Hello there and welcome to my little story :)

This is actually some kind of experiment... I'm really, really into Bleach right now, especially into Grimmjow… so, well let's see if I can get a grasp of his character and his quite yaoiesk interactions with a certain orange-haired Shinigami.^^

The actual plotline will at some points look rather familiar to you since it follows to some lengths the original plot (with several nice alteration/extension :)).

Disclaim: I don't earn money with this story, all just for fun. I'll stay as broke as I am and all characters belong entirely to Tite Kubo.

Rating: M - due to violence, language, lemon and so on and so forth.

Yaoi: You have been warned - Don't like it, don't read it!

Genre: Drama/Romance ... more or less (replace romance with lemon and we're getting closer). But they were the most fitting genres, concerning the options given... -.-"

That's all I guess. Except for hope you like it and feel free to review. Comments are candy :))

Regards, Eisteufel

Torn Apart Mask

Chapter I

Annoying Emptiness

The white sand reflected the dim light of a crescent shaped moon which had slowly risen above the neverending dunes of Hueco Mundo. Half hiding behind thick shreds of dark clouds it illuminated a dead world with wretched and garbled inhabitants, although, there was no one of them to be seen. No wind, not the slightest sign of life, simply miles and miles of white.

It had always been that way.

Since he could remember nothing had ever really changed around him. He had changed but apart from that nothing in this world seemed to be evolving. Hollows were eating their fellow Hollows in order to get more power, only to get eaten by even stronger ones in return. It was a circle, a never-ceasing repetition and simultaneously the only law this monochrome world ever had. The strong used the weak for their purposes – however named.

A new man was in charge now who had somehow managed to give some of the stronger Hollows their human bodies back, but Hueco Mundo still lied there unimpressed as if nothing had ever happened. Still the most distinctive feature Hueco Mundo could boast about was its sheer size of nothingness. Nothing but infinite emptiness as far as the eye could reach. Maybe that was the reason why he always felt like he was about to throw up as soon as he spotted the pale Arrancar with the in contrast to his way too white skin way too green eyes. This vile, omnipresent aura of emptiness and futility he oozed everywhere he went had always made him sick. This particularly sickening feeling, which got a hold on him while looking into those empty, green depths that seemed to yell that there was nothing to gain or to achieve in this vast land but endless despair. And maybe… maybe, maybe that was the reason why he liked the eyes of a certain Shinigami so much in comparison.

They were the proof that he wasn't as empty as that damn bootlicker Ulquiorra who always did exactly what Aizen ordered him to do, no matter what he was actually thinking - one could almost come to the conclusion that he wasn't thinking on his own anymore at all.

And although the consequences of his actions were a pain in the ass, he still felt pretty happy that he wasn't such a mindless minion. As long as he could still feel this never ceasing anger flaming up inside his stomach whenever this hideous orange-haired pest stumbled its way into his field of vision clarified this fact once and for all. It had been a long, long time since he had felt such excitement and fury at the same time. Pretty good thing to know that his inside wasn't as hollow as his name suggested. Otherwise he wouldn't feel that pissed off. And like hell, he was pissed to unknown limits! Unconsciously numb fingers had clenched around the stump of what till recently had been his left arm with such vengeance that he could feel blood seeking through the thick bandages again, dripping down his fingers.

"Shit… and it took hours to stop the damn bleeding", he hissed constrained through tightly clenched teeth while he looked down to the nothing where his arm used to be. Nothing left of it. Just a few drops of dark blood dripped on the balustrade of the balcony he was sitting upon.

Grimmjow took a deep breath when he ceased his musing and averted his gaze from the almost completely hidden moon. With a growling sigh he got onto his feet to finally let go off his bleeding arm stump. No, this wound wasn't the worst he had... immediately a sharp flash of pain shot through his upper body, the ugly scar running across his chest radiated a searing pain when his fingernails scraped over the red, scarred flesh.

Oh how he would pay that goddamn brat back for that!

A wild, boiling rage was consistently agglomerating in his stomach, smothering the maddening pain caused by the burnt flesh. His fingers traced the line of uneven skin from his collarbone to the hole in this abdomen for one last time. A few rays of weak light found their way onto his skin before they were swallowed by the clouds.

Getsuga Tenshō, hu?, he broke into a sneer when he watched the last light vanishing, engulfing Hueco Mundo in perfect darkness.

A great name for such a weak attack… you're aeons away from slicing the moon in half, kid. Not to mention me!

