Chapter Ten

Ghosts of Nurturing Hearts

A period of three weeks passed quickly for those sequestered in the small cabin. In that time, Ichigo had managed to pick up on academic areas faster than anyone anticipated. While he wasn't completely caught up, he was a whole lot closer than anyone had expected. His reading level had just kept climbing, and he appeared to have a drive to learn as much as he could in the shortest amount of time. Nnoitra thought, though, there were times that he simply seemed sad, like he was lonely. He tried to comfort him, but he wasn't sure how he needed to comforted. He would often catch him talking to himself, or sitting longer than necessary in the bath, or doing things that he didn't know anyone could see he was doing. He spent most his time around the others quietly, sometimes talking when asked questions, but he still shied away from anyone except Nnoitra touching him. Kisuke had managed, with some difficulty, to perform a second exam on him during that time, making sure that he was healed up from everything. That had almost gotten Nnoitra a black eye from wrestling with the bratty Ichigo when he tried to get into the bathroom again. Granted, Ichigo had kept his promise. He didn't lock the door anymore.

Ichigo's sisters were still wary of Nnoitra, and didn't engage him in conversations often. He heard them talking about meeting with a couple of the boys in town now and then, and that was good. He hoped they found someone that they could have some fun with. He was, however, surprised when one said she had gone to see Wonderweiss. Nnoitra had glanced over, guessing no one else could have such a name. He'd have to ask Szayel about it. Classes resumed, and Nnoitra worked out doing his remotely for the time being. Kisuke had handled everything with Gin's help on that end.

Kisuke had been on hand the entire time, but Nnoitra wondered why he was doing that. He knew that he was wary of Ichigo's condition. However, he had a feeling there was something keeping him there other than cooking nearly three meals a day, which included coming home from the school to fix lunch for everyone. He was curious about it, but he also wasn't too worried. Ichigo had gotten used to having them around now, and that was significant.

By the end of that first period, though, Nnoitra was noticing more and more that Ichigo seemed to be on edge. He would escape as often as he could to the bedroom, and when Nnoitra came in, he'd look oddly at him, as though he'd caught him doing something he shouldn't. Finally, Nnoitra was done wondering.

Ichigo had still not gotten used to the girls and their desire to hug him, especially Yuzu. The poor girl would be distraught, but she kept trying, hoping that Ichigo would let her have some contact after all. This time, though, Nnoitra went quietly into the room, and hearing the tub running, wondered exactly what he was doing. So instead of going into the bathroom, he paused at the door where it was slightly cracked. He heard the water turn off, and then he heard him talking softly. Nnoitra frowned, wondering what he was doing. He listened for a long while and figured out he was playing. He frowned. He was making up some kind of little game in the water, he realized. It dawned on Nnoitra that this was how he was coping. Instead of panicking he was regressing, going into that childish mindset that he'd had for such a long time. It was comforting, he imagined, to not have to be an adult for a little bit.

He couldn't believe he missed it. From the beginning, he seemed to have retained the childlike traits that most people lose over time just by virtue of having it socialized out of them. Ichigo never had that experience. He was left to his own devices day after day, no outside contact, and he'd learned to cope with it by entertaining himself. He'd made up games and played with mundane objects as a way to make it through every day of his life. He was trying so hard now, being the adult he knew he was in front of everyone. He didn't climb into Nnoitra's lap anymore, but he would sit as close as anyone would sit to another person. He was in essence mimicking what the other people were doing around him. He was learning socialized skills, picking them up just like his own academic skills. He knew how he was supposed to act and what was appropriate, he'd figured that out quickly watching the reactions of the others around them.

Nnoitra stepped back from the door and leaned against the wall, putting a hand on his head. He wasn't happy, though, he thought to himself. He was trying his best to be what everyone wanted him to be, and all he wanted was to be able to have someone give him the things that he'd missed for the last twelve years. He'd decided that it was impossible, so he was coping the best way he could. He was doing things when no one could see him that he thought were childish and he couldn't do. Nnoitra bit his lip thoughtfully, smiling to himself. He had an idea.

Nnoitra left the room and took out his cell phone and texted Szayel.

Yo, you around? He sent to Szayel.

Yeah, what's up? Szayel sent back.

Um, you know where you visited a few weeks ago, where I'm at?

Sure, man. I remember. You need something? Szayel asked. Your mom takes care of that doesn't she?

This is something I don't want to ask her to do, he tapped out with a sigh.

