Ichigo's friends' looks are based on what they look like after the time-skip. For those of you haven't read the manga, google works wonders ;). (Although you should really read the manga)
Band: Chad-Bass, Renji-Drums, Inoue-Keyboard, Tatsuki- guitarist and vocals.
I do not own Bleach or its characters (unfortunately)
Ichigo's POV
Ichigo stood up and looked around. The others also had their instruments set up and plugged in. Chad was on bass, Renji on drums and Inoue was on keyboard. Tatsuki normally played guitar and did vocals.
Behind him Ichigo heard the front door open and shut. He glanced around then turned his eyes back to the band. His mind comprehended what he saw a second too late and he swung around fully. And swallowed hard. Shit shit shit!
A crowd of his family and friends were entering the door, the first people to enter the nightclub. Huh? Ichigo's brain died and then jump started. He swung to look at the band, Chad and Inoue were looking just as baffled as he felt. Ichigo looked at Renji and the red head wouldn't meet his eyes.
Anger and humiliation darkened Ichigo's face. He lunged forward, grabbed a fistful of Renji's shirt and towed him across the stage before slamming him through the club's back door. Hopefully none of his family had seen but his hopes weren't high.
He released Renji with harsh shove and a curse. A curse Renji echoed when he hit the alley wall hard.
"What the fuck, Kurosaki?" Renji complained. Ichigo just glared at him, waiting. Renji gulped. He had known Ichigo long enough to know that it wasn't wise to get the other man angry.
Even when they went to high school, Ichigo could put the red head through a wall without a second thought; despite the fact Renji had had more muscle mass and height. Now that Ichigo was even with him on height, Renji knew that if he didn't word his explanation carefully, he was gonna get the snot beat out of him by the pissed off berry.
"Don't be a pussy bro," Okay not so carefully worded. He hastily rushed on as he saw the furious tick in Ichigo's forehead and held his hands up in a peaceful gesture. "They're your family man, not a bunch of strangers. I just thought you would want them to see you perform for the first time on stage. Why is that such a bad thing?"
He hissed at Renji, "Baka! Did you not even think to ask if it was okay with me? You look like you invited my whole family and our entire high school class and then some. What if I choke and screw this up? What then? I'm gonna be humiliated in front of everyone. It's been years since I've even played. Did you not think about that you stupid fucker? Damn!" Ichigo ripped a hand through his hair and growled low in his throat.
Putting some distance between the two of them, Ichigo sought to calm himself. He wasn't some over emotional teenager anymore; he had to think about this rationally. But all he wanted to do was break Renji's nose.
Renji opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by the door opening. Inoue and Chad poked their heads out.
"Kurosaki-kun, Renji-kun; it's time for us to go on." Inoue informed them.
"Coming," squeaked Renji before scrambling over to the door, anxious to escape the wrath of the berry.
He went inside and was followed by Inoue. Chad stepped outside. Ichigo turned away and rubbed his hand over his face, seeking calmness.
The concerns he voiced to Renji tore through his mind violently. He was panicking. It was one thing to perform in front of strangers; it was another matter entirely to perform in front of people who knew him. Shit. Fuck. Fuck.
Chad silently came to stand next to Ichigo; his soulful eyes looking at the orange-head through a mess of soft brown hair. He towered over Ichigo and the smaller man found himself drawing comfort from the solid presence of one of his oldest friends.
Ichigo looked up at Chad, desperate for reassurance.
"Ichigo." Was all the other man said, voice deep and rumbling with a slight Spanish accent.
Ichigo took his friend's advice and drew in a deep breath. He slowed his rapid breathing and calmed his mind. He turned to look at the door. Chad could see the fear in the brown eyes and laid a hand on the orang-head's shoulder.
Hell. Hell was what awaited him beyond that door. Ichigo knew it and yet he found himself walking to the door opening it and stepping back inside.
The club had filled considerably, almost packed full. Most of the people milled about on the dance floor in front of the stage, while the rest stood on the side lines drinking and talking.
Ichigo nearly panicked again. He tore his eyes from the large crowd and scrambled up on stage. Renji and Inoue were ready; Chad and Ichigo grabbed their guitars, drew the straps over their heads. Ichigo drew close to the others and quickly whispered. They decided on their music and Ichigo stepped forward once more.
