I feel like this fic is gonna finish either right when I'm done with school or soon after—which isn't a bad thing. I just think it'd be funny. Is the story wrapping up soon? Eh… I don't want to drag it out, but there should be some things addressed obviously so we'll see. Plus, I don't wanna 'end' it; then, you guys want bonus chapters to tie loose ends. Hopefully those will be dealt with as best as possible.
As usual, thank you really for reading this, and I hope you all are enjoying it. Please feel free to review, pm me, share or however else you want to share your thoughts. No pressure though. Thanks again.
Ichigo shifted nervously as he sat on the floor while he watched the steam rise from his cup of tea. He looked up and watched as the man across from him settled into his seat.
The man smiled gently at him before opening his fan. "How have you been, Ichigo?"
The young man shifted once more and shrugged. "I've been okay, Urahara. Just work as usual."
The man nodded and sipped his tea. "I'm sure that Aizen has been working you hard." Ichigo sipped his own tea and enjoyed the quiet moment between the two. It had been awhile since he had seen the man which is a bit weird considering Urahara was the one who helped Ichigo get the job. The older man seemed to understand Ichigo's situation though, so there wasn't any animosity. "So what's the problem?" Urahara glanced from under his hat.
Ichigo sighed. Of course, he'd ask that. Urahara always seemed to know what was going on but had a handle on most situations or figured out ways to fix things. Ichigo thought it was similar to how Aizen behaved though the difference in personalities made the contrasts more obvious. Ichigo tensed before placing his cup down. "I need help tracking down a stalker." He said plainly. There was no point in beating around the bush.
Urahara didn't seem tensed or even shocked. He held Ichigo's gaze for a moment before finishing his tea and pouring himself some more. "You're positive that's what you're dealing with?" Ichigo nodded. The man tapped his fan on the table and thought for a moment. "Have they had any contact with Grimmjow?"
Ichigo shook his head. "I don't think so. There have been a few moments when I haven't been there with him, but usually those are when he's training with others or you know…private moments."
Urahara nodded and continued to think. "Has Grimmjow taken on any lovers recently?" Ichigo immediately blushed—thinking about Grimmjow's rather bold proposal. He shook his head and glanced away. The other seemed rather amused by the reaction and smiled. "So it really has been you and him most of the time?"
Ichigo scratched his cheek. "Well obviously, that's my job. I'm his bodyguard."
A chuckle. "Of course. Well, I'm sure you've been trying your best to handle this situation though you've reached a limit. What's the problem you're having?" Urahara was back to business like that.
Ichigo sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Well, I'm not exactly a cybersecurity specialist. I've reached my limits to what I can find, and the bastard is pretty confidential." Ichigo had been trying his best and learning what he can, but who knew how much experience and patience this creep had to build up any and all borders to make him that much more difficult to find. Ichigo knew that there could be a point in which he needed to ask for some help. His meetings with Alexander and Kariya both confirmed that.
Urahara let out a content deep breath. "What do you have that I can use? I'm sure I know a few people who can help." Even if I have to call Soi Fon…
Ichigo took out a few pieces of paper. "I have social media accounts, emails, phone numbers, and some photos I can email you. I've been keeping most of these things on paper since I know he can't hack that."
"Smart move. It might take me some time to go through everything. He's smart enough to use multiples sources and probably rotates in an unspecified pattern." Ichigo nodded and shifted slightly. "Don't be so worried. Nothing bad has happened. Does Grimmjow know what's going on?"
God I hate that question. "No."
"Tsk, tsk, secrets aren't good, Ichigo."
The young man groaned. "So I've been told several times…you can help right?"
"Of course. I'll be in contact with you. Take this phone and only use it to contact me, okay? It should be untraceable. I'll let you know when I get something." Kisuke explained.
Ichigo pocketed the phone and stood up. "Thank you."
Urahara waved his fan. "No worries. I would gladly help you; I'm practically the one that got you here in the first place." Ichigo shrugged. The older man knew he didn't mind. Ichigo always had a knack for helping people and doing his absolute best at all times for others. "Get going. I know you have to be back before Grimmjow leaves for his fight tonight. I wish him luck."
