Bleach Fic: Leap of Faith - Part III
Title: Leap of Faith - Part III
Author: aviss
Pairing: Grimmjow/Ichigo
Rating: R so far
Genre: Action, Adventure, Romance
Warnings: None so far
Word Count: ~2.400 this part
Summary: Ichigo has problems adapting to the peaceful days after the war. However, they won't be peaceful for long
Part I
Part II
Part III
The trip to Hueco Mundo was short and awkward, nothing like the hurried race Ichigo remembered from his last time. Grimmjow's Garganta opened right in front of the derelict Las Noches, the collapsed buildings and sand filled halls greeting them silently.
Grimmjow looked back once they arrived, glared hotly at Ichigo and flash stepped into the building. Ichigo followed him, annoyed.
"What the fuck is wrong with you, Grimmjow?" he demanded the moment they were inside what looked like Aizen's Throne Room.
Grimmjow stopped and turned to look at him. "What are you doing here, Shinigami?" he asked angrily, "Why did you follow me?"
So they were back to that.
Ichigo stared at him, not believing what he had just heard. "Like hell I was going to let you leave again like that!" he snapped, grabbing the front of Grimmjow's jacket and slamming him against the closest still standing wall. "Do you think you can come and fuck with my mind as you please?"
"Why were those other Shinigami there?"
Ichigo stared at him as if Grimmjow was an idiot, which he probably was now he thought about it. "Are you stupid or just pretending to be? You opened a fucking Garganta of course they were going to appear!"
"They never did before."
"Before they thought you--" he cut himself short and took a step back realizing what he had been about to say. There was no way in hell he'd tell that to Grimmjow. "You know what? I don't give a shit about you or those things. I'll let Soul Society deal with it and forget about the whole thing."
"I can deal with it," Grimmjow said still glaring at him, "I don't need the Shinigami sticking their noses where they don't belong."
Oh God, he was such a fool! He should have seen it sooner--three fucking years without news from anyone and he had been telling himself the entire time things were just too busy for them to pay social calls. It was so clear now: he had cleaned their mess before and as soon as his usefulness was over they had promptly forgotten about him.
And now they were back, all of them.
"Of course you can't, Grimmjow! And neither can them! Why else would they come to me after three fucking years? Why else would you appear after all this time if all of you could deal with your problems on your own?" Ichigo snapped finally, his voice too loud in the silent room. He took a breath and tried to calm himself. "I'll leave you to it, Grimmjow. Open a Garganta so I can leave."
Grimmjow didn't move, just stared at Ichigo with a strange expression, a frown creasing his brow. Suddenly his expression cleared and he smirked.
"Did you miss me, Kurosaki?" Grimmjow said his voice full of arrogance and amusement.
Ichigo felt his face flushing with rage. "Open the fucking thing, Grimmjow," he said through gritted teeth.
Grimmjow grabbed the front of Ichigo's shihakushou and reversed their positions, pinning him against the wall with his body, the cockiest smile Ichigo had ever seen on his face. Ichigo ground his teeth together so hard he thought he might break them. "Did you, Kurosaki?"
Ichigo refused to show any kind of reaction, he just glared at Grimmjow and pressed his lips together.
Grimmjow laughed. "You did," he said before leaning forward for a kiss.
Ichigo stood still, not returning the kiss and not trying to get away either. He was fucking tired of games and was not going to give Grimmjow the satisfaction of getting any reaction from him. He didn't know what he was thinking when he followed the bastard, but it was clear it had been a mistake.
Grimmjow leaned back when he noticed Ichigo's lack of response and stared at him, considering. "Were you waiting for me?" he asked with the same arrogance and Ichigo closed his eyes, still not moving. "You were, even after you began fucking those pretty little things you were waiting for me."
It would be easy, so easy, to just push Grimmjow off him and fight him until the bastard showed him the way out. Or he could just return the kiss, let Grimmjow fuck him and get it out of his system, forget about Grimmjow once and for all. Ichigo did neither, just stood there with his eyes closed feeling Grimmjow's breath on his face, the heat of his body trapping him.
He felt lips on his neck, warm breath and that infuriating mouth trailing fire down his throat. Ichigo forced himself to stay still and not respond, not give Grimmjow the satisfaction of screwing him up even more than he already had.
