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Strawberries are Best Eaten Frozen	By : xenofan Category: Bleach > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 7600 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters

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On a completely different world from Ichigo's, a certain woman was indulging herself in the bar's hospitality. The strawberry blonde lifted the sake saucer to her lips once more, downing it all in one experienced gulp. Reclining in her seat, Matsumoto let out a content sigh. "Ahhh, that's better."

A frowning smaller-built girl sat by her, a tome in one hand. "Matsumoto-san, aren't you worried about Hitsugaya-taicho?"

The generously well-endowed vice-captain turned to stare drunkenly, eyes lidded and cheeks flushed. "Huuuuh? Why would I do that Nanao?"

Nanao gave an exasperated sigh "Because he's the first to be sent to the frontier in this war. We don't even know all the dangers he's in."

Her companion waved off away the concerns. "Of course. But there's nothing we can do...except drink!" In her mind that qualified as a toast and promptly downed more sake. "Drink Nanao, it's good."

Nanao's frown deepened; the reason people often mistook her for a librarian was not her glasses and book, but her aura of seriousness. The only time she let herself let her hair down (not literally of course, she did have a little feminine vanity) was with her captain, Kyoraku-taicho. Occasionally she loosed up with the Shinigami Women's Association--but only when there was full attendance. But there was no arguing with Matsumoto about alcohol while she was drunk; you might as well be telling Poseidon when the tide should come. "Fine, just a little more."

Lifting her own saucer, Nanao took a delicate sip, nearly hiccupping as it burned its way to her stomach. Her frown lifted into a sly grin as she eyed Matsumoto. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you're taking full advantage of your captain's absence. I also heard that Renji was the first choice for the job. Did you have anything to do with the change?"

Matsumoto burst out into a fit of laughter, her inhibitions already compromised. Quickly she schooled her face into an expression of melancholy. "Why would I do that? My workload has doubled with the additional 10th Division's paperwork. I have almost no time to drink. Why, just the other day I got so flustered my breasts nearly popped out!"

Nanao wasn't impressed. She arched an eyebrow at Matsumoto and murmured "You just delegate it all anyways. And you seem to have time to visit the bar a lot..."

If the blonde heard, she gave no indication. Gazing at the bar wall, her expression became thoughtful. "Although, it's true he could use the break right about now."

The 8th Division Vice-Captain cocked her head, intrigued. "What do you mean, has he been overworked?"

Matsumoto snorted. "We all have, it is a crisis after all. No, I just think the human world will do him good. There he won't be reminded of Hinamori or Aizen at every other turn."

"Hinamori...has her condition changed at all?"

"No, she's still comatose."

"Pity."

******

Ichigo rose at the usual time, his alarm clock having gone off Kon's yelling for once. He let out a loud yawn and extended his spine to its limits in a stretch. No matter how many Hollow attacked he still had to go to school. This level of tiredness was nothing; once he and Rukia had to fend off four separated encounters, leaving them both without a wink of sleep. He had nearly failed his math test that day, only a last minute cramming saved him, well that and Keigo's contribution to the bell-curve. The irony that the very souls he was saving thought he was slacking off wasn't lost on him.

The teen took his time getting dressed, replacing his night shirt with his freshly ironed school uniform and packing his book-bag. He always had to be in top shape before descending the stairs.

Sure enough, no sooner had his foot cleared the last step than a shadow approached him at blinding speed. Ichigo's right arm rose to guard the round-house kick instinctively; even so he still skidded a good five feet. "Gooooood moooorning Iiiiichigoooo!"

Dropping his torso, the younger Kurosaki shot his leg right into the attacker's chest. The man seemed to hover for a second as he was forced to exhale, before somersaulting out of control into the wall where he laid, whimpering.

Brushing the dust off himself, Ichigo turned towards the table and huffed "Serves you right for attacking me in the first place, old man."

Said old man's eyes glinted, seeing his chance. Rushing at full speed into his son, he cried out "You would turn your back on your enemy?!" Both men disappeared into a comical cloud of dust, raining down blows and yelling various obscenities.

Karin sipped her orange juice and continued to read the paper, paying the fierce battle beside her no mind. Yuzu looked on worriedly, wooden spoon in hand. "Father...brother..."

The dark-haired sister didn't look up. "Why are you all tense Yuzu? This happens every day, some kind of male bonding ritual probably."

The younger sister didn't seem comforted. "But breakfast..."

******

"I'm off to school. The breakfast was delicious, thanks Yuzu." Ichigo waved goodbye and stepped through the front door.

