I would love to mention Akrximay for mentioning me and my story in one of her updates. She is a lovely person who, I think, writes really well! So you should definitely check out Strawberry Assassin if you get the chance, I quite enjoyed it!

Anyway enjoy!

"So who's even going to this?" Grimmjow asked as he rolled his large black convertible safely into a car park, overlooking the expanse of the beach.

"Eh, some work people. They insisted I come," Ichigo rolled his eyes skyward, hoping this day would turn out ok and not turn into some kind of disaster. The last time he had been to the beach, it had been with his family, before he even knew what disaster was.

With a large sigh he opened the door and hoisted himself out.

"Huh, ok. Didn't pick you for the beach type," Grimmjow grabbed a bag from the back seat, "Besides it's a bit on the cold side don't you think?"

"Yeah, but Renji had insisted we go to the beach before it got too cold."

"Renji your friend?" Grimmjow locked the car and turned to Ichigo, who had made his way to the footpath.

Grimmjow watched as Ichigo shrugged in reply and looked toward the beach. He had to admit, it was a good day to go to the beach and the thought of seeing Ichigo soaking wet, clad in only some board shorts had him pumped and ready to go, so he could hardly refuse.

Ichigo gazed along the beach, hand shielding his eyes from the fiercely bright sunlight that burnt his eyes. He could hardly miss the flaming red hair that stood apart from the rest. Ichigo watched as Renji surveyed an umbrella imbedded in the sand, next to him a stood a sullen looking man with black hair and a critical eye.

Waving Ichigo approached the couple, "Renji!"

"Ichigo!" cried the red head as he bounded toward Ichigo, a large smile plastered on his face, "Glad you made it!"

Renji threw a look to Grimmjow, who was shadowing Ichigo closely. Renji ran a critical gay eye over the man that Ichigo had brought along. He could certainly appreciate that he was attractive, but held no cigar to his beloved Byakuya.

Grimmjow cocked a blue eyebrow in curiosity as the man looked at him closely. He felt like he was under a microscope, making him wonder if Ichigo had mentioned him. That in itself, was enough to get Grimmjow excited for what the day had in store for them.

Cracking a large grin, Grimmjow extended a hand to the man, "The name's Grimmjow."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Renji," the pair pumped hands, in a manly fashion, obviously trying to exert their male strength and dominance to one another.

Ichigo rolled his eyes at the two, not sure whether the two were going to butt heads or actually get along. He would soon find out he thought as he grabbed the bag off of Grimmjow and chucked it onto the sad near Renji's umbrella.

"So anyway," Renji beamed, turning away from an amused Grimmjow, "This is Byakuya! Byakuya, this is Ichigo, the guy I was telling you about!"

Ichigo extended a hand to the man, noticing his well defined torso, due to a lack of clothing.

Examining Ichigo's hand with what seemed a bored expression he grabbed it and shook it quickly.

Not sure how to take the man, he turned to Renji, as if questioning his lovers complete disregard for social cues and manners.

Throwing an arm around Ichigo's shoulder Renji laughed and took a few steps away from the group. Leaning closer to Ichigo, Renji whispered his apology.

"Sorry man, he's in a bad mood at the moment."

"What the fuck do I have to do with that?" Ichigo hissed.

"He's a bit jealous, 'cause I mention you a bit too much apparently," Renji pulled away and looked toward his lover, who was eyeing them suspiciously.

A small incredulous cackle escaped Ichigo's throat. He wasn't too fond of Renji's partner and the cause for his chilly demeanour was even more ridiculous. No way was there ever going to be any of that going on between them. Ever. Plus jealousy was annoying and complicated, but it didn't mean the guy needed to be a dick.

"Sorry," Renji laughed running a hand over his ponytail. Looking back at the two men standing near the umbrella, Renji noticed a dark aura emanating from Ichigo's 'friend', Grimmjow. Swallowing heavily, he realised that Byakuya wasn't the only jealous type at this gathering. He'd certainly have to keep that in mind if this day was to go smoothly.

"So anyway, where's Ulquiorra?" Ichigo shaded his eyes with his hand, looking across the beach. He couldn't help but notice the water shimmering in the golden rays of the sun; it almost gave the horizon the appearance of being glittered with diamonds.

