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Chapter Text

Ulquiorra remembered turning into ash and looking at her eyes before succumbing to his death. He was definitely dead. He had to be. There was no way he had survived… Then why on earth did he feel his consciousness returning to him?! That woman…
He opened his eyes slowly, realizing that he had eyes and probably a face and a body to be able to do so. He saw a blurry red-haired figure. “Woman…”, he mumbled weakly.
“Well… Do I look like a woman to you…? Orihime! Maybe you need to fix his eyesight!” It was that Shinigami, Ichigo Kurosaki. The one that had killed him.
His eyes were clearing up and he was starting to make out Ichigo much more clearly. “Where is… the woman? No… Orihime Inoue…”, asked softly Ulquiorra.
Soon enough, the girl in question appeared with a relieved smile on her face. “You’re awake! That’s great!”
“Yeah, but he mistook me for you…”, mumbled Ichigo.
Orihime stared at Ulquiorra worried. “Really? Oh my! Did I make a mistake with your eyesight? I can fix it in a second.”
“I can see perfectly fine.”, replied Ulquiorra.
“Really? Then how many fingers are these?”, asked Ichigo raising three of his fingers.
Ulquiorra stared at them like they were stupid. “Three.”, he answered Ichigo’s question. “Everything was blurred for a moment, but now I can see clearly.”, explained Ulquiorra.
“Oh, I see.”, said Orihime relieved. “I’m glad you’re ok.”
Ulquiorra stared at her with curiosity. “The question is… why am I ok? I died. I lost in the battle with Kurosaki and died. Why did you bring me back, woman?”
“Well… about that…”, started Orihime. Orihime and Ichigo looked away, avoiding Ulquiorra’s gaze, much to the arrancar’s confusion.
Suddenly a third person (that Quincy boy that was with them) came next to them and sighed. He must have been in the room as well, but Ulquiorra couldn’t sense him due to his weakened state. Ulquiorra took in his surroundings and he realized they were in his room in Las Noches.
“You see,”, started the Quincy boy, “Ichigo felt that your fight wasn’t exactly the fairest, you know with the whole Hollow transformation thing that almost killed me as well.” At that point Uryu shot a glare to Ichigo who rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. “And also, Orihime vouched for you.” That surprised Ulquiorra, who turned to look at the girl who was looking away embarrassed. “She said that you were starting to think like a human and that the only reason you were with the enemy was because you thought you owed your life to Aizen. The other two remaining Espada said the same.”
Ulquiorra’s eyes widened in surprise. “I almost killed you…”, he said to Ichigo, not understanding why he wanted to save him.
Ichigo looked embarrassed. “Well, so did both Kenpachi and Byakuya, but we are cool now… I think…”
Orihime smiled softly at Ulquiorra. “I believe in you, Ulquiorra. You can overcome the fact that you…”, she thought for a moment. “…. That you were the way you were.”, she said. Uryu and Ichigo stared at her sweatdropping.
Ulquiorra then looked at Uryu. “You said something about the remaining Espada… What happened? Where is Aizen?”
“Well, I’ll let Kurosaki tell you the details about their fight. The point is, Aizen has been captured by the Soul Society, Gin has been left responsible for Hueco Mundo and Harribel and Stark will help him.”
Ulquiorra blinked in confusion. “Why is Gin…?”
“He betrayed Aizen.”, explained Ichigo. “Soul Society spared his life and put him in charge of this place.”
“I see…”, whispered Ulquiorra. “So, only Harribel and Stark are alive?”, he asked, feeling a little weird with all these new information.
“Technically, Nel is also alive, which reminds me… We’ve left her in the dessert with Noitora and Grimmjow!”, said Orihime with mortification.
“Oh, shit! We need to go and pick her up!”, shouted Ichigo.
“Relax!”, said Uryu, pushing his glasses to the bridge of his nose. “The two idiots that were with her said that they were going to pick her up.”
“That isn’t very comforting…”, said Ichigo.
Suddenly the door opened and another human entered. It was that guy that Noitora had found in the beginning of the war. “If the arrancar is awake, Gin said he wants to talk to him.”
“Okay, Chad! We’re all coming.”, said Ichigo.
Orihime gave Ulquiorra a hand. “Can you stand up?”, she asked with a smile.
Ulquiorra had never felt this powerless. He felt really weird about the whole situation. Humans were indeed interesting. He took Orihime’s arm and as he was getting up, he noticed the girl’s face turning completely red. She shrieked and turned around embarrassed. What the…?, thought Ulquiorra.
Ichigo, Chad and Uryu turned to look at what had happened and they all looked a little uneasy. “Maybe, we should find him some clothes first…”, said Uryu.
It was then that Ulquiorra realized that he was indeed naked. He wasn’t really embarrassed of his body, it was quite normal after all. But sitting stark naked in front of everyone was making him feel a little uncomfortable if he had to be honest. “My clothes are in that closet.”, he said pointing towards it.
Orihime grabbed a shirt and some pants and threw them at him without looking. “Why are all your clothes the same? I mean the other Espada have more than one outfit from what I’ve seen.”, said Orihime, trying to change the uncomfortable atmosphere.
Ulquiorra thought about it for a second, as he was putting on his pants. “I don’t like picking stuff, I suppose. I never understood why some want such a big variety. Or maybe I just like this outfit?” They all stared at him confused. Ulquiorra stared back. “I’ve never really thought about it to be honest.”
Orihime smiled. “I’m going to help you pick some better clothes when things get settled.”
Ulquiorra nodded unsure.
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Nel opened her eyes and saw the desert in front of her. Ichigo had left without taking her with him. She didn’t mind, though. It seemed like things were about to get more out of hand than they already were when she still was conscious. The last thing she remembered was… Noitora… Suddenly her eyes widened as she heard a noise like someone was crying. She slowly got up, realizing that she was in her child form and tried to find the source of the noise. It was Tesla, Noitora’s fraccion. He was lying in a pool of his own blood and he was crying. Nel approached him slowly. She didn’t dislike Tesla. He was a good fraccion and he was nice to her, despite his master’s behavior. He stared at her with his lone eye. Did Noitora take his other eye out?, she couldn’t help but wonder.
“Miss Nelliel…”, he chocked.
Nel decided not to talk and instead spat as much saliva as she could to his wounds. He stared at her shocked but soon he felt the healing process taking place and he understood. “Miss Nel… Thank you… I didn’t deserve it…”
“It’s ok, Tesla.”, she replied. Her memory was back, but some of her thoughts were still the thoughts of a child. Returning back to this form wasn’t good. She wished she could remain in her adult form.
“Master Noitora…” He sat up and stared where Noitora had fallen. Nel allowed herself to look as well. She didn’t know why but it hurt her a lot. All these years she had tried to stop him from killing himself and yet he finally did it. She didn’t know why, but she didn’t want him to die. She believed that he could be saved from his despair. She knew that her approach wasn’t the best, but as a Hollow it was in her instinct to be cold and untrusting.
They both approached Noitora’s body. Tesla couldn’t contain his tears and his sobs. Nel felt like crying as well. Tesla was similar to her. He was the only other person that cared about saving Noitora.
Tesla bowed next to him and tried to scoop him up, but then his eye widened and he turned at Nel. “He has a pulse! It’s weak, but it’s there!”
Nel’s eyes widened in surprise. She felt relieved, but at the same time uneasy. She approached his body.
“Miss Nelliel, I beg of you! Please save Master Noitora! I know that I shouldn’t ask this considering what he did to you, but please! I beg you!”
Nel stared at Tesla for a moment. Then she spat more towards Noitora’s worst wounds. She couldn’t heal the scars, but she knew that he wouldn’t mind. Maybe he would even like them.
Tesla smiled. “Thank you, Miss Nelliel. I promise, I’ll try to keep him away from you, as much as possible.”
“It’s ok, Tesla. Nel doesn’t really mind.”
Noitora’s breathing was becoming more apparent. He was ok, but he needed rest. “We need to go back to Las Noches.”, said Tesla.
Before Nel could reply, an angry voice answered from behind them. “We sure do…”
They both turned around to see Grimmjow limping towards them, obviously angry. “This piece of shit deserved to die. I don’t understand why you keep on saving him, Nelliel…”
Nel gasped. “You realized who Nel is?!”
“I wasn’t that far away from this battle. Sure, I didn’t recognize you at first, but that asshole over here did and he was pretty damn excited when he did. He always had an obsession with you, after all…”
Nel turned red. “An obsession… with Nel?!”
“Tsk! Did you forget about it already? He would challenge you like every day! And when you two weren’t battling, you were always bickering about something. I was still new to the Espada when you disappeared, but I remember that shit. He bragged about defeating you for a week and then he was depressed that he didn’t have anyone to fight with. He even ignored me.”
Nel was shocked with the new information. So Noitora missed fighting with her?
Tesla seemed to panic a little. “Master Noitora wasn’t depressed…”, he mumbled.
“Like hell he was! It was around that time that you lost your eye as well! Don’t you remember? Noitora was so lost in thought, he almost got attacked by an adjuchas and you jumped in to save him and got injured. And why was he lost in thought? Because he was depressed!”, said Grimmjow like it was the most obvious thing.
Nel stared at Tesla, who turned red. It was obvious that he wasn’t comfortable about the story of losing his eye. “Stop making Tesla uncomfortable!”, shouted Nel and pouted. In the back of her mind she knew that she was allowing her child self take over, but she didn’t care at the moment. So that’s how he lost his eye…, she thought.
Grimmjow clenched his teeth. “Stop yelling! My head still hurts. Can’t you become an adult and speak normally and maybe take us back to Las Noches?”
Nel looked down. “Nel can’t control it…”
“Great, so now my only hope to get out of here soon is a toddler, an unconscious Noitora and Tesla! Fantastic!”, said Grimmjow.
“What’s wrong with me…?”, mumbled Tesla.
“I don’t know but with my luck you’ll probably have a problem yourself!”, shouted Grimmjow exasperated. It had taken him hours to manage getting up and another hour to crawl towards the group.
“Nel can heal you.”, said the girl, preparing her healing saliva.
Grimmjow looked at her disgusted. “Hell no! There’s no way I’m letting you spit at me! I’d rather crawl to Las Noches. And maybe, if I am lucky, that Inoue girl is still alive and she can heal me.”, he mumbled the last part.
Suddenly two figures appeared from afar. They were shouting Nel’s name. “Pesche! Dondochaka! I’m right here!”
“Huh? Who are they?”, asked Grimmjow since the two newcomers were approaching them.
“They are Miss Nelliel’s fraccion.”, explained Tesla.
“Oh, these two idiots… I remember now.”, said Grimmjow as they came near and hugged Nel.
They seemed wary about Grimmjow and Tesla. “Miss Nel, why are you with these people?”, asked Pesche.
“It’s ok guys! They are good. They will come with us back in Las Noches.”, said Nel with a smile.
Tesla waved shyly, while Grimmjow grunted in annoyance.
“And what about him?”, asked Dondochaka pointing at Noitora.
They definitely disliked Noitora, but Nel saved him in order for him to return back alive. “It’s ok.” Nel’s expression didn’t allow them to argue.
“So, how will we do this?”, asked Grimmjow who just wanted to go back to his castle.
“I will take Master Noitora.”, replied Tesla while lifting said man bridal style, much to Grimmjow’s entertainment. If Noitora found out, he would definitely murder Tesla this time.
“Dondochaka will carry Nel, so Pesche can carry Grimmjow.”, said Nel while Dondochaka picked her up.
Grimmjow stared at Pesche. “It’s been a while Master Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, sexta Espada-“
“Just shut up and take me to my castle!”, shouted Grimmjow.
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Ulquiorra was surprised to see the Captains of Gotei 13 drinking tea with Harribel, Stark and Gin. He was starting to have doubts about his eyesight after all.
Gin, who seemed very interested in a blond big-breasted Shinigami, suddenly turned and smiled at him. “Hello, Ulquiorra! Glad that you can finally join us!”
Ulquiorra approached cautiously not understanding what exactly was going on. The Captains were staring at him with unreadable expressions as he walked towards Gin. Gin had his usual fox smile on his face, not that that made Ulquiorra any more comfortable. “How are you feeling, Ulquiorra?”
“I’m starting to wonder whether the woman put psychedelics in my system somehow…”, he whispered staring at the Shingami.
Some of the Shinigami laughed and so did Gin. “Yeah, it must be quite the shock for you, right? Well, you see, Aizen is Soul Society’s prisoner now and both Harribel and Stark are against a war. Since you were following Aizen because you owed him your existence as you put it, what are you planning to do? I am going to stay in Hueco Mundo and I will be the messenger between us and Soul Society. Harribel will be the ruler of Hueco Mundo so that there can be order and Stark and her fraccion will help her. What will you do?”
Ulquiorra blinked. “Why will Harribel be the ruler? Stark has a higher rank…”
Both Stark and Harribel raised an eyebrow at that. Harribel pointed at Stark and Stark at himself. Both had an expression that said Really?
“Yes… You have a point.”, admitted Ulquiorra. He thought about what Gin told him and realization hit him. He didn’t owe his life to Aizen anymore but “Orihime Inoue…”
“Yes?”, asked the girl confused and surprised to be called by her name by Ulquiorra.
“I am alive thanks to you. So I owe my existence to you.”, explained the arrancar.
Orihime turned red and Gin and the two remaining Espada stared at Ulquiorra dumbfounded. “Ehm… It was really nothing…”, mumbled the girl embarrassed.
Ulquiorra stared at her and suddenly bowed. Orihime became even more flustered and Gin smirked. “I’ll obey you.”, said Ulquiorra.
Ichigo, Uryu, Chad and the others were gaping at them. Even the Captains looked shocked.
“You don’t have to!”, said Orihime. He stared at her expectantly. Orihime realized that he was insistent in his own weird way. “Well… we can be friends!”, said Orihime pleased with her proposal.
Ulquiorra blinked at her. He didn’t have any friends. He and the other Espada weren’t that close and he considered them more as allies than anything else. He hadn’t even chosen a fraccion because he hadn’t seen a point in it. And now this girl wanted to be his friend. Humans were indeed interesting… “As you wish.”, he said simply.
Orihime smiled widely. Gin turned to Captain Yamamoto with his usual smirk. “So, can we allow this girl to come to Hueco Mundo whenever she pleases? That’s the only way she will be able to be his friend. Besides, maybe that will help the other Espada as well.”
Yamamoto sighed. “I think I can allow this. In that case, they can come as well.” He said pointing at Uryu, Chad and Ichigo. “Though with Kurosaki’s fading powers, I am not sure whether he will be able to visit.”
“Fading powers?”, asked Ulquiorra confused. Now that he was better he could sense that the man’s spiritual pressure was weaker.
Orihime smiled sadly. “Ichigo started losing his powers after the final battle with Aizen.”, she explained. “He just wanted to be here for the arrangements and we both agreed that it would be fair to bring you back.”
Ulquiorra’s eyes widened. He stared at Ichigo. This magnificent power was slowly fading? What a shame, he thought.
“It’s ok.”, said Ichigo with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. Rukia, who had been talking to Renji previously, stared at him with a sad expression. Ichigo stared at Ulquiorra. “I trust Orihime to discipline you.”, he said chuckling.
Ulquiorra nodded. It was weird. That man had destroyed him in battle and soon he wouldn’t be able to even see him. It felt… unfair.
Gin broke the awkward silence that followed. “Well, since Orihime’s visits are settled, maybe you guys should go back to Karakura town. After all Ichigo’s powers soon will fade completely and it would be better if he isn’t here when that happens.”
Orihime approached Ichigo. The Captains were ready to leave as well, along with them, when suddenly the door burst open and six figures appeared. Most of them, considering that one was unconscious, looked exhausted. Except… “Ichigo!”, shouted Nel and jumped to hug the boy.
“Nel! You are alright.”, said Ichigo relieved and surprised to see her there.
“Is that Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck?”, asked Harribel surprised. She remembered the previous tricera Espada that had mysteriously disappeared.
“I think yes…”, answered Ulquiorra.
They all turned to look at the remaining arrancar. Pesche and Dondochaka were expected, but the rest with them weren’t.
“Is that the guy I killed?”, asked Kenpachi Zaraki.
Tesla held Noitora close to him in a protective manner.
Zaraki chuckled. “Don’t worry. I won’t harm a beaten up man. If he is still alive, I’ll be glad to battle with him again another day.”
Tesla nodded reluctantly.
Grimmjow pushed Pesche away annoyed. “Kurosaki! I want a rematch!”, he yelled.
“I’m sorry but I technically can’t do that.”, said Ichigo with Nel still clinging to him.
“Huh?!”, asked Grimjow confused, finally taking in his surroundings. He stared at the Captains and then at the rest of the Espada and Gin sitting casually with them. “What the hell is going on here?!”
Gin smiled and started explaining. Grimmjow seemed more shocked and annoyed about Ichigo losing his powers than anything else he was told. “So… I can’t fight Kurosaki ever again?”
“Is that what troubles you?”, asked Gin sweatdropping.
“Tsk! Dammit! I want to fight him again!”, growled Grimmjow.
“You can fight with me, if you want to.”, said Zaraki smiling at him.
Grimmjow felt a deadly aura from the man and he remembered that this was the guy that defeated Noitora. “No thanks…”
“Shouldn’t you take care of your injuries?”, asked Nel.
“Yeah, right. You, woman!”, he shouted at Orihime who flinched. “Heal me.”
Ulquiorra appeared right between them. “You should speak to her in a better manner.”
“What now?!”, said Grimmjow.
“You heard him, Grimjow.”, said Gin smirking. “Say please.”
Grimmjow stared at all of them like they were insane. When he realized that they were serious he clenched his teeth annoyed. “Okay, fine! Heal me please!”
“You can do better than that…”, said Gin, but Orihime had already started healing him.
Orihime then looked at Tesla and Noitora. Noitora had been scary and she felt uneasy around him. Nevertheless, she asked. “Does he need healing too?”
Tesla shook his head, “Miss Nelliel took care of that. He needs rest. I’ll take Master Noitora to his room. I also apologize for his behavior and for mine, if I was too harsh to you.”
Orihime smiled at him. Tesla seemed nice and he hadn’t hurt her at all when he held her.
Uryu stared at Nel. “Miss Nelliel…? What…?”
“Oh, yeah.”, mumbled Ichigo “I never told you about adult Nel-“
Suddenly pink smoke enveloped her and Nel was an adult again. Uryu, Renji, Rukia and Chad stared in shock. Nel smiled and hugged Ichigo. “I’m back to my old form, yay!”
Ulquiorra stared at Harribel. “She wasn’t like that back in the day…”
“No, she wasn’t.”, admitted Harribel.
“So she was number 3 before I joined?”, asked Stark and the other two nodded.
Grimmjow glared at Nel’s jumping figure. “Well, we need to do something about her child transformations. They’ve made her stupid apparently.”
Urahara approached Nel. He had been talking to Yoruichi before and he hadn’t paid much attention to the green haired toddler that now had become a woman. Mayuri Korsutchi was also staring at Nel. “So you alternate between this form and the child one?”, asked Urahara.
Nel nodded. “This is my real form, but due to my spiritual pressure leaking, I can’t maintain it.”
“Hm, that’s interesting.”, said Urahara. “I’ll try to come up with something so that I can help you remain in that form.”
Nel’s eyes widened. “Really? You can do that?”
“Not if I do that first.”, said Mayuri annoyed. “I’ll fix that device.”
Urahara chuckled. “It’s a race between us then-“
Yoruichi coughed loudly to get Urahara’s attention. “We should be leaving. Ichigo can’t stay here forever.”
They all nodded and Nel looked at Ichigo with sadness. “So, I won’t be able to see you again…”
Ichigo patted her head. “Don’t worry. We’ll find a way. And the guys will also visit.”
Orihime smile at Nel. “Whenever I visit I’ll bring you news from Ichigo.”
Nel smiled at her. “Great! So please visit us often.”
“I’ll try.”, said Orihime. She said her goodbyes to the Captains and the other Shinigami and then she approached Ulquiorra. “So I guess I’ll see you soon.”
Ulquiorra nodded and waved at her as she approached Urahara. Urahara opened a garganta and they were all gone.

Chapter Text

Noitora opened his lone eye and gazed at his surroundings. He was dead, right? So why did hell (because he knew there was no way he went to heaven) look like his room? Had he dreamt about his fight with Kenpachi Zaraki? He touched his chest and he immediately found his X-shaped scar from their battle and then he touched at his nose, finding the other scar Zaraki left him. Then what…
Tesla entered the room suddenly breaking his train of thought. Tesla gasped in surprise. “Master Noitora! You’re awake!”
“No shit.”, he replied. Nelliel…, he thought as he remembered her eyes staring at him as he fell. “Damn it! She saved me somehow, didn’t she?”, he hissed.
Tesla nodded reluctantly. Noitora punched the wall behind his bed making a small crack, next to other similar ones. Tesla was surprised the wall hadn’t collapsed yet.
“Damn her!”, shouted Noitora again. He looked down as if remembering something. “It’s not the first time… She has healed my injuries in the past too. How on earth does she do that?!
Tesla looked away. Noitora turned slowly at him. “You saw her, didn’t you?! Answer me Tesla! How the hell does she do it?!”
Tesla fidgeted. “Her saliva… has healing abilities…”
Noitora sat still for a moment processing the information. He stared at Tesla with a look of disbelief, praying that his fraccion was joking. Tesla’s expression said otherwise. Noitora stared at his chest, knowing that Nel had spat at him, horrified. “She did WHAT?!”
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Nel was happy that she had managed to return to her adult form, even if it wasn’t permanent. She was more than grateful that Urahara Kisuke and Mayuri Kurosutchi had promised her to help her. Even though the two Shinigami saw it as a competition of intelligence.
She was with Harribel, Ulquiorra and Stark. Gin had gone to Aizen’s quarters to claim them as his and Grimmjow had gone out to murder some Hollows or something along those lines. He had been too angry with the fact that he wouldn’t be able to battle Ichigo again and he decided to go blow off some steam.
“So, your name is Stark, right?”, asked Nel the Espada she didn’t know.
The man nodded. “I became the primera Espada after you left. I had heard about you from Noitora though.”
Nel felt heat rush to her cheeks. From what she had heard from Grimmjow and from the new guy that didn’t even know her personally, Noitora had missed her in his own weird and twisted way. She felt weird about it.
Harribel, who seemed to notice the girl’s embarrassment decided to change the subject. “We need to do something about your clothes. I mean they are ruined completely.”
Nel stared at her tattered dress and felt a little self-conscious. She hadn’t been embarrassed when she fought with Noitora or when Ichigo was around, but that was because she was a trained warrior. She knew that she had to be ready to give the fight of her life even if she was completely naked. But now that things had calmed down she realized she missed her old uniform. “Is there a chance you have some spare clothes?”, she asked.
Harribel nodded. “You are very lucky actually. I have kept your old clothes. I mean I thought why should they go to waste? So I kept them, though I did not really wear them much. They weren’t my style.”
Nel stared at the revealing outfit Harribel was wearing and sweatdropped. Most of her clothing was covering her body completely, so if Harribel preferred revealing clothing it made sense she didn’t wear hers. “Thanks for keeping them. Though if I keep alternating between my child form and this one, I don’t know if there is a point. I mean, if I turn into a child, my clothes will be too big on me and if I turn into this form while wearing children’s clothing, they will totally be ruined.”
Harribel nodded. “Indeed. We need to find a solution about your transformations quickly.”
“Didn’t Urahara Kisuke say that he wanted to help?”, asked Ulquiorra. “Also Mayuri Korosutchi said the same.”
“Yes, but until they do find a solution, we need to do something temporary.”, said Stark.
“Yes.”, said Nel. “I guess I need to be careful of what I am doing as well. It would be terrifying if I was fighting and suddenly turned into a child.”
“Was that what happened with Noitora?”, asked Ulquiorra, not understanding why Nel flinched at the name or why Harribel glared at him. “That’s what Grimmjow said.”
“Yeah…”, said Nel sighing. “I was about to deliver the finishing blow too…”
“You were about to kill him?”, asked Stark, curious now about the whole situation.
“I never tried to kill him. I just wanted him to stop.” Nel sighed again.
Harribel, even though she didn’t really want to make the girl uncomfortable with whatever was going on between her and Noitora, decided to ask the question that was in everyone’s head. “What are you going to do now? I mean with Noitora. Back in the day he would challenge you to battle all the time and in the end he almost killed you.”
Nel’s eyes widened. “He never tried to kill me.”, she protested. “He… He just wanted to prove that he was better than me. I mean, he did have the chance to kill me more than once, yet he never did… I think he actually wants to be saved from his despair. I just had the wrong approach when it came to saving him.”
“That doesn’t mean that he is going to stop challenging you to battle.”, said Ulquiorra.
Nel looked down for a moment, but then turned at them with determination. “Tesla said that he will not allow Noitora to bother me. And this time I am going to really try to save him. I just need to overcome my Hollow instincts. Also, if Orihime starts visiting, she can help me express my emotions correctly.” They all seemed to agree with her last statement. “And who knows, maybe Noitora will also want to change for the better.”, said Nel with a smile.
“Nelliel! You psychotic bitch! You spat at me!?”. Right behind Nel, the door had opened with a loud bang to reveal a furious Noitora who definitely didn’t seem like he wanted to change for the better.
Nel turned slowly at him with a confused look, while the other three stared at the scene dumbfounded. Or, in Ulquiorra’s case, with a blank stare. “What…?”, asked Nel confused.
“You. Spat. At. Me!”, he shouted.
Tesla appeared slowly behind his Master with an apologetic look on his face. “Master… Master Noitora asked about… how you healed him, Miss Nelliel…”
“I see.”, said Nel. She stared at Noitora with a bored expression and sighed. “Yes, I did spit at you. My saliva has healing abilities and in my child form, since I have a bigger mouth, I can produce much more so that I can spit it.”
Noitora glared at her. “And did I ask you to save me?! This is disgusting!”
“Then go wash yourself. Besides, you’ve had other female arrancar’s saliva on you in the past. I didn’t see you complain then.”, she said smirking.
Stark and Harribel stared at each other for a moment. “Maybe we should leave them alone.”, said Harribel.
“No. I want to see what is going to happen.”, said Ulquiorra and the other two stared at him even more dumbfounded.
Noitora’s eye widened in shock and he gaped at Nel for a moment. “That’s…. That’s completely different!”, he shouted. He looked away thinking of a good comeback. “And besides, why do you care? Are you jealous Nelliel? Is that why you did it?”
He was smirking confidently at her and Nel turned red in the face. Harribel could sense a lot of unresolved tension between them. “We should really leave them alone.”, she said again.
To her surprise, it was Stark that replied this time. “Nah, it’s getting good.” Ulquiorra simply nodded with his usual stoic expression.
Harribel crossed her arms annoyed. “You two really need to learn to read the mood.”, she said, but the two men ignored her.
Nel got furious. “I simply cared enough to save you! You are the one who is making this a big issue for no reason! And besides, I have done the same thing in the past! You didn’t complain then!”, suddenly she paled as realization hit her about the difference of how she had done it in the past and she started praying that Noitora wouldn’t notice.
“I only learned about your fucked up methods now! And I didn’t ask you to save me… Wait a minute…” Noitora stared at her now blushing face. “You said that as a child you have a bigger mouth and you can produce more saliva and that is why you spat at me. But back then you were an adult…” Realization hit him hard. “You licked me?!”
The other three stared at Nel, who was as red as her facial mark now, completely dumbfounded. Nel looked down. “I-I had to! There was no other way to heal your wounds, you- You idiot!”
Noitora stared at her in shock. Tesla, who had been behind his master for a while now, decided to join the other three spectators. “This isn’t going to end well.”, he mumbled and he saw Harribel nodding at him.
Noitora suddenly smirked, though Harribel noticed there was a little red on his face as well. “Well, who would have thought? Little Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck has a crush on me.”
Nel turned at him enraged. ”You wish, you jerk! Besides you were the one who was talking about me while I was gone!”
“Huh?! I was not!”, shouted Noitora.
“You kinda were.”, said Stark and Ulquiorra nodded in agreement.
“Who asked you?!”, screamed Noitora at the other two male Espada.
“Ha! Stark and Ulquiorra both say you were! And so did Grimmjow.”, said Nel triumphantly.
“Stark was asleep half the times I talked to him, Ulquiorra is making this up and Grimmjow isn’t even here to back this up!”
“Actually I was awake, I just wanted you to leave me alone.”, said Stark.
“And I never lie.”, said Ulquiorra simply.
“Again, who asked you?!, shouted Noitora and then he turned to his only hope; Tesla. “Tesla, did I ever speak about Nelliel while she was gone? Speak the truth, Tesla.”, that last part was accompanied by a smile that said that he would definitely kill Tesla if he said otherwise.
“I-I..”, mumbled Tesla.
Nel approached him with an innocent smile. “Don’t you owe me for saving your master? My sweet, dear Tesla…”
Tesla was sweating bullets as the two arrancar waited for his answer. “I-I-I…”, suddenly he broke down crying.
Harribel hugged him. “Congratulations. You broke Tesla.”
Nel and Noitora looked at him wide eyed. Then they turned to each other again. “It’s your fault!”, they shouted at the same time.
They continued bickering like children while Harribel and Stark tried to console Tesla. Ulquiorra’s eyes where shining with interest at the fight that was taking place in front of him. It was at this moment that Grimmjow decided to return. “I’m back! I am much better now…”, he stared for a moment at the scene unfolding before his eyes and turned around. “Never mind. Back to killing Hollows it is…” And with that he left. Not that the others ever noticed him.
“You are annoying as ever!”, shouted Noitora.
“You are impossible!”, Nel shouted back.
Suddenly Nel was engulfed in pink smoke with a pop and Noitora gasped at the sudden event. Before his eye was Nel in her child form. “No! Nel is small again!”, wailed the girl.
“Wait… You haven’t fixed that? I thought you were ok since you were back in your adult form…”, he said not knowing whether Nel had any consciousness of their previous fight.
“Nel hasn’t fixed this… But these two Shinigami promised to do it for Nel.”, said the girl.
Noitora raised an eyebrow. “Wait… What Shinigami…? Wait, wait! What happened with the war?!”
Harribel looked at him annoyed. “So your first priority when you woke up was to bicker with Nelliel and now you’re wondering what happened with the war?”
Noitora scratched his head and looked away. “Yeah…”
Harribel sighed and explained everything to Noitora. Noitora stared at everyone else surprised. “So Aizen is gone, we are working with the Shinigamis, that bastard Gin is here, Kurosaki lost his powers and our pet is going to visit us in order to discipline us? What the hell?!”
“Her name is Orihime Inoue.”, said Ulquiorra in a threatening tone.
Noitora sighed. “Whatever! She is your girlfriend; you are the one that has to remember her name, not me. Keep that in mind when you fuc-“
“Noitora! Language!”, shouted Harribel annoyed. Ulquiorra was also starting to get angry.
“What? It’s not like you haven’t heard that word from me before.”, he said annoyed.
“We have a child with us.”, explained Harribel.
“Huh?! That’s Nelliel. The fact that she is a child now doesn’t change the fact that technically she is an adult.”, said Noitora pointing at Nel.
“Nel is thinking like a child, though.”, said Nel with a playful smile. “You’ll have to be careful of what you say in front of Nel.”
“You gotta be kiddin me!” One glare from Harribel was enough to make him sigh. “Fine! I won’t swear in front of Nel when she is in that form.” He crossed his arms and looked away annoyed. He looked at Nel again a little confused. “How did your dress turn back to normal if it was ripped when you were an adult?”
They all stared at Nel’s dress dumbfounded and even more shocked that Noitora had asked something logical for once. “Nel doesn’t know”, replied the girl confused.
“Did Szayel do something to you?”, asked Noitora.
They all stayed silent for a moment. “Szayel is dead, Noitora. Zommari, Yammy, Barrangan and Aaroniero are dead too.”
Noitora seemed shocked. “He is dead?!”
“Yes… I didn’t know you two were close…”, started Harribel, but Noitora suddenly grinned.
“Fuck yeah!”, he shouted.
“Language!”, shouted Harribel.
Noitora cringed. “Alright, alright!”
“Why are you happy?”, asked Stark.
“That-“, he was about to say bastard, but Harribel’s glare reminded the no-swearing-in-front-of-child-Nel rule and he changed it. “-guy had me promise that I would let him experiment on me in exchange for his assistance in some personal matters.”
“… What kind of matters?”, asked Stark confused as to why someone would agree to be experimented on for personal matters as Noitora put it.
“They wouldn’t be personal if I told you.”, replied Noitora coldly, making Stark realize that maybe it was something important to the other arrancar.
“Maybe checking for how much brain is actually missing due to his Hollow hole.”, said Ulquiorra with his usual stoic expression suddenly. He was obviously still mad at Noitora for what he said about Orihime.
“Why you-“, Noitora tried to say, but…
“Anyway.”, said Harribel, deciding to change the subject and stop the incoming argument. “You two”, she said pointing at Nel and Noitora, “need to work things out between you. You are both hundreds of years old but you both act like five year olds at most. And at least Nel has an excuse since her child transformations could mess up her mentality. You on the other hand are acting ridiculous.”
Noitora scoffed and Nel pouted. “Fine. I’ll try to work it out with her. Only because I want to keep battling with her like the good ol’ days.”, he said the last part with a serious expression, reminding Nel that yes somehow he did miss her.
“Good.”, said Harribel. “I have an idea. Why don’t you try and take care of child Nel?”
“Huh?!”, they both said at the same time. “Harribel are you fu-“ “Language!” “-… nuts?!”
“You said that you want to fight with her “like the good ol’ days” as you put it. So you will have to take care of her so that nobody actually hurts her. Besides from what I’ve heard, you are the reason she is in this condition now. You owe her at least that.”
Noitora clenched his teeth and looked away annoyed. In the end his expression softened a little, indicating that maybe he regretted his previous actions even just a tiny bit. Nel stared at him, wondering if that was really the case or if he was really that scared of Harribel. The last thing actually confused her even more. If Noitora hated women as much as he said he did, why his relationship with Harribel was so much more different than the one the two of them had? Back in the day, Harribel was Espada number 2 and Barrangan was still number 1, yet Noitora never tried anything with Harribel like he did with her or Cirucci who was actually number 5 back then and from what she had picked, got along with her in a weird way that annoyed Nel for some reason. Maybe because Noitora challenged her when there were other female Espada in their army both weaker and stronger than her. She never understood why he did it and she never understood why she complied with him as much. Because I wanted to save him, she reminded to herself.
“Fine!”, said Noitora finally, not looking at her. “I will try to take care of her.”
Nel gasped in surprise. Harribel nodded. “Tesla and her fraccion will be helping you out. I trust them more than you. And if anything happens to Nel, I’ll personally see to your wish of a warrior’s death.” Her glare made them understand that she was dead serious. “We are trying to become civilized and independent without Aizen. Let’s not ruin it for something as stupid as that.”
“Yeah, whatever…”, mumbled Noitora annoyed as Tesla picked up Nel.
“We should get her to her fraccion.”, said Tesla.
“Yeah, sure… “, mumbled Noitora.
“Master Noitora, maybe it’s a good idea that you change clothes before meeting with them. You might scare them like that…”
“Why, what’s wrong with my…?”, he realized then and only then how ruined his uniform actually was from his battle with Kenpachi. “Damn…”
“As I said before, priorities…”, said Harribel and he shot her a glare.
“Damn, I liked that uniform.”, mumbled Noitora.
Nel frowned at him. “Why? You looked like a spoon.”
“What?! I did not!”
“You kind of did…”, said Stark.
“You looked like trash.”, added Ulquiorra.
“It was ridiculous.”, said Harribel.
“Like you guys know anything about fashion!”, shouted Noitora and then he turned at Tesla who immediately flinched. “What was your opinion about my uniform, Tesla?”
Tesla gulped. “It was an interesting choice of clothes…”, he offered.
Noitora sighed annoyed. “Great! No one here has any taste. When the pet visits I’ll ask her as well to prove you all wrong.”
“Her name is Orihime Inoue.”, said Ulquiorra once more. He was losing his patience with Noitora.
“Whatever!”, shouted Noitora. “Anyway, let’s get going to the two idiots that for some reason are fraccion.”
“Wait a moment.”, said Stark all of a sudden. They all looked at him surprised that he of all people had something new to add. “What are we going to do with our numbers?”
“What about our numbers?”, asked Noitora.
“I mean, we have two Espadas numbered 3 and we’ve lost the other five Espada, so maybe we should fix that.”
Harribel and Noitora paled at that. “No!”, said Noitora “I ain’t getting tattooed again! It hurts like shit!”
“Language!”, said Harribel, but she also seemed to agree with Noitora. “He is right though. The pain of getting the tattoo in the first place was too much. Me, Noitora and Grimmjow have changed numbers through the years and it wasn’t any more pleasant. You are the luckiest because you remain number 1 and you wouldn’t go through this again.”
“I do remember it hurting a lot.”, admitted Stark. After all, the tattoos had been created by spiritual pressure and Aizen’s to be precise.
“Well, we had to have our previous numbers completely deleted and have the tattoo redone as many times as we changed ranks.”, explained Harribel.
“I changed ranks 3 times!”, shouted Noitora. “I couldn’t feel my tongue for days! If we could keep our ranks recorded without the tattoos, it would be great.”
“Yes, we should do it like that. I think we should fix Hueco Mundo and Las Noches though, before we started changing ranks again.”, said Harribel.
“I do not remember the pain.”, mumbled Ulqiorra lost in his thoughts.
Harribel sighed. “You’ve been Espada number 4 from before even I became an Espada.”
“Yes, you are right.”, said Ulquiorra.
“Anyway, I’m going to drop off Nel to the two idiots.”, said Noitora leaving the room, followed by Tesla.
“Well, Noitora is going to handle Nel. We should try to repair as much of Las Noches as we can. We also need to check the dead Espada’s castles for anything useful. Stark, Ulquiorra.”, the two men stared at her expectantly. “Go check Aaroniero’s castle. I’ll go and see what we have to repair.”
The two male Espada left the room, leaving Harribel alone. She sighed. “This is goin to be interesting…” She then realized something. “Where on earth is Grimjow? He also has to help, damn it!”
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Gin smirked to himself. He was glad that no one of the Espada had ever been to Aizen’s private quarters before. Of course Aizen had had the biggest room, the perfect view and the best bed. And he was the only one who knew how great all of these were and thus the only one to dare claim them. His grin widened when he saw the bathroom the man had. He even had a Jacuzzi. Gin had definitely won the jackpot.

