Hey look, a random Christmas chapter in March! It makes sense to the time in the story so why not?
Chapter 19: First Christmas
After the trip to search for Starrk ended with the meeting of Riverra the females had not attempted to manipulate Grimmjow, at least as far as he could tell. They had actually been leaving him alone almost entirely, so much so that he had been able to spend more time in the World of the Living than before. He would stay there for all of his time with the exception of training Achiim and going into the desert when he was in the mood to kill something. He was tempted to return to the ruins and get a rematch with Riverra but decided against it; it wouldn't be as interesting if he doesn't give the man an opportunity to get stronger first. The predictability of his days should have been annoying, or at the very least boring, but it wasn't. The routine was boring in idea only; being with Yukiko daily was always interesting and relaxing. While it's true he wasn't necessarily trying, Yukiko wasn't afraid of him in anyway outside her general trauma and because of that she was always ready to force him to do something he normally would never think of, going to the movies seemed to becoming a regular activity for them. She made him go to the library with her to get books and though he went he adamantly refused to read anything. He also found that he enjoyed going to the shopping district to watch the TVs in some of the windows and would force her to do so in search of a broadcasted fight. She was still disapproving of seeing the fights and would slip away while he was immersed then return ten minutes later after doing what she called "window shopping".
Even now Grimmjow was standing in front of a window with a television showing a boxing match and was getting more into it than he thought he could. He shouted at the glass as if the projection of people could hear him. While he was preoccupied with fight something meek walked into him and fell to the ground. "Mata, are you okay?" A woman asked a man on the ground.
He laughed awkwardly and Grimmjow glared at him. "Yeah. I must have tripped on something in the snow."
"Oh, so I'm something in the snow?" The Arrancar questioned spitefully.
The couple was completely oblivious to him; the annoying truth was that no one could hear or see him which meant no one was getting out of his way which caused the occasional desire to break someone's face in. The woman helped the human man up and started pulling him along. "Well don't stay down there! We still need to finish the Christmas preparations."
"What the hell is Christmas?" Grimmjow asked aloud.
After a minute of silence the man noticed his human approach behind him so he turned to her. "Yukiko, what's Christmas?"
When he asked this she looked at him like he grew a second head. She opened her mouth but as far as he could tell she didn't say anything. Her mouth pulled to a side which made her look like she was considering something then her shoulders slumped and she opened the notebook in her hand. She wrote her message then walked past him, holding the paper so he could see what was written. "Follow me."
Yukiko led him back, deeper into the crowd. She slipped between the people as best she could and Grimmjow made a slight attempt but was pushing people out of his way when he deemed it necessary. They reached what appeared to be the end of the street where an obnoxiously large evergreen tree was placed in a stand and wrapped up in lights and colorful orbs and a large glowing star on the top. "What the hell is this for?" Grimmjow reflexively said.
Yukiko sat down on a nearby bench and wrote to him. "Christmas is a religious holiday from another country. It is supposedly to celebrate a holy man's birthday but it seems to be treated as a gift giving holiday or an extra Valentine's day by a lot of couples."
Grimmjow crossed his arms and watched the people walk by, nearly all of them were couples. He looked back at Yukiko. "What's Valentine's day?"
She smiled crookedly and wrote another response. "Lover's holiday."
Now it was Grimmjow who got a crooked smile. "Yeah? Either of them any fun?"
"I never celebrated them."
"They're boring then?"
Yukiko shrugged. They watched the people all around them with mocking interest. They humans were acting like idiots, more so than usual; men and women fawning over each other in sickening displays. While his eyes were scanning the area his woman's figure walked past his sight. "Where are you going?"
She pulled out a letter from the closed pages of her writing journal. {"Post office."}
He got up and happily followed her out of the cesspool of affection. "The letter is to Nui right?"
Yukiko readjusted her scarf to protect more of her face from a chilling breeze and nodded.
"So explain to me again why she doesn't stay here with you if she's so worried that you have to constantly write."
The woman put the letter back between some pages and wrote on her book. "She has something very valuable that my family needs and we don't want them to have it. I wanted to try and live a real life so I chose to stop running, she cannot."
"Yeah? So what did you steal from them?"
Yukiko stopped with a solemn look on her face then wrote again. "Me."
He watched her for a moment with sharp eyes and she looked back with a serious expression then moved on. She scribbled as she walked and held up the paper discretely for him to read with a sideway smile. "They actually don't care about me. But they would be pissed if they found me."
