I'm terribly sorry for the late update *cowers in a corner* I've just been so out of it lately, and I've had other projects and I'm still looking for a job and *babbles on*

Rye: Shuuuuuu-chaaaaaaan... *appears suddenly*

Shukaku: *squeaks and hides*

Rye: ... Shiro, take over... *stalks Shukaku*

Shiro: They don't own shit and they never will!

Ichigo continued to monitor Grimmjow, perplexed by his sudden anger and need to just... watch everything from up so high. He finally took notice that there were others around the enclosed area. One in particular caught his eye. He was tall... lanky even with long black hair and what looked to be brownish ears and a tail. He had a creepy smile on his face, like it was stuck in that position and his eyes were small. He was built though.

Quinta if I remember correctly. Ichigo thought to himself. Szayel had briefed him on some of the others a few days ago and had told him about the man. He was a jackal hybrid.

"You must be the pussy's care taker," A rather rude voice interrupted his thoughts. Blinking, Ichigo found himself face to face with the jackal himself. "I'm Nnoitra Jiruga, Quinta, but I'm sure that freak pinky told you already." The orangette nodded and just watched him. A loud growl sound and he looked to see Grimmjow moving around in the tree restlessly, his eyes now locked on the black haired jackal. "You're kinda cute," If at all possible, his smile got bigger. Ichigo backed up but Nnoitra was a bit quicker than he anticipated and quickly grabbed his ass, giving it a good squeeze. Ichigo yelped in surprise and jumped away, blushing bright, strawberry red. Nnoitra cackled at his reaction and turned, his eyes falling on Shiro. "You two twins?" He kept his eyes on the albino.

"Yeah..." Ichigo answered cautiously. Before anything else was said, Grimmjow jumped from the tree with a loud snarl and tackled Nnoitra to the ground.

"You had better keep your filthy hands off of him you fuckin' mutt!" He snarled, wrestling with the taller man.

"Heh, he ain't yours ya pussy! I can touch him and his albino twin if I want~" Ichigo heard his brother give a sound of protest as he held the girls to him.

"Fuck you!" Grimmjow actually hissed and punched him across the face. Nnoitra's smile faded and he kicked the panther away before getting to his feet, growling at the other man. Ichigo scrambled away and watched them, quickly writing down what was happening before he looked back up. Grimmjow and Nnoitra were having what looked to be a staring contest. Shiro watched them closely and grinned, they were basically showing off. The tall jackal irked him yes, but he supported anyone who could kick the perverted panther's ass for touching his baby brother. "Berry here is mine!" Grimmjow was the first to move, rushing towards the man quickly. Nnoitra used his height to his advantage and moved, cursing when he realized the panther was faster than him. He blocked the hit and kicked out, sweeping Grimmjow's legs from under him before moving to stomp on his face. The blue haired panther saw it coming and rolled away, digging his lengthened nails into Nnoitra's ankle when he got close.

The jackal howled in pain and tried to get the other man off of him. Ichigo watched and recorded their behavior, ignoring the encouraging shouts from his brother and Karin. Yuzu was just begging for them to stop fighting. The fighting continued for sometime, until our of no where, two more experiments stepped in to stop them. Nnoitra was held back by Coyote Starrk, the Primera and Grimmjow was held back by who Ichigo assumed was Neliel. The two male's continued snarling and snapping at each other, struggling to get free.

"Enough!" Shiro finally shouted, a grin on his face. The two men stopped and looked at him and Ichigo. "Ya can stop showin' off ya idiot's," He snorted. "Ain't impressin' shit wit' yer fightin'." Nnoitra seemed to frown, as did Grimmjow. "Ichi, I'm takin' da girl's an' leavin'," Holding Yuzu and Karin's hands, the albino left.

"You can let go of them," Ichigo sighed once his brother and sisters were safely inside. As soon as the two men were released, Grimmjow darted towards the orange head and stood behind him, glaring at Starrk and Nnoitra.

"Stupid... smelly dogs," He grumbled unhappily. Ichigo quickly jotted down all of what he'd seen and sighed as the other experiment's wandered away. "Next time, I ain't coming out if they're here," He growled, making Ichigo shudder.

"You have no choice," He cleared his throat. Grimmjow scowled at him and wrapped his tail around the younger male's waist, pulling him close. "H-hey!" Ichigo tried to get away but Grimmjow proved to be much stronger. "You bastard," He scowled over his shoulder at the now smirking panther. "Let go."