Chapter Text

Noitora was wearing his old uniform and was very grumpy. He wanted his other uniform back, but he had to wait before their uniform designer could fix it. On his way to his castle he had come across Harribel who had informed him that Orihime along with some guy named Chad and a Shinigami would visit them soon. Harribel had insisted that he should be the one to inform Nel and despite his protests, he couldn't really say no to the stronger Espada. So now he was on his way to Nel's private quarters. Nel had been quite lucky because Harribel decided to move to Barrangan's old quarters and thus she had taken Harribel's.

He didn't even knock when he arrived at her room and he entered giving a good scare to Dondochaka who was cleaning the room. "Where is Nelliel?", he asked annoyed.

"S-She… is still in her child form…", informed Dondochaka.

Noitora frowned. "I already know that, you dumbass. I'm not here to fight her. I was supposed to tell her something."

"She-she is taking a bath right now…", mumbled Dondochaka.

Noitora sighed and moved towards what he guessed was the bathroom despite Dondochaka's protests. He opened to reveal Pesche sitting next to the bathtub while Nelliel was barely visible in the water due to the bubbles.

Pesche gasped and Nel shrieked. "What are you doing in here Noitora?! You shouldn't enter the bathroom while a lady is using it!"

"I'll keep that in mind for when I see a lady.", replied Noitora with a bored expression. "You're still in this form anyway and I'm pretty sure that the bathtub is covering your body completely even if you are back to your adult form. I remember Harribel saying that this room only has a bathtub anyway, so I knew that you wouldn't be in a shower or something and I'm pretty sure that I would have heard it before entering. Besides why is he here?", he said pointing at Pesche.

"I'm keeping Miss Nelliel on the surface so that she doesn't drown.", said Pesche proudly.

Noitora stared at him dumbfounded. "… Right…" He still wasn't used to how weak Nel was in this form. "Anyway, I came here to tell you that our Pet will be visiting along with some Chad guy and a Shinigami soon, so when you're done you should come to welcome them or something.", he said scratching his neck.

Nel smiled. "Orihime is going to visit! Yay!"

"Yeah, whatever…", he said turning to leave.

"Wait!", said Nel suddenly much to his and to Pesche's surprise. "Pesche, can you leave Nel alone with Noitora? It will be ok. He won't try anything unless he wants Harribel to deal with him."

Pesche nodded reluctantly and he shot a glare at Noitora. "Make sure that she won't drown."

Noitora nodded with an annoyed expression and Pesche went outside. Noitora looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Actually, Nell wants to understand you, Noitora. Nel thinks that her approach with you was wrong and Nel believes that even though you were bad, Nel also treated you wrong."

Noitora blinked at her. "First of all, stop talking on the third person and second do you think that now is the best time for you to tell me this? I mean you could have waited to get out of the bathtub first."

Nel sighed. "Nel can't help the way she talks in this form. Nel can't control it. And yes, Nel wanted to tell you this as soon as possible.", her eyes shone with determination.

Noitora sighed and looked at the door. "Well, I guess I could try getting along with you if you try too. I mean that's what the other three… (he remembered the no swearing rule)… Espada want from me too. I'm warning you, though. I'm more messed up than you think." He turned to look at her and gasped horrified and fell back hitting his head on the wall.

Nel smiled at him, now back in her adult form, sitting obviously more comfortably than before in the bathtub. "Don't worry. I know."

Noitora rubbed his head and glared at her. "Fuck Nelliel! Do you want to give me a heart attack?! Warn me when these transformations occur!"

Nel giggled. "Ok, I'll try. Now be a dear and pass me the towel."

Noitora flinched and felt heat rising to his face. "Wha-"

"Of course, you'll turn around first.", she said, still smiling, but her voice was definitely threatening.

"Yeah… Of course…", he said turning around and throwing her the towel. He could feel that his face had turned red and he felt stupid about the whole situation. Maybe he should have waited for her to finish her bath before talking to her. He closed his eye as he felt her pass by him and go outside.

"I'll let you out when I'm fully dressed.", she said and closed the door.

Noitora sighed and opened his eye. Nelliel had definitely started to change. She used to be so cold at him and she always had a sad look on her face as if she pitied him, much to his annoyance. But now she acted cheerfully like she did only with her fraccion. Living as a child had probably made her embrace her more playful and cheerful side and if he had to be honest with himself, he preferred the new Nelliel. It seemed to him as if she saw him as her equal and one of the things that he had always wanted was for her to acknowledge him and not call him a brainless animal. When he thought that he was about to die, she called his name and he felt fulfilled. She wouldn't call his name in the past unless she wanted to refer to him when she was talking with someone else or to talk harshly at him. But now she did it without hesitation. He would never admit out loud how much better it made him feel to be addressed by his name. He would never show weakness like that.

Most people would guess that his aspect of death was destruction or wrath or something, but it was despair. And Nelliel was one of the few who knew about it. That's why he always thought she pitied him. After all she always tried to be there whenever he got in trouble. She would lie and tell him that she did it because Aizen shouldn't be looking for a replacement for him. He always felt that she did it because she pitied him, but now she was admitting she approached him in the wrong way. That had gotten his attention, despite him not showing it. What did Nelliel want from him? Why did she care about the way she treated him in the past? Why did she want to understand him?

He was broken away from his thoughts by Nel opening the door, dressed in her old uniform, but with a smile on her lips, unlike the image he had associated her with when it came to that uniform. "Come on! We should go greet Orihime!"

"Oi, wanna fight afterwards?", he asked on impulse.

Nel frowned. "Not before the others leave. Now, come on!"

Noitora sighed. "Fine…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They had all gathered to the room they had decided would be the "Garganta room", formerly known as Orihime's room. Grimmjow and Noitora were bored and didn't see the point of being there, Nel and her fraccion were excited, Stark was sleeping while Lilinette was drawing on his face, Harribel had her usual expression and was surrounded by her fraccion, Ulquiorra seemed a little happy, though nobody could really tell since his expression was his usual one but his aura was definitely more pleasant, Tesla was looking at where the Garganta would open nervously and Gin had his usual fox like smirk.

The Garganta suddenly opened and three figures appeared. One was Orihime, the other was the human known as Chad and the third one was a blond Shinigami with big boobs that Ulquiorra remembered talking to Gin.

Noitora and Grimmjow grinned when they saw the Shinigami. "That is interesting.", said Grimmjow.

"It definitely is.", replied Noitora, his eye never leaving the Shinigami.

Suddenly the Shinigami smiled and hugged Gin who did the same, much to the others' surprise. "I've missed you too, Rangiku.", said Gin and the others could swear that his smile suddenly seemed genuine.

Grimmjow's and Noitora's grins turned into frowns. "That's no longer interesting…", mumbled Grimmjow.

"Well, if she likes that kind of guys, we dodged a bullet there…", said Noitora to make himself feel a little better.

Nel turned at them with a scowl. They both glared at her. "What?!", growled Noitora.

"Perverts.", said Nel simply and then turned to squeeze Orihime into a hug.

Orihime smiled at her. "It's good to see you Nel. Ichigo says hi. He is really upset that he can't come here, but we are all working on ways to fix the issue. He told me to give you this, though." Orihime offered Nel a book. "He didn't really know what you like and he wasn't sure whether you could read, but we both agreed that it still looks nice as a gift. Plus I had a bookcase in my room here, so I believe that some arrancar can read.", said Orihime.

Nel beamed at the girl. "It's such a great present! I love reading, don't worry about it. It's a pity that Ichigo can't visit, though.", she frowned. "Tell him that I love the gift."

Orihime nodded. Chad approached Nel and offered her an armband. "Kisuke told me to give you this. He is still working for a permanent solution, but he can at least help you with your current predicament. This device will warn you before you transform into your child form."

Nel's eyes widened in surprise. "That's great! That will really help with many things. Thank you, Chad. Tell Kisuke my thanks too."

Noitora approached them. Both Chad and Orihime got into defensive stances when they saw the tall arrancar. "So, your name is Chad, huh?", said Noitora.

Chad relaxed a little. "Yes…"

"Well, didn't you take down a Privaron before I beat you?", asked Noitora.

"Yes.", replied Chad, not sure where this was going.

Noitora smirked. "Well, do you want to have a rematch with me? Don't worry. I'll go easy on you."

Chad flinched. "I'm not that strong as to defeat an Espada…"

"Well, you can be trained to do so. Also if Nelliel is kind enough as to demonstrate you a proper battle with me, maybe you'll learn something." Noitora grinned and glanced at Nel who sighed annoyed.

"You could wait.", she said.

"And what if you turned back into a child?", asked Noitora with fake worry.

Nel glared at him. "Fine, I'll battle with you. Chad you can come and watch. Tesla you'll come too, to remind your master to behave."

Noitora scowled. "I don't need Tesla to babysit me."

"Do you want to fight me or not", asked Nel with a smirk.

Noitora sighed defeated. "Come on Chad, or whatever your name is. But before that…" He turned to Orihime and Chad. "My previous uniform was good, wasn't it?", he asked with a nervous smile.

Orihime and Chad gaped at him. Nel facepalmed. "I can't believe you did ask them…"

Chad sweatdropped. "It was cool… I guess…"

Orihime thought for a moment. "You are talking about the spoon uniform, right?"

Noitora growled. "Oh, come on! Nobody has any sense of fashion in this room.", he grumbled and went outside followed by Tesla.

Nel sighed. "Come on Chad. I'll give you a good show."

Chad nodded awkwardly and followed Nel, without really understanding how he got in this situation.

Grimmjow sighed. "Do you have anything for me?" He'd rather not stay any longer than necessary with the crazies.

"I brought some snacks for everyone, but Ichigo also gave me something for you.", answered Orihime.

Grimmjow stared at her with interest. "What is it?"

Orihime scratched her cheek nervously. "Well, it is kind of a joke actually…" She presented him a small bag of catnip.

Grimmjow growled furiously. "That bastard! I'm gonna go to the world of the living and kick his ass so hard he will land here!"

"You'll do no such thing!", said Harribel annoyed.

Grimmjow growled but didn't say anything else to the stronger arrancar. Orihime sweatdropped and then turned to Ulquiorra with a huge smile. "I've brought you some stuff! I think you are going to enjoy them.", she offered him a book, clothes and a bat plushy.

Ulquiorra stared at the stuff confused. "What are all these things?"

Orihime's smile widened. "I'm gonna show you."

Ulquiorra held the plushy, not really understanding what it is. He looked at Orihime, trying his best to make his confusion visible.

"Oh, I brought this, because I think it looks like you.", she explained, confusing him even more.

"I don't look like that…", he said and looked at Harribel and her fraccion for confirmation that Haribel gave him with a small nod, though her fraccion were saying how cute the plushy looked.

"Not now, silly.", said Orihime giggling. Ulquiorra was dumbfounded. He was being called silly by a human girl. The human girl that brought him back to life and he had vowed to obey and protect. So he listened attentively to what she said next. "It looks like you resurrection. You know you've got wings like that and you look like a bat."

Ulquiorra was starting to understand. "I suppose you're right about that… But what is the purpose of this thing?"

Orihime smiled. "It has no purpose other than being your cute companion or you can use it as decoration in your room."

"… My cute companion…?", he repeated even more confused than before.

"You can have this on your bed for example or on a bookshelf.", explained Orihime. "And you can squish it whenever you feel stressed or down, the softness makes you feel better immediately."

Ulquiorra nodded. "I see. I have no other decoration in my room. I will treasure this one. Though, since I haven't felt stress before, I'm not sure I can use it for the last purpose."

"It's ok. I just thought that it was a nice gift. I'm glad you like it. Now, let's go to your room, so we can put it in the most appropriate place."

Ulquiorra nodded and was about to do as he was told when he noticed Grimmjow snickering while looking at him. "Why are you laughing?", he asked immediately annoyed.

"You and that thing… Hahahaha! It's ridiculous!", said Grimmjow and continued laughing much to Ulquiorra's irritation.

"Trash.", said Ulquiorra simply and moved past him. "Let's go to my room.", said Ulquiorra to Orihime.

Grimmjow whistled. "Well, it's finally happening! Ulquiorra is finally getting laid!"

Ulquiorra stopped midstep and stiffened, while Orihime turned red like a tomato. Harribel glared at Grimmjow, but it was Gin that decided to interfere. "Don't you have some catnip to sniff, Grimmjow?"

Grimmjow's smirk fell and he growled at Gin. Harribel thanked Gin with a nod and turned to Grimmjow herself. "You haven't helped at all with the repairs now that I think about it. Even Noitora and Stark have helped. Why don't you go and check Szayel's castle first traps?"

Grimmjow paled. "On my own?"

Harribel raised an eyebrow "I said the first traps. I'm pretty sure that the great panther king can handle it."

Grimmjow grumbled some profanities under his breath, but did as he was told. Ulquiorra nodded at Harribel and left the room with Orihime.

Harribel stared at Gin and Rangiku. "I suppose you two want to spend the day with each other?"

Gin nodded. "If you need me about anything though, call me."

And thus Gin left with Rangiku, leaving Harribel with her fraccion, Stark and Lilinete in the room. Harribel stared at Stark and he did the same. "I've found some of Zommari's booze in his room. Wanna try it?"

Harribel shrugged. "Why not?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ulquiorra's and Orihime's walk to his room was quiet. Orihime seemed nervous and despite his collected and calm appearance, Ulquiorra was cursing Grimmjow inernally. He had made the atmosphere between him and Orihime extremely uncomfortable and Ulquiorra was certain he disliked that atmosphere. Ulquiorra decided that maybe he should break that silence. "Don't pay attention to Grimmjow. He is trash. And trash has no mind."

Orihime flushed and flinched. "I-It's ok. I've met guys like him before. They only care about making themselves look good. They can be annoying at times."

Ulquiorra nodded at her. They were about to reach Ulquiorra's castle corridors when they came across Loly and Menoly. Both of them gasped and stared at Orihime in shock. Orihime blinked at them and stood behind Ulquiorra awkwardly. "Uh, hi…", she mumbled

The girls stared at each other with very awkward expressions. Ulquiorra remembered what those two had done to her due to Loly's jealousy. "Apologize to her for what you did."

The girls backed away a little when Ulquiorra spoke. Orihime tried not to burst out laughing because despite his usual expression and stance, he was still holding the bat plushy and she found the whole scene hilarious and cute. She really appreciated that he cared enough to demand such a thing. But at the same time… "It's ok, Ulquiorra. They don't have to apologize. I've forgiven them."

Ulquiorra glanced at her, his eyes wide. Her kindness was something he had a hard time getting used to, but at the same time it fascinated him. He supposed it was part of the "heart" and he decided that he wanted to learn more about it.

Loly and Menoly though bowed their heads and did as they were told. "We are sorry for what we did. We don't deserve your kindness." It was Loly who spoke. "Don't be mad at Menoly. I put her up to this. It's my entire fault."

Menoly stared at Loly surprised. Orihime smiled gently and approached them and motioned for them to stand up. "I forgive you.", she said softly. "I'm going to visit often and I would rather be your friend than your enemy."

Loly gaped at her. "You want to be our friend?! Why? I treated you terribly. "

Orihime smiled at her. "It's really ok. We've all liked a guy so much that we wanted to eliminate the competition.", she said while Nel hugging Ichigo appeared in her mind.

Ulquiorra raised his finger to say that the explanation of Loly's behavior by Orihime wasn't the best comparison but then again he had no better explanation, so he remained silent. He did wonder though whether Orihime really thought about eliminating competition when it came to Kurosaki. He wasn't that oblivious when it came to her affection towards the substitute Shinigami, but he still didn't understand how you treated the person you supposedly "liked" or how you acted about it. Maybe he should ask her.

After finally leaving Loly and Menoly alone, much to the two arrancar girls' relief, they managed to get in his room. He placed the plushy carefully on his bookshelf as decoration and Orihime nodded in approval. "If Loly or Menoly ever bother you again, you should tell me immediately. Though most of the Espada dislike them so even if you were to tell this even to Noitora or Grimmjow, they'd also support you."

"Why do you dislike them?", asked Orihime confused. "I mean besides the fact that they act upon emotions like jealousy…", she mumbled while rubbing the back of her head.

Ulquiorra sighed. "The two of them approach the ones ranked above them and try to sleep with them.", he said with his usual expression and Orihime blushed. "They wanted Aizen's attentions because he was the strongest. That doesn't mean they haven't tried with the Espada as well."

Orihime stared at him and for a moment contemplated whether she should ask him. In the end she did. "Did they approach you too?"

Ulquiorra was expecting the question the moment he saw her thinking. "They did.", he confirmed. "I declined, obviously."

Orihime's eyes widened but she nodded, embarrassed to have thought even for a little that he was the kind of person that would sleep with the first who offered. He obviously was focused on his duty and he wouldn't bother with something like that. Besides, Orihime wasn't certain he even knew much about positive emotions and whether he had ever felt lust, "Sorry… That was a little rude of me…"

"I don't mind.", replied Ulquiorra. "You are genuinely curious about everything you ask and you don't have ulterior motives or the desire to mock me about this stuff, like Grimmjow or Noitora do."

Orihime smiled. She was glad he trusted her. "So, has anyone accepted their offer…?", she asked this time.

"Grimmjow and Noitora from what I have heard.", he replied.

Orihime nodded. "I guessed it would be these two… But didn't you say they also dislike them?"

"I guess they only care about fulfilling their desires and they don't bother that much about who actually fulfills them."

Orihime nodded in understanding. Ulquiorra stared at her for a moment. He wanted to ask her something but he wasn't sure about how she would receive his question. "May I ask you something?"

Orihime blinked at him. "Of course. I mean, I just asked about your personal life, so it's only fair that you ask me as well about anything you want to know." She offered him a smile and he was satisfied she had figured out it would be a personal question.

Ulquiorra thought for a moment before asking. "You said that when someone "likes" someone they want to eliminate the competition. Is that normal? And, have you ever wanted such a thing? You don't seem like the kind of person that would want to eliminate anyone, considering that you even saved Loly and Menoly after what they did to you."

Orihime stared at him surprised. She didn't expect him to even consider all those things, let alone care enough to want to learn about the right way to express adoration or act when you are jealous. "Well… It's normal to feel jealous when someone is close to the person we fancy and we might consider ways to remove the competition but that last part isn't really healthy. It's not right to mess with other people's relationships and if you really care about someone, you should let them choose what makes them happy. " , she said with a smile.

Ulquiorra seemed to think about the new information and after a while he nodded at her. "What about the second part of my question?"

Orihime blushed, but decided to be honest. "I was really jealous when Nel hugged Ichigo and I could only think that she should have remained a child. Oh, I feel terrible about such thoughts! I mean she was trying to save me…"

"So, you still fancy Kurosaki.", said Ulquiorra calmly.

Orihime froze and felt more heat on her cheeks. She never spoke about her crush on Ichigo, not that she was trying deliberately to hide it, but she didn't want to talk about her crush to everyone. Yet, Aizen and apparently Ulquiorra had used that in order to lure Ichigo to Hueco Mundo. She felt naïve to think that it wasn't that obvious. "Yeah… I've never really tried to keep it a secret, but I didn't realize how obvious I am."

Ulquiorra seemed to understand her discomfort. "Lord Aizen was a very smart man. He could understand such things. I personally wouldn't have understood about such a thing."

Despite the whole situation, Orihime giggled. "You need help with understanding the positive emotions. Don't worry, I'll help you. I will teach you about thinks like happiness, love and everything else that I can think of. I promise you that by the end of my lessons, you'll be able to recognize these feelings easily and maybe you will be able to smile in happiness like everyone else."

It was Ulquiorra's turn to freeze. Him able to smile in happiness? He never felt that emotion, thus he never had the urge to smile. Now he was curious. "I would appreciate you lessons."

Orihime grinned at him and he felt unknown warmth in his chest that made him relax. He described it to her and she said it was some sort of relief that he would be taught about the things that interested him. They shook hands because Orihime said that this was how you make a deal. Then she smiled again. "Come on! I've brought you clothes to try on."

Chapter Text

Rangiku gasped when she saw the Jacuzzi. Gin had definitely claimed the best room for himself. “So… Wanna use it?”, he asked.
Rangiku was about to say yes, when she remembered something. “Shouldn’t you check on the Espada and Chad and Orihime first? It’s been a while since we left them to their own devices and I don’t know whether I should have left Orihime alone with that Espada…”
Gin chuckled. “It’s rare for you to worry about such things. But don’t worry. Ulquiorra won’t hurt Orihime and if anyone tries to do so, they will be obliterated by the fourth himself. Chad has Nel with him, so he should be fine when it comes to Noitora, Grimmjow is busy not getting killed by Szayel’s traps -and believe me when I say that this is going to take a lot of time- and Harribel and Stark are quiet people. They won’t cause anything unnecessary. So, are you convinced now?”
Rangiku pretended to think for a second. “Yeah, I think I am… She stripped slowly and entered the Jacuzzi waiting for Gin to join her.”
Gin smiled at her with his eyes open. “Don’t worry. Everything will be fine.”
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Noitora had taken Chad, Nel and Tesla to the ruins he used to spar with Nelliel. He seemed excited. Nel sighed and smiled at Chad. “I’ll demonstrate you exactly how you fight an opponent like him and I’ll make sure to be slow and give brief explanations as to why I do what I do.”
Chad nodded, while Noitora took his fighting stance. “Oi! Nelliel, we ain’t using our Resurrections. I ain’t fighting you in your fat cow form, you got that?”
Both Tesla and Chad turned slowly to look at Nel, realizing that what Noitora had just said was definitely the worst thing to say to her. Nel was still smiling, but her eyes had a deadly glint in them. “I’m sorry Chad. Apparently this will be a very quick fight, to the point you won’t manage to see much other than dear Noitora over there down and apologizing for daring to call a lady fat…” The more she spoke, the angrier she sounded.
Noitota snorted, oblivious to the danger. “ Yeah, right. As I said before, I see no lady around-OOF“
Apparently that was the last straw, because Nel had sonidoed in front of him and punched him near his abdomen. Noitora had flown away a few meters, before landing with a loud crushing sound.
Tesla and Chad stared at each other in disbelief. “Is that a common thing between them…?”, asked Chad.
“You could say that… Though Miss Nelliel is far more expressive now and she got provoked a little too easily…”, replied Tesla, his eye never leaving Nel’s back.
“Well, not to speak badly about your Master, but he talked about a sensitive subject, especially to a lady…”, said Chad.
Tesla sighed. “He sometimes speaks before he thinks… and that rarely ends well.”
Noitora stood up and coughed, he turned around to stare at Nel, but she was already in his face, delivering another punch that sent him flying. Getting over his surprise, he moved as fast as he could –after all he was known as the Espada with the strongest Hierro, not as the fastest- and tried his best to avoid Nelliel’s barrage of attacks. His eye was wide with shock. He always tried to provoke her but he never really managed to do it, except maybe from their fight where he broke her mask. She had been very upset when she learned about her fraccion. He guessed that he shouldn’t really talk about her weight like that. If he remembered correctly, back in the day he had eavesdropped her fraccion that she wanted to start a diet. “Oi! Nelliel! Maybe-Oof- I shouldn’t have said that…”
Nel looked furious. “So you are considering my feelings now, huh?” Nel jumped high and was about land a very powerful blow to him when suddenly Urahara’s device started making a beeping sound.
All of them froze and Nel stared at the device in her hand. “Oh, no…” She transformed midair, quite high for a child to fall from.
Noitora’s eye widened. “Shit!”, he shouted forgetting completely Harribel’s rule. He ran towards her falling form and so did both Tesla and Chad. What they didn’t notice was that since now she was a child her pants and boots fell off and as they tried to catch her, Nel’s boots hit Noitora straight in the face and her pants fell on Chad, disabling him from seeing where Nel was going to fall.
The result was that Noitora and Chad crushed on each other, while Tesla managed to catch Nel before she hit the ground. Nel giggled. “Thank you, Tesla. You saved Nel.”
“You’re welcome, Miss Nelliel.”, replied the fraccion.
Noitora rubbed his forehead, groaning in annoyance. He hadn’t really felt pain, but he hadn’t expected the sudden blow to his face and he was really wary of anything approaching his lone eye. He looked at Chad with a frown. “Oi! You ok? You fell on my Hierro after all…”
Chad nodded while getting Nel’s pants out of the way. “I’m fine. It didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would.”
“Good.”, replied Noitora and turned to Tesla. “Good catch, Tesla.”
Tesla beamed at the praise and handed Nel to Noitora, much to the latter’s confusion. “Why are you giving her to me?”, he asked while holding her at arm’s length, which for Noitora was quite far.
“I want to grab Miss Nelliel’s clothing. I’m sure she would appreciate it.”, he said while folding her pants.
Noitora blinked but didn’t question his fraccion. He stared annoyed at Nel and it was obvious from the way he was holding her that he had never before in his life held children. Nel glared back at him. “You called Nel fat!”
Noitora scowled. “I called your resurrection fat, you dumbass.”
“It’s the same thing!”, shouted Nel.
“No, it’s not! You have a cow’s body in your resurrection and I have six arms! Besides, I apologized!”
Nel pouted but then her eyes lit up. Obviously she had an idea. “In order for Nel to forgive you, you’ll have to apologize to both Orihime and Chad for your behavior in the war.”
Noitora gaped at her and Nel grinned at him. “What the…?!”
“You heard Nel. Go ahead or Nel won’t battle with you ever again.”
“Tsk! Fine!” Noitora turned at Chad and the human backed away a little. “Sorry for hurting you, even though you were an enemy at the time.” His voice was dripping with sarcasm.
Chad blinked. “You’re forgiven…. I guess…”
Noitora stared at Nel expectantly. Nel had a smug look on her face. “Nel doesn’t mind the apology to Chad as much as Nel minds the one to Orihime. You were unnecessarily harsh and perverted with her.”
Noitora growled. “Fine! Let’s go find our dear pet! She is probably fucking with Ulquiorra as we speak…”, he mumbled the last part to himself.
Tesla smiled apologetically to Chad. Chad was really confused about what on earth had just happened. “Why is he actually listening to her?”, he asked.
Tesla’s smile softened. “Master Noitora actually felt terrible guilt about what he did to Miss Nelliel, even though he’ll never admit it, not even to himself. He lost his best sparring partner when he got rid of her and it had him bothered for quite a long time. I think that by actually listening to her, he is making up to her and curing his own guilt.”, explained Tesla.
Chad nodded in understanding. Noitora had put Nel on his shoulders and was moving towards the main building. Tesla smiled and whispered something to Chad. “Master Noitora never hated Miss Nelliel… He just wanted her acknowledgement…”
Chad didn’t answer and Tesla started following Noitora. Chad didn’t know the whole story between the two arrancar, but for some reason everything Teslad had trusted him with had made sense.
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Grimmjow definitely had the weirdest day. First of all, his rival had mocked him by gifting him catnip. After that, Harribel had instructed him to try and destroy the first traps of Szayel’s castle and that had gone very well… If you considered a good outcome that he had managed to escape the traps with his life. He had almost been burned to a crisp by the first trap and then, much to his horror, he had made the discovery that Szayel had created traps for each of the Espada, depending on their weaknesses. Thus he had come across the worst trap that could be created for him. The floor had split in two underneath his feet and he had fallen in some sort of water trap. There was an artificial river underneath and the water had been moving extremely fast. He of course didn’t dislike water that much (he was no cat despite Kurosaki’s foolish attempts to make him look like one), but water wasn’t his favorite terrain when it came to battle and he definitely was at a disadvantage. Hell, only Harribell had a chance to fight in water.
When he finally was carried somewhere by the water (and that took too long for his liking), he realized that he wasn’t alone. He had been carried to the Menos forest they had and even though he could literally eat Menos for breakfast, having been carried all this way by water with no control of his movements had definitely put a strain on his body. Thus, he had spent the last few hours fighting the Menos and trying to get back to his castle. He reached the main halls in the end, feeling completely exhausted and he had come across the weirdest sight he had probably ever seen. He blinked and rubbed his eyes furiously, thinking that maybe he was more tired than he initially thought and he was seeing things or that maybe he had hurt his head somehow in the battle. Either way, there was no way that Ulquiorra Cifer was sitting in front of him wearing green cargo pants, a black t-shirt with a blue haired anime girl print and sneakers.
Orihime who was with Ulquiorra, smiled at him. “Hey, Grimmjow! What do you think of Ulquiorra’s new clothes?”
Oh, that made sense. He wasn’t seeing things. The human girl had dressed him up. Grimmjow stared at the other Espada from head to toe and he couldn’t stop himself from bursting out laughing. The clothes as a whole weren’t bad, but with Ulquiorra’s hollow mask and deadpan expression, the image as a whole was ridiculous.
Ulquiorra gave him the equivalent of a glare when it came to his expressions. Orihime frowned. “Is it that bad?”
Grimmjow tried to calm himself down, because his sides were starting to hurt and because of how he spent the rest of his day, the last thing he wanted was to be blasted by the quatro Espada’s Cero. “The clothes are ok… It’s just… his hollow mask… and his face!”, he said between laughs.
Orihime sighed. “I guess I should find something more like your usual uniform.”
Ulquiorra nodded. “I don’t mind the clothes. They are comfortable.”, he said, being as honest as possible. In truth, he would prefer his uniform, but if Orihime wanted to find better clothes for him, he owed to accept her help.
Orihime smiled at him and before she could reply, one of the doors opened and Harribel, Stark, Lilynette and Harribel’s fraccion entered the room. They all stopped and stared at Ulquiorra dumbfounded. What made the whole scene even more ridiculous was that Stark hadn’t washed his face from Lilynette’s drawings and had black goggles and a black moustache drawn to his face. Stark stared at Harribel. “You see it too, right? I didn’t drink that much…”
Harribel nodded, her eyes wide. Orihime smiled at them. “So, what do you think? Grimmjow likes the clothes, but he thinks they don’t suit Ulquiorra. What’s your opinion?”
“They’re certainly different from what he usually wears…”, said Harribel with an awkward expression while her fraccion were giggling behind her.
“I think they’re cool.”, said Stark yawning and seeming to have overcome his initial shock.
Lillinete on the other hand started laughing, something that triggered another fit of laughs from Grimmjow, much to Ulquiorra’s annoyance. Orihime sighed. “I guess I’ll have to create more combinations for you to try on. I am confident though that eventually we’ll find what suits you.”
Ulquiorra nodded. It was at this moment that a smiling Gin and Rangiku decided to join them. They didn’t seem bothered by Ulquiorra’s change in wardrobe. In fact, they seemed to be lost in their little cloud of happiness, though from what Orihime had heard from Rangiku, she thought they totally deserved it. “Hello! Ulquiorra, nice outfit.”, it was all that Gin said.
Rangiku smiled at Orihime. “We only have one hour left before our visit is over, so I decided to get to know everyone.”
Orihime pouted. “Only one hour?”
Rangiku smirked. “Don’t worry. We’ll visit again next week.” She winked at Gin at that last part and the man smirked back.
Orihime beamed. “Great! I’ll find better clothes for Ulquiorra!”
Ulquiorra wasn’t exactly excited about having to model Orihime’s choice of clothes, but he certainly wanted to meet again with the human girl. He couldn’t understand exactly why but he felt that he actually did something new and interesting today and he wanted to do more things that he usually didn’t do.
“So, do you guys want to try the food I brought?”, asked Orihime.
Rangiku beamed at her while the others simply nodded. Suddenly another door burst open to reveal Noitora, Nel, Chad and Tesla. “We are back….” Noitora started with his usual tone but when his eye fell on Ulquiorra he started talking more quietly and slowly. They gaped at Ulquiorra and Noitora closed the door. He opened it again, this time slowly peeking and Nel’s head could be seen right above his.
She also seemed dumbfounded. “He’s still wearing the weird clothing.”, whispered Nel to Noitora, though not so quietly.
“Yeah, I can see it.”, replied Noitora in the same tone.
“You two know that I can hear you, right?’, said Ulquiorra.
Noitora sighed and opened the door to reveal two equally shocked Chad and Tesla. “Ulquiorra what the-“ “Language!” “What on earth are you wearing?”
Orihime groaned. “I brought him some new clothes but apparently they don’t suit him that much. Now can we go try the food? I’m starving!”
Chad’s eyes suddenly widened. “Wait!”, he shouted. Everyone looked at him confused. “Orihime’s cooking is quite... peculiar…”
Rangiku waved her hand dismissively. “I enjoy her cooking a lot.”, she said.
Gin suddenly frowned. “The thing is both I and Rangiku have grown up in the Rukongai districts and we’ve learnt to appreciate every kind of food. That doesn’t mean that it is necessarily good food.”
Orihime frowned. “Oh, come on! You need to try it before you dismiss it.”
They all approached the kitchen area, the Espada seeming more alert now that Chad had told them the truth about Orihime’s cooking skills. They soon enough came across some weird looking cinnamon rolls and normal looking bread. “I’ve brought some freshly baked bread from a bakery down the street I live in and I’ve made the cinnamon rolls myself.”
They all grabbed some bread and started eating with more confidence knowing that Orihime hadn’t baked it. They then stared at the cinnamon rolls. “Orihime, what have you put in these?”, asked Chad.
Orihime grinned at him. “I’ve put some tuna in it, added some mayo and I decided to add popcorn in it to give it a crunchier texture.”
Everyone, except Gin, who simply seemed surprised, Rangiku, who seemed excited and Ulquiorra, who looked the same as usual, turned green in the face. Noitora glared at Ulquiorra. “I didn’t realize you managed to knock her up while she was here. Didn’t realize you actually got deflowered.”
Ulquiorra glared at him. “Nothing like that happened between me and Orihime. Watch your tongue, Quinto.”
“Oh, I see. She is pregnant due to that Kurosaki guy.”, Noitora said smirking at Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra seemed more shaken than before after that, if you knew how to read the stoic Espada’s expressions. ”Makes more sense. What a pity, you lost a good chance to get rid of your virginity-“
Ulquiorra had pushed Noitora to a wall, much to the others’ surprise since they hadn’t paid attention to what the two Espada had been saying. “Apologize immediately, trash. ”, said Ulquiorra.
Orihime stared at him with a worried expression. “What’s going on, Ulquiorra?”
“He said something that he shouldn’t have said.”, said Ulquiorra.
“Not that surprising.”, said Harribel with a raised eyebrow. She was expecting Noitora’s apology. After all she had taken it upon herself to help Nel fix Noitora’s attitude.
Nel then smirked at Noitora’s predicament. “Why don’t you apologize to Orihime as well, Noitora? Unless you don’t want Nel to forgive you about the fact that you called Nel fat.”
Harribel raised an eyebrow. “You called her fat?”
“For the last damn time, I called her resurrection fat, not her!”, shouted Noitora exasperated, but flinched when Ulquiorra pushed him a little harder. “Fine! I apologize for what I said. I also apologize to…”, he turned to Ulquiorra and whispered “What was the Pet’s name again?”
“Orihime Inoue.”, said Ulquiorra in a warning tone.
“Ok, I apologize to Orihime for how I treated her when we were still enemies. I apologize for both insulting and harming her and for what I did to that Kurosaki kid.”, said Noitora in a very serious and actually believable tone.
Ulquiorra released him with wide eyes. He didn’t expect the other Espada to actually apologize for his actions. Orihime seemed even more shocked at the Quinto Espada’s apology. She regained her composure after a while and smiled. “Apology accepted. “
Ulquiorra was staring at her, once again amazed that she was so forgiving and kind to everyone. He really wanted to learn more from someone with such ability. A weird ability that to his eyes was a form of strength worthy of achievement.
Noitora rubbed his head and frowned at Nel. “Are you happy Nelliel?”
“More than happy.”, she said giggling. “Nel also forgives you for calling her fat.”
Noitora growled annoyed but decided not to correct her again about what he had said.
Ulquiorra suddenly approached the cinnamon rolls and took a bite from one of them. They all stared at him surprised. Orihime was waiting with visible anticipation as to what he would think about her cooking.
Ulquiorra didn’t seem bothered. “I believe I like it. I understand what you were trying to do with the different flavors.”
Everyone gaped at him. “Maybe she was the one to get ‘im knocked up…”, whispered Noitora to Grimmjow, who nodded despite not having really paid attention to their previous conversation.
Orihime grinned. “Yay, Ulquiorra likes it!” In the end, Orihime, Rangiku and Ulquiorra were the ones to finish off the cinnamon rolls.
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It was time for Orihime, Chad and Rangiku to leave. They had all gathered again to the Garganta room, this time to say their goodbyes. “I had a lot of fun! I’ll try to visit again next week!”, said Orihime. “I promise that I’ll get you better clothing, Ulquiorra.”
Ulquiorra, who was till wearing the clothes Orihime gave him, much to the others’ amusement, nodded at her. “Thank you. I believe I enjoyed your visit as well.”
Orihime grinned. “I will try to get to know the others as well. I will ask Uryu to join us as well! He might be able to repair your uniform too, Noitora!”
That got Noitora’s attention and his eye sparked with excitement. “Really?!”
Nel frowned at him. “You’ll be like a spoon again…”
“Oh, shut up…”
Orihime giggled at them. Chad waved at everyone and Rangiku winked at Gin and then they all jumped in the Garganta.
Ulquiorra kept on staring at the spot that Orihime was before she disappeared. He was pretty sure that he was satisfied with having her here and he also believed he felt excitement about her next visit. In his face though, only his usual indifference was written.

