"Was there anything specific you remember about the Zanpakuto?"

They had been at Urahara's shop for a little over an hour, talking about various things—including the weather, for only god knows why—before the blonde had Toshiro retelling everything that happened. They were sitting around the huge wooden table in the too small of a room, Urahara on one side facing Ichigo and the Shinigami Captain. Urahara concluded, once the carrot top had let Toshiro off his back and stepped away, that it would be for the best if the two of them continued some type of contact with one another. So now Ichigo and Toshiro sat, side by side, with their elbows touching.

"One had a purple sash and the other was yellow."

"Their hilts, I mean."

"Same color." Toshiro said. "That was it, just the color."

"Hm. A mystery indeed, yet oddly familiar…" Urahara stood up. "One moment please."

Ichigo yawned and stretched. 'Man, it's always hot in here.'

Suddenly the door slammed open to reveal a pissed off Ichigo—er, Kon. "The hell Ichigo!"

The carrot top didn't do anything but give a bored look as he lifted his hand, his finger crooking in a 'come hither' motion. He smirked as the mod soul did as he was told and punched Kon in the stomach, watching his eyes rolled back into their sockets and the round green pill popped up out of his body's mouth. He caught the pill and his body, stepping back into it as he replaced the green mod soul back into the yellow stuffed animal. He was completely prepared for the onslaught of curse words.

"You mother fucking-assholic-jerk off!" Kon screamed in his mini state. "You promised me if I watched the brat I could go have some fun!"

'Brat?' Toshiro's eye twitched.

"YOU LIAR!" He continued to scream.

"Yeah, shut up already." Ichigo sighed as made himself comfortable in his own body again. "Something came up."

"I could kill you right now, y'know!" Kon's plush arms beat on the carrot top's chest in anger.

"Listen…if you close your mouth, I'll make it up to you."

This made the mod soul pause. "How?"

The carrot top sighed. "Dunno."

Urahara appeared as quickly as he had left, carrying a huge book and dropping it on the table with a loud 'thud'. He sat back down on the cushion; his legs crossing into Indian-style as he flipped open the cover. "Kurosaki-kun, if you please…keep the contact between you two, as you are causing Captain Hitsugaya distress."

"Our legs are touching." He replied.

"That maybe so, but apparently, it's your skin contact that's the main factor." The blonde flipped through the various pages of the very worn out book. A puzzled expression on his face as he peered through the cracking pages. "Yellow and purple you say…" He muttered more to himself than the others as he paused on one page. "What shade?"

'Shade?' Toshiro frowned. "I wasn't paying attention to the shade."

"You're not making this any easier."

"Tch…the purple could have been light."

"Like this?" Urahara turned the book in his possession around, his finger pointing to a Zanpakuto that described the color that the white-haired male relayed. The picture was clear as if the outside of the book deceived what was hidden inside.

"Yes."

"Just as I feared." He said, turning the book back around and reading over the notes that were scribbled alongside the picture. "This is Zetsubou Kanashii, or 'Sorrowful Despair'. The blade is embedded with a type of poison that spreads through the victim's body by their reiatsu." He flipped through more pages, coming towards the backend of the book. "The yellow?"

"Darker."

"Ah here. Shikijou Nen, the 'lustful desire'."

'Isn't that the same thing? Lust and desire?' Ichigo was beginning to regret where things were going. "And what's that one do?"

"This blade, if wounded by it, casts a strong effect on the victim…" Urahara scratched at his chin.

Toshiro had the urge to lick his suddenly dry lips as he swallowed hard. "Go on…"

"To lust after whoever touches them first."

'Shit.'

The blonde looked between the two on the opposite side of the table. "The victim will show signs of sickness and fever the longer the amount of time one's away from the person who first touched you. And guessing from your reactions when Kurosaki-kun isn't touching you…" He needn't continue as it was pretty clear. His dark blue eyes scanning the page in front of him and all of the notes that were scribbled along the margins. 'This could get disastrous.'

