Dead Espadas: 15. Barefoot in the Park
15. Barefoot in the Park
Orihime's nightmare from the preceding night was on her mind as she rolled over in the bedclothes and buried her face in her pillow the next morning. In her dream Starrk had shown up, and Ulquiorra had left early for work, and Grimmjow had stayed the night. Again.
She shook her head, rubbing her hair into a fuzzy ball against the pillow, until she heard low male voices coming from beyond her closed bedroom door, and realized it wasn't a dream. She recognized Grimmjow's deep tone easily, something that was becoming familiar, but it was the added rumble of Starrk's that made her dread getting out of bed the most.
What kind of afterlife plan did Aizen bestow on his discarded Arrancars? she wondered. A free ticket and map to her apartment?
She got out of bed and fumbled through her dresser drawers for a pink tank top and pair of hemmed denim shorts of modest length. She looked around her dresser top, smiling as she found her brush, which she had started keeping in her bedroom since her alone-time in the bathroom had been cut into so much lately. She brushed her hair and put it up into a ponytail, and then misted on a light floral perfume out of habit before she realized what she was doing. With a blush she scrubbed most of it off her neck with a sock until she saw the red area the action was leaving above her collarbone. She sighed and tossed the sock into the drawer, and then braced herself and opened the bedroom door.
Grimmjow and Starrk were at the kitchen counter when she got there, both on their second glass of orange soda, Starrk looking more haggard than when she'd last seen him.
He grinned at her, the effort a little worn. "Morning, Inoue-chan. Sorry for barging in last night, but it seemed like a good idea at the time." He sniffed. "You smell nice."
She smiled through a slight blush, remaining at the counter near the refrigerator as Grimmjow made no pretense at glimpsing her legs. "Uh, are you hungry?" She looked to Grimmjow when he'd finished looking at her shorts. "Anyone?"
They both nodded.
Breakfast was of Orihime's specialty leek pancakes and raspberry syrup with crushed bacon bits she kept on hand, just for such an occasion, with generous heaping portions of leftover tuna and soba soup. They sat at the table, Grimmjow scowling at the other man.
"Then why haven't you got your own place yet?" he wanted to know once Starrk had finished detailing his own severance allotment. "What the hell are you doing here?"
Orihime wanted to know the same, but she didn't say so, preferring to sit quietly at the table, muting any sounds that caught her when Grimmjow's knee impacted hers beneath the table. He'd mumbled something that sounded like sorry twice, but it did little to stop him from moving abruptly every time Starrk detailed another amenity of being Primera Espada, such as the bonus pay and choice of what he termed 'dumping locale', namely Karakura Town.
"Still looking for Lilynette," Starrk said for the third time. "She said she'd be here, but I haven't seen anything of her." He took a postcard from his pocket and set it on the table. "That's where we're going."
Both Orihime and Grimmjow looked closer at the postcard. On it was a picture of a sunny sandy beach, palm trees draping over the pristine blue water under a superimposed sun-face wearing sunglasses.
"Hawaii," Starrk said, nodding, then stopped when his saké headache caught up with the movement.
Orihime studied the postcard in Grimmjow's hand as he turned it over to see a line map inset near the greeting on the reverse side. She carefully moved back a bit when her hair brushed his as they hovered over the map. "That's not Hawaii; it's Okinawa."
Starrk popped a bite of leek pancake into his mouth but didn't chew. "It is?"
She nodded.
"Are you sure?"
She nodded again. "But it's a lot like Hawaii."
"Damn," he said through the bite as he chewed, grimacing as he crunched into a piece of bacon that surprised him. "I thought it was Hawaii."
"Okinawa is nice, too," she said as Grimmjow pushed the card back across the table to Starrk.
His eyes remained on the card. "Once you find Lilynette, you'll be gone?"
Starrk nodded. "Soon as."
A knock came to the door, and Orihime jumped to her feet, her knee skinning against Grimmjow's in her hurry to answer.
"Dammit," Grimmjow muttered as she left.
Starrk was looking at his plate suspiciously, voice dropping as he glanced to Grimmjow. "Hey, this food here, is it okay to eat?"
