Countdown: 9
I've yet to hear back from nintendo *sighs* Which means I've yet to connect my DS to wifi. It's so freaking annoying. How am I supposed to 'catch 'em all' when I can't trade? Stupid pokemon game =( By the way, do any of you play? I'm having a seriously difficult time beating the Elite Four, any tips? Aside from that, I've yet to start my next request, I'm so sorry Darkdolly T^T I'll get to it, I promise. I just wanted to write my new idea down and finish 'Born to the Shadows'. I thought maybe I'd go through and figure out which one is closer to getting done and finish that up really quick... but I don't know which one that is ^^; I'll look ;p
Shiro: Wow! 8 requests, 7 originals, an' 2 books... How do ya do it? 00
Vae: ... I don't T^T
Grimm: Yeah, she's stalling for most of them ;p
Ichi: That's not nice, Grimm. She's trying her hardest. She hasn't even worked on her books for over two weeks.
Grimm: See? The fics are just excuses. =3
Vae: *hangs head*
Chapter 6
Ichigo growls in irritation, his search for Grimmjow ending at the front door. The guards won't allow him outside, however Grimmjow is walking the village to survey his new conquest. The orange haired male backtracks to the kitchen, looking around carefully to make sure no one is there. There's a guard outside the door, but only one. Ichigo smirks and pushes a chair noisily to a shelf, grabbing a broom and smacking the object hard. They clatter to the ground and Ichigo drops, making it seem as though he's been injured by the falling objects. The guard rushes in, panicking at the sight of Grimmjow's queen lying on the ground.
"My queen! Are you injured? Are you okay? Please say something," he states as he leans down to help Ichigo up.
"I… I'm fine," Ichigo comments. "Thank you so much, I'm so sorry I worried you. I just needed to catch you off guard."
The man gives Ichigo a quizzical look, gasping when the youth takes a heavy pan to his head. The guard is knocked out and Ichigo quickly exits the castle, running toward the village houses nearby to take cover. He almost feels bad for terrorizing Grimmjow's men… and then he recalls the horrid burning sensation of the brand. The asshole is asking for it.
Grimmjow is just leaving the bakery, having seen some delicious looking palm sized pies. Ichigo has been rather quiet today and he's feeling a bit generous, so he bought a few for the fiery orange head. When he looks up, he almost drops the baked goods in surprise. Ichigo is standing right before him with a black cat on his shoulders, arms across his chest and a miffed expression on his face.
"There you are!" he states. "I've been looking all over for you! The one time I actually want to speak with you and you're outside where I'm not allowed to go, go figure."
"… How the hell did you get out?" Grimmjow asks in confusion.
"Not important… hey, what's that?" Ichigo grins at the sight of the pie. "Can I have one? No, wait… I wanted to ask you something. I want to go to the tower to get some books from my dad, but he told me I have to ask you first. Not sure why, but whatever."
Grimmjow chuckles and hands the pies over to Ichigo, shocked in himself that he'd want to indulge this bad behavior. The reason is likely the fact Ichigo could've bolted anytime he wanted, yet chose to stay with the volatile god. He rests an arm around Ichigo's waist, leading him back to the palace as he munches on the pie. Ichigo offers him one without thinking about it; however Grimmjow passes so his treasure can have the lot.
"Okay, who's the jackass that let my queen run amok in the village?" he asks when they get inside.
Ichigo looks up at those staring in shock, a bit of jam from the pie on his cheek. Grimmjow licks it off, drawing a blush from the other. Ichigo stomps on his foot, choosing to spare the remaining pies so he can eat them later. Hallibel is the first to step up, stammering a moment before gathering her thoughts.
"I am so sorry, Grimmjow," she says. "All the exits were guarded, there's no way he should've been able to get out."
Ichigo scoffs and rolls his eyes, nibbling on another pie as the black cat jumps to the floor. Yorouchi skitters off toward the tower to see Kisuke, leaving Ichigo to deal with those around him. The scoff doesn't go unnoticed by Grimmjow, a smirk twitching on his lips at the sound. It's obvious there's no keeping Ichigo locked up. He's not sure why, but something about his queen just isn't the conventional submissive located within this realm. He sighs and leads Ichigo to his room.
"I'll allow you to get your books," Grimmjow decides. "And you're allowed to walk around outside as long as Hallibel accompanies you. One time is all it takes… you try to run off one time…"
"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Ichigo waves off.
"Get ready, the king and prince should be here soon. Wear something nice, I want to flaunt my newest treasure."
