It had been two weeks since Grimmjow's sudden departure. Knowing of his frequent "Ichigo hunts", Akito was only slightly bothered by this. Having him gone for such a long time made him realise that at some point, he would leave for good. The thought didn't sit well with the boy who had found himself appreciating his violent albeit useful guidance. Resting his chin on his folded arms atop his desk, he sighed.
"Please come back..."
Akito wasn't the only person who was affected by the hollow's sudden disappearance. Himari greatly missed her hyper violent confidant. Sat in her room, she gently clasped her hands together. Looking to the side, she saw the notebook sitting on her bedside table. Pushing the feelings welling up aside, she shoved it into the draw with a motion of finality.
Yui wasn't fairing well either. She had been staring at her lion doll ceaselessly, waiting for it to waddle around on its own. She even spelt out the word grim with her blocks in a feeble attempt to garner some reaction from her invisible friend.
Dinner time was quiet to say the least. Yui wasn't making a fuss about eating her vegetables which was great but mostly concerning. Picking up on her daughters out of character behaviour, Himari asked her if she was alright. That was apparently the key to releasing the water works. Tearing up, she all but wept:
"Grim's gone!"
Dropping his fork, Akito choked on his chicken out of pure shock. Similarly, Himari froze in her seat, unsure of how to proceed.
"Who's grim, sweetie?" She asked sweetly, heart hammering.
Seeing as she was a child, her filter still needed fine tuning so she saw no issue in telling the whole truth.
"My invisible friend who makes Mr. Lion move around. He knocks over my blocks sometimes and pokes my nose and- and-"
The sound of a chair scraping caught both girl's attention. Akito looked tense, eyes focused hard on the mashed potatoes.
"You guys... Have met grim?" He asked, tone shaky.
His fists were clenched with a mixture of anger and nervousness. Grimmjow had gone back on his promise and now he had to explain his hollow hunting second life. Feigning ignorance, Himari motioned for him to sit down.
"Yui, your imagination really scared me for a second there. There's no such thing as invisible people-"
"I've felt his spiritual pressure coming from your room sometimes, mum." He interrupted.
She wasn't sure what that meant but she was confident in assuming he knew. He had suspicions Grim had done more than just play harmless pranks on his mother. Now that he knew she was fully aware of his existence brought on feelings of betrayal.
"I guess that means we've all met him then."
Clenching his fists, Akito excused himself to go to his room. His mother went to stop him but relented. Looking down at her daughter, she sighed.
_._._._
Stepping through the garganta, Grimmjow scowled down at the neighbourhood below him. His attempt at staying away from the living world failed. Hueco mundo just didn't satisfy him anymore. Not that it ever did.
Hands firmly in his pockets, he surveyed the area. It felt… familiar to him. He had been here before. Karakura town. He could finally sense his reiatsu after a decade. Descending to the ground, he began making his way to his adversary. There was no need to rush. He wanted to drag this event out as long as possible.
The house was rather large. It made him wonder just what the carrot top did to deserve an abode as lavish as this. Looking at the front door, he tried to imagine the person beyond it. Humans aged, so Ichigo would definitely look different. Taking his hand out of his pocket, he placed it on the gate with the intent of breaking it.
"You've got funny hair, mister."
Snapping his head to the left, he saw a kid playing with a ball in the grass of the front garden. He had big, beady eyes and a shock of orange hair. His white hoodie and grey shorts blew in the breeze as the two stared at each other.
"Ichigo? You aged backwards?" He whispered, unsure if his knowledge of humans was lacking.
The kid laughed, pointing at the house.
"No! I'm not Ichigo! He's my dad!"
Shock ran through his system, the revelation shattering his composure for a moment. Ichigo is a father now. He had brought a new life into the world. Did he not care that he could die at any moment by a plethora of malevolent beings? Was he really complacent risking his life as a soul reaper when he had a child that would miss him? Grimmjow's thoughts ran wild. He tried to find a point to his irrelevant rumination. There wasn't one. He had found him and now it was finally time to exact his revenge.
Gripping the gate harder, he frowned.
"Your father. Tell him… he needs to come outside." He cryptically ordered.
Eagerly, the boy nodded, rushing back inside to fulfil the duty of a complete stranger. Kids were stupid. He waited for a few seconds, staring at the spot the boy had just been standing. After a moment, he sonido'd away.
Stepping out of his house, Ichigo looked around, clearly befuddled.
"Are you sure? I didn't sense anything." He asked, putting a comforting hand on his son's head.
"He was right there! He had bright blue hair and a white thing on his cheek!" The boy insisted, tugging his father's trousers.