"Of course it is," Grimmjow said. "Why not?"
"Well, because I've been here a week and I've never eaten anything like this." Starrk rubbed his stomach and then his chest. "It's not sitting too well."
Grimmjow shrugged, aware that Orihime was letting Ulquiorra into the apartment. He tried to ignore it. "Then maybe you got a bad fill-in." He nodded at Starrk's sternum. "Maybe your heart is crooked or some shit like that."
Starrk swallowed abruptly. "You think that's it? Not the food?" He rubbed the area that had once been the Hollow hole. "Maybe, huh?"
Grimmjow scowled at the hand on the other man's loose shirt. "What the hell is that?" He nodded at the black number One on the back of his hand. "Why'd you get to keep your rank?"
Starrk grinned, chuckling as he turned the hand over. "Ah, Lilynette's idea. A tattoo." He nodded slowly. "You can get one on your back, Grimmjow." He laughed louder. "You can get any number you want!" He slapped the table, then groaned at the noise and looked up as Orihime and Ulquiorra approached the table.
Grimmjow glanced to them, a sudden urge to break something welling within him as he saw the bouquet of flowers in Orihime's arms, her smiling face barely visible behind the billowing arrangement in pastel pink tissue paper.
He glowered at Ulquiorra, who was looking at Starrk with something as close to shock as the Fourth could manage.
Orihime smiled brightly, leaning in to smell the overflowing bundle of large-petaled pink, yellow, and lavender flowers nestled among the long green stems and splay of fern fronds. The delight in her face matched the barely controlled incense in Grimmjow's, which was offset by Ulquiorra and Starrk's surprise at seeing each other.
"Thank you, Ulquiorra," she said again as he looked between the men seated at the table. "They're so lovely. I'll put them in water. Sit down and I'll make you breakfast!"
Grimmjow watched her nearly skip into the kitchen, the flowers held lovingly as she placed them on the counter and oohed and ahhed over them before reaching up and opening a cupboard over the sink. He glared at Ulquiorra as he sat down across the table from him, but the expression was lost on the Fourth, as he was frowning at Starrk.
"Flowers?" Grimmjow muttered. "You think that's going to make up for hitting her yesterday?"
Starrk turned a sharp look on Ulquiorra. "You hit her? Damn, didn't think that possible, Schiffer."
"It was an accident," Ulquiorra said, watching Starrk's thumb move across his chest. "You're here, too? Is everyone in Hueco Mundo dead?"
Starrk shrugged. "Near as I can tell."
Grimmjow watched Orihime fill a clear vase with water at the sink faucet and put the flowers into it, arranging them carefully so that they were all facing out.
"Do you have problems with your heart?" Starrk asked, nodding to Ulquiorra's throat.
"What are you doing here?" Ulquiorra asked.
"Looking for Lilynette. Does your heart get heated up when you eat?" Starrk dredged the near to last bite of pancake through the dark red syrup on his plate.
"Heated up," Ulquiorra repeated, frowning. "I don't think so."
Starrk burped and patted his sternum. "Damn, something's on fire."
"As long as it's beating you won't die," Ulquiorra said factually. "It can't catch fire without a flame." He put a hand to his neck, feeling the rhythmic throb there.
Orihime returned then with two plates, one stacked higher with a group of small pancakes drowning in raspberry syrup on it, bacon bits topping the red. She placed it before him, smiling, and set her own plate to the side. "Oh, orange juice."
She left back to the refrigerator.
Ulquiorra looked with misgivings at the plate before him, then to Grimmjow and Starrk's empty plates. "It smells good."
"It is good," Grimmjow said. "What did you do? Rob the wedding of flowers?"
Ulquiorra shook his head. "I bought them. You're not the only one with money." He looked up as Orihime returned and set a glass of orange juice before him and resumed her seat at the fourth side of the table with her own glass.
"Thank you for the flowers," she said, smiling at him. "They're very nice. How was your first day of work?"
He shrugged. "It went okay, I think."
"When do you work next?"
