Walking for a little while Komo mulled it over to himself, his pumpkin orange eyes set on the white, crunching pavement below him.
"You could become one of them if you really wanted to, you know." the teen stated, examining the misfits back.
"Pfft, how?" he asked, coming to a part of the path where they could walk together again.
"Well, you just have to be what they want you to be, don't you?" he enquired, while Grimmjow just snorted and spat out whatever had went to the back of his throat.
"Why would I want to be something I'm not?" he asked, sloshing his mouth about a little.
"You said you wanted to be like Byakuya and Aizen, right?" he asked, glancing up at him. "The only way you'd get as popular as them was if you stopped being you and pretended to be something you're not. Those girls chasing them aren't chasing a person, they're chasing a perceived reality." Komo explained, glancing back down again.
"What?" Grimmjow asked, blinking ever so slightly.
"C'mon, I'll show you." Komo grunted, dragging him inside once they got to the doorstep.
Kicking their shoes off and putting their coats onto the hangers by the front door to dry Komo hushed Grimmjow and motioned for him to go upstairs quietly.
"My dad's probably gone out to get smashed at Kenpachi's place, and Klara will be asleep." the teen whispered, tugging Grimmjow by the hand into his room before he put on his light and shut the door.
Turning on his laptop Komo flicked on the radiator to let the room warm up and grabbed his blankets to put over them as they settled on the bed. "Okay, here's a picture of Aizen when he was younger." the teen uttered, bringing up a picture of the man, who had his brunet hair in a tangled mess and his glasses on. "Aizen used to have horrible dandruff and prescribed glasses, but then he got contacts and special shampoo." the teen explained, flicking through the photos.
"I thought you didn't know them?" Grimmjow enquired, snickering at the photos.
"After I met them I did a little research, I wont have them pulling my sister into any of their mind games." Komo muttered, bringing up another photo of Byakuya.
"This is him when he's not under gone his three hour prepping. It was hard to get a hold of this actually, but see what I mean? These are who they really are, they're not really princes, they're more like toads." the teen murmured.
Checking out a few more photos Grimmjow leaned back against the wall, rather glad to have finally warmed up.
"That's physical appearances, I have those, but the girls still don't come running." the grumbled, while Komo simply pinched his lower lip in deep concentration.
"It's not just appearance that makes them, it's how they hold themselves, how they act and react in public." he explained, looking at his friend for a moment. "That, for example, is not attractive. I've seen you doing that on the benches at college." Komo stated weakly, watching him scratch his crotch and then attempt to clean out his ear with his pinkie.
"Aright, how do they fake that?" Grimmjow asked, leaning forward again.
"You just have to pretend that everything is interesting, and keep a level head no matter what. Like when they deal with groups of girls, watch." Komo spoke, bringing up a video taken by one of their obsessive fans. "See how they smile while they speak? And they keep their back straight, but their hands out? It's like saying 'I'm open to you speaking to me, but this is purely a formal meeting'." the teen explained. "And when they want to go talk to another beauty they say they have somewhere to go, and walk away, give it a few strides and then they pretend to bump into a recognisable 'friend'. That way no one gets angry, maybe a little jealous, but they keep the peace." the raven haired teen uttered, changing video.
Watching it Grimmjow, for once, flinched when a glass was thrown by a very angry woman that he recognised as Franceska Rose.
"Okay, here is an example of a flirt that got out of hand. Now Aizen uses his sincere voice to calm her down, he gets up slowly and he eases her fist down so he can hold her hand." Komo pointed out, hovering the tip of his finger over the screen. "By using body language, physical language and tone he's managed to not only control the situation but bring her to the table to drink with him and the other girl. Suddenly he's got himself a woman to take home on each hand." he uttered, pausing the video. "It's not that hard to be like them, you just need to act." he concluded, glancing at Grimmjow.
Knitting his brow together the misfit seemed to think about it for a bit before speaking.
"I'm shit at acting though." Grimmjow grumbled, peering at Komo.
"It takes practise, just watch them for a bit, maybe you'll pick up a few tips. And ask girls what they see in them, always remember your target audience when doing anything." the raven haired teen stated, checking his emails while he had his laptop on.
