Sorry for the long wait people! I'm planning to update this story after every two days so I can finish it as soon as possible before college work piles up D: Thank you so much once again for the reviews! I love each and every one of them and read them whenever I'm bored! At least you know how much I appreciate them so thanks ^^

Aizen slammed his room door open, his eyes looking wild and his entire frame shaking like he had just survived an earthquake. The sound of the door banging against the opposite wall alarmed Grimmjow, making him jump off the couch he had currently been sitting on and enjoying a comic book. His heart, which had been beating fast enough to rival a racehorse's, calmed down once he saw that it was his father. However, he was soon overcome with concern by the look on Aizen's face.

'What is it, Vater?' he pried, taking tentative steps towards Aizen, who was breathing hard and looking around as if trying to find the source of that voice. Like he couldn't see Grimmjow standing right before him. 'Vater?'

The second time Grimmjow called out to him, he quickly looked in his direction, making the boy jump. There was a crazy look in his father's eye, something he didn't like to see at all. They were wide with a tinge of horror and fear in them. Plus, dare he admit it, madness. If he did something unusually terrifying right now, Grimmjow wouldn't have been surprised.

'G-Grimmjow?' he whispered and lumbered forward. Grimmjow willed himself not to move or else he would frighten his father. He already looked vulnerable right now. It was best to let him do whatever he wanted without saying or doing anything. Yet.

Soon, he was towering over Grimmjow. The boy gulped, his heart back to racing. Suddenly, Aizen pulled Grimmjow into his chest and wrapped his arms around him protectively.

'I thought you had left me,' he murmured and stroked the top of Grimmjow's head. 'I…I thought that I was all alone and there was no one who loved me anymore. No one who wanted to be around me anymore. I...felt lost, Grimmjow…lost…'

Grimmjow sighed and closed his eyes. It was another nightmare. Thank God.

'It's okay, Vater,' he said soothingly and placed a hand over his father's frantically beating heart. 'I'm right here. See? I'm not going anywhere. And I still love you. I'll always be around. Always. So you'll never be lost.'

As Grimmjow tried to pry himself away from him, Aizen tightened his hold.

'Promise?' he murmured again and pressed his lips to his blue locks. Grimmjow gulped, all of a sudden feeling too big to fill the shoes his father wanted him to. Almost like he was the responsible adult and his father was the insecure child.

'Promise,' Grimmjow said firmly. A minute later, his father finally let go and scrubbed his face with one hand, probably to get rid of the tears waiting to spill out. He checked his watch.

'I have to go,' he said briskly, all childlike innocence erased from his voice. It was businesslike and, Grimmjow was relieved to hear, in control. 'My first day of work. You be good while I'm gone. Go out and play with the other kids around here. I'm sure you can hang out with that boy who lives next door. He looked friendly.'

Grimmjow frowned. Yes, he would like to go out. He had been cooped up for quite a while. But it was that orange-headed boy that he had a problem with.

Ever since he moved into the apartment next to the boy, Ichigo, all he ever did was stare at Grimmjow. If they both were downstairs getting the mail, Grimmjow wouldn't look at him but he always felt like his every move was being watched. And when he would glance in Ichigo's direction, he would always be busy shuffling through the mail. But Grimmjow always noticed that pink tinge dusting on his cheeks. He knew that he would look away right when Grimmjow would look at him. It sort of angered and intrigued Grimmjow at the same.

He was angry as to why Ichigo didn't mind his fucking business and know that it was rude to stare. It also intrigued him because why was Ichigo staring at him? And why did he blush and look away? It wasn't like Grimmjow was going to yell at him or anything. Why did he feel the need to hide?

On top of that, he would attempt at striking a conversation with Grimmjow. That's how he got to know his name. That made Grimmjow more uncomfortable than the staring. It was one to just look at somebody. Because one can always ignore that without being expected to respond. But when someone tried to talk to you, you couldn't just pretend that you didn't hear them when they were no more than two feet away from you. Sure he didn't know English but there were other ways of responding like nodding or smiling or something. But Grimmjow would do absolutely nothing. Or at least, he didn't feel like doing anything.

