A few years ago I wrote this story and here is the revision! (The longer explanation is in my profile if you're interested) For those of you who have read the first version, the story won't change much. It's just going to get better with the experience of a few years of college writing to back me up. With the sequel half complete, I just can't change it without having issues. I hope you like the re-write! More to come very soon!

-cole-

Yumichika was bored. It was this particular kind of bored that irritated him the most. It wasn't the kind of bored one gets when they are sitting at home alone, nor the type where they are sitting in a crowd of people and just can't follow the conversation, no this brand of bored was a whole new tiresome. It was the kind of bored where one sits in a classroom and stares off at the whiteboard pondering all of the choices they've made their life. Yeah, he could keep looking up at the clock and feel all the minutes tick by like slow death, but that would make time go even slower. The class was nearing it's end and he had nothing left of his imagination to doodle on the page in front of him. Yumichika would never tire of watching himself in his pocket mirror but apparently even today he had done enough of that. For now, he was just sitting in the class like a worthless piece of trash, hoping that something good would come of the day. It was in this moment that he realized he needed a change. Boredom would surely age him prematurely and if there was anything he didn't need in life, it would be that.

Perhaps it is the class that bores me the most. He pondered to himself as he glanced around at the room. Most were focused on the whimpering little blond near the corner with Jyuushiro. Yumichika sighed and decided that inspecting his nails was of far more importance. He surmised that if there was anything in life that deserved more of his time self-grooming would be it. Now this class, he thought again with annoyance, it is a hindrance to my intelligence. Personally, Yumichika despised sitting around in a big circle crying about his problems. He hated 'share time' with a passion. He always believed that there were just some things that should be left to the imagination. They all knew why they were there, didn't they? They all knew that bad things happened to them and they were 'safe' now. So why he had to sit in this godforsaken classroom and listen to the woes of others was beyond him.

The reason he was there was simple and that person's name was Sousuke Aizen. Aizen, who had created the world of Las Noches. That man had always been worth a pretty penny but unfortunately he also had a taste for children. It was a shame really, growing up in such a place where the men were frequent, the money was big, and the shame was never ending. Yumichika let his fingers graze over the dark scarf that nestled the bottom of his throat and let his mind wander. That man had tattooed numbers on them so they didn't forget where they came from. No matter where Yumichika might end up in life he had this constant reminder of his upbringing, this stigmatized symbol marking him as a whore. It mocked him every time he sat in this class and day to day he would sit here, nervously fiddling with random objects. Knowing it was best not to listen, knowing that his participation would do him no good.

It wasn't that he wasn't thankful for Ukitake Juushiro and Urahara Kisuke for rescuing them all from Las Noches. He knew they had known Aizen before and thought that he would go down for money laundering and career criminal things, because of their shock at the extent of Aizen's crimes, he knew that they held him in a special place in their hearts, well, Juushiro held him in his at least. Urahara was still just a pervert, regardless of anything else. Yumichika was sixteen now, it was funny to think that he had only known them for three years.

Yumichika let his gaze slide over to his friends. Ulquiorra and Szayel sat to his left while Shinji sat on his right. Ulquiorra was entranced, furiously scratching away at his notebook in a magnificent, astoundingly realistic portrait of his lover. He smirked as he peaked over at the sketch. Yumichika thought it was absolutely lovely that he and Grimmjow had gotten on so well together after they all left Las Noches. It was comical that after all the time they had been there bickering at each other that they would be so hopelessly infatuated with one another now. When they arrived here, Yumichika made the suggestion that they should room together and the battle lines were drawn. It was actually quite comical to see what had become it it. It was only a few months of constant arguing before they fell in bed together, only a few months after that that they had become an official 'thing'. Yumichika really was happy for them. After all he had seen Ulquiorra go through in Las Noches, he deserved some happiness of his own.

Ulquiorra was his longest friend and he cared for him dearly. Yumichika couldn't picture a world without those big beautiful green eyes and that expressionless gaze that struck fear in all those he encountered. It was alright that Ulquiorra could be a bit unperceptive, Yumichika figured that he could do that for the both of them. Ulquiorra and he were the only one's who did not 'share' in class. Everything was 'beautiful' this and 'trash' that and really, they had better things to do then to sit around and whine about things past. It was time for a new day and they wouldn't be the ones looking back.

