Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/1121695.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
  Category:
      M/M
  Fandom:
      Bleach
  Relationship:
      Abarai_Renji/Grimmjow_Jaegerjaques/Kurosaki_Ichigo
  Character:
      Kurosaki_Ichigo, Grimmjow_Jaegerjaques, Abarai_Renji, Aaroniero
      Arruruerie, Urahara_Kisuke
  Additional Tags:
      Alternate_Universe_-_Modern_Setting, Domestic_Violence, Rape/Non-con
      Elements, Gang_Violence, Serial_Killers, Sexual_Abuse, Verbal_Abuse,
      Verbal_Humiliation, Threats_of_Violence, Violence, Eye_Gouging, Eye
      Licking, Control, Self-Hatred, Self-Esteem_Issues, Self_Confidence_Issues
  Stats:
      Published: 2014-01-05 Completed: 2017-08-21 Chapters: 11/11 Words: 37573
****** Punishment of the Self ******
by phoenixreal
Summary
     Ichigo is quiet, and doesn't really hang out with is friends that he
     works with at the large elegant hotel Las Noches. One night though,
     Renji gets a frantic call for help and goes to finds him beaten and
     bloody, the victim of a domestic assault. But he claims he gets what
     he deserves, that it is his punishment. Can Renji and Grimmjow reach
     him? GrimXIchiXRen, GrimXIchi, RenXIchi
***** A Call in the Night *****
                                        
It was raining that night, and the nine year old boy was walking with his
mother, his precious and loving mother.  He almost slipped a couple times, and
she caught him, laughing out loud at his clumsiness.  They were so happy, even
in the pouring rain.  Then there was someone there, as the lightning cracked
the sky open, and he was demanding money.  The mother didn’t have anything, but
the man insisted.  So the boy, who wanted to protect his dear mother tried to
stop the man with the gun.  He was young, only twelve, but he was strong.  But
then, in the rain, a sound unlike the thunder cracked and he froze as he looked
around, his hand gripping the gunman’s hands tightly.  It had gone off in the
struggle and his mother was looking at him with wide, shocked eyes.
The gunman got to his feet and was gone.  The boy dropped down to his knees as
his mother slowly fell.  He caught her in his arms as she gasped for air, blood
soaking the boy’s clothes.  She whispered something, but he didn’t hear her
because the thunder was too loud.
Ichigo Kurosaki jolted awake in the bathtub, having fallen asleep long enough
for the usual dream to visit him.  Any time he was in pain or sad, it visited
him to remind him why he was in pain and why he was so very sad.  He groaned
quietly, because the dream left his heart aching for so long afterward that he
almost forgot his physical pain.  It had been years ago, and still, it haunted
him.  He cradled his throbbing head as he breathed deeply.  He swallowed
carefully and winced, his throat raw still.  He looked down, seeing the deep
bruises on his thighs again.  He sighed.  It had been his fault, it usually was
after all.  He should have been more careful, but the plates had fell from the
counter with a resounding crash, and then his boyfriend was on him, yanking him
away as he stammered apologies.
It had ended like most nights.  Ichigo was sitting in the tub, nursing new
bruises and ignoring the blood in the bathwater.  He hugged his knees and
wondered what it would be like to just slide below and suck that blood tainted
water into his lungs and happily die.  No one would miss him, he was sure.  But
he was weak, and instead let the water go down the drain and got out of the
tub, hoping that his bedmate was already asleep.  He’d had enough for tonight. 
He looked in the mirror at his damp orange hair and thought he deserved what
had happened.  He deserved so much worse.
He quickly threw on a big shirt and light pants and limped out of the bathroom,
his body screaming after sitting too long in the tub.
“What took you so long?” the gruff voice demanded from the darkness.
Ichigo swallowed convulsively, and looked up, seeing him sitting on the bed
staring at him. The room smelled of “I-I w-was…” he started.
He was so fast though, and soon Ichigo found himself slammed up against the
wall gasping for air at the pale hand clamped around his neck.  He reached out
weakly to try and pull the hand away.  He was being held up, and it hurt a
lot.  Aaroniero was tall, at least five inches taller than Ichigo, but he was
deceptively thin man.  He gazed at Ichigo with the bleary, muddy colored blue
eyes that seemed to plague Ichigo’s nightmares more often than not.  He tried
to avoid his breath and just the horrible smell that came off him most the
time. 
“Ronny, please, it hurts,” he croaked against the hand holding him up.
Aaroniero, or Ronny as most people called him, smelled of the crystal meth he’d
been smoking.  The whole room stank of it, a mix of ammonia and burning
plastic, and that was a really bad thing for Ichigo.  It was iodine cut, he
could tell by the strong scent.  That meant Ronny had gotten a nasty batch. 
When he was high on that type, he was stronger and more aggressive.  Suddenly,
the claw like hand let go and Ichigo fell with a groan as his body ached. 
Ronny ran a hair through his stringy, black hair and he shook his head.
“What did I say about talking like that to me?” he said slowly.
Ichigo didn’t know what to say, didn’t know what he’d done, so his pain misted
eyes let loose a couple tears to slide down his face.  He gasped, reaching to
wipe them away, but it was too late.  The pale hand connected with his face,
sending him flying to the side with unnatural force.
“I told you if you cried again, I would make sure you had a good reason,” Ronny
said, moving over to him and grabbing him by the bicep and yanking him to the
bed.
“No, please, Ronny, not again, please!” he said, clenching his jaw at the pain
blossoming there.  He never hit him in the face.  Never anywhere that could be
seen.  And now that he had broken that rule, Ichigo was truly scared.
He tried to crawl away, but it was impossible as the larger man pressed him
down into the bed, yanking his sleeping pants off him.  He gasped at the sudden
exposure, but didn’t have time to register it before burning hot pain consumed
him from behind.  He gritted his teeth, knowing better than to cry out, but he
couldn’t help the soft cry that escaped his lips.  He only became rougher and
faster and Ichigo was sobbing into the thick comforter underneath his head. 
Finally, he dropped him, yanking him around and shoving himself down Ichigo’s
throat, sending a searing pain through him as he emptied himself there.  He
knew better than to cough, better than to spit.  It only got worse if he did. 
Ronny shoved him onto his back again, staring at him for a moment, and he
smiled again.
Then Ichigo felt the crunching of bone as Ronny began to punch into his ribs
viciously.  He tried not to cry out, but it hurt, and every time he cried out,
Ronny slammed his fist into his ribcage even harder.  He was incensed,
completely without reason, Ichigo knew.  He had no idea what he was doing and
it didn’t matter.  Ichigo could only bear it but it was harder and harder until
finally he stopped.  He stood up and stared down at Ichigo with those muddy
colored eyes and Ichigo was really and truly afraid of what he was going to do.
Ronny stared for a minute, a strange smile crossing his face as he pushed down
with one hand on Ichigo’s throat. 
“Your eyes are the prettiest prize I’ve ever gotten, baby,” he said softly in
complete contrast to the fact he was cutting off Ichigo’s airway.  “Remember
that the only reason they’re still in that fucking obnoxiously colored head of
yours is because I allow it.  Or do you want me to put them on display with the
rest?”
Ichigo couldn’t breathe to say anything as he leaned forward and pressed his
nose against Ichigo’s.  “So, so pretty, baby.  Beautiful and rich and the
darkest chocolate ever…” he whispered and grinned again.  Ichigo knew what he
was going to do and knew that he couldn’t stop him from doing it. 
Aaroniero had a fetish, a really unhealthy fetish, for eyes.  In particular, he
had a nice little “collection” of eyes.  The only real problem about his little
collection was the fact that he’d taken them himself, from still living
victims.  Those victims, of course, were no longer living, however.  He had
fallen in love with Ichigo’s eyes, so much so that he wanted him whole.  He
wanted to see them change and function.  He wanted his eyes in his head.  He
never failed to let him know that that could change at a moment’s notice.  He
also never failed to let him know that his sisters both had very lovely eyes as
well. 
The hand on his neck let go and instead both hands were on his eye socket
prying his lid open.  He hated it when he did this, but it usually happened
when he was this high.  He grinned again and leaned toward his eye and pressed
his tongue against the surface.  Ichigo knew better than to move.  Granted at
the moment he was in so much pain moving wasn’t an option.  He’d already
suffered a scratched cornea three times and two incredibly bad infections
because he flinched or angered him.  He tried to breathe through it.  He could
feel the edges of his tongue against his eyelids, sliding against the smooth
surface of his eye.  It was by far, the most disgusting and degrading thing
Ronny ever did to him.  Considering the other things Ronny did, that was saying
something.
He jerked back, letting go of Ichigo’s eyelids finally.  Ichigo laid there and
blinked rapidly and then Ronny grinned again, his fetid breath strong.  “You
need to be punished for being such a naughty bad, bad boy.  I’m done with you
today.  If you’re lucky, I’ll bring you back home before tonight.”
Then Ronny grabbed Ichigo by the wrist and threw him out their apartment’s
front door, locking it behind him.  It wasn’t the first time this had
happened.  Ichigo had used the excuse that he had lost his key and the manager
had come opened it the next day after he had slept in the pool room.  But that
was closed, and he was in a lot of pain right now.  He could hardly breathe. 
He was glad his shirt was long, actually one of Ronny’s shirts.  He managed to
get to the payphone at the end of the hall and picked it up.  He had no change,
so he called the operator for a collect call.
It was almost four am, so he wasn’t sure if his friend would even answer. But a
sleepy voice answered the phone, and Ichigo sighed in relief.  The operator
said there was a payphone collect call for him and if he would accept the
charges for Ichigo.
“Of course!” the voice on the other end said, his voice sounding less sleepy
all of a sudden, tinged with worry.
There was a long pause as the operator left the conversation and Ichigo tried
to breathe enough to speak.
“Ichigo?” queried the voice.  “Are you there, bud?”
“Yah,” he breathed the word out, not trusting that he could get anything else
out. 
“What’s going on?” the voice asked again.
He panted, finding it excruciatingly hard to form words into coherent
thoughts.  “R-Renji, need…ah…help…hurt…”  he managed finally gasping heavily as
he felt himself sliding down the wall to the ground, the phone clutched
desperately in his hand.
“What’s happened? Are you at your apartment?” Renji asked, quickly.
“Yah,” he breathed, groaning as he finally dropped the phone.
He was lost in a haze of pain as he sat there, clutching his ribs, not even
aware if anyone walked by to see him struggling to breath in the hallway half
naked.  He heard someone and he looked up to see Renji kneeling in front of
him.  He smiled, then gasped, his breath coming in short, hard pants.  There
was someone there with Renji, someone he didn’t know.
“My God, Ichi, what the hell happened to you?” Renji gasped.
He breathed in and out, finding it hard to do anything else at the moment.  “I
messed up,” he finally said.  “My fault, should have…ah…known,” he said and
slumped down, falling to the side, leaving nothing to the imagination as the
shirt slid up on him.
Renji frowned, seeing the thick trails of blood on the inside of his thighs,
and the huge purple bruises on his legs, and all down them to his calves, other
bruises of varying colors.  He’d never seen his legs; he always wore pants. 
Come to think of it, he always wore long sleeves, claiming he had a thyroid
condition that made him cold all the time.  Ignoring his nakedness, he picked
up the shirt and gasped at the mass of purple and red bruises on his ribs.  He
put his head to his chest.
“Shit, I think he’s got a ruptured lung,” he muttered, looking up at his friend
with the teal hair.  “Help me, Grimm, we gotta get him to a hospital.”
Renji carefully gathered him up and nearly ran with the smaller man.  They
rushed him into the ER and he was swiftly taken away by the staff to see what
was wrong with him.  Renji sat down in a couch, staring into space until he
felt Grimmjow’s hand fall to his shoulder.
“Red, what the hell is this about?  Isn’t that the kid you met at your job?” he
said.
Renji nodded.  “Yeah, I’ve known him a while.  As long as I’ve been there, but
I’ve never had him meet me outside of the hotel.  When we’re slow, we talk, and
the day passes a lot faster.”
Renji worked at a high class hotel as a doorman.  Ichigo worked behind the
counter during the week days.  He’d grown rather fond of the orange haired
kid.  He was in college, taking night classes so he could work during the day. 
Renji had thought it odd for a kid that was barely eighteen to take night
classes and work full time.  Renji knew where he lived because often gave him
rides to work, but today was the first time he’d actually been in the building.
Finally a strange looking doctor walked out and shook Renji’s hand.  “You
brought in your friend, Ichigo?” he asked softly.  He had pink hair of all
things.  But then considering that he was standing next to the blue haired
Grimmjow, and he himself had vivid red hair, he couldn’t say anything.
“How is he? Can I see him?” he asked in a rush.
The pink haired doctor nodded.  “All in good time, I have some questions
first.  My name is Dr. Szayel Granz.  Now, are you Ichigo’s significant other?”
Renji started.  “What?  No, of course not!”
The man noted something.  “Why were you the one to bring him into the ER this
morning?”
“He called me from the payphone at his complex.  And he sounded hurt so I
rushed over and found him like that sitting in the hallway,” Renji answered,
slowing his breathing.  Standard questions for someone that looked like they
had been used as a punching bag.
“Hmm, do you know who Ichigo’s domestic partner is?” he asked.
Renji stopped.  “Ah, no.  He’s never talked about it with me, just changes the
subject when we talk about dating or relationships.”
The man sighed.  “Ichigo says he was mugged, that someone jumped him and took
his wallet and phone.”
Renji nodded slowly.  “But, that doesn’t sound right, if he was mugged why
didn’t he go home?  He was in the hallway outside his apartment.”
The doctor arched a delicate pink brow.  “He has signs of long term abuse. 
This is not his first broken bone, and from the look, he has several that were
casted poorly and healed badly.  He has bruises and scarring that cover him
everywhere except his neck, face, forearms and hands.  The bruise on his face
is a striking exception to that.”
The thoughts took a long moment to process.  “So, he’s being abused?  By who?”
Szayel sighed.  “Generally, this type comes from domestic partners or spouses. 
There are obvious signs of sexual trauma, some very recent and a lot older. 
Whoever this kid is with is bad news, and he is refusing to say anything to me
about it.  All he says is that he was mugged. I have already put in the
paperwork with the police, and I suggest that you take him with you when he is
discharged if he will allow it.  I would prefer him not to return to such an
environment.”
Renji swallowed.  Who would hurt him like that?  He was such a nice kid, always
smiling and helping people, and never said a cross word.  “He’s barely twenty
years old, how long could he have possibly been going through this?”
The doctor thought.  “I don’t know, but some of the breaks are at least two or
three years old. Unless he wants to tell us what happened, there’s nothing we
can do.”
“How is he now?”
“He has three fractured ribs, one of which punctured his lung.  We’ll have to
take him in to surgery to fix the problem and hopefully he’ll be released in a
week’s time.  He’ll be going into surgery in a couple hours.  He’s been given a
sedative for now, and I’d like him to rest.”
The doctor turned and left, leaving Renji and Grimmjow gaping.  Grimmjow looked
at him.
“He’s been working there with you for the last two years, man, how did you not
notice this shit?” he asked, eyeing his red headed roommate.
Renji shook his head.  “He hides it well.  Like he said, this is the first time
I’ve ever seen a bruise on his face.  I mean, he’s a weird kid, wears long-
sleeves and pants all year round, but I just thought it was his preference. 
Come to think of it, he’s never come out with us, no matter how many times we
invite him…”
Grimmjow suddenly elbowed him in the ribs.  “What?” he said, looking up.
Entering Ichigo’s room was a tall, thin man with very hollow features and
greasy black hair.  He just looked ill, almost.  Ichigo had been left in one of
the glass front rooms, and both Renji and Grimmjow moved closer until they
could hear soft voices inside.
“Why the fuck are you in here?” the thin, pale skinned man asked.  “I got a
call from the receptionist saying you’d been brought in.  I told you that I was
done with you for the day, and I had to get out of bed and come up here to sign
for some stupid shit.”
Ichigo gasped.  “You broke my ribs, and one punctured my lung,” he said looking
away from him with slow blinking eyes. 
The man stared down at him.  “I guess I can’t be angry about that.”
Ichigo looked up at him smiling, eyes hopeful.  “You mean that?  I’m glad.”
Renji and Grimmjow stood just outside the viewing range of Ichigo, just past
the partially opened door.
“How did you get here?” the tall man asked.  They heard an audible gulp.
“I called a friend because I was hurting,” he said quietly.  “I thought I was
dying and I didn’t want to die like this because you’d get in trouble and the
cops might have come and found…” Ichigo began, running on due to the pain
medications and sedatives when he normally wouldn’t have.
“Since when do you have fuckin’ friends to call?  I told you that you weren’t
allowed to have any, and no one you should fuckin’ remember a number of,” he
said, and Grimmjow and Renji both heard the anger creeping into his voice.
Ichigo backpedaled.  “He’s not a friend, just a guy from work, he gave me his
number in case I needed a ride to work…and…”
“You fuckin’ know better.  You fuckin’ walk to your job or you don’t have a
fuckin’ job and you’ll be cuffed to the bed for a week again like the last
fuckin’ time you pulled this shit.”
“Okay, Ronny, okay, I’m sorry, it won’t…”  Ichigo said, and his voice cracked a
little.
“You’re fuckin’ crying?  Again?  You know the results of that, it pisses me
off, and you’ll get them when you get home.  If you’re fuckin’ lucky I won’t
send you back with worse than a few broken ribs.”
They heard Ichigo swallow hard.  “Ronny, I’m sorry, it’s just I don’t feel good
and…”
“Don’t fuckin’ bitch, it’s completely your own damn fault you’re here.  You’re
too fuckin’ weak, that’s why.  Don’t fuckin’ talk to anyone.  Don’t fuckin’
breathe on anyone, or I’ll come back and snap your neck and take my prize, and
then get the others that I want.”
Renji and Grimmjow moved down a little and looked to be talking as the man
exited the room, glancing around. He had to stand almost six four or five. 
Renji bit his lip as he saw his roommate shake in anger.
Grimmjow took a deep breath to steady himself.  “That asshole has to be in his
thirties.  What the hell is that kid doing with him?”
They waited a while and heard sniffing in the room behind them, and then when
they were sure he was gone, both went in.  Ichigo looked up, his eyes red
rimmed.  He swallowed.
“Thanks for helping me, but you gotta go, now, okay?” he said glancing up
nervously out the glass doors.
“No fucking way,” Renji said.  “What the hell is going on?”
Ichigo didn’t say anything, only stared at his hands.  “Who was that guy?”
Renji continued.
“Aaroniero, Ronny, he’s my boyfriend,” he said softly.  “I live with him in the
apartment.” 
Grimmjow frowned.  “How long have you been seeing that asshole?”
Ichigo shrugged.  “I guess about four or five years now…”
Renji and Grimmjow glanced at each other.  “Ichigo, you’re only like twenty,
and that guy is at least thirty.”
He looked up at them.  “He’s twenty-eight, actually,” he said quietly.
“Why are you with him?” Renji asked slowly.
Ichigo looked up, his eyes wide and throat working to try and talk.  “I deserve
him,” he said quietly.  “So I stay because I deserve him.  It’s my punishment
for what I’ve done.”
Renji and Grimmjow exchanged a look. “If you were fuckin’ like fifteen when you
started ‘seeing’ him, how is that possible, there is no reason for a kid that
young to deserve to be raped and beaten on a daily fuckin’ basis,” Grimmjow
said, eliciting a shudder from the kid in front of him.
“Just go, please,” he whispered and turned over, closing his eyes.  “I’m fine,
I always am.  Just go away.”
The roommates left.  They said nothing until they got to the car, a bright red
Malibu that belonged to Renji.  Grimmjow looked at him.  “What the fuck is a
twenty four year old man doing getting in a fifteen year old kid’s pants?”
Renji looked up with an arched brow.  “I don’t know, but I’m fucking going to
find out.”
Renji had his reasons that he couldn’t let this go.  He wasn’t ready to tell
Grimmjow why just yet, but he saw that there was a look of agreement on
Grimmjow’s face.  It seemed that Grimmjow had his own reasons to want to figure
out what was happening as well.  Renji didn’t care what those reasons were.  He
just wanted to do something about this.
***** Torment *****
Chapter Notes
     Story in complete rewrite!!! If you haven't read the new first
     chapter, please do so!
                                        
It was always hard, especially after his mom died.  Ichigo kept getting into
fights.  At first it was stupid stuff, like he didn’t dye his hair.  Everyone
thought he should so he’d quit getting picked on by people for the flaming
orange color.  But he was stubborn, and his mom always said she loved his
hair.  So it was at fourteen, and he was fighting off five street thugs at one
time.  He’d already taken out two of them, but now they’d drawn knives and he
wasn’t sure how to deal with that.  They were probably at least eighteen or
nineteen.  Why they thought jumping a fifteen year old was a good idea, Ichigo
didn’t know.
Then something odd happened.  This man with short black hair came out of
nowhere and scared them away.  He was handsome; he had beautiful turquoise eyes
and a beautiful smile.  He reached his hand down and helped him up.  Ichigo had
smiled and thanked him.  He introduced himself as Kaien Shiba, and asked if
Ichigo would like to go for coffee or something.  Ichigo felt heat rising to
his cheeks but he accepted. 
Kaien was older than him by several years, he was nineteen, and was a student
at the local college.  He was going to school to get a teaching degree.  He was
sweet.  He made Ichigo feel wanted and when Ichigo asked if they could be more,
Kaien had smiled and shook his head, telling him he was too young to go any
further than dinner and movies.  But in about three years, Kaien said that he
would be willing to take him into his life for good.  Ichigo had been happy.
Then, one day, Kaien didn’t come to the coffee shop after he got out of
school.  He started to worry when he hadn’t heard anything for a week.  His
friends asked what had happened since he seemed upset all of a sudden.  He
couldn’t tell them he’d been seeing an older man.  What would they think of
him?
Ichigo kept going to the coffee shop, though, hoping that he’d come back.  And
one day, he was elated to see him sitting in their booth.  He had been
overjoyed until he sat down and found himself across the table from someone
completely different.  He looked like Kaien, a little.  His hair was cut the
same way, but his face was drawn and his eyes were hallowed and dingy colored. 
Ichigo started to leave by he said to wait because he was Kaien’s brother,
Ronny, and Kaien had sent him.
Ichigo had relaxed and they started to talk.  Kaien had never mentioned a
brother, at least not one named Ronny. He had a sister named Kukaku, and a
brother named Ganju, but he never spoke on them often.  He guessed it could
have been possible, as this Ronny did look similar to Kaien.  He stayed and
came back the next day again.  He slipped easily into the same routines he’d
had with Kaien, but there was one difference.  Ronny wasn’t deterred by his
age.  Ichigo wasn’t really comfortable with it, but he didn’t want to be rude,
after all, Ronny was telling Kaien what was happening.  Kaien had to go take
care of their mother for a few months.
A month or so later, Ronny had taken Ichigo to a nice restaurant to tell him
something really important, and it was very enjoyable.  Halfway through desert,
though, Ichigo was feeling very sick and time skipped around in a strange way. 
He soon blinked and was staring up at Ronny.  He couldn’t move, his arms and
legs both tied down.  He begged him to let him go, begged him to tell him why
he was doing it.  Then he showed him.  He showed him the jar.  Ichigo knew
exactly what was in the jar.  Kaien’s eyes, Kaien’s unmistakable turquoise
eyes, floated gently inside a jar wrapped with a blue ribbon around the seal. 