Oh?

Yes, look, I need some stuff, and it…might sound weird.

Szayel took a long time to answer. This is about what I mentioned before, isn't it? ;)

Fucker, shut up. Yes. Nnoitra rolled his eyes and sighed before sending the next one. Okay, so yes it is, so I need information on what to do and…some stuff.

You got it man, whatever you need, and I'll throw in some extra for you, Szayel sent back.

Fuck you, just get what I tell you, and get over here, bastard.

Nnoitra sent the list of things he thought he'd need to him. Then, he checked to see if Ichigo was still in the bath. Unsurprisingly, he still was, and he could hear slight splashing and muttering now and then. He smiled, though, because it was fucking adorable. He sighed, and ventured into the internet to find out exactly what he was going to get into. After fifteen minutes of sorting through porn sites and things that were most definitely not what he was looking for, he came across a really useful page. It detailed almost exactly what the situation was. He stared at the words on the screen and he thought, maybe, just maybe, he could help him, at least a little bit. He didn't know if he was interested in the other things, but the words that got his attention stood out. "Sometimes, a person needs nurturing they never got enough of, and sometimes, a person needs to feel taken care of for a brief time. Sometimes, going into a little space helps with that."

He read over almost the entire website. It was written from the perspective of someone who was one of these "littles". There were articles and different types of these things. He was fascinated by the things that these people did and how it affected them in their everyday life. One person had stated that his "little time" made him ready to face the terrible reality of the real world the next day. Another woman stated that her own "babygirl" time made her able to handle the emotional draining job of being a full time teacher the rest of the week. He was drawn into it immediately, as well. It was strange, feeling like the only thing that mattered was what he needed to do to make Ichigo happy. He followed links to some other sites by "daddies" and "mommies" and he found that they shared a lot of his traits of wanting to care for someone. He ran through lists and checklists and guides, and before long he heard a knock at his door. He looked up, glancing at the clock on the computer, and realized he'd sat there for two hours.

He got up, opening the door to see Szayel standing there with two paper shopping bags, grinning from ear to ear. He'd brought their other friend, Hisagi with him. Hisagi was a fellow business student with Nnoitra. He was quite an interesting person. The only one he knew with facial tattoos. Nnoitra frowned, turning and peeking inside the bathroom door. He could hear Ichigo still muttering and splashing now and then.

"Hey, Chiquito, you're gonna be a prune," he called.

He heard a splash and there was silence. "Oh, um, I fell asleep," he muttered, hiding the fact that he most definitely had not been asleep. He sighed, and looked at Szayel and Hisagi.

"What's going on?" he asked, stepping back in and sitting on the end of the bed.

Hisagi shrugged. "Not much, man. Missed you in classes, but proff says you're working remotely. How long before you can come back?" he asked thoughtfully.

Nnoitra shrugged. "No idea, I'm here until they catch that fucking prick," he muttered, looking up as Ichigo came out of the bathroom, towel wrapped around his midsection, and he stopped at stared, mostly at Hisagi.

Hisagi arched a brow and smirked. "Damn, you're a cute thing," he muttered.

Szayel sighed. "Out, horn dog," he muttered, pushing him out the door. "And the two girls are seventeen, so don't get any ideas," he added quietly as he shoved him out the door.

Szayel rolled his eyes. "I swear, if it has legs, that man will try to fuck it. I think he might try to fuck something without legs if it came along," he muttered, smirking at Nnoitra.

Ichigo had come around and was standing nearer to Nnoitra. He didn't try to climb into his arms all the time, but he did tend to stay near when he was nervous. Szayel sat down the two bags he had on the bed.

"Everything you asked for is in there," he said, glancing at Ichigo who was frowning and staring at the bags. "And then some things…just in case."

Nnoitra narrowed his eye at him. "Just in case?"

Szayel shrugged. "Let me know if you want anything else. Of either type of toy," he said, whispering the last quietly.

Nnoitra looked at him for a long moment before it dawned on him what he was talking about. Those kind of toys. "I don't know if that's even going to be needed," he muttered seeing that in the right hand bag, there were most definitely toys of the adult variety, while the right hand bag contained the things that Nnoitra had specifically asked for. He picked up the right hand bag and sat it beside the bed. "But…thanks."

