Don't say you Can't
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Grimmjow glared at that nettlesome monitor, his eyes filled with hate and distaste. A feeling of helplessness rises in his chest as he hears the beeping slow faintly, knowing there was nothing he can do about it. He looks to his mother, her face pale and essentially lifeless. He knew it was coming he just did not know it would be so soon. Her body was always weak, unable to protect its own immune system, even a cold was terribly detrimental. Grimmjow looked away, stealing a glance at the shrouded figure in the corner, then quickly turning back as he heard a faint gasp. She grasped his hand tightly for a moment before it fell to her side, going limp.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Sighing in exasperation and worry, he makes a grab for that limp hand and grasps it firmly. That monitor was starting to piss him off, but he knew it was necessary. He quietly wondered where in the hell his sister was, but knew if she wanted to be here, she would have. A quiet moan escaped his feeble mother.
Beep. Be-Beep. Be-Be-Beep.
His head snapped up to look at the damned thing, knowing that was not normal. He looked at her face, marveling at the sight as what little color she had left slowly drained away. He was scared nonetheless. He gave a quick glance to his father in the corner, worry no where evident on the man's face. He let go of her hand, jumping towards the call button in an instant. The monitor became more abnormal and he pressed the button fervently many times.
Be-Beep-Be-Beeeep.
Panicking he screamed into the little speaker. Not a minute later the nurse came in followed by a doctor. Wide-eyed, the seven year old looked to his father, seeking reassurance. Receiving none he then looked back towards the doctor. He looked frantic himself, and Grimmjow felt the dread weigh heavily upon his shoulders. He looked at his unresponsive mother, tears welling up in his baby blues.
"5:57 P.M on June 8, 2012," the doctor announced, looking towards the boy's father, then towards the boy.
The child stood there frozen. Not a moment later he began to shake, tears flowing freely down his face. He let out a choked sob and collapsed next to his deceased mother's bedside. He began to feel her, trying to find some sort of life. His shaky hands ran all the way up her arm, down her stomach and then to her chest. He frantically crawled atop her, laying his head on her chest, hyperventilating slightly.
"Wake up mama," he started in a shaky voice, "Mama, come on, we gotta getcha better! Wake up!" He shouted as he began to shake her shoulders.
"Sir, please, we need to properly assess the deceased," the doctor droned.
"Get off of her, Grimmjow," his father finally spoke.
"No! No way! Ya might not have loved her but I did! She was my mama! The one person that ever listened to me!" He sobbed.
"Please boy," his father said as he made his way towards Grimmjow. He grabbed him by his forearm, wrenching him away from his dead wife.
"Mama! Mama!" He cried as he was dragged out of the room.
A resounding slap filled the vacant hallway. Grimmjow crumpled to the floor, holding his cheek and sobbing loudly. He looked up at the offending man. Feeling the dread, he stood up quickly and began to run down the hall, still sobbing and cheek bruising. 'Damn it. Damn it. Damn it!' He screamed in his head. Pushing through the crowd in the lobby, he made his way towards the automatic doors and stepped into the nippy air. The night was clear and beautiful, just the opposite of what Grimmjow wanted at that moment. Sniffling and tired he began his long trek towards home.
The clouds loomed overhead as the preacher went on and on about how their mother would be missed. Neliel held her sobbing brother close as she tried to control her own tears. Grimmjow snuck a glimpse at his sister, his heart shattering even more at her grief-stricken look. He realized his sobs were making the situation worse and tried to control his tears. He hiccuped as they began to lower the casket. Neliel the lost all her self-control and begun weeping loudly. Grimmjow turned around and tried to comfort her with a hug. In return, she crushed the boy against her chest, burying her face in his hair. Patting the poor girl's back, he looked around to find his father absent. Un-shed tears made their fruitful escape as anger and fury rose in his chest. Fearing he would lose his temper, and engage in a tantrum, he let go of his sister and walked away. Neliel watched her brother go through blurry eyes and sighed heavily, knowing she should have been there.
Grimmjow headed to the KaraHueco wall. Hueco Mundo was one of the worst places you could live in and everyone knew it, so a dingy white wall separated it from Karakura, one of the richer cities in the area. The bland wall that seperated the hootie-tooties from the beggars was his favorite spot to think. It was not that high of a wall, which made it easy for Grimmjow to jump on. Sometimes he wondered what the point of the wall was, seeing as it was only five feet tall. He never dared to cross into the city, like other delinquents, he just liked to sit on the wall and think.
He was so emotionally drained today, and he just collapsed against the wall as soon as he made it to his spot. It was a nice secluded area surrounded by trees and shrubbery making it an ideal get away. He sunk into himself, knees curling up to his chest as he continued his weeping.
"You shouldn't do that you know."
Snapping his head up he looked for the source of the voice. Grimmjow panicked at the thought of someone, besides his immediate family, seeing him cry. He was notorious for being one of the younger street fighters, gaining respect from the elders, and erasing any victimization he might have received. He fought hard for that respect and he would be damned if a nosy little punk ruined his reputation.
"Up here," the voice said.
He peeked up to see a smiling boy about his age. Well maybe younger, but whatever. Said boy had orange-ORANGE-hair. He let out a muffled chuckle between his hiccups. Realizing that this fruity boy had caught him crying, he harrumphed and started rubbing furiously at his eyes, immediately going on the defensive.
"What the hell do ya want?" he asked grumpily.
"I came here to get a break and heard someone crying so I decided to investigate. Are you okay?" The boy asked.
"None of yer business!"
