Romance and Rivalries

Chapter Fifteen
by Rob

The strangest thing about Urahara Shoten was that – like its owner – it was a place full of contradictions. It was conveniently located, it had friendly staff who were always pleased to attend to your needs, and it had everything a housewife could possibly want or need to placate her family. Gin couldn’t remember a single time when he’d enter and not find the place filled to the brim with sweets, deserts, biscuits, cookies and other delicious little pieces. Always filled with items that schoolchildren would love to buy on the way home from school, always loaded with items that a wife was sure her children would love to be served for desert, and yet the place was always so deserted!

It was both a mystery and a waste. It should have been a crime to go into such a quaint, little sweetshop and not find one customer, not one to appreciate the delicious aromas or the nostalgic atmosphere, and yet that was always the case, never one person to enjoy the otherwise perfect shop. No doubt the locals always pondered why the shop failed when there was a good niche for it in the consumerist city, and no doubt they also wondered how the shopkeeper managed to live considering he had no visible income, but to those few knowledgeable people there were fewer contradictions than there first seemed . . .

Gin knew from years of experience that nothing should ever be taken at face value, and Urahara Kisuke was a prime example of that. The shop was merely a front, a smiling face hiding a blackened heart, something to distract from the real inner workings of the shop and its inhabitants. It was like a magician’s sleight of hand, the dizzying amount of sweets kept you going ‘ooh’ and ‘ah’, whilst deep in the shop’s lair all the real twist and turns went on. Kisuke dealt in pretty much anything. You wanted some black market goods? Done. You wanted a wound healing that you couldn’t go to the hospital for? Double done! You wanted some information that no one else knew? Triple done, and please come again! The man kept off the police radar brilliantly, and even if he ever got caught he had contacts just about everywhere, from the local schoolboy to probably the Chief of Police. The Vizards trusted him, Gin’s students hung out with him, the Arrancar sometimes swapped information with him, and even Gin found the occasional need for Kisuke’s talents. Besides, even if you didn’t need anything from him it was best to keep in touch now and again, because you never knew when you would need something in the future. The thing to remember was that nothing was ever free, and even if the cost were seemingly small it’d still be costing you, and so Gin made sure that with ever visit he always had payment ready so that he could cover his bill.

Today – just as he’d expected – the shop was completely empty. True it was still eleven o’clock, not many shoppers to be found at that time on a school day and workday, but he had a feeling that whatever time he came the shop would have been just as empty regardless.

He walked inside gracefully with a smile and picked up a basket from beside the shop doors. It was simply a case of ‘two birds with one stone’; tonight he’d invited Izuru-kun over for dinner, but with an empty fridge he found himself needing to stock up on food, granted he could have shopped anywhere but ‘anywhere’ didn’t deal in the specific ‘items’ he needed. What he needed most was information; the sweets were just a bonus.

After a few minutes of shopping the screen-door to the private rooms opened, revealing Abarai-kun sweeping the dining room with a rather exhausted expression, and Kisuke-san sitting calmly by the table fanning his stubbled face. The two youngest children were absent, although he’d spoken moments earlier to Tessai-san who’d been walking by, it seemed he’d gone to collect the two children from their babysitters’ home. Gin found himself grateful for the silence. He did adore children after all, but Kisuke-san’s little ones were a bit too much, always shouting, yelling, fighting . . . Gin still had yet to work out how to fully control and handle them. He much preferred the quieter personalities; the extroverted ones were always so much more work. He’d much rather spend his hours with the likes of Izuru-kun or Kuchiki-san, than with someone like Grimmjow-san or Kurosaki-kun, any day. Luckily Kisuke-san was the sort of personality who fell dead in the middle! Not too lively as to tax his patience, but not too dull as to make him want to play games with him and torture him a little bit. The perfect medium!

“Ah! Kisuke-san!” Gin exclaimed brightly, smiling wide and tilting his head ever so slightly as if observing an unexpected sight, “What a coincidence! I was looking for ya everywhere, I’d almost gave up hope!”

Kisuke watched Gin carefully, his fan still waving slightly so as to keep up an air of nonchalance, and his eyes darkened by his hat never moved from the teacher’s thin frame as it wavered about his shop.

It wasn’t exactly a rare occurrence to see Gin loitering around his property, but considering the man barely ate his usual reason for stopping by always seemed to be information. It wasn’t that Kisuke minded trading items of importance, but when it came to Gin he was one customer who couldn’t be trusted. You could never tell what he’d want or why he’d want it, sometimes Kisuke would find himself revealing the most mundane of facts only to later discover it was vitally important after all, or passed onto Aizen . . . It was hard to deal with a man that was impossible to understand, impossible to trust, but on the bright side it did tend to make things more interesting . . .

“Ah,” Kisuke said casually, “I see that it slipped your mind to look for a shopkeeper in his own shop?”

“Forgive me, Kisuke-san,” His smile never faltering, “But when tha’ shopkeeper’s the one-and-only Urahara-san, the last place anyone ever looks is in his shop! It seems t’ me like the only time ya ever here is when no one wants ya; when ya wanted ya always sleeping, sick, busy or out. No wonder I didn’t look here first, is it?”

Kisuke gave a bright smile of his own, hiding it of course behind his open fan. He would be the first to admit that Gin was creepy as they came, and probably as sneaky as Aizen himself, but although he wasn’t overly fond of what Ichigo had dubbed the ‘fox-face’, he had a certain attachment to him nonetheless. After all there weren’t many people who could engage him in such keen mental games, or who could see past his own attempts at manipulation or trickery, and it was always fun to try and work out Gin’s mystery motives. True after the week Kisuke had been having Gin’s face wasn’t the first one he’d want to see, but it never hurt to have someone to talk to whose intellect added up to more than Renji’s and Ichigo’s.

