Bleach fic: Leap of Faith, part I
Title: Leap of Faith
Author: aviss
Pairing: Grimmjow/Ichigo
Rating: PG-13 this part, will go higher later on.
Genre: Action, Adventure, Romance
Warnings: None so far
Word Count: ~3.400 this part
Summary: Ichigo has problems adapting to the peaceful days after the war. However, they won't be peaceful for long
Leap of Faith
Prologue
Aizen was dead.
For some reason the knowledge of that fact brought Ichigo less satisfaction than he expected, but the truth was Aizen was finally dead.
So were many others.
They had managed to avoid most of the human casualties, moving Karakura to a temporary location had been a good idea; however that had not spared countless lives, Shinigami and Arrancar alike.
He looked around at the ruins that were the replica of his town, debris and lifeless corpses liberally strewn on the streets, blood and dust covering the ground everywhere he looked. Somehow his entire vision was red and white, as if looking through a bloody mist.
Ichigo heard someone calling him in the distance, his voice faint and far away distorted by the white noise filling his head. He turned to look and saw Grimmjow shouting at him, way closer than he expected judging by how distant his voice sounded.
Ichigo shook his head, blinking rapidly. There was something wrong with his senses. He'd probably received a harder blow to the head than he thought.
"What's wrong with you, Kurosaki?" Grimmjow was saying, his brows rushing together in something like concern. But that was wrong; Grimmjow couldn't be worried about him.
He probably had a bad concussion.
With a great effort, Ichigo managed to stand, looking around and seeing small pockets of enemies still fighting, the news of Aizen's demise obviously not having reached most of them. But the war was over, without the head the body was just moving in autopilot until it finally fell as well.
"Get away from here, Grimmjow," he heard himself saying, the strange feeling of detachment making it sound as if the words were coming from someone else.
Grimmjow's strange expression turned into a scowl. "What the fuck are you talking about, Shinigami?"
He gestured at their surroundings trying to find the words to express the idea he wasn't even sure he was having. It was frustrating and he needed some time to clear his head before he could form a coherent thought.
He didn't have it.
Ichigo tried again. "Get the fuck away, now!" he shouted, his hands trying to encompass everything around them. "Go! Now!"
Grimmjow was on him in a second, grabbing the front of his clothes and pulling him against his body. "What's your problem, Shinigami? Don't need me now you've won?
Ichigo shook his head, glaring. "Not won, not yet," he grated through clenched teeth.
Grimmjow narrowed his eyes, looking at Azien's corpse on the ground. "He's dead, Kurosaki. Tousen and Gin too. You've won."
"No," Ichigo took a deep breath, pointing at the groups still engaged in the battle. "They won't stop until every single hollow is dead." And that was the truth, what he had been trying to say in his confused state. Grimmjow needed to leave before some Taichou forgot he had been by Ichigo's side all that time and disposed of him. "Get Nell and whoever else the fuck you want and fuck off from here. Open a Garganta and leave. Now!" He gave him a push.
Grimmjow dug his heels, stubborn to the end. "I'll beat them."
"No! Leave!" Grimmjow had no chance against the remaining Taichous, not in his state after fighting Gin. He was lucky to have survived that one; another would surely finish him off.
Grimmjow looked like he wanted to protest, he looked around taking stock of the situation. The reality of the mess he was in probably clashing against his willingness to kill everyone there. With a scowl he turned to Ichigo and pressed their lips together, the taste of blood and grime and desperation filling their mouths.
"Goodbye Ichigo," he said before disappearing.
"Goodbye Grimmjow," Ichigo said to the empty space he had occupied the previous second, not letting his exhausted body fall to the ground until he saw a Garganta opening and several figures going through it.
With a relieved sigh he closed his eyes and let darkness claim him.
…
Part I
If someone had told Ichigo there would come a day he would miss the war, he would have taken the unfortunate soul to the closest loony bin, after beating the shit out of them.
But the truth was he really missed those days.
Not the death. One would have to be insane and more than a little sadistic to miss the senseless waste of life the Winter War had been. What he missed were the fights, and the excitement and the company of his friends and reluctant allies.
