Could you explain this new crackship lol? (Grimmjow x Zangetsu)
YEEESSS III CAAAAAAANNNN.
firstly, when i was first watching this series a long time ago, i actually didn’t really see them being anything more than enemies … but due to my own experiences and watching the show more, i think i learned to see kind of the beauty in it? (also i Won’t Lie To You Guys, i be acting like grimmjow is my self insert and me and zangetsu are like this 🤞)
i remember seeing a quote that was like… “he may be a natural predator, but like this, he is prey; thighs parted, soft underbelly, gasping into his open mouth. there is always something with bigger teeth.” that’s kind of what i imagine with those two.
also, this little part from the game where they’re talking! look at them.. having so much fun… (LOUD CRASHING) (SCREAMING)
note: grimmjow literally calls him his “prey” in this sequence lmfao
lastly i could go on about them for a very long amount of time but to end this summary, i will say that out of the two of them, i actually see zangetsu being the more detatched out of the two. i think grimmjow is mostly obsessed with the idea of “breaking” him or Ichigo and being Seen, while zangetsu Reaaallyy favors the sentiment of taming/destroying grimmjow. also he just kinda toys/exploits that idea via incredible acts of violence
Grimmjow sighed in tired annoyance as he finally finished giving his reports to Harribel about gillian and adjuchas movements in the Menos Forest. Ever since she'd heard about the experience Ichigo and Co. had had in the forest, and about the soul reaper Ashido, Harribel had taken interest in the location. If nothing else, she wanted to ensure none of the Vasto Lordes got any bright ideas to go after Los Noches. Usually, Grimmjow, with his unwillingness to tolerate even a bit of anyone else's bullshit, was usually sent to handle the scouting.
For the day, though, he was finally finished and ready to get out of Hueco Mundo.
Stepping through the garganta into the front lot of Urahara's Shop, Grimmjow's hair immediately stood on end, sensing Ichigo's spiritual pressure. He felt excitement coil in his gut over the idea of getting to see the hybrid again, and especially over the potential for a fight. The garganta closed behind him as he looked around for Ichigo. Seeing no sign of him outside, Grimmjow wandered into the shop, eager to see Ichigo.
Kisuke beamed seeing Grimmjow and waved playfully. "Good afternoon," he cheered, walking over. "How can I help you this fine day, my friend?"
Grimmjow rolled his eyes, casually snagging a handful of candy. "Where's Kurosaki," he asked. "I felt his spiritual pressure here."
Kisuke smiled a bit, hiding it behind his fan. "Well, he's presently occupied," he said, turning to wander to the back. "He's doing homework for his degree. Best to not disturb him."
Grimmjow huffed and, despite what Kisuke said, pushed past the ex-captain and towards the back to find Ichigo. Homework... Yeah right. Ichigo said he was on break from school. Was Ichigo shooting for extra credit? No, no... That didn't suit Ichigo. From what Grimmjow understood of Ichigo's grades in high school (aside from the actual months missed), Ichigo did enough to stay in the top 20 or so, but otherwise didn't push himself to be better at his studies. In fact, if what he'd overheard the other night was accurate, Uryuu was teasing Ichigo about being lower ranked by the end of school compare to himself, Orihime, and Chad. Uryuu in first and Orihime in third, and Chad coming up on 11th.
No, the more likely answer with that context was the Ichigo was just trying to maintain his grade and do his version of "get by", as if his "getting by" wasn't what others desperately hoped to reach in these courses.
Grimmjow sauntered into the back room where Ichigo was glaring at a laptop screen, notes scattered around. He tilted his head then used sonido to get behind Ichigo to look over his shoulder. English... Grimmjow couldn't remember if he knew English at any point, but he knew he spoke Japanese. Or did he? Actually, thinking about it, he wasn't sure he spoke the same language as those in Japan, to tell the truth. His name certainly wasn't Japanese. It was... What, Swiss? French? He wasn't so sure. He was pretty sure that "Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez" hadn't been his name when he was alive, just as he was certain Ulquiorra or Nnoitra's hadn't been those names either.
Or "Coyote Starrk".
Regardless, the words on the screen made little sense to him, looking like a mess of squiggles and, he guessed, characters? Or was it letters? Fuck if he knew. "You speak English?", he asked abruptly.
