Bleach Fic: Storm Front - Part VI + Epilogue
Title: Storm Front - Part VI + Epilogue
Author: aviss
Pairing: Grimmjow/Ichigo
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Action, Adventure
Warning: Violence
Disclaimer: Bleach and its characters belong to Kubo Tite, as everyone already knows.
Summary: While investigating the disappearance of a group of shinigami Ichigo discovers not everything they told him about the end of the war is true.
Word Count: ~5.200 this part. ~17.200 total
A/N: And this thing is, finally, complete.
Prologue - A Storm is Brewing
Part I - The Calm Before the Storm
Part II - Storm Clouds
Part III - Thunderstom
Part IV - The Eye of the Storm
Part V - Wheathering the Storm
Part VI - Shoring up the Debris
Ichigo stares at the hollow with narrowed eyes, the bile rising to his throat at the words. You've already killed everyone you wanted to protect.
"You're lying," Ichigo snaps, clenching his jaw so tightly he fears his teeth might break from the pressure.
Am I?
"Yes, I know you're lying," he says before attacking fiercely, his first hit forcing the hollow to retreat hastily, trying to block the powerful blow and groaning at the effort, his amused smirk vanishing.
He doesn't believe, he can't believe in the hollow's words.
They are not dead, not yet.
And he has no more time to waste.
…
"Shirei, Senbonzakura!"
Grimmjow opens his eyes at the strange voice, seeing only a mass of pink sakura petals swirling around, severing the arm still skewering him and surrounding the hollow, the beast's roar of pain and anger almost deafening. He's far too tired to feel surprise or even relief--the shinigami's intervention might have saved Renji but there isn't much they can do for him anymore, not with the damage he's already taken.
Besides, he's learned to be wary of anything the shinigami might do for him.
"Taichou!" Renji's shocked exclamation reaches him, and he sounds as exhausted as Grimmjow feels and sounds far, far away.
"Don't move Renji," the first voice replies calmly. "Let Unohana-taichou take care of you."
"Ichigo--"
"We have him Renji," a girl's voice says, dredging up a face from Grimmjow's memory. The shinigami bitch, the one always shadowing Kurosaki.
Numbly, he feels his body falling now the only thing holding him upright has been removed.
"Get Grimmjow away from him!" he hears the girl saying and he notices, amused, that he's closed his eyes again and doesn’t even know when. He distantly feels cold hands on his shoulders, helping him up and moving him to another location.
He tries to struggle away from the hands, he doesn't want or need help from those shinigami; he'd rather take his chances with the hollow than being indebted to the fuckers. He's too weak, though, the blood flowing from his torn abdomen and so many other smaller injuries pooling under him. So much blood--it's a miracle he has not dissolved into ashes yet.
"Sennen Hyorou!" A gruff voice says somewhere next to Grimmjow, and he shivers slightly noticing for the first time the drop in temperature. Or maybe it's the blood loss.
"Hitsugaya-taichou, Ichigo--" the girl sounds alarmed.
"He's contained," the grumpy one says, and his voice sounds further away. "That will give us time to--Unohana-taichou!" he suddenly shouts urgently, and Grimmjow can feel small and cold hands on his chest, pushing him down gently. "We're losing the Espada!"
There are other hands on his body now and he can hear a loud cracking sound, almost like ice breaking and crumbling to the ground, the hollow's voice echoing loudly around them.
"You need to cut the horn, nii-sama!" the girl says and she sounds closer than before, almost as if she was on top of Grimmjow. He struggles to open his eyes again, wanting to know what's happening to Kurosaki's hollow, but they weight too much and he's already too exhausted. "Unohana-taichou, is he going to live?"
Of course he's going to live! Kurosaki wouldn't die if you killed him, believe me, I've tried. Grimmjow wants to say when another feminine voice responds, this one so close it has to belong to the one touching Grimmjow.
"I think so, Kuchiki-san, the Espada is strong and though my healing skills are mainly for shinigami, I can at least do that much," the other woman sounds calm and confident, and it takes Grimmjow an instant to realize they are talking about him.
He begins to struggle again, fighting to get away from the hands healing him. He has no problem with dying, but going back inside that fucking cell is out of the question, and the only reason a shinigami, a Taichou at that, might want to keep him alive is to send him back there and continue the freak's experiments.
"Hitsugaya-taichou," the woman says, her hands exerting more pressure on Grimmjow's body now he's trying to move, "can you please keep him still?"
The small, cold hands are back on his shoulders, holding him down against the hard rock, the strength returning slowly to him. Grimmjow's eyes snap open, staring unfocused at the blue sky over the training grounds and then fixing on the faces around him.
There are two of them, a scowling kid and a woman. She looks old and calm, but exudes an aura of contained power Grimmjow can almost taste. The kid is staring at him with cold eyes, his lips pressed in a disapproving line.
"Stay still," he grounds through clenched teeth, his eyes darting to where the hollow is before focusing again on Grimmjow, "He's not going to be happy when he comes back to himself if you damage yourself further."
Grimmjow glares at the kid, buckling and snarling, and hating that he can't get away from a woman and a boy. Fucking masked freak did a number on him.
"Hitsugaya-taichou," Renji's face appears in Grimmjow's field of vision, still too pale and visibly weary, but at least standing on his own. "Go help Kuchiki-taichou, I'll stay with Grimmjow."
The hands holding him disappear only to be replaced by Renji's larger ones. "We're trying to help, you fucking stubborn bastard, let us!"
There's no way he will, not even after having fought the masked freak with this particular shinigami. "Fuck you!" he snarls, pushing himself up with all the strength he can muster and succeeding in throwing Renji off. He can remember the shinigami was in worse condition than him before the fight, and he hasn't had the time to be properly healed.
He tries to use that to his advantage.
"Abarai-san," the woman says, her voice low and controlled, "you are in no condition for this; if he doesn’t calm down I'm going to be forced to render him immobile."
Grimmjow feels a stab of panic at those words, remembering how it felt to be under Kurotsuchi's control. He redoubles his efforts, Renji pushing him down with all his might, the strain plain in his face.
"Let me go you fucker!" Grimmjow snaps before completely throwing the shinigami off him and awkwardly climbing to his feet. He turns to the woman, who is regarding him calmly, as if Grimmjow is no threat to her.
He's about to attack when he feels something crackling around him, a strong energy burrowing under his skin and forcing him to stay still. "I don't want to do this, but you don't let me other choice," she says and the next Grimmjow knows darkness is rushing to meet him.
…
The hollow has been silent for the past minutes, just dodging and blocking Ichigo's attacks, his taunts and cocky smirk a thing of the past. Ichigo is pushing him to his limit; his desperation at being forced to fight this bastard while not knowing what kind of damage he's inflicting outside giving him a strength he didn't know he had.
Still, it might not be enough.
You can't win, King, the hollow says seriously.
