This is my very first story here in Fanfiction. Hope you guys liked it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of its characters

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"Catch me if you can, Grimm-kitty!" laughed Ichigo as she ran around the playground.

"Just you wait, Berry!" Grimmjow grinned as he ran towards the eight year old orangette.

They first met when they were six year old. They went to the same kindergarten. They became friends, though it's not as easy as it sounds. Their first encounter resulting in a fist-fight which ended up leaving a bruise mark on their face.

FLASHBACK

"Hey you, what's your name?" muttered Grimmjow, as he saw a girl with bright orange hair sitting at the corner of the class. He decided to ask her since apparently no one wants to play with her.

"What do you want?" snapped Ichigo defensively, eyeing at blue-haired boy in front of him sceptically. Everyone in the classroom had been mean to her, teasing her orange hair, calling it weird and abnormal.

"Hey hey I just wanted to know your name. That's all. Here I'm Grimmjow"

Ichigo just stared at him, inwardly hoping that this boy would be different. "Ichigo." She said.

Grimmjow just stared at her before bursting into a laughter. "You were named after a fruit? Seriously?" He keep laughing while pointing his finger towards her. Everyone in the classroom stared at the two, before they too, joined the blunette's laughter.

The girl buried her head, pulling her legs towards her chest. 'Just the same' she thought, mentally sobbing. She gathered the courage and screamed "STAY AWAY FROM ME!"

"Huh wait, I'm just-" before he could even finish he felt a fist connected with his jaw, sending him backwards.

He cringed in pain 'She punched me, how dare she. Nobody punched Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez without getting away unharmed' He stood up and lunged towards her.

A mini war erupted between the two.

Grimmjow came home with a bruise on his cheeks. 'Who does she think she is?' he scowled, grimacing at the pain on his cheeks. He never saw such fire in a girl before. The girl was so going to suffer for the next few years. He smirked, evil glinting in his eyes. 'Little berry need some lesson it seems. No one mess with the panther king Grimmjow' he smiled maliciously, mind full of pranks and evil things.

At the same time, Ichigo was having the same pain. She rubbed her cheeks soothingly, a scowl on her face. 'They were all just the same. No one was good here. I hate everyone. He has blue hair but why does everyone treats him equally? Girls was practically swooning at him and guys respect him, like he is some kind of leader or something' She frowned. The blunette will pay for this. I'm going to make his life a living hell. Just you wait Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, her eyes full of determination.

Little did they know, their life was getting better and better.

XXXX

After that, they continued to bicker with each other every time they got the chance.

"Shut up you little cat!" snarled Ichigo

"Aww the strawberry is on fire" cooed Grimmjow, a few boys laughing along with him.

"Why you..." Ichigo growled, quickly pounced on Grimmjow, causing both of them to lie on the floor. Ichigo straddled his waist and pull at his blue hair. Grimmjow did the same, both of them pulled tightly at each other's hair.

Mrs Retsu saw the fight and quickly pulled them apart, scolding them in a soft tone "now now children, what's with all this fighting?"

"He calls me strawberry" said Ichigo, eyes burned with raging fire.

"He calls me little cat!" Grimmjow fought back, glaring at the orangette.

Mrs Retsu huffed, before she said "Okay that's enough. I don't care who says who. I want both of you to say sorry to each other" after a long silence, she continued "you don't want me to call your parents don't you?" her face filled with malice. The two gulped at sight, before glaring back at each other.

"I'm sorry" said Ichigo, nonchalantly.

"Sorry too" Grimmjow shrugged.

The fight continues...

XXXX

It was another day at kindergarten. Ichigo was getting sick day by day. The blunette never stop making her suffer. One day he stuffed frogs in her lunch and the next day he throws eggs at her. So here she was, sitting at her chair, holding her tears back. Her dress was covered with egg shells and yolks. She will not cry, definitely not in front of the blue haired bastard. She stiffened when she feels someone pats her shoulder. She turned to see two people staring at her with concern. The girl has orange hair and grey eyes. She wear a blue floral clips on each side of her head, securing her hair neatly. The next one was a girl too, with black raven hair and dark blue eyes. She has one thick strands of hair falling between her eyes.

