Second Chance

Chapter One

The door to Urahara Candy Shop opened, triggering the small bell that hung on the top of its frame. The noise was soon followed by the shuffle of feet and a large frame moving forward, dark eyes scanning the small space. Right now, Urahara's shop was neat, tidy, and empty. The ebb and flow of children through this same door wouldn't began until after school hours, and it was only noon.

Kurosaki Isshin made his way further into the store, surprised that one of Urahara's child servants wasn't here to mind it. Gumdrops and jellybeans of every color stared out at him from their glass homes along the walls; it gave him a toothache just to look at them. Soon enough some one was coming out of the back, and Isshin smiled in greeting at the man who appeared.

"Hey," he said, "Urahara said he wanted to see me?"

Tessai nodded, comical cornrows bobbing with the movement. "He's in the back."

Isshin made his way through the store front, back to the larger area that Urahara used to stage his more. . . illicit operations. The door from the candy shop opened up to a living area, and it was there that Isshin received his first surprise.

"Shit," he uttered, despite himself, as the door slammed shut behind him. Sleeping on the couch, looking for all the world like a contented cat, was a blue-haired man that Isshin was sure he recognized as one of those Espada he had heard so much about.

"Ah, Kurosaki-san," came Urahara's voice, "I'm glad you came. It seems that after the whole incident with Aizen, I've picked up a souvenir."

"I see," Isshin replied.

"I'll introduce you formally once he's awake, but this is Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez."

Yeah, Isshin had heard about this one. His eyes studied the man, who was still sleeping peacefully despite the conversation around him. Grimmjow was all lean, hard muscle, made all too apparent from the lack of clothing that covered him. Only a pair of shorts covered his frame, and Isshin's eyes moved over the dips and curves of Grimmjow's flawless skin, over the light sheen of sweat that clung to him. But then Urahara was motioning them towards the kitchen, and he stopped looking.

"What is it?" Isshin asked, once they were in the adjoining room. "A gigai?"

"My best so far," Urahara replied. "Coffee?"

Isshin shook his head.

"It's an exact replica of his Arrancar form, minus the less. . . human-ish features, of course."

"Isn't he. . ." Isshin waved his hand around in small, useless circles ". . . dangerous? Why'd you bring him here?"

Urahara shrugged. "He said he wanted to come."

"He said he wanted to come," Isshin repeated, feeling one of his eyebrows moving upwards even before he was aware he was moving it. "So let me get this right. You're walking around Hueco Mundo when you come across one of Aizen's more sociopathic Arrancar, and he says he'd like to give the human world a try. So you say, 'yeah, sounds great, just follow me.'"

Urahara broke out into a wide grin. "Remarkable, Kurosaki-san, it's as though you were right there when it happened."

Isshin sighed as Urahara chuckled a little bit.

"At any rate," Urahara continued, "he's just a kitty who's been declawed. Thanks to that gigai he doesn't have any spiritual power anymore. He wouldn't even be able to see a ghost in this state. And, remarkably, without his spiritual energy he seems to have lost the desire to wreak havoc on everyone around him. Funny how things work, ne?"

"Hilarious."

"So I was thinking that maybe he could stay with you."

"You do know that he tried to kill my son," Isshin deadpanned. "Multiple times."

"Oh, who hasn't tried to kill Ichigo? I know I've been guilty of it."

Isshin only glared in response.

"Look, there's no space here, especially with Renji crashing whenever he comes to the human world. And you'd rather keep tabs on Grimmjow than turn him loose on the human world, right? Besides, him and Ichigo are practically best friends now. I'm sure they'll make great roommates."

"Yeah, sure," Isshin said, tone sarcastic even as his mind told him to concede. "I'm sure Ichigo will be thrilled."

"Ichigo won't say anything," came a new voice, and Isshin turned to see Grimmjow's tall frame in the doorway. The boy had put on the thinnest of white t-shirts, but a sliver of his abdominal muscles still showed as he scratched his stomach. "He'd want to keep tabs on me as much as any one."

