#grimmich

Warm light spilled from a window of Ichigo’s captain quarters. Grimmjow dropped down from the roof, into the small garden, and slid open the door.

“I’m home.”

“Hey, Grimmjow.”

Ichigo was in bed already, a book in his hands, a lamp by his side. Grimmjow took off his shoes and closed the door behind him, before heading to their wardrobe and stripping down.

“How was Hueco Mundo?”

“Eh. The same. Harribel manages fine.” Grimmjow pulled on his usual loose sweats and T-shirt and approached the wide futon they shared. Ichigo had put his book down and stretched back as Grimmjow lay down beside him, arms folded under his head.

“Hueco Mundo’s pretty constant huh,” Ichigo remarked.

“Yeah.” Same sand, same sky, same as it should be. “How were things here?”

Ichigo shrugged. “Met the new guys. Rina got them settled. I had a meeting with Kyoraku, though.”

“Oh?”

“Mm.” They settled themselves into a relaxed embrace, like they had a million times before, but Ichigo seemed suddenly nervous and Grimmjow could felt his heartbeat quicken.

Ah, shit, this was it wasn’t it?

“Things have been the same for a while,” Ichigo continued, “and that’s not a bad thing. It’s about time we had peace. But it is kinda boring.” He wasn’t looking at Grimmjow. He looked happy, but the steady gaze he levelled at the ceiling was a little too intense.

Grimmjow opened his mouth, but stopped. How was he supposed to tell him? How was he supposed to deal?

“So I was thinking we could shake things up.”

Ichigo turned his head of that their eyes could meet, light pink dusting his cheeks. He looked soft, open, in a way that made Grimmjow’s heart thud in his throat. He was about to ruin that look. He wanted to savour it.

“Will you marry me?”

It was so completely not what Grimmjow was expecting that for a long moment he could only stare, all of his pre-prepared refusals absolutely useless as worry began to crack the look of gentle hope on Ichigo’s face.

“Yeah,” Grimmjow managed eventually. “Yeah, sure, why not?”

“Really?” Ichigo pushed himself up on his elbow, leaning over Grimmjow with one hand on his chest. “You will?”

“I said yes didn’t I?” said Grimmjow.

Ichigo tackled him with kisses.

When he eventually pulled back they were both breathless.

“Thank you,” Ichigo gasped. “Thank you so much, I thought… There’s no reason why you’d say no but–”

Grimmjow sat up and pulled him into a hug. Ichigo clung to him, trembling ever so slightly. He didn’t often get like this, so completely overwhelmed with emotion, but whenever he did it always left an odd tangle of feelings in the general vicinity of Grimmjow’s hollow hole. This level of trust was so rare, and not just between Hollows.

It didn’t take long for Ichigo to pull back, eyes shining with happiness. They kissed, long and deep, savouring it.

“So, what does marriage involve anyway?” Grimmjow asked, as casually as he could.

Ichigo paused mid-smile, faltering.

“Ah… You don’t…? You get what you signed up for, right?”

“I know some of it,” Grimmjow said defensively. Several of Ichigo’s friends had got hitched while he’d been in the human world. “There’s a ceremony and a party and they have rocking sex.” Hell, he’d been to the parties. “But no one’s ever told me what else goes on.” And truthfully he’d never bothered to ask.

Ichigo looked towards the ceiling, head tilted. “It’s kind of like a contract,” he began. Then he stopped, and shook his head. “No, that doesn’t sound right. It’s… Ok it is partly an agreement, to stay together and not have any other partners.”

“We already do that,” Grimmjow pointed out.

“Yeah, we’re already mostly there,” said Ichigo. “But it’s also like… a symbol. It shows how much two people mean to each other, that they’ll be together for life because… because they love each other.”

Ichigo dipped his head as his cheeks darkened further. Grimmjow leaned forward and pressed a kiss into his hair.

“I’ll do that with you,” he murmured. “I’ll stay with you. Forever.”

“You sap,” Ichigo mumbled, looking up shyly through his bangs. “It’s also a final ‘fuck you’ to everyone who said we couldn’t make it work.”

Grimmjow laughed at that. “Well, obvious we gotta do it,” he grinned. “When do we start?”

“There are some legal loopholes to get through,” said Ichigo, sitting up straight and taking Grimmjow’s hand, lacing their fingers together. “There have only been a few same-gender partnerships in the Seireitei. And none of them have been between anyone as weird as us… But I asked around. We can make it work.”

