Quick warning: there's a very inappropriate joke made by Grimmjow (because who else would) in this chapter
Chapter 16: The Wasps' Move
Grimmjow left Yukiko's room and had looked around the apartment until he found the old manager with his wife. "You! Where the fuck is Yukiko's stuff?"
"When do you think we will be able to rent out the room?" The woman was asking her husband.
"We will have to replace the tatami but other than that there is no more work to be done. We should be able to advertise it in a few days." He answered. Neither of them could hear Grimmjow.
"I need a gigai." He growled to himself.
The Arrancar wasted no time in exiting the building and started racing to Urahara's shop but didn't get very far. Ichigo's Reiatsu spiked as it usually did at a sign of the Hollow's presence and he was quick as always to intercept. "Grimmjow, what are you doing here?"
"Doesn't matter. Get out of the way, I'm in a rush."
"Considering what happened last time you were here it does matter. What are you doing?" The boy was adamant about not just letting him go.
Grimmjow narrowed his eyes at Ichigo and coiled his muscles slightly, ready to fight the boy to get him out of his way if needed. It never reached that point though.
Not far enough from them a Garganta opened and Nelliel approached them.
"Ichigo-kun, you're here?!" The woman spoke in an obnoxiously happy voice.
"Good timing Nelliel. You keep him busy and I'll leave."
The male Arrancar started to step around them but the woman spoke up in her more serious voice. "Unfortunately I'm here to bring you back to Hueco Mundo with me."
Grimmjow clicked his tongue. "I'll go back later; and I might even do it without killing anyone. Happy?"
"Might?" Ichigo questioned.
"Your plans here are unimportant. Tier-san has a task that she wants us to take care of."
"Fuck that. Harribel has no authority over me." He crossed his arms in defiance.
"Until you are actually able to kill her and take her throne she does have authority over you." Nel calmly argued back.
"Who says I can't kill her already. If the boring bitch would just fight me then I would've been king for a while now."
The green haired woman opened a Garganta behind her and stepped through. "We can continue this later for now we must go. Unless you want to explain in detail what is so important in this world that you come every day…"
He did think about it, for a quarter of a second at most. "There's no way in hell I'm telling her about Yukiko." So the man grumbled to himself as he followed through the doorway. On the other side they were in the Hueco Mundo desert rather than Las Noches.
"What, you can't aim your Gargantas?" He sneered.
"I never said I was taking us back home, I merely said we were going back to Hueco Mundo."
Grimmjow could already tell that this was going to be an annoying job just by the looks of where in the endless desert they were. The withered and twisted tree to his right meant they were about four kilometers from the entrance to the underground Menos Forest. Not that it would be that far away for long. As soon as the pair got their bearings they darted off. "I swear if you brought me with you for a recruitment run I'm going to kill the first Arrancar we come across."
The woman sighed as if tired of him already and they had only just begun their journey to the petrified forest. "I'll remember that and no that's not why we're here. I noticed the Menos acting strange here a few days ago, Tier-san wanted me to bring someone along so I won't be alone."
"Why is that someone me? I don't give a shit about other Hollows."
"You have not been right since returning after your prolonged trip to the World of the Living. I thought you'd revel in the chance to get away from Las Noches for a day or so."
"A few days in this dead place with you? That's not my idea a good time." He decided that he'll open a Garganta of his own as soon as she looks away and be back on track for figuring out why the apartment was cleaned out.
"Why are you always going to the human's world?" She was as straight-forward as always when she asked.
"I came with you so you won't bother me with your questions, not so you can ask all you want." Grimmjow growled out, moving past her in into the approaching tree line.
"Just for one conversation, I wish you'd be open…" He heard Nel grumble to herself but refused to acknowledge it otherwise.
"What are you looking for?" He asked. The faster they finished the faster she'd leave him alone.
"The Menos; Grande and Adjunchas, both have be acting out." She answered.
"If by acting out you mean disappeared then I know. I brought the kid here a few days ago and it took forever to find a Gillian for him to fight. Though it's completely empty now." There was no sign of a Hollow at all. Even if they only entered the outer forest they should be able to at least hear the unintelligent cries of the hundreds upon hundreds of Gillian that could be in there and usually Adjunchas liked to stake claim to the edges of the trees since it there was a greater chance of catching roaming Hollows that way. But other than the two Arrancar the above ground portion of the Menos Forest was completely devoid of even sound.
Nel paused for a moment and looked around them. "We will simply travel inside."
"Fine, you better move fast if you don't want to be left behind." Grimmjow took off with his sonido and continued further through the white, stone like trees and completely disregarded whether or not Nel was keeping up. He hoped she wasn't, that way he could just leave. "But what's to stop her from following?" The part of his brain that was more or less devoted to battle strategy pointed out the flaw in just ditching the woman. The obvious solution for that problem was to simply not care if Nel found out he was returning to the World of the Living daily to look for a human. He didn't have to explain himself to anyone and even if he did he wouldn't. But what about explaining it to himself? He couldn't deny that seeing her again had become something of an obsession for him but he wasn't entirely sure why it was so important. Normally he couldn't be bothered to worry about the reasons behind his actions, he just did what he wanted, but this was the first time his obsessive behavior has been focused in a less than violent manner and it was, for lack of a better word: disturbing. She held so much power over him just by being absent. "It has to just be because of how we separated. Once I see that she is actually okay I can move on with my life and if I feel like it, never see her again. Right? Right?!"
