…woah, wasn't expecting such strong reactions…so apparently my lazy idea of leaving it as one-shot was shot down viciously, so hahs…(tell me if you ever get bored by my fic alright)
OCs are appearing by the dozens, seriously un-helpable…what do i do?? hahaha…so please, help! suggestions for OCs name are very very welcome and appreciated (though please put the family name in front first alright), even if they aren't used immediately, i'll promise to use it in the future chaps, promise!! (btw, PM me with your OCs name, i don't want it to flood the reviews instead…haha…3 )
warning: boringness may ensue, please stop me if it gets unbearable (and i realised i overdid some parts so i'll prob cut down on those next chap…haha, it's too late to salvage this…)
disclaimer: i don't own Bleach
Eternity
II
Fuck fuck fuck fuck! That was Grimm wasn't it? What is he doing here?? I mean I killed him! I remembered that very clearly, so why?? Ichigo was freaking out, his attention was long gone from whatever his teacher was droning on at the front.
Ichigo's head was still firmly turned slightly to his right, his eyes never leaving that head of teal hair until Yuu forcefully reached out and turned his head to the board to prevent Ichigo from getting caught. The contact startled him a little and calmed his emotions a tad. Another instinct took over almost instantly. The urge to jump up and confront Grimmjow, to touch him, hug him and confirm that he was indeed real. And to hit him and hurt him for leaving Ichigo just like that. Wasn't he aware of how much pain he had caused? Ichigo wanted to pound some sense into that head of his.
He quelled that urge immediately.
Instead, he focused on another train of thoughts that was rushing through his mind. This is way too much of a coincidence! I bet…I bet Byakuya had a hand in this, that's why I was sent back to the Academy! That's right, that makes sense, otherwise why do I have to be forced to attend school when I could have taken private lessons with some teacher or something!
Ichigo took a deep breath. Okay, so freaking out now was not going to help anything…I wonder if Grimm would come up to me and everything…Oh crap, I'm going to be his sex slave again.
And ya're lookin' forward ta it, ain't ya, King?
Hichigo's voice startled him for a second before the words registered and the edges of his ears turned the slightest shade of pink. Shut it.
I don't mind, just try ta stop these very detailed images, won't ya? And just so ya know, Hichigo hollered out before Ichigo fully closed their mind conversation, Both me and Zangetsu loved the weather now! He cackled loudly as Ichigo viciously closed the connection and scowled.
Despite that, a small smile graced his lips, the first sincere one in many years.
Then he almost groaned as another thought occurred to him. Crap, do I have to remain inconspicuous and not blow my cover? Cause if that's so, I'm so fucked up. Grimm would definitely make a fuss about me being here.
Slightly calmer and less hysterical as before, Ichigo took out some blank paper and pretended to take notes of the important points of a Shinigami that the teacher was preaching on now. He once again concentrated on Grimmjow. Is it really Grimm?
Grimmjow looked the same. He still had the arrogant smirk on his face and as expected, he wasn't sitting in a good-student sense. The chair he was on was balanced on its hind two legs and Grimmjow was sitting haphazardly on a corner of his chair. Long fingers were playing with a pencil as he talked not-so-quietly to the neighbour on his left.
It was at that point that Grimmjow looked up and they met eyes for the second time. Grimmjow stared at him for a little while before smirking lightly and turning back to his neighbour to continue their conversation. Ichigo decided to direct his attention back to the front again, before Grimmjow had more things to tease him about in the future.
Nevertheless, he felt glad. Grimmjow was fine and well before him, not the torn up and bloodied version that was burned into his mind. It was a little strange though, the idea of Grimmjow being a student at the Shinigami's Academy when he used to be one of the most vicious Arrancar. Ichigo gave a small chuckle and he could feel Yuu glance at him weirdly.
But he didn't care though. Grimmjow was back! That was all that mattered. Maybe, just maybe, he came back to fulfill his promise of 'forever'. Ichigo lightly fingered the ring that was hanging on a chain off his neck, his fingers fisting the material of his gi as he did so.
