The Moonlight's Panther
Ch. 8 First Dates, Annoying friends, and Date Crashers
Ch. 8 First Dates, Annoying friends, and Date Crashers
Fingers drummed lightly on the table in light nervousness. A hand raked through spiky orange hair for the fourth time in three minutes. A groan spilled forth as the orange haired man raked a hand down his face in exasperation. Ichigo, to be honest with himself, was a nervous wreck. He couldn’t remember a time in his life when he was this nervous about something, perhaps aside from his job interview, but that was different. This was a deep, clenching nervousness that wracked through his entire being as he sat inside the booth in the very back corner of the small café he frequented at on his lunch breaks. And to think, this was all because of just one person.
Ichigo’s eyes closed as he reflected back to the “first time” he met the blonde at his aunt’s home. A smile tugged at his lips as he remembered the first time their eyes met, bright cobalt and tea eyes connecting. The excitement he’d felt when he’d first heard the blonde speak, that rich baritone voice that had sent deep shivers down his spine. He knew then that he had to have the blonde. He’d offered the blonde a ride as a means of trying to get to know him better. Of course, he had a brief lapse of his mouth running without his say so, but he was ever so glad that it had. He originally hadn’t meant for his question to be posed that way it had for a lunch get together, but it had turned out for the better. And when the blonde had flirted back in response… Kami.
Of course, his friends all thought he was either going insane or replaced by a fairly convincing lookalike. Renji was teasing him endlessly about the fact Ichigo hadn’t ever liked a person this much before, which was true, but like hell Ichigo would admit that to anyone other than himself. He had initially been afraid the heavy attraction and suffocating nervousness was one sided, however from the conversation he’d had with Nel this morning, it seemed Grimmjow was in the same predicament as he was, which put the redhead at ease slightly.
Ichigo looked down at the watch on his wrist for the fifth time in two minutes. The nervousness still hadn’t subsided and his anxiety was growing each passing second he sat there. Grimmjow had yet to arrive, as Ichigo had been very early because he’d driven like mad to get there only to find he was extremely early. Ichigo rested his elbow on the table and rested his cheek in his upturned palm. His head perked up as he heard the bell over the café chime as someone entered. He turned in his chair, still looking out and waiting on the blonde to arrive, but instead met the sight of someone else instead.
Ichigo swallowed the lump in his throat as his eyes took in the tall, fit frame, tanned skin, and... blue hair? He’d met people with some strange hair colors- hell, Szayel had PINK hair of all things when he transformed, and Nel had bright green- but blue? He watched as the man moved slowly, with an almost feline grace, a wolfish grin on his face as he spoke to one of the waitresses. He had a very handsome face and Ichigo felt his face grow hot when the man turned away from him, showing off a very defined backside and a very nice a**. Oh my.
As the man turned back and turned in his direction, he turned around and ducked his head down. Really, what was with him? He was meeting someone, for cripes sakes. He ran a hand down the front of his face, the skin tinged a very bright red. He took a deep breath before, calming himself down before a moment later, someone blew in his ear. “Ya’ waitin’ on someone, cutie?”
Ichigo placed a hand over his ear, flushing bright red again and whipping around, mouth open to protest hotly before his eyes landed on the teal haired man from before, his voice dying in his throat. God did that man look even better up close. Ichigo turned his head away with a scowl, willing the red hue in his face to disappear. “Yes, I most certainly am. Therefore, I am not interested.”
“Oh, I beg t’ differ ‘bout tha’.” The blue haired man leaned closer, invading his space more so than before. Ichigo only glared defiantly up at the teal haired man, attempting to keep his thoughts in order and keep a clear head, which was proving more and more difficult by the second.
“Was there something you needed?” Ichigo spoke through gritted teeth, trying to retain some composure. His control was slipping slightly, something that rarely happened in itself. Yet he couldn’t understand for the life of him why he was losing control in the first place.
‘Ne, Kingy, yer losin’ yer touch. That ‘r yer jus’ stupid.’
Ichigo almost growled at the voice inside his head in aggravation. ‘Not now, Shiro.’
‘Kingy, ya’ might wanna’ listen~!’
‘Leave me alone, would ya?’ Ichigo stared defiantly up at the teal haired man still, despite his internal conversation with the other half of his soul. While most would call him insane and stick him in the nearest asylum for saying that he heard voices in his head, it was what Ichigo deemed normal now. Ever since his life had changed at eighteen, he’d permanently been altered, in his way of thinking and every other aspect of his life. However, he thought, he had no time to reflect on the past.
