Ichigo felt his heart stop as he saw Redder take two steps forward and pound his fist in to the face of the man known only as Pantera. The crowd went silent when Redder stood up, sneering at the man beneath him. Ichigo watched as deep read blood ran from his mouth, the color in stark contrast to his bright blue head and alabaster skin. Then he saw his shoulders start to shake as he coughed out a foamy clot of spit and blood.

Is he hurt? Whats going on?

Ichigo couldn't help but be afraid, and was about to move forward towards the stranger that he was oddly attached to, when he saw the reason his shoulders were shaking.

He was laughing.

It started at a chuckle, and before Ichigo knew it, he had his head tilted back roaring with deep baritone laughter. The crowd stood still and confused, not sure how to take the man's reaction to being hit. As he started to sober the blue haired man lowered his head and opened his eyes so wide he looked crazed. A huge, feral smile spread across his face, displaying a row of sharp teeth, now pink from his own blood. It was unnerving to say the least.

Still laughing, Pantera said something to Redder, inaudible to their onlookers and frightening enough to cause the challenger to grow a little pale. Then he stiffened and threw himself forward, attacking with wild precision. He threw well aimed kicks with such force that they caused the larger man to lose his balance and fall backward. The blue haired man let out another sound akin to a hyena as the larger man struggled to stand.

"What the hell is wrong with you," Redder yelled, growing paler by the second as he got to his feet. The only response he received was another chuckle. Ichigo watched in awe as his stranger, with the grace of a dancer, leaped up in the air, swinging his right leg with crushing force into the side of Redder's head. For a moment, Ichigo could swear that time was standing still. He understood why they called him Pantera.

And with that, the fight was over. Redder crashed to the ground unconscious as the crowd erupted at the display. As quickly as he had appeared, the legendary Pantera was gone again. Ichigo caught a glimpse of beautiful cyan hair as it faded to navy in the darkness of the alley. He tried to push through the crowd, wanting to call out to him before he was gone again, but the people surrounding him were like an immovable wall. He felt his stomach fall as he realized he could no longer see the fighter. Before he had time to feel disappointed, he felt a strong hand dragging him from out of the mass of people.

"Renji your killing my arm with your grip, let go," Ichigo grumbled.

"The fuck's a Renji?"

Ichigo looked up to the person attached to the hand on his bicep and to his surprise, it was certainly not Renji. In fact, he had never seen this man before. He was very tall and extremely thin, with shiny black hair he had tied back. He grinned at Ichigo with the largest mouth he had ever seen on a human, and was sporting an eye patch over his right eye. His narrow eyes looked mischievous.

"Who the hell are you? Let go of my arm," Ichigo said, twisting and trying to get out of the other man's grip. It only caused the death grip to grow even tighter. Whoever this weird guy was, he was pretty strong for being so flimsy looking.

"Sorry kid," he said, not sounding apologetic at all, still moving away from the scene of the fight and now down a side street away from the commotion. "A certain feline has requested yer presence." Ichigo was confused but he stopped resisting, resigned to the fact that he wouldn't be able to break the other mans grip anyway. They wound through the mix of alleys, and Ichigo could tell they were moving towards the main road. Just as he expected they soon emerged into a well lit area near the center of town, next to a late night coffee shop. Once they stood in front of it, the tall slender man finally removed his hand from Ichigo's arm.

"Just go in, he'll find you," the tall stranger said, still smiling. "I'm Nnoitra, by the way. Have fun, and don't let big blue get to crazy," he said, strolling away down the street. Ichigo was confused, but decided to go into the cafe anyway.

Maybe Renji is in here, he thought hopefully as he pushed open the door. The nutty, bitter smell of strong coffee hit him as he entered the small, dim shop. He scanned the area, looking for his friend's red hair, but there was so little light it made it hard to see anything. He was about to turn around and walk out of the cafe when a large hand pressed gently on his shoulder, and a somehow familiar heat wound its way close to his ear. As it whispered to him, he couldn't help but not breathe.

"You miss me, Kurosaki?"

Ichigo whipped around, coming face to face with eyes the color of the Caribbean ocean and burning like the sunset. He felt time slow down as they took each other in. The large hand on his shoulder slid lazily down his arm, making Ichigo shudder. The blue haired stranger smiled a little, looking much less crazy and a lot more sensual.

"You want to sit?"

Ichigo snapped out of his daze, glad the cafe was dark enough inside to hide his rose-colored cheeks.

"S-sure, " he stammered, still embarrassed. The taller man turned and walked smoothly to a secluded table that already had a cup of a floral smelling tea on it, still steaming. Ichigo stopped a waitress and asked for a cup of orange pekoe for himself. They were silent until she returned and deposited it on the table, then left them alone. Ichigo was more than a little awkward and nervous, so much that he couldn't even look up.

"So what did you think?"

Ichigo felt another chill as the soft, deep voice of his company ran down his spine, like the hammers of a piano rumbling notes along its taut strings. He blinked a few times, too transfixed to respond.

"Kid? About the fight. What did you think," the older man tried again. Ichigo finally gathered himself enough to answer.

