The lunatic is in my head
The lunatic is in my head
You raise the blade, you make the change
You rearrange me 'til I'm sane
You lock the door
And throw away the key
There's someone in my head but it's not me.
-Brain Damage, Pink Floyd
"The hell, Renji!" Rukia exclaimed after bumping into him.
Renji stood there staring, still frozen at the sight before him, mouth hanging open. "I don't fuckin' believe it," he muttered quietly.
Rukia sighed as she closed the manga she had been reading with a snap. She moved to walk around the big oaf to see for herself what was making the idiot act so stupidly. Rukia was pleasantly surprised when she saw the two humans sleeping comfortably with one another. Ichigo looked adorable cuddled up against Orihime. She smiled a moment before scoffing, "Took the idiot long enough."
"Huh?" Snapping out of it, Renji asked confused and looked over at Rukia. "I thought…" He trailed off when he felt her reiatsu shift suddenly.
"Not you too," Rukia groaned. She turned to face him, blood pressure rising rapidly after seeing the look on Renji's face. "The whole of Seireitei is pathetic! Men are idiots!" Rukia ranted loudly as she stomped off.
"Rukiaaaaa…" Renji whined as he turned to follow her. He paused a moment to catch a second glimpse of Ichigo to make sure he wasn't seeing things. A smile grew on Renji's face before he continued after the girl.
Orihime felt like she was floating on cloud nine as she began to stir. She attempted to stretch but something wrapped tightly around her kept her in place. Orihime opened her eyes to see what was going on and noticed something very warm pressed up firmly behind her. A squeak escaped her lips as Ichigo tightened his hold on her and pulled her back flush against him, nuzzling into her neck.
Something was pressing against her butt and the previous night suddenly came rushing back into her mind when she realized exactly what it was. Adrenaline spread quickly, eyes snapped open, and she was suddenly wide awake. Her mind surged with a million different thoughts, 'This is perfectly natural for guys in the morning. Nothing to be embarrassed about. Should I wake him up? I don't want to embarrass him. He probably needs to sleep anyways. Did that really happen last night? I don't think it was a dream. He had one of those last night too though… His hollow-' Orihime's thoughts were cut off when Ichigo ground his hips against her and let out a contented sigh in his sleep. A shudder ran through her body as his breath fanned across her neck, melting her completely.
Orihime attempted to shift around to face him, but he wasn't letting her go anywhere- asleep or not. "Ano… Kurosaki-kun?" she asked in a daze.
Ichigo cracked an eyelid. "Mmm… Mornin'." He mumbled against her neck, voice rough with sleep.
Orihime relaxed and leaned back against him until she felt him begin to press feather light kisses along her neck. After a few moments she let out a shaky breath. As soon as she angled her neck to give him better access, he stopped. "What I don't get a good morning?" he asked, clearing her hair out of the way.
Orihime let out a small groan as his finger ran across her neck. "Uhh… Good Morn-aaahhh!" Ichigo interrupted with a soft bite to her neck, dragging his finger down to lazily draw patterns down her side, over her hips, and across her stomach, making her skin tingle in its wake. He'd been awake less than a minute and his touch was already driving her crazy…
"Sorry, didn't quite catch that," Ichigo teased.
Orihime gathered herself, rolling over to face him. She looked up at him, trying to carefully imprint every detail into her memory. Sunlight poured from the window to backlight his unkempt, vivid orange hair. Half-lidded chocolate eyes gazed back down at her in amusement. Lazy smile began to grow larger as she stared. She returned the smile before slowly pressing a kiss to his lips. "Good morning," she said cheerfully.
"Mmm.. Good morning." Ichigo tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. Orihime rested her head against his chest, feeling a pair of arms wrap around her. It was all still so surreal.
"So… We didn't get much of a chance to talk last night," Orihime mumbled against his chest.
"Yea."
"Sorry it's just all a little sudden," she admitted, shyly looking up to his face.
"It's not a bad thing is it?" he asked, hugging her closer.
"No, no. Nothing like that. I was just surprised… I… I…" All this and she still couldn't tell him. He pulled her up into another soft kiss. She froze for a moment before melting into the kiss and moving her lips against his.
"Good." He replied, smiling brightly after pulling away slightly. Seeing that smile was all Orihime needed to feel at ease, a rush of happiness flowed through her and she smiled back at him. They both felt a nearby reiatsu flare, Ichigo's eyebrows came together before asking, "Is that Rukia?"
"The other group must have arrived."
Orihime looked at Ichigo, confusion written across her face as he busted out laughing. Seeing her face, he explained, "I wonder what Renji said to piss her off this time."