Chapter Text

Nel was sitting in her room, waiting to get back into her adult form. Noitora had dropped her there and told her to come find him after she transforms so that they could fight again. She didn’t really care about fighting, but she did want to turn back.
Pesche and Dondochaka had been very worried when Noitora had dropped her to her room. Nel sighecd. Yes, Noitora had been an annoyance back in the day, but now that she had understood where she had erred, she could easily handle his moods.
Ichigo had shown her that being honest and kind with others did miracles and she was pleased to see that her change of behavior obviously affected the way Noitora acted towards her. It was obvious that he did miss her and Nel felt heat reach her cheeks whenever that thought crossed her mind. Noitora, despite all his flaws, was fun to be around. He was trying his hardest too and Nel appreciated it.
Noitora was trying his best for her and that made her feel weird. She sighed and shook her head annoyed. She couldn’t be attracted to Noitora for doing the bare minimum. Yet again, their relationship had always been weird…
But Noitora had a reputation as a womanizer, she reminded herself. She sighed. She had a distinct memory of passing by his room when she was still the only third Espada and seeing an Arrancar girl she recognized as a servant, getting out of the room while giggling. She had glimpsed inside his room before the door closed behind the girl, out of genuine curiosity (and because she didn’t really consider what a random servant girl was doing in Noitora’s room of all people) and she had found herself blushing hard at the sight of a shirtless Noitora lying on his bed propped on one elbow, barely covered by his bedsheets and grinning seductively to the girl that had just exited the room. Nel had looked away embarrassed and she remembered scolding herself for even being curious about the whole ordeal.
The present Nel knew that she had been very naïve back in the day and that had cost her the Espada title. Then again, being naïve and trusting the wrong person had been the reason she died as a human…
She shook her head to get rid of the depressing thoughts. Suddenly she was engulfed by pink smoke and she was back in her adult body. She grabbed her pants and put them on and then she did the same with her boots. She needed to something to distract herself from all this. Or she could also tackle the problem. She decided to talk to Noitora. After all she wanted to start getting along with him and the part of her that was still shaken by her thoughts wanted to fight to distract herself.
Pesche and Dodochaka entered her room, probably to check on her since they sensed the change in her spiritual pressure. “Master Nelliel! How are you feeling?”, asked Pesche.
Nel forced a smile on her lips for her fraccion. “I feel great.” She got up and proceeded to open her door.
“Master Nelliel! Where are you going?”, asked Dondochaka.
Nel sighed, preparing herself for the incoming protests. After all it was something she never really did. “I want to fight with Noitora to blow off some steam.”
Her fraccion gaped at her and thus she exited the room without allowing them to bother her about her decision.
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Noitora was walking on the long hallways of Las Noches with Tesla by his side. They had decided, or more precisely, he did, that it might be worth checking Aarroniero’s castle, but they hadn’t found anything worth their time.
On their way back to Noitora’s castle, they came across Harribel’s fraccion. Noitora scoffed as they glared at him and ignored them. Tesla on the other hand bowed slightly at them to greet them. Apachi and Mila Rose barely nodded at him, but Sung Sun simply stared at him with a small smile hidden slightly by her sleeve. Tesla noticed it and smiled awkwardly at her as well, a small blush making its way on his cheeks. Sung Sun, seeing that, smiled wider at him and slightly giggled.
“Come on, Tesla! Hurry up!”, said Noitora with a frown on his face. He had witnessed the whole scene and he couldn’t understand what was wrong with his fraccion.
Tesla immediately hurried back to his Master’s side, but not without stealing another glance of the Anaconda Arrancar, much to Noitora’s confusion. “What’s gotten into you?”
Tesla looked away embarrassed. “Nothing, Master Noitora.”
“Nothing, my ass! You were stalling for no particular reason other than to stare at Harribel’s bitches! If you have the hots for them, know that I ain’t backing you up if you want to sleep with one of them and Harribel finds out.”
Tesla’s face turned crimson. “It’s nothing like that! I just think that Sung Sun seems kinder than the other two, now that we don’t have a war to worry about and I’m merely interested in getting to know another fraccion…”
Noitora stared at him with an expression that said he didn’t believe anything Tesla had just said. “Yeah… Right… Look, it’s ok to be attracted to a woman, but these three are off limits. Harribel wouldn’t allow you near her precious girls.”, he said that last part with a mocking tone. “Besides I’m pretty sure they are all lesbians…”, he muttered to himself.
“Are you saying that because they don’t want to sleep with you?”
Noitora was surprised to hear Nel’s voice and even more surprised to see her holding her sword. “So you’re back to your adult self, huh Nelliel…”
“Let’s go spar.”, she simply said and turned her back at him.
Both Noitora and Tesla gaped at her. Nel never instigated a fight, even a spar between them. She turned slightly to look at him. “Are you coming or not?”
He regained his composure and immediately rushed behind her, dismissing Tesla. “What’s gotten into you, Nel? It’s not like you to instigate fights.”
Nel didn’t look at him as she answered. “I need to blow off some steam. I also want to ask you about some things.”
That really confused Noitora. Before he could ask her what she meant though, they came across Grimmjow. “Oi! Is he still bothering you Nelliel? He can be really annoying with his weird obsession about you.”
Noitora was about to yell at him, but Nel interrupted him by speaking first. “Actually, I was the one to ask him for a sparring match.”
Grimmjow blinked at her confused. “Really?! Well, I can be a better sparring partner than this idiot if you’re interested.”
Noitora was about to give him a piece of his mind as to who actually was a better sparring partner, but Nel once again answered for him. “I specifically want to fight with Noitora. There are things that I want to ask him as well…”
Grimmjow was beyond surprised at her statement. “Ok… Whatever you want… I guess…”, he replied awkwardly.
Nel passed by him and Noitora couldn’t help but wonder what the hell had gotten into Nel. She was acting strange. She had that cold demeanor she used to have back in the day (the one he despised), but somehow it wasn’t directed at him and it confused him.
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Nel took him to their usual fighting place and drew out Gamuza. Noitora prepared himself for powerful attacks and he was surprised to see that despite the attacks being indeed strong, Nel wasn’t focused. He easily pushed her back a few times and she didn’t seem to mind.
The old him would have been delighted to have a chance to defeat her. The person he was now had seen what had happened when he had managed to take her down without killing her. He hadn’t liked the result in the end. And thus he knew that there was no way he would kill her, no matter how often he would say that he hated her. So he decided to so something that was completely out of his character; talk to her. “Nel, what’s gotten into you? You don’t fight like that. What did you want to talk to me about?”
Nel suddenly halted her attacks and looked away. Noitora frowned. He wasn’t good with emotional stuff and he didn’t trust himself in giving good advice. Nel’s question though, was one he knew the answer to. A part of him actually wondered why she hadn’t asked sooner. “What happened all this time that I was gone? I mean here, in las Noches. I don’t even know how Stark became Primera.”
Noitora sighed and sat down in the sand, Santa Teresa on his knees. Nel sat next to him. She was looking down, obviously in thought. “Well… A lot of shit did happen. I’ll start with what happened right after I left you in the desert.”
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(PAST)
Noitora was beyond happy. He had gotten rid of his greatest rival, his biggest problem. He was heading to Aizen’s throne room to announce his victory, knowing that probably their “God” somehow already knew about it. But wouldn’t it be more fun to gloat as much as he could?
“I wonder whether lord Aizen will give me a promotion as well. After all I did most of the job.”
Noitora flinched and glared at his forgotten companion. Szayelapporo was annoying as ever, reminding him that it wasn’t just his victory. “You might become an Espada if you’re lucky enough. I am at least worth her seat.”
Szayel giggled. “I doubt that he will promote you that much. You’ll be lucky if you become number 6.”
Noitora growled at him. “Shut it!” He continued his way, trying to summon the image of a defeated Nel in his mind to make himself feel better, but to no avail. Somehow Szayel’s words made him feel useless for asking for his help. Even worse, a thought he didn’t want to have yet couldn’t stop from emerging from his mind made its appearance. What would he do without Nel? The other Espada ranking higher than him weren’t like her. Zommari, who he was certain that he would surpass now with Nel’s defeat, was a psycho, Cirucci and him had a different kind of relationship and he preferred having her as a fuckbuddy than an opponent, Dordoni was too weird, Ulquiorra was too quiet, Harribel wouldn’t really battle him and she would just kill him before he even asked and he knew that he still had a long way to go before he could fight Barrangan. He thought about Espada number nine, that annoying guy, Grimmjow, he could play with him for a little while, but it wouldn’t be the same. Espada number ten, Yammy was too stupid for his liking to even be considered as a potential opponent.
Noitora would definitely punch a new hole in his wall today. He was starting to realize that he would miss Nel despite everything.
They entered Aizen’s throne room and to his surprise every other Espada was there. Apparently Aizen had been watching what he did. He bowed and he felt Szayel doing the same behind him.
Aizen was smiling at them in his usual manner. “Well, well Noitora. You got rid of one of my precious Espada.”
That did not sound good in Noitora’s ears and he started thinking that Szayel maybe had been right. “With all due respect, lord Aizen, I took her down in a battle. She was also fighting me. She could have done the same.”
“She wouldn’t though.”, said Aizen with the humor in his voice completely gone. “Besides it was mostly Szayel’s work that took her down, not your skills.”
Noitora really wanted to punch Aizen right now. No, the smug scientist behind him sounded like a better option. And to his annoyance, he knew that probably only his wall would get punched today.
Aizen smirked. “Well, despite everything, I think that you deserve a small upgrade since you have actually started obeying some of my orders nowadays. I’ll have to fix the positions of the Espada again, anyway. Since you were smart enough to actually ask for help, I will give you a small reward. But there is going to be some punishment for your disobedience at some point. As for Szayel… I’ve been thinking he should have been an Espada for a while now.”
Immense pain from his tongue got Noitora on his knees. He felt tears in his lone eye and he tried to see who else was in a similar state. Szayel was panting hard behind him and he could see Grimmjow, Zommari, Cirucci and Dordoni falling down to their knees as well. Their tattoos were changing numbers.
“Well.”, said Aizen, ignoring the pained arrancar. “The Espada are now ranked as; number ten; Yammy, number nine; Szayel, number eight; Grimmjow, number seven; Noitora, number six; Zommari, number five; Cirucci, number four; Ulquiorra, number three; Dordonni, number two; Harribel and number one; Barrangan.”
“Why did Dordoni jump a number?”, asked Cirucci. “Why aren’t Ulquiorra number three and Dordoni number four?”
Aizen’s spiritual pressure got her back on her knees. “Because Ulquiorra is mostly suited to be a number four.”
Noitora was certain he heard Harribel mumble “What was that supposed to mean?”, but she didn’t dare say anything against Aizen’s word out loud. He really didn’t care at the moment. His tongue throbbed like hell. After Aizen left them, Cirucci approached him carefully not to be seen by the others. She was smirking at him. “Congratulations. It was about time, you got rid of that bitch.”
Noitora pushed himself to grin at her and to ignore the pain he felt. “I finally did it. It’s a shame I only got myself just one rank higher while this bastard Szayel got two.”
“Don’t worry about it. You will soon be higher than she had ever been.” Cirucci kissed him.
For a moment he kissed back. Then his throbbing tongue made him pull away. “Damn that asshole! I’d rather have my tongue tattooed with a needle than his spiritual pressure!”
Cirucci sighed. “Fine, no kissing from your part then. But I still want to celebrate… Your room or mine?”
“Mine. I had Tesla prepare the bed before I came here.”, he said grinning despite his discomfort.
Cirucci smiled seductively at him
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(NOW)
“You were sleeping with Cirucci?!”, shouted Nel in shock.
Noitora blinked at her. “Yeah… I didn’t really keep it a secret… Not that we announced that we were shagging publicly, but I thought it was obvious…”
Nel gaped at him. He really didn’t understand why it surprised her that much. “I don’t understand why you’re making such a big deal out of this…”, he said genuinely confused. He then smirked at her. “Are you jealous Nelliel?”
To his annoyance Nel barely registered what he asked. “I only thought you were sleeping with servants and Loly and Menoly…”
He frowned. “Don’t judge me about these two. They were the only ones to volunteer for a threesome-“
“Too much information!”, shouted Nel covering her ears.
He sweatdropped at her reaction. “It’s not such a big deal…”
She stared at him with a look that reminded him of her child form. “You of all people managed to sleep with a higher ranking Espada?!”
Noitora blinked at her and after her words registered, he glared at her. “What the hell was that supposed to mean?!”
Nel realized that she was actually treating him in a derogatory manner and sighed. “I’m sorry. You can do whatever you want and you can sleep with whoever you want. It’s just that I never expected that you two actually were together… It came as a shock.”
Noitora raised his eyebrow. “We weren’t really together. It was just sex…”
Nel didn’t seem to hear him though. “I mean, what’s next? You sleeping with Harribel?” She suddenly turned serious. “Don’t tell me you also slept with Harribel.”
Noitora’s expression also turned serious. “Nel, I was horny, not suicidal. Besides, why do you care? Weren’t you shagging Aizen or something?”
Nel’s eyes widened. “What the hell?! Where on earth did you get that idea?! Nothing happened between me and Aizen!”
Noitora smirked. “Oh, come on. I remember hearing you moaning and screaming while I was passing from the throne room. What else would you two be doing?"
Nel turned serious again. “Was that after I saved you from those adjuchas?”
“I didn’t need saving. It would have been better had I been killed by them.”, he said annoyed. “But, yeah, it was after that.”
Nel sighed. “I see. Actually I was being punished for disobeying lord Aizen’s orders to leave you alone, even if you got killed. He was suffocating me with his spiritual pressure. That’s the noise you heard.”
Noitora’s eye widened. “You being punished by Aizen?! But you were his favorite! And for me?!”
Nel looked down. “As a god he needed to be just. It wouldn’t be fair if I was left unpunished”
Noitora didn’t know what to say. He had no idea that she of all people had been punished for something like that. Nel smiled at him. “Could you please continue?” He simply nodded.
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(PAST)
A week had passed since he got rid of Nel. He felt terrible and there was no way he would ever admit it. Fighting Grimmjow had been good in the beginning, but the Panther Espada was no challenge for him. He had gone out in the desert of Hueco Mundo to clear his head from all these thoughts about Nel and the annoying things she used to say to him. He was pissed off with himself. He got rid of her so that she wouldn’t annoy him, so why did her absence frustrate him that much.
He was so lost in his thoughts, he didn’t realize he was being stalked by some adjuchas. The moment he turned his back on them, they decided to attack. Noitora realized what was going on not because they hurt him, but because he heard Tesla’s distinct cry of pain. He turned around to see his fraccion getting tossed away by the adjuchas and blood running from his face. Noitora’s lone eye widened. Tesla didn’t try to get back up. He curled up to himself and Noitora was certain he heard him sobbing. Noitora grabbed Santa Teresa with hands that were shaking from his rage. “What the hell did you do you assholes?!”
The five adjuchas glared at him. One of them spoke up and got his attention. “He isn’t the arrancar they have been talking about. They say that he is accompanied by a little girl, not by another man…”
Noitora growled at them. He was furious. They had dared to hurt Tesla and he had been unable to do anything because he wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings. And all of that because of Nelliel. “PRAY! SANTA TERESA!”
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Noitora arrived in Las Noches with Tesla in his arms. He immediately rushed to their infirmary. Their doctor was there with one of Harribel’s fraccion, Sung Sun. The doctor stared in shock at Tesla and flinched as Noitora pointed Santa Teresa at her. “I don’t care what she’s here for!”, he said glancing at Sung Sun. “Focus on him!”
The doctor barely nodded and started cleaning Tesla’s face with exceptional care despite being threatened before. Harribel’s fraccion to his surprise helped the doctor with the process. After his face had been cleaned, they had to force his damaged eye open to observe the damage. Noitora was staring from afar, not wanting to get in the way of the two women. He heard Tesla whimpering and he clenched his weapon harder. Suddenly Sung Sun approached him, not in the least intimated by him. As per usual, she was covering her mouth with her sleeve. “I’m no doctor, but I can tell you that he didn’t lose his eye. He is probably blinded, but I don’t think there is a reason to remove the eye. Leave him here for a couple of days and I’m sure Arianida will fix him. You should go report to lord Aizen.”
Noitora felt relief that Tesla was ok, but glared at Sung Sun. “Take care of him or else…”, he said while looking at Sung Sun, though the threat was for the doctor.
Sung Sun remained unbothered much to his annoyance and he left the room feeling terrible. She reminded him of Nell in a way and that got him even angrier. It was Nel’s fault that Tesla got hurt. It was his fault for not managing to get her out of his head no matter what. He needed to focus. He needed to become strong enough so that he can defeat her on his own. He needed to be more than just a useless number 7.
He arrived at Aizen’s throne room (of course the bastard knew of the assault) and he told him everything that happened, mentioning what he heard them say.
Aizen seemed to think about everything Noitora told him. “There are rumors in the desert about a Hollow that managed to become an arrancar. They say that he is so powerful that everyone around him dies.”
Noitora blinked at him. There was such a strong Hollow out there? What if Nel came across it and died…No he shouldn’t be thinking about Nel!
Aizen smirked. “I will try to find that Hollow. He could become the new Primera Espada.”
Noitora was brought back to reality by Aizen’s words. “What if Barrangan proves to be stronger?”
Aizen chuckled. “I really don’t care. I just want to annoy Barrangan at this point. By the way, for bringing up this information to me, I won’t punish you for getting rid of Nelliel.” Noitora flinched when Aizen said her name, much to Aizen’s amusement.
Noitora thought that he was already punished though. His fraccion lost sight from one eye and no matter what he couldn’t stop thinking about Nel.
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(NOW)
“So, you’re telling me that Aizen wanted Stark because he wanted to annoy Barrangan?”, asked Nel.
“That’s what he said. I’m pretty sure that there is a similar reason for not changing Ulquiorra’s rank over the years, despite the changes in other Espada’s ranks close to him.”
Nel frowned. “He had a weird sense of humor.”
Noitora hadn’t really told her the reason he was distracted in Tesla’s accident and he didn’t tell her how often he thought about her and how Aizen seemed to be teasing him about it. “He sure did.”
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(PAST)
Noitora had made it his goal to surpass Zommari. It took him around three months, but in the end he managed to win by using his resurrection much later than Zommari had and by managing to evolve Santa Teresa.
It was around that time that Aizen brought Stark and Lillynette in Las Noches and thus they would all change ranks again. Noitora, whose hair had started growing past his shoulders at that point, was excited, because he knew that he would definitely become the Sexta Espada. Aizen smirked as he presented Stark. “He is the strongest hollow to ever exist. He is worthy of the title of the Primera Espada. I’m going to make some changes in the ranks.”
Pain in his tongue got Noitora on his knees once again. He wished he could go without that part. He heard the pained gasps from the other Espada. He didn’t pay attention to them. He knew that one of them would lose the Espada rank and he was betting on Yammy. After a while the pain subsided and he noticed that everyone seemed ok. Ulquiorra seemed as if nothing had occurred. Aizen smiled. “So, Espada number 10 is Yammy, Espada number 9 is Szayel, Espada number 8 is Grimmjow, Espada number 7 is Zommari, Espada number 6 is Noitora, Espada number 5 is Cirucci, Espada number 4 is Ulquiorra, Espada number 3 is Harribel, Espada number 2 is Barrangan and Espada number 1 is Stark. As for Dordoni…”
Noitora stared the man in surprise. He didn’t expect Aizen to get rid of his number 3 like that. His tattoo wrote 103 and that meant that he became a Privaron. “But… But why?!”, shouted Dordoni exasperated. Cirucci, the last one of the original Espada seemed terrified. Noitora understood why. It was obvious that Aizen was getting rid of the old Espada. Dordoni and Cirucci were the last two remaining and Noitora knew that in terms of strength they weren’t really much, but they were still kept around because there were no stronger arrancar so far.
Aizen smiled. “I’m sorry Dordoni, but you’re not strong enough to be in the Espada. I’ve kept you around because I couldn’t really replace you yet. But now with Stark in the team, there is no need for you to remain.” At least he was honest. Noitora gave him that. “Besides,”, added Aizen while barely glancing at Noitora. “Rank number 3 is better suited to a woman, don’t you agree?”
Noitora felt his anger boil. He clenched his teeth, not wanting to say anything against their god. He glanced at Barrangan and he was pleased to see an equally furious look in the old man’s face. After all, he had just been dethroned and another one of the Espada he had picked himself for his kingdom was kicked out. Only Cirucci remained and it was obvious that Aizen soon would replace her as well.
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Cirucci was obviously on edge the last few months she remained an Espada. She wouldn’t want to do much with Noitora and he really couldn’t care. If Cirucci left, he would possibly take her position without having to fight her. Yes, the two of them had a weird relationship, but Noitora didn’t really mind living without her. He had other women he usually slept with and in his opinion Cirucci wasn’t strong enough to be in the current Espada. And she knew it too. She always looked him with distrust because she feared he might challenge her. But he didn’t really see the point.
Grimmjow had managed to become Espada number 7 and Noitora had him as his fighting partner again.
In the end, itdidn’t take long for Aizen to kick Cirucci out. And with a terrible replacement in almost everyone’s opinion. Aaronierro was no arrancar. He was a freaking Gillian and that bothered everyone, but most of all Barrangan. He became Espada number 9, Cirucci was kicked out and everyone behind her got an upgrade in rank. Szayel became number 8, Zommari number 7, Grimmjow number 6 and Noitora number 5. He decided to celebrate by getting himself a better Espada outfit and he was extremely pleased with what he got.
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(NOW)
“You were pleased about looking like a spoon?”
“Shut it!” He was really tired with people commenting on his outfit. “Anyway, that’s pretty much it. I guess that the only other thing worth mentioning was Ulquiorra finally finding a purpose to guard the Pet-“
“Orihime”
“Whatever!”
They both remained silent for a little while. “You missed me…”, said Nel suddenly.
Noitora glared at her. “Where on earth did you get that idea?! Did you hear anything I said?! Like hell I missed you and your fucking pity!”
“It’s not pity.”, she said.
“Then what is it?! You keep saying that it isn’t pity, but what else could it be?!”
Nel looked down. “Back when I was still in the Espada, the lower ranks wouldn’t know about the higher ranks’ aspects of death. And you didn’t know mine…”
“Let me guess, it was stupidity or something. You are definitely the person that would die from doing something stupid.”
Despite herself, Nel chuckled. “Wouldn’t that be fun, now? No, my aspect of death is lamentation.”
Noitora’s eye widened. She died because of mourning. Because of the pain she felt for another loss. Nel glanced at him. “Do you remember when we first met? I was a Vasto Lorde back then and you were an adjuchas. I refused to fight you and I would have allowed you to kill me. You said you wouldn’t find satisfaction in that. The truth is I wanted to die. Because then I believed that I could meet the soul of the person I lost if I did. Of course Aizen found us before either of us would do anything and afterwards explained that things aren’t that simple when it comes to souls.”
Noitora was starting to realize that Nel didn’t save him because she pitied him, but because she didn’t want to lose someone again. Even him. Instead of asking her about that though, he had another question that he wanted to ask her. “Who was that person you lost? Do you remember?”
“My father.”, she looked at him with a very serious expression. “I remember my whole life as a human. And I came to terms with my death pretty early. That’s why I don’t have a Hollow hole.”
His eye widened. “You don’t?!” He knew that he hadn’t seen it, but she could have one in a place she covered with clothes. There were two cases of Hollows not having Hollow holes; if they had accepted their death and realized their mistakes in life and how they died (you needed to cling to your previous life in order to do that) and by being a natural born Hollow, something that almost never happened.
He stared at her expectantly and Nel sighed. “I’ll tell you how I died. I was thinking about it today and that’s why I was a little down. I lived in the era the first witch hunts started. Do you know what witch-“
“I do.”, he replied in a serious tone. “I don’t remember much from my life as a human, but I know that I lived a century or so after the beginning of the European witch hunts.”
Nel nodded. “My father was a doctor and since my mother died young, he had no other children. He had no sons. So he taught me everything he knew. He warned me not to tell anyone about what I learned.” Nel looked down. “I was so naïve. My father got me engaged to the most popular bachelor in the village we lived. I would spend time with him, to get to know my future husband and I made the mistake of trusting him.” Nel took a deep breath. “He got injured one day while hunting wild boars and I took him in my house. My father helped me, but it was obvious that I had knowledge that I supposedly shouldn’t have. I knew how to read for example. He gave me away to the church. I told them I was innocent, but of course they didn’t believe. In order for me to confess being a witch, they tortured and killed my father in front of me.”
Nel paused and Noitora could tell that she was holding back tears. “I took my own life the night before my execution. I was in so much pain and I could only hope that I would find my father’s soul. That is why my aspect of death is lamentation. I swore that I wouldn’t let anyone else die due to my inability to save them…”
Not even me…, thought Noitora. For a while they stayed silent. Then Noitora spoke. “Your fiancé was a dick.”
Nel froze and looked at him surprised. “Huh?”
“You heard me. Your fiancé was an asshole. It’s all his fault. I hope you didn’t sleep with him before you died.”
Nel gaped at Noitora. “I-I didn’t sleep with him! Though I learned after I died that he was sleeping with other women… But that’s beside the point! It’s my fault for being so trusting that my father died!”
“No, it’s not.”, said Noitora with a bored expression. “You did what anyone in that situation would and instead of getting a thank you for saving that prick’s ass, you lost your life. It’s not your fault, Nel. You just had a very shitty person as your fiancé.”
“Wouldn’t you have done the same thing as him though…?”
Noitora glared at her. “I would never do such a shitty thing. I’m a terrible person, yes, but even I have standards. If I had an issue with you being a witch or whatever, I would have dealt with it on my own.”
Nel stared at him with wide eyes. She knew that he was speaking the truth, because he hated people meddling with his business. Nel smiled a little. Noitora had made her feel a little better. “Thank you, Noitora.”
He tsked and looked away. “Don’t thank me, you fool. I just told you the truth.” He then smirked at her. “Besides you made me understand why you found so disturbing the fact that I was sleeping with so many women; you’re a virgin, aren’t you?”
Nel’s face turned as red as her birthmark. She looked away and pouted. “It’s not such a big deal…”
Noitora chuckled and rose up. “Of course it’s not. I just wanted to tease ya. Anyway, we should be heading back. The others will start thinking we’ve killed each other or something.”
Nel got up as well and followed behind him with a smile on her lips.
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Harribel stared in surprise as both Noitora and Nel entered Las Noches while laughing about something. Grimmjow, who was with her, openly gaped at the two of them. “What the hell?!”
Harribel overcame her shock quickly. She turned around and headed back to the throne room. She was smiling under her collar. “Come, Grimmjow. We still have to demolish some walls.”
Grimmjow frowned, but in the end did as he was told. He really hated renovating.

