Hey guys! I'm finally back! Yay!

Anyways, if bleach was mine, Ichigo and Shiro would be twins (and on good terms) and Toshiro would be SO much more layed back than he is. Therefore, IT AIN"T MINE. XD

kk, well, please read and review! Thanks!

-Ichigo-

I angrily shoved the apartment door open as everybody else trailed in after me. Shiro and Grimmjow were the last two to come in and Shinji closed the door behind them.

"Get over here." I commanded as I pointed to the spot in front of me. Shiro and Grimmjow hung their heads as they shuffled over. "Now explain to me just why you were going to fight." I could hear Shinji translating for Kensei and Shuuhei in the corner.

"Well…Ichi I wouldn't expect you to understand…" Shiro started. I glared something fierce as I bit out, "WHY?" Shiro lifted his head to meet my eyes. "Well, we were just asserting our male dominance over-" Shiro stopped as I smacked him upside the head. "MALE DOMINANCE?! WHAT?!" I turned to Renji. "Do you understand that?" He shook his head with a fearful look on his face. I turned back to the older two in front of me. "Explain it then." I demanded at Shiro, as calmly as I could.

"Well, Ichi, like I said. We were trying to show each other our dominance and ownership over you." Shiro told me with a serious look, like he actually meant it. I growled as I heard Shuuhei suck in a breath when Shinji translated and then Shuu whispered, "Wrong thing to say, Shi. You're in deep shit now."

"Your dominance and ownership over me?! SHIROSAKI OGICHI, I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE DOMINANT IN BED. I DON'T CARE IF GRIMM'S DOMINANT IN BED. I DON'T CARE IF I'M THE ONLY SUBMISSIVE MALE IN THE WORLD IN BED, I HAVE A DOMINANCE OVER YOU. NOW, BOTH OF YOU ARE GOING TO SIT YOUR ASSES ON THAT COUCH, AS WILL THE REST OF THE PEOPLE IN THE ROOM, AND YOU TWO WILL NOT SAY A WORD OR MOVE A MUSCLE UNLESS SPOKEN TO OR ASKED TO MOVE UNTIL I COME BACK WITH TEA. AM. I. CLEAR?" Both Grimmjow and Shiro nodded and sat down on the couch, as far away from each other as they could and Nnoitra and Shinji took the space in between them. The other's filled in the other spaces, Shuuhei leaning against his brother's knees and Toshiro sprawled in the middle of the floor, as I stalked into the kitchen to make tea.

I sighed as I set the kettle on the stove to heat, calming down form my previous anger.

They just met and they're already – what? Showing dominance? What's that even supposed to mean? Neither of them own me. Jeez…

I sighed again as I turned back to the whistling kettle and put the tea bags in. I covered it with the lid and walked back into the living room, where Shinji had already set up cups. I poured everybody a cup and sat down right beside Toshiro's sleeping head. I looked up at the two culprits and sighed, once more.

"Guys…I can't have two of some of my favorite people fighting, let alone on first sight. With the way brawn takes over both of your brains – sorry Grimm, but it's true – I know I'll probably never figure out what Shiro means by 'male dominance', but let me remind you that, for one, neither of you own me, for two, you don't have a 'dominance' over me – hell, if I say jump, you say 'how high?' – and three, I like each of you exactly the same amount. Just like I like Kensei and Shuuhei equally, Renji next, Toshiro, and then Shinji the most." I smiled mock-innocently as there were protests all around the room (except for Shinji who was squealing in delight). Everybody paused…and then we all started laughing. Shiro reached down and pulled me into his lap, where, as everyone was laughing, he whispered, "Don't ever get that mad at me again, please." I was shocked to hear him speaking the language he grew up with in Germany, as he had told me he'd wanted to forget it all after his guardian died. I smiled, loving the drawl he put in it, and whispered back, "I wasn't truly mad in the first place." I felt him grin as he poked me in the side and I squealed. Shinji looked over and poked me in the stomach and I squealed again. I glared at Shinji. "THIS MEANS WAR, BITCH!" I screamed as I jumped on him and we started a tickle fight. Kensei and Renji quickly got the upper hand on both of us when Kensei grabbed our waists to hold us down and Renji tickled us so hard we couldn't breathe.

