It's been four days...

Ichigo sat on his bed staring out at the darkened sky, rain cascading just past his open window. Renji, who was sitting backwards on his chair, was saying something to him that he couldn't quite make out. He sat despondently until his name was called with such ferocity that he had to look away from the monotony of the precipitation.

"What is it, Ren?"

"Ichigo you look fucked up," Renji replied, moving uncharacteristically to sit next to Ichigo on the bed. "Seriously, tell me what happened."

Ichigo turned to the window, feeling his chest tighten and his eyes burn. He didn't want to cry, and had been successful thus far. He focused on some far away point in the gray tempest as he spoke.

"I obviously made him really angry," Ichigo said, sounding almost hollow.

Renji put a hand on his shoulder, making Ichigo turn his head just enough that he could see his profile. Renji nodded.

"Call me when you're ready. I'll tell the girls to let you be for a bit." With that he stood up and left the room, leaving Ichigo in his solitude. A roll of thunder echoed from somewhere to the east.

It's been four days.


"So its really been two weeks since you guys last talked?"

Rukia sat on Ichigo's desk, peering down at him with motherly concern. Renji sat in the seat in front of him quietly. Ichigo looked up.

"Yeah," he said quietly, now able to fake a smile. "I guess that's that, huh?"

Rukia looked at Renji, who shook his head, trying to tell her not to try and make it better, because she couldn't. He turned to his friend.

"You want to come beat the hell out of me after school? I could use a workout." Ichigo smiled, this one a little less pained.

"Sure."

Classes proceeded as normal, and afterwards Ichigo and Renji headed away from the school together.

"So you wanna go to the park?"

"No," Ichigo said, smirking at his friend, "the last time we sparred in the open the cops were called." Renji let out a peel of laughter.

"Right, so where to then?"

"There's only one gym that will let us in for free. C'mon." Ichigo traversed the familiar route to the affluent gym called Nnoise, opening the door for his dumbfounded friend and then searching out the sole proprietor. He soon saw his undeniably lanky form near the lounge.

"Nnoitra," he said as the two approached, giving a wave. The dark haired man turned around and looked at Ichigo with unconcealed shock.

"Lil' pumpkin, didn't think I'd see you here," he said, standing and coming over to meet him.

"Yeah well my friend here wants me to kick the shit out of him. Could we take a room?"

"'Course ya can," Nnoitra said with a solemn nod. He turned and led the two back and pointed to studio one.

"Hey Ren, go on in. I'll be there in a sec'."

Renji looked at his friend with concern, eyeing the large man behind him before nodding and going into the designated room. Ichigo turned to Nnoitra and bit his lip, gathering all his strength to speak.

"Have you heard from him? Is he okay?"

Nnoitra's eyes softened a bit and he clicked his tongue.

"Yeah pumpkin, blue's fine, just a selfish asshole. He ain't talkin' to me, but Nel called," he said, running a hand over the back of his neck. "Boy was that not a fun conversation." Ichigo chuckled a little, the two lapsing into silence before Nnoitra turned back to the door. He opened it a crack, but spoke over his shoulder before exiting.

"You know it ain't nothin' you did, Ichi. Blue's just got some weird shit goin' on. Has fer awhile. It ain't my business, but for the record, hes right about one thing, and that's Aizen."

"But what does that mean? What happened?"

"Sorry kid, but only Grimm can tell ya that. I sure hope he does soon."

Ichigo watched as Nnoitra left the hallway, and he turned himself and went into studio one. Renji was badly bruised by the time they left, but he was smiling; Ichigo felt better.


Grimmjow was on the couch when he heard a key turn in the lock of his apartment door. The intruder closed it quietly behind themselves before walking over the the couch and looking down at him.

"Nnoitra."

Grimmjow expected one, but had forgotten the sheer force of his friend's punches. The feeling of knuckles running across his jaw like a hammer took him back to their beginnings. He spit blood onto his floor and held his split lip, looking at his friend who held his right fist.