Which, earned him a shriek and a punch to the jaw. His masked jaw, at that.
Grimmjow stumbled back, making an animalistic noise, holding his face in pain. "What the hell?!" he shouted. "What was that for?!"
Ichigo stared, up in a defensive stance. It took him a moment, but he finally realized he was looking at Grimmjow. His panic and surprise quickly turned to annoyance. " Excuse me?!," he snipped. "You're the one sneaking up on people!"
"I literally walked in the door in front of you like a normal person! The closest I got to sneaking was sonidoing behind you!"
Ichigo huffed and put his hands on his hips, cheeks pink, embarrassed he hadn't detected Grimmjow's presence until the man spoke. After a second, he sighed and rubbed his face. "Sorry... I guess I was just absorbed in my homework. Is your face okay?"
Grimmjow rubbed his face, tenderly feeling between the teeth on his mask for any damage. He muttered, "It's fine."
Ichigo watched Grimmjow sit down and sulk against the wall. He hadn't meant to hit Grimmjow, but if the guy was going to pout about an accident, that was his prerogative and wasn't Ichigo's problem. He sat back down to look at his homework.
The two sat in awkward silence for a long while, Ichigo reading then writing or typing, Grimmjow watching. It was awkward, but not necessarily uncomfortable. More like a lull in conversation where both parties want to keep talking but there's little else to say in the moment. Eventually, Grimmjow even closed his eyes and relaxed against the wall, cat napping in the ray of warm sunlight coming in through the window.
The sight made Ichigo smile a bit. It was nice to see the usually amped up arrancar so peaceful and content. Grimmjow's brow relaxed, leaving his nose uncrinkled and his expression looked so... Well, sweet wasn't the right word, but Ichigo couldn't think of another one to use.
Weirdly, it made his heart jump a bit.
Ichigo looked back at his laptop immediately, choosing to ignore that little feeling. At least for now. He had school and his life to focus on. He was aiming to be able to get a translator job and help people out with it. He was actually hoping to be able to work from home too, so that way he could focus a lot more on his personal life. He'd spent so long fighting and training for others, most of his teen years in fact, that was just wanted to spend as much of the rest of his life on himself as possible. Figuring out the things he missed figuring out as a teenage boy, learning to take care of himself, being more involved with his sisters' and father's lives, and so much more.
Well...
Maybe that heart flutter was worth addressing then. Maybe it was worth letting it happen and seeing what it was about. After all, he'd sort of missed the ages most people really figure out their sexuality due to all the conflicts. He knew he liked women, Orihime being a prime example. Not even just for the fact that she was beautiful, but for her warmth and kindness. For her generosity and her willingness to give as much as she could, even when she was terrified and deep in a well of grief and pain herself. She loved freely and unconditionally, without restrictions. Ichigo had really, really liked that about her. Plus, he felt like she was stable enough to consider as a long term partner.
His potential bisexuality aside, as far as he knew, Grimmjow was the opposite. Selfish, fixated on his ego, and being the best. He was blunt and snarky, callous and almost blind to the suffering of others. Grimmjow seemed to be the type to rather let someone be left in a dangerous situation if it just meant he didn't need to get involved. Things with Grimmjow seemed conditional, or maybe contractual. A lot less give and take, almost all take.
But then again, maybe he didn't really know the arrancar all that well. The other night showed him that.
Grimmjow had gifted him a chocolate bar, which he claimed was a bribe, but it felt like so much more. Grimmjow, of all people, remembered Ichigo liked chocolate. It wasn't his favorite brand or type, but it was chocolate. He'd eaten a few pieces on his way home that night and he couldn't help but revel in the taste. It was cheap, probably from the candy shelves by a register, but it was chocolate and a gift from an unexpected source. That made it so much more delightful. He'd savored the little rectangles slowly, just appreciating that he was thought of by someone who once claimed to despise him.
