Hello folks, spent the morning first replying to a million reviews, ok not that many but enough to take forty minutes and make me blush. Seriously can't thank folks enough.

Also, since i've got a couple of non-signed in reviewers, quick shout out to Yukimi - yup its yaoi, thought i better make that clearer, hope you read any way. and to pj, chaos and the mysterious guest thanks for reviewing.

It's lunch time here, (Scotland) so i'll be back to writing after, maybe get another one out today...

Chapter 3

Thoughts were quickly wiped from his mind. Or so he thought as he went to his bed. He woke up with a morning problem often, but never when he'd been thinking about a guy. If he took care of the problem in the shower, would that mean he was gay? And who could he talk to about this? Nnoitra would probably offer to fuck him, just to check, his dad was hundreds of miles away and his mum, well he didn't think that would be a good idea, she'd made her feelings about Nnoitra's preference loud and clear; it could have been more his sluttish ways but there seemed to be a homophobic shadow to her rant.

That thought led to more, thinking about the term in particular. Homophobic – fear of gay people basically. He knew Nnoitra could be a scary fuck but it wasn't because he occasionally likes to suck cock. Or Melony, who everyone was pretty sure was swinging for the other team, she was scared of spiders, yet lifted them and moved them in case they got hurt, tears in her eyes as she did it. Nel had said she'd seen her in the bathroom after one rescue bawling and scrubbing at her hands, freaking out about one touching her. That was a phobia, not someone being a dick about people's private time. Gay marriage was rolling out around the world, and if it meant more happy families, and less shitty attitudes then he was good with it. He remembered the post on social network, about people objecting to gays adopting children, the response being straight people should stop having kids they don't want then.

The only stereotypical gay in his year was Shinji Hirako, a flamboyant blond who was tolerated by most, except the football team. He had toned it down a bit this year after getting slammed into a set of lockers too hard, cracking his ribs last year. The bully had been kicked out and there had been no more violence but Grimmjow had heard the kid had difficulty going to the bathroom as he was afraid he'd get jumped.

The shower had been over-long, something that annoyed his sister as the stupid house couldn't run two hot showers at once and he had a bathroom earlier in the pipes to her. She had to wait if he got their first. He was grinning around his toast as she came into the kitchen, rubbing a towel through her long hair as she sat at the breakfast bar with a scowl. He pushed the toast rack closer to her, and the butter dish and his grin just got wider as she snatched a slice, buttering it like it had done her a grievous insult. The kitchen door opened again and little Lilynette came in, looking exhausted as normal. The small woman was extremely young looking; she could pass for Nel's peer, with pale green hair in a simple bob cut, purely functional style with a fringe to keep the rest out of her face as she worked. She was a skinny woman, dressed like she was much older in her skirt suit as she slumped to the coffee pot, pouring herself a large black one, gulping down the hot liquid with her eyes closed.

"Another late night?" Grimmjow tried to hide his smirk behind his third slice of toast.

It snapped the woman's gaze to him, her pale pink eyes furious through their sleepiness. "Your father spent another night up, doing his day work, making me stay up to go over yesterday. But I need to go into the station today so while he sleeps another day away, I get to do without, and no doubt he will do it all again tonight." Lilynette poured another cup before slumping round and sitting next to Grimmjow, snagging half a slice of buttered toast off his plate. "I mean I know he's good at his job, and half the criminals are too scared to do anything worthy of getting his attention but seriously? I don't think he'd notice. How does your poor mother put up with him?"

Nel snorted. "I think she likes that he's always busy. Gives her more time to do what she wants."

Yeah, Nel and her new step mum weren't the best of friends. Grimm's mother didn't really notice, having no time for a grown daughter but Grimmjow tended to end up in the middle, wanting to defend his mother, but knowing in reality, the girl wasn't far wrong. He loved his mother, and she'd raised him well and had loved him. She had drifted as he'd got older, or maybe he'd pushed her away but it was probably a combination of the two. Evening meal they all sat down, most nights anyway. Starrk joined them as well, even if it was really breakfast for him most days. Grimmjow refused to call him dad, or Coyote and they had settled with Starrk, both men happy with the name. Grimmjow was shortened to Grimm, the laziness of the man in question having no bounds.