"She lying..." Grimmjow knew there was a lot more to the story of her hiding than that. There was something that she was going out of her way to keep secret and it was rather annoying. The obvious suspicion was that it had something to do with her powers but she mentioned spiritual power was nothing amazing where ever it was she's from. He picked up the pace so that he would be beside her. "Right… Why would anyone get all upset over losing a broken person like you anyways?"
She looked at him, her face serious again. {"I wasn't always broken you know. At least, not in a way that matter to them."}
After a moment of walking in a silence that made Grimmjow wonder if his comment actually hurt her feelings he noticed that her shoulders started jumping slightly, indicating that she chuckled. "What?"
She wrote on her paper with a sly smile. "The irony of a broken soul like a Hollow calling me broken."
He smiled proudly. "That's right! Crazy Hollows like me are as busted up as they come too! Who knows, maybe when you kick the bucket you'll turn straight Hollow."
She elbowed him playfully, everyone else too engrossed in their own bubbles of holiday spirit to notice her interacting with an invisible person. They hurried at a human pace to the post office where there was a ridiculous amount of people that made both of them sigh in frustration. "Fuck it. You're on your own." Grimmjow declared and left the building. He could see Yukiko look at him and that she was pissed but withheld her reaction in the very crowded room.
He traveled down the street and looked around himself. It was still the early evening but people seemed to be in a hurry anyways. He wandered around not entirely caring where he was going but he did manage to find something interesting. There was a dark building with small windows but in the small windows that were there showed what was happening inside. There was a large spacious area with cylindrical bags hanging from metal stands being punched by a few people and a raised square with ropes around the parameter and people fighting in it. The Arrancar entered the building and looked around at the people in it. They appeared to be training and all seemed to be decent at throwing a punch. He walked around the room and inspected the hanging bags, the mirror wall and the people. They looked like they could be interesting if he had been human, but of course he was an Arrancar which meant that if he flicked his finger he would break them.
When he was getting ready to leave again the sound of a beating pulled his attention back in to the previously empty stage that was in the center of the room. A surprisingly familiar face was on the square and doing a decent job of beating the shit out of the other; Sado Yasutora, an admittedly tolerable member of the nosy human group. A gruff looking man pushed him away lightly but it was enough to get him to stop. "Alright, that's enough."
Sado took a relaxed breath and looked down, noticing Grimmjow watching. The man shouted from behind the dark man. "Ten minute warning! I'm shutting down in ten minutes!"
The tall human turned and nodded slightly to the apparent owner of the building then bent between the ropes and jumped down off the stage. "Why are you here?" He asked in a hushed voice.
"I'll go wherever I want. What the hell is this place?" Grimmjow responded.
They left the building and Sado spoke a bit louder but still a little hushed. "It's a boxing gym. It's the type of place humans go to for training."
Grimmjow grinned. "Don'cha think it's a little unfair for a normal human to fight you?"
Sado looked at him but the Arrancar couldn't quiet read his expression, half of it was under hair after all. "I don't use my Fullbring so I don't have any special advantage over the others."
"Sure, years of life and death fights isn't advantageous against people who have only ever had to deal with an attack in an alley at worst."
"You misjudge how difficult life can be for some humans." Sado sounded like he might be trying to argue but his voice and demeanor is so naturally relaxed it was hard to be certain.
Grimmjow narrowed his eyes all the same. "No matter how you look at it you're going to win no matter what. Where's the fun in a fight like that?"
"The fun is in boxing not just brawling. There's actual foundation and techniques involved."
The Arrancar rolled his eyes. "Humans sure know how to take the fun out of everything."
"You'd probably enjoy it." Sado offered.
"And wear a gigai for it? Fuck no." Grimmjow dismissed anymore conversation with the human. He shoved his hands in his pockets and walked back to the post office to see how far Yukiko had gotten. She was standing outside of it, scribbling in her book. Grimmjow roughly yanked it out of her hands. "Don't you ever do anything else?"
She gave him a shrug and started walking. Grimmjow handed the book back to her. "Are we going home yet?"
She shook her head no.
"Seriously?! What could you possibly still want to do?" He asked shortly.
Yukiko scribbled in her book. "I made a lot of money from people hiring me for paintings for Christmas. I wanted to buy something for the apartment."
They wandered back to the electronic store that tended to have the fights Grimmjow watched and this time they went inside.
"You're buying a TV? Why didn't you just get one when we were here earlier?"
She glanced around at the black rectangles around them and sloppily wrote. "I was only planning on getting a radio but you seemed to like TV and while I was in line at the post office someone was talking about Christmas and New Year special shows. It got me interested."
