Chapter Text
Once More with Feeling - Part One
The first thing Grimmjow became aware of was the fake blue sky above him, quickly followed by an annoying sing-song voice saying, "Ah, Arrancar-san, you're awake. You had me worried there for a minute."
If the two things weren't enough to let Grimmjow know he was in the training bunker beneath Urahara Kisuke's shop, seeing the man's scarred face float into his vision solidified the deduction.
"What the fuck just happened?" Grimmjow growled, uncertain how, exactly, he'd ended up unconscious on his back in the underground facility.
"Well, it seems there was a malfunction in the Garganta," Urahara told him, moving away so that Grimmjow could sit up, biting back a groan as his head pounded at the movement. His eyes tracked toward where Kisuke was looking and saw that the mouth of the Garganta was still open, streaks of yellow lightning flickering across the gaping black maw.
Yeah, that looked like a fucking malfunction to him. He vaguely remembered something feeling off as he tore open the kumon to the World of the Living; a jittery anxious feeling in his stomach, right where his hollow hole was, but he'd chalked it up to excitement about fighting Kurosaki again. Not that that was an uncommon occurrence these days. Since the end of the war, Grimmjow was one of the few Arrancar with permission to move freely between worlds, and Hueco Mundo's arrangement with Urahara Kisuke meant Grimmjow got a chance to visit the World of the Living regularly.
"The shop's alarms let me know there was something wrong," Urahara continued rambling as Grimmjow tried to regain his bearings. "I came down here just in time to see you fall out of the Garganta, unconscious. I've yet to examine the phenomena, but I would suggest that until the Garganta stabilizes, you should remain in the World of the Living."
'No shit,' Grimmjow thought, glaring at Urahara for such an obvious statement. "Where the hell is Kurosaki?" he asked, noting that they were the only two in the training bunker. Grimmjow had been traveling back and forth for several months now, and the orange-haired Shinigami was always waiting for him in the bunker when he got there. The two of them would usually go at it for a while, getting a bit of a good fight in, before Grimmjow had to do whatever irritating task Kisuke had called him there for.
"Kurosaki-kun is most likely at home," Urahara informed him. "It is Christmas Eve, after all," he added, acting like that was supposed to mean something to Grimmjow.
"What the hell is that on your head?" Grimmjow found himself asking. As if he actually cared. Seeing the blonde without his normal green and white striped hat was disconcerting, though, and Grimmjow was still feeling a bit out of sorts from whatever the hell happened in the Garganta.
"It's a hat," Kisuke said, earning another glare. "Do you like it?" he added coyly, "I think it is quite dashing, myself."
"No," Grimmjow said bluntly.
The red and white hat in question was fuzzy, sagging stupidly beside one of Urahara's ears and ending in a white puff ball that Grimmjow wanted to bat away just on principle. However, it wasn't the fashion statement that he had problems with — though he noted that Kisuke seemed to be wearing a fuzzy red and white coat as well — but the fact that it left Urahara's eyes unshadowed. The twin scars that ran up along his cheeks ended at his eyes. Eyes that Grimmjow knew had somehow been replaced after the end of the war. The way the light glinted off of them clearly indicated they were glass, which wouldn't have been as creepy if it wasn't for the fact that the soul looking at him through them shined so brightly.
"Well, I find it quite festive," Urahara said with a mock pout. His voice turned serious almost instantly. "I'm afraid the reason I called you here will have to wait, Grimmjow-san. Examining the Garganta needs to take precedence."
"Fine by me," Grimmjow said with a grin. "I'm gonna go find Kurosaki and drag him back here so I can kick his ass."
"Ah, yes, about that," Kisuke said, and the fan's appearance in the conversation meant that he'd undoubtedly not like what the man was about to say, "I have a few packages I'd hoped to deliver to the Kurosaki household today. If you wouldn't mind taking them for me, it would be much appreciated."
"Do I look like your fucking errand boy?" Grimmjow snarled.
"According to the treaty, that is precisely what you are, Grimm-kun," Kisuke said, and the fan didn't hide the smug smile in the man's voice.
Grimmjow's snarl deepened, annoyed that Kisuke was right. Grimmjow might have the ability to travel freely between worlds, but he did so at the behest of Urahara Kisuke. The scientist was helping Halibel rebuild Las Noches, and Grimmjow was his appointed liaison. More often than not, it meant he was either an errand boy or a pack mule between the two worlds.
The fact that Grimmjow got to beat Kurasaki's ass every time Kisuke had a job for him was just a bonus.
"Fine, whatever," Grimmjow agreed. "I'll deliver your shitty packages."
"Excellent!" Kisuke looked far too happy considering he already knew Grimmjow would agree. "Though I insist you wear this," he added, plucking the hat off his own head and dropping it on the Arrancar's instead.
Scowling, Grimmjow swatted at the puffball as it flopped into his face.
*************
He'd never been to Ichigo's home before, but the big sign that read KUROSAKI CLINIC made it pretty damn obvious it was the right place. Kisuke had given him a map, which Grimmjow had not bothered to look at, promptly shoving it into the pocket of the red coat the crazy shopkeep had also insisted he wear. Both were unnecessary. His hierro dulled the cold, and he didn't need a stupid map to track Kurosaki Ichigo down.
Even when it was muffled by his human body, Grimmjow knew he could find Kurosaki's reiryoku easily. It was like a beacon to his senses at all times as soon as they crossed over into each other's worlds.
Grimmjow pounded on the front door probably harder than strictly necessary, but he was being fucking polite. Urahara had given him a lecture on human manners while shoving him out the door with the stupid coat and hat and a bag full of green and white wrapped boxes.
Grimmjow's fist beat on the door again, and he heard a soft, sweet voice call out from inside, "One moment, please!"
