A/N: Hey guys!

I'm back!

This chapter is like a continuation to the last because putting it all in one would be too long.

I really like writing this story.

Enjoy! :3

We all have a weakness

But some of ours are easy to identify.

Look me in the eye

And ask for forgiveness;

We'll make a pact to never speak that word again

Yes you are my friend.

...

We all have a sickness

That cleverly attaches and multiplies

No matter how we try.

We all have someone that digs at us,

But at least we dig each other

-Incubus 'Dig'

As I walk home, the never ending sounds of cicadas and the heat of the beaming sun really remind me why I hate the summer time.

There, I said it.

I hate summer.

Summer is awful.

Everyone's sweating and sticky, and you can't say a normal hello without getting snapped at.

I'll admit I get a little snappier during summer too, but I'm not just plain unpleasant.

The worst part is my birthday is in the summer. Whoop-dee-doo.

Another reason I hate summer is because Yoruichi and Kisuke make me work harder.

"It's important to stay active," Kisuke would say and fan himself in the shade while I load in the new shipments.

Bastard.

I walk up to the shop and step in, the bell ringing and air conditioner blasting in my face.

"So how're things going?" Urahara asks as I pass him. I shrug and continue on to my room. "You get any hours off?" I nod and plop down on my bed. "Ah-ah-ah, Grimmjow. You know better!" He says in a singsong voice.

"Urahara!" I shout.

"What? We've got some shipments to bring in!"

"You mean I've got some shipments to bring in."

"Exactly!" He holds up his stupid little fan and yanks me out of bed by my shirt. "Now c'mon. The faster you do it, the sooner you'll be done."

I reluctantly get up and follow him outside. The truck is waiting for me and Jinta and I begin unloading everything. Urahara's shop is something you don't see everyday. It has two floors. Well, three, if you count the huge basement. The top floor is for music and video games, the ground floor for comics and movies and books, and the basement for anything else you might need. Toilet paper, clothing, groceries, you name it.

If you can, he's probably got it.

My room is on the top floor.

It's my favorite part of the place.

The bell to the store rings. Urahara gets up and goes to greet whoever it is. I look and immediately turn back around. I slide to the ground and fold my legs up to my chest. I bury my head in my knees then shut my eyes.

I can't look at him.

Not after what's happened.

Urahara gets whatever he asks for then tells him to come back soon.

Personally, I hope he doesn't.

But he will.

Not sure why.

But he will.

"Thanks," I hear his lazy voice and feel completely guilty. I sense his eyes on me, and I just hang my head.

I must look so disgusting to him now.

Like a pitiful wad of filth.

I feel that way sometimes.

I grip my hair roughly and shut my eyes tighter.

I can hear my father's voice again.

Telling me I'm so vile.

When mom wasn't around, he'd hit me and call me rotten.

I was rancid. Like bile when you're about to throw up.

You're defiling this house with evil.

He was in this weird cult.

But you're so beautiful.

Some people who came for me were in it too. Mom didn't like it, so he kept it a secret.

So tempting.

He was such a liar. He was fucking crazy.

I should kill you right now. Stop this evil from spreading.

This wasn't religion. Mom believed in religion. She knew what they were doing to me was wrong in the eyes of 'God.'

But she wasn't right in the head. She had demons.

Our kid is so good. You're a good boy. Daddy loves you, Grimm.

If I can still hear their voices, I've got them too.

Too many thoughts.

They dig at me everyday with sharp-edged spades.

They dig and dig and dig, prying open my brain and crawling inside to torment me.

"Grimmjow..." Kisuke is lightly shaking my shoulder. Hearing my name makes me grip my hair tighter. "Grimmjow, you okay?" I nod slowly.

"Grimmjow's brain is full," Jinta says.

Even the five-year-old knows I'm a basket case.

"That true?" I nod again. "You want to go get your music?"

I listen and quickly run up to my room. Underneath my pillow is my old iPod. Kisuke gave it to me the first night I was here. I wouldn't stop crying and he just gave it to me. He didn't tell me what was on it, but I never let it go. All the sounds block everything else out of my head. I refuse to take any of the drugs I was administered for my 'condition.'

