Chapter 02: White Bird

Rating: T
Pairing(s): Hitsugaya Toushiro and Kurosaki Ichigo, Hitsugaya Toushiro and OC (find out about it later)
Notes: I wasn't able to update the story for quite a while, sorry for that. I had to stay in the hospital for about a week as I was diagnosed with hepatitis and I got home just a few days ago, only to acquire many other sicknesses. So everything's rather out of hand atm. I initially wanted to pour what probably would be in chapter three and four in chapter two, but somehow decided to split it. Also, I don't think I'll be able to post the next chapters anytime soon as I'm really sick now. I don't pass a day without utter headache, nausea, flu, and so much aggro.
By the way, the more I write it, the more it becomes obvious to me that I need a beta reader for this story. So if anyone's willing, please inform me via email. Many thanks for the kind reviews!
And, lastly, go France! Vive la France! Vive Bonaparte! Vive Zidane! Get the cup!
Disclaimer: Bleach is awesome and all, so it certainly can't be mine. I'm not making any money for this story.

There need not be a psychologist to tell that Toushiro was not enjoying his time in Ichigo's house—Ichigo knew so. The tenth division's captain had always been skeptical since the beginning about what good this so-called vacation could bring him. Then, the more Toushiro thought about it, the more apparent it become to him that no miracle would suddenly come upon to make him feel that his life was full only by being in the human world; he came to a conclusion that it was a mix of opportunity and of the ability to develop a certain circumstance in the advanced manner that would increase his chance of getting into certain trials from which he would gain precious experience and both of will and of fortitude to help him achieve so. He looked especially in what many hours he had spent with Ichigo for causality—little did he find interesting. Toushiro had decided that he was to spend the terrific morning by having a stroll about the town of Karakura at his discretion regardless of whether Ichigo would provide him company.

Ichigo, on the other hand, had intended to bring Toushiro to the mall and buy him some modern clothes for him to wear while in the human world and other necessities.

"I'm pondering doing evil things to the carcass," muttered Ichigo.

"I'm not a carcass," said Toushiro from the bed.

"Uhhuh, that's right," said Ichigo. "Carcasses don't just roll around in bed for an hour. Well, carcasses don't roll."

"Ichigo," muttered Toushiro, about to rise. "I think I'll have a stroll about the town."

"Nope—tell you what—you're gonna go with me to the mall," said Ichigo, closing his textbook. "I've had a shower—now it's your turn to have one too. Just grab some smaller gear from the wardrobe."

"Alright," said Toushiro walking towards the wardrobe, wondering what a mall was.

Toushiro was about to open it when he saw Ichigo stripping his outer garments off himself. He found it rather difficult to not look at Ichigo's fairly toned body—it inclined him to wish he were older, his body taller, and his looks maturer. However, there was a pair of undergarments that intrigued him; not because they were hiding something just as intriguing, but because they were something he had never seen before; although he had to admit that the way they perfectly contoured his bottom and cradled his genitals was spectacular.

"Ichigo—what's that you're wearing?" asked Toushiro, pointing at Ichigo's white and red briefs.

"What—you don't know these? These are briefs—much easier to wear and to take off than shitaobi," said Ichigo, literally showing Toushiro how easy it was to put it on and off his lower body.

"Practical things you've got," said Toushiro, turning his attention back at the wardrobe and hiding his blush.

Half an hour later, although rather too big overall, Ichigo decided that the heather grey Bermuda shorts, the tan v-neck tee whose lower edge was tucked inside the shorts, the ivory crew socks, and the black step-in canvas shoes with white rubber soles looked good on Toushiro. The v-neck tee was an expensive one that his father bought him together with his other presents sometime about last year's Christmas, albeit none of them was to his preference. Nonetheless, he was glad that he found the tee suitable for the white-haired lad.

Ichigo himself wore his usual gear—clad in a white pullover with a black bold slogan and orange sleeves whose head covering was let folded at his back, a pair of bleached blue jeans, and donned a pair of white socks and white Balmorals with orange stripes. As always, Toushiro deemed Ichigo's outfit tacky.

"So this is a mall," muttered Toushiro dismissively, having gotten himself inside the only mall in Karakura town. "What a blinding place—what with this place's excessive illumination."

"Now, stop being so uptight and critical already," said Ichigo. "You remarked with disgust on almost everything in your sight, Toushiro."

"Have you just said something? It's noisy here," said Toushiro, in spite of the fact that he discerned what Ichigo said clearly, despite the dissonant sound from the environment. He doubted that Ichigo, in annoyance, would repeat his words; and, accordingly, he would play along.

"Little devil," muttered Ichigo. "Anyway, come along!"

Slowly they walked and explored the ground floor. Ichigo led the tour; and despite believing that he had known the place like the back of his palm, he found himself occupied in discovering new outlets along the way, even stopping midway several times to have a closer look of things at certain kiosks; and Toushiro trailed behind him gruffly, questioning himself about Ichigo's motive in bringing him along.