And the way Grimmjow spoke of his fraccion... He clearly tried passing it off as nothing more than a transactional relationship between the six, but just hearing how the fraccion tended to Grimmjow and how he tended to them, it felt... Well, it felt like Grimmjow missed them. Like he'd truly lost people he cared about and felt a true connection with. It wouldn't really surprise Ichigo if Grimmjow really did care for his fraccion. After all, many hollows longed for nothing more than to be noticed. They wanted someone to see them, to really see them, and understand them at their core. It wasn't a fix to the hollowfication, but it filled the void inside them, just a bit.
As for the coarseness of Grimmjow's personality... Maybe Ichigo just hadn't found himself in the right environment to see the better sides of Grimmjow. The last time he'd seen Grimmjow before the other night was in the midst of all out war, and before that Grimmjow was under Aizen's thumb and being treated like crap. Grimmjow hadn't been in a position until now to be relaxed, content, and fully himself.
Maybe he just needed to start looking for the real Grimmjow and stop looking at the surface level cruelty the arrancar put on.
Ichigo sighed and shut his laptop. Daylight was burning and he'd made up his mind to try to spend some casual time with Grimmjow. He stood and nudged the arrancar with his foot. "Hey, where's your gigai?", he asked.
Grimmjow opened one eye and looked up at Ichigo. "Hm?"
"I said, where's your gigai?"
Grimmjow yawned then stood, hands in his pockets again. "In Kisuke's lab, why?"
Ichigo smiled warmly. "Because, I want to go out and get a late lunch with you instead of hiding out here," he said. "Plus, it might help you more to navigate the living world with a guide."
Grimmjow huffed and gestured broadly in the vague direction of the underground training area. "What about our fight?!", he demanded. He'd been itching for a fight with Ichigo for months and now the guy didn't want to fight? Unbelievable, in his mind.
Ichigo huffed and crossed his arms. "Will you stop going on about that," he scolded. "I'm not in the mood, but I am hungry, and knowing hollows, you are too. You ate like you were starving the other night..."
Grimmjow rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Hollow. Usually hungry," he muttered, half sarcastic. Before Ichigo could reply, Grimmjow wandered off to get his gigai. He was disappointed, even annoyed about the lack of a fight, but he was feeling hungry, and he was developing a bit of a taste for real food. God, the sauces... Especially over rice. He already found two things he liked a lot. The blueberry coffee from his first day in the gigai, and the fried fish Tessai made.
Plus...
He didn't actually mind getting to spend some casual time with Ichigo. He knew plenty about the hybrid's power and strength, and a few things like his favorite snacks, but he didn't know too much more. He'd known his fraccion well, like the back of his hand. Their more human interests hadn't come up, not until they'd regained human-like bodies again as arrancar, but that was simply because they hadn't been human in a very long time by the time they all met. Before Aizen's arrival, they'd all discuss the obvious hollow things. The desert, their meals, the potential for greater power... But sometimes, in the quieter moments in what could be considered their bed times, they'd talk about what they remembered of their lives.
It wasn't a lot, and it was hard to remember the things they'd talked about, but Grimmjow remembered those five and the talks they had fondly. Though, some of the memories were tinged with a bitterness. Or resentment maybe. It was about the fact that one of his fraccion had even come close to reaching Vasto Lorde and wouldn't have. They were at best low ranking adjuchas, or Gillian in Nakeem's case, and their evolution had been halted at that stage by Grimmjow eating a piece of them. He wished they'd risen in power like he had after he left them behind in the sands, joined him in ruling even a fraction of the desert like a king and his loyal knights. Although, he had to admit he had a respect for them few others would have had. They were among the first hollows to offer themselves to Aizen's experiments and to be transformed, earning them the ranks 11, 13, 14 15, and 16. He respected their desire to continue to grow in power, even after they had seemingly given up on at least one route.
Grimmjow slipped into his gigai and set about changing clothes, frowning deeply as he found himself suddenly wondering what those five would think seeing him now, wearing a damn gigai and dressing up to go out to eat with a soul reaper... Yylfordt might have wanted to join him and dress up, maybe have his hair braided. Edrad might have jumped at a chance to run around and be seen again.
Grimmjow growled and crankily shoved rings on his fingers. He couldn't think about that shit right now, or at all. They were dead and gone and that was final. It was likely they'd never see each other again, not unless he managed to visit the soul society again and somehow locate them amongst the souls in the Rukon. Assuming any of them hadn't gone right to Hell. He didn't know the full breadth of their lives before death, but he was sure at least one had gone to Hell. Probably Yylfordt. A quiet, deep and forgotten part of him hoped none of them had...
