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Middle Grounds	By : Sena Category: Bleach > Yaoi - Male/Male > Grimmjow/Ichigo Views: 4055 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. All characters associated with the series are the property of Tite Kubo and no money/profit is made with this story. I'm just playing with them.

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Soul Society: The morning after Karakura’s war.

Ichigo left Grimmjow in the training ground where Yoruichi had helped him once to achieve his bankai the first time they broke into Seireitei, and went to find Matsumoto. She had just resumed her tedious paperwork, but hurried after Ichigo at the mention of Grimmjow’s name, showing far less surprise than he had expected. As soon as they were reunited in that worn out grounds, the arrancar wasted no time with formalities.

“Tell Gin that Inoue has healed Hallibel. She and Stark will be available if we are forced to fight. And by the way,” he added with a smirk, “Nell sends her best wishes.”

“Is she fine?” Matsumoto grinned delighted. “How did you find her?”

Grimmjow chucked softly and pointed behind himself. “Ichigo brought her back.”

Matsumoto stared, surprised at the shinigami. Before Ichigo could start any long explanation, Grimmjow cut him off, raising both arms in a mocking display of disbelief. “Better not ask. You wouldn’t believe how they met.” Not bothering to look back to meet the icy brown eyes, his voice grew suddenly serious, taking a business tone Ichigo had never imagined possible of the arrancar. “Besides, we need to find a secure place for a more permanent door. The sealed garganta from Szayel is still far too unstable. We almost got trapped in on the way here.”

Matsumoto frowned, apparently finding the conversation perfectly normal. “It’s too risky to have it placed in the Seireitei… we should use the living world. I can easily go there undetected. We could keep a permanent door at Urahara’s basement… he said it’s sealed either from shinigami and hollow reiatsu.”

“Can we trust him?” Grimmjow sounded clearly reluctant and oddly concerned.

Matsumoto sighed. “Gin talked to him yesterday and he already revealed his plans… so it will hardly be unexpected from Urahara. Besides, he offered himself to help…”

“OK. I’ll inform Szayel to prepare it. When will you talk with him?”

Ichigo didn’t know if he was more surprised to see that the arrancar had consented without any more arguments or to the lack of concern from Matsumoto’s part at dealing with the usually arrogant espada.

“I will think of a way of sending Kurosaki there this afternoon…” She turned to the shinigami smiling. “I guess that if you develop a sudden urgency to see your family it won’t seem too suspicious…”

“Wouldn’t it be easier if you went there instead of me?” Ichigo couldn’t see the need to put him in the focus of the troubles again.

Grimmjow looked at him irritated. “Stop bitching, Kurosaki. You are currently the only one here who can open a Garganta to Szayel lab.”

Matsumoto laughed at the death glances Ichigo gave him. “Leave it to me Grimm, I’ll find a way. I’ve to go back before anybody misses me. I’ve already spent half of the morning out of my quarters… Take care!”

Grimmjow waved back, grinning widely. “Bye honey!”

When Matsumoto departed, Ichigo started padding nervously on Grimmjow’s back. He was nervous and angry because he couldn’t do anything else until the trial and he hated this feeling of ‘useless waiting’.

For a moment, Grimmjow thought to calm him with some reassuring words, but it would require a patience and finesse that he was worryingly lacking, so he decided to test his usual approach. Instead of talking softly, he confronted Ichigo with rough hostility to force him to fight to release the tension.

He tried his best to start a physical confrontation with the shinigami, but Ichigo roundly refused to take the bait, arguing that Grimmjow’s reiatsu was sealed while he still had his, and couldn’t suppress it because the shinigami were tracking him. The arrancar insisted that he didn’t give a shit if he couldn’t win without his reiatsu, but Ichigo stubbornly refused to fight in such unequal grounds.

Grimmjow’s patience was quickly running out. He concluded that if he didn’t want to do it willingly, he would force him to cross swords until he was ready to blow away his sorrow. And unfortunately for Ichigo, he understood enough the young shinigami to know how to make him angry enough to forget all his fucking morals.

