There we go, hope it wasn't too long a wait. Hope you enjoy!
"Oww, not so hard, Kurosaki!" the white-haired boy complained. "You're going to rub me raw!"
"You're a captain. Deal with it." The reply was curt. "I'm sure that you've received worse injuries than these in the whole of your career as a squad commander of the Gotei Thirteen."
"Don't assume." The short captain turned and glared at him. "Even so, there's hardly any reason for me to feel more pain than I deserve, is there?"
"Sa na." (Who knows?) Ichigo grinned, and pressed down a little harder than he had intended to.
"AAH! Yamete! Are you trying to clean me or kill me?"
Ichigo scratched his head.
"A bit of both, really."
"Kisama!"
"Okay, okay. Just hold still."
Ichigo rubbed the boy's bare back a little more gently now. It was amazing how much filth Hitsugaya had managed to accumulate over the past day. He had already gone through three clean towels, and this one was beginning to change colour as well. Hitsugaya sighed softly with relief. His bandages lay in a crumpled mess of gauze and cotton, and the only things protecting his wounds from the elements were cotton dressings protected by a kidou barrier, thanks to Unohana.
"Take a look at all the cloths I've gone through." He motioned to the formerly white towels on the floor. "That's all from you. And I haven't even done your front yet."
"Mm." The constant up down, up down motion was putting him to sleep, and fast.
"Oi, don't go sleep yet! I still need to clean your other side." Ichigo jabbed him lightly in his underarm. "Turn over."
"Don't do that." Hitsugaya said irritably. "It hurts every time I move, and you poking and prodding isn't helping at all."
"Urusai." He rolled the boy over, surprised at how light the gigai was. "Oh, come on."
He rolled his eyes. Hitsugaya had placed both hands over his bare torso, trying to hide whatever humility he retained.
"We're both guys here." He sighed. "And besides, it's not like I wanna see what you're trying to hide; I'm just trying to clean you up so you don't mess my bed up."
He tugged gently at the captain's arms. Hitsugaya resisted, frowning stubbornly at the yellow-haired teen.
"Toshirou, don't make me poke you again."
He relented, moving his arms to the side of his body reluctantly.
"It's Hitsugaya taichou…"
"There's a good boy." Ichigo ruffled his hair.
"Stop doing that! I'm not a kid." He snapped, making a feeble attempt to smack Ichigo's hand away.
"Then stop acting like one." The icy truthfulness of the words hit him hard. "Just relax."
For once, he obeyed this substitute shinigami's words, and closed his eyes. Ichigo tried to be as gentle as he could on Hitsugaya's wounded front. He soaked the cloth in the medicated water again, and lightly ran the cloth over whatever uncovered skin he could find on the boy's chest, marveling at how Unohana's barrier kept the water from soaking the dressing in a neat 1cm border around the gauze. Even when he was injured, Hitsugaya's shapely torso still caught Ichigo's attention, and he had to resist reaching out and stroking the boy's smooth white chest.
The captain sighed again as he felt the warm cloth swathe against his chest. Left, right, left, right, up, down, up down, splash, wring, rinse and repeat. Then came the cloth on his abdomen.
"Ugh…"
"Does it hurt?"
"A little."
"I'll stop if you want."
"No… just make it quick."
"Alright."
"And… Kurosaki…"
"Hmm?"
"After this, could you… could you…"
"What is it?"
"Could you… maybe… rub my shoulders… not with the cloth… but… with your hands…?"
Hmm… this was unusual. Ichigo wondered…
"Why?"
"Teme, just say yes or no!"
"Alright, alright. No need to lose your temper. I just asked."
"If you must know, it's because I can feel the tension that's built up there from months of doing Matsumoto's paperwork, and from lying here for the better part of two days. There, satisfied?"
Teal eyes, narrowed with annoyance, glared up at him.
"Ah, wakata." Ichigo said, grinning. "Geez, you don't need to snipe at everything I say, you know. Take it easy."
