Archive of Our Own

Ichigo felt somebody's hand in his hair. It stroked him slowly, back and forth, played with his locks and petted him with love. There was a quiet murmur of the tv, and it smelled of coffee, which made him notice the sound of the coffee machine working in the kitchen.

He was in the living room. He was laying on the couch. Why was he on the couch and who was stroking his hair?

He inhaled through his nose, got on his elbows and twisted his neck to look up at

"Grimmjow??"

"Good morning princess, slept well?"

His heart dropped the moment their eyes met.

Ichigo saw a very weird dream last night. "... Why am I on the couch?"

"We fell asleep here," Grimmjow said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh. Right." He rubbed his lower back and mumbled, "no wonder my ass is sore..."

God. Looking at Grimmjow's face after such a realistic wet dream was almost impossible. "Why... did we fall asleep here?"

"I broke your bed."

"Ah, right..." He slowly pulled his eyebrows together and stopped massaging his sore back. "... broke my bed?"

"Yup."

"Huh." A pause. "... Alright... that's a bit peculiar... um..." then his eyes dropped on his legs. His pants. He didn't wear these pants last night when he went to bed. In fact, the clothes he was wearing at the moment weren't the ones he put on last night. And, terrifyingly, he didn't have his boxers on.

"Uhh, haha..." He giggled awkwardly. "Why... why were you... were you just touching my hair? Playing with it?" He absentmindedly touched his hair while he said that and looked at Grimmjow, who stared at him with a perplexed expression.

"I'm sorry am I not allowed to do that?" Now he sounded almost offended. "What, took my dick down your throat and suddenly gained amnesia?"

Ichigo's face exploded in red. "Um..... Your...."

"Yes. My dick. Inside of you. Down your throat and up your guts."

"... Last night? That... wasn't a dream?"

The arrancar threw his head back and cackled like a maniac. "Oh no, Ichigo. None of it was a dream. What," he leaned closer, their noses brushing. His breath was hot on Ichigo's lips and once he got a taste of it, everything flooded into his mind at once. "Need me to remind you?" Grimmjow asked, pinning Ichigo down, while Ichigo spread his legs to let him get as close as he could as if on reflex.

Grimmjow grinned against his ear, rolled his hips against Ichigo's and whispered, "Grimmjow, stop teasing. Grimmjow, cum inside. Grimmjow, Grimmjow, Grimm, you're so deep, you're so good, you're mine, mine."

Ichigo blushed harder and gently pushed him away, stuttering, "e-enough, okay, I get it."

Grimmjow smiled in his face without teeth, pleased by the pink face. "Why do you think your ass is so sore, Ichi?"

Ichi. Wow. That definitely made Ichigo's heart race insanely fast. "I thought... whatever. Thanks for changing me into fresh clothes."

"Mm-hmm."

He looked to the side, glanced at Grimmjow's face and blushed more. "... I think I'll go and clean the room."

But as he was sitting up, Grimmjow wasn't giving him much space. And when he tried to look away, his face was gently turned to face the other. So he gave up. Froze in place and glanced at Grimmjow's lips and eyes and nose, not knowing what to do with his body or his stare.

"You're cute when you're shy, but what are you chickenin' out for right now?"

"I just woke up."

"I know."

"And I want my room to be clean as soon as possible."

"I already changed the sheets."

That made Ichigo look at him instantly. "Did you actually?"

"Yup."

He was both shocked and flattered. "Where did you learn to do that?"

"I've seen you do it multiple times. Ain't nothin' hard 'bout that."

Ichigo's eyes dropped on Grimmjow's neck, an aggressive hickey on display, and a bite mark peeking under the shirt, reminding Ichigo of every tiny detail from last night.

He curled into himself and dropped his head down.

"Berry?"

"I'm fine... just..."

"Baby kickin'?"

"Oh I can't stand you."

"Yesterday you did. Yesterday you stood me very well, actually."

"Okay. That's enough. I need my cup of coffee." He stood up and instantly let out a yelp, angry pain shooting through his spine and butt. He rubbed the sore spots and felt Grimmjow come up to him behind his back, taking a hold of his arms gently.

"Shouldn't have been so aggressive with you yesterday, my bad. I'll grab you coffee for that."

Ichigo looked behind his shoulder at him, completely flabbergasted hearing what came out of his mouth.

"... Yeah, thanks." He watched Grimmjow disappear behind a wall, and went to brush his teeth in the bathroom.

There, once he saw the empty bathtub, he remembered even more. The way Grimmjow held him on his lap, how Grimmjow touched his inside and outside, how they kissed until they couldn't breathe, how Grimmjow moaned into his mouth and how he kissed his neck and how they sat in the water, both exhausted after such a long night.

Grimmjow let Ichigo play with his fingers then, muttered sweet words into his ear, left kisses on his back, and after that they washed themselves and kissed more.

He couldn't recall what happened after that, but he could guess. And his guess was both unbelievable and beyond adorable at the same time.

"What are you standin' there for?" Grimmjow asked, making Ichigo flinch and snap out of his memory.

He made eye contact and scratched his head awkwardly. "Um, nothing... I was just..." What was he doing? He wasn't sure what to say.

Grimmjow frowned and walked closer. "Ichigo."

"Yeah?"

"What are you thinking about?"

"Uhh..." There was no point in lying. "Well, yesterday."

"What about it?"

"What do you mean what about it? I've never – I – I was..."

Grimmjow raised an eyebrow and watched as Ichigo's face turned from pink to red in real time. "You were?"

"I was... I've been wanting you for so long and last night we... yeah."

"We yeah."

"Yes. That."