The arrancar used his best mocking tone to draw the attention of the gloomy shinigami.

“Maybe you should stop worrying about yourself and start thinking about Inoue… She’ll be as safe with Ulquiorra as she was the last time.” Ichigo quickly turned to face him at the sound of his friend’s name under that creepy voice. “You know what happened during this last week, don’t you?”

Ichigo’s face was awfully easy to read. His frown deepened and his eyes shined with the same uncertainty they showed the last time they fought… Grimmjow immediately knew he almost had him where he wanted, but he still needed to push him a little further. “Oh, she hasn’t told you anything!? That’s priceless!”

Ichigo’s eyes darkened, but he still made no move. Grimmjow smirked and came closer, his voice piercing hard through Ichigo’s uncertainties. “And you’ve just let her go there again, with him… without even know what it means to her…”

Something in Ichigo finally snapped and launched at him savagely. Grimmjow could barely unsheathe his sword to block his first raging blow. Without giving the arrancar any pause, he charged again, Zangetsu clashing restlessly against Pantera with unrestrained fury.

The shinigami was fighting out of rage, for which Grimmjow was grateful, as he had no chance to match him even though he hadn’t gone further than his shikai. But even with this limited reiatsu and dimed skills, Grimmjow was completely outmatched. He tried his best to fight back, and paid no mind to the several wounds that were already covering his body where Zangetsu had easily reached him. In no time, he was panting heavily but Ichigo showed no sign of slowing down.

The next blow hit him hard in the chest and sent him staggering backwards to crash into a wall. When Ichigo saw Grimmjow’s body all covered in blood and smashed against the rock, he stalked closer and caught the wrist that held Pantera, twisting it painfully until the arrancar dropped the sword. Cursing, Grimmjow raised the other hand and caught Ichigo’s collar. Before the shinigami could make a movement, he approached their faces to whisper.

“Ichigo… those are the eyes I wanted to see…” For a moment, it took him by surprise and his brief hesitation gave the arrancar the chance to grip Ichigo’s nape and bring their lips together, in a crushing kiss.

Ichigo push him away, angrily. “You think I’m in the mood now?”

“Yeah… Inoue’s perfectly safe, as she was the last time too.” Something flicker in Ichigo’s eyes, but he was so angry that he couldn’t bring himself to care.

“Then why the fuck have you been telling me all this shit about her?” His voice was hard, but the uncertainty was suddenly back there.

Grimmjow chuckled softly. “I just wanted to crack this annoying control you always have… and threatening your friends is the only shit that always works with you. Now, can you keep this attitude and resume our fight?”

He released the arrancar’s wrist and let his body relax, taking a step backwards. “Shit, Grimmjow, I could have really hurt you! Are you insane?”

“Fuck, Ichigo. It doesn’t matter if you hurt me! I want you to fight me with everything you got! You think I’m not enjoying it?” He took Ichigo’s hand and lowered it to grind against his arousal.

Ichigo wasn’t surprised to notice the arrancar was rock hard but he couldn’t bring himself to fight somebody who cannot defend properly. He couldn’t do this fighting an enemy, much less fighting a friend… or whatever the arrancar was to him. He sharply pulled his hand free and dropped down to sit by his side, his back resting on the cracked rock.

“I can’t do this! I don’t want to fight you like this. It’s not fair.” He let his eyes close as he felt the weight of all the recent worries fell on his shoulders.

The arrancar rolled his eyes, sighing in dismay and slid to his knees bringing himself to eye level with the flushed shinigami. “Fuck fair! It’s recklessly arousing!”

Grimmjow wasn’t willing to pass up this opportunity. He took the shinigami by the chin and forced him to meet his eyes. “You do want to beat me in a completely unfair way… You need it right now and I’m gonna enjoy every fucking minute.” His low and thick voice was cracking slowly his stubborn mind, his resolve already faltering under the dark intense gaze.

