Chapter Twenty Six: Solid Gold Part One
"I don't give a fuck. I wanna go home. I hate this place." Grimmjow whined almost pathetically and Ichigo rolled his eyes.
"You have to stay until they clear you. This is for…."
"If you say this is for my own good one more time I'll fuckin' kill you."
Ichigo rolled his eyes and shifted in his seat, flipping the page of the textbook he was reviewing as he tried to ignore the disgruntled patient. He had another test the following week that he needed to study for and Grimmjow was making it very difficult with his near constant whining.
"Just shut up and let me study or I'll leave." He muttered dryly.
"At least you get to leave. I'm stuck all day in this fuckin' bed with these stupid women coming to poke and prod at me every five minutes. I swear one of them tried to feel me up once."
"Yeah right."
"You don't know! You always ignore them when they come in here. Yer nose stuck in that damn book…."
Ichigo rolled his eyes again and closed his book, standing and leaning over the side of the bed. He placed his lips near Grimmjow's ear. "Quit complaining and I'll reward you, alright?"
Grimmjow grinned, easily pacified by Ichigo's idea of rewards. He had been in the hospital almost three days now and every day, without fail, Grimmjow would provoke those very words from his newly dubbed lover. He wasn't sure if Ichigo had caught on yet what he was doing, or if he hadn't what he would do when he did, but right now he didn't care. If he shut his own mouth that beautiful mouth of Ichigo's would find new and interesting ways to please him while laying prone in a hospital bed. He was half tempted to ask to stay longer but the idea of getting better and finally having that make up sex that was sure to be on it's way was too tantalizing. He wanted Ichigo naked and panting beneath him again so bad it hurt. Just the thought of it had his hand snaking up to Ichigo's neck and pulling him closer, his teeth nipping at his bottom lip.
"Really?"
Ichigo licked his abused lips and smiled. They both knew his answer to that. Ever since the slightly awkward establishment of their relationship Ichigo had felt a confidence he hadn't felt in ages. He let his tongue slide over Grimmjow's upper lip before easing it's way inside his mouth to dance with it's pair. Grimmjow groaned and tightened his grip on the back of Ichigo's neck. Was it just him or was Ichigo getting much better at kissing; at everything?
"Oh God, they're doin' it again." Nnoitra complained from the door loudly.
Grimmjow growled, unintentionally biting Ichigo's tongue harshly. Ichigo pulled away and lifted his hand to his mouth, checking for blood even as he blushed brightly. Grimmjow turned angry eyes to the two figures that had intruded on them, not for the first time, and snapped.
"The fuck'er you two here for?"
Shinji rolled his eyes and lifted a full plastic bag. "Ichi wanted to spend more time with ya today since he can't tomorrow so he asked me to bring his stuff fer work. Jerk." He muttered the last part under his breath and inched away from Nnoitra who was standing far too close to him.
It only bothered him slightly now, seeing the two of them together, but he wasn't exactly in the best of moods that day. Earlier Nnoitra had 'stopped by' for the express purpose, or so Shinji assumed, to annoy the hell out of him. It had been just after noon and Shinji was right in the middle of drying his hair after a long hot shower, or at least as hot and as long as his tiny water heater allowed. He hadn't heard the first couple of knocks on the door because of his hair dryer at first so when they turned to pounding he set the blow dryer down and went to answer it. There stood Nnoitra with a huge grin on his face, the sun gilding the edges of his tight black t-shirt and long black hair. Shinji frowned.
"Why are you here?"
Nnoitra shrugged and pushed his way inside. "Just stoppin' by." He said as he plopped on the couch.
Shinji shook his head, still holding the door wide open. "No. Get out."
"Nah, I'm already sittin'." Nnoitra looked up at the ceiling and sighed. "Yer apartment makes me feel huge ya know."
"Get out!"
"I said, I'm already sittin'."
