Chapter 11
Thrive to Live
Now—
"So the gang's all here, huh?" A Hollow asked its group. "Then let's go find ourselves a meal."
It had been another two months since after Momo last came by, and Toushirou was recovering to the point where he acted like himself again. Granted there were still a few things to adjust; the captain was still sleeping in his host's bed to ensure the end of a good day and a start of a good one. There was also the fact that he reverted from calling him casually back to his family name, much to Ichigo's approval surprisingly. Having him say 'Ichigo, please,' was too much of a temptation to place his hands on the little captain in which he did not need either. Probably the biggest success for Toushirou was the fact that he could now face Shinigami that he knew so long as they did not intend to touch him. After Ichigo made the captain go on their walk alone, Toushirou began to recall his independence—but now had a soft spot for his savior. In speaking of which, Kurosaki Ichigo had been leaving every day around noon since the day they took Momo back to Soul Society, and Toushirou was worried about where he would go.
'Just a few more seconds…' He thought to himself, and Ichigo came out of his bedroom.
"I'm going out really quick," came the familiar words as he came to the front door to put his shoes on.
Toushirou did not like the fact that this man mysteriously left every day. "Are you going to tell me where?"
"Sorry, but maybe next time." He answered before heading out. "Take care of yourself while I'm gone."
That was how it had been for the past two months, but after the man was gone, the captain jumped up to get dressed so that he could follow him. It was not that he did not trust Ichigo to go wondering off and go somewhere without telling him where he would be going all these times. He also could not complain since Ichigo would only be gone for two hours at the most, but the secrets that came from him were troubling. A few minutes passed before he left the apartment to follow the man to wherever he had ventured off to.
Seeing the once snowy-layered Earth now dry and sunny was a bit disappointing, but the spring had risen to show its time as it was supposed to. There in the distance—identified by the bright orange colored hair, Ichigo was walking in a surprising different direction than what he would usually take. Without waiting any longer, he followed him on foot due to being in his gigai, being led to a foreign area of the town that he had never been to. Now he watched him passing by… a Shinto gate—wait, what the Hell was this man walking up the stone steps to a shrine? After carefully following him up to the top, he hid behind a post when seeing Ichigo was talking to a priest who bowed humbly to him before they began to talk.
"It is good to see you again, Kurosaki-sama." The man smiled. "You have come to pray quiet often."
"That's because I have something worth protecting, and recently realized to cherish it more." He replied.
This made the priest laugh with hands up in defense. "Oh, I have no complaints, it's nice to see you here."
"While I'm still here…" Ichigo's head bowed to him. "Excuse me, I have someone I need to pray for now."
After the carrot top entered the oratory, Toushirou came over to the priest, "excuse me," he bowed to him.
The priest turned to him, and returned the greeting. "How may I help you?"
"That man who went into the haiden, you said he comes every day?" He received a nod. "Why?"
"I believe that it is something you should ask your friend about directly." Saying this earned him a shocked look, making him smile even more. "It is an honor to meet you Hitsugaya-sama, I heard much about you."
Toushirou was confused, but took his advice, and bowed. "Thank you." He then followed Ichigo.
The priest then turned away back to the office, '…these youngsters…'
Carefully, looked in the oratory to see the man standing all alone as he prayed, so the captain quietly slipped in to come to his side. He would wait until the man to finish his prayers before disturbing him, or else he might be scolding for interrupting him thoughts. After a moment or two, Toushirou watched as he stopped his prayers and placed a large hand plopped down on his head, softly caressing white strands.
"Who were you praying for?" Toushirou asked quietly. "If you don't mind my asking."
The hand left his head before the man began to leave. "You." He whispered softly.
His eyes widened in surprise, but followed. "Why would you do that, for what—"
"Can't I wish for a friend's safety and the strength to fight for what they had?"
He stopped in place behind the man who looked at him softly after saying this, but he corrected. "I don't want strength to fight for what I had, I want strength to fight for what I have." This man had given him a chance to gain what he had into what he needed, and more—a thought occurred to him. "Wait right here."
"Tou—" Ichigo watched as he hurried over to where he was praying, and saw as he did the same thing.
It did not take long for him to finish and come back to his side. "Why didn't you tell me you go here?"
