My Strawberry Kitten

A/N: OK, so. I kinda died writing this chapter (10 pages, wtf?) and have mixed feelings about it. D: Ichigo was difficult to write because he has different sides to his personality, at least in this fic, and I tried to portray that. Actually, everything was kinda difficult because I kept having to stop and think about how to go about writing whatever it was at the time. Gah, whatever. Enjoy it, if not…oh well. Flames will be disregarded. Yu guys should know by now how to review properly in a mature manner, yeah?

Disclaimer: Alas, Bleach isn’t mine. D:

Warning: Rated M for a reason! OOC, fluff, and smut, among other things.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Master and pet spent the next several days pretty much locked up in the bedroom the entire time, rutting against each other like animals on almost every available surfaces within the penthouse suite. Needless to say, they did a pretty good job on accomplishing that goal, not stopping for anything except maybe a quick bathroom break, a quick rinse in the shower, or a quick bit to eat before going right back at it.

Grimmjow had to take off the rest of the week off to attend his kitty; at least, that’s what he told a worried, anxious Nel when his secretary called for the millionth time wondering where he was, on the day after he found Pantera sitting on the floor waiting for him in the entrance way. Woo, and what a week it was.

~*~*~*~*~*~

On that following Sunday, Ichigo woke up slowly, opening blurry, slitted honey colored eyes and blinking them a few times to clear his vision of sleep. The very first thing he noticed was that he wasn’t in terrible discomfort anymore like he had been the past week. What a relief.

He sighed and rolled onto his stomach, stretching leisurely like his species tends to do: first lifting himself onto his arms and arching down against the bed, then shifting until his knees touched his chest and bum in the air with his arms stretched out in front of him, his tail waving lazily.

After stretching, he winced a little at the soreness he felt all over but ignored it and rolled out of bed for a quick rinse in the shower, brushed his teeth and then pulled out a random drawer and dressed in one of Grimmjow’s white dress shirts. It was big on him, but he didn’t care as he buttoned it up, leaving the first couple left undone; at least the shirt reached mid-thigh. Not bothering with underwear or pants for that matter, the neko padded out of the room to start on breakfast, opening windows to air out the entire suite as he went.

He was glad that awful, terrible, wonderful experience was over and done with, at least for the moment. Now that it was in the past, he also found himself feeling a bit more like he had been was before meeting Grimmjow: strong-willed, confident, and outspoken. That instinct of wanting to please his Chosen Master was still there in the back of his mind, but not as much as it was before. Though he hadn’t really minded the past couple weeks too much (after all, it could have been worse), he was thankful he was returning to his former self somewhat.

As he was scrambling eggs for a simple yet still delicious breakfast, he gave a slight start when a pair of arms snaked across his stomach. “Good morning,” he said, adding some chopped bell peppers into the egg mix in the pan.

“Mm, morning. You weren’t in bed when I woke up an’ I got lonely,” Grimmjow muttered, his voice still deep and husky from sleep.

“Ah, I thought I’d make something more solid for us to eat,” Ichigo said easily, surprising Grimmjow when he didn’t become flustered at the close contact or respond with the same shy quietness he had since he was brought home. The neko also had a certain air about him this morning, similar yet different from before. Grimmjow decided to ponder on it later.

“Hm, looks like yer out of heat. Heh, dunno if I should shout for joy or disappointment,” the blunet joked, kissing the bite mark he’d left on his Kitten’s neck during their wild romps. “But that shouldn’t stop us from having a bit more fun this morning, yeah?” he purred suggestively.

Ichigo turned his head and frowned a little. “I’m still ridiculously sore from this past week, and would appreciate it if you don’t try to mount me for at least another week,” he responded seriously as he finished the eggs and turned off the stove top, surprising Grimmjow once again.

“You didn’t say that last night, if fact it was quite the opposite. C’mon, Kitten, I’ll be real careful,” the blunet cajoled. The neko froze as felt something poke his bare thigh.