"Again you turn your back--ugh" His father's battle cry was cut short when the door was slammed in his face. Ichigo stoically turned away, but inside he was laughing. The expression of that face smooshed against the window of the door was the most hilarious thing he'd seen in a while.

Occasionally Ichigo walked with Keigo or Orihime, but today he traveled alone. Not the first one to arrive, nor the last, his timing was another attempt not to stand out. All his life people had thought him a punk because of his hair color and constant scowl. With nothing he could do about his hair and nothing he wanted to do with his face, Ichigo worked hard to be ordinary. The teen was careful to wear proper school attire, avoiding causing fights (although often fights came to him), and studied for tests (last exam he got into the top 50).

Or rather he had tried until a death god turned his world upside down; now just being a student at all was sometimes a chore. As Orihime would say, his school attendance record was spottier than a Dalmatian--then again, she'd probably confuse it with an American Short-Hair.

Ichigo managed to walk into the classroom a good five minutes before the bell range, unusual close for him. There was something else relatively unusual; all the students were crowded around something in the middle of the room. Curious, he walked towards the mass of people, which parted when they saw him.

It was no wonder he couldn't see anything behind the onlookers, the object of their attention didn't even pass five feet in height. It was Toushiro. In a school uniform--clearly visible to everyone--he was almost unrecognizable except for his hair and demeanor. No one else would be able to pull that scowl off...well, except for maybe him.

It was obvious the boy didn't really want to be here, surrounded by giggling schoolgirls calling him cute. Ichigo really didn't know why he was surprised; everyone who came from Soul Society seemed to migrate into his class. "Good morning, Hitsugaya-san"

Toushiro's eyes snapped to Ichigo, clearly glad to have something familiar. Regaining his aloof air, he walked right by the other shinigami, murmuring "We have to talk, after class" in passing.

Ichigo didn't know what that meant, but he didn't have time to find out: the teacher chose just then to enter. Slapping her attendance notebook on the podium, she called for attention. The screeching of chairs filled the air as students grudgingly took their seats.

The teacher gazed at her students, smiling profusely. Ichigo wasn't fooled into thinking she was all nice, she had beat him with that very notebook wearing that very same smile when he had skipped school. "Good morning class. Today we have a new transfer student, come to the front Hitsugaya-kun."

Toushiro emerged from the hallway where he'd be instructed to wait for his introduction. Facing to the chalkboard, he carefully wrote out his full name in large letters. He turned and took a bow and said the ritualistic words "My name is Hitsugaya Toushiro, nice to meet you."

The class whispered amongst themselves. Girls who had not seen him before class remarked how cute he looked, at four foot five he was dwarfed by some of their stuffed bears. The boys on the other hand asked each other if they knew him, and why an elementary schooler was allowed into this class. Was he some kind of prodigy? They didn't like this newcomer; he had all the arrogance of an upperclassman and none of the brawn.

The rest of the day went by without incident; today was just a review of the book we read as a class and then more trigonometric identities. Honestly, who cared if sine squared plus cosine squared equaled one?

Finally, the bell rang, marking the end of the school day. Instantly there was a flurry of movement as everyone tried to stand up, pack up, and run through the door all at the same time. Teacher yelled over their homework assignment over the noise "Remember, your book report on Hamlet is due next week. And finish that math worksheet!"

Ichigo sighed, homework was something he always had trouble finding time for. He waited until the rush had faded to walk out; he much preferred peace to chaos. As expected, Toushiro was leaning against the wall waiting for him.

Playing it cool, the orange-haired teen walked up to him without breaking a stride. With a quick glance down the hallway to make sure no one was within earshot, he asked, "Hitsugaya-san, is there anything wrong? It seems strange that you'd come to school for just two weeks."

Toushiro looked away, for a second Ichigo thought he sensed indignation. "Well my main mission is complete, now I am here to guard against Hollow and get advanced warning of an attack."

He mulled that over for a second. "So...you're at my school because you have nothing better to do?"

That got Toushiro's attention. Glaring at the substitute shinigami, he spat out "That's not it at all!"

"Then why?"

The captain became silent once more and turned his gaze through the window at the clouds. "Ichigo...I believe Aizen is targeting you."

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Phew, there's another chapter. I know I said they'd interact more, but I forgot about school and Ichigo's daily routine >.<;;
Anyways, thank you all for the reviews, it really helps. I've started school and running into motivation issues, but I'm going to try and update at least once every 3 weeks or so.
Once again, constructive criticism and reviews are welcome <3
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Strawberries are Best Eaten Frozen