"So I just have to keep touching him? By skin contact?" Ichigo blinked. This was getting really creepy. The young Captain already couldn't stand his presence, so what made Urahara think that the white haired male would want to have constant contact with him? That was certainly a problem but it wasn't the one thing he was too concerned about right now. "How do we treat it?"

"Huh? Treat what?"

The carrot top's eye twitched. "These 'wounds'?"

"Oh those, right." Kisuke waved a dismissive hand. "Well, first things first, you have to get rid of the source."

"In other words, Kurotsuki needs to be killed." Toshiro said.

"Well, if he's the one who used the Zanpakuto, then yes you'll have to."

The carrot top ran his hands through his hair. That much he understood, killing this 'Kurostuki' guy. But the main thing that was on his mind was: Where was he going to find the guy? It wasn't like he could march right back into Hueco Mundo. Toshiro wasn't supposed to fight or use his reiatsu or anything. And there was no way he was dragging the Captain to follow after him just because some weird ass Zanpakuto made the white-haired male lust after him. That was the most ridiculous thing of all. "Who has a Zanpakuto that makes people 'lust' after others?"

Urahara's demeanor took on a drastic change as the blonde now looked sick himself. "That would be my fault." He flipped back towards the first Zanpakuto they identified as he sighed.

"Of course." Toshiro said, forcefully grabbing Ichigo's arm and slamming back down on the table as he glared at the blonde across the table. "You were once Captain of the 12th Division and President of the Research and Development Institution."

"Exactly. There were hundreds upon thousands of experiments." He admitted.

"Then can't you just create something to counteract the effects?" Ichigo asked.

"Not unless I have the original Zanpakuto." Urahara shook his head. "But I do wonder how somebody like Aizen—no, that's not right. If it's Aizen, then undoubtedly he'd had already thought about it before he executed his plan. This must be his last plan of action. A desperate attempt."

The carrot top drummed his fingers against the tabletop. "Ok how—"

"How are we supposed to find Kurotsuki?" Toshiro cut him off. "I assume he's in Hueco Mundo with Aizen, yes?"

"That does seem like a reasonable explanation. However, you can't simply jump there and fight on his terms. He's a very powerful man."

"Yes, Urahara…what did you mean earlier by the 'user's reiatsu'?"

"With Zetsubou Kanashii? Of course I was referring to you Captain." Kisuke explained. "The more you use your reiatsu the faster the poison will spread in your body. The faster it spreads the quicker you die."

'Of course.' The thought ran through both Toshiro and Ichigo's minds.

"But! I have taken a countermeasure, as you know." He said, pointing to the small man. "Your gigai…equipped and modified to block most reiatsu."

"Mine and anyone else's?"

"Something like that."

Ichigo sighed again, resting his head in his hand as he just let the two males talk it out. He'd ask his questions later after Toshiro was done. But man, was he bored. The fingers on his free hand drummed against the top of the table until the small man next to him slammed his fist down. Ichigo hissed his displeasure, retracting his hand before he jammed it into his pocket, fishing for his cell phone. 'One missed call?' He flipped it open and cursed. It was his realtor. He listened to the voicemail: She was running early and wanted to meet him an hour ahead of schedule. He looked at the time. "Five minutes?!"

"What's wrong?" Urahara asked.

"I—we've got to go." The carrot top stood up. "I'll call you later Urahara-san."

"I'm not done here." Toshiro said, unwilling to move from his position.

"Fine, you stay here." The tan man walked around the table and slid the door open. "I'll be back in a few hours to get you. Kon stay with Toshiro."

The yellow plush jumped off of Ichigo's shoulder and landed on the table, spinning around on one leg and giving a thumbs up to the carrot top and winking. "Leave it to me!"

They all resisted the urge to roll their eyes as Ichigo slipped out the door.

