Author's Note: A wild update appeared!

Anyway, rather than flood you all with pathetic excuses, I'm just going to say that I finally got myself a graphics tablet to draw with, so that's pretty much what I have been doing.

Check out my Deviant art because I'm drawing some things for this fic ;P

http : / gone – phishing . deviantart . com

Just delete the spaces, and check it out. I need more page views, XD

I will post a picture of Rukia with her resurrection form soon.

A pair of violet eyes snapped open as their owner's face twisted into a silent scream. She was panting heavily, limbs feeling exhausted, her throat closing as a burning sensation settled behind her eyelids. Beside her, a familiar blue-haired man crushed her body to his chest, in a desperate attempt to do something. Anything; anything to stop her never-ending nightmares, anything to stop her almost violent shuddering, but most of all, anything to stop her screams of terror.

It had been growing steadily worse each day they spent in the human world. Hell, it might have even started before that, all the way back in Hueco Mundo.

Even then, a decent night's sleep for the 10th Espada, was a myth.

Back then, it was images of the past, dark spaces, empty faces and the sensation of falling that haunted her dreams. Now, it began with an orange haired man, turning away before falling. Down, down, down, until no color remained, until the emotions she attempted to hold close to her heart fluttered away slightly out of her grasp, until the overwhelming despair and loneliness made her want to just give in. Falling into the darkness.. into insanity, had never felt so appealing. And always, just as the madness began to crawl in her veins, a warm sensation would flood her dull senses, effectively reeling her back from the brink of insanity.

The feel and the touch of another, along with the soothing whispers, telling her it was alright, and the purely masculine scent that emanated from her 'Kitty', managed to retrieve that long-gone emotion, then use it to fight. To hope. It was always then, when she fought back, that she awoke. Every time there were screams- always her own- as she attempted to stop her limbs from shaking.

As her heartbeat began to slow from its previously thundering pace, as her breaths slowly were drawn out instead of coming in short gasps, she made the effort to strain her vision, in order to lock eyes with her 'Kitty', her partner, her only source of sanity.

Liquid amethyst clashed with burning aqua. On the outside, Grimmjow looked no worse for the ware. His clothes were regular, human clothes that they bought, his expression was relatively controlled, his eyes hard and fierce as always. If it wasn't for his heavy panting, it would seem nothing would be amiss with the scene.

As his own heartbeat began to slow to a regular pace, he studied the girl in front of him in detail.

Her usual bright eyes were slightly dulled, and sickly looking dark bags hung under her eyes, displaying to the world her obvious lack of sleep. Her hair was slightly ruffled, kicking out in wisps down the nape of her neck. If it wasn't for the bags under her eyes, the combination of her pajamas being slightly too large, making her look even tinier than she already was, the tousled hair, the wide, bleary eyes and dazed look, and the way she clutched the front of his shirt like it was a lifeline, he would have to say she was the epitome of cute.

But no.

He was a hollow. The 6th Espada to boot, and there was no way in this life or the next, that he would ever admit that the creature in front of him may or may not be the cutest thing he had ever laid eyes upon, in a place other than his head.

"You look cute."

Shit!

He wasn't meant to say was he was thinking!

What the hell!

He was meant to tell her to stop moving, shut up and go to sleep, like every other night. Sure, when he told her to stop moving, he was actually asking what she dreamed about, and when he told her to shut up, it translated to 'are you alright?' and when he said 'go to sleep' he meant that he'd be there. They both knew the meaning behind his seemingly cruel and harsh words, her silently accepting that it was his way of expressing his feelings, and him, struggling not to sound like a complete moron, so instead speaking that way simply because it was what he was used to.

This wasn't good. He just openly admitted his opinion without masking it in curses in insults. And judging by the devilish smirk spreading across her face, she just realized it to. He clenched his jaw, waiting for the mocking laughter to come. To his surprise, she merely stared at him curiously, one eyebrow raised inquisitively, before cuddling to his chest once more.

"You alright up there? You look like you just had a brain aneurism." Her voice came out in slightly above a whisper. Curiosity and a very slight hint of concern slipped into her tone, surprising them both.

He jerked slightly in response, nodding, then crushing her closer to his chest.

"Shut up, go to sleep and don't you dare wake me up again." He growled, his voice slightly scratchy from lack of use.

That translated to something along the lines of 'shut up get some rest, I'll still be here when you wake'

She smiled silently against his chest, as her breathing began to slow as she eventually began to drift into the realms of the unconscious.

Grimmjow felt the strain of the past week crash down upon his shoulders, as the lack of sleep, constant strain on his body as well as emotion strain made his eyelids feel incredibly heavy.

He too, was only seconds away from drifting off to sleep, before a number of incredibly powerful, Espada Reitsu crashed into the human world. Among them, he could feel not only Yammy, the ex 10th Espada, Wonderweiss, and the faint aura of Ulquiorra, but he could feel an extra. He snorted in frustration, when he realized the last reitsu that he didn't recognize, must belong to the Espada who was currently taking his place.

