Chapter 6: Wait! What?
Ikkaku and Yumichika made it back to the seireitei, they found the boy in Yumichika's room curled up in the corner sleeping. There were tear tracks running down his cheek.
"What the hell'd you do to him Ayasegawa?" Ikkaku did not look amused.
"I did nothing. I just told him to stay put," Yumichika, "and if he messed with my stuff I'd cut his grubby paws off."
"Great," Ikkaku said sarcastically, but was relieved that Yumi had tried something entirely different.
Yumichika took one look at his friend and read his thoughts, he huffed, "Get your mind out of the gutter, seriously Kurosaki is right you are a pervert. He probably just cried himself to sleep."
Keigo stirred. They observed him. His facial expression tensed, then his spiritual pressure spiked again. It wasn't anything the two soul-reapers couldn't handle but had he been near that old lady this time she wouldn't have survived.
"You think he's dreaming?" Ikkaku asked his pretty friend.
Yumi rolled his eyes, planted his hands on his hips and replied, "You think so."
"Should we wake him up?"
"That's an idea," Yumi drawled.
Ikkaku shook Keigo's shoulder, "Hey kid!"
Keigo sat up smashing the bald one in the forehead, making a sickening cracking noise. Both men held their heads. Ikkaku looked ready to kill. Keigo just looked dazed and stupefied.
"What'd ya hit me for," The boy said groggily. He shook his head, and seemed to clear up some. He continued to apply pressure to the knot rising on his head, "Owwww!"
"You OK, Ikkaku? Look don't kill me it's your own fault," Yumi trying unsuccessfully to placate his near psychotic friend.
"Hey, Where am I?" Keigo's vision finally cleared. He saw he wasn't in his beloved granny's kitchen, but in a neat one room apartment of sorts. It smelled of floral scents, and there was art hanging on the wall on the, a small table with a crystal vase filled with an arrangement of said fragrant flowers. There was a modest kitchen, a dresser, and a single futon. He stood up and looked around his hand fell from the bump on his head.
"You OK?" Yumi asked.
"Granny! How is she is she gonna be OK!" Keigo's eyes misted over as new tears of worry began to form.
"The old woman is safe. We left her with Yamada, and a friend of his who will be helping the woman until she is able to care for herself," Yumichika said in the least harsh voice he could muster (which was still pretty harsh). Keigo only nodded and took a seat on the floor in the far corner. Ikkaku was still recovering from his blood lust.
"I think both of you should go to squad four and get those bruises taken care of, they are really unsightly," Yumi smiled slyly, then Keigo's stomach interrupted him, "Then we need to find something to eat."
Keigo did not look at the man but he was blushing very violently. He was still sad, but a small smile appeared he nodded in agreement. The boy got up and walked over to the bald soul-reaper.
Yumi tried to warn him, "You might not want to get within arms reach of him right now."
"I'm sorry about hitting your head, dose it hurt," Keigo asked.
Ikkaku looked angrily at the fool the he was about to strangle, "What do you think?" Ikkaku was not holding his head anymore either. He shot the boy a death glare. For some reason this struck Keigo as really funny. He started to laugh.
He tried to say something, "I- I'm really sor-ry 'bout your head, bu-but you sh-should remember next time to dodge." Keigo continued to laugh which disarmed the situation and probably saved him from further injuries.
"Yea-yea, but next time you might not get off with just a lump on your head." Ikkaku smiled, anger fading into humor.
Yumichika looked at his old friend like he had just sprouted a new head, well him laughing off the situation was more shocking then that would have been, "Let's go you jokers. I don't know about you but I'm getting hungry."
'That kid is something else. I've never met a soul like him before, wonder why we didn't notice that when he was alive?' Yumi pondered this new little puzzle, 'Let's just be glad he finally agreed to come with us. I think he'll liven the place up a bit. Can't wait to introduce him to the Captain. I only hope the kid doesn't go and get himself killed.' They finally left to get the two idiots cleaned up.
"Kenny I'm bored!" A pink ball of fluff was furiously shaking a sleeping Captain Zaraki.
He rolled away from her, and grunted, "Go find Ikkaku, or Yumichika." He promptly closed his eyes and resumed sleeping.
"Awe you're no fun!" Yuchiro walked away in a huff. Then cheered up and started to run, laughing crazily. She saw a certain bald soul-reaper, accompanied by the prissy one and someone she had never seen.
"Hey Baldy!" She jumped on Ikkaku's back nearly knocking him over, "I'm bored! Wanna play?" She had her fingers in his mouth stretching his face painfully. Keigo turned to see the normally frightening Ikkaku struggling to keep his face from being torn off. He fell on his but in laughter which grabbed the pink menace's attention, "Who's your friend baldy. Ooo is she your girlfriend? She's pretty."
