Chapter 11-
Siberian Husky: is a medium-size, thick, soft coated working dog that originated in north-eastern Siberia. It is recognizable by its thickly furred double coat, sickle tail, erect triangular ears, and distinctive markings.
Ichigo's heart was beating as he walked down the hallways towards his room. Urahara, Yoruichi, and he had returned back to Las Noches soon after completing the mission and getting a nice dinner. Ichigo was just excited to be back, and he was super ecstatic to be able to see Grimmjow. It was now one in the morning. Outside it had been snowing, and Ichigo had grimaced at the sight. He was sick of the snow, and the main reason for that was only because Ichigo loved the summer so much. The summer flowers and the warm sunshine on his skin was enough to get Ichigo hooked forever. Winter always seemed to get Ichigo in the 'bah-humbug' mood.
The orange head smiled as he neared Grimmjow's room. With a deep breath, Ichigo pushed inside with an enthusiastic look on his face. He frowned slightly as he made his way into the empty room, and looked around to see if the bluenette happened to be somewhere random in the room. Quietly he made his way to the bathroom, carefully stepping over a floor full of discarded items, and peeked into the dark bathroom.
"Grimm?" Ichigo turned on the light switch and glanced around the messy room. Apparently the one person Ichigo was looking for just so happened to be missing.
Grumbling to himself, Ichigo shoved his hands into his pockets and waltzed out of the room, barely bothering to close the door behind him. The teenager was upset that he couldn't find Grimmjow, so he didn't want to bother with anything until he found the other teen.
Ichigo passed the library and glanced in through the small window on the door. It was empty, except for one of the odd occupants of Las Noches sitting on the couch, nose-deep in a dusty American novel. Ichigo groaned in annoyance. The orangette quickly went and checked Grimmjow's hide away garden, still to his disappointment at not finding the other.
When he didn't want to find Grimm, he found him. When he wanted to find him, he couldn't. Figures, huh?
By the time Ichigo reached him room he was starting to feel a little blue. He was thinking about taking a nap and trying to look for Grimmjow again after he was rested, but as he opened the door to his room Ichigo noticed something was off. He tensed as he flicked the light on and took a defensive stance, wondering who could possibly be in his room.
Ichigo could have laughed when he noticed the mop of blue hair sticking out from underneath the covers on Ichigo's black and red bed. His hand collided with the cool metal of the doorknob as he closed it, and turned off the light again. The smell of Grimmjow's casual cologne surrounded Ichigo even just standing there by the door.
Ichigo stepped onto the bed's platform, and for a moment all Ichigo did was gaze at the other teen sleeping soundly. Another smile graced Ichigo's lips as he gently brushed a stray lock of hair off of Grimmjow's forehead. Grimmjow stirred lightly, and with a groan he opened his cyan eyes. For a trained assassin he sleeps like a rock. Ichigo thought with an amused snort.
"Ichi?" Grimmjow's voice was still thick with sleep, but once his eyes cleared and he noticed Ichigo standing there Grimmjow shot up with a sleepy smile. Ichigo's heart clenched with endearment at the cute sight of his
"Ichigo! Are you okay? How did the mission go?" Ichigo laughed and sat down next to Grimmjow. The blue-haired teen pulled the covers back and slung one side of the fluffy comforter over the both of them as they dangled their legs off the side of the bed.
"Yeah, I'm perfectly healthy. Everything went fine, not a scratch on anyone except Kugo."
Grimmjow sighed and slumped over in relief. "Why'd it take you so long if everything went fine? You had me worried. I thought you might have been hurt." Grimmjow looked longingly at Ichigo's form. He had missed the orangette so much, and couldn't possibly imagine what life would be like without him now.
Ichigo looked at him puzzled. "Urahara just took us to get something to eat. I didn't think we took that long. I'm sorry I worried you."
Grimmjow took a deep breath to calm his racing heart. "Maybe it was just in my head then." he sighed. "Maybe… but you know what? None of that matters right now. I'm just so glad you made it back in time for Christmas."
"Christmas?" Ichigo gasped. He had forgotten all about that specific holiday until now, and that was mostly because he had been focusing so hard on the Kugo case.
"It may be early, but today is definitely Christmas."
"I can't believe I forgot. I didn't get anybody anything." Ichigo was hit by a large wave of guilt. He remembered now, the hints of the holiday were sitting obviously throughout the hideout. Ichigo slapped himself mentally as he remembered seeing the pretty wreaths hanging in the lobby, and the white Christmas tree that was in the library. He had seen them, but he had been too stupid to even think about why they were there.
Ichigo groaned and covered his face with his palms. They were still rough and sore from climbing the skyscraper earlier, but they were doing a good job at hiding him from the world.
"Hey, come on now. Don't get sad just because you didn't get anyone presents. I think everyone is grateful enough that you made it back to us." Grimmjow grinned as he saw Ichigo's body lose some of its tension.
Ichigo pressed his hands tighter to his face in embarrassment. He let out a muffled 'You're a mushball' before leaning into Grimmjow's side.
"If you think I'm a mushball now, just wait till you see your gift." The blue haired teenager reached over and gently pulled the hands away from Ichigo's face. Ichigo's amber eyes met his own, and the older teen laughed softly when Ichigo's face flushed red.
