Heyya! How is da readers taday?

Haha. Anyways!

Bleacg isn't mine, unfortunately. Please read and review!

-Ichigo-

After Shinji finally got off me, I looked up at Grimmjow, still trying to smother my laughter, and he was giving me this funny look. I guess I was giving him the same look, though. I mean, really, Ichigo, I thought, just because you were best friends when you were little doesn't mean that everything's going to be the same as when you left. I broke our gaze, looked down into my lap, and sighed. Glancing over at Shinji, I froze. Wasn't he just like, three inches away from me? I thought, because now, Shinji knees were practically touching Nnoitra's shins and they were sharing a grin, oblivious to the world around them.

"Tell me that blonde friend a' yours is gay. Please tell me he is and not secretly a woman." Grimmjow whispered as he, too, stared at the two. I slowly nodded my head. "As gay as any gay man can get. Blunt and vulgar as fuck, too." I whispered back. We looked at each other and grinned. Then he frowned. "So…I didn't see yer family with ya at the airport…where're they?"

"America. Dad and the twins love it in New York and…Karin's even got a boyfriend." I told him. He opened his mouth to say something, but Nnoitra said something first.

"C'mere, Blondie. I gotta nice warm lap fer you ta bounce on later and I ain't gonna take 'no' fer an answer." He crooked a finger and I watched as Shinji pushed himself off the ground, put his hands on Nnoitra's shoulders, and leaned down to kiss him as he sat with a knee on either side of Nnoitra's thighs. The taller male put his large hands on Shinji's hips and yanked him even closer as Shinji groaned. I turned back to Grimmjow. "I dunno about you, but I'm not watching my best friend dry hump someone in public." My friend looked at me incredulously and then snorted. "I ain't getting between those two, but you feel free." I quickly shook my head. "Nah, I was thinking more along us leaving them to get arrested for PDA in a nature park and go walking along Willow's Clearing, yeah?" Grimmjow grinned and we got up, heading towards the back of the park.

We found Willow's Clearing when we were six. See, our moms always took us to that particular park when we were little. One day, while they were paying attention to our younger sisters, we bolted off to run around the part of the park we weren't supposed to go in. I had said, 'Hey, Gim! Les play hide an' seek!' and he'd beamed and agreed. When I ran off to hide, I dove into a bush because he'd yelled 'ready or not.' I turned around, and gasped. There was an almost completely faded path leading farther into the woods. As I was about to emerge from the bushes, someone laid their hands on my shoulders suddenly and yelled 'Gotchya!' I had screamed, and then turned to see Grimmjow grinning smugly at me. I remembered the path and said, 'Gim! Look, look! There's a footpath that way! Wanna check it out?' In the end, we didn't get to check it out until the next week and there wasn't much to it. Just a little grown-over trail that led to a tiny clearing with a willow tree to sit under. That became our hide out. Eventually, though, we had to show our moms where the place was so they wouldn't get worried. After that, we'd bring a few toys with us, but all we usually did was talk or climb the trees. I fell once and that's where I got the scar on my cheek. Grimmjow had the breath knocked out of him though, because he'd tried to catch me.

When we got to the bushes, we both stopped and stared. The bushes were now way taller than us. "So…." I started, "Have you been in there since I left?" Grimmjow shook his head slowly. "No. Not since the day Mama Misa came and took you away." I cringed at the old nickname – Grimmjow had always called my mother 'Mama Misa' because she was as close to a good mother he'd ever gotten. I knew he was going to ask about her sooner than later, but I still wasn't prepared for it. "Ready?" he asked with a deep breath. "Yep, have been for ten years." I retorted. He pushed aside parts of the bush and I stepped through, with him close on my heels, and headed to our Willow's Clearing.

"Wooooooowww…." I exclaimed as he whistled. "It's so…over-grown now." Grimmjow nodded. "Hey, look! Let's go see if those two nubs are still there to sit on." He suggested happily. I smiled and we pushed through the willow's vines and saw the trunk. We looked at each other and smirked. "You ready?" he asked. "Ready to what? Beat your ass at climbing to our spots just like old times? Sure." I snipped. "Whatever! I'm not the weakling I used to be!" his smile widened to a shit-eating smirk and I rolled my eyes. I held up a fist, raised one finger….another….a third, and we both took off, launching up the tree as fast as we could. I sat down on the target branch seconds before he sat on his, huffing and panting. "Damn, I forgot how exhilarating that is! There's no trees like this in New York." I shifted, leaning against the trunk and propping m feet up on my branch. He did the same on his branch that wasn't even six inches lower than mine. His branch grew just to the left of mine, thus, it was easier for us to talk.

