Kiskue maybe officiated, but also kept quiet because he lives for chaos. And it is exactly because he wanted a front row seat to the chaos that he has like, "here are some t-shirts for the occasion". He’s selling them on the side to random bystanders and laughing as Rukia kicks Ichigo’s ass for not making her his maid of honour.
They (Kisuke&cia) are probably also taking bets. So far, Yuzu is winning. Rukia and Renji tag-team attacking Ichigo like they did when they found him in Hueco Mundo to rescue Orihime.
Grimmjow and Ichigo dated in secret, married in secret, started living together in secret, adopted a cat in secret... and they THOUGHT everything they did was inconspicuous, therefore, no one would know. Of course everyone knew it — except the getting married part, otherwise Isshin would kick both of them and be a drama queen for not being invited. However, once Isshin knew his only boy got married - without him there to give Ichigo away, he made sure to reenact the wedding. Kisuke helped for the sake of, and to have first row seat to the chaos. Needless to say Ichigo couldn’t say no to Yuzu, while Karin threatened Grimmjow to participate, and all the family had a blast. Ichigo’s and Grimmjow’s faces were beet red the whole time, and second hand embarrassed because of Isshin’s antics. On the bright side, Grimmjow thought, they got to have a second wedding night and maybe they could have a second honey moon - payed by no other than Isshin.
“Oi, Ichigo, your boyfriend is on the move!” Renji called from where he was sprawled across the couch.
“He’s not my boyfriend!” Ichigo protested, but even so, he rose from his place at the table to take a look out the window. “Looks like he’s going for a walk.” Ichigo had a distant tone to his voice, as if completely unaware how infatuated he sounded. Renji snorted.
“Right. He’s not your boyfriend at all. Sure,” he replied. A bag of chips rustled as he grabbed a handful to munch on. Jinta felt his irritation rise with every crunch that Renji made as he chewed. He gripped his pencil tightly, but didn’t move otherwise. He breathed in through his nose, out through his mouth. This was supposed to be his time with Ichi-nii, but that damn neighbour had interrupted it again. How was he so good at infringing on Jinta’s time with Ichigo when he wasn’t even in the same house as them? There was a muffled yelp and a thud, loud enough that it sounded like Renji hit the floor. Jinta aimed a glare at his math homework.
“Hey what’s wrong? Is the word problem really giving you that much trouble?” a voice asked. Jinta looked up to see Ichigo returning to the table. He let his glare fade into a pout.
“…no.”
Ichigo smirked and ruffled Jinta’s hair. “Then don’t glare so much.” He plopped himself back in the seat next to him. Jinta sighed through his nose. Ichigo chuckled softly. “Alright, let’s start it over again.”
***
Jinta wiped the counter over and over with the towel, not realizing it was already dry. He frowned as he thought more and more about the neighbour Ichigo seemed fascinated with. “Hey, Ururu,” he said abruptly, “what have you heard about Kisuke’s new neighbours?”
“Dad, Jinta. You can call him that, you know,” Ururu responded quietly. She was sweeping the floor. “And I haven’t heard much. Just that Ichigo really likes the blue-haired guy, and the green-haired lady sounds fun.”
“Hmph. I’ll call him ‘dad’ when he deserves it,” Jinta muttered. “And that’s not much information. If I wanted to know something so unspecific I could find that out on my own. I thought you girls talked about things like that. What did you even do with Orihime and Rukia all day?”
The trash can creaked as Ururu opened it to empty the dustpan. “We went shopping. We didn’t talk about the boys much at all, really.” She tapped the dustpan on the side of the garbage can to shake any excess dust and dirt loose. “Why are you so interested, anyway?”
“…Ichigo’s the best big brother. He always helps us and makes sure we’re safe and stuff. Plus, he’s the one who comes to see us the most when we’re at mom’s. Now it’s my turn to make sure he’s the safe one. Gotta make sure that blue-haired weirdo is good enough for him,” Jinta admitted, rubbing more furiously at the counter without realizing what he was doing. Ururu replaced the broom in the little closet behind the kitchen table.
“So, you’ll call Yoruichi ‘mom’, but you won’t call Kisuke ‘dad’?” she asked calmly. She adjusted her hair, brushing it out of her face and tying it up in a long ponytail. “And I think Ichigo is really capable of taking care of himself. At the very least, I don’t think he’d want a child to be the one watching out for him.”
“Mom is mom. And Kisuke is…” Jinta’s voice trailed off, and he realized finally that the countertop was dry. He didn’t finish the sentence but started folding up his towel.
“You know they’re still friends, right?” Ururu’s voice was softer than usual, but not timid. More like…gentle. Comforting. Jinta pursed his lips.
“Doesn’t mean mom doesn’t still cry on their anniversary,” he muttered. He rubbed the back of his neck. “I wanna make sure that doesn’t happen to Ichi-nii.” Then he spun around and marched out of the kitchen. Ururu didn’t follow him. She gave a soft, sad smile at her brother’s big heart.
