"Goodbye Halcyon Days"…wow, that was by far one of the most touching chapters in Bleach…ever. If you haven't read that manga chapter yet, you HAVE to read it now. It almost made me want to discontinue this fic and switch over to IchigoXOrihime. But I didn't. However, it did make me add on a little tidbit to the original content of this chapter (it's pretty noticeable). So read and enjoy. Oh, and a warning for slight sexual themes.

CH4: Visions of the Soul

"Warm abdomen…is that blood? Am I bleeding?" Shuuhei forced his eyes open as he tried to focus in on his core area. The first thing he noticed was that he was back in his gigai, followed by the realization that so was Ichigo. The said boy was asleep too, face buried into his stomach, with only his shirt separating Ichigo's skin from his own. Mumbling a little protest, he tried to push the boy off of him.
"Get offa me…" he sighed as he tried pushing the boy aside. Ichigo opened one eye lazily and stared at him. Then, as if nothing was wrong, he shut his eye and went back to sleep. The corner of his mouth twitching, Shuuhei took this as a sign of ignorance. He started to pry the younger man's face from his stomach only feel the arms wrapped around his back constrict.
"Let go of me!" he stammered aloud, a blush rising to his face. Ichigo showed no indication of hearing him but instead crawled up closer to Shuuhei's body, wrapping his arms even more tightly around Shuuhei's back. Shuuhei gasped in pain as Ichigo clung tightly to his chest, where he had suffered a severe blast during the battle with the hollow. Now that he thought about it, how did the battle with the hollow go? How did he get back here in the first place? And who had healed him? Suspicious and acutely paranoid, he looked around to check if the surrounding room was an image conjured up by the mirrors. His fears were finally assuaged when his eyes landed on his communicator, lying several inches away from his pillow. He picked it up to find that he had been left a video message. He clicked it on and watched the video play.

"Good evening, Shuu-kun!" Shuuhei flinched as he heard the gleeful voice of Yumichika fill the room. "Yumichika and Hinamori here!" continued Yumichika as Hinamori bowed in the background. Shuuhei noticed that the two were making this video message in Ichigo's room. He could make out the general shapes of their two bodies on the bed. "By the time you get this message, you're probably all healed and better! Hinamori tended to you two personally, so you should be pretty well off." Shuuhei nodded as he acknowledged Hinamori's superior skills at healing. "Anyhow, don't worry about the hollow. While you two acted as the diversion, I had the chance to go in for the kill. Thank you very much you two!" chimed Yumichika as he held up two fingers for the 'V for Victory' sign. "Well then, we'll be off…but I just had to say, you two really do look beautiful together." Yumichika stood aside to reveal a soundly sleeping Ichigo on top of Shuuhei's soundly sleeping self. "Hinamori, before we go, how about we leave them a present, eh?" He tiptoed over and whispered something into her ear. Apparently, the present was a very good one as she started to giggle and smile. She clapped her hands together as she focused and muttered a few words in quick succession. Shuuhei strained to listen as closely as possible, replaying this scene over and over until he could make out the last few words: Way of Binding No. 15. Ichigo's arms immediately crawled up Shuuhei's body until it wrapped Shuuhei into the position it was in currently. Hinamori giggled and smiled playfully as she bowed. "Bye-bye Hisagi-kun!" she said as she turned around to leap through the window. Yumichika nodded and waved as he turned off the recorded transmission.

