Why, hello again! I hope you're happy that I've finally decided to show up with a new chapter...

I'm going to tell you straight in the face - I'm not happy with it. If I started to count all the things I'm not pleased with, I'd probably spoil your fun... Anyway, as usual, I still hope you're going to like it.

And, just in the case you're wondering, "Hakai" was great. I've tried reading "Makura no soshi", but as it is a dairy of a court lady, I simply couldn't stand it... Let's not delve into further explanation, because there might be someone who might want to lecture me on why and how that book is great...

As for the chapter, I was waiting for MageOnx to review it first (and coolly murder my heart of glass), but she was taking her sweet time, so I went and posted it without her stamp of approval. It's not like I'd ever change anything even if she did review it...

Anyway, please enjoy the chapter, even if it is silly.

CHAPTER 4: Wishful Thinking

The best way to deal with stupid statements that are most likely a joke or a lie is to ignore them completely, and act as if you have never heard them. Or not.

It was probably past midnight already. Everything slept soundly, covered in the dark of the night that surrounded them. Everything except an occasional cricket and Karakura's own Substitute Shinigami-san, who was currently struggling to get more (personal) space in his overly packed futon. Luckily for Ichigo, Grimmjow decided (of his own free will!) that sleeping nude would provide too much skinship for Ichigo, so he compromised.

He decided half-naked is as good as anything.

So, he was now lying there, sleeping like a dead man and tightly squeezing Ichigo in a hug worthy of a professional wrestler. Naturally, Ichigo tried to break free. If you have ever tried to shake a sleeping cat off of your arm which it hugged in the process, then you can imagine how much success Ichigo's action brought to him. None whatsoever.

After some time, Ichigo gave up on trying to escape.

'No use.' – thought he – 'He just keeps gripping me tighter.'

He started sweating somewhere along the way, and now it started to be really irritating. It wasn't exactly the nicest thing, to have your bed-mate's (Ichigo shivered at the thought) skin glued to your own via sweat. It was disgusting, especially because it was another man.

In that moment, while Ichigo was pondering on the question of why people sweat, Grimmjow gripped Ichigo even tighter, causing him to produce a light, exaggerated choking sound. It seemed to Ichigo that his enemy, although asleep, is still trying to kill him. It was creepy…

But, Grimmjow smelled really nice. It was kind of a strong, manly, yet really attractive scent. It made you feel kind of light-headed… Ichigo cursed himself for thinking about something so stupid… From his current position, Ichigo could best look at Grimmjow's arms, firmly placed around his torso. Well, not look, as much as feel all of that man around him. His arms, his torso, his legs. His heavy chin and his light breathing. Grimmjow was strong, really strong, and it made Ichigo feel a bit weird. He suddenly felt really small under the big Espada. But, back then, Ichigo, brimming with confidence, defeated Grimmjow. Now, it twisted into horrible remorse, chewing his gut from the inside. Losing from just some kid must have terribly hurt the pride of such a strong and beautiful man. If Ichigo was in his shoes, he wouldn't have been able to stand it. Well, Grimmjow himself wasn't exactly taking it stoically... Oi! Did he just a couple of seconds ago thought that Grimmjow was beautiful? What the hell's with that?! Well, thinking about it objectively, it could be said that Grimmjow was actually really sexy maybe. Women were probably throwing themselves at him. And, he had a sort of charm? It was obvious other guys really appreciated him. It could be read from his Fraccion… Ichigo concluded something fishy was placed in his dinner tonight. There's no way he would consciously think of something so disgusting by his own free will.

And, with those thoughts, Ichigo was slowly drifting to sleep. Mixed feelings saw him off to the deeper realms of sleep. There was a bit of bitterness, coming from a sort of jealousy, a bit of crazy panic and anger, and there was something that caught the last remains of his consciousness; a feeling of Grimmjow's arms around him. It evocated the memory of his mother, and that distant and nostalgic feeling of having someone special who cares about you.

In the morning, he forgot all about it, but even if he didn't, he could probably only remember something that could be placed under the category of wishful thinking. Or not?