Chapter Text

Ulquiorra was certain that he was excited this time. He had been counting the days to her visit and that had been quite hard considering that it was always night in Hueco Mundo. Finally, he had determined that she would visit again tomorrow. He was sitting on his bed and he was reading the book Orihime had gifted him. It was Bram Stoker’s Dracula. He enjoyed the book and he found it a little humorous that she had probably gifted him this due to his bat looks. He closed the book and glanced at his ‘cute companion’, as Orihime had put it. He had decided to place it on his nightstand and this past few nights he had decided to try sleeping with it next to him. If he was asked he would say that it made no difference, but for some reason he had woken up more than once clutching it. It didn’t make sense, but if he did it then that meant that Orihime had been right to gift him the plushy
He looked at the clothes in his wardrobe, wondering what she would bring him this time. He hoped something better suited for him. Or that maybe she would bring something for the others too, so that he wouldn’t be the only one wearing these clothes. He sighed. He lied back on his bed and allowed himself to fall asleep. He was anticipating the next day.
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They all gathered in the Garganta room once again waiting for the arrival of Orihime and her companions. Ulquiorra was in the front and for the first time the others managed to detect his excitement. Noitora and Grimmjow snickered. Nel glared at them. "Stop acting like immature brats.”
Noitora smirked at her. “Says the immature brat herself.”
Grimmjow giggled and Nel raised an eyebrow annoyed. “Even in my child form, I’m more mature than you.”
“Yeah right-“
“Quiet you two.”, said Harribel. They both stopped talking but there was an easygoing atmosphere between Noitora and Nel and even Ulquiora could detect it. Interesting…
He was snapped out of his thoughts by the Garganta opening and after a while revealing Orihime, accompanied by Rangiku and the Quincy. Orihime smiled at him, but she seemed a little sad to Ulquiorra. Though Ulquiorra wasn’t the best at reading someone’s emotions. And that’s why he waited for her to approach him. Orihime showed him that she had brought more clothing to put outfits together and he nodded at her. Her smile wasn’t the usual smile and he was starting to believe that his assumption of her mood had been correct.
His thoughts were interrupted by Uryu moving to the front and adjusting his glasses. “Orihime told me that someone needs me here. Something about a spoon uniform or something.”
Noitora’s eye widened. “Yeah, I need you! You are the one that can fix my uniform, right?”
Uryu nodded, his serious expression never faltering. “Take me to the uniform.”
Noitora nodded and told Uryu to follow him to his quarters. Everyone just sweatdropped at the weird exchange.
Harribel was the one to break the awkward silence. “Anyway, Grimmjow, Nel, Stark and I have some stuff to do at Szayel’s lab, so I guess Gin will entertain Rangiku and Ulquiorra will do the same with Orihime.”
“What’s the matter with that lab anyway?”. Asked Rangiku confused.
Harribel, Grimmjow and Stark sweatdropped once again. “We haven’t managed to get rid of all the traps yet and we are still trying… We’re making progress...”, said Stark.
“If you count not getting burned alive as progress…”, mumbled Grimmjow.
Nel smiled at them. “We have managed to get farther inside though. I know we will get inside eventually.”
“In 100 years at best… No one is rushing us anyway…”, mumbled Grimmjow.
Orihime smiled sweetly at them. “It’s ok. Take your time and if you need any help, don’t hesitate to ask us.”
Harribel nodded at her and signaled the others to follow her to Szayel’s castle. Orihime turned to Ulquiorra and he showed her the way to his quarters.
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Ulquiorra offered Orihime some tea that had remained from when Aizen was ruling Hueco Mundo and sat with her in his bed. Orihime offered him another sad smile and thanked him. She glanced at the bat plushy and her smile softened a little. “I’m glad you liked my gift. It seems like it has helped you in its own unique way.”
She even sounded sad. “What’s going on, Orihime?”
Orihime’s eyes widened briefly, but the she smiled sadly again and looked down. “I guess that I can’t hide it even from you…” Suddenly she gasped and looked at him with an apologizing expression. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to offend you in any way-”
“Don’t worry about it. I know that I’m not the best at understanding emotions. But it’s obvious that something is bothering you. You are trying to act like it doesn’t, but you are not good at hiding it.”
Orihime stared at him surprised. She blinked and then smiled at him in the same manner as before. “You’re right. It’s really a silly thing that is bothering me-“
“But it is bothering you, nevertheless.”, interrupted Ulquiorra once again.
Orihime looked down. “It’s Ichigo…”
Ulquiorra blinked. “Is something wrong with Kurosaki?”
Orihime sighed. “It’s a silly thing… He has been spending more time with Tatsuki than with any of us. It’s like he doesn’t trust us… And even though I love Tatsuki as a friend, I can’t help but feel jealous of how close those two are… I mean they always were, but now they’re always together and… God, I’m terrible for feeling like this!”
Orihime started sobbing and Ulquiorra felt his eyes widen. He had no idea what to say or do in this situation. The only thing he knew… “You aren’t a terrible person.”, he said finally.
Orihime looked at him with red eyes. “B-But…”
He placed his hand on her shoulder slowly, unsure of whether he did something right. “You’re not a terrible person.”, he repeated. “You said it before. For being jealous about Nelliel. From what I’ve figured, jealousy is a normal human emotion, despite not being a positive one. So, you are not terrible. You are only acting like a human.”
Orihime stared at him wide eyed. “But still! I shouldn’t act upon that emotion so easily-“
“You’re not perfect, Orihime. No one is. Not even lord Aizen was.”
Orihime stared at him for a moment and then looked down. Suddenly, to Ulquiorra’s surprise, she hugged him. “Thank you…”
Ulquiorra looked at her. He was caught off guard. “I’m just telling the truth…”, he said, surprised at himself. He didn’t realize that he actually did help her.
Orihime smiled and buried her face to his chest a little more. She continued sobbing a little. "Sorry… I’m wetting your shirt…”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve got more shirts and besides”, he grabbed the clothes she brought him. “I should also try these on.”
Orihime giggled at him and he felt warmth and he was certain that it was satisfaction.
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Grimmjow sighed. He was actually considering proposing Stark for King of Hueco Mundo. If Stark was their leader there was no way he would be in his current predicament; stuck in the air in some sort of spider web glue that was really itchy, while random Hollows were trying to eat him. His companions were defending him and he was too tired from the rest of the traps they had faced along the way to actually try and escape.
Nel was breathing heavily and Stark was in his resurrection to finish off the Hollows quickly. Harribel was killing the Hollows that Stark had missed. She also seemed tired and ready to go in her resurrection as well.
Suddenly a blue arrow pierced through the web and a crescent moon like weapon cut the parts that kept the web on the ceiling. Grimmjow landed gracefully down and looked annoyed at his two saviors. “What took you so long?”
Noitora was grinning at him. He was wearing his old uniform, which had a weird cross in his hood and he seemed delighted. “I got my uniform fixed.”
“No shit…”, mumbled Grimmjow. He then turned his attention to Harribel. “I don’t think we should advance any farther.”
Harribel sighed. “Let me talk to the monitor team.” The monitor team was her fraccion along with Nel’s and they were trying to determine how far the lab was actually. So far they had faced over 20 different traps in rooms that were placed before the lab and Grimmjow was starting to believe that the lab would never be reached. “Apacci, do you copy?”
Harribel’s fraccion sounded through the walls. “Yes, my lady. From what we can see from the map lord Aizen had, you still have a couple of rooms till you reach the lab.”
“Maybe more…”, Pesche mumbled.
“Oh, shut up!”, shouted Mila Rose. “How many rooms can he fit in this space anyway?!”
“Knowing Szayel, too many.”, mumbled Noitora.
“So… Can we stop for today?”, whined Grimmjow
Harribel sighed. “One more room. And then we stop.”
“You said that before this one!”, shouted Grimmjow. “I mean, look at Nel! She is trying her hardest to keep her spiritual pressure from leaking so that she can stay an adult! She shouldn’t continue!”
“I’m fine…”, mumbled Nel.
“You don’t look like it.”, said Noitora with a serious expression. “Cut the crap Nelliel. I’m here now along with the Quincy kid and Tesla. We can take your place.”
Nel stood up to her full height. “I can manage one more room.”
Noitora growled at her. “Stop acting so high and mighty! You are vulnerable in this state! Go back and watch!”
Nel was about to say something, but Harribel interrupted her. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Noitora is right Nelliel. Go rest for today.”
Nel looked down, but did as she was told. Grimmjow looked at Harribel annoyed. “Can I join her?”
“From what I recall, you can’t turn into a child at any given moment, so no. We’re moving in.”
And with a groan from Grimmjow, they entered the next room.
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Orihime and Ulquiorra, who was now wearing a simple white shirt with simple black pants and black shoes, had joined Gin and Rangiku. They wanted to check on the others, to see if they needed their help. “That new look really suits you, Ulquiorra.”, said Gin.
Ulquiorra nodded his thanks and Orihime smiled. “I thought that something simpler would look better on him. He has a pale complexion and I need to be careful with the color pallets I use.”, said Orihime.
“What other colors did you try?”, asked Gin.
“Oh, we tried pink, red and many different shades of green in hope that I could match the shirts with his eye color, but sadly I didn’t.”, said Orihime cheerfully.
Ulquiorra sweatdropped. Orihime had made him try on a little too many clothes for his liking. But she had certainly cheered up and that made him happy, he guessed. He still wasn’t sure if he should address this feeling as happiness. He should ask Orihime.
Suddenly, they came across a pouting and tired looking Nel. “Nel! Shouldn’t you be with the others that are trying to infiltrate Szayel’s lab?”, asked Gin.
“Noitora, Tesla and Uryu joined them, so they told me to go back since there is a possibility I turn into a child while being there.”, she explained.
“Did you guys make any progress?”, asked Orihime.
Nel groaned. “We did… But we have no idea how close we actually are to the lab. All those traps are annoying to say the least. And I feel so useless right now…”
Before Orihime could console the female Espada, a voice was heard through the corridors. “Lord Gin! The others are in trouble! Apparently Szayel was storing one of his weird experiments in the next room!” It was Apacci’s voice. She was heard through the megaphones in the corridors.
“Great. We need to go assist them.”, said Gin and the others nodded. “Apacci! Give us information about- Wait, Nel!”
Nel though had already started running back to the corridors that led to Szayel’s lab. “We need to stop her!”, shouted Orihime. “She could be in the most immediate danger!”
“Let’s go! Apacci! Describe the target we are about to face!”, shouted Gin.
“Right! It’s like he copied the concept of Ayon and created a monster with his favorite parts from different Hollows!”
“That monster?!”, said Rangiku in shock.
“Yeah, but with different abilities… And we don’t really know what Szayel used.” That was Sung Sun.
“Please save Master Nel!”, shouted both Pesche and Dondochaka.
“Shut up you two!”, shouted Mila Rose.
“Ok, thank you guys.”, said Gin. “We need to hurry.”
“Yeah. If it’s anything like Ayon, we’re screwed.”, said Rangiku.
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“We’re screwed.”, said Grimmjow as a giant tentacle came his way. He barely avoided it and growled “Grind, Pantera!”
Harribel and Noitora had also gotten into their resurrections and Tesla was in the middle of transforming. Uryu was trying to find the monster’s blind spot and Stark was helping him. The problem was that the monster’s main characteristic was that it looked like an octopus and… well it had too many tentacles that multiplied everytime one was cut.
“If Szayel was alive, I would murder him myself!”, shouted Noitora.
“I would help you!”, shouted Grimmjow.
“Come on! We’ve got this!”, shouted Harribel while she unleashed a Cero.
“Lanzador Verde!” A voice from the entrance shouted.
They all turned to look at Nel in her own resurrection. “Damn it! Nelliel! You shouldn’t be here and especially in that cow form of yours!”, shouted Noitora.
Nel sighed. “I’ve got this! See, I landed a direct hit!” Indeed she did. The octopus like monster let out a terrifying scream of pain and suddenly it started spitting a green fluid that looked like acid. And acid it was, since wherever it touched the floor melted.
A spurt of acid hit Nel’s back legs and she hissed in pain. “Damn it! Nel, get the fuck out of here!”, screamed Noitora.
“I can spit on it…”, she said, but suddenly the bracelet started beeping indicating that she was about to turn into a child. “No… Not now…” Pink smoke engulfed her and suddenly child Nel was there, crying as the acid started burning her now human leg.
“Soten Kisshun, I reject!” An orange shield appeared around Nel and started healing her. It would need time to properly heal her, but this way she could stop the damage from destroying Nel’s leg.
The now little girl nodded softly at Orihime and passed out from the pain. Noitora approached her and with his third set of hands grabbed her. “I’m taking her outside. Can you handle this thing without me?”
“I think we’ll manage.”, said Ulquiorra. “Enclose, Murcielago.” And Ulquiorra appeared to them with his set of dark wings. The different clothing had altered a little the coloration of his resurrection’s outfit to white on the top part and black on the bottom.
“Shoot to kill, Shinso.”, said Gin and his sword extended and hit the monster in the mouth.
“Growl, Haineko!”, shouted Rangiku and her sword turned into ash that engulfed the monster.
The monster growled annoyed.
Ulquiorra sonidoed behind the monster and unleashed a huge Cero. The monster was pushed forward and everyone combined their attacks at that moment. The effect was the desired one, since the monster collapsed and fell down dead.
Everyone sighed in relief. Orihime turned around. “I need to go see Nel! She needs more healing!”
ΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧΧ
Noitora growled annoyed. Nel was clutching his uniform, obviously in more pain than she claimed to feel. “For fuck’s sake Nel, why did you come back?”
“Nel didn’t… Nel didn’t want anyone to get hurt…”, she mumbled as she tried to spit her leg.
“Yet you managed to get hurt yourself. Here let me help you.”, he said as he lifted her small leg as gently as he could with shaking arms. He didn’t want to touch the irritated skin and hurt her more.
Nel winced a little, but she managed to do what she wanted. “Great… now Nel has to wait for it to heal…” She looked exhausted. She looked at Noitora with a tired expression.
“What is it?”, he asked.
“Your resurrection… You never used it against me…”
Noitora looked at her surprised. He hadn’t gotten out of his resurrection yet. “Huh, I didn’t see the point. I wanted to become stronger as I was. I would defeat you with my original strength. Besides you wouldn’t use your resurrection on me either.”
Nel smiled. “Nel likes your resurrection.”
He stared at her shocked for a moment before he looked away embarrassed. “You’re an idiot.”, he mumbled.
“There you are!” They both turned to look at Orihime running towards them. “Soten Kisshun, I reject!”
The orange shield engulfed Nel and her leg started healing. The irritated skin was looking much better in a matter of minutes. “Thank you, Orihime.”, said Nel looking already better.
Orihime smiled gently at her. “I’m glad I was on time and you didn’t suffer any worse injuries.”
Noitora returned to his normal self and frowned at Orihime. “Was that monster taken care of? I could return to help the others if not.”
Orihime shook her head in a no. “The others took care of it. They’re coming back soon. I just ran ahead to heal Nel.”
“And that’s why you are a great human, Orihime.” Orihime turned surprised to see Ulquiorra approaching her. He was back to his original form as well.
Orihime regained her composure and smiled sweetly at him. “Thank you, Ulquiorra.”
“Uh, get a room you two…”, mumbled Grimmjow as he passed by them. He glanced at Noitora and Nel and smirked. “You are still holding onto Nel, huh?”
Noitora glared at him and let Nel go. “She was still in pain a minute ago, you bastard. You would have done the same.”
“Yes, but I wouldn’t be so defensive about it.”, said Grimmjow while his smirk widened.
“You asshole-“
“Language!”, shouted Harribel as she appeared behind the others. “Drop it you two! Aren’t you exhausted already? Grimmjow you were complaining not even a minute ago and you’re about to pick a fight? I’ll send you back there if you continue.”
Both frowned and mumbled something along the lines of “Ok, Harribel”
Uryu adjusted his glasses and sighed. “I suppose it’s about time we go back to our world too.”
Orihime nodded at him and she looked at Rangiku that also gave an affirmative nod and started heading towards the Garganta room. Orihime looked at Ulquiorra and smiled. “Thank you.”
Ulquiorra raised an eyebrow confused. “For what?”
“For hearing me out. And for what you said. You’re right. If I am a human, it’s normal to feel human emotions. It’s about how we act in the end that matters.”
Ulquiorra nodded and before he could answer, Orihime had hugged him. His eyes widened in surprise and he felt warmth. He realized that probably he was happy. Probably. He glanced at Grimmjow and Noitora who were both looking at him with shocked expressions. He decided to ignore them. They would definitely try to mock him after Orihime left. “See you soon, Orihime.”
Orihime grinned at him. “Right! I’ll be back as soon as I can. See you guys! And with that, she grabbed Uryu’s hand and started running towards the Garganta room.
Meanwhile, Ulquiorra felt the warmth spread through his chest and he was certain that he was content.

Chapter Text

Ulquiorra was starting to get annoyed with the constant teasing his fellow Espada subjected him to. Ever since he and Orihime hugged in front of them a week ago, Grimmjow and Noitora hadn’t stopped trying to get under his skin. “So when is the wedding? ”, asked Grimmjow and Noitora snickered beside him.
Ulquiorra really wanted to bang his head on the wall. Nel, who happened to be next to him at this moment, sighed annoyed. “Will you guys stop this? It’s getting on my nerves and I’m not even the one the whole teasing is directed to.”
“Cry me a river.”, said Noitora smirking at her.
Nel sighed. “If you don’t stop, I won’t fight with you again.”, she said as she walked past Noitora, knowing far too well that this did the trick.
Noitora frowned. “Hey! Come back here! That’s not fair!” But Nel had already turned around the corner. “Shit! I need to catch up with her.”
Grimmjow frowned. “You are getting awfully comfortable with her. Should I tease you as well?”
Noitora glared at him. “I’m not getting close to her. We are still the way we were back then.”
“That’s not true.”, said Ulquiorra getting their attention. “You spend more time with her than you used to and your relationship with her has definitely changed for the better.”
“See? Even Ulquiorra noticed it.”, said Grimmjow.
Noitora clenched his teeth. “Fuck you! Nel and I are the same way as we used to be and that’s final!”
Grimmjow sighed. “Well then, you don’t mind if I make a move on her do you?”
Noitora’s lone eye widened and he stared at Grimmjow shocked. “What…?”
Grimmjow raised an eyebrow at him. “Look, she is a hot chick and she definitely is my type. The thing is if you are really into her, I ain’t making a move on her.”
Noitora flinched and looked down. “I’m pretty sure you two have shared partners before and neither of you had an issue.”, said Ulquiorra.
Grimmjow looked at him surprised. “Well, yeah. We’ve slept with the same women and we even had a competition about it, but this is different. Their past and their present behavior is making me wonder whether there is more than just a rivalry or even more than even simple attraction between the two of them.”
Noitora growled. “There is nothing going on between me and Nelliel. We are simply rivals. Do whatever you want with her. I don’t care.”
Noitora left them and Grimmjow sighed. “Do you believe him?”
Ulquiorra thought about all the events that had occurred and shook his head. “No, I don’t. He definitely has grown closer to Nelliel and as you put it, even I can see it.”
“Well, he can deny it all he wants, but there is more between them, especially if even you noticed it. Anyway, he did just give me the okay to actually hit on Nelliel, so I’m going to take my shot. If he has something to say about it, then he can, but he was the one who just gave me the okay.”

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Noitora growled annoyed as he passed the hallways. He scowled as he saw Nelliel in front of him. She turned at him and smirked. “So, you want to spar?”
He frowned and passed by her. “I’m in no mood for that.”
“Huh?”, was all that Nel could say. She blinked at him in shock.
Even he stopped for a moment considering the irony of the whole situation. If he was in a good mood, he would have even laughed. He sighed and tried to continue his way towards his room, when Nel came in front of him. “Hey, are you okay?”
He groaned and tried to pass by her but she wouldn’t let him. “I’m in no mood for games, Nelliel. I guess I’m tired.”
She stared at him in disbelief, obviously not buying his excuse. But she let him pass nevertheless. He sighed. She was so annoyingly predictable. Worrying about him, even though he didn’t deserve it in the slightest. He stopped just before he turned around a corner feeling her eyes following him. “By the way, Grimmjow wants to talk to you about something. Why don’t you go and talk to him?”
She stared at him confused. “Grimmjow? Why does he want to talk with me?”
He smirked at her, even though it was awfully forced. “Well, let’s just say you are successful with males like him.”
Nel’s eyes widened. Suddenly the beeping sound of Urahara’s device was heard and pink smoke engulfed her. She was a child again. “Huh, Nel is small again?”
To her luck, Pesche and Dondochaka had been behind the corner Noitora was about to turn to, eavesdropping them. Noitora glared at them as they ran to Nel. “Master Nel! Let’s go back to your room! We’ll take you away from him!”, said Pesche, glaring at Noitora.
Noitora scoffed and left them alone. He hated feeling like this, but he was doomed to feel like that. Despair.
He walked towards his castle and his quarters, but right before he could enter his castle, he came across a weird spectacle. Tesla and Sung Sun were right in front of the entrance and Tesla looked flustered as he was telling something to the Anaconda Arrancar. To Noitora’s surprise, she giggled.
Tesla became redder than a tomato and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. That fraccion of his was making a fool of himself, wasn’t he? Noitora sighed and decided to interrupt them. “Oi! Go to your Mistress!”, he said bored at Sung Sun.
Tesla looked at him like he had been caught doing something completely inappropriate, while Sung Sun barely spared him a glance. He growled at how she ignored him. She looked at Tesla with a soft smile. “See you around, Tesla.” And with that she left.
“B-Bye”, said Tesla waving at her shyly. He then looked at Noitora terrified. “Master-“
“That was pathetic.”, said Noitora annoyed. “And for fuck’s sake Tesla? Her of all people? I think I warned you about Harribel.”
Tesla panicked and turned red. “There is nothing going on between us! We were just talking about… stuff.”
Noitora sighed. “What kind of stuff? How much of a virgin you are?”
Tesla became even redder. “N-No… About poetry…”
Noitora blinked. “You’re into poetry…?”
Tesla nodded shyly.
Noitora looked at him for a moment. He then sighed. “Whatever. I don’t care. Good luck with her.”
Tesla gasped. “M-Master Noitora! I told you, we were simply talking.”
“And she was undressing you with her eyes while you did so. Look Tesla, I don’t really care. It’s about time you get laid. I wish you were less suicidal about it, though. Harribel might not like that you are banging one of her girls.”
Tesla swallowed. “B-But-“
“Enough with this already! I need to rest.” He passed Tesla and entered his quarters.
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He had punched his wall once again and now he was lying down on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He hated that there was something he felt towards Nelliel, even though he didn’t know what. Maybe if he got with another woman… “Tesla! Call for Loly!”
The fraccion did as he was told and Noitora waited patiently on his bed. That would fix his bad mood… Right? He took off his shirt and sighed. Loly entered with a scowl on her lips. “It’s been a while since the last time. Those scars look terrible by the way.”
“Does it matter? We ain’t a thing, you know. Besides, weren’t you fawning over Aizen or something? How did that go? Did he allow you to touch his fingertip?” He smirked.
Loly glared at him. “Shut up! Let’s get this over with! I have better stuff to do.”
“I highly doubt it, bitch.”, he replied.
She crawled over him and started rubbing his sides slowly. He sighed and closed his eye, trying to relax. That didn’t go that well. He imagined Nel touching him and he scowled. “Fuck!”
Loly eyed him warily. “What? I barely did anything.”
Noitora growled. “Continue…”, he said, looking away.
Loly nodded and cautiously moved lower and started lowering his pants. He eyed her and he felt that this whole thing was… wrong. He didn’t know what it was, but his body didn’t want Loly. He didn’t feel anything as she tried to touch him intimately and he realized that this whole thing had been a bad idea. “Stop! I… I ain’t in the mood…”
Loly blinked at him surprised. “Weren’t you the one who called me here for this? You don’t really want me for anything else other than sex… And… You’re usually more than just up for it…”
“I know! Ok?! Fuck off! I don’t want to do it with you!”, as he snapped, he realized his mistake of admitting what really bothered him.
Loly was about to retort, but suddenly realization hit her. She started laughing in a mocking manner and Noitora growled at her threateningly. “So, it’s true, huh?”, she said after calming down a little.
“What’s true?”, he growled.
“You’re really falling for her.”, she laughed.
“What did you say?!”, he yelled.
“It was weird how you always followed her around, but now that she has finally allowed you to be near her, it’s obvious. You’re in love with Nelliel tu Odelschwanck.”
“Shut up!” He pushed her off the bed and she landed down with a thud. Loly gasped and quickly ran to the door. Noitora had no energy to chase her. “Fuck off! I better not see your ugly mug anytime soon or else I’ll make sure none recognizes you!”
Loly had already left as he shouted. He started breathing heavily and he punched his wall once again. He lied down and eased his breathing. He loathed the idea that Loly or Grimmjow or even Ulquiorra was actually right. He didn’t love Nelliel. Yet he felt angry when he heard that Grimmjow was into her. And he felt even worse knowing that Nel would easily say yes to Grimmjow. They would be a good match too… He growled annoyed. He ruined Nelliel’s life. He had no right to be a part of it, yet Nel had changed and was treating him in a way he didn’t deserve. He hated it how he felt because things between them had changed for the better. It wasn’t right. “Damn it all! And why did that bastard Szayel had to die before he brought them over here…?”
The things that he had asked Szayel to bring from the world of the living… Maybe they would have stopped him from feeling despair, but Szayel died and he never told him whether he had what he asked for. Or how to use it. If they finally managed to reach Szayel’s destroyed lab, maybe he could search…
Suddenly his door opened and before he could shout to whoever it was to fuck off, Harribel entered, followed by a panicking Tesla. Noitora glared at her. “What do you want?!”
“To speak with you.”, she glanced at Tesla. “Alone.”
Noitora held her gaze for a moment before he turned to Tesla. “Leave us. I ain’t mad at you for letting her in, by the way.”
Tesla bowed, glanced at Harribel one last time and left. Noitora forced a smirk on his lips. “So… Are you here to talk about our naughty fraccion?”
Harribel didn’t show any emotion on her face. “No, but since you mentioned it, Shung Sun has her own free will. If she wants to be with Tesla, I couldn’t care less.”
Noitora chuckled. “Lucky little pig. He is finally going to get laid. So, if that wasn’t what you wanted to talk about, what is it?”
Harribel sighed. “I managed to finally enter Szayel’s lab.”
Noitora flinched. “On your own?”
“There wasn’t much left to deal with after that monster room. Stark helped me. We got to the lab. And we found something that was meant for you.”
Noitora’s eye widened. So Szayel did bring them here. And Harribel and Stark knew about it. He stared at her feeling weird. He didn’t want anyone to know about it. “So…”
“I’m not going to judge you. Neither me nor Stark. But I don’t think that taking antidepressants is going to help without Szayel’s instructions. No one here is a doctor and simply taking the pills without any guidance might harm you.”
“I’m not really alive, you know. What’s the worst they can do to me?”
Harribel looked down. “In your previous life, such things weren’t invented. Without a doctor’s instructions they can do more harm than good and they won’t really cure you. They just make you feel better. I don’t know whether you should really take them or not. I am no doctor either. I barely know anything about them. I had also asked Szayel about them and we both agreed that I shouldn’t take them.”
Noitora glared at her. “What would you need them for?”
Harribel looked at him. “I’ve lost someone… Someone that lived after I died. My aspect of death is sacrifice. I would die again for them, but there are plenty of times I have wished I had lived with them.”
Noitora looked down. “I see… I don’t know whether I should take them either… Maybe I should ask the Pet about a doctor or something…”
Harribel nodded. “I think that’s the best course of action. Now, will you tell me what’s been bothering you? I met Nel on the way here. She is in her child form and it’s obvious she worries a lot about you.”
“Tsk. That idiot. She should worry about herself.”
“Is it about your relationship and how it has changed for the better?”, asked Harribel with a knowing look.
He simply looked away and huffed. Harribel sighed. “I won’t interfere with you two, but if you want everything to go well, I believe you should be honest with yourself.”
“I… I don’t think I can…”
Harribel looked at the ceiling with an unreadable expression. “I know it’s hard, but the only way you’ll be okay is if you face what’s really bothering you about Nelliel. And you should know that I support you. Whatever you decide.”
His eye widened. “What if what bothers me is the fact that she is still alive, huh?! Will you still support my decision to kill her?”
Harribel allowed a soft smile on her face that barely could be seen through her mask. “I wouldn’t. But, I know that your decision is far from that. I believe you want to make peace with her. You feel guilty for what you did and you are starting to like the attention she is giving you.”
Noitora stared at Harribel surprised and, to his annoyance, he felt his cheeks turning red. He looked away embarrassed. “That…”
Harribel turned around. “You are the one that is going to decide whether what I just said is true. I won’t tell anyone about this, you have my word. I think that this is what you actually needed to hear and not how much you love her and all the crap that Grimmjow is spouting. I wouldn’t go that far. You’re the one to decide how you feel about her, but you need to realize what the first thing you actually want from her is. I would bet her forgiveness, but you are the one that knows that. “
And with that, Harribel left him alone with his thoughts. He hated how right she was, but somehow, the way she told him all these didn’t anger him. She wasn’t attacking him and maybe that’s what he needed. He sighed and looked up. Right. He had to be honest with himself and ask the real question. What did he want from Nelliel?
He closed his eye. He imagined her praising him and telling him how much he had changed. He frowned as he tried to put a name to what that was. Acknowledgement, he realized after a while. Acknowledgement from a strong opponent. Now, she wasn’t giving him exactly that, but they were making progress. So first of all, he definitely wanted more of that from her. That escalated to having her acceptance, which he guessed he did. And now he wanted it more… He opened his eye. He liked the attention Nelliel was giving him and he was glad that she accepted him despite what he had done to her. So forgiveness was one thing but he also wanted her to accept and… want him. He scoffed. “Damn it, Nelliel! Why am I so fucked up?”
She wouldn’t accept him. Not this way. Someone like Grimmjow was better suited for her. He was more handsome (not that Noitora would admit that out loud), treated her better and never brought up as an excuse that she was a woman as a reason to dislike her.
He never meant it. He didn’t dislike her for being a woman, but for the way she used to treat him. And now he liked the way she did. Even though he didn’t deserve it.
He always thought that she was a gorgeous woman, but her character was annoying him to no end. But now, he was falling for her and he despised himself more for doing so. What an idiot he was. “Tesla!”
The fraccion came in a little hesitantly. “Yes, master Noitora?”
“I’m a fool, aren’t I?”
Tesla blinked. “Wh-“
“Be honest with me Tesla. I’m an idiot. Especially when it comes to Nelliel.”
Tesla looked at him unsure of what to actually say. “Master Noitora-“
“I won’t hurt you. Just tell me what you think.”
Tesla smiled. “I believe that you are subconsciously sabotaging yourself, Master Noitora.”
Noitora chuckled. “I agree.”, he said grinning. “I always do anything I can to annoy her, but in reality I… I want to talk to her. And now I even gave the ok to Grimmjow to be with her…”
“Does lady Nelliel know about Grimmjow liking her?”
“I told her. She’ll definitely say yes. I mean, it’s Grimmjow after all.”
“I wouldn’t bet on it.”, said Tesla smiling.
Noitora frowned. “Don’t be an idiot Tesla. She isn’t blind from what I’ve seen.”
Tesla chuckled and went to the door. “I bet, she’ll say no.”
Noitora smirked. “You’re on.”
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The following morning they had all gathered to wait for Orihime’s arrival. Noitora stayed in the back, not really wanting to be noticed by the others much. He noticed that Nel had changed back to her adult form. Grimmjow approached her confidently and Noitora looked away. Ulquiorra approached him. Noitora sighed. “Shouldn’t you be in the front waiting for your girl?”
“Orihime will see me and come to talk to me on her own. I won’t pressure her to talk to me first. She’s got other people she wants to talk to. As for you, are you really alright with Grimmjow and Nelliel?
Noitora sighed again. “Nothing I can do about it. It’s just like you said, she has the right to choose whatever she wants herself.”
Tesla chuckled. “The bet is still on, Master Noitora.”
“And I’ll probably win.”, said Noitora. “Weird, how much I hate that I’ll win this.”
He allowed himself to look at Nel and Grimmjow even though it hurt him a lot. Grimmjow was grinning as he spoke to her and he had lowered his eyelids to give himself a lustier look. Nel was listening to him carefully, not betraying any emotion. After a while, Grimmjow stopped talking and looked at her expectantly. Nel looked down with a thoughtful expression and suddenly she glanced at Noitora. Noitora froze and looked away feeling heat spreading to his face. This was the last thing he wanted right now, for her to notice him.
He glanced back at them hesitantly, but now Nel was talking to Grimmjow with a smile on her face.
Grimmjow looked surprised for a moment but then he chuckled and grinned at her.
Noitora looked at Tesla. “See, I won.”
Tesla smirked. “I don’t think so, Master Noitora.”
“Don’t be a fool Tesla. Didn’t you see Grimmjow’s smile?”
“What about my smile?”
Noitora flinched and cursed himself for not realizing that Grimmjow had joined them. “Nothing, jackass. So, are you gonna get laid with the only female Espada that might be cool with it?”
“Weren’t you sleeping with Cirucci when she was also an Espada?”, said Grimmjow raising an eyebrow.
“I’m talking about the current female Espada, unless you believe you’ll ever have a shot with Harribel.”
“Not in a billion years.”, was Harribel’s reply from right in front of them.
They both sweatdropped. Grimmjow chuckled. “Anyway, Nelliel said no.”
Noitora almost chocked on his own saliva. “Wait, what?!”
Tesla started humming next to him and Ulquiorra looked at him like it was obvious that Nel would say no. “Why did she say no?”, asked Noitora.
Grimmjow chuckled. “She said that she was flattered, but she has her eyes on someone else.”
Noitora flinched and glanced at Nel, who was looking where Orihime would soon appear, humming to herself.
“She has her eyes on someone else…?”, repeated Noitora.
“That means I won.”, said Tesla. “And that you should stop sabotaging yourself, Master Noitora.”
Noitora chuckled. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” He didn’t want to admit it, but he felt warmth in his chest and he knew that he was happy.