The teal haired man smirked smugly down at the other, a mischievous undertone to it. “Yer name and number would be nice.”
Ichigo glared at his further, brows knitting together. “I’m not giving my number to someone I don’t know and my name is none of your concern.” He turned away from the teal haired man, scowling his customary scowl of irritation.
“Aw, come on. Don’t be that way, cutie.” The man sat down in front of him at the booth with a toothy grin on his handsome face. “Yer name... ‘Sall I ask.”
Ichigo glared heavily at the man sitting across from him. “Ichigo... Ichigo Kurosaki... There, are you happy now?”
The grin on the other’s face only widened in amusement. “Ichigo, huh? Cute name.”
“It is NOT cute!” Ichigo’s face flushed a deep crimson in both anger and embarrassment. God, no one should be able to say someone’s name like that. That voice though... something was familiar about that voice. He couldn’t place where he’d heard it though. “It does NOT mean strawberry, so wipe that smirk off your ******** face!”
The man couldn’t help but laugh loudly at the orange haired man, only prompting Ichigo to glare at him further. “Yeah, yeah. Sure. So, who’re you waiting for?”
“J-just a friend.” Ichigo scowled and looked off to the side. “We’re meeting to have lunch and talk a bit.”
“Sounds like a date t’ me.”
“It is NOT a date!” Ichigo’s face flushed an even darker red in his embarrassment.
A laugh sounded across the table, prompting Ichigo to glare at the man laughing loudly in mirth. “And so the Strawberry blush returns again. Pineapple head was right about it being as red as your namesake.”
“SHUT UP!” Ichigo grit his teeth and glared further before he registered the words with a hint of confusion. “Wait, what?” He only knew one person who was nicknamed pineapple head, which was Renji. How did this man know Renji? Amused cobalt eyes locked onto tea brown ones and the teal haired man only grinned widely. Ichigo’s eyes widened comically, mouth hanging open in surprise. He knew those eyes. “G-Grimmjow?”
That grin only widened in response, turning cheeky. “Ding ding ding, we have a winner.” Ichigo gaped, looking like a fish, pointing at the other. “S’rude t’ point, yanno.”
‘Told ya kingy~! By the way, he’s right you know. Ya’ look like stupid gapin’ an’ pointin’ like an idiot.’
The next second Ichigo reached over across the table and socked Grimmjow on the shoulder, very hard he might add, as Grimmjow started laughing. “You ******** a**! I had no idea that was YOU! Don’t do that to me!”
Grimmjow cackled, tears springing to his eyes from laughing so hard. He wiped the corner of his eyes before grinning again, still laughing a bit. “Was too tempting to have some fun with you before this little ‘date’. ‘Sides, yer reaction was priceless.” He snickered again and Ichigo punched him on the arm again with a scowl.
“b*****d. That was a dirty trick!”
“Maybe, but still funny.”
“It was NOT!” Ichigo crossed his arms over his chest, scowl still firmly in place. “I didn’t even realize it was you! What the ******** happened to your god damned hair?! It was blonde the last time I saw it!” While he knew the answer to his question already, he wanted to make it seem like he didn’t. The ex-blonde had yet to figure out what he was, so that left Ichigo to pretend he didn’t know what was happening and play innocent for a while.
“I cut it, obviously.” Grimmjow smirked at the glare he was sent. “And I washed out all the dye.”
“Washed out the dye?” Ichigo blinked in confusion. So wait, his hair already was this color? That didn’t make any sense. Why did he dye it in the first place? “You dye your hair blond?”
“Yes.” Grimmjow nodded in affirmation. “I have since I was young. People always made fun o’ my hair and the fact I was poorer than most kids that went to my school. They teased Nel, too. The teasing got to the point where we finally asked dad, well, my step-father, but I only ever called him dad, if we could dye our hair normal colors. That neon shade of green hair Nel has is completely natural. This light blue is mine.” As Ichigo nodded in affirmation, Grimmjow leaned back in his seat, eyebrow raising. “So, if you couldn’t tell who I was, how didja’ figure out it was me?”
“The comment about Renji and the shade of red I turn when I get flustered.” He scowled darkly as Grimmjow began to chuckle lightly. “Your eyes, too. I don’t know anyone else with eyes that pretty of a shade of cobalt.” His mouth snapped shut as he realized what he said, face taking on a dark crimson color once more. He just couldn’t shut his running mouth, could he? That’s the SECOND time he’s said his thoughts out loud to the ex-blonde, now blunette, without thinking about it. Why the ******** was his mouth automatically set to autopilot when Grimmjow was around?
