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The Real King	By : NovaAlexandria Category: Bleach > Yaoi - Male/Male > Grimmjow/Ichigo Views: 48386 -:- Recommendations : 4 -:- Currently Reading : 13
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor make any profit from this small fict.

Chapter List
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Coping

Despite it being so late, Karin found herself wide awake and all too aware of the bare and warm chest pressing against her back. Yylfordt was only wearing his hakama as she leaned against him with his arms around her, making her feel safe and wanted. She was still fully clothed in t-shirt, shorts and socks, but she knew shit would fly if Ichigo or her father were to walk in on her. That was not what was on her mind at all right now, nor was it how jealous her high school friends would be if they knew she was being held by, what they would consider, one hunk of a catch. No, the only thing on Karin�s mind right now was the sharing of pain as they both recovered from events they had little to no control over.

�And this one?� she questioned, her index finger gently tracing over yet another scar that covered one of the arms holding her.

For the past hour Yylfordt had been confessing to her a large number of the things Kurotsuchi and his men had down to him while he�d been held as one of their specimens. Sometimes it took him a moment to get it out, other times he hissed in anger. Either way, it was helping them both heal.

He had been holding it back for several years, burying what had been done to him under a front of confidence and never really dealing with it. In her case, for every atrocity that had been committed against him, she found herself caring less and less that she had killed the two men that she had. One of them, she had learned afterwards, had been a lecherous bastard and had coerced sexual favours out of some of the subjects. Never outright rape, for everything was monitored, but under the so called experimental heading �what would a hollow do to obtain this� he had been able to enjoy several sexual �favours.� Yylfordt had even had several encounters with the man in question, but had confided in her that he�d never been desperate enough to agree to any of the mans wishes. She defiantly no longer regretted killing that bastard and almost wished she could confront him again to make his death less clean and quick and far longer and agonizing. The second guard he didn�t recognize the description to, but Karin was now convinced that no on in that division had clean hands.

�This one,� Yylfodt�s hand covered hers and pulled it away from the scar that ran up his arm, suspiciously following a main vein, �I will tell you about another time.�

�Alright,� she agreed easily, knowing better than to try and force the issue.

He didn�t need to share all of this with her, and the fact that he was spoke volumes about the trust he had in her not to share so many �weakness� with others. Hollows simply did not admit short comings, to do so was to give a weapon to your enemy.

�But they are no longer hollows,� she reminded herself.

�Your father,� he paused for a moment, �confronted me about my right to court you,� he confessed.

�Oh?� she asked suddenly intrigued.

�I told him your brother has given us all permission to mate as we see fit, so long as both parties agree to the terms.�

She felt her cheeks flush and her heart rate dramatically increase. She felt a mixture of fear for the unknown and a large amount of excitement with a touch of anticipation. That he was even speaking of this meant he was interested and, considering what she knew of hollow mating, she felt highly flattered that he would even consider a mere, weak human like her to be a worthy contest.

�He did,� she agreed with his last statement, noting her mouth seemed suddenly dry.

�It was pointed out, however, that you still have things you need to do, and how difficult it was for Ichigo to do those things after mating with Grimmjow.�

He had a point there. She honestly had no plans on having kids anytime soon. There was still so much in her life she wanted to do and getting bogged down now was not on her agenda. Not that she didn�t love kids, and deeply love the cubs, she simply wasn�t ready to have any of her own. There were a large number of things she still needed to do with her life, like win the World Woman�s Soccer tournament among other things. That would be hard to do with a cub to care for.

�They are right in that aspect,� she sighed in agreement.

�I agreed to stave off courtship until you were considered an adult in human society,� he assured her.

Her cheeks were defiantly flushed now. How many boys said they were willing to wait before having sex? None she knew off. In fact, her few girlfriends bitched and moaned about how several of them had broken up already because their exes kept pushing for sex. And now, here she was, with a hunk of a man telling her he was more than willing to wait until she older and ready for it. Insisting on it in fact.

�You know,� Karin licked her lips nervously and turned about in his arms so they were facing each other, �humans actually court each other for some time before actually mating. There are a lot of other things we can do that do not involve the actual act,� she pointed out.

�Oh?� he gave her a small smile. �Like what?�

�Holding hands, cuddling, going on dates, kissing,� her blush deepened at the last one.

�Kissing?� he questioned, leaning his forehead against hers, mindful of the fragment of bone that adorned his hair.

