-Almost forgot to change this again. I managed to remember just because I noticed it was still the same opening from two drabble sets ago. I'm still not interested in taking any more drabble sets just yet; still have two more sets to catch up on, and I have tons of Christmas writing gifts I'm going to try to do next week, so if you're going to donate prompts, please do so past Sunday.


1: Tear

"Ichigo, Ichigo, it's alright," Toshiro affirmed, his voice gentle as the other wept into his shoulder. He could feel Ichigo's emotions thrumming in his spiritual pressure, and could feel the man's guilt rolling off him in waves. "It's okay," he kept assuring as the other continued to weep against him, and he drew comforting circles over the shaking shoulders.

"No 's not," Ichigo sobbed out, his grip shaking so badly Toshiro thought he was going to let go from lack of control. "No it's not," he said a bit more strongly, sniffling and straightening up a bit. There was still anguish in his eyes, as tears still brimmed at his ginger lashes. Toshiro reached up, brushing the tears away from that familiar face with his knuckles. Ichigo's hand caught his just as he was about to draw away, and Toshiro could see the words trembling on his lips. "It'll never be okay that I forgot you," he mumbled out, and Toshiro watched his chest catch in a poorly hidden sob.

Toshiro shushed him, wiping the tears away from the crooks of the man's eyes, both of his small hands gracing the carved chin. "But you remembered, Ichigo," Toshiro said, his tone soft. "So there's nothing to be guilty over. Please, just don't cry anymore."

Ichigo shook his head, sinking back down to rest his head against Toshiro's shoulders as his large arms wrapped around the smaller man's torso. "But I hurt you, Toshiro," he said miserably. "I can see it in your eyes." His words died off there, and he buried his face further into the crook of that pale neck. "I would never hurt you, Toshiro," he whispered out, obviously trying to assure the other more than himself.

Toshiro sighed, stroking at the back of Ichigo's neck calmingly. He had been hurt. He had been hurt when he'd heard of Kurosaki's death, feeling pain for the person he loved having to die in such a gruesome way. He had anticipated the other to have lost his memories, but that did not change the lack of recognition the other's eyes had held when they first opened. That had stung, like a burning sword was sliding slowly into his gut. But Ichigo had remembered; and he'd felt despair at not remembering. That was more than enough recompense for the struggle the smaller Captain had gone through, sitting there as calmly as he'd been able to manage whilst the man he loved sat staring at him unknowingly.

"I know, Ichigo," he murmured back, and Ichigo let out a choked sigh of relief. "I know you would never hurt me."

But the expression that Ichigo greeted him with when the ginger headed man raised his head was not the one Toshiro was expecting. It was still miserable, but searching in a way that made his gut twist. Had Ichigo forgotten something else? A thousand options raced through his head, but all of them were proven incorrect at Ichigo's next question. "Why won't you cry, Toshiro?" he asked softly, almost brokenly. "Why won't you be angry with me? Why won't you blame me?"

"Why are you letting those tears just sit there in your eyes?"

Toshiro chuckled quietly. "Because I don't want to hurt you, Ichigo," he said, smiling again weakly. "I would never hurt you, Ichigo."

2: Note

It should be noted that Toshiro wasn't fond of being quoted at. Especially when it was from Scarface, and by Ichigo, being called in what was probably supposed to be a rather droll fashion, "his little friend".

3: Flat

Ichigo felt his own heart stop when he heard the flat beep of the heart monitor start ringing through the room as he left. He whirled, rushing back towards his husband, feeling panic ring through him. But before he could even really reach the stricken spouse's bed, Unohana was there, and the world seemed to swing back into reality as the monitor began to spike normally again.

4: Heater

Ichigo was like his own personal heater. Toshiro had admittedly never been fond of heat, but he found that when it came to Ichigo, the man's warmth was just something enclosing and welcoming. It wasn't the kind of heat that overworked him, or irritated him. It was warmth that reached even the coolest corners of his body where usually the cold always lay, shooing it away in favor of letting in a pleasing, rolling heat.

And Toshiro only continued to allow himself to enjoy the warmth because he knew that Ichigo enjoyed giving it to him as much as Toshiro loved taking it in.

5: Agenda

"I told you, Kurosaki, I don't have time to "hang out" today," the small Captain griped over his shoulder, his armful of paperwork slowing down his usually clipped stride. "I don't have time; my schedule is packed as it is. I don't need you butting your nose into it to make it any worse than it already is."

Unfortunately for Toshiro, Ichigo wasn't around just for a complimentary visit. He had started making a habit of stopping by the 10th Division office whenever he was in the Soul Society, but it was usually only for his personal gain, and for the sake of having a growing interest in the young Captain. Thus, with his own personal interest in mind, he promptly declined the request by the younger Captain for him to bugger off.

"Just because you have an agenda to uphold to doesn't mean that I don't," Ichigo said, persisting in walking next to the Captain as they went. Obviously irked, but too hurried to bother indicating so, Toshiro just huffed over his stack of papers.

"Then what is on your agenda, seeing as you appear to have one?"

Ichigo just smiled, not bothering to look down at the shorter man. "Just being with you," he said, and he felt Toshiro look up at him, but still resisted looking down. "That's all."

6: Wisp

There was a wisp of fog settled over the Seireitei the day he returned to his empty house for the first time. It felt like it was a lingering impression of Toshiro, wishing him goodbye as he entered those quiet doors. He wished strongly that he could have traded that fog for his spouse, but instead sat on their back porch for a long time, watching their Koi pond and the stone Toshiro had sat on whilst meditating so many mornings before. But the fog was not the same as the heavenly white wisps that had danced about the yard whenever he meditated, leaving instead lurking gray haze.