"Hi there. You're kurosaki-chan right?" the orange haired girl said.

Ichigo just nodded, still defensive about letting other people touch her.

The raven haired girl saw her stiffened. She said "It's okay, Kurosaki-chan we're not here to tease you. In fact, we wanted to be your friends!" the other girl nodded.

Ichigo's eyes widened. Friends? No one wanted to be friends with her before. Her heart was as cold as ice. But when these two girls said about being her friends, her heart warm and joy filled her insides.

"Really? You're not lying are you?" Ichigo said, still hesitant.

"Why would we lie to you? Of course we wanted to be your friends! I'm Rukia Kuchiki by the way, and this pretty girl beside me is Orihime Inoue. You can call us Rukia and Orihime since we'll be best friends from now on, Ichigo!" both of them smiled.

In return, Ichigo smiled at them. For the first time since ever, she felt truly happy. Mom and dad was definitely going to be happy when they hear this.

After that, they indeed became best friends. They protect Ichigo with all they can from Grimmjow's evil plan.

Sometimes, they both get dragged with the torture. One day, they were both going home, when suddenly Grimmjow appeared out of nowhere with his gang and threw a few sacks of flour at them, creating a temporary snow in Karakura Town.

"Hahaha just look at their faces!" Nnoitra, one of Grimmjow's bad gangs, laughed. He was joined by the others.

"You better get going now, Berry. Before the snow plough tractor came and scoop you all up!" Grimmjow laughed.

"You'll pay for this, Jaegerjaquez!" Ichigo said angrily, her hands are shaking to throw a punch at the blunette's face. Just when she was about to lunged at him, Orihime and Rukia pulled her back.

"Let's go Ichigo. He's not worth our attention." Rukia said, eyes filled with fury due to getting herself dirtied with flour. Her brother is definitely going to be angry at her.

Orihime just stayed silent but her eyes do show a sense of hatred towards the blunette.

"What did you just say huh, midget?" Grimmjow growled, hate for being called 'not worth it' by these brats, ignoring the fact that he too, was a brat.

"Let's go guys" Ichigo huffed. They turned and walked away from the mischievous boys.

"Just remember! I'm not done with you yet!" he yelled. He sprinted off, followed by his gang.

On the way home, all covered in flour, Ichigo was the first to said "I'm sorry guys, for getting you involved in this..." her face shows regret.

"Oh no you don't, Ichigo!" Orihime said, trying to sound tough. "You know that's what friends are for right?"

"She's right Ichigo. Don't apologize. We already knew from the day we became friends that we're going to be involved. So don't blame yourself for this. You're strong Ichigo. That's why we wanted to become your friends. We know you have a good heart." Rukia added.

"Thanks guys, I couldn't thank you enough" said Ichigo, feeling happy that she got friends to be there for her. She couldn't help but smiled at Rukia's words 'You're strong Ichigo' she repeated those words in her mind like a chant.

She closed her eyes and silently prayed 'Dear God, thank you very much for giving me such great friends to help me make it through the rain'

With that, they walked home, hands joined together, ignoring the looks they got from people who pass by.

2 YEARS LATER

"Goodbye guys!" Ichigo said to her friends. She ride her bicycle and was ready to go home.

"Take care Ichigo. See you tomorrow at school!" her two best friends, Orihime and Rukia, said in unison. They were joined by three other boys, Chad, Ishida, and Renji. In the span two years, they were the first three boys who became Ichigo's friends.

She met Chad when she was on the verge of getting bullied by a group of boys (not Grimmjow). She was ready to fight when all of a sudden a boy with brown hair step in. They both fought together, and after that, they became friends.

Ishida on the other hand, was a different situation. She get to know him when the two of them was striving for the top spot in class during final exam last year. When she beat him and claimed the number one spot, he reluctantly came to her and introduced himself. She was dumbfounded of course, but then she accepts him and they both get along quite well. Sometimes he annoyed Ichigo to the very end for carrying books everywhere they goes. Even when they're having lunch! He did managed to claimed his reign as The Genius during the last exam. Ichigo was fine with it. She couldn't care less about being in number one as long as her grades are good. She could see the pride swelling in his eyes when he was announced as the top scorer in their class, beating Ichigo by only 0.5%.

