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A Shadow of What Was	By : katami Category: Bleach > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 49594 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Author's Notes: And the muse said there shall be plot and the Katami cried. And the Kisuke said there will be smut and the Katami grinned. And both said that the Katami would be given no peace until she finished and the Katami cursed them both and slunk back to her computer.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, Kisuke loves you (the little attention whore). Once again, if you like please review and if you don't then don't read. I will not be blamed for your damaged psyche if you ignore the warnings.

Also, the timing on this and next two or three chapters might seem a little odd, but we are following multiple people and what they are doing over the same period of time, it is important to the damn plot thing, and it will all fit together, I promise. Bear with me and enjoy.

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Ichigo sank calmly into his inner world. The sky was grey and a slight breeze blew but otherwise things were peaceful. Time had eased the pain of the wounds to his heart and soul, although the hurt still lingered to strike him at odd times. Like now, as summer turned to fall and the anniversary of Urahara�s death drew nearer. It had been twenty years this fall since he had laid his lover to rest in his old playgrounds and seventeen years since Benihime had woken him in the middle of the night singing joyously at Kisuke�s rebirth.

Seventeen long years and he had seen his lover only twice. Once had been early on, when Kisuke was only a few days old, he had tracked his lover down and spent hours watching his family, inspecting his home and generally making sure his lover�s soul would be well cared for. He had stayed away after that initial investigation to protect his defenseless lover, to insure that Aizen wouldn�t find him.

The renegade Shinigami had come after Urahara all those years ago after it had become clear the war wasn't going to end quickly. Aizen had grown restless and wanted to harness Hougyoku�s power more fully, to do that he had needed its creator. He had only intended to capture Kisuke and drag him back to Hueco Mundo but in the heat of battle Ulquoirra had gone too far, struck a fatal blow rather than a merely crippling one.

The memories brought a low ache to his chest, his dear Kisuke gone all because of an accident. He had vowed to do better by his lost this time, so he had stayed away so that Aizen would never know that Urahara had come back. There was no reason to believe that this reborn Urahara would even be able to provide the information Aizen wanted, but Kisuke had been the one to create Hougyoku and Urahara would always be brilliant. Ichigo had decided that it was better not to take the risk that Aizen might still want Urahara and so he had stayed away.

The second time he had seen Kisuke had been twelve years ago and had been by accident. He had been working, handling the paperwork that came with running a division, when Benihime had wailed a warning at him. An Arrancar had appeared in a park where Kisuke was playing. He hadn�t waited for the regular response team, instead he had left his office at a dead run, intent only on insuring that Kisuke was safe.

He smiled faintly as Zangetsu appeared to greet him, Benihime close on his heels. The two zanpakutous got along well, in fact, Benihime got along well with all the pieces of him. Even Shirosaki was reasonably polite to her. He wasn�t exactly close to the zanpakutou but they worked well together and he thought he might even miss her when it came time to return her to Kisuke.

�Everything alright?� he asked glancing around.

�Everything is fine. You know that,� murmured Zangetsu with a faint smile. He got edgy this time of year and his sword knew it; Shirosaki got pissy, Benihime got melancholy and he got edgy. They all handled their grief in different ways.

He was about to bid the swords a farewell and sink deeper into himself, to really meditate properly, when something collided with his physical body and jarred him from his soulscape.

�What the hell?� he growled, rubbing the side of his head, eyes darting around for the source of the attack. A sandal lay next to him and Rukia stood in the doorway smirking at him. The smirk vanished quickly, an innocent look replacing it, but neither of them bought it and Ichigo had to smile privately at the attempt, although the frown on his lips belied his amusement.

�You have a meeting, Kuriosaki-taichou,� said Rukia sweetly.

�Would you quite it with that �Kurosaki-taichou� crap? Hell, I don�t go around calling you Kuchiki-fukutaichou, do I?� he grumbled.

�Maybe you should. It occurs to me that you don�t give me nearly enough respect,� said Rukia, collecting her sandal, all affronted dignity.

�How the hell did I get stuck with you as my vice captain anyway?� he groused playfully. They both knew that the fifth wouldn�t be the smooth running and efficient fighting force it was without Rukia. They had literally rebuilt the shattered division from the ground up in the fifteen years they had been running it. They both knew that there was nowhere else Rukia would rather work. She had transferred to the fifth to serve with him. He was one of the few people who wouldn�t bow to Byakuya�s pressure about not making her a seated officer. Renji wouldn�t have either but Kira and the third needed Renji. He needed Rukia.