He smashed Grimmjow’s hand away and stand up again, too distressed to hold his stare any longer. “What if I….”

“Kill me?” The arrancar snorted and rose quickly, catching his wrist and pulling him close before he could slip away. “You're so fucking stubborn… I’m not so easy to kill, and you are not alone. Shiro can stop you if you get carried away. You do trust him, don’t you?”

“Hm…” All Ichigo’s reluctances were slowly fading under the arrancar rough and tempting voice.

Grimmjow smirk was impossibly wide when he pushed Ichigo back unceremoniously against the rock. He moved to retrieved Pantera from the ground and turned around to face him. “So, it’s settled. Show me your power, shinigami.”

Once the resolve sank in Ichigo’s mind, his voice grew thicker and his darkened eyes matched Grimmjow’s lustful stare as he felt easily into the role. “You fucking talk too much… You should be saving your breath. You are gonna need it soon.” Smirking, he slowly summoned his reiatsu until the arrancar fell to his knees, licking his lips with an unashamed smirk.
When they reached Hueco Mundo, Ulquiorra led her into a big white house. They crossed a courtyard where she could see several arrancars lying under the moonlight, and she barely suppressed a gasp when recognized the lean tall espada that had attacked Ichigo after the fight with Grimmjow. If the arrancar saw her, he made no move to approach her. However, she hurried after Ulquiorra into a corridor at the far side of the wall.

Behind a thick wooden door, there was the infirmary. She could see several beds occupied by arrancars who were almost recovered, all but one. In one corner, she saw a blonde girl covered in bandages, her reiatsu so faint she could hardly felt it. Without a second thought, she rushed to her side and placed her healing shield all over her body.

While the deep wound that crossed her chest from shoulder to hip was slowly closing, she scanned the room. In addition to the wounded ones lying in their beds, there were also two others arrancars besides Ulquiorra. One of them was seated in the floor in the far corner of the room with his head resting in one arm bent over his knee. He was tall and thin, with a long dark hair covering his face, half hidden between the matted locks and the gloved hands.

When the other spoke to Ulquiorra, she brought his attention back to them, listening in silence without missing any detail, glad to see that they paid her no attention.

“So, how has it worked?” The pink haired arrancar was looking curiously at Ulquiorra. He was seated in the only desk of the room, in front of several screens and a huge amount of apparently disordered papers.

“Awfully unstable, Szayel. It had cracked almost immediately. It’s far too dangerous.” His voice was as flat as every time she had heard him. If he was worried, his voice showed no sign of it.

“Have they detected the garganta’s disturbance?”

Ulquiorra walked slowly to his desk and turned to lean his back against the nearest wall. “No. It held long enough. But the entire surface was already ripping when the Garganta opened.”

Szayel shook slightly his head. “That’s no good… what about the shape and color?”

The arrancar put his hands in his pockets and let his gaze drift to the ceiling before answering. “Sort of a bluish sphere… everything cracked in an instant, it’s difficult to say.”

Szayel arranged his glasses in a gesture that made Inoue think of Ishida. The arrancar leaned back in his chair and smiled tiredly to Ulquiorra. “I need something more… I’m sorry but I’m going to need a clearer report.”

Ulquiorra sighed. “I wasn’t expecting anything less… “

He tore an eye and crashed it in front of his partner. Inoue barely suppress a gasp and looked fascinated at the scene played in front of them. The report ended with their arrival at Hueco Mundo. When the images faded, she extended her shield to cover the arrancar, who was already regenerating his eye. In almost no time, the bright green orb was already in place. Although she knew Ulquiorra had high regeneration skills, it still shocked her how easy to heal it had been… and by the way the arrancar was looking at her, he hadn’t been expecting this either. Their muted stares were broken by Szayel highly surprised voice.

“You have come here willingly to heal somebody you didn’t know… and you have come alone… You are braver than I thought. Or really stupid.”

Inoue’s shield faded as she turned to face the lying arrancar who had already opened her eyes. “You’ve lost a lot of blood, but you’ll feel better once you get some food and sleep. Take it easy.”

