A/N: Announcements at the end off this. Readz them so everything is cleared upz. (You crazy kids confuse me so much btw. So much.) ICHIGO'S SECRET REVEALED...well. One of them.
Disclaimer: Do it with me now, "O mighty Kubo, we are brought here today to worship your wonderfully sexy characters and then ooc the fuck outta them."
Warnings: Angsty little fucker, this one. The usual cussin', some talk of scars, nothin' much.
Enjoy.
Grimmjow carried Ichigo to his room bridal style. The kid had conked out and Grimmjow didn't blame him, he was tired as fuck himself. He couldn't remember the last time he had come so hard, if ever.
'No, I would have definitely remembered if I had,' the espada thought ruefully.
He had no idea why the redhead had suddenly done that. And he wasn't so sure that he should have reacted the way he had. Hadn't he told himself that he was going to take things slow? That he was gonna slowly slip into the role of boyfriend, cherish him, make him feel like he wasn't just using him for sex…? There was something the kid was hiding and he wasn't sure having mindless hot sex had been the best idea.
But goddamn kid was fucking hot.
The espada looked down at the beautiful man he was carrying and bit his lip as he remembered how Ichigo had writhed beneath him, mewling and screaming as Grimmjow had thrust into that tight velvety heat. It almost made him hard all over again. That lusty seducing gaze as the redhead licked his own fingers to prep himself was burned in the gangster's memory, the feel of the kid's smooth legs snaking around his waist, of his sinful tongue on him, teeth on his neck, fingers tugging harshly at his hair…
Grimmjow shook his head as he nudged open the door to the master bedroom with his shoulder gently so as not to jar Ichigo awake. He set Ichigo on his bed and went into the bathroom for a hand towel to clean them both up with. Ichigo didn't stir as Grimmjow wiped his stomach and neck with a warm damp towel or when the older man slipped under the covers next to him but he did move closer when Grimmjow slung an arm over his waist, melding their bodies together.
With his free hand, Grimmjow brushed back a lock of orange hair from the kid's face, eyes traveling over Ichigo's feline features. Ichigo looked beautiful as he slept, not frowning, relaxed. The espada blinked as he noted a small scar on the younger man's left temple. He frowned slightly as he noticed another one above his cheekbone. They were faint, so faint that one would not be able to discern them unless they were very close, like Grimmjow was at the moment.
Frowning deeper Grimmjow's eyes slipped to Ichigo's shoulders, squinting searching. There. And there. On the boy's shoulders alone he counted 5 or 6. Faint blemishes really, nothing blatantly obvious, very small, but there were scars none the less. He remembered a one or two bigger scars from earlier in the bathroom, but with how feisty he knew Ichigo was, Grimmjow had figured they were from fights he gotten into.
But all these other marks told a different story. From a distance Ichigo's skin had seemed flawless, but now, up close, Grimmjow could see a light network of small blemishes that obviously did not stop at his shoulders. Had the kid been abused? Grimmjow's scowl deepened. That didn't seem possible. Ichigo wouldn't lay down and let someone abuse him. The kid he knew would fight back. Fight back…Ichigo had mentioned the people that had taught him how to fight. His uncle, his father…but even within a family, surely there was a line between training and assault…
"You've probably never been jumped assholes with a need to compensate for a small dick."
Grimmjow pressed his forehead to Ichigo's back, blue eyelashes brushing against the kid's tattoo. Mabye he had need to be trained that hard. To protect himself. Ichigo was hot, and without the lean swimmer's muscles the kid sported Grimmjow figured he probably looked even more like a girl, weak, someone to be taken advantage off. Maybe his family had known that and trained him so he could take care of himself. And it was likely that he had received those scars in process.
Grimmjow nodded to himself internally. That made the most sense and he really couldn't think of any other feasible reason for the marks…
The espada allowed himself to relax as he breath in Ichigo's subtle scent of spices and the stronger musk of sex, and slipped into a contented sleep, arms protectively clasped around his new lover.
(I am a page break. I eatsy yer brainz.)
Grimmjow woke up to an empty bed and the smell of omelettes.
Bright light filtered through the window and the bedside clock told the Espada that it was neatly one in the afternoon.
The gangster crawled out of his bed to find his discarded pajama pants from earlier neatly folded at the foot of it. He pulled them on and proceeded to follow his nose as it led him to the kitchen and a half dressed Ichigo in the process of sprinkling bell peppers into a frying pan over his stove.
Smirking, Grimmjow came up behind the redhead to rest his hands on the other's hips and his chin on the other's shoulders. "If fucking you on the coffee table gets me breakfast in the morning will you please please move in?"
Ichigo flipped the omelette. "The fact that you didn't leave me on the coffee table when I fell asleep is the reason I'm making you breakfast, smartass."