Ichigo screamed but Ronny gagged him and told him that he had beautiful eyes
too, eyes that he wanted to keep forever.  Ichigo was sure he was dead.  But
then, Ronny sat down and cupped his face and told him he wanted to keep them
intact, and not inside a jar.  He had to stay.  He had to be his, mind, body,
and soul.  Otherwise, Ronny said with a grin, Ichigo’s sisters had such lovely
eyes as well, and they would be very easy to get to.
Ichigo tried to fight him, but he was unable to as he used him that first
night.  The drugs in his mind helped with some of the pain, but not the
knowledge of what was happening.  The next morning, he woke and hid in the
bathroom, sobbing hysterically.  What was he going to do?  He would kill his
sisters, he would go after them.  What if he went to the police and they didn’t
believe him?  Why would they believe a kid?  They wouldn’t.  They wouldn’t even
listen to what he had to say.  And sweet Kaien!  Why would this man have done
something so terrible to him?  Ichigo didn’t understand, and he didn’t want to
understand.
So it began.  After school Ichigo would meet with him, and soon his friends
realized he was pulling away.  Ichigo was beginning to never stay after, and
had taken to eating his meals alone.  His friends let him do it.  He’d always
been a little odd, so it wasn’t so strange.  But a couple teachers took a
pointed interest, and tried to coax out of Ichigo what was happening.  They’d
noticed the changes.  He wore long sleeves now, and refused to dress out in gym
his final year, giving them a doctor’s note saying he was asthmatic, though he
never coughed.  And they caught the bruising when his clothes would slip,
showing his back.  But they couldn’t do anything if he didn’t talk.  They’d
gone to his dad, of course fearing that child abuse was at play, but his dad
revealed he never came home that often.  And when he did he avoided talking to
any of them.  But he was gone, and never any answers were found by the prying
teachers or even his father.
His father had confronted him, and in the end had driven him away, allowing him
to move in with his boyfriend.  He had no idea where he was and didn’t have
number for him and no control.  So now, outside a building labeled Kurosaki
Clinic, a man with bright red hair and a man with soft baby blue hair stood
knocking.
“Can I help you?” a dark haired man said at the door.
“You Isshin Kurosaki, Ichigo’s dad, right?” Renji asked, hesitantly.
At the sound of his son’s name he stepped back and ushered them both in. 
“Please, do you have news?  Is he okay?  Do you know where he is?  Let me get
some tea…”
In a moment they were seated in a small table in the clinic’s foyer with tea as
the man watched with hopeful eyes.
“It’s been almost three years since he left, are you his friends?” he asked.
“My name is Renji Abarai, and this is my roommate Grimmjow Jagerjaquez.  I
guess we’re friends with your son…” Renji said thoughtfully.
The man’s face fell.  “Still, huh?  I don’t think he’s had a friend one since
his mother died.”
“Well, Dr. Kurosaki…”
“Isshin, please,” he corrected.
“Isshin, what’s the deal with him?  I mean, I guess I’ll tell you what
happened, but he called me up a couple nights ago to help him.  And he told the
hospital he was mugged.  But they didn’t believe him.  And neither did I,” he
said softly.
The older man nodded, letting out a sigh.  “No surprise it’s still going on.  I
couldn’t stop it before; I don’t know how to get him to quit blaming himself.”
Renji and Grimmjow exchanged a look.  “Blaming himself?”
Isshin nodded.  “See, when he was twelve, his mom and him were held up by an
armed robber.  Ichigo tried to take the gun, because the guy was going to shoot
them since Masaki didn’t have money to give him.  In the struggle, the gun went
off, killing his mother.  And he blamed himself from that day forward.”
“So who is this Aaroniero?” Grimmjow asked with a tightening working its way
through the entirety of his body.
Isshin swallowed.  “I…I wish I knew how it happened.  I didn’t know about him
until it was too late for me to do anything.  He stopped coming home after
school when he was fourteen.  And he got distant, refusing to engage in
conversations.  His friends, he pushed them away, starting fights and pushing
them until they refused to even speak with him.  I took him to a counselor, you
know.  And she said he was working through grief and guilt, and I needed to
give him space.  So I did.  But then when he was seventeen he stopped coming
home at all.  He barely finished school, and I had visits from the school
about…about his condition.”
“His condition?” Renji asked, leaning forward.
Isshin sighed.  “Bruises, hidden, and a note from a doctor down in another city
saying he had asthma and shouldn’t take gym or do anything strenuous.  He’s
never had breathing problems.  They thought I was hurting him.  It didn’t take
them long to figure out that I hadn’t seen him in months.  By the time we had
figured it out with them, he was gone, done with school, and no one knew how to
find him.”
Renji and Grimmjow exchanged glances.  “Where are his friends at now?” Renji
asked, running a hand in his hair.  “I want to help him, I really do, but have
you seen this fucker?
Isshin shook his head, swallowing.  “No, I just know he was living with
someone.”
Grimmjow, ever quick on his feet pulled out his phone and flicked through until
he found the pictures he snapped at the hospital.  He pulled up with one of the
Ronny leaning over Ichigo in a rather menacing fashion, and Ichigo was clearly
cringing away from him.  He handed the phone over.  “There’s a couple more,
swipe left.”
Isshin swallowed hard, seeing the look on his son’s face.  No scowl graced his
brow anymore; they were loose and almost soft.  His face was bruised but only a
little.  But his upper arms were covered in thick bruises of various colors
that peeked out from under the hospital gown.  Isshin wiped away tears that
quickly formed at his eyes.  He looked up at the two men he’d just met.
“Can you help him?  I’ve still got twin daughters to take care of, and I know I
wouldn’t be able to be near this…this…man without doing something I’d regret,
losing my freedom and my son in the process,” Isshin asked.  “I don’t even know
you, but right now you’re the closest thing I can get to help me.”
Renji didn’t have to be asked twice. “Write down anyone who might be able to
help us with him and I’ll see what I can pull together.”
Grimmjow nodded then looked down. “Listen, Kurosaki, I’m not gonna tell yo what
I’m doing.  If things go bad, I don’t want you involved, for the two girls you
got okay?  So don’t ask me no questions because I’ll answer them.  I got
connections and if I use ‘em, there won’t be no coming back for me, and maybe
him.  You gonna be okay with that?”
Isshin looked up, pain deeply etched in his brows.  “If he’s safe, and no one
can hurt him, I’d let you take him to the furthest corner of the earth.”
Grimmjow nodded, getting the response he needed, and ignoring Renji’s
questioning glare.  Renji didn’t know about the life he’d left behind as a
teenager.  Isshin handed him a paper with several names, addresses and numbers
hastily scrawled.  The first was a tailor’s shop not far away, a kid named
Uryuu Ishida.  They hopped into the red car and headed out there, pulling in. 
There weren’t any cars, and inside they saw a tall, thin kid with dark hair and
glasses.  They got out and went in, the boy glancing up at them.
“Got something needing some tailoring on?”  he asked, looking at them curiously
since they didn’t bring anything in.
      Renji shook his head.  “Nah, kid, I’m here to talk to you about your
friend, Ichigo Kurosaki.”
      The boy rolled his eyes.  “Yeah, not much to talk about, he’s a prick,
and I haven’t talked to him in years now.”
Grimmjow sighed and pulled out his phone absently.  Renji nodded.  “So his dad
told us.  But he said you were friends once, and that you cared about him.”
The boy snorted. “Yeah, well, having your best friend turn on you and beat the
living shit out of you tends to turn you off.”
Renji felt the heat rising.  This kid wasn’t much younger than him, but he
still felt it.  “And you didn’t think that was fuckin’ weird as fuck?”
The dark haired boy froze and looked up at him, swallowing convulsively.  Renji
continued.  “Who in their right mind turns on all their friends, and pushes
them all away and then just fuckin’ disappears from a family that cares about
them?  Do you know anyone else that does that shit?  Didn’t you ever wonder
why?”
Ishida looked down at his hands. “Of course,” he said, growing angry.  “I tried
for over a year!  A year!  And finally, he snapped and we ended up fighting
until neither of us could stand.  And after that he wouldn’t talk to me at
all.  What was I supposed to do?”
Grimmjow growled. “Maybe figure out what was going on,” he said handing his
phone to the kid.  The same picture, Aaroniero leaning over him, and Ichigo
cringing away, arms covered in bruises, looked up at his friend.
“What?” he said softly.  “Who is that guy and what’s wrong with Ichi, is he in
the hospital?”
“That is the fucker who has been causing all the problems since he was fuckin’
with him at sixteen.  You’re tellin’ me you never saw this asshole?” Renji
asked as Ishida flicked to the next picture, this one showing Ichigo sleeping
and taken after he thought Renji and Grimmjow had left.  Renji had pulled open
his gown and snapped a picture of the mess of his chest and ribs.
“He had broken ribs and a punctured lung.  He called me gasping and I found him
outside his apartment, swearing he’d been mugged wearing an oversized shirt and
nothin’ else,” Renji said, scowling away, letting the words lay as they had,
wondering if the kid would pick up on the obvious without being told
explicitly.
The kid was sharp, though, his eyes snapping up to shift between Renji and
Grimmjow.  “What? How long?”
Renji sighed.  “You tell me when he stopped acting right.  And that’s when I
bet this started.”
Ishida gasped, flicking to the next picture, which had been a picture of the
strange looking man at fault for his once best friend’s condition.  He was a
slender man, but tall and imposing.  Ichigo had never been big, but he had been
strong and fast, built like a swimmer.  The next picture was a shot of his
friend staring out the window, looking away from the counter, and he was
crying, but obviously trying not to, his teeth sunk into his bottom lip.
“But…but he was fifteen when he started acting weird…and that guy….”
“Would have been twenty three at the time,” Grimmjow finished.  “And from the
way he looks, something tells me this pedophile didn’t take no for an answer
then.  And if you think I am sure you can pinpoint the exact time this bastard
raped him the first time.”
“My god, we were so stupid,” he whispered, handing the phone back.  “He’d been
getting into fights a lot, then stopped all of a sudden.  Then he was so happy,
and kept saying he had stuff to do after school, and at first we were cool with
it, thinking he’d found a girlfriend or something.  But then when we’d ask what
was going on, he’d snap at us telling us it wasn’t any of our business.”
He reached up and took off his glasses to rub his nose.  “Then this one day
during the summer we ran into him at the park, sitting swinging by himself, and
wouldn’t talk at all.  Just kept to himself and anytime anyone got near him,
he’d move away.    He said he was fine and that he didn’t want us to be around
him.  And that was when he started wearing jeans year round, and long sleeved
shirts…it was right after he turned fifteen.”
The boy looked sick as he stumbled back into a stool behind the counter.  “I…oh
god if we’d paid attention…” he said softly.
“Look kid, you want to help him now or not?” Renji asked suddenly, causing
Ishida’s head to snap up.  “He’s in the hospital until the end of the week.  Go
see him.  Get the friends he had before, go see him.  Make him talk to you.  He
can’t push you away.  Grimm and I will be there tomorrow most the day, that way
if the bastard shows up we can let you know and you can leave before he comes
up there.  You do not want to see this guy.  And I’m afraid of what he’ll do to
Ichigo if he catches someone else talking to him.”
They left the young man to contemplate things and headed back to their
apartment.  Grimmjow’s anger was barely contained at this point as he imagined
everything he wanted to do that bastard.  And he knew several other people who
would be willing to help.  His hand went to his back where a gothic six in
black stood out against white skin.  Sexta would have to revive his position,
and he knew once he did, there was no going back to a normal life again.
He pulled out a case in his closet and set it up on the coffee table as Renji
stood back and watched.  Grimmjow looked up at his friend.  “Look man, I gotta
ask you, you sure you want in this?  There ain’t no turning back once I make
this call.  If you ain’t sure, leave and go out to eat or something.  But being
here, it will draw your ass in, along with that kid, and that’s all there is to
it.  You may never be able to come back here again.”
Renji nodded.  There was something about the set of Grimmjow’s face that made
Renji want to continue with this, whatever it was.  “I ain’t got no ties man,
on with this shit.”
Grimmjow nodded, pulling out several burn phones and set them up in a line,
connecting them to a receiver that auto cycled through the phones when a trace
was detected.  He blessed all that was holy that a genius like Urahara had come
up with this easy to use set up.
A familiar voice answered.  “Urahara’s Candy, can I help you?”
“Urahara.” He said simply.
There were a couple of clicks and buzzes.  “Grimmjow, I’m here, what is it?”
“I’m going to need a favor, and in return, I’ll come back.”
There was a sound like an excited squeal.  “Oh, Grimmy, you make me the
happiest shopkeeper in the world!”
He snorted.  “Don’t call me that, hat’n’clog.  I’m bringing in two under my
wing, and one is the reason for my favor.”
There was a long pause as the cell phones cycled.  “Well, two?  That’s a bit
much, but I can see what Old Man Yama said.  You really want to do this?  You
wanted out so bad, Sexta, after your sister…”
“I know that, bastard.  But I got a kid who’s in a shit load of trouble with a
bastard that I’m pretty sure is under Aizen’s wing,” he said simply.
“Oh, that could be difficult, Grimm, you know what it was like when you
flipped…”
“Urahara I don’t give a shit.  This guy is a fucking pedophile and deserves to
die in the most gruesome way possible for what he’s been doing to this kid for
the last four years.”
“Then go to the regular cops and keep this out of our business…”
“He’s twenty now, not shit they can do anymore, and he’s too scared and wrapped
up in the bastard to ever talk.”
“Send me anything you got, the usual, if you got pictures, anything, I’ll put
one of the boys on it.  You sure you want this?  They want this?”
Grimmjow sighed. “Kid ain’t gonna want it, but his dad is fine with whatever I
do to get him away from this guy.”
“Even when you have to disappear for the heat to die down?”
“Even then, Urahara.  Sent you all the pictures I had, you get them?”
Considering the sharp intake of breath on the other end, he guessed he had. 
“Okay I see what’s going on.  Okay, no more questions, Grimm.  I’ll meet you at
the hospital tomorrow and see what I got by then.”
He clicked the machine off and looked at Renji. “So I guess you’re wonderin’
what the fuck is goin’ on, eh?”
Renji nodded.  Grimmjow leaned back.  “Me and my sis, Nel, used to be part of a
gang headed by this prick on a power trip named Aizen.  There were ten of us in
the top level, of which I was the sixth, and Nel the third.  We each ran
branches of the operation.  Heh, we called each branch an aspect of death
because that’s what we brought about with us.  Destruction was my gig. 
Explosives, guns, anything like that.  One guy ran drugs, one ran sex, one ran
alcohol, one gambling, you get the idea.  But Nel started having second
thoughts, and wanted out.  They beat her within an inch of her life, sending
her into a coma for weeks.  When she woke up she had the mind of a child, and
couldn’t remember anything that happened.  I had to put her in a special
facility because I couldn’t take care of her on my own.  So I wanted out.”
He cleared his throat.  “But I decided to get out with help.  So I went to this
candy shop, met that guy Urahara, works for a gang busting branch of the FBI
that calls themselves the Shinigami.  I know, pretentious, calling themselves
death gods, huh?  Anyway, he extracted me, and I worked for him.  Finally I
just wanted out and that’s how I got here, after they faked my death for
Aizen.  It’s been a few years.  But if I take this up, I can’t ‘die’ again. 
I’ll be full on working to bring the bastard down because you either work for
him, or against him.”
Renji nodded.  “Fuck, if this fucker lets assholes like Ronny run around, I
want to fuckin’ take his head off.”
***** Blue Haze *****
                                 Chapter Three
                                   Blue Haze
Brothers take care of their siblings.  That was just the way it was.  But
sometimes, it was hard to do when size makes a big difference.  A kid can’t do
much to protect his sister and brother from an enraged adult, especially if
that adult is their father.  And for the little boy with the soft baby blue
hair that sat crying again, clutching his little sister and brother in fear,
that was the problem.  They’d hidden in the closet from the monster they called
daddy.  And the little boy named Grimmjow was so scared he couldn’t really
breathe.
His sister Nel was crushed in his grip on the right, and his little brother
Kaien on the left.  Grimmjow was eight and the big brother, so he had to take
care of six year old Nel and five year old Illfordt.  The rumbling and yelling
had died down, his father taking out his drunken rage on their mother, no
doubt.  Grimmjow himself was sporting a bloody lip from being cuffed for
stepping between him and Illfordt.  Grimmjow had no idea why he seemed to want
to hurt the youngest of their number so much.
He petted the crying five-year-old’s soft, blonde hair.  He was trying to keep
him quiet, but the fear was steadily getting to them all.  They’d never seen
their foster father like this.  He was destroying the house, destroying
everything.
Then it was a blur as the doorway snatched open and a thick hand shot out and
grabbed the blonde haired boy by the top of his hair.  He screamed and Grimmjow
pushed Nel behind him and leaped out, trying to grab his little brother out of
the man’s grasp.  Instead a kick connected with his head, sending him flying
into the wall behind him.  He watched as his brother was tossed to the side,
and he didn’t move, didn’t cry, and Grimmjow knew something was wrong. 
Something was very wrong with his little brother, and he couldn’t even get his
feet under him to check on him.
Then he was being lifted by the back of his neck and he was kicking and
screaming. He saw Nel cringing in the closet as he was thrown down to the floor
and the larger man laid into him, punching the small boy soundly.  All he could
do was cry out for his brother, screaming his name until the blackness consumed
his vision and he vaguely heard sirens.
So it began.  House to house, home to home.  Their first foster father was put
away for child neglect, abuse, endangerment and for the death of their brother
and their foster mother that night.  Foster parents paraded before the two
siblings and eventually it was the streets that welcomed them.  A friendly hand
up to a gang came their way, and then they were caught in the life that led to
Nel’s injury.
“Nel,” he said to the tall, buxom green haired woman that bounced around the
small apartment style room.
“Bwudder!” she called and embraced him.  “Nel so happy to see you!  How you
now, Gwimmy?” she said with a grin.
“Doing good, Nelly, I brought you some coloring books and some pictures,” he
said fondly.
She grabbed the bag looking every bit like the five year old child he
remembered before the world turned upside down.  It was so strange, looking at
her now.  A child lost in a woman’s body.  There was no sure answer for her
case.  No one could say whether she would ever regain the memories of her life
or even realize she wasn’t a child.  They said it wasn’t organic, that it had
to do with psychological trauma.  And until she passed it, if she ever did,
this was her life.
“Hey, Nelly, I’m going to be out of town for a while, helping a new friend of
mine, okay?”  he said softly, watching her excitedly coloring a picture of a
princess and a castle in the new book.  “You think you’ll be okay?  I’ll leave
Shinji’s number if you need anything and I’m sure he and Hiyori will come visit
you.”
“Who is Gwimmy’s friend?” she asked curiously. 
He smiled.  “He’s a funny orange haired kid named Ichigo.”
She nodded.  “Does Nel get to meet Itsygo?”
He smiled again.  “Maybe soon, Nelly.  First I gotta help him if that’s okay,”
he said gently, sitting on the chair.
She looked lost in thought.  “Okay, Gwimmy help Itsygo, Nel wait for him to
come visit!”
The rest of the visit went normally, and Grimmjow left word with the nurses and
doctors that he would be unreachable for a while.  He just said it was work
related, and gave them the number of the people that would help if something
happened while he was away.
He wandered then.  So much had happened, and now he thought he was passed it
all.  But something about that boy, battered like that, under the thumb of such
a violent man, it just reminded him of those days.  And he wanted to get
between Ichigo and those hands that threatened to hurt him, just like little
Illfordt. 
He looked up, realizing he had come to the cemetery, and was standing at the
graves of his brother and mother.  He sighed.  Yoshino hadn’t been their real
mother, of course.  She and her husband, Go Koga had adopted the three of them
when they were very little.  And at first, things were good.  Then, work and
alcohol piled up on their foster father, and Yoshino took the brunt of it.  She
did her best, and she was forever their mother, even if she didn’t give birth
to any of them.
“Hey, mom, Illfordt, I know I promised I was out, but this kid, he needs some
help.  And I gotta do it, you understand, right?  I can’t just leave it when I
have the power to help him.  I don’t know if anyone else can, you know?  It’s
my old life coming back to haunt me, and all those things I did.  But if I save
someone now, you think it makes up for all the ones I ignored or couldn’t
save?”
He leaned against the tree he was standing near and thought about his mom’s
open face, loving every one of them, and Illfordt’s childish laughter and
bright eyes.  He just wished the kid had been able to grow up with them.  And
then Nel.  He felt tears pricking at his eyes but ignored them.  He really had
lost everyone.  And yet here he was begging them to forgive him for becoming
what he had tried so hard to get rid of.  Maybe it was because that bastard
Ronny’s attitude reminded him of his foster father.  Maybe it was because he
saw that same desperation in Ichigo’s eyes that he had seen in his own eyes. 
“Shit, I dunno what’s wrong with me.  I tried to get out so much, now this. 
Maybe it’s something I’m just supposed to do, save him even though I couldn’t
save you two?” he thought, still having trouble recalling the fact he was eight
fucking years old and there wasn’t a thing he could have done.  But it didn’t
stop him wondering.  A knife, if he’d found one, or broken glass…
He shook the thoughts away and headed back to the apartment.  He stopped,
picking up some fresh glazed donuts and coffee for Renji and himself and headed
over to the hospital.  Renji would already be there.  He wasn’t sure exactly
why Renji had become embroiled in this mess.  He surely didn’t expect his
younger roommate to jump at the chance to intercede on someone else’s behalf. 
But then, who was he to judge the red head’s motivations?  To the outside, why
did Grimmjow care?  He sighed heavily and made his way to the waiting room
closest to Ichigo’s room to watch.  He smiled, Renji already sitting there
engaged in conversation with the dark haired kid from the tailor shop.
“Hey, kid, didn’t know you’d be here, woulda brought an extra coffee,” he said,
handing Renji one and dropping the bag of donuts.  “But have a donut if you
want.”
The kid nodded, taking one.  “There’s a couple others coming too, here soon I
think.  I hope they come.”
After a few minutes a very short dark haired woman came in with her arms locked
with a taller strawberry blonde with huge breasts.  Grimmjow arched a brow at
the pair, almost opposite in every way.  Both attractive, but in different
ways.  Beside them a very tall young man with darker skin followed.  He watched
as they made their way to Ishida, and fixed Renji and Grimmjow with curious
stares.
“Rukia, these are the two men that came to ask about Ichigo,” Ishida said and
motioned to them.  The small woman stalked over to them and eyed them with a
furious glare.
“What is going on, he didn’t tell us anything, just said to meet him here,” she
said sternly, eyeing them both, her gaze resting a little longer on Renji. 
“I assume you are all Ichigo’s old friends?” Grimmjow said, leaning back and
pulling out his phone, flicking to the pictures from the day before.
She let out a frustrated sigh. “Yeah, until he decided he didn’t need us
anymore.”
Renji frowned and shook his head.  “That’s a shame because it was about then he
needed you more than ever.”
The three new arrivals exchanged looks and Grimmjow handed over the phone. 
“Flick through the first few, you’ll get the idea.”
“Who is this guy?” the strawberry blond said softly.
“Same guy that he’s been ‘seeing’ since he was fourteen or fifteen, fuckin’
pedophile piece of shit,” Renji said, staring at the floor.
“You remember when we found him in the park, when he started pushing us away
and getting into fights?” Ishida said softly.  “When he changed so much we
didn’t know him anymore?”
“D-does, wait, pedophile?” Rukia said.  “You mean, you think he…”
Grimmjow shook his head.  “No, we’re pretty damn sure after the state he was in
when Renji brought him in.”