"I won't lose," Ichigo counters hotly, releasing a Getsuga Tenshou without even thinking.
No, you won't lose. But you can't win, and until you realize this we'll keep meeting here and fighting, the hollow counters the blast of energy with one of his own.
"What do I have to do to kill you?" Ichigo mutters under his breath, dodging an attack by a hair's breadth.
The hollow laughs, amused. You can't. I'm you. He stops and looks up, his smirk disappearing. Time's up, you got lucky again. Next time your friends might not be there to stop me, and then I'll have you.
…
The first thing Ichigo sees when he opens his eyes again is Rukia's worried face looking down on him. He groans, feeling pain in so many places his entire body is a dull ache.
"Welcome back," she says softly, concern and elation plainly written on her features. "Don't move, Unohana-taichou is patching you up,"
"What--" he tries to say, his parched throat rendering the words unintelligible. He swallows dryly and tries again, feeling more people at the edge of his vision but unable to focus on them. "What happened?"
"You don't know."
It's not really a question, Rukia is aware he isn't conscious when the hollow takes over. "Kurotsuchi?" The last he can remember is fighting the freak, and then--then he was inside himself fighting with the other freak. He groans.
"Dead," Renji's voice answers somewhere behind Ichigo and he turns his head, wincing at the pain and dizziness the motion provokes. "Woah, easy there Ichigo!" He feels Renji's hand on his shoulder and feels slightly better for the contact, reassurance that his friend is there and in one piece.
"You--"
Everything is still fuzzy and unclear, the sequence of events not making sense in his mind, but he can see Renji was hurt. He has the nasty feeling he is the one responsible, and the blank he's drawing from his memory doesn’t help at all.
"I'm fine," Renji repeats slowly, almost as if he's reading Ichigo's mind. "Unohana-taichou healed the worst injuries, and it was Kurotsuchi, thank fuck the bastard is dead!" Ichigo lets a relieved sigh escape his lips. He feared the worst, the image of Zangetsu piercing Ishida's body still giving him nightmares; he doesn’t need more of those. "Grimmjow's worse off than I am, and the fucking asshole refuses to be healed."
Grimmjow! Just that name is enough to clear Ichigo's head, the rest of his memories falling to their rightful place. "Where?" Ichigo asks sitting up with an effort and ignoring the hands trying to pin him down again and Unohana's disapproving stare.
"I had to restrain him so he stopped fighting me," Unohana says in her calm and collected manner, though Ichigo can feel a slight annoyance in her voice. "Do I need to do the same to you, Kurosaki-san?"
He shakes his head and lets Unohana finish her work, Renji filling him on the details of what happened while he was out of it.
"I killed him then," he says, not feeling the guilt he was expecting at the idea of taking a life. Bastard deserved it.
"Yes."
"There's going to be hell to pay now," if he knows Soul Society the way he does, Yamamoto will not let the murder of one of his Taichous go unpunished.
"You don't need to worry about that, Kurosaki-san," Unohana says, and if she is not concerned then he shouldn't be either. "We have more than enough proof of Kurotshuchi's activities, and you'll have three Taichou's testimonies to vouch for you."
He nods, grateful to have their support. He turns to look at Grimmjow again, still unconscious on the ground. "What did Kurotshuchi do to him to leave him in that state?" he wonders out loud. When he saw Grimmjow before he looked mostly normal, if one didn't take into account the reiatsu block.
Ichigo sees the look that passes between Renji and Unohana and feels his heart clench. "What did I do to him?" he asks staring at Renji.
"You don't wanna know."
So it was bad.
"What did I do?" he repeats slowly, glaring at his friend.
"When we arrived," Byakuya's cold voice answers him from his other side and Ichigo turns is head to look at him, surprised at the anger and resentment he can see there. "You had punched a hole through his stomach and were about to blow Renji into the next world. With this, consider my debt to you settled in full. Next time you lose control like that, I will personally put you down."
Ichigo nods, acknowledging the warning for what it is, and with a last cold glare Byakuya leaves.
"Don't take it to heart, Ichigo," Rukia says appearing where her brother used to be. "He's worried about Renji and he was worried about you."
"He's right," Ichigo says, the words Byakuya said sinking fully in. He can't lose control again. "I'm a menace."
"Don't be an idiot! Kurotshuchi was the menace!" Renji snaps, dragging Ichigo's attention back to him. "You didn't lose control, he fucking ripped it away from you; you won't lose it again so there is nothing to fear."
He doesn’t feel any better for that, but he nods anyway, his hollow's parting words resonating in his head. If he doesn't want to be put in that situation again he needs to improve, work on getting stronger without relying in his hollow's power so much.
But before-- "I'm going to get rid of all the evidence of Kurotshuchi's research, make sure the labs are empty."
"What will you do with them?" Unohana asks looking at Grimmjow, and Ichigo notices for the first time Nell and Peshe are with him. "There is nothing I can do for the injured one, what Kurotshuchi-taichou did to him I can't repair."
Ichigo takes a breath, "There were no survivors of his research," he says and Unohana nods.
"You are healed now, Kurosaki-san," she says standing up and moving to where Hitsugaya is, talking to him for a second in low tones. Ichigo sees Hitsugaya nodding and looking briefly at him. "We're taking our leave now; call us when the time comes for you to present your case."
"Thank you," Ichigo says standing up. "Rukia, Renji, take Nell and Peshe outside and wait for Grimmjow there, he'll join you shortly. Take them to Earth so they can go back to Hueco Mundo."
She looks dubiously at him, "Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"What are you going to do?" She asks, scooping Nell into her arms while Renji picks up Peshe.
"I'm going to destroy the lab and then I'll go explain everything to Yamamoto."
"But--" Renji tries to protest, Ichigo can tell he wants to stay and help him.
"You don't need to get more involved than you already are. I'll be fine."
He turns his back to his friends to avoid more protests and goes to the hidden door.
He has a job to do, and after that he'll wake Grimmjow up and get the bastard to leave, which he knows won't be easy.
It's better that way.
…
Kurosaki Ichigo is looking down at him when Grimmjow finally opens his eyes. The first thing he notices is that nothing hurts anymore, that old bitch must have completely healed him. On its own accord, Grimmjow's hand moves to the nape of his neck, feeling the skin there and almost letting out a relieved sigh feeling nothing.
For a minute there he feared a new mark was replacing the old one.
"You're free to go now, Grimmjow," Kurosaki says noticing his gesture and Grimmjow glares hotly at him. He doesn’t need this poor excuse of a shinigami to tell him what to do.
"As if you could keep me here," he retorts, standing up and looking around.
They're still in that strange, barren place. The damage done by their fight is plain to see, the door through which Kurosaki and the other shinigami appeared before completely collapsed. The rest of the shinigami are gone, even Nell and that other arrancar have disappeared.
