-Feeling much better today, especially now that it's the weekend, I've gotten a decent amount of sleep, have eaten more than a bird's daily amount of food, and have headache medicine. Woot for being able to medicate yourself. Anywhositybub, I'm hoping that these drabbles turn out better than the last set I posted. I re-read them this morning, and they really weren't horrible. As a matter of fact they weren't half as awful as I'd made them out to be (which is good, considering I thought them damn awful when I posted them). But, regardless, I do hope that his set will turn out better. Meaning, in my books, wordier and better explained. Only one more set, you guys, and I'll be taking prompts again! But you know what's scary? I've already reached my halfway marker for 200 Days of Our Lives: I HAVE OVER 100 DRABBLES WRITTEN. Scary, ne? I can hardly believe it, considering how fast they've gone!

1: Curve

"God damn it," Ichigo growled against the screen of his laptop, settling back in his chair with a disconcerted huff. He looked up to see Toshiro's only mildly amused eyes looking at him over the cover of the Discover magazine he was reading. The quirked brows quite openly said "What now?" without even needing his lips to move.

"I'm trying to get this damn roller coaster simulation right," he explained, earning an even more curious glance from his companion. "I have to make a roller coaster over two miles long with all this stuff in it, but that won't kill the passengers with the g-forces. I finally came within .3 Gs of not killing my passengers, but on that last turn it went over the normal survivable level."

He could just barely see Toshiro's smile accentuating the curve of his cheeks over the top bridge of the magazine. The magazine folded down, revealing that mischievous little smile to his audience. "Mind if I give it a try, then?"

2: Aquarium

Ichigo had been rather surprised at how long their stay at Xavier's Academy was lasting. They'd been there for a good two weeks, and as much as he would have liked to claim that he wanted to go come, he was unable to really do so. It wasn't that he was having an uproarious time at the school. Don't get him wrong; it was very enjoyable, but not enjoyable to make him stay only on that account. Rather, what kept him lingering there was the growing apparent conflict between the normal "non-mutant" population of the United States and the unnatural minority "mutant" population. It made Ichigo sad to see that kind of discrimination resurrected in the United States; it reminded him all too much of the Anti-Korean conflict that still lingered rather feverishly in Japan. He wanted to stay and help, or to offer as much information and assistance as he could.

So far, he'd only managed to make a small amount of progress in explaining to Xavier exactly what was going on in Japan. It was hard to explain in English, translating things he weren't even sure had an English correlation. But Toshiro had been there to push him along, providing words for his tongue when he didn't know what to say next. The Captain himself had expressed being rather opposed to returning to the Soul Society; though Ichigo could see in his eyes that it was for a different reason than pitying the United States' current segregation issue. There was something else bothering the young man that lay beyond what Ichigo could see, something that apparently Toshiro had made clear enough to Head Captain Yamamoto to allow him to stay for however long he felt he needed to.

When he'd been mulling over such thoughts one day in the small dorm room that he and Toshiro had been allotted, watching over the smaller man's empty gigai as he tried feverishly to work up on his English vocabulary (he swore to god that the damn language had more words than anyone could ever need), he'd gotten a surprise visit from Scott. The bespectacled man had knocked first, ever polite, before entering after Ichigo had indicated he could.

"Hey," the other man had greeted, adjusting his very specialized eye gear to sit on his face more comfortably. "We're taking the students to the New England Aquarium today, you want to come?" The man's hidden eyes glanced over to where Toshiro's body lay "sleeping", apparently having noticed the lack of breathing in the fake body. "Where'd Toshiro run off to now? Xavier was really hoping you guys would want to come." His gaze then returned to Ichigo. "All the kids just love you guys; they'd be really happy to spend an afternoon with you."

Ichigo stood up, shrugging as he lingered over that one word. Aquarium, he pondered it over for a moment, knowing he'd heard it before. He then remembered, and smiled at Scott rather warmly. "I'd love to come," he said, setting down the "Idiot's Guide to English" he'd been trying to muddle through. He then looked back at Toshiro's gigai, unable to remember where the other man had said he was going off to. In fact, he wasn't sure if the other man had specified at all. He had been acting uncharacteristically strange lately, and it was slowly beginning to worry Ichigo. "I'm not sure where Toshiro went," he admitted, sensing some rather displeased emotion roll off Scott. He knew the story of how there existed two facets to the Mutant minority; the violet sect and the nonviolent sect, and how the two clashed heads quite often. He could understand Scott's suspicions, but knew that Toshiro would never go snooping around there. He was serious about his business, yes, but never stupid enough to go trotting into a bees nest in the hopes of not getting stung. "But I'm sure I could find him. I'm sure he would like to go too."

