Part XXXVI: What You've Tamed

"People have forgotten this truth," the fox said. "But you mustn't forget it. You become responsible forever for what you've tamed. You're responsible for your rose."
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

…..

"Hey, hey," Komamura said, shaking Ichigo gently. "Stay with me…"

Ichigo nodded, a strange heat spreading through him, "I'm okay, I just…"

"He's burning up." Komamura shouted. "What's going on?"

"He is really hot," Hitsugaya agreed, placing an icy hand on Ichigo's forehead.

"It's Veritas." Nozarashi explained, folding his arms over his chest. "He needs to get outta here."

"What do you mean it's Veritas?" Hitsugaya asked, Ichigo's skin scalding against his frozen hand.

"First o'all, mortals ain't meant to get in it. One drop is enough to put 'em in a coma for a few days." Nozarashi explained. "And second, it requires an exchange of information."

"Okay, and why's it still affecting him?" Komamura questioned impatiently.

"It's takin' its memories." Nozarashi said, looking out into the water. "Quid pro quo."

"Well, it's eating away at his brain." Hitsugaya snapped. "Do something."

"Keep tellin' me what to do. I love it." Nozarashi snarled.

"I'm taking him back." Komamura decided, tossing the weakened shifter over his shoulder. "Hitsugaya, is there anything you can do to cool him down?"

"I'm on it." Hitsugaya replied, placing both hands on Ichigo's head.

"Goodbye now." Nozarashi barked, turning his back on the others. "See ya next time Katen needs a fuckin' favor."

"Thank you, Kenpachi." Komamura said gratefully, bowing at the waist. "Thank you."

"Go on and get outta here." Nozarashi groaned, shaking his head. "Before you addle that poor little shifter's head."

"I'll make the portal," Hitsugaya offered, creating a frozen, silvery ring of light. "That should cool him down."

"What about Murcielago?" Komamura asked, sparing one last look toward Ulquiorra's decimated remains.

"He's already back in Carcer." Hitsugaya explained. "He won't have the strength to get out for a very long time." Hitsugaya gestured to the portal slowly. "Go ahead. I'll be there soon."

"Okay." Komamura agreed, nodding.

"And Tenken," Hitsugaya called out.

"Yeah?"

"You were right." Hitsugaya admitted. "He did change in the end."

"Yeah." Komamura breathed out, nodding slowly. He gave one last look toward Ulquiorra's remains before stepping through the portal and out of Xibalba.

…..

"He's back." Grimmjow exclaimed, smashing his fist against the table.

"What? What are you talking about?" Unohana wondered, watching Grimmjow leap up from his chair.

"Ichigo." Urahara realized, following Grimmjow with his eyes. "He's returned."

"As a shifter?" Yamamoto pressed, straining to sense his presence.

"Holy shit." Hirako breathed out, exchanging a look of relief with Urahara. "He did it."

"Are you sure it's the shifter?" Unohana questioned in concern.

"As fucking sure as I've ever been." Grimmjow retorted, racing toward the heavy oak doors. He gestured to the guards impatiently, "get these doors open!"

But the doors swung open on their own, revealing two figures standing side by side. Komamura lifted his hand in greeting, smile courteously. "Hello, Council… I bring good tidings…"

"Ichigo!" Grimmjow shouted, rushing the younger shifter. He grabbed Ichigo tightly, embracing him with every ounce of strength he possessed. "I can't believe it! I mean, I knew you could do it, but I just can't believe it… You're really here… You've come back…"

Ichigo smiled handsomely, his entire face lighting up. He placed his hand on Grimmjow's shoulder and squeezed tightly. "Hello."

"Oh, shit, hello," Grimmjow groaned into Ichigo's neck, hugging him tightly once more.

But soon Grimmjow's entire world came crashing down with four little words. Ichigo smiled in confusion, his eyes crinkling in the corners, "Do I know you?"

Grimmjow took a step back, wounded. He looked Ichigo up and down, trying to determine Ichigo's seriousness. "What?"

"That's Grimmjow," Komamura said, gesturing to Grimmjow in bewilderment. "It's Grimmjow…"

"Nice to meet you." Ichigo said, offering his hand politely. "I'm Ichigo Kurosaki."