"There are probably some new patients I need to tend to…" Orihime admitted reluctantly.
"We're the only ones left sleeping, probably time to get up," he agreed, sitting up and gathering his things.
Orihime tucked her hairpins into place, slipped on some socks, and began to tie her tennis shoes as Ichigo fastened his waraji. It's not that she hadn't worn shihakusho before or that she disliked the uniform, it was actually quite comfortable. Orihime just felt awkward wearing them since she wasn't a shinigami. She knew by some of the looks that she had received, some of the shinigami felt the same way. At first it had felt odd to be wearing modern clothes amongst a sea of black, but she quickly became accustomed to it. Recently she had started wearing black and other dark-colored shirts with her pants so she didn't stand out as easily from the shinigami she always seemed to be surrounded by. Not so much for personal reasons, but tactical ones. She didn't know exactly when it happened but at some point the enemy had began actively seeking her out, so she did her best not to draw attention to herself in any way possible. Ichigo stood and strapped his zanpakutou onto his back before the two headed out, silently walking side by side.
Ichigo barely stopped the thin, white zanpakutou from slicing his neck as he materialized inside his inner world. "Damnit! I told you to stop doing that!" Ichigo yelled as he pushed the sword away with his own.
"Come on, come on, come on! I wanna fight!"
Ichigo rolled his eyes at the hollow's excessive enthusiasm, not that he could blame him- it had been days since they had fought. "Okay, I get it. I'll fight you if you'll quit attacking me the moment I start to appear."
The hollow just grinned, eyes gleaming with excitement as he lunged towards Ichigo. They exchanged several blows before the hollow landed a shallow cut across Ichigo's chest. The hollow backed off a little and inhaled deeply through his nose before taunting Ichigo, "That was pathetic, Aibou. I know you can do better than that. Focus."
Ichigo touched the wound and stared at the blood that coated the tips of his fingers, captivated. "I'm pathetic? This is barely a scratch. You've lost your touch," Ichigo retorted, flash-stepping behind the hollow.
"You'll need much more than this to land a scratch on me," the hollow growled as he blocked the strike. Their eyes met for a moment as the hollow peered over his shoulder. Taking advantage of Ichigo's distraction, he kicked Ichigo in the side, causing him to crash into a nearby building. Ichigo groaned as he began to extricate himself from the building before being kicked back down. "Pa-the-tic~" the hollow sang, foot firmly planted on Ichigo's chest.
"Well, excuse me. I wasn't planning on a spar the moment I got here," Ichigo gritted out, shifting and kicking the hollow off of him. Ichigo grabbed his sword and flash-stepped next to the hollow midair. He slashed at the hollow, but only managed to barely graze his cheek. The hollow landed upright several feet away from Ichigo.
"That's a bit better," the hollow said, catching the blood that rolled down his cheek with his long blue tongue. "Still nowhere near finished, though," he said with a smile before firing off a quick getsuga.
They sparred for another hour before either of them started to tire at all. The endorphins from the physical activity was still rushing through them as they smiled at one another, slightly sweaty with blood trailing down their skin, coating white and orange hair, and staining their ripped clothes from the small cuts they had sustained. Neither held back, but they hadn't managed to seriously injure the other either.
The hollow was content with the sparring session and opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again when a thought popped into his head. Ichigo cocked his head at the hollow's action before he found himself suddenly tackled to the ground by the hollow. Ichigo froze as the hollow lapped up a trail of blood on his neck.
"Get off me you freak!" Ichigo sputtered, trying to push the albino off.
"Come on, Aibou," the hollow purred, "you owe me for last night."
Ichigo's eyes went wide at the hollows words. "W-What?" he stuttered. "This is what you had in mind when you said that?"
"Not necessarily… But we both know you've been feeling a little… tense since this morning." The hollow teased, sliding a hand down Ichigo's chest.
"Why can't you just leave me alone," Ichigo muttered. "Wasn't making out with Orihime enough?"
"Nope! I even I let you take over. I'm just a nice guy like that." The hollow joked.
"Nice guys don't molest people," Ichigo huffed.
The albino scowled and pushed off the teen. "I didn't even get to do what I really wanted, so stop acting like I didn't do all of that for you!" the hollow yelled, pointing a finger at Ichigo before turning around and laying down several feet away.
A blush spreads across Ichigo's face as he tried to rationalize the hollows actions last night, 'But…'
"Why?" the hollow supplied. Ichigo nodded, standing up and taking a few steps towards the hollow. "It was painfully obvious neither of you were going to do anything to make yourselves happy."