“Well, you obviously thought you had some chance of finding me, Ichimaru-Sensei,” Kisuke said indifferently enough, whilst he kept a close eye on Renji who seemed rather uneasy in the presence of his teacher, “Otherwise you wouldn’t have came to my shop at all, wouldn’t you say?”

“On the contrary! What with half my day empty, thanks to Abarai-kun’s year-group havin’ the day off school an’ all, I decided to stop by to stock up on some food. Got a date tonight an’ no food in, it’s something dreadful! I feel too bad stoppin’ by Aizen-sama’s to steal some, what after last night . . . Ja! So I thought I’d do some shopping, see?” He lifted up a large bag in his left hand, “Got all my groceries done, nothing left but some sweets and deserts.”

It was hard to keep an impassive face at that moment, but somehow Kisuke managed. He had to hand it to Gin, the man was a master manipulator, always managing to work a situation to his advantage without ever even working a sweat or making an effort, and always done so effectively that the common victim would have no idea at all they’d been played like a puppet on a string. The little slip of a comment about how something had occurred with Aizen last night seemed innocuous enough, but to a man like Kisuke he knew the comment wasn’t as offhand or as casual as it seemed. It was carefully placed to pique his interest and curiosity, thrown in to test the waters for whatever conversation topic was to come, and frankly it had worked like a charm.

Kisuke wanted to know more – especially seeing as he knew last night had to involve Shinji somehow – but he’d be damned if he let Gin know that. Instead he kept a smiling slightly, wafting his fan and looking casually across the room to his ‘customer’ who continued to shop around for bargain items.

To his side he could see Renji now finishing his sweeping and beginning to polish. The bonfire had long since burnt out and Kisuke had been forced to reveal that Renji’s belongings hadn’t been burnt after all, however if he wanted them returned any time soon he’d of course need to perform a week of perfect punishment. Punishments which included keeping the shop spotless, keeping Yoruichi’s house spotless and keeping Ishida’s wards spotless. It was a near enough impossible task, which was probably why Renji hadn’t stopped glaring at him yet and why every cup of tea he’d been served seemed suspiciously thick, but no matter! Every time his darling son sent evil stares in his direction all he had to do was remind him that his belongings rested in Kisuke’s hands, and suddenly Renji was all fake smiles again. The poor, little guy was so easy to play.

Back to the matter at hand however, there was no point asking Gin directly about Aizen because it’d be allowing Gin the upper hand, letting him know he held all the cards and all the power. There was also the fact that if the information was juicy enough and important enough then what reason would Gin possibly have to reveal it? He’d want something in return, whatever that something may be, and so asking outright would come to no avail. His best bet was to skirt around the issue with small talk, forcing Gin to come right out with a direct approach if he ever at all wanted to get what he really came here for. It was just a good job little Rukia-chan wasn’t here, poor girl always sweltered and panicked when Kuchiki-san and Ichimaru-sensei engaged in small talk, not that Renji fared any better . . .

“Ah, so you have a date tonight, huh?” He might as well make conversation, it was the longest way to get to the heart of matters but it was always the best way of dealing with Ichimaru in his experience, “I guess that explains all the food. We never usually see you much in here otherwise, not that I’ve ever known you to have a date for that matter. Is it anyone I know? It’s not Matsumoto-san, is it?”

“Rangiku-chan? Nah! She’s like a sister t’ me.”

“Oh? Then who?”

“I doubt yer’d know him, Kisuke-san,” Gin said with a bright smile, “It’s someone I know from work, ya know?”

Now this was definitely worth digging into . . . Although Kisuke wasn’t exactly acquaintances with all of the teachers in the school, and certainly he didn’t know all of the staff, it was very likely that Renji – being a pupil – would know whoever it was. Not that Kisuke had a personally interest in the matter, but in his general experience information was worth a lot more in terms of price than possessions, and if this was something Gin wanted kept secret then it was probably worth a lot in terms of price. It’d be worth trying to dig something out of him in case it was useful later on, and if it was actually nothing than there was nothing lost, right?

“I see,” Kisuke said hiding his face underneath his hat and behind his fan, “It’s not someone like Kyoraku-sensei, is it? Someone whom you really shouldn’t be dating, like an illicit affair?”

“Aw, ya don’t think too highly of me, do ya?” He gave a soft, pretend pout before bouncing back to his usual self, watching Kisuke’s expression closely, “Nah, it ain’t nothing like that! If ya must know we just want t’ keep it under wraps for a while, not sure how his family would take it an’ all. I do love him though, you can relate, can’t ya? He’s this hot, little blonde with the cutest, blue eyes, and so thin and small that yer scared he might break when ya hold him. Yer’d just love him, Kisuke-san! He’s smart, ya know? He writes books and stuff, and he’s not bigheaded like Hiyori-chan, he’s all quiet and shy and he even stutters when he gets all nervous. Ah, listen to me, ain’t often I babble like this.”

Gin shot a dark look to Renji who suddenly dropped the can of polish from where he stood. It was odd to see him suddenly so clumsy, not that he wasn’t usually clumsy, but it was never to such a degree where he’d drop such an easy-to-hold item. Then again it had been Kira he’d been talking about, maybe Renji had recognised the description? Nah, now that was a ridiculous idea! Gin was Renji’s teacher, he knew the kid wasn’t all that bright, and frankly it wasn’t exactly an obvious match either, who’d ever consider Gin and Kira an item? Not only that but there had to be a dozen or so blondes in town, Shinji being one of them, so perhaps Renji’s clumsiness was just that: clumsiness.

