HEY! Welcome :D Okay so this idea just came in a spur of the moment thing and it's a crackfic more than anything but please do read :D
WARNING: Spoilers for Manga Arc 'Thousand Year Bloody War."
Disclaimer: Don't own Bleach, it's all Kubo Tite's. *sighs heavily*
For Kurosaki Ichigo it was a little strange to see the usually quiet and shy Inoue Orihime flirting. And flirting with Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez of all people.
At first, he didn't think much about it. He was too caught up about Inoue's clothes *cough cough* and the fact that Yoruichi-san and Urahara-san had somehow enlisted the help of Yukio, Riruka, Neliel and Grimmjow.
But then he noticed; the orange haired girl was sitting very close to his ex rival and seemed to be too relaxed for such a feat. Ichigo found that rather strange. The Inoue he knew would have been squirming in her seat if she was placed that close to someone she had a bad history with. That and the fact that she was generally uncomfortable around boys. Ichigo wondered if Chad saw it and snuck a look at his friend. He caught Ichigo's eye and minutely gestured towards the pair in question. So he had noticed.
Now Ichigo saw it: Every now and then Inoue would mumble something under her breath or tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear and Grimmjow- who was resting his face on his fist- would glance at her and smirk or his eyes would roam from her face to her revealing chest to her bare stomach and then back up.
What was even worse was that Inoue could see what he was doing but she didn't react, didn't even blush instead just gave him a sweet smile.
Ichigo's eye twitched. The flirting was getting on his nerves. And why Inoue of all people?! Couldn't the blue haired freak find someone else? Wait, why am I thinking like that? He mentally slammed his head against the table at his train of thoughts. So what if Inoue was enjoying some time with Grimmjow? It wasn't like it was serious. And it's not like Grimmjow could follow her to the Human world. Could he? The orange haired boy doubted it. Once they got back home he'd have Inoue all to himself-
This time he actually did slam his head against the table, hard. The resulting smack cut off all conversation and an eerie silence seized the room.
"Baka Ichigo! Are you in the right frame of mind?!" Riruka screamed in his ear and the teen sat shot up straight and rubbed the offended ear.
"No, I think I just lost it thanks to you." He snapped back causing Yukio to snicker.
Riruka shot him a glare before crossing her arms over her chest and turning her face away, pouting haughtily. "It's not my fault you just decided you wanted brain damage."
"I didn't ask you to give me some." He replied snidely. The pink haired girl growled and held up her hands like claws. Ichigo tensed and prepared for her to pounce.
"Uh, Kurosaki-kun, Riruka-chan… Perhaps we shouldn't..." Inoue mumbled.
"Go Ichigo!" Nel cheered, doing a small dance.
Yoruichi slammed her hand down on the table before them causing everyone to jump. "That's enough out of the two of you!" she ordered and the two combatants reluctantly returned to their former selves. "Stop acting like two year olds! There isn't a lot of time but I think it would be safer for all of us if we rested. Before that though…"
Yukio seemed to catch onto her train of thought and he played around with Enemies Must Die for a moment. With one last push of a button the table was suddenly covered with plates of steaming food and drinks for everybody. Inoue clapped her hands at the sight and Yukio grinned and took a bow.
"Refresh yourselves." He said and indicated for them to dig in which they did with great enthusiasm. Even while eating, Ichigo kept an eye on Grimmjow just to make sure he didn't try anything funny with his Inoue.
Wait, my Inoue? Get a grip on yourself Kurosaki, she's never going to be yours. He thought dejectedly. The boy continued to eat a little more soberly. For a while he gave up on the pair sitting opposite him but when he chanced a look, he froze.
Grimmjow had stopped eating and had leaned into Inoue's personal space, bringing his lips up to her ear and whispering something. The girl blushed red and giggled and- to Ichigo's long lasting surprise- even Grimmjow chuckled, though he had refused to move away from Inoue.
Inoue turned her head to smile at Grimmjow before saying something to him. The ex-Espada grinned at her in turn.
This was getting out of control. Ichigo coughed and cleared his throat loudly and glared at Grimmjow and Inoue: The girl went pink and began to eat again but Grimmjow glared right back at Ichigo, who silently challenged the blue-haired man. Neither broke the other's gaze for a whole fifteen minutes.
"Ichigo! Grimmjow!" Yoruichi Shunpo-ed behind the former and smacked him on the head, then behind the latter and hit him too. "Will you drop your frickin' rivalry death match for once and just eat and rest? We have to take on Yhwach soon and you two can't stop bickering over stupid grudges."