Ichigo was waiting for him by the front door and smiled warmly seeing him approach. "Hey," Ichigo said. "You ready to go?"
Grimmjow snorted, pushing past. "Obviously," he snipped. "Let's go before I change my mind and go home."
Ichigo rolled his eyes with an irritated sigh, but trailed after the arrancar. For good or ill, Grimmjow was his companion for the afternoon and he'd just have to see where that took them. "So," he began. "Craving anything specific? Outside of your usual, that is."
Grimmjow hummed, looking around as they walked. He didn't really know too many restaurants yet, and he barely knew how to feel about really, human food again. Absently, he sniffed at the air. "Not really," he grumbled. "You can pick, I guess."
Ichigo nodded and smiled. "Okay. Well, I know a place with really good karashi mentaiko." He nudged Grimmjow. "You might like it too," he encouraged. "It's a spicy pollock roe. If you like fish you might like that."
Grimmjow raised an eyebrow. "You think I'll like eating fish eggs... Because I like fish?" He felt completely baffled when all he got back was a big nod and a smile.
Ichigo was a lot more smiley than he used to be.
Grimmjow's expression softened a bit, undetectably to most people. Ichigo had been so stone faced before, only giving maniacal grins or sardonic smiles in any given direction. Or he'd be angry and pushing himself beyond his limits. Now, Ichigo was softer, more pleasant, and more patient. It was like finally being free of his responsibilities as the "savior of the worlds" brought out the real Ichigo.
Grimmjow tsked and nudged back. "Fine," he said. "Take me wherever, but you're paying."
Ichigo grinned and happily grabbed Grimmjow's arm, pulling him along, clearly excited to show Grimmjow something he liked.
-------
At the restaurant, the duo sat in the back, a quiet and comfortable space where they could speak relatively privately.
Ichigo happily sat with his menu open, watching Grimmjow stare at his own. "Need any recommendations?"
Grimmjow simply grunted in reply. He just wanted to look and see if anything caught his eye. Fried fish was a pretty good, somewhat familiar option, as were the sashimi and rice dishes on the menu. But, at the same time, he felt like he couldn't stay within the familiar forever. Plus, there was so many options, and he wasn't dying anytime soon, not again anyways. He could try everything ten times over at least. "Nabeyaki," he said suddenly.
Ichigo looked up then nodded. "Oh, yeah," he murmured. "That's pretty good, especially here. My sister makes that a lot too."
"Your sister?"
Ichigo blinked dumbly a few times, staring at Grimmjow, before letting out a little gasp. "Oh! Right, you've never met my sisters," he said, feeling a little stupid. Of course Grimmjow didn't know he had sisters, they'd never talked about them. "I have two sisters," he continued. "They're twins. Yuzu and Karin."
Grimmjow listened, absently accepting his water as he was handed the glass.
Ichigo took his own drink, sipping it before continuing. "They're in high school right now, and they're both great. Really different people though. Karin is more like me, I guess. She's a little rough around the edges and she's always been worried about other people a lot more than herself, especially Yuzu. She used to be really sporty and tomboyish as a kid, but not as much as she's gotten older. Yuzu is largely Karin's opposite. She's a big crybaby and much more girly. She's the cook in the family. Kinda took over the mom role when our mother died, even though she was so little."
Grimmjow tilted his head a bit, raising an eyebrow. "Your mother died?" he asked with surprisingly genuine curiosity.
Ichigo nodded a bit and tried to hide the grief in his eyes. He didn't feel nearly as bad as he used to about it, but it still hurt to think about the day the family lost Masaki. "Yeah," he replied. "I was about ten and we were walking home in the rain. I saw what I thought at the time was just a girl about to jump into the river and ran to stop her. Mom, chased after me to stop me. Years later, not long after I met Rukia, I learned the hollow Grand Fisher was behind my mom's death. That girl was his lure."
Grimmjow's eyes widened slightly, leaning forward. "Shit, Fisher did it," he questioned, apparently surprised. "Damn, even I knew Fisher's name before Aizen got ahold of him. Guy was a menace."
