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The Heart in My Hand	By : chayron Category: Bleach > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 10028 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. It belongs to its respective owners. This fan fiction is not a commercial project, and I am not making any money from writing it.

Chapter List
- 1-Part 1
- 2-Part 2
- 3-Part 3
- 4-Part 4
- 5-Part 5
- 6-Part 6
- 7-Part 7
- 8-Part 8
- 9-Part 9
- 10-Part 10
- 11-Part 11
- 12-Part 12
- 13-Part 13
- 14-Part 14
- 15-Part 15
- 16-Part 16
- 17-Part 17
- 18-Part 18
- 19-Part 19
- 20-Part 20
- 21-Part 21
- 22-Part 22
- 23-Part 23
- 24-Part 24
- 25-Part 25
- 26-Part 26
- 27-Part 27
- 16
- 17
- 18
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach – it belongs to its respective owners. This fan fiction is not a commercial project, and I am not making any money from writing it.
Warnings:
1. Yaoi (male x male). Ulquiorra x Ichigo and vice versa. Other pairings?
2. Ichigo – almost 19 years old; Ulquiorra – probably a few hundred as a Hollow and about a decade or so as an Arrancar?
3. Post anime (haven’t read the manga).
4. Alternate Universe.
5. I’m not a native speaker, thus expect various language oddities.
6. I’m not very familiar with all the details in the anime, and I am also new to Bleach fandom, so I will be straying away from the canon quite frequently. I do my research but Bleach is a vast universe that is not so easy to grasp. I must admit, though, that there are also things in the anime that don’t make sense to me and I take the liberty of recreating certain parts of this universe as I see fit.
The Heart in My Hand
by chayron (lttomb@yahoo.com)
Part 17
Ichigo chewed on a stretchy piece of something that tasted like squid but smelled like chocolate cake. It was Kisuke’s special. The red-head and Kisuke were sitting with their backs against one of the many boulders in Urahara Shop’s training grounds. It had been thirty minutes since they had entered. Twenty of those minutes had been spent staring at Ulquiorra’s unmoving form. The man stood further away with his back to them. Ulquiorra’s body was tense, an occasional shiver passing him.
“Did I just stand like that, too?” Ichigo wondered, trying to remember how it had gone for him. Most of what had happened while he had been trying to discover his Shinigami powers had transpired inside him. It had been his inner conflict and final resolution.
Kisuke nodded. It was always the same: some people sat, others stood, but the battle was within them. Some won it easily, others lost. And some never needed to win. But Ulquiorra would have to win. The former captain was almost certain of that; it was vital that Ulquiorra was in control of his Zanpakuto spirit.
Both Ichigo and Kisuke started when Ulquiorra shifted abruptly, his shoulders relaxing. His usual white attire was slowly losing its color, turning black instead. Ichigo’s mouth opened in awe. He should have expected this, keeping in mind what discovering one’s Zanpakuto meant, and yet he could not help feeling amazed.
Ulquiorra opened his eyes and the uncommonly dark color of his clothes made him grunt in annoyance. He was wearing a common Shinigami robe, the same irritating robe he had kept shedding recently. Leaving the matter for later, he pulled his Zanpakuto out. This was supposedly his Shikai, but it didn’t seem any different.
“So what’s the name?” Ichigo asked. He and Kisuke stood up and approached Ulquiorra to take a closer look at the green Zanpakuto.
Testing, Ulquiorra swished his Zanpakuto around. “I didn’t ask.”
“Erm…” the red-head drawled uncertainly. “That’s weird.” He had never heard of someone achieving Shikai without knowing their Zanpakuto’s name. Ichigo turned to Kisuke. “You have to ask, right?”
Kisuke’s hand slid under his hat to give a good scratch to the back of his head. “Well, that’s usually how it goes.”
“It wasn’t very talkative,” Ulquiorra informed them. In fact, as soon as they had seen each other, the accursed Zanpakuto spirit had done its best to try and kill him. Only after he had beaten some sense into the spirit had it finally stopped protesting. Ulquiorra knew that he would have to find out the name and establish some sort of a bond with the spirit, since his Shikai was now only as good as a common katana. His energy levels had risen but he had no idea what kind of powers his Shikai possessed. Useless.
His thick eyebrows furrowed, Ulquiorra dropped from Shikai form and pushed his Zanpakuto back into its sheath. For now, it didn’t seem like it was possible to try and find any common ground with his Zanpakuto spirit. He had to give the spirit some time to cool off.