Grimmjow's arm wrapped around his hips and pulled closer while the warmth of his body collided with Ichigo's, and the soul reaper acted like he didn't melt into his touch.

"I get that you've been wantin' me to clean your pipes for a long time now. But why act so nervous now when everything's over? I made you into a fingertrap yesterday and filled you like a cream bun, you don't need to be so awkward 'bout it. Swear, you acted the same way yesterday. One second you're a sex addict and then shy like you have a crush on me."

"Well it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that I, indeed, do have a crush on you."

Cute. "I know. But you're acting like you regret yesterday." When Ichigo avoided his eyes and stayed silent, Grimmjow rushed to ask, "you don't, right? Don't regret it. Or do you?"

"No not at all but I guess I only regret not coming to you and confessing in my feelings before we... did what we did."

"Fucked."

"Yes."

"Why didn't you?"

"It's not that easy, y'know!"

"I mean, I don't really know. But what did you think would happen if you confessed?"

Ichigo sighed and leaned on the sink, while Grimmjow kept the distance very small, boxing Ichigo between his arms.

"I don't know, and that's what was scary about it. I didn't know if you knowing that a man likes you and wants you in a romantic way would make you disgusted or not. You could've never talked to me again for all I know. And that's not what I wanted. You never really showed any sort of affection towards anybody either, so I didn't know if you were even capable of liking anybody romantically." Then something clicked in his head, and he suddenly looked sad. "You... do like me, right? Or did you have sex with me out of lust? What are you even thinking about?"

Grimmjow opened his mouth, but wasn't sure what to say.

"You know that usually when people have sex it means they want to be together and keep on loving each other forever, right?"

"Yes, yes, I'm aware that you mate for a reason."

Ichigo looked up at him with worried eyes and doubtful eyebrows, like he didn't believe him and felt sad.

Grimmjow grabbed his arms and tried to make him look up at him. "Hey, I didn't just use you only 'cause my dick was hard. If you confessed to me I would probably get a boner right at the spot. I think anybody would. Besides, letting everybody know that Ichigo Kurosaki is mine and mine only also gets me going."

Ichigo still didn't look convinced.

"... Guess what I'm tryin' to say is that last night didn't mean nothin' to me. If that was the case I would be gone. And, in my head, you've been mine since a long time ago."

"... Really."

"Yup. Why do you think I rubbed on ya so much? Just for fun? You should know me better than that."

"I do, I do. I just wasn't sure... so, are you saying that you like me back?"

"Like is an understatement, but I guess you can say that too."

"... Love?"

"If that's the strongest word for it, sure."

Ichigo exhaled, realizing he'd been holding his breath the whole time. He placed his fingers on his forehead, feeling lightheaded and confused and happy.

"Grimmjow, you do understand what that means right?"

"Ichigo I can be very fucking stupid sometimes but I ain't a dumbass I know what it means. You and your stupid human language."

"So you do know that you're mine now. And I'm yours. No one else. It's just you and me now."

"I told you I'm not stupid. I know you're mine and I'll keep you mine. Don't worry."

A smile slowly grew on Ichigo's lips, and his eyes gained the sparkle back while they stared at each other.

"Okay." He said after a while. "Good." His head slowly fell on Grimmjow's chest, and when Grimmjow wrapped his arms around his shoulders, Ichigo wrapped his arms around Grimmjow's waist. He sighed and melted and inhaled the other's scent, insanely happy and relieved.

"You're my boyfriend now," he said against Grimmjow's chest. And after a long pause of silence, grabbed Grimmjow by his balls painfully, pulling away to look into his twisted face.

"I said you're my boyfriend now."

"Yes yes I am!! Fucking let go! I'm sorry I didn't know what to say, fuck!"

Ichigo smiled and let go, pulling Grimmjow back into a hug which was returned immediately.

"As long as you know that. Else I'll make you wear your nuts as your earrings for the rest of the year."

Grimmjow shivered at that comment, and didn't leave his own.

Eight days. It had been eight days since Ichigo last saw Grimmjow.

Last time he felt this terrible was when he didn't see that guy for three weeks and missed him like a wife waiting for her husband to come back from war. Now it's only a little over a week, and he feels even worse.

Apparently Grimmjow left for some mission, and instead of maybe trying to hunt him down in Hueco Mundo or help him with whatever he needs to do, Ichigo is walking with his friendgroup through a dark forest at near midnight.

He'd been quiet almost the whole time and didn't bother chiming in in the conversation, too busy lamenting over seeing his boyfriend.

He thought of how they spent their last day cuddling on the couch, and how it ended on their bed, with him being completely limp, and with Grimmjow breathing heavily on top of him. Both were left sweaty after their (what had to be slow) sex, and Grimmjow just wouldn't stop kissing Ichigo all over. To a point it started tickling, and to a point where Ichigo had to stop him and make him kiss his mouth instead.

He thought of how they showered together, cuddled on the bed and fell asleep in an embrace. He thought of how calmly Grimmjow breathed, how warm he had been against his own body, and how peaceful he felt for the first time in many many years.

Now he was in some shitty haunted forest on his way to do some shitty teenager shit in a shitty abandoned mansion. Which, allegedly, is a highly infamous place for its ghosts and paranormal activity. Allegedly.

Everybody else in the group were pumped up, but Ichigo could already tell that absolutely nothing interesting would happen. There wasn't a single spirit nearby. Not even a dead cat or anything. Just breeze. However, in order to not make them sad, Ichigo stayed quiet. Not that they're aware of his powers, because they aren't. And are not going to be aware anytime soon. They just call him 'woowoo wizard' because he can 'predict where spirits may be' and is a 'spirit magnet'. They don't know the half of it. Only because they were friends from his university. New faces and new people. Therefore his whole soul reaper fiasco stayed buried. They already called him a creepy weirdo for his ability to predict stuff, there was no need to make it worse.