"Don't be like that, Ichi. You're gonna love this." Grimmjow walked over to the bathroom door and turned back around to glance at Ichigo.
"Close your eyes." Ichigo did as he was told, and closed his eyes tightly together. He was slightly nervous about what he was going to get, but he stopped there and with a firm face. Ichigo reminded himself that it didn't matter what Grimm got him, because it's the thought that counts. Grimmjow had gone out of his way to get him a present, even though Ichigo had gone as far as to forget Christmas was even coming.
Grimmjow opened the door and shuffled inside quickly before closing the door again for a few seconds. Ichigo smiled as he felt the air in the room shift when Grimmjow walked back towards him. "Open." Was all that Grimmjow whispered, and Ichigo hesitantly cracked his eyes open.
When Ichigo's eyes met with a set of mismatched eyes instead of the normal cyan blue ones, he almost broke his face with the smile he gave.
"I saw him in a pet shop window when Aizen let everyone out to buy gifts earlier to get my mind off you and your mission. He looked so cute, and I couldn't walk away and leave him there…" Grimmjow trailed off nervously. Ichigo ran a hand through his hair and swallowed as he eyed the small ball of fur lounging in Grimmjow's arms.
"Here," Grimmjow held the small puppy out to Ichigo. "He's yours anyways."
Ichigo was smiling so wide now that it was practically illuminating the room. Grimmjow couldn't help but mirror the smile Ichigo was emitting.
Ichigo laughed as the small animal instantly shut his icy blue and bright yellow eyes and went to sleep as Ichigo cradled him with his arms.
"Grimm, I can't believe you got me a husky!" Ichigo bit his lip to stop from smiling again, and instead looked up at the other teen. Grimmjow had a light blush on his cheeks, and out of embarrassment he refused to meet Ichigo's eyes. Ichigo almost laughed at how cheesy this whole situation was turning.
"What's his name?" Grimmjow perked up then, and with a happy intake of breath he answered.
"He's your little guy; name 'im what you want. The lady at the store said they just feed them but don't name them or anything. Something about getting attached."
Ichigo thought for a few seconds, trying to think of a suitable name for the little guy. Something fierce and masculine but still enough to be cute; it should be just how Ichigo imagined the little puppy. Cute and innocent now, but vicious when needed later when he is grown up; come on he is an assassin's dog, he needs the quality.
"How about...Shiro?" Ichigo asked more to himself than Grimmjow. The orangette thought more about it and liked the name more and more with every passing second. Ichigo ran his free hand over the soft fur on Shiro's back; the puppy didn't have the normal pattern Ichigo had seen on huskies. His fur was snow white with the slightest dusting of black on the tips of the hairs around his muzzle and eyes; he was perfect in Ichigo's eyes. The puppy cuddled into Ichigo and as he slept the tip of a long pink tongue stuck out of his mouth.
"He's so cute…" Ichigo sat Shiro down on the bed, but the husky didn't seem to mind the transfer. Instead he curled up into a ball and fell right back to sleep.
"Thank you Grimmjow. He's amazing, I love him." Grimmjow let out a happy breath as those words left Ichigo's mouth, and the taller man leaned forward and placed a light kiss on the tip of Ichigo's nose.
"You're welcome. I was nervous, I didn't think you were into the small lapdog kind of thing, so when I saw him I thought he was a perfect fit." Grimmjow decided to take a seat next to Ichigo on the bed now, and Shiro snuggled in between the two males.
"So, Grimmjow," Ichigo looked away from the man next to him to hide his embarrassment. "Is Shi like our own little baby?"
Grimmjow didn't exactly know how to react to that, and he showed it openly when his face went slack with shock. When Ichigo finally turned back to look at him, Grimmjow couldn't possibly tell him anything negative. Ichigo was just too cute, and Kami, his eyes were so persuasive.
With a sigh, Grimmjow let his hand tickle Shiro' black and white ear. "Only if you're the mom."
Seeing Ichigo's next smile was definitely worth losing some dignity over.
Ichigo yawned as he stretched, well, tried to anyways.
"For a puppy, you sure do take up a lot of room." Ichigo complained as Shiro lifted his head to look at his new owner. Currently, Ichigo was lying on about a foot and a half of bed, whilst Shiro was comfortably stretched across the rest of the queen sized bed.
"Don't give me that look young man. I'm the mom; I deserve more bed space than you." Shiro tilted his head to the side as he tried to comprehend what Ichigo was saying to him.
"Aw, forget it. Come on, let's go get breakfast. But first, we need to go wake up daddy." Ichigo shook his head at his own words and couldn't help but crack a grin. He climbed out of the comfortable bed, and made his way over to the closet to throw on his uniform. He wished that he could go downstairs and enjoy breakfast in his pajamas like all normal people do, but this was the assassin world, and in the assassin world you have to look professional at all times, or so Aizen says. If Kisuke made him wear a uniform to the breakfast table Ichigo would shoot someone.
