Chapter 21

IT'S ALIVE! Still kicking... weakly but fighting to stay alive, at least. This is a little bit of a filler chapter (next one might be one too dunno yet) but it's got some info that's useful so there's that at least.

I hope ya'll enjoy because this kicked my ass to write.

Fight

He was exhausted. Absolutely utterly spent. Emotionally wrung out and drenched in the rain of his inner world.

"Doin' better now, King?"

Ichigo glanced at his hollow smugly leaning against its own sword that was stabbed through the glass of one of the buildings. The rain was slowly turning to a fine drizzle which should have been enough of an indicator to his lifting mood. But Ichigo responded anyway. "Much."

"Tch. Don't even know why ya let it get you so down. He brought us to the best place to level up our skills to fight. Those stuffy reapers would never train as hard with us as these beasts will."

To protect is what the hollow really meant but the substitute soul reaper knew his Zanpakto would never admit that out loud. Now that he understood his Zanpakto better it was easier to work out the hidden meanings behind his callous statements. They were very different in that way. Ichigo spoke with blunt honesty most of the time, even if people didn't want to hear what he had to say. The hollow, on the other hand, would lie through his teeth about what he actually meant to say. But you just needed the key to unlock the true meaning behind his cruelty.

"Heh. He did, didn't he? I guess I'll have to thank him for that later."

"So? What are ya still mopin' around here for? Aren't ya gonna go join their little get together?"

"Ah. Thanks Zangetsu."

The hollow just snorted.

"Ichigoooooo. Are you okay?"

Infra was leaning across the space between their respective furniture with worry in his eyes.

"Yea yea! I'm good!" He wondered how long he was gone. It was always so hard to tell. "I was just thinking."

"For the last five minutes while everyone called your name?"

"Um, yes?"

"Pfft! AHAHA!" Infra fell back landing on Starrk who grunted a bit but didn't move. "You're a terrible liar but who am I to call you out on it?"

His arrancar friend grinned mischievously. Ichigo smirked back at him even as he felt a slight pang of displeasure in his gut. He still wasn't over the big reveal of his friend lying about who he was. It was so easy to fall back into their banter that he could at least forget until it was brought up again, like right now. He and Infra were going to have a heart to heart sometime soon. He would make sure of it.

"So, what did I miss?"

"Not much," Renji grunted, leaning casually back into the couch with one arm thrown over the top.

"We were mostly just asking about the military structure," Rukia agreed.

"Ah."

Infra sat up ignoring Starrk lazily trying to pull him back down. Actually, it was a slight relief to know that Infra was older than he'd thought and could consent to the relationship. Not that he wouldn't support it, of course, but those kinds of relationships didn't sit right with him. He felt that the older party was taking advantage of the younger which just made him itchy and agitated.

"Anyway~ I'm sure everyone is tired after all of the excitement so I can answers a few more questions or I can show you your rooms on the next floor. Or you can stay here, whatever you'd like!"

"I-I have a question Infra-kun," Inoue whispered rubbing her fingertips on the soft material of her couch.

"Sure, sure."

"Are you okay?"

"Eh, what?"

Ichigo was pretty confused too.

"Well, you've been hiding this for a long time… and it couldn't have been easy. You're my friend Infra-kun and I want to know you're alright."

Ichigo swallowed harshly. Inoue and her empathy was quite amazing.

Infra couldn't help but stare in wonder. Orihime Inoue may be physically weak but she had emotional strength enough for five men.

"AH~ Hime-chan-"

"It's okay if you're not," she cut him off with a tremulous smile. "I just really… I want to see you smile without reserve again. This whole time… I haven't seen you smile."

That caught everyone's attention and Infra felt his lips twitch into frown. Of course he'd been smiling. What in the world could she be talking about? He had been right?

"You're a pretty perceptive girl, Orihime Inoue," Starrk said as he sat up, arms resting around the smaller arrancar's middle, his chin settling on his mate's shoulder. It was comforting and he couldn't help but lean back into his mate. "I like you. You should join the pack."

Ichigo jumped, his eyes widening, probably at the familiar words. Lili squealed and raced over to hop into the surprised girl's lap.

