What if…

Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo, I only own this fanfiction.

Chapter 11: Reunion

Lilynette was walking around Las Noches looking for Gin. She had decided not to join Stark on her own accord, with hopes that he would actually try to socialize more and not sleep all day. She on the other hand, along with Gin, would try to snoop around the fraccions private lives. It seemed equally amusing in Lilynette's mind and Gin had agreed.

On her way to Gin's room Lilynette came across Apachi and Mila Rose. They were arguing about something and Lilynette decided to eavesdrop to find out about what. She hid behind a wall and observed.

"I can't believe her!", screamed Apachi. "Who on their right mind would hang out with Nnoitra's dog?!"

Mila Rose shook her head. "Honestly, since lady Harribel is ok with it I don't see an issue with it. Stop acting like it matters to you Apachi, unless you are jealous."

"Jealous my ass! I couldn't care less about who she wants to bed but Nnoitra should be off limits."

"You idiot, it isn't Nnoitra."

"It's like it is him if it is his dog, you buffoon!"

"Screw you, you bitch!"

Lilynette stopped listening after that because the two girls just kept on shouting insults at each other without having any context anymore. "What was that all about?", she mumbled to herself.

"They are arguing about Sung Sun's love life.", said a voice from next to her.

Lilynette jumped in surprise as she saw Gin standing next to her. "Gah! You scared me, you idiot! I was coming to get you!"

Gin chuckled. "I was aware you were coming, so I came to get you myself."

Lilynette sweatdropped, not really getting his logic. Gin's smile widened a little, much to her discomfort. "Shall we go spy on Sung Sun and Tesla then?", he asked.

Lilynette smirked back. "Hell yeah! I wanna know what's going on as well. These two didn't specify and now I'm curious."

Gin snickered. "Let's go see then."

It didn't take them long to find Sung Sun and Tesla, not very far from where Tesla's quarters were, close to Nnoitra's. Tesla seemed nervous, while Sung Sun seemed like her usual self, covering her mouth with her sleeve as per usual. "Damn it! I can barely hear what they're saying.", whispered Lilynette.

"Yeah, but we can't go any closer or else they'll see us.", answered Gin.

Tesla was mumbling something about poetry from what Lilynette could hear, but she couldn't understand whether he wrote a poem or whether he hated one. Or maybe it was both she guessed. Sung Sun said something that Lilynette didn't catch at all, but Tesla turned red at that and looked away.

Suddenly Sung Sun held his hand and tip toed next to him, whispering something to Tesla that made him even redder. Tesla started mumbling incoherently. "I-I-I-I…"

Sung Sun giggled and pulled him towards his room, saying something about seeing another anaconda if she were lucky and Tesla turning even redder if that was possible.

Lilynette frowned. "I barely heard anything. And what was that about another anaconda? Where did Sung Sun find that?"

Gin burst out laughing much to her annoyance. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing really… It's nice to see someone still retaining their innocence in this weird world.", he said in a genuine way.

Lilynette didn't really get what he meant but she didn't let that stop her from wanting to continue her spying. "Should we try to follow them?"

Gin flinched at that. "Believe me, it's better that we don't. Maybe we should go check on Pesche and Dondochaka."

Lilynette pouted for a moment before sighing and moving towards Nelliel's quarters. It didn't take them long to come across both Pesche and Dondochaka, the two of them actually being serious for once. "I don't like that Nel is with this bastard.", said Dondochaka.

Pesche sighed. "Me neither, but for some weird reason I don't think he is going to harm her."

Dondochaka looked at his companion curiously. "What's going on between them, Pesche? You've noticed it too, haven't you?"

Pesche shook his head. "I'm not sure, but I don't like it. The bastard acts like he needs to protect her because he wants to fight her when she turns back to normal, but… Why does he agree on spending time with her?"

"It's weird. And worst of all, Nel wants to spend time with him too, even when she is an adult!"

"We need to make certain he won't hurt her again. I suppose that now that they are together without us, he will prove that he can protect her."

Dondochaka suddenly looked at him with an accusing look. "You believe that he has changed, don't you?"