But Ichigo knew better. Nothing was ever as it seemed.

With a sigh he felt his usual self creep upon him like a nightmare. There would be times when he could suppress his usual callous thoughts, but more often than not he found himself plagued with the diseased notion of what he assumed was life.

Looking around his eyes landed on the blue god that had seemingly destroyed and changed his life so quickly he wasn't quite sure how it had happened. In the time that he had spent with Grimmjow he had never relived so many painful memories, been so torn apart mentally, that his nightmares had resurfaced after years of lying dormant. Yet, for some odd reason it didn't seem to drag him into the depths he had fallen into so many times before. Grimmjow was annoying, arrogant and egotistical, not to mention a narcissist, but he had experienced some great sex and… well the sex was great and his life seemed to be slightly better off with the Yakuza Boss in his life.

Wow, Ichigo thought perplexed. He really was fucked up if he thought his life was better after the Yakuza had been introduced. Yup, he was fucked and consequently being literally fucked in the process.

"Sorry, I didn't hear you," Ichigo shook his head; his thoughts dashing off in an odd direction.

"He is on his way, his wife's pregnant, and he claims that's why he's always late. Don't know how that works…" Renji shook his head. He'd never really understood girls, nor was he attracted to them in the slightest, he would choose the D over the V any day.

Before Ichigo could choke out a response he heard a female voice call out in the distance.

Turning Ichigo blinked against the sun as he noticed Ulquiorra making his way across the sand, a small black haired child positioned on top of his shoulders pulling at his hair. Ichigo could only watch in slight amusement as Ulquiorra's face, completely void of emotion, took the child's onslaught without even cracking his façade. The child on the other had been having a great time.

It was then that Ichigo realised the woman who had accompanied him was calling to him. Confused he squinted at, what Ichigo could only assume was Ulquiorra's wife.

She was wearing a light pink summer dress, cinched under her ample breasts. A hand resting on her large stomach as the other held a brown hat in place, her orange hair catching in the sun.

Ichigo's heart stopped as everything fell into place.

He remembered the last time he had met her. Ichigo had seen her from afar and unconsciously called out to her. She had smiled and hugged him, asking how he was, the usual shit. She had told him that she had just gotten engaged to some guy by the name of Ulquiorra and was expecting their first child.

Said child was obviously on Ulquiorra's shoulders.

"Orihime?"

"Ichigo, it is you!" she exclaimed pulling him into a hug, made awkward by her large belly. "What are the odds? I never thought I'd see you again after last time!"

Ichigo stiffened, realising he was in over his head.

This woman knew of Ichigo, the real Ichigo, not the façade of Ichigo Kawasaki, Math teacher.

"How do you two know each other?" Grimmjow couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed at the woman. The two obviously shared some kind of history, making him jealous for the second time in about fifteen minutes.

"Yes, how?" Ulquiorra turned to his wife, who still had Ichigo in what appeared to be a headlock, but was actually a very awkward hug.

Ichigo stiffened at the question, not sure how to go about answering.

Orihime laughed, "This guy used to be such a trouble maker back in his teens! I patched him up a few times; he was actually my first patient!"

Ichigo relaxed considerably, what she was saying was entirely the truth, just not the whole truth.

Orihime felt Ichigo relax slightly. She had always been perceptive and she knew how Ichigo didn't particularly like people knowing too much about him, she was a testament to that. But she had realised Ichigo was overly conscious of how he was perceived by Ulquiorra and his friends by the way he had stiffened in her arms.

She would certainly have to question him later.

Knitting two blue eyebrows together, Grimmjow instantly knew that they were up shit creek. This woman had obviously known Ichigo back when he was living on the streets, who knew how much she knew about him, and on some level that made Grimmjow eerily possessive.

"I knew it!" Renji ruffled Ichigo's hair, "I knew you would have to be one of those delinquent teenagers!"

Thankfully, Renji diffused the situation with his humour and his inept way of reading the crowd.

"Okaa-san!" called the small child on Ulquiorra's shoulders.

