-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
"I want to talk to him one last time before he's taken away," Uryū said softly to Ichigo.
They were sitting on the sofa in the cabin and Uryū and Chad had come to see Ichigo this afternoon. The next weekend, Ichigo and Nnoitra were going to move into the apartment that Isshin had found for them. Chad, as usual, stood aside and let them have their moment together. Ichigo thought he was a good person for that, and he knew that he and Uryū were good for each other.
"Oh. What are you going to tell him?" Ichigo asked, frowning at him. Nnoitra clung to his hand as he sat there.
"Well, I haven't decided yet. I wanted to know if you wanted to go with me and say your peace."
Ichigo looked at him, then glanced at Nnoitra. "It's up to you, Chiquito. If you want to say something before they take him away, you can. You don't have to."
"Won't we see him at the trial?" Ichigo asked, voice slipping out of his little voice into the more serious adult voice.
"We will, but we won't be able to see him one on one. Agent Iba is transporting him to San Diego tomorrow. Today will be our last chance," Uryū told him. "I know I want to tell him something. I thought you might want to, as well."
Ichigo thought about it for a minute. Did he really want to see his uncle again? Did he want to tell him anything before they took him away? What would he even say to him? He found his eyes going back to Nnoitra, wanting desperately to have him tell him what to do so he didn't have to decide. He knew he wouldn't though. This had to be his decision.
"Okay," he said finally. "I'll go too. As long as Papi can be there too."
"I don't know if they'll let him in the room, but I'm sure he can be close by," Uryū explained. He looked over at Chad. "Chad's going too."
A few hours later, Chad drove them all to the police station. The car ride was quiet, and Ichigo had brought his stuffed lion, Kon, with him. He clutched it to his chest in one hand and squeezed Nnoitra's hand in the other. It was kind of squished in the back of Chad's car for Nnoitra, being as tall as he was, but he didn't seem to mind too much.
"What if I can't do it?" Ichigo asked, looking over at Nnoitra.
"Then you don't have to," Nnoitra told him, smiling a little at him.
"I think I can see him again," he said, squeezing Nnoitra's hand tighter. "I can tell him he won't be in my life anymore. I can do that so he knows he can't hurt me anymore. I can do that."
"Whatever you want to do, Ichigo," Uryū told him as they pulled into the station parking lot.
Everyone got out and followed Uryū as he took them to the front desk where he requested to see Agent Iba. They were asked to have a seat on the bench to wait. While they were there, Nnoitra got some strange looks, especially with Ichigo sitting practically in his lap, clutching a stuffed lion. Nnoitra just put an arm around his shoulders and held him as tightly as he could, ignoring the questioning looks. No one seemed to be antagonistic, so that was good. After a while, the dark-haired Iba came out of the back.
"I wasn't sure if you were going to come," he said as he walked up to them.
"I hope it's okay. Ichigo wanted to come with me," Uryū told him as he shook his hand.
Iba nodded. "It's fine. Come with me. We'll have him transferred to an interrogation room. I can't leave the room, but I'll stand to the side."
They got up and followed him to a room with a big window where he left them to go bring Ryūken. Nnoitra put both hands on Ichigo's shoulders and turned him toward him.
"You sure you want to do this? You don't have to," he reminded him.
"I do. Can you hold Kon until I come back out?" he said, passing the animal over to him.
"I'll hold him right here," Nnoitra assured.
They looked up to see Ryūken brought in prison clothes to the room opposite of the window. Ichigo tensed immediately, and Nnoitra squeezed his shoulder. A second later, Iba stepped in the door and nodded at them.
"Alright, you can come in now," he said and Ichigo took a deep breath, walking out with Uryū.
They came into the room and Ichigo wanted to leave as soon as he was near him. But he didn't. He just followed Uryū and sat down at the table across from Ryūken. He glared across at both of them.
"What do you want?" Ryūken asked, staring across at Uryū before he gave Ichigo a glance.
"I wanted to see you before they took you away," Uryū said. "And so did Ichigo."
"I don't see why. You'll be seeing me again at the trial," he commented, sniffing and crossing his arms over his chest.
"We won't be talking to you then," Uryū replied. "And I wanted to say this to you in private."
"Oh, what is it you think you want to say?" he snarled, turning his gaze back on Uryū again.
