This is my first published fanfiction in at least the last five years, so I may be a little rusty, especially because I finished this chaper at 2 am! I got some ideas from the manga Black Sun but the rest is my own creation, besides the characters, obviously. Please let me know if you love it or hate it, and let me know if you have any ideas you'd like me to incorporate for the future of our two hotties ;)
The situation was equal parts hopeless, desperate, and crazy. Ichigo knew that without having to be told.
"God fuckin' damn it, they have us cornered! What should we do Ichigo?" The question came from about two feet to Ichigo's left, the red haired and heavily tattooed Renji looking panicked for the first time that Ichigo could recall. And he had good reason, the orange headed man mused. They were stuck with a handful of other Shinigami in the basement of an old church, huddled together in the dark, hoping desperately for a miracle. Originally planning just to scout the nearby town out, he had hand-picked some of his most trusted comrades to go with him, knowing that the reiatsu of the few of them would be easier to hide than a whole division of Shinigami who may or may not be practiced at hiding their presence.
They might as well have been caught with their pants down. The moment they had stepped into town they must have been spotted by an enemy scout, because they were met almost instantly with a strong wave of reiatsu from behind, effectively forcing them to move through the town to avoid its wielder. After that, they had been closed in, exits being blocked one by one in an eerily calculated manner. They had apparently been expected and Ichigo had walked them right into a deathtrap. God he felt so stupid right now. They wouldn't survive as things were.
"… I'll distract them while you guys sneak away." It was the only option really. Aizen's forces were known to be especially ruthless even as far as warfare went and it made more sense to the Shinigami captain to sacrifice himself rather than himself and his loyal friends. As he went to stand up, he felt a soft but insistent hand plant itself on his upper arm, holding him there.
"Ichigo… there's got to be something we can do. You're always too quick to sacrifice yourself." It was Rukia, directly to his right, that spoke this time. The raven haired female had been his guardian, companion, and voice of reason for a long time, ever since Ichigo was a puny little kid. She had always been petite but strong, usually relying on the element of surprise when her adversaries underestimated her. It wouldn't be enough though, not this time.
He flashed a genuine smile at her and continued standing, knowing this might be the last time they would ever see each other. "Get out safely and warn the others, that's what you can do." She retracted her hand a little and winced, as if burnt by the realization that he had been serious, that he wasn't going to back down from his decision. She had to have known though; he was always serious when it came to keeping others safe.
When he turned around to face the others, he found Orihime in quiet tears while Ishida and Chad wore looks of grim acceptance. He leaned down and hugged the gentle, orange haired girl's shaking form and gave the other two a determined nod. "It's okay Orihime, everyone's time has to come eventually. Plus, I'm a fighter. If there is a way to survive this, I'll find it."
He meant it to be reassuring, but Orihime's normally gentle soul was in turmoil and she snapped back in denial. "Your time shouldn't be here yet! It's not fair…" The front of Ichigo's Shinigami robes were damp by now, but he didn't particularly care.
He was about to try a different set of comforting words when the building shook as if hit by an earthquake. A numbingly strong surge of reiatsu surged over them, hitting the captain with the force of a tidal wave. If he hadn't flared up his own reiatsu a few seconds later, the shock would have brought the orange head back to his knees. It seemed it was time to go; the main act had arrived.
Ichigo headed confidently for the door, looking back one last time to give everyone a reassuring look, one that seemed to say that everything would be okay one way or another. Then Ichigo was at the steps, climbing them two at a time. At the top he stared at the door for a minute, gaining his composure, and turned the knob decisively with a quick flick of the wrist.
It took Ichigo's liquid brown eyes a moment to adjust to the light filtering through magnificent stained glass windows, but when they finally did he almost let out an audible gasp. Before him stood a man several inches taller than himself, and Ichigo was not short by any means. Well-tanned skin stood in contrast to the white robes the man wore, toned muscles rippling minutely under tight skin even as the man breathed. Wild blue locks and deep green eyes left no question as to the other's identity: it had to be the Blue Devil, the number six espada, Grimmjow Jaegerjaques himself.