His brows furrowed. The teacher called his name earlier as well right? Had Grimmjow turned around then? Ichigo was too busy not paying attention to his surroundings to see then. Or maybe Grimmjow had already known Ichigo was there? After all, his reiatsu sensing ability was much better than Ichigo's.
At that, Ichigo focused a little and tried to feel Grimmjow's reiatsu to assure himself. Somehow, the fact that Grimmjow was right in front of him was still taking a long time to sink in. Strange…his reiatsu feels like a normal untrained soul, those unpolished kind…Is this supposed to be normal?
Ichigo pondered. What was Grimmjow now exactly? He used to be an Arrancar, part Hollow, part Shinigami. Plunging Zangetsu through him purified his Hollow part, Ichigo knew as much. So his part Shinigami side? Ichigo wondered what the colour of his reiraku ribbon was now. Then he paused. There wasn't much point in knowing the colour since he never knew what colour was an Arrancar's in the first place.
The lesson was over in a few seconds, according to Ichigo's warped and unfocused senses. He stood up with the rest of the students and bowed less than respectfully at the teacher. Biting his bottom lips a little nervously, he made his way over to talk to Grimmjow. He stopped when he saw Grimmjow being surrounded by two others, presumably his friends.
"Ichigo?" Yuu came up from beside him, "Are you alright?"
Mutely, Ichigo nodded, still far too focused on Grimmjow to elaborate on his answer. Yuu turned towards Grimmjow's direction as well.
"You've been staring at him for the past hour, you know," He said casually, "Why don't you just walk up to him and talk to him?"
Ichigo tore his gaze away at that, "Er, well, he's kinda with his friends now…"
Yuu frowned, "Do you know him or something?"
Ichigo hesitated and chose his words carefully, "He looked like someone I used to know…I may be mistaken though,"
Nodding, Yuu whispered in a playful voice, "Well, don't look now but he's walking towards us now,"
Ichigo tensed. What?! I'm not ready yet! Don't come over now! Shit, Yuu will know then, my cover will be gone! Oh no, oh no, don't come over. Ichigo's alarm was morphing into nervousness instead, with a tinge of anticipation lacing through it.
Don't get yer hopes up, King.
Wha - ?
"Strawberry huh?" A voice came from behind him.
Ichigo turned and gulped none too visibly, Hichigo's strange words long lost in his mind. Grimm…it really is him… He almost reached out to grab the hem of Grimmjow's sleeves but Grimm's next words stopped him in his track.
"You're pretty cute you know," Grimmjow smirked, "But you might want to pay a little more attention in class instead of spending the hour staring at me even though I do enjoy the attention,"
Shocked and horrified, Ichigo staggered back.
"See you later, Strawberry,"
No…no way…he's just acting right? He can't…I mean…Ichigo watched as Grimmjow left with his friends, all of them talking loudly and laughing at something.
Grimm doesn't remember me…
Once further away from their classroom, Grimmjow and his friends burst out laughing.
"Did you see that guy's face? Oh my," One of them laughed loudly as he clutched in his stomach, "You're going to have another follower soon, the puppy dog kind,"
"Now you reminded me! No wonder I found his type familiar, puppy dog," The other grinned.
"Hmm? Kouhei, don't tell me you have an interest in him?" The first one who spoke up asked in surprise.
"Well, he's cute, isn't he Grimmjow?"
"True, but not my type," Grimmjow waved his hand lazily in the air.
"In that case, then you can give him to me," Kouhei said as he watched their 'leader' smirked at another student.
"Sure, I won't touch him then,"
"Aw look, Kouhei looks so happy,"
"Shut it Takeshi,"
"But it's true isn't it Grimmj - " Takeshi turned to find Grimmjow gone.
"He's there," Kouhei said in an exasperated tone.
