Summary: Hichigo has never found anything that could keep him occupied for more than 10 seconds. One day, Ichigo tries to help by giving him a sketchbook and a pencil. What comes of this is something he doesn't expect. -One Shot-
Disclaimer: Tite Kubo owns the rights to all Bleach characters
Ichigo never really found himself out of the house on a school night in leisure. He was either studying for school, sleeping or slaying Hollows. So why was he at the local art store, lugging around a small red basket? Well, a few minutes before, Ichigo had walked in on Hichigo tearing apart any kind of fabric he found in his room, everything else thrown around the room. After settling down, the Hollow claimed he was bored and needed something to do while Ichigo was gone. Ichigo would have suggested he go out and find something to do, when he realized he would be endangering the wellbeing of Karakura Town, Japan and possibly the entire universe.
That was bad.
So the best way to go was to find something for him, while he waited at home. Sighing, Ichigo walked through the small aisles, his eye burning from the brightly colored plants, cardboard, paper and pencils that consumed the shelves. He really had no idea what he was looking for, but it didn't really matter; if he didn't return home in five minutes, Hichigo would destroy something else.
"Uh, excuse me ma'am..." Ichigo said, tapping the shoulder of a store employee. The woman turned to look at him, her plump features making her all the more approachable.
"Yes? How can I help you tonight sir?" she asked just as nicely as her demeanor. Ichigo hesitated, her shorter height somewhat intimidating. Or scary. He didn't know which.
"Do you have anything here that's...entertaining?" She tilted her head to the side, raising an eyebrow.
Oh great... He thought dreadfully. She probably thinks I'm an idiot.
"Well...most things here are entertaining..." she started off slowly, guiding him through the store once more. "Do you need something specific?" Ichigo looked up in thought.
"Well...do you have anything safe? Something a four year old could handle without hurting themselves?" He laughed mentally. Hichigo would kill him if he ever heard that remark. The woman stayed quiet for a minute, thinking about the description.
"Safe? Well, you probably don't want any kind of sewing material...oh wait!" The woman suddenly smiled, picking up what she was looking at from a shelf. "Here you go. This should work just fine." She handed it to the Shinigami to examine, though it was already pretty clear. It was a sketchbook, it's size average and the volume of papers pretty large. The front cover was multicolored, the words "SKETCHPAD" at the top in a nice font. Flipping through the many pages, Ichigo nodded in approval.
"This'll work."
.:A2345678910JQK:.
Coming back to see the house still intact improved Ichigo's mood. Walking up the stairs after taking off his shoes, he reentered his room. There he found the Hollow on the ground, busying himself with papers and a shredder.
"Where'd you get those?" he asked carefully, suddenly trying to remember if he had any important papers lying around that could possibly already be reduced to shreds. Hichigo shrugged, feeding the shredder with more paper and smiling as the mechanism worked it's magic.
"Around..." he replied casually. His eyes caught the plastic back Ichigo had set on the desk. "What's that?" Ichigo mentally rolled his eyes, pulling out the brand new sketchbook and a few drawing pencils.
"This is-"
"More paper to shred?!"
"Will you quit it with the paper shredder already?!" Ichigo walked up to the item in question and kicked it across the room, effectively breaking it against the far wall. Hichigo stared at the pieces, his expression more than depressed. Grabbing the Hollow's pale chin, Ichigo turned his head to face him again. "I figured you needed some release, so I got you this." Hichigo took the items softly from Ichigo, staring at them in curiosity. After a few seconds, he seemed a little more than irritated that nothing happened.
"How does it work?" he asked, looking for some kind of instruction manual between the pages. Sighing, Ichigo crouched down to his level, pointing at the pencils.
"Do you know what those are?"
"Pencils?"
"Don't say it like it's a question."
"Well don't ask me what I already know!"
"Then I suppose you know what the book is for, right?"
"..."
"Look" Ichigo flipped the book to the first blank page. Taking one of the pencils from Hichigo's grip, he drew a picture of a cat. "This entire book is for you to draw on so you won't get in trouble." It took a second for Hichigo to register the explanation. When he got it however, he smiled and took the other pencil to draw a dog next to the cat.
