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Middle Grounds	By : Sena Category: Bleach > Yaoi - Male/Male > Grimmjow/Ichigo Views: 4055 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. All characters associated with the series are the property of Tite Kubo and no money/profit is made with this story. I'm just playing with them.

Chapter List
- 2
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Chapter 3. Memories. Part II.
Karakura town. Almost 1 month before the war.
Shirosaki was seated on a wall of his reversed inner world. His voice sounded mildly amused besides the deep frown on his scary face. "Yo… long time no see… Ichigo."
Ichigo was watching him suspiciously. Shinji had forced him into his inner world, supposedly to 'crush his hollow'. Unfortunately, he still had no clue about how to sort out this situation.
Giving him no time to make up his mind, Shiro stood and stepped closer, his voice a weird mixture of threat and tease. "Why have you come here? Are you gonna fight me?"
Ichigo held his stare while he moved closer. He was still hesitating about betraying the vizards' confidence. He wondered for the umpteenth time if it was wise to trust Gin more than Shinji… So, he didn't answer. Because he didn't have any answer. Not yet.
Shiro could read all these thoughts easily from Ichigo's worried frown, but he wasn't willing to wait for his indecisiveness to be settled. Smirking, he unsheathed his white Zangetsu and threw himself at the shinigami. Ichigo could barely stop the attack, raising his zanpakuto at the last moment, using his left arm to hold the blade in place.
"Damn you…" Ichigo hadn't been expecting the attack, as they weren't supposed to fight. "What the fuck are you doing?"
"Your friends expect a bloody fight… and your outer body reflects it, so we better fight if you want them to believe you have 'crushed' me." He took a step backwards and raised Zangetsu to let it rest over his shoulders. He tilted his head with a mocking grin. "It could even be an interesting spar."
Ichigo quickly realized that the hollow was right. Shinji and the rest of the vizards must be carefully watching him, and if he was supposed to be in a deathly fight, his body must be reflecting it somehow. Well, he still needed some answers, so meanwhile they could play a little.
This time, it was Ichigo who launched himself at Shiro, charging Shiro with blow after blow while asking. "So, tell me your conditions. What do you want from me in order for you to lend me your power?"
Shiro was easily blocking all his assaults, but made no move to counterattack. He had a wide grin on his face and his voice sounded highly amused this time. "Just let me out from time to time." He made a sudden move to avoid the shinigami's sword and caught his wrist, twisting it painfully until Ichigo almost dropped his zanpakuto. He lowered his voice and approached the stunned shinigami. "I just want to live… and I'm extremely easy to please, Ichigo." He said the last part purring into Ichigo's neck.
The shinigami twisted and jumped backwards, his neck bristly at Shiro's unexpected words. This was not what he had expected… although he suddenly remembered the first time he met Kon… there was something in Shiro’s eyes that had also shined in the mod soul. Was it the fear to disappear? To die? The will to live?
However, Ichigo wasn't so naïve to think that he could gain Shiro's power without paying a price. He raised his sword again and tried to find out his terms by taking a different approach.
"Why would you refuse to try to control my body instead?"
Shiro snorted. "Hmm, I'm just being practical. I don't want half soul society and your new friends rushing at my heels trying to kill me. This way, I can use your body without their interference… or yours." When Ichigo's eyes widen, Shiro clarified. "A constant fight for dominance can be exhausting. I prefer to focus my energy in other matters."
Ichigo frowned suspiciously. "Like what?"
Shiro just laugh. "Please… you should know me better by now… you know what I like."
He tried with the first thing that crossed his mind. "Fighting Grimmjow?"
The hollow tilted his head in what looked like a cocky way and grinned enigmatically. "That's certainly a bloody pleasure. You will find out others soon enough… So, are you gonna trust me?"
Ichigo was still reluctant to give in so easily. He felt like he was still missing something… "And how do I know you are not going to hurt any of my friends?"
Shiro raised his sword and Ichigo adopted a defensive stance almost instinctively. The hollow laughed at the reaction. "You don't know. That's what trust means."
