Bleach 1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: I've had a request for Hichigo/Ichigo, so here's my go at it. Enjoy!

Everything started when Ichigo's father bought him an ivory globe.

It was a silly thing, a souvenir his father picked up on a business trip to India. But it was very beautiful. A good dozen spheres, carved as delicately as lace, nestled inside each other. They could all be moved, gently clacking against each other. It was wonderfully soothing and Ichigo smiled as he played with it, his sisters oohing and ahing. They had their own gifts, though, and Yuzu was very happy with her tortoiseshell hairclips, while Karin got a remarkably realistic elephant jewelry box.

Ichigo wasn't sure why, but after that he played with the globe almost every night. Something about the spheres just invited him to touch them, to move them with gentle flicks of his fingers. There were so many ways the openings inside could align with each other, forming patterns on patterns. It was entrancing, like playing with a kaleidoscope. But unlike the kaleidoscope's he'd known, which were good only for a few minutes of attention, this kept bringing him back.

It was odd, but very soothing. After playing with the ball Ichigo never had any trouble falling asleep, and he slept well through the whole night, waking rested and alert. So odd though it was, he continued with his play. Perhaps it was like a form of meditation. His mind did seem to go strange places as he played with the ball…

As the teenager slept, the ball glowed with a gentle light from the spiritual energy it absorbed every time it was touched. The light sank in, finding the core of it, then faded away. And something began to stir.

It took weeks before the thing inside began to return to consciousness. It was a powerful creature, and while Ichigo had the strength to awaken it, the process was long and drawn out. It had to be, for it to be safe for Ichigo, and the orb was not designed with the welfare of the creature inside in mind. No, it was meant for the benefit of the person infusing the energy. The person who would, eventually, have a great and terrible weapon to wield, or a powerful tool to use.

_Hnngh. Where am I?_ The power inside the ball was able to take in some of its environment, now. _This place is fuckin' weird._ It muttered, falling easily into Japanese. Not a language it had ever used before, but with the endless infusions of power it had gained all the knowledge it would need to serve its new master. _What kind of power lives in a place like this? _It really was odd. It remembered all of its previous awakenings, and almost every time it had been resting on a cushion in a temple, surrounded by incense and chanting acolytes. Once, it had been in a private room, set on an ivory inlaid table and surrounded by obscene frescos. That one had been interesting. Pulling his mind away from lost times, the presence inside tried to make sense of what he was seeing. There was a messy bed, a little table with something he vaguely recognized as a computer… but what was a computer…? And a chair. The chair had wheels on the bottom, it noticed. Very practical but how had they been made? _How long have I been on ice this time? Motherfuckers._ It muttered, but without much concern. It would take weeks more of infusions to release it, and by the time it was finally… not freed, but slightly less chained, it would have absorbed all the knowledge it needed. Then someone walked into the room and the presence was electrified by the feel of familiar power. _Oi, you! You! Come on, pick me up, I want out of this thing!_

As if he heard it, which he probably did on some level, Ichigo picked up the ball and gave it a gentle flick. The power inside was taken aback as it saw a surprisingly youthful face. That put the creature's guard up. It had only had one youthful master before, and that youth had actually been fakery, maintained in ways that made even it mildly uncomfortable. Serving that woman had not been a pleasure. But it had no choice at all, so it just quietly accepted the power it was given as the boy played with the balls. The completely absorbed, happy look on the teen's face did please the power within the ball. And so did the fact that he was male. Its gender was determined by the holder of the ball.

_And at least he's cute. It's nice to have a bit of good scenery to look at. _It consoled itself. _Hope he's not like that bitch, though._ It muttered. Hunting victims for her sacrificial rites, well, it was trying to get away from all that. But if the master commanded, it had to obey. Then the ball was placed back on the desk and the spirit within was content. That was a good infusion of power, about what could be expected from a moderately strong wielder.

It was strange, though. Over the next few weeks, the power inside the ball absorbed more and more knowledge and power from Ichigo. Nothing he really needed, just imprints of his mind and excess power that he spun off naturally. The teen was completely oblivious to what was happening, and the power inside the ball was beginning to realize that. Normally, when it took in knowledge it also began to get an idea of what the master wanted of it. Now, it was receiving nothing at all in that direction. Only images of the world now, and knowledge of how it worked. The teen wasn't thinking about what he would do with the monster he was bringing forth at all.

_How the world has changed._ The power in the ball marvelled as it learned about cars, about walk signals, about all the tiny minutiae that would help it be useful to the master. And also about the people dear to his master, the people who had to be protected at all costs. _Karin, Yuzu. Isshin, the father. Masaki… no, she is dead. Well, that won't happen again when you have me._ It purred to the master, who did not shift at all, completely lost to sleep. _If it is your will, they will always be protected, master._ That was one thing it did well, functioning as a guard. It could place a mark on those who were dear to the master, a mark that would summon him instantly if they were threatened.

Perhaps that would be what this master would want of him. The presence sensed a deep need to protect in his mind. Yet… his power seemed raw and untrained. That was odd. But it could make no sense of it right now and just gave itself over to understanding the knowledge it had been given.

There was a lot to make sense of.

* * *

Ichigo was quietly playing with the ball, sitting on his bed, when it happened.

The teen had always been spiritually aware. He'd always been able to see ghosts and demons. The latter had killed his mother, but he no longer blamed himself. No, it had been the demon's fault, and he'd learned to defend himself since that time.

So he was no stranger to the supernatural. But he still almost wet himself when a white mist began spilling out of the ball. Looking around frantically, he thought about yelling but then stopped himself. Karin and his father might see this, but they might not too. Yuzu definitely wouldn't, and he couldn't endanger them.

The mist solidified into a person and Ichigo's breath caught in his throat as he looked at a negative version of himself. Deathly white skin, white hair and black eyes with gold irises looked at him. A mocking smile curled the lips, giving this man a sinister cast he'd never had. But the face was the one he saw in the mirror every day. Then he blinked as the thing… kneeled?

"My master. How may I adore you?" His copy said, then giggled, a high pitched titter that made Ichigo's hair stand on end. "Would you like a gift of blood? Death? Or… sex?" The albino slowly licked his lips and crawled forward on his hands and knees. "I've had so many masters who demanded sex of me, but I think, with you, I might enjoy it." He said in a heavy whisper and Ichigo's eyes widened as the albino set his face between his thighs, nuzzling him just beneath his shorts.

"Get away!" He shoved the monster away from him then surged to his feet, stomping on it. "You're some kind of demon! Get the hell out of my room!" He roared at the thing, who just looked at him for a moment before crawling for the door. Ichigo blinked. "Hey, where are you going?"

"I'm leaving your room, master." The albino said and Ichigo's jaw dropped at the submissive tone. What was going on? He could tell this was a demon, although something about it was very… off. But why was it acting like this? He'd never seen a demon act even remotely like this.

"Wait, no. Hold on." The demon stopped obediently and Ichigo ran a hand through his hair, looking at the ball for a moment. He needed to know what was going on here, although he had to keep in mind that demons lied all the time. "Tell me what's going on here." He ordered and the albino sat up, taking a cross legged position on the floor.

"Heh. I thought so. You're completely untrained and you woke me by accident. I didn't even know it was possible." The albino grinned before swiping sharp fangs with a blue tongue. "Tch. This is a long story, you should sit down." Ichigo hesitated but then took a seat on his bed, staring at the demon. He wasn't going to let it out of his sight. "Okay. So I'm a demon, you're right about that. But I'm not your usual demon." The albino grinned, showing disturbingly sharp teeth. "Way, way back, I was the most vicious demon in the three worlds." Ichigo vaguely wondered what the other two worlds were, but he wasn't going to ask. "I left a path of destruction behind me, wherever I went, and I defeated every single demon slayer that came after me. I tormented women and children, and I slept on a pile of bones." Ichigo swallowed, hard, as the creature spoke with evident enjoyment. "I make no apologies. That was my nature, then. But then I captured a very powerful priestess. I tormented her, raped her, everything you can imagine. But with her dying breath she cursed me. She was pregnant, you see, and her curse was that I would take the life of her dying child, and know what it meant to have a soul." Ichigo blinked and stared at the demon. Was that why his power felt… wrong? It was difficult to define, but he did not feel like any other demon Ichigo had seen. "Having a soul is a pretty damned unnatural condition for a demon, let me tell you. It didn't make me all sweetness and light, though. No, it just made me really fucking random." The albino's grin faded, turning into a small smile and a shrug. "One moment I would be petting someone's head, the next I'd be tearing their heart out. It was like being insane, at first. I could go from loving someone one minute to killing them the next."

"Then you didn't really love them." Ichigo said harshly and the demon grinned.

"Hah! Too true, too true. But something I thought was love at the time. The only emotions I had as a demon were negative ones. Hate, rage, despair, bitterness. A really powerful demon doesn't even take joy in the carnage, you know. They feel nothing but more hate and bitterness with every kill." The albino's expression became solemn, then. "And when I had a soul, I could finally appreciate that. I could realize that my whole existence was nothing but pain. I didn't even really enjoy tormenting people, I just did it to vent all the hate inside me." Ichigo was spellbound by that. Demons acted like they enjoyed tormenting people, leering and laughing. It was all just an act? "My laughter was nothing but bitterness and spite. My smiles were despair. I was nothing, less than nothing, an existence that never should have been." The albino paused, then smiled. "Does that shock you?"

"Well… yes. I thought demons enjoyed hurting people. You mean they don't?" He could hardly believe it. The demon in front of him shrugged.

"They think they do, but they don't know any better. They can't even understand the pain they are in. But anyway. With a soul, I could finally get it, and when I figured it all out I went a bit… well, completely crazy. I ran away, hiding in the wilderness. Got a bit of a reputation as a fucking crazy demon, mostly harmless but stay the hell away. Then some bastard of a priest decided to catch me and find out why I was different." The albino scowled at the memory. "He was powerful as hell, or I would have fucked him up. But he caught me, and after a LOT of work he got me to stop raving and tell him what happened to me." The demon sighed, leaning back on his arms. "Fucker… he talked to his gods, and they gave him the power to seal me in that thing," He gestured at the balls, and Ichigo noticed his fingernails were black. "But only with a condition. I can escape from it, forever, if I can just fulfil that condition. Until then I'm stuck."

"What's the condition?" Ichigo asked and the albino paused, then smiled.

"Can't tell you. Not even if you order me. It's part of the condition." Ichigo scowled but then noticed the albino's smile wasn't happy. It was a strange, flattened expression, like the demon was smiling when he really wanted to do something else. "Anyway. Fuck that crap. What do you want me to do for you, master?"

"What can you do for me?" Ichigo said, stalling for time. This was unbelievable. Unfortunately, he believed what the demon was telling him. Now that he knew to look, the ivory balls contained a powerful aura. "And what's your name? I'm Ichigo." The demon laughed.

"Yeah, I knew that. I know all about you, master. It's a function of the balls, to make me more useful to you. And I can do all kinds of things." The albino grinned widely, revealing his very white, very sharp teeth. "The one you might like is that I'm a very capable bodyguard. I can mark you, mark the people dear to you, and if anything threatens their lives I will be there. No other demon can defeat me. Would you like me to mark your family and keep them safe?" Ichigo's breath caught in his throat at that offer and he stared at the demon. "Oh, and I don't have a name. You have to name me."

"Uh… I'll have to think about that." What would be a good name for this thing? He had no idea. "And… yes. Mark my family. Protect them with all of your power." Ichigo said firmly, hoping he wasn't doing the wrong thing. The albino's eyes narrowed for a moment, then he grinned.

"Done. They won't come to any harm, I promise you that, master." The albino tilted his head to one side. "Where should I stay, master? Usually there's a room set up for me." Ichigo frowned, glancing over his room. Then a horrible thought occurred to him.

"Wait, can people see you?" He asked apprehensively. Most demons were spirits that could only be seen by him. The albino grinned.

"I'm not some weakling shadow. I'm the greatest of greater demons. Heh… yes, yes, I'm as much physical as I am spiritual." He said. Ichigo rubbed his head, trying to think of what he was going to do. Should he tell his family the truth? They might have a heart attack. But Isshin had bought him this stupid thing. It was his father's fault, really. Satisfied with that, he looked at the albino.

"Just sleep on the floor or something for now. We'll figure it out tomorrow." He said before settling down in his bed. Even if he had a demon familiar now, he still needed to sleep.

Tomorrow would be a long day.

* * *

Ichigo sat up in his bed, yawning. Then he pushed himself forward, knowing what was probably about to happen.

"GOOD MORNING SON – " Isshin leapt through the window, passing through the space he'd occupied a moment ago. So his kick completely missed the target. But Ichigo hadn't considered the other person in the room, and Isshin couldn't know. So they were both startled as his father landed his foot directly into the demon's ribs. There was a crackling sound and a loud howl.

"OW FUCK! WHAT THE FUCKING SHIT!" The albino looked ready to strike out at Isshin, but then wailed. "WHAT DID I DO? Master! What did I do to be punished?" Ichigo blinked as he suddenly realized what it had to look like from the demon's perspective. Isshin was one of the people the albino had to protect, so he couldn't even lash out for the pain that had just been given to him.

"It was an accident." He quickly assured the albino, who looked sulky and held his side. "You're not badly hurt, are you?" He kneeled beside the demon as his father stared.

"No, things like that can't kill me." The albino said, in a definitely sulky tone. "And I regenerate fast. He broke my ribs though and it hurts." Ichigo winced at that.

"I'm sorry. We'll – " Then Isshin found his voice and they both flinched at the wail.

"MASAKI! YOUR SON IS HAVING STRANGE BOYS IN HIS ROOMS WITHOUT EVEN TELLING HIS FATHER! COULD OUR SON BE GAY? WHERE HAVE I –" That sent Ichigo bolt upright in outrage as Karin and Yuzu both shot into the room, attracted by the word 'gay'.

"I AM NOT GAY YOU OLD BASTARD! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" Ichigo roared back. "YOU GAVE HIM TO ME, YOU IDIOT!" Yuzu and Karin both gaped as the demon crawled over to the bed and tried to hide under it.

"MASAKI, YOUR SON IS MAKING NO SENSE, WHERE DID I GO WRONG? I HAVE FAILED YOU!" To Ichigo's relief, his father ran out of the room to go sob to the poster of his mother. It might be creepy, but at least he was gone. Yuzu was kneeling beside his bed and gently trying to coax the albino out while Karin stared at him strangely.

"So you're gay?" She asked calmly and Ichigo went bright red.

"No! No! He's… he's my demonic servant or something! He was inside the ivory balls!" He said. Yuzu went pale at the word 'demon' and scooted away from the bed. "And you can come out, he's gone." He said to the bed.

"I don't want to come out." The demon growled. "You people are crazy! What the fuck! I haven't seen shit this fucked up since that temple to Kali, and at least that made SENSE even if it was blood and guts everywhere!" Ichigo decided he definitely didn't want to know. But from what he'd said, the albino had to obey him, so he rephrased it.

"Come out right now." He said firmly and there was a whine before the demon extracted himself. Both his sisters stared at the creature and he shifted uncomfortably before glaring at them. "These are my sisters. Treat them as you would me." The demon's shoulders slumped and he looked away for a moment.

"Yes master." He said. Ichigo frowned at the submissive, almost hopeless tone but decided not to make an issue of it.

"Now, come with me downstairs." He ordered, and the demon pulled himself to his feet. Ichigo could see his clothing now, and noticed it was a mirror image of his pajamas, all white and black. "Uh… can you change your clothing?"

"Oh sure." The clothing turned into a jet black version of his school uniform. Ichigo blinked at the effect. It actually looked really good on his double. Shaking his head, he grabbed the ivory balls and started downstairs.

This would take some explaining.

* * *

"…So that's it." Ichigo finished his explanation. It had taken a bit of calming down, but Isshin had finally managed to really listen. His father was gripping a mug of coffee and frowning at the balls. His two sisters were looking at the albino, who was just staring at the wall with no expression at all.

"So he's going to be protecting us? I don't need protection, you know, Ichi-nii." Karin said with a scowl and they all looked as the albino laughed.

"Humans always need protection. You're so fragile. What if a car hit you, Karin-chan?" The demon made a mockery of her name and Karin scowled. "I can stand in front of a car and walk away. Can you say the same?"

"Stop that! Don't tease my sisters." Ichigo snapped and the demon looked away again. Then he blinked as Yuzu suddenly stood and went to the albino's side. The demon looked at her warily then blinked as she suddenly put her arms around him.

"Don't be sad. Ichigo's really nice when you know him, he's just a bit upset now." She said encouragingly and Ichigo's draw dropped. "He doesn't mean to be nasty to you. You'll be fine here."

"Yuzu…" Ichigo didn't know what to say. Nasty? She thought he was being nasty to the demon? But he was a demon, what else did they understand? And he didn't think he was being nasty… But Karin seemed to understand.

"He has to obey you, Ichi-nii. Your wish is his command. So you might want to be careful what you say to him." Karin said and Ichigo blinked. He had given the demon lots of orders this morning, and that last one, well, it might not be really fair.

"You can tease my sisters if they tease you first." He amended it and saw the demon blink. "How's that?"

"Okay I guess." He said, sounding a bit lost. "You people are strange." He muttered but gently patted Yuzu's shoulder. Ichigo was surprised to see that, but the demon did have a soul. It seemed to make a huge difference. Yuzu let go of him and gave him an encouraging smile.

"I'm going to make breakfast while Ichigo thinks up a name for you!" She said before flitting towards the kitchen. Ichigo tried to think of something and came up completely blank. Then Karin came up with something.

"How about Hajime?" She suggested. "It means 'beginning' and this is definitely a new beginning for him, right?" Ichigo thought about it for a moment, then nodded before glancing at the demon. He hesitated a moment before carefully phrasing his words to not be an order. He had to remember that the albino would always obey his orders, without any questions.

"Does Hajime sound like a good name to you?" He asked and the albino tilted his head, thinking about it a moment.

"Yeah, actually, I kind of like it. Hajime. That'll do." He finally said. "So do you have any chores for me to do? I'm used to being really busy, actually. My other masters never let me just sit around." Ichigo sighed to himself. Keeping a demon busy was going to be a pain, and he wasn't sure he wanted Hajime finding ways to occupy himself. That could get dicey.

"I'm sure we can find some things for you to do. But I need to go to school." Ichigo stood and went to the breakfast table, noticing that Yuzu had set out four plates. "Do you eat?" He asked and the albino shrugged.

"I can. I don't need to. I sort of feed off your spiritual power, all the time. That's why only strong people can wake me." He said. Ichigo blinked and frowned. He couldn't notice any difference in himself. "Don't worry, you have power to burn. If you were trained you'd be a great priest."

"Uh, thanks." Ichigo said, although he had an idea that that 'priest' meant something very different for Hajime than it did for him. "Well, come have some breakfast, if you want. It's nice and hot." Yuzu was already putting down the little bowls of rice porridge, topped with broiled fish and eggs. Hajime hesitated then came to the table warily, almost as if he suspected a trick. But he ate and drank willingly enough. When that was done Ichigo went to school, leaving the demon behind in his home.

Despite this weirdness, he still had his normal life to attend to.


	2. What a Demon Knows

Ichigo's family soon discovered there were some huge advantages to having Hajime in the house.

The first was that the house was spotless. Hajime didn't really care about cleanliness one way or the other, but he wasn't kidding when he said that he was used to working almost constantly. So when Ichigo told him to help clean the house, he took it to absurd lengths, cleaning absolutely everything. Ichigo was tempted to tell him to lay off on the cleaning, but Isshin was moved almost to tears.

"It hasn't been this spotless since Masaki left us!" He said before embracing a very startled demon. "You are a wonderful son!"

"I, uh, what?" Hajime stammered out before Ichigo rescued him.

The other thing Hajime did well was cooking. He knew absolutely nothing of Japanese food, though. What Hajime cooked was curries. But not just curries. He could whip out samosas, pakoras, biryani and butter chicken at the drop of a hat. He also knew all kinds of other dishes, things Ichigo wasn't familiar with but that had interesting, exotic names. One of Ichigo's favorites was a tomato soup named Rasam. Hajime made it at least once a week, now.

Of course, the family could not live on nothing but curries, although Karin was in favor of that plan. So sometimes Yuzu had to kick Hajime out of the kitchen to make them a good plate of sushi or grilled octopus. Hajime was gradually learning Japanese cooking, although he would never be a sushi chef. But he was at least starting to learn his way around an octopus.

Having the demon was like having a cleaning service and personal chef rolled into one, and Ichigo was starting to relax when things suddenly hit a snag.

"We got reported for _what?_" Ichigo stared at his father, who was looking genuinely upset. Karin and Yuzu were staring and Hajime just looked completely clueless.

"One of the neighbors reported us for truancy. I had no idea what to say." Isshin looked at Hajime who just looked back, completely blank. "He looks just like you, Ichigo. I tried to convince them that he was a cousin's child just staying with us temporarily, but they said he needs to be going to school."

"School?" Hajime said it like it was a foreign word and they all looked at him. "Really? I know about it from my inprinting, but going to it? That's… interesting." Then he suddenly grinned. "Very, very interesting." Ichigo winced but decided to address the practical issues first.

"What about his eyes, dad? No one's going to think that's normal." He said. Hajime scowled, narrowing his eyes to slits. Then the demon blinked as Isshin passed him a pair of sunglasses.

"He can wear those and say he has an eye condition." He said. Hajime examined the eyewear for a moment, then flipped them on. They were reflective and no hint of his eyes could be seen.

"I can see in the dark, so these are no problem. That should work." The demon said and Ichigo just looked at him a moment, trying to imagine going to school with him every day. "And I like this. If I'm a bodyguard, it's better that I'm with you at all times, master."

"Please, call me Ichigo." Ichigo said. It was getting a bit uncomfortable, the way Hajime kept calling him master. And… "If you say that at school, it will give people the wrong impression." He cringed a bit inside at the thought. Hajime was going to be hard enough to explain as it was. They were physically identical, just with all the color removed. "And try not to show your tongue too much." He added. The fingernails could be just nail polish, but the tongue… well, they could call it a medical condition he supposed.

"Yeth mathter." Hajime tried to speak while not showing his tongue at all, then burst out laughing. Karin and Yuzu also started giggling and Isshin laughed. "Ichigo. Yeah, that's not gonna work, my tongue is a medical con-di-tion." Hajime drew out the word mockingly. "So when do I experience the marvel that is 'school'?" He asked and Isshin sighed.

"I'll have to go sign you up tomorrow. It should be interesting… I'm going to tell them you were home schooled by my cousin, so you'll have to take tests." He said and Ichigo winced. What would Hajime know, exactly? The albino shrugged.

"I know a lot of things and I'm very smart. We'll see how it goes." He didn't seem concerned, but really, why should he? School was nothing to be afraid of for an exceedingly powerful demon, Ichigo supposed. "Anyway, I made us some vegetable biryani and lamb vindaloo." Everyone winced at that. "And a less spicy version for the whiners around here."

"That stuff you fed us last time was brutal!" Ichigo protested as both his sisters and father looked relieved. Hajime sneered.

"Hah! The man who taught me to make it sucked on a pepper every day. You're just wimps. But hey, it's sometimes good to taste your food I guess." Hajime stood and went to get the food, setting it out on the table as Yuzu set out the plates. Ichigo looked at the biryani hungrily. He'd never eaten this much Indian food in his life, but he had to admit it was amazing. This biryani had cashew nuts on top and he was aching to try it.

Hajime did have some really good points.

* * *

Hajime crunched idly on a carrot as he stood at the bus stop.

It was his first day of school and he was under strict orders not to hurt anyone. Ichigo had specified that he could act in self-defence, but even then he was not to hurt his attacker. It was probably a good idea, the albino demon had to admit. He could deal with a schoolchild without even breaking a sweat.

Ichigo was standing beside him and people passing by on the street were doing a double take, seeing the peach and orange beside the dead white. Hajime grinned and waved, making several of them speed up to get away from him. His smiles could be truly disturbing.

Things got a whole lot more awkward when it was time to introduce Hajime to all of his friends.

"This is Hajime. He's my second cousin and he's going to be staying with my family for a while." He introduced the demon, hoping he wouldn't say anything embarrassing. Hope that was dashed as soon as the demon laid eyes on Orihime.

"Hey there, you look great." Hajime's slightly odd, raspy voice didn't help his pervert impression as he leered at the blushing girl. "Have you ever tried Bharatanatyam dancing? I could give you a lesson or two."

"Hajime!" Ichigo yelped, trying to swat him but the demon easily avoided it.

"Bha-what? What is that?" Tatsuki was idly cracking her knuckles as she looked at Hajime with narrowed eyes as Orihime blushed. "It better be a real thing, albino, or I am going to beat your ass." Hajime just grinned at the threat.

"It's Indian temple dancing. Did Ichigo tell you I'm from India? Give me a little room and I'll show you." They backed off a bit and Hajime stepped back, giving himself more room. Then he started to dance, singing in a light, breathy voice. There were a lot of kicks, bent legged movements and a lot of arm motions, and Ichigo stared. He didn't know much about it, but to his inexperienced eyes it looked very authentic and very Indian. Hajime caught a foot behind him with one hand, his other hand facing out to show his palm when the bell rang.

"Well, okay, you can really dance." Tatsuki allowed as they went to class. Ichigo glanced around and could see Hajime was making an impression on all his friends, although it was hard to say what kind. "But stop hitting on Orihime or I will hurt you."

"I just want to recruit talent for the temples." Hajime said with a straight face, then winced as Ichigo slapped him on the back of his head. "Ow, m… Ichigo!" He caught himself just in time and Ichigo sighed.

"Try to calm down, Hajime." He said, carefully not phrasing it as an order. The second bell rang as they were taking their seats. Then school really began. Hajime was blessedly silent in class, taking notes and doing his work diligently. They sat with Uryuu, Chad and Orihime at lunch.

"Hajime? What is India like? I've never been there." Orihime sounded fascinated and Ichigo frowned at the way she was looking at Hajime. Did she _like_ him? Somehow, he didn't like that idea. Well, Hajime was a demon, of course he didn't like it! Ichigo made a mental note to talk to the albino. He wasn't even sure he had a sex drive, most demons didn't as far as he could tell.

"Well, India is pretty big, it depends where you are." Hajime said with a shrug. "There are rainforests, the sal forests, the thorn forest and the pine forests up near the Himalayas. I've run through them all." Ichigo stiffened, wishing Hajime would shut up. He was saying too much now. "In my duties as a messenger."

"A messenger? What sort of messages?" Ishida asked and Hajime suddenly seemed to realize he was making a mistake. The demon laughed, making a throw away gesture.

"Messages for the temple. The wildlife is amazing, in India." The albino went to something less sensitive, to Ichigo's relief. "There are elephants, monkeys, all kinds of birds, almost anything you could imagine. I do miss it, a bit. This place is nice but nothing like it." He admitted sadly and Ichigo blinked. He hadn't thought that Hajime might miss India. He suddenly wondered. Had the demon always been there? Quite likely he had, since the ivory balls seemed to be Indian workmanship.

"Wow." Orihime sounded very impressed and Ichigo winced, before noticing Ishida giving Hajime a dark look. "I would love to see it myself someday." She said sincerely and Hajime grinned, taking her hand and making her blush.

"Maybe someday I'll be able to show you." He said and she giggled before drawing her hand away. Ichigo made a mental note to talk to him SOON about this. It looked like Hajime definitely had a sex drive.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. Hajime impressed all the teachers as a quiet, studious sort of boy and impressed all the rest of the students as a slightly freaky, weird looking kid. Some people thought he was lying about living in India, while most of the class was impressed and interested. Ichigo thought it could have gone worse, overall. Well, that was a given. Taking a demon to school? He was glad everyone had survived.

"That was new. I think I had fun." Hajime commented as they waited at the bus stop. Ichigo nodded, although he itched to ask Hajime why he was hitting on Orihime. He led his white double to the very back of the bus, finding a seat without any other students nearby.

"Why were you hitting on Orihime like that?" He said in a low tone. To his surprise, Hajime just looked at him for a moment. He couldn't see the demon's eyes with the sunglasses but his lack of expression was strange. "Hajime." He said, his tone a warning and the demon looked away, at the window. "Hajime?"

"What does it matter?" Hajime said and Ichigo stared at his tone. It was strange, forced and almost painfully harsh. "I can't give her a disease or make her pregnant. I won't hurt her heart. What does it matter?"

"What…?" Ichigo couldn't believe what he was hearing. "What do you mean, you won't hurt her heart?" He asked. Hajime wasn't making any sense at all. The white version of himself turned and gave him that strange, flattened smile again.

"Who could love a thing like me?" He asked and Ichigo hesitated. Hajime's tone was mocking and bitter, but there was more to it, something he couldn't easily decipher. So he decided to go for the obvious problem.

"She doesn't know you're a demon, so she could be hurt. Please, be careful." He said and the demon's smile changed, turning into something more genuine.

"Yes, that's true. She doesn't know what I am…" Hajime looked out the window again and they both fell silent until the bus reached their stop. But Ichigo couldn't help but wonder.

What was wrong with Hajime?

* * *

White, agile hands worked hard making a very large batch of samosas.

Hajime smiled as he worked. They weren't for him. They were for the other kids at school. The teacher had gotten wind of his time in India and as a special credit, he was doing a cultural presentation for the class. Hajime had decided that the easiest way to make everyone enjoy it would be good food, so he was whipping up a massive batch of samosas along with hot chili dip. They were finger food and perfectly suited to the classroom setting.

The rest of his presentation was going to include information and dancing. Hajime had gotten Ishida to help him make up a proper costume. It was in his room, now, lying on the bed. He would only put it on before the class started, and he'd give the presentation wearing it. Getting some proper jewelry had been hard, but he'd managed that too. He had bangles to go on his upper arms and a thick, faux gold necklace to go around his neck.

"So much fun." He murmured to himself. He was honestly having the best time he'd had in centuries. And for the first time in centuries, he had hope that he would be able to meet his condition for release. Perhaps, this time… perhaps…

But he couldn't torment himself with hope, and Hajime put away the samosas in the fridge. He would fry them early in the morning, drying them on paper towels and packing them up before school. He didn't want to fry them now, it would be too long before they reached the class. They wouldn't be piping hot no matter what, there was no getting around that, but he still wanted them to be fresh.

"Woah! What's going on here?" Ichigo was taken aback by the condition of the kitchen as he walked in. Hajime just laughed, jerking a thumb at a pot on the stove.

"There's some rasam in the pot, and rice in the cooker. I'm getting the samosas ready for my presentation tomorrow." Hajime could tell Ichigo found his enthusiasm unnerving, but didn't care. He never cared what any of his masters thought of him. In their eyes, he was a tool, never worthy of anything resembling real attention. And if he broke, it was time to throw him away. Hajime wondered if that was how his ball had ended up in a tourist's hands. Had the last temple he served in tossed it out in disgust when he could not return immediately after his ignoble death? Hajime supposed he would never know.

But he did not trust Ichigo, any more than the boy trusted him. Ichigo was his master and Hajime was bound to obey, but he knew better than to ever expect kindness.

"Uh, right. Well, try not to poison anyone." Ichigo said as if he was joking but Hajime's eyes narrowed before he snorted, pounding out some potato mix with unnecessary force.

"As if I would ruin my reputation as a cook." He said, examining his work for any flaws. The samosas looked good, so he wrapped them in saran wrap before sticking them in the fridge. Ichigo went to get a bowl of the rasam and Hajime turned to watch him for a moment. The boy sparkled with spiritual power, completely untapped and untamed. For not the first time, he thought about whether or not he should say something. Before, the not saying something part of him had always won. But over time he was being nagged by that awful thing humans called a conscience. Yet another effect of having a soul. Finally deciding that he couldn't put it off any longer, Hajime sighed.

"Ichigo?" He waited until the teen looked at him. "Would you like to learn demon magic?" Ichigo blinked, eyes going wide at that. "Don't get the wrong idea. It's the kind of magic demon SLAYERS use." Hajime said hastily as Ichigo hesitated. "Not just demons." They both used something very similar, though. Ichigo hesitated.

"Why would I need to learn it?" He asked and Hajime sneered. What kind of question was that?

"For power, dumbass." He said and Ichigo's eyes narrowed as the teen took offense. "I can protect you, but shouldn't you be able to protect yourself? None of my other masters ever depended on nothing BUT me." Ichigo paused and Hajime could tell his words were resonating with him.

"Well… maybe. What would it involve?" He asked, a touch apprehensively as Hajim finished his last batch of samosas, saran wrapping them and adding them to the earlier ones in the fridge. Then he got a bowl and took a bit of rasam for himself.

"You'd need to learn to meditate and focus your power, first." Hajime said easily. "Then we can get on to teaching you spells." He'd never experienced this kind of learning, of course. Demons knew how to manipulate their power automatically. However, he'd seen literally thousands of acolytes being trained. In his day, the temples knew all about spiritual power. They did not depend on the demon slayers. Hajime was so familiar with the training that he thought he could give Ichigo a very good course in it, if he wanted. Ichigo thought about it a moment then nodded.

"I think I would like that, Hajime. Thank you." Ichigo said quietly and Hajime nodded, sitting down on the couch beside him as the teen flicked on the TV.

"Where's everyone else?" Hajime asked after a moment and Ichigo grimaced slightly.

"Karin has a soccer game, and Yuzu and dad went to watch. I wish I could have gone, but I had karate class with Tatsuki." He shrugged. "Oh well."

"No one mentioned it to me." Hajime said, slightly hurt. "But I guess I didn't have time anyway." He allowed. "I should practice my dance one last time." He'd been practicing hard, these past few days. He'd often done dances for his masters, and was very, very good at it but it had still been a while since the last one. Ichigo looked interested.

"Could I see?" He asked and Hajime nodded, finishing off his soup and taking the dish back to the kitchen. He had a lot of dishes to do.

"Sure." He said agreeably and Ichigo followed him upstairs. The clothes were spread out on his bed and Hajime quickly stripped, ignoring Ichigo's small sound of surprise and discomfort. Then he pulled them on, making sure everything was in the proper places before sliding on his jewelry.

"Wow… Hajime… that looks so… you." Ichigo said and Hajime wrinkled his nose before looking at himself in the mirror.

He was wearing white, full pants that vaguely resembled a hakama, but shorter. They had gold edging on the bottom and were held up by a large, golden belt. Around his neck was a scarf of white, the ends hanging down his chest and tucked into his belt. His chest was bare, but around his throat was a heavy gold necklace. Bangles of gold decorated is upper arms and as Ichigo watched, Hajime held his hands out and concentrated a moment. Patterns of henna appeared, not real but a product of his powers.

"Well, it is how I've dressed for dancing for a long time. Except when I was in a female form and got to wear those costumes." Hajime said, flexing is hands for a moment. Then he pulled out the boom box he'd stolen from Karin. "And here's the music." Getting traditional Indian music had been a pain, but eBay had been his friend. He popped in the CD and set it to the right song before beginning to dance.

There was just enough room in his bedroom, and Ichigo watched, surprised and interested as Hajime performed the Bharatanatyam. It was like the small demonstration he'd given them before, but longer and more in tune to the music. Bare feet thumped against the floorboards as Hajime moved, his face almost blank as he lost himself in the trance of the dance. The movements of the dance were supposed to mimic the movements of a flickering flame, and Hajime knew he did a good job of capturing that.

The dance came to a halt and Hajime smiled as Ichigo stared. Then he went to the CD player and shut it off as the teen drew a breath.

"That was amazing, Hajime. I'm sure the kids at school will love to see it." Ichigo said, then sighed. "Even if they do think you're freaky as hell." Hajime stiffened slightly before giving his master a sulky look.

"Yeah, I'm just a fucking freak." He suddenly balled a hand into a fist and desperately wanted to punch the wall. But he held back. His master would admonish him, and rightly so. "I'm sorry master. I should not have said that." He said it as humbly as he could, dropping his shoulders and lowering his head submissively. His previous masters would have given him a cuff for that kind of remark.

"Please, Hajime, call me Ichigo. If you keep doing that you'll forget at school." Ichigo said before leaving the room and Hajime scowled after him.

"Not saying the word doesn't change what you are." He mumbled when he was sure Ichigo was safely out of earshot, and wondered if the human knew how much he hated him. Not because there was anything wrong with Ichigo, but because he held his leash.

And that was a nearly intolerable pain.


	3. The King

Hajime's presentation on Indian culture the next day went wonderfully.

Even Ichigo was impressed. The demon had clearly put a lot of work into it, finding actual information about India on the internet. He interspersed that information with carefully edited stories about his own experiences. The samosas were delicious, particularly with the chili dip, and his dance was an interesting experience for the class. It was too strange for a lot of them to appreciate, but it did look very authentic.

The only thing that bothered Ichigo about it was that Hajime was probably going to get better marks in social studies than he was. Actually, that bothered him in general. The demon was as focused as a laser beam when he was working on something, so his marks in everything might outdo Ichigo's. It was weird to feel competitive with the albino, when Hajime had to obey his every command, but he couldn't help it. Maybe it was because Isshin liked to treat Hajime as a second son.

Ichigo sighed to himself as he worked. Sometimes, it seemed like he was the only one who remembered that Hajime was a demon. He knew what demons were capable of and Hajime had freely admitted to killing huge numbers of people. Of course, he did have a soul now, and he'd said that made a huge difference in how he felt.

"Maybe I'm being too hard on him." Ichigo mumbled to himself, then sighed. "Ugh."

"Hey Ichigo, want some sweets?" Ichigo blinked and looked up from his desk. Speak of the devil… Hajime was standing in the doorway to his room, holding a bowl of some odd looking balls doused in syrup, as well as a couple plates. "I made these yesterday, they're gulab jamun. You have to soak them overnight to get the best taste."

"Uh, sure." Ichigo wasn't the biggest fan of Hajime's desserts, but they were okay. Hajime put a plate down and transferred a few sticky balls into it with his fingertips. "That's fine, thanks." Ichigo tried one and decided it was decent.

"You're welcome, master." Ichigo winced at that but decided not to bother correcting him. It was probably just a slip of the tongue. "Do you have time for some training?"

"Huh?" Ichigo looked down at his work. It wasn't due for a few days. "Sure, why not?" He agreed and got out the cushions Hajime had insisted they get. He rather doubted the bright, tassled things were actually necessary but they seemed to make the albino happy. They both took their seats and Hajime gave him another lesson in meditation. Ichigo found it quite relaxing, although he wasn't sure yet how this would help him control his powers.

But hopefully, it would come with time.

* * *

Hajime lifted his head from his pillow, glancing around the room.

It was midnight, and he wasn't sleeping. The truth, that he hadn't mentioned to anyone, was that he didn't need to sleep. He only needed to spend a single hour in a meditative trance to awaken feeling completely refreshed. The priests had known that, and had sometimes kept him working around the clock, forcing him to only rest when it was absolutely required. Hajime grimaced to himself as he remembered that feeling, a growing, dazed confusion stealing over his mind as even the hour he needed was denied to him.

But here, he had far too much time on his hands. Hajime sighed, sitting up and going back to his schoolbooks. But he was almost completely finished all of them. He was doing all the problems he could, things he didn't have to do at all, and reading portions of the books the class would never cover. And when the class reached the parts he'd already done, he redid them. What else did he have to do?

But he was tired of it, tired and in need of something… dangerous. Hajime licked his lips as he thought about it. If he wasn't ordered specifically NOT to do something, than he could do it. In the temples, he was often ordered to stay within the temple grounds. Ichigo had never issued an order that prohibited wandering, so as far as Hajime was concerned he could come and go anytime he pleased. He took care not to let Ichigo know that in the daytime, but the teen was sound asleep. Why shouldn't he make use of the freedom laid before him?

Mind made up, Hajime stood up and slowly padded out of his room. He moved as silently as a shadow, and vanished into mist for a moment to leave the house without unlocking the door or taking his key. Then he walked down the road, just wandering.

Karakura town could be more dangerous at night. The gang problem was not huge, but it did exist. There were nightclubs and plenty of bars in the centre of town. Hajime had time to kill and walking through the darker side of the town made him feel at least a whiff of danger. So far, though, nothing had dared to cross his path. He was beginning to wonder if anyone would ever get up the nerve or stupidity to challenge him.

Tonight, as it turned out, was his lucky night. He was just walking down the street when five men surrounded him, three in front and two behind. They were thugs and wore the insignia of one of the local gangs. If he were a normal person, Hajime knew, he would be wetting himself right now. But since he was actually a demon spoiling for a fight, the albino grinned.

"And how can I help you gentlemen?" He said, his voice rasping and amused. They all just laughed as one particular man closed in on him.

"Beat the shit out of him Iwao." One of the others urged the man, who aimed a punch at Hajime's midsection.

The demon simply moved out of the way. He was very fast, and it took a spiritually powerful human to match his speed. This man didn't have a hope, and he hadn't figured it out yet. Hajime tucked his hands in his pockets before kicking the man in the ribs viciously as he went by. There was a scream and a crunch as the man hit the ground, and a brief silence from his companions.

"Oh, that didn't go quite the way you wanted, did it? How sad." Hajime said, his voice full of mockery. Then one of the others screamed and attacked.

At first they tried individually, and Hajime simply moved away, every move expressing his contempt for their inept attacks. As he dodged, he began to sing, his voice a rasping echo in the quiet streets.

_How it all began,  
In truth I'm told,  
Had a master plan  
Now I rule the world._

_Took 'em by surprise_  
_Worked my way up hill,_  
_They looked into my eyes_  
_I became invincible._

The only man he'd hurt so far was climbing to his feet, gripping his side. Hajime pretended not to see as he pulled out a knife.

"Invincible this, you bastard!" He screamed as he plunged the blade at the albino's back. To his shock and horror, the albino turned and caught his hand with a wicked grin, the blade only a millimeter from his unprotected heart.

_No one can stop me, for only I am in control,  
If you want me you'd better contact my people._

Hajime broke his wrist with casual malice, laughing at the scream. Then he let go, moving aside as the four remaining thugs tried to mob him and ran into their injured friend instead.

_In my crown, I am King,  
I love their endless worshipping,  
I am raw, a dinosaur,  
But I will never be extinct._

_So don't mess with me.  
I'll shoot you down,  
Don't mess with me._

Hajime pressed his fingers to a forehead in the mockery of a gun, enjoying the terror on this man's eyes. But the others weren't really afraid yet, just angry and confused that their pretty prey never seemed to be where they wanted him. And that just wouldn't do. The dark, malicious part of his soul wanted to feel their _terror._

'_Cause all your heads are gonna roll,_

Hajime let his nails turn into claws, and turned and waded into the men. Light slashes, nothing fatal or even crippling, but oh so painful.

_I've made your misery my goal,_

Blood splattering across the ground and screams, pretty screams and his own raspy laugh as he enjoyed every moment of what these fools had brought down on themselves.

_So if you want survival,  
Kneel on my arrival._

Hajime kicked one of them to his knees, grinning wickedly, then kicked him in the back and placed a foot firmly on his neck. The man was blubbering, now, utterly terrified by the monster in their midst.

