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Inconceivable	By : wolfkin59 Category: Bleach > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 1393 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, and I don't make money from this.

Chapter List
- 3
- 4
Title: Inconceivable
Author: Cuzosu
Rating: Eventually M, but this chapter's not too bad. Mostly. Language, though, and some fairly minor description of bloodshed and combat.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, and I make no money from this. It's merely a tribute to Kat's Incalculable, because I think that story is worth continuing.
A/N: Based off of Kat's Incalculable, and can be read as a side version or an extended story, but I might mess with the timelines a little bit.
A/N #2: The sword sticking isn't in this chapter, but will be within the next two on adultfanfiction . net, so don't worry too much, 'kay? ;) Also, a good bit of a flashback here; hope y'all enjoy it!
::blah:: means mind to mind speech/telepathy
blah as a full sentence means thought.
Otherwise, italics are just emphasis.
Hope you enjoy!

Chapter Four:
The next morning brings with it only weariness, though the troublesome guests are gone. Ichigo is restless but exhausted, and the only reason he can sleep at all is that Kisuke holds him tight, leaning back against Benihime's cheek. In turn, Benihime sleeps twined with Zangetsu, the duo coiled close about their riders even as their bodies tangle together.
When evening falls, it is time for decisions...but Urahara is fairly sure he knows what they'll do. So he wakes his younger lover gently, fondness etched upon his face, and lights a fire to start making breakfast as the orange-haired man stretches and grumbles.
Kisuke waits until after the meal to convey that he has a plan, then holds a quick, silent conversation with Benihime before turning to Zangetsu. But much like the Urahara himself, the black-and-red dragon is one who makes up her own mind and acts quickly when she feels the need—and apparently this is one of those times. And whatever she says, she speaks only to Zangetsu.
::One of us must stay here to help and guard the others, but for what Kisuke has planned, two humans will be needed. If you do not believe you can guard them both, carry them both, then tell us now. Because if they return hurt, I will take payment out of your hide. And if one or both of them don't return...I will kill you myself.:: This last is hissed at the large male, who blinks at her before lowering his head in acknowledgement.
::If I am unable to protect them, it will be because I am dead,:: vows Zangetsu solemnly. ::You needn't fret so.:: As an afterthought, he adds, ::And your rider is a genius anyway. If it comes to battle and I cannot see a way to win, or at least escape, I will consult with both riders. You have my word.::
To one side, Ichigo stands with his lover, who raises one blond eyebrow in a silent query. In a likewise silent answer, Zangetsu lowers his huge form into a crouch to allow riders to climb atop him. At the same time, Benihime settles back on her haunches, eyes narrowed into cat-like slits that shine all the more green in the dim cave.
::Fare well, my rider,:: she bids as they launch into the sky and begin the next stage of their journey. ::Fare well and may the grace of the gods go with you.:: It is the first time in a long time she has used a prayer of any sort; this one has gone unspoken since first she left her mother's nest. The war seems to suck all belief from her—except that now, she has something else to believe in even more than she does the atrocities of war. Now, Benihime knows a blond who, given time, can manipulate any given situation to produce any result he wishes.
She believes in nothing in this world so much as she believes in Kisuke.

