To think that there would be a commission Ichigo would ever regret taking. And to think it was commissioned by his best friend's brother. Fuck his life.
Ichigo leans back while straightening his posture, groaning loudly when literally every single vertebrae of his pops. He continues leaning back and barely makes a sound when he falls onto the tarp covered floor. The overall outline sketch was done, and it took an agonizing five hours of pencil sketching, erasing, graphite smudges, and horrible posture.
He looks up at the glass ceiling of the "simple" sunroom Byakuya has given him to do his work. Unlike every other room in this goddamn maze of a manor, there was no large crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Only a glass ceiling covered by light blue shade sails. The walls surrounding Ichigo were all windows with blinds at varying heights to let as much natural light in as naturally possible for the artist. All of the furniture was thankfully taken out of the sunroom for the time being, giving Ichigo plenty of room to walk around even with the 36" x 72" canvas laying in the center.
Ichigo closes his eyes with a sigh. "These commissions will give me more than enough money to live comfortably for a while. I might start looking for a new apartment in a better district."
The thought of moving starts making his skin itch. He should hold off on it... moving will just make him more stressed than necessary.
"Rainy weather may be best for the background... or I could do a full moon..." Ichigo talks to himself in exhausted murmurs. Cobalt blue camellias aren't exactly a natural color for them, so a background to make them appear natural has less than a few limited options. Ichigo sighs once more and slowly opens his eyes.
A full moon and clouds would be best. It would make the camellias the centerpiece.
The young man winces when he forces himself to sit up. He resumes his previous sitting position of horrible posture as he grabs his pencil. Once he finishes the background sketch, he'll finally call it a day and go home and sleep.
"I miss Kisuke..." Ichigo sighs forlornly, slowly starting the rest of the sketch.
His boyfriend had a business trip for two weeks. It was really important and Kisuke didn't even know if he'd be able to call. That it was so important at this point in time... they've only been officially dating for at most a week and a half...
Ichigo perks up when a new thought crosses his mind. He'll text Kisuke tonight, and tell him goodnight. It wouldn't hurt anyone and it was a text that could be answered at any time. He would rather call, but Ichigo doesn't know Kisuke's schedule... he doesn't want to interrupt anything.
The hot rays of the setting sun beat against pale skin. Tatsuki rubs away the sweat dripping from her forehead with the back of her hand, sighing heavily as she puts up the last bit of equipment that the dojo was finished for the day.
"Arisawa! What's taking you so long?!" One of the other instructors shouts from the opened shoji doors of the dojo.
The young woman rolls her eyes and turns her head. "I just finished! Why're you being so impatient, Yadama?"
"The dojo's about to close and you have a visitor!" Yadama Ayano, another early member, like Tatsuki, of the same dojo shouts back. Ayano was actually one of the girls who had once made fun of the tomboy, and one of Wakako's friends... until the traffic incident all those years ago.
Tatsuki pauses at the mention of some visitor meant for her and mentally counts all of her friends and which of them had any free time to meet her at her job. Ichigo was back in Yokohama and probably working his ass off, Rukia was still working on that one case, and Renji doesn't even finish his work for the day until at least nine in the evening and never leaves without Rukia's brother.
Orihime is only in Karakura Town for the summer break before going back to her university and has been busy catching up with other friends while Tatsuki works. Yasutora was already back on the train to Tokyo, Tatsuki vaguely remembering some album recordings or something like that scheduled tomorrow. Uryū was currently overseas for a fashion school. Keigo has been working hard at the ramen shop he owns and barely even had time off to even give Tatsuki her birthday present days ago. Mizuiro was doing whatever he does that he likes to keep secret, but just means he's busy. And Chizuru was chasing after Orihime in her long-standing highschool "crush" with the ginger.
"No one's free to surprise me." Tatsuki frowns and starts walking towards the dojo. She thinks back on anyone who thought it was a good decision to mess with her.
People at her college don't really mess with her unless they want something from her. The gangs around Karakura won't even be in her vicinity for another week in case Ichigo comes back. Everyone else knows that if she couldn't handle herself, it'll only take a call to bring Ichigo here.
