Ichigo stood with his back against one of the marble pillars as he assets the crowed forming in the large ballroom. He had been to functions like this before, but this was the first time that another criminal organisation would be attending a Shinigami party.
The parties where meant to gather all families that had ties with the gang in order too to keep a strong bond from family to family. When Ichigo was younger, he had always thought it just an excuse for the men to get drunk and brag about money while the women dressed in the most expensive dresses they could get their hands on.
Now that he had grown and developed a keener eye, he couldn't help but notice that the heads of households would often pair up and disappear into unknown parts of the manor. He watched his father kiss his mother on the cheek, then peel off, following two men that Ichigo knew to as Shunsui Kyoraku, who owned an architecture firm and Jushiro Ukitake who was CEO of a large pharmaceutical company. Ten years ago, Ichigo may have wondered why they were sneaking off together. He could understand Ukitake and his father might be cutting a deal on medicine, but Shunsui would have no place in that. Ichigo rolled his eyes to himself.
They were probably talking about cocaine.
"Damn baby." A familiar voice sang in his ear. "You dress up nice." Renji's muscular arms wrapped around Ichigo's slender waist from behind. Ichigo paused for a moment, then decided it was just to easy. He dropped his head slightly forward and slammed it back hard. The top of his head was the perfect height to smack Renji square in the face.
The arms that were around his waist immediately left to grab the wounded nose. Ichigo swung around to glare down at his boyfriend who was comically trying to stop the bleeding with a tiny cocktail napkin. "Asshole!" He shouted, but only loud enough for the other man to hear. "You've seen me in a suit before! You don't need to be grabbing me when my sisters are right there!" He looked around to see that Yuzu, who was always pretty no matter what she wore but looked especially nice in the knee length lavender cocktail dress, was chatting pleasantly with Jinta, a redheaded boy that Kisuke Urahara had taken under his wing. Karin wearing a floor length plum gown that their mother had made her put on, was smirking, looking directly at the two men.
The orange head sighed. How did someone who wanted to become a doctor and help people, find so much enjoyment in watching others in pain?
He helped Renji to the bathroom, feeling bad now for what he had done. "Why you always gotta do me like that Ichi-baby?" Renji whined, leaning over the sink to, splashing water on his face.
"Because you keep doing stupid things in front of my family?" Ichigo questioned sarcastically.
"They don't care. Your family loves me." That was less than half true.
Yuzu liked Renji because, well, Yuzu liked everyone. Karin couldn't tolerate Renji, because well, Karin couldn't tolerate anyone. His parents on the other hand had always been nice to the red headed man but would voice concerns that Renji may be with Ichigo to become connected to the organization by marriage.
While Renji was adopted into the Kuchiki house, it was well known that there were no actual paperwork keeping him there legally. The red head had no rights to the vast fortune or the Kuchiki estate and with no blood connection to the Shinigami, Isshin and Masaki couldn't help but be suspicious of him.
Ichigo continued to watch Renji in the mirror as he cleaned himself up. Thankfully he hadn't gotten any blood on his white dress shit. Just when the smaller man was about to apologise the tall man straighten himself up, caught Ichigo's eyes in the reflection and said. "So, since we're alone… you wanna fuck?"
Ichigo stomped his foot into Renji's leg and stormed out of the washroom.
When he arrived back in the ballroom he noticed that it had filled up a considerable amount more. Ichigo didn't recognise most of the new comers.
Feeling the prickling sensation that was associated with of eyes on him, Ichigo looked towards the bar. He met crystal blue eyes staring right back into his own. Grimmgow Jaergerjaguez. He knew exactly who that man was. As the blue haired man began to close the distance between the two, Ichigo couldn't help but recall the first time they had met.
It had been during Ichigo's third year of high school. He was selected from a group of students to represent his school in a regional kendo tournament. It had been a week-long retreat in the mountains on the outskirts of the city. The large chateau that he and the other contestants had stayed at was completely equipped with a hot spring, gym and of coarse, a dojo. Grimmjow had instantly been drawn to Ichigo.
