Chapter Two

Unraveling Threads

"Peter," Tony's voice came over the phone.

Peter was walking toward a coffee shop as he spoke. "Mr. Stark," he began.

"Please, call me Tony. I'm helping you with that suit, remember? We know each other that well, kid," he said with a smile to his voice.

Pushing the door open, Peter was glad to see that the place was pretty empty. Even so, he headed to the counter, ordered a coffee, then went to the back corner. "Okay, Mr. Stark, I mean Tony," he said with a shake of his head as he sat in the seat.

"You caught me at a good time, I was just arranging for a talk at your school before Christmas. What's up? You don't usually call me directly," Tony said, and Peter could hear other voices. He must be at the tower with the Avengers.

He licked his lips. "I need some help and I didn't know who else to call. It's about my roommate."

"Gwen?" Tony asked.

"No, she moved out when we broke up," Peter said with a sigh. He guessed he hadn't talked to Tony since then.

"Broke up? When did this happen?"

Peter ground his teeth. "That doesn't matter, but it was stupid. I got a new roommate, and I just left him at the hospital after he got roofied and…and he won't press charges against the guy that did it. I just didn't know who else to call for advice."

Tony was quiet for a minute. "Um, I really don't know that I'm the one to talk to about this, I mean, if you friend doesn't want to press charges, you can't really do much about it…"

"But that's not the real problem. I mean, that's a problem and I am so angry because he said it's happened before, and he just is brushing off the fact someone did that to him, but I think he's got powers too. I've only known him for a couple months, Tony, what if he tries to do something since he doesn't think the police will help?"

"Powers?" Tony said. "What have you seen him do?" Peter heard the background noise lessen around Tony. He must have left to a more private room.

"Okay, this is gonna be weird. But when he moved in, Sam was being an idiot and knocked this badge thing out of his pocket. I picked it up and handed it to him. Ever since then, I'm seeing things like these big monsters with white faces. No one else seems to see them, and they just walk right through them. Except my roommate, Ichigo." Peter paused. "I was curious and watched him, and he left his body, Tony, and when he did, he was wearing these weird wide legged pants and a robe thing like this yukata he wears in the evening around the apartment. But not only that, he can be two people, like make a copy of himself that's totally white, like skin, clothes, everything, and he calls him Shiro, and this copy seems to have a different personality. But then it can go back into him," Peter was rambling out all the information and he was sure that it didn't make sense. Hell, it didn't make sense to him.

"Whoa, slow down," Tony said with a snicker. "Okay, so when he leaves his body can other people see him besides you?"

"Some people look, but most walk right past him without the second glance. And he can move super-fast, too. He has this sword that he swings and arcs of blue energy come out of it. I've never seen anything like it." Peter felt a bit better telling someone about it. Maybe he wasn't a raving lunatic.

Tony was quiet for a little while. "Alright, I really don't know that there's much that can be done, but you keep an eye on him. If something changes, call me right away, okay?" Tony told him.

"Sure thing, I will do just that," Peter said as he stood up from the coffee shop and left.

In Avengers Tower, Tony hung up the phone and frowned at it. He looked up as Steve came into the dining room. "What was that about?" Steve said as he put his dishes in the sink.

"Ah, Peter Parker. He has a new friend, guess he got into some trouble and won't press charges against the guy that assaulted him. Peter's worried about it," Tony commented, pocketing his cell. "I told him there's not much to do. Reporting rape isn't easy for a guy."

Tony turned to leave. "Wait, a guy?"

Tony looked at him with an arched brow. "That's what I said. His roommate got roofied in a bar, got attacked and now Peter's having trouble with the idea he won't file charges."

Walking away, Tony felt the stare. Of course, Capsicle would have an issue with that. He shook his head. He really annoyed him sometimes with his ways. "JARVIS, where's Thor?"

"Mr. Odinson is at street level retrieving food from the taco truck."

Tony sighed. Of course, he thought as he took the elevator down. He stepped out and saw the street clothes wearing Thor sitting on a bus bench chowing down on a few of the street tacos that the vendor sold. He smiled and went to sit by him.

"Hey Thunderbuns," he smirked at him.

