Holy shit I actually finished it. This story was my first 'song fic' and should've just stayed an angsty oneshot. Guess I'm still a sucker for a (kinda?) happy ending. So here it is, the conclusion to a story that should've been finished years ago. Hope it was worth a read.-TPP

Watch Me Burn

Chapter Two: Crescendo

Grimmjow prowled the dessert, his bones aching.

He was tired of this.

Anything living or semi-living that he came across, he destroyed. Taking life was meaningless, but it was something to do, something to pass the time.

Time marched on, a rogue soldier of the universe, and Grimmjow fucking despised it.

He slept when he could, but it wasn't often. He wasn't even sure what form he was in anymore. He didn't know the last time he had eaten, the last time he had slept a dreamless sleep.

Sometimes he heard a voice.

It was all in his head, he knew that, but it was still a comfort when nothing else was.

It had been decades since the slaying of the Soul Reaper, and still his memory remained.

Grimmjow struggled to remember his own name some days, days when he growled and prowled and scavenged.

He knew every inch of this wasteland, of this world he had made his own. All of his kind was dead, either by his own hand or by those who had fought in the old wars.

But the Soul Reaper was gone now and still Grimmjow was hungry.

Always hungry, always starving.

He didn't even know he wanted to die until the opportunity was presented to him.

Existing was exhausting.

A monster rose up out of the ground, the largest Grimmjow had ever come across. It had hollow eyes and a gaping jaw filled with thousands of teeth, some kind of worm like creature that was more skeleton spirit than animal. It was gigantic, Grimmjow a bug in its presence.

Grimmjow didn't even realize he'd been swallowed until suddenly he was hot all over, uncomfortable.

He closed his eyes. So this is how he was going to die, swallowed by a giant fucking maggot.

But it would be over, the restless wandering would be over, the hunger would finally fucking stop and he'd just not be anything anymore.

Grimmjow didn't entertain the thought of an afterlife. He didn't think his kind had souls, or if they did, he wasn't much of anything anymore and he'd lost it somewhere along the way.

How fucking sentimental. How fucking….human.

The Soul Reaper's face flashed before his eyes, only a moment, but it was enough to startle Grimmjow.

He was suddenly furious, his rage all-consuming. He started slashing, clawing, throwing all his anger into getting out of the belly of this beast. He'd never encountered anything like it, and probably never would again. Some kind of acid had begun to eat through his skin. Grimmjow howled, throwing the last of his energy into a transformation.

The energy force was enough to incinerate the beast's insides, or at least enough of its intestines for Grimmjow to claw his way out. The beast was shrieking in agony and Grimmjow hoped it was hurt enough to disappear.

The next thing Grimmjow knew, there was a Cero blast.

He hadn't seen one in what felt like a millennia. He himself hadn't been in a form capable of firing one for years.

The creature howled again, falling silent as blast after blast assaulted the creature, a cero finally releasing so huge it was bigger than any Grimmjow had ever managed in his lifetime.

The light was blinding, so he closed his eyes, instinctively throwing an arm over his face to shield from the blast.

Sand whipped everywhere for the next few minutes as everything settled, Grimmjow unsure of the danger. If there was some kind of Espada here, Grimmjow would have to defeat it, but he was feeling weak from his time in the beast's stomach and he'd used too much energy already.

A ghostly figure approached him, somebody tall and very pale, his eyes gold pinpricks in inky pools of sclera. A demon with a giant grin, "Hey, buddy. You dead?"

Grimmjow growled, his voice thick and tripping on his tongue. It'd been years, decades since he'd required real speech.

"Not yet, ass hole."

The demon laughed, cocking his head as he stared at Grimmjow, "Heh, you feel…familiar. I know you?"

Grimmjow just stared at the stranger, still on guard. He had just witnessed what this beast was capable of. Part of him was impressed while the other part was furious.

"No."

The demon's eyes narrowed before he grunted, "I dunno why King let me out, then. He don't save just anybody, you know."

Grimmjow bared his teeth at the ghost, his hackles rising, "I'm the fucking king."

The man laughed, a sick, twisted laugh, "You ain't shit. You were bug food before I came along."

"This land is mine."

"Doubt it. But King's stubborn, so I know this dirt ball of a world must mean somethin'."

Grimmjow was done with these games, "This world is mine."

"Don't look like much 'ta me," the demon said with a grin, "ohhhhh, he's pullin' me back, now. You better play nice, 'ya unnerstand?"

Grimmjow growled deep in his throat, not knowing what the fuck this demon was going on about when his body suddenly locked up, seizing before breathing heavily.

The man looked up and Grimmjow felt his atoms split apart.

The Soul Reaper.

He was still pale, his hair still like ash, but his eyes were no longer the demon eyes. They were warm, digging at Grimmjow's gut.

"You," Grimmjow said, standing up slowly. He was naked. It'd been a hell of a long time since he'd been in a form that required clothes.

"Me," Ichigo answered, his voice deep, melodious.

"What are you?"

Ichigo shrugged, "I don't know. All I know is I died."

Grimmjow flinched like he'd been slapped, but his face was impassive, "Yah. You did."

Ichigo smirked, a lopsided thing that made Grimmjow want to rip his face off. His stomach was on fire and there was no air in his lungs, "I told you I'd see you in hell, and here we fucking are. No life to be seen."

Grimmjow didn't completely agree with that statement. He thought he'd killed everything in this world worth killing, but he'd been wrong.

There was only one thing he'd ever killed that he regretted ending, and it was standing in front of him having a fucking chat.

Like it was nothing, like Grimmjow had done no wrong.

"You were innocent," Grimmjow spat, "Pure. It was fuckin' annoying."

Ichigo stepped closer, a hand reaching out to press against Grimmjow's chest, black, sharp nails raking down his abdomen and drawing blood. Grimmjow hissed as Ichigo chuckled.

"I was never innocent, Grimmjow. Even before."

Maybe the once-human had a point.

It's all tongues and teeth after that, Grimmjow letting his animal instincts guide him. All he wants right now is to make Ichigo submit, to breathe into his flesh as they fuck in the cold sand. Ichigo gives as good as he gets, howling his pleasure to the cold dead moon above them as Grimmjow brings their bodies together, taking him apart with blood and sweat.

When Grimmjow cums, he swears he's reborn.

Ichigo pushes Grimmjow off of him, straddling him, riding him, challenging him. It makes Grimmjow roar, makes him feel alive.

He's flesh and blood again.

Ichigo cums, digging his nails into Grimmjow's chest, licking at the blood he draws even as Grimmjow is still inside him.

"Maybe I should kill you," Ichigo muses some time later, naked and rutting against Grimmjow's thigh. They'd been going at it for days, probably, but time had never flowed normally in this world.

"Maybe," Grimmjow answered, biting at Ichigo's lips, "or maybe we should fuck until the world disappears."

Ichigo moans, biting into Grimmjow's neck so hard he draws blood, "Maybe I'll just fuck you until I'm tired of you and then eat you."

Grimmjow wasn't disturbed by that in the least. If anything, it stirred him back to arousal.

He didn't know what Ichigo had become, but whatever it was, it was a monster very similar to him.

Something dangerous, something hungry.

Always, always hungry.

END