Chapter Text

Orihime came out of the Garganta accompanied by Rukia and Rangiku. Rangiku waved at Gin and Rukia glanced at Grimmjow a little warily. Grimmjow stared at her confused. But after a minute, he realized why. “Oh right! You’re that soul reaper that I almost ceroed to the head.”
“And you also created a hole in my stomach.”, said Rukia while crossing her arms.
“Oh yeah, that too.” Grimmjow sweatdropped. “I ain’t good at apologies about this kinda stuff, you know.”
“I don’t really care for an apology. I want to make sure that I won’t get a cero to the head today. Can you do that?”
Grimmjow grinned. “I’ll try my hardest, but I can’t really promise anything.”
“Yeah, that idiot, ceroes anything he sees at random times.”,said Noitora, while smirking at Grimmjow.
“Hey! I only ceroed Luppi!”
“And Menoly…”, added Orihime sweatdropping.
“She doesn’t count! You brought her back to life!”, shouted Grimmjow while pointing at her.
“Oh, quiet, Grimmjow. You’re acting like a child.”, said Nel. Suddenly, her device started ringing and pink smoke engulfed her and after a moment she was a child again. “Dammit!”, she mumbled. Harribel’s eye twitched and Nel put her hands in front of her mouth, while Nnoitra sweatdropped.
Rukia’s eyes widened. “Right! Before I forget… This is from Mayuri.” She presented Nel with another bracelet that had some weird buttons on it. “He said that it supposedly will try to rearrange your spiritual pressure so that you don’t turn into a child. It will take some time for it to do so though. He told me that you will alternate between the two stages more often until it can become stabilized.”
Nel’s eyes widened in surprise. “Nel will alternate between the two stages?”
“It will take some time for it to be able to maintain one of the two stages. There is also a chance this thing will have to reset its settings again and there is a chance, though not a big one that your child form will be the dominant stage. It’s up to you to try it until he has a more permanent solution.”
Nel frowned as she considered her options. There was a risk and it definitely would annoy her at first, but it was a sort of solution. She sighed. “Give it to Nel.”
Rukia nodded and bent down to wrap it around her small wrist. Nel stared at it in awe and suddenly Urahara’s device started beeping and in a moment’s notice she was an adult again. Nel grinned widely. “It worked!” Right after she said it, the device started beeping again and Nel was a child once more. “That was fast…” Not a second after that, the device was beeping again. “Not again!” After that she was once again an adult with a horrified expression. “How long is it going to take to be more permanent?” Another beep was heard and she was a child again.
“It depends was what Mayuri said. If your spiritual pressure is in complete disarray then a lot of time, but if not, far sooner. You shouldn’t take it off though. It will start from zero again.” All the while Rukia was talking, Nel had been alternating between her two forms, while the device wouldn’t stop beeping.
“Ok, this is getting annoying to say the least.”, said Noitora.
Rukia sighed. “Well, I’ve nothing better. That’s what Mayuri created and I’m actually surprised he even bothered at all.”
“He sounds like a prick.”, said Noitora.
“Knowing him, I can confirm he is.”, said Rangiku.
“He definitely is.”, agreed Rukia.
“Well, he did try to kill me once I entered Soul Society. In a very brutal way, I might add.”, said Orihime.
“He sounds like Szayel.”, said Noitora.
“If I remember correctly, he was the one that killed him.”, said Rukia.
“Sounds fitting.”, said Noitora.
“I hate this!”, shouted Nel suddenly as she was alternating between the two forms and the beeping of the other device wouldn’t stop.
“Can’t we help her somehow?”, asked Orihime.
“I don’t think you can do anything.”, said Ulquiorra, who had been watching the transformations with a renewed interest.
“Well, it seems annoying.”, said Grimmjow.
“It is annoying!”, grumbled an adult Nel that was soon replaced by her younger self. “Can’t we give that Mayuri guy a call?”
Rukia sighed. “We can try, but I don’t really think he is going to bother that much.”
“I mean, he explained the issue with the device, so in his eyes there are no errors and he will consider you responsible since you knew the risks.”, explained Rangiku with a frown.
“We can always try.”, said Orihime with an uneasy smile.
“We should.”, said Harribel, who had grown tired of the noise and seeing the pink smoke appear and disappear all the time.
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They went to a room with a lot of screens that Gin knew how to operate. “I used to come here whenever I was bored and I would mess around with the rooms and stuff.”
The arrancar in the room sweatdropped or glared at him in the case of Grimmjow and Nnoitra. “So you are the reason I would run around the west hallways in circles, you ass!”, shouted Grimmjow.
“Language!”, shouted Harribel exasperated, while Grimmjow kept on mumbling curses.
“He found it hilarious to do it while I was drunk and in search for a toilet.”, growled Nnoitra.
Gin chuckled. “Good times.”
“That sounds kind of funny actually…”, whispered adult Nel that turned into a child after a minute.
Nnoitra glared at her and frowned. “Weren’t you lucky to not be here while Gin was at his prime?”, he said sarcastically.
Adult Nel again glared at him. “Yeah, thank you very much for breaking my mask and eventually leading me to this situation we are facing right now.” She had changed forms twice while she spoke.
Nnoitra sighed. “I would laugh at you, but this whole situation is annoying as hell.”
Nel pouted, but didn’t comment any farther as she kept changing forms over and over again.
Gin smirked at them. “Let’s try and talk to Mayuri, though that is going to be quite interesting…”
Gin started writing on the keyboard and everybody watched him with interest for a while. Gin smirked again. “I’ve reached Soul Society, now I’m waiting to be connected to the 12th squad’s headquarters.”
It didn’t take long before somebody answered. “Ichimaru Gin.”, said a woman with a monotonous voice.
“Hello, Nemu”, said Gin cheerfully. “I’m here with Rukia, Orihime, Rangiku and the arrancars and we would like to talk to Mayuri about his new invention.
“I’m going to call for Master Mayuri.”, said Nemu while remaining expressionless as always.
Nemu disappeared for a few moments and reappeared after a while with Mayuri on her tail. The arrancar that had barely seen the crazy scientist during the peace making dinner felt a shiver run down their spines, mainly because this eccentric man had been the one to kill Szayel, their crazy scientist.
“What is the matter?”, asked Mayuri with apparent irritation in his voice. “I’m pretty sure I made it quite clear to the girls that the device isn’t really finished and I did give you the choice of wearing it or not.”
Nel stepped forward while changing back and forth. “I want to ask you how long will this thing be happening?! It’s annoying to say the least!”
“I’m pretty sure I explained that it depends on yours spiritual pressure’s condition.”, he said exasperated. “The only assistance I can offer is to suggest you take off Urahara’s lousy device so you can get rid of this annoying noise. You can always take off my device as well, but know that if you decide to put it on again, you’ll start from the very beginning and it will be as annoying as it is now. You see, my device technically is a seal that will help the spiritual pressure to remain in all the right parts and not leak from your mask.”
“Ok…”, said Nel while still changing forms. “But can’t you even take a guess?! I mean, you created this thing and you’ve fought against the Espada before, so you must have an idea!”
Mayuri frowned. “I fought against the eighth Espada and when it came to spiritual pressure, believe me when I say he was nothing special.” That sent another shiver to the present Espada’s spines. After all they were all slightly disturbed when it came to Szayel. “Nevertheless, I did study the rest of the Espada and the spiritual pressures I deemed too powerful were the ones that belonged to Espadas number one, two, three and four, with a huge difference when it came to numbers one and four when it came to the others.”
“What about Yammy Llargo?”, asked Harribel suddenly. “The number ten or zero from what we figured.”
Mayuri frowned. “He was pathetic. I don’t know who considered it a good idea to give him the title of zero Espada, but that person was probably doing it as a joke.”
Harribel sweardropped. “Aizen had quite a peculiar sense of humor if he considered this a joke.”
“He considered many ridiculous things a joke.”, said Grimmjow and Nnoitra nodded while frowning. “Like cutting off my arm and then allowing me to have it back with Orihime’s abilities without saying a word and allowing me to cero Luppi.”
“We are back to ceroing people again…”, mumbled Rukia.
Mayuri glared at them. “Are you quite done yet? I’m a busy man and I am wasting my time explaining what should already be considered obvious from what I told to those two girls. Nevertheless, if I had to take a guess, I’d say that for your spiritual pressure to kind of stabilize, I would give it around three hours from the time you put the device on-“
“Three whole hours like this?!”, yelled a still changing Nel.
“Yes.”, said Mayuri exasperated. “You are actually pretty lucky, considering it could take days. If I were you, I’d remove Kisuke’s device for some peace and quiet. Now, I’ll be leaving you, because as I said, I’m a busy man.”
“Wait!”, shouted Nel, but Mayuri had already disconnected. “Oh boy…”, she mumbled as a child.
“Well… At least he gave a hypothetical time limit…”, said Rukia.
“Still, she will change even after that time limit, right?”, asked Ulquiorra.
“From what he said, I suppose yes.”, said Orihime.
“How long has she been wearing it? Also, he was right about one thing, take the other device off! The noise is killing me…”, grumbled Nnoitra.
“I don’t know.”, said Nel, while she did take off the other device. It was indeed much nicer without the constant beeping. “I guess about an hour?”, she said.
Stark yawned loudly. “Finally. Some peace and quiet.”
“What a pity the smoke doesn’t stop too…”, mumbled Harribel.
“If it makes you feel any better, I think it’s taking a little longer between the changing in forms.”, said Orihime with an encouraging smile.
“Yeah, from one second till the change to two seconds. Progress.”, said Nnoitra while rolling his eye.
“If it doesn’t get any better in two hours, I suggest you take it off.”, said Rukia. “After all, both Urahara and Mayuri are working on more permanent solutions and you might get something better soon.”
“Especially from Urahara…”, mumbled Orihime and Ulquiorra glanced at her curiously. Orihime noticed and smiled at him. “He is far more into creating stuff from what I can tell. Korosutchi Mayuri is…”
“Nuts.”, said Rangiku. “He is insane.”
“He looks the part.”, added Grimmjow.
Everyone sighed as Nel kept on changing again and again and again… “Let’s check her in an hour.”, said Rukia.
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~An hour later~
Orihime and Ulquiorra had been walking around las Noches for that hour, mainly because Orihime had asked Ulquiorra to show her around, something that should have been done in her first visits, thought Ulquiorra. “I think we should check on Nel. I know that Pesche and Dondochaka said they would inform us if something major happened, but I would like to check on her.”, said Orihime.
Ulquiorra glanced at her from the corner of his eye and slightly nodded. “As you wish.” Truth be told, he was curious about the whole thing as well.
As they arrived at her quarters, they were surprised to see Nnoitra exiting them. He stared at them for a moment, before he frowned.
“Is there any progress with Nel?”, asked Orihime.
“Well… It takes a full minute for her to change now. Those two idiots even timed it. It still isn’t enough.”
Orihime frowned as well. “At least the changes aren’t painful or so it seems…”
“They aren’t.”, agreed Nnoitra. “That doesn’t mean they ain’t annoying as fuck.”
“If Harribel heard that-“, said Ulquiorra.
“What would she do, huh? Child Nel isn’t here to hear me, so I can say whatever the hell I want. Harribel just doesn’t like swearing and is usimg Nel as an excuse to stop it!”
“Yes.”, said Harribel suddenly. She had walked quietly behind Nnoitra as he was raging on his own and she had hidden her reiatsu. “I won’t deny it. And I expect you to speak in a better manner wheter I’m around or not.”
Nnoitra frowned but turned around and left while mumbling how annoying their queen was.
Harribel rolled her eyes. “I came to check on Nelliel. I assume you are here for the same reason.”
“Yes.”, said Orihime. “Also, do you know where Rukia is? I haven’t seen her at all this one hour.”
“She is with Grimmjow.”, said Harribel.
Orihime blinked. “Really? Why?”
“I must admit that sounds peculiar to me as well.”, said Ulquiorra.
Harribel shrugged. “I really don’t understand what Grimmjow would have to offer in any kind of conversation, but the other Shinigami woman is with Ichimaru, you are with Ulquiorra and she really doesn’t know anyone else here, so I don’t really blame her for hanging out with the only person she knows. I mean she could hang out with me or Stark… On second thought, just me, but my as a previously said, she doesn’t know us at all. So maybe Grimmjow decided to show her around as a way of apologizing as well for you know, almost killing her twice.”
“Now that you elaborated and still ended up with how Grimmjow almost killed her twice, it sounds even weirder to me that she is hanging out with him.”, said Ulquiorra and Harribel shrugged once again.
Orihime sweatdropped. “Yeah… Shall we go and check on Nel?”
They entered the room and sighed. Nel as a child was sprawled on her bed looking at the ceiling. It didn’t take long after they closed the door to her room, before she turned into an adult. She growled in frustration. “I’ll give it one more hour and if this thing doesn’t become less frequent, I’m taking it off permanently.”
“I don’t blame you.”, said Orihime sympathetically. “Do you at least feel any better?”
Nel turned at her with a pout. “It’s still as annoying as ever! At least it takes a whole minute for me to transform.”
“And thirty-two seconds!”, shouted Pesche out of nowhere.
“Right…”, said Nel while rolling her eyes. “Ain’t that progress?”
Orihime sighed and sat next to her. “Patience is the only thing you can really do. I mean, if it doesn’t work, you can discard it.”
Nel turned into a child again. “Nel is honestly considering discarding it before that one hour… Nel doesn’t believe it is going to fix Nel’s problem.”
“Oh, don’t give up Nel. You never know…”, said Orihime with a sad smile.
Nel nodded with a sad expression on her face. “Where is Rukia? Is it ok for her to be alone?”
Orihine sweatdropped. “She isn’t technically alone…”
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Rukia had no idea how she ended up spending her time in Hueco Mundo with Grimmjow of all people. It was pretty awkward, but she didn’t want to be the third wheel to Gin and Rangiku and she didn’t want to ruin whatever was going on between the stoic Espada and Orihime. Spending her time with Nel wouldn’t result in much considering the girl was in distress and she didn’t really like that tall Espada that was around her. Spending time with the other two Espada didn’t seem that bad, but they didn’t seem approachable. So… she ended up staying with Grimmjow who after a while offered awkwardly to show her around.
He glanced at her and Rukia stiffened a bit. “What is it?”
He frowned. “How did you defeat not only Di Roy, but Arroniero as well?”
Rukia blinked. “You don’t consider me good enough to win against them…?”
Grimmjow huffed. “I don’t know about Aarroniero, but Di Roy was my fraccion. He was a good warrior.”
“With a big mouth.”, said Rukia. Grimmjow raised an eyebrow. Rukia sighed. “In my opinion, he was more focused in bragging about his ability in battle. He didn’t even want to hear my name when I tried to introduce myself. He wouldn’t pay attention to me and in the end he got what he deserved for being too cocky…” She blinked and sweatdropped. “Eh… Sorry for killing your fraccion though…”
Grimmjow laughed. “I tried to kill you twice and you are the one apologizing for killing Di Roy? He was indeed too cocky. A good warrior yes, but too cocky. And if that was why he got killed, well so be it. Though, the main reason I said it isn’t because I want an apology.” He turned at her and smirked. “You were caught off guard by me twice, so I don’t know about your fighting abilities. You can freeze shit and that seems cool, so how about a fight between the two of us? One on one with no surprises.”
Rukia sighed. “I refuse. And not because I am scared, but because I don’t see the point to a fight for no reason.”
“Oh, come on don’t be a-“
“Careful what you say there, Grimmjow. Harribel has ears everywhere.”, said Stark suddenly. He had appeared from the corner of the corridor they were about to turn to, before the weird conversation about fighting each other had started.
“Tch! Like I care about that stupid rule!”
Stark yawned. “Maybe you should.”
Rukia sighed in relief that Grimmjow’s attention wasn’t on her or more importantly, on fighting her. “Maybe we should check on Nel? To see if everything is ok. Besides the time limit for this thing to work is almost up and Orihime, Rangiku and I shall leave soon.”
Grimmjow frowned at her, but Stark nodded in agreement. “Gin told me so as well.’
Rukia nodded and they all headed to Nel’s quarters.
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Nel stared at everyone that had gathered to check on her with a pout. Apparently the device didn’t work fast enough for her liking. The time between the changes had reached three minutes, but it obviously wasn’t what she needed or wanted. “As you can tell, the whole experiment was a failure.” Nel turned into a child again. “Nel will remove that device and only keep Urahara’s.”
Rukia sighed. “I’m so sorry Nel, I wish we could offer you a better alternative.”
“Mayuri is going to be disappointe.”, mumbled Rangiku.
“Well, I think that you should stay positive, Nel. Two great scientists are working on your case and sooner or later they will have a permanent solution to your problem.”, said Orihime.
“We will try to take care of her while she is in her child form.”, said Ulquiorra and Orihime smiled at him sweetly.
“It might be a pain in the-“ Harribel coughed in a warning manner “… A pain… but we will manage.”, said Nnoitra while glaring at Harribel.
“Rest assured, she is in good hands.”, said Harribel.
Nel smiled at them. “Nel thanks you all. And Nel hopes that sooner or later Nel will be big again once and for all.” She then turned into an adult. She took off the device and smiled at them again. “Have a nice trip back and sorry for wasting so much of your time visiting with this silly matter.”
“Don’t worry about it. Besides, we still have plenty of time to catch up. I’ll see you all, next week.”, said Orihime.
“Don’t think I forgot about fighting you, Shinigami.”, said Grimmjow.
Rukia sweatdropped. “I’ll keep that in mind…”
Rangiku kissed Gin goodbye and the three girls went to the Garganta room to depart. Mayuri’s device was thrown away and Nel put on Urahara’s device again. What she didn’t know was that it would take almost a year for her problem to be solved.

Chapter Text

It had been a year since Orihime’s first visit. From what she had explained, her very first visit had happened a few months after Aizen’s fall, much to Ulquiorra’s surprise. Orihime had explained that she was waiting for Kurosaki to wake up back then and that was why it had taken so long. That made Ulquiorra wonder how different did time pass in the human world.
Orihime’s visits had become less frequent, due to her getting a job at the local bakery. She would always bring them goods from her job when she visited.
Things were getting a little complicated from what she had told Ulquiorra. Apparently, since Kurosaki was powerless, it was up to the Quincy boy mainly to fight Hollows. Also Chad was up to something from what Orihime had figured out. Things were weird between the human group of friends and Ulquiorra was kind of getting into the whole situation because of Orihime.
He wanted to help Orihime since she had helped him but he knew that things weren’t that simple.
“You know it ain’t up to me.”, it was all Gin replied when he first asked to visit Orihime. “I have tried to contact the Soul Society but they are very busy for some reason and I am left in the dark as well.”
Gin wasn’t lying. The Soul Society wasn’t answering them and neither was Urahara Kisuke on earth. The only time they would talk with either was when Orihime would visit and even then it would be for a little while.
It had been around a month since Orihime had visited them last and Ulquiorra was a little worried since he had no news from her. He sighed as he looked at the bat plushy on his bed. He could only hope that she was well.
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(Warning! Wet Dream, not a lemon though)
Nel’s sweaty body moved against his and he groaned in pleasure. He could feel that his face was red and he hated how weak he felt with her on top of him this way. Her lips were adorning his body and he couldn’t help but close his lone eye. How embarrassing. He was far more experienced than her and yet he was acting like a virgin. But then again it was her. He opened his eye and their eyes met. She smiled seductively at him and-
(End of the Dream)
“Master Nnoitra!”
Tesla’s voice made him open his eye for real this time. Shock and embarrassment hit him like a brick wall that shouldn’t be able to make him feel anything due to his hierro.
He groaned and covered his face with his arm. It had been another dream. The third this week. And Tesla had caught him again. He should tell his fraccion to stop waking him up…
Tesla entered with a blush on his face and not looking at him. “… It’s time for your morning training Sir…”
“…Yeah… I know…. Was I too loud?”
Tesla sighed. “Louder than yesterday…”
“Fuck!” After accepting his feelings about Nelliel, these dreams had bombarded him. Every time she was in her adult form and he met with her, he would notice her body a little too much for his liking. Of course he had noticed it before and he had been turned on back then as well, not that he would ever admit it. Besides, his anger with her was preventing him from seeing her in a positive light.
But now things had gotten completely out of control. The first time it happened, he had gone to check on her because he wanted to fight and he could sense her in Hallibel’s room. He then made the huge mistake of entering without knocking, something that he should have really thought a little more. Nel in her adult form, for some weird reason, was wearing Hallibel’s uniform. For a moment they just stared at each other in shock before Nel covered her chest embarrassed and Nnoitra turned away. They were both as red as Nel’s birth mark. It was then that Hallibel decided to enter the room, wearing Nel’s uniform. The look she had given him made him want to commit suicide right then and there.
“What do you think Nnoitra? I personally believe that this uniform doesn’t suit me, but mine suits Nelliel perfectly, right? I mean it’s pretty flattering on her, isn’t it?”
Hallibel was mocking him. And now he wanted to die even more. He felt even redder now as images of Nel in that uniform doing things to him- Fuck! He had forgotten why he was even there to begin with. And now he had to leave immediately.
“Nnoitra? You aren’t answering my question.”, said Hallibel and he could feel her smirk behind her bone mask.
He grumbled a little before looking away and replying. “I liked her old one better….”
Nel nodded embarrassed. “I don’t feel comfortable in this one either…”
Hallibel chuckled. “I see what a pity… Because you look ravishing in this one.”
Nnoitra almost chocked as he excused himself and left to take a long shower. And right now he was also in the shower with the back of his head against the wall, looking up, completely lost in thought. He sighed. He didn’t even register getting in the shower.
The only positive thing was that Nel was in her adult form for about two days now, which meant she would turn into a child soon and that would be the end for Nnoitra’s annoying dreams for today and hopefully for another couple days.
He really needed to confess. Tesla would remind him this every goddamn day since this whole thing with the dreams had started. He growled as he exited the shower and wrapped a towel on his lower body. He stared himself in the mirror. He usually liked his scars but there were times he wondered whether Nelliel would like them as well. After all, he is the reason she has a permanent scar on her face and much more deep than his. Maybe she hates scars because of this…
“Shit…”, he mumbled to himself. He dried himself as best as he could before he put on his pants and boots.
Tesla knocked before entering. He had come to tell him he brought breakfast but the way he was staring him made Nnoitra realize he had also come to tell him the same shit he always did. “Spare me the lecture…”
Tesla sighed. “You know what you have to do Master Nnoitra…”
“Yeah, I do… Shut it…” There was no malice behind his words. A year ago that would be considered weird but he had learned to appreciate Tesla’s advice. Tesla had been his best help when it came to the whole Nelliel issue and he would have given up long ago had it not been for him.
Now he only had himself as an obstacle and he didn’t know how long it would take him to get over this irrational fear. He stared at Tesla and frowned. “Are you going for a walk with Harribel’s fraccion again?”
This had become a habit of Tesla and Nnoitra was starting to grow tired with how slowly things were escalating with his fraccion. Mainly because of Tesla himself. Tesla blushed. “We haven’t arranged anything yet…”
“Oh god! We are both idiots…”, mumbled Nnoitra
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Nel yawned loudly as she woke up. She sighed. She was soon to become a child again. Her transformations lasted about two days now, maybe less and very seldom more.
She got up and decided to go take a bath now that she still was an adult. She hated relying on Pesche and Dondochaka for even that.
She filled her bathtub with warm water and sat inside while she washed her hair. She had to be quick because with her transformations nothing was certain. She wondered if Nnoitra would want to hang out with her now that she would be a child again.
Nnoitra had been avoiding her for a little over a month. Especially when she was in her adult form, he would make excuses and disappear almost immediately much to Nel’s confusion. She couldn’t understand what the problem was and she was suspecting that he had an issue with her transformations.
She sighed. They had made such a huge progress and Nel had grown to like his presence even more but now he was acting distant, probably because of her stupid problem that she had been waiting for a while t021o have it fixed.
She also knew that her liking him had evolved into her being openly attracted by him. She had tried a lot to subside it because it wasn’t healthy to fall for the person that almost killed you, but the more she got to know him she knew that she couldn’t eliminate that feeling no matter how wrong it was.
She knew there was attraction even back then, when he still was the Octava and she was the only Trecera, but she never acknowledged it. After he told her he would try to reconcile with her, the feeling had made its presence known again, but she knew that she shouldn’t jump into it. But after talking to him about her past life, seeing him care for her even if it was basic stuff and spending some time with him, things had gotten too obvious for her and she was considering approaching him.
But it was then that Nnoitra had started being distant. Especially after a specific event with Harribel’s uniform that made him run away when he had clearly been looking for her previously.
And how could she blame him? She was constantly transforming into a child and no normal person would want any form of relationship with someone that was constantly changing ages. Also, maybe she wasn’t his type…
“Gah!” She was thinking about it too much and she was getting annoyed by it. She was considering talking to Orihime about it, because she wouldn’t judge her like Pesche and Dondochaka probably would and because the other arrancar wouldn’t learn about it. It’s not like she didn’t trust Harribel or Stark or even Ulquiorra, but Harribel would definitely tell this to her fraccion and they would definitely gossip about it with other arrancar, especially Sung Sun was spending a lot of time with Tesla, Stark also liked to gossip despite his quiet nature and he wasn’t that good at giving advice and Ulquiorra was spending a lot of time with both Grimmjow and Nnoitra and something could slip up.
But Orihime wouldn’t visit as often anymore and it was obvious that something was off with Ichigo from what she had picked up.
She exited the bathroom and found Pesche and Dondochaka preparing her breakfast and cleaning her room. “Good morning Nel!”, they both shouted. Nel had asked them not to call her Master a while ago and it was much better now. Also she liked her nickname ‘Nel’, far more from how serious Nelliel would sound from them. She had started treating them even more as equals and she was glad at the relationship they had built. This also had worked a lot on Nnoitra from what she had realized. Her smile became sad at the thought.
“Is everything alright?”, asked Pesche while both him and Dondochaka looked at her worried.
Nel blinked before she smiled brightly. “Everything is fine!” And then Urahara’s device started beeping. She sighed. “Almost everything…” Pink smoke engulfed her and she was a child again.
Pesche and Dondochaka stared at her sadly. Nel put on her best smile for them, even though she wasn’t fooling anyone. “Let’s go meet Nnoitra, right?”
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Orihime stared at Ichigo and Tatsuki as they headed off to God knows where. She sighed as she turned to see her other two friends leaving in different directions. Chad she had no idea where to. Uryu was going to fight the Hollows Ichigo couldn’t. She was left alone.
She forced herself to put up her usual smile and started heading towards her workplace at the bakery. She wished she could visit Hueco Mundo again so that she could hang out with Ulquiorra but she barely had any time. Something was off in Soul Society and she could tell every time she contacted Rangiku.
Rangiku didn’t know or wasn’t allowed to say anything and so Orihime was left in the dark. It was hard to communicate with Soul Society because of whatever was happening and so her visits to Hueco Mundo had been reduced by a lot and also the time she spent there was much less.
Today was the day she decided. She had been planning on talking to Urahara about visiting Hueco Mundo, even though he was also into something that Orihime had no idea about… “Gah! Why is everyone so secretive?!”, she shouted out loud. She looked around happy that she was all alone. She sighed. She looked ahead determined. “Today is the day! “ After work, she would visit Urahara. And she hoped she would be allowed to visit her friends.
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Harribel sighed as Ulquiorra came to the throne room with the same expression as usual. If you had been looking into Ulquiorra’s expressions, though, you would know that now he had an equivalent to a frustrated look in his face. And Harribel had learned to read these expressions. She looked at him in understanding. “I will talk to Ichimaru. But don’t expect much. After all, it’s not really up to him.”
“I know.” , he said looking down.
Harribel smiled at him. “I’m glad that you found someone to care for.”
Ulquiorra blinked. “I suppose I do care for her. It’s weird. I never had friends before.”
Harribel nodded in understanding. “I hope that Ichimaru will manage to contact them this time, besides, it’s a request from me this time and as the queen I deserve their immediate answer.”
Ulquiorra nodded in what seemed to be satisfaction and left the room. Harribel sighed. Her fraccion entered the room and sat next to her. “Is everything alright, lady Harribel?”, asked Appacci.
“Yes. I just wish that I can actually help him. Ichimaru can’t do much and I can’t contact Kisuke or Soul Society on my own. Let’s hope for the best.”
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Nnoitra flinched as he heard child Nel’s voice calling him. He turned and looked at her as she approached with her two fraccion. He wanted to go train on his own but apparently Nel had other plans and the way Tesla was looking at him was implying that he should indulge to the girl’s wishes. He sighed defeated. “What is it?”
“Nel wants to hang out with Nnoita, ok?”, she said grinning.
He frowned. It’s not like he didn’t enjoy spending time with her, but with all his annoying dreams he didn’t want to be around her. Even if she was a child right now, mainly because he forgot that it was also her and stuff could slip up. “I want to train. Are you sure you wanna be around?”
Nel nodded. “Nel doesn’t mind. She just wants to hang out.
Nnoitra turned to Tesla who was smiling at him. He frowned more before he said. “Fine! But don’t nag if I don’t pay you enough attention.”
Nel giggled. “Don’t worry! Nel will correct you if you make mistakes.”
“Hmph! As if I need you to correct me!”
“You do.”
“I don’t “
“Yes you do.”
“No, I don’t!”, said Nnoitra and crossed his arms. He glanced at Tesla who was trying hard not to laugh. He felt heat rise to his cheeks. He was acting like an idiot again and all because of her. Even her two fraccion seemed amused. “Whatever! Come on!”
He put her up on his shoulder and she giggled. Nnoitra sighed but he wasn’t annoyed. On the contrary, he felt a little amused. Obviously her child form was a huge drawback and in order for him to seek a relationship with her in any way she would have to get rid of that form. But at the same time the child form was the reason Nel started being more open about the way she felt and thus he got to know her better, so in a way he was thankful for it, even though he cursed himself every day for causing it. He was considering it another reason for her to actually say no when he got the guts to ask her and he hated himself even more every time he saw her like that. But at least she seemed happy to spend her time with him in this form and he could forget that he had these annoying dreams.
Before they could turn around a corner though, Stark appeared in front of them with a serious expression. “Harribel wants us all in the Garganta room. It’s an order.”
He left immediately after that. They both blinked and stared at each other. “Nel wonders what’s going on.”
“Probably something stupid. Anyway let’s go, before Harribel decides she wants to look for us herself.”
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Everyone was gathered in the room as soon as Stark got to them. Harribel and Gin were standing in the middle and a huge screen had been placed on the wall. Ulquiorra didn’t even remember when they got that screen in that room. He stared at Harribel and he could understand that he felt anticipation of what she had to tell them.
Harribel stared at everyone and cleared her throat. “Everyone, thank you for coming in such a short notice. Gin and I managed to contact Urahara Kisuke and Orihime Inoue.”
At that everyone started whispering. Ulquiorra was certain he was feeling happy, but still a little unsure of what he might hear next. Harribel waited for the fuss to die down before she spoke again. “Apparently something is going on regarding Ichigo Kurosaki and Soul Society and Orihime needs our help to figure these things out.”
Grimmjow seemed to be getting excited when he heard Ichigo’s name. Ulquiorra though was sceptic about something. “Doesn’t Urahara Kisuke have any idea what’s going on?”
Gin was the one to answer this time. “We believe he knows, but as always he wants to do things his own way. Apparently though Orihime is getting impatient and wants to find out what’s going on. And Kisuke wants to keep her safe, so…” He turned to Harribel with his usual smirk on.
Harribel stared straight into Ulquiorra’s eyes. “He wants us to go to the World of the Living and aid Orihime Inoue.”

