Ugh, what a week this has been. I've been studying non-stop for the past four nights in a row... But somewhere in that time, I managed to write this chapter. And I'd just like to remind you all that this is still, and always will be, a GrimmIchi fic. I admit it is taking a while to get there, but I promise things will turn around :)
Anyway, read and give a review please!
In a Different Light
One week following Ichigo's meltdown.
"Boarding for flight ten will begin now. Please move to loading dock number ten to begin boarding the plane." The assistant's voice rang over the loudspeaker in the airport.
Ichigo sighed and stared out the window, sitting alone over in a corner of the waiting lobby. Ginjo had left him a little earlier, insisting he had something to take care of before they departed.
"I still have no idea where we're going…" the boy muttered and pulled out his cell phone. It was his natural defense against complete boredom and looking like a weirdo who had nothing to do.
When he thought about it, he realized that his chances of going to Dubai were minimal at best, if they were existent at all.
But… maybe seeing Grimmjow now wouldn't be what was best. Maybe this time away from everything and everyone was exactly what he needed to recuperate. All the drama of Karakura, and Ichigo admitted that he was the root of that drama, could be left behind even if just for a few weeks.
Vivienne… hopefully she could calm Grimmjow down a bit. Make him relax and not always have to look over his shoulder.
"Poor Grimm… I hope he won't get in trouble at work for missing so much time…"
After flipping through the saved high scores on one of the games on his phone, Ichigo came across a high score obtained a long time ago by the man who'd been on his mind the most lately.
With a score significantly higher than his, Renji's, Keigo's or Mizuiro's, was Grimmjow's at 998,634,005 points. His player name was SexPanther006. It was a name that earned him a laugh from everyone who played this game and saw the scoreboard.
With a small smile, he promised that no matter how long it took, he would someday beat Grimmjow's high score. He was far from it, though, with a score of only 199,549,010.
Ginjo rounded a corner with a cup of coffee and smiled when he saw the warm look on Ichigo's face.
"What are you so happy about?" he asked, and stopped in front of the boy.
"Oh, uh, nothing… You- you made me wait so you could get coffee…?"
"Huh? No. I had to call the pilot for the private jet I rented. We're flying to Anguilla as soon as he arrives."
"Anguilla? Isn't that in the Caribbean?"
"Yup. We're gonna be staying there for about two weeks. Maybe three if all goes well this last week before my employees go on vacation."
Ichigo stood and picked up his bag, "Fine. I'm ready to go."
He knew he wouldn't be going to Dubai. To make matters worse, he would be in a completely different hemisphere from Grimmjow.
As he followed Ginjo, the boy remembered that this was supposed to be a sort of healing time for Grimmjow. "He'd never get that if he saw me… I just know it…"
The other noticed the boy's expression and smiled, "You seem a little down, Ichigo. Want me to make you feel better?"
"No thanks. Let's just get to where we're going already."
Admittedly, Ichigo was a bit excited about going to the Caribbean. He'd never been out of Japan before. Besides, he didn't plan to be Ginjo's fiancé for much longer. Why not humor him for a while?
Through the tunnel the two of them walked to board the tiny jet. Ginjo carried all the bags while Ichigo carried the man's coffee. He felt like he owed him that much, at least.
When they took boarded and a seat, the orange-head looked out the window to the snow-filled fields off in the distance. The winter had come on strong, and didn't seem to be giving Karakura a breather. Thankfully, he wouldn't have to deal with the cold for the duration of this vacation.
A shifting beside him made Ichigo turn.
Ginjo had pulled out his laptop and was looking through some sales projections.
Full of curiosity, the boy scooted closer to the larger man and silently looked at the figures. If things went the way these projections predicted, Ginjo was gonna be one wealthy son of a bitch. If he wasn't one already.
"If you wanted to get closer to me, you didn't have to fake interest in what I'm doing. I would have pulled you over here if you'd just said so." The raven-haired man commented, before putting an arm around the boy.
"No… That's not what I was trying to do…" Ichigo retorted, before pulling himself free from Ginjo's grasp, "And I wasn't faking interest. Things like that are always interesting to me. And… Why are you looking at that anyway? Don't you know what 'vacation' means?"
"I do. I just want to get this out of the way early so I can enjoy my vacation with you."
"…"
"Don't you worry. I'm gonna take good care of you. I'm working and making this money so you won't ever have to work."
Brown eyes stared intently at the man. What was it about him that made it seem like he wanted to be taken care of? He was a man too! And he had found his talent in the medical field, so that was bound to yield its own desirable salary.