Ichigo opens his mouth to protest, yet the door is slammed shut before he has the chance. Setting the box of little pies aside, Ichigo heads to his closet. He grabs some black stockings and a long blue skirt, turning to pick up the scissors from a nearby basket, and gets to work on them. The long skirt is sheered to right above Ichigo's knees, the bottom uneven and tattered, and the stockings have holes and tears all over. Ichigo grabs a white off the shoulder top with puffy sleeves, making short work of the puffs on the sleeves. Once he's dressed that far, he peeks outside the room and creeps over to Shiro's. Ichigo borrows a long black jacket from his twin's closet and a pair of tall riding boots. Satisfied with his attempt at rebellion, Ichigo holds his head high and marches downstairs.
"I demand to know where my son is!" Isshin shouts from the doorway. "And release the prince this minute! Who do you think you are..?"
"I think I'm the one that conquered your little village," Grimmjow comments.
The direction his voice is coming from, Ichigo can only assume he just stepped into the area from the throne room. Shiro is pinned on the ground near Isshin, struggling in fury at the possibility his brother is in trouble. Three guards are holding him, barely managing to keep him subdued. Grimmjow strolls into the foyer, Ichigo heading for the stairway as he listens.
"And the location and health of my wife is now my concern, not yours."
"Wife?" the king gasps. "What have you done to my son?"
"My treasure is fine, I assure you. He's a little high maintenance, but he's nothing I can't handle."
Ichigo growls at the 'high maintenance' remark, grabbing an abandoned helmet and throwing it at the other. Grimmjow turns just in time to duck, searching for the culprit with bloodlust in his eyes. When he sees it's Ichigo, however, humor replaces the anger. Ichigo stomps down the steps, standing near Grimmjow… and refusing to allow the other to touch.
"I'm mad at you," Ichigo states. "I am not high maintenance; your people just aren't at my level."
"Ichi!" Shiro calls out. "Are ya hurt? He didn' force ya ta lay down fer 'im did he? I'll fuckin' murder 'im!"
"Calm down, Shiro, I'm fine," Ichigo sighs. "And for the record, I got in quite a few good hits! I didn't go down without a fight!"
Shiro finally shakes the men holding him, standing to face off with his twin. Ichigo and Shiro have matching scowls as they glare at one another, both challenging and neither giving ground. They're nose to nose, Grimmjow growling quietly at the distance between the two. He doesn't want anyone that close to his newest treasure except himself.
"I told ya not ta fight! Ya should a ran!"
"I… do not… run!"
"Look how well that turned out fer ya!" Shiro shouts. "Why didn' Kisuke stop all this shit? He could a, ya know!"
"Back the fuck off! I'm not hurt, everyone is fine, the village is safe, and you weren't killed on sight!" Ichigo yells in frustration. "If you didn't want this to happen, maybe you shouldn't have left me here by myself! You know I'm not gonna put myself above the villagers, I'm no fucking princess!"
"Yes ya are!"
The argument grows heated as their voices raise, repeating the same lines. Finally, Shiro's temper gets the better of him and he grabs for Ichigo's upper arm. His fist pulls back, ready to knock some sense into his infuriating twin. Grimmjow grabs the two, throwing Shiro back harshly to land on the cold floor. Ichigo is carefully backed up to stand behind Grimmjow, the warrior growling furiously at Shiro.
"Never… touch him… again," he snarls out.
Shiro stands, ready to beat the shit out of Grimmjow for separating himself and his twin. Ichigo moves forward quickly, punching Shiro for even thinking he could hit the younger copy.
"What the hell was that fer?" Shiro snaps.
"You tried to hit me first!" Ichigo accuses.
"Enough!" Grimmjow hisses. "Nnoitra, take the king and the prince to the throne room. I'll join you in a moment to hash things out; I'm going to take my wife back to his room."
"Yer not goin' anywhere wit my baby brother!"
Ichigo gasps as a powerful force slams into everyone present; the orange head shocked to realize it's coming from Grimmjow. The man is radiating power enough to affect gravity, forcing the prince and the king to their knees. Ichigo looks around, realizing pretty much everyone is affected by the man's outburst… but himself. The orange head stands perfectly still, the force of Grimmjow's power causing nothing more than a tingle along his skin.
"Ichigo is my queen," Grimmjow growls in a purely feline fashion. "He's the treasure I've chosen from this conquest. He… belongs… to me! I let you live, I leave you to rule your fucking kingdom, and everyone has been treated much better than those of other conquered kingdoms. My queen is what allows all this, but I will kill you if you try to take him from me."
"Grimmjow, I'm not going anywhere," Ichigo frowns. "I'm nothing if not loyal. Besides, I still have my entire life to fuck yours up. I'm not missing that."
Grimmjow scoffs at the comment, draping an arm around his wife's shoulders. With a final glare at the prince, he leads Ichigo back up to his room. Ichigo stops at the top of the stairs, looking to Grimmjow a moment before heading to the tower. Confused as to the other's direction, Grimmjow follows him impatiently.
"I didn't get a chance to get my books," Ichigo explains at the look. "Besides, I don't want to be stuck in my room all the time. It's boring."
