Chapter 2:- The Predator

A few days have passed ever since the incident that took place, and currently the trio is on their way to school. Ichigo carrying his bag over his shoulder, Uryu walking professionally as always, and the familiar ginger girl jogging with a slice of bread in her mouth. As they eventually carried on their way, the three of them crossed their paths where the three streets met.

"Oh, it looks like we crossed paths, huh?" Ichigo speaks, glancing at both of them, "Kurosaki." He speaks while shifting his glasses while Orihime finally swallows it and speaks, "Oh, hello, Kurosaki kun and Uryu san. I guess we are going to go together today," she says with a sweet smile. They all then go together, heading towards the school; however, they haven't noticed an ominous presence at a distance spying upon them with a wide grin plastered on the mysterious person's face.

The hours passed by as the trio went on with their day at the school, and as the day set for noon, they left the institution ready to get back to the comfort of their homes. "*Yawn* Hey Uryu, can I ask you something?" Uryu looks at him with a curious eye, wondering what he wanted to know: "Go ahead," "How do you tend to be so focused in class and not helping blacking out?" At this point, Uryu was irritated, as if he had asked such a stupid question. "Perhaps you might have to consider taking a brain scan for your lack of attention," he stings at Ichigo, who rolls his eyes at his remark, while Orihime quietly chuckles besides him.

"Listen, not everyone is as much of a bookworm as you." "That's why they lack common sense," he replies to Ichigo with a witty remark, which yet again irritates Ichigo a little bit due to his unfriendly attitude as always. Suddenly the trio felt a heavy presence nearby; it was like something heavy was being pressed upon their shoulders. They instantly glanced upon the source of such intense pressure and saw an unknown person sitting on the edge of a rooftop of a 4-story building.

He laughs in a cocky manner, "So you three brats are the so-called protectors, huh? I was expecting something... scarier." The grin becomes wider as if enjoying the look of anxiety and fear in their eyes. Ichigo immediately yells, "Who the hell are you?" All three take a cautious stance because he definitely looks like a threat. He gets amused and lets out a laugh again. "Well, well, guess I will introduce myself then." He stands and sticks his sword under him, after which he stands on the hilt of it as it slides down the building while cutting it, leaving a trail of dust as he descends towards the ground.

He finally lands and sheaths his sword back, keeping his two hands in his pocket, still having that ominous grin, "I am the 5th Espada GRIMMMJOWW!". He sheaths his sword back and stares at the trio with a cocky grin. "What? Too afraid to make a move, huh?" He teases them. Ichigo clenches the hilt of the zanpakuto, getting ready to defend if he takes action against them.

Grimmjow gives a one last grin before dashing towards the group. Uryu immediately shoots an arrow that was missed due to Grimmjow's speed. As soon as he reached the group, he punched Ichigo in the stomach, sending him flying against the wall behind them. The other two immediately back away, but Orihime looks at Ichigo and says, "Kurosaki kun, are you alright?".

Ichigo pants after he leans away from the broken wall and speaks a whimpered 'yeah' in response. Uryu, on the other hand, immediately shoots an arrow, which he dodges by slightly moving his head. "Looks like you are next, quincy." He yet again sprints towards Uryu, and seeing that, he also starts to slide away using his quincy technique.

Ichigo looks at Orihime. "*pants* C'mon, let's go, Orihime. That guy is in danger. I don't know what he will do to Uryu." She nods along with him, and they both chase Grimmjow. Meanwhile, as Uryu keeps on shooting his arrows in desperation as he keeps sliding backwards while facing Grimmjow, which are being dodged easily by him, "Heh, do you think such weak weaponry will hurt me? It's like I am fighting an inexperienced rookie." Grimmjow starts to apply more spiritual energy to his legs, which increases his pace, and he immediately runs besides Uryu.

Uryu gets panicked, but before he could react, Grimmjow grins and gives a kick to his side, throwing him into the abandoned house nearby. Grimmjow stops and stretches his shoulders before going through the broken wall and glances at the sight of Uryu on the floor with an injured shoulder. However, he still aims his arrow at him. "*sigh* Are you deaf? How many times do I have to say that your weak ass arrows won't do a thing to my body, so save yourself the energy and let me just end your life here, don't you?".

Grimmjow slowly walks towards him, getting near every second and savoring the face of fear on Uryu, but suddenly he feels the presence of Ichigo behind him, and he immediately retreats away from the incoming swing of the blade. "Aww, trying to protect your little friend Shinigami?" Ichigo keeps on swinging his blade while Grimmjow plays around, stepping away from each swing, which angers and irritates Ichigo more. "I have never seen such an unskilled fighter in my life," Grimmjow speaks with a mocking tone.

Ichigo had enough and swings vertically at him, which was again avoided by Grimmjow, but as it lands on the floor, he steps his foot on the blade, making him unable to lift it back up. Grimmjow then punches his face, which makes him stumble back. "Heh, do you want to know something, Shinigami?" I am not even using my full power on you because if I did, your head would have been blown off just by a single punch." Ichigo winces in pain with blood dripping out of his nose.

