Forbidden Love

Chapter 12 - It's Not A Request

Regular POV

Shiro rolled over in his shared bed with Ichigo and groaned. He blinked gold and black eyes open and gazed out the open window with drowsy eyes. The curtains fluttered slightly in a late breeze as the teen wondered what could have woken him up. His eyes slowly cleared as they adjusted to the darkness, his arms tightening around his lover protectively as he listened to the silence of the crisp, warm air around them. A slight flare of reitsu from a far distance made itself known and he sat up quickly, body suddenly tense and ready for action. His eyes narrowed.

Mind you, he wasn't stupid. He had always been able to see ghosts, even as a baby where the only thing he could do was throw baby toys wet with drool through them and make them mad, and it was no different now. Although, over the years, he suddenly realized he could feel this slight pressure when something was nearby. He'd only get glimpses of the actual creature that created it before he realized people were staring at him weird for stopping in the middle of something but he knew how powerful something was just by feeling it's reitsu. And now, he could tell that whatever it was, it was damn strong.

He concentrated and felt the glimpse of another, powerful. Jumping out of bed as carefully as he could, he yanked on some jeans and a t-shirt before pressing a kiss to Ichigo's nose, the sleeping teen scrunching it up and swatting at his face with a half-hearted sleepy growl, snatching up the keys to his Jeep Wrangler Unlimited that he kept hidden in garage. He had planned on surprising Ichigo with it on spring break along with a trip for just the two of them to somewhere nice, but it was the only car he had that no one would notice missing if someone woke up before he got back. The sleek, black car would keep him hidden in the dark so he could travel without raising suspicion of why someone would have an expensive, foreign car in such a small town.

He sprinted down the stairs, taking them by twos, and scrawled a note in pen to Ichi, leaving it on the outdoor chair underneath his guitar case in plain sight, where he knew Ichigo would search for him if he woke up, and slid out the garage door and into his Jeep. Revving up the engine, he adjusted his mirrors and opened the garage door before speeding down the dimly-lit street. Intricately weaving down the road, he followed his '6th sense' which ended him up in a small field not very far from the cemetery where his dead mother lay, sleeping in peace. He slammed his foot onto the brakes and made a dash out of the car even before the car had entirely stopped moving. Silently, he shoved his hands deep into his pockets with a calm demeanor and looked around him with determined, all-seeing eyes. Where were the bastards that dare disturb his sleep with Ichigo? Stupid motherfuckers...

"Well, I didn't think the bitch would come to us." A booming chuckle interrupted his thoughts and he narrowly dodged a large, tanned arm reaching out to snatch the front of his shirt. "Well, well, it looks like the bitch has some moves. Don't think it'll be enough. Ne, Ulquiorra?" Shiro's eyes followed the tall man's leering orbs to see a slender, lithely built man standing a few ways off. His bright green eyes were dulled in the dark, but still full of intelligence and it reminded him of Ichigo's own brown ones. Shiro took a second look and noticed all the similar traits of the two, starting with their body build and ending with their serious demeanor. But Shiro could also tell that Ulquiorra seemed a bit off from his lover, even if he couldn't place what it was just yet.

"Don't mess with trash, Yammy. Just get the woman." Yammy scowled but nodded, suddenly disappearing. Shiro's eyes widened slightly but he relaxed quickly, focusing on what the pale man said.

"Woman?" The green-eyed slender man regarded him silently before nodding and holding up a picture. Although Shiro let his body language show that he was curious enough to let all guards down, his mental defenses were up and he had most, if not all attention focused on the slight movements of the shorter man. Shiro reached one pale hand out to pull the picture out of Ulquiorra's hand. Ever-so-slightly, his gold eyes widened. "Inoue..." He scowled when he recognized the bubbly girl that sat with them at lunch.

He liked the girl, she was nice and didn't seem like the type to back stab a friend, unlike her appearance. In the States, all women were labeled and classified into groups. If you had big breasts, you were a slut or a prep. If you had a small chest, you were either average or a nerd. Inoue had big breasts, but she didn't see herself that way. In many ways, he reminded her of his mother. Kind and happy all the time. Shiro growled inwardly. What did they want with the bubbly, nice girl? He carded a hand through messy, white locks before flicking the card back at Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra wasn't surprised at all, and caught in between his fingers before tucking it back into his frame-hugging jacket.

"So, ya care ta explain what this is 'bout?"

"Aizen-sama has requested your appearance in Los Noches."

"Well then, if it's jus' a request, then I can say no, righ'?" Shiro smirked, jutting his hip out cockily and placing his black-nailed on it. Ulquiorra disappeared into thin air and the pale teen didn't even have the chance to widen his eyes before he felt a slight movement of air behind him. In what felt like slow motion, he very narrowly missed an arm reaching out for his as he spun around to land a kick on the fast man. Shiro missed when he flashed away again and swung his arms behind him to catch his balance before twisting his body backwards with them in a back flip. A flash of silver distracted him out of the corner of his eye as he noticed the sword tucked behind Ulquiorra's jacket and nearly missed his landing. Stumbling for a mere second gave Ulquiorra a near head-start but Shiro flowed with it and lashed out with his left leg for a round-house kick, once again narrowly missing. Recognizing the other man's pattern, he spun around and knelt on the dew-covered grass to miss a fast hand again.