"I want to tell you that I'm moving on. I'm not going to live in the past like you did. You couldn't leave the past behind you, and it was what was your undoing. If you had just been able to move on from my mother's death, you would have been so much better. Instead, you clung to her memory and warped it into something sadistic and horrible, and both Ichigo and I suffered for it," Uryū told him, voice not wavering in the least.
Ichigo found he couldn't look at him, so he stared at his hands. He really wished he had Kon, but he'd have time to cuddle him and Nnoitra later. Right now, he had to be an adult and couldn't escape into his little space. At least, not yet. When they got back, he would probably spend the rest of the night in it, and maybe the next day as they got moved. He wasn't sure how exactly he was going to feel when this was over.
"You blame me for what he did to us?" Ryūken said, staring at Ichigo for a moment before turning back to Uryū.
"Ichigo did nothing to us. He was a nine-year-old boy. He wasn't the one that stiffed his dealer and got a hit put out on my mother. That was you. She was going to die, but your negligence got Ichigo's mother killed as well. It wasn't enough that you caused one death, you caused two," Uryū pointed out to him.
"If we hadn't been at the beach—" he started.
"It didn't matter where! That man was going to kill Mom one way or another! Because of you!" Uryū snapped.
Ryūken stared at him for a minute, then snorted. "Well, Masaki wouldn't have been killed if we hadn't been at the beach that day."
Ichigo almost lost it then. He swallowed hard and tried not to let the tears come. He didn't want to give Ryūken the pleasure of seeing him cry over it.
"Don't do that. You want to put the blame on someone, put it on yourself," Uryū said, reaching over and taking Ichigo's hand and holding it tightly. "You got them murdered and you have tried for years to blame anyone but yourself. It's time to stop."
Now, Ryūken did turn his attention to Ichigo. "So, are you taking care of him?"
Uryū narrowed his eyes at Ryūken. "No one is taking care of him. He can take care of himself."
"Can he? After this short a time? He can live on his own?" Ryūken asked with a glance between them. "I don't buy it."
"I have Nnoitra," Ichigo said suddenly, lifting his head and staring at him. "No matter what you say, I have someone that loves me, and that I love now. I also have my father who you kept away from me all those years and he loves me too. I have my sisters and I have Uryū, too. So, I don't have to be alone. You had no right to do what you did. And I know that now."
Ryūken snorted again. "You'll never be independent."
"Because of you!" Uryū snapped suddenly, getting Ryūken's attention on him again. "You took a little boy and closed him up for twelve fucking years, Ryūken! You took his entire childhood away from him, and you don't feel the least bit sorry about it even now."
"You were there too. I didn't see you telling anyone about it until recently. You knew just as long as he was there," Ryūken told him.
"Don't do that!" Ichigo said sharply, getting Ryūken to turn back to him. "Don't you blame Uryū for what happened. You made him scared to even say anything. You made him do things to me. You did all of that, and it wasn't his fault at all!"
A silence settled over them for a moment until Ryūken scoffed and turned away from them. "You're both worthless. You always have been, and you always will be."
"The only worthless one here is you, Ryūken," Uryū said, voice with a sharp edge to it. "You couldn't escape the past and it was your undoing. You brought yourself down by pushing things too far."
Ryūken didn't say anything else, he merely looked away from them again.
Ichigo cleared his throat and spoke up. "What you did, there is no way I'll ever forgive you Uncle," he said clearly. "I did everything you wanted me to do. I watched as you broke Uryū down so many times over the years I as there. And then you finally pushed things too far and Uryū couldn't be quiet anymore."
"It took being rough with you to make him do something?" Ryūken growled out at him. "If you knew how to keep your mouth shut, it would have been fine."
"Fine? You were sexually abusing him, and you want to say that was fine?" Uryū said, shaking his head at him. "You pushed it too far, yes. I'll never forgive myself for not seeing you for the terrible person that you are."
"Whatever it takes to make you feel better," Ryūken commented, sniffing at them.
"We'll be at the trial and we'll tell them everything that you did. You won't get away with any of this, I promise you that," Uryū told him.
"We'll see. I bet when they put you on the stand, you won't be able to say a word, and him," he said and narrowed his eyes at Ichigo. "I doubt he'll be able to say anything either."
