Adult-FanFiction.org : Bleach

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.

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
- 8
Soul Society. The morning after the war.

The day started much better that the previous night had been. Under the sun, everything looked less dark and gloomy and after a few hours of a good deep sleep, Ichigo felt his energy completely restored, as well as his resolve.

The captains meeting had been scheduled for the next day and he was going to explain what really happened during his fight with Aizen. He still hadn’t talked with his friends and it wasn’t fair that they had to discover the truth by a meeting report. They deserved to hear everything from his own lips and today it was the last chance he had to approach them.

When the sun was high in the sky, he asked Yamamoto permission to move freely around Soul Society, swearing countless times he won’t cause the slightest trouble. After half of the captains supported his petition, the old Captain-Commander agreed to grant him license to wander around the Seireitei, but he also warned him that he would be tracked, and explicitly forbade him to left Soul Society.

Ichigo’s mood was as good as it could be, despite his ever present worries. He had tried to come up with an easy explanation, but after some failed attempts, he decided to just find them and improvise, hopping everything would be fine.

So, he quickly ran to look for Renji and Rukia, only to discover with some disappointment that they were going to spend the day in Karakura’s town, working on its reconstruction. Still cursing on his bad luck, he found Inoue in the infirmary, who told him that Sado and Ishida had also moved to the Living World. He started to consider if he should take it as a signal of the destiny and just gave up, but his resolve came back when he heard Hirako’s voice. He was loudly complaining with Hiyori about some pointless issue, loud enough for the whole medical building to hear. Ichigo took a deep breath and moved to their room, unsure about the best way to confess everything to them.

“Hi guys…”

“Ichigo!” Both vizards turned to face him, grinning widely. Ichigo felt the weight of his worries lighter, wondering for the first time if he had just been overdramatic.

“How are you? I heard from Inoue that you got a nasty wound.” Ichigo looked Hiyori’s frown, regretting his words as he noticed the shift in the mood.

“That bastard almost killed me… he’s gonna regret attacking me from behind.” Hiyori’s deathly stare softened as Shinji squeezed her arm.

“I’ve heard he’ll be judged by treason. He’s gonna pay for everything.” His voice sounded sharp as a knife. He took a deep breath to calm himself before turning to face Ichigo, who was staring him with puzzled eyes. He had no idea about the author of Hiyori’s wound, but he wrongly assumed it was Aizen. He didn’t know much about Gin participating actively in the fight before he arrived there… And now, all his previous worries came back, increased tenfold by the recent discovered hostility toward the silver haired shinigami. The force of the realization hit him hard, as he understood Urahara’s apprehension when he had talked about a war between friends… Most of the old shinigami had been holding a dislike for Gin’s character, but since Aizen’s treason, this feeling of muted hostility had developed into an open hate. It won’t be easy to change that, and Urahara had witness everything the moment the warned Gin.

Ichigo made his choice in that moment. He owned that man not only Aizen’s defeat but also his inner peace, something he could have never obtained by himself. Even if it took his life, he was going to do everything to make his dream true. Even if it meant fighting half Soul Society. Again.

“Ichigo?” Shinji was staring him, slightly surprised by the change in the young man’s expression.

“We need to talk. I have something important to tell you”.

Shinji noticed the seriousness of his voice, as well as his sudden resolve. Both knew Hiyori was not the best listener, so they moved away from her bed to a more private room at the far side of the building complex. Both walked without a word until they reached a small comfortable room, where Shinji dropped down tiredly into a chair. Ichigo took a seat by his side and start verbalizing the answers to the unasked questions wandering around the Seireitei about Aizen’s defeat.

“I didn’t fight Aizen as a Vizard.” Ichigo looked at Shinji, but the other shinigami waited in silence for him to continue. “I fought him using my full hollow power.”

Shinji widened slightly his eyes “What do you mean exactly? Did your hollow take control over you?”

“No. He let me use his full released body to fight.” Ichigo’s eyes were locked on Shinji’s, weighing carefully his words.

