Chapter 02

Bitter Aftertaste

Now—

"Hey Ichigo…" Ikkaku whispered to the Strawberry. "Did you have to be cruel to Zaraki-Taichou?"

Brown hues looked over to see the tall man standing as he ate his meal; obviously because he was not capable of sitting around. Almost everyone knew that Kenpachi went to pester Ichigo last night to try showing him who was boss, but Ichigo won the dominance. For many people, it was about strength… whoever was stronger would be able to take control, whereas it was about trust in other times.

"He wouldn't leave me alone, I had no choice." He growled quietly on the bench. It was six in the morning, so he was not too thrilled to be talking right now. "It was that or a fight, and he was getting on my last nerve so I gave him what he wanted." With that, he finished his meal and left the dining hall.

It was tiring when people would talk about his sexual business; Ikkaku knew the limits of pestering him, it was not a surprise that he would test them. He went back to the kitchen and was about to grab some food for his two roommates, but figured they should have something better. Ichigo left the lodge, and vanished to the nearest store a couple dozen miles back in order to grab some fresh food. As he was about to leave, he saw some wrapped watermelon slices, and remembered that Toushirou loved it. Last night, the captain decided that he wanted to stay in the room with the rowdy two, making Ichigo happy.

Not even five minutes later, he returned to the cabin, setting the food on the dresser before taking his shoes off and lying down on the couch. The scent of the food instantly woke up the redhead, who sat up and looked at the time… it was too early to get up, but the food smelt good. Renji looked at the carrot top that lied down, and so he decided to get up to amuse him enough to be in a better mood. What he did not know was that the smell of the food had also awakened the captain up as well, but he had decided to watch the two interact first.

"How was your night with Zaraki-Taichou?" Renji heard him growl. "He had to learn the hard way, didn't he? The more one fights you, the more aggressive you get." In a blink of an eye, Ichigo threw him on the bed, causing him to grunt. "What happened yesterday between you and Hitsugaya-Taichou? You have never backed down or submitted to anyone before. It startled a lot of us." He leaned up to kiss him.

"His opinion matters to me, that's all there is to it." Ichigo whispered softly. "But… the words he said…"

"He wanted you to disappear, didn't he?" The carrot top hummed softly. "That's not fair to you Ichigo."
"Tou—" he bit his tongue. "He was merely expressing his dislike towards me. I can't blame him for that."
" How can anyone hate you? You put your life on the line for us. Why not take him while he's asleep—"
"I will not touch him, and neither will you, if you value your limbs, and my words." Ichigo glared at him.
His eyes watched him carefully. "…you're protecting him." There was no answer. "Who's after him?"
"No one is after him. I merely do not intend to take advantage of him. Now get off before I'm angry."

"Hell no, you're at breaking point. All I have to do is push you a little more and you'll be as rough me as I like it. It looks like all I have to do is talk trash about Hitsugaya-Taichou right now—" His throat was slowly grabbed, but the pressure firmly squeezing the life out of him. "I—chi—g-go—"

"Renji, you know better than almost anyone that you don't attack the people I protect, even if you're one of them." His eyes hazed over with a gold hue. "Because that is what gets people killed, right?" The redhead nodded slowly, allowing Ichigo to decide to release him. "Watermelon is for him, the rest is yours. I'm going to take a shower. Be gone by the time I'm out." With that, he headed to the bathroom.

"Ichigo," Renji asked quietly, causing him to halt. "I know why you sleep with anyone that asks, but I know Hitsugaya-Taichou isn't the type to ask such a thing. Is it possible that he's your target—that you want to protect him in order to sleep with him too? Or is this to get in Hinamori-Fukutaichou's pants?"

Toushirou tensed at this, waiting for an answer.

"I have no intention of sleeping with either of them."

X—

After waiting twenty minutes for Renji to get dressed and eat before leaving, Toushirou finally managed to get up and get dressed as well. The sound of the water being turned off meant that he had a few minutes left to grab a slice of watermelon and run out the door. Or… so he thought until Ichigo opened the door with a towel around his waist as he used a second one to dry his hair. Toushirou swallowed nervously due to not wanting to be anywhere near this male that had been causing him so much grief.

Ichigo saw him, and quickly looked away. "Would you like me to wait in the bathroom?"

