!!!Happy New Year!!!
Vermilion High
Chapter 11
"Ichi-nii!"
"Ichi-nii!"
Yuzu and Karin both attacked their brother as he came through the door to the house, latching onto each of his legs; Karin, of course, backing off and acting coolly as her brother greeted them. Ichigo snickered at his sisters, heading towards the stairs. Yuzu called after him.
"I'll have dinner ready in just a few minutes!" She yelled.
Ichigo nodded, as if she could see him at the top of the stair, and kept walking towards his old bedroom.
He opened the door and sighed, looking over his plain room. Honestly, his room at home was so bleak in comparison to his bedroom at the school… with Grimmjow.
He quickly fished out his cell phone from his pocket and pressed the number for his in-box. No messages, no texts…nothing. He sighed again.
After he threw his duffle bag onto his bed, he headed downstairs again, the smell of Yuzu's cooking finally hitting his nose. She had made curry on rice, one of her many great dishes.
Frankly, his little sister was the best cook in the family. No offence to himself or his father, she just liked to cook. She'd sit around all day and watch the cooking channel, taking notes.
He walked into the dining room and couldn't help but smile at Karin yelling at Isshin. It was as if life hadn't even changed.
Suddenly Isshin was rushing towards him, a great, big, goofy grin plastered on his face. Ichigo quickly punched him through the wall.
"What the hell, dad?!! I come home and you immediately try to tackle me!"
His father just for back up and stood proudly.
"Just testing your reflexes, son. Glad to see that school hasn't slowed you down."
----
"So, how's the school? We haven't gotten any calls from you telling us to take you back home, so it must be okay."
Ichigo poked at his food then turned to Isshin.
"It's great actually. I've met some pretty cool guys."
Karin came over to him and took his plate to the kitchen. Ichigo thanked her and got up.
"Any fights?"
"None yet."
"Ichi-nii, do you like any of the guys there?" Yuzu asked, smiling greatly.
Ichigo paused, pushing in his chair, then made his way to the stairs, hurrying up them and slamming his bedroom door. Karin just smiled to herself as she walked into the living room, turning on the TV.
"I'd take that as a 'yes'. Wouldn't you?"
---
Ichigo sighed, a slight blush on his face as he plopped down on his bed. Damn that Ishida…
Ever since Orihime and he had talked about boys, and his father caught them, his whole family had known about his preference.
Not that it wasn't completely obvious before.
His best friend from childhood was Tatsuki, a girl. He always hung on his mother, when she was alive. And he wore skin tight clothing almost all the time, even if they were punk it should've been obvious… oh, that and he gave his little sisters advice on what to do from time to time, whether it was clothes or boys.
He turned onto this side, pulling his pillow out from under his head and to his chest, wrapping his arm around it. He took out his cell and checked once again for any messages, none.
"I heard that Ichigo was back, is that true?" The raven asked, trying to get into the house to see. Isshin grinned, glad to see the pale teen at his house once again.
"He sure is!" Isshin boasted. "Why don't you go up there and say 'hi'?" He stepped to the side and his grin grew as the teen flew up the stairs.
The door to Ichigo's room slammed against the wall before a definite yelp could be heard from the other side of the room. Ichigo flung the teen off of him, and off the bed, and then sat up.
"Holy crap!" He started, before he realized whom it was. "Ishida?"
The teen sat up on the floor, pushing his glasses back in front of his eyes.
"Glad to see you haven't changed, Kurosaki." Ishida got up off the floor and pulled out the desk chair and sat in it after pulling it closer to the bed.
"What are you doing here?"
"Isn't that obvious? I heard that you were back, so I came to see you."
"Don't you have work from your dad to do?"
"Surprisingly, he told me to have the holiday off."
They stared at each other until Ichigo felt like he should get up and get dressed. But since he had company, he would have to get his clothes and go down the hall to change in the bathroom.
He stood, surprising Ishida, then made his way over to his closet, pulling it open to get his clothes. Once they were in his arms he closed the door again, walking over to the door to the hallway.
"Make yourself 'at home', I'm gonna go change."
When Ichigo came back nothing had changed. Ishida still sat in his desk chair, but once Ichigo closed the door and threw his dirty clothes into the hamper in his closet, that wasn't so. Ishida cornered him, putting a hand on the wall near his head.
"You never called."
Ichigo blinked. "Huh?"
"You never called me after I came to see you. So I suppose it all worked out for you and him?" Ishida put his other hand on the wall.
