Summary: Ichigo's life as the heir to his father's throne is empty as his life's only purpose is to live and lead the people of his father's kingdom. Grimmjow is a low-class fisherman who suffers just as much as the homeless. He yearns for the luxurious life of a king and blinded by greed, he will do just about anything to become king. Anything.
Warnings: A 6 chapter story. Smut in the later chapter. Tragedy. Character Deaths. Time skips. Gore. OOCness.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not Bleach. Not it's characters. NOTHING! (so much sadness)
Inspired by the original The Little Mermaid. With some gory twists. Setting is in a medival-ish era.
Chapter One:
The Betrothal and Contract
"King Kurosaki Isshin the Third hereby announces the promised betrothal of his only son, Prince Kurosaki Ichigo, to the fair princess and future queen of the SeireiteiNation, Kuchiki Rukia." In the brief pause of the announcer's sentence, the crowd air floods with the sound of their earsplitting cheers.
Though these warm cheers and hearty congratulations of the citizens were nothing short of pure joy and absolute delight, it does nothing to lighten the air of their future king, Kurosaki Ichigo. But of course, the citizens themselves don't know this, for all they see is the breathtaking smile of the handsome prince, a smile that wooed some women and put a heartache within the bosoms of others. But it wasn't a smile, this was something they didn't know. This was a mask, a disguise to hide his forever plastered scowl that would hang against his face daily. This face that he pulled in front of his people was only a facade, to fool and make them happy. To think that nothing was wrong with him, that he was their perfect and happy little prince.
But not everyone was an imbecile. Though most of the other citizens, middle and lower class alike, would fall for the pleasantly happy mask of Prince Ichigo, one fisherman was no fool.
He could see the act all in those tea brown eyes. The boredom. The strain. The irritation each time the crowd raised their voices a pitch higher or begged him to wave again.
Yes. Grimmjow was no idiot. He was not blind. And it angered him to see the prince act this way. This was the future king? His future king? The man who would one day hold the life of this nation within the palm of his hand. He has no control over this kingdom yet, and already, this young man seems too irresponsible. Grimmjow must be the only one to see this though, as the crowd continued to blare with sounds of never-ending hearty cries.
Grimmjow's fists clench in anger. He couldn't stand this. This boy, who shows no love or excitement to being king, who doesn't show any real emotion or value towards his people. This boy, he does not deserve the royal throne. Prince Ichigo was not suitable. He does not show the pride a king should show. He shows no promise, no love, no excitement, nor any emotion towards his future as our king. Grimmjow thought bitterly. He doesn't deserve to be king.
As the crowd continued on, Grimmjow turned his back to the castle of carved marble stone and forced his way out of the crowd. One more minute in the herd of sheep and he'd burst. Who knows what'd he do. Grimmjow immediately made his way back towards his boat house, where surely he'd find shelter against the galling racket of the shouting cluster of followers. But even so far from the castle, where he stands among tiny shacks of mud and strung hay, he could hear their cheers.
Grimmjow raked a heavy hand through his ocean-washed hair and tugged near the nape as they started to chant "Long live the king!" repeatedly. Oh yes...The king was also ill. Though King Isshin's current condition was kept unknown, so no one knows whether his health is worsening or not. Grimmjow sucked his teeth as he thought bitterly of the irony that they would want a man to regain health, who lives so comfortably in his large castle while they themselves live within shacks of dirt and hay along grimy streets of mud and waste. It's was them who suffer the most, and they pay the price of living such suffering lives and die before they have the chance to see their grandchildren.
Yet, the king does nothing for his people. All he does is focus on foreign affairs. 'Who should we wage war on' or 'whom shall my children marry?'. What can he do for his own people; the ones he's suppose to focus on the most? Increase trade to heighten the kingdom's worth and lessen those goddamn taxes which are completely useless if all we're using them for is to make the royals of the kingdom appear richer so that other nations will propose and marry their offspring. And especially stop waging war against other nations over land that is not necessary. The Karakura kingdom has plenty of land.
God damn. Grimmjow thought as he rolled his neck as he had begun to tense up. I could be a better king than all those pathetic maggots. That kid's a fucking waste of space.
"And how would you be able to prove that?" A voice cooed to his left.
Grimmjow jumped slightly, but dared not to show any signs of weakness.