Compared to that, his current life was boring as hell.
University occupied most of his time, studying so he could carry on with the duties of Kurosaki Clinic and help the living as well as the dead. He also hung out with his friends when he had time to spare; his living friends since there wasn't even a token Shinigami at Karakura now. They didn't need to assign anyone to the town where Kurosaki and his friends lived. The rest of his spare time he employed in Shinigami duties, performing Soul Burials and dealing with the few Hollows that dared enter his territory.
Not that there were many of those. He even missed the ugly sons of bitches and their little warm-up fights, but for some reason Hollows seemed to steer clear of his path.
Now they had their hard-won peace, Ichigo didn't know what to do with it.
He knew he wasn't the only one having trouble adapting to the calm and happy days. He had stopped seeing Ishida and Chad for more than a night out since they all entered University and Orihime seemed to have withdrawn into a world of her own after their return from Hueco Mundo. Every now and again they would all meet and talk and try to have fun, but their heart clearly wasn't in it.
He also hadn't seen or heard from Rukia and Renji for a couple of years. Not that he had any doubt they would meet again, when time allowed it, but it felt kind of lonely without them pestering him like before.
Ichigo opened the door to his flat and greeted his cat, dumping his book bag on the floor. He had been feeling strange the entire day, and he could swear someone had been following him but he had been unable to catch whoever it was.
Probably just wishful thinking on his part.
He was undressing to take a shower when he felt it again, this time very close. Ichigo turned around and saw nothing. Shrugging, he stepped under the warm spray and let his mind wander.
He had a date tonight with his girlfriend and didn't know where to take her. They had been dating for a couple of months and though she was cute and funny, Ichigo wasn't able to muster more than a vague feeling of fondness for her.
He was used to that, he had been unable to feel anything for a long time, but it was unfair to Kyoko. Maybe it was time to break up.
Considering this he stepped out of the shower and got dressed, his mind so preoccupied he almost missed the beep of his phone. Not his normal mobile, the other one. Great, a Hollow. Just the distraction he needed.
Without thinking he grabbed his badge and left his body behind.
He arrived at the location, Zangetsu a comforting presence in his hand. The Hollow looked as big and stupid and weak as all the ones he had fought before. Not even strong enough for a warm up. Sighing, Ichigo attacked defeating it with just one blow.
He was about to leave when he felt the same presence as before. Stronger this time. Unnerved, Ichigo turned around looking for the source. There was a flash of white and blue on top of a building, too quick for Ichigo to know what it was but enough to set his heart hammering in his chest. It couldn't be.
He rushed there only to find the place empty and a white bag snagged on a windowsill, its blue logo flashing under the sun.
Wishful thinking.
An angry roar called his attention back to the park where he had killed the Hollow, a shape of ash and dirt reforming on the ground again. Ichigo stared, unable to believe his eyes. Hadn't he just killed the ugly bastard?
He jumped from the roof of the building, moving as fast as he could and dealing a second blow to the almost completely recovered Hollow. It dissolved with a shriek, the cloud regrouping again as soon as Ichigo took his eyes off it. He cursed and stood aside, checking to confirm it was really the same Hollow.
It was, but there was something different about it. The more Ichigo tried to kill it the more of his mask disappeared. It was ridiculous. It was also getting stronger and faster, almost as if it was--no; that was impossible. It was preposterous even thinking about it.
But the truth was it felt as if it was evolving from Hollow to Arrancar in front of his eyes. Concerned and not a bit uneasy Ichigo released his Bankai, shooting a Getsuga Tenshou as soon as Zangetsu shrank in his hand.
This time the Hollow stayed dead.
Not entirely believing what had just happened, Ichigo left the park, deep in thought.
…
He wasn't too surprised the next time it happened. Only a week after the first one another Hollow appeared. Two in such a short span, it was strange though not overly concerning. He'd had worse.
But this one didn't want to stay dead either. Ichigo fought in his Shikai form for what felt like an eternity before tiring of the mouse and cat play, the Hollow shrinking with each blow and his mask vanishing, letting him see something resembling a human face staring triumphantly at him.
