A/N: Ah, God, it's really late, why is it that I get into mood for writing in ungodly hours?

Anyhow, thank you all for the reviews you left! I was honestly touched by the attention and I hope I won't disappoint you.

To the person who signed as lou - please don't write any reviews to me anymore, no one's forcing you to read and if you have anything you honestly want to discuss with me, at least have the decency of not being an anonymous chicken. I'll be deleting your next reviews if they are as rude.

Now, on to the rest of you, sorry for any possible mistakes and also, I should let you know that there'll be a lemon some time soon. Yup, we're reaching that point of the story. For now, a little fluff for you. Be happy.

Five days after that rainy night, Ichigo had turned into a regular occupant of cloud nine, occasionally soaring higher when the circumstances provided him with that chance. Like right now, he mused, barely resisting the urge to smirk against soft lips pressed persistently against his own, as he pretty much collapsed on one of the benches in the empty locker room, shamelessly pulling Toushiro along to straddle his lap. The pair of slim toned legs immediately found their way around the carrot-top's waist, sharp knees digging into the hard wooden facility on either side of the taller male as Hitsugaya rose a little and deepened the kiss with starvation that was hard to imagine in the seemingly reserved prodigy. A wave of heat splashed all over the orange-haired teen, the hot wet tongue inside his mouth rubbing against his own with determination that was both slightly unexpected and yet incredibly, devastatingly arousing. It hadn't taken the carrot-top long to realize that Toushiro was an extremely sensual creature, reacting wantonly to the tiniest caress and the flimsiest touches as if he hadn't felt anything more carnal before. Ichigo thought that maybe he should've been surprised by this, baffled by how expertly the captain moved his lips upon his, or how certain his movements and strokes seemed even in the early stage that they had reached so far… but somehow he wasn't. The deep, smoldering light that appeared in the depths of the two jade pools, so open, so willing, the erotic arch of the slim body in the softest signs of delight and need, those were things that suited Hitsugaya too much. They filled him with life and spread an air of careless happiness around him in ways that stirred the heart deeper than Ichigo had ever imagined. He wondered sometimes, briefly, if this was how things had been before… If that was how the boy had looked and acted while dating Ichimaru. He thought, with a certain hint of understanding, that if his classmates had witnessed this side of Toushiro, even in its afterglow, or in its fading glory, there was now wonder that they were stumbling over each other's feet to try and become the cause of it. Costly as it could be (and somewhere in the bottom of his stomach Ichigo realized that this escapade of theirs wasn't going to go unnoticed), he was willing to promise the world to keep his new, happier Hitsugaya all to himself. If it meant following the captain's conditions and turning their relationship into a secret, if it meant hiding, pretending, lying, so be it… As long as it meant having moments like this, it was fine.

Ichigo was willing to give it all.

A low groan rose in Toushiro's throat and he pulled away only for a second before latching himself back to the taller one, this time sucking almost cruelly on the strawberry's lower lip until the action elicited a moan of its own. The empty, slightly stuffy room seemed to respond to whatever was happening within its confines, because every sound, as soft as it was, sounded a thousand times louder, echoing debauchedly with enough force to send shivers down both of the sportsmen's spines. Whether because he was on his own territory or for some other reason, Hitsugaya seemed particularly teasing today, even slightly bossy as he moved his kisses down to the sensitive place right under Ichigo's ear, one hand ghosting briefly over the bulge in the carrot-top's pants before moving up again to bury in the mess of orange spikes. Reaching with both hands to squeeze the tight little ass before him and eventually drag the tortuously writhing prodigy closer, Kurosaki well-neigh whined when he was met with resistance.

"You haven't told anyone, have you?" the captain, managed, pulling away just enough to give the other one a questioning look. Moving his hands just a little lower to press against the fabric of the jeans just over the crease of Hitsugaya's backside, Ichigo shook his head mutely, the action being rewarded with a relieved smile. "Good boy."