After getting his clothes on and brushing his teeth and hair, Ichigo started off towards Grimmjow's room with Shiro in tow. The halls weren't bustling like normal and Ichigo figured it was either because they were already awake and eating breakfast, or because they wanted to sleep in a little later since it was Christmas.
Shiro stayed close to Ichigo throughout the short walk to Grimmjow's room, but the puppy still sniffed and watched his surroundings closely.
"Come on Shi." Ichigo called to the dog as he lightly knocked on Grimmjow's bedroom door. Shiro padded up to him while the door opened to the room and a sleepy Grimmjow emerged.
Ichigo laughed when he saw Grimmjow's look, but he tugged him into a tight embrace as they made their way inside Grimmjow's messy room.
"Merry Christmas." Ichigo whispered in Grimmjow's ear, and almost instantly Grimmjow was wide awake. He wound his arms around Ichigo's lean waist and pulled him closer to his chest.
"Merry Christmas to you, too." He whispered back, before pulling away from Ichigo and pressing his lips against the others.
It was a sweet kiss, the kind that was innocent and sweet, showing Ichigo all the care Grimmjow could take- good thing too an open mouthed kiss and Ichigo would have sensed morning breath. Though his other kisses were just as sweet, they were just sweet in a different kind of way; a very different kind of way.
Ichi let his right hand migrate into the blue hair above him, and he gently curled a piece of the un-brushed hair with his finger. Grimmjow was just about to deepen this kiss when a soft growl echoed in the quiet room. Ichigo pulled his lips away from Grimmjow's, only to find Shiro alert and angry next to his feet on the floor.
"I guess he doesn't like it when we kiss…" Ichigo laughed, and reached down to pet the dog. Shiro instantly relaxed as Ichigo ran his hands down the black fur on his small back.
Grimmjow laughed too as the dog gave him a smug look. "I knew I should have gotten that cat instead. Stupid cock-blocking dog." Grimmjow muttered the last part under his breath, and Ichigo looked up at his confused.
"What?"
Grimmjow gave him a fake smile and covered up what he had just said. "Oh, nothing. Just talkin' to myself like normal."
Ichigo stood up and pushed Grimmjow towards the closet. "Mmmhm, if you say so; now get dressed, I'm starving and I'm not going to miss breakfast just 'cause you want to make out before you get ready."
Ichigo turned around while Grimmjow changed, and he could feel heat seeping up his neck at the thought of the almost naked teenager only feet away from him. Though he wasn't a virgin, he only ever had sex with one girl. And all the thoughts of jumping Grimmjow ran through his mind, though they quickly ceased when his stomach growled loudly, and Ichigo groaned alongside it.
"Just hold your horses. I'll be done in a sec." Grimmjow finally pulled his jacket on while he raced towards the bathroom. "I'm dressed, Ichi, you can turn around now. And tell that dog of yours to stop glaring at me like that."
"He's your dog too! Isn't that right Shi?" Ichigo bent over and picked the husky puppy up, and Shiro instantly settled in Ichigo's arms.
Grimmjow reappeared with his hair moist with detangling spray and the slightest bit of gel, his teeth also looking a much cleaner shade of white. Trudging over to his lover quickly, Grimmjow gave Ichigo a quick kiss on the lips. Ichigo smiled at this, and laughed as he felt Shiro sigh against him.
"Aw, Shiro; daddy loves you too. Give Shi a kiss daddy~" Ichigo cooed as he gave Grimmjow 'puppy-dog' eyes just to mess with his boyfriend a bit in the morning.
"What? No way am I kissing him. He doesn't like me anyways." Grimmjow tried to escape, but found that he couldn't when Ichigo frowned sadly. Shifting his gaze to avoid the blue eyes of his boyfriend which were looking at him in pure disbelief.
"Don't you love our baby, Grimm?" Ichigo asked, turning back with wide eyes, and Shiro turned to give him the same look. Ichigo was having too much fun messing with Grimmjow as the bluenette fumbled for words as Ichigo began to tremble his pouting bottom lip.
"Oh, Kami." Grimmjow moaned, but relented in his argument. With a scowl on his face the blue-haired teen bent over and lightly kissed the dog on the head. Of course, Grimmjow gave Ichigo another kiss as he bent back up. Ichigo's pouting lips were along the way, of course he was going to make a pit-stop there. Who wouldn't?
"Alright, enough of this. I might survive an assassination, but everyone dies without food, so let's go now! Please?" Ichi practically whined.
"'ight, just stop naggin' me." Grimmjow closed the door behind them as they made their way to the bustling dining room. They didn't say much as they walked slowly down the hall, Ichigo's previous want to get to the food as quickly as possible replaced by the thoughts of how much he loved holding hands walking beside Grimmjow and his strong, muscled arm wrapped firmly around his slim waist. So instead of running towards the food, Ichigo reluctantly slowed down so he could lean against the broad shoulder presented to him. Shiro was sleeping soundly on his right arm.
This was his family. Their family and it started with two gay men and a husky.
AN: Alright, I realize things were a bit sappy in this chapter, but they were celebrating Christmas! Everyone deserves to be sappy and OOC on Christmas! But I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please review and tell me what you thought, and thank you to all the readers and previous reviewers. Y'all are awesome!
~May