Ichigo stood at the mike with Renji behind and to his right, Chad at his left and Inoue directly behind him. The large speakers stood in front of them. Ichigo struggled to keep himself from hyperventilating as large lights landed on him and the band.
Ichigo fingered his black guitar pick and licked his lips before quickly murmuring the song they would be playing into the microphone. His words were quickly swallowed whole by the din of the crowd. Ichigo breathed, fought back the butterflies in his gut (when did butterflies have dagger-sharp stingers?), counted off the beat to his friends behind him and began to play the opening notes to Monster (1).
Grimmjow's POV
Grimmjow Jeagerjaques glared at the crowded room, the gaudy chrome work glared from every corner and sweaty bodies pressed close to him. He snarled as a man bumped him, said man quickly backing away with a look of fear on his face.
Grimmjow had bright blue hair, natural from birth of course, blue eyes with green-blue markings tattooed around the glowing orbs. He was tall, muscled and people wisely gave him his space. He was dragged here by his friend Nnoitra and now Grimmjow was sardined in a roomful of people. Most of them were men, being a gay bar and all, but there were a couple lesbian couples and the odd lone woman here and there.
Nnoitra had taken off as soon as they got there to harass Ulquiorra, the owner of the nightclub and a friend of theirs. They had come to congratulate the man and Grimmjow was now regretting that decision with a fierce passion.
Another man bumped him. With a growl Grimmjow straightened his jacket and made an immediate beeline for the bar; booze sounded like a good idea right now.
The bartender, a man with shoulder-length brown hair and matching goatee served Grimmjow his requested shot of whiskey. The blue-haired man tossed it back without flinching, sighing when the liquid burned all the way down his throat, warming his insides. He demanded another from the bartender, his name tag read Starrk.
Grimmjow turned around to lean back against the bar with his whiskey in hand and surveyed the room. A band was setting up on the stage, a chick and a tall dark-skinned guy talking to each other (well the chick was talking while the guy nodded with a serious face).
People were everywhere; they were crowding the dance floor, occupying every table and talking, waiting for the band to start.
Tossing back the whiskey, Grimmjow decided that five minutes was long enough, he had checked out Ulquiorra's bar and now all he had to do was congratulate the man and he could leave. He could go home and pass out in front of the T.V. with a beer in hand.
Grimmjow left his glass on the counter and reluctantly waded into the throng, searching for Nnoitra. God, people were pressing in on every side. He was gonna kill Nnoitra for dragging him here.
The blue-eyed man darted another glance up at the stage to find that the dark guy had gone, to be replaced by a red-headed man. Grimmjow looked away and continued to search for the tall lanky form of Nnoitra.
Not paying attention, Grimmjow trod on the heel of a woman in front of him. She swung around and snarled disdainfully, "Watch it you bastard," before pushing at the strands of black hair hanging in her face and moving away. Grimmjow glared at the short, violet-eyed woman and continued his search. His eyes roved the crowd again, searching for- there!
Grimmjow shoved his way through the crowd to reach Nnoitra. The tall man was chatting with Ulquiorra, one hand waving animatedly while the other held a beer. Finally reaching the pair, Grimmjow stopped and interrupted whatever Nnoitra was saying.
"Yo, Ulquiorra, nice bar, congrats and all that shit; now if you'll excuse me, I'm getting the fuck out of this hell-hole." With his piece said, Grimmjow turned around and started for the exit.
Before he took a full step, Nnoitra reached thin-fingered hand out to stop him. "Not so fast, Grimmjow. Ulquiorra said the band that is playin tanight is amazin, and the singer is sex on wheels."
"Don't give a fuck." Grimmjow tossed over his shoulder. He hadn't taken another step before he was once again pulled to a stop. But this time it wasn't Nnoitra. Invisible bonds seemed to have tugged him to a stop; weaved around his body with the beginning notes of a song.
He slowly turned body thunderstruck, mouth agape to stare at the singer on the stage. He wasn't the only one either. The noisy bar had instantly grown silent when the man had begun to sing.
Grimmjow watched, dazedly as the man's tan finger's expertly played the strings of a black guitar and lyrics flowing from his mouth; warm and perfect. Grimmjow had heard the song before on the radio, but the orange-haired singer on the stage put the original artist to shame.
