'Shinji's there, too! Great!' Ichigo exclaimed in relief as he had to literally drag Renji towards the alcohol bar. The redhead scowled.
'Dude, he looks freaky!' he uttered. 'And what's with that smile? He looks like a molester or something!'
Ichigo rolled his eyes. Trust Renji to insult a total stranger before they even met!
'Don't worry, he doesn't molest redheads,' Ichigo replied sarcastically. 'You're still talking to him whether you like it or not!'
'But-Oof!'
Ichigo shoved Renji forward because the coward was trying to get away again. Ironically, he tripped over his own feet and flew right into Shinji's arm. Well, that was because Shinji was quick enough to grab the idiot before both of them got seriously injured.
'Well, what do you know?' Shinji laughed as Renji immediately jumped to his feet, his face as red as his hair while he patted his shirt into place. 'Ich denke, ich werde heute Nacht trotzdem nicht allein schlafen!'
'Huh?' Renji said in confusion and glanced at Ichigo, who was trying not to burst out laughing, and then at Grimmjow, who rolled his eyes. 'What did he say? Ichigo, what did he say just now?'
'Oh, nothing you should be worried about,' Ichigo struggled to say as he held in his laughter. He then locked his eyes on Grimmjow and smiled brightly. 'Hi, Grimm! Busy?'
Was it just him or did Grimmjow look on edge?
'Oh! Ah, hi, Ichi!' Grimmjow answered in a rather high-pitched voice. 'Y-yeah! I got bar duty and…and I don't know when I'll be-!'
'Grimmjow!' yelled a boy with roughish salmon-colored locks and a scowl. He pointed to the café exit. 'Der Boss sagt, du kannst jetzt los!'
Grimmjow winced.
'Hey, guess you're free!' Ichigo pointed out. This was his chance. Well, Renji's chance to Shinji while Ichigo whisked Grimmjow off somewhere. He grabbed his boyfriend's hand, taking the blue-haired boy by surprise. 'C'mon! I want you to show me around town!'
'Oh! Uh, yeah, uh…' Grimmjow stammered and glanced at Shinji, who was too busy making Renji uncomfortable with his staring. 'Let's take Shinji and Renji with us-!'
'Nah! Let 'em bond here! Besides, I want to spend some time alone with you,' Ichigo said casually, pulling Grimmjow close to whisper the last bit. He was probably pushing it, being all sexy, but he knew he needed to get Grimmjow away and this was one sure way of doing it.
And besides, Grimmjow looked cute when he turned strawberry red.
Grimmjow glanced uneasily at the clock and then at Shinji.
'Ummmm, I…I dunno, Ichigo,' he struggled to get out, as if trying to organize his thoughts. Or maybe come up with an excuse to…to what? Avoid Ichigo?
Ichigo frowned.
'You don't want to spend time with me?' he asked quietly. He loosened his grip on Grimmjow's hand.
Maybe he was right. Maybe Grimmjow was lying to him. Then it was pointless to have Renji get anything out of Shinji. He already knew the truth.
Grimmjow quickly tightened his grip on Ichigo's hand and locked eyes with him.
'Don't say that to me again, okay?' Grimmjow said, almost in a demanding voice. Ichigo almost flinched in surprise. He'd never seen Grimmjow look this determined about something.
'So…ummm…so we going then?' He almost sounded hopeful. For once, he hoped that he was wrong about Grimmjow. That minute outburst had stirred his hopes a little and he didn't want to be disappointed.
Grimmjow glanced at Shinji, thinking. Then…
'Hey, Shin!' he called. 'I'm leaving right now, so don't forget what you promised me, 'kay? Or I'm going to make sure you're banned from this place!'
Shinji, who had been preoccupied in molesting Renji with his eyes while they made small talk, gave Grimmjow a bored look before rolling his eyes.
'Yeah, yeah, don't worry!' he said casually before grinning widely and winking, 'you kids have fun and I'll do likewise!'
