Bleach 1. Rude Awakening

_This is my first fan-fiction, and I'm currently re-writing it, so I'm not sure how often new chapters will be written. Beware of OC-ness in these characters since I'm not that good at this. XD _

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"You have disappointed me, yet again, Grimmjow," Aizen addressed the teal haired man that stood a few feet from where he sat on his throne-like chair. Beside him, of course, were his closest subordinates; Gin and Tosen.

Grimmjow, with an even expression, just stared up at the "leader" of the Arrancar. He knew that consequences might come his way if he supposedly disobeyed the former shinigami captain, but he did not care. It was nothing that he really worried about.

"I've let a lot of things slide, and until recently they have just been piling up against you. But now…" Aizen took a moment to chuckle a bit. "It has been too many times. I can see you do not know your place and you cannot go without punishment." In the back of Grimmjow's mind, his instincts told him to run as fast as his legs could take him, however he promptly ignored it. Leaning on one side of the armrest, Aizen smirked down at the sixth Espada.

Suddenly, Grimmjow started to feel a case of extreme dizziness as he held his head in pain. Vision blurring, he looked up at the shinigami before him. _Damn him! _Grimmjow thought, _Damn him and that smirk of his_. _What the hell…did he do…_And with that thought, the sixth Espada collapsed onto the marble floor.

"Ulquiorra, do take care of him," Aizen said with a wave of his hand; dismissing both the unconscious Grimmjow, and the fourth Espada, that was at the back of the room. With a nod, both Espada disappeared.

Grimmjow started to come to his senses and as soon as his vision returned, he could see that he wasn't in Heuco Mundo anymore. The first place that came to his mind was the human world. It was the only place he could think of that was this loud and annoying. Grimmjow could hear the dull roar of a few cars further away. He became cold quickly when he noticed that he was laying halfway in a large puddle of rain water in an alley-way. His vision blurred in and out while he dragged himself out of the pool of water.

As he did so, the action seemed strange to him. It appeared that his thumbs were numb, and were unable to move much, if at all. He looked at his hand to identify the problem. His vision, still slightly blurry, could only see vague shapes as Grimmjow clenched his hands together. He tightly closed his eyes, and groaned as a shiver went down his spine when a cool breeze brushed past him. He opened them again to see that his vision had cleared. His relief was soon replaced with confusion as he peered at cute little paw-pads instead of his palms. "What the fuck?" he howled.

Small movement on his backside made his head whip around to see a fluffy, thin white tail lying between his back paws. A burst of energy exploded in his body as he turned around to look into the murky puddle behind him. He could vaguely see the outline of a small face, large round eyes, and long ears on top of his head. Grimmjow didn't know quite how, but Aizen had transformed the sixth Espada into a small, cute kitten.

He was suddenly speechless. He was trapped in the human world as such a weak creature. He slashed at his reflection in the dirty water, and soon found half of it splashed him back in the face, only improving his mood even further. Fury boiled in Grimmjow's stomach as he thought about what he could do to Aizen when he returned to Heuco Mundo. Out of instinct, he brought a paw up to wipe the water off his face. His thought process was interrupted as he heard a loud yell behind him.

It just so happens that a pair of drunks were walking home when they stumbled upon the small feline. "Oi!" the one yelled. "Look'a dat!" His pal could only muster a dumb smile on his face as Grimmjow could have sworn that his eyes were looking in opposite directions. "Aeh cat! Aeh reel cat!" the first drunk said as if he had never seen one before. They were obviously too drunk to remember much of anything, actually. The second took a few quick steps towards Grimmjow, but that appeared far too difficult a task for the man.

He tripped over his own feet as he fell into a few trashcans near-by, and face planted into the ground. Grimmjow was able to leap out of the way as a trash lid almost landed on top of him. He panted as the large object finally settled next to him.

"Awe, kitteh-cat!" the first man yelled again, apparently not very worried about his friend that was now merely lying there, possible passed out. "Come back!" he called to the fleeing Grimmjow. He reached out, as if to stretch his arm out and grab the kitten, but he too lost his balance, and fell onto the ground.

At first, Grimmjow thought of killing both of the fools where they lay, but he remembered he was no longer in his normal body. He then convinced himself that the men were not worth his time, and took his leave from the alley. While walking on all fours wasn't very hard, Grimmjow found that running was a much different story. He often tripped over his own feet, or lost his balance. The frustrated cat resorted to a fast walk, as it was much easier in this new body.

He felt his tail flick in annoyance. "That bastard," he hissed. "When I get back, I'm going to rip that smirk right off your god damn face." He stopped as he heard a large clash of thunder above in the early night sky. Grimmjow hadn't noticed that the sun was almost below the horizon, and heavy, dark clouds had moved in. It looked strange to watch the clouds move so swiftly. Never had he seen Heuco Mundo's sky ever change so rapidly. There were always a few small, slow drifting clouds, but never had he seen clouds like these.

He wondered why the clouds would be such a strange color. Just as the thought entered his mind, a large rain drop landed upon the cat's back. Grimmjow leaped higher than he thought possible as he turned around looking for the fool that would mess around with him. He scanned the landscape to find nothing other than a small mouse run into the small hole in the wall a few feet away. Just as he was about to take his anger out on the smaller creature, a few other raindrops fell upon his body.

He growled as he spun around, expected to find another animal after him, but instead, he was welcomed by the sight of a bright lightning strike and a wall of moving water moving towards him. Grimmjow had never seen such a thing, and was surprised that the small objects falling from the sky was water. His fur absorbed it, and the espada suddenly felt the cool water drip onto his bare skin. It made his body feel heavy, and much colder than he was when he was laying in the puddle.

More thunder and lightning flashed above him, as he felt a strange emotion in the pit of his stomach. What was this? Fear? Grimmjow had never heard or even experienced a thunderstorm before. He didn't quite understand any of what was going on, or why water was falling from the sky. He quickly found a small house near-by that was sitting on a large patch of strange green spikes. He was almost hesitate to step onto them, but as rain battered his small body, he had to choice. The feline took a mad dash for the home. Now that he was a bit closer, he could see that the home was sitting on stilts, and there was plenty of room for him to take shelter underneath. After tripping over his paws a few times, and slipping on the wet ground, he crouched in the crawlspace. Disgusted that he was soaked to the bone, and had mud clinging to his white fur, but he finally made it. Normally mud and a little water wouldn't bother Grimmjow, but in this body it made him feel slow and heavy.

Only a few feet away, the large raindrops continued to pelt into the ground. For the first time since he arrived into the human world, he felt a bit calm. Something about the dark, small crawlspace made him feel at home. He laid down onto the dry ground, slightly thankful for stumbling upon this place. Things must be looking up, after all. Now that he was out of the rain, he found the sound of the rain hitting the ground quite lulling. His eyelids became heavy, and he found his mind slowly fogging up. No matter how many times he tried to stay awake, he could do nothing against his powerful instincts. The last thing he heard before he drifted off to sleep was a distant bang of thunder.

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	2. Captured

Grimmjow woke to a soft breeze that blew through the crawlspace, and through the small yard. A few small birds chirped a warning call as they eyed the small feline under the floor boards from atop a small tree. Humans may think birds are beautiful, but Grimmjow couldn't find a noise more annoying. Now that he was half-awake, he could no longer close his eyes and go back to sleep. Just as the birds were starting to be more quiet, they suddenly chirped louder than before. Grimmjow growled in annoyance. Never had he felt he needed sleep so badly. His feet ached, and his eyes hurt as he opened them to the morning light.

Just as he was about to go give the birds a piece of his mind, they suddenly disappeared. Grimmjow crawled a little closer to the opening of the crawlspace to see what had become of them. Maybe he was just lucky and they chose to shut up, and as he scanned the near-by tree, he could see them none in sight. Had they flown away? He grumbled at the thought of worrying about puny birds when he had more important matters that he should address. Just as he was about to turn back under from the powerful sunlight, he saw a large, solid black cat staring back at him from the middle of the yard.

The cat's eyes showed no emotion as she easily spotted the dirty white kitten under the floor of the home, almost just as easy as a human was to spot her in daylight. She prowled over towards Grimmjow, keeping a straight face. Grimmjow wasn't sure whether he should make a run for it or keep his ground. Had this place belonged to the larger cat? He shook his head to forget the thought. Why the fuck should he care if she did or not. This was his now. Not quite sure how to fight off the adult cat, Grimmjow merely crouched down and hissed at the other cat. Had he been normal, that cat would have been flying through the bright sky by now.