"You really are something special, Hime-chan. I hope you know that," Infra cheered. His grin dropped into a soft smile. "I may not be perfect right now but I've got all of you here so I'll be okay!"

Her smile widened and her cheeks blushed, her hands clasping in front of her chest and Lili's tiny form. "I'm glad!"

Starrk sniffed reminding him that his question had been ignored. Infra laughed and pinched his arm in admonishment. Starrk was pretty shameless. Asking her to be pack was somewhat private and if she didn't want to answer now that was okay.

"I've got a question," Kuchiki announced leaning forward so her elbows rested on her knees and her chin sat firmly on her clasped hands. "Do you really believe in Aizen's cause of usurping the supposedly empty throne, the corruption of the Soul Society notwithstanding."

Infra pursed his lips, his foot bouncing restlessly on the floor. Starrk snorted behind him and Lili shifted in Orihime's lap, hearing the question but enjoying Orihime's fingers running through her hair too much to really react.

"Man, you just like to ask the hard question don't you, Ice Queen?"

Kuchiki tsked at the new nickname but kept staring at him so he sighed. "Some do. They believe him to be the rightful King already. Me personally, I'm not one for a Monarchy but I'm here for my family and if they're here so am I."

"There is safety in allying with Aizen and if his ambitions come to fruition then all the better we were on his side," Starrk muttered, eyes drooping again.

Kuchiki sighed, her eyes closing and brows furrowing. In the end all she said was, "I see."

"Anyone else?"

"I have quite a bit of information to process for now but I would like to speak to you at a later time if possible," Ishida said while pushing up his glasses. Again.

"I'm pretty good for now," Abarai agreed, his arms stretching above him with a pop.

Chad agreed with a nod as did Ichigo and Orihime.

"Alrighty then. Starrk you have to let me go. Our guests need to be situated."

"No."

"... Are you really going to do this now?"

Lili snickered but slid off of Hime-chan's lap to kick her Alpha in the shin. Starrk frowned his arms tightening. She kicked him again.

"Is that really-Ow. Lili stop that! Ouch!"

Infra slid out of the steel bands his Alpha called arms and gathered up his group while Lili caused a ruckus behind them.

"Come on, come on. He'll only be distracted for so long. Chad you can leave the Gigai there. I'll deal with it later. Fantastic! Let's go," he ushered them out the door. "Now does anyone want to room together or would you prefer separate rooms?"

"I would like to room with Orihime-chan," Ice Queen smiled sweetly.

"O-oh you don't have to do that Rukia-chan," the ginger protested as she swung around to stare at the shinigami with wide eyes.

"Nonsense." Kuchiki poked Orihime in the side. "Us women need to stick together. Besides I'm sure we can take any trespassers together!"

Infra huffed. As if he or Starrk would let anyone get into the tower uninvited. Or go after a possible packmate.

"I'll be fine by myself," Ishida huffed haughtily.

"I think I'm good on my own as well," Abarai smirked as he sauntered to the stairs.

"Alone," Chad grunted.

"Great!" They started up the stairs. "So this is the only floor with actual made up rooms. Lili and I didn't have too much time to decorate all that much. They're pretty plain but the beds are comfortable so yay for that."

As they entered the next level Infra appointed the rooms as they went down the hall. Renji got the first room on the right and Chad on the left. Ishida got the second room on the left and Ichigo the one on the right. Further down he pointed out a room with a large, purple and blue flower shoddily painted on the door, courtesy of Lili. It was the biggest room and had its own living room with two attached bedrooms so he figured the girls would appreciate it, even if he didn't really give a damn about the ice bitch. Women could be weird about this stuff so better she like it now than complain later.

Everyone was settled, their doors closed, so Infra allowed himself a moment to sag against the wall in exhaustion. He was almost there. Almost. It had been such a long day. Not even a day really. Half a day. Ten hours. Less?

Time was never the easiest to keep track of in Hueco Mundo or Los Noches. He was sure at least it hadn't been a full half a day and he was already so tired. So much had happened and he didn't think he could deal with any more tough acts. Now he just wanted to go melt into his packs' arms and sleep for eternity.

