up with something. Some kind of answer, some definitive next step to finding his way back to his body. But none came to him. Feeling defeated in a way he never has before, Grimmjow began his trek back to the subway. He was going to go back to Yukiko's apartment.

()

Yukiko had a successful meeting with her new client. It had dragged on for a few hours since she liked to get a personal understanding of them even before discussing what she was going to make them. Fujita Yoko, a woman in her mid-fifties who lives Kameoka in the Kyoto prefecture. She is here visiting her sister, whom Yukiko had previously sold a painting to. The woman had bought something she painted from a vision, not that she would actually say that. It was something about a cat, strawberry and a butterfly if she remembers correctly. It was within the first week of living in Karakura that she painted it so whatever it was about must've already passed so she didn't bother with thinking about it anymore. Regardless of what it was, Fujita was impressed and want Yukiko to paint something for her. She gave the younger woman a printed picture of the space that she wanted the painting to hang and had some general request for it. Nothing new to Yukiko.

She inspected the picture as she sat on the subway, imagining a variety of portraits and paintings to hang in the space, already liking a few idea. But mostly she was trying to distract herself from the thought of being alone in her apartment. She was used to Grimmjow's pattern of alternating spending the whole day out and, more or less, the whole day with her. Of course there was always a possibility in her mind that he would find what he was looking for and never come back but today… She was able to lead him to a close location of where he was searching for and the likelihood of him finding his destination was high enough that it was doubtful for him to not find it. He'd find what he was looking for and possibly not come back to her. She felt unexpectedly depressed at the thought of living alone again.

It wasn't that she was dependent on the company of other. Hell, she was a borderline shut-in. But she was surrounded by people most her life. Then she always had Nui. So when she became alone it felt sudden, even though it wasn't. But the sudden company of Grimmjow was welcomed and Yukiko was quick to become accustomed to having him with her every night. To no longer have that presence with her… How could she not start to feel lonely?

She didn't mean to let her mind wander to her roommate but it had and she was now walking back to her apartment. That's impressive, she didn't even remember stepping off the subway. The woman sighed and put her reference picture away and decided to hurry back home rather than wallow in her thoughts, that way she can fully bury herself in her work. She only wished she had been wearing her comfortable shoes that way she could just run back.

To her surprise and excitement Grimmjow was already home, loosely curled up on the folded futon beneath the window. Naturally she was filled with relief that she wasn't going to be alone but then she kind of felt guilt for it. He was still trapped in his cat body, even after he seemed confident that he'd be out of it. In fact, he seemed off. There was no way he didn't hear her enter the apartment and he was awake and facing her. He didn't acknowledged her though. He didn't lift his head, twitch his tail or anything. He just stared blankly across the room; not even looking like he was seeing anything. {"Grimmjow? Are you hurt?"} She asked, concerned.

He still did not respond to her. Yukiko walked across the room, placing down the sketch book and portfolio on her table on her way, and kneeled in front of the cat. He still didn't seem to see her so she gingerly put her hand on his head and began stroking him, following his spine. He blinked and she pet him a second, this one starting at the bridge of his nose and going over his eye and ear and down her side. She got a few more pets in, thoroughly enjoying how soft his fur is dry since the only time he gives her free reign to touch him is for his bath, before Grimmjow finally lifted himself up and started pulling away from her hand. A much nicer indication to not touch him than he used to give her.

Since he was responsive now she asked him, {"What's wrong?"}

The Arrancar waited a few seconds before jumping off the cushion and knocking over his stack of cards that were left on the table. He sifted through them until he had a satisfactory answer. "I found where I was looking for but the person I needed were not there."

That's really unfortunate. Yukiko frowned for him in sadness. {"You can't just wait for him to come back?"}

The cat shook his head and went through the cards again. "There didn't look like anything for him to go back for."

No wonder he's so deflated. She realized. {"What are you going to do then?"}

Grimmjow didn't look through his cards. He just sat. He didn't have an answer and she could see that it was making him depressed. Naturally she did the first thing she could think of to comfort the cat and that was pet him again. She rubbed his cheek with the back of her fingers and he seemed to respond positively to it for once. Behaving like a regular cat, he leaned in towards her hand and she changed it to scratch his cheek use her other hand to stroke him down his spine and tail. Grimmjow slowly started to pad closer to her and she went from petting his back to rubbing his belly and his back legs relaxed until he was laying on her hand and when her finger rubbing under his chin started to feel the vibrations in his throat and the low sound of a cat's purr filled her ears she felt more victorious than she probably should.

Unfortunately the depressed trance he seemed to be in broke after a few seconds of sweet and adorable purring and he jumped straight to his feet and glared at her, a deep growl flowing out of his throat now. Yukiko smirked impishly at him. {"What? You know you were enjoying it."}

Grimmjow hissed at her words, then seemed to remember that he now convey his thoughts to her so he sorted through his cards as quickly as he could. "I am not a cat! Do not treat me like one!"

{"You sure look like a cat to me."} Yukiko made sure to wear a devilish smirk when she said that. She knew it was a sore spot but riling him up was making him forget about being sad.

Grimmjow most certainly reacted without a shred of his previous sadness. He yowled angrily as he jumped at her chest. The woman let herself fall backwards with the cat on top of her. To her utter shock he started rubbing his face against her boobs and when she tried to swat him off he jumped over her hand and almost latched on to her left mound. She was still on her back and he ended up resting his chin on centered on it. The pair of blue eyes that looked at her look entirely amused and somehow even a little cocky.

Yukiko huffed, trying to look exasperated to hide that she was actually a bit embarrassed, and sat up to nearly toss him off of her. She angled her body away and wrapped her arms protectively around her chest. {"What was that about?"}

Grimmjow slowly curled and straightened the tip of his tail and sat tall. Yukiko was certain he was smirking and laughing at her. Finally he went to his cards to relay what he was thinking. "A reminder. I'm a man."

What was I expecting? I did antagonize him on purpose. She admitted internally. {"You know, people comfort other people too. Would you prefer I pick you up and hug you?"}

His eyes softened for a second before he went through his cards again. "I do not need your comfort."

The woman smiled softly to him. {"How about you humor me then?"}

Grimmjow relaxed and let out a breath like a sigh. Yukiko went to her dresser and collected some pencils and her current sketch book then sat crossed legged at the table and began sketching out some ideas for the painting she needs to make. Fujita wanted the artist to bring some options in three days. It was more than enough time in Yukiko's opinion since she didn't have anything else to occupy her time. As she was sketching she felt a soft warmth come next to her. She smiled and lifted the Arrancar onto her lap. He tensed at first but settled even started to relax in the cradle of her legs while she mindlessly ran her hand over him.

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