"You'll see," Ichigo said with a stiff nod. "You'll see that I can tell them the truth. And so can Uryū. You took his voice away once, but you won't do it again. And now I have people that are behind me, and so do Uryū. You can't take that away anymore. You can't do whatever you like and have us do whatever you want us to do. Not anymore."
"I'm ready to go back to my cell," Ryūken said and stared behind them at Iba. "There's little reason to talk to them anymore. This was a farce to start with."
"It is not," Uryū said, standing up. "You don't control us anymore. You can't touch us anymore, and you'll pay for what you did. We'll make sure of it."
Ichigo stood up and followed Uryū out of the room and into the other part where Nnoitra and Chad waited.
"Chiquito, are you okay?" Nnoitra asked as soon as they came in. Ichigo stared at him a moment then took a deep breath and burst into tears, wiping at his eyes with the back of both hands.
Nnoitra walked over an wrapped both arms around him, pulling him into his chest tightly, He pushed the stuffed lion into his hands and he clutched it between them as he let the tears go. Uryū watched from the doorway, his own face stricken.
"It didn't matter to him. He had no remorse, not a bit," Uryū whispered.
Chad walked over and reached for his hands. "That's his problem. He's miserable and behind bars. You don't have to deal with him anymore."
Uryū took a shaky breath and squeezed both of Chad's hands. "It just would have been nice if he'd taken any responsibility for what happened. He still won't, and still puts it on Ichigo."
Ichigo's heart ached and deep down, he did blame himself. Maybe not as much for Uryū's mother's death, but for his own mother's. If they hadn't been there that day, maybe they both wouldn't have been killed by the guy that shot them. It would always be at the back of his mind, no matter how much time passed and how much he healed. There was always going to be that speck of doubt in his mind.
"Bebé, are you okay?" Nnoitra asked quietly as he held onto him.
"I'm okay. Just was hard seeing him again," he responded and leaned back, still clutching Kon and wiping his eyes with his other hand. "I was scared, but I did it anyway."
"I know, you did wonderfully, Chiquito. Just wonderful." Nnoitra caressed his head and smiled at him.
Iba came into the room. "Alright, he's been taken back to lock up. I can show you back out to the front," he said.
Ichigo and Uryū nodded, grabbing onto Nnoitra and Chad as they followed Iba out of the room. No one commented on their closeness, but even if they had, it wouldn't have mattered. Ichigo was quiet as they got back in the car and Chad drove them back to the cabin again.
"I'm going to Chad's for tonight," Uryū said as they parked. "If you need me, text me from Nnoitra's phone, okay?"
Ichigo nodded. "Okay, Uryū. I'll see you soon," he said as he got out of the car.
Nnoitra took Ichigo's hand and led them back into the cabin. They both sat down on the sofa and Nnoitra rubbed Ichigo's back.
"Are you really okay?" he asked.
Ichigo shook his head. "Not really."
"That's alright, you know. It's okay to not be okay right now," Nnoitra told him.
He turned and looked up at him. "Can we go lay down together? I need to be little for a while and I wanna snuggle," he said softly, voice changing a bit in tone as he did so.
"Of course," Nnoitra said and stood up, taking him by the hand and leading him back to the bedroom.
-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
Chad had invited Uryū to come to the annual craft fair at the free school. He'd gone to visit and volunteered to help a few other times over the last couple weeks, and in an effort to let Uryū do something normal, he wanted to have him come along.
"I don't know. I've just been there a few times," Uryū said as they came up to the school.
His hand was nestled inside Chad's bigger hand, like it was most times when they were out. They had ended up spending the night together accidently a few days before when things went further than a few stolen kisses, in an extremely rapid fashion. Since then, Uryū had been staying off and on with him and Renji. Chad had his own apartment, so it was easy enough to stay with him. As was expected, their discussions about their relationship had been short and rather vague. Chad was one to show his interest with actions instead of words. Uryū didn't mind one bit, though, because it was nice for a change to not be the one taking care of someone. Years of worry over Ichigo had made it hard for Uryū to relax, but Chad seemed to make it easy for him.
"You'll enjoy it," Chad remarked as they went into the school. "The kids all worked hard."