Shuuhei sighed as he stopped trying to pull Ichigo off of him. He would need to counter the seal with another spell, but he was too damn tired to even try. Not physically tired, as his body was almost fully recovered, excluding the occasional pain pangs from Ichigo's grasp. He was more…mentally tired. He had just been proven weak, yetagain. The fact that Soul Society had sent two more shinigami, both lieutenant rank as well, to assist him in battle just showed how really weak he was. Perhaps he would not have minded it so much if it weren't so uncannily true to Tousen's accusations. He was weak: weak enough that a blind man recognized it and weak enough that he needed not one, but two lieutenants to back him up. No wait…correction, he was the back up, the diversion, and even at that, he had failed. He tried to flip over onto his stomach so that he could smother his yells of frustration in the pillow…but stopped when he remembered that Ichigo was still attached to his front. So, he settled on slamming his head back against the pillow until Ichigo's squeeze made him wince in pain. He calmed down and tried to meditate to clear his mind, but instead, his thoughts returned to Tousen's words making him scowl in anger.
"So utterly dependant…" said a silent whisper, piercing the inner workings of Shuuhei's mind. Shuuhei's scowl softened into a sad frown as he rolled this truth around in his mind. He was dependant. Back when Tousen had just left, he had depended on all the other captains to show him how to serve as the temporary captain. And even at that moment, he had to depend on the other captains to cover for him and lead his division while he was out on this mission. And then, there was the fight with Tousen of course, where his survival had depended on Komamura's intervention. And then there was last night's fight as well, where his survival was once again dependant on someone else, Hinamori and Yumichika…and even Ichigo too. Ichigo…the man he knew so little about. Accomplishments and battle records aside, Ichigo was still a complete mystery to him. For instance, he knew not what drove Ichigo fight as he did. Was it ambition? To be stronger than others? Or was it hatred? Did he have some personal vendetta against the hollows? God forbid it be 'justice'. Shuuhei had had enough of 'justice' for one lifetime.

Beyond the question of Ichigo's incentive was the question of his…amiability. Well, not exactly amiability per se…but there was something that drew the people around him to him. First it was Rukia, then Renji, then eventually Byakuya-sama as well! Of all people…Byakuya. Unbelievable. But then of course, there were the gullible, who would have been drawn to Ichigo no matter what (i.e. Kyouraku-taichou, Matsumoto, etc.) And now, as Shuuhei lay in bed, he found himself drawn to the boy asleep on top of him as well (besides being magically bound to him). But why? How could he possibly be attracted the boy's charm (or lack of it), when he barely knew him? Shuuhei lay in bed muttering quiet curses aloud as he ran a mental analysis of his deranged mind. But the deeper he dug into his psyche, the more twisted he realized he was. Why was he so…so dependent on Ichigo? As much as he disliked to admit it, he realized that his dependency on Ichigo at the current moment rivaled his former dependency on Tousen (if not surpassed it). Shuuhei sighed as multiple instances of his reliance on Ichigo ran through his brain: he had depended on Ichigo's hospitality (or his family's) for a source of shelter now that he was in the human world, he had depended on Ichigo to pull him out of the hollow's torture device last night, and most importantly, he was still depending on Ichigo to accept the proposition of becoming captain. No…he needed Ichigo to accept. If he didn't, it would serve as more proof to Shuuhei's weakness and incompetence. As these desperate thoughts took their toll on Shuuhei's disturbed mind, he heard a beep emit from the alarm clock on Ichigo's desk. He sat up and looked at the clock…and realized that it was 2 AM. Shuuhei sighed as he realized that he should sleep soon so that he could wake up early (or at least on time) the next day. He flipped over onto his stomach and buried his face into the pillow, trying to stifle his erratic breathing. It smelled strong and musky, and Shuuhei soon realized that it was Ichigo's pillow that he was sniffing, not his own. Too tired to care, he dug his face deeper, trying to rub out any last thoughts. As he drifted into uneasy slumber, he had but one thought on his mind: Why could he never depend on his own abilities?

Ichigo woke up groggily to the faint smell of something unfamiliar. It wasn't exactly foul or pungent, nor was it sweet or aromatic. It smelled somewhat like the ocean: fresh and crisp, but a little stinging on the nostrils. He pried his eyes open…and saw darkness. Well, mostly darkness with a glint of light peeping in from the right corner. He tried moving but realized that his hands were stuck to something. In fact, his face was stuck to something, and it was getting to harder to breathe. It was almost as if someone had thrown a full grown man on his chest. Wait…there was a full grown man on his chest. He cursed out loud as he realized that Shuuhei's stomach was right on top of his face. He tried to pull the man off but his hands were stuck firmly to Shuuhei's back. He tried to turn onto his side but Shuuhei's legs were straddled on both sides of Ichigo, preventing him from turning at all. He tried to sit up but immediately decided that was a bad idea…Shuuhei had a case of 'morning wood', and moving would either agitate 'Little Shuuhei' further or make the obtrusive appendage poke against his throat, something he had no desire of feeling…or so he had thought. Unknowingly, 'Little Ichigo' found himself setting up a tent. 'Definitely not a good way to start the day' he thought to himself. How the hell was he going to wake Shuuhei? Ichigo suddenly gasped as sudden panic struck his heart. He shifted his head to the right as far as possible so that he could look at the clock on his desk. It read 6:59:58. Oh. Damn.