He wasn't the typical social butterfly. Sure he had plenty of friends back home but this was a new country so there was a new thing for everything. To put it simply, Grimmjow was afraid to look like a foreigner, an alien. He already stood out with his bright blue hair. He didn't want to seem incompetent in other ways. So it was best to just stay quiet. And besides, it would mean opening up to the strange auburn boy and he wasn't ready to open up about his family issues.

However, seemed like Ichigo had his own family issues. Perhaps because the walls were so thin but almost every day Grimmjow would hear a lot of screaming from his apartment. It was always followed by smashing of objects and slamming of doors.

One time, Grimmjow happened to be coming back from the grocery store around the corner when he saw the same blonde man who had pushed him storm out of Ichigo's apartment looking as furious as ever. Grimmjow took care to step out of his way and watched him stomp by without a backwards glance. When he looked back at Ichigo's apartment, he saw the boy at the door with a frying pan in hand, literally glowering at the man who had left. He didn't even notice Grimmjow until the man had disappeared down the stairs. When he finally saw the blue-haired German, he froze.

They just stared at each other, not saying a word, and it seemed like an eternity before Ichigo looked down as if he didn't know what to do. Then, for some crazy reason, Grimmjow felt like he should do or say something. So, without thinking twice (or else he might not even have the courage to do it), he tapped his foot on the ground to get Ichigo to look up. When he did, Grimmjow simply bowed his head as if in understanding.

Ichigo raised both eyebrows, just as surprised by Grimmjow's action. Then, he bowed his head back and smiled lightly before he closed the door. Grimmjow stood in the hall, struggling to come to terms with what he had just done.

He had just reached out to someone. For once, he had made the first move of friendship. He couldn't go back now. He had just acknowledged Ichigo as an acquaintance. Now the question was, what were they going to do next?

'Oi! Earth to Ichigo, can you hear me?' Tatsuki hollered in Ichigo's ear while cupping her hands around her mouth. 'Are you with us, Ichigo Kurosaki?'

'Hey! Cut it out! I can hear you!' Ichigo snapped and swatted Tatsuki away while glaring at her. She stepped back and held her hands up defensively.

'Hey, you're the one who wasn't responding so don't go all ninja on me!' she shot back.

'What were you thinking about anyway?' Uryu queried as he pushed his glasses up.

'Nothing important,' Ichigo muttered and glanced up at their apartment building, particularly at the fifth floor window situated right next to his.

To be honest, he wasn't sure whether it was important or not even though it kept invading his thoughts all the time. He was just…confused.

Grimmjow had made it pretty clear that he wanted nothing to do with him. Sure, he'd just left his homeland and was feeling pretty uncomfortable in a new country. Japan was nothing like Germany. So Ichigo thought he would make him feel comfortable by talking to him. He knew he was making a fool of himself because Grimmjow would never talk back, not even in German. That thoroughly disappointed Ichigo. He was dying to hear that voice again.

Ever since he had heard him talk, he had wanted to hear the German speak some more. There was something alluring about his voice and the way he spoke. It grated Ichigo's very bones, sent electrical tingles up his spine and made him feel like if he attempted a somersault he could do it. When he started having dreams about his voice, he knew something was wrong. He had only heard Grimmjow speak once but he was already addicted to his voice.

However, perhaps the reason Grimmjow didn't talk back was probably because Ichigo was always staring at him. He always tried to stop himself from doing it, always scolding himself before and after doing it. But he couldn't help it. His eyes would wander off on their own and then glue themselves to the quiet little German boy as he sifted through his mail. It was no coincidence that they both ended up getting the mail at the same time. Ichigo knew he purposely waited for Grimmjow to go before he followed so that he could try conversing (and staring) at the blue-haired teen.

What was wrong with him? Why was he so intrigued by that boy? He'd seen plenty of foreigners. In fact, they had an exchange student from Spain called Tia Harribel and he didn't stare at her. Not like how he stared at Grimmjow at least. Tia was a pretty gorgeous and well-adorned girl and practically every guy in his class would stare at her. But…he stared at Grimmjow with a…different intensity.

He suddenly felt Tatsuki nudging his arm.

'Hey, Ichi,' she murmured. 'Is that the German boy who moved in next to you?'

