Hey folks.

OMG what a response! Thank you all so much for your reviews follows and favourites. I'll reply to the reviews tomorrow when i've got more time on the internet.

This story is going to be quite slow at the start, got some development to work through, as well as some plots stuff to think through. This is another one that is getting written as its typed, planning in the car on the way to work. Avicii's album is proving quite the stimulator.

So on to chapter two, bit longer as was so pumped with the responses!

(Mild hint there folks as I am off tomorrow with no plans... going to write anyway tho)

Phoe
xxxx

Chapter 2

Certainly not a midget, the boy was slouched over but looked very nearly Grimmjow's height, and had clearly changed his bright positive attitude into moody angst. The boy disappeared off, out of sight before the bell rang, making all the students in the hall way start to move. Grimmjow grabbed up his bag, a long strapped messenger bag, over his shoulder as he followed his friend to their next class, Woodworking skills in the workshop.

The current project was a spice rack, how unoriginal but it kept Grimmjow's hands busy and he was getting towards the final stages, just having to adjust a few of the housing joints before he glued it. He slung his bag into the cupboard under his bench and snagged a red apron from the hooks along the wall before wandering over to the class store to pick up his wood. Their teacher was still not in sight, probably still finishing his coffee as always; the man would wander in ten minutes late, cup still in hand and give them a hard time for not doing anything.

In the class, the only one Grimmjow really had any time for was Nnoitra, his wood butcher of a friend. The tall male seemed to have a genetic hatred for tools and machines. He managed to break things by merely thinking of putting a sharp tool near them. He was having to restart one of the sides of his unit as he'd put a hole right through the last then he'd been attempting to fix something else. Grimmjow grabbed the bundle of wood on his part of the shelf; his name on a laminated piece of card stapled to the wood, and picked Nnoitra's up as well, the ruined piece on top.

He dumped the wood on the bench, his friend giving his work a dirty look as they started, Grimmjow managing to shave the wood neatly with a chisel as his friend fought with the tools.

The teacher finally appeared, cupless but with a familiar companion. The black beanie hat was still on his head, as was the scowl on his face and the boy was led into the workshop and given a bench, three along from Grimmjow's. Ichigo slung his bag into the cupboard, shrugging off his blazer before roughly shoving it in too. His white shirt was short sleeved, with a long sleeve black top under it, the wrists nearly meeting the half gloves. Ichigo stood in place, not looking at any one until the teacher supplied him with wood and a drawing, saying he'd be back in a moment to help him mark things out, and to grab himself an apron. Ichigo waited till he'd turned his back before opening the booklet, pulling a pencil from his back pocket and leaning over the page, tracing the drawing with his finger.

Grimmjow decided to be nice, he had time to spare after all, and there is only so long he could watch Nnoitra before snatching the tools and doing it himself. "Hey Kurosaki, long time no see. You need a hand?"

"No." Ichigo didn't even look up at him, pulling one of the pieces of wood towards himself.

Well that was rude, Grimmjow thought. He placed both hands on Ichigo's bench; the guy didn't have a bench partner. Leaning in he tried to get the other to look up. "I'm only offering to help you get started; you have been away for a long time."

"I know precisely how long I've been away, and no I don't need your help, if I do I'll be sure to ask. And it's not Kurosaki anymore." The orange haired boy turned towards the tool cupboard, standing with his back to Grimmjow as he selected his marking tools, being acquainted with the subject previously. He returned and started marking out the wood in front of him, letting Grimmjow see that he actually didn't need help.

"Fine, you know where I am. What's your name now then?"

"Shiba."

Grimmjow went back his bench, getting the shelf on his own piece fitting before giving it a last sand before he started to glue it together. He kept glancing over, seeing the guy finish marking out and start cutting, much faster than Nnoitra in front of him.

In five minutes Grimmjow was giving his clamps a last tighten, checking his shelves were square before wiping the excess glue off. He smirked in satisfaction, turning away for a second to grab his tools to put away. He bumped one of the long clamps on his project, knocking it towards the end of the bench a bit too much, sending the whole project to the floor, stopped only by a fast hand grabbing one of the rails, righting the spice rack onto the bench once more. Grimmjow looked up into the brown eyes, seeing nothing but exasperation in their depths. It just made him pissed off, wanting to shove the other away from him; Ichigo had to step close to him to save the project.

"Mr Shiba, could you please remove you hat? It is against the school dress code." The teacher's annoying, bored tone broke the tension between them, Grimmjow seeing the brown eyes roll at the command.

"No sir." At least he was like that with everyone, Grimmjow thought.

"And why not?"

"Sir, would you make someone with cancer remove their hat in class, or would they get to keep it on to preserve their dignity a bit."

The teacher looked a bit flustered, hesitating for a moment. "Are you saying you have cancer Mr Shiba?"

