I know I shouldn't...I have a RenIchi going on now...but this idea just popped into my head as I was showering, and I couldn't resist.

Here's to all the GrimmIchi fans out there! :)

"Dad! I can do this myself!"

"But why? My darling son!" Kurosaki Isshin cried, horrified that his son would decline his generous offer to carry his luggages for him.

Ichigo groaned and resisted the urge to punch his father's face into a pulp. As it was, they were already making a scene, right in the middle of the hallway in his dormitory.

Just wonderful.

Not even ten minutes on the floor, and his father had already managed to make him the weirdo from room 1506. Ichigo sagged against the wall, wishing that he could smash his fist into the concrete. But then again, that would just make him the psycho from room 1506, a violent one to boot.

Breathe, Ichigo, breathe! You can do this!

"Ichi-nii, just let papa help you," Yuzu said, touching Ichigo's arm gently. "Once we leave, we won't get to see you for a while, Ichi-nii."

The sad tone in his baby sister's voice immediately extinguished the fire burning in Ichigo's chest, and he straightened up and sighed in defeat. "Alright," he huffed. Before his dad could whoop in joy, he glared at the older man. "NO singing!"

"Of course!" Ichigo's father beamed and immediately picked up two large suitcases and began to march down the hallway.

"Dad! My room's that way!" Ichigo hissed, pointing to the opposite direction. Really, why did his father have to act like a six-year-old every time they were out in public?

But then he remembered what Yuzu had just said. Yes, once his family leaves for home tomorrow, it would be at least a year before he could see them again. After all, plane tickets between Japan and the US were not cheap. This trip had already made quite a dent in his dad's bank account. Isshin had insisted that they went on a family vacation before he started college, and now Ichigo was glad that they did.

With that thought in mind, Ichigo forced himself to swallow the insults that were at the tip of his tongue, and simply followed behind his father, who had once again marched down the corridor, lugging the luggages behind him. He made a ridiculous sight, but at least he was heading towards the right direction now.

"Here we are! Room 1506!" Yuzu announced, pointing excitedly as they stopped in front of a plain-looking, beige-colored door.

"Looks ugly," Karin commented flatly, obviously unimpressed. She crossed her arms over her chest and watched her brother fumble with the key.

After a few attempts, Ichigo finally pushed the door open. He wasn't expecting a palace, of course, but the sight that greeted him was truly depressing. The room was extremely small - two desks sat side by side against one wall, while a two-tiered bunk bed took up the opposite wall. A small closet claimed the third wall, and a glass-pane window decorated the remaining one. Not that his own room at home was much bigger, but at least he didn't have to share it with anyone.

Yep, he was going to share this room with a roommate. How two boys in their late teens were supposed to squeeze into this narrow space was beyond him, but that was how it was.

"Your roommate is not here!" Isshin exclaimed, sticking his head over Ichigo's shoulder.

"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock," Ichigo shot back.

The four of them eventually managed to wrestle all his luggages - four in total - into the room. Ichigo stood in the middle of the room and looked around, wondering where his luggages were supposed to go. He couldn't squeeze everything into the closet because that wouldn't leave any space for his roommate, but putting them against the wall would take up precious floor space. Oh, the dilemma!

"I wonder what he's like," Yuzu said, looking at the piece of paper that Ichigo received at the registration desk. "Grimmjow, err, Jack-er-jacks?" she struggled to pronounce the name, which was printed clearly next to field marked "Resident 2".

"I have no idea, Yuzu," Ichigo muttered. He eyed the bunk bed apprehensively. Which one should he take, the upper bunk or the lower one?

"The lower one," Karin said firmly.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because then you won't have to drag your fat ass up there every night."

"Karin!" Yuzu gasped in horror.

Ichigo chuckled at the smug smile on Karin's face. She hadn't fussed over him like Yuzu had about this whole farewell thing, but he knew that she was feeling it too. Her defiant eyes were just a tad softer than usual, and she was smiling more. It made Ichigo want to hug her and tell her that's it's alright, but he knew that would just earn him a kick in the shin.

The rest of the afternoon flew past quickly; Karin helped a little, but it was mostly Yuzu who helped Ichigo unpack most of his clothes, even organized them in the closet for him, while his dad entertained himself by climbing up and down the bunk bed, claiming that he was "testing its stability". He wanted to make sure that "his precious son doesn't get crushed to death".

