Salvific: having the intent or power to save or redeem

Kurosaki Ichigo

He didn't like being the bad guy. At least, that's what he told himself. He really wasn't sure anymore what it was that brought him joy in hurting others. Was it control? Aizen stripped it from him with casual ease. The Gods stole his very soul out from under his feet. If he relished control over others, hurting and maiming, then why allow Grimmjow to do the same to him? Why enjoy it?

It was distressing, to not know which facet was true, or if they were both him, twisted and broken, flames fanned by the chorus and silence of the Gods. Thinking about it was disturbing, so he tried not to. Grimmjow was his restraint, his conscience. He thought that scared people, that an arrancar––a violent arrancar––was the only thing standing between them and oblivion. Well, that was an exaggeration, but it was becoming increasingly true. What they didn't hear was Zangetsu in his soul, whispering reassurances and shouting obscenities. He wasn't alone, not really.

Ichigo had Kugo sitting cross legged, wrapped up in la sangre. If the dark hurt him any more or less than an arrancar, Ichigo couldn't tell, but he was okay enough to shout obscenities. "If this is how you make friends, no wonder you're a fucking loner."

That kind of stung, but Kugo was a stranger, and as far as digs went, it could be worse. Ichigo reached for the necklace that lay on his chest, lifting it to study it. "Don't need new friends."

"Great," Kugo growled, "Feeling's mutual. That's mine."

"I don't sense anything."

"Cause you aren't a fullbringer. Drop it."

Ichigo studied it inside and out. The God's could "see" it, but they weren't interested. Curious. Ichigo let it slip from his fingers. It swung back down to thud against Kugo's chest, and worthless in the face of Gods or not, it seemed to reassure him. Ichigo couldn't blame him, it would make him feel better too. Ichigo said, "Take me to where the shinigami was killed."

"After this?" Kugo let out breathy laughter carried on an exhale. He shook his head. "I don't think so."

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Don't pretend you were ever going to cooperate. You were never going to show me." Kugo narrowed his eyes and held his tongue. Probably a wise choice, Ichigo didn't think he'd have the restraint for that if he were in Kugo's shoes. He hated being caught. Loathed it.

Ichigo crouched so they were at eye level, resting his elbows on his knees. Those brown eyes held him in callous disregard. He knew that look, he'd seen it many times before. This was a man with a goal, a man ready and willing to kill and use people to get what he wanted. But they were also the eyes of someone that knew loss. Only loss could harden someone like that, and set them so firmly on their path.

"I've known a lot of people with eyes like that." Ichigo looked between his eyes, wondering if it would do him any good to infiltrate his soul with die Konigin. He wasn't Quincy. Even with power in his blood, Ichigo couldn't be sure he wouldn't kill him by accident. He tightened his grip on la sangre, sinking just skin deep, and accused, "Manipulator."

Kugo paled, pain flashing in his eyes. "You don't know me, kid."

"No," Ichigo agreed. "But I know what you are."

Instead of arguing, Kugo changed his tune. "The shinigami aren't your friends."

"I know," Ichigo said. He didn't think Kugo was expecting that response, he barely had time to hide his shock. "The friends I have, I know as individuals. I'm well aware of the dangers of Seireitei. Their power is in people, not some sekiseki and a big wall. Seireitei may be gone, but I'm not stupid enough to think it's influence died with it."

"The shinigami are a plague."

"Noted," Ichigo said dryly. He turned the conversation back on Kugo. "I think you believe you're a lot smarter than you are."

Kugo's face twisted into a grimace. "You saying you're smarter than me?"

"No," Ichigo smiled to himself. "But I've killed a lot of smarter men." Kugo swayed back, and Grimmjow took a step closer. Ichigo's voice dropped in pitch. "People that thought they could trick me." He wasn't so stupid, not always. He at least knew when he was being used. Didn't mean he could stop it, but he could try.

Ichigo asked, "What do you think you want with me, Kugo?"

"Condescending prick," Kugo snarled. "I know what I want, and it's none of your business."

Ichigo reached for him. He didn't move fast, or slow, he simply wrapped his hand around his throat, and stood. He squeezed hard enough lift him, and gravity did the work for him. "I really don't like being used, Kugo." The fullbringer struggled against la sangre, but he'd have better luck tearing open a garganta with his teeth; he wasn't going anywhere.

His face turned a deep shade of red even before his feet had left the ground. La sangre was already a strain on him, adding to it was making this swift.

It was fascinating, to have the spark of a living soul in his hand. He could feel the sea of hundreds, thousands...millions of lives, but they hovered outside his focus like fog. Right here, beneath his palm, was a life. A life he could snuff out. And why shouldn't he?

"Kurosaki." Grimmjow's voice sounded strange. "You're going to kill him."

For a brief second, Ichigo considered the downside, then struggled to find one. "Maybe I want to."

Grimmjow's hand fell to his arm, brows drawn tight in stress. "Remember why you're here."

Ichigo blinked at him, then at his hand, tight on forearm. He returned his gaze to Kugo. The fullbringer gasped for air, his right eye bled red, a blood vessel staining his sclera.

