PLEASE READ: THIS CHAPTER COMES BEFORE "Discovery of a Familiar"! Please read this one first. I'm sorry but when looking at which chapter was the one following chapter 15 I skipped this one in the overview. I'm sorry for the inconvenience! This chapter is pretty important though so I can't leave it out!

And you get 2 chapters for the price of one. I literally had to spend my day writing this one to have both up since it was a goof on my part. Sorry again!

A Helping Hand, A Minuet of Fists

*Minuet - a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in 3/4 time

Saturday evening.

Ichigo, along with Inoue and Senna, made their way down a semi-crowded sidewalk after seeing a movie they had wanted to see since it came out. Well, Inoue and Senna had really wanted to see it. Rukia too. She would have joined them had it not been for her brother.

He had been invited, along with his darling younger sister, to attend a private dinner party tonight.

Ichigo thought seriously for a moment.

Ishida and his father were probably invited to that same party. It was one of those gatherings for those upscale families with a lot of money.

Thus, he and his family weren't invited.

But that was okay. Just fine actually. Galas and things like that were not exactly what he'd consider fun anyway.

"Well that movie was just swell!" Inoue chirped as she recalled a scene of the protagonist saving his friend and her falling head over heels in love with him.

"I would've preferred it if he had fallen in love with the school hottie who was clearly confused with his sexuality, but I guess society isn't ready for that kind of thing yet…"

"Kurosaki-kun, did you enjoy the movie?" Inoue asked.

"Piss ants…" Senna brewed.

More open about it now than she was in the past, Senna was not ashamed of her love for yaoi. Which was strange. Girls of all people enjoying yaoi. It didn't make much sense, but perhaps it was just one of those things that shouldn't have been questioned in the first place.

"Yeah, it was okay. Not enough action for me though…"

"Really? I think it was a perfect balance of action, romance, and supernatural powers."

"Hey, can we stop for some food or something? I'm kinda hungry…" Senna commented, holding her stomach sympathetically.

Ichigo immediately tuned out of Inoue and Senna's debate about where to eat dinner the moment he saw a familiar face exiting a convenience store nearby.

It was Grimmjow. Not surprising though. It was the weekend so he'd come back home from Tokyo. But what for was the question.

In his hand he held an energy drink and it kind of seemed like he had been running. His attire consisted of a running jacket and sweat pants with a pair of all black running shoes.

Curious as to what he was about to do now, Ichigo decided he would follow him.

But he had to make sure to leave Inoue and Senna some place safe and where they would probably stay for a while.

His brown eyes landed on the coffee and donut shop just down the street. Perfect. No way Inoue would want to leave that place early.

"Inoue, Senna, come with me."

"Huh? Why Ichigo?"

"Just come on." The orange haired boy instructed.

The two girls followed him down the street and into the shop. Ichigo told them to take a seat in one of the private booths and said he would be back after a little while.

Senna glanced at her cell phone, "It's like, seven o'clock. Where are you running off to leaving us here all alone, buddy? Shouldn't we be calling it a night soon?"

"Sorry, but I've got something I need to see to so I'll come and pick you two up as soon as I'm done. I promise." And with that, Ichigo dashed out of the shop.

Grimmjow was probably gone by now thanks to him saving face and making sure the girls were okay while he was away from them.

He quickly made his way past all the people exiting the clothing stores to get back to the store he had seen Grimmjow exiting from. It was too late though. Grimmjow wasn't there anymore.

"Hm… I guess I'll have to think like a fitness freak to find a fitness freak…" he said.

Glancing left he saw the way back to the theater he had left with the girls not too long ago and more clothing stores. When he turned to his right, he saw a path leading to a park.

"It's gotta be the park." He commented.

With that thought in mind, he was sure he'd run into Grimmjow. Or, at least find him. He didn't want to talk to him at the moment as things were sure to be awkward thanks to their break up.

If he saw him, he'd just follow him to figure out how he was taking their separation. Simple as that.

However, it's unfortunate for him that things weren't meant to play out in such a way.

"What do you think Ichigo had to go do?" Senna asked Inoue.

"I'm not sure… But I know it's extremely hard to not eat any donuts…"

"Why aren't you eating any donuts…?"

"Because we should wait for Kurosaki-kun to come back before we begin eating. It's the polite thing to do."

"You sure are proper aren't you? You sure you're not royalty?"

"I don't think I am Senna. Someone like me is way too clumsy and goofy to ever be considered royalty." Inoue giggled but spoke sincerely.

She was acknowledging the truth at least. But Senna eyed her nonetheless.

No matter how much she denied it, Inoue had to be related to some important king. Silly fool. Just as foolish as his own daughter.

Why send her off to some small town like this and have her out of his sight like this? Even if he was trying to protect her from something, how could he be sure she was safe?

Then it hit her, "Inoue, who pays your bills? Particularly your cell phone bill."

That was how they probably knew she was still alive. A person living alone with utilities included in the rent isn't exactly proof of life. The cell phone bill, however, depended on the person's actions on their phone.