The whole time, Ichigo kept eying the door, expecting his roommate to just waltz into the room. He hadn't the slightest clue what his roommate would look like. Jaegerjaques sounded European, but it's really hard to tell from a name nowadays. He was kind of excited and apprehensive at the same time; he hoped that it would be someone he could get along with - hopefully somebody not too sloppy (like Renji) or too intense (like Ishida) or too quiet (like Chad) or too fierce (like Rukia).

Ichigo smiled as he thought of his friends. They had all gone to different colleges. Rukia and Renji qualified for a prestigious university in Japan, Ishida left for Russia, and Chad went to Mexico. He hoped that they would all keep in touch.

But his roommate never showed up. Ichigo had the room to himself that night, and his family took advantage of that. His dad took the upper bunk while the twins squeezed in with Ichigo. It was impossible to sleep with the three of them on one tiny bed, but Ichigo enjoyed the feeling of his sisters cuddling with him like they used to when they were younger.

The next day, Ichigo sent his family off at the airport. He took a cab back to the dorm, thinking that his roommate must've arrived by now. Orientation was just two days away, and he knew that his roommate was a freshman just like he was, so the guy had to arrive soon.

His room was still empty, though. Ichigo looked around the room to see if anyone had been in there, but there were no new luggages, no boxes - nothing. He spent the rest of the day unpacking some more and trying to figure out where to store his empty luggages. Then, in the evening, he went to the cafeteria like everyone else on the floor. On the way downstairs, he noticed that almost everyone had arrived. Most rooms had their doors open, and he could see people chatting and laughing inside.

Everyone else's roommates seemed to have arrived, so where was his?

That night, he had the room all to himself again. This time, he didn't have his crazy father humming while everyone's trying to sleep, didn't have Yuzu's small body curled up beside him, didn't have Karin kicking him in the middle of the night. For the first time in his life, Ichigo felt lonely.

It was quite pathetic, really, how fast he was becoming homesick. He wasn't particularly needy or anything. Heck, he wasn't even a sociable person, but it was a little unnerving knowing that he would be sharing this tiny space with a stranger. A stranger who was supposed to show up two days ago.

Ichigo went to collect his text books the next day. He had ordered them online and was supposed to pick them up at the campus bookstore, so here he was, his arms straining under the weight of four thick hard-covered books that felt more like stone slabs. He called the elevator with his elbow, and was close to sobbing in relief when he finally arrived in front of his room. In an attempt of a daring balancing act, Ichigo managed to unlock the door, and then he kicked the door in. His arms were starting to tremble under the weight, and the books were beginning to tilt precariously close to the side.

The door flung open and Ichigo promptly dropped everything on his own feet.

There was a naked man in his room!

The guy was looking at him with a bored expression, as if it was completely normal for someone to walk in on him while he was completely naked. His baby blue hair was wet and matted to his head, the water creating little streams down his body. There was a large scar across his torso that looked like a slash from a machete, but otherwise the man's body was perfect - it was muscular but not too bulky, tall but not gangly. And he had intense blue eyes that were currently looking right at Ichigo.

Ichigo couldn't help it. It was a completely normal reaction under the circumstances, alright?

He screamed.

Aww great, my roommate is a girl.

Grimmjow stared at the orange-haired kid who'd just walked in and promptly started to scream his head off. He looked like he was scared shitless, and he was the one with clothes on for fuck's sake!

He even managed to drop his books on his own feet. Maybe he wasn't screaming because he saw a naked dude. Maybe he was screaming because his feet fucking hurt.

The kid was now hopping around on one foot, cussing up a storm as he held the other foot tightly in his hands.

Yeah, those books must be really heavy. Poor kid.

Grimmjow stopped staring at his roommate and went back to toweling off his body. The first thing he did when he arrived was to take a shower. He felt gross; who wouldn't after a seven-hour non-stop flight from all across the other side of the country? His t-shirt had been so damp with sweat that it stuck to his body, and his hair was as limp as a soft dick. The shower had been heaven.

"Why are you naked?" the orange-haired kid began to yell.

Grimmjow looked up and threw the towel onto the bed. "I just took a shower," he replied, rolling his eyes.

His roommate obviously didn't think that was a good enough answer, because he sputtered, "Don't you put on some clothes right after a shower?"

Grimmjow shrugged and started digging through his hand luggage for a t-shirt. He found one - it was black with a bunch of stupid cat cartoons on it - and slipped it on, then he pulled out a pair of boxers.

"Please tell me you didn't walk back from the shower like this," the kid whined.