"Who are you?" Grimmjow snarled fiercely.
A stranger glides out from the shadow of a near-by shack, his face partly hooded but fails to fully conceal his face. The stranger chortled wickedly, his inverted golden and black eyes sparkling with delight. "My, you certainly have the resolve of a king. You're okay at keeping your guard up, I'll give you that much credit."
Grimmjow narrowed his eyes at the stranger and summed up that this man was an odd one. Grimmjow wasn't sure if his eyes were playing tricks on him, but he was sure that he could squint enough just to see pale white skin under the shade of his cloak. Surely, he was not a resident of Karakura. He was dressed in multiple coloured drapes consisting of colors black, gold, silver, and bright red gems lining the borders. The stranger cracks a grin at Grimmjow's observing eyes and adjusts the hood of his cloak to reveal a portion more of his identity. And sure enough, white.
Skin so white, Grimmjow could have fooled himself into thinking the male was coated in a clean slate of fresh snow. Even his hair was a pure alabaster white. The stranger's inverted eyes narrowed as his face wrinkle slightly with more amusement.
"Loving how you're looking at me." The pale stranger coos. "I reckon you like what you see?Ne?"
Grimmjow crinkles his nose in disgust. More over to the stranger's seductive attitude. "Who the fuck are you and what do you want?"
The other male's smile never wavers and the excitement in the others eyes continues to glimmer steadily. "And demanding. I like that." He hums. "The name's Shirosaki. But you may call me Shiro or any name that fits your fancy."
"And what do you want?" Grimmjow asks sternly.
"Mmm, well, it's not exactly what I want. It's what we both want and what I can give." Shirosaki's eyes almost twinkle at the word give.
"I'll pass-"
"I can make you king." Shirosaki says, his voice smooth and convincing. Immediately, Grimmjow's eyebrows shot up and his mouth dried." You want that, right? Pftt, of course you do. You want to be king, rule this kingdom proper, and rid the existence of Prince Kurosaki Ichigo."
Grimmjow's eyes widened. He never told anyone this. No one. This little fantasy of him being king was always locked away in the concealment and safety of his mind. Never had he mention anything about him being king to anyone. And yet, some how, this man knows his secret. As if he knows every detail of his dream to be king.
Shirosaki caught on to Grimmjow's moment of weakness and drew closer to the unguarded Grimmjow. "You want to be king right? I can make that happen."
"How?" Grimmjow asked in a hushed tone.
"I can change your fate. Give you the chance to take your place as king and make everything you want yours."
The words sunk into Grimmjow's mind and slowly he understood what these words meant.
"You're a wizard, aren't you?" Grimmjow asked warily.
Shirosaki stepped back, appalled by the blue-haired man's comment.
"I am no such thing." He snarls in a voice so inhuman. Grimmjow keeps himself sturdy and fights the urge to flee. Shirosaki clears his throat and gives Grimmjow a bittersweet smile. "I prefer to be called a gypsy."
"They both involve themselves with the arts of black magic." Grimmjow said.
Shirosaki sighs. "For a man who calls himself above the fools that he surrounds himself with, you can be a man of such unexpected ignorance." He then gives the taller man a wave of dismissal. "No matter, that is not of any importance."
"So what is your point here?" Grimmjow growled irritatedly.
"Anxious fool, you have yet to give me a chance to explain my offer." Shirosaki purrs.
Grimmjow was disgusted by the sickly-sweet tone that Shirosaki carried along with his attitude. It sickened him. He wanted to gag at each sentence that drifted from his lips. But he was desperate, and this Shirosaki fellow was offering him a chance at fulfilling his dream.
"I'll hear you out then." Grimmjow huffed.
"Lovely." Shirosaki licks his lips. "As I had told you before, I can change your fate. I can twist your destiny, destroy and remake everything you know, and make you become the king you want to be. With of course, little to no consequences. And in order to do this, a contract must be formed."
"Contract?" Grimmjow was more worried about the consequences.
Shirosaki nodded. "In exchange for twisting your fate and make you destined to be the future king of the Karakura Kingdom, a set of conditions are made as well as something to compensate during the time you will attempt to achieve completing the requirements of the contract. The conditions of the contract are simple though. Firstly, you must seduce and trick the young prince into falling in love with you. Secondly, you must kill him."