“And how did you do this?” It wasn’t a simple question and Ichigo knew it. It implied that Ichigo’s control of the hollow powers were on a different level that where it should have been.

Ichigo sighed. “I lied to you. I never crushed him… the truth is, we never really fought; even though he’d always been stronger than me. We found an agreement, so he lends me his power any time I need it.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” Shinji’s eyes shivered dangerously “You weren’t faking that damn mask.”

“Of course not. I can use it. But I can also go further. I can use not only the mask, but his whole body.” Ichigo’s eyes refused to leave Shinji’s, as the vizard’s reiatsu started to spike dangerously.

“It means that your fucking hollow can try to overpower you at anytime? That you hadn’t cut it out?”

“I do have cut it out. He is not trying to control me, even though he does overpower me.”

“You must be kidding. This kind of control is not possible with his power level. You are walking on an extremely dangerous ground. To try an agreement with a hollow is a very stupid thing to do!” Shinji’s voice was razor sharp and his reiatsu barely retained below his cracking self control.” You can never be sure when he’ll snap and hurt somebody. How the hell did you come up with such a fucking crazy idea?”

Ichigo didn’t like the direction of the conversation, as it seemed to point directly to Gin again… and hopelessly realized that Urahara had also foretold this point. He tried to change the subject before it backfired him.

“I have it perfectly controlled. My soul isn’t unbalanced and I’m not gonna lose myself.”

“If your mind cracks, you are gonna lose it completely.” His eyes closed to thin slits, voice bitter with hardly controlled rage.

Ichigo felt his control slip, as he noticed his words were falling to deaf ears. His hollow was screaming for beating him into comprehension and he sadly realized that if Shiro ever get out in a situation like this one, it would be immediately interpreted as his own failure at keeping him under control.

“My mind won’t crack.” Ichigo’s mood darkened with Shinji’s dreadful assumptions.

“I can make you crack as easily as the first time you came to us.”

Ichigo felt his blood boil. He hadn’t expected the conversation to degenerate this much. He had never had much patience, and his recklessness took the best of him. “You are more than welcome to try… but I won’t happen again.”

Both were looking each other coldly, none of them willing to break the visual contact.

“We will see… If you still think you can keep it in control, come in one hour to our place. I ‘ll bring the others to show you how sadly wrong you are, Ichigo.”

“I’ll be right there.”

Ichigo stormed out of the room. He had tried to remain calm but Shinji’s stubbornness had gotten on his nerves. While he was still trying to get out of the building complex, he run into Inoue, who dragged him out to cool down.

Inoue listened calmly to the entire story and didn’t say a word until Ichigo finally stopped talking. Both were sitting on the ground, in one of the four division gardens. Ichigo was holding his knees in his arms, and was now resting his head buried between his legs. Inoue was far more nervous than she showed, as she had a terribly bad feeling about the whole situation. As far as she had understood, the vizards were going to fight him expecting the hollow to surface, while Ichigo was ready to take the beating without let Shiro out, just to prove them that he can do it. The problem is that they will push him close to the limit, where Shiro had always appeared just in time to save Ichigo’s life. Without his intervention, Ichigo was clearly exposed to the death’s claws.

Inoue offered to go there with him, but he roundly refused, arguing it was something he needed to do alone. She knew him enough not to try to argue once he had taken a decision, and reluctantly let him go. However, as soon as he was out of sight, she wasted no time and went to search the only person who could actually help her.

She found Matsumoto working at her division office, dealing boringly with a huge mountain of paper work. The blond vice-captain listened her nervous friend and before Inoue had even asked for help, a Seinkaimon gate opened in front of her.

“We are running out of time. Eight vizards are far too powerful for us to do anything. We need all the help we can manage. Look for your human friends and join me again at the door.”

“Thanks Rangiku… The four of us could help him?”

“I’ll bring Rukia and Renji back… but even the six of us won’t be a match for them.” Inoue’s eyes widened with sorrow, but Matsumoto smirked her, running through the gate “But we can put a hell of a fight.”