Shinji let out a growl of frustration, slammed the door and stomped to the bathroom, slamming that door as well and locking himself inside. Why that man had chosen to drive him insane he would never know. Most likely because he would kill him first. He finished up what he was doing and dressed, only then realizing that he had answered to door in nothing but a thin pair of cotton pajama pants that were almost too big for him and barely clung to his hips. Staring at the closed bathroom door he debated on staying in there until Nnoitra got bored and left, but decided against it. If he took too long the idiot man might just come and rip the door off the hinges. As it was he could barely afford the rent. His land lady might get a tad bit upset if he caused a bunch of damage to the place on top of things. With a deep sigh he opened the door and stepped out into his tiny living room, his eyes going straight to the back of Nnoitra's head.
"What the hell do ya want?" He asked, taking the few steps needed to walk to his kitchen.
Nnoitra shrugged. "Bored."
"Dontcha have anythin' better ta do than annoy the shit outta me?" He asked as he filled a pot with water and set it to boil on his hot plate.
"Nope." Nnoitra said with a grin. He had in fact finished up with what he could get done that morning and had to kill some time before he could follow up on a few more leads later that evening.
Shinji worked in silence, setting packaged ramen noodles to boil for his lunch and staring into the water as they did so, anything to avoid talking and interacting with the man currently flipping through one of Shinji's favorite books; a present he had received from his father on his fifth birthday. He grit his teeth when he felt Nnoitra come and stand behind him, looking over his shoulder and sniffing.
"Smells good. Where's mine." He asked with a hopeful look.
"Not here." Shinji replied snootily as he turned off the burner and added the seasoning package to the water and noodles.
"But I'm hungry too." Nnoitra said as he followed Shinji back in to the living area.
"I don't care. If yer so hungry, leave and go forage fer yer own food." Shinji sat near his coffee table and refused to look the other in the eye. He came there for food and to annoy him?
"Tch." Nnoitra plopped back down on the couch, making himself at home.
He watched Shinji slurp his noodles hungrily and licked his lips when Shinji caught a stray drop of soup at the corner of his mouth, a peek of silver shining at him from the middle of his tongue. Nnoitra grinned.
"Hey, I got'an idea. Let's fuck."
Shinji choked on his noodles, spitting soup all over the table as he tried to breathe. He wiped his face with the back of his hand and shot Nnoitra a look of incredulity.
"Get out of my house."
"Nah, nah. Hear me out."
"No! I'm not sleeping with ya, ya giant freak!"
Nnoitra rolled his eyes and sat up straight, leaning closer to Shinji as he placed his bony elbows on his knees and smirked.
"I'm bored and horny. Yer bored and horny. What's the big deal?"
"I ain't that horny!" Shinji stood up. "Get out of my house, damn it."
"Don't give me that shit. Ya have ta be after yer little boyfriend fucked ya over. It's been almost a week."
"First of all, Shuuhei wasn't my boyfriend. Second of all, I wouldn't fuck ya if ya were the last dick in the world! Now get out of my house."
Nnoitra made a low noise in the back of his throat and lunged, catching Shinji on the shoulder and pushing him to the ground, pinning him with his own body. Shinji struggled, twisting his body and bucking his hips in an attempt to get free.
"Get the fuck off me, asshole."
Nnoitra laughed and ground his groin into Shinji's sensually. Shinji shook his head and pushed at Nnoitra with his cast but found the man a lot stronger than he looked. Like a marble statue had come to life and fallen on him. Nnoitra grinned and leaned forward, his tongue flicking the side of Shinji's neck as he again pressed their centers together. Shinji stopped, his eyes going wide at both what he felt between their bodies and the small sound that had come from him. Nnoitra pulled back and smiled triumphantly, his single eyebrow raising.
"Last dick in tha world, eh?"
Shinji opened his mouth to retort, that was only a reflexive sound, nothing more, when his cell phone rang. He looked over at it, seeing it was out of reach, and tried once again to get free.
"Where ya goin'?" He asked as he grabbed both Shinji's wrists and held them above his head.
"I need to answer my phone. Get off me. God, do ya have a hole in yer head or what?"
