First thing first, I must tell ya something. I might have to slow my update soon since I'm gonna have surgery, this time to poke out stones from my abdomen. Oddly enough, I'm not scared about it unlike most people would so don't worry about me.

Game Over by Boogermeister

Chapter 6- Scorpion'd Kick Sub-Zero's Ass!

Chad had just won six rounds straight with 'Hulk boxing' back at the first break room, when Ichigo came back. The workers cheered, partially at him since his friend was playing around. He smiled back a little before walking up to Chad, who seemed to sense what was going on. "Something the matter . . . .?" he muttered.

"Um, no not really," he shrugged. "Actually, this is not the place to talk about it, though."

"So later then, huh . . . .?" he asked, waving his giant green fist nonchalantly. Ichigo nodded before plopping down onto the beanbag, shrugging off the praise of his colleages now and then. He couldn't believe it, both Grimmjow and Ulquiorra were gay and he hadn't noticed it. Then again, he wasn't the type to look gay himself. What was more interesting was that they once had a relationship within the workplace and in all places, it was here. The same place where idiotic guys are now boxing each other with Hulk gloves, with Chad in the lead.

He wasn't sure whether or not to tell Grimmjow the truth of him accidently overhearing the conversation. A few things could happpen. First thing was that the blunet might outright deny it since he could be closeted. Second thing, he could get furious at him for snooping around like before. Ichigo could try to reveal his own sexuality to him but that could backfire and he might get ridiculed. He wasn't sure what to think as he lazily watched Chad knocking down another one.

"Hey, doncha wanna go against Chad?" asked one worker.

"Nah, I'm good . . . ." mumbled Ichigo, closing his eyes.

(Pwnage)

Barely a half an hour after calling Shinji, said man rushed to his studio door, knocking on the door as if the building was on fire. "Come on, come on . . . .! Ya gotta tell me right now!" he squealed through the metal door. Ichigo scoffed as he got off his bed and walked up to the barrier. Not even a microsecond after opening it did a blonde man suddeny glomped him, practically swinging him around despite his slimmer frame. "Dish! Please tell me what you know, Ichi!" grinned Shinji with his infamous wide smile.

"Well, can you let go of me first?" Ichigo scowled as he nudge him away. "Gosh . . . ." He finally removed himself from the embrace as he slumped down on his cheaply purchased fold-out chair. Shinji, however, sat on the edge of his messy bed since there was only one chair. "Before I begin, may I ask . . . . why are you wearing one of those T-shirts?" he frowned lightly.

"Hah, what's wrong with it!" Shinji questioned with a mock mortified look on his face. Ichigo simply shrugged; his friend was the one wearing a bright fuschia T-shirt with silkscreened portrait of Lady Gaga with yellow-blond hair, with the words 'Born This Way' slashed across said eccentric singer's face. "I'll have you know that I made it myself, thank you very much!" he huffed, crossing his arms.

"It's not that, you're a bull's-eye to those ignorant dumb-asses if you keep wearing shit like that," he replied with a small smile.

"Whatever, this is not about me," he muttered hurriedly. "You said to me that something shocking happened at your work and I wanna know what! Tell me, what's going on?"

"Well . . . . you're gonna scream about it but . . . ." he mumbled, glancing away from his friend's persistent bouncing. "I overheard my supervisor talking with the game producer and about their relationship in the workplace . . . ."

"And . . . .?"

". . . . And they're both guys-" Shinji's squeal nearly punctured his ears and he winced in annoyance, mentally wondering how his neighbors would think of that sound.

"Damn, what are the odds in a place like that!" grinned Shinji. "I had thought that a place like that were filled with ugly, smelly men, but it got some hunks also? I think I might apply to your job."

"Tch, you're missing the point, Shinji," scoffed Ichigo, scratching through his hair. "Their relationship were a secret, and they didn't want to be ridiculed for it."

"Huh . . . .?" Almost instantly, Shinji calmed down from his high and frowned in confusion. "What do ya mean? They don't sound like DL's or something."

"I don't think so, Grimmjow sounded more open for the relationship to continue," he shrugged.

"Grimmjow?"

"My supervisor, that's his name," he said. At that, Shinji frowned in concentration as he tapped at his forehead. Ichigo frowned at him, the only time he saw him this way what whenever he was trying to remember something. "What . . . .? Don't tell me you've heard of him . . . .?"

