Raven: Yeaaaaaah! Okay, sorry if this update is late, FanFic's been a little weird .'

Ulquiorra: Okaaaaay.

Raven: Anywaaaays, I'm gonna cut short to the story! I own NOTHING!

Grimmjow cocked his head but ignored it. He'd ask Ichigo later.

Carefully he picked Shou up and set him on the bed. Then he picked Ichigo up and carried Ichigo to the slave quarters.

Shiro was supposed to have showed it to Ichigo but no matter, that would be fine.

line break

Ichigo slowly opened his eyes, trying to adjust to his surroundings.

"Wha-?" He asked aloud sitting up. He looked around to see a lot of slaves from the previous day.

But I thought I had been sleeping with Shou…. Ichigo thought to himself.

"Ah… I see that yer awake!" A voice said from the side of Ichigo. Ichigo turned his head to the side to see Shiro looking at him from his own cot.

"Where-?"

"Ah~ we're in 'our room'", Shiro said, winking.

Ichigo sweat dropped. This guy was a bit weird.

"Okaaaaay…" Ichigo said.

"Boys! Rise and Shine!" A voice said from behind the door. Keys rattled and the door opened, revealing Grimmjow.

"T-the door was locked?" Ichigo whispered to Shiro.

"Yup. So we don't escape", The slave explained. Ichigo nodded his head, but pouted. There went his chances of escaping.

"Ma "fiancé's" coming. "Grimmjow said frowning, he turned to Ichigo, "Keep Shou in his room. My fiancé's a bit….. weird about kids."

Ichigo nodded, "Whatever." And excused himself.

Grimmjow secretly smirked to himself. Ichigo was a strong boy.

Ichigo entered Shou's room and smiled at the sleeping boy. He was so adorable. Ichigo walked to Shou's bed and brushed back small strands of blue-green hair from the pale face.

"Shou? It's time to wake up." Ichigo said softly into the boy's ear. Shou mumbled something and turned, frowning.

"Now, now, Shou. Come on! The quickly we finish things, the quicker we can play!" Ichigo said picking the boy up.

"Okay", Shou said rubbing his eyes with one hand and holding on to Ichigo with his other.

Shou brushed his teeth and got into the bath Ichigo had just prepared.

Ichigo quietly washed the boy and dressed him.

"Now, how about your first lesson?" Ichigo asked holding Shou's smaller hand, leading him to his desk where food was sitting.

[Raven: =3 magical food ;D]

Shou ate a bite of food and shook his head.

"No. Shou wants to play with Ichi-nii all day!"

"We can't do that, Shou. Uncle Grimmjow will get mad, now won't he?"

Shou nodded. It was true.

Ichigo pinched Shou's cheeks and smiled.

"Come one! Tell you what," Ichigo said, whispering, "I'll only make you do reading for an hour and then we can play for the rest of the day."

Shou's eyes lit up greatly and he nodded.

"Okay then, I'll put these dishes away and then we'll start." Ichigo said picking up Shou's plated and walked out of the room.

Ichigo had put the dishes away (and got his own food quickly) and was heading back up to Shou's room when he heard voices coming from the living room. He quickly went to the living room to see what was going on.

He opened the door and entered to see the slaves standing around a tall man (taller than Ichigo at least but shorter than Grimmjow), with long blonde hair that was so blonde it looked white, and bowing to him. Grimmjow was standing in the corner, scowling.

"Oh! And who might this be?" The man questioned, pointing at Ichigo. Ichigo jumped realizing he had been caught.

Grimmjow looked at Ichigo and then back at the man.

"Ichigo. A new slave. Just started yesterday."

"And why is he not bowing before me?" The man questioned again.

"Cause I will not bow before anyone", Ichigo said, scowling at the man.

"Oh! Such disrespect!" The long haired man said in mock sadness. He snapped his fingers.

"Boys."

Two men appeared from behind the man and started at Ichigo who held his ground. The men launched at Ichigo only to be beaten down by Ichigo very quickly.

The blonde-white haired man raised his eyebrows in slight surprise.

"Well done boy. That was most impressive." The man said holding out a hand.

"I am Ilforte Grantz, Grimmjow's fiancé." Ilforte reached his hand out even further for Ichigo to shake.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow and turned around.

"I have duties to attend to." Ichigo said, leaving Ilforte, Grimmjow, and the slaves.

Ichigo went back up to Shou's room and opened the door to find the boy sitting on the floor, reading.

"Hey there Shou, you've been reading?"

"Uh-huh."

"That's good. Do you want me to read to you now?"

Shou's eyes lit up.

"Really?"

"Yup." Ichigo said, winking.

"Yaaaaaaaaaa!" Shou exclaimed jumping into Ichigo's lap.

Ichigo chuckled and picked the book Shou had been reading off the floor and started reading.

"And Aladdin yelled, "Open Sesame!" And the doors opened…."

After Ichigo finished reading to Shou, they went outside to play, even though Grimmjow had said to stay in the room.

"Sooo…" Ichigo said, not sure what to play.

