Tastes Like Strawberries- 7
The chirping ring from Ichigo's bag woke him out of a pleasant, dozing sleep. Slithering off the bed, he pushed away Shiro's grasping hands as he dug around beneath his books. Stifling a yawn, he answered and heard Yuzu's voice on the other end.
"Are you coming home for dinner?"
Glancing at his watch, Ichigo clapped a hand across his eyes. It was later than he thought it would be. "Yeah, I'll be there in a little bit. Could you set an extra place please?"
Her voice brightened at the thought of company. "Are you brining Shirosaki with you?" Yuzu had become quite attached to him after his first visit. She'd asked about him a couple of times when Ichigo was home this past week.
"If he wakes up." Glancing over at the pale figure that huddled under the blankets, Ichigo poked him with his free hand. He merely grumbled and snuggled deeper.
"Is he not feeling well?"
Ichigo smirked and tried not to snort into the phone. "He's fine."
"I'll see you both later then."
Clicking the phone shut, Ichigo pulled the blanket aside. "If you can drag yourself up, you can come to my house for dinner."
A golden eye peeked out of the sheets. "Really?" Orange brows rose at the surprise in his voice. He'd practically invited himself the first time. Why would this be such a big deal? "Yeah. Yuzu even asked about you." Shiro pulled the sheets away from his face and sat up. He seemed a little bewildered before he shook himself and sighed. "That would be nice. Thanks."
Ichigo smiled. "No problem." Looking down, he saw that he was still naked. It didn't even occur to him until just now. He blinked up at Shiro for a moment before picking up his clothes and heading to the bathroom. He'd expected to feel a little embarrassed about it but for some reason, he was actually pretty comfortable. In the mirror, he saw a pale reflection follow him through the door with a familiar grin on its face. Turning around he put his hand against Shiro's chest.
"You want to save time and water with one shower, fine. But don't even think about anything else." He still ached a little from earlier. It was a nice, tired feeling but he didn't think he was up for anything else today. Shiro merely laughed and turned on the hot water. But not before sliding a hand around and squeezing Ichigo's butt. He held up his arms in surrender when brown eyes glared at him. "Alright, alright. Can't blame me though."
They managed to get clean and dressed with only a few distractions. Ichigo put his school uniform back on while Shiro changed into some street clothes. He noticed that they had a lot of the same taste in clothing as he watched him pull a sweatshirt on over his slim jeans and a tight tee.
"Ready?"
"Sure. I'm looking forward to it actually. You're sister's a great cook."
As they headed out, one of the guys who hung around came up to get their attention. Well, Shiro's attention anyway. He handed him a slip of paper, and Ichigo watched his expression darken slightly. He crumpled the message and threw it at the wall. It bounced harmlessly to the floor and lay forgotten.
"What was that all about?"
Shiro looked up at him and shrugged. "Nothing really." He looked over at the waiting messenger and shook his head. Ichigo was curious, but not enough to push. When it came down to it, he didn't really know Shirosaki all that well. There was a small twinge of discomfort at the thought. But he dismissed it. His instincts weren't really warning him about anything in particular, so it should be fine. He'd never really been wrong before when it came to that.
They walked in a comfortable silence on the way back to Ichigo's house. He was glad that the albino seemed to hate small talk as much as he did. When they got there, Yuzu greeted them from the kitchen. Karin grunted from where she sat on the couch in front the television and their dad poked his head in from the clinic. They all seemed genuinely pleased to see Shiro which made him blink slightly in surprise. Again, Ichigo noticed and wondered what he was thinking. But overall, he was just happy that they seemed to like him. Their relationship would be much easier to deal with that way.
The meal was much nicer this time now that he wasn't so preoccupied with Shiro's intrusion. A storm had rolled in during dinner, announced by a large clap of thunder that made them all jump.
Yuzu crouched down in her chair before glancing over at Shiro. "Um, I don't think you should walk back home in this." They all heard the dull roar of rain against the roof as it started to pour.
"Yeah, you can sleep up in my room tonight." The words were out of Ichigo's mouth before he had even consciously thought them. He looked over at Shiro who had raised his brows while a smirk tugged at the edge of his mouth.
"Sure. If that's okay with you."
Ichigo sighed and closed his eyes. Thankfully, nobody took any notice of their little exchange. After the dishes were taken care of, they headed up to Ichigo's room. It was getting pretty late, and they did have school the next day. Ichigo groaned. With homework assignments due that they hadn't taken care of yet. Maybe the could get some of it done together. Of course, it couldn't be that simple. As soon as he sat down in his desk chair, Shiro came up behind him. With a hand under Ichigo's chin, he tilted his head back and kissed him. The sensation of their lips coming at each other from opposite directions was an interesting, and distracting one. When they broke apart, Ichigo took a deep breath.
"We've got to get some of this done. I really don't want to fail my classes."
Shiro raised his brows. "I'm pretty sure putting off a few assignments isn't going to tank your grades, Mr. Twenty-Three."
Ichigo blinked. Class rankings had been posted a couple of weeks ago and were taken down before he and Shiro met. Did he just have a good memory, or did he have his eye on him before then? It was an odd thought. Shaking his head, he went back to his books and thankfully, Shiro let him. Besides, he didn't think he was up to anything more than a kiss even if he wanted to take him up on the offer. As if the thought itself reminded the rest of his body that it had been pounded into the mattress earlier that afternoon, he started to ache in several places.