After pulling out his phone, Ichigo scooted back over to the window and stayed there trying to beat Grimmjow's high score for the rest of the flight.
"This is much nicer than I was expecting it to be. I paid enough for it anyway… But I won't spare any expense for you, Ichigo." Ginjo said as he and his fiancé-to-be entered the penthouse suite of the hotel they were staying in.
Ichigo walked into the room behind the man and glanced around. It was nice indeed.
In the kitchen, there were glass counters, the appliances were all stainless steel, and a moderately sized flat screen television was mounted on the wall just above the microwave. The living and dining room areas were decorated with paintings of flowers and landscapes. And the dim lights made the whole room seem much more relaxed and inviting.
Ginjo walked over to the counter and set up his laptop. "Hey, I'm gonna look over some expense reports Jackie just e-mailed me before I head down to the pool. Feel free to roam around the hotel without me."
"Right." The orange-head said, before dropping his luggage on the floor.
As he left the room, Ichigo turned and took a brief look at Ginjo. It may have been the white button-down, but something about him seemed much less… malevolent.
He could be such a nerd, always sitting in front of his laptop and managing his gaming company. It was cute in a way.
And on that shockingly unpleasant thought, Ichigo quickly left the room. Where he was headed, even he didn't know.
At some point later in the evening, Ichigo wandered downstairs to the bar. What made him stay was the fact that said bar was one of the ones that was in a pool. He'd never been to one and vaguely, he remembered Renji saying how awesome they were. It was okay.
The bartender subtly slipped him a few shots, which he took graciously. Anything was better than being reminded of the fact that he was here with Ginjo.
Coincidentally, there was a party going on. Many of the people looked like they tanned a little too much. The boy watched them dance to the blaring music and fall into the pool. Some of them were very tipsy, some had passed out. Honestly, it was pretty out of hand. But these people were here and they were paying for a good time, so it didn't surprise him that no one was stopping them.
This kind of reminded him of Grimmjow. Because Grimmjow was always ready to have a drink and get drunk off his ass. Since he no longer had the option to partake in taking drugs, he figured a few drinks from time to time couldn't hurt. And Ichigo had a drink with him on occasion… when they were together that is. It was a better alternative, though still not the healthiest.
As he looked down at his emptied shot glasses, the boy sighed. This would have been far more enjoyable with his immature bluenette here. Although he may have often complained about Grimmjow's immaturity, it was something he didn't mind that much.
The bartender walked back over to Ichigo and put another shot down in front of him, "Last one! Get up from here and go have some fun, kid!" she screamed over the music with a smile.
Quite a pretty young woman she was. But even her beauty was drowned out by the alcohol flowing through Ichigo's system.
"I… might have a hard time doing that…!" the orange-haired boy responded. He smiled goofily at her before he belched.
"Did I give you too much?! Oh no! Give me the shot then!"
Ichigo took the glass and downed it quickly.
"Well, of you wanna be tipsy, go ahead! I'll take responsibility for you and take you back to your room, so don't go anywhere until I go on break!" She shouted over the music, before she picked up the empty shot glasses and walked to the other end of the bar with them.
"Damnit…" Ichigo said. How would he get drunk now?
"Is this seat taken?" a man asked, and then sat down next to the boy without waiting for a response.
"Who are…"
Ichigo stopped mid-question when he took a look at this stranger. He was built. Toned from head to toe with muscles and had a pretty handsome face to go with them.
He seemed to be older than Ginjo, but not by much. There was a certain maturity he had about him too, despite his tank top and high shorts. It was enough to keep Ichigo from telling him to get lost.
"Lemme buy you a drink."
"Be my guest."
The man called for two Vodka Tonics before turning to smile at Ichigo.
"Like what you see?" he asked, and then flexed his muscles.
"My ex works out a lot… It's funny how many people work out and don't even know the simple biology involved with their muscles."
"Really now?! Why don't you enlighten me?"
"Well, one of the simplest things I can remember at the moment is that Myoglobin and Hemoglobin are essential proteins used for binding and delivering oxygen, especially while respiring heavily. Myoglobin is what gives muscles their reddish color, if you were to actually see a muscle out from underneath the skin. It's found in the bloodstream when muscle injury occurs. You know, when your muscles hurt after working out? It contains amino acids-"
"Whoa, whoa, Professor! Slow it down! I guess cuties can be smart too…"
"Oh, thanks… but I'm not really that smart… My friend Ishida is the smart one… Topping the class on the practice entrance exams…"
"Entrance exams? You from Japan? And just how old are you anyway?" the man asked curiously.