Inoue jumped on her heels, feeling Ichigo’s reiatsu approaching the vizards, before the gate closed and she lost all energy tracks.

……………………………………………..

Ichigo was panting heavily, and Shinji was still attacking him merciless. He had released his bakai and wore his mask, but the blond vizard was stronger, even without going further than using his shikai. Ichigo’s only reason to last this long was the restriction time Shinji had with his mask, while he can use his endless. Unfortunately, he was close to his energy limit. He was currently bleeding from several cuts, where Shinji’s zanpakuto had reached him, the steel biting just enough to draw blood without threaten his life. The vizard was trying to exhaust him, and Ichigo was already feeling the dizziness of the blood lost.

The other vizards were just standing behind, even the barely recovered Hiyori, all of them waiting for the moment when the hollow surfaced to bring him down. Ichigo had repeated the story in front of the whole group, with the very same effect.

Ichigo raised Zangetsu to barely stop Shinji’s blade, his knee bent to the floor to hold the vizard’s power, as he supported his zanpakuto with his forearm. He slowly raised his head to meet Shinji’s gaze, searching for a signal of understanding, but the vizard only smirked as he noticed Ichigo’s reiatsu decreasing.

The young shinigami was starting to seriously worrying… The last time he had forbidden Shiro to fight, he almost ended up killed by Ulquiorra, and he only saved his life thanks to the hollow disobedience. This time, if Shiro didn’t help him, the result may be fatal, because Shinji was starting to attack him harder. However, if Shiro did get out, it would be interpreted as his failure to control him, so it would mean the vizards were right…. And Shiro wasn’t strong enough to fight the eight vizards. So, he was fucked anyway.

He cursed his recklessness for jumping into the obvious trap he was currently facing. He accepted Shinji’s challenge without a second though, and it had been the stupidest thing he had done in quite a long time.

His thoughts were interrupted as Shinji summoned his mask again and pointed two fingers at him. Ichigo’s eyes widened as he realized he was going to shoot a cero at him, and he had no energy left to deflect it. The moment the glow left Shinji’s hand, he heard Inoue’s voice. For a heartbeat, he thought he was dreaming, until the golden shell in front of him spoke otherwise. The cero impacted with Inoue’s shell, which barely slowed it, cracking almost immediately, but at the very same moment, several things happen at once.

The moment Ichigo saw Inoue’s shell, he made up his mind. One thing was getting beaten to prove his point, and another whole different thing was including his friends in a lost fight. The situation brought back memories from Ulquiorra’s battle, and the guilty feeling he had since that moment forced him to take action before the same mistake could harm his friends again.

As soon as the shell cracked, a pair of liquid golden eyes met the blond vizard’s, while a bright red cero intercepted Shinji’s, the force of the shockwave stunning all the presents. All the vizards jumped at Shiro’s throat the moment they detected the hollow’s reiatsu, but were surrounded by a hell of thousands of Quincey arrows covered with sharp cutting ashes. Ishida and Matsumoto combined attach slowed the vizards and bought them enough time to strategically surround Shiro’s body. When the ashes cleared, the vizards froze at the pictured displayed in front of them.

Inoue was just in front of Ichigo’s hollow, protecting him with her body, her face a mask of deathly resolve. Both sides were covered by Ichigo’s human friends, Chad and Ishida ready to attack. On his back, two vice-captains and a lower rank shinigami were also staring them with released Zanpakutos.

Shinji’s frown deepened as he desperately tried to think in a way of to protect Ichigo’s friends from the powerful hollow they unconsciously attempted to defend. They obviously thought they were protecting Ichigo, but he knew better. He had faced this hollow once, and knew that the group of people gathered around him weren’t a match to his power.

“You look much better, Quincy”. The eerie sound of Shiro’s voice shook all the presents.

To Shinji’s utterly surprise, Ishida smirked at the hollow, not sounding the slightest surprised by what his friend had just become.

“I can’t say the same, hollow. Their masks look far more frightening than you.”

“Are you complaining? I’d show you mine again, but I’m afraid that Ichigo will…”

Ishida cut him to finish the sentence, “Yeah, yeah, Ichigo will be pissed.”