"Captain Hitsugaya!" The room became silent for a minute as the small male crossed his arms over his chest and frowned deeply, glaring at Ichigo. Come back and get him? He would go wherever he pleased! He did not need a babysitter. "Stupid…moron…"

Urahara cleared his throat, his fist in front of his face as a bad attempt to conceal it. "Captain…was that really the wisest choice?"

Toshiro glared.

"I'm just looking out for your health."

"Do not concern yourself about me." He said. "I am perfectly capable of ha—"

"Please, enough." The blonde held up his hand and waved dismissively. "He hasn't been gone for more than ten seconds and I can already see the pain on your face."

Toshiro stopped. Yes that sickness feeling had begun to creep forward again, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. A little pain? Easily dismissed. "I'm f—"

"You're hands are shaking."

He looked down. "I'll live."

Urahara sighed. "You need contact—almost constantly—with not Kurosaki-kun's body but his reiatsu. That is the effect of the Shikijou Nen Zanpakuto. Apparently it's affecting your head too," He tapped his temple. "Otherwise you'd have—never mind. I'm not here to create enemies. Kurosaki-kun! You'd better take him with you!"

The door slid back open to reveal the carrot top on the other side, a scowl already plastered on his face. "Will you make up your mind? Let's go already."

The white-haired male blinked. "You were there the whole time?"

"Yeah, couldn't you—right. Modified gigai." Ichigo sighed. "I only got us twenty extra minutes. Let's go." He grabbed the pale arm and lightly tugged Toshiro into a standing position. "Call ya later." He repeated as he turned around, Kon jumping off the table to latch onto Ichigo's back as the tan male dragged the Captain behind him.

"Where are we going?" Toshiro asked as they exited the store and continued at a fast pace down the back streets.

"To check out an apartment."

"We went over this…you can't—"

"I'm not running away. I'm just moving the target from the clinic to a different location. It's right on the riverbank, and that's more room to fight than where I am now." Ichigo explained. "Someday, they'll grow a conscious smart enough to follow me to my home. They'll wait for the right moment to strike and I don't want anyone there to get injured."

Toshiro didn't miss that hidden tone of excitement mixed in with fear and worry. "You mean no one will be there to get in your way."

Ichigo huffed out breath of laughter. "Yeah, that too."

"Kurosaki—"

"Oi!" The carrot top was currently ignoring the shorter male, waving down a yellow vehicle. "Taxi!" He smiled and opened the back door when the car pulled over towards the sidewalk. 'It's rare to see a cab out here…Guess we're lucky for that at least.' He let the smaller male climb in before sliding in behind him, rattling off the street address of where he wanted to be.

'I'm getting cut off a lot lately.' Toshiro and Ichigo sat on either side of the back seat, the middle seat separating the two. His gaze shifted from that of the cabbie driver in the rear view mirror and the carrot top. Taking a chance he moved his right arm, his hand coming in contact with the back of Ichigo's wrist. This stupid sickness wasn't bad, but it was to the point where it was intensifying with the motion of all of the buildings blurring past. Out of all people, why did it have to be a human?

No, that's not right. This human boy—Ichigo—also had a good sense of restraint. At least when nobody close to him was in danger. Toshiro hadn't realized that the cab had come to a stop until he felt another tug on his arm. He blinked, looking up to see Ichigo with one foot out the door and a soft smile on his face. He felt a twinge in his chest at the sight.

"This won't take long." He said. "You can stay here if you want."

"No, that's alright." Toshiro replied, moving his arms to help him slid out the back of the cab. "This is the place?"

"Yeah."

It wasn't a bad location after all. It was a few buildings south of the bridge that connected the outskirts of the city to the city itself. It looked to be about seven floors, a little run down but at least it was a place to crash. "How far away is it from the clinic?"

"Fifteen minutes?" Ichigo said as they walked into the lobby. "Maybe twenty if you walk?"

"Ichigo!"

Both men turned to see a raven haired woman with bright green glasses waving at them from the lounge area next to the front desk. She was dressed in a jacket and a cleanly pressed skirt and high heels as she stood, grabbing a briefcase off the floor and holding an old beaten clipboard in her other hand. "Hey Mrs. Daisuke."

