This is sorta rated T. Only I bleeped out all the cuss words except for ONE because he's an adult and it was neccesary. But who knows, there may be violence later on 'cause I'm naturally violent...Still, I wanna know what ya'll think. I've attempted to space things out a bit more...
Chapter Three: Resurface
Recap: I was not myself, however. My new consciousness had faded, replaced by that of old.
"Don't even think about it, Grimm. And as for you, Aizen..." My head turned towards the enraged-but-not-showing-it evil mastermind, who waited expectantly for me to continue, "Leave the girl alone. As long as my current consciousness can't remember anything, I don't want you screwing around with us."
"Y-Yui?!"
"Call me Yuancía while I'm myself, Grimm. Call her Yui...that's what Strawberry does." I added that last bit to annoy him, but surprisingly, the attempt failed...And I was fading fast. Fortunately, I'd gathered enough information to carry out my plan...Aizen would be seeing me again, and much sooner than he'd ever expect.
"Grimm...take care of us, 'kay? This world can be dangerous, and we're alone with those damned Shinigami. But we're still...the same...person..." I manged to say, just before fading out.
"Okay, Yuancía. I'll do that."
Back In the Living World...
"ICHIGO!!!" I cheered, hopping onto the extremely agitated teen's shoulders. He glared up at me with his usual scowl, trying to shake me off. But thanks to my extraordinary sense of balance, I managed to maintain my position.
"WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT RUNNING OFF WITH COMPLETE STRANGERS?!" He exploded, practically throwing me off of his head. I landed on me feet, though, much like a cat. Wheee....
"But Grimm-chan isn't a stranger! He knows me...and I remembered his name! See, Ichi, I remembered--"
The cold, hopeless stare his brown eyes were sending my way prevented me from further speaking.
"Yui...please, don't tell anyone about Grimmjow. I...don't want Soul Society...Yui-chan, they'll kill you. You can't let them know you're associated with the Arrancar. At all."
Grimmjow's POV
I couldn't believe it. I just...couldn't believe it. She was here. Really and truly here. No tricks from Aizen or the Soul Reapers. Yuancía had really been here, back where she belonged. But she didn't remember me. Not at all.
Sure, she remembered my name, but that wasn't worth anything. That good-for-nothing Aizen had erased her memories, I could tell. There was more, though...Somehow, she'd broken through that for a moment, and had truly been there with me. She told me what she wanted me to do...and heck, I was gonna listen to her for once!
Normal POV
I plopped down on Ichigo's bed, bored beyond belief. There was nothing to look at in Ichigo's room. Just plain, boring walls, and a plain, boring bed. As far as I was concerned, he might as well live downstairs, in one of the clinical wards. Then again, I had to give him the benefit of the doubt, since he never spent much time in his room. Maybe he just couldn't find the time for interior decorating, like the boring pricks back in Hueco Mundo.
Was I cursed to constantly live among such artistically deprived people? Even Rukia could use a decade or two of art lessons...
Ichigo wasn't there, obviously. He'd locked me inside his room before running off to do whatever it was he did in his spare time. I assumed he was going to kill some Hollows, but I'd been wrong before. Maybe he was just training...
According to him, I was a Hollow. Sort of. Well, more like a Hollow that'd gained Soul Reaper powers. Point was, I noticed that every time he destroyed a Hollow, I could feel it. Like a little piece of me had died. I mean, I knew they were evil and all, but they were still my family. That man, Aizen...he was not. Why did my family worship him so? He was not one of us, not even close.
However, that blue-hair, Grimmjow...was different. Just...different. I could tell by the way he looked at Aizen (a combination of hate and forced respect) that he'd rather Aizen had stayed in Soul Society. I had to agree, though; if Aizen stayed where he belonged, I'd probably still have every last memory I possessed. Then again, I would never have befriended Ichigo...And I'd probably be trying to kill him instead.
Well great. Just great. That got me absolutely nowhere, as usual. What with everyone out and about, it wasn't like I had anything else to do, though...Unless...But no! Ichigo said to never, under any cirumstance, do that...Then again...
Feeling like a total sneak, I tip-toed over to Ichigo's door. I would like to say I actually contemplated what I was doing, but that would be a complete lie.
The metal of the doorknob was cold in my hand, adding to my growing sense of nervousness. Which I promptly ignored.
Okay, opening that door was waaay too easy. It just opened. No locks, no alarms, no tell-tale squeaks of rusty hinges. Ichigo obviously had no idea how to lock his door from the outside...Well, darn! He'd lied to me about locking it, duh! And I believed him...That just plain sucked.
Unbeknowst to me, one of Ichigo's younger sisters was climbing the stairs leading right to me. Being the oblivious idiot I was, I didn't notice until she was right in front of me. Screaming.
