Chapter 03

Thrive to Live

Now—

"You have no right to complain about how I'm doing my job, I was protecting humans as well as Toushirou who was not in a position to defend himself at the moment. If I hadn't sent one of my followers while I was being held against my will by a human woman, someone would have been hurt." Ichigo glared furiously at the screen for having to deal with a midnight conversation with the Commanding-General who would not let him sleep tonight. "I don't have to abide by your damn rules, Jii-san, we have a mutual agreement that you are not going to change. With them at my side keeping everything in check is the safest for both this town and for your precious Soul Society. Keep in mind that I won't be happy if you try to betray me as you did with the others. I'm sure that they would love to know that you were planning to finish me off soon."

"Very well…" The elder replied. "Keep them on leash."

The transmission ended just in time as he began to pace around his room quickly in hopes of calming down soon or else Hollow would be appearing. His head was burning ridiculously when he realized it, causing him to leave his room to grab an icepack from the freezer to place on his head. This was slowly beginning to help him settle down, though he mumbled how nice it would be if the room dropped another twenty degrees—which it suddenly did. He turned to look at the captain who was not so pleased for some reason even though Ichigo knew that he was probably listening to the conversation. There was no way he would be able to avoid the questions that the small one had, making him embrace the awaited asking.

"Although, as I'm sure you're aware, I could hear a majority of the conversation. Toning it out doesn't seem to be easy when someone as serious as you is not happy about something." Toushirou started, entering the kitchen a little more to stand in front of the man. "For now, I will ignore the talk that you had so that I may ask you something that is more important to me. Whether you answer me or not is up to you though, but I would like your answer to be truthful and explained with full detail." He saw the man nod.

"I don't lie," the man whispered softly. "There's no reason for it—I may hold back in detail, but I don't lie."

It was good enough for him, and he asked calmly. "Exactly what is your relationship with Hinamori?" This earned him a small glance. "The woman you had me remove the memories of claimed that she's precious to you. I would like to know whether or not that this is true." There was a soft pause as he continued. "I know that you would not risk hurting either Hinamori or myself, but if you plan to get yourself involved with her…" his fists tightened as he remained semi-calm. "I won't let you break her heart or attempt to even—"

"Toushirou," Ichigo spoke gently, causing the other to look at him. "She is like your sister, but towards me, I suppose I would say I feel brotherly towards her for now." He lowered the icepack. "As her progress with my presence improves, our relationship will be taichou and fukutaichou. I won't get involved as you said."
"You say that, but how can I know for certain?" He eyed him suspiciously. "You might, in time, like her."
"Did I waver in the slightest with those women clinging to me?" The man sighed softly to keep himself calm and collected. "It's so I know that I would not be interested in a relationship with those who work for me." There was a pause. "Despite that I would almost do anything for her, I will protect her with my life."
"What do you mean by almost anything?" This did not slip passed him. "What wouldn't you do for her?"
"If Jii-san told me to kill you for her protection, I wouldn't be able to do that for her, and it would cause a very big problem." He smiled weakly as he set the icepack away. "Not that he would give that order—in fact, he would probably send you in order to kill me after graduation or something ridiculous like that…"
"Then I would have to decline to that order, you've done too much for me," his eyes shut at the thought.

"And you've done a lot for me too," he took a few steps toward him, raising a hand to gently rustle through the short white-haired strands of the captain's, and smiled lightly at him. "I never did properly thank you."

Toushirou looked up at him with slight concern when hearing his voice being gentle and serene after it was rough and demanding—controlling even. Once the man had quietly requested for the temperature to drop, the captain rose his reiatsu a little to oblige to his host's needs if it would calm him down. The last thing that he needed was to deal with Hollow and Menos during the middle of the night, but now he was surprisingly calm downed. Something about him was completely different than just a few hours ago; he knew all sides of this man, but he never met this side. He became a little unnerved about a large callused hand caressing through his hair, which had him bring his hands up to remove the large hand slowly.

"Ah, that's right, you don't like being touched." Ichigo whispered. "Anyway, Toushirou, thank you…"
He did not understand what this aura around this man was about. "There's no need to thank me."
"Are you kidding? You're the reason why I agreed to put up with Jii-san to be a taichou someday."
A brow rose confusedly with interest. "What are you talking about?" He did nothing for him like that.
Once the eerie silence was created, Ichigo began to walk away. "We shouldn't be talking about this."
"Not so fast," unfortunately for Ichigo, the captain still held his hand. "Shouldn't be talking about what?"

