Shiro burst into Grimmjow's apartment, her normally pale skin red with exhaustion from practically running up the stair with a bulky cast. He didn't say anything, just sighing as he imagined how damaged his door would be. Her silver-haired counter part appearing only minutes after her arrival. Ichigo had her head in a bucket.
"Oh my god, you're pregnant," were the first words that tumbled from her lips. Shiro didn't even bother asking Grimmjow about anything, continuing to make a fool of herself as she rambled on about babies.
"No you idiot. I'm just sick," she shouted, scaring everyone. Gin moved the stool over to the bed so she could sit, dragging Grimmjow with him to the kitchen area to let the twins have a bit of privacy.
"Oh Ichigo," Shiro whispered, brushing sweat soaked bangs from her twins face. The younger grimaced, burdened by fear and the news she had to tell Shiro.
"I saw him Shiro, I saw him. He was at the dinner I attended. He's Grimmjow's adopted brother, he believed me when I said I wasn't me. I'm so scared Shiro I don't know what to do, I can't stop the nightmares anymore," she whispered her voice breaking as she spoke. Shiro didn't know what to do either. It was always Ichigo who figured out what to do when they got in trouble, she always had a plan. Shiro just ran into everything thinking her fists could solve it.
"What are we going to do?" She asked, panic creeping into her voice. Ichigo just shrugged, it was like she had given up on everything.
"I'll figure something out Shiro, I always do. I'm gonna make sure nothing happens to you, Gin or Grimmjow," she said, determined to keep her word. Shiro sat back surprised she'd added Grimmjow to her list. Maybe her twin was beginning to open up to him.
"Why Grimm?" Shiro questioned, hoping she wasn't wrong. She managed a small smile.
"He makes me feel safe. I didn't notice till I woke up sick one night, I was terrified. I couldn't remember the nightmare just the fear. He calmed me down just by being there and promising me nothing would happen while I was here. He's become my safe harbour," Ichigo said, staring at Grimmjow the whole time she spoke. He was the only man who had ever tried protecting her. He looked up, catching her eyes and grinned.
"You know what that means don't you?" Shiro asked, almost shouting unable to keep the excitement out of her voice. Ichigo just rolled her eyes punching her sister in the shoulder. Sometimes she questioned her sanity, how could Shiro act so normal when everything was falling to pieces around them. She wished she could be like that somedays.
"Yeah, yeah. It was never like this with Ulquiorra, he made me feel loved but never safe."
On the other side of the room the boys were staring at the pair, both worried.
"I had a friend look at her, he runs a clinic near here. He couldn't figure out what was making her so ill but I think it's fear. Now she's waking up from nightmares and the first thing she does is puke. I don't know what to do anymore except comfort her." Gin looked at the man standing before, his eyes riveted to Ichigo. Man this boy had it bad. There was in denying he loved now. Not many men would take of someone this ill for nothing.
"Ya love 'er, don't ya Grimmy boy?" He asked speaking softly, the girls talking about the same thing on the other side of the room, his sharp hearing licking up every word.
"I do, I have for a while. But I don't think she's open to the idea of allowing someone to lover her, not while she still loves that guy, Ulquiorra," he stated, not allowing his sadness to taint his voice.
"I think you should tell her Grimm, as soon as possible. That girl is so independent that she could be dying and she won't let anyone look after her, the fact that she's letting you look after her now speaks volumes. I don't think Rain has even seen her cry since their father died." It was those words that told Grimmjow to confess, she had cried that night. If she could let herself cry in front of him but not her twin then something between them had changed. He nodded, he wasn't going to run away anymore. Gin patted him on the shoulder, "good man!" He cried. It seemed the girls had also finished their talk, Rain was making her way over to the pair of them.
"Thanks Grimmjow for taking care of her, Silence can be as stubborn as a mule. We'll be back as soon as we can." Surprisingly she hugged him. He returned it, glad for it.
"Well then let's leave, please walk this time," Gin pleaded, not wanting his wife to break her other leg. Waving to Ichigo as he closed the door on the couple. The second they were out in the fresh night air, Shiro was pinning him with her deadliest glare.
"I convinced him, what was your answer?"
"She's falling for him fast, I think that confession with push her off the deep end." She said, deciding to keep the fact that Ichigo had run into Aizen to herself for now.
Ichigo sat there in silence, staring at Grimmjow, he was talking about something but she wasn't really listening. She was trying to think about why he was so special. He was different from Ulquiorra, both were strong but Grimmjow look physically strong and he was. Broad shoulders, she was staring at them now. Broad shoulders made for shouldering big loads. Big gentle hands, no matter how you looked at it he was a man. She remembered Ulquiorra had slender fingers, his hands were much more feminine than hers. The physical differences didn't matter much to her, before Ulquiorra she had dated Sado and he was the same as Grimmjow. It was more emotional aspects that were different. In a way Sado and Ulquiorra were the same. They let her do as she liked, gave into her stubbornness though she knew it bother Sado that she refused help, it never bothered him. Ulquiorra seemed to think that she was capable of anything. Grimmjow only asked when it involved him, when it didn't he still managed to get himself involved. He didn't need to be asked, he just helped when he could. He tried protecting her even though she told him not to. It was nice.
"Chihiro." Grimm was waving a hand in her face, concerned she must have ignored him for quite sometime.
"Ichigo, my name is Ichigo. Aizen was right when he called me Ichigo but it was a different life time," she explained, gripping the shoulder that her tattoo resided on. He nodded.
"I'm curious but I won't ask, it seems to be a sore topic."
"I changed my name in order to hide from him, he was obsessed with me. I had to die in order to get away. Ichigo Kurosaki died just under two years ago, Kurosaki isn't my legal last name. It was but when we moved to live with our uncle I took his wife's last name." He looked at her shocked, she was revealing some very personal things about herself.
"It suits you better than Chihiro does. I love you Ichigo," he confessed, unable to look at her now that he had said it.
"I don't care about your past, or that you can never tell me much about yourself but I love you." Ichigo grabbed his hand, his skin not as rough as hers. Slowly she moved it to her cheek, leaning into it and loving how cold it was against her heated skin.
"I can't say the same but I think I love you as well."he leaned down and kissed her, not able to wait any longer. She didn't stop him but rather gripped his hair pulling him closer.