"I… I know…" Grimmjow managed with great difficulty. He looked from Komamura to Urahara in desperation. "What's wrong with him?"

"Ah…" Urahara muttered, looking to Komamura.

"There was a complication," Komamura began.

"What the fuck sort of complication?!" Grimmjow shouted.

"You don't know who he is?" Urahara questioned, pointing to Grimmjow. "What about me?" Ichigo shook his head apologetically. "What about Mr. Hirako? Or Yamamoto? Or Miss Unohana?" Ichigo shook his head over and over, a guilty smile on his lips.

"I don't believe we've ever met," Ichigo said simply, looking to Komamura. "Have we?"

….

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Grimmjow demanded.

Komamura shook his head, a sigh escaping his lips, "He's lucky to be alive… I'm not sure, but I think that…"

"Is he dangerous?" Unohana interjected.

Komamura shook his head again, "He's the same person he was before, it's just that…"

"What of his Master? Are they truly separated? What's to stop him from possessing him again?" Yamamoto spouted off, rapid fire.

"Okay, wait a moment… wait a moment… Komamura is only one man. He can only talk so fast." Urahara drawled, circling around Komamura and squeezing his broad shoulders. "Tell us what happened, from the time Hitsugaya and Kurosaki left here."

"We left for Veritas. The Master, Ulquiorra, was complete so there was no harm in doing so. He already had his body and soul together." Komamura began to explain. "But he made a mistake in his contract. It voided Ichigo's obligation. Without that mistake, Ichigo would be dead and Ulquiorra would be whole."

"We tried to separate Ulquiorra from Ichigo, but it wasn't working. Ichigo's body sustained too much damage." Komamura paused, thinking over his next words carefully. "Ichigo… died… and it forced Ulquiorra out. Ulquiorra did something. I'm still not sure why, but he revived Ichigo… and…" Komamura worried he had said too much. He watched the elder shifters nervously. "Ichigo lost some memories in the process."

"I've known him for nearly one hundred years." Grimmjow said, rubbing his face with his hands. "I think that's more than 'some'."

"Is it permanent?" Hirako questioned, chewing on his bottom lip.

"There's no precedent for any of this." Komamura replied.

"So you don't know shit?" Grimmjow accused.

"The question we need answered is simple. Is he a danger to the Council?" Yamamoto questioned measuredly.

"That's all you care about? You care about yourself?" Grimmjow snapped.

"There is a larger cause in jeopardy here." Unohana explained. "And there is still much to the situation we don't understand."

"Like what?" Komamura asked, tucking a strand of sandy blonde hair behind his ear.

"Who defeated the Master? Where is he?" Unohana pressed. "If the Master revived Ichigo, does that mean he's loyal to him?"

"The Master is…" Komamura sucked in air around his sharp, canine teeth. He shook his head, as if to clear it. "Ichigo destroyed his Master."

"Destroyed?" Yamamoto asked, his interest piqued. "You can destroy a Master?"

Komamura licked his lips. He opened his mouth to reply but changed his mind, "This is a dangerous road that I'd prefer not to go down."

"Dangerous for whom?" Unohana inquired. "Us or you?"

"Unohana!" Hirako snapped, straightening up in his chair. "What is wrong with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Komamura has done nothing but help us. And what? You're threatening him?"

"I'm not threatening him. It was a simple question…"

"What power does Kurosaki possess," Yamamoto called out, over the noise of Hirako and Unohana's heated argument, "that he could destroy his Master?"

"He is strong." Komamura confirmed. "Stronger than you."

"Stronger than you?" Grimmjow asked, his brows furrowed.

"Yes." Komamura confirmed. "Most definitely."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Yamamoto interjected. "What do we do with a young, troubled soul with more power than a Master?"

"I don't like the way this is goin'," Hirako groaned. "Let's slow it down for a minute."

"Ya know what?" Grimmjow muttered, standing up. "I'm taking him and we're just gonna go."

"You won't." Yamamoto commanded. "He stays here."

"We'll just go." Grimmjow maintained, his eyes meeting Yamamoto's defiantly.