His eyes slid momentarily to Renji who jumped back in shock. The redhead glanced pleadingly at Ichigo but all Ichigo did was shrug. He wasn't responsible for what Shinji might do! Who would've thought that the German would be interested in Renji! It was all unpredictable and totally not Ichigo's fault. In Ichigo's opinion anyway.
As he grabbed Grimmjow's hand tightly once again and pulled him out from bar area, he hoped the redhead wouldn't mess up and remember the plan. Everything depended on him now.
Grimmjow didn't know what came over him when Ichigo asked him if he didn't want to spend time with the orange-haired teen. Maybe it his possessiveness or something. Or the fact that he couldn't bear seeing Ichigo sad because of him. Or maybe, seeing Ichigo sad just tore him up.
Either way, he had blurted out, almost angrily, that he never wanted Ichigo to believe that question to have an answer of any sort. In fact, that question shouldn't even exist between them. Grimmjow would never pass up a chance to spend time with Ichigo!
Still, in this situation, he might have to reconsider that declaration. He'd promised to see Onkel Gin and he couldn't talk to him with Ichigo hanging around. He needed to get away without Ichigo knowing that he was gone. But how?
He glanced at Shinji and it hit him. Okay, sure the blonde was busy ogling Renji but he had promised Grimmjow that he would help him distract Ichigo. And one thing that was good about Shinji was that he never went back on a promise. All he needed was a reminder…
And he hoped the blonde would do the rest before he even left the café with Ichigo.
'So how do you like Germany?' Shinji purred, his eyes lidded as he observed Renji. Renji frowned as he noticed Shinji's eyes were wandering mostly all over his body.
'It's…cultural,' Renji muttered, trying to look somewhere else.
'Damn, he is fine!' Shinji thought gleefully, his eyes wandering a tad too long on Renji's crotch before going up. He just wished Renji would turn around so he could check out his ass. Shinji had a weird fetish for guys with nice asses. Actually, it was more of a quirk. Grimmjow would always point out that no matter how hot a guy was, Shinji wouldn't tap it if that guy didn't have a nice ass.
'Nice shorts, by the way,' Shinji said suddenly.
Renji raised an eyebrow.
'Uh, thanks, I guess,' he answered uncertainly.
'I like the cut,' Shinji continued, his eyes now glued those shorts, wishing there was a way to get rid of them without causing a scene in public. Okay, maybe that was the last of his concerns. He wasn't doing it right now in case he scared the redhead away. 'Mind if you turn around so I can see the back too?'
Renji gave him a strange look. Now he could comment that that was a weird request but then, there was no harm in doing it. It was a harmless demand.
Renji shrugged his shoulders and began to turn. Shinji almost fell out of his seat in excitement.
'Please let him have a nice ass, please let him have a nice ass,' he chanted to himself.
'Hey, Shin!'
'Huh?' He looked up to see Grimmjow giving him the hardest glare ever. Oh great. He needed a favor now of all times. And just when he missed seeing the ass of his possible prey for the night! Grimmjow owed him big time now!
'I'm leaving right now, so don't forget what you promised me, 'kay? Or I'm going to make sure you're banned from this place!' Grimmjow shot at him.
Shinji sighed and leaned against the bar counter.
'Yeah, yeah, don't worry!' he uttered and looked at Renji from the corner of his eye before smiling toothily. As long as he got to stay with the redhead, he wasn't going to complain! 'You kids have fun and I'll do likewise!'
And boy, what fun they were going to have! Shinji had to refrain himself from rubbing his hands together like a mad scientist. That was another thing he was sure was going to scare the redhead.
Still, he probably had 5 minutes to come up with a plan so that Grimmjow could escape Ichigo before they left the café. But what?
Renji suddenly jumped, his face going red. Did someone just…smack his ass?
He looked behind and saw a petite woman with large magenta irises and stylishly arranged matching hair. She raised one eyebrow at him and smirked sassily.