Kurosaki is staring at him with a curiously intent expression, his eyes moving from Grimmjow's face to his torso, something like guilt flashing in them. Grimmjow can tell what's coming and he has to fight the urge of rolling his eyes.
"I'm sorry," Kurosaki says and Grimmjow scowls.
"Fuck you!"
"I'm sorry I took this long to realize what was going on," Kurosaki continues as if he hasn't heard Grimmjow. "And I'm sorry I almost killed you. I lost it--"
Grimmjow can't stand it; this is not something he has ever wanted from Kurosaki Ichigo. He's always wanted the fire and the hate, the power the shinigami oozes so easily, the insanity and anger he can feel crawling under his skin, barely leashed and ready to lash out at anything and everything. He feels his blood boiling and takes a step forward.
"Fuck you Kurosaki!" he snarls in his face, "I didn't need your help, I would have--"
"You would have ended like Peshe!" Kurosaki snaps back, the contrite expression leaving his face, replaced with an angry scowl of his own. That expression suits him better.
Grimmjow smirks.
"You're the one who almost ended like Peshe, you moron," he says annoyed. He knows that wouldn't have been possible, not with that monstrous power inside, but he's not going to tell that. "I was the bait, and you took it, you fucking idiot!"
"What did you expect me to do, leave you here at Kurotshuchi's tender mercy?" Kurosaki glares at him, taking a step forward until they are face to face, scant inches separating them. That close Grimmjow can see the fire in his eyes and a small vein twitching in his jaw, where he is clearly grinding his teeth.
Kurosaki was worried about him; the irony of the situation doesn’t escape Grimmjow. He thinks back at the moment the freak told him what his real objective was and what he felt at the moment. Yes, he can understand Kurosaki perfectly.
Not that he has any intention of telling him so.
"So now what? Have I changed one shinigami jailer for another?" Grimmjow asks, not overly concerned. Without that fucking mark on his neck there is no way another shinigami will ever be able to control him. If they want to keep him in Soul Society they better intend to keep his corpse; there's no way he lets them do that to him again.
"No," Kurosaki says, not moving away from Grimmjow. "You leave now, Rukia will escort you to Karakura and you can go back to Hueco Mundo from there. Take Nell and Peshe with you, I've destroyed the lab and all the records of Kurotshuchi's investigation, so nobody is tempted to carry it on. From this moment on you're dead as far as Soul Society is concerned."
Grimmjow feels his brows crawling up his forehead. "What about those other shinigami?"
Kurosaki shrugs, "They're friends, they'll keep silent."
Grimmjow snorts a laugh, "You trust people too much, Shinigami," he says taking a step forward and grabbing Kurosaki's arms, their bodies flush against each other, their faces almost touching. "I could kill you now, we're alone here; I could kill you and disappear before your friends even notice I'm gone." He can feel the shiver coursing through Kurosaki's body, but there is no fear in his expression.
"You won't," Kurosaki says, his voice low and a bit breathless. Grimmjow feels the heat radiating from the other body, a similar one igniting in his, and he wants--he takes a step backwards, letting go of Kurosaki.
"This time," he hears himself saying, and Kurosaki is looking at him with an oddly disappointed expression. "But your luck won't hold forever. One day you'll look back and I'll be there, and then I'll kill you for sure."
He turns to leave, feeling Kurosaki's eyes digging on the back of his head. The sooner he is as far away from Soul Society as he can get the better. He doesn’t need nor want the strange feelings Kurosaki's proximity is causing.
He hears Kurosaki's voice in the distance, and he can't help the shiver of excitement at his words.
"I'm counting on that, Grimmjow."
…
Epilogue - The Calm after the Storm
Ichigo sighs and relaxes back into the healing hot spring, enjoying the feeling of the hot water lapping at his body and healing the numerous scratches and minor injuries he has sustained during the training. Next to him Renji groans in pleasure, his own injuries also being healed.
"So, Rukia and Urahara. I didn't see that one coming," Ichigo says after a while, breaking the comfortable silence. He still hasn't recovered from the shock of seeing his friend with that lecherous bastard, but she seems to be happy and that's all that matters to him.
Renji huffs a laugh, "Tell me about it, Byakuya's been bitching since he found out about it," he says, the amusement clear in his voice. "I've never seen the uptight bastard using that kind of vocabulary, you'd be surprised at how inventive his language can get."
Ichigo smirks and looks at Renji out of the corner of his eye. Renji is flushed by the exercise and the heat of the waters, eyes closed and head thrown back. From there Ichigo can clearly see several marks on his body, previously hidden by his clothes.
"I can imagine he's also as inventive in the bedroom," he comments casually, keeping an eye in Renji's reaction.
"Not that much, he's--" Renji's voice is cut short with a curse when he realizes exactly what he's admitting to, and he turns to glare at Ichigo, who's smirking smugly at him. "Smartass."
"Told you he wasn't as straight as you though," he says before closing his eyes again, and he can hear Renji spluttering indignantly.
He's glad at least something good came out of everything that happened; Byakuya's timely rescue, and the way he refused to let Renji out of his sight even for an instant during the following investigation and interrogation were more than enough for even Renji to notice.
Ichigo doesn't like thinking about those days, and how they needed to fight Soul Society's bureaucracy to prove what they did was right. He knows they wouldn't have managed without Byakuya's and Hitsugaya's support, and without Unohana's horrified accounting of the various experiments the fucking Kurotsuchi had done.
He knows now he took the right decision making Grimmjow leave. As long as Soul Society at large considers him dead they won't go after him.
He remembers their last conversation, the moment Grimmjow grabbed him and how much Ichigo wanted something--anything--to happen, only for Grimmjow to leave immediately afterwards, his parting words sounding more like a promise than a threat.
A promise he has failed to keep. In the month since his return from Soul Society, Ichigo has not so much as felt his presence close. He can't blame him: Grimmjow was not his friend and if he's smart he'll keep as far away from Ichigo as possible. Especially after he almost killed him.
"And Grimmjow wasn't as dead as you thought," Renji says taking Ichigo out of his musings, "so what's your excuse now?"
It's Ichigo's turn to glare, "There is nothing--"
"Bullshit!" Renji cuts him, his voice dripping annoyance, "You killed a Taichou and faced Yamamoto's wrath for him, don't tell me there is nothing there!"
Ichigo blushes slightly but narrows his eyes at his friend. "I would have done the same for Nell or any of the others."
"I know, but you did it for Grimmjow. And Kurotshuchi used him because he knew it was the best way to ensure you'd follow him." Renji rolls his eyes, exasperated. "Look Ichigo, I know you're dense, but you can't have failed to notice your own feelings here."
"Pot, kettle," Ichigo mutters under his breath, but Renji ignores him.