“Chad, did you even think something was going on?” she asked, turning to the
taller one.
“He just changed, wouldn’t talk.  Not that we talked a lot when we hung out. 
But I asked, and he just left,” the large boy said.
Ishida stood up and put an arm around the girl with long strawberry blonde
hair.  “Orihime, now please, don’t cry,” he said softly.  “We’re here to talk
to him.  We want him away from this now that we know about it.”
Grimmjow nodded.  “You guys see if you can talk to him at all.  I don’t know if
it will help, but we got to convince him that he needs to want to leave the
bastard.  I can help him, but it won’t be easy.”
The four left to go speak with him.  A minute later an eccentric blond man in
Japanese geta and a bucket hat striped white and green clomped into the area. 
He smiled at the two men.  “Sexta, and is this one of your friends?”
“Renji Abarai,” the red head said, standing up to shake the man’s hand.
“Kisuke Urahara, simple candy shop owner,” he said, bowing to him. He turned to
Grimmjow.
“You’re sure about this?  There’s no going back.  That is unless you kill Aizen
this time,” he said sighing. 
Grimmjow nodded. “I gotta do something, I can’t let him suffer.  It wouldn’t
have happened either if we’d taken Aizen down five years ago when I flipped.”
Renji frowned.  “What do you mean?”
Urahara nodded.  “I hate to say it but the man is one of Aizen’s lieutenants. 
So this will get sticky.”
“Who’s this Aizen guy, and what do you mean this would have been avoided?”
Renji asked, frowning.
Urahara sat down beside him and lowered his voice.  “Aizen runs a gang of
sorts, I’m sure that Grimmjow here told you that.  This guy runs a branch.  I
still have my contacts.  Hal is still under and reports back and there are
others.  We tried a major operation on him almost five years ago.  Almost did
it, but he slipped away.  We disrupted distribution for several months, but it
seems that this guy, Aaroniero was brought, and apparently, not long after came
into contact with the kid you’re trying to help.  Aizen allowed him his
dalliance, provided he never got caught with it.”
“That’s some sick and twisted shit,” Renji said softly.
“These people are not out to make friends,” Urahara said softly.
Grimmjow sighed again.  “What are our options?”
“Get him to agree, then we can hide him in the shop’s basement for a while.
You’ll have to go with him, too, otherwise…” Urahara said.
“I’m working on that part,” Grimmjow said, nodding toward the room with the
four people surrounding the bed, all of them talking to him and trying to
convince him that he needed to get out of the situation.  I hope they can have
an…” Grimmjow’s head snapped up, having clear view of the hallway.  “He’s
here.”
Renji nodded, pulling out his phone and sending a text.  “Scatter.”
                            -oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
Ishida wasn’t sure what to expect when he entered the room with the other
three.  Ichigo was laying on his side, still hooked up to the IV and oxygen and
all sorts of monitors.  He didn’t move when they came into the room. 
“Ichigo?” he said quietly.
Ichigo flinched, then turned over slowly to blink at them.  “What?  Why are you
here?  Get out of here!” he said, sitting up, and looking around quickly,
wincing at the pain in his body despite the morphine.  “You can’t be here.”
“Ichigo, please, you have to stop this.  Look at you!” Orihime said, moving
toward him slowly.
Ichigo shook his head.  “I’m not doing anything.  You need to leave.”
Rukia moved up beside him and touched his arm where fading fingerprints could
be seen.  She looked at him and she saw the tears in his eyes for a second. 
“Ichi, please.  What happened?”
Ichigo wanted them to go away, to leave him alone.  “I fell in love, and then
he left, and Ronny was there when he was gone,” he said quietly.  “I needed
someone.”
Chad hadn’t spoke, only stood at the doorway and watched.  Ichigo couldn’t look
at Chad.  How could he?  Chad as strong and wouldn’t have needed help.  He
swallowed and shook his head, but they were all around him.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Ishida asked quietly.
Ichigo swallowed and reached up to adjust the stupid thing in his nose.  “What
was I going to say?  I got mixed up in something bad, and if you stuck around
you’d get hurt?”
“Why would we get hurt?” Orihime asked quietly.
“Because he’s psychotic!” Ichigo said before he clamped his hands over his
mouth, not believing what he’d just said out loud.
Ishida exchanged glances with the others.  “Are you scared to leave him,
Ichigo?”
Ichigo held his hands over his mouth.  Apparently, morphine made him speak up
more.  Great.  He shook his head.
“Ichigo, tell me the truth,” Rukia said reaching out to take his hand gently
away.  He chewed his lip for a moment.
“If he knows about you he’ll use you.  He’ll th-threaten me, to kill you…like
the others…” he whispered and stared at his hands intently.
“The others?” Rukia said.
“He likes eyes,” Ichigo said.  “He has these jars of eyes…”
Ishida’s phone beeped loudly.  He was coming.  All four exited the room
quickly, moving down the hallway so they could see and hear but far enough that
it looked like they were talking outside another patient’s room.
Urahara was still surprised to see the hulking man even if he had seen
pictures.  The man was positively beastly.  And had an air of authority that
could only come from stepping on people below him.  They got up and joined the
four teens at their position, taking some papers and looking like they were
going over them.
“Ronny!” Ichigo’s voice nearly squeaked.
“They do the surgery you supposedly needed?” came the gruff response.
A nervous cough.   “Yeah, this morning early.  Still hard to breathe, but…” 
There was a light gasp.  “Stop, that’s going to bruise…”
“So?  You’re already in the hospital.  And you haven’t said shit about me,
right?”
“No! No, of course not, Ronny, I’d never…ah, please…let go.”
There was a frantic pant and then he started to breath normally again.  “If I
hear otherwise…”
“Why would I do that to you, Ronny?  You’re everything to me.  I can’t live
without you!”
There was a snort.  “Of course you can’t live without me, you’re pathetic and
damn worthless. If it weren’t for me, you’d be whoring on the street corner by
now, wouldn’t you?”
There was pained choke.  “You fuckin’ going to cry again? What’d I tell you?” 
A gasping again.
“Ow…come on…you’re gonna break it…stop…”
“I told you, I’d give you a real thing to cry about, now keep your mouth
fuckin’ shut, and if I see you talkin’ to anyone but nurses and shit, you’ll
pay the price, understand me?  And if that fuckin’ ‘friend’ of yours from work
is ever seen again, I’ll break every one of your fingers, and send him the
bill.  Got it?”
“Yes, just stop…ah! Fuck you broke it, goddamn it, how am I going to explain
this to the doctor?”
“You caught your hand in the rail, you dumb fuck, so fuckin’ clumsy.”
“Yeah.  Clumsy.”
It took everything Renji and Grimmjow both had to not run in there and drag the
scrawny, sick looking bastard out and beat the shit out of him right there. 
But they couldn’t.  Not with his connections.  He put a hand on Ishida who had
looked up.  He glanced back down at the paperwork.  Normally, Grimmjow and
Renji might have worried about being seen twice.  However, it was a hospital,
on a floor and not the ER.  So it was certainly not unusual to see the same
people several times.
After he was gone a moment a nurse went into the room.
“Mr. Kurosaki!  What happened to your hand?” she asked alarmed.
“Just…I was trying to move…got it stuck in the rail…” he stammered.
The nurse sighed deeply.  “Come on, get in the wheel chair, we’ll have to see
if you broke it or just sprained it…”
They all watched as he was wheeled out.  To be so close, and to be unable to
stop it.  And of course the difficult thing was the fact how unfazed by the
pain he had been.
***** Red as Blood *****
                                        
Sometimes life works in weird ways.  So it was that a young red head with
tribal tattoos was working as a barista his first year at school.  He watched
the people come and go, and he actually enjoyed the job.  College could be a
bore, but he’d promised his foster mother that he’d do it, and come out with a
degree in the end.  He couldn’t disappoint her.  But even with school and food
paid for, he had to do something with his free time so he decided to combine
the need and his love of coffee into one nice package and work at a coffee
shop.  It was the first time he saw her.  She was sitting alone, over in the
corner, a forlorn look on her face, and sipping a caramel macchiato.  So when
she came the next week, he’d spoken, and she was shy, but smiled at him.
Eventually, they had casual conversation.  She worked at a nearby office
building as secretary, and she was twenty one years old, two years older than
he was.  But she was married, but she never talked of her husband.  Months went
by, their casual conversations, and he came to enjoy her.  She was cute, blonde
hair, blue eyes, and a pert mouth.  Her name was Ashley Termon.  She’d never
gone to college, but her husband found her the job.  She was fascinated by his
tattoo work, and even more enamored of him when he told her he did most of them
himself.  Soon, he took his breaks when she came in, enjoying talking to her
about his major, criminal justice, and listening her dream about far off places
like England, Africa, and Australia.
He really didn’t pay much attention to her dress, it was always cool in the
shop, but one particularly hot day he asked why she wore sweaters all the
time.  She smiled and said it was because the office was always so cold.  He
waved it off until one day she was wearing sunglasses, and when he teased her
and pulled them off, she had a black eye.  He’d asked her what had happened, to
which she said she’d fallen into her doorknob, since she was so very clumsy. 
That was the beginning of the clumsiness.  Eventually, over the next year,
she’d had a broken arm, a sprained ankle, and another black eye.  He was
thinking it odd such a seemingly dexterous girl could be so clumsy, he’d only
ever seen her move with grace and ease.  He shook it off, but soon it got to be
too much.  Her episodes of clumsiness were more and more frequent, and he had a
talk about it with one of his instructors.  Spousal abuse was the only answer,
so he decided to confront her about it.
She had denied it, but little by little, he wore down her defenses and she told
him everything.  Her husband was ten years older than her, and he had a
stressful job.  They had found out that he was infertile, so his chances of
having children by anyone were around zero percent.  And he was taking out all
the stress and strain on her.  She told Renji that she deserved what happened
because she knew what would set him off.  And so began the excuses.  And
slowly, he wore her down enough to meet with his instructor.
The day after, she didn’t come to the shop.  He met with his instructor who
said she’d taken the offer and had gone to a women’s facility.  Renji was sad
that he wouldn’t get to see her, but he wasn’t sorry in the least.  He was
relieved, and things were good for a month until she came back.
He’d asked her what happened and she said she was going away, and came to wish
him farewell.  She kissed his forehead and was gone.  He was curious but he
knew she was safe.  At least that’s what he had thought. 
He headed home and found the door open.  It had been jimmied, and considering
his area he called the police before entering the room.  He knew that if
someone was robbing his apartment, it was best to let the cops deal with it, so
he waited patiently at the front of the building and told them he hadn’t
touched the door even.  They thanked him, asking how he knew to call them
before entering.  He laughed and told them he’d been robbed about a year
before, and he’d messed up prints on the doorway without realizing what he was
doing, and the thief was never caught.  He told them he’d rather get his stuff
back this time if he was being robbed again.
They nodded and then entered the apartment.  After almost fifteen minutes, he
got worried and called to them.  They told him to go wait for their backup.  He
went downstairs to see another two cars pull up and to his surprise he was
cuffed and taken to a car, read his rights.  He didn’t say anything, not really
knowing what was going on.  He was taken down and sat in one of the cold rooms
for a very long time.
Finally a detective came in with a folder and asked him how he knew Ashley.  He
was surprised, and told him about their relationship, if one could call it
that.  He put a picture out of her, but she looked pale, wrong.  He frowned and
looked up, asking the question he hated to ask.  He sighed and laid down
several more photos and Renji nearly fell back out of his chair, and shot
backward into the wall behind him, panting, hands over his mouth as he looked
at the detective.
She was dead.  Her body mutilated, her face the only thing untouched, and she
was in his bed, in his apartment, laid out like some sort of sick present when
he came home.  He couldn’t find his voice, the world swimming sickly as he
asked who did it, who would do such a thing, and why was she in his place of
all places…
Mercifully, he took away the gruesome pictures, and Renji returned to his seat
and answered every question the detective had.  He had his clothes taken, his
skin and hair brushed out, and nails cleaned.  He was numb, though.  How could
this happen to such a nice girl?
Eventually he was released later, with instructions to stay in town and not go
back to his apartment since it was a crime scene.  He stayed with his friend
Shinji, and before long, he was cleared of charges.  Her husband had murdered
her, thinking that Renji was her boyfriend and the one who made her leave.  He
had been half right, but she’d never been more than a friend, a dear one, and
one he wouldn’t have minded having as more than a friend, but she was married. 
And Renji wasn’t that way.
He’d been messy, and there had been a couple bloody fingerprints located, and
with the fact that there was no way Renji could have committed the murder while
at work, and without leaving a hint of evidence, he was completely cleared, and
the man was jailed for manslaughter.  Renji quit the job with the coffee shop,
unable to even think of making another cup in his lifetime.  Shinji introduced
him to Grimmjow, who was looking for a roommate, and they hit it off.
Now he sat in the dank hospital waiting room, sipping hot tea.  Grimmjow was
dragging him into something, something seriously dangerous.  He knew it wasn’t
going to be easy, but it was going to be up to him at least to save someone. 
He wouldn’t see the blood again, the blood of a person strong enough to stay,
but too scared to leave.
“Ren, whatcha thinkin’ on?” Grimmjow said, flopping down beside him.
He shook his head.  “Ah, just the past.  You know what a bitch she can be,
sneaking up when ya don’t want her.”
Grimmjow nodded, patting him on the back.  “Ain’t that the truth?  Ready to see
if that strawberry brat will listen to reason?”
Renji grinned at the name.  “Yeah, let’s see, indeed.”
It was after visiting hours, and no one else was on the floor.  After a long
discussion with his doctor, though, it was agreed that someone should stay with
him. They moved silently into the room and took up positions on either side of
him, Renji left, and Grimmjow right. 
“Wake up,” Renji said, shaking the boy.
“Wha?” he asked, bleary eyed and looking back and forth between them.  “What do
you guys want, you shouldn’t be here…”
“Fuck that, I know what the fuck is going on, and there is no way you are
fucking going to be leaving this goddamned hospital with that bastard,”
Grimmjow said, his tone leaving no room for discussion.
Ichigo’s mouth opened to protest, but he looked between the two of them and
sighed.  Between this and his encounter with his friends from school, he was
beyond exhausted.  “I don’t want you to get hurt,” he muttered, picking at the
bandage around his broken left index finger.  “Ronny, he’s scary and he’ll hurt
the people I love, he’s some big shot in this gang…and he’s got connections…”
“Fuck his connections, and fuck Aizen, the bastard he’s working for,” Grimmjow
said with a snarl, causing the boy to look up at him in shock.  “Yes, I fuckin’
know Aizen, used to work for the bastard and now we’re going to fuckin’ bring
him down, and you’re going to help us so both of us can be free.”
Ichigo’s mouth worked but no sound would emerge.  “But…why?” he said softly. 
“Why would either of you care about me?  I dragged you into this mess and I
shouldn’t have done it, but I did and now…”
Renji snorted.  “Do we need a fuckin’ reason to help someone who needs it? 
Look, kid, I’ve watched you deal with this without a word since I’ve been
working with you.  Never a wince, never a single thing out of place until you
called me.  You shouldn’t have to do this.  And maybe…maybe for me there are
other reasons, but they’re my own.  So just accept it already,” he said
finally.
“What did your friends have to say earlier?” Grimmjow asked, looking him over.
He swallowed.  “They wanted to hear what happened, and I…I didn’t know what to
tell them.  I just…I just told them that I fell in love with a guy that helped
me out with some fights, and when he was gone, Ronny helped me.  And
then…things happened,”  he sighed looking away.
“I met this college kid named Kaien,” he said, sighing.  “He helped me when I
got jumped and we went out a lot.  After school was done, we’d go out to have
dinner.  And he was so nice, taking me to these wonderful places I’d never
dreamed I’d get to see.  It was really fun and I loved it.  Then he just
disappeared.  And I kept going to the coffee shop, and one day I went and I
thought he was there.  It wasn’t him, it was Ronny.  He told me he was Kaien’s
brother and he was helping family.  I thought it was true, and he started to
spend time with me, and I knew smething was wrong, but it was Kaien’s brother…”
Ichigo swallowed.  “Then, one night, we went out and I got sick one night and
then…I woke up the next morning in his bed…and he said that…that he’d hurt my
sisters if I said anything to anyone about what happened.  And I didn’t
remember it, really, but I hurt so much I was crying and that’s the first time
he hit me, because he doesn’t like crying,” he said softly, still picking at
the small cast on his finger.  “I just…I didn’t want to see my sisters get hurt
so I was gonna talk to someone but when I did…this friend of mine I had made
recently, he ended up d-disappearing.   Ronny…he showed me the jars then.  They
had eyes in them.  And…and Kaien’s eyes were in one of them.  He’s got so
many…and said that he’d put my sisters’ eyes in a jar if I ever left him…”
“So I can’t leave him, no matter what, he’ll…”
Grimmjow reached out and grabbed his hand, and shook his head.  “No, fuck
that.  You’re leaving tomorrow, with us.  And that’s what is going to happen. 
Your dad, your sisters, and friends will be there when we get there, and we’re
going to figure out what to do.  And that’s all there is.  You won’t talk to
the cops, and that’s fine.  They won’t do shit about this anyway.  But us,
that’s another matter.”
Ichigo looked between them, a pained expression on his face.  “But…but…how…”
“Shut up, strawberry.  Go to sleep,” Grimmjow said with a shake of his head.
Ichigo didn’t know how to react.  So he laid back and did just that.  His brain
was in overload mode anyway.
The next morning, he signed off on all his paperwork, and before seven am he
was wheeled down to the parking garage entrance, and ushered into a red car he
vaguely remembered riding in to the hospital.  Before long he was riding
another elevator, leaning heavily on Grimmjow.  He was still slightly doped up
on morphine, but the pain in his side was coming back again.  He was led to the
couch and sighed as the pressure was off his ribcage.  He thanked them
profusely, but still worried as he heard his phone buzz repeatedly.  They
refused to give it to him, though; after all there was only one person who
would text him.
Grimmjow and Renji sat at the table, listening to the buzz every five minutes
it seemed until they couldn’t stand it.  Grimmjow picked up the phone, swiped
across it and saw the messages were from the same contact, Ron.  He grimaced
and opened it.
Ron: The fuck are you?  They checked you out this morning.
Ron: If you don’t fuckin’ answer me you pathetic piece of shit, I’m going to
rip out your lung this time instead of puncturing it.
Ron: If you don’t answer, I’ll head to see your sisters.  What do you think
they’d think about me?
Grimmjow glanced at Renji, who looked up as the bell rang.  Good thing, too. 
He looked up and saw Isshin enter quietly, two girls, one dark haired one brown
haired, following.  Grimmjow got up and grabbed Isshin and pulled him away.
“You’re going to have to go in hiding with your girls.  This bastard has been
using them as a threat to keep Ichigo from going to anyone,” he said, flipping
open the text message conversation that was still buzzing.  “I think you should
call the cops and have them go to your house.”
He left and returned to the table, aghast at the tirade of cursing and put
downs that this man was putting into Ichigo’s head.  He scanned back through
the text history and found much the same abuse.  A theme emerged at how he was
keeping a hold on the kid.
The biggest was step out of line; I’ll hurt your sisters.  Next to that was
enforcing how pathetically weak he was, and how he was nothing without him
there to help him.  A couple stood out harshly.
Me: I met a guy today that guessed what my name meant!
Ron: Strawberry?  Seriously that isn’t a huge guess, dumb ass.
Me: No, he who protects, remember, that’s what pop meant when he named me.
Ron: You can’t protect yourself.  Remember how well that went over when you
tried to protect your mom, dumb ass?
Me: Sorry, you’re right.
Grimmjow shook his head, wondering how many times that got thrown in his face
over the last few years.
Me: Haha, a girl was trying to ask me on a date at work today!  It was funny,
but I told her that I was taken.  She wasn’t happy.
Ron: Why the fuck would anyone want you on a date?
Me: Uh, she just said I was cute.
Ron: Yeah, then she’d find out how damaged and screwed up I’ve made you, and
she’d fuckin’ run.  You belong to me, and I’ve made sure of that, remember
that.
Me: I know, I just thought it was funny.
Ron: Funny because no one else would ever want you.
Grimmjow put the phone down and heard a soft snore, knowing he’d fallen
asleep.  He looked up to see the two girls talking softly to Renji, still near
the door, and finally Isshin came back.  He sat down with a tired expression.
“Taken care of.  The girls and I are going to go on an impromptu vacation. 
Maybe by the time a month is up, this will be better.  I think we’re just going
to leave now, before he wakes up.  Might be for the best,” he said.
All three went to see him, sleeping like that, and then left, the brown haired
girl weeping as she left.  Grimmjow was left sitting across the table from
Renji, who was now perusing the text messages at length.  He looked up and
shook his head at Grimmjow. 
“This guy is a sick fuck.  He repeats things about eyes all the time.  And
gaslights a lot, like a ton.  He’ll tell Ichigo something and a day or two
later convince Ichigo he never said it or said something else,” Renji said as
he scanned it.  “Like, he’s obsessed with eyes.  This is creepy as fuck, Grimm,
like seriously.  Is this guy some sort of serial killer?  I thought you said he
worked for that Aizen guy?”
Grimmjow shook his head.  “I’m not sure exactly what is going on with the
eyeballs thing.  I know he’s some sort of Enforcer, so he’s one Aizen’s
killers.  Apparently, he does it because he likes to, not just because he’s
ordered to do it.  That makes it so much worse.  But why keep Ichigo under his
thumb?”
Renji shook his head.  “There’s got to be some connection.  Didn’t Ichigo say
his mother died when he was like nine or something?”
“Yeah,” Grimmjow said nodding in thought. 
                            -oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
It wasn’t a nightmare, instead one of his most pleasant memories.  It was often
jumbled in his head though.  Either way, he enjoyed it so to remember the
past.  His fury at losing his property was great, so his mind supplied him with
his acquisition of him instead.
The boy had grabbed his hand, trying to keep him from shooting his mother. 
Ronny had been amused at the balls of such a young kid, but then the gun went
off and the boy looked up at Ronny with wide, brown eyes.  Those eyes.  Ronny
was supposed to finish the boy too, that’s what Aizen had said.  But he
couldn’t.  He stared through the mask at the eyes, bright orange hair falling
into their clear brown depths, and he had to have them.  He had to do more than
have them, he had to own them.  He’d run then, unsure of what to do as the rain
drowned out the sounds of the boy sobbing behind him.  Ronny had just started
working for Aizen, barely seventeen himself.  He’d been punished, but he didn’t
regret letting the kid live.  Those eyes…
A few years later, he’d been given a target, Kaien Shiba, young kid going to
school that had the really bad luck to be the brother to one of Aizen’s
enemies, Kukaku Shiba.  He was watching him, waiting for the right moment. 
Ronny realized he wanted what this son of a bitch had.  He was happy, he had
friend, he was handsome and charismatic…and he had him.  The first time he saw
the kid that Kaien was romancing, he thought it was a coincidence.  Surly
another person had that obnoxiously colored hair.  But then, he turned and
looked at Ronny, and Ronny knew it was the same kid.  A few years older, but
the same kid.  Not only did his mark have the perfect life, he had his perfect
pair of eyes.  A plan formed and it was perfect.  Just perfect.
Kaien was easy.  He was trusting, so when he saw a man having trouble fixing a
flat on the road between school and home, he stopped.  He didn’t think about
the fact that the only people on this road should be the people that lived on
it, and didn’t think it strange at all to help someone.  Kaien pulled over and
kneeled to look over the flat.  Instead of handing him the tire iron, Ronny
slammed it into the back of his head.