"Anthony!" he said with a mouth full of food. "Hast thou ate of the truck of tacos?" he said.

"I have, he's got great food. I have a question for you, about magic stuff," Tony said, glancing around to see there was no one listening in on them.

Thor shoved another taco in his mouth. "I can try to answer," he stated, looking at him.

"Well, have you ever heard of someone who can leave their physical body?"

"Like astral projection?" Thor asked with a frown.

"Kind of, but in a way that they can interact with the world, and see things others don't," Tony responded, pausing to look up at the darkening sky.

"What brings this up?" Thor asked, finishing his last bit of food.

Tony paused. "Seems Peter Parker has this friend named Ichigo that seems to do that, and I was wondering if it was magic or something."

"That seems like something my brought could have…"

The black cat that had been listening sauntered down the road, losing the conversation. That oaf wouldn't understand anything about the situation, so why would he try? Peter Parker, huh? The cat's green eyes sparkled. This might be a chance to get another angle on the Avengers besides hanging around outside the tower as a pigeon or a cat… A few more steps took the cat behind a stack of boxes outside a shop, and when he emerged on the other side, he was a tall, dark haired man, still with the sparkling green eyes. He smirked, tucking the dark locks behind his ears. Time to see what this brat knew.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Peter pulled into the garage with Ichigo at around six. The doctor had tried to convince him to press charges, but Ichigo had just pointed out that it didn't matter. Peter was just glad that Danny had been able to lend him his car for a few days. He parked the car and glanced at Ichigo again.

"You're sure I can't take you to the police station?" he asked for about the fiftieth time.

Ichigo shook his head and smiled sadly at him. "I'm fine. No major injuries, and there's a lot that can't say that. Just…think of it as drunk, rough sex if you have to. That's what I do," he muttered as he got out of the car.

Peter sighed and got out, almost stepping on something. He knelt and gasped. "Hey, Ichigo, look! It's a kitten!"

Ichigo came around the other side. "Ah, poor thing, it looks starved," he said as he knelt beside Peter.

The kitten was small, no more than five pounds, and was looking at them with bright green eyes. It mewed insistently and then headbutted Peter's leg.

"He's friendly!" Peter said with a smile. "Ah, damn, I can't leave him here. He might get run over. I'm not supposed to have pets, but…"

"We can find someone to take him by Monday," Ichigo said, reaching down and scratching the kitten on the head. It rubbed against his leg.

Peter looked at Ichigo's face, and for a second, he saw the mask drop. The sadness and pain etched there was naked for a second before the mask returned. Just then, the kitten leaped up into Ichigo's arms. Ichigo caught him and smiled.

"Alirght, little guy, we'll take you inside."

Peter pulled his phone out as he walked and dialed Luke. "Luke!" he said as they got into the elevator.

"Yo, Pete, what's up?" he asked. "Was just about to go grab some food."

"Can you grab some kitten food and bring it to my place while you're out?" Peter asked as he scratched the kitten's head in the elevator.

"What?" Luke asked. "I thought you couldn't have pets?"

"Well, I found a kitten in the parking garage. I can't leave it there, Luke. Come on, help me out? I just got back with Ichigo and I don't want to go out again…" Peter left the unspoken words that he didn't want to leave Ichigo alone. In fact, he was going to try and make sure he didn't leave at all tonight.

Luke snorted. "Fine, I'll be over soon."

They got to their floor and to the apartment. Ichigo flopped onto the couch, but Peter didn't miss the slight grimace at the motion. He had grabbed the prescriptions that Ichigo had been given; Ichigo had threatened to leave without them. He supposed he couldn't make him go to the police, but he could try and get him to take the antibiotics and pain pills they gave him.

"I'll get a dish of water for him," Peter said as he went around the breakfast bar into the kitchen.

He did get a bowl but also a glass. He unpackaged the medicines and put them out. He'd also been given a cream but had looked at the doctor like he had two heads when he asked him to use it for a few days. He shook out one of each of the two pills and took the water glass and bowl into the living room. He paused. Ichigo was so focused on the kitten that nothing else seemed to matter. He would pick it up and then nuzzle into the little belly. Then he'd put it down and rub it's head and belly.