'Nice ass, sexy,' she said teasingly.
Renji felt his jaw drop.
Seriously, what was with everyone hitting on him! Was he considered good-looking in Germany? Not that he was complaining but…could they not look and act like sex fiends! It was freaking him out!
Shinji looked past Renji and scowled at the woman. Damn it, it was Riruka! That woman was always flirting with anyone! It was so fucking annoying, especially when she had an overprotective brother like Ginjou who went ape crazy when he saw a guy talking to her in a rather forward way. Funny thing is, she was the one who'd instigate the flirting but when Ginjou caught her, she'd act all innocent so that the poor guy on the receiving end would get pummeled into the next century. She was seriously the definition of a bitchy slut.
And now she was flirting with his guy! Shinji could give a fuck about the guys she messed with but this time, she was stepping into his territory and Shinji could get just as bitchy as her when people did that with him!
'Back off, Riruka,' Shinji said icily in German and hopped off his seat so that he was towering over the seated girl. 'He's mine.'
He knew it was rude of him to talk to her in German in front of Renji, but no way in hell he was going to let Renji know that he was treating the redhead as his property.
'Sharing is caring, ShinShin,' she sighed arrogantly and waggled her eyebrows at Renji.
Shinji scowled. He hated it when she called him that. If he could punch a girl, he would punch Riruka without hesitation right about now.
'Not with you it is,' he shot at her. She barked a laugh.
'Oh, you know me too well, ShinShin!' she said heartily, knowing full well her nickname for him was pissing him off. 'But tell you what, if you let me have a go with him too, I won't tell him your history with men so that he doesn't go off screaming in the other direction.'
Shinji's eyes narrowed. She was going to blackmail him into giving up Renji? Who the fuck did this woman think she was talking to?
'Suck my dick 'cause I don't give a lick,' Shinji answered in a singsong voice, grinning crazily while tilting his head to one side mockingly. This time it was Riruka's turn to scowl.
'You're such an ass, Shinji,' she said coldly, 'you don't even like him! You're just going to fuck him and move on to someone else! What's the difference if I get to have him, too?'
'You're just going to fuck him up with your twisted ways,' Shinji replied without a pause. Riruka looked him up and down before she burst out laughing. This really irked Shinji. What the hell was she laughing about?
'What the hell is so funny?' he asked tersely.
'Oh, nothing!' Riruka said breathily between giggles. 'Just never thought I'd see the day that Shinji Hirako cared about another guy like this!'
Shinji gritted his teeth. That woman really knew how to get under his skin.
'Now see here-!' he began when all of a sudden his view was blocked by a broad chest clothed in a grey shirt and a fur-lined jacket. He gulped and looked up to meet a pair of hard eyes.
'Heyyyy, Ginjou!' Shinji said in the cheeriest voice he could manage. 'What's going on?'
Ginjou's eyes narrowed.
'You bothering my sister, Hirako?' he said icily and cracked his knuckles.
Oh hell no was Shinji getting caught in this web!
'No way, Ginjou!' Shinji said casually. 'Your sis and I were just having a-!'
'He was insulting me, Ginjou,' Riruka said in a fake hurt tone. 'He said I nothing but a…a…slut…'
'Is that so?' Ginjou's voice dropped a few centigrade. Shinji felt like strangling that woman. Oh God, he hated her with a passion!
'That's not true,' Shinji said curtly. 'For one, I would never say it to her face. I'd say it behind her back. To her face, I'd say it in such a convoluted way that she'd never see it-!'
Shinji knew what was coming. He knew Ginjou just needed an excuse to cave his face in right now. And Shinji wasn't afraid to take a go at Ginjou. He wasn't scared of fighting. In fact, he thought he was a pretty decent fighter. Better than Ginjou at least.
However, when he ducked, he hadn't taken into account of someone passing by behind him. So since Ginjou missed him, the punch nailed the guy behind him.
