A/N: Yay! I'm back with yet another chapter! First before I say anything else, I want thank all my readers and reviewers for your continued support of this story! I could not possibly tell you how much it makes my day when I get a review and how it totally inspires me to keep writing, so again, Thanks! :) On another quick note, I don't really know what happened to this chapter, It was not supposed to be this long, but like always I got really into it and got a little carried away in the end. Regardless, hope everyone enjoys!

Disclaimer: Bleach is not mine... es Tite Kubo's!


Chapter 7- They're Coming

Ichigo had wanted more than anything to run after Toshirou the second the white-haired boy had run off, but right as he ran off the bell started to ring and all the teachers had started to usher the students back inside, blowing up at any stragglers. Ichigo's only comfort was the hope that Toshirou had managed to get his sword without incident and would return to school soon or at the very least go back to his house.

"I know your worried Ichigo, but the best thing right now is to drop the matter for the time being and let him just cool off." Rangiku assured the strawberry as they walked back towards the school. "I've known him for a long time and if I have learned anything through it all, it's that after an argument the best thing to do is just give him some space to let him think through things and clear his head."

"I guess…" Ichigo sighed "I just can't help but worry about him… considering all that he's gone through and what he's going through right now."

"I know Ichigo, believe me." Rangiku placed her hand on Ichigo's shoulder. "I tease him about it a lot, but truthfully, he is more than capable of looking after himself. He knows these streets like the back of his hand and I bet he's already on his way back to your place."

"Mhm, yea… I guess." Ichigo muttered as the pair entered the school. What Rangiku had said was true; Toshirou could take care of himself… if he was in his right mind. The problem was that Toshirou wasn't thinking straight and Ichigo couldn't help but feel guilty that he had had a huge part in contributing to that. Why didn't I just offer to go with him instead of yelling and telling him that he wasn't allowed? I just pray that you're okay, Toshirou… please be okay.

"Comon Ichigo, you can't afford to worry about all the 'what ifs' right now… We need to hurry to our next exam, we don't want to be late and get detention!" The strawberry blonde exclaimed.

The pair got about as far as Ichigo's locker until Rangiku realized that she had forgotten something in her locker and she ran off before telling Ichigo they could meet up later after their next exam. Ichigo had his History exam next while Rangiku was off to one of her Foreign Language exams.

Ichigo found it harder than usual to concentrate on what he was doing and ended up rereading the same paragraph multiple times before he actually realized what he was reading. He was barely able to finish the exam on time and ended up completely bullshitting the essay when he realized there was only ten minutes left to write the entire essay. By the time Ichigo had finished the exam and was walking out of the classroom he was surprised that he felt much calmer than he had before the exam. The strawberry was still worried for his boyfriend, but after he had been able to give it another thought he had decided that once he got home he was going to apologize to the Toshirou and tell him that he only said what he said because he loved him and didn't want anything to happen to him, even despite how corny it all sounded.


Ichigo was strolling back towards his place at a leisurely pace, knowing that it would be probably be best not to rush back home too fast, just in-case. He didn't want to do anything else to jeopardize his new relationship with the white-haired genius. As soon as he got home though the strawberry was determined to run in the door and instantly hold his small boyfriend tight in his arms, while telling him how much he really meant to him. Ichigo then planned on showering Toshirou with kisses and most important of all… apologize for arguing with him about something that obviously been a much more important matter to him than he had originally realized.

Rangiku wanted to hang-out after school with Ichigo to help him kill time by grabbing a quick bite to eat with the strawberry, but she had been unfortunately pulled away when one of her girlfriends ran up to her in the hallway sobbing about how her boyfriend just broke up with her. The strawberry blonde was very concerned for her friend's well-being, because the girl tended to have a reputation at school for being very emotional and almost always overreacted to the simplest of situations. So that was that and now Ichigo was wandering around Karakura debating whether or not he should finally head back home and face his undoubtedly irritated boyfriend.

"Ugh…" Ichigo moaned as he shook his head. "How could I have been so insensitive… both Toshirou's parents are dead… I still have my father and if anything ever happened to him I know that I would guard anything that he gave me with my life…" The strawberry shook his head again, this time more vigorously, determined to clear his head. I've given Toshirou enough time to calm down right? I'd say it's about time to get it over with and just apologize.