Hours later, Kaien woke up on a table, strapped down and gagged.  Ronny leaned
over him and smiled at him, his front teeth already discolored from his meth
habit. 
“You have what I want,” Ronny said, and Kaien’s brows meshed together in
confusion.  Ronny dug around in his bag and then turned back. “I was just
supposed to kill you, because your sister is a real pain in Aizen’s ass.  I was
supposed to cut off a finger and ship it to her.  I’ll do that still.  But you
have something that belongs to me.”
Kaien struggled with the bonds and shook his head.  “You have the boy with the
beautiful brown eyes.  He’s mine.  He became mine the day I shot his mother.”
Kaien’s eyes went wide.  Ronny nodded, holding up a clear, ornate looking jar
filled with something clear.  “I like your eyes too.  So I think I’ll keep
them.  Aizen doesn’t care what happens to the rest of you; after all, he just
wants your finger as proof you’re dead.  The rest of you, well, I’m planning to
have a little fun before you die.”
Kaien struggled again, but his head was fastened down to the table tightly as
Ronny leaned over and pulled his eyelid open and smiled.  “Yes, I’ll do this
first.  Don’t want them to be damaged…”  He turned and pulled out a thing that
looked like a wire and slipped it into place on each Kaien’s eyes, keeping it
open wide.  He smiled.  “It’s such a simple device, called an eye speculum. 
Believe it or not, I fell so in love with that boy’s eyes, I went to
ophthalmologist’s school.  Just long enough to get the basics down for what I
had in mind, mind you.  I never wanted to practice.  Cutting open the eyes was
fun though, made me certain that they were something I was interested in…” he
said, a monologue as he rummaged in his bag again.  “Now where is it…” he
muttered again.  He came back into Kaien’s forced few with a handful of
instruments.  “Now, this is called enucleation of the eye.  I’m going to cut
all the muscles around it, then snip the nerve after I pop it out of your eye
socket.  The eye should come out cleanly, preserving its beauty.  Normally, an
implant is put in when this is done.  You’ll not have to worry about that.”
Kaien screamed, but the muffled sounds wouldn’t be heard by anyone.  Finally,
blinded, thankfully, he wanted to die, but Ronny wanted to practice some other
techniques…  Kaien passed out several times before the blood loss eventually
let him die. 
The mutilated body was unrecognizable when Ronny was done.  He held up the
crystal clear container and smiled, sitting it down and putting the seal on the
top and wrapping a light blue ribbon around it.  Inside, the pristine pair of
turquoise eyes floated.  Yes, yes, this was perfect.  He picked up the finger
he’d severed after he removed the eyes and put it in the small box for his
boss.  He glanced back at the body on the table.  Such a mess, he thought.  He
shrugged and poured the chemicals into the large bath and started tossing
pieces of the body into the solution.  Using an abandoned morgue for this was
ideal…
Aaroniero woke up with a smile despite the fact he’d lost his precious boy. 
He’d get him back.  Perhaps not all of him, but he’d at least have his eyes. 
He smirked and grabbed the baggie and pipe from the bed.  He had a meeting with
Aizen later.
***** Changing *****
Chapter Notes
     Luna is property of SapphireTou, used with permission.
                                        
“Man, what the fuck got your ass in a kink?” asked the tall raven haired man.
“Fuck off, Nnoitra,” Aaroniero growled, refusing to even glance at the overly
tall freak beside him in the elevator.  He had an extreme distaste of the head
of the human trafficking branch of the Espada. 
The taller man snorted and looked away as the elevator hit the penthouse.  They
exited and wandered into the luxurious large apartment to the conference room
where Aizen was waiting for them.  Around the table were ten seats, each
complete with file folders for the meeting that was about to commence. 
Aaroniero took his seat, thumbing through the stupid folder.  His mind was
definitely not in the mood for such annoying things today.  Sōsuke Aizen ran
the entire operation with an iron grip, and woe to any that stepped out of
line, as Grimmjow and Nel had found out.
Aaroniero looked around spotting Barragan, head of the underground gambling
scene.  He was probably the best known bookie in the area.  Tier Harribel, a
lovely and upstanding lady, ran the above board businesses.  She was squeaky
clean and she kept the hotels, laundromats, and delis running.  The pale and
green eyed Ulquiorra came in and took his place and Aaroniero couldn’t help
staring.  He wanted his eyes.  They were beautiful and vivid green.  He snorted
and looked down at the folder as he heard Nnoitra come in and sit down, and
then the booming of Yammy’s voice.  Yammy rand the fighting rings.
Grimmjow’s seat had been taken by one of his underlings, a pyromaniac name Di
Roy Rinker who was a complete idiot.  Aaroniero had little use for his ugly
eyes.  Mayuri was ignoring everyone, scribbling away in his pad, as usual; the
head of the research company called the Seireitei never paid much attention,
only concerned with Aizen’s funding of his less than legal research. 
Finally, Aizen himself entered, taking one of the two seats at the head of the
table.  The other remained empty.  He cleared his throat and received reports
from each of the heads.  It was a usual monthly meeting but Aaroniero didn’t
pay attention to most of it.  Finally, he gave his terse report, and waited for
the whole thing to be done.  After Aizen finished final instructions and left,
Aaroniero stormed out before the rest. 
Nnoitra looked after him.  “The fuck is wrong with him?” he muttered.
Ulquiorra snorted beside him, looking at the closed door. “I heard his boytoy
ran away.”
Nnoitra frowned, Harribel coming up beside them.  “Boytoy?” she asked with a
frown.
By now, Yammy came up.  “Tier, seriously, you haven’t heard him talk about it? 
He found this kid when he first moved here few years ago, took a shine to him,
then well took a shine to him,” he said and sauntered off.
She looked at the remaining two for a further explanation.  Nnoitra sighed. 
“When he says kid, he means kid.  The fucker was shaggin’ him before he was
sixteen, nothing I ain’t seen, but I don’t go for the underage shit,” he said,
rubbing his blind eye under the bandana he wore.  “Especially since from the
way he boasted, it wasn’t exactly the kid’s idea.”
Harribel frowned deeper.  “What the hell?  You’re telling me he…”
Ulquiorra shook his head.  “Guess the kid finally got tired of being used as a
punching bag for the bastard,” he muttered.  “Kid moved in with him a few years
ago.  Ronny’s taken to bragging a great deal about how good he is at no one
being the wiser of him beating the hell out of him on a regular basis.”
Harribel was about to speak and Mayuri came up, face fixed in a creepy grin. 
“Nah, what I heard was he ended up getting too rough and he ended up in the
hospital with a punctured lung, and somehow he disappeared before he was
supposed to be released.  So Aaroniero is pissed at losing his little
plaything.  I’m betting some doctor or nurse finally got the truth outta him.”
Harribel shook her head.  “And Aizen allowed this?  The chances he’s taking of
getting noticed by the cops, sleeping with an underage kid…and then putting him
in the hospital?”
“Believe me, the kid wasn’t going anywhere.  Ronny seemed to think he had an
iron clad hold over the brat somehow, but I guess it ain’t workin’ anymore,”
Nnoitra said with a grin.  “I never liked that asshole.  He’s a creepy bastard,
and always staring at people’s eyes and commenting on them.  Hope he fucks up
and Aizen replaces his ass.”
Harribel left the meeting feeling much more uneasy than she had gone into it
feeling.  She got to the car and her phone buzzed.
“Ms. Harribel?” the voice on the other end queried.
“Abarai,” she said smiling, the image of the redhead that worked at Las Noches
for her coming to mind.  “What can I help you with?”
“Ah, I’m sorry to ask this, Ms. Harribel, but I was wondering if I could take a
week or so off.  Some…family issues have come up.  And I also need to ask the
same for Ichigo Kurosaki,” he said, and she could tell his voice was tight.
“I think you both deserve some time off if you need it, but why are you calling
for Kurosaki, too?  Shouldn’t he call for himself?” she asked.
“Well, he just got outta the hospital, and he’s a cousin, and I’m sorta takin’
care of him for his dad, and he really needs someone all the time right now.”
“That’s too bad, Abarai, what happened?” She really liked the kid.  He’d been
working at the hotel since he was sixteen.  Good kid, reliable, if a little
weird.  He never really spent time with anyone.  She was curious how he was
related to Abarai all of a sudden; they’d never done more at work than say
passing hellos and the occasional conversation when the business was slow.
“Ah, he had a punctured lung, sucks, but I gotta watch out for him until it
heals all the way,” he said, and Harribel’s stomach dropped.  What were the
chances that Ronny’s missing boyfriend and her employee had the same injury at
the same time?
“Abarai…okay.  Just…call me and let me know when you can come back,” she said,
ending the conversation as quickly as she could and staring at the phone.
The pieces were fitting together in her mind as she recalled the orange haired
kid.  He just turned twenty this year, and she’d hired him as soon as he turned
sixteen after getting a recommendation from…  She blinked.  The recommendation
had been from Ronny. He claimed at the time he was a down on his luck kid he
was helping out.  That in itself was odd, but the kid had confirmed, saying his
parents had kicked him out and Ronny was helping him get on his feet on his
own. How could she have missed this?  She knew the kid was odd, never talking
to anyone unless he was made to do so, always wearing long sleeves and pants no
matter the weather, and she recalled how he always lowered his eyes whenever he
spoke to anyone for more than a word or two.  She had completely missed what
was happening under her nose.
Granted, she wasn’t always in the hotel.  She was the general manager, but the
place was run by her staff, and things there rarely required her presence.  The
same could be said for all the businesses she managed for Aizen.  She insisted
on doing the hiring and firing for all of them, though.  If nothing else, she
insisted on perusing the files and giving her opinion to the human resources
department about who would fit the positions.  So technically, she maybe saw
him once a week, and sometimes less than that.  But still. 
In her thoughts she had reached her car, a small blue Prius.  She opened the
glove compartment and retrieved a plain phone.  She plugged it in and dialed
the only number in the contacts.
“Urahara’s Candy!” came the cheerful response.
“Are you moving again?” she asked.
There were a series of clicks.  “Hal, good to hear from you.  You have news?”
“I think there might be trouble with the Enforcer,” she said, navigating her
car smoothly as she spoke.
“Ah, waves have come your direction, my dear? Yes, Sexta is involved with this
one.”
“And I’m involved too, now.”
“Why is that, dear Hal?” he asked, a little trepidation sneaking into his
voice.
“Because I’m pretty sure that Ronny’s pissed over his toy disappearing, and I
just got a call from one of my hotel boys saying he needed a week off to care
for a cousin.  The cousin who he never had until today, and happens to be in
the same condition as Ronny’s toy,” she said, biting back a more severe
retort.  She hated the secretive way the bastard spoke sometimes.
“Ah, well, that is unexpected.  Can you handle things for now?”
“Until Ronny comes beating down my door wanting answers about where he is.  I
can divert him with the excuse he called in for a short time, but I’m not sure
how long that will work.”
“I’ll let Sexta know.  Hal, he’s ready to pull the whole operation to its knees
this time.  Something about this kid has him riled up like never before.  It’s
like with Nel, only worse,” Urahara said thoughtfully.
“He’s never gotten over what Aizen did to her, and I doubt he will.  But I’ll
contact Mayuri, and we’ll start our operations.”
“I’ll be in contact.”
The phone clicked off as she pulled into the convenience store.  She opened the
back and pulled the SIM and tossed the phone in the dumpster as she went in to
buy a new burn phone.  She’d been in this for so long now, was it possible for
her to finish things with that bastard?  She chewed her lip and thought of Nel,
her once superior.  She nodded.  She could do this.  She had to do this.  Maybe
if she did this, brought things around, Nel could recover.  And she’d have the
one person she loved more than life itself back.
                            -oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
There was a groan from the couch and a muttered curse.  Grimmjow leaned over
the back looking down at the orangette who was scowling at his hand.
“What’s up, strawberry?” he asked.
“My hand hurts.  My side hurts.  My everything hurts,” he muttered, flopping
back onto the couch.
“Yeah, well, seems like you really don’t complain as much as you should,” the
bluenette observed.
Ichigo gave him a pained smile.  “Yeah, well with Ronny, complaining got me
something else to deal with.  So I leaned really fast not to do that…oh no!”
Grimmjow arched a brow at him. “My sisters, what...where…he’s going to go after
them…”
“Settle the fuck down, strawberry.  They’re fine.  We got them off on a nice
little month long vacation while we get this mess sorted out, okay?” he watched
as he relaxed a little.
“Can I have my phone?” he asked timidly.
Grimmjow snorted.  “Fuck no.  Renji and I both read through the shit he’s
trying to put in your head.  No fuckin’ way.”
Renji came around now, flopping on the couch at Ichigo’s feet.  “That’s for
damn sure.  I swear to fuckin’ god and all that is holy, if I ever see that
fucker his face is going to come to an end at my fist.”
Ichigo turned away, face blushing a nice pink.  Grimmjow smiled at the sight. 
“Whatsamatta Strawberry?” he cooed.  “You’re turning as red as your name.”
Ichigo fixed him with a scowl.  “I just…no one…” he stopped and sighed deeply. 
“I’m not used to nice words.  I don’t deserve them at all…”
Grimmjow frowned.  “Look, I know the story.  Your dad told me about the shit
that happened and how your mom got killed when you were young, so you shut the
fuck up and listen to me right now, Strawberry.” 
Grimmjow was rewarded with an open mouthed gaping expression, eyes wide and
shocked.   Renji had reached out and placed a hand on Ichigo’s leg, a grin
tugging at his lips.  Grimmjow continued, eyes blazing and angry.
“You were a fuckin’ kid.  You weren’t supposed to protect shit; you were
supposed to be protected.  Your mom was fuckin’ proud of you for what you did,
and you know why?  You did your best to try and save both your lives.  And you
saved the life she most wanted to save, your stupid life, you stupid brat. 
She’d be so upset to see what you’re doing to yourself still, six years later. 
Letting that fucker beat the shit out of you and control you because you let
him convince you that he was right.  But even that, fuck, that isn’t your
fault.  So this shit ends right here,” he said, coming around and sitting on
the coffee table.  Ichigo couldn’t take his eyes off him.
“This bastard is just that, a royal bastard.  I got some information on his
shitty ass.  They call him, Ai Dorobō, the Eye Thief.  He’s been working for
Aizen since he was sixteen as a hit man.  I remember him in passing when I was
there, but he wasn’t in power then.  His family was into some fucked up shit,
all of them obsessed with their family name.  Some shit about a Portuguese
royal family.  They used to sell drugs, and that’s how Aizen knew the little
bastard and used him.  When his parents both died in his high school days,
Aizen took him in and fostered his…insanity.  He likes to kill people, and now
when he kills, he keeps the eyes,” Grimmjow stopped when he noted Ichigo
looking away.
“He’s psychopathic, Ichigo.  He knew how to manipulate a kid like you were, and
he got you in his fuckin’ web of lies and threats and you were stuck.  Well
fuck that.  You are here now, and I ain’t about to let the bastard get ‘hold of
you again.  He’s a worthless piece of shit, and before this is done, I’m going
to slit his fucking throat and watch him bleed into the gutters,” he said,
leaning closer as he spoke.
Ichigo didn’t know how to react.  He was scared, but at the same time he
wasn’t.  Ronny was furious all the time, but this was different.  This was
something that set a fire in his stomach and made his head dizzy to hear
someone talk like this.  And he just was lost at what to think.  So many years
of being told how worthless and useless and unwanted he was had left him…empty.
Then, Grimmjow’s hand was on his face and pulling him into a kiss, a gentle
chaste kiss, lips barely brushing his own with slight pressure, and with
kindness he’d never felt before.  His eyes widened at the feeling and then he
simply melted into it, not really noticing that Renji had moved to sit beside
Grimmjow and was watching intently.  Ichigo’s hand moved on their own, wrapping
around that soft blue hair, as he gasped, Grimmjow’s tongue flicking gently
into the opening, and finding no resistance, slipping in and caressing his own
tongue.  He felt himself falling forward, and simply dying to feel more of
these…gentle touches…gentle things…he didn’t know existed.  Kisses were
bruising and painful, leaving his lips and tongue aching afterward, mostly
bleeding as well, not this.  This…this was bliss.
Grimmjow pulled back, only because the need of breath had found his lungs
beginning to burn and stared at the man before him.  Ichigo’s eyes were glassy
and dilated wide and his breath was fast.  Then, to his even greater surprise,
Renji gripped his chin and pulled him into another kiss, which shocked him even
more than Grimmjow.  Renji was someone he’d known for so long, someone he’d
seen daily, someone who…liked girls…
That thought was shattered as his slightly more impassioned kiss took hold of
him and Ichigo found his body leaning against someone warm, and realized
Grimmjow had moved to sit behind him, holding him up as Renji had sat down on
the couch beside him, holding both hands on his face and delving deeper into
his mouth, setting a fire in his stomach, and his eyes finally were slipping
closed and there was no doubt that this was not Ronny.  This was…divine. 
Finally, the redhead pulled away and stared into his eyes while he panted
equally.
“Wha…what was that for?” Ichigo panted.
Behind him, Grimmjow wrapped his arms around his chest.  “Because you needed
it, you idiot strawberry.  You’ve never had a real kiss, and from now on, I
claim your first kiss.”
Renji grinned.  “And I claim the second.  And no way will that be the last.  I
just went and gave up everything and so did Grimmjow.  By the time we’re done,
we may never see this town again, but I’ll be damned if we let go now that we
have you.”
“But why, I…I don’t even know you…either of you…that well…why would you…but…”
he stammered, looking between them.
Grimmjow smirked.  “Well, you remind me of someone who’s gone, for one, but for
another, there’s just somethin’ about you.”
“And I’ve always thought you were cute,” Renji said with a smirk.  “Why do you
think I kept asking to give you a ride and to go out to the bar and the club?”
“But…you like girls!” he stammered.
Renji shrugged.  “So?  I like guys too. That a problem?”
Ichigo gaped and shook his head, then just leaned back into the warm arms
around him.  He was dreaming.  He had to be dreaming.  There was no way this
could be real…
                            -oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
Aaroniero had spent some time in the bar after the meeting before heading home
to an empty apartment.  He hadn’t thought he would miss the fucking brat but he
did.  He snorted as he punched the code to get in and nearly ran into the land
lady as he stormed through the lobby.
“Mr. Arruruerie,” the petite woman said, looking up at him.
Aaroniero hated his name, which was why he never used it.  “Ms. Luna,” he said,
nodding.
“Is everything alright, I haven’t seen your partner in the building the last
few days…” she said, running a hand over her pale blonde hair and watching
Aaroniero curiously.
He smiled at her.  “Ah, went to visit his family out of town for a while, Ms.
Luna,” he said.
He thought she had lovely eyes, a greenish hazel color.  However, he already
had a pair that color and he didn’t need another set.  She stared at him for a
long moment.  “Yes, well, please ensure the rent arrives on time this month,
Mr. Arruruerie.  You were almost a week late last month,” she said as she went
past him.  He snarled and headed to the elevator.
Luna stopped and watched as he left.  She knew something was wrong.  The young
man was never gone over night, which was in itself strange.  She knew it wasn’t
a conventional relationship, he was several years older than his partner, but
she didn’t like to meddle.  However, lately, she had noticed that Aaroniero was
smelling of something familiar.  She knew the look of a meth user, the hollow
cheeks, the changes in skin color, the rotting teeth, and he had a chemical
smell about him all the time.  She knew he wasn’t making it in the apartment,
she’d run surprise inspections for that a time or two.  She sighed and went to
her apartment to check in on her two charges.  Something was going on in her
building and she needed to know what it was.
***** The Interconnectedness Factor *****
 
                                        
Luna Tristao had owned the building, 20 Himawari, for about years, but to be
honest, it was only one of the things that kept her busy in her life.  Often
nights and weekends she could be found teaching Salsa dancing down at the
recreation center, and if not, she was often at the various shelters helping
those she could.  More than once she’d offered free room and board to someone
on hard times in her building in exchange for handiwork around the place.
Luna had taken over the building when her husband died two years before from
terminal cancer, choosing this building out of all of his properties because it
was in midtown and offered a lot of space for those that needed help.  Luna had
met her husband, Ugaki, in Sao Paulo where he had been volunteering.  Ugaki had
been staying with a host family near where Luna lived with her aunt and uncle. 
There was instant chemistry between them.  Unfortunately, Ugaki’s family
disapproved of him marrying Luna, and that thought always bothered her a great
deal.
Ugaki had been a good man, and when the cancer became aggressive, he decided
that he would do something to give back to the world.  He had always been self-
reflective and helped others, and now he had a chance to do more good in the
world.  Most of his fortune went to charity, and Luna had kept the one
apartment building and enough of a fund to allow her to live comfortably and
provide shelter for those in need of it when necessary.
Like the two boys in her home right now.
She was still a little bothered by the encounter with her tenant when she
entered the apartment to hear Luppi yelling at the video game he was playing. 
He looked up when he heard the door open and shut and looked up.
“Luna, how are you?” he asked, his Japanese drastically improving in the last
year.  When she and her husband had sent for him, he spoke no Japanese
whatsoever, so the fact that in a few short years he’d almost mastered the
language was impressive.  Especially since he hadn’t been able to read his own
language as a child.
She smiled.  “How’s Tesla?”
Luppi glanced over at the chair where the blonde haired and very bandaged boy
sat curled up on himself.  It had been around a month since Luppi had stumbled
onto him in the alley behind their building.  He didn’t say much at all yet
since they’d brought him home from the hospital.  He’d been severely beaten and
one of his eyes had been removed, with uncanny accuracy.  The police said they
assumed that the attacker had been interrupted since there had been a few other
eyeless corpses in the area in recent years, but they hadn’t been able to track
down the culprit yet. 
Luppi shook his head and turned back to Luna.  “He’s been muttering some things
in Portuguese and some in Japanese under his breath, but I haven’t been able to
get a whole sentence out of him, yet.”
“The police think that he had been a victim of that horrible human trafficking
ring they’re trying to bust,” Luna said, putting down her bags in the kitchen.
Luppi nodded.  “I’m glad you found me before something like that happened to
me,” he said, sighing.
“Sweetie, I’ll never regret that night.  Or bringing you to Japan to be with
me,” Luna said.
Luppi had been nearly abducted by a serial rapist in Sao Paul when he was
younger.  Luna had heard the tales of a fake policeman luring young men and
women into their car and then assaulting them.  She had pretended Luppi was her
little brother and the man had left, leaving Luppi confused until Luna
explained why she’d done it.  Not long after, when Luppi’s mother stabbed his
father, she’d come to stay with Luna and her aunt and uncle.  Once Luna was
able, she sent for Luppi to live with her.
Luppi sighed and started to go back into the living room then turned back. 
“Luna, you seem…like something’s wrong.”
Luna looked back, shaking her head.  “I ran into Aaroniero on the way in.  I
think he’s an addict now.  He smells of something familiar,” she said,
frowning.  “And his boyfriend hasn’t been home recently.  I worry over that
young man, so fragile looking…” she said, taking out the groceries from the
bag.
“I think he’s a meth head,” Luppi said, leaning over the counter and watching
Luna.  “I’ve seen that hallow look before.  But I don’t think his boyfriend
does it.  He just seems jumpy all the time.”
Luna nodded, glancing over to where Tesla still sat huddled in the chair with
the blanket.  “Yeah, he does.  Did they call with anyone more on Tesla from the
police?”