Indeed, Grimmjow was now chatting up the student he had smirked at earlier, appearing charming and amazingly witty.
"I wonder why we don't ever fall under his charms," Takeshi said thoughtfully.
"He tried remember? Then he found out that we don't have what he was looking for,"
"Oh right, forgot about that…so anyway, how're you going to get the Strawberry to be yours? He seemed so entranced with Grimmjow earlier," Takeshi pointed out, "Unless you're going to take a leaf out of Grimmjow's book…"
"Maybe I can start by using Grimmjow as a common ground,"
"So what, now I become your conversation starter for picking up toys?" Grimmjow came back to them, "Nah, the kid's the wrong one," Grimmjow said in response to Takeshi's questioning look.
"You're being extremely fast, school just started," Kouhei said tentatively.
"And I have six years of students to cover," Grimmjow ran a hand through his hair, "Reckon I should just give up…I mean I've been searching for close to ten years now and still, no result," He snorted.
Takeshi rolled his eyes, "Isn't that why you're attending the Academy? To search for whoever it is in Seireitei since you've combed the whole of Rukongai,"
"You know, I thought you would have more of a link with that mystery person," Kouhei added, "As in, you would look at him and deem him to be the correct one immediately," He explained.
"Well, so far that hadn't worked. Those that seemed right turned out wrong," Grimmjow grew thoughtful, "Do you think those who seemed wrong would turn out right? Like that Strawberry kid earlier," At this, Grimmjow eyed Kouhei slyly.
"Hey, I thought you say that you wouldn't touch him!"
"Relax, I'm just joking. If he can't even seem right now, how could he be the one I'm looking for," Grimmjow patted Kouhei reassuringly, "Besides, he's the puppy dog, wannabe kind, definitely not my type,"
"Oh right, his hair," Takeshi laughed, "Just because the hero of Soul Society has that same shade of hair, you think everyone that has that colour is a wannabe,"
Grimmjow scoffed, "Of course, I bet that orange is definitely not his original hair colour. All those wannabes are the same," He waved his hand derisively.
Takeshi glanced at Kouhei before laughing, "I think we need to stop insulting Kouhei's beloved before he gets irritated,"
"I'm already irritated," Kouhei said, brows twitching.
Grimmjow and Takeshi only laughed louder in response.
Impossible. Grimmjow doesn't remember me…Ichigo thought numbly as he stumbled around with the help of Yuu.
"The dorms are this way," Yuu gestured, peering at Ichigo in concern.
"YUU!!" A girl pounced and attached herself to Yuu's free arm, jolting Ichigo from his inner monologue.
"Chii!" Yuu clutched his heart in fake astonishment, "Don't surprise me like that,"
In response, Chii only grinned wider. She strained a little to look over Yuu's shoulder at the other guy that Yuu had his arm draped over.
"So who's your new friend? What a cutie," She winked a little at Ichigo when Ichigo raised his head to look at her.
"Here, let me introduce, this is Kurosaki Ichigo, who turned out to be my roommate as well," Yuu nodded as Ichigo looked at him in surprise, "Yes, Ichigo, I saw your sheet of paper. We're assigned to the same dorm," Yuu said in the tone that mothers take when talking to a young child.
Ichigo only glared at him in retaliation and was about to retort when Chii's exclamation caused him to veer around.
"Ichigo, cute!" Chii practically squealed.
"And this is Chiiyaki, we grew up together and everything,"
"You can call me Chii though, Strawberry," Chii said cheerfully.
"Stop it alright, I'm sick of it, why does everyone immediately linked my name to strawberry?" Ichigo groaned in annoyance.
"It's not supposed to mean that?" Yuu asked interestedly.
"No, of course not," Ichigo said grudgingly as he pulled Yuu's arm off him and stood properly on his own, "It means 'guardian', 'he who protects',"
Yuu whistled in appreciation, "Woah, saviour type huh,"
Shit. Ichigo laughed nervously, "Well, haven't saved anyone yet though,"
"Matter of time only, honey," Chii waved, "Girls' dorms are this way, see you guys later, darlings!"
