Chapter Forty Eight

Nnoitra squinted his eye opened and groggily looked around the room he was in. He vaguely recognized it but his head was pounding so he didn't try too hard to think about it. His jaw hurt and at the moment he wasn't sure why but he didn't dwell on that long either. Something was wiggling in the bed next to him and he frowned, sitting up on his elbows and reaching for the sheet. When he pulled it back enough to see a mass of messy blond hair he let it drop. Oh yeah, that's what happened. He groaned and ran a hand back over his hair, noticing that his eye patch was gone.

"Shit." He muttered as he looked for it around him, trying not to wake the blond. He didn't want him to see him without the patch.

"Don't worry about it. That thing was ripped off hours ago."

Nnoitra's head snapped up in the direction of the voice and Szayel smiled patronizingly at him.

"Can you still see a bit out of that eye or has the sight completely gone now?" He continued as his eyes shifted to Shinji who was beginning to wake up and move around.

"I feel like I got hit by a truck." Shinji groaned, his entire body stiff and sore.

"Close. Nnoi does have some restraint issues."

Shinji cracked an eye open at Szayel and frowned before he looked around the room and sat up completely.

"Where…?"

"You're both at my house. Now, I have presents."

Szayel produced two DVD's in brightly colored jewel cases and handed one to each of them. Nnoitra continued to frown, not quite feeling like himself yet. Shinji rested his elbows on his knees, like Nnoitra still not completely aware of things, and looked at the seemingly black disc.

"What's this?" He asked curiously.

"It's what happened last night. I figure that because of the alcohol and the drugs neither one of you remembers much. Am I correct?"

"I didn't take any drugs." Shinji said stupidly. Now that he was starting to think a little more clearly he recognized some of the after effects of the drug that had been in his system.

Nnoitra growled and reached for his patch, tying it around his head as he spoke. "He dosed us." And as soon as he was sure he wasn't going to make an idiot out of himself he was going to kill that pink haired asshole.

"What?!" Shinji's head whipped around to look at Nnoitra almost accusingly.

"What the fuck's with that look? I didn't do shit!"

"Correct. It was completely my idea so no need to take your vengeance out on poor Nnoi." That sycophantic tone was back in his voice and it made Nnoitra's anger boil. "Although I don't really like thinking of it all as a bad thing. The both of you enjoyed yourselves immensely." He pointed at the DVD in Shinji's hand. "It's all right there."

"You recorded us having sex?"

Szayel smiled. "Oh it was a bit more than just sex. I would never have thought you would be such a match for Nnoi in bed. You really don't look like you can handle someone like him. I'm impressed."

Shinji frowned and avoided Nnoitra's eye. "Where are my clothes?" He asked dully. His head hurt too bad to think about anything any more and all he wanted to do was go home and sleep in his own bed.

Nnoitra, being surprisingly helpful for once, handed him a pile of clothes before reaching for his own.

"Wait, before you leave I must ask the both of you to sign these." Szayel handed small folder each to Nnoitra and Shinji.

"What…?"

"Those are consent forms. I can't very well produce a film without the actors consent. My lawyers would be very angry with me if I did that again."

"You want to sell this?"

Nnoitra tossed the papers on the floor and stood, stepping into his clothes. "I ain't signin' any papers just like I didn't back then."

Szayel scoffed. "Yes, you didn't sign the papers back then but I produced it anyway. Hence the problem with the lawyers. Look. Review the footage first before you decide. You will of course benefit financially from this. The whole light bandage, angry, rough sex thing is sort of in right now and you two fall heavily into that category."

"No." Shinji said as he too stood to dress. "I won't sign either." He didn't bother buttoning his shirt. "I'm goin' home. Please… please don't come near me again."

He didn't bother waiting for anyone before leaving the room. Nnoitra watched him leave and only waited for the door to click closed before he reached out and grabbed Szayel by the neck, slamming him into the wall behind him.

"That was fucked."

Szayel smirked. "Now when you leave him heartbroken he'll have something to remember you by."

His smirk didn't last long and Nnoitra's anger finally snapped. He pulled his fist back and let it fall right in the middle of Szayel's face, a sick crunching sound bringing a smile to his face. Szayel screamed and his hands flew up to his nose, the blood seeping through his fingers.

"By face!"

"I've wanted to do that fer a long time, fuck ass. If you fucked things for me I'll come back and cutcha."

"You broge by dose!"

"Shaddup or I'll break somethin' else!" Nnoitra shouted back as he left the room. His muscles were twitching to do more harm but his brain was sending warning signals out to make him keep walking away. There was no way he was going back to prison and he knew from experience that Szayel could pull whatever strings he needed to see that it happened.