"I don't know," Isshin said, but he was already thinking of what excuse he'd be giving Yuzu and Karin for their new houseguest.

Just several minutes later, Isshin was all too aware of the presence next to him as he walked home. Everything about Grimmjow was too warm, Isshin decided. His gigai gave off too much body heat. And that stare of his. . . it was like he could burn you by looking at you.

"Hey, old man. Sure you don't mind me staying?" Grimmjow asked, though his tone of voice made it clear that he didn't care either way what Isshin said.

Isshin turned to regard him, brown eyes meeting vivid blue, and he felt a flush run down the back of his neck. "Why are you here, anyway?"

Grimmjow shrugged and turned away, whatever expression on his face effectively hidden from Isshin. "There's nothing for me in Hueco Mundo."

"And there's something for you here?"

No answer, just silence until they reached the Kurosaki household, the topic effectively dropped. Once inside the house, Isshin followed noises in the kitchen to find Ichigo there, on his tip toes as he searched for something in a pantry. Never one to waste an opportunity, Isshin knocked Ichigo's legs from under him with a well-placed kick, smiling in satisfaction at Ichigo's cry of surprise and frustration.

"I found a friend of yours outside," he said, walking past Ichigo towards the clinic, "seems like he'll need a place to stay for awhile. Why don't you show him to your room?"

As the door to the clinic closed behind him Isshin could hear more surprised exclamations, interspersed with Grimmjow's terse replies, but he figured Ichigo was more than man enough to deal with it.

Over the next few days the Kurosaki family grew into a kind of ease with Grimmjow. Karin accepted Ichigo's visiting friend with indifference, Yuzu with enthusiasm. Yuzu's freindly, sometimes maternal, overtures seemed to make Grimmjow more tense than anything else, but he reacted as normally as he could. Like a pet cat, he was gone most of the day, only there during meals and to sleep on the futon that had been rolled out on the floor of Ichigo's room. He had seemed to come to an understanding with Ichigo, and Ichigo seemed to be keeping a watchful eye on Grimmjow's actions. Which suited Isshin fine, and he could go back to being a normal, run-of-the-mill small town doctor.

Of course, a few days is too short of a time to set any kind of standard, and Isshin's peace was broken exactly six days after Grimmjow came into his home. Isshin had just used up exactly one hour and seventeen minutes of his lunch break. It was a slow day, so the clinic was empty. His next client wasn't scheduled for another half hour, and that was just for a routine medical exam. So he made his way into his office with the intent of filling out some insurance papers when he saw a pair of lithe legs resting on the medical examination cot.

Isshin made his way towards the cot and pulled the curtain aside to reveal Grimmjow lounging back on it.

"It's rare to find you here," Isshin said, self-conscious as Grimmjow's eyes seemed to smolder as they looked up at him.

Grimmjow shifted slightly, clothes rustling as he pushed himself up, leaning back onto elbows and forearms. "Got into an accident this morning. Thought you could help bandage me up."

Isshin frowned at that, wondering if Grimmjow had been fighting or doing other unsavory things. But then Grimmjow was pulling up the edge of his tank top, revealing an expanse of stomach peppered lightly with blue and purple marks.

"Maybe I've got a broken rib or something."

"Yeah. . . " Embarrassingly enough, the word came out sounding like a gasp to Isshin. He made his way towards the cot, taking his time as he sat down next to Grimmjow. His fingers seemed to reach out in slow motion, but too soon they had settled onto Grimmjow's skin. Too warm, like Isshin always thought it would be. Smooth but firm. All muscle and no fat underneath his fingertips. His fingers and palms traced against Grimmjow's rib cage, in an examination that was much too careful. In no time at all, in forever, he was finished, his hands hesitating on that hot, hot skin.