Ichigo was getting tired of riddles… he had never been much patient with talking, and he realized he wasn't getting any useful information from Shiro. He decided to take a more direct approach and throw himself to the hollow, both Zangetsu clashing in the air. Ichigo's voice was a hiss, his anger hardly contained when a memory came to his mind. "You let Inoue get hurt the first time the arrancars appeared."
Shiro's grin disappeared. His voice lowered. "Yeah, I went too far… but I thought that you really would take the bait that time." Ichigo barely noticed something flicker in the golden eyes, before they shined brightly again, his voice amplifying with a fierce edge. "Too bad you were so fucking stubborn!"
He fired a Getsuga Tensho that sent Ichigo flying to crash into the next building.
Ichigo's rage unleashed now free from the hollow's outburst. He rushed out of the crushed building yelling and charging again. "And what the fuck was I supposed to do?"
Shiro easily blocked all his blows, his level voice increasing to match Ichigo's "You were supposed to come here! If there's a problem in your inner world, the most logical thing is to come here to solve it! I was just calling you!" His blocking movements were slowly turning into charging ones, forcing Ichigo back step by step. By the time he shouted his last complaint, Ichigo's back was pressed against a concrete wall. "What stupid shinigami would not go to his inner world to look for the source of the problem?!"
Instead of worrying about his current situation, Ichigo's anger was turning into untamed wrath, hurt by the hollow's insults to his shinigami abilities. "Calling?! Inoue was badly hurt! And you just wanted to talk?!"
The young shinigami tried to fire a Getsuga but Shiro had gripped the hilt of Ichigo's sword and pinned it above his head against the wall. He raised his other hand until the white blade brushed against Ichigo's chin, but the shinigami made no move to stop him. The golden eyes were staring into Ichigo's, and the shinigami realized that the eerie black eyes looked more hurt than angry.
Before Ichigo could register that feeling any further, Shiro spoke again, his voice low and thick.
"And how the hell was I supposed to drag you here?" He uncoiled a black strip of his dark reiatsu and let it move through his blade until it hovered slightly over Ichigo's skin. "I tried with slow touches with my reiatsu, which you quickly suppressed. I tried to take part in your first fight with Grimmjow, but you kept me down." His blade pressed threatening into Ichigo's flesh, Shiro's eerie voice rising again. "How many more signals do you need? Why the fuck don't you never come?!"
Ichigo was painfully aware that Shiro was really hurt by the fact that he had never realized his attempts of dragging him here. He tried to justify himself, but it sounded like a lame excuse, even at his own ears. "I didn't know what you wanted! I thought you were trying to control my body!"
Shiro sighed sadly and release his grip. He took a step backwards but didn't lower his sword. "I could have controlled it whenever the fuck I wanted. Why can't you just admit I'm stronger than you?"
Ichigo knew he was right. He had been thinking a lot these last days, and there were a lot of things he didn't know, but he was certain about this. His hollow was indeed stronger than him. Some unspoken understanding flowed between them, and the tension left as fast as it had come. Ichigo tilted his head smirking.
"You wish you were stronger!" He jumped to the side, a few feet away from the hollow and adopted a familiar stance, holding Zangetsu in front of him and bracing the armed arm with his left one. His smirk faltered when he saw Shiro mimicking his movement, and watched incredulously as they evolved together into bankai mode.
Once the tension disappeared, Ichigo even enjoyed the fight. Shiro was clearly faster and stronger, but the young shinigami managed to hold his pace and his strikes even reached the hollow a few times.
After a while, both were panting heavily. Ichigo was secretly proud of himself because he wasn't the only one bleeding, but his energy was nearly drained by now. Shiro could feel it, and let him have a moment to catch his breath while he finally made his offer. He offered Ichigo the power to use the mask as the vizards expected, but only with the condition that Ichigo continued his training with the arrancar. When Ichigo agreed without much hesitation, Shiro's gaze hardened.
"Maybe you shouldn't agree so recklessly, Ichigo. You sure remember the promise I made to Gin… And I'm gonna kept it, no matter what."
Ichigo's frown deepened, but his smile remained. "If what Gin said is right, both of us are gonna give him whatever the hell he asks for."
