Chapter 6: Calm Before the Storm

October 1st, 2014

"So," Grimmjow said, as casually as he could, "How do you feel about Halloween?"

Ichigo glanced up from the kitchen table, where he had been pouring over a pile of papers. He seemed confused for a moment, then frowned.

"Oh," He said. "You're one of those."

"I'm not sure what you mean, but I know I'm offended."

Ichigo turned to face him more fully, rubbing at his eyes. "The only thing I generally feel about Halloween is annoyance at all the adults acting like children."

"Well that's the whole point of the holiday, Ichi," Grimmjow said earnestly, fighting to keep any negative inflection out of his voice. "People get to pretend to be something else."

"Yeah?" Ichigo sounded bored.

"Yeah! Like...a sexier version of themselves." Ichigo glared at him. "Or a sexy version of something else." The man's expression didn't waver in the slightest. "Dress as something sexy this year, Ichigo."

"No." Ichigo responded flatly.

"You're no fun!" Grimmjow whined. Ichigo just rolled his eyes.

"Grow up, Grimmjow. You're 21 years old."

"Look out everyone, here comes Ichigo "Buzzkill" Kurosaki! I oughta dress you up as a big razor, like barbers use." Ichigo scoffed and turned away. "A sexy razor."

"Goddammit Grimmjow!"

The blue-haired man laughed, and ducked the seat cushion Ichigo threw at him.

"Can I at least decorate?"

"I don't care what you do with your money, so long as you can pay your part of the bills," Ichigo said.

"So you don't care how I decorate?"

"No," Ichigo replied, waving a hand vaguely, refocusing on the papers in front of him.

"What are you looking at, anyway?" Grimmjow asked, getting up from the couch and walking over.

"An application."

"That's...a lot of paper for an application." Grimmjow laid a hand on the table, leaning down by Ichigo to study the paperwork.

"It's...for a daycare," Ichigo said apprehensively. Grimmjow looked down at the other man in surprise. Ichigo was pointedly looking down, but Grimmjow didn't miss the flush in his cheeks.

"Wouldn't have pegged you as someone who liked taking care of kids." He was careful to keep his tone neutral, and it seemed to work.

Ichigo shrugged, the blush disappearing from his face. "I looked after my sisters a lot when I was younger. I've always been good at it."

"I've always tended to scare kids, myself."

"Is it the blue hair, constant swearing, or the generally violent behavior that gets them?"

"Hey!" Grimmjow exclaimed, offended. "Kids love the hair! They think it's magic."

"So it's the other two?"

"Yeah."

Grimmjow pulled out the seat across from Ichigo and sat down.

"You don't talk about your family much."

Ichigo shrugged. "No particular reason. They just don't come up much." He eyed Grimmjow curiously, but refrained from asking anything.

"Question for question?" Grimmjow proposed.

Ichigo looked surprised, but nodded. "You first."

"Ok. How many family members?"

"Immediate family or extended?"

"Just immediate."

"2 younger sisters-twins, technically. They don't look alike but were born at the same time. And my Dad. You?"

"Mom, Step-Dad-though he was around my whole life- younger sister, and an older Step-Brother and Step-Sister. What happened to your mom?"

"Died, when I was little. Car hit her. She...pushed me out of the way." There was a moment of silence, but Ichigo shook himself slightly and asked, "What about your dad?"

"Dunno. Don't think Mom knows who he is either. She met my Step-Dad while she was pregnant, so like I said, he's been around my whole life. What's your Dad like?"

"He's a total idiot, but in a good way. Overprotective, but also went out of his way to make sure we knew how to defend ourselves. And if you ever meet him, don't tell him I said it was in a good way. Your mom?"

"Passionate, outspoken. Not...the best at expressing herself emotionally, but she cares. If you met her and my step-dad separately, you'd never think they'd get along. Opposites attract, I guess. Lord knows how they're doing now, though."

"Have...you contacted them?" Ichigo asked hesitantly.

He was technically breaking the rules, but Grimmjow answered anyway.

"Just once, while I was in the hospital. The qu-Doctor Urahara contacted them, passed on that I was safe, but not interested in seeing them again. If they sent a response, he knew better than to give it to me." Ichigo's expression was veering dangerously close to pity, and Grimmjow stretched and yawned. "Now, I believe I'm owed two questions?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. Sorry."

Grimmjow smirked and dismissed the matter with a wave of his hand. "Why did you leave home?"

"More to prove that I could, than anything. My Dad was really on me about going to college, but I didn't want to be a doctor and there was nothing else I wanted to study for. I said I could get by just fine without a degree. It's been 2 years since then."

"You are so not 'just fine'."

"No," Ichigo agreed morosely. "But I am getting by."

"True enough. Now, how about...How did you meet Rukia?"

Ichigo smiled at that. "She crashed through the window of my bedroom in the dead of night. And I was on the second story of our house."

"Now this is a story I've gotta hear."