Grimmjow tried again. "You told your friend you wouldn't hurt him. You lied."

He lied. Ichigo dropped Kugo. The fullbringer crumpled in a heap at his feet, chest heaving for air. Just a pinned mouse, struggling in his claws.

He lied a lot those days, what was one more life? The life of a stranger that would use him if he could.

"King, listen to koneko."

'Why?'

Ossan's voice surprised him, he was so quiet those days. "You're slipping, this isn't you."

"Isn't it?" He didn't mean to say that out loud, but it felt necessary to talk over the whispers and screams in his head.

"The God's are restless, Ichigo, and the pain may have dulled, but do not forget the monsters whose teeth have seized you."

"Monsters…" Ichigo repeated. He felt Grimmjow's eyes on him like a heavy weight, his words ringing in his head as loudly as Ossan's. He lied, and he felt nothing.

Getting his legs beneath him, Kugo looked up, his expression closer to fear than rage. He choked, "You're crazy."

He thought that should hurt to hear, but from prey, from a stranger, it meant alarmingly little. "Everyone says it," Ichigo said absently. "It must be true." He studied the fullbringer, and realized ossan was right. They were all right, this wasn't him.

Kugo expressed a desire to use him, but nothing had come of it. Would he really kill someone for nothing. So far he'd even helped him. Despite that, he didn't have it in him to apologize.

Being around a fullbringer was dangerous, the God's were out for blood and something about this man stank of prey.

Ichigo took a steady step back and said, "Believe it or not, but I kind of like you, Kugo."

"Is that supposed to make me happy?"

"No, but you should know I understand you. We're a lot alike."

Kugo stood, hand around his neck and scowled, his lip curled in disgust. "How could you possibly know? You're friend is in my bar every other weekend, your family is a few blocks west; you know nothing."

"What the fuck do you know?" Grimmjow snapped. Ichigo shot Grimmjow a look, and that was all he needed for the arrancar to back down. Ichigo said, "You think I don't understand loss. Revenge?"

Ichigo didn't expect an answer, and he didn't want to explain. He didn't think it would sway Kugo's opinion, and he didn't want to share. It was no surprise to Ichigo that the fullbringer didn't know anything about him. He'd seen him as a substitute shinigami, and no shinigami that knew his circumstances would have ever had contact with Kugo.

It was fascinating, to be face to face with someone who thought they knew him, but were struggling and doubting their own preconceptions. It was easier to see on a stranger than someone he loved, but the resemblance was there nonetheless.

Ichigo had seen that look before, many times. Often from Grimmjow.

Ichigo made a thoughtful sound in the growing silence and repeated, "We're a lot alike."

"You're nothing like him," Grimmjow hissed.

Ichigo turned to look at his conduit with a frown. That just wasn't true, but there was no sense arguing. "Take me to where the shinigami was killed, Kugo."

The fullbringer leveled him with a calculating look, then it fell through and he said bluntly, "I'm not doing that for nothing."

"Are you stupid?" Grimmjow growled. "Do you wanna die?"

Ichigo held back the very real urge to hurt the fullbringer. He paused, clenching his jaw, and hoped that pause didn't appear thoughtful. "I don't have time to fulfill your requests."

Kugo gingerly prodded his neck, winced, and said, "Then give me an I.O.U."

"Can you really trust a liar?" Ichigo asked.

"I'll take my chances," Kugo said.

Ichigo wasn't interested in entertaining that demand a anyway. "No."

Kugo swayed back, disengaging from the confrontation. "Then you'll get nothing from me."

Ichigo's hand shot out for Kugo's face, his claws digging into the side of his head. La sangre sank into his skin, and he reached for his memories like he might a hollow. Kugo screamed, and while he could feel the darkness in his soul, it told him nothing. He wasn't trying to be gentle, but it seemed a full bringer was too different from a hollow.

Frustrated, Ichigo let him go. Kugo's scream stopped short and he doubled over, panting, "What the fuck is that shit?"

Ichigo didn't feel inclined to answer. If Kugo didn't feel forthcoming, than he wouldn't be either. "What do you want, Kugo?"

The fullbringer coughed and sat back on his heels. "Kill the Gotei 13."

Ichigo snorted.

"The Soutaichou."

"No. I'm not killing anyone for you."

"Then we're done."

Ichigo frowned at him, hands clenched, and tried to think instead of lash out. "What about the truth?" Kugo's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "The shinigami called you a killer. I doubt that's what happened. Would you settle for the truth?"

"No." Kugo didn't even have to think twice.

"It's an equal exchange. You get your side of the story told, and you show me where he was killed. I never asked you to give up on revenge, that has nothing to do with me."

"Thought the shinigami were your friends? You'd just let me carry on, plotting to kill them?" His tone was a touch facetious, but he was no less serious.

"I have friends who happen to be shinigami, and I can't afford to make them an enemy again."

Kugo scoffed. "Why not? You're strong enough you could wipe them out in a heartbeat."

"That's exactly why," Ichigo answered. "Now get up, tell me where to go."

Ichigo broke his hold on la sangre and Kugo shakily stood. He put his hand out. "Shake on it."