"God knows why, but you like the fucking menace. Now stop moping and do something about it!" Renji stands up from the healing spring, shaking himself like a dog and spraying drops of warm water everywhere. "Go find him; I have to go back to Seiretei. I expect to see some marks on you for next week's sparring session!"
Ichigo glares at his friends retreating back and closes his eyes again, thinking about what Renji has said.
…
He can't believe he's doing that.
Ichigo steps out of the Garganta and looks around, finding the remains of Las Noches and moving that way. It was embarrassing enough to ask Urahara to open the gate for him, and the knowing smile of the bastard's face was almost enough to make him reconsider what he's doing.
But there he is, and there is a big chance he'll regret it sooner than he thought.
"So you bastards decided to kill me after all," Grimmjow's voice greets him the moment he sets foot in the derelict building. Ichigo turns in the direction of the voice, Grimmjow is looking at him from the top of a fallen wall, his eyes intent on Ichigo's face.
"No, I'm not here for that," he says and sees how Grimmjow's brows arch up, surprise and amusement clear in his face even at a distance. Grimmjow jumps down to stand in front of Ichigo, still regarding him with that strange expression.
"What are you here for, then?"
It's now or never. Ichigo has made the trip to the wasteland that is Hueco Mundo for this, he's not about to turn tail and leave without at least getting an answer. It's taken him almost a week after his conversation with Renji to admit that yes, insane as it is, he wants Grimmjow. Since the beginning there has been something about the Espada which called Ichigo to him, and the same has to be certain for Grimmjow if what he thinks it's true. He's going to find out, now.
He takes a step forward, his eyes never leaving Grimmjow's.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Grimmjow mutters under his breath at Ichigo's approach, and he freezes at the incredulity in the voice, his blood going cold.
Here is his answer. He knew it was a bad idea.
"You're right," Ichigo says taking a step back, his face flaming. "I've gotta be fucking kidding myself."
Before he can retreat further, though, there is a hand gripping his shikahushou and holding him in place, Grimmjow's disbelieving expression changing to a feral smirk.
"Who says you can leave, Kurosaki?" Grimmjow says arrogantly and Ichigo narrows his eyes. "You're already here, so we--"
"I'm not interested in a fight, Grimmjow," Ichigo interrupts him, though if the bastard doesn't let go of him he might begin to reconsider it.
"Who said anything about fighting?" And before he can move Grimmjow drags his body forward, pushing him against his body and leaning forward.
Oh, Ichigo thinks right before Grimmjow claims his mouth, his lips parting immediately to allow the invading tongue in, sucking greedily at it while his hands move to entangle in Grimmjow's hair, deepening the kiss.
"You're insane, Shinigami," Grimmjow says against his mouth, breaking the kiss to nip at his jaw line, his hands intent in divesting Ichigo of his clothes. "Substitute or not you should be trying to kill me, not to get into my pants."
Ichigo knows Grimmjow is right, but he doesn't care. Not with the way Grimmjow's hands are exploring his chest, or the way his mouth is moving to suck and bite the skin on his throat. Ichigo moans when Grimmjow pinches a nipple, his knees buckling, and the next he knows he's sprawled on the sand, Grimmjow's body on top of his.
They get rid of the rest of their clothes in no time, Ichigo claiming Grimmjow's mouth immediately as he settles between his parted legs, the friction of skin against skin driving Ichigo almost insane with desire. He wants more. He pushes up, grinding his cock against Grimmjow's, his tongue exploring every inch of the other's mouth. He doesn’t care that they are in the middle of Hueco Mundo, where any remaining hollow might happen on them, or that the sand is scraping against his bare back. He just wants to come.
"I want to fuck you, Kurosaki," Grimmjow growls against his lips and Ichigo can't help the moan that falls from his.
"Yes," he hisses, tilting his hips up to get more of that wonderful friction. He moans at the loss of contact when Grimmjow moves away from his body, and is about to protest at the hands on his shoulders, roughly turning him around, but he gets the hint when Grimmjow's fingers push past his lips. He licks them slowly, feeling the minute shakes coursing Grimmjow's body and the heat of his erection against his back. With a smirk, Ichigo nips at the tip of the fingers, twirling his tongue around them and sucking them, his own arousal throbbing impatiently.
He receives a hard bite on the nape of his neck for his efforts. "Hurry the fuck up Kurosaki, or I'll fuck you without preparation," Grimmjow snarls against his neck, his teeth closing again on the sensitive skin there.
Satisfied, Ichigo releases the fingers and spreads his legs wider, relaxing as much as he can when he feels them pushing inside him. It burns, but he forces his body to ignore the discomfort and concentrates on the feelings of Grimmjow's mouth on his spine and his other hand sneaking around his waist to take hold of his cock.
It takes a few minutes for Grimmjow to stop the torture, and by the time the fingers are gone Ichigo is mindless with need. He's not above begging to be fucked, and be fucked now.
"This changes nothing, Shinigami," Grimmjow says positioning himself and pushing inside in one fast, painful thrust. Ichigo tenses, his breath coming out in short pants, and curses under his breath. "I'm still going to kill you."
"I know," he says through clenched teeth, his body almost shaking with the effort to stay still and relax against the intrusion. "Now shut up and fuck me!"
He gets a low chuckle for an answer, and then Grimmjow is moving inside him, pulling away and pushing back in hard and fast, one hand gripping Ichigo's hip almost painfully, the other matching the pace around his cock. Ichigo presses his forearms against the sand to gain leverage and pushes back against Grimmjow, grinding harder against him and then pushing into his fist, the tension coiling tightly in his belly.
Grimmjow's hand releases his hip and grabs his hair, pulling and forcing Ichigo's head to tilt back, his mouth covering Ichigo's in a brutal kiss. With a muffled moan, Ichigo feels his climax crash against him, shuddering and groaning his release against Grimmjow's mouth.
"Fuck yes," Grimmjow mutters against his lips, his thrusts frantic and brutal now. Ichigo can tell he's close, and he pulls Grimmjow's lower lip between his teeth and bites savagely, feeling the body on top of his shaking almost violently before freezing, coming inside of Ichigo.
They collapse on top of the sand, Ichigo's back and ass throbbing almost painfully but he can't get it in himself to regret it. It rankles to admit it, but Renji was right, this was exactly what he needed to do. They stay like that, not saying anything while their breathing evens out and their pounding hearts return to normal.
He doesn’t know what to say now they've fucked, or what's going to happen from now on, but he's too exhausted and too sated to care. Ichigo closes his eyes, enjoying the warmth of the sand at his back and the slight breeze on his naked front.
"Remember Ichigo," Grimmjow says breaking the silence, and he can almost hear a purr in his satisfied voice. "This changes nothing; I'm going to be the one who kills you."
He mutters a vague agreement, letting his consciousness slip into darkness.
It changes everything, and he knows it.
Ichigo.
But if Grimmjow wants to keep believing otherwise, he's not going to be the one to open his eyes.
