Chapter 14:  Normal

Zero toyed with the bow of her uniform as she looked in the mirror.  Today was the first day of school and, in accordance with his deal with her grandmother, Aizen was letting her go, if only to see her friends.  She smiled at the thought and winked at the mirror.

“Well!  Time to get moving.”  She grabbed her bag and ran out of her room.

She ran down the hall towards the meeting area, where everyone was waiting.  Grimmjow looked up when she finally made it.

“So guys!  What do you think?  Do I look okay?”  She asked, striking a pose.  Di Roy almost drooled.

“You look awesome!”  He declared.

“Uh oh.  I think Di Roy is turned on by school girls.”  Edrad said.  Di Roy glared at him, as he blushed.

“Sh-shut up!”  Zero giggled.  Suddenly Barragan walked in followed by his men.  Zero looked at him as he looked her over.

“So.  You’re going to school are you?”  He said.  Zero smiled.

“Yeah I am.  I was hoping everyone would see me off.  Thanks for coming, Grandpa Barra.”  Barragan chuckled and nodded.

“When did they meet?”  Gin asked, whispering.

“It was in between chapter 11 and 12.”  Aizen whispered back.  Gin nodded and turned his attention back to the girl.

“Well I’m off.”  Zero said as Moni jumped onto her shoulders.  “Bye guys!”  With that she ran through a portal.

“I hope she stays safe…”  Grimmjow muttered.

~In the human world~

Zero took a deep breath as she exited her grandmother’s home.

“Ah!  Karakura town!  Looks the same as when I left it.”  She said.  Moni kicked her in the head.

“Stop ruining the moment!  We’re home!  We can go see your friends!  And I can get the 10 dollars that Kon owes me.”  Zero looked up at her.

“You know he’s never going to pay you back.”

“Yeah…But I like roughing him up anyway.”

~

“ZERO!!”  Zero turned around, only to be immediately glomped by Orihime and nearly suffocated by her hug.  “I missed you so much over the summer, Zero!!”

“I…missed…you…two…Ori…hime…”

“Orihime!  I think you might be choking her let go!”  She did so very quickly allowing Zero to get her breath back.  She heard a chuckle followed by:  “Still can’t handle getting hugged, can you, honey?”  She turned to see Rangiku and Toshiro.

“Rangiku-sempai!  And Small fry.”  Toshiro glared at her.

“I AM NOT SMALL!!!”

“You look more like a grade school squirt!  Not that you would know what that is.”  Toshiro glared at her.  She merely grinned.  “I still love ya, Brother Toshiro.”

“What ever.”  He said, with a grin.

“Oh sure Zero!  You go straight to them and don’t bother with us!”  Zero smirked and turned.

“Zip it, Keigo!!”  Zero said as she walked to him, Chad, Uryu, Mizuiro and Tatsuki.  “Hey you guys.  How’s everyone?”

“Well since it’s the first day of school, not too bad.”  Uryu said.

“It’ll only get worse from here!”  Keigo declared.  Zero looked slightly annoyed.

“You can be a real loser, you know that, Keigo?”  Everyone laughed as Keigo started to defend himself against her statement.

“So.  How was Las Noches?”  Zero turned around and saw Ichigo standing there with Rukia.  She smiled slightly.

“It was just like home.”  Ichigo smiled.  “You knew?”

“Yeah.  Grams told me.  I hope they were nice to you.”

“Of course.”  Zero told him.  “Grimmjow and Ulquiorra are very nice to me.”

“And Aizen?”  Orihime asked.

“Decent.  He’s pretty much lost his godly-ness.  Especially when the kids came.”

“Kids?  What did they do?”  Keigo asked.

“They got him to play tag.”

~~

Zero and Ichigo walked with each other on their way home.

“Hey, Ichigo?”

“Yeah?”

“Would it hurt your feelings if I said…that I wanted to stay with the Arrancar a little while longer?”

“Nah.  It’s your life.  And as long as you’re gonna stay alive, I’m fine with it.”  Zero smiled at him.

“We’ll always be friends, Ichigo.  No matter what?”

“Do you even have to ask?”  He stopped in front of her house.  She hugged him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“See if Aizen will let you stay a while longer for Karin’s soccer match, okay?”  Zero grinned.

“Wouldn’t miss it.”  A portal appeared behind her and she turned.  “See you, Ichigo.”

“Bye.”  With that, they both turned and walked away from each other.

~In Las Noches~

“So, Zero, how was your day?”  Grimmjow asked as he walked into her room.  She was busy looking in her mirror, staring at her reflection.

“It was…normal…”  She smiled.  “It was great seeing everyone again…”  She looked at Grimmjow.  “Thanks for letting me do this.”

“Sure.  It’s…no problem.”  He said, looking away.

“Grimmjow?”

“Hm?”

“This is…to make it easier to let me go…isn’t it?”

“…Yeah, Zero.  It is.”  He said.  He walked out of the room slowly and looked at Ulquiorra.

“She okay?”

“She’s fine.”  Grimmjow glanced back at her from the doorway.  “This is gonna take some getting used to.”

“What about the kids?”  Grimmjow looked at his lover.  “What will happen to them?”

“…I guess…they go with her.”  Ulquiorra looked down, hiding the tears that stung his normally expressionless eyes.

“So be it.”