The mouth was on his ear now, the body pressed painfully against his.
"Admit you missed me, Ichigo," Grimmjow growled in his ear and Ichigo's eyes snapped open. "I know I did."
It was the use of his name what did it. Grimmjow never called him his name, not even while they were fighting side by side during the war. He had always been Shinigami, when Grimmjow was being especially annoying, or Kurosaki.
Never Ichigo.
He moved then, his hands coming up to grab Grimmjow's head, pulling it back and leaning forward, mashing their mouths together. He could feel the low rumble of Grimmjow's laugh against his chest, his slick tongue pushing inside his mouth and tasting every single inch of it. Ichigo gave as good as he got, devouring Grimmjow's mouth, pushing against him as if trying to merge their bodies together, his arousal fast and dizzying.
A leg sneaked between Ichigo's thighs, parting them and pressing against his erection. "Fuck, yes!" he gasped against Grimmjow's mouth, biting his lips hard enough to break the skin, the taste of blood reminding him of that first kiss.
Ichigo rubbed himself against Grimmjow harder, all conscious thought lost except for his need to come right then and there.
"--no, I'm sure it was Grimmjow's voice." A voice was saying from afar; it might have been in a different universe for all he cared. He was so close.
"Leave him be, Inoue."
Ichigo gasped when Grimmjow's lips moved to his throat, sucking and nipping at the skin while that leg pressed harder against his erection. His hands moved from Grimmjow's hair down his back, grabbing his arse and pushing him even closer, feeling Grimmjow's cock against his hip.
"There is something I want to ask him--Grimmjow!" Inoue Orihime's shocked exclamation finally cut through the fog of desire, and Ichigo felt the bottom of his stomach dropping. "Kurosaki-kun?"
Ichigo froze, reality reasserting itself at that. Shit, shit, shit. As if in a dream, Ichigo saw Grimmjow move away from him, an expression or utter irritation and frustration on his face.
"Ulquiorra," Grimmjow spat, "take your woman away from here, we're busy right now." He turned to Ichigo again and leaned forward to resume what he was doing. With a glare, Ichigo stopped him. "Fuck, whatever. We'll finish it later. What do you want, woman?"
Ichigo closed his eyes as if blocking the scene from his sight would make it not happen, and wished for what felt like the umpteenth time for the ground to open and swallow him whole. This could not be happening.
He opened his eyes and looked past Grimmjow at the open doorway on the other side of the room. Standing there frozen was Orihime, her hand firmly clasped between Ulquiorra's pale ones. She was staring at him with a shocked expression.
He tried to imagine the scene they made when Orihime entered and blushed again, mortified, his arousal deflating instantly.
Taking a deep breath Ichigo pushed away from the wall and past Grimmjow, not even looking at him. "Inoue," he said, at a loss for words. What did one say in that situation?
"Kurosaki-kun, it's really you." He could see from there she was blushing almost as much as he had to be, and Ulquiorra was standing a bit in front of her, his stance protective. He felt his brows trying to crawl up his forehead in spite of himself. "I--I didn't expect--" She also didn't seem to know what to say. "You--and him--"
"You finally went to get him, Grimmjow," Ulquiorra said, his voice as expressionless as it had always been.
"No, he followed me here after I went to kill some of those stupid things."
Ichigo ignored Grimmjow and Ulquiorra for the moment, his attention focused in Orihime. He could tell she was uncomfortable but she had not taken her hand from Ulquiorra's, and was looking Ichigo in the eyes. He could see, even with the shock and embarrassment, that she looked happier than the last time he saw her.
"Kurosaki-kun I--" Orihime tried again, and again she seemed not to know what to say.
"You saved him," Ichigo finally said, his voice almost too loud in the suddenly silent room. He could feel Ulquiorra's eyes on him but he paid him no mind.
"I had to," she said with a sad smile. "I couldn't not do it."
Ichigo nodded. He could understand it; it was just the way Orihime was. "And you've been with him, together, all this time."
"Yes."
"He kidnapped you, have you forgotten?"
Orihime shook her head, silent. Ichigo turned to look at Ulquiorra now, who was staring at him intently. He could still read no emotion in him, but he didn't feel threatened like he had in the past.