"I had a towel." Grimmjow was beginning to think that his roommate wasn't very bright. "See? Towel?" He shook his damp towel in front of the boy's face. "I only took if off because I wanted to get dressed."

"You're G-grimmjow, right?"

"Last I checked, yeah," Grimmjow said. "And you must be Ichigo."

Ichigo nodded, looking like he was wearing blush on his cheeks. Seriously, was it so surprising to see a dude naked? Hadn't the kid ever shared a locker room before in high school?

"That's my bed," Ichigo said, pointing at Grimmjow's bed.

"Oh, okay," Grimmjow shrugged again. He grabbed his bag and flung it up to the upper bunk with ease. There wasn't much inside - a week's worth of clothes, more or less. He hadn't bothered packing properly, there was always his credit card.

Ichigo looked around the room with a puzzled look on his face. Grimmjow frowned - what now?

"Where are your luggages?" Ichigo asked.

Grimmjow gestured to the upper bunk. "I just threw it up there."

"That's all you brought?" Ichigo asked again, seemingly stunned.

Seriously, my roommate is a girl and she's stupid.

Grimmjow's eyes went to the four large suitcases standing against the wall next to one of the desks. It suddenly made sense. The kid probably thought that everyone brought their entire room to college like he did.

"Yep, that's all I brought," he said, enjoying the wide-eyed look of shock on Ichigo's face. "Something wrong with that?"

Ichigo shook his head. "Just surprised, that's all," he said.

Ichigo's foot finally stopped throbbing after half an hour. He thought he'd fractured at least one of them, judging from the level of pain.

And he could not believe that this was how he met his roommate for the first time. Oh, he'd met the guy alright, he'd met every part of the guy. His eyes hadn't missed it, but he just refused to think about it. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. He was supposed to politely say hello and shake his hand - fully dressed, thank you very much.

After the initial shock ebbed, Ichigo began to observe his new roommate. The teen was a few inches taller than he was, and definitely broader. He looked older, but Ichigo couldn't be sure. He seemed to be carefree, since he only brought one tiny bag with him.

Oh, and he's a smoker. How did Ichigo know?

Because Grimmjow was sitting by the window smoking right now, that's how.

"This is a non-smoking campus," Ichigo had said when Grimmjow pulled out a packet of cigarettes. The look he got in return made him deflate like a leaking balloon. Ichigo wasn't meek by any means, he just didn't want to antagonize his roommate on the very first day.

When dinner time came, Grimmjow disappeared. Ichigo wasn't really expecting to have dinner with Grimmjow, so he just went to the cafeteria alone, like what he'd been doing for the past two days. If the first impression he got of Grimmjow was any indication, it didn't look like they would be having any meals together. That's perfectly okay with him, he wasn't that desperate for a friend. As long as they weren't ripping each other apart, he could deal with it.

At least, that was what he thought before he opened the door to his room and found himself staring at a box of half-eaten pizza in the middle of the room. On the floor. Hell, part of the pizza crust was even touching the floor. Grimmjow was sitting next to it, a slice of pizza in one hand, and one of Ichigo's text books in the other.

'"What are you doing?" Ichigo blurted in disbelief.

"Man, this looks like some boring stuff," Grimmjow said around a mouthful of pizza. He didn't even bother looking up.

Ichigo blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Your book," Grimmjow said. He shoved the slice of pizza between his teeth and used his hand - his dirty hand! - to poke the book. Just as Ichigo feared, a reddish smear immediately appeared on the formerly pristine page.

Ichigo didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He'd always thought that this was a weird phrase - what could possibly make someone not know whether to laugh or cry? Well, now he knew. He stalked over to Grimmjow and snatched the book away. The boy didn't look the least bit apologetic. If anything, he looked offended.

I can deal with an asshole, it's okay, Ichigo told himself as he tried to rub off the pizza sauce.

And that was what he kept telling himself, until it was time for bed. Ichigo was just sliding under his covers when Grimmjow went to the closet and began to strip.

"What are you doing?" Ichigo asked. He was actually feeling a little afraid of the answer.

Please don't let it be please don't let it be-

"I'm going to bed," Grimmjow replied in a tone that instantly made Ichigo feel stupid.

After that, Ichigo could only watch helplessly as Grimmjow approached the bed and climbed up the short flight of stairs to the upper bunk. The short flight of stairs that happened to be right next to Ichigo's head, where he had a perfect view - a perfect view of some things that scarred him for life.

To be continued...

Hope you liked it! XD