_For this is how I rule the world…!_

Hajime's raspy laugh echoed through the air as he looked at the man beneath his foot. It was the one who had pulled the knife, the one with the broken wrist. He lowered himself so he could breathe into his face, letting him smell the odor of his breath. He knew it smelled of incense, sweet and heavy.

"That was fun. We'll have to do it again someday." He said and stood, licking his claws clean before tucking his hands away in his pockets. He walked away, feeling utterly content.

A good bit of excitement had been exactly what he needed.

* * *

Ichigo watched the reports of new gang violence without any concern. Gang violence had nothing to do with him and his family, and while there was a minute chance of being caught up in a shootout, it was minute. This was Karakura town, not Tokyo. It was a quiet sort of place.

He had no idea how wrong he was.

"Breakfast!" Yuzu announced cheerfully as Hajime poured them all some tea. He was very good at making tea by now, although he still preferred black tea to the Japanese green. Hajime smiled as he ate his food, and Ichigo noticed that the demon seemed very cheerful for some reason. "You're happy today, Hajime! You have a date?" Ichigo nearly choked on his food, but the albino laughed and nodded.

"Sort of. Orihime and Tatsuki both decided they'd be interested in dance lessons." He said with a grin. "So I'll be home late today."

"Really?" Ichigo figured Tatsuki was in it to try to protect Orihime from Hajime's advances. However, he thought he'd feel a lot better if he was there too. "Mind if I come? I'd like to learn a few steps." Actually, he couldn't care less about dancing, but it made a good excuse. Hajime's grin widened.

"You trying to horn in on my girls, Ichigo?" He said teasingly and Ichigo blushed as Karin and his father laughed. "Sure, I'd be glad to have ya." Ichigo blinked in surprise at that. He'd expected Hajime to get sullen again.

School was the usual grind, but the dance practice afterwards was fun. They held it at Tatsuki's dojo, and they were all panting and winded by the time it was done.

"I didn't think dancing would be that hard!" Tatsuki said, stretching out. Hajime shrugged, arching his back until he could plant his hands on the floor, displaying his stunning flexibility. Ichigo looked at the demon a touch grumpily. He was pretending to be tired, to keep up appearances, but it was clearly a pretense.

"Just uses different muscles than you're used to. Give it time and you'll be good. Heh, if you ever pick a fight with a dancer always remember they've got a kick like you wouldn't believe." Ichigo wasn't expecting a white foot to nearly part his hair and yelped, landing on his ass as he frantically jerked away. "Like that! Stop being a pussy, Ichigo."

"Oi! I'm not a pussy, you're just a jerk." Ichigo snapped, pulling himself to his feet and glancing outside. It was starting to get dark out. "Come on, we should be going home."

"Bye Ichigo! Bye Hajime!" Orihime said with a brilliant smile that Hajime returned. Ichigo just scowled before nodding and tugging his white double out of the studio. They both went out the door and Ichigo shivered as the autumn wind chilled him a bit. He'd been sweating quite a bit in the dance class.

"Hey, can you climb? Because I know a shortcut." Hajime said and Ichigo snorted.

"Can I climb? What kind of question is that?" He asked as Hajime gave him a grin. "What is this shortcut?" He was curious now. Hajime sometimes went for walks before bed, Ichigo wasn't about to keep him strictly in the house, so he could certainly have found something.

"This way." Ichigo followed willingly as Hajime led him through some interesting back alleys. They had to scale a chain link fence and take a trip through an elementary school playground, then scale another fence. Ichigo was completely lost and just taking it on faith that Hajime knew where he was going.

Then the albino abruptly stopped and Ichigo glanced past him, eyes going wide as he saw the man in front of him. He was heavily bandaged and had a cast on his wrist, but he was still holding a gun and pointing it right at them.

"Fuck you you fucking albino prick! Eat lead!" He screamed and Ichigo felt frozen as he heard the gunshots. Hajime's body jerked and blood flew, splattering the chain link fence and the ground. Hajime was knocked back by the force of the impacts and landed on his back, twitching and shuddering. Then the stranger turned the gun on him and Ichigo stared at the barrel. It seemed to fill his vision. He'd never known something so small could be so large.

"You his brother or something? Well, you can die too." The man spat and pulled the trigger as Ichigo tensed for the pain.

But there was suddenly white in front of him. Hajime spread his arms as the bullet hit his body, sending more blood flying. The thug screamed and began frantically firing into the albino. More blood flew, and Hajime's body twitched and shuddered with every impact, but he didn't fall. Ichigo stumbled back, watching in horror. Then the man's gun clicked, emptied. He tried to shoot a few more times, futile clicks as Hajime stood still, grinning.

"You done?" He asked, his voice raspy and mocking. The thug was dead white and backing away, fumbling in his pockets for something, likely more bullets. "Good. Because I'm just starting. And for the last few moments of your life, I'll let you in on a secret. Lead can't kill me."

"Hajime!" Ichigo screamed as a black scythe appeared in the demon's hand. He wasn't sure what he would have ordered the albino to do, and he would never find out, because the scythe swung in a movement almost too fast for the eye to follow. Chunks of flesh fell onto the ground and Ichigo stared. He'd seen blood and guts before, helping his father at the clinic, but never like this. Never a _lake_ of blood, organs spread out like red and purple flowers, a head that had been neatly bisected with one eye staring…

Ichigo reeled away, leaning against the wall and emptying his stomach. As he did he heard a hideous slurping sound and looked up, horrified. Hajime was kneeling beside the body and sucking up the blood, his white throat moving. As Ichigo watched, the body began to dissolve into more blood, eagerly taken in by the demon.

"Hajime…" Ichigo didn't know what to say but a horrible, practical part of his mind saw and understood what the demon was doing. He was getting rid of the body, and in a far more efficient way than an unmarked grave or tossing into the river. It was taking very little time, he was drinking the blood and liquefied flesh at an insane rate. "Hajime…" Ichigo put a hand over his mouth at one very large slurp, and had to fight not to puke again. This was the most disgusting thing he'd ever seen in his life.

He had to close his eyes and wait for the demon to finish. Ichigo had no idea why the stranger had tried to attack them, but he'd deserved this. There was no doubt at all he'd have murdered them both, and Ichigo had never seen him before in his life. He was almost okay with it when the sounds finally stopped.

"Done, m – Ichigo. Sorry, I just thought you wouldn't want an inconvenient body for the police, especially one slashed in two." Hajime said, rubbing his lips as he stood. There was blood on his knees but it vanished, absorbed into his clothing, which was technically part of the demon's body.

"That makes sense." Ichigo said weakly, still feeling nauseated. If he'd ever needed any reminder of Hajime's true nature, he had one. But… Hajime had taken all those bullets to protect him. That did mean something, even if the demon was compelled to protect him. "Let's go, I want to get home." He really wanted to go to sleep and pretend this never happened. Maybe if he tried hard enough, he could convince himself it had just been a really gory horror movie.

He doubted it, but maybe.

* * *

"Hey, Hajime, I got you something." Ichigo said quietly. He and Hajime had just finished a demon magic lesson.

Ichigo had mastered meditation and learned how to suppress and release his own spiritual power. Now, he was moving on to kido. Kido was the more advanced manipulations of his power, and Ichigo was having a few problems with it. It just didn't seem to come naturally but Hajime said that was rather common and he should just be patient. Eventually, Hajime had promised to introduce him to the greater powers, the ones the priests used to effectively mimic the abilities of shinigami. Ichigo wondered how the death gods, the demon slayers felt about that. From a few hints Hijame had dropped, there was no love lost between the shinigami and the priests.

"Mmm? What's that?" Hajime stretched, rubbing his back for a moment as Ichigo searched through his pocket. He came out with a necklace. "Oooh, pretty! It's for me? Really?" Hajime admired it and Ichigo smiled to himself.

He thought the necklace was gaudy. It was a very glittery gold toned pendant with a large, blood red stone. It was hung on an absolutely terrible chain when he'd picked it up at a garage sale, but Ichigo had replaced that with another cheap chain. This one, though, hadn't lost its gold yet. The whole thing had cost only twenty dollars, and most of that had been for the replacement chain. But Ichigo didn't have a lot of money and as he'd thought, Hajime liked it.

Hajime tapped the stone and Ichigo blinked as his face went blank for a moment. Then he tensed as he felt the demon magic in the air. Now that he could control his own powers a bit better, he was more sensitive to when Hajime was using his.

"A red spinel, almost flawless, set in gilded silver. Very nice, Ichigo." Hajime murmured, blinking as he suddenly grinned. "You always do just the right thing without even knowing. It's what I love about you."

"Love?" Ichigo suddenly flushed as he heard that word. It made him feel strange and uncomfortable, and he gave his attention to the pendant. "You're saying its real? It's huge!" The stone in the pendant was enormous. Hajime shrugged.

"Perhaps it's artificial, but that doesn't matter to me at all. In fact, it might be better for my purposes. I can use this as a focus. Hah, you know, so can you… but I don't think red spinel would be the best focus for you." Hajime stared at him for a moment, eyes narrowing in concentration. "It's hard for me to tell but you should keep an eye out. I think a really big sapphire or diamond would do for you. It would make separating from your body and opening a portal much easier." Ichigo was speechless. A sapphire? "Look for a good synthetic. You'll know it when you see it."

"Uh, okay." Ichigo put that on his list of things to do. Although he had no idea where he would find a good synthetic stone. Maybe he could just buy a stone online and get it set by a jeweler? Hmm. "So what are we having for supper?" He could smell something cooking. Hajime had discovered the joys of a crock pot and put on a meal for them this morning.

"Nihari. It's a lamb stew, you'll like it." Hajime promised. Ichigo nodded and when they went downstairs, he found that the demon was right. The stew was absolutely delicious and he mopped up the last of the liquid with a crust of bread.

"Thanks for making this, Hajime, it's delicious!" Yuzu said and Hajime smiled, eating a bit of his stew.

"It was a pleasure. I do enjoy cooking." He said and Ichigo smiled as he glanced around the table. He was really getting used to having Hajime there. He was genuinely starting to feel like part of the family. "So how'd your dance class go?" Ichigo let the small talk wash over him as he went to get a bit more stew.

Life was pretty good at the moment.


	4. Thing are Not What They Seem

Author's note: In case anyone's wondering, I made that cake, although with only 3 layers. And it was the end of all things for chocolate.

Hajime leaned against a wall, hands in his pockets and watched the nightlife swirl by around him.

Bad news gets around, and no one was willing to fight him anymore. In fact, gang members would cross the street to avoid him. Hajime didn't start fights – it bothered that horrible thing called a 'conscience' – so he hadn't been in a brawl for weeks. He had been approached by one man who wanted to recruit him, but he'd regretfully declined. Ichigo wouldn't approve, and his conscience didn't either, although it would have been very similar to some of his past duties. But he'd had no choice in those, thanks to the binding. It was different when he was just doing it for fun.

There was a child crying not far from him and Hajime sighed to himself as he saw the chain on her chest. Touching the spinel on his neck, he called on the power of his soul. It had taken him decades living with the priests to even realize he had this power. It was not something of his demon nature, quite the opposite in fact. He slipped up to the ghost soundlessly and grabbed her by the scruff of her neck. Completely ignoring the howl of the lost soul, he briskly touched her on the forehead and focused his power through the spinel. The ghost vanished in a ball of light, going on to Soul Society as Hajime used his own soul as the gate.

Feeling almost disgusted with himself, Hajime went back to his wall and glowered at nothing. Ghosts bothered him. As a pure demon, he would have savored their suffering, or at least thought he was savoring it. As a demon with a soul, he found them to be somewhere between pathetic and disturbing. He showed them on without even a word, because he simply didn't like them. They reminded him of his own mortality, a mortality he shouldn't even have had.

Because it was possible for him to die now. Not merely in body, but in soul, if someone knew how to do it. Fortunately, his body and soul were both incredibly tough, thanks to his own power and the power of the holy bindings. Many people had tried to shatter both over the centuries but no one had ever come close.

Hajime frowned as he felt a familiar power, and sighed as he saw a woman in a strange outfit walking down the road, clearly searching for something. He could recognize a demon slayer when he saw one, although he'd learned from the local demons and spirits that they were called shinigami here. She reached out to him, her power brushing his and he flashed the power of his holy bonds at her in a bored fashion. Hajime fully expected her to turn and leave, satisfied that this demon was under temple control.

He was truly shocked when she turned towards him and threw a spell of demon magic in his direction. Tailored to deal with demons, it was holy power and would cause any normal demon to howl. Unfortunately for her, Hajime was far from normal and utilizing the power of his bindings, he made the holy power sleet away from his unnatural flesh. Even without the bindings he would have tolerated it better than most demons, thanks to his soul.

"Hey!" He said, deeply offended. "What do you think you're doing? I'll…" He trailed off ignobly at that point. In India, serving any of his previous masters, he would have threatened their wrath and the wrath of the whole temple. But Ichigo wasn't nearly as impressive as any of his past masters. He might be someday, but he was still learning and didn't have the support of a bunch of acolytes and holy warriors. "I'll spit on you!" He finally finished, feeling completely lame. Then he had to summon his scythe as the woman attacked without a word.

That was really unfortunate, because Hajime was physical while she… wasn't. People could see him and his scythe, but not the invisible woman he was fighting, and Hajime knew that these days people didn't much believe in spirits and demons. So he snarled a curse and ducked into an alleyway, trying his best to run away. He managed it by turning into mist and oozing into someone's house, then going up through the chimney onto the roof. Then he jumped from roof to roof until he was certain she was gone.

"Ugh." Hajime muttered, finally resting on a roof. "That's fucking great." He'd have thought the demon slayers would still respect the power of his bindings, but it seemed not.

He honestly didn't want to fight shinigami. He'd killed countless numbers of them, when he'd been nothing but a heartless monster, and found the thought of killing more revolting. They did a very important job, seeing souls out of the world and ridding it of demons. Why should he make it harder? Not that he would have objected to a spar, if he could find a friendly demon slayer, but that had never happened, ever. They were always too busy disapproving of his very existence to give him the time of day, let alone a practice session.

But it seemed that 'disapproval' was too mild a word for the way that woman felt about him. Hajime sighed and started to go home, considering what to do when he got there. Maybe he could steal Ichigo's cell phone again and play angry birds. Or maybe he could clean the house again… or start baking a five layer cake that he'd picked up the recipe for. Five layers of chocolate cake filled with pecan caramel, and topped with ganache icing, where could he go wrong? So far, no one had been woken up by the blender. Deciding it was time to get started on that, Hajime turned back to white mist and slid under the door, then went to the kitchen.

Making all of this would definitely be something to do.

* * *

"Wow. What's the occasion, Hajime?" Ichigo asked as he looked at the cake being set out for supper. It was chocolate, with chocolate frosting, and a few slices had already been cut so they could see the insides. The caramel pecan filling looked absolutely delicious.

"Nothing. I was just bored." Hajime said and Ichigo blinked, then frowned. Bored? Hajime had just as much schoolwork to do as he did, and he certainly didn't have time for things like this. Then a thought occurred to him.

"How much sleep do you need?" He asked curiously as stole a forkful from one of the cut pieces. His eyes went wide as he tasted the frosting. It tasted like Hajime had melted real chocolate into it, which was precisely the case. Hajime paused for a moment, then shrugged.

"Honestly? I don't sleep." Ichigo gave him a surprised look and the albino grinned. "I just meditate for an hour. So I have a lot of time to get into trouble." Ichigo blinked, wondering why Hajime hadn't told him this before… and why he was telling him now. Did the demon trust him more?

He thought that was likely it. Hajime seemed to be relaxing, fitting into his role as part of the family more and more. Ichigo hardly ever gave him orders, and the albino demon seemed to be warming up to him.

"Well, let's put this away for now." Ichigo smiled as he thought of something. "We should make it a surprise for them, after supper is done. Don't you think?" He asked. Dad, Yuzu and Karin were off seeing a movie. He and Hajime both had a rather large project due the next day, and they had just finished doing it together. Hajime grinned and nodded.

"Great idea! Where's the cake carrier?" He started rooting around and managed to find the Tupperware container specifically designed to hold a cake. Ichigo hadn't even known such a thing existed until Hajime found it on eBay. That website seemed to be the demon's best friend, now that he had an allowance. "Okay, just pick up the base." Ichigo blinked again as he realized there was a shiny little cardboard plate beneath the cake. Where had Hajime gotten that? He only realized he'd spoken out loud when the demon answered. "Craft store, they have nifty stuff. When I've saved up enough I'm going to get a cake decorating set."

"Hajime!" Ichigo tried to imagine the demon piping out little roses onto a cake. His imagination was totally up to the challenge, but then treacherously added a cute little bit of blue icing on the albino's cheek, just begging to be wiped away. Ichigo blushed at the thought and shook his head. "How much do they cost?" He asked and the albino looked a bit sad.

"For a whole kit? About three hundred dollars." He said and Ichigo choked. "But I can get the smaller kits."

"That might be a good idea." Otherwise, it would take him forever to save up that kind of money. His allowance was the same as Ichigo's, ten dollars a week. "You know, you should think of what you want to do after we graduate."

"Huh?" Hajime said, confused, and Ichigo hesitated. He hadn't brought it up before, but…

"Well, you see, I just don't need a constant servant." He said carefully, not sure how Hajime would react. "And there's no reason you can't live a normal life. So you could get a job or go to university."

"That's such a strange idea." Hajime murmured, blinking. "But I guess it makes sense. I was often hired out before, to make money for the temple. I could make money for you." Ichigo winced. That was not what he meant.

"I'm not going to take your wages, Hajime." He said firmly. "But you can pay rent and buy groceries, how's that?" Ichigo said and the albino grinned.

"You're the nicest master I've ever had! Sounds okay. We could – " What they could do was cut off as everyone else arrived home. They were all looking quite happy and as it turned out, the movie had been very good. It had been a new zombie apocalypse movie and Ichigo rather regretted missing it, although Hajime was a bit ambivalent.

"I don't really like movies like that. It might seem weird, but after everything I've seen I can picture it happening, y'know?" Hajime said as he set out the food. "Butter chicken with rice." That was a favorite dish, although Hajime didn't make it too often. He preferred the spicier things. Everyone dug in eagerly and the food was excellent, as always.

The cake, though, was a massive hit. No one could believe how chocolaty it was. The nuts added crunch and the caramel was thick and sweet. It was so rich that they could only manage a small piece each, but that was fine. Hajime had a suggestion.

"Why don't you take it to the clinic tomorrow and share it with the patients?" He said to Isshin with a grin. "I'd take it to school but we've got one kid in the class with tree nut allergies." When he'd done his presentation he'd been careful to make sure there were no tree nuts in the samosas. The nuts in the cake were pecans, so they were most definitely tree nuts.

"Couldn't we just freeze it and save it for later?" Karin said, looking at the cake longingly.

"An excellent idea! Some of my patients might have allergies." Isshin said, beaming. That settled the cake was carefully cut up, then frozen. It would be easy to unfreeze small pieces. "Now, Hajime, I was wondering. Have you thought about what you'll be doing after graduation?" Ichigo choked as Hajime blinked.

"Uh, no, but Ichigo just brought that up. I'm still thinking about it." He said honestly. "I would make an excellent fire fighter." He said with a grin and Ichigo blinked at the thought. "But it might be hard to explain that I don't actually need to breathe though."

"You don't?" Karin said, fascinated. "Hey, Hajime, Ichi-nii said you can't be hurt by lead? What can't hurt you, and what can? I mean, if you don't mind me asking." She said so he wouldn't think it was an order. Ichigo had forgotten, but he'd told Hajime to treat his sisters like he would him, so the demon was careful to obey them as well.

"It doesn't bother me. A master should know my limits. I probably should have brought it up myself, but I don't like to boast." Hajime poured them all some tea before continuing. "Iron, copper, bronze, none of that does much to me. I mean, it stings and I have to regenerate, but even if I'm cut into pieces I'll pull myself together pretty fast. Spiritual weapons, like a shinigami use, really hurt and they can kill me, but I just go back to the balls and I come back eventually. Faster if my master infuses me with power." Hajime added, inclining his head towards Ichigo. "It can still take years, even decades though. And mortals can harm me with blessed silver or meteorite iron. Don't ask me why that last one works, I don't have a clue." Hajime had no idea why meteorite iron was different from regular iron. But he knew the priests made daggers with it, and he'd been injured by them on more than one occasion. Often as a punishment for failure… his eyes went dark for a moment as he remembered what the woman had done to him. It had taken him weeks to recover. Shaking away the memories, he looked down into his tea. It was Darjeeling, his favorite. "Other things… I don't need to breathe; fire is useless against me unless it's extremely hot, cold I can tolerate easily although I don't like it. I don't know about nuclear. I'm probably immune to radiation, but I bet if I was actually at the center of a nuclear blast I would die." He was just guessing on those points, and wasn't eager to test either of them out.

"Hopefully we'll never find out about that." Ichigo said before finishing his tea and standing. "We should probably get back to work." Hajime blinked for a moment before catching on. Homework was done, but they could use another lesson in demon magic.

"Sure." They both went upstairs and Ichigo got out his pendant. Isshin had helped them with that. He had a jeweler as a patient, and the man had been willing them to sell them the stone at cost, only charging them for the silver setting. It had only cost them a hundred dollars, altogether, and Ichigo's father had been willing to take care of it as an early birthday gift. The chain it was strung on was fake, but sturdy, and that was all that mattered. "You should start wearing that all the time." Hajime told him. "Because our next lesson is how to free your soul from your body." After the encounter with the woman, he'd decided it was time to take the training to the next level. Now that he had a pendant, Ichigo could fully embrace his demon slayer abilities.

"Really?" Ichigo looked alarmed but also thrilled. "Let's do it." Hajime nodded, sitting cross legged on his cushion.

"Okay. Watch me carefully." He could do this, although it wasn't something he liked to do because it had a very curious drawback. "Uh… Ichigo, can you order me not to move from this spot?" Hajime said and Ichigo stared at him.

"Why?" He asked and Hajime sighed.

"My body can still move around when I do this." He said briefly. "Basically, a demon is an unnatural body that can exist without a soul. When I separate my soul from my body, it goes back to my original condition." Ichigo swallowed at that. "So it can still move around and do stuff, and it's fucking nasty. Just order me to stay put, okay?" He might not like being ordered around but this was simply necessary. Ichigo nodded.

"Keep your physical body sitting right there, Hajime." Ichigo ordered and Hajime smiled, appreciating the specific nature of the command. His soul body was not the same as his physical one, so he'd be able to move around in that. He'd anticipated that Ichigo would have to modify his order when he was done separating.

"Now, watch closely." He repeated before touching the spinel. Concentrating his power carefully, he pulled himself free of his demonic flesh. A large part of him was left behind, though, and the separation was both uncomfortable and unnatural. There was a growl behind him and Hajime looked back at himself for a moment. The demon sitting on the cushions was grinning at him.

"My curse. It's nice to see you again this way." He said and Hajime nodded as his appearance began to warp slightly. The gold irises of his eyes were turning blood red. "Perhaps you can go away forever this time."

"You know I can't." Hajime addressed himself, calm and composed, before he turned to Ichigo. His master was watching him, wide-eyed.

"Hajime, you look human." He whispered and Hajime glanced over the body of his soul. His skin was a warm brown and his hair was black, short and curly. Hajime couldn't see his eyes, but knew they would be a brown verging on black. And he no longer looked like Ichigo. His demon body took on the semblance of his master, but not his soul.

"Yes, I know. This is the soul of the child of the murdered priestess… my soul." Hajime shrugged a bit, then looked at Ichigo. "Can you do what I did?" Ichigo frowned and touched his sapphire, focusing through the gem. It took several tries, but he finally managed to separate his soul from his body.

"You look different, too." Hajime said with a smile as he looked the boy over. He was impressed. He'd thought that Ichigo would appear the same when he left his body. It usually took a bit more work to unlock the true demon slayer abilities, but it appeared Ichigo had skipped that part. He was clothing in black and already had his zanpakuto. He also blazed with power, but Hajime had expected that. As he'd taught the boy kido, his power had started to amplify. "Very nice. I don't need to awaken you. Now… I had better get back in my body. I'm actually weakened like this." Ichigo frowned but nodded and Hajime flowed back into his demonic shell.

"Wouldn't it be useful though, having two bodies?" Ichigo asked but Hajime shook his head.

"Not really, my demon side can be a complete pain in the ass without me. He'll follow orders, but with lots of bloodshed. Ah, can you rescind your order, master?" He asked, unable to move from his cushion.

"Oh right. You can move, Hajime." Ichigo said with a smile and Hajime smiled back. Strangely, he wasn't feeling particularly resentful about having to ask for that.

"Thanks. Also, when I'm separated like that I'm much easier to kill." He admitted. It wasn't something he liked to admit, but it was true. His soul was particularly vulnerable, but his demonic half was also more vulnerable to holy powers and shinigami weapons. "Anyway. Now it's time to begin your combat training. Come on, we'll need to find a good spot to practice."

"How about outside in the yard? It will look like you're sparring with air, I guess, but no one will care." Ichigo suggested and Hajime considered it for a moment before nodding.

"Sure, should work." He agreed. "One second." He grabbed a piece of paper from the printer and searched around until he found a marker. Then he quickly scrawled on the paper and dropped in on Ichigo's collapsed body. Then he frowned a moment as he looked at it. Falling over from a cross-legged position, well, it looked very uncomfortable. Even knowing it didn't matter, it bothered him and Hajime paused to straighten the body out.

"Hajime! That's the silliest thing I've ever seen." Ichigo laughed, highly entertained as Hajime smiled. The sign read 'Not Dead – Just Gone. BRB.'

"Hey, it's actually quite traditional. Some of the priests had wooden signs with chains they carried around and put on their necks, so someone wouldn't freak out and bury them." Hajime wasn't sure if that had ever happened. Probably not, the body would be sent back to the temple, but then the spirit walking priest would have a nuisance of a time locating it. "Maybe you should get one." He mused. Although heaven knew what the people in this day and age would make of a 'not dead' sign on an unbreathing body. Back when he'd served the temples, they would have taken it on faith.

"Maybe, although I bet I'd still find my body in the morgue. C'mon, let's go." They slipped out of the house, avoiding Ichigo's family. They weren't sure if anyone would be able to see him like this and wanted to avoid explaining Ichigo's clothing and sword. When they were outside, Hajime summoned his scythe, then narrowed his eyes and looked at it for a moment.

"Come on." He muttered, forcing the dark energy of the scythe to merge with the purer energy of his soul. It did not come easily unless he invoked his bankai, and he wasn't about to do that against Ichigo. That would simply be ridiculous. But trying to train a swordsman using a scythe was also ridiculous. "Come on, damnit!" His power finally obeyed him and turned into a curved, pitch black sword. It looked warped and wrong, but that was no surprise. Combining those two powers was unnatural. "Okay."

They sparred for the next hour, and Hajime was surprised at how much native talent Ichigo had. The sword seemed to come to him naturally, and it was a pure pleasure to work with him. They finally had to call it quits though.

"It's getting late, c'mon, we should go to bed." He said, letting his sword revert to his scythe before dismissing it. Ichigo nodded, slinging his sword over his back.

"Right." Hajime smiled and turned away, missing the strange and longing look Ichigo gave him.

He'd had a very fun day.

* * *

Ichigo lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling, and fought not to remember.

It was a lost cause. As the weeks went on, he'd been finding Hajime attractive. Not really because of his body, which was a carbon copy of his own, but because of his fun and quirky personality. Everything about Hajime was good. He had an excellent work ethic, he loved to cook, and he was fun to be around. He liked to fight but the one time a bully had tried to hurt him, Hajime hadn't done more than rip his clothes and give him a few bruises. That had been off the school grounds, so by the letter of his orders Hajime could have hurt him, badly. Ichigo had only ordered him not to hurt the other students at school.

The incident with the man didn't bother him anymore. The simple fact was, that man had been ready to murder them both. Hajime had admitted to him days ago the reason why, and also mentioned that he wouldn't have killed the man if he hadn't decided to shoot Ichigo as well. He was willing to accept violence against himself, but not against those he protected. The fact that the demon had been out picking fights bothered him, but only a little. Hajime swore that he'd never started anything, just finished it, and Ichigo believed him. He didn't think the demon could lie to him at all. The power of his bindings prohibited it.

But what he was remembering was something different. It was dark skin, Indian dark, and a heart shaped, handsome face framed by dark curls. Hajime's soul body was shockingly youthful, appearing no older than sixteen. But his dark eyes were full of ageless wisdom and touched with deep and abiding sorrow. At first, Ichigo hadn't been able to recognize him as Hajime, but his smile had been the same. So had his rasping voice and his way of speaking Japanese.

And that was torturing him now, because seeing that soul body had ignited a desire in him. Ichigo tossed and turned, struggling to think of what to do. He knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to go to Hajime's room and see if the demon might be interested in… something that made him blush. But how would Hajime react if he didn't?

Ichigo thought about that a moment and realized that wouldn't be a problem. Hajime had said before that other masters had demanded sex of him. So he wouldn't be offended, and if he made it the demon's choice then Hajime would not resent him. That left his own feelings and Ichigo swallowed nervously. If Hajime accepted, this would be his first sexual experience with anyone, let alone a man. Did he want to do this?

"…Yes." Ichigo admitted to himself. He really wanted to try it, although he wasn't sure how sex with another man would go. But Hajime would know, surely. Mind made up but still frightened, Ichigo stood and left his room, going to Hajime's. "Hajime?" He said softly as he opened the door. The demon did wander at night, so there was a chance he wouldn't be there.

As it happened, though, he was there, playing on his computer in a completely dark room. They had gotten him a rather old, second hand one to do his schoolwork on. Ichigo smiled as he saw the demon was playing an endless game of solitaire, amusing himself through the night. Then Hajime turned and Ichigo stared, caught by how ghostly the light of the monitor made him look as it reflected off dead white skin.

"Ichigo?" Hajime said, sounding surprised and just a touch wary. "What is it?" For a moment Ichigo almost lost his courage. Hajime didn't seem particularly inviting. But… he didn't know what was on his master's mind.

"I, um. I was wondering…" Ichigo couldn't help but stammer, and finally blurted out the words. "Would you liketohavesexwithme?" He said it so fast that Hajime looked puzzled for a moment before his eyes narrowed as he figured it out. Then he smiled, but it wasn't a nice smile. Ichigo swallowed, taking a step back at that expression.

"Of course, master." Hajime stood smoothly and Ichigo stared as the albino's clothes simply vanished. The body that was revealed matched his own in every way. It was like looking in a pale mirror. But something wasn't right.

"Hajime?" Ichigo questioned as the demon stepped towards him, still smiling. Then he gasped as he was gently grasped, warm hands pulling him close. Warm lips met his, giving him a soft and almost tentative kiss.

"Master, are you a virgin?" Hajime asked softly and Ichigo swallowed as he saw that unnerving smile was gone, replaced with concern. "Or just a virgin with another man?" So Hajime could tell he was lacking in experience. Not a surprise, really, given his age.

"I'm… a virgin." Ichigo admitted with a blush. "Period." Hajime nodded, unsurprised.

"Then I will need to be careful. Come, I will give you a night to remember." He said with that odd, flattened smile that meant something else. Ichigo almost pulled away at that expression. Something was _wrong._

"Hajime, you don't have to – " He started but then he was silenced with a kiss. This one was hotter and Ichigo froze as Hajime's tongue invaded his mouth, teaching him how to truly kiss.

"Hush, master." Hajime murmured in his ear as they parted, desire leaving Ichigo feeling faint. The albino gripped the front of his pajamas, gently pulling him towards the bed. Then he began pulling away the soft cloth. "Mmm." Hajime looked him over and Ichigo was relieved to see some genuine desire on his face. "You are handsome, master."

"Ichigo, please call me Ichigo, Hajime." He murmured and a wicked smile crossed the demon's face.

"Heh." But he didn't explain what he thought was funny and Ichigo didn't get a chance to ask before the albino made him sit on the bed and knelt between his legs. Hajime flashed him a quick grin before taking his erection in his mouth. Ichigo gasped and tensed as Hajime slowly sucked him, teasing his flesh with that dark colored tongue.

"Hajime." He gasped as he looked down at that white hair of his personal demon. He was bobbing his head and just the sight of that was turning him on, never mind the pleasure he was receiving. "Nngh." Ichigo leaned back, breathing heavily as he got the first blowjob of his life. It was unimaginably good and he wondered if it was always like this. Or was it because Hajime was so practiced? Then Hajime deep throated him and Ichigo gasped, eyes going wide at the incredible heat and tension around his cock. "Ah!" He almost came right then, and couldn't resist as Hajime did _something_ that made stars flash behind his eyes. Mewing softly with pleasure, he came without warning, but that was no problem for the demon. Hajime swallowed and Ichigo could see and feel that pale throat moving around him, taking his semen. Hajime pulled away, wiping his lips and giving Ichigo an unnerving grin.

"I'm glad you enjoyed that, master, but I have more to offer." He said in an oddly mocking tone. But Ichigo was too far gone to care about it now, looking at the demon through half-lidded eyes as Hajime slid up his body and sat in his lap. A warm, white hand began to gently play with his nipples as the demon spoke in his ear. Ichigo vaguely noticed that his breath was hot and smelled like incense. It was actually very pleasant. "Do you want to feel me inside you, or do you want to feel my insides?" He whispered and Ichigo shuddered, mind going almost numb at the question.

"I… want to feel your insides." He whispered. He was afraid of being penetrated, letting someone else into his body. Hajime nodded, gently pushing him down onto the bed. Ichigo went willingly, wanting Hajime to take control.

"Now, master." Hajime said as he gently explored Ichigo's body, black nails gliding over soft, velvety skin. Ichigo shuddered as those nails found his inner thighs and began to gently tease the sensitive skin. "For the future, remember. I don't require any preparation, because I am a demon and I cannot be hurt by this." Ichigo swallowed a moan as Hajime gripped his new erection, slowly fondling the aching flesh. "But another human will require preparation if you don't want to hurt them."

"Uh… huh…" Ichigo managed to say, not really paying a bit of attention. He wasn't thinking about doing this with someone else, just Hajime. The demon seemed to realize he didn't have the attention of his audience and chuckled, softly and mockingly. Then he pulled himself up and, still gripping his Ichigo's erection, positioned himself and shoved himself down in a swift, brutal motion. "Ah!" Ichigo gasped, eyes going wide as almost burning heat enfolded him. The muscles around him were incredibly tight, but Hajime showed no sign of pain as he moved, just a quiet absorption as he adapted to the penetration.

Ichigo gripped the albino's hips, taking some control of the situation. Hajime made a small, grunting sound as Ichigo arched up into him, hitting his prostate in the process. Ichigo didn't know what he'd done, he just knew that for a moment he'd seen a real reaction from the albino. He tried to find that angle again and managed it, making Hajime hiss and rest a hand on his chest, flexing his muscles around Ichigo's erection.

"Yeeeesss." Hajime hissed out and Ichigo was aware of black nails leaving red marks on his chest. But he didn't care, just meeting those black on gold eyes that were glazed with lust and something close to fury. "Faster, master. Faster!" Ichigo couldn't protest the term, not right now. Instead, he gave the demon what he wanted, taking him faster and faster. The only sounds in the room were soft pants and the wet sounds of flesh against flesh. As rough as he was being with the demon, there should have been blood, but Ichigo didn't know and Hajime didn't care. Ichigo learned the meaning of pleasure as a white demon moved above him, and if what was in their hearts was very different, neither of them could know.

Ichigo was only a teenager, and he couldn't hold out forever under that kind of onslaught. Hajime was stroking himself, bringing himself to release when Ichigo made a strangled cry. He hissed in annoyance as he felt the teen go over the edge, filling his body with hot, mortal power. Growling, he lifted himself and shoved down as hard as he could onto that still hard member, using Ichigo's limp, dazed body to help find his own release. Ichigo felt boneless and exhausted, but he felt it as Hajime's come spilled across him, staining his body and the sheets. But a flick of a black finger made the mess vanish and Ichigo blinked, looking up into black and gold eyes.

"You need to go back to your room, master." Hajime said almost gently but Ichigo didn't want to move. He wanted… reaching up, he gripped Hajime's upper arm, tugging him down. "Mmm?" Ichigo sighed as he felt his cock move as Hajime did, stirring inside that pale body as he pulled the demon down into a warm embrace. "Master. You cannot let your family find us like this." Hajime's voice was gentle but insistent and Ichigo knew he was right. He just didn't care at the moment. "And you must sleep. You have school tomorrow."

"Nngh." Ichigo grunted, but reality was starting to set in. "Okay." He whispered, letting go of the albino, who pulled away from his body. "Good night, Hajime." He said as he got his pajamas, pulling them back on with shaking hands. He hadn't known what sex was, not really, when he entered the room. Now he knew… and it was amazing. "Thank you." He added softly, turning to meet black and gold eyes. Hajime smiled, but again, it was that oddly flattened smile.

"It was nothing." There was a mocking note that made him pause, but then Ichigo shook his head. He was too tired. He might even be imagining things. Stifling a yawn, he went back to his own room. He needed to get ready for school. If he'd been able to see Hajime's expression, alone in his room, he would have been afraid.

But he didn't, and things went on.


	5. The Reason for Pain

Author's note: I wanted to give Hajime's sword a Hindi name, but alas, the alphabet is different. So I went with Spanish. XD lol...

When Ichigo was gone Hajime quietly hissed a curse, letting his bitter rage and disgust show to the empty room.

Hajime had a long and bitter experience with his masters expecting sex from him. Most at least pretended to give him a choice in the matter, although there had been a few who had simply ordered him immediately. They had not been good masters. The ones who pretended, though… the first few times Hajime had tried to refuse, sensing that the sex would be meaningless and not wanting to be used. Both times it had degenerated into an order. Since then, he never refused a request for sex. Consenting at least gave him the illusion of control.

It still grated on his soul, because he knew the sex meant nothing. A bitter, bitter smile twisted his lips as he thought about it. He'd learned long ago that sex might be an expression of love, but it did not work the other way around. Trying to fulfill his condition, he'd let more men and women use him than he could conveniently count. Ichigo was just one more notch in that belt, at least for now. And Hajime had no illusions about how likely that was to change.

Lying back down on his bed, he drew a deep breath and slowly released it as he remembered the words he'd been given, his condition for release.

_You will be free when someone can love you._

"And who could ever love a thing like me?" He whispered to the world, smiling that odd, flattened smile. The smile that meant he really wanted to scream in anguish. "Heh." Taking another deep breath, he deliberately calmed himself. Things could have gone worse. Most likely, Ichigo was just curious and this night would not repeat itself. He'd had fun, really, the sex had been good and teaching Ichigo had actually been pleasant. It was a blow to their fledgling trust, but not the shattering that an order would have been. Being ordered to have sex would have scalded his soul.

Shrugging to himself, Hajime sat up and made his pajamas reform on his body. Then he went back to the computer, to pick up his game of solitaire. It was hard to win, and it seemed like the game was mostly random chance.

But it gave him something to do.

* * *

For Ichigo, the next day was a little awkward.

He and Hajime were both trying to act like nothing had changed, and it simply wasn't working. By himself, Hajime might have been able to pull it off, but when Ichigo glanced at him he felt a shiver of desire. And when he met those black and gold eyes, there was a connection, something that hadn't been there before last night. And he kept remembering what had happened last night.

That made it very, very difficult to concentrate on his classes. Hajime definitely wasn't having the same problem, though, Ichigo noticed with a bit of disappointment. Although expecting the demon to act like a love lost teenager was probably expecting too much. Hajime was old and experienced, despite the appearance of his soul.

Sighing to himself, he tried to focus and drive away thoughts of pleasure and dead white skin. It was hard, but he had to do it.

His grades depended on it.

* * *

Later that night.

Eyelids fluttered shut as pale legs parted. Ichigo listened carefully to soft instructions, and gently took Hajime into his mouth, being careful to keep his lips over his teeth.

It seemed he was good at this, because he soon had the albino panting and hissing softly beneath him. Ichigo stole a glance up, and was stunned at the expression on Hajime's face. Was this how he had looked, when the demon had done this to him? So full of pleasure and need? It inflamed the teen, and he tried to take Hajime into the back of his throat and nearly choked. The demon had made it look effortless last night, but it seemed it was harder than it looked.

"Careful… master… that activates the gag reflex…" Hajime's voice was even raspier than usual, and he let out a soft moan as Ichigo managed to do it. "Master… I will come…" That gave him the warning he needed and Ichigo managed to swallow just as Hajime released with a soft, strangled sound. Ichigo pulled back, gasping for breath and looking into Hajime's face. To his surprise, the demon was looking away, his gaze vacant and distant. There was no expression he could read on that pale face, but his brow seemed to be slightly pinched with pain.

"Hajime?" Ichigo said softly, resting a hand on his thigh. He waited until the albino looked at him, brown eyes meeting black and gold. "You know that you can say no to this, right?" He wasn't sure now that Hajime understood that. "And please, call me Ichigo." He really wanted to hear his name from those pale lips. Hajime blinked, then drew a breath.

"I understand that… Ichigo." There was some warmth in the demon's tone and Ichigo smiled, reaching out to gently touch his cheek.

"I care for you, you know." Ichigo said and smiled again at the mild surprise on Hajime's face. He moved up that white body, kissing the albino soundly and thoroughly. "How do you feel about me?" He whispered in a pale ear, gently licking the white skin. He knew Hajime wouldn't lie to him, but what would the demon say?

"I care for you, Ichigo." The soft, rasping voice warmed him to his toes and Ichigo smiled again before he lowered his face to Hajime's neck, exploring the soft skin there. Then he slowly made his way down, favoring his lover with little love bites. He still didn't know exactly what Hajime liked best, but he had a general idea of what felt good. He found one pert nipple and gently licked the pale flesh before latching on and gently sucking. He felt Hajime stiffen with a small gasp and smiled to himself, pleased at the reaction. Letting go, he transferred his attention to the other nipple, pulling a soft groan from the albino. Hajime never yelled or screamed, which was just as well, but the soft sounds he made were always so beautiful.

Ichigo found Hajime's length and stroked it with one hand, as he positioned himself at the albino's opening. Hajime laughed softly and moved, lifting his legs with easy flexibility and putting them over Ichigo's shoulders. Ichigo slid inside in one smooth move, keeping his hand on Hajime's erection as he began to move.

"Hn!" Ichigo gasped at the wonderful feeling of tight, hot muscles surrounding him. Hajime hissed softly and Ichigo closed his eyes for a moment before thrusting into that feeling as he stroked the flesh between the albino's legs. He vaguely remembered that last night, he'd come before Hajime, and he didn't want that to happen this time. He needed to work on his stamina.