Grimmjow smirked widely with amusement. “So, ya like mah eyes, do ya? Thank ya, but I don’t know whether t’ take ya’ callin’ ‘em pretty as a compliment or an insult.”
Ichigo suppressed a shudder. GOD, he radiated so much sex appeal it was ******** unreal. And that voice could only prove to make him hard as a rock within seconds if he weren’t careful. He scowled lightly at the grinning blunette in annoyance, willing away his quickly growing perverse thoughts to the back of his mind. “An insult, surely.”
“Pft, sure, Strawberry, sure.”
Okay, that did it. “Shut the ******** up, that is NOT what my name means, a*****e!” He slapped his hands on the table in front of him, glaring across the table at the blue haired man sitting across from him. “One protector. It means One Protector!” At the laughter he received, he glared harder. A soft giggle to the side of the both snapped Ichigo out of his glaring contest. His gaze drifted to the side and a small quirk of a smile passed on his lips at the familiar orange haired girl standing beside their booth. “Hello, Inoue-san.”
“Orihime.” She placed her hands on her hips in a mock stern fashion as her lips pursed into a pout as she corrected the orange haired man. “I’ve told you hundreds of times to just call me Orihime!” Her burnt orange hair was clipped up in the back today, leaving her bangs to frame her face. Her uniform was very form fitting, showing off her curves and accenting her rather large bosom. Her large gray eyes were playful as always, a smile stretched across her face.
Ichigo shook his head, relenting just this once since he knew she wouldn’t back down if he didn’t. “Orihime.”
The auburn haired girl grinned brightly. “There! That wasn’t SO hard.” She giggled as the orange haired male before her shook his head in exasperation. She then noticed there were two people in the booth and she didn’t quite recognize the other person with Ichigo. One eyebrow raised in question, a mischievous twinkle coming to her eyes. “Oh? What’s this? Ichigo’s having lunch with someone that looks suspiciously like a date?”
Ichigo groaned and let his head hit the table as he could hear Grimmjow start laughing. “Not you too, Orihime. God, why is me going on a date SUCH a big deal?” He didn’t get it, he seriously didn’t. Why couldn’t everyone just butt the hell out of his life and let him have his luncheon with Grimmjow in PEACE?
Orihime giggled once again. “You’re not called asexual by everyone for nothing, Ichigo.”
Ichigo groaned even louder letting his head fall forward over and over again on the booth’s table. Even Orihime was following everyone else’s example. What did he do to deserve this? “Kami, they’ve all got you in on this crap too. Damn it all!”
Orihime grinned mischievously. “I do hope the others don’t know where you guys are or were able to follow you here.”
“Renji’s at work, so he can’t follow, and I ditched Uryu.” Ichigo snorted derisively. “Besides, no one knows where we’re at, so they shouldn’t be able to find us.” Hopefully, he couldn’t help but add in his mind.
“Actually, Nel does.” Ichigo picked up his head and looked across the booth at Grimmjow, who was scowling in annoyance. ******** cripe, he forgot Nel had listened in earlier. s**t. He knew the others probably already knew by now where they were. Damn it. “She was listening in earlier. We might not have specified which café we were going to, but she knows this is the one I frequent at.”
“So, in other words, if she gets a hold of the others, we’re ******** screwed.” Which they already really were at this point. At the nod he received, Ichigo slammed his head back down on the table again. “God dammit.” Why? Why them? Why did they have to have friends who were SUCH nosy bastards? It was unreal.
Orihime stared over the teal haired man sitting on the other side of Ichigo with a curious look. “You frequent here? Have we met? I don’t remember ever seeing you here before.” Ichigo suppressed the urge to smirk at her comment. He sent Grimmjow an ‘I told you, you look different’ look, a certain smugness in his glance.
Grimmjow, after sending Ichigo a ‘shut up, I know I look different, dammit’ look, turned his eyes towards her with a grin of amusement. “Oh, what’s this? You don’t even recognize your other most favorite patron that you ALWAYS wait on? I’m hurt, Princess.” Ichigo rolled his eyes at the display, sending him a dry look. “It’s no wonder she doesn’t recognize you, idiot. Your hair’s short and a completely different color now.”
As Grimmjow sent the orange haired male a dry look, Orihime’s eyes lit up as she realized who this was. She knew that sarcasm with said attached nickname anywhere! Plus, she was sold the moment she saw his eyes. Only one person had that color of blue eyes. “Grimmjow-kun! Oh my goodness what happened to your hair? It’s all cut off now! And it’s BLUE. What in the world possessed you to have blue hair?”
“It wouldn’t BE blue in the first place if I could help it. It’s my natural color.” At the lifted brow he received in response, he scowled lightly. “The curtains match the carpet.”