"Yeah. And I'm eighteen. But don't tell that to the bartender…!" he giggled childishly.
Said bartender came over with the ordered drinks and put them down, "Hey, don't take him anywhere, you hear me?!" she hollered over the music.
"Oh, it's okay! This is my girlfriend's little brother!"
"Oh! Well, don't let him stay down here alone… He seems like he's… a little tipsy. And a bit of a lightweight."
"After I give him a taste of this, I'll take him back up to the room and let him sleep!"
"Good! Wouldn't want someone taking advantage of the little guy!"
Ichigo, having ignored the two completely, picked up the drink and downed it as fast as he could. Taste didn't matter right now. All he wanted was to forget. To forget that he was here with Ginjo, who he'd unfortunately had the pleasure to have slept with so many nights ago.
Upon turning, all he could see was the handsome stranger's smile. And even though it was a nice one, this was wrong. Even in his inebriated state, all he wanted was Grimmjow. Accepting a drink from this guy was like begging to be fucked, and that was far from on his agenda for the night. So he stood up and, after nearly falling into the water, walked back over to the hallway he'd entered from.
A strong grip on his arm caught him and pulled him further down the dimly lit corridor.
All of the sudden, he was forced against the wall and a pair of lips pressed firmly against his. Everything happened so fast, and his lowered comprehension skills made him forget that this was not Ginjo. It certainly wasn't Grimmjow.
The man lifted the boy's legs and wrapped them around his waist eagerly. Kissing this kid was nice, but there was so much more to be done with him before the evening's end. He pulled away and grinned, "You want this?" he asked, grinding his clothed, erect penis against the boy's rear end.
Ichigo closed his eyes and rested his head against the wall behind him. Grimmjow was the only person he willingly allowed to hold him like this. To be close to him like this. That had to be who this was. And with that in mind, he nodded approvingly.
"But… I'm tired… Grimm… I don't feel too good…" he said as he was hoisted over the man's shoulder and carried further down the hallway.
As he waited at the elevator with Ichigo over his shoulder, the man smiled. Getting laid on his first night here in Anguilla with such a cute, young, barely legal teen was unbelievably lucky.
A hand on his shoulder caused him to turn, and as soon as he did, a fist slammed against his cheek. The force caused him to fall over, dropping Ichigo in the process.
The orange-head lifted himself up onto his elbows and looked up to see Ginjo standing tall above them. He looked so heroic that it made Ichigo question whether or not it was him.
"Is that- Is that you, Ginjo?" he asked.
The raven-haired man turned angrily to the man on the floor, "You're trying to take advantage of my fiancé?! Get out of my sight before I have you castrated!"
The man wiped his lips when blood dripped from them, but jumped up and made to take Ginjo down. Dodging his fist with ease, Ginjo countered and slammed the guy against the elevator doors, hand firm around his neck.
Watching as the man gasped desperately for air, Ichigo was reminded of the evening Grimmjow walked in on them locked in a forced kiss. Seeing someone on the verge of death through violent means such as these would always cause him to panic.
"G- Ginjo! Stop it! You're killing him!" he shouted, before quickly getting up and pulling Ginjo away from the man.
Ginjo calmed himself down and turned to leave. "… C'mon. We're going back to the room."
After seeing that the man was still alive, Ichigo followed Ginjo as he led the way back to the Penthouse suite.
"Ichigo, I want you to be more careful. That man could have done so much to you and you never would have known it. You can't just get drunk around people you don't know!" Ginjo said angrily as he stared down at the boy who was now lying on the bed.
"I'm… I'm so not even drunk… You don't know anything about muscles." the boy responded.
Ginjo ignored the boy's ridiculous utterance, "Be more careful."
Ichigo sat up when Ginjo made to leave the room, "Wait, Ginjo!"
The man turned, "What is it?"
"I- Thank you… For helping me out…"
"Anything for you. I love you, you know."
"I know you feel that way… But… But I love Grimmjow… And I'll always be his. His muscles are so perfect to me…"
Ginjo stared at the other for a moment. "You're just drunk. Get some sleep. We've got a long three weeks ahead of us." He said, before leaving the room and shutting out the light.
Ichigo buried his face in the silk pillows and closed his eyes, "Grimmjow… I love you…" he whispered before he fell asleep.