Unexpected

Ichigo stared up at Grimmjow in shock and a little fear. He quickly took a defensive stance and brought out his Bankai, wondering what one of the Espada, Aizen’s top soldiers, was doing here. Could the traitorous ex-Soul Reaper Captain have sped up his plans to destroy Earth and the Soul Society? Or was the blue-haired 6th Espada just doing what he did best? Causing havoc wherever he went. It wouldn’t be the first time Grimmjow had attacked the living world without being ordered to.



“Hey the Berry-boy,” Grimmjow said with a wicked smirk. “A long ways from home, ain’tcha?”



“So what’s it to you?” Ichigo snapped, hoping the fear wasn’t evident in his voice. He wasn’t afraid for himself, but for Shiro. In his condition he’d be helpless to defend himself. Ichigo desperately hoped that Grimmjow would focus on him and not notice Shiro.



“I couldn’t care less where you are,” Grimmjow said. “Not as long… as I can kill you!!”



With that, Grimmjow drew his sword and lunged forward. Ichigo dodged and reached up to Hollowize, but with a jolt realized he couldn’t. that only worked when Shiro was inside his Inner World. And the hollow was currently outside in the real world. Ichigo couldn’t draw on his spiritual energy to fight at full strength.



Grimmjow had recognized Ichigo’s stance and tensed, but then noticed that the Hollow mask wasn’t forming around his face. He grinned triumphantly and attacked again. A downward slash at Ichigo’s shoulder was parried, but Grimmjow merely spun and redirected his blow to Ichigo’s side. The orange-haired young man gasped in pain as Grimmjow’s blade sliced through his flesh.



“Ichi!” Shiro cried out. “Get away from him, ya blue-haired freak!”



Hearing the shout, Grimmjow looked down to see Shiro glaring up at him. He frowned in puzzlement, recognizing a fellow hollow, before spotting Shiro’s stretched-out stomach. Then realization dawned, and Grimmjow gave a pleased smirk.



“Well well well,” he said smugly. “Isn’t this interesting?”



“Don’t you touch him!” Ichigo shouted angrily.



He threw himself toward Grimmjow, hoping to distract the Espada. He didn’t want that maniac anywhere near Shiro. Grimmjow easily blocked Ichigo’s wild swings, knocking the young Soul Reaper back. Ichigo hissed in pain, blood spurting from the wound in his side. He was starting to feel dizzy from the blood loss.



“Ichigo!”



“Shiro, get inside! Now! Hurry!”



“Now now Strawberry,” Grimmjow tutted sarcastically. “You should be nicer to your boyfriend.”



“Shut up!” Ichigo yelled, lunging forward.



Grimmjow smirked broadly, having gotten the reaction he wanted. Ichigo was so frantic to protect Shiro that he was being extremely reckless. The blue-haired psycho was quickly overcoming his opponent. Ichigo shrieked when Grimmjow’s blade pierced his shoulder, burning pain surging through his arm.



Yanking out his sword, grinning at the fresh scream, Grimmjow gripped Ichigo’s throat. He pinned the orange-haired man against the dorm roof, clutching hard enough to cut off his airway. Icy-blue eyes narrowed in pleasure as they watched Ichigo desperately claw at the hand enclosing his neck, somehow managing to keep hold of his own sword.



“Well Strawberry, this has certainly been fun,” Grimmjow said smugly. “But I think it’s time to end this.”



Grimmjow slowly raised his sword, intent on slicing Ichigo in half. Pausing for a second to relish the moment, sunlight glinting off the blade, the Espada bring to bring the blade crashing-



“Gyaaaa!”



Ichigo blinked owlishly as the pressure on his throat disappeared, the clatter of a dropped sword beside his head. Gasping and choking, he looked up at Grimmjow who was twisting in agony. The back of his white jacket was smoking and the smell of scorched flesh hung in the air.



“Get away from him or I aim the next one at your head!” shouted a very angry voice.



Taking advantage of Grimmjow’s distraction, Ichigo shoved the larger man off of him. Still wheezing slightly, the orange-haired Soul Reaper scrambled to his feet and looked down to see a furious Shiro. He was glaring daggers and pointing at Grimmjow, spiritual power beginning to gather at his white fingertips again.



“A Cero,” Ichigo thought dazedly. “Shiro fired a Cero.”



Shaking his head to clear the cobwebs, Ichigo warily watched as Grimmjow staggered to his feet. Blue eyes glared in hate as he opened a portal to Hueco Mundo. Shakily, he stepped through, knowing he couldn’t win with Ichigo’s sword coming at him from the front and Shiro firing deadly Ceros from behind. Grimmjow was a lot of things, but stupid wasn’t one of them.



“This isn’t over, Kurosaki,” he growled as the portal began to close. “I guarantee you, this isn’t over by a long shot.”



Ichigo didn’t bother replying as Grimmjow disappeared from view. There was no point, and anyway he was too exhausted. He stood there in a daze, blood dripping from his wounds. He felt oddly cut off from the world, barely able to hear Shiro’s worried calls. The hollow sounded on the verge of hysteria, and Ichigo wanted to tell him to calm down as it was not good for the baby. But he was distracted by the sky suddenly trading places with the concrete, just before he blacked out.