Though he could see that they enjoyed him being weird. Maybe because they were weird too.

"Are you sure the cops aren't gonna see us?" a big guy – Sweaty Bull, as others call him, asked. He was kind and huge, and reminded Ichigo a lot of Chad.

"Yes yes, I parked in a place they don't see even with their flashlights. And it's way further to the side from the road," Yellow Pants, who Bull was painfully obviously crushing over, responded.

Ichigo wasn't even sure why she came along anyway. Last time she joined them on their ghost hunting trip ended with her soaking her pants, which gained her the obscene nickname. But maybe she came along only because Bull came along.

The other two were a couple. So Ichigo was basically a fifth wheel in this hell. Because specific somebody decided that the stupid mission would only take two days. Well, it didn't! Who would've guessed? Actually, Ichigo would have. And he did. He even asked Grimmjow if he was 100% sure that it would be a short errand, and the arrancar responded confidently with something along the lines of 'duh, I never take longer than that'.

Ichigo actually physically rolled his eyes and mouthed 'duh, I never take longer than that', adding a very quiet 'asshole', while he walked behind others. He knew he was slumping and he knew he was pouting. He didn't care to fix neither of those.

"Ichigo's been very quiet," Shitty Sniper said, and everybody looked behind their backs at Ichigo. "Scared?"

Shitty Sniper had a boyfriend named Shitty Lawyer and they pretty much made Ichigo believe that soulmates really do exist. They were both annoying and lovely. But at least they didn't pretend like they didn't like each other, and instead got together right away. Unlike the other two.

Ichigo couldn't help but wonder if he and Grimmjow looked just as annoying from the side too, before they... confessed to each other.

"I'm not," he answered. "Can you walk faster? It's cold."

"Ah, because you're scared of this forest?"

Well the forest was big and dark and deep. But Ichigo wasn't scared, no, that wasn't the case. He was annoyed. Partly because he overestimated this jacket and partly at his boyfriend. "I'm not scared of anything. I'm just really cold."

"It's not going to be any warmer in the mansion," Sniper said.

"Isn't it made out of wood?"

"Mostly concrete, but some stairs and doors are made out of wood."

"... Have you been there often?"

"Two times," they responded, hummed, and corrected, "nevermind. Three. First time was when I was fifteen. That's when real scary spooky shit happened. But I already told you about that."

"Yeah."

"I hope something scary spooky shit happens tonight too," Lawyer said.

It was quiet for a short while, when Pants muttered, "I hope it doesn't happen..."

"Then why did you come along??"

"Because! I lost a bet with my other friends!"

The whole group stopped in place and stared at her, disappointed.

Sniper was the first to break the silence. "Why are you still hanging out with those assholes? I swear, everytime you come to us you have some new story about how they harassed you. Don't let them do that."

"They're not harassing me, geez. We just give each other challenges sometimes. Y'know, how we do it too?"

"No we don't know because, y'know, we don't make you go in the woods at night alone."

"That was two years ago!"

"And think about it, they sent you to us as a punishment. They think we're weirdo trash. Which we are but... Drop them."

Pants seemed to think about it in her head for some time while they stood next to the creepy mansion. The atmosphere wasn't heavy, even if there was a small argument. This group never had any serious arguments, anyway, so Ichigo didn't pay attention to them, instead staring up at the creepy dark building.

He had to admit, these people had some thick guts to come here at night so recklessly. Well he was there too but, they didn't see the surroundings the same way he did. They had no idea if there was a spirit next to them. They were going in basically blind.

"I don't know..." she mumbled. "I guess I could try but... are you sure?"

"I think Sniper's right. You should listen to their advice. They don't want any harm to you." Bull chimed in.

"But I don't know what they'll do if I quit being friends with them. They're the kind to get all petty over it."

"Just shows what kind of friends they are. I think it would do great for you to drop them."

"You think so?"

"Yeah!"

The house was huge, old, and dark. Every window was broken, pitch black, the paint almost no longer there. There were white pillars, beautiful carvings, every centimeter thought-out precisely, every crook treated with care. Some years ago. A lot of years ago. Now it was abandoned, forgotten, no longer needed. But Ichigo was sure it looked gorgeous when it was just new.

He didn't notice the silence for a while. Only when it really became way too quiet. That's when he finally stopped ogling and looked down at the others. They all waited for Pants to say something while she nervously bit her thumb.

"... Okay, I'll think about it." She finally answered.

The whole group seemed to exhale at the same time.

"Well, let's go inside?" Lawyer asked, already walking the steps up.

Everybody followed him, and Ichigo stayed as the last person in the que like he always did. Not by his choice. But because they all agreed that since Ichigo was so cool with ghosts, ghosts would also be cool with him. It was a stupid logic he didn't agree with, but he didn't mind working as their tiny savior.

If the outside of the building was beautiful, the inside was mindbogglingly gorgeous. To Ichigo at least. It was all rotten and dark and cold, but every little detail was planned with care. If all of the glass and debris was to be cleaned, and if it was given a good renovation, it'd be a dream house. Too big, of course, but gorgeous.

They followed Lawyer upstairs. Both him and Ichigo held flashlights, and everybody took careful steps in case if the stairs were too tired to hold them. They creaked, loud, filled the empty space and echoed throughout the huge room right into their ears. The railing was moving back and forth, so they didn't bother holding it, instead sometimes using the chipped wall for support.