"I'm sorry if this was inconvenient." She gave an apologetic smile.

Ichigo shook his head. "It's no problem, really."

Her large green eyes blinked at the shorter white-haired male that had one hand shoved into his pocket while his other hand kept a firm grip on the carrot top's wrist. "Well hello there!" She greeted and smiled. "And who might you be?"

Ichigo had to keep hard from laughing. He could practically feel the anger rolling off of Toshiro's body. 'Oh god, I just hope he doesn't blow a fuse.'

Toshiro's eye twitched as this woman continued to speak in a demeaning tone with him. He counted down from ten in his mind as he kept telling himself that she was a human and didn't know any better. "Toshiro Hitsugaya."

"Oh? Are you related to Ichigo?" She asked.

"No," The carrot top said, seeing that the smaller male was opening his mouth to respond—most likely to deny it—but he didn't want to get into the details. "We're just hanging out today."

"That's nice." She smiled again and motioned to the elevator. "Shall we?"

They all entered the elevator, Mrs. Daisuke pushing the button for the seventh floor as she rattled off the praises of the apartment that was for rent. The kitchen had just been remodeled and all of the hardwood floors freshly re-polished. As they walked in, Toshiro watched at Ichigo's wowed expression. "Are these Cherry Oak?" The carrot top asked, quickly stepping over to the red cabinets of the kitchen, his hands running over the smoothness. "And black granite countertops?"

"Ahem," She held her hand in front of her mouth before she grinned and winked at him. "The countertops are our little secret."

He smiled back at her. "This is great."

"Wait until you check out the master bath! They completely gutted it and remodeled it too. It's like heaven." She said dreamily as she motioned to him with her hand. "All the way to the point where I asked them if they would come redo my bathroom!"

Toshiro stood where he was near the door, waving a dismissive hand when Ichigo looked back towards him. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall as he waited for the carrot top to finish his business. 'She bugs me…' Fifteen minutes later of waiting, the two of them both reemerged from the back rooms, a huge grin of happiness on Ichigo's face as they small talked about designs and furniture.

"I'll take it." Ichigo said.

"Alright," She placed her clipboard and briefcase on the countertop, unlatching the hooks and opening it to reveal a massive amounts of notes, papers, pens and pamphlets. "Now I'm going to inform you, Mr. Kurosaki…that there is another offer on this place."

The carrot top's stomach dropped at those words.

"Kidding!" Her face changed from dead serious to smiling in an instant before she clapped a hand on his back as she shook her head. "You're expression was priceless!"

He gave her a sly grin. "Not funny."

"I know, I know." She pulled out a file labeled 'Kurosaki, I.' and opened it up, pulling forth a stapled white and yellow sheet of paper. She laid it on the counter and marked an 'X' on a line at the bottom of the page. "Sign here please."

Ichigo took the pen from her and scribbled his name down, completing the contract. "Is that it?"

"Yes." She tore of the top of the paper and handed the yellow one to the carrot top as she filed away hers. "I will get with you again later in the week…here are you keys…" She fished out two keys on a key ring and handed it to him. "The bigger silver one is for your apartment and, of course, the smaller bronze one is for your mailbox downstairs."

"Thanks a lot Mrs. Daisuke."

"Thank you for your business!"

They shook hands and parted at the door, Ichigo waiting until she disappeared behind the elevator doors before he walked back inside the apartment and closed the door. He bit his lip and smiled with his hands on his hips. 'This is my place now…' He was giddy and he wasn't holding it back. 'Now to convince the others to help me move!' He gave a snort of laughter before he went back into surveying the new kitchen.

Toshiro heard the clattering around in the kitchen. He had moved from his spot next to the door as Ichigo and Mrs. Daisuke were completing their deal before the carrot top saw her to the door. He had slipped across the dining room and into the living room. A wall blocked the living room from the dining room and kitchen area, except for two doorways on either side of the wall. Toshiro was currently standing next to the window in the sun, a wave of sickness washing over him and for a minute he thought he'd toss whatever was in his stomach.