"Gee okay, cool down blue-boy," the boy said in an unimpressed tone.
"Who ya callin' blue boy!" Grimmjow shouted, fists balling up and teeth clenched.
"Uhh... you."
"I'd watch yer mouth if I were ya!"
"Are you always this friendly to people you have just met?"
"Tch. Not like I wanted ta meet ya anyway. Mind yer own, and leave me alone." Grimmjow said with finality.
"Oh well, I don't feel like it, my name is Ichigo Kurosaki by the way."
Snorting Grimmjow looked back up at Ichigo. "Strawberry?"
Blushing, Ichigo looked away and began stuttering as Grimmjow snickered.
"Shut up," a flustered Ichigo shouted.
"Ya set yerself up for that one," Grimmjow pointed out. He felt a few more tears roll down his face and wiped at them with vigor. Ichigo grumbled something as he looked back towards Grimmjow.
"Can't hear ya, fruit boy," Grimmjow teased.
"It means one who protects, damn it!"
"Such a big mouth on someone so small."
"You're one to talk," Ichigo said, puffing out his red cheeks.
"Yea, yea," Grimmjow said offhandedly.
"Sooo... What's wrong."
"Go away."
"No, tell me what's wrong"
"I said, go away!"
"No."
"Go AWAY."
"Nope."
"A-W-A-Y."
"Nope," Ichigo said, smirking all the while, "Come on I want to help Grimmy!"
"Who ya callin' Grimmy?" Grimmjow snapped.
"Whoa, De ja vu."
Growling lowly, Grimmjow glared at the boy.
"Hey, what is your name, I gave you mine so it's only polite."
"Who said I was polite," Grimmjow dead-panned.
"Yea, I got that on my own," Ichigo said, still smirking. "You sound funny from all that crying, need a tissue?"
"No, shut up, go away," Grimmjow said unintrested.
"Good, I don't have one anyway. What's wrong?" Ichigo nagged.
"Not sayin'."
"Don't wanna talk about it, Grimmy?"
"Stop it with the damn nickname!" Grimmjow fumed.
"Yea, not happening. So Grimmjow, why were you crying?"
Grimmjow looked towards his feet. He started thinking about his mother, realizing the orange fire-ball had cleared his head a bit. He thought about how hard his sister was taking it and how his father acted like he could care less. He began to shake with anger as he thought about how he didn't even bother to show up at her funeral. Ichigo jumped down, and had an arm awkwardly placed around Grimmjow's shoulders, patting his back, trying to comfort the distraught boy. He hadn't even realized that he was crying again, let alone noticed the boy getting so close. Grimmjow shoved Ichigo away, not used to the foreign feeling.
"Hey, really, I want to help you." Ichigo said, saddened.
He looked over towards Ichigo and noticed his hurt expression. For some reason it made him want to cry even more, and that's what he did. Shamelessly he let his tears fall in front of this person he just met, and he honestly didn't give one damn. Ichigo boldly tried the arm over the shoulders again and placed his arm around Grimmjow. He didn't push away, in fact, getting closer to the boy and crying on his shoulder. Ichigo patiently waited for Grimmjow to calm down, patting his back all the while. Grimmjow's sobs slowed to mere hiccups a few minutes later and Ichigo took his opportunity.
"Grimmjow," Ichigo started," Why are you so upset? You can tell me, I just want to help."
Grimmjow looked into Ichigo's honey-brown eyes and could find no deceit. This boy was something else entirely and Grimmjow knew it. Sighing he glanced down at his lap and squeezed his eyes shut.
"My *hiccup* mother died," he finally let out with a shaky breath.
Ichigo's face turned to one of shock and then softened, a sad look overtaking his delicate features. He hugged Grimmjow tightly whispering an 'I'm sorry' as he tried to wrap his head around the tragedy. He couldn't imagine losing his own mother and the fact that someone lost their own saddened him greatly. Grimmjow, shocked by the action, hesitantly returned the gesture.
A flash of lightning interrupted the moment between the two new friends, shortly followed by a low rumble of thunder in the distance. The two friends looked up and stared at the sky, making sure it wasn't their imagination. The sky lit up once more, catching the full attention of the two boys. Sighing Ichigo looked towards Grimmjow with a somber expression.
"I should be getting back. The weather isn't looking that great."
"Obviously," Grimmjow snorted.
The two made no move to leave and just sat there as another rumble of thunder passed. Grimmjow sighed heavily and stood up. Wiping his face with his shirt he looked up at his new friend.
"Thank you," Grimmjow said softly.
"Huh?"
"I said thanks, damn it!"
"So touchy," Ichigo chuckled.
"Go screw yourself Strawberry."
Ichigo just laughed.
"Come back here tomorrow," Ichigo said.
"What?" Grimmjow asked.
"I didn't think I stuttered," Ichigo sneered. Grimmjow growled low, ready for a snippy comeback, but let it slide.
"Yea. Sure, whatever. I gotta get going. See ya berry," Grimmjow waved as he started walking away.
"Hey, same time! See you Grimmjow!" Ichigo shouted.
"Yea, yea. Okay," Grimmjow said lazily, looking back as Ichigo shouted at him. With one final wave at each other, Ichigo jumped up and over the wall. Onto the opposite side. Grimmjow shrugged and turned around, making his way towards his house. Stopping, he froze and turned, staring at the wall, one thought running through his mind.
'Ichigo is from Karakura!'
TBC...
A/N: The last version was complete and utter crap! So here is the nice revised first chapter (still crap). I always imagined Ichigo as a sarcastic kid, so I apologize if he seems OOC. Until next time!