For now at least.
…
Fin.
Author: aviss
Pairing: Grimmjow/Ichigo
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Action, Adventure
Warning: Violence
Disclaimer: Bleach and its characters belong to Kubo Tite, as everyone already knows.
Summary: While investigating the disappearance of a group of shinigami Ichigo discovers not everything they told him about the end of the war is true.
Word Count: ~5.200 this part. ~17.200 total
A/N: And this thing is, finally, complete.
Prologue - A Storm is Brewing
Part I - The Calm Before the Storm
Part II - Storm Clouds
Part III - Thunderstom
Part IV - The Eye of the Storm
Part V - Wheathering the Storm
Part VI - Shoring up the Debris
Ichigo stares at the hollow with narrowed eyes, the bile rising to his throat at the words. You've already killed everyone you wanted to protect.
"You're lying," Ichigo snaps, clenching his jaw so tightly he fears his teeth might break from the pressure.
Am I?
"Yes, I know you're lying," he says before attacking fiercely, his first hit forcing the hollow to retreat hastily, trying to block the powerful blow and groaning at the effort, his amused smirk vanishing.
He doesn't believe, he can't believe in the hollow's words.
They are not dead, not yet.
And he has no more time to waste.
…
"Shirei, Senbonzakura!"
Grimmjow opens his eyes at the strange voice, seeing only a mass of pink sakura petals swirling around, severing the arm still skewering him and surrounding the hollow, the beast's roar of pain and anger almost deafening. He's far too tired to feel surprise or even relief--the shinigami's intervention might have saved Renji but there isn't much they can do for him anymore, not with the damage he's already taken.
Besides, he's learned to be wary of anything the shinigami might do for him.
"Taichou!" Renji's shocked exclamation reaches him, and he sounds as exhausted as Grimmjow feels and sounds far, far away.
"Don't move Renji," the first voice replies calmly. "Let Unohana-taichou take care of you."
"Ichigo--"
"We have him Renji," a girl's voice says, dredging up a face from Grimmjow's memory. The shinigami bitch, the one always shadowing Kurosaki.
Numbly, he feels his body falling now the only thing holding him upright has been removed.
"Get Grimmjow away from him!" he hears the girl saying and he notices, amused, that he's closed his eyes again and doesn’t even know when. He distantly feels cold hands on his shoulders, helping him up and moving him to another location.
He tries to struggle away from the hands, he doesn't want or need help from those shinigami; he'd rather take his chances with the hollow than being indebted to the fuckers. He's too weak, though, the blood flowing from his torn abdomen and so many other smaller injuries pooling under him. So much blood--it's a miracle he has not dissolved into ashes yet.
"Sennen Hyorou!" A gruff voice says somewhere next to Grimmjow, and he shivers slightly noticing for the first time the drop in temperature. Or maybe it's the blood loss.
"Hitsugaya-taichou, Ichigo--" the girl sounds alarmed.
"He's contained," the grumpy one says, and his voice sounds further away. "That will give us time to--Unohana-taichou!" he suddenly shouts urgently, and Grimmjow can feel small and cold hands on his chest, pushing him down gently. "We're losing the Espada!"
There are other hands on his body now and he can hear a loud cracking sound, almost like ice breaking and crumbling to the ground, the hollow's voice echoing loudly around them.
"You need to cut the horn, nii-sama!" the girl says and she sounds closer than before, almost as if she was on top of Grimmjow. He struggles to open his eyes again, wanting to know what's happening to Kurosaki's hollow, but they weight too much and he's already too exhausted. "Unohana-taichou, is he going to live?"
Of course he's going to live! Kurosaki wouldn't die if you killed him, believe me, I've tried. Grimmjow wants to say when another feminine voice responds, this one so close it has to belong to the one touching Grimmjow.
"I think so, Kuchiki-san, the Espada is strong and though my healing skills are mainly for shinigami, I can at least do that much," the other woman sounds calm and confident, and it takes Grimmjow an instant to realize they are talking about him.
He begins to struggle again, fighting to get away from the hands healing him. He has no problem with dying, but going back inside that fucking cell is out of the question, and the only reason a shinigami, a Taichou at that, might want to keep him alive is to send him back there and continue the freak's experiments.
"Hitsugaya-taichou," the woman says, her hands exerting more pressure on Grimmjow's body now he's trying to move, "can you please keep him still?"
The small, cold hands are back on his shoulders, holding him down against the hard rock, the strength returning slowly to him. Grimmjow's eyes snap open, staring unfocused at the blue sky over the training grounds and then fixing on the faces around him.
There are two of them, a scowling kid and a woman. She looks old and calm, but exudes an aura of contained power Grimmjow can almost taste. The kid is staring at him with cold eyes, his lips pressed in a disapproving line.
"Stay still," he grounds through clenched teeth, his eyes darting to where the hollow is before focusing again on Grimmjow, "He's not going to be happy when he comes back to himself if you damage yourself further."
Grimmjow glares at the kid, buckling and snarling, and hating that he can't get away from a woman and a boy. Fucking masked freak did a number on him.
"Hitsugaya-taichou," Renji's face appears in Grimmjow's field of vision, still too pale and visibly weary, but at least standing on his own. "Go help Kuchiki-taichou, I'll stay with Grimmjow."
The hands holding him disappear only to be replaced by Renji's larger ones. "We're trying to help, you fucking stubborn bastard, let us!"
There's no way he will, not even after having fought the masked freak with this particular shinigami. "Fuck you!" he snarls, pushing himself up with all the strength he can muster and succeeding in throwing Renji off. He can remember the shinigami was in worse condition than him before the fight, and he hasn't had the time to be properly healed.
He tries to use that to his advantage.
"Abarai-san," the woman says, her voice low and controlled, "you are in no condition for this; if he doesn’t calm down I'm going to be forced to render him immobile."
Grimmjow feels a stab of panic at those words, remembering how it felt to be under Kurotsuchi's control. He redoubles his efforts, Renji pushing him down with all his might, the strain plain in his face.
"Let me go you fucker!" Grimmjow snaps before completely throwing the shinigami off him and awkwardly climbing to his feet. He turns to the woman, who is regarding him calmly, as if Grimmjow is no threat to her.
He's about to attack when he feels something crackling around him, a strong energy burrowing under his skin and forcing him to stay still. "I don't want to do this, but you don't let me other choice," she says and the next Grimmjow knows darkness is rushing to meet him.
…
The hollow has been silent for the past minutes, just dodging and blocking Ichigo's attacks, his taunts and cocky smirk a thing of the past. Ichigo is pushing him to his limit; his desperation at being forced to fight this bastard while not knowing what kind of damage he's inflicting outside giving him a strength he didn't know he had.
Still, it might not be enough.
You can't win, King, the hollow says seriously.