“We will make it work,” said Grimmjow. Huh. Marriage. They’d be, what, husbands? That’d be weird. Grimmjow had got very used to calling Ichigo his ‘partner’, a nicely all-encapsulating term. Ally, friend, fuck buddie, life partner. Would husbands be different?

Should they be different?

“I’m not even slightly tired now,” Ichigo said, flopping onto his back and gazing blissfully at the ceiling. “Ah, shit, I’ve got so much to do tomorrow. I still need to break in the new guys. Plus there’s wedding stuff to sort out. Do you wanna do rings? I wanna do rings.”

“Can I help?” Grimmjow purred, reaching under the covers to run a hand along Ichigo’s inner thigh. They could tire each other out, no problem.

“The new recruits will want to see you,” said Ichigo, oblivious. “And some of them will want to fight you, do not land any in the Fourth this time.”

Grimmjow rolled his eyes and pulled his hand away. “I know, I know.”

“And you can help with the paperwork.”

“Pass.”

“Yeah, thought so… Otherwise, we need to discuss some stuff some more… Like whether we’ll want a ceremony, what the reception will be like, who we want to invite… When to get married, of course.”

“As soon as possible,” said Grimmjow.

Ichigo looked at him, eyes shining. “You’re sure?” he asked softly.

Patreons from all sides of town enjoyed the cafe and it was quite popular. From a small store front to a decently sized cafe they also added some helping hands. The waitresses; Soifon, Rukia Kuchiki, and Orihime Inoue were the talk of the town. Soi fon, a stern woman with short black hair and narrowed eyes that accentuated her womanly charm, was the head barista and another she devil. She and Yoruichi had been friends for the longest time, and it was no wonder the woman was remarkably similar to the huntress. Rukia was introduced by her friend, and had only been working a short while to avoid her brother who happened to be a friend of Kisuke’s. She was a tiny devil as well, second lead next to Soi and was a stickler for rules, but as soon as a customer arrived it was like she was the sweetest person in the room.

Which leaves Orihime Inoue. Despite the three she devils operating as the cafe’s barista’s, Orihime was an actual gem. She could do no wrong despite being as clumsy as she was, her smile warmed up the room even on the stormiest days. It was no wonder that so many of their patrons came just to see her. Fuck, he didn’t blame them. Orihime worked as a server alongside the males of the cafe.

Kisuke was the lead man and agreed with his wife that women should operate the drinks. This was because he said women were more observant and had better judgment on how to make a drink. Truth be told, he was talking out of his ass to pelase Yoruichi, and the main reason was due to his male staff being unable to truly grasp the delicacy of brewing the perfect beverage for their guests.

The second hand waiter was a man known as Abarai, though the people closest to him called him by his given name Renji. He was tall, one of the tallest there if it wasn’t for Chad. He had striking red hair and tattoos that often gave new customers a scare. But the ones that kept returning knew that Renji had one of the most welcoming smiles in the house, he was also the one mostly in charge of opening the store to greet everyone.

Next up as mentioned before was Yasutora Sado, or Chad to make it easier on everyone. He was well over 6 foot tall and could probably break a watermelon with his hands, but he was quiet and was found mostly helping with stocking or making new things that Yoruichi felt needed to be added to the cafe. He hardly spoke to anyone around him, but with his deep voice and well manners, he brought in nearly as many females as Renji did.

Which left himself. Ichigo Kurosaki, head waiter and head barista next to Soi. He had been the first to be hired by Kisuke. Kisuke was an interesting man. He was average in height but intelligent beyond comprehension despite his unruly appearance. He went to college with his father Isshin, studying medicine before realizing that all he wanted was a quiet life working a cafe. His short unruly pale blonde hair was oftentimes covered by a green and white hat that matched his green kimono. He wore clogs that alerted all of those around him that he was watching. Ichigo liked him, and he had offered to help the moment his godfather had asked him to.

Ichigo was in college, working hard at his medical degree and needed the extra funds. In return for working for his godfather he was allowed to stay after hours to get his school work done. Which is what he was doing now. It was Saturday morning and he didn’t need to clock in until lunch time. He found it was easier to concentrate at the back window that let just enough sunshine in, and kept others far away enough for him to concentrate on his work. The smell of coffee, tea, and pastries settled his nerves due to his mother's love of cooking. He found a sweet embrace in that smell and atmosphere and was most productive around it.

He watched as Rukia and Renji got into another heated argument about which coffee beans to use in this week’s menu and sighed, knowing that it had already been decided and they were just finding an excuse to bicker. He used to think that they had a crush on one another, but was sorely mistaken when his best friend was caught making out with her brother. Ichigo wasn’t sure when Renji had played for that team, perhaps forever, but it explained why he could never seen Rukia and him working out. They were brother and sister through and through and Renji loved her like one and she him. “Oi, dumbasses.” Ichigo called over.