"You can touch me more," came Grimmjow's voice, a little bit lower, a little bit harsher.

Isshin's head snapped up, only to see a small pink tongue reach out to trace over a moist upper lip.

"I see the way you look at me. Like you want to bend me over the table and fuck me raw. So what I'm asking is, why don't you?"

"What-"

But then Grimmjow was moving forward and he was moving back. The chair creaked as the other man straddled Isshin on it, the space between them decreasing to inches and millimeters. "To tell you the truth, I'm pretty hard up for it. When I was just spiritual energy all I wanted to do was eat and fight. But now. . . all this body wants to do is fuck. I swear I'm jerking myself off at least four times a day."

Isshin flushed with the images that statement brought to mind. His body was reacting all to quickly at Grimmjow's proximity, his cock stiff and uncomfortable in his pants. His hands came up to rest in Grimmjow's hips, mustering the self-control to push them away. "Why me? I'm just an old man-"

"Bullshit," Grimmjow cut off, his lips almost a snarl. "You could be hundreds of years old, Mr. Ex-Shinigami, but so could I. At any rate, I never knew I had a type, before, but I guess you're it."

A hand, moving to rest on his abdomen right above the zipper of his pants, and Isshin figured that this was going too far. Grimmjow growled a little as Isshin pushed him off his lap and put a respectable distance between the both of them. His breathing was a little unsteady, still, but he felt more in control of his body. "We can't do this."

Grimmjow's eyes were flashing dangerously, and he all but spit out his next words. "Why? Because of your dead wife? She's a pile of bones and worm food by now, I don't think she'll care."

Isshin moved before he realized it. The next thing he knew he had Grimmjow pinned against the wall, and the other man was looking like a wild animal waiting for a chance to pounce.

Calm down, Isshin thought, he just said it to get a rise out of you. Slowly, to let Grimmjow know he wasn't a threat anymore, he let go and backed away. Grimmjow looked furious, but he only pushed Isshin away as he stormed out of the clinic.

"You know what? Fuck you. Impotent fucker."

And then he was gone, the door slamming behind him.

That night Isshin had his first wet dream in what must have been decades. In it, Grimmjow was tight and hot and making the most delicious noises as he squirmed underneath him.

The next morning Isshin couldn't even look at Masaki's memorial poster. But he could feel her, could feel her eyes staring at him from the wall.

"Are you okay, Daddy?" Yuzu asked, spooning another serving of eggs onto his plate. "You've been quiet lately."

"Leave him alone, Yuzu," Karin said, "it's nice that he's not acting like an idiot for once. We should enjoy it while it lasts."

Yuzu frowned, but didn't push it, instead looking at the untouched plate she had set up at the table. "And I wonder where Grimmjow is. He didn't come to dinner last night. . . maybe I should leave some food on the front step in case he comes by?"

"He's not a cat, Yuzu."

"Still. . ."

The girls left for school soon enough, and Isshin brought himself to face Masaki. She smiled down at him, perpetually happy. It would be one thing, he thought, if he was in love with some one else. He knew that, in that case, Masaki would be happy for him. She would be happy to see that he had moved on. But unrestrained, physical lust was another thing. It just seemed to cheapen everything.

Isshin sighed. Feeling embarrassed and vaguely dirty, he went to take a cold shower before his next patient showed up.

The next several days passed without Grimmjow, though the other man's absence didn't help Isshin's condition very much. He was still plagued by fevered dreams, even while waking, and found himself reaching downward for relief more often than was comfortable. He would squeeze and fondle himself in the shower, imagining Grimmjow was there with him. His kisses would be hot, Isshin decided, and borderline violent. Lips bruising and teeth knocking together. Maybe they would taste faintly of iron. Isshin would always come, hard, Grimmjow's self-satisfied grin burning in his mind.

Urahara showed up eventually, walking into the clinic on a slow day.