"Well ain't that fucked up." Grimmjow comments.
"Does it really matter to you?"
Grimmjow scoffed. "Of course not."
Shirosaki rolled his eyes and continued. "But it's not a simple kill. You must eat his heart after you kill him, or else the spell of the contract will not work." And I thought making the kid fall in love with me and killing him afterwards was bad enough. God. "And as for compensation, I will temporarily take hold of your life force for the duration of the contract's spell."
"And how do I know you're not going to run off with my soul?" Grimmjow questioned.
"Life force, not soul." Shirosaki corrects. "And it's not me who makes the rules of the contract. So I can't exactly disobey the terms of the agreement. And don't worry about dying after I've taken your life force. The spell of the magic will act as your source of life, and prevent you from dying as I hold onto your life force."
"Very well."
"The contract will end upon the last day of snow. If you accept the contract right now, the spell will start tomorrow, the first day of fall. You'll have six months to win the heart of the prince, until the last snow flake touches this land. And during the time of that contract, you and the prince's fate will intertwine, so no matter what, you two will always somehow meet. This will give you the chance to woo him and capture his heart."
"Okay." Grimmjow musses his powder blue hair, thinking over what he just been offered. "So all I got to do is seduce the kid, kill him, and eat his heart?"
"Yes." Shirosaki replies.
So far, Shirosaki is a bit surprised to see the blue-haired latter express little to no reaction to his offer. Especially towards the heart-consuming issue. Normally, people would gag or reject to such things immediately.
"Okay, guess that's simple enough. But-" Of course, Grimmjow was suspicious of the gypsy. He was a gypsy after all. "what's your motive?"
The alabaster gypsy expressed a moment of surprise, but not too much. From his earlier observances, he knew Grimmjow wasn't stupid, but he still didn't expect the man to be more aware of him. Shirosaki's smile grew back as he drew closer to Grimmjow again.
"Well, since you've been so open-minded, I'll tell you." Shirosaki purrs. "If there is a chance that if you don't succeed in killing the prince and becoming king, you will die once the contract ends for I took your life force as compensation and it will act as my reward when you fail. Afterwards, I will take the chance to kill the young prince myself while he is crippled by the heartbreak of your death. Then I will consume Ichigo's heart and become king myself."
Grimmjow is not entirely moved by the gypsy's honest answer, nor is he offended. But he kept note of what Shirosaki had said and remained wary of the white-skinned fellow. "Why are you so sure that Ichigo will be heartbroken by my death if I do fail? As if it were a sure thing that Ichigo will fall in love with me."
Suddenly, Shirosaki let out a loud and vicious cackle. "A man so lonely, who yearns for company. In a hollow castle, filled with fellow humans yet no companion, no friends, no lovers. He yearns for love, and such a thing makes a fool, easy to trap with someone like you. Making him fall in love with you shall be easy, if you truly want to be king so bad."
Grimmjow felt the hairs all over his body stand on end as a cold shudder skittered up and down his spine. Grimmjow stumbled on his words due to the shock of feeling something so foreign and lurid, his reply was delayed.
But before he could even reply, a burst of early autumn wind swept passed him, Shirosaki vanishing along with it.
Grimmjow's left thumb was throbbing with pain and when he raised it to check, his thumb was trickling blood in a steady beat from the deep gash slashed across it. When did that...did he...
"That guy. He can't be human."
The Prince.
"Ichigo, child, I beg of you to at least spare some bit of mercy and express some actual emotions rather than that detestable scowl." Zangetsu complains as Ichigo continued to be his stubborn and irritated self, keeping the 'detestable' scowl on his face.
"Why should it matter anyways. There's no one else in this ridiculous little horse carriage here beside you, me, and Nanao that doesn't already know how miserable I am."
"Sire, Master Zangetsu is only trying to help prepare you for what's to be expected of you by the people of this kingdom." Nanao defended.
But of course, that couldn't even scratch Ichigo's tough resolve. He kept his scowl in place.
"Very well then." Zangetsu gave in. "But keep in mind that you can't show that weak expression to any of the citizens that we might meet during our tour." Weak? "We don't want to worry them into thinking that their future king is a callous, immature child."