The door was opened a second later by a small girl with blond hair and big brown eyes that looked through Grimmjow instead of at him. Then they glanced up at the ridiculous hat perched on his head and a wide smile stretched across her face, making her look even softer, which Grimmjow didn't think was fucking possible.
"Yuzu, who's at the door?" another female voice called out from inside the house.
"A dead Santa!" the girl chirped cheerfully, wide eyes tracking across his coat-clad shoulders. "I think it must be Renji," she added. "It's too tall to be any of Ichi-nii's other Shinigami friends!"
"I'm not a shitty Shinigami," Grimmjow growled, but she appeared to be deaf as well as blind. Which might've been a good thing since she stepped back and opened the door wider.
"Please come in, Santa," she told him in welcome, and it was doubtful she would've done so if she'd known what was actually standing at the door wearing an itchy red coat that smelled too much like that damn candy shop.
Grimmjow stepped around her anyway, eyes glancing quickly around the genkan of the small house. He'd only gotten two steps in when another young girl, this one with dark hair and wearing a scowl eerily reminiscent of Kurosaki's, entered the hall from a doorway at the far end.
"Ahh, Yuzu," she said a bit hesitantly, "That's not a Shinigami," which meant she at least had fucking eyes that worked right. "It's an Arrancar."
If he was expecting fear out of the girl, he would've been disappointed because her smile brightened even further. "Is it Grimmjow-san?" she asked in excitement.
"How the hell do you know who I am?" he demanded, even knowing she couldn't hear him.
"Because Ichigo talks about you all the time," the dark-haired one answered, rolling her eyes. Before Grimmjow could even figure out how to respond to that, she turned and yelled up the small stairway, "Hey, Ichigo! Your date's here!"
"My what!?" a familiar voice squawked from higher up in the house before pounding footsteps sounded from overhead. A moment later, Kurosaki Ichigo came bounding down the stairs, orange hair even messier than normal, wearing faded jeans and a soft-looking t-shirt.
There was something about Kurosaki in his squishy human body that grabbed at Grimmjow. Seeing all that power squashed down into such a fragile thing made him feel strangely warm in a way that not even the heavy coat he was wearing could.
"Shit. Grimmjow," Kurosaki said, face blanching as he saw the Arrancar standing there. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"I'm Santa, dumbass," Grimmjow told him, mimicking what the kid had called him, even if it didn't mean shit to him. "Kisuke asked me to bring these over," he added, tossing the sack of wrapped boxes to the other boy.
Ichigo caught it with a slight 'oomph' as it hit his soft, human belly. He looked in the sack warily, like he expecting some sort of trap. Grimmjow didn't know if that was because he'd delivered them or because they'd come from Urahara. His face relaxed when he saw the brightly wrapped packages.
"Yuzu, Karin," he said, addressing the two girls. "Can you go put these under the tree?" he asked, handing the dark-haired one the bag. She sagged slightly under its weight.
They obliged, giggling slightly as they did so. It left Grimmjow and Kurosaki standing alone in the foyer awkwardly. "I, ah, I didn't even know you were coming into town today," the Shinigami said a bit hesitantly.
Grimmjow scoffed. "That why you weren't in the bunker to greet me?" he asked, intrigued by the blood that rushed to Kurosaki's face at the question. "Kisuke texted to say he had a job for me," he informed him, uncertain why he felt the need to explain further. Kurosaki might be a dumbass most of the time, but surely he could figure that much out.
"Playing Santa," Ichigo said, something amused lighting in his warm brown eyes.
"Tch." Grimmjow looked at Ichigo again, taking in the long, denim-clad legs. "I'm done with that shit now. Ditch the meat suit so I can kick your ass."
"I probably shouldn't," Kurosaki said, glancing into the back part of the house where his sisters had gone. "It's Christmas Eve."
"What the hell does that have to do with anything?" Grimmjow asked, still having no fucking clue what that actually meant. Kisuke had said the same thing earlier.
"I should be here, you know, with my sisters," Ichigo told him, sounding almost regretful about it.
"It's all right, Ichi-nii!" the blond kid exclaimed stumbling back into the hallway. "Kon was going to help us bake Christmas cookies today, remember? You should go have fun!"
"Fun?" Grimmjow repeated dully. "Doesn't the brat know we're trying to kill each other?"
"Are you saying that isn't fun?" Kurosaki asked with a smirk before turning back toward his sister. "You sure, Yuzu? I can stay and help too."
"Stop worrying so much, Ichigo," the dark-haired one told him irritably. "We'll be fine. Plus, the last time you and Kon both tried to help you two just made twice the mess."
"No, we didn't!" Ichigo exclaimed defensively.
"You kinda did, nii-san," Yuzu told him, causing the orange-haired teen to deflate.
"Fine. Are you sure you want Kon to be the one to stay, though?"
"He's better at decorating."
"Plus, we promised him he could help," Yuzu quickly added. "Just go. Enjoy your time with Grimmjow—"
"Since you mope whenever he's not here," the dark-haired girl added under her breath, making Grimmjow turn his head toward her so quickly that his neck cracked. She flushed slightly, realizing he'd heard her. He seemed to be the only one who did since the blonde was still talking.
"— and there will be Christmas cookies for you to eat after you're done!" she told him with enthusiasm. "You should come too, Grimmjow-san!"
"I'm a hollow," Grimmjow pointed out snidely. "Why the hell would I want to eat your shitty cookies?"
"Grimmjow said he has other plans," Kurosaki blatantly lied.
"Oh. Well, maybe next time!"
"Not fucking likely," Grimmjow muttered. He still wasn't certain what the hell he was doing in Kurosaki's house, but he doubted it would happen again.
"If you guys are sure—" Kurosaki said uncertainly.
"Just go already," one of the girls said in exasperation.
"Yeah, all right. I'll go grab Kon and change." He glanced at Grimmjow, mouth opening and closing like he was trying to think of something to say. Finally, he just shook his head and bounded back up the stairs, taking them two at a time.