Fuuuuck. If the rumors were true, and he wouldn't doubt it with the glint of animalistic hostility in the other's eyes, then he would be played with and tortured before finally being killed. Such was the nature of the beast before him. As if sensing the fear in the smaller captain, Grimmjow let a feral grin slip onto his features before taking a step toward Ichigo. The man moved with all the ease and grace of a jungle cat, powerful and untamed, truly dangerous.
When there were only several feet left between the two men and Ichigo was forced to look up slightly to see the other's face properly, Grimmjow spoke in a low voice that seemed to hum and purr in reflection of his apparently amused mood. "Well well well, what do we have here? A little brat of a Shinigami, eh? Thought he would survive a real war, did he?"
Ichigo had never been good at hiding his feelings and now was no exception. The blue haired man must have noticed the irate change in Ichigo's features because a look of imitated shock crossed his strong, objectively handsome features. "Oh! Are you supposed to be someone important? Please do tell." The mockery was strong and Ichigo had to fight his building anger to keep from flat out breaking the other captain's nose with his fist. That would not be good for any potential survival given that a hundred men seemed to stand inside the church at attention, waiting for orders, with more guaranteed to be waiting outside the walls of the building. He flexed his hands into fists and just imagined the satisfying crunch of cartilage instead, allowing himself to calm with the mental image.
"The name is Ichigo Kurosaki, captain for the Shinigami." He supposed it wouldn't hurt to divulge this information After all, it wasn't like it was hard to tell who he was from a glance, with his bright, unique appearance and stubborn demeanor.
The other man openly sneered at the piece of information. "So you're the famous one, huh? Don't look like nothin' special to me." When Ichigo refused to respond, resolve solid as a rock, Grimmjow continued, barking orders at the men behind him. "Search the place. A captain wouldn't have come here alone."
Ichigo could feel his face paling, realizing that they would find his companions no matter what he did. But he would try. Giving up was simply not in his nature. Ichigo reached his right hand over his left shoulder, drawing his oversized zanpakuto, all too aware of the sea foam eyes watching his every move, aware of and accounting for his every breath. A snarl left his lips and he leapt forward, tip of the sword aimed right at the soft, fleshy part of Grimmjow's throat. The man simply threw up an arm at the right moment and deflected the blade, making sure to only make contact with the dull side. Several of his soldiers ran up and attempted to subdue Ichigo while the Shinigami aimed another swing, but he never got a chance to complete it.
There was a thump and a sharp pain in Ichigo's lower back and he found himself on the ground, facing upward. He had been aware of the other's leg catching him behind the knee and a well-placed palm to the chest before he fell. The blue haired man leaned into his field of vision and raised a cerulean eyebrow tauntingly. That was okay, he had only wanted to create a distraction to draw attention from his previous order. He hadn't used his full power by any means, and there was no point in doing so until he had a chance at a fair battle where he wasn't too outnumbered.
Unfortunately, the so called distraction didn't prove as distracting as he had hoped. Several soldiers walked over to the basement door and turned the handle while others started poking around the worship benches with their swords. The moment the door opened there was a surprised squeal followed by a grunt of pain and when Ichigo was able to turn his head enough to see, he knew why. Chad, the big bull of a man, had tackled one of his opponents to the ground, now rolling on the floor and holding his head like it was breaking apart. Chad turned around and threw a punch in the other direction, but was blocked by a sword, his knuckles blooming with rich red blood as flesh hit steel. He seemed to hardly feel it though because he wheeled around to face yet another who had closed in, promptly grabbing him by the forearms and head-butting him, making the man crumple soundlessly. Oh, so that was what had happened to the first man.
When Chad was surrounded on all sides, an arrow sprouted from the shoulder of the one closest to the basement door. Aizen's soldier screamed in a blood-curdling way as a second arrow joined the first and Ishida appeared on the threshold with the rest of the Shinigami group in tow. All had swords with the exception of Ishida with his bow, and Orihime whose primary weapon was her reiatsu. They grouped in a circle standing back to back and ushered the orange headed healer to the center. Renji yelled unintelligibly in frustration as a blade nicked his shoulder and he lashed out in retaliation without thinking, totally missing as the soldier stepped easily back. They would not win this one. As Rukia cried out in pain and he saw Ishida grimace from something, he gritted his own teeth. Why had he had to walk all of them to their deaths? Why hadn't he foreseen a trap?
