Three

Much like suffocating

Ichigo, Karen, and Yuzu were eating dinner in silence when the front door jumped open. Ichigo was surprised, at the very least, to see the haggard form of his father taking off his wet coat and hanging it on the rack with the others. Yuzu and Karin had similar looks of their faces, and Yuzu squeaked before grabbing a plate of curry and putting in in front of the only open spot at the table.

Isshin Kurosaki was a terrifying man and a horrible excuse of a father. If anything, Yuzu had been the one taking care of the whole family. Ichigo worked part-time at an art studio down the road, and that paid for most of the food and supplies the kids needed, but the quieter twin cleaned, cooked, and kept everyone in line while their father was out on his excursions.

The orange headed teenager cleared his throat as the awkward tension filled the room. They were all waiting to see if the worn looking older man would actually sit and try to converse with his children, but as the dark haired man turned for his room he knew his father didn't have any plans to associate with them tonight.

Ichigo let out a breath as his dad disappeared into his room. Yuzu looked heart-broken, and Karin looked pissed. Everyone attempted to eat some more, but after finding they lost their appetites, they dumped their plates and wrapped the leftovers for tomorrow.

"Come on Yuz, don't make that face." Ichigo pinched her cheeks and pulled them up to make her lips twist into a smile. A real laugh bubbled up and Ichigo smiled as it lit up the depressed room.

"Alright brother. What do you want to do?" it was a question with two messages.

What do we do about dad and I'm bored, what do you want to do?

"We do nothing. There isn't much we can do." Karin shrugged. "It's late, Yuzu. We should get ready for bed."

Yuzu quickly noted the time, and agreed with her sister. Before leaving the room she put on a stern face and told Ichigo that he better make it to school tomorrow. He smiled and told her that he wouldn't be sleeping through his alarm for two days in a row.

As soon as the girls we out of view Ichigo doubled over and hissed out in pain.

Ichigo's body felt like he had gotten ran over by a large truck, and then hit again. Maybe a third time. He shoveled some pills down his throat and closed his eyes in a wince as his migraine fought back full force. He had waited for almost two and a half hours for those pills. Not wanting his sisters to know about the pain he was in, he withstood the unbearable pulsing from multiple places on his body and put on a smile until they ran out of sight.

"Shit." he grasped at his head and pulled his hair to distract himself from the pain. Turning off the light and then gently sitting on the couch, Ichigo took some pleasure in the fact that the dark light eased the pain a bit. Biting his lip, the orange head rode out the pain as best he could.

Starrk watched sadly as Ichigo underwent another fit of migraine pains. If only he could get closer to him and tell him the way to relieve the pain, but unfortunate circumstances kept him at the same distance he had been at for years. Since he had went into the coma, Starrk had been watching over his love. Not only did his body ache for Ichigo, but his heart as well.

Ichigo's scent wafted through the wall, and Starrk licked his lips as the smell hit him. Sunshine, happiness, love, mate. It was beautiful. He wanted more of it, hell, all of it. Claiming Ichigo had been his goal for years. The supernatural beings had to undergo the tiring trials of finding their other half, their soul mate. Most searched their whole lives without finding their fated mate, and died unhappy and alone. Starrk was one of the lucky ones.

Starrk had been fated to the fiery young man since they had met on the boat all those years ago. Masaki had known they were the perfect fit, and as soon as Starrk got in the vicinity of Ichigo, his body had screamed at him to do something. Ichigo's mother had been arranging marriage propositions with his father before they had gotten attacked. Now Masaki was dead, and Ichigo's didn't even know who he was. Isshin...

Starrk snorted; a very un-vampire like thing to do. Isshin on the other hand hated him like nothing else. It was expected, however, and the feeling was mutual between them. That was another obstacle keeping him from Ichigo, even though the younger orangette held no love for his father. He didn't feel like stealing away the puppy of an angry wolf. Starrk bit his lip, but not hard enough to draw blood. He was growing impatient.

Starrk jumped as his cellphone vibrated in his pocket. Without taking his eyes off the beautiful berry on the couch, he pressed the cold case of his Iphone to his ear.

"Starrk." he answered in his usual tone. He tried to be as quiet as possible, but when Ichigo's ears perked up trying to detect the sound, Starrk figured he needed to get out of range to finish the call. Without making any sudden movements the dark vampire descended down the tall oak and melted into the shadows without blinking.

"Visitin' the berry are ya?"

"Why the hell are you calling me, Shirosaki?" Starrk started walking towards his house now, knowing this was going to be a interesting call. He glanced back at Ichigo's house on more time while Shiro cackled over the phone.

"I figured you were. That, however, is not the reason I called."

Grabbing his pack of cigarettes out of his pant's pocket, Starrk sighed in relief as the nicotine flooded his system. Smoke bellowed out his mouth as the annoying voice of his friend echoed over the phone.

"Do tell, then, what caused me to sit through another session of your voice? I'm afraid I've heard quite enough for one day." he glanced over as a group of intoxicated teenagers stumbled on the opposite sidewalk loudly. One of the scantily dressed girls fell onto an expensive looking car by accident, and, just because his luck was like that, the cars started to blare it's warning signal loudly.