Ulquiorra’s Shinigami attire switched to his usual Arrancar outfit as he walked towards the exit.
“That’s it?” Ichigo muttered in disbelief. “You dragged me out of the karaoke booth just for this?”
“I didn’t know that thing would be so aggressive,” Ulquiorra said over his shoulder. “I couldn’t even talk to it.”
“They’re not a thing, they’re a part of you,” Ichigo pointed out. “I bet your Zanpakuto hates you because you aren’t taking them seriously! Stop calling the spirit “it”. You saw them. What was their gender?”
“It’s male. Does it even matter?”
“Of course it does!” Ichigo turned to Kisuke, who was following them. “Tell him.”
Kisuke pushed his striped hat down over his eyes. “I think you’re doing just fine on your own.”
Snorting, Ichigo turned away from him. Disrespect was the exact reason Ulquiorra was not able to feel the connection with his Zanpakuto. He had obviously used brute force to make the spirit obey and achieve Shikai. There had to be some kind of coexistence.
ooOoOoOoo
“I can’t take you with me,” Ichigo was saying to Kon. The two were in the red-head’s room, Ichigo about to head to Kisuke’s. “It could be dangerous. Stay here and protect my body.”
“But I want to see what’s it like,” Kon protested.
“There’s nothing to see yet,” the red-head told him impatiently. “The only thing that happens is that his robe changes into a Shinigami’s. That’s all.”
“Then what’s the problem? I’m going with you.”
Groaning, Ichigo slapped his forehead. “No, you are not! What if something unexpected happens? My body can’t handle that much reiatsu, and you could get hurt, too!”
“Kisuke will find a way to protect me.”
“Kisuke uses his Bankai to stay safe!” Ichigo tried to reason. “I don’t get it! Why do you even want to go to the training grounds?” he asked Kon for what seemed the hundredth time.
“To protect your chastity, of course!” Kon spat irritably, his buttony eyes glaring at Ichigo.
The red-head froze. “Ah, that,” he finally said.
“You knew?” Kon asked, incredulous.
Ichigo shifted awkwardly. “Well, he hasn’t been very subtle.”
The plushy bear stared at him. “You can’t be serious… You and that… that… You aren’t even gay to begin with!” Kon suddenly realized that he had to give this spontaneous presumption some more thought. “Are you?”
Ichigo shook his head. “It’s not like that.” He threw his arms apart suddenly. “Who cares? He’s just…” He wanted to say ‘teasing’ but being pushed down with a hand down his underwear obviously exceeded that. “He’s just playing some kind of a game.”
Had Kon been able to, he would have rolled his eyes. “Well, duh! Of course he is. It’s called ‘Let’s Bone Ichigo’.”
The red-head glared at him. Vulgar or not, Kon was probably right and it annoyed Ichigo even more. “In any case,” he spat, “I haven’t got any chastity to begin with, so you don’t need to worry.”
Kon raised his right paw meaningfully. “You’re wrong here. And stop boasting!”
Ichigo slapped his forehead again and tried to leave the room. Kon bounced after him and all but wrapped around his leg. The red-head tried to shake him off but the bear hung on as if glued. Peeling Kon off appeared just as ineffective – Ichigo didn’t want to rip his paws or head off.
“Let go.”
“No! I’m going with you!”
Slowly and carefully arranging his legs, Ichigo descended the stairs and stood in the corridor, thinking. He turned to the bathroom.
“Where are you going?” Kon asked suspiciously.
“Oh, I think you know. Just imagine yourself smelling like piss.”
The bear gasped. “You wouldn’t dare!”
Despite the bold statement, Kon’s voice was permeated with apprehension. Ichigo tried to shake him off his leg again, but the Modified Soul hadn’t come to his senses yet.
“What are you doing?”
Both Ichigo and Kon turned to stare at Ulquiorra, who had just passed the wall near the kitchen. There was a very peculiar look on Ulquiorra’s face and they met each other’s eyes. It became obvious to them that to any other passerby it might seem like Kon was humping Ichigo’s leg.
“Gah!” Kon let go of Ichigo as if his leg had suddenly turned to lava. He gave the leg a disgusted look. He would have probably spat on it as well if he had any saliva.
Using the opportunity, Ichigo grabbed Kon by the neck and fished the pill out of his snout. He popped it into his mouth and, while the disoriented Modified Soul tried to make sense of the sudden changes in his body, flash-stepped towards the door. He shouted for Ulquiorra to run as well but the other man didn’t even budge – Kon knew where they were going anyway. Running meant that Kon would simply reach the training grounds later.