Ichigo eyed his hand, then raised his eyes to meet Kugo's. "Are you going to trust a liar?"

"Do I have a choice?" Kugo countered.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes, still deeply uncomfortable locking himself to his own word, despite however strong he may be. He reached out and took the fullbringers hand, both of them unhappy about the compromise, but he heard once that was the telltale sign of a good deal, so maybe things had gone well. Or maybe he'd remembered wrong.

Ichigo said, "Tell me where I'm taking us."

"You're not taking me through that shit again," Kugo snarled.

"You're sturdy, you'll live."

Kugo looked unimpressed. Grimmjow goaded, "Don't be a pussy, it won't kill ya."

The look Kugo shot him was murderous, but when his attention returned to Ichigo, his voice was surprisingly steady. "Can I have my hand back?"

Ichigo tightened his grip, hard enough to grind bones together. "No."

"What is it?" Kugo demanded instead. "I can't feel a lick of reiatsu on you, but I know you have it. That shit isn't reiatsu."

"It doesn't concern you," Grimmjow growled.

Ichigo agreed, so he had nothing to add to that threat. He tightened his grip enough to make Kugo wince. "Give me a place, Kugo."

Kugo's annoyance was clear, but he seemed resigned to cooperate. "The old convenience store down by the school."

Ichigo's stomach bottomed out. He dropped Kugo's hand before he broke it, and the cause of his panic didn't go unnoticed by Grimmjow.

Ichigo turned, pulling the three of them through la sangre as he did. He stood in the middle of the road, empty and dark, and recognized it. He knew this road too well, his sisters walked to and from school by it nearly every day.

Anger didn't even begin to cover how he felt. The streetlights lining the road flickered, then burst, leaving them in true darkness. "DON'T HIDE FROM ME!" he roared. His voiced bounced back to him off of cold concrete and empty buildings and fell flat. There was no life here, no moths to dance around a light, no bugs to sing; the street was as dead as the shinigami tasked with protecting it.

But he felt the attention now. Something deeper than his awareness. His voice hadn't fallen on deaf ears. "SHINIGAMI! WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"

The breeze shifted, dragging leaves over the ground with the scrape and skid of brittle death. A wind chime hummed someplace distant then settled, and the stillness spread like fingers over the nape of his neck. "I want you, godling."

Ichigo stiffened. He didn't take the bait. There was nothing there, there was nothing and no one to face. "You can't have me," he snarled.

"That's," it sighed, it's voice a soft whisper in his ear, "a shame."

Ichigo lashed out with the full force of the God's, swarming over his skin in racing lines of shimmering dark and light and void. The voice was gone, but the presence lingered, heavy and still. It felt real, but he knew there was nothing.

Grimmjow hovered nearby in a nervous crouch. Ichigo knew he felt the threat, but he was unsure which was a bigger threat, Ichigo, or this unknown force.

Kugo was nervous, but he didn't have the same insight Grimmjow did when it came to Alteza. Ichigo left him standing in the road, suddenly beside Grimmjow. He rested his hand on the back of his neck, a gesture that both reassured the arrancar and riled him up. Ichigo called out to Kugo. "Do you feel it?"

The fullbringer was damp with nervous sweat, although it could have been due to his contact with Alteza. He licked his lips, eyes frantically searching for an enemy he couldn't see, and couldn't fight. "Yeah, I feel it."

"Where is it?" Ichigo demanded.

Kugo looked at him like he was insane, so Ichigo supplied some more encouragement. "Where?!"

"I don't know!"

"Focus!"

"Stop shouting at me!"

The wind shouldered by them all, blowing with sudden force. Buried within the chill was laughter Ichigo wasn't sure anyone else could hear.

Kugo pointed suddenly, directly at him. "Behind you."

From the terror and determination in his eyes, Ichigo didn't think he was lying. Turning, he shoved Grimmjow behind him and lashed out with Alteza. Darkness swept from the ground, through buildings and bedrooms and telephones lines like surf, dissipating into curling lines of smoke.

"It's gone," Kugo said.

Ichigo could feel that. It ran, because Ichigo knew everything he needed to know; It wanted him, it made damn sure he knew that, and it threatened his family. He was no better that a trapped animal, and it knew it. Ichigo was no threat to Shinigami, not anymore. "Fuck…"

Grimmjow straightened, rubbing the back of his neck with a wince. "What the fuck was that, Kurosaki?"

Ichigo glanced back at him, then laughed, swiping a hand over his face. "I've been played, that's what happened." Time and time again, he fell into the hands of people that wanted his power for themselves. What Shinigami wanted with him, Ichigo could only guess, but he doubted it was anything pleasant, and he wasn't into whoring out his soul for any unknown entity that crossed his path.

He might be upset, but Ichigo noticed Kugo backpedalling away. He thought he could slip away unnoticed? He'd just proven he had a skill he could utilize, and he wasn't going to put Chad into the line of fire.

Stepping into Shunpo, he grabbed Kugo by the shoulder. "Oh no, you work for me now."

"I don't have to do shit for you," Kugo snarled. He swat at the hand on his shoulder, and Ichigo forced Kugo to his knees.

"You're my canary in the coal mine, Kugo. You're not going anywhere."

