Grimmjow unbelted his sword, handing it to the customs' officer.

Swords and knives were fully legal in Elvenhome. The elves insisted, since their culture was heavily into swords. It made life a bit rough on the police, sometimes, but that was life. The police mostly didn't bother with the bad side of town anyway.

Things were different on Earth, and Grimmjow accepted the chit for his sword with a smile. He knew the drill, he was an old hand at it. Going to a kiosk, he went to find a disposable cell phone. He had a real one, but it didn't work on the Earth networks.

Humming to himself, he dialed Ichigo's dads' number. To his surprise, it rang out of service. Frowning slightly, he tried Ichigo's uncle. That phone at least rang, but when it was picked up he got something rather obnoxious.

What the fuck is it? Grimmjow blinked at the childish voice.

"Uh, I need to talk to… Urahara Kisuke." He said after he consulted the paper for a moment. "Can you get him for me?"

What's it about? The kid said suspiciously and Grimmjow rolled his eyes.

"About something of his I found in a fucking car. Namely, one kid with orange hair who is fucking lucky to be alive. Get him, would you?" Grimmjow said in a bored tone and heard a sharp intake of breath. Then he heard shouts and suddenly there was someone else on the line.

Why would you call me on this line? It's not secure. He sounded out of breath and Grimmjow blinked.

"Well I dunno who you're expecting to call you, but I don't think I'm it." There was a dead silence from the other end. "I'm just the random as fuck guy who found your nephew. Did you want me to call you on a different number?" This was getting weird, but it was hardly the first time.

No… there's no point now… who are you? Nevermind. Is Ichigo safe? The anxiety in that voice was palpable. Grimmjow shrugged.

"Safe enough now, for someone pretty badly dehydrated and covered in his own waste. But he'll recover. He wants to go home, but I'm an evil bastard with a suspicious mind so I thought I should check first. Is that a good idea?" He asked and the answer was quick and a touch surprising.

No. Keep him wherever he is now. Grimmjow blinked and then his eyes narrowed. Why was the first line ringing out of service?

"What's happened to his family?" He asked. "I tried that number first and it rang out of service." He was getting a bad feeling now.

There was a fire. We really need to cut this conversation short, someone might be tracking you. The phone abruptly went dead and Grimmjow stared at it for a moment. Instead of taking it with him, which he would usually have done, he tossed the phone in the trash and went back towards customs.

He'd been planning to do some shopping on Earth, but now he just wanted to get home.

"This place is nice." Ichigo murmured to himself as he explored Grimmjow's home.

It was a big place. Two stories with a basement, Ichigo thought it might have more square footage than his own home, and there were four people living there. This fancy place only held Grimmjow.

He was making use of the space, though. Ichigo smiled as he looked at the dining room. Instead of a normal table with chairs, there was an industrial metal table with parts strewn across it. Also designs. Ichigo picked one up, trying to understand what he was looking at, then gave up and set it back down. It was gobbledygook to him.

Beside the dining room was the den, and it was very comfortable. Black leather couches and an absolutely huge widescreen TV filled the space, along with a pretty black table with a glass top. Ichigo could tell that Grimmjow had taste, although the clutter ruined it a bit. Even in here, there were a few parts on the tabletop. A pretty little glass bowl was full of lug nuts and other small, random bits. Ichigo smiled as he explored the kitchen.

The kitchen was beautiful. Ichigo ran a hand over granite countertops and looked at the gas stove. There was something odd about it, and it took him a moment to realize that it had to be adapted to Elvenhome. He'd read about Elvenhome – who hadn't? – and he knew that technology wouldn't work here unless it was adapted to the reishi-heavy environment. Yet, Grimmjow seemed to be working heavily with machines. That was strange.

"Oh!" Ichigo wanted to slap himself then. Of course. All the technology had to be adapted by hand, and Grimmjow was clearly one of the people who did that kind of work. "Hm." Ichigo looked through the pantry to see if there was some cereal, and was disappointed to find absolutely none. That was a bit odd. Grimmjow had said Elvenhome had been connected to America and he thought they liked cereal there.

Giving up on the thought of cereal for lunch, Ichigo opened the fridge and peered around. He was hungry, and Grimmjow wouldn't be back for a while yet. His eye was caught by a few slices of pizza in a Tupperware container. Licking his lips, he fished them out.

"I hope Grimmjow doesn't mind." He muttered. But he really didn't want to cook in a strangers' kitchen, so this was probably a good choice. Not bothering to remove it from the Tupperware, he went to the den and sat down to eat. The pizza tasted a bit odd, like there was something off about the crust, but he was too hungry to care.

