Warning: Yaoi, language, violence, OOCness (hopefully not too bad), tiny spoilers, mistakes because it's unbetaed, as always
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters in anyway. I only write to entertain others and for my own strange, twisted, yet loveable amusement. (And, I only worship Kubo Tite for creating such an amazingly, godly awesome manga and giving us such amazing characters—like these two who are tied for first in my book :3)
Illusions of Ice
Twelfth Crystal
"Oi, Toshiro! Stop spacing out and let's go already, you little brat."
The grim look on his face dissipating as he turned around, Hitsugaya growled mindlessly, "It's 'Hitsugaya-taichou', Kurosaki. Get it right for once!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," brushed off Ichigo, throwing a sideways glance over his shoulder. The prickly tendo slowly walked over to him, arms crossed and mouth quirked into a frown. Ichigo immediately recognized that look and let out a small groan of disapproval. However, he did not say anything else, waiting for him to speak first.
Finally reaching the other boy, Hitsugaya commented right off the bat (honestly, if he had waited, Ichigo would have been seriously worried), "Something does not feel right, Kurosaki. It feels as though something is off."
"What?"
"If I knew, I wouldn't be using the word 'something', now would I?" retorted Hitsugaya with an eye roll.
Slightly irritated that the young taichou was still focusing on such matters, Ichigo huffed, "Who cares, Toshiro? All I'm asking for you is to just let everything go just for tonight. Not forever or anything. Just for tonight. Tomorrow, you can go on a three-hour long rant about your suspicions and strange vibes in the air all you want. But just for the rest of tonight, shut it. Don't even mention it unless it's absolutely necessary—like there are arrancars down our throats necessary."
Hitsugaya narrowed his glare at the stubborn human before sighing, "I swear, one of these days, I'm going to end up paying twice over what I owe because of you."
"Oh no, the world is gonna come to an end because Hitsugaya Toshiro is being forced to turn off his tingling spidey senses," snorted Ichigo sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Don't worry so much. I promise you that the world and Soul Society will not go to hell if you decide to take a single night's worth of a break, okay? And if it does, I will personally see to it that I'm that creepy clown taichou's next experiment and Kenpachi's personal punching—err, slicing bag. Deal?"
"…You do realize what you're signing your life away to should something happen tonight, right?"
Ichigo peered down at him with a groan. "Yes, I realize what I'm 'signing my life away to' as you so smartly put it. If it makes you feel better, I'll even throw in that I will never touch you in any bodily way. Now do we have a deal?"
Blinking, Hitsugaya answered coolly, "Fine, Kurosaki. But I'm warning you now, you're going to be regretting those words in the near future."
"Bite me," was his crude return.
"I'd better not lest I want to end up with rabies of some sort," he smirked, crossing his arms.
The substitute shinigami gaped comically at the boy, "Rabies!? Why the hell do I look like I have rabies?! I'm not foaming at the mouth or attacking you viciously! What am I, an animal?"
"You were earlier when you—" Hitsugaya stopped himself, eye twitching and cheeks warming. His hand unconsciously rose to cover the love bite hidden by his kimono. Whirling back around, he continued down the pathway, hand dropping to his side.
"Ah! Don't just walk away, you little brat! Urgh, really," sighed Ichigo, scratching the back of his head. He strolled down the trail as well, catching up with the icy taichou. "So, have you thought of your wish yet?"
Peering up at the taller boy quizzically, the juuban tai taichou repeated, "Wish?"
"Yeah, wish. You write your wish down on a piece of paper and then, you get a lantern. After lighting the lantern, you burn your wish and then let the lantern go into the river and watch it flow in the water's currents."
Hitsugaya did not comment, lowering his gaze to the floor. Wish? How useless. No one ever achieved anything by wishing for it. This was useless. A false thread of hope which humans enjoyed clinging to, he mused. "Nothing good ever comes out of wishing for it to," remarked the white-haired shinigami bluntly. "It is not as if a wish will come true just by desiring it."
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean it hurts to wish. I mean, sure, wishes are just taint desires which our hearts yearn for, be it good or bad. And I wholeheartedly agree that wishes won't come true just because we ask or want them to. We have to go out there and make it come true ourselves. To me, a wish is more like an objective that I want to reach and fulfill, which is why when I make a wish, I also go out there and make it come true with my own two hands," Ichigo countered pointedly.