Szayel was a different kind of animal. Szayel was an eccentric genius, a mad scientist, a beautiful specimen of strange. He was the kind of guy who if you messed with him you wouldn't hear about it for a while. No, not like Nnoitra or Ichigo who would crave the immediate satisfaction of a good fight. Szayel would sit quietly back and contemplate what your proper punishment would be and exact the precise amount of revenge that fit the crime. He was Yumichika's favorite friend because they just had so much fun together. He and Szayel would take over the world one day, they swore it. But unfortunately, with Szayel always being engrossed in his experiments in the lab or fawning over his brother, Yumichika saw Szayel the least of all his friends. Since Szayel and Ylfordt were in a relationship too so that ate up the time they spent, even when they were all together. The two had always been requested to do private shows for the buyers so it wasn't a shock to anyone when they would disappear for hours on end, only to show up later looking flushed and messy. It just seemed natural after all this time. It's funny how being a whore brings together the strangest combinations of love, he thought with a smirk.

Yumichika had met Ulquiorra and Szayel when they were brought to Las Noches but Shinji was different. Shinji was brought here, to the Seireitei, because he had been having difficulties with his family. One of the few times in share class that Shinji shared he had heard how he had an uncle with wandering hands and because of the worsening abuse he had run away. Somehow Juushiro found him and now he was living here with them. Yumichika remembered the was the pretty blond teen had cried. What a shame, he thought as he wriggled his eyebrows at Shinji, who noticed the gesture and gave him a bright toothy smile that showed off most of his teeth. Shinji was Yumichika's best friend. Yumichika had always given that title to Ulquiorra but since he had begun that relationship with Grimmjow, it seemed that the blue haired teen had taken that spot in Ulquiorra's heart long ago. So the honor now went to Shinji who he had met here perhaps a year before. He was happy that Shinji was around now, it almost made him feel complete. Not quite but almost.

The purple eyed teen paused at that thought. He wondered what it felt like to be complete in all aspects of his life.

The bell rang, ripping Yumichika out of his thoughts and pulling him back to the world of the living. "Argh, I thought that was going to take all day. Time moves so slowly in this class" he grumbled to his friends and practically leaped out of his chair to make his way to the door. He registered that nearly the entire class had taken the time to stare daggers at him as he made his hasty retreat and heard the barking laughter of Shinji as his friends followed him from the room. "Ta, Uke-san" he waved at the long-haired teacher.

The door slammed behind him and he fiddled in his bag for his mirror to check for imperfections across his beautiful skin. Yumichika continued to walk, albeit now a bit awkwardly, as he felt an arm slide over his shoulder's and a kiss planted firmly on his cheek. "Have I ever told you that you're the queen of mean, Yumi-yumi?" laughed Shinji as they walked together.

"Ah, so glad this is over! I can't believe you would bore me with the sad tales of every insecurity you've ever felt in your life" Szayel imitated with the back of his hand pressed to his forehead. It was this point that even Ulquiorra cracked a small smile.

"I don't know what Juushiro expects of me, really. There are far worst things in the world then teacher-student relations and I simply can't be held accountable for the pain that he feels from such inconveniences" Yumichika reasoned out with a shrug as they pushed their way past the corridor into the big grassy rotunda with the cafeteria benches in the middle. It was a nice place to meet up really, the Las Noches kids had marked the middle bench beneath the big tree for their own but it wasn't like there weren't plenty of other benches to sit. Only the best for Yumichika, Nnoitra had said once in jest.

"Mhm, like your big fuckin' mouth" Shinji shined and rubbed his knuckles on Yumichika's cheek, which was swiped away with ease. "I mean, he was crying. This is so awful, I actually think I might die" Szayel spluttered out a laugh and covered his mouth with his hand.

"Nnoi!" he sparkled as he saw his big brother, already lounging around the table with the rest of their circle of friends. Extracting himself from Shinji's arms, he wrapped his own around the outrageously tall teen and sat down beside him. "I'm so glad to see you! You're supposed to be at the hospital, you know"

"Doc's late" he shrugged and continued to eat his sandwich. Nnoitra seemed irritated that he had to twist his body away from Yumichika so he wouldn't get any crumbs in the boys lap, but Yumichika ignored his attempts and leaned further into the embrace. He for one didn't mind having to give the older boy a long talk about the etiquette of eating, actually, he welcomed the conversation.

