Ichigo couldn't wait for the weekend. It was exceptionally obvious with how little he was paying attention in his classes. He also kept fidgeting with something around his neck despite nothing being there, in humans' eyes.
Solinus—the perfect name Ichigo picked for his dragon—had been fidgeting too, which tickled Ichigo's neck, but Ichigo managed to keep his giggles inside by adjusting the dragon. Solinus probably didn't know why his human was so excited, but he was just as excited for whatever was going to happen during the weekend.
Ichigo's parents were going to take him, his sisters, and Solinus to someone who could make sure everything was okay with Solinus. Apparently, he's only heard about dragons, but he's dealt with all kinds of animals, so he'll know what to look for.
Well, Ichigo hopes so. He isn't too sure about anyone friends with Dad, only because he's really silly... but if Mom trusts him with Solinus, then maybe it'll be okay.
"Ichigo!" The shout snaps the orange-haired boy out of his thoughts with a start, almost falling out of his chair. He snaps his head towards his left as Solinus grumbles at almost sliding off of his spot around Ichigo's neck.
Ichigo perks up and beams at his best—and only—friend, Arisawa Tatsuki. "Tatsuki! What's goin' on?"
Tatsuki scowls and crosses her arms with a huff. "It's recess! What's gotten you so distracted? If you're distracted during karate, I'm going to make you cry!"
Ichigo flushes at the call out before he glances around the classroom. Most of the other children were scrambling to follow the teacher outside. He sits up with a gasp and grabs Tatsuki's wrist before he starts to run towards their class.
"C'mon! We'll get left behind!"
"Well, it's your fault!" Tatsuki states with a small smile and an eye roll before she starts to keep pace, and then run past her friend. Ichigo rolls his eyes, hiding his smile as he's pulled along by the black-haired girl.
They met during Ichigo's first karate lesson. Their sensei paired him up with Tatsuki, and Tatsuki made him cry with the first hit. They only sparred against each other and no one else, except during competitions, since then. Ichigo's really, really happy he finally made a friend; he hated how... worried Mom got when he couldn't make any friends.
Ichigo makes a noise as he's pulled out of his thoughts, again, by almost tripping into Tatsuki. He stumbles and quickly finds his balance again before he looks around. They were standing just outside the doors.
"So, what's got you so distracted and making you move around so much?" Tatsuki asks again with a glare practically screaming at Ichigo to try and lie to her.
Ichigo grins brightly even while his cheeks warm in his embarrassment. "I have a pet! I saved him from the river and Mom is gonna take us all with her an' Dad to make sure he's healthy!"
"Really?!" Tatsuki gasps loudly before she jumps up and down. "What is it? What is it? Why didn't you tell me you got a pet?!"
"I..." was told to not tell anyone that Solinus is a dragon.
Ichigo bites the inside of his cheek before he smiles and grabs Tatsuki's wrist again, dragging her down towards the monkey bars. It's kind of stupid Ichigo can't tell anyone about his pet dragon... but Mom did say she could barely see Solinus while he could see him just as clearly as the ghosts.
"Mom said we could keep Solinus until he's healed from falling in the river... but Mom loves him! And so does Dad, and Yuzu and Karin. I had to wait until Mom said we were keeping him for good!" Ichigo answers the second question with genuine excitement. Just because he can't say what Solinus is, doesn't mean he can't get excited about telling everyone about him.
Tatsuki grins and laughs excitedly before immediately climbing up the monkey bars once they reach them. "I wanna see him! Can I go to your place after karate?! I wanna see it! What is it?"
"Solinus is a..." Ichigo climbs up the other side of the monkey bars, pretending to be focusing on climbing "...a lizard! I don't know what type, but I'm gonna go to the library after karate! Don't you have that dinner with your dad today?"
Tatsuki pouts at the reminder. She's going to be staying over at her dad's place for the weekend, and the dinner tonight is a celebration for getting first place at their last karate competition. Ichigo had gotten third; he was so close to getting second, though!
"...then next weekend! I wanna meet Solinus!" Tatsuki declares, mind already made up. Ichigo giggles before he flips in between the monkey bars to hang upside-down.
Solinus squawks and grips around Ichigo's jaw, swinging in front of his face. Ichigo laughs louder as Solinus scrambles up and onto the monkey bars so he doesn't fall.
"Tatsuki-chan! Tatsuki-chan!" Both Ichigo and Tatsuki look over while one of their classmates rushes over. "Tatsuki-chan, come play with us! We need one more person to play hopscotch!"