"'Him'? You mean Grimmjow?" Ichigo pressed his back against the wall, the close proximity making him uncomfortable.
"So that's his name… But you didn't answer my question."
"Uh, yeah…it did."
"Are you still together?" Ishida stepped closer, making their chests touch, one of this hands moved to Ichigo's neck.
"Yes. We are." Ichigo said firmly, hoping that Ishida would get the message and back off. He frowned when the other's hand traveled down his chest to his stomach. Suddenly Ishida was off of him, moving across the room to sit back in the desk chair.
"I see." He said as he pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. "That's disappointing."
"Ishida…stop doing that."
"Sorry. I explained it before." He looked over his shoulder and smiled at Ichigo. "I like you."
Ichigo sighed, defeated, and sat on the bed in front of Ishida.
"You know that no matter how many times you say it, it's not going to make me like you again."
"I know."
After a moment of awkward silence, Ichigo spoke up.
"So how are Chad and Orihime?"
"They're doing great actually. Orihime just convinced Chad to kiss her out in public, even though they've been doing a lot more than that at either one of their apartments."
Ichigo snickered at that, remembering how shy Chad was to ask Orihime out in the first place and then having her turn around one day and ask him. It was hilarious.
"Do you keep in touch with Keigo and Mizuiro?"
"I don't really have time to stay in touch with anyone. Just Orihime and Chad because that blasted girl insists on keeping me socially active." Ishida finished with a push on his glasses.
Ichigo got up, spinning Ishida's chair around to face opposite his bed then getting in front of the pale teen.
"I think we should pay them a visit."
---
A knock came at the door to the apartment, startling the busty girl in the kitchen. Orihime put down her drink and practically skipped over to the door, opening it. Suddenly she squealed, leaping at Ichigo in a great big hug. Chad was there immediately. But when he noticed who it was, his eyes went wide. Orihime just went on to hug Ishida.
"Ichigo." Chad said, greeting him. Ichigo nodded, smirking, as Ishida got uncomfortable in Orihime's embrace.
"Hey, Chad."
"It's so great of you to come home for the holidays, Ichigo!" Orihime burst in. She grabbed Ichigo's hand and dragged him into the front room, telling him and Ishida to sit down on the large couch.
"Would you like something to drink? I mix them myself!"
Ichigo winced, remembering how Orihime cooked and shook his head.
"I'll just have some water, if you don't mind."
"You should take her up on her offer. Her drinks are actually very good." Ishida said. His compliment made Orihime hug him again.
"Thank you, Uryuu! You're so nice! What drink would you like?"
Ishida straightened his glasses once Orihime jumped off of him.
"What do you have right now?"
"I'll just mix it right away."
"Hmm… I like your strawberry mint limeade. May I have that?"
Ichigo slapped a hand onto Ishida's back.
"Sheesh Ishida, you're so proper." He laughed at Ishida's expression, loving how nothing had really changed between his friends. He fished out his cell and checked the messages while Orihime got their drinks, sighing, as there was still nothing.
Ishida took a sip of his drink and smiled, shocking Ichigo. Ichigo took Ishida's drink from his hand and took a sip himself, his eyes widening a bit. It was good.
"I added a little bit of chocolate, how is it?"
"It's great. In fact, Ishida, I'm stealing your drink." Ichigo said as he got up to move away from the raven. He sat in a chair across the table.
"Hey!" Ishida barked. He reached after his drink and almost fell into the table.
"It's fine, I'll make another for you, Uryuu." Orihime ran into the kitchen, ecstatic that Ichigo loved her drink.
When she came back, She had two drinks in her hand. She handed Ishida his then gave the other to Chad, sitting on the armrest of the large recliner he sat in. She giggled when his arm wrapped around her waist to make sure that she didn't fall off.
Ichigo smiled sadly at their display, sipping from his drink yet again. He couldn't help but think of yesterday and what had conspired between Grimmjow and him. He sighed heavily, fishing out his cell again as he kept sipping from his drink. Man, it was good.
"Ichigo, is something wrong?" Orihime asked, gasping as she fell backwards into Chad's lap.
"Are you okay?" Chad asked, stroking her cheek. She nodded and he helped her get up, but she sat down in his lap rather than on the armrest, looking back over at Ichigo.
"Sorry, lost my balance. But, Ichigo, are you okay? It seems like something's wrong. You look so sad."
She couldn't be any closer to the truth. As that small display of Chad's affection, the stroking on the cheek, happened, Ichigo's expression became miserable. Ishida looked over at him, quirking an eyebrow.