"What if I don't want to?" He challenged, raising an eyebrow. He saw the hulk of a man known as Chado move and growled.

"Then Chado will remove you from me himself," Ichigo countered, smirking. Grimmjow growled in an annoyed manner and reluctantly released his hold on the berry, tail twitching in annoyance. "Go run around or something, stretch your muscles," The blue haired panther gave him a look and within a split second, he was gone, doing laps around the enclosure. Ichigo vaguely heard Nnoitra shout something along the lines of 'run, pussy, run!' and rolled his eyes. That one was going to prove to be an annoyance in the future. He recorded how fast Grimmjow was running and how many laps he did and smiled. He was still perfectly healthy. As were the other experiments as he'd been informed. When the panther finally exhausted himself, he returned to Ichigo and collapsed at his feet, throwing his arm over his eyes to block out the sun as he tried catching his breath.

"He's fast," Chad commented, having watched the man run with Ichigo.

"He's part panther after all," Ichigo laughed. Moving, the orange head went to the outdoor cooler they kept and got a bottle of water before he returned and placed it on Grimmjow's neck, smirking when the man hissed and jumped away. Straightening up, he offered the water to a now wary Grimmjow, who snatched it and drank nearly the whole bottle in one go. The rest was poured over his head so he could cool off. Ichigo couldn't help but think how adorable it was when Grimmjow's ears flickered, trying to get rid of the water. "Alright, time to go in," He finally sighed.

"I just got out here!" Grimmjow protested, drawing his ears back angrily.

"We've been out here for three, almost four, hours." Ichigo snapped, narrowing his eyes. The bluenette game him an incredulous look and tilted his head. "I'm not making it up," He grunted. "The others went inside half an hour ago while you were doing laps."

"Huh, no wonder I stopped smelling wet dog," Ichigo rolled his eyes at this. Chad put the cuffs back on the panther and led him inside with Ichigo.

"How did he do today, Quince?" Szayel asked when they got inside.

"Aside from getting into a fight with Quinta, he did very well," Ichigo told him.

"He got into a fight?" Szayel knew this already of course but he feigned surprise.

"Yeah, dunno what started it though," He shrugged. "Shiro said they were showing off," At this, Grimmjow began to smirk. One cuffed hand reached out and groped his ass, making him yelp and blush. "Stop it!" He snapped at the Sexta.

"I didn't do anything," He frowned, though his eyes were dancing with amusement. Ichigo and Chad gave him a warning look before the orange head turned his attention back to Szayel.

"That's quite possible," The pinkette nodded. "Sexta is usually the only one out there and therefore may have felt the need to show off and prove that he is the stronger one." Ichigo nodded slowly, though he really doubted that that was the case. "Dr. Mayuri is waiting for your reports," Ichigo nodded again and hurried to get Grimmjow back to his room. The Sexta went in without a fight this time and didn't drag Ichigo with him, though he did give him a pleading look. He ignored it and closed the door, locking it before he left to turn in his reports for the day. Once he did, he said goodbye to Szayel and headed home, though he had to call Shiro to pick him up as he'd taken the car.

"Be careful around tha' baka, kay?" Shiro grumbled as he drove home with his brother.

"I will, Shiro," He sighed softly. "He's really not that bad though, he behaves when he need's too."

"I don' want my baby bro getting hurt," He snapped. "I still don' like him."

"No one said you had to," Shiro scowled. "Relax, Shiro, it's not like I'm going to date him or anything. He's an experiment and I've just been assigned to watch him. If he tries anything, I can defend myself."

"Good," He nodded. The rest of the ride was silent for them but Ichigo could not help but think about Sexta's behavior that day. It had been so odd and the way he'd stood behind him was... it was almost as though he were protecting him from Nnoitra. Ichigo shook it off and decided he would study Grimmjow's behavior closely from then on.

~Home~

Ichigo sighed as he got out of his coat and shoes, the girls hugging him and asking if he was okay after they left and what was the big deal with the blue haired guy. Zangetsu just woofed and then went back to lazing on the sofa.

"It's alright girls... He was just upset that he had to share 'his space' with the others and he didn't like the tall one since he smelt like dog."

"But he doesn't react to you or Shi-nii..." Yuzu pointed out. "Maybe because he doesn't mind Zanny's scent?"

Zangetsu woofed again, whining when he heard his pet name from one of his youngest pups. Ichigo blinked, that was true. Grimmjow's never reacted to the smell of Zangetsu on him.

"Maybe because Zangetsu's not a threat?"