"It was amazing," he said quietly, sneaking a peak through his lashes. "I can see why they started calling you Pantera. Most guys who are as big as you move like freight trains and depend on their size alone, meaning when they meet a larger opponent they lose. But you," Ichigo continued, unable to contain a smile, "you definitely lived up to your reputation. You were like an animal, alright." The half-lidded eyes across from him simmered with amusement. Ichigo felt heat rise to his face yet again; he had said more than he meant to.

Boy I'm such an idiot, he groaned internally. Thinking back to the fight, Ichigo couldn't help but ask the older man a question.

"By the way, what is it you said?"

His blue eyebrows furrowed. "Huh?"

"To Redder," Ichigo extrapolated. "After he hit you, you said something that made him look almost afraid. What did you say?" After a short, good-natured laugh, he looked up with mischievous cerulean eyes.

"I told him that he got his one shot to put me down, and because he hits like a girl, he was fucked."

Ichigo couldn't help but laugh a little, looking down again.

"I wish I could have seen his face better when you said that...," Ichigo trailed off, dipping into awkward silence again. After a few minutes that seemed like hours, the silence was broken again.

"Grimmjow."

Ichigo looked up, confused. "I'm sorry, what?" He caught a glimpse of sharp canines peaking from under the other man's upper lip as he chuckled.

"My name, its Grimmjow. Grimmjow Jaegerjaques. Can't have you running around calling me Pantera. Kinda makes me look like an asshole." Ichigo bit his lip, looking away.

Even his name is sexy, he thought in fake aggravation. He still found himself unable to speak, but he had somehow mustered up the courage to look at the man across the table. He was still smiling, seemingly unfazed by the silence. It made Ichigo relax a little bit.

"So," Grimmjow said, again trying to initiate conversation, "you just come to watch or do you fight, too? I'd never see you before tonight."

"I've done two amateur fights with a friend, but I'm light years away from your level. I probably wouldn't be on par with most of the guys on the scene," Ichigo said, shrugging. "I'm still in school too so people would notice if I got too bruised up."

"Yeah, I figured you were younger than me. You in high school then?"

"Yeah," Ichigo said sheepishly. "I'll be eighteen this summer. I'm a senior."

"Don't act like its a bad thing. It's not. Well, it's bad for me I guess," Grimmjow mused.

Ichigo frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Grimmjow replied, trying and failing to look innocent, "kids typically don't like hanging out with old dudes like me. And I just got out of jail, if you remember. Going back for sexually assaulting a minor doesn't sound too good."

Ichigo felt his throat grow dry as he looked into those fiery blue eyes that smiled back at him. He had never had someone be so forward with him, and didn't really know how to respond. It didn't help that he wasn't even close to comfortable with his sexuality, even though as the night progressed it became harder and harder to deny it. But before he could respond, Grimmjow turned his head away, looking out a window. He seemed much more serious, and almost sad.

"Grimmjow?"

He turned back, seemingly feigning ignorance.

"What is it?"

Ichigo lost his nerve and went back to looking at his hands. He didn't know what else to do except bail. It made him furious with himself, but he was so unnerved he didn't know what else to do.

"Uh, its just I should probably get back. I mean I went to the fight with a friend of mine, and when that Nnoitra guy drug me over here I didn't tell him where I was going. Plus my dad will have my ass if I'm too late." Grimmjow smirked in response, making Ichigo's heart flutter again, before sighing.

"Yeah, you're right. I shouldn't have had Nnoi drag you over here. But, if I could ask something of you," he said standing and holding out a hand to Ichigo, who took it. The connection felt like fire in his veins, and it was exhilarating although short lived.

"Sure," Ichigo said, steeling himself enough to look into Grimmjow's eyes.

"You said you weren't a good fighter, but I don't believe you. So I'd like to see you again, and I'd like to fight. Would that be okay?"

"Yeah," Ichigo replied at just a whisper. "I'd...like that."

Grimmjow grinned again and took Ichigo's phone from his hand, typing in his name and phone number. As they reached the front of the store, he handed it back to him. Ichigo reached out to take it, and just as his hand met the larger one it clamped down and pulled him forward. Without enough time to process what was happening, Ichigo felt something soft touch his lips. He tasted a floral tea mixed with something spicy-sweet.

Kissing me, Ichigo thought, stunned. He is kissing me...

Ichigo's brain may not have been working, but his body went into autopilot. He to a small step forward, closing most of the space between them, before reaching up a hand and resting it on Grimmjow's neck. It was unadulterated bliss, but almost as soon and it had began, it was over. Grimmjow pulled away, and Ichigo could swear he saw the pensive and slightly sad look from earlier marring his face before he grinned.

"I thought you didn't want to go back to jail," Ichigo said breathlessly.

"That was worth it," he said, voice barely a whisper and lips so close Ichigo felt the words bounce of his collarbones. He blushed again. He watched as Grimmjow turned around and raised a hand in a wave.

"Plus," he said over his shoulder, "in other countries that's just a greeting. Pig's pick me up and I'll tell them I'm foreign."

Ichigo could see the cheeky smirk he must be wearing in his mind.

"Are you foreign," Ichigo called out to him, a smile creeping onto his on face.

"Hell if I know, kid."

With that Ichigo went home, trudged up the stairs to his bed and laid down, hoping he would dream of blue. Ichigo swore he could still taste the burn of Grimmjow's lips as he lay awake, wondering if it was too late to make a call.