Ichigo shook his head stubbornly and said in a firm voice, “No means no.” Just as he was about to move away to retrieve plates, he suddenly yelped and found himself whirled around and pushed over to bend over the island in the middle of the kitchen, big hands pinning his wrists to the granite surface.

“I think you’re forgetting yer place and just who you belong to, Ichigo,” a dangerous voice growled into his ear. Grimmjow seldom called him by his full name. “If you didn’t remember, I bought you and now own you. You will do what I say.” Bronze orbs looked over his shoulder cautiously, and that instinct to submit reared back up when he saw the severe, authoritative look that demanded respect in his Master’s cold blue eyes. Ichigo had never seen that particular look on his Master’s face before, let alone directed towards him, but even in his apprehension, his mind acknowledged that the man wore the expression well, and strangely enough this side of his Master turned him on. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t somehow counter it, though.

The hybrid lowered his eyes in a sign of subservience as he tried to think of what he could do in retaliation without getting in to too much trouble even as he said, “I’m sorry, Master.”

“You’ve been a bad boy, Ichigo,” Grimmjow trailed his hands up and over Ichigo’s arms, down his back, and coming to a stop at his hips under the oversized shirt. “I think I oughta punish you.”

Smack! “Ah!” Wide-eyed, Ichigo arched his back, not expecting the hard blow to his ass. Smack! “Ugh…!” Smack! “…Mmn,” the neko bit his lip. Smack! “Oh…” he moaned breathily.

“Hm? What’s this? Do you like being spanked, Ichigo? My kinky little kitty,” Grimmjow leered. Ichigo shook his head in denial but the hybrid’s hard cock in his Master’s hand said otherwise. “Liar,” the older man whispered and squeezed sadistically. Smacksmacksmacksmacksmack!

“Nyaaah!” Ichigo cried, raising his bum and his tail up unconsciously for more, but Grimmjow denied him. Instead, the man crouched down behind him, giving each of his rosy, blushing cheeks nipping kisses, before nosing his way into the middle straight for his puckered entrance. Ichigo gave a mew, gasping when a teasing tongue flicked across his hole. He pushed his hips back for more contact and began writhing slowly on the counter top as that talented, prehensile tongue slipped inside, sliding against his inner muscles.

“Mm, my Kitten still tastes like honey,” Grimmjow purred as he burrowed his face further into Ichigo’s ass, delving as deep as his tongue could go and wiggling it around.

“Master…!” Ichigo keened as two fingers were also shoved into him ruthlessly without warning, the other hand still gripping his erection tightly.

“Hush, Ichigo. Yer being punished; be thankful I’m even prepping you,” Grimmjow’s cold voice brusquely spoke as the man watched him squirm around his fingers with hot, blue eyes. He scissored his fingers and spread the hybrid’s hole wide, thrusting his tongue back into the hot, damp depth.

“Haaa…” the neko’s eyes turned glassy from desire, wanting it so badly as the fingers pressed down on his spot, uninterrupted. After a quick preparation, Grimmjow pulled his hands back entirely, causing Ichigo to whimper in protest.

He suddenly shrieked in agonizing pleasure as his Master thrust in mercilessly all in one go, his body shuddering uncontrollably to try and adjust to the large thing inside him. The blunet didn’t even give him time to adjust, beginning to hammer into him at a savage pace, the neko’s hips banging into the edge of the island painfully.

Then out of nowhere, a rebellious, retaliating idea finally popped into Ichigo’s mind. Readying himself, he slammed his hips back, meeting the next thrust with a shudder and clenching his ass tight around his Master’s cock. The neko relished in the surprised groan and grinned triumphantly, but was quickly surprised himself when he miscalculated the force he had used and found them falling backwards towards the floor. Grimmjow didn’t have time to curse over his sore ass as they both screamed in delight, the force of the fall driving him as deep as he could possibly have gone into Ichigo.