Ichigo was completely confused. This was new territory for the hollow. 'He really cares? About something other than fighting? It's not just about sex either… How is that possible…? He doesn't even have a heart, does he?'
"Fuck Aibou, I don't even know anymore," the hollow replied to the others thoughts. "I don't have a heartbeat but it's not like I have a hole in my chest either."
Ichigo belatedly noticed that he hadn't spoken any of that. The hollow was responding to his thoughts alone.
"No shit, Sherlock. To be honest I'm a little surprised you can't read mine." A grin spread across the hollows face and he turned toward the teen. "You are a baka king though, so I should have seen it coming." Ichigo growled at the hollow as he stood up to stare at Ichigo heatedly. "Nope. Definitely can't read my thoughts," the hollow replied with a grin.
'How are you doing it?' Ichigo asked the hollow via thought.
"I dunno. Are you sure you want to know what I'm thinking?" The hollow challenged.
Ichigo scowled, disliking where the hollow was heading with this. "I don't know. What are we going to do about Orihime though?"
"It's not the Princess I'm concerned with right now, King," he informed Ichigo. A split second later he was in front of Ichigo, gripping his chin.
Ichigo didn't know what to think. He had just had his first kiss last night and he really liked Orihime, but apparently so did his hollow. His hollow continued to hit on him even after last night. If his hollow was acting like this, did that make him gay?
"I'm pretty sure you're not gay if you like girls too. I'm pretty sure you humans refer to that as being bi-sexual," his hollow informed him, tilting his head to the side. "You're definitely curious," he mused, stroking his thumb across Ichigo's cheek. "You still haven't made up your mind about whether or not you want me to succeed in this little scheme of mine though..."
"What? Who says I'm curious?" Ichigo huffed, trying to break away from the albino. The hollow gripped Ichigo's hip and pulled Ichigo firmly against him. Ichigo froze and adrenaline raced through his veins. The hollow wasn't cold like Ichigo thought he would be. Quite the opposite, heat seemed to emanate from the hollow's body even through his shihakusho.
"We do," The hollow whispered into Ichigo's ear, simultaneously grabbing Ichigo's ass and nibbling a spot on Ichigo's neck the hollow knew was sensitive. Ichigo let out a sound half way between a surprised yell and a moan, arcing into the hollow's touch. The hollow smirked against Ichigo's neck before moving to bite Ichigo's earlobe. "Mmmm. See?" the hollow whispered. "That wasn't so bad now was it? Glad we're on the same page now, Aibou."
Ichigo pulled back to look his hollow in the eyes. Uncertain brown eyes stared into white on black once again. His hollow looked so similar to himself, yet so different at the same time. His snow white hair and pale skin contrasted vividly with the black sclera. White iris and black pupils only served to contrast even more.
"Don't forget the blue tongue," the hollow interjected as he licked his lips. He watched hungrily as Ichigo's eyes intently followed the action.
"That's really annoying you know," Ichigo grumbled.
"Nah. You just need to learn how to do it, and then you'll understand the benefits," the hollow explained, wasting no time in palming Ichigo's half-hard cock through his hakama. The hollow hummed in pleasure as Ichigo jumped in surprise.
"You can be so amusing sometimes, King. Just relax," the hollow purred.
His eyes grew to comic proportions as the hollow leaned in, intent on finishing what he had tried to start last time.
Ichigo could tell this kiss was different than the one with Orihime. He couldn't quite pinpoint what it was but there was some sort of weird electricity going on. Whatever it was, it felt absolutely incredible. Ichigo let his eyes close. He returned the kiss and the strange sensation increased. Ichigo let out a moan allowing the hollow to sneak his tongue inside to play with Ichigo's. His tongue caressed Ichigo's, goading him into playing along. Their tongues wrestled for dominance as Ichigo tried to pin down what it was he was feeling. It was almost similar to the feeling you get when you try to get two magnets of the same polarity together. Instead of letting the two repel away from the other, they were forced to stay as close as possible resulting in sparks igniting between the two.
The hollow pulled back after a moment. "I know, King… I know," the hollow commented between pants. Still caressing Ichigo's now rock hard cock through his hakama, the hollow pressed his own erection into Ichigo's thigh. A strange sensation simultaneously surged through Ichigo's dick as the hollow did that.
'What the hell was that?'
The hollow smirked. "See, you're almost getting it."
"Huh?" Ichigo asked dazedly.
The hollow sighed in mild irritation. He stopped stroking Ichigo's dick and ground against Ichigo once more.
'There's that strange sensation again. It's almost as if…'
"There ya go." The hollow purred.