"'Fell asleep' isn't a strong enough phrase, princess. More like 'passed the fuck out'."
"Shut up," Ichigo mumbled but Grimmjow could see the light blush that dusted the younger man's cheeks. The espada didn't think Ichigo could get any more cute but it seemed he was wrong.
The redhead expertly emptied the omelette onto a nearby plate and quickly poured a bowl of beaten eggs into the still hot pan. He tossed omelettestuffs into the pan and mixed it with his utensil as it cooked quickly, then folded it over with a flick of the spatula. Grimmjow watched fascinated.
"Where'd ya learn ta cook?" he asked. The gangster was shithouse at cooking and he now hoped that Ichigo would stick around even more. Take out was nice and all but it got old pretty quick.
"My little sister loves cooking." The red head shrugged the shoulder Grimmjow wasn't leaning on. "I picked up a lot of things from her cause my brothers can't cook for shit and I didn't want to die from food poisoning when I lived with them."
Those brothers again. Tensa and Shiro if Grimmjow remembered correctly. The gangster absently wondered if he would get to meet them. He hoped so. He hoped he would be important enough in Ichigo's life that he would eventually get to meet the kid's family.
It was strange. The blue-haired gangster had never wanted to be someone so badly as to want to meet their family. Grimmjow hadn't been in a serious relationship for several years, the last one having not ended well. Since then the gangster had promised himself he wouldn't mix business and pleasure. Junky strippers did not make for a monogamous relationship.
The older man released Ichigo's hips and went to go rummage through a drawer to find utensils to eat with. When he located two forks he turned to see Ichigo pick up the two plates of omelettes and take a step towards him.
Suddenly Ichigo's hands started shaking and a look of panic flashed across the younger man's face. He quickly turned back and half-threw the plates of food back on the counter before tucking his hands into his sides and leaning heavily on the structure.
"Ichigo!" Grimmjow quickly crossed the small distance between them dropping the forks in his haste. The shaking spread to Ichigo's whole frame and Grimmjow noticed how the kid's eyes become unfocused, pained even. A small whimper escaped the redhead and his legs suddenly gave out. Grimmjow's arms automatically shot out to keep the redhead from falling to the kitchen floor. After some confusion the gangster ended up sinking to his knees with Ichigo cradled in his arms.
Grimmjow was trying hard not to panic when the trembling stopped as quickly as it had started.
"Ichigo?" The redhead didn't look up at him. Grimmjow moved his hand to push back the hair from Ichigo's forehead and eyes. The younger man's eyes stared at Grimmjow's chest without seeing. Tears seeped slowly from them and dripped down his neck. Grimmjow's back stiffened as he looked that the expression on the redhead's face.
It was the look of utter despair.
"Ichigo. Look at me." Grimmjow barked. Grimmjow knew that look. He had seen it in many a tortured man's eyes. The look of a man who had seen too much, had seen something so horrible that it would never leave him as long as he lived.
And he wanted it off Ichigo's face. Now.
The sepia orbs didn't move for a moment. Then they slid slowly up to meet Grimmjow's, still empty.
"Listen, Ichigo. Listen to me," the espada demanded. "Hear my voice. Come back." Grimmjow grabbed the back of the other man's head roughly. "Come back to me, Ichigo."
Ichigo blinked slowly, looking but not seeing. His eyes were so vacant. So dead. They screamed to be left alone, to be left to die. That there was no point, that he was a lost cause. That he was gone. Gone. Gone.
Grimmjow hated it.
The espada grabbed Ichigo face, his hands on either side of the man's face and brought his one face so close he could feel the redhead's shallow breath on his lips. He drilled his gaze into Ichigo's dead one, willing Ichigo to see him, to feel his touch.
"Damnit, Ichigo! Look. At. Me." he growled out.
Grimmjow didn't move for a minute, hands on Ichigo, staring into his eyes until the younger man's suddenly cleared.
"Grimm?"
Grimmjow shut his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief, dropping his hands to Ichigo's shoulders as he did.
"How often do these episodes happen to you kid?" Grimmjow opened his eyes to look seriously in the young man's.
"I…I…" Ichigo shook his head as if to clear it. He looked down at the embrace he was in. "Shit, did I drop the food?"
"No. Ichigo, look at me." Warm brown met cyan, brow slightly furrowed. "What happened?"
What happened to make you like this? Grimmjow could tell the redhead knew what he was asking for. An explanation as to why he was here. Why he wasn't in Karakura with his family and friends. Why he was alone in an empty apartment with a shattered mirror and too much booze, why he had more meds in his system than a junkie on holiday, why he was on Grimmjow's kitchen floor crying unfelt tears of despair from unconsciously empty eyes.
