Chapter Seven

Frozen Breath

Ichigo wasn't sure if it was a dream or reality when he struggled to wake up the next morning. He was sure that there was no way he'd just received a blow job from Renji and then fell asleep between him and Byakuya Kuchiki. However, as morning light streamed in through the doorway that led out on the deck, he opened his eyes to feel a heaviness on his body. He started to move but found that the heaviness was Renji wrapped around him and still sound asleep. He didn't see Byakuya when he turned to the side. So it was reality.

"You are both going to sleep all day." Byakuya's voice came from the doorway.

Ichigo looked at him and froze, not sure what to do. He couldn't move with Renji tangled up in him though.

"Just a bit longer, 'Kuya…" Renji muttered and only seemed to tighten his grip on Ichigo.

"Get up or we'll be late to the division again. We mustn't lose face in the division's eyes. And Ichigo will be expected at the eleventh."

Renji rolled over onto his back. "That's gonna be awkward," Renji said, glancing at the silent Ichigo.

"He must go and continue training as expected. I am sure that by now Ikkaku has been informed of the details since I've already been to talk to Zaraki-taichou this morning about the situation."

"What? What did you tell him?" Ichigo gasped as he wondered exactly what kind of thing he'd tell Kenpachi.

"The truth. You were in a bad place and involved Ikkaku when you shouldn't have. He understood and said he'd talk to Ikkaku about it," Byakuya's face didn't change at all as he spoke. "I said you would be by to apologize to Ikkaku and train for today but after that you were going to come train with my division."

"I can't go over there and face him!" Ichigo said and dropped his head into his hands.

"You will. This is the arrangement and there will be no exceptions. This arrangement between the three of us will include you doing things that you need to do. If this is unacceptable, you may leave it now," Byakuya stated, stoically as ever.

"What? I have to…" Ichigo stopped. He was almost going to say I have to be a good boy. His face twisted and he almost felt tears before he continued. "I have to go apologize to him," he said instead.

He could do this. He could be a good boy again. He needed someone that could take control from him. He needed someone that would tell him what to do when he was confused. He needed exactly what Byakuya was offering.

Renji looked at Byakuya before getting up to get dressed. He tossed Ichigo his clothes and changed without seemingly a second though. Ichigo though felt his face heat. He didn't think he could change clothes in front of them, even though last night… He swallowed and went ahead and changed, trying to ignore both of them as he did so. When he was finished, he stood up and nodded.

"I have to get Zangetsu and then I'll go over there," he said.

"Renji will go with you."

"Taichou?" Renji asked, sounding curious.

"I want today to go without incident. I can handle everything at our division, though you'll have paperwork when you come in tomorrow."

Renji sighed and looked at him. Ichigo shifted and felt slightly uncomfortable with the look he was getting. Finally, Renji nodded and spoke. "Let's go. Yer gonna pay me back for all this paperwork I'll have," he grumbled as he grabbed Ichigo by the arm and pushed him toward the door.

"What do I say to Ikkaku?" Ichigo asked as he got to his room and noted that the stuffed animal was there. Rukia must have been looking for him last night.

"Sorry for involving you in my mess?" Renji offered as Ichigo took Zangetsu from the rack.

"This is mortifying," Ichigo sighed as they headed out of the manor to go to the eleventh.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Shiro finally felt like he could move again. Something had thawed some of the ice that locked them in place within Ichigo's inner world. He was by the house of memories where the butterfly was weakly fluttering behind an ice wall.

"I gotta get that butterfly out," Shiro muttered as he pulled himself from the frozen cocoon. He didn't know why he knew that, he just did. The butterfly needed to be free so Ichigo could breathe again.

"You want to release it," Zangetsu said from beside him. Shiro didn't even notice when he showed up.

"I have to release it, for tha' King's sake," Shiro explained as he climbed over ice to get to the house of memories again. It was completely frozen over now. Shiro was glad to be free but he wondered what had thawed their icy prison. Ichigo wouldn't have access to Bankai at all while they were frozen, but he apparently hadn't tried to summon the second release. He was lucky Zangetsu was permanently in release mode.

Shiro stood in front of the house and looked up at the crystalline looking butterfly behind the ice. It was above the front door, and behind a particularly thick looking piece of ice that now covered the door again.

"He's hiding something from us again; the door's frozen over again," Shiro noted and began swinging at the door, chipping away the ice. "He's done something he don't want me to know about," Shiro groused and continued. He'd chip away until he broke through into the house again.