But instead of being threatened, the black cat calmly closed the distance. The look in her eyes suggested that she was in no way afraid of this puny cat in any way. Grimmjow's heart fluttered a bit to see the same kind of look he would give most enemies before a fight. The cat, now about 2 feet away from Grimmjow, sat down and curled her long tail around her feet. The only thing that stood between then was a wide puddle from the storm. For a few moments, there was no speaking, no sounds whatsoever. It seemed that even the birds had nothing to say.

Grimmjow was the first to speak. "What the fuck do you want!" he growled.

The black cat's eyes danced as if finding him interesting. It scared him a bit to be under such a powerful gaze. He wilted a bit seeing as she was more amused than scared. "What do I want?" she repeated. If Grimmjow didn't know better, he would have guessed this cat was male. Her voice was deep like a man's should be, but there was no way a build like this cat had would be anything other than female. The body was long and sleek. If they met in any other circumstance, Grimmjow would assume humans would call her beautiful. "What I want is to know why a little kitten like you is under this shop."

Grimmjow's took another blow to be called "little kitten." He was about to come out of the shadows when he heard a strange sound above him. It reminded him of the sound of the drunk human's footsteps, but it sounded so very different. There was more of an echo of this sound. Before he could analyze it further, a human voice called out.

"Yoruichi!" the man said, happily. Grimmjow could only guess that the man had a smile from ear to ear by the sound of his voice. "I didn't expect you back for a while now-" he cut himself off as he saw that his friend was facing under his shop's floor. "What's wrong?" he asked. Just as he was about to take a step down to see for himself, Yoruichi took one more glance at the cat that had fled back further into the darkness. "You should get out of here, and back to your mother," she said softly before jumping up to greet the man.

Grimmjow wasn't sure if he should be thankful to the cat or not for distracting the human. He decided it wasn't worth his time to think about, especially since she hit his pride once more by calling him a child. He was far from being a child. Sure a human was annoying, but nothing he couldn't do by himself. Instead, the thought about the dryness of his mouth entered is mind. The day before had no such sensation, and it gave him a bad taste in his mouth. After multiple times of trying to rid of the thought, he resorted to drinking from the puddle near the entrance. Out of habit, he tried taking his hands to cup the water, but soon realized his mistake.

Growling once more, he lowered his head to the water, and started to drink. While his mouth was no longer dry, a strange after taste replaced it. He wasn't sure what was worse, a dry mouth or the taste of mud. He spit out the remainder what was still in his mouth. He turned around to go back to lay on the cool dirt, away from the world, until he heard a loud voice, followed by a very soft one.

Before he could locate the humans, he felt something grab him from behind, and wrap around his torso. "Ururu! Look, a cat!" said a young human with bright red hair to another with black hair. Instead of answering, she merely nodded. They had been on their way back from the store when they had spied the cat under the shop. Grimmjow's reaction on the other hand was much more energetic. He flailed in the human's grasp trying to reach some part of this human's flesh.

"She's so dirty, though…We should clean her, and keep her around!" He looked back down at the cat the twitching awkwardly in his palm. "She should be a good cat, look how much energy she has," Jinta said as he poked the unprotected belly of Grimmjow.

The cat's anger flared to be treated in such a way. Being turned onto his back felt so unnatural, but he wasn't quite sure why. His curiosity was soon answered as one of the humans poked him in the stomach. Just as he was about to get revenge for such an action, the finger was pulled away before it could be ripped to shreds. "Fucking human! Let go of me!" he screeched. "And I am _not_ a fucking female!"

"Jinta," the other human said softly; almost too soft to hear. "We shouldn't worry about the cat. We should do the rest of our chores for Urahara before he gets mad."

"Chores?" Jinta questioned. "Well you can do the chores, Ururu. I'm sure Urahara wouldn't care about another cat anyway."

"But Jinta—" she was cut off as he took one of the paper bags she was carrying and emptied the contents into the second bag.

"Come on Ururu! Don't you think taking care of a cat will be fun! Maybe we can teach it baseball, or maybe soccer!"

Upon request, Ururu agreed to help her friend out. She didn't want to be too rude to him. She took the filled grocery bag, and went inside to start on the chores that she knew Jinta would refuse to do.

Now alone, Jinta opened the empty paper bag, and lowered Grimmjow into it. Upon finding that he was not being released, but instead being kidnapped, the cat squirmed even more than normal. "Hell no! Don't you fucking put me in there you little bitch!" By some ability he was not aware of, Grimmjow was able to bend almost completely backwards, and bite into the child's thumb. He was immediately released, but unfortunately right into the paper bag of which was below him. The landing immediately sucked the breath out of the cat. He rolled on his side to try and get air, but was only able to take short breaths for now.

"Jinta!" a low voice yelled from inside. The boy cringed as he heard his name being called by no other than Tessai. "What are you doing out here?"

The last thing Grimmjow saw was the blue sky being closed off as the bag was folded over to keep him hidden. He felt his weight be shifted as the small human boy held his prison within his arms.

"I'm just bringing in the damn groceries," he frowned at the man. Surprised that the boy was actually doing what he was told, the large man stepped aside to let him inside. He could have sworn he heard a few faint hisses or meows, but only assumed it was from some other stray cats that wondered around the area while he also walked inside.

It was only now that Grimmjow realized how weak against even humans he was lowered. The strange feeling of fear once again returned in the pit of his stomach. He should have listened to that black cat when he had the chance.

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_If you enjoyed this chapter, please review (I have set so the reviews can be made by non-members too, so please take a minute to review (: )_


	3. Fated Meeting

Grimmjow wheezed as the young human carried him further into the home. He felt like he was punched repeatedly in the stomach, but instead he had only fallen a foot or two onto the ground. Normally, he could with-stand hundreds of feet, but his placement on the "food chain" was beginning to sink into his mind. _This…this is how humans feel against me…_he thought. _And now, I am far below even those fucking weaklings. _

"Welcome to your new home," the human said above him, as the bag shifted into one arm so that Jinta may open the door into his room. Once he was sure that no one would pass by his room, he opened the bag to see how the cat was doing. He felt somewhat sorry for dropping her, but it was only what she deserved for biting him. She just laid at the bottom seemingly glaring at him. It was then that he noticed just how dirty the kitten was. He has been too excited when he found her to see that her paws and belly were covered in mud, no doubt showing the struggles in the storm last night. "Maybe we should give you a bath first, eh?"

Not quite understanding what this "bath" was that this human talked about, Grimmjow decided to respond with a hiss. "Get me out of this fucking bag, you little bastard."

Jinta slowly crept over to his door, parting it only enough for him to see if there was anyone around. Seeing that both Tessai and Urahara were nowhere to be found, he grabbed the bag behind him and quickly made it to the bathroom. Because the small shop did not have a full bathroom, Jinta settled with the sink.

Grimmjow suddenly became suspicious of the boy when he was no long peering inside the bag. Regaining some of his breath, the small cat looked up to the ceiling. It reminded him of the grand halls of Heuco Mundo. They always had high ceilings for no real reason. _I guess Aizen just had to have his mansion to show off his fucking throne. _He was surprised that the boy was less gentle than before as he grabbed onto his prison, carting him off to another unknown area of this home.

Opening the bag once more, Jinta reached inside for the surprised kitten. He grabbed it by the scruff this time, to make sure that there was no way he would be bitten again.

The sixth Espada, suddenly felt all his muscles loosen, and he had a sense of relaxation. His mind raged, and fumed at this mysterious feeling. _W-Why won't this body listen? _Little did Grimmjow know that kittens would be carried like this until they mature. This technique is used by many cats to subdue their children easily. He felt his front paws come closer to his body, and his tail come up behind him to wrap around one of his back legs. _What the hell is this?_

As Jinta held the kitten in one hand, he tested the water in the other. After a minute or two, the water finally warmed up enough to seem suitable. He placed a plug in the drain, and let the water fill up about half way before turning it off. "Okay, cat, you ready?"