They were then on the first floor when Toushiro saw a sleek mobile phone on a display and immediately had a whim to consider to buy it. He knew that it would come handy, for, knowing well he was staying in a house of someone else's family, he would not be able to freely use the home telephone; moreover, he had always wanted to own one himself. For Ichigo thought that Toushiro did not have any medium of exchange to buy anything in this world and had planned to use his own deposit to buy Toushiro his necessities, he was then worried that he was to inevitably lose a huge amount of money on fash gadget. However, Toushiro did have a modified debit card that he had got from Captain Kurotsuchi which was in the name of a certain established bank of the human world but would directly affect his account's balance in the Bank of Soul Society, enough money to live leisurely in luxury for a couple of months.

The mobile phone itself was of sliding nature, black in colour, with contour keys whose symbols were back-lit in red and a screen of reasonably large size.

"Oi, Toushiro," called Ichigo, trailing behind the little captain in hesitation. "Don't tell me—it's over forty five grand!"

"It's expensive," Toushiro said; then pausing for a moment. "But it looks bleeding smart. I need one myself, after all."

"Yeah, but," said Ichigo, for fear of embarrassment, dared not tell Toushiro that he, considering his own financial state, was not to spend so much money on so expensive a mobile phone whose expensive price merely stood for its, granted, attractive design and supplementary features.

"I can afford it," said Toushiro knowingly, much to Ichigo's surprise. "At any rate, this gadget's elating my mood. I reckon you've got no mobile phone; so I'll buy you one as well. And don't refuse."

"How can I help you?" asked the store's receptionist, letting her colleague handle the previous customer.

"I'm interested in this one," said Toushiro, pointing at a mobile phone inside the glass display case. "The chocolate phone."

The receptionist took out a packet from the rack behind her. She then opened the package and showed the contents to Toushiro, saying, "This is DA's latest model and is the current favourite of fash gadgeteers. The chocolate phone, DA C1440. Beautiful design, great sound, great graphic, and for its size, the maximum resolution its camera can handle is amazing. And please also take notice of its heat-sensitive keypad—personally, I think it's the best keypad ever."

"I like it," said Toushiro, trying the gadget and immediately having himself used to its interface. "I'll have two of it."

"N-no—I really don't need one," said Ichigo, all too surprised by the reversal of roles. "Toushiro, please."

"Don't interfere," said Toushiro, giving Ichigo a grin. "It's decided."

It was how the both of them ended up having the same mobile phone. They had also activated their numbers and saved each other's number in the memory of theirs; and soon enough would fill it with their friend's numbers, messages, music, pictures, videos, et cetera. Ichigo was nonetheless embarrassed at first; but once he had had his hands on the mobile phone, he became too occupied with exploring its features to feel so.

"Face here," said Ichigo, seizing Toushiro by his furthest shoulder, holding his mobile phone backwards in front of them, and aiming for a good angle before at last proceeded and took a shot of themselves before a handrail.

In the photograph were Toushiro sneering in the general direction and Ichigo smiling with his teeth exposed and his eyes goofily wide open.

"You can get a hamburger with that sneer, Toushiro," Ichigo said.

"What's a hamburger?" asked Toushiro, readying his mobile phone to also take a photograph like Ichigo's.

"Some food like the round version of sandwich," said Ichigo, smiling at the camera lens.

"Now," said Toushiro, also smiling, though sheepishly, and took a shot.

Ichigo thought that Toushiro's shot was funny in the way how seemingly difficult it was for Toushiro to smile at a camera. He actually liked all these awkward, classic knickknacks of Toushiro.

"Ichigo—what's that contraption over there?" asked Toushiro, pointing at two huge tube-shaped structures that extended from the ground floor to the top floor.

"It's called lift. It's to transport people to different floors in a building. Oh, and also to transport goods," said Ichigo, holding Toushiro's right hand and led him to said lift. "Tell you what—let's give it a try."

They walked across the hallway towards the lift hand-in-hand. Toushiro felt at once awkward about this gesture and glad about Ichigo's spontaneity. He had always wondered how it would feel to walk and be held by the hand by a companion. He did feel awkward; but he felt reassured as well.

"I can't believe we haven't any lifts in the Soul Society, considering how tall the structures are in the Court," said Toushiro, not wanting to think anymore about how easing it felt to be with Ichigo; hence focused his mind on something else. "It's a lie to say that we don't need it just because all Shinigamis can ascend tens of stairways without feeling tired at all. What of heavy goods and formality—ranked Shinigamis aren't supposed to dash about in an official building; and walking the stairs obviously takes time."

"Reminds me of—I reckon you should try to have a ride on that gigantic cannon of the Shiba family sometime," said Ichigo, grinning, pressing the button at the lift's entrance.

"A captain being flung by a cannon... won't be a good sight," said Toushiro, giving Ichigo a strange look.