"Indeed I would," Toshiro said himself, sitting up stiffly. Ichigo was startled; not having noticed that the man had even slipped in. He sighed a bit, seeing that Toshiro's usually preoccupied expression was absent; meaning that he'd probably just been exploring the grounds to sate his own interest. "I've never been to an aquarium before," he said, arching his back in an attempt to get it to pop back into a comfortable position. It did; Ichigo could hear it all the way across the room.

"Great," Scott said, sounding much more pleased that Toshiro had reappeared so quickly. He of all of them had caught on most quickly and comfortably the whole gigai system. And even though Toshiro had been very careful to only leave his gigai in the room they were staying in, he'd been told by Logan that it was still disturbing to walk in and just find his little body lying there not breathing. Toshiro would always laugh, but could do little more about it than that, save for stay in his gigai more often, which he had been making a very good attempt to do so. "Come on, then. The bus is waiting out front. Everyone should just be loading up, so if we hurry we can make it down in time."

The ride from the school into Boston was a bit longer than Ichigo anticipated, but in spite of that it went rather quickly thanks to the help of the children also boarded onto the bus. Apparently it was a trip for the older kids; typically of the high school age. Thankfully none of them had been overly intrusive, but had kept lots of pleasant and intriguing conversation going as the bus trundled along. Logan and Xavier, along with some other members of the staff had tagged along, wanting to keep a fair amount of chaperones around.

When they arrived, Ichigo knew that Toshiro didn't regret coming along. The man's inquisitive mind was absolutely enthralled by all of the exhibits, and the information crowding just about every surface available. He watched on in amusement as Toshiro read every single word he could get his eyes on, only after having gleaned enough information then actually looking at the animals displayed. But Ichigo could tell that something big was impacting Toshiro about this place, and when they arrived at the massive cylindrical tower of water that spanned three stories, he began to realize why. Toshiro may have had a connection with ice, but his zanpakuto also took up the other half of that category; water. Thus, naturally, the smaller man had a deep connection to water himself, and as he gazed out in unveiled wonder at the animals that thrived in his element, Ichigo knew what had Toshiro so appalled. He was seeing, for the first time probably, a menagerie of creatures that shared in his element that he'd never known about before.

But even Ichigo was forced to pause, staring in amazement at what transpired as their group of forty some people drew to a halt. They'd been wandering up the spiral of floor that wound around the column of enclosed water, but all of them had stopped as Toshiro had, having put a hand to the thick glass. As if by magic, one of the large, ten foot long sand tiger sharks came swimming over, it's gaping maw of murderous teeth obviously nothing of fear to the smaller man.

The massive shark stopped, the point of its long snout mere centimeters away from where Toshiro's hand lay resting on the glass. Ichigo remembered from some far off science class of old that larger sharks usually were unable to sit still. If they did, they had no way to circulate water through their gills, and would quite literally drown. And yet, as the massive shark sat staring back at the young Captain for a moment that seemed far too long to be real, totally still save for its flicking gills, that seemed to be disregarded. After that awe-striking moment, Toshiro let his hand slide from the glass with a gentle smile to his lips, and, almost reluctantly, the giant beast trundled away. The group continued on their trek up the spiral path at that time, all murmuring and buzzing with thoughts. Toshiro continued to walk on the stretches of path closest to the glass, his shark friend following right alongside him.

"Well," Xavier said from next to him, and Ichigo looked down at the professor. "I'm not sure what just occurred, but it seems your compatriot has a new friend."

Ichigo smiled, nodding as he glanced over at Toshiro. "I guess so," he said, his smile widening as a quiet chuckle rolled off his lips. "Too bad he can't come home with us whenever we leave. I'm getting the feeling that Toshiro is going to miss him."