For the first few days Grimmjow would go out of his way to try and pick a fight with the young man. He had tripped him on the trails, pushed him into the springs and had even called Ichigo a faggot in the middle of the dinning hall. Ichigo had laughed when he confronted the blue haired man and shown him a picture of Renji, who he had been dating for nearly a year at that point. Ichigo thought that Grimmjow would give up after that but if anything, the blue man seemed to be even more annoyed with Ichigo's presents.
On the third day Ichigo and Grimmjow had been paired together for practise sparing. Grimmjow had grossly underestimated the smaller boy and Ichigo was able to knock him on his ass after the first few hits with the wooden stick.
If it was possible Grimmjow became even more of a prick towards Ichigo. As the tournament dragged on both the boys turned out victorious in their official fights and they continued to be paired as sparing partners in the evenings as practise.
Their battels would drag on for hours. Both taking the matches too seriously. When the sensei's decided that it was getting out of hand they would break it up, each fight being declared a tie. At the end of the fifth day, as predicted, it was just the two boys left. They would fight for the championship the next day.
The final round never happened. On his way back from the hot springs that night Ichigo slipped on a piece of wet, freshly polished floor. He attempted to catch himself but landed with his arm stretched at an awkward angel, snapping his right arm at the elbow.
The fight was called off and Grimmjow was declared the winner by default.
Ichigo chuckled to himself. He remembered when he left the mountain and thought he would never see the other boy again. Much to Ichigo's surprise Grimmjow had shown up on his doorstep a month later wanting to see who was really the strongest of the two. The blue haired boy had been down right livid when he realised the carrot top was still in his cast. His temper rose when Ichigo explained that it wouldn't be coming off for a few months still. His arm had literally snapped in half.
"What the fuck!" Grimmjow had yelled. Ichigo was thankful that his parents and sisters had all gone to Karin's soccer game. He had stayed home to catch up on the homework that he had missed while in the hospital and going to doctors appointments. Exams were only two weeks away and the teachers wouldn't let him do extra credit during the summer months. "I can't wait that long! I'm leaving for Harvard in six weeks."
"Harvard? You're going to the America too?"
"What to you mean 'too'?" Grimmjow looked quizzical.
"Renji- My boyfriend, is going to MIT. He leaves in six weeks as well." Something in Grimmjow must have snapped because the next thing he knew Ichigo was on his back in the main hall of his family mansion. The bigger male straddled his hips and grabbed his wrist and cast, shoving them above his head. "If I can't show you how much stronger I am than you with our bokkens, I'll just dominate you a different way." With that Grimmjow smashed his lips into Ichigos.
To be honest it hadn't taken much for Ichigo to give in. I mean who wouldn't? Grimmjow was built like a god and had the face to match.
The next hour was a blur of body parts and heavy panting. Ichigo remembered thinking that it had been better than anything he had experienced with Renji. Then there was the guilt that had set on when he remembered the red head. He hadn't thought about the boy since the last time he had said his name.
The next six months had been awful. Ichigo had called Renji in the mornings before school and felt the bubble of guilt try to force its way up his throat every time. Renji hadn't come home for Christmas that year claiming that he had bitten off more than he could chew with the coarse load.
Grimmjow came back though and Ichigo had let him fuck him in a shopping mall washroom when they had unexpectedly run into each other there.
Ichigo didn't know then but he would continue his affair with Grimmjow for years after. He would find ways to get out of family trips and he even sent Renji away for days with his 'boys' so he could have time to meet the blue man.
He didn't know when the guilt had disappeared. After a while the secret just seemed like a normal part of his life.
After Ichigo's second year of university, Grimmjow had moved back home and the men began more frequent meetings. They began to talk more and actually started to like each others company.
