I'm terribly sorry I haven't been updating frequently, but I'm having a hard time trying to come up with story to fill the gaps of my skeleton sketch for this story. This is just a short chapter, but I think I know where I'm going with chapter seven, which should be sufficiently longer... oooo ideas ideas.
Note: Instead of Ichi, I'm using Shirosaki as his name. I'll go back later to edit the old chapters.
The days that followed the battle were calm and relatively quiet. Yamamoto had sanctioned a three day period in which all the court squads were to rest up, mend and take time to themselves. For those uninjured or barely scathed they were given the options to assist in damage control or basic security. Operations ran smoothly from there and the Sereitei once again thrived, despite the heavy damage. The active captains had their first meeting the morning after the battle, but only to give their accounts and squad stats. The mystery of Shirosaki was barely discussed, but he was to be treated the same as Grimmjow, as a possible threat. The only reason the Gotei 13 chose not to imprison Grimmjow until further interrigation was because the Espada had proved himself greatly against the onslaught of Arrancar.
Inoue and Shirosaki were to stay together under the care of a sqaud compound, because Byakuya and Shunsui had their hands full with Grimmjow taking turns supervising him, they were left to Hitsugaya. They were given a room, allowed to freely roam or take part in repairs. For the moment Shirosaki was asked to keep his distance from the fourth compound leaving Inoue unable to assist with healing. She was assured that everyone was out of danger and that she had done her part. One condition of Shirosaki's arrest was that he surrender his Zanpaktou, he disapproved immediately growling when Hitsugaya stepped forward to collect Zangetsu. After a three minute stare down Shirosaki held out his sheathed weapon on Orihime's behalf he told himself.
Two days after the war, Inoue and Shirosaki spent the morning in their room, mostly Inoue kept to the washroom, nervous around Shirosaki. She also didn't know what to do with her uneven hair. She couldn't give herself a proper haircut; wondering if Soul Society had hair salons. She figured yes since Yumichika had a perfectly trained do. Perhaps she could take the time to ask around since the two of them weren't doing much anyways. She exited the washroom and sat down a calculated distance away from Shirosaki, she didn't want to get close to him, neither did she want him to know she felt uneasy around him.
"I'm not going to fight them, I'm not under Aizen's control" he pouted sitting cross-legged on the table in their room. He didn't like being away from Zangetsu, not that he couldn't cook up his own mischief without it. In fact he thought about sneaking away and finding that Espada bastard for the fun of it. He didn't care that Grimmjow had taken out Uliqiourra and helped assist Shinigami throughout the attack, he didn't even care for the rivalry between Ichigo and him. Shirosaki was iching for a fight, anything to pass the time. He was bored and that was not a good state of mind for him to be in.
"They're just being cautious, you're a complete mystery Shirosaki-kun" she explained. She was wearing a shinigami uniform, her hair pinned up in a simple bun, her solution to her problem for now . She wasn't really paying attention to Shirosaki, she was lost in thought. She summed up the past few days, trying her best to out count the cons. Inoue was astonished that she was able to handle everything so well, then again she was also well informed. Unohana was kind enough to send reports on the conditions of her friends. Inoue had learned a few hours ago that Rukia was recovering well and now in the care of Byakuya. Yachiru was out of danger, but still unconscious. The only troubling news was of Renji, he was in a coma and severly wounded; Unohana assured Inoue that she would be able to take proper care of him also advising Inoue to get some rest.
When Inoue came back to reality she was startled to see the look on Shirosaki's face. He was brooding over his sword with the same scowl Ichigo paraded around. Inoue felt like tackling him with a hug, she almost believed it was him.
Kurosaki-kun she thought, she missed him so much.
"Orihime?" Shirosaki disturbed her thoughts.
"Yea, I was just thinking I'm really hungry, we haven't eaten since we got up. How does chocolate covered wasabi sound, with bean-paste and bread to dip in some ramen! Oh and I hear they have these little snacks that are used for the healthy diet of a training shingami, they look like pita breads although I'm not sure how they taste."
"Slow down Hime" Shirosaki grinned thinking about the assorments of treats they could indulge in. He was hungry himself, a different feeling for him. He welcomed it because the satisfaction of taste always made up for the hunger pains. "That sounds like a great idea" he chimed standing up.