Pesche sighed. "I… do. I mean, I still hate his guts, but he definitely has grown softer when it comes to Nel. He did try to apologize to me as well."

Dondochaka scoffed. "Better late than never, huh? I don't believe he has changed, Pesche. Maybe he is pretending so that he can kill Nel more easily."

Pesche sighed. "Maybe… But then again, why hasn't he killed her yet?"

"Because he wants to fight her on her full strength or something! I don't know with this guy it could really be anything!"

Pesche looked away and then he left. Dondochaka shook his head and went the other way. Lilynette pouted. This time she knew the context. "I don't get why they can't simply accept that Nnoitra actually like Nelliel."

Gin smiled sympathetically at her. "You weren't here yet when he attacked her so you don't know the details. He brutally attacked those two and ripped off their masks."

Lilynette looked down. "I know, but… Still! Even a blind man could tell that Nnoitra has changed for the better!"

Gin looked up thoughtfully. "Such a pity Tousen is dead so that we can't confirm this."

They stared at each other for a moment before bursting out laughing. "Okay, that was a good one.", said Lilynette.

Gin chuckled. "I suppose we know what everyone is up to now. Shall we go rummage the kitchen for something good?"

Lilynette beamed at him. "Hell yeah!"

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Orihime was lying on her bed with Nel next to her on a sleeping bag. Harribel was taking a bath and soon she would join them. Nel looked at Orihime and with the way her eyes were shining, Orihime was certain she was talking to child Nel.

"Can Nel ask you a question about an issue she is having?", asked the other woman innocently.

Orihime blinked at her and smiled. "Of course."

Nel looked up the ceiling. "Nnoitra has been nice to Nel this past year… And Nel… feels something about him."

Orihime sat up and looked at Nel intrigued. "Like what?"

"Nel… Nel thinks it's attraction… But isn't it wrong for Nel to be attracted to him?"

Orihime's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, my…" She then noticed Nel's pessimistic look and smiled at her. "It isn't a bad thing. I mean, he isn't my type, but he sure can be viewed as an attractive man… I think…" She chuckled nervously at that. "But what matters is how he makes you feel when it's just the two of you. Does he make you feel secure, happy?"

Nel nodded hesitantly. "He always tries to protect Nel in a way like trying to apologize for what he did back then. And he is more open with Nel. He is much more talkative."

Orihime smiled at her. "It does look like he is trying his best to make things right between you two. And as an outsider, I do believe he has become more caring about you. So I say, you shouldn't be ashamed about feeling attracted to him. Relationships can change and people can change as well." At that Orihime smiled sadly.

Nel stared at her surprised. "Your relationship with Ichigo and the guys…"

Orihime sighed. "They all have other stuff to worry about. And I am also at fault for not spending more time with them. I just feel a little sad about it."

Nel nodded and patted her shoulder. "Don't worry. We are here now and you have Ulquiorra as well."

Orihime smiled. "Yeah… And I thank you for coming here. Also thanks for talking with me, Nel."

"Nel should also thank you."

It was then that Harribel entered the room, wearing a long t-shirt that reached till her thighs. "I feel exhausted.", she said.

"We were about to go to bed as well.", said Orihime. "Goodnight girls. I hope the boys are comfortable in their sleeping bags."

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Stark certainly was. The same couldn't be said for the rest and especially Nnoitra.

Grimmjow's sleeping bag was very close to a small table and he would occasionally kick it and wake up growling and swearing, something that would wake Ulquiorra up, force him to call him trash and thus have Grimmjow swear at him for like ten minutes before he would get bored and go back to sleep.

Nnoitra on the other hand was wide awake the whole time, trying his hardest not to fall asleep. The whole thing with Grimmjow waking up like every half an hour helped him a little, but he was too stressed about falling asleep to actually feel comfortable in any way. What if the others heard him having his weird dreams? What if Nel heard him? These questions were driving him crazy!

"Why are you still awake?", asked Ulquiorra's monotonous voice, making him jump and almost shriek.