Tatsuki scowls before she flips in between the monkey bars to hang upside-down. "I'm playing with Ichigo, though. Find someone else today."
"But, Tatsuki-chan~! You're the best at hopscotch!" The girl whines, making Tatsuki sigh. Ichigo stares at the girl trying to take away his friend from him.
"Go ahead, Tatsuki. I wanna try what we did last time on the monkey bars anyway!" Ichigo states with a forced smile.
Tatsuki leans her head back to stare at the boy with wide eyes. "Ichi... you sure? I don't wanna leave you by yourself."
"It's okay!" Ichigo lies. "I'll be taking up the entire monkey bars, remember? Hopscotch is funner than just watching me fall."
Tatsuki continues to stare at him, frowning. She sighs quietly and nods her head, not pointing out Ichigo's lie. She twists herself even more before she lets go of the monkey bars to fall on her feet.
"Okay! Let's go!" Tatsuki states, already grabbing the girl's hand and starts to drag her towards the two other girls just finishing up the hopscotch drawing. Ichigo's smile disappears as he watches his friend leave to play with the others.
"Why don't they ever ask me?" Ichigo knows the answer, but he asks himself anyway. No one likes him, but Tatsuki... and he doesn't know why. Well... maybe he does.
The adults always whisper whenever they think he isn't paying attention. Calling Mom bad names and something about him not being Dad's son, even though he knows he is.
Dad does feel different from him, but he has the same fire Ichigo feels from himself. That same warm feeling always burning in his heart like his personal heater. Dad may be too silly to be an adult, but he's still Dad.
But... that only answers why the adults don't like him, not the other kids. Ichigo sighs quietly before looking down to stare at Solinus.
"Do you know why the other kids don't like me?" Ichigo asks, only to receive a head tilt and a low chirp from the dragon as an answer.
Ichigo smiles softly and shakes his head. "Yeah, I don't know either."
He twists around himself and places his feet against one of the bars from below. He releases one of his hands to reach over and grab the farthest bar from himself. Ichigo releases his other hand and lets himself fall down, using the momentum to swing out the farthest. He crooks his elbow to swing his body over the monkey bars and is about to let go when he hears something.
Gold eyes snap towards the right, wide-eyed and alert. Ichigo yelps loudly when his back slams up against the monkey bars, making him loosen his hold on the bar. His shins slam against the ladder before he falls, face first, onto the ground.
"Ow... that really hurt..." Ichigo groans, lifting his head to spit out some dirt that managed to get into his mouth. Solinus squawks loudly before climbing down the monkey bars and charging towards the six year old boy.
Ichigo fully sits up with a grin as Solinus barrels into him to wrap around his neck. "'m okay! I'm okay! Promise."
Another noise, similar to a chirp, warbles out of Solinus's mouth. His opal eyes glared at Ichigo, almost like he was scolding the boy. Both of their heads snap to the right when they hear the sound again.
It was a cry... just like Solinus's during the storm. Ichigo scrambles up front the ground and runs over to the right side of the playground, where the trees started.
"Hello?" Ichigo calls out, not really loud enough for the other kids to hear, but enough where anything closest to him would hear it clearly. He stops before the tree line and looks around. Solinus rumbles quietly, tightening around Ichigo's neck in a protective hold.
Ichigo crouches down and puts on a beaming smile. "There's no need to worry! If you're hurt, I can help you! Can you come out?"
Silence answers Ichigo's question. None of the teachers watching the playground, nor the children playing pay him any mind. Soft brown eyes watch quietly, unnoticed and curious.
Ichigo brightens up when he hears a small rustle. He carefully keeps himself still as the animal—no, the creature—slowly crawls out from the wild grass. Blood red eyes, slitted and glittering like rubies, glare up at him with feral distrust. Ichigo blinks when he sees a long gash, clearly infected from how large the swelling was, across one of the dragons black wings.
The dragon growls loudly, baring its teeth at Ichigo, only to curl back when Solinus growls back. The lilac dragon stands up and bares his own teeth to appear bigger. Ichigo clicks his tongue and shushes his dragon before turning to face the injured dragon with a smile.
"That cut looks really bad... can I see it?" Ichigo asks softly, opening his hand and barely moving it closer towards the dragon. The dragon growls louder, protectively curling its serpentine body over the tail to hide it. Ichigo simply continues to smile and keeps his hand slightly outstretched.
"It looks like it really hurts... please, let me see it," Ichigo mentally pleads, hoping the dragon would believe in his genuine concern. He really just wants to help the dragon.
