"OH!"

Strong arms wrapped around his waist, pulling him close to a hard body behind him. Ichigo grinned at the feeling of the familiar body that was forming to mold against his features. Ichigo watched as Shinji rolled his eyes at the public display of affection presented in front of him. Ichigo felt a pair of warm lips press into the side of his neck. He flushed slightly, before pressing on the arms around him to disentangle his body. He turned around to find his boyfriend sitting on the bench behind him with a goofy grin presented on his face.

"Hey, babe." Renji leaned forward swiftly to press a chaste kiss on his boyfriend's lips.

Ichigo grimaced slightly at the pet name. "Hey."

Renji looped his arm around Ichigo's waist, holding him in a lose embrace. He propped his chin on his free hand, staring at the carrot top next to him while simultaneously ignoring the blonde. "What are ya up to?"

Ichigo looked at Renji and then Shinji, then back to Renji. "Just hanging out before Shinji goes off to class. What are you doing here? I thought you had work at the shop today?"

Renji shrugged his shoulder's nonchalantly, "Eh, I do."

Ichigo stared at the red-haired curiously. "And, you're not there because?"

Renji scowled slightly. "I'm not there because I wanted to see you. Is that a problem?"

Ichigo shook his head softly. "No, it's just that you should be at work. You're lucky your uncle is even letting you stay at his place. You should at least make it up to him by being at work."

"Why does it matter? He wouldn't kick me out anyways." Renji loosened his arm even more as he pulled away from Ichigo, his scowl hardening.

Ichigo sighed. "Never mind, Renji."

"Tch." Renji moved further away from Ichigo, making his way to stand up. "Whatever, I have to get back to work." Renji was about to walk away when he felt a hand grasp his.

"Are you gonna call tonight?" Ichigo hated how he sounded like a girl, but he knew how Renji would act after an argument, no matter how small or big it was.

Renji sighed, "Maybe." Without another word he left the pair, making his way back to his sleek black motorcycle.

Ichigo watched him depart, before turning about his neglected friend, who happened to be sporting a concerned face. Ichigo scowled again. "What?"

"I thought ya said things were fine between ya and big red?" Shinji leaned forwards on his forearms that rested on the table top.

"They are fine." Ichigo scowled, but Shinji stared at him with those knowing eyes. Ichigo felt his resolve dissipate. Sometimes he hated that the blonde could read him like an open book. "Things are fine. It's just that, it gets frustrating."

"What does?"

"Ever since he dropped out of college, he doesn't do much. I mean, he works at the shoten, but he doesn't do much other than that And, you know Renji, he has this constant need for attention that I can't always give him." Ichigo rubbed a tired hand over his face. "I mean, I still want to be with him and all that jazz, but I need a man, not a child. He just doesn't realize that sometimes he needs to gro-"

"Hey berry!" Ichigo's eyes widened at the sound of a nickname that he didn't think he'd hear ever again. Ichigo noticed that Shinji's eyes widened as well. "Berry, I'm fuckin' talking to you."

Ichigo turned around slowly to face Grimmjow, the ever present scowl even harder than before, "What the hell do you want?"

"I need you to babysit again."

Ichigo's eyes widened, shock completely evident on his face. "What?"

"I'm coming home late again, I need someone to babysit."

"What the hell? Call Yuzu, she'd be happy to babysit for you." Ichigo turned around, but was still fully aware of the tall man that was standing behind him.

Grimmjow let a familiar low growl. "I don't have time for this shit, berry. Yer sister said she's busy today. She happened to tell me that yer done with class. It's not like yer doin' anythin' important." Grimmjow's eyes quickly flickered to an unfamiliar blonde hair man, who winked at him with a large grin on his face. Grimmjow made an annoyed face before turning back to Ichigo. "I'll even fuckin' pay you. Just pick her up at Soul Society Elementary. I called ahead and told them that yer pickin' her up." Without a word, or even a confirmation from Ichigo, Grimmjow turned on his heel and began to walk away from the gaping pair.

Ichigo groaned as he turned back to face Shinji. Ever since Grimmjow came back a week ago, Ichigo's life had been turned upside down. Despite his constant efforts to get away –to stay away- from the blue-haired demon, Ichigo found himself tangled up in the man. He let out another sigh of frustration. Why was this happening to him? He didn't even want to be around the guy! And yet here he was, being dragged around. Ichigo shook his head slightly, before looking up at the grinning blonde.