"I-I-I…"

"You've been awake ever since we decided to go to bed and you keep pretending to be asleep, so what is it?"

Nnoitra sighed. He couldn't really trust Ulquiorra with his stupid reason. "I am not comfortable…", he said.

"None of us is comfortable. Yet, to me at least, it looks like you are more on edge and like you are staying awake on purpose."

Damn Ulquiorra and his observing abilities. "Well…", he wouldn't admit the whole truth to him. He couldn't. But he decided that he shouldn't completely lie. "I've been having some weird dreams… Very realistic ones and…. I usually scream in my sleep! Yeah, that's it. Tesla keeps nagging me about how often I wake him up."

Ulquiorra raised an eyebrow at him, not looking that convinced but Grimmjow's loud "Ouch!" and "I'm going to obliterate this fucking table!", got his attention before he could comment anything.

"Shut it, trash."

"Screw you! Why don't you sleep here instead, you fucking perfect being, huh?!"

Ulquiorra stood up then. "That's actually a good idea. Nice job, Grimmjow. I didn't expect you to actually propose something smart."

Grimmjow started another fit as they changed positions with Ulquiorra and Nnoitra sighed and turned to his other side. This was going to be a very long night.

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"Good morning!", said Orihime cheerfully as she opened the door of her room. "Did everyone sleep well?"

Stark was still sleeping, Grimmjow grumbled something incomprehensible, Ulquiorra nodded in the positive, even though he still looked a little drowsy and Nnoitra nodded slowly, even though his dark circles were pretty visible.

Orihime stared at them a little worried. "Well, I can tell that Stark is definitely sleeping well, but the rest of you seem out of it."

"Grimmjow and I had some arguments that kept us up quite a long time after we supposedly went to bed. As for Nnoitra…"

"Nightmares.", he said. He quickly looked away afterwards.

Orihime pouted. "Oh, that's terrible. I'm going to go to the bakery I work at to get us some breakfast. Does anyone want to join me? It's really nice outside."

Grimmjow growled. "I'll take a bath."

Ulquiorra looked at him raising an eyebrow. "Well, I'm going to join you, Orihime. I'll take a bath after the trash over there."

"Of course you'd join her.", said Grimmjow with a smirk, before entering the bathroom.

On the other hand, Nnoitra didn't seem to be in the mood to mock him. "I'll wait here. Are the girls going with you?"

"Nah, they both want to go outside later to see the town, but they need breakfast first. They are getting ready and they will soon join you."

"Great…", said Nnoitra.

He looked so exhausted that Orihime pitied him. "I'll get you some strong coffee.", she said.

"Whatever.", he said, lying back on his sleeping bag.

Orihime, waited a moment for Ulquiorra to get ready and soon they both went out.

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The sun felt nice decided Ulquiorra. The last time he was in Karakura he didn't have the time to appreciate the scenery, but now, he had to admit he really liked it.

Orihime was humming to herself. She then looked at him with a soft smile. "Looks like you like Karakura so far."

Ulquiorra nodded. "It's… different."

Orihime chuckled. "It sure is! Anyway, what happened last night? Only Stark seemed to be comfortable. Were you guys that uncomfortable? If yes, I can always arrange it so you can have the bed-"

"It wasn't due to the quality of sleeping.", said Ulquiorra. He was surprised by how quickly she offered her bed to them. And in her room in Hueco Mundo, there was only that couch. "Grimmjow had lain down next to your table and instead of moving it or asking to sleep elsewhere, he would wake up because he would collide with it and thus wake me up."

"Why didn't he move the table? Or ask me to do so?"

"Because he is an idiot. As for Nnoitra… He was refusing to sleep because he claimed he makes noise in his sleep."

"Oh. So he is having nightmares and he makes noise because of them. Poor him."

"For some reason, I'm not sure that's the case. He looked like he was hiding something."

"Maybe he is embarrassed for acting like that. I mean he is a proud man."

"He didn't act embarrassed and he seemed to make this claim to appease my curiosity."

"I see. Oh, here we are."