"You're good with cats," Peter said with a smirk as he came and sat down.

"Yeah, my friend Chad, he loves cute things. I think he's going to be a crazy cat lady before long. Last I saw, he had collected five kittens, three hamsters, and a chicken." Ichigo smiled at the thoughts. "No idea why a chicken, but you know."

"He's the really tall one in the picture, yeah?" Peter said.

"Yeah," he said with a smirk.

There was a loud knock at the door, so Peter handed Ichigo the water glass and the pills. He looked at him.

"Nah, no arguments. You may refuse everything else but take the medicine for me. Please."

Ichigo rolled his eyes but took both of them with a sigh. "What…"

Peter had walked to the door and opened it, staring with surprise because he expected Luke. It wasn't Luke.

"Ichigo!" came a voice and Ichigo's head snapped up.

"Shinji?" he exclaimed as the lanky leader of the Vizard came into the room with hands stuffed in his pants pockets. "Why are you here? Wait, you didn't bring them all!"

Peter stepped to the side as Rose, Kensei, and Lisa followed him into the room. "Nah, just four of us. For now. The rest are going to come tomorrow. We've got business here, y'know. So we're crashing in your room."

Ichigo stood up with the kitten clutched to his chest. "No, you look here, you can't just barge in and…" he started. Shinji smirked. "I heard a certain blue haired fellow came after ya. Ya know he's a smitten."

Ichigo's face turned red. "Shinji, I told him to buzz off, and now you bunch…"

Lisa put an arm around his shoulders. "If you have sex with Grimmjow-sama, can I watch?"

Ichigo put his hand on his forehead. "I'm not living here along, you know?"

Rose had sat down on the sofa and was looking through channels while Kensei had gone to the kitchen. "Why do you people have to just show up and take over my life!" Ichigo snapped.

Lisa kissed his cheek. "Well, I wanna see you and Grimmjow-sama fucking. That's why I'm here."

"Who'd let you watch?" Ichigo snarled.

"You let me watch when you and Shinji did it," she muttered as she went to sit by Rose.

Ichigo, of course, didn't know yet that Peter could understand everything they were saying. He petted the cat and turned on his heels and headed into his room to get away from everyone. Of course, Shinji followed him. Peter frowned and moved close enough that he could listen.

Shinji stood in the door as Ichigo flopped on the bed. "What's wrong?" he asked in a different tone.

"Nothing," Ichigo sighed and flopped on his back.

Shinji went into the room and sat down by his feet. "Come on, ya think I'm stupid. Ya got that look. The one that ya had last time."

"Some things never change. I wish…I wish I could just be normal," Ichigo muttered as the kitten went and curled by his head. "I can't be normal, no. First I'm a stupid shinigami. Then I'm stuck with a stupid Zanpakutou spirit that learned how to manifest on own. Then I'm fucking gay on top of it. Why the hell can't I be normal?"

Ichigo threw his arm over his face. Shinji leaned over and kissed his forearm. Ichigo moved his arm and looked at him. "You know, it was wrong of me, when we slept together. I'm older by a few hundred years, so…."

"Don't start that. I wanted to do it. It was the only time I cared about the person I slept with," Ichigo sighed.

"Why didn't it work, then?" Shinji said as he brushed Ichigo's hair off his forehead. "I told ya, we coulda tried. I didn't mind the absences. I can walk between Soul Society and here anytime I want, and ya know it. I'm not a captain for nothing now."

Ichigo shook his head. "I…can't be that for you. I don't know. Maybe I'm afraid of being happy, and that's why I look for comfort with strangers," he muttered.

Shinji's fingers traced down Ichigo's jaw and slipped across his lips. Ichigo stared at him. "Ya know, I'm here now. You know Lisa-kun is teasing about wanting to watch you sleep with someone. Well, I mean, she's not, but it isn't like we have to let her."

Ichigo closed his eyes, feeling the sensation of Shinji's fingers tracing his lips but when Shinji moved to slide his other hand down his thigh, the clawing sensation hit. His eyes flew open and he sat up, shaking his head. "No, I can't, not right now."