Luppi shook his head.  “No, they didn’t.  Do you think they’ll ever figure out
what happened to him?  Or will he ever talk?”
Luna put the rest of the groceries away slowly and turned back to Luppi.  “I
just don’t know, honey.  He may be too far gone for us to help him.  Have to
give him time.  Maybe when he’s healed, we can have a prosthetic eye placed for
him.”
Luppi nodded and went back into the living room to play his game again.  Luna
shook her head.  She didn’t mess with those things.  She was somewhat of a
technophobe to the point she limited contact with technology as much as
possible.  She was sure she had some sort of technology related curse, because
ever since the first computer she tried to use nearly shot sparks across the
room, she seemed to have bad luck with them.  She let Luppi take care of that
stuff.  Later she’d have him look up a few things on her tenants, and see if
something had happened.  Of course, she had others she could call…but she’d
rather wait until that was necessary.  She hated to bother them, after all, she
imagined the candy shop was a busy place right now.
                            -oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
Urahara knocked on the door at an inconvenient hour.  A bleary eyed Grimmjow
answered it with a grumble and let the hat wearing man in.  “What have we got,
bastard?” he muttered.
“Is that any way to treat your contact?” Urahara asked with a smirk. 
“Shaddup and tell me what the fuck we’re going to do,” he muttered again.
Urahara sighed, looking up as Renji came into the room.  “Ah, Renji-san, how
are you?”
“Tired, why so early?” he muttered, scratching idly at his crotch as he walked
past in his boxers and nothing else.
Urahara smiled.  “Because, the bad guys sleep in, the good guys have to get up
early!” he said with a chipper smile.
Grimmjow groaned, but took the coffee cup Renji handed him.  “Fuck you, old
man.”
Urahara smiled again and opened the file folder he had brought.  “Now, this is
going to be a very complicated take down, Grimmjow, Renji.  Both of you must go
by the plan with no deviation.  Otherwise, Aizen won’t fall, and none of you
will be safe.  Now, I’ve ordered an officer to come stay with you.  Just extra
insurance, of course, I trust you completely, Sexta,” Urahara said with a coy
grin.
“Yeah, I’m sure you do, who is it?” he said, yawning.
“Hisagi.”
“Ah fuck, really?” Grimmjow said, rolling his eyes.  “Can’t you send someone
else besides that perverted bastard?”
“I’m afraid he’s the one available, Grimmjow.  I seem to remember you and that
‘perverted bastard’ getting along quite well while you were in my safe house,”
Urahara said, arching his brows at him.
Grimmjow snorted and Renji looked at him.  “Did you sleep with him?” he asked.
Grimmjow shrugged.  “There might have been some drunken nights I don’t remember
clearly,” he muttered.  “Most of which involved several other participants,” he
said, sniffing and looking away from Renji.
“You had orgies with the guy?” Renji said, grinning.  “Oh, that’s gold.”
“Shut up, it was a while, back okay?” Grimmjow muttered. “Besides, I’m not
interested in that anymore.”
“Oh, yes, you are interested in the one you are protecting,” Urahara said,
nodding.  “I see.”
There was a thump and everyone glanced to see that Ichigo was standing in the
doorway to the kitchen watching them.  He’d dropped his cup.  “I’m sorry!” he
said, starting to reach for it.
“No, no, sit down, Ichi-babe,” Renji said, hopping up and grabbing the cup and
ushering him to sit at the table.  “You should be in bed resting. You aren’t
near healed up enough.”
Ichigo shrugged.  “I was thirsty,” he said, looking between them, and then
glancing at Urahara before staring at his hands.
Renji patted his back gently and then went to get him some more water to
drink.  Urahara smiled and put his hand on Ichigo’s softly.  “Ichigo, how are
you feeling today?”
Ichigo looked up, surprised.  “Um, better, I think, I’m still not used to this
sort of…um…attention.”
Urahara nodded.  “Understandable, my boy, understandable.  I was just telling
Renji and Grimm that I’m sending over an officer to stay with you until things
are over.  Another protection. He’s a good man, and he’s well trained.”
Ichigo shifted uncomfortably, unsure about more new people.  “Okay,” he said,
nodding. 
Renji handed him his water and sat down again.  “Okay, old man, what’s the
plan?”
“Well, the plan requires clothing, for one thing,” Urahara said, glancing at
the two underwear clad men across the table.  “I’m taking Grimmjow down to the
Rukongai to meet up with our undercover operatives.  Renji, you’ll stay here
until Shuuhei gets here, then I want you to go pick up the people that visited
Ichigo in the hospital.  All of them will need protection.”
“Will Ichigo be okay with this guy?” Renji asked, looking at Grimmjow.
Grimmjow nodded.  “Yeah, he’s fine.  Just a lot of old memories associated with
him.  But he is a stand-up guy and won’t let us down.”
Grimmjow headed to his room and changed first while Renji fixed some breakfast
for everyone.  Curiously enough, the tattooed redhead was quite the cook. 
Granted, it was out of necessity, but he enjoyed it.  He offered everyone a
plate, and then when Grimmjow came back out, he went to change.  Grimmjow saw
Ichigo pushing his food around and poked his arm.  He looked up at Grimmjow.
“Eat, please.  I’ll feel better about leaving the apartment if I know you’ve
eaten,” he said, smiling at him.
Ichigo nodded, managing about half the food that Renji had given him.  Ichigo
didn’t know what to make of all these things yet.  So many years, he’d lived in
fear both for his own life and others; he didn’t know what to do.  Part of him
wanted to know what the limits were.  Part of him wanted to make Grimmjow and
Renji so mad they would hurt him, just so he’d know.  It was strange, no matter
what he tried, he couldn’t feel safe.  He felt that any minute, Ronny would
come into the room and kill both Renji and Grimmjow, and make Ichigo watch him
cut out their eyes.
Ichigo couldn’t help it.  He couldn’t stop thinking of what he would do.  He
wasn’t safe; he wasn’t ever going to be safe as long as Ronny was out there…
                            -oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
Aizen smoked a cigar thoughtfully as he leaned back in the booth.  The club was
bright and busy around the large booth he sat in with a few of his people.  He
drank a martini and one of the girls sat on his lap, he didn’t remember who she
was, to be honest. 
“Sir, I’ve had trouble getting in contact with Ronny,” Barragan said from
beside him, looking over at him.
“He’s probably off his head,” he muttered, dragging on the cigar deeply.
“Why do you tolerate his drug habit, sir?” Barragan said, frowning
thoughtfully.  “He is going to become a liability if he continues this.”
Aizen nodded.  “I’m not worried; he’ll kill himself before I have to do it. 
Meth isn’t a drug known to keep people alive for long.”
“He’s a creepy fucker,” Nnoitra said, sipping his beer from the other side of
Nnoitra.  “Seriously, the thing with the fucking eyes.  Just creepy as fuck.”
“Talks to himself too,” Ulquiorra added almost too quiet to hear.
Nnoitra nodded.  “Yeah, I’ve seen him have full on conversations with himself. 
Seriously, that guy is fucked in the head.”
Aizen nodded, sipping his martini.  “Yes, he’s always been unstable.  He has
been quite useful, but it may be coming to the end of his usefulness.
Aizen had seen a great opportunity with the boy.  His investment in him had
paid off, to be honest.  When he found the worthless brat, he was struggling to
survive in a family of broken wealth.  Aizen had met Aaroniero’s worthless
father when he was using him for drug pipelining.  They were pathetic, a
wealthy Portuguese family that had come to Japan in the nineteenth century,
merchants at one point, but their luck ran out.  In the early 1950s, they
started to milk what remained of the family fortune dry.  That was when they
moved to drug trafficking.
It was a sad thing, at first, they’d been successful, but with easy wealth and
access to mind altering substances, and of all the disgusting things, trying to
marry within the family to keep their blood pure.  Of course, inbreeding led to
some interesting psychopathic tendencies, which was perfect for Aizen’s needs. 
He needed a killer with no remorse, one that would kill women, children, whole
families, without a second thought.  He found that in the boy named Aaroniero. 
His disgusting parents had been cousins, both mentally ill themselves, and
strung out on various drugs.  Aizen had actually had the boy kill his parents
after he took him in.  No strings attached, he thought.  The rest of them had
self-destructed long before Aizen needed to kill them.
“His entire family was afflicted with mental disorders,” Aizen said
nonchalantly.  “It is no surprise that he is as well.  That’s why I brought him
into this.  He has no morals, no conscious.”
Nnoitra sighed, shaking his head.  The problem with men with no morals was they
were unpredictable, and he was very worried about the damage this guy would
cause before the end.
                            -oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
Ichigo was nervous about meeting this new guy.  He wasn’t ever comfortable
around new people.  Ronny had brought home people now and then, and when he did
it ended badly.  Ronny enjoyed watching him cry, he said it made Ichigo’s eyes
sparkle like brilliant diamonds.  He never liked new people.
The doorbell rang and Renji, who had got up and dressed in jeans and a t-shirt,
answered it.  Ichigo sat on the sofa and waited.  He didn’t want to act like he
was scared, even if he was terrified.  A few minutes later, Renji came into the
living room with a thin dark haired man with a sixty nine tattooed on his
face.  He wore a business suit, though, and a black tie with a white shirt. 
His shoes, though, Ichigo noticed were not dress shoes, but trainers made to
look like dress shoes. 
“Ichigo, this is Shuuhei Hisagi, he’s one of the lieutenants that work with
Urahara,” Renji said, and the fact that Renji didn’t look confident didn’t
help.
Ichigo stood up and bowed slightly to him, Shuuhei returning the slight bow. 
“I’m glad to meet you, Ichigo.  I hope you are well.”
Ichigo nodded and then sat back down and grabbed the magazine off the table. 
Renji and Shuuhei walked away, talking still and then he heard Renji leave. 
Shuuhei came back in and flopped down on the other chair with a sigh.
“So, what’s your story?” Shuuhei said, staring across at Ichigo.
Ichigo looked up.  “Wh-what do you mean?”
“All I know is I’m supposed to keep you safe.  They don’t give me the details
about the why,” he said, shrugging.
Ichigo chewed his lip for a second. “Um, I’m staying away from my b-boyfriend,
he…he is…was…Aaroniero…and he’s bad, you know, and they sent my family away to
keep them safe.”
Shuuhei nodded.  “What’d he do?”
Ichigo glanced up, wide eyed.  “Um…just…I…” 
Shuuhei’s brows wrinkled.  “You don’t have to tell me, I don’t care.”
Ichigo swallowed, nodding, looking down at his hands immediately.  Ichigo felt
Shuuhei put a hand on his shoulder, and he jumped, wincing in pain as he
jostled his ribs.
“Hey, sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you,” he said, looking concerned.  “You’ve
been hurt, haven’t you?” he said, seeing the fading bruise now up close on his
face and the greenish marks on his arms. 
“Just…I don’t want to talk right now,” Ichigo said, standing and rushing into
Grimmjow’s room and closing the door, leaving Shuuhei staring after him.  
***** The Undercover World *****
                                        
Urahara and Grimmjow got to the Rukongai a little while after they left. 
Grimmjow hadn’t been to this dive in years now.  It was a little out of the way
dive bar that looked like the walls could fall down with a strong breeze. 
However, it was in reality the entrance to a much larger, underground compound
called the Seireitei. Grimmjow had only been to the Seireitei once.  The
hideout under the candy store Urahara ran as a front was the place he’d stayed
before.  They entered through the front and walked through a raucous looking
bar scene.  Urahara led him to the men’s room and went into the last stall.  He
faced the wall and tapped a particular combination on a tactile plate.  The
wall dropped down, letting both men step over it into the next elevator.  Once
inside, Urahara placed a palm on the scanner and it read his prints before it
started the descent into the lower levels.
“Security is tighter than the last time I was here,” Grimmjow observed as they
came to a stop.
Urahara nodded, stopping at another door and leaning over for a retinal scan
this time.  “You have no idea, I’m waiting for the day we have to give blood
samples…” he muttered as they came into the brightly lit room.
It wasn’t much different than an average office building, even having fake
windows that glowed along the walls.  There were desks with phones and
cubicles, and along the back walls were private offices.  There was a second
level above this one, but it had to be accessed with a private elevator.  Only
captains and lieutenants were allowed to go up to that level.
Urahara led Grimmjow to a conference room where three other people waited.  He
recognized Tier Harribel from his time with Aizen.  The other one he knew was
another plant named Mayuri Kurosuchi.
“Good morning,” Urahara said, sitting down across from them.  “I’m sure you all
know each other from Grimmjow’s time in Aizen’s Espada.”
“Unfortunately,” Kurosuchi said, rolling his eyes.  “I thought he was out?”
“Well, he’s back in and we have a plan, but it is going to take some work on
everyone’s part,” Urahara said with a smirk.  “We’re going to let Aizen catch
Grimmjow.  He still thinks he’s dead, so finding out he’s not will be a good
boon for you, Harribel.  We’re going to have him check into Las Noches under an
assumed name, disguised, but you’ll report to Aizen that you recognized him. 
Aizen will come and get him, holding him in the main compound.”
“He’s going to torture you,” Harribel said, looking at him in concern.  “He
won’t stand for someone who has betrayed him to go unpunished.”
Grimmjow nodded.  “I know that it is likely, but he won’t kill me, and I need
to be inside.”
“For what?” Kurosuchi asked, frowning.
Urahara held up a vial of purple liquid.  “I’m injecting him with hogyuku. 
When he gets there, you’ll draw his blood and mix it with the half Aizen has
already.  The gas released will knock everyone, including you, out flat for
four hours.  Aizen doesn’t know what hogyuku does; he thinks it is a component
for a drug cocktail.  It can be in the right concentration, but when combined
with the iron in a blood sample, it releases a noxious gas.  We’ll come in with
full forces, take everyone into custody before anyone wakes up, and we’ll be
done.”
“And why couldn’t we have done this sooner?” Harribel asked, arching a brow.
Urahara smiled.  “I just finished the serum.  Grimmjow here offered the ideal
vehicle to get it inside and to Kurosuchi’s lab without suspicion.”
“I just want this over.  My partner and my son need me home and out of danger,”
she said, sighing as she stood.  “I’ll be waiting for your instructions.”
“Grimmjow will have a coded message for you when he checks into Las Noches. 
You’ll be on duty when he checks in.  You’ll recognize him even in disguise,”
Urahara said as she left.
Kurosuchi stood up and nodded.  “I hope your plan works.  For his sake,” he
said, nodding at Grimmjow.
Urahara nodded as he left.  He turned to Grimmjow.  “Would you like to go down
to our medical and see Unohana and make sure you’re in good enough shape to
endure what may come your way?  I’m not letting you go in without knowing you
can handle it.”
Grimmjow growled.  “If I must,” he muttered, sulking out the door like a
petulant child.
Urahara started to get up when his phone rang.  He pulled it out and saw a
contact he hadn’t spoken to in a long while.
“Luna,” he answered, smiling and leaning back in the chair.  “How can I help
you, dear?”
“Um, you gave me your card, back when my husband, Ugaki, passed away…I know you
meant for me to call you if I had trouble with his family after his death.”
Urahara nodded.  “I do remember, dear.  It has been a while; you aren’t having
issues with them currently are you?”
“No, actually that situation worked out in the end.  They had abandoned him
long before I began to love him, even though they hated me.  They wanted his
money, and they got what they deserved of him in the end.  No, I just…you said
you could ‘handle’ things that sometimes couldn’t be handled in normal ways,
and…I’m having a hard time deciding how to deal with one of my tenants in my
building…” she said, trailing off a bit.
“My dear, please, I do specialize in helping people,” he said, pulling out a
notepad.  “Tell me, what’s your building?”
“I own 20 Himawari,” she said softly. 
Urahara stopped in the middle of writing the name.  “Himawari?” he said softly.
“Yes, and I have a tenant that I think is abusing drugs, and I haven’t seen his
boyfriend in a few days…I’m worried he’s done something to him…” she began.
“Aaroniero lives in your building,” he said blinking rapidly.
“What? How do you know who I’m talking about?” she asked, suddenly very wary of
this stranger she was asking for help.
Urahara leaned back and sighed.  “I know because I’m currently protecting his
now ex-boyfriend and his family from him, Ichigo Kurosaki.”
A long silence extended between them.  “So you know about him?”
“He’s a very bad man, Luna.  He hurt Ichigo finally to the degree he was
hospitalized.  Whatever you do, you need to stay out of this.  You need to make
sure you keep away from him.  He is volatile right now, severely.  We are
working on a way to get him under arrest without hurting others.  I’m also
quite convinced he’s Ai dorobō,” he said slowly.
There was an audible gasp.  “No…the Eye Thief?  But…but I’m taking care of a
boy…who had his eye cut out of his head…could he have done that to him?”
“It is imperative you keep the boy safe, if you don’t think he’s safe with you,
bring him to the Candy Shop and I’ll keep him in my safe house.  He doesn’t
leave victims alive, so it is very likely your boy you are helping was a victim
he was interrupted during the attack…” he said softly.  “He’s a hired hit man
for Sōsuke Aizen.”
“Oh my, I don’t know what to do then.  I think that this boy was a sex
trafficking victim before he was attacked…that’s what the hospital told me,”
she said, growing more concerned.
Urahara thought for a long moment.  “I’ll check in with the captain over the
human trafficking division, but Aizen’s man for human trafficking is Nnoitra, a
tall, thin man with an eye patch himself.  Whatever you do, don’t let that boy
leave the apartment.  If he was turned out of the trafficking to die on the
streets, and then was found by Aaroniero…it would have presented an easy victim
for him.  I’ll send someone to watch the building.  Call me immediately if
anything suspicious happens.”
Luna swallowed.  “Okay, but what should I…”
“Please, don’t confront Aaroniero.  We want him to believe everything is
normal.  But within two weeks, he shouldn’t be a problem for you, dear Luna,”
he said softly, trying to force a smile to his face.
“Okay, whatever you think is best,” she said softly.  “I wasn’t prepared to
deal with this sort of thing…”
“Just be safe about it, dear, please,” he said and hung up, rubbing his eyes. 
This day was getting weirder and weirder by the moment.
                            -oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
Renji got to Uryuu’s place first and knocked on the door.  He answered it and
blinked in surprise.  “Renji, right?  What is it?”
“Well, see, things are going to happen quickly, and because we don’t want
anything to happen to you, Urahara sent me to pick you and the others up.  He
wants me to take you to his safe house.  We’ll be taking Ichigo there in the
next couple days as well, just to be safe, but right now we’re trying to let
him heal,” Renji said, hands deep in his pockets.  “Pack a few things, for a
few nights, and we’ll go from there.”
Uryuu nodded slowly.  “This is going to get really bad, isn’t it?” he asked
softly. 
Renji nodded.  “Yeah.  Come on, got room for everyone,” he said, and waited
while Uryuu went in and packed a bag for a few nights.  He came out with a
backpack and a laptop bag. 
“The girls’ house is the closest to here, right?” Renji asked as he came up to
the car.
Uryuu slid into the front seat of the SUV and nodded.  “Yeah, few streets
over.”
A few minutes later, they pulled up in front of a small house with a very neat
front yard.  Uryuu got out and went to the door.  He went in and came out with
the two young women in the next few moments.  They slid into the backseat with
a bag for each of them.
“I don’t see why we have to leave our house,” Rukia said, frowning.
“Just a precaution.  Ichigo is in a precarious position right now and if any of
you get hurt because of this, it is going to set him back quite a bit.  We
really don’t know what might happen, and we don’t know if our plan will go off
easily.  But for now, you all need to at least get to a safe place,” he said
pulling into an apartment complex where Chad Yasutora lived.  Uryuu again got
out to go and get the tall young man.
A few moments later a Chad came out with an animal carrier and a backpack. 
Uryuu slipped into the backseat with the girls while Chad got in the front. 
Renji looked at the carrier to see a pair of kittens, on pure white and one
orange tabby.  He sighed, but nodded.  Chad, being the silent type, didn’t say
anything, just buckled his seatbelt and stared forward.
After a while, they pulled into the Candy Shop owned by Urahara.  They all got
out and went in to see a young boy with red hair and a girl with pigtails
behind the counter.  The boy looked at them.
“All the way back, take a left, knock,” he said.
“You don’t have to be so rude, Jinta,” the girls aid.
Jinta slapped her on the back of the head.  “Ururu is an idiot,” he muttered
and then looked forward.
Renji led the four to the door and knocked.  Several locks could be heard
opening on the other side and the door popped open.  Urahara smiled.  “Come in,
my friends, come in.”
The group followed him down a narrow set of stares into what appeared to be a
normal shop basement.  Then he led them to a back area where he put in a code
and the wall slid to the side.  They moved into another area, this time one
that looked like a large house on the inside.
“Welcome to Urahara’s basement,” he said.  “There are six bedrooms, choose
whichever one you like, though pairs do share a bathroom.  Please let me know
if you need anything else!” he said, leaving them to settle in. 
Renji ran out behind him.  “So what next?” he said.
“Next, we get Grimmjow kidnapped,” he said with a smile.
                            -oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
Harribel was exhausted when she got home.  She was more than a little worried
because it seemed like there were more and more problems.  She came in well
after midnight once again from a last minute meeting that Aizen had called for
everyone.  She thought she was being quiet but when she turned around she
nearly ran into her partner, Jackie.
“Tier, love, again?” Jackie said softly.  “This is wearing on you,” she said,
reaching out and embracing Harribel. 
Harribel just sighed and leaned into the hug.  “Things are getting wound up,
and all I can tell you is it will soon be over.”
Jackie nodded, pushing her dark hair from her face and tucking it behind her
ear.  “Wonderweise asked about you at dinner.”
Tier sighed.  “I’m so sorry to him most of all,” she said, walking past the
other woman and into the living room.  She flopped into the couch, stripping
her blazer and button down shirt as she went.
“I’ve got it handled, love,” Jacki said, sitting down and snuggling under
Harribel’s arm.  She started tracing lazy patterns on her chest.  “I’ve had it
handled ever since I moved in.  You and me are all he needs, and that’s the
truth.  That piece of shit you were married to you doesn’t even deserve to know
about anything that happens.”
Harribel remembered it well.  Wonderweiss had been two years old.  He hadn’t
spoke, he rocked constantly, and they knew something was different about the
boy.  To Harribel, the autism diagnosis had been a relief.  To her husband, it
had been worse than a death sentence.  Less than six months of therapy and
classes, and he announced he wasn’t going to raise a “retard kid” and he wanted
them to put him up for adoption and try for a “normal” baby.  They had fought
then, for hours.  Finally Harribel told him that if he didn’t want their son,
he could leave, and never come back again.  He did.  The divorce was final in
less than a month, and he signed over complete rights to the boy with a note
that he wanted nothing to do with him because he wasn’t his son.
It had hurt, a lot.  But Harribel knew what was important.  Her son was
important.  So, not long after that, she’d been hired by Aizen at a too good to
be true position at Las Noches, and then she’d run into Jackie Tristan when
Wonderweiss was 8.  Until then, her family had helped when they could.  They’d
met at Las Noches when Jackie was arranging a place to stay for her all-female
motorcycle club during a big motor show event.  They hit it off immediately,
and went out first as friends.  She wanted to say it was love at first site,
but that wasn’t the case.  However, they didn’t take long to fall in love after
Harribel introduced her to Wonderweiss.  Jackie treated him so well, like a
child should be treated. They’d heard the whispered conversations. 
