Chapter 02

Blooming Narcissus

Now—

Ichigo woke up slowly on the couch with little desire to get up to go to work today. He looked around to see exactly what he had expected from the teenage looking captain; the futon was put away along with the covers, and there was no trace of him still there. It was annoying that he would go out of his way to make sure that he would not cause him any trouble, but perhaps it was for the best. If Toushirou thought that, it was better to wake up earlier than necessary, then Ichigo would not stop him from thinking this. His body sat up with aches and pains before hearing the toilet flushing down the hall, causing his lips to curve upward in a light smile. The man stayed there for a minute longer until hearing the quiet footsteps reach the entrance of the hallway before stopping suddenly.

"I almost thought you left."

There was hesitation on his side of the conversation. "The thought crossed my mind," he answered honestly. "But, it would not have been fair after what you've done for me. Therefore, I waited."
"Good—I'm glad." The doctor stood. "Because I wanted to be the first to say 'Happy Birthday' to you." He could see the scowl appearing on the other's face. "Toushirou," he smiled. "Happy Birthday."
Turquoise hues turned away , subduing the blush that wanted to rise. "Thank you, now stop trying to sound emotional." With that he started to leave the apartment—only to hear his stomach growl.
Ichigo smirked. "How about I make you some breakfast before you go back to Soul Society, okay?" The captain glared at him slightly. "I made sure to save some meat last night, so we could have it today."

Eyes rolled at this in defeat, and retreated from the doorway.

From there, the Strawberry smirked even wider as he got up to start cooking breakfast—only to be tackled by a dog that weighed over a hundred pounds. It was a canine gigai of a massive Akita, which easily threw Ichigo into the ground, whining and complaining loudly about wanting to go outside to the bathroom. Toushirou offered to escort the furry monster outside to do his business while the host made breakfast so Kon would stop being so loud. Kon, having outgrown being Yuzu's stuffed lion toy, was allowed to go into a canine gigai that would protect the apartment while Ichigo was at work. There was another reason though; Ichigo did not want to bring a date home to find a stuffed animal in his home.

"Kon, go get your leash, and go in the ivy so Toushirou doesn't have to pick up after you." Ichigo shoved the beast off to stand up carefully. Kon did as told, bringing the leash to Ichigo to be clipped to it. Toushirou grabbed the leash and held the doorknob casually. "And don't tug him down the steps!"

Too late, Kon stormed down the five steps, only to be choked for attempting to make the captain fly without the use of his bankai. Ichigo snickered at how much control Toushirou had for the mod soul, and decided to leave them be as he quickly made some breakfast. He placed some rice in the rice cooker before hearing barking and snarling outside, forcing him to run to the doorway to see Kon chasing a cat.

Angered by this, he bit his thumb to cause bleeding, extending it with his fullbring manipulations to make it a whip to smack the sidewalk in front of the canine. "Leave it alone." Kon was about to speak, but the crimson liquid turned into hardened rock-like daggers to remind him that he could not speak outside of the apartment. "Come inside, now." With that, he returned the blood to his thumb and walked back inside to start cooking the meat before he was in a foul mood by the inconvenience.

"Honestly," Ichigo growled as he began cutting some vegetables. "I should have given him a cat gigai!"

Kon yelped in horror when he entered the home—scampering to the bedroom as to not further anger the carrot top man. There were many things that Ichigo could do to him since he was a doctor, and neutering him would not be the hardest thing. The phone began to ring on the handheld phone stand, forcing him to pick it up and answer with displease at six in the morning call. It was a nurse that was complaining about him not being at work yet when there was an serious case that he had to work on.

"What case would I have to work on at six hundred hours?" It then hit him. "Oh no… that boy that was bullied—that case? Has something happened to him?" The nursed agreed to the first part, but declined the second part by telling him that the parents were getting restless. "I'm not going to sign releases until I see him for myself. As for the parents, give them an appointment for therapy. I believe they could use it." She told him that it was already suggested, and they did not like that option. "Okay, give me two hours, I'm busy at the moment with personal things. Thank you for giving me an update thought." He hung up.

"There's a problem, and you're not going to attend to it?" Toushirou glared at him. "That's not like you."

"My patient is not in danger of being mentally or physically harmed, so there is no reason to run off and come to his aide this minute. His parents are impatient and unfit to raise him. That being said, they still love their son, and try to do what is best for him." He shifted the meats and vegetables around to blend better. "Besides, I said I would cook you breakfast, and so I'm going to cook you some breakfast. Got it?"

"Yes, yes…" Toushirou closed the door behind him and walked out to the patio. "How about omelets?"