Grimmjow headed out the door, his sister on his tail and they walked together until friends started to appear on the approach to the gates, Nel breaking away to walk with her friend Tia as Nnoitra joined Grimmjow.

They made it through the gates in time to see a 'happy' reunion. Ichigo was sitting on the ground, his long legs crossed under him with a set of white and black headphones over his hat. His bag was open in his knee, a book propped in his hands. Chad had approached him, crouching down and pushing the headphones back. Ichigo had snapped his head up, looking a bit furious until he saw the giant teenager, a real smile on his lips. Chad had offered a hand, and Ichigo took it, shaking with his hand covered in a deep red half glove today. Two steps behind Chad stood Orihime, her hands clasped under her chin, between her substantial breasts. At least she had some modesty with them, wearing her uniform shirt buttoned up all the way and a knee length skirt as well. She approached as Chad shuffled to the side, and the girl collapsed to her knees in front of her old friend, throwing herself into his arms.

Nnoitra and Grimmjow laughed at the look of panic on the boy's face, seeing his hands grip her arms, pushing her off as he gave her a half smile once she was a safe distance away. She held out a hand and stroked it down his face, unprepared for the flinch as her fingers touched his skin. He visibly jerked back as well, breaking the contact before ducking his head, shuffling his belongings together and standing from his position, pushing down on his ankles to just rise from his squat. He stepped between his old friends and hurried off, lifting the headphones back into place. Orihime went to follow, his name on her lips but Chad grabbed her lightly by the arm, stopping her. She looked upset; probably worried about upsetting the boy but she couldn't do anything about it just now.

Woodwork was second period, and Grimmjow watched as Ichigo chiselled his joints, sanded his wood and nearly completed the project, having no distractions led to a good work ethic it appeared. His scowl was in place and today the teacher didn't even mention to beanie hat. The long sleeved t-shirt was in place under his shirt again, leading to Nnoitra speculating about the emo behaviour.

"Bet he's a fucking cutter. That'll be why he freaked with Hime touched him, and why he covers up. Bet his arms are strewn with scars."

Grimmjow frowned, not liking the thought, but it was a possibility. The act of self-harm didn't make sense, but he knew it wasn't supposed to so he didn't join in his friend's rant, hoping he'd change the subject. Grimmjow was working on removing all traces of the dry glue from his wood so he could varnish it, using a sharp blade to peel the PVA off. He had the spice rack pressed against his chest as he pushed the blade away, if he missed any, the varnish would dry white on those places not clear. Nnoitra had clamped his wood to the table, and was putting mallet to chisel, banging far too hard for the job he was doing and he made the bench jerk too much, Grimmjow slicing into the meaty part at the base of his thumb.

"Shit." Grimmjow dropped his project to the bench, trying to keep the blood off it as he clutched at the wound. It nipped, nothing he couldn't handle but was making a mess. Calling for the teacher, he couldn't spot him immediately so took himself to the sink, making sure the wound was clean. The water washed away the blood, showing the deep slice into his skin and he hissed as the water made it nip more. Holding a few paper towels to his hand, he looked around for his teacher once more, still not seeing him. The guy was an insurance nightmare, if someone was injured badly he'd get the sack. A bang at his other side grabbed his attention, Ichigo standing at the table beside the sink with an open first aid kit he'd grabbed off the wall. He rifled though it for a moment, pulling a couple of things out onto the lid before he turned to the injured boy. Saying nothing he pressed Grimmjow to sit on the table, taking the hand into his own. His hands were gentle, pulling the towels away but replacing them as the blood started to pour again. Ichigo stripped off his half gloves, quickly washing his own hands before tearing open an antiseptic wipe and a clean pad, removing the paper towels, wiping the cut before pressing the gauze onto it. He held Grimmjow's other hand to the pad with a lot of pressure before digging through the kit some more, pulling out the steri strips.