Grimmjow, along with the rest of the silent bar, was captivated and just stared at the beautiful man that so perfectly sang into the mike. Wait, no that wasn't right, the man didn't sing to the mike, he made love to it, fucked it gently. Each word caressed by pink lips and landing gracefully, yet violently on the mike. Nnoitra was right, sex on fuckin wheels.
(Renji's POV)
Renji was stunned. He had never heard Ichigo play, fuck he hadn't even known the berry had known how to play until tonight. It was something that had been kept secret from everyone except for Chad.
Ichigo was amazing. That was the opinion Renji formed before Ichigo started singing. And then, damn! If Renji hadn't been concentrating on the song, he would have fallen off his chair. The sullen orange-head came to life at that mike and Renji's previous thoughts were revised. Ichigo wasn't amazing, he was a fucking god!
Ichigo's POV
I feel it deep within,
It's just beneath the skin
I must confess that I feel like a monster
I, I feel like a monster
I, I feel like a monster
It's hiding in the dark
It's teeth are razor sharp
There's no escape for me
It wants my soul,
It wants my heart
The words fell from Ichigo's lips violently, sweat beaded his brow and his fingers glided up and down the strings rapidly. It had been easy to remember all of the notes and chords on his guitar, like he had never put the instrument down. The song was one of his favorites and luckily they all knew how to play it.
He continued singing, eyes open but not really focused on anything as he lost himself in the music. The lyrics flowed easily until there were none left. The song came to its end and the final notes on his guitar faded into the strangely silent room.
Grimmjow's POV
The entire room was silent, just staring at the guitarist on stage. His face was flushed red and he stood there, staring down at his guitar.
Grimmjow was silent just like everyone else. The entire room was awestruck and stunned. Without thinking Grimmjow let out a roar of approval. The guitarist jumped and darted his eyes over the crowd to land on Grimmjow. The orangette looked shaken and surprised.
Quickly, the rest of the room echoed Grimmjow's cheer. Applause thundered, whistles pierced the air and shouts of adulation were loud and echoed by all.
"Holy hell, that dude is hot." Came a came a mild shout to Grimmjow's left. The blue haired man turned to see a group of men nodding in agreement to what their friend had said.
Grimmjow swung his head back around to stare at the guitarist and had to agree. The guitarist's chest was clung to by a tight, black, sleeveless shirt that outlined every hard plane of muscle. His narrow hips hugged by low rise purple jeans that just barely gave you a hint of his strong hip bones. Spiky orange hair glowing softly under the stage lights and his sexy body jaunted to the side.
It wasn't just his clothes and looks though, it was his attitude. He wore a scowl and his skin was flushed, eyes alight and he stood defensively, legs apart, shoulders thrown back, and eyes up now. He looked ready to fight a war. He looked like some warrior out of myth and legend. The pitch black guitar only added to the surreal-ness of it all.
Truly, Grimmjow was mesmerized by him.
Ichigo's POV
Ichigo's eyes landed on a man with a shock of blue hair and matching eyes. The silence in the room had been terrible and he had been ready to make a break for it when a loud roar had went up. He had searched for the owner and found him, in the middle of the crowd staring up at him.
Everyone in the room had quickly joined and soon the cheers were deafening. In the front, his family and friends whooped and cheered and whistled. His idiot dad had tears streaming down his face while yelling about his beautiful son being a star. His friends from school were there too: Rukia, Toshiro, Rangiku, Keigo, Ishida, and Shinji. Ichigo could also see Ikkaku and Yumichika, (when had they got here?).
Everyone was still cheering and whistling. Ichigo just stood there before turning to Chad, Inoue and Renji and beckoned them up. They obeyed and came forward to stand shoulder to shoulder with Ichigo. Inoue was smiling and blushing. Chad was silent and steadfast. Renji was bright red and shifting nervously under the attention.
Ichigo took the moment to duck down, unplug his guitar and put it in his case. He quickly got up and jumped off the stage. He made a break for the exit but his path was blocked by a stranger.
The man was freaky tall, bone thin and had the creepiest smile on his face. His long black hair hung forward to cover one eye while the other was roving over Ichigo's body.
