AN: School. That is all im going to say as to why I havent updated. But here it is and I hope you like it, I tried to make it cute so if you die of Fluff, I warned you in advance. Please forgive any mistakes, and if it doesn't really mesh well, let me know and I'll fix it.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed. All you guys' comments made me really happy and I appreciate every single one. So make me happy and review for this chapter too! C:

~May


Chapter 9-

Eskimo Kiss: The rubbing of two noses together.

The next day the two young assassins woke up and seemed to agree that the coast was clear. No one had burst into their rooms in the morning or middle of the night to punish them, and everyone acted normal at breakfast. Some were talking excitably about being able to go into town for the afternoon while others were just happy to listen and enjoy their very American dish of hash browns, cheesy scrambled eggs, bacon, toast and juice.

There were a few members missing from the gathering and upon asking Ichigo found out they were allowed to leave and spend time with what family they had or just to spend time to their selves. Ichigo cast his wandering thoughts aside though as he glanced at the teen next to him.

Grimmjow almost had to fight tooth and nail with Yoruichi to sit in the space next to Ichigo, the woman only conceding after she bullied Urahara out of his seat. The blond was obviously not happy about the development after he thought he would sit next to his student that morning and continued to pout through the entirety of the morning.

Grimmjow could care less as he was thinking of the best thing to surprise Ichigo with, though he was wondering if it would make him seem a bit creepy to get the teen a gift after just starting this shaky 'relationship' of theirs. Hell, they haven't even spoken about what they had together or what they were going to be. Grimmjow decided to not let the thought get to him and ruin his, so far, peaceful morning.

After breakfast Grimmjow took Ichigo on a tour of the rest of Las Noches, claiming that the teen only knew of the main chambers and hallways. Also chattering about how Ichigo wouldn't believe all the surprisingly beautiful secrets Las Noches held in her walls. Ichigo followed the other, excited man full of amusement; the other was hardly ever this chatty and joyful. He seemed like a kid on Christmas, and Ichigo couldn't help but think the charming grin on his face as they walked was extremely handsome. And the way his eyes lit up while he spoke about different things, they kept Ichigo from speaking and was content on just listening to the other.

"I always hated staying locked up inside as a kid, and would always find ways to cause trouble. I'm one of those people that don't like being locked in a cage." Grimmjow said. He intertwined their fingers as he continued what he was saying.

"Aizen would always try and punish me, but besides locking me in the holding cells it wouldn't work; and they only held me for a time." He said winking at Ichigo as he hinted about his lock picking skills.

"So finally one day he asked me what it would take to keep me from leaving the compound. So he made this artificial space for, anyone really but I used it the most when I was younger."

Ichigo lifted an eyebrow when Grimmjow said 'artificial', curiosity taking over him as Grimmjow led the way to his little hide away. When they did finally arrive after so many turns if Ichigo wasn't who he was he'd be lost, confused and dizzy. The orangette caught his breath as they entered an underground garden, complete with lush grass on the floor, flowers, trees and even a small pond with fish. Grimmjow watched on as he saw Ichigo's reaction to his sanctuary in the middle of a hellish prison.

"Wow this is amazing. How does this place stay alive?" he asked in wonderment as he removed his shoes and ankle socks to step closer to the flowers.

Grimmjow grinned as he saw Ichigo's awe filled face and followed the orangette's example; taking off his shoes and following the younger teen into the garden.

"Aizen has the ceiling panel on a timer, the metal pulls back and there is a glass roof at the bottom of a lake on the surface. It's at a shallow part of the lake and the sun shines nice and bright for the plants. Besides that, I water and take care of the plants, there is even a thermometer in this room so I can have whatever kind of plants I want." Grimmjow explained, moving up behind Ichigo and wrapping his arms around the teen.

"That is really neat, and you don't get caught from the surface because people will just think it's the reflection of nearby trees. Wow, pretty smart too." Ichigo said absentmindedly as he gazed at the different types of flowers and asked if Grimmjow knew what he was actually planting.

