Log; completed

[hajikemomo.livejournal.com]

When; Sunday December 17th, morning
Rating; PG
Characters; Hinamori hajikemomo and Grimmjow 6thsword
Summary; The morning after. Grimmjow goes soft, but only for Hinamori. x3
Log;

Something wasn't right, and Hinamori couldn't place it. She wasn't tossing and turning, and there wasn't an abundance of light trying to force her eyes open. But her subconscious and Tobiume were badgering her, trying to get her to wake up and notice what was wrong. She really didn't want that.

Just as she was about to fall asleep fully once more, pain shot through her and she sat up, one hand flying to her stomach, the other still clutching a fistful of fabric. Gasping for breath was normal enough to the dark haired shinigami by now, as was the sharp pain that came before it. It was the other part that didn't quite sit with her. It wasn't so much that she had no idea where she was, and more that she did know who she was clinging too.

That would be what was wrong.

Half-awake, Grimmjow snorted at the sudden movement against him. Then his eyes snapped wide open. There was something alive in his bed. That wasn't right. What --

Oh. Right.

He glanced down at the top of the dark-haired shinigami's head and sighed. It wasn't directed at her but at himself; why hadn't he woken up earlier and gotten out of bed? He usually only slept for a few hours at a time, but -- he peered over his shoulder at the window -- it was already early morning. What the hell had come over him?

He looked back at Hinamori at the troubled expression on her face, though her eyes were still closed. Ah, he thought. She'd noticed.

If this were normal - not that it was normal by any degree for Hinamori to wake up with someone else there - but if this were normal it would have been the familiar white haired captain grunting a good morning as he forced her off him and got up to leave. This wasn't normal.

This was far from anything, and she fought to get her breathing under control before glancing at the Espada, confusion pretty evident on her face. She didn't trust herself to speak, though, and simply stared at him, not noticing that she hadn't let go yet.

Grimmjow knew had to get up before anything drastic happened. He removed her hand from his jacket and sat up, turning his back to her as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed. Then he paused there.

"Sleep well?" he finally asked, still not turning to look at her.

Not normal, she repeated, pulling her hand back to join the other one, resting them against her scar. It dawned upon her that this was probably Grimmjow's room.

"...well enough." Hinamori didn't know why she was panicking, but she was, keeping her gaze forward and down, drawing her knees up to her chest. He hadn't done anything, as far as she could tell. And while it registered that it was morning and she knew it had been mid afternoon when she'd gone to meet him, Hinamori doubted that her sleep hadn't been natural. "You?" she forced herself to add.

"It was fine. You know, you talk when you sleep. Nightmares, from what I can tell, and about him." He finally turned to look at her, but he was too tired to properly sneer at her, so instead his expression was blank.

There were times that night when he'd woken to a strangled sob, but before the shinigami could have continued, he'd hold her closer and pat her back. To keep her quiet, of course. He'd gotten pretty good at it, but it was still a pain in the ass. At least she didn't toss and turn, because if she had, he would've probably resigned to sleeping on the floor.

"Oh." She did know, and she blushed slightly at the realization that he now knew it too. "...it still hurts, from time to time," was her offered explanation. The dark haired girl really didn't want to get into it and silently hoped he'd just accept that vague and unhelpful answer.

"I'm sorry," she concluded, unable to meet his gaze as she hugged her knees.

He grunted at her apology. "Nothin' to be sorry about."

He turned his back to her again but didn't move from the edge of the bed. He wasn't really sure what to do, especially since she seemed very scared of him at the moment. It didn't matter what had happened the previous day; he was an arrancar, and she, a shinigami, and they were enemies. And they had shared a bed.

At least they hadn't had sex, Grimmjow mused. He didn't really want to follow the current trend.

"So," he finally said, "you gonna stay there all day, or what?"

...That was a point. She couldn't, shouldn't stay. Hinamori would have enough trouble explaining why she'd destroyed part of the forest without continuing to hide from her fellow shinigami. But - "do you want me gone that badly?"

She almost laughed, throwing the question out there somewhat cheerfully in contrast to the dark memories still crowding her mind. It wasn't that she wanted him to answer for her; she just was honestly interested in knowing if he intended to kick her out. He'd gone to the trouble of making sure she'd slept in a bed, after all.

Her question brought a grin to Grimmjow's lips. Honestly? No, he didn't. He wanted to go back to sleep with her for another several hours, just to relish in the comfortable silence, but there wasn't any reason to return to that. Maybe he'd just have some breakfast instead.

He twisted around to face her again, still smiling, but for once his expression held no mockery. "You hungry?"

Oh, he was full of points today. Hungry? She hadn't eaten since she'd disappeared, stupidly enough, and have used her kidou she was more or less starving. Not that she'd admit as much, of course. No, a simple "kind of" sufficed as she snuck a look around the room.