Yumichika smiled. He was glad that he had caught Nnoitra before he was off to see the doctor. Nnoitra had been his everything for as long as he remembered. He had been the first person the other saw when he had come to Las Noches so he believed that Nnoitra felt the same way about their connection like he did. To anyone outside their circle it might have seemed strange that Nnoitra, this rude, conniving, disrespectful person, had such a close relationship with Yumichika who was perceived to be just a delicate peacock of impeccable beauty but inside it was right. They just fit together somehow.

Shinji sat beside them and pulled Yumichika back to him. "Nnoitra, I'll have you know that your little Yumi-kun is such a little bitch" Nnoitra's eye snapped to Yumichika who looked up in innocence.

"What'cha do, Yu?"

"Nothing in the slightest"

"Oh, nothing at all"

"I didn't see anything odd" Yumichika, Szayel, and Ulquiorra offered all at once, looking baffled at the insinuation.

"Yumichika's cuntning is just too hard for some to swallow" Szayel offered with a wink as he nudged Ylfordt suggestively. Ichigo snorted out a laugh and glanced over at Grimmjow, who looked just as much unbelieving as the rest at the table.

"He simply expressed his boredom before leaving the class. We are meant to express ourselves in that class so I believe it was his right to do so" Ulquiorra said with a concise nod before looking at Nnoitra blankly from across the table and delivering what they all knew was coming. "It just so happened to be in the middle of another one of Izuru's incessant crying spells. I for one welcomed the disturbance" Nnoitra let out a snicker as Grimmjow face palmed and Ylfordt fell into a loud laughter.

"Ain't that what you're supposed to be doing? Crying and shit? I mean, I watch those assholes cry all the time. Nothing changes. Rinse, repeat" Grimmjow said before looking over to Ichigo for support. Grimmjow felt a rage surge through him as he caught the orange haired bastard staring mindlessly over at Yumichika. Kicking him under the table, he got a scowl from his friend before turning back to the conversation at hand.

"-and if I gotta punch that damn Hisagi fucker for sayin' something to ya' I might just kill ya both. You're too much trouble than you're worth, yanno that?" Nnoitra said much to the shock of Yumichika, who promptly pulled the free sandwiches from away from him.

"Well then, feel free not to eat the food I make for you. This is hospital food anyway and seeing as you are not in the hospital you won't be needing this, right?" Yumichika seethed and leaned his head over on Shinji's shoulder in sadness. Nnoitra's eye squinted and he attempted to take the time that Yumichika was sulking to sneak the sandwiches back to himself. However, the blade from Ulquiorra's knife missed his middle and pointer finger by less than a half of an inch as it lodged into the table in front of him, ceasing all of his efforts to continue his quest of sandwich stealing.

"Where'd you even get a knife from, neh, ya' show off" Nnoitra hissed at the green eyed boy before pulling Yumichika close to himself, having to free his hands from Shinji first.

"Do not question me, Nnoi-kun"

"Get off" Yumichika said and weakly struggled to get Nnoitra's hands from him. The tall teen simply shook him for a second until he stopped moving.

"Yumi, don't be upset. You're the most important, beautiful, magnificent, most interesting beauty in the whole world. I want my fuckin' sandwich" he said before reaching for his food once more, which was met by no resistance. Yumichika flicked his hair back and flashed a bright smile up at the teen.

"Aw, no need to be so touchy. It's just a sandwich" The table erupted into a fit of laughter as Nnoitra shoved him away affectionately and grumbled sulkily, going back to eating his food. It was only when he was done did he tell Yumichika that he had lied.

(**)(**)

After Nnoitra's imminent goodbye groping, the friends dispersed back to their respective dorms. Ulquiorra and Grimmjow walked back silently beside Ylfordt and Szayel who were unabashedly necking. Ulquiorra simply wasn't the type for random public dissplays of affection but Grimmjow never seemed to mind.