"You know," Uruhara said, "just because you're a widower doesn't mean you have to live like a celibate monk."

Isshin scowled and shoved his fists into his lab coat. "Exactly how much did Grimmjow tell you?"

"Not much, but I can basically put it together, the way he mutters things like 'dried-out old man' and 'impotent prude'."

"Uh huh."

"I had guessed him and Ichigo would end up having something between them, but I guess Ichigo's not really his type."

"What exactly do you need, Urahara?"

"Well, I just thought it would be fair to tell you. Since no one's willing to watch over Grimmjow, I was thinking of sending him back to Hueco Mundo."

"What?" Isshin slumped forward a little bit, remembering Grimmjow's forlorn tone when he had said 'there's nothing for me there.' He remembered how desolate Hueco Mondo was, all harsh sand and harsh sun and nothing soft or comforting. And through it all that pervasive feeling of being utterly alone. "Isn't that too cruel?"

Urahara shrugged at the question. "I can't have him running around town aimlessly. He's fine for now, but who knows what he'll end up doing."

"Where is he right now?"

"Probably at the library."

Isshin allowed himself a moment of surprise at that statement, but then he was getting up and slinging off his lab coat.

"Don't worry about Grimmjow," Isshin said, already on his way out the door, "I'll take responsibility for him."

It didn't take long for Isshin to walk to the town's main public library, and once he was there it only took a few questions to find out where Grimmjow was. Isshin found him in the small microfiche room in the back, his head down on the table, the machine in front of him flashing the headlines from an old Tokyo newspaper.

Grimmjow looked up at the sound of the door opening. It seemed as though he had been asleep, and he blinked several times at Isshin before he said anything. "What the hell do you want?"

Isshin didn't say anything, not at first. Instead, he moved a little bit closer, staring at the words suspended on the backlit screen. "Is this what you do when you disappear during the day?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"What exactly are you looking for?"

Grimmjow glowered for a few seconds as he contemplated answering or not. But then he shifted, tension easing out of his body as he leaned back. "Well, you know, after my last fight with Ichigo I started to thinking. Bout who I was. . . and not when I was in Hueco Mundo. Who was I before that? What kind of person was I before I died? What attachment did I have to the world that led me to becoming a hollow?

"What I used to have. What I lost. It bothered me that I didn't remember any of it."

"You're looking for clues to who you were," Isshin reiterated, a little surprised.

"Yeah, it's stupid," Grimmjow replied, eyes hardening minutely. "It seemed like hundreds of years I was in Hueco Mundo. I don't know when or where I died. Don't even know my real name. Like I'm gonna find shit out looking through random newspapers."

The silence hung between them like a tangible object. Isshin didn't feel the need to state that it really did seem futile, so instead he reached out and flicked off the machine. Its hum grew louder, for just a moment, before stopping completely. "Take a break. Come home for awhile. I don't know where you've been sleeping, but it doesn't look like it's been comfortable."

"I'm used to worse," Grimmjow replied, but he was already getting up. They walked home in silence, but Isshin could feel Grimmjow's eyes on him, analyzing.

They hadn't even made it all the way into the house when Isshin felt himself being slammed against the wall, vision blurring as his head hit it. Before he could even say anything, Grimmjow's lips were on his, as hot and insistent as Isshin had always imagined. He moved to push the other man away, but Grimmjow only pushed forward, and his resolve was quickly crumbling against all that heat. Heat and muscle, that amazing body pressed up against him. He could feel where Grimmjow was hard against his leg, and he was forgetting why it was that he didn't want to do this.

Grimmjow tasted so good, his tongue as aggressive as any other part of him, and it had been so long since Isshin had even kissed anybody. Before he knew it one hand was on Grimmjow's waist, he other buried in his hair, just so he could pull the other man that much closer, could get that much deeper inside his mouth. He was getting dizzy it was so good.

Finally, he broke for air, feeling lightheaded.