"Alright!" Inoue jumped up striking a pose, her index finger pointed to the sky, her bubbly nature returning. Together the headed out of the room towards the compound dining hall, on arrival they noticed a sign stating that all meals were prepared from a fixed menu until further notice. The kitchen had been understaffed due to damage control, more hands were needed elsewhere. Inoue was a bit disappointed, she wanted to mismatch food from the regular menu.
Shirosaki the mischevious fellow he was wanted to make her happy even if it meant flash stepping to the back of the kitchen and stealing her bizzare choices of food. "I'm going to find us a place to sit Orihime" he said walking towards the tables; the hall was nearly empty.
"Okay" Inoue smiled waiting in line for two orders. A few minutes later she walked towards the spot Shirosaki picked for them, holding a tray with two plates. She sat across him noticing that he already had a tray of his own which was full of all sorts of food. Shirosaki had even remembered all the items she spoke of earlier.
"Shirosaki-kun where did you get that from?" she questioned taking the time to examine all that he managed to pilfer.
"The storage room, even went into the fridge. You should see how much food they got stacked back there. Enough to feed a whole country" he exagerrated. Inoue chuckled.
"Well if they got enough to feed a whole country then I guess this is alright, but I wonder, what should we call our country? Shiroland?" she poked at him teasing the large amount of food he brought for them.
"Nah, Shirohimeland sounds more attractive. There's a whole lot of sexy in that name" he smiled biting into a carrot. Inoue smiled back at him not realizing that he had just complimented her.
After they were done eating they had the chance to look around at the cafeteria, perhaps Inoue would recognize some of the shinigami there, but was alarmed when she saw that many of the dining shinigami were staring at them, some huddled together whispering. She looked at Shirosaki who was oblivious and wondered what they could be talking about.
"Want to go for a walk? Perhaps we might find some work to do?" she broke the silence feeling uneasy. Before he had a chance to reply she stood up and gathered the trays. Shirosaki followed her lead walking closely behind her, she returned the dirty dishes and quickly made her way out of the dining hall. Once they were clear of the area Inoue slowed her pace so that she could walk beside Shirosaki, she looked at him. He was staring off somewhere, boredom evident in his eyes. If Inoue had known Shirosaki as well as Ichigo, she might have better avoided going outside all together.
Every place they visited that afternoon Shirosaki was sure to find some reason to get into trouble. They passed by one of the training rooms, the entire south wall had to be re-made. They were about to lift the frame of the wall when the pair walked by, Inoue quickly offering to help. Shirosaki was able to handle his end with no diffuculty, but while they were hoisting up the frame he gave some slack, pulling hard only when the shinigami yelled down to level it out. His amazing strenth pulsed through the wood and the other struggling workers lost their grip on the ropes. The frame tumbled to the ground, breaking apart into smaller pieces. No one blamed Shirosaki, but Inoue knew. She bowed in apology where none was needed and the two left to find another adventure.
The after noon passed in the same manner. They found some work to do, but before long some accident would occur, Inoue always bowing in apology. Finally after the fourth mishap Inoue took Shirosaki aside.
"Is there anything wrong Shirosaki-kun?" her grey eyes searching his amber ones.
"No, nothing wrong" he smiled.
"Maybe we should just stay away from trying to help" she sighed thinking about what they could do. She wanted to visit the fourth compound, but that was out of the question. Perhaps the next best choice would be to visit the personal quarters of the tenth squad, specifically Rangiku who was recovering from her injuries in her room. Inoue thought that would be a great idea since the two of them connected while in Karakura town.
"You'll have to wait outside" she told Shirosaki when they arrived at Rangiku's suite. He nodded his head and leaned agains the wall outside her window, while Inoue went inside to visit. He idly listened to their conversation through the open window. The two girls babbled on about different things, Shirosaki cared not to know, but was more amused by his thoughts of them together. He remembered how that foxy big chested girl looked like, paired, for a lack of a better term with Orihime's fine figure. He swore his pants felt tight. It wasn't a particulary hot day, but his skin boiled listening to the two girls chatter. Shirosaki suddenly felt sorry for Ichigo, but admired his strong soul to resist such primal urges.
If it had not been for the chilly wake of the tenth squad taicho passing nearby, Shirosaki might have bust through the open window and had his mad way with them.
The beast.