Around them, the sideways buildings began to drip, just a little.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Ichigo was nervous about seeing Ikkaku again, and he also wondered what he knew. How much had Kenpachi revealed was the question. As they came up to the eleventh, they saw Kenpachi with Ikkaku and Yumichika. Ichigo ducked his head and started to slow down but Renji shoved him forward.

"Ikkaku, you and Ichigo need to talk for a minute," Renji said as they got near.

Both Kenpachi and Yumichika nodded to Renji and left. Ichigo shuffled his feet and looked at Ikkaku.

"I'm sorry I involved you in my messed up situation," Ichigo said with a deep sigh.

Ikkaku nodded. "I think I understand a little better. Zaraki-taichou explained what had happened with your father. Why did you ask me to do that? Why would you?"

Ichigo sighed. "I was frustrated and annoyed and I trusted you more than anyone else that was here. I thought that when it came down to it, I would be fine, but I wasn't."

Ikkaku sighed and shook his head. "Well, I'm glad it wasn't because you hated me or something like that."

Ichigo looked at him and shook his head. "Nothing like that. I-I felt like if it was you, I'd be fine. I wanted to be fine."

"Hence the sake, which I've never seen you drink before," Ikkaku surmised. He gave Ichigo a grin. "Well, as long as that's settled, you still training with me today? Without prizes?"

"Huh, I think I'm done with that…" Ichigo muttered as he glanced at Renji.

Ikkaku looked at the redhead and arched a brow. "I see."

"He's going to train here today but afterward, he's training over with us," Renji explained. "Kuchiki-taichou wants to keep a closer eye on him."

"I see, well, come on for today, you joining us too, Renji?" Ikkaku asked as he motioned them toward the training grounds.

"Yeah, I have to make up the paperwork later but Ichigo is going to pay me back for it, aren't you, Ichigo?" Renji asked with a smirk.

Ichigo had no idea what kind of payback he was going to be expected to give, but he would do it, after all, he was being punished for his actions. He needed that to happen, too. For some reason, those needs seemed programed into him now and he couldn't shake them off no matter how hard he tried.

They all joined the training, and this time Ichigo didn't push himself to exhaustion. Ikkaku commended him for knowing when to stop this time. All in all, the day went by quickly and even though Ichigo still was feeling weird about what he'd almost tricked Ikkaku into doing, even though he said everything was okay. He really had to be messed up in the head to have done that to someone else.

"Ready to go back?" Renji asked as Ichigo stood staring at nothing after training was done.

"Oh, yeah," he said, a little worried about what the evening would entail. Maybe Renji and Byakuya would decide that they'd made a mistake and he wasn't worth being in such an arrangement with them.

"Come on, then, ya gonna stand there all day?" Renji grabbed him by the upper arm again and steered him back toward Kuchiki manor.

Ichigo let him tug him along and wondered why it didn't bother him that Renji kept grabbing him. Was that some sort of sign that he was doing something wrong? He was confused why he kept touching him in such ways. He let himself be led to the dining area where Byakuya was already sitting.

"Get cleaned up for dinner, you're having it out here with us tonight." Byakuya was inscrutable as usual and Ichigo nodded before he started to head to the bath.

"Hold on, I'm going too," Renji said as he took him by the wrist this time. Ichigo started and wondered why he would want to bathe together. He glanced at Byakuya who was ignoring them.

Renji led him into the bath where there was already one drawn. He started to undress and Ichigo just stood there watching.

"Come on, you smell, wash off," he said as he started to clean himself, seemingly unfazed by being nude in front of someone else. Ichigo followed suit, scrubbing himself and stepping into the bath. He sat down in the warm water and felt it soothe his tired muscles. Renji got in on the other end and smiled at him. Ichigo sat a bit uncomfortably with Renji's stare.

"You really are kinda adorable," Renji commented. "Being embarrassed about this after what we did last night."

"Yeah, well, that was different," Ichigo muttered, splashing water toward Renji.

"Huh, well, we'll fix that eventually," Renji said and stood up to get out. "We should go before Byakuya has to wait for us." Ichigo was surprised when he held out his hand toward him. Ichigo took it, standing up and feeling overly exposed now.

They both dressed in yukata that Renji had brought into the bath with them. Renji then gathered up their clothes to take them somewhere, Ichigo guessed to be cleaned. Ichigo waited by the door until Renji came back. He put an arm around Ichigo's shoulders and smirked at him.

"You're quiet tonight," he observed as he walked them into the dining room.