"Do you know what you are doing?" Grimmjow hated that he sounded a bit breathy.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow before holding the skin under the gauze, nodding to the other to remove it. He held the cut together and laid the little white paper stitches over it, starting from the middle and working his way to the edges. The cut was still oozing, not as fast due to the edges of the wound being squeezed together and Ichigo peeled a large white sticky bandage and pressed it gently on the wound. His hands were being gently, but Grimmjow couldn't help but notice his skin was rough, like he'd worked for years with his hands. He also clocked a little tattoo running down the side of his hand from his thumb knuckle towards his wrist. Spero

"I think you better get a professional to look at that if it seeps through." Ichigo just started to close the kit up, washing his hands again and pulling his gloves on. He had a matching tattoo on the other hand, veritas, both in script writing but clear enough. The tattoos were covered by the gloves once they were on and the boy went to walk away.

"Hey," Grimmjow grabbed the boys arm, noting the flinch as he jerked the limb out of the other's grasp. Ichigo stopped and turned towards him, scowl firmly in place. "Thanks, for fixing me up. Where did you learn that? From your dad?"

Stupid comment, Grimmjow closed his eyes after it left his mouth as the scowl deepened on the other's face. Ichigo walked faster, heading to his bench, packing up his project before putting it away and his tools before grabbing his blazer and his bag and storming out of the classroom. He nearly bowled the teacher over as the older man entered the room just as he was leaving. The boy hesitated, speaking to the man for a moment before leaving. The teacher just shook his head as he came over to the benches, wandering to see what everyone was up to. Grimmjow went back over to his bench, keeping his injured hand away from everything as it started to throb. He'd managed to keep the blood off his wood but it was splattered on the bench and the floor as well as a couple of drips on his grey trousers. The teacher stopped at his bench, seeing the plaster and started to flap about the incident.

Grimmjow assured him he was fine, that he'd taken care of it and that yes, he would go to the doctor if it got worse before getting to go and sit in a classroom after he'd put his project away. He walked into the cupboard, frowning as he saw his place empty, sitting his unit down before scanning for Ichigo's realising he'd been too pissed at Grimmjow to use his space. There was a pile of wood on the floor, under the shelves that looked a bit dumped and would probably get stepped on and damaged before their next lesson so he lifted it, sitting it gently on top of his, leaving the cupboard to grab his stuff and go and mess about on a computer for half a lesson.

The bell rang, signalling break and the crowds descended onto the dinner hall, the seniors getting priority as everyone got their chance to nourish themselves. Grimmjow got twittered over by the girls in his group, each of them taking turns to stroke his hand, some running their fingers through his hair in sympathy. The blue haired boy only had eyes for one member of the school, sitting with his headphones on at the end of a bench, Ulquiorra and his group sitting around him. Grimmjow could understand the new guy's preference, the more Goth group tended to not pry, each carrying some form of secret in their heads, true or not in some cases, which made them shy away from the others in the school. At least there wouldn't be any dumb jocks making assy comments about his dead parents in that group.

iiiiiii

Grimmjow had to go and get actual stitches in his hand, the bandage on his hand being saturated by the time school ended. It was Lilynette who took him to the clinic and four stitches later, he was signed off from PE and basketball for a month.

A month!

He had to sit in the PE classroom working on homework for other classes while his friends got to run about in kit, having a laugh while he was stuck inside. Nnoitra even told him Ichigo was in their class and kept the long sleeve on under his school polo shirt as they worked on their athletics. He also reported the orange haired kid was fast on his feet, ending up first in most of the races, long distance and sprinting. Grimmjow sat during his third week of isolation thinking that it must be those long legs that made him so fast, the ones that would wrap around him so well.

Oh fantastic, that thought returned like a freight train into his mind. It also reminded him that he'd been single for a while now, and maybe some lady attention might get his mind off the hot orange haired man's legs. Wait, did he just think the kid was hot?