"If you keep thinking that hard your head might burst into flames." Nel spoke up from beside him and pulled him from further thought on the subject.
"Are you looking for Menos or are you looking at me?" He challenged to try and push her focus off of him.
"I can do both. Besides, I haven't heard a thing. Have you or could you not even say because you were too distracted?" She sounded like she was enjoying herself for some reason.
"I'm paying attention just fine! Just be thankful I'm still here."
"I take it that means you intend to escape back to the human's world the first chance you get." She looked at him suspiciously.
"I wouldn't call it escaping but yeah."
She looked at him like she was studying something about him but remained silent. She didn't speak to him again, nor did he try and start a conversation with her. They remained in silence for hours, the only sound that could be heard for miles was their footsteps as they echoed against the quartz pillar like trees and ceiling. They had made it deep into the cave-forest now, a deep expanse of dark and lifeless space with only little streams of light filtering through from the desert night sky above.
"Let's stop for now." Nel broke the silence.
"Why? The faster we find the Menos the faster we can leave."
She had already slowed to a walk. "We should rest in case we come across an unhappy Adjunchas."
Grimmjow rolled his eyes now. He didn't need to stop. "Fine. You sit on your ass and I'll get going without you."
Nel stopped completely now and sat against a tree. "Just sit down and relax. I know you're good at that."
Grimmjow wanted to continue on but he also realized that it was probably the middle of the night by now and he had been on his feet most of the day. A few minutes to sit down wouldn't be the worst thing to do. He sat against the same tree but they were still more than an arm's length apart.
While they finally saw some movement from the forest unfortunately it was just a Hollow worm, digging in and out. "I wonder where all of the Hollows have gone." Nel asked, not that Grimmjow would know the answer.
"Why does it even matter? This place will be full of Hollows again in a month. Humans are good at being resentful like that." Grimmjow honestly didn't understand the alarm.
"The concern is that Tier-san was warned that some force was going to attack Hueco Mundo again and now it seems that a large part of its population has vanished." She said firmly.
"That's what the letter was about? That's boring."
"What was in your letter?" She sounded like a little girl asking something private.
"None of your damn business."
She huffed a sigh and he suspected that she was frowning. "Will you at least answer me something else?"
"Depends on the question."
"Why haven't you been trying to sleep with me since you got back?" She sounded legitimately sour about it.
Grimmjow smirked at her. "So that's what you are upset about? That I haven't fucked you in a couple months?"
It honestly hadn't crossed his mind once since returning to Hueco Mundo but they had been sleeping with each other since the Quincy War. When it started it was a matter of him bringing it up as something to do to pass time and relieve stress and she agreed surprisingly easily. After the first time she said it was a once off but that didn't stop them from repeating it periodically for the next half a year. It worked perfectly fine for him since he got to have his fun and she was apparently getting whatever it was she had been hoping for from the "relationship" so all had been good; until now anyways. He didn't expect her to have complaints when their fucking ended, but apparently she does.
"Don't misunderstand me. I'm just concerned about your sudden change." She frowned but was also blushing.
"Look if you're that desperate for a prick then ask the kid. I'm sure he'd give you anything you wanted."
She looked absolutely appalled. "I know you are joking but please refrain from such tasteless words. It's sickening."
He slouched a bit and made himself more comfortable with a chuckle.
She got up and into his face. "I'm serious Grimmjow."
He groaned a bit. "Fine, fine. No more kid fucking jokes."
She straightened now but still stood in front of him. "Good but I meant about being worried about your sudden change."
He closed his eyes and turned to his side. "What? A guy can't just feel like not having sex? And I don't get what you're complaining about. Now you can fawn and fantasize over 'Her Majesty' all you want." He made sure to make the last comment as taunting as possible. It was no secret that Nel was lusting after Harribel, at least not in his opinion.
"Tier-san has nothing to do with this and considering your appetite's track record, suddenly wanting to go celibate is not something you would do just because." The female Arrancar tried to maintain her composure but was definitely nervous about his words.
"Right, because we fucked for a little while you suddenly know me and everything I'm thinking."
She looked a little sad. "That's not it. We're Hollows, we don't change so suddenly like that unless it is a class evolution."
He couldn't quite argue with that. Hollows are stagnant and slow changing beings by nature.
She narrowed her eyes slightly. "There's a human woman you panting after, isn't there?"
The sudden and possibly accurate guess made him sit up straight. "What!? Why you think that?"
"Oh… I am right. I have to say, I never expected you to take a liking to a human."
"I haven't!" He argued.
"It's Orihime isn't it? Or perhaps you just want her because she and Ichigo are together now. No wait, she wouldn't lie about if she saw you when I asked. It must be someone I haven't met." The green haired woman speculated.
"You're wrong because I do NOT get interested in others!"
She smiled smugly at him, just letting his denial sit in the air rather than continue speaking. He growled savagely at her and laid back completely into a reclined position. "I'm taking a nap. Wake me up is something happens."