3: Aunt

Ichigo never questioned Toshiro's choice for a nanny. He probably would have suggested the young woman himself, or realized that she served the position best if ever in the process of looking for a nanny. Because the fact was, he didn't trust a soul more on earth than perhaps Unohana to watch their child than Toshiro's seventh seat.

Which, he had to keep reminding himself, was now Toshiro's third seat.

The woman had been in his division for longer than any other after the majority of his squad having retired, save for Rangiku, who refused to leave out of loyalty. And, quite probably, wanting to save up some kind of booze fund for when she did retire. But other than numerous retirements working into the factor, Toshiro's seventh-now-third seat had well earned the position. Throughout the years her shikai, which she had achieved not too terribly long after exiting the academy, had grown strong. Dangerously so for a lowly seventh seat, thus pushing her up through the ranks to her current third seat position before all the retirements had even begun.

But the fact was also that Ichigo knew her quite well. He often saw her sitting at Matsumoto's desk, filling out the paperwork that her Lieutenant probably should have been filling out. She worked efficiently, and quietly, which he knew Toshiro appreciated, and thus appreciated himself. Her work meant that Toshiro had more time to relax and be at home. And, with their new child factored into that equation, made for a very happy spouse.

But the fact did stand that Toshiro had duties he was obligated to perform, and with the two of them being Captains, and the majority of those obligated duties being Captain's meetings, it left a great emptiness in their house that neither of them was comfortable leaving their daughter in without trustworthy supervision. And, were not Matsumoto sometimes under pressure to attend the fore listed meetings, they would have chosen her to watch their daughter. But as it stood, Lieutenants did sometimes accompany their Captains, which would leave all three of them indisposed to the baby's needs.

So, Toshiro's third-once-seventh seat had been Toshiro's first vote after all things considered, and Ichigo had immediately agreed. He had watched Akira's behavior for weeks before they actually needed her, making double, triple, and probably quadruple sure that she was trustworthy. His observations had proven wise; as he had discovered that Akira (as he had been told by Toshiro numerous times was her name) would often instruct her Captain to go home when his normal office hours had wound to an end. Even when there was more work to be done, she would assure him that she would care for the rest of it, and that he was to return home and "stop bloody worrying about it".

That, and Ichigo was also thankful for the idea that Mikan would have some manner of feminine influence in her life. Even… if Akira wasn't exactly the most effeminate woman. True, she was stronger than every other man in her division save for Toshiro, and on a constant basis went toe-to-toe with even some of Squad 11's seated officers, but the fact didn't change that she was a woman, Ichigo trusted her, and he needed someone to fill in a place that neither he nor Toshiro could properly fill as the feminine influence in her life. Toshiro was already "mommy", and that would never change, but there was a certain instruction that a fellow woman could give whenever Mikan reached difficult points in her life that Ichigo and Toshiro could not, as men, ever understand.

So, from as early on as possible, Ichigo and Toshiro had introduced Mikan to her "Aunty Akira", seeing as the position of Godmother was already well staked by Unohana. (A right that Ichigo had not the balls to deny her when the fellow Captain had asked it of him.) And as early as that first meeting, Ichigo and Toshiro discovered something about Akira that neither of them knew or could fathom.

That the woman, in spite of being coarse, rough, and tough as fucking nails, had a little spot in her steely heart where Mikan fit right in. Thus making Toshiro's rather intimidating seventh-to-third seat a kind, doting, gentle, and blessedly protective aunty.

4: Stratford-Upon-Avon

"What do you think would happen if a Hollow got a hold of Shakespeare?"

"He's probably end up as an Arrancar. You know, the whole "pen is mightier than the sword" thing would probably get him pretty far."

"Really? I think he'd probably an Espada in that case."

"So in death was he more of a Hamlet or a Bottom?"

"What the hell are you bloody idiots talking about?" Renji barked, butting into their conversation.

"You obviously didn't read enough Shakespeare in your life, Renji."

"I would fix that, if I were you."

5: Check Up

"Dad, she's fine," Ichigo insisted, trying to snatch his daughter away from the wide arms of his father. Isshin Kurosaki glowered back at him, with a look that said with probably comical seriousness that he was the worst father in the world.