Shinji frowned, leaning toward him. "It happened again, didn't it?"

Ichigo looked up at him and shook his head. "It wasn't…I didn't…"

"Did you get drugged again?" Shinji sighed, moving to sit cross legged on the bed and facing him.

Ichigo nodded. "Yeah, but it doesn't matter, even if I don't remember saying yes, I got what I went for, you know?" he muttered. "Would have rather been a hotel room, and a little less violent, but still. I went looking, and I got what I was looking for."

Shinji put an arm around his back. "Ichigo, you need to stop doing these one-night stands like this, and going to those bars. The last time you got beaten so bad that Hachi had to heal you. Do you need him to heal you this time?"

Ichigo shook his head. "No, it wasn't that bad, just bumped my head on the tile, and sore. The doctors freaked out over nothing."

"I'll have Hachi see to you," Shinji said with a sigh. "What do I do with you? All those hormones at your age…maybe you should give Grimmjow a chance…"

"Don't be stupid," Ichigo growled. "That hollow bastard? What the hell did Getabishi give him Gigai for anyway?"

Shinji smirked as they both heard the doorbell again. Ichigo leaned over and picked up the kitten. "That's Peter's friend Luke, I'm so stupid, I didn't even introduce you to him," Ichigo got up and headed back out in time to Luke come in and stare at the three people spread out on the sofa watching some American sitcom.

"Ah, Peter, I'm sorry. Uh, these are some friends of mine, Shinji, that's Lisa, the one with the long hair is Rose, and the other is Kensei. Guys, this is Peter, my new roommate, and his friend Luke," Ichigo said as he walked toward where Luke was holding a small bag of kitten food and a small little kit.

"Ah, nice to meet you all," Luke said, and looked at Peter. Peter shrugged and took the food. "Here, let's put the water and food in the kitchen for the little guy."

Ichigo followed Luke and Peter into the kitchen. "Um, I'm sorry about that Peter, these guys don't get cell reception where they're from, and I didn't expect them today."

"It's fine, will they stay long? Not that it matters, they're your friends and if you want, we can put out some blankets in the living room for them." Peter smiled as he poured some food in a bowl and took the kitten and set him down.

Ichigo shook his head. "They're here on business, so I don't know how long it will take. But they can speak English, so you can talk to them, but they might try to speak to you in Japanese if they forget."

Luke started to say something and Peter silenced him with a look. "That's fine, Ichigo. Um, question, ah, is Rose a guy or a girl? I just don't want to be rude and assume."

"Rose? He's a guy. Lisa is the only girl here now, but I guess Mashiro and Hiyori are going to be coming by soon. I don't know why their whole group is going to be here," Ichigo mused, looking away from them.

Peter smiled as the kitten ate enthusiastically. "Um, did you and Shinji date or something?"

Ichigo narrowed his eyes at Peter. "Ah, sort of. More, um…sex friends? Why?"

"He just seemed awful intimate with you, that's all," Peter said. "Should I order pizza?"

Ichigo smiled. "Yeah, let's do that. I think they'll like to try it. I don't know that they've had it before."

Later that evening, after several large pizzas and sodas had been eaten and drank, Kensei had fallen asleep in the recliner, and Rose had fallen over on the couch in a deep sleep. Lisa and Shinji were still awake and helping pick up the garbage. Ichigo had excused himself to bed already. Shinji was putting the garbage in the bag when Peter stopped him.

"Um, Shinji? Can I talk to you a second?" he asked. "In my room, I just don't want to wake anyone."

Shinji nodded and followed him, sitting on Peter's bed and looking around the sparse room. "You don't have much more than Ichi does."

"Yeah, my girlfriend broke it off a couple months ago, that's why Ichigo became my roommate. Um, but I wanted to talk to you because of what happened…"

"He got attacked again," Shinji said, brushing his hair back.

"Um, what happened last time? He doesn't want to talk about it," Peter said, sitting beside Shinji. "I mean, I don't mean to pry, but I want to help him. I know we've only known each other for a short time, but he wouldn't press charges no matter how the police and the doctors tried."