The blade still poised at the orange head's neck suddenly shifted, making brown eyes swing back to Grimmjow. He looked bored and even had the audacity to let out a little yawn. If the bastard was going to be like that, Ichigo would take advantage of it. The Shinigami simultaneously brought his right arm up to push at the blade and swept his grounded legs underneath those of the espada. He felt smug when Grimmjow's yawn stopped midway and the man fell almost in slow motion, surprise and disbelief good looks for this arrogant man, he decided. As the Blue Devil's knees buckled, Ichigo rolled away from him and toward his friends, fueled further by the coppery smell of blood in the air. He never reached them.
"Enough!" The beast of a man snarled the command from behind him, releasing an absolutely suffocating amount of reiatsu that couldn't even compare to the amount they had felt in the basement. Everyone in the room was brought to their knees and the foreboding heavy footsteps heading in his direction filled him with a new sense of urgency. He had been playing before, but this was the real deal. Ichigo spun around the best he could, straightening his now weak knees to confront the man.
"Please, just… let them go!" He knew it wouldn't work. Who in their right mind would do that anyway, especially for an enemy? The blue haired man paused in his advance, considered Ichigo for a brief moment then literally threw his head back and laughed, deep and reverberating in the room.
"Are you fucking kidding me, kid? Why the hell would I do that?" He finally stopped laughing and looked back at Ichigo, challenging him to give him even one good reason. Ichigo paused, thinking. What would an enemy captain want that Ichigo could only provide through cooperation?
"I'll give you information." The words hurt to say but the fact that he didn't actually plan to pull through with his part of the deal made it sit a bit easier with him. The orange head didn't like to lie, but he would if it meant setting everything else right. The Shinigami were the good guys and Aizen's men the bad, so he would forgive himself for it. "Take me to Aizen and I'll tell him what he wants to know." He didn't ever intend to make it that far. By virtue of not showing his true power here, he would be underestimated by the troops later and slip away. And Grimmjow didn't have much choice in the matter as Ichigo saw it. If he disagreed, word would reach Aizen that he had let such a great opportunity pass. It seemed like the situation might be looking up.
He chanced a glance over his shoulder at the other Shinigami, trying to keep a pained look on his face to play the part. It seemed like his group had heard the conversation because Orihime was back in tears and Rukia and Renji both looked royally pissed. Good, that would be more convincing anyway. Only Ishida and Chad seemed to see the act for what it really was, trying their best to look betrayed, but Ichigo knew the two too well. They were on the same page.
When Ichigo looked back, it was to see Grimmjow deep in thought, brow knitted. After a moment, he waved one large hand in the direction of the captured Shinigami and barked an order. "Escort them to the edge of town. It seems we have ourselves a prisoner of war." A grin spread over the man's face then that didn't quite reach his eyes, and it was directed right at the unfortunate orange head. Feral and wild, it seemed the Blue Devil did not take kindly to being forced into a corner. It seemed that Ichigo would have to work hard to allow the espada the illusion of being in command. He had a feeling the man was not the epitome of self-control. That grin promised of things to come, of a very special place in Hell just for Ichigo for having the audacity to take control of the situation. But not now, not when he had a façade to maintain in front of his troops.
Then he said one word to Ichigo that made him pale in disbelief.
"Strip."
What. The. Hell. "What?" He had to have heard wrong. There were plenty of things that rhymed with strip and it had to have been one of those. Take a trip. Break a hip. Don't give me lip. Any of them, really. The gasp and weak protest from one of the Shinigami behind him told the orange head otherwise though.