***
It was two in the morning. On a Tuesday. He had work in a few hours. I don’t have time for this bullshit, Grimmjow thought to himself as he stared down the intruder in his kitchen. The intruder, short with flaming red hair and a scowl on his face, glared back at him in silence. Grimmjow rubbed his temples. All he wanted was a glass of water. And when he’d turned on the lights he’d been surprised to find the young boy on his counter, looking through his cupboards.
“You have thirty seconds to start explaining,” he stated, looking the intruder dead in the eyes, “before I call the cops.” The intruder’s eyes widened. He leapt off the counter, hands up in submission.
“Please don’t! Don’t call the cops, I didn’t take anything, I swear!” the intruder babbled, and Grimmjow felt himself wince internally. The kid sounded even younger than he looked. Grimmjow sighed and pulled out a chair to sit in it. He gestured to one of the other chairs and the young intruder hesitantly sat in it.
“Talk.” It was a command, not an option.
“…I just wanted to see why Ichi-nii is so interested in you,” the young boy muttered. He tugged at his red hair nervously, eyes downcast. Grimmjow narrowed his eyes.
“…who?”
At that, the boy looked up. “Ichigo. The neighbour?”
Grimmjow blinked. “Uh. Who are you? How do you know Ichigo? And why do you care what he thinks of me?” he asked, feeling a little annoyed that he still didn’t know what exactly was going on.
“…’m name’s Jinta. He’s my older brother! Well…step-brother. Sort of,” Jinta admitted. He kicked his legs, eyes back on the floor. “He’s a good person.” Then he aimed a glare at Grimmjow, body suddenly tensing as if ready to attack. “And I’m here to make sure you’re actually good enough for him and won’t hurt ‘im!” The declaration was a bit loud in the silence, and they both paused afterward, listening. No sounds came from above so Grimmjow assumed Nel was still asleep in her room.
With a roll of his eyes, he replied, “what, so you investigate all your brother’s friends like this?” Jinta shook his head.
“No, you dummy! He doesn’t wanna be your friend?”
“Hah?” Grimmjow could feel his irritation growing with every contradictory word the boy spoke. Until…
“He wants to date you!” As soon as the words were out, Jinta slapped both hands over his mouth, eyes wide. Grimmjow froze, eyes also wide, brain whirring and spinning but not actually producing any thought beyond ‘Ichigo’ and ‘date’. Sure, he’d noticed how pretty the other man was, had admired his strength when he assisted Grimmjow and Nel with moving in, and thought he was pretty chill on the few occasions they’d talked since. But…he’d never thought the other was interested in him. And now that the truth was out there…well now he found himself strangely drawn to the idea.
Sounds of sobbing brought him back to reality. “Please…Please don’t tell him I told you! Please act like you don’t know! I…He…he’ll be so sad if you stop talking to him because of this, and…and…and I don’t wanna make Ichigo sad! Please!”
“Woah, calm down…Jinta, right? Relax, I won’t, uh, won’t tell him anything, ok?” Grimmjow tried to soothe. Jinta’s sobs quieted and he sniffled.
“Promise?”
“Yeah. I promise.” Grimmjow looked over at the clock above the stove. “You really should go home now, ok? I can walk you over.” Jinta shook his head.
“No, we’ll get caught and I don’t have a good enough story for Kisuke to believe me,” he replied. He wiped his tears and snot on his sleeve. “I’ll climb back over the fence and go in through the basement window. Ururu’s there, she’ll let me in.” Grimmjow raised his eyebrows.
“If you’re sure, then.”
Jinta nodded. “Yeah, I’ve snuck out loads of times. I know what I’m doing.”
Grimmjow opted to keep from pointing out that Jinta had been caught this time. Instead, he just nodded and watched the boy as he left the house, scaled the fence, and dropped down on the other side. He couldn’t see anything more due to the fence in the backyard, but he hoped the boy made it inside as easily as he claimed. With a sigh, he ran a hand through his blue hair and turned to get what he originally came to the kitchen for: a glass of water.
Water acquired and drank, Grimmjow returned to his bed. Only to lay and stare up at the ceiling, replaying the strange meeting in his head. Or rather, one particular sentence. ‘He wants to date you’. Usually, Grimmjow wouldn’t think too hard about those kinds of things, but Ichigo seemed to be different from other people. He didn’t shy away when Grimmjow was gruff. When he helped them move, he took just as much physical work as Grimmjow did. He was strong. He was friendly. He had a smile as brilliant as the sun.
So, this time, Grimmjow let himself fantasize. In the gentle moonlight, it was easy to imagine things. He let his mind wander, wondering what it would be like to date Ichigo, to hold his hand, put his arms around the other. A soft warmth grew in his chest and he couldn’t stop the smile that stole across his face.