Shinji sighed. "I…I shouldn't tell you this but I will because I think you really want to help him. It wasn't long after he left his home to go to Tokyo University, about two years ago. He'd started going to this bar called the Lotus Blossom. It was after we got together the first time, and I'd spent almost a year convincing him that our age difference didn't matter, that we could be together for real, not just for sex. He refused me every time." Shinji sighed. "It's like he thinks he doesn't deserve happiness so he has to go without. But when I pressed, he pulled away, and he started going to that bar. He swore he was safe."

Shinji bit his lip for a second and stared at the blue comforter on Peter's bed. "Then I came to visit him and his roommate said he was in the hospital. I found out he got drugged at the club, and the guys dragged him out behind the place and attacked him. He was beaten to hell, broken bones, his face was covered in bruises. He was even unconscious for a couple days due to head injury." Shinji paused. "I don't understand the laws that allowed this. He tried to 'press charges' as you put it. But the judge said there wasn't enough evidence, and they got someone to say that he was always looking for guys to sleep with, and that he liked rough sex. While that's true, anyone could see that he hadn't wanted what happened. So, nothing came of it except everyone knew. That's why when he came to New York I wasn't surprised. No one here thinks he's some sort of 'attention seeking whore' as one of the blogs read."

Peter nodded. "I see. That…that makes sense why he won't press charges now. He's afraid the same thing will happen again."

"At least it was just one, and he didn't beat the hell out of him," Shinji said. "But don't let him fool you. He's more fragile than he seems. He's one of the strongest people I know, but sometimes, that makes him even more vulnerable. I'll stay in his room with him tonight," Shinji said and headed out.

Peter sighed and glanced at the bed behind him. Luke had passed out halfway thorugh their "pizza party" and now he didn't want to wake him up. It was a good thing he had a double bed. He saw that the kitten was sleeping on Luke's chest. It stood up and stretched before jumping down and leaving. Peter sighed, lying down beside Luke and falling asleep before he knew it.

The kitten wandered after the skinny blond man. This was fascinating because he could see them. Well, he could see all of them, not just what they appeared on the outside. The kitten went into the other bedroom and jumped on the bed where the one named Ichigo was leaning against the wall.

"So why are you here?" Ichigo asked, scratching the kitten's head as he came by.

"The recent damage to the city left a lot of souls in need of konso," Shinji said as he pulled out his soul candy and popped one. He stepped away and looked back. "You, got to sleep," he told the soul now in his body. The soul nodded, lying down on the floor.

Beside him, Lisa did the same. Ichigo shook his head. "It is still weird to see you in a captain's uniform, Shinji," Ichigo said as he reached over and took his badge. He popped his hand on it and his body fell back on the bed. The kitten's head popped up as the female also stepped out of her body.

"You don't have to come," Shinji said. "You should rest."

Ichigo glared at him. "I'm fine. I would like to kill a bunch of hollows," Ichigo snarled.

"Alright, alright, come on, I sense a few souls nearby," Shinji said as he stepped up on the window and took off. Lisa followed and then Ichigo.

The kitten went to the window. It leaped impossibly high and watched as the three zipped away. He had no idea what those people were. They weren't inhumans or powered people, and they were augments. And the dress was ancient Japanese in origin. He jumped down and curled on the chest of Ichigo's body. It was as if he were dead. He frowned internally. Yawning, Loki cursed that cats had to nap so much.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Peter, the next day, had met four more of Ichigo's friends. A large, rather round man with pink hair named Hachi, a short and very angry woman named Hiyori, a big breasted girl named Mashiro, and a bigger guy with a strange afro hairstyle named Love. They were all sort of strange, and it seemed at any given time, two or three were in the apartment. He noted they weren't a problem, though. If they were there, they were sleeping most the time. Shinji had also given Peter money for the inconvenience he said. By Sunday night, though, they had to do something with the kitten. If the building maintenance or the manager came by and saw him, they could be evicted.

"So, Tony, I have a favor to ask?" Peter said. He'd already called everyone he knew, and no one could take on the responsibility of the kitten. Tony was his last hope.