"Technically or figuratively?" Nnoitra asked, making Shinji pause at his use of such big words properly.
It was enough of a gap in composure for Nnoitra to slip his tongue inside to tickle Shinji's ear. Shinji twitched at the feel of the wet muscle laving gently against one of his most favored spots and doubled his efforts at escape.
"G-get off me, freak." He tried again to push at Nnoitra's chest and found it as unmoving as before.
"Nah, I like it here too much fer that."
With a growl Shinji rolled his eyes and grit his teeth. Shifting his hips a bit to free one of his legs, he wrapped it around Nnoitra's thigh. With a quick twist of his body, Shinji was out from under the larger man and had him pinned, both hands held behind his back and one hand pressing his face into the threadbare rug.
"Wh- how…?" Stuttered a shocked Nnoitra.
"Ya don't grow up with Ichigo as a best friend and not learn how ta get outta tight spots." He leaned forward and whispered tauntingly. "You'll never be as good as Ichi is at holdin' me down."
With one bony knee to the back of Nnoitra's thigh, Shinji jumped up to grab his phone. Nnoitra frowned and sat up, not at all pleased with how that situation had turned out. He really thought he might have had Shinji when he had let that little moan slip out. With a sigh she stood to his full height and rubbed the back of his leg where Shinji's knee had pressed. If that little Blondie thought he had won he had another thing coming. Nnoitra never gave up on the things he wanted. Even as they stood in the hospital room, both envious of the couple by the bed, he knew that he would try again. And again, and even again if he had to, in order to get what he wanted.
Shinji dropped the bag of Ichigo's things on the floor by the window and turned to leave, dutifully ignoring Nnoitra as he did so.
"Oi, where are you going?" Ichigo called out. He had barely seen his friend since Grimmjow had been stabbed and he was starting to feel bad for it.
Shinji turned and cocked his hip. "I got things ta do. I'll see ya later."
"Wait! Karin said Yuzu wants you to come to dinner with us tomorrow." Ichigo said, stepping away from the bed and ignoring the glare Grimmjow sent to him.
"Oh." Shinji smiled at the unexpected invitation. "Okay. I'll see ya before then, then."
With a quick wave over his shoulder Shinji left the room with two men glaring after him. Once he was gone the glares were focused on Ichigo. Ichigo frowned and crossed his arms over his chest.
"What?"
"Stupid blonde shit face." Nnoitra muttered darkly before leaving the room.
Ichigo pursed his lips and switched his gaze to Grimmjow's narrowed one.
"So yer gonna go eat out with the Blonde…."
"Oh don't even start. Shinji is like part of my family and Yuzu wants him there too." He stopped and smirked, letting his hands fall to his sides as he leaned back against the wall. "You're jealous."
Grimmjow's mouth fell open before he snapped it shut again. "I am not."
"You are too. You're jealous that I'm doing things without you and that I'll have fun doing it too." He leaned on the edge of the bed and continued to smirk. "Or is it that you want to meet more of my family too?"
Grimmjow's glare intensified. "Are you leaving yet?"
Ichigo laughed patronizingly and pressed his lips lightly to Grimmjow's forehead even as Grimmjow tried to swat him away. He was not jealous of the Blonde. No way in hell. And he didn't want to meet Ichigo's family. Not really. Not yet. He frowned at the thought was shaking hands with Ichigo's father and sitting through an interrogation of his relationship with his son. He wasn't really looking forward to that at all. Pushing the idea out of his mind he huffed out a sigh and turned his head away from Ichigo. Ichigo giggled and took the opportunity to nibble Grimmjow's exposed neck and ear lobe. Grimmjow shivered from the attention and closed his eyes.
"So maybe I can just reward you for being a good guy now and you can stop complaining about it all, ne?" Ichigo whispered seductively in his ear.
Grimmjow grinned. Now there was an idea. Just before he could wrap an eager hand around the back of Ichigo's neck the door to the room opened and the smiling nurse walked in.
"Fuckin' goddamned interruptions…." Grimmjow mumbled as Ichigo straightened up quickly and blushed, resuming his seat and grabbing his book to hide his face.