He released Bankai and dealt with it like he had done with the previous one. But he was worried now. Something was happening.
…
The worst part was not knowing who to ask for advise. Before there was always Urahara Kisuke and his endless stream of mysterious answers. But he had helped, and he had been a good source of information, even in that roundabout way of his.
Since the end of the war and his return to Soul Society Ichigo had had no way to contact him. It was funny, really. Without Urahara to open a gate for him Ichigo was almost completely isolated from Seiretei. He still received orders on his phone, but apart from that he had no way to talk to anyone in Seiretei. He had not realized just how alone he was on this.
He shouldn't have worried about it, anyway. If something like that was happening with the Hollows, Soul Society had to know. And they would be dispatching someone soon.
It was just a couple of days later he received news from Soul Society.
He arrived one night at home, the third Hollow in a row pulling that resurrection shit on him and making him wonder if he should just try to call Soul Society and check if his phone was for something more than getting orders, only to find they had taken the necessary steps to contact him.
Kuchiki Byakuya was standing in the middle of his living room, Rukia and Renji close by. The fourth person inside, making it feel crowded inside his tiny house, was Urahara Kisuke himself.
Ichigo smiled seeing him with the white haori of his Division and without his infamous hat, his eyes clear and smiling behind his unruly hair.
"Kurosaki-kun," he said, lips curved in a smile that felt warm and welcoming. "It's been a long time."
"Ichigo!" Rukia jumped up and hugged him while Renji approached as well, clasping him on the shoulder.
Byakuya nodded in acknowledgement, his short "Kurosaki-kun" all the greeting he was going to receive from him.
Ichigo greeted them all and put on the kettle for a bit of tea. He had he feeling it was going to be a long talk.
"Why haven't you come to visit?" Rukia asked him while he prepared the refreshments.
Ichigo shrugged, not looking at her. "I've been busy with classes and everything," he said, "and besides, the only guy who knew how to get there was there already, so I had no way to go. You could have come as well."
Rukia smiled, showing proudly her badge. "I didn't have time; I've been made fukutaichou of my Division." Ichigo returned her smile, unsure of how to express how glad he was of having her there.
They joined the rest of the group, exchanging pleasantries while all of them sipped the tea. "So, you've come to talk about these fucking weird Hollows," Ichigo said finally fearing they would never get to the point.
Urahara nodded. "Yes, we've been having trouble lately with Hollows," he began, "after the war most of Hueco Mundo was obliterated, only low class hollow remaining there. Or so we thought."
Ichigo didn't say anything. He knew for a fact there were a few arrancar still there, but he had no intention to share that with them. Not yet at any rate.
"It seemed they were just taking their time to regroup, whoever it is there leading them now. In the past month we've had a few encounters with this type of Hollow--not exactly arrancar but almost. They are hard to kill, resilient to all but the highest grade kidou and able to reform themselves and evolve doing it."
"We've lost quite a few operatives this way," Byakuya intervened then looking straight at him, his brow furrowed in concern. "The more we fight, the stronger they get. Anyone without Bankai has no chance against them--they can hold them for a while, but in the end they are invariably defeated."
Ichigo nodded, "I've seen a couple of them; tough bastards that they are, they are not impossible to kill."
"There's more," Renji said and Ichigo noticed for the first time he was wearing a white haori of his own. Soul Society had dispatched three Taichous and a fukutaichou; it had to be very serious indeed. "There had been reports in these past years after the war of Garganta being opened here in Karakura, in this past month they have multiplied."
That got Ichigo's attention. "Garganta? How? Only Espada level arrancar can open Garganta at will, and there were no surviving Espa--" he stopped, frowning. "That's the reason you're here, is it not? You know he's alive."
Renji nodded. "Yes, we know Grimmjow survived."
"I haven't seen the fucker since that day, if that's what you're asking," he said defensively.
Urahara stared at him worriedly, "Are you sure, Kurosaki-kun?"
"Of course I'm sure, you think I wouldn't notice if Grimmjow was hanging around? I know his reiatsu like the back of my hand; we spent most of the Winter War side by side. If you guys knew about the Garganta why take this long coming?"