"Hiya, sexy. Where do ya think yer running off to? I haven't even had the chance ta get yer phone number." His voice was nearly a shout as he fought to be heard over the crowd still cheering. Ichigo had to fight down a shudder as the man leered at him.
Covering his fear with anger, which wasn't hard, Ichigo retorted, "Well that's too bad because you ain't gonna get my number, now piss off."
The man grinned, his lips deforming his face in a scary way. "Aw don't be like that carrot-top, I just wanna know yer name. Is that too much ta ask?"
"Yes!" snapped Ichigo. He shoved past man and headed for the exit once more. A strong, skeletal hand on Ichigo's shoulder spun him around. He was shoved painfully into the wall beside the door and cringed away as the man shoved his face into Ichigo's.
"Now thas not very nice carrot-top," Ichigo could smell the alcohol on the man's breath, he wrinkled his nose and scowled his orange brows. "You are so sexy, I just want to fuck ya into this wall." The man's words were accompanied by a wandering hand reaching around and squeezing Ichigo's ass.
Ichigo yelped in surprise before snarling, "Pervert." And yelped again as the man drew his tongue wetly across Ichigo's cheek.
His temper snapped and Ichigo smashed his head into the nose of the other man. The man lunged away with a howl. Another howl was given when Ichigo slammed his foot into the man's face and then sent another kick into his side. The man flew to the side and smashed to the ground.
He wasn't down for long though. He was up and shrieking his fury and lunged for Ichigo. The orangette was ready though and the man's lunge was met by a fist in the gut and when the man bent double, Ichigo sent his elbow into the back of the man's head. The dark haired man fell to the ground unconscious.
Cries of "Ichigo," were heard and Ichigo turned to look for their source. His friends were making their way to him.
Grimmjow's POV
Grimmjow had seen the orangette leap of the stage while the crowd had been cheering on the rest of the band. Without thinking about it, he began shoving his way through the crowds, eager to reach the guitarist and introduce himself. Apparently he wasn't the only one with that plan.
Nnoitra reached the man before Grimmjow. Nnoitra and Grimmjow had been friends for years and Grimmjow knew the man well. Just looking at him across the room, Grimmjow could tell the man was drunk off his ass. It didn't take much to get him there though; Nnoitra was a light-weight, get two beers in him and he was drunk.
Grimmjow watched, still weaving his way through the crowd, as the drunken Nnoitra molested the orange-haired boy. Blue eyes darkening with anger and jealousy, Grimmjow kept shoving his way through the crowd (God damn it he hated crowds). Grimmjow was determined to have the guitarist himself; he was so going to knock the shit out of Nnoitra for this.
It turns out that he didn't have to though. The orange-haired guitarist quickly dispatched Nnoitra and laid the taller man flat on his face. Grimmjow was impressed. Nnoitra was a tough bastard and it took a lot to knock him out cold like that and the smaller man had done it a few hits. It had taken less than a minute. A respect for the guitarist formed within Grimmjow.
Grimmjow drew closer, thinking to offer the orangette a hand or to make sure he was okay, an excuse to talk to him off course, but before he could the man was accosted by a large group of people. Friends and family he guessed. He watched as the man was swallowed by the crowd. A second later the man extracted himself from the group of people and made a hasty exit through the back door. Shooting a small wave at the people he left behind.
Dammit, now he wouldn't even be able to ask the man for his name.
Ichigo's POV
Ichigo could not get out of that hell quick enough. He loved his friends and all but when they closed in on him, he couldn't breathe. Ichigo was claustrophobic and he couldn't stand crowds. It hadn't been too bad when he was on stage but when he was surrounded by more than three people at a time he began to panic.
Out in the alley, he took great heaving gulps of semi-fresh air before heading to his car. He popped the trunk, set his guitar in it and closed the lid before turning back around. He jumped slightly to see a group of people. Shit. No calm down, they may be lost tourists or something.
"Hey there sexy, how you doin?" said one with a leer.
Fucking shit, so much for tourists. There were four of them and Ichigo knew they were trouble just by looking at them. One was large with a scar cutting down one side of his face and his air spiked high over his head. The second had shorter spiky hair with the number 69 tattooed on his cheek. The third had silver hair that was cropped short on the sides while the front flopped into his eyes. The last was just plain freaky; albino white with matching hair and the craziest pair of eyes, Ichigo had ever seen. The whites were black and the colored parts were bright gold. What the fuck? Who were these guys?