IIIIIIIIIIIII

The morning came way too soon, in Ichigo's opinion. The ridiculously persistent light of the new day might as well not be there, because he didn't exactly notice it until he really came back to the reality. What cruelly awoke him was the presence of cool air on all the tender and warmed up parts of his body due to the lack of Grimmjow's skin on them. The now cooled off sweat made the entire effect even worse. The realisation that he missed Grimmjow was the worst. The thought that he only missed him as a blanket was kind of comforting. As well as freakishly disturbing.

Well, since he was awake now, he might as well start with the new day! Positively and without any trace of Grimmjow, if possible. He tried to boost up his own morale as he stretched, still sitting at the futon. It came to him that rain was falling outside, which meant the end of the insufferable heat of this week. It was a good thing, because training will be much easier at a normal temperature.

And just when Ichigo's morning was taking its turn for the better, Grimmjow, of course, had to come to check up on him.

"Oh! I see you finally woke up!" – he growled slamming the slide doors behind him, making them slide back open because of the force.

"It's incredible how you always appear when I least want you to appear." – commented Ichigo earnestly, ready to start a fight. So much for starting the day positively and without a trace of Grimmjow.

"Glad to see your little slow brain finally understands how incredible I am."- retorted Grimmjow with a grin.

He was in a bad mood, because the stupid rain meant that making the brat train outside would need much more energy then he wanted to spend on the task. But, when the brat made that default frowning face of his, Grimmjow's mood brightened quite a bit. Earlier, that defiant face would have pissed him off like nothing else. But, from last night onwards, everything changed. Somehow, seeing the kid sleep had set a whole new perspective. When Ichigo slept his usual serious face melted into a completely relaxed and blessed smile just at the corner of his lips, but a ghost of his frown still sat at his brow. With his back arched as he slept on his side, his arms were tightly hugging Grimmjow's as he snuggled closer to them. Ichigo back then was really cute, like a kitten. Comparing that to his tough guy act when he was awake made his default frowning face seem funny.

He really was like a fluffy little kitten trying to walk proudly, but ending up just cutely swaggering around the house.

"Now get your little slow ass out of the bed and go eat breakfast. You'll need all the strength you can muster to endure me pounding you into the ground."-added Grimmjow with the craziest grin he could offer.

Ichigo frowned at him. There was something off about what Grimmjow said, but Ichigo couldn't exactly point it out.

"I will. Now, go away, I have to change." – he said nonchalantly.

"OK. I'll wait for you right here." –retorted Grimmjow in the same tone, staring intently at Ichigo. He was obviously teasing him.

Ichigo knew that if he tried to object, Grimmjow would just tease the hell out of him. Out of the blue, Ichigo envisioned himself stripping in front of Grimmjow in a slow-motion exaggeratedly shy manner often seen in comedy ecchi anime complete with sparkling pink background filled with shiny bubbles made of soap, lacy underwear and embarrassing and stupid lines such as: "Okay-dokey~! But no peaking~!" accompanied with exaggerated blush, exaggerated "Oooh~!" sound effects and sparkly eyes.

He facepalmed. What the hell was wrong with his brain? If it really was due to food, maybe he should skip the breakfast. Otherwise, he should definitely cut his hanging around Keigo and Kon to minimum. The really crazy thing was, if he had done that impression of an ecchi anime character, maybe he would have shocked Grimmjow into being afraid of him. But, now the idea mortified him to such extent that he wouldn't be able to do it now, even he wanted to…

In the end, he decided he should skip the breakfast just to be on the safe side.

But, he'll have to deal with Grimmjow first.

IIIIIIIIIIIII

Grimmjow stared at Ichigo intently. His grinning revealed his overly sharp white teeth. If you stared too long, you got the feeling as if they're going to be used to rip your throat any minute now.

Ichigo stared too long. But, the little breath of horror never stirred the hair at the back of his neck. He got an excellent idea how to deal with the problem of Grimmjow trying to embarrass him.

"What the hell are you doing?"- Grimmjow asked with amusement obvious in his voice.

Ichigo fixated Grimmjow with the best neutral look on a poker face he could offer, which turned out to be quite a ridiculous grimace. He took the blanket that was lying near him on the futon and wrapped himself in it so that only his head was visible.

"I'm changing. Isn't it obvious?"- he said, starting to change underneath the blanket, all the while fixating Grimmjow with his ridiculous grimace.