"Some distant relatives of mine."

"Distant relatives, huh? Have you ever met them?"

"Not that I remember, but maybe I did when I was too young to remember."

"Hmmmm… I'll buy your story for now princess. But if you ever return to your kingdom, make sure you tell your kingly dad it was us who saved you."

"I doubt anything like that will ever happen silly."

Senna sighed and looked out the window. Of course not. It was just her overactive imagination getting the best of her again. There was no way anything as farfetched as she was thinking could actually be true. The girl in front of her was just a normal person living a normal life.

But if the day came when she was revealed to have some connection with a powerful king of some kind, she would sing "I told you so" from the mountain tops.

For now though, she would simply enjoy the other girl's company.

Ichigo had searched and searched the park but he did not see Grimmjow anywhere. And he was second guessing searching for him now.

They had broken up and seeing him would only make things worse.

"Guess I need to get back to-"

"Hey boys look who it is!" he heard some guy call out a ways ahead of where he was standing.

He didn't want to know what was going on. Probably some gang fight or something.

"Grow up…" he said before turning to leave.

"Good ol' Grimmjow!"

Ichigo froze on the spot. Well, this definitely recaptured his attention.

He turned around and walked briskly down the trail and ducked out of sight as four thugs stood in Grimmjow's way, successfully obstructing his path to the other end of the park.

From what he was observing, it seemed like a fight was inevitable. Or, unavoidable.

Should he jump in and help? Would he even be able to help Grimmjow in this situation or would he just get in the way?

This reminded him of all the nights Grimmjow had come to his clinic, covered in scrapes and bruises. He would always avoid using the front door in those situations and instead used the window to Ichigo's room.

Was this the cause of all those occasions?

"Grimmjow…what have you been up to…?" he asked himself, sure it couldn't have been good whatever it was.

For quite a few minutes, the men taunted Grimmjow unmercifully but he kept his composure through it all.

This made Ichigo remember his promise to change and get a hold of his temper. Well, he hadn't actually said that last part, but that was usually what got him into trouble so that was clearly what he needed to work on.

And he seemed to have been doing okay…until one of the men got bold and slapped the drink from his hand. It spilled all over the ground and upon glancing closely, Ichigo could see that some of it got on Grimmjow's shoes.

That was not going to fly in the least.

"Why don't you just tell us what we wanna know and we'll deal with you later." The slim guy bated.

"Piss off, fucking toilet licker piece of shit."

The orange haired boy nearly fell down in laughter. That was his response?

Immediately, he realized that was completely out of the blue. Which meant Grimmjow's anger was surely reaching cataclysmic levels by now.

He turned back to see what would happen next, but everyone remained silent for a few moments before a man unexpectedly approached Grimmjow from behind and sent his fist across the back of his head.

Ichigo was wide eyed and speechless. Then he realized that he should have warned Grimm, but it happened so fast he couldn't have done anything.

Regardless, that was the final straw.

Grimmjow turned around and lashed out on the sneak.

He had the upper hand until the other four jumped in and started punching and kicking him.

It was unfair the way they crowded him. Clearly none of them were strong enough to take him one on one.

"That's it!" Ichigo shouted, unable to keep watching from a safe distance.

He sprinted over to them as quickly as he could. Bringing his hands together and intertwining his fingers, he sent his hands smashing over one of the men's head. If they wanted to play dirty, he would too.

His arrival surprised everyone. And when Grimmjow saw him, he was more than glad. Fighting alongside Ichigo was something he had never really been able to do and these assholes had provided him the perfect opportunity.

The largest of the group got really irritated and tackled Ichigo to the ground before he punched his cheek, causing the boy to momentarily lose himself to absolute senselessness.

He brought his hand up to his cheek and let the world flow back into to him. He had to get this guy off of him if he didn't wanna loose any teeth, or his life.

Grimmjow couldn't save him though. He was busy trying to hold four of them off at once.

The large man knelt down and lifted Ichigo by the collar of his jacket, about to slam his head in, but Ichigo thought too fast for him. Grabbing a handful of dirt from the ground, he threw it right in the man's eyes.

"AAAH! SHIT!"

Seeing his opportunity, Ichigo tackled the vulnerable man to the ground, effectively turning the tables. Thinking of no other way to knock him out, he grabbed the man's head and slammed it against the ground.

He wouldn't be getting up from that anytime soon that was for sure.

Grimmjow was currently being held down by two men as another laid viciously into him.

"Grimmjow!"

"Damnit, Kurosaki! Behind you!" said man exclaimed through the repeated punches to his torso.

Ichigo turned around swiftly. He had forgotten to do a head count. One of them had gone missing and it was the one now approaching him with a crowbar.

"You bastards don't fight fair, huh!?" he said angrily.

"This is a ruthless game, kid. You should've stayed at home studying instead of getting out wit' the big boys."

Grimmjow was being overpowered and he couldn't do anything to turn the situation around.