It took many minutes; Ichigo was almost worried recess would end at any moment and all progress would be lost. He had a feeling the dragon would disappear if Ichigo left at this very moment, so he hoped he had just a little bit more time.
The dragon growls again, much quieter than before, before it slowly uncurls itself to reveal its injured wing. Ichigo smiles brightly with a light laugh and slowly shuffles forward on his knees. Solinus growls, but stays mostly silent and still, keeping a watchful eye on the injured dragon.
"Thank you," Ichigo speaks gratefully, happy he can see the injury and see what he can do. "If I can't do anything now, I can bring you to my mom and dad! They run a clinic and they helped Solinus when he was hurt by falling into the river!"
The dragon huffs at the statement, flinching back with bared teeth. It growls softly, but allows the six year old boy to inspect its injury and trusts his word. Ichigo leans forward and hovers his fingers over the wing. He frowns thoughtfully, trying to think of anything he can do right now. Hmm...
Ichigo hums brightly and unzips his jacket. "Here! I can't really do anything about your infection... but I can clean you up and let you rest in my jacket! I promise my parents will fix it all up, okay?"
Crimson eyes glare into gold before a puff of smoke is blown into Ichigo's face. Ichigo scrunches up his face with a slight cough before he almost falls back when something suddenly barrels against the center of his chest. He blinks rapidly and looks down, tilting his head when he watches the dragon get comfortable in the sleeve of his jacket, resting its head on his shoulder.
"Comfy?" Ichigo asks with a grin. The dragon rumbles and buries its head further into his shoulder. Ichigo giggles before he slowly stands up, zipping up his jacket.
"Kids! Time to head back inside!" Ichigo turns at the call and stares at the teacher holding open the door back into the school. He sighs quietly in relief; he had just enough time.
"I'll try and be very careful!" Ichigo whispers as he starts to run with the rest of his class. "I have karate after school, but Solinus will watch over you, okay?"
The dragon grumbles, muffled by Ichigo's jacket and shoulder, before curling up further inside his sleeve. Ichigo snaps his head up when someone roughly punches his shoulder.
"What're you doin' over there by the trees?" Tatsuki asks with a narrowed gaze. Ichigo blinks before grinning brightly.
"Nothing much! Now, let's go! They might lock us out of the school!"
"Eh?! W-wait! Ichi, you'll make me fall!"
Ichigo furiously rubs away at his cheeks, making them flush bright pink. He sniffs loudly before he turns around with bright eyes, already feeling the frosty morning dew that he always feels when he's around his mom.
"Mom!" Ichigo cheers, ignoring how stuffy his nose was. Tatsuki's hits still hurt a whole bunch; they were a whole lot worse than anyone else's, including the older and meaner kids in the competitions. Tatsuki really is the strongest Ichigo's really, really happy for her!
"Hello, my little protector!" Masaki greets as she kneels crouches down with her knees tucked below her. "Are you having fun?"
"Mmhmm! I didn't cry as much when Tatsuki hit me!" Ichigo states proudly with a beaming grin. Masaki laughs quietly and reaches up to brush back her son's sweaty hair.
"Oh, how wonderful! You're getting stronger. I'm proud of you!" Masaki exclaims with a beaming smile of her own. Ichigo puffs his chest up at the compliment before he turns around when he hears running footsteps.
"Masaki-san! Masaki-san! Ichigo told me he got a lizard!" Tatsuki jumps from foot to foot in her immense excitement. "Next weekend, can I come over to see it?! I wanna see his lizard! He told me all about it!"
Masaki blinks once before laughing nervously. "Oh... really? Well. I'm sure we can plan something! Solinus is... shy though. And you need to ask your mother, Tatsuki-chan."
Tatsuki gasps in delight before she leaps forward to hug the woman. She breaks the hug to run over to where her divorced parents were reluctantly standing together to wait for her.
"Mom! Mom! Ichi told me he..."
Masaki faces her son with a small look, making Ichigo wilt. She sighs quietly before her smile returns.
"I'm sure Urahara will figure something out when we go see him tomorrow. I'm happy you didn't tell her about Solinus being... what he is," Masaki says instead of scolding the orange-haired boy.
Ichigo nods his head with a serious frown. "You said I wasn't allowed to, so I didn't!"
Masaki hums, running a hand through Ichigo's hair before she stands back up. "Alright. Go get cleaned up! I'm sure you had a fun day with Solinus with you!"
