READ THIS! I BEG YOU!
So this is my last week in school and then it's summer vacation! Then comes my last year in secondary school. Terrifying shit but I think I can make it...I hope I do.
Anyways here's my two reasons for starting this with an author's note. Reason #1: This chapter starts from where we left off. Ichigo and Grimmjow will come up after this I promise!
Reason #2: Question that y'all need (well not really but it'd make me happy) to answer. If I ever published a book, like with a company and everything, would any of you like purchase it? Yes or no? Maybes are accepted as well.
That's it! Enjoy my ramblings!
Chapter 25: SHIRO!
Shinji had just walked out of the fashion agency that had wanted to recruit him and he was more than ecstatic about it.
His idol, Rangiku Masumoto, had called him herself and she was just so absolutely fabulous during the entire interview. It would seem he'd be stuck in Karakura longer than he thought he would be.
Stuck with Shiro.
He nearly laughed to himself when he felt both pain and happiness at the thought. He really wasn't sure he'd ever get over Shiro but he could only try.
He frowned though at the memory of Shiro in the morning. The guy hadn't slept that night and Shinji would have to ask him the last time he slept. If Shiro hadn't slept for maximum three nights straight then he's having flashbacks and they don't let him sleep but the idiot would keep it to himself. He hoped his gut feeling wasn't right.
He felt his stomach growl, distracting him from his thoughts. He looked around the street he was o for anywhere he could get a bite to eat and noted a café on the other side of the street.
He crossed it eagerly, hoping they had some chocolate chip muffins, and felt at peace as soon as he got in and was hit with the smell of coffee and books. It was one of those cafes where the hipster kids hung out to try and not be mainstream but also seemed to be paired with a sort of mini library where one could see business men on their laptops or college kids studying. All in all he found the place relaxing and noted it for a frequent getaway spot.
He walked up the counter, not really looking at the person manning the orders but looking at the place with bright and curious eyes as well as a small smile on his face.
If he turned he would've noticed that there was someone in front of him and he wouldn't have bumped into them. "I-I'm so sorry!" Shinji immediately apologized and bowed to the person who smelt strangely like Armani, yeah he can smell expensive, it's a gift.
The man seemed to let out a chuckle that Shinji could immediately sense was off, years with Shiro helped in that regard, and he stood up straight to come face to face with the second most gorgeous man he had ever met.
Brown hair slicked back, except the brown lovelock that Shinji immediately placed as awkward but in a cute way, deep brown eyes, well sculpted body in, yes, a black Armani suit with a white dress shirt inside, wearing a navy tie, but his smile. His smile made Shinji frown and forget all the other good things about his appearance. The man was annoyingly arrogant, a faker and a liar. Shinji knew he wouldn't be able to trust any word that came out of his mouth.
"It's fine. I'm just glad you did not spill my drink." The man said with a fake warm smile and Shinji frowned some more. His lie was too obvious for him that it was slightly insulting. "Don't lie. You want to yell at me about how I could've messed up your suit?" Shinji bit back with a sassy roll of the eyes.
He would've smirked at the way the man's eyes widened in a way that he probably didn't do often but wasn't in the mood because he wanted his damn coffee. It was so freaking hot so his system was itching for a Frappuccino.
"Interesting." The man mumbled with the father of all creepy smiles. "Cool. Move. I want my damn coffee." Shinji gritted out through clenched teeth because the guy was taking his damn sweet time. He stood there and took a sip of his drink, while looking at Shinji and not moving.
"What is your name?" The man went straight to the point making Shinji blink in surprise for a moment before huffing and walking passed him, bumping him with a shove the man obviously wasn't expecting and ordering his caramel Frappuccino while ignored the man's wide eyed presence.
As his order was being made, the man decided to say something else. "I'm Sõsuke Aizen. Hope we meet again." And with that he left much to Shinji's relief. The man made his skin crawl.
"That guy doesn't usually come here does he?" Shinji asked the counter boy as he gave him his drink. The by responded and said that as the first time he had seen him which made Shinji sigh in relief as he walked into the books section and sat down to look out the window and people watch.