He quickly looked up, his heart increasing in rate and his palms getting sweaty even though he had them in his jean pockets. There was Grimmjow, dressed in a pair of ripped sky blue jeans that matched his eyes and a simple baggy grey shirt. His hair hung softly about his face, moving at the slightest tilt or movement of his head as he glanced around.

Grimmjow suddenly saw them and when his eyes fell on Ichigo, his frame grew rigged while his hands balled into fists. Ichigo quickly looked down at the ground, concentrating a little too hard. He didn't want his friends to think he stared at the boy. It would only cause them to tease him or worse, ask him what was going on between them.

Ichigo wished he knew himself. Just recently, his dad had gone too far and grabbed the frying pan from the kitchen which he planned to hit his mother with. Ichigo couldn't stand back anymore. He leapt into the room and landed a well-aimed punch on his face.

The man had stumbled back, dropping the weapon which Ichigo quickly picked up and held defensively. His father looked up and his eyes glinted menacingly. Ichigo narrowed his eyes, as if daring him to try something.

He didn't. He simply stormed out of the apartment. Ichigo followed to make sure he actually left. Once he was sure of it, he suddenly noticed Grimmjow in the hall. Staring at him for once. This took Ichigo by surprise and he was confused as to what to do, what to say.

He did the only thing he could and looked down, embarrassed that Grimmjow had to see his fucked up family like this. That was when something unbelievable happened.

He heard someone tap the ground and when he looked up he saw a hint of compassion in Grimmjow's eyes as the German bowed his head in respect. Ichigo was shocked. Did the boy just try to reach out to him? To show that he actually acknowledged Ichigo as someone he (dare he think it) care about?

Ichigo didn't want to waste the opportunity to connect with the boy and responded likewise before closing the door. Once he had, he slid down the door, marveling at what had just happened, completely forgetting his anger at his father. For a moment, he thought he was on cloud nine.

The thought of Grimmjow nodding at him had his heart fluttering again. Ichigo clutched at his heart through his indigo hoodie. What was that weird feeling?

Tatsuki groaned.

'Ugh, don't look now but here comes Nnoitra and his gang,' she whined. Ichigo glanced from the corner of his eye and grimaced.

Sure enough, there was the beanpole gang leader and his followed of misfits ranging from a hulking lug to an overly lanky teen with pink dyed hair. They weren't known as ruthless or dangerous but they were annoying as hell since they always acted like they owned everything and everyone. Hence, if you came across them, best to get out of their otherwise you'll get into a pointless argument or worse, a pointless fight. Ichigo should know. He'd gotten into a few scraps with them but he always managed to make it out with only a few scratches or so. He was no pussy fighter.

'Let's get out of here,' Uryu muttered and started walking in the opposite direction of the gang. 'Renji's expecting us at his place anyways.'

Ichigo nodded in agreement, already pushing off the wall he had been leaning on and was ready to follow Uryu when something caught his eye. He froze and suddenly spun around to make his way back.

'Ichigo!' Tatsuki squawked in surprise. 'What the hell do you think you're doing?'

Ichigo wasn't thinking. He was acting on some weird instinct that was insisting that he interfere now before something bad happened.

Nnoitra's gang had failed to spot Ichigo and his friends but they sure didn't miss seeing Grimmjow. They made short work of surrounding the German, blocking all ways of escape. Nnoitra had then approached him. Grimmjow's body had tensed, as if he was ready to fight if necessary. Boy, he didn't know how right his instincts were.

As Ichigo continued to walk in their direction, he started to hear what their 'friendly' conversation.

'Who's the new girl on the block?' the big lug leered as he took to stand behind Grimmjow.

'You are such an unperceptive twat, Yammy,' the glasses boy remarked spitefully. 'We're talking to a boy here.'

'Awww,' Nnoitra sneered. 'And I was hoping 'fer it ta be a pretty, little girl. He looks so cute I can jus' eat 'em up.'

He stalked closer, now towering over the German, who seemed to be leaning back. He certainly didn't approve of Nnoitra being so close to him.

'C'mon, Nnoitra! I wanna fight him!' Yammy whined. 'I haven't pummeled someone is so long!'

'I got a better idea,' their leader said mischievously, his eyes glinting maliciously as he suddenly grabbed Grimmjow's face, taking the boy by surprise. The action almost made Ichigo trip in anger. He was seeing red now.