". . . . Nope, thought I did," he sighed. "That name sounded too similar to me, but it's gone now."

"Oh, don't scare me like that," he frowned.

"But . . . . so now what, you're gonna tell them that you're gay too?" Shinji suddenly beamed. "Maybe that way, you could be buddies!"

"Damn it, Shinji, didn't you hear I said?" scoffed Ichigo.

"Yeah," he shrugged.

"I said that the workers in the company might not be okay with having gay employees being around them," he frowned.

"Why? You're working there," Shinji pouted back.

"But my preference should not matter whether or not can I get the job done," he argued. "It's none of their business to know, okay?"

"Fine, seesh . . . ." he sighed. ". . . . So is this Grimmjow guy hot or what?"

"Neh, he's more of a jerk-ass."

"Ahh, jerks are usually the sexiest ones."

"You weirdo . . . ."

(Pwnage)

Ichigo slowed his pace at the sight of the parked motorcycle. He wasn't feeling awkwardness, but he knew that he would see Grimmjow in a very different way from now on. Trudging inside, he reached the sixth floor when Chad had greeted him next to the elevator. "Hey . . . . Grimmjow was looking for you, Ichigo," he muttered quietly, and Ichigo stiffened at the news. He hadn't expected to be needed first thing in the morning so it was a surprise.

"For what?" he frowned.

"He needs you to help supervise the testers the floor below us," he replied. "It's gonna be a pretty busy day, considering that we're ahead of schedules."

"Oh . . . . fine," sighed Ichigo as he opted to go downstairs.

"Wait . . . ." Chad called out, and his friend paused to look at him. "You said that you had something to tell me yesterday, right?"

"Oh, right . . . ." he sighed. "I'll tell you after work, okay?"

"Don't forget . . . ." Ichigo nodded before going to the floor below, it looked the same like any other floors. If it weren't for the fact that the carpeted floor were stained with old soda spills and cemented chewing gums from who knows how long. With the hallways, he decided to follow what noise he could here. Lucky for him, he chose the right way as he moved faster, hearing sounds of shooting and demonic guttural noises. As he turned a corner, he saw Grimmjow leaning against the doorframe, conversing with whoever it was in the darkened room. He paused, biting his bottom lip. He couldn't help but to look at him in a different light, like him he wasn't the stereotypical type and could probably fool anyone.

"Hey, you're in the way . . . ."

"Huh?" Ichigo glanced behind him to see a teenage boy, no more than 16 or 17, with seemingly unkept blackish-brown hair with cool light blue eyes. Though the weather was getting warmer, he was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with a picture of a winged demonic skull encircled by hellfire on the front. His demeanor towards Ichigo was subtly agitated and somewhat annoyed, which made the latter annoyed just the same. "Excuse me but are you allowed here?" he frowned.

"What do you think . . . .?" he muttered coolly, and Ichigo's frown twisted into an annoying scowl. "Are you a new tester? You seemed lost or something."

"I'm not lost, I was making sure that I went to the right place," he scoffed.

"Well, are you . . . .?" the teen riddled. A sudden tick throbbed in his forehead, only a few words out of him and he felt irritated.

"Gah, finally you came . . . .!" Grimmjow called out, catching both of their attentions. "Rookie, you already met Tensa, huh?"

"Tensa?" frowned Ichigo.

"That's my name," Tensa muttered as he walked past him to go inside the dark room.

"Guess you didn't hear of him, right?" Grimmjow frowned as he walked up to the perplexed man. "Don't you read magazine or some shit like that?"

"Uh, should I know him . . . .?" Ichigo frowned.

"Oh, just some special prodigy that's in the top 10 in the last few years," he sarcastically replied, bopping him on the head.

"Ow!"

"Shut up and help, rookie," sighed Grimmjow as he walked back into the room. Ichigo sighed as he followed after him, the only lights in the darkened area were from five different TV screens. Most of the shadows were coming from the front row of chairs, three of which were already occupied including Tensa. Ichigo turned to see Grimmjow plopping down on an extra chair at the back wall and next to him was Ulquiorra. Almost instantly, he felt his ears heating up at the sight of them together due to his accidental eavesdropping. Just the same, he felt the blush in his cheeks out of awkwardness. Fortunately, the room was too dimmed for anyone to notice.

"Hey, don't just stand there," Grimmjow called out, catching his attention. "Pick up a controller and spot out some bugs . . . ."