Ichigo nodded and finished preparing to leave. "Same."
Ichigo popped another chocolate piece into his mouth as he watched from a distance as Shawlong and his crew warmed Grimmjow up for his fight. Ichigo was nervous for a lot of reasons. Of course, he wanted Grimmjow to win for the sake of his record and since it'll bring him one step closer to the title match. But…Ichigo wouldn't be lying if he said he wasn't excited to see the matchup between Grimmjow and Kariya. After their little conversation at the training facility, Ichigo was starting to question what Kariya had exactly said at the weigh-in, but at this point, it didn't matter. Grimmjow was fighting for his pride and apparently to prove that he was good enough for Ichigo, that he shouldn't talk to the other man. Ichigo knew why he met with Kariya, but Grimmjow was so consumed with jealousy that Ichigo couldn't even explain.
I'm going to tell him after this fight. Ichgio reassured himself. As everyone pounded into him, the situation wasn't something for him to keep secrets about. He'd really have to talk to Aizen about spilling the beans though Ichigo knew once he had a name or even a location of the perp, his boss would be more accommodating. There was a knock at the door, and everyone looked up—tense from the preparation. Ichigo waved his hand, signaling he'd answer. Grimmjow turned away—focused as his hands were wrapped in bandages.
Ichigo opened the door and was met with cold lavender eyes that contrasted the overconfident smirk on the man's face. He was shorter than Ichigo, but he did seem to have a noticeable presence about him. He was dressed in the stadium's staff uniform, but Ichigo had never seen him before. Maybe he's new. "Hi, can I help you?" he plainly asked.
The man's short uneven bob moved slightly as he shook his head a bit. "I was told to deliver this package to Mr. Jaeggerjaquez. Is there any way I can give this to him?" his voice was calm and collected, but Ichigo didn't like that look in his eyes. There was something dark in there—at least directed to Ichigo for whatever reason.
The bodyguard shook his head. "I'm afraid not. He's about to go to his fight. You can tell your boss to have it arranged to be sent to his residence." He replied calmly.
There was a slight flash of panic in the man's eyes before he again looked disdainful and cold. "I don't mean to be a bother, but I assure you it's really important. If I could just deliver this inside, I promise it'll be quick. I-," the man moved from side to side as if trying to peer behind Ichigo and look in the room.
Okay, something's up. Ichigo huffed before shaking his head. "Thank you, but he's busy. I'm sure your boss will understand. Good bye." Ichigo quickly closed the door and sighed. That was weird. There really was no reason for Grimmjow to be receiving anything here and especially not before a fight. Plus, Ichigo knew there was something off about the guy. I should talk to security and a staff manager about that. That was strange.
"Everything good?"
Ichigo turned around to see Grimmjow dressed ready for his entrance. Shirt gone and shorts on, the man seemed to be in fight mode—confident but aware of his surroundings all the same. Ichigo nodded. "Yeah, it's fine. You ready?"
Grimmjow grinned cockily. "Damn right. Don't tell me you're worried about me, Berry. I'm a professional."
Ichigo rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Whatever. Don't get that pretty face of yours pounded in." he joked.
Grimmjow's grin got wider and winked. "Fuck no. I gotta give you somethin' to look at."
Tense. That's how Ichigo felt.
His muscles were tight, and he stood rigid in the sea of people. He was quiet as he was surrounded by the loud commotion of people cheering as two men stood and fought at the center. Ichigo had to remind himself to breath.
Ichigo knew that both Grimmjow and Kariya were intense fighters. Both men were quick on their feet and delivered powerful blows. However, Grimmjow—being "The Panther"—was used to pauses in his fights so he'd be able to calculate his next moves and surprises. The problem was Kariya rarely stopped moving or landing blows. He kept going, so right now, it looked like Grimmjow was on the defensive. He'd have to turn things around quickly if he wanted to secure this win.
Ichigo let out a deep breath to calm down and glanced up. He was, in fact, able to get a few tickets for this fight and saw as his friends cheered loudly at the ongoing fight from their seats. Renji and Ikkaku were absolutely loud and rambunctious while Chad stood calmly. Ichigo knew that he and Yumichika were just as attentive to the fight though.