"Is that good?" he asked, showing Ichigo. The Shinigami nodded and stood up, heading to his bed. "...Where are you going?"
"To bed." Ichigo yawned, taking off his shirt and shoes. "I was going to study, but shopping took longer than expected. Just promise me you'll use the sketchbook and nothing else to draw on, okay?" He waited for an answer, but received none as the Hollow soon became engulfed in the book, drawing unknown things at high speed. Shrugging, he got into bed and faced the opposite side, quickly dozing off.
Sometime later, Ichigo was abruptly aroused by a cold hand on his shoulder, shaking him roughly.
"Wake up." Hichigo said from above him. Not responding the first time, Ichigo was only shaken harder. "I said wake up...now...wake up King...wake up..."
"Ugh..." Ichigo mumbled, curling up tighter. This received a smack on the face from a pencil. Flinching, Ichigo turned towards the man, his eyes droopy.
"What?" he asked, rubbing his eyes. Hichigo held up the sketchbook.
"I need another one." Ichigo glanced at his bright digital clock.
"You wake me up at 1:06 AM to tell me this when it can wait until morning?" Hichigo frowned, poking him with the end of the sketchbook.
"It can't wait. I need it now." Ichigo sighed, sitting up.
"Did you even fill up all the pages?" He grabbed the nearest end of the sketchbook, pulling. Suddenly, Hichigo yanked it out of his hand, pressing it against his chest in a tight embrace. Ichigo blinked, outstretching his hand. "Hand it over."
"No." Hichigo said defiantly, stepping away from the bed.
"Why don't you want to show me?"
"Why do you want me to show you?" Ichigo huffed in irritation, falling back on the bed and curling up in a fetal position facing away.
"Fine, then I guess I won't get you another one."
"I'll draw all over the walls then."
"HICHIGO!" Ichigo yelled, jumping out of bed and getting in the other's face.
"Why do you want to know so badly?!" Hichigo asked, standing his ground after taking a few steps backwards as Ichigo approached. Ichigo growled, poking the book viciously with his finger.
"I don't want to spend money on something unless I have a damn good reason." Hichigo went silent, contemplating. He really did not want to show Ichigo what he was hiding, making the situation all the more difficult. But he knew that if nothing was done, he would be yelled at again and treated like a lower being. Looking down at the ground, his expression became soft, his grip somewhat loosening on the book. Letting out a slight sigh, he held the book out.
"Fine...take it..." he mumbled, keeping his head down as Ichigo took the book. Raising an eyebrow, Ichigo flipped the book open from the back. The last page was a picture of the two of them, very accurately drawn. With Hichigo looking down at the ground, the two were otherwise facing each other. Not understanding the point, Ichigo flipped to the next page. It showed the same thing, only the drawing of Ichigo seemed to move slightly closer, his hand appearing from the bottom of the drawing. Flipping through the next few pages, each with Ichigo moving closer than the one before, the idea suddenly hit him; Hichigo had made a flip book. Turning back to the last page, Ichigo flipped through each one quickly, watching as the drawing of himself moved closer towards the drawn Hichigo. His eyes widened as he saw his lips purse and heading strait for Hichigo's forehead, his hand reaching up to cup his face.
Then, it stopped. The last page depicted Ichigo centimeters away from kissing Hichigo's head, the drawn Hichigo's blush matching the Hollow's. One of Ichigo's hands had come up and grabbed a hold of Hichigo's cheek softly.
"That's why I wanted a new one..." Hichigo murmured, his eyes glued to the floor. "I wanted...to finish..." There was a long, painful silence afterwards, Hichigo's face covered in a red blush, contrasting his greyscale body. Not wanting to look up at Ichigo, he fidgeted in his place, trying to decide whether or not to jump off the roof of the Clinic and kill himself right there. His thoughts came to an abrupt halt however, when a slender hand cupped his cheek. Flinching from the sudden contact, he allowed the hand to tilt his head up just so, as a pair of lips came down to plant a kiss on his forehead. The kiss was short, but Hichigo simply melted, his eyes locking into Ichigo's as the Shinigami pulled back. Ichigo smiled at him, the sketchbook abandoned on the bed.
"There..." Ichigo said calmly. "Now it's finished."
THE END