�Yeah,� she agreed, their breath mingling between them. �Kissing,� she all but whispered.

Yes, here it was. The moment she had been waiting for, that her stupid father had interrupted. Slowly, their lips drew closer and she felt her eyes drift close even as she felt his arms tighten around her. Her heart was pounding against her ribcage in a mixture of fear and anticipation. She was positive her cheeks had to be burning.

A loud yowl caused them both to jump in surprise and her head met his mask in the result confusion. He had dropped her and his main hand was halfway towards his zanpakuto while she cursed with words her father would have a conniption fit over if he knew she knew them.

�Bloody hell,� Yylfordt sighed.

�What the hell was that?� she complained, furious that her perfect moment had been broken, yet again, while rubbing her sore forehead.

�Grimmjow,� he answered honestly, crawling over to check on her.

�Why they hell would�.. oh, never mind,� she chuckled. �Ichi-nii riding him again?� she questioned.

�That�s what it sounded like,� he agreed, shaking his head in exasperation. �It was one main reason Tesra and I moved here as soon as we could. The walls are good, but only so good, and those two tend to get very loud.�

�Hmm, I know what you mean,� she agreed. �Every Christmas I wonder why on earth we agree to spend the night,� she sighed.

Her forehead hurt a little, but she didn�t think it was going to bruise. Fortunately, his mask fragments were relatively smooth and didn�t have any sharp edges or horns she needed to worry about getting gouged on.

�So, you really don�t mind waiting five years or so before, you know, mating fully?� she questioned apprehensively.

�To creatures that live as long as we do, five years pass in the blink of an eye,� he assured her.

�And what about afterwards, or even before. Humans tend to mate for life and you have other options now,� she pointed out, even though she didn�t want to remind him that there were now more woman for him to pursue, women who were stronger, of his own kind, and far better looking than she was.

�I have never had interest in any of them, their personalities can get grating on the nerves, and even if I choose one the other one would be on my case about why she wasn�t the one chosen,� he scowled.

�Like a pair of squabbling sisters?� she suggested.

�Sounds about right, but I have never seen you and Yuzu fight.�

�Yuzu and I don�t have many things to fight over. After mom,� she swallowed and forced herself to continue at the sudden pain, to touch on something that she had buried and hadn�t let fully heal, �after mom we all sort of silently agreed not to fight, just in case the last memory we would have of each other was a bad one,� she confessed.

She had never spoken to anyone about her mother, not even her family. However, after everything he had shared with her, all the pain and humiliation Kurotsuchi put him through during his imprisonment, her own pain almost seemed poor in comparison. Unlike his pain, her�s was proceeded by a large slew of good memories. The bad memory of her mother�s death would never fully go away, but at least she had good ones with which to recall her mother with, dimmed though they were with age and time. There were no good memories Yylfordt had of Kurotsuchi to offset the months of bad, with the possible exception of Ternero. He hadn�t even been that close with Tesra, not like Ichigo was with Grimmjow, or even Szayel.

�Have you ever thought about reconciling with Szayel?� she questioned hesitantly, uncertain on how estranged the brothers actually were.

�Not really,� he shrugged. �I don�t remember anything from our mortal life, and the memories of our Arrancar life are less than stellar. Not terribly bad, but not all that exceptional either.�

�So?� Karin questioned. �Now would be a good time to start making good ones. After all, if you do decide to stick around, you are going to be around him for a very long time, and he will be helping to look after any future offspring. Why spend that time in discord?� she pointed out.

She felt him tense before relaxing and letting out a little sigh.

�Maybe you are right,� he agreed.

�There is one thing you should know about woman,� she smirked at him.

�Oh?�

�We are always right,� she said seriously.

�Really?� he questioned with a raised eye.

�Yes. Just remember, if you ever think we are wrong, well, let�s just say no one can give the cold shoulder, and bed, like a woman can. Nor can anyone hold a grudge like a woman can,� she smirked at him with her best evil smile.

�Ouch,� he chuckled. �I�ll remember that,�

�Good,� she glanced over at the clock and winced as she realized how late it had gotten. �I think it�s time for bed,� she sighed.

�Hmm,� he agreed, also looking at the time.

Karin untangled herself from his grasp and moved over to the nest of pillows and blankets. While she had found it weird at first, she had to confess she had grown rather fond of this style of bedding. She made herself a cozy spot and settled down to sleep.

�You coming to bed or what?� she questioned while Yylfordt still sat there staring at her in the rather smallish nest.