Lately Ulquiorra's thoughts had begun to be troublesome. He was not the type to take notice of others private affairs, but it was something he saw the other day that had him quite intrigued. It was the thought of Shinji and Nnoitra, who had been making eyes at each other quite frequently as of late. He couldn't stand the thought of it but he swore he had seen it with his own eyes. One day he had come out into the court yard and for a moment swore that he had caught them doing something. They were on their bench, sitting directly across from each other. Shinji had been leaning up into Nnoitra's personal space, which Ulquiorra himself knew that Nnoitra disliked very much, and had sat back just before he saw Ulquiorra make his way to the table. No it wasn't that really, not that motion. It was the fact that he swore that he saw them unlace their fingers as he approached.

But why on earth would they be holding hands in the first place? That was the question.

The dark haired teen began to notice things after that. Like how Shinji made lewd remarks at everyone around, except for Nnoitra. How he would flirt around and never seem fazed by his surroundings. But he did when Nnoitra was around, he almost seemed to blush every time the one eyed gaze had focused on him. It was an interesting development indeed and something he would be watching out for.

It wasn't that Ulquiorra particularly disliked Shinji as a person. But he wasn't fooled by his persona either. Yumichika liked Shinji so he stayed around and that was alright with him. However, if Shinji decided that messing around with Nnoitra would be alright in this world then he was sadly mistaken. Yumichika was different then the rest of them when it came to matters outside of Las Noches. For one, as far as he remembered, there had only been Las Noches in the before time. He didn't seem to remember anything outside of it and Shinji should have at least known that. Yumichika rarely spoke of his past but that was common knowledge for all of them. It was also common knowledge that Nnoitra and Yumichika belonged to each other so the thought of engaging in a relationship with either one of them would result in...well, Ulquiorra didn't know what would happen. Probably hell, all hell would surely break loose.

Ulquiorra held Yumichika to a different standard after the time they had spent together in Las Noches. The boy would always be around the infirmary patching people up and just wanting to talk to all his peers around him. When they were young it was like Yumichika was starved for the attention of anyone who wasn't old in their eyes. Back then the purple eyed boy was always smiling. Even after the first time he met Ulquiorra and helped dress his wounds, he was smiling and telling him stories as he did it. He had rescued him from Aizen more times than he could remember and Ulquiorra didn't forget it. Whatever was going on with Shinji and Nnoitra would be looked at with care. He swore himself to that.

"What's up?" Grimmjow asked as he put his keys into the door an opened it so that they could walk in. Ulquiorra shrugged and walked into the dark room, switching on the light carelessly.

"I want your thoughts" he said simply as he sat down on Grimmjow's- or really their- bed. He looked up into the blue eyes of his lover, who nodded before he continued on. "Hypothetically, what if we weren't together in a physical sense and I developed feelings for Szayel. What dramatics would take place following our physical activities?" he asked as he looked at the taller man. Grimmjow's eyes practically bulged out of his sockets.

"You're leaving me?" he gasped before crossing the room and throwing himself on top of Ulquiorra, pulling him into a bear hug. Ulquiorra just rolled his eyes and shoved the blue haired man away in disgust.

"No, you idiot. I don't seem to have set this up correctly. Say, Ichigo has a crush on Yumichika. What would come of the situation if they became physical with each other?" Ulquiorra didn't think that Grimmjow's face could grow even more crazy, but he was wrong. Seemingly stuck, frozen in horror, Grimmjow blinked at Ulquiorra like a deer in headlights. Ichigo really hasn't been that obvious, has he? Grimmjow thought to himself worriedly. Shit, it's a good thing Ulquiorra is asking me about this because if he would've gone to someone like Szayel, things would go very differently. For one, the bitch can't keep his damn mouth shut so things would've blown up by now. This- uh, is not an ideal situation for me. Fuck, he's looking at me. I must...come...clean...Grimmjow continued to fight the battle in his head and Ulquiorra's gaze flickered in annoyance.

"Uh-"

"Stop acting like trash. You asked and I responded. I was wondering what would happen if anyone got involved with Yumichika or Nnoitra" Grimmjow relaxed and rubbed his temples with one of his hands.

"Why's that exactly?" Ulquiorra looked up at the ceiling blankly and blinked. He melted into the embrace as Grimmjow snuggled closer and draped his body half way over his own, a shiver took ran down his spine as a warm kiss pressed into his cheek. "I thought I was the only one who noticed"

"It would have been you or Yumichika" Ulquiorra responded, knowing that they were the most perceptive in the group. Ulquiorra just didn't get emotions like the two of them did. Grimmjow was as rowdy and destructive as Ichigo and crude as Nnoitra, but he could size people up and treat them accordingly. It was a skill that Ulquiorra didn't see much use for, but he was sure it would be helpful at some point.

