Title: Void
Author: Spirixx
Genre: Drama/Romance/Action
Rating: M for men, madness and mind blowing massacre. Oh and mmmhmm good ;)
Pairing: Ichigo/Renji
Spoilers: Well it takes place after the war.
Summary: Ichigo has to find a purpose with his life.
Word Count: Too lazy… about 1000 a chapter
Warnings: Lots of violence. There will be some graphic sex, but not for a while.
Disclaimer: As much as I wish I do not own Bleach.
Distribution: Too lazy to post this anywhere else.
Dedication: To the people who reviewed in less than 12 hours, lol. :D Sorry about my grammar.
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CHAPTER II
Misgivings
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Ichigo had always felt responsible for what happened that day. Who was he kidding, thinking he was ready for war? Upon reflection everything that happened that was a mess, the missing reinforcements, the lack of command in their wing of the fight, the breaking of the line. He knew those things weren't his fault, but not being their when some one counted on him…
"Knock that off, I'm getting wet."
"Sorry Masaru."
Dawn broke through his window before his father did, so Ichigo was already awake for a counter attack.
"MORNING!!!"
The bearded man lunged through the open window to be caught and flipped by Ichigo. He tumbled and knocked over Ichigo's end table. Even though he had gotten his own place, his dad still insisted on visiting him every so often. The old man was righting the table when he noticed how quiet it was.
"What's the matter my boy? Are you sick?"
"No pop, I'm fine."
Ichigo walked into the kitchen to fix them some tea. His apartment was very empty. It only had as much furniture as it needed to be functional. The end-table was his only extra piece; he bought it to hold up his alarm clock. There were no pictures up anywhere. Ichigo used to have a massive wall collage of them in his room back at the house but after the war he found they just upset him.
Too many of them were of him, Renji and Rukia. Too many of they were happy.
The couch was just a plain simple white one with a black throw blanket on it. Orihime had thought the blanket would make a nice house warming gift, well she was right but that didn't make a difference in how Ichigo felt about the place. It was his exile. He felt that he deserved to live alone.
"Well I got exciting news for ya! Tatsuki is back from her world tour. There is going to be a party at Chad's studio. He offered to host because he has the biggest space. Secretly I think he has the hots for her…"
There was a time when Ichigo would have stopped that statement before it ended but he didn't really care. He brought out two cups of Earl Grey; an English tea he was growing attached to, and placed them on a simple coffee table. It was a solid black square table with a faint gloss, another gift but from Uryuu. It had occurred to Ichigo then that they were becoming a couple but he still didn't really care.
"That's nice but I'm afraid I can't go. I have a lot of notes to go over. A girl came in today with a muscle pains. It appears her bones are growing faster than her muscles can catch up. I wanted to do some research on it. It is some what rare and I want to take full advantage of the oppertunit-"
"Ichigo, you can spare one night. Your mother and I are proud of you and becoming a doctor but… don't let it consume your life."
Isshin sipped his tea and looked around some more, giving his son some time to think over what he said. He smiled when he saw a small parrot perched on the only plant in space. The tree was from him of course. He had got it because he wanted to get them something they could both use. Kon had grown tired of being a toy. Isshin had contacts with a lot of the local vets and managed to get him a parrot body, much to his glee. Kon loved flying and a happy Kon meant at least someone was happy in this apartment and all he could do was hope it was contagious.
"Well I have to go open up. I guess I'll see you in about an hour? Your sisters are gone to summer camp so don't take your time. The house is too big and quiet. Bring Kon along. I have honey nut almond crunch cereal for him. See ya in a bit my boy!"
He lay the empty tea down and dove back out the window. Even though Ichigo lived on the sixth floor, he wasn't concerned at all.
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"What do you mean he isn't coming?!"
"Tatsuki-chan, calm down. I'm sure he has a good reason."
Chad simply looked at Ichigo's old man, waiting to hear his explanation. They were putting away all Chad's workout equipment to make room for the party. It was supposed to be a surprise but Tatsuki had popped in on them a day early to catch up with Chad. They had been discussing expanding Chad's studio into a fitness complex. Tatsuki had mad a great deal on her trip around the world. She gambled most of her savings betting on herself in all the competitions and made a fortune. People who didn't know her thought she looked to soft to be a fighting champion. She won a lot of money. She and Chad were going to go into business together.