Shinji looked over his shoulder to make sure no one was following him and took the stairs up to the third floor. He had been up there multiple times recently to visit Shuuhei but had chickened out before going into the room. He had found out from one of the nurses that one of Shuuhei's lungs had been punctured by the bullet and his scapula had been shattered. They had taken him off life support the day before and he seemed to be doing fine breathing on his own so far. He just hadn't woken up yet.
Shinji checked the hallway, finding it thankfully empty, and made his way to the door he knew led to his room. Taking a deep breath he pushed the door open and stepped inside.
The room was dark but empty save for the bed in the corner. The heart monitor beeped rhythmically and the IV dripped steadily. Shinji swallowed as he approached the bed and looked down at Shuuhei's almost pained expression, remembering another time, seemingly another life, that he had watched a dark haired man laying prone in a hospital bed after a gunshot wound. That victim hadn't been so lucky.
Shinji had been barely five years old when his father had taken him to the park on one of his rare days off. He worked in a large law firm in Tokyo and was barely home in time to help Shinji's mother tuck him in at night. But without fail there he was, smiling that grin of his and kissing his son's forehead.
That morning as they were gathered in the kitchen for breakfast he looked down the table at his son and let the wide Cheshire grin that Shinji had inherited stretch his face and asked, "What would you like to do today, Shin-chan?"
Shinji smiled, a mirror image of his father's, and sat up as straight as he could in the chair.
"I wanna go ta the park, Papa." Shinji replied gleefully, mixing German and Japanese into a new and exciting language his father jokingly called Germanese.
Shinji's mother, who was fully five months pregnant, had a doctor's appointment that morning to determine the sex of the baby. Since his father didn't want to know that answer, father and son drove off together to enjoy some male bonding time. The day was bright and sunny, a light breeze catching in the leaves of the trees and making them sway as if waving down at the small blonde haired child riding on his father's shoulders. Shinji loved his father more than anything else in the world; more than his mother whom he saw as a fairytale queen.
"Faster! Run faster, papa!" Shinji squealed, his hands fisted in his father's hair.
He winced but smiled and began to trot faster, Shinji bouncing and giggling gleefully. If only he had known before he left the house that morning that his whole life would come crashing down around him in the space of a few hours.
They were playing a rousing game of tag, Shinji running from his 'it' father, when a woman approached them, a large, tight smile plastered on her otherwise beautiful face.
"Mr. Hirako?" She called out, stopping close to the pair.
Shinji's father stopped and grabbed Shinji's hand.
"Yes, may I help you?"
"You represented my husband in our divorce. I lost everything to him." Her tight smile never changed but her eyes went flat and glossed over. "I had to move in with my sister and her husband. I have nothing. No money, no car, no income. He even got our shitty little brat." Her eyes flicked down to Shinji and he coward behind his father's leg. This woman was scary.
"I'm sorry things didn't work out in your favor, Ma'am, but I'm not really sure why you're telling me this." He backed up a step, his hand tightening on Shinji's as he pulled him further behind him.
The woman giggled. "I was on my way to kill myself today." She started, reaching into her purse. "But I just got a great idea."
Without warning she pulled a gun from her bag and aimed it at Shinji's father. She titled her head to the side, everything seemed to slow down and a lethargic tone made everything easier to follow while amplifying the sounds and colors tenfold, and let out another giggle that made Shinji shiver. And then there was a loud pop followed almost instantly by another. And another. And another. Shinji's father staggered forward and dropped to his knees.
"Papa?" Shinji's tiny voice asked in a whisper.
He looked down into his son's eyes as he swayed dangerously, a small smile tugging at his mouth as his eyes rolled closed and he finally fell to the ground with a sickening thud.
"PAPA!" Shinji screamed and everything sped up to lightning speed.
Some was shouting, loud piercing wails were coming closer, he was held close by unfamiliar arms. He was moved, and then he was sitting everything changing color from green and brown and blue, to stark white and stainless steel. He blinked when he heard his mother and hugged her tight when he was swept into her warm comforting arms.