"He came to the gym today," Nnoitra said, an unstable mix of rage and sadness in his voice that made Grimmjow look away. "He came to spar with a friend, and you know he asked me? Not if you were rotting in hell, or if you had been run over by a bus like you damn near deserve. He asked me if I had heard from you, and if you were okay. That kid cares about you more than you do and you haven't fucking called him in what? Two weeks now?" Grimmjow just shook his head, still holding his jaw even though his pride was much more severely wounded.

"Jow, I know he's called. I know he's sent messages. He's that kind of kid. So don't play like you blew it and he's ignoring you. What is yer problem?"

"I don't know what to say," Grimmjow said to the floor.

Nnoitra turned around and walked out, throwing his copy of the key to the apartment he and Grimmjow had shared in the past on the floor as he went.

"Wanna be alone then I ain't gonna stop ya, blue."

He didn't have the heart to slam the door.


It had now been almost three weeks since he had heard from Grimmjow. He had done his very best to be apathetic, to cover up the wound with enough layers of gauze that he couldn't even tell he was bleeding anymore. There was life after just about anything, including love.

If that's even what that was.

Walking upstairs after school he changed from his uniform and sat on his bed, taking a textbook from his bag and preparing to numb himself further with his education. Before he could get settled he heard his phone ring. He opened it without checking the display.

"Hello?"

"Ichigo, this is Aizen Sousuke." Ichigo felt his chest constrict a little but ignored it.

"Aizen-san, what can I do for you?"

"Well actually, I wanted to do something for you. A gentleman named Kariya Jin is going to be in town tomorrow and Saturday. He owns a fairly prominent MMA label, called Fracción, you may have heard of it. Anyway, he would like to meet you."

"Really," Ichigo said, trying to feel excited.

"Yes, perhaps you could meet he and I at his hotel tomorrow night around 8PM? Assuming you don't have previous plans with anyone." The end of his sentence sounded very close to mocking. Ichigo steeled himself.

"Yeah, sure, what's the address?" Ichigo scribbled the address of the hotel in the spine of his textbook before ending the call. He held the top of his left arm and stared out the window onto the roof as the sun moved below the edge of his world, unable to even turn on the light, much less consider the book in his lap.


It was Friday morning, and Grimmjow was drunk. He had been drunk often for the past few weeks, beer bottles spread around his apartment like leaves in autumn. It was now 9AM, and he had been drinking since about 8PM the previous night. He picked his head up off the back of the couch, trying to right the spinning world with heavy blinks. He got up and wobbled to the fridge, looking for another ale, and was disappointed to not see any. Wobbling back to the couch, he picked up his wallet, almost not noticing as something fell out of it and onto the floor. Not trusting himself to bend over, he sat back down on the couch before reaching out and taking the square and unfolding it twice.

It was a Polaroid of he and Ichigo.

One of the times he had went to Ichigo's house to pick him up, he had been led to the kitchen by his sister Yuzu to wait. The girl had scampered off and Ichigo had appeared a few moments later, Grimmjow standing as he came before him in the kitchen. Grimmjow had placed a hand on the shorter boy's shoulder and grinned, only diverting his attention when he heard a sharp clicking noise. Yuzu was peeking at him from the doorway holding an old-fashioned camera that was spitting out a piece of film. She padded over to the two standing there before handing the photo to Grimmjow, blushing, and running upstairs.

Grimmjow laid on the couch staring at the moment in time, and he felt like he was standing in that kitchen and watching himself. He stared and stared, like the harder he looked the closer he would be to him again. Soon the alcohol mixed with melancholy drifted him into an unconscious stupor.


By the time Grimmjow was awake again, it was dark outside. He stood up, ignoring the banging inside his skull, and went to the window, looking out like the lost time almost had physical substance in the form of the darkness and lighted signs. He moved slowly to his bedroom glancing at the clock as he went.

