-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
Nnoitra woke the next morning with a comfortable weight settled in next to him. He sighed, having rested quite well the night before. He glanced down to Ichigo's orange head, burrowed into the hollow of his shoulder. He'd pulled Nnoitra's arm around his side and was clutching his hand tightly, having interlaced his fingers with him. He smiled under his facemask and reached over, shutting the CPAP off and pulling the mask off. He reached over with his free hand and ruffled the mess of orange hair a bit. He almost dozed again when there was a knock at the door.
"Come in," he said feeling Ichigo shift at his voice.
The door opened and there was a new person there, a blonde guy with a nervous expression. "Um, hello, I…um, I'm Izuru Kira, I'm Gin's assistant, and he had to leave early this morning to go to San Diego about something from one of his FBI informants. So…he asked me to come take his place, you know, until he gets back," Kira said, fingers twisting with each other as he spoke. He didn't really look up at Nnoitra much, but he glanced several times at Ichigo.
"Yeah, Gin told us about you, he found you along the way of trying to find this brat," he said, nodding at him.
Kira's brow crinkled. "Um, ah, yeah, that's true…I…I had been in a fetish trafficking ring when he came into it, posing as a bidder. When he wasn't there, he managed to bid m-me out because of my condition. He got the FBI in to bust the whole thing, but it took them a while to do it. Gin knew that I didn't have the time," he said, smiling slowly.
"Gin seems like a good man," Nnoitra said, smiling back at the young man. He looked to be all of seventeen years old, by the look.
"Okay, um, I guess I'll see about sleeping on the couch, I don't think Gin would mind…" he said, glancing over where Gin had vacated.
Nnoitra felt Ichigo shift and begin muttering. He glanced at Kira and tried to quell his nightmare before it woke him by tightening his hold and stroking his hair. Kira's eyes looked hallow for a moment but he moved immediately and knelt beside the bed, waiting to see if he was needed. He knew this part all too well. Ichigo, though, in his dream, felt the tightening as being held down, and he fought against it, screaming in his mind to be let go until it started bubbling through his consciousness into reality.
"Ah…lemme go, lemme go, please…I can't…I can't…" he gasped out, trying to fight away from the hands that held him. His eyes shot open and he very nearly screamed, but he was shocked out of it by someone's voice beside him.
"You're safe," Kira said in a very soft voice. "You're safe now, remember?"
Ichigo's heart was racing but he turned to face the blonde and stared at him for a moment before he relaxed, turning into Nnoitra and clutched him. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I…I didn't…"
"Hush, Chiquito, hush," Nnoitra said, pulling him closer. "It is fine, just relax, it was a nightmare, and you're safe with me, remember?" he said, stroking his head for a few minutes. "Do you want to tell me about it?" he asked.
Ichigo looked up at him with wide eyes. "He…he was holding me down…and laughing because…because I was crying…and I told him I didn't like what he was doing…and he said that I…I…should be glad f-for his attention," he said softly, tears in the corners of his eyes already.
"Ah, pobrecito," Nnoitra said, sighing. "No one is going to ever treat you like that again, okay?"
Ichigo nodded slowly, wiping his eyes and moving to sit up beside him, glancing at Kira curiously. He wasn't afraid of him, though. He'd decided that his Papi wouldn't let anyone hurt him. He knew as long as he had him, he was okay. He made him feel funny but in a good way, Ichigo thought, smiling at him suddenly.
"What's that for?" Nnoitra asked, curious.
"Nothing, I just…" he said, and Nnoitra swore his face turned pink before he scrambled off the bed and into the bathroom. The door shut and he heard the lock click. He groaned out loud. Kira looked at him.
"He locks himself in the bathroom when he's upset or confused," Nnoitra explained. "He's really childlike in a lot of ways still," he said, standing up and grabbing a change of clothes before going to the door and knocking.
"Chiquito, open this door, now," he said, and Kira looked over with curiosity at the tone of voice he'd taken with him. That type of instruction couldn't be good, he thought at first but then he heard the lock click and the door opened a sliver to show the brown eyed Ichigo staring out and up at Nnoitra.
"Listen here, brat, you are not going to do this today. I need to shower. So, you can sit in here or you can wait in the bedroom, up to you," he said, and Kira almost said something to him but watched in confusion as Ichigo opened the door, grabbing Nnoitra's hand and before the door shut again, he saw Ichigo sit down in front of the door.