Orihime pursed her lips lightly, wrinkling her nose. “Didn’t need to know that. Besides, how is blue a natural color?”
“When you mix a blackish blue haired alcoholic and an albino with the most awful taste in men. Sans her last husband of course, who was an honest, decent man.” Grimmjow shrugged idly. “s**t happens. Here t’ take our orders?”
Orihime nodded lightly. “Yes. The usual for the two of you?” At the nods she received, Orihime grinned and nodded her head. “Alrighty~! Comin’ right up.” She sauntered off towards the kitchens, calling out, “Tessai-san! Number fifteen with no mayonnaise or onions double the other vegetables, and a number six, medium rare with the side of steamed rice and vegetables~!”
Ichigo chuckled and shook his head. “She knows our orders by heart, it seems.” He turned back to Grimmjow, resting his elbow on the table, his palm cradling his cheek. “So, how shall we pass the time? Getting to know each other, talking about random s**t? I’m not the sort of dating person and I know very little about this s**t.”
Grimmjow just cracked a light grin. “I ain’t inta’ this s**t either, so don’t worry ‘bout it. We can talk ‘bout ourselves, tell about our lives ‘r somethin’. Doesn’t make much difference t’ me. I can go first if ya want.” At the nod he received, Grimmjow continued on with a soft sigh, running a hand through his short locks of hair. “Well, like I was sayin’ ‘fore t’ Hime, my mother had a shitty taste in men. She was married twice before she met my biological father. He was an a** t’ ‘er after they got married and drunk every day. They were married fer about five years. Two years inta’ their marriage, I was born. The b*****d wasn’t a good father and didn’t want t’ have t’ deal with a kid, so he left when I was about three. Don’t remember th’ a*****e.”
After an idle shrug of his shoulders, he continued. “My mother then started seeing another guy. When she first brought him t’ meet me, I remember that I liked him, a lot. He was kind and honest, an all around good man. He didn’t try to buy me over with nice gifts or act nice around mom act like a shithead when she wasn’t around. He was a genuine nice man.” A smile tilted at his lips. “He and mom hit it off like that and he became part of them family, and together, they had Nel when I was four. We had a small family, and very little money, but we made it work. Then, came the sickness.”
A bittersweet expression crossed his face. “Mom contracted breast cancer right before I turned six. There wasn’t as good of treatments then that there are now, and the doctors told her she didn’t have too terribly long. She still held her head high regardless. She went in for treatments and stayed alive for six months. She lived through my birthday, through half of the winter. A little after the new year, she passed away. Nel was far too young to understand at the time, since she was only two when mom died. I wasn’t completely aware what it meant to die. My step dad, who I only ever called dad because he was the closest thing to a father I ever had, sat me down and explained that mom was very sick before and now she wasn’t in anymore pain. He told me that she was in a better place now and was watching over us, even if she wasn’t with us physically anymore.” He smiled softly.
“From that point, he took custody of both me and Nel and brought us both up on his own. I asked him once, if he ever considered dating another woman, but he told me he’d never fallen in love with a woman like when he fell in love with my mom.” He chuckled softly. “My mother was a beautiful woman, and a nice, kind soul with a hint of firey mischief hidden. She’s where I got my personality from.” A grin light up his face as Ichigo chuckled softly. “Nel’s like dad in a lot of ways. She even looks like him. They always said I looked more like mom.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, flipping it open to flip through various pictures. He held one out to Ichigo with a soft smile.
Ichigo took the picture gently and looked at it. An awed look came across his face. The woman in the picture was pale and had pure white hair that fell down around her like a halo, reaching well past her shoulders. Her light pinkish eyes shined with a warm light and her smile was golden and beautiful. She truly was a gorgeous woman. Ichigo handed the picture back to the teal haired man sitting across from him. “She’s gorgeous.”
Grimmjow chuckled amusedly, a smirk crossing his face. “She wasn’t called The Albino Beauty for nothing, ya’ know.” He slipped the picture back into his wallet and flipped it shut. “So, that’s pretty much it. Me and Nel grew up with little money and we got teased for our hair colors, so we dyed our hair regularly.” He shrugged nonchalantly. “So, what about you, Ichigo? What’s yer story?”
Ichigo shrugged idly. “I have a rather... typically psychotic life, crazy as s**t family, and even crazier friends. My father is a bat-s**t insane idiot that attacks me when I come through the door to my family’s home every time I come home to visit them. My two younger twin sisters are opposites in every way. Yuzu is a sweetheart and loves cooking and playing homemaker. She always insists on taking care of people. She’ll make one guy very lucky to marry her one day. Karin is opposite; she’s moody and generally scowling, like me, she’s a total tomboy, and she’s a sports junky. She likes being outdoors and generally likes kicking a** in everything, especially soccer.”
