I forgot to mention in the last chapter! I want to thank danasy for helping me in the German translations! She's from Germany and graciously offered to help translate some of the phrases in CORRECT German for me. Google can no longer do everything :3

THANK YOU DANASY 3

*ahem* enjoy the chapter!

Oh yeah, the words in italics are flashbacks (in case people get confused…)

'Fucking bastard!' Grimmjow thought savagely as he curled up on his little mattress on the floor, trying to get some sleep. Considering what happened today, he thought he might have cooled down by now but he was still riled up. And he didn't even know who he was riled up at: Ichigo or that weird beanpole guy.

He should be madder at the beanpole. At least Ichigo had respect for personal space. That other boy had gotten right up in his grill and started leering something in his face. Although he didn't know what the fuck the boy was talking about but his tone made Grimmjow's skin crawl. And when the boy grabbed his face and started leaning in like he was going to kiss him, Grimmjow lost it.

He didn't like to be treated like some kind of helpless pup. Especially in an alien country. If that guy wasn't going to show him any respect then Grimmjow was simply going to reciprocate the favor but with his own foreign touch to it. Back home, it was considered rude to spit at someone else's personal items. Judging from the way the boy was screeching after Grimmjow spat in his face, the custom was understood here as well.

Why else would the other boys suddenly pounce on him unless they wanted to play a game of tag? And it was a very peculiar tag since according to Grimmjow, only one person would be 'it' instead of eight. Ah well, when in Rome do as the Romans do.

He was doing perfectly fine until Ichigo intervened. Alright, he was only trying to help out but Grimmjow wasn't in the mood to accept help of any sort.

Ichigo should have minded his own fucking business. It wasn't his fight. It was Grimmjow's. Why the hell did he get into it? What was he trying to prove? That Grimmjow wasn't doing a good job defending himself? That Grimmjow was stupid to pick a fight in the first place?

'It wasn't my fault!' Grimmjow snarled out loud as he sat up abruptly and punched his pillow with all his might.

It wasn't. He didn't know what that stupid tall boy wanted and why he was leaning in. He just didn't like the way the boy getting so close to him in a weird, intimate way and it just made him mad. He was only doing what he thought was right. Why was everyone trying to show him that he was wrong and they were right? That's he'll always be wrong and they'll always be right?

It wasn't fucking fair. He was only a kid. A kid all alone in a new, foreign country with no one to turn to for help.

He jumped as he heard a door slam somewhere in the little apartment. His heartbeat quickened. Dad wasn't home yet. It was almost midnight according to his glow-in-the-dark Batman watch. And he had no weapon. What the hell was he going to do against a strong, probably armed, burglar?

'Grimmjow?' slurred a voice from outside. 'Sohn? Where are you?'

Grimmjow breathed a sigh of relief. It was only his father back from work. Late but he was glad it was late rather than never. He didn't know what he'd do without his father. He would truly have been all alone in this strange country.

'Grimmjow?' his father called for him again, probably searching every room for him. Grimmjow quickly scambled out of bed and made his way towards the source of his father's voice. He found him near the front door, leaning against one wall with his back to his son. There was something off about him. Something weird but also familiar. Like he had seen him like this before.

Aizen smiles serenely and crooks his finger at Grimmjow.

'Come here, Sohn,' he whispers. A shiver runs down Grimmjow's back. 'Come to Vater.'

'Grimmjow?'

Grimmjow pulled himself out of his thoughts and saw his father looking at him with an unfocused eye. Oh dear, he must have had too much to drink. Again.

Grimmjow frowned. He couldn't believe his father had already found a drinking bar and was indulging himself. He used to do it practically every day back home in Germany. It sometimes made his mother mad but she bore it patiently. She used to say that everyone has a bad habit that the rest of the family must accept.

Though it didn't stop her from arguing with Aizen all the time.

It frustrated Grimmjow. How could she say something about acceptance and then go back on it? It was so damn hypocritical it pissed him off. When he found out that his father got drunk, he didn't scold him for doing it or even shun him. He accepted it. Just like a good son should.

Right?

'I met a very nice lady today, Grimmjow,' Aizen murmured as Grimmjow made him drape his arm around the boy's small shoulders. He held on firmly, like he'd fall if he let go. Though he probably might have. 'We met at a little bar called 'Nanao'. It's named after the owner's beloved who jilted him. Can you believe naming his bar after her? So we sat and talked and drank and talked and drank some more.'

'That's nice, Vater,' Grimmjow grunted as he helped support his dad, hoping to at least reach the couch so that Aizen could sleep off the alcohol. Then maybe he too could get some sleep. He had his first day of school tomorrow.