"Why?" Ichigo heard himself asking.
"She saved me," Ulquiorra said simply. It was more of a response he had expected to hear, and somehow he had the feeling Ulquiorra wasn't referring to his life.
"Why?" he asked again, this time looking at her. Orihime stared at him and then her eyes moved past him at where Grimmjow was, listening silently for once. Of course, after what he had been doing a minute ago he had no right to judge anyone. "Never mind Inoue. Are you happy?"
"Yes." No hesitation at all. That was good enough for him.
Ichigo nodded and smiled and Orihime returned it with blinding happiness.
"Now the heart warming reunion is out of the way," Grimmjow said approaching Ichigo again, "either say what you were going to say or leave so we can finish what we were doing."
…
"So you don't know more than Soul Society does," Ichigo said after a while, looking from Grimmjow to Orihime. Ulquiorra was sitting next to her, listening uninterested and not participating at all. Ichigo could not, for the life of him, imagine what Orihime could see in the creepy guy.
"No we don't," Grimmjow said irritated. He took it as a personal offence, it seemed.
"They started appearing about a couple of months ago," Orihime said quietly. It was strange to see her there in those circumstances, but she looked more self-confident that he had seen her before, and there was nothing of that shyness he always associated with her. "At first we didn't think much of it but when they started moving between worlds we knew we had to do something."
Ichigo looked at Ulquiorra. "For him."
Orihime nodded. "For both of them. Soul Society believed there were no Espada left, but if they needed to investigate--"
"Yes, not the best of ideas. Any Shinigami who found an Arrancar would try to kill them. They might have known about Grimmjow and let him be before, but Ulquiorra is another matter."
All eyes turned to look at him, questioning.
"Just don't ask," he said anticipating the question he could see coming. "Just don't."
"Soul Society sent you to investigate then," Orihime asked. She was looking at Ichigo with a worried expression and it wasn't difficult to see what caused it. Not that her boyfriend was an innocent and harmless kid, he was perfectly capable of defending himself and decimating Seiretei in the process. Ichigo knew that perfectly well.
"No, they actually told me they wouldn't need my help, I found Grimmjow when I was on my way to your house."
"But they are investigating," Grimmjow intervened then glaring at Ichigo, "and since this idiot followed me here they will be coming shortly now they know where to find us."
Ichigo glared back. "They always knew where to find you Grimmjow, they just didn't care," he said nastily. It was amazing how often he wanted to choke the life out of the bastard considering what he wanted to do to him the rest of the time.
"Who?" She asked turning to look at Ulquiorra, anxiety and fear easy to read in her gaze.
"Renji and Rukia for sure, maybe a couple of others," Ichigo said, shrugging.
She relaxed and Grimmjow snorted a laugh. "Woman, he can take care of himself, he's not gotten so weak with you two pesky Shinigami can give him much trouble."
"Shut up Grimmjow," Ichigo snapped before Orihime could open her mouth. He turned to her. "If it's just them they won't say a word, don't worry. And they won't judge you either."
She nodded clearly relieved.
"They originate in Las Noches," Ulquiorra finally said and every eye focused on him. "I followed their reiatsu and it led me back here."
"I thought you said you didn't care, Ulquiorra," Grimmjow said mockingly.
"I don't, but she does."
Ichigo stood up and looked around. "This place is falling to pieces, it shouldn't be so hard to find them if they are here. Let's get a head start searching for them."
Grimmjow stood as well and went up to him, stopping scant inches apart. "We'll start searching for them, Shinigami. If you're not here to fuck just leave."
Ichigo saw red, too angry to be embarrassed or to think about Orihime watching them. "Fuck off Grimmjow. I'm already involved whether you like it or not and I'm not leaving," he said coldly clenching his fists tightly and restraining the impulse to punch that smug face.
Grimmjow just shrugged, "Suit yourself," he said before moving to the closest door. "We'll start searching this area. Ulquiorra, take your woman and start on the lower levels."
Ichigo watched him leave through the door and then turned to look at Orihime and Ulquiorra, who looked like the only thing preventing him from killing Grimmjow was her. He could relate to the feeling.
Rolling his eyes and wondering once again what the fuck was wrong with him Ichigo turned and followed Grimmjow out of the door.