"My baby. My baby." She repeated over and over into his ear, the mantra calming him enough to lull his fragile mind into a light sleep.
He woke some time later alone on a hard plastic chair, his mother's purse cushioning his head. He blinked and sat up, searching the small waiting room for his mother and frowning when he didn't immediately find her. It took a quick peek down the hallway to find her, one hand over her mouth and the other wrapped around her middle as she stared through a tiny window looking into the room his father was in. She didn't notice when he came up beside her and stood on his tip toes to see inside.
His father lay there on the bed, all different sized tubes sticking in and coming out of him. His head was bandaged heavily and so was his torso making it hard to see his face and Shinji squinted his eyes to try and see him better. A steady beeping sound came form the room and his own heart seemed to adjust to it instantly. And then it skipped. When it skipped a third time the nurses rushed in, crowding around his father and blocking his view of him. His mother let out a choking sob and shook her head.
"No." She whispered, the movements of her head increasing in intensity. "NO!" She screamed, beating on the window before bolting for the door all the while screaming for her husband.
Shinji watched as a few nurses held his mother back, restrained her from getting in the way of the doctor and nurses trying desperately to save her husband's life. Everything went still and over the loud panting from his mother the assembled crowed heard the unmistakable sound of the heart monitor flat lining.
"Clear!" A man's voice called out and the monitor beeped once. "CLEAR!" Again the monitor beeped once before going flat once more.
Shinji lost count of how many times he heard those words, heard the sound that followed those words, before it stopped, the doctor stepping back and shaking his head sadly. He turned around and faced Shinji's mother, a look of apology written clearly on his face.
"Gomen nasai."
Shinji never forgot the stricken look on his mother's face as she threw back her head and screamed, falling to her knees and covering her face with her hands. Deep heaving sobs tore from her throat and made Shinji's stomach rise. His grandmother had come to watch him after that, his mother having been taken to a private room to calm down. Some time during the night she started hemorrhaging and lost her baby. Shinji didn't see her for three days, his grandmother had told him firmly that the baby had been a girl and would be buried near their father. He shouldn't cry. He should be strong for his mother. He was the man of the house now, after all.
Shinji shook his head to clear the memories away and blinked down at the bed and the young man that was lying in it. He was a bit pale and there was a fading bruise of the side of his head, most likely from the fall to the ground. Other than the disturbing tubes coming from his arm and the wires connected at various points on his body, he looked for all the world asleep, if not slightly pained. Shinji wiped at the silent tears that had wet his cheeks and sniffled, placing a hand on Shuuhei's shoulder and leaning forward to whisper in his ear.
"I can't forgive ya for what ya did or helped do, but ya can't die. Please. Don't die."
He stood up straight once more and stuck his hands in his pockets before taking a few steps to the door. He stopped suddenly as the door swung open and looked up into a burgundy pair of eyes belonging to a person he wasn't really ready to confront just yet.
"Wh-what are you doin' here?"
Nnoitra slipped silently into Grimmjow's room and plopped in the chair left by the window. It was late, dark already outside, and he knew that visitors were no longer allowed at this time. Not that that would have stopped him even if he didn't have anything important to say to him.
"Yo, wake up Grimm." He said in a controlled voice. Well he didn't want to get caught after all.
"I am awake, stupid. What do you want?"
"Found out a bit more about what went down. Thought ya might wanna hear but if yer in a bitchy mood I can jus' come back later." He started to stand but stopped when Grimmjow grunted.
"Just tell me."
Nnoitra smiled gleefully. "It's kinda like a story…."
"Wh-what are you doin' here?" The young man with the burgundy eyes breathed, shocked to see the blonde man in his brother's room.
Shinji opened his mouth but found he wasn't able to speak. He closed it and cleared his throat, hoping his voice wouldn't crack and tried again.
"Just tell me why ya guys did it." His voice was low but there was no mistaking that it was heard.