"What? Is that why you call me here for, Grimmjow?" frowned Ichigo.

"You tricked him into helping us out . . . .? Not a bad financial strategy," sighed Ulquiorra, his unblinking eyes gazed at the screens.

"Yeah, you're not getting any extra money for being a substitute tester," Grimmjow smirked. "Get to it, rookie. And don't look at me like that, it were Starrk and Nel's idea." Ichigo frowned again before moving to an unoccupied chair next to the brunet teen. In front of him were a notepad, a pen, and an Xbox controller on a small table, he picked up the device and placed the notepad over his lap before starting. The game had 20 levels, so he assumed that they would work 4 or 5 levels each and Ichigo had the ones in the middle of the game.

"Huh . . . ." Not even ten minutes into starting, Tensa quickly scribbled something on his paper. Ichigo did a sideway glance and noticed that he was testing the last set of levels that he had worked on. He frowned, he didn't want to be criticized over what he did but this part of the job is important for the future sales of the game. His eyes returned back to the screen and already he realized that one of the monsters kept disappearing behind the walls due to the camera angles. As he reached for the pen, he caught sight of Grimmjow and Ulquiorra conversing under their breath to each other.

It could be because of the shorter man showing the other on the computer tablet he was holding, but the other thought came to Ichigo. It kept saying 'couple', 'couple', 'couple', and now it won't go away. "Shit . . . ." he groaned before resuming to find bugs.

An hour later . . . .

Internally, Ichigo felt agitated by the sound of Tensa's constant scribbling. He wasn't sure how he could stand it for so long, or how the teen was able to find any possible bugs or error so fast while playing. He himself was only able to find five so far. Make that sixth, he thought as he realized the character was stuck when going left. He frowned before discreetly glancing back at the former 'couple', Grimmjow had his head back while dozing in and out of sleep and Ulquiorra was just staring, only to blink twice.

Creepy.

". . . . Grimmjow . . . ." the smaller man muttered, as Ichigo went back to the game. "Grimmjow, wake up . . . ." he muttered again, firmly elbowing him in the stomach. Grimmjow snorted before sitting up, rubbing at his ribs.

"The fuck . . . .? What is it?" he frowned.

"Have you ever notice that?" he questioned quietly. "That recently hired designer, he kept looking at us . . . ."

"Who, Ichigo . . . .?" he frowned, glancing at the fuzzy head of orange. "You're getting crazy, Ulquiorra."

"I'm serious . . . ." he whispered as he glanced at the blunet. "I believe that he knows something about us, and I'm certain of it." Grimmjow frowned again and stared at Ichigo. Earlier this week, the younger man was honest when confronted about him snooping around. But was he doing again? "I am just assuming, but he might be just assuming himself. I'm not quite sure . . . ."

"I don't know . . . ." grumbled Grimmjow. "He nearly saw the old photos when he came into my office."

". . . . So you still have them . . . ." sighed Ulquiorra.

"I can't find myself to throw them away," he replied. The other man simply nodded and said nothing else, observing the progress on the screens. Grimmjow's frown was still set on his face, crossing his arms as he silently glared at Ichigo who was oblivious to the world.

(Pwnage)

After two more hours, the testing session went into a break. Ichigo silently yawned as he stood up annd stretched his limbs, only to wince slightly from the light coming on. "Fuck . . . ." he groaned, his vision adjusting to his awareness. He hadn't really noticed the two other testers and both looked like teenagers to him like Tensa. One a light-haired youth whose hair was nestled underneath his black cap, covering most of his eyes. The other, a little shorter than the producer, with bored teal-colored eyes that constrasted with his spikey silver-white hair.

"C'mon, kiddies, give me your homeworks," Grimmjow smirked as he stood up. "First comes Teacher's Pet. Give it here, Tensa . . . ." Tensa simply blinked at him but gave him nearly ten pages of his findings, Ichigo briefly glanced at it and saw that the notes were neatly written. Unlike his quick scrawl of a handwriting, which only took up less than four pages. Grimmjow frowned as he skimmed through the pages before giving it to Ulquiorra, before taking the white-haired one's. ". . . . Really? I've never noticed that part, Toushirou," he muttered, pausing at one page.

"Yeah, half of the setting in that one level was missing," shrugged Toushirou. Grimmjow nodded before taking the quiet one's reports, nodding again before handing it to Ulquiorra. But when he turned to Ichigo, the younger man frowned in confusion at the hardened stare on him. He didn't get why he looked like that, maybe it was because he had the least amount of notes out of the group.