Uryū nodded as they came into the decorated hallways. It looked like someone had gone through a lot of effort to make the place look amazing for the fair. He smiled as they walked in to see the first student's booth. Booths were separated by type of craft and each student stood nearby their table and art pieces. This first one was one he could appreciate: sewn handicrafts. There were various small stuffed animals and blankets and various other fabric pieces. Beside the table, the girl with the pink hair was standing, smiling broadly. He'd seen her a few times but couldn't remember her name. Chad didn't bother to let go of his hand, though, and she was grinning at them.
They walked on to the next booth which had artwork on canvases displayed. There were all kinds of pictures, from still life to realistic portraits. Uryū was impressed by the variety of art there was on display there. The next booth was all knitting and crochet. There were hats, scarves, and one large blanket. It was quite impressive. There were also some stuffed animals and other small creations out of yarn. Next, there was a booth where they were displaying embroidery. This one was a bit smaller, but it still had some nice embroidered pieces on display. Then they came to the book Lilynette was standing next to. Uryū vaguely recognized her with her green hair. She had a TV with a computer attached to it set up and was playing various footage she had taken.
"Look, there's Grimmjow," Chad commented as they came to a wider table with what was obviously arts and crafts done by the smaller children in the school.
Uryū immediately saw the little Nel clutching her Bawabawa to her chest. She came over to them immediately, leaving Grimmjow to follow her.
"Sad boy!" she exclaimed with a grin. "You don't look sad no more!"
Uryū felt his cheeks heat up a little and he shook his head. "No, I'm okay now."
"That good. No Itsygo?" she said, frowning as she looked around.
"He didn't feel like getting out tonight," Uryū told her.
She sighed heavily. "I wanted to see Itsygo."
Grimmjow patted her on the back. "I'm sure you'll get to see him soon. It isn't like he's leaving town or anything. He's just moving to a new apartment this weekend."
Nel turned to look at him. "Itsygo and his Papi are gonna leave our place?"
"I'm afraid so, but they'll come back and see you, I'm sure," he said gently, smiling at her.
"Okay," she said, but didn't look sure. She then wandered off toward the other booths. Grimmjow waved to them as he took off after her before she got lost in the crowd.
They turned to make their way down the other side of the booths. This time coming to one with woodcrafts that were painted in various colors. There were jewelry boxes, other small boxes, and some small wooden shapes painted like animals. The next craft booth was handmade baskets. Uryū was impressed at some of the handiwork that was put into them. After that booth, there was a booth with hand drawn sketches and drawings in pencil and pen. There were plenty of different types of drawings from landscapes to portraits again. The final booth they came to was a display where students who wrote poetry had printed it out and put it on decorative mats and with fancy scripting. It seemed that the school encouraged all kinds of arts and crafts among their students.
Uryū and Chad were walking back toward the door when Uryū nearly ran into someone in the middle of the hall. He looked up to see a familiar face.
"Dr. Unohana!" Uryū exclaimed, seeing the doctor standing with an absolutely mountainous man with black hair. With them were a shorter dark-haired young man and the girl with pink hair from earlier.
"Oh, Uryū, nice to see you," she said as she turned a soft smile on him. "I guess you've already met Yachiru," she said, pointing at the rather short pink-haired girl.
"I saw you with Mr. Chad!" she said with a grin. Again, Uryū wondered how old she could possibly be. She looked so much younger than the other high school students.
Uryū glance over to see Chad was still talking to Lilynette. "Ah, yes, we're here together."
"Well, this is my husband, Kenpachi Zaraki, and my son, Hanataro," she said, gesturing to the tall man, then the younger one.
"Oh, nice to meet you both," Uryū said and nodded at them. "You certainly have a unique family," he said, not sure if it was appropriate or not.
"Yes, we're definitely what you'd call unique," she said with a smile. "Ken is my second husband. My first was Hanataro's father."
"Ah," Uryū said, understanding now why they looked nothing alike. "And Yachiru?" he said, glancing at her. She was turned around talking to someone else and not paying attention.
"We adopted her as a child. She has an interesting growth disorder which is why she's so small," she continued.
Uryū looked at Hanataro who looked decidedly out of place. "Do you go to school?" he asked.
He smiled hesitantly and nodded. "Medical school," he explained.
"Do you see your biological father?" Uryū wondered out loud then looked a little shocked at himself for asking. "I'm sorry, you don't have to answer that. Just, with all the family stuff I've had going on, I find it interesting to see how families come together."
