I don't know what it is about this story, but you guys seem to like it ^-^
And guys, I just realized that Kenpachi has no eyebrows… this bothers me. Deeply.
Writer problems. I have way too many ideas for stories, but I'm currently writing 2 fics and betaing another and I don't wanna abandon any of them so I can't start my zombie apocalypse bleach story yet ;-;
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Chapter 3:
Round 2, Begin!
"He can't come with us Ichimaru." Grimmjow growled, not bothering to lower his voice, despite the fact that Ichigo was only a couple feet away. He wasn't one to use finesse; he would rather be blunt. It got his point across more easily, in his opinion.
"Oh? An' why's that Grimmy-chan?" Gin asked, tilting his head to the side, watching in amusement as the blunette's scowl deepened at the nickname.
"'Cause Aizen would have his head, and then have ours. You know the law. No gaijin."
"Awww does Grimmy wanna protect tha berry?" Gin smirked teasingly and sidestepped as Grimmjow took a swipe at him. "Aizen can make an exception, considerin' the circumstance." With that Gin turned and walked off, motioning for Ichigo to follow him. Grimmjow scowled again and clenched his fists before he prowled along behind the two other men at a distance.
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Ichigo felt incredibly awkward. He still had only a small amount of information concerning what was going on, but still he knew that it wasn't a good idea for this creepy man that Grimmjow had referred to as Ichimaru to be taking him wherever they were going. His brain was screaming at him to duck into a side alley and take off, get out of gang territory and stay out, but his legs just kept walking. There was something intriguing about Grimmjow that Ichigo couldn't quite place, but it sent butterflies fluttering about his stomach whenever he laid eyes on the blue haired delinquent. So despite the fact that Grimmjow was behind him and therefore was out of sight, he followed Ichimaru, because he knew that the blue haired man was following him as well. That and he didn't exactly know what else to do at this point.
They wound through the maze of dimly lit alleyways in silence until they spilled out into the warehouse district. Ichigo's heart sped up. Everyone knew that the warehouses on this side of town were owned by the Hollows. No one really knows what goes down there, just that they are Hollow territory and to be stayed away from. Some say that this is where the drug deals go down, or maybe where they drugs are stored. Others say they bring people here to beat them, torture them, even to kill them. The thought made Ichigo's stomach squirm uncomfortably. At this point they were walking toward a certain warehouse nestles in the middle of the other warehouses, and the berry's skin was covered in a clammy layer of chilled sweat, his heart beat out of control. At least his breathing was mostly regular. But just because the mysterious Ichimaru said this Aizen, who Ichigo supposed was the gang leader, would make an exception didn't mean he would. 'Would Grimmjow protect me if this went wrong?' Ichigo shook his head violently. What the hell was he thinking that shit for? Of course the delinquent wouldn't protect him. That would mean defying his gang, and for some kid he barely knows from high school.
Gin pulled on the handle belonging to a narrow door in the side of the warehouse. It was toward the end, seemingly discreet. The silver haired man stepped in first, and then motioned Ichigo in. Bright light blinded him for a minute, until his caramel eyes adjusted, taking in his surroundings. They were not what he expected.
Everything was white, with small colour highlights here and there. There were computers, TVs, couches and chairs everywhere. There was even what looked to be a throne in the other end, which no one was currently sitting in. This wasn't as… dungeoney as Ichigo had imagined. People were lounging around on various couches, smoking, gaming, playing poker.
"Neh, looks like tha boss ain't here."Gin muttered, his creepy smile still on his face. He walked off to a corner of the room where Ichigo quickly recognized one of the men, the tall lanky guy from the alley.
"Are ya gunna stand there lookin' like a lost puppy all day? Come on." Grimmjow smirked at the berry's expression. He really did look like a lost puppy. Grimmjow lead Ichigo to the same table in the corner where Gin had gone. The blue haired man took a seat on a bright white cushion that was adorned with blue trim that matched his hair. He motioned for Ichigo to take a seat next to him. The cushion he sat on had no colour added to it. Ichigo sat very still, his eyes on a chess board in the middle of the table, heart still beating franticly. The black king was knocked over, and the girl who must have been playing black was sitting with a cigarette between her fingers. His eyes met hers, and her jaw dropped open. She popped her smoke in her mouth and began to sign furiously to Gin who had taken a seat by her and across from Ichigo. The berry attempted to follow the signing, but didn't quite catch it all. He had taken sign language in high school and was ok at it, but only when they signed slowly. Ichigo gave up on that idea and glanced around the rest of the group seated around the table. The lanky guy was sneering at him, and everyone else was staring, except the signing girl who was still glaring at Gin, her hands flying.
"Gin, that better be a new initiate." A brown haired man growled from the other side of Grimmjow. Nnoitra cracked his knuckles menacingly, a shit eating grin adorning his face.
"Neh, he's under mah protection." Gin replied simply, eyes still on the black haired girls speed signing. The tension in the air was practically tangible. Most of the gangbangers in the warehouse were now turned around and staring at Ichigo, making his skin crawl. The air rung with silent threats and glares that Ichigo thought should be able to kill. That annoying layer of clammy sweat was still covering Ichigo's forehead and the small of his back, making him squirm slightly. It must have been painfully obvious how uncomfortable he was because a couple seconds later he felt Grimmjow's hand brush over his, their fingers overlapping on the cement floor. Ichigo's head whipped around to stare at the blue headed delinquent. His caramel eyes met deep cerulean and his heart stuttered.