". . . . What?" he frowned.

"Nothing, rookie . . . ." muttered Grimmjow, taking his notes. "Okay . . . . so far, we found out that there's so many shits but there's still more to explore," he explained. "You should take a break before going back at it later today, 'til then we'll discuss it with the director for a while."

". . . . Can I still play here?" muttered the quiet one.

"No one's stopping you, Yukio," he sighed before leaving, and Ulquiorra followed after him. The one named Yukio went back to his seat, resuming to 'play' at the beginning levels he was assigned to.

"Ugh, my eyes hurt . . . ." frowned Toushirou, walking out of the room as he rubbed his eyes. "What a pain . . . ." Tensa simply blinked as he trailed past Ichigo, who frowned after him. He couldn't believe that he found ten pages worth of mistakes on the levels he worked on, and there were more where that came from. Who wouldn't want to be criticized so bluntly? Ichigo simply sighed as he left the room, tuning out the distracting noises.

It wasn't long until he reached the half-empty break room. He plopped down on the favored beanbag after getting a candy bar, resting his eyes until he goes to work.

(Pwnage)

"Nel, talk to him about it . . . ." muttered Grimmjow, as he and his cousin were eating lunch in Starrk's office as the boss was dead asleep on his chair. "At first I believed in him of not seeing the pictures on my computer but now Ulquiorra thinks he knows something about us."

"Really . . . .?" frowned Nel, muching on a bag of gummy worms despite of her healthier meal of a salad. "Did he look suspicious of you two?"

"Nah, he said that the rookie looked curious but . . . . I dunno, you think that he have opinions about how I live my life?" he sighed.

"And even if he did, he wouldn't risk his job about it," she replied with a shrug. Grimmjow nodded in agreement, taking a handful of her treat. "Hey . . . .! Nevermind, if you go and confront him about it, he might act hostile towards you. But, if he respect your lifestyle, then he could keep your secret. After all, you're not the usual type since you still like girls, Grimmjow."

"Still, if you fuck guys, that counts as gay to most people," he scoffed, luckily Starrk was snoring loudly to notice their conversation. "You do it, Nel. You talk to him about it."

"And why should I?" frowned Nel.

"Because you're older than me, and you're second after Starrk so you confront him," he confirmed, gnawing on two worms at a time.

"Technically, Ulquiorra is-"

"Don't care, just do it please," he groaned.

"Fine, you big baby," Nel as she got up, taking her bag of candy, and left the office. Considering that he would be in the break room, she went downstairs. After reaching the right floor, she brisked for the break room. She glanced around, but didn't see the bright orange hair anywhere among the boys. "Hmm . . . ." she frowned.

"Hey, Nel, what's wrong?" smiled Renji, who was standing nearby.

"Ah, I need to speak to Ichigo," she sighed. "Have you seen him anywhere?"

"Hmm . . . . I did but I could tell you if you do me one favor," he smirked as sauntered up to her. Nel frowned, she didn't have time for this.

"Really? What?" she questioned.

"Gimme a kiss . . . ." he smirked, "straight on the lips."

"No," came her flat reply.

"Fine, then let me have your worms," Renji smiled. Nel scoffed but gave him the half-empty bag, as the red-head greedily shoved four worms into his mouth. "Okay . . . . I saw him and Chad going outside," he mumbled. "I heard him saying that they're just going to talk or some crap like that."

"Oh . . . . thanks, Renji, I'll find him," she shrugged as she left the room. Walking downstairs, she brisked for outside and just as she stepped outside, she saw Ichigo and Chad turning a corner behind the building. "There you are . . . .!" she sighed to herself as she walked up to the edge, only to pause when she heard their conversation starting. She stepped back and obscured herself from view, to her it would be even to eavesdrop his talk.

". . . . What's the matter, Ichigo? Is there something bothering you?" muttered Chad.

"Yeah, but before you complain to me about getting into trouble, I have to tell you this," sighed Ichigo. "You see . . . . I've overheard about Grimmjow talking with Ulquiorra yesterday."

"Ichigo . . . ." his friend frowned, crossing his arms.

"Wait, that's not the news, damn," Ichigo scoffed in exasperation. "I didn't do it on purpose, at first I didn't wanna listen . . . . then they were saying stuff that surprised me. And I mean, surprise."