“Don’t worry, I was the same way when I first dated Tessai.” Kisuke said, breaking his train of thought, “Although, you can’t be here just to talk about romance, can you, Gin?”

“Hmm? Oh, nah. Actually I wanted to trade some information with ya. Something ya might like if ya must know, something worth trading for.”

“Really?”

It seemed like Kisuke was right, the young teacher wasn’t just here to shop for a date on his morning off work, he was here for information and in return he had information to give, something he thought Kisuke might like . . . No doubt it involved Aizen somehow, especially considering that not-so-subtle hint that Gin had dropped earlier on, but the question was would the information be worth it? He already knew that Shinji had earlier stopped by Aizen’s, and he knew that the Vizards were still out looking for him, especially seeing as they’d finally worked out where they’re leader had gone to last night, but could Gin really have anything to add to that? Could he really know more than what Kisuke, Hiyori and the others knew themselves? Then there was also the matter of what Gin would want in return. If he really knew something that Kisuke didn’t then his information had to be valuable, but likewise he would want something of equal worth in return, something that would make the exchange worthwhile.

Gin was watching him with keen interest. His eyes were tensed somewhat, narrowed and focused upon Kisuke as if analysing him and his every expression and movement, and the way his smile seemed to curl at the corners looked almost sadistic. It was as if he was deriving enjoyment from holding some power over the shopkeeper, as if he hoped to keep him on the edge for as long as possible, dangling over his head the temptation of knowledge as if to torment him and tease him. Part of him wanted to give into the temptation and just outright ask him what it was he knew, but the game didn’t work that way, and it never had. He had to play by Ichimaru’s rules, if he didn’t then he wouldn’t get any information at all, and if he played the game wrongly then Ichimaru could end up extracting all the information he wanted without giving anything in return.

He watched carefully as Ichimaru brought his items to the till to purchase, and watched as Renji dragged his feet to the front to serve his teacher, he’d probably give him a discount of some sort too in order to try and sweeten him a little bit . . . It’d be a good thing if he did try something like that, Lord knew his grades could have done with his teachers being a bit more lenient.

“Well, ya see, it was all so strange, ya know?” Gin looked off into the distance with a sight pout, looking as innocent as possible for a man like him, “Last night after the party an’ all, we stopped by Rangiku’s for a drink or two. It was pretty fun. Ya wouldn’t believe her new marketing gimmick! She got those party photos developed pretty quick, ‘cause a friend o’ ours is a photographer, see, so she’s made a ‘wall of shame’ with everyone’s photos up. Parents and guardians get ten percent off for every photo of their kid on there. Says to tell ya that ya got fifty percent off. You should have got about one-hundred-and-twenty percent off but there ain’t no profit in that, so we gonna rotate the photos each day instead.”

Whilst it was always interesting to hear Gin’s little tangents, which although seemingly random always brought in useful information of their own, the fact that his son had humiliating photos plastered over a wall in a popular bar was beyond frustrating for Kisuke. It wasn’t that Kisuke couldn’t remember what it was like to be young, in fact he had photos lurking around in distant drawers that still made him wince to see even now, but that was him and this was Renji. It was frustrating enough to keep being reminded of his son’s antics, and to keep being reminded of just how hard it was to teach him a lesson, but to have Renji’s ridiculous escapades exposed in a place where all his friends visited was just too much. He was already dreading a phone call from Kuchiki-san blaming Renji for ruining Rukia-chan, or Zaraki-san stopping around to ask him if he’d seen Ikkaku-kun . . .

Frankly it was no wonder that Renji looked liked he wanted to ground to swallow him badly, his eyes looking nervously upon his father as if trying to weigh up how bad the situation was. In fact Kisuke had half a mind to close the shop early, drag the little boozer down to Rangiku’s and see just what the damage was for himself, because he seriously doubted any of his friends’ kids would have anything as bad on display as what Renji would have. That was for sure.

“I see,” Kisuke said coldly, glaring at Renji for all it was worth, “I’ll be sure to pay the bar a visit later on, it’ll be very interesting to see what my son gets up to when he thinks no one is watching.”

“Yeah, trust me, its worth seeing! We couldn’t put all o’ them up though, some o’ the kids were doing stuff that we ain’t allowed to post in public, so we destroyed those ones. I had to ‘confiscate’ a few o’ Kira-kun of course, I mean the photos were a bit indecent, weren’t they? Only doing my job as an official educator an’ all, couldn’t let Matsumoto-san keep ‘em, could I?”

Renji let out a rather suspicious sound that caused Gin to look directly in his direction. He pulled his now packed bag of items off from the counter, quickly depositing the appropriate yen bill on the counter, all whilst giving his student a rather cold, calculating look. Abarai-kun wasn’t exactly the brightest or most adorable student at the best of times, and at times like these he really knew how to hit a nerve or two.

“Ah, Abarai-kun,” Gin said sweetly with a dangerous smile, “Ya got something ya want to say t’ me?”

“Err . . . No, sir.”

“Good.” His eyes quickly softened as he turned back to Kisuke, gazing at the shopkeeper with an almost gentle expression, “Now, about what I wanted t’ talk to you about . . . Ya see, it’s about poor, old Ukitake-san, I was wondering how he might be doing, ya know?”

Ah, of course . . . The crux of the matter. It seemed that the information Gin wanted was concerning Ukitake-Sensei, and although the question seemed innocent enough he knew that there had to be a hidden meaning behind it.