Shiro grinned back and attack again, harder than before. Ichigo barely blocked the first blow when the hollow was on him again. He dodged the black Getsuga, but he wasn't fast enough to avoid the cero that came the next second. When he opened his eyes, he was trapped again between some ruined wall and Shiro's steel hard body.
The shinigami started to complain but the hollow hissed at his neck. "The vizards expected a bloody fight, and they are not gonna buy an easy fake." He pressed his forearm on Ichigo's throat, half choking him and leaned closer to whisper. "You better fight with all you've got if you hope to survive. If I accidentally kill you here, this body will be mine."
They resumed their fight, but this time Ichigo hardly managed to block Shiro's attacks. He was overmatched, and he knew it. It was just a matter of time before he left an opening for the hollow to strike, and with every clash of their Zanpakutos Ichigo found the rhythm harder to maintain. He tried a last attack and shot a getsuga, but Shiro rejected it barehanded and didn't miss the opportunity to break into Ichigo's defenses.
Ichigo never saw it coming, but he did feel the steel biting through skin and flesh. When he lowered his gaze, he saw the white Zangetsu stained with his crimson blood, bright rivulets reaching its hilt and blemishing Shiro's pale hand.
Ichigo was suddenly speechless. He hadn't really believed the hollow's threat, and now his own life was at the stake. He didn't know what to think, what to do… he just kept watching as the zanpakuto stabbed into his body, where Shiro had left it before taking a few steps backwards.
"What's with this face? Are you gonna freak out?" Shiro tilted his head and rested his left hand on his hip, while extending the naked right arm in front of him. "Why the fuck are you standing there motionless? You have two swords and I'm unarmed, what are you waiting for?" He lowered both arms and stared at the shinigami for a while. The next words snapped Ichigo out of his trance. "I thought you had more survival instinct in you, Ichigo… Are you really willing to die here and now?"
Something switched in Ichigo's face when his mind stopped thinking and his instincts took the lead. He pulled the sword from his belly and flipped it in the air, griping his hilt and jumping to Shiro's throat. Without a second thought, Ichigo stabbed both zanpakutos in the hollow's body, piercing through his iron skin.
Shiro grinned widely before punching Ichigo hard in the face, sending him flying backward to crash into the roof below. The shinigami looked startled as the hollow extracted both swords from his body and let himself fall to the roof a few feet in front of Ichigo. He approached him slowly, dragging one bloody Zangetsu in each hand, and fell on his knees by his side.
"You have really tried to kill me this time. You are one scary brat, Ichigo." He was panting heavily but there was still a slightly amused edge to his voice.
"I thought you were the one trying to kill me, asshole." Ichigo rolled onto his back and didn't even try to stand up. He was still bleeding hard and felt his consciousness starting to falter.
Shiro chucked. "I almost did."
"So, what's going to happen now?" Ichigo struggled to recline on his elbows to face Shiro, who was smirking at him widely besides all the blood that was now covering his pale body.
"Congratulations, you can play the vizard now. As far as your friends are concerned, you have killed me. You can now start the training for mastering my fucking awesome mask…"
***********
Inoue walked to Karakura park. She had finally made up her mind. These last days, she had noticed Ichigo's reiatsu disappearing for about one hour and appearing again as suddenly as it had been gone. During the day, his reiatsu was also somehow hidden with some kind of barrier, but this was different… it was as if he had been completely erased… She didn't know how to feel about it… the first time she was really scared, but after three days of it happening regularly she became more and more curious.
She couldn't feel anything right now, but every time the presence seemed to appear and disappear it was from somewhere in Karakura park, so she decided to have a look there.
She walked randomly around the park, until she heard the barely audible sound of clashing swords. Slowing her steps, she approached the two figures fighting under the dim sunset light. She immediately recognized her friend, his orange hair and his giant sword unmistakable. He was fighting with a taller man, with electric blue hair and only one arm. No wait… she approached a little more… until she could clearly see the rest of the mask and the hollow hole in his abdomen… Was he one of Aizen's arrancars? She almost ran away to get some help but Ichigo's clear laugh froze her in place. He had just managed to hit the arrancar in the chin with the hilt of his sword and was laughing at the surprised face of his opponent.