While Kon was sprinting past him, Ulquiorra reached out and grabbed the Modified Soul by the arm. The action was so sudden and fast that Kon nearly fell over, his lower body still moving forward while the rest of him was suspended in an unyielding grip.
“Don’t interfere.”
Kon snorted derisively. “Why shouldn’t I?!”
Ulquiorra’s fingers squeezed his arm tightly. “You have got your big-footed woman. What do you want with Ichigo?”
The Modified Soul sputtered in indignation. “What are you implying? Looking after Ichigo is a part of my job!”
“Is that so? It seems to me that you are overzealous with your job.”
“The word is ‘enthusiastic’, not ‘overzealous’!”
“Whatever. Stay away.”
Kon glared at Ulquiorra. How could he have even presumed that this vile creature was after Orihime? It appeared that when it concerned his real interests, Ulquiorra was very assertive.
“I won’t stay away!” Kon spat. “What do you even want with him? You’ll be returning to Hueco Mundo in a bit. Leave him alone!”
Ulquiorra’s thick eyebrows rose. “You seem to have problems with processing information,” he concluded. “You do value your big-footed woman, don’t you?”
“Huh? What? What’re you gonna do? Is that a threat?”
Ulquiorra rolled his eyes. “Of course it is a threat.” He was tempted to emphasize his words by tightening his grip even more, but Kon’s arm was already close to breaking point. No matter the current resident inside, the body belonged to Ichigo. Breaking his arm would result in a series of unpleasant consequences.
Kon’s face scintillated with hatred. Apparently, Ulquiorra knew very well that Orihime was interested in him. While he seemed not to care, he could still use her attraction to get some use out of her. Kon had no doubts about that. Killing or harming her way would incur Ichigo’s wrath and Ulquiorra, obviously, would not want that. Would he try seducing her? Kon nearly gagged at the thought.
“Well?”
“I got it,” Kon grunted, giving in. “But just for today!”
Without a word, Ulquiorra’s grip went lax and he shoved Kon aside. A few seconds later, he was gone, catching up to Ichigo.
- - -
From afar, Ulquiorra watched his Shinigami counterpart. Today his Zanpakuto didn’t seem to be as aggressive as yesterday. Just as Ulquiorra had told Ichigo, it was male. His most distinctive features were the two white horns at the sides of his head. They weren’t big, just of average size, but Ulquiorra had experienced their sharpness yesterday when he had accidentally cut himself on one of them. The Zanpakuto spirit was tall, much taller than Ulquiorra. He was slim, a strange dark blue outfit hanging loosely on his frame. His big blue eyes had struck Ulquiorra as familiar but he had neither been able to remember what or who they reminded him of yesterday nor was he able to today.
Ichigo had advised him to be respectful to the Zanpakuto spirit. Ulquiorra stared at him even harder. Easy for Ichigo to say.
“Since when did you care what some Human says?”
Ulquiorra blinked at the spirit. Right, Ichigo had told him they were one entity, so the Zanpakuto must know his thoughts. This was very annoying. It was, however, now clear why the Zanpakuto had attacked him on sight yesterday. Did they really need to talk at all, though, if they shared their thoughts? On the other hand, did they? He couldn’t read his Zanpakuto’s thoughts.
“You can’t because you don’t care,” the Zanpakuto declared loudly, annoyance clear on his face and in his voice.
“Well, yes, not particularly,” Ulquiorra agreed. “And to answer your previous question, Ichigo is not ‘some’ Human. Besides, if you know my thoughts, you don’t need to ask.”
The spirit gave him a disdainful look. “It’s purely sport. And I know the question gets on your nerv-”
“So what is your name?”
The Zanpakuto rolled his eyes in disbelief.
“Too early, huh? So what do you usually do here?”
“You don’t even expect me to answer…”
Ulquiorra shrugged. “You just might.” He looked around the vast space. Yesterday he had no time to take it all in due to the sudden attack. The place reminded him of Hueco Mundo; it felt homelike. There was a stark difference between the two, though. The familiar, white sand desert stretched as far as the eye could see, but there were many more trees than Ulquiorra was used to. They also seemed to be alive, with light blue leaves, not some quartz structures.
Curious, Ulquiorra approached one to inspect it. When he touched the bark, it resonated, sending a spark of warmth up his spine. It was indeed alive, just like the one he had spent most of his Hollow days in.