The likeliest matter was that he was asking on behalf of Aizen, that somehow information of how Urahara had used a dying man as a test subject had leaked out, and that Aizen – taking on Kurostuchi’s case – wanted more information. That was the problem however, Kisuke trusted Mayuri with his very life, and although Mayuri was looking to extort all the money he could from Ishida-san he wouldn’t be willing to put anyone else in jeopardy to do so, or at least not Kisuke. Mayuri had even been willing to help out administering the medicine and keep records, and he had actually been thrilled to have a human test-subject, so even if he had been willing to get Kisuke a criminal record by selling him out he’d only be putting his own reputation on the line also. There was a very select, small group of people who knew about Ukitake’s treatment, and no matter how hard Kisuke analysed the situation he couldn’t see that demonic lawyer possibly knowing about the situation . . . If that was the case he’d just have to be very careful what he said and how he worded it, making sure that no piece of information escaped that he didn’t want out. It was that or making sure that whatever information Gin had was so good, that it equalled out to any information that he had to give about Ukitake.

“Ah, Ukitake-Sensei,” Kisuke said coolly, “Hmm, well I suppose you could always ask the man directly how he feels. You also work alongside Kyoraku-Sensei, so you could always ask him too, couldn’t you, Gin?”

“Yeah! I tried! I can’t get hold of him at all! Kyoraku-san ain’t been at work the last few days either, and cause of Kurostuchi’s lawsuit it means that Ukitake-san can’t get treatment . . . I’m kind o’ scared, Kisuke-san.”

Okay, that was unexpected. If Kisuke didn’t know any better he would have said that Gin was being sincere . . . His smile had faltered ever so slightly, his lips moving up and down as if undecided whether to frown or smile, and his colouring had paled ever so slightly so that as his eyes opened partially their red seemed all the more vibrant than ever. It was so unusual to see Gin genuinely worried or hurt, and the way his shoulders hunched just slightly and his gaze fell downwards, it just left him looking so vulnerable. If it was an act it was a very good one, but something told Kisuke that this was a rare glimpse of his true feelings, and in a moment when he jumped up with a ‘Ja! I’m fine!’ that would be the real lie.

“Ja! It ain’t that important, I guess,” Gin said, predictably jumping slightly as his he grin came back on his face full-force, “It’s just there ain’t that many people who like me, ya know? Everyone seems t’ hate me except Aizen-sama, Rangiku-chan and Kira-kun . . . Ukitake-Sensei was always nice t’ me, an’ he even read Izuru’s book when I asked him! He’s such a nice guy. I know he probably hates me, but he ain’t never shown it. I don’t want anything bad t’ happen to him. So if ya know anything, Kisuke -?”

“I guess it depends. What information is it that you wanted to trade?”

“Ah! Something good, I promise ya! It’s about a certain, little blonde who went to Aizen-sama’s last night. A little birdie told me what he was up to and where he is now, and it sounded like something my pal Kisuke might wanna know.”

Kisuke let out an almost silent sight. Truthfully it was something he wanted to know, and it was also something the other Vizards wanted to know too, judging by the incessant phone calls he’d gotten earlier on talking about how they’d ‘lost’ Shinji. Of course they’d worked out after a long while that Shinji went to Aizen’s last night, but not one person could work out where he was now. They’d tried everywhere of course, including Urahara Shoten and Kurosaki Clinic, hoping that he’d crashed the night at Ichigo or Kisuke’s, but the search had come to no avail. In the end the Vizards had settled for ‘general panic’ and hanging out at Kensei’s in the hope that Shinji would just show up, but Kisuke couldn’t work that way, after all he may be laid-back but that was only with matters he had full understanding and control over. He had no idea what Shinji was and that fact terrified him. He wouldn’t show it of course but he was dreading the moment when Shinji would call or drop by, just telling him something horrendously wrong had happened between him and Aizen. If Gin really did have answers then perhaps a trade would really be worth it.

It took a while but eventually he decided that it was perhaps for the best to participate in this little ‘trade’. It wasn’t as though he had anything to lose, and on the contrary he had a lot to gain, it made sense to play Gin’s games if it meant that the little mystery of one Hirako Shinji could be solved. So with flick of his wrist he closed his fan and wandered half-aimlessly over to the counter, pushing Renji out the way half-heartedly. It wasn’t a harsh push, but it wasn’t exactly a soft one either, it was the sort of push only a parent could give, one that said ‘I love you, but if you keep getting in my way I will kill you’. He gave a quick glance to Renji and nodded over to a few empty shelves, and – thankfully getting the hint – Renji ducked down into one of the cupboards to get some stock, stacking the shelves with an expression of mindless boredom.

“Deal, Ichimaru.” He said a bit too curtly than he’d intended, “If you must know Ukitake is fine. We’ve tested the antidote on him and he seems to be making improvement. It was only injected into his bloodstream a few days ago, and we need to keep a close eye on him and make sure we administer the correct medicine in the meantime, but hopefully it’ll be okay. We’ll need a week to make certain it’s worked, another week to make certain there’s no relapse, complications and that it’s definitely worked. Oh, and you can tell Aizen this, but considering Mayuri’s also involved there’s nothing he can do with this information. To get me into trouble would be get Mayuri into trouble, and his case would be ruined then.”

At once Gin seemed to perk up. His eyes closed once again but this time softly, without any of the harsh lines that appeared when he was experiencing a negative emotion, and his lips pulled into such a bright smile his cheeks brightened and his lips reddened. He seemed alive and vibrant, a happy change from his previous subtle melancholy, and considering the information provided was useless to him Kisuke could only believe it was relief that Gin felt. He was genuinely relieved that his colleague was likely going to be okay.

“Ja! Thank goodness! I’ll be sure to make him some yummy treats to wish him well, and I’ll get the kids in class to make cards tomorrow, I’m sure they’ll be happy not to do history if it means they get to make cards for Ukitake-san!”