Chapter Text

“You want us to go to Karakura town…?”, asked Ulquiorra surprised.
“We will all go.”, said Harribel.
Gin then pressed a button and the screen behind him lit up to reveal Urahara Kisuke and Orihime waiting for them. Urahara was waving at them with his fan and Orihime looked a little uncomfortable next to the shop owner. “Hello, everyone! I already told Harribel and Gin, but little Orihime here needs your assistance. You see something is going on with Ichigo and she needs your help to figure out what.”
Ulquiorra raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you, Urahara Kisuke know anything about that? I find it hard to believe that you are unable to assist Orihime in any way.”
Urahara laughed. “Ain’t that the truth now? Truth is, I do know stuff about the whole thing but I can’t be involved in that way. So, it is up to you guys to do so!”
Ulquiorra still didn’t buy the whole thing, but he did want to help Orihime. It was then that Grimmjow asked something actually logical for the first time in… well, a while. “And aren’t we a reason to have the Soul Society on alert if we go to Karakura town? I mean, we are arrancar and if we go to Karakura town it is bound to cause some issues.”
They all stared at Grimmjow shocked. “What?! I’m not that stupid!”
“Say the person that just went to Karakura town to beat a guy he had heard that was strong.”, mumbled Stark.
“I heard that!”, growled Grimmjow.
“Now, now, now guys. Calm down. I’ve got that covered.”, said Urahara while grinning. “He suddenly grabbed a body of what looked like a human but was looking dead and that body looked a lot like Grimmjow.
“What the actual-“
“Language, Grimmjow!”, shouted Harribel.
“Crap…”, finished Grimmjow a little disappointed with his final declaration.
Orihime sweatdropped and looked awkwardly at the body. “This is a gigai…”, she tried to explain.
“You can wear these in the human world and it suppresses your spiritual pressure, so no issue is going to occur with the Soul Society. I have made one for each and every one of you, even your fraccion! Ain’t that wonderful?”
Nel suddenly turned red and it was obvious she was furious. “You had time to do this, yet you couldn’t find a solution with Nel’s issue?!”
Urahara sweatdropped at that and started laughing nervously. Orihime sighed. “That’s what I asked as well…”
“Well…”, started Urahara. “I’ve worked on your issue as well and I’m almost done if I have to be honest, but…”
“It’s still not ready.”, finished Nnoitra, obviously annoyed as well.
“There’s a lot of stuff going on…”, Urahara tried to say. “I had to do some other things first…”
“Bullshit!”, shouted Nnoitra and Nel nodded.
“Language!”, shouted Harribel, looking more annoyed than before.
“Oh, come on now! You heard him! We all are thinking that it’s-“, started Nnoitra.
“Don’t say it!”, said Harribel.
Nnoitra frowned at her. “This whole thing with the language is getting ridiculous. Nel isn’t affected at all. She already knows those words!”
Harribel glared at him. “Maybe, but I still prefer for you not to swear.” She then turned to look at Urahara. “Ignore the whole ruckus. We will prepare to come to Karakura as soon as this call is over.”
“Of course.”, said Urahara grinning. “See you soon then. Orihime will be waiting here to welcome you properly.”
Orihime nodded and for a moment her eyes locked with Ulquiorra’s. Then the screen was turned off and silence filled the room. “Interesting…”, mumbled Ulquiorra, referring to the whole ordeal.
Harribel sighed. “We should start preparations. Not all of us are leaving, obviously. My girls have agreed to stay back and so has Gin.”
“I suppose you can also stay back, huh Tesla?”, asked Nnoitra, much to the fraccion’s surprise.
Tesla blinked. “Yeah… No problem.”, he said.
Nnoitra grinned at him and came close to his fraccion to whisper. “Harribel’s bitch is going to stay as well and without Harribel. It’s time you make your move.”
Tesla turned red but didn’t say anything. Nnoitra grinned harder at him. Tesla then looked at Nel. “Maybe you should also consider making your move, master Nnoitra.”
Nnoitra frowned and looked away annoyed. Nel seemed oblivious to the whole conversation and she seemed to be considering something as well. “Pesche and Dondochaka will also stay in Hueco Mundo.”, she said with as much of a serious expression she could master at her child form.
Pesche and Dondochaka immediately tried to convince her that she needed them, but Nel grinned at them. “Nel will be fine! Nel will have Nnoitra and Orihime to take care of her if anything happens.”
Her two fraccion stared at each other before they both glared at Nnoitra. Pesche suddenly approached him with a serious expression. “I want to have a word with you, master Nnoitra.”
Nnoitra’s frown deepened, but he nodded nevertheless. Maybe it was finally time to apologize to the two idiots as well.
Harribel sighed once again. “All right! The rest of us are all going. So let’s go get ready and let’s all meet up here in around two hours.”
Ulquiorra immediately left the room at the highest speed he could master, the moment those words left Harribel’s mouth. Grimmjow chuckled. “Look at lover boy. He can’t wait to go see his girl.”
Nnoitra snickered as well. “Maybe he’ll finally take the next step to their relationship.”
Tesla raised an eyebrow. “Look who’s talking master Nnoitra…”
Nnoitra glared at his fraccion. “Don’t you have someone you want to talk to as well, my dear Tesla? And don’t annoy me. I might have become soft with you, but don’t push your luck.”
Tesla sighed, knowing far too well that this was an empty threat after all the things that happened after the war, made mainly so that Grimmjow didn’t make fun of his master. “Yes, master Nnoitra.”
Dondochaka grabbed Nel and they headed to her quarters, while Pesche approached Nnoitra with a serious look in his eyes. Nnoitra sighed and he and Pesche went outside of the room. “So, spit it out.”, said Nnoitra, looking straight ahead and not at Pesche.
Pesche sighed as he collected his thoughts. “Master Nnoitra, I want to ask you to actually take care of master Nelliel and to not hurt her in any way. I also want you to protect her if it’s needed.”
Nnoitra stared at the fraccion with a serious expression. “I’ve regretted what I did back then. To both you and her.”
Pesche looked away. “I know that… you’ve changed. You treat her much better and you don’t actually try to cause any harm-“
“Not having her as my opponent was something I still blame myself for. I want her to return to who she was and I want her to… Stay with me.”
Pesche’s eyes widened. He remained speechless for a little while and Nnoitra glared at him. “Don’t you dare tell her that I said that!”, he threatened.
Pesche nodded hesitantly. “You have changed for the better indeed. I can never fully forgive you for what you did to her… to me and Dondochaka. But I accept that you aren’t the same person that did all of those terrible things.”
Nnoitra huffed annoyed. “I’ll protect her. The only thing I want in return is for her to never hear of this conversation.”
Pesche nodded. “Thank you, master Nnoitra.” With that, he left to go and help Nel with the preparations.
Nnoita sighed. He hated being so vulnerable to the idiotic fraccion, but he did owe it to the guy after breaking his mask completely and forcing him to turn back into an adjuchas state. He started heading to his quarters to prepare for the trip to the world of the living. Suddenly a thought that hadn’t crossed his mind when he told Tesla to stay back hit him. What would happen with his dreams? What if he had one with Nel in the same room? He facepalmed and growled. “Shit!”
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Ulquiorra was the first to arrive in the Garganta room, having with him both his book and his plushy. He wanted to give the book to Orihime so that she could read it herself and as for the plushy, he guessed he wanted his “cute companion” with him. He hid both of them in a small sack he had in his room, not really wanting to have the other Espada’s attention on his items. He was excited. That he was certain of.
He really wanted to see Orihime again and the fact that he would finally see all the things she talked about up close was making him feel warm.
“You sure came here quickly.”
Ulquiorra turned around to see Grimmjow leaning on the entrance with his hands crossed and a teasing smirk on his face. “Are you excited to see your girlfriend? Oooh, how adorable!”
Ulquiorra glared at Grimmjow. “You are the second to arrive. I can only guess you are too excited to see Kurosaki again, huh trash?”
Grimmjow immediately took the bait and sonidoed next to Ulquiorra. He lifted him from his shirt and growled at him enraged. “Why you-“
“Grimmjow, put him down.” That was Harribel, who had crossed her arms and was scowling at the other two Espada. Stark was right behind her, not looking amused either.
Grimmjow obeyed, mumbling profanities under his breath. Ulquiorra simply glared at him. Harribel sighed. “Why must you always fight? You are acting like children.”
“Speaking of which…”, growled Grimmjow as Nnoitra with Nel on his shoulder made their appearance as well.
Harribel went to the center of the room. “Now we are only waiting for Gin to open the Garganta from the control room.”
“On it.”, was heard from the megaphones applied to the room. Soon enough, an artificial Garganta opened in the center of the room. “Have a nice trip you guys! Don’t forget to bring me souvenirs!”
Harribel nodded and entered the Garganta first, followed by Stark. Nnoitra looked at Nel, who nodded at him with determination and so he followed after the others. Grimmjow and Ulquiorra stared at each other. “Been a while since we last visited, huh?”
“We only caused destruction last time.”, replied Ulquiorra.
“Let’s go then!”, said Grimmjow while running to the Garganta.
Ulquiorra shook his head. “And let’s not cause any more destruction.” I’m coming to help you, Orihime, he thought. And with that he entered as well.
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Orihime and Urahara were both in a special room Urahara had prepared for such an occasion. It was the one she used to visit Hueco Mundo herself. She would meet her Shinigami guides on the way and together they would all go to Las Noches. A dark void opened in the center of the room and Harribel accompanied by Stark were the first ones to appear. Not long after, Nnoitra with Nel on his back and a running Grimmjow on his tail appeared. And last but not least… “Ulquiorra!”, shouted the girl excited and ran to hug her friend. Grimmjow and Nnoitra snickered. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
Ulquiorra awkwardly returned the hug. “Glad to see you too…”
Urahara waved at them. ”Hello to all the Espada in the room. Welcome to Karakura town! Some of you have visited before though….” Urahara chuckled awkwardly.
Grimmjow grinned while Ulquiorra sighed. “I apologize for our past actions. It was due to orders of lord Aizen.”, said Ulquiorra.
“Well, I acted alone.”, said Grimmjow in a challenging manner.
“And you lost an arm for that.”, said Stark.
“Well, Aizen was a douchebag!”, growled Grimmjow.
“Language!”, shouted Harribel.
Urahara chuckled and then sweatdropped as he noticed the combined glares of both Nel and Nnoitra. “I take it you’re still mad about the whole transformation thing, huh?”
“Nel believes you could have easily fixed it!”, she yelled.
Urahara sighed. “Truth to be told, I didn’t really put my heart into it…. But, I will try to fix the issue while you are here.”
Nel looked at him with a skeptical look before she sighed. “Nel doesn’t really have a choice…”
Nnoitra thoug approached Urahara pissed off. “You promised that you would be done by now. How can we know that you’re telling the truth now, huh?!”
Urahara sighed and looked down. “I promise that if I am not done by the time you are to depart for Las Noches, you can personally choose any punishment you want for me.”
Nnoita huffed satisfied. “Good. Now you better start working. I want to be able to fight her with no issue.”
Nel nodded her thanks to Nnoitra and he nodded back. Urahara scratched his cheek before he lifted his fan up to his face. “Well, well! Let me give you your gigai then!”
A big muscular man brought what looked like six bodies with him and tossed them at Urahara’s feet. Upon closer inspection, the bodies resembled the six Espada in the room. The one that was for Nel was of her adult form. “Now then, you will have to enter these bodies as though you are trying to possess them!”
Harribel sweatdropped. “That’s one way to describe it…”
“Will it be okay for Nel to enter her adult body while being small?”, asked Nel concerned.
Urahara grinned. “You see these bodies are hollow so even if you are in this form you will be able to enter it. If, during your stay here, turn back to your adult form, there will be no change in the physical body of the gigai, only in your personality.”
Nel blinked surprised, but nodded in understanding. Nnoitra eyed Nel’s gigai feeling a little uncomfortable. It was exactly like Nel without the mark he had left her and obviously without her mask. How on earth would he be able to tame his dreams? At least Urahara had chosen modest clothing for the gigai, a simple purple blouse and a long blue skirt. That was something at least… He then checked at his own gigai. Just like Nel’s, the scars had been removed and to his surprise, Urahara had put a normal eye where his Hollow hole and mask was supposed to be.
“Since you have no eye there, it won’t really work. I mean you won’t be able to see by it, but it will copy the movements of your other eye, so it will give the illusion of a real one.”, explained Urahara.
“I see.”, said Nnoitra. His gigai was wearing a black hoodie and jeans with some sneakers. He supposed it suited him.
Harribel looked at her own gigai interested. Her gigai obviously had no mask and it was weird seeing her face bare without the blue markings she has in her resurrection or with her hair in her normal hairstyle. She was wearing an orange low cut blouse with a brown leather jacket and jeans with cowboy boots. She couldn’t really tell if she liked it.
Stark was certain that he didn’t like his clothing. A white shirt with a black tie, black slacks and black shoes made him look too serious for his liking. “I need to get other clothes…”, he mumbled. “More comfy ones…”
Grimmjow picked up his gigai by the collar of its blue blouse. His gigai was also wearing some light brown slacks and white shoes. “I look like a nerd…”, he growled. “Where are my facial markings?”
“You see, humans don’t really have blue facial markings, unless you want to use makeup.”, said Urahara.
Grimmjow glared at him. “Then why does Nel get to keep her facial marking?”
“Because it looks like a birthmark and birthmarks exist in this world.”, explained Urahara seeming tired with Grimmjow.
Grimmjow frowned, but did enter his gigai. “Great, I feel weaker already.”
“That’s completely normal.”, said Urahara. “Your powers are going to decrease in order for you not to get unwanted attention.”
Nnoitra sighed annoyed at that as he also entered his gigai. He looked at himself feeling very weird with this clothing. Urahara turned at him with a smirk. “I got you a hoodie so that you can have a hood! Since you enjoy this weird uniform of yours so much.”
Nnoitra glared Urahara. “Nobody has any fashion sense apparently…” He then turned around and gasped in surprise as Nel, now in her own gigai had approached him and was staring at him with bid doe eyes. He almost fell back from the shock. “What the hell, Nel?! What is it?”
Nel stared at him a little more before she answered. “It’s weird to Nel that you have two eyes. Nel thinks it doesn’t suit you as much.”
Nnoitra turned red at the way she was looking at him and looked away. “Gee, thanks I guess.”
Harribel stared at her new body very curiously. “I think I like it.”
Stark was pulling at his tie. “I’m 100% certain I don’t.”
Ulquiorra, the only one that wasn’t taking part in the chaos was staring the others from afar. He then looked at his gigai curiously. His facial markings and his mask were gone and his skin complexion wasn’t as white. He was wearing a black blouse and brown pants with sneakers. Orihime approached him with a smile. “I think it looks great. These colors suit you.”
Ulquiorra nodded hesitantly and entered his gigai. He felt weaker indeed. It was a weird feeling and he hadn’t been prepared at all. He stared at Orihime and she was looking at him in awe. “You look really good, Ulquiorra.”, she said grinning at him.
He felt warmth in his chest and he started feeling more confident about this new appearance. “Thank you, Orihime.”, he said and much to his surprise, he felt one corner of his mouth lifting up a little.
That didn’t go unnoticed by the girl who gasped and smiled brightly. “I’m so happy! It seems that you are allowing your emotions to make their presence known if you almost smiled.”
Ulquiorra nodded and looked away a little embarrassed. “I’m not sure I can do it right, though.”
Orihime chuckled much to his surprise. “You’ll do just fine.”, she said smiling at him.
Urahara coughed loudly to get everyone’s attention. “Now, the only thing that remains is for me to give you the gikon you will be able to use in order for you to exit the gigai and still have someone occupy your human body. They all came close and stared at Urahara’s hand that had a weird device with a bunny at the top. Urahara chuckled at them. “You press the bunny head and an artificial soul pill will pop up, you eat it and you are out of the gigai, while an artificial soul takes over the body so that people around you don’t find your gigais looking like dead bodies.”
The Espada nodded unsure whether they fully understood what Urahara was talking about. Urahara grinned and opened his fan again. “Great! Now that everything is explained, off you go!”
“Off we go where?”, asked Stark.
“To my house!”, said Orihime cheerfully. “I’ve made space for everyone. It really helps that I live alone.”
“So, we are all going to live together?”, asked Nnoitra, while his eyes briefly glanced at Nel. He gulped uncomfortably.
“Well, yeah! But don’t worry! Harribel and Nel can sleep in my room, while you guys will sleep on the living room! I was given plenty of sleeping bags by mister Urahara, so you don’t have to worry about a thing!”, said Orihime cheerfully.
Nnoitra felt cold sweat on him. “Great…”, he mumbled, not very excited by the idea of sleeping next to Grimmjow. What if he had a dream and Grimmjow heard him? He would die of the embarrassment.
Ulquiorra looked at Orihime as she guided them to her house, all the while showing them around the areas they passed. It was night so there weren’t many things they could see, but things sure were livelier than Hueco Mundo. Now that he wasn’t there to cause destruction he was certain that he would enjoy Karakura town, especially with how Orihime’s eyes lit with excitement as she showed them everything. This was going to be a very interesting trip.

Chapter Text

Lilynette was walking around Las Noches looking for Gin. She had decided not to join Stark on her own accord, with hopes that he would actually try to socialize more and not sleep all day. She on the other hand, along with Gin, would try to snoop around the fraccions private lives. It seemed equally amusing in Lilynette’s mind and Gin had agreed.
On her way to Gin’s room Lilynette came across Apachi and Mila Rose. They were arguing about something and Lilynette decided to eavesdrop to find out about what. She hid behind a wall and observed.
“I can’t believe her!”, screamed Apachi. “Who on their right mind would hang out with Nnoitra’s dog?!”
Mila Rose shook her head. “Honestly, since lady Harribel is ok with it I don’t see an issue with it. Stop acting like it matters to you Apachi, unless you are jealous.”
“Jealous my ass! I couldn’t care less about who she wants to bed but Nnoitra should be off limits.”
“You idiot, it isn’t Nnoitra.”
“It’s like it is him if it is his dog, you buffoon!”
“Screw you, you bitch!”
Lilynette stopped listening after that because the two girls just kept on shouting insults at each other without having any context anymore. “What was that all about?”, she mumbled to herself.
“They are arguing about Sung Sun’s love life.”, said a voice from next to her.
Lilynette jumped in surprise as she saw Gin standing next to her. “Gah! You scared me, you idiot! I was coming to get you!”
Gin chuckled. “I was aware you were coming, so I came to get you myself.”
Lilynette sweatdropped, not really getting his logic. Gin’s smile widened a little, much to her discomfort. “Shall we go spy on Sung Sun and Tesla then?”, he asked.
Lilynette smirked back. “Hell yeah! I wanna know what’s going on as well. These two didn’t specify and now I’m curious.”
Gin snickered. “Let’s go see then.”
It didn’t take them long to find Sung Sun and Tesla, not very far from where Tesla’s quarters were, close to Nnoitra’s. Tesla seemed nervous, while Sung Sun seemed like her usual self, covering her mouth with her sleeve as per usual. “Damn it! I can barely hear what they’re saying.”, whispered Lilynette.
“Yeah, but we can’t go any closer or else they’ll see us.”, answered Gin.
Tesla was mumbling something about poetry from what Lilynette could hear, but she couldn’t understand whether he wrote a poem or whether he hated one. Or maybe it was both she guessed. Sung Sun said something that Lilynette didn’t catch at all, but Tesla turned red at that and looked away.
Suddenly Sung Sun held his hand and tip toed next to him, whispering something to Tesla that made him even redder. Tesla started mumbling incoherently. “I-I-I-I…”
Sung Sun giggled and pulled him towards his room, saying something about seeing another anaconda if she were lucky and Tesla turning even redder if that was possible.
Lilynette frowned. “I barely heard anything. And what was that about another anaconda? Where did Sung Sun find that?”
Gin burst out laughing much to her annoyance. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing really… It’s nice to see someone still retaining their innocence in this weird world.”, he said in a genuine way.
Lilynette didn’t really get what he meant but she didn’t let that stop her from wanting to continue her spying. “Should we try to follow them?”
Gin flinched at that. “Believe me, it’s better that we don’t. Maybe we should go check on Pesche and Dondochaka.”
Lilynette pouted for a moment before sighing and moving towards Nelliel’s quarters. It didn’t take them long to come across both Pesche and Dondochaka, the two of them actually being serious for once. “I don’t like that Nel is with this bastard.”, said Dondochaka.
Pesche sighed. “Me neither, but for some weird reason I don’t think he is going to harm her.”
Dondochaka looked at his companion curiously. “What’s going on between them, Pesche? You’ve noticed it too, haven’t you?”
Pesche shook his head. “I’m not sure, but I don’t like it. The bastard acts like he needs to protect her because he wants to fight her when she turns back to normal, but… Why does he agree on spending time with her?”
“It’s weird. And worst of all, Nel wants to spend time with him too, even when she is an adult!”
“We need to make certain he won’t hurt her again. I suppose that now that they are together without us, he will prove that he can protect her.”
Dondochaka suddenly looked at him with an accusing look. “You believe that he has changed, don’t you?”
Pesche sighed. “I… do. I mean, I still hate his guts, but he definitely has grown softer when it comes to Nel. He did try to apologize to me as well.”
Dondochaka scoffed. “Better late than never, huh? I don’t believe he has changed, Pesche. Maybe he is pretending so that he can kill Nel more easily.”
Pesche sighed. “Maybe… But then again, why hasn’t he killed her yet?”
“Because he wants to fight her on her full strength or something! I don’t know with this guy it could really be anything!”
Pesche looked away and then he left. Dondochaka shook his head and went the other way. Lilynette pouted. This time she knew the context. “I don’t get why they can’t simply accept that Nnoitra actually like Nelliel.”
Gin smiled sympathetically at her. “You weren’t here yet when he attacked her so you don’t know the details. He brutally attacked those two and ripped off their masks.”
Lilynette looked down. “I know, but… Still! Even a blind man could tell that Nnoitra has changed for the better!”
Gin looked up thoughtfully. “Such a pity Tousen is dead so that we can’t confirm this.”
They stared at each other for a moment before bursting out laughing. “Okay, that was a good one.”, said Lilynette.
Gin chuckled. “I suppose we know what everyone is up to now. Shall we go rummage the kitchen for something good?”
Lilynette beamed at him. “Hell yeah!”
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Orihime was lying on her bed with Nel next to her on a sleeping bag. Harribel was taking a bath and soon she would join them. Nel looked at Orihime and with the way her eyes were shining, Orihime was certain she was talking to child Nel.
“Can Nel ask you a question about an issue she is having?”, asked the other woman innocently.
Orihime blinked at her and smiled. “Of course.”
Nel looked up the ceiling. “Nnoitra has been nice to Nel this past year… And Nel… feels something about him.”
Orihime sat up and looked at Nel intrigued. “Like what?”
“Nel… Nel thinks it’s attraction… But isn’t it wrong for Nel to be attracted to him?”
Orihime’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh, my…” She then noticed Nel’s pessimistic look and smiled at her. “It isn’t a bad thing. I mean, he isn’t my type, but he sure can be viewed as an attractive man… I think…” She chuckled nervously at that. “But what matters is how he makes you feel when it’s just the two of you. Does he make you feel secure, happy?”
Nel nodded hesitantly. “He always tries to protect Nel in a way like trying to apologize for what he did back then. And he is more open with Nel. He is much more talkative.”
Orihime smiled at her. “It does look like he is trying his best to make things right between you two. And as an outsider, I do believe he has become more caring about you. So I say, you shouldn’t be ashamed about feeling attracted to him. Relationships can change and people can change as well.” At that Orihime smiled sadly.
Nel stared at her surprised. “Your relationship with Ichigo and the guys…”
Orihime sighed. “They all have other stuff to worry about. And I am also at fault for not spending more time with them. I just feel a little sad about it.”
Nel nodded and patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry. We are here now and you have Ulquiorra as well.”
Orihime smiled. “Yeah… And I thank you for coming here. Also thanks for talking with me, Nel.”
“Nel should also thank you.”
It was then that Harribel entered the room, wearing a long t-shirt that reached till her thighs. “I feel exhausted.”, she said.
“We were about to go to bed as well.”, said Orihime. “Goodnight girls. I hope the boys are comfortable in their sleeping bags.”
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Stark certainly was. The same couldn’t be said for the rest and especially Nnoitra.
Grimmjow’s sleeping bag was very close to a small table and he would occasionally kick it and wake up growling and swearing, something that would wake Ulquiorra up, force him to call him trash and thus have Grimmjow swear at him for like ten minutes before he would get bored and go back to sleep.
Nnoitra on the other hand was wide awake the whole time, trying his hardest not to fall asleep. The whole thing with Grimmjow waking up like every half an hour helped him a little, but he was too stressed about falling asleep to actually feel comfortable in any way. What if the others heard him having his weird dreams? What if Nel heard him? These questions were driving him crazy!
“Why are you still awake?”, asked Ulquiorra’s monotonous voice, making him jump and almost shriek.
“I-I-I…”
“You’ve been awake ever since we decided to go to bed and you keep pretending to be asleep, so what is it?”
Nnoitra sighed. He couldn’t really trust Ulquiorra with his stupid reason. “I am not comfortable…”, he said.
“None of us is comfortable. Yet, to me at least, it looks like you are more on edge and like you are staying awake on purpose.”
Damn Ulquiorra and his observing abilities. “Well…”, he wouldn’t admit the whole truth to him. He couldn’t. But he decided that he shouldn’t completely lie. “I’ve been having some weird dreams… Very realistic ones and…. I usually scream in my sleep! Yeah, that’s it. Tesla keeps nagging me about how often I wake him up.”
Ulquiorra raised an eyebrow at him, not looking that convinced but Grimmjow’s loud “Ouch!” and “I’m going to obliterate this fucking table!”, got his attention before he could comment anything.
“Shut it, trash.”
“Screw you! Why don’t you sleep here instead, you fucking perfect being, huh?!”
Ulquiorra stood up then. “That’s actually a good idea. Nice job, Grimmjow. I didn’t expect you to actually propose something smart.”
Grimmjow started another fit as they changed positions with Ulquiorra and Nnoitra sighed and turned to his other side. This was going to be a very long night.
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“Good morning!”, said Orihime cheerfully as she opened the door of her room. “Did everyone sleep well?”
Stark was still sleeping, Grimmjow grumbled something incomprehensible, Ulquiorra nodded in the positive, even though he still looked a little drowsy and Nnoitra nodded slowly, even though his dark circles were pretty visible.
Orihime stared at them a little worried. “Well, I can tell that Stark is definitely sleeping well, but the rest of you seem out of it.”
“Grimmjow and I had some arguments that kept us up quite a long time after we supposedly went to bed. As for Nnoitra…”
“Nightmares.”, he said. He quickly looked away afterwards.
Orihime pouted. “Oh, that’s terrible. I’m going to go to the bakery I work at to get us some breakfast. Does anyone want to join me? It’s really nice outside.”
Grimmjow growled. “I’ll take a bath.”
Ulquiorra looked at him raising an eyebrow. “Well, I’m going to join you, Orihime. I’ll take a bath after the trash over there.”
“Of course you’d join her.”, said Grimmjow with a smirk, before entering the bathroom.
On the other hand, Nnoitra didn’t seem to be in the mood to mock him. “I’ll wait here. Are the girls going with you?”
“Nah, they both want to go outside later to see the town, but they need breakfast first. They are getting ready and they will soon join you.”
“Great…”, said Nnoitra.
He looked so exhausted that Orihime pitied him. “I’ll get you some strong coffee.”, she said.
“Whatever.”, he said, lying back on his sleeping bag.
Orihime, waited a moment for Ulquiorra to get ready and soon they both went out.
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The sun felt nice decided Ulquiorra. The last time he was in Karakura he didn’t have the time to appreciate the scenery, but now, he had to admit he really liked it.
Orihime was humming to herself. She then looked at him with a soft smile. “Looks like you like Karakura so far.”
Ulquiorra nodded. “It’s… different.”
Orihime chuckled. “It sure is! Anyway, what happened last night? Only Stark seemed to be comfortable. Were you guys that uncomfortable? If yes, I can always arrange it so you can have the bed-“
“It wasn’t due to the quality of sleeping.”, said Ulquiorra. He was surprised by how quickly she offered her bed to them. And in her room in Hueco Mundo, there was only that couch. “Grimmjow had lain down next to your table and instead of moving it or asking to sleep elsewhere, he would wake up because he would collide with it and thus wake me up.”
“Why didn’t he move the table? Or ask me to do so?”
“Because he is an idiot. As for Nnoitra… He was refusing to sleep because he claimed he makes noise in his sleep.”
“Oh. So he is having nightmares and he makes noise because of them. Poor him.”
“For some reason, I’m not sure that’s the case. He looked like he was hiding something.”
“Maybe he is embarrassed for acting like that. I mean he is a proud man.”
“He didn’t act embarrassed and he seemed to make this claim to appease my curiosity.”
“I see. Oh, here we are.”
They had arrived at a small bakery. Orihime entered and greeted the person working behind the counter with extreme joy. “Hello Ms. Kobayakawa!”
“Hello Orihime.”, said the older woman. She was around her 60s. She looked at Ulquiorra curiously. “And who might that be? I didn’t know you have a boyfriend.”
Orihime laughed nervously. “He is just a friend. His name is Ulquiorra. He and some other friends are visiting.”
“Oh, I see. Is he from another country? “, she asked obviously curious about Ulquiorra’s name.
“Yeah, he is from Spain.”, she said so naturally, that it was obvious Urahara had advised her to say so in case someone got curious with their unique names. “He always wanted to visit Japan and after staying in Tokyo for a week, he came to visit me along with his travel buddies. He doesn’t know how long they’ll stay here but it’s nice to have company. Now, I would love to get some stuff so that we can have a proper breakfast and also a very strong coffee. One of the others had trouble sleeping in a new inviroment.”
“Of course. How many of you are there?”
“Seven in total.”
The woman nodded and went to get the stuff Orihime would point at her. After that, she went to make the coffee. Ulquiorra suddenly realized something that made him very uncomfortable. “Orihime, can you afford this?” He knew that maybe that was a bit rude to ask her, but now he was genuinely worried that he and the others were about to add many expenses to the young girl.
Orihime smiled at him, showing him that she wasn’t offended in the slightest. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve been saving up some money and this is my workplace. That means I have a discount in some of the products.”
Ulquiorra wasn’t really ok with what she told him but he didn’t argue. He knew that an aunt was responsible for her house expenses but now that she had a job, she probably covered some of her own expenses with the money. And she definitely didn’t earn enough to sustain seven people for long. Their visit couldn’t be too long.
The walk back to the house was quiet. Ulquiorra enjoyed the morning breeze and the sun on his skin. He was holding two bags with food.
Orihime was humming again and she was holding Nnoitra’s coffee and one more bag. They soon reached their destination. When they entered they spotted Nnoitra sitting with Nel and Hallibel on the kitchen table. He seemed grumpy while the two women seemed sympathetic to his situation. Grimmjow was drying his hair and Stark was probably in the shower from the sound of it. “We brought breakfast! “
She placed one bag on the table and Ulquiorra did the same. She then approached Nnoitra and offered him his coffee. Nnoitra looked at it curiously. “What does it do exactly?”, he asked genuinely.
Orihime chuckled. “I forgot that you probably have never had coffee before. It’s like tea, but stronger and a little bitter in my opinion, but you can add sugar if you want to.”
Nnoitra looked at it and took a small sip. It was obviously a little too warm for his liking but he didn’t seem to hate it. “Thanks… I hope it will be helpful.”
“As for the rest of you, I can make you tea if you prefer and I also have orange juice and milk.”
They all helped Orihime to set the table and they all chose a different beverage. They had breakfast in silence generally but it was obvious that the Espada enjoyed it. Ulquiorra still felt uneasy for the fact that the girl was going out of her way for them.
Orihime smiled at them. “Now, I have arranged a meetup with Ichigo and the others at the park nearby. He has no idea you guys are here.”
“Hell yeah!”, shouted Grimmjow.
“Aren’t you excited, huh?”, said Nnoitra in a mocking tome. It seemed like he had regained his energy after the coffee.
“Nel is also excited.”, said the girl. Nnoitra frowned at her, but didn’t say anything.
Orihime would have felt jealous but after her talk with Nel the night before, she knew that she had feelings for someone else and judging by his reaction, he also felt something. Orihime grinned. She should tell Nel when she got the chance.
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They all followed Orihime to the park and all of them would occasionally stop to look at the scenery much to Orihime’s amusement. They arrived at the park and all of them focused on something different; Hallibel on the small river it had, Stark on the people that were taking a nap underneath some trees, Nel at all the human children that played together, Nnoitra on some guys playing ball and Ulquiorra at some of the birds that could be spotted in the tree branches. The whole park seemed alive to them.
Oh and Grimmjow was charging at Ichigo who hadn’t spotted them yet. Orihime tried to warn Ichigo but Grimmjow jumped and tackled him before she could say anything. “Gah! What the hell?! Grimmjow?!”, shouted Ichigo in shock.
“And there goes my surprise…”, mumbled Orihime.
“It’s been a while Kurosaki! I want a rematch!”, shouted Grimmjow while pinning Ichigo down.
“Grimmjow… How…?” Ichigo then realized that he didn’t have his hollow mask. “Are you in a gigai? What on earth is going on?!”
Orihime approached. “The Espada decided to visit… I wanted to surprise you, but Grimmjow kind of ruined it…”
Ichigo managed to kick Grimmjow off of him. He landed between Chad and Uryu, who had been sitting nearby and watching at the whole scene curiously. “Is it wise for them to be here?”, asked Uryu unbothered by Grimmjow landing next to him.
Orihime sighed. “I wanted them to visit. I’m glad they are here.”
“Does the Soul Society know about it?”, asked Ichigo while dusting himself off.
Orihime looked away. “No… Urahara brought them here after my request. But don’t worry they won’t stay for over a week. They wanted to see the world of the living…”
Ulquiorra noticed that Orihime wasn’t telling Ichigo about the real reason they were there, but he noticed Chad and Uryu exchange knowing glances. These two knew and if Ulquiorra guessed correctly, they were glad they had arrived as aid. Ulquiorra approached Ichigo. “Ichigo Kurosaki, it’s been a while. We will do our best and try not to cause any disturbances as long as we remain here.”
Ichigo sighed. “I don’t really care to be honest. Though you will have to tame him.”, he said while pointing at Grimmjow who had managed to almost sneak up on Ichigo.
Ulquiorra barely acknowledged Grimmjow. “We’ll try our best.”
Suddenly Nel jumped at Ichigo and hugged him. “Ichigoooo! Nel missed you so much!”
Orihime didn’t miss the way Nnoitra frowned and looked away. She giggled a little at that. Ichigo looked at Nel curiously. “Nel…. Are you in your child form?”
Nel nodded. “The gigai is of adult Nel, but inside of it is child Nel.”
“I see…”, said Ichigo confused.
“Oi! Kurosaki! I’m right here! Fight me!”, shouted Grimmjow.
Ichigo frowned. “Grimmjow, you do realize that I have no powers, right?”
Grimmjow got into a fighting stance. “We can still use our fists!” He charged at Ichigo who sighed, avoided the punch and kicked Grimmjow on his abdomen.
Grimmjow fell to his knees gasping for breath, while Nnoitra barked out a laugh at the scene. “You’re ridiculous, Grimmjow!”, shouted Nnoitra.
“H-How….?”, growled Grimmjow.
“You have human bodies now.”, said Uryu. “You don’t have your usual powers.”
“Trash.”, said Ulquiorra and decided to sit down with the others. They had a picnic going on. Hallibel and Stark also joined the ones sitting.
Nnoitra glanced at a ball that Chad had with him. “What is this exactly? I saw some guys playing with one.”
“You want to play ball?”, asked Chad.
“I don’t really know how to play….”, he said a little uncomfortable.
Chad nodded. “You don’t need to know. Come, I’ll show you.”
“Nel wants to play too.”
The three of them went a little farther and they started throwing the ball at each other with Chad explaining how to throw the ball like they were playing volleyball.
Ichigo sat down as well and Orihime did the same. “I know that it was a little sudden, but I’m having fun with them around.”
Ichigo smiled at her. “I suppose I’ve also missed having people from other worlds around.”
Grimmjow was still lying on the ground unconscious. “Should we do something about him?”, asked Orihime.
“Nah.”, said Ichigo.
“He is trash.”, said simply Ulquiorra.
Orihime chuckled. Things actually seemed to be going well for now.