Ichigo shot a cold glare in Zangetsu direction, though it went unnoticed by the intentional receiver when Zangetsu started to jot down random notes in his small notepad. Nanao rolled her eyes when Ichigo childishly scoffed, Tensa ignored that as well. Instead of attempting to annoy or offend Zangetsu any further, he decided to look out the window thinking that would be a much better option than wasting his time with the old-man. But time was being wasted here inside this carriage either way.
A tour. Why does he have to go on a tour for? Oh yes. To show these people how kind and caring their future king is to go out of his way to visit them when he had better things to do. Or it was more like put on a pathetic show, with a mask of lies and a speech that he didn't even write himself. The last one felt more accurate to say. But he couldn't do anything about it. As the heir of the Karakura Royal throne, his life wasn't something for him to control. With that, how could he give a smile that isn't fake? There's nothing left for him to be happy about.
He's now betrothed to someone he has never met in his entire life, someone he doesn't know nor love, all with out his saying. His life and his actions are controlled, restrained, and limited on a daily basis. Ichigo's father was fatally ill, although he dared not to show it, King Isshin's health was declining at a frightening rate. And it's not only the King himself who is sick, but also the queen, Masaki. Heartbroken and torn by the king's failing health, she herself has fallen into the death grip of depression. And it was certain that after the king passes away, she will follow not too far after.
"Careful back there, we got some pebbles ahead." The coachman, Ikkaku Madarame, warns loudly from his driver's seat.
Zangetsu snorts. "Such a pathetic warning."
Just then, the carriage give a violent jolt, rocking up and down. The coal stick that Zangetsu used to write in his notepad slips in his hands and drags a great streak across his notes. Ichigo would have guffawed at his uncle's misfortune if he wasn't desperately trying not to fall from his seat or hit his head on something. Before the carriage would topple over from the violent shaking, it came to stop. The three passengers came spilling out of the carriage and almost toppling each other in the process.
"Pebbles?" Nanao flashes Ikakku a sharp glare.
"Rocks, pebbles, aren't they all the same?" Ikakku shrugs uncaring.
"There should have been an intelligence requirement when we hired you."
"Well, there wasn't. Besides, his majesty liked my hyped up attitude and would've hired me no matter what objection you had anyways. Onto something more important, one of the wheels of the carriage was damaged good, so we'll be here for a while." Ikkaku says. "Good thing I have the intelligence enough to fix it though, right?"
He then shoots Nanao a wink of his eye. Nanao visibly gags.
"Watch it Madarame, she's already engaged, and her fiancee is a beast if you mess with her." Ichigo warned.
Ikkaku only shrugs and walks away to do his work and fix up the damaged wheel. After massaging the bridge of her nose, Nanao returned to the carriage, Zangetsu following after her. Ichigo decided to stay outside rather than join them and possibly start another argument with his uncle. But boredom quickly caught him as he wondered around the carriage and horses absent-mindedly. The scenery was beautiful to look at though. The sky was cloudy, with specks of the blue sky exposed as the white pillows of clouds had nearly engulfed the sky. The sun was blurred by the clouds but still managed to shine through them and kept Ichigo warm as he soaked up the rays that touched his face. Off the cliffside of the trail that they had took and far down below resides a wild sea of blue. It was a beautiful blue, pure and clean, and almost lively. This sea was the kingdom's pride. The land of Karakura Kingdom was all near the sea, naturally a coastal territory.
"Almost done with the wheel." Ikkaku announced.
"I guess you proved your worth then." Nanao replies from the carriage's window. "Sire, Master Zangetsu requests for you to come back into the carriage."
Ichigo sighed agitatedly and turned to return to the vehicle. "And he couldn't tell me that himself why?"
"Because it's such a hassle to waste my breath when every time I ask you something, you make things much more difficult than they need to be and trigger an irrelevant argument." Zangetsu replies when Ichigo was close enough to hear.
Ichigo sucked his teeth and scrunched his eyebrows together. Ichigo was about to give a witty comeback until something caught his eyes. Something white and blurry, dashing passed him. Ichigo jumped back slightly and almost lost his balance. The white blur slowed down enough for Ichigo to discover that it was a cat, skittering pass the horses. This sent the horse off into a fright, thrashing and kicking until they somehow unlocked the hinges that bind them to the carriage. They whined as they stood unevenly on their hind legs.
"Oi, you overgrown ponies, stop!" Ikkaku yelled.