"You would ask why afterward." They left the oratory together. "I would've felt embarrassed if I told you."
"Since when have you ever felt embarrassed about anything? You would parade nakedly if possible."
"I have some self control thank you." He playfully scolded. "I hate when you act so damn coy, you brat."
"Oh, I thought you enjoyed it?" Toushirou crossed his arms. "It always strikes a reaction out of you."
The man glanced at him smugly, only to see a similar look on his face as well. "Ah, after being stuck with each other and bonding whether we wanted to or not, I suppose we know how to get under each other's skin a bit, don't we?" A ringing rose in his head, making him slow down as they reached the stone steps.
"I'll forever be grateful, whether I'll admit it again or not." As he took a few steps down, he noticed that he was not being followed, and he turned to look at the man. "Is something wrong Kurosaki? You're falling—"
"Something is happening in Hueco Mundo," his hand came up to grip his head. "For some reason, there's a large quantity of Hollow and Gillian fighting to gain evolution, but it's a week early." His grip tightened.
"Then you should go find out what the problem is, if it's hurting your head, then you might draw attention here from there and endanger humans." He watched as the man grabbed his pill, but paused. "What?"
"Something isn't right… I don't feel comfortable leaving you alone like this." It felt like a setup to him, but why would someone bother to get his attention unless they wanted his human body or Toushirou. "…"
"I'll be fine here." The captain announced. "I can take care of myself, and Kon will be with me. We'll go straight to the apartment to allow you to feel at ease." He received a concerned look. "Hurry up and go!"
Ichigo hesitated a little more, but swallowed the pill. "Kon, keep Toushirou safe, or I'll put you in some girly toy." With that, he jumped through a garganta that was opened to him, and all Hell began after that.
Toushirou's cell phone beeped to signify a Hollow alert; with all the training he did with Ichigo and his practice against Hollow, he could take them on by himself. He swallowed his gikongan and told the two to return to the apartment since he wanted to face these five on his own to show off to his savior. His pride would rise when he was praised by that man in which was the reason why he wanted to fight them by his self; to earn his praise and pat on the head. The captain arrived at the scene to see the five Hollow near the apartment where he had been living with Kurosaki Ichigo, and called out to them.
"Looking for something?"
They turned to him, and the one in the middle had a mask that had scratches on it that were familiar.
"Ah… who would have thought that Chibi was a Shinigami…" It chuckled at him.
Toushirou stiffened at the name-calling, and prepared his Zanpakutou. "Pardon?"
"It's your fault we're dead… sending Kurosaki on us like that. We're here to repay ya."
Then it hit him, "ah… you're the group that brought me to that Hellhole. Good, I'll kill you."
"Nah, you'll have to wait… after we thank Kurosaki, we want to play with you. After all, Kurosaki herded us all together and been keeping us alive." The Hollow saw the Shinigami tense at this, and the others struck him, grabbing onto his arms and legs. "But since he's over in Hueco Mundo cleaning up our mess, we have a little time to play with you first. You remember how to be a good boy, right, Chibi?" As it ripped the shihakusho off the captain, it began to lick his body with his tongue that was over-sized. "Like it, huh?"
"B-Bastard, let go!" It was as if being a powerful captain vanished from his mind due to the past flooding in his head. The saliva dripped all over his body as his body was reacting to it, making him yell. "Ichigo!"
There was a large explosion behind them, and as the Hollow leader turned to look, his four followers were destroyed and sent to Hell. When it turned to look at the others, all he saw was Ichigo with his mask on while holding the nude captain in his arms… he was pissed. It took a few frightened steps away while, of course, begging for its life to be spared while the man removed his mask to look at the captain. Asking if he wanted to kill the monster for what had happened to him, and it was agreed up as he was set down on his feet. Toushirou understood that he was naked as he picked up his Zanpakutou, but he trusted Ichigo with everything, and this Hollow was going to die, now. As it begged and cried to be spared, the captain cut him down to size—limb by limb, before cutting its head off, rather than its neck.
From there, it was sent down to Hell.
"I kept them in Hueco Mundo, waiting for you to be fit enough to have your revenge." Ichigo stated in an apologetic manner. "When I destroyed the hundreds that were fighting, I realized that they weren't there."