"'Not a threat!' King, ya ferget dis is yer dog ri't? He mauled da prick dat tried ta hit on ya! And pissed on dat bitch who said ma was a cunt!" Shiro pointed out. "Yer dog's evil!"

Zangetsu just rolled on his back, a happy grin on his face as he listened. The wolf mix was mean to those he deemed unworthy of his pups. Ichigo sighed and shook his head.

"Let's not talk about it for now... I'm beat." He told them, yawning as he walked passed.

"K... Hey Ichi-nii! Let's kick Shi-nii's but!" Karin yelled grabbing the xbox controller off the table as Ichigo smiled and nodded, Yuzu laughed as she set down some snacks and sat beside Shiro to cheer him on as the other three got into the game, yelling at each other as they played.

Ichigo ordered pizza when he noted it was too late to make dinner and they sat around watching home movies of when their family had been complete...

~Next morning~

Ichigo got up, surprised Shiro was up and about already, since his side of the bed was empty. He got up and showered, brushed his teeth and got ready for the day. when he walked out of the room he blinked seeing Soi-Fon, Shiro's agent/manager, had his older brother in a submission hold as the girls blinked and looked down at him worriedly.

"Soi-Fon?" He asked.

"Morning, Kurosaki... Sorry but your beloved brother bailed out of a meeting with Seireitei yesterday and made me look flakey in front of the Byakuya Kuchiki!" She hissed as Shiro groaned in pain.

"I-I dun wanna deal wit'im!" Shiro managed to croak out from his painful position. "K-King's more- more important!"

Soi-Fon's face went scarlet but before she could kill her best model, Ichigo calmly grabbed his brother's leg and pulled him free, dropping him on the floor before getting Soi-Fon up and getting her some coffee to help calm her down. As soon as she was close to civil Ichigo told her that the girls were here and they couldn't leave them alone in the house.

"Fine I'll call Kuchiki-sama and tell him that there was a family emergency... Would you girls like to come with us?" Soi-Fon asked sweetly, smiling at the girls.

"... I wanna go with Ichi-nii..." Karin said.

Shiro was up and about to protest, but with the twin glares he was getting from his manager and his brother, he wisely kept it shut. Soi-Fon pissed at him was nothing new, but Ichigo pissed at him? That's a different galaxy all together. His younger brother's temper was more fierce some than his own.

"I wanna see Ori-neechan!" Yuzu chirped.

"Well, I'm sure that Inoue will be glad to see you, but are you sure?" Soi-Fon asked. "I know your brother's very busy..."

"I'm taking Zanny with me! If I have to stay in his office I at least have some to talk to! Besides we hardly get to see Ichi-nii!" Karin said, stamping a foot to help drive her point home.

Ichigo laughed as he said it was fine and that tomorrow they would switch so Yuzu could come with him to work while Karin drove Shiro mad. Soi-Fon loved the idea and agreed. Not long after a quick bite to eat, Zangetsu, Ichigo and Karin were walking to AMSI while Shiro, Soi-Fon and Yuzu were off to see this Kuchiki guy.

~AMSI~

Mayuri grinned evilly as he hung up his phone, the meeting was set now all he had to do was make sure the final tests were favorable before he took his prized Espadas and his two top scientists with him. He turned when Szayel walked in setting down the reports he asked for.

"The date's been set, you have two months to make things happen." He said and then looked over the reports.

"T-two months?"

"Yes, since they are showing rapid progress, it shouldn't be problem. And if the buyers are happy, I'll move base."

"... your taking Kurosaki with you?" Szayel asked, though his tone sounded dead, there was an edge to it that bordered on blinding fury.

Mayuri glared at the pinkette as he stood, his hand lashing out faster than the man could see and he hit the floor with a short cry, holding his face and glaring hatefully at the blue haired man before him.

"If you decided now was the time to grow a conscience, you are far too late for it. We will move I will get rid of you." Mayuri hissed.

Szayel's face paled, seeing as the man was serious, he nodded stiffly. Standing he apologized and walked out the room. Holding his face, he glared at the wall. There was no way in hell he would let the son of a bitch take Ichigo from his life or his family, it was bad enough that they mutated him.

'Mayuri will regret this... I swear it!'

Shukaku: I was aiming for a longer chapter but my brain does not seem to want me to do so -.-

Rye: That's why I stepped in to help add to the chapter. You are welcome Shu-chan! *bright smile*

Shukaku: *grumbles*

Grimmjow: Reviews make them happy people!