Renji's jaw dropped once again. Just now, he had no fucking clue as to what was going on. Then, this huge, menacing guy popped out of nowhere and decided to punch Shinji! And Shinji just had to duck so that the guy behind him got the brunt of the powerful punch. He could tell it must've hurt because he heard a sickening crack, meaning that the big guy had probably broken the poor fellow's nose.
'Wow, well, that wasn't very nice, Ginjou!' Shinji marveled. 'He didn't do anything to you! Well, he might have been thinking your sister is a slut but hey, you might as well hit all of us in this café for thinking that!'
Ginjou saw red as he sailed in for another hit. This time Shinji met him on, blocking Ginjou's fist with his forearm and sailing in a fist to catch the big guy in the jaw.
If the café wasn't noisy before it was roaring with cheers and jeers this time. Plus, it seemed that wherever Shinji and Ginjou fought, they caused chaos. People were getting kicked or punched by someone, which just pissed them off and gave them the urge to hurt someone else.
Soon, the café was nothing but a brawling sea of fighting men. Renji jumped out of the way as a table flew past him. His eyes widened as a guy stood up on the counter, roaring like he was Tarzan before jumping into the frenzy of battling bodies.
Where the hell was Ichigo when you needed him?
'So where should we go?' Ichigo asked as the two weaved through the tables in the café. Grimmjow kept his head down, following Ichigo quietly.
'Wherever you wanna go, Ichi,' Grimmjow answered in what he hoped was a little cheerful tone. He didn't want Ichigo to notice how agitated he was. He was so close to chewing on his nails out of anxiety. He trusted Shinji to get him out of this, he really did. But what if he was too late and they already left the café. Should he stall Ichigo? Maybe he could pretend he left something in the back so he could-
'Ouch! Hey, watch it!' Grimmjow yelled as someone smashed into him from behind, sending him crashing into Ichigo's back. Ichigo looked back in alarm.
'What the hell?' he murmured as his eyes trained on the slowly growing mass of fighting people. Grimmjow's eyes widened.
'Shit, a bar fight,' he groaned. 'I hate those! Some idiot thinks that he got insulted and starts a fight which only escalates because people here just love a good fight!'
'What? Why?' Ichigo asked in surprise. Grimmjow shrugged his shoulders.
'We just like to tough it out I guess,' he sighed. He was almost knocked off his feet as someone shoved him into a table. Grimmjow rubbed his sore muscles and glared at the crowd. 'Pass auf, wo du hinrennst, du Idiot!'
Ichigo laughed. Grimmjow glared at him.
'What's so funny?' he growled.
'You looked so gloomy before and now all of a sudden your 'don't mess with me' mode is switched on full swing!' Ichigo chuckled.
'Fuck you!' Grimmjow said with a roll of his eyes. Before Ichigo could reply, a man knocked the orange-haired boy to one side. Grimmjow's eyes widened. 'Ichi-!'
Someone else pulled him back so that he fell flat on his back. He groaned as his neck ached. Who the fuck started this crazy fight? Someone could get lost in this like he just lost Ichigo-
He froze as realization hit him. Shinji! Of course! Who else would come up with a crazy plan like this! Though he had to hand it to him, it was pretty clever to use a bar fight to cause this commotion. Then again, Shinji could be pretty smart if he wasn't drooling over some guy's ass. He'd have to thank Shinji later. If he wasn't busy staring at Renji that is.
Grimmjow quickly rolled away as two brawling men stomped towards him. He scrambled to his feet and craned his neck across the room. He couldn't spot Ichigo anywhere. Good. Now he could escape.
'Where'd ya think you're goin'?' slurred a voice behind him and a pair of hands shoved him hard. Grimmjow turned around and found himself face to face with the town drunk Shunsei. Oh great, just what he needed.
