Chapter 7: Everything Goes Wrong
October 10th, 2014
The first thing Grimmjow noticed when he walked into the apartment was the broken glass sitting on the end table. He felt a seconds pang of fear, before he saw Ichigo sitting at the table, head resting on his arms. He didn't look up as Grimmjow shed his jacket and walked over, nervous to learn as to what might have elicited such a reaction.
"Ichigo?" Grimmjow asked softly.
The man didn't respond at first, for just long enough to make Grimmjow think he might be asleep, before his friends muffled voice reached him.
"They fired me."
Grimmjow blinked, taking a second to understand. "The restaurant? Why?"
"Because they're assholes," Ichigo growled, raising his head to look at Grimmjow. "Because some jerk came in to make trouble, and he made trouble with me, and I was...I was tired, and I'd already been there for so long, and-I knew better, but I couldn't help myself."
"And they fired you? Just like that?" Grimmjow pulled out a chair and sat down, trying to ignore the faint redness around Ichigo's eyes.
"They knew I was on my way out," Ichigo said, glaring at the table. "They didn't think it was worth the headache to keep me if I was going to leave in a few weeks anyway. Why honor all the hard work and time I've given them?" His voice was shaking. "And then I come back to a rejection letter from the only job I've even applied to."
Grimmjow glanced at the table, and saw what looked to be roughly half a page of the mentioned letter, bearing part of the logo of the daycare center.
"That bad?" Grimmjow asked apprehensively.
"No." Ichigo's voice was hoarse. Grimmjow had never seen him look so miserable. "They were very polite. And also not interested." He shook his head. "I shouldn't have bothered. I don't have any relevant experience."
"Don't say that," Grimmjow said encouragingly. "Of course you should've! Sure, experience helps, but you had a chance. You owe it to yourself to try. You should get a job you actually like."
"Grimmjow!" Ichigo said, voice rising in pitch. "I don't have any savings! I spent it all!" He didn't say it, but the fact that he'd spent it all on Grimmjow hung heavy in the air between them.
"We'll make it work," Grimmjow urged, reaching out and placing a hand on Ichigo's shoulder. "I can pick up more hours to cover us until you get another job. You did it with me, it's only fair I return the favor."
Ichigo looked unconvinced. "There's no guarantee you can, you know. Hours aren't always available."
"It'll be tight, but this is a single person apartment. We can manage."
Ichigo bit his lip, looking down at the table. "I don't even know where to start. When I moved, I just applied to Squad Eleven on a whim." He snorted. "Clearly, the reasons they hired me were the same reasons I shouldn't have applied, but I made it work. I haven't looked since."
"Maybe the hospital?" Grimmjow suggested. Ichigo looked up at him, a little confused. "Obviously you couldn't be a nurse or anything, but they've gotta have some smaller work you could do. I'm sure you don't like the idea of asking Urahara for help, but it would just be to tide us over until you found something better."
He could see Ichigo was considering the idea, and decided that was enough of a victory for the night, given the circumstances.
"You should get some rest," Grimmjow said. The emotional toll had probably left Ichigo feeling as drained as if he'd run a marathon, and he'd also worked for part of the day. "I can clean up."
Ichigo looked like he wanted to argue, but they both knew that if it came to a battle of stubborness, they were evenly matched, and Grimmjow had more energy left. Without another word, he got up from the table and went to the bedroom.
Grimmjow watched him go, feeling a pang of sympathy, and also an uncomfortable sensation of guilt. For all the empathy he had toward his friend and benefactor, Grimmjow couldn't bring himself to be upset that Ichigo had lost his job. The place had made him miserable, and Grimmjow couldn't deny to himself that he liked the idea of them switching roles, even just for a little while. It would be his turn to work and help them make ends meet, to finally support Ichigo while the orange-haired man was free to pursue a place he could be happier.
It would be rough for a while, and he knew there was no way to prevent Ichigo from blaming himself for their situation-that was the kind of man he was. But Grimmjow truly felt that in the end, things would work out for the better.
October 11th, 2014
Grimmjow stared at the black smoke billowing out of the top of the mall in utter disbelief.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me," he whispered.
"Everyone got out of the building safely," Rukia said from beside him. "The fire safety system was busted, I guess, but the alarm worked. Still, everything inside is a total loss. What isn't burned will be ruined by the smoke and heat."
Grimmjow made a small, pained noise in response.
Rukia's tone and manner were grim, but he knew she didn't have nearly as much to worry about. Her roommate still had a job, and even if that fell through, she had multiple people she could fall back on. Ichigo would hate having to go home and ask his father for help, and there was no reason to think Grimmjow would be welcome to come along.
"We'll get our last paycheck, but that's it. And it's gonna be hard to find a job when you consider just about everyone that worked here will be looking too." She glanced up at him. "Grim? I know its bad, but you seem-"
"I think I believe in God."
"What?"
"And I think God hates me."
"Ok, what?"
He turned to look at her. "Ichigo got fired last night."
She stared at him for a moment, apparently. "Oh...wow, that's...that really...and the mall caught fire the next day?"
Grimmjow felt an irrational anger boil up inside of him. "Yes, Rukia, it seems it fucking did!"
"Don't yell at me!"
"Well I've got to yell at something. This is so dumb!"
After a moment, they both broke and started to laugh.
"That is one way to frame the loss of a couple hundred jobs and tens of thousands of dollar worth of damage," Rukia agreed. "Dumb. Very, very dumb."
"Tens of thousands seems like a low estimate." Grimmjow said, frowning. Rukia shrugged.
"I have no idea what it actually is. I don't care that much either." She shook her head. "But seriously, what are you guys going to do? Ichigo would hate going back home."
"You think he would?" He sighed. "That Urahara guy owns part of the complex we're staying at. He can probably cut us some slack, but not enough to get us out of paying entirely."