At the continued prolonged silence, the substitute shinigami pushed once more, "So, what are you gonna wish for, Toshiro?"
Wish.
It had been a while since he last allowed himself to even think of such a word, the last time being his birthday from a previous year which he couldn't quite remember.
"…………For you to stop calling me by my given name and start calling me by my title." A small, hardened smile just barely reached his lips.
"Good luck with that one," laughed Ichigo as they reached the temple, "'cause you're gonna have a hell of a time trying to make that one come true."
He let loose a soft snort, saying quietly what oddly sounded like, "We'll see about that" to the other teen's ears.
Handing the other boy a marker and a strand of paper, Ichigo sat down at the base of a nearby tree to contemplate the words to write down. He set down their unlit lanterns on the other side of him. After a few seconds of staring, Hitsugaya reluctantly joined him, taking the seat next to the pensive boy with his legs outstretched. "This is stupid," he reminded both himself and Ichigo under his breath as he stared at the blank piece of bright orange paper (Was this some sort of joke sign?).
"It's an enjoyable activity which you should learn to just suck up to and let yourself go," remarked Ichigo amusedly, giving pokes to his head with the last three words. He gave one last poke to emphasize his point and really, just for the hell of it.
The other boy fixated a death glare at him, fingers coming up to rub his slightly reddened temple. "Don't poke me, Kurosaki. I am not four. And you should learn to raise your mental capacity to that above a six year old," Hitsugaya informed the other, uncapping his marker.
"I rather like where my 'mental capacity' is already, but thanks for the heads up, Toshiro. I'll make sure to keep it in mind so that the next time I get that strange, irrepressible urge to just poke you, I'll move to pinch your cheeks instead. Four year old children enjoy getting their cheeks pinched, right?" replied the teen, giving him a cheeky smirk.
He let out a low growl which went overlooked as that same finger poked his temple once more, taunting him. Gritting his teeth, he repeated in an endless mantra, 'Don't do anything. Don't do anything. Don't do anything. Don't do anything.'
The finger ceaselessly poked at his temple and somewhere in the distance, Hitsugaya could have sworn that he heard a string snap. Catching the finger before it could make contact with his head once more, he twisted the outstretched appendage. To add insult to injury, he forced the hand back and easily smacked Ichigo's face. With his own hand. Seventeen times. The amount of times he was poked.
"Just returning what you were so kindly giving before," he smirked, enjoying the shocked, borderline offended look pasted onto the other's face. Turning back to his blank paper, Hitsugaya tapped the marker against his knee.
Despite how tempting it was to tweak the other's nerves, Ichigo returned to getting his wish out of his mind down onto the piece of paper. Unfortunately, his fingers thought it would most effectively accomplish this by reaching over and giving the other's cheek a small pinch. Oops. Guess tweaking the smaller boy's nerves was just more tempting than he had originally thought.
"Kurosaki," came the warning breath.
"What?" was Ichigo's innocent response as he shrugged, "I thought four year olds liked getting their cheeks pinched."
Hitsugaya tried. He really did. He tried, in all honesty, to keep his cool and refrain from tackling the orange-haired boy with the sole intent to knock (beat) some sense into him—or rather, beat him senseless. However, he could hear another careful, and loud, very loud, snap of a string. Setting down his piece of paper and now capped marker calmly next to him, earning him a sideways glance, Hitsugaya tackled Ichigo into the grass, straddling his waist. His bare thighs brushed up against the other's hips thanks to the uncalled for tackle and a low groan slipped past the currently incapacitated boy's lips, which had gone luckily unnoticed. He held fistfuls of cornflower blue fabric and had a collected expression masking his face.
"I warned you," he spoke coolly.
Ichigo couldn't quite get past the suggestive position they were in (hey, he was a healthy, hormonal teenage guy, give him a break) and mistakenly uttered, "Are you coming on to me, Toshiro?"
