Grimmjow tries hard to avoid eye contact with the orange haired man that comes from nowhere. He knows danger when he sees it and this man in front of him is definitely dangerous. However it feels like his eyes are glued to the amber orbs, as if there is an unseen force that prevents Grimmjow from looking anywhere else but his eyes. He gulps. He is fully aware of his half naked body now thanks to this guy pointing it out. What worse is the fact that that dodgy eyes are checking out his body with a look akin to covetousness. Grimmjow wants to kick himself when he knows he is blushing under his gaze.
“Hey Schiffer,” calls Ichigo, his eyes are still lock on Grimmjow. “Is this the fucker who did this to her?” he asks and the temperature inside the room drops a few degree Celsius as his amber eyes turn to slit.
Ulquiorra glances at Grimmjow. If the situation is not so precarious, he probably would have snickered at Grimmjow’s comical face expression. The boy clearly is close to piss in his pants out of fear. He almost feels sorry for the kid. Almost but not really.
“The one and only,” replies Ulquiorra straight forwardly. Grimmjow could not believe that this bastard feels no misgiving or whatsoever to sell him out.
There is a wide smirk on Ichigo’s lips after he heard the reply. If he looks dangerous before, now he looks absolutely maniacal and furious. Not a good combination, Grimmjow thoughts. Ichigo walks towards Grimmjow and on instinct; the blue-haired boy backs away until his back hits the railing.
“You haven’t answered my question,” Ichigo pokes Grimmjow’s head with his index finger. Grimmjow notices that he wears black nail polish on his nails as well, just like Ulquiorra but instead of getting the emo vibe, Grimmjow can definitely sense how hazardous this guy can be. The distraction does not help him at all when he gets poke once again on his forehead, this time harder.
“Where the fuck is your shirt?”
“I… it was dirtied,” Grimmjow is relieved to find that his voice does not crack under the circumstances.
Ichigo blatantly smacks Grimmjow’s head in annoyance after he heard his answer. “Tch, Schiffer, get this moron a shirt! I don’t want her to fucking wake up and is forced to look at something so hideous.”
Despite his fear, Grimmjow glares at Ichigo. The nerves of this guy…
Which of course amuses Ichigo. He is yet to find this mortal boring, just like when he first met Ulquiorra. After all these years, that raven-haired guy is still not afraid of him even after knowing what he is capable of doing. That pisses him off but knowing that he is Rukia’s Acolyte he tries to hold his temper. He swears one of these days he will kill Ulquiorra though. He does not care if Rukia will kill him in return. It would have been worth it.
“I doubt I can find any men’s clothes in this house” responds Ulquiorra stoically. It’s just like Ichigo to forget something so basic. He would kill any mortal that ever come close o Rukia. Ulquiorra almost lost his life at his hands so he should know how serious of a threat Ichigo is.
“Tsk,” spats Ichigo in frustrations. This is exactly why he hates Ulquiorra. Any mere mortal would not dare speak that way to him. Rukia is giving this shit head too much freedom and she needs to be punished. Unconsciously, Ichigo licks his lips and wide maniacal grins returns to his lips, his eyes are glazed.
Ulquiorra can figure out what is going on his mind right now and he looks at Ichigo in disgusts. If Ichigo hates him, then the feeling is mutual. Ulquiorra coughs to stop Ichigo from day-dreaming about Rukia any further. It works.
“Then why the fuck are you telling this shithead about us?” asks Ichigo threateningly. Though the question is directed at Ulquiorra, his eyes are focus on Grimmjow once again.
Us? So he is indeed of the same species as her, Grimmjow concludes as he swallows nervously. There is a dangerous tone in his voice, wanting to intimidate both of the mortals present in that small room. His method is not working with Ulquiorra though as the fellow chooses not to respond to his inquiry. Ulquiorra does not have to answer to anyone except Rukia.
Since Ichigo cannot do anything to the silent Ulquiorra, he directs his anger at Grimmjow instead. In a blink of an eye, he has Grimmjow by the neck with only his right hand. With a little more pressure, his nails would have punctured Grimmjow’s neck that is now pinned to the railing. The passerby who sees them quickly walks away. Such scene is common in this part of the neighborhood and no one wants to get involved.
Ichigo has a big maniacal grin plastered to his face as he watches Grimmjow struggles for air. Ulquiorra is temporarily forgotten.
Grimmjow is too busy gasping for air to notice Ichigo is calling him. It is only when Ichigo shakes him that he notices the psycho bastard’s mouth is moving. He tries to pay attention but the lack of oxygen to his brain makes him a little slower. He only manages to catch the last few words of Ichigo’s question.
“… bastard selling you out?”
Grimmjow raises an eyebrow. That is all he can do at the moment given his pitiful situation. He does not even care about Ulquiorra who is watching them with those emotionless green-eyes of his.