"I did! Oh! And I have a surprise for everyone!" Ichigo runs off before Masaki could question what the surprise was. She bites the inside of her cheek while a feeling of dread sinks low in her stomach.
She hopes it isn't what she thinks it is... one dragon is enough—more than enough. Masaki sighs with a sag of her shoulders. Please let her picture-perfect intuition be wrong on this... even though it never fucking is.
...goddammit.
She called it. She fucking called it. Masaki stares down at her incredibly proud and dangerously adorable son as he held up a second dragon like it was Simba and he was the fucking baboon Rafiki from The Lion King.
"I need to stop questioning my intuition," Masaki mentally bemoans while she watches her twin daughters run towards their big brother with gasps of delight. Oh no. They are all immediately attached. Fantastic.
"Ichigo—" Masaki walks forward with a small sigh, leaning forward with her hands on her knees. She frowns when she sees the severely infected injury across the dragon's wing. Oh, her sweet boy; he probably didn't want to leave a hurting creature alone.
"That looks like it hurts. Do you want Mom and Dad to see it?" Masaki asks instead of the original talk she wanted to have with the six year old.
Ichigo lowers the dragon with a somewhat guilty expression. He slowly nods his head, eyes downcast. Masaki smiles softly and runs a hand through his hair. If he gets any sweeter, she might actually cry.
"Alright. I don't think we have the necessary... medicine for such an infection, but I guess you were counting on us heading to Urahara for Solinus, hm?"
Ichigo nods his head again, looking up with teary eyes. "Please... It looks really bad and she's in a lot of pain..."
Oh, her son is just too cute. How can she have such a cute child? He can take over the world with it.
"Okay. Hand me the dragon and I'll help Dad check the injury." Masaki holds up a finger with a stern look pointed at all three of her children. "And I want all three of you cleaned up for dinner. No exceptions."
"Okay, Mama!" The twins speak at the same time before they're already racing each other towards the bathroom. Ichigo carefully hands the translucent dragon to his mother before he chases after his younger sisters.
Masaki stares down at the obviously terrified dragon with a long sigh. She blinks and turns her head when she feels a weight on her shoulder. Solinus stared back with his head twisted around.
"Please tell me you didn't get attached too," Masaki almost pleads with Solinus. His third eyelids blink before his opal eyes take a wet shine to them. Of course. The dragon also got attached.
Masaki sags her shoulders with a small groan, staring back down at the dragon in her hands. "I can't believe I'm talking to a dragon—and holding another at the same time... fuck."
She takes a deep breath and rolls back her shoulders. She doesn't bother to acknowledge Solinus's huff of laughter, probably at her current misery. Oh well. Might as well get this over with. Masaki has a feeling this dragon will be a bit harder than Solinus.
"Isshin?! Ichigo brought home another one!"
"Ah... Kurosaki-san, I thought you only had one dragon," Urahara Kisuke points out in lieu of a greeting. Masaki smiles up at the shopkeeper, her hair somehow still holding up in its ponytail, somewhat singed, and her clothes covered in soot and ash with three slashes through the sleeve.
"Ichigo found another one yesterday and brought her home, because of an infected injury," Masaki speaks tightly as she hears the loud screeching and hisses coming from the two dragons fighting. She hears Isshin yelp and already can smell the disgusting scent of burning hair.
Masaki keeps smiling, taking joy in Urahara's bemused hesitance. "Children, your father and I will make sure the dragons are all healthy. Why don't you three go pick out some candy?"
"Really?!" All three of her children, all completely unharmed and unsinged during that hellish night, gasp at the same time. Masaki smiles, genuinely, down at them and nods her head.
"You each can pick three things, and three things only. Okay?"
"Okay! Thank you!" They take off running, Yuzu and Ichigo going towards the chocolates and Karin heading for the taffy. Masaki reaches her hand out and grabs the Isshin's shirt collar before he can even attempt to make a break for it.
"You will not like what I will do to you if you leave me alone to deal with the dragons... and Urahara," Masaki hisses through her wide smile. "You weren't going to leave me to handle it alone, right dear?"
Isshin laughs nervously, pale and terrified. "N-no. Of–of course not, honey... I—candy is just s-so good. I got carried away..."
Masaki hums brightly at the obvious lie. He only likes red bean paste desserts and dark chocolate. It's Masaki who loves all types of sweets, candy included.
"Now, now, Kurosaki-san. Your children still need a father figure for a few more years at least," Urahara interjects before the auburn-haired woman actually committed mariticide in his candy shop. Masaki simply hums again and releases her hold on her dearest, and foolish, husband.