Nnoitra glanced down to see he'd put himself in the area at the end of the room that was where the two doors opened into. He sighed and looked at him. "Staying in here it is then," he muttered, pulling off his shirt and sighing as he dropped it to the floor beside his feet, and stepped out of the jeans he'd been wearing yesterday. He hated sleeping in jeans… Nnoitra had been in and out of hospitals so much in his life, he honestly had no thought of nudity around anyone anymore, so he slipped out of his boxers and stepped into the shower, realizing he was, of course, taller than the bar. He sighed, glad that at least it had one of those removable heads. He could, however, still see Ichigo out of the corner of his eye.
Ichigo sat there, watching for a moment before he crawled over to where Nnoitra had dropped his clothes and snagged his shirt from the pile, going back and sitting down. Nnoitra noticed, glancing over to see what he was doing. Ichigo smiled and put the shirt against his face for a moment, before he put it in his lap and resumed watching him behind the curtain, fingers buried in Nnoitra's shirt. Nnoitra shook his head, finishing up his shower and realized, he should really put Ichigo in one as well. No time like the present, the thought, stepping out and pulling on his clean boxers and a pair of sweat pants. He looked over at Ichigo.
"Alright, you next," he said, smirking at him.
Ichigo stared at him for a minute, surprised. "But…but…I took a bath…"
"And that was yesterday, and I still don't think I've gotten all the filth off you, Chiquito, so come on," he said, leaning over and turning the sprayer back on and testing the temperature quickly.
"But…but…" he muttered.
"No buts, come on," Nnoitra said, arching his one visible brow at him.
Ichigo nodded, standing up, still clutching the t-shirt as he came over to him. Nnoitra took the t-shirt he was holding, then waited for him to take off the t-shirt he was wearing. He looked at Nnoitra for a moment.
"Can I…wear…your shirt again after I get out?" he said, looking at him with wide eyes.
"I guess, but we're going to have to send someone for some clothes today, you can't go around in my t-shirts all the time, even if it is fucking adorable," he muttered the last, mostly to himself, but Ichigo heard him.
Ichigo nodded, pulling off the shirt carefully and putting it on the counter by the sink before he stepped over into the shower. He looked worried but when he got into the water, Nnoitra saw the pleasured look of someone who hadn't experienced a good shower very much. Nnoitra sat down on the toilet lid and handed him a wash cloth.
"Here you go, Chiquito, scrub yourself up, don't miss a single spot, comprende?" he said smirking at him.
Ichigo nodded, pulling the curtain and Nnoitra could hear him doing just as he asked. Good, he thought, at least this attachment to him was useful in that he could get him to take care of himself. After a bit, he saw Ichigo poke his head out, water streaming down his face.
"'M done," he said, staring at Nnoitra.
"Turn off the water, then, brat," Nnoitra said, yawning as he turned it off and opened the curtain, waiting for Nnoitra, it seemed, to instruct him or something. Nnoitra sighed, tossing a towel at him. "Dry off, and we'll go have breakfast with the others, I smell something cooking out there," he said sighing.
Ichigo clumsily managed to towel himself dry and before Nnoitra could say anything, he'd snatched the t-shirt and put it back on with a grin at Nnoitra and Nnoitra almost melted in in that moment, just the look on his face and sheer delight about wearing his shirt… He also had to turn quickly and adjust himself because half his blood also rushed to his cock. Ichigo, though, as before, misunderstood the cues and felt like he'd done something wrong, and left the bathroom while Nnoitra was calming his sudden, and annoying, state of arousal. He turned back, seeing Ichigo had left and knew immediately what had happened.
He quickly went after of him, seeing him disappearing into Uryū's room. He sighed, crossing the living area, noting Kisuke looking after him from the kitchen curiously. Nnoitra knocked on the door with another sigh and heard rustling. Uryū opened the door, eyes sleepy still, putting on his glasses and staring.
"He came in here," Nnoitra said with a sigh.
Uryū blinked, then turned, frowning and not seeing him. "You…sure?" he said, going in the room and realizing that Ichigo had come in and was sitting on the other side of the bed in the corner with his head on his knees. He sighed, looking over at Nnoitra.
"What this time?" he asked, sighing.
"I…think he just misunderstood something I did," Nnoitra said, clearing his throat. "Chiquito, come out here," Nnoitra said a bit louder. "I know where you are," he added, leaning against the doorframe.
Uryū walked around and knelt in front of him. "Ichi, what's wrong now?"
Ichigo cut his eyes up at Uryū. "Papi's mad at me," he said quietly.
Uryū frowned. "Papi?" he said, glancing over at Nnoitra. "Oh…ah, why do you think that, Ichi?"