The woman was quick to walk past a row of televisions that would take up most of their wall in the apartment and she searched around until she found a selection of small TVs. She looked through the different options and glanced at the numbers attached to them with a frown. Grimmjow stayed behind her and left her to pick. No matter what, if he was given the option he defiantly go for something larger but he wasn't going to give his input in on the matter, mostly because he was certain that the special shows catching her interest was utter bullshit and she really was getting one because she knew he would like it over a radio. They had actually had a conversation about getting something in the apartment so that there was more to do in there but the first thing Yukiko had said was no TV. As far as he could tell she didn't have a particular dislike of it or anything, she just didn't have enough of an interest in it to spend the money needed to buy one. "Why the hell do humans use money? It's worthless." He questioned quietly, intending for it to be for himself.
Yukiko heard though and actually wrote something. "I was told it standardizes what is expected to exchange for an object or service. I agree though, its bullshit."
"Why don't I just steal one?" He offered nonchalantly.
She looked at him and he could see the consideration in her expression, but she shook her head vigorously and wrote with a frown. "No, I would like to think we're not thieves."
"Just murderous." He said with a smirk.
{"I never killed anyone."} She defended.
"Yet. Don't worry, we'll fix that."
"Can I help you miss?" An employee of the store approached.
Yukiko scribbled in her book then pointed to a small screen about the size of her microwave. "I was interested in buying this TV."
"Oh. It's an excellent model-" And that's about where Grimmjow stopped listening. Yukiko appeared to be attempting to appear to pay attention but he could tell she just wanted the man to stop talking.
About ten minutes later, ten minutes too long, Yukiko was carrying a box out of the store and the pair was on their way home. When they reached a less crowded area Grimmjow saw that she was struggling to carry the object and took the box from her. "Get a hobby that actually involves doing something." He said.
She frowned and looked away from him. He carried the TV the rest of the way to the apartment and set the box down in a corner. Instead of going for the box the woman went to her oven and turned it on then the refrigerator and pulled a pan out. "You're going to cook now? Set this thing up."
Yukiko turned to him. {"It can wait."}
"I knew your reason was bullshit."
{"The food just needs to go in the oven. I started preparing it earlier today before work."}
Grimmjow stood close behind her and looked down over her shoulder. It was a roast that was sitting in a pool of juices and he could already tell that it was going to taste good. She didn't actually seem to need to do anything until the oven was ready so she slipped away from him and went back into the fridge. This time she pulled out something he had not seen in there before, a can of beer. He took it from her and she pulled a second one out for herself. "Since when do you drink?"
The woman popped open the can in her hand and tapped it against his. She took a sip of hers and went to the new box. Grimmjow joined her while he took a drink from his. The pair sat down and peeled open the box and suffered through the sound of pulling the white Styrofoam out of the box. After the third squeak from the movement Grimmjow tore the cardboard apart and peeled the covering away from the white demon material. By this point he was already through his first beer and the oven beeped so Yukiko put their dinner into the oven and set a little timer to ring in twenty minutes. She returned with another beer for the man and then looked through the paper instructions while sipping her beer and Grimmjow pulled apart the casing to finish freeing their new entertainment.
The woman pointed to a semi-clear space on the floor next to the dresser, where her completed paintings were usually placed. {"Put it there."}
Grimmjow complied and then sat back to let her deal with the weird human technology. She put the cords in order and hooked up a short black box to the rectangle with two different ones and then took a little handheld thing and pointed it while she pressed buttons. The box came to life just in time for her to appear to finish her beer. She went back to the refrigerator again. "Get me another too." Grimmjow told her as he took the remote from where she placed it.
She came back with a string of three other cans and each took one. They leaned against the table and flipped through the channels. Nothing seemed to be immediately interesting but then Yukiko grabbed his arm, stopping him. It appeared to be some kind of game show. There were people in colorful body suits on a brightly lit stage. In that moment they people all appeared to be covered in various creams, paints, something sticky and who knows what else. "What's this?" Grimmjow asked.
A man in a reflective suit shouted go and the people in body suits started running on a conveyer belt while things were being thrown at them, many of them tripped.
"Alright, this is stupid." The Arrancar changed the channel and found something that held his interest a bit better. It appeared to be a samurai movie and there was a lot of fake blood but at least it was something a bit more actively interesting. He saw out of the corner of his eye that Yukiko rolled hers but the shrill ringing of the timer pulled her away from the movie and back to the oven. Grimmjow drank from his can again but found that it was empty so he opened the last beer and started to drink. It was very relaxing. He watched the movie with the clicking sound of metal on plates in the background as Yukiko made them plates and brought them over. When she put them down she stared at Grimmjow with the last beer in his hand. She went to the kitchen area again and retrieved another six-pack.