"Do I get a prize?" the carrot-top asked, deliberately pushing his right hand under the edge of the other one's shirt to drag inquisitive fingers across the taut little stomach there, brown eyes looking up in the pair of jade ones hopefully. Feigning thoughtfulness for a moment, Toushiro let out a small 'hmm' before slowly dismounting, legs sliding to wrap around Ichigo and hips pressing deliciously against the strawberry's ones in a way that caused them both to moan. Doing this here was like balancing on a rope meters above the ground without any safety precautions. It was wrong, dangerous and rather foolish, and for all those reasons also highly arousing. The soccer practice had ended long ago, making it quite unlikely for any of their teammates to barge in, but there were still teachers and janitors wandering the corridors at this hour and if any of them chose this particular moment to check on the locker rooms, they would be in lots of trouble. Trouble, that was apparently much more acceptable for the captain than the possibility of being seen holding hands with Ichigo. That, the carrot-top speculated with a hint of bitterness as he moved down from his partner's mouth towards the jaw-line, was a type of display that was apparently beyond unfathomable.

"Mind the neck." Hitsugaya reminded for the umpteenth time as he tried to maneuver himself away from the assaulting lips, only to have the taller male thrust his hips forward, rendering the genius speechless for a good couple of seconds. Placing his hands on the other sportsman's shoulders with the obvious intend to push him off, Toushiro merely succeeded in releasing a torn gasp when the fingers cupping his ass just squeezed harder, pressing their jeans clad erections even closer in a mix of throbbing ache and pleasure. "Kurosaki… no hickies!"

"'m not gonna leave any." came the half muffled retort as Ichigo dragged his tongue deliberately slowly along the protruding pale collar-bone in front of him. Allowing himself a tiny, if slightly incredulous moan, Hitsugaya shivered needily, growing completely lax in the other one's arms as warmth swirled around his body in a wave of delight that was oh so sinfully prompting him to let go… To just fuck the rest of the world and enjoy this treat, whatever it might cost him later.

Mm, just like that…

He could swear he was feeling fingers jam cotton in his head through his ears and it made him grin dazedly as the hand rubbing his stomach moved upwards to brush against a sensitive nipple. The gentle sort of adoration etched in both that movement as well as the tentative kisses that trailed along the length of his slender neck caused him to let out a breathless sigh, eyes falling closed lazily…

…Only to snap open seconds later when a familiar ringtone pierced the air.

"Ah, damn…" scrambling to get off Ichigo's lap, the captain nearly tripped over his own feet as he hurried to grab his mobile phone from the backpack he had left near the line of lockers. Vaguely, he detected a low grumble of disapproval coming from the carrot-top's direction but the moment he saw the name on the display, everything else was forgotten. Glancing apologetically at the taller student's still flustered and now just a little bit annoyed expression, Toushiro offered a quick: "It's my uncle." Before pressing the device to his ear.

Accepting that the mood was killed, Ichigo found himself raising both brows in slight amusement as he watched Toushiro try to speak in hushed voice, only to have to repeat everything he said several times to be heard. In any other situation, the carrot-top might've found the whole deal quite irksome – having your partner bail on you for a phone chat in the most heated moment was never particularly pleasant – but instead, he just placed his palms on the bench behind him and leaned back on them with a lazy smile on his face. It was kind of funny to see the genius try and preserve some sort of privacy to his conversation as he paced back and forth before the row of lockers, one hand pulling absently on his somewhat wrinkled shirt and the other combing restlessly the tousled strands around his neck. Ichigo contemplated the idea of telling the boy that he didn't care what he and his uncle were talking about - probably because he had hardly, if ever, heard anything about said uncle at all – but he eventually decided against it, leaving Hitsugaya to try and be discrete. Sure, the relationship between Toushiro and the older man was still a bit incomprehensible to the carrot-top, but that hardly gave him the right to interfere… As far as he knew, the adult traveled a lot, leaving his nephew on his own most of the time and what was most unusual in Ichigo's eyes, was that both of them seemed perfectly content with that arrangement. Whether because he had never even considered the possibility of not living with his father and sisters, or for some other, tradition-related reason, the taller student could not understand the basis on which one such family could even function properly… Yet questioning Toushiro about any of this had always felt strangely wrong. The boy never talked about his parents – and normal kids always ended up mentioning something on the family topic sooner or later – which made the carrot-top automatically assume the captain wasn't comfortable talking about them. Not at all.