"You heard me. Or are you deaf as well as weak?" Ichigo, having grown up looking so different from other children, was used to taunts but for some reason, coming from him, his blood boiled. Ichigo had pride, goddamn it, and he sure as hell wouldn't let this rude, arrogant jerk take it all away. Ichigo mustered up the most hate filled glare he could at the other man and sent a spike of reiatsu in his direction purely out of defiance. When he only received a conceited smirk in return, he did something he immediately regretted. He spit on Grimmjow's sandals. The action was so damn crazy and contrary to self-preservation that the Blue Devil didn't even have time to get out of the way in his surprise. The saliva instantly soaked into the espada's left sock, forming a dark spot on the fabric the moment it hit, likely sealing Ichigo's fate. He was so gonna die for this.
The response was immediate and filled with hatred. "Kill them." Ichigo's eyes went wide and he panicked, doing the only thing he could think of.
"Wait!" His voice sounded frantic even to his own ears. Ichigo quickly located the white sash around his waist and pulled, allowing the Shinigami robe to come open at the front. Grimmjow, noticing that the orange head was now complying, signaled for his men to stop their forward advance on Ichigo's comrades. They were subsequently ushered out the front door of the church, protests falling on deaf ears. They were loyal, that was for sure. Even when they thought that Ichigo was a traitor, they still had his back, had wanted to keep him from experiencing the humiliation he was about to go through.
Grimmjow's eyes flashed with impatience, a warning for Ichigo to continue. As the Shinigami shrugged the soft material off of his shoulders and heard the whoosh as it hit the ground, he shivered, bare chest exposed to the air. Grimmjow looked at Ichigo as if he was appraising a fine cut of meat and trying to determine its value. As if he was merely an animal. Disgusting. Haughty blue eyes slid down Ichigo's torso, narrowing when they came to his boxers.
"I don't have all day you know." Che, what a bastard. But for the sake of his friends who likely weren't out of the village yet, he held his tongue. Ichigo slowly hooked his fingers under the elastic material of the waist and pulled, lifting first one slender leg then the other until he was laid bare to the world. Though he had wanted to save face, the color pink was slowly creeping its way up his cheeks. Ichigo had never felt more vulnerable in his life and he didn't ever care to experience it again.
Grimmjow stepped forward in a painfully slow fashion and began to circle the enemy captain, carefully surveying his new prize. The steady gaze on his junk and ass felt violating and he just knew that Grimmjow was relishing the moment far too much. He must have approved in one way or another because after a few minutes of tense silence he gave a grunt that sent one of his men scurrying away outside, seemingly on a mission. The larger man stopped pacing and stood in front of Ichigo, eyes boring directly into his soul as he said his most terrifying words yet.
"Get on the ground and beg me to fuck you." Ichigo's blood ran cold as ice through his veins, heart about ready to burst through his chest.
"No way in hell." Ichigo wasn't that kind of guy. He had been saving himself for someone special to come along and he wasn't about to just hand his virginity to this infuriating man on a silver platter. He had a plan in mind, but it would take next to a miracle to pull it off the way he wanted to. He stood his ground as the larger man walked towards him, trying, and mostly succeeding, to intimidate.
"I said, get on the ground. It's where a spineless worm like you belongs anyway." He bared his teeth exposing four razor sharp canines, looking ready to just go for the throat and be done with it.
"Kiss my ass, you blue pussy."
Grimmjow flexed his arms, done with playing, murderous intent clear from his darkening eyes. Ichigo crossed his fingers and really damn hoped that this would work.
The blue man charged him suddenly, swinging him around into a painful chokehold and cutting off every ounce of Ichigo's air supply. He struggled a little, just to be convincing, but was really as relieved as one could be in such a situation. His captor hadn't gone straight for the kill, everything would turn out okay. Ichigo released one last strangled noise before he let himself drift off into the abyss of darkness that was unconsciousness.
He wouldn't have to follow Grimmjow's dehumanizing orders if he wasn't awake. They couldn't threaten him with his friends' death if he wasn't awake. He wouldn't have time to process how close he had brushed up against death if he wasn't awake. He had successfully used the blue head's infamous temper to his advantage, something he filed away in his mind for later use.
Everything would be okay.