"So, babysitting?" His grin grew. "He has a kid?"

"A half-sister. She's five." Ichigo really didn't want to go into the story, but he knew his best friend wouldn't let him loose until he did. "Remember Yuzu's 'big emergency?' Well, I guess he was babysitting Grimmjow's little sister when something came up. She forced me to stay and watch the kid until he came home." He skillfully avoided mentioning that he happened to stay after Grimmjow had gotten home.

"And he wants to babysit again?" Shinji loved every moment of watching Ichigo squirm.

"I guess?" Ichigo ran a hand through his already disheveled locks.

Shinji looked at his watch and frown slightly, he wanted to continue teasing Ichigo. "Well, I have to go to class. Call me if anything interesting happens while you're babysitting."

Ichigo flushed slightly at the insinuation, but shook the thought away as he stood up to walk away from the now empty table. He quickly pulled out his cell phone to look at the time, deeming it a perfect time to walk to the near by elementary school. On the way there, Ichigo's thoughts were constantly ridden with the idea of Grimmjow. This is just another away to torment me, to watch me squirm. His mind instantly went back to the all the times that Grimmjow had messed with him when they were younger. Not all of his attacks were of the physical content, numerous times Grimmjow merely picked on him. One time, he cut a hole in Ichigo's backpack so that his school supplies fell out while he walked home. He wouldn't have even realized it until a passer-by told him about it. Then another time, he his all of Ichigo's books so that he couldn't do the work for the day. Then there was one time where he insisted that anyone with orange hair contracted a viral infection that caused their eyes to melt. Not only had Ichigo feared for his life for a day, but none of the kids would touch or even talk to him for a week. Yes, this is just Grimmjow's idea of torment after missing it for nine years.

Sooner than he realized, Ichigo was standing in the play yard of a familiar elementary school. Not only had he, Grimmjow, and Shinji attend this elementary, but Yuzu and Karin. Ichigo looked around and noticed all the mothers picking up their kids, his heart feeling a twang when he thought of his own mother. Quickly pushing the thoughts aside, he looked for Nel, which wasn't too hard considering her hair color. Ichigo's eyes quickly fell onto her small body. She was standing back against the wall while a small circle of young girls made a semi circle around her. Ichigo scowled as he walked towards them. Nel didn't notice his approach, her eyes trained on the floor as she sniffled, not letting the tears that were quickly forming in their ducts, fall over. Within in a few feet of them, Ichigo could hear their taunts.

"What is with your weird colored hair?" One girl pushed on her shoulder, making Nel sink further against the wall.

"And you talk weird too!"

"Sthe talkth like thisth." Ichigo felt anger form inside of him as he listened to the over exaggerated lisp fall from another kid's mouth. Were all five year olds this mean?

"How come I never see your mom pick you up, huh? All I ever see is that blue-haired freak come by!"

"Do-do-don ta-talk about onii-chan like th-th-tha." Nel tried to glare at the other girl, but it looked pitiful with the tears that were formed there.

"That's your onii-chan? He has freaky colored hair like you! Does he cut your hair too? Is that why it's so short?"

The girl who first started to egg Nel on shoved her in the shoulder again. "Where's your mom, huh? Do you even have a mom? My mom told me she left you!"

The tears that Nel was frantically trying to hold back spilled over, raining over her cheeks in big fat drops. The other girls started to laugh rather harshly at the sight. Ichigo on the other hand couldn't take the bullying. He marched up until he was standing right behind the girls, his tall body casting a shadow over their small forms. A few of the other girls look back, and a frantic look quickly fell upon their faces. They had realize that they had be caught picking on the new girl. Ichigo scowled again, before looking up at Nel, who was staring at the floor, still not noticing his presence.

"Hey Nel."

She looked up at the sound of his voice, tears still falling. "Itsyugo?" The other girls parted down the middle at the sound of her voice, their heads whipping back and forth between the two.