At first Grimmjow didn't quite understand what he was supposed to be ready for. That is until he was lowered closer and closer to a pool of water. His mind quickly flashed back to the night before when he was soaked by the rain. By _water. _Grimmjow willed his body to move; to struggle at least enough to free him, but sadly, the powerful hold on his back wouldn't allow much movement. He merely swayed back and forth a little bit. He soon met the water's surface, and was placed inside the sink.

A firm grip was kept on his scruff as the cat was washed a bit roughly. Jinta wasn't one to be gentle, after all. Not that he knew what he was doing trying to take care of a cat, anyway. He had no previous experiences with many animals other than the black cat that hung around the shop.

Grimmjow tried to keep his eyes open to look for an opening of the human, but after getting some horrible burning substance in his eye, he forced them closed. He felt as if the boy would scrub his skin off if he scrubbed in one place for too long. He felt disgusting as the water and soap weighed on his fur.

Fortunately for Grimmjow, the muddy water was drained from the sink, and soap went along with it. While he was glad that the burning soap was washed off, he didn't feel much better when he felt a chill.

"Oh shit, I forgot the towel," Jinta said to the soaking wet cat, "I'll be right back, stay here, okay?"

His scruff was finally released, and Grimmjow felt energy fill him once more. "Like fucking hell that I'm just going to sit here!" he laughed as he leaped out of the slightly ajar door that Jinta had opened.

"No wait!" he yelled. He instantly recoiled as it was probably loud enough to be heard by anyone in the small shop. Jinta ran after the cat as it scampered down the halls.

Grimmjow could feel the vibrations of the heavy steps of the human behind him. It was strange to feel as he normally wouldn't notice it, especially if he was normal. But in this smaller body, he found recognizing this place was much harder than he thought. Almost everything looked the same. He was about to give up, and turn around to look for another way when he caught the scent of dirt. Dirt meant the outside, and that meant freedom.

In a short distance down the hallway, he saw a door opening and a wave of the fresh scent made him sharply turn into the doorway. _This has to be the fucking way out! It just has to be! _He repeated to himself. Had he been calmer, he would have been bothered by these cat instincts, but that was at the back of his mind. When he turned into the doorway, he ran full-tilt into a very hard pillar. _Why the fuck is a pillar here anyway, _he asked as he recovered and looked again.

This "pillar" was no pillar at all. He had run into a human's leg, but this was not another unfamiliar face to Grimmjow. He knew this face, this human, very well. This was none other than Kurosaki Ichigo.

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_And I finally write chapter 3! Sorry it's a bit shorter than the others, but I felt it was only necessary with such a good cliff-hanger!_

_I tried to focus a bit more on Grimmjow's adaption to both a smaller being, and a living body in this chapter. I will be including even more of that in later chapters. (:_

_If you enjoyed this chapter, please review (I have set so the reviews can be made by non-members too, so please take a minute to review (: )_


	4. Visit to the Vet

"The hell?" the orange-haired male said.

Grimmjow felt the younger boy's footsteps rush up behind him, but his mind continued to reel at the sight before him. Kurosaki, the only man to give him a real run for his life, was standing far above him.

Jinta leaned down and grabbed the small cat in one hand, bringing it closer to his body to prevent her from falling. He was conflicted on what he should do, he could see that his little secret was quickly found out; not only by Ichigo, but Urahara too. The older man sat at a small table behind the teenager, and was currently giving him a stern look.

"Since when did you get another cat?" Ichigo asked, taking notice that the cat was staring very seriously at him for some reason.

"Actually," Urahara quickly recovered, "we found that cat under the shop." He remembered Yoruichi found something there earlier today, and it just wasn't in her personality to tell him about the helpless looking animal, but it was far too easy to figure out the situation. "We obviously can't provide for the animal here, so why don't you take it home?"

Jinta was infuriated at the suggestion, but felt it wasn't his place to speak out. It was his fault that Urahara is trying to get rid of another animal they couldn't possibly take care of thanks to the shop's merchandise.

"I don't think-" Ichigo started, but swiftly stopped as he saw Urahara's calm, but still face. He knew that he didn't have the skill to even talk the man out of this decision.

"Jinta, why don't you go get a small box from the back?"

The boy nodded, and only slightly hesitated when handing the kitten over to Ichigo before running off to find a well-suited box to carry the cat in.

Grimmjow only tuned back into the living world as his rival held out his hands, of which he was traveling ever closer to. He tried to twist his body to look at the human that held him captive, but this trade off was too quick. He found a new, larger pair of hands around his torso. He couldn't help but notice that he could fit perfectly in these two palms. His body collided with the boy's shoulder, as the humans talked as if he no longer existed. Cat instincts returned as Ichigo scratched behind one of Grimmjow's ears. A strange noise crawled up his throat that could only be described as a purr.

Jinta soon returned with a box with a few holes poked in the top. A haunting feeling slowly crept through the cat as he saw that he was brought over the opened box. He dug his claws into the hands that held him, only remembering afterwards that these belonged to Ichigo. A cat-like smirk appeared on his face when the teen flinched, but he was not dropped. Instead, he was slowly guided into the box, and trapped inside when the box was swiftly closed by the boy with red hair.

The first thought that came to Grimmjow's mind was that at least this cardboard box was much better than a paper bag. He shook his head to get rid of such a simple-minded thought. The box shifted as it was handed off to the orange haired teen.

While Grimmjow was only trying to think of a way to scratch out of the cardboard, Ichigo was trying to think if this cat had rabies. It did live outside for who knows how long. He quietly stared at the claw marks on his hands, and hoped that this cat didn't have any other diseases. Some quick thoughts of dumping the cat somewhere went through his mind, maybe even at the animal shelter. He couldn't possibly take care of a cat…could he?

After soon wrapping up the conversation with Urahara, Ichigo wondered if the whole reason he was invited over was to hand the cat to him. He felt a little guilty about thinking of just getting rid of the poor kitten. His sisters did take care of a kitten before…maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all. Leaving Urahara's shop, Ichigo made his way to the closest vet. While his father did run a clinic, he felt that he probably couldn't properly take care of a kitten.

Grimmjow's travels were slightly smoother than when he was first captured. Although he was pissed off that he was in the hands of one of his biggest enemies, his mind just couldn't focus on any one memory. He could feel his body heat rise from the sun light beaming upon the box, warming the contents quickly. But the kitten didn't feel discomfort; actually he was feeling the exact opposite. His body felt relaxed, even more than when Ichigo scratched behind his ears. The combination of the swaying of the box and the wonderful feeling of the warmth made his mind foggy once more. He couldn't think of anything but sleep. His eyes slowly closed, and he fell asleep soon afterwards.

When Ichigo no longer heard the disgruntled meows of the cat, he almost worried that something was wrong with it. He was relieved when he reached the entrance of the vet. Walking up to the front desk, Ichigo could see a blonde woman filing some papers in some cabinets. "Excuse me?"

Seeing that there was someone there, the woman walked briskly up to the desk and smiled. "How may I help you?"

"I'm hoping to get this kitten checked out," he said motioning to the box he held.

"Oh!" She said, just noticing the package. "Is this your first time here, sir?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"I'll see if I can get you an appointment, I'm pretty sure there was a cancelation earlier…But in the meantime, you can go sit in the waiting area." Ichigo turned around to see a couch and a few chairs beside a small selection of animal toys and accessories.

"Okay, thank you."

The women just smiled and took a few papers with her as she went through a door behind the desk. The substitute shinigami sat down and looked at the pet items practically right next to him. Bored with looking at the toys, he glanced down at the box in his arms. He opened the top a little bit to see that the small kitten was asleep. It looked so peaceful, and so adorable.

It wasn't until now that he noticed small dark smudges under the cat's eyes. The markings almost looked like they were placed there purposely with paint. He took his free hand and brushed the cat against its side. Its eyes twitched at the touch and Ichigo could hear it mew. He couldn't help but smile, it was quite cute. Finally, it opened its eyes, and revealed their clear, blue color. But as soon as they opened, they closed again. "Don't want to wake up?" Ichigo questioned the cat quietly.

"Sir?" the blonde woman from before asked while walking up to him. "The doctor is ready to see you in room 6. He'll be in to examine your cat shortly."