'Ya think ya get get away tha' easily, huh, Ukitake?' the drunk man muttered as he squinted at Grimmjow. Oh, this was rich. He thought Grimmjow was Ukitake, the man he was secretly in love with while he was married.
Easy, Shunsei,' Grimmjow sighed. 'I'm not Ukitake. You're just drunk.'
'Don' lie ta me, Ukituki!' Shunsei yelled and drooped forward. 'I know ya when I see ya and ya know I'm through with this cat an' mouse game! I'm gonna take the plunge an' make ya mine!'
Grimmjow tried not to laugh. Shunsei could be pretty funny when he was drunk. The funniest moment was when he mistook a mop for Ukitake. The entire café was laughing at him for that.
'C'mon, Shunsei, I gotta split,' Grimmjow told him and turned around to leave when Shunsei grabbed him forcefully, taking Grimmjow by surprise. Who knew he was strong when he was drunk!
'I told ya I ain' gunna wait anymo'!' Shunsei uttered and leaned in close, his lips puckering. Grimmjow wrinkled his nose. Fucking hell, this wasn't why he became a waiter and he wasn't going to make it a reason now!
'Shunsei!' Grimmjow struggled to break free but Shunsei had an iron grip on his wrist. 'Lemme go! Shun-!'
Of course, Shunsei didn't let go but he ended up anyway. Well, if someone knocked you out and you lost conscience you were bound to let go of whatever you were holding. It was common sense.
Grimmjow gaped at Shunsei's inert figure sprawled out on the floor before he stared at a grinning Ichigo.
'Hey!' Ichigo shrugged his shoulders. 'Nobody gets to kiss you but me! And I don't care how drunk they are I'm still going to kick their ass!'
Grimmjow started laughing. Ichigo was really too much!
'C'mon! Help me put him somewhere safe so that he doesn't get trampled!' Grimmjow exclaimed, pushing people aside as he grabbed Shunsei's legs. Ichigo nodded
'Ukitake?' Shunsei said blearily as Ichigo grabbed his arms. Then, the man uttered a loud snore. Both boys looked at the man and started laughing again.
'I can't believe he's sleeping right now!' Ichigo gasped as the two of them struggled to carry him through the heaving crowd. 'Who's Ukitake?'
'Some guy he was in love with. He goes a bit loopy when he's drunk and thinks everything is Ukitake,' Grimmjow grunted as they shoved his body onto the bar counter.
'Everything?' Ichigo queried as he slipped away from the snoring man. Then he frowned at the narrow counter. 'Won't he fall off?
Grimmjow looked at Shunsei thoughtfully.
'You're right,' he answered and then shoved the man so that he fell into the little bar with a loud thud. Ichigo gaped at the now empty counter. Then he stared at Grimmjow. Then, as if they had planned this, they burst out laughing like idiots.
'I can't believe you just did that!' Ichigo said in between laughs.
'Well, you had a point and that was the only thing I could think off!' Grimmjow retorted. He suddenly pulled Ichigo towards himself as a guy got shoved in Ichigo's direction.
'We need to get out of here!' Ichigo remarked and, grabbing Grimmjow's hand, began to drag him through the tussling people. 'Hope Renji's okay!'
'He's with Shinji! He'll be fine!' Grimmjow reassured. If he was right and Shinji did start this fight, then Renji was pretty safe. Comparatively to the rest of the people in the café that is.
'What a weird way to start today!' Ichigo suddenly laughed and turned around to beam at Grimmjow. 'But I guess it's not so bad 'cause I got you!'
Grimmjow's heart did a little backflip and he squeezed Ichigo's hand while grinning like an idiot.
'Right back at ya!' he agreed.
TRANSLATIONS:
-Ich denke, ich werde heute Nacht trotzdem nicht allein schlafen: I guess I won't be sleeping alone tonight anyway.
- Der Boss sagt, du kannst jetzt los: The boss says you're free to go now
-Pass auf, wo du hinrennst du Idiot: Watch where you're going, jackass