“Yeah, now about Shinji, Gin.”

“Ah, yeah, only fair I tell you, right?” This time Gin’s smile made the very subtle change into his sadistic expression, complete with a slight tilt of the head that cast his face in shadow, adding to the dark look, “Well, if ya must know last night Kyoraku and I got pretty drunk, and Rangiku was too drunk t’ drive us home, so we got a hold of Zaraki-san and asked him to pick us up. Rangiku was ever so nice! She waved us as we drove off, and she was even willing to watch little Yachiru-chan for the night ‘cause it was so late! Well, ya know how it goes, right? My home is pretty far away from Kyoraku’s, and I couldn’t crash at my boyfriend’s cause it was so late, so I asked Zaraki-san if he wouldn’t mind dropping me off at Aizen-sama’s. It’s right between Kyoraku’s place and Zaraki’s place, so it was ever so convenient! Anyways, that’s when I saw it, you’re little friend Shinji.”

“Oh, and what did you see exactly?”

“Well I’d been the one to tell Shinji Aizen-sama’s address, and I’d let the guards know in advance it was okay t’ let ‘im in, so I kind o’ expected him to be there, but ‘cause I was so drunk I accidentally stumbled into one o’ the surveillance rooms.” If Kisuke didn’t know better he would have believed Gin, but considering the nature of the man there was no way he ‘accidentally’ did anything, drunk or sober. “Well, ya see Aizen likes to leave all his cameras on, just in case somethin’ happens, but I noticed the one t’ the master bedroom had been turned off. I tell ya, it was such a surprise t’ find out there’s cameras even in the bedrooms; I’ll need to be careful if I ever take my boyfriend over! It was such a shock, ya see? There I was all drunk too, so I figured that I ought to turn the camera back on, ‘cause if there were cameras in every room and one was off, well it had to be a mistake, didn’t it? Well, I turned it on and guess what I saw -!”

“I think I can guess . . .”

“Can ya? Well let me tell ya it was some pretty kinky stuff, stuff that I ain’t even got round to tryin’ yet, I mean he was all tied up with Shinji on top o’ him like -!”

Kisuke coughed loudly and nodded over in Renji’s direction, flicking open his fan as he did so hide his own embarrassed expression. It wasn’t that he thought his son was naïve and innocent enough to be ruined by such scandalous gossip, but he simply didn’t think that hearing the activities of two grown men was appropriate for a fifteen-year-old to hear. After all Shinji and Aizen were two powerful men, and Shinji was kind of like an uncle to Renji, it’d be a lot better not to hear all the nasty details. Then again, if he were to be honest, Kisuke didn’t want to hear the details anyway. Sure he was well over Shinji, and they’d never been that serious anyway, and it wasn’t as if Shinji was that good in bed . . . but he really didn’t want to hear what his ex-lover was up to these days in that department. It was just awkward.

“Ja, sorry, I forgot ya son was eavesdropping,” Gin said nervously, “Anyways I deleted the tape, so no evidence o’ what they were up to –” Yeah, Kisuke thought, Drunk people are always so good at working fiddly technological equipment, “– and then I went t’ bed, ya know? Next morning I just wandered by Aizen’s room and had a few words with Shinji. He was a bit angry, don’t know why. Yeah, and then he said he was going t’ work, said he’d spend the day in his office. Ah, that’s all I know!”

Of course, no wonder the Vizards never found him. Who’d ever think of looking for one of the Vizards in their office on a workday? They were all pretty hung over, all rather stressed, and all very confused, and considering work was a very casual thing where they turned up when they wanted or really needed to, was it any wonder they hadn’t stumbled across Shinji yet? Of course he’d have to tell them where to find him, but he wondered whether best to keep quiet about the fact Shinji had slept with Aizen, after all that was no one’s business but Shinji’s. Still, what was Shinji thinking? Aizen had ruined them both! He’d completely decimated Shinji’s career and spent all his time thinking up tricks to ruin everyone else’s lives as well. Shinji wouldn’t have stooped so low as to sleep with Aizen just so he wouldn’t sue Hiyori, would he? Would he really whore himself out like that just to stop a court case? Of course he was a grown man, he could do what he wanted, but still . . . It didn’t seem right. It seemed rather wrong.

“My, it gets worse too,” Gin said casually, “Someone might o’ slipped the guy a card-key with Arrancar Corps. details on it, ya know? The temper he’s in he might start some trouble, hope he don’t cause problems for poor old Luppi or Ulquiorra, they both had an early start today . . . Right! I better head home, got t’ cook up a storm for my cute, little blonde! See you around, Kisuke-san!”

“Yeah, see you around, Ichimaru.”

Well, one thing was for sure, the information was certainly useful, after all they now knew where Shinji was and what he’d been up to. They also knew where he was likely to be headed next, but Kisuke was left with the daunting feeling he would have been a lot better off not knowing. That was Gin for you though; you always got a lot more than you bargained for . . .

* * *

Grimmjow couldn’t ever remember a morning being so perfect.

Usually mornings consisted of desperately trying to kill the sounds of an alarm clock by beating it against the wall, or trying to sneak into the work’s side entrance so you could pretend you’d been there all along and weren’t really late. If it was a particularly good morning then you might be desperately trying to find your trousers before Luppi woke up, praying to God that you could make it out without having to talk to the feminine looking freak. Basically mornings weren’t relaxing, fun or enjoyable, they were just a terrible joke God played on you to remind you that although you were nice and cosy now in a few moments you’d be busy as hell, wishing you were back in bed. It was probably from his awful past experiences that he relished this one so much. It was something like a dream, making him pray there’d be more mornings like this to come.