Shiro chucked and turn his gaze to Inoue. He slowly touched her in the shoulder and deliberately left his hand there looking carefully at the vizards, all of them visibly tensing. Inoue swallowed her nervousness. It was the first time that Shiro touched her in front of other people and forced herself to show her best calm face. She lowered the arms she still had extended to both sides, as to emphasize as much as possible her protecting stance. Slowly, she covered Shiro’s iron grip with her soft hand in a reassuring sign, speaking to the hollow without unlocking her eyes from Shinji stare.

“Are both of you OK?”

“No, he’s not. I’m barely keeping his wounds closed, but there are too many.” The black-golden eyes shined with hate as he spoke directly to Shinji’s amazement. “Heal him as soon as he appears. Don’t let him play hero. Tell your friends to knock him down if he complains too much.”

Beside him Renji chuckled, his voice slightly amused with Shiro’s attitude towards Ichigo “It’ll be a pleasure, hollow”.

Shiro flashed him his best wicked grin and reversed bodies. Chad and Ishida held quickly both Ichigo’s arms as his legs collapsed. Inoue’s shield was on him immediately.

Now Ichigo was sure he was dreaming. A pleasant warming feeling enveloped him, and the echo of his friend’s voices sang in his ears. It took him some minutes to recognize the warm pleasure as Inoue’s powers. He opened his eyes to find his friends surrounding him, zanpakutos released and ready to strike. Ishida and Chad were also there, both facing Shinji with arm and bow ready in hand.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Shinji’s voice sounded clearly irritated.

“Stopping this nonsense. Kurosaki is naïve enough to think he can prove some stupid point getting beaten… As usual, he came here without a plan and everything had spiraled out of control.” Ishida fixed his glasses, without breaking eyes contact with the vizard. “I’d ask you to stop antagonizing him.”

“Antagonizing him?” Shinji’s eyes widen in disbelieve. “I’ve just proved the fact than when he loses his mind, his hollow surfaces.”

“So what?” Ishida’s calm gaze contrasted with Shinji’s exasperation.

“With his power level, the hollow taking over his body is extremely dangerous for all the people around him. He needs to be more careful with all this shit!”

Ishida didn’t look the slightest concerned. “I was there the last time Ichigo ‘lost his mind’. He almost got killed by an espada and only survived because the hollow appeared. He saved not only Ichigo’s life, but also Inoue’s and mine’s.”

Ishida also was stabbed by Shiro’s rage, but he didn’t feel like sharing such a small detail at that moment.

Shinji was lost of words for the very first time since all this started. He turned around to have a look at the rest of the vizards, but they look as puzzled as him. Ishida was ready to speak again, but was cut by Ichigo’s tired voice. “Enough Ishida, you talk too much.”

“That’s because you obviously don’t”.

“I’ve talked enough this time. Sorry guys if I’ve worried you.” The golden shield faded as Ichigo slowly stood up, his gaze down as the words he had feared to say for the last day started to leave his mouth. There was no turning back now.

“Tomorrow I’ll be giving the full chronicle of Aizen’s battle in the captain counsel. I wanted to tell everything to you before you discovered the truth reading the meeting report… as I consider you my friends.” Ichigo slowly raised his head to meet Shinji’s ice stare. “I’m going to repeat myself just to let my ‘other’ friends know that as I willingly share my body with a ‘damn powerful hollow’ I can use his full power, not only his mask. And…“ Ichigo rose his voice to stop Shinji from talking, “…I’m going to show you exactly how I do it without ‘losing my mind’” Ichigo’s eyes were reduced to slits as his frown grew, the bitterness of his last words biting hard into Shinji’s stubbornness.

Ichigo felt his willpower fraying under the vizard hostile stare and he wasn’t sure if he would be able to go on if the rest of his friends also doubted him. Not daring to risk a backward glance and hoping that Hachi’s barrier was strong enough, he leveled his sword with his arm extended and placed his left hand on his right forearm. All the presents recognized the stance that Ichigo used to summon his bankai, but were clueless at his intentions as he already was in bankai mode. Shinji saw a flash of resolution in Ichigo’s eyes when he slightly smirked and two words left his mouth before the full force of a wild reiatsu darkened the room.

