tampered | Log; Complete

Current Location: Club Automatica

Log; Complete

When; Dec 27, night
Rating; PG-13, at least
Characters; Grimmjow Jaggerjack [

6thsword] & Hinamori Momo [

hajikemomo] (open to the shinigami going clubbing too, but it's kind of... a personal moment...)
Summary; Hinamori reluctantly follows Isane, Soifon, Yoruichi, Greed, and Nell to Club Automatica but runs into a certain arrancar there who'd been doing his best to avoid her all day.
Log;

The monsters near the surface were too weak to be even called cannon fodder, but Grimmjow had lurked in the area all day. Though he'd wanted to go deeper into the Underground, people's constant insistances that it wasn't a challenge at all made him hesitate. Why waste the effort if there wasn't anything down there that would do much damage? But at the same time, the arrancar wanted to get as far away from the City, Aizen and the others, those shinigami, and her as possible. He needed to deal with any internal conflicts his own way -- through unrelenting bloodshed.

It irked him that the most killing he'd done was through a subway explosion. As fun as that had been, his zanpakutou was hungry. It'd have to satisfy itself on bestial blood.

It was late into the night, and Grimmjow still hadn't descended into the next level of the Underground. Instead, he was standing outside the doors to Club Automatica, glowering furiously at the gaudy neon lights. He hadn't had a drink from the place in a while. With a shrug, the arrancar pushed his way inside and lost himself in the crowd.

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"You said yourself that she might not come back. Why don't you just go and find the fucking strawberry if you're so eager to get outta here?" Nell's pokes into his ribcage were annoying at most, but he didn't feel like putting effort into pushing her away. He hated to admit it, but ever since that curse that gave them hearts, Nell's company wasn't that bothersome. It was even kind of... comforting.

"What the fuck are you doing in a club anyway?" he asked, reaching out for another hapless person's glass and taking a swig before the other arrancar could swipe it away. "This ain't a place for kids."

"Nell doethn't know where Ithigo ith. Nell only knowth that Momo wath going to come back for Nell, but Nell ithn't thure the really will." She stared up at him, mischievously - or near tears, the difference was rather slight - tugging on his arm once more.

"The thtupid thinigami thaid Nell could come, tho Nell did. Nell didn't know Nell couldn't." That said, she knocked the glass from his hand again, finding some small delight in the new game.

The glass shattered on the floor, the last straw for the bartender. Grimmjow stood with Nell in his arms and flared his reiatsu one more time, quieting the human's exclamations before they even escaped his lips. That done, the Espada shouldered his way through the crowd and out the door.

"Good job, brat," he sneered at the top of Nell's head. "I doubt the fuckers would let me back after your damn stunts." He proceeded to pull the child off him, but her grip was like a vice. "For fuck's sake, let go of me already!"

All those things he'd thought about Nell not being bothersome? He was ready take them back at any minute.

"Nell doethn't want to!" Her voice hit a wail and she clung even tighter, already sniffling.

"Nell wantth to thtay with Grimmy-Ethpada until Momo cometh!" Was it really that hard? She didn't understand why he didn't understand it, she'd said it enough times already. But now they were outside, and that was slightly better than being inside. But only slightly. "Take Nell to Momo!"

"Tch. You troublesome brat." But nevertheless, he kicked off into the sky. He'd be able to find that shinigami faster if he searched from above, and from the flickers of her reiatsu... She wasn't too far away.

"I'm only doing this 'cause I don't want you staying with me, all right?!" he said, if only to convince himself of it. The faster I find her, he added mentally, the faster I get rid of Nell. "Hold on, 'cause if you fall off, I ain't stopping for you. And keep your eyes open too!"

And he was off.

"Nell'th not a brat!" She shot back in annoyance, poking him one more time for good measure before returning to her vice-like grip.

It was so easy to get him to go, and she chuckled slightly as she held on, staring down at the ground merrily until-

"There! Nell wantth to go there!" she cried, pointing down at nowhere in particular and not giving any reason why. But she felt it was the right place, and she hoped the Espada would follow her request.

There? What was so special about down there?

Grimmjow descended lightly upon the ground, glancing around for any sign of Hinamori, all the while wondering why he was following a little girl's orders. "There's nothing special here," the Espada pointed out, suppressing a sign of exasperation. "Unless you want me to drop you off here for some fucking monsters to find and eat you."