"Did you two have another fight?" He asked, nodding as Ichigo's grip on his glass tightened.
He got up, setting his own cup on the table before walking to where he was in front of Ichigo. He tried lifting Ichigo's face, but the odd-haired-teen refused and jerked his head out of Ishida's hand. Ishida sighed.
"Who did he have a fight with, Uryuu?" Orihime asked, turning around to give Chad a kiss on the cheek, before she got up, and made her way over to the other two boys. (That was the agreement they had, anytime Orihime wanted out of Chad's arms, she had to kiss him on the cheek.)
"His boyfriend."
"It wasn't a fight!" Ichigo interjected. He put his cup on the table and stood. "I'm going outside for a minute."
He left the apartment and the other three just looked at each other. Orihime was the first to speak up.
"Uryuu, tell me about his boyfriend."
Grimmjow and Ulquiorra both grunted as they lifted the heavy mattress onto the bed frame, letting out a gust of air once it was situated, and dropped the mattress. Grimmjow collapsed onto the bed, heaving out a sigh of relief.
"Thanks for giving me back my bed, Ulquiorra." He said, grinning up at his friend.
"Not a problem. I am just confused as to why you would give me both yours and Ichigo's beds. Have you consulted with him about sleeping together?"
"I know he won't mind. In fact, he'll love it. He's wanted to go way too fast for a relationship, so this is something he's want. Well, if he knew that I could get my huge bed back from you. I'm sure you'll find a use for that second bed. Maybe you'll finally get a roommate."
Grimmjow laughed at his own joke, knowing full well that Ulquiorra would never do such a thing. He looked up at Ulquiorra and was shocked, to say the least. It looked as if Ulquiorra was considering the idea!
"Hey, lemme help you move those beds into your dorm."
---
After getting the beds situated, Grimmjow decided that he and Ulquiorra should hang out together. With him being so busy with Ichigo and Ulquiorra, well, being himself, there just wasn't any time to sit and talk.
So right then, they were sitting on the couch, each with a soda in hand. Grimmjow had his arm thrown over the back of the couch and Ulquiorra was sitting side-ways, his back on the armrest, facing Grimmjow. Somehow they had gotten onto the subject of Grimmjow and Ichigo's relationship.
"So yeah, that's what happened. But it'd be way too embarrassing to tell Ichigo that I just don't know how two guys have sex with each other. He'd probably laugh at me."
Ulquiorra quirked an eyebrow.
"They have anal sex, Grimmjow."
"Duh. I knew that. I just don't know how to do it without hurting him."
"I'll be right back." Ulquiorra said as he got up. He put his soda on the table in front of the couch before stuffing both of his hands in his pockets and walking back to his bedroom.
Grimmjow sighed, rubbing his hand over his face. He couldn't believe that he had told Ulquiorra that. Honestly, it was really none of his business. But, then again, that's what best friends are for. They're honest to each other regarding just about anything and everything.
Ulquiorra came back and handed Grimmjow a small, paperback book with a foamy green cover. He sat down, in the same position as before, and picked up his soda. Grimmjow read over the small golden letters and his eyes widened.
"Umm…Ulquiorra…this is…?" Grimmjow looked up at his friend to see the raven sipping from his cup.
"I do not have a need for it anymore. Since you do, I shall let you have it."
"Anymore'? What exactly did you have this book for?"
"I needed to study it for a while. I am done with it now. And it will, most indefinitely, help you."
Grimmjow looked down at the book again, reading over the title once more. "A guide to male-male relationships".
He looked up at his friend again.
"You're not going to tell me what you really had this book for, are you?"
"Just be thankful."
---
Grimmjow lied down on his king-sized bed, his dark blue, satin covers making him sigh comfortably. He sat up and reached for the book on his nightstand, hesitantly flipping it open and reading the names of each chapter. His eyes stopped on, 'Preparation for sex'.
Suddenly he heard Frank Sinatra singing and hurriedly got to his cell phone. He flipped it open and pressed it to his ear.
"Hello?"
"…Grimmjow?" a tentative replied. Grimmjow immediately closed the book and put it on the nightstand upside down, feeling stupid because Ichigo wasn't even there.
"Ichi?" He waited but nothing came from the other side of the phone. "Is there something wrong?"
He heard a choked sob from the phone and his eyes got wide with worry.
"I'm so glad." Ichigo started. "I thought that you would hang up on me."
"Why would I hang up on you? I'm glad that you called. I, uhm…" He glanced at the book. "…was just thinking about you."
