Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.
Keigo liked to think of himself as a person that held the weight of the world on his shoulders.
Well… Not the world, but his friends' burdens... Mostly.
He grew up in an apathetic household, where he was mostly raised by his sister, while his parents were away. He hardly saw his mother and father because of all the business trips and such... That he once accidentally called his sister mom, because his five-year old mind didn't, couldn't comprehend that the woman—that he only saw on rare occasions—was his mother.
Keigo had been confused at first. How could that woman that he barely saw in his childhood years, be his mom? His sister was always the one caring for him: She taught him how to cook, she took care of him when he was sick, she helped him when he was stuck on a math problem, and so on. By all intents and purposes, Mizuho was his mom.
She always told him—repeatedly, actually—that she wasn't his mother, but his big sister. And he really shouldn't hide away from their parents when they came back home as if they were strangers, because that hurt them like he couldn't believe. So, if you want to keep me happy, Keigo, please call me Onee-san and the woman that comes here, Okaa-san, okay?
Keigo didn't want to upset her, so he said yes. Even though learning that the kind and gentle woman that he felt was his mother—but really was his sister—killed him slowly in the inside, because she was the person that he wanted to call his mother... Not that other woman that he barely knew or cared for, but if that made Mizuho happy... Then Keigo wouldn't dare complain.
Eventually, he grew up. He wasn't the naïve five-year-old that he once was and he learned that hiding the hurt that he felt was better, than making his mom—no sister, he corrected himself—upset because he was feeling bad...
He was fifteen-years-old and his only friend was a boy named Kojima Mizuiro. The others that he wanted to befriend only bullied him because of his almost unnatural attachment to his m-sister, so they always accused of him of incestuous desires… But it wasn't like that and Mizuiro—kind of—understood.
Keigo didn't really think that Mizuiro thought of him as a real friend because over the years, he developed a nasty habit of hiding what he really felt... So most people wrote him off as shallow and arrogant, but he really wasn't like that! You just had to, you know, get to know him a bit—and to not judge him so harshly and so soon…
Not long after, Keigo found out that Mizuiro hated his mother. He didn't know why and he didn't ask, because if Mizuiro hadn't told him yet, then he was not to mention it. Ever.
Fast forward a few months and Keigo learns that the 'Hoodlum bullies from hell' were going to go to the same highschool as him and Mizuiro. He didn't really care, but he also heard rumors of Ichigo and Chad's deeds, so he was just a wee bit concerned—considering all the stuff that he went through with his own bullies.
Mizuiro didn't care, so Keigo decided that he would show—at least a little bit—of his anxiety from the news. 'Cause he was tired of hiding all of his fears from someone that he called a friend, and if he didn't say anything, he just might explode.
He said what he had to say and after a few weeks—days more like it—he was friends with the two people that he swore he would never be friends with. And Keigo then realized, that not was all that it seemed and he really shouldn't assume things about other people—especially when it made him a hypocrite in the eyes of himself and others.
Keigo found that he could trust the tall and silent Mexican teen named Sado, and he could also trust the closed off boy with the orange hair, who's name was Kurosaki Ichigo.
They were friends for a while and Keigo saw how peaceful his world became and he would give anything to always have Ichigo, Sado, and Mizuiro by his side—if only for a little while.
Keigo's world shattered though—the day that he went home and he saw Mizuho fly into a molten rage. She dished out hurtful words and told him to lay off when they were together because people were starting to get weirded out by Keigo's affection towards her—and he really shouldn't be still convinced that she was his mother because she wasn't. No matter how much he wished it to be true.
All Keigo could do was nod meekly and promise her that if they were ever seen in public together, he would act like she was his annoying big sister—and of course, vice-versa. He hated it, but he didn't say anything because Mizuho would be mad at him again and he never wanted her to be upset at him...
Keigo knew that Mizuho would have his head if he aired out the Asano family's dirty laundry to his friends, so he kept quiet—taking extra care to not slip up when talking about his sister. 'Cause Mizuho would be angry and I would give her the world if she asked me to, so this is the least that he could to for her.
Keigo saw that his apparent 'close-mindedness' made his friends gravitate away from him and more to other people, but he really could care less, 'cause he showed how much he appreciated Mizuho and look how that turned out.
Everything fell apart from there and Ichigo got into the habit of hitting him when he was overly-affectionate and he learned to get used to it. He got used to Sado being distant and for him to not ask anything of Keigo because he simply thought that it would be impossible for him to help. He got used to seeing Mizuiro opening up to Ichigo, while he surrounded himself with walls when he talked to Keigo.