It wasn't easy to fall asleep with Nelliel exuding smugness the way she now was but Grimmjow did manage to nap. He could have sworn he dreamt something but didn't really remember what it was. All he did know was that he woke up feeling frustrated, even before he remembered the annoying situation he was currently in.
When he stood he noticed Nel was asleep against the tree. Now was the time to get back to the World of the Living. Or at least it would have been if he didn't get the feeling of eyes on him. "Nelliel, get up." He called to her while kicking her a little to get the woman's attention.
She lifted her head with a frown. "I let you sleep. You should-" Whatever she was about to say was cut short as they both used sonido to avoid a sudden attack. Arrows had been fired at the pair of Arrancar and were now stuck in the quartz tree. Grimmjow wasted no time in pursuing the soon to be dead dumbass that thought he could be taken by surprise. Whoever it was, the person kept himself covered in a black cloak and he was fast; just not faster than Grimmjow.
The Arrancar was in no mood to play around and so he used his sonido to get above the man and shifted his hand into claws. When he propelled himself down to rip the attacker in half he was caught by something long and fleshy. He wasted no time in ripping it to shreds and jumped back to avoid a spear-like tail as it shot up through the ground. Grimmjow saw the man in black use the interception as an opportunity to create some kind of ring in the air. The area within shattered when complete, the reality of Hueco Mondo falling away and the appearance of a very old and traditional Japanese building was seen on the other side. It was a doorway to the World of the Living. Grimmjow bolted forward with is sonido while firing off a Bala in an attempt to stop his escape but the ring closed just as the Reiatsu blast exploded. "Damn it…" He cursed unhappily but before he dwells on his escaped prey he had something else to deal with. "You must really want to die." He said as he turned to the now eleven armed yet somehow lizard like Adjunchas Hollow that was crouched and snarling like a stupid basic Hollow fresh out of being a plus soul.
The Adjunchas roared and sent all of its extending arms directly at Grimmjow. He rushed past them all and stood directly behind the Adjunchas, Cero already charged. "What an embarrassment…"
The lesser Hollow attempted to get away with a sonido of its own but was too slow and his head as completely incinerated. "Grimmjow!" Nel called as she arrived.
"About time you got here!" He was not happy. If she hadn't been so slow then one of them would have definitely been able to catch the man.
"Is that a Menos?" She seemed a little horrified at the sight of the Hollow dead and now disintegrating.
"Yeah, the asshole helped the Quincy get away." Grimmjow walked to where the ring gateway had been. The ground was splattered in a decent amount of blood; the attacker didn't completely escape the Bala.
"If that really was a human it wasn't a Quincy. This arrow is crafted from material, not Reiatsu." Nel held out one of the arrows that had been fired at them, it had a wooden shaft and steel head. Tied to the shaft was something that looked like one of the paper charms that where all over the shrine that he went to.
"What the hell is this for?" He grabbed the paper and it sent a painful wave of energy through his body.
"You shouldn't do that." The woman waited until after he touched it to warn him.
He glared at her as he shook his hand to try and get the feeling out but she tucked the arrow in the back of her belt with the second one without a hint of guilt. "We need to continue on."
Grimmjow didn't question why. It seemed that a new enemy was opening themselves up for the slaughter and he wasn't going to pass this up.
This time when they ran through the darkness Grimmjow and Nelliel were both completely focused on the task at hand and neither spoke or pestered the other. It took hours of searching but they knew the unmistakable sound of a Gillian cry when they heard one. It wasn't just one Gillian either, the collective cries of the Menos that they heard as they closed in on the source was almost deafening.
"What the hell?" Nel cursed in an uncharacteristic shock.
Before the two Arrancar was a virtual sea of Gillian Menos, all of them were crying but they were also standing perfectly still. Standing in a distant petrified tree was another human just in front of another ring shaped gate. This human couldn't have been the same as he was not injured and while Grimmjow couldn't be certain because of the distance, he thought this one was shorter, as well as carrying a long gold staff. The human waved his arm out as if issuing a command and all at once the Gillian opened Gargantas and passed through them. Grimmjow ignored the Gillian evacuation and instead went straight for the one who was clearly controlling them all with Nel close behind him. The human waved his staff in a slashing motion and it sent a blade of Reiatsu at the Arrancar. They both dodged it, allowing the Reiatsu to cut through the ceiling and it caused the desert sand on the surface to pour down and cause a small scale cave in. The human used the distraction to escape through his gate.
Nel started to call out. "Grimmjow-"
"Yeah, I know!" He didn't let her finish and had already opened a Garganta. They raced through and followed the sound of the clamoring Menos through the dark corridor until they caught up with a Gillian and joined it through its Garganta and out at the target location. "Of FUCKING course!" Grimmjow couldn't contain his complaint. They were in Karakura Town.
()
To say that having almost two days pass without any sightings of Grimmjow was disheartening was as gross of an understatement as saying Yukiko was interested in art. Wonders and concerns as to why Grimmjow hadn't come back to the apartment building filled her mind constantly and she wasn't sure how to handle it. She tried to rationalize that Grimmjow coming to the building every day since her departure was asking a lot and that was the only way he would even know when she returned but she was so focused on returning to her apartment that it never crossed her mind that she herself had no actual way of contacting him. So she was left to sit in her new room and stare out the window; somehow she didn't even feel like painting. She just wanted to see Grimmjow, to see that he was finally free and happy and okay. To show him that she was okay too…
{"Grimmjow, please come back already."} She sighed out.