Ichigo looked up at the hollow, releasing the white shihakusho he hadn't realized he'd been gripping and shyly ran his finger down the hollow's neck, shivering when he felt a strange tingling sensation on his own skin. "The fuck?"
The hollow ignored him and bit down hard on Ichigo's neck. They both let out a groan. Ichigo froze when his hollow went to untie Ichigo's hakama.
"It feels good, don't it? Quit thinkin' so much and enjoy it." The hollow scolded, dropping Ichigo's hakama to the floor and removing any other impeding cloth.
"But-"
The hollow cut Ichigo off with a kiss as he wrapped his hand around the base of Ichigo's cock. He slowly stroked upwards, Ichigo's eyes fluttered closed as the sensation overwhelmed his brain. The hollow continued the motion until he couldn't contain himself any longer. His other hand quickly ripped off his own pants, freeing himself and grasping himself to pump his cock in time along with Ichigo's.
"Uuugghhnnnn," Ichigo groaned as the sensation nearly doubled. The hollow smirked and Ichigo opened his eyes, burning with desire. He used his other hand to grab the back of the hollows neck as Ichigo pulled him down into rough kiss. Ichigo ran his other hand down the hollow's chest, over his belly button, through white curls, replacing the hollow's hand and stroking pale cock, gradually speeding up to match the pace of the hollow's hand. Ichigo was little unsure of what he was doing and why, but he was fiercely determined not to let the hollow do all the work.
It was the hollow's turn to groan as Ichigo nipped his lip, shyly darted his tongue out to run it across soft white lips. He could tell that they were both already very close to cumming. Ichigo's lips slowly came to a standstill as the pleasure began to completely distract him. He let his head fall to the hollow's shoulder and let out an unsteady breath. "Ffff.. Fuck." Somehow his hand had gone on auto-pilot, continuing to push them towards the edge.
The hollow let out a strangled groan, bucking into Ichigo's hand as he came. Ichigo followed shortly after, pressing his head into the hollows chest and letting out an unsteady breath. "Shit! Ichi…" the hollow moaned as a second wave of ecstasy ran through him, burying his face in Ichigo's soft spiky orange hair and inhaling deeply. 'Huh. Doesn't smell like strawberries.' The hollow's half-conscious thoughts wandered.
Ichigo let out a tired laugh. "'Course I don't smell like strawberries, dumbass."
The hollow chuckled. "Nah, I guess that'd be too cliché, huh?"
"Uruse," Ichigo grumbled, closing his eyes and leaning against the hollow sleepily.
Ignoring the mess, the hollow wrapped an arm around Ichigo and let himself fall back against the building. Ichigo was slightly startled by the action until he realized they were bouncing up and down against the building as if it were a mattress.
"Gotta sleep somewhere, don't I?" the hollow muttered. Ichigo suddenly felt a wave of sympathy for the hollow rush through him. The hollow spent all his time cooped up inside the inner world filled with nothing but buildings, clouds, rain, and a solitary zanpakutou. Ichigo realized that it was probably the first time the hollow had done anything sexual with anyone.
Then he realized that he himself had just had his first sexual experience.
With a guy.
And it was… amazing…
Ichigo's head bounced slightly on the hollows chest as the hollow chuckled and pressed a kiss to Ichigo's head. "Just sleep, stupid."
Ichigo smiled lazily and cuddled up against the hollow, letting his hollows warmth drag him off to sleep.
Sometime later, Ichigo woke up and realized he needed to get back to the real world. He had no idea how long he had been in here or how long he had slept. He carefully extracted himself from the hollow's arms, noting how cute the hollow could be when he was sleeping and not trying to kill him. Ichigo let a smile spread across his face before disappearing from his inner world, completely missing the look Zangetsu was giving them as he rolled his eyes.
Ichigo's eyes fluttered open and stared at the small black sword sitting across his lap for several moments before grabbing it and standing. He released his bankai, wrapped the sword up, and strapped it across his back.
"Took you long enough," Renji commented, leaning against a nearby tree. "What were you doin' in there? Having a party?"
Ichigo froze. He had completely forgotten that Renji had also been mediating. His face heated with embarrassment and hoped Renji didn't notice anything strange. "No..." Ichigo replied, not turning to face the red head.
"I finished about half an hour ago. Come on. Let's go get some lunch! I'm starved." Renji called to him, already on his way to the dining area.
'Damn perverted hollow.' Ichigo thought to himself as he turned to follow Renji.
"Quit whining! You look gorgeous."
"I don't know Kuchiki-san… Don't you think kimonos are a little overkill for the party? Why do you even have these with you?"