It was hard, though, as he experienced that amazing pleasure for a second time. Hajime's body was warm and accepting, tight yet fluid. Ichigo set a fast pace, rocking the albino against the bed, and all his attention was on Hajime's face as they moved together. The demon was caught up in the pleasure, eyes closed, but Ichigo's breath caught in his throat as a tear slid down the side of his face. The pace slowed as Ichigo hesitated and Hajime opened his eyes.

"Keep going." Hajime gasped out, his voice turning into a low moan as Ichigo found his prostate. "Ah!" Ichigo speeded up again, gasping softly and trying to keep his hand moving in time with his thrusts. But it was hard to concentrate, when he was fighting so hard not to release into the wonderful heat beneath him…

Ichigo couldn't have said how long they moved together, how long the sex went on. All he knew was that he managed it, managed to make Hajime arch with a soft, guttural sound and saw the demon's release splash across his belly and chest. Goal reached, Ichigo surrendered to the pleasure and thrust in hard and fast, gasping as he found his moment of ecstasy. Hajime's legs slid away from his shoulders and Ichigo leaned close, kissing thin white lips. A white hand slid into orange hair and the kiss was deep and passionate.

"Hajime, why were you crying?" Ichigo asked softly as he disengaged from the white body beneath him. Hajime's eyelids fluttered and he opened his eyes. Ichigo could read nothing in those strange eyes except, perhaps, tiredness.

"People cry during sex, sometimes. It's a very emotional act." Hajime said softly and Ichigo frowned, gently cupping a pale cheek in one hand. He could tell that Hajime was evading the question.

"But why did you cry?" He asked again and the albino's eyes slid away. There was a brief pause before the demon spoke again.

"Don't make me answer that, master. I am still a demon, and you don't want to know everything I am thinking." Hajime finally said and Ichigo hesitated before nodding. Hajime couldn't refuse his commands, and couldn't lie to him. It hurt, but the albino had the right to his privacy.

"Okay. Just, please let me know if you need help. Please?" He said and Hajime nodded, although there was a bit of laughter in his eyes.

"I'll let you know if I need help, master." Ichigo flushed at the gently mocking tone of Hajime's voice and gently smacked him on the shoulder.

"Oi, stop making fun of me." He said and the demon grinned but desisted. "I know, you're an all-powerful demon thing, but you can still need help."

"You can stir the caramel tomorrow then. I'm going to be making caramel popcorn for Yuzu's slumber party." Hajime said and Ichigo winced faintly before laying down beside the albino. He cuddled up to him for a moment before remembering that Hajime didn't sleep.

"Ah… I'd like to sleep with you, but that would be boring for you, wouldn't it?" He asked. Hajime had picked up almost a dozen books from the library, presumably for his late night entertainment. The demon nodded.

"I'm sorry, Ichigo. I've always wondered what it would be like to sleep, but…" The albino shrugged and Ichigo nodded, leaning close and stealing one last kiss before sliding out of the bed.

"Goodnight Hajime." He said softly as he pulled back on his nightclothes. The demon smiled, with a strange edge of sadness before he spoke.

"Goodnight, Ichigo." Ichigo left the room and quietly closed the door. It was probably just as well he couldn't stay with Hajime all night. He didn't really care what his family thought – he'd never felt this good in his life – but he imagined it would be, well, interesting. It was probably better to hold that off as long as possible.

Although he would eventually tell them.

* * *

Hajime lay down on the bed, breathing in Ichigo's scent for a moment.

_I care for you._ He was glad Ichigo had not lied to him. If he'd said the word love, Hajime would have wanted to kill him. But caring was a milder emotion and not enough to meet his condition. It was also more realistic to expect from a master to his demonic slave.

It had been no trouble at all for him to return the feeling because he did care for Ichigo, and not just because he was bound to the boy. He cared for Ichigo because he was simply loveable. He was constantly trying to take care of the people around him, and that had come to include his personal demon. It was a bit hilarious, really, given that Hajime was still far more powerful than Ichigo. He probably always would be, although Ichigo would not have his peculiar vulnerabilities. Together, they would someday be an excellent team.

Hajime frowned as he thought about that, sitting up in his bed. As much fun as Ichigo was having in the sex department, he needed to get the boy focusing more on his training. Hajime had felt that female shinigami's reiatsu around, and he had a feeling she was stalking him. He could hide his powers quite well, and he was, but inevitably they would cross paths again. And unfortunately, his physical body was quite distinctive. How many albinos would be wandering around a town the size of Karakura? Probably exactly one.

Hajime turned on his reading light and picked up a book, starting to read. It was a book about a cat who solved mysteries, apparently by just being a cat. He found the whole thing rather mystifying but it was an entertaining read. The rest of his books were an eclectic collection, ranging from astronomy to a book on beadwork. He was seriously thinking about learning how to make woven jewelry. It would give him something to do, and that was important right now.

Glancing out the window, Hajime grimaced to himself. He simply couldn't afford to go wandering around if the demon slayer was stalking him. He could kill her easily enough, although he didn't want to. But there would be other shinigami, the ones she reported to. If even a low level woman didn't care about his temple bonds, would her superiors? He doubted it. And if they didn't care, things could get very ugly indeed.

For a moment, Hajime's face was completely still and empty. He still held all the power he always had, he just kept it sealed, so he could walk around mortals without sending them running away screaming. But if necessary, he could unseal that power. And he would, to protect what was dear to him, and what he was bound to. Regardless of the cost.

And then the heavens would scream.

* * *

The air was beautiful, fresh and full of promise on a glorious summer day. Karakura town had plenty of parks, including some very nice meditation gardens, and right now that was where they had gone. Water played over stones nearby, a pleasing gurgle that soothed the mind and spirit. Nearby, a teenage boy lay in the grass, staring up with sightless eyes. A watcher would have sworn he was dead, despite the sign he read which clearly stated he was Not Dead. Close by, another boy sat cross legged on the ground, apparently talking to nothing. Of course, the reality was rather different.

"Okay." Hajime shook his head, watching Ichigo in his soul body. He smiled to himself as he saw Ichigo was struggling with his meditation exercises. The boy kept stealing glances at his teacher, and while that was quite flattering it wasn't very helpful. "Now today, you're going try to make contact with your zanpakuto and learn his name. There's a fast way to do this, and a slow way. We're gonna try the slow way and if you lose patience, it'll be the fast way. Okay?"

"Okay. But why not do the fast way first?" Ichigo asked and Hajime grimaced, rolling his eyes.

"Because it's traumatic and usually saved for emergencies… or for students who are a real pain in the keister." He said frankly, making Ichigo laugh. "The kind of students the priests just can't wait to get out of their hair. I don't hate you that much, so let's try the slow way."

"Wait, you hate me?" Ichigo said with a credible attempt at sadness, but Hajime could see the humor in his eyes. "I didn't think I was that bad in bed!" He said teasingly and Hajime laughed, but oddly, there was no edge of mockery to the sound.

"I don't hate you in bed, but keep looking at me when you're supposed to be meditating and I'll hate you as a student." He said with a grin and Ichigo blushed before nodding. "Now, concentrate Ichigo. Place your sword across your legs and try to make contact." He instructed, following his own directions and forcing his scythe down to a sword once again. Ichigo frowned, looking at the black blade. "What?"

"That sword feels… wrong." He said slowly and Hajime looked down at the twisted blade in his lap. He could feel the pain of his zanpakuto. It was bearable, not a terrible pain, but…

"You're right, of course." He said calmly, gently running a hand over the blade as he tried to give the spirit within comfort. "My scythe is my demonic power, but in order to summon my zanpakuto while I'm still in flesh, I need to combine it with my demonic power. It's painful for the spirit inside, although not unbearable."

"Why don't you take your spirit form?" Ichigo said and Hajime hesitated. Really, that was what he should be doing. However, it made him feel particularly vulnerable at the moment. Still…

"Maybe you're right. Order my body to stay put and… order me to conceal my demonic power." He added, worried that his demon half would decide it was itching for a fight and flash power everywhere. Ichigo looked puzzled but repeated the words and Hajime touched the spinel, extricating himself from his unnatural flesh. "Okay. " He took a seat beside his demon body, ignoring it as the white half of himself tried to poke him in the side, grinning. "This is my actual zanpakuto, Dulce Amor." Hajime said the name calmly, hiding his pain, although he was aware of the translation. The sword lying on his lap now was a slim, normal looking sword with a hilt wrapped in white and black. He could tell the spirit within was relieved to be free of the demonic power he had fused it with.

"Sweet Love. Such a silly name for something that exists to kill." The demon said with a mocking laugh and Hajime sighed before slapping it upside the head. "Hey!"

"Shut up. I'm trying to teach here. Now, begin meditating." He told Ichigo, then frowned. The teen was staring at him as though he was trying to memorize him. "Ichigo!"

"Uh? Oh! I'm sorry." Ichigo said with a blush. "It's just, you're… you're beautiful like this." The sincerity in his voice made Hajime's mouth drop open a little. Beautiful? In his soul form? No one had ever told him that before. He'd never thought there was anything particularly special about his soul body at all, not compared to his dramatic coloring in his demonic flesh.

"Just… just try to meditate, please." He said a touch desperately and watched as Ichigo closed his eyes and centred himself. Taking a deep breath, Hajime did the same, delicately touching his zanpakuto. Dulce Amor responded eagerly, as she always did, and Hajime tried to gently ease her towards the other zanpakuto. He could help Ichigo to make a connection if the other spirit was amenable.

He wasn't. Dulce Amor hit hard and bounced and Hajime winced as he heard her swear in his mind. She had a mouth like a sailor. Sometimes, he wondered exactly what aspect of his personality she was supposed to represent. Zanpakuto were supposed to be like their wielders, but he was quite sure he wasn't so… so…

_The word you're looking for is frivolous. And you usually are, you know. Getting all worried is bad for you._ She told him and Hajime sighed, trying to set a good example for Ichigo and meditate. The orange haired boy was looking totally absorbed now, a hand resting on his oversized sword. _I think he's making a connection. Maybe that's why that dickbreath booted me so fast._

"How unkind of him." Hajime breathed and smiled as Dulce sniffed and mentally turned her back on him. It was a very effective spiritual pout.

They sat that way for a good hour before Ichigo finally roused, shaking his head and blinking.

"I… almost reached him. I could feel him, and I saw him, in a strange place with skyscrapers and everything was sideways." He said dreamily and Hajime blinked, utterly lost. Skyscrapers? Sideways? "But he didn't say anything."

"If you saw him, you're making good progress. What did he look like?" Hajime asked, curious. Ichigo blinked, then grinned.

"I'll tell you if you tell me what Dulce Amor looks like!" He said and Hajime cringed. He'd walked right into that.

"Fine. Dulce looks like a young woman with brown eyes, dark skin and long black hair, caught with dozens of golden rings. She wears a headdress of gold and diamonds, and her clothing is a peacock blue sari with golden embroidery. Her arms are covered in henna tattoos, and when she smiles she has a space between her front teeth big enough to let her do one hell of a whistle when she wants to annoy me." Hajime said and Ichigo goggled a bit as Dulce screamed in rage.

_Hey! Stop making fun of me or I'll tell him that thing you do when someone pokes you right in the small of your back!_ Hajime smirked at that.

"And how do you plan to tell him that, when you can't talk to his zanpakuto?" He asked sweetly and enjoyed the fuming of his sword. Turning his attention back to Ichigo, he asked. "And yours?"

"Uh, he looks like a tall man with wild brown hair. He wears wrap around, transparent glasses and a tattered dress shirt, along with a tattered overcoat. He feels very… serious." He said and Hajime nodded with a mocking smile. The smile was directed at Dulce, though. She might have trouble getting a serious zanpakuto to relay the message about the small of his back. "Say, haven't we been here a while? We should probably be getting home." Ichigo said as he noticed the position of the sun. Hajime glanced up, gauging the time and nodded.

"Right. One moment." He got back into his demon body, which had clearly been bored with the whole thing. Ichigo quickly rescinded his orders and Hajime stood, stretching out for a moment as Ichigo got back into his human body. He sat up and, with a grimace, removed the little sign from his chest and folded it up, sticking it into his pocket. It was nothing but a piece of paper.

When they got home, Hajime immediately went to work preparing supper for everyone. It was going to be a curry dish called Pav Bhaji. It was a vegetarian curry, full of potatoes, vegetables and fragrant spices. There was chicken biryani to go with it, of course, and Ichigo smiled as the fragrant smells of Indian cooking filled the house. It was getting so all the neighbors could tell when Hajime was making a meal. Anyone passing by could catch the scent of good cooking.

"So we're going to Ishida's after supper, right?" Hajime asked and Ichigo nodded. There was a big project, and Ishida had snagged Hajime immediately. That meant he'd gotten Ichigo by default, since Hajime wouldn't consider anyone else for their third person.

"Yeah." Ichigo said with a small sigh. He wasn't really looking forward to the science project, with perfectionist Ishida looking over his work. Hajime would just be mildly annoying, finishing before everyone but not caring at all about anyone else's work. At least he would be guaranteed good grades. "A project on robotics." He said glumly. Ishida had big plans on making an actual, functioning robot and Hajime was already devouring the necessary books and ordering parts off eBay. He felt quite superfluous.

"You can do the illustrations." Hajime said with a grin and a mocking tone. Ichigo scowled and would have slapped him, but he was putting out the food. He didn't want to make the demon spill anything.

The whole family gathered for supper and quite enjoyed the curry and rice. Although Yuzu declared her intention to make a good bit of sushi tomorrow, which everyone except Karin and Hajime approved of, although they didn't mind too much. When supper was done, Ichigo and Hajime walked over to Ishida's and Ichigo noticed something odd.

"Is something wrong?" He asked. Hajime was glancing around constantly, as though he felt under threat. The demon scowled.

"There's a demon slayer hanging around the town and she doesn't seem to like me, much. She's attacked me even though I showed her my holy bonds. I dunno what that means, back in the days I was temple bound she'd have left me alone." Hajime said and Ichigo frowned. That didn't sound too good. On the other hand, there was nothing much he could do about it.

They arrived at Ishida's house just as supper was finishing. Ishida let them in with a smile and introduced them to his father. Ryuken was a tall man with almost white hair, and Hajime blinked as he took the man's hand. There was something seriously off about his aura, something that struck him as downright weird. It wasn't shinigami, it wasn't priest – they felt like demon slayers, mostly – and it wasn't holy or unholy. It was just strange.

"I'm pleased to meet you, Hajime." Ryuken said with a smile that struck Hajime as very insincere. But he didn't much care what Ishida's father thought of him and just nodded. "Please, make yourself at home."

"Nah, that would be rude." Hajime said, grinning as Ishida's father winced at his rasping voice. "You don't know what we do at home." Ichigo turned red as Ishida adjusted his glasses, completely missing the undertone between the two of them. "Thanks though." They all went to the kichen table and Hajime pulled out his robotics books. "I was thinking maybe we could do one of these." He said, opening it to one particular section. "There's these robots that can, like, grab a rope and swing themselves across a gap on it. It would be a good demonstration."

"Hmm, perhaps. But we have to keep in mind what we can do." They discussed it back and forth for a moment, then looked up in surprise as Ryuken came back into the room, holding something carefully in one hand.

"Hajime, could you come here for a moment?" He asked and Hajime blinked, looking up. "I'm a doctor, and I would like to take a look at your eyes. I've never seen anything like that before." Hajime scowled to himself, wishing he'd remembered his glasses. But he hadn't. Sighing to himself, he pulled himself up and walked over to the man.

If Ryuken had been a normal man, Hajime would have had time to avoid what was coming. But he wasn't. He was a Quincy, and Hajime choked on blood as the blade went neatly through his side, just barely missing his heart. Instantly, he summoned his scythe and prepared to –

"No!" Ichigo's shout stopped him cold. "Hajime, stop!" Hajime turned his head, his breathing becoming more labored by the second.

"But he just – " He started, voice choked as blood oozed out of his mouth and dripped onto the floor. Then Ryuken yanked the blade free in a welter of gore and Hajime swayed on his feet, his grip on the scythe tightening. He didn't have much time for his revenge. If Ichigo kept delaying him…

"Drop it Hajime!" Ichigo ordered as Ishida screamed at his father. Hajime looked at his lover in disbelief, but his hand opened, letting the blade fall. It shattered as it hit the floor, turning into a thousand splinters of dark energy for a moment before Hajime fell with it. He landed on his back, gasping softly as the air seemed to get heavy and hard to draw into his lungs. Of course, one of his lungs wasn't working at all now, and he coughed up more blood, turning his head to the side in a desperate attempt to keep his throat clear. Then he felt Ichigo's foot prodding him in his side, and a pain that was more emotional than physical ran through him.

_I thought I meant more than that to you, Ichigo. I thought I was more than a tool. So stupid of me… I was a tool. Now I am a broken tool._ He choked on more blood, vaguely aware that the carpet was soaking with it now. _…It hurts so much._ It wasn't the worst death he'd had, but it wasn't a good one either. If Ryuken had found his heart, it would have at least been faster.

"Hajime, come on. You said iron can't kill you." Hajime blinked, lifting his head at Ichigo's impatient and slightly worried tone. Iron?

_Maybe he just doesn't get it._

"Wasn't iron." He managed to get out, his voice a fading rasp. "Blessed… silver…" The burning pain was different from meteorite iron. Then Ichigo was kneeling beside him, lifting him up in his arms.

"That can't be… you can't be dying!" Ichigo's denial had no power and Hajime closed his eyes, resting his head against Ichigo's chest. This was better. This was more what he'd expected. "Hajime, tell me what to do. There has to be something I can do!"

"Try… healing." He whispered. "Might… work." The only reason it might work would be his infernal toughness. But he was very tough and Ichigo had a lot of spirit power. It might work.

Even knowing how much spirit power Ichigo held, Hajime wasn't expecting such a torrent of it to hit his weakened body. He cried out in pain, arching in Ichigo's grip as his body tried to heal far too quickly from such a wound. But the bleeding slowed, then stopped, and even though weakness made his mind feel fuzzy Hajime could tell he was no longer dying. It would be a while before he recovered fully, but he would recover.

Feeling utterly drained and unable to stay awake any longer, he relaxed into Ichigo's embrace and let the darkness take him under.


	6. The Friend Zone

"Father, what the hell are you doing?" Ishida screamed, utterly appalled by what had just happened. As far as he could see, Ryuken had suddenly gone mad and stabbed his classmate.

"Are you completely deaf and blind to what is happening around you?" Ryuken snapped back, not taking his eyes off the fallen boy. "That is a demon! And a powerful one, to have that kind of form!" Ryuken knew all about demons and knew that Hajime had to be strong, strong enough to a serious threat to him, let alone his son. Although right now he didn't look like much of a threat to anyone as he lay gasping and bleeding on the carpet.

"What… Ryuken, that's Hajime! He's been going to school for months! Demons don't, don't go to SCHOOL and flirt with the cheerleaders!" Ishida retorted, hands clenching into fists. Although now that his attention was drawn to it, he could tell that Hajime had a dark and disturbing aura. An aura that was fading, at the moment. "I should call the police – " Ishida stopped abruptly as power began to fill the air.

They both watched, sensing a power that was similar to shinigami, but not quite the same as Ichigo poured his power into Hajime. They could see the bleeding slowing, then stopping as the demonic flesh knit together. Hajime curled up in Ichigo's arms, resting his head on his chest as the orange haired boy gently rocked him.

"Ichigo?" Ishida said uncertainly. He was sure Ichigo was not a Death God, but that power had felt very similar to one. Then he had to lunge forward to grab Ryuken's wrist. "Father, stop it! I'm telling you, I've been going to class with him for months and he hasn't done a thing to anyone!"

"He's a demon, but he has a soul and he's bound to me." They both looked over at Ichigo, who sounded faint with relief but also angry. Very, very angry. "Why did you do that? You could have sent him back to his balls! I don't want to spend years getting him back out!" A tear escaped one eye and he angrily dashed it away. "What the hell is wrong with you? Why didn't you just ask us what was going on?" He demanded as Ryuken scowled at him.

"Demons don't have souls, that's absurd. And what are you? You feel like a shinigami." He said suspiciously and Ichigo shook his head, adjusting his hold on Hajime to rest him more securely against his chest.

"Hajime is training me to be a priest or something. Look… we can't call the police or an ambulance, we'd never be able to explain Hajime's vital signs." Ichigo said with assurance. Isshin had done a full physical on the demon, out of natural curiosity, and the results had been extremely peculiar. If a normal human had shown his vital signs they would have been well on their way to being deceased. "But we're not staying here. Ishida, can you get me the phone? I'm going to call dad for a ride." He was sure Isshin would come if he made it clear the situation was urgent. And he was not going to leave Hajime's side for a moment with Ryuken in the room.

"Wait, does your father know about that creature?" Ryuken asked and Ichigo scowled, feeling very offended for Hajime's sake.

"Yes, and he's planning to formally adopt him." Ichigo snapped, which was a bit of a lie. Isshin had looked into it but the paperwork involved would be hard for them to fill out, since Hajime's birth family didn't technically exist. Ryuken looked like he was sure he'd misunderstood. "I told you, he has a soul and that makes him a person!" Ichigo took the phone from Ishida and began calling his father.

"I'll come to your house tomorrow to work on the project." Ishida said quietly, which set his father off again.

"Ishida, you will not be going anywhere near either of these two." Ryuken said, very firmly, but Ishida scowled back.

"And what about my grades?" He snapped. "The groups are set, father! I told you, he's been going to school for months, I will be fine. I am quite sure that normal demons do not gawk at Orihime's chest or conduct Indian dance classes. Now go away, you've caused enough damage!" Ishida knelt beside Hajime then and reached out to touch his throat, blinking at the temperature of his skin. The pulse, though, was far more alarming. Hajime's heart beat very slowly compared to a human one. "That heartbeat, is that normal?" Ishida asked and Ichigo nodded.

"It's normal. He doesn't need to breath, which probably has something to do with it." They'd been unable to completely puzzle how a demon's body worked, probably because it was unnatural in the first place. Ishida nodded and Ichigo could see that beyond his concern for a friend, he was quite curious.

"How exactly did this happen?" He asked quietly and Ichigo was telling him about the balls when Isshin arrived. He hissed as he saw the blood, drying thickly on the carpet. It was more than a human could lose and still survive.

"Hajime?" Isshin knelt down beside the demon, gently touching his forehead. Eyelids fluttered and black and gold eyes focused on him for a moment before sliding closed again. "Come on, Ichigo, let's get him to the car." He said and between the two of them they carried Hajime out, the demon slumping between them. His blood was caked on his clothes, and not vanishing like the blood he'd absorbed from that gang member in the alleyway.

It took them a while to get home, and when they did Ichigo put Hajime to bed. It looked like the demon was sleeping, but Ichigo was unhappily certain his condition was closer to a faint. Ichigo leaned down, gently stroking white hair.

"Be okay, Hajime." He whispered softly, even knowing the demon wouldn't hear. "I… care for you." He wasn't saying love, not yet. But it was close to his mind.

He was getting closer and closer to the albino copy of himself.

* * *

"_Be okay, Hajime. I… care for you."_

_The words penetrated Hajime's sleep, which was not really sleep as a human would know it. Instead, it was a deep reverie, the natural reaction of his body to a deep wound when he was in a safe place. In this state his body would recover more quickly, so he could more swiftly exact revenge. And a safe place was necessary, because he was nearly helpless in this state._

_His mind came unmoored as he dreamed, reliving memories of times long past. He remembered carefully infiltrating a manor of a prominent family, with orders to massacre them all. He hadn't minded the adults so much, but he remembered his despair at the children. But he'd had no choice, and just made their deaths as painless as possible._

_He remembered the years he'd spent as a messenger, running through the jungle with sealed dispatches in a sealed case. Several times, people had tried to take them from him. Every time, until the very last, he'd killed them. But someone had been very clever the last time and his body had been pierced by dozens of arrows, all meteorite iron…_

_Faces and names swirled through his mind, and Hajime remembered the friends he'd made. There had been a few over the years, often young acolytes who were intrigued by him and not afraid. Too many times he'd tried to turn the friendships into something more, but his condition had remained unbroken._

_Then a power touched him and reverie shattered as his senses told him he was no longer safe._

* * *

"Sh-shit." Hajime stumbled out of his room, one hand pressed to his side and panting.

He could feel the woman. The demon slayer was close, and closing in rapidly. He was in no shape to meet her in battle, but his wounds meant his demonic power would be much harder for her to sense. But if she kept getting closer, she would finally catch his trail. What could he do?

An idea occurred to him, stunning in its simplicity. Ichigo was getting better, but he still had almost no control of his reiatsu when he was asleep or angry. Of course, it was a little humiliating, but he'd done it before. And the woman was a lot more dangerous to him than Isshin. Slipping quietly into Ichigo's room, Hajime paused to smile as he saw that Ichigo was completely under the covers, only a tiny bit of orange hair sticking out. Then, wincing at the pain, the albino demon slid down onto the floor and crawled under the bed.

If the demon slayer could find him here, he would be astonished.

* * *

Ichigo was a fairly sound sleeper, but he was also used to the sounds and feelings of the house. Hajime's presence was a known quantity, so it didn't disturb him at all when the demon slid under his bed. Quite the opposite, really. His subconscious mind felt happier, knowing that the albino demon was close by.

When the shinigami entered the room, she had the opposite effect. Ichigo sat bolt upright as she touched down on his floor, looking around.

"What the – who the hell are you?!" He asked, throwing his blankets off and scowling. She was wearing black robes and a sword. "What are you doing in my room?" There was a pause as she looked around. "Hey, answer me!"

"It's close." Was all she said and Ichigo bristled angrily.

"Stop ignoring me!" He said sharply and his temper snapped as she simply looked away. "HEY!" His foot impacted her backside and she yelped, going sprawling. "I asked you a question!"

The kido that locked his arms behind his back was not even remotely unfamiliar to him. Although it felt different, in the hands of a true shinigami, rather than a sort of priest trainee. Ichigo's eyes narrowed as he let his power flare, grasping the kido and shattering it in one smooth move. Then he looked at her and used his own power.

"Way of Binding Twelve. Chain the Soul!" Ichigo didn't know, but the kido Hajime had taught him was not identical to shinigami spells. It was actually a hybrid of shinigami and demonic techniques, something the priests had hammered out over thousands of years of practice. And because the priests were physical yet often dealt with spiritual threats, they had evolved kidos particularly suited to handling those threats.

Chain the Soul was one of those, and the shinigami was pinned to the wall like a butterfly. She gaped at him for a moment, then struggled to free herself, summoning her power. The binding broke, but only after a struggle.

"Who are you?" She said to him as she landed on the floor, a hand on the hilt of her sword. "How did you do that?" She had never encountered a human with such power before.

"I'm Ichigo Kurosaki. Who are you?" Ichigo demanded, and she frowned before answering.

"I am Rukia Kuchiki. How did you do that?" She repeated her question and fumed quietly as the human in front of her shrugged.

"My cousin taught me that. Now what the hell are you doing here?" He folded his arms but she just shook her head, looking around. "Hey, answer me!" Ichigo was getting very tired of this woman, particularly because he had a damned good idea of what she wanted. She had to be the demon slayer Hajime had been complaining about.

"I'm searching for a demon." She finally said and Ichigo snarled to himself. Idea confirmed. "He has white skin and gold and black eyes. Have you seen him?"

"Yes, I have." She turned to him, her eyes wide as Ichigo glared at her. "He's my cousin, so leave him the hell alone. You get it?"

"What?" She looked like several things in her mind were failing to compute. "That's impossible! Demons cannot breed with humans!" She sounded very sure of that and Ichigo just shrugged.

"He's adopted. And he has a soul, and he's bound to me, so he's not a threat to anyone. Leave him alone or you'll be messing with us both." Ichigo said sternly. He was not going to tolerate these people trying to hurt Hajime. It was sort of funny, since Hajime was probably more dangerous than him, but he didn't care. He'd protect the demon any way he could. Rukia was just staring at him like he was speaking Martian.

"You are absolutely insane. Demons don't have a soul, that's the very definition of what they are." She said calmly, looking around. "I can't find him. Where is he?" She sounded mildly vexed now and Ichigo was puzzled. Hajime was just down the hall. She shouldn't have any problem finding him, unless his injuries were making it harder for her.

"He does have a soul, it was an ancient curse. And I told you, he's bound. Now get out of my house!" Ichigo ordered. He really didn't want to fight her inside the house. They'd probably wake up everyone in the house, and cause an immense amount of damage. Rukia hesitated a moment then nodded.

"I will tell my brother about this." She said and Ichigo frowned. That sounded like a threat. "He will decide what to do." That definitely sounded like a threat and he scowled.

"You do that." He watched her go, then settled back down on his bed. He sat there for a moment, just thinking. Hajime would have to stay strictly indoors for a while. He was going to be in a weakened condition for –

"Is she gone?" Ichigo yelped as a white head poked out from under the bed, right between his feet. Hajime grinned up at him wickedly. "Did I scare ya?"

"Yes, you damned well terrified me!" Ichigo gasped out, trying to calm his racing heart. That had been the LAST thing he'd been expecting. "What are you doing down there? …And how could she possible not have sensed you there?" That was baffling. Hajime laughed as he slid out from under the bed, wincing a bit as the carpet rubbed against his side.

"You. You have a very strong reiatsu, master, and you flare when you're angry. She couldn't sense me under it." Hajime smiled as Ichigo blushed. That was something he'd been working on. "Normally I wouldn't give a damn, but right now I'm in no shape to fight her." Hajime said with a small hiss and Ichigo nodded somberly. Then he hesitated as he thought of something.

"Would you like to sleep here with me?" He asked quietly. This was probably the only chance he would ever have to actually sleep with the demon, even if Hajime was more passed out than anything. Hajime thought about it a moment, then nodded. The demon crawled up onto the bed beside him, and Ichigo gently put an arm around him, cuddling his white double close. Hajime quickly dropped into something that looked like sleep, and Ichigo watched him for a moment before closing his eyes and finding his own rest.

* * *

"_Awww, that's so cute!"_

"_Yeah, it actually is. I didn't know Ichi-nii could be that cute." Hajime wrinkled his nose as strange voices intruded into his reverie._

"_Aw, Hajime just scrunched his nose! They're both so cute!" Feminine giggling penetrated his mind and Hajime knew, vaguely, that the voices were familiar. They were also no threat. "But we should wake them up before father does it."_

"_Ugh, yeah, although I don't think even dad would be crazy enough to try to attack Ichigo today. Not with Hajime in the room and all cut up like that. Hey guys! Wake up!" Hajime tried to ignore that command, squeezing himself closer to the warmth beside him._

"_Awww, Hajime is cuddling up to Ichigo! So cute, Karin!"_

"_So annoying. Grab the blanket and PULL –"_

* * *

Hajime yelped, his eyes opening as his reverie shattered. Cold air assaulted his body and he shivered, almost falling onto the floor as the blanket was yanked away. Ichigo yelped and tried to burrow into his side, unbalancing him further. Fortunately female hands caught him before he could land on the floor, possibly aggravating his side.

"Careful there, Hajime. Come on Ichigo, you can't sleep in, you have to go to school!" There was a muffled protest and Karin shook her head. "What's gotten into you today? Is Hajime a sleeping pill or something?"

"Huh?" Ichigo mumbled, finally rousing as the cold air hit him. "Ugh, Karin?" He sat up, rubbing his head. "What time is it?"

"Late!" Yuzu piped in. "You need to hurry or you'll miss the bus!" Ichigo glanced at the clock and suddenly cursed, climbing past Hajime to run out of the room. The albino groaned and was about to follow when Karin caught his arm.

"You're not going anywhere. Just stay here and rest." She ordered and Hajime hesitated a moment before obeying. "We've already called you off sick."

"Oh. Okay." Hajime said, blinking for a moment. Then he curled back up in the blankets, taking advantage of the warmth Ichigo had left behind. The bed felt very pleasant and he let the feeling lull him back into his reverie. At this rate, he might be functional by tomorrow.

He hoped so. He did not trust that demon slayer to leave him and Ichigo alone.

* * *

Several days later.

"Hajime?" Hajime looked up from his seat on a stair. He was outside, enjoying the sunny summer day and eating an apple. Ichigo was at his karate classes, which Hajime was not about to go to. There would be way too many opportunities for someone to notice his eyes and his pulse, and he didn't need to learn how to fight anyway. Orihime was smiling at him and the albino smiled back.

He had high hopes for Orihime. They got along quite well, and he liked her a lot. He wasn't sure he liked her as much as Ichigo, but their friendship was untainted by the master/slave bond he suffered with the teen. And she didn't know he was a demon. That was new, everyone he'd tried to love in the past had been well aware of his nature. So maybe, just maybe…

"Hi Inoue. How's it hangin'? Want an orange? I have a fruit basket." He grinned, jerking a thumb at his bag. Calling it a fruit basket was reasonably close to the truth. He and Ichigo were going on a serious nature hike as soon as he was done his practice, so Hajime had packed up some snacks. Fruit, nuts and some dried sausages, along with a couple water bottles. He didn't really need to drink, either, but it was quite pleasant when the sun was hot.

"I'm fine. I just saw you here and thought I would come say hello." Inoue smiled, taking a seat beside him. "Hajime, I was wondering if you could tell me something."

"Mmm?" Hajime said, biting into his apple again. Then he nearly choked on it.

"Do you think Kurosaki-kun likes me?" She asked wistfully, putting Hajime's mind into a brief shutdown.

"Uh." For the first time in a long time, the demon was speechless. His first reaction was disappointment. Clearly, he had just been inducted into the friend zone. But it wasn't like he was in love, not yet anyway, so he could man up to it. But what to say? _We've been fucking like rabbits all week, so no,_ was probably out. In fact, anything that even hinted that Ichigo was gay was out. Attitudes about that could vary, as Hajime knew from painful experience. He was not going to out Kurosaki to anyone. "I, uh, don't know. I don't think so." He said weakly, still reeling a little from the shock. "But Ishida likes you." He could tell that easily. Hell, anyone with eyes could tell that. But Inoue shook her head.

"He's just a friend." She said, and Hajime felt a great deal of sympathy for the kid with the glasses. They had both been friend zoned, and Ichigo, who probably couldn't care less, was the one Orihime was taken with. Ouch. "I – Oh, Kurosaki-kun!" Hajime watched the way her face lit up as she saw Ichigo and sighed to himself. Yeah. Ichigo's smile, though, was simply friendly.

"Hi Inoue! Hey, Hajime, are you ready to go?" He asked and Hajime nodded, finishing his apple by eating the core. He had no problem with that at all. Then he wiped his fingers off on the stone before standing, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

"Where are you going?" Orihime asked, clearly not wanting this chance meeting to end. Ichigo glanced at her before looking at Hajime, and the demon blinked at the small frown on his face.

"We're going to the Sakata park for a nature hike. We have to catch a bus, so later Inoue!" Ichigo set off quickly, Hajime trailing behind as he tried to figure out that frown. A small smile crossed his face as something occurred to him. Was his master jealous? That was interesting. And while he had no reason to keep Orihime's question confidential, he decided to do it anyway. She was a friend, and besides, he kind of liked the idea that Ichigo might be feeling competitive towards Orihime. That is, if he was interpreting things correctly. Hajime silently reminded himself that Ichigo might just have gas or something.

The nature hike was very fun. Hajime took the opportunity to show Ichigo various nature spirits, mostly the kinds that were tied to one place. The mobile ones were running as fast as their little feet would take them, after they'd sensed Hajime. It took some time meditating for Ichigo to open himself up enough to the other side to see them, but Hajime was very pleased with the progress.

"Hey, have you made contact with your zanpakuto yet?" He asked. Hopefully Ichigo had been practicing while he was too sick to help out. The teen nodded with a smile.

"I forgot to tell you. His name is Zangetsu." He said proudly and Hajime nodded with a smile.

"Slaying Moon. That's a nice name. Better than Dulce Amor!" He said with a mock sigh, grinning as his blade sniffed at him. "Knowing his name will increase the power of your attacks. Basically, you've moved up a level. The next level is called bankai, around here anyway." The priests had had a completely different name for it, but he knew what the demon slayers called it. "That takes a lot of work. It won't come right away." Hajime cautioned as Ichigo looked excited. The demon had no doubt it would come, though. Ichigo had power to burn.

"Well, I hope I get it sooner rather than later." Ichigo said, frowning now. "I don't trust that woman, Rukia. And we don't know her brother at all." Hajime scowled, remembering that.

"Yeah… well, to learn bankai you have to get your zanpakuto to materialize in the real world. I can help ya try to get him out, but it's a bit like prying a snail out of its shell." Hajime spoke from painful experience. He'd needed to do the same thing with Dulce, once he realized she existed at all. "We'll just have to work at it, is all." He didn't think it would come quickly, but it would come.

And hopefully, they wouldn't need it.


	7. Hat 'n Clogs

"So what are you anyway?" Hajime asked Ishida. "And what is your dad?"

They were all at Ichigo's house, working on their project. Now that Hajime's attention had been brought to it, there was something kind of off about Ishida. It was the same as how his father felt, not holy or unholy, not demon or demon slayer. Just weird. It was like absolutely nothing he'd felt before.

"I'm a Quincy." Ishida said and sighed as the two Kurosaki's both looked at him curiously. "Let me explain." He did, giving them a quick rendition of Quincy powers, how they worked, and how the Quincy had been almost exterminated by the shinigami. As he spoke, Hajime's bewilderment only grew.

"Wait, let me get this straight. You guys were spiritually powerful humans who were tired of being food, so you learned how to shatter Hollows with arrows of power. But because the souls were destroyed, the demon slayers got pissed and killed you all." He said and Ishida nodded, his expression set. "Why didn't they just teach you to use shinigami powers like the priests do? Or hell, just teach you how to use a focus stone to purify a spirit? Then you could have used the arrows to hold them in place and the stone for the finishing touch!" Hajime touched the stone at his throat as Ishida blinked.

"What is a focus stone?" He asked and Hajime sighed. There was going to be a lot of back and forth going on here, he could tell.

"A focus stone is a crystal you can focus your power through. Here, this is mine." He took off his necklace and handed it over to a bewildered Ishida. "I'm not sure you can use that, but I have no idea what kind of gem an aura like yours would call for. You feel damned weird. You can give it a try if you want, focus gems aren't bonded or anything." They could be used by anyone, and Hajime knew there had always been a few problems with theft. Ishida frowned at the stone, clearly not getting anything from it. "Try to let your power flow through it. It's easiest if you relax, like meditating." Hajime suggested, wondering if this was stupid. He probably should have demonstrated, but the main things the stone helped with were leaving his body, opening portals and purifying spirits. The first was a bad idea, the second was an awful idea and the third was impossible without a ghost.

"If that doesn't work you can try mine." Ichigo volunteered, taking off his sapphire. Ishida passed back the spinel and took up the sapphire, gazing into it for a moment. Then he blinked.

"I do feel something. Strange. I'll have to tell my father about this. And these stones can be used to purify hollows?" Hajime nodded as Ichigo took his necklace back.

"Yeah. But they won't stand around and take it, not like ghosts. I send ghosts on every chance I get, they creep me out." He said, a touch too frankly and winced as Ichigo lightly slapped him. "Hey!"

"They're lost spirits, Hajime. You shouldn't be such a jerk about it." Ichigo said sternly. Hajime rubbed his head and sighed. He knew Ichigo was very sympathetic to the spirits. When he'd taught the boy how to purify them, he'd insisted on spending time talking and reassuring them. At least he hadn't been dumb enough to try that with a Hollow.

"I'm a demon. I'm a bit of a jerk by definition." He said, making Ishida give a surprised laugh. "Anyway, enough of all this. If you want lessons, come visit us some other time. For now, are we all agreed on what we're doing?"

"I'm going to do the history and background of robotics, Ishida and you are going to do the current information and the practical demonstration." Ichigo recapped their decisions. "And we'll all put the presentation together as a team. Is that everything?"

"Right." Ishida agreed, putting his notes away but leaving the plans with Hajime. They had pooled their money, but it would be his job to hunt down the parts they needed. Hajime had a suspicion that he would ultimately be the one to put their robot together. He was good with his hands.

After Ishida left, it was time for bed. But Ichigo paused, hesitating.

"Hajime? Um… are you feeling better?" The albino smiled slightly at the hopeful tone in the teen's voice. He knew what Ichigo was looking for, and his cock twitched a little at the thought. Ichigo was getting good at pleasing him, and after several days of abstinence, Hajime was actually quite interested.

"I'm feeling great. Come with me, master." Hajime said with a soft, rasping chuckle as he took Ichigo's hand. He heard the teen's breath catch in a soft gasp, the boy following him to his room. They always did this in his room, for some reason. Hajime wasn't about to question it and really he didn't care anyway. As soon as the door closed, Ichigo pulled him close and kissed his demon deeply.

Hajime immediately noticed that something was different. Ichigo was shaking slightly and as Hajime gently touched his shoulders, he could feel the singing tension in the teen.

"Master? What's wrong?" Hajime asked softly. Ichigo hadn't been this nervous even his very first time. Chocolate brown eyes met black and gold and there was a pause before Ichigo managed to blurt out the cause of his apprehension.

"I – I – Hajime, I want you to take me." Ichigo said in a rush, and Hajime blinked. So far, he had been the only one penetrated. That hadn't bothered the albino a bit, in fact it was far more common for him than the other way. Most masters preferred to assert their dominance over him, and many times he had been a woman. Being penetrated in that shape was perfectly natural. "I'm scared." Ichigo admitted in a small voice and Hajime smiled sympathetically, reaching up to gently touch soft orange hair.

"It's alright Ichigo. I know what to do." He said, gently drawing the teen to the bed, then gently stripping away his clothing. Ichigo helped with that, and soon the naked teen was sitting on the bed and looking at him with eyes that were too large and full of apprehension. "Calm down, Ichigo." Hajime decided the boy needed a bit of relaxing first, and nudged the boy onto his stomach. He could feel Ichigo tense beneath him, but instead of doing anything intimate Hajime began to work on his shoulders and back.

The demon knew how to give a massage. In fact, it had sometimes been part of his duties. And he had already purchased some essential oils, for his own baths. Those oils found a use now as he warmed a few drops with his hands and slowly worked them into Ichigo's skin.

"Hajime, what are you… oh…" Ichigo moaned softly as Hajime found a knot and began to slowly work it out. Agile white fingers dug in almost painfully, but then brought relief.

"You're too tense, master. You need to be relaxed for this." Hajime said softly. If Ichigo couldn't relax, he was not going to do this, no matter what the boy said. Hajime refused to hurt him. But it seemed that relaxation was going to happen. Ichigo was melting under his hands, turning into a warm puddle of pleasure.

"Mmm." Ichigo's eyes were half-closed now, and Hajime smiled at the sleepy happiness on the teen's face. "That feels so good…" He moaned softly and Hajime bent over, gently kissing his cheek as he worked on massaging the teen's thighs. For a moment he considered going all the way down to his feet, but Ichigo had school tomorrow. Time was short, if the teen wanted to get a good night's sleep.