"What are you talking about?" Tatsuki enters the dojo and turns the corner towards the entrance. "You know I don't get–"
A man, almost a foot taller and at most a decade older than her, right outside the opened doors of the dojo, feet clad in geta sandals and wearing an oddly traditional outfit. Tatsuki blinks as she stops walking, mouth still slightly opened.
"Ah! Are you Arisawa Tatsuki-chan?" The man asks cheerfully, giving the young woman a small bow and a bright smile.
"...depends on who's asking," Tatsuki eventually speaks. Her eyes narrow at the man, not able to recognize anything about him. This was a total stranger.
"My name is Urahara Kisuke, Arisawa-chan! I happened to be in the area, so I wanted to drop by," The man, Kisuke, answers calmly, making Tatsuki start. She stares at him for a moment longer before glancing around. Ayano, like always, had immediately made herself scarce once Tatsuki entered the room.
"You're Ichigo's boyfriend?" Tatsuki asks, more for clarification than in surprise that Ichigo landed such a catch. If her idiot best friend actually took care of himself and his self-esteem, he'd easily have the prettiest people at his beck and call.
A faint blush appeared on fair cheeks as Kisuke smiled wider. "I didn't realize he spoke about me! We've only just started dating..."
Tatsuki hums indifferently before she crosses her arms. Silence surrounds them, building the unspoken tension. She ignores how quicksilver eyes seemed to burrow into her skin and make it itch.
"He's said a lot of good things about you, and honestly this is the happiest I've seen him since before his mother died," The black haired woman starts quietly. "Ichigo deserves everything in the world, so I'll only warn you once. If you hurt him in any way, you best hope his sisters get to you first before me. People call me a cold-blooded, merciless bitch for a reason."
"Hm... brave words. If I wasn't myself, it might have worked on me," Kisuke states with a tap of his cane. Tatsuki couldn't even react other than jerking back when the man uses his cane to pull her forward.
Instinct screams more than logic as Tatsuki freezes underneath the wide-eyed gaze. She refuses to look away and almost takes a step closer before she remembers that this wasn't Ichigo.
When Ichigo gets into one of his episodes, it's best to never stay more than a foot away from him, and never try and get out of his hug. Sometimes he'd actually walk over to his bed and lay down, but most times he just stood there, hugging–trapping the person with him in his episode. He could be there for an hour, once Tatsuki had stood for nearly ten hours with Ichigo on his knees and hugging her around the waist.
This wasn't Ichigo, but this was someone that had a similar mindset.
"You and Ichigo-kun... you've only been friends, correct? No crushes? No possible dates? No possible feelings? He's very pretty, so I wouldn't be surprised, but I have to make sure. Do you know anyone who's been with Ichigo? Or still has feelings for him? What about his exes? Does he have any?" Kisuke asks casually, no hint of any kind of anger or aggression, even when he reaches up to grip Tatsuki's arm. It hurt, but she knew better than to tug it away.
Tatsuki glances between quicksilver eyes before she slowly releases a shaky breath. No way...
"Ichigo and I love each other very much, but only as friends. It'll be the same for Rukia and Renji. We were each other's first kiss, but that was so we didn't have to do it with kids we barely knew. Ichigo's been with a few flings, but they never got past the first date. It was only to keep them off his back... except for one girl. But she treated him badly and anything there was permanently burned," Tatsuki eventually answers. She ignores how the grip on her arm tightens and barely stops herself from walking backwards when Kisuke leans forward.
"I want to tell you to never go near Ichigo-kun again–he's mine, you know–but that would make him upset. That look in your eyes... you know what I'll do to you if you step past your friendship with Ichigo-kun, yes?" Kisuke continues to speak in a casual tone. If Tatsuki didn't already have experience with this obsessive and possessive love from Ichigo, she'd probably listen to the older man.
Tatsuki couldn't stop the laugh that bubbles out. She shakes her head with an amused grin. To think...
Kisuke blinks at the unexpected reaction, his grip instinctively loosening. Tatsuki takes the opportunity to twist his arm, quickly kicking out her foot to knock his legs out from under him. She uses his falling momentum to quickly flip him over her shoulder. Kisuke lands on the tatami mats with a loud grunt.