Szayel nodded. "I better find out if Hisagi has talked anyone into fucking yet, I swear…" he muttered, stepping out and seeing Hisagi had cornered a blond guy that Szayel didn't know. The blond was blushing furiously and smiling at Hisagi. Hisagi was leaning over and saying something to him and the blond would put his hand over his mouth for a second and then turn away shyly. "I swear," Szayel said, "I can't take him anywhere without him trying to get every female, male, and other gender into bed," he muttered, shaking his head and dragging Hisagi away, complaining loudly.

Nnoitra shook his head and closed the door, seeing Ichigo was just staring at him, towel clutched tightly in his hand. "Come here, Chiquito, we need to talk." He sat down at the head of the bed and patted the bed beside him.

Ichigo's eyes went wide and he came to him slowly, carefully climbing up on the bed and sitting beside him on his knees, staring at him. He didn't say anything but Nnoitra could see he was on the verge of tears.

"Oh, Chiquito, don't look at me like that," he said, sighing. "What is the matter?"

"Are you leaving?" he asked quietly.

"Why would I leave you, Chiquito? I promised I wouldn't, remember?" Nnoitra said, smiling softly at him.

Ichigo bit his lip and still looked like he was about to cry. "But…you don't want me anymore, and you're going to t-tell me that I'm…I'm not good enough for you, and you're going to leave, and find someone who doesn't act so foolish, and doesn't sit and play in a bathtub like a toddler, and…and…" he said, starting to heave quick breaths.

"Ah," Nnoitra said, reaching over and pulling him into his shoulder. "Chiquito, is that what's wrong? Is that why you haven't been sitting in my lap or cuddling with me, bebe?" he asked, smiling as he felt Ichigo almost melt into him.

"I shouldn't…shouldn't do that…I'm not a…a…child…and…it…" he said, and Nnoitra could feel his whole body tremble.

"Ah, Chiquito, Chiquito," he said, sighing as he squeezed him tightly. "No, no, that's not true."

Ichigo looked up at him with wide eyes. "What's not true?"

"That you shouldn't do those things if you like, Chiquito. You are so very special to me, and I've come to miss holding you and having you sit on my lap and do all those things," he said, smiling. "There was something about the first day I found you, you did something no one else had. You gave me a purpose, and that's beautiful. I'm here to take care of you, Chiquito. So…I did some reading on it, and there are other people out there, other people that like to be childish now and then, and they have people that want to take care of them too," he said, smiling at him.

Ichigo frowned. "There are?" he asked, eyes wide.

"Yeah, there are, so that's why Szayel brought these things for me. They're for you. And no one out there has to know about them, if you don't want them too, it can be between us," Nnoitra said, ruffling Ichigo's hair.

Ichigo nodded, reaching for the bag and looking inside it. He frowned, looking back at Nnoitra and then back to the bag. "I…I can…you mean, it's not weird?"

Nnoitra smiled. "No, Chiquito. No more weird than anything else in this world. Go on. See what all is in there."

Ichigo crawled over toward the middle, kneeling in front of the bag and pulling out what was inside. There were several coloring books and a very big set of crayons, a set of markers, a pad of paper, some toy super hero figures, a few little cars, and a stuffed lion. Ichigo picked up the lion and hugged it, turning to look at Nnoitra and for the first time in the last few weeks, he smiled at Nnoitra.

"I…I…thanks, Papi," he said, and lunged forward, grabbing Nnoitra around the neck and hugging him tightly.

Nnoitra enjoyed it, of course, but he realized that he wasn't letting go, and he was nearly panting. "Chiquito, what's wrong?" he asked, running his hands down his sides, hoping that he wasn't hurt or something. He found that his towel had slipped off and Nnoitra glanced downward, arching his brow and he heard Ichigo whine in his throat as Nnoitra realized what had happened.

"M'sorry…sorry…it just...I…" he panted.

"Chiquito, look at you," he muttered, running his hand around his hip to stroke his arousal with one hand while he pulled his body in closer to him. Every bit of blood in Nnoitra's body rushed downward, and he realized that he was glad he was wearing jeans. Ichigo gasped, straddling Nnoitra's lap now. "You're a needy little boy, huh?" he said, hand still working on him between them. "Do you want me to help?"

Ichigo leaned back, eyes wide and shocked as he nodded. "Please, Papi…please…I want you to…to…touch me…and make it go away…"

"Aw, poor Chiquito," he said, pulling him close to his chest. "Are you sure, bebe? I don't want you to think I am making you do anything." He asked, stilling his hand for a moment until Ichigo started to buck against him.