Ichigo's eyes widened, a bit of confusion and anger rising in tandem. "What do you mean 'Aizen got ahold of him'?"
Grimmjow shrugged, sitting back. "Aizen offered Fisher power and was among the first set of us to be made arrancar, myself and my fraccion aside," he explained. "I think he let Fisher run off into the living world and the guy never came back. That was... I guess not long after Aizen left the Soul Society?"
Ichigo swallowed, looking down at the table. Grand Fisher had been made an arrancar, and he hadn't been able to face him. And since Grand Fisher never made it back to Hueco Mundo by Grimmjow's account, that meant someone else had likely killed the guy. Possibly whoever was assigned to patrol the town after Rukia was pulled back to the Soul Society. Thus, Masaki was avenged...
It just felt like shit that he hadn't been able to deliver that blow.
Ichigo jumped and looked up sharply as a ringed finger tapped on his hand.
Grimmjow was looking at him with a calm expression, eyes half lidded and there was no trace of anything angry or mocking. "Hey," he mumbled. "Quit it with that guilty look. What, do you think your family is pissed that you didn't get to kill him? Or are you mad at yourself for not finding him first and killing him with your own sword?"
Ichigo winced a bit. Grimmjow was damn perceptive, always was. It was one thing when Grimmjow accurately assessed his combat limitations. That was already jarring enough sometimes, but it was a fight. Everyone had limits, strategies unique to them and their thinking, and it wasn't necessarily difficult to guess what someone might do. It was, however, completely different when Grimmjow could read his emotions and thoughts so easily. It was like Grimmjow had opened up a book to the middle and skimmed it, just to give an accurate chapter summary.
Of course, if Rukia and Renji's constant nagging to wipe the same guilty expression off his face was something to go by, Ichigo was really, really bad at hiding when he felt bad about something. Even the stupidly socially unaware Keigo could see his emotions.
Ichigo sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Jeeze, Grimmjow," he muttered snarkily. "Go for the jugular why don't you?"
Grimmjow grinned widely and smugly. "It's what I do," he teased.
Ichigo felt a light blush hit his cheeks, one he could play off as not liking being called out by someone, but it was really a blush from seeing Grimmjow's grin. It wasn't a smile laced with malice or a desire for a fight, it wasn't smugness from winning anything. It was simply playful and smug in the same way someone like Renji got smug. And, shit, it made that previous little heart flutter come back.
Instead of humoring and letting Grimmjow feel like he won, Ichigo huffed and turned to order their food as the waiter returned to take their order.
With orders placed, Ichigo sat back to sip his water. "You mentioned your fraccion had a brother," he started, hoping to move back onto the topic of family. "Is it common for siblings to become hollows together? Or, wait, were they actually brothers?"
Grimmjow shrugged. "Yylfordt and Szyaelapparo were biologically siblings in life, though Szyael said Yllfordt was his older brother, but they were twins as far as I know." He hummed in thought. "I don't think its too common for people closely related like that to both be hollows, but I dunno."
"Have you never met any one else like that?"
"I don't know! There was so many damn arrancar when Aizen was in power that it was hard to track who was who, and who was related to who, if at all."
Grimmjow sighed a bit, the continued. "If you're about to ask if I remember my family, the answer is no."
Ichigo frowned, swearing internally. That was where he was going with it. "Not even your parents," he asked. It seemed odd to forget important familial figures like that.
Grimmjow shook his head, seemingly unbothered by the idea. "Nope," he said. "Not even them. Look it's one thing to vaguely know how you died, or even exactly how you died. It's one thing to know what actions may have led you to being hollowfied, whether that was you being a shit person, or idiot Soul Reapers ignoring you. It's something completely different to try to remember full details about your life as a human when you're a hollow for as long as I have been."
"Oh, how long have you been a hollow?"
Grimmjow stared off for a long moment then gave an honest shrug. "Hell if I know," he replied earnestly. "Long enough that I don't actually know if this is the face I had when alive."