Hitsugaya had never, in his entire life, had the burning desire to just slam a person's head, his own actually, into a wall (or in this case, the tree trunk) as hard as he could constantly to see how many hits it would take to knock him out. He was very tempted, however, to try at this moment. Face red from anger—or perhaps embarrassment, it was rather hard to tell—Hitsugaya pulled back a fist and knocked it straight into Ichigo's cheek without remorse ("OW! What the hell!"). Voice coming out in uneven tones at the first few tries, he cleared his throat and proceeded to hiss, "I seriously expected that you possessed even the slightest modicum of intelligence but I guess I was overestimating you. We are in public, Kurosaki. You know very well that I prefer to keep our personal relationship quiet and behind closed doors. How could you even think that I was doing what you insinuated!"
"……Well, you're sitting on my stomach for one. And two, your little 'tackle me into the freakin' ground while wearing a "breezy" kimono' was done with anything but innocent intentions. (Here, Hitsugaya found it necessary to mutter, "It was done with murderous intentions, boke!") Can you honestly blame me for coming up with that conclusion?" he pointed out, wriggling his way out of the mess he had unintentionally caused.
For a few seconds, Ichigo praised himself for being a genius as the look of outrage slowly subsided…until it was replaced with one along the lines of, 'I'm going to rip every single limb off your body, freeze them, and then shove them up your ass one by one'. Sea-green eyes narrowed, he seethed, "Yes, I can honestly blame you for coming up to that conclusion! It is because your mind is perverted that you misunderstood the situation and came to that conclusion!"
Shifting his trapped body into a more comfortable and less provocative position, the pinned down teen tried, "What conclusion am I supposed to come to then?! The one that was inside of your head when you first tackled me?"
Hating the direction this argument was heading towards, the tendo answered, slightly flustered, "Wh-Yes, actually!"
He mentally winced at his answer. Wow, if that didn't just drop his IQ by ten points, then the next one was a sure fire hit that would.
"How could you even think that four year old children enjoy getting their cheeks pinched! No child in their right mind would want to get their cheeks pinched!! You have horrible logic, Kurosaki!!"
Ten points…
"Not only that, but why the hell couldn't you read what I was thinking?! That I only had murderous intentions when knocking you down!"
Whoop, there goes twenty points!
"And how does sitting on your stomach imply at a sexual innuendo? A person's mind would have to be lodged deep in the gutters to think that! On top of that, only an animalistic person whose body and mind are overruled by raging hormones would simply attack another being down into the ground!"
Bam! A record of fifty IQ points lost within a matter of five seconds! And a few morale points because that was exactly what he did, attacking another person into the ground. Only not in the context which he had stated.
Face a burning red now from definite humiliation, Hitsugaya slackened his grip on the other boy's kimono and swiveled his head away, eyes catching sight of the enticing tree trunk. He faintly wished for a distraction in the form of a large hollow, preferably one that went by the name of Umeboshi, to save him from having to face the still teen underneath him.
"…………So, let me get this straight. You're an animalistic person whose body and mind are overruled by raging hormones that would simply attack another person into the ground?"
The ice-zanpakutou wielder saved himself the mortification by refusing to answer, cheek awkwardly planted to his shoulder.
Ichigo let out a chuckle, further embarrassing the shorter boy whose clenched fists rested on the other's abs. This was absolutely mortifying. His sudden lack of intelligence. Even Kurosaki was laughing at him for god's sake!
Warm hands came up to rest on slim hips and Hitsugaya just awkwardly tried to bury his face into his shoulder even more, ignoring the pain in his neck. Yes, it was a childish way out, but still. Hadn't he humiliated himself, made a complete and utter fool out of himself!, enough for one day? Hadn't he suffered enough? Actually, probably enough to last him another human lifetime.
"Toshiro," came the chuckling voice, piquing him to turn even further away if possible, twisting the upper half of his body. "Toshiro, look at me."
The command was soft and amused, pushing the white-haired shinigami to glimpse over at the taller boy with a scowl.
Amusement lighting his tones, Ichigo remarked with a devilish grin, "If you're going to be an animalistic person whose body and mind are overruled by raging hormones, then at least do it properly."
Eyes widening, Hitsugaya barely had time to respond as a hand rose up behind his head, and gently tilted it downward, catching his lips in a rough kiss. The spark was instantaneous. Tongues meshing together in a heated rhythmic, a trail of saliva slipped past their lips. A hand pushed back the collar of Hitsugaya's kimono, slipping the fabric off a narrow shoulder. The hand stilled as fingers brushed against the exposed skin.