"He turned away and he was breathing loud, so he's mad," he said quietly, not looking over where Nnoitra was standing.
Uryū glanced over at him and Nnoitra sighed. "Yes, but not because I was mad," he said, sighing. "You're fucking adorable when you're in my shirt, and it…um…yeah, caused me a small issue, well, not small, but you know," he muttered, glancing at Uryū. Uryū started to say something then his cheeks reddened a bit.
"Oh, Ichi, you silly thing," he said with a sigh, reaching over and ruffling his hair. He leaned over close to Ichigo's ear and whispered to him. "It's because he likes you, Ichi, not because he's mad at you," he said quietly.
Ichigo looked over at Nnoitra and back to Uryū curiously. "Why?" he whispered back to Uryū.
"I don't know, why does anyone like anyone else? He just does," he answered.
"But…but…I'm not normal," he answered, staring at Uryū seriously.
Uryū shook his head. "Well, neither am I, we're both pretty fucked up," he said, sighing deeply. "So, let's just deal with now and you need to go have breakfast," he said, pulling him to stand up.
Ichigo finally stood, pulling down on Nnoitra's shirt a little as he came around back to him. "Okay, breakfast," he said, smiling at Nnoitra.
Nnoitra grinned. "Good, then, we're going to figure out how to get you up to speed on some things," he said putting a hand on Ichigo's back and steering him into the dining area. Nnoitra sat down, and Ichigo, this time, didn't pout about sitting beside him, doing so without a fuss. Nnoitra smiled, glad that he was finally seeming to unlearn some of the behaviors he'd had to learn to cope with things. He pulled out his phone as they sat around the table finishing up, seeing Szayel had texted him asking where he was and what was going on. He texted him back to go ask his mamá and come to where they were at if he wanted. Szayel asked why he couldn't just tell him right there, and Nnoitra said that he had to ask his mamá. He put his phone away and wondered exactly what the rest of the day would entail.
After breakfast, he'd sat up his laptop in the living room, and managed to find a basic academic assessment. He turned the computer around and nodded at Ichigo. "Okay, use the mouse, read the question, and then push this button on the answer. When you're done, we'll see what we need to work on."
Ichigo nodded, taking a moment to get used to using the mouse and the computer, but Nnoitra noticed he picked it up quickly, easily going through the first parts of the assessment. It seemed he could read relatively well, but he struggled once he got beyond the sixth-grade level. So, he was advanced when he was younger, Nnoitra thought, realizing the last time he was in school he would have been about fourth grade. His math skills were a little further behind, and he struggled a lot with some of the more critical thinking issues. When he was done, Ichigo was obviously frustrated by the things he didn't know and couldn't understand.
"I must be as stupid as Uncle said," he said sighing as the score sheet came up showing the number right and wrong.
Nnoitra glanced at him, and the score sheet. "Chiquito, you are far from stupid. You've spent twelve years without being in school, and you retained most of your educational knowledge from before you stopped going to school," he said, looking over the results. He had come out on the higher end of a fifth-grade level on most the things, with math around third grade level. For someone who hadn't done any schoolwork in twelve years, he was impressed. "This is actually really promising," he said, nodding at the results.
Isshin had come out and eaten as well, but Ichigo still didn't acknowledge him much. He sat down across from Ichigo while he was doing the assessment and watched. Ichigo looked up finally.
"Hi," he said tentatively, not sure how to act around this man that was his father, but that for twelve years he had been more scared of than his Uncle.
"Hi," Isshin said, smiling at him. "I'm so proud of you, you know," he said softly, glancing at Nnoitra, who was busily figuring out what lessons he needed to find to get Ichigo somewhere near able to at least get a GED in the near future.
They were sitting there relatively calmly when the door burst open suddenly and a girl with little bright green pigtails came running through the living room, skidding to a stop in the center and looking at all the people. Ichigo had frozen, staring at her. A second later, a man with blue hair came running into the room and stopped with a look of surprise on his face.
"Ah, ah, Nel, stop," he said, huffing a bit, leaning over with his hands on his knees. "I told you there were people here, you can't go running into the cabins…like this…" he said, shaking his head. "Sorry, sorry, she was playing endless chase," he said, standing up, holding his side with a wince. "Fuck. I need to start running again," he muttered.
Nel had stopped, turning and staring at Ichigo intently, a stuffed caterpillar clutched to her chest. Ichigo was shocked, but he hadn't bolted, which Nnoitra thought was a good thing.