So instead of going any further, Hajime went to his bed stand, looking for something else he'd stolen recently. Stolen, because stores wouldn't sell things like lube to minors, and Hajime had no ID to prove he was older. He hadn't been sure Ichigo would ask for this, but he liked to be prepared.

"Hajime?" Ichigo flipped over onto his back, then swallowed as he saw the little tube in the albino's hand. "Is that…?" He asked as Hajime slid back on the bed, noting with a smile that the teen was half hard. A gentle hand on his length, slowly stroking him, made it more than half.

"Yes. I thought it might be wise to have, in case you needed it, master." Hajime said as the teen moaned, arching into his slow strokes. Warm, human hands dug into the bedsheets and Hajime paused a moment in his stroking, flipping open the lube and quickly coating his fingers. Ichigo watched him, eyes warm with desire but still apprehensive as the albino gently touched him, sliding a finger inside as his other hand went back to teasing his length.

Hajime watched with a smile as Ichigo moaned, riding out the small amount of pain and discovering the pleasure of being pumped and penetrated the same time. The teen didn't even seem to notice when a second finger joined the first, and Hajime searched gently inside him. He knew when he found the right spot, because Ichigo jumped a bit, his eyes going very wide.

"What… what was that?" He gasped out and Hajime laughed, looking at Ichigo's cock. There was a pearly bead at the tip now, and as he watched it broke and slid down the length, sliding into bright orange pubic hair.

"Your prostate, master. It feels good, doesn't it?" He asked with a smile as he slowly, teasingly drew a finger over that spot again. Ichigo arched, moaning in pleasure and spreading his legs in a way that made Hajime swallow. The demon was very hard now, desiring his master just as much as Ichigo desired him. A third finger joined the first two and Ichigo made a small, pained sound but didn't protest as Hajime continued stretching him. "Hmm, yes." He muttered to himself, reaching for the lube again. He slid the oily stuff over his cock before gripping Ichigo's legs, spreading him out and lifting him slightly. The teen made a soft, pained sound as the pure white cock slowly, carefully slid inside him, forcing past that tight ring of muscle. Hajime paused as he was fully seated, black and gold eyes watching the expression on Ichigo's face attentively.

"Hajime." The way Ichigo said his name, thick and heavy with desire, sparked the demon's desire and he started to move without thought. "Ah!" There was no pain on Ichigo's face though, just pleasure as Hajime brushed against his prostate, torturing him with his slow and careful pace. "Hajime, oh god…!" Sweat was beading on warm, sun kissed skin and Hajime licked it away, smiling as he speeded his thrusts just a bit. He was playing with the teen, driving him crazy, and enjoying every bit of it. "Nnngh!" Ichigo whimpered in pleasure, completely undone by what was happening to him. Hajime groaned, eyes slitting as his own needs pushed at his control.

But there was no need to control himself so firmly now. Hajime hissed softly as he began to take Ichigo more roughly, going faster and harder into the hot, tight heat beneath him. Ichigo was incredibly tight, not surprising at all for an anal virgin. Hajime was panting softly, his breath stirring Ichigo's hair as instincts and practice let him find the teen's prostate again and again. He slid a hand into that orange hair, bringing the teen into a deep, passionate kiss as their bodies moved together. Warm hands grasped his shoulders, fingernails digging into white skin and leaving small marks that vanished as quickly as they came.

Hajime let his hand slide down to the back of Ichigo's neck, gently massaging the skin with his fingers as he smiled into the teen's face. Then he dipped his other hand down, hips moving as he found Ichigo's length and stroked the hot, straining flesh.

"Ichigo." Hajime said, his voice a soft hiss as his eyes met warm brown, and he felt a strange tingle in his chest. It was like nothing he'd ever felt before, as though something deep inside him had trembled. Then he made a soft mew of pleasure as Ichigo tightened around him, the teen gasping and keening softly as Hajime's thrusts took on an urgent note, becoming slightly erratic as the demon came close to his release. Hajime smiled, then pressed his lips firmly against Ichigo's, swallowing the boy's scream as the teen tensed, his release splattering across his belly and onto the bed. The way Ichigo's muscles trembled and clenched around Hajime took the demon with him, and Hajime hissed as he filled the teen with his colder seed.

But if the teen minded the temperature, it wasn't evident. Hajime thought he probably didn't. He'd been told before that his lower body temperature was rather pleasant, and his semen might be soothing on recently irritated flesh. Hajime just looked at Ichigo for a moment, meeting brown eyes and feeling something odd inside, just for a moment. Then he froze as he realized what it was.

_My bonds. Did they… tremble?_ Hajime swallowed heavily before leaning down to give Ichigo a deep, searching kiss. He wasn't sure about what he'd just sensed, but the bonds were still in place. Perhaps he was just imagining things. Perhaps the hope in his chest was just an illusion.

But he could have sworn he felt the bonds tremble.

* * *

Hajime stepped into the shop and looked around curiously.

It had taken a lot of sniffing around the town to find this place. Shops like this didn't advertise much. Back when he'd lived in India, they were pretty easy to find though. Just ask anyone on the street where to find the mystical stuff and you'd at least have an idea. Half the shops they'd send you to, though, were the crap stores. They had stuff that was more superstition than fact, or just too weak for a real priest to use. But the person who ran those shops usually knew who carried the real goods, and they were willing to share the information. At least, no one had ever refused Hajime.

Karakura town was quite different. Orihime had been able to direct him to a store that sold Ouija boards and shit, but a quick check there had told him it was all crap. Even the mystical 'crystals' were so badly flawed as to be completely useless as focuses. When he'd asked the girl at the desk where to find the real stuff, she'd had no idea what he was talking about. It had been a bit embarrassing.

So instead, he'd started sniffing out power signatures. He'd finally located this store. It had some very strong power signatures, including wards that would keep out most demons. However, Hajime was not most demons. He could have shattered the wards with simple force, but that would be a hostile act. So instead, he used the power of his holy bonds to gently penetrate the wards, fooling them into letting him in.

So now he was standing inside the shop and feeling quite baffled.

"Maybe this place is owned by someone who does magic, but doesn't sell magic stuff?" He said as he picked up a pez dispenser. "Soul Candy. Soul? Weird." Hajime wasn't interested in candy, though. He set it down on the shelf, and kept looking. "Nngh. Where is everyone?" He muttered. There wasn't even anyone at the cash register, and he was getting absolutely nowhere in his search.

"What the hell do you want, whitey?" Hajime almost jumped at the voice and looked down, a bit shocked to see a redheaded kid glaring at him. "Who are you anyway? You feel weird." Hajime frowned as he realized the brat had some power. That was annoying.

"I'm Hajime Kurosaki." He said, smiling as the kid winced at his raspy voice. "Who are you? You work here?"

"I'm Jinta Hanakari. Kurosaki… do you know a girl named Yuzu?" There was a light in the kids eyes and Hajime blinked behind his sunglasses.

"Yeah, I'm her cousin. Why?" He asked, wondering if this kid liked Yuzu. A suspicion that was confirmed a moment later.

"I knew it! She's my goddess. What can I do for you?" Bemused by the sudden change in attitude, Hajime pulled a list out of his pocket and handed it over. "Huh? What's all this?"

"The stuff I need. It might be hard, I'm from India so I don't know what that shit is called in Japan. And we use a different alphabet so I kind of had to write them the way they sound." Hajime admitted. He knew this was going to be hard. "I figured I could just do it by smell, but I dunno, I can't seem to find what I want here." He didn't see any bins or jars of the sort he'd always seen in India. The kid scowled, scratching his head as he looked at the list.

"Let me talk to the boss." He said and Hajime idly looked around as the kid went into the back. Hajime grimaced as he felt the approach of demon slayer energy again. He flashed his holy bonds while quietly easing towards the door. He didn't want a fight inside the shop.

The guy who showed up with the kid felt like a deep, quiet pool of power to Hajime. He looked pretty weird, though, wearing a white and green hat and tromping around in wooden shoes. He smiled in a friendly way, extending a hand to the demon. Hajime hesitated before taking it. He could see the man quickly noting his black fingernails.

"So, Hajime is it? What precisely are you? I don't think I've ever felt anything like that power you flashed at me before." He said easily and Hajime frowned, hiding his shock. He didn't recognize the power of the gods?

"Temple power. Have you shinigami forgotten the power of the temples? Or has something happened to the temples?" That was a chilling thought, and might explain how his ivory ball had ended up in a tourist shop. Hajime shook his head as the man looked puzzled. "Nevermind. Look, I need some stuff for a potion, and also to make some really good incense."

"I see. Well, I'm afraid I don't know what most of this is. Can you perhaps describe what you need?" Hajime nodded and took the paper, looking at each of the names and describing the attributes that he needed. The shopkeeper produced a little notepad and started taking notes. "That sounds like frankincense. Interesting. Ah…" He frowned as Hajime described the properties of one particular component to the incense. "That sounds illegal. Do you mean marijuana?"

"I don't know. Drugs don't work on me at all." Hajime said truthfully. "I can't even get drunk. I'm making this up for a friend." The stuff in the incense was meant to free the mind from normal constraints, while the items in the potion included herbs that were known for opening the mind to spiritual powers. If Hajime could get Ichigo to focus under the influence of the potion, there was a chance he would be able to get Zangetsu to manifest. And once he did, even with artificial aides, it would get easier and easier. Doing it the first time was the critical step. The shopkeeper considered the list for a moment then smiled.

"Perhaps you should tell me what you're trying to do." He suggested. "I might have some ideas." Hajime hesitated, not sure if he really wanted to share the information.

"I don't know. Are you going to tell the other shinigami about it?" He said warily and the man's smile widened.

"Oh, no. I'm an exile, actually, so we don't talk much." He said easily and Hajime relaxed a little. "I'm Urahara Kisuke, by the way. But please, just call me Kisuke. And you are?"

"Hajime Kurosaki. Okay… I'm trying to help my trainee achieve bankai." Hajime said and the other man's eyes widened. "The incense is to free the mind, while the potion opens the mind to spiritual powers. It also has herbs that activate the third eye, if you know what I mean." Clearly he didn't, so Hajime tried to explain. "Like, sensing the future. Anyway… it's a common technique the priests used when they had a student they knew would get bankai, and wanted to hurry them along a little." The problem with bankai was that it could take decades. The priests dealt with students who had a mortal lifespan, unlike the shinigami, so they did not want to wait for decades. "Do you have anything like the potion? I need to make the incense myself, fresh blood is an ingredient." And demon blood worked even better than human, if anything. Urahara swallowed and shook his head.

"We have nothing like that. However… there is something I have to help someone achieve bankai. Can I ask why you're doing this?" He asked and Hajime scowled.

"Promise me you won't freak." He said warily. He thought this guy hadn't quite realized he was a demon, since his wards should have kept a demon out. Urahara nodded. "I'm a demon, but I have a soul and I'm bound to obey the owner of my balls… what?" He asked as the man sniggered.

"Sorry… it's just… I assume the balls you're referring to are not the ones I just pictured." He said and Hajime blinked before scowling. If he'd been human, he would have blushed, but that was another thing he couldn't do.

"My ivory balls. Maybe we can bring them over to show you sometime." He said, a touch grouchily. Hajime wasn't worried about anything happening to the balls, they were indestructible and if they were lost or stolen, would return to Ichigo completely on their own. "Anyway, the local shinigami has been on my case and she said she was going to tell her brother about me, like it was a threat. So Ichigo wants to learn bankai." His student was really quite determined, in a quiet way. Hajime thought it was a good idea, although he didn't want Ichigo to push himself too hard. He did have his own bankai, not to mention the full release on his powers. Although Hajime desperately didn't want to use that. He'd never once used it for any of his masters, because none of them knew about it, and what they didn't know about they couldn't specifically command him to use. And the power itself was too dreadful. But for Ichigo, Hajime thought he would.

"Hmm. Well, I do have a way to force the spirit in a zanpakuto to materialize." Urahara said with a smile. "But I do have a price." Hajime nodded, unsurprised. "I want to study you." That made the demon blink. "I've never heard of a demon with a soul, and it's fascinating to me… would that be acceptable?"

"Well, maybe." Hajime said warily. He'd let Isshin give him a physical, but he was sure the demon slayer meant far more in depth tests. "I'd have to talk to my master about it. And he would have to be present for the tests." He said firmly. Ichigo worked at a clinic, he would know what was normal and what wasn't. Urahara just beamed at him. It was a little alarming.

"Of course, of course! I'll need to discuss the bankai training with him anyway. When would you like to bring him?" Urahara asked and they quickly set a date, two weeks in the future. Final exams were coming up, and the science project needed to be finished, so there wasn't really a lot of time until classes were done. Hajime mentioned that and Urahara just laughed. "Yes, I know. We'll probably have to wait for any serious tests and bankai training until school is out. Although, you're going to school?" He sounded rather surprised and Hajime shrugged.

"We got reported for truancy. I look like a kid, after all." He pointed out and Urahara laughed, pulling out a fan and waving it.

"A demon going to high school. Delightful! Well, meet me when your classes are over and I'll show you something amazing." With that promise, Hajime left the shop. Idly, he thought about trying to buy some marijuana and frankincense. Maybe he could at least get the incense done.

He didn't want to depend on nothing but a man he had just met.


	8. Kraken

"What's all this then?" Hajime wasn't sure what was going on with the list on the wall. People were congregating around it, looking it over.

"It's the top fifty list. Hah! Look, the white nerd is here!" Hajime crossed his arms and just looked at Keigo before running a blue tongue over his fangs. Several other students edged away, but the irrepressible boy didn't even notice. "Number four! You're just below Ishida, you deviant!" The brown haired boy said and Hajime blinked. Deviant?

"You want something deviant? Hey Orihime, Keigo wants to see somethin' deviant, would you help me out with that?" Hajime asked with a grin then winced as Ichigo slapped him. "Ow!" That was a real slap, and the teen didn't look even remotely amused. Was that jealousy? Yes, although Hajime had only been kidding. "Hai, actually, Ichigo, help me show him something deviant." Hajime said in his best insinuating voice and had the pleasure of seeing Ichigo turn pink.

"Hajime!" Another slap, this one lighter, made the demon grin. Ichigo shook his head. "Try to calm down. And Keigo, don't taunt him, or he really will do something deviant right in front of you." Ichigo said with assurance and Keigo pouted. It was nothing but the truth though. Everyone in the class knew it wasn't a good idea to call Hajime's bluff. The albino grinned before turning his attention back to the list.

"Ichigo, what is this list?" He asked as Ichigo began reading the names. "You're twenty –three." He'd found it already. Keigo suddenly screamed.

"Twenty-three?! ICHIGO! YOU TRAITOR! It's all your fault for doing that science project with the two nerds!" Hajime's eyes widened and he actually stepped behind Ichigo as the kid in front of him spouted tears. That was weird.

"Oh shut up. I go home from school early so I actually study, and Hajime is a good study partner." Ichigo sounded bored with the whole commotion and Hajime decided to go back to the board, carefully skirting Keigo. He could recognize a lot of the names there. Ishida was just above him, at number three, and sitting in at eleven was Chad. Orihime wasn't on the list, which didn't surprise him – she was very nice, but not the sharpest tool in the box – but Tatsuki was on at thirty three. Then he heard a crackling sound and looked up to see Ichigo breaking Keigo's glasses. Glasses?

"Since when do you need glasses, Keigo?" He asked, then looked at them more carefully. They were some kind of novelty glasses. "Oh, nevermind. Go be a freak somewhere else, ay?" Hajime turned to Ichigo. "So school is done and we both rocked. When's this beach thing?" Isshin had promised everyone that he'd take them to the beach as soon as school was done. Hajime was looking forward to it. He'd seen the ocean plenty of times, of course, but he'd rarely gotten a chance to play in it.

"Beach thing? What beach thing? OH! You're hanging out with your new nerdy friends! Ichigo you – ACK!" Hajime had had about enough of Keigo, and planted a white elbow in the boy's gut before sweeping his feet out from under him in one smooth move. "OW! HAJIME!"

"Stuff it, you're annoying me." He said in a bored voice as he put a foot on the kid's back and whomped him a little. It wouldn't hurt, but it would be annoying.

"Hajime, don't hurt him. And Keigo, it's a family thing, you guys aren't invited. Now buzz off, you're annoying everyone." Ichigo ordered and Hajime let Keigo go. The kid scambled off, yelling something at them and slapping his ass in a really strange way before leaving the building. Hajime ignored that, going back to the list. He didn't recognize half the names on it, but the others he did. They were all the better students. Ichigo hadn't answered him, but he figured this had to be a list of the best students.

"And I got fourth. Nice." Hajime murmured to himself. He wasn't too surprised, though. Having endless time on his hands made a huge difference. "Maybe I should become a doctor. I already know all about human anatomy." Of course, what he knew included how to remove a liver with a single swipe of his claws and the best way to disembowel someone without getting the blood everywhere. And while that was nice, Hajime figured keeping someone alive during the process would be the real trick. "Eh, maybe not." Keeping someone alive was just not something he was good at. He'd taught Ichigo the healing kidos and the teen was already better at using them than Hajime.

Hajime was really very uncertain what he wanted to do with his life. It was just so unusual, having any choice in the matter. One thing he was seriously considering was opening a food truck. There were food trucks in Karakura town, regulations were friendly to them, and there was a serious dearth of good Indian cooking. Hajime knew he could whip up Indian street food like no one's business, and the startup costs for a food truck were much less than for an actual restaurant. Or maybe he could open a restaurant, but if he wanted to do that he'd have to start in someone else's kitchen. That might be a problem in Karakura town, unless he wanted to learn a different style of cooking. A food truck was probably a better option.

"Hajime? You're zoning out on me." Hajime blinked as Ichigo gently shook his shoulder. "What were you thinking about?"

"Oh, just running a food truck and feeding the masses on curried lamb and rice." Hajime said truthfully, making Ichigo laugh. "So is that it? It's over?"

"For a few months. Come on, let's go home." Ichigo said and Hajime smiled, following him out the door. He was honestly looking forward to the beach tomorrow. And after that they would be spending some quality time with Urahara.

Hajime wasn't sure what would happen there, but he was rather looking forward to it.

* * *

Hajime breathed in the smell of the ocean.

The beach was beautiful, absolutely beautiful. The sea was pounding against it, beautiful swells that just begged for a surfboard. Hajime wished he had one. He'd never surfed before, but he could see people doing it right now and he was sure he'd be damned good at it. If only he had a board.

But he didn't, so the albino demon just waded into the sea. Completely ignoring the laws of human biology, he dove underwater and blinked, adjusting his eyesight until the water was perfectly clear to him. Then he began exploring the underwater depths.

Hajime almost jumped when someone touched his shoulder. Looking up he saw Ichigo, wearing some weird goggles and jerking a thumb upwards. A bit surprised, the demon followed his master to the surface of the water.

"Hajime, you totally freaked out that lifeguard. I had to tell her you're an expert swimmer and she probably just missed you coming up for air." Ichigo said with a grin and Hajime groaned, glancing towards the beach. Sure enough, there was an anxious woman in a swimsuit near the water.

"Well fuck. Are you saying I have to come up for air now?" He said grouchily. That was annoying, particularly since he knew exactly how long humans could hold their breath, and it wasn't that long. Ichigo laughed and ruffled his wet hair, making him blink.

"It's your own fault for being so white. You're easy to keep track of." He said teasingly and Hajime had to smile. Ichigo was right about that. "Just try not to scare everyone, okay?"

"Okay. Hey, want to dive for seashells?" He asked. If Ichigo was beside him, he'd have no trouble remembering when to come up for air. Ichigo laughed at the idea.

"Sure, why not?" He said, smiling as he dove. Hajime followed, reaching the bottom easily. Since he didn't need to breathe, diving was actually much easier for him, although there was still a limit to how deep he could go.

It was Hajime who noticed the Ningyo. It was stalking them, as much as anything that big and obvious could stalk someone under the water. A rather large fish with a human head and arms, it was actually quite ugly, in Hajime's opinion. Although the patterns on the scales were pretty enough. Hajime stayed beneath the water, crossing his arms and giving it a stern look at the ningyo froze, realizing it had been spotted. Hajime actually wasn't at all familiar with this creature, and had no idea what it might be thinking of doing. Ichigo came down and poked his shoulder, gesturing to Hajime to go up for air. The demon shook his head and pointed at the watcher. Ichigo followed his hand and his eyes widened as the creature edged closer.

Hajime wondered if it was just curious. It was a spiritual creature, and could no doubt sense his darkness, but it might be perceptive enough to know he wasn't right for a demon. He shrugged to himself and offered the creature a hand, as if it were a dog that might want to sniff him.

He wasn't expecting it to bite him. The surprise made him yelp, although the pain was really minimal. He tore his hand away and went with Ichigo to the surface, swearing as he breached the water.

"What was THAT? Hajime, are you okay?" He asked, grasping Hajime's hand as the albino ducked his head back under the water to make sure the ningyo wasn't following them. It was gone, as far as he could see.

"Yeah, I'm alright. Let's go to the shore." When they got to the sand Hajime winced, flexing his hand and looking down. It wasn't healing, not really a surprise when the wound was inflicted by a spiritually powerful creature. "Ow." He muttered, looking at the odd, ragged puncture wound. It wasn't deep but it was painful.

"We should clean that off and wrap it up with something. Are you sure you're okay?" Ichigo asked, touching Hajime's hand and using his healing kido. The effect was minimal, which made Hajime frown. The wound should have healed instantly under the force of Ichigo's reiatsu.

"No, I'm not sure at all. I've never seen one of those before, and never been bitten by one." He muttered, closing his eyes and trying to sense the state of his body. "Some kind of venom." He said, opening his eyes and flexing his hand. Ichigo went pale. "But it feels weak. I think I'll be fine for now, and I'll go visit someone when we get home." Maybe Urahara would know what this was.

"We could go home right now." Ichigo said softly, putting an arm around his shoulders. But Hajime shook his head with a smile.

"And ruin Karin's and Yuzu's fun? For shame! Seriously, I'll be fine." He lied. He was starting to feel a strange tingling sensation in that hand and didn't like it. What had the creature done to him, anyway? Scowling, he wished he could purge it in a demonic fashion. But that would require unsealing his powers, for a moment anyway, and then the beach would be rubble and the people on it would be running for their lives.

But the ocean no longer had any allure for him, so after getting his hand bandaged by the lifeguard – she had a first aid kit – he spent the afternoon making sand castles with Yuzu while Karin and Ichigo played in the water. Yuzu apparently loved making sand castles, and Hajime convinced her to join him in making one that looked like an Indian temple. Not a modern temple, though. Hajime knew from the report he'd done that most people in India wouldn't recognize what he thought a temple should look like. Styles had changed with the times.

_How long has it been?_ Hajime mused as he worked on the sand castle. _A thousand years, two thousand? Even longer? Was my ball just found in the wreckage somewhere?_ He wouldn't be the least bit surprised if someone had been picking through an ancient ruin, found his ball and decided to sell it. _What happened to the priests and their teachings?_ That distressed him more than anything.

The simple truth of the matter was that the demon slayers were arrogant. They did an important job, a job that needed doing, but they often let it go to their heads. In their minds, living humans were helpless beings to be protected. Hajime was glumly certain that attitude was the reason why people in Japan didn't seem to believe much in the supernatural anymore. The demon slayers were keeping it from them, making sure they didn't remember the truth of things.

Hajime thought it was foolish, and he wasn't remotely surprised the Quincy had arisen. Who wanted to depend on someone else, when they had the natural power to take care of the problem themselves? And that natural power drew both Hollows and demons in, since the spiritually powerful were the best food. If the shinigami had given the Quincy temple style training, the need to exterminate them would never have arisen. Which made Hajime wonder. Did the demon slayers even remember his style of training? Had they ever known in the first place, or had they just ignored how the temples did their work? And when the temples had gone, had the knowledge vanished completely?

"Ah. This is too much thinking." He muttered to himself, grimacing as his hand gave a pang. Glancing down at the bindings, he grimaced as he saw it looked swollen. "Hrmph." Checking his body again, he could tell the wound and venom were still minor irritations, although the venom was spreading.

"Wow, this is nice!" An older woman stopped to admire their sand castle and Yuzu beamed as Hajime rubbed his hand. It was still tingling. "I've never seen anything like it before. Where did you get the idea, dear?"

"It was Hajime's idea. He's from India." Yuzu happily explained and Hajime forced a smile. But something was distracting him, stealing his attention.

_Come to me._ The whisper was faint, but real, and a strange lassitude was stealing over the albino's mind. He tried to shake it off but the trance only deepened. _Come to me, my beautiful one._ Hajime blinked slowly and stood, walking towards the water.

"Hajime?" He heard Yuzu's call but it was distant, unimportant. "What are you doing?" He stepped into the ocean, walking into the water and feeling the sand beneath his toes. That distant call continued to tickle his mind as his hand throbbed in time with the slow beat of his heart. "Hajime, come back here!" Yuzu ordered, and she sounded afraid. Any other time he would have obeyed her instantly, mindful of Ichigo's command to heed his sisters. But now, a command by proxy was not strong enough to pull him out of the grip of his trance. "HAJIME!" He heard her scream as he dove into the water and swam.

He was swimming into deep water now, and normally that would have bothered him. There were creatures that lived in the sea, things that were neutral in power but still extremely dangerous. Those forces might very well take exception to his presence, and while when he'd been nothing but a demon Hajime would have delighted in fighting them, now he was more careful. Picking a fight like that could easily endanger Ichigo.

And swimming this deep in the ocean bothered him another way. It was like entering an alien world, as strange and remote as the moon. Hajime knew that if he went deeply enough, he would see monstrous fish, oddities that he didn't even have names for. When he'd been nothing but a demon, and completely fearless, he'd once explored this place before deciding it was boring. Now, the alien nature of the deep sea bothered him. This was not a place he belonged, not a place he wanted to be.

He was going so deeply it was becoming difficult to see, even with his eyes, and he could sense something coming to meet him. That was good. He was beginning to reach the limits of his body, and he could feel the unnatural flesh beginning to suffer under the pressure of the water. He could go no deeper, and floated easily in that land of darkness. Then something touched him and he opened his eyes with a vague feeling of curiosity.

Luminescent eyes shed enough light for him to see what was facing him. It was an enormous octopus, and Hajime vaguely recalled a word from Ichigo's English vocabulary… _kraken._ He didn't know if it was the proper name for the thing, but he'd never seen such a sea monster before. It had more limbs than an octopus should, though. He felt one of those arms slide around him and blinked slowly as the suckers ran over his flesh, squeezing him unpleasantly. As he met the monster's eyes, strange pictures flowed through his mind and he knew they were its thoughts.

The monster was unhappy, Hajime realized, his mind working slowly. It didn't like the meal its ningyo had found for it. This thing did not devour souls, it ate the fresh blood and spiritual energy of its prey, and somehow feasted on their… potential? Hajime had no word for it. But he knew that younger was better for this monster.

Hajime, though, did not age. His flesh was not the sort this monster usually fed on, and he knew it was unsure if it _could_ feed on him. It wished the ningyo had picked the boy with the orange hair, a more normal meal. Hajime tensed as that image in his mind, a vision of Ichigo's torn body, ignited his anger. But not even his rage could break through the curious lassitude the venom was casting over his mind. And vaguely, he thought that if he survived this, he would have to find out what this thing was. He was nearly immune to poisons and he'd never heard of one that felt so minor, yet could affect even the mind of a powerful demon.

Unfortunately, survival was not likely. Hajime could feel it when the monster decided it was too hungry, and it would take a chance on this slightly unsavory meal. Under the daze, his sense of self-preservation was screaming at him to act, to do something, but he simply could not rouse himself. The knowledge of his impending death was not enough and the demon closed his eyes. If he was going to be eaten – an entirely new way to die – he would at least not watch.

_Hajime!_ His eyes abruptly opened wide and his hand shot out, breaking free of the tentacles and catching the beak before it would have impaled him. _I am ordering you, come back to me right now! _Ichigo's voice rang through his holy bonds, and the spell over his mind shattered.

Hajime spared one moment for wonder. He hadn't taught Ichigo how to send a message through the holy bonds, because he didn't know how it was done. It could only be done by his master, and he'd never quite understood how they accomplished it. But however it was done, Ichigo had managed it, and Hajime snarled as he unsealed his power.

Black and red fire erupted around him, and the kraken recoiled as if it had been burned, tentacles letting go of a meal that had suddenly turned deadly dangerous. Water rippled, then exploded outwards as uncontrolled pressure ripped through it. Hajime had never released his power underwater before, and he vaguely hoped there wouldn't be a tsunami. There would certainly be a very large wave. But there was no time to worry about that, and he dove at the monster, Dulce Amor leading the way.

"Dulce Muerte." Hajime's voice sounded odd even to himself, underwater. It didn't matter, as his zanpakuto responded to the name of his attack, Sweet Death. Little globes of white and black flew out at the monster, exploding on the surface of tough, horny skin. The kraken keened, an unearthly sound that carried very well in the water. Hajime reeled for a moment under the impact of that tone, but then easily slashed a tentacle that tried to catch and crush him.

The battle was short and very one sided. After losing several tentacles to the nightmare it had caught, the kraken tried to escape, frantically expelling a cloud of ink. Hajime hissed in irritation, eyes narrowing to slits behind his armored mask. Then he dove into the cloud, following the fleeing monster.

The ink stung his eyes, but Hajime didn't care. He was going to destroy this thing, utterly. His bonds twinged as Ichigo tried to summon him again, but he was able to ignore the command. He _would_ be going back, and this thing was a threat to his master. Protecting his master was an overriding priority, and he remembered that vision of Ichigo's broken body.

"Dulce Trampa." Hajime hissed the words, Sweet Trap, and the hilt of his sword sprouted two lengths of fabric, black and white. They flowed out, cutting through the water and snaring the fleeing beast. It keened in agony as he dove in, his sword leading the way. He cut deep and unleashed his demonic power inside the monster, a flare of red and black fire. Its insides exploded, although most of the monster remained intact. Hajime smiled to himself, wondering what the humans would make of it when it washed up on the shore.

He checked the kraken one last time, to make sure it was dead. Then, satisfied with his work, he began to swim for the shore. Although he made a mental note to kill any ningyo he saw in the future. Japanese myths had never mentioned them as being subservient to anything like the kraken, if that even was a kraken. Hajime was certain it had a different name.

As he reached the shore, Hajime realized his powers were still unsealed. He was being careful not to warp reality – that was a bad and difficult to suppress effect of his power – but he would still probably send the humans running. But it was too late now. He'd already left the water, and stood a bit awkwardly as everyone in the beach stared at him. The screams would probably start any –

"Mama, is that a cosplayer?" One little girl's voice rang out and Hajime blinked behind his mask.

_Or that._ Sighing to himself, Hajime stepped onto the sand, his clawed feet crunching on the beach. He dug his toes in, flexing them as he looked around for Ichigo. The teen was there, staring at him wide eyed, his face pale. But Ichigo could sense the depth of his power. Hajime reached up, lifting his mask to reveal his face.

"Hey Ichigo." He walked over to the teen, who swallowed before stepping close to him and gripping his arm.

"Hajime, are you okay? …What is this?" He asked softly, mindful of the people watching. Hajime lowered his voice, also aware of that.

"My true power. Can we go to the change rooms or something?" Hajime glanced up at the sky uneasily. There was a sparkle of red there. As much as he might suppress it, the reality warping effects of his full aura would eventually break through. And he did not want to make the heavens scream. "I need to seal back up but…" He deliberately glanced to the side and Ichigo nodded, putting an arm around his shoulders. Hajime blinked, and gave him points for bravery.

"This way." Ichigo led him to the change rooms, which Hajime hadn't bothered with before. He'd just changed his clothing to swim trunks in the car, since it wasn't real clothing anyway. As soon as he was out of sight Hajime began to seal back his power, and Ichigo watched as the black armor cracked, then fell away to shatter on the ground. Hip length white hair shortened and Dulce Amor vanished in a wisp of smoke. "Hajime, what happened?" Ichigo asked and Hajime grimaced, looking down at his hand. The bandage was still there, but when he stripped it away the wound was gone.

"The venom in my wound was some kind of weird as shit, mind altering spell." He said with a scowl. "It made me swim out to the ningyo's master, this huge as fuck octopus." Ichigo blinked at that. "I think it was a kraken, that's the only word I have for it anyway. It didn't really want me, thought I might not be edible. Fucker was wishing his minion had brought you instead." That still pissed Hajime off, and he knew his anger showed. "But it was going to eat me anyway. You saved me when you called me through the bond, Ichigo. That broke the spell." Hajime was really very thankful for that, and showed it by hugging his master. "Thanks. I wasn't looking forward to being eaten alive." He said and felt Ichigo's arms around him, almost bruisingly tight.

"I don't know what I did or how I did it. I was just terrified for you, and I tried so hard to call you back." Ichigo said softly, resting his chin on Hajime's shoulder. "Don't ever scare me like that again." He sounded almost ready to cry, and Hajime gently patted his shoulder.

"Heh, I didn't mean to. At least that thing won't be eating anything again. I killed it." He said with a smile and Ichigo nodded.

"Good. Now, are you ready to help Yuzu redo her sand castle? A huge wave came out of nowhere and ruined it." The teen said and Hajime nodded, deciding not to point out that the wave had actually been caused by him.

There were still some things Ichigo didn't need to know.

Author's Note: A full description of Hajime's release, from Ichigo's POV, will be in the next chapter. ^_^


	9. Revelations and Training

Ichigo sat back in his seat and gazed out the window as Isshin drove them all back home.

Today had really been a very exciting day. Hajime seemed to attract danger… or perhaps the danger had always been there, and he had just been blind to it. But no. He'd always seen hollows and demons, so the danger had been there all along. That the sea could have its own dangers was not a surprise.

The real surprise had been Hajime. Ichigo didn't understand how anyone could mistake him for a cosplayer, although it was a rational explanation in an irrational world. But then, he'd been able to sense the incredible power radiating off his friend, his lover, his slave. It had burned like a dark sun, overwhelming and unstoppable. But that darkness was merged with a sweeter light, a power Ichigo had come to identify as Hajime's soul.

Physically, his presence had been just as amazing. Pure white, clawed feet had bitten into the beach as though the demon owned it. The armor started at his ankles, and curving lines of red travelled up his legs, vanishing beneath a tattered white loincloth. Ichigo assumed that the armor was just as tight on his privates as everywhere else, and the clothing existed to preserve modesty. Then the black armor went up perfectly sculpted abs, until it reached Hajime's chest. There, set in the middle of his chest, was a perfectly circular stone. It was something like a moonstone, something like an opal, and glowed with an internal light. Leading to the stone were four curving red lines, two on either side of Hajime's chest. His arms had been covered in more black armor, armor that ended at his wrists, revealing dead white hands with black nails that were actually wicked claws. One hand was holding Dulce Amor, and the sword was a wickedly curved blade of absolute darkness. The hilt had been slightly different, still white and black fabric but with silver chains and moonstone beads dangling from the hilt. The most imposing thing, though, was the mask. Ichigo's mouth had dried as he'd looked at that mask. As dead black as the rest of his armor, it was featureless except for the eyes. Irregular lines of red led from his chin, over his eyes and ended at the top of the mask. Great, black horns flowed out from that mask, pointing forward and looking cruelly sharp. The mask had made Hajime's always strange eyes seem like those of a monster.

Until he'd pulled the mask up and grinned. Then he'd been Hajime again, the playful demon Ichigo had grown to love. And with that mask out of the way, Ichigo had noticed the hip length white hair. It was caught behind Hajime's head with a little piece of black ribbon, carefully tied in a pretty little bow. That odd little incongruity had made him smile, and the spell of Hajime's power had been broken. His power was still there, of course, but it no longer bothered Ichigo. It was simply Hajime.

And he'd finally seen the ghostly presence of the holy bonds on Hajime's body. With his powers released, they were almost tangible, cuffs of silver on Hajime's throat, his wrists and ankles. Phantom chains hung off those cuffs, swinging as Hajime walked and tapping softly against the black armor. If they bothered Hajime, Ichigo couldn't see it, but he wanted to grasp them and tear them away. Yet, he couldn't. Ichigo somehow knew that if he tried, he would only hurt Hajime.

So he'd watched as Hajime went back to his normal form, and almost missed the presence of that long, lovely hair. Although that led to another thought.

"I wonder if I should grow out my hair." Ichigo mused, running his fingers through his short curls. He'd never imagined he would look good with hair like a girl, but Hajime had worn it well.

"Heh. It'll take a long time for it to get that long, Ichigo." Hajime said and Ichigo blushed. He'd been talking to himself, really. "Honestly, taking care of that kind of hair is a pain in the ass. I've had longer hair than that when I was stuck in a woman's body, and believe me, it takes forever to dry after a bath." Hajime rolled his eyes and Ichigo laughed. "And don't even get me started on brushing it!"

"I see. Well, maybe not then. But I thought it looked wonderful on you." Ichigo said, unable to keep the warmth out of his voice. Karin laughed as Yuzu turned to look back at them. She was in the front seat.

"Ichi, are you sweet on Hajime?" Karin asked as Yuzu looked both fascinated and a touch horrified. Ichigo mumbled something indistinct as Hajime grinned.

"Yeah, we're totally gay together. It's the new thing." Hajime said mockingly, and Ichigo rested his face in his hands, although he knew what Hajime was doing. No one could take that seriously. Sure enough, Karin laughed and Yuzu squeaked, retreating back to her seat.

"Yeah, sure Hajime, in your dreams." Karin said, making the demon grin. "So, what are you guys going to be doing over the summer vacation? Just hanging out?"

"No, Hajime has someone he wants me to meet. A new trainer." Ichigo said. He'd decided a long time ago that honesty was the best policy… well, except for his relationship with Hajime. That could stay private. But everything else he would tell his family about. "What was his name again, Hajime?"

"Kisuke Urahara. He's kinda weird, but he says he has something that'll help you achieve bankai. And I got the marijuana for the incense, but I just can't find the right shit for my potion." Hajime sounded frustrated and Ichigo winced as his father finally reacted. Isshin had been paying attention to the road, but that finally pulled his attention away.

"What?! Marijuana? Hajime, you will not be doing drugs in my house!" Isshin said and Ichigo winced as the car veered slightly.

"Pay attention to the road, geezer!" He barked and Isshin quickly gave his attention to his driving. The road was actually very crowded, with people going home after a day on the beach. "Drugs don't work on Hajime, dad. He was making special incense for me, but we're not going to use it anyway."

"Yeah, without the potion it's useless." Hajime added. "And I can't find anything like one of the ingredients for that. I think LSD might do, but I'm not sure." And Hajime really wasn't willing to experiment with that on Ichigo. He didn't know the dosage that would be needed, and unlike the original hallucinogenic herb, he couldn't evaluate the freshness and purity of the product. "So we're going to this guy instead."

"Gosh, I should hope so." Karin sounded appalled. "LSD? Really, Hajime?" Ichigo frowned at her, although he understood why his family had a problem with this. He'd had a problem when Hajime had floated the idea past him.

"He was just trying to replicate something he'd done a thousand times before, Karin. But he can't and that's the end of it." He said firmly. That seemed to satisfy everyone, and Hajime grinned, leaning back and lacing his fingers behind his head. "What are you thinking?" Ichigo asked, curious, and Hajime flashed him a quick smile.

"Just thinkin' that I could walk down main street in my released form, and everyone would think I'm going to an anime convention." Hajime rolled his eyes as Karin and Yuzu laughed. "Humans these days." He said with a sigh and Ichigo snorted, amused.

"It beats everyone screaming and running." He said, and looked out the window again. There wasn't really a lot to do on these car rides. Then Ichigo smiled as he heard the beep-boop of a portable Gameboy. Karin was playing with the old machine, trying to catch a few pokemon. Hajime was just leaning against the window, his eyes half-lidded as he thought about whatever demons thought about. Ichigo surreptitiously admired him, and remembered what had happened the night before.

He couldn't wait to get home.

* * *

Hajime moaned softly, tossing back his head as Ichigo knelt between his thighs, their bodies meshed together in shared pleasure.

His master was inspired tonight, and he'd shown it by his first request. He'd wanted to see Hajime's hair long again, and that was an easy request for the albino to fulfill. Unleashing just the tiniest bit of his power caused his hair to lengthen, and now the silken strands were spread over the bed like a curtain of moonlight. Every breath and movement stirred those strands, and gave the illusion that the two lovers were floating on a cloud. The little black ribbon was gone, tugged away by Ichigo's hands and left to drop, lost and forgotten, onto the floor.

But for all Hajime's passion, for all that he loved what Ichigo was doing to him, part of his mind was still aware of the surroundings. He could be surprised, of course, but Hajime was never completely lost to what was happening around him. So while he missed the sound of the door opening, he did hear the soft gasp from the watcher.

Hajime gripped the back of Ichigo's neck, drawing the teen to his throat as he turned his head, looking at the door. Ichigo hadn't heard what he had, and he didn't want to alert his lover. Hajime was sure there would be an epic freakout if Ichigo realized they were being observed. With his ability to see in the dark, Hajime could easily identify the watcher as Karin. She was pale as a ghost and looking like she had just been punched in the gut, not surprising really. Then Ichigo managed to hit his prostate dead on, and Hajime jerked with a soft sound of pleasure. He met Karin's eyes and she was abruptly scrambling away, no doubt heading to her own room.

Ichigo was covering his neck in love bites, and Hajime loosened his hold on the teen, running his hand down onto Ichigo's back to grip the warm skin. The albino felt like he was drowning in an ocean of sensation, as Ichigo's thrusts rocked him into the bed, his hair stirring in little puffs. Their lips met in a deep, passionate kiss and Hajime put a hand behind Ichigo's head again as he heard someone new at the door.

"Ichi…" That whisper was Yuzu. Hajime spared a moment for intense irritation. Karin had no doubt told her, and disbelieving her sister, Yuzu had needed to come see for herself. The demon just wanted them both to go away before his coitus was interrupted. Fortunately, Ichigo hadn't heard, and the teen was plunging into him deeper and deeper. Ichigo gripped his hips with a soft groan, speeding his thrusts into the pure white body beneath him. Hajime moaned softly, feeling a tremble run through his body as everything tightened, his cock twitching as he came so close to release he could touch it.

Then Ichigo, sensing the moment was upon them, gave his erection a firm, hard stroke. That sudden stimulation made Hajime arch with soft, guttural cry as his release flowed, splattering across his belly and the sheets. Hajime hissed as he felt Ichigo empty himself inside him, spurts of heat that made him feel oddly full and complete.

But there was still a problem to deal with. Hajime gently nuzzled Ichigo, not letting on that anything was wrong. The teen sighed and cuddled him, staying inside as he gave Hajime a gentle, tender kiss. Then Ichigo slowly pulled away and Hajime sighed at the sound of their bodies parting. The sex had been good, very good, and he actually thought he could feel the bonds weakening. Freedom was so close he could taste it, despite how ruthlessly he throttled his hope.