Grimmjow saw Ichigo lick his lips. Swallow. Lick his lips again. Then-
'Five months ago…my boyfriend…" Ichigo closed his eyes and his jaw tightened. "…was murdered."
Grimmjow blinked.
"He was a Shinigami," Ichigo continued afer a moment, eyes opening to stare blanky off to the side of Grimmjow. "He was a soutaicho who dealed in drugs. I didn't know. He pissed someone off so they had him killed. They slit his throat. Stabbed him. His insides were so fucked up they looked like hamburger meat." Ichigo's eyes were cold. His hands were clenched in his lap and his shoulders were rigid.
"Ichigo…"
"His name was Kaien. He was an orphan so my family paid for the funeral." Ichigo said with a slightly bitter tone in his voice, still not looking at Grimmjow. "It's been about 6 months." Ichigo finished voice suddenly quietly pained.
From the sound of it they let him see his body. Grimmjow looked at the broken man in his lap. When he had first met him, Ichigo had seemed so strong. Now the Espada could see that he was barely holding himself together.
A shinigami. A soutaicho nonetheless. This kid really knew how to pick em. Grimmjow froze. He was an officer Espada. A Vasto.
He was more likely to be targeted than Ichigo's old boyfriend.
'Maybe I shouldn't be with him.' Grimmjow's gut twisted. If they got together, and Grimmjow died...Ichigo would be damaged beyond repair.
Then again…his and his fellow Vastos' identies were extremely well kept. Aizen liked the power that his nameless, lethal weapons gave him. One couldn't hunt down a shadow and shadows were what the Vasto Espada were. Deathly dangerous shadows.
Of course that didn't mean that people didn't suspect. Over the years a couple of Vasto Espadas had been bumped off. Barragan. That stupid-ass Yammy. Grimmjow had been there when those two were killed and had recieved the scar on his chest for it. The assassins had dispatched almost everyone in their path, two men in black cloaks one lined in red, the other in blue.
In the meeting that had followed the murders it was revealed that the assassins were part of a five man team by the name of Getsuga Tensho. Untraceable and ruthless, they hired out their services for anyone who could handle their expensive price tag. They had no gang affiliation, having killed both Shinigami and Espada in the past without discernment. They were possibly the most efficient killers in Japan.
It had been the one with the red rimmed cloak that had given him his scar Grimmjow remembered. The leader. He remembered rain and mind-numbing pain. The words the man had mechanically spoken, "You may be an animal, but I-"
Grimmjow was wrenched from his thoughts as he felt Ichigo shift to move off his lap. He grabbed the younger mans wrists, effectively halting his movements.
"Stay."
To hell with it. He wanted Ichigo. He had never wanted to make anyone smile as he wanted to make Ichigo smile. He wanted to see the real Ichigo, not this broken man. He wanted to bring that man that Ichigo had been back. He wanted to see that fight, that healthy gleam in those sepia eyes. Getsuga Tensho be damned.
He pulled Ichigo close, surprising the redhead by kissing him softly on the lips. Grimmjow pulled back to look the shocked Ichigo in the eye.
"Stay with me Ichigo." Brown eyes widened. Grimmjow looked at the younger man seriously, not breaking eye contract, willing Ichigo to feel the sincerity in his gaze. His want to be with Ichigo. To help him. To make things right.
Ichigo looked back with an unreadable expression. For a split second, his eyes flicked down to the Grimmjow side then back up to the older man's face. Grimmjow waited with bated breath.
"I…"
Ichigo hesitated.
Warm arms suddenly snaked around Grimmjow's neck and the vasto espada heard the redhead whisper next to his ear the words that made him unspeakably happy.
"I'll stay."
INFORMATIONAL A/N: I can't stand those long-ass a/n's so I'll try to make this as short as possible. Ichigo is not, I repeat, not part of a gang. His problems go...much deeper than that. Also, the only tattoo on Grimmjow is the panther I mentioned before (otherwise Ichi would have hightailed it outta there faster than it takes a virgin to shoot his load). If you can't find the part where it talks about his tattoo, it's the middle-ish of ch.5. If you can't find ch.5 then idk what to say to you. Maybe you've angered the FF gods. Also keep guessing on Ichigo's job(s) =winkwink= it'll be more obvious later on. I'll talk about Ichigo's red eyes at a later date (can't tell ya everything, otherwise there'd be no story, sorry duckies).
Finally, about my updating system. I have about 16 chapters finished. When I'm ready to upload them, I clean them up a bit, add stuff if I need to, and then post them so you lovelies can read 'em. I'd like to ration them so I don't catch up to the latest chapter I've written so that I can add, remove, or alter the storyline as I see fit so I don't do something stupid and fuck everything over for the all the chapters afterward. Hope this cleared things up. Hugs n' kisses n' shit. Ph-v out.