Ichigo pulled out his own wallet, pulling out a recent picture of the twins and handed it to Grimmjow. “That’s the girls. They’re both still in high school. I also have a younger brother. He’s in college right now studying to be a model photographer. He’s a twerp and a total flirt and I always want to punch him when he starts hitting on everything that wears a skirt.” He grimaced lightly. “He’s touchy-feely. It’s either Karin or me that keep him in line.”
Grimmjow studied the picture of the twins, smirking in amusement. “The girls don’t even look alike at all. Hard to tell they’re twins.” He handed the picture back as Ichigo laughed and nodded. “What’s yer brother look like?”
“He has hair like mine, only shorter with a more blondish tint to it. He’s also got hazel eyes and our facial structures are way different. We don’t look anything alike. No one in the family looks remotely alike to one another.” He shrugged idly. “Guess genetics turned out that way.”
“Meh, me an’ Nel look nothin’ alike either, so.” He shrugged his shoulders idly. “Some siblings look alike, some don’t. Ya’ never know.”
Ichigo chuckled lightly in amusement. He smiled lightly across the table at Grimmjow, thankful he had not asked what most people did when he talked about his family. “Thank you.” At the raised eyebrow in response, he elaborated further. “For not asking about my mother.”
Grimmjow just shrugged his shoulders lightly in response. “If you didn’t mention her, I wasn’t going to ask. There had to be a reason you didn’t say anything right away. I didn’t want t’ pry. I know touchy subjects when I sense ‘em.” His cobalt eyes glimmered in the light, locking with sepia, a mutual understanding between them.
Ichigo sat completely still and just stared. Those eyes of Grimmjow’s were just so damn mesmerizing. It felt like he was under some kind of spell when they locked eyes, as corny as that sounded. He could feel his pulse and heartbeat picking up. The fluttering in his chest and the jittery feeling pulsing through his veins was just strange to him. He didn’t understand how this one man managed to invoke this much reaction in him. He jolted out of his reverie as his phone started screeching from his pocket. He scowled at the ringtone, knowing exactly who was calling. He flipped out his phone and barked out a greeting of, “What the hell do you want?” before holding the phone a foot away from his ear.
“ICHIGO, MY DARLING SON~! HOW ARE YOUUUU~? DADDY MISSES YOU!”
As Grimmjow raised an eyebrow in surprise, Ichigo held a peeved expression on his face, holding his hand over the receiver to block out his next words so his father couldn’t hear them. “Remember how I commented earlier about my dad and how he’s batshit insane? Yeah, this is said batshit insane idiot.” A snort was all he received from Grimmjow before he removed his hand. “I’m fine, you ******** idiot, stop screaming in the god damn phone, I can hear you from a mile away. Now what do you want?”
“ICHIGO! THAT’S NO WAY TO SPEAK TO DADDY! YOU’RE SO MEAN!”
Ichigo pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. Why did his father have to have the worst timing ever? “Dad, I’m a little busy right now. What the ******** do you want? And if you’re asking if I’m coming over next weekend for dinner, the answer is still no. I told you I had something to do.” Why could his father not just take a hint and shut up? When he received quiet for a moment, he almost thought he’d won. Ichigo put the phone back to his ear.
“That’s actually not what I called about. I WAS calling to tell you that a certain uncle of yours will be flying in tomorrow afternoon from America and this Friday, we’re inviting he and Yoruichi over for dinner. Buuuut, if you don’t want to coooome.”
Ichigo perked up, his attention caught now. Only one of his family members was in America at the moment, and that was the one person he desperately wanted to see again. “Uncle Kisuke’s coming back from America?”
“Yep! And, he said he needed to talk to you about important things. He’s learned some new information.” Ichigo held up his hand over the receiver again and softly spoke to the teal haired man again. “Sorry, I actually need to talk to him for a minute or two. I’ll be right back.” As he received a light nod, he got up and gravitated towards the front area and stood in the little waiting room area, sitting on the bench and speaking in hushed tones. “New information?”
“Yes. Aizen’s making his next moves. He’s getting more and more serious.”
“I’m well aware of that.” He pinched the bridge of his nose again. “You remember Nel, don’t you? He’s going after her brother now. He’s getting more and more ballsy and confident as time passes. The most annoying thing is that we can’t do a ******** thing about it. And he still doesn’t know what happened to him or about the night he died.”