Green eyes didn't even widen as Shiro used his hands for leverage to throw both of his legs out to wrap around the others. Grinning triumphantly when he felt the skin-to-skin contact of his legs wrapping around the others, he looked up to see bright eyes staring at him. Shiro's eyes widened and he unwound his legs as fast as he could. Just by looking at him at that moment, he could tell Ulquiorra hadn't even been trying. Which meant he had been tricked and judging by the fact that he let Shiro wrap his legs around him meant trouble for the teen. Shiro wasn't fast enough and Ulquiorra dragged his leg back quickly, Shiro being dragged along with it. He was disoriented as his head thudded hard against a bunch of rocks that he couldn't protect himself against and was thrown into a dizzy spell when he was picked up by the front of his shirt suddenly. He groaned with distaste.

"It's not a request, trash." A loud chuckle distracted the two of them, gold and green eyes looking up to see Yammy carrying a struggling Inoue. She looked up with startled gray eyes and caught Shiro's.

"Kurosaki-kun! Are you okay?" Shiro chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck and the action reminded the gray-eyed beauty of the albino's brother.

"Heh, yeah. 'M fine, Inoue." She nodded, going still in Yammy's grip now. Ulquiorra, wasting no more time, opened up a garganta.

"Wait! Where th' hell are ya gonna take us and what th' hell makes ya think 'm goin'?" Shiro wrapped his hands around the other hand on his shirt stubbornly.

"If you don't go, I'll make sure to personally hurt your brother and all of your 'friends'." Shiro growled threatingly at Ulquiorra.

"You ass."

"Any further complaints? No? We're going." Ulquiorra set Shiro down for Yammy to pick him up and throw him over the shoulder adjacent to the one Orihime was slung over. Yammy grinned, purposely digging his fingers into the pale teen's ass. Shiro held back an indignant squeak, instead vowing for payback later and a scowl. Inoue smiled sheepishly at him and blushed when he sighed and smiled back.

"Sorry I couldn't get ya outta this, Inoue." She held up her hands defensively before waving them around.

"It's not your fault! You tried, right?" He sighed and grinned sadly at her.

"Yeah I guess. I promise I'll get us out of this though, okay?" She nodded enthusiastically despite her position. They went silent, allowing Yammy to carry them through the dark space.

Ichigo woke up with a sudden throbbing pain in his head and he rolled over to look at the alarm clock on the white desk beside his bed. 5 a.m. The orangette frowned and rolled over, reaching out blindly for his brother and lover.

"Shi~ Can you get me some Advil? 'M too tired." He waited silently for a reply, and when he didn't get one, he cracked open a sleepy eye reluctantly. "Shi?" Still no reply.

Ichigo sat up quickly, the pain making itself known again as he let his eyes adjust. Tan hands blindly searched the bed in the dark for some body heat, and when he found the bed cold and empty, he threw the covers back and jumped out of the bed.

"Shiro? Shiro, where are you?" He felt a clenching pain in his chest and frowned. The weird sensation reminded him of when Shiro had gotten in a fight once when they were little and he felt a sudden aching pain in his arm at the same time Shiro's arm had gotten broken. His mother had explained to them that it was something that twins did sometimes: Feel each others pain. It had occurred a lot after that, whenever one got hurt, the other would know and come running. Ichigo's eyes widened. Was Shiro in trouble? He yanked some clothes on -Shiro always made them sleep naked just in case he woke up with a hard-on- and sprinted down the stairs. Searching throughout the house, he turned the house upside down in search of his brother.

"Shiro? Shiro-nii? Nii-san?" He was getting hysterical, reverting back to what he used to call his brother when they were younger in hopes that Shiro would somehow reply. Tired and stressed, he leaned against the back door, getting startling when it opened. Barely catching his balance, he glanced towards the chair where Shiro always played his guitar at. A glimpse of fluttering paper grabbed his attention. Pushing the guitar case off of the plastic chair, he leaned it against the brick walls of the house and snatched up the scribbled-on paper. Unfolding the crinkled paper, he sat down heavily in the lawn chair as he read it.

"Dear Ichi,

I should be back before you wake up, but if I'm not, tell Pops, Yuzu, and Karin that I felt homesick and decided to fly back to the States when they come back from their trip tomorrow. Pack up all of my stuff and hide it somewhere in the garage until I come back. Also, make sure to warn Rukia and Renji of some really strong hollow, okay?

Love,

Shiro"

Ichigo blinked rapidly, forcing back tears. Hollow? Shiro went after Hollow? Ichigo was confused. Even if Shiro hadn't wanted to wake up Ichigo, he could have handled mere hollows on his own, even strong ones. He had been taking karate since they were eight, and even now, Shiro was still stronger than him. What kind of Hollow could have hurt Shiro?

