Chapter 4:

Two weeks later and Ichigo still hadn't heard from Grimmjow, he was starting to get worried that the man really wasn't going to contact him. Shiro hadn't been in touch either, which wasn't very surprising. His twin liked to appear without word occasionally before disappearing again for weeks, sometimes months on end.

It had been another long day at Urahara's, Ichigo hadn't stopped all day and was looking forward to just sitting down and doing nothing. Of course, he never did have good luck and it seemed he was in for another eventful night when he stepped into his flat and came face-to-face with the front end of a gun.

Several things ran through Ichigo's mind in that instant. Who was this person? What did they want? How did they find him? Was this Shiro's fault? Quite often it was his brothers fault, and he always ended up taking the blame because they looked so similar, despite their obvious differences. Whoever this was though, they didn't want to take his life, at least not yet or he would've been dead the moment he opened the door.

Ichigo cursed himself for being so stupid and letting his guard down, he should've known someone had broken in again, maybe it was time to move since it obviously wasn't safe here. But then again, he could be overthinking the situation, this could just be a normal robbery and he the unfortunate victim. Unlikely scenario, but still possible.

All these thoughts passed through his head in a matter of seconds, he was trained to think on his feet and this was precisely the situation for it. The room was dark, so he couldn't see who was pointing the gun at him, but Ichigo was pretty sure they were male, he doubted they'd send a woman after him if they knew who he was.

There was only one thing for it, he would have to bluff it. If this person knew who he was, then they would call him out, if not then he was in the advantage. Licking his lips, Ichigo eyed the gun apprehensively and held up his hands, taking a small step back. "W-what do you want? If you want money, I don't have any." Ichigo was quite proud of himself to say the least, he even managed to make his voice sound shaky, if that wasn't a convincing act, he didn't know what was.

The man, it was definitely a man, chuckled. Ichigo's eyes widened in realisation at the familiar sound and he relaxed slightly. Batting the gun away, Ichigo grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer, reaching behind with his other hand to turn the light on.

"Here was me thinking you weren't interested." Ichigo grabbed his wrist once the light turned on, keeping the gun pointed away from him, just in case. "So what do you want Grimmjow?"

He rose an eyebrow, catching Ichigo's chin with his free hand to lift his head. "There's something about you I can't quite put my finger on." He murmured, leaning down and Ichigo felt his breath catch in his throat, it was so unfair he'd be attracted to this man. "And I can't decide if that makes you a danger, or I'm being paranoid."

"Maybe it's both." Ichigo stood up on his tiptoes to press a quick kiss to Grimmjow's lips before breaking free from his hold. He was sure now that he wasn't going to get shot, if he was, the man would've already done it. "So you came all the way here to point a gun at me? I'm not sure if I feel privileged or let down by that."

Pulling a key from his pocket, Ichigo unlocked the fridge. Yes, in the end he had decided to lock it so Shiro didn't raid it again. On his salary he couldn't afford to keep feeding Shiro and his bottomless pit of a stomach and he wasn't going to start using his emergency funds on something he should be able to afford.

"You didn't react like a normal person would to this." Grimmjow held up the gun before placing it on the table as Ichigo handed him a beer.

The orange head shrugged, opening his before nodding at the weapon. "I grew up in a rough neighbourhood, I'm used to guns." The less lies he told Grimmjow, the less likely he was to be found out, even if it was only partial truths. For a moment Ichigo thought back to what had happened to his mother before giving himself a shake, coming back to the present, he couldn't afford to lose himself in memories. "So why are you here? It's been two weeks, you never called so I assumed you weren't interested."

This time it was Grimmjow who shrugged. "Like I said, there's something about you I can't figure out. So I did a little digging, turns out you're quite straight-laced. Never had a run in with the police?" Ichigo shook his head, sending a mental thanks to Shiro for helping him sort out a new identity when leaving the Visored's. "Ichigo Shiba huh? It's a nice name."

"Thanks, it was my mother's, my father was never around much when I was a kid." Ichigo frowned, leaning back against the counter to observe Grimmjow carefully, not that he was the only one doing this. "So you're here to interrogate me?"

"No, not really. I'm here because I wanted to see you again, is there something wrong with that?" Grimmjow placed the beer down next to the gun and for a fleeting second, Ichigo believed he was going to pick it up again to shoot him. But he didn't, instead he walked over to Ichigo and cradled his head between his hands. "I can't get you out of my head, no matter what I do. Surely there's a reason for it?"