"I hope it's not a bother, Urahara. Emilia's wing is quite infected and one of her legs is fractured, if not broken completely," Masaki speaks sincerely with a small bow.
Urahara simply waves his fan with a bright hum. "Oh, it's quite alright, Kurosaki-san~! For me to truly help the dragons, having access to more of them is actually quite useful!"
"Are you sure you can help Solinus and Emilia?" The three adults glance down towards Urahara's right. Wide gold eyes stare up at the shopkeeper with both dragons wrapped around his neck and shoulders.
"Well, I've only heard of dragons, but it shouldn't be too difficult. I'll make sure they'll be in perfect health!" Urahara states before he digs through his haori to take out a bar of chocolate. Ichigo perks up at the sight before scrunching his nose with a frown.
"Why do you have candy in your sleeves? You're creepy! Creepy geta-bōshi!" Ichigo declares, making Masaki start.
"Ichigo! That's not nice!" She scolds softly. Ichigo scowls before he gives his mother a look.
"No adult would carry candy in their sleeves if they weren't creepy!" Ichigo stubbornly retorts while Urahara simply chuckles behind his fan.
"It's almost like he takes after you, Kurosaki-san~! Obstinate and hot-headed," Urahara teases from behind his fan. Masaki glares at him before she sighs quietly.
"Ichigo, apologize to Urahara." Masaki raises an eyebrow at Ichigo's answering scowl. He huffs loudly before he turns to glare up at the shopkeeper.
"Sorry for speaking the truth, creepy geta-bōshi," Ichigo mumbles before walking back towards the chocolates. Masaki rubs her forehead with a weary sigh. He's getting to that age now.
"Solinus, Emilia! Come along. Urahara is going to be checking you both over," She calls for the dragons, wanting this check-up to be over and done with.
Both dragons whine loudly at having to be away from Ichigo before Solinus flies over and the newly named Emilia crawls over on three of her four legs. It's more than likely she actually did break it.
Masaki rubs her forehead again. She's keeping another dragon, and it hasn't even been a week. How can she say no when they team up on her and Isshin with their adorableness and their puppy dog eyes. Karin actually started crying when she tried to say they could only keep Emilia for so long...
"You spoil them too much," Urahara's comment snaps Masaki out of her thoughts. She smiles wryly, giving the shopkeeper a look before she starts walking to the back of the shop.
"How can I not? They deserve the world and more," Masaki sighs softly, looking back to watch her most precious children discuss which candy they would each take home.
Cold blue eyes and a frown of constant ruthless disappointment, merciless and hateful. Dead brown eyes, once glittering like gold, now lifeless with hatred and despair. A half-eaten head with no warm and dark eyes in sight. Masaki closes her eyes and shakes her head to dispel her memories of the past.
"...it isn't so bad, having another dragon," Masaki continues quietly, looking down at Emilia resting in her arms. "They can understand us well enough. I don't appreciate the fire scares. I'd very much like to stay living in my home."
Emilia grumbles before giving Solinus an accusing glare. Solinus huffs out a huff of smoke with bared teeth before turning his head away to ignore the dragon.
"It's both of your faults, so accusing each other won't get either of you out of trouble," Masaki states without glancing down at the dragons. They both grumble and wilt, knowing they won't be getting out of Masaki's ire anytime soon.
"Don't worry so much about it!" Isshin states with a bright grin. "They're only kids. They'll grow out of their destruction phase soon enough."
"Isshin." Masaki huffs out a laugh with a shake of her head. Her silly fool for a husband. He's much too sweet to her.
"Kurosaki-san, right this way. I have everything prepared," Urahara speaks up with a sort of genuine smile on his face. Masaki smiles back and inclines her head.
They best hurry and make sure the dragons are all healthy. She doesn't know how she'll break the news if one of them is sick.
Hey! Hope you all like the new chapter! I originally planned to make this chapter a bit longer compared to the first one, but now I have the perfect opportunity for a time skip for the next chapter, so I'm posting this one now, lol.
It'll definitely pick up during the next chapter, 'cause I have big plans for it. Both good and bad plans, lmao.
Anyways, on a side note for anyone who's read my other stories, I am TRYING to update them all at least once this year. At first, I was planning on updating it all within last month and this month as a new year's gift, but I'm busy, so I'll try and get it done in the first couple months/this year.
I hope you all are enjoying the story so far! Bye.
WhovianWhoudini