Hey, guys, a new fic! And one that's not Beyblade, wow! I've been meaning to upload a story that wasn't Beyblade and I've been obessed with Bleach recently, so I thought I'd give it a go. A while back I did try a Harry Potter story, but my interest failed me and I took it off. But here we go, trying with a new story!...Though, I really should try and finish my OTHER stories before putting up a new one...never mind.

Anyway, here we go. It's a short story, I've already written out the whole thing; at one point I was going to have it as a oneshot, but I've never done that in my life so I don't see why I should start now. So instead it's a nice short story, which I'm happier with. For some reason, me and oneshots just don't get along. But, enough rambling, on to the story.

Category: Bleach.

Rating: T

Pairings: Ichigo x Uryu.

Genre: Drama/Romance.

Summary: The night after episode 68...I think. He couldn't believe Uryu hadn't told him. That was a betrayal his trust and belief in Uryu and Ichigo was going to have it out with him.

WARNINGS: Foul language. Yaoi. Mild lemon.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. Nor any of its characters.

Enjoy!

Embrace His Lies

Chapter One: A Distracted Mind

Ichigo stalked along the street broodingly, he glanced up, not for the first time, at the nice looking properties he passed; he knew Uryu lived somewhere in this vicinity, but actually locating the right apartment was tough. Sighing he checked back over his shoulder along the street the way he'd come; he'd left Lirin choosing her stuffed animal which, to Ichigo, looked like it was going to take some time.

He knew trying to locate Uryu with those Bounts lurking around was probably not the best thing to do, but he couldn't help it; he had to talk to Uryu. His mind returned to the issue of locating the Quincy; his plan was to confront Uryu and demand a reason why Uryu had failed to tell them about his lack of powers. It angered Ichigo that Uryu had not trusted them with the information; he had put himself at great risk and had endangered them all with his secret and distrust, it was lucky they'd never needed to rely on him. Ichigo's jaw tightened; it had been thoughtless of Uryu not to tell them, it pissed Ichigo off and he was here to give that Quincy a sizeable junk of his mind.

It had been Uryu's duty to tell them.

First, however, Ichigo had to actually find Uryu. Which was looking like it would be a harder task than he'd first thought; Uryu had never given them information about where he lived or any clues as to what his home-life was like, Ichigo had always assumed it was a touchy topic for the raven head and he'd never pressed the matter. Now, he was beginning to wish he had.

Of course, it wasn't like Ichigo couldn't understand why Uryu hadn't told them about losing his powers; Uryu was proud, he wasn't one for admitting his weaknesses and he'd known that the knowledge that he was powerless would change their perception of him: Uryu would change from a fellow comrade to a person they had to protect, the Quincy would hate that. Ichigo couldn't do anything but see Uryu as someone he had to protect; now Uryu was prey to hallows and he was unable to fight back. How could Ichigo not want to protect him? Uryu was his friend.

The substitute soul reaper scratched his head with another sigh as he looked up at the passing buildings; minutes ago he'd convinced himself he'd managed to narrow the search to a few immaculate streets in which he thought it was likely Uryu lived in. Now, however, he was starting to think he was going round in circles. Maybe this hadn't been the best idea he could have had; he had Bounts to think about and there was always the option of catching Uryu at school and giving him a lecture there. School. It was funny to think that, after all they'd been through in the Soul Society, they'd all returned back to their lives as if nothing had happened.

"Ichigo?"

The redhead stopped abruptly and turned on his heel; he looked around sharply for the voice that had called to him. Was someone trying to trick him? Had someone followed him without his knowledge? Why had he not sensed their spiritual pressure? Was it a hollow? The hollow that had killed his mother?

"Up here"

He looked up and saw, with a great deal of satisfaction, Uryu two floors up leaning out a window "I found you"

"Found me?" repeated Uryu blankly "so it was me you were looking for?"

"Yeah, how did you guess that?"

"The first time I saw you I thought it was coincidence, the second time I thought you were lost. But the third time I figured you might be looking for me, or at least you'd need a helping hand to push you in the right direction" Uryu replied resting his elbows on the window ledge.

"I was looking for you, I want to talk"

"Why didn't you just call? You have my number"

Ichigo faltered as that simple yet effective idea dawned on him for the first time "I…uh…thought it would be better to talk face to face" he mumbled, "…it seemed the better thing to do…"

"You didn't think about phoning, did you?" an amused smile touched Uryu's lips.

"No! That's not it at all!" Ichigo said loudly "hey! Wipe that smug smile from your face!"