Ichigo crinkled up the note, slowly climbing back up the stairs to his room. The paper was placed on top of his desk while he gathered up Shiro's clothing and threw it into the suitcase he had pulled out of the closet numbly. He pulled it down the stairs, shivering when the cold air hit his bare naked body. After hiding it in the garage, he slid back into bed. Ichigo crossed his fingers and hoped that his brother was okay.

The Previous Afternoon

Renji lay bleeding and unconscious on the grimy floor of the alley that he had been attacked in. Groaning, he blinked blurred eyes open. A piercing pain on the back of his head stopped him from rolling over, so he forced his body up and sat against the filthy brick wall. He fought back the comforting thoughts of sleep, instead focusing on trying to get back up. Reaching a trembling hand up, he grabbed onto the cold, dirty brick walls of the alley. Suddenly, he heard small, thudding footsteps nearby. He went stock still.

"Renji? Where are you?" Rukia's voice shattered the tense air and he mumbled in reply.

"Rukia... Over here." Silence for all of two seconds.

"Renji? Is that you? Where are you?" Renji grunted, slumping over. Small, fleeting footsteps as Rukia ran down the alleyway. She knelt beside him, violet eyes wide. "Renji? What happened?" He blinked blurry eyes open again, and leaned forward in a sudden lack of energy. Noticing the back of his head, she threw his arm over her shoulder and lifted him up. "I'm taking you to Urahara's. You can explain it to me there, okay?" He nodded slightly in reply, dizziness erupting again, making him groan in pain. The black-haired, petite girl slowly led him down the alley, flashing stepping onto the roof and towards Urahara's. The red-haired Shinigami reluctantly fought back unconsciousness as they quickly reached the bubbly blonde's store.

Ichigo had been slumping around for hours, curious as to when, 'If' he thought to himself reluctantly, Shiro was coming home. Reading the crumpled note once again, his eyes stopped upon three words...

Throwing open the front door, he ignored the blaring wind and sprinted as fast as he could to Urahara's. Coming upon the dirty blonde's store, he barely noticed the two kid's absences as he threw open the doors, met with the sight of a startled Rukia, Renji, Chad, and Uryu. Ichigo, panting heavily, slumped over and placed his hands on his knees to catch his breath. When he caught his breath as much as he could, he took in a deep breath bitterly.

"Shiro's... gone." The other's caught each others glances and nodded tersely before looking down ruefully. Ichigo looked up curiously at the four, suddenly noticing something. He looked around the cramped room, eyes landing on the usually taken chair beside Rukia.

"Where's- " Rukia sighed, standing up in front of him. He tilted his head in confusion.

"She's gone." Ichigo, shocked, shook his head in disbelief.

"What? How?" Rukia motioned for him to sit beside her, and he followed, crossing his legs.

"Yesterday, two arrancar appeared and attacked Renji in an alleyway when he left school early." She nodded towards the red-haired Shinigami who pointed at the gauze wrapped around his head. Ichigo was shocked and opened his mouth to say something but Renji smiled bitterly and shook his head at him. "Then, last night, the same two arrancar reappeared in a field near the Karakura Cemetery." Ichigo felt a twinge at a sudden memory but fought it off, instead focusing on what Rukia was saying. "We don't know what really happened, but Uryu, who was on patrol last night said he felt a flare of reitsu out there and Chad, who lives near Inoue, said he felt Inoue's disappear suddenly at around 4:30 a.m." Everyone was silent for a moment.

"But... you say now Shiro is missing too?" Uryu spoke up and Ichigo nodded, digging in his back pocket for the note, handing it to the violet-eyed Shinigami beside him. She read over it silently, eyes narrowing.

"Is he stupid? He couldn't take on a normal hollow on his own, let alone two very powerful arrancar." She looked at Ichigo curiously, who shrugged indifferently.

"Shi is stronger than me, even now, and I have my Shinigami powers." Rukia's eyes widened and she glared at him. "What? What's wrong?"

"Why didn't you tell us this before?" Ichigo shrugged at her.

"I didn't think it mattered, why?" Rukia sighed at the oblivious teen.

"This means that the arrancar are stronger than we even thought before. This could make a huge difference if we went into war. Not to mention, if Shiro decides to join their side, we would be fairly defenseless." Ichigo scowled, biting back a growl. He spoke through clenched teeth, his aura suddenly dark and tense. Everyone noticed the difference and was silent.

"He's not joining their side." Rukia swallowed, reaching out a hand to place on his shoulder. Smouldering brown eyes locked with her's furiously.

"I know that, Ichigo. I'm saying that since Aizen can trick so many people, including us Shinigami, it's not all that difficult to believe he could trick Shiro too." Ichigo relaxed, knowing full well she was right. He nodded curtly.

"So what does this mean?" Renji spoke up finally in a gruff tone.

"It means we prepare for war."

A/N: Sooooo, guysssss~ How's it going? *hides* I'm soooo sorry for the long update! I knew there was no way I could wait to get a laptop, so I just used one of the poems saved on my Mom's computer to upload this onto secretly and wrote this chapter. Hope you guys like it!

Edited: May 7th, 2011

Word Count: 3,185