"Come here sweat pea," Orihime grabbed the small boy from her husband's shoulders, "Everyone this is Rin. Say hello Rin."

"'Ello!" cried the boy in excitement. Orihime had obviously lucked out when it came to genetics because the little boy was the spitting image or Ulquiorra apart from two orb like chocolate eyes, which had seemingly been Orihime's only contribution to the gene pool.

Once everyone had settled themselves in, Renji suggested a swim, which the men were more than enthused about.

"You'll be fine with Rin?" Ulquiorra asked, taking off his shirt to reveal a marble white torso.

"Certainly," Orihime laughed, grabbing Rin in a hug, making him squeal in delight.

Byakuya and Ulquiorra made their way down the beach, enjoying the silence each person offered. Shaking his head, Ichigo looked at the two. They both came across as silent and stoic, yet here was Ulquiorra, seemingly the most normal, with a wife and a child. Heck, he was normal if you compared him to Renji and himself, both of whom enjoyed men.

"What?" Grimmjow watched as Ichigo snickered at something in the distance.

"Just thinking how hard it is to be normal."

"You're such a try hard," Grimmjow snickered shoving Ichigo in the shoulder.

"Fuck off," Ichigo flipped Grimmjow off, receiving a toothy grin in return from Grimmjow.

Ichigo slid his shirt over his head and threw it on his bag. He didn't mind the beach, at least from what he could actually remember of it, but he knew for certain he hated sand. It always made its home in the most uncomfortable places. When he was younger a waved had seemingly obliterated him, dragging him along the sand bed. He had been fine, except for the fact that he found so much sand up his crack and in his underwear he wonder if there had been any beach actually left.

"Woah! What happened there?" Renji scuttled across the sand toward Ichigo, bending down to pear at his torso. Without any qualms for personal space, Renji ran a long finger across the scar that maimed Ichigo's ribs.

Grimmjow shot the man a look of anger and amazement. Not even he had asked Ichigo about the scars that scattered his torso. Looking at Ichigo he could tell just by the rigidity of his stance that the question did not bode well with him.

Ichigo plastered a smile onto his face and pushed Renji away, "Didn't you hear before? I was a trouble maker back in my day!"

"Yeah but, that looks like a-."

"Holy shit!" Grimmjow cried as he caught a glimpse down Renji's top, "They're some fucking epic tattoos!"

Conveniently veering the conversation away from Ichigo, Grimmjow chanced a glance at Ichigo, to find him completely blank. That topic had obviously not sat well with him at all. Grimmjow felt his stomach turn as he saw Ichigo's dead eyes glaze. He was like a landmine, Grimmjow realised, one false step and everything would come crashing down.

"Haha! Yeah, they're pretty awesome hey?" Renji, not noticing the increasing tension of the small group, removed his shirt to reveal an expansive tattoo that ran across his chest and the sides of his body.

"They're awesome," Grimmjow commented, leaning forward to examine them closely, "Shit they're really well done too. It's hard to get black lines so straight when tattooing."

"Yeah, bloody hell it is. So are you into tattoos then?"

"Well I've been thinking about getting one on my back for a while, just can't seem to trust anyone with it," Grimmjow was more than intrigued by the intricate tattoos. He had wanted one since he was a teenager but he'd seen too many dodgy tattoos to count. They were almost dime a dozen in the Yakuza and he certainly didn't want some novice fucking it up.

"Well I can do it for you! I did some of these ones here," Renji pointed to his abdomen, "The ones I couldn't reach I got a friend to do. We're both pretty good!"

"Awesome! Yeah I'll definitely have to get you onto that, 'cause your tats are really good."

"Aw thanks man!"

As both men chatted in intrigued enthusiasm about tattoos, Ichigo looked down at his scarred torso. It repulsed him on every level. Each scar held its own brutal story which he preferred to keep hidden. But was that really the right way to go about it? Lili popped into Ichigo's mind, their conversation still fresh.

Chancing a quick look at Grimmjow walking toward the water, he wondered if he'd ever be able to tell Grimmjow, let alone anyone. He didn't like to talk about it. For Ichigo a lot of the scars held a heavy stigma, which tended to be another block on the already unstable building of his psyche.