"He didn't?" Grimmjow said in confusion. Grimmjow, for one, thought that if anyone would notice how creepy Ichigo was always looking over at Yumichika, it would be Yumichika himself. But that was alright so long as no one else noticed it just yet. If Nnoitra found out about Ichigo's feelings for Yumichika, they would all be in some serious trouble.

"Not as far as I know. Would friends ask each other about such things?"

"I would say we should stay out of it. If Nnoitra got wind of it he'd go full rampage mode-" Ulquiorra nodded his agreement. Nnoitra had never been the type to like people to pry in his relations. "-and really there's not much we can do about it anyway. They know what they're doing"

"Yumichika would be concerned" the ebony haired teen stated simply and looked over at Grimmjow.

"Yeah well, that's life. We can wait it out and see how things go down. If we say something then we screwed up, if we don't we might screw up too. Might as well be as ignorant for as long as we can" Ulquiorra sighed and relented. He supposed Grimmjow was right about that, if Yumichika ever found out about Shinji and Nnoitra, they would all be in trouble.

(**)(**)

"Please" he whispered into the dark room. He could feel himself breathing hard as the brunette man came closer to lay near him and purr in his ear.

"So pretty, Yumichika. You've always been so pretty. My little mama" Yumichika moaned out in pain as he felt fingers prying him open. He twisted his body away and held the hand of the man so that he wouldn't go any deeper. Unfortunately, the man was stronger and seemed to find pleasure in his resistance.

"Papa, please stop" he cried out and jerked away in surprise as the fingers were removed. The tears continued to pour out of his eyes as his father covered his body with his own. "Please" he whispered brokenly again, sobbing into the chest of the man above him. "Aha-" he choked as he felt it push into his body, he attempted to jerk away but he was held in place much to his horror. "Ahaa-" he continued to whine as he held his eyes closed tightly. His backside stung in pain and his mouth was slack. "Please, papa-" he cried out as the man forced his way further inside of him.

"Yes, Yumi. Say it again" Yumichika sobbed out at the encouragement and gripped the man's arms. After too many moment's of silence, the man slammed into him and grabbed onto the back of his head, presumably because he wanted to feel Yumichika's scream sounded off on his chest.

"Ahaha-" he choked out. "Papa, please!"

Yumichika awoke with a gasp and bolted from his bed. He sobbed out and reached to the back of his head as if he could still feel the hand gripping him tightly. Yumichika brought his hands up to sink into his hair and he pulled gently as he let out a loud scream of frustration and fell to the floor. "Hmm" he cried to himself, bent down with his forehead touching the floor. "Nnoitra" he said brokenly as he picked himself up and crawled over to the bed on the opposite side of the room then his. He gripped his hands in the sheets and lay his head on the mattress, silently wishing that this was not the night that the tall man decided to go get his brain fixed.

Nnoitra was a giant at six foot ten and he went to the hospital to have his brain fiddled with. The doctors said that if he didn't do it now, they didn't know how much he'd grow to be. Nnoitra didn't seem to care but it had to be done. Right now Yumichika wished that he was with him. He needed the tall teen's embrace. He needed to be able to cry out in the night and look over at Nnoi, who would surely just raise the side of his comforter and allow Yumichika to climb right in with him. He would feel comforted listening to that uncouth accent telling him to quiet down and not give himself a panic attack. Nnoitra would wrap his hand around his neck, one thing that had always calmed him down since he had been running to Nnoitra for comfort, and squeeze until he was light headed and couldn't see straight. The purple eyed teen would lean his head back and let out little gasps as he could feel the life suffocated from him. Only a few times did he pass out from these activities but he always woke up feeling so miraculous, right now he really needed that feeling. He needed that full body shock through his system to make him feel better.