"Why do you have that in your email box?" Grimmjow asked, spotting something.
"I get junk mail sometimes." Komo stammered, going to delete the message.
"Dude, it says you're registered with that site." the teen stated, pointing at the username in the subject title. "If you like dicks it's cool man, it would explain why you were so disinterested in getting yourself a woman." he added, while Komo simply stilled.
"What makes you think I'm not interested in women?" he enquired, closing the browser.
"That email, for a start. I'm not sure you'd find many breasts on 'Man Hub'." Grimmjow grunted, crossing his arms behind his head.
"How do you know what's on Man Hub?" Komo asked, glancing at him.
"I watch more porn than Hugh Hefnerget gets laid in a day." Grimmjow stated. "I know a gay porn site when I see it." he went on to grunt, examining Komo's cheeks which were slowly growing pinker by the minute.
Komo was not quite sure what to really say, up until now he had not really discussed his sexuality with anyone, to his knowledge everyone else thought he would turn out like his father eventually and chase women with his tongue hanging out.
"Have you done it?" Grimmjow asked, hitching his brow.
"Done what?" he enquired hesitantly.
"Gone about with a guy?" he suggested, leaning forward to try get a better look at his facial features.
"No, of course not." the teen responded, gushing at the question.
"I can set you up with someone if you want. I actually know someone who said he'd get with a guy to try it out." he offered, smirking slightly.
"No thanks." Komo uttered firmly, frowning a little.
"Why not? You scared of putting your dick in a guy?" Grimmjow asked, snorting a little.
"Actually…" the teen uttered, pushing the tip of his index fingers together. "I think I'd probably be on the bottom." he explained nervously.
"He'd do it that way to, I'm sure. He'd make sure your first time was enjoyable." the punk explained, but Komo just shook his head.
Grunting Grimmjow rocked back against the wall again.
"I don't want to sleep with some random guy." Komo protested quietly. "I'd rather my first experience was with someone I know and trust." he murmured, feeling the punk practically loll far enough forward to breathe down his neck.
"Let's see some of this porn of yours then." Grimmjow spoke, examining the screen.
"What?" the teen asked, feeling his brow darken with shock.
"You obviously watch that shit, so show me. Got any on your hard drive?" Grimmjow asked, examining him as he hesitantly brought back up his internet browser. Slowly skimming down a page on one of the sites he used Komo lowered the volume and put on one of the videos he had watched recently, though he kept his head low as he did so.
Staring at the screen Grimmjow had remained quiet for most of it, though he seemed to narrow his gaze and then grunt when they got to the actual intercourse.
"You want some guy doing that to you?" he asked, hitching his brow. "No wonder you want it to be with someone you trust. Looks painful as hell." he muttered, stealing the laptop so that he could find a video that he personally liked. "This is what sex should look like." he stated, putting it back down as Komo watched.
Tilting his head ever so slightly the teen watched closely, though the over exaggerated facial expressions and noises seemed to put him off slightly.
"The video's doing what it's supposed to, but the girl looks like she's tripping balls rather than having sex." he spoke once the video had ended.
"That's the kind of face she should be making." Grimmjow stated, frowning slightly.
"Women don't look like that when they have sex. Sure, with a good partner, they can be really loud, but it's not like they lose control of every muscle in their face and start drooling like that." he stated matter-of-factually.
Rolling his eyes Grimmjow sat still for a while, though he seemed to be fidgeting more and more.
"We should go to bed now, it's getting late." Komo murmured, getting up to find the blow up bed he had saved for whenever he went camping with his dad. Setting it up the teen glanced over at Grimmjow, who had not moved at all up until now. "I'll need the covers so you have something to lie under." he spoke, stepping closer to take it, but Grimmjow seemed hell bent on keeping the cover over himself and moving with it.
"Thanks." he muttered, sitting down on the bed. "What about your covers?" the punk asked, finally realising that Komo was just sitting on the mattress now.
"I have a feeling I wont sleep tonight." he explained, scratching his chin.