"I love you, Papi, please…it aches…and your hand is warm…" he said, and Nnoitra was done before he'd even gotten Ichigo off. He rolled his eye up and swallowed, having for the first time in his life literally went off from someone's voice alone.

"Fuck," he muttered, resuming his ministrations to Ichigo until he crashed down the other side with a slight whimper, still clinging to him as though he were the only thing in the world that mattered to him.

Ichigo panted for a long time, holding onto him for a few more minutes, and Nnoitra felt tears falling finally. He pushed him back and stared concerned at him.

"Chiquito, are you okay? Was that a mistake? Did I do something wrong?" he asked, worried beyond belief that he may have messed up the one thing in his life he didn't want to mess up. He wanted this. He wanted Ichigo.

Ichigo shook his head. "I'm sorry, I just…I didn't expect you to…to…care about…this…and then you did…and I wanted to…to…I want…more…" he said quietly, cutting his eyes up at him.

"More?" Nnoitra asked, his stomach already fluttering. "What do you mean, more?"

Ichigo blushed brightly, turning away. "I…I want to be yours, Papi. Because you don't think I'm weird because of how I am. I don't…don't have to act with you. You just…take me how I am. I think I decided a couple weeks ago that I felt this way. And I didn't know what to do. I was trying to act like a grown up so you would like me," he said, looking up at him with teary eyes.

"Oh, Chiquito, you didn't have act like anything for me to care about you," Nnoitra said, stroking his hair gently. "You are who you are, and you can't change that. In here, with me, you can be whatever you like. But I'm warning you," he said, smirking at him. "You act like a little brat, I promise, I'll turn you over my knee and spank your ass red."

Ichigo smiled at him and hugged him tightly. "You promise?" Ichigo asked, and Nnoitra thought that this brat was definitely going to be the death of him.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Uryu wasn't sure about this at all, but Chad seemed to think that it might help him a bit, and Kisuke had agreed. The FBI had decided to allow him some freedom as his position was far less precarious than Ichigo's. While Ryuken hadn't been caught, they were relatively certain that he wouldn't move against Uryu just on the basis of him being less of a target than Ichigo had been. Isane had decided to accompany him to visit with the owner of the Las Noches Free School. The school was an interesting school in that it used a very different format for learning. Yoshino Soma ran the school independently, funding it mostly from her own wealth. The school was a Sudbury School, so the students all held a great deal of the responsibility for their own education. Yoshino, and her husband, Koga, had always wanted to do something of this type. Each year, the parents of the children enrolled would make a donation to the school, and depending on their economic ability, the prices were scaled and spread out in payments.

Koga ran the local junkyard and recycling center, and many of the students often would make things out of the junk parts they would find there. There were a lot of different things that the students could choose to do. The school was equipped with a complete kitchen and laundry so the students could learn cooking and chores if they wished, there were computer rooms, game rooms, a couple science labs of differing levels, full access to any tool they could find that interested them, a large playground, and it was close enough to the beach that the students often went down there for mini field trips. Sometimes, they even got together for longer events on the weekends that were optional.

The building was an old run down mansion when Yoshino purchased it for nearly nothing. Over the period of a couple years, she slowly converted it into a school. It had taken a lot of work, but she eventually gotten the place to the point it could accept students. The outside was the old style red brick color, but it had been completely modernized, with safety features in the event of hurricanes or flooding, including a storm shelter. The house had an old carriage house separate from the main building, and they had coverted that into a shop and mechanic's space. That had been almost twenty years before, and the school had been quite successful, with a nearly 90 percent college entrance rate.

Uryu wasn't sure as he stood outside and stared at the massive building. He glanced behind him at Chad. "You sure this is okay?" he asked quietly.

Chad nodded, showing him into the school. Uryu was impressed, he wouldn't imagine how school like it was on the inside. There were bulletin boards, art projects, science projects, pictures, everything along all the walls. Several small kids came walking by quickly, glancing at Chad.

"Would you like to see the music room?" Chad asked.

Uryu nodded. "Sure, I'm not much for music, more of a sewing person," he mutterd.

"You can see the sewing room, too," Chad added as he led him to the large band room.

Uryu was impressed. He saw more instruments than he could have imagined in a small school. All the different types of drums and brass and more. "That's amazing."