He grinned manically at the realization that this would be the perfect time to take care of that orange-headed punk. Even if she never said it out loud, he could tell that the tangerine-haired bastard was a large part of the reason why Rukia couldn't sleep properly. He would make that asshole pay for hurting her…

Carefully maneuvering himself out of her embrace, he managed to slink out of the single bed they shared. The apartment in which they were staying, apart from being absolutely tiny (curtsey of the weird man who wore the green and stripy hat) was surrounded by monitors. It was part of the deal they made, which in the end was fair enough.

The shinigami were still slightly suspicious.

Who in their right minds would trust 2 Espada?...even if one of them was an ex-shinigami.

He knew their suspicion and unease hurt Rukia much more than she let on, but that was at the back of his mind. Concentrating, he managed to slip past the monitor, before using sonido off in the direction of that damn warehouse.

Smirking to himself, he allowed the reitsu that he had kept sealed off for the last week, burst free of its confines, essentially sending a message to the shinigami brat. He almost laughed when he felt the Ichigo's reitsu speeding towards his own.

Hook, line and sinker.

Perfect.

Rukia shifted uncomfortable, huddling the thin blanked closer to her chest. The chill ran through her bones, as she could barely feel her toes. Half an hour ago she was warm. Now she was freezing. Fumbling with the covers, she blindly reached out to try and detect the ball of warmth that was Grimmjow. Odd, the other side of the bed was cold too. She almost growled when she blinked her eyes open.

The room was still dark, the blinds shut not allowing any sunlight into the apartment. Rubbing her eyes, she glanced around the small space. It took at least a minute for her sleep deprived brain to comprehend that Grimmjow was nowhere nearby.

She concentrated to feel the sliver of reitsu that he always failed to keep reigned in, but was taken aback when she felt it fully unleashed, lashing out wildly at anther.

Moving as quickly as she could, she grabbed the long cloak she bought on her first night, before throwing it on and jumping out the window, soidno'ing off towards where she felt his reitsu the last.

In a mixture of surprise and horror, she realized there was another reitsu, flaring out wildly, right next to the smothering weight of Grimmjow's.

Oh no.

There was only one person who's reitsu felt like THAT.

That complete moron!

He was going to blow their cover by fighting Ichigo, especially in Karakura.

What the hell was he thinking!

When she reached him, he was going to be in for it…

Ichigo hurriedly rushed to duck his head, as yet another swipe of Grimmjow's hand came inches away from tearing his head off his shoulders. Even with his hollow mask, he had barely managed to damage the Espada.

The realization that he actually may die if someone didn't come to help him was a tough one to face. His steps grew slower, and breaths heavier as the revelation weighed down on him.

His eyes widened as Grimmjow disappeared from his sight momentarily. This wasn't good. He tensed his muscles a fraction of a second before yet another fist careened into his stomach. Using the force of the punch to propel himself backwards, he rolled a few meters before regaining his footing.

Picking up his sword had never felt so heavy, as the energy of going Bankai slowly drained away at his reserves. He glanced back up at where Grimmjow was smirking previously, only to have his attention drawn by a figure in the distance, hurtling towards him at a frightening speed.

So distracted he was, he did have time to block as Grimmjow used sonido and sent a devastatingly strong punch towards his jaw. Ichigo reacted a split second too late, leaving him unable to dodge the blow. A sickening crunch echoed through the area as Grimmjow's fist made contact with his jaw, sending him crashing to the ground.

He struggled to stand once more, as the pain that racked his body amplified. It felt as if his nerves were on fire, as they burned and screamed in agony as he forced his battered body to take stance. Gritting his teeth against the pain, his amber eyes shining in determination, he leapt forward utilizing shunpo, to swing his sword from behind, aiming at the Espada's jugular.

Grimmjow raised his hand just in time, the two forces and monstrous reitsu crashing against each other in a battle of wills. Using one last ditch effort, Ichigo concentrated solely on focusing his reitsu, channeling a massive force into his blade.

"Getsuga…" Ichigo watched in smug fascination as the Espada's eyes widened exponentially, as he quickly brought his other hand up to attempt to block the incoming attack.

"cero!"

"TENSHOU!"

Both cries pierced the air simultaneously, both opposing parties been blown apart by the sheer destructive force of the attacks. Unfortunately, in the split second after the impact, Ichigo's grip on his sword had loosened very slightly, so when Grimmjow followed up on his frontal assault, his very blade was knocked from his grasp, flying through the air then clattering to the ground a good 20 feet away.

Shit.

He glanced up momentarily at Grimmjow, the Espada's purely smug grin sending chills down Ichigo's spine. In a split second, Grimmjow's arm had darted out and closed the distance between them, clutching his skull in a death grip.

Ichigo's eyes widened in horror as he realized that there was no way he would be able to dodge or block this next attack.

His skull felt like it was on fire as the horrible stench of burning flesh assaulted his nostrils. He almost choked when he connected the dots.

Grimmjow was charging yet another cero against his skull.

He couldn't escape.

He was going to die.

His vision began to blur as a blinding blue light blocked his vision.

Suddenly, a voice screamed as everything began to blur together.

"YOU STUPID MORON!"