"GOOD MOOORNING ICHIGO!" shouted Isshin as he jumped through the door in a ballerina jump. He didn't even bother to pause when his eyes landed on the two boys in their awkward position. "Oh, Ichigo, my son, you were lonely last night and wanted lovey-dovey action? Why did you not come to Otou-san?" cried Isshin as he jumped next to the bed and lifted his right foot straight up and brought it down, heel first, no doubt in an effort to hurt Ichigo.

Shuuhei lifted his hand and caught Isshin's heel in the palm of his hand.
"Ohoho, good catch my other son! You make Otou-san so happy, happy, so very happy!" he cheered as he tried to put his leg down, no doubt in an effort to launch another assault. But Shuuhei held on tight as he lifted his head from the pillow and glared at Isshin. After Isshin and Shuuhei shared a long stare, Shuuhei gave a weak smile…and threw Isshin right into Ichigo's closet just by thrusting his hand forward. Shuuhei muttered a few words with eyes closed and Ichigo suddenly felt his hands freed from Shuuhei's back. Shuuhei immediately got up.
"I got dibs on the bathroom," he sighed nonchalantly and walked out. Soon after, Ichigo threw Isshin out of his room as well.

Inside the closet laid Kon's stuffed animal body and his pill form, side by side. Ichigo had long forgotten to reinsert the pill into the body and was about to when he decided he'd rather not. He had more than enough people in the house already. He sighed as he locked his bedroom door and lied down on his bed to soothe his morning hard-on. Breathing deeply, he inhaled a smell he assumed belonged to Shuuhei. Shuuhei's face flashed into his mind before he knew it, but Ichigo found himself unworried by the fact that a man, not a girl, was in his mind before his sinful pleasure was to be committed…he just needed release by any means necessary. It had been a long time…perhaps too long a time since he last felt this primal urge. Unbeknownst to Ichigo, Shuuhei sat himself down on the toilet seeking the same sensation as well. But to Shuuhei, it was merely an act of habit. For him, the carnal desire struck him each morning and evening, but it had been a long time…perhaps an eternity since he had found himself fully satisfied and pleased.

Stepping into the bedroom, he found Ichigo dressed in what Shuuhei assumed to be his school uniform. However, his sharp senses picked up a smell that he had just smelt moments earlier: it was the salty, sweaty, sex smell. He grimaced as he crawled carefully across the bed sheets (being ever observant of special white spots) to get to the window to open it.
"Yo, you can borrow one of my uniforms." Shuuhei turned to look at the outfit Ichigo held up.
"I don't have to go to school."
"Well you can't go out or else you'll get caught and get accused of playing hooky. That means you'd be stuck at home…with Isshin." Shuuhei shivered at the idea, but still hesitated to take the clothes.
"…Have you considered my proposition?" he asked steadily. He wanted to know at least that much before the day really started.
"…I have…" said Ichigo as his face turned away, avoiding eye contact.
"And?"
"…And I'll think bout it some more. Be patient, damn it," responded Ichigo gruffly as he tossed Shuuhei the uniform. Shuuhei grinned a bit, thinking he had made some progress at least.
"Could you hand me a…uh…what're they called again?" Ichigo looked at Shuuhei curiously until he figured out what he meant.
"Boxers," answered Ichigo as he smirked and threw a pair to the other boy. His smirk quickly faded when Shuuhei stripped in front on him and threw the old pair in Ichigo's face. Ripping off the dirty pair in a flash, he was surprised to see that other boy had finished dressing in that second he was distracted.
"How…How'd you change so fast?" It was Shuuhei's turn to smirk.
"It's 'cause you don't pay enough attention." True enough, if Ichigo had paid enough attention, he would have noticed that his hand had landed on a certain 'milk spot' when removing the dirty boxer from his face.