"So, Grimmjow," the dark-haired kid — Karin, is what Ichigo had called her — said, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring up at him, "What are your intentions towards our brother?"
Yuzu seemed to look up expectantly as if waiting for his answer. As if she could fucking hear it anyway.
"I'm gonna kill him," Grimmjow told the girl.
Karin rolled her eyes at him, completely unconcerned. "I meant other than that," she huffed.
Grimmjow frowned back at her. Wasn't that enough of an answer? He planned to beat Kurosaki bloody as often as he could until he finally managed to gut him. Why the hell would he have any other intentions towards the Substitute Shinigami?
Before Grimmjow could respond, the orange-haired human came bounding back down the stairs again, an idiotic grin stretching across his face. "Let's bake some cookies!!" he was yelling. Until he stopped short in front of Grimmjow.
"Whoa," he declared, and the voice was all wrong, sounding high and nasally, irritating Grimmjow's ears and making his scowl deepen. Especially when he crossed his arms, gaze blatantly traveling down Grimmjow's body, checking him out.
"I guess I can see why he might question his orientation enough to stop chasing after the heavenly bosoms."
"What!?" Grimmjow asked, wondering if his day was going to keep getting weirder and weirder.
Apparently, the answer to that question was yes, because Ichigo peered around him and said, "Lift the coat, big guy, I wanna check out your ass."
What the fuck!?
Grimmjow's fists clenched, but he didn't get to throw a punch because somebody else did it for him. Before Grimmjow could so much as react to the orange-haired impostor — because there was no fucking way that was actually Kurosaki — the guy was attacked by a black and red blur that punched him hard enough to fling him back into the wall at the other side of the hall.
"What the hell, Ichigo!?" the not-Kurosaki whined, rubbing his jaw.
"Kon! What have I told you about being a perv in front of the girls!?" Kurosaki — the real one, in all his Shinigami glory — demanded, gesturing towards his sisters, who looked like they were trying not to giggle more than anything.
"You know you're going to be the one feeling that later," Kon said petulantly. "Not very smart of you to be beating up your own body, Ichigo."
"Be glad I hit you before he could," he said, jerking a thumb toward Grimmjow. Grimmjow obliged with a bloodthirsty grin that caused Kon to give a small ' eep!' of fear and Karin to laugh harder.
She was definitely a Kurosaki since Ichigo didn't take his threats seriously either.
Grimmjow wondered when that stopped pissing him off, when it stopped bothering him that Ichigo just flashed a cocky grin when Grimmjow threatened him. When he'd started struggling not to smirk back at him.
*************
Fighting Kurosaki was as glorious as always. Grimmjow had no idea what it was about the Shinigami that pulled at him. At first, it was revenge, he knew. For the scar he'd given him, and for the scars that he didn't show that had come from that one fateful battle. The loss of his arm, his status. Though temporary, they had left their mark. The loss of his Fraccion was far more permanent, but he knew he was more to blame for their deaths than Kurosaki. He'd allowed them to be weak — fighting for them when they gave up on trying to continue their evolution — and that weakness had gotten them killed.
The draw toward Kurosaki might've started during their second fight when he'd gotten a better taste of the Shinigami's power. It was no longer about vengeance at that point. Or even proving Ulquiorra wrong about Kurosaki being a threat. After that battle, he simply wanted to fight Kurosaki Ichigo again. He needed to in a way that he still didn't quite get.
By their third battle… fuck. Grimmjow was simply addicted. Nobody else pushed Grimmjow as Kurosaki did. The two of them egging each other on to be stronger, faster, better. It was the best fucking fight of his life, and with Kurosaki casually making promises to fight Grimmjow whenever he wanted, the Shinigami had hooked him. Kurosaki was like a damn drug, and Grimmjow just wanted more. Fighting him was the biggest rush he ever felt, and that included the first time he'd used his Resurreccion.
This battle wasn't any different, for all that there weren't any high stakes in it. As the sounds of their blades clashing echoed through the cavernous training grounds, Grimmjow felt his mouth pulling into a wide, feral grin, Pantera's teeth parting from the ferocity of it. A matching smirk twisted Ichigo's lips, and his brown eyes glittered with excitement.
Urahara had put a barrier around the still-open Garganta, though the scientist was nowhere to be seen. Presumably, he was in his lab, but he could be banging Yoruichi for all Grimmjow cared. He was in no rush to return to Hueco Mundo. The desert wasteland might be his home, but that didn't mean there was shit to do. Grimmjow might detest the World of the Living, but at least he could get a good fight in when he was there.
"What the hell is that?!" Kurosaki had asked upon seeing the Garganta sealed inside the barrier.
"Don't know, but I'm stuck here 'til Kisuke figures it out," Grimmjow told him with a sneer.
Kurosaki had just grinned in response. "I can't fight you tomorrow, since it's Christmas, but if you are still here the day after then you're on."
"Don't be getting cocky, Kurosaki," Grimmjow taunted. "You've got to survive this battle first!"
He'd attacked without warning, but Kurosaki hadn't hesitated to pull Zangestu off his back and block Grimmjow's claws with the still-wrapped blade.
They'd lost themselves in the rhythm of battle after that, by unspoken agreement they both stayed away from the shiny blue barrier as they fought. While Grimmjow always relished a good fight, there was something about fighting Kurosaki that made everything feel more intense. From the reiatsu pounding through him, against him, as they pushed themselves harder, to the burn of Grimmjow's muscles as he twisted to avoid his blade. Every sense was heightened, on edge, as he met every challenge Kurosaki threw at him and gave it right back. Until they were both sweating and panting and grinning like idiots.
They'd been at it for what felt like hours when everything went to shit.
"Grimmjow! Look out!!"