'Hey, pretty boy,' he heard Nnoitra jeer. 'We'll let you go. All you have to do is give me a little kiss. What do you say to that, huh?'

Without waiting for an answer, Nnoitra began to lean in. The hungry look on Nnoitra's face set Ichigo's blood on fire, making him walk faster. Then, something unexpected happened.

Nnoitra suddenly reeled back, screeching swear words while clutching a side of his face. Grimmjow had just spat in his face. Soon, his goons were upon the German, bent on pummeling his face in. Though the boy was not going to go down without a fight.

The boy just as quickly turned into a flurry of flying fists and feet, kicking and punching like his life depended on it. Ichigo had to admit, the boy was a damn good fighter.

Suddenly, he noticed the pink-haired man creeping up on Grimmjow from behind. Without hesitation, Ichigo sprinted forward and kicked the lanky teen right in his gut, making him keel over so Ichigo could slam his fist into his face, breaking the glasses perched on that pompous nose.

Grimmjow looked behind and saw Ichigo punching the boy. His mouth fell open in surprise. Ichigo glanced up and saw that the big goon, Yammy he remembered, was taking advantage of Grimmjow's sudden bout of shock to punch him.

'Watch out!' Ichigo warned and pushed Grimmjow out of the way as he blocked Yammy's punch with his arm and then brought a swift uppercut from below, getting the big guy right in his jaw.

Tatsuki and Uryu were now running up to them. Probably wondering why the hell he was picking a fight with Nnoitra and especially why for Grimmjow. One of Nnoitra's minions, Tesla, saw that and he turned pale. Tatsuki wasn't just a girl. She was a black belt and the pride of Karakura in kickboxing tournaments. No doubt every guy in Japan was afraid of her.

'Boss, I think we should leave!' he stuttered, tugging at Nnoitra's sleeve. Their leader snarled as he saw the approaching karate champion and nodded reluctantly before snapping his fingers and ordering his boys to follow him. But not before he gave Grimmjow a look of deep loathing.

'I'll get you yet, freak,' he hissed before departing. Grimmjow scowled at him and clenched his hands into fists again.

Ichigo was breathing hard, his adrenaline level still high from the sudden rush into a fight. He couldn't believe he just did that, going headfirst into a fight without even thinking. What would his friends say? Hell, what would his mother say?

To his surprise, Grimmjow turned on him and shoved him hard. He didn't fall but he did stagger back. He stared at Grimmjow in amazement.

'What the-!' he sputtered but stopped when Grimmjow pointed a finger at him, his eyes literally on fire. Like he simply hated Ichigo for what he had just done. Ichigo winced. That was not the look he was expecting.

'Lass mich in Ruhe,' the German growled. Ichigo blinked in confusion.

'What?' he uttered dumbly even though he knew it was German and he would never be able to understand it. Surprisingly, Grimmjow repeated it but even slower.

'Lass,' the German breathed, now lowering his hand which Ichigo noticed was shaking. 'Mich in Ruhe.'

Then, without waiting for Ichigo to react, he turned on his heel and ran back into the apartment. It all happened so fast Ichigo didn't know what to do but stare at the space that Grimmjow had been standing in. What the hell had just happened? And just what the hell had Grimmjow said to him? What was it again? Lass…lass…

'Ichigo, you ass!' Tatsuki screeched as she bonked him on the head. 'What the fuck, dude! What the bloody fuck! What were you trying to do? Become Batman or something? That was the stupidest thing you have ever done and you have done some pretty stupid things let me tell you!'

'Calm down, Tatsuki,' Uryu interrupted her rant. She was already turning blue from lack of taking a breath. 'He probably has a reason for his…sudden burst for attention but it is Kurosaki so of course we should expect strange antics from one of his intellectual level-'

'Bull-fucking-shit, Uryu!' Tatsuki snapped. 'I swear if those assholes weren't scared that I was going to beat the shit out of them they would have smashed Ichigo's face in! Fuck, Ichigo, if I wasn't so mad I would-Ichigo, are you even listening to me?'

TRANSLATIONS:

-lass mich in Ruhe: Leave me alone