"So…" I started lamely.

"So…" He answered back.

"Damnit! I always thought that, if and when I ever met you again, we'd be just like we used to. Playin' around, hide and seek, tag, all of that, but…both of us have changed…so much." My grin faded into a sorrowful face, and then a small bitter smile. "So much…" I whispered. Grimmjow didn't respond for a while, both of us just listening to the birds and insects and sounds of nature, when finally, "Yeah. Some of it I regret, ya know? Things like not being able to protect Nel from my dad, playin' hooky for the last two years, getting into all the fights I did….maybe if Idda tried harder in school…maybe they wouldn't'a left me...but there are things I don't regret. Things like Nnoi, Starrk, and Ulqui, hell, even Gin. Like my piercings, tattoos, and Nel. Didjya know? I still get inta lots of fights…and everyone I get into…I always think a hand, small and dainty, will grab my arm and pull me into a hug while telling the teasers to shove off. I always think that, and it never does me any good. I always wondered if you'd come back, and if you even remembered me, and I just…." He trailed off, leaving the sentence hanging, but I knew what he meant. "Me too, ya know. Yuzu and Karin…they never really remembered you…I mean, they were two when we left. They don't even remember Japan. But…once when they were seven….Karin came into my room. 'Ichi-nii?' she had asked. I just grunted and rolled over, wondering what the hell she was doing up at one AM. I voiced my thoughts and she closed my door and walked to my bed. She had told me 'Ichi-nii, I had a strange dream. I've seen it before…twice maybe. What does it mean?' and I had asked her to tell me about it. 'Well, it starts out in this…park I guess…and I'm watching two ladies walk along the side walk, like I'm following them. They have these babies with them. The one with teal-ish hair had only one baby and the one with long pretty hair the color of Yuzu's had two. Then there were these two little boys skipping along in front of the ladies. I never can see anyone's face, but…one little boy had hair like yours and the other had baby-blue hair. How silly, huh?' All I could do was agree and send her back to bed. I never told them about you, not once. It scared me…I thought something had happened to you. When I turned thirteen, Dad told me I could come back when I was sixteen. After about a month in America, I stopped smiling. I made a few friends, Shinji being the gay one I can giggle and shop with and the rest being really cool, but that wasn't until high school. It's been rough." I sighed, finishing. "So, tell me Strawberry, how's Mama Misa doing? I kinda miss her." Grimmjow asked, suddenly interested and curious. I recoiled and looked away, refusing to meet his eyes. "She's, uh…she's not…well, I mean….she…stairs and…brainstem…" I tried to find the right words, but nothing would come out. I breathed a heavy sigh. "Out of all people I didn't want to have to tell….look Grimm, Mom's not….about a month after we moved and got settled in, Mom tripped on a toy I had dropped and she fell down the stairs…when she hit the bottom stair, it snapped her brainstem in two. There was…there wasn't anything the doctors could do…" I stopped as my voice finally became barely even a whisper. Finally gathering the courage, I looked over to Grimmjow to see him with a blank expression. "Grimm…?" I whispered. He just continued to stare. By now, I was on the verge of tears. Why isn't he responding? Is he going to blame me? Everybody always tells me it wasn't my fault, but I know it was… I thought. I didn't notice that tears were steadily running down my face until Grimmjow reached up from his branch, grabbed me by my waist, and yanked me into his lap, pulling me close to his chest. "I'm so sorry Ichigo. I didn't…I wouldn't have brought it up had I known, and…I'm really sorry…" he whispered as I cried my eyes out into his chest. This was truly the first time I had cried over my mother's death. When she had died, I always thought she was coming back because I couldn't understand death, but when I finally did, I hadn't felt the need to cry. But, now, when Grimmjow was offering his kindness to me, I was going to take it.