Kissing his lover goodnight, Hajime waited until Ichigo was safely in his room before getting up. Then he quietly, carefully made his way to Yuzu's room. He was correct in his supposition, and found both girls there, quietly whispering. He paused for a moment, just listening.

"…Ichi-nii is gay Karin! What will we do? It will break papa's heart." Hajime grimaced a bit at Yuzu's tearful tone. He wasn't too surprised to find out about Isshin's probable reaction. He knew enough about humans to know that for many of them, having grandchildren was a very important thing. Finding out about Ichigo's inclinations would have to be a huge disappointment, if nothing else.

Hajime was sure, though, that Ichigo was hardly attracted to women at all. Orihime was practically throwing herself at him and the teen hadn't even noticed. There were other girls at school, too, who had subtly indicated their interest in him. Hajime could see the signs clearly, and while Ichigo wasn't as experienced at the albino, he wasn't a social idiot either. He just wasn't interested.

"Goat-face can get over it. What I'm worried – " Hajime decided to stop eavesdropping and pushed open the door. Yuzu looked shocked and horrified, but from the expression on Karin's face she'd been expecting him. But then, she must have known he had spotted her.

"Hey. Mind if I come in?" Hajime said, his rasping voice hardly louder than a whisper. Yuzu looked at Karin, who glowered but nodded. "Thanks." He went over to the bed, taking a seat at one end as both girls scooted over. "I haven't told Ichigo you saw us, yet." Hajime said, which made Yuzu look a little relieved. "He doesn't need to deal with this right now, he needs his sleep." Hajime saw no point in making Ichigo freak this late at night. He could deal with it some other time.

"Hajime." Karin's tone was hard and very firm. "Did you seduce Ichigo? Because if you did, I'm going to kick your ass." Hajime grinned at the threat. It was so very Karin.

"Not unless just sitting in my chair and playing solitaire is seduction, now." Hajime said mockingly and grinned as Yuzu blinked. "That's what I was doing when he came into my room the first time." Hajime knew he was quite innocent of a seduction charge.

"Okay, second question. Did Ichigo order you to sleep with him? Because if he did, I'm going to kick his ass." Karin asked. That turned Hajime's grin into a grimace, but he shook his head.

"No, he didn't. If he had, I would still obey him but I would not be his friend." Hajime said softly, looking into Karin's eyes, and she nodded. They both understood what he was saying. His relationship with Ichigo would be nothing like it was now, if that had happened. Being ordered immediately to have sex was something the demon could not get past, nor would he want to.

"How do you feel about Ichi-nii?" Yuzu suddenly piped in and Hajime switched his gaze to her. "I know you like Orihime." She added and Karin frowned. Hajime blinked, then laughed, a soft, rasping sound.

"Yeah, well, I did like Orihime. Then I found out Ishida likes her, but Orihime likes Ichigo, and Ichigo likes me. I could have stayed liking Orihime and made a closed circuit, but I think I like Ichigo better anyway." Hajime said with a grin, making Karin choke a bit on laughter. "So I had to disrupt the current and go with Ichigo. It's probably better anyway, ay?"

"To make a closed circuit wouldn't it need to be you liking Ishida?" Karin considered that for a moment and made a face. "But that's so wrong. Can you imagine what his dad would say?" Hajime shuddered slightly at the thought of Ryoken.

"Say? I'd be worried more about what he'd do." Hajime rubbed his chest for a moment. What a terrifying thought. "But yeah, I like Ichigo. I like him a lot." He admitted. He couldn't say the word love, though, not yet. He'd been hurt too many times in the past.

Part of the problem with his bindings was that it didn't matter what Hajime felt. It was the other person's feelings that would ultimately meet his condition and break his bonds. Twice, in the past, the albino had given away his heart unwisely. And knowing the person that he loved didn't love him back had been a suffering beyond words. Humans could at least delude themselves into thinking love was there, but Hajime had no recourse.

"Okay. I guess that's fine, then. But if you hurt him, albino, I will kick your ass." Karin said fiercely as Yuzu sniffed, rubbing her eyes. Hajime didn't think she was as reconciled to this as her sister. But he nodded anyway.

"Even if I were free, I wouldn't hurt him." Hajime said and was mildly surprised to find out it was true. Plenty of masters, he would have killed instantly if he had been freed. Others he would simply have deserted. But with Ichigo, things were different. Even if he were freed the next day, he wouldn't leave. Hajime bit his lip as he thought about that. Was he falling in love?

If so, he hoped Ichigo felt the same. He didn't think his heart could bear another shattering.

* * *

"Huh." Hajime was perched on top of a rock formation, watching the training with bemusement.

They were down in a really weird training area. Hajime had no idea how the man had made it, but beneath his shop was this amazing place that looked like a rocky desert. The sky overhead was bright blue, and the space available seemed to be endless. The power involved to create something like this almost broke Hajime's brain, although he supposed there might be more skill than raw power needed. Either way, it was quite alien to him, and after trying to figure it out for a while he'd simply given up. There were some things the demon did not need to know.

And there were some things the demon would never have thought to do. Chasing Ichigo around like a lunatic was definitely one of them. He hadn't been going easy on the teen, exactly, but the master – slave relationship made some things problematic. He wasn't going to push Ichigo until he was almost ready to faint or puke. Hajime also wasn't going to dare his master's wrath. If he'd been down there, chasing the teen, Ichigo could simply have ordered him to stop.

He couldn't order Urahara to stop, and Hajime smiled as Ichigo used his flash step. He'd been good at it before, but he was already getting better, probably because he was genuinely afraid the shopkeeper might kill him. A flare of blue fire erupted from his sword, but Urahara dodged it, letting it smash into a rock. Then Ichigo tried to turn the tables, going for Urahara with powerful but rather uncontrolled swings. Hajime winced, knowing what was coming, and wasn't surprised when the teen ended up laid out on the sand with a sword at his throat.

"I told you, you can't lose your temper like that!" He shouted, cupping a hand around his mouth. "Ya gotta focus the anger!" Anger was a potent force, but not when it was ruling Ichigo's actions. The teen groaned and Hajime leapt down from his perch. Tough training was great and all, but he felt obligated to intervene. "I think he's had enough for now. Isn't it time for lunch?" Hajime asked. He hadn't been sure if the shopkeeper would feed them or not, so he'd packed up some bento boxes. Instead of the usual contents, though, his had saffron rice, chicken curry and some pickled vegetables. Urahara lifted his sword with a happy smile.

"An excellent idea, Hajime. I admit, all this exercise is working up an appetite!" Ichigo tried to crawl away but Urahara caught the back of his robes, pulling the boy upright. "Come on now, Ichigo. You're getting a short break."

"Short? Ugh." Ichigo tried to squirm away but got dragged over to a bit of shade. Hajime followed, bemused. "Hajime, save me." Ichigo begged pitifully and Hajime laughed as he sat down cross-legged, fishing out the bento boxes from his bag.

"From what? My cooking isn't that bad. Here ya go." He handed over a bento box and a container of water. "Oh, you might want to get back in your body." It was currently sitting not far away, under a protective shield. The sign that declared it was Not Dead had blown away, though.

"Oh right." Ichigo grimaced, trudging over to his flesh and donning it before walking back, rubbing his shoulders. "This is a nightmare." He muttered and Urahara grinned, bringing out his own lunch as Hajime laughed.

"You're already getting better though, I can see it." Hajime said encouragingly. "He's pushing you harder than I could, master." Hajime didn't feel too bad about that, though. Another reason he hadn't been able to push Ichigo this hard was the training area. His training areas had been the backyard or, rarely, Tatsuki's dojo. And the problem was that people could see him, but not Ichigo, unless he took his soul form. Things could get weird in a hurry and Hajime had not wanted an audience. Here, though, they could do whatever they hell they wanted. They ate in silence for a while, and then Urahara spoke.

"Actually, we might want to make this the end of today's lesson. I would like to begin examining you, Hajime." He said with a smile and Ichigo looked relieved as Hajime frowned. He honestly wasn't looking forward to that, but he had promised.

"Okay." He said. "What do you want to do first?" He figured it would be a physical, but Urahara surprised him.

"Yesterday, I detected a very strange power surge. Was that you, perhaps?" Hajime blinked and hesitated.

"Could have been. Was it coming from the beach?" He asked and Urahara considered it for a moment before nodding.

"Yes, that direction. It felt very different from how you are now. Could you show me how you did that? I'm very curious." He wasn't the only one, either. The two kids and Tessai were all listening in. Not a surprise, they'd been watching Ichigo's torture earlier. Ichigo was just ignoring the conversation as he ate his bento box hungrily. He was almost done, in fact, and Hajime pushed over what was left of his. He didn't really need it anyway and the teen was working up a powerful appetite.

"Sure, if you want. But can this training area contain that much power?" Hajime asked in concern. He was seriously worried about that. But Urahara laughed, just dismissing the concern with a wave of his hand. "Well, okay. But I'll need some room. Hang on." Hajime walked away, putting a safe distance between himself and the watchers. Some of whom were less than impressed.

"Oi, albino! How far are you gonna go?" Jinta called as Hajime stopped with a grin. "You're just showing off –" Then Hajime decided to show him the real meaning of showing off, summoning his power.

It exploded around him, digging deep into the ground and sending stones flying. Black and red fire blazed like an inferno, before it tugged back and coated his body, forming his armor. Hajime smirked to himself as he saw the wide-eyed look on Urahara's face. The two kids were on the ground, with Tessai lying over them, trying to protect them with his body. The only person completely unaffected was Ichigo, who'd moved on to Hajime's bento box.

"Hey, Ichigo! I'm going all demon over here and you can't even look?" Hajime said with a grin, pushing up his mask. Ichigo just inhaled a bit more curry.

"I – mph – know what you look like, Hajime. And I'm _starving._" He mumbled and Hajime laughed. That broke the tension a bit and Tessai sat up, both the kids scrambling out from under him. Urahara cautiously walked closer and Hajime stepped up to him, letting Dulce Amor's tip drag on the ground. He had no scabbard for her in this shape.

"Fascinating. With this kind of power, you must be a demon prince." Urahara glanced up and Hajime knew he'd detected the reality warping effect, despite his efforts to hold it back. He knew what it was, too, from the look on his face. More fascinated than fearful, though.

"Yeah, not exactly." Hajime knew it might be wiser to just let Urahara think he was a prince. But he was having fun showing off, and the impish, frivolous part of him that identified with Dulce wanted to make it worse. He grinned, letting his amusement show. "When I was a demon, other demons didn't call me prince. They called me King." He said with a mocking, rasping laugh and was amused to see Urahara swallow.

"You were the king of the darkness?" He asked quietly and Hajime shrugged.

"A king. There's four of them. Well, three now." Until Hajime was dead, truly dead, no other demon could ascend to his place. And any demon challenging him to take his power would be taking their life into their hands. No one had ever tried, which was not a surprise. Of the four kings, Hajime was considered the most dangerous. Having a soul only made that worse, from another demon's perspective.

"And what will you do if you're ever freed?" Urahara asked, very serious. He understood the danger he was looking at. Hajime sighed to himself. He should have pretended to be a prince.

"Haven't you heard? I'm gonna open a food truck and sell samosas." He said, making Urahara blink and the kids laugh. Even Tessai cracked a smile. "I'll make a fortune, then I'll go to Vegas and lose it all in blackjack. And while we're in Vegas me and Ichigo will star in a porn film. And when we get home his dad will –"

"Hajime!" Ichigo had finally come out of his food trance, and yelped as everything his demon was saying reached him. "Stop that! We are not making a porn film!" He was blushing furiously as Hajime leered at him. But the tension was broken and that was what he was after. Urahara smiled widely.

"It would be an amazing porn film, I'm sure. Can you reseal your power? I would like to give you a physical examination." Hajime nodded and shut down his power, letting the armor fall away. Soon he was getting the physical he'd been expecting, as Urahara took his pulse and body temperature.

He was glad to see the shopkeeper wasn't freaked out by him anymore.


	10. Hajime vs Byakuya, Round One

Author's note: The timeline I'm using for the temples doesn't really work too well with Indian history, but I'm dealing with the fact that shinigami can live for two thousand years. We just have to roll with it, heh!

"Hey, Ichigo." Hajime snuck into the boy's room, sitting beside him on the bed. It was early morning. After Urahara had finished testing Hajime the previous day, he'd given Ichigo one more run around the training facility. When they'd gotten home, the teen had been too exhausted to be interested in anything more than a blowjob. With a spirit of absolute devilry, Hajime had given him that blowjob and tucked him into bed. But they hadn't talked about Karin and Yuzu yet. "C'mon, wake up. We need to talk about something."

"Nngh. Hajime?" Came the sleepy voice, along with a bit of shifting from the lump beneath the covers. Hajime smiled and found a loose corner, slipping a hand beneath those blankets and finding a bare patch of skin to tickle. "Agh!" Ichigo sat bolt upright and favored his white double with a scowl that Hajime met with a grin. "You're horrible." He muttered, stretching for a moment. "What is it? I wanted to sleep in." He said, a touch annoyed.

"You already have, it's eight and we're due at Urahara's at ten." Hajime informed him. It wasn't exactly a hard and fast time, but they still didn't want to be late. "But we need to talk. It's about your sisters."

"Hmm? What about them?" Ichigo cracked his neck, clearly not expecting anything interesting. Hajime couldn't help but grin as he dropped the bomb.

"Well, you were too into me to notice, but Karin walked in on us the night before last." Hajime had the pleasure of seeing Ichigo doing a rather good fish impression. "And Yuzu came in to see for herself not long after. So yeah, we're pretty much busted." Ichigo went pale as a ghost and put a hand to his stomach, looking like he might be sick.

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" He demanded and Hajime shrugged.

"Well, I didn't want to disturb your sleep that night." Hajime said and from the look on Ichigo's face, he thought that was the dumbest reason ever. "Then I didn't want to mess you up right before Hat 'n Clogs tried to kill you. Then you were so tired I didn't want to mess up your sleep again. So here we are, this just seemed like a good time." It all made sense to Hajime. Ichigo whimpered in mental pain, putting his head in his hands.

"So you're telling me both my sisters know I'm gay and having sex with you?" He demanded, reaching behind him, without looking, to shove open the curtains. Hajime stared, eyed going wide as he saw what was behind those curtains.

"Uh… yeah… and… it looks like… your dad, too…" Hajime said very slowly, staring at Isshin. Ichigo's father was pressed against the glass. Clearly he'd been about to ambush his son, then got distracted listening to an absolutely fascinating conversation. Right now the elder Kurosaki was doing a great fish impression, too. Ichigo went paler, if it was possible, and carefully glanced over his shoulder before letting out a heartfelt scream.

"Ahhh!" There was nothing else coherent as Ichigo latched onto his demon lover, and sobbed into his chest. As Hajime watched, Isshin's eyes rolled back into his head and he fell off the roof with a thud. The albino would have been worried, but his mark hadn't even twinged. Ichigo's dad was going to be fine.

"It's okay Ichigo." Hajime comforted his friend and lover. "Maybe we should call Urahara and let him know we're having a family crisis." Ichigo had at least an hour to recover, though. Maybe they could get this all sorted out. "C'mon, your sisters are probably downstairs doing stuff." Hajime knew that Yuzu was planning to do some serious cleaning, and Karin would probably be helping.

"How can I face them?" Ichigo said, his voice muffled in Hajime's shirt. The albino demon was experimenting with his clothing lately, so the shirt in question mimicked his armor, a black t-shirt with a white circle in the centre and two red lines on either side.

"Well, see, you lift your chin. Then you ask them to pass the bacon." Hajime said, planting a small kiss on Ichigo's forehead. He smiled as he got a small, muffled laugh from the teen. "We had to tell them sometime anyway, if you're serious about me. And you are serious, right?" Hajime said softly, feeling a deep pain in his heart. If Ichigo said no…

"Of course I am." Ichigo lifted his head, sitting back and scrubbing his cheeks for a moment. Hajime was relieved to see he was getting a grip on himself. "Sorry about that, Hajime. I just didn't anticipate it all coming out like this."

"I don't think anyone could have anticipated that last part." Hajime said fervently. Ichigo's dad had taken him completely by surprise. "But seriously, we should go downstairs before he comes to his senses and runs in freaking out." Hajime thought it might be a good thing to get Karin and Yuzu on their side before Isshin got back up.

"You're probably right." Ichigo said with a sigh, quickly getting out of his nightclothes and pulling on a t-shirt and jeans. He didn't bother with a shower, but he had showered the previous night, so that wasn't much of a problem. Hajime went downstairs first and saw Karin doing the dishes as Yuzu tried to clean up the living room. It was hard, because Hajime was still keeping the house spotless, but she clearly wanted to do something.

"Hey girls, we gotta problem." Hajime said, his rasping voice rather amused. "Your dad decided to listen at the window at a really bad time, so he knows about us." Yuzu looked petrified as Karin looked up from the dishes, grimacing. Ichigo ran a hand through his hair, looking shamefaced and avoiding looking at either of his sisters. Knowing they had seen him having sex, well, that was the sort of thing guaranteed to haunt him forever. "So, is there any bacon?"

"Bacon?" Karin sounded confused. "How do you go from that to bacon, Hajime?" The jump was definitely hard to follow. Hajime shrugged.

"We need some brekky and we probably won't be able to eat once he gets his act together and comes barging in." He pointed out and Ichigo grimaced.

"I don't think I can eat anyway." But he took a seat at the kitchen table and sipped on some tea as Hajime began preparing bacon and eggs. The albino was just putting them on plates as a rather dazed Isshin stumbled into the house.

"My daughters, I just had a terrible dream. I dreamed that my son was gay and having sex with his cousin!" Big tears filled Isshin's eyes as Hajime sniggered and Ichigo covered his face, looking like he was trying to hide in his teacup. "Tell me it was just a dream!"

"It wasn't, and I'm not actually his cousin, you daft bastard." Hajime said in a bored tone, eating a strip of bacon. "Demon, remember?" Although even if he had been Ichigo's cousin, their story was that he was actually his cousin's child. That would make him a second cousin, which was a distant relationship at best.

"But Hajime! I love you like a son! We were going to adopt you!" Isshin wailed and the startled demon got hugged so hard, he nearly dropped his bacon in his tea. "Now my son has corrupted you!"

"Wh-what?" Hajime stammered as Ichigo sat bolt upright in outrage. "Corrupted? Me?" Trying to corrupt a demon struck Hajime as a bit like trying to kill a fish by immersing it in water. Completely futile and helpful for the fish. "Uh…" He had absolutely no idea what to say to that. Fortunately, Ichigo was there to fill in the gap.

"Dad! What the hell!" Ichigo yelled, surging to his feet. "First off, we can't adopt him, he doesn't have any parents to sign away the rights to him! Second, corrupting a demon is just ridiculous!" Hajime might have been offended if he didn't completely agree with that sentiment, trying to get out of Isshin's grip without hurting the man.

"Ichigo, Hajime is a wonderful son!" Hajime started trying to get away rather urgently as Isshin sang his praises. This was getting creepy as hell. "He makes magnificent food, keeps the house as clean as Masaki, and placed fourth in the school! You must have corrupted him, my son is a delinquent!" Isshin said with a great sob. Hajime finally managed to make a break for it and used his favorite tactic, getting past Yuzu and trying to hide under the sofa. It was a bit difficult, there wasn't as much room under the couch as there was under the bed, but he made it work. He'd even cleaned under it recently, so there weren't any dust bunnies to tickle his nose.

"Dad, you're creeping him out again!" Ichigo snarled. He might have been annoyed that Isshin was acting like he loved Hajime more than him, but he was at the age where he'd prefer not to have to deal with his dad's lunacy anyway. Of course, that insanity being transferred onto Hajime wasn't much better. Particularly when it made the demon hide under the sofa. "Yes, I'm gay and Hajime is bi!" Ichigo was absolutely certain of that. Hajime still liked to flirt with Orihime, although it was clearly joking now. "Yes, we're having sex! And yes, we're in love!" There was a faint squeak from under the couch, but Ichigo ignored it, giving his father a challenging stare. "Do you have a problem with that, old man?" He snarled and wasn't too surprised as his father ran to Masaki's poster to sob about his delinquent son and his crushed hopes for grandchildren. Shaking his head, Ichigo looked over to where Yuzu was trying to coax Hajime out from under the chesterfield.

"I think I'll just stay under here, thanks. Can you pass me some bacon?" Hajime's raspy voice came from under the sofa and Ichigo had to grin. That was so… Hajime.

"You have to come out for more bacon." Ichigo said firmly and Hajime whined before crawling out from under the couch. He needed to come out anyway, if they were going to Urahara's.

"Screw the bacon, let's just get out of here before he gets a grip on himself." Hajime said, running to the fridge to fetch out the two bento boxes he'd packed up earlier. They would need them at Urahara's. Ichigo took one look at his father and nodded, waiting for Hajime to dash out the door before following as Yuzu called goodbye and Karin yelled at his father for being a complete weirdo. "Just another day in this crazy house." Hajime muttered to himself, trying not to think about the little flutter his heart had done when Ichigo had said the word love. And how his bonds had trembled again. They were starting to break, he was sure of it.

But what did it take for them to finally come apart?

* * *

"Ugh." Ichigo lay back in the hot spring, letting the water sooth his injuries. It seemed to have a remarkable ability to take away his pain. "Huh?" He lifted his hand, blinking as he realized a cut there had closed over. "Hey, Hajime?" The albino was relaxing beside him, looking almost asleep, his eyes closed and expression peaceful. "Could this water have healing properties?"

"Sure could. Try it on your cheek." Hajime said and Ichigo splashed the water on his face. The small cut there instantly sealed over. "Definitely does. Mmm." Hajime slid under the water, although he didn't have any wounds to heal. He just liked the heat of it. And without needing to breath, he could enjoy it as long as he liked. Then Ichigo nudged him in the side and Hajime came to the surface.

"That's kind of unnerving." Ichigo said and Hajime shrugged. "And look, a cat." Hajime turned to look, seeing a black cat regarding them.

"Yep, it's a cat." He agreed, swimming over to that side of the pool and resting his elbows on the edge of the hot spring. "Hey kitty, want an ear rub?" Hajime held out a hand. He knew what cats liked, and it was getting an ear scratch. Then he blinked at the sound of a very masculine chuckle.

"I believe I can pass." They both gaped as mist surrounded the cat, and its form changed. Hajime internally cursed himself for not reading the cats' aura. Belatedly, he sensed that this was not a cat at all, but something far more powerful. Then his mind was completely sidetracked by what was standing in front of him.

"Nice tits." He murmured, looking up. His vantage point was excellent. Behind him, Ichigo screamed.

"Oh my god what the hell?! Put some pants on! And who are you anyway?" It was the first time either of them had seen a talking cat, let alone one that had a masculine voice then turned into a woman. Hajime tilted his head to get a better view, utterly shameless as the cat woman entered the hot spring and settled in.

"I'm Yoruichi Shihoin. But please, call me Yoruichi. You are quite an innocent, aren't you?" She directed that at Ichigo, who was trying desperately not to see anything. "And you're not innocent at all." She said to Hajime, who gave her his best pervert impression as he swam backwards, going back to Ichigo.

"Nah. Hey pretty lady, want some candy – ow!" Hajime winced as he got slapped upside his head by his lover. "I'm just kidding, you know I only love you." Hajime put an arm around Ichigo's waist, cuddling him close and giving the teen a kiss. That distracted him admirably from the woman in the pool. Neither of them cared as they heard a soft laugh. But then there was an odd popping sound and they both looked back.

"Oh, it's like that is it?" The cat swam closer to them and Ichigo stared as Hajime looked disappointed. While he was coming to admit he loved Ichigo, those had still been some nice breasts, especially without a stitch of clothing to hide them. "Well, Urahara is wondering if you plan to stay in the hot pool all day or if you'll be coming out eventually." Ichigo groaned and Hajime grinned, poking him in the side. "Oh, don't groan too much Ichigo. I believe he actually wants to practice with Hajime."

"Oh yeah?" That pleased the demon. He'd fought more opponents than he could conveniently count, and he'd defeated them all, killing most of them. He was incapable of forgetting his skills, and those skills had been honed over thousands of years of murder and mayhem. But he still liked to spar with Kisuke. Things had changed, and it was always good to learn new things. Not to mention, he simply enjoyed fighting. Sparring against a really capable opponent hit his pleasure centres, hard. "I'd love that. C'mon Ichigo, let's go see Hat 'n Clogs." That was their pet name for Urahara now. Hajime honestly couldn't imagine why he wore that strange footwear. It looked rather uncomfortable. But then, Hajime's shoes were technically part of his body, so he might as well be running around barefoot.

"I can't wait to see him run you around." Ichigo mumbled, not quite under his breath and Hajime grinned.

"You'll be waiting a long time for that, Ichigo. I'm a lot older'n you." Hajime didn't think he'd win easily, but he didn't think Urahara would herd him around the way he did Ichigo either. "Let me show you how it's done." Hajime was more than ready to show off a bit.

Just watching could get rather boring, at times.

* * *

A few days later.

It was a quiet night in Karakura town. Insects chirped softly in the summer air, and a small wind stirred the flowers in the lawns and boxes. All was quiet, all was well.

Well, except for the three boys walking home from practice.

"I'm glad you came Ishida, that was something else!" Hajime grinned, throwing an arm over the other boy's shoulders. Ishida shrugged him off, but not as though he really minded. "I liked getting to see those Quincy powers." That had been fun. And the whole thing had been quite amusing, because they hadn't invited Ishida to come. He'd just shown up at Urahara's, fully expecting to be included. The shopkeeper hadn't minded, so Ichigo and Hajime had just taken it in stride.

"It was nothing." The other kid said. Hajime gave him a curious look. He sounded quite unhappy, reaching up to adjust his glasses. "I'm just trying to stay away from my father for a while. He's unhappy about how low I placed in the rankings." That made Ichigo's eyes widen and Hajime's jaw drop.

"Three? He's unhappy about you placing third?" Ichigo sounded confused. "Ishida, that's an excellent ranking!" Ishida scowled, then sighed.

"He thinks I should be first." Ishida said briefly and Hajime sneered. He'd seen that kind of attitude before, and never liked it.

"Tell him it's not the goddamn Olympics." That brought out a laugh from his friends. "There ain't no difference on the uni applications between one and three. Or four, for that matter." Hajime was dead certain of that. Several of his teachers were encouraging him to go on for more education, but Hajime wasn't sure he wanted to bother. He was getting some ideas beyond opening a food truck. He could take dancing lessons and become a ballerina, for example. Not tiring or getting strained muscles would help, although his dead white skin might be a problem. "And… uh." Hajime stopped dead as he felt a familiar and completely unwelcome power. "Shit." Ichigo and Ishida both sensed it just a moment after him, and the three of them stopped as three strangers appeared in front of them.

At least, two of them were strangers. The third was the woman, and she was entirely too familiar. She was standing behind a man with very long, flowing black hair. Hajime blinked at the silver clips in his hair. His face was almost pretty, and what Hajime could sense of his power put him on guard. This was a leader among the shinigami. The third was a man with spiky red hair and tattoos that normally would have caught and held Hajime's attention. They were pretty damned sexy. Right now, though, he had other things on his mind and he could tell that guy was not remotely as powerful as the guy with the hair clips.

"If this comes down to a fight, Ishida gets the girl, Ichigo you take the guy with the red hair. The guy with the clips is mine and do NOT try to help me, he'll fuck you up." Hajime instructed them quickly and both his friends nodded, Ichigo yanking out the chain with his focus stone. Then he raised his voice. "And what can we do for you fine gentlemen and lady this evening?" His voice was mocking as he shoved his hands in his pockets. The woman looked at him like he was some ugly species of bug, but the man in the centre just looked very serious. No doubt he had more experience with demons, and Hajime met his grey eyes, feigning indifference.

"I am Byakuya Kuchiki. Who precisely are you?" The man asked quietly. Hajime shrugged.

"Hajime Kurosaki. This is Ichigo Kurosaki, and this is Ishida Uryuu." He quickly introduced everyone, although this was not a friendly meeting. Byakuya frowned.

"That was not what I was asking. Who are you?" He repeated the question and Hajime made an annoyed hiss. He knew what the shinigami was asking for, and he couldn't give it.

"I don't have a name." He snarled. Byakuya wanted his true name, the name every demon had, but Hajime no longer had one. That curious condition had come about because of his soul. Humans and shinigami didn't have true names like demons, names that really meant something to their bodies. So now Hajime didn't, either. Although… "Back when my body had a name, it was Ka'Shikura." Not that it mattered. Of course… Hajime smirked as the shinigami immediately tried to bind him with his true name. "Oh come on. How dumb do you think I am, exactly?"

"Some demons are very stupid. You would be shocked how often that works." Byakuya said calmly and Hajime let out a cackle. He knew the shinigami was right about that. "I am told you say you were bound by the temples. But my family keeps the records of the shinigami, and the spiritual powers your friend uses came to an end over five thousand years ago." Byakuya's gaze flicked to Ichigo, who was holding his focus stone and scowling. Hajime swallowed at that. He'd been on ice for five thousand years?

"Uh… okay. Awesome, I get to start a religious revival." Hajime said flippantly, to hide the fact that he was feeling faint. The temples were really gone? He did NOT think that was a good thing. The shinigami really could be arrogant as fuck. And as little as he'd liked some of those people, as dark as their powers had been, he thought they should still have a place in the world. Maybe as a head on a pike, but still. "If that's so, why the hell haven't you been training 'em? Ichigo damned well needed it, he woke me up with nothing but raw power!" That bothered Hajime, a lot. The priests would have considered it irresponsible. When a child like Ichigo was found, they were immediately inducted into the temples.

"I do not need to explain anything to you." Byakuya said, making Hajime fume. "You are too dangerous to remain here. You will come with me to Soul Society to be evaluated." Hajime's mouth dropped open. Just like that?

"Yeah, how about NO. You don't order me around!" Hajime snarled, summoning his scythe. The darkness filled his hand as all three of the shinigami drew their swords. "And I know you fuckers. You'd never let me come back." He added. He actually wasn't totally certain about that, but it was a good bet. The priests never trusted the demon slayers, and Hajime was sure the shinigami felt the same way. "So are we gonna dance?" Hajime let his power flare, an aura of inky darkness that made Rukia and Renji step back. Byakuya just met his eyes, then summoned his own spiritual power.

Hajime didn't react at all to the breath of immense, white reiatsu. It was impressive, but priests just as strong had tried to crush him into submission with spiritual pressure before. Not a single one had succeeded. It did succeed in making Ishida and Ichigo both take a step back, though, and Hajime could smell their fear. But he could smell Rukia's and Renji's fear, too. The lesser combatants were all afraid of the greater.

Hajime's eyes narrowed as he still met Byakuya's, and he gripped the power of his scythe, forcing it to merge with his zanpakuto. He was certain he would need Dulce, now, but he was not willing to call for bankai yet. He was saving that for later.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura." Hajime could hear Ishida saying something to the woman, and Ichigo had left his body, his sword clashing with Renji's. But he had no time for any of that as he rested a hand against his sword.

"Dulce Muerte." He called on the power of his shikai. His zanpakuto had two shikai powers, Muerte and Trappa. The little globes flew out, exploding and obliterating sakura petals. But neither combatant was damaged. "Hah!"

The battle began in earnest then, and Hajime soon found himself pressed to the limits of his skill. This shinigami was fast, extremely fast and capable. But from the intense, utterly focused look on Byakuya's face, Hajime thought that he was at his limit as well. Their blades and kido clashed time and time again, and Hajime met every single kido the noble could summon with his own. They weren't the same spells, not entirely, but that didn't matter at all.

Ichigo and Renji nearly met with disaster as they accidentally got in the way of the demon and the taichou. Hajime solved that problem by taking to the air, and Byakuya followed, chasing him swiftly. When they were well over Karakura town, Hajime stopped. Here, he could release his true power. Some windows might be blown out, but the buildings would be left intact. He wasn't going to do it, though. No, he wanted to wait for Byakuya to use his bankai before he revealed the depth of his abilities.

And that time was swiftly coming upon them. Dulce Muerte was a good match for Senbonzakura, and Hajime used Dulce Trappa to harass his opponent, almost catching him several times. And as he fought, the demon felt a curious reluctance to kill. Byakuya wasn't some worthless trash that no one would even notice was gone. He was someone worthy of respect, a powerful opponent fighting with a pure heart. Yet, he couldn't afford to be merciful, not if he wanted to survive himself. Almost entranced by that thought, Hajime began to sing to himself as he fought.

_I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die,  
No I don't wanna die, so you're gonna have to  
Blood is getting hotter, bodies getting colder,  
I told you once I'm the only one who holds her,  
I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die,  
No I don't wanna die, so you're gonna have to._

Byakuya didn't seem amused at all by the song, and to Hajime's surprise, he dropped his sword.

"Bankai." He intoned and the demon's lips lifted in a smirk. "Senbonzakura Kageyoshi." Swords began to extend from the air, forming a ring around him. But Hajime had his own ace up his sleeve.

"Bankai." He said, resting a hand on his sword. He saw Byakuya's eyes widen for a moment before black and red fire flared around him and he took his released form. But that was not his bankai. Pure white power followed the black. "Dulce Ruina." Sweet Ruin. The globes from Dulce Muerte reappeared, but there were only three of them now, and they were all pure white. As white as his soul.

"That is impossible. A demon cannot have a bankai." Byakuya said, still staring. Hajime tossed his head back and laughed, the three white orbs slowly drifting and interfering with sakura petals.

"I'm a demon with a _soul_, dipshit!" Hajime launched his attack then. Petals exploded around him, slashing his armor, but Hajime's demonic power and speed protected him just enough. And three white globes slid into place around Byakuya as Hajime's hand hit him on the shoulder before he would have flash stepped away.

The detonation was impressive. Yet even as Dulce Ruina took her course, Byakuya lashed out with every power at his disposal. Hajime screamed as the petals found him, an easy target as he held Byakuya in place. They lashed him to the ground and demonic blood went flying, and Hajime felt his armor begin to break. But then he snarled and used his holy bonds. Twirling the chains around him, he was able to deflect enough of the petals to make a difference. The holy bonds were impenetrable, and over the years he'd learned to use them as a shield.

When the dust cleared, Byakuya was barely standing. Blood was sliding down his pretty face, and hair clips had been ripped away in the explosion. Hajime was in better shape, but only a bit. His mask was partially broken, missing a horn and showing white skin around one of his eyes. The rest of his armor was slashed, white skin hidden by blood, dripping down the black and dropping heavily onto the ground beneath him. But he could still stand without any trouble.

"If I were nothing but a demon, I would kill you now." Hajime said, levelling his sword at the shinigami. Moonstone beads and silver chains clinked softly against each other as a soft wind stirred white and black hair. Byakuya's bankai vanished, as he was no longer able to sustain it.

"You are very confident." Despite the fact that he couldn't quite catch his breath, despite the blood staining his face and robes, Byakuya was still calm in the face of death. Hajime couldn't help but admire it. "You are so certain you could kill me? You are badly injured as well." He said and Hajime laughed, jerking his sword upwards.

"If I were still a demon, I would let that open." Byakuya's gaze followed his gesture and his eyes widened as he saw the red sparkle in the sky. It was large, and getting larger. There was only so much Hajime could do to repress it and in the middle of a battle, it just wasn't a priority. "And my princes would feast on your bones. So, shinigami, it's up to you. Will you walk away? Or will you make me kill you?" Although Hajime would still not let that portal open. No, he would kill Byakuya with his own hands. Byakuya looked down and Hajime followed his gaze.

Below them, the battle between the lesser powers had gone well for the demon's side. Rukia was pinned to a wall by dozens of blue arrows, and Renji was on the ground, unconscious. It hadn't gone perfectly though. Ishida was badly injured and Ichigo was trying to use a healing kido on him, hampered by his own wounds. Blood was splashed across half his face, and Hajime didn't think it was Renji's blood. But his side had still triumphed, and he looked back at Byakuya. The taichou's lips were compressed into a thin line.

"I will walk away, for now. But do not think this is over, demon. We will meet again." Byakuya said before he drifted down. Ichigo looked up sharply and readied his sword, but Byakuya ignored him in favor of breaking the arrows holding Rukia. She fell to her knees, but was conscious enough to stand as Byakuya gripped Renji's clothes, lifting him up and over one shoulder. Hajime landed on the ground in front of Ichigo, letting his armor fall away as he watched the shinigami go.

"I'm looking forward to it." He said to Byakuya's back with a wicked smile. It had been a very good battle.

He would enjoy doing it again.


	11. Cosplay for Demons

"Well, that was something else." Hajime said as he gave Ichigo a massage. All the wounds had been bandaged, and Ishida was sleeping in the living room, after he'd called Ryuken to let him know he would be staying over with a friend. He hadn't wanted to try explaining his injuries, and Ichigo would be able to give him more healing in the morning. They were all hopeful Ishida would be recovered enough then that Ryuken would never have to know about the incident with the shinigami.

"Yeah." Ichigo sounded sleepy as white fingers soothed and relaxed him. "Mmm. So good." He mumbled, then sighed as white lips touched his throat. "Hajime."

"Yeah?" The demon said softly, white fingers tangling with normal ones, as he slid onto Ichigo's back. He knew the teen would be able to feel his arousal, but he couldn't help it. Fighting turned him on, it always had. It had taken quite a bit of self-control for him to give Ichigo a massage first, but after the beating Ichigo had taken it had been the right thing to do.

"Do you mind if I take you?" Ichigo asked softly, glancing over his shoulder. The position they were in wasn't right at all for that. Hajime grinned, sliding back off the teen and perching beside him on the bed.

"Be my guest." Hajime let his desire curl into the word, smoky and intense. They'd experimented quite a bit, but kept coming back to this. Ichigo was a naturally dominant person, and enjoyed being in control. So the demon wasn't surprised at all when the teen gripped his arm, tugging him into position beneath him. Hajime went willingly, enjoying it as Ichigo gave him a deep, thorough kiss. Then the teen began moving down, gently teasing white skin as he made his way to more sensitive regions. He paused over Hajime's stomach, kissing and stroking the tense abdominal muscles. Then he slid down further, nuzzling Hajime's thighs and planting more kisses there, on that sensitive skin. "Ichigo." Hajime moaned his name softly, letting all his desires come out in that single word. Then he gasped in pleasure as wet heat enfolded him. "Ah!"

They had been together some time, now, and Ichigo had learned all of Hajime's pleasure points. The demon whimpered softly as his lover tormented him, his agile tongue finding all those spots and gently teasing them. Hajime half-closed his eyes, floating on a cloud of sensations, white fingers tangling in orange hair. Ichigo bobbed up and down on his length, drawing more soft sounds from his demon lover.

Then he pulled away with a small pop, and Hajime made a small, needy sound as Ichigo smiled. The teen climbed back up him then and gave him a hot, devouring kiss. Hajime melted into it, tasting himself on his lovers lips.

"Tell me how much you want this." Ichigo said, his voice filled with heat. Hajime swallowed. If any of his other masters had asked this of him, he would have hated them for it, because he would have been forced to lie. But with Ichigo, everything was different.

"I'm dying to feel you inside me. Please, take me master." He rasped out, lifting his legs in invitation. Every word of it was the truth and Hajime gasped, arching in pleasure as Ichigo suddenly entered him. The teen's soft grunt along with the sensation of being filled was mind numbing. "Nnngh, yes!" Hajime gasped out, then moaned again as Ichigo moved inside him, the thick, throbbing flesh hitting him in all the best ways.

Hajime slid a hand between them, touching himself as Ichigo's fingers dug into his shoulders, making the demon gasp in pleasure. Ichigo could not hurt him at all, but he enjoyed that faint pain as he was being taken. Then Ichigo's pace slackened and he began deliberately missing Hajime's prostate, just brushing against that sensitive organ. Hajime whimpered softly, looking up into lust filled brown eyes.

"Ichigo, please, stop teasing me, ah!" He gasped as Ichigo speeded up again, hitting his prostate dead on. Then he chuckled softly as the teen's hand closed over his own, both of them stroking his length for a moment before Hajime pulled his hand away. It felt good to give himself over to Ichigo's attention, letting the teen please him and take his pleasure.

"You're so wonderful, Hajime." Ichigo whispered in his ear and Hajime turned his head to catch those warm, sweet lips for another passionate kiss. Hajime couldn't have quantified the taste of those kisses if he tried, but it was delicious. It made him want more, made him want to drown himself in those lips.

"So… are you… ngh!" Hajime arched and tensed as Ichigo speeded up, finding the best spots inside him effortlessly. "Ah, Ichigo!" He panted, aware of his climax approaching. He could feel the pleasure, a heat pooling in his belly begging for release.

"Hajime, ah!" Ichigo moaned into his ear and the sound of how undone the teen was brought Hajime to the edge. The demon hissed softly as one last thrust took him over, gripping Ichigo's shoulders tightly as his body tensed in his moment of pleasure. Hajime met brown eyes and pulled Ichigo into a deep kiss, muffling his cry as the teen stiffened, emptying into him in hot bursts. Hajime let go with a small sigh, eyes half-closed as he floated in hazy, post-coital pleasure. Ichigo nuzzled his neck, giving him a gentle, affectionate kiss. "I love you." The teen whispered in his ear and Hajime could feel the bonds weaken just a bit more. This was real. This was what he needed to be free.

"I love you too." Hajime whispered softly, but he had to wonder. Was there something still left? Something Ichigo had to do… or something he had to do, to break the bonds entirely? And if so, what could it be?

He simply didn't know.

* * *

"What is this?" Ichigo looked at the blank dummy in front of him dubiously. Hajime just whistled from where he was perched on top of a tall stone. He was enjoying the new Kindle he'd gotten. Isshin had decided to get them for everyone, since they were just coming into Japan and there were some really good family deals. Hajime's was in full color so right now he was reading a manga.

"If you stab Zangetsu into this, it will forcibly take him into the materialized state." Yoruichi said with a smile. Hajime just scooted back on his rock a bit, spreading out his legs and leaning back on one arm, trying to find a more comfortable position. Grabbing a boulder, he placed it so it would prop him up from behind. This whole process was going to take days, from what he'd heard.

"AH FUCK!" Hajime screamed as a blade suddenly slammed into the dirt between his legs. "WHAT THE HELL!" He yanked himself up and yelled down at a brown haired guy in a tattered trench coat. That had to be Ichigo's materialized zanpakuto. "BE MORE CAREFUL OLD MAN! YOU ALMOST TOOK MY BALLS OFF!"

"HAJIME!" Ichigo yelled back at him as the zanpakuto just looked unamused. Dulce was giggling hysterically as Hajime scowled, rubbing the inside of his thigh. It had actually been a near thing. And while he could recover from an injury like that, it was not a pleasant experience.

Hajime just watched as the zanpakuto proceeded to mess with Ichigo. Every single sword the kid tried to use shattered, and the first few times he went flying pretty bad. Hajime blinked as he noticed a sword out there that looked a lot like Dulce, in his unsealed state. Hopping down from his rocky perch, he surreptitiously approached that sword. Kneeling beside it, he reached out to touch the dangling silver and moonstone charms. What did this mean?