His stomach was swiftly cleaned, and he winced with the pain. He heard Ichigo rinse the cloth again, and felt its rough texture against his neck, cleaning away the sweat that had dried there, leaving a refreshing sensation in its wake. Then, one final rinse, and it went over his face and ears, putting the grime and grit there at its mercy.
"Ah, finally." Ichigo stood up and went to the bathroom, dumping the dirty contents of the bucket into the toilet bowl. "My hands were starting to get tired."
"Kurosaki…"
"Ah, what is it?"
"… Arigato."
As expected, the yellow haired teen brushed it off.
"It's nothing."
He turned over onto his stomach, and rested face down on the pillow. He'd certainly felt better, but Kurosaki's ministrations had definitely improved living conditions for him. He turned his face to the left and looked out the window. The sun was setting over the plethora of rooftops that blocked the otherwise visible horizon. He wished he could go out to that little spot beside the highway that he found the last time he was here. The spot where Karin had found him, toying with his communicator, and 'invited' him to the soccer game.
"Hungry?" Ichigo's voice drowned his thoughts. He nodded.
"I'll go get you some food." He was carried to the armchair again, much to his annoyance. "We'll put those bandages on later."
"Kurosaki, can you…"
"… get you some Coke, yeah, I know." The teen was already out of the room. It was uncanny how he can almost read my thoughts, Hitsugaya thought. He reached out for Ichigo's iPod, scrutinizing the design that was too… white… for his liking.
'These humans have no fashion sense at all.' He deduced, turning it over in his palm. "Even someone from the Kurotsuchi's department could cook up a better looking thing than this."
Ichigo entered the room, clutching a bowl of beef udon in the crook of his elbow. He held a bowl of Miso soup in his left hand and a can of what was beginning to become Hitsugaya's favourite drink in the real world in his other hand.
"There you go." He placed the items on the table and pushed the armchair forward. "I'm going to get my own food. Feel free to dig in."
He went downstairs again, only to be confronted by an overly excitable Isshin.
"My son is taking care of another person, just like I taught him!" he sobbed. "I hope Hitsugaya-kun gets back at those bullies who beat him up when he was out the other day!"
"Urusai!" a well placed elbow sent Isshin flying in the general direction of the sofa. He brought his own food upstairs, and realized that Hitsugaya had not touched a single morsel of the meal that he had brought up for the little captain.
"What's the matter?" he asked. "Beef not one of your favourites?"
"No… I don't know about the real world, but in Seireitei it's rude to eat without waiting for the host to eat first."
"Well, it's polite to wait for the other person here as well, but I don't really care for those customs." Ichigo pulled up his chair and sat beside Hitsugaya. "From now on, just dig in, with or without me."
"Baka. Just because I'm in your house doesn't give me the excuse to throw my manners away."
"Whatever. Just shut up and eat."
"Kisama." They ate in silence.
"Eh, Toshirou?"
"It's Hitsu…"
"Yeah, whatever. Listen, we're lucky it's the weekend, so I don't have to go to school. But when Monday comes, you'll be alone here with my father. He'll be a bit busy with the clinic, so you're essentially by yourself in this room. Is there anything you want to entertain yourself for the better part of the week?"
"Yes." The reply was so curt and confident that it took Ichigo aback. "I'd like to use the… internet."
Ichigo's jaw dropped.
"When did you learn about that? And where?"
Hitsugaya looked down, a very slight blush tingeing his cheeks.
"Matsumoto brings back magazines from the real world." He replied softly. "I don't usually read those boring things, but one article about this caught my attention."
Ichigo laughed, and the captain glared at him angrily.
"Don't look at me like that; I'm just surprised that you took the trouble to learn a little of what us humans have concocted in our brains of ours." He said. "I'll leave my laptop at home so you can use it to surf the web."
"Nani? What's surf? And what web are you talking about? There aren't any spiders in your computer are there?"
"Ugh… never mind."
"Ku-ro-sa-ki…"
"I'll teach you how to use it before I go to school on Monday. Just eat." He sighed. "Ugh… it's so hard to communicate with you sometimes."
"Kurosaki, just because I don't say much doesn't mean I don't have a mouth of my own."