“I should take Wonderweiss away when things get closer,” Jackie said, laying
her head on Harribel’s chest.
Harribel nodded.  “Take him to that aquarium we’ve been promising him to go to
in Osaka, and there’s a motor show coming up there too…he’ll like that too,”
she said with a sigh.  “Then I won’t feel so bad about sending him away.”
Jackie nodded and shifted, surprising Harribel by straddling her lap with a
grin.  “Right now, I think someone is due for some stress relief…” she
muttered, diving down to nuzzle against Harribel’s neck. 
                            -oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
Ichigo was nervous as night fell.  He watched out the window as the sun
disappeared.  Would he find him?  Was he going to be safe? 
“Hey,” came Hisagi’s voice from the door startling Ichigo almost into falling
off the bed.
“Oh, you scared me,” he said, holding his ribs as he looked up at the dark
haired man.
“Sorry, but you should come eat, I made some hot pot, if you want some?  I
don’t think that red-head or Captain Urahara would be happy if you didn’t eat,”
he said, gesturing toward the door.
Ichigo stood up, nodding.  “I guess so, I’m getting used to all the food they
try and make me eat,” he said, passing Hisagi carefully into the dining area. 
He sat down at the plate Hisagi had made for him.
Hisagi sat down.  He’d removed his jacket and tie, making him seem a little
more approachable to Ichigo.  Ichigo looked at him, and back at the plate. 
Hisagi didn’t understand why he wasn’t eating then it dawned on him that he
probably wanted permission.  He had put together a few things from what he had
observed today.  Ichigo was abused, pretty severely, and for a long time.  It
was even more disturbing that it was by Aaroniero.  He was perhaps one of the
creepiest criminals Hisagi knew of.
“Go ahead, it isn’t as good as my mom’s hot pot, but it should be edible,” he
said gently, smiling at him.
Ichigo nodded and slowly began to eat; getting about half of it down before he
couldn’t eat anymore.  “I’m sorry, I’m not used to eating so much,” he said,
looking over at Hisagi sheepishly.
Hisagi smiled.  “Don’t worry, you’ll get there.  You should rest, but here, let
me get your medicine.”
Ichigo watched him go into the kitchen and wondered how he would compete for
Grimmjow’s attention when he could have someone like that.  Hisagi was so
handsome, and strong looking, and wasn’t frail and shattered like Ichigo. 
Knowing that Grimmjow had been with him just made him feel small in
comparison.  Why in the world would Grimmjow, or Renji even, choose him when
there were people like Hisagi in the world?  Why would anyone?  He angrily
wiped the tears from his eyes as Hisagi came in.
“Hey, you alright?” Hisagi asked, setting down the pills and water in front of
him.  He kneeled down beside him.
“Fine,” he said, grabbing the pills and swallowing the water quickly.  “I
just…I’m going…” he said, starting to feel anxious.
“Ichigo, hey, stop, what is it?” Hisagi asked, putting a hand on the back of
the chair.
Ichigo looked at him.  “You’re…you’re so perfect, why would he want me?”
Hisagi blinked.  “What?  What are you talking about?”
“Grimmjow, why…why would he take someone like me when he could have had you?”
he said, tears finally spilling over onto his folded hands.
Hisagi stared for a minute.  “Grimmjow, Grimmjow Jagerjaquez?” he asked.  “I
thought this red head was the one who wanted to be with you?”
“He does, but…but this is Grimmjow’s apartment, and…and they…they both…” Ichigo
stammered, feeling like the biggest idiot in the world.  Why would one person
want him, let alone two?
Hisagi smiled, and shook his head.  “Hey, let me tell you something.  I don’t
know this red head, but I know Grimmjow.  And if he says he wants to be with
you, he wants to be with you.  He doesn’t say stuff like that lightly.”
Ichigo swallowed hard.  “But why?” he said softly, looking up at him.  “Look at
me.  I’m broken…I’m a mess!”
Hisagi reached gently out and took his hand.  “No, you aren’t a mess.  You are
someone who’s been through bad things, and Grimmjow, if I know him, fell in
love with your heart.  He’s quick to love, believe me, but he doesn’t let go
once he’s set his mind to it.  I never had his love, Ichigo.  That wasn’t what
we were about.  He was in a bad place when I knew him, and he needed physical
comfort.  We had some fun, but it wasn’t love. If he says he wants to be with
you, he does.  He never wanted to be with me.”
Ichigo looked at Hisagi.  “Are you sure?” he said.
“I’m sure, now, you need rest, okay?  They should be here when you wake up in
the morning.  Until then, I’m on duty out here,” he said as he stood up and
noted the distinct wobble when Ichigo tried to stand.
The medicine had kicked in, so Hisagi helped him to Grimmjow’s bed and he was
asleep before he got laid down.  Hisagi went to leave, and then looked at the
dresser and smiled.  There were pictures of Grimmjow there the whole time, he
just hadn’t looked.  Grimmjow and Nel.  He smiled and went to sit outside the
bedroom door and wait.
***** Abduction, Planned and Otherwise *****
                                        
A few days passed, tensely.  Grimmjow knew it was necessary that he not go back
to his place, but he couldn’t help worry about Ichigo being left there with
Hisagi.  He knew Hisagi wouldn’t try anything, but it just worried him.  He
sighed as he sat in the large, opulent chair in his comfortable Las Noches
hotel room.  A day had passed since he checked into the place.  He’d worn a
long brown wig and a pair of sunglasses.  It really didn’t look like him, but
Harribel was expecting him.  She made sure he was put in a room separate for
other guests to make sure no one got hurt when Aizen came for him.  It didn’t
take long.
The door opened quietly, which Grimmjow had expected.  Harribel had given them
the key.  He was watching TV with the volume up sitting on the couch.  He
pretended to ignore the clicking of the lock and the opening of the door,
instead zoning in deeply on the fake wrestling match on TV and sipping a beer
from a bottle.  He wished it weren’t cheap beer, because he had a suspicion
that it was going to be at least a day or two before he got something else to
drink.
There was a small pop and he felt the tranquilizer dart impact his neck.  He
jerked, reaching up to slap it away unconsciously.  He blinked and looked up to
see a couple familiar faces before he faded into unconsciousness.
Di Roy Rinker sighed as he went into the room followed by his second,
Shawlong.  He reached over and yanked the brown wig off the figure on the sofa.
“Yup, Grimmy alright.  Come on, let’s get him up and out before someone sees
us.  Nnoitra made sure the back entrance was clear,” he said, leaning down and
hefting Grimmjow up to his shoulder.
“Fuck me, he’s a heavy bastard,” Di Roy muttered, stumbling backward as his
partner got in position on the other side of him.
Together, they managed to stumble down the fire escape and to the waiting van
where Nnoitra had some horrible techno music turned up way too loud.  It was no
use to ask him to turn it down, he’d refuse and turn it up if Di Roy asked. 
Instead he sat in the back with Grimmjow’s unconscious form.
As the van took off, he stared at his one-time boss.  He shook his head.  He
understood why he left, he really did. After what happened to his sister…  Di
Roy sighed and shook his head.  But why did he come back?  Why now?  He had
been dead to them.  He frowned at the thought.  See, Di Roy wasn’t the smartest
one of the crew.  He knew how to blow things up and that was really about it in
the long run.  However, he knew his old boss.  Grimmjow was smart.  Grimmjow
had gotten caught for a reason.  It wasn’t his place to comment, though.  He
was just the explosives man.  He sighed as they pulled into the underground
garage that led into the building Sōsuke Aizen owned. 
                            -oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
Grimmjow came to slow consciousness.  He hated getting tranq’ed.  It sucked
donkey balls.  He groaned because damn did he hurt.  He knew he was tied up
before he even opened his eyes.  He blinked, the dim light making it hard to
see yet.  His arms were bound above his head, holding him up on his tip toes. 
That’s where the pain in his shoulders and back was coming from no doubt.  He
blinked again, eyes finally adjusting to the room.  He was stripped to his
boxer shorts, and he could feel the icy air on his skin.  He’d been in the
torture room before.  However, he’d been the one doing the torture.
“Good morning, Jagerjaquez,” Aizen’s voice practically dripped with venom and
honey at the same time.
“Fuck you, Aizen,” he muttered before a solid blow landed across his jaw from
the right. 
He blinked and saw Yammy, his head shaved and glistening in the light.  Good to
know that bastard hadn’t changed much.  He cracked his knuckles, already wet
with blood from the first hit.
“You hit like a fuckin’ pussy still, Yammy,” he said, narrowing his cerulean
eyes at the hulking man.  Grimmjow was no small man at almost six foot five,
but Yammy was a monster.  There was a reason he ran the fighting rings.
Needless to say, a few more punches followed, and Grimmjow spat blood and a
couple teeth to the ground in front of him.  He turned and glared at Aizen and
smiled.  “That all you got, Aizen?  This fucker could beat me all day and I’ll
smile at him.”
“You fuckin’…” Yammy growled and started to dive at him.  Aizen grabbed him
easily by the shoulder and pulled him back.
“No, he’s mine to kill.  You’ll get to beat him some more, first I want to talk
to him before you break his jaw and he can no longer be of use to me,” Aizen
said calmly, stepping forward in an immaculate black suit.  “You convinced me
of your death so thoroughly that I know you had some sort of help, Grimmjow. 
Someone powerful helped hide you and your sister from me.  Tell me, who was
it?”
Grimmjow smiled, blood dripping from his lips.  “No one, bastard.  I pulled off
this trick all alone,” he said, shaking his head.
Aizen nodded.  “If that is true, why do you appear here once again?  You knew
that Las Noches belonged to me.  You knew that I would be aware of your
presence immediately.”
“None your fuckin’ business,” Grimmjow said, snorting and spitting on the floor
at his feet before grinning at him again.
“It is unfortunate you don’t wish to be more cooperative, Grimmjow.  I could
let you die quickly for your betrayal.  Now, your death will be slow and very
painful.  You know how long I can make this last.  You know you have no way to
get out of here.  Make things easy.  Tell me who aided you,” Aizen said,
staring at him and keeping his hands tucked neatly behind his back.
“Aizen, got two words for you, fuck you,” Grimmjow said, his eyes never moving
from Aizen’s face.
Aizen sighed and nodded to Yammy and walked out.  Yammy smiled, cracking his
knuckles expressively and Grimmjow caught the glint of steel in the dim light. 
“I ain’t gonna stop even if you tell me what he wants to know.”
Grimmjow grinned, “Don’t intend to tell you shit, so it don’t matter, mother
fucker.”
Yammy came at his ribs first until Grimmjow was gasping for breath, but there
was no way he’d tell anything.  He only had to wait this out.  It was hard to
be a punching bag for a piece of shit like Yammy, but he didn’t give him the
pleasure of screaming and yelling.  A few grunts and groans here and there as
bones broke, but he was not going to satisfy that mother.  It seemed like hours
before Yammy stepped back out of breath.  He tossed down the bloody steel
knuckles and glared at him.
“I’ll be back you fucker.  Aizen said not to kill your ass until you talk. 
Mayuri will be down to make sure of it,” he said before he headed up the
stairs.
Grimmjow hadn’t had this much blood in a long time.  It had been a while since
he’d been beaten the shit out of like this.  He smiled though. He was a tough
fucking bastard.  He was somewhat glad to see that his few years of doing
nothing hadn’t changed that.
“How do you take this sort of beating?  I’d love to experiment on you one day…”
Kurosuchi said as he came into the dim light.  “Your pain tolerance must be
very high,” he said, jabbing a needle into his arm and drawing a blood sample. 
“Never seen someone that can take a beating quietly like you.  Even Yammy
bitches up a storm when he gets beat down.  Not you.”
Grimmjow snorted and spoke before he thought.  “What happens when you get
beaten up from the time you can walk.” 
Kurosuchi blinked and stared at him for a moment.  Grimmjow winced.  Shit, that
was a lot more information than he had wanted to reveal to this bastard.  He
expected something from him, a comment or an insult.  Instead Kurosuchi nodded
and went back up the stairs without another word.  He had no idea what that
meant.  He knew it wouldn’t be long now though.
Kurosuchi’s mind was a mess at that moment.  Images of his own abusive past had
flooded his memory as soon as Grimmjow uttered those words.  He knew that
Grimmjow didn’t even intend to speak those words, most likely the pain and
adrenaline was talking for him.  He shook it away though and went into his
lab.  He knew that this had to be mixed at exactly the right amounts.
Hogyuku was something that Aizen and Urahara had created together.  It was a
base formula that seemed to morph into different things depending on what
chemicals it was combined with.  Urahara had managed to keep the entire formula
from his ex-partner, and for the last twenty years almost, Aizen had been
trying to perfect it as a drug base.  All their subjects had died in the
process.  A few minutes later, he took the sample from the centrifuge and drew
out the liquid he needed. He’d ensured that the intake for the air system was
fully opened in here.  The gas was supposed to be nearly odorless and self-
destructing.  After twenty minutes, the gas would have dispersed completely.
He was happy, though.  It was going to be over.  Finally over.
When the two liquids touched, the vial began to hiss, and Kurosuchi smelled
something that had a very light scent like Camilla flowers.  That was all he
had time for before he fell forward onto his desk.  Vaguely, before everything
blacked out, he heard several thumps as others fell into unconsciousness.
                            -oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
The shinigami had the entire building secured and all those inside arrested
before anyone woke up.  It was entirely without casualties and it was exactly
as they had planned. 
Grimmjow came to consciousness slowly, like swimming through thick syrup.  It
wasn’t like coming out of a sedative, this was much harder.  He groaned because
frankly he was in pain from head to toe. 
“About time you woke up,” came a familiar voice beside him.
Grimmjow turned to see Urahara sitting on the edge of the gurney he was on. 
“Fuck, that sucked.”
Urahara nodded.  “The paramedics said you have three broken ribs, a cracked
collar bone, and a fractured cheekbone.  I had them patch you up and bring you
to the Seireitei.  We’ve got everyone else in lock up downstairs.  I thought
you might want to sit in on some of the questioning.”
Grimmjow snorted.  Urahara smirked and looked at him.  “That is if you aren’t
too injured…”
Grimmjow snarled, “Fuck you, I’m fucking fine.”  He sat up, yanking out the IVs
and swinging his legs over the side.  He paused to hold his ribs for a minute. 
“Fucking Yammy.”
“There is one thing…” Urahara said, slowly standing and stepping back out of
range of Grimmjow’s swing.  “Aaroniero wasn’t there.  And he wasn’t at their
apartment.  He’s in the wind.”
Grimmjow punched the cabinet beside him hard enough to dent it.  “Fucking
bastard.”
Urahara nodded.  And that was why he had moved away from him.  Grimmjow was
perhaps the sweetest, most big hearted man he knew, but he had an explosive and
unpredictable anger when provoked.  Only danger to his loved ones would provoke
this kind of rage.
“We’ll deal with it.  Come down, we’ll find out from Aizen where he could be,”
Urahara said with and reassuring nod as Grimmjow grabbed a shirt from the now
dented cabinet.  He sighed.
“Sorry about the cabinet,” he muttered.
Urahara shook his head.  “No worry, come now.  Let’s find out where this
psychotic bastard has gone to.”
Urahara took him to the elevator and they headed down to one of the
interrogation rooms where Aizen was seated handcuffed to the table.  As Urahara
and Grimmjow entered Aizen’s eyes narrowed.
“I understand now.  You were the one that helped him ‘die’, weren’t you,
Kisuke?” Aizen said with a smirk.
“That’s not what I’m here to talk about, Sōsuke.  We got all your crew except
one.  Aaroniero.  Where is he?” Urahara asked as both he and Grimmjow sat down
across from him.
“Ronny?  No idea.  He could be anywhere.  Did you check his little apartment? 
He was so paranoid he refused to stay in the building.  Completely insane.  But
that’s why I took him in,” Aizen said with a smirk.
Grimmjow slammed both fists into the metal table, startling both Urahara and
Aizen.  “Where is he, Aizen?  Tell me.  He’s going to go after his ex again.”
“Oh, is that what you’re worried about?  That pathetic little boy he plays
with?”  Aizen rolled his eyes. 
“His name is Ichigo, and he’s not pathetic.  You’ve let this bastard abuse him
since he was a child.  How could you let one of your people abuse a fifteen
year old kid?” Grimmjow growled.  The one thing Aizen had never tolerated was
abuse of children.
“Oh he was special, that boy.  See, he was the son of Masaki Kurosaki.  The
first person I had Ronny kill.  He was supposed to kill the boy too, but
instead he got all hot and bothered by a nine year old boy.  So, when it came
time to kill Kaien Shiba, and I found out he was courting the same boy, I sent
Ronny especially.  He ended up taking him as his lover, and all was right with
the world because the kid was almost as good as dead,” he said with a smirk.
Grimmjow couldn’t even muster the energy to yell.  “Why?” he whispered.  “Why
did you want to kill them to start with?  He was a kid.  A child.”
“Yes, but you see, Masaki Kurosaki, and her bastard of a husband Isshin
Kurosaki, knew things.  Masaki especially.  She had to be silenced, and I knew
if I killed her and their son, Isshin wouldn’t talk either.  I don’t think he
even knows that he knows things; he never got the opportunity to understand
what was happening right under his nose.  The night Masaki died she was taking
a file to him.  Ronny, good boy that he was, at least got that from her after
she died in her son’s arms,” Aizen said, looking for the entire world as though
he was discussing the weather.
“You don’t care if he lives or dies?” Grimmjow said, practically growling.
“Not the slightest bit.  I’ve already got my lawyers on this.  I’ll be out of
here within hours,” he said, looking incredibly smug.
Urahara shook his head and stood up, Grimmjow slowly following him.  Once
outside, another cabinet suffered a denting at Grimmjow’s fist.
“Before we go back to your place to talk to Ichigo, I want to speak with
Nnoitra about something relating to Ichigo’s landlady,” Urahara said as they
moved to the next room.  He looked at Grimmjow.  “Do you want to watch from
outside?”
Grimmjow nodded.  “Yeah, me and Nnoi never got on well.”
Urahara nodded and went into the room with the lanky, one eyed man sat looking
rather bored.  “Hey, Urahara, right?  Remember seeing you before.”
Urahara threw a picture onto the table within Nnoitra’s reach.  He picked it up
and arched a dark brow over his one good eye.  “Who’s this cutie?”
“You don’t know?” Urahara asked, sitting down and staring across the table.
Nnoitra shook his head and put the photo of Tesla down.  “Nope, he’s a good
looking boy though. Shame about his eye,” he said, reaching and touching the
eye patch on the picture.
“He’s a human trafficking victim that was thrown to the street.  The Eye Thief
got to him.  Took one of his eyes, but wasn’t able to complete the kill.  We
assumed he was one of yours,” Urahara said, looking through the files on
Nnoitra’s area.
“Oh no, good looking one like that would never be discarded in my division, are
you kidding?” he said, shaking his head.  “Definitely not mine.  A shame, too,
I’d have taken him for myself.”
Urahara sighed and nodded.  Nnoitra had been compliant with everything so far. 
“Any idea who?”
Nnoitra shook his head.  “Man, there’s so many upstarts.  There’s a chance it
could have been another group, Aizen took them out, and their merchandise just
got scattered without someone to manage it.”
Urahara nodded.  “Alright, I’ll be back to talk to you more later.”
“Man, can I get some magazines or something?” he asked, looking up.  “I’m bored
as shit.”
Urahara sighed and nodded.  “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thanks, man,” he said, resuming looking at his fingernails on his free hand.
Urahara shook his head and went back out to see Grimmjow sitting with his head
in his hands in the observation room. 
“Let’s go pick Ichigo up and bring him here, I don’t want him out there while
Aaroniero’s in the wind.
Grimmjow nodded, following Urahara to his SUV.  Things seemed to be looking up
except for the one person they’d hoped to net getting away.  He couldn’t escape
for long though, not with all the shinigami looking for him.  He sighed and
watched out the window as they drove in silence.  As they neared his building,
Urahara looked concerned.
“What is it?” Grimmjow asked, feeling the tension.
“Hisagi hasn’t called in this hour,” he muttered.  “Maybe he fell asleep.”
Grimmjow’s stomach dropped, and he pulled out his cell phone and texted Renji,
who should have also been there with Ichigo.  Renji had spent a day with the
others at the safe house, then came back to stay with Ichigo until the bust was
over.  As they pulled into the garage, there was no answer from either of
them.  Urahara got out first and motioned for Grimmjow to be quiet as they went
up the stairs to the third floor.  They headed down the hallway and found the
door ajar.  Grimmjow nearly lost it then but he kept his wits.
Urahara pushed open the door slowly, and moved in quietly with his pistol held
up with one hand and his flashlight under it in the other hand.  “Renji? 
Hisagi?” he called, moving into the front room.
The lights were off, and Grimmjow followed quickly, glancing around.  The lamp
was broken, and as he came into the living room, it was wrecked.  The wooden
coffee table was shattered and there were blood stained shards scattered around
it.  Urahara moved through the kitchen and dining and then down the hall where
the two bedrooms were.  He shoved open the first and gasped.
“Hisagi!” he said under his breath as he moved into the room.  Grimmjow
followed him to find Hisagi, unconscious and tied up with the cord from the
living room lamp.  It looked like he’d been knocked out with a solid punch to
the face, though, his jaw swollen and purple.
Urahara checked his pulse and nodded to Grimmjow and then quietly exited and
opened the door to the second bedroom.  He holstered the gun and shook his head
as he headed into the room.  Grimmjow followed to find Renji, like Hisagi,
bound up with a lamp cord, but he looked like he’d given a fight.  His face was
battered, and it was obvious that he’d been the one to go through their table. 
His white shirt was stained red and the tan comforter was stained under him.
“Pulse is good, he’s just out.  Looks like he got smashed in the head with
something hard,” Urahara said, looking over him. 
“Where’s Ichigo?” Grimmjow said, blinking.
Completely unable to think straight, he proceeded to go through the entire
apartment and every place it would be possible for a person to hide in or
under.  After fifteen minutes of frantic searching, Hisagi and Renji had both
woke up.  The ambulance had arrived and they were being checked over quickly. 
Grimmjow stepped into the room Renji had been in.
“Where’s Ichigo?” he asked.
Renji looked up, and shook his head.  “I tried, he…he came in, and he surprised
Hisagi.  I don’t know how, Hisagi was fucking good.  And he knocked him out
flat in one punch.  Then I tried to stop him…and I couldn’t.  I’ve never seen
someone with such insane strength, Grimmjow.  Just…”  Renji paused, collecting
his thoughts and rubbing the back of his head.  “He had me pinned up against
the wall, and had a knife, at my eye, and told Ichigo, if he didn’t come with
him, he was going to take ‘them’ from me, and from Hisagi, then kill us…Ichigo
said he’d go, and he dropped me to the floor and hit me with something.  That’s
all I remember…”
Grimmjow nodded, rubbing his forehead for a moment before he just fell to his
knees.  He just couldn’t stand anymore. 
***** Under the Knife *****
                                        
Ichigo had enjoyed both Hisagi and Renji’s company.  He missed Grimmjow,
though, but he understood why he couldn’t come home.  Of course, he wasn’t able
to hear the details.  He only knew he was working with Urahara to put an end to
everything.  Renji had said that his friends, like his family, were safe from
Ronny.  They had decided to stay in Grimmjow’s apartment because keeping Ichigo
away from the others was safer.  Not only that, but he still wasn’t in the best
shape.  His ribs had healed mostly, but he was still very sore.