The blonde didn’t say a word. She turned around and her face suddenly relaxed as she saw the other arrancar staring at her from the corner of the infirmary. He approached and carried her out of the room, without a single word.

Inoue was a little shocked, but turned to face the pink haired one. She was feeling a little tired but she wanted to get some answers before going back to Soul Society. She decided not to show her currently weakened state and grinned widely before answering his previous comment.

“I don’t think I should worry about my safety right now. I’ve just helped you, and we have similar goals so, why would you harm me?”

“We could just keep you here and force you to help us.” Szayel voice sounded more amused than scaring, and Inoue easily recognized the empty threat.

“But since you already know that I’ll come if you ask, it would be pointless”. She studied his face for a moment before smirking slightly. “Besides, Ichigo would jump here again if I didn’t come back… and it would definitely not help Gin’s situation”.

Szayel relaxed in the chair, smiling at her boldness. She seemed to be as entertaining as the other human he had met… “Well, as we are somewhat understaffed these days, I’m gonna recruit you. Would you mind?”

Inoue was taken totally by surprise. “You what?”

“Don’t worry, nothing dangerous.” He took some small objects from the desk on his back and approached Inoue to give her them. “These are portable sealed doors, similar to the one they used to reach Soul Society.”

Inoue took them, still unsure what to think about all this… By her side, Ulquiorra looked as surprised as he could.

“They’re far too unstable for her! Have you gone mad?”

“C’mon, they’re not the same as you’ve tried. It’s much easier in the other direction. They first create the sealed cage and then open the Garganta. It’s a completely different thing than attempting to summon a sealed cage in another world before opening that door.”

“And why do I have three of them?” She was examining the small spheres linked each one to a silver chain.

“One is for your friend, that Kurosaki. That’s the blue one. As Grimmjow told me, he cannot use any kido. I’ve assumed he won’t be able to cast any seal, so this one serves to build a sealing cage. Inside this cage, he would be able to open a door completely undetected. The green one is for Matsumoto. She already knows how to use it. The red one is for you. It summons the cage and opens a Garganta direct to my lab.”

Inoue was speechless. For the very first time she felt important. She will be able to move freely between two different worlds… not even Ishida could do that. For once, she won’t need somebody to help her… but she also realized what this ‘gift’ meant. They must be really outnumbered if they needed her help.

“Tell me something, how many people do you have?”

Szayel chucked. “Maybe you are smarter than I thought… but I’m not going to answer this question”.

Ulquiorra interrupted softly. “She deserves to know, since she probably has just tilted the balance.”

Szayel dropped down in his chair again and raised his hands in a theatrical exhibition of surrender. Ulquiorra sighed but paid him no more attention. “You have just healed the former third espada, Hallibel. The other one mourning in that corner was her lover and former first espada, Stark. If she had died, he probably would have left us for several decades so, in a way, you have just salvaged our two most powerful warriors. We are deeply thankful.”

Inoue felt her legs shake slightly as the information settled in her mind. She had come without asking, because at some level, she unconsciously thought that everything would be OK, that the trial will somehow solve the differences the shinigamis may still have. But she was now faced with the bitter truth. The arrancars didn’t hold the slightest hope in the trial and they were in fact preparing for the battle. She slowly sat down in one of the empty beds, raising her legs and sinking her face between her knees.

She hated to see Ichigo fighting, but if it came to that, she didn’t want to play the role of the lady in distress again. She would do whatever she could to help him, even if it only meant healing the injured before and during the fight. She strived to recover her usual calm, composing her cracking shield before facing the arrancars with a newfound determination.

“Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“Would you have acted differently if you had known?” Ulquiorra’s green eyes were staring her with such intensity that for a moment she really believed that the arrancar was looking through her very soul. She swallowed and took a moment to compose herself before speaking.

“Of course not. You know I wouldn’t let anybody die in front of my eyes.”