"Sure seems lively where you are. Well, anyways, it seems like daddy wolf found our hideout today."

"You've got to be shitting me." angrily dragging his hands through his hair, Starrk groaned in annoyance. They had been trying to stay away from their enemies for as long as possible. Seems like the alpha had become wise, though, and found the hiding hold they had been housing themselves in.

"Tha's what I said."

"What's Aizen doing about this?"

Shiro laughed. "He's waiting for his Prima, of course. I suggest you flash here before he starts draining the human population. He's pissed."

"Be there in a second." he ended the call quickly and stuffed it back into it's home in his back pocket. The air around Starrk clenched as he drew forth his power, calling it forward while clenching his fists. A clear picture of the throne room took over his mind.

Every vampire was given one talent at birth. Starrk had been born with the helpful ability to transport from any location to another within seconds. His friend, Shiro, could mold into the shadows. Of coarse some talents were repeated, but it was really rare to meet someone who had the same talent as you.

Starrk shook his head to clear it. Again he pictured the throne room.

"Teleport." with that command whispered the air began to shimmer once again, this time more violently. Starrk was sucked through the vortex, and as he traveled through the shimmering space, Starrk cussed his luck once again. Life sure is a bitch.

He was dying, Ichigo was sure of it. Sometime during a peak in his pain, Isshin Kurosaki had vacated his room and was now sitting on the chair adjacent to the couch Ichigo was immobile on. His father was out here, sitting with him while he underwent the pain? It seemed too crazy to be real. Maybe he was hallucinating. The older man seemed to be in deep thought, his forehead drawn in on itself causing deep lines to form. Ichigo snorted. His dad looked really old when he did that.

It was uncomfortable, being stared at like that. Ichigo wanted his dad to go crawl back into his room or something. The air shifted as the older man ran his hand through his messy brown hair. Ichigo turned his head away from his dad, an act he did a lot, and prepared himself for whatever degrading speech his father had for him this time.

"Is there anything I can do?" his gruff voice was almost unfamiliar to Ichigo.

The orangette shook his head, which only caused his head to hurt worse. Stupid move, Ichigo.

"I have someone I want you to meet tomorrow. After you get out of school, will you come with me?"

What? What the hell?

"Oh, uh who is it?" curiously Ichigo looked over at his father. Isshin glanced away, not meeting Ichigo's piercing gaze.

"I can't tell you. You'll see tomorrow."

"O-okay?" his father nodded at him once before heading back upstairs in a blur. Something seemed shifty about this person he was apparently meeting up with now. That was the first time Ichigo had held a conversation of any sort with his father in months, and it was over meeting someone? Yeah, something was up. He was sure of it.

The next morning was good. Ichigo had awoken with the migraine dissipated, and feeling almost at 100%. School had been good. All of his friends had asked where he had been, and Ichigo gave the excuse that he slept in. It was lame, he knew, but that was all he remembered.

His father was waiting outside when he got home, keys in hand.

"Drop your stuff off and get in."

Ichigo did what he was told, all the while staying silent. He needed to observe, needed to see what underlying message he wasn't getting. Nothing came up.

After thirty minutes of driving the scenery of trees and greenery was almost tiring to look at. Every bush looked the same, and every tree blurred in his vision. He was tired, dammit.

Ichigo was just about to ask if they were almost there when the car stopped moving. They had pulled over on the side of the road behind a pretty thick throng of pine trees, that way they'd be hidden from view of traffic.

"Where are we going?" despite his manliness, Ichigo couldn't help but start to feel worried. He didn't like being out here in the middle of the woods like this. No civilization for miles.

"Just wait." farther and farther into the woods they went, until Ichigo was almost doubled over with exhaustion. He dad seemed to be fine though, not out of breath or anything like that.

Finally they stopped moving. Ichigo took to leaning against a nearby tree while catching his breath. The older, more in shape man whistled loudly, causing a few resting birds to fly off in surprise. Ichigo was on high alert. Nothing happened.

"Ah, there you are." his dad's voice surprised him, though he couldn't figure out why. Next to his dad was a tall, totally ripped man with vibrant teal blue hair. He was wearing a pair of jeans that were dipping dangerously low on his hips, but the line of his underwear wasn't visible. Commando? The thought made the teenager blush thirteen shade of red.

"Ichigo, this is Grimmjow, and Grimmjow, this is my oldest son Ichigo Kurosaki."

Ichigo reached out to shake hands with the larger, and very attractive man. He had a strong grip with lots of authority. Must be someone important, Ichigo thought to himself as he released the hand.

"Alright, let's head somewhere more comfortable to chat. Your place, Grimmjow-san?" his father asked in a light and cheerful tone. Ichigo hadn't heard his dad sound so happy, so hopeful. He could only imagine what his role in this play would be, and all the roles he made up didn't make the situation any better. He followed his dad and the other man name Grimmjow back farther into the forest, until they found a nice cabin peak over the hill.

Now it was time for that 'talk'.

This would be longer, but I just wanted to get it out already.