"Of confrontations and special foods"
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.
Summary: Ichigo makes a rash decision which leads to the unfortunate situation of him being stuck with Grimmjow. Learning someone to be human is tougher than it seems, especially when that someone is supposed to be your enemy.
Post-war. Friendship fanfiction.
Hello, all. This is the first time I'm writing Ichigo and Grimmjow, and the first time I'm making an attempt at First Person POV. No beta. Feel free to be critical in reviews.
Feedback is highly appreciated!
Thank you Cynoyonrae for the helpful review!
Now that I'm in my bed, I can affirm with certainty that this was a very awkward day.
I feel drained of energy. Like I've been babysitting a kid for a whole day. A very disobedient, loud kid that is never pleased.
Dinner was... quite the experience. While Grimmjow didn't seem too fond of traditional food, he told me he loves hotdogs, pizza and burgers. Thanks Urahara, for serving him the most healthy foods available. I told him we would go to town and get some fastfood when things have settled down. The mere thought of it makes me nervous already. I must admit that either Urahara did a good job of teaching him table manners, or either Aizen did. I doubt that though, since Grimmjow used to eat nothing but souls.
Right now, I realize that it does feel like a sleepover, as I'm watching Grimmjow trying to get comfortable under his covers. I'm in my pj's, he's in his pj's – or rather, a pair of sweatpants I gave him – and I'm about to turn of the lamp on my bedside table.
I have to admit that although I'm not entirely convinced yet that Grimmjow won't strangle me in my sleep, I've grown a bit used to his presence already. I guess it's of no use to keep fighting this situation. It's obviously a pain for me as well as for him. So we're both stuck in this, and there won't be a reasonable way out unless we both try to make something of it. That's just my two cents, of course. For all I know Grimmjow is now plotting my demise. But I highly doubt it. We haven't fought yet, and for a first day, I think I can say that's an achievement.
I think he's finally settled in his makeshift bed. I turn off the lamp and get comfortable myself.
And suddenly the atmosphere is all weird again. I know we're both awake, probably both staring at the ceiling, but we don't speak. Every couple of minutes a car passes by and the headlights create a glow against my closet. With my former enemy being so physically close – I can hear his breathing – it's hard not to reminiscence.
"You wanna know why I got you out of there?"
I hear he turns his head towards me by the ruffling of the sheets and pillow.
"The fight we had was different from the others I had in Hueco Mundo. Like the fight with Nnoitra, Ulquiorra... I guess... I considered you... a worthy opponent," I say, though a bit hesitant.
More ruffling of the sheets. I think I've got his full attention now.
"Considered..." he repeats, "So you don't consider me that anymore now?"
I let out a weak laugh. "We're not opponents anymore, Grimmjow."
He doesn't say anything. And after about twenty minutes, I realize he's not gonna say anything anymore.
"Night, Grimmjow."
A short, powerful silence follows, and I wonder if I said something wrong when for a moment I think he's ignoring me.
"Night, Kurosaki."
We're still okay.
My alarm clock goes off way too soon. Still half sleeping, I wonder if it's a dream – or a terrible nightmare – when I turn on the light and glance sideways to find Grimmjow still asleep on the ground next to my bed. My heart jumps in my chest and if I'd been more awake, I might've gasped in shock. Then everything sinks in again. Oh yeah. Grimmjow is my new roommate now, how could I forget something so trivial. I would've smiled if it wouldn't have been so damn weird.
I blink a couple of times to get the sleepy haze out and look at him again. He's underneath a bunch of crumpled sheets, his mouth is wide open – I can see his fangs - and he's... making a weird noise. It sounds like... purring? I take it he's content? Oh God, remind me not to mention this when he's awake. I think he might start a killing spree like back in the old days. Yes, Grimmjow is very sensitive about his cat like nature. Even though it's obviously there, he denies everything.
Carefully – this is a person you would not like to step on - I find my way to the end of my bed and get out of it. I guess I'll try not to wake him up while I get ready for school. Still sleepy, I search my closet for clothes and get dressed.
School, ugh. I honestly don't feel like going. It means I'll see my friends there, including the ones who joined me in the war, and thus I'll have to tell them about my... situation. I'm still annoyed with the quiet treatment Renji was giving me at the Shoten.