Before it had a chance to progress any further, Hitsugaya broke away, wiping at his mouth with the sleeve of the kimono. "Not…here…" he panted, sending the other boy a meaningful glare. They were in public, geez. No self-restraint at all.
Getting off the other teen, he pushed his kimono back to its properly place, smoothing out the visible wrinkles and throwing another death glare at the sheepishly grinning boy.
He hugged the other's waist, nuzzling an exposed neck as he whispered, "You know, you're actually kinda cute when you're babbling away like an unintelligent idiot."
Hitsugaya gave the teen a half-hearted push as his cheeks flushed, grumbling, "I was not babbling away like an unintelligent idiot, and I am not cute."
Ichigo just grinned against the other's neck, giving an experimental nudge. "You were and are cute, though."
"I said stop calling me cute, Kurosaki, before you live to regret it. Now shut up and go back to writing your wish," he ordered, attempting to push away the other with his shoulder as the marker and paper found its way back to his hands. "And let me go, already, baka."
"But you're so comfortable," was his return argument. There was a pause and then, he lifted a surprised Hitsugaya, pulling him into his lap.
His eye suffering from multiple spasms, the tenth division captain asked as calmly as he could, "…Why am I in your lap, Kurosaki?"
"'Cause you're comfortable and 'cause we're going out," replied Ichigo reasonably, grabbing his own marker and paper, his arms wrapped around the other's body.
"Let go, bakayaro! We're—"
"—in public, yeah, yeah. Who cares, Toshiro? There's no one around here anyways so stop being such a little prick and shut up. Haven't the ever heard the phrase 'savor the moment' or 'stop and smell the daisies'?"
"It's roses, you moron," pointed out Hitsugaya, glancing upwards at the boy behind him.
Ichigo waved a dismissive hand, saying, "Yeah, whatever. The point is, just live in and enjoy the moment for once in your uptight, strict, rule-abiding life."
The diminutive taichou huffed faintly, turning his eyes back towards the blank strip of paper waiting for his wish. The tip of his marker hesitantly hovering over the unmarked surface, he wrote down his 'wish' and hastily folded the paper, capping his marker.
"Hm? You're already done?"
"Yes, so hurry up, idiot."
Giving his own wish meticulous thought, Ichigo began to write with careful strokes, a satisfied grin overcoming his lips as he finished. "There. Now, we wait until they start. Ugh, I hated this part when I was a kid, and I still hate it now. It's so boring, waiting."
"Then, find something to keep yourself entertained. I'm sure that with your short attention span, you'll find something to catch your interest in no time," Hitsugaya murmured sarcastically, crossing his arms and leaning back more of his weight onto the bored teen. He had to admit, Kurosaki made a comfortable pillow.
"Something that'll keep me entertained? What kinda……" A devious grin crossed his face as he started again, "Actually, now that I think about it, I think something has caught my interest."
The tendo did not respond, watching the gentle glow of fireflies. That was, until a hot, moist sensation made itself known to the outer shell of his ear. He involuntarily shuddered.
"Wha-Wha-Wha-What do you think you're doing—uungh…" A soft moan escaped parted lips as teeth nibbled on the shell of his ear.
Warm breath dancing across the sensitive skin on the nape of his neck, Ichigo whispered, "I'm keeping myself entertained."
He flushed at the response.
"Don't you have even an ounce of self-restraint in that idiotic mind and body of yours!? You bakayaro!!" barked Hitsugaya, wriggling in his seat and trying to escape the orange-haired boy's uncalled for advances. Realizing that there would only be one way to solve this, he swung his head backwards, catching the off-guard boy right in the nose. A muffled, "OW! That hurts like a—!"
"I swear, try one more thing on me and I will not hesitate to tell Kuchiki that you are in love with his younger sister."
Ichigo paled rather visibly at the threat before glaring at the now satisfied boy. "That's just cheap, Toshiro."
"Oh? And trying to constantly molest me in public isn't?" asked the young captain, eyebrow raised.
The teen muttered under his breath, settling for just wrapping his arms around the other boy who lazed back into his chest. "Geez, suck the fun outta everything, killjoy."
"Everyone, please light your lanterns and come over by the river bank with them and your wishes!"