There was a bell sound, and Ichigo cursed under his breath. It was only the end of the first round, but it didn't make it any better. He wanted this to be over. He wanted to be sure that Grimmjow would win.
Ichigo felt his cheeks warm slightly. His support for Grimmjow definitely had nothing to do with Grimmjow declaring he'll romance Ichigo as a way to get him away for Kariya. It was definitely a misunderstanding, but Ichigo was well…touched to say the least. He had been admiring from a far for a while, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't curious to see just what Grimmjow had in mind for him. They had been tiptoeing and flirting in a way for a while. It wouldn't be so bad to see where things would go finally.
As the fighters got cleaned up, Ichigo felt an intense gaze in his direction. At first, he looked up to see if it was coming from either of the fighters. Grimmjow was getting an earful from Shawlong and was paying no attention to the bodyguard. Kariya seemed to be in a similar position though he was smirking and didn't seem to bothered by anything.
What the hell? Ichigo looked up at the stands and noticed the brief eye contact from the staff member who tried to enter the locker room prior to the fight. Ichigo had a bad feeling about the man, but the brief intensity reminded Ichigo that he needed to figure out who this guy was. He took a mental note of his appearance. The man seemed to notice Ichigo's attention and quickly walked away out of view.
Another bell rung, and Ichigo turned back to the center of his main focus—Grimmjow. The man looked as eager as ever and matched Kariya's smirk with a large toothy grin of his own. Ichigo knew it wasn't going to be easy, but he knew just why Grimmjow fought so hard: he wanted to be King.
At the current moment, Ichigo was cornered and couldn't plan out an escape.
He held on tightly to the counter behind him as he looked around to double-check that there really was no way to get away from this man who pinned him in this position. He closed his eyes and rolled his head a bit.
"Humor me Berry."
Ichigo was annoyed at the nickname this time. "Tch, you have to stay home and rest. Doctor's orders." He replied firmly and tried not to look into the man's eyes.
"Ichigo,"
Shit. The young man looked up and was met with that cocky grin. He shook his head. "Damn, did Kariya hit your head too hard or something? You heard me, Grimmjow."
The man only showed more teeth. "How can you say no to this face?"
Ichigo laughed at that. "Simple, no." he went on. "You look a kitten with a swollen face." He laughed. Grimmjow was not amused.
Truth be told, Grimmjow was covered in bandages in various places. His face was still a bit swollen, and with a slight fracture or two, he was under strict orders to stay home. Did he really care though? Of course not. He had stressed out Ichigo well enough during his last match. The two men fought in all rounds, but it oh so happened that Grimmjow somehow was able to knock Kariya out and get his victory within the last minute. The crowd went wild since many were unsure if Grimmjow was going to get the victory, but the winning streak continued. Kariya was all grumbles and grunts when he woke up, but the fight settled everything that was between the two.
Unfortunately for Ichigo, Grimmjow was ready to make good on his proposal and was bothering the man for their date. Ichigo hoped he was joking, but that obviously wasn't true. For now, he had to argue with the man and keep him inside. Grimmjow had about another week of rest before he could really start pushing his body more. The time before his next fight would focus on recovery before some intense training. Grimmjow would be more than ready though. He had one more fight before he challenged, and nothing could sway him.
"Don't call me kitten. You said you'd leave that Kariya bastard if I take you out on a date." Grimmjow was good at redirecting conversations when he wanted to.
Ichigo rolled his eyes. Gosh, he's relentless. "We weren't going out. I told you this already."
"Yeah, yeah whatever." Grimmjow leaned in close to Ichigo. "Let me take you out." He whispered in a low voice.
Ichigo froze in his place and tried to keep his breathing normal. Despite his rather rough appearance, Grimmjow could have a chance at seducing the panties off a nun if he turned his charm up just enough, and it didn't take much for Ichigo to be caught in his spell. He had seen it enough times when the man was out and shamelessly flirting, but it seemed totally different when it was directed at him. "Ichigo," the man huffed slightly by Ichigo's ear. The bodyguard knew he was blushing and didn't trust himself to get a word out. "Aren't you gonna answer me?"