With that out of the way, he quickly explored the rest of the house. There were four bedrooms upstairs. The master bedroom was tastefully decorated in cream and blue, with a very nice painting of a panther lounging on a tree branch. The bed was huge, with poofy black covers, and there was a piece of underwear hanging out of it. Ichigo blushed a little before he left that room. He didn't think Grimmjow wore bright red thong underwear.

Two of the bedrooms were furnished with basic cots, nothing more. Ichigo tilted his head, wondering if Grimmjow often had visitors. This would certainly be a good place for his friends to crash for the night. The third bedroom was a computer room, and had several bookshelves. Ichigo looked at the computer and wished he could use it, but that would be rude. This was not his home.

There was nothing much else for him to see, so he decided to check out the basement. As soon as he got down there Ichigo grinned.

"Wow!" He circled the room, whistling in appreciation. This was a gym. There was an elliptical, a rowing machine, weights, mats, and resistance bands… everything needed for a good home gym. And, to his pleasure, there were also wooden swords and padding clearly meant for practice. "Grimmjow won't mind if I use this." Ichigo rationalized to himself and began his own workout. He'd been stuck in that trunk for so long, his legs felt like jelly.

Ichigo shuddered a little at the thought of that car, throwing himself into his work. But it kept coming back, a nagging horror trying to stun his mind and destroy his spirits. He wasn't sure how long he'd been in the trunk of that car, the thirst torturing him. He'd heard voices so many times, but no one had opened the trunk, and he'd begun to think he would die there. And he knew that was what the man who'd put him there had intended. He'd worn a mask, so Ichigo had no idea of his identity. In fact, he hadn't spoken to the teenager even once.

He'd known what was going to happen, though. He'd heard the junk men talking about how the car would be scrapped. He'd heard the guy who'd bought the car – Yammy? – say that it was a bit too good for that and he had a buyer. There had been some hope then, but all the time he'd spent in transit had made him think it would be too late. Then Grimmjow had finally opened the trunk.

In retrospect, the look on his face had been hilarious. Ichigo managed to smile a little at the recollection. That nearly girlish scream had been funny, too. Or it would have been if he hadn't been so thirsty he could just die. He was incredibly thankful for the blue haired man.

It didn't hurt that Grimmjow was wonderful to look at. Ichigo blushed faintly as he worked at the rowing machine. The blue haired man was built like a god, with a physique he could only envy. And his face… Ichigo's face wasn't bad, but it was forgettable. Grimmjow's face was gorgeous, simply gorgeous. No one could ever forget that man, and heads would turn when he entered the room. The green tattoos by his eyes were just the icing on an incredibly delicious cake.

Ichigo wondered what his past was. Grimmjow didn't look much older than him, maybe twenty or twenty-five at the most, but he acted like he was experienced. Ichigo had trouble defining it, but the blue haired man's eyes were constantly moving, as if alertness was so far ingrained in him that he couldn't completely let his guard down even in his home. He reminded Ichigo of some of the men who visited his uncle. There was a potential for violence in him.

But right now, that potential was comforting. Ichigo knew that Grimmjow didn't have a single thing to do with what had happened to him. He'd just been a normal man, living his normal life, buying a normal hover car and finding something completely abnormal in the trunk. So the fact that he might be capable of violence was actually reassuring. Ichigo shuddered at the thought of what might happen to him, if that man found him again. He didn't think it would be a car trunk this time.

Finishing with his rowing, Ichigo breathed heavily before going to the weights. He was going to make this a thorough workout. He had plenty of time before Grimmjow got home, and he was still feeling week from his confinement.

He would make this count.

"Hey, Yammy." Grimmjow spoke into his cell phone as he guided his hoverbike through traffic.

Normally he wouldn't have done that. Elvenhome didn't have laws about it, because no one gave a fuck, but Grimmjow liked to stay alert. He was on a Yamaha, and too goddamn many car drivers seemed to ignore hoverbikes. The traffic laws on Elvenhome were hazy, to say the least, so it behooved him to be on his guard.

Right now, though, everyone was going nowhere fast. Some idiot had managed to jackknife his big rig all over the road, and there was beer everywhere. People were actually getting out of their cars to take a pack, and why not? Whoever cleaned off the road was just gonna throw it away. Grimmjow considered getting a case, but then discarded the impulse. It was bud light, he wasn't that desperate.