"What the-? You've been holding out?"
She smiled sheepishly. {"It was intended to last for at least a week."}
The two faced the table now. Yukiko put her hands together and said her thanks for the food but Grimmjow ate without waiting. The food was great and he kind of wondered if the beer made it better than normal. "Why the sudden stash of alcohol?"
{"Holiday celebration."} She said. {"I have a cake in there too."}
Grimmjow took a bite and spoke around the meat. "I've seen them but never had it. The females in Las Noches talk about them and it sounds like girl food."
She frowned and looked a little confused. {"Food is food. You eat it then you shit it."}
Grimmjow let out a short laugh. "Good point!"
The two watched the movie to completion while they ate and by the end of it they had also gone through the rest of the alcohol and both were feeling very happy. Grimmjow took the plates into the sink and clipped them on the counter edge, nearly breaking them while Yukiko bent down to get the cake but she fell on her ass. He stood above her and pulled her up by her arms and leaned back himself. "Leave the cake for later, I don't trust you with a knife right now."
She said something entirely incoherent and started reaching for it.
He turned and faced her away from the refrigerator. "I said no." He then leaned down into it. "Hiding anymore beer?"
He could feel her weight shift around and she appeared to be shaking her head no. The man looked up at the clock on the microwave. "It's only 9:42. Let's go get more!"
Yukiko threw her hands up and looked at Grimmjow with an excited grin. Since they were in agreement the man released her and went to the door where she slipped on her shoes and ran out the door. Grimmjow followed but the moment the pair got outside the woman was struck with the cold and scurried back in and back into their apartment unit, which they had left unlocked. Yukiko stumbled around in search of her winter coat. After a failed initial attempt at getting her hand through the sleeves she managed to get it on and then seemed to be on her way back out of the room. Grimmjow caught her neck with her black and white checkered scarf and caused her to fall back into him. "You forgot this." She looked up at him with flushed cheeks and surprised eyes. The man then held up her wallet. "And this."
She spoke a very recognizable word then. {"Oh!"}
This time when they left they actually succeeded and did not immediately retreat back into the building. The frosty air nipped at Grimmjow's skin more than he expected so he unrolled his sleeves, but they only cover most of his forearm. "Why is the cold bothering me?"
Yukiko looked back at him like he was crazy and used her sign language. *"It's cold."*
"Yeah I get that! Hueco Mundo doesn't even have a sun though. It would probably be a frozen wasteland if there was any water. That cold doesn't bother me at all."
Now the look on the woman's face was slightly concerned.
Grimmjow frowned and looked away. "Just forget it. It's probably because we've been drinking and I'm not wearing a Hierro."
{"Then use it."} She said, looking more focused than she had been.
"Don't wanna!" He snapped at her.
Yukiko was startled and looked somewhere between hurt and angry. Her expression made Grimmjow uncomfortable. He didn't really know what he should do about it though. "Let's get going."
He felt something soft drape itself over his shoulders from behind and turned slightly to look at the woman behind him. She reached up and looped garment so that it was wrapped snuggly around his neck then took his hand in both of hers. {"Better?"}
He frowned slightly and could feel his face warm a bit so he looked away in embarrassment. "I guess…"
They walked together like that to the convince store. She released him once they were in the heated building and she went directly to the walk of glass doors containing cold drinks. She pulled out a case of glass bottles but the beer appeared to be the same brand and placed it on the check-out counter. "ID please." The man behind the counter requested.
Yukiko opened her wallet and showed some plastic card, after which the man nodded and went back to reading his magazine. The woman held up the case in victory and trotted happily after Grimmjow who had already made his exit from the building.
Grimmjow waited for the woman to catch up and felt her crash into him because she stumbled into the snow but she seemed to be laughing it off; he stepped back when she did, his balance a little off but didn't quiet stumble. "Stop screwing around, let's get back already."
She nodded and tugged him along though he was also holding her up every now and then when she would stumble. After a few blocks of walking Grimmjow realized they were not going in the correct direction for the apartment. "We're going the wrong way idiot!"
He tugged her back and tried to lead her the proper way but she continued to walk, though it was more of the motion of walking without actually making any progress. She pointed with her hand holding the beer since he had the other one. She was pointing at the park. "That's where she was going to?" Grimmjow couldn't understand her thinking.