Orihime and the rest know about me getting Grimmjow out of Hueco Mundo of course, they were there, but I guess they thought he'd be sentenced in Soul Society – I did too. The mere thought of my friends being pissed at me makes me feel guilty already. I mean, I'm not a traitor, right? I hope they'll understand that this is something I can't get away from, since Soul Society holds me responsible for Grimmjow.
As much as I don't feel like going, unfortunately I can't afford to miss more school. And so it happens that I find myself entering the building after a short walk. I can't help but feel like I did something wrong when I spot Orihime, Uryu and Chad. A sinking feeling sets in. Orihime waves. and I know I can't get out of this one. Might as well get it over with.
"Hey guys," I greet them. I feel the smile on my face isn't as big as I want it to be.
"Kurosaki-kun!"
I join their group and try to get comfortable, putting my hands in my pockets. I tend to fidget sometimes when I'm nervous.
"You look tired," Uryu remarks.
I cast my friends a small smile and scratch the back of my head. "Yeah, well, I didn't sleep too much last night..."
"Well, try not to fall asleep in class," the Quincy smirks. "Come on guys, we should go to class."
They take off and I find myself walking behind them. It's difficult to bring something up this big, you know? It's not like I can casually say 'Oh hey, by the way, Grimmjow lives at my place now.'
"Kurosaki-kun... are you alright?"
Orihime. That girl sees everything. It's extraordinary, really, how she can read a person.
"Yeah, I'm fine... It's just... I've had some business with Urahara yesterday, and I'm not sure how to feel about it." I'm not lying, am I? Doing good, so far.
"What happened?" she asks quietly, as if not sure if she should ask or not. Such a sweet person, she is.
I don't think Uryu and Chad can hear us, walking silently in front of us. The hall is crowded with students. When classes are about to start, chaos ensues and people crawl around in all directions.
"I..."
I can't get it over my lips... Not right before class. I know how she is. She'll be upset. But out of all people, I think Orihime might understand. She was there too. Hell, she was kept at Las Noches. She met all the Espada, saw them living around there. It was her who healed Grimmjow's arm, and later a lot more of his injuries. In fact, it was me who told her to do it.
Maybe she'll understand.
"I- I...Orihime... Would you mind coming to my place to talk after school? There's something I need to show you."
She looks at me with compassionate eyes and smiles warmly. "Of course!"
After school I wait for Orihime outside the classroom. She comes out cheerfully talking with her friends, clutching her school books against her chest with her arms. Tatsuki waves her a last 'See you tomorrow' before going off in the opposite direction.
"Kurosaki-kun."
"Thanks for coming along, Inoue."
We walk towards the school exit while other students pass us by. Suddenly the sinking feeling in my gut is back with a vengeance. Not only do I feel bad about what I'm about to get her involved with, but also for not having told Uryu and Chad today. They have the right to know too. Heck, I won't be able to keep Grimmjow inside forever, not with his temperamental nature. They're gonna face each other sooner or later. But I should give them a warning, at least.
I sigh.
"Kurosaki... There's nothing wrong in Soul Society, is there?" she asks, a bit hesitantly. Her eyes are suddenly filled with worry.
"No, Soul Society is doing fine, really," I gesture.
A look of relief washes the worries away from her face. "That's good. How are Renji? And Rukia?"
Somehow I'm not sure what to say. I haven't talked to Rukia in a while to be honest. She's been busy at Soul Society, organizing and rebuilding everything that was destroyed in the war. I hear Ukitake-soutaichou has plans to have her promoted to fukutaichou. And if anyone deserves to be a lieutenant, it's her, really. She'd do an awesome job. But Byakuya's not very pleased about it.
"Rukia's fine. I hear Ukitake would like her to be fukutaichou! But her brother disapproves, of course," I say, smirking.
"That's wonderful news!"
"Yeah. Renji's fine too, I guess. I saw him at the Shoten yesterday."
While we walk to my place, we continue to chat about Soul Society and our shinigami friends. While it seems to be getting colder outside – winter's now too far away anymore - the walk does me good and I enjoy talking with my friend again.
Before we know it, we're in front of my house and my heart does a double take. My fingers shake when I take my keys and open the lock, after the third attempt to jam the key in, that is.
"Are you alright, Kurosaki-kun?"
"I'm fine, really. Let's go upstairs," I say. I'm so nervous I just want to get this over with.
"Alright."
When I reach for the door handle of my room, I cast Orihime a last gaze. "Don't be frightened..." I say quietly. She must be thinking I'm keeping a horrible monster in my room by now, or that I'm going completely insane. She throws me a comforting smile and nods.