"We still haven't voted." Yamamoto replied. "That thing isn't going anywhere."

"You can all go fuck yourselves." Grimmjow snarled, stomping toward the door. "If you think that you can stop me from doin' what I want…" Grimmjow burst through the doors and down the hall. He shouted one last time, his voice echoing through the chamber, "Fuck you!"

"Was that his vote?" Urahara asked, leaning back in his chair.

"Please, take this seriously, Kisuke," Yamamoto chastised.

"Oh, I am." Urahara replied, his grey eyes meeting Yamamoto's. "My heart is just a-breakin' right now. I can hardly focus on anything else…"

Yamamoto shook his head before turning to Unohana, "The problem is the other shifters. They've been very curious these last few days. They've taken a great interest in him. It's concerning."

"They want representation." Unohana said. "They love him. He's a folk hero."

"He's just lucky." Yamamoto breathed.

"Luck or not, Ichigo Kurosaki belongs on the Council…" Urahara pointed out.

"We know Jaegerjaquez's vote." Hirako added.

"'Go fuck yourselves' is not a vote." Yamamoto barked.

"Ichigo's survival is unheard of. It's miraculous." Unohana reasoned. "If he doesn't join the Council, what would become of him? Could we control the others? Keep them from flocking toward him? His power is unfathomable. He's the strongest of us all…"

"If he were to speak out against us…" Yamamoto realized, sharing a look with Unohana.

"We have nothing to fear from sweet, little Mister Kurosaki." Urahara insisted. "Believe me."

"I trust you." Hirako murmured, nodding for emphasis. "You'd know."

"So we invite him to the Council and what then? He serves as our golden boy? Our model citizen? Will he understand what we're doing here?" Yamamoto whispered.

"Everyone knows we're here to protect shifters from Masters," Unohana said simply. "I see no reason we need to tell him otherwise."

"The real purpose of the Council," Urahara sighed, "is to protect humans from predatory Masters and shifters. I think he could understand that."

"But will he understand that killing other shifters is necessary?" Unohana questioned.

"Can he tolerate hunting down weak Masters and the resulting deaths of their shifters?" Yamamoto added.

"The kid is nearly a clean slate." Hirako pointed out. "He's not all there. I don't think it'll be that hard to get him to our side."

"Trust me," Urahara said, "It'll all be okay."

"Here's the conclusion I've come to, Ichigo Kurosaki is dangerous." Yamamoto declared. "And he's either with us or against us."

"Wait a minute…" Urahara began.

"So," Yamamoto continued over Urahara. "It's the Council or death. If he's dangerous, he should be dangerous to our enemies. With the amendment that we revisit this discussion in one hundred years' time, my vote is the Council."

"Council." Hirako called out.

"I agree to a provisional vote." Unohana breathed. "I vote for the Council."

"And we're unanimous," Urahara declared with a smile. "I can't wait to let Kurosaki know."

…..

Ichigo looked around the bed chamber for the hundredth time. It was a cold place, and empty. The barrenness was only multiplied by the sprawling space. He sat on the foot of the bed, his hands caressing the cold, soft sheets. He supposed this was a luxurious room, by its size and beauty and quality of bed. But it was sad, and it dampened his mood. It didn't take him long to realize that despite the elegance of it, this was a prison.

He wracked his brain thinking. What had he done? Why was he here? He'd been looking for someone, hadn't he? Had he ever found them? He stared at his hands, long and hard. He tried to envision doing something that would warrant his arrest. At first, nothing came to him, but then, like a horrid night terror, flashes of blood sprayed across his palms. He could taste the metal in his mouth; he could smell the blood in the air.

"Shit." Ichigo breathed out, lying back on the bed. He dropped his hands to his side, afraid to look at them anymore. He licked his lips, his eyes trained on the stalactites on the ceiling. "What did you do, Ichigo?"

Suddenly there was a shout from outside his door. He sat up on the bed, his heart beating wildly in his chest. He thought he could relate to a rabbit. He felt small and cornered and as if he should run. The scuffle outside his chamber ended and the door creaked open, painfully slow.