"You're not going to pussy out on me again, are you?" Grimmjow asked, voice rough. His eyes were glazed over, his breathing slightly labored.

"I think," Isshin said, "we should go somewhere more private."

They made it as far as the clinic, and Isshin could continue the examination he had started all those days before. Somehow Grimmjow ended up sitting on the edge of the examination table, shirtless, Isshin standing between his legs. Isshin's hands explored every plane and crevice of that body, making note of the way Grimmjow's muscles moved and flexed underneath his fingertips. Then he moved his mouth against that hot, firm skin. letting his lips and tongue explore every inch that his hands had been. Grimmjow felt so good, tasted so good, and he had wanted to do this for so long.

He could hear Grimmjow shudder and moan from above him. Grimmjow's hands tangled in his hair, gently pushing downward, but Isshin wasn't going to rush. He gently sucked his way back up Grimmjow's chest, delighting in the other man's gasp when he took a nipple into his mouth.

"Hey," Grimmjow managed to say, "come here."

He grabbed the collar of Isshin's shirt and pulled him upwards, and then their mouths were clashing together again. But then Isshin could feel Grimmjow's hands on his zipper, and before he could stop him Grimmjow's hands were pulling his erection through the hole of his boxers.

"Wow," Grimmjow mumbled, even as Isshin told him to stop. But the feeling of Grimmjow's hands on his cock was just too much, too good, and it only took one stroke before he came, shuddering his climax onto the table between them. Grimmjow just blinked at him, surprised, and for a moment Isshin was too embarrassed to say anything.

"That's why I told you to stop," he finally said, "it's been a long time for me."

"Oh. Well. . . you can get it up again, right?" Grimmjow gave him a little squeeze, but his cock was already going limp in Grimmjow's hand.

"I'm not a teenager anymore."

"Huh." Grimmjow leaned back on the table, still looking as enticing as ever. Isshin leaned forward, taking the unspoken invitation and unbuttoning Grimmjow's pants. He pulled Grimmjow's cock out, stroking it a few times just to have the chance to admire it. It was already rock hard, long shaft jutting out of sparse blue curls. It was flushed red with need, and Isshin leaned forward, taking the head of it in his mouth.

If he had been a younger man, the noises Grimmjow was making would have gotten him hard again in an instant. As it was, he settled for moving his tongue in circles around as he mouth Grimmjow's cock. He was taking his time moving downward, but then impatient hands tangled themselves in his hair, and he felt himself being shoved halfway down the other man's cock. His hands moved to Grimmjow's hips, holding them down and eliciting a mewl of disappointment from the other man. But, really, all he needed was time to adjust, and then he lightened his grip. Almost immediately Grimmjow thrust his hips up, cock disappearing fully in Isshin's mouth. Isshin let him thrust in and out of his mouth, all the while sucking on it the best he could. It didn't take long for Grimmjow to come, body shuddering as Isshin's mouth filled with his orgasm.

Grimmjow was still shuddering as Isshin got up, and he looked spent and sated as he laid almost completely still on the table.

"Let's-" Grimmjow began, but then they both heard the front door of the house being opened.

"Ichigo," Isshin said, suddenly remembering. He quickly zipped up his pants and pushed Grimmjow off the table, wiping at the white liquid that had spilled onto it. They had just barely made themselves look presentable when Ichigo stumbled in.

"Grimmjow?" Ichigo asked. "Since when did you come back?"

Grimmjow shrugged and leaned against the table. "Was craving a home cooked meal. Why, miss having a roommate?"

Ichigo scoffed at that. "Hardly. At any rate, I was looking for you, but you weren't at the library. Look what I found."

Ichigo slammed something down on Isshin's desk, a photocopy of a newspaper article from the 1920s.

"University Student Still Missing, Feared Dead"

And below the headline, a black and white picture of a young man. And while his hair was black, those handsome facial features couldn't have belonged to any one else. It was Grimmjow.