"You don't have to explain anything to me." He whispered, feeling the man approach from behind to drape his robe over his body. "I wanted to get rid of them before you came back," his cheeks reddened. "Sorry."
"Toushirou," the captain looked up at him as the man still stood behind him. "You don't have to make me proud, it goes without say." He carefully picked him up and jumped on the balcony to his room. "Okay?"
"I-I never said I wanted to make you proud, where did you ever get such a ridiculous idea?" As much as he scowled at the man to make him think otherwise, he could not fool him. "I wanted to prove myself."
"You don't have to prove yourself either." Ichigo placed him down after going in. "How about you take a soak in the tub while they take their time getting here." However, the front door opened. "Never mind…"
"Actually," they returned to their bodies, "that sounds like a good idea, but, I would appreciate it if…"
He saw him look away. "Would you like me to wash your back?" He earned a slow nod. "That's fine."
"Just this one last time…" the captain stated instantly. "After seeing those bastards, I'm uncomfortable."
"You don't have to explain anything to me." Ichigo mused as he used his words. "I'll get everything ready."
"K-Kurosaki." He called quickly and the man stopped. "I don't want you to think that I need to start over."
"Tomorrow, we'll go to a public bath so that way we'll know if you can be comfortable being with your subordinates." Ichigo declared as he set out the dinner plates on the table so they could grab however much they wanted. "Unless a taichou gets to have a bath to them self that is, then it wouldn't matter."
"I want to try."
Ichigo turned to look at him in surprise to hear him agree so easily, but he did not press the matter by trying to ask questions. It was a stretch though, for the fact that he was ready to go experience to go out and reveal most of his flesh for others to see. There was nothing he could say that would make him slow down his steps, but if Toushirou wanted to back down, he would let him know. As he took a bite, he heard the communicator in the bedroom beaming with a yell—it was Rangiku that was going crazy on it. His eyes turned to Toushirou immediately to see him slightly tense at her voice in which he knew that it was because of Harribel to some point for their similar figures.
"Kurosaki?" The captain called quietly.
He snapped out of his thoughts. "Yeah?"
"Can… you invite Matsumoto to come here?"
"If that's what you want, are you sure about it?"
"I want her to understand my situation, to tell her what happened." Toushirou paused at the thought of telling the second person of what Hell he had gone through. "Please have her come tonight, for me…"
"I'll be right back then," he left his seat to go to his room and talk to the woman. They talked for a few minutes before the man returned to the kitchen to eat his meal with his guest. "She'll be here soon."
"It may seem irrational, but I'm sure you're aware of my fear towards womanly figures such as hers." His gaze tried not to meet this man's gentle one. "However, I need to move on, and I know I'll need her help."
"I won't say my opinion to what I think about your choice, this is your decision Toushirou. Do what makes you feel more comfortable." With that, he took a bite of his meal as he saw the captain stare at him softly.
His head nodded slowly. "You have no idea how much I appreciate everything you've done for me." He set his chopsticks down. "I don't think that I will ever be able to express my gratitude to you, Kurosaki."
"Seeing you recover significantly, is gratitude enough Toushirou." The doorbell rang. "It's open!"
He looked over his shoulder to see his lieutenant coming in. "…that was a little too fast."
"When I heard you wanted to tell me something, I was worried!" Rangiku whined.
The man finished his meal. "Toushirou, finish your meal. I'll give her some rules."
"N-No, wait," he stopped the man who began to stand. "No rules, please…"
"You nearly had a mishap in your recovery, you've been taking it slow—"
"Please?"
Ichigo saw how much he pleaded with his eyes because Rangiku could not see, so he sighed and gave into him by offering his seat to the woman. Once she was offered to eat with her captain, she instantly stole the warmed seat and set herself a large amount of food before devouring it all. Toushirou, on the hand, kept a close eye on the male carrot top to make sure that he would not leave them alone in the kitchen. It was acknowledged, so the Strawberry kept to the kitchen by going to the fridge to pour himself a bit of sake to pass the time. Rangiku begged him for some, but was turned down, flatly, as he continued his drink; it almost startled her by his stern answer to her.
"Kurosaki, she can hold her liquor if you give her a little." Toushirou tried to defend his lieutenant.