"Ehm," Renji was blushing and not looking directly at him, Ichigo noticed. "We assumed, since Grimmjow was the only surviving Espada, there was nothing to fear. He might be a psychopath, but he's not a threat to anyone but you. And you can hold your ground against him without our help and didn't seem to find his company so terrible before."
Ichigo felt his face heating at the implication. Nothing to fear from an Espada travelling between Hueco Mundo and Karakura; yeah right.
"We had hoped," Urahara continued, "there were personal reasons behind those instances of Garganta being opened, but if you tell us you haven't seen him we have to assume either Grimmjow is behind these new development in Hollows or someone else has reached the level needed to travel between Hueco Mundo and here at will."
His face about to burst from embarrassment, Ichigo looked at his hands. Personal reasons--it was as if they believed Grimmjow would be paying social calls to Ichigo.
"Why would he--" Ichigo began, scowling when he realized he had no idea how to finish that thought.
"I was close by when you took Aizen down, Ichigo," Rukia said and he looked up at her, "I saw your farewell."
That was it, he wanted the ground to open up and swallow him right then and there.
He could remember that goodbye kiss, a spur of the moment he had been unable to forget for years. Knowing his friends knew was more than he could bear. "It's not Grimmjow," he finally said, his throat too dry for more words to come out.
"If that's the case, Kurosaki-kun, we won't need to trouble you further," Byakuya said breaking the uncomfortable silence after a few seconds, "we'll send someone to investigate this issue."
…
Grimmjow crossed the open Garganta and landed noiselessly on the sand, using his sonido to move to the half destroyed buildings in front of him.
There wasn't much left standing in Las Noches, the Winter War and the years of careless fights in Aizen's old domain had taken care of that. Grimmjow couldn't care less; Las Noches meant nothing to him. He went straight to the old Throne room, the dais and polished floors eroded by countless sand grains passing through the blasted south wall.
"It's out of control," he said without bothering to check if there was anyone else in the room, a thunderous expression on his face. "I've disposed of all the little shits I could find but some of them followed you to Karakura and attacked the Shinigami."
"So? They're dead now, are they not Grimmjow?" Ulquiorra detached himself from the shadows and walked to Grimmjow, an infuriatingly calm expression on his face. The desire to punch that face full of holes almost overwhelmed Grimmjow, as it did every time he saw the other Espada. "Or did your Shinigami fail to kill that trash?"
Grimmjow glared at him as if he wanted to incinerate him on the spot, Ulquiorra didn't even twitch. "No, they're dead."
"What's the problem then Grimmjow?"
"You were supposed to find the source of those pesky little shits and destroy it instead of travelling between Karakura and here to be with your little bitch, that's the problem," Grimmjow retorted angrily. They had been trying to find what had caused the new evolution of the hollows since the moment they discovered them, without much luck. Grimmjow was sure it was somewhere in Las Noches but so far it had evaded them and he wasn't in the best of moods.
He would gladly share his frustration with Ulquiorra.
He blocked the cero shot at him easily, his fury turning to excitement at the fight he could see coming. Perfect, he had been itching for a bit of blood since his last trip to earth and Ulquiorra was the perfect enemy for that. He only needed to get him angry enough, an ability Grimmjow had in spades.
Ulquiorra had other idea; instead of following through with another attack he turned his back to Grimmjow and slowly retreated to the other side of the room, moving to the door that would lead to his own chamber. "I'm not interested in fighting you Grimmjow," he said dismissing him with his usual coldness. "And I don't care about those hollows or whatever they are as long as they are not a threat to me or my woman."
"Your bitch, you mean," Grimmjow taunted hating being denied a good fight. It had been ages since he had been able to fight anyone but Ulquiorra, and having also that one out of his reach irked him more than he was willing to admit.
Not that Grimmjow really wanted to kill Ulquiorra, but the one he wanted to beat was not there and so far he had failed to find a worthy adversary in Hueco Mundo. Ulquiorra didn't rise to the provocation, with a last contemptuous look at Grimmjow he disappeared.
"Fucker," Grimmjow muttered under his breath and turned to leave as well.
Maybe it was time to finally pay a visit to the Shinigami.
