tampered | Log; completed

Log; completed

When; Tonight
Rating; PG
Characters; Tenten [

weaponed] at first, Grimmjow [

6thsword] and Hinamori [

hajikemomo]
Summary; Don't ever trust a ninja. Especially not when she knows more about your love life than you probably do, and offers to take you to dinner.
Log;

It was sort of because she was bored, in the end. Not that waiting about for the Espada to show made her boredom any the easier to handle but~ Well. It was this, or sit with Hinamori as the girl fidgeted nervously for several hours without a word. Not quite this ninja's idea of fun, to say the least, even if she had offered to be keep her company.

No, with a small smile she'd told the young vice captain all she knew, not at all surprised to note that what she knew was a lot more than most people seemed to have grasped. The joys of a working intel system and common sense. Well, that, a good knack at reading people, and rather handy hacking skills added to it all and ultimately, it really wasn't a shock that Hinamori didn't have anything to add to Tenten's take on the situation.

The bun haired girl had, through no fault of her - or his - own, gradually picked up a thing or two about emotions from Hisoka and had offered the simple advice of facing the source of her confusion. Having the girl agree she'd taken it upon herself to act as intermediary.

It didn't hurt to be on good terms with the enemy of your ally, after all. Small things like this always paid off.

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"Did ya hear me earlier? I'm not scared of you," he snapped. He knew he could've thought of a better comeback but honestly, it wasn't the most important priority.

Tenten's next words, though, were interesting. Was she attempting to be an ally? If so... Well, Aizen had no need for human subordinates. If he really needed one's abilities, he would kidnap them, just like he'd ordered with that Inoue girl. And if the ninja was as good with intelligence as she claimed, then she already knew that. So... she was offering her information to Grimmjow specifically? Odd. Why would anyone want to do that?

"If keeping to my good side includes staying out of my way, then fine," Grimmjow replied, following her up the stairs. "And I'll think about that offer." Whatever happened the traditional enemy?

"I don't want you to be scared of me, so I suppose that's a good thing. As is thinking for yourself." She allowed herself a satisfied smirk as she fell into silence, focusing instead on the sounds around her. Her light footfall compared to his heavier one, for starters. Where his hands rested. Not that there would be an issue if he decided to go for his sword in the slightest.

A weapons master knows how to dodge, after all. But no, Tenten was more interested in the way he was reacting to everything else. He certainly carried himself with enough confidence, at least.

They were up two flights now, and Grimmjow had enough to think about without Tenten's confident attitude distracting him, so he was rather relieved when she lapsed into silence.

The building was somewhat familiar too, though he couldn't really figure out why. From what he could tell, they were all the same on the outside and inside, and he didn't walk through them enough to know the difference. But this one... Maybe he had been there before.

"How much farther?" the arrancar finally asked, growing impatient.

"Fifth floor~" was the simple reply, the kunoichi not at all bothered by the irritation in his voice. Her talking had kept his mind off of what she up to, clearly.

Keeping that in mind, she figured a question wouldn't hurt too much. "There's a lot of rumours going around. Want to solve one for me?"

He definitely knew this building, then. Perhaps his previous uncertainty was because he'd left through the window of a certain apartment.

"Rumors?" Well, fuck. He had a very good idea of exactly what those rumors were, and he had no desire at all for them to spread. "...Fine. What is it?"

"Hm~ So accommodating, Grimmjow Jaggerjack~" She laced her fingers together, stretching slightly while she continued walking.

"I was just curious~ They say your devotion to your master isn't what it could be. True or false?" No need to ask for details. Not yet, anyway. A simple answer would suffice for now.

"Master?" The Espada's face contorted into a scowl. He hated that word. "He's not my fucking master. 'Master' implies servitude, and there's no way in hell am I that man's slave," he snarled. "Why do you dipshits think that just 'cause he created me, I answer to his beck and call?"

She'd wanted him to be cheerful. Well, it was too late for that.

That answered that, more or less. But she didn't change her tone at the harshness of his, didn't jump, scare, frown, or react otherwise. She simply shot another small smile over her shoulder.

"It was just a question. And that was more than enough of an answer. You can ask me something if you want~" She would either calm or irritate him by responding as if he hadn't snapped, and she was better it wouldn't be the one she wanted. But it didn't matter too much. She'd get a smile on his face one way or another.

Grimmjow was silent for a moment as he thought of what to ask, trying not to fume so much since he was going to see Hinamori any minute now, and he had no idea how the girl was faring emotionally anymore. ...Well, he could probably ask the ninja, since she was so keen on giving him information. He just hoped he wouldn't come off as soft because he was concerned about a certain shinigami's thoughts.

"Does she even want to see me?" He didn't bother supplying a name. Tenten would know.

"Oh? I meant something a little deeper than that." She shrugged it off, not at all surprised he'd caught on.

"Yes and no. I'm not an empath, I only know one. But-" She glanced behind her gauging his reaction, no longer teasing in the slightest, "-she feels that things might be helped if you don't simply avoid each other, waiting for her to make up her mind. Doing normal things like this is, well, normal. And we all know she needs that."

They were up four floors already. Grimmjow's anger had dissipated, his nervousness replacing it. Tenten's answer didn't help any, either.

She was right, of course. He wasn't too surprised at "yes and no", either; at that moment he was also torn between continuing up the stairs and turning around to leave the building. It was probably in his best interest, though, that is pride kept him walking forwards.

"I guess so," he conceded at last. "No more questions for now, ninja." There would be a time for them later. Right now his focus was on something far more important.

"Whenever you need something answered, I'll be around. Just know that questions about peoples feelings are normally best taken to that person." He wasn't that bad, really. And from his most recent actions, his behaviour towards her today, and everything she had learned about, he'd probably continue to be not that bad. It was good enough for her.