He looked to him softly. "Let me handle it, okay? It would be best for you if she stayed sober."
It took a split second to know that he was serious. "Sorry." His brow then twitched, messing up.
Rangiku looked at the two before scolding Ichigo. "I've had it, what did you do to taichou—!"
The Strawberry raised his reiatsu. "Keep… your voice… down." Yelling would scare the other.
"Matsumoto, he didn't do anything to me." Turquoise hues glanced down at the food in front of him. "Can you wait until after dinner? I want to tell you." He heard Ichigo clear his throat when he paused. "It would help if you minimize your rowdiness, otherwise, I might not be able tell you." A hand came to his shoulder.
"You'll be fine." Ichigo whispered.
The next ten minutes were of the two Shinigami officers eating their dinner while Ichigo washed the empty dishes to stay in the room. Toushirou finished in a slight rush so he could be able to dry the dishes for his host as he had been doing for the past few months. It took a moment for the lieutenant to realize that her captain was actually trying to help with the housework as she sat at the table. Rangiku decided she would want to help too for the Hell of it—mainly so she could surprise her captain by doing some housework.
She grabbed the some dirty dishes and hopped over towards them. "Here's the rest!"
Hearing the thud from her jumping towards them with her loud voice, caused Toushirou to jump in fright as he dropped a plate he was drying. The plate was caught by the man in one hand and securely held onto the frightened captain in the other who trembled while clinging to the man. Her eyes were on him as he stared at her in shock, but now that he was humiliated, he turned to try running away from everything.
"Are you going to run?" Ichigo asked softly as the little captain tried to get away from him. "Toushirou…"
"I-I'll tell her another time, I promise, please let me go!" He was taken aback by the man's attitude.
"Stop it," when Toushirou stopped struggling, he released him. "It was an accident, she won't hurt you."
"No… I know… but…" Her eyes were still on him, so he turned on his heels again and started to run—
"Toushirou!" This time, he yelled seriously, and said male froze. "You can't summon her and then bail."
Rangiku stared at her captain with her eyes wide open as he turned to see the man with tear-filled eyes as he spoke. "You said I could! You said that I don't have to say anything I don't want to! Liar!" He then flinched for daring to call him that after the pain and suffering Harribel forced him to endure when in that Hellhole. "I-I'm sorry—" Toushirou choked, tears flowing down his face. "I—I didn't… it was an accident!"
Ichigo sighed softly as he set the plate aside, dried his hands, and came over to pick up the obviously exhausted captain who accepted it. It did not matter to the small one that his lieutenant saw this; at least she would understand that he was being taken well care of by this man. The man claimed that it was time for a nap, so he took him into his bedroom rather than the guest bedroom before setting him down. He felt Toushirou hold onto his shirt after being placed on the bed, causing Ichigo to stay there a little longer for his comfort and sense of security. Every time Toushirou had decided to make a decision by himself, it would end up in the same similar result of him trying to get out of the mess.
"I'm sorry…" he whispered to the man, still holding his shirt to keep him there. "I didn't mean to say that."
"You're upset, that's all there is to it." His lips came up and pressed against the small one's forehead.
Eyelids drooped slowly. "Kurosaki…" hands gripped tighter on the shirt. "I do… want to tell her…"
"Do you want her to stay the night to tell her in the morning?" The answer was a head shake.
"…sit against the headboard." Toushirou released him so he could, then crawled over.
"Hey you… I thought you were out of this habit…" Ichigo watched him come over and sat sideways on his lap to lean a shoulder and the side of his head against his chest as the man huffed. "You know better than to do this." His arms draped around the captain's shoulders to hold him against his firm body.
"Matsumoto," Toushirou called out, hoping that she heard him.
She came in a moment later and gawked, "w-w-what is this!"
Feeling safe, the captain did not budge. "I want to tell you…"
"Tell me what?" Rangiku noticed Ichigo's protective attitude.