"I heard her sneeze!" the oldest Kurosaki insisted, obviously taking the bodily function as grounds to promptly panic. The little bundle in his arms seemed impervious to his angst, her little hands wandering all over his brightly covered tie.

"Dad, she's a baby. Babies sneeze," Ichigo attempted to explain. "I sneezed when I was a baby, didn't I?"

"Yes! But I took you in every time you did, just in case!"

"Dad, the clinic was in our house!" Ichigo growled, seriously becoming quite irked at having his daughter kept from him. At this rate he was probably going to have to get violent if the eldest Kurosaki didn't hand her over immediately. "Now quit panicking! We took her to Unohana for a checkup two days ago, and she was fine!"

Wisely, the elder Kurosaki decided not to refute the woman's medical prowess, probably being fonder of the idea of insulting Mother Teresa than the longstanding Captain of Squad 4. Begrudgingly, the older man relaxed a big, hugging his granddaughter up against his broad shoulder. The little baby cooed, her little hand reaching out and getting a rather firm fistful of the eldest Kurosaki's scruffy beard.

Which she also promptly yanked, probably coming very close to successfully dislocating the older man's jaw.

"Quite the grip this one has," Ichigo's father grit out through his crooked jaw, a tear pricking at his bleary eye. "Healthy as a horse I would say."

At which point Ichigo successfully managed to scoop his daughter off his father's shoulder. She had let go of the older man's beard the second her father's hands had come near, her tiny arms reaching out for him as he picked her up. He tucked her up under his chin, where she cuddled up happily against him. "Good girl," he said, tickling at her shoulder and eliciting a delectable giggle from her. "You keep picking on Grandpa, okay? Old Goat-Face needs someone to keep him in line."

Even Ichigo's dad couldn't keep the smile from his face when the little girl burbled happily against her daddy's shoulder.

6: Pocky

"Come on, Toshiro! Please?"

"No, Ichigo. I refuse to recreate that damn spaghetti scene from Lady and the Tramp. Especially not with a wafer covered in chocolate."

"Would you do it if it was a strawberry pocky?"

7: Tiny

"Toshiro, I am not going to let you go in there! If someone catches you, they'll kill you for sure. I can't let you just go wandering into somewhere where I can't help you," Ichigo spluttered, furious at the other man's suggestion of slinking about the crawlspace underneath the large house in order to retrieve their captured comrade. He was sure that they wouldn't have done anything too serious to Renji by that point, but time was definitely a luxury they didn't have. Especially considering the only way they had to get in was either barging in through the front door or squeezing under the crawlspace under the house.

Which, much to Ichigo's chagrin, Toshiro was quite correct about him not being able to fit in.

"Ichigo, we don't have time for your simpering," the younger man bit out, having shed his haori and apparently fully intent on crawling into the tiny, dark, meandering space that Ichigo probably should have been the one crawling through, considering it was his friend who had gotten captured. "If you can name a better solution in the next five seconds then I suggest you speak up now, otherwise I'm crawling under this house, getting to Renji, and storming our way out like we had planned."

Damn Toshiro for being so damn convincing as a commander when things got tough.

8: Jam

Neither Ichigo nor Toshiro could help their laughter at seeing Mikan's first Christmas gift. They'd gotten many from across the Soul Society, but the only one that had arrived that they trusted to open first was the one addressed as having come from Akira.

They were both hilariously amused because inside lay a little jar of homemade mandarin orange marmalade.

9: Precious

"Oh no, no. Someone obviously didn't tell you," Ichigo said, growling out over the thick blade of Zangetsu's shikai form. "These people," he nodded a head back to his house, which he was currently fighting outside, "they're precious to me. And if you lay even a fucking finger on them, I will gut you."

The strange man laughed languidly at him, shrugging a narrow shoulder as a pair of emotionless gray eyes peered down at him. "So I can see," he said, his tone too smug for Ichigo's liking. "But your "precious" ones on this side are not the ones I'm after." Ichigo's heart slowed dangerously, suddenly hanging on every word the mysterious man was saying. "You see, they're too close to you; you can protect them too well."

As he was speaking, the man pulled a piece of torn cloth out from inside his suit, from a deep pocket hidden against the breast. With a smile as comforting as having petroleum poured down your throat, he tossed the tattered fabric to where Ichigo stood in a rigid stance several yards away.