"Our deal was to bring you here, and I'm not makin' and new deals with you. I want no part of this freakshow."

"That's too bad." Ichigo's voice held mock sympathy and an undercurrent of rage. He held Kugo down, and considered his options. He refused to leave his family, not when this thing could kill just by proximity alone. He also knew it fled from the God's direct influence. La sangre, das licht, and the Kugeki could harm it.

If it wanted him, why not just take him now?

"It's weak," Zangetsu supplied. "It's been skirting beneath your notice, gathering power. If it wants your soul form, it needs power enough to take it. Don't give it that chance. Hunt it down and kill it."

'I won't leave my family.'

"Whatever this fuck wants with you, your family is as good as dead if it gets you."

"Shit." Ichigo looked from the ground, to Grimmjow.

The arrancar looked more than worried, he flat out looked scared. To an outsider, the arrancar might not look so different, but Ichigo saw. A cold sweat shone on his skin, his eyes roaming over the street for an enemy that was no longer there. Facing threats with no tangible form and no way to defend himself was taking a toll. He didn't want Grimmjow to cower in fear, but at a certain point, he was nothing but kindling, and he didn't want him to catch fire.

Grimmjow asked, "Is it only going after shinigami?"

"I think so."

Grimmjow's eyes fell to Kugo and he asked, "Does it want revenge? The princess's old man sealed it away."

Revenge didn't seem like the right phrase. Maybe it felt just to Shinigami. Appropriate. But Ichigo understood why Grimmjow pointed it out. Bring the prey to him, wait for the hunter.

His senses were spread wide, conscious of the shinigami that were out of sight in living world, if not Soul Society. He was startled to discover one wasn't there. It was moving fast. "Kugo. I don't have time to argue with you. The second it's done with the shinigami, it's going to move on to other lucrative prey, and it's only getting stronger."

The fullbringer looked up, then to Grimmjow and bared his teeth in distaste. "I hate the shinigami. As far as I'm concerned, it's doing me a favor."

Grimmjow stepped up to him, crouching to get on his level. "And when those two-faced pricks are dead, who's next? Don't be a dumbass. You don't feed the monster and hope you don't get eaten."

Kugo grit his teeth, and maybe he'd already come to that conclusion, but he didn't think on it long. He reached up for Ichigo's forearm, his fingers digging in, but Ichigo still felt nothing. He pushed and growled, "Let me up, asshole."

Ichigo pushed harder, this time he dropped his reiatsu. The wind was punched out of Kugo's chest, the weight settling on Grimmjow's shoulders hard enough to make him shake. The arrancar was used to the weight, no matter the strength difference, he took the sudden power in stride.

Ichigo bent lower and threatened, "Cross me, and I will kill you. It takes effort not to, fullbringer. Don't test my patience." He straightened, lifting his hand from his shoulder along with his reiatsu. He wasn't sure how effective that threat would be, but he meant every word.

Kugo straightened,defiance in his eyes, but he was white as a sheet.

A man attacked him from above, presumably another fullbringer. Ichigo made no move to defend himself; Grimmjow moved first. Whether it was something Ichigo had done or said, it seemed to be the final straw for Kugo's fast-footed friend.

His conduit caught a sword the fullbringer materialized in his hand, wrenching it and pulling the startled fullbringer off balance. Grimmjow punched him in the face hard enough that the man lost his grip on his sword and went sliding back on the pavement. Blood poured from a broken nose, coughing on the blood that drained down the back of his throat. It didn't look like Grimmjow had broken his neck, but it was a close thing.

The arrancar tossed the sword away and sauntered up to the man. Ichigo stared at Grimmjow's back, eyes roaming over the back of his neck, across his shoulders and down to hands tensed like claws. Desire clawed up his throat and he swallowed. This arrancar was strong, he was loyal; mine.

Grimmjow held this new fullbringer down with a foot on his neck and called out, "Do I kill him?"

Ichigo looked to Kugo. The man was still shaken, but the threat of death looming over his ally's head drew a mixed response. Resignation, acceptance, rage, and a mix of things he couldn't place. Ichigo called back without looking. "No." He lowered his voice for Kugo's ears alone. "I'll let him live, Kugo, but not if he gets in my way again."

The man on the ground groaned, "Why can't I cut you?"

Grimmjow humored him with an answer. "Hierro, bitch."

Ichigo looked over Kugo again, wondering if the reason he wasn't distraught wasn't that his friend was caught, but because he'd failed. Just what it was he failed to do, Ichigo was unsure. He had an inkling that his failure had something to do with Alteza's presence in Grimmjow's soul, not his heirro. Grimmjow's place in the worlds was as disrupted as any conduit.

"Try something again," Ichigo warned, "and I'll take your sword arm." Kugo clenched his jaw and said nothing. They were wasting time with the fullbringer's pride, and Ichigo was fed up humoring it. He ordered, "Knock him out." Without preamble, he ripped the charm from Kugo's neck.

"Bastard!"

"You don't need your weapon to sniff out a monster. I'm keeping this until we're done." As he spoke, Grimmjow slammed the humans head against the pavement with controlled force. He didn't feel dead, but then if he'd fucked up and killed him on accident, Ichigo didn't think he'd lose sleep over it.