"I know, I know, but maybe once in awhile you should… I dunno… open up a little?"
"… fine. What are we having for dinner tomorrow?"
"Yare yare, the first thing that comes out of your mouth is food."
"Damare! You told me to 'open up' so I did!"
"Ah, I suppose that's true. Even if all you can talk about is how you're going to freeload off of me."
"Teme… how do you open this thing anyway?"
"This 'thing' is called a can, and you open it by pulling that tab there." He held the can in his hand and pointed. "Careful, don't overexert yourself."
"Baka, Orihime's healing this afternoon has restored part of my strength." The captain looked closely at the metal contraption. "So… I put my fingernail underneath that and… pull?"
"Yes…" an exasperated Ichigo sighed as Hitsugaya gave it a cautious half-hearted flick, as if the can would explode if he applied any more force. "Pull harder."
The can opened with a satisfying Pschkkk sound.
"I trust you don't need a straw anymore?"
The captain answered the query by grabbing hold of the can and tipping its contents into his mouth.
"That's nice. Think you can walk to the bed yourself?"
"I can try."
"Just take it easy." Ichigo held Hitsugaya's forearm to support him as the boy tentatively put a foot on the floor.
"Whoops." Ichigo saved him from crumpling onto the floor in a broken heap. "Definitely not ready, then."
He carried the tendo to the bed, and laid him carefully on the covers. Hitsugaya turned onto his stomach, digging his hands under the pillow. Ahh, he could do with a good massage. Which reminded him…
"Kurosaki, could you…"
"Yeah, yeah, I haven't forgotten your little 'request' yet." Ichigo said. "Just let me get all the dirty plates downstairs."
He was back in an instant, or so it seemed, closing the door and locking it. Just in case. He didn't trust his father any more than Karin or Yuzu did.
"I have some baby lotion in the bathroom… if you want, I could…"
"… fine." A fine blush crept into his cheeks, and he buried his face into the pillow, glad that Kurosaki didn't have the ability to see through his head. "Just get on with it."
He gasped as the cold lotion was splattered onto his back, and bit his lip to stop from hissing as the cold sensation was spread around his angled shoulder blades as well as the rest of his back. Then, a tentative hand nervously brushed against the small of his back, tickling him.
He squirmed slightly.
"Toshirou, are you sure you're okay with this?"
"Just… get on with it." He repeated his sentence.
Ichigo gulped. He had been dying to touch this soft, virulent body for the past two days, and now that it was being openly offered to him, he was ever so hesitant. Why? Another nervous touch made Hitsugaya lose his patience.
"Kurosaki, just forget it. I never should have…"
"Wari."
He felt Ichigo's thumbs rubbing into his back, stimulating the nerves and the pressure points as well as releasing the tension that had built up there after literally ages of sitting and doing paperwork. Ah, the bliss of it all! He tried not to groan. Too loudly.
"Ungh…"
Ichigo smiled. His thumbs ran over the smooth hot skin of the little captain beneath him. Rubbing over sinewy flesh that was both strong and soft at the same time brought a certain satisfaction and an edge to the exercise. Not to mention the moans and groans that accompanied it. God, this was priceless! He tentatively rubbed against the captain's spine, feeling the delicateness of the bone structure, and also the firmness of the back muscles surrounding it.
"Kurosaki… I don't… ugh… remember asking you… aargh… to rub my… aah… back."
"I'll move up to your shoulders if you want."
"No… that's fine. Move up when you're… ready." Hitsugaya squirmed and shifted under Ichigo's strong, callused fingers. "A-argh…"
Ichigo knew that Hitsugaya liked this massage. It probably felt like heaven to him, but knowing the little grump, it was unlikely he'd ever admit that. True enough, every touch that Ichigo laid on him felt like a tiny jolt of electricity, and his heart beat faster as the teen got more involved. To Hitsugaya's great surprise (and horror), he began to wonder what it would be like if both their bodies were touching each other. He wondered how he'd feel against Ichigo's larger and stronger body. He got even redder as he thought of what Ichigo would think of him if he ever did that. No… that would never work. A Gotei 13 Captain with a mere human? Never. He closed his eyes and tried to lose himself in the massage, and lose those thoughts.