Grimmjow went on to impress his interest as he rattled off information on each flower and bush whenever the orangette asked. Ichigo turned in Grimmjow's arms to gaze up at the taller teen, his amber eyes absorbing the sight Grimmjow made and seemed to be searching for something.

"What are you looking for, huh?" The bluenette asked in a quiet tone, not wanting to break the calm that they had around them.

"I was trying to see if you were uncertain about this between us, but I can't find any." Ichigo answered truthfully as he leaned back a bit to watch for Grimm's reaction.

The only thing he received in return was a curious tilt of the head and an inquiring question of 'Isn't that a good thing?'. He chuckled and nodded his head in response as Grimm tugged them to lay next to each other at the edge of the small pond. Grimmjow just wanted to relax with Ichigo and forget all of the stressful things that would transpire later tonight.

"Ne, Grimm?" Ichigo's voice broke the comfortable silence that had enveloped them. The older teen turned his head to look at the assassin, only to see amber eyes staring back at him.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for bringing me here, I really needed it today." Ichigo said while a small smile crept on his face.

At seeing the orangette smile so sincerely at him, Grimmjow's heart started to race and a feeling that he identified as happiness filled him. He returned the smile and grabbed Ichigo's hand, rubbing circles into the skin there.

"No problem Ichi."

Tonight's the night. Relax and breathe.

Breathe,

Just...

Breathe.

The night was seemingly perfect, with a slight chill in the wind and the moon shining brightly above everything. The clouds seemed to have dissipated away, leaving the sky clear and Ichigo's night a whole lot easier. The moon was always something that helped Ichigo sneak about, it lit the pathways and rooftops without any residents noticing anything out of the ordinary. That was, of course, a good thing. A great thing really.

Tonight was the night everything was being risked. Aizen hadn't caught Grimmjow and him during their scandalous actions yesterday, and if he had found out he hadn't uttered a word about it, so Ichigo felt that tonight would be fine. Everything was going to go according to plan. No worries.

None. Right?

He paced back and forth throughout his white room, pondering the simple things in life. Like a toaster. People take it for granted, but maybe some people would die without one, literally that is. He liked to think about things he never really noticed, and things that deserved to be noticed, like the toaster. This was his usual routine, to acknowledge the things that deserve recognition.

Urahara sat on Ichigo's large bed, picking the small feathers out of the pillow so he wouldn't be sitting still. He also had a restless problem like Ichigo, it was quite common for assassins to have. Urahara was sure Yoruichi was doing the same thing even though she wasn't in the room with them.

"Where's Yoruichi?" Ichigo started to bite his nails, then realized what he was doing and quickly tugged his hand away. Well speak of the devil...

"She's in the hall trying to keep people out of your room." Ichigo paused in his walking to stare at his mentor. What in the world was this crazy old man talking about?

"What?"

Urahara sat up straight and fixed his white uniform. "Yeah, there are some people who've been trying to get into your room. I told her to keep them out until you were ready."

Now that Ichigo thought about it, he could remember hearing people talking outside of his door. He just hadn't been in the mindset to think that they were trying to visit him.

"Is Grimm-urmm, Grimmjow out there?" Damn it, now Urahara was smirking at him.

"You're blushing. You guys got something going on?" Urahara wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Uh..."

"Don't worry, I know. I won't tell anybody, I swear!" Urahara grinned as Ichigo gaped at him like a fish out of water.

"Wh-what? You know what e-exactly?" Urahara just smiled and pulled out his sleek blackberry like the conversation hadn't even happened between them. After punching in what seemed like a text, Ichigo's door swung open suddenly and a blue-haired teen stumbled into the room after what seemed like a shove to his back. Urahara smiled like an idiot as he watched everything. The door slammed loudly behind the man, and Yoruichi pushed the assassins outside and away from the door as best as she could. It wasn't easy though, because they were all trying to see Ichigo one last time before departure.