�Yeah,� he agreed, a smile crossing his own face as he settled into nest himself.

�Good,� Karin purred as she moved a bit until her back hit his chest, sighing in contentment as his body heat quickly warmed up the blankets. �Better,� she murmured happily.

She hadn�t confessed to anyone, but when she slept alone she had nightmares. Visions of blood soaking the world around her. Visions of faceless children accusing her of murdering their father. Her mother staring at her in disappointment for forcing other children to go through the same pain she did. Yuzu�s presence helped a little, but for some reason she found Yylfordt�s was the only one that kept the nightmares completely away. Maybe because the men she had killed had been the ones to have once tormented him. Maybe because a part of his thrumming powerful reiatsu reminded her of his brother, and the things that had been done to Szayel. Perhaps it might even be because of how protected she felt surrounded by such power. Whatever the reason, she was more than willing to cuddle with him if it meant a good nights sleep.

�Not like other girls my age aren�t already doing far more,� she thought in her own defence. �Old goat face would have a conniption fit if he knew I have been sharing a bed with a man,� she couldn�t help but to think amused. �Hypocrite. When Ichi-nii was my age all he wanted was to find out that Nii-chan had a girl in his bed and were making kissy face. Spring time of youth and all that other nonsense my ass. I am more than old enough, and mature enough, to know what I am doing and with who, never mind the what, it is I am doing it with.�

Karin snuggled more intently into the warmth behind her, letting out a little sigh. After a moment, she felt an arm hesitantly wrap around her. With a soft smile, she finally let herself drift off into a dreamless sleep.

(TIME)

When she woke in the morning it was to the feeling of being completely warm, comfortable, and well rested. The presence at her back was gone, but judging by the warmth still emanating from the spot behind her, he had just moved. In fact, she spotted him at the door speaking to someone. No doubt his moving had woken her up.

�What is it?� she asked with a yawn when he closed the door.

�It is my turn for patrol,� he answered.

�Gotcha. Want company?� she questioned, half hoping he would say yes while half hoping he would say no so she could stay curled up in the warm nest and maybe get some more sleep.

�I would enjoy your company, however, I feel it would be better if you spent some time with your brother. He is getting worried and, in all honesty, I like my hide where it is,� he offered her small smirk.

�Too true,� she agreed with a chuckle.

With a languid stretch, she finally forced herself out of the warm nest. She was getting hungry too and finding the kitchen was starting to sound like a good idea. If she was lucky, Tesra would already be up and have breakfast on the go. If it was one thing the Arrancar had picked up from his time spent with her sister, it was a superb culinary skill, which was good. Ichigo could cook, but he wasn�t anywhere as good as Yuzu was, let alone practiced enough to feed so many mouths.

�Of course, half of his pack doesn�t exactly need to eat our kind of food,� she mused.

They could of course, and greatly enjoyed it. But unless the food came from Soul Society, and thus was infused with the natural reishi from that realm, it had no more nutritional value to a hollow than celery did to a human, less even since humans at least got a bit of water out of it. Even the food from there was only so helpful.

�Didn�t Kisuke say something about a garden or something. It�s not meat, but I suppose any little bit helps. I think they mentioned something about that simulated stuff Szayel made. Not as good as the real thing I am sure, but considering how many mouths they got to feed, that would be a lot of hunting, more so if any of those others decide to join Ichi-nii,�

While she had been musing, Yylfordt had redressed and had time to check his appearance to make sure he was worthy to be seen in public. She couldn�t help but to wonder how bad he must have been if this was the toned down version of preening. If it was one thing he shared with Szayel, it was their vanity.

�Are you done preening?� she questioned.

�I am merely making sure I am presentable,� he scoffed, but left the mirror anyhow and joined her at the door.

�Of course,� she patted him gently on the shoulder.

With a deep breath, she followed him down to the main living room, which was right off the large playground just like the old den, only considerably bigger. Most of the pack was already there. In fact, the cubs were playing excitedly on their new toy while the adults were settled down for breakfast. Judging by the small pile of little dirty dishes, the cubs had already eaten. Karin was glad she had missed that. She could just imagine how difficult it had been to get the cubs to sit still and eat with such a treasure right there before them.

Greetings were exchanged and Yylfordt just grabbed a quick snack to go before heading out to take over the patrols. With the cubs out of the way, and everyone gathered, Karin turned her attention towards her brother, who was looking at her suspiciously.