Though it seemed he had worsened the situation, scaring them nearer to where Ichigo stood. As Ichigo fanatically searched from a safe route to run away, the horses started to scramble in every direction, blocking all possible paths Ichigo had of fleeing. Suddenly, they turned in his direction, neighing wildly as they trotted his way. Ichigo scuffled backwards blindly as he avoided the thrashing hooves that would have kicked his head clean of his body. The screams of the others deafening, the frightened cries of the horses were terrifying along with their colliding hooves.
Soon, Ichigo ran out of ground to crawl backwards on and slipped from the cliff's edge.
The Fisherman.
"You don't look so good sir." Di Roy commented, concerned for his instructor's ailing look.
"Shut it." Grimmjow barked. "Just go over to Starrk and help him fix the fishnets or some shit."
Di Roy shook his head as he ignored his instructor's direct orders and attempted to take the crate of supplies from Grimmjow's hold. But Grimmjow yanked it away from the youngster's reach and kicked him in the back of the knee.
"Quit that shit out you little fuck!" Grimmjow snarled.
Di Roy attempted to try and help Grimmjow like this multiple times, and each time he would receive Grimmjow's intensive disapproval. But the man was sick, it was obvious. Grimmjow had arrive to the front of the docks irritated and cranky previously that early afternoon. He had left his boathouse this morning feeling queasy and didn't appear so ill before he left to the village's market square for some errands. But now, he looked weak, pale with a hue of what seemed to be nearing green. He was no doubt, sick. But Grimmjow was a stubborn man, he didn't want help unless he had asked for it, and usually it was hardly ever that he would ask for such a thing. Every one knew that Grimmjow didn't like to ask for help because then that would mean he would have to helpful back.
And honestly, Grimmjow was a selfish bastard. But he was also one of the best fishermen in the world, so most would think it makes up for being such a bastard. Di Roy was actually lucky that Grimmjow had come to tolerate him as an apprentice, but to certain limit of course. Grimmjow had multiple rules set out for the young man. Though in reality, Grimmjow just makes them up as he goes for each time he finds something agitating about Di Roy.
Di Roy being concerned for Grimmjow was of course one of them.
As he shifted the crates around in his arm, the swaying in his gut had risen up. Grimmjow stopped as he struggled to keep himself from hurling. Last thing he needed was for his apprentice to try and kiss his ass by nursing him back to health.
"Sir-"
"Di Roy, I swear to fuckin' God, I will gut you, drag you out to sea, and feed you to the sharks if you don't shut the fuck up and leave me alone." Grimmjow snarled.
"But-"
"Just go untangle some fishnets with Starrk or something!" Grimmjow yelled again, not noticing that he had repeated that before. He finally turns his back completely to the young apprentice and made his way down one of the docks.
Through Grimmjow's increasing irritation, his nauseousness had risen along with it. The farther he walked down the dock, the sicker he felt. His body felt heavier, as if something was dragging him down. That fucking gypsy did something to me, I know it. He thought as he silently spited Shirosaki. This magic bullshit better work, or I'll have to kill that bastard and grind his rotten corpse into fish bait.
By the time he had reached his boat, Grimmjow was utterly sick to his stomach. His green tint he had earlier had increased, making him look like he had soak days within green algae contaminated waters. Not only that, his skin was cold and clammy. Grimmjow was at his limit. A swift pang hit his stomach, his insides churning like butter. Grimmjow's legs gave way and his knees buckled under him, sending him to collapse onto his knees against the splintering planks of the dock. With one last gag, Grimmjow sent his morning's breakfast into what was once the pure seawater's of Karakura's pride. For now, it was Grimmjow's regurgitation dump.
After vomiting the last of what was left in his stomach, Grimmjow swipes his damp mouth with the back of his hand and leaned back from the waters. He groaned after his stomach made another uncomfortable churn within him. He was far from better.
"ICHIGO!" A scream echoed right through Grimmjow.
Hell, someone has a nice set of lungs. Grimmjow thought sarcastically at the continued screeching.
And just as he thought that, Grimmjow caught sight of something peculiar, something that he sure as he don't see everyday.
Prince Ichigo falling from a cliff.