"What do you want?" Ichigo growled. If these guys wanted a fight, he was in trouble. They ranged in height, the shortest guy was the albino and he was Ichigo's height, while the scarred one was tallest and towered over Ichigo and they all out-weighed him, ripped with muscled.
The albino cackled, the laugh high pitched and it grated on Ichigo's ears.
"You should ask us our names first little carrot-top." The scarred one laughed before saying with a leer, "You're gonna be screaming them later."
Ichigo jerked at that and snarled, "Go fuck yourself asshole!" Then flinched back when the scarred one snatched him up by his collar, pulling him up and close to his face until Ichigo's toes dangled far above the ground. The man growled in Ichigo's face. Ichigo struggled for a moment before swinging a leg back and shooting it forward into the larger man's crotch.
With a howl from the other man, Ichigo was dropped on the ground. He landed in a crouch before shooting to his feet and turning around to run away. Before he made it a couple steps, a rough hand latched onto his hair and yanked him to a stop. Fuck the bastard was fast. The strong hand started to drag him backwards over the pavement before coming to a stop.
Ichigo shouted in pain as his hair ripped at his scalp. His eyes darted around to find the owner of the hand and he saw the tall, silvered haired man. His shirt was unbuttoned and Ichigo could just barely see something tattooed there. The man yanked Ichigo close and snarled in his ear, "You should be more polite carrot-top." He gave Ichigo's hair a hard yank.
The calmest one of the bunch, the man with 69 tattooed on his face, stepped forward, "My name is Hisagi. The one holding you is Kensei, the one you kicked is Kenpachi and the albino is Shiro. Would you mind telling us your name so we can get on better terms?"
Ichigo stared at the man like he was insane. Better terms? What kind of terms were they on now? Kenpachi was starting to recover and walked forward to stand next to Hisagi towering over the other man. Ichigo suddenly realized one of them was missing and then he was punched in the side hard; once, twice, three times. He was allowed to drop to the ground where he choked for air.
Shiro pranced into view with a cackle. Ichigo groaned. He was surrounded, alone and shit out of luck. These guys were strong and he wasn't sure how long he would last.
"What, do you, want?" Ichigo gasped painfully. He kneeled on the ground and stared up at the men around him. His head was hurting and his side was on fire. He was starting to catch his breath and when he did he was going to kill these guys but until he could breathe it was pointless so he stalled for time.
Kensei and Kenpachi laughed while Hisagi merely smiled dryly. Shiro crouched in front of the injured orangette. He sat on his heels and reached out a hand to grasp Ichigo's chin painfully. Ichigo was jerked close into the albino's face. He winced at the black and yellow eyes.
"We like ya. All of us. So we decided we was gonna fuck ya. All of us. Over and over until your ass is bleedin and you can't remember your own name. How does that sound hmm? Ya know, I bet yer a virgin, ain't cha." Shiro cackled at the somewhat panicked and pissed off look in Ichigo's eyes. "I knew it, yer a virgin and we are gonna tear yer little virgin ass right open." And with that the albino slammed his fist into Ichigo's face. Stars danced in the orangette's vision and his thoughts grew slow. Fuck, the bastard had hit him too hard and he was gonna pass out.
The albino had released his chin and Ichigo started to slump as fought to stay conscious. Dimly he noted that the men were closing in around him. Kenpachi reached for Ichigo's arm. Hisagi was murmuring something about, "Too public, we'll bring him to my place."
The fuckers were gonna kidnap him. Fuck. Unable to think or see straight and quickly slipping under, Ichigo's struggled to speak, to call for help but all he could manage was a weak whimper.
His vision blacked.
Grimmjow's POV
Grimmjow was pissed, furious and seeing red. He had followed the orangette outside to see if he could talk to him for just a second, maybe ask him out. He had shoved the rest of the way through the crowd and slipped out the back. It took him a few minutes to get around the orange-haired man's friends and family. Then it took him longer to locate the man he was pursuing. Grimmjow had gone around the building, looking for the man.
He had heard laughter and he had crept closer, what he had seen made his blood boil and his lips draw up in a snarl.