He turned back around to the stairwell and almost ran straight into Ichigo's chest.

"Gah!"

"Are you really that tired?"

He gaped up the grumpy features, his brain short circuiting for a moment. How in the world had Ichigo, of all people, snuck up on him?

The orangette sighed, bringing his hands up to clamp onto Infra's stiff shoulders.

"Look, I know you're tired so we can have our much needed conversation later. For now I want to talk to Starrk, okay?"

"Um yea," he blinked. "Sure. He's all the way at the top by now. You wanna go twenty more flights?"

The substitute soul reaper closed his eyes as if in pain before opening them. They were filled with resignation. "If I have to."

Infra snickered.

"Come on, Strawberry, it's not that bad. Workouts are good for you."

"Says the exercise nut."

"Shush you."

The walk up was mostly quietly. It was a comfortable silence, thankfully, because the husky arrancar just did not feel up for any deep conversation in the near future. He could do it but it's not something he really wanted to do. Eventually, they made it to the top -Ichigo trying not to outright pant- where Starrk's spiritual pressure was the strongest.

"Whoah, I've never felt this kind of pressure before except when I was fighting Kenpachi. This is just his natural state," his friend questioned shrugging his shoulders as if trying to remove the extra weight.

"Yea. This place is pretty saturated so I think it comes off as stronger since it's so much more condensed and heavy. Feel free to raise yours. It won't provoke him since you're pack."

"About that…"

"Infra," Lili squealed as she ran from the open door down the hallway at mach speed. He sidestepped and caught her collar before she could launch herself through the wall and out of the building. It had happened before several times, the off color patches behind him were proof. Her eyes landed on Ichigo and sparkled in absolute delight. "Ichi!"

She twisted, breaking Infra's fingers loose, and pounced.

As the teen was standing right at the entrance to the stairs they both went down in a flail of limbs. They tumbled into the wall, scuffled a bit and rolled down the next set.

"Oh my. How unfortunate."

"Alpha! You actually came out of the room?"

Starrk yawned hunching his shoulders as he padded over to watch his two packmates fall a few flights lower as Ichigo tried to pry Lili, the pro leech, off.

"I was curious that it wasn't just you," he muttered.

"Oh. Well, he said he wanted to talk to you."

"Hm."

After finally retrieving the two idiots, all four people settled in the bedroom. Ichigo looked mighty uncomfortable sitting on the large bed but Lili sprawled, stomach down and arms stretched out an tangled in the blankets, across his lap stopped him from going anywhere else. Starrk was sprawled in Infra's lap so the husky would have easy access to playing with the brown strands of his mate.

"Are you just going to stare? Cause I could be sleeping right now," the wolf grunted.

"Uh, I just- how… Okay, okay." The orangette sucked in a deep breath, carefully placing his hands on his knees, going over Lili's torso, so he could lean forward a bit. "When you welcomed me into the… pack what did you mean?"

Infra bit his lip but held his tongue. Starrk just huffed and rolled his eyes. "I'm sure humans know the basics of wolf behavior in the Living World? It's not too dissimilar. At the base of our instincts we are canine hollows. For most they suffer the Lone Wolf attitude but there are very rare few who will gather groups to surround themselves with. Our Pack is the shining example of Hueco Mundo at the moment."

"So literally then."

"That's what I just said."

A furrow appeared between the substitute reaper's brows. "What does that mean for me?"

"Oh man how dense are you," Lili groaned, wiggling in his lap.

She ignored his yelped, "Stop that!"

"It means you're adopted into the family. That's it. Is that easier for you to understand you absolute moronic brick?"

"Lili," Infra reprimanded, his fingers tightening in Starrk's hair.

"No!" She sat back, but on her ankles, her hands on one of his thighs, and stared up at him with a frown. "Pack is Pack. We protect each other. We love each other. We are family! That's all we need to be."

"I see. Thanks Lili…"

He didn't sound very sure still. The little girl grunted before allowing herself to flop back onto his lap on her stomach.