The second story was smaller, though it still had a lot of hallways and a lot of rooms. However, they couldn't explore everything even if they wanted to. Because there was a huge hole in the floor, which showed the stairs they had just used. It was so big that even if they tried to jump on the other side, it most likely wouldn't be possible. Besides, jumping next to a hole didn't seem smart.

"Did you guys–"

"Eek!!"

They all stopped in place and stared at Pants, who had her hands pressed on her ears.

"Shit, dude, you know she has a pigeon heart," Bull hissed.

"It's chicken heart," Lawyer corrected. "And I wasn't even loud! I was just gonna ask you guys if you noticed that there's no trash here."

Bull hummed, and said, "you're right. I haven't seen a single bottle or anything like that."

"Also not much graffiti," Ichigo added. "Not a good sign. Are you sure this is abandoned abandoned?"

Lawyer nodded. "Yeah! It is! For sure. If it was private property we'd see cameras here. And there's none. But have y'all heard why there's no trash or graffiti here?"

Everyone waited for him to continue. He looked at each one of them like a crackhead and Ichigo already started feeling exhausted, letting out a quiet sigh through his nose. "... Why?" He finally asked.

The guy instantly lit up and rubbed his hands mischievously. "Because!! Legend says that the spirit of this mansion hates it when people disrespect this building. If you paint or throw trash you'll see the spirit behind your shoulder in mirrors and windows and photos! Isn't that fucking sick?! Makes me almost wanna break that rule..."

"Don't." Sniper said. "And yeah no fucking shit spirits wouldn't like that. They live here. I don't think you'd be flattered if somebody came over to our place and started painting on the walls."

"I think that'd be kinda sick."

"No! What are you even saying?? And what about littering all around? You're already doing too much of that. I'm tired of you."

Lawyer hummed and shrugged simultaneously, fixed his beanie and continued walking. Everyone continued following him.

"I'm just saying... if we have no luck tonight we might wanna try that. Maybe it'll get the spirits out."

"Maybe we shouldn't..." Pants murmured, again trying to de-escalate his evil plan.

They stopped in what Ichigo guessed was one of the bedrooms. Compared to the rest of the house, it looked better, newer, as if it was held in the best condition possible this whole time. There was an old-fashioned bed with beautiful sheets, which were, creepily, not wrinkled at all. Like, as if somebody made the bed right before they came in, to maybe look clean, to maybe welcome them.

But he was pretty sure it was just the etiquette of the whole 'ghost hunting' thing. Maybe everyone else who has been here didn't want to be rude, didn't want to disturb the frozen in time place. Maybe there were idiots like Lawyer who wanted to mess around with it, but maybe there were also smart people like Sniper who stopped idiots like Lawyer.

"Rumors also say that one spirit of this house is a woman, and she can be seen sitting on that bed crying to herself. Like wails. Like, if you're in another part of his house and you hear moaning and sobbing it's prolly her."

"Oh my gosh are you serious?" Pants asked, moving closer to Bull.

"Yeah yeah!! She's got a beautiful Victorian dress and her hair is in a bun but legends say her face is horrible. Like something out of a nightmare. Apparently her husband carved her skin off or something."

"Jesus fucking Christ man!! Why would you say that?! You know she's not good with this stuff!"

"Ahh, sorry sorry. Just filling you in the lore."

"Well don't fucking do that!"

"What? I'm just saying that if we see a spot on the sheets looking like somebody sat on it then it's probably her."

"Dude!" Sniper slapped Lawyer on his arm, and they all slowly turned their heads at the bed.

"... Doesn't look like there's anything weird," Ichigo said. "So can we get on with it and do this? I want to go home."

"What, scared?" Lawyer teased.

"No I'm just cold! I already told you!"

"Cold and pissy missy wissy."

After receiving a second slap, Lawyer pulled out candles and an Ouija board on the floor, and they all sat in a circle, watching him light the candles with matchsticks. Pants periodically glanced behind her back into the doorway that led to a dark hallway, and others were glancing around the room out of boredom.

"Okay," he announced, "I'm done. We can start now."

They all held their hands and invited the spirits in, while Ichigo thought about how bad he felt, knowing that not a single spirit was in their vicinity. Then they put their fingers on the planchette, drew three circles, and greeted absolutely nobody.

They waited. It was quiet.

The concrete was cold under Ichigo's ass, and he thought of Grimmjow, feeling a gentle pull in his chest. He missed that fucker. Really did. He wasn't sure if he would kiss or slap the guy the next time they met. If Grimmjow usually didn't take long on his missions, why is he suddenly taking a week to finish up? Did something happen? Doesn't he love Ichigo anymore? Doesn't care?

It was stupid to think that, and he knew it, but he couldn't help it.

Dammit. He'd rather stay at home than hang out with this bunch. Or even better grab his badge and flee to Hueco Mundo himself.

"Hmm... nothing, huh?"

"Yeah."

"I told y'all we need to anger the ghost somehow."

"No thanks. I don't want to see a bloody faced woman sitting on that bed."

"I'm sure she's nice."

"Oh I'm sure she's in a very good mood after getting murdered by her husband."

They tried again, sat in silence for about twenty minutes, and decided to take a break.

Sniper was the first to lay on their arms and sigh, saying, "this is boring. Not to be weewee but I'm not feeling anything at all at the moment."

"You meant woowoo." Lawyer corrected. "And I said what we should do in order to make something happen."

"We're not doing that."

"I wouldn't want to make her sad or angry..." Pants spoke with a soft, tiny voice. "I feel bad for her."

"Yeah I wouldn't do anything like that either." Bull agreed. "We should've brought beer or something."