"You really know some dirty tricks, shinigami," Grimmjow smirked; massaging his chin… the hit had been powerful enough to be painful besides his hierro.
"You have no idea," Ichigo was grinning openly "What's your problem, arrancar? Seems that every day it takes you longer to beat me… are you getting soft?" Ichigo kept teasing the espada, everyday feeling more comfortable with their cat and mouse playing.
Grimmjow's face changed suddenly, as he became aware of Inoue's presence. He turned to face her, Ichigo following his gaze to found his friend looking puzzled at them.
"Should I kill her?"
Ichigo jumped in front of the arrancar, who already had a predatory snarl in his face.
"Stop it, asshole. She's my friend. Touch her and I'm gonna kill you." Ichigo frowned as he faced Grimmjow, his smile gone and his eyes deadly serious.
Grimmjow chucked and turned around to drop down not far away. "In five minutes we are resuming the fight." He smirked evilly from the distance. He wasn't as worried as Ichigo and he couldn't pass the opportunity to lighten the mood, teasing the young man a little. "You better keep that deadly look on your face. I like those eyes, shinigami."
Ichigo paid him no further attention and ran to meet Inoue, not knowing how the hell he could explain this situation….
"Are you ok, Kurosaki-kun?" Inoue pressed, her face worried…
"Yeah… I was just training… I…." Ichigo was looking his feet, a hand massaging his hair nervously.
Inoue easily recognize the nervous embarrassment in Ichigo's gestures. "It's OK, Kurosaki. You don't have to explain anything. I came here because I was worried… if everything is fine, then I had better go…" She knew better than to press the subject, when Ichigo had his mind set on something, trying to change it was completely pointless.
Ichigo looked at her. She was blushing and looked almost ashamed… he realize he was being an asshole. Inoue was his best friend and she was cut it willing to help him… She deserved better than this… Suddenly, an idea switched on in his head. Inoue lived alone; she had no family to answer to for her actions. And she could help him with the double training. Not to mention she had already discovered his relation with the espada… and if she had been able to find him here, she most probably wouldn't have any problem finding the vizard's place either.
Smiling, he asked her softly, "…mm, Inoue… Could you help me with training?"
Inoue blinked. Was he really asking her for help? She felt the tension leaving her body as her gaze met Ichigo's. "What can I do?"
Ichigo chose his words carefully. He still didn't know how to explain his chaotic situation without worrying her unnecessarily. "Well… he is training me, but it's kind of a secret… he's one of Aizen's espadas, so nobody must know he is here…"
Inoue opened her eyes "Oh, and why is Aizen training you?"
He looked surprised at her. It was the most obvious reaction to his hurried explanation… "Aizen doesn't know… I guess he would be killed if Aizen found out…" Ichigo frowned. He had never thought about the consequences for the arrancar if they were found…
He dropped the subject, putting back these worries for a better time "The point is that it would be really helpful if you could heal me after these fights… when I train in the morning, I still have some wounds which are difficult to explain…"
"I will do it! You can come to my place when you finish. I can make something for dinner too." She was smiling happily. Ichigo shuddered as he remembered some of Inoue's dishes, but forced himself to smile back.
"That won't be necessary… but thanks Inoue."
"See you later!" she turned and waved to him as she trotted happily away.
Ichigo's gaze followed her until she disappeared from his sight. He turned to the arrancar, grinning widely as he also realized that Inoue could also help him recover before these evening meetings. So, the next time they fight, he will show that arrogant espada how he really fought at full power.
***********
Inoue had been waiting for Ichigo to come for almost one hour. She still couldn't feel his presence at all, which made her feel extremely uneasy. She was checking the dinner for the third time in the last ten minutes when the doorbell rang. She rushed to the door, and opened it to find a bruised Ichigo barely standing, one arm resting on the door frame.
She helped him inside and started healing him as soon as they reached the couch. Biting her lips, she swallowed her curiosity and didn't ask him a single question. By the time Ichigo was completely recovered, he was sound asleep. Inoue didn't bother to wake him up, just put a blanket over him and moved to the kitchen to have a lonely dinner. She felt exhausted, as the healing process drained her energy more than she let people know.