�So Ichi-nii, is the entire pack going to have to get earplugs at night, or are we just going to have to get use to the sound of a cat yowling every night?� she questioned with a raised eyebrow while pouring herself a cup of coffee.

Ichigo flushed a bright red and Grimmjow chocked on his drink, spluttering hot coffee out his nose and spraying his hands before cursing violently and shaking his now soaked and burned fingers. The rest of the table either laughed outright or made little chuckling noises.

�I do not yowl,� Grimmjow vehemently denied while glaring dangerously at her.

�Riiiiight,� she rolled her eyes at them while helping herself to the food Tesra had prepared; it smelt positively divine. �Was it Grimmjow?� she question Szayel with a pointed look.

�Absolutely, and in front of the cubs too?� he answered immediately and shamelessly.

She never thought her brother could go so red, but red he did. Even Grimmjow had the decency to look ashamed, although she had a feeling it had more to do with the loud yowl the entire pack had heard over the thought of having sex where the cubs could hear them.

�I am only here for a week, I am sure your brother would be more than willing to share his den, at least until after the cubs are born. At lest you should be able to get some sleep for a while without needing to listen to these two go at it like a pair of ally cats,� she smirked at them. �Wow, who knew Ichi-nii could go THAT red.� she chuckled mentally.

Unlike her, who smiled inward, the rest of the pack had no problems pocking fun at the Alpha pair and laying on the cat jokes. Karin set into her breakfast pleased with the results she had wrought. It was nice to see the new members settling in so easily, and to see Grimmjow not getting all defensive over a bit of teasing, especially since the entire topic had to do with him submitting when he should, technically, be the Alpha in that little relationship right now.

With the Alpha pair being embarrassed by the pack, her brother was too distracted, and embarrassed, to pay any attention to her. She was doing fine, but she didn�t want to talk to Ichigo just yet over the events that had happened.

�I am not a coward, I will speak to him before I go back home,� she did vowed to herself.

(POV)

�That is enough,� Harribel spoke up, brining the teasing to an end.

Ichigo shot her a grateful look, already pleased she had joined the pack. She had reported in first thing in the morning, informing them that she had spread the warning and message. None of those she spoken to had cubs, but the word was out there now and would hopefully spread. Who knew, with the prospect of a safe den and the protection of a large and powerful pack, more Arrancar might just feel the desire to finally settle down and mate. Without Aizen to drive them anymore, there was really nothing for this new tier of powerful hollows to do other than hunt, sleep, and stare at the moonlit sky and endless sand.

�At least here they have the chance for companionship. To feel safe and be able to engage with others. Who knows, maybe they will even start to pick up things like hobbies. Szayel already is a science nut, maybe someone will be interested in agriculture. Urahara-san did mention something about a greenhouse or something,� Ichigo thought.

His eyes drifted over to where Karin was tucking into a large breakfast, his sister seemly comfortable being the only human at a table full of Arrancar, and even seemed well rested for the first time since the incident. He vowed to talk to her about the event in question, but for now decided to let her approach him on her own terms. So far as she continued to show signs of improvement, he would leave her be. He got over Ulquiorra�s death, mostly. He had faith that she could overcome this.

As if knowing that he was thinking of her, Karin looked his way and offered him a small smile. There was still pain there, but she wasn�t trying to hide it from him. Good. It was a true sign that she was starting to heal.

�So, When should we give the cubs their right of passage?� Szayel questioned, brining Ichigo�s attention back to the current topic at hand.

�Sooner than later,� Grimmjow answered. �Especially with two new ones coming.�

�Should we do it before or after the eggs are laid?� Ichigo questioned. �I am perfectly fine, more or less, but you are still weak and will be for a while,� he pointed out.

�Yes, but I will probably be weakened for some time, and by the time I lay others may have already joined in. Since you seem to be fairly strong still, why don�t we do it sooner than later. We don�t know what kind of effect laying will have on you,� Szayel pointed out.

�True enough,� Ichigo agreed. �What do you say in two, maybe three days? Is that enough time to get that giant jungle gym set up to run them through the course?� he questioned.

�It should be,� Szayel agreed easily. �Especially since we suddenly have a large number of extra hands to help out with the set up. Do we still plan on running Cachorro and Hijastro together?� he questioned.

