Title: His Captain
Rating: G
Pairing/Character/s: Ichigo, Urahara
Word Count: 355
Warning/s: Sort-of spoilers for Urahara's past
Summary: There is only one captain that Ichigo knows he could serve under
A/N: No, I have not abandoned 'Little Victories' I've just been struggling a bit with a few plot changes I'm making. The next chapter should be out within the next few days. In the mean time, I've been on a Bleach spree, and decided to post some of my idea's here. Most of them are short idea's I have not had the time to flesh out yet. Enjoy!

They want him to become a fulltime Shinigami, to serve with the Gotei 13 because of his power, his potential. They tell him he could be one of the greatest, if he'd come and train with them, join their ranks and fight with them, not just beside them. He'd be a seated officer in no time, they say, maybe even a vice-captain. A captain soon enough, if he works hard.

He tells them no, that he still has a life in his world, family, friends, responsibilities. That he can't give that up just yet. Maybe, one day he will join them, he tells them, if the time comes. They smile and say they'd welcome him at any time, and he knows that they're thinking that he probably won't join them until he dies, and they just have to wait until then to get him to be one of them.

So Ichigo just smiles back at them and nods, letting them think what they want about him. He lets Rukia think that one day they'll be side by side as shinigami; lets Renji think that one day he'll be available to fight whenever. He lets everyone think that it's only a matter of time before he stands as a member of the elite Gotei 13.

What they don't know is that he wouldn't really mind joining them now, as long as he got to come back occasionally to see his family and friends. He wouldn't mind fighting with them, as one of them. He wouldn't mind working his way through the ranks.

He wouldn't mind, but there is only one captain that Ichigo knows he could serve under, only one captain that Ichigo would strive to become a vice-captain under, only one captain that could bring out his best. So until the day he can look at grey eyes and blond hair, and call that man 'Captain,' he will never join them.

Because Urahara Kisuke is the only person Kurosaki Ichigo considers his captain, and that will never change. So until the day his captain is allowed to return to his home, Ichigo will wait.