When the alarm clock rang next morning, Ichigo wasn't there. She could felt his reiatsu highly dimmed but still present in his usual daily location. She sighed and hurried up, although she probably will be late to school. Again.
That evening, Ichigo arrived as bruised as the night before. This time, however, he managed to remain awake and both had a quiet dinner. Inoue didn't ask any questions; just spent the meal chatting cheerfully about silly things, which Ichigo was grateful for. When they finished, it was pretty obvious that he wasn't in any hurry to go away… Inoue suspected the motives, and offered him the guest room. Ichigo accepted after Inoue swore for the umpteenth time that it wouldn't be any nuisance, and it would even make her feel less lonely.
Finally, Ichigo decided to leave his human body with Kon during the training and moved to stay at Inoue's home. He also decided to keep the wristbands on in order to make himself invisible to the rest of the world, at least until he was able to explain everything to his friends. Swallowing his pride, Ichigo finally brought himself to ask his friend to heal him between trainings, which resulted in a clear improvement of his fighting level.
The rest of the days were almost the same. She got up alone, spent the days in the school and the nights with Ichigo. She was slowly getting better with the healing process; everyday able to do it faster and getting less tired, which made her secretly proud. She also enjoyed the dinners. She tried to keep her cheerful mood, as Ichigo seemed to relax in it. Every night, they spent more time after dinner, drinking tea and talking about school, their friends…
But after almost a week, Ichigo had explained nothing to her about what he was doing. She wanted to help him, but had no clue about how to approach him. Every time he thought she didn't realize, Ichigo frowned, and had a depressed look on his face. He looked like he carried the weight of the world upon his shoulders. Inoue needed to make him trust her, as she was the only person from the Living World Ichigo was in contact with at the moment, but she was also afraid to lose him if she pressed the subject too much. On the other hand, it was rather hypocritical on her part to want Ichigo trusting her when she hadn't trusted him… She hadn't talked to him about anything too personal nor had she told him about her other life….
***********
After one whole week of indecisions and doubts, Inoue decided to talk with her best friend. During the gym class, she was running with Tatsuki along the sports field, carefully avoiding the other students to speak openly.
"Stop Orihime, you MUST tell him!" Tatsuki was almost yelling at her.
"And how the fuck I'm supposed to do that?" She spat back.
Tatsuki just smirked, "You are cursing again, sweetie."
Inoue blushed and gave a quick look at the rest of the students, sighing when she was sure nobody had heard her.
"C'mon Hime, It can't be so difficult. He is your friend and that is not going to change." Tatsuki tried her best to offer as much reassurance as she could, although she knew that Inoue's worries were far beyond her reach.
"But what if he prefers the sweet, airheaded Inoue from school? What if he doesn't come back? What if I freak him out?" Inoue's voice was faintly cracking at the possibility of losing him.
Tatsuki rolled her eyes at her nervous partner. "Orihime! He is a shinigami! How are you supposed to freak HIM out?" She smirked at her, "Besides, the real Inoue is far more interesting."
She sighed and murmured to herself, "I should get him drunk."
Tatsuki chuckled at the change of the mood. "Maybe you both should be drunk."
It was Inoue's turn to smirk back. "I don't trust myself when I'm drunk."
"Well, maybe he doesn't care."
"Tatsuki!"
Inoue frowned at her friend faking her best angry face but didn't dismiss the idea completely. She hadn't had any success in waiting for Ichigo to approach her, so it was about time to take a step forward. Tonight, Ichigo was going to meet the real Inoue.
***********
They had been fighting for a week, with a clear improvement from both sides. Grimmjow had completely recovered his balance at fighting without one arm, and Ichigo had grown more confident in his sword abilities, improving his fighting skills instead of relying in his hardly controlled reiatsu.
Ichigo had also become more fearless around the espada. He was hardly worried about his life while training and instead he was actually enjoying these sparring sessions. If anything, he was enjoying them a bit too much, although he was pretty sure he had Shiro to blame for that.