Those two words were enough. He stood and started for the door. "Your sword is on the table by the window," he informed her just before he stepped out. "If you feel safer that way, then feel free to take it. I'll be back with something to eat. And don't worry about anyone barging in. No one else lives in this part of the temple." He refrained from mentioning the fact that Greed could smell a woman from miles away.

The arrancar strolled into the kitchen and stole the breakfast leftovers that Motoko hadn't yet put away. Pancakes with fresh fruit. Not exactly what Grimmjow had in mind, but he didn't doubt that Hinamori would enjoy them. After snagging enough for the both of them, he headed back to his room.

She glanced over at Tobiume with a rue smile, watching the small sprite stare back at her. "I know," she mumbled meekly, not at all surprised as she reverted back from her materialized form as they both sensed Grimmjow returning. She was shy, after all.

The dark haired girl slipped out of the bed carefully, testing out her footing before padding over to the window to look out while she waited.

Since there was only one chair, he placed her plate on the table and stood with his. "Go ahead, eat."

He leaned against the wall and proceeded to attack his breakfast with a fork. "So," he said to Hinamori, "you feelin' any better since yesterday?"

Like she needed to be told, really, and she settled herself comfortably before starting.

Better was relative, though, wasn't it? Her hand strayed to Tobiume's sheath and she tapped it thoughtfully, glancing up at the Espada. "It's no longer the thing I'm thinking about the most, but it still bothers me." It would probably always bother her, to be honest. She had no trouble admitting that Aizen had meant a lot to her and while it did occur to her she'd said that he still did to the arrancar she knew that in the end it didn't really matter.

No, Hinamori was determined to shove the indiscretion from her mind by whatever means needed and focus on what was now. It would be easier, of course, if she had someone like Hitsugaya in front of her right now, given his less than happy stand on all things Aizen-related, but Grimmjow had shown some interest in keeping the vice captain away from her ex-captain, for reasons she still didn't get, and that would have to suffice for now.

And he still didn't understand what was so special about Aizen. If Hinamori had been power-hungry, Grimmjow would at least accept that Aizen was a means to that power -- that was the arrancar's own goal, after all -- but the small shinigami had no interest in it whatsoever. Maybe it was one of those things he would never fully comprehend.

"So you ain't gonna blow up the rest of the fucking forest. Good." He stabbed a strawberry with a particular malice. "I don't think your friends would be too happy if you spent any more time in my company."

"The rest of the forest is safe from me. I don't really go there much anyway." She didn't add that she didn't go anywhere much at all, of course, but it was more or less implied. She noted the attack on the strawberry with a small frown but didn't mention it, instead taking her time to think over his next sentence as she chewed.

"It's not up to them who I spend time with, is it?" was what she finally came up with, glancing over at Grimmjow with a small blush. "It's not like they control me."

He paused in the middle of lifting his fork to his lips, then smirked. "Well I'd hope not. Though I was under the assumption that you didn't want to spend time with me at all." His smirk was now a feral and triumphant grin. "Changed your mind?"

"Company is company," she shot back calmly, refusing to let her expression betray her. "Besides, I seem to recall that you were the one that wanted to see me." She didn't give anything away as she returned her attention to the pancakes, briefly wondering who had made them in an attempt to give herself something else to think about.

"When I said I wanted to see you," he answered, "I didn't expect to be greeted with tears and a sob story about some goddamn ex-captain." He hadn't expected a lot of things, actually. He'd only wanted to sit with her for a couple of hours and then go off to do his business, but instead he'd let her cry into his shoulder...among other things.

He couldn't exactly take back anything he'd said, could he?

She froze, frown and blush sliding into place as she kept her gaze down at the table. "I'm sorry. I wasn't aware you'd expected something in particular from me. I'll keep that in mind."

She cast her mind back, trying to recall everything, hand absently playing with Tobiume's hilt in the absence of the adjunct badge. He'd said some interesting things, to be sure, and she was distracted by her thoughts quickly enough.

Immediately, Grimmjow knew he'd said the wrong thing. Again.

He set down his plate and fork and walked over to where Hinamori sat. He leaned on the tabletop she he could look into her face. "Listen," he said gravely, "I don't care how you act around me. But you shouldn't be angsting over some shithead who decided to stab you in the gut because you weren't useful to him anymore. Bastards like that don't deserve your tears."

For a second he hesitated, but then he reached out and patted her cheek. "Smile, peach, or your breakfast won't taste as good."

She moved to bat his hand away but couldn't, caught between a snide remark and crying again. Neither one was overly appealing and the small shinigami settled on claiming his hand in hers instead. Silence prevailed for a moment, and while she contemplated asking just who he thought did deserve her tears she didn't bother.

For Hinamori, words just didn't work all too well anymore.

Her action surprised Grimmjow, but he also took it as a sign that she was being to accept his words from the previous day as some kind of truth. The corner of his mouth twisted into a smile. "You don't mind that this ain't right, Momo?" he murmured. His face was mere inches from hers.