The red head, Renji on the other hand, was a new student who came a few months ago. He had been of course, by boys especially, due to her hair being red. Later, those who tease him was found having bruises littered on their bodies. Renji was known for being a good fighter, he was in the same karate class with Ichigo, together with another girl named Tatsuki Arisawa, the only fighter who can go head to toe with the two of them. Due to Ichigo being a good fighter, Renji easily open up to him, saying that they should become friends and fight together when someone make fun of them. Then, Renji at the same time get along with Ichigo's friends. She did notice the glances that her friend Rukia gave to him along with the subtle blushes. She could tell that Rukia was smitten with the red head boy. Renji, along with Grimmjow are the two top notorious boys in the school, though the two of them didn't got along very well. When Renji heard about the bad things he did to Ichigo and his friends during kindergarten (until now), he developed a profound hatred towards the blue haired boy. One day, the two of them were fighting, resulting both of them being called to the principal's office. The rest was history.

Speaking about Grimmjow, despite being a total brat, was one of the top ten in the class, securing at number six for the past two years. Some people couldn't understand how a bad guy could be clever at the same time. He did said that six is his favourite number hence, why he never budged from his rank. Ichigo never saw him holding books. She never saw him passing up homework. She couldn't help but feel annoyed at him, who doesn't work hard but still managed to get good grades. They still fought on every occasion, though rarely since Renji hang out with Ichigo a lot of more often.

"Ok guys I'll see you tomorrow!" with that she sprinted off, cycling to her home. "I wonder what mom was cooking today. I'm so hungry" she said. Her stomach was grumbling. Her orange tresses flows freely, being blown by the wind. The sun was at its peak, since it was summer now. Her uniform was drenched with sweat. Her throat felt dry at the moment. She stopped at Urahara Shoten, deciding to drop by to buy some drinks to ease her throat. She leaned her bicycle at the wall and walks inside. She was greeted by a man with blonde hair. He has a light skin and gray eyes. He wears a green haori and a black coat. He grins with excitement when he saw her came in.

"Oh it's you Ichigo-chan, what can I get you?~" he said in that sing-song voice, much to Ichigo's annoyance.

"Hey Uncle Hats and Clogs" she said in a bored tone and walked towards the refrigerator where all of the drinks were stored. "I just came by to buy drinks" She opened the fridge and took two bottles of blueberry yogurt drink, her personal favourite. She walks to the counter and dropped the money and walked towards the door.

"Thank you. Come again soon Ichigo-chan~" he said.

Ichigo just waved a hand and walk towards her bicycle. She sprinted off while drinking. While she was lifting her head to drink, she didn't notice a car was coming in her direction. She lowered her head back and her eyes widened. The car was so close she didn't have time to dodge it. She dropped the bottle and quickly grabbed tightly at the handle to control her balances but to no avail, she lost it and the bicycle tilted to the side and she fell.

"Watch where you're going kid!" the man yelled at her and just drove away, leaving her alone.

She glared at the black car until it was out of her sight. She tried to stand up but winced due to the pain. She saw that her knee was bleeding and there are scratches on the lower region of her leg. She tried again, standing up, bracing herself, and started to limp slowly, carrying her bicycle with her. Due to the immense pain, she didn't realize there is a big rock in front of her. She tripped and twisted her ankle. She yelled in pain, her eyes begin to fill with tears. She crawled towards the sidewalk and lean at the wall. She cried softly, praying that someone will help her. She knew she can never walk without falling. She lowered her head, tears flowing down her face.

XXXX

Grimmjow was going home from school. His hand was rested in his pocket. He drop by on his way home at Urahara shop to buy a strawberry yogurt drink. He was walking silently, eyes glued to the ground while he kicked a few rocks to the side. Then, he saw traces of blood. 'What just happen?' he thought. He continued to follow the traces until he saw an orange haired girl at the side of the road. 'Oh what luck! Did the berry fell from her bike' Grimmjow smirked. He was planning on teasing her. He slowly walks towards the berry

"Hey Berry, what are you doing here? Did you just fell?" he said in a sarcastic tone.