His hollow was absolutely delighted with his fights with the arrancar. Ichigo had always been aware of the constant teasing between them, but lately it seemed to be slipping into something else. The teasing was slowly taking a sexual edge, more pronounced at the peak of the fight, when both were running high with adrenaline. Ichigo realized that the rush of the fight and the smell of the blood tended to heat up Shiro's mind as well as his body, and resulted in the heating of Ichigo's mind as well… Since he noticed this effect, he had been painfully aware that his body was also reacting in a similar way every time he had the arrancar too close… And it was not just a little excitement, but a whole lot more fucked up feelings. However, what worried him the most was the fact that both hollows seemed perfectly fine with it, neither of them giving a shit that sometimes they ended the fight with a more than obvious hard on.
Today, it was one of those days.
"I got you, hollow." Grimmjow was straddling Shiro, both were panting, sweating and bleeding. The arrancar had pinned both hollow's wrist upon his head, and their faces almost touched as he spoke.
"You wish, arrancar." Shirosaki turned his face slightly to approach Grimmjow's neck. The arrancar was still bleeding from one of the last deep cuts from Zangetsu and Shiro decided to push a little. With a lustful smirk, he bit Grimmjow's wound; the salty and metallic liquid filled his mouth and heated his mind.
The arrancar grinned maniacally at the golden eyed demon. He didn't expect the hollow to be this bold, but he definitely wasn’t complaining. Both could play that game.
"You shouldn't be teasing me…" Grimmjow lean down to whisper huskily into Shiro's neck "…I might bite you back."
The hollow chuckled, more than pleased to see that the espada fell so easily into the game. "Keep dreaming." Shirosaki used all his remaining forces to throw the arrancar away, reversing positions and securely pinning Grimmjow's arm over his head.
The espada fell on his back, openly laughing as one of Shiro's hands clenched on his throat. "I really like this fight in you, hollow, but it seems that you energy is over now." The grip on Grimmjow's neck tightened, while the arrancar keep smirking. "You have lost, Shiro."
The hollow smirked back, golden eyes staring blue ones. "You won't be so lucky someday, espada." His grin widen as he bent closer to the arrancar. "I'm gonna give you a present for your victory…" He licked his lips, smirking at the curious glace from the espada's eyes. His voice lowered to whisper huskily. "What about a hot shinigami riding you?"
Before Grimmjow could register the last words, the familiar reiatsu flash brought Ichigo back, his nose inches away from Grimmjow's; his hand still chocking him. Ichigo smirked.
He had been aware of the whole fight, getting more used to the constant teasing between both hollows. Besides his worries, he couldn't ignore the fact that he did enjoy their sparring sessions. It had been highly disturbing the first times, and he wasn't completely relaxed now either, but when he refrained from second thoughts, it was easy to fall into the game.
"I could have never imagined that this would be happen, Grimmjow." Ichigo felt himself teasing the arrancar, pushing his luck as he didn't release his arm nor his neck… and what was worst, their faces were still a few inches apart, none of them breaking eye contact.
Grimmjow finally laughed. With a fast movement, he released his arm and punched Ichigo in the face, sending him backwards. Giving him no time to recover, the teal-haired arrancar grabbed Ichigo's neck and bring him closer, his voice low and husky in his ear.
"Don't play with fire if you are not ready to get burned, Kurosaki."
Ichigo shivered but couldn't answer, as the espada had already opened a Garganta when he released him and disappeared into the rip, waving his hand without a backward glance.
***********
That evening, she didn't cook. Ichigo was slightly surprised when she proposed to order a pizza, and was completely puzzled when she offered him a beer to drink while waiting for the meal.
Three beers later, the pizza was over and Inoue considered the mood relaxed enough for her plans.
Ichigo glanced at her… something was clearly different with her today… she looked more… 'alive'… but with three beers in his body he wasn't sure of anything. He thought that it was probably just his imagination…. Until she spoke.
"Would you like a few shots, Kurosaki-kun?" She was looking at him clearly amused.
"I didn't know you drank." His eyes followed her as she went to the kitchen, opened a couple of cabinets and came back with a bottle of sake and two small cups.
"Sometimes." She sat cross legged on the floor, in front of Ichigo, placed the cups on the small table and filled them. "I wanna tell you something Kurosaki-kun... But I don't know how to start." She took one of the cups and smirked slightly at Ichigo "Cheers."