"You're right... booze does sound good right now." Lawyer agreed, scratched his neck and, once his eyes fell on Ichigo, raised his eyebrows. "Hey, dude. I've been meaning to ask about this, but what kinda bed bug do you have to leave such a nasty bite on your throat?"

Ichigo felt his temples freeze. "What?"

"Y'know, two weeks ago or something like that, your neck had that spot. Or is it... a hickey??"

Sniper rolled their eyes and said, "are you a fucking moron? Obviously it's a hickey. Dumbass. And I've been wanting to ask too." A grin. "Who is she? And why aren't you telling us anything?"

"Was it a 'one-night' thing?"

"That's dirty. Ichigo is too much of a good boy to do that. Or maybe not?"

They were all now staring at him. Some were grinning, some perplexed, some surprised.

"It's just a... it's..." he reddened.

"Oh my god it was a hickey!!! Ichigo who is it?!"

"No one..."

"Why aren't you telling us?! Uughhh I'm so curious!"

"Is she a fucking werewolf or something? I saw the rest of your body when we were changing clothes in that locker room. Mauled you to near death huh? She got come claws. Or, some teeth for sure."

They all giggled, but he wanted to hide. "It's no one."

"Oh come ooonnnnn stop being like that. You can tell us, we won't tell anybody! We don't care."

This conversation highly reminded Ichigo of the night when Grimmjow forced him to confess. Except that this time he didn't feel like doing that. "I'm not telling you guys anything. At least not until I feel it's the right time."

"But why not? We're curious. Ughh... it's not like we're gonna judge you or anything."

"Maybe later."

"Come on, tell us."

Ichigo felt hot in his chest, frustrated and pissed off, wishing that all of the attention would be on anything else but him. "I don't want to."

"Was it some hooker? Damn. Didn't know you were that kind of a dude."

By accident, Ichigo let some of his spiritual pressure slip out, but he pulled himself back instantly, feeling guilty for letting himself loose like that. "... I'll tell you guys later."

"Maybe it's a dude," somebody offered.

"Nah, Ichigo isn't into that stuff I think. At least he's never talked about men in that way."

"Are you gay, Ichigo?"

"I said, I don't want to—"

A sudden breeze hit them, and they all shuddered. The candles died, and while Lawyer clicked his tongue and rummaged through his bag in search of the matchsticks, Ichigo felt a familiar scent fill his nose, a familiar hand on his right shoulder, pulling closer until familiar lips pressed against his left ear shell.

"Hey, I missed ya." A quiet rumble, sending another wave of goosebumps down Ichigo's body.

Finally.

Ichigo slowly, gently smiled. It was barely visible but it was there, and it took every atom of his body to control his face muscles in order to not grin too widely.

"Man hurry up with the candles."

"Yes yes."

Soon enough, there was light again. But although they all had a good light, none of them saw Grimmjow, crouched right next to Ichigo, holding him tight.

"Let's continue?"

"Yeah."

Their fingers were on the planchette again.

Ichigo watched Grimmjow's hand move to his forearm, fingers tenderly run down his arm, making his hair stand on ends. The fingertips slid further, stopped at his knuckles, and Grimmjow held his hand on top of Ichigo's, while the soul reaper quietly blushed to himself.

"Woah, Ichigo, your arm hair is totally freaking out right now," Lawyer pointed out.

"Might be the spooky scary ghosts," he smiled.

"For real? This is sick!!"

Then, slowly, Grimmjow moved Ichigo's hand, and so the planchette moved too.

"Ichigo are you doing this on purpose?"

"No it's not me."

"Holy fuck! Where is it gonna stop? Guys, pay attention!"

The plastic piece scraped the board gently, and stopped at 'B'.

"B."

"B."

"B."

Then, on 'E'.

"E."

"Be? Maybe it's gonna be a name? Isn't the woman's name who died here Beth?"

"Imagine if it's gonna spell out that."

"Don't say that!"

Grimmjow kept moving the planchette, his other hand still on Ichigo's shoulder, holding him in an embrace.

He made a semi circle, and stopped at 'E' again.

"Bee?"

"Wait."

Then, 'L'.

"Beel? Maybe it's supposed to be 'peel'?"

"Nah, it was way above the 'P'."

"No just shut up."

The planchette kept moving, and Grimmjow stopped at 'Z'.

"No shut the fuck up. No guys. No man. We need to go." Sniper said.

"What why??" Pants panicked. "Why what's wrong?"

"Don't move your fucking hands from the fucking planchette!"

"Why not?!" Pants put her fingers back to where they were.

"No maybe she should because maybe we should stop the game!"

"Stop messing around why would we?? We're finally getting something."

"It's not a real word anyway, don't freak out too much."

"It's—"

They all watched with horror as their fingers moved with the piece, and then, it stopped at 'E'.

Sniper immediately stood up and muttered "no no no no" over and over again, while others were starting to panic only because the atmosphere felt heavy and pressuring out of nowhere.

"What? What?? Beelze? What's beelze?"

"It's not beelze. It's a name, dumbass! It's a name!"

Lawyer frowned. "What name?" Then, it him, and he widened his eyes in surprise. "Oh my god. You mean Beelzeb—"

"Don't say that name idiot!! Shut up! Don't say it dumbass!"

"Okay okay I'm sorry! Fuck! Let's just all calm down yeah?"

Grimmjow's fingers ran up Ichigo's arm, and then moved away completely.

He heard Grimmjow let out a short, quiet chuckle right next to his ear, like he was pleased and amused. Then there was a peck on his cheek, and he hoped that his face wasn't too red to be noticed by others.

"What the fuck man? Just sit down, yeah? We can say goodbye and leave if you're that scared."

"I think we most definitely should."

"Okay but like... just sit down okay?"