Getting up to his feet, Ichigo handed the other his lantern along with a lighter, illuminating his own. As they walked over to the crowded river bank, the orange-haired teen glanced down at his wish with a smile before allowing the flickering flames to eat it. The water rippled as he gently set it afloat on the surface, saying a small prayer despite never being the religious type, 'I wish to protect my loved ones. Especially now, when it matters the most.'
Another lantern soon followed after his, the flames licking the strip of paper as it floated downstream. Ichigo glanced over to find Hitsugaya staring intently at the dozens of illuminated lanterns, drifting softly across the calm water's surface. A small, ghost of a smile curled his lips and Ichigo could feel the beats of his heart accelerate at the sight. The snowy haired boy soaked in the iridescent glow of thousands of sparkling lights, a hint of a genuine smile playing at his lips and his shimmering sea-green orbs. Ichigo could have sworn, and did, that he had never seen such a breathtakingly beautiful sight as that boy standing next to him, bathed in a glowing radiance which could never be achieved by anyone but him.
"What's wrong, Kurosaki?"
Brown eyes widening by a fraction at the sound of the voice snapping him out of his haze, Ichigo murmured, "Huh? Oh, nothing, Toshiro. Just…admiring the beauty of it all."
"Hm," hummed the other boy in agreement, turning back to the gorgeous sight of little lights dancing across the water's surface.
Ichigo took the smaller boy's hand in his own, giving the taichou only a smile when presented with a raised eyebrow of puzzlement. He turned his eyes back to the river, truly admiring the beauty of all this single moment had to offer.
'Just this moment. Just let this moment last even a second longer, so I can leave you with only beautiful memories should something ever happen to either of us…'
– x – x – x – x – x – x – x – x – x – x – x – x –
As the two walked back home, hand in hand, a welcomed silence over took the atmosphere. The only sounds were those of their footsteps and the muted slosh of water from the bag holding the swimming goldfish. Neither uttered a word, caught up in their own agendas as they walked.
"……Kurosaki."
Ichigo gave a sideways glance, mildly surprised that the tenth division captain was the one striking up a conversation.
Fumbling for the right words, Hitsugaya mumbled out, "I… It…… I would just like……… Thank you."
There was no need for him to continue or elucidate his sudden verbal gratitude. Grinning, the taller teen nodded and replied easily, "Anytime."
Silence filled the air once more as both shinigami carried a smile on their lips. As they slowly reached their destination of home, Ichigo suddenly uttered, stopping in the midst of unlocking the front door, "Toshiro, I love you."
Cheeks coloring, Hitsugaya stared up at the teen, flustered and completely caught off guard by the sudden confession. He was speechless, trying to come up with a reply. Fortunately, the high schooler spoke once more, having not yet finished, "You know that, right?"
The question brought with it a scowl from the shorter boy as he admonished, "Of course I know that, bakayaro."
"Okay…good," remarked Ichigo, opening the door and stepping in before Hitsugaya had the chance to inquire about the strange behavior. Frowning, the icy taichou stepped in as well, shutting the door behind him.
"Wha—"
"I'm gonna go put this little guy in a fish tank or something. You go ahead upstairs and sleep first," he interrupted, wandering over the kitchen.
Arms crossed, his frown deepened in displeasure as he contemplated going over and beating the truth behind the brash teen's sudden behavior modification. In the end, however, he did as he was told, heading upstairs to change out of the kimono.
Once the heavy footsteps no longer thudded in his ears, Ichigo released the sigh he had been holding in, taking a seat at the table and setting down the goldfish's new home (the fish was now happily swimming around in a large, oddly shaped vase).
"This is pretty pathetic of me, huh, Toshi? Sitting around here, depressed like some bum. Tch, it's worse than pathetic," he sighed, wrinkling his nose at his own odd behavior. "It's just that…I get this damn feeling that something bad is gonna happen. Back at the festival, I saw some strange little black circle right above the area between his collarbones. It was faint, but I saw it. I don't think that Toshiro's noticed it yet though. And whatever the hell it is, it gave me a bad feeling when I saw it, Toshi. What the hell do you think it is?"
The fish blew out a few bubbles in response.