Chapter Text

Nel was exhausted after playing with Chad and Nnoitra for two hours, but Nnoitra seemed like he was bursting with energy. He sat next to her and his grin seemed even wider than usual. “What’s going on? You were exhausted this morning.”
Nnoitra looked at her with a confused expression. “I’m not sure but I’m starting to think it has to do with what that woman gave me to drink.”
Orihime who had overheard them chuckled uncomfortably. “Heh… Yeah, maybe that coffee was a little too strong for someone that never had something similar before…”
Nnoitra looked at her wearily. “So what’s the deal? Don’t I sleep anymore? Do I have a new power or something? Or-“
Orihime shook her hands to cut him off. “You just get an energy boost for a while but when it wears off you will want to sleep more than anything.”
Nnoitra swetdropped. “Great… Just what I needed…”
Nel looked at him a little concerned. “You don’t have to worry about sleeping that much. Even if you have nightmares, no one is going to judge you.”
Nnoitra looked at her and sighed. “Believe me, you don’t wanna know…”
“Huh?” Nel looked at him confused but he didn’t elaborate. She sighed. “Well at least you had fun today despite being exhausted.”
Nnoitra grinned at her again. “From what Chad said, humans have what they call sports that require the use of a ball. It’s interesting, don’t you think?”
Nel nodded. She then turned to look at the setting sun and Nnoitra did the same. “Nel had forgotten how beautiful a sunset can be.”
Nnoitra didn’t say anything but he was also mesmerized from the beautiful colors the sky had.
Not very far, Ulquiorra, Stark and Harribel were also admiring the sunset as Orihime was explaining to them that it was a common activity of hers to go and see it with her friends.
Ichigo on the other hand was wrestling with Grimmjow while Chad and Uryu looked at them with exasperated expressions. “Should we do something about this?”, asked Chad.
“I don’t think there’s a reason to.”, said Uryu with a heavy sigh as Grimmjow flew over his head by one of Ichigo’s punches.
It was obvious that Grimmjow wasn’t used to his new body’s weaknesses. Ichigo glared at him. “Are you done already? You are going to end up very badly injured if you keep attacking me.”
Orihime sighed as Grimmjow dizzily got up and staggered towards Ichigo yet again. “Maybe we should head back home and rest for today. Tomorrow I will walk you guys around town so that you can move around on your own on Monday when I’ll be at school. We should also grab something to eat. I am starving.”
Ulquiorra looked at her with a worried expression. She was living alone and she only had a part time job. She shouldn’t be wasting much money on them. “Maybe we could help you cook…”, he offered.
Orihime dismissed him with a wave and a small smile. “I’ve already planned this for tomorrow. Today we will grab some burgers and head back home.”
Ulquiorra sighed and stood up along with Harribel and Stark. The two other arrancar looked at him with worry in their eyes. Ulquiorra didn’t acknowledge them and he simply grabbed Grimmjow by the collar of his shirt and started following Orihime back to her house.
Grimmjow was swearing and threatening Ichigo, but the other man barely looked at him. “Good night, Orihime. Take care and if you need any help with them, you can always tell me.”, said Ichigo.
Orihime nodded and waved at the others. Harribel and Stark noticed that Nel and Nnoitra had stayed sitting on the ground and they were still talking. Harribel smiled at them. “I’m glad they are getting along.”
Stark nodded. “Me too. But we have to get moving. I don’t remember the way back to the house.” He then approached the other two and they both stood up and followed behind them all the while conversing.
Harribel and Stark shared a knowing smile with each other.
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The food was pretty good and after a while they felt stuffed. They had all been conversing about one thing or another with Nnoitra being a little too energetic probably due to the caffeine still running in his system. Nel was giggling at his antics.
Ulquiorra approached Orihime when the others were getting ready to go to bed. She was washing the dishes and humming to herself. “Orihime…” The girl gasped, obviously startled by his presence. “Sorry to scare you…”
Orihime giggled and waved her hand to reassure him she was ok. “Don’t worry about it, Ulquiorra. I just didn’t realize you were there.” She then looked at his expression and Ulquiorra realized that probably he looked sad. “What’s the matter?”
A part of him was proud that he managed to express his emotions with his face but he needed to focus on communicating why he was feeling down. “Is it really ok for you to be spending so much money on us? I don’t want to be rude, but can you really afford to have us here that long?”
Orihime blinked at him. Ulquiorra felt that maybe he had said something he shouldn’t have but he didn’t want the girl to have issues with her life because of him… again! Orihime then burst out laughing and it was Ulquiorra’s turn to blink. Did he say something funny?
Orihime smiled at him, which he perceived was a good sign. “Don’t worry about it, Ulquiorra. Urahara has given me some extra money to help with whatever expenses you guys might have.”
Ulquiorra blinked and nodded at her. He looked away feeling a little ashamed. “I’m sorry for saying it like that…”
Orihime then held his hands and his eyes widened in surprise. “It’s ok. Thank you for worrying about me, Ulquiorra.”
Ulquiorra felt his eyes widen and a warmth on his chest that he couldn’t understand. He didn’t feel like asking Orihime about it though. It felt more… personal.
Orihime’s smile widened and she giggled. “Now, let’s go see if the others are ready to go to bed.”
Ulquiorra followed her to the living room. Nnoitra had faceplanted on his sleeping bag and was at a point where he was snoring. Nel was giggling. “Finally! He had so much energy before…”
Orihime noticed that something seemed different about the way Nel spoke. “Nel are you-?
“I’m on my adult form, yeah. I just turned. Well, it feels nice not to have to change to adult clothes from the children ones for once.”
Grimmjow was lying down on his own sleeping bag, but he was growling and grumbling how annoying Ichigo was. Harribel and Stark were outside on the balcony, talking with each other.
Orihime clasped her hands. “Okay guys, let’s go to sleep! We are going shopping tomorrow! I will also show you around Katakura!”
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They woke up relatively early. Nel slipped outside of Orihime’s room to check on the boys. She was surprised to find Ulquiorra, Grimmjow and Stark awake. They were all looking at Nnoitra with concerned expressions. Nel also approached to see Nnoitra tossing and turning like he was having a nightmare. “Oh, no! Should we wake him?”
Stark shook his head. “I’m not sure we should wake someone up when they are having a bad dream. We might scare him more…”
Nel looked at Nnoitra worried. He had started sweating and he even looked a little red. He then gasped. “Gah! Dammit, Nelliel!” He then woke up gasping for air like mad.
Realization hit him and his eyes widened. He looked at Nel terrified. The others turned at her with confused expressions as well. Nel’s eyes widened in shock. She was the reason he was having nightmares! That was why he was so defensive about the whole thing.
His face turned even redder and he rose up at amazing speed, shouting; “Got to go to the bathroom!”
The others looked at Nel shocked as well. Nel stared after him completely lost in thought.
“Holy shit! You actually broke his mind if he has nightmares about you!”, said Grimmjow.
Nel looked at him with a pained expression but she didn’t say anything. I’ve managed to terrify him to that extent!? I’m such a terrible person, she thought.
Orihime then opened the door yawning. She looked at them confused. “What’s going on?” Harribel also came out and looked at them curiously.
“Nnoitra had a nightmare.”, said Stark, without going into much detail.
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Nnoitra had taken a quick cold shower and his heart was racing like crazy. His face couldn’t stop being red no matter how much cold water he threw on himself. This was… a disaster! His worst fears came true! Nel was going to think of him as nothing more than a lowly pervert and worst of all the others would mock him too.
He had screwed up big time. And now Nel would hate him. Not that he didn’t deserve it, but the reason would be stupid. He held his face in his hands and sighed. He was such a terrible mess. How on earth did he manage to screw up so bad?
He entered the shower and he allowed himself to lean on the wall. He felt exhausted. He missed Tesla. He sincerely hoped that he was having better luck with his love life.
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Orihime had taken the Espada on a walk and was showing them around town so that they could navigate themselves the following day. Nel and Nnoitra were walking on a distance and neither was looking at the other. They both looked out of it and so the others weren’t bothering them.
Orihime finished her tour with their arrival to the closest shopping center. “Well, let’s go and pick you guys some clothes. You are going to need more than one outfit for the rest of the week.”
The others nodded and followed her. Grimmjow was feeling like somebody was watching them though and he couldn’t shake off the feeling. He supposed they were a weird bunch of people with such peculiar hair and all but still… Something felt off.
As they were walking towards a shop, a dark haired guy with a white shirt bumped on him. “Watch where you’re going!”, growled Grimmjow.
The man looked at him curiously before apologizing and leaving. Grimmjow stared after him curious about whether that guy had been the reason for his weird feeling, but he seemed to completely ignore their crew. As he looked back though, he did notice another man with a leather jacket and his hair slicked back staring at them. The man blinked and turned to leave. Grimmjow’s feeling suddenly disappeared.
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They all shopped some more outfits for themselves and returned to Orihime’s home after grabbing a bite. She had showed them the way to Karakura High and they would go to pick her up the following day.
There was obvious tension between Nnoitra and Nelliel, but neither of them was eager to address the situation. Furthermore, the other Espada that also believed what Nelliel believed decided to respect him for having some sort of PTSD trauma regarding the girl he was also attracted to.
Monday arrived and Orihime left early for school. The Espada started waking up a few hours after that and they were pleasantly surprised to find some breakfast with goods from Orihime’s bakery. Nnoitra was glad to see that there was no coffee in said breakfast. He glanced at Nel for a moment and she glanced back. They both immediately looked away. Nnoitra felt heat on his cheeks and he hated himself even more about this whole ordeal. This whole thing was such a mess. He needed to contact Tesla. He would know what to do to salvage the situation.
Ulquiorra noticed the tense situation between the other two arrancar and decided to bring their attention to more neutral matters, like. “We should go pick Orihime up. She has her job to go to after school so we shouldn’t keep her waiting.”
“Kurosaki is also going to be there.”, said Grimmjow while grinning evilly.
“Didn’t he kick your butt enough times already? Why do you want to go through that again?”, asked Harribel annoyed.
Grimmjow glared at her. “I wasn’t used to this body then, but now I am! And I will take my revenge!”
“Yeah…. Because two days in your new body with no training and after getting your butt kicked in it are enough for you to be prepared for a fight with Kurosaki…”, said Stark.
Grimmjow growled at him. “Fuck you!”
“Language!”, shouted Harribel.
“Isn’t Nel an adult?!”, shouted Grimmjow.
“It doesn’t matter. I still don’t want you to swear!”, said Harribel while crossing her arms. “I’m going to change.”, she said and turned to Orihime’s room, followed by Nel.
The guys decided to do the same and grabbed their new outfits. Ulquiorra was wearing a T-shirt with some band on it (he had no idea who they were) and some dark jeans. Grimmjow was wearing a black long sleeved shirt and white pants, Nnoitra a red hoodie and white pants (he did indeed like the hoods) and Stark wore a green hoodie with blue comfortable pants. He did look more normal this way.
Harribel entered the room wearing a purple mini dress with her brown leather jacket and her cowboy boots, while Nel was wearing a long-sleeved white dress. Nel tried to look at Nnoitra but when their eyes met, he immediately looked away, red tinting his cheeks.
Nel knew that they had to talk about the whole thing but she’d rather have that conversation without the other Espada around. She looked down and sighed. Harribel looked at her with a worried expression, before she turned to the rest. “Let’s get going. It’s about time Orihime finishes her classes.
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The walk to Karakura High was quiet but that gave the opportunity to Ulquiorra to observe his surroundings even more and he had to admit, he really liked the world of the living.
They reached the high school with quite ease considering they had only seen the way once and they definitely got the attention of the students there. Uryu was the first recognizable face they saw. “So, you came to get Orihime?”, he asked looking a little annoyed.
“Indeed.”, replied Ulquiorra. “I wish we weren’t getting stared as much though.”
“You do look out of place.”, said Uryu while sweatdroping. “No offence.”
It was then that Orihime joined them, beaming at them. “I’m so glad you made it! Oh, I wish Tatsuki hadn’t left in such a hurry so that I could introduce you!”
The other students stared at them even more curiously now that Orihime had greeted them. Ulquiorra was starting to feel a little uncomfortable. “You guys sure do know how to make an entrance.” That was Ichigo Kuroaski approaching them with an annoyed expression.
“Kurosaki! It’s time for a rematch!”, shouted Grimmjow who charged blindly at him… Only for Ichigo to sidestep the attack and punch Grimmjow in the face with a bored expression.
The others simply stared at the scene with no emotion as Grimmjow fell back. To Ulquiorra’s surprise that actually made the other students look away and simply act like it was a normal occurring.
“Well… I’ve got to get to work.”, said Ichigo while a dark haired boy and a brown haired one appeared at his sides to walk with him.
Orihime giggled. “Well, I should be getting to my job too. Come on, I will offer you some of our best treats. It’s on the house this time!”
The Espada seemed pleased with the plan, except… “Wait! Kurosaki! I’m coming with you!”
That was Grimmjow who ran after Ichigo before the others could stop him. Orihime looked at him wide eyed. “Should we worry about him…?”
Ulquiorra shook his head. “He is trash. He will be fine.”
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Grimmjow managed to catch up with Ichigo and his friends who looked a little scared. Ichigo on the other hand sighed and barely acknowledged him. “Come on, Kurosaki! I want a real fight between us!”
Ichigo pinched his nose. “When are you going to realize that you need to train in this new body so that you can actually fight back?!”
Before Grimmjow could answer a voice yelling was heard behind them. “Ah! Son of a bitch!”
A man with his hood down ran past them and he was carrying a bag. Right after him another man was trying to catch him. “Hey stop! Give me back my bag, asshole!”
The man had dark hair slicked back and was wearing a leather jacket. A wave of familiarity hit Grimmjow, but before he could voice anything Ichigo tossed his own bag on his dark haired friend and ran after the thief. “Hey! Kurosaki, wait!”, shouted Grimmjow and ran after them as well.
Ichigo managed to catch up with the thief and he immediately punched him in the face. The man fell back, but he suddenly drew a knife out of his sleeve. Grimmjow growled. “Kurosaki, be careful!”
That was a first for him. To look out for Kurosaki. He guessed it was because he wanted to be the one to defeat the other man. Ichigo, without much difficulty manahed to grab the hand the man had the knife in and delivered another punch to his face. After that the man fled with a broken nose and Ichigo retrieved the stolen bag. Grimmjow had to admit that he was impressed. A mere human to be able to cause so much damage was intriguing. Ichigo smirked at him and Grimmjow smirked back. “Well, you are better than I thought.”
Ichigo suddenly looked down. “Better as a human…”
Grimmjow frowned. It was unfair. He wanted a real fight with the substitute Shinigami and not these stupid brawls. Ichigo shook his head and looked at the bag. “We should return this.”
The turned and the man that possessed the bag had caught up to them. Grimmjow’s widened as recognition hit him. He was the man from the shopping center. The one that gave him the feeling that they were being watched. Could it really be a coincidence?
The man grinned brightly as Ichigo offered him his bag. “Woooaaaaah! Holy shit man that was awesome! Thanks!” He then turned at Grimmjow still smiling brightly. “And I saw you at the mall yesterday! What a coincidence!”
Grimmjow merely raised his eyebrow and Ichigo noticed it. The man chuckled and seemed undeterred by their lack of reaction. “You two must be hungry, right? I’ll treat you to some ramen or something. How about it?”
Before Grimmjow could say anything, Ichigo answered. “No thanks.” Grimmjow shared a look with Ichigo. Ichigo had realized that something bothered him. “Let’s go, Grimmjow. Oh and don’t tell anybody I punched someone since it’d be a pain in the ass if they got pissed at me later.”
“Huh…”, said the man. “Okay… I see… That’s too bad.” After Grimmjow and Ichigo left the man shook his bag. “The hell…?” A substitute Shinigami badge was hanging from the now bag. “You’re a lot more careful than I thought… Kurosaki Ichigo.”

Chapter Text

Ichigo was sitting on his bed and Grimmjow was sitting across from him. They both looked very serious. “You sure about that?”
“He definitely gives that creepy stalker vibe.”, replied Grimmjow. They were talking about the man Ichigo helped by retrieving his bag from a thief. “I tell you; he was in the mall and I had the weird feeling that someone had been watching us for a while. When I spotted him, he looked surprised and left. After that I didn’t have the same feeling anymore.”
Ichigo’s frown deepened. “He did seem weird and the fact that he did tell you that he remembers you could be to save face. The thing is what could he possibly want from us?”
Grimmjow shrugged. “Hell, if I know! He could be a Shinigami, but then again, his reiatsu was normal.”
Yuzu’s voice interrupted their talk. “Ichigo! The food is ready! You and your friend can join me!”
Ichigo sighed. His dad would be late due to work and Karin had something to do, thus he didn’t want to leave Yuzu to eat by herself. To his surprise, Yuzu had taken a liking to Grimmjow or more precisely his good looks –much to Ichigo’s irritation- and she had begged Ichigo to have Grimmjow stay for dinner. The arrancar didn’t protest and probably was ok with the offer of a free meal.
The silence at the table was unnerving to Ichigo to say the least. Yuzu was stealing glances at Grimmjow and was squealing in delight whenever he would take a bite of her food, which was… every other second since Grimmjow was eating like a starving man. Ichigo sighed and took a bite of his own.
“So, you like the food, Grimmjow?”, asked Yuzu with a small blush on her face.
Grimmjow looked at her surprised at the question, his mouth full of food. He swallowed with an audible gulp and nodded. “It’s pretty fucking good. Much better than whatever Ulquiorra’s chick cooks anyway…”
Yuzu giggled in delight, while Ichigo growled in annoyance. Not only did he swear in front of Yuzu –if it was Karin he wouldn’t have cared as much- but he also insulted Orihime. “Watch it.”, growled Ichigo.
Grimmjow blinked at him, obviously not understanding why Ichigo was threatening him, but not caring much either since he resumed eating not long after.
Ichigo sighed and picked up his phone. He needed to call Orihime to inform her that Grimmjow was with him, and he would probably stay with him since Ichigo didn’t trust him to return to Orihime’s on his own.
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“It’s Ichigo!”, said Orihime a little surprised to be getting a call from him this late.
Ulquiorra looked at her with a raised eyebrow. She seemed to be in a panic mode or something. She finally picked up the phone after almost throwing it down more than once in her frenzy. “Hey Ichigo…”, she said nervously.
Ulquiorra looked at her curiously. She seemed to be spacing out a little as Ichigo talked to her. “So Grimmjow is still with you? You want me to come pick him up?”
So Grimmjow was once again wreaking havoc, how unexpected! Ulquiorra resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
“Oh, you are ok with that? It really is no trouble for me to just come over. I will ask Ulquiorra to accompany me, so I won’t be alone this late at night… Oh! Yuzu insists that he stays over… Ok, then.”, she chuckled awkwardly at that. “I’ll see you tomorrow at school then. I hope that Grimmjow doesn’t cause you any trouble. Good night!”
Orihime sighed and looked at Ulquiorra with a soft smile. “Maybe I overreacted a little…”
“You were indeed a little too enthusiastic.”
Orihime chuckled. “Looks like tonight, it’s gonna be me, you and Nel only. I hope she is feeling better.”
They had left Nnoitra, Harribel and Stark at Urahara because Nnoitra wanted to talk to Tesla in Hueco Mundo and Harribel and Stark noticed that Urahara had booze to offer and thus they should stay there till Nnoitra is finished. Orihime was certain that they would all sleep there since it was getting too late.
Nel had stayed in the room she shared with Orihime and it was obvious that she was down. The whole thing with Nnoitra had made her question herself a lot.
“Let’s go to bed, shall we?”, she said while closing the television. Ulquiorra had been curious about it and thus Orihime had put a movie for them to watch. Nel had stayed a little bit with them but after a while she excused herself and went to bed. “Goodnight, Ulquiorra.”
“Goodnight, Orihime.”
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Stark looked at how much more at ease Harribel looked and he couldn’t help but smile. She almost looked relaxed. “Urahara sure is interesting.”, he said to her.
Their host was a little eccentric if Stark was truly honest with himself, but he was a good drinking buddy to both.
“Speaking of which, where is he?”, asked Harribel. He had gone to the next room to get more sake, but it had taken him a while to return.
“Beats me.”, replied Stark, not really bothered. He glanced at Harribel and he supposed she didn’t care that much either.
“Okay, okay! Sorry, I’m late you guys, but I had a customer.”, said Urahara suddenly entering the room. He was holding a bottle of sake.
“At this hour?”, asked Stark while he glanced behind Urahara. His eyes widened in surprise since the person he saw was a young girl with dark hair in a ponytail. She resembled someone he knew a little too much. “Is that-?”
“That’s Kurosaki’s sister, Karin. She was in need of some of my merch. You see, seeing spirits can get a little exhausting for some.”
“Shouldn’t you escort her back to her house?”, asked Harribel.
Urahara dismissed her with a wave of his hand. “She is pretty capable of protecting herself. Don’t underestimate a Kurosaki.”
Harribel didn’t look that convinced but she didn’t press the subject. Stark opened the new bottle and served a cup to the others before pouring one for himself. “Hope that Nnoitra gets the help he needs.”
“Don’t you want to talk to Lilynette? You’ve been apart for quite a while.”, asked Harribel while taking a sip of her drink.
“She is fine.”, replied Stark while downing his drink. “I’ve been feeling positive reinforcement from her. We are still the same being in a way, but a different person.”
“That doesn’t make much sense.”, said Urahara while downing his own drink.
“Well, it doesn’t have to make sense.”, said Stark while shrugging. He then turned to Harribel. “Aren’t you worried about your girls?”
It was Harribel’s turn to shrug. “Not really. Apachi and Mila Rose are very hot headed, and they might fight a lot, but I trust Sung Sun to have keep her head on her shoulders and be responsible while we are absent.”
Stark nodded and poured some more drinks for all of them. He hoped that Orihime hadn’t stayed up waiting for them, though he was certain that Ulquiorra wouldn’t let her.
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Nnoitra was a little surprised to say the least when Tesla appeared on the screen with his hair and clothes disheveled and a stupid grin on his face. He didn’t even seem to find Nnoitra’s appearance weird. “Hello master Nnoitra. I hope you are having a great time in the World of the Living!”
Nnoitra blinked. “… Right… I need your advice on something… Are you ok…?”
Tesla laughed. Not a simple chuckle but a full-blown laugh. “I’m perfectly fine, master Nnoitra-“
“Are you high?”, said Nnoitra not really getting how on earth he got high in Hueco Mundo of all places.
Tesla rubbed the back of his head. “No… Can’t I just be happy because I saw you?”
“I see.”, said Nnoitra with a frown. Realization had just hit him. After all, Tesla was too excited, but he didn’t show any sign of being high or drunk and Nnoitra was no fool. “You got laid, didn’t you?”
Tesla paled and choked on his own saliva. Nnoitra rolled his eyes. “Sir, I-“
“Cut the crap, Tesla. There is no other reason you would be like that. Congratulations, I suppose. Took you long enough.”
Tesla suddenly started panicking. “Sir, I… I…”
“I don’t care and Harribel doesn’t care either, so stop that stuttering already!”
Tesla took a deep breath. “Right. Thank you, sir. So, what’s your problem?”
Nnoitra suddenly looked nervous. “Nel heard me.”, he said simply.
“Huh?”
“She heard me talking in my sleep you idiot! She knows and she must think I’m disgusting and she will probably hate me now and-“
“Sir!”, Tesla looked at him with a worried expression. “Did you talk to her about it?”
“Huh? Why would I do that?”
Tesla gaped at him for a moment. He then shook his head and looked at him as seriously as he could. “You need to address the situation and not ignore it forever. She will understand.”
“Oh great! And what would I tell her, may I ask? Oh, I know! Nelliel I only think of you that way when I fall asleep, and I can’t control my thoughts!” Nnoitra was breathing heavily after he finished his rant.
Tesla rolled his eyes and sighed. “You won’t say it like that… Tell her that you apologize and feel extremely humiliated about the whole situation and it was a very weird dream. It happens to the best of us.”
Nnoitra crossed his arms and frowned. “Yeah…. No. I ain’t doing all that crap. Besides she won’t want to talk to me at all.”
“You don’t know that unless you try, master Nnoitra.”
Nnoitra sighed and looked at Tesla a little more relaxed than before. “I’ll think about the approach. I’ll have to go to bed soon, this body is far weaker than my real one and I need rest. So, I guess goodnight, Tesla.”
Tesla smiled, knowing that he had at least gotten through to him even just a tiny bit. “Goodnight, master Nnoitra.”
“Have fun with your little girlfriend.”, said Nnoitra with a smirk.
Tesla suddenly turned red, but before he could say anything, Nnoitra disconnected the call. He looked down, deep in thought. Tesla was right. Dammit!
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Grimmjow was following Ichigo to school much to the latter’s annoyance. He had been quite annoying the whole night, always trying to sneak on him and with his father doing the same thing in the morning the idiot got the idea that it actually is a human custom or something. Karin had simply raised an eyebrow when she looked at Grimmjow, probably realizing that he was a hollow.
Ichigo was certain he looked more grumpy than usual. He occasionally stole glances at Grimmjow to make sure that the buffoon was not wreaking havoc somewhere. Worst of all; he had no idea what Grimmjow would do while he would be at school. He hoped that he remembered the way to Orihime’s house from there or else Ichigo ha no idea where he would go. And he didn’t trust Grimmjow to be on his own at all.
“Hey, Ichigo! Who is that guy?”, a woman with long dark hair approached them.
Ichigo sighed. “Hey, Tatsuki. This is Grimmjow one of the-“
“-Guys who kidnapped Orihime last year.” , finished Tatsuki. Her eyes narrowed and she glared at Grimmjow.
Grimmjow grinned. “Oh, you wanna fight?”
“I wouldn’t provoke her, Grimmjow. She is exceptionally good at martial arts and in a completely physical combat she can beat me.”, said Ichigo exasperated.
“Why is he here?”, asked Tatsuki.
“The Espada are visiting Orihime and he ended up crashing at my house last night, so I brought him here hoping that he remembers his way back to Orihime’s place.”
“And you trust someone like him with Orihime?”
“Hey, I’m right here!”, said Grimmjow, a little offended that they were ignoring him.
Ichigo pinched the bridge of his nose. “Tatsuki, I have already explained to you that Orihime had been bonding with them for the last year and she can handle herself just fine.”
Tatsuki kept on glaring at Grimmjow until Orihime’s voice sounded not very far from them. “Tatsuki! Ichigo! Good morning!”
Grimmjow scowled at her while the other two waved. “Orihime, why on earth are you allowing these guys to crash at your place?”, asked Tatsuki while pointing at Grimmjow.
“I’m still here!”, said Grimmjow almost growling now.
Orihime chuckled. “Don’t worry, Tatsuki. They are completely harmless and it’s fun to have people in the house again.”
Tatsuki’s expression softened at that. She sighed and she punched Orihime on the head, much to both Grimmjow’s and Ichigo’s surprise. “Please be careful and don’t be so trusting with everyone.”
Orihime rubbed her head and chuckled. Grimmjow was looking at the whole scene very confused as to what exactly was going on. Orihime then stood up and smiled. “We need to go to class. I hope you can return on your own back at my place, Grimmjow.”
Tatsuki went to follow Orihime, but not before glaring Grimmjow once more. Ichigo sighed and looked at Grimmjow annoyed. “I have to discuss in which team I will enter this time. You see my contract with the basketball team just ended. You ok to go out on your own?”
Grimmjow looked at him confused. “I have no idea what you just said.”
“It’s a job thing.” Ichigo said but paled at that. “Damn! I forgot to call my boss!”
Grimmjow looked at Ichigo even more confused as he picked up his phone and called someone. Ichigo waited for a moment and sighed as someone obviously picked up. “Hey, Ichigo here. Yeah, about that…. I want to ask for another week off…”
At that, Ichigo almost dropped the phone and a woman’s voice could be heard screaming from the other side. “You idiot!! Do you hear yourself?! First you take last week off, then you don’t appear at all yesterday and now you’re asking to take another week off?!”
“I know and I’m sorry.”, said Ichigo. To Grimmjow, he didn’t sound sorry at all.
“Sorry doesn’t cut it! You’ve gotta a lot of nerve you know that?! Get your butt down here or else you’re fired!”
Ichigo looked unbothered by the threat. “Aw, really? Then I guess there’s nothing I can do.”
“What?!” The woman’s voice sounded panicked now. “No, no, listen! Don’t talk like that, Ichigo!”
“I’m just saying that if you have to fire me for being a slacker who wants to take time off, it can’t be helped. I really am sorry and I appreciate all the time I’ve worked for you.”
“You manipulative motherfucker…”, mumbled Grimmjow with a smirk on his lips.
“It hasn’t been that much time! Only six months! You have yet to see the fun that working odd jobs offers! This is only the beginning of a grand adventure together-”
At that Ichigo ended the call and glared at Grimmjow’s smirking face. “Don’t you dare say a word.”
“Who would have thought that the great and just Ichigo would try to quit his job like that? How so unlike him!”
“Oh, shut up!”
Suddenly a shriek was heard and as the boys turned, they noticed a commotion. Some guys dressed in black had barged in the school and they were also carrying metal pipes. “We’re looking for the one named Kurosaki!”, shouted a big guy that looked like their leader.
“Aren’t you popular?”, asked Grimmjow full of sarcasm.
“Shut up! I have no idea who is this guy!”, shouted Ichigo.
“Show yourself!”, shouted the big guy.
“What era are they from? I don’t know anyone so old-school…”, grumbled Ichigo.
“Well, they do know you though.”, replied Grimmjow.
“One of our boys lost seven teeth thanks to him! Seven!! When two is more than enough!” The big guy had pulled another one in the front. That guy was the one that had attempted the robbery the day before.
Both Grimmjow and Ichigo sweatdropped. “That explains it.”, they both said.
“Heh heh heh! I’m sure you hear me Kurosaki! You’re probably shaking in your boots wondering how I learned your name! It was easy! We got a good look at your face! It was a piece of cake putting two and two together! But listen up, Kurosaki! Until you come out, we of the Miya High Gang are blockading this gate!”
“How threatening…”, mumbled Grimmjow while sweatdropping.
“Hey, you there!”, a new familiar voice yelled. “Drop the retro display. Can’t you see you’re inconveniencing everyone?”. Uryu had come to the gate and he looked pissed.
“Oh, yeah?! And just who are you?! Are you Kurosaki?!”, shouted one of the guys from the other school.
“What did you say?”, asked Uryu while punching the guy in the face and pushing him a few miles away.
The big guy looked at Uryu surprised. “What did you do?! Not taking us seriously, dumbass?!”
“That’s my line. I thought you said you got a good look at his face. So, what part of me looks like Kurosaki?”, asked Uryu, looking annoyed.
“Didn’t know that the Quincy kid had it in him…”, mumbled Grimmjow.
“That blockhead! Did he just come to stir things up?!”, shouted Ichigo and started running at them. Grimmjow followed closely behind, because he did want to take part in that action as well.
“You’re dead meat!”, shouted the guys and charged at Uryu.
Before they could even reach Uryu, Ichigo tackled one of them full force and Grimmjow did the same to another one.
“Who the hell are these two?!”, shouted the big guy.
The guy from the robbery shook. “It’s h-h-h-h-h-him Mr. Obuta! And the blue haired guy was with him, yesterday!”
Ichigo was holding the guy down. Uryu got pissed and kicked Ichigo on the head. “What’d you do that for, Ishida?!”, shouted Ichigo.
“I should be asking you. What are you doing here Kurosaki? And more importantly, what is he doing here?”, he asked while pointing at Grimmjow who was beating another guy and looked ecstatic about it.
“What do you think?! I showed up to take your place! And Grimmjow was leaving!”, shouted Ichigo.
“I’m having too much fun to do that!”, shouted Grimmjow while punching a guy.
“I see now! That orange hair is just as I heard!”, shouted Obuta. “So, you’re Kurosaki!”
Before he could say anything else, both Ichigo and Uryu punched him in the face and send him flying away. After that they started bickering with each other, until the rest of the gang charged at them.
Ichigo, Uryu and Grimmjow were easily taking them on. Ichigo and Uryu continued bickering. “You’ve been going on too many Hollow hunts lately! If the Soul Society notices then what?!”, shouted Ichigo.
Uryu sighed. “They’re not Hollow hunts, they’re hollow exterminations! Don’t say it like I’m doing it for the thrill or something! And I’ve only been going when the Urahara shop sends a request!”
Grimmjow flinched at that. He understood about the necessity of Hollow extermination or whatever they were called, but Urahara supposedly was their communication with the other worlds and learning that he was orchestrating the Hollow killings didn’t sit right with him.
“Urahara should be keeping things in check as far as that goes!”, shouted Uryu.
“Did you forget that until recently he was wanted by the Soul Society?!”, shouted Ichigo.
Grimmjow stared at them surprised. He had no idea. Maybe he should have been paying more attention to what was going on around him. Uryu glanced at him and frowned. “We shouldn’t be talking about that stuff right now! Text me about it later!”
“I don’t know your phone number! And when did you get a phone?!”, shouted Ichigo.
“Mr. Urahara gave me one for helping out at the shop the other day!”
“That phone probably doesn’t work here then!”, said Ichigo annoyed.
“Kurosaki!!!!”, a new voice shouted.
“Great! How many more people have you pissed off?”, asked Grimmjow annoyed.
“Oh, shut up!”, said Ichigo.
A guy with afro hair approached Ichigo with a confident smirk. “Yooo! Kurosaki, it’s been a long time. I’m glad to see you’re looking well. You recognize me, don’t you?”
Ichigo looked at him for a second looking very focused. “Nope. I don’t remember.”, he said in the end and Grimmjow burst out laughing.
The guy got furious and tried to make Ichigo remember him, but Ichigo didn’t much to Grimmjow’s amusement. Before the guy could attack Kurosaki though, he was punched by another person. A woman was standing over some of the other guys that had been previously defeated. “You look like you’re having fun, Ichigo.”
“Ok, now it’s getting kinda annoying.”, said Grimmjow. “She’s hot though.”
“That’s my boss!”, shouted Ichigo looking terrified.
“What?!”, both Uryu and Grimmjow exclaimed.
“Be a good little boy and get abducted by me!”, she shouted.
Before Ichigo could even form a sentence, she pulled him inside of a van. Grimmmjow followed her looking surprised. “May I come with you?”
“Are you his friend?”, asked the woman.
“Nah, I’m just curious about what kind of business you do. If you can throw Kurosaki like he is a sack of potatoes, I’m very interested in it.”
The woman beamed. “Yes, of course! I’m also looking for more employees. So, if you are into the job, you can join! The name is Ikumi Unagiya.”
“Grimmjow Jagerques.”, he said with a confident smirk.
She drove them to her home and Grimmjow was indeed intrigued with the weird jobs this woman was doing.
“But we are not an eel shop! You got that??!”, she shouted looking exasperated.
“Sure…”, said Grimmjow looking quite uneasy.
Ichigo, who had been tied up in a couch finally spoke. “Um, I’ve said it before but you really ought to change the name of your business.”
“What?!”, she shouted. “You’re suggesting I change my precious name that’s been passed down for generation?!”
“That’s not what I meant. You can keep your name, dude, just change the name of the shop.”, said Ichigo.
“No to both! And don’t call me dude! Call me miss Ikumi!” She the tossed papers at Ichigo and yelled at him because he supposedly should have filled them since it was his job.
“You suck…”, mumbled Grimmjow.
“Nobody asked you.”, replied Ichigo. “Why are you even here?”
“I got curious about the way she tossed you around. Plus, she is hot.”, he whispered that last part.
“About that…”, said Ichigo and showed him with his head that Ikumi had changed her clothes and was talking to a small child that was glaring at them both.
Grimmjow frowned. “She has a brat?!”
“Yes… And he hates me because he believes I’m flirting with his old mom.”, replied Ichigo.
After the child went back to his room. Ikumi hit Ichigo on the head. “Ow! What was that for?!”
“For calling me old!”, she said annoyed.
Suddenly the bell rang. Ikumi immediately went to open the door. “A client? Hello, please come in.”
In that instant both Grimmjow and Ichigo froze as the man from the mall and the robbery entered holding something.
“You again?!”, shouted Grimmjow getting on defense and Ichigo glared him.
The man revealed that he was holding a bowl. He smirked at them. “How about some ramen?”
Ichigo and Grimmjow nodded at each other and the both took defensive stances. “No need. We’re an eel shop here.”, said Ichigo.