Grimmjow rubbed his head and muttered something about stupid black cats and domineering women. Inoue briefly touched his shoulder, an action that made Ichigo's blood boil. How dare she do that!
But he would never get angry at her and reverted his wrath towards Grimmjow, burning holes into his skull. This time Grimmjow ignored him and sat back, leaning his weight on a muscled arm, an arm that was positioned behind Inoue's back, suspiciously close to her bare skin. His posture and the look on his face held a clear message: I dare you.
Ichigo clenched his hand, momentarily considering stabbing Grimmjow in the eye with the chopstick but decided against it; Yoruichi-san would be up his ass if he did that,
Wait, Yoruichi-san! He glanced at his teacher who was chewing thoughtfully on her food. This could be interesting to watch…
Ichigo picked up his glass of water with a huff, took a sip and slammed it down hard before noisily continuing his meal. Say it, say it, say it.
"What is it now, Ichigo?" Yoruichi sighed and looked at the orange-haired boy. Said boy silently congratulated himself and managed to keep a straight face. He looked at Yoruichi before glaring at Grimmjow- or more specifically, his hand that was now resting on the small of Inoue's back.
He knew Yoruichi had followed his line of sight because she cleared her throat and said, "Grimmjow, it's better if you don't fraternize with the only available beauty over here. It's rather distracting. Why don't you flirt with her privately?"
Ichigo received grim satisfaction from seeing Inoue blush red and Grimmjow's jaw clench. Slowly, reluctantly, the blue haired Arrancar removed his hand and scooted away a couple of inches- inches- away from Inoue. Ichigo eyed the distance and found himself unsatisfied.
New tactic: Ichigo lashed out with his foot under the table and nailed Grimmjow in the shin. The attack caused the table to jump slightly and spill sake down the blue-haired man's clothes. The Arrancar yelled in surprise and shot to his feet, swearing at the top of his lungs.
Grimmjow curled his hands into fists and growled, "You wanna fight Kurosaki? Let's fight."
"Sure. I've been itching for something to do anyways." Ichigo replied as he shot to his feet, grinning evilly.
"Boys!" Yoruichi exclaimed but they ignored her and drew their Zanpakutos.
"Not in my box!" Yukio wailed in dismay.
Both males ignored the cries and Grimmjow tensed to pounce, when Ichigo noticed his hesitation. Then he noticed the reason for his hesitation.
"Grimmjow," Inoue said softly, tugging on his arm, "You promised me you wouldn't fight."
The man growled but didn't pull away. "Aw come on Hime, let me at him."
"Hime?" Ichigo choked out, the nickname for his favorite girl shocking him. Since when had Inoue allowed anyone to call her that?! And Grimmjow of all people. The orange head's expression softened a little when she heard her name but she still tugged on the Arrancar's arm.
"But you promised Grimmjow," she said with a puppy dog look. "Please don't fight."
Grimmjow looked down at Inoue and Ichigo tensed; the blue haired man was going to strike her, he just knew it. Instead, Grimmjow gave into Inoue's silent persuasions and sat back down with a huff, crossing his legs and resting his face in his hand.
"Only for you, Princess." He said, reverting to the English word of the Inoue's nickname and said girl smiled and blushed lightly.
"Kurosaki-kun," Inoue said to the boy with pleading eyes. "I'm sure there's something else you can do to keep yourself busy." She bowed slightly and added, "Please don't fight."
Despite the fact that it was Orihime who was asking him so politely, Ichigo lowered himself to the floor and said, "Sure, Hime," rather sarcastically. If he had been looking at her, he would have seen the brief flash of hurt in her eyes.
"You don't have to be so nice to a jerk, Hime." Grimmjow growled, watching Ichigo's sullen attitude towards the girl. Ichigo glared at him and Inoue shook her head.
"It's alright Grimmjow," she replied with a sad smile. "Everyone has the right to be down once in a while."
"Yet you never let yours show." He countered. Ichigo glanced at the pair when those words were spoken and blinked; Inoue's eyes were full of pain and… something. "Except to me." That had Ichigo's jealousy flaring again and he narrowed his eyes.
Inoue laughed and held out a hand towards Grimmjow. The male eyed it at first, then sighed in consent and- to Ichigo's utmost surprise- Inoue ran her fingers through his blue hair, caressing the locks gently, almost lovingly.
"Only to you." she agreed.
It was too much for him. Ichigo looked away and kept his face neutral. Underneath all of that though, his heart was breaking.
So thoughts? Please do leave them in the review box below! Reviews mean a lot and so do Faves and Follows ;)
I'll post the second chapter soon!
Kisses, M.