Her stomach growled to tell her that she had to get some food. She went to the refrigerator and found that it was already almost empty. It really shouldn't surprise her, she can only buy as much food as she can carry so she was always going grocery shopping every few days. Still, she would need to think about what she was going to do about money. Professionally painting is great but it's not something that provides a regular income and with her release from the hospital she was also released from government care altogether which means no allowances to fall back on. "I should get a job."
She walked to the grocery store as she thought over her current situation. She needed a way of earning a fixed income but she would also need ample free time for painting when she did get a request which meant part time work would be ideal. But she also had the hurdle of being mute to deal with. What kind of work can someone who is handicapped get? She never thought to look so she had no idea where to even begin. She continued to think of it when she reached her destination. "Actually I spend plenty of time and money on food, maybe I should see if there are any part-time positions I can get here."
It was an idea and as good of a place to start as any other so after she picked out some ingredients she inquired with the cashier who called the manager over. Yukiko was given an application to take home. She thanked the man and returned to her apartment. She settled on cooking rice and curry but didn't make it to actually eating. While sitting at the table her head felt like it was being ripped apart with the sudden sensation of openings in the world's boundary. It was the first time in a long time that the feeling was debilitating but she was certain it was never this painful. The hole that was being opened must have been monstrous. At least, that was her initial assumption but it continued longer than the few seconds that it would take for a single opening. She found the persistent feeling concerning and abandoned her food to rush outside.
It was early evening and the sky was filling with warm colors but her sight of it was being obstructed with towers of black with more tearing holes in reality with every passing second; it was a virtual army of Gillian. Yukiko stood, frozen in place. She had never seen or heard of something like this and just as distressing was that fact that she did not see it coming. {"Or did I?"} She questioned to herself.
She hated that the thought occurred to her because now she needed to find the answer rather than find shelter far away from the massive volume of destruction that clomped around Karakura. The spiritual power that filled the air from the Hollows was bothersome an made it feel like she was breathing dirty air but Yukiko forced herself to ignore it and continued on towards one of the more commercial areas of the town where there was a lot of humans, which naturally is where the monsters crowded around.
It didn't take long for the somewhat familiar release of Kurosaki's Reiatsu to shine overwhelmingly bright through the dozens and dozens of shadowy energies. The bright energy moved quickly and was already beginning to cut through the towering Menos before she was even three blocks out from the store. She stopped to try and follow the path of the Shinigami so that she could intercept it and stay close to him, where it will be safest. When she did, Yukiko noticed a few other Riatsu that were closer that those of a Hollow than a Shinigami. She froze in place, one was a feeling that she was very familiar with. {"Grimmjow?"}
He was moving quickly through the Gillian as well, killing them at a rapid pace. Grimmjow was there. He was in the World of the Living. She can feel him there, only a few blocks away.
She was no longer thinking and with her original objective a distant memory she could only act. Yukiko sprinted towards the danger and mixed in an occasional Flash Step to try and cover more ground. She was rushing to Grimmjow's location, or rather trying to. He was moving through the sky so fast she wasn't sure how she was hoping to keep up but she didn't want to waste these precious seconds on regaining intelligent forethought; she just wanted to get to him.
Unfortunately that also meant that she wasn't considering her surroundings either and had failed to realize that the man she was chasing was at the center of a sea of Gillian. It was when the hauntingly empty cries of a giant Hollow was made from behind her that the reality of what kind of situation she ran head first into hit her.
She needed to find some way to catch Grimmjow's attention; if she missed this chance she didn't know if or when her next to find him will be. Yukiko ran to the nearest tall building and used a flash step or three to race up the fire escape to get a better vantage point of what was happening. The three Reiatsu that rushed across the sky were joined by a fourth, that one another Shinigami, and they were able to annihilate the Menos at an impressive rate. Every second that passed saw the fall of two or three Hollows. It gave her a sense of reassurance that there might actually be very few human causalities; she might've hoped for no causalities if she was naive enough.
She saw a streak of white-blue flash across the orange sky and recognized the Shinigami Kurosaki at its origin. When the light cut through one of the towering Gillian causing it to disintegrate she moved on from that sight and searched for the man that glowed with a blue Reiatsu that competed only with the color of his cat eyes. She could see streaks of orange, green, red and finally blue as the fighters flew across the sky. {"Why do spirit beings have weirdly colored hair?"} She asked herself as she half slid half fell back down the metal platforms and gave chase after the blue down the now abandoned street.
Every few steps she ran though she would need to change directions to be facing the same way as his trail. {"Damn it Grimmjow! Stay still!"} She shouted knowing no one, not even she could hear the words. {"Chasing after him isn't working… You better be paying attention."} She half prayed to, half ordered the Arrancar that just wouldn't stop moving. Yukiko took a deep breath and mentally readied herself for the exhaustion that was sure to come next. The woman collected a large portion of her own Reiatsu and released it in a single burst.