�You? I�m the one stuck with you as my captain,� Rukia retorted before breaking into a smile. �You�ve got a meeting with Hitsugaya-taichou and Renji and then we�ve got dinner with your family.�

Family dinner night had become a Kurosaki tradition. It involved both his sisters, their father, him, Rukia, Yuzu's husband, and Hitsugaya Toushirou. Rukia had been practically adopted into their family, a fact that didn�t thrill Byakuya but which he couldn�t object to, long before everything had come out about him and Urahara. His father loved her and doted on her like a long lost third daughter, a fact that never failed to amuse Rukia and annoy Ichigo. Toushirou had been attending for nearly six years, ever since he started dating Karin. Ichigo couldn�t help but be amused at the idea of his sister and the tenth division captain.

Their relationship was one of the worst kept secrets of Soul Society, everyone knew about it. It was just no one talked about it. The fraternization would have gotten Hitsugaya into trouble if it was reported but without actual proof of the relationship no action could be taken. And no one wanted to be the one to provide proof; not when faced with the wrath of not only Hitsugaya, but him, his father, Matsumoto, Rukia, Renji, Yumichika and even Ikkaku. Despite the keen interest being paid in it the relationship seemed to be flourishing and there was even talk of the two of them marrying. Granted, that was mostly Matsumoto but it was still talk.

Even Ishida, Renji and Byakuya had standing invitations to dinner although Ichigo preferred not to wonder how those had come about. Captain or not there were some things he didn�t want to know. He had enough strangeness in his life and the idea of his father knowing any of those three was frankly more than he could wrap his mind around.

�What are we covering today aside from Ishida wanting to change the patrol routes again?� he asked, getting up and starting towards the tenth division�s wing of the building. After years of battling in the real world, someone in Soul Society had finally gotten smart and set up a firm base of operations there. A warehouse had been rented and under it their base of operations had been built. There were living quarters, three division offices and even a permanent gate set up. There were even training grounds since a tunnel had been built to connect them to the Urahara shouten.

He had inherited the shop from Urahara. He had also inherited Tessai, Ururu, Jinta, and the mod souls as well, although in their case it was more inheriting the guardianship of all of them. He left the running of the shop to Tessai; although the other man came by once a month to inform him of all the shop business. He never understood why, since he never gave any input in the shop�s running, but Tessai seemed to take comfort in the routine.

�Ishida isn�t going to give up on that no matter how many times Hitsugaya turns him down,� chuckled Rukia, falling into step with him. �There�s also the slight rise in Arrancar activity that we need to discuss how to handle, a small disciplinary matter between the 11^th and some of our people on leave, and confirming Hisagi�s captaincy.�

�Haven�t we done that already?� growled Ichigo. �He�s been in command of the 9^th since Tousen left.�

�This for the record. He showed full mastery of his bankai only a month ago and until he did that we couldn�t take an actual vote,� explained Rukia as they came to the tenth division�s conference room. Ichigo nodded to Hitsugaya in greeting, receiving a nod in return from the other captain.

Hitsugaya had changed little in the twenty some odd years since they�d first met. Even though he had gained several inches of height, he was still the shortest captain of the Thirteen and he only just managed to look Karin in the eye. He was still cool and aloft, although Ichigo had once seen him holding Karin and when he did that, the captain was washed away and only Hitsugaya the man remained. A kind, noble man who felt things deeply and cared greatly. From what he had seen, Ichigo was willing to say that man was more than good enough for his sister, about the highest compliment he could think of.

�Renji here yet?� he asked.

�Abarai hasn�t finished his patrol yet,� muttered Hitsugaya and Ichigo could read his annoyance in the words. Renji and Ishida�s relationship was not quite as well known in Soul Society but around the real world just about everyone had seen proof of it at one time or another, usually by walking in and discovering the third division captain and the Quincy in some state of undress. They actually took bets on when and where the new members would find the two; Matsumoto ran the pool.

And speak of the devil, thought Ichigo with a smirk as the 10^th division vice captain came sailing up. �Captain! Oh Captain, you forgot this,� she said, grinning as she handed her captain a covered baking dish. Rukia smothered a chuckle and Hitsugaya looked torn between glaring at her or glaring at Matsumoto. �You wouldn�t want to leave this behind after you went to all the trouble to make it, Captain. Karin would be so disappointed.� Ichigo buried his smile in a file as a blush stole across Hitsugaya�s cheeks. He growled at his vice captain to find Renji and stormed into the conference room, dish in tow.