"Hey! What! I'm not a girl!" Keigo's face went red. He pouted and wrinkled his nose in disgust, making him look like a puppy.
"Don't get mad!" She jumped off her third seat office and landed right in front of Keigo's face. She patted him on the head, "You're a puppy, Puppy-face!"
"I'm not a puppy!" He screamed and tried to get up.
Yuchiro jumped on him, "Yes you are! I'm a kitty, kitties hate puppies." With that she bit his shoulder. The terrified boy let out a yelp and tried to shake the vicious pink 'kitty' off his back. She simply would not budge. Yumi and Ikkaku watched in horror as blood began running down his back. Yuchiro released her teeth and giggled at their little game.
"Come on Lieutenant," Yumi grabbed the scruff of her neck and tried to pry her off the now pale Keigo. She grabbed his kimono and would not budge.
'Damn, that pink ball of terror is a lieutenant! What have I gotten my self into. This place is a friggin' nut house. Cripes I need to think of something...'
"H-hey little kitty," Keigo spoke up. The three soul-reapers staring at him. He gathered his whits, "What's your name?"
"Yachiro," The girl answered.
"Well I'm Keigo," He tried to look back at her, but his painful bleeding shoulder prevented any extreme movements, "You're right I am a puppy, but not all puppies and kitties hate each other. I like kitties." He slapped a big smile on his face, it didn't even look fake. Good thing to the lieutenant small and excitable (not to mention psychotic) was not stupid. She heard his smile and she hopped off him, causing him to grunt painfully. She patted his head and allowed the other two help him up. She went with them to the infirmary.
"Well I guess we are going to head back to squad four and get you looked at again," Ikkaku smirked, "They're going to get tired of seeing your sorry ass."
"I think I have a pretty nice ass thank-you," Keigo joked though he felt the searing hot pain of deep embedded teeth marks, and the warm trickle of blood down his back, "Crap I'm gonna need some new clothes. I don't have a spare set you know." Keigo scowled.
Yachiro giggled, "Sorry Puppy-face."
Keigo let out a sigh of exasperation.
After getting his wound healed. The four of them found something to eat. Yachiro decided that she needed to feed, the 'puppy,' Keigo. She force fed him her broccoli which she refused to eat. She then started shoving spoonfuls of hot rice into his mouth nearly causing him to suffocate. Ikkaku and Yumichika finally separated them when Keigo's face started to turn blue. Keigo melodramatically choked up the unwanted rice. Then fell on his side.
"Puppy-face threw up," Yachiro giggled. After his ordeal with the pink haired Vice-captain was over they had to decide where to keep him. The new quarter was coming in less then two weeks he could enter the academy but until then they had to take him in.
"I guess he can stay with me," Ikkaku offered.
Yumichika looked surprised, "You sure about that. I didn't think you could be bothered with that kind of responsibility."
The bald one grinned, "No trouble, unless you want him."
"Would you grow up and STOP making childish insinuations!" Yumichika was really getting sick of his friend's not so innocent ribbing.
"Fine-fine. Don't get your panties in a bunch," Ikkaku feigning hurt.
"Hey guys! You know I can hear you, and I am not so stupid. I get what you are saying," Keigo protested. They looked at him expectantly, "Ikkaku here is afraid I'm gonna steal his best friend."
The shinigami's mouths both dropped. Keigo added seductively, "You know you can't resist me."
They stood in silence for a painful thirty seconds before the boy dropped to his knees in laughter, "You-you guys are way to easy! Ha-ha!" He cackled shamelessly.
Ikkaku and Yumichika laughed uncomfortably.
"You ain't stupid kid, but you're givin' me the creeps," Ikkaku grimaced.
"Hey, I-I'm sorry," wiping a tear from his eye, "Just that you two were starting to, you know, sound like jealous lovers. That was creeping me out. You don't seem the type, Ikkaku. Yumichika, no offense but you sort of do. Somehow I don't think I'm your type though."
Again gawking at the things coming out of the young man's mouth. That mouth of his never knew when to quit.
"You might want to reconsider anything else you plan on staying or we'll just let you sleep on the street," Yumi said then his eyes glinted evilly, "or you could stay with Captain Zaraki." Though not one for subtly this look was not lost on Keigo. Besides, he had heard of the famously insane blood thirsty soul-reaper; despite the sweet old woman trying to shield him from the evil clutches of the seireitei.
"Ok, I'll be good," Keigo pouted, "but hey where am I gonna stay anyway."
"You can stay here," Yumi volunteered again.