And that was it. She didn't have enough energy for so much as a single Flash Step. Yukiko fell to her knees and for a few moments all she could hear was the sound of her own heart beat and breathes. In the back of her mind it registered that the four Reiatsu paused but she was too concerned about something else to truly give the fact the attention that it deserved. The deafening steps of the monsters echoed around her and for some reason they all seemed to be growing louder with each passing one, as if they was walking closer to her. When she dared to look up it was clear, the Gillian were closing in around her. One was already standing over her, mouth open with a sphere of red glowing into existence. From her angle she could also see the faintest glimmer of white just above its collar of spikes. "Ah… I was right. This is your doing Rin."
Yukiko saw the energy of the Cero burst forward directly to her but before it hit, her head and vision began swimming as she was moved at a speed she never experienced before. She felt the hardness of a man's body envelop her and the impulse of fear built within her but it all disappeared when she felt a burning power surge from the man with Reiatsu of blue fire. {"Grimmjow…"}
She whispered his name against his chest before she dared to look up. The illusion that the shrine deity had granted her at the festival felt like an insult to the reality. Her eyes wandered up a thick neck until they saw thick, white protrusions that were on the other side of his face but still peeked out enough to interrupt the subtle curve of a strongly defined jaw which she followed into blue hair that matched a crisp winter's day sky too perfectly to seem real. The streak of a vibrant green pulled her eyes to his and she saw that his iris matched his hair and cat eyes perfectly. At this moment those brilliant blue orbs were staring at a headless and disintegrating Menos with the sharp fixation of a predator. Those eyes looked down and his chin tilted slightly as his looked at her and she could swear he was staring right into her puny soul. He looked away from her all too soon and faced an oncoming group of Hollows. Yukiko felt his grip on her tighten slightly, securing her more closely to him, and turned his whole torso as he punch the air with a wide hook. Along the curve of his moving fist bursts of energy exploded forward and the blasts seemed to detonate against the masks of the Menos' blowing holes into their heads, allowing them to fade out of existence. As soon as that was done Yukiko's head was spinning even faster as they seemed to teleport to the roof of a building. His speed really did make her flash step feel like a snail crawl.
When her feet were on solid concrete he released her and even pulled her away from him slightly before breaking contact completely. He looked at her like he wasn't sure how he felt but she could see bits of confusion and shock in his expression that was partially hidden behind the remnants of a fanged mask. {"Hi, Grimmjow."} She wasn't sure what to say but figured a greeting was a decent place to start.
She didn't miss the way his eyes widened when she silently spoke. "Yukiko… You're out here?"
His voice was deep and confused but the sound of it speaking her name brought her relief when she wasn't even aware that she was afraid. The sound of the Gillian cries felt faint and there seemed to only be a few others but it was unlikely that they were going to survive much longer. Grimmjow looked at the ongoing battle but turned back at her when he spoke again. "Where do you live now?"
The question was a bit surprising. {"You know I moved?"}
"Are you going to tell me or not?" He sounded a little annoyed. He never did like it when she wouldn't answer his card questions right away, why would a verbal question be any different? She smiled in relief at that.
{"The same building. I just moved across the hall."}
As soon as she spoke he grabbed her and jumped back into the sky. Perhaps he noticed that his higher speed was making her feel nauseous or maybe he just didn't use it since there was no need to but Grimmjow did move slower as he took her back to her apartment. All the while she watched his face, inspecting it and all of the minute changes caused by every little muscle twitch. He glanced down at her a couple of times and when he did he would quickly look forward with intense focus and his jaw was clench slightly. When the Arrancar landed and set her back down she looked away from him to watch and ensure her feet were on the ground when she actually supported her own weight.
Maybe part of her was expecting him to leave immediately because she looked back to him again and waited for him to vanish from her sight. Instead, true to the impatience she remembered him to have, he walked past her and into the building. Yukiko smiled and rushed to his side then a step past him so that she could lead him to her new room. It was past the previous one and at the back corner. Like all the apartments beside the door was the unit number and occupant name. Her read Unit 2, Ametsuchi Yukiko and Jaegerjaquez Grimmjow. When she unlocked the door she entered but stood next to the doorframe to wait him.
The Arrancar entered the room as casually as if he had been living there all his life but she could see the slight swivel of his head as he looked around. Yukiko closed the door and took off her shoes but left on her coat. "Your window is open…" Grimmjow spoke with a voice that resonated with quiet disbelief.
She smiled and walked around him so that he could see her face. {"I always leave it open for you."}
"Why would I use a window? I'm not stuck in a cat body anymore. I haven't needed a window to check for you for the past month and a half and I sure as hell won't need one in the future."
She needed a second to respond. Sure, she had put his name up with hers since he was still welcome but that was mostly out of childish hope that she never actually expected to be met. She didn't really know what to expect from him, or what he wanted. But now she was flooded with the desire to hug him but restrained herself, uncertain how he would react to such unwarranted contact. Yukiko felt the opening of a new gate between worlds and the disappearing of the other Arrancar and the Shinigami that came during the fighting. {"Your friend left."} She informed Grimmjow.
He raised an eyebrow. "Friend? Nelliel is a pain in the ass. The only place we're friends is in one of her fucked up, pitifully hopeful dreams."