Ichigo felt a small frown form on his face as he watched Hitsugaya listen to whatever the man on the other end of the line was telling him. He and Toushiro were something now, weren't they? Exactly what that something was, he wasn't sure, but it was definitely above friendship. And talking about things like this, personal issues, was a natural thing to do, because honestly? How could they expect to be close if they didn't even know the first thing about each other?

"Uncle's coming home tonight." Toushiro's voice cut through Ichigo's temporary daze and he perked up, already pushing himself off the bench. As he watched the smaller male swiftly gather his things in a preparation to leave, he spotted a small smile on the genius' lips and the sight sent a jolt of tingling warmth to the center of his chest.

"Someone seems happy." The carrot-top noted and Hitsugaya shot him and amused glanced from where he was zipping up his backpack on the floor.

"Sure, I haven't seen him in forever." The boy paused, chewing up on his bottom lip lightly for a moment before shrugging. "It can get a bit lonely at home."

Making a grimace like this had been some sort of personal umbrage, Ichigo stepped forward and pulled the shorter student to his feet, arms automatically wounding around the thin waist.

"Well, what am I here for?"

"To annoy the hell out of me?"

"Ha." Ichigo stated dryly before his lips curled in a small smirk and he leaned down to place a quick peck on the captain's already swollen lips. "You love it."

"Cocky much." Toushiro flipped back with an arch of his brow as he reluctantly wriggled himself out of the taller one's grip. "I need to go though, uncle surprised me and now I need to clean up the mess that I happen to have been living in."

Ichigo resisted the urge to snort at that comment, the image of Hitsugaya's meticulously arranged home emerging in his consciousness like the cover of a magazine that he had always assumed was impossible to recreated in real life. In his mind there wasn't a way to honestly exist in such sterile atmosphere, not if you were determined to remain human and Toushiro's constant attempts to 'clean up' always seemed so awfully pointless. He couldn't fathom what the genius could possibly make tidier about that apartment, but he was okay letting him try. Even if it would've been so much better if Ichigo could witness and have a few laughs about it.

"I bet after a lifetime of messes, you uncle has given up on you." the carrot-top offered sarcastically and Toushiro gave him a nasty look before hoisting his backpack onto his shoulder.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that. And on the side note," he rounded the taller male and stood in front of the door. "I haven't always lived with him, or in this town for that matter... You don't know that?"

"No…" trying to sound as casual as possible, Ichigo quickly jammed his things into his own backpack, eyes riveted on the captain the whole time. "You lived with your parents?"

"Just Mom," The edge of Hitsugaya's mouth quirked in a humorless smile as he recognized the next question in his teammate's look before it was even voiced, and added flatly. "She killed herself a few years ago."

"Mmm, lemonade. Homemade?"

"From a machine." Ichimaru corrected dryly as he settled down next to Toushiro on the border of the sidewalk with a sizzling plastic cup of his own. The sun was blazing, hot and merciless above their heads, the noon heat grating against the exhausted core of the world as every living creature that could abscond the torture hid in the darkest, coolest places they could find. The streets were empty around them, scorching hot and sweating like the exposed flesh of a giant and the rare shades that marred this white-and-yellow horizon barely relived the pressure that had accumulated beneath this torturous veil of warmth. Spending their lunch breaks together, the way they always did recently, the two students had stolen the only decent spot left around the neighborhood, right under the magnificent embrace of a large, oak tree in front of Hitsugaya's bookstore. The stone underneath them did not feel unbearably scalding, but rather cold instead, gentle, and for that, they were both grateful.

Letting one of his very peculiar little smirks form on his face, Toushiro chuckled and pulled a packet of M&Ms out of his jeans, before offering them generously to his friend.

"Homemade." Hitsugaya announced sweetly just as the older student was opening his mouth to say something. Gin raised an unimpressed brow at that proclamation and Hitsugaya bit his lip in amusement, jolting the package up and down a little to remind him of his proposal. "By my own, skillful hands."

Shaking his head with condescension, the fox was about to reach for the candy with a very exaggerated browned off look on his face, when Hitsugaya suddenly adopted a pensive expression and snatched the thing away.