"She was jealous of her brother going skydiving without her, and then an idiot named Renji had this idea involving a kite…"


October 5th, 2014

"I just can't believe you survived that, let alone barely get scratched."

"Would you shut up already!" Rukia was beet-red, but kept her voice down, looking around for customers. "I was fine! And besides, Ichigo's dad runs a medical clinic."

"Can picture you explaining that one to your brother," Grimmjow was also keeping his voice down, but had a sadistic grin on his face, enjoying himself. "'You see, it's ok that I almost died, because I was in a clinic! So even if I had gravely injured myself, they would've patched me up right away!'"

Rukia socked him in the arm and looked away, face still red. "What do you know about my brother?"

"What Ichigo told me."

"So literally nothing positive?"

"I don't think he was as negative as you're imagining."

"Well, he always is around me," Rukia said. "Though I suppose it's not fair to just blame Ichigo for that. The two of them always butted heads over everything."

Grimmjow followed her as she talked, curious. "But that was back in Karakura, wasn't it? How did you end up here in Seireitei?"

"I spent my childhood split between the two towns, actually. My parents passed away when I was really young, so Byakuya looked after me. He had to travel between the two cities for work to keep his job, and didn't want to just leave me with a babysitter all the time. When I was old enough to live on my own- well, I knew more people here. I lived with Rangiku for a while-"

"Oof."

"You're an ass. She's not that bad. Anyway, Rangiku let me stay with her and helped me find a job, then I moved out as soon as I could." Rukia very carefully folded a shirt and returned it to the display. "Then when I was totally broke because I tried to pay for an apartment while working part-time at a department store, I moved in with Renji."

"The kite guy?"

Rukia sighed. "Yes. He worked for my brother for a while, now he works at an auto shop. It pays better than here, so we can live in the nicer parts of town."

"Wait, so, you still live together?" Grimmjow asked.

"Huh? Yeah, why?"

Grimmjow narrowed his eyes. "So you're dating?"

"N-no, we're not!" Rukia's blush was predictable, but she would blush whether he was on the right track or not.

"Does he have a girlfriend?"

"No!"

"Then is he gay? 'Cuz if he's not gay you're a monster."

"I am not! And I don't-I don't think he is. We never really talked about it."

"That poor man."

"Stop it already! I have a boyfriend!"

Grimmjow blinked.

"You-"

"Hey!" They both started as a man walked over to them, glaring. "This guy bothering you?"

"Oh!" Rukia flushed a deep scarlet. "No! No I'm sorry, we're talking about something else."

Grimmjow felt himself flush as well. "I can see why you thought that though. Kinda forgot where we were."

"Well...ok." The man said slowly.

"Thank you for your concern," Rukia said, regaining her composure. The man smiled at her, glared at Grimmjow, and walked off.

"Oops." Grimmjow said, staring after him.

"Don't 'oops' me!"

"Don't yell at me, or someone else is gonna come over."

Rukia growled at him, and went back to the display. Grimmjow stepped up next to her. "But seriously, a boyfriend?"

She sighed. "Yes. He travels a lot, so I only get to see him when he's in town. I'm actually hoping to get a job working with him, but it's a slow process."

"How come you've never mentioned him?"

Rukia looked around them, apparently checking to see if anyone was within earshot. "Because...of Ichigo. I was worried that if I said anything, you'd say something to him."

"What, Ichigo doesn't like him?"

"No, it's not that…" She looked around again. "Kaien is...his cousin."

Grimmjow's eyebrows seemed to shoot up of their own accord. "Oh."

"It gets worse," Rukia said, beckoning him to follow her out of sight, before digging her phone out of her pocket. After a minute, she held it out to him. "This is a picture of him."

Grimmjow took the phone from her and examined it.

"...what the fuck?"

"I know! I know, I know, I know, it's so bad!" Rukia pressed her hands to her face, beet red. "I'm sure Ichigo would say he was fine with it if I asked, but they look so similar it's just so weird!"

Grimmjow felt transfixed by the picture of Ichigo's slightly older, black-haired clone. "How does that even work? It looks like Ichigo went through a super cheerful goth phase."

A laugh escaped Rukia as she took her phone back. "I mean, they are related, so it's not as crazy as it could be but...it is pretty bad."

Grimmjow shook his head. "I won't say a word, I promise. That is a mess that is impossible to clean up, however fun it might be."

They stood in silence for a minute.

"But you're still gonna make fun of me for it, aren't yo-"

"This means you think Ichigo's hot, right?"

I haven't decided what to do with Renji yet, but I figure even if he winds up being straight, he'd be fine with just being Rukia's friend. He's a good guy.

And as for Kaien, I've always thought he's a fun character, and this seemed like the best way to introduce him into the story. I mean, it's made pretty clear, at least in manga translations, that Rukia did straight up love him, so pairing them isn't out of nowhere.

Kaien's wife? Who's that? He doesn't have a wife. You're crazy. (She doesn't exist in this fic. Rukia is not being cheated on, or anything along those lines.)

Thanks for reading!