What if…

Chapter 12

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

Chapter 12: A new face makes its appearance

Nel was exhausted after playing with Chad and Nnoitra for two hours, but Nnoitra seemed like he was bursting with energy. He sat next to her and his grin seemed even wider than usual. "What's going on? You were exhausted this morning."

Nnoitra looked at her with a confused expression. "I'm not sure but I'm starting to think it has to do with what that woman gave me to drink."

Orihime who had overheard them chuckled uncomfortably. "Heh… Yeah, maybe that coffee was a little too strong for someone that never had something similar before…"

Nnoitra looked at her wearily. "So what's the deal? Don't I sleep anymore? Do I have a new power or something? Or-"

Orihime shook her hands to cut him off. "You just get an energy boost for a while but when it wears off you will want to sleep more than anything."

Nnoitra swetdropped. "Great… Just what I needed…"

Nel looked at him a little concerned. "You don't have to worry about sleeping that much. Even if you have nightmares, no one is going to judge you."

Nnoitra looked at her and sighed. "Believe me, you don't wanna know…"

"Huh?" Nel looked at him confused but he didn't elaborate. She sighed. "Well at least you had fun today despite being exhausted."

Nnoitra grinned at her again. "From what Chad said, humans have what they call sports that require the use of a ball. It's interesting, don't you think?"

Nel nodded. She then turned to look at the setting sun and Nnoitra did the same. "Nel had forgotten how beautiful a sunset can be."

Nnoitra didn't say anything but he was also mesmerized from the beautiful colors the sky had.

Not very far, Ulquiorra, Stark and Harribel were also admiring the sunset as Orihime was explaining to them that it was a common activity of hers to go and see it with her friends.

Ichigo on the other hand was wrestling with Grimmjow while Chad and Uryu looked at them with exasperated expressions. "Should we do something about this?", asked Chad.

"I don't think there's a reason to.", said Uryu with a heavy sigh as Grimmjow flew over his head by one of Ichigo's punches.

It was obvious that Grimmjow wasn't used to his new body's weaknesses. Ichigo glared at him. "Are you done already? You are going to end up very badly injured if you keep attacking me."

Orihime sighed as Grimmjow dizzily got up and staggered towards Ichigo yet again. "Maybe we should head back home and rest for today. Tomorrow I will walk you guys around town so that you can move around on your own on Monday when I'll be at school. We should also grab something to eat. I am starving."

Ulquiorra looked at her with a worried expression. She was living alone and she only had a part time job. She shouldn't be wasting much money on them. "Maybe we could help you cook…", he offered.

Orihime dismissed him with a wave and a small smile. "I've already planned this for tomorrow. Today we will grab some burgers and head back home."

Ulquiorra sighed and stood up along with Harribel and Stark. The two other arrancar looked at him with worry in their eyes. Ulquiorra didn't acknowledge them and he simply grabbed Grimmjow by the collar of his shirt and started following Orihime back to her house.

Grimmjow was swearing and threatening Ichigo, but the other man barely looked at him. "Good night, Orihime. Take care and if you need any help with them, you can always tell me.", said Ichigo.

Orihime nodded and waved at the others. Harribel and Stark noticed that Nel and Nnoitra had stayed sitting on the ground and they were still talking. Harribel smiled at them. "I'm glad they are getting along."

Stark nodded. "Me too. But we have to get moving. I don't remember the way back to the house." He then approached the other two and they both stood up and followed behind them all the while conversing.

Harribel and Stark shared a knowing smile with each other.

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The food was pretty good and after a while they felt stuffed. They had all been conversing about one thing or another with Nnoitra being a little too energetic probably due to the caffeine still running in his system. Nel was giggling at his antics.

Ulquiorra approached Orihime when the others were getting ready to go to bed. She was washing the dishes and humming to herself. "Orihime…" The girl gasped, obviously startled by his presence. "Sorry to scare you…"

Orihime giggled and waved her hand to reassure him she was ok. "Don't worry about it, Ulquiorra. I just didn't realize you were there." She then looked at his expression and Ulquiorra realized that probably he looked sad. "What's the matter?"