"Thank you," Ichigo said. She resumed her work by filing some more papers as Ichigo made his way to a door with a large 6 printed on it, once again hoping that the poor cat would be healthy. Walking into the room, he sat down in a chair in the corner. The room was small and a bit crowded, especially since a large metal table took up the majority of it. There was a small desk area in the opposite corner, with some cabinets hanging above it. Some small pictures of animals hung around the room, and a plant was put next to another door to make things a bit more pleasant. Ichigo assumed that the door across the room lead to the back where all the animals were held, and the employees stayed during breaks in the day.

He was a bit surprised when an older man, and a slightly younger nurse filed into the room to greet him. "Hello sir," the doctor said as the nurse grabbed a clipboard that was sitting on the counter top and smiled. "Let's take a look at your cat, shall we?"

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_This chapter was hard to write, I'm not going to lie. I have no idea which aspect made it so difficult, but it was just so horrid to write. I don't really like how I wrote it, but I'm more than willing to move onto more of the fun stuff, of course. Sorry it's been a long while that I've updated . Hope you enjoyed it, though._

___If you enjoyed this chapter, please review (I have set so the reviews can be made by non-members too, so please take a minute to review (: )_


	5. Check Up

_(This chapter contains a paragraph about neutering, if you are bothered by it, then skip over that paragraph! You have been warned!)_

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"So who do we have here?" the doctor asked as he made his way over to where Ichigo set the box on the examination table.

"Ah, well…I…haven't really thought of a name yet…He was given to me this morning."

The doctor nodded. It wasn't uncommon to have someone come in with a newly found pet to get checked out. He reached inside the box, holding the kitten in two hands to get a good look at the animal.

Grimmjow awoke slowly now that he wasn't within the warmth of his box, and felt a bit of constriction around his torso. Peaking his eyes open, he saw a very close unfamiliar face. "W-Who the fuck…" he trailed off.

The human holding him repositioned his hands so that he may have one free to examine the patient further. "It's okay," the doctor coaxed to the flailing cat. "Male," he said to the nurse behind him. He soon started to prod at his chest and abdomen.

The Espada was desperate and tried to get away but the human holding him only tightened his grip uncomfortably around his torso. _Does personal space even exist to humans_ he thought quickly.

"Where did you get him? If I may I ask," the veterinarian looked up at Ichigo, still holding poor Grimmjow around the stomach with the other hand under his rump.

"A…friend of mine found him…Why, is there something wrong?"

"It seems that he hasn't been getting enough nutrients; his stomach is contracted... I would recommend trying milk before anything, just until he'll get used to eating again. Maybe you should even try bottle feeding him first and see if he takes it any easier." As he was saying this, the nurse continued to write down things. The man then set Grimmjow down on the metal table.

The cool surface immediately started to drain the heat out of Grimmjow's body. His paws almost went numb. The cat tried hissing at this human, but he felt his mouth being held open. No matter how much he tried to close it again, a human was too strong in his current state.

He took Grimmjow's jaw in his hands to inspect the teeth. "You have a pretty strong jaw, don't you," he said to the cat who noticed the cat had extremely good looking teeth for being so young, and a stray.

The sixth Espada couldn't help but notice a slight difference in the human's voice. It sounded happier than when he talked with anyone else. The man then looked into his ears, even though it felt like he was going to rip them off as hard as he pulled. Taking a small flashlight, he shined it into the cat's eyes and practically blinded him. Finally, the hands withdrew themselves from Grimmjow and he was left alone.

"Well, he's in pretty good health," the doctor concluded. "But we may as just give him a shot to make sure he doesn't have any worms. Laura, could you be so kind?"

The nurse smiled, and nodded. She placed her notes down on the counter-top, and made her way out of the room to receive the shot.

The doctor then turned back to look at Ichigo, as he leave Grimmjow to his own devices. Of course the cat was only slightly happier with humans not messing with him anymore. He silently tried to decide who was the human to kill first. He concluded that the older human was far more annoying than Kurosaki had ever been.

"I can't tell exactly how old he is but I can tell by his teeth that he is at least 3 to 5 months old. He may have been separated from his mother too early, so if you experience any strange behavior from him, then just call us." The teen nodded. "While we are waiting, would you like me to arrange an appointment to get your cat neutered? It's common to get it done around this age."

"Neutered?" Ichigo and Grimmjow questioned at the same time. Obviously only one voice could be understood. He wasn't really an animal person, so he wasn't familiar with this term. Grimmjow on the other hand had been paying close attention to the conversation. If he was supposed to survive in this body, he might as well know his limits. But this "neutered" was a completely new word he had never heard before.

"Ah, is this your first pet?" the vet laughed a bit as he took a moment to remember his first pet. "It's a simple surgery where the scrotum is opened with a small incision and the testicles are brought out. The cords are either pulled free and tied to each other or a small suture is used to tie the cords and the testicle is cut free. The skin incision on the scrotum is small enough so as not to require stitches of any kind."

While Ichigo silently thanked god he wasn't a cat, Grimmjow's jaw dropped as he listened to the explanation by the older human. His throat burned as he realized this huge decision was going to be made by one of his biggest rivals. The thought of returning back to his normal body…_changed_ bothered him deeply.

Although the doctor said it was painless, the shinigami couldn't help but feel bad for the animals that didn't know what was coming to them. "Uh, no. That's okay. I'll leave him the way he is."

"Very well," the doctor concluded as the nurse walked in with a small shot filled with clear liquid.

Grimmjow let out a huge breath that he didn't know he was holding during the conversation. The danger was over. He never would have guessed that even humans would have such horrible operations at their disposal.

With a smooth motion, the vet took the needle into his hands and gripped a small part of Grimmjow's scruff.

"Hey, what the hell-" but as the sixth espalda saw the incoming shot, it was too late to escape. A painful prick embedded itself into his back as he was injected. He couldn't quite relate it to being stabbed with a sword, but it sure as hell hurt! As soon as it came, the needle left him. Unfortunately the pain remained.

"Well that's everything. He should be okay for a few weeks now. Make sure to call back if there is anything wrong."

"Thank you."Ichigo said with a small bow.

The doctor smiled and nodded to the boy. Leaving the room, Ichigo followed, with Grimmjow back in his box, and made his way to the desk where the blonde from before was doing some work on the computer.

"Hi again," the woman grinned. "Would you like to pick out a new collar for the new member of your family?"

Ichigo looked up and couldn't help but smile back from her good attitude.

"What color would you like?" she said motioning to a rack filled with various collars. Some had designs while others had solid colors. Thinking of the cat's eyes, he picked up a light blue one. It seemed small enough so it wouldn't fall off like the others. It was thin and had two metal latches on it. One of which had a small bell attached to it. Ichigo was at first against getting anything with a bell but remembered how the kitten had often almost escaped his grip. If that cat were to get outside then it would be much easier if all he had to do was follow the sound of a bell. "Is that the one you want?"

"Yeah, this will work," he nodded.

"Well let's get the tag made so when he comes out, he can wear his new collar."

She continued by asking him his address and phone number. Punching the information into the computer, she placed a small, rounded tag under a machine. A small needle came down and started to engrave the information into the metal. It only took a few seconds and it was done. Placing a metal ring in the tag's hole, she put it onto the second latch of the collar.

Grimmjow suddenly felt very tired. The stress of almost losing the family jewels had impacted his pride more than he would have thought. It didn't help that he was also inspected like one of Szayel's experiments. Before he knew it, the human female leaned over him, reached under his neck. With a certain discomfort, something was fastened around the Espada's neck.

"When you pick out a name, come back and we'll finish that tag," the nurse said after putting the collar around Grimmjow's neck. She then handed him a paper bag with a few items in it. "If you have yet to get supplies, I would suggest the pet store a few blocks down. They have very reasonable prices."

"Thanks again," Ichigo smiled. After exiting the building, he decided that he might as well stop by the pet store. He cringed at the thought of not being prepared at all for the cat and at least get a few tips on the care of the kitten.

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_Thankfully this chapter wasn't as hard to write as the last, and I made it a little dulled down from a normal visit to the vet since animals go through LOTS of stuff there. I hope the paragraph about neutering didn't bother people too much. I personally thought it was more enlightening than vulgar._

_If you enjoyed this chapter, please review (I have set so the reviews can be made by non-members too, so please take a minute to review (: )_


	6. The Journey Home

After a few minutes of walking, Ichigo finally arrived at the pet store. Walking inside, he immediately wanted to find someone who worked there so he could go home. Frankly, the store smelled quite strangely as there were many various items that gave off an interesting aroma. After a bit of searching, he found a worker stocking the aisle with food and water bowls.