"It's fine," Unohana said with a gentle smile. "Hanataro's father is an interesting sort. We were both from traditional Japanese families, and the marriage was arranged. He had some ideas on how wealthy men were supposed to act; ideas that were not good for a lasting marriage. He was cold and intimidating to everyone besides his family, and then, after Hanataro was born, he barely stayed around." She put an arm around her son. "He expected Hanataro to grow up and be like him, but that was never going to work."
"I have social anxiety," Hanataro said nervously. "And I wanted to be in medicine, not business like him."
"What finally led to you leaving him?" Uryū asked, interested in the story now.
Unohana sighed a little. "He was seeing other women. He claimed it was expected of him as a wealthy man to see other women, and his wife was just to produce an heir. I asked what he would do if I cheated on him, and he said he wouldn't stand for it. We tried for a little while, but in the end, we divorced, and I took full custody of Hanataro. He wasn't very interested in fighting me on the custody anyway."
Kenpachi put a hand on her shoulder. "We should keep moving so we can see all the booths," he said in a deep voice.
Uryū just kind of stared at him as he turned with the doctor and left to go back down the lines of booths. He jumped a little when Chad took his hand again. He turned and smiled up at him, his presence still calming him of any nerves he might have had.
"Want to walk down the beach?" he asked.
Uryū nodded. "Yeah, that would be nice," he said.
They exited the school and walked down the path to the beach where the sun was setting in the west. It was all in all a lovely view. Chad squeezed his hand and Uryū looked down at where they were connected. Was this what it meant? To be connected with another person? Was it so simple as just to find someone you wanted to be with, that you wanted to love, and you wanted to love you? He sighed and stare at the sun again.
"Don't think too much on it, Uryū," Chad said and moved to put his arm about his shoulders. "It is what it is, and for now, it is us together."
Uryū nodded, reaching up and placing his hand over Chad's. "I'm glad," he whispered.
-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
Ichigo's excitement was infectious as they got ready to move to the apartment. Nnoitra had gone with Isshin the day before and picked up the keys to the place. Today, the movers were going to his parents' house to get his bed, his dresser, and an old couch they had stored in one of the sheds. They had other things they would need to get, but for a start, it would be fine. Isshin had bought them a TV and a TV stand for their little living room, and his parents had told him they would order barstools for the counter they had. The place was small and had no dining room, but they didn't really need that much room. It had two small bedrooms, so Nnoitra would set up his computer in one of them so Ichigo would be able to continue with all of his schoolwork.
Now, Ichigo was excitedly bouncing from foot to foot because they were going to meet the movers at the apartment in a few minutes.
"I can't believe we're going to have a home, Papi!" he said as Nnoitra packed up the last of their things that were in the cabin. "Just for us and no one else!"
Nnoitra smiled again and nodded. He checked the room again, making sure he'd gotten everything. He had the two toy bags which he was going to carry personally, just so no one got any ideas and started snooping about. He shouldered the CPAP case and Ichigo grabbed the laptop bag with both hands.
"Can you carry that, Chiquito?" Nnoitra asked and saw the slight blush cross his cheeks.
"I have it, Papi." He smiled broadly and came out of the bedroom where Isshin was waiting. "We're ready!" Ichigo announced.
Isshin was standing by the door. "I took the girls over already, so they'll help you get everything set up. We went to the grocery store last night, and the girls might have gotten a few things for your kitchen, so I hope you don't mind what they picked out. They really wanted to help get you guys set up."
"I'm sure it will be perfect," Nnoitra said, adjusting the bags he was carrying to make certain they didn't come open, especially the one bag.
He noted that Isshin's glance lingered a bit too long on the bags and he wondered if the man hadn't found out what was inside them while Ichigo was in the hospital. He hadn't said anything, but then, what could he say? His son was an adult and consenting. In fact, most the time, Ichigo was the aggressor and Nnoitra had to calm him down. He still had nightmares, though, no matter what they did, those didn't seem to go away.
They followed Isshin out to the car and everyone got in. Nnoitra kept the bags between his knees as he sat in the front seat. Ichigo slid into the back with the laptop bag and took the CPAP bag when Nnoitra handed it back to him.
"Buckle up, Chiquito," Nnoitra reminded him.