"Wait, no, I changed my mind. It's not fair to trade my homemade M&Ms for your low-quality lemonade." He stated, retrieving his hand farther away from the taller male with well-mastered seriousness that made his friend scowl. "Besides, didn't mommy tell you not to accept sweets from strangers?"

"Ya're no stranger. An' ya're thirteen. Means ya should be the worried one." Gin stated, reaching stubbornly over Toushiro's skinny body again, not so much because he really wanted the candy, but rather because suddenly the boy wouldn't give it. Stretching his arm even further in a way that made him lean slightly to the side, the smaller one just shook his head, a tiny mischievous smile twisting his lips as he let his eyes widen in a poor attempt to appear creepy and menacing.

"I might've spiked them." He offered in a conspiratorial whisper, quickly shoving the plastic cup of lemonade between them to devour the rest of its content before he had managed to spill it. "I'm a non-trustworthy druggie with a big stash of pot."

"Right. An' ya've made the effort ta put drugs in those M&Ms cuz ya're evil like tha' an' ya want me on the same holey boat." Gin launched forward, nearly managing to reach his prize this time, but Toushiro was faster, somehow succeeding in maneuvering himself out from underneath the other man and teleporting his tiny body a few meters away, where he balanced teasingly on the border of the sidewalk. Raising a barely surprised brow, Ichimaru stood up as well, gaze glued on the boy before him with an expression that now screamed of determination. "While I'm deliberating how exactly ta torture ya when I get mah hands on ya, care ta explain how ya even manage to spare enough money ta pay fo'… yer fix."

"I don't pay for it." Hitsugaya retorted lightly, the small smile still on his face as he tucked the packet of candy into the back pocket of his jeans, eyes never once leaving the slowly advancing Gin. "I work for it. Remember Grimm?"

"Tha' guy tha' o'ways picks ya up?" the taller male asked, distaste obvious in his tone as he followed his friend's movements carefully, waiting for any abrupt movement whatsoever that would give him the chance to attack. "What 'bout 'im?"

"His father owns a few clubs around this town. Made poor Grimmy such a spoiled little brat, thinks he can have anything he wants." Toushiro paused, biting thoughtfully on the inside of his lower lip for a moment before shrugging his shoulders airily. "He can be very insisting because of it sometimes, it's scary." With that, he let a unusual, wicked grin spread across his face before ducking abruptly to his left in one of the side streets that immediately hid him from the other one's sight. Taking that as a sign that the game was on, Gin bolted after him in an instant, eyes finding the target much faster than he had anticipated. Choosing the most convenient and quick route, Ichimaru cut the distance between them within a couple of minutes, a few victorious meters separating him from the boy before Hitsugaya found his way behind a parked car. That significantly slowed down the hunt.

"Oh, tha's nice, ya lil cheater."

Toushiro rounded the vehicle deftly and spun around to face the other male, the machine between them acting as a sort of a shield that would temporarily slow down the chase.

"You want to hear the rest of it, or not?" the boy urged with a small bounce on his feet and Gin rolled his eyes, hand lifting in a small prompt for the other one to continue. "Anyway… Grimm wanted to drop out of school the moment he turned fifteen, he wanted to start working right away and kept nagging his dad about it, till the old man relented and told him okay, but only if he could manage taking care of one of the clubs as a job."

Leaning over the front of the car just opposite of Toushiro, the taller man thrummed his fingers on the dented paint a few times before making a move to the left, his friend instantly jumping to the right.

"Problem is, Grimm can't deal with paperwork if his life depended on it."

"So, wha', ya're tellin' me ya're doin' his homework fo' 'im?"

"Some of it." Toushiro agreed, eyes directing thoughtfully at the sky for just one brief moment before they fell back on his friend. "It sure took me some time to get used to it, but I practically live in a library of a sort, I had texts to back me up. You'd be surprised how many books on the matter are gathering dust in the back of that bookstore. I'm not saying I'm doing things perfect, but it's not like the papers don't go though a check afterwards, and the whole point is just to keep Grimm's dad happy. If he's happy, Grimm's happy, and I'm happy. And I get a ride pretty much every time we go somewhere, so-"