They had arrived at a small bakery. Orihime entered and greeted the person working behind the counter with extreme joy. "Hello Ms. Kobayakawa!"

"Hello Orihime.", said the older woman. She was around her 60s. She looked at Ulquiorra curiously. "And who might that be? I didn't know you have a boyfriend."

Orihime laughed nervously. "He is just a friend. His name is Ulquiorra. He and some other friends are visiting."

"Oh, I see. Is he from another country? ", she asked obviously curious about Ulquiorra's name.

"Yeah, he is from Spain.", she said so naturally, that it was obvious Urahara had advised her to say so in case someone got curious with their unique names. "He always wanted to visit Japan and after staying in Tokyo for a week, he came to visit me along with his travel buddies. He doesn't know how long they'll stay here but it's nice to have company. Now, I would love to get some stuff so that we can have a proper breakfast and also a very strong coffee. One of the others had trouble sleeping in a new inviroment."

"Of course. How many of you are there?"

"Seven in total."

The woman nodded and went to get the stuff Orihime would point at her. After that, she went to make the coffee. Ulquiorra suddenly realized something that made him very uncomfortable. "Orihime, can you afford this?" He knew that maybe that was a bit rude to ask her, but now he was genuinely worried that he and the others were about to add many expenses to the young girl.

Orihime smiled at him, showing him that she wasn't offended in the slightest. "Don't worry about it. I've been saving up some money and this is my workplace. That means I have a discount in some of the products."

Ulquiorra wasn't really ok with what she told him but he didn't argue. He knew that an aunt was responsible for her house expenses but now that she had a job, she probably covered some of her own expenses with the money. And she definitely didn't earn enough to sustain seven people for long. Their visit couldn't be too long.

The walk back to the house was quiet. Ulquiorra enjoyed the morning breeze and the sun on his skin. He was holding two bags with food.

Orihime was humming again and she was holding Nnoitra's coffee and one more bag. They soon reached their destination. When they entered they spotted Nnoitra sitting with Nel and Hallibel on the kitchen table. He seemed grumpy while the two women seemed sympathetic to his situation. Grimmjow was drying his hair and Stark was probably in the shower from the sound of it. "We brought breakfast! "

She placed one bag on the table and Ulquiorra did the same. She then approached Nnoitra and offered him his coffee. Nnoitra looked at it curiously. "What does it do exactly?", he asked genuinely.

Orihime chuckled. "I forgot that you probably have never had coffee before. It's like tea, but stronger and a little bitter in my opinion, but you can add sugar if you want to."

Nnoitra looked at it and took a small sip. It was obviously a little too warm for his liking but he didn't seem to hate it. "Thanks… I hope it will be helpful."

"As for the rest of you, I can make you tea if you prefer and I also have orange juice and milk."

They all helped Orihime to set the table and they all chose a different beverage. They had breakfast in silence generally but it was obvious that the Espada enjoyed it. Ulquiorra still felt uneasy for the fact that the girl was going out of her way for them.

Orihime smiled at them. "Now, I have arranged a meetup with Ichigo and the others at the park nearby. He has no idea you guys are here."

"Hell yeah!", shouted Grimmjow.

"Aren't you excited, huh?", said Nnoitra in a mocking tome. It seemed like he had regained his energy after the coffee.

"Nel is also excited.", said the girl. Nnoitra frowned at her, but didn't say anything.

Orihime would have felt jealous but after her talk with Nel the night before, she knew that she had feelings for someone else and judging by his reaction, he also felt something. Orihime grinned. She should tell Nel when she got the chance.

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They all followed Orihime to the park and all of them would occasionally stop to look at the scenery much to Orihime's amusement. They arrived at the park and all of them focused on something different; Hallibel on the small river it had, Stark on the people that were taking a nap underneath some trees, Nel at all the human children that played together, Nnoitra on some guys playing ball and Ulquiorra at some of the birds that could be spotted in the tree branches. The whole park seemed alive to them.

Oh and Grimmjow was charging at Ichigo who hadn't spotted them yet. Orihime tried to warn Ichigo but Grimmjow jumped and tackled him before she could say anything. "Gah! What the hell?! Grimmjow?!", shouted Ichigo in shock.