She strolled through the entrance of the park and placed the case in a pile of snow then trotted to the swing set. "I'm not pushing you." Grimmjow stated.
She stuck her tongue out then stood on the seat and started pushing her weight back and forth to move the swing. She seemed to actually be enjoying herself. The man pulled a bottle out of the case and pulled off the top then sat and watched while he sipped the drink. The way her coat pushed against her back then opened to reveal her shirt under her coat was hypnotic. He wondered idly how the scene would look if she still had her long hair and sighed at the image that came to him. Her face was more than feminine enough that she was still beautiful with her pixie short hair, though it had grown a little and was now about as long as his, but she was truly lovely when she had a curtain of soft waves.
"Lovely and soft… Soft hair, skin, lips…" The Arrancar licked his lips hungrily. His focus was entirely devoted to the woman and because of it he nearly jumped out of his skin when a voice appeared from behind him. "Grimmjow what are you doing here?"
The man turned and saw that Orihime was looking at him from beside Ichigo. The two orange-haired humans seemed entirely confused by his presence, a feeling he could reciprocate. "None of your business." He answered with his mouth just a hair away from the lip of the bottle.
"You shouldn't drink in public, you know. Wait; how'd you even get beer?!" Kurosaki questioned with genuine confusion.
Before the Arrancar could answer, a wad of snow exploded on the human boy's face. The three looked over at Yukiko who had an uncharacteristically mischievous smile on her face. "She bought it." He finally said.
His human walked up to them with a slight trip since she was also writing but didn't fall. When she reached them she showed the horrid scrawl that she had wrote. "Who cares if he drinks in public? Only people like you can see him."
Grimmjow took another sip. "What she said."
Yukiko sat beside him now and grabbed a bottle of her own but had trouble with the pop-top. She frowned in frustration so Grimmjow snapped it off for her.
Unsurprisingly Kurosaki had something to say about it. "Okay, I can see you getting away with this but she can't. She's human!"
The "she" in question took a quick sip then blew a raspberry at the Shinigami; for his part, Grimmjow took a handful of snow and hurled it at the boy's head. "She has a name and you need to mind your own business."
Perhaps it was the strangeness of the situation as a whole or whatever, but for some reason Kurosaki took the snow completely in his face without even an attempt to get out of the way. Both Yukiko and Grimmjow laughed at him then but Orihime completely ignored her companions plight and instead approach closer to the older woman. "That's right! We never properly introduced ourselves. My name is Inoue Orihime, that's Kurosaki Ichigo."
Yukiko put her bottle down beside her to write her name on her paper and showed it to the girl while she shook her hand. Grimmjow tossed his arm over his woman's shoulder and leaned in close to her ear. "That's the crazy woman I told you about. The one who heals people, even when they try to kill her."
Yukiko nodded in understanding which caused Orihime to blush, likely in embarrassment. Ichigo looked at the Arrancar, slightly deadpanned. "Are you drunk?"
"No!" He immediately snapped back. Probably a little too immediately.
Yukiko held up four fingers and pointed to herself then eight and pointed to the blue-haired man, indicating how much they've had so far. "I didn't even know Arrancar could get drunk." Orihime said innocently.
Grimmjow raised an eyebrow. "Of course we can. I'm not though!" He added the last part in a hurry.
Kurosaki got a smug smile on his face. "Obviously you're not. You always act like an idiot with no sense of self-respect."
"Fuck you! And what the hell does anything I've said have to do with self-respect anyways?" As he spoke he felt something cold settling against his cheek just above his mask and looked over to see Yukiko was attempting to slyly pile snow on the mask fragment. When he caught her smiled innocently then shot up and away. Grimmjow threw snow at her which she ducked but it was irrelevant because he also followed after her and securely grabbed her with both arms and swung her around a little before dropping her on a large pile of snow.
She sat up and threw the snow at him with a vengeance but he ducked it and she got to her feet with another snowball ready. She walked a few steps sideways then spoke to him. {"Duck."} He saw a flash of mischief in her expression so when she threw he ducked and the snow hit Orihime in her face.
"Ouf!" She exclaimed.
"Hey! Watch it!" Kurosaki yelled angrily.
"Don't go shouting at me." The Arrancar said with his hands innocently, though lazily, held up.
Yukiko shuffled behind him and swiftly handed off a snowball in his palm which he immediately used to hit the boy's shoulder since he had to have been expecting another face shot at this point. Kurosaki winced back slightly despite it just being snow which caused Grimmjow to laugh at him.