"……God, I'm talking to a fish and asking for advice. How pathetic am I gonna get?" muttered Ichigo, leaning back and slinging an arm across his face which covered his eyes. "Still…better asking at least a fish then just ignoring it. What the hell was that thing though? Maybe Urahara-san would know… Argh, but shit. Toshiro's leaving tomorrow. Ngh, too complicated. My head feels like it's gonna bust or something."
Thinking quietly for a few minutes, Ichigo could hear the tendo moving around upstairs until there was a creak of a mattress which informed him that the boy was going to sleep. Dropping his arm to hang by his side, he muttered to himself, "Guess I could visit Urahara-san early in the morning before Toshiro leaves and ask him 'bout it."
'God, you're even stupider than I gave you credit for!' came an exasperatedly harsh cackle from inside his mind.
Ichigo growled lightly at the sound of the voice, wondering why his hollow was able to hear his thoughts and butt into his problems whenever he felt like it (namely when he was bored) while he couldn't do the same for it. Not that he wanted to, really.
"Stop talking to me."
'Aw, but it's just so much fun! Besides, king, messing with your mind is just one of the little pleasures I get.'
"I said shut up."
'Hmph, aren't we a wee bit bitchy today. I would shut up, if your mind just wasn't so goddamned stupid that I can actually feel my brain hurting,'stuck out his hollow, most likely sticking his tongue out at him.
Crossing his arms, Ichigo asked with a scowl, "What the hell are you talking about?"
He could practically see the inverted shinigami waggling a finger back and forth as he spoke, 'Tsk, tsk, king! My, aren't you the observant one! NOT! Heh.'
"…Get on with it already before I decide to go there and kick your ass."
'Impatient! Haven't you ever heard that "patience is a virtue"?' teased Hichigo, his cold laughter spilling through his mind. 'Really king, I expected better of you. But like I said before, you're just too goddamned stupid! I really overestimated you this time. How silly of me.'
Patience ticking, Ichigo ground out throatily, "Shut the hell up and get to the point!"
'Yikes, better start talking before I get my head chopped off,' the hollow smirked playfully. 'But really, you didn't notice or sense anything strange from that "little black circle" as you so inarticulately described it as? I mean, aside from the "Oh no! It's giving me the heebie jeebies!" feelings you were bitchin' about earlier.'
Ichigo frowned, glaring at the empty table in offense to the insults his hollow half was spewing. "What the hell do you mean by that? What else was there to notice, you stupid asshole."
'God, king! You're stupidity not only amazes me, but the extent it runs to actually hurts!' mocked Hichigo, enjoying the grated look on the other's face.
"……What are you getting at?"
'Ow, it hurts! IT HURTS!! AH, the pain of stupidity!!' he cried dramatically. 'I'm dying! It's killing meeeeeee!! NOOOOOO! I can slowly feel myself degenerating…losing smartness…becoming…a complete…and utter……idiot… Spaarreee me, king… It's just so painful…! I…don't want to become like you!! Oh the horrors!!'
The impatient teen gritted his teeth, anger boiling over. "…gonna……fuckin'…kill you…"
Sensing the fuse that was short of blowing, the inverted shinigami finally relayed with an overly satisfied smirk, 'It gave off an aura that of an arrancar, oh mighty stupid one.'
All the carefully planted anger vanished as Ichigo stared blankly at the table holding the goldfish, dumbfounded. Shock overcame him as he just continued to sit wordlessly, trying to find some shred of truth in the other's words.
'Yeah, king, it's true. And if you weren't so busy harassin' and molestin' the poor kid, you would've sensed it too. But alas, you're just a one-track minded idiot, king.'
"Why the hell should I believe you?" shot the substitute shinigami, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.
'What would I gain from lyin' to ya, king?' he answered lazily, smirking arrogantly.
His hollow had a point; a very valid point. That didn't make it any better however, because if his hollow wasn't, in fact, lying, then that meant he was telling the truth about that arrancar aura. And if that was indeed the case, then, he needed to visit Urahara as soon as he could subtly coerce Hitsugaya into going with him. ……But for now, he would go by himself.
"If you are lying, I'll make sure to rip out that damned tongue of yours."
'Awwww, I'm so flattered! I'll even go so far as to remind you to show you my gratitude.'
Ignoring his hollows sniggers, Ichigo silently exited his house and set out for Urahara's shop, knowing that the blond haired man would not yet be asleep. Even if he was…well, too bad for him. This was far more important than a few hours of sleep.