"Excuse me," the teenager greeted a woman that looked like she was in her 20's.

"Ah, welcome sir. What can I help you with?" she said.

"I just…adopted a kitten, what would I need to take care of it?" Ichigo said after taking a few moments to decide what word would be best to describe that this kitten was basically dropped into his lap by Urahara.

"Oh! A kitten?" she squealed a bit. "I was always a cat-person myself," she said with star-struck eyes.

Ichigo laughed a bit uncomfortably. He wasn't totally sure how to counter the conversation she had brought up; especially since he didn't know the first thing about the care of any animal.

Fortunately, the woman began to lead him to another aisle, this one filled with many products with pictures of cats all over them. "The first thing you will need is food, how old is your cat?"

Thinking back to the vet appointment, Ichigo quickly responded "Three to five months old."

"Aw, he must be so cute," she smiled as she glanced at the wide selection of cat food. "I would suggest this kind," she said at last. "It's very popular." Holding up a medium sized bag that advertised in large letters, "The food cats ask for by name!" Putting it under her arm, she grabbed a few other items that included two small bowls, treats, a short leach, and at last a toy mouse. She juggled these items with ease as she brought the products to a very bored looking cashier.

Ichigo really wasn't sure if he needed all that she had carried, but if she had picked these things out, then it must be good to have. As he was about to check out, the worker suddenly spoke again. "Oh! I almost forgot!" Before saying another word, she briskly walked back into the aisle both of them they had exited as the cashier started to ring up all the scattered items on the counter.

The woman came back with a two more things to purchase. "Here you go, I can't believe I almost forgot such important things!" she sighed as she placed them both on the counter. "A litter box and some litter," she smiled.

Ichigo blanched a bit at the price that came up. Almost sadly, he pulled out his wallet again and vowed to make Urahara pay him back for all this. With a little difficulty, Ichigo gathered all the bought products under one arm, and the box containing the kitten under the other. After thanking both of them, he hurried home before his arms would either fall asleep or he would drop something. He hoped it wouldn't be the cat.

While this was going on, Grimmjow fumed inside the box. He was happy to be released from the hands of the humans in white coats. Unfortunately the ride was not as smooth as it had been when he had unwillingly fallen asleep. He kept throwing insults at the shinigami carrying him, but he was either unheard or ignored. During his ride, he heard various voices, but it was hard to understand this female as she talked. She threw in words that he was unfamiliar with. The one that bothered him most was "litter-box." He wasn't sure why it had sounded so strange, and he just couldn't place the thought.

Finally, Ichigo had made it home, and thankfully did not drop anything. Of course he did get strange looks by a few people who saw him, but he didn't really mind since he has always been receiving them one way or another. Knocking the door with his foot, his sister Yuzu quickly answered with a surprised look.

"Ichi-nii? What's with all that stuff?" she questioned.

"Ah-ha, it's a surprise," Ichigo said after coming up with an excuse for bring all of this home with him. He made his way inside the home, thankful to see that his father was out at the moment. Placing the cat on the coffee table in the living room, he was happy to dumb the rest of the heavy burden on the floor.

"What's with all the noise?" Karin said as she strolled into the room.

"Ichi-nii has a surprise for us," Yuzu smiled to her sister.

"A surprise?" She said eyeing the box sitting on the table that seemed to move every now and then.

Grimmjow's world shook as he was placed on the table. It may have been gentle in Ichigo's perspective, but it was still jolting enough to rocket the Espada into a worse mood. "What the fuck?" he hissed as he tackled one of the walls. He peered through on of the holes on the top of the box to see Ichigo, as well as two younger looking humans. Before he knew it, the box tops flew open, and he was blinded by the bright light that invaded his sanctuary.

"Aw, it's a kitty!" he heard someone squeal.

"You got a cat?" a more mellow voice said a little further away.

Grimmjow wasn't sure just how he felt to be in the home. While one part of his mind told him it was much better than living on the street, he was still hesitating to welcome any sort of help from humans of all things. The situation was far too unfamiliar for even settle on one decision within Grimmjow's head. Crouching low into the corner of the box, the sexta espada made sure to keep his eyes wide to calculate any unwanted movement towards him.

"He looks scared, Ichigo, where the hell did you pick him up at?" Karin said once again focusing on her brother. But he did not answer; instead he wore a worried and confused face while peering into the box. Both of the sisters shrugged it off, as this hadn't been the biggest surprise that had ever happened. They silently agreed that if Ichigo needed something like a cat to take his mind off all the stress he had been going through, it was worth the little ball of fur running around.

"Why don't you take him upstairs, and get all his things set up, Ichigo? Dinner should be ready soon," Yuzu smiled as she left her brother's side to go back to cooking.

Karin walked around the teenager to pick up the various items he had bought at the pet store. "You get the cat, I have this stuff. Maybe we can make him more comfortable upstairs." Nodding, Ichigo took Grimmjow's box in hand and walked upstairs to his room. He opened his door with his free hand and his sister soon followed him inside.

Voices conversing above him didn't seem to bother the hollow in the least like it had before. Previously, the thought of being talked over made him feel like a child. Now he welcomed every moment that he was not the center of attention. He took this short time to look quickly around the room. The place he focused most his memory upon was the door directly behind Kurosaki. But most of the exit was blocked by the large human that loomed over the table more than Grimmjow would have liked. The butterflies of his fear flew into his throat seeing that this boy looked more like a gate-keeper than a child. Grimmjow nearly choked to death when suddenly Kurosaki's form focused on his box. The espada couldn't take the sheer power of eye contact between the human and broke it off by pinching his eyes closed.

He couldn't explain why fear was starting to numb his body now. Perhaps the situation that he was thrown into had finally sunk in. No matter how much Grimmjow had tried to trample the scared thoughts from his mind, they kept creeping into every crevice of his head. Before he knew it, his body was completely numbed by the sudden over-whelming fear. He could feel his surroundings fade further and further away as the small cat fell into a restless sleep. The stress of the day was far too much for the young animal, and Grimmjow had no choice in the matter but to pass out for the remainder of the day.

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_A bit of a filler chapter, but I'm planning to write some of the next chapter right after I post this, so hopefully I can get another one up real soon. (I'm especially excited to write something for the next chapter~). So sorry for the delay on releasing this chapter. I wanted to get this up before I left for Otakon, but that didn't happen ^^;_

_Hope you enjoyed the chapter, regardless (: Please review to tell me your thoughts~ _


	7. Lucid Nightmares

The sixth Espada opened his eyes and found that he was lying on his back. He brought a hand up to his face to rub his pounding head. Suddenly he sat up, surprised. "My…my hands!" He said as he clearly had paws no more. Lifting his hands up to his face again, he felt that he had his hollow mask back and soon after found that the hole in his stomach returned. A huge sigh of relief was released as he laid back down, exhausted from his strange dream of being trapped in the human world as a cat.

"Grimmjow," Aizen addressed loudly.

"_Strange, I don't remember his voice this god damn loud," _Grimmjow thought.

"It seems you have learned your lesson. Welcome back to Heuco Mundo, how are you feeling?"

"_When did he start to give a damn?" _He silently questioned. "I'm fucking fine…_no thanks to you_," he mumbled. Grimmjow sat up and looked around but did not see the former captain anywhere. All that surrounded him were walls of white and a few black stripes, but nothing unusual for a room in the Heuco Mundo.

"I do sincerely apologize for not being able to cure you fully." The disembodied voice of Aizen announced.

"What the hell do you mean?!" Grimmjow suddenly stood searching for the source of the voice.

He heard Aizen stifled a chuckle to himself before he continued. "Up here, Grimmjow." He turned to meet a wall of white but as he lifted his head, he noticed that this was no wall. The hair on the back of his neck rose as his eyes connect with others. Large brown eyes bore into him. Grimmjow couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. "As you can see we couldn't quite get your size back…as well as a few other things."