"He doesn't really have a reason at all, just… paperwork and research."
"What, that's awful! You work him too hard Kurosaki-san!"
Orihime looked very dismayed and angry. She was putting a table cloth onto folding tables with Uryuu, pulling far too much and making the poor man half lie across the table.
"Hime-chan, you're going to pull me off the floor in a minute."
"Oh, sorry Uryuu!"
She let go and he ended up in a table clothed heap on the floor. She rushed to untangle him as Keigo tried to explain to her that Ichigo was ditching them on purpose. Mizuiro was attempting to hang Christmas garland from the full wall mirrors when there was a knock at the door. Before anyone could think to answer, Urahara and gang showed up. He stood with his fan covering what suspiciously sounded like a giggle while Yoruichi purred on his shoulder. His minions carried four massive kegs of-
"SAKE!!"
"I told you I would provide. You have some additional guests coming your way. I thought you would like some extra distractions for them."
The sandal man winked at them before helping with the decorations.
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"I don't want to go Yumichika. Just go away already."
Renji was in his office trying to tackle a particularly large pile of papers when his self loving friend bragged in with news of a party with old friends.
"Come on Renji, you haven't gotten out in a while. I know there is a lot of work for you to do right now but take a night off. It will be good for you."
Renji thought about it. He did have a great deal of deadlines to meet and even more papers to sign, but he was beginning to need a break. His office consisted of a desk and an assortment of comfy yet un-matching chairs. Rukia was bad at making anything match. She was the one who said his office need chairs.
Renji felt a familiar twinge of when he thought of her. She had died a hero's death but it had a sorry aftermath.
"RENJI!!!!"
Yumichika yelled in a sing song way. He sat in the chair closest to his desk and pouted. It was the most hilarious thing Renji had seen all day and fell of his own chair laughing. He whipped a tear from him eye and pulled himself back up. Maybe he needed out of this office for awhile. If nothing else there would be free food.
"When are we leaving?"
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Kon was rolling in the cereal bowl he insisted Ichigo bring back to the apartment with them. The orange haired man was just happy Kon wasn't one of those squawking birds. His father had made sure to pick a nice sounding one before giving it to Kon to use as a body. The silly tropical bird had long since turned down the offered to be "let out into the wild". He was content to stay with Ichigo, regardless of how he felt about it.
"Your little pet makes me sick. Look at him, rolling in his own food. You know what you-"
"You're just jealous because he is out here and you are in there."
Ichigo pointed to his head and continued going through his pile of boxes in the far corner. He hadn't seen the use of buying a bookshelf when the moving boxes held his books just fine. He shifted and pulled out only to replace another. This process was driving Masaru mad.
"I'm going insane here!! What are you doing?!"
"You are already insane and I am looking for a book."
"Can we go to the party already? At least drunk you are somewhat amusing."
"I don't want to go."
"Why the hell not? Are you afraid of them?"
"No-"
"You know you are. When will you learn lying to me is pointless? They don't blame you, they don't even blame me. You need to go to this party; otherwise they will get all worried and start bugging you at home. Go and they just might leave you alone. That's what you want isn't it, to be alone?"
"I don't want to be alone; I am just cursed to be."
A breeze carried from the window Ichigo had thought was closed. He shivered and turned to close it but there was someone blocking his way. Ikkaku was sitting on his sill with a large bottle of sake in his hand.
"Idiot, if you're so cursed then why do you have so much strength? Strong people are never actually cursed; they just make themselves that way. Also cursed people don't have friend who deliver."
He climbed down from the ledge and closed the window. Sitting on his couch, Ikkaku unpacked his bag onto the table. I was filled with what looked like various snacks wrapped in napkins.
"There are people at this party who care about you. They made me bring you these snacks on a sake run. We ran out. How about you gave me a hand carrying them all to Chad's? I could use your help."
Ichigo knew he was lying. He was terrible at it.
"Go already for fuck sake or I will make you."
Ichigo sighed.
"Ok, let me get my coat."
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END II
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Well this one is a lot longer because I didn't know when I wanted to stop this chapter and start the next one. I hope every likes it.
On a side note I read a lot of fanfics with Kon being a cat. I thought it would be funnier if he were a bird, useful too. It comes in handy later on. Oh he is a peach-faced lovebird parrot. That's the kind on Tropicana cartons. If you google "lovebird" you'll find lots of pictures.