Grimmjow had stayed the night at Ichigo's apartment, waking the smaller man with soft butterfly kisses trailing down his naked back. The carrot top always enjoyed sleeping on his stomach, giving Grimmjow a perfect view of his perfectly plump butt beneath the silk sheets. "You're ready to go again already?" Ichigo had asked in a sleepy voice.
Grimmjow climbed on top of Ichigo's bare ass. The bluenette leaned down to Ichigo's ear and whispered "I think it's time you leave Red. I can take care of you now."
Ichigo snorted, "I don't need taken care of. Obviously." He raised a lazy hand, still not bothering to open his eyes and waved a figure up in the air, gesturing to his luxuriously decorated bedroom. "Sides," He said. "Did you somehow land a job when I was sleeping?" A Harvard law degree could get you many places you wanted to go. Unfortunately, Grimmjow hadn't been able to find a firm that was hiring inside the city.
Ichigo had been thinking about leaving Renji for some time at that point. The red head hadn't bothered to graduate on time and would still be in America indefinitely. He hadn't come home for a single winter break since he left and didn't come back for the summer that year either.
Grimmjow let out a sexy chuckle. "It turns out I've got a birth right to one." Ichigo finally cracked an eye lid and looked at Grimmjow like he was either nuts or stupid. "Turns out my old man is part of this criminal organization called the Espada. It controls the entire west side of the ci-"
Grimmjow couldn't finish his sentence before Ichigo snaked his body out from beneath him and landed on the floor beside the bed. Grimmjow peered over the side to look at Ichigo's bewildered face. "What?"
"Gri-Grimm…" Ichigo had no fucking clue what to do about this one. "My family is Shinigami."
They both tried to cut each other off after that day, but it hadn't even lasted two months before Grimmjow was banging on Ichigo's door claiming that they could still fuck. It was just that nothing more could ever come of it. The sex had changed after that. Grimmjow was rough and dominating ever time and Ichigo let him. It was the only way they could be together and the thought of Ichigo being able to be with someone else out in the open drove Grimmjow wild.
Suddenly, as Grimmjow reach the middle of the room, he stopped. His once calm, knowing eyes now brewed a ragging storm as his brows crumpled and his jaw tightened. "Hey Ichi, I was only joking…" Renji, had emerged from the washroom just moments after Ichigo but the carrot top hadn't noticed. "You gotta start being nicer to your man." The gaze that was held between blue and orange didn't faulter even as Renji laced his long figures with Ichigo's own. Now Grimmjow looked down right livid. "Ichigo?" Renji followed the mans gaze and his eyes too fell on Grimmjow.
The red head's hand tightened painfully as he yanked Ichigo back threw the doors they emerged from. "Ow, Renj-"
"Not here. Not now. I'm not putting up with this bullshit tonight." Renji was more talking to himself than anything. He slammed Ichigo against the back of the door the moment they were back in the large washroom and braced an arm above his head, leaning down so there faces where just inches apart. Although Renji was only five or six inches taller he always seemed bigger like this. Ichigo knew this as Renji's 'I own you' stance. He had been in this position many times before when the two had crossed paths. "Don't talk to him. Don't even look at him."
"I wasn't going to." Ichigo growled back.
Renji brought his arm up and slammed it back onto the wooden door. "I don't care what you were going to do as long as you do what I tell you."
Ichigo just glared up at the man. He didn't really have anything to say. He knew it was wrong and unfair to Renji for even acknowledging the bluenette in the first place. Renji didn't know about Ichigo's eight-year affair. What he did know was the chemistry between the two was unmistakable. Every time the two organisations got together like this Ichigo and Grimmjow seemed like they had known each other forever, which they practically had. There were comments that the older members would make like, "We could have the two marry and connect our groups." Or Renji's favorite "Romeo and Juliet". He knew the elders where just joking but it was his boyfriend they were saying the comments about.
Ichigo reached his hand up to brush his fingers along Renji's jaw. "Hey," He said calmly, "I'm yours. You know that."
Renji's stare was unwavering. "Then show me."
Ichigo knew there was no getting out of this one as he slowly sank to his knees.