Ichigo looked at her as she drank her cup empty and smirked back slightly amused before draining his own and placing the empty glass beside Inoue's. He had never seen his friend behave like this, but he couldn't say he didn't like it. The night seemed to get interesting… "You can start from the beginning… I'm not going anywhere."
Inoue grinned at the smirk on Ichigo's face. Maybe Tatsuki was right and it wouldn't be such a bad idea after all… "When I was four, I started to have nightmares…" Inoue had filled the cup again and looked at Ichigo, who was suddenly serious, waiting for the drama to start. She took the cup and toasted with an amused face. "Just kidding, it's not a long sad story."
She grinned at his surprised face and emptied her cup. "It's just that there is a part of my life which you have no idea about. Well, I guess you have imagined that since the death of my brother I have had to work, as I had no other family to sustain me. Then, in my job I found some good friends… and after all this time, I have a group of friends that you don't know… and with them I'm not exactly the sweet, bubbly and airhead I used to be at school… that girl died with my brother, but I have never been able to bring myself to change that image at school…" Her voice faded slowly, as the memories of her brother's 'second death' filled her mind.
Ichigo noticed the darkening in her eyes, and found himself remembering this very awful night. "You don't need to explain anything, Inoue."
"No, no… I want you to know…" She quickly removed one salty drop from her cheek and looked at him again, her face smiling faintly. "Because Tatsuki is the only one who truly knows everything about me and sometimes I just wished she wasn't the only one…" her smile opened to a true grin, as she verbalized her most feared words, "but they are kind of weird people and I didn't want you to freak out…."
Ichigo had been fighting the urge to interrupt her but he couldn't avoid laughing soundly at her last words.
"I'm a substitute shinigami, with a hollow in my head, training secretly during the days with a group of vizards and spending the evenings getting beat up by one of Aizen's espadas…how can I possibly be freaked out by a group of human people?"
Inoue grinned back at him. Ichigo probably hadn't meant to do it, but in a single sentence he had confessed more things than in the whole of the last week. She drank another cup before smiling openly to him, who was still trying to compose himself after the laughing outburst.
"They are older than us, some of them are at university, most of them work and they like to party…"
Ichigo cocked an eyebrow and tried to maintain the light mood. "And who doesn't?"
As he was clearly smirking at her, Inoue decided to tease him a little more, her voice almost flirtatious. "They like alcohol, music, drugs and sex."
Ichigo followed the game easily, the alcohol blurring his thoughts and relaxing his mind. He was enjoying the unexpected turn of conversation even as much as she was. "In that order?"
"It used to happen in that order… best dish served last." She stared at those chocolate eyes, shining brighter than they had been lately.
"Then, why I haven't met them yet?"
She showed her best grin before answering. "I didn't want you to freak out."
Ichigo burst in laugher again. He refilled the cups, noticing that half the bottle was already gone. Suddenly, he remembered something.
"Why did you leave the party at Seireitei?"
Inoue almost chocked with the sake. Well… it was now or never… she took a deep breath and smiled enigmatically. "I didn't leave. I just continued the party in another place."
He had thought Inoue had gone to sleep as she didn't use to drink and he hadn't seen her when he moved from the party… He smirked at her knowingly… all the people had been slowly disappearing from the common room to more private parties…
"Whose house?" His voice got lower.
"Rangiku's." Inoue bit her lip… she had never expected that moment to be so… exciting… she was really enjoying this teasing game with Ichigo…
Ichigo kept the thick tone. "You both alone?"
She grinned and looked carefully at his reaction as she slowly said the words she knew would trouble him. "Nope. Kira, Shuhei and a bottle of sake also came with us."
Ichigo couldn't stop his mind from picturing all the possibilities laying under her words… his mouth spoke without him even registering it.
"So, with whom did you have a lovely sweet night?" As soon as the words left his mouth he realized he really didn't want to know… but it was too late to take it back.
Inoue's smirk grew even bigger. "The four of us had a sexy wild night."