It's good to be back with my guys.

-Grimmjow-

I grinned as I watched Ichigo interact with his friends, glad to see him smiling…instead of glaring at me. I had noticed when Shirosaki had pulled him into his lap and whispered something and how Ichigo had smiled and whispered back. That was when the tickle fight started. Some movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention and I looked over to see the (is he albino? Really pale?) white-haired guy motion for me to follow him. We walked out the front door, onto the balcony, and I watched as he pulled out a pack of cancer sticks and lit it. He leaned against the railing that looked out at the other side of the apartment block. I grinned and pulled out my own pack and lit up, too. He looked over and smirked. "Ey', jus' don' tell Ichi-berry tha'chya smoke. 'Upsets 'im." Shirosaki looked back out at the street.

"So, who are you?" I asked finally. He looked over and gave me an inquisitive glance. "Whatchya mean by tha'?" he asked.

"Well, how'd ya meet Ichi? How long ya known him?" I clarified.

"I met 'im 'bout seven years ago, we were nine. I met 'im 'cause my ma died and so I went to America ta live wit' Ichi and 'is fam'ly. Well, hold on, le' me rephrase tha'. They're my fam'ly too, and my ma was actually ma Aunt, s'just tha'…I didn't know 'til she died. See, when Ichi an' I were born…okay. This ain't goin' how I meant for it ta. Jus'…okay. So my ma, my real one, and her sister, my Aunt who I thought was my ma for the first nine years a' my life, came from a fam'ly that always believed in equality. So, when they foun' out that my Aunt couldn' 'ave kids, everyone was dev'stated. Then, 'bout a month later I think, my ma announced that she was pregnant wit' twin boys. So, my ma's ma, my Gran'ma, ordered, yes, quite literally ordered, my ma to give one a' the twins up at birth to my Aunt, 'cause all my Aunt had ever wanted was a' young boy ta love. So, nine months later, I was given up to my Aunt and Ichi and I never knew the other existed 'til my Aunt died in a car wreck.

…Ya know, I'm still not close ta the rest a' the fam'ly. S'just Ichi. Dad…he doesn't like that I get inta fights at school and I think he's a creep and weirdo, Karin…she seems kinda neutral 'bout me, but I think Yuzu's scared a' me. She always sits farthest away from me an' I don' think I've ever been ina room wit her wit'out someone else, too. Ichi, though…he takes care'a me, keeps me outta most trouble, lets me sleep wit 'im in his bed when I got nightmares or I'm lonely. He took a likin' to me when we first met, really got me goin' and outa ma funk after ma died. He even taught me Japanese an' English, and I taught 'im German. 'Been tryin' ta cope wit the fact tha' he's movin'. I mean, wit tha way tha band's goin'…I'm not gonna be able ta keep up wit Ichi, not gonna be able ta stay wit 'im. I been tryin' ta spend as much time as I can wit 'im, but now he's across tha world." Shirosaki sighed and dropped his cigarette on the concrete, putting it out with his shoe.

I looked over to see a pained look on his face. "So…you're his twin?" Shiro nodded, then turned to me. "How did you meet him?" he asked.

"Well, there's actually…not much to it. My mother and his dad worked together for years and had been friends since high school. We were together even when we were still lima beans. After we were born, we shared a day care crib, play rooms at each other's houses, food plates, everything. We were in sync on everything. When he left for America…I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do. My mom hated me because she'd wanted a girl, and I wasn't planned. My little sister was, though. My dad hated her because he wanted a boy. Dad beat her and didn't feed her right and always got mad at her, but it was always when mom wasn't home – which was a lot, because she was a full-time doctor at the hospital. I always went crying to Ichi when Dad started up again. I mean, damnit, she wasn't even three. So, when Ichi left…I kinda shut myself off from the world. I grew up to be the delinquent I am and I met my best friends when I was twelve. When I was fourteen, they left me. And mom dragged Nel along with her. But, yesterday, Nel came to live with us – my friends and me – and when we got to the airport, Nel had bumped into Ichigo. I spent yesterday with him at the park from about an hour after he got home to about an hour after dark. And then Blondie decided we – uh, Nnoitra and I – were going to spend the night with them so we could meet you guys. And…I'm sorry about earlier…I guess I just…" I trailed off, unsure off how to continue. Shiro grinned and patted my back (rather harshly) like an older brother would his little brother.