"What's up, kid?" Tony asked with a smile to his voice.

Peter felt the kitten twining around his feet. "Is there any way you can take care of a kitten I found until I can get him a permanent home?"

Tony didn't speak for a minute. "A kitten?"

"Yeah, it was in the parking garage, and I found it. I took care of it over the weekend, but we can't keep it where I live," Peter said, hoping he would agree.

"I mean, I guess. I can do what I want here, I do own the place."

"Good, I'm coming into the building now," Peter said, getting out of Luke's car to go into Stark Tower.

"Wait, now?" Tony asked, surprised.

Luke got out with him, all the supplies bagged up for Tony. "Yeah," Peter said. "Sorry for short notice, but we've driven all over the city to see if anyone's family could take him. He's well behaved though."

In short order, Luke and Peter had left again, and Tony was holding the little black kitten with sparkling green eyes. He took the supplies in his room and set everything out. He then flopped onto the bed with a sigh. The kitten crawled up and sat on his chest, right on top of his scars, and stared.

"Hey, you know what, your name is Lokitty. Because you remind me of Thor's asshole brother."

The kitten flattened his ears. Tony snickered. "Ah, that's too mean. Poor bastard was under that stupid staff's control as much as he controlled everyone else with it," Tony muttered. "At least, that's my theory. Steve just thnks he was plain evil. I don't think so."

Tony started scratching and petting Lokitty and he was very appreciative of the attention, curling up and going to sleep. Tony fell asleep as well, but this night would be a bad one. He woke up at around three am, panicked and shouting in his sleep. He panted and grabbed the trash bin by the bedside and vomited. It was one of the worse ones he'd had in a long while. He looked to see Lokitty was staring at him.

"Hey, don't worry. Happens all the time. I think the one thing you never forget is being tortured," he said and rubbed his chest. "I wish I could just forget about it, and everything else that I've ever fucked up. God, my dad would be so disappointed. Not that he was ever happy with me," he muttered and turned to his side, finding sleep elusive.

Morning came, and Tony walked into the kitchen with Lokitty in his arms. Immediately, everyone wanted to know where a cat came from.

"This is Lokitty. I thought he looked like Thor's brother with the eyes. So that's his name. Peter found him and he needed a place to stay," Tony explained, grabbing coffee as he spoke.

"Is it the best idea to have a cat around all the delicate machinery around here?" Steve asked, frowning.

"It isn't like he'll be running around on my circuits, Steve," Tony muttered. "Anyway, it doesn't matter, he's fine."

Tony sat down and Natasha leaned over to scratch the kitten's head. He turned into her and purred. "Oh, he likes me!" she said with a smirk.

Steve sat down beside him but the kitten hissed at him when he got near. He frowned. Tony snickered at the sight. "I think he knows you said he wasn't supposed to be here. See, gotta be more careful, never know when you hurt someone's feelings, Cap," Tony smirked and nuzzled the kitten. "He's a great listener too."

"I always liked cats," Natasha said as she scratched his head.

Bruce came by and went to touch him, but like Steve the kitten hissed. "Ah, he probably senses the Other Guy," Bruce said as he went around and sat down with the paper.

All in all, Lokitty's first day at Avenger Tower went well. He wandered about and listened. This was so much better than waiting for them to come outside. Now he would be able to hear everything they talked about, and he'd know immediately if they were going for the staff again. He needed to find that thing so he could understand what happened to him in the void. He was left with horrific dreams that he couldn't remember, and he believed the only way to undo the damage was to get the staff again.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Ichigo heard the door and groaned as he headed to the living room. For the first time in a week, everyone except him and Peter were gone. He was beaten by Peter though, and when he got there, he saw a police officer. Peter glanced over at Ichigo. "Um, sure, come in, Officer Jackson," he said to the tall, thin man with light brown hair.

"Thank you, you were Peter, right?" he asked.

"Yeah," Peter said. "Want to come sit in the living room?" he asked.

Ichigo was a bit worried as to why the police were coming again. He'd already said he wasn't pressing the isuse. After they'd all sat down in the living room, Jackson looked between them and took out a notebook.

"I need to know where the two of you were this morning between three and six am."