Ichigo grinned enigmatically. "What happens in a Seireitei party…"
Inoue finished the sentence for him "…remains in the party. So, it seems that you also had yours, Kurosaki…"
It was Ichigo's turn to smirk "Mine had less people… I was only with Rukia and Renji."
Inoue did laugh this time. "Why the hell did you never tell me?"
"I didn't want to freak out the sweet Inoue…"
She threw him a paper napkin and tried to speak seriously despite the giggling voice. "We have been rather stupid…"
Ichigo's voice took a serious tone as he tried to comfort her. "Yeah… you should have told me… It must have been hard for you at school…"
"Tatsuki helped a lot… But, you know…" Her intonation faded slightly and sounded sadder than she had intended. "You start doing something different with a different group of people besides your friends… and you are doing completely different kinds of things with each of them… and you fear than they won't like each other, but you can't choose because you like both… and after a while, you have a second life and everyday its harder to change it…"
Ichigo didn't say a word… He knew Inoue was speaking about herself, but it could be a perfect description of his current life… This is exactly how he was feeling at the moment, but he wasn't ready to talk with her…not yet…
Unfortunately, his mind knew that he won't ever be ready, so this wouldn't be the worst moment to start… "Inoue… you do know that that’s is exactly what I'm currently doing, don't you?"
Inoue looked back… his face was serious and the frown was there again… She chose her next words carefully. "Sort of... but I don't need you telling me anything you don’t want…"
Ichigo leaned into the couch and closed his eyes. Slowly, he let the words fill the room. "Since my last fight with Byakuya, I had problems with my inner hollow. Every day, it was getting worse… until the day we were attacked. That day, Rukia almost died and I finally decided to swallow my pride and ask for help…" He opened his eyes to look at his friend. "So, I accepted the offer Shinji had made me in the school and I spent the days training with them. They also had hollow powers so I thought it would be the best option."
Ichigo took a deep breath before trying to explain how the arrancar fit into that scheme. "The same day I'd agreed to train with Shinji and the other vizards, I met… another guy, who told a completely different story. He had other ideas about how to deal with it, so he offered to help me, too." He paused, lost in some memory while Inoue waited patiently. After a moment, she saw something flicker in Ichigo's eyes, and he continued. "I think that both groups really did want to help and they are doing their best, but they hate each other. Grimmjow… the arrancar you saw me fighting with, knows that I spent the days with the vizards, and he was the one who gave me these reiatsu suppressors, so nobody notices what we are doing. I haven't said a word to anyone because it would be clear to everybody that the arrancar wanted something… and no one would trust him…"
"But you do." Inoue had moved to sit down close to him and was smiling warmly. "If you didn't, you wouldn't be fighting an espada with your power suppressed."
Ichigo nodded quietly. "Well… the truth is that his method... sort of works…"
"But you didn't want to risk everything on a single card." Inoue understood his choice, but could also see the distrust that this situation would arise from Soul Society.
"Exactly" Ichigo looked at his friend. "I couldn't be doing this without you, Inoue. And I didn't mean only for the healing…"
His tired voice reminded Inoue how hard it was to keep all the worries that one had to oneself while pretending everything is fine. She decided it was enough for today, so aimed for a change in the mood.
"I'm happy to know that at least I can help a little. You are too worried. Everything is going fine so far. So, you should focus on enjoying your training." She had an amused smile when she told him the last part.
Ichigo rolled his eyes. "You know, there is nothing to enjoy! I get beat up every day."
"C'mon. You love a good fight. And you obviously have fun… at least with the evening sparring!"
Inoue was grinning widely by now. "How is he?"
Ichigo opened his eyes in surprise. "Who? Grimmjow?"
When Inoue nodded silently, he thought for a moment… "He's a cocky arrogant prick."
She snorted faintly. "Then you two will get along pretty well…"
Before Ichigo could register her last words, she stretched tiredly and got up slowly. "I have school tomorrow, so I really should get some sleep…" She bent down and planted a kiss on Ichigo's hair, before leaving the room waving happily "Night Ichi!"
Ichigo smiled at the nickname. Life looked a little brighter after this strange night talk…. And for once in a long time he didn't feel so lonely anymore.
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Middle Grounds