�Yes,� Grimmjow answered without any hesitation. �As unusual as it is, I think it will be for the best.�

�Yeah, I agree,� Ichigo agreed. �Do we tell them about it, or just spring it on them?�

�Tell them about it I think,� Szayel answered. �Give them a bit of time to get prepared and train a bit. Most young know about the hunt leading up to their right of passage and practice for it. I see no reason to hold the information back.�

�Me either. How did you guys do Yukina�s right of passage?� Grimmjow suddenly questioned the others curiously.

�It was Harribel-sama�s idea. We set her the task of catching ten lizard in an hour and set her loose. She caught fifteen,� Mila Rose answered with a smile of pride.

�Really, we can�t get any of the cubs interested in their pet, at least not enough to chase it down,� Ichigo laughed, thinking of the little hollow lizard still contently living in it�s large fish tank in their new den. �They play with it on occasion, but forget about getting them to hunt it.�

�Oh she didn�t kill them either. Pure catch and release,� Sung Sun spoke up. �The mere idea of killing them abhorred her.�

�Crazy second generation,� Apachi snorted.

�You are just jealous because you don�t have a cub,� Mila Rose scoffed.

�Ladies,� Harribel spoke up before the three could enter into a bickering contest.

The conversation steered back to the obstacle course and the rest of breakfast was spent designing it. Afterwards Nel�s �brothers� started to clean up breakfast while Tesra oversaw them and started to plan lunch. Ichigo left it to Grimmjow to inform the cubs about their up coming right of passage while he followed Szayel down to the lab so they could become better acquainted with the set up, equipment, and the location of all of the supplies. They even started a list of a few things they noticed they had forgotten to ask for or felt they might need more of than what Kisuke had supplied.

�How have you been doing?� Ichigo questioned, now that he was alone with Szayel.

�Alight,� Szayel answered with a shrug. �Compared to what H�tsu did to me, this was almost child�s play. It could have been infinitely worse,� he added after a short pause, his voice almost cracking before he cleared his throat. �I will feel better once he is dead, or at least found and imprisoned.�

�Hmm,� Ichigo agreed.

He wasn�t one for killing, but in this case he agreed. Kurotsuchi had crossed too many lines, and if Karin and Yylfordt had been but a day or two later, the crimes would have been even more compounded in a most vile way. He was a mad dog, and the only thing to do with such creatures was to put them down. He honestly didn�t trust anyone or anything to keep Kurotsuchi contained.

Szayel suddenly looked off into the distance, and Ichigo froze while sending his own senses out to see what it was that had caught his companions attention. He was getting better at detecting spiritual energy, but it still took him a moment to find what it was that had caught Szayel�s attention. A smile crossed his face as the familiar power of several of his friends fell into his sensing.

�C�mon, we are pretty much done here anyway,� Ichigo ordered, setting down the pad they had been recording their list on.

�I swear, if he gets those cubs hyped up on more sugar, I am sending them home with him,� Szayel sighed as he followed Ichigo out the door.

�Yeah, but you just know that, somehow, they would still behave for him, and when it comes time to pick them up, they would probably just be on an even bigger sugar rush,� Ichigo pointed out.

�Touché,� Szayel agreed.

Neither one spoke about what they were really hoping for; that there would be news about what Soul Society planned to do with the rogue who had attacked their family twice now. And this time, since Ichigo�s pack had been accepted for the most part, they were allies. Hopefully, the news would be good, but they both mentally prepared themselves for bad. After all, it wouldn�t be the first time Soul Society had disappointed him.

Well, for those of you with S.O.�s I hope you enjoyed yesterday. Those of you without, well, Happy Singles Awareness Day. For those interest, I made homemade shepherds pie, complete with beef slices instead of burger, and we cuddled while watching The Princess Bride. Not really big Valentines Day nuts.

Huge hugs for everyone who reviewed. You make my world go round.

Next Chapter: Umm, I just finished this one two minutes ago, so no clue, but at least expect to see Ichigo�s friends.

This Weeks Question: Do you prefer filler arcs, or that the anime take a break? In my case; take a bloody break. Although, I will confess, I greatly enjoyed the front half of the Zanpakuto Rebellion Arc. The back half was crap, but the front was really interesting. Bount made me twitch, and those bloody puppets deserve a very foul death, more so for messing up the fight between Renji and Yylfordt. The worse, by far, was that piece of shit last filler arc. God, never seen such a marry sue character in an anime before. The whole arc was like a poorly written fanfict. Let�s not even get started on that little whinny noble girl from the replacement Captain arch.
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The Real King