The human boy looked pissed now. "Alright, if that's how you want to play it…"
He seemed to now be thoroughly invested in fighting back as he swiftly scooped up some snow and launched it back at the Arrancar but the man was easily able to avoid it, which meant that Yukiko was going to get hit in the face. The woman shielded herself with her arm and the two pairs broke from each other, taking cover behind some of the playground equipment. Yukiko and Grimmjow prepared only a small amount of ammo each. The Arrancar used his Sonido to break across to their safe place and launch everything he had but to his surprise the woman had put up her triangle shield to block all of his attacks. Kurosaki stood at the ready behind her and as soon as she released her shield he threw his snowballs at the other man as quickly as he could, each one that hit felt like a Bala on his pride. Because they were both focused on Grimmjow they failed to notice that Yukiko had used her own Flash Step to sneak up behind them and hit them with snowballs of her own. She had successfully hit both of them in the back of their heads and when they turned their faces; after which she threw her arms up in victory and ran around to jump onto Grimmjow who was now sitting up on the snow. She had her arms wrapped around his neck and shoulder but he held up his hand, an invitation she accepted and they shared a celebratory high-five. "Nice work Yuki!"
He paused and looked at her worried that she would react to him using a nickname for her but she seemed unphased by it, or simply oblivious. He didn't mean to use a nickname, it just slipped out. Yukiko wasn't long or anything, especially compared to his name, but Yuki was short and quick. Plus they're in the snow. "What the fuck is the matter with me? It's weirder that I use her actual name to begin with." Grimmjow casted away anymore thoughts of her being special and him suddenly being weird and lifted her over his shoulder. "If you're done playing around here let's go home already."
The woman started to struggle so he looked back at her. "What?"
She pointed at the two humans and Grimmjow could guess what she was getting at. She either wanted to stay or take them home with her. "NO!"
She frowned sharply then started kicking her legs again and stretched her arms out at the pair. "I said no!"
The man got suspicious when she stopped squirming and was correct to. Before he reached the case of beer, the reason they were out in the first place, Yukiko had pulled herself up and dumped a handful of snow down the back of his shirt. The Arrancar reflexively dropped the woman and reached for his back. "Ahh! That's cold!"
His human had turned on him and ran to her kind, all three were throwing snow at the Hollow. His expression turned savage. "Now you're asking for it!"
He shot off the weakest Bala he could possibly form into the snow just in front of them and it caused a tsunami of the powder to coat them. The three humans shrieked in surprise, well two were heard but it was definitely all three.
"Come on you weaklings. Bring it!" He goaded.
"Oh, it's on!" Ichigo accepted the challenge only to be betrayed by Orihime who surprised him with a snow ball to the side of his face then while he was preoccupied with retaliating against her Yukiko and Grimmjow double teamed him with snow to his face and chest.
When the Shinigami realized he couldn't trust anyone he ran for solo cover and started his campaign to defend himself from the onslaught. Orihime released her fairies from her hairpins to improve their numbers and the orange haired man was completely surrounded. All went silent until Kurosaki released his Shinigami form and started darting around pelting the women in snow and attempting to give Grimmjow the same treatment but he was able to mostly avoid the attacks. In retaliation the Arrancar used his full non-Sonido speed to match him and the two all but descended into an actual fight as they threw snow ball far too hard at each other for the girls to continue to participate. They instead sat down by the wall with a shield put up and Yukiko sipped her beer and offered one to Orihime, who seemed flustered as she declined.
The snow balls that connected to their target burst with an audible sound while the ones that didn't were causing some minor havoc: pushing the swing seat chains taught, slamming down on a bench back so hard it tilted, cracking the glass face of the clock until eventually a stray snowball thrown by Grimmjow hit and broke the light of a street lamp. The sound of the shattered glass caused all four people to flinch and the battle abruptly stopped. Ichigo returned to his body and seemed nervous. "We should get going."
Yukiko scribbled in her book, though it was once again barely decipherable, and held it up while she handed the Arrancar back his half finished drink. "What's the rush?"
"The vandalism…" The human boy said in disbelief.
"The police here suck at their job. It'll probably be days before they even find out." The woman wrote with little care.
As if a jinx, the moment she held up her note flashing red lights appeared to spook the group. Orihime and Kurosaki looked panicked in a way Grimmjow had never seen and he smirked at them. "What the fuck are you so scared for? You've been in life and death battles."