The captain debated on his answer. Although he wanted to say yes, he said the opposite. "No, I need to use the restroom soon." He grabbed a slice as Ichigo walked passed him to get dressed. "About—"
"About earlier. I know you were awake. I'm sorry if us talking had upset you. And I lied slightly about not touching you in your sleep." He saw Toushirou tense up at this. "You were having a bad dream , sorry."
"What did you do to me Kurosaki." His hand set the watermelon down. Steam flowing through his nose and ears. "If you touched me inappropriately Kurosaki, I swear that I will kill you right here and now!"

"You were upset. I woke up to your tossing and turning, your whimpers and cries. The last thing I thought you would want is to wake Renji or everyone else as you got louder." Ichigo sighed softly as he finished getting dressed. "I sat on the bed, leaning against the headboard. Deciding whether I should wake you or not. In the end, I decided to sit at your side and talk you down." His gaze lowered. "Even though you calmed down and started to sleep soundly, you threw me down and used me as a pillow."

"I would never do that." Toushirou looked away defiantly.
"Of course not, my mistake." Ichigo lied down on the couch.
He glared for the moment, then asked. "Am I not good enough for you, Kurosaki?"
"Huh?" The Strawberry sat up quickly, looking at him in bewilderment for this.
"You've slept with almost everyone that's here. You have no intentions towards sleeping with me."
"I figured it obvious because you want nothing to do with me. Why would you suddenly care, huh?"
He did not care, at least this is what he thought. "I'm sorry for what I said to you!"
"About what?" Ichigo played the part of an idiot. "About sleeping together?"

"No! I'm sorry that I said I wish you didn't exist! I was frustrated! I'm honestly glad that you exist, or else I would have killed Hinamori—I probably would have been killed, the entire world would be under Aizen's command if you did not exist!" Toushirou fell to his knees; the nightmares from the night was eating him alive. "I know that I should be grateful to you as everyone else is, but I have a title that I must keep. I have a reputation that can't be faltered! You understand nothing that I've gone through to get—"

Ichigo carefully grabbed the captain's wrists, and pulled him over for a hug before he began to cause damage to himself by hyperventilating. As much as the smaller one began to thrash in his hold, the Strawberry shushed him as he rocked back and fro—telling him that it was him. For two long minutes of trying to fight against the grasp that was not going to let go, Toushirou became exhausted, and leaned into the hold. When he settled down, the hug became softer in one arm as the other came up to caress the captain's head. Toushirou head was hurting from exerting himself, but all the rocking and soft hushing to calm him down had made him sleepy.

"Are you okay now, Toushirou?" Ichigo whispered softly. The other nodded weakly. "Right now, it's just you in the cabin, there's no one else that matters. You're safe, Hinamori's safe, and so is everyone else. That's all that should matter, right?" Again, the captain nodded. "Can you look at me?" This time, his head shook; not wanting to face him after having a meltdown. "That's okay." He continued. "I don't care about your title. You could be Soutaichou, Taichou, Fukutaichou—you could be a wandering soul for all I care. Toushirou is Toushirou, and he is someone I rely on because he is my friend." Finally, the little one looked up at him, and he said it more clearly for him. "I rely on you, because you, are my friend."

Toushirou sighed quietly at the nuisance. "You're an idiot."

"Do you think you can tell me why it bothers you so much when I call you casually now?" To his surprise, the captain buried his face into his chest to hide his facial expressions as he wrapped his arms around him. Perhaps these actions were subconscious. "Does it bother you, because you don't mind it?" There was no answer of any sort. Ichigo smiled softly. "I think you should rest for a little longer, you're tired."

"O…t…you…s…me…" He muttered into Ichigo's body; making it hard to understand.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Carefully, he pulled him off. "What did you say?"
"Of course I'm tired. You nearly suffocated me." Toushirou looked like he was going to pass out.
"I didn't want you to have a panic attack and draw attention to yourself." He rustled his hair gently.
Lazily, he tried to swat the hand away. "Now tell me the truth… why you have no intentions to sleep—"
"I have no intentions of sleeping with you, without permission, because I respect you too much."
Toushirou wanted to call him a liar, but he was fighting to stay awake. "You don't want me…"
"I can be the judge of that." He smiled, only to tense when Toushirou wrapped his arms around him.
"No… you really don't want me… I'm not good enough… for someone… like you." His leaned in.
"What makes you think it's not the other way around? I'm not good enough for Hitsugaya-Taichou."