A part of him was proud that he managed to express his emotions with his face but he needed to focus on communicating why he was feeling down. "Is it really ok for you to be spending so much money on us? I don't want to be rude, but can you really afford to have us here that long?"

Orihime blinked at him. Ulquiorra felt that maybe he had said something he shouldn't have but he didn't want the girl to have issues with her life because of him… again! Orihime then burst out laughing and it was Ulquiorra's turn to blink. Did he say something funny?

Orihime smiled at him, which he perceived was a good sign. "Don't worry about it, Ulquiorra. Urahara has given me some extra money to help with whatever expenses you guys might have."

Ulquiorra blinked and nodded at her. He looked away feeling a little ashamed. "I'm sorry for saying it like that…"

Orihime then held his hands and his eyes widened in surprise. "It's ok. Thank you for worrying about me, Ulquiorra."

Ulquiorra felt his eyes widen and a warmth on his chest that he couldn't understand. He didn't feel like asking Orihime about it though. It felt more… personal.

Orihime's smile widened and she giggled. "Now, let's go see if the others are ready to go to bed."

Ulquiorra followed her to the living room. Nnoitra had faceplanted on his sleeping bag and was at a point where he was snoring. Nel was giggling. "Finally! He had so much energy before…"

Orihime noticed that something seemed different about the way Nel spoke. "Nel are you-?

"I'm on my adult form, yeah. I just turned. Well, it feels nice not to have to change to adult clothes from the children ones for once."

Grimmjow was lying down on his own sleeping bag, but he was growling and grumbling how annoying Ichigo was. Harribel and Stark were outside on the balcony, talking with each other.

Orihime clasped her hands. "Okay guys, let's go to sleep! We are going shopping tomorrow! I will also show you around Katakura!"

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They woke up relatively early. Nel slipped outside of Orihime's room to check on the boys. She was surprised to find Ulquiorra, Grimmjow and Stark awake. They were all looking at Nnoitra with concerned expressions. Nel also approached to see Nnoitra tossing and turning like he was having a nightmare. "Oh, no! Should we wake him?"

Stark shook his head. "I'm not sure we should wake someone up when they are having a bad dream. We might scare him more…"

Nel looked at Nnoitra worried. He had started sweating and he even looked a little red. He then gasped. "Gah! Dammit, Nelliel!" He then woke up gasping for air like mad.

Realization hit him and his eyes widened. He looked at Nel terrified. The others turned at her with confused expressions as well. Nel's eyes widened in shock. She was the reason he was having nightmares! That was why he was so defensive about the whole thing.

His face turned even redder and he rose up at amazing speed, shouting; "Got to go to the bathroom!"

The others looked at Nel shocked as well. Nel stared after him completely lost in thought.

"Holy shit! You actually broke his mind if he has nightmares about you!", said Grimmjow.

Nel looked at him with a pained expression but she didn't say anything. I've managed to terrify him to that extent!? I'm such a terrible person, she thought.

Orihime then opened the door yawning. She looked at them confused. "What's going on?" Harribel also came out and looked at them curiously.

"Nnoitra had a nightmare.", said Stark, without going into much detail.

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Nnoitra had taken a quick cold shower and his heart was racing like crazy. His face couldn't stop being red no matter how much cold water he threw on himself. This was… a disaster! His worst fears came true! Nel was going to think of him as nothing more than a lowly pervert and worst of all the others would mock him too.

He had screwed up big time. And now Nel would hate him. Not that he didn't deserve it, but the reason would be stupid. He held his face in his hands and sighed. He was such a terrible mess. How on earth did he manage to screw up so bad?

He entered the shower and he allowed himself to lean on the wall. He felt exhausted. He missed Tesla. He sincerely hoped that he was having better luck with his love life.

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Orihime had taken the Espada on a walk and was showing them around town so that they could navigate themselves the following day. Nel and Nnoitra were walking on a distance and neither was looking at the other. They both looked out of it and so the others weren't bothering them.

Orihime finished her tour with their arrival to the closest shopping center. "Well, let's go and pick you guys some clothes. You are going to need more than one outfit for the rest of the week."

The others nodded and followed her. Grimmjow was feeling like somebody was watching them though and he couldn't shake off the feeling. He supposed they were a weird bunch of people with such peculiar hair and all but still… Something felt off.

