A/N: SORRY IF THIS CHAPTER IS MESSED UP. LIBREOFFICE WAS BEING A BITCH. Tell me if something seems fucked or out of place, or if something seems to be missing, and I'll fix it. THANK YOU~!
Hello, lovely readers~ I should have been in bed hours ago, but I stayed up and wrote this. I also should be working on the week's worth of makeup work I have for school, but writing this was well more important. :D I am fully recovered from my breakup- tch, not even sure it could be called that- and Muse is slowly but steadily working to give me ideas. Unfortunately, someone else in my head is bound to distract him; Searc doesn't like him too much. Neither does Jaii.
Anyways, this chapter is a bit of background, and quite a bit of progress. You get to see more minor characters, and I think everyone will get an idea of what's going to happen and what has happened. At least, I hope that's the case.
Anyways. I'm tired as fuck. So I'm going to stop talking there.
I do not own Bleach at all. Thank yoooouuu~
Enjoy! Reviews are greatly appreciated. I like to know what people think, and that makes me like to write more. :D
**Edit: I realized I went stupid in the second paragraph of this chapter. Why am I so stupid? I don't know. But I fixed it. So. Now it's actually enjoyable. xD
~He Who Protects
Eyes followed them as they walked across the front courtyard of the school, one dragging along his dazed companion. The eyes weren't that of the many students around them; by this point, most people had stopped studying Hichigo Shirosaki's every move, and the fact that he was remaining close to their infamous Strawberry was of little concern. It warranted little gossip, and even less attention, after a few days- and more importantly, a few glares from Ichigo.
The big sources of gossip were the possibility of an ice dragon tattoo racing along the length of Professor Hitsugaya's spine and whether or not Orihime had finally given in to Chizuru's advances. She hadn't, of course. If she had, the whole school would have been forced to deal with Ulquiorra's brooding. It would be even bigger news when it was found out that Shuuhei had no interest in Rukia, but in her older brother; and even then, the Kuchiki girl was breaking rules by becoming involved with a certain nursing assistant- Isane Kotetsu.
High school gossip at its finest.
It would become town gossip soon. Aizen turned from the window in his classroom, sliding his glasses slowly from his nose and placing them on his desk. Two murders in one family was risky, especially with such a time gap in between them. It would make the family seem like a target, slowly being wiped out.
It would also peg his Hichigo with three murders- Masaki Kurosaki, Renji Abarai... Ichigo Kurosaki. But he didn't care about the hell that his little snowflake would be subjected to. If he couldn't have the teen, then no one could; he wouldn't allow it.
The bell's shrill ring shattered the image in his head- Ichigo Kurosaki drowned in a shallow pool of his own blood, just as his mother had been, and finally being able to claim the young Hichigo. At the new thought in his head- this being the agony of a day with all of these snot nosed brats- Aizen scowled and stood from the perch on the edge of his desk, sliding his glasses back on. Cold, narrowed eyes followed each student as they entered the room. Kurosaki and Shiro entered at the same time, and he watched their fingers slip apart as they parted ways. For a moment, he considered glaring at the current bane of his existence, but in the end, the temptation was too great and he simply watched Hichigo walk away from him.
It would all be worth it, once it was done.
-xXx-
It seemed as if Aizen hadn't felt like dealing with them that day, seeing as he gave them work to do in their books and then ignored them for the rest of the period. That was fine by him; he wasn't in the mood to deal with Aizen, either. Now, glaring at him as if the man had hit his dog was an entirely different thing altogether; it was ignoring... angrily. Which, of course, was acceptable.
Especially since cold eyes kept darting up to him, relaying wishes to tear his head off.
Seeing as the feeling was mutual, he didn't mind so much. As if he would ever allow Aizen to lay a hand on Shiro. The man would have to be an idiot to try. Of all the things Aizen was, an idiot wasn't one of them.
Still, it was a relief when the bell rang. More of a relief when he could slip his hand into Hichigo's, feel the warmth of the other's body against his side. It assured him that everything was still fine.
"I'll walk you to class. What do you say?" he asked, scooping up the other teen's books so that he wouldn't have to struggle to pick them up one-handed. He carried around way too much.
"Isn't Jeagerjaques' class on the opposite side of the school as Hitsugaya's?" Shiro frowned disapprovingly, making a grab for his things.