"Whatever you want," as the meat was cooking a pan, he brought another out to make omelets as his guest asked. "You would like fermented beans in the morning, too?" This earned him a deadly scowl, making him grin. "Don't think I can't see you blushing from here, Toushirou. It puts color to your—"

"Shut up." He hissed at him. Ichigo shrugged at him being so defensive. The captain sighed. "Idiot…"
"I suppose that can go both our ways, right?" Although, saying this had earned him another scowl.
Toushirou walked back in from the patio, scowling still. "No, idiocy only goes in your direction."
"Yeah, sure it does." He finished the omelet and handed it over to him. "Here, just how you like it."
Despite how the captain wanted to remain angry, he took the plate and ate at the small table. "Thanks."

"Toushirou," he called seriously, though in a caring manner. This did not bode well with said male. "I saw your reaction while I was on the phone. Was it because I was being asked to come in early, or was it—"
"You said bullied, and so I was recalling my past." The answer itself startled the host; not expecting much of an answer. "Though bullying was rare, it occurred nonetheless for my appearances. That's all."
"Remember who any of them are? I'll make sure they regret it." Ichigo responded lightly even though he was serious about his statement. "Come to think of it. Didn't that Kusaka guy help you at all with them?"
"This was before him, and I didn't tell him about it either. On any account, telling you their names would be useless." He grabbed himself a big bite and paused. "And I doubt that you would hit your boyfriend."
Ichigo froze at the implication, "Renji was one of them?" There was no answer. "Then I know what to do for your birthday." He grinned demonically. "I'll force Renji to attend to your party, naked, to apologize."

The captain choked on the bite that he tried to savor when hearing the offer; the image of that man walking around the party in the nude was horrifying. What made things worse was the fact that he knew Ichigo was not lying about this in the slightest because he would never say what he did not mean. He watched the man fiddle with his orange bangs with disapproval before his eyes glowed white—forcing the Spirits within his strands of hair to change the hair color with his bloody thumb. It turned red as he ran a hand through his hair; the same color as the blood that he smeared into it before observing again.

"Hmm… I still don't know how to make it black still." Rustling his hair, it returned to it blinding orange color. "Wonder if I can use material of my shihakusho, but that would be weird." He finished cooking.

"It would work," the captain stated after swallowing the rest of the omelet. "You make things possible."

Having enough of this odd behavior from Toushirou, he prepared the meal for the two of them and handed the other a try they had the bowls of food. "You've been different since yesterday, Toushirou. I can't complain because you seem to be in a good mood. But I can't help wonder, is everything is okay?" This caused the captain to look away with a hard glare. "Hey, don't shut me out Toushirou. Talk to me."

"I would like for you to join me in eating breakfast, quietly, Kurosaki. From what I understand, you will do whatever I want because it is my birthday, yes?" Ichigo flickered at the cold tone, but did as told.
He sat across from him. "You said quietly, not silently." This earned him a sharp glare. "Haven't I proven myself worthy of your trust after all these years? You know that I'm always on your side, Toushirou…"
"It's because I trust you that I bother to let my guard down once in a while. Is it so horrible that I could actually feel content occasionally? Even if it would mean being in your presence, you idiotic son of a—"
"Hey, don't be so defensive Toushirou." He warned softly to have the teenage-looking male to settle down. "If what you're saying is true, then I'm grateful that you can feel at ease around me, really."

Toushirou looked at him for a moment, seeing him smiling casually. It allowed a smile of his own to appear on his face. "It's hard not to feel content around you—or infuriated for your lack of respect." He pointed at him aggressively with his chopsticks. "For the umpteenth time, it's Hitsugaya-Taichou to you."

"Why to me?" His brow rose curiously. "Can someone else call you by your name without you scolding?"
"Not any longer." He looked over at the man again. "Can I enjoy my meal in peace now?"
Ichigo shrugged casually at the other with a smile still. "I'm not stopping you."
"No, just distracting me." From thereon, they ate in peaceful silence.

"Did you sleep with him?" A jealous redhead asked firmly, sitting in his boyfriend's chair in the office.
"Did you ever harass him?" The doctor scowled, closing the door behind him quietly. Locking it, even.
There was a shutter at the dark aura. "Hitsugaya-Taichou told you about the Academy? Didn't he."
"You're not answering my question, Renji. Did you, or did you not, attempt to bully Toushirou?"
"Attempt, being the operative word." He leaned back in the chair. "The first time I did, I was punched."
"Well I'm glad he knew how to take care of you back then when you were giving him a hard time—"

"I didn't say he punched me, I said I was punched." His eyes lowered to the calendar, seeing the captain's name on today's notes. "It was a man with black hair—looked almost like Shiba Kaien, a former Fukutaichou for the Thirteenth Squad." He tried to recall the past. "I made one little joke, and was eating dirt before I knew it. That guy packed a punch. Thought my jaw broke back then." This made him snort.