That idea hit Ichigo like a freight train. The idea that a hollow could wear a mask for centuries, slowly forgetting their face on top of what life was like before the hunger, rage, and pain became the core of their being. Then, when the mask if finally broken off and they can see their face again (assuming they gain a human shape), only to not know if it was truly their face, or the face of a should they consumed. To not know their own identity in full, to not understand who they had been, only what they had become...
He touched his face absently. Thinking about the times he'd fully hollowfied, he realized he'd completely forgotten everything in those brief windows except for the desire to protect and the need to destroy. He was borderline mindless and feral when fully hollowfied. Was that sort of what it was like to become a hollow? Losing one's self and sense of identity, only to have to reforge it while trying to comply survive?
Ichigo sighed, watching the waiter set their food down. He had to try to find a topic Grimmjow could answer about Grimmjow. He was getting tiny bits and pieces, but nothing super substantial. He wanted to know the arrancar, understand him, and understand his experiences, but every conversation so far led back to him being a hollow. It was getting frustrating. "Why does everything go back to you being a hollow," he blurted out.
Grimmjow picked up his chopsticks, rolling his eyes. "Because I am one," he stated bluntly. "Besides, it's not like you know much about hollows outside of your Soul Society education and your little tidbits from firsthand encounters. You just keep going down that path yourself."
"Okay but... What about hobbies?"
"Fighting and eating."
"Okay... Day to day tasks?"
"Wrangle out of line arrancar, patrol the Menos Forest for idiot would be usurpers."
"Um... Favorite color?"
"Blue."
Of course. Blue. Obviously it was god damn blue. Grimmjow's baseline color palette was electric blue and black and white. "This is going nowhere..." Ichigo huffed.
"I don't know what the hell you want from me, Ichigo, I'm replying with what I can. I can't be much more than myself."
Ichigo made a frustrated sound, rubbing his face. He snipped, trying not to yell. "But /who are you/?!"
Grimmjow stared at Ichigo, baffled. What kind of a question was that? As far as he knew, Ichigo already knew that. "Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez," he replied. "Ex-espada, third most powerful arrancar, a guy who hangs out with two women who like bullying me, and a guy who wants you to fight him. I'm confident in myself and my abilities. What else is there?"
Ichigo stared, trying to accept the information. Maybe... Maybe Grimmjow wasn't as much of a puzzle as he expected. Maybe Grimmjow really just was as simple as he seemed. Not simple as in stupid, of course, but simple to understand. Perhaps Grimmjow was just a rough and tumble guy with several axes to grind, a man with poor social skills and just enough charm to get away with it, and a man who gave a shit about others in the limited ways he knew how. Grimmjow was perceptive, intelligent, if brash, territorial, and violent.
"And like a wild animal. A beautiful, free, feral, wild animal," came the whisper in the back of Ichigo's mind.
Ichigo internally tried to get Shiro to shut his big mouth, but that was easier said than done. Besides, Ichigo agreed. It was kind of beautiful how wild and free Grimmjow was, especially when he was in the midst of a fight. Wide eyed, pupils narrow, and that wild grin splitting across his face with terrifyingly sharp canines.
Ichigo shook his head and started properly eating his food. "You're right," he finally replied. "I guess I just thought you were more... Complicated than that."
Grimmjow snorted, rolling his eyes. "Not everyone is, idiot," he said. "Sometimes people are what they present to you. Try taking them at their word sometime."
Ichigo smiled and nodded. "Yeah... I'll try."
Grimmjow nodded. "Now you... You're a pain to know."
Ichigo sputtered in confusion. "Me?!"
"Yeah, you. You keep tossing up bullshit fronts. Older brother, soul reaper, hollow, hybrid... Who the fuck is Ichigo?"
Ichigo stared, feeling called out for a second time. Grimmjow was right. Yes, he was all these things, and plenty else, but he had a tendency to use some of them as masks, almost as often as he actually used his hollow mask before. Who was he under all the bluster and the labels everyone else buried him under?
After a long period of silence, Ichigo mumbled. "I like Shakespeare... And I'm actually really passionate about helping others in pretty mundane ways, like translation. I like being at home... Uh... I also really like fashion, believe it or not."
When he looked at Grimmjow again, he was shocked to see relaxed eyebrows and a small smile on the arrancar's face. It was startling, but holy shit, the expression looked damn good on Grimmjow. He seemed so soft and warm... It was a look Ichigo realized he wanted to see every single day, directed at him.