Grimmjow's heart made a painful spike of heartbeats as his stomach started to jerk around again. But Grimmjow made no effort in the situation. Why should he? The kid wasn't going to die. It was a twelve foot fall and the cliff had an inward curve with no dangerously sharp rocks at the cliff's feet. The most danger the kid was in was if he couldn't swim. It was a sure possibility considering he was a royal, and of course, this was a chance that Grimmjow did not mind one bit. If the prince were to die there and now from drowning, it would save Grimmjow all the trouble of killing the young man himself. Quick and easy.
But the boy emerges to the sea's surface, flailing in the uneasy waters and coughing for air. Grimmjow frowned. It seemed that the orange-head did know a few swimming tricks then. Damn. But it was obvious Ichigo was having trouble swimming and there had yet to be anyone to come to the young prince's rescue. As a few minutes passed, Grimmjow saw that Ichigo's flailing had slowed and grown weaker. Prince Ichigo was growing tired. Grimmjow smiled and licked his lips, he could already see himself under that crown.
A dark laugh caresses the shell of Grimmjow's ear. "I'm starting to wonder if being king is really important to you." Grimmjow jumps and scrambles away from what seemed to be an apparition of Shirosaki. "Ohhh, finally got a nice reaction out of you!"
"You're a ghost," Grimmjow croaked "why?"
"Mm, not really a ghost. More like a figment of your imagination. Telepathic imagery."
"Tele-what?"
Shirosaki sighed. "How about I make this easy for the miniature mind of a simpleton such as yourself and say this is one of the conveniences of our contract. Because of the magic of the contract between us, I am granted to ability to communicate with you like this, no matter when and where you are."
"Nothing of what you just said sounds very 'convenient' to me." It was more like an invasion of privacy.
"Oh, but it is convenient. If I wasn't able to do this, I wouldn't have been able warn you that if you allow the dear prince to die like this, the contract will be voided and you will die with him."
"What!?" Grimmjow hollered.
Shirosaki gave an ungodly laugh. "You opprobrious buffoon, I've told you the consequences of not following the rules of the contract. The prince MUST die by your hands, not by any other's and nor by the act of nature. If he does not die by your hands, the contract will nullify and you will die with Prince Ichigo. To think you let your life on the line for your dream, and yet you fail to remember these simple yet vital facts, you sorrowful sad excuse for a-"
Grimmjow didn't let Shirosaki finish with his lecture before he dived into the sea. Grimmjow started to swim toward the spot of orange far before him. But each kick he made felt heavier, like his body had suddenly become lead. He found it to become more difficult to cut through the restless waters. But the prince was now within arm's length, his head barely surfacing above the waters. Upon seeing Grimmjow, Ichigo almost relaxed, though he dared not for it might mean the end of him there and now. But someone was there to rescue him and that was enough to send a breath of relief into his lungs.
Though just as Ichigo was relieved to see Grimmjow, in that moment, the blue-haired man had lost his ability to stay afloat any longer.
"This may later come to bite me in the ass," Shirosaki materialized right over Grimmjow's weakening body "but I'm suppose to warn you that due to your body's lack of life force, water is your new weakness. Because water is an elemental property that purifies, it will act like a cleansing property and attempt to remove your from the world of the living and away to the Otherworld."
"What the fuck?" Grimmjow choked.
"Oopsies?" Shirosaki cackled, obviously no where near apologetic.
Who's the buffoon now? Grimmjow thought.
He no longer had the energy to move. The strong waves started to crash down on him, smothering him and bringing his motionless body down under. The waters pulled him downwards, swallowing him.
Goddamnit.
The Prince.
Godamnit. Ichigo thought. You have got to be kidding me.
Ichigo watched as the man who had attempt to save him earlier get battered down by relentless waves. Ichigo shot a arm out towards him but only grazed his fingers. The nest of baby blue began to plummet under the sea water. Then everything just stopped. The waves lessened in intensity, and though they still had some brute force to them they were not as strong. Strangest thing that had ever happened to him but he won't question since it given him the chance to at least breath. As the waves had seemed to calm around him, it allowed Ichigo enough time to recover and swallow down some air. He then swooped under the water's surface in search of the blue-haired stranger. He was not far, an arm's lengths at most.