…
Part II
Author: aviss
Pairing: Grimmjow/Ichigo
Rating: PG-13 this part, will go higher later on.
Genre: Action, Adventure, Romance
Warnings: None so far
Word Count: ~3.400 this part
Summary: Ichigo has problems adapting to the peaceful days after the war. However, they won't be peaceful for long
Leap of Faith
Prologue
Aizen was dead.
For some reason the knowledge of that fact brought Ichigo less satisfaction than he expected, but the truth was Aizen was finally dead.
So were many others.
They had managed to avoid most of the human casualties, moving Karakura to a temporary location had been a good idea; however that had not spared countless lives, Shinigami and Arrancar alike.
He looked around at the ruins that were the replica of his town, debris and lifeless corpses liberally strewn on the streets, blood and dust covering the ground everywhere he looked. Somehow his entire vision was red and white, as if looking through a bloody mist.
Ichigo heard someone calling him in the distance, his voice faint and far away distorted by the white noise filling his head. He turned to look and saw Grimmjow shouting at him, way closer than he expected judging by how distant his voice sounded.
Ichigo shook his head, blinking rapidly. There was something wrong with his senses. He'd probably received a harder blow to the head than he thought.
"What's wrong with you, Kurosaki?" Grimmjow was saying, his brows rushing together in something like concern. But that was wrong; Grimmjow couldn't be worried about him.
He probably had a bad concussion.
With a great effort, Ichigo managed to stand, looking around and seeing small pockets of enemies still fighting, the news of Aizen's demise obviously not having reached most of them. But the war was over, without the head the body was just moving in autopilot until it finally fell as well.
"Get away from here, Grimmjow," he heard himself saying, the strange feeling of detachment making it sound as if the words were coming from someone else.
Grimmjow's strange expression turned into a scowl. "What the fuck are you talking about, Shinigami?"
He gestured at their surroundings trying to find the words to express the idea he wasn't even sure he was having. It was frustrating and he needed some time to clear his head before he could form a coherent thought.
He didn't have it.
Ichigo tried again. "Get the fuck away, now!" he shouted, his hands trying to encompass everything around them. "Go! Now!"
Grimmjow was on him in a second, grabbing the front of his clothes and pulling him against his body. "What's your problem, Shinigami? Don't need me now you've won?
Ichigo shook his head, glaring. "Not won, not yet," he grated through clenched teeth.
Grimmjow narrowed his eyes, looking at Azien's corpse on the ground. "He's dead, Kurosaki. Tousen and Gin too. You've won."
"No," Ichigo took a deep breath, pointing at the groups still engaged in the battle. "They won't stop until every single hollow is dead." And that was the truth, what he had been trying to say in his confused state. Grimmjow needed to leave before some Taichou forgot he had been by Ichigo's side all that time and disposed of him. "Get Nell and whoever else the fuck you want and fuck off from here. Open a Garganta and leave. Now!" He gave him a push.
Grimmjow dug his heels, stubborn to the end. "I'll beat them."
"No! Leave!" Grimmjow had no chance against the remaining Taichous, not in his state after fighting Gin. He was lucky to have survived that one; another would surely finish him off.
Grimmjow looked like he wanted to protest, he looked around taking stock of the situation. The reality of the mess he was in probably clashing against his willingness to kill everyone there. With a scowl he turned to Ichigo and pressed their lips together, the taste of blood and grime and desperation filling their mouths.
"Goodbye Ichigo," he said before disappearing.
"Goodbye Grimmjow," Ichigo said to the empty space he had occupied the previous second, not letting his exhausted body fall to the ground until he saw a Garganta opening and several figures going through it.
With a relieved sigh he closed his eyes and let darkness claim him.
…
Part I
If someone had told Ichigo there would come a day he would miss the war, he would have taken the unfortunate soul to the closest loony bin, after beating the shit out of them.
But the truth was he really missed those days.
Not the death. One would have to be insane and more than a little sadistic to miss the senseless waste of life the Winter War had been. What he missed were the fights, and the excitement and the company of his friends and reluctant allies.
Compared to that, his current life was boring as hell.
