The Songbird's Lullaby 2

Author's Notes: I have nothing to say so far o.O Well...Enjoy~!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not bleach. Not its characters. Nothing of Yoneda Kou's nor Tite Kubo's work. NOTHING! (So much sadness.)

Chapter II. High Flying

“I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things”

Antoine de Saint- Exupery

-

Besides the attempt of embarrassing or offending Ichigo, Shinji had done Ichigo good by hiring Grimmjow. He only met the man four hours ago, and still, he was enjoying his presence. It may be curiosity or lust that has Ichigo keeping the guy as his bodyguard-to which he still believes that he has no need for- but Ichigo plans on keeping him for a while. He found him entertaining, even when Grimmjow did nothing that others would find amusing. His comebacks, that feisty attitude, and those scalding eyes that made Ichigo squirm when the heat of those eyes intensified. Ichigo licked his lips. The only downside was that the latter was impotent, which was pointless when he was a walking sex god and Ichigo was a round the clock horny masochist. The only thing Ichigo could probably use him for is eye candy and that's it. And Ichigo doesn't want Grimmjow as 'just an eye candy'. He wants him as someone to fuck him good.

It's a shame. Ichigo sighed as he stared at the back of Grimmjow's head. He looked like someone who would be able to fuck me open.

“Yo.” Grimmjow called back at the orange-head. He's glance back at Ichigo and he's obviously caustic about something. “Your staring is bothering me.”

Ichigo smiled. “You don't like my staring?”

“You've been doing so for the whole 20 minutes of the ride.” Grimmjow clicks his tongue.

“Sorry.” Ichigo chuckled. “I still can't get over what had happened.”

“It's not that big of a deal.” Grimmjow grumbled.

Ichigo arched a brow, wondering if this often happens to Grimmjow, but he shrugs the idea off.

“By the way.” Ichigo hums. “Don't tell Shinji that I blowed you.”

“Got it.” Grimmjow nodded simply.

You better. Don't want another ridiculous nickname circling around out there. Just then his cell phone rung. He checked the caller ID and growled. Damn it.

“I'm not in a good mood Old-Man.” Ichigo snapped as he answered the phone.

There's a click of a tongue over the line before an aging voice replied to him. “That's no way to speak to your superiors, Ichigo-kun.”

“Fine. What do you want, Zangetsu?”

Zangetsu gives a dejected sigh before talking again. “I'll just have to accept that then.” And he continues. “Lets go drinking.”

“No.” Ichigo rejects.

“Why not?” Zangetsu huffs angrily.

“Because unlike you, I'm busy. And I'm just coming back to the workplace from a 20 minute drive after finishing some errands.” Ichigo explained and noted that Grimmjow was already finding a parking space.

“What kind?” Zangetsu asked.

Ichigo was unsure to why he was asking this question, but he answers anyway. “Just the usual. Someone was way past the due date of their loans, so we roughened him up a bit. Had to show the newbie how to not kill him in the process too. He seems a bit impatient and very straightforward.”

“Ah, a newbie. I heard about him.”

Ichigo exited the car and furrowed his eyebrows at what he said. “How so?”

“From your subordinates.” Damn it, Renji. His fines are piling up.

“And how did you get them to tell you? You have no way of contacting them.”

As Grimmjow opened the building's front door, Zangetsu gave a sinister but almost comical chuckle, making Ichigo scowl in annoyance. “Oh Ichigo-kun. How could you be so narrow-minded?”

Zangetsu's voice clearer and louder now. Ichigo immediately hung up the phone and glared in the direction of the raspy, aged laughter.

“Damn it Old-Man.” Ichigo snarled at the man who was lounging at the front desk.

Zangetsu sighs raggedly and ruffled his shaggy, shoulder-length black hair. “You must work on greeting your superiors Ichigo, it'll become a bad habit if you continue.”

“What are you doing here, Zangetsu? I'm busy today and I have better things to do than take up on your drinking offer.” Ichigo's scowl deepened.

“I just want to have a drink.” He says. “Look, drinks will be on me and you can get all the liquor you want.”

“Deal.” Ichigo agreed, already heading towards the exit.

“Say,” Zangetsu drawls “where's that bodyguard of yours?”

“That's me.” Grimmjow grunts.

“Eh?” Zangetsu looks at Grimmjow with more of disappointment than skepticism. “Him?”

“Yeah.” Ichigo confirms.

“Fire him.” Zangetsu ordered.

Ichigo furrowed his brows and looked back at Zangetsu as he exited the building. “Now why the hell should I do that?” I hate being ordered around.

“He's your type, right? And the only reason why you're keeping him as your bodyguard is because you think he's 'handy' to keep around, right?” Zangetsu visibly bristled. “This sure as hell won't end right. Fire him.” He began shooing Grimmjow nonchalantly.

Grimmjow ignored him and turned his head away to grumble some words that are most likely offensive if Zangetsu had heard him. Ichigo smiled at Grimmjow, who missed Ichigo's expression but Zangetsu caught, earning him an eye roll from the elder. He could already see that this was going to be a long night, one that even some good sake can't shorten.