As they take to the midnight skies, Ichigo looks back over his shoulder at his lover. He hasn't been told what the plan is, but that doesn't surprise him. If he has learned one thing about the Urahara since he first met the blond, it is that said blond has a penchant for secrets. After all, you can't spill a secret you don't know.
Thinking about all the things he's learned of the blond brings him back, eventually, to the first time he met the ex-shopkeeper.
Mom's been dead for years; Dad's death is still fresh in all the Kurosaki children's minds. It is a bare day since the priest brought the news...and informed them that their father's body was lost in the sea as he tumbled from the cliffs. Ichigo doesn't want to remember the horrified wails from Yuzu, the silent dismay of Karin. But he can't do anything else. Even the priest's words are buried beneath the tragic wave that knocked him spinning.
And then he comes. The blond. That eccentric, strange-looking blond in green and white robes and sandals.
He comes with a sad look and claims to be a friend of their father, but Ichigo never heard him speak of this man, this Urahara Kisuke. In disbelief he reads a letter penned by his father's own hand.
Ichigo,
If you're reading this, I'm sorry. I failed. And I can no longer protect you or your sisters.
I don't know what dangers you face, or even how many people you can trust, wherever you're at.
But the bearer of this letter...trust him. Urahara Kisuke is an old friend of mine—and a man who will do his best by all of you, even if that means calling on his oldest and best friends. He will take you to his shop and probably you will meet Tsukabishi Tessai and Shihoin Yoruichi there. I trust them with you—and your sisters—too, but Kisuke will be your surest protection, and here's why: he's the most likely to be able to predict and deflect dangers targeting you children.
I wish I could be there for you. But if I can't, he will. He promised, and he's a man of his word, after all.
Your loving father,
Kurosaki Isshin
Tears in his eyes, the orange-haired youth looks up at the blond standing sadly next to him.
"It was a letter I never wanted to deliver," says the man. Shadows twist and dance across his face, hiding his expression. "But I am not the kind of person to leave children on their own, even if Isshin hadn't had me promise to look out for you. When you're ready, we'll load the cart and be off to a safer place. I don't know what enemies remain."
Karin breaks in, heartbroken but still suspicious in defense of her siblings. "Enemies? What enemies?"
Eyes a dull gray, flecked with green, stare at the girl with such sadness that she takes half a step back before catching herself. "Your father was a good swordsman and a good man. Swordsmen make enemies, more as their skill grows. Good men make more yet, if they live long enough...and he did."
Ichigo grumpily agrees with this truth. So they pack, load the wagon, and away they go. When they get to Urahara's shop that night, all three Kurosaki orphans are too tired to take in much of their surroundings, so the blond ushers them off to new rooms and new beds.
The morning after their arrival at the shop, bandits arrive at dawn. They stand in the yard, shouting threats and waving weapons, and Ichigo sighs and prepares to go teach them a lesson. A hand on his arm stops him, so he looks at his father's friend. Urahara is smiling.
"I am not incompetent, you know. You haven't even settled in yet; let me handle this, hm?" he says, tapping his cheek with the folded fan.
It occurs to Ichigo that this man is probably the single most infuriating person he's ever met. Part of it is the fan; part of it is the hat; part of it is the fact that as soon as he discovers one hidden facet of the man's personality, two more appear to confound him. No little bit of it, too, is the silver tongue that twists words into mangled coils and leaves them for someone else to untangle. Kurosaki Ichigo has never liked verbal battles; he's too physical, too active. But he raises one eyebrow and eases back on his heels, letting the odd shopkeeper do as he wishes.
Moving with hidden grace, the scruffy store owner walks outside. "My, my," he says, smiling kindly behind his fan, "what is this about?" Sharp gray-green eyes observe every detail, though no one notices.
"Whadda ya think we're after?" sneers one of the bigger bandits. "It's a store; we want goods and money!"
The hat's brim lowers to cover most of Urahara's eyes, hiding the sudden dangerous gleam. "Oh, really?" he asks ingeniously, fan furling shut with a snap and disappearing into his sleeve. "Well, customers don't usually come to the shop so early, but if you want to save money you've come to the right place."
Ichigo wants to punch the blond for general stupidity, but a deeper, more observant part holds him back. That man is up to something, and he wants to know what.
"Customers?" Several bandits snicker. "You're not going to get money, fool; we're here to take it all!"
"Is that so?" His mild, kind tone is what makes Ichigo wary; no one who speaks like that is about to be nice, not when there's laughter underscoring the words in this type of situation.
"Get 'em, boys!" shouts the leader, a hulking man who looms over the shopkeeper.
"What do they teach people these days?" queries the blond man as he knocks one cold with a chop to the back of his neck. His next target lunges at him; Urahara trips him blithely, then drops a palm down so fast the man's head leaves an impression in the dirt when it hits a second later.
As the Kurosaki orphans watch in awe—and, in Yuzu's case, worry—their father's friend confronts an entire bandit group barehanded...and wins. Twelve would-be bandits lie strewn about the road and the store's front yard. Every one of those men seems more dangerous than the blond, but where Urahara's concerned it appears wise to be cautious. Whoever these would-be bandits are, they have come to the wrong place, and never once did the shop owner so much as form a fist.
Yuzu exclaims loudly about how amazing the blond is, and Karin looks impressed. Well, Ichigo is too—but he's not going to show it.
"Think you can teach me how to take people out like that?" the young man asks. He knows other ways to take people out, but they all involve fists or, in rare cases, swords. Urahara used no fists, no weapons. Just his hands.
Adjusting his hat—and hell if that isn't the most ridiculous and annoying hat Ichigo's ever seen—the shop owner smiles. "Mm, yes. I suppose I could. But after breakfast, hm? Being nice to fools leaves me hungry." And those gray-green eyes flash cold amusement. It's only a moment, but honey-colored eyes catch it all. This man, this odd, eccentric shopkeeper...he is not so nice as he pretends to be. Ichigo will remember that.
But his father's letter claims Urahara as a friend—and would the blond have taken in three kids who didn't even know he existed if he wasn't friends with Kurosaki Isshin? Ichigo guesses maybe he would; there are two other children living with him, after all. But this leaves him with a conundrum, an enigma. Just who and what is the real Urahara? The nice one, or the cold bastard who fights so well? The one who adopts stray children or the one who beats the living daylights out of people because they're causing problems in his territory? (Because Ichigo's sure that's why he stepped in, not because they were supposedly tired from the long trip the day prior.)
Ichigo resolves to find out.
Smiling at the memory, Ichigo leans back against his blond lover. I found out, alright. He distinctly remembers finding out that the shopkeeper has more to him than an onion has layers and is just as good at getting reactions from people. It disgruntled him then, but now he's older and wiser (or perhaps is just more accustomed to the blond) and if anything, he finds it amusing.
Content just to be with his dragon and his lover—though he feels something is missing, and that would be Benihime—Ichigo sighs and leaves the immediate details to the other two. Without realizing it, he drifts off.