Sniper sat down, and Lawyer continued.

"Not to dismiss your freaking out or anything, but like... We haven't had this much activity in a long time. I don't think the Ouija board ever worked. And now it kinda does. I mean, you don't think that the actual demon is here, right?"

"... Why wouldn't he be?"

"Because, I don't know. I think he has better stuff to do than to mess around with some teenagers."

"You're such an idiot."

"But I think I have a good point! Maybe we should, I don't know, continue and see what's gonna happen? Maybe it's just some trickster spirit. That's it."

The room fell silent. Everybody waited. Grimmjow stood up and started making slow, deliberate steps around the circle, stopping at each person.

First victim was Pants. Grimmjow leaned down, gently flicked her earring, and she flinched and screamed, covering her ear in horror. "Something just touched me!!"

"You're lying."

"I'm not! Something flicked my earring!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

Next to her, Bull, whose shirt was pulled gently, also twitched and grabbed his back, looking around to see if anything was close enough to touch him. But there was too much space around him. "I think something pulled my shirt."

"What the hell??"

Lawyer had his beanie pulled the tiniest bit, but before he could've freaked out, Grimmjow blew in Sniper's ear, and they grabbed their ears and cried out of fear. "What the fuck is going on?! Someone just blew in my ear!!"

"Something just touched my head too."

"I told you guys I wasn't lying!!"

"Ichigo! Do you feel anything? Why are you so quiet?!"

Ichigo blinked. "Uh... actually, I don't think I feel anything at all..."

"Are you guys faking it? I'm not faking it for sure."

"No I'm not lying! How many times do I have to say it! Ahh I'm scared!!"

"Let's just calm down."

"Shut the hell up would you?! How are we supposed to calm down?!"

"Well, panicking won't do anything good either!"

Grimmjow leaned close to Ichigo, whispered a "here comes the big one", and calmly walked to a door on the other side of the room, which he pushed gently.

It creaked, and slowly opened, shutting everybody up.

They all stared at it while holding their breaths.

And then, as a finishing blow, Grimmjow slammed it shut as hard as he could, and the whole group screamed and yelled and got on their feet, pushed and pulled each other and ran away, completely forgetting about their belongings.

Ichigo sighed, slowly stood up, and felt hands on his waist, already pulling him closer.

He couldn't stay mad at Grimmjow even if he wanted to. He was too happy to see him.

While Grimmjow hugged his waist, Ichigo wrapped his arms around his neck, and pulled him into a hug. Grimmjow buried his nose in orange hair, breathed Ichigo in, and purred when Ichigo ran his hand on the back of his head, also inhaling his scent.

"You're so cruel..." Ichigo mumbled.

"Couldn't help it. Needed them gone. What are you even doing out here so far away?"

"Playing. I was bored. Because specific someone took too long to come back."

"Yeah I know."

With a sigh, Ichigo let his arms fall down, hands gripping Grimmjow's jacket. He leaned back just to kiss his cheek, then to make eye contact.

"I missed you too," he confessed timidly, eyes to the side.

Grimmjow smiled without his teeth and kissed Ichigo on the lips, which made the other kiss him back harder, desperate to taste him again, desperate to feel Grimmjow's tongue on his own right that second.

They deepened their kisses, and Ichigo pulled away to mutter, "watch it, I'm in a human body". He sounded a bit out of breath, and Grimmjow found it cute how, despite being far weaker than him at the moment, Ichigo still refused to stop their little make out session. If anything he was more aggressive than Grimmjow was, unable to hide how much he'd been wanting this.

When Grimmjow moved to his neck and kissed there too, Ichigo gently grabbed his head and pushed away, saying, "not here, Grimm. I'll get a boner and it will be your fault."

"Then where?"

"At home, obviously."

"Do I have to go to Kisuke's, get into a gigai, and come to your house?"

"Yeah... or do you want me to get my badge and leave somewhere else?"

"No, I'll do it." He left a kiss on Ichigo's jaw, and added, "when will you get back?"

"I don't know. I don't hear them coming back and I doubt they would after experiencing something like that." He glanced behind his shoulder at the doorway, then looked at Grimmjow's pleased face. "You're so evil," he said with a concerned tone.

Grimmjow shrugged. "They'll be fine."

They heard mumbling outside, and quieted down to listen.

"Ichigo's still inside!"

"What?! He didn't leave with us?"

"Why did you leave him alone??"

"Why didn't you grab him along?! You're the musclehead here!"

"Ughh... do we go back?"

Ichigo broke their embrace and walked to the Ouija board, where the candles had been toppled over, and where some of the belongings were laying around carelessly. "I'll pack the stuff and go outside," he said, starting to gather things in a bag. "Don't want them to think that I'm possessed or something. They already think I'm a freak."

Grimmjow walked closer and watched Ichigo's hands working. "They're already freaks. Just like your every other little friend."

"Meaning you too?"

"Well, I ain't exactly a friend now am I?"

Ichigo froze for a moment before continuing cleaning, feeling his stomach gently churn and squeeze.

Was this Grimmjow's way of saying 'I'm your boyfriend'? Not that he said it straightforward like that, but that was the idea, right? Damn. Now Ichigo really wanted Grimmjow to say those words out loud.

"No I guess you're not," he responded with warm cheeks, and stood up, flinging the bag strap over his shoulder.

Grimmjow was in his space before he could even straighten his knees, and his nose was already pressed against Ichigo's neck, inhaling the scent some more.

Ichigo hugged him back and said, "we'll have all the time in the world to do... whatever this is, as soon as I get back. And I won't get back unless you let me go."