The night had gone as usual. No surprises, they had dinner, something that
Hisagi had thrown together from the grab bag of groceries an officer had
brought earlier that day.  Ichigo was getting better at eating, and it was a
nice change for everyone involved.  Renji and Ichigo had just sat down on the
sofa to watch a movie when the doorbell rang.  Hisagi had been about to text in
for the hour, but he put down his phone and looked out the peephole.  A hooded
figure stood out there, but held up a shinigami badge to the door.  Oh, Hisagi
said to himself, seeing that it was his friend Izuru Kira.  He hated getting
his styled hair wet and it had been misting earlier that night.
“Yo, just a minute,” he said, opening the door and grinning.  “Please tell me
you brought something besides ramen and frozen vegetables…”
The impact sent him backward nearly into the sofa Renji and Ichigo were sitting
on.  They both jumped to their feet and saw that Hisagi had been knocked
completely out and a figure stood in the doorway.  Ichigo grabbed Renji’s arm
because he recognized him all too well.
“Ronny,” he breathed and felt Renji’s arm tighten.
“Baby, why are they hidin’ you from me?” he said, stepping into the room and
grinning. 
His features were even more drawn and sallow than they had been before.  His
eyes were hollow and bloodshot.  Before he even got close, both Ichigo and
Renji could smell stale alcohol and ammonia wafting from him.
Renji pushed Ichigo behind him and got between him and Aaroniero.  “You need to
leave,” he said, swallowing the fear that was crawling up his throat.  He was a
fucking barista.  He didn’t fight, and this guy was fucking insane looking.
“No, you see, you have my Ichigo.  He belongs to me.  He’s belonged to me from
the day he was nine years old and I looked down into those beautiful eyes of
his.  I should have taken him then, but I still didn’t understand how deep my
need for him went…” he said, grinning and showing a mouth of pitted, dark
teeth.
Renji jerked unconsciously backward, slamming Ichigo into the window.  “The
fuck, man, you getting off on a kid?  You are one sick mother fucker.  Bad
enough he was fifteen when you went for him…”
“Oh yes, those beautiful eyes.  Your eyes aren’t bad, red,” he said, stepping
over the sofa and grabbing Renji’s throat.
Ichigo slipped out from behind him and grabbed the lamp.  “Ronny, stop, let him
go!” he yelled before he threw the lamp at him.
Aaroniero turned and grinned at him.  He gripped Renji’s throat tighter and
swung him around.  He flipped him easily over himself and slammed him through
the wood coffee table with a crash.  Renji cried out in obvious pain before
Aaroniero picked him up by the throat again, this time, pulling a scalpel from
his coat pocket and sliding it over Renji’s cheekbone.  Renji grabbed him by
the forearm but between the shock of being slammed through a wooden table and
lack of air, he couldn’t get a decent grip.
“I’ll give you the choice, Ichigo, I’ll take them,” he said, pressing the tip
of the scalpel at the corner of Renji’s eye.  “Or I take you.”
Ichigo shook his head, “Leave him, please, just leave him.”
“I’ll take them from the red head, then from the other one, while you watch,
and then I’ll kill them.  Or, you can come with me, and I’ll leave them as they
are,” he said.
“I’ll go, please, just don’t hurt them, Ronny,” he said, crossing his arms over
his chest and trembling.
There was a crash and Ichigo looked up to see that Aaroniero had knocked Renji
out with another lamp.  He yanked out the cord and tied him up and drug him to
one of the bedrooms.  Then he came and grabbed the lamp Ichigo had thrown and
pulled the cord from that one and bound up Hisagi, dragging him off to the
other bedroom.  He shut the doors and then came toward Ichigo and grabbed him
by his arm in a painful grip.
“Now, you will come with me, it is time we finish things, my dear, sweet, brown
eyed love,” he whispered and Ichigo felt his blood freeze.
                            -oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
Luna was sitting at the table with the paper when the news caught her attention
from the living room where Luppi was watching it.
“Authorities have declined to comment, but from what we understand a building
owned by local businessman Sōsuke Aizen was involved in some sort of chemical
assault and raid earlier tonight.  Residents report waking up in the hospital
and being released.  They have been told there was a carbon monoxide leak in
the building, but it doesn’t seem to match up with what the witnesses are
saying.  Other residents saw black clad figures infiltrate the building from
above and from ground level before ambulances started arriving to take people
to the hospital…”
Luna frowned and grabbed her phone, dialing Urahara again.  “Yes?” came the
curt answer.
“I saw the news…have you gotten him?” she asked nervously.
“No, Luna, I am sorry, I’m sending a couple agents over to pick the three of
you up right now.  It is not safe for you there,” he said, the line going dead.
Luna nodded.  “Luppi, get an overnight bag for you and Tesla,” she said,
standing.
“Where are we going?” he asked, frowning as he stood up.
“Just on a little trip to see a friend,” she said smiling fondly at him as she
headed to her own room to collect a bag.
She sighed, stopping for a second to stare at the photo of her late husband. 
She wasn’t sure exactly what they were running from, but she knew she had to
keep Luppi and Tesla safe.  A few moments later she came back out just as Luppi
came out with a bag on each shoulder.
“Will we be gone long, Luna?” he asked, frowning.  “I got that shoe modeling
gig, and…”
Luna smiled, patting his head.  “We’ll make it.  We’re not leaving town.”
She went to where Tesla sat on the chair and kneeled in front of him. 
“Sweetie,” she said, and he looked up with his one eye at her.  “We’ve got to
leave the apartment for a while, are you going to be okay with it?”
Luppi nodded. “I’ll go with you,” he said clearly, surprising Luna.  Luna
smiled at him and nodded. 
They waited a few more minutes until there was a knock at the door and Luna’s
phone buzzed in her hand.  She had a very simple one, but she could still get
text messages.  It said that the agents should be there now.  She opened the
door to find two women, or one woman and one very beautiful man, she realized.
“Good evening,” the first said, her hair short and cut to frame a very
cherubish looking face and bright green.  She wore a low cut blouse that showed
off her busty figure and a pair of stretch pants.  “I’m Mashiro, and we’re
going to take you to the safe house!” she said cheerily.
“And I’m Rose,” the second figure said, his voice almost musical in quality. 
He had long, light brown hair that flowed down his back in soft waves.  He wore
a three piece business suit in blue pinstripes, in complete opposition to his
flowing hair.
Luna nodded.  “I’m Luna, and this is Luppi,” she said pointing to the young man
beside her.  She glanced over at Tesla.  “And Tesla is over there at the
moment.  Allow me to get him,” she said, smiling.
Mashiro rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet and looked around at
things while Rose stood at the doorway quietly. 
After a few moments, Luna and her two wards were headed out of the complex. 
She paused and grabbed the master keys from the office, though.  She was
certain that the authorities would want in the apartment that had been
Aaroniero’s and Ichigo’s.  The trip was surprisingly short, but they pulled up
in front of the Candy Shoppe.  Everyone got out and Mashiro skipped along
beside Luna as she took them down to the safe house below.  Luna found herself
smiling at the young woman, despite the situation.  She was a breath of fresh
air for her in this otherwise dreary, awful situation.
They came into the safe house and Mashiro showed them to one of the bedrooms. 
“Here you go, Miss Luna.  We’ve got a few others here as well, Ichigo’s old
friends, so you can socialize as you like.  Mister Kisuke wants to talk to you,
though, after you get settled.  I’ll be up in the store with Mister Rose. 
Bye!” she said, grinning and waving enthusiastically as she skipped out of the
room.
Luna got everything situated.  The bedroom had two double beds, a television
with cable and a DVD player, and two dressers.  A couple closets were on one
side, and she saw a door to the bathroom on the other one.  What an interesting
place, she thought.  She smiled at Luppi.
“I’ll be back, then I’ll try and explain what’s happened, when I know more,”
Luna said, patting Luppi on the back.
Luppi smiled and sat on the end of one of the beds and turned on the TV.  Tesla
had sat on the other and pulled all the covers up and around him as he watched
everyone carefully.  Luna came out and saw a young man with glasses and dark
hair walking out of the room across from her.
“Excuse me, which way is Urahara’s office?” she asked.
Uryuu stopped, not realizing that there were others coming to the safe house. 
“Uh, down and to the left, right near the door that you came in,” he said,
nodding curtly and heading back down the other way.
Luna followed the directions and found an open door that she could hear voices
from the inside.  One was Urahara’s voice, but the others she didn’t know.  She
knocked on the doorframe gently.
Urahara looked up from where he was standing with his back to the door. “Oh,
Luna, come in.”  She came in and nodded.  “I’ll introduce you, Luna, this is
Renji and Grimmjow, they were taking care of Ichigo.  This is Hisagi, one of my
agents that was stationed with Ichigo, and this is Yoruichi, my most trusted
friend and associate, and this fellow with the white hair is Jushiro.  Jushiro
is the head of our trauma and abuse team.”  Luna shook hands politely with
everyone and smiled back at them.
“This is Luna, she’s the owner of the building that Ichigo was living at,” he
explained, nodding to them.
“We need to get in there,” Grimmjow said, wringing his hands nervously.  “We
need to find him, Urahara.  Fast.”
Luna frowned.  “Find him?  What’s happened?”
“Aaroniero broke into Grimmjow’s apartment where we were keeping Ichigo.  He
knocked Renji and Hisagi out, and took Ichigo.  We don’t know where they are
right now,” Urahara explained.  “I’m about to mobilize a team, and we’d like to
ask your permission to enter the apartment.”
Luna nodded, digging in her pocket and handing Urahara the master key. “I
thought you might want to do that. Please, if it helps find that poor boy.”
“Thank you,” Urahara said with a smile.  “I brought Yoruichi and Jushiro in to
help with your boy, Tesla, as well as to be here when we bring in Ichigo.  We
have a full medical bay here, and we can’t chance a hospital unless his
condition is critical.  So, I’ll let you talk to these two, and I’ll take
Grimmjow and meet the team at your building.  Thank you, Luna,” he said, bowing
out with Grimmjow right behind him.
Renji and Hisagi followed close behind.  “I want to go,” Renji said.
“You’re not in any condition.  We can handle this, I’ve got a full forensics
team on their way as well as a couple other captains.  Now, please, stay here,
rest.  Both of you,” Urahara said in a tone that brokered no arguments from
either.
He quickly led Grimmjow to his SUV and they arrived just as another SUV pulled
up.  Captain Shunsui Kyōraku from the drugs division and Captain Byakuya
Kuchiki from the Homicide division stepped out followed by the forensics team. 
Shunsui, a man with messy brown hair down to his shoulders and a pink kimono as
a jacket, was a very laid back individual, but was very good at his job. 
Byakuya, however, was in complete opposition.  His black hair was neat as a
pin, and he wore an immaculate suit with a tie all the time.  Byakuya’s
specialty was serial killers, and he was also the profiler for the shinigami. 
With them, they had brought the forensics team, which consisted of Nemu
Kurosuchi, the dark haired daughter of Mayuri Kurosuchi.  Captain Kurosuchi was
waiting to be debriefed from his time undercover.  The other two members of the
team had also come, Rin Tsubokura, a small and nervous young man who
specialized in DNA and genetics, and Akon, a tall thin looking man with dermal
implants on his forehead to look like small horns.  He wore his black hair
short, and had a myriad of piercings and tattoos everywhere else.  He was one
of the best in the shinigami at evidence collection.  He tended to catch things
that others missed.  He had also, for some reason, changed his name to be Akon,
with no other name.  He was definitely one of the more unusual figures the
shinigami hosted.
Urahara came up and nodded at them.  “Everyone, we have a missing person.  We
need to not only preserve evidence, but we need to find anything that could
lead us to this man’s whereabouts and his victim.  We are on the clock, so we
want this fast, but do not sacrifice accuracy for speed.  Do this right the
first time.  It may be the only chance we have.”
With that he led everyone up to the apartment.  Before he unlocked it, Rin took
shoe covers and gloves out of his case and handed them out.  Once everyone was
ready, Urahara unlocked the door and hit the light.
What surprised everyone was how normal and nice it looked, except Byakuya. 
Walking into the home of serial killer, people who didn’t deal with them often
expected some sort of indication right away.  There usually wasn’t.  The place
was a very nice one bedroom apartment.  Inside the door, it opened to the left
with a wide living room.  There were plenty of gadgets on the shelves, a big
TV, and game systems.  The furniture was pristine and pearl white.  To the
left, the dining room sat with a large formal setting and the door into a neat
kitchen.  Everything was in its place, and it almost seemed too neat.
“This place has been scrubbed?” Rin asked curiously as he looked around.
Urahara shook his head.  “No, this was how it had to be all the time,” he said,
already getting into the headspace of Ichigo.  He tended to empathize and view
scenes from the victim’s point of view.
He walked into the kitchen, dragging a hand over the counter, closing his eyes
for a second.  “Ronny is an abuser.  He uses the cleanliness of the apartment
to retain control of him.  Things have to be just right.  He’s very
particular.”
Urahara opened the cabinet to see impeccably organized and labeled shelves. 
Every shelf had a label showing what was supposed to be placed on it.  Rin
followed, snapping evidence pictures as they went.  In the sink there was a
single plate and fork, the plate broken.
“Ronny was angry that he wasn’t here to do his chores.  That’s why he left and
didn’t return.  Without him here, this place wasn’t complete,” Urahara said.
Slowly, they went through the entire apartment, finding much the same things
throughout.  Rin had taken samples from all the drains in case something had
been poured down them.  Inside the toilet tank reservoir, they found a bag of
crystal meth hidden with a pipe and lighter.  It was nearly empty.  The last
place was the bedroom, and they hoped they would find anything that might tell
them where he’d gone.
As they began going over the room, Urahara went in the closet to see if there
was anything as Nemu hit the lights after spraying with the luminol and pulling
out the UV.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” he heard Akon mutter, which was odd, because Akon
rarely spoke when on a scene.
Urahara turned around and blinked.  “Photograph it all.  Strip the bed down to
the mattress.  Check the walls in the other rooms with the luminol.”
Urahara was sick.  He had never seen a room light up so much…granted, some of
it was seminal fluid, and some could have been a reaction to bleach.  Still,
the amount was more than he wanted to see.  Grimmjow was standing in the corner
just staring.  After almost three hours, the entire apartment had been gone
through, samples taken from almost every room, and every nook and cranny
searched.  They had found nothing out of place, which of course was in itself
unusual. 
“He’s the Eye Thief.  He removes the eyes and takes them as trophies,” Byakuya
said, standing in the center of the apartment and turning in a slow circle. 
“He kept Ichigo here, meaning he would have kept his trophies here.”
Urahara nodded, frowning himself.  It wouldn’t make sense for him to keep the
trophies elsewhere.  Everything was too perfect.  Only the broken plate in the
sink indicated disorder.  Akon was wandering back and forth through the rooms
when he stopped and looked up.  The ceiling was lowered and had the tiles that
could be popped out. 
“One of the tiles,” he muttered.  “That’s the only place.”
About fifteen minutes of checking every tile led them to frustration.  Finally,
though, they heard Byakuya from the bedroom.  “In here, the closet.  Bring me
an evidence box.”
Urahara grabbed one and folded it together and went in, telling the others to
stay out of there.  After about fifteen minutes Urahara came out looking rather
pale, and Byakuya walked behind him looking stoic as usual.  He grabbed the lid
and put it on the box.  “We need to take this to the Serietei and see if this
helps us.  We’ve got jars of eyes, a journal, a photo album, and a scrapbook,
along with a few other things.  I want to take it to a clean room, however.”
Everyone agreed, even though Grimmjow grumbled that he wanted to look at it
now, not later.  He had to admit, getting the evidence checked in and labeled
was important.  After what seemed like forever, when it was only an hour,
Urahara came out and told Grimmjow he could come back as they looked at what
they’d found.  The forensics team had already taken swabs, scrapings, and
samples of everything. 
On the table were all the things they’d brought back from the apartment. 
Grimmjow grimaced because there were twenty three jars of liquid, most likely
formaldehyde, sealed and with each one wrapped with different colored ribbons. 
Inside each jar was a pair of eyes, except one, which only had one eye in it. 
Each jar was meticulously labeled with a date, the name of the victim, and a
list of properties of the eyes.  Each one listed the color, smell, weight,
size, and disturbingly enough, taste.  Grimmjow shivered. 
“This level of organization isn’t unusual for serial killers,” Byakuya said
from where he was standing to the side making notes on a clipboard.
Urahara sighed and handed a photo album to Grimmjow.  “I have to warn you, are
you sure you want to look at this stuff?  It gets very disturbing. 
Technically, the only reason you’re here is you’re one of my agents.  I should
order you to leave.”
Grimmjow swallowed.  “No, I need to know.  I have to find out what’s going on
with this guy and make some sense out of this.”
Urahara nodded and sat down beside him.
First was the photo album.  Every picture had the faces scratched out.  They
were obviously very old photos of what looked like a rich family.  As Grimmjow
thumbed through it, there were notes, about the people, it seemed, all in ink
pen, most likely Aaroniero.  There was a family tree toward the end, and
Grimmjow frowned. 
“Am I looking at a royal family tree, because this fucking family tree is
twisted as fuck…cousins marrying cousins, aunts marrying nephews, uncles
marrying nieces, what the hell?” Grimmjow muttered.
Urahara handed him perhaps the creepiest scrapbook ever next.  There were some
photos in it, mostly of what Grimmjow recognized as Ichigo’s eyes.  They were
enlarged and cut out and pasted into it.  There were magazine pages with eyes
cut out, and several pages of disturbing drawings of eyes.  There were also
pages where it looked like he’d drawn very technical drawings of eyes, as
though he were some sort of eye doctor.  Grimmjow shook his head and picked up
the leather bound journal.
“Listen to this,” Grimmjow said after a few moments.  Both Urahara and Byakuya
looked up from their own perusing of the other books to listen. 
“He told me to take the eyes, so he could see.  I don’t want to listen to him,
but he’s always there, in my head, and he says he needs eyes to see by.  I
don’t want to take my baby’s eyes.  But he wants me to find him so he can have
them,” Grimmjow said, grimacing as he spoke.  “Later on,” he said.  “Kaien, his
name is Kaien, and I have to get him those pretty eyes.  He’s everything I am
not, and I will make him part of me.  Kaien will be happy from now on, I just
know it, if I can get him those eyes.  Then he won’t want me to take my baby’s
eyes.”  Grimmjow flipped a few pages.  “The bastard has my baby!  Not only am I
going to take his eyes, I’m taking everything he is, and I’m going to have what
I want.  Now, if he’d shut up and let me sleep.”
“He hears a voice,” Byakuya noted.  “Schizophrenia, perhaps.  No surprise
looking at the family tree in this book.  His parents were cousins, and so were
their parents before them.  Mental health problems are exacerbated by
inbreeding in families.  I haven’t seen one this bad in a long time.”
Grimmjow shook his head and put it down.  “How does this help us find Ichigo?”
he was getting frustrated.  He wanted to go look for him.  He wanted to do it
now.
“Grimmjow, there may be something in one of these things, a picture, a
reference to a place, we can’t just go blindly searching everywhere, it will
waste more time than we have.  The answer is here.  We just have to find it,”
Urahara said with a soft smile.  “You don’t have to help us, you can go back to
the safe house…” he began.
“Fuck you, Urahara.  I’m not leaving, I’m going to find that bastard and if
he’s hurt Ichigo again, I’m going to probably kill him,” Grimmjow growled,
sitting back in the chair to read every single insanity filled page in this
psychotic bastard’s journal.
                            -oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
Ichigo was scared, more than ever before.  As soon as they’d left Grimmjow’s
building, Ronny had tied his hands behind his back and then put a blindfold and
gag on him before shoving him into the backseat of his car.  They drove a long
time; Ichigo wasn’t sure how long, but he couldn’t help but feel tears well now
and then.  The silence was worse than if Ronny had started screaming and
yelling like he usually did when he was angry.
Finally they stopped and Ichigo felt him yank him forcefully out of the back
seat and pull him along after him.  The air here smelled bad, really bad, and
he kept tripping on something hard.  Broken concrete perhaps…  Finally he felt
Ronny untying his hands, but his relief was short lived as he felt cold metal
and a snap of a handcuff on his wrist.  He yanked his arm over and heard the
other snap.
Ronny pulled off the blindfold and the gag and smiled at him.  Ichigo blinked
at the sudden light exposure and he saw that he was in some sort of warehouse. 
The room reeked of something Ichigo couldn’t identify.  There was a dingy cot
beside him and a single chair in front of him.  Ronny pulled the chair around
and had him sit down.  Ichigo glanced up and saw that his wrist was chained to
a steel pole in the center of the room.  There was about six feet of chain
between the two pair of handcuffs that connected the chain.  There was a blue
portapotty sitting within range of that length of chain, as was the cot.  He
meant for him to stay here, like this…
“Baby, baby, beautiful baby,” he said, kneeling down and holding Ichigo’s face
and smiling at him.  “I have never been so scared as when they took you away, I
didn’t know how much I’d miss you, baby.”
Ichigo didn’t know what to make of this.  He was being kind and gentle.  “I’m
sorry, I should have protected you better.  But I’ve gotta plan.  Don’t worry. 
No one’s ever gonna take us apart again, this time, there’s no doubt.  I’m
gonna make sure you’re with me forever,” he said, grinning, his fetid breath
nearly making Ichigo gag.  His eyes were watering from the smell.
“Yes, I had to make a new collection, cuz I couldn’t go back home if you
weren’t there, see?” he said, gesturing to a table where there were about
thirty jars of liquid with sets of eyes bobbing in them.  “I couldn’t label ‘em
right, and I don’t like the quality of most of ‘em, but they’re better than
nothing, he shut up once I got more eyes, and that’s good, I don’t want him
bothering us, you know,” he said, leaning forward and kissing Ichigo’s cheek. 
“Wh-what are you planning?” Ichigo stammered, blinking owlishly at him.
“They’re gonna keep pulling us apart, we gotta…gotta be one you know, and then
he’ll shut up too, and quit…quit tellin’ me what to do,” Ronny said, his eyes
wide and completely dilated.
Ichigo licked his lips nervously. “I don’t understand.”
“See,” he said, leaning forward and caressing Ichigo’s eyelids.  “See, I can’t
lose my best prize, and we can’t…we can’t live like this…so I been practicing. 
I’m gonna take these pretty eyes of yours, and then I’m going to take mine. 
I’ll put them together in a pretty little glass bottle.  Then we’ll never be
apart again.  The eyes, the eyes, they aren’t the window to the soul, he
says…he says they are the soul.  That’s why…why I gotta put them together.  I
gotta merge our souls.  Then, it doesn’t matter what happens to our bodies. 
Gonna take them and we’ll dive off the building together, and once these…these
bodies they’re dead, then our souls live on forever, baby!  My prize, precious,
lovely, eyes, souls together…always…” he said, grinning broadly. 
Ichigo stared at him for a moment before he started to panic.  He was really
going to kill them both.  He was going to do it.
Suddenly, his face changed and he slapped Ichigo hard enough to send him
sprawling out of the chair to the floor.  “Your fault, you little fucking
brat.  If you’d listened to me, this wouldn’t have happened.  No, you gotta be
this way,” he said, reaching down and grabbing Ichigo by the hair and pulling
him to his feet.  He grinned at him, face changing to incredible softeness and
his hand that was wrapped in his hair began to caress his head instead.  “So
before I make our souls one, let’s partake of our early pleasures again,” he
said, pressing his mouth against him.