"Tonight. There are some special deliveries for a few of the shops on the Bay." He looked at the plate before him, aroma enticing him into trying the rosy pile of food.
She frowned at his hand still at his throat. "Is something wrong?"
He dropped his hand to take the chopsticks by his plate. "No. Starrk was saying his heart was heating up."
A confused look claimed her face, her attention leveling on Starrk as he put a hand to his chest, pushing. "Are you hurt?"
"Nothing like that," he said. "Just something sticking in the way when I eat." He nodded to Grimmjow. "Sexta here seems to think they put my heart in off-kilter."
"Oh, that's not your heart," she said, giggling a little as she looked to his hand below the center of his chest.
They all looked to her, Ulquiorra's first bite of pancake dropping from his chopsticks as he did.
She looked to each of them in turn. "Well, it's not. Your heart's here." She put a hand to the left side of her chest, a movement they all followed a little too closely. She blushed and half shrugged. "Well, it is."
"Not mine," Ulquiorra said, one hand at his throat. "I can feel it beating."
"That's your pulse," she said, lowering her hand. "Everyone has their heart in the same place."
"Then what did they stick in the Hollow hole?" Grimmjow asked, his hand at his abdomen, fingers scrunching up his t-shirt.
"Uh, more anatomy, I guess." She nodded, smiling more. "Intestines. That's it."
"Are you sure?"
She nodded, scooping up a large bite of pancakes and syrup with a spoon so she wouldn't miss any of it. "I felt it beating."
As much as Grimmjow wanted to gloat at the imprecation, he only nodded.
Ulquiorra and Starrk's attention snapped to her, and then to Grimmjow and back to her again. Orihime saw their attentions waver, and stuck the spoon of pancakes in her mouth.
Ulquiorra frowned at Grimmjow. "She felt it beating? When?"
Starrk chuckled, his elbow giving the Fourth Espada a nudge that nearly wobbled him, winking. "He was here last night, getting all toasty with her."
Orihime looked to Grimmjow, who grinned at Ulquiorra's growing distress. She swallowed quickly. "What did you tell him?" she asked immediately.
Grimmjow shook his head. "Didn't tell him anything." He drank down the last of his juice, grinning wider. "He just assumed."
"Assumed what?" Ulquiorra asked, frown increasing, hand clamping the chopsticks. "You said you weren't staying, Grimmjow."
"I couldn't leave her alone with him," he said, jerking a thumb at Starrk. "He was drunk."
Ulquiorra looked to Starrk and then to Orihime, who was intent on her breakfast, face lowered over her plate as she collected her next bite with the spoon.
Starrk waved a hand at Ulquiorra. "Hey, can you blame him? Everyone needs to find a soft spot, butter a little toast for someone." He sighed, eyes taking on a far off look. "It's the little things that you miss in someone, you know? I mean, me and Lilynette have been together forever, and I can tell you, if anyone wasn't good enough for her, I'd send them off. She's too young to know what's best for her."
Orihime was glad the topic had moved away from her, but was a little confused about toast. She didn't add anything, instead taking another enormous bite as the Espadas stared at each other.
"I didn't think you and Lilynette were that type of close," Grimmjow said, pushing his plate away.
"We're not," Starrk said sharply. "She's like a daughter to me."
Ulquiorra nodded slightly before taking his next bite. "That makes more sense."
"But I miss her," Starrk said, frowning as he watched Orihime chew a mouthful of pancake and bacon. "Damn, you aren't the dainty eater, are you, Inoue-chan?"
She swallowed too quickly. "No."
"There's nothing wrong with the way she eats," Grimmjow said curtly as Ulquiorra opened his mouth to reply.
"Didn't say there was," Starrk said as Orihime blushed a little and cornered a smaller bite on her spoon.
"I do eat too much," she said with a sigh. "But I really like food."
"Don't worry about it," Grimmjow said, deciding against his next comment that would have been considered off-color, and sent a pointed look across the table to Ulquiorra. "There's an apartment open in my building. You can move in if you've got the money."
Ulquiorra's eyes narrowed slightly at him. "That's convenient."