“Then what’s bothering you? As far as Soul Society knows, you could have been kidnapped again and forced to heal an unknown arrancar. You can’t be accused of anything.”

She looked calmly at her previous captor. He had a point there. All that was true… she could come back and pretend that she hadn’t done anything wrong... It may be tempting, but Ichigo had walked a long path to confess everything to his friends, and he still had a long way to go before everything ended. And she would be by his side during the entire journey, no matter what.

“I can’t be accused yet... but I will. And you know I have already chosen a side. I’m gonna follow Ichigo wherever he goes.”

“Even if it brings you against Soul Society?” Ulquiorra and Szayel were looking at her, obviously skeptical.

She snorted at their expressions. Apparently, Gin had explained very few things to them. If they thought that Ichigo or any of their human friends were loyal to Soul Society, it was obvious that they knew nothing. She watched them, unblinking.

“The first time we went to Soul Society, we went there to save Rukia, a shinigami friend accused of treason and sentenced to death. Ishida, Chad, Ichigo and myself fought against everybody to save her. Soul Society ‘forgave’ us when Aizen revealed his plans…“ She sighed and looked Ulquiorra with resolved eyes. “When you kidnapped me, they jumped here, breaking Soul Society’s explicit command not to come. And again, we would have been ‘forgiven’ if not for Ichigo’s stubbornness to not leave Gin alone.” She took a long pause, gathering her stirring thoughts before continuing. “They risked everything trying to save me, as we did before for Rukia. We are going to do the same for Gin, even if we don’t know exactly why. Ichigo’s reasons are enough.”

“You really are gonna help us no matter what…” Szayel was pleasantly surprised.

She smiled sadly. “I won’t be of much help… I’ve never been able to fight…”

Ulquiorra interrupted her mild mourning. “Can you heal somebody from a distance?”

“What? I… I never tried.” She stared at the arrancar, surprised by the sudden interruption.

The pale arrancar drew his sword and moved a step backwards. With his eyes fixed on her, he cut himself deeply in his left arm, commanding softly. “Try to heal me without moving closer.”

She sent her shield to him and focused on his arm. The wound was healing too slowly, and it tired her more than usual, but it still worked. Slowly, the arrancar stepped away, forcing the shield away from her, until it started to fade. Once it disappeared, Ulquiorra approached her again, sheathing his sword. When he reached them, his arm was already healed. His voice sounded as emotionless as always, but his eyes were sparkling with an unusual excitement. “If you still want to fight, I can train you.”

Szayel and Inoue looked him utterly surprised.

“You what?” She was speechless. “Can I really fight?”

“You could. But you need to think carefully about it. If you decided to train with an arrancar to fight Soul Society… there will be no coming back from that point. Weigh your priorities carefully, woman.”
After their wild sex, Ichigo felt extremely relaxed and even slightly less frightened about the trial the next day. It had been the first time he unleashed his power against somebody clearly weakened, and it had been completely different from what he had anticipated. Once in the role, he hadn’t felt the slightest regret, as Grimmjow had been obviously enjoying the hard treatment.

Luckily, the healing pool was doing good job of Grimmjow’s wounds and most of the cuts had already vanished. Ichigo’s gaze was lost in the arrancar’s torso, where the scar of their first fight was still plainly visible. That fight sent Ichigo running to the vizards looking desperately for help, and had costed Grimmjow an arm… but that fight also stirred their world.

Ichigo stared at his partner with growing curiosity. He was tempted to start asking questions, but the other times he had tried, Grimmjow had never given him more than cryptic riddles at best. This time, however, the war was over and they were at the same side. So, maybe it was worth a try.

Still, he felt so relaxed now that some answers could be self-defeating for his unusually peaceful state of mind. So, instead, he decided to test the grounds with some light question regarding his training activities that had been haunting his dreams.

“Tell me something, who the hell is your training partner?” He watched carefully his reaction, looking for any traces of unsettledness.

The arrancar only laughed. “I thought you were my partner lately.”

Ichigo frowned but pressed the matter. “I thought we were past the riddles… why the fuck can’t you tell me?”