Ichigo looked around trying to figure where exactly he had wandered off to. He didn't immediately see anything that he recognized except for… Karakura River! The strawberry silently cheered when he saw the river that cut right through the edge of the town. Ichigo walked down to the banks of the usually calm river and was surprised when it was running a lot higher and faster than usual. Guess I shouldn't get too close to the edge or I might fall in; even though the current probably doesn't have enough power to pull me down river, you never know… not to mention I don't have the slightest idea of where the river even goes … Ichigo retreated slightly from the side of the river and followed it for awhile before he realized that he had actually been walking the wrong direction and for the past ten minutes. Shit. He thought to himself as he quickly turned on the spot and started sprinting back the other way, hoping that he wouldn't get back to his house too late.

Ichigo was running fast, concentrating hard on getting back to his place as fast as he could. So, when he saw a familiar patch of trees that he had walked past on his way back from school at some point he felt his sprits lift considerably. The orange-haired teenager could have sworn he heard shouting in the distance, but thinking nothing of it, he simply pushed it to the back of his mind and kept walking. Ichigo approached the small patch of trees that looked out of place in the large clearing and leaned against one of the larger trees trying to catch his breath before taking off once again. He was just about to continue on his way home when a slight shadow caught the corner of his eye. It seemed to get bigger and bigger as it emerged over the hill and past the horizon seemingly hobbling along with a walking stick or something of a similar caliber. Ichigo started walking towards the shadow thinking that it might be an elderly person in need of assistance, but when he got closer he could feel his heart dropping into the pit of his stomach.

Ichigo could feel his body freeze as he hoped to god he was hallucinating and that what he saw in front of him wasn't real, that he would wake up from some weird dream and find himself back in his room with Toshirou slumbering peacefully on the makeshift bed he had been occupying the past few days; but of course life was just not that simple for the strawberry… The figure continued to stumble forward slowly and as it got closer Ichigo realized that what he had first thought had been a walking stick was… it couldn't be… a long sword with a… star shaped hilt…?

"I-Ichi…go…?" The small figure whispered weakly.

"Oh my god… T-Toshirou… what happened?" Ichigo gasped. The strawberry could see that Toshirou's body was visibly shaking and it was obvious that the only reason he was on his feet was due to the fact that he was using his sword as a support. At first, the alarmed strawberry didn't see anything obvious that should have caused his boyfriend to look so frail, except for the fact that his clothes were wet and muddy with a few rips and tears and various small clumps of dirt and grass littering his shirt and pants.

A split second later, Toshirou's legs finally gave way and he started to fall to the ground and Ichigo was able to catch the small boy right before he hit the ground. He was about to ask him again what happened when Ichigo saw a large clump of his beloved's usually pure white hair stained a deep shade of red as a result of a large gash on the top of the prodigy's head, blood still flowing slowly from it. Ichigo continued to stare as he attempted to comprehend what had and was still happening before being brought back to the situation by a strained whisper.

"T-They're c-coming…"

"Who's coming?" Ichigo asked, still gaping at the mysterious huge gash on his boyfriend's head as he continued to hold Toshirou's small frame tightly. Then, all of a sudden Ichigo realized who 'they' were and mentally slapped himself for taking as long as he did to realize it.

"Need… to g-get away..." Toshirou mumbled, his voice getting quieter and weaker by the second.

Ichigo quickly lifted the small boy so that the strawberry was cradling him with one arm under his knees and the other supporting the young male's shoulders. "Stay with me, okay Toshirou?" Ichigo whispered frantically into his ear.

The tentative silence was broken when a huge bang swiftly cut through the still afternoon air from somewhere that sounded unnervingly close to where the two teenagers were currently standing. Toshirou's head shot up instantly as he heard the sound, knowing exactly what it meant.

"I-Ichi… please… they're gonna f-find me…!" Toshirou pleaded desperately with his orange haired boyfriend. The urgency in the young boy's voice seemed to snap Ichigo back to his senses for a moment.

"Where-" Ichigo started to say when he was interrupted by a group of voices that were coming from what seemed like just the other side of the hill nearest them. The strawberry looked around frantically, trying to decide whether he should hide or try to make a run for it. I could just stay here and try and hide in this patch of trees, or I could try and run… but if they are as close as I think they are, I don't know if I'm gonna have the chance to find somewhere else to hide before they get here. Ichigo didn't have the time to argue with himself so he just decided to hide inside the odd patch of trees, hoping to god that it would be enough.

"Ichi-" Toshirou began to whisper, but was quickly silenced when Ichigo put his fingers up to the smaller's mouth.

"Shh… It's going to be okay, we just need to stay quiet." Ichigo whispered right before a group of ominous shadows emerged at the top of the hill.

"He couldn't have gotten far! Search the area!" One of the men yelled gruffly as he pointed toward the clearing that Ichigo and Toshirou were currently hiding and the remaining men scattered across the area. The men came closer and closer and both Ichigo's and Toshirou's heart rates began to skyrocket. Two men stopped walking right in front of the patch of trees as they decided to take a break from the arduous task of searching the large area.