Nel came over and stopped in front of Ichigo. "Hi! I'm Nel! Dis my Big Brudder, Grimmy. Nice to meet you, who you?"
Ichigo swallowed. "Ichigo," he said quietly, still not sure what to do, but he'd grabbed Nnoitra's hand at some point.
"Itsygo!" she said, smiling. "Itsygo Nel's friend now, Nel's Itsygo," she said coming over and sitting beside him and leaning into his side.
Grimm sighed, shaking his head. "Nel, you can't just go around and make everyone be your friend and invading their privacy," he said, looking around apologetically. "Sorry, she gets a little excited sometimes. She's a little brat, she is," he groused, crossing his arms with a sigh.
Ichigo just stared at her for a second swallowing against a surge of fear at the other man in the room. The little girl looked about five years old, and she sat kicking her feet was she looked at her stuffed toy. She held it out to Ichigo. "Dis Bawabawa. He's my friend, but he's got an owie, see?" she said, pointing to a place where there was a small tear. She looked up at Ichigo's face and she frowned. "You got an owie too," she said, looking very concerned. "Grimmy, fix Itsygo's owies!" she demanded looking at her brother. "He has too many, so fix it for him!"
Ichigo blinked at her for a moment and felt Nnoitra put an arm around his shoulders to keep him from moving. Grimm stared at her.
"Nel, I can't just fix people's owies, okay? They have to heal on their own," he said, shaking his head.
"Mommy didn't heal from her owies, though, so you have to fix Itsygo's owies!" she said, glaring at him.
Grimm sighed, rubbing his face vigorously for a minute. "Nel, I've told you that was different," he said sorry. "I'm sorry, she just found some old photo albums that had our mother in them, and she had to know about the pictures," he said, looking sheepish. "Our mom died when she was only a couple months old, and I've taken care of her ever since," he said. "And she's a brat most the time!" he emphasized, glaring at her with both hands on his hips.
Isshin smiled. "She's very cute," he said, smiling at him. She got up and went up to Isshin, narrowing her eyes at him.
"Who you?" she asked.
"I'm Ichigo's father," he said, nodding toward Ichigo.
"Oh, then you be Nel's friend too," she said nodding. She turned and glared at Nnoitra who was still holding Ichigo around his shoulders. Ichigo's hand was digging into his thigh, though.
"And who you to my Itsygo?" she said, pursing her lips.
Nnoitra didn't know how to answer that question, so he stammered a second before Ichigo spoke up. "He's my Papi," he said definitively. Isshin cocked his head to the side and locked eyes with Nnoitra, frowning deeply.
"He started that today," Nnoitra said, trying to explain. "No idea…"
"What's dat? Dat like another daddy?" she asked, frowning.
Ichigo shook his head. "No," he said simply.
"Okay," she said, wandering off to see the rest of the people.
"Nel, please," Grimm groaned, following her as she went and inquired who everyone else was. Finally, she saw Uryū come out. She smiled running up to him.
"You're the sad one!" she said grinning at him broadly. "You still look sad," she said. "I don't have a sandwich today, though," she said sadly.
Uryū blinked, realizing that this was the little blonde-haired girl from the beach, but now her hair was green for some reason. He looked up and saw Grimm standing there looking exasperated. "Nel, please, let's go back to see the others, okay?" he pleaded.
"Otay," she said, skipping back into the living room and to Ichigo. "Bye Itsygo," she said, hugging him around the waist. "Bye Itsygo daddy," she said, smiling at Isshin. "Bye Itsygo Papi," she said, skipping out of the cabin with Grimm following.
"Sorry!" he called after he got out the door.
Nnoitra frowned, shaking his head and then pulled Ichigo tighter. "What's this Papi business?" he asked finally, looking at him. "Is it because you heard mi mamá call mi papá that yesterday?"
Ichigo looked at him and shrugged. "I like it," he said, and Nnoitra wasn't sure but it looked like he blushed a little.
"Um, ah, it is Spanish for daddy…" Nnoitra said, a slight blush staining his cheeks. "I don't know if you want to use that, Chiquito…I mean, I'm all for you calling me something since I call you Chiquito, but…"
Ichigo smiled. "I like Papi," he said, nodding at him.
Nnoitra wanted to argue but he didn't think he'd get anywhere. He sighed. "Call me whatever you want, Chiquito," he said, thinking that it would be best not to try and tell him what to do at this time. "Come on, I've got the first lessons we're going to do today…" he said, pulling up a site for reading lessons appropriate to his level.