"I won't lose," Ichigo counters hotly, releasing a Getsuga Tenshou without even thinking.
No, you won't lose. But you can't win, and until you realize this we'll keep meeting here and fighting, the hollow counters the blast of energy with one of his own.
"What do I have to do to kill you?" Ichigo mutters under his breath, dodging an attack by a hair's breadth.
The hollow laughs, amused. You can't. I'm you. He stops and looks up, his smirk disappearing. Time's up, you got lucky again. Next time your friends might not be there to stop me, and then I'll have you.
…
The first thing Ichigo sees when he opens his eyes again is Rukia's worried face looking down on him. He groans, feeling pain in so many places his entire body is a dull ache.
"Welcome back," she says softly, concern and elation plainly written on her features. "Don't move, Unohana-taichou is patching you up,"
"What--" he tries to say, his parched throat rendering the words unintelligible. He swallows dryly and tries again, feeling more people at the edge of his vision but unable to focus on them. "What happened?"
"You don't know."
It's not really a question, Rukia is aware he isn't conscious when the hollow takes over. "Kurotsuchi?" The last he can remember is fighting the freak, and then--then he was inside himself fighting with the other freak. He groans.
"Dead," Renji's voice answers somewhere behind Ichigo and he turns his head, wincing at the pain and dizziness the motion provokes. "Woah, easy there Ichigo!" He feels Renji's hand on his shoulder and feels slightly better for the contact, reassurance that his friend is there and in one piece.
"You--"
Everything is still fuzzy and unclear, the sequence of events not making sense in his mind, but he can see Renji was hurt. He has the nasty feeling he is the one responsible, and the blank he's drawing from his memory doesn’t help at all.
"I'm fine," Renji repeats slowly, almost as if he's reading Ichigo's mind. "Unohana-taichou healed the worst injuries, and it was Kurotsuchi, thank fuck the bastard is dead!" Ichigo lets a relieved sigh escape his lips. He feared the worst, the image of Zangetsu piercing Ishida's body still giving him nightmares; he doesn’t need more of those. "Grimmjow's worse off than I am, and the fucking asshole refuses to be healed."
Grimmjow! Just that name is enough to clear Ichigo's head, the rest of his memories falling to their rightful place. "Where?" Ichigo asks sitting up with an effort and ignoring the hands trying to pin him down again and Unohana's disapproving stare.
"I had to restrain him so he stopped fighting me," Unohana says in her calm and collected manner, though Ichigo can feel a slight annoyance in her voice. "Do I need to do the same to you, Kurosaki-san?"
He shakes his head and lets Unohana finish her work, Renji filling him on the details of what happened while he was out of it.
"I killed him then," he says, not feeling the guilt he was expecting at the idea of taking a life. Bastard deserved it.
"Yes."
"There's going to be hell to pay now," if he knows Soul Society the way he does, Yamamoto will not let the murder of one of his Taichous go unpunished.
"You don't need to worry about that, Kurosaki-san," Unohana says, and if she is not concerned then he shouldn't be either. "We have more than enough proof of Kurotshuchi's activities, and you'll have three Taichou's testimonies to vouch for you."
He nods, grateful to have their support. He turns to look at Grimmjow again, still unconscious on the ground. "What did Kurotshuchi do to him to leave him in that state?" he wonders out loud. When he saw Grimmjow before he looked mostly normal, if one didn't take into account the reiatsu block.
Ichigo sees the look that passes between Renji and Unohana and feels his heart clench. "What did I do to him?" he asks staring at Renji.
"You don't wanna know."
So it was bad.
"What did I do?" he repeats slowly, glaring at his friend.
"When we arrived," Byakuya's cold voice answers him from his other side and Ichigo turns is head to look at him, surprised at the anger and resentment he can see there. "You had punched a hole through his stomach and were about to blow Renji into the next world. With this, consider my debt to you settled in full. Next time you lose control like that, I will personally put you down."
Ichigo nods, acknowledging the warning for what it is, and with a last cold glare Byakuya leaves.
"Don't take it to heart, Ichigo," Rukia says appearing where her brother used to be. "He's worried about Renji and he was worried about you."
"He's right," Ichigo says, the words Byakuya said sinking fully in. He can't lose control again. "I'm a menace."
"Don't be an idiot! Kurotshuchi was the menace!" Renji snaps, dragging Ichigo's attention back to him. "You didn't lose control, he fucking ripped it away from you; you won't lose it again so there is nothing to fear."
He doesn’t feel any better for that, but he nods anyway, his hollow's parting words resonating in his head. If he doesn't want to be put in that situation again he needs to improve, work on getting stronger without relying in his hollow's power so much.
But before-- "I'm going to get rid of all the evidence of Kurotshuchi's research, make sure the labs are empty."
"What will you do with them?" Unohana asks looking at Grimmjow, and Ichigo notices for the first time Nell and Peshe are with him. "There is nothing I can do for the injured one, what Kurotshuchi-taichou did to him I can't repair."
Ichigo takes a breath, "There were no survivors of his research," he says and Unohana nods.
"You are healed now, Kurosaki-san," she says standing up and moving to where Hitsugaya is, talking to him for a second in low tones. Ichigo sees Hitsugaya nodding and looking briefly at him. "We're taking our leave now; call us when the time comes for you to present your case."
"Thank you," Ichigo says standing up. "Rukia, Renji, take Nell and Peshe outside and wait for Grimmjow there, he'll join you shortly. Take them to Earth so they can go back to Hueco Mundo."
She looks dubiously at him, "Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"What are you going to do?" She asks, scooping Nell into her arms while Renji picks up Peshe.
"I'm going to destroy the lab and then I'll go explain everything to Yamamoto."
"But--" Renji tries to protest, Ichigo can tell he wants to stay and help him.
"You don't need to get more involved than you already are. I'll be fine."
He turns his back to his friends to avoid more protests and goes to the hidden door.
He has a job to do, and after that he'll wake Grimmjow up and get the bastard to leave, which he knows won't be easy.
It's better that way.
…
Kurosaki Ichigo is looking down at him when Grimmjow finally opens his eyes. The first thing he notices is that nothing hurts anymore, that old bitch must have completely healed him. On its own accord, Grimmjow's hand moves to the nape of his neck, feeling the skin there and almost letting out a relieved sigh feeling nothing.
For a minute there he feared a new mark was replacing the old one.
"You're free to go now, Grimmjow," Kurosaki says noticing his gesture and Grimmjow glares hotly at him. He doesn’t need this poor excuse of a shinigami to tell him what to do.
"As if you could keep me here," he retorts, standing up and looking around.
They're still in that strange, barren place. The damage done by their fight is plain to see, the door through which Kurosaki and the other shinigami appeared before completely collapsed. The rest of the shinigami are gone, even Nell and that other arrancar have disappeared.