"The boss is going to have all our heads when he figures out we lost the kid again…" One man sighed as he pulled a lighter and cigarette out of his jacket pocket and continued to light it and took a deep breath before letting it out accompanied with a small puff of smoke.

"Like Kazu said, he couldn't have possibly gotten that far. Did you see that huge gash on his head? Not to mention he was crazy enough to jump and dropped like a rock in the river… I doubt that he's even able to walk straight at this point. We're probably gonna find him passed out somewhere and it will be easy pickings after that." The other man replied as he also pulled out a cigarette. "Hey man, you got a light? I need something for my nerves."

"Mhm…" Said man muttered as he attempted to fish out his lighter before pulling it out of his pant pocket and holding the light to the other man's cigarette. They both breathed deeply and then expelled the smoke right in the direction of Ichigo and Toshirou's hiding spot.

Toshirou wasn't able to muffle a small cough when the smoke managed to invade and irritate his throat. Ichigo's eyes, which had been tightly shut hoping that the men would just walk away; shot open at the quiet, yet unmistakable sound and instantly held up one of his hands to cover the smaller's mouth hoping that the men hadn't noticed their small and potentially fatal mistake. The taller male looked down towards the small boy in his arms and when he saw Toshirou looking back up at him there was only fear and regret in his eyes as if he was trying to apologize for the slip-up; the strawberry simply smiled trying to console his young boyfriend.

"Hey, wha was that?" One of the men muttered.

"What are you talking about? I didn't hear anything…" The other replied. "You must just be hearing things…"

"Nah, man, I swear I just heard something…"

"It was probably just another one of our guys…? Speaking of which we should probably go back to look before the boss finds us slacking."

"Mhmmm… whatever." The other man shrugged. "Let's go."

Right then Ichigo did something that he knew he would always regret till the day he died… right as the men started walking away, Ichigo involuntarily let out a particularly large sigh of relief and right as he did so, the man who originally had heard them stopped, frozen to the spot.

"Hold on." He said as he grabbed the other man's shoulder, successfully stopping their retreat. "I know I heard something that time."

"Comon man, we don't have time for this." The other hissed as he tried to shake the other off.

Without so much a glance in his cohort's direction he closed his eyes for a split second before opening them just to settle his eyesight on the exact spot where Ichigo and Toshirou were currently huddling.

"Whose there?" the man demanded harshly, bearing his stained, crooked teeth.

Ichigo's heart rate sped up even more, if that was even possible and began to thump hard in his chest as he realized that they had been found out. He tried to stay stoic as the young genius in his arms started shaking considerably, realizing that they had been caught as well.

There's no way out… we're surrounded and I can barely walk, let alone run… Toshirou thought desperately to himself as he felt Ichigo lifting his body for a moment before sitting him back down where he had been sitting moments before. He was confused for a moment before he realized what Ichigo was about to do. He's… He's not going to… oh my god, Ichigo you can't possibly…! Toshirou was about to tell the strawberry to make a run for it himself and to leave him since he was the whole reason they were in this situation in the first place… and then he remembered that that would completely defeat the purpose of what Ichigo was about to do. Ichigo was prepared to walk out there and give himself up, just so that he would be safe and he couldn't help, but feel completely helpless about the whole thing… he still had his sword, but how much use would it be if he couldn't stay on his feet for more than a few seconds?

"I know someone's in there… better get out 'ere before I fill that bush there full of holes." One of the men shouted.

'Stay hidden' Ichigo silently mouthed as he took one last look in the direction of his lover and walked out into the clearing with his hands raised in surrender. Toshirou could hear both the men gasp as they recognized who exactly it was that was standing right in front of them.

"Wait…" One of the men muttered, scratching his head. "Tall… orange hair… you must be…"

"Ichigo… Ichigo Kurosaki." The other man finished.

The strawberry decided that the best course of action at this point would be to try and play it cool. "What's with all you idiots disturbing my afternoon nap, huh?"

Unfortunately, the men saw straight through Ichigo's lie and called him out instantly. "Hah, that's the best you could come up with?" One of them laughed as the other started walking towards the orange-haired teenager, who refused to move even an inch as the man got right into his face and right as Ichigo was positive that the one man that had walked towards him was about to attack him, the other man behind him yelled something that made him regretfully freeze.

"Just leave him for now… we have other, more important matters to attend to…"

"But, he could have important information about the target. We've gotten reports of them being seen together recently." The man smirked as he looked back in the direction of his partner and it slightly unnerved Ichigo when both men started grinning madly.