Grimmjow barely gulped down the laughter that was threatening to burst out. The damned brat was so cute! The move he just did looked so stupid, that it was simply cute. And the face! If he lingered around anymore, he probably wouldn't be able to sustain his laughter anymore. Since keeping his image intact was important, Grimmjow decided to draw back as casually and coolly as he could. In the back of his mind, he noted the sudden change in his relationship with Ichigo. Since when was he so friendly with the brat? Referring to the kid with his first name, what the hell? Was he going soft? Why? Ichigo was his most hated enemy. And he still owned him a rematch. There was no reason to be nice to him…

Suddenly it hit him. He stiffened and his mood instantly blackened.

"Just hurry up with it, you idiot." – he breathed out and went out of the room.

Ichigo grinned with triumph. He just got close to evening out the score with Grimmjow. But, just now, Grimmjow didn't seem to be as in a good mood as like a couple of seconds ago. Did Ichigo do something to piss him off?

IIIIIIIIIIIII

'I'm in love with the brat.'-thought Grimmjow while slowly walking down the corridor. The thought turned into a thick shadow hanging above his head. He growled silently.

'I, of all people! And it had to be him.' He stopped and rubbed his eyes with one hand, while placing the other into the gap of his white hakama. Resuming the walk, he shook his head.

'Never mind… Fucking moment of weakness... Haven't had a lay lately, so desire just kicked in… Yeah, it's probably that.' The unpleasant feeling of telling a lie reared his ugly head in Grimmjow's mind.

"Who are you fooling?" –he smirked bitterly to himself.

'Just ignore it!' –he continued to think, frowning –'It'll pass. It always does. It'll pass just like a bad cold…'

IIIIIIIIIIIII

Urahara lazily sipped his tea. Normally, he would be smiling and teasing poor Renji who was now busy being overworked in the store, but today he had other things on his mind. And Renji seemed to notice that too.

"Today you're not as annoying as usual." –said he leaning on the broomstick he was sweeping the floor with. –"What's the catch?"

"My~! Me? Annoying? What a horrible thing to say, Abarai-san~!" –Urahara replied instantly in his cheerful sing-song voice.

"But, it's just as you say." –he sighed and continued seriously –"This 'Stolen Reishi Device Case' is starting to really bother me."

"What do you mean by that?" – Rukia chimed in, coming into the room and sitting near Urahara. –"Have you found something out or…?"

"No, not really." – he sighed. Both Rukia and Renji were looking at him intently.

"This… Device is a recent invention. It's still filed under a code and not a real name, and I'm slightly worried about what would happen if the device went out of control… But, what bothers me even more is this case. The device was stolen, that we know; but not a single trace of evidence?! We haven't a single clue. Not even a suspect. Not even the idea of who might be the culprit… No matter how you look at the things, there simply has to be evidence. But there is nothing. As if it vanished into thin air. To make it even worse, it's been over two weeks now since the time it was stolen." –he sighed -"I'm afraid our only option now is to wait for the device to be used."

"We really have no other option, huh?" –Renji asked no one in particular.

Everything fell into silence. Rukia stared at her hands, and Renji fixated the floor with a tense look on his face. Urahara took another sip of his tea.

"However… There was one interesting thing in the entire development." The other two raised their heads in question.

"Kurosaki-san…" –Urahara smiled slyly –"He was acting a bit weird the other day, wasn't he?"

Renji started: "Don't tell me!..."

"He had found something out?!" – Rukia finished.

"Oi, oi. Wasn't it a bit obvious?" – asked Urahara slightly disappointed –"Him wanting to train all of a sudden and such."

"Well, yeah. I though he just wanted to prepare, just in case…" – Renji trailed off.

"So, he did found out something new? Then why haven't he said so?" – asked Rukia.

"I'm afraid I don't know the answer to any of those questions." –smiled Urahara sadly –"But, if he did, he must have had a really good reason not to say anything to us. For now, we should place our trust in him."

"That idiot." – said Rukia, and smiled – "Yeah, you're probably right. He must have had a really good reason."

"He better have!" – grinned Renji – "Anyway, whatever happens we'll be sure to watch his back. Just like we always did."