How can he possibly do this to me? Ichigo's mind was going a mile a minute, and he tried to focus on something. His throat was dry all of a sudden, and he could barley move with the man so close against him. "I mean, I-," Ichigo hated when he fumbled with his words. It also didn't help that Grimmjow was very aware of his effect on people and uped the stakes when he bit slightly on the man's neck. It took all of Ichigo's strength to suppress his reaction. "Grimmjow,"
Suddenly, the men jumped when Ichigo's phone went off. Grimmjow nearly growled while Ichigo sheepishly took out his phone and slithered out of Grimmjow's reach. The fighter watched as the man looked at the caller id before answering. He shot daggers at the bodyguard who seemed to always get out of reach when the moment was right.
"Yeah," Ichigo listened to the other voice in phone, "oh wonderful. I can meet you in thirty minutes…great, thank you." He hung up then looked at Grimmjow. He noted the annoyed look and wasn't sure what to say for a moment. "I gotta go."
"Do you?"
Oh don't start. He nodded. "Yes Grimmjow, I do." Ichigo shifted on his feet slightly. "Gosh, I'm coming back."
"Are you?"
Ichigo sighed and smiled. "Of course." Then he noticed the mischievous grin that was on Grimmjow's face as he took a step closer to him. Oh gosh. He took another step.
Grimmjow leaned down. "Okay, but I'mma give you this so I know you'll come back." He lifted the young man's chin then placed his lips firm in a kiss. Ichigo was shocked for a moment before accepting it, but it ended all too quickly like last time. Ichigo blushed but looked irritated as well. Grimmjow grinned. "What? I though you had somewhere to be."
Ichigo's blush increase, but he didn't argue. "Yeah," was all he said before quickly scuttling away to get dressed and tried to ignore Grimmjow's teasing laughter.
Ichigo stood in the sun not doing much besides browsing his phone. His hair was bright in the light, but he looked relaxed enough as he waited outside the arena. He tried to focus on why he was there and not overthink the sudden events between him and Grimmjow. He wasn't sure what to think.
He couldn't deny any physical or emotional attraction between the two. They both made slick comments about each other's appearance and teased occasionally. However, Ichigo really couldn't deny the rather obvious signs of jealousy Grimmjow started displaying the last couple months. Alexander had been one thing, but Grimmjow very willingly took his emotions out on Kariya to prove his possessiveness over his bodyguard. Ichigo thought it was well…flattering. Things were going in some direction, but Ichigo wasn't sure why he was so nervous about it all.
Oh right, the stalker. Ichigo really was one to be honest about things, but this current situation made things sticky. He committed to his role in keeping Grimmjow safe even if his emotions could be influencing that. Everyone kept reminding him the dangers of secrets, and Ichigo couldn't really argue with them. He narrowly got out of telling Grimmjow the truth even though he wanted to the night of Grimmjow's rather direct approach of asking Ichigo on a date. I have to settle this information a bit before I tell Grimmjow. By then, I'll know what to do.
"Oi, what's got you so distracted?"
The young man looked up to see a woman in black slacks with a red tank top tucked in and a black suit coat hanging from her fingers. She wore heels and had her purple hair up in a high ponytail. She smiled confidently as she came closer.
"Yoruichi-san," Ichigo stated before pocketing his phone, "thanks for all this."
The woman grinned and ruffled the boy's hair. "Oh no need to be so formal." She laughed. "I'd be glad to help you out especially since that idiot, Kisuke, got you all wrapped up in this." She sighed and shrugged. "Though to be honest, we are a bit surprised how well you've taken to it. I didn't think security would catch your interest right after college." She went on.
Ichigo shrugged and looked around. "It kinda hasn't. I mean I don't mind the job—gives me something to do." He paused. "Though there are the complications." He let that thought hang in the air.
Yoruichi waved her hand. "Yeah. You got Grimmjow to stay home. When I first heard that's who you were assigned to, I thought you two were going to be bumping heads constantly."