"Sorry," Ichigo said and felt strange. Renji wasn't acting like they were going to toss him away, but the fear was still in his gut.

"How did the day of training with the eleventh go?" Byakuya asked as the servants brought out the food for the evening meal.

"Good, Ichigo actually stopped when he was tired," Renji said as he sipped the glass of water in front of him.

"Good, I'm glad to see you aren't pushing beyond your limits. Have you used your Bankai yet?" Byakuya asked with a glance at Ichigo.

Ichigo was sitting on one side while Renji sat across from him. Byakuya sat at the head of the table. Ichigo slowly shook his head, picking at his food. He didn't want to talk about that, mostly because he was afraid to even sink into his inner world. He knew beyond a doubt that Shiro would be mad about what he'd been trying to do. He knew, though, that he'd find out eventually. He couldn't keep him out of his memories for too long.

"Is there a reason or you just haven't used it for some reason other than need?" Byakuya continued.

"Um, I haven't been to my inner world since I got here," he muttered and sipped the glass of water nervously.

"Why is that?" Byakuya wondered as he glanced toward Renji for a second. "You previously had a good relationship with your Zanpakutō spirit."

"Just, things are different right now…" Ichigo stopped, sensing Shiro was close to breaking through one of his barriers. He wondered how long he'd been chipping away at that. "He'll find out what I've been doing and get mad over it."

"He ought to be mad," Renji muttered.

"Well, you'll have to deal with that as well, but I'm glad you went today and spoke with Ikkaku. Was he receptive to your apology?" Byakuya asked.

Ichigo nodded. "Yeah, he said Kenpachi had told him what happened. I don't like more people knowing, but I guess Ikkaku and Yumichika are fine."

"They won't tell others," Byakuya stated as he finished his meal. "I believe we have some other private conversations to be had."

Ichigo felt his heart clench. Could this be where he decided he'd made a mistake and didn't want Ichigo to be in their arrangement any longer? He stood up when the others did and found himself following behind Byakuya toward his room again. Renji was behind him at first but then moved up and put an arm around him again. Ichigo flinched a little, still not used to all the ways he was being touched by others. They all entered the room and Byakuya opened the door onto the deck to let the evening breeze into the room.

"Now, about our arrangement," Byakuya began and Ichigo knew it was going to go wrong now. He was surprised when Byakuya instead placed a hand on Ichigo's face. Ichigo turned into it and wondered what was going to happen now. "You seem to have come around to the idea quickly, so I just want to confirm this is what you want to get into."

"I don't know what I want," Ichigo admitted, still leaning into being touched by Byakuya's hand. "I just want to feel something."

"Well, that's something that can be arranged," Renji murmured as he moved to kiss him again. Ichigo immediately responded, opening his mouth and letting Renji control his head. He felt himself melting into it again. He didn't resist as Renji moved him to sit on the futon, finding him leaning in for more kissing as they separated.

"I think he likes to kiss," Byakuya noted as he watched the two of them. Ichigo felt so many things he'd never felt before and he didn't know how to react, he just knew that the kissing and mixing of breath was nice and felt really good. It was so different from the things he'd experienced before. Kissing was painful clashing of teeth and biting. This was soft and felt like he could just drown in the sensations.

He jerked as he felt Byakuya sit down beside him. He wondered if he would kiss him too, as he leaned closer. Byakuya smirked and leaned toward him, capturing his lips in a quickly passionate kiss. Ichigo fell into him and soon was wrapped into his arms, mouth fully occupied and almost weak with it. He giggled a little when he felt Renji start kissing his neck gently. Again, he was used to teeth and pain, this was so very different.

Renji pulled at the neckline of the Yukata until he'd pulled it off Ichigo's shoulder and started to suck gently on spots. Meanwhile, Ichigo was still enjoying being kissed with such emotion behind it. He wasn't sure how exactly to act as Byakuya pulled away from him. He leaned closer again.

"My, look at how you crave this already."

Ichigo flushed red as he realized his yukata was practically off his upper body now. He felt Renji's hands as he began to fiddle with his nipples. Byakuya smiled again, kissing Ichigo's nose on the bridge before he returned to his mouth again. Renji's hands were causing him to react in an odd way to him touching him there. He still felt a gentle rain of kisses, licks, and sucks on his shoulder and neck.

"You want to continue?" Renji whispered huskily from behind him. "We'll only go further if you want."