"AAIIIIIEEEEE!" Yes, she had one of those annoying high-pitched little girl screams. But, seeing as she was a little girl, I forgave her.
"Owwie, that hurt my ears! I sure hope Ichigo doesn't scream like that..." I complained, shooting a pointed glare at the little girl. Who was kind of passed out on the floor. Uh-oh...
"What're you screaming about now, Yuzu?! I swear, if it's another...spider..." Another little girl, presumably "Yuzu"'s twin (though they looked absolutely nothing alike), trailed off when she saw me. Jeez, did my hair really look that bad? I mean, I hadn't thought to brush it in a while, which could be pretty bad due to it's shortness, but...Ooohh. Right, I had a weird mask thing on the right side of my mouth. And a hole in my tummy (which was also weird, but at the same time freaking awesome!). Dang, I really didn't think this through. Wait, wasn't there another (insane) family member....?
"My darling daughters, the absence of your lovely voices has brought me running!" The father, who I knew to be Isshin Kurosaki, declared as he slowly made his way up the stairs. So he really was certifiable..."An...Arrancar..." His voice, which had gone from humorous and silly to sharp and threatening, made my head instantly turn his way. This man...wasn't human. I watched, half curious and half terrified, as he transformed. His dark eyes stared at me unerringly. They spoke of nothing but death as he unsheathed his zanpaku-to. It was surprisingly small, especially when I compared it to Ichigo's massive sword.
"It's...small...Ichigo never mentioned that..." I murmured, thinking aloud. His expression turned even more deadly, if possible.
"Damn you...what have you done to him?!" He growled, looking ready to slice my head off. In fact, he probably would've if Ichigo hadn't arrived at that very moment, making one helluva racket as he searched for me, most likely tearing his room apart.
"Yui! Yui, you better not be hiding from me, 'cause it ain't funny! COME ON, YUI, GET OUT HERE RIGHT NOW!!!" Now, if I had been hiding, that would've been so hilarious he would've found me out 'cause I'd be rolling on the floor laughing. So it was really too bad I wasn't hiding.
"I-Ichigo, please don't let him kill me..." I whimpered, so quietly he probably couldn't hear me anyway. His dad still looked ready to kill me, despite Ichigo's pissy yelling. I mean, he looked a little confused, but he obviously didn't know I was Yui, and I was too frozen up to tell him. By that point, the cold steel of his zanpaku-to's blade was pressed against my neck, drawing a tiny trickle of blood. And then, to the surprise of everyone in the entire household (myself included), I sneezed. Not one of those light, girly sneezes, but a full-on sneeze. Like AH-CHOOO!
"AHA! I found you! And you better be prepared to explain just what compelled you to--" Ichigo broke off quite suddenly when he flung open his door and (finally) saw his dad getting ready to chop my head clean off. Just like that, his own massive zanpaku-to was out of its sheath, knocking his dad away from me.
I found my legs were no longer able to support me, and fell to the ground with a thud as I released the breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. Fortunately, Ichigo and his father didn't fight, although they both looked more than a little surprised.
"Ichigo...YOU'RE OKAAYYY~!" His dad squealed, flinging himself at Ichigo. I stifled a giggle as Ichigo tried unsuccessfully to push him away.
"Of course I am, idiot! And as for you, Yui..." I flinched away from him as his strawberry head turned towards me, a dark glare on his face. Oooh, he was pissed beyond belief...
"I'm sorry! So, so sorry, I know you told me not to leave your room, but I was bored, and you never told me when you'd be coming back, and--" I stopped speaking instantly when Ichigo shook his dad off and embraced me tightly. His arms wrapped tightly around my waist and I, in response, buried my head in his warm chest. I was scared, so scared...But he came for me.
"Don't scare me like that again, ever! You hear me?! I thought...When you weren't there, and the window...I thought they'd taken you. I thought Soul Society took you." He whispered in my ear, his voice shaky. I looked up at him in shock, taking a moment to study his expression. His face was twisted in what appeared to be anguish...
"Ichigo, calm down. I'm fine, you're fine, everything's good. Soul Society hasn't come for me yet, and maybe they never will." I said soothingly, stroking his surprisingly soft hair...It was almost as soft as Grimmjow's actually. I grimaced at the thought, removing my hand from his head and looking away from him, abashed.
"You've got a lot of explaining to do." Isshin snapped, making the two of us look back towards him. Well.
Poor Yui. The neon hair is just a dead giveaway...Heehee, this is the first story where Ichigo finds out about his dad~! Score for me!
~Tobi~
Subject: Grieving For The Forgotten (an Ichigo Kurosaki story) Chapter Three: Resurface 