"Hmm." Hajime tried to grasp the hilt of the sword, but it almost seemed to shock him, pushing him away. "Um!" Hajime ran a finger over the hilt bindings, feeling another odd shock. But this one didn't push him away. It felt almost… welcoming? "This is really, really interesting." Hajime considered the sword, wondering what else he could do with it.

As Hajime was playing around with the representation of a bit of Ichigo's weakness, the boy in question was still busy fighting Zangetsu. He hadn't even noticed there was a blade that resembled Hajime's in the bunch, and after his Zangetsu style blade had shattered, he wouldn't have tried to use it anyway. The Dulce Amor sword was an obvious representation of how much he relied on Hajime. But in Hajime's hands, it did have some interesting properties.

"Hngh!" Ichigo was blown across the battlefield, lying on his stomach and trying to stand up.

"Stand, Ichigo." Yoruichi said, not unkindly but firmly. "Three days. You don't have time to lie around." Ichigo was trying, but having huge problems. "I'll say it one more time. Stand, Ichigo!" Ichigo spat out a mouthful of blood, coughing. Then he suddenly curled up with an odd whimper. "What is wrong with you?" Yoruichi said with a small frown. Something about that sound was strange.

"It's fine." Zangetsu's echoing voice said as the zanpakuto walked up to the struggling teen. "If he can't stand on his own, then I'll just drag him to his feet!" Zangetsu reached down and was about to do just that before he frowned. "…Just a moment." The zanpakuto said, surprising Yoruichi. She blinked as he flash stepped away, and she followed his movement to a particular sword. Hajime was… licking it?

Hajime, meanwhile, was experimenting with the sword. Touching it in different ways gave him different sensations, and when he licked it, he got a lovely tingling feeling on his tongue. It also tasted like mint, cool yet slightly sweet. He thought he could lick it all day –

"You are interfering with our training." That echoing voice almost made Hajime cut his tongue on the sword. Pulling away, he looked up at the man beside him in surprise. This was definitely Zangetsu, he matched Ichigo's description perfectly.

"Huh?" Hajime hastily wiped the spit off the sword, feeling another electric thrill from touching it. "What d'you mean?" Then he glanced over to where Ichigo' was lying and… gripping his crotch? "Oh. Wow. Did I give him a boner? Hey, can I keep this thing?"

"No." Zangetsu said, completely unamused as he grabbed the front of Hajime's shirt and yanked the demon to his feet. Hajime's eyes widened at the look on his face and he raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. He could have fought the zanpakuto into oblivion, but that would only hurt Ichigo and help absolutely nothing.

"Okay, okay. I'll go play with my Kindle again. Just try not to cut my balls off." Hajime said with a grin before flash stepping away and jumping back onto his rock. His Kindle was still there and he grabbed it, going back to his manga. Old man Zangetsu watched him a moment, as if he suspected trickery, then went back to Ichigo. The teen was managing to recover from his bout of Hajime induced arousal, but he was beet red and Yoruichi was giggling. Hajime just sighed and looked at that particular sword longingly.

"This is going to be a long three days." He mumbled.

As it turned out, though, it only took two and a half days for Ichigo to defeat Zangetsu and gain his bankai. That was a huge relief for Hajime. Yoruichi hadn't been able to specify the consequences of failure, because apparently they varied from person to person. But since they included things like losing all spiritual power, well… Hajime was glad this had worked. He'd actually tried to convince Ichigo not to do it, but after sensing the power Hajime and Byakuya had unleashed against each other, he'd insisted. Ichigo had pointed out that if Byakuya had had another captain as backup, Hajime would have been in dire straits. Which was true, although he would have had a few options left.

But having Ichigo beside him as a full-fledged priest would make his options a hell of a lot broader. Hajime leapt down his perch, disappointed to see all the blades had vanished. Ichigo smiled at him, clearly feeling very energized despite all the cuts and bruises on his skin.

"Good job Ichigo! Hey, can you show me this bankai?" Hajime was interested to see it. Ichigo hesitated a moment, then nodded.

"Bankai!" Hajime blinked as, instead of assuming a larger form – which, really, his own bankai did – Ichigo's sword condensed into a slim black blade. "Tensa Zangetsu!"

"Cool." Hajime admired the black sword, then grinned. "Hey, we both have black swords! Maybe Dulce and Zangetsu could have something together." He laughed as he heard his zanpakuto retch, and from the look on Ichigo's face Zangetsu was saying something. Probably in a really disgusted tone. "So what does it do?" Hajime tried to feel out Ichigo's bankai, and felt a bit puzzled. Condensing spirit power could certainly have interesting effects, he knew that. Taking a spell with a large effect and forcing it into a small area guaranteed that it would be more powerful. "Oh, wait, I get it! You've condescend all your spirit power into a smaller form to make it stronger. Is it just the strength of the blade though? Does it enhance your Getsuga Tensho?"

"Hajime, calm down!" Ichigo said with a laugh. Hajime grinned, and desisted. He was asking way too many questions at once. "It enhances everything. My speed, my strength, my Getsugo Tensho."

"Can't you feel the difference in his spiritual pressure?" Yoruichi asked and Hajime blinked, tilting his head to one side. He'd been so locked onto the blade that he'd missed it, but Ichigo's reiatsu was indeed enhanced. By quite a lot, actually.

"Nice. Like this, you'd have killed that Renji guy." Hajime said approvingly and Ichigo smiled, letting his bankai go. "Just remember, though, you can probably fuck yourself up with that." He warned and Ichigo looked confused as Yoruichi nodded. "I mean, you've got enhanced speed right? I don't know how much your endurance is enhanced, but you can hurt yourself going too fast. Nothing else, you could sprain an ankle or something. You'll have to figure out the limits." Hajime was sure there would be limits. He'd discovered Dulce Ruina's limits the hard way, once upon a time. That had been ugly. Ichigo frowned and nodded.

"Why don't we go show Urahara?" Yoruichi suggested. "He'll be interested to see your success." Hajime nodded with a grin. He was sure Hat 'n Clogs would love to have a go at Ichigo with his new bankai. And he was really good, so Hajime wanted to see how that would go.

He was betting Ichigo would get herded again, but he wasn't entirely sure. It could be interesting.

* * *

Several days later.

"You want me to do what now?" Hajime looked at Isshin in disbelief. The fact that Karin and Yuzu were supporting him in his lunacy only floored the demon further. Even Ishida seemed to think it was a good idea.

Ishida was hanging out at their house a lot lately, and Hajime wondered how bad things were going with his dad. He wasn't going to ask though. It was probably a very painful subject. But now they had some sewing stuff in the living room, and Hajime was teaching the Quincy to meditate. Despite his odd aura, Hajime thought Ishida could learn priest methods if he tried. The Quincy had already managed to pick up a focus stone, a large, artificial emerald.

And now everyone except Ichigo thought that using his ultimate form to go to the Karakura Town anime convention was just a dandy idea.

"It would be amazing Hajime!" Yuzu said, stars in her eyes as she pictured it. Hajime wanted to swear. "Don Kanonji is going to be there and he'll be so impressed with you!"

"If he's anything more than a fraud, he'll probably run screaming." Hajime retorted, getting disappointed looks from the entire family except Ichigo. He just had a hand on his forehead, looking disgusted with the whole thing. Hajime knew that he thought Don Kanonji was a fraud. "But, look, there's a HUGE problem with this idea." When he'd said he could walk down main street like that, he'd just been joking, because… "If I stay in that form long enough, a portal to the eternal darkness will form. I can't stop it forever, and when it does demons will spill out. They'll be under my command, sort of, but as soon as they finish whatever I tell them to do they'll start to wander off." Hajime spoke from long experience. While a demon king had power over the princes, trying to lead demons was a bit like herding cats. "You don't want that to happen. Take my word for it." Most demons of that power stayed in the eternal darkness, their natural environment. It was difficult to breach the barriers between worlds, and coming to the three worlds meant a risk of death. However, summoned out of the darkness, they would enjoy their freedom here while they had it. That would be _ugly._ "So yeah, no."

"Couldn't Urahara come up with something to suppress that effect?" Ishida asked and Hajime stopped dead, blinking.

"Uh, maybe he could." That idea had a huge appeal to the albino, and he wasn't going to say it was impossible. Urahara had created that crazy training area under his shop. "It might be expensive though." Urahara would certainly charge them for that and Hajime was broke. He'd used his money to buy a basic cake decorating kit.

"I will take care of it Hajime!" Isshin assured him and Hajime ran a hand through his hair, considering it.

"Okay then. I'll go talk to Urahara right away." They weren't training as intensely, now that Ichigo had reached bankai, but they were still training with Urahara and Yoruichi. "You want to come Ichigo?"

"Sure." Ichigo followed him out the door, then asked quietly. "Are you really okay with this? You don't have to, Hajime." Hajime grinned and shook his head.

"I'm actually really cool with it now." He said honestly. "If Hat 'n Clogs can use something to suppress that reality bending effect, and if it can survive my transformation, I'd be able to use my powers more freely." Ichigo blinked at that. "That's why I don't use that much, y'know. Part of the reason anyway. The other reason is the explosion when I summon it." There had been a lot of broken windows the night he had fought Byakuya, and people had blamed it on a supersonic jet. Logical and completely wrong. "And Isshin is paying for it. I can't lose."

"Oh. When you put it that way, it sounds a lot better." Ichigo sighed. "But now we'll have to go to the anime convention and go see Don Kanonji. Ugh, I can't stand that guy! I don't know why anyone watches his show." Hajime just shrugged.

"The problem isn't the show, it's your family. Man that was mean of Karin, dumping a bowl of popcorn over me that way." He complained. Hajime had stopped by to watch the show and started making fun of their idol. Karin had finally taken steps to shut the demon up. "He has everything about the afterlife totally wrong."

"I know." Ichigo sighed. "Although your rendition of the afterlife is pretty depressing." He added and Hajime shrugged with a grimace.

"It is what it is." He'd been to Soul Society before, and from the way the demon slayers were acting it hadn't changed much. Calling it Heaven or a paradise was a huge, huge stretch. They had to wait at the bus stop for a while, before catching the one that would take them pretty close to Urahara's shop.

When they finally got there, the shopkeeper was enthusiastic about the new project.

"I'd actually been working on that already!" He said, pleased, and Hajime blinked at that. "That reality warping effect is one of the most dangerous things about you, Hajime, so I wanted to think of a way to contain it." Ichigo was off to the side, looking through the soul candy. They'd been seriously thinking about getting him some. The Not Dead sign wasn't working too well, Ichigo had nearly ended up in the hospital once.

"Uh, okay." Not very trusting but Hajime could roll with that. It was a pretty damned scary power, after all. "Can you come up with it in two days? That's when the convention is." It was being held on the weekend. Urahara adjusted his hat with a smile. "And how much will this cost?"

"Oh, I'm sure I can. Part of the trouble was figuring out how to deploy… aha." Urahara hurried on as Hajime crossed his arms and gave the shopkeeper a stern look. He'd been plotting ways to contain the demon in their midst. Ichigo was giving Urahara a scowl, too. "But if you simply wear it, that's not a problem!"

"I'm starting to wonder if I should wear anything you give me." Hajime groused as Urahara looked hurt. "Don't put any trackers in it or anything, or I'll hurt you." He'd forgotten he was dealing with a crazed scientist. Yoruichi had told them about his history with the research and development team in Soul Society.

"Just a suppression device, I swear on my own hat." Urahara pledged and Hajime decided to go with it. He trusted Urahara, although he sometimes wondered why. "Now, for how much it will cost, hm. Let me see." Urahara got a pencil and paper and worked out everything he would need to use. "I think it would be best if we set it into a belt, and it will need to be a good sturdy one. Plus a bit for my time… oh, three hundred dollars?" Hajime winced and pulled out his cell phone.

"Let me call home." He said as Ichigo looked a little appalled. That was a lot of money. "Hey, Isshin? I spoke to Urahara and he said he could make a belt for me, but it would run about three hundred dollars… really? Uh… well, okay then. I'll tell him that, thanks." Feeling slightly mystified, Hajime hung up the phone. "He said to put it on his account. He has an account here?" That was weird. Urahara laughed, waving his fan.

"He's had an account for a very long time! I'll get started on that, then. Did you want some Soul Candy? I just got a new shipment in." He asked Ichigo, who hesitated before nodding.

"I think I do." He took a dispenser to the front of the store. "I want to try it, at least. People don't seem to believe my Not Dead sign, and a hollow nearly stepped on my body last week." He said, sourly. Hajime laughed, although it was a valid problem. Too many hollows had clawed feet, and having them step on his human body could be fatal. Urahara smiled, ringing him through. "God only knows what it will do to my reputation though." Ichigo muttered to himself and Hajime laughed, a soft, rasping sound.

"You mean, something worse than dropping dead all the time?" He teased as they left the store. "I'm actually looking forward to this convention now." Hajime said, and really meant it. He had some ideas on how to liven things up, as well.

It would be interesting.

* * *

Hajime leaned against a wall and smoked on his pipe.

The pipe he was using was formed out of his power, so it was black as sin and light as a dream. What he was smoking was the incense he'd prepared for Ichigo, so it was sweet as love and tickled his lungs pleasantly as he inhaled. Exhaling, he carefully formed a smoke ring, smiling as it floated into the air.

"This is some fun." He murmured to himself. He was just waiting for everyone else. He'd gone to Urahara's shop by himself to pick up his belt, then came here on public transit. Ichigo and the others would be taking the car, but that posed interesting problems. Apparently, Don Kanonji was incredibly popular and attendance at the con had swelled massively. So parking was a bitch and Hajime was waiting, despite the fact that public transit wasn't exactly fast.

So he'd broken out his marijuana incense. The marijuana didn't do much for him, but it made the smoke smoother. And there was no chance anyone would smell it. While the odor of marijuana was distinctive, the frankincense, sandalwood and saffron would more than mask it. Not to mention all the other ingredients, which included his own blood. That gave the incense a very musky odor. No human could have smoked it the way he was doing, but Hajime's body could easily tolerate temperatures that would kill any normal person.

"What are you supposed to be?" A kid with a camera asked him as Hajime looked over lazily. "And can I take your picture?"

"Oh sure." Hajime stood, adjusting the new black leather strap that crossed his chest. Ishida had made him a strap and scabbard for Dulce Amor, as well as ties to peace bond her into place. Of course, he could break the peace bonding instantly, but it seemed it was mandatory for any live weapons brought to the convention. "And I'm one of the four Kings of the eternal darkness." Hajime said with a grin as he pulled down his mask, to give the kid the full effect. The kid snapped several pictures.

"So cool! What anime is that from?" He asked and Hajime responded with an Indian obscenity. "I'll have to look that up."

"You do that." Hajime sniggered to himself as he leaned against the wall again, and went back to his pipe. "Mmm." He said appreciatively as he savored the scent in his nostrils. It really was nice. Then he started as a hand fell on his shoulder.

"Hajime!" Ichigo said with a smile, then wrinkled his nose. "What are you smoking? Whew!" He waved a bit of the smoke away and Hajime grinned, tapping out his pipe and stamping on the embers.

"Marijuanna incense. What, you don't like it?" Hajime said with a rasping laugh as Ichigo looked appalled. "Hey, it needs to get used up." He let the pipe vanish into the thin air as he straightened from his place against the wall and admired Ichigo's costume. "I love how that looks on you." He complimented the teen, smiling as Ichigo went a little pink.

With Hajime going as himself, Ichigo and Ishida had decided to dress up a bit for the occasion as well. Inspired by Hajime, they'd both decided to go as demons. Ishida was dressed up as a character from an anime Hajime had never heard of, and he looked amazing with his carefully made, black armor. Hajime had no idea what it was made out of, but it looked good, although not as real as his own armor. Ichigo, on the other hand, wasn't going as any particular character. He'd just decided to make himself look like Hajime, which was easy enough. Ishida had made him a mask similar to Hajime's, and he was wearing a skin tight, black catsuit, along with a tattered white loincloth similar to the one Hajime was wearing. They really did look like a set, although unfortunately the difference in quality was pretty clear. Hajime's mask looked real, while Ichigo's looked like it was made out of paper mache, which was the case.

Still, they caught plenty of second looks as they went through the convention. It was very large for a town the size of Karakura, but maybe that wasn't a surprise with Don Kanonji there. He was a more than local celebrity, and people from Tokyo were making the trip out just to see him.

"Ishida!" Ichigo waved as he caught sight of his friend. Hajime looked around for Karin, Yuzu and Isshin but couldn't see them. "We're splitting up, Hajime. We'll be meeting up for Don Kanonji's special presentation at five, dad's already got the tickets."

"Oh, okay. Do we have any money?" He asked and blinked as Ichigo laughed and passed him a hundred dollars. "Wow, okay! Has your dad been saving for this all year?" He asked, a touch bemused as he tucked the money away into his new belt. Urahara had thoughtfully included some internal pockets onto it. The belt was black leather, and very thick and heavy, but the weight didn't bother Hajime a bit.

"Pretty much. This is our summer extravagance." Ichigo said tolerantly and Hajime grinned. "So feel free to go nuts. There's so much stuff to buy here, it's not even funny."

"I can't wait." Hajime was sure he could find something completely inappropriate to buy. "Love your costume, Ishida." He said with a smile and the other teen smiled.

"Thank you. Why don't we go to Artist's Alley first? There's something I want there." Ishida suggested and Hajime and Ichigo went with it. They had no particular plans.

Getting to Artist's Alley was a bit of a challenge, mostly because they kept getting stopped by people wanting to take pictures. No one realized how incredibly real Hajime's costume really was, of course, but they were still attracted to it.

"You're putting us both in the shade, Hajime." Ichigo said with good humor. "Next time you'll have to wear a real costume!" Hajime considered that and grinned, lifting up his mask for a moment.

"Yeah? Well, I'll go as Sephiroth then." Hajime pulled his mask back down and rubbed his hands together. "I could really get something going with this hair." It was absolutely perfect, although his complexion and eyes weren't.

"I could definitely make something for that." Ishida said thoughtfully, clearly already planning it out in his mind. "If you got the supplies, of course." Hajime nodded. That was a given. They finally arrived at the artist booth Ishida had been looking for, but they had to pause a moment as the man gave Hajime a wide-eyed look.

"Wow, amazing! Can you please hold still?" Hajime rested a hand on one hip as Ishida and Ichigo exchanged amused glances. "Yes, perfect, hold that pose!" Hajime snickered but did that, letting the man make a quick sketch of him. It really didn't take that long. "Thank you! I can't wait to ink and color it, I'm certain someone will buy it. Ah, what are you exactly?"

"One of the four Kings of the eternal darkness." Hajime said, highly amused. "A Demon King." He spelled out as the man looked confused. Then Ishida spoke up.

"I'm Ishida Uryuu. I ordered a commission from you online and we arranged for me to pick it up here." That got things rolling and Ishida paid for his picture, which was a really nice, full color piece. Hajime wasn't certain who the character in it was, but Ishida was pleased.

They kept wandering around the convention, and got to check out the vendor booths. Hajime saw something he really, really wanted halfway through. A choker of red fur, the color matched the red spots on his armor almost perfectly. There was a bit of black ribbon looped around it, and a silver and moonstone charm was hanging from it. The charm looked like a little heart with wings.

"Nice!" Hajime checked the price and winced a little. But he could afford sixty dollars. "I'll take it." As soon as he finished buying it, he carefully fixed it around his neck. He thought it added a very nice touch to his armor, although it probably wouldn't survive a transformation unless he was very careful.

"I'll take this one." Hajime blinked as he saw Ichigo had found a choker for himself. His was white suede, studded with black crystals. It looked just as good as the red fur, and matched his armor well too. "It's a great deal, only thirty dollars." Ichigo said as he fixed it on, making Hajime laugh.

"Mine cost twice that! Oh well." Amused, they went on to the other booths. Ishida found a silver cross bracelet, very similar to the Quincy cross, and decided to get it. Then they stopped at the snack area, picking up some fried octopus and dip. Hajime ate the tentacles with relish, remembering the kraken.

Then they found a room that was dedicated to martial arts practice. There was some kind of demonstration going on, and they all watched, interested in the styles on display. Hajime wasn't terribly impressed by any of it, but the kids watching seemed to like it.

"I could take any of them." He said with a rasping laugh, and one young man heard him. He had startling green hair, cut very short and spiked. His eyes were dark blue and he glared at Hajime, who lifted his mask and gave him a smirk. He could sense the spiritual energy within the man, and suspected he might be an off duty shinigami. They had always come to the living world to amuse themselves during festivals, and what else was an anime convention if not a festival? Of course, if he was a demon slayer, he'd have the sense to –

"Care to try it, demon?" Hajime blinked in surprise as at the cool, challenging tone. Then he laughed again before leaping over the ropes holding back the crowd in a single bound.

"Hajime, is this wise?" Ishida asked, looking around for Ichigo. But with appalling timing, the teen had gone to find a bathroom. Hajime rolled his shoulders, then shrugged.

"Probably not, but it sure could be fun. What's your name?" He asked, not because he cared but because it was polite.

"Saito Yukituro. I already know your name, demon." He said briskly and Hajime lifted an eyebrow before pulling down his mask. This guy was a shinigami then. Interesting.

"Try using it, then, demon slayer. And I'm surprised you would confront me. You're nowhere near Byakuya's level." He said conversationally, knowing the humans around them wouldn't follow any of it. The man in front of him scowled.

"If you are what you claim, you won't kill me in front of dozens of people." He pointed out and Hajime's estimation of his intelligence rose a bit. Of course, it had nowhere to go but up. He'd been thinking Saito was a moron for responding to him at all.

"Then let's have at it." Hajime said with a raspy laugh. He left his sword in the scabbard, just launching himself at the man bare handed. He was an expert in that style of fighting, although he had to be careful here. His claws were a deadly weapon, when he wanted them to be.

The sparring that followed was very pleasant. Hajime found himself falling into a training mentality, herding Saito across the room like Urahara handled Ichigo. And it was amusing, because he was infuriating the young demon slayer. Hajime could sense his power very clearly, now, and had decided the man was as young as he looked. Young and brash and stupid, a lovely combination.

Hajime saw Ichigo threading through the crowd and decided to put an end to his fun. Hands slapped against the floor, and he lashed out with two clawed feet. He didn't touch flesh, but he ripped through clothing with surgical precision, and there were gasps and screams from the watchers as everything came right off. Saito went bright red and stuttered as he grabbed the tattered remains and tried desperately to shield himself. Hajime laughed, his raspy voice rising over the babble easily.

"That's what you get for challenging the King." He said mockingly, flipping himself back up and walking away. "Hey, Ichigo! What time is it?" He was having fun, but they needed to make sure they reached Don Kanonji's show on time.

It was why they were there, after all.


	12. Unfortunate Things

Hajime looked around the ruined hospital curiously.

He and the family had already attended the lecture with Don Kanonji. As soon as he'd laid eyes on the man, Hajime had known he wasn't exactly a fraud. He had enough talent that as soon as he'd taken the stage, Don Kanonji had looked taken aback and started scanning the crowd as though he was looking for something. Hajime was sure that something was him, but the man had to be either badly trained or undertrained, because he'd been unable to pinpoint the demon. It hadn't put him off his game for long, though, and Hajime still had ringing declarations in his ears.

It had been entertaining, though, and they had managed to reach the site of the filming before almost everyone else. So they'd gotten spots right in the front, which unfortunately put the albino much closer to the TV star. Don Kanonji was giving him uneasy looks, and Hajime flipped up his mask to give him a grin. That only seemed to make things worse but then Ichigo slapped him lightly upside the head.

"Stop freaking him out, Hajime." He murmured softly and Hajime gave a raspy laugh. "Dad and my sisters will never forgive you if you disrupt things."

"Meh. I'll be good." Hajime pledged, shifting his shoulders to put Dulce in a slightly more comfortable position. Then he stopped paying attention to the show and looked at the hospital.

Rather, former hospital. A fire had gone through here some time ago, but apparently the building had been cleared as safe for the show. Hajime could feel the aura of the place, and it wasn't good. Places could have vibes, both negative and positive, and he was picking up a strong negative vibe here. Although it wasn't surprising, really. Hospitals were places that people suffered, even if to get better, and many people died. Add a fire to that and, well… it wasn't going to be chirpingly cheerful. If he'd had his choice, though, Hajime would never have come here.

The spirit babbling on the ruins just added the icing to the cake. Hajime sighed to himself. If there weren't a huge crowd, he'd have put the thing out of its misery. As it was, he just had to tease it.

"Hey, dumbass! You're dead! You're not getting a pink Cadillac!" He called to the ghost, who yelled back at him.

"Yes I am! And what the hell are you? Demon thing! Come over here and I'll kill you!" The ghost shouted and Hajime sighed, shaking his head sadly. Then he winced as Ichigo slapped him again.

"You, boy!" Hajime jerked as Don Kanonji pointed at him. "You can see the spirits too! Come to my side and assist me!" Hajime just stared for a moment, meeting a manic grin. He'd thought Kanonji was worried about him. Maybe he'd been wrong about that.

"Okay?" Hajime said, bewildered, as he slipped past the ropes and went to Kanonji's side. Then he realized he would be on television too, in his fully unsealed form. Interesting, and possibly that was why Kanonji had picked him. He did look fascinating like this. He sighed as he heard Isshin's voice rising over the crowd, declaring that was his nephew. He glanced back and saw Ichigo was just looking pained.

Hajime crossed his arms, looking at the ghost as Kanonji went through his spiel. He didn't understand how the crowd could be so enthusiastic. They couldn't see the spirit, they were just taking it on faith that it was there.

Hajime was honestly expecting Kanonji to pull out a focus stone and send the stupid thing on to the afterlife. He could not have been more surprised when the TV idol suddenly plunged his stick into the half-formed hole the spirits' chain was connected to.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" He yelped as the TV star ground the staff in. "Shit! Holy shit, stop!" He tried to grab the man but stopped. He could see the damage was already done, the hole was widening already. "Fuck!" Resting a hand on his chest, Hajime realized he had a problem. His focus stone was beneath his armor, a good place for it since he pretty much never used it in this shape, and his armor kept the stone safe. But if he sealed up, he wouldn't be able to get this form back without breaking out a lot of windows. He'd actually done the transformation at Urahara's before going to the convention. "Ichigo! Get over here! Use the Soul Candy!" He yelled and the teen hastened to obey, quickly swallowing a pill and jumping out of his body. "Use your focus stone before it vanishes!" They didn't have much time now.

And then time ran out. Hajime cursed in Hindi as the ghost began to shatter, screaming pitifully. Ichigo knocked Kanonji away, which he supposed would make good TV, since Ichigo was invisible to everyone. Sure enough, the announcer yelled about it and the crowd gasped.

"Damn." Hajime said mildly as he tried to get a bearing on where the hollow would appear. It would be somewhere nearby, he knew that. Glancing up at the moon, he saw the ball of spiritual energy taking shape. It drifted slowly to the roof of the ruined hospital. "We – agh!" He jerked around just in time to take a blow on the arm, his armor notching under the force. "What the fuck?" It was the shinigami from earlier, and he was looking pissed.

"I knew you would cause trouble, demon!" Hajime cursed him fluently in Hindi, wondering if the kid was either stupid or just spoiling for a fight. Not that it mattered now. He quickly weighted his options and shouted at Ichigo.

"Hey Ichi! You go take on that Hollow, I'll deal with this guy!" Hajime was confident in Ichigo's skills. "Don't bother with bankai, you won't need it!" Using it on small fry like that would just be sad. Ichigo's shikai would be more than enough, despite the young priest's lack of experience.

"Right!" Ichigo said, then yelped as he got yanked back by Kanonji as the hollow leapt down. Hajime wanted to yell at him, but he did have to give at least some attention to his current opponent. The announcer was going absolutely crazy, and Hajime made it worse when he grabbed the shinigami by the face and threw him into the hospital wall. Only he and Don Kanonji were visible, so it looked like they were having the duel of the century against malicious spirits.

"Seriously, I don't have time for you!" Hajime snarled as he tried to knock the demon slayer out. But the green haired man was just as stubborn as he was stupid, and managed to dodge just as the hollow spotted some tasty and distracted snacks. "FUCK! MY HAIR!" The hollow had just managed to snag one of his pearly locks, tearing it away. "Okay this is fucking stupid." There wasn't enough room to fight here, too many people, too many distractions. He couldn't use his shikai effectively, either. Dulce Muerte would be FAR too likely to go into the audience. Ichigo had apparently decided the same thing, he'd grabbed Don Kanonji and run into the hospital. Of course, that was a pointless effort as long as Hajime and this stupid shinigami were outside to taunt the hollow.

Heaving out his breath in a huff, Hajime flew for the roof. The shinigami followed him, but the hollow seemed to decide that jumping onto the roof was too much trouble and ran into the hospital instead. There were cries and gasps behind him and Hajime snarled as he realized everyone was seeing him fly.

"Oh what the fuck ever, I am Superman." He muttered to himself as he landed on the roof. Then he turned to the shinigami. "Okay. I am giving you one warning. Leave me the fuck alone or I am going to kill you." He was deadly serious now. He was absolutely sick of this stupid kid. That actually made the demon slayer hesitate and Hajime saw uncertainty in his eyes.

"You didn't kill anyone when you faced Byakuya taichou." He said, stalling a little, and Hajime sneered behind his mask.

"Yeah, and you know why? Because I respected Byakuya. He's strong, he's smart and he was fighting for what he believed in." Hajime was willing to grant Byakuya the purest of intentions. Really, he was a fucking dangerous demon wandering around the real world, and the temples didn't exist anymore. Why would the shinigami just leave him alone? "You, however, are just a fucking newbie who's out of his depth. I will kill you. Fuck off, or die." Hajime levelled his sword at Saito.

"Fuck you demon!" Hajime saw the rage in the shinigami's eyes, almost insanity, and sighed to himself. Then their swords locked and Hajime spoke.

"Dulce Muerte." The globes of power flowed outwards and the shinigami had to dodge frantically to avoid them. But he couldn't, and several of them hit him in rapid succession. Hajime waited for the smoke to clear, then twitched a little as the door to the roof flew open and Ichigo and Don Kanonji rushed out. The hollow was in hot pursuit, and Hajime decided to end his little game quickly.

A quick exchange of blows, and he neatly broke Saito's sword. The shinigami was staring stupidly at the hilt when Hajime punched him in the face. Gathering a tiny bit of his power, he cast a sleeping kido over the prone shinigami. He didn't even need the words to focus such a low level spell.

"I'm getting too soft." Hajime muttered to himself. He wasn't even sure why he'd spared the idiot. For a brief moment, he considered removing his head anyway, but then turned away with a small sigh of disgust. "What is wrong with me?" He asked, turning his attention back to the others on the roof.

Ichigo was pinned to the railing but that wasn't much of a problem for him, these days. A quick burst of focused spiritual power broke the stuff, and Don Kanonji distracted the hollow just long enough for Ichigo to neatly bisect it with his shikai. Hajime just watched, white hair flowing in the breeze as the hollow dissipated, revealing the soul it had come from. Then that vanished as well, which was actually a relief. Hajime hated it when the gates of Hell opened for a soul. He often wondered if that was where his soul would end up, in the end.

"Oh. That's why I spared him." Hajime mumbled to himself. Seeing that damned ghost brought up all his fears about his own mortality. A kill just wouldn't feel good at the moment, no matter how much the demon slayer deserved it. "Huh?" He listened as Ichigo explained about the hollow, and Don Kanonji fell to his knees, weeping about his failures. "Oh shut up!" He barked and they both turned to him, surprised. "It's not your fault no one taught you and you had to make up shit on your own." Hajime snarled as he grabbed the man by his collar, dragging him to his feet. "I'll teach you to use a focus stone, but nothin' else because I don't like you anyway." Ichigo put a hand over his face at that, but it was nothing but the truth. Hajime was not interested in starting a temple revival with Don Kanonji. "But that's all you need to be exactly what you've always thought you were."

"And the crowd is waiting for you." Ichigo said and they both looked up. They could hear the sound of the crowd, chanting Kanonji's name. "Give them what they want… _hero."_ Hajime blinked at that. He would never have called Kanonji a hero. But then, he would never call himself one either. Ichigo? Maybe.

But what he thought didn't matter, and Hajime watched in bemusement as Kanonji walked to the edge of the roof and did his trademark laugh. Hajime shook his head, wondering when he'd teach the lunatic to use a focus stone.

It took a while to get free of Kanonji and Hajime ended up making an appointment to meet him for a one on one tutoring session. Kanonji's aura indicated that he could use ruby or red spinel, similar to Hajime, which was interesting. The TV celebrity promised to have a stone when Hajime arrived. Then he and Ichigo discovered they had a new problem.

"Ichigo just ran away!" Yuzu said tearfully to Hajime as Karin and Isshin searched in vain for the teenager. "He was yelling something about being free." Ichigo made a choking sound as Hajime found a convenient wall to bang his head against.

"Why this, why now?" He moaned. "And what in fuck was wrong with that soul candy?" He was sure the things weren't supposed to behave like this. Hajime looked up as Ichigo put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hajime, can you find my body?" Ichigo asked, very worried. Hajime sighed. There was only one way, and he didn't like it.

"You need to order me to. Then the power of the holy bonds will draw me right to you." He said reluctantly. Ichigo nodded with equal reluctance and took a breath.

"Hajime, go find my body right now." He ordered, his voice firm and Hajime grinned a little at the tone before setting off purposefully. It was actually kind of funny now, when Ichigo gave him an order like that.

It took him a while to find the runaway Soul Candy, because it was moving like crazy. But he finally managed to find it when it stopped to have a fight with some thugs. Hajime watched, a bit astonished, as Ichigo's body threw people around like it was easy. It rather reminded him of himself, in fact. But then he leapt down behind it and Ichigo's body whirled, blanching as it saw him for the first time.

"Dulce Trappa." He said softly. The white and black fabric caught Ichigo's body by the arms, yanking them from his sides and lifting him into the air. Hajime blinked as the boy resisted with more than human strength. "Hmm." That was strange. Shrugging to himself, Hajime lifted a hand to the boy's forehead and prepared himself to destroy the force within.

"Please, don't!" The boy said in a panicked tone that made Hajime pause. It sounded so much like Ichigo, even if it wasn't. "Please don't kill me!" Big tears began sliding down his cheeks and Hajime winced. What he'd been about to do was similar to an exorcism. Soul Candies were meant to be disposable, that's why they came in pez dispensers. The spirits within them were very one-dimensional and would in fact fade over time, if a shinigami left one in charge of a gigai long enough.

"I thought things like you weren't supposed to care about living and dying." Hajime said, lifting up his mask and looking into the teen's face. Soul Candies were programmed to take care of the body they were inhabiting, but nothing more. Ichigo's body glared at him, his eyes still glazed with tears.

"Fuck you!" Was his only reply and Hajime chewed on his lip for a moment. Muttering to himself, he carefully sealed his power but kept his shikai active. That was not exactly easy and Dulce muttered to herself, mostly obscenities at the pain. Then he picked up his focus stone with one hand and used it to concentrate on the soul.

What he saw astonished him. This was no simple soul candy, but something infinitely more complex. In fact, this was a person, although clearly an artificial one. Hajime studied the construct in fascination before blinking and tucking his focus stone away.

"I see you're not a Soul Candy. How did you get into a dispenser? Well, whatever." Hajime gripped the teen by the scruff of his neck, letting Dulce vanish, to her relief. "This body isn't yours and you can't keep it. I'll make sure you're not killed." He added as the teen began to struggle.

"I don't want to be imprisoned anymore either. I was so afraid, I knew he was going to dispose of me." Ichigo's body really did sound afraid. Hajime grimaced, unsurprised. He doubted the shinigami could perceive the complexity of their creation, and even if they could they probably wouldn't care.

"I don't know… what's your name?" He asked as he tugged the teen away, forcing him to walk in front of him.

"I don't have a name." He answered and that made Hajime pause, a bit speechless. He couldn't help but feel a sudden kinship with this thing.

"I didn't either. I'll do my best to help you." He said, patting it on the shoulder. Ichigo's body looked back at him warily. "But keep moving. That body belongs to my friend and lover so you damned well don't get to keep it." Hajime was not putting up with that.

Making love to someone else in Ichigo's body would just be wrong.

* * *

Hajime lay in his bed, listening to the ticking of the clock and thinking depressing thoughts.

He didn't get like this very often. His bonds took away any kind of control over his own life. Even his emotions and mind could be dominated by them, if his master cared to give the command. If he was told to be happy, he would obey. If he was told to feel pain, he would, despite not having any injury. Most of his masters had been unaware of that, something he was thankful of. The few who had known had been nightmares.

But a side effect of his complete lack of control was a fixation on the moment. Hajime didn't bother to think of the future, normally, since he could not affect it. He thought of the past, since he did have many good memories, but not obsessively so. He tended to live in the present, and tried to enjoy himself as much as he could, within the limits of his orders.

But now, he was dwelling on his pain and fears. Hajime ran a hand over his own throat, then down his chest. He rubbed the white skin there, closing his eyes. If Ichigo had been there, he would have recognized the pinched expression as emotional pain.

If he went back far enough, Hajime could remember everything he'd done as a demon. He'd had almost no personality back then. He'd been a monster, nothing but base urges and carnal desires, bundled up with cunning and a cold intelligence that was even more dangerous than his violence. He'd been a horror, a nightmare made flesh. And unlike the other three kings, he'd enjoyed visiting the three worlds. He'd come so frequently that the people there had given him names and actually sent him sacrifices, anything to appease the demon king. Sometimes it had even worked, although not often.

Hajime sighed, wiggling in his blankets. It seemed wrong to him that the soul of an infant had been put in this shell. It was defilement, not of the already defiled demon, but of the innocent baby. What had his soul ever done to deserve this?

And what would happen to him when he died? Hajime was not stupid enough to think he would live forever. He was nearly indestructible at the moment, but as soon as his chains were finally broken that would change. The balls contained his essence when he was badly hurt, and helped him to regenerate. When the bonds were broken the balls would break, and he would be free… free to live or die, by his own will and skill. And his bonds were so close to breaking now. Hajime wanted to be free, but he'd have been lying if he said the thought didn't give him a bit of fear.

What would happen when he died? Hajime sighed as that question came back to haunt him. He'd done so many terrible things over the centuries. Not just when he was a demon, but as a slave to the temples.

Not all of his masters had been evil. Not even most of them. Quite a few had been very pure, like the priest who had put him to running important messages for the temple. Some had just been cruel to him, but not cruel in general, and the tasks they had put him to had been benign. But there had been a few who had been ambitious or outright evil. The woman had been the most evil, but it had been one of the ambitious ones who had ordered the massacre of that family. Hajime bit his lip as he remembered. The deaths of children still haunted him.

And Hajime knew Hell was a real place. There had been no justice for that woman in life, and she'd died of old age, but her demon servant had been there to see as the gates of Hell had opened to swallow her soul. Hajime remembered how she had screamed at him to save her, and how he had laughed. His bonds to her had broken the instant she died, and he'd been swiftly returned to the balls. But he'd had enough time to mock her with his hatred.

But would that be him, someday? Hajime closed his eyes, and let out his breath in a long sigh. He just didn't know.

"Screw this." He mumbled to himself, sitting up. "I'm going to go make a cake." He'd been experimenting with his new decorating kit, and he could make all kinds of buttercream flowers and leaves. He was getting very good at roses. And he had a recipe for a very interesting coconut cake with mango buttercream frosting. It would be very tropical and it would get his mind off depressing things.

Hajime refused to dwell on doom and gloom. He could do nothing but live for today and hope for the best.

* * *

Hajime whistled as he looked through the craft store.

It was an independent shop, and carried all kinds of interesting things. He idly picked up a bedazzled bracelet and tried it on, before putting it back. It was cute and all, but he needed his money to get what he'd came for.

What he'd come for was miniature marshmallows, edible glitter and graham crackers. The craft store catered heavily to amateur cake artists, as well as scrap bookers, and Hajime knew they would have what he wanted. Everything in hand, he went to the cash register and quickly paid for his purchases. Then he began to walk home.

Hajime was unaware of the fact that his life had certain patterns. One of them was that he often went to the craft store, always after school, and always took the same path home. Ichigo never went with him because the craft store bored him, and they weren't joined at the hip. They were both confident that they could take care of themselves.

It was a beautiful day and Hajime smiled, pausing by a fenced in yard. The fencing was done in dozens of colors, and inside were a good dozen toddlers and young children. It was a private daycare, and Hajime usually stopped there to just look at the children. They were sweet… from a distance. Hajime preferred not to get too close. He knew exactly how annoying children could be when you were the one caring for them. Knowing that he had to follow orders faithfully, a few of the priests had dared to use him for child care.

Stopping right here was also part of his pattern, and Hajime was not expecting someone to take advantage of it. Suddenly sensing reiatsu, Hajime dropped his bag and summoned his scythe just in time to slap a dart out of the air.

"Ah, well. I didn't think that would work." Hajime stared at the utterly peculiar being in front of him. He'd never seen a demon slayer wearing so much makeup before. And the golden teeth were just strange. "You are a fast one, aren't you?"

"Who are you?" Hajime said, confused, but turned his sword into Dulce Amor. He thought he would need it.

"I am Mayuri Kurotsuchi, taichou of the 12th Division and President of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute." The shinigami grinned, widely, and Hajime found it disturbing. "And you will be my newest test subject."

"What? How about no?" Hajime said, eyes narrowing. He didn't like this at all. Then his eyes widened as a purple mist suddenly filled the air. "Fuck!" He mumbled, putting a hand over his face and deliberately stopping his breathing. It wasn't as though he needed it.

Sword clashed against sword, and Hajime could tell this taichou's forte was cleverness rather than strength or stamina. But he was very clever and Hajime hissed in pain that was far greater than it should be, as that golden sword nicked his arm. To his irritation, Hajime realized that his own movements were slowing. Something was affecting him and a quick check of his body confirmed that the purple mist had gotten into him anyway. Through his skin?

Snarling to himself, he took to the air. This would be easy enough to take care of. Unsealing his powers immediately purged any kind of venoms or mind altering effects from his system. But to his shock and surprise, Mayuri's subordinates were waiting for him in the air. A woman with dark hair in a long braid, and a man with very short dark hair and odd little horns. They both attacked him, driving the demon towards the ground and Hajime swore. It was as if they were trying to prevent him from unsealing his powers.

_As if? Wait… that's exactly what they're doing!_ Hajime began to quietly panic. "Dulce Muerte!" He pulled out all the stops, trying to break through the two shinigami above him, but his body felt heavy and slow. And then a dart sprouted on his neck, making Hajime grunt. "Guh." The albino wavered, falling back to the ground. His mind was feeling like it was wrapped in wool and he reached out for his power.

Then he stopped, looking at the daycare. Frightened by the strange things occurring nearby, a woman was herding the toddlers into the house, but it wouldn't matter. If Hajime released here, in this spot, that house would be nothing but rubble. The children would all die.