"Don't trust me?" Kugo sneered.

"No more than you trust me," Ichigo answered. He called over to Grimmjow. "Turn him on his side so he doesn't drown."

Grimmjow scoffed in annoyance, shoving the fullbringer to his stomach with a callous kick to the shoulder. Ichigo couldn't chide him for being rough, if he'd reacted first, he might have just killed him and been done with it. He had to remind himself, killing didn't win him any friends. Kugo might despise him, but killing his allies wouldn't make it better.

"Hold your breath," Ichigo warned. He tugged them through la sangre again, this time to his father's house. From the tally in his mind, he was down three shinigami. Their lives were slipping away quickly, it set his teeth on edge. Kugo stopped trying to stand and sat heavily in the street in front of their house. He looked more than ill, if he threw up, Ichigo wouldn't blame him.

Ichigo turned to Grimmjow, fisting his hand in his jacket to yank him into a kiss. He didn't think about it, he couldn't. He smelled his fear and the cold of night in his skin and he pulled him closer, claws raking across his back. Grimmjow reacted to his touch with so much aggression, the press of his tongue to sharp canine's was all too visceral and real. He let it burn into his memory, leaning back from his conduit before he lost his nerve or tore him apart.

He traced the estigma beneath his eye with the pad of his thumb, his arrancar's eyes blazing with rage. "Don't you dare leave me with children."

"You're not coming with me," Ichigo said. He spoke it like an order, but he couldn't keep the pain off his face. Leaving him was a risk. Bringing him was a risk. There was no option short of sitting on his hands that wouldn't be a risk to the people he loved.

Grimmjow's hand shot up to grasp his arm before he could pull away. "Fuck you, you're not leaving me here."

Ichigo held onto the words, thoughtful, then spoke them as a gentle request. "Protect my family."

Grimmjow shook his head and growled, "That's not fair, Kurosaki. Don't you put that on me."

"I trust you."

"Goddammit," Grimmjow whispered. "Goddamn you."

Worry curdled in his heart, his instincts cringing back from leaving him and his family out of sight. He drew his hand back from Grimmjow's cheek, and he throat tightened. He couldn't say it, so he didn't try.

Ichigo snapped his fingers, a dome of la sangre spreading around his family home, around the 3 people in the world he cared about the most, and he left.

-xxx-

Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez

That bastard just left. He left him there in a dome of darkness and he didn't know if he would come back.

"Shoulda known you were his bitch."

The words sank into an open wound like salt. Grimmjow didn't think twice before he'd thrown Ginjou down, ramming his fist into his face again, again, again––there was a lot of blood but it wasn't enough. Ichigo left.

A hand caught his wrist and he whirled with a shout of rage. He was stopped short, strong arms holding him in place. Grimmjow's eyes widened. Isshin. Not a threat.

Kurosaki's father held an expression he didn't recognize, but it was intense. Isshin's grip on his arms was strong, stronger than him outside of resurrection. Grimmjow's arms shook, trembling in exertion. Isshin's voice was steady, it sort of reminded him of Ichigo. "Relax, arrancar, you're not killing anyone on my front step where my girls can see."

Chest heaving, Grimmjow realized there were 2 pairs of eyes on him. He looked over at Ichigo's sisters, and instead of horror, they looked deeply sad. Why the fuck would they look at him like that? It made him angry, but it also made him cringe back. It was like they saw more than he wanted, like they didn't judge him for breaking the face of some stranger in their front yard.

Kurosaki would never forgive him if they had to see that, and he still needed Ginjou. Grimmjow suddenly turned back to the fullbringer, and for some reason Isshin let him go. He shook him by the jacket. "Hey, don't die, you asshole!"

The fullbringer groaned, but was nearly unresponsive. Isshin rested his hand on his shoulder. "Stop. Reiatsu or not, you hit him hard enough to rattle a wildebeest. Tell me what's going on."

Grimmjow abruptly stood, staring wide-eyed down at the fullbringer. He smeared the blood that had splattered his face with the back of his hand. He probably only made it worse by doing that. More than how terrible it probably looked to Kurosaki's sisters, it disgusted him whose blood it was. He fought to find the words to explain, looking from the dark dome surrounding them, to the concerned shinigami...father, standing before him. "Something wants your son, and it's eating a whole lot of shinigami to get powerful enough to do it."

Isshin's eyes narrowed and he looked up at their inky prison. "This is my son's doing?"

"Yes." Grimmjow turned and walked up to the dome, reaching for it tentatively. It didn't snap to devour him, it behaved like a fluid wall beneath his palm. It flowed over his skin in pulsing ripples, hungrily accepting the blood drying on his hands and face. He leaned back before it could get overzealous, already missing that faint connection with Ichigo. His will was in that wall, his need and desire to protect shaping a thing with no real will of its own.

Despite all that, it confirmed what he already assumed; they were stuck.

"Who's the stranger?" Isshin asked.

"Kugo. A fullbringer."

"Why is he in here with us?"

"He can sense the Big Bad," Grimmjow answered.