Grimmjow grunts in agreement, eyeing Ichigo's backside as he climbs the tower stairs ahead of him. The door is hard to open, Ichigo finding a whole stack of books leaning against it along with the bookcase. Kisuke is reading nearby, Yorouchi pacing as she rants in fury.
"Mom? Dad?" Ichigo calls. "I need in, open the fucking door!"
"Berry Pie!" Yorouchi calls happily. "Hang on, momma's coming!"
Grimmjow laughs as Ichigo blushes, the orange head kicking backward and missing the other. When the door is pulled open, Ichigo is immediately yanked into a bear hug. Grimmjow catches the door before Yorouchi kicks it shut, the violet haired woman pulling her son into the room. Kisuke gasps when Grimmjow steps in.
"Uh… what can I do for you?"
"Just here to make sure Ichigo gets back to his room," Grimmjow waves off. "Of course, I doubt that'll keep him from getting out… he seems very adept at getting out of tightly guarded places."
Yorouchi beams at the statement, hugging Ichigo tighter as he fights to breath. Kisuke, knowing Ichigo's here for the spell books, grabs three of them. Two are large and thin, bound in black leather with curvy gold writing on the cover. The last is smaller and thick, bound with tan leather. Between them, they'll teach Ichigo everything he needs to know about magic and basic spells.
"Here you go, Berry Pie," he smiles. "Happy reading."
"Thank you," Ichigo smiles as he slides them into his satchel.
He hasn't let go of his bag since he got there, leaving it on his bedside table at night and carrying it during the day. Once they're safely tucked away, he hugs his parents and returns to Grimmjow. The larger male says nothing more as he leads Ichigo away, the orange head looking back only a moment before his parents prompt him on. Grimmjow says nothing for a long time, waiting until they're alone within the bedroom.
"I'm not even going to ask why you wanted to read spell books," he says. "But I'll warn you right now… we will talk about this later and I want the fucking truth. No one is this okay with sacrificing their only child to a warrior that's just conquered the kingdom, not even if they aren't their child by blood."
"Okay," Ichigo sighs. "We'll talk tonight, I promise."
Grimmjow hums to himself, backing away from the other and shutting the door quietly. Ichigo sighs and lies down on the bed to read for a bit. He's worried about his twin, as Shiro's already proven to have a short fuse and has gotten on Grimmjow's bad side quickly, however he trusts his husband to keep his word. As much as Grimmjow might want to kill Shiro, he won't do so for anything less than Shiro hurting Ichigo.
Ichigo spends a long time reading, eventually falling asleep on his stomach with his face in the pages. Grimmjow finds him like this, the warrior smiling to himself as he carefully slides the book from beneath Ichigo's head. The orange headed male grumbles in his sleep, his husband lifting him up to right him on the bed. That's about when Ichigo wakes, the movement startling him.
"Wh-what are you..?"
"Sorry, I was just putting you to bed," Grimmjow smirks as he sets the other down. "Now that you're awake, though… Everything has been taken care of with your father and brother; we can leave any time we want. I was thinking of heading home in a day or two. We can talk in the morning. Right now… your brother is as exhausting as you are."
"Wow… I almost feel bad for you," Ichigo comments. "Almost. You still deserve it."
Grimmjow sheds his clothes, sitting on the bed and looking pointedly at Ichigo. The orange head is still in his clothes, said outfit not being comfortable enough to sleep in. Ichigo sends Grimmjow a wary and almost pleading look, the other answering with a feral grin as he lies back on the bed. His arms are behind his head, pillowing it so he can watch Ichigo. With a bright blush, the orange head pulls out a night shirt and changes in front of Grimmjow. The warrior is all smiles as he watches, taking in the sight of his wife's tan skin and lithe muscle. Once finished, a mortified Ichigo lies down on his side of the bed. He keeps his back to Grimmjow, planning on ignoring him all night. Grimmjow has other plans, though, and pulls Ichigo close to him after turning off the lamp beside the bed. The moon outside is bright, pooling through the window as Ichigo waits for sleep. Surprisingly, he feels safe within the arms of the warrior. For the first time since he arrived in this crazy place, Ichigo feels calm and relaxed despite his situation. He sighs and closes his eyes to sleep, hoping things stay relatively quiet.
There we go! I hope you all liked it. I'm sorry the last chapter ended so quickly, but I'm pretty set on the pages rule for my fics ^^; By the way, depending on whether or not I'll have a second one-shot, I may have to push Darkdolly's fic back one more. I can write a one-shot in a day, but the chapter fics will take longer =) I also need to know if those that requested a chapter want me to update by chapter, or once it's completely finished.
Shiro: Make 'em wait!
Ichi: That's not nice, Shiro =(
Shiro: When have I ever been nice? =p
Ichi: ... Good point.