The blunet gritted his teeth, his hands hooking under the neko’s knees to spread his legs wide and bucked up roughly, causing Ichigo to squeal much to the hybrid’s embarrassment. Grimmjow growled in frustration when he couldn’t duplicate that euphoric ecstasy the fall had created, and quickly shifted them onto their knees, shoving Ichigo up against the cabinets of the island and fucked his horny little Kitten into them relentlessly as the boy shrieked and yowled with each forceful thrust. What an erotic vision Ichigo made, flushed with passion, panting open-mouthed as sweat making his shirt cling to him, outlining his muscles as he clawed at the cupboards and rocked back wantonly to meet Grimmjow’s harsh movements. The blunet reached down and gave his tail a rough tug, making the boy whine.

Master was being so mean…but he was so close, so close…! “NAAAAAH! GRIMMJOW-SAMA!!!” Ichigo screamed his orgasm, his voice gone hoarse as his muscles tightening reflexively when the man brutally struck his prostate.

At the sound of his name uttered so desperately, Grimmjow groaned, and with a couple more thrusts, shot his load deep inside his pet. “Kitten…”

“Nn,” Ichigo moaned at the feel of being filled up, trembling as his Master pulled out. Grimmjow inspected the damage; the hybrid’s abused hole was leaking copious amounts of cum and some blood, but it was nothing too bad.

“Has my naughty Kitten learned his lesson?” the blunet rumbled, leaning close to nip at the feline’s ear teasingly.

“Yes, Master,” Ichigo mumbled, leaning back into his Master’s solid body, and nuzzled his face into his sweaty neck, hiding a little smirk that said otherwise.

“Good boy.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

Later after cleaning up their mess as well as themselves, the two had a rushed breakfast of reheated scrambled eggs and some toast before Grimmjow headed off to work, this time with Ichigo in tow on his leash.

“Nel wants to meet the person who’s been keeping me from work this past week,” Grimmjow had muttered, annoyed at his nosy secretary, “and she said if I don’t bring you to see her, she threatened to let my fan base ‘visit’ me every day for the rest of my business career.”

Ichigo ducked his head down to hide a grin as said fan base was following behind them since they left the lobby of their building, at a respectable distance of course, to Grimmjow’s irritation. He still couldn’t do shit about them, but they had to slip up sometime, right? At least that’s what he was telling himself as they entered his company’s building, his fans waving to them and telling them to ‘have a nice day~!’

“Bah,” the CEO grumbled when the elevator doors closed. “One of these days…” he trailed off threateningly. Ichigo didn’t bother to hide his grin this time. The doors opened, revealing Grimmjow’s floor. In the middle of the room was a large desk with a rather busty, voluptuous woman sitting behind it. She had long sea green hair that flowed down her back, big, beautiful grey eyes, a raspberry colored tattoo across the bridge of her nose, and her name tag pinned to one of the lapels of her white suit jacket read ‘Neliel Tu Oderschvank - Secretary’.

She looked up from typing when the elevator chimed, signaling their arrival. Her eyes brightened. “Welcome back, Grimmjow-saichou,” she greeted respectfully with a wave as he stepped out, “How was your vaca-” she cut herself off abruptly with a gasp when Ichigo followed not too far behind him, his tail weaving through the air behind him as his tea colored eyes took in the place. Suddenly, the neko found himself squished face first into a gifted pair of nice, firm breasts as Nel squealed, “WAAAIII~!!! Kawaii!!! Is this your new neko hybrid, Boss? He’s absolutely adorable~!”

Grimmjow ran a hand through his blue hair and sighed. “Nel, yer suffocating him.”

“Eh?” Nel blinked, and looked down to see Ichigo flailing and struggling to get out of her enthusiastic hold. “Oh, sorry!” She let go and Ichigo scrambled back a couple steps, gasping for breath, his orange tail stick straight and fluffed up in agitation from the near death experience. ‘Death by cleavage’ didn’t sound like a dignified way to die, thank you very much. “Hello! My name is Neliel, but you can call me Nel! It’s so nice to finally meet you!” she introduced herself winsomely.