Shinji was standing outside on the porch looking through his pockets for his phone. He had no idea where he was or how he was going to get home and a headache was starting to form from behind his eyes. When the front door opened behind him he stiffened but refused to turn around. He couldn't believe that something like that had happened to him last night but a bigger part of him was ashamed to admit that this hadn't been the first time he had been drugged or secretly video taped. Finally he located his cell phone and flipped it open, trying his best to ignore whoever was behind him. When the scrape of flint on metal was heard and the sharp hiss of paper and tobacco reached him he let himself relax just a little. He could handle Nnoitra.

"Shit it's already two."

"Fuck, I'm supposed to shift change at three." Nnoitra groaned. He so did not want to follow that woman around today. He wanted to go back inside and beat Szayel within an inch of his life, heal him and then do it again.

Shinji looked up at him incredulously. "You have a job?"

"Fuck you I have a job." Nnoitra growled, looking down at the still half dressed blond.

Shinji raised his hands in mock defense. "Geez, no need to get all bitchy. It was just a question." He began to button his shirt and walk to the sidewalk. "So where the hell are we?"

"Better question is do ya have any cash on ya? It's gonna take an hour ta get back to Tokyo by foot."

"Tch, fuck that." He dug back in his pockets for his wallet. "I think I got enough." He muttered.

"Cool, I'll call a cab."

Shinji frowned as he watched Nnoitra make the call, wondering why he was being so… dare he think it, helpful? As soon as the call was placed they continued to walk on in silence to the end of the block to wait. Shinji wasn't looking forward to work that night but at least he didn't have to dance. There was a ton of paperwork that Z had put off and Shinji wanted it done as soon as possible. At the end of the block Nnoitra looked down at him with a scowl before looking away. Shinji frowned and tried to ignore him but when it happened a fourth time he couldn't hold back his curiosity any longer.

"What?"

A single violet eye looked back at him before rolling in his socket. "Look, I ain't good with things like this so I'm only gonna say it once." He paused again and ran a hand back through his hair. "That… I mean it wasn't… If I had known…. So yeah." He cleared his throat and looked resolutely away.

Shinji's eyes widened as Nnoitra struggled to speak and for the first time that day a small smile tugged at his lips. "Are you apologizin'?"

"Tch."

A small giggle bubbled up before Shinji leaned against a street sign and let it all out, his laughter loud in the quiet neighborhood.

"It ain't that fuckin' funny." Nnoitra grumbled, folding his arms over his chest in what was most certainly not a pout.

Shinji didn't reply and continued to laugh. He never thought he'd ever hear anything like that from this man and the way he struggled with it had been just too funny. Irritated Nnoitra pushed Shinji's shoulder, nearly knocking him to the ground.

"Asshole." He muttered when it did little to quell the laughter.

Ichigo woke to his own shivers and the near uncontrollable urge to piss. When he realized where he was he didn't know whether to laugh or groan. When Grimmjow actually did just that next to him he knew he had to get them into bed. He poked Grimmjow in the side and was afforded a loud grunt followed by a glare as his eyes slitted open.

"What?"

"We're still on the bathroom floor. I thought you might like to go to bed." Ichigo replied.

Grimmjow grunted again and pushed himself off the floor, stumbling his way to the bed and cursing loudly when he stepped on one of the cats tails.

"Well get the fuck outta my way then!"

Ichigo giggled and shut the door to relieve himself, shutting off the still running shower and grabbing a pair of underwear before he slipped into bed beside him. It was another five hours before either of them woke again, this time to the house phone ringing. Ichigo got up and stretched before trotting to the other room to answer it.

"I deed do speag do Gribbjow."

Ichigo frowned. "Excuse me?"

"Gribbjow!"

"Who is this?"

"Dzayel."

Ichigo sighed and stuck his head back in the bedroom. "Grimmjow. It's Szayel. He sounds weird."

Grimmjow groaned and sat up, reaching his hand out in front of him and motioning for Ichigo to bring it to him. After doing so he decided to take a shower. Grimmjow held the phone up to his ear and bit out a terse greeting.

"Dat fugger broge by dose! I loog horrible."

"What?"

"Doi, he boge by dose."

"I'm too fuckin' tired to play fuckin' games. Do you have anything important to tell me?"

Szayel sighed. "While I was ad the hospidal I god a call aboud the accouds. I should habe everythi'g redurned in aboud three days. Gibe er dake."

"Wait, I thought you didn't get any information from that guy."

"I didn'd. I god dis on by owd."