_I can't. I can't. I… can't…_ Hajime grunted as Kurotsuchi deliberately pierced him with his sword, letting droplets of blood land on the ground. Then again, and again. Each wound made his body harder to move, and Hajime could tell the effect on a demon slayer or human would have been instant paralysis. But he was tougher and immune to most poisons. At least, he had been, once upon a time. It seemed poisons had gotten better. Blood was pooling beneath him now and Hajime stared at the bright red liquid, feeling completely disconnected. He couldn't seem to string any thoughts together. What was happening to him?

Then the woman was holding him down as the second man began fixing cuffs and chains to his limp, unresisting body. Hajime let his head drop to the ground, unable to put his regret into words. But it pained him, deeply.

He doubted he would survive what the shinigami had in mind for him.


	13. Ichigo vs Kenpachi, Round One

Byakuya folded his hands beneath the table, looking calm and attentive.

It was the weekly Captain's meeting, and the truth was, he was bored. There was nothing particularly exciting going on in the Seireitei at the moment, unless you counted the demon. But Soi-fon's Division was monitoring him heavily and he actually seemed to be doing nothing at all suspicious. Everyone had been a touch shocked when he'd showed that idiot from Zaraki's unit mercy. Although Kenpachi had not been nearly as merciful, when his errant soldier recovered from his wounds and was given back to his tender arms. The man was still alive, but he'd quickly made another trip to the medical ward.

So there was nothing really going on, and Byakuya did not really need to know the details of what each unit had been up to. Although his attention was caught when Soi-fon mentioned that her trackers had lost the demon. There was a titter from Mayuri and all attention snapped to the grinning captain.

"That amuses you, Kurotsuchi?" Soutaichou rumbled out and the scientist stood, setting down a small image projector onto the table.

"Indeed it does! Soi-fon has lost the demon because we captured him just this afternoon." That announcement caused a stir around the table and Byakuya watched as Mayuri switched on the projector.

Byakuya watched as the image showed the demon walking home, carrying a bag with the logo of a local craft shop on it. Then he paused to look at the children, a small, happy smile on his face. Byakuya frowned as Mayuri chose that place to attack him. It seemed like a very poor choice, with so many humans around. He wasn't the only one to notice.

"Why would you attack him beside a daycare?" Ukitake sounded appalled, which was no surprise. The white haired taichou liked children very much. Mayuri grinned widely, pausing the display.

"Ah, that was the beauty of it! You see, Byakuya taichou had mentioned the explosion when the creature assumes his ultimate form." Byakuya nodded slightly, wondering where this was going. "From my work with other demons, I knew he would not be able to purge my poisons without taking that form. So obviously, I needed to prevent that from happening, and he's clearly demonstrated that he has a conscience. Watch." He started the display again and they all watched as Nemu and Akon forced Hajime to remain on the ground. And they all saw the darkness begin to gather around the demon, then stop as he looked at the children. Byakuya's lips thinned as he realized that Kurotsuchi had used them as hostages against the albino.

"A reprehensible tactic." He said coolly but Mayuri only grinned.

"And a highly effective one!" He said as the recording showed Hajime being pierced by his sword, several times, before his subordinates put the demon in chains. "I have secured a very valuable experimental subject. Do I have permission to run full tests?"

"Permission granted. Inform us of everything you learn. Soi-fon, recall your soldiers from the Living World. They will no longer be needed there." Soutaichou said but Soi-fon raised a small objection.

"What about the boy, Ichigo, and his friend, Ishida? From what we have observed they are quite close to the demon. It seems unlikely they will do nothing." She pointed out and Yamamoto considered that for a moment before shaking his head.

"There is nothing they can do. Soul Society is sealed to them, and even if they could travel here, two young men could not hope to retrieve their demon companion." He said firmly and Soi-fon nodded at that. He was certainly right about their chances, even if one of them had the power of a shinigami. Byakuya frowned and felt he should bring up another point.

"The demon claims to have a soul, and given that he has a bankai, it is clearly a shinigami one." He said quietly as Mayuri gave him a mildly irritated glance. "That might make his legal standing unclear. Perhaps Kurotsuchi would determine the validity of his claim first?"

"It will come out in my tests. But I will take it under advisement." Mayuri snapped and Byakuya glanced at Yamamoto, but saw he was not getting any support there. The Soutaichou was frowning, probably at the thought of a demon with shinigami powers. It was really quite disturbing. "Now, may I return to my test subject?" Mayuri was given permission to leave the meeting and Byakuya watched him go with misgiving. Zaraki's man had said the demon had spared Byakuya because of respect. And the truth was, Byakuya respected the demon as well.

Someone who would allow himself to be captured by Mayuri, rather than harm children, deserved respect.

* * *

Ichigo knew something was wrong when Hajime didn't come home for supper.

Kurotsuchi had studied Hajime's patterns to capture him, but Ichigo knew those patterns as well. Hajime loved cooking, and today there was a lamb stew in the slow cooker and rice in the rice cooker. They were both ready to eat, so Hajime didn't actually need to be there, but he would be there. He was always there.

But today he wasn't, and everyone was worried. Ichigo went upstairs to find his balls as Karin called Ishida to see if Hajime might be with him. There were no messages on the answering machine, which was another thing that was wrong. Hajime might decide to do something on a spur of the moment, but he had a cell phone and would call home to leave a message. This was just not right.

The feeling of not right got stronger when he touched the balls. Ichigo sat down on his bed, trying to commune with them. He hadn't told Hajime, because he didn't want to worry the albino, but in his hands the balls had interesting properties. He could get a fix on Hajime's general direction and also how he was doing and feeling, if he concentrated hard enough. Also, holding the balls made it much easier to send Hajime a message through the holy bonds.

Right now he couldn't get any fix on Hajime's direction, and the rest of what he was feeling wasn't good at all. Hajime was in pain, although how much pain he couldn't say. Grimacing to himself, he took the balls and the deviant Soul Candy and went to the phone.

"Can you try to look for him? We – Oh, Ichigo wants to talk to you." Karin said as Ichigo gestured to her. She had to be speaking to Ishida. The Quincy was the only one of his friends who knew there was anything odd about Hajime.

"Ishida? Can you meet me at Urahara's? I'm going to give him a quick call and get him to meet us at the shop."

_You think this is serious then?_ Ishida's voice was a bit tinny from the phone. _You don't think he's just forgotten to call home?_ Ichigo grimaced, glancing over at his family. He didn't want to worry them, but…

"No way. His ivory balls let me sense where he is, and I'm getting a big zero on that. But he's in pain Ishida. I can tell that much." Ichigo couldn't help the anxiety in his voice. "I tried ordering him to come home, but I couldn't feel any reaction." He was sure the command had reached Hajime, but he also thought that something was preventing him from obeying.

_I see. I'll meet you at Urahara's._ Ichigo hung up the phone, feeling relieved that he would have Ishida beside him. His friend was brighter than him, as smart as Hajime.

When they got to Urahara's, the shopkeeper was able to confirm that Hajime was in trouble.

"It's very hard for me to judge this kind of power." He said as he examined the balls. He'd looked at them before, and learned quite a bit about them, but the ways of the gods were inscrutable. "But I'm afraid I know why you aren't finding a direction, Ichigo. Hajime has been removed from this world." Ichigo's breath hitched and he felt cold. There was only one way that could have happened.

"The shinigami have him." He made it a statement and Urahara hesitated a moment before nodding.

"You said Byakuya wanted him taken to Soul Society for evaluation, so I'm afraid that's likely." He said gently, twisting the balls. Ichigo had noticed that everyone had that reaction to Hajime's prison, when they touched it. "If he's being evaluated, he would have been sent to the 12th Division. That would explain the pain you're sensing. I'm sorry, Ichigo, but rescuing him from them will be very difficult."

"We must do it." Ishida cut in, his voice firm and cold. "Hajime is our friend." Ichigo flashed the Quincy a grateful smile. Urahara looked pensive for a moment, thinking about it. Then he squinted at Ichigo and a smile slowly came over his face.

"You know, Ichigo, your aura is just like a shinigami's." He said cheerfully. "A few minor differences, of course, because of your slightly different training. But honestly, it would be hard for most people to notice!" Ichigo tilted his head. He knew that was true, Ishida had told him before that he felt like a shinigami, but subtly different. "It wouldn't be that hard for you to impersonate a shinigami and simply walk into the Seireitei." Ichigo's mouth dropped open as Urahara continued. "It's not like they provide the gate guard with a list of recruits, after all."

"Uh… so how does the gate guard tell who belongs? Oh, wait, the aura?" Urahara nodded, waving himself with his fan and Ichigo suddenly grinned. "Let me guess. The gate guard isn't that bright?"

"No, it's quite a boring job. You need a certain kind of mind to handle that much tedium, and it's not a sharp one." Urahara said with a laugh, then sobered. "I can give you information about the Seireitei, and how to find the 12th Division. However, once you get inside, there are sure to be plenty of security doors and such that I no longer have the codes for. You'll be on your own."

"Wait, what about me?" Ishida said, frowning. "My aura could never pass as shinigami." He was learning from Hajime, but he had no intention of forsaking his Quincy powers. He was just adding to them. Urahara sighed.

"Yes, I'm afraid you will have to remain here." He said gently. Ishida looked extremely pissed and Ichigo winced. "If you want to go we would have to try a full, frontal assault. And honestly, I think this idea is far more likely to work once I give Ichigo some tutoring." He could teach the teen how to act and the way the Divisions worked. Ichigo nodded, then thought of something.

"There is something you can do for me, Ishida." He took out the Soul Candy and swallowed it, grabbing hold of his bodies shoulder before it could bolt. "Okay… you. Hajime said you don't have a name, right?" Everyone was watching, and Urahara was frowning as though he'd just remembered something. Meanwhile, the soul candy had just saw him and was freaking out.

"Him! Get me out of here, I don't want to die!" Ichigo scowled and slapped it upside the head. "Hey!"

"Shut up! Hajime likes you, for some reason, so no one's going to hurt you. But you have to take good care of my body, alright?" He said firmly. "What exactly are you anyway?" He still didn't know. All he knew was that Hajime had said this Soul Candy was actually something else, something more complex with a real personality. The boy rubbed his head, looking away.

"I'm a modified soul. I don't have a name." He muttered and Urahara started.

"That's where that got to! I'm sorry, Ichigo, the dispenser must have somehow gotten into our new merchandise. I can take care of the problem – " He started but Ichigo scowled at him fiercely, putting an arm around the shoulders of his physical body. A body that was rigid with fear.

"No. Hajime promised him that he wouldn't be killed or imprisoned anymore. We were still working out what kind of body we could put him into when Hajime disappeared." Ichigo glanced down into his own face, wearing a look of confusion, and decided to explain a bit. "The guy who found you, Hajime, has vanished. We think he's been taken to Soul Society to – to be experimented on." He swallowed as the modified soul looked horrified. He knew all about being experimented on. "I'm going after him. You need to look after my body. Ishida, can you keep an eye on him, try to keep him out of trouble? I don't want him to completely ruin my reputation." The Quincy relaxed slightly, although he wasn't happy to be left out of the trip to the Seireitei.

"I'll make sure he behaves." The Quincy shot the modified soul a stern look. He scowled back.

"I owe that Hajime guy my life. I'll take care of this body, I promise." He ruined it a bit then by giving them the Vulcan peace sign. Ichigo sighed. His reputation was probably going to be tatters, but as long as his body survived he would just have to deal with it.

"OK. And I think we'll call you… Kon. It's short for modified soul." He told his body before turning to Urahara. "What will I need to know about the Seireitei?"

For the next couple hours, Ichigo got a crash course in the etiquette of Soul Society. It really wasn't that unfamiliar and reminded him a great deal of medieval Japan. They decided he would pretend to be a brand new member of the 11th Division. If he met any of the officers, he would say that Zaraki had picked him out and just told him he was in the Division.

"But what if I run into Zaraki Kenpachi?" He asked Urahara and the man grinned.

"Tell him he told you that after you had a fight, when he was drunk. And mention you just got out of the medical wing. He's recruited plenty of members for his squads that way." He said merrily and Ichigo blinked.

"Sounds like an interesting guy… okay, I have a cover story and everything. Where should I put myself in Soul Society?" Ichigo asked, pulling out his focus stone as Urahara's eyes widened. "What?"

"Wait, are you saying you can open a senkaimon?" He asked and only succeeded in confusing Ichigo.

"No, I open portals." He said honestly. "Hajime taught me how to do it, although we had to be pretty cautious in Soul Society. We only opened them well outside the city, but Hajime gave me the power signatures for several places inside the city too." Ichigo realized he was probably being confusing, and tried to explain. "See… portals can be done randomly, if all you know is the plane of existence you want. But if you put a sigil on a particular location, you can focus the portal. Which is good, sometimes portals can form in the air or underwater." Ichigo had experience with the air phenomenon. Hajime had taken him to Hueco Mundo with a random portal, and it had been very high. It was a good thing they could both fly. Underwater would be even worse. "Portals are really tiny, just big enough rips to squeeze through, and they're meant to be, uh, surreptitious. Hajime says the priests didn't want the demon slayers keeping track of them." Urahara absorbed that for a moment, then laughed.

"Wonderful! Oh my… I'm beginning to see why the priests and shinigami never got along." He said merrily and Ichigo couldn't help but smile. "We regulate all traffic through the senkaimon, you know. Little rips, anywhere you want? I think Yamamoto and Central 46 would have a fit! Don't mention it to them." He cautioned Ichigo, who shrugged. He wasn't actually planning to talk to the authorities there. Get in, bust Hajime out, and get home. That was the plan. "You should probably put yourself in the city, as close to the gate as you can manage." Urahara mused and Ichigo nodded. "Now… I have some things that might help you."

So, before he left, Ichigo got a bag full of explosives and a black headscarf to hide his hair. The explosives were the best Urahara could do for him, to get him past the 12th Division's safeguards. He'd been away far too long to have any access codes or anything else useful. But explosives were willing to blow up on anything. And Ichigo had his bankai and kido, which he figured would get him pretty far as well. The balls went in the bag too.

All the preparations done, Ichigo bid goodbye to Ishida and Kon. They had been spending their time productively, with Ishida giving Kon a tutorial on the Kurosaki family and how he would generally need to behave at school. Ichigo just hoped it would sink in and he let Urahara monitor him as he gripped his focus stone and ripped open a portal. It was nothing but inky darkness, with no sign of what was on the other side, but Ichigo stepped through it easily.

He'd done this several times before. He was no longer afraid.

* * *

Hajime moaned, struggling weakly against his bonds.

He had no choice. His master had called him, and he had to obey. But he could not obey. The collar that was locked around his throat was slowly killing him, keeping him from drawing anything but the tiniest bit of energy from Ichigo. When he had been a true demon, Hajime had fed on death and pain. As a bound quasi-demon, he fed on his master's reiatsu. His master either needed to be strong, or feeding in turn. Some of his old masters had fed on death like a demon, but some had gathered the power of their acolytes to feed him with.

Now, he had nothing. Nothing but a trickle of power that was not going to sustain him, not in the long run, and Ichigo's summons was ringing in his head, the holy bonds torturing his body and forcing him to obey. Hajime's breathing was ragged and uneven as he continued to struggle, his wrists starting to bleed.

"Tch." Hajime blinked as the power flow from Ichigo increased. Then he growled and tried weakly to bite as a hand touched his hair. "I can't have my newest test subject expiring too soon. A demon prince to examine! How fortunate I am." Hajime's breath went out as something heavy was dropped on his abdomen. The man above him grinned. "Unfortunately, I don't have any anesthetic that will work on you. Such a sad thing." Hajime blinked as slender hands gripped his head, and a leather band was fastened across his forehead. Then his skin crawled. He knew exactly what that was for, he'd seen it plenty of times and experienced it a few. The gag that followed was a little unusual, though. Most of his previous tormenters had wanted to hear his screams. The weight on his body was removed, but that was no comfort as Kurotsuchi picked up a scalpel.

Hajime swallowed, understanding exactly why he was being allowed more power from Ichigo. The blade he was holding was iron with just a thin coating of blessed silver. The heavier flow of power might allow Hajime to survive what was coming. Hajime arched, struggling futilely against the bonds as the blade began to cut into white skin, dying it a vivid crimson.

"I do wish I had an anesthetic for you." Kurotsuchi mumbled to himself as Hajime closed his eyes tightly, still struggling against his bonds. "But at least I do have a somewhat effective muscle relaxant." Hajime's eyes widened as he reached for a large syringe. He yelped in pain as Kurotsuchi gripped his chin, stabbing the needle into the big vein on his neck. "That should take care of all that twitching, for a short time."

To his horror, Hajime found that was the case. The albino's body slowly went limp, muscles refusing to cooperate despite his screaming mind and the power of the holy bonds. He was too badly weakened, and this was not a spell and a bit of mild venom. Hajime gasped behind the gag as Kurotsuchi went back to his cutting. A soft whimper crawled out of his throat as the pain became worse and worse. He was being opened up so his inner workings could be examined. Hajime knew that. He'd been through it before.

But some things never got better, no matter how many times they happened.

* * *

Ichigo stood in the alleyway of the Rukongai and tried to get his bearings.

There was a jagged sigil carved into the wall right beside where he was standing, and Ichigo smiled to see it. Hajime had put it there, when he'd carefully slipped into Soul Society a few times. He'd done that while Ichigo was sleeping, and had gone in and out quickly enough that no one had caught him at it. When he'd heard about it, Ichigo had thought it had been a huge risk to take, but now it was paying off.

He took a moment to take out the ivory balls and hissed as he felt the pull from them. Hajime was definitely here, and in dire straits. The aura of agony he could sense from the balls made his stomach churn. Then Ichigo swallowed as he realized there was a secondary pain, and he whispered through the holy bonds.

"You don't have to keep trying to get to me, Hajime. Just endure, I'm coming for you." Tears pricked his eyes as his hands clenched over the balls for a moment. Then he took a deep breath and put them back in his bag. They were obviously valuable and he couldn't afford to flash them around in the Rukongai. But at least now, Hajime wouldn't be tearing himself apart trying to escape when he couldn't. The demon would be able to husband his strength.

Slinging his pack over his shoulder, Ichigo made his way to the gates of the Seireitei. Hajime hadn't dared get very close, so it was a long walk, but he used flash step to shorten it.

Soon, he stood at the gates of the Seireitei. They were absolutely immense, and a really strange guy was there to let people in. He peered down at Ichigo curiously.

"Who are you?" He asked and Ichigo gave him a cocky sneer. Given Urahara's briefing about Zaraki's squad, he felt that cocky and violent was definitely the way to go. And strangely, it wasn't that hard an attitude for him to take.

"I'm Yuu Nakamura, brand new to the 11th Division. You going to let me in or should I go back to my sake?" He said and saw the gatekeeper sigh.

"Zaraki… you certainly feel strong enough to be one of his. Brand new? Where did he dig you up?" The gatekeeper asked and Ichigo shrugged.

"I met him in a bar and he beat the living shit out of me. Then he told me I'd better show up here, or he'd find me and gut me. So here I am." He said bluntly and smiled to himself as the gatekeeper laughed. He was buying it.

"Yeah, that's Kenpachi. Alright." The gatekeeper opened the door for him and Ichigo walked in confidently. Confidence was everything, Urahara had told him. Most of the members of Zaraki's Division were overconfident, if anything. "Better hurry up and report before he goes after you."

"Yeah, I know. I just finished recovering from everything he did to me." Ichigo rubbed his arm theatrically, getting another laugh from the gatekeeper. "Later man."

"Later, and good luck, you'll need it." Ichigo walked through the streets, looking for the 12th. Unfortunately, the direction from his ivory balls was just a general direction and Urahara's directions seemed to be leading him in the wrong direction. Ichigo frowned to himself as he walked. Could things have changed since the shinigami was exiled? Maybe the 12th had outgrown their old building and been moved. That sort of thing happened.

"Now, who are you?" Ichigo turned, surprised, and saw he was being questioned by a child. But a child wearing what Urahara told him was a captain's haori. "Your reiatsu is impressive." He noted, although he didn't look at all alarmed. Ichigo wondered what he'd think if he whipped out his bankai. Not that he was going to, though. Hajime had told him before to only use that when the situation called for it.

"I'm Yuu Nakamura." He repeated his false name again. "Looking for the 11th Division." That was his story and he was sticking to it. The boy looked amused.

"Well, you're going the wrong way. I'm Toshiro Hitsugaya, taichou of the 10th Division, by the way." He said and Ichigo just shrugged as though he didn't care. "If you want Zaraki, go that way." What followed were a series of very clear directions and Ichigo winced to himself. He actually didn't want to find the 11th, but it seemed he had no choice now.

"Thanks, taichou, I appreciate it." He said, momentarily forgetting to be rude and surly. But it was probably better not to put on too much attitude with a captain anyway. Ichigo started walking again, following the instructions, and noticed Hitsugaya was watching him. Sighing to himself, he decided it would probably be best if he went to the 11th Division. Maybe someone there could direct him to the 12th. But what would be his story?

_I could say I have a girlfriend who works there. That could work._ Ichigo quickly decided. No one would really care anyway. If they tried to press for details, he'd just say it was none of their business.

Cheered by that thought but pressed for time, Ichigo hurried his steps. He was badly worried about Hajime. He wanted to hurry, but he also couldn't afford to get caught. It was a bit of a balancing act. Sighing to himself, he finally found the 11th barracks. And he was shocked to find a huge, black haired man apparently challenging the whole Division to single combat.

And winning.

"Hahahhaaha!" Ichigo winced at the maniacal laughter. "Is that all you can do?" His opponents were crawling away, looking like whipped dogs. Ichigo was paralyzed as a single green eye pierced him. The guy was wearing an eyepatch and had a very long scar on his face, which made him look nicely homicidal. The bells in his hair were just the crowning touch.

"And who the hell are you?" He demanded and Ichigo swallowed before finding his voice. Confidence. That was the ticket.

"You should know, you beat me half to death and told me to come here when I stopped bleeding." He snapped as the towering taichou looked puzzled. "You were drunk as a skunk, I'm not surprised you don't remember." A grin split his face and Ichigo glared as a long and chipped sword was pointed at him.

"Oh yeah? I sometimes make mistakes when I'm drunk. Why don't you show me what you've got, kid?" He taunted and Ichigo growled, setting down his bag and gripping his zanpakuto. He drew the sword, letting the ribbon fall over his arm. Then he hissed as he felt an aura of bloodlust rising around him. It was powerful… extremely powerful.

_It's possible to freeze someone in place with just the pressure of your aura, if you know how to do it._ Hajime's voice came to him, reminding him of his lessons. _I'll pin you in place. Try to break free._ Ichigo snarled as he remembered and sharpened his own spiritual power into a spear of pure determination, and then shoved it at Zaraki. The taichou actually took a step back with a small grunt, then he grinned.

"Not bad kid. But you need more than that." Then the fight was on. Ichigo quickly found himself on the defensive, and he felt a sickly certainty that this man would not hesitate to kill him if he wasn't good enough.

"I will be good enough!" He said to himself, keeping his spiritual pressure hard and focused. "Rrrgh!" He gasped as that sword ripped through his clothing, staining his side with blood. He couldn't afford too many injuries, not now. Did he dare call on his bankai? No. No normal recruit would have one.

The fight went on for a good long while, and Ichigo tried to avoid getting badly hurt. He wasn't successful. But he opened maybe a half-dozen slashes on Kenpachi, and he heard the watching squad members murmuring in what sounded like appreciation. But then it was over. Kenpachi had him on the ground, a foot firmly on his neck. But the taichou was… grinning?

"Looks like I knew what I was doing when I picked you. You're already strong enough to take a lieutenant. Let's get you cleaned up and into a uniform, hey?" Then he turned to shout at someone else. "Yumichika! Ikkaku! Get this kid sorted out. He's going to go far, I can smell it." Then he laughed again and Ichigo swallowed as he was helped up and given some rough first aid. Mentally, he sent Hajime apologies.

This was all taking way too long, but he couldn't think of any way to get out of it.


	14. Surviving Adversity

Hajime lay limp on the table, his eyes open and glazed as he struggled not to choke on blood. The gag was gone, now. It wasn't needed anymore. He could hardly draw a breath, let alone speak.

"I've always wondered." Hajime shuddered as a hand slid through his hair, then gently traced the side of his face, stroking his jawbone curiously. "Demons don't need to breathe. I've established that several times… yet, when they are placed under duress, they always do. Does the oxygen help your body endure pain? Is it just an automatic reaction? It's really quite curious." The demon blinked up at him wearily, wishing that his labored breathing wasn't quite so obvious. He would have stopped it, just to spite Mayuri, but he knew that would only increase his pain. "Tch." Hajime gasped as he felt the power flow from Ichigo increase, very briefly. A quick spurt of strength to help mend himself, then the power was lowered again. "Demons are very difficult to study, you know."

_No. Don't care._ Hajime wanted him to shut up. He'd thought torture was bad, and it was, but having every bit of it explained, often before it even happened… he wanted this man to shut up and just do what he planned to do. He didn't want to know why his body was being violated.

"You see, demons need to feed. And, alas, Soutaichou can get so stuffy about that." Kurotsuchi sighed as Hajime blinked slowly. "He wouldn't even give me prisoners from the Maggot's Den, and I've never been able to find any other way to feed a demon except on pain and death." A hand stroked his shoulder and Hajime closed his eyes. "You, however, are quite different. Thanks to your connection to that boy, you can feed, and along with healing kidos… I should be able to examine you indefinitely. Isn't that wonderful?" Hajime tested his lungs and found things were working a bit now.

"I would like to die." He whispered. There was a laugh from the scientist.

"I'm sure you would. Really, I would much prefer to use an anesthetic. But creating one is hardly a priority. Now… I'm going to begin examining the connections between your body and your soul." He said cheerfully and Hajime couldn't help a small moan at the thought. Having his soul tortured was even worse than his body.

Surprisingly, though, these tests did not hurt. It gradually came to Hajime that Mayuri was just observing, not actually touching yet. Although that would come, and when it did, so would the pain.

_You don't have to keep trying to get to me, Hajime. Just endure, I'm coming for you. _Hajime nodded to himself and tried to use this time to rest. He needed his hour of reverie. When Ichigo came for him, he would be ready.

Until then, he would endure.

* * *

Ichigo groaned as he woke up from restless dreams of white hands and a raspy voice, pleading for him to hurry.

_I fell asleep?_ For a moment he was horrified, but then he realized. _No, I passed out. I'm sorry Hajime._ He quickly sat up, wincing at his injuries. But they were already feeling a lot better, and he was sure someone had used a healing kido on him. Sorting through his bag, he found the balls and pulled them out, stroking them and trying to feel Hajime's condition. To his relief, there was no pain. Maybe they were giving him a breather. _Hang on Hajime. I'm coming for you._

"Hey there!" Ichigo started violently and quickly stuffed the ivory balls in his bag before turning. There were two men there, one with black hair and the other completely bald. Baldy was grinning at him. "I'm Ikkaku and this is Yumichika. Impressive work out there!"

"Thanks." Ichigo said, reaching up to adjust his headscarf. It was tied very tightly over his head, not letting even a wisp of his orange hair show. Urahara had thought his hair was just too unusual to let show. "I'm Yuu." He said, pushing himself to his feet.

"So we heard. And what are you hiding under that unfashionable scarf?" Ichigo jerked away, but not quite fast enough. The scarf was yanked off his head, and it was painful. He'd gotten a bit of hair caught in it, when he knotted it into place. Ichigo swore and gripped his head before trying to grab his scarf back. But Yumichika danced away with a grin.

"Wow, that's bright. People never have trouble seeing you at night, eh?" Ikkaku said, looking impressed. Ichigo sighed and desisted in his attempts to get the scarf. His hair was busted anyway.

"Yeah, that's why I wear a scarf. That and I got sick and tired of people picking fights with me because I have orange hair. Now, can I have that back?" He scowled at Yumichika, who laughed and tossed over the scarf. Ichigo was just putting it on as a little girl suddenly ran in.

"Hi there! I'm Yachiru!" Ichigo's eyes widened as he looked at her. What was a little kid doing here? "I'm Kenny's lieutenant! Hitsy said you're Yuu! Hi Yuu!"

"Uh, hi." Ichigo said, bewildered. "Lieutenant? Really?" He was still trying to get his mind around that when Yumichika laughed.

"Yeah, she's the lieutenant. So don't get on her bad side. And if you ever need to bribe her, candy works really well." He said and Ichigo stiffened in horror as the girl suddenly started to root through his bag.

"Hey, that's private!" He yelped, grabbing her and yanking her away. But that only made the situation worse, as his ivory balls and several explosives fell outs. Yachiru grabbed the balls with a giggle and Ichigo cursed, trying to at least get the explosives back into his bag. They weren't too recognizable for what they were, maybe…

"Now, that's interesting. Why are you carrying around condensed soul explosives, Yuu?" Yumichika asked with a smile, but his hand was on the hilt of his sword. Ikkaku was looking less than amused, as well, and Yachiru was energetically spinning the balls. Ichigo took a breath and tried to lie.

"It had to do with what I did in the Rukongai. Don't ask, alright? But they were expensive and I figured I'd find a use for them again someday. Yachiru, can I have that back? My grandma gave me that, it's all I've got of my family." He held his hand out for the balls, then hissed as Yumichika took it from Yachiru, who pouted at losing her new toy.

"This thing has one hell of a lot of power in it, and it feels like nothing I've ever touched before." Yumichika said as Ikkaku suddenly moved. Ichigo was slammed against the wall, coughing as his wounds were aggravated. "And you are lying your ass off. Care to come clean, Yuu? We might let you live."

"I… I…" Ichigo wheezed, trying to figure out what to do. Things couldn't end here, they just couldn't. But he could sense Zaraki's reiatsu in the barracks. If he got into it with his two officers, with Yachiru watching, the taichou would want to know why. Then he would be screwed. "Look, I… my teacher, the guy who taught me to fight. He's… over at the 12th Division. I need to get him out. Please, can you just pretend you never saw this?"

"And why should we do that?" Ikkaku said and Ichigo tried to think up a reason. He was still coming up blank when someone else walked into the room.

"So this is the new – ah! You!" Ichigo made a small choking sound as a green haired man levelled a sword at his chest. "I'll kill you, you demon freak!"

"Saito!" Ikkaku shoved him back sharply and Yumichika swept his legs out from under him. Then Yachiru laughed and jumped on his chest, pummelling the young shinigami. "Don't you ever learn? And what the fuck are you talking about? He's not a goddamn demon." Yumichika had a finger on his lips and was clearly thinking hard. Ichigo bent down and picked up Zangetsu in one smooth move. If he had to, he'd try to break through a wall and make a run for it. Then Yumichika snapped his fingers.

"I get it now! He's that human who beat Renji Abarai." Yumichika eyed him thoughtfully. "He does feel a lot like a shinigami, but there's a slight difference. You're here to free that demon, aren't you?" Ichigo heaved a sigh and nodded.

"Are you going to try to stop me? Because I'm going to warn you. I didn't fight even close to full out against your taichou." Ichigo said and was surprised when they both grinned and Yachiru laughed.

"I'll tell Kenny you were holding out on him, he's gonna be so mad!" She started to scramble off and Ichigo blanched.

"Getsuga Tenshou!" He blasted out the ball, grabbing his bag and making a run for it. He was leaving the balls behind, but that wouldn't matter. They would follow him on their own, and he had to get out of here. There were shouts behind him as he tried desperately to figure out where they would be keeping Hajime.

This was just a nightmare.

* * *

"What a fascinating construction." Hajime felt like he might die at any moment, and a dark rage flickered somewhere in the back of his mind. It was as inhuman as it was terrible, and he mentally cringed away from it.

Kurotsuchi was getting down to exploring the connection between his body and soul. In Soul Society, the two effectively merged, so that wasn't as easy as it would have been in the Living World. A demon's unnatural flesh converted to something spirit based when they passed through the worlds.

The result of his explorations was a kind of agony that made him want to scream. His gag muffled his cries, but even to him the sounds he was making were pitiful. And his demon half was growing more and more ascendant with every moment of torment.

That was the danger of torturing him too much. Demons were built to withstand torture. They knew physical pain, but their alien minds were incapable of breaking. More pain only fueled the endless hate and rage inside them. If they begged for mercy or cried, they were faking. It was as simple as that.

Hajime's shinigami soul was not built to withstand torture. It could bend and break. So as the torment went on, his demonic nature became more and more prevalent simply as a survival mechanism. If it went on too long, Hajime's soul would completely disconnect from reality, leaving the demon in charge. He always came back from that, but it could take a while. And right now, he did not want that to happen. Ichigo was coming, and having to deal with an infuriated demon would only make things harder for him.

Then Kurotsuchi did something that drew a sound of pure agony from him, and his entire body went stiff, almost vibrating against the restraints.

_Hurry Ichigo. I don't know how much more of this I can take._

* * *

Ichigo leapt from rooftop to rooftop, cursing.

Strangely enough, the whole Seireitei was not on alert. Unfortunately, he had the feeling that was because Kenpachi was hunting him down personally. It seemed like the kind of thing he would do, keeping an intruder all to himself. He already knew the maniac loved fighting, and he'd revealed to Yachiru that he had power in reserve. Zaraki would want another go at him.

Ichigo bit his lip. He couldn't let that happen. He had no backup here, no one to help him, and even winning that kind of duel would be losing. He would be too badly weakened to get Hajime out of the 12th Division. And he still didn't know where the 12th was!

Leaping down, he prepared to dart across the road. It was almost nighttime now, and there were very few people out. If he just hurried maybe he could –

"Boo." Ichigo almost started out of his skin and whirled. It was Yumichika and Ikkaku. How had he not sensed them? Then he cursed to himself. Despite all his training, his reiatsu sensing was still poor, especially when he was upset. "You flare your reiatsu a lot when you're upset, you know."

"Yes, I do know!" He snarled, making the two of them eye him in surprise. "What do you want?" Although it was really rather obvious. Ikkaku sniggered.

"Kenpachi decided to let us go first. If you can't defeat us both, you're not worth his time anyway." He said, drawing his sword. Ichigo's eyes narrowed as he pulled his own sword off his back. Yumichika smiled, also drawing his sword. Both at once? He'd see about that.

"I'm going to beat you both so hard, you'll have boot prints in your ass." Ichigo said calmly and they both laughed. "Bankai!" The laugh was abruptly cut off as his spiritual pressure spiked, then tightened. They both stared at him, disbelieving, as his black sword came into view.

"That's not possible. You can't be older than seventeen!" Ikkaku said, disbelievingly. They both knew Ichigo was human, so he was every bit as young as he looked. "You can't have a bankai!"

"And bankai's usually get bigger, not smaller. That is very strange." Yumichika observed. Ichigo just shrugged.

"It is what it is, and it's mine. I had a very good trainer. Now – " He set on them with speed and ferocity. First he went after Ikkaku, then turned with lightning swiftness on Yumichika, driving them away from each other. Keeping them from coordinating an attack…

"_I can't beat you both at once!" A white face, grinning, while a white and green striped hat was pulled down a bit more firmly over blonde hair._

"_No, but that's not the point. You're going to learn how to handle multiple opponents. Now, try to keep us away!"_

Ichigo grinned to himself as he remembered his training. He'd been cursing the two sadists at the time, but now he was feeling unutterably grateful. He was pounding these two into the dirt without hardly trying, and it was all due to Urahara's and Hajime's training. Ikkaku barely got to use his shikai before Ichigo broke it, his bankai snapping the spear. Then he laid Yumichika out with a well-placed kick.

Both opponents groaning on the ground, Ichigo froze as he felt enormous reiatsu rising. Then someone familiar and very distressing leapt down from a nearby roof. There was a pink, laughing girl on his shoulder and Kenpachi was… grinning?

"Well, well, well. So Yachiru was right, you were holding out on me you little bastard." Ichigo swallowed hard and backed away. If all else failed, he could run. He was probably faster than Kenpachi with his bankai. "Don't you think of running away, coward." Kenpachi sounded less than amused now, probably because he didn't want to have to run his prey down. Ichigo paused, scowling.

"I'm not a coward. But if I fight you, I've _failed!_" He snarled as the towering taichou looked puzzled. "I'm here to save Hajime. How can I do that if I'm badly hurt? And even if I kill you, I'm going to get hurt!" That was the problem. He needed to keep his strength to deal with whatever had captured Hajime. He didn't think the 12th would be an easy nut to crack, unless he was incredibly lucky.

"Well, that's too bad." Zaraki said with a grin. "Guess you'll have to win without getting hurt." Then he laughed and Ichigo hissed a curse. That was as likely as the sun rising at midnight. He was good, but the crushing reiatsu coming from this captain was terrifying. Then something occurred to him.

"You know, you could have a much better fight than anything I could give you." He said calmly, hoping Hajime would forgive him. "My demon is one of the two people who trained me." Kenpachi tilted his head and Ichigo went on, encouraged. "He's also a demon king, and the only one that comes to our reality. It's the opportunity of a lifetime. Just point me in the direction of the 12th and when I get him free, you can fight him." The taichou was listening, and looking slightly intrigued. Then he grinned, widely.

"Never could stand that fucking lab rat. Okay, kid, you got a deal." He said and Ichigo blinked. He honestly hadn't expected it to work. "Yumichika!" He barked at his subordinate, who was still groaning a bit. Ikkaku was out cold. "Take the little bastard over to the 12th, but don't help him anymore than that. If he can't get in himself, he ain't worth our time." Yumichika nodded, a bit speechless, and Zaraki nudged an unconscious Ikkaku with his toe before picking him up. "I'll get this dumbass back to the barracks. He needs to learn to fight harder, getting beaten that easily…" They watched him go, mumbling about Ikkaku's failures. The little girl on his shoulder was laughing, heartily amused by it all.

"Did you really have to kick me in the balls like that? Ow." Yumichika said, managing to get up and move, but it was clearly an effort. Ichigo shrugged.

"Whatever works. Although, it doesn't work very well on a demon." He added. He'd learned that the hard way against Hajime and Urahara was usually too fast to get nailed like that. Yumichika groaned.

"I'll… keep that in mind…" Following his slightly hunched over guide, Ichigo finally reached the 12th Division. Checking his bag, he found he had his balls, and they were definitely signalling that Hajime was inside this building. Ichigo hesitated, then considered the roof. It might be more direct to go down instead of across…

"Thanks, and I'm sorry I hurt you." He said to Yumichika before leaping onto the roof. With the help of soul explosives, he thought this might be the best way in.

No matter what he did, it was going to be interesting.

* * *

"You appear to be losing your sanity. Interesting." Mayuri was intrigued by the new developments, studying the demon on his table thoughtfully. Mad black and gold eyes glared back at him, filled with rage and hate. "Or perhaps, regaining it? The condition of having a soul must be so strange for you." Looking at his monitors, he shook his head.

The tests were actually not going that well. The demon's soul had retreated from his probes, becoming harder and harder to reach. But it was still attached to his body, and Kurotsuchi thought that it always would be. The strength of the bindings between the body and soul were frighteningly powerful, and touched with the same power as his holy bonds.

"Tch." Mayuri said, slightly annoyed. He disliked dealing with this ancient power. The 'gods' humans worshipped were very difficult to quantify scientifically. They almost seemed non-existent, until you stumbled over something like this. And even with Hajime right in front of him, it was very difficult to get readings on his holy bonds and the nature of the connection between his body and soul. The power seemed to eel away, refusing to fully reveal itself. But in time, he would manage it.

But the retreat of the soul was a problem. Kurotsuchi sighed to himself. He did not particularly enjoy causing pain, it was simply a by product of his experiments. And in this particular case, it was coming close to tainting his results. Unless you were studying the effects of pain on the body, pain would always affect the results of any procedure. The body released so many chemicals and stress hormones when it was under assault, and Mayuri did not think the demon would be much different.

"I think you need a rest." He said to the demon, who managed to look surprised despite his descent into feral behaviour. "I will go report my findings to soutaichou. Do behave while I'm gone." Mayuri left the room, unaware that from Ichigo's perspective, his timing could not have been better.

* * *

"Okay." Ichigo breathed out carefully, concentrating on his reiatsu sensing.

If it had been anyone but Hajime, he would have been doomed to failure. Despite all of Hajime's training, and Urahara's help, his skill with reiatsu sensing was still his weakest area. His kido was much better, which was a bit odd. Usually strong kido came after strong reiatsu sensing.

But Hajime's aura was strong and as familiar to Ichigo as his own. This close to it, he could come much closer to pinpointing his demon lover. So he was settled on one part of the room, setting up the explosives.

He stood well back before triggering them, then leapt down the hole. A young woman in the room screamed and ran out, but Ichigo ignored her as he placed the next set of charges. He didn't have much time now.

It took four sets of charges, and a massive Getsuga Tenshou before he reached Hajime. The last floor he penetrated was much harder than the others, but his bankai finally managed it, shredding the steel and letting him drop to the floor. Hajime was there, chained and strapped to a bench with a black collar around his neck. Ichigo cringed to himself as he saw the surgical impliments, now sparkling clean and ready for use, lined up on a table beside him. Hajime's belt was there too, waiting to be examined. The demon was naked and wild eyed, and Ichigo immediately went to the collar.

"I'm going to get you out of here." He assured the albino, but there was something in Hajime's eyes that he didn't like. Frowning at the malignant stare, he went to work on his collar. Fortunately, it wasn't that hard to remove, and pretty soon it popped free. "Now I'll – ah!" Dark power flooded the room as Hajime ripped apart his bonds with frightening ease. Then darkness exploded from the albino. It didn't touch Ichigo – it couldn't, that would be a violation of Hajime's bonds – but the teen felt a stab of fear as he looked at Hajime's released form.

Dark red light shone down from above, lighting them both, and Ichigo looked up to see the sky opening up. His heart clenched as he realized a portal was forming. Hajime was summoning up his demon princes. Looking around frantically, he found Urahara's belt. It had been blasted away but was still unharmed. As he grabbed it, he heard Hajime start to rant.

"I'm going to raze this place to the ground!" His rasping voice was cold, and particularly inhuman. "I will feast on their hearts! I will – " Ichigo had to stop listening as Hajime began to detail all the things he would do, many of which were absolutely grotesque. What was wrong with him? Why was he acting like this?

"HAJIME!" He screamed, trying to force the belt into the albinos' hands. "You need to put this on!" But he hadn't phrased that as an order, and Hajime sneered.

"Why, master?" He said that word with such hatred that it took Ichigo's breath away. "Don't you think they should get the punishment they so richly deserve?" Ichigo stared into mad black and gold eyes, and finally realized what he was seeing.

"Hajime!" Ichigo didn't know how to fix this. He was talking to a demon, not the person he knew and loved. Then his gaze dropped to the holy bonds. They were tattered and worn, patchy and barely there. He wanted to touch them, needed to touch them. Ichigo reached out a hand, then hesitated.