Hey Grimmjow, what's shakin' man? Grimmjow grinned a little at the sounds in the background. It was early in the day, but Yammy was still partying. He always did party after a big sale.

"Nothin' much, except that car you sold me. I have a bone to pick with you, man." Grimmjow said with enjoyment, savouring the information he was about to lay on Yammy. The man replied, sounding wary.

What d'you mean? It was a good car.

"Yeah, except for the PERSON in the trunk! Fuck, Yammy, search your cars before you sell 'em!" Grimmjow said with a laugh and grinned at the dead silence on the other end.

Wait, you mean like a dead body? Holy shit Grimmjow, really? The guy sounded like he was panicking and Grimmjow grinned.

"No, not dead, would I be laughing if he was dead? I'm not that much of a psycho you know." Those who knew about his past did think he might be a psycho, though, and Grimmjow sometimes wondered if he was. "But I think you should lay low for a while Yammy." He said, his voice going serious. "There's some serious shit going on, and you bought that car legally. That means your name is on the paperwork. If someone comes after this guy the trail is gonna lead right to you." Grimmjow paused but Yammy didn't say anything. The big man was trying to think. "I might be being paranoid, but better safe than sorry, y'know?"

Yeah… yeah… they meant for him to be crushed in the scrapyard? That's sick! I'll, um… I'll go stay with my mom's people for a while. They won't mind. Yammy sounded spooked and Grimmjow heartily approved of his plan.

Like a lot of the people living in Elvenhome, Yammy had some not so human relatives. His moms' people were red caps. They liked living in the city – plenty of victims – and they were fucking nightmares. But they interbred with humans just fine, and kids like Yammy were the result. Strong and fast but not bright, he was a typical red cap hybrid. And unlike some, red caps had mothering instincts and valued family. No one would be winkling him out of their loving embrace.

And with Yammy safe, that cut the connection to Grimmjow. He'd paid in cash, so no electronic records. Someone searching for Ichigo would have to check out all of Yammy's buyers, which would be doable but a pain. And Grimmjow was going to scrap that car as fast as he could. He wanted it out of his home.

"Good stuff, Yammy. You be careful." Grimmjow said before hanging up and giving his full attention to his driving. He was probably being paranoid. On the other hand, someone had stuck Ichigo in a car trunk with the intention that he be crushed to death. And his parent's home had gone down in a fire, and his uncle was babbling stuff about lines being unsecured…

Maybe he wasn't being paranoid enough.

"Fucking finally! Stars and Moon, that was the worst fucking traffic on the planet!" Ichigo looked up from the book he was reading, very pleased to see Grimmjow. The blue haired man was stripping off his gloves and taking off his sword belt.

"Did you hear from my family? Can I go home?" He asked eagerly, then blinked as Grimmjow shook his head, running a hand through sweat stained blue hair.

"No, you're staying here." He said, making Ichigo's mouth drop open. "At least, maybe you're staying here, we need to discuss it. But there's been a fire at your dad's and your uncle sort of had a spaz attack when I called him. He told me to just keep you with me and hung up."

"A fire? Is my family okay?" Ichigo demanded and Grimmjow shrugged. "Grimmjow! You didn't ask?" In Ichigo's opinion that made him a bit of a dick. Grimmjow scowled.

"I didn't get a chance. Your uncle said there'd been a fire, then told me he had to go since someone might be tracking me. I sure as fuck wasn't going to call him back after that!" Grimmjow sighed as Ichigo stared at him. "I don't know what's going on with your folks, kid. But you're probably better off in Elvenhome than Japan." He said gently as the teen swallowed. "And there's nothin' you can do to help them except stay safe."

"You could do something, couldn't you?" Ichigo said quietly and Grimmjow shook his head with a laugh.

"I don't speak Japanese, kid. That'd be a bit of a handicap!" He said with a grin and Ichigo blinked as if that hadn't occurred to him. "And that brings me to my next point. Why am I feeding you exactly?" Ichigo stared at him, then looked at his hands. "I'm not kicking you out, I'm just sayin'. How old are you?"

"Uh, sixteen." Ichigo said, wondering why Grimmjow was asking. The blue haired man grinned.

"Perfect. OK, take a seat." Grimmjow finished hanging up his sword belt and took a seat on the couch, motioning for Ichigo to sit beside him. He did so, a little gingerly. "This is Elvenhome and the laws are different here. I have no idea what the age of majority is in Japan, but around here you are an adult." Ichigo's eyes widened but Grimmjow wasn't finished. "You can drink, you can drive, you can fuck." Ichigo blushed bright at that last one. "So, how are you going to pay me back for living here?" Grimmjow stared at him, a straightforward gaze that Ichigo found to be very attractive but also unnerving.