Grimmjow sighed. "Call me back when you can talk properly. I've got a headache."

Without waiting for a reply Grimmjow hung up and fell back to the bed, pulling the covers up over himself completely, tucking the end under his head and curling into a ball. His head hurt, his throat hurt, not to mention the fact that he was sore from head to toe. And he was freezing. He couldn't seem to get warm enough, especially now that Ichigo wasn't in bed with him anymore. While Ichigo was enjoying the hot shower Grimmjow was wishing that his head would stop spinning.

By the time Ichigo was finished and walked back in the room he noticed something was wrong. Usually Grimmjow would have been up and moving around, especially after the phone call, but the fact that he was still in bed, covered head to toe and curled in on himself, had him a bit worried. He sat on the edge of the bed and pulled to covers down so he could see Grimmjow's face. Grimmjow peeked at him through barely opened eyes and his brow furrowed.

"Are you okay?"

Grimmjow's scowl deepened and he shook his head. "Cold." He said simply.

Ichigo frowned at him and noticed for the first time that his cheeks were flushed and he was shaking ever so slightly. He pressed the back of his hand against Grimmjow's cheek and gasped.

"Holy shit, you're burning up!"

"No I'm not, I'm cold." Grimmjow grumbled, curling his legs closer to his body.

"That's because you have a fever. Shit, do you have any medicine around here?"

Grimmjow shook his head and closed his eyes. "You talk to fuckin' loud." He muttered.

"Fine, I'll get dressed and get you something. Just stay in bed 'til I get back."

"But I was gonna run that marathon today." He said quietly before falling into a dead sleep.

Ichigo scowled and let it go, getting dressed and leaving the house in search of something to make Grimmjow feel better.

He was in the kitchen looking at the groceries he had just picked up and trying to remember how to make shouga-yu, a hot ginger drink made with sugar and fresh ginger root. He hoped he was doing it right because he really didn't want to make Grimmjow even sicker. As the water was boiling he wondered if Grimmjow was hungry enough to eat some o-kayu, a simple rice porridge. He went to the bedroom as quietly as he could and walked to the bed, prepared to sit on the edge and gently wake the sleeping Grimmjow when something hissed at him. He looked down into the golden eyes of Leiko and shook his head before trying again. Leiko lashed out at him and barely caught the skin on the back on his hand.

"I'm trying to help him." Ichigo hissed between his teeth. When Leiko just growled at him he let his eyes narrow and leaned forward a bit. "Yeah well I don't like you either."

"Quit arguing with the cat." Grimmjow mumbled and Ichigo almost jumped out of his skin. Before turning his attention to him he stuck his tongue out at the cat.

"I didn't know you were awake." He said quietly.

"Well I am now."

"I have some ginger drink. Are you hungry?"

"A little."

"Good, I'll make you something then." Ichigo scowled. "This is because we slept on the bathroom floor all wet."

"Ya think?" Grimmjow grit out before finally opening one eye to look at Ichigo. "Why aren't you sick?"

Ichigo shrugged. "Youth?"

"Fuck you."

Ichigo grinned and retuned to the kitchen to finish what he had started.

Shinji threw himself on his couch and groaned loudly, for the first time regretting taking the manager post so eagerly. Z took it as a chance to get out of all kinds of work and it left Shinji stuck behind the desk filing out papers and making phone calls. It wasn't that he didn't like it, it was just that after his night he really hadn't been up for it. He rolled over on his back and flung his arm over the side of the couch, staring at the ceiling a bit before sitting back up and thinking that he should probably go eat something. He was just about to get up when he noticed the brightly colored jewel case on his coffee table. Biting his lip he looked around the room as if making sure he was alone. Should he watch it?

The thought was barely through his mind before he was turning on his television and placing the DVD in the tray of the player. He bit his lip again and scooted back against the couch, sure that he wasn't going to like what he saw.

Nnoitra was hiding in his room, sure that the germs from the sick Grimmjow couldn't reach him in there. No way in hell he was going to get sick now. Though laying on his bed and watching TV wasn't as fun as he thought it would be. He wanted to get out but his body was telling him that he needed rest. He hated it when his body rebelled against his mind like that. He glanced at the bedside table, eyeing the DVD Szayel had given him for the hundredth time and finally gave up. Sticking it in the DVD player he sat back and decided to enjoy the show.

Ichigo sat heavily in his chair at the club and yawned. Taking care of Grimmjow had turned out to be far more work than he had anticipated. That man was ridiculous when he was sick. Demanding and petulant and grumpy. He'd barely gotten any sleep the last two days and it didn't help that he was being slammed with tests left and right at school and the club seemed to be demanding more of him as well. He was over worked, over stimulated and just plain tired. And the week wasn't even half over yet.