After seeing the berry continue to sit there ignoring him, he felt his anger flaring. He stomped towards her but as he got closer to her, he realized that she was crying soflty. When she lifted her head up, due to the loud footsteps of the bluenette, Grimmjow's heart and anger instantly melt. He never saw her cry before. Apparently Ichigo fell from her bike on her way back home from school, resulting a bleeding knee with a few scratch marks of her legs. Her ankles sprained when she fell. Silence greeted them both. Grimmjow was speechless. Suddenly, Grimmjow lifted Ichigo bridal style and carry her towards her home silently. Ichigo was shocked with his actions. She wanted to ask but was rudely cut off-

"Shut up, don't say a word. I'm taking you home." said Grimmjow. Ichigo hesitantly buried herself into the boy's chest, feeling butterflies erupted in her stomach, a blush adorning her cheeks.

Grimmjow knocked the door while still holding the girl. Ichigo silently thanked him. "I'm home" Ichigo muttered, quite loud.

The door opened and a woman with auburn hair smiled warmly at the two

'She has the same smile as Ichigo's' the blunette said. Wait why am I thinking like this?

"Welcome home, Ichig- huh?! What happened to you?!" Her mother, Masaki, gasped upon seeing Ichigo being carried by a blue-haired boy.

"I fell mom, a car was driving towards me, I barely managed to dodge it, and I lost my balance and fell" said Ichigo.

"Oh dear, Honey! You better come quick! Our daughter fell from her bicycle!" Masaki called to her husband, who was busy feeding the twins, Karin and Yuzu, with porridge.

"ICHIGO MY DEAR DAUGHTER WHAT HAPPE- " Isshin beamed happily upon seeing the daughter, oblivious to the fact that she was injured. He was cut off immediately

"Oh shut up goat face! I fell from the bike and you're still acting like a crazy old man!" snapped Ichigo.

Isshin finally realized what was happening and quickly give space from them to enter. It seems Grimmjow's hand was on the verge of giving up on him for carrying her too long.

"Here let me take a look at the wound" Isshin observe Ichigo's knee and went to his office to retrieve a first aid kit. While tending to her injuries, Masaki was watching Grimmjow quietly. Then, she broke the silence, "Ichigo, who is this boy? How come I've never seen him before?"

Ichigo shifted a little bit, eyes staring below at her lap and she was thinking an appropriate answer. What is Grimmjow to her? A friend? Before she could answer, a voice cut her off-

"I'm his friend. When I came back from school, I saw her at the sidewalk bleeding." muttered Grimmjow.

Masaki put her palm on her mouth, eyeing him, then she smiled. She walks towards him and hugged him "Thank you for bringing my daughter home safely. I'm quite shocked at first because I've never saw her being friends with any boys before"

Grimmjow smiled back, before they both pulled apart. He then glanced at ichigo, "I'll go get your bicycle and bag, Ichi." With that he walked out of the door, leaving the three of them.

I-Ichi?! Ichigo blushed at the nickname given by Grimmjow. It was the start of their friendship and the blunette already gave her a nickname. 'Better than strawberry though' she thought.

"Okay I'm done" Isshin said, packing all the stuffs into the kit. She petted her head and said "I'm glad you found a good friend like him, Ichigo." Ichigo just smiled.

Out of nowhere, the blunette stormed in. "Here Ichigo, your bag, I have already put your bicycle at the porch" he smiled, handing Ichigo her school bag. She grabbed it, at the same time, their hands accidentally brushed, causing both of them to blush furiously.

Masaki giggled softly at the sight 'How cute'. She invited Grimmjow for lunch, which he accepted, albeit reluctantly. After lunch, they watched TV together. As Grimmjow glanced at the clock, he realized its already late. He grabbed his bag and say goodbye to everyone. He could see the sad smile on Ichigo's face as he walked towards her.

He chuckled inwardly "I'll see you tomorrow, Ichi."

Ichigo nodded, her cheeks turned bright red at the use of that nickname.

She watched as he walks out of the door. 'Is this a dream?' she thought.

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I add a little bit on this chapter so that the story doesn't flow too quickly. Reviews will be highly appreciated. Thank you for reading! I saw a few readers already favorite this story and I was super ecstatic! I will update soon!