He didn't have to find another getaway, thank fuck.
He wondered how Shiro and Ulquiorra were doing? For some reason he smiled at the thought of the two.
He could see them lasting a lifetime.
"What the hell Ulquiorra? I was just joking."
The words, said with such casualness and a teasing smile, seemed to have broken Ulquiorra more than he would admit, but his only response was a curt nod before turning away and exiting the office without saying anything to the albino.
Shiro felt like he had just swallowed soap or some other chemical that would make his throat feel like it was burning. He shouldn't have said that. It was obviously not the thing you say to your partner who's obviously in love with you. He had said it without thinking, dammit he was in love with Ulquiorra but he panicked and he needed to rebound fast before Ulquiorra started to withdraw.
"Ulquiorra wait!" Shiro exclaimed as he ran out of his office, and down the hall he saw Ulquiorra walk through before turning a corner.
He ignored the people he had bumped, something he wouldn't usually do without apologizing but he was fucking desperate. The man he saw himself with in ten years thought he didn't love him. He needed to fix it. He needed to let Ulquiorra know.
He turned the corner and nearly fell into the boardroom filled with the managers of their department. They all looked at Shiro with surprised eyes, except Ulquiorra who was going through something on a laptop at the head of the meeting room's long table.
"You finally made it. Please have a seat Mr. Kurosaki." Ulquiorra ordered politely without removing his hands from the device. Hal, who was at the back of the room ready to take notes of the meeting, glanced between the two wondering why Shiro looked like he was experiencing some kind of pain.
"Ulquiorra...we need to talk." Shiro spoke up, ignoring that he's at work and there are people around him, staring at them, the only thing on his mind was the fact that Ulquiorra wasn't even looking at him.
When the raven did look up at him, Shiro wished he didn't. Ulquiorra was completely closed off. Shiro couldn't get any reading from him, the only reason he could before was because Ulquiorra had relaxed around him and even opened up a little but the green eyed business man was treating Shiro like any other higher up employee. With forced respect and damn did Shiro feel his heart crack. He couldn't exactly describe the feeling, all he knew was it felt worse than when Shinji had broken up with him. He wanted to grab Ulquiorra and scream his love for the man until his throat felt like it was burning. It was slowly killing him.
"Mr. Kurosaki please take a seat. We have a meeting." Ulquiorra ordered him, his tone monotone and dammit Shiro couldn't get anything from it and it was driving him insane because he really can't think of a time since he met the man that he couldn't understand him.
Shiro was about to say something else but Hal, who seemed to have noticed they were having an argument, shook her head to tell him 'not now'. Shiro slumped his shoulders and took a seat beside Mr. Watanabi who raised his nose in the air, not liking having to be near the man that, in his opinion, was the reason for their meeting.
He had placed his head in his hands and he genuinely looked like a man with the world on his shoulders. Even some of the directors that didn't necessarily like him looked at him with pity.
Ulquiorra barely sent him a glance while he started the meeting.
"Could you just explain to me sir why you would tell the public of your...affairs?" Mr. Watanabi asked, hoping to not come off as insulting though he really was disappointed. He was thinking of introducing his daughter to the successful man as a prospect for a future wife but it would seem he wouldn't have been interested either way. He sent a glare Shiro's way but it softened into one of reluctant worry when he saw how truly dead the man looked. His strange eyes seemed glassy and he wasn't smiling at all. He had been staring at the same spot since the meeting started fifty-five minutes ago and it was slightly troubling when he didn't even pipe in on the matter at all.
"The interviewer surprised us with the whole thing so I only went with the truth. In addition, it had increased our popularity with the younger population worldwide but some of our sponsors seemed to be skeptical about it. We would have to talk to them about it. Maybe tell them it's for publicity." The words made Shiro flinch noticeably and all Ulquiorra did was look at him quickly before going back to his files and lists. Almost everyone that saw and heard the exchange flinched themselves at how cold their superior seemed to be.