Ichigo hooked his arms under the man's pits and started to kicking up for air. But damn, he's fucking heavy. Ichigo scorned. Once they were above the water's surface, the man started cough out and breath in ragged and deep gasps for air. The waves were back, intense and powerful, dragging them both down. Ichigo acted quick and began to swim towards the seashore with one of his arms still hooked under the man's pit. Further into the shore, the waves began to push rather than pull. It wasn't long before they were sprawl all over the white sands of the seashore. The male he just saved was still coughing what was left of the seawater in his lungs as Ichigo recovered from the exhaustive exercise he did. Maybe it was a good thing that his father was crazy and made him learn how to swim 'just in case'.
"Fuck." The man beside him croaked.
Ichigo crooked his head to the side and saw that the man was struggling to rise to his feet. Ichigo raised a hand towards him and gestured for him to stop.
"You almost drowned." Ichigo said. "It's best not to move so soon."
The man made no response. He just stayed there, on his knees and forearms.
"Are you injured?" Again, no response. The prince tried again, but for the second time, he was ignored. Ichigo gritted his teeth, though he doesn't stop asking. Maybe the fellow was in shock? "Are you injur-"
"Shut it." The stranger snarled as he straightened his posture to fully seat himself on his knees. He shot the orange-haired heir a smouldering glare. A pang of dread throbbed in Ichigo's chest as the man's stormy blue eyes pierced right through him. "I don't need your pity act."
Anger began to boil in Ichigo's chest as it replaced the brief pain of fear.
"What? Did I hurt you or something? You were trying to rescue me right? I hope your weak excuse of a rescue attempt didn't bruise your poor ego, considering you failed oh so miserably." Ichigo sneered.
The man flinched but recovered fast, his sky filled eyes swirling with absolute rage. Ichigo ignored the painful throb of fear again, though he should have taken it as a warning. The blue-haired man's nostrils flared as he lunged at Ichigo.
"Prince Kurosaki Ichigo the First!" Zangetsu's voice blared.
Ichigo flinched and snapped his head in the direction from which he heard the old-man from. He was far, yet close enough to see the furious expression he had as he stomped in the their direction. Ichigo had begun to panic and tried to get up so that he can prepare to explain himself. But that was proven unsuccessful. The man above him had a tight grip on his shoulders, anchoring him down against the sandy floor. Ichigo attempted to fight the man off, but that too failed.
A gleam shined in the man's eyes and he cracked a carnal smile. Ichigo's breath hitched and terror ran cold through his lungs.
The man leaned down and smashed his lips against Ichigo's. The prince's heart sped up and his face began to burn as his throat constricted. His body went numb and limp. The man ran his tongue across the young heir's lips right before he was thrown off of Ichigo.
"Woah there Grimmjow, you don't want to get guillotined now do you?" Ikkaku chuckled as he continued to pull Grimmjow away from Ichigo.
"Nah, that's too barbaric. The king's too fucking soft-hearted to go with the beheading shit. Or anything bloody for the public in particular." Grimmjow snorted as he shrugged Ikkaku's arms off.
Although Prince Ichigo was utterly speechless by what had just happened to him, Zangetsu was outraged.
"You'd be lucky enough to be executed by the guillotine after what you've done. For what you've done, I'll see to it that you'd be tortured for years-"
Nanao cleared her throat. "Forgive me for interrupting, but Master Zangetsu, for what this man-"
"Grimmjow." the said man corrected.
"For what Grimmjow has done, the penalty he would receive at the most is five years in the dungeon, no forms of torture."
Grimmjow laughed. "Sucks having such a 'nice' king, doesn't it?"
Zangetsu says nothing more as he chose to ignore the fisherman. With the help of Ikkaku, Zangetsu drags a flushed Ichigo back to the repaired carriage.
"Well, this sure was one hell of a tour, wasn't it?" Ikkaku commented.
"Shut up Madarame." The three others droned exhaustively.
Herp Derp. I am finally off hiatus. Wonderful, ain't it? And I know "what the hell? You were suppose to update Thunder Blue!" I will xD I promise, I just want to try out this plot since it's been nagging me for a while.
Welllp, If you don't get anything, don't worry, everything will be explained in the next chapter. Also, I actually like Shirosaki being a creep in this story. In my mind, he's kinda sexy. Like in this bizarre, "will never happen in real life but I like to fantasize it anyways" kind of way.
*Note: The start of the seasons are not the standard dates, and are made up for what's convenient to me xP. Sorry.
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