Smiling, the dutiful father ruffled his son's hair.
"Don't worry, I believe you, Kazui."
Dejected but more importantly pissed off, Grimmjow wandered through the streets with no real destination in mind. 'Why did I leave? He was right there! I could've shown him I'm better, once and for all!' aggravated, he shoved his foot harshly into whatever was closest to him which happened to be a street lamp. The thing bent in half; its life taken away in the form of its light shutting off.
"Hey, hey, hey, that's no way to treat city property."
Turning he saw a familiar face and an even more familiar striped hat. Sat on the front deck of the store, sat a man lazily smoking from a pipe.
"Bucket hat? I thought you moseyed on back to the soul society." Grimmjow said, with a sharp tone.
"Nothing wrong with taking a break every now and then. Gotta make sure the shop's running smoothly." He countered, with another drag of his pipe.
Grimmjow was an asshole but he would never start beef with the man who helped take out that bastard Askin.
"What about you? It's not everyday you see a powerful arrancar in the living world." He asked with a knowing tone.
Said ex-espada kissed his teeth, turning his back to the nosey man.
"Mind your own fucking business." He retorted though his tone lacked any real animosity.
Adjusting his position slightly, Kisuke smirked.
"You know, you'd enjoy yourself more if you could interact with people better." Leaning back, he continued. "The human world really is a great place, though I get the feeling I'm preaching to the choir."
Grimmjow mulled over his words. 'Interacting with people better?' The idea should've disgusted him but it didn't. Hesitantly, he turned his head slightly toward the other.
"Better how?"
_._._._
Akito sat in class, not engaged whatsoever even though it was his favourite subject. His friends had noticed his less bubbly attitude that he had been exuding recently. He had been joining them more on their group outing and events yet it still felt like he wasn't fully there. During lunch, Akito sat on one the outside benches, eating by himself as he brooded.
"Hey, Akito."
Turning to who spoke, he did a double take. Not at all expecting to see Miya, he almost choked on his rice.
"M-Miya! What's up?" He asked, brushing any stray crumbs off his uniform.
Taking a seat next to him, she placed her hands on her lap.
"I don't know… I know we don't talk much but I've noticed you a lot more." She started, brushing her hair back behind her ears.
His normally stark white features were quickly stained pink at her words.
"O-oh. Any particular reason?" He asked, setting his lunch box down.
Miya pushed her mouth to the side in a way he thought was undeniably cute but he would never have the confidence to say out loud.
"You became really outgoing and… cool. Everyone was talking about you when you beat up those bullies. I guess you've just gone back to being sort of quiet." She admitted, her eyes trailing to her lap.
Taken aback, he tried to formulate a response that didn't make him come across as weird though he was finding it hard. Sighing, he figured the easiest answer was the truth.
"It's because someone I became really close to left. He boosted my confidence and helped me become a better person. I'm still trying to process why he didn't honour our… bond."
Miya nodded, not entirely understanding but sympathetic nonetheless.
Gently, she placed her hand on his arm, making it tingly.
"I hope you can get through it." She consoled.
Nodding, he tried not to think about the fact she was touching him.
Eavesdropping, Grimmjow stood above them outside of Akito's field of view. His hands clenched in his pockets upon hearing his dejected and defeated tone. All his hard work was going to waste. The warrior he created was collapsing in on himself because of his decision to leave. Using his sonido, he travelled back to the house, not bothering to peek around corners as he made his way to Himari's room. She wasn't here right now, so he didn't care about making noise as he rifled through her drawer. Finding what he was looking for, he slammed the notebook on the bed. It was messy with many loose pages sticking out from their many conversations. Flipping to the end, he saw the last page she had written on.
"Grim? You haven't been writing so I thought maybe you didn't want to talk right now. Akito and Yui know you exist. I'm not quite sure how to process all this. I want you to come back. Yui wants you to come back. And I can definitely tell Aki does too. Grim, will you come back?"
He slammed the book shut. Alarmed when he felt something running down his face. Wiping his cheek, he saw water. Confused, he packed everything away with a curse.
Quiet was the family's home. The youngest had resigned playing with her blocks and lion, finding they brought her more sorrow than pleasure. She was huddled under her blanket, squeezing her bear. The second eldest sat in his room, pulling on his shoes to begin another nightly patrol. Opening his window, he quietly leapt out. Finally, the eldest dweller in the house lay in her bed, resting after a stressful day. Her eyes would dart to the drawer where the reason behind her sadness lie. She knew she was overreacting; it was utterly ridiculous for her to be this hung up over a ghost of all people.
'I don't even know what he looks like!' she thought.