As they were walking towards a shop, a dark haired guy with a white shirt bumped on him. "Watch where you're going!", growled Grimmjow.

The man looked at him curiously before apologizing and leaving. Grimmjow stared after him curious about whether that guy had been the reason for his weird feeling, but he seemed to completely ignore their crew. As he looked back though, he did notice another man with a leather jacket and his hair slicked back staring at them. The man blinked and turned to leave. Grimmjow's feeling suddenly disappeared.

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They all shopped some more outfits for themselves and returned to Orihime's home after grabbing a bite. She had showed them the way to Karakura High and they would go to pick her up the following day.

There was obvious tension between Nnoitra and Nelliel, but neither of them was eager to address the situation. Furthermore, the other Espada that also believed what Nelliel believed decided to respect him for having some sort of PTSD trauma regarding the girl he was also attracted to.

Monday arrived and Orihime left early for school. The Espada started waking up a few hours after that and they were pleasantly surprised to find some breakfast with goods from Orihime's bakery. Nnoitra was glad to see that there was no coffee in said breakfast. He glanced at Nel for a moment and she glanced back. They both immediately looked away. Nnoitra felt heat on his cheeks and he hated himself even more about this whole ordeal. This whole thing was such a mess. He needed to contact Tesla. He would know what to do to salvage the situation.

Ulquiorra noticed the tense situation between the other two arrancar and decided to bring their attention to more neutral matters, like. "We should go pick Orihime up. She has her job to go to after school so we shouldn't keep her waiting."

"Kurosaki is also going to be there.", said Grimmjow while grinning evilly.

"Didn't he kick your butt enough times already? Why do you want to go through that again?", asked Harribel annoyed.

Grimmjow glared at her. "I wasn't used to this body then, but now I am! And I will take my revenge!"

"Yeah…. Because two days in your new body with no training and after getting your butt kicked in it are enough for you to be prepared for a fight with Kurosaki…", said Stark.

Grimmjow growled at him. "Fuck you!"

"Language!", shouted Harribel.

"Isn't Nel an adult?!", shouted Grimmjow.

"It doesn't matter. I still don't want you to swear!", said Harribel while crossing her arms. "I'm going to change.", she said and turned to Orihime's room, followed by Nel.

The guys decided to do the same and grabbed their new outfits. Ulquiorra was wearing a T-shirt with some band on it (he had no idea who they were) and some dark jeans. Grimmjow was wearing a black long sleeved shirt and white pants, Nnoitra a red hoodie and white pants (he did indeed like the hoods) and Stark wore a green hoodie with blue comfortable pants. He did look more normal this way.

Harribel entered the room wearing a purple mini dress with her brown leather jacket and her cowboy boots, while Nel was wearing a long-sleeved white dress. Nel tried to look at Nnoitra but when their eyes met, he immediately looked away, red tinting his cheeks.

Nel knew that they had to talk about the whole thing but she'd rather have that conversation without the other Espada around. She looked down and sighed. Harribel looked at her with a worried expression, before she turned to the rest. "Let's get going. It's about time Orihime finishes her classes.

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The walk to Karakura High was quiet but that gave the opportunity to Ulquiorra to observe his surroundings even more and he had to admit, he really liked the world of the living.

They reached the high school with quite ease considering they had only seen the way once and they definitely got the attention of the students there. Uryu was the first recognizable face they saw. "So, you came to get Orihime?", he asked looking a little annoyed.

"Indeed.", replied Ulquiorra. "I wish we weren't getting stared as much though."

"You do look out of place.", said Uryu while sweatdroping. "No offence."

It was then that Orihime joined them, beaming at them. "I'm so glad you made it! Oh, I wish Tatsuki hadn't left in such a hurry so that I could introduce you!"

The other students stared at them even more curiously now that Orihime had greeted them. Ulquiorra was starting to feel a little uncomfortable. "You guys sure do know how to make an entrance." That was Ichigo Kuroaski approaching them with an annoyed expression.

"Kurosaki! It's time for a rematch!", shouted Grimmjow who charged blindly at him… Only for Ichigo to sidestep the attack and punch Grimmjow in the face with a bored expression.

