Ichigo set down his book bag, humming softly to himself as he turned on the computer.
It hadn't really been a date, between him and Takashi. Yet, it almost felt that way. They hadn't spent a long time on strategy besides deciding that the next move would be to go to Tokyo. Ichigo was hoping that Kisuke or perhaps one of the soul reapers could put him up there. Did Byakuya have any properties in Tokyo? He didn't really want to beg a favour of the stiff noble, but he couldn't afford a hotel.
His thoughts went back to Takashi and the teenager smiled to himself. He was good company and Yuki was adorable. It helped that Takashi was easy on the eyes. He had a nice face, a bit on the thin side but quite attractive. When he smiled, his teeth were slightly crooked. He wore his hair in a short, spiky hairstyle, with long bangs that went over his forehead, left to right. The pointed tips just went over the edge of his shades. Overall, it was a nice look. Nothing amazingly gorgeous, but nice.
Ichigo liked the way Takashi talked about his past. Factually, without any attempt to justify or defend himself. It was a simple, 'this is what happened. I'm not that person anymore.' Ichigo could respect that, although he knew it was probably crazy to think about getting involved with a recovering addict. He'd seen all the damage drugs could do.
"Ichigo!" Ichigo blinked as he turned around in his chair, realizing that Karin had said his name several times. "I'm guessing your date went pretty good, huh?"
"Karin! It wasn't a date." Ichigo said sharply. "I was meeting a guy." He said defensively and Karin just gave him a look.
"You wouldn't date a girl, Ichi-nii." She said and Ichigo scowled at her. Karin seemed dead certain he was gay. Ichigo was pretty sure she was right, but he wasn't going to admit it, not yet anyway. "So how did it go? What did you guys do?" Ichigo considered just telling her it wasn't her business, but that would just spark her curiosity. And it wasn't like they'd done anything interesting.
"He cooked us dinner, introduced me to his niece and we talked." Ichigo said and Karin looked slightly disappointed. "The food was good." The food had been very good, in fact. There had been a desert too, a kiwi granita that Takashi claimed to have made himself. Ichigo believed him, it wasn't something you could buy at the grocery store. It had been very cool and refreshing. "He's training to be a chef, and it shows."
"Oh yeah? What's his name? Tell me more!" Karin went and sat on his bed and Ichigo sighed to himself. Karin would pester him forever if he didn't give her what she wanted.
"His name is Takashi. He's a recovering drug addict." That made Karin blink. "He's really pulling his life together, Karin. He's working as a dishwasher at his sister's restaurant, and she's going to make him a line cook if he keeps it up." Ichigo thought that would be sooner rather than later. The pasta had been excellent. "He made us some crab and cheese stuffed ravioli, scalloped potatoes and baked vegetables." The potatoes and vegetables had just been basic home cooking, it was the rest of it that really made the meal. "With a kiwi granita for dessert."
"What's a granita?" Karin asked and Ichigo did his best to describe the ice slush. It wasn't the sort of thing they normally had. "So like an ice cone with fruit?"
"Yeah, pretty much. He poured a bit of limoncello over it before he served it." Just a tiny bit to add a hint of zing. "He left that off Yuki's, of course." There was no way Takashi would serve hard liquor to a baby, even if it was just a capful. Karin grinned.
"Yeah, I daresay! He sounds like a cool guy, if he's really off the drugs." She said and Ichigo nodded. That was always a concern, when someone had a past like Takashi's. "What's he look like?"
"Hmm? Well, he's very well built." Ichigo flushed a bit as he thought about that. Takashi had worn a t-shirt, and he'd been able to see his arm muscles easily. The rest of him seemed to match. "He must work out a bit. He has very pale skin and sandy hair, although he said he dyes it. Apparently, it's gone white. He has an eye condition and always wears wrap around sunglasses." Takashi had joked that he was like Geordi in Star Trek. Ichigo was a bit curious about what his eyes looked like, but he wasn't going to push it. Then Ichigo suddenly frowned. White hair, an eye condition… that almost sounded like…?
But no, that was ridiculous. Takashi was nothing like his inner hollow. The thought of his hollow caring for Yuki like that was just laughable. Ichigo knew that his inner hollow was the sum of his instincts, and it didn't occur to him that that might include mating and child rearing.