Tracing a hand over the silver scar he looked out across the beach, Renji bounding into the ocean, screaming as a wave took him out. Ulquiorra and Byakuya were calmly bobbing up and down just before the wave break. Whilst, Grimmjow slowly walked toward the water. Even from this distance Ichigo could make out the ripple of muscles the flowed down Grimmjow's back, tensing as his body moved through the sand.

Even though Ichigo felt repulsed about his body, Grimmjow had not commented on the scars that covered his torso. He knew he had seen them, that much was for sure, but he had never asked which, in itself, was interesting. Usually when he slept with someone, their first inquiry would be about his scars, but not Grimmjow funnily enough, which made him very intrigued.

He would always come across as confident and comfortable in his own skin but the thought of people judging him, pitying him and/or feeling disgusted by his skin made him…sick. Nevertheless, he'd gone about life as if it didn't bother him, constantly building and reconstructing the walls that kept his self conscious side at bay. And to be completely honest, he enjoyed sex way too much, so it was best not to think about it too much, which made predicaments like before slightly unbearable, especially when they would push the issue.

Grimmjow looked back at Ichigo who was running a hand over his ribs, a downcast, yet slightly perplexed expression contorting his handsome features.

"You coming, you slow poke?" he called across the sand, startling Ichigo from his deep thoughts.

Flipping him off for the second time that day, Ichigo jogged across the sand to meet Grimmjow.

The two of them walked into the cool, crisp ocean water, feeling the heavy tug of the current around their ankles.

Without warning Ichigo felt himself hoisted into the air by two large muscular arms. He had only a moment to realise that Grimmjow had picked him up princess style, until he was suddenly flying through the air.

"You fucking pri-," Ichigo screamed, water drowning out his last insult. The water was cold, possibly too cold for swimming. Salt water stung his nose and eyes as he swirled around under the water, its current pushing him around.

Finding his feet in the sand, he pushed himself free of the ocean's pull with a gasp.

"IT'S F-F-FUCKING C-C-COLD!"

Meanwhile, Grimmjow was laughing heartily a few metres away. Tears sting his eyes, mouth open in a large toothy grin.

"It's good for the soul!" Grimmjow cried as he wiped a tear from his eye.

"Good for the soul my arse, my nipples almost dropped off it's so cold!"

Grimmjow burst out in another fit of laughter, watching as a shivering, drenched Ichigo stalked toward him.

Grimmjow couldn't help but notice his usually bright orange hair was a deep brown from being wet; long strands of hair sticking to his face and neck. His pale body glowing as the sun hit the droplets of water that were scattered across his body.

Between his laughter Grimmjow could appreciate how fuckable Ichigo was. All he wanted to do was find a quiet part of the beach and fuck him so hard he would be crying his name in pure ecstasy. Grimmjow quickly shook his head, trying to rid his mind of one of many perverted thoughts that seemed to plague his mind whenever Ichigo was near. He certainly had to be careful, getting a hard on at the beach whilst soaking wet was never a good idea.

"You fucking wait Bluebird," Ichigo hissed as he stormed toward a laughing Grimmjow.

Ichigo couldn't keep the smirk from his face as he watched Grimmjow recognise the intent in his walk.

Lunging at the hulking blue god Ichigo missed his target by millimetres landing in the water once again.

A wave engulfed him in a surge of salt and sand, his revenge was still unachieved.

Popping up out of the water, spitting the salty mixture from his mouth, Ichigo noticed Grimmjow hoping through the water toward the others, just beyond the break. Mustering his energy, he bounced through the water, each passing wave making it more and more difficult to catch up to his prey.

By the time Ichigo had finally made it to Grimmjow he was already with the group and laughing at Ichigo's expense.

Without hesitation, Ichigo pounced on Grimmjow, effectively grabbing him by the shoulders and shoving him under.

"Having fun there?" Renji snickered as he watched bubbles exploding from the water where Grimmjow was being held.

Moving into a better position to hold Grimmjow down, Ichigo licked his lips and nodded in concentration. He would exact his revenge.