"I get it, man. Now, I gots a few questions for ya. First of all, please tell me you're gay, 'cause, an' I ain' gon' say who, bu' someone in there has got their eye on you, an' tha closest thing to a gril in there is the blonde – and he's obviously taken." I wondered if he was serious, but he didn't look like he was kidding.

"I, uh…well, yeah, I'm…gay, but…is there really someone in there who…likes me? H-how would you know?" I stuttered. He grinned at me like a maniac.

"Well, I jus' gotta way a' knowin'. Okay, so ma next question. When I leave, you're gonna watch out for Ichi, right? I mean, I'll have monthly visits, but I gotta have someone here, takin' care'a ma Ichi. So, you'll do it, right? Can' have Shin doin' it; he'll just ge' Ichi in more trouble." This time, he looked more hopeful and pleading than deadly like when he'd asked me if I was gay. This time, I smiled.

"Wouldn't dream of lettin' him go again." I told him sincerely. It made me happy that he was so concerned for Ichigo.

"A'ight. One more. An' you gotta be honest wit me here." I nodded. "Okay. Do you-" He suddenly stopped when we heard a sniffle from behind us. We both slowly turned around…to see everybody else stuffed in the doorway, listening to our conversation. Nnoitra was snickering, Ichigo and Shinji were hugging each other, staring at us, and tears were running down their faces, Kensei and Shuuhei were listening intensely to Renji, who was translating, and Toshiro was just grinning smugly right beside where Ichigo and Blondie were blubbering. I sucked in a breath, as did Shiro, and ran to Ichigo.

"Ichi! Hey, are you okay? What's wrong? Why are you crying?" I asked, panicked. Ichigo let go of Shinji (who immediately got up to latch onto Nnoitra and bawl into his shirt) and grabbed a hold of my neck and just sat there, crying into my chest. I turned my head to look back at Shirosaki for help, but he looked just as clueless as me. I turned back to Ichigo, put my hands on his shoulders and pushed him away slightly, so I could look at his face.

"Is jus' tha'…you were…jus' so swee-sweet and you we-we-were jus' li' brudders an', an' it w-was s-s-so nice t-to see you two make up-p…an' tha' – an', and…" and then Ichigo broke down into tears again. Shiro came over and knelt down beside us, and Ichigo latched onto him, too, and brought him down into a group hug between the three of us. I looked at Shiro, who looked as if he was trying not to laugh – not that I could blame him, though, because I was trying not to laugh as well. I mean, Ichigo, who he knew and I remembered to be a tough guy, was bawling his eyes out because 'we were just so sweet and like brothers.'

Finally, Ichigo let us go, pulled himself off the ground from where we were, and we all headed inside.

So, that was how I ended up in between Shuuhei and Kensei, answering all of their questions about Japan. I was really glad I had taken English class seriously.

Shinji and Nnoitra had disappeared off to Blondie's bedroom, and Ichigo, Renji, Shiro, and Toshiro were playing Call of Duty on Ichigo's Xbox.

Kensei, who had been asking about Tokyo, was interrupted by the doorbell. I looked down to Ichigo.

"You expecting someone?" I asked. Ichigo shook his head, though.

"Nope. No idea who that could be."

I frowned and everybody got quiet as I slowly got off the couch and made my way to the door. My hand went behind me for the pistol in the waistband of pants, but I didn't pull it out just yet. I peeked through the door and sighed.

I, unfortunately, knew the four people on the other side of the door.

Thanks for reading! I love ya, my readers!

Review please!

-T