“Protect Zangetsu.”

All the people in the room shivered at the untamed power emanating from what a moment ago was Ichigo’s body. Ishida and Inoue easily recognize Shiro’s released form, but even they couldn’t recognize the source of that reiatsu. Back there, when fighting Ulquiorra, Shiro’s power was clearly a hollow reiatsu; wild, powerful and dark. This time, however, it wasn’t only that. Coiled together, there was also a remembrance of Ichigo’s shinigami reiatsu. The vizards looked at their captain, divided between the growing need to get rid of this unknown menacing figure and the rising curiosity that froze them in place. Shinji looked almost defeated, while he stared at what had been his friend in an utterly sad gaze. Ichigo suddenly realized that the vizard had given up all hopes to save him. That was the look of somebody who had just seen his friend die.

The sight made Ichigo’s resolve stronger. He hadn’t run all the way here to find himself facing the perfect display of hopelessness. He slowly turned around to have a look at the rest of his friends. Ishida, Inoue and Chad had their gazes focused on the vizards, ready to jump at the first suspicious movement from their side. Behind him, Renji and Rukia were staring with puzzled expressions at his back, where his hollow hole was only partially covered by his long orange hair. Between the two shinigami, Matsumoto tried her best to look as surprised as the rest, although Ichigo could notice the shadow of a smile in the corners of her mouth. It was a small gesture, but it was enough to bring him back from the pessimistic spiral he was swirling into.

He slowly brought his left hand to his mask and moved it to the upper part of his head, revealing the completely white skin of Shiro’s face.

“Ichigo?” Rukia was the first to recognize the brown chocolate eyes of his friend.

“Yeah, it’s me.” He smirked to the amazed face of his friends and turned around to face Shinji, a winner grin shining widely in his face. “So, this is what I meant when I told you ‘all my hollow power’. You still think I’m losing it?”

Shinji looked incredulous at Ichigo’s eyes. He had been training with him long enough to know the black-golden eyes and the eerie voice that came with Ichigo’s mask, but none of them was currently there.

“How have you done it?” Shinji’s voice was slightly shaking “When did you release him?”

Ichigo clearly understood the real question laying behind these words. The blond shinigami still thought that at some point during the last fight, he had decided to let the hollow free to gain more power. The truth pierced like an icy stab into Shinji’s heart.

“I already told you. I never caged him. I was faking since the day I was supposed to crush him. I’m really sorry… I should have told you long ago.”

“Why… why you decided to keep something like this to yourself?” Shinji’s voice was now cracking, disappointment sinking deep in his eyes.

Ichigo let his reiatsu dissipate as he came back to his original body and sheathed Zangetsu on his back. The mood was currently so depressing that he couldn’t imagine any physical danger at the moment.

“You wouldn’t agree. You would try to convince me… and I couldn’t deal with it at that time. I wasn’t ready.”

“And what’s different now?” Shinji stared the orange haired boy. Ichigo didn’t flinch.

“I trust him.”

Shinji’s gaze hardened “This is gonna be your report tomorrow?”

When Ichigo just nodded, the blond vizard also sheathed his zanpakuto and spoke again, his words sharp as his blade. “So, you are going to change your old friends for this new… ‘partner.’”

Ichigo’s voice rose as the anger started to crawl under his skin again. “I’m not changing anybody. My friends won’t let me, they trust me!”

“Oh, I see. And will they trust the ‘thinking mind’ behind your current situation? Or would you dare to tell me all this had been your idea?” Shinji’s eyes pierced hard through Ichigo’s soul, the claws of uncertainty slowly ripping at his recent found resolve as he remembered the hard look Rukia had given Gin the day before in his cell.

Shinji smirked at the suddenly worried face of the young boy, but decided that it was enough for the moment. He turned around, walking slowly towards the rest of the vizards. “If I were you, I would start thinking a good explanation before the meeting. The captain commander won’t be so uncaring in that matter.”