"Oh, Ichigo, so full of bright impulsive ideas and yet, so lacking in the brain department"

"Shut up already! I told you it was a better idea to talk in person!"

"You're lying"

"I'm not lying!"

"Your face is twitching"

"So!"

"Your face always twitches when you lie"

"It does not!"

"Does too"

"Does not!"

"Does too"

"Argh, just open the damn door!" Ichigo snapped, "I didn't come here to argue!"

"If you'd phoned you wouldn't have had to come at all" Uryu pointed out.

Ichigo's right eye twitched "just open your door, Ishida, or I'll crash through the window!"

"Alright, no need to get your Zanpakuto in a twist. Come up, I'll let you in"

Grumbling quietly Ichigo strode over to the green door that seemed to be the main door to the apartments; he heard the buzz of the opening lock and eyed the line of doorbells with the appropriate names written underneath: Ishida was apartment five. Pushing the door open Ichigo walked in to the entrance hall and decided to take the stairs rather than wait for the lift.

He walked through a heavy pair of double doors, located a flight of stairs and started up; silently he ran through his mind what he would say to that Quincy when they came face to face: that Uryu had no right of keeping his lack of powers from Ichigo, that they were supposed to be friends and it was no way to treat such a friend. Though it sounded a little peremptory he decided it was a good speech and one that Uryu was going to have to listen to. It took him less than a minute to reach the doorway on the second floor that led to apartments four, five and six. Walking down the carpeted corridor he headed for the door with the number five embossed above the handle. Just as the substitute reached this door Uryu opened it from inside and stood back to allow the redhead in.

"Luckily my father is not in"

"He doesn't let you have friends round or something?" Ichigo asked taking a step in to the neatly arranged hallway.

"You're a Soul Reaper, father would rather pull his teeth out than let a Soul Reaper in to the place"

"Huh, fair point" Ichigo grinned "still, at least he wouldn't challenge me to a martial arts fight"

"That's what Mr Kurosaki would do I presume"

Ichigo pulled a hand through his hair "you got that right, Dad still hasn't grasped the concept that not everyone is interested in fighting with an idiot"

"So you get your amazing brain cells from your Dad, I see" Uryu commented dryly, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Haha, very funny" Ichigo scowled before taking a look around the sitting room the Quincy had led him in to.

It was neat, tidy; everything was in its place and nothing was askew save for the pile of papers scattered across the table under the window. The Soul Reaper wandered over and flicked through them idly.

"This looks like homework" he said giving Uryu a glance.

"Your powers of observation, Ichigo, they never cease to amaze me"

"You're doing homework?" enquired Ichigo ignoring this latest jibe.

"Well, now that I'm no longer any use in a fight against bad spirits and the like, I thought I might as well get it done"

"Figures, I guess" Ichigo conceded as he continued to stare at the papers "it feels so strange to be looking at something so ordinary after what we've been through" he quietly mused.

"Yeah, that's kinda my problem right now" Uryu agreed as he headed to the kitchen "can I get you something?" he called back as he flicked the kettle on.

"A coffee, if you've got any"

"Sure" Uryu pulled out the cups and a jar of coffee "how is the Mod Soul settling in?"

"Ah, she's still trying to pick what kinda stuffed animal she wants to possess" Ichigo replied as he read through what little of Uryu's homework there was. Uryu had barely written a page and down the side there were doodles scratched in; it looked like Uryu had been sitting there for some time, just sitting there uninterested and unfocused on the work in front of him. A clear sign of a distracted mind "at the moment she's searching through my sister's collection"

"Can't she choose one?" asked the Quincy coming back through with two coffees.

"That's what I said, but apparently she's looking for her perfect match" Ichigo accepted the coffee and took a sip, blowing on the surface to cool the scolding liquid.

"You should probably be with her, you know" Uryu set his own coffee down on a small table in front of the sofa "in case she senses something"

"Maybe, but she seemed pretty occupied and anyway, I wanted to talk to you"

"Oh?" Uryu did not sound surprised, however. He turned his back on Ichigo as if knowing what subject the substitute was about to broach "you wanted to talk?"

Ichigo didn't reply immediately; instead, he turned from the table to look out the window: it was late evening and the street was empty, all was quiet and still, the setting sun glowed golden against windows and barely a breeze caught the trees.

"Why didn't you tell me?" the redhead asked quietly.

"Tell you what?" the Quincy's voice lacked the questioning lift and Ichigo realised he was merely stalling for time.