Ichigo smiled at her, sticking an arm out and wiggling his fingers to motion he to latch onto it. She took small hesitant steps forward, reaching out with one small hand to grab onto his. Instead of simply grasping hands, Ichigo reached under her arms to lift her on his hip. Nel looked at him with shock, before quickly grinning. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and although Ichigo knew it should have felt awkward to pick up a sort-of stranger, he felt quite comfortable carrying the small girl. He brought one hand up to ruffle her hair. Ichigo glared at the kids again, not caring about how old they were, before turning on his heel and walking away. He hated kids who bullied others.

"Itsyugo." They were standing at stoplight, waiting for the crosswalk sign to turn green. Nel had stopped crying now and was staring at him in confusion.

"Yeah?" He looked at her. He decided that he didn't need to carry her now that they were away from the school, so he placed her down. Her hand instantly latched on with his.

"Why arr you 'ere?"

"Well," the light changed and Ichigo began to lead them across the street. He tried to keep his strides short to accommodate Nel's small legs, but she was trotting along side him regardless, her arm swinging his with each step. "Grimmjow is gonna be late again, so he asked me to watch you."

"Where's tha onee-chan from yesterday?"

"Yuzu? I guess she's busy."

"Oh, okay."

Nel didn't have any other questions, and opted to continue swinging their hands. She hummed while they continued to walk, stopping every now and again to tell him a random story from her day at school. Ichigo actually found himself enjoying their small walk to the apartment. Once they were at the actual apartment, Ichigo realized they faced another problem. Grimmjow hadn't given him a key. Ichigo ran his hands along the top of the door frame, checked under the welcome mat, under and in the potted plant, and any other typical places that one usually stashes a spare key, but there was nothing. Ichigo let out a sigh of frustration, a reoccurring theme for the day, before he looked down at a baffled Nel.

"You don't happen to have a key to the apartment, do you?" Nel shook her head.

"Do you know Grimmjow's phone number?" She shook her head again. Ichigo sighed. "How did Yuzu get into the apartment?"

"Onee-chan had a key." Nel was still swinging their connected hands between them.

Ichigo nodded before pulling his cell phone out. He instantly called Yuzu, only to be sent straight to voice mail. He tried it a second time and had the same results. When he had called Karin, she simply that Yuzu was at cram school and hung up before Ichigo could say anything else. Ichigo banged the butt of his phone against his forehead, trying to think of a way to get in the house, but nothing game to mind. He looked down at Nel again; she smiled up at him, despite the confused look on her face. Ichigo looked up and down the hallway, noticing how there were no other sign of life besides the two of them.

"Well, we can't just stay here." Ichigo muttered it to himself, more than to her. There was only one thing he could think of doing in the mean time. "Hey Nel, how would you like to go to my house until Grimmjow comes home?"

Nel's face broke out into a big grin. "Okay! Leths go ta Itsyugo's house!"

Ichigo nodded slowly as he rolled the thought around his head. Taking the girl to his house shouldn't be too bad right? It was only an hour walk to his house, since he didn't have money for a taxi or the bus. Yeah, what was the problem bringing her there? He was sure they still had some of Yuzu's old toys that could occupy Nel for a while, and if anything, she may just fall asleep while waiting for Grimmjow. Not that Grimmjow specified how late he was staying out. Ichigo sighed as he turned to walk back out of the apartment complexes and towards the main road.

"Itsyugo" A tired voice wafted into his ear
Ichigo looked to his side after walking half way, Nel claimed she was tired and wanted Ichigo to carry her. He really needed to work on his ability to say no. "Yeah?"

"How do ya an onii-chan know eachotha?" She looked up at him with
hopeful eyes.
"Oh, well," How was Ichigo supposed to explain that her brother used to
beat him up? "We...we used to go to elementary school together, before he moved."
"Onii-chan an Itsyugo were friens?"

"Well, not exactly." Ichigo noticed the confusion. He chuckled a little. "We didn't get along, actually."

Nel scrunched her eyebrows. "Did onii-chan fight with Itsyugo?"

"Yeah, he did." Ichigo found him smiling. For a five year old, Nel was able to scowl exactly like her brother.

"Why doesn onii-chan hurt Itsyugo any moar?"

Ichigo merely shrugged. "I've been asking myself that ever since he moved back."