Ichigo smiled slightly, his breathing starting to regulate normally, and warily shook her outstretched hand, “Eh, nice to meet you, too. I’m Ichigo.”

“Eee~! I just can’t get over how cute you are!” The curvaceous woman pulled him back into another back-breaking hug and rubbed her cheek against his, ‘squee’ing.

“Nel,” Grimmjow growled in warning, even though Ichigo’s wide-eyed expression was priceless.

“Oh, yes, right! Your appointments!” She let the poor neko go once again to Ichigo’s relief and hurried over to her desk, shuffling through papers. “Grimmjow-saichou, you have a meeting with Zaraki-san, CEO of Division Juuichi at 11 o’ clock! Hehe, that’s kinda funny! (1) Anyways, he’ll be the only one you’ll have to see today.” The CEO nodded his thanks curtly, and tugged Ichigo along by his leash into his office.

“Call me when he gets here,” the man grunted, receiving a chipper affirmative, and slammed his door shut. “Sorry about that, Ichi. She’s usually more composed than that with new people,” he explained while he unhooked the leash, “but I guess she took an instant liking to you, if you couldn’t guess.”

“She seems nice,” Ichigo replied simply, walking around the room as his Master sat down at his desk, “when she’s not trying to kill me with her large…bosom.”

Grimmjow snorted, “Heh, I figured. I’m gonna start on these files to catch up on what I missed,” the business tyrant gestured to the large stacks of papers on his desk. “Feel free to read a book or do whatever,” he pointed to the books lining the shelves of his bookcase against the wall and hunkered down to get through a stack before the meeting with Zaraki.

Ichigo nodded and felt guilty for making his owner fall behind in his work but was also very thankful at the same time; he would have had an extremely uncomfortable week without his Master coming to his aid. The neko meandered over to the books, tilting his head to the side thoughtfully as he browsed through the titles before settling on Hamlet. Orange striped ears twitched in interest, his tail mimicking the movement as he wondered why a man like Grimmjow would have a book like this. The blue haired man didn’t seem the type to read Shakespeare, but he shrugged mentally to himself and pulled out the classic play, going to curl up on the couch to read it again.

Hybrid children raised in either pet shops, or in a household, or even off the streets, can go to school, even attending the same classes with human children from grades 1-5 to learn the basic essentials. After elementary school, hybrid children get a choice to continue with their education if they so wished. Ichigo was one of those children, wanting to set an example for his younger sisters living with their father and the Ishida family, who adopted them when Isshin chose his next intended mate in one Ryuuken Ishida, much to the white haired man’s disgruntlement and secret pleasure. Though he eventually got along with Uryuu all right, the bespectacled young man was neither his intended or Chosen, and with his mother’s death still fresh in his mind even after all these years, Ichigo decided not to go with his family and threw himself into his schoolwork. It hadn’t felt right.

Soon after, it was well-known in Urahara’s pet shop that Ichigo enjoyed reading Shakespeare and did well in his studies, excelling past the requirements to harder advanced classes despite his frowning, short-tempered, self-assured countenance. Of course, it was obvious he hadn’t quite been himself since Grimmjow first took him home with him, but he felt that his old self was coming back around, albeit slowly but surely.

A comfortable silence settled between the two, the only noise being Grimmjow’s furious scrawling and signing of papers as well as his typing on the computer, and Ichigo turning the page in his book occasionally. Time flew by before Nel’s good-natured voice chimed in to inform her boss of Zaraki’s arrival.