Aizen's grin widened as Grimmjow learned what he was talking about. He twisted himself around and could see a white tail swaying behind him. His ears were also strange as they were in the same place as always but became longer and covered in fur, much like when he was in his released form. It took all of his determination to keep his surprise to himself to keep as much pride as possible when he turned and found that the walls surrounding him were not as they seemed. The previous thought walls were actually members of the Arrancar, sitting around one of their long tables, some of which laughed quietly at his situation.

Grimmjow could not believe his eyes. At least as a cat in the human world, his identity as the Sexta Espada was concealed. The thought that this appearance was far worse than he could ever imagine entered his mind.

The next thing he knew, his feet no longer touched the ground…no, touched the _table_ and his body started acting strangely. His arms folded up loosely near his chest. His legs bent towards his stomach and he felt his tail curl up under him. His eyes met a smirk that could only belong to Gin. "_I may have my body back but no less a cat then before!"_

"Ah, I just don't see a downside to this," Gin chuckled, holding Grimmjow over the table by gripping the back of his hakama.

Grimmjow couldn't help but tightly close his eyes. _"This couldn't be fucking happening!" _he yelled in his mind. The rest of the espada laughed again at this display, some much louder than they had before. Soon the white room grew black and dark. The hands holding him, released him to fall into nothingness. When he opened them again, his surroundings changed.

He was in a small room, lying on his stomach and in an all-familiar box. Being back in Heuco Mundo was all a part of a horrible nightmare. Grimmjow couldn't remember the last time he had a dream, let alone such a bad one. He looked up to see a small amount of sunlight filtered through the curtains of a small window above a bed near-by. In the bed lays the familiar form of Kurosaki.

However, instead of feeling the fear he felt last night, Grimmjow seemed to be relieved that it was only the shinigami welcoming him from his sleep. Aizen and the other espada were far more frightening than being with the teenager. With a small sigh, he laid his head back down on his paws in front of him. It was then they he noticed that the box was filled with a soft blanket that lined the bottom.

The feeling of the fluffy material felt much better than just lounging on the cardboard. Next to his box was two small bowls; one filled with water, the other filled with a stranger substance Grimmjow couldn't place. The smell, however, was alluring. Climbing out of the comfortable box, he crouched next to the bowl filled with the mysterious substance. It almost looked like it was full of rocks; small, brown, good-smelling rocks. The thought confused him as to why rocks would be put here or why it would smell good.

Was it some type of human joke? He questioned to himself, glancing up at the sleeping body of Kurosaki. So many things confused him, and it started to piss him off. Not knowing these average things a human knew made him feel dumb. Part of him wanted to have this human knowledge so he would at least understand what was going on in a conversation, but the other part reasoned that a king such as himself shouldn't need to know something as lowly as human knowledge.

Concluding that these rocks were of no importance, Grimmjow began a search of this room. Chuckling a bit on how small the room was to only contain a small closet, a bed and a desk, he thought back to his resting quarters back at Heuco Mundo. They far surpassed this shack of a room. Seeing as the only exits appeared to be a small window above Kurosaki's bed, and a door almost directly behind him.

Looking up, he could see that reaching the door handle was far out of reach. Walking right in front of the door, Grimmjow balanced on his two back legs only to find that even this small added height wouldn't help at all in the long run. Grumbling, he growled at his new enemy. Backing up a bit, he took a flying leap at the hunk of wood. He slammed his shoulder, and clawed at it for good measure as he landed. He could see that even in jumping, this cat's form could only make it half way to the door knob. "Dammit!" he hissed. "Fucking door!" Just as he was about to express more of his rage on the object, a groan from behind him forced him into the corner of the room with his hair raised in surprise.

"Cat?" Ichigo's voice said softly as he rolled over to face Grimmjow's box. He jumped a little bit to see the kitten was no longer there. Taking a quick scan of the room, he relaxed to see that he was resting by the door. "You scared me there for a minute," he laughed.

Grimmjow crouched a little more against the ground as if he could faze through it. While he wanted to show he wasn't frightened, he couldn't help but feel the butterflies flying around in his gut when the teenager sat up to block out the incoming sun from the window. Never would he think about seeing a world with this small of perspective, and that such simple actions could be frightening. It almost made him sick to think that he now has to view many things from underfoot for an unknown period of time.

Ichigo looked up when a voice on the other side of the door started speaking to him. "Ichi-nii, breakfast is almost ready, are you awake?"

"I'll be right down, Yuzu."

Getting up to stretch, Ichigo finally rolled out of bed over to his door. Laughing a bit, he addressed the cat at his feet. "You know I can't open the door with you laying there." The cat hissed a little as Ichigo picked him up and placed him back in the box. Thinking nothing of the reaction, the teenager headed downstairs to get something to eat.

Now on edge by the sudden physical contact Grimmjow could do nothing against it. Mad that his existence was practically thrown aside, he angrily scampered after the shinigami. He was silently glad that the door was left open for him. He ran down the hallway, but just as he was about to catch up to Ichigo, another obstacle was thrown in Grimmjow's way. The almighty stairs. He paced at the top of the stairs for some time before attempting the climb down them. Each step seemed to be just as tall, if not a little taller than his cat body, unfortunately. Meaning which each dismount required a bit of energy to maintain his balance.

After a few minutes, and many swear words, Grimmjow finally made it to the bottom of the stairs to see four humans sitting around a rather small table. Were they planning something? He just had to know what they were doing. As he approached, another smell hit him. This one was far better than one that came from the rocks upstairs. Dare he say the smell was almost heavenly.

Above him, the Kurosaki family talked about their day, and most importantly, the new member of their family. At first their father, Isshin refused to keep the cat, but seeing as his children approved, he instantly agreed saying something about their mother comically in the conversation.

"So what do you think we should call him?" Yuzu questioned.

"That's true, I guess we can't be calling him 'cat' all the time," Karin agreed.

The family sat for a moment in thought while they finished their meal.

"Oh, I know!" Isshin addressed. All of them expected a strange or goofy name but they were surprised to hear a serious response to the question. "How about 'Smudge'? The markings under his eyes look like someone smeared paint there."

Upon reaching the table, Grimmjow was suddenly stopped as the four humans suddenly shifted their gazes to him. An uncomfortable shiver ran down his spine as they smiled, or nodded at something.

"Smudge it is!" they agreed.

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_An update within the same week of the last chapter, it's a miracle! And I think this is the longest chapter yet! Which isn't saying much since these chapters are pretty short ^^; I have a few more ideas for the story, so only maybe 2-3 chapters until the ending. I may write an epilogue, but I'm not sure since I haven't really planned anything within that too much. I hope to get the next chapter up soon!_

_Hope you enjoyed the chapter (: Please review to tell me your thoughts._


	8. Hunger Pains

_So here's a new chapter for you guys! I'm sorry it's taken so long for me to write this. I don't know why, but I've had a really tough time finding inspiration to write. But luckily, I was able to at least get this out onto the page. Hope you enjoy (:_

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The bell on his collar chimed as he was picked up by an older human. He growled as he was lifted up to his eye level. The human's thumbs dug harshly under his front legs as he was held like a child with his back feet hanging. As much as he swore and hissed at this man, he was not let go. He could hear one of the youngest saying that he has lots of energy, and how he was "so cute" when he would meow like that. Grimmjow tried repeatedly to hook on of his claws into the man's wrists, maybe be lucky enough to have him bleed so he could be released. However, he had no such luck. As flexible as a cat's body was, a kitten body had no such mobility.

After a few minutes of poking, prodding, and coddling , Grimmjow was finally released from his living restraints. Taking no time, to look back at the humans that closely watched him; he bolted away from the table and under a couch that was close-by. The bell continued to make noise as it finally settled around his neck. The man turned kitten grumbled about the infernal object. He could hear the humans gathering whatever they previously had on their table, and stomp around for a few minutes until eventually things became quiet again. Creeping close to the opening of the couch, Grimmjow peered out into the now empty room.

Sighing in relief, he realized that this was the first time he was left alone since coming to this shit-hole of the human world. For once he wasn't being stared at, pet, or talked down to. The hair along his spine tinkled as he looked around for his plan of escape. Seeing as the door he had noted earlier was locked shut, he crawled out from under this hiding place to look for a window, or another open door. Even though he knew no human was present, Grimmjow couldn't help but be on edge as his heart pounded or how his body felt a bit weaker than he remembered.