"No I'm not, but if I do, is this how you want everyone to find out? And anyway, that would just make for double standards." Ichigo just returned to his bench, picking up his tools once more and continuing with his work.

The teacher went over to him, trying to reduce the circulation of the conversation. "Are you refusing to take you hat off? Do you really want to get into this much trouble over something so trivial?"

"Are you really going to get me in that much trouble over something this trivial?"

Grimmjow couldn't believe the teacher backed down. He was sure the guy was going to be suspended on his first day but the teacher just let him be, hat still intact covering his signature hair.

The lesson came to an end, the workshop getting tidied and the material getting put away. Ichigo didn't have a space on the shelf, so Grimmjow said he could share his until the teacher assigned him one. All the response Grimmjow got was a roll of brown eyes before the four pieces of wood took the other's space, now empty due to the bluenette gluing his material together that day.

That was the last time Grimmjow spoke to Ichigo that day, them not having any more classes together. The bluenette had spotted him in the lunch hall, the new guy sitting by himself at first, empty handed as he stared at his phone in his hands. To Grimmjow's surprise, it was Ulquiorra that approached him, sitting at his side and starting to talk to him. They seemed to have a full conversation, something that Grimmjow hadn't managed and a few of Ulquiorra's friends joined them eventually. Ichigo seemed to sit fairly quietly in the group but he didn't move, following the conversation as it went on around him without joining in. The warning bell for the end of lunch rang, signalling the students to get to their classes, some dumping their rubbish into the bins, others just leaving it lying on the tables. Grimmjow tossed his wrapper into a bin on the way out, making the shot from a fair distance, as expected. He walked out, passing a few of his old classmates and wondered if they knew about the reappearance of the little boy from their childhood class.

"Yo, Chad. You see Ichigo is back?" Grimmjow craned his head back seeing the surprise in the tall man's face. "Think he started today. He's changed a bit though. See ya round."

"See you round Grimmjow." Even though the bigger boy's face had looked surprised, his voice still held the monotone expression it normally had.

Grimmjow just shrugged, heading to his afternoon classes, the joy of biology then geography. The one highlight was that his old friend Ulquiorra was in his geography class, and he chose to sit one seat ahead of the back row, where he usually sat, so he could sit next to the black haired boy. He saw the disgruntled look on Loly's face as she realised he wasn't going to sit next to her. The cheerleader had long black hair, up in high pigtails and had managed to make her school uniform look like a dirty old man's fantasy, far too much cleavage on show for Grimmjow's liking, and he liked boobs. He just didn't want everyone looking at boobs that should be for him only. Not that Loly was anything special to him, she'd wanted to be, cheerleader dating the basketball captain was the cliché but Grimmjow didn't like her that way. There had been a few make out sessions at parties after a few sneaky drinks but he'd always knocked her back eventually.

Her ever present friend Melony sat next to her, the pixie cut blond having a much more pleasant personality that got completely overshadowed by her friend, but was totally loyal anyway.

Ulquiorra was giving him a strange look as well, opening the book in front of him. Grimmjow himself didn't really know what brought on his sudden change of location, well he knew but didn't know how to start the necessary conversation.

"Ask me then."

Oh well no worries bout breaking into the subject. "Eh, you had lunch with Kurosaki."

"That is not a question. And no, I had lunch with a boy named Ichigo Shiba."

"Well eleven years ago he was Ichigo Kurosaki, was the smallest midget in a class that had Kuchiki, so that's saying something. I just wanted to know what he was talking about." Rukia Kuchiki was occasionally mistaken for a first year, and being in her sixth, and final year, it was a bit annoying for the girl.

Ulquiorra allowed himself a very small smile. "Yes well that was a long time ago, he didn't really say much, just his name really, and that he'd just moved here. He seems quiet, but interesting. Were you friends when he was here before."

Grimmjow squirmed a bit. "No, not exactly. He was kinda picked on in school cause of his size and his hair. I didn't bully him, but I didn't do anything when other kids did."

"You picked on someone because of their hair colour? You, seriously?"

"I said I didn't alright. Yeah I called him names but he was so easy to tease. I guess he hasn't forgotten about it though." Grimmjow ran through the lack of response in woodwork.

"Or he could've matured to the point that it doesn't bother him, but doesn't particularly want to chum up to his previous tormentors? Anyway, he doesn't seem to be your sort of person anyway."

Grimmjow frowned. "What do you mean, my sort of person?"

Ulquiorra regarded him with an amused look. "Seriously? He's not a dumb sports idiot, and he seems unlikely to fawn at your feet. Why on earth would you even give him the time of day?"

"Some shit went down years ago, it's why he left and I'm not a total retard to think he wouldn't still be having a hard time about it."

"What ever happened to make a child have to leave his home town, change his name and his demeanour is his own business, to tell me if he wants, if he feels comfortable about it."