He unlatched the window and pushing it to the side, sticking his head out and thanking the heavens for the cool breeze that blew by, running over his forehead. He sighed as he slouched down, thankful that the window was lower than most; he was able to sink to his knees and still rest his arms on the window sill and be in contact with the wind.

A pair of hot hands ran along his arms and a warm body pressed against his from behind and he jumped. He relaxed as he realized it was just Ichigo and his eyes closed as the sickness receded. 'This is getting really annoying.' Unintentionally, he rested his head back against the carrot top's shoulder as the taller male sank down behind him, holding him in a loose embrace.

"You ok?"

"Hn."

"I'm sorry."

"Why?"

"I didn't mean for it to take so long." Ichigo said. "Feel better?"

Toshiro moved his body and stood up. "I'm fine. You can let go."

'Right…' The carrot top sighed and stood up. "Well then, let's get back home, eh?"

"Home?" He questioned, the word echoing in his head and immediately his mind flashed back to the Seireitei. There was a wooden house and an old lady that sat in the middle stirring stew in a dented black pot and two children running around in the yard, a short white-haired male and a taller raven haired girl. She was holding a watermelon and running around the house, away from the boy. Toshiro realized that was him and Momo, back before everything changed and they left for the Soul Society. 'Why did I remember that?'

"Toshiro?"

He cleared his heads from his thoughts and walked towards the door. "It's nothing."

By the time they returned to Ichigo's house, the sun had already sunk below the horizon and only the twilight light was left. "We're home." The carrot top announced as they walked in through the front door, slipping off their shoes to pad around in their socks.

"Welcome back." Karin said as she saw them enter the living room out of the corner of her eye. The real object of her attention was the television screen, where yet another soccer game was taking place.

"Are you hungry?" Yuzu asked. She was in the kitchen, a towel in one hand as she dried off a large pot in the other. "There's leftovers if you want me to heat them up."

Ichigo nodded. "Yes please."

"M'kay." She smiled. "Go get washed up and I'll bring it to your room."

"We can eat down he—"

"Don't be silly! It's ok."

The carrot top blinked in confusion at his sister. 'Ok…she's acting weird…' He shrugged it off and turned around only to see Toshiro wasn't behind him. "Uh, actually, hold off on that meal Yuzu. I don't think we'll be needing it." He said before he quickly left the room, an annoyed feeling in his gut as he saw fog rolling down the stairs. He climbed the staircase to come to a standstill in front of his door, frowning as more fog seeped from the cracks. "You're not supposed to be using your reiatsu." Ichigo said as he walked into the room and found the white-haired male on the bed, lying down and facing the wall with his eyes closed.

'Man, he's asleep?' He glared at the new teal-haired figure that was currently sitting in the chair at his desk. "Get outta here."

"I refuse."

"The hell you do. Your reiatsu is hurting him."

"…Mine?" Hyourinmaru's eyes widened only a fraction. He thought it was his master's—he stopped himself. He was his master reiatsu. How could he have been so blind?

Ichigo sighed and rolled his eyes. "Weren't you listening to Urahara-san?"

"Of course I was."

"Then you—" The carrot top stopped as he felt a slight pull on his soul from inside of his body. Soon a black shadowed figure separated from Ichigo's body, the haze of the image clearing to that of a middle-aged man wearing dark sunglasses and a tattered shihakusho and curly brunette hair. "Zangetsu?"

"Come." Ichigo's Zanpakuto said to the other. "We need to talk." Hyourinmaru immediately stood, following after the other sword that phased through the window and disappeared up to the rooftop.

'Odd…' Ichigo scratched the back of his head as the two Zanpakuto left as did the chill in the air. "Whatever…" He walked over and plopped down in the now, unoccupied, chair behind his desk and leaned his back, his head resting on the desk. There was a vibration in his pocket and Ichigo dug out his cell phone. "Hey Urahara-san." He said as he flipped it open, not bothering to look at the caller id as he already knew who it would be.