After a lot of hard work, the white-haired boy's back was finally loosened, the ropes of tension dissolving into wiry muscle. Ichigo sighed, and moved up to the captain's shoulders. The accented shoulder blades filled his palm as he rubbed his thumbs into the meaty area of the boy's physique. The next half hour was spent freeing that area of the stress that bothered the little captain so much.
"Oi, Toshirou, you happy with that?" he said to the motionless body before him. "Eh, ano?"
Hitsugaya had fallen asleep… again. But it was a different sleep compared to the sleep nearly eight hours ago. Instead of restless twitching and turning plagued by jolts of pain, the captain slumbered peacefully, breaths coming out of his mouth in little sighs as he rested his relieved body. Inoue had really done her job. The sight of the exposed skin, with the pores visible as a result of the massage was more than the teenager could handle. Ichigo's heart melted slightly as he very gently caressed the boy's warm back, admiring the sticky-smooth sensation that was caused partly by the lotion and mostly by the cleaning earlier. For a captain with a bankai the size of a small airplane, who survived countless battles with the hollow, this body most certainly did not suit him at all. There was no sign of corruption by the forces of neither time nor the hollows' cruel weapons. It was a wonder why he didn't notice his own…
"Kurosakiiiiii…" Hitsugaya slurred, startling him.
"Yeah?"
"Turn me overrr…"
"Why?"
"Just do it. I sleep easier that way."
"Fine."
He gently rolled the captain over, bringing his wounded front into view. He gazed with regret at the white-haired boy's abused body. If only he had been there sooner…
"Kurosaki, what are you doing?"
"What does it look like?" Ichigo was massaging the meaty area between the end of his neck and the start of his collarbone. "How does that feel?"
"You don't have to…"
"I know I don't have to." Ichigo smiled. "I want to."
"Mmh. It's your hands are that are going to get tired from all of this."
"Urusai. Enjoy it while it lasts."
"…"
Teal eyes gazed up at brown irises.
"Why are you… caring… so much for me?"
"Baka, do you even need to ask?" Ichigo replied. "Omai wa ore no nakama." (You are my friend.)
"But… I haven't done anything for you to be considered that high of a regard."
"It's not like I owe you anything, Toshirou." He said, ignoring the boy's frown. "You don't have to do anything drastic or dramatically life-changing to be considered a friend in my book. Just willing to be around me is a good enough reason for me."
"Kurosaki, I was ordered here by Yama…"
"But yet you agreed, and without argument. You could have said no, and asked for maybe Orihime's instead." Ichigo blindsided him. "After all, you've stayed there before, haven't you?"
Toshirou blinked. He hadn't really thought long and hard about Yamamoto's decision to send him to the Kurosaki household. It wasn't in his best interests to go against the sotaichou's orders anyway. He'd received enough ribbing from the Bount incident from the old geezer, and he wasn't going to provoke the wizened fart any more than he could.
"I guess so."
"What sort of reply is that? You guess so? You guess what?"
"Damare! Do your job and care for me, since that's what you're so eager to do."
Ichigo smiled at Hitsugaya's apparent inability to outwardly express his inner thoughts in words. He didn't need to continue the argument any more.
"Just try to go to sleep, okay?" he gently ran his hand through the white shock of hair. "Little snowflake."
"I thought I told you to stop giving names to me."
"Urusai."
The bleeping of the alarm clock jolted him rudely to consciousness. He sat up violently, eyes hastily scanning the room. That's when he felt the protest his body was giving him in the form of white-hot knives in his front. He fell back onto the bed with a moan.
The bedroom light was flipped on, and the boy shielded his eyes from it, groaning with protest. A shadow loomed over him, and he wondered who it was.
"Good Morning, Ichigooooo…" Isshin's voice was heard, followed by a thwack and a choke. "You have learnt well, my son."
"Bastard! What sort of an idiot father wakes his son by trying to murder him? It isn't even me on the bed!"
"Ahh… I see. Well, don't keep your sisters waiting!"