Grimmjow looked at his watch. “Heh, that bastard’s actually on time fer once,” he muttered and stood. “You stay here a moment, Ichi, I’m just gonna go get him.” Ichigo glanced up briefly as his Master walked out of the room, and a several moments later, came back with a huge, intimidating man dressed in a roughed up black business suit with crazy hair done up in spikes. His rumpled shirt was untucked, the first few buttons undone to show his broad muscular chest, his jacket unbuttoned, and his tie was loose. Behind the large man was a petit, meek-looking black haired canine hybrid led on a leash in the hands of a small, energetic pink haired girl. This man must be Zaraki and his...family? Ichigo’s ears twitched a soft jingling sound. Were those bells he heard?

“Oi, Jag, I didn’t know you got a hybrid, too,” Zaraki commented gruffly upon seeing the neko hybrid curled up on the couch, “I thought only little girls get kitty cats. At least Yachiru had the mind to want a dog,” he teased. Grimmjow threw his old college roommate an annoyed look.

“Shut the fuck up, Zaraki,” he retorted, “I like cats. You like dogs. Now are we here to talk about stupid shit or are we here to discuss business? Geez.”

While they bantered like they did back in their college days, the little girl skipped over to where Ichigo was sitting, tugging her timid dog along. “Hi!” she said cheerfully, her big maroon eyes bright with life, “I’m Yachiru! That big guy over there is Ken-chan, my adoptive daddy, and this is my doggy Hana-chan!” The slender canine hybrid gave a little wave.

“H-Hello,” Hanatarou stuttered, a soft smile on his gentle face.

“Hey,” the teen nodded kindly to the shy boy, putting down his book.

“Who are you?” Yachiru chirped.

The neko smiled politely, always having been fond of children what with growing up with his two sisters. “I’m Ichigo. Nice to meet you both.”

Kenpachi paused in his conversation to look over towards them, observing how they interacted. “Heh, well at least you got yerself a looker.”

Grimmjow rolled his eyes towards the heaven, “Like you did?”

“Oi. It was Yachiru’s choice, and the pup liked her. Not my fault he’s pretty.”

“Yeah, yeah. But yer her father, so the decision ultimately lies with you. Admit it, you like that little dog just as much as the brat does,” Grimmjow smirked, the ball back in his court.

Kenpachi frowned, but didn’t deny it, “Ch’. Whatever.”

“C’mon, let’s get this over with. We’ve wasted enough daylight, even without you getting lost this time,” the blue haired CEO poked fun at the man’s horrendous sense of direction and walked over to the door at the side of the room leading into an adjacent meeting room, ignoring Zaraki’s defensive grousing. Grimmjow almost felt bad for the man’s driver, who even though knew which way to go, had to take directions from a little girl lest he wanted to be fired.

“Ken-chan! Ken-chan! I’m gonna go see Nel-chan for some candy!” the pink whirlwind exclaimed, making them pause as she bounded over with her dog and tossed Hanatarou’s leash to her father.

“Don’t eat too much, brat. Lunch is in an hour, ya hear?”

“Okie dokie, Ken-chan!” she saluted playfully before zipping out of the office to play with Nel in her wait for their boring meeting to be over.

Ichigo stood from the couch and followed the men into the next room, guessing that Hanatarou could use some company while their owners talked. He was also curious about the other hybrid.

His Master sat down at the head of the table, Zaraki plopping himself down in the seat to his left with Hanatarou sitting on a cushion by the big man’s feet passively. Ichigo did likewise, making himself comfortable near Grimmjow as the two businessmen began to discuss potential partnerships, market shares, profit increases and other things he wasn’t interested in. Instead, he focused on Hanatarou, getting to know him as they talked softly under the table.

The minutes ticked away, and Ichigo learned that the pup was roughly about his age, give or take a couple years, and that he had lived in an animal shelter after being rescued off the streets. He also learned that Hanatarou adored Yachiru and was quite taken by her father as well. “He’s my C-Chosen,” the canine hybrid confessed, “but I don’t think h-he knows that. He thinks I chose Yachiru, and though I l-love her like a daughter, she’s not the reason why I agreed to be a-adopted by them.”