Ichigo and Rukia shared a quick chuckle but were carefully straight faced when they followed him. They were just being served tea when Matsumoto arrived with Renji and Ishida, neither terribly mussed for once.

While the Quincy wasn�t technically part of Soul Society he had proven himself in battle often enough to have earned the respect of all the Shinigami and his and Renji�s relationship granted him an odd sort of status. The Quincy was almost considered the vice captain of the third as he did more fighting with the division than Kira.

The actual vice captain of the 3^rd had never really recovered from Aizen and Ichimaru�s betrayal. The years serving under Renji and careful work from all his friends were helping to rebuild his confidence, but it would still be decades before Kira recovered fully. Renji worked hard to keep Kira out of the field, not wanting to chance an encounter with Ichimaru. An Arrancar Kira could have taken, but no one thought he was ready to face his former captain. Not and live through the experience.

�Can we begin?� snapped Hitsugaya. They all took their seats, not eager to push the young captain, not after Matsumoto had needled him about Karin. Hitsugaya liked to keep his private life private and it irked him that so many people knew how he felt for Karin.

�What are we covering?� demanded Renji as he and Ishida were served their tea.

�First up is voting on Hisagi�s appointment to captain of the ninth,� said Hitsugaya as Ichigo and Renji rolled their eyes. Everyone knew they would support Shuuhei�s appointment.

�We all vote �yes� on that, let�s move on,� ordered Renji earning a glare from the tenth division captain as well as a grudging nod.

They quickly settled the business for the day and Ichigo waited for Ishida to raise the issue of the patrols, he could tell the Quincy was itching to. Not that he blamed the other man; ending a patrol at the high school was no big deal for the night shifts, but for the day shifts it meant being seen and not even Hitsugaya could pass for a student any more.

�If we�ve covered all the important business then I have something to report,� murmured the Quincy. Ichigo could see Hitsugaya brace himself for another argument over patrol routes and sat back to watch the shouting that was sure to ensue. Ishida versus Hitsugaya was almost better than cable. �Abarai and I ran across something odd today, a young man at the high school whose spirit thread was laced with pink. He saw us and even managed to flee from Abarai.� There was something in the look the Quincy gave his lover that made Ichigo think Ishida wasn�t happy about that last part.

�Pink? That can�t be right, spirit threads are only white or red,� muttered Histugaya.

�I know what I saw,� snapped the Quincy. "And I saw a thread laced with pink."

"What could make a thread pink?" asked Ichigo, Ishida and Hitsugaya could argue minutia for hours.

"Nothing, if Ishida saw it then it's something entirely new," answered Rukia.

Hitsugaya glanced at his vice captain and sighed, �Fine, we�ll put out a notice to keep an eye out for the boy. Get a description to Matsumoto. If that�s all for today, we�ll conclude.�

They all nodded and stood. Matsumoto left to file her report and get shopping while Rukia and Hitsugaya went to change for dinner. His father was still a freak about punctuality and guest or not Hitsugaya would be attacked if late, although the last time his father had tried to get the drop on him Karin had kicked him into next week. Ichigo was about to join them, dinner was strange enough without him in uniform, when Renji and Ishida caught up to him.

�Lost to a kid, huh?� he asked jovially, elbowing the 3^rd captain lightly in the ribs. Renji glared at him and gave him a good natured shove.

�Little shit was fast. He moved nearly as fast as one of us.�

�Yeah, yeah,� teased Ichigo.

�Ain�t you got a family dinner to get to?� grumbled the redhead.

�Speaking of dinners, don�t you have one to cook?� interrupted Uryuu smoothly, a smirk on his lips. Ichigo had to chuckle at the all too familiar expression of Quincy superiority.

�Bastard,� muttered Renji. Ishida just smirked.

�You�ve been betting again,� laughed Ichigo with a warm sigh at the end. It was nice to know that some things never changed, such as betting against a Quincy always being a bad idea.

�Unlike you, he refuses to learn,� purred Ishida, all smug confidence.

�Idiot,� murmured Ichigo. Renji just growled and glared at his lover.

�Since you both have things to do, I�m going to see about hunting up a few leads to our mysterious student,� announced Uryuu, leaving them as they came to an intersection.

�You should know better than to bet him,� Ichigo warned the other man, blinking as he saw Renji�s frown morph into a sly smile as Ishida strolled away.

�Only if I want to win,� murmured Renji.

�You�re such an ass,� muttered Ichigo, shoving him and smiling.
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A Shadow of What Was