"The prestigious Shiba family. Famous for their distinctive spells, in especial the pyrotechnic ones; and like the Sacred Armorer Shihouin family, the Shiba family also holds some of the most precious items in the Soul Society," Toushiro said, following Ichigo to inside the lift, beginning to think how cool the human world was. "I don't understand why they hate Shinigamis so much they chose to abandon the Court of Pure Souls only to live in the Realm of Wandering Souls. I've heard about the ordeal from Ukitake and he said that the leader of the family actually understood the plight they'd faced—that they had no choice but to exterminate her brother together with the Hollow in him."

"Mmm—nobility," muttered Ichigo, taking out the mobile phone from inside his pocket. "They probably just enjoy living in the Realm more. Sorry, I'm calling my family to ask if they wanted me to buy any groceries."

It was then when Toushiro felt that the lift's motion was making him feel funny and wanted to hold Ichigo by the hand again although he knew that he would be able to face neither the faces of strangers who might had witnessed nor Ichigo's face. He reached out his right hand and grabbed upon the initial touch the hand of the taller guy, who grasped his in return.

Several seconds passed and the lift stopped on the third floor. The door flung open and some people trickled out the cage. Toushiro was nonplussed as Ichigo stepped in front of him, whispering, "Come along, Toushiro!"

Toushiro looked right at the person beside him, down at the hand he had been holding, and back up at the person's face. He was a tall young man wearing a two-button charcoal suit, a white polo neck beneath it, and a pair of matching trousers; with dazzling, brisk, jagged, and tapered mid-length platinum blond hair and a pair of a darker shade of green eyes. Toushiro wondered how he missed to notice such a dazzling man when entering the cage.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Toushiro said to the dazzling man timidly, releasing the other man's hand.

"S'alright," replied the dazzling man with a grin seemingly to Toushiro very much like Gin's.

"Toushiro!" called Ichigo from outside the cage.

"You better hurry," said the dazzling man. "Your friend's waiting."

Toushiro's legs hurriedly left the cage while his eyes were locked still at the dazzling man who returned him an expression of seemingly knowing what he was thinking till the lift's doors shut and the cage went upwards.

"Are you okay?" asked Ichigo. "You're spacing out. Is the lift that amazing?"

"Uh—yeah—I'm alright," answered Toushiro. "And no—it's not the lift. Nevermind."

"Okay," said Ichigo, pulling Toushiro by his shoulders. "Anyway, Karin wants me to buy some milk and butter—remind me about it once we finish shopping your goods. Let's get you some gear now."

Soon they found themselves occupied inside the apparel department store; Ichigo currently in rummaging bright-coloured tees and Toushiro in trying out several tees that he himself had chosen. Ichigo would normally refuse to accompany anyone in apparel shopping; but it was not the case then as Ichigo was the one to shop, even though the shopping were for someone else. In the end, both of them were quite content with shopping.

"Ichigo," muttered Toushiro. "Where's the loo?"

"There's none in this store if I remember right. You go out the store and head left—there you'll see an alley leading to the loos," said Ichigo. "I'll wait you here. Oh—and make sure you don't go in the ladies' one."

"That's uncalled for. We have such loos as well in the Soul Society," said Toushiro, beginning to walk away in the direction of the store's entrance.

Despite saying so, he had to admit that he was surprised when he saw the urinals inside the men's room. However, it did not take a genius to understand how to utilise them; and so as he was adamant about trying out what for him were new things, he walked to one of the urinals until someone else came in and he reflexively stopped midway and looked behind him.

There was the dazzling man whose hand he had unintentionally held earlier in the lift's cage. It immediately struck Toushiro how the outfit the dazzling man was wearing was something excellent that he had to wait for his body to grow much taller to put on.

"Hello again, stranger," said the dazzling man, his eyes focused on Toushiro.

Toushiro was about to chuckle at how corny the line was when he was suddenly pulled by the back. The dazzling man's face was then right before his own; his pair of green eyes gazed Toushiro's pair intensely.

"Let's see—I'm gonna kiss you in the lips. If you don't resist, then we'll take it as yes," said the dazzling man. He then proceeded; his lips caressed Toushiro's in the most thrilling way—light and intense at the same time.

Toushiro knew very well that it was his first kiss. He eventually closed his eyes and let himself sink into the delight of having such tender lips caress his.

To be general, there were several different ways Toushiro could have had his first kiss: the most common type of first kiss that occurred to most teenagers where both the kissers had no previous kissing experience, the candid, unintentional type that actually happened to quite a few people, and, lastly, the least common type, the thrilling type that required at least either kisser to have sufficient kissing experience. A thrilling kiss it was for Toushiro, for his kisser knew the amount of both control to put on the kiss and freedom to give Toushiro to be able to keep up with the pace.

"Aren't you a sweet little prince," said the dazzling man after gently breaking the kiss. "And the name of the toad you've just kissed is Zhao. What's your name?"

"My name's Toushiro," he said, almost snickering upon thinking how much a smooth talker the guy that he had just kissed. Nonetheless, he was also adamant to see where it would lead him, completely oblivious to the fact that Ichigo was still waiting for him in the department store.

TO BE CONTINUED