"I, uh… shouldn't I be going to school?" He said, feeling dazed as he met those brilliant blue eyes. Then he blinked as Grimmjow laughed, throwing his head back.

"School? Seriously?" Then his grin faded. "This is Elvenhome, kid. The only schools here are private ones and I am sure as hell not paying your tuition. School is done until you get back to Japan." Ichigo swallowed hard at that. He couldn't go to school here, finish his classes? That just seemed so wrong. And what about his future? He was near the top of his class, he'd been planning to be a doctor. "What kind of skills you got? Anything?"

"My dad's a doctor and I've worked at his clinic." Ichigo said tentatively, trying to think of anything else useful he could do. "Uh… I can cook and clean…" But Grimmjow shook his head.

"Cleaning is fine but I cook my own meals. I'm gluten intolerant and have a few allergies." He said and Ichigo blinked. He'd never expected Grimmjow to have allergies, but anyone could he supposed. "Anything else?" Ichigo dropped his gaze and shook his head. He felt completely worthless, and Grimmjow was right. The other man had no obligation to take care of him. He'd just been dumped on him.

"Maybe I should leave." He said, although he had no idea where he would go. Then Ichigo blinked and looked up as a hand clasped his shoulder.

"You wouldn't last a day out there." Grimmjow said with assurance, which made Ichigo winced. "And I'm not feedin' you to the wolves. Maybe you can help me with my work. And if that doesn't work out, I can always get you a spot as a dishwasher at a restaurant somewhere, eh?" He grinned and Ichigo smiled weakly. It wasn't what he'd pictured doing with his life, but if he had to, he had to. "Or see if there's any job opening at the medical centre. They ain't picky around here." That cheered him up a little. Even sweeping floors in a clinic would feel better than washing dishes. Although…

"Is it really that dangerous here?" He asked and Grimmjow nodded, glancing at the empty Tupperware container before picking it up.

"This is the bad part of town, so yeah, it really is." He said firmly and Ichigo bit his lip. "I get by because I'm a vicious bastard and everyone knows it. They stay away from me. You, though, you'd be a tender little morsel… for now anyway. I'll teach you how to make it here." Grimmjow took the Tupperware into the kitchen and dumped it into the sink. "I see you had lunch, but you had anything for supper yet?" Ichigo shook his head, his stomach growling. "Good, 'cause I ain't eaten a damned thing since breakfast. I'm gonna make us a frittata, that okay with you?"

"Sure." Ichigo watched as Grimmjow expertly broke the eggs in a skillet, adding some grated cheese, tomato, bell pepper and spinach. He smiled as the man tossed his eggy concoction in the air, neatly flipping it. "You're a good cook?" He seemed to be. Grimmjow laughed.

"Oh yeah. I love to eat, and with my allergies I don't like to eat out that often. So learnin' to cook was the way to go." Grimmjow watched his eggs as he spoke. "I'm gluten intolerant and allergic to peanuts. Always keep an epi-pen on me, just in case. That pizza you ate, it had a gluten free crust." Ichigo winced and Grimmjow just waved a hand. "Don't worry about it, just wanted to let you know why it tasted odd. I don't usually buy that gluten free processed crap, but I wanted some pizza."

"Ah." Ichigo supposed that made sense. "So you never eat bread?" He asked and Grimmjow shook his head.

"Nah. If I'm gonna eat something bad, it'll be a molten chocolate cake." Grimmjow sighed at the thought. "I'm only intolerant, not full out allergic so I can afford to be bad sometimes. I just can't eat that crap regularly or I start getting' sick. Same with beans." Grimmjow flipped the frittata out of the pan, neatly dividing it in two and scraping it onto separate plates. "Here ya go. And if you need any nibbles, feel free to dig in. I ain't cheap." Ichigo nodded, taking his plate and sampling the food. It really was good. As he ate, though, he felt a gnawing worry for his family. What had happened to them? Were they okay?

He couldn't know, and not knowing was a torment.

Grimmjow sighed to himself as he glanced into Ichigo's room, early in the morning. He was completely hidden under a soft blue blanket, except for a tuft of orange hair.

He'd gotten the kid settled into one of his guest rooms. The cots there weren't much, just meant as a place for buddies to crash when they were drunk or down on their luck. It would do for now, but he might need to get the kid something better later.