Ichigo watched the video transmission on the way to school and secretly swore that he would go to Soul Society just so that he could kill Yumichika.
"That bastard!" he shouted aloud.
"K―Kurosaki-kun?" Ichigo and Shuuhei turned around and greeted the bumbling, big-breasted Orihime. "G―Good morning Kurosaki-kun. Good morning…Hisagi-fukutaichou?" said Orihime, searching her memory banks furiously. Shuuhei nodded in acknowledgement, restraining the blood from running to his nose.
"Shuuhei is fine." Orihime nodded but insisted that she'd rather use Hisagi.
"I like Hisa-kun…or wait, how about Sagi-kun?" Shuuhei's mouth twitched slightly and insisted on Hisagi, if anything. The three walked to school together and watched the video message once more, this time with Orihime's input.
"That's…that's so kawaii" said Orihime as she smiled lamely. "I'm…I'm happy for you Kurosaki-kun. And you too Hisagi-kun." Ichigo nodded as he misinterpreted what she meant.
"Yeah, it's a good thing those two were there to save our asses," chuckled Ichigo. "We really got out asses handed to us, didn't we Shuuhei." Shuuhei didn't answer and Ichigo figured that he was probably still sore about it. Orihime just smiled as she always did.

She really was happy for Ichigo. Maybe he had finally found someone…someone who could fill the void in his heart. After all, he was part-hollow, with a hole in place of where the heart would've be. And if someone could…could complete Ichigo, then everything would be alright. She sniffled as she started walking on ahead, looking back to see the two bicker like an old couple. How she yearned that Ichigo would bicker with her like. How she craved to have Ichigo share delicious delicacies her, going out to eat at 5 different places. How she longed for Ichigo…for Ichigo to just be there, besides her. She wanted so much of Ichigo and she reprimanded herself mentally for being so selfish. Who was she to want so much of a person that she herself could not provide for? Ultimately, she decided that Ichigo would do better with someone, no wait…anyone besides her. Tears forming now, she repeated to herself the same thing she said so many months ago, this time with a slight addendum, as she walked on ahead of the two: If she could live life 5 times over, she'd still fall in love with the same Ichigo, each and every time…and each time, she'd be willing to give up her life for him. More than willing. And she didn't care if Ichigo ever acknowledged her, so long as she could acknowledge…her love for him. Tears dropped from her eyes as she convinced herself she was crying out of enlightenment, not sadness.

After getting enrolled in exactly one hour (no doubt with help from Soul Society), Ichigo and Shuuhei made their way to their classroom. Shuuhei took a seat right next to Orihime while Ichigo made his way for the center of the room, by Keigo. Ichigo sighed and yawned as class started. As the teacher started lecturing, Ichigo turned to look out the window, as if expecting something magnificent to fall from the sky.