The comment made her laugh and he seemed to relax slightly as he sat down and put his sword down behind him. Yukiko closed her window then joined him on the floor. He sat beside her little table but she sat in front of him rather than across it.
He was looking at her for a couple of seconds then frowned deeply and blinked a bunch of times as he looked away. She could swear there was a bit of redness to his cheek but the lighting wasn't the best so she could have been mistaken.
…He was uncomfortable. It was obvious that he was happy to see her but also embarrassed about it. Just looking at him she could see that he was so many things; things that she had already learned from their time together before but also many things that she had yet to experience. Like the way his exposed cheek dimpled the tiniest bit when he frowned as he was now and she thought that it would become a deep indent should he smile. She pinched and pulled his cheek slightly and started to lightly run her fingers across the teeth of his mask fragment.
He quickly grabbed her wrists and held her hands off of him. "What are you doing?!"
{"You're real."} She released the words without thinking them. They made him pause and his grip loosened. {"I imagined meeting you more than once but you were never really there. It was always just my imagination. But you're real now. Right?"}
Grimmjow's eyes and frown tightened again. "Fuck… Fuck, fuck, fuck."
His repeated cursing surprised her but he was looking down so it didn't seem like he was actually talking to her. "Seeing you again was supposed to make it go away…"
{"What?"} She asked but he wasn't looking at her so he didn't know.
"I was supposed to stop feeling like this and go back to normal once I knew you were okay." He spoke a little louder now; intentionally including her in his thoughts.
{"What do you feel like?"} Even though he was still looking at the floor she couldn't help but ask. The woman slipped a hand out of his and gently pulled his chin up. {"Stop feeling like what?"}
He suddenly shouted in frustration. "I don't know! I don't get emotions like this!"
Yukiko didn't smile to reassure him, nor did she frown at his yelling. She understood what he meant. He felt something new; new things are confusing and sometimes troubling to adjust to. She felt troubled too. Being close to him, being held like this by him felt terrifying to her traumatized mind as well as comforting. He was a man after all, a fact that was clearer now than ever, and that fact alone was a frightening thing to her. She learned to not beat men senseless over harmless gestures in her time at the hospital, but you can't cure fear.
Yukiko glanced at the uneaten food on the table. Eating meals was the first thing that they learned to do together in peace so why not start from there? The woman pulled her other hand completely from his grasp and stood from the floor. The curry and rice had cooled so she set what was already plated on the metal space in between the burners and turned the stove back on to warm the food still in pots. Yukiko felt eyes on her as she moved around in the kitchen area but wasn't bothered. She pulled out a pair of glass cups from the cupboard that contain all of her glassware and pour two glasses of orange juice. She carried them over and sat back down in front of Grimmjow, holding the cup out for him with a smile. {"Do you still like this?"}
He took it and drank the whole glass without stopping to breathe then held it back out for her. "Not really."
She stared at him in his eyes and saw a little twitch in his otherwise serious expression that belayed his attempt at a joke. Yukiko wasn't sure what it was about it, maybe it was that he made the attempt or that it broke the weird tension that took over the room, but she stated to laugh. At first it was just a soft giggle that would be almost imperceptible but it grew into a chuckle that shook her shoulders and somehow she ended up laughing uncontrollably to the point that she was holding her sides and fell softly to her back.
"I know I'm not that funny so stop laughing so much." He sounded a little disgruntled with her but when she peeked up at him he didn't look it. Still, she did her best to comply and sat up properly, wiping the tears out of her eyes as she attempted to regain a semblance of control over herself.
It was then that for the first time, he smiled at her. It was a small one, the kind of little smile that you don't know you're doing, but it was enough to tell her all she would ever need to know. Whether he needed her or not was irrelevant, Grimmjow liked being there with her; and she liked being with him.
Yukiko got back up and took his glass, brushing his fingers as she did to gauge both his and her own reactions. He made no moves to avoid her nor did she feel repulsed by the contact. The woman poured him more juice as well as filling a plate and bringing it to him with a spoon before quickly pulling her now warmed plate off the stove top and sat down across from him. Perhaps a little distance would help keep things comfortable as well as make talking easier. As if she needed the extra bonus, it gave her a perfect view of his face. She watched the way he ate and drank, as well as the way his eyes darted between her and the plate in front of him. "Stop staring so much, it's weird."
{"I was staring a lot?"}
"This entire time. You haven't stopped looking at me longer than a minute."
She shrugged. {"I told you before didn't I? I have trouble taking my eyes off beautiful things."}
His face became a noticeable shade of red. "Don't say weird things like that! Also I'm man so don't call me that!"
She chuckled at the way he half shouted his response. {"Do you always get embarrassed about compliments?"}
"Just the weird fucking ones like that!" He was still trying to calm down from his earlier outburst.
{"Fair enough."}
After he regained his cool he surprised her with a question. "Why do you look so different?"
It took Yukiko a second to understand what he meant. Her hair had grown a bit since it was shaved but it was still shorter than his. {"When I was taken to the hospital they cut off all of my hair since it would have been annoying to the nurses."} She was still unhappy about it.
"That and you look like a skeleton."
{"They didn't give me enough food. I eat a lot, remember?"}
"And sleep a lot." He added.
{"What have you been doing since I… left?"} She asked, desperate to not discuss her time at the hospital.