Two flushed faces turned to look at him as they huffed from their heated argument. “What?!” they said simultaneously.

“Kisuke threw out the Arabica because they weren’t producing the right strength. He needs to change vendors, so we are using robusta this week until it’s sorted out. Didn’t you read the whiteboard in the break room?”

Renji harrumphed and turned away from Rukia who was smiling like a Cheshire cat. “I told you that we were using robusta! Read the damn whiteboard. Did you even see that your time off request to go on that personal vacation with my brother was approved?”

The tall red head looked to the smaller female who barely reached his chest. “R-really? Who was able to take my shifts?”

Rukia blushed and turned away, causing Ichigo to chuckle. “Despite Rukia picking on you all the time she loves you. She’s is picking up half of your shifts and Orihime asked for more hours so, she grabbed the rest.”

Ichigo could see the drastic change in their relationship flip like a damn coin. While they may fight and bicker they also had times where they were sickeningly sweet to one another. He watched as Renji dove to give the petite woman a hug who was too busy blushing and feeling embarrassed to reciprocate. He smirked, taking a drink of his tea before getting back to his books. He had another hour and a half before his shift began and wanted to knock out as much as possible.

The soft lullaby tunes in the background changed their beat as the day drew to midday and soft coffeehouse tunes with acoustic versions played into the space. Renji was in a much happier mood and made all the ladies swoon as Rukia did her best at serving the customers their ideal drinks.

Pantera cafe was unique when it came to other coffee shops. The menu changed weekly based on Yoruichi’s tastes. She took into account the weather and things going on at the time such as the seasons, festivals, and political murmurs that were happening. At the end of her Sunday’s she was able to make a list of coffees and teas that were fitting for each and every day.

Due to the ever changing menu, Pantera also allowed for patrons to request their own drink with a small ticket that listed out the options available. From there the baristas would make the drink for a little more. Some people didn’t care that their specialized drinks cost them more because without fail they made them perfectly, and if not, it was on the house. Yoruichi and Kisuke took pride in their business operations and the variety kept people coming back while also not overcrowding the cafe. Ichigo figured after another few years they would need to open up another store on the east side of the city. So far their newest location on the south end was booming, and Kisuke was over there today to make sure it was still going well.

Ichigo stretched his arms above him head as he wrapped up his paper and hit submit on his computer screen. Closing his macbook he put everything in his bag and made his way to the back. “I’ll see you two in about 5 minutes, going to change.”

“Gotcha boss.” Renji called out to him.

He put all his stuff in his locker and groaned, pulling the fitted black graphic tee over his toned body before pulling the black button down shirt on and tying the brown apron around his waist, finishing his ensemble with his name tag in the top right corner. He liked the simple black outfit that Kisuke designed for them to wear. It was modern and form fitting so that everyone looked good in it. He pulled a few new notepads from the box and two new pens, putting them in his apron pocket before heading back outside. Rukia seemed a little behind on orders and Renji was holding his own, so he washed his hands and asked the next customer to come by for their order.

It was about an hour into his shift when he was out on the floor taking orders to their tables when a particularly interesting man strolled in. The chime from the bell had alerted them to the new customer and they all called out a soft ‘welcome’. The man responded with a deep and tired ‘afternoon’. Ichigo looked to the ladies who had bright smiles on their faces over their weekly special, Eiskaffee, a german drink Yoruichi had found that used iced coffee and vanilla ice cream. So far the treat was their number one for the week.

Once he had finished at their table he looked back at the man who had walked in and was currently waiting in line. His bright blue hair was the first thing Ichigo noticed, wondering what kind of money the man spent to achieve that kind of dye. He knew Yoruichi’s deep purple hair wasn’t boxed and he wondered if the man spent nearly as much as she did to achieve that vibrancy. He was actually a rather good looking male. Strong, tall, lean build, narrow hips, and a killer jawline. He wondered if the man realized the amount of stares from both female and male customers he was receiving.

Renji looked a little pissed that his spotlight had been stolen by someone other than Kisuke or Chad but nevertheless, ignored him. He sent Ichigo a look that could be interpreted as “who the hell is that?” Ichigo shrugged and continued his rounds. Somehow, when he heard the most ridiculous order in his life he knew it was that man. Just something about him screamed trouble from the moment he walked in, and no it wasn’t because of the tribal tattoos, loose grey tank and ripped jeans. It was how he walked in, striding in like a lazy predator that on any other day or time of day could rip you to shreds, he literally oozed danger in his very stance.