Grimmjow stretched and relaxed into the steaming water. “Because it’s far more amusing teasing you.”

Ichigo sighed and let himself sink deeper. If he didn’t want to talk, he wasn’t going to beg.

When the arrancar saw him surrender so easily, he pressed Ichigo’s head deeper into the pool. The shinigami hadn’t expected that, and jumped up coughing violently. Grimmjow’s loud laugh awakened his instincts for revenge and rushed to drown him. However, he wasn’t fast enough and failed miserably, as the former espada was expecting this reaction.

Blushing furiously, he decided to let the issue die as Grimmjow was trying to speak despite his panting laugh. “You are being overdramatic, Kurosaki. I was joking; it’s not any big deal. It’s just Ulquiorra.”

Ichigo’s eyes snapped open. “Ulquiorra? You must be kidding… You hate each other!”

Grimmjow smirked proudly. “That was the idea… I told you once that each one had his role to play. Mine was easier than his… gaining Aizen’s trust wasn’t something I could have ever done.”

Ichigo recognized the logic in hiding this from Aizen, but suddenly he realized that the cuarta espada was about to come here. Maybe the sight of them together naked in the pool wasn’t something he liked to see. His distress came back at once at the thought of a furious Ulquiorra close to Inoue. And in the middle of Seireitei. And the day before the trials. How had he been so damn careless to act so selfishly without thinking of the possible consequences?

Cursing, he rushed to his feet, his eyes looking for the discarded clothes around them.

“What the fuck are you doing, Kurosaki?” By his side, Grimmjow’s passivity was almost as unnerving as his growing remorse.

“Shit, we need to get dressed. What if he arrives now? What if…” His next words were swallowed by the steaming water as Grimmjow’s grip closed in his wrist and pull him down again, smirking amused.

“Chill out, Kurosaki. He already knows we’re fucking. He saw me with Shiro when they almost killed each other… you really should learn to relax.”

Ichigo was about to yell him the list of reasons why he should not relax when a thunderous crack interrupted his thoughts. This time the bluish sphere was somehow smaller and brighter than the previous one, but it cracked as quickly nonetheless. Ulquiorra was panting heavily, half bent with his arms resting on one knee while the other settled in the ground for support.

As soon as the arrancar stood up, Ichigo started to yell at him, asking for Inoue as the worst of his nightmares seemed to come true. Ulquiorra didn’t bother to answer his accusations and just turn around to place a proper barrier, opening a stable Garganta inside. Inoue appeared grinning, but her smile changed quickly to a smirk when he saw them in the pool, still very naked. Ichigo blushed furiously and rushed to get his clothes, under the unnerving amused laugh of the espada by his side, who was calmly moving to retrieve his own outfit.

Inoue smiled at the familiar display of Ichigo’s embarrassment. She had missed this part of his character as he had only seen him worried and gloomy for the last days. When she saw Ichigo and Grimmjow in the pool arguing and smiling, she made her choice and approached Ulquiorra to quietly accept his training.

Finally, the arrancars departed and Ichigo told her about the door he needed to establish at the Living World. He still was reluctant to think it would be as easy as Matsumoto seemed to believe.

“I’d to find a really good reason to go to Urahara’s. You think there’s the slightest possibility they let me go there the day before the trial?”

She shook her head, “I don’t think it’s wise even asking… they’re watching you. You’ve been extremely lucky so far, between the vizards and the arrancars… it’s a wonder nobody has realized something was going on.”

“But we need the door set before the trial… what if something turns bad?” His frown vanished at the sight of his grinning friend.

“I can go there. I’m sure nobody will bother to track me.”

Ichigo sighed. “You can’t open a Garganta.”

She extended her hand showing some colorful spheres hanging from thin silver chains. For an instant, her smile shined brighter than the sun. “I can.”
My special thanks to Makkin, InThePalmOfMyHand and Emmagem803, for their corrections, support and encouragement.
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Middle Grounds