"Hey, let's take this redheaded kid with us!" the one pounding Grimmjow's sides called when he got a look at Ichigo.

He stopped and made sure the other two could keep holding him before stepping off and approaching the other boy.

"Kurosaki, no!"

Ichigo was frozen. A man approaching from the front with a crowbar and another from behind.

What to do now? How could he win this fight?

"RAGH!" Grimmjow yelled, snatching himself free from the two holding him.

As they staggered, he realized that seconds counted now. No, milliseconds.

The two he had just broke free from would surely come for him if he ran for Ichigo, but if he didn't, Ichigo and his pretty little face were toast.

In some form of otherworldly power, Grimmjow spun around and slammed both of his former captives' heads together before turning and running past both Ichigo and the other guy to get to the man with the crowbar.

No way in hell would he let that kind of pain be inflicted on what was once his.

When the crowbar wielding man saw this, he panicked and threw his weapon. It effectively hit Grimmjow in the temple, but that did nothing to slow him down.

Ichigo watched in awe as the man was taken down and punched unconscious by this awakened beast.

"Was this what he was going to do to Ginjo…?" he wondered.

"Kurosaki, fucking behind you!"

Ichigo turned and as soon as he did a fist knocked him to the ground.

"Shit!" he hissed. That was the same place lummox number one had hit him not five minutes ago.

The last man standing approached him, about to attack again, but Grimmjow stepped in just in time.

He ran and leaped over Ichigo's kneeling form and let his fist fly right into the center of the man's face.

The blow caused the man to lose it all. Knees weakening, he fell backwards onto the ground, completely knocked out.

Ichigo let his stinging cheek go and stared at the sight.

Grimmjow towering over the men. He had taken four of them out in a desperate attempt to save him.

In this moment, he truly was his hero.

"Get up, Kurosaki! We gotta get outta here!"

Ichigo nodded in agreement and stood. After getting his bearings and making sure he could still walk properly, both men ran as fast as they could through the park and to a secluded fountain a ways away from it.

Completely and utterly out of breath, Ichigo bent forward and fell to his knees onto the structure.

He then dipped out a handful of water and splashed himself in the face with it.

Grimmjow observed and shook his head, "Pansy."

"Shut up! I'm like this because I was trying to save your ass!"

"I didn't ask you to do that. Just so you know."

"You didn't need to…! I could see it clear as day!"

Blue eyes rolled.

"What the hell was that about, Grimmjow? I thought you were staying out of trouble!"

"It's not really any of your business and it's definitely not what you're thinking."

"Then what is it!?"

"Calm the fuck down would you? It's like you've never fought in your life..."

"Don't avoid the question…"

"I said it's none of your business, didn't I? Just be glad you escaped with little more than a bruised cheek."

"Tell me what that was about. What information were they pressuring you for?"

"You wanna know? Fine. They wanted me to sell out the person responsible for putting Aizen's ass behind bars. I wouldn't talk so they finally got enough balls between the five of them to challenge me. Happy?"

"Wait, wait. So all the nights you came to me all beaten-"

"One on one fights. And it's not like I was losing, they just fight dirty."

"Grimmjow…"

"I won every single one of 'em. And this one too. You just got in my way...a lot."

"I took out the biggest one!" Ichigo exclaimed, showing his cheek as proof.

"That'll go down with ice. Won't even be that noticeable on that pretty face of yours by the time you go back to school Monday."

"Whatever… I helped you and you know it."

Grimmjow stared at the boy seated before him. Why was he everything he was looking for in a guy? And why could they be together no longer?

"Kurosaki, you know, I-I still love you…"

Ichigo was taken completely by surprise by that comment.

He quickly looked down to his sweating hands, needing to avoid eye contact.

Grimmjow's keeping quiet and fighting with those brutes was how he proved to himself that his love for his former mate was true. And he had just spilled it to Ichigo.

This made him feel compelled to tell Grimmjow of his own uphill battle, but that would only lead to consequence. Ginjo may not have even been conscious to testify if Grimmjow ever found out about his constant bribing.

Looking back up, he knew he couldn't speak of it. It'd be like telling Grimmjow to have no mercy.

But those cerulean eyes were absorbing him. Just looking into them made him forget everything else, even the fight they had just won.

The two stared at each other for what felt like eons. Brown into blue and blue into brown.

When Grimmjow knelt down and moved in for a kiss, Ichigo panicked and backed away.

"Grimm, no."

"What?"

"I can't. It's not an appropriate time for something like that. And we're not together anymore…"

"Kurosaki-"

"I-I have to go…"

Grimmjow watched as Ichigo stood and retreated from his side. It seemed that even saving him couldn't bring him back.

With each step he took, Ichigo felt more and more guilty. He hadn't tended to Grimmjow's wounds, and he was leaving him again.

He hadn't even thanked him for saving him from whatever fate those guys were going to give him.

"I'm so sorry Grimmjow…"

The girls were waiting for him. For now, he would find solace in the fact that he had to leave and return to them.