Kurosaki is staring at him with a curiously intent expression, his eyes moving from Grimmjow's face to his torso, something like guilt flashing in them. Grimmjow can tell what's coming and he has to fight the urge of rolling his eyes.
"I'm sorry," Kurosaki says and Grimmjow scowls.
"Fuck you!"
"I'm sorry I took this long to realize what was going on," Kurosaki continues as if he hasn't heard Grimmjow. "And I'm sorry I almost killed you. I lost it--"
Grimmjow can't stand it; this is not something he has ever wanted from Kurosaki Ichigo. He's always wanted the fire and the hate, the power the shinigami oozes so easily, the insanity and anger he can feel crawling under his skin, barely leashed and ready to lash out at anything and everything. He feels his blood boiling and takes a step forward.
"Fuck you Kurosaki!" he snarls in his face, "I didn't need your help, I would have--"
"You would have ended like Peshe!" Kurosaki snaps back, the contrite expression leaving his face, replaced with an angry scowl of his own. That expression suits him better.
Grimmjow smirks.
"You're the one who almost ended like Peshe, you moron," he says annoyed. He knows that wouldn't have been possible, not with that monstrous power inside, but he's not going to tell that. "I was the bait, and you took it, you fucking idiot!"
"What did you expect me to do, leave you here at Kurotshuchi's tender mercy?" Kurosaki glares at him, taking a step forward until they are face to face, scant inches separating them. That close Grimmjow can see the fire in his eyes and a small vein twitching in his jaw, where he is clearly grinding his teeth.
Kurosaki was worried about him; the irony of the situation doesn’t escape Grimmjow. He thinks back at the moment the freak told him what his real objective was and what he felt at the moment. Yes, he can understand Kurosaki perfectly.
Not that he has any intention of telling him so.
"So now what? Have I changed one shinigami jailer for another?" Grimmjow asks, not overly concerned. Without that fucking mark on his neck there is no way another shinigami will ever be able to control him. If they want to keep him in Soul Society they better intend to keep his corpse; there's no way he lets them do that to him again.
"No," Kurosaki says, not moving away from Grimmjow. "You leave now, Rukia will escort you to Karakura and you can go back to Hueco Mundo from there. Take Nell and Peshe with you, I've destroyed the lab and all the records of Kurotshuchi's investigation, so nobody is tempted to carry it on. From this moment on you're dead as far as Soul Society is concerned."
Grimmjow feels his brows crawling up his forehead. "What about those other shinigami?"
Kurosaki shrugs, "They're friends, they'll keep silent."
Grimmjow snorts a laugh, "You trust people too much, Shinigami," he says taking a step forward and grabbing Kurosaki's arms, their bodies flush against each other, their faces almost touching. "I could kill you now, we're alone here; I could kill you and disappear before your friends even notice I'm gone." He can feel the shiver coursing through Kurosaki's body, but there is no fear in his expression.
"You won't," Kurosaki says, his voice low and a bit breathless. Grimmjow feels the heat radiating from the other body, a similar one igniting in his, and he wants--he takes a step backwards, letting go of Kurosaki.
"This time," he hears himself saying, and Kurosaki is looking at him with an oddly disappointed expression. "But your luck won't hold forever. One day you'll look back and I'll be there, and then I'll kill you for sure."
He turns to leave, feeling Kurosaki's eyes digging on the back of his head. The sooner he is as far away from Soul Society as he can get the better. He doesn’t need nor want the strange feelings Kurosaki's proximity is causing.
He hears Kurosaki's voice in the distance, and he can't help the shiver of excitement at his words.
"I'm counting on that, Grimmjow."
…
Epilogue - The Calm after the Storm
Ichigo sighs and relaxes back into the healing hot spring, enjoying the feeling of the hot water lapping at his body and healing the numerous scratches and minor injuries he has sustained during the training. Next to him Renji groans in pleasure, his own injuries also being healed.
"So, Rukia and Urahara. I didn't see that one coming," Ichigo says after a while, breaking the comfortable silence. He still hasn't recovered from the shock of seeing his friend with that lecherous bastard, but she seems to be happy and that's all that matters to him.
Renji huffs a laugh, "Tell me about it, Byakuya's been bitching since he found out about it," he says, the amusement clear in his voice. "I've never seen the uptight bastard using that kind of vocabulary, you'd be surprised at how inventive his language can get."
Ichigo smirks and looks at Renji out of the corner of his eye. Renji is flushed by the exercise and the heat of the waters, eyes closed and head thrown back. From there Ichigo can clearly see several marks on his body, previously hidden by his clothes.
"I can imagine he's also as inventive in the bedroom," he comments casually, keeping an eye in Renji's reaction.
"Not that much, he's--" Renji's voice is cut short with a curse when he realizes exactly what he's admitting to, and he turns to glare at Ichigo, who's smirking smugly at him. "Smartass."
"Told you he wasn't as straight as you though," he says before closing his eyes again, and he can hear Renji spluttering indignantly.
He's glad at least something good came out of everything that happened; Byakuya's timely rescue, and the way he refused to let Renji out of his sight even for an instant during the following investigation and interrogation were more than enough for even Renji to notice.
Ichigo doesn't like thinking about those days, and how they needed to fight Soul Society's bureaucracy to prove what they did was right. He knows they wouldn't have managed without Byakuya's and Hitsugaya's support, and without Unohana's horrified accounting of the various experiments the fucking Kurotsuchi had done.
He knows now he took the right decision making Grimmjow leave. As long as Soul Society at large considers him dead they won't go after him.
He remembers their last conversation, the moment Grimmjow grabbed him and how much Ichigo wanted something--anything--to happen, only for Grimmjow to leave immediately afterwards, his parting words sounding more like a promise than a threat.
A promise he has failed to keep. In the month since his return from Soul Society, Ichigo has not so much as felt his presence close. He can't blame him: Grimmjow was not his friend and if he's smart he'll keep as far away from Ichigo as possible. Especially after he almost killed him.
"And Grimmjow wasn't as dead as you thought," Renji says taking Ichigo out of his musings, "so what's your excuse now?"
It's Ichigo's turn to glare, "There is nothing--"
"Bullshit!" Renji cuts him, his voice dripping annoyance, "You killed a Taichou and faced Yamamoto's wrath for him, don't tell me there is nothing there!"
Ichigo blushes slightly but narrows his eyes at his friend. "I would have done the same for Nell or any of the others."
"I know, but you did it for Grimmjow. And Kurotshuchi used him because he knew it was the best way to ensure you'd follow him." Renji rolls his eyes, exasperated. "Look Ichigo, I know you're dense, but you can't have failed to notice your own feelings here."
"Pot, kettle," Ichigo mutters under his breath, but Renji ignores him.
"God knows why, but you like the fucking menace. Now stop moping and do something about it!" Renji stands up from the healing spring, shaking himself like a dog and spraying drops of warm water everywhere. "Go find him; I have to go back to Seiretei. I expect to see some marks on you for next week's sparring session!"