Keigo accepted the offer gratefully, "Thanks I don't know why you guys are doing this, because of that guy, Karosai-Korsockey, whatever."
"Ichigo Kurosaki, he would be happy to know you are going to be a soul-reaper," Ikkaku stated supportively.
Yachiro had taken a shine to the new boy. Her favorite game was now ambush, Puppy-face. He had his guard up and usually avoided severe injury. He spent the greater part of his two week visit avoiding dismemberment by a hyperactive six year old. Despite that he strangely grew fond of her too.
On his last night before enrollment Yachiro had her last chance to strike. Sure she was really going easy on him, but it was still fun to let him think he was faster then her. He was walking out of Yumichika's little apartment. He needed air he was just to nervous about starting training. He had his school uniform already and he had donned it not twenty minutes before.
Yachiro pounced on him. This time however, when he turned around he did not receive a punch in the gut, a bite, nor a kick, but a hug.
Yachiro started blubbering, "Don't go Puppy, Your the funnest person ever. I don't want you to go. She blew a snot bubble right into his shirt. Keigo suppressed a shutter, but looked down into the pink haired tyke's sad eyes he melted into a pile of mush.
"Awe, It's ok Yachiro. I'm sure you can come visit me when you have the time, and Maybe I'll be your squad when I graduate?" He returned her hug with warmth, 'She's so cute to bad she's cutting off my oxy-gen.' She squeezed him too hard and he passed out.
"Nap time?" She curled up on the unconscious teen right in front of Yumichika's front door. Yumi and Ikkaku found them there. Yumi took the pink nightmare back to the captain, Ikkaku checked Keigo's vitals and was relieved that he was still 'alive.' There was nothing to do. It was already getting dark so the man put him on his futon in Yumi's apartment. Keigo opened his eyes to the unwelcome light of morning. He cursed under his breath and tried to roll over to go back to sleep.
"Time to get up!" Yumichika spouted cheerfully. He none to delicately shook the the boy, "Get up you don't want to be late on your first day!"
"Do I have to?" He mumbled into his bedding.
"Yes you have to don't make me get a bucket of water to dump on you," Yumichika frowned.
"Arggg...fine!" Keigo jumped up. Yumichika had learned to dodge, and had to force the boy to get up every day. He would not have a mopey teenager sleeping all day in his home.
"Get ready! You have two hours!" Keigo obliged gathering his meager possesions.
Ikaku came in he had a petite girl with him. This peeked Keigo's interests.
"Hello there, Have you brought your girlfriend by to wish me good luck," He flirted with Ikkaku's presumed girlfriend.
"No. This is a friend of Ichigo's," Ikkaku introduced.
"You don't remember me Keigo, but I remember you. My name is Rukia Kuichki. I met you back in the living world. You would not believe how much everyone misses you."
"Oh," Keigo quieted down. He still did not like to talk about the living world.
Rukia's smile faltered, "Um, I didn't mean to upset you."
"No-no, it's fine, I just think it's weird that so many people seem to know me and I don't remember any of you. So you said you missed me." Taking the opportunity to get closer to her, "Did we have a special relationship?"
'Yep that's Keigo for you,' Rukia smiled inward and pushed him away, "Sorry not like that. I'm with Ichigo."
"Man, I bet he's like a billion times cooler then I ever was."
Rukia giggled, "Hardly, he's the biggest goof ball in the world. That is when he isn't trying to be dark and brooding. When he gets like that his sister and I knock sense into him."
"Ichigo...he has family. He's alive, but he has powers like a soul-reaper. This Ichigo must be pretty cool."
"Awe you pretty cool to, in your own way," She smirked, "Hey I just wanted to wish you luck. I have to go meet with my captain."
"Bye, thanks. Hey tell that guy, Ichigo, that I said hey," Keigo waved after her.
"I will, good-bye Keigo!" She turned and waved back to him.
Keigo went back to packing, "Well I'm ready to go I can't stand around here smelling up Yumichika's place."
"OK, lets get goin' then," Ikkaku took Keigo. Yumi chose to stay in the seireitei, 'No need for both us mother hens to go. The boy's going to have a hard enough time there as it is.' Yumi smiled wryly. He knew that wasn't totally true, but he was not serous enough to meet his potential. Yumichika and Ikkaku both concluded that that was his real problem in life had he been focused like his friends he may have exhibited similar abilities to Orihime, and Chad. "You better not make a fool out of yourself Asano," the narcissist warned, to nobody since the others had already left. Any humiliation suffered by the boy would, at least in Yumi's mind, reflect directly upon Ikkaku and him. Deep down he also was very worried this boy was strange and he had power that might even rival his own maybe not Ikkaku's, but who knew really.