Ichigo laughed and pulled them out of the other's reach. "Sure, but Hitsugaya's used to me being late."
Giving up on taking his books back, the white-haired teen simply started walking. If they avoided a fight over the books and left right then, maybe they would both be on time. Making Ichigo late would make him feel guilty. "Why are you always late?"
"Trouble in the halls, mostly. People giving me hell about my hair, ya know." As they passed their teacher, he added, "Get held over by Aizen a lot, too. I get in a lot of trouble this hour." He could see the man twitch, as if he wanted to interject. But he didn't, and Ichigo kept walking, smirking to himself.
"You should really try to stay out of trouble, Ichi..." Shiro absently ran the fingers of his free hand up and down his boyfriend's arm.
Behind them, just as they were exiting the classroom, Aizen growled softly at the nickname his sweet little snowflake used, his grip tightening on the pen he held until it snapped in two. Red ink dribbled over his fingers and splashed in bright crimson circles on his desk. Initially, he'd intended to bide his time, watch the two and see if that no-good Kurosaki was dropped.
But Hichigo was getting way too attached, and he didn't think that he could wait any longer. Not having to watch that. It wouldn't be wise to wait, would it?
He would just have to look for the perfect time...
-xXx-
His skin tasted like ink. Teal eyes slid from the words on the page to the thumb he'd licked. His lips turned down in distaste. It had slipped his mind that his favorite pen was leaking, and he'd been having dark purple ink steadily smeared across his fingertips all day.
How unfortunate. It would need to be replaced. Having to scrub the clingy, stubborn ink from his hands ever day wouldn't do. Regardless, there was nothing he could do about it at that particular moment. His niece and teaching assistant, Rangiku Matsumoto, was sitting at the computer desk in the corner of the room, bouncing and humming as she 'graded papers.' Normally, he'd have simply graded them for her, but she'd been working on them all day and was nearly finished. Besides, she needed to learn to honor her commitment, even small ones like completely a stack of ungraded papers. She was a teaching assistant, after all.
Sighing softly, Toushirou turned the page in the law book that currently held his attention. It had been his initial plan to attend law school; he had the temperament and patience to be one of the best. He'd become a teacher in order to stay near Momo Hinamori- the guidance counselor at this school. She loved children, and she loved to help children; how she'd wound up in a high school as opposed to an elementary or middle school, he didn't know. But she blossomed her. Of a morning, he would watch her bustling between groups of students in the front courtyard, seeing how they were doing and worrying over any problems she heard.
She was such a worrywart, and yet she never saw that she worried him. On top of that... her worries kept her from seeing his feelings, despite her ability to read people.
As he was tuning the page again, the door to his classroom creaked open. It was after school hours, but it wasn't uncommon for students to come to speak with him at such times; usually, though, there was a warning. Closing the book on his finger, he leaned forward and looked up.
Hinamori had poked her head into the room and was staring at him, waiting for him to notice her and invite her in.
"Momo, come in. You know you don't have to wait like that." he invited, standing from his desk chair. Rangiku stopped humming, lifting her head to watch as the counselor stepped into the room; her pen was still resting on the half-graded paper.
The door closed with a click behind the dark-headed woman, but her shoes were silent as she traveres the room and perched on the edge of the front middle desk. The look on her face was enough to startle him.
"What's wrong?" Toushirou asked, stepping around his desk to stand in front of his childhood friend.
"I'm worried, Lil' Shirou..." she said softly, fingers fidgeting. It was a moment before she elaborated. After taking a deep breath, she dropped her hands into her lap and looked down at the floor. "Sosuke isn't acting right again... He's become quieter... and colder. Have you noticed anything?"
The white-haired literature teacher frowned deeply, disgust flashing in his eyes. "You know I haven't, Momo."
She sighed softly, shoulders slumping. "Right. You avoid him."
"Can you blame me?! There's something wrong with him." He thought for a moment, back on the da. It wasn't always possible to avoid the other teacher. Perhaps there was something that he had initially missed... "But... Kurosaki was late again. Aizen holds him after class often. It's possible that something happened there. Why don't you ask Ichigo?"