"Well, this changes things then doesn't it?" The man further away from Ichigo called as he continued to smirk in the direction of his partner. "Try not to take too long…."

Now the one man left let out a low guffaw, "You heard the man, why don't we just get down to business then?"

"And by 'business' you mean…?" Ichigo asked, a bad feeling rising in the pit of his stomach.

"You of all people should know what I mean, Kurosaki." Not giving the orange-haired teenager any time to respond, he quickly brandished a small knife from his pocket swinging it quickly while aiming directly for Ichigo's chest. Luckily, the orange-haired teenager was used to this kind of tactic and his body reacted even before his brain had comprehended what was happening. He instantly jumped back, the blade missing his skin by mere inches.

"I see your abilities weren't all just talk…" the man muttered as he lunged in for another attack, but was pushed back when Ichigo turned his body slightly so as to avoid the knife, but still close the space between them and his fist connected solidly with the other man's face.

"Little fucker…" he muttered as he spit some blood onto the ground and either due to the fact that he was starting to get really pissed that the strawberry just seemed to be playing with him or he was just really that stupid, he once again charged in his opponent's direction. Ichigo easily avoided the obvious attack and was about to plant a firm kick square in the man's chest, when his opponent quickly ducked down, getting behind Ichigo and managed to aim a kick in the back of the strawberry's knees, forcing him down to the ground. Without so much as a second to waste, he aimed his dagger straight for Ichigo's throat and was confident that he had won. However, Ichigo was not planning on losing to a low life such as this guy and quickly rolled to the side so as to avoid the oncoming blade. I think it's about time I got serious so I can finish this and get out of here without hopefully making too much more of a scene than I already have. Ichigo was so involved with his fight that he didn't even notice when the other man that had been idly standing by watching them fight disappeared. Ichigo finally managed to disarm his enemy and stood up facing the man with the dagger raised and pointing straight at the man.

"Why don't you just admit you lost and get the fuck out of my sight before I kill you?" Ichigo sneered as he slowly surveyed his now unarmed adversary.

"You really think you've won just because you got my knife? You can't possibly think that that is the only weapon I have on me." The man called back as he pulled out a much longer knife from somewhere inside his large jacket. "This is just getting started, kid."


Toshirou found it was becoming harder and harder to remain conscious as he watched his boyfriend face off against one of the thugs that were obviously after him. It also wasn't helping that his head was starting to pound and with his particular history… that never led to anything good. The young genius wanted more than anything to be out there fighting side-by-side with his lover, but could only lie against the one of the larger tree trunks, peering through a thin spot in the trees hoping that Ichigo would just kill the man already so that they could just go home and forget about this whole ordeal.

Then a sudden ominous feeling swept over the young genius when he noticed the other man slip away silently into the background while his cohort and Ichigo continued their fight. The only reason that Toshirou would think that he would have to leave would probably be to alert the rest of the gang… but what would come from that? They weren't even sure that he was there… or at least he was hoping they didn't know. Toshirou's answer was answered suddenly as he felt a cold hand clamp over his mouth that he knew couldn't have belonged to Ichigo one, because Ichigo was still in the midst of his fight and two, there was no sense of comfort coming from the hand, just a sense of coldness.

"Finally found ya." A voice whispered from behind the small boy which made a shiver run down his spine. Toshirou's eyes widened in fear and tried to yell for Ichigo, but he was silenced by the hand that was currently covering his mouth. I need to do something! I can't let all that Ichigo is doing go to waste just because I'm a little 'sore'… Ideas and plans were rushing endlessly through the genius's mind as he debated on what course of action would be the most likely to lead to a successful escape; He knew he had to act when he felt himself being lifted and before the man that was holding him was able to utter a single word Toshirou lifted Hyorinmaru and plunged it's hilt into the man's chest, making him gasp and double over, releasing the young prodigy.

"Bastard…" the man grunted as he tried to catch his breath. Toshirou took this split-second opportunity and tried awkwardly to get to his feet as fast as he could before managing to weakly stumble out of his hiding place clutching Hyorinmaru feebly to his side while trying to get as far away from the man behind him as he could.


Ichigo had just managed to pin his opponent to the ground and was poised and ready to run the man through with his own dagger, when to his horror… he saw Toshirou stumble out of his hiding spot and attempt to walk in his direction. The strawberry could tell that the longer the young genius continued walking, the more he visibly began to waver on the spot.

Ichigo had been so surprised by the sudden appearance of his lover that he had totally forgotten he had been just about to finish off the man that he had had pinned to the ground and in the split second that he had looked away the man beneath him managed to wriggle free and stood up before the strawberry grinning madly.