…
Part IV
Author: aviss
Pairing: Grimmjow/Ichigo
Rating: R so far
Genre: Action, Adventure, Romance
Warnings: None so far
Word Count: ~2.400 this part
Summary: Ichigo has problems adapting to the peaceful days after the war. However, they won't be peaceful for long
Part I
Part II
Part III
The trip to Hueco Mundo was short and awkward, nothing like the hurried race Ichigo remembered from his last time. Grimmjow's Garganta opened right in front of the derelict Las Noches, the collapsed buildings and sand filled halls greeting them silently.
Grimmjow looked back once they arrived, glared hotly at Ichigo and flash stepped into the building. Ichigo followed him, annoyed.
"What the fuck is wrong with you, Grimmjow?" he demanded the moment they were inside what looked like Aizen's Throne Room.
Grimmjow stopped and turned to look at him. "What are you doing here, Shinigami?" he asked angrily, "Why did you follow me?"
So they were back to that.
Ichigo stared at him, not believing what he had just heard. "Like hell I was going to let you leave again like that!" he snapped, grabbing the front of Grimmjow's jacket and slamming him against the closest still standing wall. "Do you think you can come and fuck with my mind as you please?"
"Why were those other Shinigami there?"
Ichigo stared at him as if Grimmjow was an idiot, which he probably was now he thought about it. "Are you stupid or just pretending to be? You opened a fucking Garganta of course they were going to appear!"
"They never did before."
"Before they thought you--" he cut himself short and took a step back realizing what he had been about to say. There was no way in hell he'd tell that to Grimmjow. "You know what? I don't give a shit about you or those things. I'll let Soul Society deal with it and forget about the whole thing."
"I can deal with it," Grimmjow said still glaring at him, "I don't need the Shinigami sticking their noses where they don't belong."
Oh God, he was such a fool! He should have seen it sooner--three fucking years without news from anyone and he had been telling himself the entire time things were just too busy for them to pay social calls. It was so clear now: he had cleaned their mess before and as soon as his usefulness was over they had promptly forgotten about him.
And now they were back, all of them.
"Of course you can't, Grimmjow! And neither can them! Why else would they come to me after three fucking years? Why else would you appear after all this time if all of you could deal with your problems on your own?" Ichigo snapped finally, his voice too loud in the silent room. He took a breath and tried to calm himself. "I'll leave you to it, Grimmjow. Open a Garganta so I can leave."
Grimmjow didn't move, just stared at Ichigo with a strange expression, a frown creasing his brow. Suddenly his expression cleared and he smirked.
"Did you miss me, Kurosaki?" Grimmjow said his voice full of arrogance and amusement.
Ichigo felt his face flushing with rage. "Open the fucking thing, Grimmjow," he said through gritted teeth.
Grimmjow grabbed the front of Ichigo's shihakushou and reversed their positions, pinning him against the wall with his body, the cockiest smile Ichigo had ever seen on his face. Ichigo ground his teeth together so hard he thought he might break them. "Did you, Kurosaki?"
Ichigo refused to show any kind of reaction, he just glared at Grimmjow and pressed his lips together.
Grimmjow laughed. "You did," he said before leaning forward for a kiss.
Ichigo stood still, not returning the kiss and not trying to get away either. He was fucking tired of games and was not going to give Grimmjow the satisfaction of getting any reaction from him. He didn't know what he was thinking when he followed the bastard, but it was clear it had been a mistake.
Grimmjow leaned back when he noticed Ichigo's lack of response and stared at him, considering. "Were you waiting for me?" he asked with the same arrogance and Ichigo closed his eyes, still not moving. "You were, even after you began fucking those pretty little things you were waiting for me."
It would be easy, so easy, to just push Grimmjow off him and fight him until the bastard showed him the way out. Or he could just return the kiss, let Grimmjow fuck him and get it out of his system, forget about Grimmjow once and for all. Ichigo did neither, just stood there with his eyes closed feeling Grimmjow's breath on his face, the heat of his body trapping him.
He felt lips on his neck, warm breath and that infuriating mouth trailing fire down his throat. Ichigo forced himself to stay still and not respond, not give Grimmjow the satisfaction of screwing him up even more than he already had.