“One black coffee, with seven shots of espresso. No milk, no sugar, and is it possible to make it the strongest beans ya have on hand? I heard this place took custom orders for a slightly higher price and no one has been able to make it right.”

Rukia looked to the man and was gaping like a fish out of water. “You want how many shots? Seven?”

“Yeh, seven. Is that too much? Do ya need me to pay more for each shot?”

Ichigo had heard enough and was easily walking back behind the counter. He watched as Rukia gave him a bewildered look and smiled. “I’ll make it, we usually don’t like to take drink requests that are too out there or else people would be taking advantage of our on the house rule. It's a privilege and we don’t like to see it ruined for the rest. Would it be okay that you pay for it and if you don’t like it I’ll pay for it myself?” Ichigo offered.

He shivered as the deepest blue eyes he had ever seen in his life zeroed in on him. “Hmmm, sounds good ta me. Even if ya can’t make it I wouldn’t let ya pay for it. I realize what I’m askin’ is kinda crazy.”

Ichigo smirked watching as the tall blunet sat on the other side of the bar and watch Ichigo gather the needed ingredients. He was focused on his task, despite knowing the blunet was watching his every move. He took a mug off from the shelf and turned on the machine, grinding the beans himself as he prepared the espresso shots. The male seemed impressed with how he was moving and hummed in approval when Ichigo began to mix the ingredients together, the space between them filled with the thick scent of coffee beans.

“You really know what yer doin huh kid?”

“I’m 24 and no kid, but yes, I know what I’m doing. I’ve been working here for four years and my mother loves making new coffees and teas at home. Been around the craft pretty much my entire life.”

“Ever heard of a request like mine then?”

Ichigo quirked a brow, “don’t take this the wrong way, but only from teenagers coming in on a dare. Sometimes we let them make something super crazy if they buy enough.”

The man huffed, not finding any offense and continued to watch. Ichigo knew that this was a crazy order but he wondered if the guy really knew what he wanted. Nevertheless the customer was always right and he wouldn’t mess with it, even though his hands twitched to make the man something more fitting. Handing the coffee over he watched the male take a sip and hum deeply. “Damn, it’s strong enough but-”

“It’s not enjoyable.” Ichigo finished for him.

The male smirked, “coffee isn’t always supposed to be enjoyed. I need something to wake me up and I like getting a kick out of it. Trying to stop smoking and shit but I need something else ya know?”

Ichigo laughed. “So you turned to a caffeine addiction instead? I can admit at least it’s the less deadly option.”

“Psh, my sister recommended it. She’s a fuckin energizer bunny that one.” the man finished the coffee in one gulp and Ichigo paled at the thought of all that caffeine hitting the man. “While it wasn’t enjoyable as you said it’s gonna do the trick. I liked it enough to come back, that espresso ya make is delicious.”

The man looked down at his name tag and smiled. “Thanks Berry for the pick me up.”

“Berry?” Ichigo said in surprise, “My name is-”

“I know. Ichigo, which is strawberry right? So yer Berry.”

“Thats-”

“What I’ll be callin ya from now on, Berry…” the man interrupted again.

Ichigo huffed and looked at the cocky male on the other side of the bar. “Okay then stranger. Do I get to know the name of the crazy son of a bitch who just drank seven shots of espresso like it was a glass of milk?”

“Grimmjow, Grimmjow JaegerJaquez.”

“German?”

Grimmjow smiled so wide that Ichigo wondered if the row of perfectly white teeth ever stopped. “German and French. I’ll be back Berry!”

Somehow, Ichigo knew that would be the case. 

Renji watched as Grimmjow literally swaggered out of the cafe before turning to the ginger male. “I have a feeling you’ve picked yourself up a stray.”

Rukia snickered into her palm, “I don’t see Ichigo complaining. Honestly, I didn’t think you swung for that kind of guy. Couldn’t fool anyone with the way you were eating him up when he wasn’t looking.”

Ichigo blushed hotly as his two friends laughed at his expense. So what if he was checking out the new customer and happened to appreciate what he saw? He wasn’t going to deny that Grimmjow was one of the finest men to walk into this cafe in the four years he worked here.

He was determined that the next time Grimmjow entered this establishment,                                he’d make him the best damn coffee of his life.

WoW! This has been a long time coming. Going to try and post to Tumblr first then AO3~ (AO3 requires more editing than I have time for right now.) HUGE!~ Shoutout to @technoplague for being my Beta yet again for another story of mine! I hope you guys enjoy the ride as much as we have