Yuu waved back, "Don't mind her speech, she just likes to act bitchy and everything. Most likely to tick off others who do the same," He told Ichigo.
"She's a little strange," Ichigo admitted, "But she seems nice,"
Yuu laughed, "Well, here's our room. Let's see who else would be our roommates,"
Ichigo slid open the door, "No one's here yet. By the way, how many students are supposed to share a room?"
"Four. See, you should have paid attention during class. You missed out on some of the other rules and everything, staring at the eye-candy of yours,"
"He's not my eye-candy!" Ichigo protested as a slight red hue coloured his cheeks.
Yuu only grinned wider in response. Before he could say anything back though, the door to their room opened again, revealing two others. Silence fell and the two groups regarded each other for a second. One of them reached out and closed the sliding door behind them as they stepped in.
The other cleared his throat and stepped forward, "Hi there, guess we're all roommates then, I'm Ohira Kuranosuke and this is Seto Hizanshi,"
"Yo, I'm Kanai Yuusuke, you can call me Yuu by the way. And," Yuu gestured towards Ichigo, "He's Kurosaki Ichigo, nice to meet you,"
"So, the Strawberry's going to be in our dorm," Ohira said as he placed his bag down on a bed, "You guys don't mind me taking this bed?"
"Go ahead," Yuu glanced at Ichigo who suddenly looked murderous and decided to break the tension before Ichigo decided to destroy something, "Is 'Strawberry' going to some class joke now?"
"Class? We're in the same class?" Ichigo asked, thoroughly surprised.
The three of them stared at him for a while.
"What?" Ichigo said defensively, "I always had trouble remembering people's faces and names,"
The three of them nodded disbelievingly and Ichigo looked affronted.
"Right," Seto mumbled, "I'm taking this bed," That said, he immediately collapsed onto it and started snoring within a few seconds.
"That," Ichigo started, "Was fast,"
"Can't blame him," Ohira murmured, "He was up all of last night on guard duty,"
"Guard duty?" Yuu echoed.
Ohira gave a small grunt and looked away, "Against thieves and sorts,"
Yuu and Ichigo exchanged looks.
"Anyway, let's get dinner," Ohira said suddenly, "I'm famished,"
"Sure! Ichigo?"
"Nah, you guys go on ahead. Just get something for me when you get back,"
Yuu nodded and the two of them left the room.
With a sigh, Ichigo dropped down onto his bed. The confusion which he had pushed down earlier bubbled to the surface. He buried his head into his hands.
Grimmjow doesn't remember me…
Get over it, King. It's starting ta rain again. Hichigo grumbled from his inner world.
Suddenly, he recalled Hichigo's words right before Grimmjow had spoken to him and he sent a growl to Hichigo. Did you know about this beforehand? That he won't remember me? So now, you're gloating?
I hate it when you start accusing me. Hichigo's voice said angrily, dropping his overly-exaggerated accent. If you had remembered what those Shinigami friends of yours had keep trying to pound into you, you wouldn't have been so disappointed.
Ichigo narrowed his eyes at Hichigo's remarks. What do you mean by that? He all but demanded.
When a soul is purified, he is cleansed of all the sin he had committed as a Hollow and would not remember his time as one.
Ichigo could practically see Hichigo sneering at him with his fingers raised in quotation marks. That sentence had sounded familiar and it took a few seconds before he realised where he heard it. And Hichigo was right, his friends had repeated it so many times that Ichigo found it a wonder that he hadn't remember it.
So there's no chance of him remembering me? Ichigo asked, his voice still somewhat hopeful.
There was a long silence before Hichigo replied. Like I said, don't get your hopes high. Chances of him remembering…won't be high. There was a somewhat pitying lilt to the Hollow's inverted voice.
Ichigo didn't reply. One question burned its way through his mind but he didn't dare to voice it out. He didn't want to hear a definite answer to it.