"Ah, wakata. Now get out of my room, oyaji."
The door slammed.
"And stay out!"
"Kurosaki, what was that?"
"That, Toshirou, is my father's wake up call." The yellow haired teen replied, walking into the bathroom. "You have to be very careful when you're around him, just so you know. Do you want me to turn the light off?"
"If it's not too much trouble." The reply came quietly.
The room was plunged back into darkness as the switch was flipped.
"So it's Monday…" Ichigo thought, as the warm water hit his body. "I'm probably going to meet Renji and Yumichika in school, and Renji's going to be… oh no… dressed in some weird clothing again. With those horrible sunglasses that he knows I'll smash on sight."
He rubbed the conditioner into his hair, thinking back to yesterday.
"Man, that brat." He smirked. "Something's definitely wrong with him. He probably needs someone important in his life. Someone whom he can open up to."
He applied soap to his hands, and began cleaning himself.
"Damn, now I'll have to teach him how to use the internet. And now I'm so not in the mood."
He emerged from the bathroom, carrying a hand towel and some moisturizer.
"Oi, Toshirou. Do you want to wash your face?"
"It's Hitsugaya tai…"
"Yeah, yeah. Here." He handed the damp towel to Hitsugaya. "Wet your face with that, and put the cream onto your face."
"What is this?"
"That's…" he struggled to find the word, and settled for "… face wash."
"Hmm…" he looked at the tube suspiciously. He glanced up at Ichigo, who had fished his laptop out of his schoolbag and who was now rummaging about for the adaptor.
He gently rubbed some of the cream onto his hands, and applied some onto his face. Hmm, this felt just like soap. Ack! It was going into his eyes!
"K-Kurosaki!" he managed to blurt out. "M-my eyes!"
"Baka, why didn't you close them when you put them on?"
"Water! Just get me some water!" Aah, it stung. Bad, very bad. "Hurry!"
"Goodness me…" Ichigo was back with a pail of warm water. "Here."
The captain plunged his head into the pail in panic, not caring in the least about his humility. The stinging sensation went away quickly, and with relief, he pulled his head out, not realizing his hair was drenched as well. The end result was his white locks plastered across his face, water dripping from the ends of them. He looked like a soaked puppy, and Ichigo could not help bursting out in laughter at the sight.
"Damare!" he yelled at the teen, temper flaring. "I'll… ugh!"
He was interrupted by a towel vigorously scrubbing his hair and drying his face. He tried to struggle against it, to no avail. Ichigo didn't stop until his hair was completely restored to its natural spiked up state.
"Teme…" he growled, as Ichigo removed the towel.
"Yeah, whatever." The heavy laptop was dumped onto his lap, and booted up.
"What is this?" This contraption resembled the screens that the Shinigami in the Technological Bureau looked upon while researching new developments.
"This is a computer." Ichigo replied. "You surf the internet on it."
The next ten minutes was spent teaching the little captain about the twists and bends of the laptop. Ichigo made sure that Hitsugaya knew what he was doing before he left the boy to his own devices.
"Do you want breakfast?"
"Yes." This was a change from the usual hesitation followed by a grudging 'fine', Ichigo noted. "Please."
"Okay, be right back." The teen exited the room.
Hitsugaya looked down at the laptop with curiosity. The fact that he knew how to use it now still didn't detach from the question of how did it run, and what else could one do with the machine on his lap. He looked at the time. Half past seven in the morning. Another half an hour before Kurosaki would leave for school. And he'd probably bring back Abarai and Ayasegawa, so he'd have a busy afternoon ahead of him, questioning them for their reports. He lay back on the sheets, and folded his arms above his head, closing his eyes. His shoulders, devoid of tension, stretched and contorted easily. Lying in bed all day, being fussed over and not having to do a single thing… he could live with this… if only Matsumoto did her paperwork. Then he'd have some days like these in Seireitei instead of having to work days back to back while his lazy lieutenant slothed on the couch. Still, he felt a little guilty taking advantage of Ichigo, but that would have to do for now.
"You haven't fallen asleep again, have you?" A finger prodded his side softly.