A click of the tongue was heard on the other end of the line, a grave silence hanging in the air for a moment. “That hasn’t happened before to anyone except you. Could it be possible...?”
“It might be. He might be like me, a perfect balance.” Ichigo frowned lightly. “I hope to everything that he isn’t. This is going to be a lot more complicated than it already is if he ends up being that way. I know he’s transformed, but I don’t think he remembers the transformation, or he’ll think it’s a dream, like I did.” He sighed, running a hand through his hair, a worried frown on his face. “I’m worried, Dad.”
“Everyone is getting antsy, even Yoruichi. She’s getting more jittery than ever now. She knows something big is about to go down. Promise me you and the others will be careful.”
“We will, Dad. You don’t have to worry.”
Silence passed through on the other end. “So, what’s his new name? Neliel’s brother, I mean.”
“Pantera.” Ichigo smiled lightly. “His actual name is Grimmjow. Grimmjow Jeaggerjacques. And it’s a miracle, I found someone with an even more absurd hair color than me, Szayel, and Nel. His hair is teal blue.”
“Teal blue? Is it natural?”
“Not sure yet. He says it is. He’s pretty honest for the most part, but I’m still a little skeptical.” There was a slight hum to his voice as he spoke, a certain degree of happiness that hadn’t been present there in a very long time. It had been a long time since he had been this happy. It felt... almost nice.
“It’s been a while since I’ve heard that kind of voice. Ohhh, am I detecting a certain sense of attraction? Has my son found someone for a prospective partner?”
“THAT IS NOT IT. WHY DOES EVERYONE KEEP ASKING THAT?!” He was talking in a high pitched, anger whisper. Really, he had to go and completely ruined the mood. Now Ichigo was irritated. “My god. Can no one butt out of my love life?”
“You don’t have a love life, Ichi-nii.”
Ichigo pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it incredulously before putting it back to his ear. That was Karin just now. What the hell was she doing with Dad instead of being at school? “Karin?! What the hell? Why aren’t you in school!?!”
“College day. Got done early. Like I said, your love life is non existent. That’s why everyone says you’re asexual.” He could hear the deadpan tone in her voice.
Ichigo almost screamed in frustration. That did it. He was completely through will this bullshit. “You know what? ******** you all. I’m going back to my lunch break. Goodbye.” He pulled his phone away and made to shut it before Isshin’s loud calls on the other end halted him and he placed the phone back to his ear, barking out an irritated, “What?!”
“Are you coming Friday night for dinner?”
Ichigo rolled his eyes skyward, figuring he’d cave into the demands just this once. “Yes, I’ll come. Am I meant to invite someone to come with me?” That was normally the case with their large household dinners. Everyone was meant to invite someone. Normally, they have a houseful with everyone gathered in one place. He invited Szayel and the others over every once and a while to discuss issues with their world and whatnot.
It was Karin’s turn to chime in with her subtle jabbing. “Why not bring your new love interest?”
Ichigo grit his teeth, grinding them tightly. “********.”
“ICHIGOOOO!”
Ichigo flipped his phone shut, effectively ending the call. ******** god, WHY did he have to be related to a whole lot of IDIOTS?! This took ridiculousness to a whole new level of absurdity. He collapsed back in the bench and let out an aggravated breath. ‘I sometimes wish I could just bash my friends upside the head with hammers to get them to butt the ******** out.’
‘I can always arrange tha’ fer ya’, Kingy~!’
‘No, Shiro. Go away.’
‘Tch. Spoil sport!’
---
Grimmjow smirked in amusement as Ichigo’s back as he quickly headed off to the waiting area. The orange haired male was just too much. He was growing more and more smitten as time passed. That firey attitude and those smoldering sepia eyes set him on fire like no person ever had done before. He was just too much fun to tease, to be honest. He had more fun setting Ichigo off than anything else. He was so cute when he was mad.
Two drinks were set down on the table and Grimmjow looked up as he snapped out of his reverie. Orihime wasn’t standing there, though. A young woman stood there who couldn’t have been taller than five feet tall. She was tiny, and had a small frame. Her black hair was clipped up in the back like Orihime’s, bangs framing her heart shaped face. Her large violet eyes twinkled with a mischievous fire like Orihime’s held earlier. She smiled brightly, a smile that promised something bad.
“Sorry I’m not your other waitress. She was busy in the back so I took the liberty of taking out your drinks.” She curtsied politely, smile still set on her face. Grimmjow couldn’t help but think she looked oddly familiar. She tipped her head to the side, studying Grimmjow for a moment with a curious gaze. “Have we met? You look rather... familiar...”