The sight I stumble upon when I open the door to my room is unbelievable.
My room is littered with all kinds of things. In a single glance I spot a few empty bags of chips, an empty box of cookies, an empty jar of Frankfurter sausages – what in the hell – and about ten cans of coke spread all over the floor.
"What the hell?" I murmur quietly to myself.
In the center of the rampage is Grimmjow, sitting legs crossed on his futon. He doesn't even look up when I enter the room, and continues to stuff a cookie in his mouth unbothered. In his other hand is a can of coke, and on his legs there's a magazine which he's apparently inspecting very carefully.
"Hey!" I shout. I'm trying to accentuate my anger here, but apparently Grimmjow takes it as a friendly hello. With that, his gazes travels to my face lazily.
"Oh, hey, Shinigami," he says roughly. And without further ado, he continues to stare in the magazine. Since when do I have car magazines anyway? What the hell is he thinking, making a garbage dump of my room? My room. Mine!
On top of all things, Orihime is still standing behind me.
"Kurosaki-kun?" I hear her high voice behind me. My reaction of shock and disapproval didn't go passed her unnoticed. I guess there's no other option than to show her what the hell I've done to myself.
"Orihime..." I say, with a very small voice.
I open the door and stand aside so she can look inside. The look on her face is pure shock. She gasps and holds her hands close to her chest. Instinctively she takes a step back.
"Ichigo..." she speaks, breathlessly, "That is..."
I slowly reach out for her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. She flinches a bit and I tighten my grip a little. "Don't worry, Orihime..."
"Hey, woman!" Grimmjow's looking up from his activities, still holding a half eaten cookie in his hand. His grin is wide and feral. "Ha! Long time no see."
He seems... amused. And Orihime seems to be totally lost. Her questioning gaze moves back and forth to me and Grimmjow. "Kurosaki-kun?"
"It's safe, Inoue. Don't worry..."
Grimmjow's still looking at us, smiling sheepishly. "Didn't expect to see me again, did you, woman? Ha!"
Apparently, Grimmjow still enjoys to play with people.
"Grimmjow," I say firlmy, "Be nice."
I kind of put my arm around Orihime's shoulders to make her feel safe. But suddenly she lunges forward and I can't believe what I'm hearing anymore.
"Grimmjow-san! You have healed from your wounds!" she exclaims enthusiastically.
"Yeah," the former Espada says proudly, "and I'm in a gigai now, see?" he gestures after he closes the magazine and shoves it aside.
Orihime puts her hands together again and closes the distance between her and Grimmjow even more. I'm still standing right here, dumbfounded. Could it be that she's happy to see him?
"Oh, I see, I see! I thought you would've been punished in Soul Society!"
Grimmjow smirks and points his thumb at himself. "Ha! Don't think so."
Orihime turns and looks at me. Her expression isn't worried or scared, at all. "Kurosaki! Is Grimmjow living with your family now?" she asks excited.
I try to smile a little. Don't want to ruin her happy moment, you know?
"I guess so... Ukitake want me to be responsible for him. So I had no choice. Urahara wants me to get him adjusted to living a human life, so hopefully he can live on his own someday…"
The last part of what I say completely disappears because of Orihime's enthusiastic gasp.
"I see!" she claps her hands together. "I can help! I did lots of stuff with Matsumoto-san when she was at my place. It's weird for them to be in the human world for the first time! So I think it's the same for Grimmjow-san because- Oh, I can make special foods! If he wants special foods he can-"
"It's okay, Inoue. We'll manage!" I quickly interrupt her. Don't want Grimmjow to die of food poisoning just yet. It would make me seem like a horrible caretaker.
But Grimmjow's not agreeing with me on that one. "Shut up, Kurosaki! I want the special foods."
Orihime claps her hands again and turns towards Grimmjow. "That's great! I love to cook. When Matsumoto-san was staying with me I..."
At that moment, I stop listening to what Orihime is saying, or rather spewing at Grimmjow. The look on his face and the frown of his eyebrows speaks that he's having trouble following her trail of information as well. My mind wanders off, thinking that maybe, things are not so bad as I thought they'd be.
Thank you so much for the positive feedback. Please feel free to be critical as the story goes on. If you have suggestions, ideas, etc. don't hesitate to include them in a review!