"Ah, forgot about your insomnia." Grimmjow groaned, sitting up.
"You can go to sleep, I'll just listen to music or play my game console." Komo uttered, getting up to retrieve it from his jacket pocket.
No more than two minutes later Komo had come flying back into the room though, and had proceeded to look under tables, books, pillows and even Grimmjow.
"What are you doing?" he asked, watching him frantically search his room.
"My console, I can't find it." he stated, beginning to panic while the punk stood up.
"Geez, man, calm down." the taller teen spoke, trying to keep the blanket over him. "You probably forgot it in the classroom, we can go in tomorrow and get it." he suggested, but Komo quickly shook his head.
"I put it in my coat pocket and left college with it." he stated, trying to think of any possible place it could be.
"Just calm down, for fuck sake. I rummaged your pockets for the house keys before we left and it wasn't in there, so you didn't lose it when we went out." the misfit stated, scratching the side of his head in thought.
Trying to take deep breaths Komo stood staring off into space for a moment, though he honestly could not remember when he took it out of his jacket once he came home after college.
"I must have lost it on the way home." he spoke, starting to freak out again.
"It's a console, Komo. You can buy another one, it's not the end of the world." Grimmjow protested, surprised by the teens sudden anxiety.
"I can't just buy another one. That console had my favourite game in it." Komo snapped, knitting his brow together.
"Bloody hell, calm down… I'll help you look for it." he grumbled. "Check the kitchen, maybe you left it there while making lunch." Grimmjow stated, while Komo nodded a little and darted off.
Turning Grimmjow went to his bag and opened it up for a moment, his eyes boring down on the device that was nestled between an energy drink and a book. He had originally come over to try find something he could steal for money, but now he was second guessing himself over taking something from him. He had a faint inkling that Kenpachi would know he did it anyway and kill him when he was in that small room at the college, he would probably even say something like 'no one will hear you scream'.
Picking it up Grimmjow tossed it in his hand a few times and sighed, standing up straight to call for Komo.
"I found it." he stated, peering out the door at the staircase. He had not said it loudly, but Komo was up the steps and coming towards him in a matter of seconds. Opening his eyes wide Grimmjow grunted and found himself toppling backwards when Komo lunged at him, his arms wrapping around his chest as he began to squeeze him tightly.
Hitting the deck Grimmjow hissed at the impact, while Komo simply stopped cuddling him to grab his gaming device and practically tongue the bloody thing.
"Where was it?" he asked, still straddling the punk's hips.
"It fell behind the desk there, I went to move my bag and saw it." the rebel explained with a deep breath, pulling himself up so he was not stuck to the floor like a discarded rag doll any longer.
"Thanks, I thought I had lost it forever." Komo stated, cuddling into Grimmjow once more.
Sat there for a moment Komo slowly began to open his eyes and calm down, a new problem coming to his attention.
"Grimmjow, you have a-" he went to say, but Grimmjow cut him off quickly.
"Yeah, I know." he spoke, somewhat ashamed of himself. "I was going to go to the bathroom and relieve myself quietly, but I guess it's a bit late for that." he murmured quietly, while Komo continued to sit on his lap.
"Do you want me to do anything? Since you helped me find my console, I mean. As a thank you." he asked, looking surprisingly innocent at this point in time.
"What?" the misfit asked, opening his eyes slightly wider than usual.
"I mean, I can probably find some magazines in my dads room, or something." he explained, while the taller teen simply sighed with relief.
"Shit, I thought you were offering to give me a blowjob or something." he bluntly stated, ruffling his own fringe for a moment to try clear the thoughts from his mind.
Blushing deeply Komo gasped and shook his hands.
"Ah, no… I didn't mean it like that!" he exclaimed. "I mean, you're attractive but, ah, I-" he spluttered, while Grimmjow just watched him begin to freak out again.
"You're way too lively for an insomniac at two a.m." the blue haired teen muttered, laughing ever so slightly as Komo apologised. "Get off my dick by the way, you're crushing it." Grimmjow grunted, squinting his eye as Komo practically leaped off of him and got to his feet.