"Ichi likes pretty things. It's one of his quirks. It brings out the most beautiful pieces of art..." Kisuke looks up when Tatsuki presses the end of his own cane against his throat. "Unfortunately, people think they're scary and threatening. Ichigo hardly ever makes pieces for individual people anymore because of that. And he never names them, unless they're for people who love him and his art outside of family."
Tatsuki leans over the pale blonde with a bright and knowing smile. "Mine's called Independence, Rukia's is called Hope, and Renji's called Faith. It surprised us all when Ichigo said he was dating you. It shocked me even more when Rukia told me what he had planned to name your piece."
Kisuke stares up at the martial artist with wide eyes. Tatsuki lifts the cane off of his neck and twirls it around before crouching down.
"I won't try and take Ichi away from you, so cool it with the threats. I understand where you're coming from–more than you realize. But, the next time you grab me like that, I'll castrate you with a butter knife. Understand?" Tatsuki threatens Kisuke like he wouldn't be able to kill her in less than a second. She sets his cane on his chest before standing back up.
"Now, get out. The dojo's closed and I have a date with a hot bath and a book waiting for me." Tatsuki leaves the man like that, shocked and still laying on the floor. She pauses at the hall, silently debating if she should tell Kisuke.
She finally sighs and looks over her shoulder. "The girl was one of our old classmates from high school. Her name's Orihime."
With that, Tatsuki walks back outside to finish locking up the equipment. She chuckles quietly as she walks. Of course it would be Ichigo to find his soulmate, his match made in heaven so easily.
Two people with fucked of versions of love, both secretly obsessed with each other, and both completely, yet unknowingly, willing to kill for each other? What a twisted love story. Tatsuki isn't even surprised.
Unfortunately, it seems that Ichigo isn't the only oblivious person in this relationship when it comes to the other... messing around behind the scenes to get them both to open up to each other's going to take more than just Tatsuki...
Tatsuki: Urahara Kisuke is more similar to Ichigo than we realized.
Rukia: No way. You mean that?
Tatsuki: I hope I do mean that. The bastard just threatened me if I tried to keep Ichi away from him.
Rukia: Did you tell him?
Tatsuki: It'll be funnier if they figure that out themselves.
Rukia: With help?
Tatsuki: We are dealing with Ichigo and his love life and it seems like Urahara has his own form of obliviousness.
Rukia: I'll call you later, then. This calls for desperate measures.
Tatsuki smiles down at her phone before putting it back up. Looks like she and Rukia have their work cut out for them.
"I'm glad you've truly found someone meant for you, Ichigo... even if you don't know it yet... I know what Orihime did still fucks with you," Tatsuki thinks with a soft sigh. She could never forgive that girl for what she did, even if they were still friends... as strained as it is between them.
Betraying Ichigo like that instead of breaking it off... then shattering his already low self-esteem... out of the two, Orihime was truly the monster. And to think that she might be trying to get back with Ichigo. Tatsuki heard the rumors about the orange haired woman asking around for her fellow ginger. Tatsuki should warn her, tell her that Ichigo moved on and that Ichigo's partner is like him...
The young woman pushes the thought away as she double checks that all of the equipment was put away. She nods her head before closing the shed door, locking it up. She'll finally be able to go home and relax with a nice long soak and a book.
"Ichi likes pretty things... what he had planned to name your piece... I understand where you're coming from... The girl was one of our old classmates... Orihime." Kisuke hums thoughtfully as he wanders down the hall of the hotel he was staying in. Such an eventful day in such a busy little town. Annoying, but immensely successful.
The sun had long since sunk below the horizon, leaving the world darkest before the night could truly come to be. Unfortunately, the heat of the summer day hasn't receded, and won't recede until late in the night. That was the annoying part.
"Ichi likes pretty things... what he had planned to name your piece... I understand where you're coming from... The girl was one of our old classmates... Orihime." The thoughts continue to circle around and around and around in Kisuke's mind. He hums just a bit louder as he stops in front of his room. He digs around in his pocket for his keys, but pauses when he feels his phone vibrating. Kisuke doesn't stop his humming as he takes out the phone, but stops when he sees who texted him.
Ichigo: I hope you have a nice night. And try not to overwork yourself.