Yumichika wondered if that was how the night ended if Ulquiorra ever woke up Grimmjow like that. They all knew nothing would hurt them here, but he felt protected because of Nnoitra's strength. Ulquiorra felt protected because of the way Grimmjow felt about him. Anyone could see that they loved each other, even without them being all over each other like Szayel and Ylfordt. Yumichika wondered if Ulquiorra ever woke up and Grimmjow was just there. Just holding him and making him feel warm. There was no warmth in Nnoitra. No soft touches, kind words, or strong embrace. No, from Nnoitra, one gets a hand on the neck and the promise of safety from the physical pain on the outside world. It was almost like he was afraid to break him most of the time, afraid he might crack from the sheer emotion of togetherness.

Yumichika silently wondered how it would feel to have someone be there for him like that. Is that what completion feels like?

He flinched as he heard a knock on his door. Hoping the disruption would go away, he pretended no one was there but to no avail. The shakes that were running through his body wouldn't stop as he got up to see who kept knocking on that damn door.

"Open up" Ichigo's voice floated into the room from behind the door and Yumichika sighed. Ichigo was probably the last person he would want in his room. He may as well be a stranger with the amount of conversations that they had had with each other. There were so many times that he thought Ichigo might be afraid of him too from the way he spurned away any of his conversations.

Yumichika wiped the tears from his face with the sleeve of his kimono and hesitantly approached the door. Taking a deep breath, he opened it and looked up at the man. "And who is knocking at my chamber door?" he said dejectedly at the tall man who was just leaning down on the door frame with his head bent low, just staring down at his feet.

"You ok?" the deep voice grumbled before looking up into his eyes. Yumichika couldn't help but look away from those brilliant auburn eyes that were looking down at him. He had never realized the beauty of Ichigo until this moment when he was focused at him. He simply shrugged and crossed his arms, feeling slightly awkward at this predicament. For a few moments they just stood there and Yumichika unconsciously wrapped his kimono around himself, as if feeling Ichigo's eyes stray far beyond where he had ever seen them go before. He thought he was imagining it but looking back up at Ichigo and the blush that had spread across his cheeks, he thought to himself that he might not be so off the mark.

Stepping into the taller teen's personal space, Yumichika decided to test his theory. He wanted to know what it felt like, he wanted to feel complete. Here Ichigo stood in front of him looking all the type to take him into his arms and make sure that no one hurt him from the inside and Yumichika couldn't help but take this opportunity. His breathing picked up pace as long arms came to wrap around him and pull him into a friendly hug. His hands came to rest on the orange haired teen's back and he lowered his head to his chest. This is the feeling, isn't it? He wondered to himself. He feels so warm. Isn't that what people say when they love something? How warm they felt when they were pressed against each other. I could get used to this. What a beautiful feeling, indeed.

"I just wanted to know if you were ok" Ichigo whispered before pulling back, their eyes connecting once again. "I heard you..." his voice trailed off as he seemed to lose his thoughts in the moments that they stood there looking into each other.

Yumichika watched wearily as Ichigo bent down and pressed his lips against his own. A shake went through him on the first touch, on the second he felt as if his entire being folded. It was so rare that he had ever been kissed, he could feel it now, that heat bearing down on him, consuming him. He pressed himself onto his toes and dove further into the kiss as the arms closed around him more tightly. Soon, Ichigo released his mouth and exhaled sharply, almost like he was struggling not to continue their kiss. Yumichika was confused and wondered why did that beautiful moment had to stop.

"I just- you're ok"

"Yeah" Yumichika breathed out and stood back, pulling away from Ichigo and looking up to see if he could figure out his emotions from here. But the orange haired teen simply nodded and turned to move back to his room that sat directly beside Yumichika's own. Yumichika thought quickly and hastily snatched onto Ichigo's night shirt. He took a step back into Ichigo's space. "I lied" he said, growing desperate for the warmth to come back. He didn't want him to leave, didn't want to be alone right now so he did the only thing he could think of. Yumichika pulled the arms back around him and rested his head back on the broad chest. "Can you stay? For a little while. You could leave when I'm asleep if you want. I just- uhm." Ichigo's chin briefly rubbed the top of his head before he guided them back into the room and made his way to Yumichika's bed.

Yumichika sighed as he closed his eyes. He couldn't help but marvel at the way he could hear Ichigo's soft breathing and the sound of his heart beat. With that, he fell into a dreamless sleep, his last thought being that he rather enjoyed this weightless feeling of content.