As the bubbles intensified Ichigo felt Grimmjow squirm under his grip, surprise ruining the moment as he felt Grimmjow grab his legs and loop them onto his shoulders.

"Oh no…" Ichigo fisted two hands into Grimmjow's thick hair, just as he shot from the water.

"You little shit!" Grimmjow scorned, his grip on Ichigo's ankles were tight and unforgiving.

Ichigo sat perched on Grimmjow's shoulders, thighs wrapped around his neck, hands clutching at blue locks.

"Put me down!" Ichigo demanded.

"Haha! Nope!" Grimmjow's grin was cocky and massive. Everyone could tell he was enjoying toying with the red head.

"You two certainly get along," Ulquiorra commented, submerging half his face into the water, leaving two large green eyes to analyse the two.

"He's fun to torment," Grimmjow shot a glance at the green eyed man. There was more to that statement than he was simply saying.

"Let me down you douche-bag!"

Ignoring Ichigo's cries for release, Grimmjow turned to Ulquiorra, "So how long have you been married?"

"A couple of years," Ulquiorra shrugged, "We'd been dating a while before that too. How long have you two known each other?"

"Slash, how long have you been dating?" Renji interjected smiling broadly, Byakuya simple watching as people threw questions at each other.

"Dating?" Ichigo sneered at the two men. They certainly weren't dating. Fucking yes, dating no.

"No! We're not dating; we just know each other from when we were kids. Used to do Karate together," Grimmjow replied, letting go of Ichigo's ankles.

A surprised cry was quickly drowned out by the water, as Ichigo fell backwards off of Grimmjow.

"So you're not dating then? That's a shame you two seem to be a good match," Renji ran a hand down his face, wiping the water from his eyes.

"Huh?" Ichigo shot up from the water next to Grimmjow, "What was that?"

"Never mind!" Renji laughed, diving under the water.

"What did he say?" Ichigo turned to Grimmjow, finger in his ear, trying to get some of the water out.

Grimmjow certainly wasn't going to tell Ichigo. He'd probably get all sullen and worried about the fact that he would never date anyone. He knew it was a taboo area, even though it made him excited and pleased the Renji had mentioned that they worked well together.

Scolding himself, he realised he was acting like a little bitch. He was a Yakuza boss, who would happily dismember someone, not some love sick teenage girl on her period.

"Nothing," Grimmjow muttered.

Cocking an eyebrow in curiosity, he let the subject go, diving under an oncoming swell, enjoying the sensation as water rippled past his skin. It was cold, but his body had slowly begun to acclimatise to the water and he was starting to feel the pleasure of cool water caressing his skin. He hadn't swum like this in years, and remembered how much he had missed such simple moments.

Coming up for air, he noticed Renji jumping on Byakuya, planting a kiss on his lips, to which the man happily replied. It had been the most emotion or expression he'd seen the guy show all day, and he wondered how such an upbeat person stayed with such a stoically silent man?

Ulquiorra was casually lying on his back enjoying the swell as it passed on through, eyes closed as he floated in the water.

It was certainly relaxing, Ichigo realised as he looked at the people surrounding him. He'd never done anything like this with his friends… well if you could ever call Shiro a friend. But, as he floated in the water watching his companions, he began to understand the need for friends. He'd never really given it much thought; it was usually about getting through the day, but sitting there in the water, he started to see why people liked to 'hang out'.

"We could do that," Grimmjow whispered huskily, wrapping two strong arms around his torso.

"Oh fuck off," Ichigo pushed against the expanse of Grimmjow's bare chest feeling the muscles constrict as he held him close.

"Aw come on, why don't we go find a quiet patch of beach and I'll make you scream my name," Grimmjow leant forward, his breath brushing past Ichigo's slender pale neck.

Ichigo would love nothing more than to be fucked on a beach by the best lay he'd ever had, except there was a problem.

"Fuck off, no."

"What? How could you say no… to this?" Grimmjow ran a hand through his hair in amusement, except his joke came off as extremely seductive.

"Easy, now let me go."

"Serious?"

Ichigo pinched the bridge of his nose, "Serious. I fucking hate sand, enough to make me not want your dick."

Grimmjow couldn't hold back the laughter.