Grimmjow ran a hand through his hair, thinking. He honestly didn't need an apprentice. Taking someone on and teaching them to be a cracker was damned difficult, not surprising since they needed to master both magic and technology. Grimmjow had had a leg up when he started his apprenticeship, since his dad's family had taught him all about magic. He'd only needed to master the tech and then mesh it all together.

Ichigo would have to start from scratch. He didn't know magic and it sounded like he wasn't a mechanical expert, either. He'd know more than some kid off the streets of Elvenhome, but that was about all he could say. Grimmjow grimaced a little at the thought.

On the other hand, Ichigo was smart and he'd actually asked about going to school, so he might be a hard worker. You couldn't teach brains and you sure as hell couldn't teach a work ethic. Grimmjow smiled sourly at that thought. He'd run into some really slack ass people over the years. Of course, another thing he couldn't teach was the native ability to use the reishi in Elvenhome. He'd have to test Ichigo to see if he could do the job at all.

If he could, though, it would place him neatly under Grimmjow's eye and give him a chance to ease into Elvenhome gently. Grimmjow sighed to himself. It looked like he was going to have an apprentice.

Going downstairs, he started breakfast and decided to make something nice. He'd taken some bacon out of the freezer last night, and he quickly diced a sweet potato into tiny pieces. He fried the bacon with an onion, then added the sweet potato and a whole lot of Cajun seasoning. It took a while to fry potatoes like this, but the result was a really nice hash. He got a second frying pan out of the cupboard and fried up a few eggs to go with the hash.

Upstairs, Ichigo was woken by the smell of food. He sat up and automatically braced himself for an attack before relaxing. Isshin wasn't here, so there would be no early morning dad attacks. That thought made him bite his lip, and he went to the bathroom to take a quick shower.

By the time he was done, breakfast was served. Grimmjow set his plate on an elven warming stone, a nice little thing that kept the food warm without drying it out.

"Okay." Grimmjow drank some coffee was he watched Ichigo eat his food. He was already done, but it was nice to linger over a cup of joe. And he had his datapad, with all the latest news to serve as entertainment. "When you're done, I need to give you some aptitude tests. If you can't use magic, you can't be a cracker. End of story." He said as Ichigo looked up. The kid nodded, swallowing the sweet potato hash.

"Okay. This is good." He said with a small smile. "It reminds me of my sister's cooking." Down to earth and tasty, but not fancy. Grimmjow shrugged.

"It's pretty easy. Cut stuff up and fry it, that's my motto." He said with a grin and was pleased to hear Ichigo laugh. Then he went back to his datapad, flipping through the news as Ichigo ate. "Hrmph." He muttered as he read the details of a proposed tax on soft drinks. He didn't have much use for coca-cola and all its siblings, but apparently some people did from the rancorous tones of the comments. Then he read about a jewellery heist. It was in the good part of town, so there might be a bounty in the offing if they could figure out who did it.

The silence was warm and comfortable, and Grimmjow enjoyed having company as he sipped his coffee. When Ichigo was done, he took the kid out to his main workshop, the garage.

It was a huge garage, large enough to fit three cars comfortably and way too large for the house. The guy who'd previously owned the place had also been a cracker, and had expanded it for his work. It also had a heating system and all kinds of little doo-dads, including a fridge for the beer.

"So, it's time for some tests." Grimmjow got out a little copper collar. It was ancient, and he carefully checked to make sure it was still enchanted. Satisfied that it was, he handed it to Ichigo. "Put that on."

"Uh, sure. What is it?" Ichigo said, putting it on then tugging at the collar. It was a twisted band of metal that could be adjusted, slightly. There was a large moonstone in the front and while it was pretty, it wasn't comfortable or meant to be worn for long.

"It's kind of a barometer. The more you're sensitive to reishi the more it will… uh." Grimmjow blinked then stared as the moonstone lit up like a flashlight. "Okay. You're pretty sensitive to reishi. You can take it off now." That was impressive. It matched his own reaction to the thing perfectly, in fact. "You sure you're human?" He asked, genuinely impressed. That was the kind of reaction he'd expect from a half-breed. Ichigo scowled.

"Of course I'm human!" He said, annoyed, and Grimmjow shrugged. It was almost a formality now but he ran the other tests anyway. Every single one said that Ichigo would be strong in magic, when he got some training under his belt.

"Well, it looks like I've got an apprentice." Grimmjow was amused and slightly aghast at the thought. "We're gonna go far, kid!" He clapped Ichigo on the shoulder and grinned as the teen scowled at him.

This was going to be an interesting partnership.