University occupied most of his time, studying so he could carry on with the duties of Kurosaki Clinic and help the living as well as the dead. He also hung out with his friends when he had time to spare; his living friends since there wasn't even a token Shinigami at Karakura now. They didn't need to assign anyone to the town where Kurosaki and his friends lived. The rest of his spare time he employed in Shinigami duties, performing Soul Burials and dealing with the few Hollows that dared enter his territory.
Not that there were many of those. He even missed the ugly sons of bitches and their little warm-up fights, but for some reason Hollows seemed to steer clear of his path.
Now they had their hard-won peace, Ichigo didn't know what to do with it.
He knew he wasn't the only one having trouble adapting to the calm and happy days. He had stopped seeing Ishida and Chad for more than a night out since they all entered University and Orihime seemed to have withdrawn into a world of her own after their return from Hueco Mundo. Every now and again they would all meet and talk and try to have fun, but their heart clearly wasn't in it.
He also hadn't seen or heard from Rukia and Renji for a couple of years. Not that he had any doubt they would meet again, when time allowed it, but it felt kind of lonely without them pestering him like before.
Ichigo opened the door to his flat and greeted his cat, dumping his book bag on the floor. He had been feeling strange the entire day, and he could swear someone had been following him but he had been unable to catch whoever it was.
Probably just wishful thinking on his part.
He was undressing to take a shower when he felt it again, this time very close. Ichigo turned around and saw nothing. Shrugging, he stepped under the warm spray and let his mind wander.
He had a date tonight with his girlfriend and didn't know where to take her. They had been dating for a couple of months and though she was cute and funny, Ichigo wasn't able to muster more than a vague feeling of fondness for her.
He was used to that, he had been unable to feel anything for a long time, but it was unfair to Kyoko. Maybe it was time to break up.
Considering this he stepped out of the shower and got dressed, his mind so preoccupied he almost missed the beep of his phone. Not his normal mobile, the other one. Great, a Hollow. Just the distraction he needed.
Without thinking he grabbed his badge and left his body behind.
He arrived at the location, Zangetsu a comforting presence in his hand. The Hollow looked as big and stupid and weak as all the ones he had fought before. Not even strong enough for a warm up. Sighing, Ichigo attacked defeating it with just one blow.
He was about to leave when he felt the same presence as before. Stronger this time. Unnerved, Ichigo turned around looking for the source. There was a flash of white and blue on top of a building, too quick for Ichigo to know what it was but enough to set his heart hammering in his chest. It couldn't be.
He rushed there only to find the place empty and a white bag snagged on a windowsill, its blue logo flashing under the sun.
Wishful thinking.
An angry roar called his attention back to the park where he had killed the Hollow, a shape of ash and dirt reforming on the ground again. Ichigo stared, unable to believe his eyes. Hadn't he just killed the ugly bastard?
He jumped from the roof of the building, moving as fast as he could and dealing a second blow to the almost completely recovered Hollow. It dissolved with a shriek, the cloud regrouping again as soon as Ichigo took his eyes off it. He cursed and stood aside, checking to confirm it was really the same Hollow.
It was, but there was something different about it. The more Ichigo tried to kill it the more of his mask disappeared. It was ridiculous. It was also getting stronger and faster, almost as if it was--no; that was impossible. It was preposterous even thinking about it.
But the truth was it felt as if it was evolving from Hollow to Arrancar in front of his eyes. Concerned and not a bit uneasy Ichigo released his Bankai, shooting a Getsuga Tenshou as soon as Zangetsu shrank in his hand.
This time the Hollow stayed dead.
Not entirely believing what had just happened, Ichigo left the park, deep in thought.
…
He wasn't too surprised the next time it happened. Only a week after the first one another Hollow appeared. Two in such a short span, it was strange though not overly concerning. He'd had worse.
But this one didn't want to stay dead either. Ichigo fought in his Shikai form for what felt like an eternity before tiring of the mouse and cat play, the Hollow shrinking with each blow and his mask vanishing, letting him see something resembling a human face staring triumphantly at him.
He released Bankai and dealt with it like he had done with the previous one. But he was worried now. Something was happening.
