Title: Shifting Oceans
Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug, Bleach
Characters: Ichigo, Sado, Kagami
Chapter: 6
Word Count: 1693
Warnings: nothing
Beta: ToxicAngel13 on AO3
AN: Uh, so…shit went down this week. Mom broke her tibia. She's doing good. In a rehabilitation center to get back to some kind of normal. It'll take somewhere between 6 to 8 weeks for it to heal and we've gone through week 1.
So if I'm a little spastic on posts for the next couple of weeks, we know why.
For now, please enjoy! Knowing you are enjoying my stories make me smile.
Sitting down in his new apartment in Paris, Sado looked around the place and took in the differences that he could see compared to what he had been used to in Japan.
The bathroom was probably the biggest change for him, being contained in one room, but it did have a separate shower stall and a bathtub, being a higher end apartment for the foreign based tenants. The shower itself was spacious enough to fit him and his supplies without an issue, which he really liked. The bathroom was off of the master bedroom, which was more then enough room for his bed, dresser, side table and a small study desk for when he was in his bedroom. There was even a half bath for guests.
The rest of the apartment had been called 'open concept'. There was a counter slash breakfast bar that separated the kitchen from the living room but other than that, it was wide open. It allowed the light that came from his windows to spread out everywhere. He even had a small loft area that the landlord had told him the last tenants had used as a kind of library area.
Sado had decided to turn it into his office space for school and work. He had set up the two large specialty desks on either side for his two computers, one that he had invested in for his schooling, the other going to be his business computer.
It was a good apartment in his eyes. Smaller then the four bedroom that his boyfriend was sharing with his family true but good enough for him. The girls had apparently been given the extra large master bedroom . Their father had taken one of the smaller rooms while Ichigo had one room for his own bedroom, the smallest room actually, but he had also shared the fourth room which was on the large side, as an office space.
He smiled slightly as Ichigo came down from the loft, having gone exploring up there while they were watching the news talk about Ladybug's and Chat Noir's newest win over an Akuma. "I can say that she's good. Very good. So is her partner. They work well together," Sado drawled.
Ichigo grunted, nodding his head as he flopped down next to Sado. "Yeah, that they are. But you can tell that something is throwing their bond off. From what I learned, they should be better then this. More power to their magical abilities."
"Do you think that it's because they don't know who they are behind the mask?" Sado asked. He shifted as Ichigo curled up against him. They were all set to start their new school year in three days and still had to go shopping for a few things in about an hour once the travel services got back on track.
"Most likely, yeah," Ichigo replied. He tipped his head to the side. "From what we do know, the current and only Guardian is only a Guardian because one of the Guardian's punishments bit them in the ass and he ran with one of the boxes. Denying any child food and then forcing them to do a twenty-four hour guard duty? That will never end well. Especially if they have access to powerful magical jewelry. He would have had the most basic lessons though and the first one is that when new users are chosen, they are not to know who their partners is under the mask," he continued.
"From what the books said, that's supposed to last until they have proven to themselves, their Kwami and the Guardian that they are both trustworthy as holders. Then they are to tell each other who they are outside of their hero identities to foster the bond between them," Sado mused.
He remembered what the book had said and how it had gone into depth. He had been rather bored one night and picked up one of the books that Ichigo had been working his way through, finding out just what his boyfriend had been researching. He could still remember the 'guidebook' for the Guardians and scoffing so much at it. So many of the rules that they followed went against the natural order of magic, his grandfather having long taught him about the magics of the world.
Ichigo hummed, nodding. "Yeah. That guy was fucked over from the very start, I hate to say it. Most of the trainiees from that day were those kids who had the ability to tap into magic or could do it naturally. And most were from those families who were hurting for food and money." He shifted. "He was messed up because the Guardian's had to literally brainwash them to a point and it ended up with a senti-monster eating the temple, leaving him all alone and hiding from those who would have gone after the box that he had been able to get out of there."
"So, he's doing all that he can with only half of the needed training that he should have, none of the books, and whatever information he could cobble together," Sado summarized.
Ichigo nodded and checked his phone, finding a text from Yuzu about the things that they needed him to pick up since they couldn't do it. They were in orientation for their own classes for the next week. His boyfriend looked over his shoulder and hummed. "We'll take our bigger bags on wheels so we can carry everything."
"That sounds good," Ichigo replied, finding the money for the supplies already in the account that he would use for schooling, and stood to steal a pad of paper from the holder on the breakfast bar. He wrote the list down along with everything that he and Sado both needed, breaking it down according to the stores that they were visiting and ignoring when someone knocked on the front door. Sado went to answer it with a snicker.
He couldn't ignore it though when Kagami stepped up beside him and looked at his list. "Go for the higher quality water colors for your personal paints," she suggested as two men carried up several large boxes, going up to Sado's loft office. "They don't warn you but you will be using them a lot, along with the acrylics, oils and chalk sticks. At least that is what my usual art partner has told me in the past."
Ichigo hummed, adjusting his notes. "That is a good thing to know. Hey there," he greeted, smiling at her and hugging her. "Are you going to go shop with us?" he asked.
"I am. Mother has sent me with the family credit card to make sure that both of you have everything that you need and then some. She says she wants to see what you can do with an art degree," Kagami replied, hugging him back just as tightly.
"She just likes the fact that we have a firm idea of what we want to do with our lives and wishes to invest in it," Ichigo teased her. Kagami's smile was slow and warm.
"Of course she does. I do suggest that you take advantage of it though. I know that there will be a year long project that will be due at the end of the year and having various mediums to work with will help you in completing it," she said. Ichigo nodded and rewrote out the list. "She also sent the bigger car with me after learning just how...large Sado is," she said as she watched the male show the moving men out with a bow.
"I've seen pictures of his abuelo and his padre," Ichigo told her. Kagami gave him a curious look at the mix of Japanese and Spanish. "Grandfather and father. They were both rather huge men. They were Mexican, his mother Japanese, making him mixed. His mother was rather small compared to them, and gave him her black hair and eyes compared to the natural chocolate of their eyes and hair," he explained.
"My abuelo was able to raise me until he unfortunately passed when I was thirteen. Then I returned to Japan because the majority of my family estate was there and I wanted to return," Sado told her. He stepped around them into the kitchen. "Tea?" he offered.
"Please, just a cup of it, if you can," Kagami said, nodding her head. "I take it that you heard our conversation?"
"Yes. I will be calling your mother to thank her for allowing you the time to escort us around to gather out supplies along with giving us a ride for our shopping," Sado replied, nodding his head.
"The phone line have all be set up and you have the right numbers for everyone?" Kagami asked, Sado nodding as he heated the water and put tea bags into three cups. The news continued to play in the background, talking about Papillion as Kagami asked a few more questions, tapping them into her phone. She would give her mother the answers when she got home later, taking the notes even as they enjoyed some tea and the sweet treats that Sado had pulled out for them with a wink.
After their light snack, Ichigo cleaned things up quickly, pulling his hair back and then joined them in pulling their shoes on. He and Sado gathered their wallets and phones, and left the building. Ichigo told Kagami that Isshin was at the hospital for the day so he could set up his office, meet with a few of his new patients, and Yuzu and Karin were doing their orientation.
Ichigo found himself smiling as they climbed into the car after Kagami, Sado holding one hand to give him some balance, much to his cousin's amusement. It was sweet of his boyfriend and Ichigo gave him a light kiss for the sweetness.
Even though they had a mission to do and people to help, he still had a feeling that being in Paris would help not only the Heroes of Paris, but himself and Sado heal from the war that left scars on their very souls.