"Maybe because of otouthan!" Nel shifted so that she was arms lengths away from Ichigo, her small hands still wrapped around his neck. "Mama alwayth told me that otouthan and onii-chan got into fighsth. Thassth why mama wanted onii-chan and I to move back from Germany."

Ichigo looked down in shock at what little, yet revealing, information the small girl had given him. Germany? He moved to Germany? Ichigo shifted Nel on his hip as she rested her head on his shoulder. He could tell from her breathing that she had fallen asleep. The rest of the walk home, Ichigo pondered what he had just learned. So Grimmjow moved to Germany. He then made the connection that Grimmjow, and presumably Nel, were both half German and half Japanese. Ichigo tried to speculate why the man had to move to a whole other continent in the span of a day, but nothing came to mind. His mind kept drawing back to the question Nel had asked him. Why had Grimmjow stop messing with Ichigo.

Ichigo always figured that if he and Grimmjow were to ever come in contact with one another, Grimmjow would jump at the opportunity to attack the orange haired kid. And yet, Grimmjow hadn't laid a finger on him. Not even a playful punch, though Ichigo couldn't imagine him and Grimmjow ever being in a playful mood together. Every time they saw each other, the atmosphere seemed to tense. When they were younger, Grimmjow used every opportunity to hurt Ichigo in some way. Maybe it was just a phase? Yeah, like how you having orange hair is just a phase. The guy lived to hurt you, and now he doesn't.

Ichigo shifted Nel's weight again, as he drew nearer to the house. Ichigo was tired, from school and Nel, so he didn't noticed the red head that was standing on his front step. That is until he practically ran into him.
"Who's the kid?"
Ichigo looked up and saw his boyfriend standing there. He face was a mixture of a scowl and confusion. Ichigo quickly looked at Nel and then back to the man. "Nel. I'm babysitting."

Before Renji could ask, the front door flew open, revealing a sobbing Isshin. Renji and Ichigo stared at him incredulously, both trying to figure out why the hell goat-face was crying. They watched as his eyes flickered between them and the small, sleeping girl. Ichigo saw his sobs get harder.

"OH MISAKI! How did out beautiful son Ichigo conceive a child with another male!" Isshin wailed even harder. "Who knew red and orange made green!"

Ichigo scowled. While still holding Nel, he planted a kick to his father's face. "Shut up, goat-face. Renji and I didn't have a kid. Idiot." Ichigo stepped over his father's fallen form. "Two men can't have a kid." Nel stirred a little in his arms, but didn't wake.

Renji smirked at the man lying on the floor, no matter how many times he had seen it, it still impressed him to see his boyfriend kick his father's ass like nothing. He followed the other male into the living room, where Ichigo was lying Nel down. "Who are ya babysittin' for?"

Ichigo stopped. For some reason, it didn't feel right to tell Renji about Grimmjow. "Just someone I know from elementary school. He moved away and came back recently, and he needed some help." There, that wasn't a complete lie.

"He?"

"Yeah, it's a he."

"Do I know him?" Renji was using his slight height advantage to tower over Ichigo.

"Like, I said, he was from elementary school." Ichigo knew the look in Renji's eyes: his jealousy was quickly making itself apparent. Ichigo sighed and wrapped his arms around the other's waist. "He's an asshole; you have nothing to worry about."

Renji draped his arms around Ichigo's shoulders, letting out a sigh. "That doesn't make me feel any better."

Ichigo scowled softly. "And why not?"

Renji grinned and chuckled, but Ichigo could still see the jealousy ranging in his eyes. Renji pushed their foreheads together. "You used to call me an asshole."

"Oh!"

The two looked up, Ichigo jumping slightly and pushing Renji arms lengths away. As comfortable as his family was with his choice in sexual preferences, he still didn't feel the need to present them with the image of it. It wasn't that he was ashamed with being gay, no. It was more of the fact that he always imagined a relationship between two people. There was no need for the whole world to see what went on behind closed doors. Not that Renji particularly liked this, considering he enjoyed PDA more than the normal person. The two stared as Yuzu walked into the house, a bag of groceries in each arm.

"Ichi-nii, what are you doing here? I thought you were babysitting for Grimm-chan?"

Ichigo sighed and took a side step, revealing the sleeping Nel on the couch. "We couldn't get into the house, so we came here. Do you happen to have the key?"