Grimmjow nodded, grinning, and then grinned a little more when Orihime's knee settled against his below the table, and didn't move away. He wondered if Ulquiorra could sense it. Or if her other knee was against the Fourth's. "You said he had to go, so he's gone."
Ulquiorra exhaled slowly. "Your upstairs neighbor?"
Grimmjow nodded.
Starrk looked to Ulquiorra. "You're getting a new place? Hey, where do you live now?"
Orihime grabbed her glass of juice and took a long drink as all eyes went to her.
"Here?" Starrk said, reading his fellow Espadas only too well, amusement making him smile widely. "Damn, girl, you are busy."
"Shut up," Grimmjow growled, annoyance suddenly piqued. "She's been nice enough to put us up when -"
"Us?" Starrk echoed. "Both of you? Here?"
Orihime forced a smile through the pink heating through her cheeks and stood up. "Everyone finished? Good." She collected the empty plates and made a beeline for the kitchen with them.
"You can go, too," Grimmjow decided for Starrk. "It's a big place, enough room for both of you. And Lilynette, too, when you find her," he added as Starrk began to say something.
"You've thought this through," Ulquiorra said to Grimmjow.
He nodded. "Damn right. Time to move out."
Orihime overheard their conversation and took the opportunity to slip into her bedroom. The sooner they got to the Golden Blossom Guest Houses to secure Ulquiorra - and Starrk's - new housing, the sooner Ulquiorra could get some sleep before his next shift.
She opened the middle drawer of her dresser and searched for her yellow tank top with the green paint on the hem from when she'd helped Tatsuki paint her bedroom. She made a mental note of what he would need.
"Rice cooker, hot plate, plates, oh, we have to get groceries yet for ..." she sighed, realizing there was much yet to do for both apartments, "Grimmjow needs groceries, too. And now -"
"You don't need that," Grimmjow said from her open doorway, startling her. He nodded to the yellow tank top she held up. "The landlord is painting the apartment today."
She nodded at him as he leaned in the doorway, arms crossed at his chest as he hovered at the entry. "But Ulquiorra might want to repaint a different color."
"I told him green."
She raised an eyebrow at him. "You did?"
He grinned. "Yup."
She refolded the shirt, eyeing him with less suspicion. "You can come in, if you want."
Surprise glint his eyes, and he dropped his arms to his sides, taking a few steps into her sanctuary. He looked around at the room, nodding. "That's new," he said about nothing in the room, watching her refold the shirt a few times. "I'm actually invited in after all the times you made sure the door was shut."
She nodded slowly, not meeting his eyes as she put the shirt back in the drawer. "You're okay."
He chuckled, stepping closer to the dresser. "Not scary anymore?"
"You'll always be scary, Grimmjow," she said more softly than she'd planned, closing the drawer, and then straightening to look at him. A small smile eased onto her face through a faint blush. "Thanks for staying last night."
A slew of comments rushed through his head, but he didn't utter any of them. Maybe one. "That's a switch." Before she could say anything his attention had turned to the corkboard on the wall near her dresser mirror. "What's up with you and the maggot?"
A frown snapped to her face as she looked at the collage of photos, her gaze following his on the one of her and Ichigo. "He's not a maggot."
His eyes narrowed on the faces smiling back at him, scowl growing. "He's too friendly with you."
"Friends are friendly, Grimmjow," she said, trying to keep the wistfulness from her tone as she looked at the photo.
His attention hadn't left the picture, a low growl beginning in his throat.
Much as she wanted to let sleeping bears, dogs, and cats lie, Orihime decided the issue had to be broached. "Seeing as you're going to be living here now," she said, then caught herself as his attention shot to her. She shook her head, rephrasing her comment. "I mean, you're living in the Living World now, and chances are you'll run into Kurosaki-kun eventually." She took a step back as his hands bunched into fists. "It could happen, Grimmjow. It's different here. You can't punch anyone through a brick wall when you don't like them."
He looked back at the collage, eyes switching from her smile to Ichigo's face in the photo. "The War is over, Orihime. What's done is gone."
"Oh?" She smiled hopefully. "You mean, you don't have a problem with him?"