'But then I remembered you,' his father said suddenly, tightening his grip on Grimmjow's shoulders. 'I remembered I had a son and a wife and I told the woman, kindly of course, that she was very sweet but I had a family to think about.'

'That's nice, Vater,' Grimmjow repeated, ignoring his father's drunk statements. He always spouted nonsense when he was drunk.

'Such nice hair,' Aizen murmurs as he runs his fingers through Grimmjow's blue locks. 'Such nice, soft hair. I wish I could touch it and kiss it all the time and never stop.'

He kisses Grimmjow's head softly.

Grimmjow suddenly felt his father tip to the side. He was so lost in thought he didn't realize the imbalance. But it was too late to fix it and he was tumbling with his father, thankfully, onto the couch.

'Vater, you're so clumsy,' Grimmjow grumbled as he tried to pry himself from his father's grasp. 'Get some sleep. You have work tomorrow and I have school.'

Suddenly, Aizen's hands tightened around Grimmjow's waist, pulling him back onto the couch and into his lap. Grimmjow gulped in fear, afraid to look at his father, his heart beating like a frightened animal that has been cornered which wasn't far from the truth about him.

'V-Vater,' Grimmjow stuttered, struggling to stop his voice from quivering. 'I-I need to go now.'

'No, no,' his father mumbled, pulling Grimmjow closer and clumsily kissing him wetly on the neck. 'Not yet, not yet…'

'Vater…'

A hand quickly slithered over his mouth, cutting off his protest. Grimmjow's eyes widened. Aizen's breathing had gotten haggard now, his face pressed against Grimmjow's hair as he literally melded himself to the boy's body.

'Sssh,' Aizen whispers. 'Not a word, my Sohn, not a word about this to anyone.'

Grimmjow felt panic rising slowly up his throat even though he kept trying to rein it down. He didn't want it to but he couldn't help himself. He couldn't help the fear rising in him. And because of his own father. His own flesh and blood.

His eyes began to sting as salty tears collected at the corners, wanting to spill out desperately. He couldn't help struggling now. Squirming and flaying as he tried to escape the tight hold on him that only restricted his movements even more.

'Vater,' Grimmjow tried to say but only came out muffled behind his father's hand as he was pushed harshly against a wall.

'Vater,' Grimmjow thought desperately and went rigid as he felt the same hand holding him slip lower to the waistband of his pajamas, pushing his shirt up, going under the fabric of his pants…

'VATER!' Grimmjow suddenly screamed as he abruptly moved his face away from the hand covering his mouth.

The panic that he had been trying to withhold burst out like a dam, spilling everyone and wrecking all his senses and sensibilities. Out of nowhere, this unbelievable strength made him push his father away so that he stumbled painfully to the ground and lay there, panting hard. He didn't know what had happened. He didn't want to know what had happened. He just wanted to forget, forget, forget. Just like last time…

'Oh my God,' he heard his father whisper.

Shakily, Grimmjow lifted himself from the floor and, trembling, turned around to look at Aizen. The man was as white as chalk, his lower lip trembling as much as Grimmjow and his eyes as round as two moons. His eyes were filled with horror. Horror at what he had tried to do.

'Grimmjow, forgive me,' he whispered, his voice literally tearing. When Grimmjow would make no move to approach him, he forced himself to stride forward, grasp his son and pull him into a tight hug. 'Grimmjow, forgive me. Forgive me for doing that to you. I promised myself. I promised that I would never put you in that situation where you saw me as the monster that I am.'

Grimmjow suddenly pushed himself away from Aizen and glared angrily at him.

'You are not a monster,' he said quietly. 'You're my Vater. I accept your flaws. Everyone does stupid things. But not everyone forgives them. Only family does. No matter what. And that is what I intend to do.'

Aizen stared in amazement at him before he trudged back to the couch. He pinched the bridge of his nose.

'Go sleep, my Sohn,' he muttered. 'I'll sleep here tonight.'

Grimmjow hesitated before he decided it was wise to obey and left the room. Aizen watched him leave from the corner of his eyes before he placed his head in his hands in a defeated way.

'So this is what it's come to,' he murmured to himself.

'Leave me alone,' Uryu uttered.

'Excuse me?' Ichigo said in amazement.

'That's what the German boy said to you,' Uryu explained as they all lounged in Renji's living room playing Xbox.

'And how do you happen to know German?' Renji queried as he concentrated on making his fighter aim a kick at Tatsuki's fighter's head. He missed and she delivered her finishing blow, winning her third battle in a row against him. 'Aw, man! Rematch! You cheated!'

'And how can I cheat? This is YOUR game, Abarai Renji!' Tatsuki snapped but grabbed her controller again for the next round, determined to keep up her winning streak.

'I took classes before my family and I went vacationing there,' Uryu answered simply as he curled up in his beanbag chair. 'Thought it would be nice to talk to the locals and get an authentic feel of the country.'