Ichigo gasped a little, grabbing the seatbelt and pulling it over himself. Nnoitra shook his head and was reminded how such small things made such a difference to him. Just little things like reminding him to put on a seatbelt, or asking him if something was too heavy, they were all things that appealed to Ichigo's little side. It was a way that their daily life reflected Ichigo's needs, and now that Nnoitra really understood things, he was beginning to enjoy his role even more.
Before long, they pulled in front of a row of apartments. They all had outside entrances, and there were two stories. They had been lucky and gotten a bottom floor place, which they were sure the movers would appreciate quite a bit. As they arrived, they saw the moving truck pulling in and coming toward the apartment.
"You go on inside, Chiquito," Nnoitra told him. "I'll check with the movers and make sure everything is going right."
"Okay, Papi!" Ichigo said and took off into the building.
Isshin watched him go, then looked at Nnoitra. "You're sure that you can handle him alone?"
Nnoitra nodded, smiling a little. "I know our life is a little weird by most people's standards. But that's okay. I can handle whatever he can dish out to me. I know it won't be easy, but that's okay. Something that's good is never easy."
Isshin nodded as they watched the moving truck park. Nnoitra went over and talked to the movers for a minute and then headed into the apartment to find that Ichigo was in the kitchen with both his sisters. They were showing him all the kitchen things they had bought for them. He smiled because he didn't think Ichigo had any idea what most the things they'd bought were, let alone know what to do with them. It was a good thing Nnoitra was used to cooking for his parents.
"They're about to be coming through with the furniture, so watch out, Chiquito," he said, patting Ichigo on the back as he passed through.
For the next three hours, they got the furniture, and everything situated in the apartment. Everything seemed to fit just fine, even if the bed did take up most of the bigger bedroom. Nnoitra knew it would be more comfortable than the double beds at the cabin since his was a California king. He sat the two toy bags in the closet and then went out and helped get things off the truck like the bags of clothes that went into the closet. Ichigo didn't have much yet, but they would expand his wardrobe as he figured out exactly what kind of clothes he actually liked.
They still needed a desk because Nnoitra had left the desktop computer and desk at his parents' house. That was easy enough to order in, though. He knew they would be waiting a few days to get the counter stools. He was sure there would be all sorts of things they would have to buy that they didn't have yet, but he figured between his parents and Isshin, they should be alright to get most of it. His own work at his dad's shop would pay him a steady income, and eventually, if Ichigo wanted, he could get a job. But only if he wanted to. Nnoitra wasn't going to push him on that issue until he was ready. As it was, just going to the store was a major undertaking for him.
Eventually everyone left them alone. Nnoitra collapsed into the old couch and Ichigo immediately curled up on his lap. Everything was quiet and Nnoitra just held him in silence for a long while. He kissed him on the head and then turned his face toward him.
"I have a serious question, Chiquito."
Ichigo's brow scrunched and he looked at him. "What is it, Papi?"
"I got something for you, well, I had Mamá pick it up for me. It's simple and just for now, but I hope you like it," Nnoitra said, fishing in his pocket for the box he was looking for while trying not to dislodge Ichigo from his lap.
Ichigo looked confused but when Nnoitra pulled out a small box and held it up, he stared at it. "Papi?"
"I know it's kinda early. And kinda soon, but you are the single most important thing in my life, mi corazón. I can't think of a time I want to be away from you. So, I thought I'd ask, if you would end up staying with me for a while?" he said and opened the box to show a small silver band.
"Papi, I'll stay with you forever!" Ichigo said and Nnoitra could see the tears in his eyes as he reached out and took the box.
"Good. Then, you'll marry me, mi amor?" he asked as he plucked the ring out of the box and took Ichigo's hand to slide it onto his finger.
Ichigo let the tears fall that were glistening in his eyes and he nodded, unable to speak for a minute. After a few minutes of staring at his hand he looked up at Nnoitra. "Of course, I will. I love you so much and I always will!"
Nnoitra smiled leaning forward and kissing him soundly, eventually finding himself with a writhing body on his lap. He smiled and whispered, "Let's try out our bed."
Ichigo hopped up and grabbed him by the hand and pulled him toward the bedroom door. "Come on, Papi. Play with me!"
"Oh, I'm gonna play with you alright," he muttered as he was led into the room.