"I went back to Hueco Mundo. Harribel put me in charge of some annoying kid though. This kid is so helpless it's a miracle that he survived as long as he has." He sounded unhappy as he spoke.
Yukiko gave him a curious look. {"You never seemed to like kids before."}
"I hate them." He gave her a dark look and a vicious frown as he said that to make it clear how serious he was.
{"So why put up with him?"} If he was that against being around children then surely he could just not deal with this kid.
"Working with him is a means to an end. The more Arrancar that Harribel places under me the larger of a force I will have behind me when I make my move to overthrow her."
This was a subject that Yukiko was looking forward to, Grimmjow seemed giddy when he brought it up as a cat. {"What will you do once you're king?"}
He closed his eyes rubbed his head. "…Never really thought about it. Not counting Aizen since he wasn't a Hollow, there've only been two different kings in my existence. The old one didn't do jack shit and the current one does a lot so it's not like there is a specific job that the king is supposed to do. I'll probably do nothing different with my time than what I did before having to deal with the kid; so nothing in particular."
{"Then what's the point of being the king?}
Grimmjow smiled, but there was a certain quality to it that made him look a bit feral. "Being hailed as the strongest. That's the whole reason for even having a title like king in the Hollow's world."
She could say nothing in response. What was there to say? Faced with such a powerful desire what could she do other than smile.
"Then again, becoming the Hollow King won't mean as much if I can't beat Kurosaki. Last time we fought he still beat me. Not that I was at my best."
{"Why weren't you at your best?"}
He glanced away from her but did look back before answering. "No reason in particular."
Yukiko raised an eyebrow, doubtful of that but didn't pursue an answer. A man as stubborn as him would sooner leave than give her one. Instead of trying to continue a conversation they both resumed eating. It was strange, she had waited so long to see Grimmjow again but now she had little to say. She was content, even happy, just being with him. No conversation needed.
When they finished Grimmjow moved to a side of the table adjacent to Yukiko and laid down. From his position he still had a clear view of her face though if he could still read her lips from the upside-down view he had that would be truly impressive. "Why'd you move here?"
She looked at him with wide eyes but didn't actually know how to respond to the question. Why did she move? How about because a rapist attacked her in her old apartment? {"You do remember what happened at my old apartment right?"}
His face scrunched up in a sour look. "I'm not a fuckin idiot. I'm talking about the fact that you moved somewhere that looks exactly the same as your old place."
"Oh." She thought, feeling a little bad. {"It's not like it's the same room. It's not a big deal."} She tried to reassure him that she really was fine.
He crossed his arms. "Yeah that's bullshit. If just knowing that it's not the exact same as what happened was all it took then why were you still nervous about me?"
Yukiko was truly and completely speechless so she looked down at her empty plate. He saw that much in her behaviors?
When she failed to give him an answer he sighed and scratched his head. "He's dead by the way."
She looked back up at him. She knew this already but it was still different to hear it from the man who actually did it. She crawled over so that she was now beside him. {"Did you make him suffer?"} She kept her expression neutral as she asked.
Grimmjow laughed a little and wore a huge smile; his cheek did dimple like she thought it would. "You really don't know me if you have to ask that. I made him go through enough pain that he was probably praying for death by the time I blasted his chest open."
It probably shouldn't have, but his answer made her happy. She leaned down, cradled the masked cheek and kissed his bare cheek. She righted herself back up again so that he could see her face properly, and that she was smiling just was widely as he was. {"Thank you."}
Grimmjow lost his smile for a second in a flash of surprise. "You really aren't like other humans, you know that?"
She breathed out a laugh and nodded yes.
When she lifted her head back up from the nod she found that he was sitting up in front of her. Then without warning he kissed her. It was surprisingly sweet and tame compared to his behavior, just a chaste peck on her lips. Perhaps it's because it was a stark contrast compared to what one would expect from him but she found it more shocking than if he simple rammed his tongue down her throat.
"Not that fun when someone surprises you with that is it?" He asked tauntingly. "At least kissing a woman is normal, especially when compared to kissing a cat."
Yukiko's brain couldn't keep up with what he was talking about at first. "Kissing a cat? When… Oh, after the festival." It felt like a lifetime ago but she now remembered how after the festival, just before going to bed she kissed him. She also remembered him becoming incredibly stiff in shock from the gesture. The woman reached forward and pulled him back to her by his shirt, kissing him again. This time he returned it but she pulled away before he could even attempt to deepen it.
"Don't do that." He said with a slight snarl as he grabbed her and pulled her in again. This time it was the kind of kiss that Yukiko would probably have expected from someone as aggressive as Grimmjow: completely dominating over her and it made her feel like she couldn't move. Like she was trapped. Without hesitation she threw her elbow straight up and pulled away with a Flash Step to the window. Because of how close they were her elbow only clipped his jaw and she had a very strong suspicion that she was the only one who received any damage from the strike as there was a suspiciously wet trail rolling down her forearm.
"You're only going to hurt yourself hitting me like that you know." He told her, seeming completely unfazed by her attack.
{"It got you to let me go."} She said, trying her best to ignore the fresh pain and the exhaustion that was reignited through her body. That Flash Step probably burned through all of Reiatsu she regained from her dinner.