The suggestion was quickly dismissed with a shake of her head. "Yes. I know of Ichigo's discipline problems... but Sosuke never acts this way afterwards; he never lets a student get to him. And I couldn't speak to Ichigo even if I wanted to. I saw him leaving with Hichigo as I was on my way here."
Toushirou froze at the words. His eyes flickered over to Rangiku, but she was visibly trying to stay out of the conversation- for once. Shit. For the first time in his life, he could have used her input. "He left with Mr. Shirosaki, you say...?" He had the pleasure of teaching Shiro, though at a different time than Ichigo. The teen was one of the best he had; quiet, smart, creative. Despite his tendency to slip into a lazy manner of speech when his buttons were pushed; he'd heard it himself, though outside of class. But he knew the student's story. In fact, he knew more than most of the people here believed; none of it was proven, but his theory agreed with what the boy had claimed, years ago.
"Yes... Why?" she asked, giving him a strange look.
"No reason." Toushirou lied quickly, smiling weakly. "I just... didn't peg them as two to become friends." She looked skeptical of his answer, but before she could question it, he moved back to his desk. "I'm sorry, Momo, but I've got to leave. I promised my niece that I'd take her to see Neliel. Rangiku, are you ready?"
The strawberry blond girl looked up abruptly, blinking the clouds from her eyes; she'd been unable to ignore the conversation completely, despite her attempts to do so, and had simply done her best to make it less obvious that she was listening. "Oh, uh... I've got two more papers..."
"Leave them. You can finish grading first thing tomorrow morning. I'd like to get home in time for dinner." he ordered her, pulling his jacket on and grabbing his bag.
Both Rangiku and Momo stared at him as if he'd grown a second head. Leaving work unfinished was something he absolutely despised; to request that it be done was so uncharacteristic. Still, the teaching assistant stood and capped her pen.
"Then, yes, sir." she answered, gathering her things.
The white-haired teacher walked over, back to the student desk, leaning over to hug his childhood friend, kissing her cheek lightly. "I'm really sorry to be leaving so suddenly. Forgive me, Momo?"
"You know I do, Lil' Shirou. I'll call you later tonight." With that, she slid from the desk and exited the room.
He watched her go. Momo walked as if on air, a subtle sway to her hips; it was natural, unlike some women who were blatantly trying too hard. Her ponytail shimmied with each step. It was odd to see her hair like that; always, it was bound in a bun. But he liked it well enough. It allowed more hair loose to play in her face.
"Why don't you just ask her out, Toushirou?" Rangiku asked, bumping him with her hip. Her uncle hated to be called by that particular title; he claimed it made him feel old because she wasn't too much younger than he was.
Toushirou scoffed and hefted his bag up onto his shoulder, pulling his keys from the pocket of his blue jeans. "Don't be ridiculous. She's completely uninterested." he muttered, making to leave the classroom.
"Oh, please. She's totally interested! Besides. Maybe she could lighten you up some!" She laughed, and he growled at her in irritation.
The two were silent until seated in the car.
"Uncle..." He shot a glare at her from the corner of his eye, but she ignored it. "Why are we leaving so early? Without finishing work?"
Without skipping a beat, he replied, "You didn't hear me tell Momo? I promised to take you to see Neliel."
"No, you didn't." she countered immediately, frowning. "You said I could walk over to see Nel while you finished reading."
"Call it a change of heart." He started the car, hoping that would cut the conversation short.
It didn't.
"Mhm. Now, tell me the truth. Or I'll bug you all night~!"
Obviously, it had been a mistake to let her live with him after her mother's disappearance and her father's suicide.
"Swear to keep your mouth shut?"
"Well... I'll have to tell Nel..."
Toushirou considered that as he pulled from the school parking lot. Nel. She was fine; she could know. Probably already did know. "I fear... that Ichigo Kurosaki might meet the same fate as Renji Abarai..."
"You mean Shiro-!"
"No!" he snapped, before she could even finish. "No. Not Hichigo. It was never him, Rangiku."
Had it been anyone else, she would have never believed it, would have argued it to death. But this was her uncle, Toushirou Hitsugaya, and he never would have confided this in anyone if there was any doubt in his mind. Once he was completely sure of a theory, he was hardly ever wrong. She trusted that he was right now, too. "Then... who?"
"Just who Shirosaki said." The parking lot at Urahara's was practically empty. He parked closest to the door. "Sosuke Aizen."