The mouth was on his ear now, the body pressed painfully against his.
"Admit you missed me, Ichigo," Grimmjow growled in his ear and Ichigo's eyes snapped open. "I know I did."
It was the use of his name what did it. Grimmjow never called him his name, not even while they were fighting side by side during the war. He had always been Shinigami, when Grimmjow was being especially annoying, or Kurosaki.
Never Ichigo.
He moved then, his hands coming up to grab Grimmjow's head, pulling it back and leaning forward, mashing their mouths together. He could feel the low rumble of Grimmjow's laugh against his chest, his slick tongue pushing inside his mouth and tasting every single inch of it. Ichigo gave as good as he got, devouring Grimmjow's mouth, pushing against him as if trying to merge their bodies together, his arousal fast and dizzying.
A leg sneaked between Ichigo's thighs, parting them and pressing against his erection. "Fuck, yes!" he gasped against Grimmjow's mouth, biting his lips hard enough to break the skin, the taste of blood reminding him of that first kiss.
Ichigo rubbed himself against Grimmjow harder, all conscious thought lost except for his need to come right then and there.
"--no, I'm sure it was Grimmjow's voice." A voice was saying from afar; it might have been in a different universe for all he cared. He was so close.
"Leave him be, Inoue."
Ichigo gasped when Grimmjow's lips moved to his throat, sucking and nipping at the skin while that leg pressed harder against his erection. His hands moved from Grimmjow's hair down his back, grabbing his arse and pushing him even closer, feeling Grimmjow's cock against his hip.
"There is something I want to ask him--Grimmjow!" Inoue Orihime's shocked exclamation finally cut through the fog of desire, and Ichigo felt the bottom of his stomach dropping. "Kurosaki-kun?"
Ichigo froze, reality reasserting itself at that. Shit, shit, shit. As if in a dream, Ichigo saw Grimmjow move away from him, an expression or utter irritation and frustration on his face.
"Ulquiorra," Grimmjow spat, "take your woman away from here, we're busy right now." He turned to Ichigo again and leaned forward to resume what he was doing. With a glare, Ichigo stopped him. "Fuck, whatever. We'll finish it later. What do you want, woman?"
Ichigo closed his eyes as if blocking the scene from his sight would make it not happen, and wished for what felt like the umpteenth time for the ground to open and swallow him whole. This could not be happening.
He opened his eyes and looked past Grimmjow at the open doorway on the other side of the room. Standing there frozen was Orihime, her hand firmly clasped between Ulquiorra's pale ones. She was staring at him with a shocked expression.
He tried to imagine the scene they made when Orihime entered and blushed again, mortified, his arousal deflating instantly.
Taking a deep breath Ichigo pushed away from the wall and past Grimmjow, not even looking at him. "Inoue," he said, at a loss for words. What did one say in that situation?
"Kurosaki-kun, it's really you." He could see from there she was blushing almost as much as he had to be, and Ulquiorra was standing a bit in front of her, his stance protective. He felt his brows trying to crawl up his forehead in spite of himself. "I--I didn't expect--" She also didn't seem to know what to say. "You--and him--"
"You finally went to get him, Grimmjow," Ulquiorra said, his voice as expressionless as it had always been.
"No, he followed me here after I went to kill some of those stupid things."
Ichigo ignored Grimmjow and Ulquiorra for the moment, his attention focused in Orihime. He could tell she was uncomfortable but she had not taken her hand from Ulquiorra's, and was looking Ichigo in the eyes. He could see, even with the shock and embarrassment, that she looked happier than the last time he saw her.
"Kurosaki-kun I--" Orihime tried again, and again she seemed not to know what to say.
"You saved him," Ichigo finally said, his voice almost too loud in the suddenly silent room. He could feel Ulquiorra's eyes on him but he paid him no mind.
"I had to," she said with a sad smile. "I couldn't not do it."
Ichigo nodded. He could understand it; it was just the way Orihime was. "And you've been with him, together, all this time."
"Yes."
"He kidnapped you, have you forgotten?"
Orihime shook her head, silent. Ichigo turned to look at Ulquiorra now, who was staring at him intently. He could still read no emotion in him, but he didn't feel threatened like he had in the past.
"Why?" Ichigo heard himself asking.