…
The worst part was not knowing who to ask for advise. Before there was always Urahara Kisuke and his endless stream of mysterious answers. But he had helped, and he had been a good source of information, even in that roundabout way of his.
Since the end of the war and his return to Soul Society Ichigo had had no way to contact him. It was funny, really. Without Urahara to open a gate for him Ichigo was almost completely isolated from Seiretei. He still received orders on his phone, but apart from that he had no way to talk to anyone in Seiretei. He had not realized just how alone he was on this.
He shouldn't have worried about it, anyway. If something like that was happening with the Hollows, Soul Society had to know. And they would be dispatching someone soon.
It was just a couple of days later he received news from Soul Society.
He arrived one night at home, the third Hollow in a row pulling that resurrection shit on him and making him wonder if he should just try to call Soul Society and check if his phone was for something more than getting orders, only to find they had taken the necessary steps to contact him.
Kuchiki Byakuya was standing in the middle of his living room, Rukia and Renji close by. The fourth person inside, making it feel crowded inside his tiny house, was Urahara Kisuke himself.
Ichigo smiled seeing him with the white haori of his Division and without his infamous hat, his eyes clear and smiling behind his unruly hair.
"Kurosaki-kun," he said, lips curved in a smile that felt warm and welcoming. "It's been a long time."
"Ichigo!" Rukia jumped up and hugged him while Renji approached as well, clasping him on the shoulder.
Byakuya nodded in acknowledgement, his short "Kurosaki-kun" all the greeting he was going to receive from him.
Ichigo greeted them all and put on the kettle for a bit of tea. He had he feeling it was going to be a long talk.
"Why haven't you come to visit?" Rukia asked him while he prepared the refreshments.
Ichigo shrugged, not looking at her. "I've been busy with classes and everything," he said, "and besides, the only guy who knew how to get there was there already, so I had no way to go. You could have come as well."
Rukia smiled, showing proudly her badge. "I didn't have time; I've been made fukutaichou of my Division." Ichigo returned her smile, unsure of how to express how glad he was of having her there.
They joined the rest of the group, exchanging pleasantries while all of them sipped the tea. "So, you've come to talk about these fucking weird Hollows," Ichigo said finally fearing they would never get to the point.
Urahara nodded. "Yes, we've been having trouble lately with Hollows," he began, "after the war most of Hueco Mundo was obliterated, only low class hollow remaining there. Or so we thought."
Ichigo didn't say anything. He knew for a fact there were a few arrancar still there, but he had no intention to share that with them. Not yet at any rate.
"It seemed they were just taking their time to regroup, whoever it is there leading them now. In the past month we've had a few encounters with this type of Hollow--not exactly arrancar but almost. They are hard to kill, resilient to all but the highest grade kidou and able to reform themselves and evolve doing it."
"We've lost quite a few operatives this way," Byakuya intervened then looking straight at him, his brow furrowed in concern. "The more we fight, the stronger they get. Anyone without Bankai has no chance against them--they can hold them for a while, but in the end they are invariably defeated."
Ichigo nodded, "I've seen a couple of them; tough bastards that they are, they are not impossible to kill."
"There's more," Renji said and Ichigo noticed for the first time he was wearing a white haori of his own. Soul Society had dispatched three Taichous and a fukutaichou; it had to be very serious indeed. "There had been reports in these past years after the war of Garganta being opened here in Karakura, in this past month they have multiplied."
That got Ichigo's attention. "Garganta? How? Only Espada level arrancar can open Garganta at will, and there were no surviving Espa--" he stopped, frowning. "That's the reason you're here, is it not? You know he's alive."
Renji nodded. "Yes, we know Grimmjow survived."
"I haven't seen the fucker since that day, if that's what you're asking," he said defensively.
Urahara stared at him worriedly, "Are you sure, Kurosaki-kun?"
"Of course I'm sure, you think I wouldn't notice if Grimmjow was hanging around? I know his reiatsu like the back of my hand; we spent most of the Winter War side by side. If you guys knew about the Garganta why take this long coming?"