He stood there with his arm extended out due to the little man not releasing his hand with his two small pale ones. Brown confused hues turned to demanded turquoise hues, both just stared at each other as if to trying read each other's thoughts. The caring glint was slowly disappearing, being replaced with a look of worry—as if Ichigo were trying to hide something from him. His eyes closed to break the trance that he was in by looking at small captain, and looked away to regain all his thoughts that left him.

"Don't look at me like that," Ichigo muttered under his breath, "and please let go of my hand."

The captain blinked confusedly before realizing that he was indeed holding the man's hand, so he slowly let go to show that he was not surprised. It gave the host a chance to walk to the front room, sitting down on the couch in order exhale heavily to try blowing off steam from something. He felt the presence of the small one behind him; it did not surprise him to know that he needed an answer for his strange behavior.

"I'm sorry, I know I should explain, but I need to be more considerate." Ichigo stated quietly to him. "Back then was really hard on all of us, and you lost it." He paused. "Just let me know that you're alright first."
"I'm 'alright,' Kurosaki." There, he said it, now he wanted to know what he wanted to say. "What is it?"
This made him chuckle at him being a smart-ass about it. "Until you forgive yourself for what happened to Momo, this conversation is over." His head turned to him. "Do I make myself clear to you, Toushirou?"
Anger flickered through him when hearing him saying this, and he snapped a reply. "I told you—"
"Do I make myself clear?" He repeated, now standing up to face him to make sure that he understood him now. " I need to know that you will take me seriously and not flinch when I tell you why I'm doing this."

"Two minutes ago you were almost ready to kill someone, the next minute you were going were calm and practically caring, and now you're trying to shut down." Toushirou glared at him. Suddenly there was a knock on the door, which immediately drew Ichigo's attention as he brought out the gun from his pants. "It could just be a comrade Kurosaki, put—" He pointed towards the kitchen with a firm silent command.

After he reluctantly obeyed by entering the kitchen to wait, Ichigo open the door and pointed the gun at the midnight guest. A boy without any clothes on had instantly flung himself at him, grasping him tightly with tears flowing down his face along with a few cuts and scratches. Ichigo immediately called Toushirou from the kitchen, asking him to fetch a blanket from the closet, which was obeyed due to reaction. Not long afterward, the captain came in and saw the nude boy clinging to the host, but gave the blanket up.

"They did it, didn't they?" The man asked as he draped the blanket over the sobbing child, but there was no answer. "Sorry about this." He carefully lifted the blanket from the bottom, lifting it to see his foot. "An ankle bracelet…" His tone was becoming a little more firm with each passing second. "Damn it all…"

There was loud banging against his door, "Kurosaki, give us back out Pet!"
"I'll give you something alright," he opened the door, grabbed the man and shoved him against the interior wall next to the door. "What did I tell you, huh?" He placed the gun against his head, not even shaking.
"You can't do shit, he agreed, hence the item." The man smirked.
His attention went to the boy, "did you give them permission?" Weakly, the boy nodded. "Willingly?" It took a few seconds, but he nodded again. Ichigo looked at the man again. "I'll treat him tonight, punk."

"What the Hell do you care, Kurosaki? You have your own Pet right there. Kind of cute too in a stubborn way." The man brought his attention to the little captain, almost beginning to chuckle at the thought. "Man, I bet the guys would love getting a taste of that meat, right? What happened to that redheaded Pet of—"

Ichigo placed the gun in his mouth to keep him from talking. "My friend there, would not bother going even ten feet near you." He notched the hammer on the handgun. "But if I catch the slightest stench anywhere near him, I will come after you, and then I will kill you. One by one until each and everyone one of you are dead." His eyes hardened while tilting his head. "Do I make myself clear? Or do you have to lose a leg?"

The man nodded slowly, so Ichigo released him. "Bastard." He panted. "You haven't marked him, so we can." Again, the gun was pointed at him, making him turn to leave. "Don't worry, Momo-chan looks—"

Ichigo shot him in his rear-end, causing the man to scream out in horrifying pain. "Sorry, I guess I'm not used to a hairline trigger. We're you trying to tell me something?" He notched the hammer once again.
"N-N-NO! I'M S-SORRY!" The man got up on his feet and ran away, limping when he put a foot down.
"It's one thing to get Renji involved, but to involve Momo is just plain unforgivable." He discharged the handgun and stored it somewhere safe before coming to the boy. "Did you really give them permission?"
"Y-Y-Y-Yes…" The boy stuttered, shivering and shaking. "I-I-I-I-I thought… I thought it would be better."