They thought that since I was a teenager, maybe I'd take reefer instead.

I won't, but I'm starting to think about it now.

My playlist begins, and I slide down beside my bed.

Bach and Chopin fill my ears.

They are my best friends.

Yeah...I don't make a lot of friends, so dead guys are my best shot.

As instrumentals block out everything, I get up and walk around my room. It's filling up too quickly for my liking. My shelves have countless books between two big speakers. Paintings—replicas and some of my own—are stacked next to my bed. Rock band posters and old records, comics and poetry books, manga and mythology studies.

I know it's weird, but it's me.

I have all these things, but I still fail in school.

I don't know, I just don't care about school.

It's boring.

I like stuff I can't understand.

Then I get the challenge of figuring it out.

Kisuke says I'm like him.

He's smart as a motherfucker, probably one of the greatest minds on earth.

On the night before my trial, he read a whole book on the law and served as my attorney.

He has countless degrees.

But Kisuke hides his brain. I get that habit from him.

He knows me.

Whenever I have an incident, his voice is gentle when he talks.

He knows.

He's the only one who knows everything.

While I'm calming down, he brings me some soda. I drink it then get back to work. He rejoins me later.

"Renji's coming back this weekend," Urahara utters.

I almost drop the box I'm holding.

"Really?"

"Yeah. He's coming to visit you. See how you're doing after...well, y'know."

"So Renji is..." Zaraki rolls the full sheet of paper over to a new one.

"He's Kisuke's nephew. But he's also one of the closest friends I've had," I tell him. The thought of him coming back makes me smile a bit.

"Can you tell me about him?"

"Sure."

I heard footsteps and expected to see Yoruichi, but it was Renji instead. He still had Jinta on his arm.

"Are you one of uncle Kisuke's other nephews?" He asked.

His voice was deeper and smooth, so he must've been older than me, at least by two years.

I shook my head no.

"Yoruichi?"

I shook my head again.

"Do you talk?"

I shrugged one shoulder and looked to the ground.

His face twisted and he seemed annoyed.

But he wasn't.

"This is my brother Jinta," Renji looked to the sleeping baby on his shoulder. "I'm Renji." He stuck out his free hand.

The deep creases on his face told me he frowned a lot. Even now, he has a scowl embedded.

"Grimmjow," I whispered.

I timidly shook his hand, like he might've broken me.

I don't know why.

I usually try to avoid bodily contact, but Renji didn't make me feel scared.

There was something in him.

It made him seem kinda like me.

He sat down and let me hold Jinta. He told me his story.

His mom liked drugs.

While she was high, Renji would haul himself here to stay with Kisuke. When his half-brother arrived, he'd haul himself and Jinta here. Kisuke would take care of them until their mom came to get them.

She tried to sell Jinta, but Renji stopped her. She cried and brought them here a few hours ago then ran out.

I felt his pain, and we became best friends.

We used to argue a lot. He'd usually get the blame.

We'd do all the shop work together and I'd help him take care of Jinta.

He even saved me from drowning at the lake once.

We had dirt clod wars in the grass behind the shop. There was about half a mile of it. That's where we spent most of our time.

About a year after my arrival, we were, as the saying goes, thick as thieves.

No one could tear us apart.

But...things changed after a while.

It'd been almost a year, so I was nearing 13 and he was 15.

Both of us were going through it, but I was never taught how to deal with it.

Renji kissed me while we were playing in the grass.

It was my first kiss.

Well, my first real kiss.

It was nothing. Just a light peck on the lips.

But I pushed him off and told him he was gross.

I felt a heavy pressure in my crotch.

I didn't know what to do.

I was scared and confused and I didn't even know if I liked girls, let alone guys.

I'd assumed it was because I grew my hair down to my mid-back that summer.

Maybe he kissed me because I looked like a girl.

So I cut my long blue locks short and apologized a week later because we hadn't been hanging out.

But he kissed me again.

And I kissed back this time.

It became a cycle.

We'd kiss on the grass when no one was looking.

At night we'd sneak into the hallway and sit on the floor.