He smiled. "So you can fight back, that's good."
{"You did that to see how I would react?"} She was a little worried now.
Grimmjow was frowning now. "No, I did that because I wanted to. I didn't expect you to lose your shit over it."
She wanted to be on her guard but fighting him would be like fighting mountain, she'd get nowhere and in a painful way. Still, she couldn't stop herself from leaning back against the wall.
His frown deepened but he stopped looking at her, like he was having some kind of internal debate. "Alright, fine!"
The sudden outburst surprised her.
"I won't do that again so sit back down or something would you?"
Yukiko wasn't sure how to take that. Having to restrain himself from doing what he apparently wanted to was different from him restraining himself from blindly attacking her when he was a cat. At least to her it was.
At the same time she also wasn't entirely sure she wanted him to never do that again. {"I didn't dislike it. You… surprised me."}
His snarky smile was back and he was on his feet. "Alright. Then let's try that again."
The Arrancar was deliberately slow in his approach of her and this time when he kissed her he was less aggressively dominating. Yukiko had never been kissed like this before, like there was an actual acknowledgment of her as a human. It was different, just like the arm that snaked its way around her back without feeling the least bit entrapping. "Yeah, I definitely don't dislike this."
()
In a dark room illuminated only by candle light, a black haired woman in priestess robes stared into mirror where she watched through the eyes of her owl. She was disappointed in Yukiko. The young woman revealed that she completely lacked any significant power. Her Reiatsu was so pitiful it could only mean one thing: Yukiko's soul was fractured.
The woman looked on was a Gillian readied to kill her and was concerned that it would actually successes but the girl was saved, by a Hollow curiously enough. Then again, she was nothing more than a Hollow that hadn't yet died now.
"Ibuki." She called to a man in a shadowed corner.
"Yes, Rin-sama?" He answered.
"Has our son returned from Hueco Mundo?"
"Yes, he has." When he spoke there was a slightly questioning tone to him.
"Bring him to me." She ordered.
The man left the room and she continued to look into the mirror. Yukiko and the blue haired Hollow-man were speaking on a roof very briefly before he lifted her and took off into the sky. Rather than follow and risk her creature getting noticed, Rin slid her fingers against the mirror to disconnect it from the shikikami's vision and looked at her own reflection instead. Her brown-black eyes looked giddy, and her sleek hair fell perfectly straight around her body and to the floor.
Behind her a door slid open and a teenager entered the room. "You wished to see me Mother?"
She turned to her child. "Yes Mashiro. I wanted you to know, thanks to your success nearly an entire class of Hollow has been eliminated and I have become convinced."
"Thank you Mother." The boy accepted the praise happily.
Her husband was not so easily satisfied with her word. "Convinced?"
She may have turned to him with a smile but it was a by no means loving. "…Of our daughter's location. She is in the jureichi, Karakura Town."
It has finally happened! Grimmjow and Yukiko are together! Holy shit though, I didn't mean to give you guys blue balls with the long wait. So sorry about that, please forgive me! I just want to say it now I don't know when the next update will be. School is not getting any less intense and I can't ignore it and just write for you (even though it's much more preferred). It's the largest part in why getting this out took as long as it did. I would sit down to write and literally fall asleep. I'll update as fast as I can, I just wouldn't expect it to actually be soon. I'm sure a lot of you are in school too so good luck to all of us!
Yay Comments! (´｡• ω •｡`) :
ookawa: I'm am very sorry that you had to wait an even longer time for an update. I know I went for the obvious route of a Yukiko POV last chapter but I thought it was important and it helped explain the letters that found their way to Hueco Mundo. It was finally the reunion everyone has been waiting for!
Jemstone6259: Thank you :)
Savage Kill: There is a reason for the diet and it does have a connection to her powers but I'm going to have to say I can't go into detail yet. Considering what I've done to the characters I write it wouldn't be a big surprise if something bad happened but it was just moving, nothing dramatic. She mentioned in an earlier chapter that she is from a village where having spiritual power was common. It was forever ago so it's not surprising that it was forgotten.
XD-kaycee: I'm really happy to see that you feel more interested in Yukiko. I didn't want her to be defined as "Grimmjow's love interest" so for anyone to be curious about her as a character of her own is fantastic. Yukiko and Nui are human in the same way quincies and the fullbring characters are human. Very human but not really at the same time. The story is going to be delving into the situation with Rin probably sooner than later but no promises on a timeline.
rainydaywritings: Hello again! There are few thing more heartbreaking as a reading then finding a good story and it hasn't been updated in forever. I hope you enjoy where the story goes :)
beautiful-note2895: He never really got the chance, nor did he have to. I actually accomplished everything you asked for. That never happens 0.o
giada2196: Dialog is fun to write and I will be able to get more in from now on but I think focusing too much on that takes away from interaction between characters and it just becomes pointless words. The devil's in the details right ;)
guest: You are readit in one go? That is impressive! Thank you for all of the kind words. I'm just as surprised with how well the concept worked out to be honest. I can't see Grimmjow falling for someone he'd have to save from everything so making Yukiko a fighter was a must.
bleachrulz: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, sorry for the long wait. And I hope you get some sleep
guest: Thank you