"But... Mr. Aizen never could have!"
"Why not? He's in the perfect position. His knowledge doesn't cover simply chemistry; he's also incredibly talented in biology. Both of those factor into a murder. And his doctorate serves as a shield. It protects him. No one would suspect that a man with a doctorate, a talented teacher, could be a murderer." He angrily jerked the keys from the ignition. "That's how he could get away with ruining that kid's life, and killing another. It's disgusting." People like Aizen were the main reason he'd had ever intention of becoming a lawyer before changing his mind for Momo.
But that didn't mean he was helpless.
He had an out.
"Come on, Rangiku. I've got a call to make." Pushing his door open Toushirou got out of the car. When he heard his niece's door open, he locked the vehicle and led the way into the shop.
Rangiku, of course, went straight to the front counter and leaned over it to start whispering to Neliel. Immediately, they were so wrapped up that the usual exuberant greeting wasn't called to him. Not that he minded. His business was elsewhere.
Without permission, he walked behind the counter and into the back of the store, turning right to the stairs leading to the portion of the building that was Urahara's home. Just because he was in a hurry didn't mean he was a complete animal about it, though; he knocked twice on the door at the landing before pushing it open and going into the room. "Kisuke!" he called, closing the door behind him.
A blond head- complete with a green and white striped hat- peeked out from around the door frame that he knew opened into the kitchen. "Well, if my eyes don't deceive me. Toushirou Hitsugaya, bursting into people's houses uninvited doesn't sound like you."
"Oh, shut up. Where's your phone?" It was obvious that he was hardly in the mood for jokes. This wasn't uncharacteristic of him, but coupled with the fact that he had burst into the house with no warning but a couple of knocks, it was a little worrying.
Worrying enough that Kisuke sobered up considerably.
"There." he replied, pointing to the table beside the couch.
Toushirou threw himself there, flopping gracelessly onto the soft green cushions and picking up the phone at the same time. He dialed the number quickly, then pressed the speaker button and set the receiver on the arm of the piece of furniture.
Curious, Kisuke sat down beside him, listening as the phone rang time after time. Who was he calling...?
"Hello?" The voice on the other end of the line was unmistakeable.
"Juushiro!" It was a relief that the call had been answered; most of the time, it went to voicemail.
"Ah, Toushirou. It's nice to hear your voice again. Is there something wrong...?"
"You could say that. Where is Shunsui? Can he come to the phone?" There was a certain urgency to Toushirou's voice that hadn't been there for a long time.
There was a short pause on the other end, and then a soft sigh. "I'm not promising that you'll get much out of him... I can't even get much out of him anymore..."
"That bad...?" Of course, he'd known it was bad. But in the past, Shunsui had at least responded to Juushiro- whether it was just speaking to him, or in other ways. Had he even stopped doing that much?
"Sometimes..." It was obvious how much that hurt Juushiro.
"I'm sorry..."
"I knew it was coming."
Toushirou felt bad about it, but this was absolutely necessary. "I hate asking... but I really need to talk to him... Can you at least ask him...?"
"Of course, Toushirou." There was an obvious smile in the voice. "Just a moment." Then there was silence on the other end.
"What's all this about?" Kisuke asked, leaning closer to the high school teacher.
"Did you know that Shiro is spending his time with your godchild?" Teal eyes gauged for reaction. Thin, pale fingers spun the receiver on the couch arm.
"Well, yes... Jinta informed me that they'd come to the store together the other day..."
"Not just like that, Kisuke. From what I can tell, they're romantically involved. I've seen them together... Didn't think much of it, before today. Momo told me that Aizen's been acting strange, and that she saw those two leaving together; it clicked, when she said that..."
"That... that's just assumption. You can't be sure."
"But I am. Why else would he be acting like this again? It's dangerous, and we can't take a chance on Ichigo's life. Not like we did with Renji Abarai."
"We couldn't have kno-"
"But we thought!" Toushirou snapped, glaring harshly over at the other. "And that thought could have saved the lives of two boys."
"Toushirou Hitsugaya. As I live and breathe." The slurred voice came suddenly from over the line. The aforementioned white-haired man looked over at the phone, especially upon hearing Juushiro mutter a, "Hardly." in the background.