Isshin got up, nodding to them and heading to the bedroom he was using and took out his phone. He'd called the girls last night and gave them a brief reason that he wasn't coming back to the room, basically that it had to do with their brother, and he'd talk to them the next day. So, he needed to get this done. He dialed Karin's number and waited.
"Yo, pop," she answered. "What's up?" she asked.
"Is Yuzu there?" he asked.
"Yeah, where else would she be?" Karin asked, sighing.
"Put it on speaker so I can talk to you both," he said.
Karin did as he asked, and he knew that his tone would tell her it was important. He heard the phone being shifted. "Okay, we're both here," he heard Yuzu say.
"Okay, this is going to be a lot to take in. But we found your brother," he said. He heard the gasps and hesitant mutterings. "But…he's not in a good condition right now."
"What's that mean?" Karin asked suspiciously.
"Um, well, he's spent twelve years being held captive by your Uncle Ryūken, apparently," he said, sighing deeply.
"What?" Yuzu said, gasping.
"It's complicated, but he hasn't been to school, he's been abused badly, and he's easily overwhelmed right now. We're in one of the large cabins, and I want you to come over tonight at dinnertime to meet with him and the other people that are trying to help him. No one can know where we are, though, because Ryūken is still out there, and we're afraid that he might try to hurt him or Uryū again," he said feeling like he was delivering the worst news they had ever heard. The only thing worst was having to be told that their mother was gone.
The girls were silent a long time. "Okay, pop, we'll be there at six. We're going to go walking…I…we…need some air," Karin said, swallowing hard against a lump in her throat.
"Okay, but don't wander too far and keep your phones, okay?" he said, sighing.
"Yeah, don't worry pop," Yuzu answered, and the line went off.
Isshin sat there a minute before he put his elbows on his knees and rested his head on his hands, tears already in his eyes. He didn't realize that anyone was there for a time until he felt the bed dip beside him. He blinked, looking next to him to find Kisuke looking at him sadly. He swallowed back a ball in his throat.
"Some father figure, in here bawling and hiding from my son," he said, not bothering to wipe away the tears on his face.
"Isshin, don't do this to yourself," Kisuke said, putting an arm around him. "Just don't. This is hard for everyone, you and the girls included. Ryūken tore your family apart, and you did everything you could to find Ichigo."
"But did I?" Isshin said, not rejecting the comfort Kisuke was offering, because, quite frankly, he needed it.
-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
Karin and Yuzu left walking, needing to get out and think. They didn't speak as they walked, there really was no need. As they walked, they passed several places, a diner called the Firecracker Diner, a Dojo it looked like, a beauty salon, a school called "Las Noches Free School", whatever that was, and in the distance, they could see the observatory at the school. They kept walking until they found themselves on a soccer field. Karin saw a ball and started kicking it into the goal area as hard as she could over and over. Yuzu stood aside and watched Karin work out her anger and frustration. Soon she wasn't just kicking it, she was screaming at the top of her lungs with each kick.
"Did the ball offend you?" a boy's voice came from behind her. She had been about to kick it again, but she was face to face with a boy about her age, seventeen or eighteen she guessed, with white hair on his head, and about the same height as she was. He wore a blue track suit and looked like he'd been running or something recently. Karin's face was streaked with tears.
"Um, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt," he said, looking over where Yuzu stood, her hands crossed on her chest.
Karin swallowed, angrily wiping away the traitorous tears from her face and seeing that there was another boy with him. "Yeah, um, Karin Kurosaki," she said sighing. "That's my sister Yuzu. We…just got into town. Starting at SU this fall," she said, sighing, watching as the other boy, a blonde-haired boy with vivid purple eyes.
"Tōshirō Hitsugaya, and this is my friend, Wonderweiss Margela. We go to SU too. I'm astronomy," he said, smiling at her. "Wonderweiss is going to be a vet. He's got a thing for caring for animals, even if he doesn't talk much."
Karin smiled back. "I'm astronomy too, well and Soccer."
Wonderweiss smiled, and Yuzu thought he had a goofy grin, but it was sweet. "Hi," he said, waving at them.
Tōshirō looked at him and back to Karin. "He doesn't talk a lot, unless you are getting him talking about his miniature donkey," he said, smiling.
Yuzu then realized that Wonderweiss was indeed leading a tiny four-legged creature, obviously, the miniature donkey. She squealed, surprising everyone present and went over to kneel beside the little spotted donkey. "What's its name?"
"She's Fura," Wonderweiss said with a smile at her interest in his pet.