“Why don’t you repeat the fucking rules, Schiffer? I’m sure you have them all tattooed in that bird brain of yours.” Ichigo cocks his head back to look at Ulquiorra who is still giving Ichigo the silent treatment.
“Tch, don’t think I won’t kill you Schiffer just because you are her Acolyte,” warns Ichigo angrily which makes Ulquiorra glares harder at their direction. He glances at Rukia and knowing that she might suffer the consequences of his stubbornness, he slowly responds to Ichigo’s order.
“The rules stated that no mortal besides those who has sworn their secrecy to the Covenant can know the truth. Should they found out, they will be taken care of –“
Ichigo cackles, cutting Ulquiorra off from further explaining the rules. He turns back to Grimmjow who has been listening attentively and trying hard not to lost consciousness from the grip on his neck. “I am pretty sure you can figure out what that means don’t you?”
Grimmjow has a sinking feeling that he knew but he is not going to put any ideas into this maniac’s head.
Without warning, Ichigo’s grab Grimmjow’s face with his free hand, making sure that Grimmjow looks straight into his fiery amber eyes. Despite trying to show off his brave front, Grimmjow could no help but lowly squeaks in fear which makes Ichigo laughs out loud. The sound of his laugh literally makes Grimmjow’s skin crawls.
“Do you want to know how we take care of the mortals?” whispers Ichigo to Grimmjow’s ear. Before he could utter a word, Ichigo licks the side of his face. It grosses him so much that he finally manages to find strength to break loose from Ichigo’s grip. He quickly tries to wipe the saliva from his cheeks when his head is slams onto the wall. His sight blacks out for a few seconds from the impact. He can even taste blood inside of his mouth. Before he can figures out what the hell just happened, Ichigo is once again upon him. Grimmjow tries to fight but his strength is nothing compared to this monster. Ichigo has him by the throat yet again in a vice like grip. Grimmjow can feel the air leaving his lungs as he struggles for oxygen.
“Are you sure you want to kill that kid, Kurosaki?” asks Ulquiorra who has been watching uncaringly besides Rukia. Grimmjow notices how nonchalant he is about this whole situation. That bastard…
It does not seem like Ichigo heard him because his grips only tightens around Grimmjow’s throat, ready to snap his neck. Grimmjow has starting to loose consciousness from the lack of oxygen to his brain when he feels his body is being tossed aside as if he is just a useless rag doll. He lands with a thud and his head once again gets knock on the wall.
Grimmjow could not think straight as he tries to pump as much air as possible into his lungs. He visions blurred. He blinks a few times to clear his vision and barely able to see Ichigo takes Rukia in his arms, bridal style and pretty much leaps out of the balcony. Because of his anxiety, he struggles to his feet and hurries over o the balcony only to catch a glimpse of a red car, possibly a Lamborghini as Grimmjow cannot be so sure in his state, screeches away. He suspects that car belongs to the maniac with that ridiculous orange hair. The street is otherwise empty.
There is only one person he knows who can explain what the hell just fucking happened so he turns to Ulquiorra who is watching him with a small smirk on his lips as if saying ‘I told you so’. He feels like smacking Ulquiorra’s head with a metal bat at that particular moment. He does not give a fuck that this guy quite possibly just saved his life back there.
“Who the fuck was that and where is he taking her?” Grimmjow shrieks, his voice course from being throttled earlier. He could not contain his curiosity any longer. Not after he almost lost his life, goddamn it!
As expected, Ulquiorra ignores him as he goes about repacking and putting away his equipments. Grimmjow fumes with rage and the headache from getting his head knocked on the wall couple of times just make his mood even sourer.
The truth is, Ulquiorra finds it amusing to find this kid still hanging around and bothering him with questions. He expects him to make a run for it with tails between his legs after his encounter with Ichigo.
“Hey, answer me!” demands Grimmjow who is stomping towards Ulquiorra now.
“Did you not hear what he said? I cannot tell you anything about us unless you really want to die that badly.”
This makes Grimmjow thinks. It’s hard what with his head still ringing from being tossed about and knocked around. He wants to know. He needs to know. Besides, that maniac could have killed him but it seems like there is something stopping him. There is a reason why he is still alive. He does not know what it is but he is going to gamble and take the risk.
“I will take my chances,” replies Grimmjow coolly. It was an unexpected reply that takes Ulquiorra by surprise. Is this what Rukia sees in this kid? Ulquiorra hates to admit it but he is just like him when he first found out about them.
Ulquiorra contemplates his options while Grimmjow waits in silence. They both know that they are risking their lives. The only difference is, Ulquiorra has to weight Rukia’s best interest as well as part of his responsibilities as her Acolyte.
Finally, after a few minutes have passed, Ulquiorra takes a deep breath. He knows he is going to regret this later on. Rukia owes him big time. ”Follow me.”
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