The others simply stared at the scene with no emotion as Grimmjow fell back. To Ulquiorra's surprise that actually made the other students look away and simply act like it was a normal occurring.

"Well… I've got to get to work.", said Ichigo while a dark haired boy and a brown haired one appeared at his sides to walk with him.

Orihime giggled. "Well, I should be getting to my job too. Come on, I will offer you some of our best treats. It's on the house this time!"

The Espada seemed pleased with the plan, except… "Wait! Kurosaki! I'm coming with you!"

That was Grimmjow who ran after Ichigo before the others could stop him. Orihime looked at him wide eyed. "Should we worry about him…?"

Ulquiorra shook his head. "He is trash. He will be fine."

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Grimmjow managed to catch up with Ichigo and his friends who looked a little scared. Ichigo on the other hand sighed and barely acknowledged him. "Come on, Kurosaki! I want a real fight between us!"

Ichigo pinched his nose. "When are you going to realize that you need to train in this new body so that you can actually fight back?!"

Before Grimmjow could answer a voice yelling was heard behind them. "Ah! Son of a bitch!"

A man with his hood down ran past them and he was carrying a bag. Right after him another man was trying to catch him. "Hey stop! Give me back my bag, asshole!"

The man had dark hair slicked back and was wearing a leather jacket. A wave of familiarity hit Grimmjow, but before he could voice anything Ichigo tossed his own bag on his dark haired friend and ran after the thief. "Hey! Kurosaki, wait!", shouted Grimmjow and ran after them as well.

Ichigo managed to catch up with the thief and he immediately punched him in the face. The man fell back, but he suddenly drew a knife out of his sleeve. Grimmjow growled. "Kurosaki, be careful!"

That was a first for him. To look out for Kurosaki. He guessed it was because he wanted to be the one to defeat the other man. Ichigo, without much difficulty manahed to grab the hand the man had the knife in and delivered another punch to his face. After that the man fled with a broken nose and Ichigo retrieved the stolen bag. Grimmjow had to admit that he was impressed. A mere human to be able to cause so much damage was intriguing. Ichigo smirked at him and Grimmjow smirked back. "Well, you are better than I thought."

Ichigo suddenly looked down. "Better as a human…"

Grimmjow frowned. It was unfair. He wanted a real fight with the substitute Shinigami and not these stupid brawls. Ichigo shook his head and looked at the bag. "We should return this."

The turned and the man that possessed the bag had caught up to them. Grimmjow's widened as recognition hit him. He was the man from the shopping center. The one that gave him the feeling that they were being watched. Could it really be a coincidence?

The man grinned brightly as Ichigo offered him his bag. "Woooaaaaah! Holy shit man that was awesome! Thanks!" He then turned at Grimmjow still smiling brightly. "And I saw you at the mall yesterday! What a coincidence!"

Grimmjow merely raised his eyebrow and Ichigo noticed it. The man chuckled and seemed undeterred by their lack of reaction. "You two must be hungry, right? I'll treat you to some ramen or something. How about it?"

Before Grimmjow could say anything, Ichigo answered. "No thanks." Grimmjow shared a look with Ichigo. Ichigo had realized that something bothered him. "Let's go, Grimmjow. Oh and don't tell anybody I punched someone since it'd be a pain in the ass if they got pissed at me later."

"Huh…", said the man. "Okay… I see… That's too bad." After Grimmjow and Ichigo left the man shook his bag. "The hell…?" A substitute Shinigami badge was hanging from the now bag. "You're a lot more careful than I thought… Kurosaki Ichigo."

End of Chapter 12

A/N: And it's finally done! I'm very sorry for the huge delay, but I got a little lazy nowadays that it was too hot outside XD. Ginjo has officially appeared and so has another Fullbringer if you noticed. The last part with Ichigo and Ginjo is taken directly from the manga and specifically chapter 424. A lot of scenes from now on will be taken from the manga, but there will be obvious changes to have the Espada play their part in the story. Nnoitra and Nel are having a misunderstanding in this and the following chapters, but I promise things will soon be resolved. The next chapter is going to start with Grimmjow and Ichigo, who aren't really the main focus of the story, but they play an important part in this arc. Till next time!