The vizards left without a backward glance, and Ichigo dropped down to the ground as soon as the tension in the ambient disappeared with them. Inoue was the first one to react. She kneeled down close to his friend and placed one arm on his shoulders.

“C’mon Ichigo, it could had been worse.” Her voice sounded as cheerful as she could manage.

“Tomorrow it’ll be worse.” Ichigo’s voice was unreadable, his face the perfect mask of hopelessness again. His friends looked at him confused. Only Matsumoto understood Ichigo’s worries. Nobody will trust him if he told them that everything had been Gin’s idea. And the wicked point is that he had to reveal this detail if he wanted to prove Gin’s help previous to the battle. Both ways, he was screwed up.

Renji was the first to ask him the feared question. “So, who gave you that idea? Why are they so furious?”

Ichigo looked at him wearily. “You think I've fucked it up?”

Renji took a moment to respond. He finally sighed and fixed his gaze on Ichigo’s tired eyes. “You defeated Aizen and you seem to be fine so far. So I guess it wasn’t such a bad idea after all. But I don’t get why they looked so pissed.”

Before Ichigo could respond, Matsumoto also kneeled in front of him, placing a hand on his chin a forcing him to met her stare. “You’ve done enough, Kurosaki. It’s pointless to delay it. They are going to know anyway, so you better do it know.”

Ichigo smiled sadly to the blonde shinigami. She was right. It was stupid to try to skip the matter if tomorrow he would be facing Yamamoto. He took a deep breath and spoke quickly before his mind decided otherwise.

“Gin convinced me to make a deal with Shiro and had been training us for the last month.”

Renji’s eyes widened. “Captain Ichimaru?”

“HE has been training YOU?” Matsumoto’s voice was like a bucket of icy water. Ichigo realized too late that Gin still hadn’t explained anything to her… so she was probably imaging the former captain visiting him every fucking day while ignoring her.

“No, no, no! He just gave me the idea. I was training with Grimmjow!”

He was relieved to see Matsumoto relaxing but he had no time to recover as Rukia hard voice stabbed him. “You were training with Grimmjow? The very same espada that almost kill US TWICE?”

Ichigo’s gaze fell down defeated… he had completely forgotten about that point, while Rukia obviously didn’t.

“I need to be alone for a while, sorry guys.” She left without any backward glance.

Suddenly, Renji punched him in the head, smirking playfully. “I almost kill you twice also, don’t be so mean! She just needs time.” He slowly stood up, grinning openly. “It’s been an awfully interesting morning, but I should be going to Karakura before they missed me there. Are you coming, guys?” Ishida and Chad smiled Ichigo reassuringly and followed Renji, who was already in front of a Senkaimon opened under Matsumoto’s zanpakuto. The blonde shinigami smiled happily before returning to the paperwork at her barracks, waving her hand as she walked away.

Ichigo looked at Inoue. He smiled her tiredly and fell onto his back, his arm bent over his eyes. She stared at him for a moment, before leaning down, resting on an elbow to face him better.

“Are you gonna be OK, Ichigo?”

He chucked softly “Yeah… I think so. It’s just that I thought it would be easier… I guess Urahara really knows them better.”

“You met them a month ago. Urahara had been his friend for over a century, and he was a shinigami captain before that. You really still doubted him?”

Besides her soft expression and warm voice Ichigo easily read the hard truth that lay behind. The old shinigami had pictured the worst possible scenario for the Hoygoku and he had been painfully right, so his worries this time should better not be ignored. And if what he feared was a civil war…

A thunderous crack interrupted their thoughts. A blinding bluish light appeared out of nowhere, and they could just glimpse a net of bright rips all over what it looked like a sphere before it cracked and faded. They hushed as their eyes adjusted enough to focus at the two white figures standing on all fours in the ground.

Ichigo’s breathing deepened, his eyes widened and the panic started to coil all over him. His reiatsu rose to match his distress, but Inoue froze him in place, her voice soft and completely calm. “Be quiet. They are wearing wristbands.”