Chapter Text

“Uryu!” It was Orihime. Not very far from her, much to Uryu’s annoyance was Ulquiorra, following her like a lost dog.
“Orihime?”, questioned Uryu, not really addressing Ulquiorra. Not that the arrancar seemed to mind it.
“Is it true that Ichigo’s been kidnapped?! Ulquiorra was coming to pick me up and saw the whole scene! He also said that Grimmjow followed the kidnapper willingly!”
“Kidnapped… Well, I’m sure it looked like that to the casual observer or to Ulquiorra in that case, but-“
Orihime sprinted to the opposite direction followed by a determined Ulquiorra. “Wait! Where are you going?!”, shouted Uryu.
“To save Ichigo and maybe Grimmjow! I mean, he could be with the enemy!”, shouted the girl.
“Wait!” Uryu grabbed both their hands and pulled the others to stop them from running. “Kurosaki is fine. The one that kidnapped him was the boss at the place he works.”
“His boss?”, asked Orihime confused.
“Is this normal behavior in the human world?”, asked Ulquiorra.
“It definitely isn’t normal behavior, but Kurosaki said so himself. It was his boss and that kind of explains how she was okay with Grimmjow following her.”
“You sure it wasn’t some weirdo?”, asked Orihime.
“Well, sure she seemed weird, but everyone he hangs out with is weird to a degree!”, said Uryu.
“Grimmjow definitely being one himself.”, mumbled Ulquiorra.
Orihime chuckled. “You’re right! That goes for you and me too.”
Uryu sweatdropped. “Huh?! Well… Yeah, I guess…”
“But still…”, said Orihime looking serious. That got Ulquiorra’s attention. “I’ve been feeling this strange air around Ichigo for a while now. That’s why I contacted the arrancar, so that they could help. Have you sensed anything strange, Uryu?”
“No. I haven’t felt anything. Besides, Kurosaki’s always had a strange air about him.”, then Uryu looked at Orihime’s bag. “Oh, if you’re carrying your bag that means you’re on your way home, right? Are you okay on time?”
“Ah!”, exclaimed Orihime in shock as if waking up from a trance. “You’re right! My boss is gonna kill me! Let’s go, Ulquiorra!”, she then grabbed the arrancar and started running, leaving Uryu alone.
As they reached her house, Orihime stopped to catch her breath. She wasn’t looking at Ulquiorra as she spoke. “… I’m sorry…”
Ulquiorra didn’t say anything. He heard her take a deep breath and she continued. “I know that I’ve already told you that I needed your help with figuring out what is going on with Ichigo, but I feel like I’m using you…”
Ulquiorra shook his head. “I don’t feel used. Not by you. You wanted support from friends and that is why you called us here. Isn’t that, right?”
Orihime sighed. “But still… I don’t want to get you into any sort of mess… Even though I’m not sure about what is going on…”
Ulquiorra looked at her in the eyes as he spoke. “I literally kidnapped you. I got you into a terrible mess, as you put it. And yet you forgave me and, in the end, you saved me. The least I can do is assist you with whatever is going on with Ichigo. Also, Grimmjow apparently is already on the case. Though, I’m not sure I trust him on that. Anyway, I’m going to inform Nel with what we know and after you finish with your work, let’s go get the others from Urahara and call Ichigo.”
Orihime looked at him with a surprised expression. She them smiled warmly at him and Ulquiorra felt a weird tingling in his stomach. She suddenly hugged him. Ulquiorra took a second to process what was happening before he returned the embrace. “Thank you, Ulquiorra.”
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“Well. Bon appetite.”, said the man with the ramen.
“Hey.”, said Ichigo. The man ignored him completely and started eating. “I said, hey.”
Grimmjow blinked at the disrespect the other man was showing. He acted like he was completely alone. Ichigo was getting angry. “I’m talking to you! Why are you eating ramen here?!”
“Because you’re not eating it. And if I don’t eat it, it’ll go bad.”, said the man like it was the most obvious thing.
Grimmjow sweatdropped. “He has a point you know…”
“Oh, shut up! Eat it at home! What’d you come here for?! This isn’t your break area! It’s mine!”, shouted Ichigo.
“You come here thinking it’s your break area?”, asked Ikumi, while looking annoyed. “But Ichigo has a point. What are you? A client?”
The man took a big gulp from the bowl and replied in a serious tone. “Of course. I’m a client.” The other three looked at him wearily. “So please. Get me some oolong tea.”
“Is it okay if it is from a bottle?”, asked Ikumi.
“You’re gonna serve him?!”, asked both Ichigo and Grimmjow at the same time.
After Ikumi brought him the bottle, which he quickly downed, Ichigo decided to ask him again. “So, what business do you have with me?”
“And with me?”, asked Grimmjow while crossing his arms.
“That’s awfully strange to say. I’ve got no business with either of you. It was pure chance that I came to this shop. I was looking for a shop that would take a job for me and saw the sign. And when I came in there you were. Just a coincidence.”, said the man with a smirk.
“Coincidence my ass-“, started Grimmjow, but Ichigo stopped him by raising his arm in front of him.
“Is it also a coincidence that you were carrying around a bowl of ramen?”, asked Ichigo.
“And why not? I like ramen.”, replied the man.
“If you’re going to walk around with something because you like it… then I’d be walking around with chocholate.”, said Ichigo.
“You like chocolate, do you? How adorable.”, said the man.
“Don’t try to change the subject.”, said Ichigo.
“Ew, is he hitting on you?”, asked Grimmjow with a scowl.
The man chuckled. Grimmjow made a grimace. “He is not denying it…”, he mumbled and Ichigo sighed.
“Oh, boy. I’ll never get anywhere like this. I didn’t come here for a quarrel.”, the man continued, completely ignoring Grimmjow’s comments. “Young lady, you’re the owner of this shop, right?”
Ikumi blushed at being called young. “Young… Y… Yes, that’s me!”
“Is it okay if we get down to business?”
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Nnoitra felt very weird being the responsible adult for once. Both Stark and Harribel had gotten wasted the night before and he had to carry them back to Orihime’s place all by himself since Urahara had said some bullshit excuse about having to help the brats study. The kids weren’t even home the time he said that and he had pushed Nnoitra and the other two out obviously trying to get rid of them. Nnoitra was growling as he pulled his two hangover companions. His human gigai was definitely far weaker than his normal body and he had to put extra strength to drag them with him.
Suddenly he noticed three familiar figures running towards him. He stared at them surprised but at the same time relieved that he wouldn’t have to drag the other two any longer. “Am I still drunk? …. Why are Ulquiorra, Orihime and Nel running?”, asked Stark.
“I don’t know, but you aren’t wrong on that. They are indeed running here.” His heat started beating rapidly at the sight of Nel and Tesla’s word echoed in his head. He needed to talk to her. And that wasn’t going to be easy at all.
Orihime waved at them, but when she noticed the state that Harribel and Stark were in, her eyes widened and she looked at them obviously shook. “What happened?! Were you attacked?!”
“Yeah, by a formidable foe called alcohol.”, said Nnoitra with an annoyed expression.
“Oh, my!”, said Orihime surprised.
Ulquiorra stared at them and shook his head. “I thought better of you two. Don’t act like trash like Grimmjow.”
Nnoitra raised an eyebrow. It was the first time Ulquiorra would scold the higher ranking Espada. Then again, it was the first time Nnoitra didn’t drink at all and the other two overindulged.
“Urahara Kisuke…. Wouldn’t stop bringing sake…”, mumbled Harribel.
“It was good sake too…”, added Stark.
“And you didn’t drink…?’, asked Nel surprised.
Nnoitra looked at her. It was the first time she talked at him after the whole incident. And it was to doubt him. “Tch! I was talking with Tesla and when I came up to get them, they were already on their fourth bottle and Urahara wasn’t even in sight. They were already laughing like idiots, so I decided to go to sleep instead.”
Nel blinked in surprise. It was obvious that she just processed that they were talking to each other again and she looked down. “I’m sorry for assuming the worst about you…”, she mumbled.
Nnoitra flinched at her answer. He looked away. “I can’t really blame you.” He took a deep breath and looked at Orihime. “How come you guys were coming to get us?”
Orihime snapped out of her shock and got serious, which was quite weird if Nnoitra was honest. “Ichigo has been kidnapped by his boss. And Grimmjow too.”
Nnoitra blinked. “What…...?!”
“To be honest, it isn’t as suspicious as it sounds since his boss is weird from what I figured.”, explained Ulquiorra. “But we still want to check on Ichigo.”
“Right….”, replied Nnoitra. He had forgotten that their main objective was to help Orihime with Kurosaki.
“Since they need help, I will heal them and then we can try calling Ichigo.”, said Orihime.
“You can heal us?”, asked Harribel confused. “We have a hangover, we aren’t injured.”
“I can reject your hangover just like I rejected his death.”, she said while pointing at Ulquiorra. “Well, we shouldn’t do it here though, since anyone can see us. Let’s look for a secluded spot and we’ll do it there.”, she said cheerfully.
She and Ulquiorra looked around at alleys, which left Nel and Nnoitra kind of alone, since both Stark and Harribel were too out of it to focus on anything. It felt very weird.
Nnoitra looked down as he spoke. “We need to talk.”
Nel blinked in surprise. She looked down as well. “Yeah…”
“We found a perfect spot!”, Orihime shouted.
Nnoitra sighed. “After we settle this damn mess.”
Nel simply nodded.
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The man placed a picture on the table. The man on the picture was a very familiar one. “Isn’t that-“ started Grimmjow. Ichigow’s eyes widened.
“His name is…”, said the man.
“Ishin Kurosaki.”, finished Ichigo.
“Huh? You know this man?”, asked the man, seemingly oblivious.
Grimmjow growled and Ichigo looked livid. “Are you mocking me? Ishin Kurosaki is my dad! If you want to know anything about him, just ask! I’ll answer anything you want!”
“So, he’s your old man. That is a coincidence.”, said the man, not sounding surprised at all.
“Oh, is it?”, said Grimmjow while showing his teeth.
“What did you say?”, said Ichigo, also furious.
“But when you say you’ll “answer anything” … Do you really know enough about him to be able to answer anything?”, asked the man. “Actually. You probably don’t even know anything about your own family. Not yet at least.”
Ichigo looked at him shocked, while Grimmjow growled. “Watch it you asshole!”
“What are you saying?”, asked Ichigo, for the first time looking unsure.
“Just what I said. I’m not trying to talk in riddles.”, replied the man with a smug look that was directed at Grimmjow, who was becoming even more infuriated by the second. “How much do you really know about your family? I mean, aren’t there some things you want to learn? Like…”
Ikumi slapped her hand on the table much to everyone’s surprise. “We got it. Just leave us the photo. Shop’s closed for today. You can leave now.”
“What’s all the hurry about? Does that mean you’ll take the case for me?”, asked the man.
“We’ll call you after we think it over.”, replied Ikumi.
The man stood up, looking unbothered. “I see. Then… I’ll leave my number with you.” He then turned one last time to look at Ichigo. “Kurosaki. Go to the Urahara shop yourself. You’ll be sure to see something very interesting there.” After that, he finally exited the shop.
Ichigo looked at Grimmjow and Grimmjow nodded. “We should check whatever the heck he wants.”
Before Ichigo could reply, his phone rang. He picked up, obviously shaken from the previous conversation. “Orihime?”
Grimmjow sighed. “She doesn’t need to worry about me. I don’t need a babysitter.”
Ichigo didn’t answer him and sighed. “I’m perfectly fine, Orihime. And so is Grimmjow. Nothing out of the ordinary.”
Grimmjow looked at him curiously as he reassured the girl and eventually ended the call. “Why did you lie to her?”
“It wasn’t a lie. I just never mentioned what happened with that weird guy. I don’t need her to worry about me and besides, I’m pretty sure that she and Ishida are hiding something from me.”
Grimmjow rubbed the back of his head. “I get it, but you can’t really protect yourself anymore, right? So, maybe you need her protection.”
Ichigo shook his head in the negative. “I don’t care. I can manage on my own. I’ve done it way before.”
They stared at each other for a moment until Ichigo broke the silence. “Boss, I’ll take care of that job.”
Ikumi huffed, but looked at them with a pained expression. “Be careful you two. I didn’t like this guy at all.”
Ichigo smiled. “Don’t worry.”
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“Well, now I’m more worried than I was before!”, shouted Orihime.
Ulquiorra blinked at her. “You don’t trust him?”
“Ichigo always does this. He tries to act like everything is fine and he keeps pushing me away…”
Ulquiorra nodded in understanding. “Maybe we could follow him and figure something out.”
Orihime beamed. “Like a spy! That would be so cool!”
Ulquiorra looked at her with a very curious expression, not really understanding what she was talking about. Then Orihime looked down and she looked sad again, much to his surprise. “But this way I will be disrespecting his privacy…”
Ulquiorra looked ahead in contemplation. He had another idea, but he wasn’t sure the girl would like it. “Didn’t you tell me that he spends a lot of time with that other girl from your school?”
Orihime blinked. “You mean Tatsuki? Yeah, they’ve been hanging out a lot lately…”
“Why don’t you ask her?”
Orihime’s eyes widened in surprise. “You… are right…”, she mumbled.
Ulquiorra tried to give her a sympathetic look. “I know you feel some sort of jealousy towards their relationship, but she might help.”
Orihime looked down. “I hate that I feel this way. I mean they are both my friends and I trust them and Tatsuki probably knows that I fancy Ichigo…”
Ulquiorra nodded. “So, you have nothing to worry about. You might feel that there is a big risk, but there was quite a bigger one when you decided to bring me back to life. And look at how that has been working out for you.”
Orihime blinked in surprise, but eventually smiled at him. “You’re right. And I don’t regret making that choice at all. I’ll arrange a meeting with Tatsuki and I’ll try to learn as many things as possible.”
Ulquiorra nodded and offered her the slightest upwards tilt of his lips, much to the girl’s obvious delight.
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Harribel and Stark were talking with each other and they were generally looking like they never drunk a single drop. Nnoitra was watching them with a scowl in his face. Had he known that Orihime could fix that from the beginning, he would just have called her to Urahara’s to fix them. He glanced at Nel, who had been sitting next to him, yet she hadn’t addressed him at all.
Nnoitra knew that they should talk somewhere more privately, but he was itching for Nel to acknowledge his presence somehow. Before he could say anything though, Nel actually broke the silence. “How is Tesla doing?”
Nnoitra was surprised to say the least. He coughed awkwardly before speaking. “He is doing perfectly fine actually. Sorry, I didn’t ask for your fraccion.”
Nel nodded. “It’s ok. I’m pretty sure they are doing fine…”, she looked away. “Did you tell him about… you know… this?”
Nnoitra sighed. “I needed his advice. Sorry for getting him into this mess as well.”
“You don’t have to apologize. I’d do the same with Pesche and Dondochaka.”
He supposed she would. “I-“ His eye suddenly caught movement of two familiar face going to Urahara’s. “Ain’t that Kurosaki and Grimmjow?”
Nel’s eyes widened and when they glanced at Harribel and Stark, they realized that they seen them too.
“We’ll get Orihime and Ulquiorra.”, said Harribel. “Follow them.”
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Ichigo couldn’t believe his eyes. “Isn’t that your sister?”, asked Grimmjow.
“Karin…? What is she doing at Urahara’s place?”, asked Ichigo feeling very lightheaded all of a sudden.
“Worried?”, asked a voice behind them.
They both turned ready to fight as the man from before emerged from the shadows. “I don’t blame you. When your own little sister is paying visits to some suspicious guy’s place.”
“He’s not suspicious! Urahara is-“, started Ichigo.
“He saved us?”, aske the man. Ichigo’s eyes widened and he looked down in shock.
Grimmjow relaxed his stance a little. “Kurosaki?”
“How much do you know to think that you know anything about that Urahara guy?”, asked the man.
Ichigo suddenly looked defeated. “Kurosaki, ignore him! He is messing with you!”, shouted Grimmjow.
“I’m warning you. Strike while you still can. If you want to protect your family.”, said the man.
“Shut the fuck up!”, growled Grimmjow. “Kurosaki, he is messing with you, he is bluffing!”
“Oh, am I?”, asked the man in a mocking tone.
“Tell me… Your name…”, said Ichigo suddenly. Grimmjow looked at him surprised. “What’s your name?”
“Ginjo.”, replied the man. “Kugo Ginjo.”

Chapter Text

“Don’t get the wrong idea. It’s not like I trust you yet.”, said Ichigo. Grimmjow was next to him and was growling at Ginjo.
Ginjo didn’t flinch and kept his smile on his face. “I’m sure. Well then, I’ll give you this.”
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“What is he giving him?”, mumbled Orihime.
“I can’t really see from this position.”, replied Ulquiorra.
“It’s something really small… I’m the tallest and I ain’t seeing shit.”, said Nnoitra.
“Maybe it’s a phone number…”, offered Stark.
“It is possible…”, replied Orihime.
“What’s a phone number?”, asked Ulquiorra.
“Something that humans use to contact each other.”, explained Harribel.
“And phones are these small devices that humans hold to their ears.”, explained Nel.
“Guys, don’t call us humans like that… It makes me feel like I’m talking to aliens.”, said Orihime sweatdropping.
Ulquiorra blinked before asking; “What do you consider an alien?”
“I’m getting an aneurysm.”, said Nnoitra.
“Shhh! The weird guy is leaving! We should follow him!”, said Harribel.
“Let’s split up!”, proposed Orihime. “Ulquiorra, Nel and I are going after Ichigo and Grimmjow. You three go after the weirdo.”
They all nodded at each other. Nel looked at Nnoitra with a concerned expression. “You guys take care. And don’t try anything stupid.”
Nnoitra allowed a small smirk on his face. “The same goes to you.”
And thus, they all split up again.
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“Welcome back, brother!”, shouted Yuzu as Ichigo entered the house. Suddenly she turned red and started squirming. “You too, Grimmjow.”
Ichigo raised an eyebrow at the exchange and Grimmjow raised his hand in a greeting.
Yuzu’s eyes shined brightly as she approached the both of them. “Look!” She unfolded a piece of paper that wrote 95 with red letters on top. “It’s our first test for the school year and I got a 95! Isn’t’ that great?!”
Ichigo smiled and petted her head. “That’s awesome, Yuzu! Good job! You gotta show that to dad! He’ll be thrilled.” He also elbowed Grimmjow and glared at him while pointing at Yuzu.
Grimmjow growled and rubbed his injured arm, but mumbled a “Congrats kid…”
Ichigo nodded at him and then looked at Yuzu. “Speaking of dad, where is he?”
Yuzu’s excitement vanished from her face and she suddenly looked uncertain. “I dunno. He’s been out since this morning.”
Ichigo exchanged a glance with Grimmjow. “I see. Well, we’ll be in my room if you need anything.”
“Oh brother?”
“Hm? What is it Yuzu?”, asked Ichigo with a forced smile.
Yuzu was looking even more down than a few moments before. “Never mind. It’s nothing.”
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Ichigo threw his bag on his bed. Grimmjow leaned against his closet. “You sister is hiding something.”
Ichigo frowned. “Yeah… Both of my sisters are. And where on earth did that bastard go?”
“You talkin about your old man?”, asked Grimmjow.
“… Can you sense his spiritual pressure?”
Grimmjow looked at him surprised. “I can try, but this body is extremely weak.”
“If I still had my powers…” Ichigo suddenly blinked and laughed awkwardly. “What am I thinking? I guess I’m still not over it.”
“Ichiiiigo! Ichiiiiigo!”, shouted someone from outside.
Both him and Grimmjow looked outside his window and saw Orihime holding a basket full of bread. She was accompanied by Nel and Ulquiorra. “Want some bread? It’s a steal!”
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The group of three joined Ichigo in his room and they all started eating the bread Orihime brought. “I’m not sure we can eat all this…”, said Ichigo.
“Speak for yourself.”, said Grimmjow with a mouthful of bread.
Ichigo simply sweatdropped. “Didn’t we eat the same amount of food today?”
“Yeah, but you eat too little. I don’t understand how you maintain yourself.”
Ichigo sighed and turned his attention to the other three. Nel was looking at the room excitedly. “Nel, really likes your room.”
“Thanks… I suppose you are in your child form…”, said Ichigo.
“She transformed in the way here.”, explained Ulquiorra. “We hope that the trash over here didn’t bother you much.”
“Hello! I’m right here!”, shouted Grimmjow while he spat bread crumps everywhere.
Ichigo dusted some of those crumbs from his shirt before replying. “Most of the time I can barely tell he is here.”
“Screw you!”, shouted Grimmjow and downed another big piece of bread.
Ichigo shook his head in annoyance. Orihime gulped her bread and looked at Ichigo with a serious expression. “Ichigo… Has something happened recently?”
Ichigo’s grip on his mug of coffee tightened and that action didn’t go unnoticed by Ulquiorra. “No. Why do you ask?”, said Ichigo with the most innocent face he could master.
Ulquiorra narrowed his eyes and looked at Grimmjow who glanced back at him with a knowing look.
“Huh?!Uuuuh, a feeling… I guess?”, replied Orihime awkwardly.
“Feeling?”, asked Ichigo.
“Yeah, it’s just…. I thought maybe you were being followed by some stranger… Or you were in trouble or something.”, said Orihime.
“Me? Being followed? People wanna start stuff with me all the time, but followed? You’re a lot more likely to be stalked than me?”, said Ichigo. “Ask, Grimmjow if you don’t believe me.”
Grimmjow looked at Orihime with a serious expression. “Nothing is going on. I would have informed you guys if that was the case.”
Ulquiorra nodded and Nel smiled in an innocent way.
“Okay, then. I guess my feeling was off the mark.”, said Orihime. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have made assumptions and gotten worried.”
“It’s no big deal. It’s a good thing that you do that.”, said Ichigo. “Besides, an assumption is the reason that the Espada are by your side right now.”
Orihime smiled and she turned to Ulquiorra. “I did believe in them.”
Ulquiorra nodded at her and held her gaze for a moment.
Ichigo stood up. “Oh, yeah. I’ll give you back that comic you let me borrow.”
“Oh, it’s okay, I’m in no hurry for it. We should go back home soon, because it’s getting dark.”, said Orihime.
“I’ll take you guys downstairs.”, said Grimmjow. “I’ll stay with him tonight too.”
Orihime nodded.
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“A card you say?”, asked Nel.
“It writes XCUTION on it. It has an address on it, but I barely saw what it was written there.”, explained Grimmjow. They were waiting right outside of Ichigo’s house. “Where are the others?”
“Following that weird guy.”, explained Ulquiorra. “You should probably go up with him, before he realizes you told us all that.”
“To be fair, you guys knew a lot of shit, so I didn’t say much.”
“Keep an eye on him.”, said Orihime. “If you guys need help, give me a sign with your spiritual pressure.”
Grimmjow nodded. “See you later, I suppose.”
“Yup. We’re going to visit Tatsuki as well. I want to ask her if she knows anything.”, explained Orihime.
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Ichigo was looking quite down when Grimmjow returned to the room. He was holding the card Ginjo had given him. “My dad hasn’t returned yet…”, he mumbled.
Before Grimmjow could say anything, a loud noise was heard from outside. Ichigo turned at his window confused. “Those aren’t far away. Where are they coming from?”
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Nnoitra sighed in annoyance. “I can’t believe we lost that bastard.”
“He seemed to know that we were following him.”, said Stark.
“Still! You can’t tell me it isn’t weird that this guy just vanished! He just disappeared into thin air!”, exclaimed Nnoitra.
Harribel was looking in the distance, seemingly lost in thought. They had managed to follow the weird guy till he led them to a dead end. And he was nowhere to be seen.
“Something is pretty fishy about that guy…”, mumbled Stark. “He could have lured us into a trap…”
“Yeah, then where the hell is he?!”, shouted Nnoitra. “We’ve been here for at least fifteen minutes and he could have easily jumped us! There are no doors in any building surrounding this shithole and no stairs to climb, so where the hell did he go?!”
Stark looked up. “Maybe he used his spiritual pressure to fly… If he has any…”
“This shit is weird man…” Nnoitra then looked at Harribel annoyed. “And where the hell are you looking at?!”
Harribel sighed. “The fact that I’m not telling you anything about your vile language should tell you that I’m focused on something.”
“You are not my mom and we don’t have Nel with us!”
“That doesn’t mean that it doesn’t bother me. Still if you two focused a little more, you would be able to feel it too.”
“Feel what?”, said Nnoitra with a raised eyebrow.
Stark suddenly looked at the direction Harribel was looking at. “I feel it. It is barely there but it exists.”
“What are you guys talking about?”
“A strong spiritual pressure.”, explained Harribel. “This body doesn’t do the best job in picking it up, but it is strong enough for it to feel it.”
“So where is it coming from?”, asked Nnoitra.
“It’s moving.”, replied Stark.
“There is also another one close to where it’s headed. I’ve felt this spiritual pressure before.”, said Harribel.
Suddenly both Harribel and Stark gasped. “What’s going on?”, asked Nnoitra.
“They both just… vanished.”, said Harribel.
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Orihime was putting on her pjs while Nel was cooking alongside Ulquiorra. “You guys know that you don’t have to do this right?”
Ulquiorra barely glanced at her before replying. “We want to do this. It’s a way of thanking you.”
“Plus, Nel really wants to remember how to cook.”
Orihime sweatdropped. “Be careful Nel. I’m not sure whether your child form is as capable as your adult one…”
“I’m keeping an eye on her.”, said Ulquiorra.
Orihime sighed in defeat, but smiled at them. “Thank you, guys.”
Suddenly, Orihime’s phone started ringing. “Who’d be calling me at this hour?” She took a look at the screen. “Oh. It’s Uryu.”
Ulquiorra stared at her with a curious expression as she picked up. “Hello? What’s up? Huh?! Yes. Um… What?”
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Karin and Yuzu were having dinner when Grimmjow and Ichigo got downstairs. Grimmjow didn’t hear what they were talking about, but Yuzu suddenly sprinted out of the room. “I don’t think that about him! Oh, I don’t care anymore!”, shouted Yuzu as she ran.
“Wait! I’m sorry I made fun of you, Yuzu! Come on!”, shouted Karin.
“I’m done talking to you! It’s your turn to clean up after dinner anyway, Karin!”, shouted Yuzu.
Ichigo rolled his eyes and Grimmjow smirked. “Having sisters sounds fun.”
Karin didn’t seem to hear them as she mumbled to herself. “Great… I guess it’s because Ichigo was cold to her again.”
Ichigo picked up his jacket and opened the door. “Yuzu?”, asked Karin.
Karin almost caught up to them and Grimmjow heard her clearly shouting. “Bro?! Wait a minute! Where are you going?! Bro!!”
Ichigo had closed the door and had started walking away. Grimmjow followed right behind him. “You are a little too cold.”, said Grimmjow.
“She is hiding stuff from me.”, replied Ichigo. “I don’t owe her an explanation… Besides, you heard the call. It’s an emergency and we should hurry.”
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They arrived at the Katakura hospital quickly and Ichigo ran towards the room they pointed at him. “Uryu!!”
He came across Orihime and Ulquiorra instead. Grimmjow appeared behind him after a while as well.
“Ichigo! Grimmjow!”, mumbled Orihime.
“Orihime! You’re already here!”, said Ichigo, not acknowledging Ulquiorra’s presence. “Where’s Chad?”
“He didn’t pick up. I think that he is at his construction job right now.”, replied Orihime.
“Did he call you too? Sheesh, what a bother. I never asked him to do that…”, said suddenly someone behind the hospital curtain. It was the person lying on the bed.
“Uryu…”, whispered Ichigo.
“What a bother? As always, you talk like a grown up, but that’s all.”. A doctor had entered the room. Grimmjow could easily pick up the similarities between him and the young Quincy. It was the boy’s father.
“I thought I wasn’t supposed to have any visitors. What if my condition worsens from all these intruders barging in? They are with the Espada too…”, shouted Uryu.
“Don’t be foolish. Who do you think performed the operation? Your wounds aren’t going to get worse from this.”, said Uryu’s father. “You’re an amateur who got slashed by the enemy and almost died. Don’t you dare go telling the doctor what he can and cannot do.”
Ichigo and Grimmjow froze. “He got slashed?! What is he talking about Uryu?!”, shouted Ichigo.
“It’s none of your business.”, replied Uryu.
“Of course it is! You were attacked! If you couldn’t handle him on your own, then we’ve all got to pitch in! We are not alone! We have the Espada on our side too!”, shouted Ichigo.
Grimmjow glanced at Ulquiorra. The other Espada stared back at him, but it from the look in his eyes, he also seemed to be in the dark. Uryu hadn’t told him or Orihime anything either.
Uryu remained silent. Ichigo shook as he spoke his next words. “Say something!”
“It’s important to share information. Don’t waste the kindness I’ve shown you.”, said his father. Grimmjow glared at him. This man was insufferable.
“You be quiet!”, shouted Uryu.
“Aww… Too bad. Had you raised your voice about 5 hz higher, you would have reopened your wounds.”, said his father.
Grimmjow growled at him. He didn’t particularly like the Quincy kid, but this man was pushing it too much. The man barely raised an eyebrow, but didn’t comment.
“Uryu…”, said Orihime suddenly.
Uryu’s voice sounded calmer when he spoke this time. “I’m sorry Orihime. There really isn’t anything I can say to you right now. Please go home.”
Grimmjow stared at Orihime. She seemed defeated. “Okay…”, she whispered.
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“Ichigo…”, said Orihime as she approached the other teen. He looked extremely exhausted. Yet he immediately smiled and faked an energetic attitude.
“Oh, hey! You must be exhausted. If you want to, we can walk you and Ulquiorra home.”
“Well… The rest of the Espada are waiting outside. Thank you for your offer, but I don’t want to put you in extra trouble for us.”
Suddenly, Uryu’s father placed his arm on Orihime’s shoulder. “I’ll drive them home. You and the other hollow should get going as well. If I keep you out too late, your old man will throw a fit.”
Grimmjow glared at him and was about to say something, but Ichigo held him back. “I understand, thank you.”
Ichigo the pulled Grimmjow and started running towards the exit. Orihime looked at them surprised. “Ichigo! I’ll see you at school tomorrow!”
“Hey. Don’t yell so loud in the hospital.”, said Uryu’s father.
Orihime closed her mouth with her hands. “Oh! I’m sorry…”
“He doesn’t seem like he’ll be much help, so I’ll tell you this.”, said Uryu’s father. A small glare was directed towards Ulquiorra, but the Espada didn’t flinch at all. “Uryu wasn’t attacked by a Hollow.”
Orihime looked surprised, but Ulquiorra nodded. “I didn’t feel any Spiritual Pressure from one either.”
Uryu’s father nodded in acknowledgement. “It wasn’t a soul reaper either. There is something peculiar about this whole ordeal. I’m not sure that we call the lingering spiritual pressure even that. I have never come across such a spiritual energy.”
“What does it mean?”, asked Orihime.
“Don’t ask me.” Uryu’s father started walking away and Orihime and Ulquiorra had to follow him to hear what he had to say. “I’ve already told you everything I know. And Uryu himself didn’t know what him. That’s why he didn’t talk to you guys. Because he didn’t know what to say.”
“But..”, started Orihime.
Uryu’s father stopped for a moment. “This is just my hypothesis but… The enemy might have come into possession of a power we know nothing about.” He then looked at them with a dead serious expression in his eyes. “But they are human. Not at all like a soul reaper. More close to what you and Sado are. If I had to say it, I’d fit Uryu in that category too. If I were to suppose that the attack on Uryu was an attack on humans of a similar breed… Then the next to be attacked is either you or Sado.”
Ulquiorra noticed Orihime’s uneasy expression and he placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She looked at him surprised and he simply nodded at her, reminding her that she had his full support.
Uryu’s father was staring at them with a seemingly curious expression. He looked outside a window and he was reminded of how late it actually was. “I’ll take you all home now.”
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“What’s going on?!”, shouted Ichigo. He and Grimmjow had ran off to an empty alley nearby. “Dammit! What happened right under my nose?! Isn’t there anything I can do?!”
Grimmjow sighed in annoyance. “Stop acting so dramatic. The way you are now you would probably have gotten yourself as injured as the Quincy if not worse. Hell, I am useless in this body. So, neither of us could actually do shit. Beating yourself up about this ain’t gonna fix it.”
Ichigo suddenly stood straight. “You’re right…”
Grimmjow raised an eyebrow. “That ain’t something I hear quite often. Maybe I’m getting wiser…. Hey what are you doing?”
Ichigo was dialing something on his phone. Grimmjow froze when he heard the voice from the phone. “Hello. You’ve reached XCUTION. This number isn’t showing up in our registry. I take it you’re a new member? Please state your name.”
“Kurosaki what are you doing?!”, shouted Grimmjow.
“Ichigo Kurosaki.”, Ichigo replied to the unknown voice while staring blanky at Grimmjow.
“Ichigo Kurosaki, I see. We’ve been expecting you. Welcome to XCUTION.”
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The ride home was quiet. The other Espada were obviously curious as to what had transpired in the hospital, but they were waiting to reach Orihime’s house before they asked anything. Orihime was quiet throughout the ride home and she looked a little worried in Ulquiorra’s eyes.
The moment they reached her home she almost jumped from her seat. She quickly thanked Uryu’s father for the ride and went to open the door.
“So, what the hell is going on?”, asked Nnoitra.
Ulquiorra looked at the other Espada. He met Stark’s eyes and it was obvious that he got the hint. “It’s late. We should sleep. We will talk tomorrow.”, said Stark.
Nnoitra was about to protest but Hallibel shushed him. Ulquiorra followed after Orihime. She was looking outside her window with an obviously worried expression. “We will stop whoever is behind this.”, he said.
Orihime looked down. “What if… What if I am next?”
“I won’t allow anything to harm you.”, said Ulquiorra. “I’ll be with you as much as possible, so that I can protect you. It’s the least I can do after everything I’ve put you through.”
Orihime smiled at him. “Thank you.”
Ulquiorra allowed a small smirk to appear on his face. It was hard for him to do it because he wasn’t certain about the emotion it actually expressed, but Orihime seemed to understand since her smile widened. And that’s all Ulquiorra needed.