Kisuke: No "love u"? :(
Ichigo: You're a grown man, Kisuke and I didn't know if you were busy or not.
Kisuke: :(
Ichigo: Are you seriously pouting?
Kisuke: :(((
Ichigo: Kisuke... fine. I love you.
Kisuke: Love you too!
Ichigo: ...idiot. You better get some rest, and try not to get yourself murdered. I'd prefer my boyfriend to be alive.
Kisuke: Goodnight! Call me when you wake up! And no promises!
Kisuke stares down at his phone, face split in half by his wide grin. He chuckles underneath his breath and unlocks his hotel door, entering the room with a slight skip in his steps. The pungent smell of blood fills his nose the moment he steps through the threshold, barely causing a reaction.
He said he loves me!
I want to see the look on his face when he texted me...
I want to bite the blush that crawls up his neck.
I want to feel the rapid pulse against my tongue.
Ichigo...!
Kisuke leans back against the closed door and groans quietly. He wished he didn't have this damned "business" trip... he could be spending these two weeks dating Ichigo... and planning out how to get him to move in with him.
Well, it isn't exactly hard to do. The landlady seems greedy enough to take an easy bribe from Kisuke. Tell a little lie that Ichigo's being evicted... give him a week to move out... text Ichigo that same day and convince him to let him help... offer up his home until Ichigo looks for another place. With the past couple tests to see where all the lines were, Kisuke was confident he'd be able to do it without any suspicion from his lovely Ichigo.
Quicksilver eyes open when gagged crying begins to get louder from deeper in the hotel room. A small smile quirks up on a sharp face before a lean body stands up and away from the door. Kisuke starts humming again as he starts walking towards the bedroom. The crying gets louder with each footstep that echoes through the empty hotel room.
Kisuke stops in front of the door, teeth gleaming in the dark. He reaches over and opens the door, letting it creak open. A woman, covered in dried blood and her clothes in tatters begins to struggle anew against the bed she was tied against. The metal wire cuts deeper and deeper into her wrists and ankles, blood flowing down her arms and legs.
"Yoruichi and Suì-Fēng really did a number on you, Cirucci-san," Kisuke speaks up in his form of greeting. The woman, Cirucci, struggles even more.
Kisuke hums with a smile while walking further into the bedroom. "Don't worry Cirucci-san! Yoruichi doesn't call for favors like this unless she's desperate. Our little interrogation will be quick..."
Cirucci starts begging loudly through her gag, eyes hazy from the pain and the blood loss and terrified half to death. Kisuke sits on the edge of the bed, crossing his legs.
"Begging won't get you anywhere with me, Cirucci-san. You should have given Yoruichi the truth if you truly wanted to live. I haven't been that kind since Yoruichi herself let go of my leash..." Kisuke hums softly and leans back a bit to stare at the ceiling.
How lovely it was... his naivety in thinking his old partner was the one for him. Those rose-tinted glasses as they shaped the criminal world with their assassinations and sabotage were such a gift! Too bad Yoruichi got scared of her own power over the mad scientist, scared of her own partner.
"At least I found my lovely Ichigo... maybe sometime in the future, I'll bring him to visit Benihime. She was so upset when Yoruichi stopped being mine..." Kisuke speaks to himself, wistfully thinking of all the wonderful things he and Ichigo could do now that they were dating.
The crying and begging brings him back to the present. Kisuke chuckles softly and looks down at the terrified assassin that had attempted to attack a member of one of the great noble clans of Seireitei City.
"Forgive me, I'm a bit distracted today... I hope you don't mind if our little interrogation hurts more than it should. I miss my lovely Ichigo terribly." The pale blonde reaches over and lightly brushes away some of the dark purple hair out of the woman's eyes. "You're quite the pretty one... I think we can get started with a new chemical I have that's ready for human trials. I wouldn't want to ruin such a pretty thing like you, hm?"
Hey! Hope you all like the new chapter!
Things are starting to get more and more bloody! Such an amazing time!
Things will definitely pick up again in the next chapter. Probably going to go straight into Ichigo getting evicted, but we'll see where it all goes.
I hope you all are enjoying the story so far! Bye.
WhovianWhoudini