"Ichigooooo!" Ichigo winced at the sound of his father getting home. But he was also glad he was there. He really needed to have a serious talk with the old man. "Where are yoooooou?"
"In my room!" He called down, then got up from his computer chair. "I'm coming down!" He knew what would happen when he did, and his father did not disappoint him. He easily ducked the foot and punched Isshin neatly in the face, knocking him down. "Idiot. You know that never works." And he was getting quite tired of it. His father jumped back up with a wide grin.
"It's my duty as a father to keep you on your toes, Ichigo!" Ichigo just grunted, wishing he didn't have to have this conversation. But his father could be serious when the situation called for it.
"Can we talk privately, dad?" He said, even though he knew it would annoy Karin. Yuzu was more laid back.
"About your date last night?" His father said and Ichigo winced as an arm went around his shoulders. "Of course, you can tell your daddy all about it!" There was a snigger from Karin and Ichigo growled.
"It's not like that! Oh, come on." He grabbed Isshin's arm and dragged him upstairs to his room. That was about as private as he could manage. "Dad, I need to go to Tokyo."
"What?" Isshin was immediately puzzled. "But that nice young man you met is here." Ichigo took a deep breath and began explaining the whole situation. Isshin's silly grin quickly faded and was replaced with a dark scowl. "Why would someone want you dead?"
"I don't know. I have plenty of enemies in Soul Society, but I can't think of anyone in the human world except whoever survived from Xcution." Then the teen hesitated. "It could be them." The one who had bankrolled their activities, Yukio… Ichigo wouldn't put anything past him. "That might be a good place to start."
"Yes… but the boy who told you this, Takashi. Ichigo, do you trust him? This could be a trick." Isshin asked and Ichigo thought about it carefully. This actually had occurred to him. After Takashi had come to him with his bombshell, he'd asked Urahara and Yoruichi to check him out. Yoruichi, in particular, had had great success. A cat could slip into a restaurant, especially when the cooks thought she was adorable.
"I trust him, dad." He said firmly. "I had Kisuke check on him to make sure he was on the level. He seems to be exactly what he says, a recovering drug addict. Besides, you know him right?" He said and Isshin nodded slowly.
"Not well, but his family has been going to the clinic since he was a little boy." Isshin sighed then, looking down. "I almost wish he was lying. The thought of someone paying money to kill my boy… where will you stay in Tokyo?" He asked and Ichigo grimaced.
"I was wondering if you would have some ideas." He said and Isshin frowned, thinking. "I was also going to see if Urahara or anyone in Soul Society could help me out. Someone must have properties there, right?"
"Any of the noble families probably would." He said and Ichigo sighed to himself. Byakuya was probably the best choice, he was the one noble who really owed him something. "If they can't help you, I will pay for it Ichigo. Perhaps Yoruichi could go with you?" He said hopefully and Ichigo grimaced at the thought. He'd had enough of her in the pools. But she'd be much better at investigating than Takashi.
"I'll ask." Ichigo promised before reaching out and clasping his father's arm. "Thanks for helping, dad. What should we tell Karin and Yuzu?" He wasn't sure he wanted them to know about this. His father rubbed his chin for a moment.
"Mmm… that's a tough one…" He mused to himself for a moment. "We can tell them Takashi needs your help with his, ah, former associates. They'll believe that, you always protect your friends." Ichigo chewed his lip for a moment, thinking about it. Karin and Yuzu wouldn't be happy but it would still be better than the truth.
"Okay." He felt a bit guilty about blaming this on Takashi, but it was probably the best story they could come up with. And he just didn't want them to know the truth.
His sisters would worry enough as it was.
Elsewhere, someone else was taking a similar tact.
"I'm sorry to leave you in a lurch Tanis, but he really needs my help." Takashi really did feel bad about this. But Ichigo needed some backup in Tokyo and the other person he'd asked couldn't come. And the teen refused to endanger any of his other friends, since they wouldn't know anything more about the underworld than Takashi did. Less, in fact.
"But you just met him! Takashi, why are you doing this?" Tanis sounded close to tears and Takashi bit his lip. This was really hard. Yoshi was looking at him like he was upsetting her on purpose.
He'd already given them a highly edited explanation of the contract on Ichigo. Instead of telling them how he'd been called to a meeting, he said he'd been asking his dealers for ways to pay down his debts faster and one of them had mentioned a bit of murder for hire as a possibility. That little lie helped, because he didn't have to explain how he'd killed Sota and his thugs. Tanis and Yoshi wouldn't be able to handle those kinds of details, unlike Ichigo.
