AN: It's a little late in the day to be updating this but, thank chibi-tea-chan. I told her it would be up today, so I had to keep my word. Thank you my dear for your review! Your sweet words (along with everyone else's kind words) give me motivation to continue writing.

*I do know the correct spelling for Tesla is Tersa, it was just too close to Tensa and to avoid confusion I spelled it with the L. I hope this doesn't irk too many people.

Please forgive any mistakes or inconsistencies.

Also please review; tell me what you think! Enjoy the chapter c:

~May

Chapter 14-

Problem: A situation, matter, or person that presents perplexity or difficulty

Two and a half years later...

His body moved with both the grace of a gazelle and the fierceness of a lion going for the kill. Taunt muscles flexed under the tight fabric of the training uniform, and the shirt rode up to show skin as the body moved into a new position with the twin daggers held in both hands. The sharp blades glinted dangerously in the harsh light in the room, and Ichigo hummed his approval at the stance.

"Good." Ichigo walked over to the younger man in front of him. Brown eyes glanced up nervously as Ichigo eyed the body with the critic and appreciation of a teacher.

"Raise your elbows a bit." the boy did as he was told.

"Much better. From this angle you would be able to slit the throat of any target below six feet tall. If your elbow had been in the previous position," Ichigo put the arms back where they had been. "You would have missed and hit the shoulder instead, if you were lucky."

"Sorry." the boy's head nodded in shame as he realized his mistake.

"No need for apologies. I'm here to teach you, and you're here to learn. It's part of the process, eh?" Ichigo laughed. The boy nodded and watched Ichigo with a stunned look. His brown eyes sparkled with adoration for his teacher. From this angle, the height difference between the two stood out drastically.

"Alright Tesla, time for some real combat. Think you're ready?" Ichigo pulled Los Lobos, Lobos for short, out from its sheath on his leg. The metallic sound hit both of their ears, and with a familiar smile Ichigo revealed the slightly curved blade he had become so accustomed to. It was a black blade, with the slightest bit of white running along the sharp edge. It was also stained with the blood of all those Ichigo had killed within the past two years- well, not literally.

Ichigo had become attached to the short sword, and had started favoring the farewell gift he had received from Kisuke before he moved out. After the whole Las Noches problem, and Ichigo's scare at Kisuke's, he had left his former teachers to go out on his own.

Moving from Japan had been a hard task, but Ichigo really like the scenery of Germany. Ichigo had gone through hell and back to learn the new language; German isn't the easiest language to learn. And that's how Ichigo ended up in his own house, training the up-and-coming assassin, Tesla Lindocruz, his fifteen year old neighbor from way down the street, who had been living by himself.

Not only was Ichigo surprised to find that Tesla knew who he was, but also that he was a big fan of Tensa's work. Ichigo had taken him in without a second thought after a very awkward conversation in the middle of the night when the teen tried to break into Ichigo's house. That was six months ago, and Telsa's progress was promising.

Ichigo readied his blade, and Tesla got into position. With a nod both boys went at each other. Ichigo rushed at the smaller boy, and ducked when a dagger was thrown precisely where his head had previously been. Tesla smirked for a second, but when Ichigo was at his face within seconds, the smirk fell along with his body as he moved to avoid the oncoming attack.

"Oh." the smaller boy exclaimed as the sharp point of Lobos barely touched the middle of his forehead. The blade was in the perfect position to kill him in a very lethal and messy way. Ichigo's laugh made Tesla blush even deeper than he had been; the blush not only being caused by the fact he lost so quickly, but also because his rather attractive teacher was standing so very close. If he leaned a little bit closer, Tesla would be able to drag his tongue along the sinful skin of Ichigo's neck.

Bad thoughts. Very, very bad thoughts.

Tesla mentally scolded himself as he caught his eyes wandering to Ichigo's ass as he bent over and picked up Lobos' white sheathe that had fallen off his leg. Tesla bit his lip. He wanted Ichigo so bad he was willing to chop off any of his limbs to have him.

However... Tesla sighed. Ichigo hadn't shown any interest in him so far, so why would he show any now? If Tesla had been asked three years ago if he ever expected to be in an unrequited relationship, he would have answered no without a stutter. Fate has its ways however, and that's what makes life so unpredictable. What was he supposed to do? You always fall in love with the wrong people these days.

"Good job today."

Tesla almost jumped as a hand was suddenly placed in front of his face. Slowly grabbing it, he tried to make it look like he wasn't thinking so hard, but that look was kind of hard to cover. Ichigo didn't say anything, so he guessed the taller man figured everything to be normal. Silently following his mentor as he led the way up the stairs and into the main house, Tesla took a few seconds to enjoy the view of Ichigo's now shirtless back. His eyes didn't linger too long, because Ichigo had a nasty habit of turning around and looking back at him. He did, however, get the chance to see the tan, taunt muscles stretch as Ichigo flexed to relieve some of the stress.