"She saved me," Ulquiorra said simply. It was more of a response he had expected to hear, and somehow he had the feeling Ulquiorra wasn't referring to his life.
"Why?" he asked again, this time looking at her. Orihime stared at him and then her eyes moved past him at where Grimmjow was, listening silently for once. Of course, after what he had been doing a minute ago he had no right to judge anyone. "Never mind Inoue. Are you happy?"
"Yes." No hesitation at all. That was good enough for him.
Ichigo nodded and smiled and Orihime returned it with blinding happiness.
"Now the heart warming reunion is out of the way," Grimmjow said approaching Ichigo again, "either say what you were going to say or leave so we can finish what we were doing."
…
"So you don't know more than Soul Society does," Ichigo said after a while, looking from Grimmjow to Orihime. Ulquiorra was sitting next to her, listening uninterested and not participating at all. Ichigo could not, for the life of him, imagine what Orihime could see in the creepy guy.
"No we don't," Grimmjow said irritated. He took it as a personal offence, it seemed.
"They started appearing about a couple of months ago," Orihime said quietly. It was strange to see her there in those circumstances, but she looked more self-confident that he had seen her before, and there was nothing of that shyness he always associated with her. "At first we didn't think much of it but when they started moving between worlds we knew we had to do something."
Ichigo looked at Ulquiorra. "For him."
Orihime nodded. "For both of them. Soul Society believed there were no Espada left, but if they needed to investigate--"
"Yes, not the best of ideas. Any Shinigami who found an Arrancar would try to kill them. They might have known about Grimmjow and let him be before, but Ulquiorra is another matter."
All eyes turned to look at him, questioning.
"Just don't ask," he said anticipating the question he could see coming. "Just don't."
"Soul Society sent you to investigate then," Orihime asked. She was looking at Ichigo with a worried expression and it wasn't difficult to see what caused it. Not that her boyfriend was an innocent and harmless kid, he was perfectly capable of defending himself and decimating Seiretei in the process. Ichigo knew that perfectly well.
"No, they actually told me they wouldn't need my help, I found Grimmjow when I was on my way to your house."
"But they are investigating," Grimmjow intervened then glaring at Ichigo, "and since this idiot followed me here they will be coming shortly now they know where to find us."
Ichigo glared back. "They always knew where to find you Grimmjow, they just didn't care," he said nastily. It was amazing how often he wanted to choke the life out of the bastard considering what he wanted to do to him the rest of the time.
"Who?" She asked turning to look at Ulquiorra, anxiety and fear easy to read in her gaze.
"Renji and Rukia for sure, maybe a couple of others," Ichigo said, shrugging.
She relaxed and Grimmjow snorted a laugh. "Woman, he can take care of himself, he's not gotten so weak with you two pesky Shinigami can give him much trouble."
"Shut up Grimmjow," Ichigo snapped before Orihime could open her mouth. He turned to her. "If it's just them they won't say a word, don't worry. And they won't judge you either."
She nodded clearly relieved.
"They originate in Las Noches," Ulquiorra finally said and every eye focused on him. "I followed their reiatsu and it led me back here."
"I thought you said you didn't care, Ulquiorra," Grimmjow said mockingly.
"I don't, but she does."
Ichigo stood up and looked around. "This place is falling to pieces, it shouldn't be so hard to find them if they are here. Let's get a head start searching for them."
Grimmjow stood as well and went up to him, stopping scant inches apart. "We'll start searching for them, Shinigami. If you're not here to fuck just leave."
Ichigo saw red, too angry to be embarrassed or to think about Orihime watching them. "Fuck off Grimmjow. I'm already involved whether you like it or not and I'm not leaving," he said coldly clenching his fists tightly and restraining the impulse to punch that smug face.
Grimmjow just shrugged, "Suit yourself," he said before moving to the closest door. "We'll start searching this area. Ulquiorra, take your woman and start on the lower levels."
Ichigo watched him leave through the door and then turned to look at Orihime and Ulquiorra, who looked like the only thing preventing him from killing Grimmjow was her. He could relate to the feeling.
Rolling his eyes and wondering once again what the fuck was wrong with him Ichigo turned and followed Grimmjow out of the door.
…
Part IV