"Lie down and get some rest." Ichigo locked the door before heading to his room, Toushirou on his heels.
When they came in, he instantly spoke to the frustrated man. "You actually shot a human? Do you—"
"I'm human too, and don't pretend you weren't going to strike him if I hadn't." He pointed to his fist.
The captain looked at his shaken fist, seeing the gikongan in the palm of his hand. "What of it?"
"You're not allowed to get involved with human affairs, but I am. I will not go back on my words."
"Why did he mention Hinamori?" His eyes hardened. "I swear if they ever touch her, I'll—"

"I promised I would keep that quiet, but you're already aware of it, there's not helping it." He came over and sat on the bed. "When I have vacation, I invite her so that she can relax in this world." His arms then folded while in thought. "Though it was a little annoying that she would sneak into my bedroom every time she was here." Immediately, this earned him a glare. "She would have nightmares and find her way into my bed, I allow her because she gave me those same eyes you did earlier." Ichigo realized he said too much. "Okay… enough of that, time for you to go to bed. We have time off tomorrow, so we're going to Soul Society." He quickly began to hurry the captain out of the room. "I have to treat the boy too."

"Kurosaki," he stopped in his tracks. "What did they do to that boy?"
This made everything freeze. "They violated him, and marked him. Now I can't protect him."
"That doesn't make sense, you just protected him from that man." Toushirou did not understand this.

"I can only treat his wounds, I can't protect him from what he chose." Walking into the room, he found the boy asleep, so he began to treat his wounds with kidou; something he learned by force. "The bracelet on his ankle means that he's accepted being their item… things are different here unfortunately, Toushirou."

"That's not like you, giving up so easily."

Ichigo paused when he heard him say this, but he easily ignored it for the moment in order to heal the boy with his full concentration. After finishing and tucking him with the blanket, he went into the kitchen and washed his hands with the captain still following him. This could not make him more frustrated than he was right now since he was already annoyed by what had happened to the boy. He knew that the little captain would not leave him alone that easily, which mean that he had to do some explaining to him.

"The boy in there… he has no parents, no shelter, nothing. He chose on his own to give himself to those beasts." The host poured himself a glass of water. "His situation is different from yours, in a way, you had raised yourself to be independent, never asking for help. That kid in there though, he lost everything in an accident last year." His hand lowered the glass that was now empty after drinking from it. "Let me tell you something that I think you're aware of." Ichigo looked at him. "I cannot protect or take care someone to the best of my abilities, if they will not allow me to." He rustled his hair. "Go to bed before I tattle on you."

Toushirou looked at him, trying to figure him out as the hand left his head. "One more question."
"Just one?" He mused at the specific number. "Alright, let's hear it so you can get to bed quickly."
"That fool you shot, he called the boy a Pet." Brown eyes flickered at this. "The item is the bracelet?"
"Pet means exactly that. The bracelet is a sign that they are used for entertainment." Ichigo stated softly.
"Is he part of an auction?" This had the other look at him. "We've heard about human auctions here."
" I guess it's true, but they call some of them prizes, and keep them rather than sell them. Their Pets."
"Be sure to kill them if they ever lay a finger on Hinamori." He paused. "Or any Shinigami really…"

"I'll remember that." There was a knock on the door. "Stay over here, hidden." He left the kitchen to answer the door, only to see a new man. "Take him and get out, step out of line and I'll shoot you too."
"Always so hostile, you never let us play a game with you." The stranger frowned, coming over to pick up the boy in his arms. "Listen, we used to be acquainted right? You know what I'm going to tell you, right?"
"If you even look at my friend, I won't hesitate on retaliating. He isn't like my other friend who was gullible enough to fall for your tricks." He glared a little dangerously. "I broke bones last time, but not next time."
"I'll take into consideration, Kurosaki Ichigo." The man then called out to Toushirou. "Hey Chibi, watch your back if you don't wanna get hurt. I'd hate to see your face get cut." He turned, and walked out.

Ichigo then closed the door quietly, locking it before going to the kitchen to pour himself a glass of water and searched through the cabinet. He took a pill before drinking the water, it was nothing but a harmless sleeping pill that would help him go to sleep quicker tonight. His attention went to Toushirou where he stood, crossing his arms in annoyance, and the carrot top sighed softly at this.