"Oh, there's definitely that."
"Yes, and now you have to deal with this stalker business." She studied the man's reactions. He tensed slightly. She didn't want him to worry too much. There was, of course, some limits to her teasing. She went in a different direction.
"It's my job. It'll get handled soon enough." Ichigo assured himself more than the other really.
The woman chuckled. "We'll get to the bottom of this. We don't want your- what do the kids say? We don't want your boy toy in danger." She winked.
Ichigo immediately blushed. "We are not-,"
"Mah, it's whatever, Ichigo. I'm just teasing." She smiled then became serious again. "Well, let's head inside. I'm sure you're ready to find out who this suspicious guy is."
Ichigo nodded and started for the entrance. He was grateful to Yoruichi for helping him explain the situation to the arena's head of security. The man was eager to provide any and all information necessary. If Ichigo thought someone was suspicious, it should be looked into even if it was nothing at all.
Soon, they were in a large room with several computer and TV monitors. There were images of the mostly empty arena around, and three people huddled close at the desk.
"Ichigo, go ahead and describe who this person looked like." Yoruichi commented.
"Hmm, well he was probably around my age, or at least in his 20s. He had short black hair and lavender eyes. He was short and wearing the arena staff uniform. I had never seen him around before, so I thought he was new especially since he was trying to come into the locker room right before Grimmjow's match." Ichigo went on.
The head of security looked confused for a moment. "We haven't had a work orientation in a few weeks, and we don't often let people who are new work big events like that." He paused. "Plus, I don't recall anyone that fits that description. What time do you think they were by the locker room?"
"Try 21:57. Grimmjow was in his normal room." He answered.
The three watched silently as the security footage was rolled back. They watched people come and go through the hallways as the time passed. Then, the man appeared at the time Ichigo stated.
"Okay, wait that's him." Ichigo pointed at the man coming towards the door with a package. The screen was paused, and Yoruichi took a picture of the man.
"I'll send this to Kisuke. A visual might be able to help narrow down his search." She explained as she texted.
Ichigo rubbed his chin for a moment while he thought. "How would he have gotten the staff uniform? This guy is trying to make contact."
"Maybe he feels threaten. Has something happened with Grimmjow to make him want to expose himself?" Yoruichi went on. "Assume he's seen even his most private moments. Grimmjow been on a date or something?" Ichigo's mind went straight to their conversation before the fight against Kariya and the kiss they shared earlier that day. He blushed brightly. "Oh Ichigo," Yoruichi chuckled a bit and placed a hand on his shoulder, "seems like you've stirred the pot a bit."
Ichigo got himself together and gently pushed her hand off him. "That's not the point. What else can we find out about this guy?"
"I'll show his picture around and make sure he doesn't come back on the property. We'll also ask around and see who remembers anything. He couldn't have moved around without at least talking to some people to blend in." the head of security replied.
A bing went off, and Yoruichi looked down at her phone. She answered it. "Yes Kisuke?" she paused. "Well that was quick…yeah Ichigo is still with me right now…okay I'll let him know. We'll be over in a bit." She kept listening then blushed a little. "Yeah, yeah. You too. Bye."
"What happened?" Ichigo quickly asked.
Yoruichi looked up and smiled. "Seems like our picture confirmed Kisuke's suspicion. We might have a lead—a Luppi Antenor. Sound familiar?"
Ichigo shook his head. "Not at all, but let's go. Hopefully, things will settle down now." He sighed.
This whole situation would be nearing an end soon. Ichigo wanted to get rid of this threat for good. Then, Grimmjow could focus on winning his championship. And Ichigo…well he could figure out what the future held for him—and with Grimmjow.
Just kiss already! (Some more) I'm happy to finally have Kisuke and Yoruichi in this fic. I don't know why it took me so long to incorporate them.
Did you guys guess who our stalker would be? I kind of thought of it being an original character, but this is a fanfic…plus I also get attached to my minor ocs in my fics (like Alexander). I also think that Luppi has the ability to obsess and get a bit cocky so I think it fits.
Thank you for reading as always. Please review and be good to yourself.