"Maybe you're in love with me." Ichigo teased, placing his own drink down.

Grimmjow smiled, it wasn't a cocky one like he usually wore, but it reached his eyes and Ichigo felt a part of him crumble at the sight. Life was too unfair, but maybe this was his punishment for the choices he made and the life he led. "Not yet I'm not."

His eyes fluttered shut as Grimmjow closed the gap between them and kissed him again. He couldn't help but respond and quickly found himself backed into the counter. "Hey, wait a sec." Ichigo pulled back, grinning at Grimmjow before stepping away from him, towards the bedroom. "Give me two minutes."

When he nodded, Ichigo quickly walked into his bedroom and let out a sigh, Grimmjow had been way too close to finding his own gun then. Pulling it out, Ichigo looked around the room and quickly hid the weapon in his sock drawer, the likelihood Grimmjow was going to look there was very slim and if he asked, Ichigo could tell him it was just a precaution.

Glancing at his watch, Ichigo saw he had already wasted a minute and set about grabbing the clothes littering the floor to shove away from view. He wasn't expecting guests tonight and he'd be damned if he was going to let Grimmjow see his dirty underwear littering the floor. Thirty seconds left and Ichigo stripped, throwing his clothes onto the chair and he had just sat down on the bed when Grimmjow came in.

"So you're punctual too?" Ichigo looked up, grinning as Grimmjow approached him and scooted to the edge of the bed, beginning to undo the man's belt. "One of the many things I like about you."

Grimmjow snorted, raising an eyebrow. "You don't know me."

"Quite the opposite actually, I know a lot about you." Ichigo paused, allowing Grimmjow to finish pulling his trousers off before pushing him down onto the bed, sitting on top of him. "I know you're gay, or at least bi. You're daring, otherwise you wouldn't have spent the night with me before or be here now. Maybe even dangerous since you carry around a gun." Pausing again, Ichigo sighed, placing a hand flat to the older males chest. "And you believe in love, despite the world we live in."

"What world is that?"

Ichigo started slightly, not realising he'd slipped up. "The one where people carry guns around and shoot others. The one with drug dealers and gun trading and Yakuza. The world where there's no place for love."

Grimmjow sat up suddenly, frowning at him. "Is that your world too?"

"No, it almost was but I escaped and I don't plan on going back." Ichigo sighed, giving himself another shake. He was revealing too much about himself to Grimmjow, at this rate his cover would be blown before the end of the night. But he couldn't help it, he trusted Grimmjow, despite the fact he was the leader of the Espada. "I'm not Yakuza, and I don't ever plan to be." He told the other firmly, pleased to see he relaxed slightly at the statement.

"Good, you don't want to be." Grimmjow murmured quietly, almost to himself as he caught a strand of Ichigo's hair, twirling it around his finger. "That's enough talking, don't you think?"

Ichigo grinned, rocking his hips into Grimmjow's as he leaned in to kiss him. "Definitely."

…

Ichigo sat up, hugging his knees and rested his head on his arms before turning to look at Grimmjow. The man was laying on his front, Ichigo couldn't tell if he was asleep or not. The covers weren't pulled up completely so he could see Grimmjow's back and he frowned, reaching out to trace over the tattoo he hadn't previously noticed. It was a number six, inked into his skin in a black gothic text and Ichigo knew what it meant.

"Sexta…" The word had barley left his mouth and in an instant he was on his back, hands pinned above his head and Grimmjow had his free hand around his throat.

"How do you know that?" Grimmjow asked in a low voice and Ichigo felt the hand around his throat tighten slightly. "Answer the question."

He wasn't shouting, which just made it worse, Grimmjow didn't need to raise his voice, Ichigo was plenty afraid as it was. Ichigo was yet again cursing himself, he didn't do this, he never made so many slip ups. It was Grimmjow, he just kept forgetting he was the enemy, he couldn't trust him and this was were it landed him. One wrong move and he could be dead. It didn't matter that they had just sex, or that there was a mutual attraction, if Grimmjow thought he was a danger, then he was dead.

"Ichigo, answer the question."

He blinked, swallowing thickly before he replied. "I grew up in a rough neighbourhood remember? Rumours of the Sexta got around, but I always thought he was an urban legend you know? But you're real." Grimmjow's grip on his hands loosened enough that he got one free and he grabbed the man's wrist, pulling his hand slightly away from his throat. "Grimmjow let go, please?"