Peter exchanged a look with Ichigo. He'd been out chasing down a mugger as Spider-man. "Um, well, I was asleep…"

Ichigo nodded. "Same. I went to bed early because I had a stressful day of classes yesterday. I was exhausted." Of course, Ichigo had also been out hunting hollows with Shinji and Hiyori.

"Is there any way to prove that?" Jackson asked.

Peter thought for a second. "Well, the keycard to get in should show that it hasn't been used, and they have cameras on the doors downstairs. If someone leaves, they can see it."

The office nodded. "Okay," he muttered as he jotted down notes.

"What's this about?" Ichigo asked with a frown.

"The man that attacked you at the Guilded Lily last week was found dead, throat ripped out like a wild animal had gotten to him, in the alley behind the bar. Considering that you refused to press charges, you're a suspect."

"I didn't press charges because it is useless to do so," Ichigo said with a frown. "I've been down that road, and I know what happens. I came here hoping to leave that behind."

"That?" the officer asked, staring at him.

Ichigo sighed. "A couple years ago, I was drugged and…and gang raped by these guys at a bar. I tried to press charges, but it got thrown out of court and everyone knew then what happened. I got called a lot of unflattering things, and I didn't want that again."

Officer Jackson nodded. "I can understand the reluctance to press charges in your case. But still, do you mind if I take a look around here, just to verify there's no large blood stains or anything?"

Ichigo looked to Peter who shrugged. "Sure," Peter said. "We've got nothing to hide, like I said, we were fast asleep last night."

When Jackson was done, he left, not finding anything, stating that he was going to check with building security. As soon as he was gone, Ichigo growled.

"Fucking Grimmjow," he muttered.

"You think Grimmjow did that?" Peter asked, a little frightened by the thought someoene Ichigo knew was capable of ripping a throat out.

"Long sstroy, but yeah. If anyone would do something like that, it would be that guy. But why?" Ichigo mused as he grabbed his shoes.

"Where are you going?" Peter asked.

"To see if he's hanging around outside," Ichigo said as Peter put a hand on his arm.

"Seriously? You think he's capable of ripping someone's throat out and you're going to go find him?" Peter asked with wide eyes.

"Sure?" Ichigo said and went to leave again.

Peter shook his head. "Let me go with you," he said with a sigh as he slid on his shoes. "I don't want you seeing this guy alone."

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "He's not going to hurt me. If he tries, I'll gut him."

Considering Peter had seen Ichigo swing a sword, he actually believed it. They headed down and went outside. Ichigo narrowed his eyes and put his hands to his lips and yelled.

"If you're hear, come out, Grimmjow!"

Several people turned to stare, but then it was Peter's turn to gape. He actually did step out of a place behind a couple trees that lined the street. He grinned. "What is it, Ichigo?"

"Did you kill that guy?" Ichigo said as he stalked over to him. Peter ran to keep up.

"What guy?" Grimmjow asked, idly cleaning his ear with his pinky.

"The one with his throat ripped out by a wild animal. You're the only one that would do that. Why?" Ichigo said as he stopped in front of him.

Grimmjow shrugged. "I told ya I fuckin' came here for ya. And that fucker done messed with ya. So I ended him," he said and flexed his hand. "He screamed a lot. But he was sputterin' 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry' before I ended him for good."

"You can't go kill people!" Ichigo hissed at him, looking around.

"I can, and will. You keep getting' these fuckers that mess with ya. I told ya I came here for ya, but ya don't believe me," Grimmjow said and crossed his arms over his chest. "Ya don't even wanna hear me out."

Ichigo's shoulders slumped. "Fuck, no more killing!" he said. "And we can talk, alright, but not today, I'm too pissed at you!"

Grimmjow smirked. "Alright. I'll come back for ya, Ichi-baby," he said as he turned on his heel and left.

Peter turned to Ichigo. "Um, you just let him leave?"

Ichigo looked after him then turned to Peter. "The police won't find him; he doesn't exist. They'll never figure out what killed that guy. And maybe the fact he's dead…makes me a little happy…" he whispered the last before he turned and went back into the apartment building.