Sitting up straight, a realisation threw itself into her mind. 'Do I?'. Debating whether she should or not, she eventually caved and opened the drawer. Taking out the notebook, she flicked through their plethora of conversations. She found the answer she was looking for.
"I have blue everything."
"Blue eyes."
"Blue hair."
"Not blue skin! I wish."
"Don't know. Don't have any memories about being human."
She could remember the questions she had asked him that day. What colour his eyes were. What colour his hair was. If his skin was blue and what country he came from. It still wasn't much to go off of. It's not like she'd be able to do much with the information anyways. Fantasize perhaps? Slapping her hands over her face, she tried to hide her blush from the world. God, this was pathetic.
Night finally fell. Outside, Akito stood by the lake where he had skipped stones all those weeks ago. Picking up a stone, he tried to mimic his wrist movement but only ended up getting two skips.
His heart almost leapt out of his chest when a stone came out of nowhere, dashing across the lake like a basilisk. There he stood, getting ready to throw another rock like it was a normal Friday night. Before he could lift his arm to throw, Akito crashed into his side, sending them both to ground.
"Oi! Watch it, pipsqueak-"
"Why did you go!?"
He was livid, face red and eyes already watering. There was so much he wanted to say to him. So much pain he wanted to inflict for the pain he had brought on his family. In the end, gratuity won out and he simply buried his face in the other's chest.
"Please don't leave again."
Looking up at the night sky, Grimmjow grinned, rubbing comforting circles on the boys back.
"Not a chance, Akito."
The boy smiled with pure elation. It was the first time he had used his name.
Akito couldn't stop smiling and rambling as he climbed back through his window, Grimmjow following after.
"And then she touched my arm! I no longer relate to those no bitches memes! Aw man, it was –"
Mildly annoyed, the ex-espada clamped his hand over the teen's mouth to shut him up.
"Go to bed." He ordered, pushing him so he stumbled back on the bed. "I'll see you in the morning." He said, going to leave the room.
Chucking his shoes down, Akito laughed, undeniably giddy. "I'm the only person that can see you." He snickered.
Shutting his door, he turned his attention towards Yui's. Sneaking inside the room, he saw her small form huddled under the blanket. Carefully sitting on the side of the bed, he pulled down the covers slightly, seeing her hugging her bear. Scoffing, he snagged her lion from the floor, swapping out the stuffed animals. Nodding, he went to leave but noticed the blocks shoved into the corner of the room. Crouching down, he rearranged them until they spelt out his name again.
Finally, he made his way to Himari's room.
Himari continued to lay in bed, struggling to sleep. Rolling over did nothing to increase her comfort; flipping her pillows also had a similar effect. He could sense she was still awake so didn't feel too guilty about bothering her this time of night. Sitting down on the bed, he hovered his hand above her side. She was already aware of his existence and he had touched her before so he was hoping she wouldn't freak out too much. Until he got his gigai, she couldn't see or touch him back. Reconsidering his options to get her attention, he spied the drawer. Walking over to it, he casually slid it open.
Expectedly, Himari shot up, surprised by the sudden movement. A feeling of hope quickly swirled within her.
"H-hello? Grim?"
What was definitely a hand landed on her cheek. She tried to reach out where his body would be but couldn't feel anything.
"G-grim?" She repeated only a little more breathlessly.
Her right hand was lifted and she felt fingers slot in between hers just like before.
It was strange, she could feel his touch so clearly but she couldn't reciprocate. Her trust in him overwhelmed any fear she had of him doing anything to hurt her. She could feel his hands snake up her body, settling on her cheeks to pull her in. The undeniable feeling of lips pressing against hers shook her to her core. Her heart thudded as she was pushed down on the bed, her clothes seemingly removing themselves. Just as he had predicted, he did get to see what was under her sweater and it didn't cost him an arm.
Now that they all knew of his existence, Grimmjow no longer had to keep his presence a secret. Himari wasn't sure what to think about a poltergeist becoming their newest, beloved family member. What irked her was when she found out Akito not only knew about him for the longest but could see and hear him.
"Is his hair actually blue?" She asked, reaching out to where she thought Grimmjow was sitting on the floor beside Yui.
The ex-espada leaned into her touch, allowing her to ruffle his hair, not that she could tell.
"Yes. And he has blue eyes."
"Blue skin?"
"What?" "No!" Akito and Grim said simultaneously.
The unorthodox family played a predictably terrible game of monopoly which ended with Grimmjow wiping everything off the board after going bankrupt. Despite his invisible rage, he was quick to cool off, lifting Yui in the air who quite liked being picked up by a ghost.