Ichigo snorted as well. "So that was fifty—no, almost sixty years ago, huh? You guys are so old." He came around the desk to sit on the calendar. "I don't like sleeping with people older than me."
"If I met you back then, I would have been in your range. Hitsugaya-Taichou though," he chuckled. "I guess he would have been about twenty or thirty… I don't even know how old that guy is anymore."
"And you? Are you pushing it near two hundred like Byakuya?" The thought of the now-mentioned captain had irked him. "You know… I can feel his reiatsu on you. What have you two been up to?"
A blush crept over his face to match his hair. "N-Nothing! How can you ever think that I would betray you and go sleeping with someone else! What kind of a man do you take me for Ichigo! That's sick!"

"Yet you were kicked to the curb and came running to me with your tail between your legs because your last boyfriend found out that you sleep with a woman." Ichigo scowled at him bitterly. "Once a cheater, always a cheater. There is no way around that, and you know it. If you slept with Byakuya, say it now."

"I didn't sleep with him!" Renji stood up to challenge the man who was not fazed. "…I only kissed him."

The Strawberry cracked his neck as a sign of irritation. "Well it looks like I'm going to have to teach you both a lesson. For you not to betray me, and then try to lie about it. Then for Byakuya for going along with the two of you exchanging saliva." His gaze hardened. "Get out of my office. Get out of my world."

"Ichigo—just listen to me! It was an accident! I tripped and fell over Kuchiki-Taichou! Don't be mad—"

"I'm not mad about anything. I refuse to be nothing but cheerful today for Toushirou's sake. When I arrive to that party tonight, it's going to be like nothing happened. Is that understood?" The redhead nodded worriedly. "Good. We'll deal with it tomorrow. Now get out of here before I change my mind."

Renji wasted no time leaving the office, or the Living World. He was in trouble, and knew he had to run.

Ichigo growled in annoyance as he tried to imagine a younger Renji and a younger Toushirou, the former trying to harass the latter. It was too hard not to punch someone or something as hard as he could, but alas, he might destroy the entire hospital—or the town, if he used his full power. Either way, he took in a deep breath to keep himself in control in order for the frustration to leave his system smoothly. He heard a knock on the door across the room, but he did not want to be disturbed right now, the things that he learned about this morning was troubling. Then learning about his boyfriend having a supposed accidental kiss with his captain; he hate the fact that he was supposed to be a gentleman, and a doctor.

"Sensei, you have rounds to do." A man called from the other side of the door.

Chewing on the inside of his lip, he glanced over at his case against the wall that held his classic guitar that he was going to take to Soul Society with him. There were two things that he was going to take with him to the next world; the guitar, and Toushirou's present, which was a little… girly, it seemed. It was a silver chain with a pendant on it, the pendant was a silver white snowflake with a turquoise gem, but the clip in the back to connect it, was a narcissus—a daffodil, to represent the Tenth Squad. The gift was in a small white box with dark green ribbon around it; it was not intentional to have it seem like a present to a lover, or for someone that would want to get close to.

"I'm in a relationship with Renji, Toushirou knows that." Ichigo told himself as he stood up slowly. "Well, either way, I doubt that he would accept it." With that, he walk away and left the room to get to work. "If I heal people with kidou, I can make good timing to the party tonight…" He crossed his arms, thinking about what all he could do to be on time. "Unless I have to—" His pager beeped; a woman was going into labor. "Perfect timing, maybe today will be on my side for once." With that, he began hurrying up.

From there on, the day had become surprisingly fast with the exception of an emergency patient that he was called in to help with. He decided not to take any chances by calling in another doctor to take his place to be on call if there were anything else that he would have to deal with. Chocolate brown hues glanced at the clock that he was power walking by to see that there were two hours before sunset. All he had to do was grab his guitar, and Toushirou's gift before walking out of the hospital quickly in case a mishap happened that would need him.

"Sensei, wait!" A nurse at the counter called as he was just about to reach the elevator. "You need to sign this before you go home today!" He huffed before turning on his heels with a bright smile to do the task. "Don't forget that you have a board meeting tomorrow morning. If you're going out to a party, I hope you don't drink too much." The woman smiled cheerfully as he signed the paperwork. "My, my, you seem too young to be one of our greatest doctors here Kurosaki-sense, and too cute for it too!"

"Oh come on, I only turned twenty-six this year, there has to be younger doctors around!" Ichigo took the compliments well. Not minded that he was called cute by the slightly older nurse. "Can you file these for me and make sure that any other files that need my signatures are on my desk. Case files separate?"

"Right away!"