-Grimmjow-

I don't know how long I sat there, holding Ichigo to my chest, letting him bawl his eyes out as I processed the fact that the closest person I had ever had as a mother had been dead for nearly ten years, but by the time the sun started to set, Ichigo had calmed down. At first, it was awkward, him being in my lap, but then, once I helped him get his foot on a ridge in the tree, we climbed down, deciding to go check on our friends. On our way there, his phone rang.

"Hey, Shi! What's up?...no way! Really?...All of you?...That's so awesome!...Yeah, of course we'll pick you up, what time do we need to be there?...seven AM, okay. And, I guess you're bring your instruments?...no?...Okay, well one of you will have to ride with Shin….A'ight. 'Kay! Love you too!...Bye, Shi!" Ichigo hung up the phone and we both looked over to the park bench we had left our buddies on in time to see…ugh…a nasty make out scene.

Ichigo's little blonde friend had taken his hair out of its little braid thingy and it was now hanging down to his ass in wavy curls. He still had his knees on either side of Nnoitra's thighs and he had one hand clutching Nnoitra's face while the other was wound in his hair. Nnoitra's bandana had been slipped down so it hung around his neck, showing the scar on his left eye. He had his hands gripping Blondie's ass as Blondie grinded down into him, their tongues in each other's mouths and their eyes closed. I cleared my throat as we neared, but Nnoitra just took one hand off of Blondie to flip me the bird, almost immediately replacing it to it former position. I looked to Ichigo for help and he just rolled his eyes, smirked, and mouthed 'watch this.'

"SIGH! I GUESS I'M JUST GOING TO HAVE TO TELL GRIMMJOW THE WONDERFUL NEWS THAT THE GUYS ARE COMING TO TOKYO IN THE MORNING BY PLANE AND WE'RE GOING TO GO AND PICK THEM UP SINCE SHINJI IS BUSY MAKING OUT. SO GRIMM, I CAN'T WAIT FOR YOU TO MEET THE GUYS! THEY'RE A LOT OF FUN! AND-!" Ichigo said loudly when he was suddenly interrupted by a vulgar gasp. I turned in time to see Blondie pull away from sucking face with Nnoitra to stare at Ichigo, red faced and gasping for air.

"They're coming here?" he asked excitedly with a grin on his face. Ichigo sighed. "I'm not talking to you until you fix yourself." He turned away from the pair and I watched as Shinji slipped out of Nnoitra's tight grip by pinching his arm and harshly biting the tip of his nose. Blondie then ran to Ichigo while straightening his clothes. "Seriously, though. Are the guys really coming?" Ichigo grinned and nodded excitedly. The jumped up and down and squealed as they started chatting a mile a minute about what they were going to do.

"Wait! Where are they going to sleep?"

"Well, obviously, Shi's in your room, Ren's in mine, and Hitsu, Ken, and Shuu are in the living room."

"Yeah. Guess so. Hey, but we're going to be in Tokyo tomorrow! We should totally go shopping while we're there!"

"OMG Yes! And it'll be so cute to listen to Kensei and Shuuhei talk in American and look all confused when we start talking in Japanese!" They giggled at that.

"Awww…I'm already missing it! Down side, though!"

Blondie gasped. "Downside?!"

Ichigo nodded gravely. "We have to get up at five frikin AM!"

Blondie gasped again, put an arm over his eyes, and pretended to swoon as Ichigo caught him. "Oh! The despair that fills me at your bad news, Ichi-san! It gives me the shivers and puts me on the verge of tears!" The blonde whined dramatically.

"Oh, I know. Isn't it wretched?" They both stopped and stared at each other before they went into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. Nnoitra came up beside me and leaned down to whisper "Why do all tha sexy ones gotta be tha freaks?" I chuckled along with him as we watched the two playfully shove each other. Suddenly, they stopped, and Ichigo whispered something in Blondie's ear, before they both turned to the two of us with maniacal grins. Ichigo swiftly ran forward, the blonde already running away, and smacked me in the middle of the chest, and then he took off after the blonde, screaming over his shoulder, "TAG, MOTHERFUCKER! AND YOU HAVE TO PLAY TOO, NNOITRA!" I stood, stunned as Nnoitra grinned at me and took off after the two smaller males. What the fuck? I asked myself. I shrugged and darted off after them, felling like I was six again, playing with my best friend.

Thanks so much for reading and sticking with me this far! Hope you'll continue to read!

KK, well, until next update!

-T