"So cute!" Yuzu said, petting her for a minute.
"She goes most places with me," he said, smiling at her.
Karin tried to smile, but she couldn't quite do it. She swallowed, tossing the ball up in the air a few times to collect herself.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Tōshirō asked, looking at her.
Karin bit her lip, shaking her head. "It's complicated, and…I don't know what to do."
Tōshirō nodded. "Complicated or not, do what is right, you know?" he said.
Karin nodded. "Yeah, I guess so, doesn't make it easier," she said, looking back toward the ocean motel they'd left in the distance.
-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
By the end of the day, Ichigo had gone through more lessons than Nnoitra had expected. He was honestly impressed by how easily he was picking up the skills he'd missed. He was obviously very intelligent, and seemed to absorb information like a sponge, always wanting more. There had been several times when they'd had to stop and Nnoitra would have to look up information online about something that Ichigo wanted to know more about. He was quite frankly more than impressed, he was amazed. About five, Isshin had let them know that Ichigo's sisters were coming at dinner time, and Nnoitra had to get him ready for that.
"Alright, Chiquito," he said, Ichigo looking up from intently reading about his latest curiosity, anatomy and physiology. He'd already spent thirty minutes looking at charts and explanations of what different organs did inside the body.
"Dinner time, we'll continue this tomorrow," he said, closing the lid on the laptop. Ichigo looked upset. "But…there's so much…I just wanna finish that one page…" he said, frowning at him.
"Oi, none of that Chiquito. You have to eat and rest, that's all there is to it. Also, Gin came back and brought some clothes for you," he said, smiling at him.
Gin had come back, dropping off a few shopping bags with clothes and a few other items, and leaving again after talking in hushed tones to Kira for a minute. Nnoitra was curious, but he'd have to wait until he came back for more than five minutes. He steered Ichigo into their room where he'd dumped the bags out and laid out all the clothes.
"Pick out what you like," Nnoitra said.
Ichigo stared at the assortment and couldn't do that. "I don't know…just…can you pick it out? I…I don't…" he stammered looking like he was completely overwhelmed.
"Okay, Chiquito," Nnoitra said, putting his hands on his shoulders and squeezing gently. "Okay, here, let's take this," he said, picking up a pair of athletic shorts with a string, just in case they were loose still. "And this," he said, picking up a pair of underwear. "And this," he said, picking up a plain red t-shirt.
Ichigo nodded, taking the underwear and shorts and putting them on quickly, giving Nnoitra an unintended and clear view of his ass when he did so. Nnoitra groaned internally, sure this boy was going to be the death of him by way of blue balls. He turned though and put the shirt down.
"I don't want that, I want to wear this," he said, crossing his arms over his chest.
Nnoitra wanted to argue that he'd worn the shirt for two days, and it was almost as long on him as his shorts, but he heard the door and knew that his sisters had gotten there. He shook his head and sighed, gesturing for him to come with him. He'd been told already that his sisters were coming, but Nnoitra was afraid it might be too much in the end.
As soon as they got out the door, Ichigo grabbed Nnoitra's hand in both his tightly, seeing the two girls from behind in the living room talking to Isshin. "Come on, Chiquito. I'll be there," he whispered, heading into the living room. Isshin looked up and smiled, seeing Ichigo following Nnoitra, almost trying to hide behind him.
"Ichigo," he said softly as they came in. Both girls could simply not believe that they were seeing their brother. "You remember your sisters? They've gotten big, they were five when you last saw them, they're seventeen now," he said softly.
Ichigo swallowed nervously looking first at the darker haired twin, recognizing Karin vaguely, and then the lighter haired twin, Yuzu, he remembered. She had hair like their mother. He nodded slowly, gripping Nnoitra's hand even harder.
Karin spoke first. "Ichigo…I've…we missed you," she said, trying to smile, but horrified that this was her brother, this broken person before her.
Ichigo nodded. "I…I…missed you too," he said quietly, trying not to look at either of them too long.
Yuzu's tears overflowed them and she couldn't stop herself from going and hugging him. Ichigo froze, eyes going wide as she held him around his chest. He started to panic almost immediately. He tried not to let it happen, but his heartrate skyrocketed, and Nnoitra could feel him trembling. He tried not to move but he shook his head suddenly, gasping and pushing her away, bolting.
"Shit," Nnoitra grumbled, going after him, hoping to get to him before he locked himself in the bathroom. He didn't quite make it, getting there and thumping his head against the door. It was going to be a long night and it just started.