"Ah, no." She placed the bags on the counter and began to pull out the different items. "I left it there, because Grimm-chan said he only needed me for the night. Did you try calling him?"

"No, I don't have his nu-" Just then, Ichigo's phone rang. He looked down at the caller id, confused at why he didn't know the number. "Hello?"

"Where the fuck are ya?"

Ichigo recognized the voice instantly. "Grimmjow?"

"Where's Nel, berry?
"We're at my house. How the hell did you get my number?"

"Yuzu gave it to me." There was a sigh on the other line. "You still live at the same shit hole, right?"

Ichigo growled at the insult. "Yeah, I do. And don't call it that, asshole."

"Tch." Grimmjow chuckled into the line. The deep rumble caused a certain twang inside Ichigo. "Whatever, I'll be right there."

Grimmjow hung up without another word, leaving Ichigo staring at his phone at the result of his brief phone call. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel, elated that Grimmjow not only knew his number, and remembered where he lived, or if he should be pissed at Grimmjow's snarky-ass attitude. The latter. I am not a girl who gets excited over that. Ichigo scowled at his phone, causing Renji to raise a tattoo eyebrow at the sight.

"Who was that?"

"Nel's brother. He's on his way to pick her up." Ichigo slid his phone back into his pocket and threw a glance at Nel, who was still sleeping.

"Grimm-chan is coming here?" Yuzu's eyes widened. "Oh no, I have to make food! Renji-kun, are you staying for dinner as well?"

Renji scratched his head, "Yeah, probably." It wasn't like he was one to deny free food.

Yuzu instantly went to work. Ichigo watched her for a moment, before heading towards the couch to sit next to Nel. After he had turned on the T.V., he noticed that Renji was still standing in the middle of the living room. Ichigo stared at him questioningly.

"Are you not going to sit down?" Ichigo cocked an eyebrow when he noticed that Renji didn't move. "What's wrong?"

Renji's eyes flickered to Nel and then back to Ichigo. Ichigo could practically see Renji squirming. "I don't like kids."

Ichigo stared at him in shock. After all this time that he had known his boyfriend, he did know that small, yet vital piece of information. "You don't like kids?"

Renji scowled. "Yes, is that so hard to believe?"

Ichigo scowled back. "Why don't you like kids?"

"They're sticky, the smell, they don't clean up after themselves, and they're loud." He crosses his arms over this chest as he snarled slightly at Nel's sleeping form.

"Tch." Ichigo rubbed the small of Nel's back. "You're aware that you just listed off traits that described you, right?" Renji's look hardened. "I'm kidding. Come here and sit down, she's sleeping, she's not going to bother you." Renji threw one more look before walking towards the couch, sitting on the opposite side of Ichigo.

As soon as Renji sat down he wrapped an arm around Ichigo's shoulder pulling him closer to his body and away from Nel. Ichigo's mind kept running back to the thought that Renji didn't like kids. He wasn't sure why it bothered him so much. He knew two men couldn't have kids. If him and Renji ever got serious enough to become long term partners, would Renji mind adopting a kid? In the middle of his thought, Grimmjow came to mind. As much as it seemed that Nel annoyed the crap out of him, he was surprisingly gentle with her. But that doesn't mean he liked kids. Nel is more of an obligation. Ichigo sighed, trying to push the thoughts of kids (and Grimmjow) from his mind. He was too young to be thinking of that kind of stuff anyways.

The two had been sitting on the couch watching a movie that was showing on TV when the doorbell rang. Ichigo was making his way to stand up when Yuzu pranced from the kitchen claiming she would answer it. Ichigo listened to the sound of muffled voices, one clearly louder than the other. At the sound of rising voices, Ichigo stood up from his seat and began to walk towards the hallway. When he turned, he felt his body collide with an overly familiar form. He took a step back and stared up at the smirking blue-haired man.

"Ya know berry, you should stop runnin' inta me like that. We don't want somethin' ta happen like last time." His smirk grew bigger when he saw Ichigo flush a deep red, his mind instantly thinking to their encounter before Grimmjow had left.

"Shut it, Grimm."

Grimmjow's smirk only grew at Ichigo's embarrassment. "Whatever. Where's Nel?"