"Um…. What does Ichi-nii wanna play?" Shou asked.

"Well…. I don't know…..What do you want to play?"

"How about tickle monster?"

"Okay… Who wants to be tickle monster?"

"Ichi-nii's gonna be tickle monster!" And with a giggle, Shou ran off with Ichigo jogging after him.

"I'm gonna get you, ya little rat", Ichigo said laughing.

The two ran until Ichigo caught Shou and started to tickle him.

The boy giggled and laughed to the verge of tears.

"I-Ichi-nii stoooop y-you hahahahahaha w-win! Hahaha! You win!" Shou yelled, laughing all the harder.

But then Ichigo actually stopped.

"I-Ichi-nii?" Shou asked lowering his head to try and look at Ichigo whose head was bowed.

Shou held Ichigo's head up with his tiny hands.

"Ichi-nii! Why are you crying?" Shou asked, desperately trying to wipe tears that wouldn't stop flowing from Ichigo's eyes.

"Uh…I'm sorry…." Ichigo said wiping the remaining tears from his eyes, "Sorry…" He said, with a small smile.

"Ichi-nii?"

"Yeah?"

"Why was Ichi-nii crying?"

"…. Do you really want to know, Shou?" Ichigo asked, staring into the boy's eyes.

Shou nodded.

Ichigo picked Shou up and put him on his lap, then leaned against a tree.

"Well then, let me start from the very beginning." Ichigo said.

Both boys didn't notice Grimmjow and Ilforte, who were standing behind trees.

"Well", Ichigo began,

"I used to live in Japan. Actually I was born and raised in Japan, Karakura town. When I was five, my mother started me in fighting classes, hoping that it would help me one day. A lot of people think my name means Strawberry, right? Well, my father said my full name, Ichigo Kurosaki, meant 'One who protects', so like what my name meant, I used to try to protect my mom and everyone around me."

Shou nodded and listened to all of this.

"So one day, it was raining; my mother came to pick me up from karate. Bullock carts came and passed some splashing water on me. My mom asked me if I wanted to switch places while wiping my face with her handkerchief. I said no and said I'd protect her."

"She laughed and said okay, but held on to my hand. We continued walking until I saw a girl by the edge of a cliff, she looked like she was about to fall off. I ran to protect her, to pull her back. My mom called my name and came after me."

"Everything happened very quickly after that. I lost my footing, trying to grab the girl. My mom caught both of us, but we fell. I passed out. When I awoke again, my mother was dead and the girl was gone. She had hit her head when we fell and it killed her instantly."

"A nearby villager came and got a doctor. I told him that there had been a girl, but he thought I must have imagined it. But my mom had seen her. I knew she did because she caught the girl to."

"I had twin little sisters and a father left. Our mom was our world, and I had destroyed our world. I couldn't forgive myself, I still can't, but my father kept saying it wasn't my fault. The younger of the twins, Yuzu, became the new 'mom' of our house. Karin kept quiet but was a bit…. Hostile to other people."

"One day, last year when I was 16, my father brought home a man and made Yuzu prepare a feast for him, as well as us. My father said he wanted me to get married to this noble, Byakuya Kuchiki. I left the dinner table and refused to talk to my father for the rest of the night. Byakuya Kuchiki was my best friend, Rukia's older brother."

"I left for school the next day, refusing to talk to my father, and avoiding Byakuya who decided to stay with us for a while."

"I talked to Rukia and found out that my father was marrying me off for money. I refused to go home for the rest of the day.

" I ended up going back, but ran away that night. I turned 17 a few weeks later and a few weeks after that got captured by Gunjou, a slave trader, and wouldn't get sold cause of my violent behavior, thank you mom for karate and judo, and a few weeks later, I got bought by your uncle."

"So Shou", Ichigo concluded, "I guess I was crying cause of all the stress. Plus you remind me a lot of my sisters. I miss them." Ichigo said, now ruffling Shou's hair.

"Ichi-nii! That's so terrible!" Shou said throwing himself into Ichigo's arms. Ichigo smiled and petted Shou's hair.

"It's fine, Shou. Anyways, how about we head back inside for a bath and dinner?" Ichigo said, changing the topic.

"Ah… Okay." Shou said grabbing a hold of Ichigo's hand and walking back to the mansion.

Back by the tree, Grimmjow and Ilforte stood in shock.

His father had tried to sell him? Both men asked themselves.

Things had just gotten interesting.

Raven: Yeaaaaah! I'm here in Florida writing all this.

Announcement:

I WILL BE UPDATING TWO OR THREE MORE CHAPTERS THIS WEEK!

I AM IN FLORIDA SO I HAVE A LOT OF TIME TO WRITE (IN THE CAR)

RIGHT NOW.

THANKS!

Another Reminder:

PLEASE REVIEW OR I WILL NOT UPDATE.

I AM SORRY FOR REPEATEDLY SAYING THIS BUT I WANT TO KNOW IF MY STORY IS WORTH UPDATING.

THANKS AGAIN!