Grimmjow without the memories that made him, is it really still Grimmjow?
"C'mon, it's the end of class," Yuu prodded Ichigo's side.
Uncrossing his eyes which had been staring at a spot in his book, Ichigo stood up and stretched, "This shit is far too boring,"
"Agreed," Seto came up from a few seats in front, "I mean, after so many years on the streets of Rukongai and doing nothing that resembles studying…" His voice trailed off, seeing that everyone knew what he was getting at.
"Unfortunately," Ohira slung his arm around Ichigo's shoulder, earning a loud growl, "The more practical bit only starts next semester, after the teachers are sure we won't be blowing ourselves up. So we still have about four more months," He counted thoughtfully before adding, "And stop shoving my hand off Ichi, your height is perfect for an arm-rest,"
Ichigo's growl grew, "And how many times do I have to tell you I'm not your arm-rest and to not call me Ichi,"
"I don't get it Ichigo," Seto frowned, "You obviously don't like being mistakenly called as Strawberry so why not let us call you Ichi?"
"Cause that's not for you to call," Ichigo muttered under his breath.
The three of them leaned forward, trying to catch what Ichigo had just said. Glancing at each other, they exchanged a small shrug. Again, none of them could hear him.
"Anyway," Yuu decided to change the topic, "That Takada guy seemed to have taken an interest in you,"
"Who?" Ichigo asked, clueless.
Yuu rolled his eyes and turned Ichigo around so that he had a good view of who Yuu was referring to, "Him,"
"Oh, you mean Kouhei?"
Seto and Ohira exchanged a look before launching into an overly dramatic conversation.
"Oh Kouhei, what would I do without you?" Seto said, his blue eyes suddenly seemed to sparkle with unshed tears.
"Don't worry Ichigo my dear, I would do anything for you," Ohira's voice taking on a 'gallant' timbre, "Just say the word and I'll brave anything for you," He swept his arms outwards, "Oh Ichigo,"
"Kouhei!"
"Ichigo!"
Ichigo's eyebrow twitched, "Cut it out. You guys remind me of those two from Naruto,"
There was a pause, "Who's Naruto?" Ohira asked.
Shit. "Oh er, just some anime show that was quite popular around the time I died,"
"What's anime?"
"…"
"Don't give us that look," Yuu punched Ichigo's arm lightly, "We've been in Rukongai since we're just toddlers,"
"Right, anyway back to the main point," Ichigo cleared his throat, "You guys are definitely mistaken. Kouhei doesn't have that sort of interest in me,"
"Riiight," Seto made a disbelieving noise, "And I'm a guppy. Seriously Ichigo, you're extremely dense. Does someone have to start ravishing you before you realise they have an interest in you?"
Jus' like how Grimmjow started ravishin' ya? Hichigo added, snickering.
"Oh, so you're a guppy now?" Ichigo said loudly, purposely ignoring Hichigo's comment.
Aww King, don't be shy. Ya're so fun ta tease. The snickers grew.
Oh shut up! Ichigo snapped.
It took a few moments before Ichigo realised he had said that aloud and that the whole of his class were staring at him.
"Aww, that was mean," Yuu said in an attempt to cover up for him.
The noise in the classroom resumed, leaving Ichigo to stare at Yuu weirdly. For an instance there, Yuu had sounded awfully like Hichigo. Pun intended.
"Anyway, stop sidetracking. The main question here is," At that, Seto leaned forward conspiratorially, "Would you accept him if he asked you out? Hypothetically speaking," He quickly added upon seeing the look on Ichigo's face.
"'Course not," Yuu gave a small giggle-like chuckle, "He's still hung up over Grimmjow,"
The three of them burst out laughing while Ichigo scowled at them.
"Ha-ha," Ichigo laughed sarcastically, "So now I'm the topic for you guys to joke about?"