“Ah,” Ichigo nodded in understanding, freezing in mid-nod when an impish, wayward idea popped into his head. His eyebrows furrowed, as he thought about it more in depth. ‘…To do, or not to do? That is the question.’ After a few moments of consideration, he mentally shrugged. ‘Well, I do need to pay him back for this morning…’ “Hm, maybe you just have to drop him some hints?”

Hanatarou blinked at the sudden mischievous gleam in the neko’s tea colored eyes. “H-hints?”

“Yeah…and if those don’t work, there’s always the direct approach,” Ichigo remarked as he maneuvered further under the table and placed his cushion in front of his seated Master. The orange haired teen shifted into a kneeling position onto the cushion and turned to give a confused Hanatarou a confident smirk. “Observe.”

Grimmjow was leaning back, his head resting on a fist supported by the arm of the chair as he listened to Zaraki rant off topic, something he did often to avoid doing work, about how said work was getting in the way of his sparring time. All of the sudden, a hand firmly palmed his groin making the CEO sit up straight in his chair and quickly glanced down to see Ichigo give him a naughty little smile, before the neko undid his pants and freed his rapidly hardening cock from its confines.

The blunet clenched his jaw and sent a warning glare but the hybrid ignored it, pushing muscled legs further apart for more room and teasing the penis into a full-fledged erection with his little kittenish licks. A pearly drop of precum bubbled up and the neko flicked out his sandpapery tongue to catch it, touching the spot just under the head that made Grimmjow grip the arms of his chair.

Ichigo trailed south, mouthing the length gently, and nosed his way beneath to lick the sac, inhaling his Master’s musky scent. He took the balls into his mouth to suckle on, one at a time, rolling them on his tongue. After sufficiently bathing them in his saliva, he moved back up and kissed the head and gently blew on it, grinning in success when Grimmjow gave a slight shiver. The neko sent a saucy wink to the beat red, wide-eyed Hanatarou before getting to the main course.

The blunet’s grip became absolutely white-knuckled when Ichigo opened his mouth and sucked on the head of his cock, that rough tongue teasing the spot underneath it relentlessly. He tried to focus on Zaraki, still muttering away about his latest fights with people who he could care less about at the moment, but couldn’t help but glance down again and almost came at the sight. Ichigo’s soft, pretty pink lips were wrapped securely around his dick, inch after inch slowly disappearing into that hot, wet mouth with every bob of his orange head. One of his hands was massaging his balls, trailing his claws against them in a light caress while the other was on his knee for balance. After a few tries, he managed to reach all the way down to the base with his nose buried in teal curls, pleasantly surprising himself and his Master, and swallowed experimentally.

He was startled when a large impatient hand buried itself in his hair and held his head still as Grimmjow began to fuck his face with short, rapid thrusts. Ichigo gagged momentarily before he forced himself to relax and slacken his mouth, reaching down to release his own erection, and jerked himself in time to his Master’s quick tempo. The neko closed his eyes and moaned, making sure to be quiet, the vibrations making the man grip his hair tighter and move faster. He was so hot and horny and felt like such a slut there on his knees before his Master, sucking him off with drool and cum dribbling down his chin, but secretly loved every second of it.

Sensing the end nearing, Ichigo reached behind him and pushed on the spot where his entrance was through his pants between his spread thighs as he gave one last hard suck. He looked up into Grimmjow’s equally lustful half-lidded eyes, and purred when they came together, his Master’s lip curled in a silent snarl. The muscles of his pet’s throat milked him dry and the neko made sure not to miss any of it, as the tension left his body.

“Oi, what’s with the face, Jag?” Kenpachi’s gruff voice entered the Grimmjow’s fuzzy, clouded head.