We tongue-kissed one time. It felt slimy and I didn't like it, but I did it anyway.

I wasn't holding a crush for Renji, nor he one for me.

We were just like the kid-version of fuck buddies. Only with kissing.

He was my best friend who I could kiss if I wanted to.

When I was about to turn 14, he left.

He told Kisuke he wanted to help his mom. Kisuke said he'd take care of Jinta, and Renji would always have a place to stay.

I was sad that he left.

He was my only friend.

"You guys were really close."

"Yep. I haven't seen the bastard in four years."

We're closer than you'll ever know, I think with a smirk.

"And he's coming back today?" Zaraki asks. I nod quickly then look at the clock on the wall.

"Shit. I gotta go, he should be there by now. We can start again on Monday," I say then run out the door.

I practically speed down the street towards home.

Renji's back, I kept repeating in my head.

My eyes water a bit.

I'll finally have someone to talk to.

I want to hear about everything he's done.

But he probably wants the same of me...

I don't want to tell him anything, but it may end up happening anyway.

I mean, he is Renji.

When I get home, Urahara is reading as usual.

"He's down by the lake," he says knowing I'm about to ask.

I take off my shoes then run for the lake.

I won't get in though.

I still can't swim and I'm afraid of deep water.

Sue me.

I sit on the bank and cross my legs. I can see him swimming clearly. The lake is about two miles from Urahara's shop. I always wondered how he owned so much land. It's right behind the half-mile of grass and is one of the most beautiful things I've laid my eyes on. The rocks and dirt at the bottom are laced with thick moss and algae, but the water is so clear that you can see everything.

So I know right where Renji is going to come up.

I sneak over to the side of the bank where he's at and squat in front of him. He places his hands on the grass and lifts himself out right before I push his face and he falls back in.

I can't stop laughing.

I fall back and hold my aching stomach.

Messing with Renji has to be the best pass-time in the world.

He splashes around before he regains his balance in the water and his head pops up. His crimson hair is splayed around his head as he wipes his eyes.

"Blue," he growls his nickname for me angrily then swiftly swims my way.

I try to get my strength back from laughing and slowly crawl away from the bank. I get up and start running just as he tackles me to the ground. I flip over and punch his chest as I laugh. He wraps his arms around my shoulders and squeezes, making me wheeze and getting me soaking wet. When we're both exhausted, he lets me go and supports his body over mine. Our breaths are deep as we recover from wrestling.

"I'm better...than you now," I pant.

"Nah...You've just grown stronger," he replies and looks up at me. "You've gotten bigger, too. You're not twig anymore, Blue." I pout when he laughs but realize he's right.

When I first came here, I was a skinny 12-year-old. No more than 60 or 70.

Thank my old home for that.

Now I look like I could pass for his age, my biceps starting to push at the fabric of my shirt and my stomach showing little signs of abs. I don't want to be buff, but I don't want to be anorexic or obese. Though I'm still only 16. I'm healthy enough to play sports, thanks to Yoruichi's hearty meals and Kisukes house labor.

But I'm still shorter and smaller than Renji's 6 foot build.

He's 19 and looks like a fucking brick house.

His hair is longer.

It's real shiny and down to his mid-back.

The locks make a curtain around my head.

I still keep mine short.

He's added to his tattoos. It's a tribal thing from his father I guess. They wrap around his biceps and go down to his abdomen.

Wait.

I've been staring at him too long.

I realize when I remember the position we're in.

Our first kiss.

His lips are parted as he continues to look back at me.

Something in me—some deep, dormant desire in the pit of my belly—wants to slide my tongue down his throat.

He looks like he's going to do it, and I feel like I want him to, but it's just my imagination packed together with the sweltering heat.

He gets off of me then starts running.

"Race ya back!" He shouts. I quickly follow him with a grin.

He is, and always will be, my one and only fucking best friend.

I love Grimmjow and Renji's relationship. They're the kind of best friends that can stop talking for a year, but pick right back up once they see each other again.

And there is a slight attraction between them, but it's purely physical. Grimmjow just has his carnal teenage thoughts like the rest of us. XD

Hope you liked this chapter!

R&R, please!

~EMAE