The man standing across from Shinji paled a bit and closed the door behind him.
"It wasn't supposed to be like this, I swear. Shuuhei had some debt to clear and was asked to do a favor. He was supposed to get close to you or Ichigo and…." The man shifted uncomfortably. "And you were easiest to get close to. Look, like I said, I'm really sorry things went down the way they did. It wasn't supposed to be like that." He glanced at the bed and frowned. "Like this." He said, motioning to his brother with his hand.
Shinji shook his head. "That's not good enough. But I don't have the energy to fight ya right now." He stuck his hands back in his pockets and walked slowly to the door, stopping once he had it opened and looking back over his shoulder. "Maybe another time." He said before leaving the room entirely.
It was true, he was exhausted from the memory that had lurched forward the instant he saw Shuuhei. He couldn't handle any more emotional upheaval that evening. With a sigh he left the hospital and made his way back o his apartment.
"So we got this little snot nosed brat, right? And he gets all hooked on the happy pills. Starts sellin' on the side for a bit extra cash, but whoops, he ingests more than he sells and he suddenly finds himself in a shit load of debt. Little bro tries ta help out but gets the shit beat outta him for his troubles. Then a deal is made. One day a favor was gonna be asked of the little druggie, one that he couldn't deny. So some years pass and the kid one day gets a call from a dude. 'Got a job fer ya.' the dude says and the kid doesn't say no. What's the job? Get cozy with the Blonde or the Strawberry. Feel 'em out. Find out which of 'em's gonna be easier to use. Blondie fit that description better than the Bitch so kid sucks up to him, plays at being gay, even fools around a bit with him to prove that he goin' all out. Then he gets another call. 'Separate them and bring me the Blonde.' So he asks Blondie to go out with him for a bit of the freaky dancin' shit. Little bro wants ta help and offers to slip both the Bitch and Blondie somethin' ta make them a bit easier to manage. A few moments of slight of hand and drinks're spiked. Blondie gets carted off to be seduced, ends up almost getting fucked up side the bathroom wall before passing out and being carried outside. The Bitch gets a little clingy on the dance floor before havin' a small panic attack and runnin' outside to see none other than the Blonde and the ex druggie. We already know what happens from there."
Nnoitra sat back in the chair, pleased with his version of the story, and smiled at Grimmjow.
"So they were just pawns and we still have no idea what the guy who wants me dead is gonna do next?" He asked, his head starting to hurt.
"Basically."
"Get out."
"But…."
"I said, get out. I'm tired. I need my rest, I just got stabbed ya know."
Nnoitra stood and rolled his eye. "Yeah, yeah. Freakin' pussy. I was just letting ya know what I found out taday."
"By the way. What did you do to the guy who told you all this?" Grimmjow asked, his curiosity suddenly piqued at the idea.
Nnoitra let a wide grin encompass his face and shrugged. "I thought I might fuck with this one a bit. Might be fun."
Grimmjow chuckled even though it made his side burn and relaxed back on the bed as Nnoitra left him alone for the night. At least someone was having fun with all this mess.
A/N Wow, that was kinda depressing, ne? And to think I wrote the rough draft of this on Christmas day... Anyway:
Change of Plans...
I mentioned to some of you here and on my other post sites that I was planning on making like a sequel to SBB, but I think I may have to change that up a bit. Since I decided to make SBB longer, I can't really "hurry up and do" the sequel, but it still needs to get done. The solution? I'm thinkin' a story within a story. So for the next few chapters, while Grimmkitty is healing up and Ichigo is studying and spending time with his newly returned family, we will start to focus the story a bit more on another interesting development. That's not to say that there won't be any GrimmIchi juiciness, it just won't be the main focus for a bit. Not too long though, as the sequel I had planned on doing wasn't going to be very long anyway, but long enough to get a few things established. So for that I will be titling the next few chapters as follows:
Chapter --: Solid Gold Part --
I hope that isn't too confusing for anyone and I hope no one gets upset by it.
Hope you all had a good holiday :D:D
~Penny