7:53PM.

He entered his room and sat on his bed, taking his neglected phone from the nightstand. He flipped it open and saw a message from Ichigo. At first, the youth had tried to contact him several times, but as the days passed his communications dwindled. As of a week ago, he had not messaged him at all, and the sight of his name now made something in Grimmjow's stomach knot up. He opened it.

I'm meeting Aizen and a client at 8PM tonight at Route Inn Ichinomiya. If there's anything I should know then you should tell me. I know it's stupid, but I miss you.

The message was received at 5:38PM. Grimmjow saw the time was now 7:55PM. It occurred to him that it may already be to late. His brain was again left in a tumultuous frenzy of emotions and actions. He didn't know what to do, or maybe he didn't know what he would do if he didn't make it in time. He grabbed his coat and ran out to the street, hailing a taxi and praying to some mysterious deity that he hoped would have favor on him, if only tonight.


Ichigo stood in front of the well lit hotel, looking at the marble entryway from the sidewalk. He opened his phone and looked at the screen one more time, willing it to display a new message. But nothing happened, and he was only left to open the door to the lobby. He walked inside and looked around, trying to spot a familiar face. At this point, any would do.

"Ichigo."

At least he thought that any familiar face would suffice, but when he turned to the right and was greeted with Aizen he felt himself grow cold. He smiled anyway, trying to be polite.

"So where is Kariya-san," he asked, looking behind Aizen.

"He's in his room, his suite has a living area for you two to meet." Ichigo had assumed the meeting would be out in the open, and he felt uncomfortable with going to a private room. His eyebrows furrowed.

"Not to worry," Aizen said with a sugar-coated tone, placing an arm around Ichigo's shoulder and leading him to an elevator. "He's a bit of a private gentleman, and he said it would be more comfortable. It's certainly worth it to get what you want, isn't it?"

Was this worth it, Ichigo thought to himself, seeing blue eyes in his mind that burned like coals. All he did was nod.

The two exited on the fourth floor, moving down the hall and in front of room 409. Ichigo wasn't superstitious, but he shivered anyway. Aizen pulled a key card from his own pocket and opened the door in front of them, holding it for Ichigo. He walked in to the neat room and saw a tall man sitting in a chair before him. He had silvery hair that stood on end and eyes the color of raw meat. When he smiled, Ichigo saw his canines were filed to points.

"Kariya," Aizen said with his too-wide smile, "this is Kurosaki Ichigo." He's ready to pay his dues." The man nodded and smiled wider, gesturing at the door. Ichigo felt his heart rate increase slightly when Aizen bowed and left the room.

Paying my dues?

Trying to remain calm Ichigo took a few steps toward the man known as Kariya and extended a hand, smiling as politely as possible.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Ichigo." He watched as the larger man extended languidly and met his hand, shaking slowly. Just as Ichigo moved to release he felt the larger mans grip tighten and he yanked him forward until his face was a breath away.

"Aizen always brings the best," he growled, looking almost rabid. Before Ichigo could respond Kariya was on his feet, and he shoved him backwards with a surprising amount of force. He felt his hip crash painfully into a dark nightstand before he caught himself with his arms behind him on the bed. Kariya was moving towards him slowly, increasingly predatory.

"Hey, what is going o-"

Ichigo felt dry lips crash against his, painfully grinding his teeth into his own skin. Kariya bit his lip hard enough to draw blood before Ichigo pushed him away. The man responded by righting himself and backhanding Ichigo across the face hard enough to fill his eyes with stars and land him on the bed. He felt nauseous as he heard the older man speak, his voice sounding far away.

"I like it when you fight. This will be fun."


Grimmjow flew into the hotel, eyes bypassing the elevator in favor of the stairs. He threw himself up to the first floor, bursting through the door as he screamed.

"ICHIGO!"

He waited as patiently as his nerves would allow but received no response. He turned back to the stairwell, starting up to the second level.

Hold on.