Warning: There are some mentions of mature content. But overall, it's a pretty clean chappie.
swimmers
Ichigo could have woken up with a smile on his face. Grimmjow was lying on top of him, the room was lit up thanks to the surrounding waters, which, from its glow, indicated it must've been morning, and he had a fuzzy memory about last night, only recalling the beginning of his lover's go-round with Grimmjow. Yes, he could have woken up contently.
But the second he tried lifting Grimmjow's heavy frame off of him, he felt it. The warm, sticky end result of what they did last night, stuck in between them, an adhesive of sorts along their stomachs.
He cringed a bit, blushed when he realized it was his, and then forced himself and Grimmjow apart with embarrassment. Sitting up, he looked about the room for his clothes. As expected, they were lying on the floor beside the bed.
However, he knew there was no sense in putting them on just yet. He was covered in his own bodily emissions. Well, his stomach, anyway.
As if that wasn't the icing on the cake, when he shifted his weight, getting on his hands and knees to reach down and grab his clothes to at least have them close, he felt what Grimmjow had left inside him start making its way out of him. It oozed its way out slowly, and he sat up straight to keep it in. God forbid these people have any sort of black light…
"A bathroom…" he said anxiously under his breath.
Hopping over Grimmjow quickly, he got off the bed and went over to the door.
Still locked.
There was a doorway to the opposite side of the room that he hadn't seen before in the darkness, or the suddenness of Mizumi's entrance and Grimmjow's horniness, so maybe there was a tub through that opening.
Hurrying over to it, he noticed that it wrapped around behind the wall that was at the head of the bed he and Grimmjow shared. In his naked glory, he went down the dim hallway and found himself in a small room where water was abundantly pouring into the room through small waterfalls, and then being filtered out through the floor.
"This'll do." He told himself, then walked over to one of them.
Reaching out, he expected to be bombarded by an ice-cold water temperature. To his surprise, the water that ran across his hand was warm. Warmer than expected, anyway. It meandered through the crevices in his young palm, and he watched as it ran out of his palm and made its way down to the holes in the floor.
It wasn't two more seconds before he let the water run his entire body over, getting into every nook and cranny it could with its soothing touch. His tan skin shined and glistened as it was coated and bathed.
"Freakin' Grimmjow…" he muttered as he paid particular attention to rinsing his stomach off and emptying his rear end of the intrusive fluid—no further details need be added on the subject of that.
Ichigo blushed at knowing that he'd had Grimmjow's little swimmers inside him for the entirety of the night. In fact, having them inside him at all was strange… Though, he knew it amounted to nothing. He wasn't a woman, first of all, and secondly, by nature, the ass was not how children were conceived.
The mere idea of bearing Grimmjow's child… He shuddered thinking of any woman who found herself pregnant for the Arrancar. That would undoubtedly be one wild, wily child. It also made him consider what role Grimmjow would play in the pregnancy. Would he help out and be there to support his mate? Or would he push them away the way he did everyone else…?
He dismissed the thought of Grimmjow having another altogether. Grimmjow had said it himself. He was "addicted" to him. There would hopefully be no woman out there to take his eyes away like that night from so, so long ago with the concubine, or the time in the Phantom Forest with the forest sprite.
How many lovers had Grimmjow had, anyway?
He found it weird that he was so curious. But it wasn't as much a need to know as it was jealousy. The thought of someone out there who could give a detailed account of what having relations with Grimmjow got him a bit irritated.
"What is wrong with me…?" he wondered vocally. This was foolish.
If he wanted Grimmjow, he could very well go in the other room this very moment and take him.
Take him.
"…"
Would Grimmjow even allow such a thing? Could he be the one on top for once?
Ichigo wondered what Grimmjow would look like, moaning beneath him, breathless with ecstasy. Would he beg for more, be uncomfortable, would he blush? Ichigo hadn't seen Grimmjow blush from pleasure before, only embarrassment.
Still, every once in a while, even norms needed to be challenged…
When he saw his hands starting to shrivel as they normally did when one stayed in the water for too long, Ichigo stepped out from under it and started walking to the hallway again. Various thoughts about Grimmjow settled in his mind, and then went on their way, only to be replaced with more thoughts as he headed through it, going back to the room.
He found Grimmjow sleeping soundly on the bed, just as he left him, naked and with his back turned.
That black '6' was still prominent on his lower backside, his pride and duty displayed for the world to see through it. An Arrancar—the sixth most powerful of them all. It was quite a heavy title he carried on his shoulders… Back in Seireitei, that amounted to captain status.
For a moment, Ichigo wondered what the other Espada were like… besides Nnoitra. That one with green eyes seemed like a decent, albeit uninterested, character.