His sudden glower made her feel like she'd shrunk. "Of course I've got a damn problem with him, but I'm not going to hunt him down, if that's what you mean."
"Oh. Good." She nodded feebly. "Because he's..." She was going to say nice, but it didn't quite fit. "He's a good brother," she added, smiling more at the neutral word. "A very good big brother to his sisters."
He shrugged, weighing the idea. "That's okay."
"You think so?"
He nodded slowly. "Yeah. That's okay." He spent another minute looking over the rest of the photos, scowling more at some of them, tempted to rip a few others off, but didn't. His voice dropped to a thick rumble. "I don't see Crybaby up there."
"She's going to frame it," Ulquiorra said from the doorway, jerking both Orihime and Grimmjow's attention to him. Behind him stood Starrk, who was smiling as he peeked into the room.
"She doesn't need any framed photo of your damn mug," Grimmjow sniped as he started for the doorway with Orihime trailing. "She'll be glad to be rid of your skinny ass."
He paused to finish another insult on the Fourth Espada, but didn't as Orihime ducked under his arm at the doorframe and slipped past them all and out of the room. Starrk looked after her.
"You ran that girl right out of her room, fellas," he said.
Ulquiorra gave Grimmjow a faint parting grin before he followed after Orihime. "But she did want my photo."
By the time they got to the Golden Blossom Guest Houses it was after noon and the sun was well on its way to scorching Tsukiji and Karakura Town. The pavement reflected the hot and unstirring air on the girl and three Espadas as they wove their way through the alleys to the apartment above Grimmjow's, sounds of a rheumy cough coming from the open doorway as they got there. A wave of paint smell wafted out.
Orihime hung back just inside the door, with Starrk behind her, as Grimmjow and Ulquiorra went to meet the shabbily dressed landlord in the bedroom where the coughing was loudest. Planted at intervals in the main room and kitchen beyond were box fans on the high settings.
After a moment of muted speaking among the men, Orihime stepped farther into the main room, eyes roaming the walls that were a fresh coat of kiwi green paint, the color accenting the arched doorway to the bedroom and bathroom. She nodded, smiling at the roominess. A wood frame futon was to one side, covered with a well used sheet splattered with different colors of paint.
"Not bad, not bad," Starrk said, nodding at the room. "Nothing like yours, Inoue-chan, but enough for a start, don't you say?"
"Oh, yes, it's nice. And big. It doesn't smell too bad." Her nose wrinkled a little as she looked to him, shying away a few steps as he grinned more at her. "Uh, do you have any, uh, luggage?"
"Oh, yes. Damn," he muttered, fingers scratching at the scruff of beard at his throat. "I left that at your place."
"My place?" She shook her head. "You didn't bring any luggage last night, Mr. Starrk."
"Oh? Oh, right. I left it with that guy when I first found your building."
"That guy ... when ..." She frowned, words halting, and then her eyes flung open wider. "The night manager?"
"Yeah, I think that was him. Irritating fella." He nodded, chuckling. "Don't worry, little lady, I won't set up camp on your couch." He put his hands on his hips and surveyed the set of green rooms. "I'll room up with Four here until I find Lilynette." He rubbed his neck, giving her a wink. "I should have used that razor in your bathroom. Say, you've had quite the collection of man-things lying about lately, haven't you?"
She wasn't sure how to answer that, or even exactly what he was asking, and was about to attempt some sort of reply when Ulquiorra and Grimmjow came out of the bedroom and met her and Starrk. Beyond them the landlord was leaning an elbow on the bedroom doorframe, hacking up a lung from the paint fumes.
"He's set," Grimmjow said as Ulquiorra began to speak. "He can move in any time tomorrow."
Orihime nodded, her quick smile dimming as she looked to Ulquiorra. "Oh. Well, congratulations."
"Thank you," he said, throwing Grimmjow a tolerable look.
"But you'll need housewares, and groceries, and linens, and ..." She looked to Grimmjow. "You need groceries, too."
"I've got enough until tomorrow." He took her elbow in a firm but non-bruising hold. "Get out of here before you end up with a headache again."