He blinked as she nearly skipped away merrily, other nurses scolding her for receiving tasks from their number one doctor amongst the woman. In truth, the Strawberry was not particularly fond of all the women wanting his attention or to assist him with things no matter what the case was about. Some doctors and other board members were a little upset that he was supposedly creating trouble by being a distraction, but he was too good of a doctor to doctor to be let go. Looking left and right, then left again before walking out of the hospital as quickly as possible while wishing he had a hat to hide his hair. It was the only reason why he stood out like a sore thumb when he was doing his best to escape in peace!

He made out finally. "Now then, over to—"
"Ichigo!" Kon voice screeched, followed by barking.
The man groaned before hunting down the mod soul. "What?"

They were hidden in a corner. "You're going to Soul Society, right? Can I be in your body? Please, please, please! I'll take good care of it! You might take too long at the party, and I would have to let myself in and out by scratching the doors and windows. Then I would have to feed myself by going through the—"

"Okay, okay, shut up." Ichigo untied the Shinigami Badge and pressed it against the dog's forehead. The small pill came out, so he wiped it off. "This is disgusting." Scrunching his face, he swallowed it and came out of his body as a Shinigami Substitute. "Kon, take your other body home."

He picked up the gift and placed it in his robe before grabbing the guitar case in a hurry as if someone was going to catch a floating case. With a quick flash step, he was at Urahara's Candy Shop in seconds, shifting the case more freely with no one around to notice. Not tempting fate by wasting time, Ichigo walked into shop to see the keeper standing there with an all-knowing grin on his face. This did not faze him as he tossed Toushirou's gift to him—demanding to make sure that the present would cross over. It was checked on three times, and it was good to go, as was the guitar in the casing because they were main fullbring items for the man. With his badge safe with Kon, he needed to keep something on him, something that he cherished, and he chose the instrument that could soothe others.

"Let's go, I don't want anything to interfere with my timing of actually showing up on time."

Urahara Kisuke raised a hand at him, waving it casually before escorting to the basement where he casually opened the Senkai Gate for him. With a swift jump, he entered through the portal and walked casually jogged towards the exit that would lead him to Soul Society. Nothing was new to him, but he wished that he had a Hell-Butterfly to guide him safely to the other side so he would not have to deal with troublesome incidences. The creature would have been useful right now as the ground shook from under his feet due to the large Janitor was rushing in his direction faster than the previous Janitor.

"I forgot this thing was recreated!" Ichigo turned quickly on his heels and began running—snapping the buckle on his guitar. "Shit!" He heard the guitar clanking against the ground. Skidding to a stop briefly, he dove toward the guitar to save from being annihilated by the Janitor. "Just great!" As he attempted to get up, his foot was stuck within the terrain as the Janitor neared him. "Sorry about this…"

He held the head of the guitar, which turned into a black scythe that represented what a true mythical Shinigami would hold, and he swung a massive attack at the Janitor. The attack destroyed the Janitor and let his foot free from the ground, but the aftereffect from the attack sent him flying backwards. His body shot through the exit, and he crashed into the ground down below—creating a large crater from the impact. This did not bother him as he checked his guitar after it reverted, fixed the snap on the guitar case, placed it inside, and then checked the gift. Everything was okay now, thankfully. No harm and no foul to anyone around him from what he could see, but saw a boy running from a large Hollow.

"I was thrown into the Rukongai area, huh?" Ichigo put the guitar case by a tree and went to stop things.

The white-haired boy tripped over a sharp rock that cut open his foot and rolled over to soften the hard fall instead of going face first. He was looking up at the giant monster that was charging toward him, but Ichigo stepped in front with a hand on the hilt of his Zanpakutou. To the boy's surprise, the very sight of the Shinigami had startled the creature that quickly began to run away, though it was not fast enough.

With a swing of his blade, the Hollow was gone. "Well, that was easy enough… as always." Ichigo turned around to look at the boy who was rubbing his face. "White hair, huh? I'm sure Toushirou would be a little interested to know there's another fellow around like him." He saw his bloody foot. "Oh, let me—"
"Who are you?" The boy glared.
"Even sounds like Toushirou," Ichigo mumbled at the unappreciative voice. "You must be new to Soul Society then. I'm Kurosaki Ichigo, I'm a Shinigami Substitute." He used some kidou and healed his foot easily. "That should do it. You think you can stand now?" After standing up himself, he offered a hand.
"How do you know my name?"
"Eh? I don't. My name's Kurosaki Ichigo." It was impossible that they shared the same name. He dusted the boy off whom got up on his own. "Anyway, if you're talking about Toushirou… you have to know him if you live in this world. Hitsugaya Toushirou, Taichou of the Tenth Division." The Strawberry laughed.

Turquoise hues looked at him with a glare. "I just joined the Academy to become a Shinigami. Do I look like a Taichou to you, you Idiot?" The man stared in disbelief at the young version of the one and only Hitsugaya Toushirou, standing in front of him with an infamous icy glare. "Why do you know my name?"

"T-Toushirou?"