Even in his curiosity about the others, there was one lying naked before him that he wanted who was begging for recognition, attention, and unknowingly begging to be loved.
Ichigo walked around the bed and stopped in front of Grimmjow, staring down at him with eyes half-lidded with fondness. Grimmjow looked very peaceful. It was nice that he could rest so soundly, since, when he woke up, he would probably fret about how they were under the sea again.
His torso moved up and down rhythmically as he breathed, and his heartbeat could even be seen through his broad chest. He was too nice a picture to resist.
After kneeling down, Ichigo leaned in and gently pressed his wet lips against the protruding skeletal mask on Grimmjow's face, that he now felt was quite dry. Then, he kissed the side of his sharp nose, then his fur-covered eye lids, and then-
Grimmjow's eyes parted the tiniest bit, and Ichigo calmly backed off a little.
"What the… Kurosaki?"
"Hey. Morning, Grimm." The orange-head smiled warmly. Reaching out, he ran his hand through the head of messy, cerulean hair in front of him. "Sleep okay?" His previous irritation about the mess they'd slept in seemed much less significant in the face of his affection.
"I slept fine…" Grimmjow replied as he sat up, a bit irritated that Ichigo was trying to force him into pleasured submission as soon as he woke up by massaging his hair and scalp. He let this kid too far in, now that he thought about it. No one knew about that little quirk of his, not even Pantera.
Looking down, he saw that his stomach was wet, each little muscular crease covered in the result of last night's romp.
Ichigo stood up and looked away, embarrassed. That was his mess all over him.
"You can go rinse yourself off in the room at the end of the hallway back there." He indicated, pointing the way he'd just entered the room from.
Tossing the sheets back carelessly, Grimmjow threw his feet onto the floor and stood up. He stared into Ichigo's eyes for a brief moment before going over to the glass, domed wall across the room. "We need to get back to the surface." He said as he touched the cold glass cautiously.
Ichigo walked over and touched it as well, "Hey… Grimm."
"What?"
"Think you could shoot through this with a Cero?"
Cerulean eyes went wide and eyebrows furrowed, "Are you fucking insane?! I'm not gonna destroy the one thing that's keeping us and the entire fucking ocean separated! The entire fucking ocean, Kurosaki!" the Arrancar roared, making sure to shout the last part right in Ichigo's ear.
Ichigo cringed, "Jeez… I was only kidding…"
"Don't joke about that kind of shit!" Grimmjow huffed, fuming, and then flipped about face and headed to that aforementioned hallway.
"He's such a child…" the orange-head said under his breath.
Walking the length of the glass, Ichigo wondered just how it was they would escape this place… Not to mention with the crystal. And for that matter, he needed to find his own crystals and his and Grimmjow's Zanpakutōs. That girl had said she was coming back, didn't she?
Grimmjow's little rinse didn't take long. He came out of the hallway with wet hair and glistening skin.
"Hey," Ichigo grinned when he walked over to him, "Wanna make a break for it?"
An eyebrow rose, "Are you serious? Didn't you say they'd kill us?" Grimmjow asked as he stepped into his clothes that had been forgotten on the floor last night.
"Yeah, but we can't just-"
A clicking at the door made both of them freeze.
"Are you humans still sleeping?" Mizumi asked as she entered, her question a bit more offensive than she realized. "Oh, you're up."
"We don't sleep all day!" Ichigo retorted.
"Come with me." The princess ordered.
"Eh?"
"Or stay here and rot in this room."
After squinting at this child's arrogance, Ichigo folded his arms and walked over to the door. Grimmjow stood stock still, staring at Mizumi intently.
"What's his deal?" she asked when she noticed, squinting and blushing.
Ichigo ran over to Grimmjow hastily, "Don't you dare try anything!" he hissed in his ear. "She's our only ticket around this place, probably out of this place as well, and she's our only source of information!"
"Didn't you just say we should make a-" A hand over his mouth prevented Grimmjow from saying anything more.
"Just go along with what she wants for now."
"Ahem!" Mizumi tapped her foot on the floor impatiently, "I don't have all day!"
"R-right!" Ichigo said, then took Grimmjow by the arm and led him to the door.
"Silly humans…"
Ichigo and Grimmjow stared at Mizumi as if she was mad when she stopped by a room down a hallway with a ceiling so high it resembled Las Noches and pulled out two green cloaks.
"Here, put these on." She said. "Do it or you'll be spotted!" she continued when they didn't listen to her.
"Won't you look weird walking around with two cloaked figures?" Ichigo asked as he took a cloak from her.
"No because, first of all, no one's really here in the sleeping quarters, and second of all, there's a meeting later today."