"Stop…" he squirmed, grabbing the hand. "Where's my food?"
"On the table." He felt hands gripping him under his arms, and relaxed as Ichigo once again carried him over to the armchair.
As he ate, Ichigo changed into his school attire; the usual black sleeveless shirt underneath the white uniform. He slung his bag over his shoulder and sat down on the bed, watching Hitsugaya eat.
"What are you looking at?"
"What do you think?"
"Why?"
"Because who's going to carry you back to the bed once you finish eating? My father?" Ichigo mocked him.
"… Urusai."
"I'm bringing Renji, Ikkaku and that girly man back home today." Ichigo informed him. "Make sure you get enough rest, so that when they come you'll be in a fit state to question them."
"I know my duties as a taichou, Kurosaki."
"And also, remember to put this on." Ichigo patted the folded black polo shirt on the side-table. "I'm sure you want to appear presentable to your subordinates."
He ran a gentle hand through the captain's hair, displacing some of the albino strands. Instead of smacking the hand away, Hitsugaya squeezed his eyes shut, and leant into it, savouring the pleasure. Ichigo grinned.
"You finished with your food yet?"
"Ah."
"Okay, then." He was carried back to the bed again. "Are you alright for now?"
"… how much time do you have before you need to go?"
"About five minutes."
"Well…" he turned his head away from Ichigo to hide the blush. "I could do with another backrub."
He would do anything just to feel the teen's hands on him again.
"Five minutes? Are you sure that's enough time for…"
"Do you want to do it or not?"
Ichigo sighed.
"There we go again." He sat on the side of the bed as Hitsugaya glared at him. "Someone needs to control his temper if he wants things his way."
"Urusai." He rolled over onto his stomach. "Well?"
"Ah… hai, hai."
As he pressed into the captain's back, he noticed a crumpled parcel on the floor. It was Matsumoto's untouched present. He picked it up and placed it in front of Hitsugaya's eyes.
"You still haven't opened Rangiku-san's gift yet."
"Somehow…" the captain raised his eyebrow. "I don't think I want to."
"That's not very nice." Ichigo picked the present up again, causing the white-haired boy to groan in protest.
"Just get on with the backrub, Kurosaki." He snatched the present back. "I'll open it, if you're that curious."
He peeled open the wrappings, and to his surprise and horror, a bright blue schoolbag obviously made for elementary school students fell onto the bed, along with a note in Matsumoto's handwriting.
"Hello, Taichou! I went through your luggage yesterday, and I noticed that you've forgotten to bring your school uniform and stationery. So, I took the liberty of buying you a nice schoolbag as well as school uniform." A neatly folded school shirt dropped out of the bag then, in perfect timing.
Hitsugaya's eye twitched.
"Matsumoto…"
At least she didn't send him diapers or anything like that.
"Oh wait." Ichigo said, pointing to the note. "There's something else written there. 'P.S. Look inside the bag.' Hmm, I wonder what's in the bag."
Hitsugaya unzipped the hideous thing, and turned it upside down.
"Eh? There's nothing here." He held the bag above his head, and was duly surprised as a shower of crayons and candy dropped upon his head.
"… MATSUMOTO!!"
Ichigo knew when to keep quiet, and 'get on with the backrub' that time.
I sort of had fun writing this chapter. I thought it brought out Hitsugaya's "softer" side, although I doubt he'd ever want a backrub from Ichigo or even Matsumoto in the original Bleach. Yes, yes, before you tell me, I know. There wasn't really much development in the storyline over here, you say. Aye, that is true. I wanted to focus more on character development, making Hitsugaya the cold but eager for attention boy, and Ichigo the exasperated and patronising teenager that he really is.
I hope you enjoyed reading this little chapter, but I'm sorry to say that I will no longer be continuing this series. Just kidding.
My mom's come up to Manchester to spend a few weeks with me, so I'm putting this on hiatus until August. I'll try and type some of it up during my "holiday" so the wait won't be that long. Sorry if I scared you, haha. REVIEW PLIZZ. Keeps me going, these Rs do.