"And you couldn't count on him if you moved out…" Rukia trailed off, thinking. After a moment, she asked "Have you thought about moving out?"
"His lease isn't up until the end of the year. It just wasn't a concern."
"I wonder…"
"What do you wonder?" Grimmjow asked.
"Well…"
"Rukia."
"If you can get Urahara to let you out of the lease early, I might be able to...do something."
"Would you care to be more specific?"
In response, Rukia shook her head, and Grimmjow noticed her face had gone red.
"I do not care to. Not until I know. Ichigo won't like it, but he'd dislike it less than going to his father…I'm sure he would…"
"Rukia you're making me nervous." Grimmjow said.
"Just-just go back to the apartment, tell Ichigo what happened, call Urahara, and then go job-hunting. I'll call you if anything comes up here, or with...other things."
"Very ominous. Very concerning."
"Ever heard a saying about gift horses and their mouths?"
"I don't even know if you're offering a horse though. It could be some kind of monster. Or some kind of monster horse."
"Well assume that the monster horse has a mouth, and you shouldn't look at it." Rukia said, with a note of finality.
"...what?"
"Shut up and go away already!"
"You've got to be fucking kidding me."
"I know, right!?" Grimmjow said, shaking his head as Ichigo put his head in hands. "And now Rukia's cooking up some crazy scheme and won't tell us anything."
"What does she want us to do?" Ichigo asked, looking up at him.
"See if the Quack will let us out of the lease early. Or, well, let you out early."
"You have got to stop calling him that."
"It's the principal of the thing Ichi." Grimmjow grinned at him.
"Never call me that again."
"I promise nothing"
Ichigo rolled his eyes.
"She obviously has somewhere in mind for us to go," he said, not pursuing the topic of nicknames any further.
"And someone in mind to give us that place," Grimmjow agreed. "Someone she doesn't think you'll be happy with."
"Which means it's probably her brother." Ichigo sighed. "We don't exactly get along."
"I've heard," Grimmjow said. "Are you sure you'd be ok with that?"
Ichigo shrugged. "Little difference between that or going home."
"Maybe, but it could be a big difference to you."
"It's not just me though, is it?" Grimmjow stared at him, and after a moment, Ichigo seemed to realize what he'd said, looking away from his blue-haired friend and blushing."
"Ichigo...you-"
"I'm not going to toss you back out in the street. Last time I did that, you got stabbed."
"Ok one, I got out of the car on my own, you didn't toss me anywhere. And two, I'd hardly be forced to live on the streets."
Ichigo gave him a sympathetic look. "I get it, Grim, I do." When Ichigo called him Grim, it didn't bother him like when Rukia said it. "You don't want to rely on others. But none of us are going to force you onto the streets and we're certainly not going to send you back home. The way things are right now, you'll have to lean on someone, and that's normal. It's ok. Things like this happen to everyone at some point and that's what friends are for." He shook his head, laughing slightly. "I don't want Byakuya's charity, but I don't want to throw in the towel and go home either. You being here is just giving me the push to swallow my pride rather than throw it away completely."
Grimmjow couldn't speak around the lump on his throat. Ichigo seemed to understand, getting up from the table and walking over to the counter where he'd left his phone.
"I'll call Urahara, see if we can work something out. Then we can go tour the town and pick up job apps."
Grimmjow nodded jerkily, getting up as well, stepping outside without explanation. Ichigo watched him go, smiling slightly. He'd had good friends all his life, but he'd been getting the impression over the past few weeks that Grimmjow hadn't.
I suppose every cloud has a silver lining.
They walked together down the sidewalk, Grimmjow with a folder tucked under one arm, filled with the papers they had collected over the past hour.
Ichigo took the phone away from his ear, hanging up.
"He finally get back to you?" Grimmjow asked.
"Yep."
"What'd he say?"
"Well, he was unnecessarily vague and cryptic-"
"Naturally."
"-but I think he's planning to pay our fees so they're on time, and then just have us pay him when we can. He can open up the lease to new occupants in the meantime."
"Where does he get all of his money?"
"I have no idea." Ichigo shook his head. "But it's one problem solved."
"Only all of the rest of them to go."
"Way to maintain a positive attitude Grimmjow."
The blue haired man scowled at him. "I'm using all of my remaining positive energy for greeting these people to ask for applications. I don't have any to spare."
Ichigo's phone buzzed again, and they slowed down as he looked at it.
"Rukia," Ichigo said grimly, and they stepped off to the side as he opened the message, Grimmjow leaning down to look at the phone over Ichigo's shoulder.
R:Well, he agreed. We'll all have to share but it's a big place. Probably have more room than you do now.
"That's oddly vague," Grimmjow commented, frowning.
"Maybe she thinks I haven't figured out who it is?" Ichigo shrugged, before raising the phone to message her back.
I:We'll head back and start packing then. Address?
She sent him the address to an upscale apartment complex, and then she sent a follow-up.
R:Just...be nice, ok? To both of us.
Grimmjow frowned as Ichigo rolled his eyes.
"Does she really think I'll get mad at her?" Ichigo asked, shaking his head.
"Er…" Ichigo glanced at Grimmjow curiously.
"What?"
"Nothing, nothing. Just, uh, curious about the address. Thats a nice part of town, isn't it?"
Ichigo gave him a suspicious look, but nodded. "Yeah, but that's the kind of thing Byakuya would do. Help us out while also flaunting his wealth in our face."
"Hows that positive attitude working in that glass house of yours?"
"Oh, shut up."
He texted Rukia a swift reply, before turning in the direction they'd parked. "Come on, let's go."
Grimmjow smiled, pushing the feeling of unease he had about tomorrow down, turning to follow Ichigo.
They would be fine.