“Ch’, I’m tired of listening to you go on about crap,” Grimmjow replied smoothly, flicking his eyes to the other CEO before returning them to watch his pet in feigned boredom. “If yer opponents are so weak, then maybe you should look elsewhere for a good fight.”

The hybrid pulled away slowly, a trail of cum connecting his glistening lips to the head of the deflated cock before breaking and landing on his chin. “Mmh, milk…yummy…”’Revenge never tasted so sweet,’ he thought smugly as Zaraki’s booming retort drowned out his quiet purring but Grimmjow still heard it as the neko tucked him back into his trousers. Fuck, was that sexy.

“Let’s take a lunch break, yeah?” the blunet said nonchalantly, leaning forward on the table to block any view of Ichigo as he looked at his watch. His Kitten zipped him back up just in time for him to stand and usher Zaraki out of the room, as Ichigo grinned at a nearly faint Hanatarou before the pup was led out. All the canine could think was thank the gods for loose pants, as he shuffled awkwardly after his owner, trying to will away his erection.

It really didn’t take long before Grimmjow came back, pulled his chair out of the way to glare heatedly at the neko, who was wiping the cum off his face with the back of his hand. Ichigo looked up at him innocently as he lazily licked his paw, offering the other one to him covered in his own seed.

The blunet growled and yanked his naughty pet up by the wrist of his dirty hand to ravish his mouth angrily. The other hand swooped down to give Ichigo a swift smack before squeezing the firm ass, and he smirked viciously when Ichigo whimpered. “That was a dirty trick, Ichi. You think yer so clever, don’t you? Bad, bad Kitten.”

“Nnh, I don’t think I am; I know I am, Master.” He chuckled as the older man growled, but his laughter was cut off by a low moan as he was spanked again. “Are you going to punish me?” Ichigo nuzzled his face against Grimmjow’s as he drew his body flush against his Master’s, giving his cheek a little lick.

“Hm, I’m sorely tempted…” the blunet rumbled as Ichigo trailed nips and kisses up his neck to nibble at his ear. He began suckling each of his Kitten’s soiled fingers, his tongue going in between them periodically and swiping across his palm and back of the hand to lick it all up. Ichigo pulled back to watch.

“Mm, Grimmjow-sama,” he whispered into his ear, and smirked victoriously when the larger man shuddered hard at the sound of his name. Grimmjow didn’t know why, but every time Ichigo said it, it sounded so erotic. The tables have turned, and now that the neko knew him well enough, he had his Master wrapped around his little clawed finger. Ichigo was going to enjoy his ‘lunch’, and he’ll make sure Master does, too.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The rest of the meeting with Zaraki went rather well after Grimmjow locked Ichigo and Hanatarou out of the meeting to avoid further distractions, to Ichigo’s smug amusement. The two hybrids chatted and became fast friends after Ichigo managed to stop Hanatarou from blushing so hard. Yachiru even came in to play with them for a while before Kenpachi and Grimmjow came out of the room.

In the end, it was decided that their two companies will become partners, in hopes that their fellow colleagues from both Espada and Division companies will take notice and do the same. The two CEOs shook hands on it before Zaraki and his family left, undoubtedly getting lost in the building trying to get out to their car. Sure enough, it took the about an hour for them to get to the main lobby after father and daughter finally listened to Hanatarou’s directions, to all of Grimmjow’s employees’ chagrin. Now it was definitely time to head home after a long, trying day. Master and pet bid a good night to Nel and she waved, packing up her things to leave as well.

The streets were quiet as the two walked home at an unhurried pace, admiring the clear night sky. Just as they past a shady-looking alleyway, a gang of thugs walked out from the shadows, quickly surrounding the couple.

“Well, well, looky here, boys. A suit and his little kitty,” the apparent leader sneered, causing his lackeys to snicker. Grimmjow regarded them coolly, pulling Ichigo closer to him as he took in the situation. There were eight of them in total, none of them Grimmjow recognized so they must be a new gang who have yet to know their place. They were all younger than he was, armed with bats and chains and crowbars; no guns though, the cheapskates. The business tyrant snorted at the thought.