He'd had a generic gay conversation with Nel, who'd either played dumb or he'd overestimated her intelligence as he kept putting his foot in it. She'd said it was too early in life to decide what was important, and that labels just put you in an inescapable box, that would only crush you. Yeah, she could be deep sometimes.

Grimmjow also looked up the two words scribed into Ichigo's skin, Veritas was Latin for truth, spero meant hope; ambiguous but possibly having a deeper meaning to the wearer. How a sixteen/seventeen year old got a tattoo was a mystery, but Grimmjow realised he could pass for older, they all could by now with their height and faces taking on a more mature shape. All except for little Rukia Kuchiki; she'd be getting ID'd until she was forty.

The month was over, Grimmjow only seeing Ichigo during woodwork and the other avoiding even looked at him. Ichigo had completed the spice rack a week ago, before Nnoitra, and was on to working on a granddaughter clock, something Grimmjow had struggled with, his dominant hand being bandaged until the week before. He'd tried to speak to the orange haired boy, the other snubbing him, to the point of turning his back, working on the other side of the bench so he could no longer see the bluenette. He still sat with Ulquiorra at lunches and breaks and he had been seen standing with Chad before and after school, neither saying much, Orihime joining them but keeping her distance. Her boyfriend Uryu wasn't impressed that Ichigo had upset her, but he tolerated the other, as long as he didn't have to speak to him.

Grimmjow was changing for PE, slinging his black shorts on, sitting about an inch above the knee and fairly plain, as well as his pale blue school polo shirt. Even the kit was uniform which made it boring but requiring less thought in the morning. Ichigo was in the corner, pulling off his shirt and replacing it with his polo, the sleeves having somehow lost their hem as well as an inch or so in length. They were long, hanging down to almost your elbow on everyone except Grimmjow, him having the shoulders needed to fill them; Ichigo had clearly redesigned his shirt to his own preference, yet kept the long sleeve on underneath.

They headed out into the hall, seeing the grinning face of their insane teacher, the giant of a man dwarfing all but Nnoitra, and being three times his girth. Zaraki was a slave driver to his students, with a filthy mouth and a loud laugh and he had no time for soft touches, his class tended to be the more athletic, other kids not being able to handle the pace. The dreaded two ropes hung from the centre of the room, signalling the start of a new unit, athletics finished.

"Morning slugs." The answering 'morning sir' was unenthusiastic, but just made the man smile wider. "Muscle training starts today. Circuits will be set out every lesson and you will tag team round them moving on at a whistle and if I don't see you push yourself, you won't get out to lunch, is that clear?" PE was before lunch three times a week, end of the day on a Friday due to the seniors complaining a few years ago that they couldn't get a shower afterwards so it was moved to a place that you didn't have class immediately afterwards.

"But today, we are going to test you. And be we I mean all of you, testing each other. We're starting with the bleep test; we'll see who is left standing. After that, you can get acquainted with my best friends here, anyone who makes it to the top in five minutes gets the prize."

Bleep test, an unending sequence of beeps, each one getting quicker and it required you too run from one end of the gym hall to the other, touching the wall before the beep sounded. You got to miss one, but if you didn't pick it up and beat the next, you were out.

Grimmjow was out by level 7, sitting on the ground panting but proud of himself, out of the class of seventeen, he'd beaten twelve. Ichigo and Nnoitra were still running, the latter finding it easier than most because of his leg length. One more kid dropped out, leaving just three and they streaked across the room. Nnoitra was panting hard, and frowning as the orange haired kid stride in front of him, beanie off during PE of course. He leaned forward, tripping over himself and sending him down, taking Ichigo out at the same time. They both looked up to see the last kid touch the wall and turn, putting them out of the competition. Ichigo lashed out with his foot, pushing the other boy off him before he stood. Nnoitra sat, leaning back on his hands as he scowled up at him.

"I didn't do it on purpose you know. Ass." Nnoitra did mutter the insult, but not really that quietly.