Ichigo tried to push him away, but instead he found himself flung to the
floor.  He screamed and then Ronny’s face changed again and he punched him
square in the mouth, sending blood flying.  “Stop, I don’t need you alive to
fuck you,” he growled at him and Ichigo froze.  “One last ride, baby,” he said
he fumbled with Ichigo’s clothes.
There was no one to hear Ichigo’s pleas.  No one at all.
***** Breaking His Chains *****
                                        
Grimmjow was about to have a mental breakdown from reading this stuff, he was
sure of it.  He rubbed his eyes and leaned back in the chair as he laid the
journal down.  Pages and pages and pages of rambling about eyes, removing eyes,
this “Kaien” that spoke to him, and Ichigo.  It was creepy and disturbing on
levels he’d never imagined possible.  There had even been a treatise on the
pleasures of rolling an eyeball around in his mouth.  Grimmjow nearly vomited
in that section and had to take a long break and stiff drink… 
“Nothing but crazy,” he said sighing.  “Nothing about places or people or
anything.”
Byakuya had gone to investigate titles and deeds at the records building.  He
came back in and dropped a few thick files to the table.  “The family was rich,
but they lost most of their money and fortune while Aaroniero was a child.  It
is very possible that he would use one of the businesses that they at one time
owned.  We know his family was rather sure of themselves and had a great deal
of pride.  He might remember some of the places.”
Urahara nodded, grabbing one of the files and handing another to Grimmjow. 
“Look for anything that is outside the main roads, shut down, and out of the
way.”
After about another hour, they’d picked out seventeen possible locations. 
“Still too many to go to one by one.  Byakuya, send out scout teams to locate
the most likely sites,” Urahara said as he thumbed through the seventeen
properties.  Two auto part warehouses, a steel mill, seven rental properties
they had once owned, three rice preparation facilities, and four miscellaneous
warehouses.  All seventeen were condemned, shut down, and outside the main
roads of the city.
Byakuya nodded.  “Good idea, Kisuke, I’ll send out pairs from the on duty
agents.  I think we’ve got maybe six teams like that.  The furthest point is an
hour from here, so they should all have reported in by then.”
“It’s going to be after two am before we can even leave?” Grimmjow said,
rubbing his eyes.
Urahara smiled.  “This is the safest and fastest way, Grimmjow.  Why don’t you
go back to the safe house and pick up Renji.  We might need the two of you to
handle Ichigo if we find him in bad condition.”
The truth was, he just really wanted Grimmjow out of his hair while they were
searching.  He was too worried and irritable, snapping at everyone as they
bothered him.  He had wondered where Grimmjow’s feelings has lain, whether he
really had a bond with this Ichigo or cared about what happened to him, or if
it was just completion of a revenge fantasy.  He was sure now.  Grimmjow’s
heart was with the younger man.  He patted Grimmjow on the back then shoved him
toward the door.
“Okay, yeah, I’ll do that,” Grimmjow stammered and walked toward the exit to go
get to Renji.
The drive didn’t take too terribly long, and on the way Grimmjow kept thinking
about what he was doing.  Then it dawned on him.  Somewhere between trying to
protect someone that was vulnerable and needed help and today, he’d given up
his heart and didn’t think twice about it.  It didn’t start out that way.  It
might have with Renji, because he was relatively sure that Renji had a crush on
Ichigo for a long time the way he’d talked about him.  Grimmjow, though, he
hadn’t known him at all.  There was something there that first triggered his
protective nature, and kissing him for the first time really surprised him.  He
and Renji hadn’t had a chance to talk about it, but he didn’t think that Renji
had issue with him wanting to love him as well.  He’d never been in a
polyamorous relationship before, and he always heard they were doomed.  He
didn’t think they were if the love was real.  He shook the thoughts away as he
pulled up in front of the Candy Shoppe and headed inside with a sigh.  Once in
the back, he found Renji sitting with the others at the dining room table.
Renji got up and practically ran over to him.  “Did you find him?” he asked
frantically.
“Not yet, Ren, but we might have an idea.  Urahara sent me to get you so you
can come with us when we check the best locations,” he said, smiling at him.
Renji nodded.  “Okay, let’s go,” he said.
“Um,” Luna said from where she got up from the table.  “I’m just wondering why
you need him, isn’t he a civilian?” she asked, confused by it.
Grimmjow nodded.  “Yeah, but the thing is, Ichigo flips on anyone who tries to
get near him if he’s not totally with it.  And Renji’s the person he trusts
enough to call when he needs someone, so, yeah…” he said, not wanting to go
into why exactly.
“I’m curious too,” Uryuu said, standing up and coming over to them.  “What are
you two so involved for anyway?  I get trying to help him, but you got him to
the authorities, and they’re looking for him, what’s your connection to all
this?” he said, glancing between them.  “I mean, I get that Renji worked with
him, and all that, but aren’t you Renji’s roommate?” he said, looking at
Grimmjow.
Grimmjow and Renji exchanged glances.  “I…I have almost an hour before we know
anything,” Grimmjow said.   “I…I think I could use some coffee,” he said,
rubbing his tired eyes.  “I can explain a few things, I think.”
Luna smiled and headed to the kitchen while Renji and Grimmjow sat down at the
table.  Renji was a little worried, he had never seen Grimmjow look this
drained and worried by something in the whole time he’d known each other.  A
few minutes later, Luna came out with a tray of cups and a coffee pot and
teapot.  Uryuu sat down with them.  The others had already gone to bed for the
night.
Grimmjow took the coffee gratefully.  “Renji was the one Ichi called when he
got so badly hurt by Ronny.”  He really had no idea why he was talking.  He
just felt the need to unburden himself after everything he’d just read in those
journals.  If he did it now, there would be fewer questions later, he knew all
too well.  “I just happened to go with him that night.  I didn’t…I didn’t
expect it to happen like it did…” he said, slowly sipping the coffee while
Renji watched him. 
“Grimm, what are you talking about?” Renji asked, slowly.
“I mean, I feel like an interloper, Renji,” he said, sighing.  “Like I’m taking
something that I shouldn’t.”
Renji shook his head, frowning deeply.  “I don’t understand.”
“I…I didn’t even ask you.  Before I kissed him,” he said, staring into the cup
and swirling the coffee around.  “You were the one that went after him, and
then…I just…”
Renji sighed, rolling his eyes. “Whoa there, big guy, don’t start that
bullshit.”
Grimmjow looked up, arching one blue brow at Renji.  “Just hold it right
there.  You’re acting like Ichi was mine to claim.  He wasn’t.  You can just
stop that train of thought before it gets to the fucking station, goddamn fuck-
headed idiot.”
Grimmjow looked at him with wide eyes.  “I didn’t mean…I mean I know…”
“Shut up you buffoon,” Renji said glaring at him as he sipped his own tea.  “We
both started this because of where we came from.  Neither of us could help the
fact that we came to adore and love the fucking boy.”
Grimmjow swallowed hard and nodded.  “Yeah, I just… I saw my brother’s face at
first.  After my dad killed him when he passed out in that hallway and I just…I
had to save someone else from that fate.”
Luna looked up.  “You had to watch your brother die?” she asked, a bit shocked
at the revelation.
Grimmjow nodded.  “Me, my sister Nel, and my brother Illfordt were orphans,
adopted by this amazing woman.  But her husband…he drank and he beat the shit
outta her again and again, and then started in on us.  He really hated my
little brother.  I don’t know why, probably because he was my mother’s
favorite.  But we were all blonde, and he hated that more than anything because
his mother had been blonde and used to abuse him.  He was so violent…then one
night…”  Grimmjow chugged down the rest of his coffee and poured another one
for himself.  “So when I saw Ichigo…beaten up like that…I just couldn’t let it
go.”
Luna moved and sat down beside him, putting a gentle arm on his shoulders. 
“I’m so sorry.  I don’t remember my mother.  I was left with my aunt and uncle
as a baby when she ran from him.  Unfortunately, he found her, and they found
her body in a dumpster wrapped in a garbage bag.  It was just after they found
my father had killed himself in a hotel room, leaving apology and confession of
what he’d done to her.  He was sorry, in the end.  I…I am glad that I was not
old enough to know what was happening.”
Grimmjow nodded, sipping his coffee as she continued.  “After that, my aunt and
uncle helped others.  It is hard to watch others suffer.  I learned to help
others.  You, my dear, are a good man to have felt so deeply a need to help one
suffering so,” she said, squeezing his shoulders.
Uryuu swirled his tea in his cup and looked up.  “So you love him, like really
do love him?” he asked quietly.  “Both of you?”
Both Renji and Grimmjow looked up at him. “I…yes,” Grimmjow answered, glancing
at Renji who nodded to him.
Uryuu nodded, looking at his teacup again.  “Okay, because, as his friends we
screwed up once already and…I don’t want to see it happen again.  I should have
been a better friend to him.  We should have been better friends, and I want
him to be safe and happy, so if he’s happy with you two, then, that’s fine. 
But I want to know how he feels.”
Grimmjow nodded.  “Yeah, because I don’t think he knows for sure how he feels
right now….”
Renji nodded.  “He’s not required to do anything, but…I want to help him, I
want to take care of him…” he said, glancing at Grimmjow.  “If he chooses to
stay with you, that’s okay with me, you know, if he doesn’t want us both.”
Grimmjow smiled at him.  “And if he chooses you, that’s okay with me too.”
They sat and talked about nothing for a few more minutes until Grimmjow slid
his cup back and stood up.  “Alright, hopefully, when I get back with you,
they’ll have somewhere to look.  I can’t…I just can’t talk about what I saw
yet, but I’m sure once we catch this sick fucker, I’ll need to talk about it. 
A lot,” he muttered standing and bowing slightly to the others. 
Renji nodded, waving to Luna and Uryuu and followed Grimmjow out of the safe
house.  Luna sat down and rubbed her leg thoughtfully when she crossed her
legs.  Uryuu was about to walk back to his room when he noted a scar on her
leg.  “What in the world was that from?” he asked, curiously.  His father was a
doctor, and  he’d seen a lot of scars in his years. 
Luna blinked and glanced down at the spot she’d been rubbing.  “Oh, a botfly
larvae I hosted.  I let it stay until it pupated instead of having it
extracted.”
Uryuu frowned.  “Wow, that’s…odd, most people don’t let a parasite feed off
them…” he muttered.
“I’m not most people,” she said, smiling and standing up to head to bed
herself.  She had a feeling that things were going to be busy the next day.
                            -oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
The ride back was surprisingly quiet for both Renji and Grimmjow, and when they
pulled up to the outside, there were people pouring out of the building and
getting into cars rapidly.
Urahara came running over.  “We’ve got three locations that were active.  We’re
hitting them all at once.  Follow someone if you like, Shunsui is leading one
team, I’m leading another, and Byakuya at third.”
Grimmjow nodded and lost track in the dark of who went wear and he followed one
of the black SUV’s at random.  He had no idea who was in it, but he at least
felt like they were doing something.  The tension in the care was intense
because both men knew that this was what was going to save Ichigo.  One of
these teams, hopefully, would find Aaroniero and Ichigo, and hopefully in time
before it was too late.
                            -oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
Ichigo wept for a long time after Ronny left him alone.  He had no idea where
he’d gone to, and he didn’t care, he was gone, that was all that mattered. 
Finally he sat up on the cot and wiped his eyes, looking around the place he
was in.  He had realized what the smell was, it was motor oil.  He put his bare
feet on the cold concrete floor and saw there was sawdust everywhere.  So that
was the odd smell, oil and sawdust.  He stood up shakily, his legs not too
steady and his head even less so.  He sighed and pulled on the handcuff finding
it almost too tight, so no chance of breaking his hand to pull it out.  He
followed the chain up to the pipe it had been attached to and pulled hard on
it.  No good, he thought, it wasn’t going to give at all.  He sighed and sat
down. 
Was this it?  Was this the last day of his life?  He couldn’t imagine anything
after today, so maybe it was.  He would die here, in an old abandoned warehouse
because he was stupid beyond measure and let himself be hurt by someone.  If
he’d only been brave enough to walk away…he thought to himself.  Another voice
in his head countered that argument though, reminding him that Ronny would have
killed his family in an instant.  He’d had no choice.  He sighed deeply and
yanked hard on the chain again. 
Ichigo heard yelling and looked up to see Ronny drag a struggling woman who was
gagged into the light around him.  She was most likely a homeless woman,
wearing rags and smelling strongly of filth as she got nearer to them.  Ichigo
watched in horror as Ronny shoved her into the chair he had set just outside of
Ichigo’s range of movement. 
“Ronny?” he asked, as he watched Ronny handcuff the struggling woman to the
chair.
Ronny smiled at him.  “She’s got pretty eyes,” he said as the woman screamed
against the gag.  “Pretty, pretty eyes…” he muttered, placing his hands on her
face and then staring at her.
“No, no more, Ronny!  Please, stop this!” he screamed.  “Don’t kill anyone
else!”
Ronny turned and glared at Ichigo and then ran over and elbowed him in the
mouth.  “Don’t speak to me that way,” he said as Ichigo stumbled backward
clutching his bleeding mouth.  “Don’t.  I will take as many as he tells me to
take.”
Ichigo watched him as he stalked back to the terrified woman.  “P-please, no,
Ronny!” he practically shrieked as he pulled out a scalpel.  Ronny turned back
at him and proceeded anyway, meticulously removing the woman’s eyes while she
screamed into the gag.  Ichigo had no idea how he kept her head still, but was
reminded of the unnatural strength he seemed to possess.
When it was done, he slit her throat and left her in the chair.  He held up the
dingy jar at the floating orbs in the red tinted water.  “Not as nice as I’d
like, but good enough,” he said, putting the jar down.  He drug the woman and
the chair away and then started placing the jars of eyes in a circle around in
the area of the brightest light.  He pulled a large mirror over and then
another steel chair.  He grabbed the chair that was within Ichigo’s range and
pulled it into the circle.  It looked like some sort of weird ritual circle. 
The entire time, Ronny muttered under his breath, too low for Ichigo to hear. 
Finally, he looked up and smiled at Ichigo. 
“Time baby,” he said, and grabbed Ichigo’s hand with the handcuff.  He unlocked
it and Ichigo immediately tried to pull away but instead he felt the bones in
his wrist snap painfully as Ronny’s grip tightened.  Ichigo screamed as he
dragged him to the chair and handcuffed his wrists and ankles to it.  He gagged
him with a bandana and then smiled, pulling a small table beside him.
He opened the kit and took out the eye speculums.  Ichigo flinched because he
knew them well.  There had been several occasions that Ronny had put them on
Ichigo for his own amusement.  Ichigo knew better than to struggle.  He was
deathly still as he affixed the two speculums on Ichigo’s eyes and smiled at
him.
“So lovely…” he whispered.
He turned and picked up a crystal vase, this one filled with what Ichigo could
smell was formaldehyde, and set it on the small table.  He then put a pan of
clean water beside it.  He turned back.
“I’ll cleanse them first, then put them in the jar.  Then, we’ll follow that
rope,” he said, pointing to a rope that had been tied to the stairwell and led
to the floor by Ronny’s feet.  “I’ll follow it up to the roof and we’ll die
together in body, and our souls will forever stay together, here in this
beautiful vase of eternal life…” he said, eyes looking wistful.
Ichigo’s heart couldn’t beat any faster.  He was going to die.  Right here,
right now.  Once he was blinded, he couldn’t escape, what was the point? 
Suddenly he smiled and nodded, seeing Ronny’s face light up.  It was okay.  It
really was.  It would be over, all of it.  Ronny wouldn’t hurt anyone again,
and he’d pass out of this life into another, hopefully one where he could be
happy and loved.  He was ready after all.
                            -oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
Grimmjow pulled the car in beside the black SUV they’d followed to an out of
the way abandoned auto parts warehouse.  The light inside had been what had
made this an option.  Grimmjow and Renji got out and saw they had followed
Shunsui and his team, a woman named Nanao, and a couple men that neither
Grimmjow nor Renji had met before.  They moved up where SHusui was giving
orders.  He saw the two of them. 
“You two, stay back until we confirm if we have a hot site or not,” he
started.  Grimmjow shook his head. 
“No chance, I’m going in with you.  I want first crack at this bastard,”
Grimmjow said firmly.
Renji, a bit nervous but bolstered by Grimmjow.  “Yeah, and if Ichi is in
there, someone needs to take care of him.”
Shunsui sighed.  “Stay with me,” he said, not really surprised.  He motioned
for the others to go ahead and scout directly.
“Confirmed!  Location hot!” came the answer they’d been looking for in his
earpiece.  Shunsui pulled his guns and nodded to Renji and Grimmjow, heading
into the building carefully. 
They managed to get into the place easily enough.  It seemed Ronny wasn’t
thinking about people finding him.  Shunsui noted several bodies discarded as
they moved through the front of the building.  They were all missing their
eyes. Finally they came into the main warehouse room.  Renji gripped Grimmjow’s
arm tightly as they came into view of the scene in the center of the floor. 
Shunsui held an arm out.  “Aaroniero Arruruerie, we have you surrounded, drop
the knife and step back, hands above your head!” he announced, stepping into
the light with both pistols drawn.
Grimmjow and Renji both circled around the room while Ronny looked up, focused
on Shunsui.  “What are you doing here?  Leave us alone!  We’re going to be
together forever!” he screamed, but looked up as he saw Renji and Grimmjow in
the shadows.  He growled, picking up the scalpel and plunging it downward into
Ichigo’s chest, causing him to scream against the gag.  Ronny then ran toward
the door, somehow avoiding the bullets fired at him.
Renji ran for Ichigo, and Grimmjow ran for Ronny, followed closely by Shunsui. 
Ichigo was gasping and blinking as blood poured down his chest from where Ronny
had plunged the scalpel.  Renji didn’t know what to do but Nanao came up and
pushed him aside, looking it over.
“It’s okay, not deep enough to puncture the lung, he’s going to be fine,” she
said, removing the blade and covering the wound with a gauze bandage while one
of the other agents removed the handcuffs.
A few minutes later, a call for an ambulance had been called in, and Renji was
sitting holding Ichigo in his lap on the floor.  Ichigo looked up at him and
smiled before he passed out.  Renji clutched him all the tighter as he waited.
Outside, it didn’t take long for Grimmjow to catch up with the fleeing Ronny,
and he flat out tackled him to the ground.  A few minutes of struggling with
each other, both men got to their feet.
“Why are you here?” Ronny said, glaring at him.
“To save Ichigo from you, you sick fucking piece of shit,” Grimmjow growled.
Ronny laughed.  “I’ve soiled him so that the filth will never leave him, you’ll
never have him, I’ve ruined that boy, he was ruined from the day I met him and
killed his mother!” he yelled and dove at Grimmjow, landing a good punch to the
jaw.
Grimmjow heard Shunsui behind him yelling to let him have a shot.  But there
was no way, he was taking this bastard down for what he did.  He managed to get
in a good angle and connected a haymaker hard into his face.  He stumbled
backward, but instead of retaliating, Ronny looked at him for a moment, then
crumpled to the ground.  Grimmjow dropped his stance and frowned, moving over
and kneeling, checking on him.  He shook him, then checked for a pulse.
“He’s dead,” Grimmjow said softly as he looked up at Shunsui.
***** Epilogue: Fallout *****
Chapter Notes
     Short ending, I know. Might come back and add to it, but this one
     just felt complete where it ended. Thank you so much for reading!
                                        
“He’s dead?” Renji said as the ambulance screamed back toward the city. He was
surprised how fast they had gotten there and that they let both Renji and
Grimmjow ride with them.
Grimmjow nodded, glancing at Ichigo who was still unconscious. “Just fuckin’
hit the dirt. The paramedic said it looked like he just had a heart attack but
he couldn’t be sure. He was a meth user, so it wouldn’t be a surprise.”
Renji nodded. “Damn. I mean, I’m glad the bastard’s dead, but I’d rather he
faced some consequence for what he did to Ichigo.”
“I’d say death is a hell of a consequence,” one of the paramedics said with a
shake of his head.
“He should have suffered more,” Grimmjow muttered as they pulled into the
hospital’s back entrance. “How’s he doing?” he asked.
“Well, he hasn’t woken up yet,” the blonde paramedic said with a sigh. “The
chest wound is deep but not really bad. We can’t tell a lot here, but we’ll see
at the hospital what they say.”
Before long, everyone was at the hospital waiting to find out Ichigo’s
condition. Renji and Grimmjow both found themselves worried sick and spent the
next week on alternative twelve-hour schedules at the hospital. The doctors
said that it was most likely all the shock and trauma catching up to him and
his body just needed time to heal. Knowing this did not make waiting any easier
for either Renji or Grimmjow. Both were impatient to talk to Ichigo and to tell
him the news.
Aizen and his men ended up going away for a long time, but no matter what the
law did to them, Grimmjow knew that one day, things might change and Aizen
could come for them again. He knew that his reach could extend beyond the jail
he was housed in. Still, he had to rejoice in the small victory that he was put
away for now, and that was enough.
Grimmjow was sitting beside the bed, thumbing through his phone and looking
down in the mouth when Ichigo woke up.
“You look like someone died,” he croaked through dry lips.
“Ichigo!” Grimmjow gasped, immediately texting Renji. “Baby, you were out for a
week!”
“That’s why I feel like death?” he winced, putting a hand to his chest. “Ow.”
“Here,” Grimmjow said and grabbed a cup of water for him to drink. “Take it
slow,” he commanded when Ichigo tried to slurp too much at one time.
Ichigo panted a bit. “Sorry, I was thirsty. I mean, a week means I’m dry,” he
said with a smirk.
The door opened and Renji came rushing into the room, dropping to the seat on
the other side as he grabbed his right hand. “Ichigo!” he said with a smile.
“I’m so glad you’re awake!”
Ichigo shook his head, still amused by these two. “You are still here too?” he
asked with a smile.
“Of course, where would I go?” Renji smirked at him and then kissed the back of
his hand. “I have to stay near you.”
“Is it really okay? To be with two people like this?” Ichigo asked, almost not
talking to them but to the room itself.
“It is,” Grimmjow confirmed. “But you should know, Ronny’s dead.”
Ichigo blinked, staring at him for a long time. “Dead?”
“He had a heart attack during the chase,” Renji explained, squeezing Ichigo’s
hand again as he talked. “The meth, they think. He’d had almost enough to
overdose himself before he tried to enact his murder/suicide plan with you.”
Ichigo frowned, not really knowing what to think of that. Ronny had been such a
part of his life for so long, he wasn’t sure he knew what to do without him in
it. Something about it made him sad, though. Something about everything that
had happened. He had spent his life dedicating himself to someone like Ronny,
to his every whim, and now, he was just gone.
The tears came and though neither Renji or Grimmjow really understood why
Ichigo was crying over the serial killer who had basically held him hostage for
so long, they comforted him. No matter what, he was hurting, and that was all
that mattered.
                            -oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
Ichigo’s rehabilitation went by quickly, but it was not without snags and
blocks. He still suffered from a lot of problems, and between Grimmjow and
Renji, they knew they had a lot to deal with. Still, after a couple months in
the hospital under intense therapy of various sorts, Ichigo was cleared to
leave and move into his new home with both Renji and Grimmjow.
The new house looked nothing like the apartments that he had previously
inhabited, and it was a good thing for all of them. They knew that he would
struggle, and they knew that he would have rough days, but they also knew that
they would be there for him. In the end, the only person to receive the
ultimate punishment had been Ronny.
Ichigo had ended up right where he wanted to be, right between his blue haired
lover and his red haired lover.
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