"We like to let the kids try out the different instruments and see if they like anything," Chad said as Isane sat down on the desk and picked up his guitar. He started strumming it thoughtfully as he sat there, and Uryu was amazed. The gentle way he handled the strings. He listened for a while until he stopped and Uryu looked up, realizing he'd been staring. He pushed his glasses up his nose and nodded.

"You play very nicely," he commented.

Chad nodded. "Would you like to see some more of the rooms?" he asked as a couple of middle school aged girls came running in.

"Mr. Chad!" the girl with green dyed hair and a laptop tucked under her arm. "Who's this?"

Chad smiled at her. "Lillynette, this is my friend Uryu, he might be hanging out and helping around here for a bit."

"Oh that's nice, maybe I can interview you next!" she said, smiling. "Come on Ururu," she said to the other, darker haired girl with pigtails. Yachiru wanted to have lunch with us!" she said, pulling the quieter girl with her. "Then I've got to edit the last one I did over at Shuhei's places."

They disappeared, and Chad shook his head leading Uryu on a semi tour of the place. There was a large computer room, but it was also equipped with game systems and televisions, all with headphones. There was the large kitchen, and a big room that looked like a bunch of pillows and piled up mats. Uryu stared for a moment in there.

"That's the crash room, so if the kids need a place to relax, or if they get overwhelmed, they can go have a moment to themselves," Chad explained, leading him past the math room, and the large library that looked like it doubled as an English and reading room. They came to the sewing room next where there was a pink haired girl sitting at the table frowning as she was trying to thread a sewing machine.

"Yachiru, having a problem?" Chad asked, smiling. "Where's Mr. Rose?" he asked, looking around.

"He had to go take a phone call," she said, sighing and looking at it frustrated.

Uryu didn't think, he just moved around and took a few minutes and showed the girl how to do it properly. He showed her a few shortcuts and told her the different ways that threading the machine could be done. He stood up and found Chad smiling at him, and a man was standing beside him with long, curled brown hair and arms crossed over his chest.

"Well, if Chad is going to bring someone by to help around here, you definitely have the qualifications," he said, reaching a hand out. "Rose Otora. Well, used to be something else, but I changed it a few years ago."

Uryu shook his hand and smiled at him, and they started talking about their various sewing and craft projects. For a little while, Uryu felt rather…normal. And he liked it.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Ryuken's last few days had not been good. He'd spent most of them trying to avoid people that might recognize him, granted, it wasn't hard, considering the condition he was in. He had continued to stay at the house with Cang. He leaned against the wall of the alley. He just had to get out of there for a while. He swallowed and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, lighting one and sucking on it for a long time. He stood there for a long time until he heard someone walking down the alley. He looked up to see a dark haired man with his hands stuffed in his pockets and muttering under his breath. He stopped in front of Ryuken.

"Have you seen the star child?" Kugo asked, smiling at him.

"What star child?" Ryuken said, sighing and rolling his eyes.

"The one I saw, the beautiful, beautiful star child," he said, looking up toward the sky.

Ryuken shook his head. At least if someone was going to run into him, it was someone with some sort of mental condition. He sighed, exhaling the smoke and shook his head, playing along. "What's this star child, anyway?" he muttered. He really didn't care, he was just bored, and he was starting to suffer withdrawl already a bit.

"Oh, he's the child of the aliens that talk to me," he said, smiling. "If I can get him, and I take him to the special extraction point, they'll come and get me and take me away," he said, looking up again. "It's taken a long time, but there's no mistake, it is the star child," he said wistfully.

Ryuken shook his head, pulling off the cigarette again. "How do you know it's the star child?"

Kugo smiled at him. "They have red or orange or yellow hair, and they are pale and white, and that's him," he said, smiling. "I know where he is, but he hasn't come out since the tall man took him inside. I've been watching. And now there's these other people that are around the place and I can't get to him. So I have to wait."

Ryuken almost didn't realize what he was saying. He narrowed his eyes and looked at him. "Really?" he asked. "Where is that?"

"Down by the beach, the seaside motel, the tall man carried him there from his garage," he said, glancing around. "But I have to go back, to see if he's come out so I can take him to the extraction point," he said, smiling and walking away slowly.

Ryuken dropped the cigarette and crushed it out with his boot. Wasn't that interesting… He could only think of one person that might fit that description, and it was that fucking worthless child. He had worried that someone might find him, but now what was he to do? He wandered away and back down to the beach to Cang's place. So…he knew where the fucking child was…now what to do about it?