Grimmjow had been blown backward by a Getsuga Tensho, back slamming into one of the large rock outcroppings that littered the landscape. They were both beaten and bloodied, but the panic that lit across Kurosaki's face looked like fear. Not of Grimmjow — the bastard never had feared him, even if he should have — but for him, instead.
Too late, Grimmjow realized that the rock at his back had crumbled into the kido surrounding the messed-up Garganta. The blast of reishi the barrier released had blown the rubble back at Grimmjow.
"Shit," he swore, pushing himself into sonido. At least, he tried to, but he wasn't quite fast enough. The dirt and rocks rained down on him, crushing him and burying him beneath them until he knew only darkness.
*************
The fake blue sky of the training grounds greeted Grimmjow as he opened his eyes, right before a familiar voice said, "Ah, Arrancar-san, you're awake. You had me worried there for a moment."
"Where the hell is Kurosaki?" Grimmjow asked Urahara Kisuke as he sat up, his head throbbing at the abrupt motion.
"Kurosaki-kun is most likely at home. It is Christmas Eve, after all," Kisuke informed him.
"What the fuck?" Grimmjow swore, getting hit with an almost nauseating sense of deja vu.
"Well, it seems there was a malfunction in the Garganta," Kisuke informed him. Grimmjow followed the Shinigami's gaze to see the gaping maw of the Garganta, crackling with sickly-looking yellow energy and not surrounded by any type of shield.
"The shop's alarms let me know there was something wrong," Urahara continued babbling as Grimmjow tried to regain his bearings. "I came down here just in time to see you fall out of the Garganta, unconscious. I've yet to examine the phenomena, but I would suggest that until the Garganta stabilizes, you should remain in the World of the Living."
Grimmjow shook his head, trying to clear it of the fog that seemed to be hanging over him.
"I'm afraid I must insist, Grimmjow-san," Kisuke told him, mistaking the motion for refusal.
"Whatever," Grimmjow snarled. "I'm going to go find Kurosaki," he said, levering himself to his feet. Something about being in that place was weirding him out, Grimmjow thought, again glancing uncomfortably at the crackling lightning around the Garganta.
Maybe finding Kurosaki and beating the crap out of him would help him think straight.
Either way, it would be fun.
"Ah, yes, about that," Kisuke said, fan flickering out of his red coat's sleeve to cover the lower half of his face as he said in amusement, "I have a few packages I'd hoped to deliver to the Kurosaki household today. If you wouldn't mind taking them for me, it would be much appreciated."
The feeling of wrongness was just getting worse. "Fine," Grimmjow agreed.
Somehow, he knew that he'd end up doing it anyway even if he argued about it.
*************
The sign read KUROSAKI CLINIC, but Grimmjow would have known he was in the right place even without it and the shitty map Kisuke had given him, forcing it on him along with the annoying coat and hat.
"Yuzu, who's at the door?" a voice called out from inside the house once Grimmjow's knocks on the door were answered by a little blonde girl.
"A dead Santa!" she chirped happily. "I think it must be Renji. It's too tall to be any of Ichi-nii's other Shinigami friends!"
"The fuck you just say?" Grimmjow growled, having heard those words before. He pushed by the girl to get into the house. She gave a soft 'oomph' as she rebounded off the door frame, but he hadn't shoved her hard enough to hurt her.
The dark-haired girl at the end of the hall was familiar, even though Grimmjow knew he'd never met her before. Except for that morning. Or this morning. Whatever fucking day it was.
"Ahh, Yuzu," she said a bit hesitantly, "That's not a Shinigami. It's an Arrancar."
"No shit," Grimmjow grumbled.
"Is it Grimmjow-san?" Yuzu asked in excitement, but Grimmjow ignored her.
"You can tell her to drop the honorifics," he told the dark-haired girl, knowing the other one couldn't hear him. "You're Karin, aren't you?" he asked her, getting a wide-eyed look in return.
"How the hell do you know who I am?" she demanded, lips twisting into Kurosaki's scowl as she tried to make herself appear tougher.
"Ichi-nii must've mentioned you!" Yuzu supplied happily.
Grimmjow didn't bother to correct her, still trying to figure out what the hell was going on.
"Whatever," Karin declared before shouting, "Ichigo, your date's here!" up the stairs.
*************
Everything was exactly the same. From the weird not-Kurosaki checking out his ass to Ichigo arguing about making Christmas cookies. Even their fight was the same. Sure, the steps might have been different, but they'd danced that dance before and the rush Grimmjow felt as they clashed blades hadn't changed at all.
In fact, Grimmjow was enjoying it so much that he almost forgot about the weirdness around him until his back hit the rock wall.
"Grimmjow! Look out!" Ichigo yelled, face blanched pale with panic.
Grimmjow burst into sonido without even looking to see where the threat was coming from, getting out from under the rocks before they came crashing down.
Kurosaki was by his side with a quick shunpo. "Holy crap, I didn't think you'd get out of the way in time," he said, and color was slowly coming back to his cheeks as he glanced over Grimmjow real quickly to assure himself that his opponent was safe.
"Tch. As if I'd let a bunch of rocks take me out," Grimmjow scoffed, ignoring the softly growled voice in his head calling him a liar.
"I was worried. Didn't think you'd be fast enough," Kurosaki admitted sheepishly. "You never cease to surprise me, Grimmjow."
He had to force himself not to preen at the comment, shoving his clawed hands in his hakama's pockets and slumping into an uncaring slouch instead. "Maybe you should stop underestimating me, dumbass," he told Ichigo.
That was twice now a Shinigami had said they were worried about him, Grimmjow realized, a bit startled by it. What the hell was his life turning into?
"We should probably call it a day," Kurosaki suggested, releasing his bankai and slinging Zangetsu back onto his shoulder. "The girls are expecting me home soon. We're having cookies and a holiday movie marathon tonight."
"Have fun with that," Grimmjow told him sarcastically, releasing his partial transformation.