Grimmjow let out a hum, snuggled against his neck and pulled away, eyes glued on Ichigo's face, while his arms stayed firm and still around his waist. "We'll have time to do a lot of things."

Ichigo blushed, looked to the side and mumbled, "yeah."

"Oh c'mon, shy again? I've been poundin' your guts for almost three months now. It's fine, y'know."

The hue saturated on Ichigo's face and he forced himself to push away from the hug, afraid that he'd get a problem between his legs. "Okay. I get it. I know. I'm not stupid."

"You're cute when you're flustered."

"Leave now, I think they're coming."

"Aw, no goodbye kiss or anythin'?"

Ichigo gave him a glare, but pulled him closer by his jacket anyway, and left a sloppy kiss on his mouth, intending to leave it at that. However, when Grimmjow kissed him back and hummed in a satisfied way, he shivered and grabbed Grimmjow by his head and kissed again, and again, pushed him deeper into his mouth and panted quietly against his lips.

Grimmjow chuckled deep in his chest, a rumbly laugh that made Ichigo shiver again. "Someone's hungry."

"Big talk. You can barely keep your hands off of me."

"Mhmm." He caught Ichigo's cheek with his sharp teeth gently, and slowly leaned away when they both heard somebody talk and come closer.

Ichigo hurriedly pushed Grimmjow, then quickly pulled him close to smash their mouths one last time and pushed him again, hissing, "hurry up and leave before they find out I'm making out with a ghost."

Grimmjow smiled, pleased, eyes slightly narrowed, mind a little hazy. He licked his lips hungrily and moved closer to the window, walking backwards, eyes never leaving Ichigo, who gave him a glance, rubbed the back of his red neck and walked out of the room to greet his friends.

"You really are a psychopath," one of them said while they sat in the car on their way home.

Ichigo asked, "why?", though he pretty much already knew the answer.

"You're smiling. Actually you look happier than before we came there."

"Yeah, well... I guess I'm just happy to get back home."

—

Perhaps Grimmjow was even more happy than Ichigo was, because while Ichigo fiddled with his keys in front of his apartment, trying to get his frozen fingers to work, Grimmjow opened the door right in front of his eyes before he could've started to push the key in the lock. Then he was yanked inside by his jacket, the door was closed, and then Grimmjow started undressing him hastily, as if he was in a rush.

Ichigo didn't bother asking why or what he was even doing. He was actually happy to undress and get under a blanket as soon as possible.

When he took his shoes off, Grimmjow didn't give him any time to straighten his back, instead pulling him along to the bathroom, where he waited until Ichigo finished washing and afterwards drying his hands.

And then, finally, Ichigo felt strong arms around his own, squeezing and pressing him close, a warm chest against his cheek, a sigh against his hair.

He snuggled closer into the crook of Grimmjow's neck and sighed too; exhausted, cold, and happy. "Grimmjow..."

"Yup, that's me."

Ichigo pulled away, took his shirt off, and crouched down, slipping his hands under Grimmjow's — which was actually Ichigo's — hoodie, crawling underneath the cloth.

"What're you—" Grimmjow let out a short, low yelp upon feeling Ichigo's cold fingers run up his body, while the soul reaper in question was struggling a little to get himself upright, since the shirt wasn't exactly sized for two grown adults.

He prevailed, however. And ended up straightening himself, meeting Grimmjow's unimpressed face, staring at the wall behind them, jaw clenching.

"... Nice," he said through gritted teeth, and shivered aggressively when Ichigo's hands moved on his back. He flinched, but didn't push him away. Instead, he hugged the ginger back, unable to stay mad for too long.

"I'm cold," Ichigo said, as if that was a good enough of a reason.

"Then let's get to the couch." Grimmjow responded and grabbed Ichigo by his torso, hoisting him up, and in return Ichigo wrapped his legs around Grimmjow and held tight, letting him guide both of them to the couch, where the tv was already playing.

With a soft grunt, Grimmjow lay down, spread his legs forward, and shivered once more when Ichigo melted into him and positioned himself more comfortably. The cloth stretched while Ichigo moved, but the skin to skin contact was nice. Fulfilling. Made Grimmjow realize he'd been more than just greedy. He was almost desperate for the other. He needed a lot. But he didn't derail into that kind of direction just yet.

"You should get your own shit instead of stretching my shit."

"Your shit is my shit, excuse you. I'll do whatever I want with this hoodie." Ichigo responded, slipping his leg under Grimmjow's own, holding it between his thighs while his arms wrapped around his waist.

"... Fine," the arrancar responded, surrounded by Ichigo everywhere possible.

They spent some time pretending to watch the tv while basking in each other's scents, when, after a while, Ichigo broke their peaceful silence with a mutter.

"What took you so long?"

"Oh, yeah. I got something for you."

"What?"

"Get out of me first."

Ichigo, without any rush, crawled from under the shirt and shivered. His hair was pointed in all ways possible, and he tried to fix it somehow, but the stubborn locks stayed stubborn. He sat down, one leg folded in front of him, the other on the floor off the couch. "What is it?"

Grimmjow sat up and scooted closer, reaching for something in his pocket. And, casually, he pulled out a ring, took a hold of Ichigo's hand, and slipped it on his left ring finger, fixing it so that the square-shaped diamond was facing Ichigo's rapidly reddening face.

"Here. This is the finger, right?" He asked and looked up, and Ichigo nodded sheepishly, flustered and shocked. "Okay. Good."

"Grimmjow, what...? Where did you even–? Why did you–" god he couldn't even think. "Who..."

"Got fuckin' tired of seein' buncha idiots try to hit on ya. Heard that this is how you mark somebody as your own. Or am I wrong?"