Yes it was about time to pay that little boaster a friendly visit. Lifting his index-finger in order to open a passage between Hueco Mundo and the World of the Living Grimmjow froze on the spot when he could suddenly hear a very well-known and very well-hated voice drawling behind his back:

"Where are you going, Grimmjow?"

The addressed one didn't need to turn around to know who was talking to him, there was no doubt who was the owner of that damn voice. Instead of an answer he simply shrugged his shoulders while he turned around deliberately slowly to face the person delaying his plans for tonight: Ulquiorra Cifer.

His intact arm buried deep inside the pocket of his wide, white hakama he passed his opposite, wordlessly glaring blue daggers into him. When there was one thing he hated even more than the fact that Ulquiorra did not seem to be affected by anything - be it in Hueco Mundo or the World of the Living - then it was the fact that this anaemic eyesore always appeared out of thin air in the least convenient situations. One could bet one's ass on it!

"I needed some time to think things through", he raised one of his thin, blue eyebrows while speaking in a raspy voice. "Alone. Is there something wrong about that?" his voice turned into nothing but a sharp hiss when he replied that stupid, inquisitorial question.

"That does not answer my question", Ulquiorra retorted unfazed, the green gaze attached to even the slightest movement of his counterpart whose lips split into a wide Cheshire cat grin in no time.

"Oh, it does not answer your question?" the smile became a little wider. "What a pity."

Within the blink of an eye Ulquiorra could feel a strong hand around his throat, intensifying its grasp around his neck further and further while dragging him several feet in the air in the process.

"My dear Ulquiorra", Grimmjow spit the words out like it was vermin while digging his fingernails into the white cloth of Ulquiorra's jacket. Lowering his face so that Ulquiorra had to feel his breath onto his features he whispered in a dangerously low tone:

"I don't have to vindicate every single of my actions. Neither to you, nor to anyone else. This is none of your business, are we clear?"

Green eyes simply stared back into deep blue ones, Grimmjows opposite did not even bat an eyelash when he glared into the face of the 6th Espada before he finally condescended to answer in his usual, languid manner:

"Maybe you should reconsider how your last business ended…", the eyes that never seemed to blink wandered for a split second to the rusty red bandages covering the remains of an arm. "Actually I always thought that you were rather…", he seemed to ponder on the right words to describe the situation for a few seconds before he eventually appeared contented with his choice, "…attached to your arm."

"Listen you-"

"And I would like you to let me down now if you don't want to lose the remaining one as well."

"Tss… nothing but an empty threat", Grimmjow snarled constrained when his fingers reluctantly let go off the other Espada's neck. No, he definitely would need this arm to get his revenge on that Shinigami and on the bastard who was responsible for his now rather one-handed actions.

"Grimmjow", the low voice of his comrade distracted him from his dark thought of vengeance. Narrowing his eyes to slots Ulquiorra was eyeing Grimmjow with a strange expression on his pale face. "You sacrificed your own Fracción and lost your left arm. That's a rather high price you paid for such a meaningless thing like hurt pride."

"It's not about my-"

"Call it your obsession then, if that suits you better but the meaning stays the same", Ulquiorra simply shrugged his small shoulders while cutting Grimmjow off. The white coat-tails of his jacket swayed in the air when he turned on his heel, walking towards the doorway at a leisurely pace.

"Don't get carried away", he added without looking back at Grimmjow who was eagerly trying to invent a possibility to stab people's backs with glares. "I recommend to you not to search for that boy again unless Aizen explicitly orders you to."

Grimmjow simply gritted his teeth until his jaw ached to bit back the fervently upcoming desire to simply sink his fangs into that unhealthy looking skin and tear the flesh from the bone.

Like hell he would listen to that advice! He would return to the World of the Living and beat the living daylight out of that orange-haired Shinigami who was responsible for this whole crap of a situation in the first place! Although, Grimmjow did not know if he should feel grateful for the allegedly long lost feelings the reaper had awakened inside of him or if he should simply crash his goddamn head against the next best wall, slice open his torso and watch with satisfaction how his guts dash onto the ground in a puddle of blood instead – he still wasn't sure to which reactions his feelings corresponded to...

So much for now, Ichigo will have his moments in the spotlight from the next chapters onwards. Hope you enjoyed the first chapter and stay tuned for the next ones (which are coming soon). ^^ And to all Ulquiorra-Fans: Although it does not seem that way I really like him :)