Ichigo suddenly realized that he couldn’t sense any energy from them and he felt almost ashamed not to notice that before. For a moment, he had imagined the whole of Soul Society chasing after them.

“Damn Szayel… This is what he calls ‘a little instability’?” Grimmjow rose to sit on his heels while trying to regain its breath. By his side, his partner was already standing, wiping the dust from his white cloths.

“At least it won’t cost you an eye to report him back”. If he was annoyed, the voice left no signs of it. His eyes scanned quickly the surrounding area and focused on Inoue. “You are coming with me, woman.”

Ichigo jumped in front of her, his hand griping the hilt of Zangetzu still sheathed on his back. “Like hell you are gonna take her again. Get the fuck out of here”. His voice was icy cold, his reiatsu barely contained as the rage heated up his blood, still bursting with the adrenaline of the previous fight.

Grimmjow sighed and stood up between them, raising his arms in a gesture of exasperation. “What the fuck are you doing?” He approached the shinigami and stretched his arm to hold Ichigo’s wrist, still clenched to the hilt of his zanpakuto.

Ichigo made no move to stop the arrancar, but the tension didn’t leave his body. His voice was hardly contained, barely a whisper. “You ain’t gonna take her. Not again, Grimmjow”.

The former espada snorted. “I thought we were on the same side now, Kurosaki.”

The voice was low and rough, but somehow it did calm him slightly. However, Ichigo was not at ease with the other arrancar still staring at them. “Then why the fuck are you trying to kidnap her this time?”

Finally, Inoue managed to compose herself and push Ichigo aside. “Ichigo, it’s hardly a kidnapping if they are here talking with us”. She approached carefully the paler arrancar, her voice more serious than she intended “What do you want from me, Ulquiorra?”

The espada’s face was as expressionless as she remembered, but she noticed something different in his eyes. They seemed somehow brighter, if that was even possible.

“We have somebody badly hurt. We want you to heal her.” His voice was as flat as always, his peremptory tone easily identifiable. It was clearly a command, not a request.

“Her? Is Nell hurt?” Ichigo’s worries skyrocketed again.

Both arrancars turned to face him, speaking almost at the same time.

“You know her?” Ulquiorra looked almost surprised; it was the first real emotion that Inoue had ever seen in his pale face.

“You think she is the only female arrancar?” On the other hand, Grimmjow was mildly amused at Ichigo’s new outburst. His voice took and edgy tone, aiming for a verbal confrontation with his more than willing partner.

“I do know that she was hurt the last time I saw her, dumbass!” Ichigo’s body tensed again, clearing away Grimmjow’s hand off his wrist and wielding Zangetsu in front of him, challenging the arrancar to approach again.

Inoue noticed the chance in the mood, realizing that both were falling in their usual arguing routine. Most of the tension had already left Ichigo’s body, so she decided to move on.

“While the kids play, would you mind to explain me the situation? Who I’m supposed to heal?”

Grimmjow and Ichigo stilled at her words but before they could verbalize a protest, Ulquiorra’s composed voice summed up the last events.

“Nelliel is perfectly fine. She helped to heal most of the injured, and all of them are almost recovered but one. During the fight at Karakura, Aizen hurt her badly and neither Nelliel nor Szayel have been able to help her. You must come with us and fix her body, woman.”

“Aizen hurt her? Why? Did she betray him?” Ichigo knew almost nothing about the fight at the fake Karakura before his arrival except by the few comments he had heard around… and none of them was related with any arrancar attacking Aizen.

“It doesn’t matter.” Ulquiorra didn’t bother to look at him and kept his eyes on Inoue’s.

Inoue realized they were not going to get any more information if the arrancar didn’t consider it necessary, what obviously didn’t, so she left the questions for a better chance. “Ok, I’m coming with you. But, by the way, my name is not woman.”

The arrancar voice didn’t change the slightest bit. “I know.”