"This is different! This can ruin our real lives!" The human male said in a rushed and Orihime looked frantic as she shifted her eyes all around them as if looking for somewhere to hide. Yukiko ducked down too but continued to drink her beer.
Grimmjow stood unconcerned with being seen for obvious reasons and watched as a young man stepped out of the car in a uniform. He looked the Arrancar directly in the eye and significantly paled. "Do I know you?" The Hollow asked.
That Grimmjow spoke to the officer caught all of the humans' attention so Yukiko popped her head up to look over the short concrete wall that separated the park from the sidewalk. "You again…" The officer said.
Finally the two orange haired humans stopped hiding and seemed to recognize the man. "Officer Hatsu? What are you doing here?" Kurosaki asked.
"I felt something strange happening here so I came to investigate." He said though he sounded slightly unnerved.
"Yeah well move along." Grimmjow said sharply.
Hatsu looked around the park in front of him and his eyes seemed to pause on the bottle in the Hollow's hand. "I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to move along. You should not be drinking in public, especially not in a children's park."
The Hollows eyes sharpened and he took a step forward with a dangerous smile. "Now I remember you. You're that piss hand that arrested Yukiko. You sure you want to tell me to what to do?"
The officer didn't meet the Hollow's eyes, instead he looked to Kurosaki. "Grimmjow don't even try anything." The Shinigami warned.
Just as he was about to shout at the younger human, Grimmjow felt the back of a small hand on his abdomen to stop him. He looked down at Yukiko who had a very dark look in her eyes. She walked up past Grimmjow and the officer seemed terrified of the woman. "This is interesting…"
Yukiko held up her book that she apparently wrote something for the man on. He read it and looked away. The woman threw a snow ball that was in her other hand and hit the car behind him. "Whoa, whoa!" Kurosaki shouted.
She flipped the book to show that she already had another message written for him. Grimmjow caught a glimpse of it when she first held the book up. "Don't ignore the question."
"I did…" The officer said.
Yukiko ushered him to continue with a beckoning of her hand.
"He agreed with you…" The man sounded sad when he spoke. He shook his head vigorously. "That's irrelevant! I need to ask you all to leave now."
"Fine by me. I didn't want to come here in the first place." Grimmjow said as he went back for the case of beer, still cold thanks to the snow.
When Yukiko didn't move from her position Grimmjow lifted her over his shoulder again; she stiffened immediately but didn't struggle this time. He wasn't sure what was happening behind him after that but he assumed she waved farewell to them because they awkwardly bid the Arrancar-human pair goodnight. "Don't fucking come near us again." The man said as he passed the policeman.
Grimmjow silently walked for the first few blocks but eventually his curiosity won out. "What did you write to that guy?"
She tapped his but with her butt which reminded him that she actually has no way of answering in that position so he put her down. She held up the book so that he could read it. "'Did you ask your partner for his opinion?' His opinion on what?"
She tried to answer by speaking but her words were too gargled in her drunken stupor to be understood.
He sighed. "Let's just get home." This time when he picked her up he used Sonido to get them back to the apartment with no other distractions. When he put her down she look nauseas and he became worried that she might throw up. When the girl's body lurched slightly he rushed her into the hall and to their room, which they once again left unlocked. She stood still in the kitchen area and he half expected her to sprint to the toilet, or maybe just vomit where she stood but the apprehension went unfulfilled and eventually the woman stood straight up with no more signs of feeling ill.
She shed off the coat and hat then put the book on the table and filled a glass of water from the sink; she drank it in a hurry, finishing with a deep exhale. Since she seemed okay Grimmjow opened two more bottles and put hers on the table while he sat down and started going through the channels to find something new to watch. She joined him and once again stopped him on a weird looking game show. This time however it seemed hilarious to the Arrancar and every time the contestants fell or were hit the pair would laugh uncontrollable. Apparently it was a type of show meant for drunk people only.
"Hey Yukiko, let's eat that cake!" Grimmjow suddenly decided. He was hungry again for some reason.
She looked at him with a deep frown.
"What?"
She tried to lean forward but became very wobbly and wouldn't stop swaying; the woman had drank another two beers since they returned to the apartment and apparently was past her limit. She slammed her hand on the table and pointed at him as she attempted to say something. Maybe…
She crawled around to his side of the table and sat so close to him that her legs were against his and she grabbed his jaw to move his mouth open and close, as if she could physically instruct him on what she was saying. "That's not doing anything." The man told her.
She looked grumbly and very slowly, almost too slowly to actually understand, she spoke again. {"Yuki."}
Grimmjow frowned and pulled away slightly he felt his face heat a little more than the alcohol had made it. "Just forget that I ever said that."