Everything was just perfect, heavenly and dreamlike . . . Sure that might have just been the afterglow talking, but there more to it than that. He could smell a delicious aroma of fresh, home-cooked breakfast coming from downstairs, something that made his mouth water and made him feel like he was actually part of a family, it was something he’d never smelled in his life. Even when he watched Nel most weekends he never really cooked breakfast for her, usually just throwing some cereal into a bowl and trying to leave out any sugary substances. He could even hear Yuzu giggling to herself, Karin arguing with a television and Kurosaki-san trying to engage in ‘quality time’ with his two daughters. It was nice to hear a home so full of life, to hear the sounds of a family all getting along and bonding, it was kind of a nostalgic feeling except he’d never experienced that before to feel nostalgic about it. One thing was for sure, the second he could afford it Nel would be moving in with him for good. He didn’t want his little sister growing up like he had, he wanted her to have the kind of love the Kurosaki family had, that Ichigo had . . . and speaking of Ichigo . . .

His little, redheaded lover was currently curled up against him the most adorable way imaginable. His head lay directly over Grimmjow’s heart, listening silently as he slept to every heartbeat, his breath ghosting over Grimmjow’s bare chest and his eyelashes fluttering delicately against naked skin. Ichigo’s right arm was lost underneath his lover’s body, which left no doubt he’d be waking up with a dead arm, and his left arm was wrapped around his boyfriend’s waist, his hand entwined with Grimmjow’s healthy one. Their legs were completely entangled with each others, adding to the sense of intimacy, making it seem like they were but one being, and the sheets lay cool against their skin, shielding them from the waist down against the cold.

It was just so nice to wake up with a hot, living body against him. It was something real to cling to, something soft to make the harsh realities of his life easier to bear, and the fact that the body belonged to the man he loved more than anything in the world, it was just a reminder of how lucky he actually was. For the first time ever Grimmjow didn’t feel alone. He didn’t feel like a freak for his hair, like he was street scum for the way he talked or acted, he didn’t feel like an idiot because everyone else seemed so much smarter. He felt loved, he felt like he was entangled with the body of an equal, he felt like maybe he mattered and maybe he could play a part in Ichigo’s life, actually make a difference, and he felt comfort that he’d never once felt in the arms of Luppi. If it were Luppi he’d have not wasted any time in waking the bastard up so he could close the window that made the room so cold, but because it was Ichigo he felt obliged to let the little guy sleep, unable to wake him even if he wanted to. It didn’t matter that the single bed was slightly too small to contain their bodies, or that he probably should check into work to see what progress Aizen had made, all that mattered was Ichigo . . .

He tensed slightly as Ichigo moved, scared that any movement on his part might wake the younger redhead, but with a slight moan Ichigo merely cuddled closer, yawned, and fell back asleep. It was kind of cute really, like he was watching Pantera doze off after eating a heavy meal, but even that didn’t really come close to Ichigo. The kid was just too perfect.

He wrapped his unharmed around Ichigo and breathed deeply in the scent of his hair, smiling in memory of the night before. There was still a heady scent of sex and sweat in Ichigo’s room, and it was just so hard to forget what had happened, not that he’d ever in a million years forget last night. Grimmjow still could barely believe it had happened! He’d been celibate a whole year, just waiting for Ichigo to be ready, and finally he had been. He was lucky Ichigo was a virgin and thus his endurance was pretty low, because with how starved Grimmjow was he knew he didn’t last that long, in fact he’d barely finished by the time Ichigo had. Next time though he’d make it last a whole lot longer, that was for sure.

Not that it’d been bad at all. Hell, in fact it’d been pretty damned great! He’d remembered being driven to Kurosaki Clinic after getting his arm bust up by some punk-ass kid, then getting shot with some drugs by Kurosaki-san, then what seemed like moments later Ichigo came through the door totally wasted. It seemed like the old man had headed back to the party to clean things up, the two girls were fast asleep and there was Ichigo drunk as hell with Grimmjow high as a kite.

His first reaction was to start screaming abuse at Ichigo about how he could run off and kiss another man, then of course Ichigo had began screaming something about letting Luppi cling all over him, and he remembered vaguely it nearly coming to blows before Ichigo leapt on him and began making out. It’d been rather passionate, clumsy, and furious and Grimmjow remembered nearly ruining the kitchen as they fell from one piece of the room to another, knocking over pots, pans and dishes wherever they went. It wasn’t until Ichigo had started undoing his belt and biting his ear that he’d lifted him up and headed straight for the bedroom. They’d barely made it to Ichigo’s room before they began to make love for the first time. Of course being high on pain meds, with his left arm in a cast, Grimmjow had been clumsy and forgotten the lube, and Ichigo with his lack of experience and intoxicated state hadn’t been very rhythmic and kept making little mistakes, but overall their enthusiasm and love for each made up for all of it. They’d of course passed out soon after, but they’d woke up not too long after for a second round, which had gone a hell of a lot better and had Ichigo screaming so loud Grimmjow had been terrified Yuzu or Karin would hear. Luckily no one had seemed to notice and the next morning they’d ventured downstairs to make a quick breakfast, before climbing back upstairs to eat it in bed, where Ichigo promptly passed out again, trying to get rid of his hangover. There’d had a quick third round before that though, and now Grimmjow found himself lying in bed quite late in the morning in his lover’s arms.