If someone decided to walk into the room, he was out in the open and could easily be snatched up again with ease. The ways of escape in this room were limited, even as he searched, he found no possible way to jump onto the window-sills or open the many doors he found. If he were to make an escape from this strong-hold, he would have to do it with stealth. Grimmjow wasn't one to create a plan, he was far more of rush in now and think about it later. But in this new environment, his mind twisted around a dormant cat's instincts.

They told him to "hide and wait." His time would come when humans would slip up, and make a mistake. He grinned at the thought of being released from these walls. His ears flicked up as he heard strong footsteps from above him. His heart beats quickened as he fled to the only hiding place he knew; under the couch. The bell made a loud noise as he slid underneath the cloth and into the darkness. He couldn't help but feel sick as he hid. The desire to fight flared, but he knew in the back of his mind he would never win. Luckily for the kitten, the footsteps slowly faded into silence once more.

Even after they disappeared for the second time, Grimmjow couldn't get the feeling out of the pit of his abdomen. He wondered if it was the feeling he got when he met the human in the white coat, but as time passed, the feeling became stronger. It clawed at his stomach regardless of how calm and collected the cat was. He concluded that these pains were not the same. The first feeling was more as if his body was filled with air, while this felt like he had some creature in his stomach.

The creature would sometimes growl at him, reminding the cat that it was still there. It would burrow into the pits of his stomach every other moment. Grimmjow groaned as he wished he could rip a hole into his body to dig the horrid creature out of him. He pressed his body into the wooden floor, almost feeling hopelessness take hold. All thoughts of leaving the human home left his mind, as all he could think of was to kill the creature inside of him.

He tried to remember how long he had been with the humans. His mind flashed back to the alley, the large black cat, the young child, and finally Kurosaki. The time felt as if he had spent an eternity here. But it had only been three days that he has suffered within this world. He could feel as if the creature was taking all his energy for itself. Grimmjow felt himself become weaker, as the creature only got stronger. He couldn't remember ever feeling his way in his life. His mind quickly flashed through different moments of his stay in the human world. Memories of a similar feeling came into his mind. But he knew they were never this bad.

As the espada was trapped within his pain, he didn't notice a human come into the room. Grimmjow could feel the vibration of the steps as he pressed himself into the floor as if he could somehow fall through it. He had no more energy to run, or flee further out of reach as the human knelt in front of the furniture. Two deep brown eyes easily found the bright white cat in the dark area.

"Smudge?" Ichigo whispered. The teen noticed the kitten glare at him, but he saw that the cat made no move to run. Pressing his luck, Ichigo reached under the couch to pet the cat. Although it made a hissing sound, the cat didn't move a whole lot. _Is he sick? _Ichigo questioned. He turned to look at the person that entered into the room.

"Oh!" Yuzu said suddenly, surprised that her brother was downstairs. "What are you doing?" She asked, laughing a bit at her older brother lying on the floor like that.

"I'm checking on Smudge since he's been down here alone for a while. I would have thought he would come upstairs to eat something, or at least go to sleep in his box."

"He hasn't eaten yet?" His sister said, a bit panicked.

"I put some food upstairs, but it doesn't seem like he's touched it earlier."

"Do you think we should try the formula then?"

Ichigo almost forgot about the formula! He mentally kicked himself for forgetting something important. He told his sister that it was in the fringe, and the pamplets from the vet were still on the counter from last night.

Yuzu smiled and went to grab the bag that the secretary had given her brother. Inside were a few pamphlets of how to care for a kitten. She took out the one that said "bottle feeding" in large letters on the front. Skimming the short paragraphs quickly, she recognized that it was similar to feeding a human baby. Taking the small bottle the vet had given them, she filled it about half way with some formula. Seeing that her brother was attempting to convince Smudge out from under the couch, she began to warm up the bottle before feeding the kitten.

Grimmjow was surprised to hear another human come into the room. His heart quickened a bit more, worried of what they were plotting. He knew that it had to do with something called a "formula." He grumbled at another word that he didn't know, and tried to think of what it could possibly mean. Unfortunately Kurosaki occupied his attention by talking to him, telling him to "come on out." The other human soon returned, and handed the teenager something.

"Alright, come here Smudge, or I'm going to have to drag you out," Ichigo said to his cat whom refused to move. After waiting a few moments, he reached another hand to wrap around the kitten and finally bring him out from under the couch.

Grimmjow looked up to see that the other human was one of the younger humans of the house. That's when he noticed the object that Kurosaki held. Apparently this "formula" was more foreign that he had previously thought. Not even seeing this object could help in recognizing it. But it almost felt as if the human was holding something strangely threatening in his hand. He knew he might have seen the object a long time ago, but couldn't place where.

Ichigo carried the kitten around the couch and sat down slowly as not to knock around his cat too much. Yuzu carefully told him how Smudge should be fed, and held. The shinigami tried his best to imitate his sister before looking to her again for approval. He felt as if he couldn't do this, he would never forgive himself; something as easy as feeding, and so many things could go wrong. Seeing that she accepted, he directed his attention back to the cat. If he didn't know better, he might have thought he was asleep. The eyes were barely kept open, and would only occasionally look at him. "Come on, Smudge. Aren't you hungry?" he asked, placing the bottle's nipple almost against Smudge's mouth. But as much as he tried, the cat had his jaw clamped shut.

"Maybe he forgot how to suckle?" Yuzu suggested as she watched, near-by. "He should be old enough to eat solid food, so he might not recognize something like a bottle. Try opening his mouth, maybe he can drink on his own after getting a taste."

Her brother nodded, as he laid the cat down on his lap. With his free hand, he took his thumb and index finger to the sides of the cat's face, carefully opening the mouth enough to slip the bottle in. Ichigo almost felt like he had his body curled around this cat, the way he was sitting. Half of his body was leaning over the kitten, carefully watching for any expression other than the glare he was receiving.

Grimmjow tried his best to ignore the annoying drone of Kurosaki's voice saying something about "hunger." He couldn't remember the last time he had to "eat" anything. Visions of when he competed to become an Arrancar swarmed his thoughts. While part of his enjoyed the thought of killing the weak, and becoming stronger, another part hated how difficult it became. His mouth and throat became dry as regressed thoughts came forward, making him remember much more than he desired to. He opened his eyes again to see a human's hand. His heart skipped a beat, as he temporarily forgot how much of a size difference mattered in this form. The sides of his jaw her pinched and pried open with ease. He tried to bite down on the flesh, but only ended up biting on the rubber of the "formula." He cursed himself to being so foolish as to get lost in memories when a more pressing matter should have been addressed.

Warm liquid ran down his throat, refreshing him almost immediately. The creature gave another growl, but Grimmjow noticed the more he drank, the less his stomach hurt. Had he drown the creature? His throughts slowly faded into those of a kitten's desire. "Drink more, think less," it told him. While is stomach became heavier, his mind became foggy. Only vaguely registering that Kurosaki was closely watching him.

The bottle soon became empty, and Grimmjow was repositioned upon Ichigo's shoulder. A few pats to the back released some air trapped within the small cat's stomach, and left him feeling clam and relieved. "Good boy, Smudge! Good boy!" Kurosaki praised him. He couldn't help but feel conflicted. Part of his mind was happy to hear such a phrase, while the other half refused to accept any sort of statement; especially one so demeaning. Grimmjow started to feel his limbs becoming heavier, as if he couldn't move them; not that he cared that much. He was warm, full, and tired. The thought of moving from here seemed impossible. Closing his eyes, he felt darkness overtake him. Never would he thought in a million years that he would fall asleep in the arms of his enemy.