The young guitarist was kneeling on the ground, slightly hunched in on himself, gasping for air. Despite that, his eyes were on fire and he looked ready to kill someone. He was surrounded by three men and another was crouched in front of the orangette.
Grimmjow only heard a little of what the white man had said, "…fuck ya. All of us. Over and over until your ass is bleedin and you can't remember your own name." Grimmjow snarled silently at that and felt a growl rumble in his chest as he realized that these men were gonna rape the kid. Grimmjow hated rapists and he felt that all rapists should have their dicks cut off before being thrown in a dark hole.
Action had to be taken, he had to save the guitarist. He had silently stalked closer to the men, unseen by them or the orangette. His fists had trembled with rage when the albino had punched the weakened man.
As they spoke about where they were gonna take the unconscious man Grimmjow had come up behind one and was now drawing his fist back. He sent forward and caught the biggest man in the back of the head.
Grimmjow had been in numerous fights. He tended to attract a lot of attention with his blue hair and it had caused many fights to spark between him and random strangers who decided they didn't like him or his hair. So he had experience and knew how to fight. So when the punch he had just launched didn't drop the man, Grimmjow was more than surprised. The guy was one tough bastard.
Grimmjow had to leap back when the man swung a leg backwards, nearly clipping Grimmjow's side.
The men spun to confront the new comer. The man that held the orangette set him on the ground with a small thump and stepped up with his friends.
The man Grimmjow had hit drew out a large bowie knife, silver hair flopping in eyes shining with blood lust. The albino cackled and Grimmjow watched as they all pulled out a weapon of some sort. He grinned widely at the line of men standing between him and the guitarist. He could fight, but he was outnumbered and he didn't have a weapon. Grimmjow could see that he was fucked six and a half ways to Sunday.
Ichigo's POV
Ichigo resurfaced momentarily to see a blue-haired man facing off against his attackers. Where had he seen the man before? Ichigo recognized from somewhere. His thoughts were sluggish though and he couldn't think clearly.
He watched, almost from afar, as the men attacked his savior all at once. Dimly he saw the man dodge the men's attacks and sent out lightning quick punches and kicks, nailing his assailants. Ichigo felt a small twinge as a knife connected with the bluenette's bicep, leaving a long, crimson cut. The twinge felt like anger or panic or worry, one or a combination of the three.
From there everything blurred for Ichigo. An hour of punching, kicks, cuts, snarls and curses, well it seemed like an hour but he didn't know if it was an hour or not. Ichigo let his eye drift close as pain swamped his body in a wave.
A minute later, silence pressed on his ears. He pried his eyes open to see his attackers on the ground groaning or unconscious. Ichigo's eyes searched blearily for the blue haired man and found him. Next to him were Chad and Renji. The fists of the men were dripping blood and they were all breathing hard. It seemed that they had helped defeat the four armed men.
Ichigo let out a pained groan. His head was splitting and a couple of his ribs were surely broken. He tasted blood in his mouth. His vision flickered.
Chad drew close to him with a murmured, "Ichigo."
Renji came forward as well and got a good luck at his friend before swearing, "Fuck it all Ichigo, they really beat the shit out of you didn't they?" Ichigo could barely manage a weak glare at his redhead friend but he didn't miss the gentle look in Renji's eye that really bespoke how worried he was.
Renji stepped toward Ichigo but was stopped by a growl and a hand on his shoulder. Ichigo's eyes rolled painfully around to look at the owner of the hand. It was his blue-haired savior. The man wore a scowl.
"We need to call him an ambulance." Renji said to the man with a frown.
"No need, I'll take him." The man's voice deep rumble with a smooth finish like rocks crashing together before being drowned in smooth whiskey; Ichigo allowed his eyes to close again at the sound.
There was silence. Ichigo hissed in pain as arms started sliding under his body. The arms paused and then he was lifted into the air. He howled as his wounds were jostled, the howl fading to a low moan. He was loaded into a car. The pain was too much. Mercifully unconsciousness tugged at him and drew him under making the pain go away. This was one fucked up night.
…
…
'Grins' sorry about the cliff hanger but I had to end it, don't worry though, part three will be published soon.
The song Ichigo sang is Monster by Skillet, an awesome song that just sounded perfect for Ichigo.
I hope you enjoyed, please review and let me know how much.
(=^.^=)