"Shunsui! It's good to hear your voice..." They'd all been so worried about him lately. Hearing him speak was the tiniest relief; not enough, because from the sound of it, he was drunk out of his mind again.
"Can't say the same." On the other end of the line, Shunsui took a large gulp of sake, though Juushiro was trying to wrestle it from him. "Juushiro, leggo. Da's mine."
Hearing the way Shunsui was now, it almost made him rethink this whole thing. But it had to be done. "Shunsui, listen." It got silent on the other end. "I need any files that you still have on the Shirosaki case." He heard Kyoraku choke and sputter on the alcohol he was drinking.
"Wh-what?!" It was two voices, mingling together.
"Hichigo Shirosaki's come back." A note of irritation laced his voice. It was becoming tiring, explaining this over and over.
"So?"
The note of irritation became a chord. "Sooo... he's found a new boy. And Aizen is less than pleased about it. I fear that history might repeat itself, and I refuse to lose a third person to this man's insanity!"
More silence. There was no way his request would be accepted... Shunsui would refuse. It was too painful. Asking- dredging up that past pain- had been a mistake. The case hadn't been lost; Hichigo had been allowed to walk free. But it might as well have been, because the majority of the town still believed the boy guilty. He still faced scorn and hate every day. He couldn't be all that he was, because no one cared. And, most importantly, Toushirou knew that it tore Shiro apart, knowing that everyone thought he was capable of murdering Renji Abarai. It tore Shunsui apart, too; he'd been unable to prevent that.
"Juushiro and I will dig them up... Come and get them tonight."
And then, without a goodbye, the line went dead.
It didn't matter. Toushirou had gotten what he'd called for. He couldn't be more grateful. Perhaps all of this could be resolved...
-xXx-
The back pressed up against his chest was warm, and the heart behind it beat in time with his own. Stark white hair tickled his nose. He nuzzled into the hollow behind the ear, eyes on the television screen. Then he nibbled lightly on the lobe.
"That's cheating." the sweet, though distorted, voice informed him. He felt the words reverberate through the body pressed against his own.
"Only if you like it." Ichigo replied easily, biting the ear again and taking a cheap shot on the game they were playing.
Immediately after school, they'd walked to Shiro's house to play the new game he'd gotten. Now they were sitting on the floor in the living room, his arms around the paler teen and their legs tangled together as they stretched out.
"Then it's definitely cheating. Punishably so." He gave up a moment to move one hand from the controller to slide his fingertips along the inside of his boyfriend's thigh. He felt Ichigo shiver and smirked.
"That's cheating, too. So let's call it even, eh?"
"Okay." Shiro paused the game and turned his face to catch the other's lips. Both of the controllers hit the floor between their knees. Ichigo's arms tightened around his waist, and one of his hands moved up to lay against a warm, tan cheek. "Stay over tonight?" he murmured, and when he spoke, the other pair of lips moved with his own.
"Got school tomorrow." White teeth nipped at a pale, nearly-colorless lip.
"So?" His fingers slid along Ichigo's throat, and he felt the vibrations of a laugh.
"Alright." After one more kiss, Ichigo pulled away and picked up his controller again. "Before your mom comes back in and scolds me for ruining her son's innocence~" he teased, the tip of his tongue flickering across the side of the other's pale neck.
"You know she was just teasing you." Shiro replied, picking his own controller up and unpausing the game. "She's just glad to see me happy. And she likes you, anyways." He made himself more comfortable against the other, leaning his head back against Ichigo's shoulder.
"Either way..." He pressed his mouth to the other's throat, though it was difficult in this new position. "We should go out this weekend. Maybe the movie theater?"
"I thought you said that movie theater sucked?" he hissed through his teeth, jerking slightly. Obviously, reactions in real-life assisted in the video game world.
"It does."
"Then why should we go there?"
"I dunno. We stay at your house almost all the time. And if we're not here, we're at Urahara's shop. If we stay there much longer, I'm going to have to get false teeth because of all the candy Nel gives us."
That made Shiro laugh, and Ichigo smiled at the sound.
"Alright, Ichi. We'll go to the movies. Friday night?"
"Sounds great." Hardly anyone went to the movie theater in this town, so there would be very few people to bother them.
That was the hope, at least.