Said captain blushed at this, "bastard." He looked him in the eyes. "I'm dirtier… than you…"
"Then you should go take a bath." Ichigo unfortunately knew what he had meant about this.
"No… not that… I…" tired, mind clouded from exhaustion, he leaned up to kiss the Strawberry.
Holding back, Ichigo shifted away from the kiss, and held onto the small form. "It's okay, Toushirou."

"Six… years ago…" Toushirou's head slumped against the taller man's chest. "I… was…"

"I know," Ichigo closed his eyes. "Get some sleep." Before he knew it, the captain fell asleep.

"Kurosaki-kun! I thought you were going to learn to ski with me!" Momo whined at him.
"I am, I'm watching Toushirou teach you!" The carrot top grinned at her. "You're doing good!"
"Really—oof!" Silly girl. She tried to turn and look at him, ending up falling over because of her skis.
Ichigo chuckled at this while Toushirou helped her up. "You should focus more on what Sensei says."
"Hey Ichigo!" Rangiku called out in a drunken cheerful manner before launching herself at him.

"H-Hey, you're drunk! Get off me!" He tried to wriggle away from her.

"I want some action, and you're the only one big enough to fit the bill." The drunk purred, trying to get into his pants. "With Hinamori and Taichou here, you'll get aroused faster, too." Just as she unbuckled his pants, her hands were firmly grabbed before forcing her to change positions. "You're so kinky!"

Ichigo growled at her lowly before bellowing. "Inoue! Rukia!" The two that were called over, came quick. "Get this woman off me before I lose my temper!" He roared, trying to get her off his body fast before he did something that he would regret. "Damn woman—if you don't let go of me this instant, I'll tell him where you stash everything!" Eventually, the woman flung herself off him before he would do that.

"Ya so mean! Then I'm gonna tell him that you got somethin' on him!"

In a blink of an eye, Ichigo stood up to take the threat as a challenge, causing the three girls to take a step back in worry. Before he could do anything about it, Renji tackled him into the snow, holding him down as he told the three girls to leave. This immediately earned him a fist in the face for daring to interrupt them, but to Momo and Toushirou's surprise, Renji was begging for more. Even though he was punched in the face, the redhead came back to the angered Strawberry, with his arms around his waist.

"She's drunk, Ichigo—let her off the hook this once! Please!" The last thing they needed was a fight on vacation. "Rangiku-san doesn't know what she's talking about anyway!" His grip tightened around him.

The three women were out of sight, causing him to growl lowly until he began to realize that Momo and Toushirou were staring at him in shock—in horror, almost. Hearing the growl meant that he gave into the plea, so Renji released his waist to wrap his arms around his neck instead; kissing him gratefully. It was not returned as Ichigo kept his eyes focused on the snow on the ground with the desire to attack anything that moved in his sight. Unfortunately, Toushirou was the one that shifted his footing, receiving the sharp stare of the alert man, but was not attacked.

"Get off…" He demanded. Renji slowly obeyed. "You're going to wish that you didn't do that, Renji." The carrot top got up slowly, brushing the snow off himself. "Toushirou," he called. "How about you keep teaching Hinamori how to ski for another hour, then go to the cafeteria to have lunch?" Very settle…

Toushirou blushed, knowing that it was Ichigo's way of telling him that they were about to get into a little bit more than just some mischief back at the cabins. This Strawberry had a lot of stamina; he had obviously show Kenpachi who was boss just last night, and now he was ready for more action? Or was it worse that the man was actually telling him that he was going to go to the cabin with the redhead for their activity. No… what was worse was that Momo thought that the two males were going to go on some sort of walk—thank the Gods that she was a little dense.

Once the two were out of sight at the cabin, everyone near the cabin head the agonizing cry by Renji.

Having given them three hours to get it out of their system, he entered the room to see a half-naked Strawberry staring outside the open window. Closing the door that locked automatically, he came in with caution before looking over at Renji who was unconscious under the covers. It looked as if he was naked under the bed sheets, but he did his best not to think of such a thing, so he looked over at Ichigo.