"You pansy!" he cried in laughter, "It's just a little sand!"

"And it gets fucking everywhere! Now piss off," Ichigo shoved Grimmjow away, swimming toward the beach. He would leave that babbling blue hair egotistical bastard to his laughter.

Orihime watched her son play in the sand, his white skin glowing in the sun.

"Rin, come here, let me put some more sunscreen on you," Orihime squirted the liquid into her hands and rubbed it into her sons small arms and face.

"You don't want to get sunburnt do you?"

"No, Okaa-san," the little boy wrinkled his nose at the pungent smell or the oily liquid.

"Okaa-san, why does he have your hair?" Rin pointed a white chubby finger at Ichigo who was making his way out of the water toward them.

Orihime laughed, picking up her son and bouncing him on her knees. She looked across the sand at the muscular man making his way up the beach. He had changed since he last time she had seen him. She would have guessed the last time she had seen him he would have been about nineteen. He'd gotten taller and become more toned. He looked like a man rather than the small boy she had found on the streets all those years ago.

"He doesn't have my hair sweetie, it's just similar!"

"Well I like it…Why don't I have Okaa-san's hair?"

"Because you have Chichi's hair and it suits you perfectly little man!" Orihime kissed his head, his fine black hair catching the breeze. She'd always loved Ulquiorra's hair, ever since they had met as students at university.

They'd met after Orihime had gotten lost, wondering around campus, looking for her class. Without realising she had rounded a corner and slammed her face into what felt like a concrete wall. Her books had flown from her grasp, pens scattering the floor, papers flying into the air. She sat on the floor rubbing her nose, wondering what she had run into. It was then that a ghastly white hand appeared in front of her, outstretched in help.

Looking up she had locked eyes with emerald green crystals, shinning with benign amusement at her clumsiness. Blushing from head to toe she accepted the hand, feeling her heart race as she did so. His green eyes had pierced her heart in a single moment, his black hair a sharp contrast to his pale complexion.

He had helped her pick up her scattered belongings then directed her to her class. To this day she was surprised at how outgoing he had been. Even though they had hardly said two words to each other, she had practically fainted when she found a note sticking from her book, his number scrawled across the paper in delicate writing. It had taken her weeks to contact him, building the courage to do the unthinkable. When she had finally contacted him, he had asked what had taken her so long. She remembered being flabbergasted and turning an intense hue of red.

Looking down at her boy, she contemplated how lucky she had been in life. She had had a good upbringing, friends and home, she was educated, a nurse, a mother and a wife. She had been beyond blessed with luck, which had made her wonder why life was so unfair.

Looking at Ichigo who was grabbing his towel from his bag, she wondered how he had been these past few years and what had happened to him during his life. She knew a few key things, things she didn't particularly like to dwell on, but what didn't she know? Remembering him as a young teen she had realised he had had a rough life with many hardships, so what allowed him to have such an unlucky upbringing when she had been so fortunate?

Sighing she looked up into chocolate eyes, that stared back at her in curiosity.

"What?" Ichigo cocked an eyebrow drying his wet orange hair with his towel. Looking down at the mother and child.

"So are you going to tell me what's going on?"

Hey guys! Sorry for the wait! Been trying to write this but then I would suddenly lose motivation… Sorry it's not super interesting but next chapter will have more I promise! Plus I'm going to try and get more motivated by all your beautiful reviews, they really helped me power on, so thank you!

And yes, Lili is a badass (WHOOP!). She is a Yakuza wifey after all and I agree, Isshin is a dick… that's why I put Lili's scene in there because I couldn't have everyone being fine with Isshin when it soooo obviously was not ok. So she is for all those people who want him to be told off. :D

So I'm pretty busy next week. I have a two day convention to go to and then it's my birthday! Wooooo! (Another year older =S). But I will try to update as soon as I can!

But enough of that! Keep reviewing; let me know what you think! It keeps me excited about this story. And! If you've never reviewed my work, fear not, I do not bite

Plus I can't believe you're all so lovely! You all made my day/week! Thanks to everyone who reviewed you are awesome!

Have an amazing day my love muffins!

Chibi-Tea xx