Luckily though Grimmjow had received good news from a bruised Szayel earlier that day. The money transfers had halted and were in the process of being returned to the accounts that they had been leeched off of. Ichigo wasn't certain what all the terms had meant, mostly because Szayel was still speaking strangely. He had been happy to learn from Nnoitra himself that Szayel's current bruising had been caused by him. He hadn't been told why Nnoitra had broken the man's nose but he was still happy that it had happened. He had most likely deserved it.

Shinji dropped in the chair next to his and let out a deep sigh. "Fuck Ichi, it's packed out there. Is it really only Tuesday?"

Ichigo nodded. "Yeah. Do you want me to stay extra tonight?" He offered, hoping that Shinji wouldn't take him up on it.

Shinji shook his head. "Naw, we got it. Everyone is here tonight and I think Luppi is gettin' a few fans of his own." When Ichigo snorted, Shinji laughed. "Well he's got the Lolita thing but he's actually gay so…."

Ichigo decided that nodding would suffice and left it at that. Shinji reached out and tossed a glittery yellow thong at him. "Wear that. Okaachan made it for ya."

"You realize just how weird it is that your mom is making me thongs right?"

Shinji just laughed as Ichigo changed.

"So what happened Saturday night. You haven't told me yet." Actually Shinji had been avoiding the question and brushing him off every time he asked. He vowed he wouldn't let him do that this time. "I heard whatever it was it made Nnoitra break Szayel's nose."

Shinji's eyebrows rose. "He broke it?" When Ichigo nodded Shinji smiled. "Oh."

"So…?"

"It's nothin' really. He just kinda video tapped everythin' we did." He decided not to tell Ichigo about the drugs. It would only make him hate the man more.

"That freak!"

Shinji chuckled. "It's not that bad, really. It's not like he broadcast it over the internet." At least he didn't think so.

"Still. I can't believe you left with him. And I thought you said you were gonna stop sleeping with Nnoitra."

"Yeah, well I was pretty drunk."

Ichigo just shook his head and slipped into a pair of tight neon green pants. Shinji let his mind wander back to the video as he enjoyed his break. It had been excellent quality, the lighting perfect, every sound was picked up beautifully. And the sex… he blushed thinking about it. He hadn't thought he could get off on seeing himself being intimate but ever since he had watched it the mere thought of what he had seen could bring the heat to his face and a familiar stirring in his groin. Even though he was a bit embarrassed by the sounds he had made watching Nnoitra fuck him like that, one hand in his hair and the other holding both wrists behind his back and for once that damned bandana missing, it was more than worth it. His eyes had been closed but seeing the scars barely hidden by hair had caught so much of his attention that he had almost forgotten what he was watching. They really weren't that bad to look at.

"Shinji!"

"What?!" Shinji jumped and turned a guilty face to Ichigo.

"What are you doing?"

Shinji looked down and realized belatedly that he doodling penises on a scrap of paper.

"What, you've never doodled before?"

Ichigo frowned. "Not that."

Shinji rolled his eyes. "Just put that god-awful purple thing on and get ready. Yer times almost up."

"It's not that bad." Ichigo grumbled, pulling the long sleeved fishnet shirt over his head. He wasn't sure that it could be called a shirt though.

"Sure Ichi, and it doesn't make you look gay at all."

"Fuck you."

"Maybe later, I'm tired." It earned him a smack in the back of his head but it had been totally worth it.

Shinji was still laughing when the announcer began to call out Ichigo's name and he took a deep breath as he slid his electric blue mask into place. It was a slower song than he was used to dancing to, the deep bass the only thing that reminded him that he had chosen this song for a very specific reason. He wanted something he could lose himself in and had been able to do that to this song more than a couple times at the clubs he and Shinji used to frequent. He started at the end of the stage closest to the curtain, making his way slowly, his body swaying and undulating, to the first pole. He pressed his entire body against it, his clearly defined package rubbing against it much to the crowd's delight. Wrapping a hand around the pole above his head he slid down and licked his lips, moving his hips in a tantalizing figure eight before he rose once more. He spun around to the front of the pole and ran one hand slowly down his chest, stopping briefly at his waist before continuing down to cup his own cock. Men screamed out and tossed their money on the stage. Ichigo grinned and flicked open the button of his pants before returning his hand to his chest to caress his pecs, even going so far as to pluck one of his nipples and feign excitement by rolling his head back.