"Meeting?" Ichigo repeated as he put his cloak on and pulled the hood over his head. It reminded him of his rouge-ish actions back in Seireitei for Grimmjow. Turning, he was glad to see the Arrancar had complied with Mizumi by putting his cloak on. However, seeing Grimmjow, someone so prideful and domineering, being obedient was… well… strange to put it simply. But this was good for him because, if he were to become king of Las Noches, he needed to learn to cooperate and not just be a dictator.
"Yeah… It's one my father usually heads where decisions about the kingdom are made. Some representatives of the people who stay in the town outside the palace come in to talk about any issues facing the regular folk, and Daddy makes decisions about what to do."
"Didn't you say he was missing? Your father?"
"Yeah…" Mizumi said glumly. "But no one knows anything."
Ichigo frowned, but when he noticed they were leaving the hallway and heading out into an open area, he spoke, "Where are we going?"
It was almost like a beach under the sea. The area was filled with sand, many vibrant flowers, and stacked coral reefs. The only thing missing was, well, the most obvious thing a beach needed: water. The entire kingdom they'd traveled through thus far was all full of air with only fountains, wells, and things of that nature here and there. It held a very similar feel to Seireitei, which made him start wondering where all the water was.
Coming to a halt in the sand, Mizumi stood in place, her back to the duo. "To play!" she suddenly said, turning around and smiling.
"P-play?!"
"Yup! Daddy's advisors told me not to interrupt their meeting today, to come play, and I always like playing in the ocean!"
"Ocean? What ocean?" Ichigo asked, looking around for water. As far as he could see, there was nothing but white sand.
Grimmjow turned to leave without a word.
"H-hey! Grimmjow…!" Ichigo said, "Don't wander off on your own…!"
"What's his problem?" Mizumi asked.
"Eh… He doesn't like water…"
"Doesn't like water?! Wha- who-" the princess stumbled, trying her damndest to figure out who on Earhtia didn't love water.
Grimmjow rolled his eyes, but walked a bit further away from Ichigo and the Oceanian child. When he got far enough away from them, he took a seat in the sand and watched as Ichigo started talking to their little guide, teasing her and things of that nature. With the light pouring through the water from miles and miles above the sea, he couldn't help but feel a strange, almost unwanted attraction to him—a need to be near him. That's why he didn't leave completely. Well, that and because he knew his only chance in hell of surviving rested in finding his sword, which the princess could retrieve for him.
"So, how do you plan to play in water?" Ichigo asked, still looking around for a source of water.
"Well, you'll need to wear this." Mizumi replied, placing her hands on the man's stomach and releasing a bubble-like coating that spread across him in a matter of seconds.
"W-what is this?! It's so-"
"Now you have resistance to water pressure, and you don't have to worry about air."
Ichigo looked himself over, noting the many rainbow reflects shining on his coated skin. He grinned after a while, then found himself eager to get into some water.
Mizumi shook her head, "Calm yourself… It's like dealing with children…" she said. Then, without warning, she tore off towards something big and dark that appeared in the distance under the light.
"Hey!"
"You can't see it, but the water is just above us!" the girl shouted excitedly as she jumped into the air, disappearing not long after she did. Something rippled, then seemed to adjust itself.
It was a forcefield.
Someone or something was keeping the water out with a covering that was quite similar to the glass covering in the room Ichigo had found himself in. Only difference was this was pure energy, contrasted to the simple glass dome from before.
"Here goes!" A bit nervous, Ichigo ran after Mizumi, doing everything she did exactly as she had done it. And he, too, went through the barrier, finding himself surrounded in blue water. There was nothing in sight ahead or below, but behind him, the beach-like area of this kingdom was waiting, Grimmjow sitting there in the sand, too far away to see his face, and above, Mizumi swam like a pro up to what looked like a mass of balloons.
"What is that?!" he shouted.
"Time for some fun!" Mizumi declared, then threw herself at one of the floating objects. It lit up, revealing itself as the jellyfish Ichigo had seen before.
The second she touched it, it sent her flying to another, which lit up as well. This went on and on until she was almost out of sight, closer to the surface than the sea floor.
Ichigo wondered why they weren't hurting her. They were jellyfish, and he knew they were keen on stinging people. As a medic, he'd been introduced to marine organisms and their methods of defense when he was in school.
"Come on! They won't hurt you! I'm princess of these waters!" Mizumi called from up above. Her mood seemed much brighter now, much less annoying than she'd previously been. "Go with the flow and don't be slow about it!"
Ichigo nodded, not afraid of a little challenge. As long as he avoided the tentacles… "I'll be okay!" he shouted, swimming up as fast as he could. It wasn't as hard as he imagined it'd be, and as Mizumi had said, the pressure from being so deep was no issue at all.