Ulquiorra had also become aware of the soft sound of water and started walking in the direction of the noise. The Zanpakuto spirit followed him, keeping his distance.
“So how do you spend your days here?” Ulquiorra asked again while they climbed over a high dune. The white grains of sand made a pleasant, soft sound as they cascaded under their feet and down the slope.
The spirit pursed his lips. “Trying to… tame me is futile.”
“Is it? Is this place as big as it seems?”
“It’s endless.”
Ulquiorra raised his head to look at the huge moon hanging above them. It shone much more brightly than in Hueco Mundo – here it was as bright as a sun, making this world much lighter. Maybe it was a sun. The air wasn’t hot, though. Barely warm. The sand under their feet was cool as well.
“Does anything interesting happen here? Anyone else live here?”
They had finally reached the top of the dune and Ulquiorra was amazed to see a river far in the distance. Blue-leaved trees were everywhere. There were even tufts of bluish grass along the banks of the river.
“Just me and the Hollow.”
Ulquiorra, who had not expected an answer, turned to him. “The counterpart? Do you fight?”
“Why would we?”
Ulquiorra shrugged. Indeed, why would they? They were all one and the same being. Not for the first time, he wondered why Ichigo found it so difficult to sort himself out. The red-head became panicky every time his Hollow nature manifested itself. That was silly – the more he fretted, the more the Hollow wanted to take over. Fear was a weakness and Hollows exploited weakness.
“I don’t like you,” the Zanpakuto spirit declared, reflecting on Ulquiorra’s thoughts. They made him want to attack Ulquiorra again.
Ulquiorra rolled his eyes at the obvious and continued walking down to the valley. “Why?”
“I liked the other one better.”
“The other one?”
“The other you.”
“Oh.” Surprised, Ulquiorra turned to the spirit. “How old are you?”
The spirit frowned. “That’s not what you want to ask. I was born within the other when he gained Shinigami powers. Then he was killed. Then you appeared and I had to return.”
Ulquiorra nodded and chuckled. “You say you liked him better, but he wasn’t even aware of your existence.” Yet, it was the first time he had heard that Zanpakuto spirits remained bound to the same soul for eternity. “And what did you do while I wasn’t here?”
“I didn’t exist.”
Ulquiorra thought for a moment. “So you were dead as well.”
“I can’t be dead – I’m not alive.”
“Well, neither am I, nor any other Arrancar, nor Shinigami for that matter but…”
“It works differently with spirits. We are… inactive, but in a state of constant preparedness.”
“I see. So you do exist.”
“No, we don’t. The mold does. We are always ready to be reborn.”
“This doesn’t make much sense. You can’t both exist and not exist at the same time.”
“I don’t exist but the mold does.”
“Whatever.”
Just like in Hueco Mundo, distances were deceptive. What had seemed to be a half an hour’s walk turned out to be a real journey. It was worth it, though. The flowing water of the river was soothing and, after walking along its bank, Ulquiorra sat down on one of the lonely patches of blue grass.
- - -
Ichigo was drawing a smiley face on the ground, bored. The stick he had picked up was very short and he was squatting down.
“How long do you think it will take him to achieve Bankai?” he mused, staring at Ulquiorra, who remained unmoving farther into the training grounds.
Kisuke, who had been snoozing, lifted his hat to inspect Ichigo’s drawing. The red-head was now adding curly hair to the grinning face. “With that attitude?” he muttered. “Hmph. A couple of months at least.”
“Bankai.”
They turned to see Ulquiorra standing with his Zanpakuto pointing forward.
“But due to my superb training, that time has been reduced,” Kisuke added proudly.
“You didn’t even train him.”
“I lent the training grounds,” the former captain pointed out to Ichigo, who rolled his eyes.
They stared at Ulquiorra’s new form curiously. The green Zanpakuto hadn’t changed much in appearance but it had become much longer, its reach wider. Ulquiorra was wearing the same Shinigami robe but there was now a white sash tied over his waist.
Ulquiorra was inspecting his Zanpakuto, weighing it in his hand, checking the grip on the hilt.
“So what’s his name?” Ichigo asked.
“Minazarim,” Ulquiorra answered without looking at the red-head.
Ichigo raised his eyebrows at the exclusive name; so much for Ulquiorra preferring simplicity. It was, however, not for Ulquiorra to decide. “And what’s Minazarim’s specialty?” he asked.