"Uraha—"
"Welcome, Kurosaki-san. I've been expecting you. Come right in," waved the nonchalant business owner, fanning himself.
He eyed the former twelfth division taichou warily, but stepped in, seating himself on the tatami mats.
"So, I assume you're here about Hitsugaya-taichou, correct?" Urahara commented, snapping open his fan and hiding the lower portion of his face with it. He waited until the orange-haired boy gave a nod. "Well?"
"There…" started Ichigo, rubbing the back of his head neck agitatedly as he summoned his thoughts together. "There's this weird black circle right above the area between Toshiro's collarbones. It's kinda faint but it's there, I'm sure of it."
Humming thoughtfully, Urahara remarked, "Kurosaki-san, was it the same area where that circular bruise was when Hitsugaya-taichou was first brought in after the arrancar incident?"
Brown eyes widened as he connected the two pieces. "Now that you mention it, yeah. I didn't think much of the bruise 'cause it eventually went away, but it's sudden back. Just what the heck is going on, Urahara-san?" frowned Ichigo, carefully studying the other before saying, "You know something, don't you?"
Setting down his fan in all seriousness, the ex-captain only offered, "I have a theory, Kurosaki-san."
– x – x – x – x – x – x – x – x – x – x – x – x –
"He is due back in Soul Society tomorrow."
Finger tapping idly against the rest of his chair, he remarked with a smile, "Is that so? Well, Soul Society is reacting quicker than I expected. Hm, such a pity. What is the status?"
"Yes, Aizen-sama. As of right now, it has only progressed to twenty-two percent."
Chuckling to himself, Aizen said, "I see. Continue to have them monitoring his progress. And as for the disruption with Soul Society… Perhaps we should push the preparations for his welcoming party a bit earlier that we had planned. What do you think, Gin?"
Ichimaru grinned, "Sounds good."
The former fifth squad captain turned back to the awaiting arrancar, saying with a wave of his hand, "Ulquiorra, I would like you to go to the living world and invite our exclusively valuable guest to his own welcoming party."
Bowing, the melancholic arrancar said respectably, "Yes, Aizen-sama. I will set out immediately."
He turned, leaving behind a pair of smiling ex-taichou.
"I'm rather excited for this party, Gin."
– x – x – x – x – x – x – x – x – x – x – x – x –
"That baka Kurosaki…acting all weird and then running off again. Che, stupid bastard," muttered Hitsugaya to himself as he laid on his side, staring out the window. He rolled over onto his stomach, cheek cradled in the soft plush of the pillow as his ears strained for even the faintest of sounds.
The shinigami scowled at himself; his behavior was really unbecoming. "Who cares where the heck that baka went," he scoffed, the crease of his mouth deepening in light of his odd manners earlier.
"I'm going to sleep," grumbled Hitsugaya, eyelids falling.
As he teetered on the edge of consciousness, a sharp stab of pain jolted him back from the cliff. The stab was quickly followed by tiny little sparks, scratching at his upper chest. He gritted his teeth, eyes falling shut in a vain attempt to focus on blocking out the pain.
The atmosphere was ripped by the mouth of a garganta and he turned twitching eyes towards it, hand itching towards Ichigo's abandoned shinigami badge. Before the garganta fully developed, he expelled his soul out of his gigai and struggled to his feet. The burning pain now running like and iced fire through his veins, Hitsugaya pointed the tip of his zanpakutou at the throat of the unwelcomed intruder.
"What are – you – doing here?" He winced, the words hard to form. His body was beginning to feel numb and he was beginning to lose all mobility in his limbs.
Ulquiorra remained calm, not even fazed in the slightest by the sharp point of the blade pressing against his throat. He analyzed the stubbornly struggling boy with apathetic eyes.
"I am here only to extend a personal invitation to Hueco Mundo from Aizen-sama to Juuban tai Taichou Hitsugaya Toshiro."