As he approached a jellyfish, its tentacles still threateningly outspread, he swam through them carefully, keeping his speed, and then jumped atop its head. The moment he touched it, it lit up brightly, sending him flying up to the next against his will. Given the angle, none of the rest of the jellies he was sent to, like a pinball, aimed their tentacles anywhere near him. It almost seemed as if they enjoyed this little game.
Mizumi smiled down at Ichigo as he was shot around, lighting up the jellyfish one by one. With him around, she'd completely forgotten about her missing father or the problems facing her people now that he was gone…
When he finally shot out of the large smack, Ichigo couldn't help but laugh and hold his sides.
It was incredibly fun!
"Now aren't you glad you came to play?" Mizumi asked.
"Yeah, that was pretty entertaining. I could have died, but instead had a great time. Maybe the danger is what made it so thrilling." Ichigo replied, then felt himself wondering if that's what Grimmjow had felt before during the days he was holed up in Las Noches.
The two were on totally different levels, as one was child's play and the other was sexual abuse, but still, he had a piece of what that thrill was Grimmjow went on about last night. Someday, they probably would fight again… Especially if Seireitei and Las Noches were to go to war.
But for now at least, they could be comrades.
"EEEEEEEUUUUOOOOOOOOOAAAA!" something cried.
Quickly, Ichigo threw his hands up and covered his ears. Behind Mizumi, something was swimming their way. Something big. Whatever it was, made a similar noised to the thing that he recalled from just before he passed out in the water.
"Mizumi! Be careful!"
"Huh?"
Ichigo wondered if his Reiatsu would disappear completely this time, taking even Grimmjow's reserve from him. "That thing is dangerous!" he continued, swimming to try getting to her before it did.
"Not he's not! This is Sir Juban!" Mizumi replied as the thing was upon her.
Sir Juban was a whale. A very large whale. White with green, clear fins, and blue eyes that put even the ocean to shame.
Ichigo backed away as it swam towards him with Mizumi hanging on to one of his fins. "He's the one who brought you guys here. I found you in his mouth!"
"He… he ate us?"
Mizumi made Sir Juban stop when he got close and let go of him, then swam down to Ichigo, "Yes, to protect you."
"From what?"
"…Sir… Sir Troban…"
Grimmjow picked up a white, spiked shell from the beach and threw it far ahead in irritation. There was too much going on for Kurosaki to be playing about as if he didn't owe him something. The feeling of his left arm was lost to him, and he wanted it back. He was incomplete without it.
Consequently, this was probably one of the lowest points in his adult life.
What a shock that it was Kurosaki who was the cause of it, and also how he was here to prolong any hope of raising him from this low point with this crystal-collecting journey.
He smacked his lips as a crab with a large claw on one arm and a significantly smaller claw on the other crossed his path. The world was mocking him mercilessly.
"What do you mean?" he heard Kurosaki ask. Turning, he saw him and the little girl coming his way. That coating she'd put on him was now gone, notably.
"Sir Juban won't fight Sir Troban… I don't know why."
Ichigo's eyes flocked to Grimmjow, and he smiled at him, "Hey."
"Done playing?" Grimmjow asked sharply, trying to avoid physical or verbal confrontation, as that was what he promised Kurosaki he would do. Had anything else left his lips, Kurosaki would pitch a hissy fit.
"I guess. But more importantly, did you see what attacked us before or boat was destroyed?" Ichigo replied.
"…I only saw something sharp and black piece the boat."
"Sir Troban's horn…" Mizumi commented. "He really has been acting strangely since he went near the shore."
"What shore? The one that leads to-"
"Yes, to the land you come from. When I think about it, Sir Troban never had a horn, nor was he violent."
"Hm…"
"Don't we have somewhere to go?" Grimmjow interrupted, uninterested in any creatures of the deep.
"Oh, right." Ichigo said.
"Yeah… I guess I can take you two to the temple. It's on the way to the meeting, and I think maybe I should tell the people about Sir Troban." The princess conceded.
Ichigo looked up at Sir Juban, who was swimming about under the sunlit waters. Suddenly, he swam away as fast as he could move his big body.
"It's him… He's here." Mizumi said nervously, then latched on to Ichigo as a dark shadow appeared. It swam overhead, making sure not to touch the barrier keeping the Oceanian Kingdom and the ocean itself separate. A pronounced horn of sorts, jagged along the length, made itself visible as the creature turned to profile view.
And, for the briefest moment as the monstrous creature shined its teeth in the light, Ichigo saw what looked like a piece of clothing that had similar markings as the ones lining the pillars in the castle.
"Mi-Mizumi! I think… Sir Troban ate your father!" he said.
A/N: If I'm honest, I wanted this chapter to be fun. I hope it was a good read.
