Patient

By: Metamorcy

Disclaimer: don't own Bleach

This is the sequel to 'Long Distance', I suggest reading the first one before if you already have. Now continued on and enjoy. Muhaha!!

Ichigo didn't understand what made him so interesting to the fourth espada. He didn't understand it at all. He didn't stand out or anything, well, he hoped he didn't as much as his hair did but that's not the point of this. The question was, why was Ulquiorra obsessing over him? Ichigo sighed, glancing around outside his house, he felt the same gaze again, the same piercing stare that would be watching him everyday. He didn't feel like doing anything about it at the moment, there was no need to. Ulquiorra had done nothing to harm him yet and he didn't seem to be here on Aizen's orders either. The man was acting out on his own free will. This was fine with him but at the same time, unnerved him. It made him restless since the eyes were always on him that sometimes it made him feel inferior and scared on the inside. There were very few things Ichigo didn't like and being watched was on that list, especially like this. He didn't like it at all.

The shinigami was now in his bedroom, grumbling over something school related like how the teachers loved punishing him with homework. Parts of his room were dark with the curtains and window closed shut. The light on the desk was the only thing that was on and it seemed bright enough to cover up a fourth of his room, or dimly. He wandered over to his bed and flopped down onto the sheets. Ichigo sighed, perhaps he should tell the arrancar off, to stop the staring or to at least take it down to a minimum but how would the other take it? His thoughts pondered over it. Would it be good or bad, he didn't know and that scared him the most. Ulquiorra happened to be one of the few Ichigo was unsure about. For example, Gimmjow, he could figure out the man quickly and quite easily too. The guy had the desire to do nothing more than to try beating him up to a bloody pulp but for the green eyed one, Ichigo was so uncertain about everything. The fourth espada was a mystery, he knew almost nothing about him and he could tell that Ulquiorra was a schemer. At least he knew enough that the man wouldn't try anything to him for the mean time or until Aizen ordered it.

Ichigo sat up from his bed, scratching the back of the head. He had decided on what to it, it was now or never. Heading to the window, he opened the curtains, letting the rings that held it up slide across the metal bar. It created a high pitch screeching sound that made Ichigo wince but ignored it. The moonlight peered in, it looked the same as the night he had meet the man the first time outside a battlefield. Its radiate glow was casted over the entire town, making it blaze even with all the street lights that were on. It was a quiet cool night; there were no sounds, not even the distance howling of the dogs or Kon who was in Yuzu's room. Opening the window to the side, he leaned out, eyes scanning the area. The gaze wasn't on him; the hair on the back of his neck wasn't standing up like it usually did whenever it was on him. Ichigo didn't feel any of his shinigami friends and allies nearby so he thought it would be safe to try calling the man out. The teen crawled out the window a little, his feet touching the tiles of the roof. He made his entire body come out, careful not to slip and met his end. His fingers gripped the window frame, holding himself back and called out. "Ulquiorra, you there?" He didn't scream it out loud but just said it normally so not to attract unwanted attention. There was no need in waking up his neighbors or even his own family for that matter even though he knew that they were all awake and downstairs. His orange pools examined the place, the black haired arrancar didn't appear, perhaps he wasn't here today.

Those thoughts however drifted away when he felt the aura next to him and rotated to it. There stood Ulquiorra, the melancholic expression forever stuck on the face and the hands in the pockets. The twin tail-flaps of the coat were lying flatly against his legs. He was standing on the roof top just like Ichigo but seemed to have a better grip on the tiles since as he wasn't holding onto anything. It was at that moment that the wind decided to blow suddenly, making Ichigo's foot slip at the impulsive push. He stumbled forward, losing his footing on the slippery covering, and managed to hold onto the frame. His body was lying flatly on the roof, both legs dangling from the window as his hands held desperately onto the structure. Ichigo almost let out a startled yell but held it in along with the pain he had felt from the collapse and almost did again when his hold slipped, the frame cutting into the fingers. His body slid violently down the tiles, to the end of the roof and flew off, arms flapping wildly, hoping to catch the side but he didn't. Closing the orange pools, he prepared himself for the impact with the hard ground and prickly bushes below. He hoped it wouldn't hurt when he crashed, and prayed that he would land on something soft. But after a few seconds, the impact never came and he felt himself stop in mid air with precision. Carefully opening them back up; he noticed that he was in aerial, right between the roof and the ground below.

And in Ulquiorra's arms!

Ichigo stared up into the green eyes, embarrassed from being caught like this. His face blushed at the heat he was feeling from the side against the other's skin (he was in a bridal style in the arms with one arm over and behind Ulquiorra's shoulder). "Umm…" He started before muttering something illegible under his breath and then calming down so he could try again. "Um…Thanks."

At first, Ulquiorra didn't say anything, shifting his feet that were in airborne, stepping up onto the roof. He gazed down at the orange haired teen and replied. "It's nothing." His eyes examined over the orange haired shinigami but found nothing that could be critical but asked just incase. "You okay?" It was right after that that he detected the wound on the hand.

Ichigo gulped, nodding shakily, not even aware that he was bleeding. "Yeah, fine."

The espada teleported into Ichigo's room and headed over to the bed. Ulquiorra didn't release him yet until he was placed carefully down on the cushion. The arrancar strolled over to the other side and sat down next to the shinigami, hands still in the pockets. He took them out soon after, reaching over to grab Ichigo's hands to look over the cut. It was already starting to heal and luckily it wasn't too deep, almost like a paper cut. Ulquiorra's fingers went over the wound, tracing over it but before he could do anything further, Ichigo yanked them back. He started waving them, trying to prove that they weren't hurting anymore. "See nothing wrong, they're alright."