Ichigo looked towards where the new figure stood and saw Grimmjow, his Grimmjow, looking at his after dusting himself off with shinning blue eyes.

Why oh why are your eyes so blue? I could be lost in them forever...

"Ichi?" Urahara's eyebrows lifted in surprise at this, and Ichigo blushed again. Grimmjow turned to see who Ichigo was looking at, and when he noticed Urahara sitting on Ichigo's bed he coughed to cover his embarrassment.

"I mean, Ichigo?" Urahara stood with a large grin on his face and made his way over to the two helpless assassins.

"You've got about twenty minutes until we head out. Make it count." He walked over to the door with caution, opened it with help from Yoruichi, and then the door was closed and the two young assassins were alone.

"Hi Grimm." Ichigo mumbled as he walked over to the man sitting comfortably on the carpet. Ichigo held his hand out and helped the bluenette up off the ground, and he smiled when the larger teen pulled him into a warm embrace.

"Ichi...how are you? Are you doing okay?" Nimble fingers danced in Ichigo's orange spikes, massaging the way Ichigo liked it. A groan escaped Ichigo, but he didn't really care about it right now.

"I'm fine. Nervous, ya know?" Grimmjow nodded, his cheek rubbing against Ichigo's since it was cradled on the area where Ichigo's neck and shoulder met together. His arms tightened around Ichigo's midsection, and he pulled the younger body closer to his own.

"You better be safe." Grimmjow growled into Ichigo's ear as he rubbed his nose along Ichigo's neck.

"I do try. Can't promise anything though." Ichigo almost stumbled backwards when he was suddenly released from Grimmjow's tender grip. Grimmjow let his hair fall in front of his eyes to hide his face from Ichigo's watching gaze.

"What?" He looked into Grimmjow's eyes, noticing how sad they looked.

"Don't you dare say stuff like that. I wish I could come with you..." Grimmjow pulled Ichigo back into a hug, and Ichigo smiled as Grimmjow continued to show his unusual sweet side.

"When did we become some sort of lovey-dovey couple thing?" Ichigo laughed. It was nice and all, but it just happened to come out of nowhere. There was no way that one make-out on a staircase could possibly make Grimmjow act like a total girl.

Grimmjow laughed heartily, making Ichigo shiver with excitement and bliss. "I could be one of those abusive boyfriends if ya want." Ichigo blinked. It was a real awkward silence, so obviously a gay baby was born somewhere. Poor kid.

"Boyfriend?" Ichigo questioned as he let his index and middle finger walk up Grimmjow's large biceps.

"Uhm..." Grimmjow tried to hold down the blush he could feel coming on.

"Do you want to be...boyfriends?" Ichigo bit his lip gently. He really wanted this, and when Grimmjow had brought it up he just couldn't miss his chance.

"W-well, I'd really like us to be..." Grimmjow muttered while still looking away from Ichigo's face. This was just so...weird of him to ask. He wasn't usually this fuckin' girly, but something about his orange-headed companion made him act like this.

Ichigo smiled and leaned up to kiss Grimmjow as softly as possible on his lips, his closed lips not going any farther than a long-lasting peck upon soft Grimmjow's own. The bluenette placed his hands on Ichigo's upper back, and drew small reassuring circles there. Ichigo almost moaned at the feelings of the strong hands caressing his body, but he held it in and moved away from Grimmjow.

"I really want us to be too." Ichigo beamed, which in turn caused his new boyfriend to smile largely at him as well. Ichigo held Grimmjow's hand as they walked over to his bed and sat down on the edge. Their fingers remained interlocked, their eyes doing the same. They just sat and admired each other, taking in each detail of the other before their twenty minutes were up and Ichigo was sent on his long-awaited mission. Words weren't really needed here, so a few minutes passed and they stayed in the same position.