"I like him Tanis, and I've known Dr. Kurosaki since I was just a kid. It's just something I have to do, okay?" Takashi said, trying to think of how to explain it. "…He's important to me." He finished. For some reason, Ichigo seemed like the most important person in the world to him. Only Yuki might compare. Tanis sniffed and Yoshi looked at him with an expression of dawning understanding.
"I had no idea you were like that, Takashi." He said and Takashi blushed lightly as Tanis looked at her husband, confused.
"Like what?" She said blankly and Yoshi whispered something in her ear. Takashi caught it easily and winced.
"He's right, Tanis. I'm gay. But we're not lovers yet, it's just an attraction." He said hastily as Tanis looked a little horrified.
"Just make sure you use a condom! You haven't had your second STD test yet!" She said and Takashi blinked before bursting out laughing. For some reason, that was just the most hilarious thing in the world. "Well, you haven't!" She snapped, flustered, as his laughter trailed off into giggles.
"You're worried about me giving Kurosaki some horrible disease? I love you Tanis." He said with a grin before giving her a hug. She squeaked, surprised. "Thank you so much for everything you've done for me." He said softly and she hugged him back before letting go with a sniff.
"Just be careful. I haven't actually fired our other dishwasher, just cut his hours. I'll up them again and hopefully he'll show up." Her tone was sour and Takashi nodded sympathetically. The other kid was way too unreliable. "Be careful Takashi."
"I'll be careful Tanis." He assured her. She looked less than reassured, but nodded. Picking up his bag, Takashi left to go take the bus.
He would be meeting Ichigo at the train station, and from there they would take the bullet train to Tokyo.
"Fuck!" Ichigo heard the exclamation before he saw the sandy blonde hair. Grinning, he went to find his new friend. "You fucking cat! I know you like me but you can't come!" Ichigo blinked at that. Cat? "Why in hell did I feed you? I'm so stupid sometimes…"
"Takashi?" Ichigo came around the corner to see Takashi struggling with a black cat that had fixed itself quite firmly to his luggage. The struggle was doomed to failure, although the other teen couldn't know it. "Yoruichi!" Ichigo ran up and easily grabbed her off the luggage. "You said you couldn't come!"
"I wanted it to be a surprise." The cat said and Takashi's mouth dropped open. "I like your friend, you have great taste in men. And that tuna was fantastic." Yoruichi licked her whiskers as Takashi swayed on his feet.
"It talks…" He sounded disbelieving and Ichigo couldn't help but smile. Then he thought of something and frowned.
"You haven't brought any luggage. You don't have any clothes!" He said to the cat, who blinked at him innocently.
"Oh, I packed in some things into your bags." She licked her paw, cleaning herself off nonchalantly. "I did have to move a few things out but I'm sure you won't miss them." Ichigo grimaced at that. What had she taken out of his suitcase?
"Um, the train is in. I think we should catch it." Takashi said and Ichigo glanced over. The train was definitely in, and while it wouldn't be leaving for another ten minutes it did behoove them to get on board. "Will they allow a cat on board?" He asked and Yoruichi laughed before leaping onto his shoulder.
"Hide me in your shirt." She suggested and Ichigo choked a little at the thought of the perverted shinigami woman inside Takashi's shirt. The other teen obeyed immediately, though, not seeming to care. But then, he likely thought that Yoruichi was a man. The male voice of her cat form was very confusing. "Ah, you smell… interesting." There was a strange note to her voice but Ichigo just ignored it. It was probably something perverse anyway
"Let's get going. And thank you for coming, Yoruichi." Ichigo said, feeling extremely grateful. Their chances of success had just gone way up. There was a chuckle from the shirt.
"After everything you've done for us, we would never desert you Ichigo. Now hurry and get on the train." She urged and the two boys obeyed with alacrity. Storing their things they took their seats. Takashi pulled a plastic container out of his carry-on bag and Ichigo looked at it curiously.
"What's that?" He asked as Takashi opened it. It looked like seeds?
"Shelled pumpkin seeds, roasted with coconut oil, harvest spices and a bit of honey. Want some?" Ichigo smiled and took a bit. The honey had stuck some of the seeds together, forming a weak brittle. "It's really easy to make, I just toasted it in the oven."