Before he could finish, Gin had launched after him once again and with a small shout of surprise, Hitsugaya dashed in the opposite direction, swirling around trees, trash bins and squeezing his way between cars as fast as his feet could carry him, the whole exercise managing to last about fifteen minutes before the boy's smoking habit got the best of him. The lack of oxygen and the effort to suck it in his damaged lungs hit him unexpectedly, his muscles growing heavy and unresponsive like the ones of an old man and he was forced to slow down in a series of breathless gasps. He didn't even have the time to register the hand that grabbed his shoulder before he was turned around abruptly and pressed against the side of a building, Ichimaru's body pinning him securely against the brick wall as though the boy would actually try to escape if he wasn't held down. Releasing a weak gasp from the impact of his back against the cold rough surface, Toushiro chocked on a few laughs and pressed a hand to his chest, shallow pants escaping his lips as he looked down at the ground between them.

"Ya kno', ya'd be quite fast if ya didn' smoke." Ichimaru pointed out with a very mild hint of reprimand in his tone and only then did the boy lift his eyes to notice that the other male was standing unusually close to him. Struggling a little to keep the smirk on his face, Toushiro shook his head and shoved lazily against the fox's chest, the movement meant as a soft reminder of how little space there was between them. Hitsugaya half expected the gesture to be the snap that Gin needed, the pull that'd bring him back to reality and tell him to jump back, and he was prepared for that, ready to laugh when the discomfort roused to his friend's face at the proximity that they had been sharing a moment ago… The chance to mock never came though, the solid torso before the boy remaining in place as though nothing had happened.

"I'm not going to do any sports, so it doesn't matter." The boy stated, not really putting much thought in what he was saying, but rather speaking to fill in the silence before it had actually settled between them. His jade orbs flickered unconsciously to the fox's lips, the shock of registering how attainable they seemed making him avert his gaze quickly, his focus quickly switching on not letting the nervous chuckle he knew was trying to burst through his mouth get its way. Whether because he had noticed the little slip or the uneasiness that radiated from his friend's body language, Gin's grin just widened slightly, the hand that had been resting on Toushiro's shoulder sliding painfully slowly down the younger teen's side before coming to rest on the bony hip there. Hitsugaya had to literally bite his lower lip to keep from gasping pathetically as the foreign touch rose goose-bumps in its wake even through the thin fabric of the shirt.

"Think I rightfully earned mah homemade M&Ms, hm?" Gin murmured softly and the smile dripped off Toushiro's face completely, the realization of what the lingering fingers on his body were planning to do hitting him hard. Swallowing thickly to grasp back at least some control over his body, the boy nodded weakly, eyes still riveting sharply in Ichimaru's as he watched the man put his other palm on the wall just beside his head. The hand on Hitsugaya's hip moved downwards, slipping slowly in the smaller male's back-pocket and resting there just a bit longer than necessary before pulling out along with the packet of candy.

"Have them, I've had them open for a week now." Toushiro tried to joke, but his lips were barely moving, barely producing any sound at all and in spite of all his efforts, the awkward tease just didn't feel right. Before he could tell what was happening, Gin's mouth was beside his ear, hot breath dancing along the sensitive skin as a long, spindly arm found its away around Hitsugaya's waist.

"Ya could be so much more than this. 'f ya jus' try, if-"

"I can't." Toushiro cut him off sharply, eyes squeezing shut as he threw off the suggestions before they could infect them to the point of unfixable. Before they could give him any hopes that he knew he shouldn't be striving for… "I can't. I have to take care of my mother, there's no where to go for me other than here."

"No otha' relatives?"

Toushiro hesitated for a moment before shaking his head glumly.

"No one I can count on."

He could almost physically feel the disappointment oozing off Ichimaru's body in huge, powerful tides as the man slowly pulled away from him. Before he could think about what he was doing, Toushiro had grabbed the taller one's wrist, eyes darting nervously back a forth for a moment before he blurted breathlessly.

"Come with me tonight? We're going to Grimm's club. Free partying, it could be fun."

A glum, reluctant look fell upon Gin's face at the offer, the refusal already pressing against his lips but Toushiro was faster, more desperate:

"If you come, I promise not to do drug tonight. No getting high. No smoking. Whatever you want."

A/N: Be nice, decent reviewers. :)