"And there goes my surprise…", mumbled Orihime.

"It's been a while Kurosaki! I want a rematch!", shouted Grimmjow while pinning Ichigo down.

"Grimmjow… How…?" Ichigo then realized that he didn't have his hollow mask. "Are you in a gigai? What on earth is going on?!"

Orihime approached. "The Espada decided to visit… I wanted to surprise you, but Grimmjow kind of ruined it…"

Ichigo managed to kick Grimmjow off of him. He landed between Chad and Uryu, who had been sitting nearby and watching at the whole scene curiously. "Is it wise for them to be here?", asked Uryu unbothered by Grimmjow landing next to him.

Orihime sighed. "I wanted them to visit. I'm glad they are here."

"Does the Soul Society know about it?", asked Ichigo while dusting himself off.

Orihime looked away. "No… Urahara brought them here after my request. But don't worry they won't stay for over a week. They wanted to see the world of the living…"

Ulquiorra noticed that Orihime wasn't telling Ichigo about the real reason they were there, but he noticed Chad and Uryu exchange knowing glances. These two knew and if Ulquiorra guessed correctly, they were glad they had arrived as aid. Ulquiorra approached Ichigo. "Ichigo Kurosaki, it's been a while. We will do our best and try not to cause any disturbances as long as we remain here."

Ichigo sighed. "I don't really care to be honest. Though you will have to tame him.", he said while pointing at Grimmjow who had managed to almost sneak up on Ichigo.

Ulquiorra barely acknowledged Grimmjow. "We'll try our best."

Suddenly Nel jumped at Ichigo and hugged him. "Ichigoooo! Nel missed you so much!"

Orihime didn't miss the way Nnoitra frowned and looked away. She giggled a little at that. Ichigo looked at Nel curiously. "Nel…. Are you in your child form?"

Nel nodded. "The gigai is of adult Nel, but inside of it is child Nel."

"I see…", said Ichigo confused.

"Oi! Kurosaki! I'm right here! Fight me!", shouted Grimmjow.

Ichigo frowned. "Grimmjow, you do realize that I have no powers, right?"

Grimmjow got into a fighting stance. "We can still use our fists!" He charged at Ichigo who sighed, avoided the punch and kicked Grimmjow on his abdomen.

Grimmjow fell to his knees gasping for breath, while Nnoitra barked out a laugh at the scene. "You're ridiculous, Grimmjow!", shouted Nnoitra.

"H-How….?", growled Grimmjow.

"You have human bodies now.", said Uryu. "You don't have your usual powers."

"Trash.", said Ulquiorra and decided to sit down with the others. They had a picnic going on. Hallibel and Stark also joined the ones sitting.

Nnoitra glanced at a ball that Chad had with him. "What is this exactly? I saw some guys playing with one."

"You want to play ball?", asked Chad.

"I don't really know how to play….", he said a little uncomfortable.

Chad nodded. "You don't need to know. Come, I'll show you."

"Nel wants to play too."

The three of them went a little farther and they started throwing the ball at each other with Chad explaining how to throw the ball like they were playing volleyball.

Ichigo sat down as well and Orihime did the same. "I know that it was a little sudden, but I'm having fun with them around."

Ichigo smiled at her. "I suppose I've also missed having people from other worlds around."

Grimmjow was still lying on the ground unconscious. "Should we do something about him?", asked Orihime.

"Nah.", said Ichigo.

"He is trash.", said simply Ulquiorra.

Orihime chuckled. Things actually seemed to be going well for now.

End of Chapter 11

A/N: I hate that I'm ending it here, but if I continue this chapter is going to be huge! I know that this one was more of a filler chapter and the beginning of the next one is going to be the follow up of the park scene. After that the Espada will go to pick up Orihime from school, only for more chaos to follow. And of course we will have our first Fullbringer appearance with Ginjo hehe. Anyways, I would love to hear your thoughts on this filler chapter and I want to thank everyone once again for reading my story. Till next time!