The leader took that as a snort of amusement, which it was, “What the fuck you laughing at, huh?”

“Obviously I’m laughing at you, you little piece of shit,” Grimmjow scoffed.

That apparently triggered something. “Fuck you, asshole! You think you can take all of us, huh? What will happen to yer precious kitty if you are focused on us, huh? Can’t protect him if we all take you on!”

“Ch’ like any of you could land a hit on either of us,” the CEO smirked arrogantly.

“Why you-!”

“I know what’ll happen to the pretty kitty,” one of them leered, licking his lips as he tried to antagonize the man. “He’ll be begging me to stop just as I f-” the punk did even get to finish before Grimmjow punched the little fucker in the face, busting his nose into a fountain of blood.

“Get ‘im!” the leader yelled. Grimmjow spun around taking a fighting stance, ready to kick some ass, but before any of them could take a step forward, a hissing orange blur attacked with a raging barrage of strikes, knocking the wind out of gang members faster than they could say, “What the hell?” The blunet himself blinked a couple of times in bemusement, one moment surrounded by thugs, the next surrounded by thugs…unconscious on the ground, with Ichigo crouched in front of him defensively, poised to pounce again if necessary with his tail bristled straight up in fury. He straightened himself and looked around, kicking one thug to make sure he really was out. He was down for the count.

“Er, Ichi?” Grimmjow prodded, jumping back slightly when the neko tensed and whirled around, his face set in a fierce, vehement scowl, amber eyes wide with animalistic aggression with the slitted pupils contracted into mere lines. This was certainly a new side of Ichigo he didn’t know about, and frankly Grimmjow didn’t know what to make of it. It took a moment before the hybrid blinked and his expression smoothed out, the pupils slowly plumping out to their normal pod-like capacity.

“Master, are you hurt?” Ichigo hurriedly patted him down, checking for any signs of injuries he couldn’t have prevented, and was relieved to find none. Actually, everything was in order, not a hair out of place.

“Er…Ichi, what the hell?” Ichigo looked up at him, confused. Grimmjow scratched his head. “Uh, you just suddenly went into Attack Mode or somethin’.” ‘And scared the living shit outta me,’ he silently added.

“Ah…I was afraid he would hurt you,” the neko muttered with a frown, bowing his head, and wrapped his arms around his Master’s waist. Grimmjow embraced his Kitten, one hand stroking his back reassuringly. “If…If he’d hurt you, I don’t know what I would have done, probably something worse. It’s instinct to want to protect your mate, even if you’re a beta male,” Ichigo explained softly into his chest.

Grimmjow hooked a finger under his chin and tilted his head up to kiss him, gently at first to show his gratitude, before it grew more and more passionate as Ichigo opened his mouth invitingly. The older man nibbled on his little neko’s bottom lip and flicked his tongue inside briefly before he pulled back. “Remind me never to make you too angry, yeah?” he grinned, causing Ichigo to laugh heartily, breaking the serious atmosphere. They nuzzled each other, Grimmjow giving his purring Kitten an Eskimo kiss as he scratched him under the chin.

The two continued on their way after phoning the police, stepping on one of the unconscious bodies lying in their way who happened to be the leader of the sad little gang. Both made sure to dig their heels into the unfortunate sod’s stomach as they headed home, with Grimmjow’s arm around his pet’s waist securely, and Ichigo’s head resting on his Master’s shoulder.

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1. I looked up the Japanese word for ‘eleven’ and came up with ‘juichi’. Forgive my lack of creativity, but I thought it was funni so I threw that in there. XD Feel free to correct me if I got the wrong translation. :D

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A/N: Woo, another chapter down, about three more to go before I wrap this up. The next chapter will explain a bit more on Ichigo’s behavior, and there will be another lemon, of course. ‘Til next week.