After a moment he sighed, releasing him completely and Grimmjow sat up, allowing Ichigo to scoot backwards slightly and sit as well. "Sorry." He murmured, looking down at his hand before clenching it into a fist and he looked up, giving Ichigo a small smile. "You can never be too careful, and I can't take any chances."

"It's ok." Ichigo rubbed his neck, thankful the man hadn't held him too hard so it shouldn't bruise, that would be hard to explain. "I get it, being the Sexta and all, you must've made a few enemies by now." He made a mental note to question Shiro about this later, surely his twin would've told him about this if he knew? "I'm not your enemy." Ichigo wasn't sure if he meant that or not, he was supposed to be Grimmjow's enemy, but he couldn't see the man as that. "Nor will I ever be."

Grimmjow snorted, smiling wryly. "Really? A lot can change Ichigo, just because you like me now, doesn't mean you wont grow to hate me. Plenty of people have." He sighed, shaking his head and raised a hand slowly so Ichigo could watch the movement before cupping the side of his cheek. "That doesn't mean I want you to though, I don't want to have to kill you."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow, grabbing the hand and pulled Grimmjow towards him, knowing he wasn't in any real danger at the present moment. "Oh really? What if I killed you first?" The words held no meaning, Grimmjow could see that since he just smiled.

"And how would you do that?"

"Well I had the perfect opportunity when we last met. After all, you were just lying there sleeping, I could've easily killed you." Ichigo got up to find his phone, showing Grimmjow the picture ho took but quickly held it out of reach when the man tried to take it. "Nu-uh, you ain't deleting it."

Grimmjow's grin quickly turned predatory and Ichigo felt a shiver run down his spine at the sight. He just couldn't understand how this man made him feel like this, how could he be so attracted to him when he knew Grimmjow would kill him given the chance upon finding out who he really was. "Give me the phone Ichigo."

"And if I don't?" He asked, getting out of the bed and started backing towards the door.

"I'll just have to take it from you!" Ichigo let out a laugh as Grimmjow lunged at him, dodging out of the way.

"Too slow!" He called, opening the door and he ran into the main room of the flat, careful to keep the sofa between himself and Grimmjow. "You can't catch me."

"Watch me."

Ichigo managed to evade Grimmjow for a good few minutes, but it was all in vain as he was caught in his small kitchen and held against the table. "This is so unfair." He muttered as Grimmjow took his phone and presumably deleted the photo. "My flat is too small for this, I could outrun you if we had more space."

Grimmjow just hummed, placing the phone on the table before grinning at Ichigo, leaning down to kiss him. "Maybe next time…" He started, kissing down Ichigo's neck and the orange head let out a soft groan. "…we should do this at my place, it's by far bigger so you can try and run all you like."

He stiffened at the thought, looking down to see Grimmjow had reached his stomach and felt something strange. It felt almost as if he had butterflies, but it had been years since he had felt such a thing. Ichigo didn't believe he could feel it anymore, that was until now. This was too easy, he shouldn't have been able to charm Grimmjow this quickly. But maybe it wasn't charm, maybe Grimmjow felt the same as him.

"What's wrong?"

Ichigo blinked, coming back to reality to see Grimmjow had stopped. "Nothing." He replied quickly with a swift smile. "I was just thinking that sounds good, because then I can really test you." Grimmjow stood, Ichigo feeling his cheeks flush as their noses brushed and he cupped the man's face. "Why do you trust me?" He asked quietly, looking at Grimmjow questioningly.

"Give me a reason not to." He replied just as quietly.

Another hesitation, but Ichigo had to know. "Alright, I'm Yakuza. I was sent to gain your trust and infiltrate your clan because you're getting to close to another's territory. This is all just a game, I'm only trying to gain your trust, you mean nothing to me."

Grimmjow didn't say anything for a moment and Ichigo realised the gun was still on the table and he could quite easily reach it before he himself could. "That's pretty good." Grimmjow said, trying and failing to suppress a smile. "I almost believed you, but even you can't be that good." He kissed Ichigo quickly. "Especially with the way you react with sex."

Ichigo relaxed, smiling himself. "Hey, it was worth a shot. Don't blame me because you're good in bed." Wrapping his arms around Grimmjow's neck, he kissed him again. If Shiro found out what he'd just said, the man would skin him alive for daring to screw up the operation like that. But it was a risk Ichigo had been willing to take. "Come on, can you take another round?" He asked, grabbing Grimmjow's hand and with a grin, led him back into the bedroom.