It hurt, but he didn't complain because he deserved it for being so shallow and arrogant and prideful—really what other reactions did he expect?
A few weeks later, Keigo's relationships with his friends were better than ever and he was loving every second of it… Until Kuchiki Rukia enrolled into Karakura High and everything changed.
He might look as if he was shallow, arrogant, or even unobservant… But he really wasn't. Just because he didn't show people how smart he was, didn't mean that he was an idiot.
He noticed how Ichigo didn't go to school any more and he also noticed that even if he did, Ichigo probably wouldn't have stayed the whole day. Running out of the classroom in the middle of a lecture, then having the audacity to yell over his shoulder that he had to use the bathroom...
Then he would be M.I.A. for a few hours, or even for the rest of the school day! He didn't know why at first. Maybe he had problems at home, perhaps? He heard from Tatsuki that Ichigo hasn't been the same since his mother died in front of him when he was nine. Maybe it was that?
Keigo didn't really believe that because Ichigo was one of the strongest people he knew—physically and mentally—so that couldn't be it. His theory that there were problems in the Kurosaki Household were null and void, too, because he had never seen a more close-knit family than those four. So, that couldn't be it either.
He realized that he only started acting out of sorts when Rukia arrived and he was confused for a while, but he didn't voice his suspicions.
Keigo had been surrounded by kind people that he valued with all of his being, so he was shocked to see how strangely they started acting when Rukia first came. It started with Ichigo, then it was Sado, Orihime, and then Uryu.
Keigo was surprised when Uryu started hanging around them because he was always distant and aloof, only being social when it had something to do with the sewing club... Orihime wasn't much different, except that she had a huge crush on Ichigo and that made her stay away—mostly because Ichigo was intimidating and Orihime always seemed to be on the edge of fainting every time she saw him.
Also, another thing that people claimed that he was oblivious of. Just because he had the hugest crush on Orihime once upon time, didn't mean he was completely blind to her—obvious—preferences.
He often told himself that it didn't really matter because Orihime was just like Mizuho—well the way she once was, 'cause the person that his sister became was totally different than Orihime was—but the way Mizuho once was. Kind, caring, beautiful, gentle, quirky, sweet... She was everything that Keigo believed that he didn't deserve and she belonged with Ichigo, for sure.
But, he couldn't help but feel just a tiny bit jealous though, because Ichigo always seemed to be the most loved while he was always the one that everyone ignores—but Keigo couldn't fault Ichigo for that because Keigo really liked being around him too...
Months went by and Karakura Town was attacked and Keigo found out why Ichigo was always so distant. He found out why his friends always seemed to have something more important to do than talk, or even acknowledge him... Ichigo was a Shinigami.
So was Rukia and those men that Ichigo had asked for Keigo to give shelter to—Ikkaku and Yumichika if he remembered correctly—and he finally understood. Ichigo, Uryu, Orihime, Sado, and even Rukia had been risking their lives for all the people in Karakura Town and Keigo hated himself.
He was selfishly drowning in his own misery when they had to shoulder so much more... Ichigo lost his powers and was never the same again. His friend that he felt was really the strongest person he knew, was miserable because he couldn't communicate with his friends in Soul Society. It wasn't fair for him, and Keigo knew this.
So he tried to make everything as normal as he could, so Ichigo couldn't dwell on his plight for long, because Keigo hated it when he saw that melancholic look on Ichigo's face. Distant and closed off to a point.
So when he felt the familiar and warm reiastu of one of his most long time best friends, Keigo couldn't help but smile and sigh in relief because he was so glad that Ichigo could finally be happy again...
But, he didn't want to fool himself into believing that Ichigo wouldn't suffer as much as he did before because this was the Shinigami that he was talking about, and Orihime, Uryu, and Sado would follow Ichigo into hell if he asked them to... And Keigo wanted to be there for him and for Ichigo and the others to rely on him for once.
Keigo was done loving and wanting to protect his friends so blindly. Doing so, had made him miss the signs that pointed towards his friends being more than what they seemed, and he was done having to be the one to be protected.
He didn't care how long it took as long as he could finally stand with them equally, where he could rely on them and they could rely on him. Keigo wanted to be there for them with his eyes wide open, aware of every little thing that they did, he wanted to know about—on the off-chance that they needed his help for something.
So he stood his ground and stared into the eyes of someone that he knew, but hadn't really known as it was, 'cause he was so tired of having to be the one to be protected, and not one of the protectors.
"Urahara-san, please... I beg of you. Please make me your apprentice!"
A/N: Did this surprise you? 'Cause I was shocked that I was able to come up with this to be completely honest… Anyway, please review this, so I know what you thought of it.
R&R