Shiro smirked and settled himself on the bed. He glanced around the room, taking in all the details. This wasn't quite what he imagined. It was a quiet space with few things to distract the eye. He'd expected something with more fire. Or a least something a little more cluttered. Turning his head to watch Ichigo read, he thought about it for a minute. Maybe there was enough passion in the occupant that the room didn't need to be an overpowering wash of stimuli. That fit. Laying back, he felt himself drifting in and out. He snapped awake when Ichigo shut his book. That was unusual for him. It wasn't often that he let his guard down. As Ichigo stood, Shiro patted the edge of the mattress.
"You take the bed." Ichigo went over to the closet and pulled out a spare futon. When he looked back and saw Shiro's calculating look, he narrowed his own eyes. "Not a chance." A single pale brow rose in challenge. "I could always lock you out and leave you the couch downstairs. Your choice."
The moment stretched out and Shiro just smirked. "Nah. This is fine. Too much work anyway."
Ichigo tossed him a spare set of sleep clothes and glared as he continued to set out the futon and blankets. Truth be told, Shiro was actually pretty tired. It had been a while since he'd habitually gone to class. Paying attention continuously for that long had worn him out. Not that he'd been listening to the lessons. He only had eyes for Ichigo. The thought made him smile as he changed and lay down to drift back to sleep.
Shutting off the light and slipping into a loose pair of pants and a tank, Ichigo settled down for the night. In the faint light from the window, he watched Shiro's breathing even out as he fell asleep. This whole situation was so weird. It was less than a week ago that he'd been trying to get him out of the house. And now here he was letting him wear his clothes and sleep in his bed. He squashed the errant thought about being disappointed that he didn't have the energy to share the bed with him. It kept coming back to the surface as he fell asleep himself.
Later that night, Ichigo opened his eyes and tried to figure out what had woken him. There was a noise from the bed. A small keening sound that raised the hair on the back of his neck. Cautiously getting up, he went over to check on Shiro. His shadowed figure twitched and tried to turn over. The blankets had twisted and wrapped around his legs, holding him in place. As Ichigo watched, he turned his head and whined again. It was such a helpless sound. He reached out to shake him awake. Golden eyes snapped open, wide and dilated as he growled and tried to fight him off.
"Shiro. . ." Ichigo held his shoulders and tried to avoid being hit by a flailing fist. "Shiro, wake up." The panting breaths quickened as the albino fought harder. Not knowing what else to do, he leaned in and kissed his snarling mouth, desperately hoping he wouldn't bite. But thankfully, it seemed to flip some sort of switch and Shiro relaxed on the bed. "You okay?" Ichigo couldn't manage more than a whisper around the lump in his throat.
"Hnn. Yeah." Shiro mumbled sleepily as Ichigo pulled the blankets free and smoothed them out. When he leaned back in to take one last look at him, pale arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him down onto the bed. "Better now."
Ichigo tried to extract himself, but Shiro just held on tighter. Bracing his hands on the mattress, he tried to see if this was just another game. But Shiro wasn't really looking at him. Sighing and forcing himself to relax, he slipped under the blankets. Shiro made a quiet, happy sound and snuggled closer. He was already asleep again as Ichigo rested his head on the pillow. What had all that been about? It had been a little too intense for a mere ploy to get him into bed. Shiro had seemed honestly terrified. But there was nothing he could do about it right now. Ichigo felt the pull of sleep and pushed the rest away.
"Just couldn't stay away, huh?"
Ichigo blinked his eyes open in the morning light to see Shiro's smug grin inches away. He stuttered as he flushed and tried to deny it. "Well, you were. . And I. . ." Huffing an irritated breath, he narrowed his eyes. "Do you remember anything about last night?"
The grin widened. "Why, did I miss something good?" Ichigo watched him for a moment and then sat up. "No. Not really." Apparently, Shiro didn't remember it. Just as well really. Getting up and pulling some clean clothes from the closet, Ichigo looked back over his shoulder. "Want to borrow something? We're pretty much the same size."
"As much as I would love to have your scent on me all day," Ichigo felt himself getting red again. "I've got to stop at home first. I'll change there." Pulling on his clothes from last night, Shiro headed out the door. "See you downstairs."
Ichigo watched him leave and was surprised to see that the bed had been made neatly when he turned back around. That was fast. He shook his head and went to take a shower. When he came out dressed in his school uniform slacks and a shirt, he felt much calmer than he had the night before. That had been some nightmare. He hoped for Shiro's sake that it didn't happen often. Ichigo had only had one good sheet-ripper in his life that he could remember and that was more than enough. He picked up his school jacket and went downstairs. The television was on, but no one paid it any attention. Yuzu was in the kitchen and Karin sat at the table. But no Shiro.
"Where'd. . .?"
Yuzu answered before he could finish asking, a worried look in her eyes. "He said he was sorry, but he had to go. Is he okay?"
Karin turned in her seat. "Yeah, he kinda looked a little freaked out. What'd you do, put the moves on him last night?"
If Yuzu had even a mildly violent bone in her body, she might have thrown the ladle at her sister. That not being the case, she merely pointed it in her direction and scolded. "Be nice."
"He's fine. I guess. I think he had a nightmare last night." Ichigo hadn't really meant to tell them that, but it just popped out. And they did seem genuinely worried. The newscaster on the television broke the silence with a recap of the morning's stories.
"Our top story is the break-in at a local store last night. The clerk on duty was attacked and received wounds that resembled claw marks. He's in stable condition at the local hospital. Nothing seems to be missing, but a full inventory is underway. As he wasn't able to identify his attacker, police are asking that any leads or related information be called in immediately. And now the weather." Ichigo turned away from the screen and grabbed a piece of toast before heading out the door. Claw marks from a store robbery. That was weird.