"Ehm," Renji was blushing and not looking directly at him, Ichigo noticed. "We assumed, since Grimmjow was the only surviving Espada, there was nothing to fear. He might be a psychopath, but he's not a threat to anyone but you. And you can hold your ground against him without our help and didn't seem to find his company so terrible before."
Ichigo felt his face heating at the implication. Nothing to fear from an Espada travelling between Hueco Mundo and Karakura; yeah right.
"We had hoped," Urahara continued, "there were personal reasons behind those instances of Garganta being opened, but if you tell us you haven't seen him we have to assume either Grimmjow is behind these new development in Hollows or someone else has reached the level needed to travel between Hueco Mundo and here at will."
His face about to burst from embarrassment, Ichigo looked at his hands. Personal reasons--it was as if they believed Grimmjow would be paying social calls to Ichigo.
"Why would he--" Ichigo began, scowling when he realized he had no idea how to finish that thought.
"I was close by when you took Aizen down, Ichigo," Rukia said and he looked up at her, "I saw your farewell."
That was it, he wanted the ground to open up and swallow him right then and there.
He could remember that goodbye kiss, a spur of the moment he had been unable to forget for years. Knowing his friends knew was more than he could bear. "It's not Grimmjow," he finally said, his throat too dry for more words to come out.
"If that's the case, Kurosaki-kun, we won't need to trouble you further," Byakuya said breaking the uncomfortable silence after a few seconds, "we'll send someone to investigate this issue."
…
Grimmjow crossed the open Garganta and landed noiselessly on the sand, using his sonido to move to the half destroyed buildings in front of him.
There wasn't much left standing in Las Noches, the Winter War and the years of careless fights in Aizen's old domain had taken care of that. Grimmjow couldn't care less; Las Noches meant nothing to him. He went straight to the old Throne room, the dais and polished floors eroded by countless sand grains passing through the blasted south wall.
"It's out of control," he said without bothering to check if there was anyone else in the room, a thunderous expression on his face. "I've disposed of all the little shits I could find but some of them followed you to Karakura and attacked the Shinigami."
"So? They're dead now, are they not Grimmjow?" Ulquiorra detached himself from the shadows and walked to Grimmjow, an infuriatingly calm expression on his face. The desire to punch that face full of holes almost overwhelmed Grimmjow, as it did every time he saw the other Espada. "Or did your Shinigami fail to kill that trash?"
Grimmjow glared at him as if he wanted to incinerate him on the spot, Ulquiorra didn't even twitch. "No, they're dead."
"What's the problem then Grimmjow?"
"You were supposed to find the source of those pesky little shits and destroy it instead of travelling between Karakura and here to be with your little bitch, that's the problem," Grimmjow retorted angrily. They had been trying to find what had caused the new evolution of the hollows since the moment they discovered them, without much luck. Grimmjow was sure it was somewhere in Las Noches but so far it had evaded them and he wasn't in the best of moods.
He would gladly share his frustration with Ulquiorra.
He blocked the cero shot at him easily, his fury turning to excitement at the fight he could see coming. Perfect, he had been itching for a bit of blood since his last trip to earth and Ulquiorra was the perfect enemy for that. He only needed to get him angry enough, an ability Grimmjow had in spades.
Ulquiorra had other idea; instead of following through with another attack he turned his back to Grimmjow and slowly retreated to the other side of the room, moving to the door that would lead to his own chamber. "I'm not interested in fighting you Grimmjow," he said dismissing him with his usual coldness. "And I don't care about those hollows or whatever they are as long as they are not a threat to me or my woman."
"Your bitch, you mean," Grimmjow taunted hating being denied a good fight. It had been ages since he had been able to fight anyone but Ulquiorra, and having also that one out of his reach irked him more than he was willing to admit.
Not that Grimmjow really wanted to kill Ulquiorra, but the one he wanted to beat was not there and so far he had failed to find a worthy adversary in Hueco Mundo. Ulquiorra didn't rise to the provocation, with a last contemptuous look at Grimmjow he disappeared.
"Fucker," Grimmjow muttered under his breath and turned to leave as well.
Maybe it was time to finally pay a visit to the Shinigami.
…
Part II