"You were?" He could hear the smile in Ichigo's voice and couldn't help but smile himself.
"Yeah. I've got a surprise for you when you get back too." Grimmjow lied back down, putting his free hand under his head.
"Really? What is it?"
"If I told you it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?" Grimmjow snickered as Ichigo let out a whine.
"C'mon, Grimm. Give me a hint, please?" He pleaded.
"Fine. Hmm… You'll love it, I promise."
Silence came from the other side of the phone. Then Ichigo's irritated voice.
"That's not a hint, Grimmjow."
Grimmjow sighed, trying to think of a different hint.
"Okay, how about this. When you come back, we'll be having lots of fun. Now you should probably be getting back to your family. So I'm hanging up. Love you."
"Wait, I don't wanna hang up." Ichigo whined. Even if he was keeping his friends in waiting for a long time, he'd much rather be talking to Grimmjow.
"I know, I know. But it really isn't fair to do that to your family. They wanted you with them for the holiday, so you should spend it with them. You can call me tomorrow, okay? But for now, go be with your family."
"Okay… Bye, Grimm."
"I love you."
Ichigo smiled.
"I love you too." He whispered before hanging up and going back into the apartment, a soft smile on his face.
He sat back down and was immediately regretting his smile. Orihime grinned, Chad blushed, and Ishida stared.
"What?" He asked gruffly.
"Tell us about your blue-haired hunk, Ichigo!" Orihime chimed.
This was going to be a long holiday…
"We're here!" Chimed in a very cheerful voice. Ichigo almost groaned at his father's goofy friend. The man's long time companion came in behind him.
"I brought sake!" Yoruichi boasted, holding up the five bottles in her two very feminine hands. Ichigo smiled with a sigh, shaking his head as he got up to help her bring in a few more boxes of the intoxicating liquor. The woman was an alcoholic; that was all there was too it.
Ichigo lugged in the twelfth box and heaved a great sigh for all to hear. How many freggin' boxes were there?!
The man that came in only a few minutes before had sat down on the couch with Isshin, getting some good laughs at Ichigo's expense. He pulled out his fan, opening it and hiding his goofy grin as he turned to Ichigo.
"Ichigo, my boy, why don't you stop breaking your back and join us? I haven't seen you in a while." His green and white striped hat hid his eyes in a shadow, but Ichigo could tell that the man planned to ask him embarrassing questions about his new school.
The teen sighed, stalking over to the chair next to the couch before plopping himself down.
"Is Tensei taking care of the shop while you're gone, Urahara?" Ichigo asked, feigning interest. The man grinned, glee reverberating from every pore in his body at striking up a conversation with the teen.
"Why yes, he is. Glad you asked, Ichigo, my boy. Tensei's been getting these old medicines out again and trying to make me take them, so I'm glad I got out of there; Even if it is just for the night. Because Yoruichi and I have-…"
Ichigo didn't listen to the rest, instead he focused on the small shine in Kisuke's left eye that made it look like he was still looking at him and paying attention. All he could think about was what Grimmjow had said on the phone and the promise they made for talking later on that night.
Suddenly he was brought out of his fantasy when he remembered something. He excused himself from the conversation, noticing that Kisuke and Isshin had began talking again, and ran up the stairs. He came back down and walked into the kitchen where Yoruichi was trying to convince Yuzu and Karin to drink with her.
"Oi, Yoruichi. Stop pestering my sisters. They're way too young to drink." She looked up at him and hick-upped. He scowled and threw a small object at her. "Anyways, this is yours."
Surprisingly, even though she was drunk, she caught the object thrown at her with a quick hand then turned it so that she could see it. It was a small, plain doll. One that she had given Ichigo a year ago, almost exact, in hopes that it would help him get laid. She looked back up at him with a confused look on her face.
"I don't need it anymore." Ichigo gave as his explanation. Then he walked back out of the room, walking back up the stairs to have privacy and call Grimmjow.
And what had he given back to her?
The voodoo doll.
Oh yeah! I went there!!! *dies*
Anyways…umm…sorry for the actionless chapter here. But it was gonna come at some point! Just be glad that I finally got out of my writers' block!! I AM. ^-^
Reviews might actually change whether I make the next chapter the week before Christmas, or just Christmas. With Ichigo's coming home of course and Grimmjow telling him the surprise…or rather SHOWING him the surprise. Can any of you guess what the surprise is? Hmm? Hmmmmmm?
Guess for the cyber cookie!!!!!