"Now? I think you're mistaken Ichigo," Ohira's arm found his way back onto Ichigo's shoulder, pulling Ichigo closer to the centre of the group, "You have always been the topic,"
That said, the three of them broke out into loud laughter again and started ruffling Ichigo's hair.
"Heya!" A voice came from behind them, causing the laughter to die prematurely, "C'mon, share the joke, what's so funny?"
"Takada…" Yuu looked meaningfully at Seto and Ohira, "Well…Ichigo is,"
Confused, Kouhei only lifted an eyebrow and bent down a little to look at Ichigo's defeated form.
"Yo Kouhei," Ichigo said from his position in Ohira's arm and gestured to the other three, "Apparently these three idiots think I make a good source of entertainment,"
"Hey! Who's the idiot - "
" - mean by 'think'?! You are - "
" - ntertainment? Since when joke equals entertainment?!"
Ichigo only rolled his eyes in response as Kouhei laughed a little, "Anyway," Kouhei cleared his throat, "I thought I'll introduce my friends. They've been nagging that I've forgotten about them,"
The four of them looked on in interest at the two standing behind Kouhei, Ichigo taking a special care to pay more attention to the black-haired teen instead of the teal-haired. Next to him, Ichigo could almost feel the snickers coming from the three he called friends.
"This is Grimmjow and that's Takeshi,"
They exchanged greetings and Yuu and Seto moved more to the side so as to accommodate the three of them into their circle. Grimmjow ended up directly in front of Ichigo and Ichigo briefly wondered if it was a setup. The teasing squeeze of Ohira's arm on his shoulder told him that it probably wasn't but they were still going to make fun of him after this is over.
Finally unable to keep his eyes solely on Takeshi, Ichigo tried to focus on Kouhei instead, his eyes never landing on Grimmjow once. He gulped and tried to concentrate on what Kouhei was saying but it seemed the presence of Grimmjow was too much. It took all of his willpower just to ignore Grimmjow and to focus on Kouhei's.
His mind started to wander as he stared at a spot above Kouhei's shoulder. Subconsciously, his eyes started to drift over to Grimmjow's figure, resting on his cheek. The one that used to have the jawbone attached to it.
There's no blemish…It's like the mask never existed…I wonder if he knew that he used to be an Arrancar, one of the most fearsome in fact…Ichigo's eyes travelled upwards until he was staring shamelessly into Grimmjow's.
And he decided he liked the look in there better now. Grimmjow seemed to have lost the bloodthirstiness that came with being a Hollow. The blue wasn't warmer than it used to be but it seemed to have lost the edge of cruelty in it. Even during the times that Grimmjow was with Ichigo during the war, his eyes had never been so open and so light. As though there was no burden on him. There was only the playfulness and taunting look present, the coldness and feral glare were lost.
He wondered how Grimmjow was liked when he was a human. Was he like he was now? If so, then what about the Arrancar Grimmjow?
…who had he loved? The wild and bloodthirsty Hollow?
Even when Grimm had related his experience to him of when he was human, Ichigo couldn't imagine the Arrancar Grimm to be anything but that. Had he really even knew the actual Grimmjow or had he just fallen in love with a primal Hollow?
He shook his head immediately at that. Grimmjow wasn't a primal Hollow. He could feel. Ichigo was sure of that.
Ichigo blinked and suddenly took a step back when he realised that Grimmjow was in his face. Literally.
There was a whisper, "I told you, you need to pay more attention to other things. Not just to me," There was a smirk as Grimmjow slowly retreated, once again standing at his full height.
Ichigo straightened out and twisted around to look at Yuu. Yuu only gave an infuriating knowing smile and Ichigo had to refrain from snarling at him. Instead, he turned back to Kouhei to catch a brief crestfallen look on his face. Ichigo frowned and was about to question it when the bell rang.
"Oh great," Seto groaned, "Break's over. Now we have another few hours of torture to go through again,"
They laughed and quickly went back to their seats as the teacher walked in.