He pulling the bottom of his shirt up to expose his chest and turned around once more, showing his back and he pulled it completely over his head. Now half exposed he worked his way to the middle of the stage and slowly began to unzip in pants. Tucking his thumbs in each side of the too tight jeans, he wiggled around once again and began to pull them down, turning to face the crowd just before he completely exposed his ass. He had decided earlier that week to try out a move he had never done before, something that would prove one way or another just how dedicated to his performance he was. Or wasn't. He grabbed the pole at the end of the stage and spun until he was at the very edge before dropping slowly down, still tugging his pants down as teasingly as he could.

They were at his knees now and he quickly pulled them off the rest of the way, the yellow thong Shinji had made him wear glinting in the light. He pulled his legs underneath him and sat back on his knees, toying with the thin sides of the thong as he tried to gather his courage. He let go and walked his hands forward on the stage, much as he had done the first night he had met Grimmjow, and stopping just before he had to move his legs. He slid them apart, his legs, and dipped his upper body before rolling his hips and making his cock barely skim the stage, repeating it a few times because of the rising noise level that movement had caused. He sat back and again ran his hands over his body, the sweat making them slip and slide, before slipping a single digit in his mouth. He pulled it out with a pop and jumped gracefully to his feet, turning around and grabbing the pole, sticking his ass out to the eager crowd. He looked over his shoulder and took one more deep breath smirking before he reached back with one hand and smacked his ass playfully. Another round of screaming and tossing of money.

Running a finger under the thin back of the thong he pulled it down a bit, enough to expose as much as he could by law before letting it snap back into place. He bit his lip and turned once more, playing with the sides of the thong as the music ended. He took his time clearing the stage, letting the men ogle him for as long as he could get away with before leaving them with a large, playful smile.

Shinji was waiting for him backstage with a smile and a pat on the back. "I thought ya'd never go that far! Ya did great and they fuckin' loved it!"

"Yeah, it was a lot easier than I thought it would be." Ichigo admitted, though he had been picturing Grimmjow the entire time.

"See, yer tainted now. Ya'll never leave the club." Shinji followed it up with a loud evil sounding cackle that made Ichigo shake his head and laugh.

"So I'm gonna take off for the night if you don't need me anymore."

"Yeah, yeah." Shinji waved over his head. Tesla had approached him asking for help with his outfit and his attention was pulled straight to his ass. It really was a nice ass.

Ichigo chucked and began to pull on his street clothes. He was glad it was still fairly early so that he could get in a couple hours of studying for tomorrow's test. With Grimmjow sick he hadn't been able to get much done. He sighed. He was so glad he was feeling better today.

As soon as he pulled his shoes on and slipped his arms into his light coat he turned around and waved goodbye to everyone before walking out the alley exit. He was just pulling his phone from his pocket when he felt a sharp explosive pain in the back of his head and the world went dark.

Nnoitra pressed himself close against the wall as he waited for the cleaning woman to exit the room. He was sick of waiting around for things and he was going to get answers one way or another. He was currently hiding in the suite across from the one the blonde woman visited and he had already set up the equipment to spy into the room. He hated the fact that this whole scenario reminded him of what had happened to him recently, but pushed it back to get things done. Besides, it was exciting to know that he would finally find out something new.

As soon as the woman was gone he left the closet he had been hiding in and pulled the monitoring equipment from under the bed, flipping it on and smiling when he saw each room clearly. This was the way to do things, he thought to himself. This was the way to get answers.

He didn't have to wait long for the woman to show up and he was glad that she wasn't alone. The driver that he had seen her with on many occasions had accompanied her this time. They walked directly to the sitting area and to his intense surprise she reached up and started pulling at her hair until dark locks could be seen. As she tossed the wig on the couch Nnoitra switched on the sound.

"So they got 'im?" The driver asked.

"Yes, just now. They have to get passed that troublesome man waiting out front but I told them what to do in that circumstance."

Nnoitra's eye widened at the voice that was clearly not female. He knew it!

"So when do we start the tauntin'?"

The other man smiled and he dropped the skirt he was wearing to the floor and began to pull off his stockings.

"I think we'll wait until he's secure. No need to rush these things." The blouse followed next and then a bra, leaving the man standing only in a pair of small feminine underwear. "Grimmjow Jaegerjaques will regret everything he has done."

Nnoitra nearly dropped the small screen he was holding and he stood up.

"Oh shit."

If he had heard that right, that meant Ichigo was in trouble and he was the only one who knew about it. He pulled out his phone and called the first person that he could think of to find out where the kid was, hoping that he wasn't going to be too late.

A/N And so begins to drama and the final chapters of SBB. Hope you liked it :D

~Penny