"I'd say there's a tiny bit more but it's stuff that's focused on the canine aspect. Some of it I already do with you but if anything makes you uncomfortable you can ask us to stop," Infra said scrutinizing the density and softness of his Alpha's shiny locks. They were surprisingly clean. Lili must have made him bathe today.

"Like?"

Infra scrunched his nose at the impatient tone in his friends voice. Starrk shifted, opening one of his recently closed eyes to glare.

"Lili is right. You are pretty dense. Do you know nothing of wolves and dogs?"

Ichigo hesitated, his voice faltering, "N-not really. I know they're pack animals and good… companions but I don't pay too much attention to animals."

Starrk let out a deep exasperated sigh before lazily propping a hand in the air. He held one finger up. "We like physical contact most of the time. It shows trust and familiarity." The second finger went up. "We mark each other by scent to show we are Pack. Those are the two main important aspects you need to know. Most behaviors tie back to those reasons. Any small things can be explained while they're happening or something."

"You know, I think that's the most I've heard you say at once," Ichigo grinned hesitantly. His chocolate orbs glanced down at the girl in his lap and he brought one hand over to brush through her hair like he used to do for his sisters. She practically moaned, all of her fidgeting stopping.

Infra giggled at the horrified face he made.

"I wouldn't stop now. She might try to bite you."

Ichigo shakily continued, staring at the green demon in his lap with wide eyes. He eventually looked back at the couple in front of him. "Didn't you also invite Inoue-san?"

"Yup. I started the claim and Lili approved. Starrk has the final say no matter who agrees or disagrees. He's a good Alpha, though, so he takes our feeling into account," Infra grinned finally being able to look at his friend in the eye again. Ichigo was taking this very well. Maybe this wasn't going to be a super tough, emotionally draining situation again.

"Is there anyone else in the pack?"

"No, just Hime-chan if she accepts."

"You can deny it?"

"Well, I mean duh. It's a family not the yakuza!"

Ichigo stuck his tongue out, his hand, a lot steadier, still stroking through Lili's mint hair. Starrk sniggered at the very trademark puppy move the orangette pulled.

"So Inoue… as part of the park-"

"Orihime Inoue can do what she likes as long as it is not knowingly detrimental to us. She also falls under our direct protection as she'll be affiliated with us."

Ichigo sighed in relief and Infra couldn't help but giggle, "You really don't know anything about animals. All pack or family units have fighters but there are also the ones that take care of the group itself, which Hime-chan would do. I think she'd be a great Pack Mother."

"That sounds really weird… Inoue-san as my mother…"

This time Infra burst out laughing, falling back and disturbing his Alpha who mumbled grumpily.

"She wouldn't be your actual mother," Lili piped in groggily finger kneading into the blankets happily. "She just would help with… um… how can I put this that you'll understand?" Ichigo huffed indignantly. She ignored him with practiced ease. "Emotional stuff? I guess. She would be there for us to lean on. I mean she wouldn't have to but she already seems good at that."

"I guess that sort of makes sense."

"Alpha get up. I wanna lay down properly."

Infra tensed and untensed the muscles in his legs to bounce the man until he rolled over with an annoyed growl. Now with his legs free he got to his knees and made his way over to Ichigo where he grabbed his arm and yanked him over. The reaper toppled sideways with an 'oomph' and Lili had to sit up to avoid having her body contorted. The beta flopped back over on top of his legs again to make sure he stayed. Starrk lazily rolled over, tossing an arm around Infra's middle his knuckles brushing Ichigo's ribs.

The orangette was very stiff like he couldn't figure out what was going on and if he should relax.

Starrk snorted. "Now that you're here you might as well sleep."

"Wait what?"

"It's... pfft It's okay, Strawberry! We sleep in a cuddle pile really."

Infra just held onto the firm bicep in his grip and settled down to sleep with a smile as he felt the muscle relax under his cheek.

AN: So this chapter decided to fight me every step of the way and with all the other stuff I'm working on I found it hard to try and update it. BUT I know how much people like it and I'm a hypocrite that doesn't like authors who just leave for two years into the abyss sooooo...

Drop a review? Help me with my motivation? Please? It really needs help for this story...