"Hey, Grimmjow—" Kurosaki started to say before stopping and shaking his head slightly, as if he'd just talked himself out of doing something dumb. "Merry Christmas, asshole," he said instead. He didn't wait for a response before flash stepping out of the bunker.
Grimmjow just shook his head, watching him go. He could literally feel Kurosaki getting further away, racing back toward his house and his shitty human life. The Arrancar scuffed his feet slightly as he trudged toward the hot springs in the corner of the training grounds. While none of the injuries he'd sustained were severe, he didn't have anything else to do so he figured he might as well soak for a while and heal them up some.
He never stayed long in the World of the Living before. Just enough time to get a fight out of Kurosaki and then he was off to run whatever stupid errands Kisuke had for him. Usually, that meant delivering something to either Halibel or Soul Society, which now had a special area sanctioned for the Arrancar to open Garganta into. There were a couple of Shinigami that acted as liaisons, much like Grimmjow and Nelliel did for Hueco Mundo, but Grimmjow didn't even bother learning their names. He spent even less time in Soul Society than he did in the World of the Living. Being in the Seireitei always made his skin crawl. Nelliel had made some friends among the Shinigami, though, and was more apt to take any of the missions that required going there.
Eventually, Grimmjow levered himself out of the hot springs and got dressed again. He made his way out of the training grounds, figuring he might as well find Kisuke and see how the research on the Garganta was going.
Poorly, apparently, considering Urahara was sitting at a low table with Shihouin Yoruichi, a full jug of sake and a deck of cards littering the table between them.
"Grimmjow-san!" Kisuke exclaimed cheerfully as soon as he saw him standing there. "Just in time. Sit. Join us. We need a third and Tessai is busy cooking for tomorrow."
Grimmjow barely got a chance to open his mouth to refuse when Yoruichi spoke up. "It's not like you have anything better to do, Arrancar," she pointed out, gathering the cards back up. A wide smirk spread across the cat-bitch's face as she began expertly shuffling the cards. "Unless you're scared of being shown up by two Shinigami."
Grimmjow recognized the taunt for what it was, knowing she was just trying to force his hand to prove he wasn't a coward. Unfortunately, she was also right that he didn't have shit else to do, so he dropped down to an unoccupied end of the table. "What're we playing?" he demanded.
"Excellent!" Urahara commented, sliding an empty sakazuki cup towards him and filling it from a small tokkuri. "The game is called Bullshit," he told him as Yoruichi started to deal out the cards.
*************
Grimmjow should've known the pair of them would suggest a game that was completely based on lying and cheating. He'd thought as much while Urahara was explaining the rules of the game. It wasn't until a couple of hands went by that he realized just how fucking good they were gonna be at it, too.
Worse, they'd turned it into a damn drinking game.
By the time Tessai showed him to the room where they'd laid out the guest futon, Grimmjow was listing slightly when he walked, concentrating too much on putting one foot in front of the other to worry about shit like where the walls were.
The futon smelled like mothballs, fresh linens, and stale blood. Grimmjow tried not to think about that last one as he face-planted into the pillow and passed out.
*************
'What the fuck?' was Grimmjow's first thought when he opened his eyes to the blue skies of the training grounds. Gone was the boring ceiling of the shoten's guest bedroom, and the massive hangover he was expecting was suspiciously absent.
"Ah, Arrancar-san, you're awake. You had me worried there for a moment."
"How the hell did I get down here?" Grimmjow asked, not bothering to move his head, still wary of the hangover that had yet to manifest.
"Well, it seems there was a malfunction in the Garganta," Kisuke began, and Grimmjow felt his blood run cold at the familiar words.
Grimmjow struggled to sit up. His head pounded, but somehow he doubted it had anything to do with the copious amounts of alcohol he'd consumed. He turned to look at Urahara, knowing what he'd see even before he did. Glass eyes more curious than concerned, scruffy blonde hair topped by red felt and white cotton. Itchy red coat worn over his green samue instead of his normal haori.
"The shop's alarms let me know there was something wrong," Urahara started to say before Grimmjow interrupted.
"You came down here just in time to see me fall out of the Garganta, unconscious. You've yet to examine it, but until the Garganta stabilizes I need to remain in the World of the Living," he finished for the other man.
"That was precisely what I was about to say," Urahara replied.
"I know." He'd heard that shit before. Twice now. "It's Christmas Eve, isn't it?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
"Yes, yes, it is. I was unaware Arrancar celebrated the holiday."
"We don't. I don't even know what the fuck it is," Grimmjow admitted. "Except it involves somebody called Santa and baking cookies."
"Amongst other things," Urahara chuckled, undoubtedly from the disgusted way Grimmjow had spat the word ' cookies .'
"Like weirdly wrapped boxes?" Grimmjow question. "Which there is a heavy fucking sack of that you just happen to want delivered to Kurosaki's house. And even though you had no intention of making me your damn errand boy to deliver them, you've already drawn a map of how to get to the Clinic and have it in the pocket of that coat. Which fucking itches and smells like shit, by the way."
Urahara reached a hand into his pocket and pulled the folded piece of paper from it, holding it between two fingers. "How did you know all that, Arrancar?" he asked, and all traces of joking were gone from his voice, reminding Grimmjow that the man before him wasn't just a goofy candy shop owner and an eccentric scientist.
He was deadly, as well.
"Because this is the third time I've woken up here," Grimmjow growled in irritation.
"How fascinating," Kisuke said, and the look in his glass eyes wasn't quite sane in that moment, reminding Grimmjow uncomfortably of Szayelaporro Grantz. "It sounds as if you are trapped within an Individualized Temporal Loop," he continued, "caused by the anomaly occurring within the Garganta."
"You gonna explain what that actually fucking means?" Grimmjow demanded.