"This isn't the end of the world, you know," the kunoichi added with a small, reassuring smile.

"So I've been told." It was just so much easier to ask a third party.

He paused for a moment at her final words. Did he really give off the impression that he was half-dreading having to see Hinamori again? Grimmjow managed to brush off her reassurance with an "I know that," but they had reached the fifth floor.

"I don't mind at all if you'd rather talk to me, of course~ I am easier to get along with than most of the people you seem to hang about with." Not that she was talking about anyone in particlar, by any means. Simply mentioning it.

Knocking only once she opened the door for him, that same smile still in place. "So don't look so down. She's even nicer than me, and I'm sure you know that, too." Her part over, she'd leave as soon as he went in. If he went it. If not, well, it wasn't like she'd force him, or anything. It was up to the Espada.

He suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. Her? Easy to get along? Hell no, she put him on guard faster than anyone else did. Not that it was easy to do so in the first place. "Whatever."

Steeling himself for perhaps the most awkward dinner in his life, Grimmjow stepped across the threshold. Yes, he knew this apartment, and if he took that left there would be a table with a young woman sitting at it and --

The door shut behind him. The arrancar took a moment to collect himself, then approached impending doom.

She hadn't been talked into it, not really. The whole day had been relatively bad, aside from the visit earlier, that she'd simply just sat there, letting the ninja talk.

This... was silly. Which was probably why she was currently holding her hands very tightly, staring at the floor. The floor was always a very good thing to look at when she felt like this, after all.

Grimmjow stared at her for longer than necessary. It had been a while since he'd talked to her in person, so the silence was rather annoying. She looked... frightened? Anxious? Upset? He couldn't really tell. He also suddenly wished he'd brought something for cheering her up. Anything. ...Flowers, even, though the idea itself was sickening.

Slowly, he approached and tucked his knuckles under her chin to raise it, gently coaxing her gaze to meet his. "Hey," he said, his voice low, "you okay?"

The touch surprised her, although it really shouldn't have. Something like this, it never seemed to suit him. She would have looked less afraid if he'd pinned her to the wall or something instead. Hinamori noted, of course, that he was armed, Tobiume having been left in her - Hitsugaya's, rather - room.

But she wasn't answering the question and that was probably a bad thing. "I think so," was her timid response, aware that it was a rather stupid thing to say as she averted her gaze. But a yes would be an outright lie, and a no would be most of a lie.

She was frightened, and though he enjoyed instilling fear into others, he figured it wasn't the right reaction to get from the girl he felt affection for, from the girl he loved. So, a little reluctantly, he stepped away and turned towards the table, one hand falling onto the hilt of his zanpakutou.

"That's good," the Espada said absently, removing the sword from his belt and leaning it up against the wall. Just once, he conceded, he didn't think he'd need it. He sat down opposite Hinamori. "Did you cook all of this?"

She was more than a little bit relieved when he unarmed himself, already thinking it was probably only because he didn't trust Tenten more than anything else. It had been silly - as was quickly becoming normal - for her to have thought otherwise.

"Yes." It wasn't much of anything, the usual fare she'd made back in Seireitei whenever her fellow vice captains had deemed it needed to visit her on short notice and get a meal out of it. The basics, really, rice, dumplings, grilled meat. A small effort. But he wasn't complaining, or sneering, or anything like that, and she allowed herself to relax with a small smile. "Sorry if you were expecting something else."

"I didn't know what to expect." He served himself, not at all wondering if it was rude for the guest to just dig in. He'd never really had dinner like this before. "But I ain't complaining. This is probably a hundred times better than that shit Ulquiorra cooks."

Just keep talking, he told himself. Keep out the nervous silence. He took a bite and chewed it thoughtfully. "This is good." He cracked a grin, somehow. "I shouldn't be worrying about food poisoning, should I?"

Oh. She hadn't supposed for one moment that Tenten might not have told him exactly what was going on. But then again, it was hard for her to tell what the ninja did at all. It had been enough of a shock that she knew as much as she did.

Clearly, no one hid as much as they thought they did. But that was something else entirely, and she turned her attention to the Espada in front of her. "No. It's all fresh, Kusajishi-fukutaichou went shopping yesterday." At least he was eating, anyway. Forcing herself to move at last, the dark haired girl helped herself in order to keep busy. She was hungry, too, of course.

His grin softened somewhat. "So I'm not gonna keel over and die any minute now. Good. Won't have to wait another year for another mass revival thing." He glanced up at her occasionally as he ate, glad he wasn't the only one trying to make this situation as normal as possible.

"I'm guessing 'cause everybody's coming back to life, those two aren't dead anymore. Nemu and the blonde chick." He chuckled a little. "Thank the fucking gods, eh?"

He'd unintentionally said the wrong thing. While she was glad they were both alive - Nemu especially, because that meant she didn't have to worry about trying to find something to offer in exchange - the details surrounding Rangiku's were... Well, she simply didn't like the way it had happened.

Aizen and Rangiku obviously didn't want anyone knowing what had happened though, so Hinamori fought against the sadness that threatened to creep into her voice as she answered, "mm, I'm glad. I hope they don't mean to just take it away again."

Though she'd tried to hide it, he caught it immediately. He didn't know why. After all, shouldn't she be happy that all of her people had a chance of leaving the City? Grimmjow thought back to what Isane had said about Hinamori's happiness. He'd have to keep the medic's words in mind the entire night.

"We won't be doing any taking of lives. At least, not of shinigami," he reassured her, remembering Aizen's orders. It didn't occur to him that he'd forgotten about his persistance about his own desire to take her life.

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