"So where's Aizen-sama?" The silver haired fox asked conversationally before Ichigo had the chance to say anything. Somehow in the last couple of minutes the black haired girl had finished signing, or had gotten too tired of it, and he had procured a cup of tea. He seemed to be the only one unaffected by the atmosphere.
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Aizen sat with his cup of steaming tea in his lap, carefully holding it by the handle while the other hand steadied the saucer. His left leg was crossed over his right, and he sat straight, looking regal in his all white robes. The image he made was one of power, not that Tousen could see that, but Aizen knew the blind man could somehow sense it. Tousen was his right hand man, and had been ever since he picked him up off the street and gave him somewhere to belong. The poor, blind, helpless child was nothing like the confident killer sitting before him.
"I would like to purchase new guns for our elite men. Is that in our budget, Kaname?" Aizen asked calmly. His lazy yet demeaning smile was sitting on his face in its usual spot, yet it was totally lost on his companion.
"Yes sir. If I might make a suggestion?" Tousen was always formal with the gang leader, despite the years of knowing him. The blind man was also completely aware that despite the fact that Aizen had asked if it was in the budget, he really meant that if it wasn't, make room for it.
"Of course." Aizen nodded, listening intently, cruel brown eyes trained on the blind man.
"Allow those of upper rank to choose their own weapons. I am aware that not all of them are comfortable using a gun."
Aizen thought this over, swishing the idea around in his head. His brown eyes never left Tousen, nor did they blind, the creepy bastard.
"I quite like this idea of yours Kaname. Give them each a budget of 5000 yen." Aizen rose from his chair, signaling that this conversation was over, and exited the room in a swish of white fabric. Tousen shook his head. Aizen may be an arrogant bastard, but he wasn't the best at handling money. 5000 yen each was going to be stretching it.
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Everyone's heads turned as a door slammed open. In strode the man they had been awaiting, Souske Aizen. His robes were flowing behind him and his hair was pushed back off his face, all adding up to what somehow came across as a regal look. Grimmjow sat, tense, hoping Gin knew what he was doing. If the vulpine man couldn't pull this off, both he and Ichigo would end up dead. The gang leader stopped in front of the platform his throne was on and took a sweeping glance of the room with his level brown eyes, which settled right on Ichigo. Grimmjow's heart skipped. The room was dead silent, not even the sound of breathing could be heard as Aizen continued to bore holes in the berry's head, who stared back at him defiantly.
"Grimmjow, who's your little friend?" Grimmjow's eyes widened, and he glanced at Gin, unsure of what to say. Aizen had a way of making people uncomfortable.
"I'm not fuckin- uhf." Ichigo was cut off by an elbow to the ribs. 'Dumbass, you're gunna get yourself killed.' Grimmjow thought, glaring daggers at the ginger.
"Actually, Aizen-sama, he's with me." Gin declared, standing up and facing the man in charge, that smile still consuming his face and his thumbs in the pockets of his pricy looking black skinny jeans.
"Oh? Explain to me, Gin, why you have forgone my explicit rules that no gaijin was to set foot here." Aizen said all of this with a calm expression, a slight smirk tugging at the corner of his lip, looking for all the world like this amused him. This brushed Ichigo the wrong way.
"Mah, well Aizen-sama, we found him wanderin the alleys, an it turns out his boss i-"
"What the fuck? He broke your damn rules, why does that seem funny to you? Why aren't you fucking killing me right now? Why aren't you flipping shit? What the fuck is wrong with you?" Ichigo blurted, completely cutting Gin off. It took everything in Grimmjow not to slap the berry across the face. The whole room was silent, tense, even more so than before. Most of the gangsters were on their feet, some sort of weapon in their hands, ready for a fight. So it shocked everyone, even Gin who's smile had disappeared, when laughter erupted from the gang leaders chest. It echoed off the walls eerily as everyone's heads turned in shock to watch Aizen. He regarded Ichigo calmly, minutes ticked by in tense silence.
"I like your confidence." He said, then he turned on his toes and made his way to his throne. Grimmjow sat with his mouth slightly open, still processing what had just occurred. He then turned and glared at the other gang members, who were still on their feet with weapons drawn. They all began to sit back down, still tense. Everyone awaited Aizen's command.
"Now Gin, tell me about this young man."
"Ah, ya see, he foun' himself in a bit of a predicament. His boss happened ta be tha Reapers boss. Someone was tailin' him through our territory, so I followed him an took him here. Figured they were gunna execute him before he got in their way or leaked info, neh? But now we got somethin' against them." Gin finished, smiling at Aizen, who sat with his chin resting on his fist. Grimmjow and Ichigo both gaped at the silver haired man. They were being tailed? Neither of the men had noticed, which deeply unnerved Ichigo while Grimmjow had wished the coward would have shown himself.
"Good thinking Gin." Ichigo sat, wondering why the hell this Aizen guy didn't even question the silver haired man. How did they know he wasn't a mole? Now they were all staring at him.
"Grimmjow, I expect you to keep an eye on…"
"Ichigo. Kurosaki Ichigo." The berry muttered.
"Thank you. Grimmjow, Ichigo-kun is now in your care." Aizen's expression never wavered.
"What?!" The ginger yelled. Their eyes met and Ichigo scowled, while Grimmjow smirked.
"Hai, Aizen-sama." 'This will be interesting.' Grimmjow thought.
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So… what is it exactly that you guys seem to enjoy about this fic? Feedback would be useful!
And yes, Mizuki is my OC. If ya wanna know what she looks like (she is the girl in the profile pic, along with a bunch of other pics I've drawn of her), check out my Facebook page: Living Teal