Ulquiorra didn't believe him but said nothing more on the subject. He knew that Ichigo was a stubborn person so instead he asked. "Did you want to talk?"

The teen paused what he was doing, his mind setting back on track as to why he had asked the man to come here in the first place. Ichigo suddenly felt nervous in the man's stare and broke out in a sweat. "Well, you see." He started rubbing his temples, hoping that would give him enough courage to speak. He even went over to the window just to close the curtains and break eye contact with Ulquiorra. "Its about the staring you've been doing, it kinda…makes me nervous when you do that. I wanted to ask you to stop or at least cool it down. Is that okay with you?"

"Nervous?" The espada questioned to himself, he didn't seem offended by the request although it was hard to tell. "I see."

"Its okay every once in a while but you do it constantly and its so unnerving as if you're watching my every move. Plus won't you get in trouble with Aizen for staying out in the human world for too long?"

Ulquiorra blinked, his expression still the same. "It's alright, he won't mind."

Ichigo sighed in relief, that was good to hear. He slumped back down on the bed, his shoulders sagging. "Thank goddess, I was worried that he might have noticed or something." He was also relieved that the man was getting what he meant, he had been so afraid that he would have to explain what he had meant by it. Well, that was a load off his chest. He was about to say something else when the door suddenly knocked loudly. The two pair of eyes went to the door instantly, both caught off guard. Ichigo began to panic at it instantaneously, Ulquiorra was still here! There was no time to try and hide him either, why did it have to happen now of all times? Ichigo quickly began thinking of ways to get out of this even going to the point of ignoring it. He shaked his head at the thought, that would only make things more suspicious. The substitute shinigami stood up, heading over to the door and opened it faintly while motioning the other with his hand to hide somewhere, anywhere was better than in view. His eyes went back to the people in front, peeking through the crack he had created. He spotted his younger sisters, Yuzu and Karin, both staring at him questioningly. The shinigami cursed inwardly; do his sisters always have to interrupt at the wrong moments?

"Ichi-nii, are you talking to someone?" Yuzu asked, trying to peek inside but the older brother blocked the way.

"No, not really, I was listening to some music, was it too loud?" Ichigo asked, trying to keep his face straight but he knew that Karin would be able to figure things out faster than anyone else in the family (actually it would be the father but he doesn't know that). The siblings went out into an eyeing war until Ichigo asked. "Is there something else on your mind?"

Yuzu smiled, her face beaming with the usual cheeriness immediately believing her older brother. "No, that's it. Oh wait, almost forgot, dinner will be a little late today, I'll call you down when it's ready, okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine with me, thanks." This was perfect for him, now he had a little more time to spend with Ulquiorra. He was about to shut the door when Karin suddenly placed her foot in-between the crack just as it was closing. Ichigo twitched, had he been found out? That's not good but he kept his cool and eyed his sister steady. "What's wrong? Is there something else?"

The elder sister continued to eye Ichigo before pulling back, dragging Yuzu away without saying a word. Ichigo exhaled severely out of reprieve; he hadn't known he had been holding his breath in the first place. He was luckily enough that he hadn't been caught. What would his sisters think of him if they saw him with his enemy? That would be extremely hard to explain, he could see it right now how it would have played out. It would have been a total nightmare! Closing the door fully, he locked it this time, making sure that there wouldn't be anymore surprises or any unwelcome visits. He turned back to Ulquiorra who was sitting calmly on the bed as if nothing had happen. Ichigo twitched his right hand; the espada hadn't even budged from his spot. Did he want him to get into trouble?! Suddenly the arrancar stood up, heading to the substitute shinigami, hands still in the pockets. Ichigo tensed vaguely from the sudden advancement.

"Lord Aizen-sama is calling me, its best if I head back now. We can talk later."

Ichigo was about to respond back when he felt a pair of lips on his own, cutting him off from voicing up his opinion. Not that he minded. This time Ichigo allowed Ulquiorra entrance, opening up his mouth and letting the other inside. The green eyed man responded eagerly, pressing deeper and took advantage of the other's state, rising up a hand to the soft fleshy cheeks. The skin was warm and smooth and he liked the touch. The kiss broke off and the espada backed away, heading to the window to make his escape but not before taking one last glance to the orange haired teenager who was blushing madly. He draws the curtains back, the screeching noise repeating itself.

"Goodnight." With that Ulquiorra flew out and disappeared into the night, the white clothes making a small appearance before vanishing too. Ichigo watched it as it happened and then closed the window. His flush hadn't stopped yet and as he closed the curtains, cutting off the world from seeing inside and then grumbled to himself. Ulquiorra had gotten him again. He stared at his bed, a hand going up to his lips to feel the lingering sensation before flopping down on his bed, face first into his pillow. Bouncing up and down for a little while until it steadied, he buried his face deeper into it, muttering about something that was incomprehensible before giving up entirely on the subject (whatever that was but we all have a sneaky feeling what it was about) and stared at the spot they had kissed at. Griping again, he sighed in defeat and stomped out the door (after unlocking it, of course), dodging his dad's flying kick and headed downstairs to watch some TV, something to keep his mind off the issue. Obviously, he knew he was going to face it sooner or later but for now, he'll just relax and wait for it to come back to him. Ichgio was, after all, a patient person in these types of matters (most of the time).

Alright, the sequel is out. Now review, muhaha!!!