"And he's unconscious," Isshin said flatly. He sighed. "Help me get him in the house."

Grimmjow glowered down at Kugo, clenching and unclenching his fists. When Grimmjow didn't move to help, Isshin crouched down before Kugo and snapped his fingers in front of his face. "How many fingers?" He held up two.

Kugo groaned, "Four? Five...I don't know."

Isshin frowned across at Grimmjow. "So how do we fight this Big Bad?"

Grimmjow realized he was restlessly turning in circles, so he willfully stopped. He looked over at the girls, and briefly considered not answering. He didn't think Kurosaki would have. "We don't."

"So why bother with the Big Bad radar?" Isshin asked.

Grimmjow blinked at him. That was a good question. He reached into his pocket, fingering that small token of la sangre. He ran his thumb over the cool surface, one that never grew warm, no matter how much he held it. The cold sank through flesh, down to his bones, but he'd gotten used to it. He hadn't needed it in a long time. Ichigo said he didn't think he would be able to use it outside of Hueco Mundo. But he could try. "To buy time," he finally answered.

There was very little any of them would be able to do against a God, or whatever this thing was, that the Gods turned to it with so much aggression he barely recognized Kurosaki. Protect my family.

"Fuck you, Kurosaki," Grimmjow whispered. He turned to Kugo and lifted his shoulders. Isshin didn't waste those few seconds of charity, he lifted his legs and they got him into the house on a metal table. It smelled like sterilizers and stainless steel. He kind of hated it.

The girls stared at him in thoughtful silence from the doorway; Karin looked stubbornly determined, and Yuzu seemed to be on the verge of tears. He wondered if they saw that kiss. Maybe they had, maybe they disapproved. Whatever.

He sat on a metal folding chair while Isshin did his Kidou thing to Ginjou's face. It occured to Grimmjow that Isshin was dressed as a shinigami. His body must be somewhere nearby, but he had yet to see it. He didn't really care; he was worried.

Think about something else.

He lifted his hand to the back of his neck, rubbing tense muscles. Ichigo was gone. He was gone. Gone. He left. Why was he so scared?

He was startled by the appearance of feet in his peripheral. He looked up, and found himself less than a foot from the girl. Yuzu looked nervous, but not enough to back down from whatever mission she was on. "You have that look my brother gets."

Grimmjow scowled at her. "What look?"

"When he feels helpless, or scared."

"I ain't scared," Grimmjow snapped.

She didn't flinch or back down, she only smiled. She had eyes like Kurosaki used to have, but he'd never seen such a soft expression on his face before. Now he had the cold eyes of a predator, the unblinking stare of something unfamiliar and different. Now Grimmjow understood Kurosaki's pain. He thought he did, but now he knew. This is what he lost; Kindness.

Grimmjow lurched to his feet, pushing past the girl to go outside. It was suddenly too cramped, too real. Isshin shouted at his back, but he was too eager to ignore the shinigami. He wouldn't leave Kugo alone with his girls, he needed space.

"Oi, arrancar!"

"Fuck off!"

Karin glared at him, unconcerned by the bite in his tone and the violence in his posture. "You won't hurt me."

"You don't know that, kid."

Her determination set her jaw and she paced up to him without fear. "I do. I saw."

Grimmjow shifted, uncomfortable. "Doesn't mean shit."

"It does! Are you scared for him?"

Grimmjow broke. "Aren't you?! You stupid little runt!" He shouted, but he didn't dare raise a hand.

That didn't stop Karin. She swat at his chest. "Of course I am! What good does it do to cry or panic?"

Grimmjow took a step back. He wasn't expecting that response. It was about as well articulated as an answer he might get from Kurosaki, but it was no less true.

She carried on when he remained silent. "He asked you to protect us, didn't he?" Grimmjow glared, but held his tongue. "Of course he did, that sounds like exactly the kind of shit my brother would do."

Again, not what he'd expected, she almost sounded angry. She asked, "What are you scared of, Grimmjow?" He still said nothing, but this little brat looked like she knew. "Are you scared you'll fail, you'll let him down, that he'll hate you?"

"What makes you think I give a shit about you?!"

"Because you're scared! People are only scared when they have something to lose. You're not worried about yourself."

"How the fuck do you know that?"

"Yuzu told you. You have the same look he does."

Looking back to the dark dome that trapped them, Grimmjow knew in his gut what she meant, but he asked anyway. "What look, kid?"

Her expression softened with her tone, but Grimmjow didn't think it was for him, it was for her brother. "Like you're ready to throw your life away."

Grimmjow chest tightened, and he had to wonder why. Did it hurt to be called out? Or because he hadn't realized. He fingered the medallion in his pocket. Pantera. "Shut up, kid."

She gave him a steady look, then sat down on the front stoop. He wanted to tell her to go away, but that was stupid, it was her house. So he was left with an audience for his thoughts. He kept his back to her and focused on his thin bond with Kurosaki. He was alive. Scared and stressed and angry… so angry. God he was powerful. The ocean of his power burned like a sun in his senses. He wanted to track his movements, but it was painful, so he stopped. And he was left in ignorance.