Ichigo snatched the fabric with his free hand, intending only to glance down for a moment at the fabric before looking back up at his foe. But that second's glance lingered, his eyes widening and his heart jumping to a roaring thunder painfully quickly. The feel of the Captain's haori fabric was familiar beneath his fingers, but it was stiff with dark, dry blood. The half-torn Squad 10 emblem stared back up at him, and he could feel the ache in his jaw as his teeth clenched as the man's continued words echoed in his head.

"It's your other "precious" people I've gone after, Ichigo Kurosaki," he drawled. "Because you're vain enough to think that you can play the part of God, and protect them all." Ichigo's heart tore in half, his grip on Zangetsu's square hilt shaking.

"I've come to rip that vanity from you, along with everything you hold precious, Ichigo. Consider him Step 1."

10: Names

Ichigo wasn't sure what he could call it that would do it justice. It was burning, searing, crushing. Encompassing, and existential.

But more than anything, it hurt.

It was not the hurt of battle ravaging his body. It was not the hurt of watching another suffer. It was not the hurt of knowledge, or the hurt of depravity. It was not the soreness after healing. It was not the sting of emotional wounding.

It was the pain associated with absolute failure, but even that couldn't describe it.

It swallowed him too quickly, drowned him too fast. Even as his body moved and his sword sang, it sat in his lungs, clogged his veins. Every fiber in his body felt like liquid lead; heavy and excruciating. There were no thoughts that could wind through the iron wall of choked panic that had taken over his mind, no sense that could be made of the knot of emotions that made up his floundering heart.

But even as fury, white hot and searing, burned in him, it could not outdo or burn away the fear, and the guilt.

"Where is he?" Ichigo had ground out, almost desperately over the hand that so idly held the devastating blade of his zanpakuto like it was a stray breeze. "Where the fuck is he?"

"In Hell, where he belongs for ever having loved a sick thing like you." A firm hand gripped onto his scalp, hauling him off his feet with surprising strength and flinging him like a ragdoll. "Where they will all end up, Ichigo. Because of you, your vanity, and that naïve sense of hope you parade around like it's something to be proud of." Ichigo drug himself up from the wall he'd gone crashing through, spitting the blood from his mouth as it dribbled from his split lip.

"Abandon your idiotic notion of hope, Ichigo. Because there are some places in the world where it doesn't exist, and where it cannot be implanted by an overzealous child."

Then, Ichigo realized that there was in fact a name for what he was feeling in that moment as he lay battered against the sidewalk. And he hated the way it sounded, even as it sat festering in his mind. He clenched his eyes shut, ashamed at even admitting to the thought, but unable to stop it from affecting him.

It was hopelessness.

-I'm much happier with this set than the last one. Double the length, I know, but I also wrote them whilst in a much better mood than I did yesterday. Mostly because I'm in a better mood than I was yesterday. I wrote it… all, actually, whilst sitting in my dorm laundry room, not actually doing my own laundry but rather serving as company for a friend of mine who was doing laundry. I probably should have done my laundry, but as you all know, my keyboard is more important to me than my laundry. That could be taken both in a good and bad way, depending on which you would prefer. Anyways, I only have 1 set of drabbles to catch up on before I start taking prompts again! Meaning after next chapter you are welcome to submit more ideas to me. Also note that in the short future (meaning probably later today) I will be posting a new "fic" to my account. This is actually going to be a set of Guest Drabbles that my friends are writing. Not for me, just because I've gotten them addicted to the pairing. :P So be on the lookout for those. And, if you would like to be a Guest Writer, send me something! I'm mostly doing these Guest Drabbles to provide a proper outlet if any of you want to write something related to things included in my drabbles. Take, for instance, the Grace Trains, the X-Men stuff, or encounters with my version of Ichigo's daughter. If you also just want to keep your writing (if you do any) all to your onesies, that's fine. But all authors who provide Guest Drabbles would be properly cited and accredited. Now, back to the drabbles. The only note I have on this set is that drabble 9: Precious and drabble 10: Names are related. 10 is the sequel to 9, yadda yadda. That's all for now, biffles, and I'll see you tomorrow.

8-90s love,

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