"Why didn't you tell me you'd lost your powers?" he elaborated. Now there was no chance Uryu could fudge the question.

Uryu sighed and turned back to face the redhead "and what would you have done if I had?"

"Done? I wouldn't have done anything" Ichigo replied his gaze still fixed on the world outside. Inside the room was so quiet and still that the ticking of a clock in the next room could be heard, passing time through each stroke of its hand.

"That's a lie" Uryu murmured, "you would have looked at me as if I was no older than a boy of ten, and you stopped me from fighting"

"I wouldn't have done that" Ichigo disagreed softly. His voice had a detached edge and he kept his gaze fixed on the window "God knows Renji and I would have still been in that museum if it wasn't for you"

Uryu thought about this and conceded a nod of accord "that may be" he admitted "but the fact still remains that had you known I'd lost my powers before we entered the museum you would not have let me accompany you. Instead, you would have pushed me away"

The soul reaper shook his head, harder than he meant to "you're my friend, Uryu" his eyebrows dipped in a frown "it doesn't matter to me whether you have powers or not"

"It matters to Urahara"

"I'm not Mr And Clogs" Ichigo retorted doggedly as he shifted his gaze back to the Quincy "you're my friend, power doesn't matter to me. So what if you've lost your powers, it doesn't make you useless. You're still smart, and I bet you can pack a punch when you want"

A slow smile drew across Uryu's face and he gave a chuckle "actually, I'm weaker than a duckling" he confessed ruefully.

"Now that's not true" Ichigo set down his coffee "Orihime told me about that kid you beat up in your first year" the redhead smirked "she said you sent the guy to hospital"

"A fluke, I can assure you," said the Quincy, though instead of the smile fading it merely widened "although, I will say that my anger contributed considerably"

The soul reaper laughed quietly and looked back out of the window as a car sped passed in the dimming light of the evening "my point is you should have told us" he replied lightly "we wouldn't have judged you, we haven't judged you"

"I know Orihime hasn't" Uryu nodded "and I doubt Renji gives a damn. But you…" now Uryu turned his face to Ichigo's "you haven't even asked me why I lost my powers"

Ichigo shrugged "I figured you didn't want to talk about it, I guess I just thought you'd tell me if you wanted to" the redhead glanced back down at Uryu's homework. The doodles on the side of the page bothered him, doodles symbolised distraction and a distracted mind was not something Uryu Ishida was known for. The soul reaper now flicked his eyes to the Quincy and realised with a jolt that Uryu was staring at him "I don't see why you'd think I'd judge you" he finished somewhat numbly.

"Because I lost my powers through lack of thought and anger" Uryu heaved a sigh and shoved his hands in to his pockets awkwardly, his gaze lowered to the pale carpet beneath their feet "that is a little hypocritical baring in mind that those are two traits I accuse you of. What my grandfather would think of me I'd hate to know"

Ichigo listened without comment; the anger that had been so pressing earlier had dissolved in to nothing but disappointment, disappointment that Uryu was in fear of his judgment. Why was that so? What did his opinion matter to Uryu? He was actually surprised; Uryu was being so open and amiable about this topic, Ichigo had expected him to be defensive and uptight. He'd been expecting a fierce argument to ensue about why Uryu had been well within his rights to keep his loss of powers a secret.

Now, the redhead didn't know what to say; he'd been prepared for a fight, not a calm and placid conversation. It would have been easy to scold Uryu, but only if the Quincy had defended himself against Ichigo's accusations. But instead, here Uryu was, standing there completely selfless. And there were the doodles on the page. An Uryu that stood there, with a distracted mind and a lack of pride, was something Ichigo had never imagined; it unsettled him, he wasn't sure how to handle the situation.

"I don't judge you" the soul reaper said quietly, in a softer voice than intended "I never will" he turned from the window, at last glance of the empty road outside that gave him no source of distraction. His brown eyes rested on Uryu who had looked up at the sound of his voice "I'm sure there's a good reason for your anger, and I would never judge anyone for allowing their temper to get the better of them" the substitute chuckled "hell knows I let my temper rise all the time"

Well, there ya have it. I love the pairing of Ichigo and Uryu, it was one of my first pairings when it came to Bleach, beaten only by Gin x Toshiro.

Anyway, there isn't much a of a plot, I just got inspired when I watched whatever episode it was and this is what came out. Because I've rated this a T the lemon won't be too graphic, but maybe one day I'll rewrite it, or if you guys want an M rated lemon I may change it, you just never know.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!

Please leave a review.

Kiki