Love At First Word

Chapter 17

~ Grimmjow ~

"Help me down, hmm?" Ichigo asked, holding his hand out to me.
I took his drink from him and helped him down with my free hand, frowning at him.

"I don't like you sitting on railings like that. You could've fallen into the water."

"I know. But I didn't! Now what'd she say to you? Nothing to bad, yeah?" Ichigo reached for his drink, and I held back a laugh when his hand went past it.

"I think your lack of depth perception when you have no information is hilarious. But, no. Nothing bad at all, except for calling me a few names." I told him, handing the drink back to him.

"Shut up, you oaf." Ichigo grumbled, sipping angrily from his lemonade.
"Anyways, can we get in the water soon?"

"Anytime, shorty."

"Go get in the water real fast. I'll be down in a second." He pushed me off towards the water and grabbed his aunt. They disappeared into the crowd and I shrugged to myself, toeing off my flip flops.

Eagerly, I plunged in, grinning when I came back up to see a few kids giggling.
Just as I was about to ask them if I got them wet, Ichigo's voice took my attention.
"Grimm!" he yelled, waving down at me from the higher deck. I then realized there was no railing at the edge of it and that he was probably going to jump. It was maybe twenty feet, nothing too dangerous, and stuck out far enough to keep people from hitting the boat motors underneath.

"You're not gonna-"

"Yes I am!"
Before I could properly respond, he back up a bit, launched forward, and jumped, tucking his knees into his chest.
I panicked, kicking forward when he came back up.

"Scare you, blue?" Ichigo asked smugly, but all the while his hands tightened on my arms,
His hair was in front of his eyes, sopping wet, and his grin was wide.

"Goddamnit, Ichigo." I growl, pushing his bangs haphazardly out of his eyes. "You'll be the death of me."

~ Ichigo ~

I couldn't see so much as I felt Grimmjow's lips inches away from where he held me close as he dragged me away, the both of us treading water well away from the others.
I could feel his breath puffing against my lips in different rhythms as he complained about me giving him a heart attack and not thinking about how he feels about me being careless.
I could feel the urge to kiss him rip through my chest, but I shoved it away, knowing he wouldn't appreciate that. He was purely there because of our assignment, and what I supposed was obligation, considering he didn't trust me with myself for more than two minutes. I knew we were friends, but I supposed he'd built a deeper bond with me because he knew how to act, what with my blindness and all.

"I wanna go back to the deck, Grimmjow." I told him, letting go if his arms and pulling away from him. I started swimming away from him, towards the voices.

"Ichigo? What'd I do wrong-" I vaguely heard him call, my head swimming.

Did I really think I'd snag him for myself? ... No. I just hoped.

When I came in contact with a body, I heard Kenpachi rumble something from above me, but he was exactly the person I needed right then because where were all these emotions coming from?

I let the tears drip down my face and silently chastised myself at how much of a crybaby I'd been since meeting Grimmjow as I sobbed into my surrogate father's chest.
"Ken? What wrong?"
Kisuke's voice sounded from beside me and I felt Kenpachi shrug helplessly.

"Ichi...c'mere, buddy."
It was the one time I was going to let Kisuke treat me like the child he wanted to.
I floated over to him and he tugged me back to the shallows where there were lazily sloped stairs for the more elderly.
I let him guide me up with an arm around my shoulder, quietly letting me cry for reasons I couldn't grasp for the life of me.

~ Kenpachi ~

After watching my husband pull Ichigo away, I turned furiously to Jeagerjaques, who met my gaze with fright.

"What did you say to him?" I hissed, kicking over to him quickly.

"I-I don't know. I just told him he scares me when he does the whole 'no-warning-I'm-jumping-now' act and I've got no idea if he knows where the edge is and if he's gonna slip and then he just-"
Jeagerjaques brought his hands up to wave them around uselessly, trying to make a point.

"I'm gonna believe you for now, but don't let me hear you're messing around with him, boy. I'll not hesitate to tear you apart." I threatened.
Surprisingly, he looked at me exasperatedly.

"Get in line then, sir. Seems most of the people around here feel the same way. Especially that one chick...Yoruichi?"

I rumbled a laugh and Hrimmjow grinned weakly.
"Yeah, taught her well, huh? Anyways, kid. I ain't gonna bite your head off. You don't gotta be worried about me unless you mistreat Ichi. Ya do that, and this family will find a way to resurrect you just so we can all have a go at killing you."
Leaving him with that information, I swam away, back towards the ladder so that I could find my kid and husband.

____________

Too weird?

I mean, there is a reason Ichigo is being a crybaby. It was on purpose.
For burrito's sake, he's blind, insecure about it, and didn't have a good relationship with his immediate family.
You guys would be closed off and different around people you trust rather than people you don't trust, too, yeah?
Anyways, love you guys!
Hopefully now that it's summer I can update faster!