Ichigo smirked at him as they made their way out of Ichigo's training room and into his well-sized home. The house was way too much for only one person; it had at least five rooms, which Tesla knew of, and four bathrooms. There was so much space, and the cellar downstairs was perfect to train in after it had underwent a bit of remodeling.

Tesla took a seat at the kitchen table while Ichigo opened the fridge.

"Drink?" he threw over his shoulder. The dirty blond haired boy nodded. It was something of a routine, seeing as this happened every time.

"Orange juice, please." he answered. The same as always. He was pretty sure Ichigo had handed him the same exact cup as well. The familiar tangy taste of the orange juice made the corners of Tesla's lips twist up into a half smile. Sweet Kami, he loved orange juice.

The wind stirred Ichigo's cape, and he held it closer to him to fight off the slight bite the wind held. He felt like a cat submerged in water at this point. The rain hadn't let up all night, and now the wind was so strong the possibility of falling off a building was getting higher. Oh the lovely German weather. Ichigo looked down; sometimes he missed Japan, really missed it.

Looking up with determination, Ichigo eyed the two story house at the top of the hill. It was smaller than most of his normal assassination places, but whatever. The man inside was CEO of some company he probably should know. Unimportant details.

The orangette was just about to run up the hill and head for the roof when he heard voices. Walking up the hill was a man in a tight fitting suit with an umbrella, and walking down was another man wearing the same thing, also with an umbrella. They stopped halfway down the hill, where Ichigo was currently hiding, and shook hands. Ichigo settled himself behind a rock and put his keen hearing to good use.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Klemens. I forgot what your name was, sorry." the man who had walked down from the house buried one hand in his pocket as he said this. The other man, who had dark hair, Ichigo noticed, gave him an understanding smile.

"Marco."

"Oh, now I remember!" he laughed. "Welcome to the job. The Master is currently in his room. He's been dying to meet his new servant! He's not had anyone new around the house since he was little." They both laughed.

Oh this was good. Way too good. It was a bit out of Tensa's normal style, but on occasion he didn't enjoy the risk factor and the extra adrenaline rush he got from letting his victims see his face. The two men exchanged a few more words before they bade each other farewell and switched shifts. As soon as Klemens had exited his view, Ichigo silently sprinted up behind the man dubbed as 'Marco' and dug his elbow into the back of the smaller man's head. Relief washed through him as the sound of a body hitting the group met his ears. Looking both ways, Ichigo grabbed the smaller man and took him behind the rock formation he had previously been hiding behind.

A few minutes later Ichigo emerged, suit and all. The poor lad, Ichigo thought looking down at the mostly naked man. He hadn't ever really felt sympathy on a mission before, but that kid didn't deserve what Ichigo had just done to him, at least he gave him some shelter from the rain. Silently vowing to give the kid his clothes back when he was done, Ichigo made his way straight up to the front door and knocked.

"Come in." a voice called.

Steeling his nerves, Ichigo pushed the wooden door open and made his way into the house. It was smaller than his own house, which disappointed him. Wasn't this guy was supposed to be fancy and rich, where were the diamond staircases and security guards?

"Oh, it's you." a lazy voice said from behind him. Swiveling around quickly, a face that matched the voice popped into view. Ichigo knew that figure. It was him, it had to be. No one else would fit his description so precisely.

"Master Coyote." Ichigo spoke in German as he bowed, almost shaking because of the strain of bowing to one of his targets, or was it something else? Ichigo couldn't tell. He bit his cheek to still his tongue. Why was he so nervous? 'I've done this so many times before', Ichigo growled internally, 'This time will be no different'.

Or so he thought, because as soon as his eyes connected with the man's pair of slate grey ones, something inside of Ichigo changed. Something drastic. It sang through Ichigo's body loudly, and his toes involuntarily curled in his dress shoes. The look on Starrk Coyote's face was the most unnerving. To Ichigo, that look almost made him think that-

"You aren't my new employee, are you?" Came the question in simple form, in a way that sounded casual even in the rough German language. Ichigo froze when harsh eyes scanned over him. "I should have noticed as soon as I first saw you. The description clearly stated my new worker had dark brown hair, not grab your attention orange."

The aura this man was emitting had Ichigo almost shaking, the way the man carried himself to the way he moved told Ichigo to be alert. He felt the need to flee from the intimidating man, which were two new sensations for Ichigo. Feeling intimidated and wanting to flee.

Taking a few sudden and unusually jerky steps back to put distance in between him and his target, Ichigo pulled out Lobos from its resting place inside of his dress pants. The sharp blade glittered in the harsh artificial light as it was pointed directly towards Starrk's heart. All was going well until the dark sword shook within his grasp and sent angry shocks through the orangette's body. Ichigo blanched as he felt a powerful pulse resound all the way up from hilt to Ichigo's hand, whispering its denial and reluctance to kill the other man in the room.

He gave a quick, sharp cry of pain as he was badly shocked andLobos dropped from his loose fingers to clang on the ground. Starrk's eyes widened in confusion, as did Ichigo's own.