“Wait, wait. I’m coming too. There’s no way I’m letting you going there alone again.” Ichigo jumped to catch Inoue by the sleeve, his sword pointing Ulquiorra.

“You can’t.” She freed her arm sharply and put her hand on his wrist, forcing the zanpakuto down. “You are being tracked. You can’t leave Soul Society. I’ll be fine.” The last words were meant to be reassuringly, but Ichigo was still doubtful.

Ulquiorra ignored Ichigo’s complains and spoke directly to the other arrancar. “There’s another thing we must do before leaving. We must deliver the message to Gin.”

“It’ll be extremely difficult…” Ichigo had finally regained his composure, as Inoue didn’t seem to be in an immediate danger. He had also acknowledged the truth of her words, despite they sounded bitter when he pronounced them aloud. “As I’m being tracked, I can’t get close to his cell… “

“Can we find somebody else who can help us?” Ulquiorra’s question was vague enough not to bring out suspicious of anybody, but his tone suggested that Ichigo or Inoue could be able to find a ‘turncoat’ amongst the shinigami. Someone like himself, he realized bitterly.

Ichigo understood the implications of his inquiring, but didn’t know how much the arrancar really know, or if he should even trust him. Gin had never told him a word about Ulquiorra or any of the other espadas. He tried to make the arrancar talk before deciding to go further. “Who do you trust here?”

Ulquiorra didn’t answer for a while. He neither had any idea of how much these young brats know about Gin’s plans, nor if he could trust them after all.” When he just waited in silence for a while, Grimmjow snorted. He had never been much patient but looking at Ichigo and Ulquiorra distrusting each other was unnerving him. He moved between them yelling unabashedly.

“Shut the fuck up. We do are at the same side. Stop this nonsense… Can we reach Matsumoto?”

“Do you know her?” Both Ichigo and Inoue were looking at him surprised that he even knew her name.

Ulquiorra sighed with an exasperated look. “This is a nightmare… Didn’t Gin tell you anything, Kurosaki?”

“It’s possible… What should I know?” Ichigo was stubbornly reluctant to trust the arrancar, even though Grimmjow seemed to be perfectly at ease with him. Oddly, they looked much more comfortable around each other than the other times that Ichigo had seen them together.

Inoue had been watching quietly until now. He easily realized the respective distrust between Ichigo and Ulquiorra, besides the attempts from Grimmjow’s part to easy the mood. She decided to bet everything to one card and rely in Gin’s arrancars. She jumped in the middle of the small group, shouting commands at everybody.

“Ok, enough of this! Grimmjow, go with Ichigo to find Matsumoto. She must have arrived at her barracks by now. I’ll go with Ulquiorra to heal their friend.”

“She is not exactly our friend.” Grimmjow tried to clarify the point, but Ichigo cut him sharply.

“I’m not letting you go alone, Inoue.”

She was now visibly irritated at Ichigo’s narrow mind. She tried to keep the anger out of her voice, but she only success partially, as her voice sounded far more assertive than she had intended. “I said, shut the fuck up! If you are gonna stand up for Gin, you better start trusting his friends. I’ll go and come back before anybody even miss me, because nobody wants more troubles between Gin and Soul Society, am I right?” She looked Ulquiorra to make sure that the last part was clearly understood.

Ulquiorra looked unimpressed by her subtle blackmail. “Perfectly right. Nobody will miss you here, we will come back as soon as you finish healing her.”

“Fine.” Ichigo had no other option than to agree… although he did it reluctantly.

Without any more words, Ulquiorra and Inoue departed to Hueco Mundo, while Ichigo and Grimmjow moved to look for Matsumoto.

Well, it’s been a year since the last update. Life’s not always easy, and these last months my free time has been almost nonexistent. However, I’ve the full story almost written, and this time I’ve planned to finish it.

My greatest thanks to my beta, Emmagem803 (from fanfiction), without whom the story would be much less interesting to read. Her dedication keeps me working hard to publish the remaining chapters in a more reasonable time.

You’ll find the next chapter in a few days. Thanks to all that still keep reading after this long hiatus!
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Middle Grounds