Ichigo gazed at Grimmjow as he sat at a different table with the other subordinates like Renji and Hisagi. His mind was already buzzed from the second bottle of sake, and Ichigo had switched to beer after finishing his last cup. Ichigo's subordinates were chatting with Zangetsu's, but he noticed that Grimmjow rarely ever said anything, and when he did, it was a cheeky and rude reply. Ichigo giggled, partially from the liquor. As he stared at Grimmjow, who was eating and sipping on his small cup of sake, he ignored Zangetsu's complaints about his obvious 'affections' for Grimmjow and how he shouldn't down so much alcohol so soon. Ichigo paid no mind to Zangetsu's warnings since he could hold his liquor quiet well.

“How's Gramps?” Ichigo asked to get him off of his case.

“Doing well so far.” He answers as he inhales and exhales the smoke of his cigarette. “ I mean, that's what he's telling us.”

“Still as ill as the rumors say?” Ichigo asked.

Zangetsu nods. “Things are becoming chaotic because of this though. Yamamoto-sama's sickness is causing an uproar of rumors, betrayals, schemes, and fear among us.”

Ichigo rolled his eyes. “For fuck's sake, it's just pneumonia.”

“Yeah, but at his age, things like pneumonia kill, Ichigo-kun.”

“Pfft,” Ichigo laughs at Zangetsu “as if that ever stopped Gramps?”

He remembered when Yamamoto caught the severe case of winter influenza. Everyone among the Soul Society branch of the yakuza went ballistic even though he recovered vitally after two weeks.

“Yes, but even if Yamamoto-sama survives his illness again, that doesn't stop the current issue that we'll be facing soon. Remember last time?”

“Yeah, turf wars everywhere.” But Ichigo shrugged. Such trivial things never mattered to Ichigo because he was never affected since no one was after his rank, but the boss's. “ Everything went good for me.”

“That's because I was there to protect.” Oh gawd, I know where this is going. “Be mine again.”

“No.” Ichigo puts out the second Zangetsu finished saying his request. “Why the hell do you have to ask like that Old-Man? You have any idea how stupid you sound? How ridiculously you put out the request?”

Zangetsu gives him a bitter look. “I see no problem.”

Ichigo snorts and sarcasticly says, “We're lovers.” He quoted, adding a gesture of quotation marks. “Back then, you said that to protect me from the other members. It was a bit okay considering one, we were never actually lovers, and two, you were in your late thirties and didn't look like a well-dress bum. Now, this is just beyond disturbing.”

“I'm not so old.” Zangetsu fend for himself.

“You're like 45 now, Old-Man.” Ichigo sneers. “I refuse to be labeled 'the lover of Old-Man Zangetsu-sama' and be thought of as a lecherous gold-digger again.” Even though it was possible that others were still thinking that with his current 'relationship' with Aizen. If he could call it somewhat one.

Zangetsu's pale blue eyes hardened. “Ichigo.” He starts.

Noting the lack of honorifics, he knew that Ichigo went too far and has said too much. Ichigo groans and palms his face a bit clumsily.

“I apologize, Zangetsu...sama.” He felt weird adding the honorific to Zangetsu's name. “I'm just mad about a new nickname that I've discovered today.”

Zangetsu relaxed. “Nickname?”

“The sperm dump of the yakuza bosses.” Ichigo then chugs his third bottle of beer.

There's a stretched pause before someone speaks again. “Shall I kill this man?” Zangetsu offers. “Or woman?”

Ichigo grunts and shakes his head. “No, I already handled it.”

“Do you think that if I hadn't taken you under my wing like that, these rumors wouldn't exist today?” Zangetsu asked as he extinguish his cigarette.

Ichigo shrugged. “I don't know. But I do appreciate for what you've done for me. If you hadn't, I probably would've been gang raped to death.”

“So you'll think about my offer?”

Ichigo sighed. “Sorry, it's still a no.”

“If you follow me though, I'll take care of everything. Your business, your workers, even that bodyguard...even if I don't approve of him.”

Ichigo respected Tensa Zangetsu greatly. Many times, the man had saved and protected him. But he couldn't even get himself to take Zangetsu's offer. Ichigo looked back at the table where the subordinates sat and found his own eyes captured by Grimmjow's smoldering sapphire ones. Ichigo swallowed and hesitantly looked away. Ichigo started to wonder what would it be like if he did left his money managing 'business' to follow Zangetsu again. He'd have to leave all this. All that he had and what he had worked for. Surely, Zangetsu would make drastic changes even with Ichigo's refusals. Even though Zangetsu helped him to gain his rank and position, it was hard to think if he could start over again. He also didn't want to loose his independence.

“Sorry Old-Man.” As he took another chug of his drink, the world took an peculiar spin, the words slurring from his mouth in an odd manner. “No is a no-no.” He giggled, and his body wavered slightly before collapsing.

Review! Please! Por favor! S'il vous plaît!Tanpri! Uhh...that's all the languages I know... (ΘεΘ;)