"You don't want to kill me?" the man asked in what almost seemed like amusement.

"I do." The young man answered immediately in the same language.

Starrk laughed despite the situation. "Then why?"

Ichigo didn't answer the other man and just gazed down at his sword with a look of confusion, which intensified and was accompanied with a mouthed 'What the fuck'.

Ichigo reached down to pick up his sword when the black colored blade began to change colors. He cursed once again when the sword once again shocked him, this time with an audible zap and pop sound. When Ichigo looked at the sword again, it was completely white, white as freshly fallen snow. Ichigo would have gasped if he had retained any air in his lungs. In those moments of confusion, someone managed to sneak up behind him, elbow him hard in the ribs and crack him right on the base of his skull, not hard enough to kill, but enough to incapacitate. Ichigo fell unconscious to the floor, his lean body curled around the sword on the ground.

Starrk stood as still as a statue. "What in the hell?" he whispered to himself, glancing up at a mostly naked, and shivering Marco before scooping Ichigo's body up and relocating him to a new area. He didn't even try to touch the sword that was giving him an eerie feeling.

Tesla was swinging in the porch swing while watching the dark sky let out an angry roar and bottom out. The rain was hard and nerve wracking. It was almost like a bad omen was upon him. Ichigo had been gone for two hours Tesla determined when he looked down at his watch. He had been staring at the blasted thing since Ichigo had left the house and was getting more anxious as time went by. He couldn't help it, he was worried!

Tesla was just about to go inside and snack on something when he heard someone clambering across Ichigo's lawn. Running his fingers over the hilt of one of his daggers, Tesla got closer to the edge of the porch and peered out. A figure on the ground?

He may have been an assassin in training, but he still had a heart. The one thing he hadn't gotten rid of yet. The rain soaked into his hair and clothing as Tesla made his way over to the downed man a few feet away from the side walk, who was obviously trying to get to the house. As Tesla got a better look at the man, his eyes were met with the sight of bright baby blue hair and blood all over the place. He crouched down and took the man's face into his palms to access the situation better.

"Hey!" a gentle slap to the bloody man's face roused him. Cyan blue eyes to match the hair opened briefly to look at Tesla.

"What happened to you?" he asked in a gentle voice. Of course, he was being wary of the newcomer. He wasn't about to have something serious go down on Ichigo's front lawn.

The man groaned and clutched his stomach at the same time he grabbed at his head. "Shiiiiiiit."

"Hey!" Tesla yelled as the man passed out once again. What would Ichigo do if this man was in his house when he came home? Tesla clenched his fists until they bled, leaving crying moon shaped dents on his palms. What would happen if he was taken to a hospital? Was this man running from some sort of trouble?

He decided to take the high road, and risking himself bravely for the consequences to come, Tesla attempted to lift the heavy, attractive man and bring him inside and out of the heavy rain. After thirty minutes of making his way across the lawn inch by inch, the teenager had finally gotten the dead weight man inside the house and onto a bed. He quickly called the doctor Ichigo used, and went outside to clean up the bloody trail leading into the house.

"Ichigo-san is gonna kill me!" Tesla whispered to himself as he opened the front door and led the familiar doctor into the guest room Mr. Blue was staying in.

Ichigo was tired, he was scared, and he was confused; most of which were very unfamiliar sensations. Currently, he was sitting in a hospital bed while a very familiar figure took notes on his current condition.

"I'm sorry, that, that doesn't help the situation any." Ichigo told the other man, pointing to his head, while the dark haired man laughed and shook his head.

"You could have killed me, but you didn't. I am grateful for that, at least."

"Thank you Dr. Marco." Ichigo bit his lip as Marco gently touched the still tender back of his head.

"You're welcome."

A smile took over Starrk's face as he watched his new servant take care of the man that not thirty minutes ago tried to bash his brains out. What a remarkable sight.

He was sitting in his office upstairs watching the computer monitor intently. The sick room downstairs was projected onto the screen, and the two familiar bodies were having a casual conversation with each other while Starrk watched and listened. A sudden buzzing shook him from his thoughts. Looking over at the sword again, he realized it was having another one of its fits; shaking and vibrating against the wooden table it was resting on.

Gently rising from his swiveling computer chair, Starrk made his way over to the still bleach colored blade. It seemed to react as he got closer, settling down more like it; and something inside his own body seemed to react as well, to being close to it felt right. Lobos. That's what Starrk would call the blade if it were his. His heart fluttered. Starrk wanted to touch it.

...

He wasn't that willing for pain though. So he left the sword exactly where it was; completely content with looking at it for the moment.

Why was he feeling such a pull to a sword? And why had he pardoned the orangette's life like nothing had transpired between them? Who wanted him dead in the first place? Not many people knew of his past that would want him dead. Who was the young boy in his sick bay? And why hadn't he tried to escape by now? Questions without answers are useless.