"KUROSAKI! WAKE UP!" Ichigo jolted upright as he turned to the front of the room. His sensei was standing at the front and was obviously pissed. "Was I that boring, Kurosaki-kun?" Ichigo shook his head fervently, although lying to her was probably a bad idea. "Ah, no need to hide it, Kurosaki-kun. I know I was being boring…but now, let's do something different! Let's do Biology! We're going to study the circulatory system…in particular the mouth!" Everyone groaned. One student raised his hand to ask a question. "Yes?" she asked sweetly.
"Uhm…aren't we doing Chemistry this year?" The teacher blinked momentarily.
"We're doing Biochemistry now," she replied sweetly.
"And…isn't the mouth technically part of the digestive system?" The teacher blinked again.
"Well, blood flows through the mouth as well. So therefore, it's part of the circulatory system," she replied sweetly.
"And―"
"Shut up," she interrupted him sourly. "So anyways, we're going to do a hands-on lab by exploring the mouths of living specimens…our classmates! Isn't that fun?" The entire class shook their head in unison. "Yes it is…" she said with a killer aura emanating from her body. The entire class nodded in unison. "So now, I'll divide you into partners. First will be…Kurosaki and Hisagi." The two blinked and stared at each other dubiously. "And then…the rest of you can do whatever." Ichigo's left eye twitched noticeably. She was being awfully suspicious…more so than usual. He eventually turned his gaze to Hisagi who got up, walked over, and sat next to him, while the rest of the classroom paired up on their own. "Ok then! Keigo, you be my partner!" Keigo screamed aloud. He had just persuaded Orihime to be his partner. "So for this hands-on lab, we will…probe and dissect the mouth! Of course, you can use your hands…but that's boring."
"But isn't that the point of the lab? Hence the words hands-on…" interrupted the know-it-all boy.
"Shut up! Anyways, true biologists know that for every action, there is an equal action!"
"Uhm…that's physics…and you mean for every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction."
"Shut up! Anyways, it's common sense to use your mouth to explore another mouth. Makes sense right? I'll demonstrate!" cried the teacher emphatically as she kissed Keigo, who gagged. "So now, everybody try it!" laughed the teacher hysterically as she ran around the room waving her hands back and forth like a madman. Ichigo turned to face Shuuhei now, lips pursed and heart beating at 100 mph. Shuuhei sat there and stared at him coolly, face emotionless as per usual.
"So? Are you going to explore my mouth or what?" asked Shuuhei seriously.
"But…we're guys. It's…wrong for us to do this…" answered Ichigo nervously. Shuuhei stared at him and didn't answer. After a long moment of eerie silence (everyone had stopped what they were doing to stare at the two), Ichigo took the initiative and leaned forward. "As long as it's for a grade…" sighed Ichigo as he puckered up. But the closer he got to Shuuhei's lips, the more nervous he got. He had never, ever, EVER kissed anyone before, let alone kiss a guy. He closed his eyes as he stuck out his lips in a 'kissy face'…only to find that he had missed.

He opened his eyes to see by how much he had missed by and found that he actually had not missed…Shuuhei had just opened his mouth wide at the last moment, so his lips were actually inside Shuuhei's mouth.
"Good, good, very, very good!" cried the teacher enthusiastically as she put her hands up to her cheek and blushed furiously. After regaining her composure, she made an announcement ("Extra credit for tongue action!") after which, she laughed feverishly. Ichigo's eyes shot open as Shuuhei stuck his tongue into Ichigo's mouth. At first, Ichigo resisted, clamping his teeth down on the obtrusive tongue. But as Shuuhei's face got closer, and as his nose nuzzled against his, Ichigo's eyes closed as his mouth gave way. Not knowing what to expect, he let Shuuhei's tongue run against his teeth and touch against his own tongue, as if encouraging him to push back. Finally, Ichigo gave into temptation as he used his tongue and wrestled back. Growing confident, he went so far as to bite Shuuhei's tongue. Eventually, the two joined together in a massive make-out session, hands rummaging all over each other, going lower, lower, and lower still, until they got to…the point where Ichigo woke up from his daydream.

Ichigo opened his eyes as stared straight into Keigo's face. The boy had his hand stuck in Ichigo's mouth and was crying.
"Let go let go let go!" he yelled. Ichigo realized that he was biting down Keigo's hand, and he was biting hard.
"Oh. S―Sorry…" he chuckled as he sat up straight. He sighed as he shook himself awake and cursed Keigo for interrupting his dream. It was…it was pleasant, after all. Wrong, confusing, and enticing an unwanted bulge in the middle of class…but still pleasant nonetheless. He sighed as he watched his teacher write something on the board.
"Today, we're going to study Biology. We're going to be learning about the circulatory system with special emphasis on the pelvic/crotch area!" Ichigo just stared at her grin…and started to slap himself as he tried to wake up again.

TBC

Don't be fooled by the light-hearted chapter…it was just a slight transition from the last two chapters into the next chapter. But believe me, the stuff that happened in chapter 2 and 3 are absolutely essential for chapter 5 and well, the rest of the fic. But you'd have to be a damn liar to say you didn't enjoy the jokes…that or I have a really bad sense of humor.

Anyhow, yay for returning fans (ahem evilchild666). And also, yay for repeat reviewers. Especially the critical ones. I've tried to improve the flow of my writing, as per reviews, so review back and let me know how I've done.

R&R as always cause I love reviews more than I love life itself…well not really.