"I'll go get you the magazine." he stammered, though he stilled when he felt Grimmjow put his foot around his ankle.
"Don't bother, I think the last five minutes killed it for me." he stated, dragging himself back onto the blow up bed. "Night dumb-ass." he grumbled, rolling onto his side as he pulled the blanket over himself.
"Night." Komo uttered, turning on the console having put his headphones on. "Thanks for finding it. I don't know what I'd have done if I lost it." he murmured, while Grimmjow just stared at the shadows flickering across the wall.
"Whatever." he responded, shrugging it off.
Bleary eyed and confused Grimmjow awoke the next morning, his eyes lolling around the unfamiliar room until he eventually remembered where he was. Sitting up the scruffy teen saw that he was alone in the room, the scent of fried bacon attracting his attention. Turning his head the punk examined the door as it opened and the raven haired teen stepped in, his eyes peering down at him from a plate.
"I thought the smell of food would wake you up." Komo uttered, handing him the plate while he looked at it in confusion. "It's bacon." he added, noticing his expression.
"I know what it is. I'm just not used to having breakfast." he stated, turning away to eat the rolls stuffed with sausages and bacon.
"You should always eat breakfast." the teen responded casually, heading to the drawers near the window to pick out something to wear. "I have to go shopping for groceries today, but I wont make you do that, so if you've somewhere you need to be then I'd escape while you can." Komo uttered, pulling out a red shirt with a video game character on it. "Oh, and don't forget to call your parents, if you haven't already. They'll probably want to know where you are." he stated, stretching the T-shirt fabric to loosen it.
Still eating Grimmjow merely grumbled in response, his gaze narrowing as he examined his half-bitten roll. Chewing loudly he swallowed the mouthful of food that would have made any other person choke and then spoke.
"I live on my own." he grunted, using his nail to pick a bit of sausage skin trapped between his teeth out.
"Oh, so you work?" Komo asked curiously, looking down at him.
"Usually." Grimmjow answered, squashing the roll into his mouth again hungrily.
"I only have a weekend job." the teen uttered, peering about for his extra pair of jeans. "I don't need to work, but I hate the thought of sitting around doing nothing." he spoke, while the punk simply grunted.
"I'd rather be lazing about." he responded, causing Komo to roll his eyes.
"I couldn't imagine you doing anything else." he spoke, dodging Grimmjow's fist when he mockingly attempted to go for his shins.
Having gotten dressed Komo took the money left for him off the counter and waited for Grimmjow to leave first. To his surprise the punk had offered to help him with the shopping, in exchange for letting him stay the night and cooking his breakfast. Part of him wished he had not allowed him to help though, as the shopping was taking twice as long as usual due to Grimmjow messing around and stalling when he saw something he liked.
Lugging the plastic bags Komo waddled through the snow, while Grimmjow walked casually in front talking about something he had heard. Komo could only feel bemused by the whole thing however, as the punk was carrying nothing, and not only that but somehow he had managed to convince Komo to carry things he had bought as well.
"I even saw it, you know. So that rumour about Ichigo is true." the punk stated, grinning precariously as he stopped at the gate to the house. "I'm out of here now, I'll see you later. You should stay at my place next time, then we can go drinking and pick up chicks." he stated gleefully, before he paused in thought. "Well, I can pick up chicks. We can find you a guy, I guess." he uttered, while Komo simply lowered his head slightly.
"Grimmjow?" he asked quietly.
"What? I wont hear you argue, if that's what you wanna turn this into." he grunted, knitting his brow together.
"No, I just wanted to request that you keep that between the both of us." Komo stated firmly, glancing up at him weakly. "No one else knows. I'd prefer it stayed that way, so… Yeah, we can pick up chicks next time." the teen stated, pushing open his gate to let himself onto the garden path.
Blinking Grimmjow glanced at Komo and let out a low sound of disapproval.
"Whatever floats your boat. Probably better that way, anyway. That moron, Nnoitra, would probably start asking me if you're my rent boy if he found out you were gay." he shrugged, while Komo just stared at him plainly. "Ciaos." he then spoke, walking off calmly while the teen waited until he had disappeared from sight before going inside.