"You'll do what you want anyway." She resisted the urge to pull away, other hand still resting on Tobiume regardless. Hinamori could have said everything on her mind at that moment but for whatever reason it just didn't seem important. She'd hadn't said anything about how she felt on this particular subject, despite her sleepy comments the previous night, and her actions had only served to muddle her thoughts even further.

It all came back to Aizen anyway, and somehow mentioning that seemed like the stupidest thing to do at the moment.

She was learning fast.

Grimmjow straightened, quickly kissing her forehead as he did so, and pulled his hand away. He could've taken full advantage of her right then, but he wasn't in the mood, and he figured that after all she'd been through recently, she needed a little less pressure from him. So, he contented himself with finishing his breakfast in her company.

"As much as I would love to have you stay," he commented after a moment of silence, "I think you should go after breakfast before one of those idiots starts something. Nell's been asking everybody where the hell you went, and I think half the fucking city's going to strangle her soon. You wouldn't want that, now, would you?"

She couldn't help but stare at him for the surprisingly gentle show of affection, but somehow managed to avert her gaze, returning her attention to the food once more. Weird wouldn't begin to cover how she felt, so she busied herself with eating instead.

Hinamori couldn't hide a small chuckle when he mentioned Nell, and she smiled slightly in return. "I guess leaving her without a word was a bit silly. I'll go calm her down." She ignored the first part of his comment however, unable to not think about it but refusing to say anything.

"...I still owe you a picnic."

"Silly? Foolish," he corrected. "It was bad enough the first time, when she was lookin' for that punk-ass strawberry, but now she's raising hell lookin' for you. She's like a walking news broadcast."

When the shinigami mentioned their failed date, Grimmjow only brushed it off with a shrug. "That'll be for next time, then." He couldn't help but grin. "At your place, of course. It's only fair since you slept in my bed."

"Oh." Not that Hinamori had really stopped to think that Nell would be that affected by her leaving, but she hadn't expected the little arrancar to go to any great lengths to find her. "...I hope she didn't make anyone worry too much."

The look of concern over the small girl was replaced with a frown, and she pouted slightly as she crossed her arms. "Picnics are supposed to be outside. And I didn't make you bring me here," she muttered in response, glancing up at him in mock irritation. "I could have slept on the floor just fine."

He shrugged. "Fine, outside. Doesn't matter to me."

But then he grinned at her faked indignation. She was playing with him. "I have no idea where you live," he stated matter-of-factly. "I don't know where any of the other fuckers live, and I was sure as hell not gonna bring you to Ulquiorra's flat. Leaving you on the roof wasn't the best idea either." He finished his pancakes and placed the plate and fork on the table. "And I woulda slept on the floor, but you were oh-so-intent on having me sleep with you. You didn't let go the entire night."

"...You should have woken me up then." But this time her blush betrayed her, and she avoided his gaze as best she could, playing with the last few bites on her plate. She didn't know why she'd clung to him at all, and thinking about it only served to deepen the blush so the dark haired shinigami tried to change the subject with a not very casual "what do you want to eat, anyway?"

He didn't bother to suppress a chuckle at her reddening face. "Cute," he commented blithely. He didn't know how many times he'd said that since they'd first met, but it didn't really matter. It was the truth. "Waking you up would've been pointless. You probably hadn't slept since Thursday."

To her question regarding food, he answered, "It's up to you. Though include some meat. I can't stand vegetarian shit."

He was spot on of course, and Hinamori let the matter drop. It had already happened, for better or worse, and she was just glad he lived further away from everyone. It was enough to explain without having to add in this, really. Not that she wouldn't tell if asked, simply that she didn't think it worth mentioning of her own free will. They'd take it the wrong way, after all.

"I'll see what I can come up with. Provided you give me enough time beforehand, of course." The pancakes weren't going to get finished no matter how long she played with them so she stood, retrieving her zanpakuto and fixing her to her side, smiling contently at the familiar weight before bowing slightly. "Thank you."

He caught her before she could finish her bow. "Don't. It's not necessary."

Then he turned and opened his window as wide as possible. "Get out this way and no one will notice. Keep your reiatsu suppressed until you're a good distance away." He knew he didn't really have to add that, but he did anyway. Just as an extra measure, of course.

"Till next time, eh, Momo?"

"I thought you didn't care what people thought," she murmured in response. She hadn't stopped suppressing her reiatsu, really, but she didn't bother fighting the point. He did what he wanted, after all, and while warning her seemed odd he'd done so. There was no sense in arguing it, just like there was no point trying to get out of there being a next time. Hinamori had already given up trying to ignore him fully.

"Just let me know," was really the only thing she could say. But those were words and she didn't trust them so much anymore, so with the lightest of kisses to his cheek and another small smile she turned, letting her shunpyo finish the statement for her.

"It's for your own sake," he said stubbornly at her first words.

The next couple of actions happened so fast, and Grimmjow stared with jaw slack at the space where she had been even long after she'd left. She'd really kissed him? And on her own free will, too?

And then, very slowly, his shock turned into the most victorious grin.