Ichigo turned around and started walking towards the couch. "She fell asleep on the way here. She's been knocked out ever since. Want me to wake her?" Ichigo's hands were moments away from shaking her when he heard Grimmjow exclaim.

"No!" Ichigo looked over at the man behind him. Grimmjow rubbed a hand over his face. Now that Ichigo looked at him, he did look pretty tired. "Don't wake her. You saw how long it took to make her fall asleep yesterday. Just pass her to me. Carefully."

Just as Ichigo was passing the still sleeping form there was a loud sob. Four heads snapped in the direction of the sound. Isshin was standing there crying again. "Oh Misaki, how I was wrong. Orange and blue clearly make green. Oh how could I have failed our son. No one to pass on our family name. We'll have no grandchildren."

Ichigo nearly dropped Nel at the words. After passing Nel to Grimmjow, Ichigo stomped over to this father and landing a clean punch across his jaw. No one in the room had seemed very surprised at the action. Isshin brought a hand to his face and tenderly touched the raw skin. Yuzu yelped as she ran to the freezer to pull out a ready ice pack. She ran to her father and pressed it against the skin. He sunk to his knees and wrapped his arms around his daughter's waist.

"Oh Yuzu, what have I done to deserve such mistreatment from my children."

"It's okay otousan!"

"Stupid father. HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU? Two men can not have a kid. What kind of idiot father are you?" Ichigo shook his head as he looked at this pathetic dad. Sometimes he still couldn't imagine being related to the fool.

"Your dad hasn't changed at all." Grimmjow stopped talking when he noticed Nel starting to wake in his arms.

"Onii-chan?" She looked over at him sleepily, rubbing a small fist across her eye. "Where arr we?" She looked around the room, landing on two unfamiliar faces before seeing Ichigo. A slow smile crept onto her face. "Itsygo."

"Hey Nel." Ichigo walked forward and rustled her hair, causing him stand rather close to Grimmjow.

Renji watched from the sidelines. The whole exchange, seeing some unknown blue-haired man, his father's accusations, the blue-haired recognition of Ichigo's dad, and Ichigo's affection to the small girl, everything seemed so foreign. He watched as his boyfriend staring down at the small girl appreciatively, his eyes glancing over at the blue-haired man every now and again. Something was not right about this picture. Renji felt out of place, which was odd, considering that the Kurosaki's was practically home.

"Jaggerjaques?"

Grimmjow looked down at Ichigo's now standing dad. He scoffed. "Kurosaki."

Renji looked at the exchange between the young and older male. He didn't understand it, but there was some sort of confliction between the two. His eyes went back to Ichigo, who was watching the exchange of glances as well, except there was something different in his eyes. Instead of sharing the same rivalry as his father, he actually looked like he was torn. Torn between the blueberry and his father? Renji hated feeling like he was out of some unknown loop, and chose this time to clear his throat.

Grimmjow's eyes were the first to land on his. "Who the fuck are ya?"

Renji narrowed his eyes and took a step towards Ichigo. He wrapped his arm around his waist and pulled the orange-haired man closer to him. "Renji Abarai, Ichigo's boyfriend." Grimmjow laughed. Is he actually laughing at the statement? Renji was growling now. "What?"

Grimmjow continued to laugh, subduing it briefly to speak. "Nothing. Just forgot that the berry was a fairy."

Renji growled again. "What are you talking about?"

Before Grimmjow spilled about their little…mishap that had occurred nine years previously, Ichigo chose to speak. He turned to Renji and placed a calming hand on his chest, he was quite thankful that he was the more level headed on in the couple. "Nothing, Renji. He's just trying to get a reaction out of it. He's an asshole."

Ichigo heard Grimmjow scoff behind him. "Nothing, my ass."

Renji growled again, but Ichigo patted his chest, trying to distract him. Yuzu chose this as an opportunity to announce that dinner was ready. She offered an invitation for Grimmjow and Nel to stay, but Grimmjow bluntly refused, despite Nel's protest. Before they left, Yuzu insisted on packing them some, so that they'd have something to eat. After grabbing the container from her, Grimmjow stalked off down the hallway. As much as Ichigo didn't want to walk the man out, he found his feet moving out of his boyfriend's grip, to follow the former. Grimmjow was already at the door when he heard Ichigo fall into step behind him. He turned around and smirked at the sight of the embarrassed and angry berry behind him.