That man, the one with the shock of blue hair, slipped inside. He smirked, crooked and handsome, and something wiggled in the back of Ichigo's mind. There was something familiar, something strong that pulled him toward that man. "Yo."

"Hey." Ichigo said, breathless and expectant on his bed.

"Pretty crazy, huh? Everything that's goin' on…" Grimmjow sighed, shaking his head in disbelief. He sat on the bed beside Ichigo. His skin was so comfortably warm that Ichigo couldn't help but gravitate closer. "So, you really forgot, like, everything?"

"I guess so." Ichigo sighed heavily.

"Damn." Grimmjow spat, looking down at his hands and laughing bitterly. "I can't say I blame ya."

"Really?" Ichigo asked, smiling unsurely. "Why's that?"

"Because sometimes there's no worse pain than remembering how thing's once were."

Ichigo nodded, "I don't really know, I guess, what sort of things I forgot…"

"There was lots of bad stuff." Grimmjow explained. And then he nodded his head and smiled, "And then there was some good stuff."

"Like what?" Ichigo asked, curious.

Grimmjow finally met his gaze. His eyes were stunning and expressive and the most beautiful of blues. Ichigo smiled, feeling a flush settle in his cheeks. Grimmjow returned the smile, brushing his hand over Ichigo's hair. "There was you."

"I'm sorry, what?" Ichigo asked with an awkward laugh.

Grimmjow smirked, dropping his hands to his lap. "Oh, fuck. You don't even want me to start. I've got stories for days…"

"Really?" Ichigo asked, covering his mouth to hide his embarrassed smile.

"I once had you convinced you had a curly little pig's tail." Grimmjow teased.

"What? No…." Ichigo refused shaking his head.

"And you had the worst habit of leaving your mouth hanging open. Everytime I would look at ya. You'd just be sitting there like a dumbass with yer lil' tongue dryin' out…" Grimmjow taunted.

Ichigo's face turned scarlet. He opened his mouth to reply but nothing came out. Grimmjow merely smiled, knocking his shoulder against Ichigo's, "And you never asked the right questions at the right time…" Grimmjow's face split into a wide grin. "And, fuck, you got stuck in a pyramid once. What a loser."

"Enough." Ichigo groaned, covering his eyes. "Clearly I'm an idiot."

"Yeah, you are." Grimmjow agreed good-naturedly. "Because ya saw the worst of me and you'd still talk to me the next day."

"We were friends?" Ichigo asked, dropping his hands to his lap.

"You were always a friend." Grimmjow explained. "Even when I made it difficult."

"And you? Were you my friend?" Ichigo asked, his brown eyes wide with expectation.

"I'm not really the friend type." Grimmjow said with a gruff laugh.

"Oh." Ichigo nodded.

"But, fuck, do I love you." Grimmjow breathed out, his hand reaching out slowly for Ichigo's.

"And…" Ichigo murmured. "Do I love you?"

Grimmjow pulled Ichigo more closely, "Oh, you can't get enough of me."

"Komamura said I'd probably get my memories back eventually." Ichigo pointed out. "So you'd better not lie to me."

"Look, there's only one thing that I want you to remember," Grimmjow insisted.

"And what's that?" Ichigo asked, heat spreading across his skin where Grimmjow's body touched his own.

"I mate for life." Grimmjow whispered. He brushed his lips against Ichigo's slowly, cautiously. And when Ichigo didn't pull away, he kissed harder.

Ichigo leaned into Grimmjow's kiss. Ichigo couldn't have put words to it, but it felt natural and comfortable and good. They kissed deeply and passionately. And it only ended when they needed air. Suddenly, Ichigo smacked his palm against Grimmjow's chest roughly. Grimmjow pulled back, rubbing his chest exaggeratedly, "Ah, what the hell, Ichi?"

"I don't know." Ichigo said, fighting back a smile. "There's just some part of me that really wanted to do that."

"Oh, yeah?" Grimmjow groaned, laughing despite himself.

Ichigo smiled handsomely, his fingers interlocking with Grimmjow's. "Yeah. Any idea why?"

Grimmjow made a face, pretending to be deep in thought. And then he shrugged, his usual smirk returning, "Not a damn clue."

The End