"Nuh-uh, they won't eat Nell! If they try, thomeone will thtop them!" The little arrancar stuck her tongue out at Grimmjow before grabbing for his hand and starting to drag him along behind her.

"Thee? Nell knowth!" she added happily, giving him an added tug to speed the process along. "If the'th going back there, then the'll come patht here!"

Grimmjow could feel a muscle in his temple twitch. "Why couldn't you come here by yourself?" he asked, though he knew arguing with Nell was pointless. The child would just fight back with something simple and stupid and leave the Espada without a comeback.

But sure enough, though it was still too far away to identify, a figure was slowly approaching them. Grimmjow wasn't sure if he should really believe it was her; after all, there were many other people in the Underground. The possibility that the person ahead of them was Hinamori was low.

"The told Nell to wait with thomeone! Tho at leatht thith way, Nell ith with thomeone!" She grinned up at him and gave yet another tug at his hand before abandoning all hope of dragging him quickly enough and racing off ahead.

She dashed right past the person he'd spotted and launched herself at a person a little ways behind, clinging with a happy giggle. "Nell knew!" she shouted back, "Nell told you Momo would come!"

A little breathless, she glanced down at the arrancar clinging to her, then up at the one ahead. Oh... Hinamori lowered her gaze back to the smaller of the two, offering a sad smile.

"Nell, I thought I told you to wait? You didn't need to drag him too. I would have come back, silly." She hugged her back before lowering her to the ground. More trouble than she was worth, really. "I'm sorry, Grimmjow..."

Wordlessly, he watched the exchange. Nell was an arrancar capable of affection. She displayed it daily, with Hinamori and Ichigo and even recently with Grimmjow. At first, the Espada had believed it was because Nell was a defect, but ever since their conversation with Ulquiorra...

It bothered Grimmjow that an annoying kid such Nell could get what she wanted and he could not.

"The brat should be apologizing, not you," he found himself saying. "Though it was pretty stupid, leaving her in a bar when you know she doesn't like anyone but you and that damn strawberry."

"She seemed fine waiting before..." Giving the little one a small pat on the head quickly, Hinamori nervously moved over to the Espada.

"I- Can I ask you something?" She hadn't sorted anything out at all, her mind still quite unable to figure out what she could and could not accept, what she wanted.

But she wasn't stupid, and she'd felt the first reiatsu explosion from him. It seemed better to approach the subject now, rather than simply leave it.

What did she want now? It would be so much easier on him if she'd just leave him alone with his thoughts, and he supposed it was fairly ironic that it just wasn't possible. He'd never left her alone when she wanted to be, so it was only fair.

"What is it?"

She glanced down, hands fiddling again. "I wanted to know... If it would make you happy. Because I- You'd-" She was trying so hard, forcing herself to stand there and speak, calmly, normally.

"...It's not so much that I don't, or can't. I just, I'm hesitant because," because she still loved Aizen, because she knew Hitsugaya would yell at her for being stupid, because Nell was watching, because, because, because in the end she was still a shinigami bound by duty and because he would probably eventually have to face her and kill her, "because somehow, I know it wouldn't work."

Of course it wouldn't work. They were enemies. The only reason it was possible now was because of that truce, and even then, there was no telling how long that would last. But he was a possessive bastard, and he'd get what he wanted no matter the cost.

"Until the day we stand like this with murderous intent," he answered, slowly and gravely, "then yeah. It would."

She'd never wanted to kill anyone before. Even the hollows she'd defeated, she'd only done so because of duty. Oh, she hated that word. What was duty, anyway, in the end? It was something that lead you to your own death, and she'd seen enough of that.

No, the question that came next was would she. It was obvious the Espada's mind was made up, in any event. She reached out, finding his hand. Oddly comforting.

"Come see me in a few days. If you can say it all again... I'll give you a proper answer."

Postponed, again? Grimmjow fought the urge to sneer with impatience.

"Fine. A few days, then," he conceded, pulling his hand away reluctantly. "I gotta go now, so you take care of the brat. Don't get yourself into any trouble, either." He turned on his heel and started off, glancing back at her just once before disappearing with a sonido.

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