Ulquiorra lowered his Zanpakuto. “Mmn… I can do this…” He lifted his Zanpakuto upwards and it suddenly disappeared. Behind him, hundreds of green spears appeared.
“Ehh…” Ichigo drawled, impressed, staring. “Can you control every one of them?”
Ulquiorra thought for a moment, checking his senses. “I will be able to, but not quite yet.”
“Then it’s better we try that later,” Kisuke suggested carefully. “With fewer spears.” The reiatsu Ulquiorra was emitting now was nowhere close to his second form, but the spears looked formidable enough. They were obviously also trickier to fend off than Ulquiorra’s usual spears.
“And yet your reiatsu doesn’t exactly feel like a Shinigami’s,” Ichigo informed Ulquiorra.
Ulquiorra nodded. In fact, his current reiatsu more or less matched that of Ichigo’s when the red-head was in Bankai with his Hollow mask.
“What does your Shikai actually look like?” Kisuke asked.
Ulquiorra dispersed the spears and dropped from Bankai. His Shikai form appeared to be of similar nature, where he was able to summon ten spears. He grabbed one out of the air and threw it at a boulder behind Ichigo. The boulder disintegrated in the same manner as if it had been hit by a Cero.
“Awesome,” Kisuke summed up at once. “So you can go and train with these.”
- - -
Ulquiorra spent three hours trying to get used to his Shikai. Once, he nearly skewered himself with one of the spears. It was going to take much more time to perfect the technique and even more time to gain full control of his Bankai than he had anticipated. He wondered if it was even worth it. He was probably wasting his time.
Ulquiorra dismissed his Shikai, and, content, watched his white Arrancar clothes replace the Shinigami robe. He looked around, spotted a resilient boulder which had survived his training, and went to lean against it. Ichigo had told him he wanted to spar, but Ulquiorra was tired.
Kisuke turned to Ulquiorra to find him sitting against a boulder further away. He was watching Ichigo warm up, his eyes following the red-head’s steady moves. Kisuke walked over and sat down next to him. He had wanted to talk to Ulquiorra earlier, only that the topic he had wanted to touch upon was not something one could easily raise. In the end, the former captain decided to be as straightforward as he could.
“You like Ichigo,” he stated.
Ulquiorra turned to Kisuke, his emerald eyes questioning why he had bothered to state such an obvious fact. Flustered, Kisuke scratched the back of his head.
“You want him.”
The gaze didn’t change. Again, it seemed that Ulquiorra didn’t understand why he was mentioning such a well-established truth.
“Err… It’s not common in the Human World for two males to… well, to be intimate.”
“It seems so,” Ulquiorra agreed; he had figured it was something like that.
Kisuke stared at him quietly for a few seconds. “You’ve already tried to…” he trailed off, turning to Ichigo as well. Isshin was going to flip out. Kisuke huffed and continued to stare at Ichigo wordlessly. It wasn’t his business who Ichigo slept with, but Ulquiorra was… a bit too much. He had seen it coming, though. Normally, it was Ichigo who affected others and drew them in. This time, it had worked both ways. The red-head had fallen into Ulquiorra’s pace without much thought.
“You do realize that you’ve got practically no chance of winning against Kurosuchi?”
Ulquiorra nodded. “Yes, I saw the intelligence Aizen had gathered on him.”
“No matter how much power you have,” Kisuke continued, “his fighting technique is unique. Neither you nor Ichigo stand a chance.”
Ulquiorra glowered at the oblivious red-head further away. “It is not in my intentions to face him directly.”
“No, Ichigo didn’t tell me anything about your plans,” Kisuke said, noticing the glare. “It is obvious that he will get involved, though. He always gets involved. However, I’m not sure he realizes what he’s sticking his nose into.”
Kisuke waited for Ulquiorra to say something but the other man just shrugged. “It is his decision to make.”
“He might die.”
Ulquiorra shrugged again. “It’s up to him,” he repeated. He didn’t really understand what the former captain was asking him to do. Telling Ichigo not to go would not work. Trying to prevent him from going forcefully might work, but Ulquiorra didn’t want to do that. If Ichigo had made his decision, why should he try to stop him? It was his right to go. Besides, Ichigo would be useful if they really had to face Mayuri.
- - -
While returning home, Ichigo and Ulquiorra found Karin and Kon returning from football practice and joined them.
“How did it go?” Kon asked with a soft grunt, still angry with both Ulquiorra and Ichigo.
