A/N: I own nothing. Written as a gift (part 1 of 2) for GanymedeLullaby who writes a diverse array of bleach and DBZ fics and Salazar Marvolo who writes utterly brutal pieces, primarily of the Ichi/shinji and UraIchi variety. Go check them out and be sure to review. Alternate title: 'Ichigo's reaction to three of the many times Urahara betrayed him' Warnings: Ichigo has a foul mouth. Implied, one-sided yaoi nothing graphic. Written to: 'Sociopath' by STeLOUSE and 'Play with Fire' by Sam Tinnesz. Inspired by: Unintentionally by my packmate TheDrunkenWerewolf's 'heirverse' series, whose plot I accidentally ripped off. Basically if you like this and like Ai/Gin go to her page pronto and read 'game' or 'can we survive this'


I

"Why The fuck didn't you just fucking tell me?" Ichigo yelled.

Urahara opened his mouth to reply but didn't get a chance.

"It's four words: Rukia. Is. The. Hogyoku. Dumbfuck. Five words." It was his own fault of course for trusting the creep Goddamn he'd been so stupid and why? Because he'd been desperate. Because he'd been impressed by Urahara's confidence and knowledge. The bastard was charismatic, he had to give him that. So was Aizen.

"It all worked out." Urahara said smiled. "Drink?"

Ichigo stared for a moment, thought about returning to his tirade then realized that nothing he said was going to mean jack shit to the sociopath in front of him. With a growl he stalked out of the shop, slammed the door behind him and pulled his collar up against the rain.

Urahara sighed and set about making a daiquiri. Somewhere along the line his perfect plan had developed a snag. It'd been a good plan: save the golden boy, train the boy, pull the strings, save soul society from his pet WMD and stick a finger in C46's eye at the same time. Falling in love hadn't been included. Which was for the best. Had it been part of the plan, it'd have been a much different plan, one that wouldn't end with Ichigo dead or hating him. One that would probably have failed.

Now he was a third of the way done, the hate train had already left the building, he would soon be pushing Ichigo toward a likely death and it would be a hell of a lot easier if he didn't care.

The door slammed open.

Urahara schooled his expression into the standard one. Mysterious smile check, a bit of amusement check, hat shielding his eyes check. He turned to face Yoruichi.

"Celebrating Ichigo's recovery?" Yoruichi jumped to sit on the back of the couch, grinning.

"Yeah." He raised his drink.

"Cool, grab me one."

Urahara turned around to pour Yoruichi's drink. It was good to know everyone's drink, helpful for information gathering. Even if it wasn't his habit though Yoruichi's was easy enough to remember. Irish whisky straight no ice or cuba libre with a light rum.

He brought her a glass with three fingers of Jameson and Yoruichi took it with a smile.

"I'll be damned you actually pulled it off."

"You doubted me?" he raised an eyebrow.

"I've seen your track record." She laughed.

He let out a slight breath, that'd hit like a punch. "Hey I always fix what I break." Well not Mayuri. His two greatest regrets, the Hogyoku and Mayuri. He supposed he'd probably wind up adding Ichigo to that list one way or another.

Yoruichi snorted. "Seriously though, much as I hate to feed your ego that went off better then you could've hoped why aren't you happy?"

"I am." he smiled broadly.

Yoruichi gave him her 'Don't lie to me' look.

He shrugged. "We're not done yet. I'm just enjoying half time."

"There's more to it." Her eyes narrowed.

"Just tired." of fucking up everything I touch.

She nodded unconvinced.

"To the great game." He raised his glass.

"Have fun while it lasts." Yoruichi finished the toast.

II

Ichigo wasn't sure why he was even surprised. Of course Urahara had created the Hogyoku. Why the fuck not. He caused every other problem in Ichigo's life. hot tears of betrayal welled in his eyes anyway, but he angrily blinked them back. Goddamn. He stalked up to Urahara's shop and kicked in the door. Urahara's eyes widened.

"Yeah you should be scared!"

"Scared why?" The bastard actually sounded confused. "I'm surprised. And rather concerned for my door but for myself, Nah."

"Because you're the cause of all this fucking shit."

He did a good impression of innocence, twirling his cane in a loose grip. "Whatever do you mean?"

Ichigo grabbed him by the collar and pulled him close.

Urahara gasped. "There are children in the room."

"I got no problem kicking your ass in front of them."

"Oh...well you can see how I got the wrong impression."

He realized that he'd pulled Urahara until they were almost nose to nose and was glaring up at him as though...Ichigo shoved him away, face burning.

Urahara laughed. "That's an impressive blush."

"Fuck you."

Urahara shook his head. "tsk tsk, well which is it? You're sending very mixed signals."