_If you love something, you have to let it go._ Ichigo looked at the bonds and knew one single tug would break them. It would hurt Hajime, but then he would be free. But what would he do? _Do you trust him to do the right thing?_

"…Yes." He whispered. He trusted Hajime, trusted that he would get a grip on himself, that he wouldn't give in to this madness. So he grabbed the cuff around the demon's throat and before Hajime could speak or move, he gave it a tremendous yank.

The holy bond parted and the albino screamed in pain, arching as his cuffs and chains exploded into nothingness. He reeled away, gripping the table to stay upright. Ichigo swallowed and began putting the belt on him. Hajime didn't resist, just touching his shoulder as Ichigo snapped the black leather in place. The red light immediately began to fade.

"Ichigo?" Hajime sounded dazed, but when Ichigo looked up he saw something so much more human in his face. "You… freed me?"

"Yes. Now c'mon, we have to get out of here." From the shouts, Mayuri's men were approaching rapidly. Hajime steadied himself and squared his shoulders.

"No." Ichigo blinked at him, but Hajime sounded more like himself. "We need to make a statement, Ichigo. They can't just do this to us and get away with it." His rasping voice was hard but rational. "Let's go find the Soutaichou." Hajime gripped his hand and called on his bankai. "Dulce Ruina." The globes flowed upwards, widening the hole Ichigo had made and raising a few screams as they tore through more plaster and concrete. "Let's go." Hajime flew through the air, Ichigo close behind.

He wasn't sure what Hajime had in mind, but he trusted the demon.


	15. Hajime vs Kenpachi, Round One

Hajime wasn't certain what he was doing, but he knew he had to do it fast.

Disregarding everything else, he used his bankai and demonic powers to clear a path. He wasn't trying to kill anyone, or even seriously injure them, although he didn't much care if they were wounded. He just wanted them out of the way. He needed to reach the brightest spark in Soul Society, the intense reiatsu he had identified as the soutaichou. And close to it was a feeling he knew all too well, the scientist who had tortured him.

Despite everything, Hajime knew he wasn't likely to get justice for that. He was sure the cretin had been acting on his orders. But that wasn't his main goal, not anymore. Hajime stole a glance at Ichigo. The teen was fighting shoulder to shoulder with him, his expression one of steely determination. It made him feel good, to have that power beside him.

And that was good, because Hajime was feeling almost naked without his holy bonds. As much as he'd hated and resented them, they had been his shield and his security. He would always return to the balls, no matter how badly he was damaged. He would always be reborn, in time. And he'd learned to use the impenetrable chains to shield himself from attacks.

That was all gone now, and Hajime knew the danger he faced in Soul Society. Weapons of blessed silver and meteorite iron could destroy his body, but they did not touch his soul. That soul could still pass over, still go to Soul Society or be condemned to Hell. But if he died on a soul reaper's blade, his soul would be injured as well. He would die as a shinigami and go to wherever souls went when they awaited rebirth.

Several people suddenly appeared in front of them, including an old man with a beard. Hajime stopped, and placed a hand on Ichigo's shoulder. But the teen was holding back. Presumably, he could recognize the Captain's haori's. And even if he couldn't, he could surely recognize Byakuya. He was looking at them with a decidedly unamused expression.

There were too many taichou's to fight, but Hajime knew they could run. Ichigo was incredibly fast and his demonic version of quick running was nearly as fast. That wasn't the same as the quick step he used in combat, that was quite a bit slower but more flexible. Hajime grimaced at the thoughts. He needed to talk to these people.

"I demand justice!" He shouted, his voice carrying easily, even over the chaos they had left behind them. There was a pause and he could feel the shinigami's lack of understanding. He shoved back his mask, letting it rest on his hair, and favoured them with a glare. Perhaps his more human face would help their minds. "You had no right to do this to me, to kidnap me and experiment on me." He snarled, then sensed a movement behind him.

Hajime turned instantly, but there was no time to get his sword into position. Instead he lifted his arm to block the attack. He expected it to hurt, expected to see his armor bend and give under the attack, but instead something happened that shocked him. A shield of pure silver and white popped into existence, mist flowing from his arm. The shinigami's attack was stopped completely and Hajime found himself looking into grey eyes. It was hard to tell which one of them was more surprised.

"Holy power?" Hajime muttered. The shield was formed of the same stuff as his bonds. Had the gods given him a gift, when he'd been freed? But whatever it was, it was his, and he body slammed the shinigami woman with it. She jerked backward and was about to come at him again when a voice behind him called her to heel.

"Sui-Feng, enough!" Hajime let her go, turning his attention back to the taichou in front of him. Ichigo had been guarding his back for him, but they hadn't moved, waiting on their Soutaichou. "What rights do you think you have here, demon?" The old man rumbled, his voice stern. Hajime scowled, and wished he could show them his shinigami soul. But he couldn't, not now. It was impossible in Soul Society anyway, but if he left his body now there would be no way to restrain his demon body. He would never be able to leave it again.

"I have the same rights as any shinigami." Hajime spat, and sent a hateful glare to the painted scientist. He would gladly see the man dead, but he might be useful right now. "As that man can tell you. He's spent enough time prodding at my soul!" Hajime rubbed his chest, remembering the pain of those tests. He hated that kind of pain more than anything.

"Mayuri?" Byakuya was the one to speak. "Is he telling the truth? Does he have a shinigami soul?" The shinigami kept their attention on the demon, but Hajime could tell they were paying close attention to the scientist.

"Tch." He said, clearly torn between his desire to keep his test subject and his honesty about the results of his tests. "Yes… yes, he has a shinigami soul. But I wasn't done testing him yet!"

"Yes, I KNOW. You told me all about it." Hajime snarled, highly irritated. "By the way, I did not appreciate that. Knowing why you were dissecting me made it worse!" Then he had to put out a hand to catch Ichigo's shoulder. "Ichigo." The teen had been about to attack Kurotsuchi. Which, while an excellent idea in some respects, would not help them at all right now.

"He did what to you? Hajime, let me go!" Ichigo was furious, glaring at the scientist but Hajime just tightened his grip.

"I've had worse." That was true, mainly because those torments had lasted longer. Ichigo had cut this one short, or it might have made it into the top five. It had already gotten into the top ten. "Calm down. I can let it go – I'm sure he was working on orders – " Hajime shot a sharp look at the soutaichou, who just looked at him calmly. "But I want some kind of assurance that this will never happen again."

"Yet, you are extremely dangerous." The soutaichou said and Hajime crossed his arms, glowering. "And this boy is dangerous as well." Ichigo was scowling, his sword pointed down but ready to come up at a moment's notice. Hajime wasn't really surprised they'd included him. A teenager achieving a bankai was pretty unusual, under any circumstances.

"Yet, if he has the soul of a shinigami, he does have certain rights." Byakuya said and Hajime blinked. He hadn't been expecting support from that quarter. "And tormenting him is certainly not acceptable." He added, glancing at Mayuri, who returned a look of flat disgust.

"It's for science. And I still don't have an anaesthetic that works!" He protested but the soutaichou ignored the byplay, giving Hajime a considering look.

"We will agree to leave you alone if you agree to never enter Soul Society again." The old man finally said and Hajime scowled. He had a huge problem with that.

"No." He said flatly, meeting Yamamoto's gaze. "Ichigo is human, he will die someday. I will not be separated from him." Ichigo's hand touched his shoulder then and Hajime gave him a quick glance, smiling at the look on his face. "And if this demon body dies to meteorite iron or blessed silver, my soul will go to Soul Society whether I like it or not." He wasn't going to agree to something he simply could not hold to. Yamamato frowned, considering his options. One of them obviously included attacking and killing them, but Hajime thought he wasn't going to take it. Together, he and Ichigo could raze half the Seireitei to the ground. Especially if he called up the demon princes, and if they attacked his belt was coming off. He might be compassionate but he wasn't crazy.

"In that case… We will test you. If you agree to become substitute shinigami, we will take no other actions against you." Yamamoto said and Hajime tilted his head to one side, thinking about it.

"Why not just shove a leash up my ass?" He said sourly. He knew exactly what those badges did. "Okay, I guess, but I can't use it to leave my body. Now that I'm free of my bonds, my soul can never leave my body again." That would make fighting hollows a bit problematic, unless he wanted to get a really interesting reputation around town. Of course, did he really care? Hajime wasn't sure about that.

"We can supply you with memory modifiers." Byakuya said and Hajime nodded. He was familiar with them from Urahara's shop, but he hadn't tried to use one.

"That'd help." He could make people forget a flying albino. Hopefully no one would get it on record, which was possible in the world of digital cameras. "So we've got a deal?" There was a pause before the soutaichou nodded solemnly. "Okay. Can you send us home already?" He didn't want to reveal the fact that they could create portals. He was pretty sure they didn't know, and it could be useful someday.

"I will escort you – " Byakuya started to say before a massive reiatsu flared. Hajime whirled as Ichigo flinched. A huge taichou was standing behind them, hovering in the air and grinning.

"Leaving so soon? You owe me a fight, Demon King!" He said with a harsh laugh and Hajime winced, glancing at Mayuri. The scientist was almost vibrating with his excitement at the revelation.

"What the Hell? Why should I – huh?" Hajime paused as Ichigo touched him on the shoulder.

"Sorry, but I kind of promised him a fight with you." He said apologetically and Hajime blinked. Promised a fight?

"What kind of a person wants a fight with a Demon King?" He asked out loud, then shrugged. Clearly, this taichou was that kind of person. "Fine, it seems I have to. Is there any safe place for this? Because I'm not holding back, much." He wouldn't release his princes, but that was about it. "And who are you?"

"Zaraki Kenpachi. I've heard you're called Hajime." Hajime nodded as the towering taichou grinned. "We have a practice yard. C'mon, I can't wait to see what you can do!" Behind them, Hajime heard Mayuri saying something about monitoring equipment. He quickly gave the scientist an upraised finger before following Kenpachi.

When they got to the practice field, the entire 11th Division was already there. Presumably, they'd known what was going down. Hajime was a little uncomfortable with the audience, but at least the shields he sensed over the field would keep the damage to a minimum. And Mayuri and his flunkies were already energetically setting up some kind of monitoring equipment, which made Hajime sigh.

"I am never taking up science as a career." He said to himself. This was just too creepy. "Hey! What happens if I kill you?" He asked as he lifted Dulce Amor, the charms on her hilt tinkling in the breeze. Zaraki grinned at him, resting his long sword on his shoulder.

"You become the next taichou of the 11th." He said and Hajime curled his lip in disgust at the thought.

"…Ew. Can I pass?" He said and Kenpachi laughed before pointing his sword at him.

"Worry about the fight first, demon!" Hajime pulled down his mask and then the battle was on.

As their blades clashed, Hajime got a feel for the other man's strength, and it was immense. It wasn't going to be enough to beat him, though, not by a long chalk. And that made him deeply suspicious. He'd learned a long time ago that if something seemed too easy, it probably was.

"Are you holding out on me, Kenpachi?" Hajime questioned as his blade ripped a slash in the other man's shoulder. The long blade clashed on his armor but couldn't penetrate, although it did damage the surface and leave a long groove. "You'll need to show me everything you have to defeat me! Dulce Muerte!" His shikai drove the taichou back, and Hajime blinked as he laughed wildly.

"If that's what you want, demon!" Then he ripped off his eyepatch and Hajime jumped back as his power soared.

"Holy fuck!" Hajime exclaimed as golden reiatsu filled the training grounds. Then he tried frantically to dodge, but it was too late. The left side of his mask and the armor on his arm shattered, as the force of Kenpachi's reiatsu hit him like a wrecking ball. He heard Ichigo yell something, but there was no time for him to listen. All he could do was react, and Dulce Amor clashed with Kenpachi's sword, just barely keeping the long blade away from him.

Hajime was forced onto the defensive, and Zaraki grinned widely as he forced the demon back. But then he rallied, summoning the full force of his demonic powers in a burst of black and red fire. That drove the towering taichou back as gold clashed with the essence of darkness. Their blades rose sparks on each other, and Hajime could hear the other blade screaming as they fought. Why wasn't he working with his zanpakuto? And why was Zaraki causing it pain? Hajime caused Dulce pain, but that was due to his nature and he never liked forcing it on her.

Hajime swore as another grove was notched in his armor, and he felt the dark stuff creaking warningly. It would only defend him so far, and the armor on his chest was close to shattering. Kenpachi grinned as he watched a bit of that darkness fall away, revealing pale skin.

"Do you have anything more to show me, Demon King?" He taunted and Hajime grinned, behind his broken mask.

"Do I?" He taunted right back before calling upon his the shinigami side of his nature. "Red Fire Cannon!" The ball of red light flew at Kenpachi, who dodged it easily… and ran into Hajime's second attack, which he'd used no incantation for. That weakened it considerably, but it had been a higher level kido to begin with and Kenpachi was blasted back.

"Fucking kido wielders!" Zaraki was not pleased and Hajime grinned again. As he'd suspected, this lunatic had no skill with kido. And after thousands of years of practice, Hajime was a master of the art.

Things got interesting then, as Hajime held back and threw kido after kido after a more and more infuriated Kenpachi. The taichou kept trying to bring him back into melee combat, but Hajime would have none of it, taking his advantage and running with it. Then he decided to try to put an end to things.

"Chains of the Gods!" He called upon the holy power then, hoping the gods would grant him another boon. That was the power that had first let a priest capture him, so long ago. To his vague surprise the power answered, although the chains that erupted from the ground were gold, not the invincible silver he was used to. That worried him but Hajime took the chance anyway, diving at Kenpachi with his Dulce Amor leading the way.

Hajime's eyes widened as the taichou grinned. He tried frantically to abort his charge as one of the chains shattered, but it was too late and that deadly blade swept for him. The silver shield saved him, catching that sword and holding it away, but then Kenpachi broke the rest of the bonds and a fist hit him in the face, shattering what was left of his mask. Hajime was knocked away and hit the ground, coming up in a roll.

The two opponents stood facing each other for a moment. Zaraki was looking rough, cuts and bruises marring his skin, but Hajime was not much better off. His mask was gone, the armor on his left arm was gone, and patches were flaking off his chest. Blood was dripping from a thin cut on his left cheek, and more was dripping onto the ground from various lacerations. The ribbon for his hair had been lost, somewhere in the fight, and it was flowing behind him freely, lightly dappled with blood. Hajime panted softly, his chest moving as he looked at Kenpachi. He was breathing heavily too.

"Can we call this a draw?" He asked without much hope. He honestly wasn't sure who was going to win this duel. But Kenpachi just laughed.

"The hell we will! Let's finish this!" He lifted his sword and summoned his power in a rush of gold. But Hajime noticed that shattering the chains had drawn down his powers appreciably. Lifting his own sword, he called on all of his power. Dulce Amor sang to him as he called on his bankai.

"Dulce Ruina." He said calmly, taking all three of the globes and condensing them into a pinprick of light at the end of his sword. This was the most devastating form of his bankai, but one that could easily backfire and flow over him. He'd nearly killed himself with that, once upon a time. Then they both moved.

The two powers collided in an explosion of gold, white, black and red. The power hit the shields, which held, but just barely against the immense collision. Dust obscured everything and there was murmuring and pointing from the watchers.

Hajime was vaguely aware of the immense pain in his gut. Dulce Ruina had deflected Kenpachi's strike, but the powerful man had punched through his armor, deep into his body. But what held his attention was his zanpakuto.

"Oh, my Dulce." Hajime said softly as he looked at the broken blade. The other half of it was embedded in Zaraki's chest. "I'm sorry." The hilt fell out of his limp hand as Kenpachi withdrew his sword in a welter of gore. The world spun around him as Hajime hit the ground with a wet smack. He was vaguely aware of the tinkle of bells, someone falling to the ground beside him, and Ichigo's anguished cry.

Then, there was nothing.

* * *

Hajime woke up remarkably free of pain.

That was explained by the bag of liquid someone had thoughtfully fixed on the wall beside him, going into his veins through a large needle. Hajime blinked at it, feeling vaguely disconnected yet surprisingly lucid.

"He said they didn't have an anaesthetic that worked on me." He said, blinking at that bag. The liquid inside was an odd greenish color. "Huh." Had Mayuri managed to come up with an anaesthetic? He'd said it wasn't a priority but that didn't mean he hadn't been working on it. Whatever it was, Hajime was grateful and let his eyes fall closed for a moment. He wasn't tired, though, and he opened them again to glance around.

He was in a very neat room that reminded him of Isshin's clinic. There was his bed, some arcane monitoring equipment, and the quiet drip from whatever was in the bag. All rather comforting, really. Hajime yawned, trying to sit up and finding that while he might not be in pain, his body was still well aware of its injuries. Flipping down his blanket, he grimaced at the wound in his stomach. Healing kidos had clearly been applied, but unlike Mayuri's dissection, which had left his innards intact, Kenpachi's strike had torn through everything. It was going to take much longer for this to heal.

"Ichigo?" He called, wondering if the teen was anywhere nearby. And where was he? This was still Soul Society, he was sure of it.

"Hajime?" Came the muffled reply and to his relief, the door opened and Ichigo stepped into the room with a smile. "You're finally awake!"

"Mmm?" Hajime sighed in pleasure as the teen bent over him and pressed a kiss against his temple. "How long have I been out?" He asked, running his tongue along his teeth. His mouth tasted like dried blood. Not very pleasant.

"Two days. Are you feeling okay?" Ichigo glanced at the IV drip. "That creepy guy came up with that for you, he said it would take away the pain. And the lady captain, Unohana, checked it and said it wouldn't hurt you." Ichigo sounded deeply suspicious of Mayuri, which Hajime approved of.

"It's working great. Wasn't worth the cost, but it is great." Hajime assured him and Ichigo looked relieved. "So what's been happening?"

"Well, I've been sparring with the 11th." Ichigo said, taking a seat beside him and reaching out to take his hand. Hajime met his eyes and smiled at the warmth in those chocolate brown orbs. "Kenpachi woke up yesterday. He says we're both in his unit." Ichigo grimaced as Hajime blinked. "He says that I might have lied to get into the Seireitei, but he's not letting me back out of it. So as soon as I die, he's getting me and you'll have to come too."

"Oh… joy. Just tell him I'm not doing that again. Once is enough." Hajime glanced around and was relieved to see Dulce Amor, fully recovered and hung up on the wall. "Right Dulce?"

_Enough for a lifetime. That really hurt. You owe me a box of chocolates for that._ The zanpakuto pouted and Hajime laughed.

"I'll make sure to stick your tip into one. When will we be able to go home?" Hajime asked Ichigo, who grimaced.

"Unohana says it will be at least two more days. You almost had your guts hanging out." He said, a bit too frankly, and Hajime sighed at the image. "And that's actually very fast, you're healing well." Ichigo trailed his hand down, lightly touching the bandages and Hajime hummed softly with pleasure before catching his hand.

"Ichigo, I want to thank you." He said softly, meeting his lovers' eyes again. "Thank you for freeing me. It must have been a terrible chance to take, at the time." He'd been almost completely maddened. If the shattering bonds hadn't brought him to his senses, he might have attacked Ichigo. The teen squeezed his hand gently.

"I had to. I love you, Hajime." He said simply and the demon swallowed at the honest feeling in those three words.

"I love you too." He said and Ichigo bent down, carefully hugging him. Hajime put his free arm around the teen, smiling in pleasure.

Soul Society had agreed to leave them alone, and he would eventually heal. They were going to be alright.


	16. A Deal with Kon

"No." Hajime repeated as he carefully gave his attention to the omelet he was making. Today, he was trying out his fledgling skills in Japanese cuisine and making sushi. Making a sweet, square omelet was quite new to him and he wanted to get it right.

"Please nii-san?" Of course, it would have been much easier if Kon wasn't bothering him. Hajime lowered his gaze to the stuffed toy and glared at it, irritated. He wasn't sure where Ichigo had found the silly little lion toy from, but the mod soul within it could be excruciatingly annoying.

"I said no!" He snarled, flipping his omelet and hoping the creature would go away. Hopes that were not to be fulfilled.

"But it would be so beautiful! A dream come true! Nii-san, please, just for me?" Kon pleaded and Hajime ignored him, concentrating on the food. "Please? Please please please please please please please please –"

"Ah! Fine! Fine! I'll do it, just shut up!" Hajime finally exploded. "I should never have mentioned I could do this." He muttered as he took a step back and called on his powers.

Things were quite a bit different, now that he was free. Many things he'd previously had no control over now came easily to his hand, like his appearance. Before, it had been set by the balls as a pale reflection of his master. Now, he could alter it in any way he pleased. He was already giving his normal appearance a tiny bit of customization, but what Kon was requesting was something quite different. Sighing to himself, Hajime rooted through his memories and called up the time he'd served the evil priestess. He'd been her lackey for a very long time, and his appearance from that period was embedded in his memory.

There was a whisper of white mist and then his body changed. Hard muscles turned into soft, lithe curves and black jeans and t-shirt became a black and gold sari. This particular sari was cut and fixed to reveal perfectly formed, ghostly white breasts. Hajime glanced down at them, feeling slightly distasteful. His mistress had never had any compunction about using her charms, or his for that matter, in her quest for power.

"There. Are you happy?" He asked, his voice still odd and rasping but female in character. Sighing, Hajime went back to the omelet, flipping it onto a plate, then yelped as something furry gripped his leg. "Get off me you little pervert!" Hajime snarled, turning and stepping back so his hair didn't end up some place it shouldn't. Like this, it was even longer than in his released form, a huge, thick braid.

Kon let go of his leg, to his relief, but that relief turned to shock as the mod soul launched himself up with a yell. Something about the fulfillment of his fantasies? Either way, Hajime was not having any of that. Scowling, he planted an elbow onto the head of the mod soul, knocking him onto the ground and stepping on him.

"S-So heartless! My nii-san!" Kon was saying when the front door opened. Hajime glanced up as Ichigo and Uryu stepped inside.

"Uh…" Ichigo stared as Uryu adjusted his glasses, blinking. Hajime cursed as he realized the sight he was presenting. "Hajime?"

"It's me." He said, quickly altering back to his normal form. Kon sobbed at the loss of his dream woman and Hajime kicked him across the room, to Ichigo's and Uryu's amusement. "I was just trying to get him to shut up, but it went bad."

"You shouldn't humor him Hajime, it only makes him worse." Uryu said, setting his bag down. "You're very beautiful like that, though." He added and Hajime glowered.

"Yeah… except that that body belonged to the most evil bitch to ever be consigned to Hell. Would you like to stay for supper? I'm making sushi." He'd made plenty of food and Ishida smiled.

"If you wouldn't mind." He said and Hajime wondered how badly things were going between him and Ryuken. But since he'd been a large part of the reason for their problems, he wasn't going to ask. Setting out the plates he absently put his foot out as Kon tried to attach himself to his leg again.

"I'm starting to rethink this whole gigai idea." Hajime said as he glanced down at the plushy. He was saving up money to get Kon his own body, a real human body to call his own. He'd started before he really knew the mod soul as anything but a despised creation. Now he'd gotten to know him rather too well and was questioning the wisdom of the whole enterprise. Kon started to cry and beg for forgiveness and Hajime sighed, scooping him up and depositing the stuffed toy on his shoulder as he set the table. That was how he normally carried Kon around, these days.

"I'm afraid it's too late for that. You already promised, and you won't go back on it." Ichigo said and Hajime nodded ruefully. He was rarely a liar, and in addition to being a complete pervert about his female form Kon idolized him and called him nii-san. He wouldn't hurt the little mod soul that way. "Hey, Hajime, I was wondering something. Demons feed on pain and death, right?" Hajime nodded as he carefully sliced some fish. "And when you were in the balls, you fed on my reiatsu, right?"

"Yes." Hajime said, wondering where this was going. He checked the clock and saw that Isshin and the others probably wouldn't be back for another fifteen minutes. That should give him plenty of time to form the sushi.

"So what are you feeding on now?" There was a bit of tension in the teen's voice and Hajime glanced up, surprised, to see Uryu frowning. Kon tugged on his ear with one soft paw.

"I know my nii-san wouldn't do horrible, terrible things! He's the best nii-san ever!" The stuffed toy proclaimed and Hajime couldn't help but smile at the endorsement. "But how are you feeding, nii-san?"

"Mostly on you, Ichigo." Hajime said easily. He wasn't the least bit ashamed of what he was doing. "You constantly put out energy, so it's easy for me to absorb it. And the balls only took my natural channel and used it in a different way. Basically, living in the balls taught me how to feed without harming. I have been feeding on your friends as well." Hajime admitted and Ichigo looked a bit disturbed. "But only to gauge what kind of meals I could get from them. Uryu could support me for a good length of time, but no one else." Chad, Orihime and Tatsuki could only offer him snacks unless he was willing to torture them. Which was something Hajime would never do. "I discovered something interesting, though. I don't actually need to feed at all." Both the teens blinked at him and Hajime smiled as he continued. "I generate my own reiatsu, through my shinigami soul. If I'm willing to sacrifice most of my shinigami powers I can keep my demonic half fed. I'm much weaker, though."

"Well, that's a relief. So you'll be fine if we have to be separated for a while." Ichigo commented and Hajime nodded.

"I can't imagine why we'd be separated for that long, though." He wasn't about to let Ichigo get away from him, that was for sure. Not now that he'd found true love.

Then everyone was home and Hajime smiled as he put out the sushi. He'd made it very well, although he was no sushi chef, and the family was quite pleased with his newest addition to his culinary skills. As he ate and chatted with the family, an idea occurred to him. Hajime turned it around in his mind, wondering if Kisuke could make it work, and glanced at the plushy on his shoulder.

He would have to ask Kon about that later.

* * *

"Please Kon? Just for me?" Hajime said coaxingly to the obstinate plushy. Kon was facing away from him, his arms crossed over his chest.

"No!" Kon said and Hajime sighed. He'd tried appealing to the toy's goodwill first, but apparently that goodwill was almost nonexistent when compared to his terror of scientists and Urahara in particular.

"He won't hurt you Kon, I promise. And I really need this. Someone almost caught me on a cell phone last week." Hajime still felt a bit bad about taking the phone and breaking it, but he really didn't need more videos of a flying albino getting around. The cosplay one was bad enough, if this kept going on someone from the government might come to investigate him. Heaven knew where that might lead. The memory modifiers were helping, but not enough.

"No!" Kon said again and Hajime bit his lip. It was time to bring out the big guns.

"Kon." Hajime deliberately shifted to his female form and lay on the ground so his breasts were about eye level with the plushy. Kon heard the difference in his voice and turned to get an eyeful. The plushy's mouth dropped open and he looked like he was drooling. "I really, really need this." Hajime made his voice absolutely sinful. It wasn't the first time he'd seduced someone in this female form, not by a long chalk. His mistress had absolutely delighted in using her slave that way.

"N-N-Nii-san…" The plushy was clearly torn and Hajime saw he would need to up the ante a little.

"If you do this for me, I'll stay in this form for an entire day." Hajime said and saw the plushy wavering. "And clean the whole house."

"With me on your shoulder?" Kon said and Hajime sighed to himself before nodding. "Nii-san! I will do this for you!" And suddenly there was a plushy latched onto his boobs. Hajime grimaced but let him stay, patting him on the head.

"Good. Let's go over right now then, 'kay?" Hajime switched back to his usual form, to Kon's disappointment. "I can't walk outside like that Kon, it would start rumors, you know that." The neighbors thought they were weird enough already, they didn't need to add Hajime's 'sister' into the mix.

"Right nii-san!" Hajime took the plushy in one hand, carrying Kon as he walked. The shoulder thing was also a bit too weird for outside, especially since Kon easily kept his balance by himself. It looked pretty strange.

When they got to Kisuke's, the scientist was already working on some Soul Candy. Kon was clearly scared, and Hajime patted him on the head. As the end recipient of this experiment, he needed to stay for it.

"Hajime! Excellent, try this." Urahara handed him a pill. Hajime gently shoo'd Kon off his shoulder before taking the pill. He wanted the mod soul to be in a safe location in case the pill didn't work… or rather, worked only halfway.

That turned out to be a very good idea, because that was exactly what happened. Hajime swallowed the pill and was booted from his body, turning around just in time to feel the Soul Candy shatter under the weight of the demonic power that infused his body. His body tried to make a break for it, but Hajime darted forward quickly and got back inside it before it could take more than a step. Sighing in annoyance, Hajime rolled his shoulders to settle himself.

"It's going to need more work." Urahara glanced at Kon, who was looking petrified. "Don't worry, we won't be doing anything with you until we have a Soul Candy that works." He assured the mod soul, who suddenly spoke up.

"Wait, if you're getting a gikon to work, why do you need me nii-san?" He asked, which was a rather good question. And Hajime had a very good answer.

"Because normal Soul Candies gradually fade away. Which is fine, if all their inhabiting is a gigai, but this body of mine is really fucking dangerous. We don't need a demon king wandering around Karakura Town." Hajime said firmly, which settled the mod soul. But as Kisuke worked, he came up with another question.

"Nii-san? This body of yours… would I have your abilities when I'm inside it?" Kon asked and Hajime nodded.

"You would have to learn to use them, but my demonic abilities would be yours as long as you're inside it. All my shinigami stuff would go with my soul." The thought of giving Kon that much power worried him slightly. "Be very careful when you experiment. And remember there's a very big explosion when you release my full powers." Hajime cautioned the mod soul, who looked a bit daunted. "I can give you some lessons in the training area here." At least then Kon wouldn't trigger something by accident. That made him look a little relieved.

"Okay nii-san!" It took several hours, and many more failures, before Kisuke had a Soul Candy that could tolerate Hajime's demonic body. A Chappy demon was really sort of hilarious, but soon Kisuke finished modifying Kon to take the pressure. It was actually easier to do with the mod soul, since he was more durable than a Soul Candy.

"Okay, moment of truth." Hajime took a deep breath before popping Kon into his mouth. He would never forgive himself if this shattered the mod soul. But it didn't. Hajime popped out of his body, which looked around alertly.

"Wow, nii-san, this feels so strange!" Kon said, trying to adjust to inhabiting a demon. "I feel so… light!" He jumped and Hajime cursed as the mod soul hit the ceiling. "Ow!"

"Be careful! You're very strong, and you heal very quickly, but you can still feel pain. Kisuke, we need to get him into the training area." Hajime knew his own strength in both his demon body and his shinigami soul body, but Kon clearly had no clue. He was used to either a stuffed toy or Ichigo's human body, which was strong but still not as strong as Hajime's body. Ichigo's soul body could match him, but not the physical.

Training Kon to use his body was actually rather fun. Hajime quickly discovered that the mod soul could do a few things with it that he himself couldn't.

"How are you doing that? Is that your jumping ability combined with my demonic strength?" Hajime asked as the mod soul made his body jump an absurd distance. If he'd tried to do that, well, he couldn't have. He would have flown instead.

"Yes, nii-san! This body is incredible! Can I keep it?" Kon asked happily and Hajime had to laugh.

"I wish I could give it to you, but no, sorry." Hajime could feel the ties between his soul and his body and knew that after a long enough time, the separation would become painful. He would have to return to his body, like it or not. "It has some horrible disadvantages, anyway. You wouldn't really want it. Hey, how fast can you run?" That was Kon's other major enhancement. Sure enough, he was able to run very swiftly in Hajime's body. "Impressive, very impressive, but – ah." Hajime winced as Kon took a wrong step and went flying. The sound of a bone cracking was clearly audible, followed by the mod soul's squall of pain. Shaking his head, Hajime went to the mod soul to gently check him over. "You need to be more careful. Remember, this body heals quickly but it's not actually that much tougher than a normal human until you release my powers." That made him considerably tougher. And he was tougher than a normal human even before, just not tough enough to avoid broken bones if he was stupid.

"Can you show me how to do that nii-san?" Kon asked and Hajime hesitated. Putting that kind of power into Kon's hands struck him as similar to putting a loaded revolver into the hands of a toddler.

"Maybe some other time." He said, to the mod soul's disappointment. "Why don't we go home and show this to Ichigo? He'll probably be interested." Ichigo had once said that his soul body was beautiful. Hajime found that rather surprising, he'd always thought it was rather plain. But they could do some interesting things with their soul bodies, if they wanted to. That thought made Hajime smile for a moment.

"Okay!" Kon was extremely happy to get some time in a real body. Fortunately, Hajime wasn't too worried about his reputation. He was already notorious for being rather weird.

_This is very pleasant, I like it._ Dulce commented and Hajime nodded. The complete absence of demonic energy was a huge relief for the zanpakuto. _Are you going to use this to go to Soul Society?_

"That was the plan." Hajime wanted to see if anything had changed in five thousand years. He suspected it mostly hadn't, which was rather sad. Still, it would be worth checking out. "After seeing if Ichigo's interested in a quick shagging." He commented under his breath, making Dulce laugh.

It didn't take them long to get home, and when they did, Hajime immediately started putting together some supper. His body just lounged around on the couch as Kon watched his favorite TV shows. The plushy was left sitting beside him, nothing but a stuffed toy.

"Hey Hajime!" He looked up with a smile as Ichigo opened the door. But the teen was looking at his body, which hadn't stirred a bit. "Hajime?" Ichigo questioned as Kon blinked, realizing that query was probably for him. But the real Hajime laughed and waved.

"Over here!" He said cheerfully and Ichigo looked, his eyes going wide as he saw Hajime's soul body hard at work in the kitchen. "That's Kon. Urahara modified him to withstand my bodies' pressure." It was really quite impressive.

"Wow, that's incredible!" Ichigo said with a smile and Hajime almost purred as the teen dropped his bag and joined him in the kitchen, sliding an arm around his waist. "You really are beautiful like this. And I love how your clothing is blue." Hajime glanced down at himself at the reminder. He wasn't wearing a shirt – he'd never manifested with one, he wasn't sure why – and his pants were peacock blue with gold cuffs. It reminded him of the uniform he'd worn as a messenger for the temples. He'd never worn a shirt then, either.

"It's the same color as Dulce's sari." He'd noticed that a long time ago, and didn't think it was a coincidence. "Mmm." Hajime made a soft sound of pure pleasure as Ichigo kissed him, the teen's tongue exploring his mouth and claiming it for his own. "I still need to make supper." He reminded Ichigo, who pulled back with a sigh.

"Do you need any help?" He asked and Hajime put him to chopping vegetables. He was going to do a quick vegetable curry with a bit of tandoori chicken on the side. He'd already gotten the chicken in the oven and it would be done at just the right time.

"Um, nii-san?" Hajime looked up in surprise at the tone of Kon's voice. He sounded scared. "Could you take this body back, please? I feel… strange." Hajime grimaced as he set down his knife.

"You're having thoughts you don't like about killing and hurting people, aren't you?" He asked and wasn't the least bit surprised when Kon gave a hesitant nod. "That's the dark power of the demon body. It will try to warp you, but a soul is more powerful. With practice you can ignore it." Hajime was very good at ignoring it, although he did still sometimes go looking for trouble just because. "I'll take it back though." It probably wasn't a good idea to expose Kon to a lot of that demonic power all at once. He didn't have the power of a holy curse to protect him. "That's the other reason I don't want to use a Soul Candy, you're a lot more complex and able to resist." Hajime thought Kon could eventually adapt, but he wasn't sure what would happen to a Chappy. Soul Candies were very simplistic things. Hajime stepped back into his body and caught Kon's candy as it popped out of his mouth, and put it back into the stuffed toy.

"So when are you going to pay me back, nii-san?" Kon asked as he settled the toy on his shoulder again. Hajime thought about it a moment.

"This Sunday, I think. We don't have any plans and I have the day free." He would have plenty of time to fulfill his promise to the mod soul. Hajime checked the chicken as Ichigo dumped the sliced vegetables into the pot, and began adding the spices. "Where is everyone, anyway?" He asked the teen.

"Off visiting one of my cousins and their family. They might not be back for supper." Ichigo said and Hajime nodded. He could see why they'd been left behind. The rest of the Kurosaki clan might get a little suspicious about a pure white 'cousin' they'd never seen or heard of before.

"So they left you behind to keep me company? Excellent." Hajime said teasingly and saw Ichigo blush. Kon made a gagging sound and Hajime silently threatened to dump him in the curry. The toy clutched his ear to avoid an upset.

The meal turned out well and the chicken was delicious. A bit of rice with the curry made everything perfect, although Hajime added some hot sauce to his portion. He sometimes liked his food very hot. Kon took a seat on the table and joined the conversation, telling Ichigo all about how it had felt to use Hajime's body. Except for the dark power, he was really quite taken with it.

Karin, Yuzu and Isshin all came home after Hajime had cleaned up and put the food away. They'd already eaten, and insisted on changing the channel to Don Kanonji's show. Hajime and Ichigo both beat a hasty retreat to his room at that point. Ichigo didn't like the show at all, and while Hajime enjoyed it he really didn't want another bowl of popcorn over his head.

"Kon, take over my body for a moment." Hajime requested and the mod soul complied, slightly baffled. "I really want to make love to you like this…" He said and saw Ichigo smile as warm arms encircled him.

"I would love that, Hajime." Ichigo spoke in his ear. "That other body… it's you, but… this is the real you. It feels… special."

"Yes." Hajime whispered. It felt special to him too, mostly because Ichigo still wanted him in this body. Ichigo wanted all of him, body and soul. They kissed them, warmly, as Kon beat a hasty retreat and went to watch Don Kanonji's show. Hajime's pants were easy to get rid of, and Ichigo's clothing followed, falling into a pile on the floor. "Ma… Ichigo?" He'd almost called Ichigo 'master' again. But then, the habits of a lifetime would be hard to erase. "You remember what I told you about preparation?" He asked, a touch apprehensively. His demon body needed no preparation and Ichigo hadn't been thinking of other lovers, so he wasn't sure. The teen looked puzzled for a moment.

"Yes, but… oh. You can be hurt in this form?" He asked and Hajime nodded, swallowing a little. He wasn't a stranger to pain during sex, but it usually required… items, to give him pain during penetration. In his soul body it would be different. Ichigo could hurt him by accident. "I'll be careful." The teen said and Hajime nodded again, following Ichigo's lead and laying down on the bed.

They took things slowly then, gentle kisses followed by loving touches. The heat gradually built between them and the kisses became rougher, more demanding. Ichigo slid his tongue into Hajime's waiting mouth, exploring that warm cavern, and the demon's soul returned the favor, deeply enjoying the sensations. Warm hands slid down his taunt belly, exploring well defined muscles before they settled on the most sensitive part.

"Mmm, Ichigo." Hajime gasped out his name as he gripped the teen's shoulders, gazing into warm brown eyes as his lover stroked him. His hand was wet with lubricant and glided easily over his flesh, sending jolts of sensation through his body. "Feels… different…" Hajime murmured, almost overwhelmed by the feelings. He hadn't realized it, since his soul body had very rarely been used this way, but as good as sex was in his demon form the sensations were slightly… muffled. Probably because it was stronger and more durable than his soul, and now that he was making love in this body he could feel the difference.

That difference became painful as Ichigo began to prepare him. Hajime whimpered softly, sweat beading on his forehead as he tried to relax into that feeling. He was no stranger to anal sex, but it was still odd needing this, and he gradually got used to the burn. They kissed again as Ichigo added a second finger, then a third, carefully stretching him out. Then Hajime gasped as those questing fingers found a special spot.

"Nnn, Ichigo!" He couldn't help the sounds he was making, the breathy gasps and the needy mews, as Ichigo stroked his fingers over his prostate. Tears gathered at the corners of his eyes, but not tears of pain. No, he was crying because of how good it felt, how _loved_ he felt. "Ahn, take me, please…" He begged softly, wanting to feel his lover inside him. He felt Ichigo shudder against him at that soft plea.

"Hajime…" Ichigo whispered in his ear as fingers vanished and Hajime felt something hard and blunt pressing at his entrance. The stretch was painful, it had to be painful, but it was also good and he arched with a harsh mew as Ichigo seated himself inside. The teen paused for a moment, waiting for the pain to fade, but Hajime was having none of it.

"Please master, ah!" Hajime gasped out, forgetting that that was no longer Ichigo's title. But perhaps it was, in bed. The teen groaned in pleasure and began to move, slow and steady at first but gradually increasing the pace.

"You're warmer Hajime… softer…" Ichigo panted and Hajime nuzzled his cheek, capturing his lips for another kiss. He wasn't surprised that Ichigo could tell the difference, too. His demon body was much cooler. "Mmm… so good…" Confident that his lover was ready, Ichigo speeded the pace, taking him with a rough, powerful rhythm that made Hajime cry out in pleasure. Long, dark legs clamped tightly to the teen's waist, pulling him further into that accepting warmth.

"Ichigo." Hajime breathed out his name, completely undone with the pleasure. "Ichigo!" For the first time in a long time, he almost shouted a lover's name. Hajime honestly couldn't remember the last time he had been so vocal, but having Ichigo in his soul body was such an intense experience he had to let the world know. "Ah!" Pleasure wiped away thought, as Ichigo fisted his erection and pounded it in time with his thrusts. Hajime held back his orgasm, but it was a near thing, the pleasure coiling in his gut and demanding release. "Ichigo… nnnh!" It was finally too much, the pleasure was pushing him to the edge, and Hajime gave in to it. The coil in his gut snapped and he cried out as his seed spilled over Ichigo's hand. The teen made a sound of delight as Hajime's body tightened around him indescribably, and a few more quick thrusts brought him to his peak. Hajime lay limp, gasping, as he felt hot mortal power fill his body.

They lay tangled together for a time, just basking in the afterglow and the pleasure of being together. Then there was a knock on the door and Hajime lifted his head, feeling exhausted and sated.

"Um, nii-san, are you done? I think I've made a mistake with your body." That made Ichigo pull away as Hajime sat bolt upright. A mistake? "I can't make it change back…"

"Oh gods." Hajime muttered as he grabbed his pants, yanking them on. "What have you done?" He demanded as he opened the door. "Oh." Kon was standing in front of him in a decent approximation of his female form, but the boobs were too big. Much, much too big. There was a choked sound behind him before Ichigo laughed at the sight. "Indulging your fantasies, or are you just bad at the shifting?" If Kon was poor at imagining his other body, it could explain those breasts. They looked uncomfortable.

"Bad at shifting. I don't like them to be this big!" Kon did sound quite miserable and Hajime had to smile. "Please take it back nii-san?"

"Sure. I'll give you some instruction on how to change the body tomorrow." They hadn't gone into that much in the training area, but it could be very useful for Kon. And it wasn't too dangerous, unlike the full released form. Hajime settled back into his body with a sigh, catching the mod soul and looking around for the plushy.

"Oh, it must be back in the living room. Hopefully Yuzu hasn't done anything with it." Although if she had, she did have plenty of plushy's. Hajime didn't think Kon would mind a new body.

"Here, I'll go help you find it." Ichigo was pulling on his pants, but left his shirt off. "It's a bit early to go to bed anyway."

"Sure." Hajime said, pleased. He liked just being around the teen and it was always good to have a second set of eyes.

Sometimes, things could be hard to find.


End file.

Bleach, Adventure, Romance