There was a long pause before Toushirou could say a word. "First off… Kurosaki warned me to stay away and to be careful, so this isn't his fault. It's—" he felt the arms hold him a little more closely. "It's no one's fault." He felt the woman come closer to sit on the chair at the desk almost across the room. "I don't really recall exactly how long ago it was… maybe four or five months ago, I was…" Toushirou tensed, trying to say to someone else other than this man was hard. His words came out into a soft whisper. "Assaulted…" No… he knew that he had to say the entire truth to her. "I was… sexually assaulted… by humans…"
Rangiku sat there, trying to figure out if he was lying or playing a joke until she somehow knew that this was the truth. "Ichigo," she started—she wanted to yell and scream at him, but did not. "Why did you—"
"I didn't know…" The man interrupted quietly. "When you hinted that he didn't go to Soul Society that day, I knew something happened, and spent days to find him almost near the other side of the country."
It dawned on her that Ichigo mentally blamed himself for everything that happened. "Taichou's safe now, I guess that's all that matters then, right?" She smiled weakly towards the two; trying to absorb things still.
"He's recovered from most of the trauma, but the fact remains that he's still nervous around women that have similar figures to yours." Ichigo stated quietly. "Toushirou acts like himself when I'm not around, but when I'm alone with him, well… it turns to something like this as you can see." He watched as the captain closed his eyes to fall asleep. "He chose to call you in here while he's like this, I don't know why though."
"Taichou feels safe with you of course." Rangiku answered quietly. "I'm sorry I thought you hurt him."
"You were just being protective of him, I understand." The man felt him shift loosely. "…Toushirou…"
"I'm tired, let me sleep." He could feel the man getting aroused, but did not care." Let me sleep…"
"Does Hitsugaya-taichou sleep in here with you?" Her answer was a soft nod from her captain.
"To make sure the day starts and ends in a good day, he sleeps in here." Ichigo explained.
"Does that mean he would sleep in my barracks after next month?" She saw her captain shutter. "You do graduate next month Ichigo, Soutaichou won't let him stay unless he knows what happened here." It was true, but telling him would probably shatter what pride Toushirou had left. "I want to know all of the rules for taichou, I want to make it so that he's not afraid of me. Please tell me everything I need to know."
"Maybe another time, Toushirou is exhausted from having a bad day." The man whispered softly; the little captain had supposedly fallen asleep already. "Can you watch over him while I finish doing the dishes?"
"Nonsense, he would have a fit." She stood. "I'll do the dishes and lock up before I leave."
"Lock the door behind you, please." After that, the two males went to sleep after he changed.
Eyelids fluttered open slowly when the spring rain came drizzling down on the balcony glass doors, it was loud, but he was a light sleeper now. He tried to feel for the woman's presence anywhere near the room and apartment but she was thankfully nowhere around. Knowing for sure that she had definitely returned to Soul Society, the small captain scooted over to lean against the man in order to go back to sleep. His host groaned in slight discomfort when a leg slightly leaned over his pelvis, and Toushirou immediately understood why. This man was aroused in his sleep, leading the little captain to become a little curious as to what he had downstairs in his boxers.
'Kurosaki would understand…' He always did, so Toushirou carefully shifted the covers off to sit atop of the man. 'He can't deny my curiosity while he's asleep.' His eyes looked at the man's bare chest; the man wore only his boxers to have him adjust to more skin of others. 'His brows are still knitted in his sleep…' Toushirou scooted down past the bulge in the man's boxers, and cautiously slipped the clothing away to see the hard member. 'The size and shape is different than mine.' It was honestly the first time he had the chance to see a male's sexual organ that was not his since those monsters would use him from behind.
A small pale finger came over and touched it to see nothing happen, so he used his hands to get the feel of it, but felt it get bigger. This was making him aroused as well, but he noticed that Ichigo was starting to feel good—and it reminded him of a few women who would do other things to him. His head lowered down, keeping an eye on the sleeping man before tasting what was in his hand, eventually having to put his mouth on it. It gave him a reaction from the man that he did not expect, but it only encouraged him to continue his work… though, Ichigo stirred awake.
It took a second to realize what was going, and he jolted wide-awake, "Toushirou, stop that right now!"
Startled, he bit down by accident before withdrawing, earning Ichigo's pain. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't—!"
He tried to hold his anger and pain. "What do you think you're doing!" He gritted through his teeth.
"I-I was… I-I don't…" This man was furious with him, seeing him this angry startled him. "I'm sorry!"
Ichigo could only concentrate on the pain now so he would not accidentally attack the captain.