In that moment, Orihime entered the room announcing the first round of barbecue ready to be eaten.

IIIIIIIIIIIII

Later that evening, falling onto the futon, Ichigo barely resisted the urge to wince at the amount of damage he took. This day reminded him why Grimmjow was one of two people on his 'Really Messed-up Opponents List'. Although not as difficult to harm nor as scary as Kenpachi, Grimmjow was a tough opponent. His fighting style is crazy! Other people fight with classic moves or predictable patterns, while Grimmjow seems like he's improvising the majority of his hits. Not to mention that he's ridiculously sturdy and has unspendable energy. But, Ichigo did notice a possible trap Grimmjow has set for himself. He likes to play with his enemy, but he also gets bored with things fast. And when you get bored, your motivation declines. And in a fight, motivation can be the little thing that can flip the whole match around and decide the winner. Ichigo knew that very well, that's why he planned on using it in their training… But still! It's almost like… No, Grimmjow is having fun beating people to a pulp. Just like Kenpachi. Ichigo shivered, and made a mental note to never let those two meet each other.

He winced as he tried to change his pose. Almost couldn't believe Grimmjow called the today's training 'testing the waters'.

'The damned bastard sure got stronger since the last time I fought him.' – he thought.

In that moment he heard the slide doors opening, and closed his eyes to pretend he's asleep. It was Grimmjow, he knew, slightly limping from their training fight from today.

'I got him good.'-thought Ichigo smugly.

"Oi, brat!" – Grimmjow threw a slightly wet towel over Ichigo's head. –"Aren't ya gonna take a bath?"

Ichigo made sure not to budge a millimetre. The towel smelled like Grimmjow. It made him feel that slightly weird, but pleasant sensation of light-headedness again. He managed to stop himself before he took a deep breath.

'Stupid smell pervert!'- he yelled at himself inwardly, now nearly sorry for not having at least one broken bone in his body.

Grimmjow then lifted up the towel. "Huh? You asleep?" Ichigo made sure he made the best sleeping impression he could.

"Brat."- was all that Grimmjow said. He sat on the floor, grunting at the pain in his leg (Every hair at the back of Ichigo's neck stood up at the sound), and started drying himself off with the towel. His breathing was occasionally cut with tired sighs and grunts due to his wounded leg, and because of that Ichigo literally felt his face turning red. Even the dark of his closed eyes turned red. He could hear his own heart beats inside his head.

'Oh m-… What the-… What is he doing?!'- Ichigo yelled inwardly. And like a last idiot on this planet, he went and tried to peek at Grimmjow, but he met face to face with those psychotically blue eyes. Grimmjow was now lying down on his back, next to the futon.

"I knew it." –he grinned – "What the hell are you peeking at, you dirty little pervert?"

Ichigo's face turned maroon with shame. He spluttered and mumbled trying to form a coherent excuse.

"You thought I was getting off?"- Grimmjow sounded much more amused then he should have been. –"Didn't you?"

The whole new level of shame gave Ichigo enough strength to hastily get up on his feet, mumble 'Have to take a bath!' and dash for the bathroom.

Unluckily, he wasn't fast enough not to hear Grimmjow's cackle echo through the room:

"Ya'll be punished for that, just so you know!"

Too bad for Grimmjow, it seems his bad cold is far from leaving him.

People really enjoy drinking tea (or in Grimmjow's case entering the rooms more or less dramatically) in this fic, don't they?

Anyway, I'm not really sure whether 'unspendable' is a real word or not, but just in case, I'll let you know it means "not spendable".

Also, writing this fic made me realise once again that reality, in fact, is relative. How I arrived at that obvious-but-not-really-obvious conclusion, you ask? I figured some people might not agree with every little thing I pull off with this fic, simply because they think (or to phrase it better: to them) it's not realistic. The key thing is in that 'to them'. Everybody has their own reality, and that's one of the World's great marvels. Yes, I'm done being philosophical. But, I do have that customary question I have at the end of almost every chapter.

Since I know you love music, I'm free to presume you have that one particular song that's always been to you a GrimmIchi song. My question is: Which one is it? And why? :D

Also, I want you to know I'm already on the 5th chapter, so if everything runs smoothly, you'll be reading that one in no time. But, I'm making no promises!