"Of course!" Kisuke said, far too cheerful to be fully trusted. His explanation, undoubtedly, would be short a few crucial details. Grimmjow had been working with the man long enough to expect that, at least. "Perhaps over some tea," he added, glancing once more at the Garganta. "I am going to have Tessai place a barrier around that for now."
Huh, Grimmjow thought as he followed the Shinigami from the underground bunker. He'd always assumed Kisuke had been the one to put the barrier up. Guess he learned something new every day.
Even if it was the same fucking day.
*************
"How much do you know about the Garganta?" Kisuke called from the kitchen as Grimmjow settled himself at the table in the main room of the house. Tessai had already been dispatched down into the bunker after Urahara had assured the man he wouldn't burn down the house while trying to boil water.
Grimmjow gave a small grunt, not likely to admit any sort of ignorance. "I know how to get where I'm going," he finally answered. "And I can make a stable foothold, unlike some dumbass Shinigami I can think of." He'd only traveled to Hueco Mundo with Kurosaki once, and his attempts to create a pathway had been pathetic. Grimmjow smirked slightly, remembering how much fun it had been showing up the Shinigami that day. "What else is there to know?" he added when Kisuke remained silent.
"You would be surprised, Grimmjow," Urahara said as he carried a tray into the room, laden with cups and a steaming teapot. The use of his first name only — without the honorifics that he used to annoy the Arrancar — let Grimmjow know the man was taking the situation seriously.
"For instance," he continued as he sat down at the table and began unloading the tray, handing Grimmjow a cup of tea once he'd poured it, "were you aware that time does not function inside the Garganta?"
Grimmjow frowned down into his cup. He didn't know that, but he wasn't going to come out and say it. Honestly, he'd never really thought about it much. Time didn't really hold a lot of meaning in Hueco Mundo, being the land of endless fucking night.
"The moment you enter the Garganta is, in fact, the same moment that you exit it. One theory is that the space you travel between worlds exists outside of time. This is true of a lot of the pocket dimensions as well."
"What's your point?" Grimmjow grumbled, already figuring out what the scientist was getting at.
"Another way of looking at it is that the Garganta negates the amount of time you spent in it; when you exit the kumon, you are returned to the same time that you entered it. In essence, the Garganta creates an Individualized Temporal Loop for everybody who enters it."
Which was why he kept returning to that same moment over and over. Except for one thing…
"I'm not inside the Garganta," Grimmjow snapped.
"True. But the kumon hasn't closed either. I believe the anomaly is maintaining the connection between your reiryoku and the temporal void — for lack of a better term — of the Garganta."
"So fucking fix it."
"Me?" Kisuke questioned, the mocking sing-song back in his voice. "I'm simply a humble but handsome shopkeeper."
Grimmjow's mouth snarled, mouth twisting to show his sharp canines as he leaned across the table, " Fix it," he growled.
Kisuke leaned back slightly, hand holding his stupid floppy hat to his head, though he looked completely nonplussed by Grimmjow's anger. "You give me too much credit, Arrancar-san," he told him. "I cannot fix time. Though I doubt my interference would even be necessary."
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"
"Individualized Temporal Loops aren't sustainable. Eventually, the strain of time on the person caught in the loop will become too great, and they will be released from it."
"When?"
"That is impossible to say. For me, it will undoubtedly be sometime tomorrow. For you, however…. Until the Garganta releases your reiryoku, I fear you will continue to live this day over and over."
Well, that was just fucking great, Grimmjow thought, and it wasn't as sarcastic as he expected, nor as angry as he would've thought.
"I'm gonna go beat Kurosaki's ass," Grimmjow said as he stood slowly from the table.
"Somehow, that's what I thought you might do," Kisuke replied, sounding entirely too amused. "Would you mind—"
"I'll deliver your damn packages," Grimmjow added with a growl, grabbing the sack that was already sitting by the front door.
"Have fun!" Grimmjow sing-songed as the Arrancar stomped from the shop. Grimmjow heard him yell, "And I'd be careful of Isshin if I were you!" he added, but Grimmjow didn't know what the hell that meant. Nor did he care.
He had a Shinigami to find.
'We can defeat him now, Grimmjow,' Pantera said, her voice a soft whisper that echoed from through his soul. 'We can fight him, we can learn and grow stronger. Then-'
"We can finally kill him," Grimmjow finished, as he burst into sonido to get across Karakura to the Kurasaki Clinic.
*************
Big brown eyes blinked at him, looking through him but not at him. They widened slightly seeing the large sack sitting at his feet, but that was all they could see at the moment.
For the first time, Grimmjow had left Urahara's without the man forcing the hat and coat on him. Yuzu was completely blind to the person standing at the door.
Without bothering to say anything, since she wouldn't be able to hear it anyhow, Grimmjow picked up the sack and deposited it in her arms. The small girl staggered slightly at the weight of it. Grimmjow had no idea what the hell Urahara had packed in there, but it wasn't light.
A hesitant smile crossed her face as she looked in it and saw the brightly wrapped packages.
"Yuzu, who's at the door?" Karin called out from inside the house.
"I don't know, but they brought presents!" Yuzu said cheerfully, and Grimmjow wondered how a soul that strong and innocent hadn't gotten eaten yet.
That's how, Grimmjow thought when Karin took one look at him, grey eyes widening, and promptly slammed the door in his face.
Grimmjow snarled, fist beating on the door loud enough that he heard a soft yelp from the other side. This was the first time he was left outside the Kurosaki house, and while he'd never expected to be invited in the first time, this was even more irritating.
"Karin, that wasn't very nice!" he heard Yuzu chastise from the other side of the door.
"That was a Hollow," the other girl told her sister dryly. "An Arrancar."
He heard a small gasp. Not of fear but excitement. "Do you think it's Grimmjow-san!?"