She grabbed him by his jaw and repeated herself. {"Yuki."}
"Don't get any stupid ideas. It was just a slip of the tongue." He argued.
She looked displeased. {"I like Yuki."}
Grimmjow groaned in defeat. "Fine. I'll call you Yuki, now will you-"
The woman cut him off by pulling him towards her and meeting his mouth with her own. Grimmjow didn't hesitate to return the kiss with an intense hunger. His hands pulled at her head and neck until she was leaning towards him and not the other way around, then moved his hands to her thigh and knee to guide her onto his lap. She was unhesitant as sat on his legs with her own extending out behind him so that he could leave one hand there and gently ran his fingertips along the skin there while his other hand explored the expanse of skin at her hip and along the side of her abdomen, her shirt slid up as he did. Yukiko's fingers roamed through his hair and neck while the other one was slid down his back to anchor her to him.
Grimmjow released her mouth and removed his hand from her leg to pull at her shirt collar and started kissing an nipping down her neck. She cradled his head along her forearm and leaned her cheek down on the top of his hair; he could feel her body rising and falling heavily as she panted. As he worked on her neck she pulled herself further against him until their bodies were flushed against each other. He could hear every breath she took and felt himself start to harden. He guided her up until his face was level with her stomach and lifted her shirt just enough for him to nip and kiss around her naval; she clutched his head closely towards her. In a bid to test the waters he hooked a finger into her waist band and tugged a little. He felt the tell tale tensing of every muscle in her body so he turned them until she was on her back beneath him. He was starving for her body and he knew it was showing. He was starving but not deranged. "Don't start something you can't finish again. Got it?"
She looked away so he lowered himself down until he was beside her ear and slightly rubbed himself against her hip. "If you tempt me too much I can't promise you won't be stripped and fucked. I only have so much self control."
Her eyes closed slightly and her entire expression fell, she looked sad. He pushed back up a little and she rolled on her side so he got up completely. "Great, now I got this fucking thing to deal with…" Grimmjow thought irately. "I'm going to take a shower." He told her then went into the bathroom. He did actually shower but mostly used the opportunity to get himself off. His drunken hands were clumsy but he was so pent up and worked up it really didn't matter in that moment. He was out of the shower fully taken care of and actually cleaned within ten minutes. The woman was still on the floor but she was now asleep. He knelt down beside her. "Don't sleep on the floor like this."
She didn't respond so he shook her until she finally opened her eyes. "Don't sleep on the floor."
She waved him away but did actually get up. He shut off the TV and prepared the futons while she rummaged through her dresser until pajamas were pulled out. She lazily looked at him. {"Don't look."}
"I won't!" He said with a tone of offense.
She took off her clothes and he looked. He wasn't disappointed and she didn't notice. Once she was in proper sleeping clothes she crawled into the futon that he was already occupying and fell asleep almost immediately against him. He stretched his arms and legs out, slightly displacing her but fell asleep himself without really shifting around to find a more comfortable position.
By the time they woke up the sun was well into the sky and the Arrancar had only one request. "Forget the shit I did when I was drunk."
{"On one condition…"} The woman, with a severe headache responded.
He tried to intimidate her into agreeing by his own headache took the sharpness of the attempt away. "Fine. Yuki… Forget the shit I did when I was drunk."
{"Deal."} She said and turned over, away from the sunlight. Grimmjow slumped over her and they unanimously agreed to sleep through the hangover.
I didn't realize it until I was proofreading the chapter (I know it's hard to tell that I do sometimes) but the entire thing was from Grimmjow's perspective only and I think that this is the fluffiest chapter I have ever written. It was kind of fun to do and a nice break from the serious stuff that is happening, admittedly that stuff is mostly occurring in the background at the moment though. Yukiko and Grimmjow celebrating their first Christmas ever with each other felt kind of nice. Yes it's a little late in the year for a Christmas chapter but like I said, it's appropriate for the timeline in the story itself so who cares. See you all next time.
Yay Comments! (´｡• ω •｡`) :
Guest: Thanks you.
Mariana Lestrange: Thank you, sorry I don't update more frequently.
Beautiful-note2895: I don't know why, maybe it is the kindred spirit thing but every time I think of Grimmjow and Riverra interacting again after the fight it feels like it'll be a serious bromance. Snuggly Grimmjow will always be a fluff overload.
Jemstone6259: Like I said, originally Riverra wasn't intended to survive the fight but he's too precious to kill! I'll probably use him again.