Ichigo just stormed off, heading for the group standing near the ropes and standing with Shuuhei Hisagi, one of Ulquiorra's friends.

Grimmjow stood as his friend made his way over, swearing under his breath about the punk kid who'd belted him twice now. "He's asking for an ass kicking."

Zaraki called them to order, berating them on their performance in the bleep test before grabbing two kids at random and shoving them at the ropes, ordering them to climb, holding his stop watch as he timed them. IF they couldn't get off the ground in one minute, they were thrown off, it they managed to get a bit up, and they were pulled off after five unless they fell. There were crash mats on the floor but it would still hurt if you were high enough.

Nnoitra made his way over to Ichigo, pulling him round and just rolling his eyes as the other jerked out of his grasp. Grimmjow was right behind him; ready to hold his friend back if he started anything.

"Oi, punk. Rematch, you in?"

"And if I am, what is the deal?"

"I win, you get to do my homework for a week." The new kid was notoriously smart too, above either of the friends in math and English.

"And if I win?"

"Your terms."

"Fine, I win, lunch is on you, for a week."

Nnoitra raised an eyebrow, neither of the friends had seen Ichigo eat lunch since he arrived, assuming the kid just didn't for some reason. "Fine, first to the top." Ichigo just inclined his head, pulling his arm around his head, using the other to push the elbow, stretching out his shoulder.

The orange haired kid continued to stretch, reaching down to place his hands flat on the floor with his knees straight, something that raised a few eyebrows before shaking his hands out. He approached the rope as the next pair were called, stripping his loose polo shirt off, leaving him in the skin tight long sleeve. Grimmjow could see hints of rock hard abs, too well defined for his age as well as a firm chest. His arms were slim but chorded and he grabbed a hold of the rope, holding his weight as he drew his legs up, knees apart and straight as he pointed his feet, stretching them out. Grimmjow swallowed thickly, thinking of the core strength needed to make that look so easy. Ichigo dropped the rope, standing back when Zaraki barked at him, blowing the whistle sharply, Nnoitra leaping for the rope, his long legs pushing him up a meter before they wrapped around the rough material, long arms pulling him up as they shoved. Ichigo wasn't as rushed, grabbing a handful of rope before just climbing, legs hanging loosely as he ascended, one hand over the other as his body smoothly rose. He over took Nnoitra, not even giving the other a glance before he gripped the metal bar holding the ropes, three body lengths up the rope from Nnoitra.

The black haired boy was fuming, and he dropped to the floor faster than he should, jerking his ankle a bit as he crashed into the mat. Ichigo was still at the top of the rope, his legs now entwined around the rope to hold his weight.

"Oi, Nnoitra. How about this?"

Ichigo's shout brought all attention back to him, as he crossed his ankles under the rope, letting it pass through his thighs before he released his arms, holding them out as he lay back, right back until he was straight at the hips, parallel to the floor. Even a room of guys can sound like a bunch of little girls when they gasp out loud; especially when the kid on the rope kept lying back, releasing his legs and then grabbing the rope in his hands, his body falling round fast, he even had his damn toes pointed.

"Shiba get your ass off that rope and quit showing off."

"Yes sir, but one more." The boy rose up the rope again until his hands were a foot or so from the ring attaching it to the bar. He pushed with his left arm, pulling with his right as his legs rose up, straightening out until he was side on horizontal, his arms straining to hold his whole weight at that angle. He twisted slowly, his legs scissored as he pulled them to the rope, sitting, holding his weight between his thighs once more as he shook out his arms. He streaked backwards, grabbing the rope underneath him before releasing his legs, holding with his hands as his legs followed, gripping with them again before flipping down the rope, stopping a few feet from the floor before he dropped, eyes to the floor but a smirk in place.

"Well if we are done with that show I believe half of you still need a go on the ropes, who's next."

Ichigo walked past Nnoitra, pausing for a second. "And I believe lunch is on you."

Please review! Has anyone got any of the hints of Ichigo's absence yet? worried they might be a bit obscure. Let me know where you think he was.