"You can leave off the honorifics, kid," Grimmjow yelled through the door. A second later, it opened, not all the way but enough that Karin could scowl at him in an all too familiar manner.
"What do you want?" she demanded.
"Your brother."
The scowl twisted into a bit of a smirk, though Grimmjow didn't know why. "Fine," she agreed. "I'll get him for you."
For the second time, she closed the door in his face. Grimmjow slammed his fist into it again, just so he could imagine her startled jump at the unexpected thud. A second later, he heard her yell, "Ichigo, your date's here!"
"My what!?" he heard Kurosaki yell.
Once again, Grimmjow found himself thinking in irritation about how much it sucked being left on the outside looking in. It reminded him uncomfortably of the time he'd been kicked out of the Espada. He knew what was happening on the other side of the door, but he'd been deemed unworthy.
Seeing Kurosaki's shock-slack face when he wrenched open the door helped the annoyance a bit, though.
"Grimmjow, what're— when did you— I didn't even know you were in town!" he spluttered.
"Surprise, asshole," Grimmjow told him. Remembering what Ichigo had said after their last fight, he added, "Merry fucking Christmas."
The smile that spread across Ichigo's face was slow, wide, and brighter than the goddamn sun. There was something soft and warm in his brown eyes as he leaned against the door frame slightly and murmured back, "Merry Christmas, Grimmjow."
"Now ditch the meat suit so I can kick your ass."
Ichigo gave a small bark of laughter at the comment before shaking his head. "I can't. I have to stay here with my sisters."
"It's all right, Ichi-nii!" Yuzu chirped as she popped up beside her brother. "Kon was going to help us bake Christmas cookies today, remember? You should go have fun!"
This time, Grimmjow didn't argue about the use of the word 'fun.' Kid might be right, after all. Fighting Kurosaki was fun, even if he hadn't managed to gut him yet.
"You sure?" Ichigo questioned, brows raising into his scraggly bangs.
"Of course! We can have cookies during our movie marathon tonight when you get back!"
"Yeah, all right. If you’re sure," Kurosaki told his sister before turning to Grimmjow. "Let me just go change," he gestured vaguely at the entirety of himself. After a second's hesitation, he added, "Do you want to come in?"
Just like that, Grimmjow was perfectly fine standing on the threshold of Kurosaki's life. Especially if it meant not having to deal with the orange-haired freak inhabiting Kurosaki's body. "Nah," he told him. "But hurry up. I wanna beat your ass."
"Yeah, we'll see about that," Ichigo told him with a smirk.
*************
Once again, the fight ended when Grimmjow was almost buried under a shower of boulders. Maybe next time he should ask Tessai not to make the barrier so explosive.
Next time.
Seemed like Grimmjow had already resigned himself to having to do this day over again. But the sickly-looking reishi was still dancing along the teeth of the kumon, and according to Kisuke, he was stuck in this loop until that stopped.
As he had the time before, Grimmjow soaked in the hot spring for a while before making his way topside. He found Kisuke and Yoruichi in the main room while Tessai bustled around the kitchen.
"I already know how to play," he said, throwing himself down onto one of the cushions. "Just deal the cards."
"Well, now," Kisuke said in amusement. "This should be interesting."
*************
"Ah, Arrancar-san, you're awake. You had me worried there for a moment."
Grimmjow sat up, ignoring the pounding headache that started each day. It had been another night of losing at Bullshit and stumbling to the lumpy futon, too drunk to think straight.
"Cut the crap, Kisuke," he told the shopkeep. "Just give me the coat and hat and I'll deliver the presents to Kurosaki for you." The outfit at least got him inside Kurosaki's house. Like hell, he was gonna wait out on the porch again.
"Oh?" There was confusion in Urahara's glass eyes, but it was hidden under the man's insatiable curiosity.
"It's what you called me here for, isn't it?" Grimmjow grumbled. It had taken him a couple of times to realize it. He had no idea why Kisuke wanted the Arrancar to play Santa — probably just for his own damn amusement — but he'd begun to suspect that was the only reason Kisuke had called him to the World of the Living.
"And how would you know that, Grimmjow-san?"
"Individualized Temporal Loop."
"Oh?" the shopkeep said again, surprised delight alighting on his scruffy face. "How fascinating! Are you quite certain?"
"Where the fuck do you think I learned the phrase Individualized Temporal Loop," Grimmjow said gruffly, shooting a glare at the man.
"I see. And what reiteration are you on now?" Urahara asked curiously.
"Fourth," Grimmjow said after thinking about it for a moment.
"Excellent. And what do you intend to do with your day, Arrancar-san?" Urahara asked, seeming far too amused for Grimmjow's liking.
"Same thing I've done with the others," Grimmjow told him. "I'm gonna drag Kurosaki back here so I can kick his ass."
Grimmjow had the impression that the fan was pulled out to hide the man's laughter; the light glinting in his glass eyes was definitely amused. "Well, in that case, I will get Tessai to erect a barrier around the kumon so the two of you don't disturb it."
Grimmjow didn't bother mentioning that he would've done that anyway. "Tell Tessai to make one that won't explode," he told him.
"Shall I assume there is a story there, Grimmjow-san?" Urahara asked with barely disguised laughter.
"It keeps getting in the way of our fight," Grimmjow growled, pulling the hat off of Kisuke's head and squashing it down over his unruly blue hair. "I'm sick of it."
"I will see what I can do," Kisuke promised with a chuckle. "Please tell Kurosaki-kun and his family I said 'Merry Christmas.'"
"Sure, whatever," Grimmjow agreed. "Now give me the coat. The blonde brat can't see me without it."
For some reason, that delighted the man, but Grimmjow had stopped wondering about Urahara Kisuke's sanity before they'd even left the white sands of Hueco Mundo to fight in a war together.
*************
"Shit. Grimmjow, what the hell are you doing here?" Kurosaki asked, pale-faced and wide-eyed at seeing the Arrancar in his house with his sisters.