Kugo spoke from behind him. "Pretty shitty to beat up an unarmed man."

"Fuck you."

"Pretty sure you're fucking Kurosaki."

Grimmjow spun, but Isshin caught his fist before he could make contact. Fuck, he hadn't even known he was there. Grimmjow stared with wide eyes; the man was a master at concealing his reiatsu. Isshin tightened his hand on his fist until it hurt and warned, "Please don't threaten our Big Bad radar. And you, Ginjou, don't taunt the arrancar. You're just asking for it, and frankly, I'm tempted to let him do it."

Instead of starting a fight with Kurosaki's father over a stupid insult, Grimmjow pulled his fist back, rocking back on his heels. This rage wasn't all his, some of it spilled over from Kurosaki, some of it boiled in his subconscious like black blood, but the core of it was his. Taunted over something he couldn't have, hurt, and lashing out only made it more obvious.

"Christ, you're easy to rile up," Kugo scoffed. He sat on the front step, lifting his fingers to his temple to nurse what must be a monster headache. Good, he deserved it. "What's the freak doing?"

Grimmjow shot him a glare shared between Yuzu, Isshin and Karin, and answered stiffly, "Fighting. So if you sense that thing from before, tell me, or we're all dead."

"From what I remember," Kugo drawled, "You didn't do shit when it showed up before."

"Neither did you," Grimmjow shot back.

"So what's an arrancar going to do to a monster?" Kugo made a thoughtful sound, pretending to consider it. "Yeah that's right, nothing."

Yuzu snapped, "Why are you so negative?"

"Cause I'm old," Kugo answered.

"You're not old, you're just weak," Karin whined.

Kugo frowned. "I'm not arguing with a little girl."

"I'm in middle school!"

Kugo gave her a flat stare. "If I winked at you I'd go to jail; you're a little girl."

"Okaaaaayyy," Isshin interrupted, "That's enough of that." He changed the subject instead, thank the powers that be. "What do people outside this bubble see?"

"Nothing," Grimmjow answered. "They just carry on, walking around as if it doesn't exist. Humans don't have such shitty instincts after all."

Karin crossed her arms and leaned on the house. "Did I hear a compliment?"

"Don't get a big head," Grimmjow snapped.

The silence stretched, the air in their bubble eerily still. Grimmjow could still hear the mutterings and whispers of Alteza, but as Kurosaki had warned, eventually it faded into white noise, he hardly noticed it anymore. Isshin broke that silence. "So...you and my son-"

"Don't finish that sentence," Grimmjow hissed. He could feel their questions weighing down the silence, but he didn't have answers for them. He didn't know what they were. They weren't friends; he wasn't a subordinate, a servant, or even a lover. All he knew was that Kurosaki was his whole world.

And Kurosaki's family was everything to him. Everything. He wasn't sure where he squared off when it came to his sisters, but he had a feeling Kurosaki would choose them. He would choose them too. He'd seen the absolute despair on Kurosaki's face when he woke from a nightmare with the fear his sisters were long dead.

Fuck him for piling so much responsibility onto his shoulders. He'd never asked for this. Kurosaki's sanity was in the palm of his hand. How easy it would be to shatter it. But he was unbelievably selfish. He wanted Kurosaki for himself, but at the end of the day, there was nothing left for him.

Fuck him for thinking he would let his sisters die.

"Kugo," Grimmjow said.

"What?"

Kurosaki's desperation set off warning bells in his head. "Be ready."

-xxx-

Kurosaki Ichigo

Dragging every shinigami he knew of through the Kugeki to the middle of nowhere was a bit complicated. What was difficult was corralling something intangible and smart, that didn't want to be corralled without letting it kill anyone. He was still stronger than Shinigami, he could feel it in his gut. He applied pressure, and its weary bones creaked. Just a little harder and they would fracture and shatter.

He thought he hated die Konigin, Alteza...but these Gods and their hosts had never sought out his family in the hopes to use him. He hated this monster in the same way he'd hated Aizen. He wanted to tear its grinning jaw from its face and grind its bones into dust.

He fought around his cluster of bait. Over fifty shinigami, bound and cowering. If any of them lived, he'd apologize. Like death, Shinigami had marked them, it wanted them next, but fuck if it couldn't have them. Its very presence killed the grass, the trees, even the stones. There was something markedly absent in the air, the very life of that world sucked dry.

It slipped in and out of reality, in a space Ichigo wasn't sure he could follow, its skeletal form rippling like a mirage. He realized the shinigami could see it now. He didn't know why, but he couldn't spare the thought to care.

He'd never fought something so silent. Beneath the insanity of the Gods, there was nothing but the wind, and the ring of pure silence in his ears.

It laughed as if it wasn't trapped, and if he wasn't so close to ripping it apart with his bare hands.

It dropped its jaw in a sickly smile, collapsing again into dust beneath his sword. The dust went through him. He felt it, he felt too much. Ichigo went rigid, his body refusing to respond. He fell to his knees, the Gods devouring what little pieces of Shinigami that passed through his soul. His cage crumbled, for those few seconds. That fucker sacrificed a huge chuck of its being to surprise him, to overwhelm him with power and the God's own need to consume and destroy.