"Um… it's time… for us to go to bed." Ichigo walked passed him, heading to his room. "Good night."

Toushirou watched the man slump to his bedroom, so he came over to make sure he was not drunk off water, or that odd pill. To his surprise, Ichigo removed his shirt and pants before collapsing on his bed, somehow scurrying under the covers when already fast asleep. His head shook at the idiot before taking hold of the door handle, and closing the door before going to the guest room to get some sleep. There was something that was tugging at his mind about something that did not feel right, but brushed it away. It sounded much more comforting to slip into a world of sleep rather than worrying about it until the reiatsu of that Hollow from before, and jumped out of bed. Why the Hell would a Menos risk being killed by going into the room of a Shinigami—was is asking to be killed by one or something?

The captain slammed the door to Ichigo's room wide open, only to see the Adjuchas leveled Menos turn to look at him, growling. Ichigo mumbled something in his sleep that drove the Menos to turn towards him and bite down on his leg to throw him across the room. Toushirou swallowed the gikongan quickly and stood in front of the drugged male, standing in Shinigami form, holding his blade. The carrot top groaned as he was forced to stir after taking that sleeping pill, and saw the situation in front of him instantly.

"No!" He barked suddenly, standing up, and grabbing the Toushirou's Zanpakutou to avoid any attacks. "What… are you doing here…?" Ichigo was still sluggish due to the pill he gave himself, but tried waking. The Menos only growled at him while his tail flickered wildly. "No, get out of here right now." It angered the creature who then looked at the captain, only to be yelled at by him. "I said get out of here, now!"

Once it obediently left, Ichigo released the Zanpakutou, and fell back against the wall to return to sleep due to the time and pill. Ichigo flinched at his throbbing leg, looking at it exhaustedly as he mumbled that his leg was bleeding from the bite marks the Menos gave him. Toushirou was about to heal him with kidou since something was wrong with the host, but saw how the wounds began to heal all on their own. Moments later, Ichigo began to stir more widely awake now, much to his dismay as he looked up at his vertically challenged guest.

"Whatever you did, you set him off enough to bite me." Ichigo slowly got up to his feet. "Do you know how long it took me to tame him?" He rubbed his head, grumbling. "Using my Hollow powers to heal drained out the sleeping pill too, great." His attention went to him curiously, exhaustedly. "So, what do you need?"

"There was a Menos in your quarters, and you ask me what I need?" Toushirou stared at him in disbelief.
He thought about it, and shrugged. "I guess you're right." The man plopped down on the bed tiredly.
This confused him though. "Aren't you going to report this to Soul Society? Or go after that thing?"
"No offense, but shouldn't you go to bed to get enough strength to deal with Rangiku-san?"

There was no reasoning with this man, so he turned and left to try going back to sleep.

"What a great pose!" Rangiku squealed before a flash of light stirred her subject.

Ichigo jumped into a seated position when hearing the annoying voice and flash of light, and almost assumed that he was under attack. He glared at her after looking at the time that said it was that it was only six in the morning—meaning he only slept for three or four hours. His mind contemplated, but had decided that he needed to make Toushirou his sacrifice for once and tell her to go take pictures of his sleeping guest in the other room while he took a shower. The man then watched as she tiptoed out of his room to slip into the other one quietly and took a few pictures of him as the light also stirred him awake.

"MATSUMOTO!"

To get his chance, Ichigo gathered himself to go take a shower with a towel wrapped around his waist in case she poked her head in. Once the water started running and the shower flowing, he would faintly here Toushirou yelling at her, mostly like for taking pictures. Not even three minutes later, Rangiku nearly broke the door down and was disappointed by the sliding doors of the tub that blocked the camera. As he predicted, she shifted the sliding doors and took a picture of his chest up while he stared upwards quietly.

Toushirou stepped out of his room, looking around. "Matsumoto, what are you—" He saw that Ichigo was taking a shower, and she was practically in his face to take pictures. "M-Matsumoto! Get out of there!"
"Just a second taichou!" She waved quickly before returning to taking pictures. "Tilt your head a little!"
"If you don't get out of there this very instant, I'll double your paperwork immediately!" With that, she had to listen. "Sorry for the intrusion." He apologized to the host, slamming the door shut. "Matsumoto…"

"What are you so angry about taichou? Ichigo's giving me the day to take any photos of him we want. The Shinigami Women's Association wanted someone hot and famous to be our model, and Ichigo's would be a big hit because he has experience!" Rangiku cheered, turning the camera to the glaring captain, taking his picture as she waited for her model to come out of the shower. "I asked Ichigo to let me take whatever non-exploiting pictures I wanted in return of doing a certain task for him. Since I agreed, I can all kinds of pictures of him!" The bathroom door opened. "Ah! Ichigo wait, I want a picture of you in that towel!"