Grimmjow tipped his head to the side in a similar fashion. Why did this girl look so familiar? He couldn’t put the name to the face and it was bothering him. He KNEW her from somewhere before. “Same to you. I don’t believe we’ve ever met here. I never see you working here at this time of the day. Normally it’s ‘Hime, Shinji, and Kensei I see bustling around. Filling in for someone?”
The raven haired girl nodded with a light smile. “Shinji’s out today, something along the lines of ‘I can literally not get out of my bed because if I move, I puke.’ Besides, I have no classes today, so I was free to work a few extra hours.” She shrugged lightly and nonchalantly before sticking out her hand, puffing up her chest. “I’m Rukia.”
That name struck a chord somewhere in him, but he still couldn’t figure out where he knew her from. He reached out with his own hand, a smirk on his face. “Grimmjow. Pleasure t’ meet’cha.” He grinned wolfishly with a cockiness he hadn’t felt in a long time.
Rukia lifted an eyebrow. “So, where’s your date?”
“Taking a phone call.” Grimmjow snorted lightly to himself. “My phone's gone off a few times now, but I keep ignoring it. My friends are assholes who like to interrupt, so I'm not giving them the satisfaction of knowing where I am. We're both victims of nosy as hell friends.” Grimmjow clicked his tongue in annoyance.
Rukia grinned lightly. “I have that nosy trait too a lot of the time. I use it on my brother though when he goes on dates with my best friend. When being used to my callous, hardly showing emotion side of my brother, it’s hard to get used to he side he only shows to his boyfriend.” She snorted lightly to herself, before looking off towards the door to the kitchen as it was motioned for her to hurry back there. “Oh, sorry, I’m needed. It was nice talking to you~!” With that, she disappeared.
Ichigo returned to the booth moments later, plopping down with a sigh. “Sorry about that. My father is an idiot.” He rested his chin on his hand, a peeved expression crossing him lips at the mention of his father. “So, where were we?”
Grimmjow grinned lightly. He opened his mouth to comment before he could feel his phone vibrating in his pocket. He took it out of his pocket, opened it and flipped it shut once again. “It seems no one’s giving up on finding us. Szayel’s called me five times already and Nnoi’s trying to get me now. Too bad it ain’t gonna work.” He refused to answer and give his friends the satisfaction of his attention on them. He knew they were just doing this to be assholes. He glared down at the phone as it began vibrating yet again.
“Why not answer it and tell them to ******** off?” Ichigo raised an eyebrow.
“Because that’ll give them satisfaction knowing I caved. And I ain’t gonna.” After about the fourth time it went off, Grimmjow flipped open the phone as an unknown number flashed across the screen. He barked off a rude “What?” into the phone.
Deep laughter was heard on the other end of the phone. “Oh come on, is that any way to greet your friends? Speaking of, Szay and Nnoi are about to murder you for not answering your phone.”
Grimmjow took his phone away from his ear and stared at it, scowling deeply. That was Renji. How in the hell...? He pressed a button and put the call on speaker phone. “Abarai, how in the ******** did you get my number?”
“From Szayel, essentially.” There was a sheepish tint to his voice as he spoke.
“I hope you realize we are ignoring you shitheads for a REASON, right?”
“Oh, you can’t ignore us if we find you.” Grimmjow could just see the grin stretching across his face at this. That didn’t sound too terribly comforting. “Oh, the others say hi, by the way.”
“HIIII GRIMM-KITTY~!”
“NEL.”
“I KNOW. Don’t scream into the phone.” Then why do you continue to yell into the phone every time I talk to you? “Anyways, Grimm-kitty, finding you is NOT difficult. Your choice for eating place is predictable.”
Grimmjow glared hatefully down at the phone. His sister could be such a b***h sometimes. He wondered why he hadn’t just slapped her upside the head. Thus was the reason he was gay in the first place. “******** you!”
“If you’re so sure where WE are then where are you idiots?” Ichigo raised an eyebrow as he look down at the phone Grimmjow was holding out between them. “If you had intentions of following us, which of course you have, where in the world are you?” It was a good point, where were they? Both Ichigo and Grimmjow jumped in pure surprise as two plates were set in front of them. Ichigo looked up to thank Orihime, only realizing it wasn’t Orihime standing there. He gaped and stood up quickly, pointing at the raven haired waitress from before. “Rukia, when the ******** did you get here?!” He paled in realization. “You b***h.”