Kami he felt awful. He shouldn't be doing this to Shiro. Of course he had hurt Ulquiorra but the man was stressed from before already and he was being so cruel as well but they're at work. They can talk after and he would tell Shiro that it doesn't matter. He loves the albino in a way that he could've only been described as overwhelming but that was just him, if he were honest he originally believed Shiro would never love him but Shinji's words had unconsciously given him hope and that was why it hurt all the more when Shiro denied it to be the truth.
He looked at Shiro and noted how different he looked. That was when Ulquiorra noticed the bags under his eyes, the way his skin looked...pale, he didn't even know it could look whiter but it was a pasty kind of white. Shiro looked like hell and then some.
He needed to wrap up the meeting so that he could take the albino out of the building. He looked like he would pass out from stress and Ulquiorra felt himself worry.
"That would make sense. Though in my opinion the whole thing seems...wrong." Mr. Suzuki actually had the guts to say this and his colleagues stared at him with looks that screamed that he was fool. He didn't care. The relationship was disgusting. Simple as that.
Ulquiorra rose an elegant eyebrow, not really perturbed about anyone not being comfortable with his preferences. "How so Mr. Suzuki?" Ulquiorra asked with a tilt of the head.
Mr. Suzuki felt unnerved with the calculating and large eyes of Ulquiorra but he felt like maybe if he made his superior see sense he would stop his disgusting relationship with the riffraff and find himself a suitable woman.
"Your relationship. It's disgusting and makes little to no sense considering relationships are mainly with the idea of procreation but I'm pretty sure ending your relationship with Mr. Kurosaki wouldn't affect anything. You could find yourself a nice woman and-"
"Please leave Mr. Suzuki. You have been let go." Ulquiorra calmly stated, his head still tilted in that way he looked when he was curious and it unnerved everyone watching the whole thing. Mr. Suzuki just looked at his superior with fear. "Wh-WHAT?" He yelled in panic. He couldn't lose his job. He couldn't! It gave him an immense sum of money and it took him up to thirty years to get to his position from a simple intern. How could he just lose all that work for just stating the truth?
"I really do not like being told my preferences are disgusting. It's rather rude. Insulting. No, degrading and discriminatory would be more exact. So the point of a union is procreation you say? Who says I care about procreation to begin with?" Ulquiorra asked the man while secretly glancing at the unresponsive Shiro who seemed to not have even heard what the man had said. His Shiro would've been up on the table yelling all kinds of vulgar words his way but his Shiro looked like he was being crushed by some heavy weight and Ulquiorra wasn't making it better by sulking.
The man stuttered through his words and was close to begging but then Ulquiorra glared. "Leave. Before I force you myself." He bit out, his rage making the room feel almost suffocating. Suzuki ran out, with tears running down his face and the urge to get some pay back but knowing he couldn't otherwise he would be even worse off.
There was some silence which descended on the room but it was interrupted by Shiro's phone which seemed to snap him out of whatever his mind had displayed for him for so long.
He slowly answered it, lack of any expression and his eyes brimmed with sadness and a kind of tiredness that made Ulquiorra want to be around Shiro at all times. He had seen that look too many times, in Grimmjow's and others as well.
"Hello?" He sounded so...done.
The yell that went through the phone was heard by everyone in the room.
"SHIRO! ICHIGO GOT HIT BY A CAR! HE'S UNCONSCIOUS BUT HE'S BLEEDING! GET TO THE KARAKURA HOSPITAL NOW!"
Shiro had passed our on the room's floor before Grimmjow had even finished, both from exhaustion and shock.
Ulquiorra could see his life flash before his eyes as he watched Shiro fall almost in slow motion.
He screamed. Fear couldn't even begin to describe what he felt.
"SHIRO!"
Short I know but I need to explain Grimmjow's and Ichigo's part before I write about the hospital thing and what's eating at Shiro so calm down my people. I'm going to have a bunch of free time to write this after this week so expect updates.
I was listening to 'Good Time' while writing this on repeat. It makes me sound rather masochistic, well in my opinion but whatever.
Anyways, please review what you think and your opinions to reason #2 at the top. It'd mean like a lot. I just want to know for the hell of it.
Ciao from,
Grimmjowislife.