"Thank you for giving us the extra time, Toushirou." The carrot top called quietly. "Sorry to do that."
"Did you hurt… Abarai?" There was silence. "Did you hurt Zaraki last night?" The other looked at him.
Slightly hurt brown hues turned to him. "Are you afraid of me, depending on my answer to you?"
"Why would your answer affect me? It was merely a question, I apologize for asking—"

"Renji, he likes it rough. It's his fetish. Kenpachi was fighting me, so I fought back." Ichigo turned around to face him fully. "That's what they want from me, I've accept it. You saw this morning, I can be gentle, too, remember?" He brought a hand up to the captain's face that quietly shrank away at this. "It's okay."

"Why are you trying to treat me like a child?"

"I'm not," his hands came to the captain's shoulders. "We both know you're more adult-like than I am, or ever will be, probably." He almost laughed. "You don't have to trust me, I'm fine with that. Just know that I'm on your side." Patting his shoulders softly before heading over to the couch to lie down—

"What information do you have on me." He watched Ichigo freeze at this, his eyes were even shot wide. "So Matsumoto wasn't bluffing on booze?" His arms crossed now. "What is it? What's the information?"
"Toushirou… please… I'm begging you to not go there." Ichigo looked outside to see that a storm was now starting to brew. "Forget that anything happened earlier, nothing ever happened, okay?"
"Why are you the one afraid when it's information about me? Do you think there's something about me that I don't know?" He glared at him for the moment. "Or that you know something about me that y—"

"Toushirou—please!"

"What are you yelling about?" Renji slowly sat up tiredly. "Oh… the virgin is in here—"
"Renji, shut your mouth!" The carrot top yelled, not even looking at the little captain.
"What? He's a virgin ain't he?" He sat up. "Well… he was a little friendly with Ai—"

Before the two realized what happened, Ichigo vanished for a split second, and punched the redhead in the face, knocking him unconscious to the ground. Toushirou's eyes were widened in fear at what the lieutenant had started to say, and how Ichigo had kept trying to shut him up before he could. He slowly began to feel sick to his stomach… making him cautiously hold his head and gut before falling backward against the couch that Ichigo wanted to rest on seconds ago. It was becoming clear to him, being the child prodigy that he was, and he felt as if he were going to puke his lunch and pass out.

"You know…" He whispered. "My God… you know everything, don't you!"

Ichigo's eyes were shut tightly to fight answering him.

"Answer me Kurosaki!"

Instead of answering the upset captain, he walked around beds to go to the window, closing it so the storm would not come in. It was obvious that the little captain was staring a hole through his head in order to receive an answer from the one fighting the question. Toushirou snapped through his fear and attacked Ichigo by punching him in the abs, which did little to nothing because he was in a gigai while his reiatsu was limited. Nevertheless, he kept punching at him with no retaliation for the longest time—as if accepting the punishment of not giving an answer. When Ichigo started to become tired of this, he caught the next fist that was about to hit him, and forced him to look him in the eyes.

"I'm sorry… I didn't know how to tell you."

"So you're finally going to admit that you knew? You knew about it you bastard!"

There was a long pause between the two, but he knew that he had to tell him the truth, now. "Yes."

Turquoise liquid pools widened in horror; he was given an answer as he had been fighting for, but he had been hoping that it was all in his head. Kurosaki Ichigo knew what happened to him, he knew what went down in Soul Society between him and another character—another man no less. The thought and horror of it all was running back into his mind, and before the small captain knew it, Ichigo was kneeling on the ground in front of him. It was a motion to tell him that they were equals; that the Strawberry did not look down on him upon the incident that happened years ago.

Toushirou felt sick even more, now that it was confirmed.

He ran off to the bathroom to vomit the meal that he had recently with Momo. It was a waste of good food, but that was the last thing on his mind right now. His attention went to the mirror of the medicine cabinet to see that the carrot top was leaning against the doorframe of the washroom. There was a soft shameful look on his face, it reeked of guilt and possible pity, but it only made him feel sicker. The energy used to puke was taking its toll on him after the shock, causing him to collapse in front of the toilet, his chin leaning on the seat without thought.

"How long…" Toushirou groaned groggily. "How long… have you known…"

"Since I went to the real Karakura Town to face Aizen, so, five years…"

IMPORTANT: Okay, so you can't really expect me to update any time soon. I am moving in 20 days, 1300 miles (2093 kilometers) away from where I'm currently living. It'll be a while for me to get back on my game!