The raven haired girl smiled innocently, fluttering her eyelashes. “Why Ichigo, I have no idea what on earth you are insinuating I’ve done.” So that’s why she took out our drinks when Ichigo was one the phone, Grimmjow mused. She didn’t want him to see her and the plan to get thrown off. What a conniving little twit.
The orange haired man’s teeth grit together. “You ******** b***h. You HELPED them!”
Orihime giggled as she stopped at the table right next to the two males’ booth, smiling broadly. She was carrying a full tray of food, which partially sent up a red flag in Grimmjow’s mind as there wasn’t anyone sitting on this side of the café. Why the hell was she carrying such a large tray of food? “It wasn’t JUST Rukia in on it~! They needed my help too~!”
Grimmjow gaped in her direction this time. So she was in on this s**t too? You sly, traitorous b***h. “Traitorous b***h.” A bright smile was his response. Cheeky little s**t, wasn’t she? He was half surprised, half not surprised at these revelations. It all made sense now that he thought about it. She HAD been teasing Ichigo earlier. “Why are you helping them?” That’s a good question.
“Because they’re on our side.” Said phrase rang out from both the phone and behind Ichigo. Grimmjow glared hatefully at Szayel and Nnoitra as they grinned and waved nonchalantly at him. Cheeky little shitheads. They PLANNED this s**t, didn’t they? No wonder they didn’t pester him where he was going for his date today. Nel probably called them earlier and told them. He made a mental note to strangle the s**t out of his sister later as he shut his phone.
Ichigo turned and glared hard at Renji and Uryu as they joined the group. “Both of you can go burn in HELL.” Grimmjow almost snorted at this, not being able to deny he was thinking the same thing about his own group of friends. Why the hell did they both have to be friends with nosy assholes that couldn’t keep their noses out of everyone’s lives?
Uryu held up his hands in front of himself. “I had no intention of partaking in this, as I could hardly care less. I got dragged along for the ride. So, do not point any fingers at me. I had NOTHING to do with this.”
Renji stared over at him in annoyance. “Liar. You did so, you b*****d. You came here just as willingly as the rest of us, so quit lying outta’ your a**.”
Uryu scowled over at the red haired police officer, showing his own displeasure at the comment. Szayel took the time to step in with a bright grin. “We all deemed it necessary to crash the first date, so don’t be so glum. We’ll try not to be SO terrible.”
Grimmjow glared over at the brunette in annoyance. Yeah, not terrible my a**, Szayel. Both of his friends could be a real pain in the a**. They had the tendency to be assholes and they loved making him squirm. However, if they pulled old stories, he could always bring up their own stupid moments in the office. Like Halloween, when Szayel was convinced to dye his hair pink, or Nnoitra thinking he could staple his tongue. “One ******** word comes out of EITHER o’ yer mouths about me, and you WILL regret it.”
Nnoitra grinned broadly back at him in amusement. “Don’t worry, we’ll keep your stupid moments to ourselves. We promise.”
Grimmjow rolled his eyes in response. “That is the biggest load of s**t I’ve ever heard.” He hissed out sharply as someone latched onto him from behind, hugging him tightly with a death grip. He knew that iron grip from anywhere. He especially knew that set of breasts pressed against the back of his skull, he dully noted in annoyance. At least this solved the question of where his sister was. “NEL. GET OFF!”
The green haired girl in question retracted her arms, pinching one of his cheeks to further irritate him. “Don’t be so grouchy, little brother. We’re here to liven the mood~!” She was grinning brightly at him, not seeing anything wrong with what they were doing. Stupid b***h. Grimmjow often wondered how they never killed each other as children.
“Yeah, lighten the mood my a**. You’re here to annoy the s**t out of us.” He glared up at his sister as he only received a bright grin from her in response. When he got home later, she was going to die a slow and painful death. “Why can’t you assholes let us eat in peace?” Another very good question, one I’ve been wondering for a while now, dammit.
Nnoitra snorted lightly in response to that. “Because we’re YOUR friends. Duh.” As if it were the most simple thing ever. Grimmjow could feel the annoyance surging rapidly through his veins, becoming more prominent by the second. He was going to strangle the lanky man, he swore. His eyes narrowed in annoyance minutely over at Nnoitra.
Grimmjow’s eyes directed themselves across the table at Ichigo, who turned and met his eyes at the exact same time. Both had similar thoughts at the same time, showing through their eyes and sending each other a silent communication. Let’s eat quick and get the ******** out of here. As the others sat down at the table next to them, in which Grimmjow groaned lightly upon realizing they would be sitting right next to both he and Ichigo, the other two began to eat as quickly as possible without choking. Who knew how long it would be before they started telling stories of either of them.