Why would it do that? Sacrifice all its gathered power for what? A few seconds headstart.

It disappeared, fleeing into a void.

No.

Ichigo knew where it went. He felt it hit against his weakened barrier around his family, he felt it break through, and his body wouldn't MOVE. MOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVE.

The God's grip on his body loosened, his hand tightened on his sword, and he was gone.

He staggered from la sangre, eyes wide in panic. For a split second, he wasn't sure what he was looking at. Grimmjow had his arm extended, he was using la sangre. It spilled from his skin like he was bleeding out, feeding off his own blood. It physically shredded him, but he used it, he was their shield, and Shinigami couldn't reach them. Its bony fingers scraped along the tiny dome Grimmjow had made, a monster prodding for weakness. Ichigo threw his hand out, taking control from Grimmjow, and it shattered that suspended moment.

Shinigami exploded into dust, slamming into Grimmjow's chest like a crashing wave. It sank into his skin, a silent poison, and Grimmjow's legs buckled.

Ichigo caught Grimmjow before his knees could strike concrete, calling on every drop of la sangre in his conduit's body and found something else. Shinigami.

Dread settled in his gut, a pain that squeezed his heart and made it hard to breathe. He gripped Grimmjow's head, drawing on all of Alteza to force Shinigami out. He dropped his forehead to Grimmjow's and hissed, "Get out, get out, get out…" He dug his claws into his head, anything to illicit a reaction, but there was nothing. Grimmjow was weak, his arms were shredded from la sangre, his eyes were closed and his body was limp, but his muscles twitched and spasmed as Shinigami invaded his soul.

This wasn't supposed to happen.

Without warning, Grimmjow grabbed the back of his neck and Ichigo gasped in shock. The voice that met his ears was familiar, but the words and inflection were twisted. "Kill me now, godling. This cluster of souls and sorrow is mine, mine––mine-mine." It laughed, and Ichigo jerked back, staring down into blue eyes he didn't recognize. Shinigami laughed harder, stealing Grimmjow's voice. It grew quieter, a whisper shared between them. "I am a plague in the minds of Gods, feasting on their precious children."

Ichigo's hand tightened on Grimmjow's throat, cutting off his air. The Shinigami didn't react like a Soul should, it just smiled at him, freakishly wide, stretching Grimmjow's face into a mockery of real joy. Ichigo screamed, "GET OUT!"

That manic smile only widened. It was goading him, it knew he wouldn't kill him. It fucking knew.

"Kill him, King."

His breath burned in his chest. 'I can't.'

"Don't let him be this monster's plaything."

Ichigo trembled and la sangre swarmed around him like wildfire.

"KILL HIM!"

"KING!"

Cold reality sunk into his skin and filled him with terror. He'd lost Grimmjow. He was right there beneath his hands, those were his eyes, his smile, but it wasn't him.

He was gone, locked in his own soul.

Panic drew a gutted sound from his chest. He felt him, he felt his soul, but it was stained with poison that he couldn't purge. He would kill him if he tried to separate them, either by his own hands, or with Alteza. He belonged to Shinigami.

Ichigo let go with shaking hands and Shinigami rasped the words through a ruined throat. "He thinks you're weak. He wants you to kill him. Do it. Do it, Kurosaki." Ichigo recoiled, his gut twisting. He remembered what it was like to see his lifeless corpse. He couldn't do it. He couldn't.

Shinigami shoved him off and forced Grimmjow to stand, blood oozing from the injuries on his arms. It didn't react to the pain, smiling down at him. "Young hosts are so easy to fool. Too many attachments, so many wasted emotions."

It lifted Grimmjow's left hand and purred, "Stand in my way," He broke a finger with a wet crunch, and Ichigo flinched, jolted by the suddenness of it. Grimmjow felt that pain, Ichigo knew he felt it. He broke another. "I'll kill the hollow." He broke a third finger and twisted. "And it won't be swift."

Ichigo lunged from where he kneeled, catching his wrist. "Stop."

Shinigami smiled and pulled the broken hand from his grasp, waving with broken, mangled fingers. "Remember this, godling." It leaned in close enough to kiss and Ichigo grimaced, rocking back. Its voice just as soft and tantalizing as Grimmjow's, but perversely twisted. "You are weak."

Shinigami turned away, and Ichigo got one look at the back of Grimmjow's head. They rippled away in a mirage, gone to a place he couldn't go. He could still sense Grimmjow's soul, like a pinned butterfly. That fire he loved so much was no longer free.

He was gone.

Ichigo stared where they'd been, his breath caught in his throat. He felt...lost.

He stared into the space he'd been and the Gods writhed like snakes in his soul, eager to kill this parasite when it was so weak, but Ichigo didn't move. He'd made a mistake, he'd failed. And Grimmjow was the one paying for it. Again.

Movement caught his attention, and his eyes snapped to his father's, carefully invading his space.

"Ichigo?"

The demigod sucked in a fragile, painful breath.

He ran.

Believe it or not, but I actually like Kugo, this isn't Kugo bashing, I promise. Ichigo is just...upset. As if you read all that to hear about Kugo. Don't hate me.