Ichigo nodded, annoyed at the break of attention he was getting from both of them. "Yeah, keep going," he whispered before he tried to get back to Byakuya's mouth. Renji tilted his head and instead captured his lips in a soft, languid exploration of his mouth with his tongue. Byakuya shifted and was now kissing the back of his neck gently.

Exhale, Ichigo, he heard in his mind. He had no idea what Shiro meant but he did it exhaling into Renji's mouth and feeling the other man's breath in his own. Inhale. He gulped air and found himself being pushed down on the futon, still kissing Renji. He wanted more from them. He watned everything from them.

Renji's hands began exploring his legs and he felt like his heart was going to explode. He was painfully aroused from the kissing and when Renji brushed him, it was like a jolt of electricity shot through him.

"Well, I think he's into what we're doing," Byakuya said as he began to stroke Ichigo lightly.

Ichigo had lost his obi on the yukata and was exposed to both of them. Renji pulled him to lay on his side as Byakuya kissed his spine. Renji pulled him in close and pressed his own arousal against Ichigo's, taking a moment to stroke them together. Ichigo arched his back a little as he felt Byakuya's hand slide down and probe at his entrance. He moved his legs a little and felt Byakuya sink fingers into him. He groaned against Renji's lips again as he felt too many things at once.

"You okay," Renji breathed into him slowly.

"Yeah, good, feels really good," he said with a whine to his voice. "I'm going to go…"

"Then go," Byakuya whispered as he twisted his fingers into his sweet spot, causing him to jerk as he felt his crest coming upon him. "We'll take care of you."

Ichigo couldn't stop it from hitting him then. He moaned as Renji kissed him through it, stroking them together as he came seconds after Ichigo. Ichigo felt like he was going to come apart at the seams as he felt Renji kiss down his throat. Byakuya's fingers were still inside him and he felt himself growing hard again almost immediately as Renji stroked them still. Byakuya moved his fingers and moved to pull Ichigo up on his knees. He went with it, breaking away from Renji's lips and feeling Byakuya's hardness rubbing between his thighs. Renji moved to sit on his knees and Ichigo saw that he was hardened again.

"Try your mouth," Renji gasped out as he guided his head forward.

Ichigo didn't feel shame at the action of taking Renji into his mouth. This felt right, warm, not cold and shameful as he swallowed against Renji. He had gotten good at doing this, though Renji was bigger than… No, he wasn't going to think about it. He instead focused on the red of Renji's hair. He was so engrossed in what he was doing, he didn't notice Byakuya doing something then pressing against him. There was a flash of fear but then it was gone when Byakuya sunk into him easily, obviously having used some sort of lubricant. It felt far different than anything he'd ever experienced because there was no pain, only a sensation of being filled and sparks of pleasure when he pressed against the right spot inside of him. He was overcome with sensation as he felt himself growing close again.

Renji suddenly grabbed Ichigo's head and forced him down more, and he didn't resist, he just went with where he was guided. He felt Byakuya's slow slide in and out of him as Renji became more frantic. He shoved him down all the way and shot down his throat. Renji pulled back and picked up Ichigo's face, returning to kissing him again as Byakuya sped his thrusts to come to completion. Ichigo kissed Renji furiously as he felt another wave of pleasure came through him, slamming into him suddenly. Byakuya struggled to hold on but only thrust a couple more times before he came.

Ichigo lost himself then, going somewhere between being conscious and tranced out. When he came back to himself, he was being soundly kissed by Byakuya as Renji was wiping him up with a washcloth.

"Well, that seems to have been enjoyable for you," Byakuya said as he pulled away.

Renji planted a kiss on his lips quickly as he fell down into the futon beside him. "I think he's out of it."

Ichigo didn't answer for a few minutes, only felt sensations around him. "I think I like you both," he finally gasped out.

"I'd hope you like us," Renji said with a snort. "I don't do this sort of thing that we just did with people I don't like."

Renji grabbed Ichigo's face and kissed him again. Ichigo kissed back and it was a languid, slow thing. He felt Byakuya wrapping his yukata closed and straightened it. "I think this is more than physical for him," Byakuya said with a sigh as he ran his hand over Ichigo's head.

Ichigo couldn't even articulate what he was feeling, let alone respond to that. He'd thought he was so disconnected from sexual acts that doing things with them wouldn't affect him. However, the more they kissed and the more they touched him, the more his heart pounded. Was there more to this than just physical sensation? He thought there was, but he had no idea what to do with it. He was being loved, not just used.

"I-I think so," he finally stammered.

"Good, because it should be more than physical," Renji said as he kissed his lips again.