Urahara Kisuke feels his lover's muscles relax in slumber. With a soft smile, he nuzzles the younger man, knowing they are safe on Zangetsu's back. It's a shorter journey this time, since they only need to find daytime shelters for one dragon and two humans, and they make it about a third of the way in one night. The next two nights are the same, and then they reach the seaside cave and Ichigo goes down to fish for their supper, and finally the blond has a chance to talk to Zangetsu alone.
He comes at it slyly, acting as if he is merely missing Benihime, because if he isn't careful he might well scare the other male away from the prospect completely. Gray-green eyes appear lonely as he says, "I wonder how 'hime's doing..."
Zangetsu tilts his head and eyes the blond fondly. He approves of this man his rider has chosen; for a human, the man has dragon sensibilities—and is smarter than most, to boot. ::I am sure she's fine,:: he rumbles reassuringly. ::She's not one to let anything stand in the way of what she wants to do, after all.::
"That's true..." Those expressive eyes are wan, though, as he sighs. "But we've got a long task ahead of us, whatever we do, and we're going to be apart for long periods of time again..."
The dragon snorts, then nudges Kisuke with his nose. ::Not if you hurry up and get that spell working, the one Benihime was going on about.::
"Oh yeah!" The blond stands and hurries to his packs, where he pulls out a journal and riffles quickly through the pages in search of something. "Ah ha! Here it is!" He frowns and mumbles to himself for a bit before pulling out a pen and making notations to one side. There's a long moment full of nothing but the sound of the pen scratching across the paper before he softly asks, "Since 'hime's not here... Would you like to be the first to test this? I'm pretty sure I've got the kinks worked out, but we'll have to wait for Ichigo to rejoin us."
A pause, and then Zangetsu replies, ::Yes. I do not like it when Ichigo goes into danger without me.::
"So long as you realize 'hime's going to be jealous," the blond gently reminds him.
::She likes me,:: the dragon retorts, unaware of the double meaning in his words. He doesn't know she likes him as a potential mate; he means it as fondness, the way one friend likes another. ::Whatever she does won't be permanent.::
"Well," says the blond, flipping his fan open to hide a smile. "As long as you're sure."

A/N: I know, finally, an update. Sorry it took so long! Hope you enjoyed it!
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Inconceivable