Ichigo wanted to crawl into a hole before remembering that he hated the man. "Go on make your little jokes, what do I care you sick bastard? This whole fucking thing is your fault."

Urahara shrugged. "True, but what's done is done."

Ichigo threw himself at Urahara. It felt like he'd been shot in the chest. For a moment frozen in time he was in mid air Urahara's cane slammed into his breast bone, then he was flying through the air to slam the wall. He fell to the ground, all air knocked out of him and scrambled to his feet.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Urahara said calmly as Ichigo made to attack again.

Ichigo ignored him and the next thing he knew he was face down on the floor, a sword point tickling his spine.

"I'd rather not hurt you."

Ichigo laughed bitterly. "That's rich since you're risking my life every five minutes."

The sword disappeared. "You don't have to do it."

Ichigo laughed again as he rose, trying to hide how sore his ribs and back were. "Ah but you fixed that didn't you? Made sure I couldn't say no."

Urahara shrugged again. "I did what I had to."

Ichigo almost attacked him again but then all the anger and energy left him. What was the point, even if he beat the shit out of Urahara, he'd still have to face Aizen. And he cared about Urahara somehow, despite all the bullshit. The man had saved his life after all.

He shook his head. "You know what the difference between you and Aizen is?"

Urahara flicked out his fan and fluttered it in front of his face, a parody of the coy girl. "I have more Charm, better looks—"

"You're as bad as he is, but at least he has a goal. You do it for fun." With that Ichigo left through the now door-less entryway.

As soon as he was gone Urahara closed his eyes, a couple of tears escaped with the motion. He brushed them away with the back of his fan hand and took a couple slow, deep breaths. Then he put on a a smile and got back to his job. To-do: Earn redemption, save the world, win Ichigo's heart, sell things, protect the vizards, stay alive. No problem, piece of cake. he bit his lip and drew himself up. Self-pity was no good at all, just take it one step at a time and adjust the plan as needed.

III

"You're going to get her killed." Karin. How could they? After everything he'd done Urahara just tossed him aside and then moved on to his sister like Ichigo's sacrifice meant nothing. Like he wasn't owed something for saving Urahara and soul society's collective asses. It was the ultimate betrayal.

"It's just a stop gap, Isshin's okay with it."

"My dad's incompetent as fuck."

"We're not going to let anything happen to her."

"Go fuck yourself." The fact that he literally had nothing more persuasive than that, no sword or strength to bring to bear in intimidation, hit him like a brick to the face and he bolted like a little kid. It wasn't the stress, he was used to having the weight of the world on his shoulders. He was also used to having soul reaper strength to bear it. That was the problem, had been for months now.

His powers were gone, his final reward for listening to Urahara. He wasn't that dumb, could see the pattern: first Urahara would betray him, then he would offer the solution to the problem he'd created, throw some more responsibility on Ichigo's shoulders and shove him back into the breach. And he followed along like a happy dog looking for treats. Until he broke and Urahara had no more use for him.

Lost in bitter thoughts, he found himself running along the bank of the river that'd started it all. Slowing to a trot he made the way to his tree and sat amid the exposed roots at its base. He leaned against it and let his tears soak into the bark as they had when he was a kid. And so he remained until Urahara showed up ten minutes later.

"You okay?"

Ichigo shied from the too chipper voice and scrubbed at his face. "Fine!"

"Okay. Cause if you weren't. No one would fault you."

Ichigo snorted. "I've got to be okay."

"Yeah win some, lose some, on to the next one, that's the line right? "

"Say's guy who never loses"

"Stop, you'll make me blush," Urahara teased fluttering his fan.

"It's all a joke to you," Ichigo shook his head. "Of course, you just set the scene, pull the strings and we all dance. You don't pay the price, you're not the one who bleeds."

"True enough, " Urahara said and for a moment Ichigo was dumb enough to think that he was going to take this seriously. "I do prefer to stay above the fray...Are you crying?"

"You skate through life without a care in the world. You don't get what it's like to be powerless to fulfill your responsibilities because you have none. And just to rub salt it now you use my sister and I can't do shit about it." He fought back the urge to sob.

Urahara's eyes flashed with anger for a brief second then he sighed. "It's a lot of pressure."

"Thanks for shoving it on me." Ichigo snapped sarcastically.

"You can handle it."

Ichigo gave a choked laugh. "Handle it? It broke me." That admission hurt. The secret he couldn't tell anyone. If felt good to say. "You don't know what it's like! To be useless, to have no value, to not even be able to protect the ones you care about."

Urahara embraced him.

"Fuck off."

"I thought..."

Ichigo flashstepped away. He didn't want to hear it.