Ichigo glares at his friends retreating back and closes his eyes again, thinking about what Renji has said.
…
He can't believe he's doing that.
Ichigo steps out of the Garganta and looks around, finding the remains of Las Noches and moving that way. It was embarrassing enough to ask Urahara to open the gate for him, and the knowing smile of the bastard's face was almost enough to make him reconsider what he's doing.
But there he is, and there is a big chance he'll regret it sooner than he thought.
"So you bastards decided to kill me after all," Grimmjow's voice greets him the moment he sets foot in the derelict building. Ichigo turns in the direction of the voice, Grimmjow is looking at him from the top of a fallen wall, his eyes intent on Ichigo's face.
"No, I'm not here for that," he says and sees how Grimmjow's brows arch up, surprise and amusement clear in his face even at a distance. Grimmjow jumps down to stand in front of Ichigo, still regarding him with that strange expression.
"What are you here for, then?"
It's now or never. Ichigo has made the trip to the wasteland that is Hueco Mundo for this, he's not about to turn tail and leave without at least getting an answer. It's taken him almost a week after his conversation with Renji to admit that yes, insane as it is, he wants Grimmjow. Since the beginning there has been something about the Espada which called Ichigo to him, and the same has to be certain for Grimmjow if what he thinks it's true. He's going to find out, now.
He takes a step forward, his eyes never leaving Grimmjow's.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Grimmjow mutters under his breath at Ichigo's approach, and he freezes at the incredulity in the voice, his blood going cold.
Here is his answer. He knew it was a bad idea.
"You're right," Ichigo says taking a step back, his face flaming. "I've gotta be fucking kidding myself."
Before he can retreat further, though, there is a hand gripping his shikahushou and holding him in place, Grimmjow's disbelieving expression changing to a feral smirk.
"Who says you can leave, Kurosaki?" Grimmjow says arrogantly and Ichigo narrows his eyes. "You're already here, so we--"
"I'm not interested in a fight, Grimmjow," Ichigo interrupts him, though if the bastard doesn't let go of him he might begin to reconsider it.
"Who said anything about fighting?" And before he can move Grimmjow drags his body forward, pushing him against his body and leaning forward.
Oh, Ichigo thinks right before Grimmjow claims his mouth, his lips parting immediately to allow the invading tongue in, sucking greedily at it while his hands move to entangle in Grimmjow's hair, deepening the kiss.
"You're insane, Shinigami," Grimmjow says against his mouth, breaking the kiss to nip at his jaw line, his hands intent in divesting Ichigo of his clothes. "Substitute or not you should be trying to kill me, not to get into my pants."
Ichigo knows Grimmjow is right, but he doesn't care. Not with the way Grimmjow's hands are exploring his chest, or the way his mouth is moving to suck and bite the skin on his throat. Ichigo moans when Grimmjow pinches a nipple, his knees buckling, and the next he knows he's sprawled on the sand, Grimmjow's body on top of his.
They get rid of the rest of their clothes in no time, Ichigo claiming Grimmjow's mouth immediately as he settles between his parted legs, the friction of skin against skin driving Ichigo almost insane with desire. He wants more. He pushes up, grinding his cock against Grimmjow's, his tongue exploring every inch of the other's mouth. He doesn’t care that they are in the middle of Hueco Mundo, where any remaining hollow might happen on them, or that the sand is scraping against his bare back. He just wants to come.
"I want to fuck you, Kurosaki," Grimmjow growls against his lips and Ichigo can't help the moan that falls from his.
"Yes," he hisses, tilting his hips up to get more of that wonderful friction. He moans at the loss of contact when Grimmjow moves away from his body, and is about to protest at the hands on his shoulders, roughly turning him around, but he gets the hint when Grimmjow's fingers push past his lips. He licks them slowly, feeling the minute shakes coursing Grimmjow's body and the heat of his erection against his back. With a smirk, Ichigo nips at the tip of the fingers, twirling his tongue around them and sucking them, his own arousal throbbing impatiently.
He receives a hard bite on the nape of his neck for his efforts. "Hurry the fuck up Kurosaki, or I'll fuck you without preparation," Grimmjow snarls against his neck, his teeth closing again on the sensitive skin there.
Satisfied, Ichigo releases the fingers and spreads his legs wider, relaxing as much as he can when he feels them pushing inside him. It burns, but he forces his body to ignore the discomfort and concentrates on the feelings of Grimmjow's mouth on his spine and his other hand sneaking around his waist to take hold of his cock.
It takes a few minutes for Grimmjow to stop the torture, and by the time the fingers are gone Ichigo is mindless with need. He's not above begging to be fucked, and be fucked now.
"This changes nothing, Shinigami," Grimmjow says positioning himself and pushing inside in one fast, painful thrust. Ichigo tenses, his breath coming out in short pants, and curses under his breath. "I'm still going to kill you."
"I know," he says through clenched teeth, his body almost shaking with the effort to stay still and relax against the intrusion. "Now shut up and fuck me!"
He gets a low chuckle for an answer, and then Grimmjow is moving inside him, pulling away and pushing back in hard and fast, one hand gripping Ichigo's hip almost painfully, the other matching the pace around his cock. Ichigo presses his forearms against the sand to gain leverage and pushes back against Grimmjow, grinding harder against him and then pushing into his fist, the tension coiling tightly in his belly.
Grimmjow's hand releases his hip and grabs his hair, pulling and forcing Ichigo's head to tilt back, his mouth covering Ichigo's in a brutal kiss. With a muffled moan, Ichigo feels his climax crash against him, shuddering and groaning his release against Grimmjow's mouth.
"Fuck yes," Grimmjow mutters against his lips, his thrusts frantic and brutal now. Ichigo can tell he's close, and he pulls Grimmjow's lower lip between his teeth and bites savagely, feeling the body on top of his shaking almost violently before freezing, coming inside of Ichigo.
They collapse on top of the sand, Ichigo's back and ass throbbing almost painfully but he can't get it in himself to regret it. It rankles to admit it, but Renji was right, this was exactly what he needed to do. They stay like that, not saying anything while their breathing evens out and their pounding hearts return to normal.
He doesn’t know what to say now they've fucked, or what's going to happen from now on, but he's too exhausted and too sated to care. Ichigo closes his eyes, enjoying the warmth of the sand at his back and the slight breeze on his naked front.
"Remember Ichigo," Grimmjow says breaking the silence, and he can almost hear a purr in his satisfied voice. "This changes nothing; I'm going to be the one who kills you."
He mutters a vague agreement, letting his consciousness slip into darkness.
It changes everything, and he knows it.
Ichigo.
But if Grimmjow wants to keep believing otherwise, he's not going to be the one to open his eyes.
For now at least.
…
Fin.