Finally Grimmjow spoke up. "I really like you." He admitted while tugging on Ichigo's hand to urge him to sit on his lap. Ichigo complied happily, and effortlessly slid into his boyfriend's lap and snuggled into Grimmjow's inviting heat.

Ichigo laughed as he rubbed his nose on Grimmjow's, and Grimmjow smiled at the overly cute act. "I really, really like you too."

How much more cliché could this moment be? Someone could have taken a picture and stapled it into a Hallmark card, and they more than likely would have made millions off of it. How many relationships are like this? Ichigo was counting his stars, he was more than lucky as it was. Life was really perfect for him right now. Grimmjow just made everything even more perfect.

"You wanna know somethin'?" Ichigo mumbled against Grimmjow's warm cheek.

"Hm?" He replied quietly, not wanting to ruin the atmosphere they had created in the room. It was warm and fuzzy, and Szayel would have gagged if he came in, which he most likely won't be doing. Hopefully he wouldn't be walking in at any time, that would be just...weird.

"I really like," Ichigo closed his eyes and caressed his nose against Grimmjow's, "Eskimo kisses."

This, of course, caused Grimmjow to laugh, and like dominoes, Ichigo began to giggle too.

"You, my Berry, are the most random person I have ever had the pleasure of meeting." The bluenette smiled at Ichigo who almost started to tear up from laughing so much at the statement.

"You sure know how to charm the ladies, huh?"

Grimmjow snorted and rolled his eyes. "Obviously I'm a real ladies man; obviously."

"No need for the sarcasm, ya dork." Ichigo smiled and buried his head deeper into Grimmjow's shoulder. His arms wound around the larger man's neck as he continued to straddle his lap, in a completely non-sexual way. Grimmjow's hands were also interlocked behind Ichigo's back as he pulled the small body closer, even though moving closer should have not been possible.

"But I'm your dork." Grimmjow said smugly.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Well," Grimmjow stopped to ponder a moment, "If I'm your dork, what are you going to be to me?"

Ichigo laughed and sat back so that his chest wasn't pressed so tightly against his boyfriend. He closed one of his eyes, scrunched up his face, and let his one open eye travel to the ceiling and paused there.

"Who knows?" Ichigo shrugged and opened his eye once again. Grimmjow pursed his lips. Surely there was something that Ichigo could be called.

"Ah, oh well. You'll just be my berry like you usually are."

Ichigo groaned. "I should have seen that one coming."

"Oh yes, you should have, but you didn't."

The orange-head pouted at his boyfriend and tried to move away farther from Grimmjow's body, but strong arms gently tightened their grip around him once again and secured his body to Grimmjow's like it had been moments before. Grimmjow smiled, although no one could see it, and placed a light, feathery kiss on Ichigo's tender neck. He could almost feel Ichigo's warm pulse beating quickly beneath the skin, and he was glad that Ichigo got this way around him.

"Stupid dork." Ichigo murmured so lightly that Grimmjow almost didn't hear the words escape Ichigo's lips.

"Stupid Berry." He grumbled right back. The two held each other tightly, practically squeezing the worry and anxiousness out of one another. This is what real lovers did, and well, Ichigo wanted this to be real, so he just squeezed back harder. Grimmjow was like his new rock, the solid foundation in which he was holding onto. Grimmjow just made life more...livable. It was fantastic.

"We sound like love struck school girls." Ichigo stated and before he could even recognize what had been said Grimmjow began laughing. Not too loud, because it wasn't that funny, but he was laughing. Ichigo smiled at this and watched as Grimmjow lost his breath from laughing so long.

"You're right. We're fuckin' girls."

"At least we're happy fuckin' girls." Ichigo laid his cheek against Grimmjow's, whose was way warmer than his was. Ichigo concentrated on trying to absorb Grimmjow's heat into his own body.

"Well actually, I'm pretty happy fuckin' guys, but I get what you're sayin'." Grimmjow smiled at his own joke.

"Smart ass." Ichigo said, his own smile tugging at his lips.