"Like what . . . .?"

". . . . They were in a relationship," he finally answered. Nel nearly hitched her breath, so he did find out about it. "Shit, I feel like chick for telling it to you, Chad. Now I don't wanna go up to Grimmjow and say, 'hey, I know you were in a relationship with a dude but that's okay'. He might punch me out for it."

"I doubt that, Ichigo," said Chad. "But . . . . if possible . . . . can you reveal to him that you're gay also?"

Nel's eyes went childishly wide in shock. She didn't expect that in the long run.

". . . . No, I won't say anything and I might shrug it off eventually," he muttered with a heavy sigh. "Though I might look at both of them in a different light . . . ." Nel bit her bottom lip before rushing back inside, this she has got to say to her cousin.

(Pwnage)

Nel huffed as she finally reached office, just as Grimmjow left the room. "Grimm . . . . Grimmjow," she panted as she hanged onto his arms. Grimmjow frowned as he glanced down at her, as she was catching her breath. "There's . . . . there's something I gotta tell you, it's a shocker . . . ." she breathed.

"What? What's wrong?" frowned Grimmjow. Nel took a deep breath and reached up to his ears, quickly muttering to him in hushed tones. The blunet's expression at first went from confusion to downright agitation to total shock, as his jaws dropped at the last part of the news. He couldn't believe this, and he had never expected that. ". . . . Are you sure, Nel?" he muttered under his breath.

"Yes, Ichigo's gay and I heard him saying that," she sighed deeply. "It's a shocker for me also, I never expected to hear to say that." Grimmjow just shook his head, he had thought that he and Ulquiorra were the only ones but now the rookie was one too. They were both even, but who should be the one to break the ice on this one? "What're you gonna do about it, Grimmjow?" sighed Nel. "He knows about you and you know about him . . . . something must be done."

"Yeah," he nodded, patting him on the arm. "I better get back to work, I'll talk to you later."

"Okay," she said.

"And I left the mess on Starrk's desk so that's your job to clean," he stated as he left, tuning out her agitated huff. Going down to the fifth floor as quickly as possible, he rushed for the tester's room. Yukio hadn't moved from his seat during the break, already he had written down several more pages but was staring placidly at the screen as he continued playing. "Are you finish yet, you damn addict?" he scoffed. "Fuck, it's like hiring a alcoholic to work at a bar."

"Almost done . . . ." muttered Yukio. Grimmjow scoffed just as Toushirou and Tensa came back, with the former grumbling about a stiff neck. He stepped out to see Ichigo just turning around the corner, he stiffened at the sight of him but put up a light frown as the younger man came closer.

"Right on time," he stated as Ichigo entered.

"I'm not the type to be late," shrugged Ichigo, walking up to his seat. Grimmjow glanced at him and cocked his head, he had a feeling that he was different but not like that. He was too fire-headed and scowlful to look like a standard homosexual, and could have fooled anyone considering his personality.

"Grimmjow . . . ." Ulquiorra greeted quietly as he stepped inside. He caught Grimmjow's eyes and immediately knew his silent meaning, he took a quick glance at the distracted designer before moving to turn off the lights. ". . . . So, what are you saying?" he muttered under his breath as he sat down in the back.

"Well, Nel just found out about something that involves with the rookie . . . ." he sighed deeply as he sat next to him. Ulquiorra looked at him with slightly pursed lips, while the blunet glanced back with a raised eyebrow. "He's gay . . . ." he mouthed with a small smirk. The producer blinked at that and yet he wasn't surprised.

"I had a feeling about that . . . ." he sighed with a light shrug, making Grimmjow frown.

"Tch, why the full-blown ones could figure that out except for me?" he grumbled.

"I think he was oblivious to us until just recently . . . . but I doubt that it'll be a problem from now on, especially since we're resuming back as colleages." Grimmjow sighed deeply about that, turning his sight to the screens.

All the while, Ichigo's agitation resumed by the constant scribbling from Tensa. Conceited bastard.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""'''''

Tensa- Pro Gamer/ Unofficial QA Lead Tester

Toushirou- Part-time tester

Yukio- Part-time tester/ Self-admitted Video Game Addict

Recently, I have been informed that there's such a thing as a 'black' Mt. Dew. It's said to be grape-flavored so I'll try it. Once again, I'm going into surgery soon, not sure how soon, so don't worry about me!

Read and Review.

I'll update ASAP!