He then gives another punch to his abdomen, which makes him arch his back in response. As Orihime gets near the house, she suddenly sees Ichigo being thrown out of the house across the street into another structure besides the house. Grimmjow walks out menacingly towards Ichigo, who was now unconscious due to the damage he took. After towering above him, he lifts his foot up, ready to stomp his face, but is suddenly stopped by Inoue's shield blocking it, which brings his attention to her.

"So you must be that Fullbringer girl, huh? Hehehe~ guess I have got another victim to create." He then dashes towards her but is again stopped by her shield blocking his path. He clicks his tongue due to the irritation and instead punches the shield, which reflects back onto him. He gets confused but yet again tries to punch even harder, after which the pressure is reflected back onto him, which pushes him back.

"Hmmm, so the shield basically reflects my power, so it's like an offensive defense." The thoughts swirl around in his mind. "Heh, not bad for a weak girl, but it isn't enough." His grin returns as instead of attacking, he stands back and aims his palm at it, which confuses Orihime.

A sudden blue orb appears in his palm, and immediately a large blue ray blasts towards the shield. The pressure gets stronger, but she tries to hold it telepathically; however, cracks start to appear, and it shatters, knocking her away due to the force of the blast. He then steps towards her. "Your shield has a great ability, however, it is limited, and now you lay there whimpering in pain," he grins at her before kicking her further.

He gets closer again and stomps on her, which makes her wince in pain, and he savors in her agony; however, it was cut short as he instinctively barely dodged a piece of ice, which gave him a cut on his shoulder. He observes the new figure who just arrived. "Get away from her this instant!" Rukia holds her zanpakuto with a stern glare at him.

"Who are you?" he asks with a scoff. "Who are you to demand that?" she gives an antagonistic reply to which he just chuckles. He then rushes towards her, preparing to punch her; however, he stops himself before getting too close as he observes ice forming below her. He steps back and starts to observe her; however, she instantly moves forward and swings towards him, which creates a trail of ice coming towards him. "So she has ice abilities," he thinks to himself, but he doesn't realize that ice had already reached him and was covering his body.

He immediately became alert and tried to break it off but was too late as it covered his whole body from top to bottom. The whole surface under then was frozen, and he was turned into ice. She immediately heads off towards Orihime to make sure she was alright. She gets close and looks at her injured body. "Hey Orihime, are you ok?" However, as soon as she finished her sentence, there was a blast where Grimmjow was trapped. She put up her guard again and sees Grimmjow free. "How did you escape?".

He grins and answers, "Easy, I just used Cero while stationary to destroy the ice." He then takes out his sword from the sheath, glaring at her like a prey. She then takes her defensive stance as he charges at her. They finally clash, and she is moved back a bit, but she retaliates by backing away. He swings at her, which she deflects and aims for his torso, which was blocked by his foot. He aims for her neck, but she moves back and instead swings the blade with her ice powers, which builds a wall of ice from the ground; however, it was cut easily by him.

He keeps giving her barrages of swings, overwhelming her and putting her on defense. As they clash once again, she touches his forearm, which freezes it, so he immediately pulls back and cuts off the ice. He then aimed his palm at her, and she immediately figured out what he was about to do, and as soon as she put up an ice wall, the cero blast was shot towards her, which knocked her further back, but due to the wall, the impact was lessened.

She immediately recovers, and although a lot of her energy was spent, she takes her stance again, ready for whatever attack he throws at her next. He grins, but as he takes another step, he immediately stops after sensing a presence behind him. "What do you think you are doing, Grimmjow?" Ulquiorra asks him with a stern voice. Grimmjow turns back and glares at him. "What the hell are you doing here?".

"I have been sent to bring you back from causing any reckless havoc that you seem to have committed as expected," he glances at the sight of destruction behind him. "Stay out of this, Ulquiorra." Ulquiorra speaks with a balnk expression. "You do know the consequences of this, right? Lord Aizen dislikes disobedience, and if you go further, there might be dire consequences." Grimmjow clenches his fist for a moment, but let's let it go while Ulquiorra opens up a garganta for them to walk through.

Rukia didn't understand what just occurred but was slightly relieved that they were gone; now she was safe and immediately tended after her fallen friends. Meanwhile, the duo arrive back in Hueco Mundo. Grimmjow glares at the retreating back of Ulquiorra and goes for a punch, which was caught by Ulquiorra. "Don't overestimate yourself, Grimmjow," he gives him a blank stare, and Grimmjow accepts defeat, still furious deep down. "Lord Aizen has also requested your presence in his private chambers," he gives him one last glance before walking away, leaving Grimmjow alone.

After he disappeared out of his sight out of sheer frustration, Grimmjow punched the wall and cracked it, "Dammit!" He then heads towards Aizen's private chambers as Ulquiorra told him to.

The trio were currently laid in beds as captain Unohana was tending to their wounds using her medical expertise. "How are they, Unohana san?" Unohana replies back to her in her usual soothing tone, "Don't worry, they will be recovered within a few hours." Rukia sighs in relief as she looks at her unconscious friends. Unohana speaks up again. "So you say you encountered a strange and powerful individual?" "Yes, it seems he was able to use cero as well." Unohana's eyes widen for a moment. "I see. Well, we can get a clear report after they wake up, but for now, take a rest." Rukia nods back at her as Unohana leaves the medical room.

As she walks down the hallways of her division, she ponders, "Looks like we have crossed paths with a new enemy.".

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