"Yo, Kurasaki-kun. How's the Captain?"

"Same, old crabby self—"

"Now, now…"

"But he's asleep now."

"Ah, that's good news."

"So, do the effects of those Zanpakuto also affect him when he's sleeping?"

"Hm…I'm not quite sure. But in all honesty me it would surprise me if it wouldn't—"

"Can't you ever just say 'yes'?"

"Ah, then life would be too easy my friend."

"Whatever." Ichigo rolled his eyes, knowing his annoyed tone was clear in his voice as he swiveled around in his desk chair. He was hoping that he wasn't talking too loud to wake the guy, Toshiro had already been through enough today and the carrot top didn't want to be yelled at anymore. He sighed. "So, what do I do?"

"What do you mean?"

"How'm I supposed to keep the contact between us?"

"Sleep together."

Ichigo's eye twitched. 'Calm down.' He told himself. 'He didn't mean it like that.' He took a few deep breaths and was about to retort when that high-pitched laughter resounded in the back of his mind.

'That's exactly what he meant! And you know it!'

Great. Now he had to have two conversations at once. This was hell.

"He'll kill me." The carrot top said before he replied to his hollow. 'Shut the fuck up you circus freak.'

"You really don't have any other choice—" There was a loud crash in the background and a groan. "I'll have to get back with you later Kurosaki-kun. Bye."

Ichigo blinked as the line went dead. Jinta must have dropped something again. He snapped his phone shut and hooked the charger into the bottom of the electrical device, setting it down on the table as he stood up to change into some pajamas. Once dressed, he hesitantly looked over to the small figure on the bed, debating whether he really should do as Kisuke said.

'Of course you should.'

'I thought I told you to shut up?'

'Have I ever really listened?'

The carrot top rubbed his hands over his face. He didn't really need to reply, his hollow already knew what he was thinking anyways. So why was he wasting his time?

'Because you couldn't ignore me, even if you wanted to.'

Ichigo purposely didn't respond to that.

'Humor me, King.'

'What do you want?'

'Sssatissssfactiiiion….' His hollow's voice hissed in excitement. 'I'm tired of the rain…give us a little sunshine pretty boy.'

Ichigo snorted. 'Satisfaction?'

"Remember, King…you are us and we are you."His hollow referred to both himself and the Zanpakuto inside of Ichigo's soul. "When you're satisfied, we're satisfied."

"Is that so?"

"Right now, you're not. I can tell because it's been raining ever since you learned that cold-hearted bastard went and got himself hooked up with Aizen." He knew he was crawling underneath Ichigo's skin. Now it was just a matter of pushing those buttons in the right order.

The carrot top sighed as he moved to the side of the bed. He had that nervous feeling in his gut, wondering why he'd never had it before. They were only sleeping.

"And sharing a bed."

No unnecessary touching.

"Him pressed close to you."

"You're killing me…" Ichigo groaned in his head as he softly moved Toshiro's smaller body closer to the wall. Pulling out the sheets from underneath him he quickly slipped under the covers and pulled them up over both of their bodies. They were facing away from each other and Ichigo tried his best not to move. It was a little weird, with something pressing along his backside while he tried to sleep.

"You could always turn over and wrap your arms around him—"

"One more word and I'll kick your ass."

The laughter was clear in his hollow's voice. "I wouldn't mind. I need a good workout lately. You've been ne—"

A quick erratic beat of his heart and warmth encased his body as the sudden silence was heaven. Zangetsu had returned back into his soul. His little chat didn't take as long as the carrot top thought the Zanpakuto would be away. But Ichigo didn't care what had happened to the Hollow, he was just grateful for the peace. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, relaxing into the pillow as he drifted off to sleep when a small smile played on the corner of his lips. 'Thanks old man.'

"Goodnight Ichigo."A deep reply said quietly.