She left the apartment under his escort, moving to the stairwalk landing, where she was crowded by the other two Espadas as well. Ulquiorra looked back into the apartment, a bit of interest sparking in his green eyes.
"It isn't so bad," he finally said. "Larger than your place," he told Grimmjow.
Grimmjow swallowed down a growl, fingers tightening on Orihime's arm until she spoke.
She looked from Ulquiorra to Starrk. "I suppose there's room for both of you at my -"
"Hell, no," Grimmjow snorted. "No more niceness, Orihime. Ulquiorra works tonight and Starrk isn't staying with you tonight. He can stay with me."
"But you work tonight," she reminded as they filed down the staircase. It was a bobbling fit, with her leading and a train of Espadas behind her that made her step quicker.
"He can stay at my place while I work," he said, moving her to the side as they reached the next landing.
"I won't trouble you any, Inoue-chan," Starrk said, sighing. "No need to put me up, Grimmjow. I'm heading off to find my Lilynette. I'll make another pass through the other side of Karakura. Check out the rest of the singing joints. Karaoke spots."
"She sings?" Ulquiorra asked, visualizing the small Arrancar singing for a moment. He shook his head to clear the image.
"Oh, she's quite ..." Starrk paused. "Loud. Yeah, that's it. Anyway," he said, grinning at Orihime, "I'll catch you back later to get my bag at your building, or," he added as Grimmjow began to say something, "I'll get one of these lower ranks to bring it by Schiffer's place in a couple days or so."
Before Orihime could nod or otherwise comment, Grimmjow answered. "Good. No need for you to drop by tonight."
He moved off down the stairs with a tumbling gait that rattled the stairways, whistling. Ulquiorra looked to Grimmjow.
"Do you think he'll be back tonight?" he asked as they resumed descending the stairs.
"Back here or back to her place?" Grimmjow muttered, hand steady on Orihime's shoulder in front of them.
"Either. Her place," Ulquiorra decided.
"Better not," he said as they reached the bottom of the staircase and joined the sidewalk. "We'll both be at work and she doesn't need his company alone."
"He's not so bad," Orihime said as they took up along her sides. "He seems -"
"No," Grimmjow and Ulquiorra said in unison.
"... Okay," she said slowly.
Without any discussion they found themselves on their way back to Karakura, catching the train as far as the outskirts of the town, and then opting to walk the rest of the way when the tight fit of the train proved too warm and irritating for any of them.
The stop they departed the train was near a park, not one of Orihime's regular haunts, but a nice park that offered more playground equipment than the one nearest to her home. It was filled with children of all ages, nearly every swing and slide at full capacity, every sand box teeming with shovels, buckets, and toddlers in shorts and sun hats.
Across the street was a strip of small shops, a photo booth outside of one. A group of teenage girls were swarming it, hopping as they exchanged photos and edited their own at the side of the booth. Grimmjow looked there, frowning until Ulquiorra noticed his attention.
"Is that where you got your picture?" Grimmjow asked, mostly to Orihime.
"No," Ulquiorra said.
"Not that one," Orihime said. "It was a different one."
Their steps slowed as Grimmjow watched the group of girls chatting with each other, their laughter contagious. Ulquiorra glanced to him and then Orihime, his steps quickening.
She looked up at Grimmjow, watching his study of the girls, halting as his hand closed on her wrist. Something just short of curious turmoil sifted through his face. She smiled, and would have let her hand slide into his had his grip on her wrist allowed it. It didn't.
"Do you want to get your picture taken?" she asked him.
His blue eyes flicked over the happy faces of the girls at the booth. He shook his head. "Not now."
They were all feeling the heat as they crossed the side street to where the park was located, but Grimmjow the most. He pulled at the navy tank top he wore, mumbling curses at the day's warmth that smiled sunnily down on them as they took the sidewalk along the park. He spied a vendor set up at one the corners inside of the park selling cold treats.
"Let's get something," he said, pushing Orihime off the sidewalk as he spoke until she was heading for the grassy entrance of the wooded park. "My treat," he grumbled to Ulquiorra as the other Espada began to speak.