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****_This chapter was mostly focused on Grimmjow "learning" the feeling of hunger. I pretty much wanted to do something like this because I believe that it would feel very different to Grimmjow. Especially since it's been so long since he had actually had to eat on a regular basis. I'm hoping I got some details right, but as it's been so long since I've been able to read/watch the episodes involving Grimmkitty, I'm bound to get a few things wrong :/ I am also hoping that you understood most of what Grimmjow was thinking. I tried to make it sound like his knowledge of the human world was limited, so of course he wouldn't need to know the word "formula." In other words, the "creature" is the feeling of hunger, and formula is refer to both the bottle and the milk.  
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_I'm not sure when the next chapter will be written, but I figure that it might be the final chapter I do for this fan-fic. I'm hoping things will go smoothly and it won't take 2 months to get out another chapter .  
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_Info on bottle feeding a kitten was found here since I wanted to make sure that some of this story was plausible...  
www. _

_Hope you enjoyed (:  
_


	9. Long Road to Recovery

_Sorry in advance for the major OC-ness in this chapter! ._

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Ichigo laid down a pamphlet of "Kitten Care" he got from the veterinarian, and looked to the sleeping form of Smudge lying calmly in his box. After being left alone while the rest of his family went out shopping, he figured catching up on pet maintenance would be a good start. He was worried before when Smudge was acting strangely, but after reading (and re-reading) the information given to him, Ichigo settled on that the cat was just hungry and tired. Rising from his bed, the shinigami kneeled next to the sleeping feline.

A purr escaped from its lips as Ichigo scratched behind the cat's ears until a light knock was heard from the front door. Slightly confused, he wondered if his father had forgotten his keys again. Making his way down the stairs, he opened the door to find someone he was expecting.

"Urahara? What are you doing here?"

It was strange to have the man show up to his door step, as it almost never happened; it was usually the reverse role. "Afternoon, Ichigo," the man greeted. Inviting him in, Ichigo suddenly realized that something must be quite important for him to show up to his home like this.

Both men sat on the couch, facing each other; Ichigo especially curious on why Urahara had paid him this visit. Instead of getting to the point, Urahara simply filled the silence with small talk.

"How is your cat doing?" he said.

Even more confusion pelted the substitute shinigami. "Fine, I suppose." As if on cue, a small fluff-ball fell down the final step and let out a loud (but cute) meow. "Seems he still has a lot to get used to around the house," Ichigo continued as he carefully watched the feline.

Urahara nodded, also taking a brief look towards the cat. "It does seem that way," he started. "But I believe there may be a small problem."

Ichigo reared his head back, worry weighing heavy on his expression. "A problem?"

The man nodded once more, then began by handing Ichigo a slip of paper with various graphs and numbers printed onto it. "As you can see, these readings aren't quite what you expected when testing the fur of a feline; and after analyzing it, I feel that cat is not quite _all _cat. Even if the reading is small, a minuscule amount of energy was found just from the fur. I have a feeling that this isn't just coincidence, Ichigo."

Had Urahara gone insane? It was a possibility since he has been through quite a lot, but after taking a while for the information to sink in, Ichigo calmed down. The statement hadn't been as silly as he had first thought. Yoruichi, while within reason, could be put under the category of this situation. He looked back down at the parchment in his hands, staring at the figures. While he couldn't quite understand all of it, there were obvious signs that whatever had been tested wasn't quite normal.

"While what that cat truly is remains a mystery, but I am more than sure it's harmless to you and your family."

Ichigo looked back at Smudge, who had finally picked himself off the floor and gave the men a glare. He couldn't quite bring himself to think of how weird it would be if Smudge was really something _other_ than a cat. Even if it had been true, it appeared to play the behavioral part of cats very well.

Urahara chuckled behind Ichigo, leaning forward to place his elbows on his knees while he examined the cat further. "Are you having fun, little guy?" In response he received a small hiss as Smudge seemed to finally recognize the man.

Grimmjow couldn't hold his humiliation as both humans witnessed him falling down a step and falling flat on his face. He was almost glad he had fur to hide the blazing red that boiled his blood. After a short while, they went back to conversing whatever they had started before he provided the interruption. Picking himself off the floor he finally released where the other human why so familiar as the subject was suddenly switched back to him. The man's voice, the mischievous look in his eye; Grimmjow finally remembered that his imprisonment here was all _his_ fault.

"I suppose I believe you, Urahara, but what's the problem?"

The man smiled as he saw the cat's fur flare up in defense. "At first I thought that a spirit has possessed the body of this cat. It wouldn't be the first time that has happened," he said, taking a pause as he remembered a few past events. "But there has been no attraction from Hollows, which is quite unusual."

Ichigo faltered as he suddenly remembered the young spirit boy Chad had befriended. He had taken form of a parakeet, but was attacked multiple times by a Hollow. He was silently thankful that Smudge was not a spirit targeted by the Hollows. He would never forgive himself if he brought more danger to his family.

"Then I thought maybe this is more of a curse or spell that is difficult to reverse. I haven't much experience with that kind of thing," he says while he waved his hand dismissively. "But Yoruichi thinks it may be possible. If it is a spell, then this should surely break it." Urahara reached into his pocket and handed Ichigo a small container of pills, ironically in a cat-like dispenser, and a small piece of paper with instructions on it. "All you have to do is feed one of those pills to him once every 24 hours, and make sure that he gets plenty of food and water. The recovery will be slow so the original body or mind remains undamaged. If he lacks in either, there could be mental or physical consequences."

The teen took a moment to carefully listen to the man. This was far more responsibility than he asked for when he was given the cat.

"I'll give him the first pill, but you have to be more than sure all of the requirements are met," Urahara said with a very serious look on his face.

Ichigo just nodded, fearing any backlash from the man for disagreeing. If he had said Smudge wasn't a real cat, and really a cursed spirits a few hours ago, he couldn't be sure he could agree. But provided with the information set in front of him, the teenager leaned more and more on the "cursed" side. Past occurrences only supported the idea.

Grimmjow's fur bristled as the man took another look at him. "It's your fucking fault I'm stuck with Kurosaki!" he hissed. He considered lashing out at the human until the thought of contact came to his mind. If he attacked, he was easily in reach of both Kurosaki and the other man. As much as he wanted to get revenge, getting coddled was also not in his agenda. Instead, he hid under a table against the wall, out of reach from both of them and spat insults towards them.

Urahara rose from his seat on the couch, a small blue pill in his palm. "Come here," he cooed at the cat who had taken shelter under the low coffee table across the room. Much to Grimmjow's disappointment, he was easily extracted and held in the crook of the man's arm. He gave a loud yowl, and bit at the arms that detained him, not that Urahara seemed to be pained at all.

Coming back to the couch, he sat down and placed Smudge upon his lap. Quickly gaining opportunity to the feline's surprise, the man gripped the cat's jaw and forced his mouth open.

Try as Grimmjow might, he was no match to resist the difference in strength. Before he knew it, the pill was then thrown down his throat and nearly choked him to death. He was about to spit it out until the man held his mouth shut, and rubbed down his throat uncomfortably. His heart pounded loudly as the thoughts of death quickly approached, until the muscles in his throat flexed, and the obstruction was finally cleared. Not taking a second chance, Grimmjow ran as fast as he could to another room.

"Easy as that," Urahara smiled calmly.

Ichigo's mouth hung open as the struggle between the two still vividly played in his chest. He was almost about to rip the cat out of the other man's hands as almost appeared like he was suffocating it.

"After he gains a little mass, the pills should be much easier to swallow," he concluded. He got up to leave, but stopped as he remembered something. "If no physical changes occur in the next 48 hours, make sure to contact me."

The substitute shinigami quickly followed him to the door. "Wait! What am I supposed to do if my dad or sisters see him?"

Urahara smiled slying, laughing a bit. "All the more reason to keep him hidden in your room until he recovers." With that said the man swiftly disappeared out the door and left Ichigo in the dust.

Grimmjow huddled under a few blankets that lay unfolded upon the floor. His heart threatened to burst out of his chest, and he felt like his was going to puke. His stomach felt upset; far different than the feeling of hunger. His paws and tail itched like there was something crawling under his skin. His fur bristled a bit more, as his skin almost seemed like it was on fire. "What the fuck did that bastard give me?" Grimmjow questioned as he strained to keep himself awake.

"Smudge!" a yell came from down the hallway, presumably from the family room. "Come on out, Smudge! It's okay!"

"Like fucking _hell _I'm going to come to you, _Kurosaki_," Grimmjow seethed.

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****_So sorry this as been inactive for a while D: But I promise I WILL finish this story one way or another! Hopefully this chapter wasn't too boring. Have to include an information chapter somewhere -.- _

_In other news, I've been thinking about the plot of this fic for a while now, and I've decided to change it from how I originally was going to end it so there is going to be a few more chapters after this, and a lot more fluff! :D  
_

_Happy (late) Holidays, and Happy New Year~  
_


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