"No, no. You're not wrong, but..." He stared at the bulky silver ring, the crystal sparkling gently, his cheeks feeling hotter and hotter. "With a diamond... I mean... who told you about engagement rings??"

"That don't matter. We'll upgrade to the better shit later if you demand it until I hear no end of it. But with this you can tell people to fuck off better, y'know?"

"What do you mean demand it until you don't hear the end of it?"

Completely ignoring Ichigo's complaint, Grimmjow kept going. "I kept hearing those fuckers say dumb shit anytime we went outside. 'Are you single?' while I'm clearly fucking standing right by your fucking side. Then you always said 'no', and most of them laughed and said that they don't see a ring on your finger. Well now you just show em this finger," he grabbed Ichigo's left ring finger, pointing at his own face. "Or this," he added, choosing the middle finger. "In any case, you gotta be more rough with 'em when I'm not around. You can bark back, you know. It won't kill them."

"Well, no, but, I can always just say I'm taken."

"I've seen how that works. It doesn't."

"Sometimes."

"Ichigo." He pressed, showing the other's ring finger again. "Or the other one."

Ichigo, while slowly calming down, lowered his hand on the couch and looked to the side, hoping that Grimmjow wouldn't point out his red cheeks and ears. He rubbed the back of his neck, as if trying to rub the blush away, and muttered, "you said 'when I'm not around' as if you're going to be away more often."

"Well, kinda."

The soul reaper made a pitiful eye contact, and caught how Grimmjow's heart seemed to drop in real time.

"Some shit at home. It's an annoying season in Hueco Mundo where a lot of annoying little shits come out and destroy everything they see by eatin' it. Chompers. Harribel doesn't want the palace to get destroyed. It's strong 'n huge but it can get damaged. And since it's new she wants to keep it in good condition."

"And you're going to be helping?"

"Yeah. Preparing for shit."

"I see..."

He wanted to understand, and he did. He really did. But, of course that little aching pull in his chest was impossible to ignore. Just when they started their thing off, and when things started going in a direction they had to, they have to part ways again.

He tried not to feel petty about it, but it was evident just how much he's going to crave Grimmjow while the said man was going to be away.

"Ichi, I'm gonna be busy, and you're gonna be busy too I know. But you gotta visit Hueco Mundo whenever you want or can. I want you to. I would do it myself, and I will, whenever those annoying clit suckers won't have their eyes on me. But yeah, not a lot of time to slack off."

"I know, I know." A sigh. "I understand." He dropped his head down and fidgeted with the ring, eyes fixated on the sparkling crystal, and then Grimmjow's finger was on his hand, sliding along a vein, which made him look up at his boyfriend.

Grimmjow held his chin on his palm, elbow on his knee, eyes glued on Ichigo's own. "Mad?"

"No, of course not. I'm not an idiot to get mad at duties you need to do. But when are you going to leave, anyway?"

"In like two days. I'll visit you whenever I can."

"You don't have to."

"So now you don't want to see my face, huh? I see how it is."

Ichigo pushed him by his shoulders, making the arrancar fall back on the couch. And without giving him any time to do anything else but cackle, Ichigo crawled closer. And the closer he crawled, the closer his burning flesh got to Grimmjow's colder skin, the quieter his cackle became.

It died completely once his hands ran up Ichigo's bare, toned arms. Their eyes stayed locked. Ichigo's irises were beautiful. Colder in this kind of dim lighting, while Grimmjow's seemed to glow.

Ichigo pushed him deeper into the cushions and Grimmjow let him. Hot hands were slipping under his shirt, hot mouth was on his neck, warm legs were pressed against his thighs. Ichigo made one soft roll of his hips and sighed against Grimmjow's sensitive skin, left a kiss and muttered, "we should get you a ring too."

With a gulp, Grimmjow opened his mouth to speak. "Don't need it," he responded just as quietly. Coarse, husky, holding a faint hint of arousal behind his voice. "As long as you wear it here and I won't have the urge to bite someone's head off."

"How will I know that you're staying loyal to me?"

"You kiddin'?" Grimmjow slowly sat up with Ichigo on his lap, his hands sliding along the waist and on Ichigo's back, nails gently leaving scratches that made the soul reaper tremble and shiver aggressively. Their eyes never left each other, and somewhere in the back of Grimmjow's mind he was wondering how and when Ichigo suddenly grew such a lustful look into his gaze, but truth be told he didn't give a shit, and was actually getting excited himself. "Wouldn't dream of lookin' at anybody else," he continued, leaving a single kiss on Ichigo's chest, enjoying how the ginger wriggled his hips and rubbed himself against his thigh, fabricated hesitance clear as day. Ichigo always did this, though Grimmjow noticed how the boy started to crack his shy shell little by little. Ceasing to lie and pretend, instead showing his real, deep hidden hunger that he had buried so long ago.

"Is that so?" he asked, almost panting, hips rolling.

Grimmjow moved his hips too and grinned at Ichigo's face. "Yeah. That so. Do ya even like the ring? I worked my ass off for it."

Ichigo grabbed the other's head, leaned closer and connected their lips, softly deepening the kiss and gently licking Grimmjow's teeth, hesitating on purpose. "I do," he breathed, kissed again, tilted his head the other way and felt Grimmjow getting rougher with his jaw, the gentle bulge under his ass now growing bigger and harder.

Without being able to wait any longer, he stood on his feet and pulled Grimmjow with him to the bedroom, the burning feeling in the bottom of his stomach becoming rapidly unbearable. It burned harder at how easily Grimmjow tagged along and how easily he let Ichigo control his body and do whatever he wanted with it, and he knew it wouldn't calm down anytime soon.