Of course sometime around ten Kurosaki-san had bounded into the room screaming something about love, youth and teenage pregnancy, and proceeded to try and kick Ichigo awake. Grimmjow – of course – responded with a snarl and a devilish glare before Kurosaki-san took the hint, administered Grimmjow’s medicine (although he was sure an injection shouldn’t hurt so damned much!) and then went downstairs to make breakfast for his girls. Ichigo’s phone had gone off sometime around eleven too, his little pal Renji calling with a message to pass on, followed by an upset sounding Rukia, an overly furious Shinji and the drawling voice of Chad. Grimmjow was starting to hope his lover woke up soon, because frankly his mind couldn’t remember any more messages.

Luckily Ichigo had finally decided to wake up. A long yawn emitted from his mouth as he stretched languorously across the bed, before pulling himself up into a sitting position. Grimmjow followed suit, letting Ichigo lean against him, resting his head against his lover’s shoulder as he said up, leaning back against the wall, his unfocused eyes trying to take everything in.

“Wha’ time’s it?” He slurred.

“Around twelve-fifteen.” Grimmjow grunted, cricking his neck as he spoke, “We made breakfast, ate it in bed, fucked a bit, then you passed out. Your dad dropped by of course to give me my meds, then I took a shower but your damned family had used all the hot water! I hate cold showers. Yeah, then I came back to bed to make some calls, ‘cause Aizen wants t’ see me this afternoon, you’d think the bastard would give me a day off what with my left arm in a cast, but no, not him! Tch, fine, he at least better have gotten me a decent settlement. What good’s a lawyer if he can’t get you any money? Oh, yeah, and you’re friends called a lot too. Left some messages.”

Ichigo blinked a few times, trying to absorb all the information that had just been blasted at him. It was a lot to take in at the best of times, let alone when he felt like hell. His head was pounding relentlessly, his mouth felt like it’d been stuffed with cotton wool, and for some reason the room wouldn’t stop spinning and his stomach wouldn’t stop rolling. If this were what a hangover felt like then he’d never drink again! He was in desperate need of the shower too, and frankly he felt ‘dirt’ on his stomach that he really disliked the feeling of, and sore in places that really shouldn’t be sore. The moment he regained some consciousness he was taking a hot bath.

“My friends called? What messages did they leave?”

Grimmjow rolled his eyes and huffed loudly. “Yeah, really romantic. No ‘oh Grimm, last night was so wonderful’ or ‘thank you for the best night of my life, Grimmjow-sama’, nah, just ‘who the hell called?’ Tch.”

“Grimmjow-sama? Jeez, what the hell has dad given you? You have to be high if you think for a second I’d call your freakish ass that.”

“Still, you could at least talk about what happened.”

“Man, you sound like a complete woman, seriously.” Ichigo groaned, “Last night was fantastic, you were great, I enjoyed it and I love you. Now can you just tell me who called? Seriously, my head aches like mad and my butt hurts to sit on. I’m not in any mood to sit around talking about stuff like this when I’m desperate for a hot bath and a decent meal. If you want to complain then go bitch to someone who cares.”

Grimmjow held back a growl and took a deep breath, gazing across the room to one of the windows that overlooked a sunny sky. Great, well it seemed the kid was back to normal at least, although he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad. After all it was good that this hadn’t changed their relationship at all, that they could still have their usual banter, inane argument and just be natural, only now there was the promise of hot sex at the end of the day too. It was just that he would have liked a bit more romance, maybe a ‘good morning kiss’ perhaps, and a deep hug, it would have been the normal thing for a couple to do. Then again, he wasn’t dating a normal guy, he was dating Ichigo . . . Ichigo who was one of a kind, special, unique, Ichigo who was able to not let anything faze him, who was able to enjoy what they had without letting it affect what they already had. It was almost like the perfect relationship, a guy that he could be natural around and a guy that he could be great friends with, but with a promise of awesome sex and a family around him who accepted him too. It was like he had it all, and so if Ichigo wanted to bitch about then he could, he might not be a morning person but Grimmjow had no reason to doubt his love. He was more than willing to sacrifice one romantic moment if it meant a lifetime with Ichigo.

He gave a soft sigh before nuzzling his head against his lover’s, burying himself into those fragrant, red locks. It was enough to make him never want to leave the bed, to spend all day with Ichigo in his arms, just talking about nothing and arguing about anything, just resting and relaxing as the day drifted on without them. Like it or not they were going to need to talk later on, because whether Grimmjow won the settlement or not he wanted Nel to move back in with him, he wanted his little sister around full time, and he wasn’t sure how Ichigo would handle that. Plus there was the whole Renji and Luppi incident. Tch, Luppi clearly didn’t mean anything to him, and considering how Ichigo had actually passed out during Renji’s kiss he was pretty sure Renji didn’t mean anything either, in fact Renji had to be pretty wasted himself not to notice his kissing partner dipping in and out of consciousness. Still, with the huge love-bite on Ichigo’s neck he was sure Renji would know exactly who Ichigo belonged to, and if he still didn’t get the message Grimmjow was already planning on kicking his ass when he next sure him anyway. That little punk! As far as Grimmjow was concerned he was just lucky they were at a party, because if there hadn’t been so many witnesses he’d have broken that kids legs! So what if it might sound possessive? Ichigo was his, no one else’s and certainly not Renji’s!

After he took in a deep breath he finally answered Ichigo, “That friend o’ yours, Chad, he just called to let you know that school’s cancelled for today. Your dad kind of told me the same thing earlier on when he stormed in here, something about how that Ishida kid invited nearly your entire year group and a lot of them are all hung-over pretty bad . . . ‘S only your year with the day off though, the older kids still have to go in.” He stretched his back and yawned loudly, “Oh and Rukia called, she seemed pretty upset, like she was going to cry or something –”

“Huh, what about?”