"Kisuke called me here," he explained. "Told me to tell you 'Merry Christmas,' he added, tossing the bag at the Shinigami with more force than was strictly necessary.
"He's got you playing Santa now?" Ichigo asked. His voice was slightly strained, like he sounded after Grimmjow landed a good punch to the gut and Kurosaki didn't want to admit that it had winded him. Had the same mocking quality to it, too.
"Shut the fuck up," Grimmjow snapped, even if he had no idea why he was offended. "And ditch the meat suit so I can kick your ass."
The usual argument broke out, ending like it always did with Kurosaki disappearing up the stairs and the impostor in his body coming back down first.
This time, Grimmjow was ready for him.
"Lift the coat, big guy, I wanna check out your ass," Kon said, stooping slightly as he tried to peer around the Arrancar's side at his butt.
Grimmjow brought his fist down onto the unsuspecting face before Kurosaki had even made it halfway down the stairs. He stopped, just watching, as his body crashed into the ground at Grimmjow's feet. Grimmjow barked out a laugh at the expression on Kurosaki's face; it looked like he didn't know if he should be pissed or was trying not to laugh.
"Was that really necessary?" Kon whined. "I think you broke my jaw."
"Wuss," Grimmjow told him. "At most, I fractured it." Which was a bit of a surprise, really. Apparently, Kurosaki's human body was more resilient than he thought.
The devious expression Kon gave didn't look right on Ichigo's face. "I guess I'm going to have to go see Hime-chan so she can heal me," he commented coyly.
"No."
Kon froze at the hard command coming from Kurosaki, and he wasn't the only one. Grimmjow had heard that tone of voice from the Shinigami before, during the height of battle. It was the determined voice of the protector, the one that said that if anybody messed with his friends there would be hell to pay.
"Ichigo," Kon continued complaining almost immediately, uncaring about the fierce glare the man was giving him, "he broke your face."
"Wouldn't be the first time," Grimmjow scoffed, causing Kurosaki to flash his scowl toward him briefly.
"You can get my dad to heal it for you. But stay away from Inoue. I mean it, Kon," Ichigo added when it looked like he was going to argue. "It's not fair to her."
"Just you wait, Ichigo," Kon told him haughtily. "I'm gonna get my own gigai and I'll make Hime-chan fall in love with me and forget all about you."
"You're welcome to try," Kurosaki told him coldly, "But until then, stay away from her when you're in my body."
"Fine," Kon huffed petulantly.
Ichigo glared at him for a moment before turning away, snagging the sleeve of Arrancar's red coat and tugging him toward the door. "Come on, Grimmjow, let's go," he said.
While Grimmjow bristled at being ordered around by the Shinigami, he was all too glad to get the fuck out of there.
Normally, their trek back to Urahara's was a race, their competitiveness kicking in before they even got to the battlegrounds. This time, though, Kurosaki stalked away from the house on foot without ever taking to the air. Grimmjow followed a few steps behind, watching the Shinigami.
Kurosaki Ichigo was fuming, and that was something Grimmjow had never seen before. Sure, he'd seen him burning with righteous fury while in the midst of battle, but never actually pissed for nothing more than personal reasons. He would admit, at least to himself, that he was curious about what had caused the reaction.
"What the hell is Kon?" he asked, trying to get the Shinigami talking.
"He's a mod soul," Kurosaki explained. "He's an artificially created soul. He takes over when I need to be in spirit form so I don't leave my lifeless body lying around."
"So, what? You jealous of him being around the princess or something?" Grimmjow asked, trying to needle Ichigo into showing that spark of anger again.
"Not likely," Kurosaki growled, turning toward Grimmjow with a scowl. He looked away quickly, though, and ran his hand down his face in a tired motion. When he looked at the Arrancar again, there was remorse darkening his brown eyes instead of the irritation that had lit them before.
"I don't know why I'm fucking telling you this, but after the war, Inoue told me she was in love with me."
"No shit," Grimmjow chuckled, earning himself a glare.
"I told her that I don't feel the same," Ichigo admitted.
"Why not? She's not bad to look at, and she's sweet enough. If you're interested in that sort of thing." Grimmjow bit his tongue as soon as the words left his mouth, wondering what the fuck he was doing talking about a human like that. Fucking hell.
"Well, I'm not. Interested in that sort of thing," the orange-haired teen admitted, turning a shade of red that clashed horribly with his hair. "So I don't want Kon around her, wearing my body and acting like… Kon. It would just be confusing for her."
"Dumbass," Grimmjow scoffed. "I was around Kon in your body for five seconds and I knew it wasn't you. Think your friend can't tell the difference?"
"It's not that!" Kurosaki argued irritably, scowl twisting his face. "Difference is that Kon's interested in women and I'm… not."
The blush disappeared from his cheeks as Ichigo went pale, looking horrified at what he just admitted to Grimmjow of all people.
Before Grimmjow could figure out how the hell to respond to that, Kurosaki turned and disappeared toward Urahara's in a quick burst of flash step. For a long moment, he simply stood in the middle of the empty street, staring after the Shinigami.
That… that was something. He didn't know quite what it was, or why his stomach had flipped at the embarrassed confession, feeling the same thrill of excitement that he did while crossing blades with the Shinigami.
Thankfully, it wasn't something Grimmjow had to figure out right now. Time, after all, was something he had plenty of.
On the other hand, at least Ichigo wouldn't remember their conversation later because the fight that followed was awkward as fuck. Kurosaki barely even looked at him the entire time and didn't seem to be feeling the same excitement he usually did when they fought.
For the first time ever, Grimmjow was the one to call quits to the spar, sending the Shinigami home to his sisters to have his crisis somewhere else. At least then he didn't have to deal with him fucking moping because of some girl.
He'd rather lose in cards to Urahara than deal with that.
*************