"God, babe," Ichigo had said to no one in particular, his voice distant, "I miss you so much."

7: Wheel

Ichigo sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose as Mutton Chops stared at him accusingly from a cross the underground garage. He'd made the mistake of getting Toshiro interested in vehicles, and had made the even more grievous mistake of leaving him alone with one for several hours. He'd probably figured that Toshiro would just fiddle around with it, looking at all its different parts to try and figure out how it worked. In truth, Toshiro had done just that.

The only issue was that he'd taken the entire car apart first, and then examined all the parts to see how they worked.

Needless to say, Logan had not been pleased to return to the garage to quite literally find is vintage Mustang in pieces strewn across the shop floor. Ichigo and Xavier who had come down to investigate the hollering that had been coming from the garage had been unsurprised to find why the older man was visibly upset.

"I did warn you," Ichigo said, watching as Toshiro continued to ignore the burly man in favor of reassembling some complex part. He believed it to be what remained of the carburetor, but he wasn't sure. All he did know was that Toshiro was covered in grease, and seeming to enjoy every minute of it. "Get him interested in anything and he will figure out how it works."

"Did he have to fucking take my car apart?" Logan roared, still fuming.

"You should be thankful for him, Logan," Xavier said, in that bemused and interested tone he often seemed to use whenever Toshiro was involved. It was like he was too busy watching the younger man's thoughts to actually pay attention to the conversation. Ichigo could blame him; following Toshiro's genius thought process was probably like trying to jump on board an en-route maglev train. "He's discovered some sort of problem."

The scruffy man turned back to the savant, obviously offended at the thought of the other thinking he couldn't take care of his own car. "What the hell is wrong with it?" he barked. "Other than the fact that it's dismantled?"

Toshiro pointed to the stack of tires he'd made in one corner of the cluttered shop. "See the tire on the top?" he said, apparently totally calm about the matter in spite of how riled up Logan was. "It has an unusual amount of wear on it compared to the other tires. I would bet that the vehicle wandered something awful when driving." Mutton Chops seemed startled, but interested now that Toshiro seemed to be speaking a language he understood. "Your strut was cracked, and the shock absorber was practically disintegrating. I would recommend contacting someone you can order parts from, because even after I reassemble it, it won't be safe to drive until those parts are replaced."

Toshiro then held up the strut in question, and Logan took it from his little hands curiously, examining the damaged piece with a surprised look on his face. "Well," he said, the smile in his voice just barely discernable over the gruff. "I'll be damned."

8: Undo

"HOLY FLYING MOTHER OF -"

"Kurosaki, would you please explain what happened?"

"UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-"

"For the love of god, what are you swearing at?"

". THISISREALLYBAD."

"What?"

"I just deleted my entire recitation!"

"Then press the damn "undo" button and quit panicking! You're making a bloody scene!"

9: Rewrite

Ichigo ended up rewriting that recitation anyway, after he'd realized that he'd done it wrong from the bloody start. But, in all actuality, he hadn't been the one to write it. Seeing as he'd been in an almost fit over not having done the killer paper correctly, he'd promptly fallen into a sulking stupor, refusing to look at his computer or go anywhere near it. Which, probably wasn't the wisest choice he could have made, considering the paper was due in two days. However, being the gentle hearted man that he was, Toshiro had agreed to write it for Ichigo, having known the other's writing style already pretty well enough to mimic it.

He got an A on the paper, but best of all was the three hours he got to spend dictating to Toshiro about what thoughts he wanted to include. The Captain had listened and written diligently, his patience far beyond what Ichigo would have expected. But, he then figured that there were probably times in Toshiro's life when he had done similar things. As a lower seated officer, he'd probably had to take notes and written reports very similar.

But the only reason that the rewrite had taken three hours was because about every twenty minutes, they would end up off topic, and would chat idly with each other over whatever came to their minds. That was what made Ichigo cherish those three hours, because they were three hours where the thin ice he'd been treading over solidified, and let him stand firmly next to the icy dragon he'd been trying to reach for so long.

10: Will

"For the last time, Ichigo," Toshiro assured, gently handing their bundle of daughter over to the larger Soul Reaper's hesitant hands, "you won't break her." He then handed the bottle over to the other, the milk formula just tingeing on warm.

Ichigo looked down at Mikan's smiling face, still very much petrified that he was going to break the little thing. He had the capability and strength of cutting grown men with a single strike, and yet Toshiro still had faith in him not to hurt this small child? It was almost overwhelming, but the feel of her tiny little body in his arms made him realize how real it was. How important it was that he did this for her, and learned to restrain himself, lest he hurt her later on.

Sighing, he looked up to Toshiro, who looked calmly, encouragingly back at him. "Okay," he said quietly, praying that is will would be able to withstand his fear.


-This set was surprisingly hard for how short and simple it was. Perhaps it was just because I had kind of an off day. I had a close friend get into what could have been a fatal car accident and walk away having just dodged a minor concussion, and all of my classes for the semester are officially over. I still have my final exams; my first set of university level exams, which I'm still kind of fretting over, but trying not to. That, and I didn't eat much, and am probably only even cognizant because of all the eggnog I've consumed. I apologize for the prominent lack of quality and length in these drabbles, and will try to do better tomorrow after a proper night's sleep. Oh! I almost forgot, Ichigo and Toshiro's daughter's name translates to "mandarin orange", which is as close as I can get to Clementine. In the mean time, I'm going to polish off my nog and try to ignore my headache. Hope your guys' Friday nights are fun!

8-90s love,

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