"It tastes great." Ichigo said as he crunched on the food. It had been a long time since breakfast, and no food was served on the train.
"Thanks. So where are we staying?" Takashi asked, moving so he was facing the window as a train conductor came by. Fortunately, the suspicious bulge in his shirt was not detected. Ichigo smiled at that.
"Byakuya is letting us stay at a condo he has in Tokyo." Apparently it was a huge, luxurious condo too. Right in the centre of downtown, it was in a very prime location. Ichigo wasn't sure how helpful that would be to them, though. They needed the bad part of town. It would be near public transit, though. "It's probably really swanky, don't trash it." He wasn't sure if he was cautioning Takashi or Yoruichi. She did so love to get under Byakuya's skin. Sure enough, a little cat head popped out of Takashi's shirt.
"I can't hold a huge party? Tch, how sad. I think you can let me out now." She said and Takashi helped her out of his shirt. She found a spot on the floor beside Takashi's legs, fairly well concealed from the rest of the train. "That's better. Now, I admit to being terribly curious about you, young man. Tell me something about yourself." She said to Takashi who grimaced. Ichigo could sympathize, those kinds of questions could be very annoying. But then the pale skinned teenager suddenly grinned.
"I'll tell you about something that happened at the restaurant, how's that?" Takashi said before telling them a very colorful story about a woman who'd tried to scam the restaurant. It might have worked if Tanis hadn't been there, but as part owner she could be far more assertive than the people who worked for her. "You should have seen the look on her face! Her eyes bugged out like…" Takashi tried to do a bug eyed impression, forgetting his shades, and Ichigo laughed. "And then! Then I started laughing because it was just too funny! I have this really creepy laugh sometimes, let me see if I can do it…" Takashi suddenly cackled, a slightly raspy laugh that managed to sound incredibly perverted. "Like that!" Ichigo laughed even harder and Yoruichi was sniggering. "So then she FREAKED! She screamed something at me and threw a salt shaker at me! Then Tanis started calling the cops and she ran away." Takashi sounded rather sad at that conclusion. "She never paid her bill, either. The cops got her description though, maybe they'll catch her."
"I hope so, she sounds insane." Ichigo was highly entertained by the story. It seemed the restaurant business was not just serving people food. Takashi grimaced.
"Well, if you want my opinion, she was high on something. The other people in her group, they weren't exactly high class, y'know? Not that I have anything against jeans and t-shirts, but they should be clean. Oh well, it's not like we have a dress code." The restaurant was aiming for the 'fancy bistro' niche. A dress code would be too fancy for them. "Got any good stories from the clinic?"
"One, but it might be too gross." Ichigo said and Takashi laughed.
"Too gross for a former druggy? Come on, lay it on me." Ichigo laughed and started telling the story. Sure enough, it was quite gross, but not too much for Takashi. Yoruichi felt a bit differently.
"I really didn't need to hear about bathroom accidents." She complained and Takashi laughed. "Who cleaned it up?"
"Who do you think?" Ichigo sounded sour and the other teen and cat both winced. "Sometimes I hate being dad's kid. I did make him pay me extra for that, though."
"God, I'll say! That reminds me of the time we found this woman passed out in our washroom…" Takashi entertained them both with another story about the restaurant and Ichigo found that he was having a good time. The other teen was really very good company.
They finally arrived at Tokyo. Yoruichi took shelter in Takashi's shirt again, who pulled off the 'I have a really odd tumor' look with aplomb. Ichigo grinned a bit as he caught a few odd glances, but no one mentioned it as they exited the station. Then the other teen helped Yoruichi out and set her on his luggage. To both their surprise, the cat immediately jumped away.
"I'm going to do a bit of exploring while you two get settled at the condo." She said, her whiskers twitching. "I'll meet you there later." She said and Takashi looked a little taken aback.
"But it's a condo. How will you…?" Takashi trailed off as the cat bounded away and glanced at Ichigo. He just shrugged. How Yoruichi would get into the condo was her problem. "Oh well. Hey, are you hungry? There's a snack place right over there." It was a fast food joint, MOS burgers. Ichigo glanced over and nodded.