"Hey, if you don't give me a break, I won't fix you any breakfast!" Ichigo complained as she took pictures.

He went to his room to slip on a pair of boxers on and slipped his pants on before removing the damped towel from his body. She took several shots of him buttoning, zipping, and buckling his pants and belt that he paid no attention to since he was used to the attention. Keeping himself in control, he placed on an undershirt before slipping on a plain white shirt so it would match well with his medium blue toned jeans.

Ichigo came to the kitchen to start making tea when seeing Toushirou waiting for some, but Rangiku was firmly glued to him. He turned around and pointed towards the kitchen table toward the chairs. "Sit down."
Trying to be cute, she began to whine at him. "Aw! But Ichigo, you said that I could take any pictures of—"
"Sit." Once this had been repeated, the large breasted woman sulked and sat down at the table between her captain and Ichigo's seat. "Thank you." He fixed the tea. "You know I will not pose in front of him."
"You would if he did the poses with you!" The woman cheered happily, earning herself complete silence.

Ichigo snorted after recovering. "You know he won't do it."
"Oh come on Ichigo! Making him laugh or smile! Something uncharacteristic!"
He thought about it. "His smile and laugh is a little cute." He recalled the past when he saw this.
"Kurosaki…" Toushirou warned, also knowing what he was remembering.
"YOU'VE SEEN HIM LAUGH AND SMILE?" Rangiku panicked.

The carrot top smiled sheepishly, offering them some tea. "That was years ago though, but it sounds like you've never encountered those traits. If that's the case, then I won't help you, and take pride in the two things you've never seen. As for him posing though… make a deal." He began to make breakfast now.

"Taichou, I'll do all my paperwork for a month if you do three poses with Ichigo!" She smiled happily.
This irritated said captain. "Don't try to make deals with the paperwork that you're supposed to do!"
"Wah! You see Ichigo, he won't listen to me!" The woman fake cried for attention by the taller man.
"What do you want be to do about it?" Ichigo asked without care. "I'm not going to force him to."
"If you don't make him do at least three poses with you, then I want you to pose with your pet!"

"Oh…?" He turned to look at her. "How would you know something about my pets?"
The air began to thicken with Ichigo's reiatsu, she knew she was in trouble. "Um… well… I…"
"There are only four Shinigami that know about them, and you aren't one of them. How would you know?"
"W-W-Well… l-l-last night…. I-I-I was… w-w-w-w-with Hinamori and—" things became a little more scary.
"Who touched her?" Toushirou looked at a man when hearing him say that. "Are they still alive?"
"Hinamori told it not to kill that Shinigami, calling it an accident, and it left almost instantly."
"So that's why he summoned himself last night. I wondered why he wanted blood."

'That thing last night was his pet?' Now it made sense.

Breakfast was made and served, "just three? Fine, it doesn't look like I have a choice. If I brought him into this ridiculous situation, he would devour souls for sure." His attention went to Toushirou. "You're going to do three simple poses with me, quit being a brat about it. In return, Rangiku-san won't drink sake for a month when I graduate and you can return to Soul Society." He just… declared everything… himself.

"What makes you think I would pose with you?" Toushirou fumed, standing at the table now.

"Good grief, I don't even need Momo to embarrass you, I always have traps up my sleeves." Ichigo rolled his eyes before speaking as he sat at the table. "Simple, if you don't there's a blond your size that would enjoy kicking your ass for touching her inappropriately." He smirked. "You know who it is, right, Pervert?"

His cheeks tint with frustration and embarrassment, and sat down, seething. "Just three."
"WHY CAN'T I HAVE SAKE FOR A MONTH! YOU'RE SO CRUEL ICHIGO!" Rangiku sobbed.
"Fine, you're not allowed to have anything that has any type of alcohol in it, deal?" Ichigo mused.
"YOU'RE SO MEAN SUDDENLY JUST BECAUSE I BROUGHT UP THE WRONG SUBJECT!"

"Of course." He smirked.