“It was a success!” Ichigo announced victoriously. After Ulquiorra was done with his Shikai training, they had sparred. Fighting Ulquiorra in his second form was beneficial: Ichigo could feel himself getting stronger, more nimble. He had also gotten used to Ulquiorra’s fighting style and was more or less able to predict his moves; today there were no cuts on the red-head’s body.
When they were nearly there, Ichigo could feel Rukia in the kitchen, probably talking to Isshin. Orihime was also there, flitting from one room to another; Ichigo guessed she was playing with the kitten. Yuzu was in her room, on the second floor. Curious, Ichigo scanned Rukia’s reiatsu in the kitchen again. Maybe she had some news.
Kon was carrying the plushy bear in his bag and, at the door, he and Ichigo exchanged bodies. They went into the house. At the sound of the door opening, Orihime and Yuzu went to greet them.
Ulquiorra sniffed the air, frowning. “What’s that smell? It’s like there’s something dead lying around.” He sniffed again and his eyes set on Ichigo’s feet. “Ah.” The red-head had just taken his shoes off. This was not the first time he had encountered this putrid stench.
“Uh,” Ichigo said, shuffling his feet awkwardly. “Seems like Kon kept Karin company during practice.”
“Yup!” Kon confirmed, full of excitement. “I jogged! I was first to make ten laps!”
“That’s your feet?” Orihime said, incredulous. “Ichigo…” She rushed to open the window at the end of the corridor before they could suffocate.
Ulquiorra gave the red-head’s feet one more inspecting look. “Amazing. You could use this as a secret weapon.” He thought that it would not impress Mayuri at all.
“It would probably attract vultures, though,” Kon pointed out.
Karin snickered. “That’s nothing. You should’ve been there when he took off his sneakers after a two-day hike that we had at school. We nearly died of shock.”
Ichigo huffed. “Stop it already. It’s not that I can help it. I’ll go take a shower. Everyone’s happy now, right?”
Karin gave him thumbs up. Ichigo rolled his eyes and went to the kitchen to greet the others. He had expected Rukia to give him some news, but after greeting him, she exchanged a few more words with Isshin, then excused herself and left. Ichigo went upstairs to get a change of clothes then occupied the bathroom.
Meanwhile, Ulquiorra slumped onto his futon, tired. Today had been exhausting. He closed his eyes, but his rest was interrupted by a knock at the door, and Yuzu came in with a tray. The smell of tea and coffee filled the air. There was also the familiar scent of the freshly baked buns that Orihime had brought from her part-time job.
Yuzu set the tray onto Ichigo’s desk and, in only a few seconds, just as Ulquiorra had figured, the rest of the red-head’s friends showed up. Ulquiorra would have liked them to stay in the kitchen with the oldest Kurosaki, but the last time he had suggested that, Isshin had said that youngsters preferred their own company. Ulquiorra wondered if Isshin realized that the two of them were about the same age. Or maybe the oldest Kurosaki had been sarcastic. One could never know.
When, about an hour later, everyone had finally left, Ulquiorra dug into his futon and closed his eyes blissfully. Ichigo rustled about, went to the bathroom, returned, searched for something in his bag, left the room again, then returned and dropped something.
“Would you go to sleep already?” Ulquiorra grunted. He turned his head to see the red-head picking up the book he had dropped.
“Soon,” Ichigo assured him. Ulquiorra watched him as he sat down on his bed. “I think there’s something strange going on with Rukia coming and leaving like this. Kisuke also seems…”
“They want your father to go back to Soul Society.”
Ichigo stared at him. “They what? Why?”
“As far as I understand, Ukitake’s health is failing and they are looking for the most agreeable replacement.”
“Huh.” Ichigo found it hard to believe, but this version was better than none. Ukitake’s health had always been declining. It was possible that it was really bad this time. “But why my dad? They can pick someone else. Besides, didn’t he retire already? There was probably some trouble when he left, too.”
“There wasn’t. They didn’t like him choosing a Quincy but he resigned and left for the Human World before it could escalate. And now that the hindrance is gone, it seems that they have decided that he’s the most suitable candidate to replace Ukitake.”
“That hindrance you’re talking about is my mother.”
Ulquiorra shrugged. “In any case, he won’t agree no matter how hard they push him – he has his daughters to raise. They would have more luck trying to convince you.”
Ichigo gave him an incredulous look. “You’re kidding, right?”
“I am. But it is a possibility, is it not?”
TBC
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The Heart in My Hand