Grimmjow playfully tapped Ichigo's arm from across the table. "Uh-huh," he said. "And the other half?"
Ichigo looked confused for a moment, but then Shiro's giggles rang through his head and he understood. While he was better with his inner hollow now, it was still hard to accept that side of himself sometimes. Hell, he figured it would be hard for a lot of people to accept. A hollow as a reflection of your inner self, of your your most base and primal desires... He licked his lips as he looked Grimmjow in the eyes. "I guess... I also really like fights, almost as much as you. I want to make my own choices without others, and I get mad when people tell me to do what they prefer me to do. I hate rules that only exist to hurt others and I think I'd rather tear something down and rebuild it than let it persist if I found it wrong."
Grimmjow was grinning by the end. Gleeful, delighting grinning. He really, really liked it when Ichigo embraced his hollow-like nature and indulged in the destructive aspects of it. Hollowfied Ichigo was wild and fast, free and fun. Grimmjow loved interacting with that Ichigo. It meant he was in for a real fight. "Tell you what," he said. "I'll pay for this lunch if you finally give me that fight. Use your hollow powers and let really loose for once. We'll even go menos hunting afterwards."
An excited shiver ran through Ichigo as he smiled. "Okay, deal."
Grimmjow’s rough around the edges but fiercely devoted. Here is his stubborn, caring, and secretly soft boyfriend and him in a domestic setting. Very short fic.
Additional Tags: Fluff, Romance, Domestic Fluff, Alternate Universe, In Character, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Short & Sweet, Boys in Love, Affection, Love at First Sight
Tatsuki is out of patience with Ichigo's dodgy explanations and avoidant disposition since returning home from the winter war (which, by the way, she knows about)! Deciding to take matters into her own hands, she finds herself getting the full picture of what's really been weighing down her friend.
In all the stories where a traveler leaves home, embarking on an important task, the bards all focus on the thrilling bits and never get around to mentioning how the first obstacle is invariably the journey itself. Road dust in unmentionable places, how fresh water is hard to come by, the cost of maintaining equipment against bandits and worse, the list goes on. A broken wheel could mean the difference between a few days on the road and a week trying to make repairs.
No one wants to be caught sitting ducks in demon territory. Especially not when it’s pissing freezing cold sheets of rain from on high.
It could be worse, Ichigo thinks to himself, trying for optimism and ending up only bitter. One of their steam wagons could have sprung a leak.
He curls up under his heavy cloak, simultaneously shivering and sweating miserably in the soup-like humidity gathering around his preternaturally warm skin. It could always be worse.
Words: 6363, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English
Series: Part 1 of So What You Gonna Do?
Fandoms: Bleach (Anime & Manga)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Categories: M/M
Characters: Kurosaki Ichigo, Grimmjow Jaegerjaques, Arisawa Tatsuki, Ishida Uryuu, Nelliel Tu Oderschvank, Kon (Bleach), Kojima Mizuiro, Asano Keigo, Inoue Orihime, Sado "Chad" Yasutora, Urahara Kisuke, Shihouin Yoruichi
Relationships: Grimmjow Jaegerjaques/Kurosaki Ichigo, Arisawa Tatsuki/Inoue Orihime/Ishida Uryuu, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Not Human, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Corruption of Champions, Demons Are Assholes, Corruption, Corruption Kink, Dubious Morality, This fic was supposed to be horny, Instead it is horny AND sad, Canon-Typical Violence, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, (Not between main cast), Canon-Typical Casualness About the Consequences of Losing, Dubious Consent, Rough Oral Sex, Hand Jobs, Hair-pulling, Orgasm Control, Forced Orgasm, Intersex Kurosaki Ichigo, Chastity Device, Demon Grimmjow Jaegerjaques, Breeding Kink, Background Poly, Alternate Universe - Always a Different Species, Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, Kurosaki Ichigo Needs a Hug, Kurosaki Ichigo is So Done, Grimmjow just wants to play, Aizen haunts the narrative once again, Protective Nelliel Tu Oderschvank, Cum Slut Kurosaki Ichigo