It had been another three days until college began again, and on that day everyone had came trudging in, one of which was Komo, though he was more concerned that Grimmjow had broken his promise and told everyone. Luckily it seemed that everyone was none the wiser, and were more concerned about getting an eyeful of the beauty-crew after not seeing them for a whole four days. Komo, on the other hand, wanted to avoid them at all costs, but it seemed that it would be harder than he imagined.
The disco was going to be going ahead as planned, and Komo was one of the many people who had offered to help. He had no idea that they would be there as well, to give advice and confidence to the girls and guys throwing pink banners and other love related things onto the walls. Komo, however, was in charge of getting the music prepared for the disco, and so was sitting at a desk with his headphones on listening to music that was suggested to him.
Humming to himself Komo sat alone in a room scoring out songs or adding them to the pile for the lecturers to evaluate at the end of the day, his head tilted to the side as he rested on the palm of his hand while browsing the internet. Scribbling onto a bit of paper by his side the teen went to choose the next song but found that he had finished, his head tilting back as he blew hot air up past the bang going down the middle of his face.
Deciding he should probably see if anyone else had any suggestions the teen got up and began to wander the empty corridor towards the gym, but found that everyone had gone to lunch, leaving the room bare. Sighing he stepped inside to see what had become of the gym, his eyes flicking up and down at the sight.
There were banners on all sides, and flowers everywhere. The air was even scented for once, which was a nice change.
Using pins Komo put the slips of paper onto a board on the littered wall, hoping that someone would notice it and add to it.
"Watching you dress as you turn down the lights I forget all about the storm outside. Dark clouds roll their way over town, heartache and pain came a-pouring down like hail. Sleet and rain, yeah, they're handing it out." Komo hummed, aimlessly walking along the centre of the gym floor while taking a closer look at the decorations. "And we're caught within the crossfire of heaven and hell, and we're searchin' for shelter. Tell the devil that he can go back from where he came, his fiery arrows drew their beat in vain." he uttered, pausing by a ladder to see one of the decorations had come undone.
Making sure the ladder was secure Komo climbed up and picked up the pin that had landed at the top of it, his hand letting go of the side to help keep the poster up as he pinned it back into the wall.
"Shouldn't you be at lunch?" Byakuya enquired, giving Komo a fright. Flinching the teen gasped and lost his balance, his eyes widening as he found the steps come out from under his feet.
Effortlessly Byakuya had caught Komo, his arms stretched out as the teen stiffly landed in them.
"Watch what you're doing." he stated, coldly staring down on him.
"Don't sneak up on people!" the teen snapped with a slight blush having realised where he was. Being put back on the ground the teen checked himself over and then sighed, his head glancing to the steps that had not even move slightly during the event. "Thanks." he stated, giving Byakuya a temporary smile.
"You shouldn't be doing that on your own." he responded, while Komo simply pouted.
"I was perfectly safe until you came out of nowhere." he grumbled.
"Oh, it's..." Aizen uttered, though he could not remember the shorter man's name.
"Komo." he stated, observing everyone coming back in to continue working.
In a matter of seconds there was a group around them, causing Komo to carefully escape the crowded area while they were occupied. Stopping the teen looked at Klara, who was glaring at him, and furrowed his brow.
"What?" he asked.
"Tell Grimmjow the next time he wants to find you he can do it himself." Klara growled, stomping off while the teen just looked even more confused than before.
"Hey, Komo." the punk stated, waltzing into the hall.
"What did you do to my sister?" the teen asked, narrowing his gaze.
"I asked her where you were, and then she threw a strop when I asked her about Byakuya." the man explained, shrugging slightly.
"She's still upset about that?" he sighed, glancing over at his sister who was putting all her effort into shredding paper aggressively.
Anticipating a long talk with her later Komo took his attention back to Grimmjow, who had walked off to flirt with a few of the girls near by, leaving him to stand there like an lost penguin.
"What's your job here?" Aizen asked, prowling up towards Komo.
"Pre-planning the music for the disco. The list of yes and no's are on that wall." the teen answered calmly, pointing towards the bit of paper across the room.