"I'll buy my own," he told him, eyes dropping to where Grimmjow had released Orihime's wrist.
They dodged a couple of boys chasing a dog and two games of Frisbee on their way to the ice cream stand that had set up in the sunnier side of the grassy lawn. Orihime found herself looking around anxiously, hoping to see no one she knew, but knowing she was close enough to home for it to happen. Actually, they were halfway between her apartment and Tatsuki's neighborhood. She tried to think if she'd ever mentioned the Espadas to her friend.
Not by name, she thought, but Tatsuki would definitely recognize either of them. She had tried to detail as little as possible about her trauma as Hueco Mundo. I think I'm safe, she thought, sighing as she waited with Grimmjow and Ulquiorra in the fast moving line for ice cream.
She smiled a little. They had improved, both of them, she had to admit. Neither looked ready to rip anyone's head off for a wrong look, and Grimmjow was certainly less cannibalistic-looking without the teeth of his mask planted at the side of his face. She looked to Ulquiorra. He was still a bit on the saddish side, but she liked how he looked. And she knew how he was inside, too.
After making the ice cream man list every single variety of ice cream he sold, including what exactly the ridiculous names meant, Orihime, Ulquiorra, and Grimmjow ordered and found a picnic table in the shadier part of the park to eat the quickly melting treats.
She sat down and licked the sugar cone up the side where the strawberry ice cream was trickling, the top green scoop of mint chocolate chip adding its own color along the pink. She caught the melting dessert up with her tongue, and then caught the stares of both Ulquiorra and Grimmjow. They neglected their own melting treats to watch with fascination as a blush bloomed over her cheeks.
"That's how you make it stop dripping," she said by way of explanation.
They both nodded, half of Grimmjow's attention turning to his own ice cream cone as half stayed on her beside him. Ulquiorra had been timid about eating the cold treat, but when it threatened to melt before his very eyes he submitted to taking a large bite from the side.
Grimmjow ate a bite from the top of his double vanilla scoop that took a third off, and then made a face at the coldness of it.
"You could have gotten sprinkles or another flavor," she said to him, eyes on the quickly disappearing green scoop of her own cone.
"This is fine," he said through a muffled mouthful of ice cream.
She looked to Ulquiorra who was regaining control over the double stack of pineapple banana ice cream. She was about to comment on his finesse when the pleading tone of a young girl's voice added to the already noisy park.
Orihime looked around at the sound as Grimmjow pivoted on the seat beside her, eyes skimming the playground.
"Stop it!" the girl cried. "Give it back! Please! He's my favorite!"
Orihime turned to straddle the bench seat, the voice echoing familiar in her head as she found the owner.
Among the sand boxes a small girl was running barefoot between three boys a little older than her as they flung her pair of sandals and a stuffed animal between them over her head. She'd just reach one when he'd laugh and throw her sandal or toy to another boy, who'd repeat the vicious game until she was running haphazardly between them all, sobbing and pleading.
"Hold this," Grimmjow said, eyes on the four children as he shoved his ice cream cone into Orihime's hands.
"Wait!" she called as he strode across the playground, eyes fixed on the group of children. "Wait! Grimmjow! No, don't hurt her!" She looked from him to Ulquiorra across the table, wondering if she should give him the ice creams and bolt after Grimmjow.
"He won't hurt her," Ulquiorra said, frowning at her. He nodded to where Grimmjow had caught up with the kids. "Maybe the boys."
Orihime's hands tightened around the cones as she looked back.
Grimmjow's large hand closed at the back of the first boy he reached, jerking the early teenage boy into dropping the pink sandal he held. "What the hell's wrong with you?"
He snatched up the sandal and whopped the boy in the back of the head with it before turning on another boy who tried to run. Grimmjow snagged him by the waistband of his shorts and grabbed the sandal out his hand, then pushed him to the ground.
The third boy stood stock still as Grimmjow advanced on him, knees knocking as Grimmjow swiped Kon out his hands and poked him in the chest with a single hard finger that made the boy fold to the ground.