"Psh. We were going on a lengthy mission with Kyouraku-taichou and I actually had time to pack for once. Just be grateful I packed you one, Orihime. And call me Rukia, I've already told you a hundred times."
"Ah, gomen. Arigatou, Rukia-chan."
"Don't apologize!" Rukia scolded her as she dug through her bags for the geta she brought to go with the kimonos. "Jeez."
"Sorry." Orihime said quietly, smoothing out her kimono and double checking her hair in the small mirror that Rukia had brought.
Rukia rolled her eyes and went to pack up the rest of her stuff back in her suitcase when she remembered something that made her eyes shine mischievously. "Say, Orihime… Speaking of formalities, are you calling him Ichigo yet?"
Orihime's face turned a vivid red to rival the shade of lipstick Rukia had forced on her. "A- Ano…"
"Come on. I'm on a first name basis with both of you and I've known each of you a fraction of the time that you've known each other. This really is getting ridiculous." Rukia muttered.
"I don't know. We haven't really had a chance to talk about things since last night…" Orihime trailed off the events of the previous night streamed through her head.
"Ohhh? So what happened last night?" Rukia asked, bouncing with anticipation.
"UMM! I mean. We've never talked about it! About calling each other by our given names." Orihime spouted, completely flustered.
"Nuh uh. Spill it, Orihime. What happened?" Rukia pressed with a strange gleam in her eye. She could smell the romance a mile away after what she had seen this morning. This would definitely be much more interesting than her precious manga. It was always much more fun to be able to meddle. Her supply of unread manga was running dangerously low anyways.
Orihime suddenly found a sudden interest in the hands in her lap that were fiercely fidgeting. "Ummm…"
"NOW!" Rukia demanded, making Orihime jump slightly.
"Well… It's complicated… I told you about what happened during the second battle when his hollow took over…" Orihime turned her gaze up towards Rukia with a determined look in her eyes. "You have to promise not to tell anyone," She demanded. Orihime realized she'd never get any peace if she didn't tell Rukia what had happened, but she refused to let Ichigo get in trouble because of his hollow.
"Yea, Yea. I promise. Get on with it." Rukia said absentmindedly, salivating at the promise of what Orihime was going to say.
"I'm serious, Rukia," Orihime insisted, receiving a firm nod from Rukia in reply. "Well… We shared a bed the first night. We were both extremely tired. He… pulled me into bed with him and was right up against me. It made my head spin."
"Oooohhhh! Lucky girl! But that was 2 nights ago, what about last night?" Rukia pressed.
"Well… Ummm… We were talking about his inner world and his hollow..."
"Uh huh," Rukia said, scooting closer to Orihime.
"And I told him to say hello to his hollow," she continued.
"Uh huh."
Orihime fidgeted for another few moments before blurting out in a rush, "His hollow took over and kissed me."
Rukia looked at the girl for several moments, blinking several times. "Wait… WHAT?"
"There wasn't a mask or anything and his reiatsu didn't change all that much, but he took over and kissed me," Orihime explained. "He said…. He said he wanted to give me a proper hello since he didn't get to the first time we met."
"Oh my god! That's so weird! Yet… Oddly cute at the same time," Rukia said, putting a finger up against her lips as she contemplated what Orihime had told her.
"He started kissing me again after a minute," she continued. "Then sometime after that Kurosaki-kun-"
"You kissed the boy! Call him Ichigo for kami's sake." Rukia interrupted, rolling her eyes.
Orihime blushed vividly. "Well, I think at some point… Ichigo-kun regained control."
"And he was still kissing you?" Rukia asked, riveted.
"I didn't notice when he took over, so yes. He apologized about his hollow and begged me to forgive him. He called me Orihime then kissed me."
Rukia went bug eyed at this. "His hollow kissed you, he kissed you, he called you Orihime and you still get flustered about calling him by his first name?" she asked incredulously.
"Like I said we haven't had much time to talk about it," Orihime whispered.
"Ah, Ichigo-kun!" Kyouraku greeted with a smile. "It's about time you two showed up! Let's get going."
"Eh? Where are we going? The party isn't here?" Ichigo asked.
"It's a surprise." Kyouraku said with a wink.
"A surprise? Sounds like fun!" Orihime exclaimed.
"Oh, I think you're going to love this surprise, Orihime-chan," Kyouraku said, turning to walk towards the woods.
"Let's go!" Orihime said to Ichigo excitedly. Ichigo smiled down at the energetic girl, making a mental note about how much she loved surprises. Orihime had really surprised him earlier by showing up in a kimono with her hair all pinned up; she looked so beautiful in the moonlight.