A/N: So…I actually wanted more time for their relationship to develop (cause it's only been two days :twitch: just tempted to forget all 'bout that stupid little detail pft) before having the lower half of this chapter take place, but that woulda meant dragging out this story longer than it needs to be. Thus, I had to edit and change my plans at the last minute heh! This chapter was actually originally planned to have a lemon in it…but my mind wandered at the last minute and I kicked it out :nervous laugh: So in short, nothing really turned out the way I had quite planned for this chapter (and as a result, it was much easier to write), but maybe that's a good thing? Oh, and sorry for the wait! I've been shoving down doujinshi faster than Naruto can slurp down ramen lately XD
Because I love my reviewers so, and because I think it's 'bout time I get off my lazy ass, I have decided to reply to reviews now since it's the least I could do for all your encouraging comments! Which means after posting up this chapter, I am going to use the convenient 'relpy to review' button this site has so graciously added a while back XDD
As always, many thanks to everyone who reviewed and made my day!! Your comments are what keep me inspired and keep me going! :3 And a big thank you to everyone who added this story onto their alerts/favorites lists!
And as a short, extra crap bonus (to tie up loose ends for my sake XD)! Really, it's just crack haha
Omake
Matsumoto hummed cheerfully as she waited patiently, tapping her finger against the counter. She was glad she had read up on a few things before coming to the living world. It really came in handy at times like these.
"Here you go."
"Ah, thank you!"
Accepting the package, her lips stretched into a wide grin as she left the store. "Let's see how they came out."
Without hesitation, the busty woman broke the seal and out popped a wad of what appeared to be photos. She giggled to herself as she reviewed through each of the snapshots she had managed to snag while the boys were "busy" with their own matters.
"Do I know how to take a picture or what? Hehe! Ah, here's that one of taichou sitting on Ichigo's stomach! Oh! And the one of them kissing came out perfectly!!" she squealed, trying to contain her (yaoi fangirl) excitement. "Aww, they one where they're both crouching down and goldfish scooping is so sweet! This picture of them holding hands is absolutely adorable!! Oohhh, but the one of them by the river is pretty cute too! Which one should I use…?"
"………………Rangiku-san?"
The tenth division fukutaichou glanced up to find Renji eyeing her warily.
"What's up?" she asked, not even bothering to hide the pictures.
"I'm on my way back to Urahara-san's place. I was forced into running some late night errands," explained the redhead, lifting up the bag as proof. "What about you? What are you doing out here, Rangiku-san?"
"Hm? Me? Oh, nothing! Well, I'll see you tomorrow then!" And with that, she left a pleasantly confused Renji on the street side, who sighed, "I've somehow got a very bad feeling about this."
Skipping down the road, Matsumoto nodded as she decided, "Alright! I'll just use those two!"
Somewhere in Soul Society…
"Hm? I have a new message?"
Flipping open her phone, Rukia pushed the 'open' button, puzzled as to who would send her a message. She scanned the message, reading along, "'I figure that you have a right to know… That and you would probably love this as much as me! Enjoy!!' …? This? What 'this' is she talking about?"
The female shinigami patiently waited as her phone loaded. "Hm? A picture…?"
The picture of Hitsugaya straddling Ichigo's stomach finally popped up on her mobile's screen and Rukia was certain her jaw hit the ground as her eyes boggled. She gripped her phone in both hands, wondering if she was supposed to rub her eyes in astonishment at a moment like this. That was…Hitsugaya-taichou…and Ichigo………KISSING?!
Her phone rang again, signaling the arrival of another message.
Tearing her eyes away from the truly drool-worthy picture, she checked the other message from Matsumoto, reading out loud again, "'This one is even better!' Better??"
A photograph of the two boys holding hands and gazing at one another appeared on the screen, the illuminated river sparkling in the background of them. Rukia nearly tripped on her own standing feet as her eyes remained glued to the photo.
"Ichigo and Hitsugaya-taichou were in that sort of relationship?!" she gasped, staring at the second picture. "Well…at least now nii-sama can stop worrying that Ichigo and I will ever progress past friends."
Rukia grinned, snapping her phone shut—after saving the second one as her phone's wallpaper. "Maybe we should vote for an Ichigo and Hitsugaya-taichou photobook at the next meeting…" she remarked, rubbing her chin as her mouth began to list off the number of things they could promote using the couple's relationship.
Coincidentally (and strangely) enough, the Shinigami Women's Association was also a secret yaoi-crazed fanclub, and as dedicated members of the Shinigami Women's Assosciation, both Matsumoto and Rukia were yaoi fangirls as well.
End.