“How the hell should I know? It’s not like she’d tell me, is it?” He rolled his eyes despite the fact Ichigo wouldn’t be able to see him, “Yeah, that Shinji pal of yours called too, said he’s going to be in his office all day and that he’s done something real stupid, so when you get a chance to grab Urahara and go see him –”

“He – he did? What did he do?”

“I don’t know, but he did something.”

Ichigo groaned to himself. This was just typical of Grimmjow, he could have just let his phone go onto the answer-phone service, but no, he just had to answer and then screw up the messages in the process. Sure it was nice to have a boyfriend considerate enough to make an effort, to pick up the phone to save Ichigo from waking up, but seriously, couldn’t he at least write the messages down or something so he’d know who said what?

It probably wouldn’t have bothered him so much usually but Shinji and Rukia were two of his closest friends, he wanted to know what was going on in their lives so he could fix it. He couldn’t bear the thought they could be out there somewhere, suffering, whilst he was just lying in bed enjoying his moment with Grimmjow. It made him feel guilty, and it kind of ruined his moment with his lover . . . He wanted to bask in the afterglow, enjoy his time with Grimmjow, and instead he was feeling worried. It wasn’t like Shinji to get into trouble and since when did Rukia get emotional enough to ask someone for help? That wasn’t the only thing that was ruining his moment either . . . His muscles felt sore from the sex, it hurt to sit down thanks to the little preparation first time around, he was still in desperate need of a shower, and the fact that his father had to have barged into his room unannounced earlier would surely mean they’d be having a serious conversation later. He just wanted a long relaxing bath, maybe a nice dinner between him and Grimmjow, then a long night’s sleep in his lover’s arms. He didn’t want to worry about what he said to his dad, or what had happened to Rukia, or what Shinji had done or even what classes he’d be missing . . . He just wanted to be with Grimmjow.

“You know,” He murmured, cuddling closer to his lover, “You really suck at taking messages. You think next time you can let my answering service get it?”

“Whatever. Talk about ungrateful.”

“What do I have to be grateful about? Thanks to you I have three friends who’ve called me, but only one actual coherent message, and – let’s face it – you only remembered Chad’s because Dad came in here and probably shouted it out a second time for the whole house to hear.”

“Yeah, well what do I look like? A secretary?”

Grimmjow simply winced as Ichigo hit him hard on his right arm, just slightly below where the injection had been, before watching his lover crawl out of bed and search around his closet for some clothes.

He smiled as Ichigo stumbled across the room, moaning as he grabbed his head which no doubt still throbbed with the previous night’s alcohol intake, and occasionally limping as he found himself aching in whole new places. Grimmjow couldn’t believe that after just one night Ichigo would be so relaxed about his body, feeling natural and secure enough to let Grimmjow watch him as he wandered to and fro, even letting him stare rather lecherously at times as he licked his lips at the sight. True his boyfriend still blushed every time he caught him staring, but at least he wasn’t trying to hide any more, it was nice to know that he felt so comfortable around him, that he could finally just be himself. He watched with interest as Ichigo pulled on a pair of jogging bottoms, smirking to himself as his lover was forced to bend over. He knew Ichigo wouldn’t dress properly for a while, he’d no doubt be heading straight for the bathtub for a soak, but that was all the better as far as Grimmjow was concerned, it meant there was more body for him to stare at.

“Hey, you’re other friend called,” Grimmjow continued casually, pulling himself out of bed to sit on the edge, stretching his muscles as he went, “Renji I think. You know, that bastard who tried to take advantage of you whilst you couldn’t defend yourself?”

“Oh give it a rest, will you?” Ichigo snapped, “I can take care of myself. I’ll tell Kisuke about it later, let that perverted freak deal with him, and if it makes you feel better I’ll be sure to soccer punch Renji in the jaw when I see him too, alright?”

“You better, although I hope you know I’m going to beat the shit out of him when I see him. I ain’t kidding either, Ichigo. Anyway, the damned brat hadn’t much to say, said something about a friend o’ yours called Kira, and that he’s got into trouble with silver or something . . . I don’t know.”

“What? ‘Silver’? Oh! You don’t mean Ichimaru Gin-Sensei, do you?”

“I don’t know, probably. All I got was something about an affair or rape, or something, and that you need to get a hold of him right away cause that Kira fellow needs help.”

“Huh? Yeah, but if something’s going on with Kira-san then why does he want my help? I barely know the guy. It’s Hinamori-san and Matsumoto-san he wants to turn to, I mean I barely ever speak to Kira.”

“How the how should I know why he’s rang ya? You speak to him, he’s your friend, not mine.”

“Whatever, I’ll call him back later, I’m heading for the bath.”

Grimmjow smiled to himself as he watched Ichigo saunter across the room. His boyfriend really was exceptionally beautiful, something ethereal and angelic, yet something natural and real. He was completely the opposite of Luppi in every way. He didn’t have to hide behind clothes, make-up, contrived behaviour or even resort to speaking in a certain way, he could just be himself and he still exuded radiance from every pore. It was something impossible to imitate, something unique, and it made Grimmjow love Ichigo all the more, adoring how his lover was just completely natural. If it was up to him he’d never leave Ichigo’s side even for a moment, the brat was just too damned perfect to let out of his sight.

“Hey, Ichigo,” he said with a nod of his head, “can I join you?”

“Hell no! I’m sore enough as it is! Go screw yourself, Grimmjow.”

Ichigo quickly slammed the door behind him as he stormed out from the bedroom, leaving Grimmjow laughing loudly to himself as his boyfriend went. Apparently it didn’t matter what the kid went through physically, he was still emotionally as innocent as ever, and that blush and little temper tantrum was just plain adorable! Yeah, he loved Ichigo, and it was moment like these that reminded him why.