Their conversation had to come to an end as the teacher started the lesson, the map on the projector screen showing the activity for the lesson.

Ulquiorra left the room too fast for any further conversation at the end of the day, leaving Grimmjow still in his seat. Loly perched on his desk, her scandalously short skirt showing the top of her tights as she crossed her legs.

Grimmjow had to endure a few moments of talking to the female before he could make his escape to the gym hall for team practice. Of course the girl followed him, the cheerleaders having practice too but they were in separate halls and Grimmjow could breathe easy as his team settled to their drills.

Grimmjow had only been captain for three months, the current school year and was trying to recoup the losses from the previous graduation. He'd filled the spots, but the players were lacking in fitness and skill, something that frustrated the blue haired student. He picked up the drills, setting up a passing line, calling out as the orange balls flew through the air. His old team consisted of Nnoitra, the tall man being anyone's choice for a basketball player, Yammy, a tall, and wide, boy from the year below him as well as three others from his year, all well trained and fit. But at the end of the current year, they would all be gone, leaving Yammy as the oldest member; if he could remember how to tie his shoes on the days of practice. He did need reminding on occasion.

Practice broke up at five, each heading their own way home, Nnoitra walking part of the way with Grimmjow before they split. They had just been about halfway home when they spotted a runner, coming their way, but on the other side of the road. The hat was again the thing that made the other recognisable as he jogged past them, ear buds in his ears as he pounded the pavement. He was travelling at a fair speed and seemed to be breathing normally, disappearing round a corner as they watched.

They discussed the reappearance for a moment or so, Nnoitra still sore that the previously shy and unconfident boy had turned into the boy who'd pinned him earlier, the strength in his arms clear and Nnoitra was itching to take him on. Grimmjow told him he'd be a fool, the new kid in school might have a few sympathy votes among the staff and Nnoitra would just get most of the trouble.

The tall, lanky boy waved him off, flipping him the finger as he disappeared down his street, leaving Grimmjow to walk towards his house. He knew he was lucky, his mum remarrying well and letting them keep living as they had been after his dad left and his new step dad wasn't bad either.

Coyote Starrk, and yes that was his real name, was a police superintendent or at least that was his job. Grimmjow wasn't sure he was ever awake long enough to do his job, but his little assistant Lilynette picked up his slack, sometimes at home as well as the woman seemed to end up there most nights. It became such a habit that Grimmjow's mother had given her a couple of drawers in the spare bedroom and use of the wardrobe so she didn't have to run home in the morning to get a change of clothes. The man wasn't that old either, in his mid-thirties, technically a toy boy to his mother of forty two and his daughter was two years younger than Grimmjow but a mature young woman that didn't put up with any shit, from her dad or step brother.

Grimmjow stepped into his front hall, closing the large door behind him as he slid out of his school shoes, lifting them onto the rack, hidden in the hall table as he lifted his slippers out and sliding them on. Shoes were not to be worn inside the house, but he'd been raised that way so it was a habit now. He walked the long beige hallway; beige seemed to be in just now, his mother was making every room look like diarrhoea, and she didn't like his comments about it much; opening the door to the living room and smirking as he saw his sister sitting on the couch, headphones on and a book in her hands. He snuck over, dropping down beside her, making her jump and drop her book. He started to snigger, Nel stropping as she moaned about losing her place before picking up the book and slapping her brother's thigh with it.

"So how'd you know the new guy?"

"He was in my class when I was six. Left when his parents died in an accident."

"Oh shit, that sucks. Where did he go? Why did he come back?"

"No idea, I remember no one could get in contact with him and it was a bit weird for a while but I guess we forgot about him for a while."

"He's hot."

"Fuck off Nel, you hardly saw him." Grimmjow shoved his sister a bit, just enough to make her topple over as she sat cross-legged on the couch.

"No seriously, he was hot. In a slim, swimmer's body type way. Plus he must be strong, you saw him pin Nnoi like that. I can just imagine him pinning me like that to a wall, only he'd be kissing me, or maybe doing something,"

"Oi, no, ew gross; I don't want to think about him pinning you to a wall and fucking you. That image did not need to be in my mind at all."

"Why? Are you seeing you pinning him? I think his long legs could wrap around you twice. I wonder what else is long about him."

Grimmjow closed his eyes for a moment, not believing his sister was having this conversation with him, fantasising about the two of them fucking the same bloke. Grimmjow wasn't homophobic; he had no problem with guys shoving dicks up their asses, as long as they stayed away from his. He'd never felt like trying it, even though his best friend swung both ways.

He'd never even considered it, the thought about sticking his dick up a guy's ass, yet it was something he'd fantasised about with a girl. He guessed it wouldn't be much different with a guy but it was still different. But Nel had been right, Ichigo's legs were long, and it started to make him wonder how they would feel wrapped round him.

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