"Well, what do we have here…?" The man continued grinning madly as he dusted off his clothes and wiped off some blood that had come out of his mouth and looked in the direction of the still wavering boy. "Looks like it's gonna be my lucky day after all." He laughed as he started walking towards Toshirou, who was still whole-heartedly trying to get away from the man that was luckily still in the bushes.

Ichigo, who had been pushed to the ground when the thug had managed to get free instantly shot up and placed himself in between his vulnerable lover and the pathetic excuse of a man that was trying to get to him. "Don't you dare touch him." The strawberry snarled as his body began to visibly tense.

"That's very touching, but you see with all our history an all, we've been contracted to collect him and we can't very well get paid if we don't deliver tha goods… not to mention we went through all the trouble of getting him ready for transport, we sure as hell can't stop now." Ichigo couldn't believe his ears… this man was talking about Toshirou like he was just an item to be passed around! The strawberry sure as hell wasn't ready to let that bastard get away with it.

"Why don't you just roll over dead already like the mindless thug that you are?" Ichigo hissed, his hatred for the man infuriating the strawberry even more.

Toshirou knew the consequences would be horrific if he did as he body and brain were begging to do and to let the darkness claim his mind; but then that would just make Ichigo's job that much harder and he just couldn't let that happen. He would fight for as long as his body would possibly let him.

It was at that very moment that all the tension was about to break when the second man who had tried in vain to secure the young genius, finally emerged from the shadows cursing loudly and consequentially drawing his partner's attention. "Get yer lazy ass over here, our target decided to show himself at long last!" The man nearest Ichigo yelled.

Ichigo seized the moment and luckily for him it came when it did, because he wasn't sure how much longer he would have been able to restrain himself. Ichigo knew that Toshirou wasn't going to be able to last much longer; he was already pushing his limits as is was and without a second thought Ichigo charged his sidetracked opponent and when said man finally saw what was about to happen, it was too late. Ichigo had already buried the borrowed blade into the man's chest all the way up to the hilt. The shocked man fell down to the ground in seemingly slow-motion, his eyes wide and mouth wide open with no sound coming out.

The one remaining thug in the clearing ran over towards his partner, while Ichigo retreated slowly from the scene before making his way back towards Toshirou. Relief swept through the smaller male as he saw Ichigo walking in his direction, but the relief was short lived as all the tension had drained from his system and was quickly replaced with a sudden flash of white hot pain in his head that made him feel like his skull was being crushed between two large, ragged rocks. All the young genius could do was clutch his head with his hands as he let out a small cry of pain as he finally lost the fight against his own consciousness and the world and everything around him, including the strawberry, faded into blackness.

"Toshirou!" Ichigo yelled frantically as he ran towards his pained lover, getting to Toshirou just in time for the young boy to fall limp into his arms. Ichigo proceeded to pick up the white-haired boy so that he was cradling him bridal style and started to run off in the direction of the Kurosaki household.

"Where the fuck do you think you're going with our property, Kurosaki!"

Ichigo froze for a quick moment ready to rip the man's heart out before taking a deep breath trying to calm himself down. I can't lose my temper; it's what he wants... "I'm going to tell you one more time, so try and get it through your thick skulls… you will never get your grubby hands on Toshirou as long as I'm around."

The man sensing that Ichigo wasn't going to fall for his ploy, realized that he was quickly running out of options; pulled a small radio out of his pocket and started speaking into it as a huge smirk grew across his rough features. "I've found the kid and you won't believe who else we bumped into; seems like we might be able to hit two birds with one stone today. My position is quadrant 3, point 812. Requesting mobilization of all groups to current position."

So much for slipping back into the shadows… Ichigo thought to himself as he glared back at the man who still had that annoyingly huge grin plastered across his features. A sudden pang a fear rushed through the strawberry's system when he heard yelling and shouting that couldn't have been any further away than a few hundred feet. At this point there was only one thing on Ichigo's mind and that was: 'Run!'

"Oh no you don't" The man yelled when he saw the orange-haired teen get ready to make a break for it. "You need to stay and meet my friends…" The man laughed, but when Ichigo ignored him and started to run off, he started to speed off right after him while pulling out a small handgun he had been hiding which he aimed at the square of Ichigo's back. "Better say goodbye to your friend while you can." The man snickered to himself as he laughed and pulled the trigger.


A/N: DUN DUN! I'm really starting to have fun with these cliffhangers. ^^ As in the same with the last chapter, I was originally planning on going a little further, but when I got to this point the cliffhanger was just waaaay too tempting to pass up. Please Review! Pretty pretty please with (insert favorite ice cream topping here) on top! :D