It was a fairly easy walk through the woods, but Ichigo was careful to stay close to Orihime in case she tripped over something in her geta. "Where are we going, Kyouraku-san?" Ichigo asked several minutes later.
"So untrusting, Ichigo," Kyouraku whined. "It's only a little farther."
Ichigo rolled his eyes. "It's only because I know you," he chided.
Kyouraku burst into laughter. "You have me there. Look, I see the fire now," he said, pointing ahead.
"Wahhh! Kirei!" Orihime gushed and ran off ahead.
Ichigo chuckled as he watched her run off towards the others. Crossing his arms, he asked Kyouraku, "What's with the bonfire? What kind of party is this?"
"It was Hanataro's idea," Kyouraku explained, chuckling a little when he saw the boy's eyes still glued to the girl. "There's nothing better than yakiimo and sake under the night sky by a warm fire amongst friends. It's been too long since I've done anything like this."
Orihime was already talking rapidly with Rukia and Hanataro by the time Ichigo walked up and took a seat beside Orihime. Akon was sitting next to him, puffing away on yet another cigarette while playing with his lighter. Kyouraku took a spot across from Ichigo, grabbing a large bottle of sake and producing a small pipe from his robes. He quickly packed up the pipe, lighting it with a fancy bit of kido. Renji had been staring blankly into the fire before Kyouraku poked him with the end of the pipe. Renji accepted the pipe, ignoring a glare from Rukia. Renji passed the pipe back, not bothering to offer it to Rukia. Kyouraku took another hit before offering it to Hanataro who sputtered out his refusal before taking the pipe and passing it. Akon took an uninterested glance at the pipe out of the corner of his eye before grabbing the pipe, taking a hit, and holding the smoke in. Akon offered it to Ichigo, who shook his head in refusal. Akon leaned back and made several smoke rings before handing the pipe back to Hanataro.
Everyone had their own bottle of sake as well as several extras that were sitting around. There seemed to be some sort of unspoken drinking contest between the most the men around the fire. However, Hanataro was obviously not an experienced drinker and seemed content to sip at his sake along with the girls. It didn't take much for them to get drunk and were feeling the effects far sooner, off of less than the other four. Kyouraku didn't seem to change much, even after 3 hefty bottles of sake. He shamelessly flirted with the girls, complimenting their kimono. He offered Orihime a seat on his lap, giggling like a maniac when Ichigo looked ready to jump across the fire and kill him. Akon stayed quiet for the most part, content to listen to the others talk while he gazed at the stars and watched the fire. After his first bottle of sake, and several turns with the pipe, Renji seemed to lighten up considerably. Orihime and Rukia mostly talked amongst themselves, giggling as they sipped on the sake. Ichigo mostly stayed quiet, offering sarcastic remarks here and there, poking fun at Renji or Rukia between taking rather obvious, long glances at Orihime.
Not too long after the drinking started, Orihime had insisted on dancing and pulled Rukia up to dance after the boys had declined complaining that there wasn't even any music. The boys contentedly watched the girls dance with each other. Hanataro announced that the yakiimo was ready and Orihime fell on Ichigo slightly when she went to sit back down. Orihime apologized profusely after being caught by Ichigo. Ichigo teased her about being a light weight and let her slide off his lap after a moment, but kept an arm around her to keep her close.
About an hour after the yakiimo had been eaten, the party had died down a bit as the alcohol and late hour were mellowing people out as they got tired. Akon lit up another cigarette, inhaling deeply before lifting his head to watch the smoke roll up towards stars. He watched the fire for a few moments before he felt Ichigo nudge him with his arm.
"Can I have one?"
"Ichigo-kun! You shouldn't smoke, it's bad for you!" Orihime protested.
Akon shrugged. "Sure," he said, pulling out a cigarette and handing it over. The more data the better, this seemed slightly out of character for the teen, but maybe he was just one of those types that only liked to smoke after they drank.
"Thanks."
"Ichigo-kuuuuun…" Orihime whined.
"Ichigo ain't here right now, Hime," he stated, grinning as he lit the cigarette. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at Ichigo. "I thought I'd drop in to say hello, it seemed like a fun lil' party."
"Ichigo…" Rukia began.
"I told ya, I'm not Ichigo," he stated, slightly irritated. He turned back towards Akon, returning the lighter. "Thanks."
"Yea…" Akon stared back at him, lost for words. His reiatsu felt almost completely normal. It had a slight hint of the dark hollow reiatsu, but it was barely noticeable and well within the normal range for Ichigo without using his mask. The only difference was that his eyes had changed.