"Aw, did you want to walk me out berry? Maybe send me off home with a goodnight kiss?" He hefted Nel a little higher on his hip, wincing slightly as she tugged too hard on a lock of hair.

"Fuck you, Grimm. I'm just making sure that you have all of Nel's things." Ichigo glanced at Nel, who was smiling back at him. He couldn't explain it, but he was quickly becoming attached to her.

"Yeah, whatever."

Grimmjow threw open the door and walked out of the house without another word. Ichigo continued to stand there as he watched Grimmjow settle Nel in her car seat, which looked completely out of place in his Mercedes. Ichigo watched as Grimmjow made his way to his side of the car, flicking him off, before climbing into the driver's seat. Ichigo scowled, but remained standing there until the car sped off down the street, and turned on to the main road. He let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding before closing the door and walking back to the house. He instantly met two sets of scowls.

"Who the hell is he?" Renji was the first to speak, but that didn't really surprise Ichigo.

"I told you, I know him from elementary school." Ichigo made his way to the dinner table, sitting down next to Renji as he helped himself to a plate of food.

"More like he beat you up in elementary school." Isshin looked at his son with a hard expression that seemed out of place on his face.

"He used to beat you up?" Renji was growling again.

Ichigo shrugged, as much as it agitated him, that was when he was younger, and he refused to remember the experiences. Sure, getting your ass kicked on a day by day basis wasn't exactly Ichigo's idea of fun, but there was nothing he could do about it now. It was nine years later, and as big of an asshole Grimmjow still was, he hadn't made any attempt to cause any physical pain to him. But then again, it's only been a few days. Plus, he seems to get more amusement causing you emotional turmoil. Ichigo subtly shook his head he tried to remove images of Grimmjow from his mind. You will not like him again. It's not again, if you never stopped. Ichigo shook his head a little more forcefully before shoveling some food into his mouth.

"Why didn't you tell me he came back?" Isshin was still staring at Ichigo when he looked up.

"I didn't think it mattered."

"Is his dad back?" Isshin's voice hardened for a second.

"I don't know dad." Ichigo wiped his mouth, his appetite was gone. "I've seen him like three times so far. Two of the times I got stuck babysitting. We don't really talk."

He began to push away from the table. For some reason he really didn't want to deal with his father's inquiry at the moment. Renji noticed Ichigo's move to leave the table and stuffed a few last bites into his mouth before he stepped up from the table as well. He made his way to follow, Ichigo up the stairs, but was stopped by a hand on his chest. Renji looked up at Ichigo quizzically.

"Renji, I'm tired. How about you go home now? I'll see you tomorrow."

Without another word, Ichigo turned on the stairs, leaving a dumbfounded Renji at the foot of the stairs. Renji shot a quick look at Ichigo's family, who all turned around quickly pretending they hand't seen the exchange. Renji scowled as he grabbed his bag from the floor and made his way out the door. There was something about the Grimmjow guy that he didn't understand. Him and Ichigo clearly had a history, and were connected to Ichigo's family somehow. Renji growled again at the thought of being out of the loop. He was going to find out about this Grimmjow guy, something about he wasn't right.

Hello my dear readers!

This chapter is ridiculously long (5826 words to be exact!)
I have no idea why it was so long, but it is!

Plus it had a lot of dialogue, which I feel like I'm very awkward at writing :3

I've also took the executive decision to change the rating to T for now. Since nothing, sexual has occured yet, I figured it's safe to let non-M readers read. BUT THE RATING WILL CHANGE IN LATER CHAPTERS! I'm just not sure how far ahead the rating is going to change.

I really like where this story is going, and I've had some ideas brewing up soooooon :D

Also! Thank you to all who review/storyalert/favorite. It makes me so happy when you guys give a positive responses :)

Quicknote: I start my first year of college (ohhh how exciting) on Monday, so I'm not sure how frequent updates are going to be :(

OH AND SPAZZ MOMENT: Did everyone see how FRICKING GOOD Ichigo looked in the latest chapter of bleach? I was practically drooling at the sight of him.