'Perfectionist,' Renji muttered as he managed to finally land a blow on Tatsuki's muscled fighter. He fist pumped the air above him. 'Yes!'

'Lucky shot!' Tatsuki shot at him as she jabbed away at her controller.

'Why would he say something like that?' Ichigo mumbled as he gathered his feet in his arms.

'Perhaps you upset him,' Uryu suggested as he continued to gaze at the screen. Ichigo raised his eyebrows.

'How the hell did I upset him? I mean, he couldn't take on Nnoitra's entire gang!' Ichigo said defensively. 'I was just helping, really!'

'Well, he didn't ask you, Ichigo,' Tatsuki remarked and leaned to the right as she continued to press a number of buttons. 'So maybe he was upset about that.'

'That's stupid.'

'You're pretty stupid yourself.'

'Shut the fuck up and finish your game, Tatsuki. Nobody asked you.'

'Look,' she sighed as she, once again, knocked Renji's character to the ground and a big 'K.O' flashed across the screen. She left Renji to howl in anguish at the screen as she turned to face Ichigo with a serious expression. 'I don't know how things work out in German land but that kid just looked upset and the only thing you had done was intervene in a fight which DIDN'T involve you! Honestly, why the fuck did you get into it? It had nothing to do with you!'

'I-!' Ichigo began to argue but stopped. He just realized that he didn't have an answer. 'I…don't know…'

'Che,' Tatsuki snorted and turned away. 'Like I actually expected a good explanation from you.'

'Fuck you.'

'No thanks. I turned lesbian after I saw your face.'

Why the fuck had he done it? Why the fuck had he felt the need to help Grimmjow? They weren't even close friends let alone buddies! Just because Grimmjow showed his sympathy for Ichigo's relationship with his father, and in a hallway, didn't mean that all of a sudden they were book club buddies or something geeky. They were just two teenagers who happened to be neighbors.

That's it. Nothing more.

Maybe it was Ichigo's nature. He just needed to help others because it gave him a purpose. He was always helping his mother and saving her from his father when he was going to beat her to death.

He curled his hands into fists and rolled over in his bed. He couldn't seem to get any sleep tonight. Other than the incident with Grimmjow, his father had shown up out of the blue during working hours and claimed that he was moving out. That was fine and dandy but then he had to go along and smash the television in. Thank God Yuzu and Karin were at school. When they came home and saw the television was missing, Ichigo simply stated that they were going to get a new one. Not like he was going to tell them that their father was a fucking psycho.

Ichigo suddenly sat up in bed. Was that a door slam he heard? Was it coming from inside the house? Was their father back to cause some more damage?

He ground his teeth in frustration. He better not be back. Ichigo was ready to fight back this time. And he wasn't going to hold back. Not even if his mother protested.

He strained his ears as he heard some muffled voice crying something out again and again. It didn't sound like English, that much he could tell. What was it?

'Grimm…jow…' the voice managed to sound. His eyes widened. The sounds were coming from Grimmjow's apartment! Which, conveniently, happened to be right behind the wall his bed was positioned against.

Even though he knew it was an invasion of privacy, Ichigo pressed his ear against the wall, trying to hear something and maybe, try to understand what was being said in German. So far he could tell that the person talking was Grimmjow's father (shudder) but why was he calling out to Grimmjow?

Then, he heard a patter of feet and his father's voice relaxed slightly. Grimmjow's voice barely floated through the thin wall and Ichigo felt his heart leap. He pressed his ear harder against the wall, hoping in some way it would make Grimmjow's voice clearer.

But just as quickly as there was sound, it all suddenly ebbed away. Ichigo kept his ear pressed to the wall for a minute before glaring at it like it was the wall's fault he couldn't hear anymore.

'What the hell?' he thought angrily and placed his ear against the wall again. That's when he heard a scream from the other end, making him fall back on his bed in surprise and fright. What the fuck was that?

He quickly scrabbled forward to listen again, just in time to hear something thud heavily to the ground. His body trembled in anticipation.

What had just happened? Who had yelled? Was it Grimmjow? If so, why did he yell like he was frightened? Was he hurt?

As these questions raced through Ichigo's head, he realized he wasn't listening anymore. He cleared his head and concentrated, realizing they were conversing in German again. The voices died down again, followed by the pitter patter of feet before a door closed quietly. Ichigo listened for another five minutes and when he heard nothing, he slowly lay back on his bed, staring at his ceiling, not knowing what to feel or even think.

What the fuck had just happened in Grimmjow's apartment?

And everyone thank you SOOO much for the reviews! I didn't think it would actually get so many 0.o Well, so many in my case heh

BUT THANKS! THEY MAKE MY DAY ^_^