"Are you going to be the DJ?" the brunet enquired curiously, smiling a little.
"No." Komo uttered, tensing when Grimmjow skulked up behind him unannounced. His body stiffening further when the blue haired punk looked straight through him to bore a bitter glare into Aizen.
"Protective, aren't you?" the brunet uttered, waving goodbye to Komo, who looked confused by the comment, before heading across the room to see what Gin was doing.
"How that guy has women or friends is beyond me." Grimmjow muttered, slipping his hands into his pockets.
Sat in their hideaway Komo rolled his clicking wrist and muttered.
The punk on the otherhand, as Komo exmained him, seemed to be off in a little world of his own.
"Oi." Grimmjow spoke, while the raven haired teen raised his head. "I tried doing what I saw in those videos, but it didn't work." he grunted, coming over to sit on the sofa. "They just rolled their eyes." he added.
"What did you say?" he asked, putting his hands onto his lap.
"I over heard them talking about some stupid music Gin likes, so I tried jumping into the conversation like those idiots constantly do. They brushed me off." the punk muttered.
"It's rude to butt into conversations at the wrong time. You need to wait til they start doing something, or stop talking." Komo answered, while Grimmjow just protested.
"But they wouldn't have shut up if I hadn't butt in on their conversation with Byakuya." he retorted.
"You cut in on them trying to flirt with Byakuya?" Komo uttered, hitching his brow. "No wonder they gave you the cold shoulder." he sighed.
"How is talking about Gin flirting with Byakuya?" Grimmjow enquired, furrowing his eyebrows together.
"Reverse psychology." Komo stated. "You talk about one person to make it look like you're not just one of the girls, you just want to be their friend. They think it gets them closer to them by pretending to be interested in someone else until they've netted them." the raven haired teen explained, but the brute merely flopped backwards against the sofa to groan loudly at the ceiling.
Sat there quietly Grimmjow murmured and yawned for a moment.
"Women are so confusing." he sighed, while Komo just gave him a reassuring smile.
"It takes some practise. They've been at it for ages, plus they're models, so they're used to acting around their peers." the raven haired teen uttered.
"Maybe I should become a model, then I'd have a name to flash." Grimmjow uttered, pondering it. "Good money as well." he spoke, purring at the thought.
"If you work hard and get good work." Komo added.
"Hard work? Who needs that when I look like this?" he asked, smirking while the smaller man rolled his eyes.
"Even good looks take some work to get seen." he answered, getting pulled into a semi-embrace by the punk who then shook him a little.
"Only if you're plain. I don't have to try." he stated.
"You could take care of yourself a little more." Komo mumbled, looking down at Grimmjow's hoody that had a broken zip.
"You sound worried about me." the punk chortled, letting the teen go to stand up and stretch.
"Maybe I am." Komo uttered gently under his breath, while the punk stilled to turn and look down at him for a moment.
Examining him Grimmjow lowered his gaze for a moment.
"Why did they put you in charge of the music?" he asked, attempting to change the subject.
"I offered to. I sing at bars and clubs sometimes and helped get a DJ for the disco anyway." Komo explained, peering up as the punk's strange expression shifted once more.
"You sing?" he asked, rather surprised. "You a Placebo kind of guy?" he enquired, but Komo just shook his head.
"No, I don't really have a style, I guess." Komo uttered, thinking about it.
"Let's go to a karaoke bar tonight then. We can set you up with someone using your talents." Grimmjow uttered, but Komo just pouted a little.
"The disco is tonight." he uttered.
"Thought you said you were going to stay home?" the rebel asked.
"Oh, well, yeah, but no one will be home to keep an eye on the house." Komo replied, flinching when Grimmjow picked him up.
"Stop avoiding fun like it's the plague." the punk muttered, while the teen just freed his arm slowly.
"I guess even turtles need to poke their head out of their shell sometimes." the teen murmured, rubbing the back of his head.
"You're really weird." Grimmjow mumbled after a long churning pause, making Komo lower his arm to his side and examined him. He had that weird expression on his face again.