Orihime's face was bright red as she took a big gulp of sake. The hollow took the bottle from her when she was done, taking a large gulp of his own. "Man, that burns." He smirked as he looked around at the faces of the people around the fire. "What are you all starin' at? Never seen a hollow before?" The hollow cackled and hugged Orihime closer.
"Can't say I've seen a hollow smoking and drinking sake, no," Kyouraku commented with a laugh. "First time for everything, I guess. Where is Ichigo-kun at the moment?"
"Don't worry," the hollow said, taking another drag from the cigarette. "He's safely tucked away." The hollow tapped at his temple.
"Ano… What should we call you? Do you have a name?" Orihime asked timidly.
"No, I don't have a name."
"What are we supposed to refer to you as then?" Akon asked.
"Whatever you want, I could care less."
It stayed silent for several minutes. The hollow seemed content to sip on the sake as he finished his cigarette. "Tch." The hollow tossed the cigarette into the fire. "You shinigami are all the same. Just because you don't understand something, you're afraid of it. I woulda thought you'd be different, having horns and all. Speakin' of which, it's been bothering me for a while. How the hell does a shinigami get horns stickin' out of their forehead anyways?"
"Self-modification," Akon explained..
"Ano… You really shouldn't smoke without Ichigo-kun's permission." Orihime said quietly.
"What the hell. Even you, Princess? Jeez, I thought out of all these freaks you'd be at least a little happy to see me. This party is lame." He said, standing up and disappearing in a flash.
"What… just happened?" Renji asked after several moments of silence.
"I'm going after him." Orihime announced as she got up, swaying slightly.
"You shouldn't go after him alone." Kyouraku said.
"No. I need to go after him. Alone. I'll be fine." She assured them as she turned to wander off into the woods.
It took her several minutes of walking in the direction of the faint bit of reiatsu she felt from the hollow. He was obviously masking his reiatsu well, but that had never deterred her before. Orihime decided to take a small break when she saw a log nearby; all the sake was making her a little dizzy. By the time she sat down and looked back up again he was directly in front of her, causing her to fall over in surprise. The hollow caught her before she hit the ground.
"Careful, Princess. Didn't mean to scare ya." He said with a smirk.
Orihime stared up at him for a while before asking, "Why did you kiss me last night?"
"Because I wanted to," he explained simply, taking a seat next to her.
"Why did you want to?" she pressed.
"Why wouldn't I want to?" he challenged, leaning closer to Orihime. "My question is what do you think of me? You seemed I to like me well enough before I let the berry take over, but ya didn't seem too happy to see me back there."
Orihime leaned back away from him, looking into those unsettling black and gold eyes as he leaned closer. "I-I…" she began to stutter.
"You." He supplied, playing with a stray piece of hair.
She huffed and lay back on the log, putting an arm over her eyes. "I still don't understand what's going on. What are you to Ichigo? What are you exactly? Are you still trying to take over his body? Why are you doing this? Why me?" she asked quietly.
"Because you like it," he explained, pealing her arm out of the way. Licking his lips, he towered over her, blocking the night sky from her view.
"But-"
"You both really over think things, don't ya." He said with a sigh, sitting back slightly. "I am simply another part of his soul. The part that gets burdened with things he'd rather keep hidden. The part that wouldn't hold back if it meant life or death of myself or another. The part that is secretly thrilled with bloodshed and fighting. I am his instincts personified," he explained. "I'm the part that will NEVER let anything happen to you, no matter the consequences," the hollow whispered as he leaned down to kiss her.
All thought evaporated when his lips met hers. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him down on top of her, fiercely returning the kiss. He smirked against her lips and ran an arm down her side, relishing in the shiver it produced. "That's more like it," he murmured as he paused for air, nipping her bottom lip and drinking down the moans that came from her.
He sat back and she whined loudly. He laughed, scooping her up and positioning her so she straddled his lap. They both looked at the other, the hollow seemed patient enough and simply grinned widely. Orihime shyly lifted a hand to his face, caressing his check before dragging it down his neck and down into the V of his Shihakusho. He wrapped his arms around her as she let herself settle on his lap. She slowly leaned in and pressed a kiss to his lips. The hollow let her set the pace but eagerly returned the kiss. He grabbed the back of her neck and whispered softly into her ear, "I can't wait to get you back to Karakura." Grabbing a hip and grinding up against her, she moaned in response. She suddenly froze when she processed the implication of what he said and stared down at him. He pulled her back into a short rough kiss before explaining, "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get your Strawberry too. Can you at least admit to yourself that you like me as well, even if I'm not really him?"