"I could do with one of their rice burgers." That was an interesting version of a hamburger. Instead of a normal bun, it was two rice patties with the beef in the middle. They both got rice burgers and Ichigo was just beginning to eat when he felt his shinigami badge go off. "Oh damn." He muttered. He didn't want to leave Kon in charge of his body with Takashi, but there wasn't much choice. Fishing out the mod soul – he'd taken him out of his plushy for the trip – he popped the candy in his mouth. Takashi dropped his rice burger, staring, but Ichigo was too caught up in his own concerns to notice. "Kon, this is Takashi, try not to freak him out too much. I'll be back in a moment."
"Sure thing." Kon said then grinned as he noticed the food. "Burgers!" He immediately bit down and Takashi found his voice.
"Hey, wait –" But Ichigo was already out the door. So he completely missed Takashi freaking out a bit on Kon.
He'd find out when he got back.
"What the fuck was that?!" Takashi demanded of the… person?... across from him. The other kid was looking at him wide eyed, the burger forgotten in his hand. "Who are you? You're not Ichigo!" He could tell that just by looking at him, although he didn't know how. The other just felt wrong. "Answer me!" His voice lowered to a growl as he leaned forward.
"Uh, I'm Kon, I'm a mod soul." Kon said, rather freaked out. The look on Takashi's face was threatening to say the least. "Ichigo just left me in charge of his body while he went to catch a hollow." That made Takashi frown.
"What for? Does he eat them?" He asked and Kon choked at the thought.
"Of course not! He's a shinigami." Kon hesitated as Takashi gave him a completely blank look. "You don't know what a shinigami is?"
"I… don't think so." Takashi said slowly. Although on some level, he thought he DID know. "They… hunt hollows… and send them to the afterlife?" That was what his instinctive knowledge was trying to tell him. Kon looked relieved.
"So you do know! Have you always been able to see ghosts?" He asked and Takashi frowned.
"Not until recently." Not until he'd eaten that pill, in fact. Until then he'd never believed in ghosts. Now he knew better. "Tell me about Ichigo. How long has he been a shinigami?"
"Well, it all started with Rukia…" Kon took a bite out of his burger before beginning to tell the story. It encompassed two whole years, so it took a while. Takashi got an odd feeling as he listened, a feeling that he knew this story. He even had a few flashes of images. Was Rukia a short girl with black hair and violet eyes? Did Renji have the most amazing hair and exotic tattoos? He almost asked but then held himself back. If he was right, that was just too weird.
Ichigo got back just as Kon was starting the part about Xcution. He stopped, taken aback, as he realized the two of them were looking right at him.
"Takashi? You can see me?" He said and the other teen just gave him a disgusted look before finishing off his rice burger.
"Yeah, I can, and you freaked me right the fuck out! I almost punched out your friend here." He said and Kon laughed before polishing off his rice burger. "Warn me next time!"
"Uh, sorry." Ichigo quickly took his body back, putting Kon's pill away. "Why didn't you tell me you were spiritually aware?" All this time he hadn't had a single hint that Takashi could see ghosts. The other teen scowled.
"Yeah, that would have been a great idea. 'Oh hey Ichigo, I stopped doing drugs and now I see ghosts, do you see them too? No, really, I'm not taking drugs, honest!'" Takashi sighed as Ichigo snerked, almost choking on his drink. "You can see why I don't talk about it much."
"Yeah, sorry." Ichigo said with a smile as he absorbed the implications. This was actually… good. Very good. He wouldn't have to try to hide any of his supernatural abilities from Takashi now. And this also explained why he'd accepted Yoruichi so easily. Ichigo had noticed that the talking cat hadn't freaked him out for long.
"Well, it sounds like you have a shitload of enemies. And here you were acting like you didn't know why anyone would want you dead." Takashi said as he took a deep drink of his soda. Ichigo frowned. "I know they're in the afterlife, but they can come here, right? You can't rule any of them out." To Takashi, it seemed obvious. Ichigo looked skeptical though.
"But killing my human body would just make me a shinigami or maybe a hollow. Then they'd have to deal with me more directly." He pointed out and Takashi frowned. The other teen had a point.
"Unless they just want revenge." He said, glancing back at the counter. Strangely, he felt hungry, and the real food was actually doing something to appease him. "I dunno. I'm going to get another burger if that's okay." The feeling that the food was working was strange, but he wasn't going to question it. He wondered what Ichigo would think if he knew his friend had been eating hollows to survive.
It was probably better not to go there.