Grimmjow looked at Kon, who was as close to tears as he could get in his stuffed animal form, and then looked around for Yuzu who was standing a few feet away, panting from her quest to save Kon. He handed back the toy.
"Thank you! Thank you!" she said, smiling through her tears as she bowed repeatedly. "Thank you!"
"Where are your," Grimmjow thought for a moment, correcting his terminology, "parents?" He handed back her sandals. "You shouldn't be here alone."
"Oh, I'm not." She smiled and followed him as he took a few steps toward the picnic table as Orihime and Ulquiorra stood up. "My sister is here, too, but she had to go find the Frisbee."
Orihime had just finished licking the last bit of melted vanilla ice cream from the back of her hand as she and Ulquiorra met up with Grimmjow and the girl.
"Hi, Orihime-chan!" Yuzu cried, squealing and running to her, Kon and sandals flapping in her hands.
"Hi, Yuzu-chan," Orihime greeted with a smile, nervously looking to Grimmjow as he watched the exchange. "Oh, poor ... dolly. He's okay now."
Yuzu hugged Kon tight to her chest, glancing up at Grimmjow for a moment. "Do you know him?" she asked Orihime.
"Uh, yes, in fact," Orihime said, faltering for a decent introduction that wouldn't get anyone hurt, "he's a friend. Uh, he's new here."
Yuzu turned to Grimmjow and did a proper curtsy and smiled her best smile. "I'm Kurosaki Yuzu. Pleased to meet you. Thank you for rescuing Kon for me."
Grimmjow had stopped listening, eyes fastened on the girl's bubbly smile and cherubic face as she looked far up at him. He finally managed to speak. "Where's your brother?"
"Grimmjow..." Ulquiorra said in warning.
Grimmjow waited on Yuzu's answer. "Is he here?"
"No," she said, swinging her sandals, and then dropping to sit on the grass. "Do you know Ichigo?"
By now Orihime had ice cream running down the backs of both hands, but she was oblivious to the sticky melted treat as Grimmjow looked around the park. He looked back to Yuzu. "Grimmjow, please, she's just a little girl..."
"Why isn't he here looking out for you? I thought that's what big brothers did for little sisters," he said, frowning at her as she pulled on her sandals, ignoring his fierce look.
"He went camping with some friends for a few days," she said, grunting as she buckled her sandals and hopped to her feet, smiling at him. "Thanks for getting my sandals back."
He nodded, eyes skimming over her ruffle-hemmed yellow skirt and orange tank top. Most of the scowl fell from his face. "You shouldn't be alone."
Yuzu glanced around the park, her smile brightening. "There's my sister. Oh, she was getting ice cream." She smiled at Karin in the distance who was carrying two ice creams, the Frisbee under one arm as she looked around for her sister. Yuzu glanced to Orihime. "We're with some friends from class."
"Oh, that's good," Orihime said, relieved that what she thought would be a volatile situation was passing.
Yuzu smiled at Grimmjow. "I like your hair. It's a pretty color." She wrapped both arms around Kon until he was strangled against her. "Thanks. Bye!"
She ran off to join Karin, who was now heading in the opposite direction on the playground.
For a moment Grimmjow watched after her, as did Ulquiorra, and Orihime watched Grimmjow.
"You were nice to her," she said, smiling more as he looked to her.
"She's a little girl," he said, shrugging. He saw the smile reach her eyes, bringing a grin from him. "You think I can't be nice?"
She shook her head, and then nodded. "Oh, sorry," she mumbled as she looked down at the melted ice creams in both her hands. "I kind of forgot to ... to keep them ... from melting."
She handed him the half melted vanilla cone, taking a moment to unstick the treat from her grasp.
"Forget it," he said. "Toss them, and we'll get new ones."
Ulquiorra looked at the mild yellow drips crossing the back of his hand, glancing to Orihime as she somewhat bashfully licked the vanilla from her fingers that had held the cone as it melted. In her other hand the strawberry was lacing down her wrist.
He looked to Grimmjow as the Sexta watched also.
Grimmjow cleared his throat as Orihime gave up on her fingers and looked around for a water fountain. "Come on," he said. "Let's take you home. I've got to go to work."