This seemed to snap her out of her drunken trance, she suddenly wanted to run away and hide under the nearest rock for the rest of eternity. Orihime felt like she had been taking advantage of Ichigo's weakness and cheating on him at the same time. The hollow kept a firm grasp on the girl before she darted off and sighed. "Fine, fine. Deny it if it makes you happy," he muttered, hugging her before returning back to the inner world.
Ichigo seemed a lot more drunk and confused when he regained consciousness. "What happened?" he asked, eyes glazed over as he looked down at her.
He was a little taken back when she simply hugged him in return. Orihime buried her face in his shihakusho and mumbled, "Let's head back." Ichigo nodded. They leaned on each other as they stumbled through the woods towards the group.
Just before they joined up with the group, Ichigo stopped. "Didya want t'share a bed again tonight?" he asked, words slightly slurred.
Orihime paused for a minute before answering, "Since the other group is here, there should be enough beds now…"
Ichigo's face fell slightly. "Oh."
She looked up at him for a few moments, chewing her lip as she debated. "I'd like that, though. If you don't mind…"
Ichigo whipped his head around to look at her, smile spreading across his face. "I don't mind at all," he said, pulling her back against him.
The morning passed quickly and was rather uneventful apart from several hangovers and a quick breakfast. Everyone gathered their things and reported to where the senkaimon to the human world would be opened. Akon had spent most of the morning setting up the converter so Orihime could use the senkaimon along with the rest of the group. After a quick debriefing, Kyouraku was wailing his goodbyes to an extremely embarrassed Nanao. After about a minute she gave the signal to open the gate and unceremoniously shoved him inside saying a quick goodbye before disappearing. The walls of the dangai were restrained as the group passed through. Before they knew it, they had reached the exit.
Ichigo recognized the area as a park right outside of Karakura. Moments after the group had filed out of the dangai, the gate snapped close. "Where's Urahara-san?" Ichigo asked Kyouraku. "I thought he was supposed to meet us here."
Before Kyouraku could answer, a burst of energy came from nearby as a garganta opened. Ichigo stared at the offending rip in space incredulously; there was no way they should have known about where or when they would be coming to the human world. His eyes shot open and mouth dropped as Ichigo briefly wondered if he had finally lost his mind.
"Why hello there," Aizen greeted cordially as he exited the garganta. "It's so lovely to see you again, Kurosaki Ichigo."
*Pokes brain* I SAID NO MORE LONG CHAPTERS DAMNIT!
Anyways... The first chapter with a bit of smut. *cheers* I hope you liked it.
I do feel really bad for this takin' so long. Almost a month… I've already got a good idea of what's going on for the next chapter and I'll get started writing tomorrow.
I've been posting this on both deviant art and here, but... since I don't really feel comfortable postin the smut there, I've come up with some omake's to fill in the gap. You might wanna go take a look at the preview pictures for the chapters sometime. ldzetc . deviantart . com
Hai, kore~
**dA Omake**
Tensa suddenly appeared next to them. "What do you think you're doing?" the zanpakutou scolded the hollow.
"I think it's pretty obvious what I'm doing," the hollow replied with a smirk.
"Do you want this story to stay on dA or not?"
"I don't care. What I do know is that this much sexual tension in a guy has to be unhealthy."
"This isn't the real world you know. This is a magical place," Tensa explained, gesturing around them. "People don't go past kissing until they are both 18 here."
"Fuck that," the hollow retorted. "He's totally past the age of consent anyways."
"Totally realistic," Ichigo scoffed.
"What exactly are you getting at?" the hollow asked.
The zanpakutou's eyes lit up and he jumped up and down excitedly. "It's time to go SWIMMING!"
"That's not even close to the kind of fun I had in mind." The hollow pouted, releasing Ichigo.
Ichigo sighed and grabbed the hollow's hand to drag him along off to the pool. "Come on. I'm sure we can figure out something to keep ourselves amused there."
"Fine... Let me go get my trunks, snorkel, and inner tube though. I'm fuckin' prepared for this shit," the hollow said, disappearing in a flash.
Ichigo looked over at normally laid back sword spirit. "You don't have to look so happy about it, you know."
Tensa's face immediately became serious as a smirk crossed his face. "You don't have to look so disappointed; I thought you didn't want him to molest you."
Ichigo's face turned a bright red as he yelled, "Damare!"
Japanese for the chapter-
御免 [ごめん/gomen]- Sorry
煩[うるせ/uruse]- You're noisy, shut up/be quiet.
きれい[kirei]- pretty
黙れ[damare]- Shut the hell up!
焼き芋[やきいも/yakiimo]- roasted sweet potato