Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Bleach Ficlets: Dare To Live ❯ 36 Confrontation & Questions ( Chapter 36 )

Authors Note: I don't own Bleach and make no claims on it. If I did, there'd be a whole hell of a lot of kinky shit going down.

 

36Confrontation & Questions

 

I knew I didn't have to hold Hisagi's hand all the way to Urahara's shop, but it felt nice to have his hand in mine and he didn't seem to mind. I was certain I wasn't misreading the signals Hisagi had been casually tossing my way either. I was pretty good at picking up on subtle signs of interest.

 

And I was interested.

 

Hisagi wasn't just a strong Shinigami, he had a very fine brain, too. In my opinion, that was much sexier than brawn in a person. We had so many things in common; it was easy to contemplate starting a relationship with him. It certainly didn't hurt anything that I could talk to him about one of my passions and not only have him understand what I was talking about, but actually share my interest in needlework.

 

His reaction over the mod souls was unexpected though. I hadn't seen that coming at all. Urahara'd never said a word about the standing order from Soul Society regarding the mod souls. Not that he particularly cared about Soul Society rules and orders, but one would think he would've said something at some point. I did wonder why Renji and Rukia never said anything, but perhaps they were only following Urahara's lead.

 

Hisagi let go of my hand once we reached the shop and pushed past me. He was obviously agitated over the whole mod soul issue and I hoped that this little confrontation didn't dissolve into a physical fight. It'd been my experience with Shinigami that resorting to the physical was almost always their preferred course of action. Hisagi didn't seem the type to react rashly, but one never knew what seemingly insignificant thing would push a person into irrational behaviour.

 

There wasn't a single person in the shop itself, so Hisagi made a bee-line for the door that lead to the living quarters. I followed a half-step behind Hisagi, fairly confident that he wouldn't do anything stupid or embarrassing; unlike some Shinigami I knew. The murmur of voices drew us to a room with several people seated around a low table, drinking tea. I expected to see Renji but Chad and Orihime were a surprise.

 

“Ah, Hisagi, Ishida, what brings you two to my humble shop?” Urahara asked with a coy smile over the top of his ever-present fan.

 

Hisagi crossed his arms and fixed Urahara with a hard look. “You have mod souls here and I want to know why this hasn't been reported to Soul Society.”

 

“My, my, direct as ever I see,” Urahara chuckled. “Is there some reason I shouldn't have mod souls here?”

 

“Since you somehow seem to know everything that goes on in Soul Society, I'm sure you know about the standing order to report all mod souls for destruction. Renji and Rukia know about the mod souls and I know they're aware about the order. Every Shinigami knows about it. Why haven't they reported the presence of the mod souls like they should've? Did you tell them not to and why would you do that?”

 

“Who says they didn't tell their superiors?” Urahara asked with secretive smile as he gestured to the tea pot and indicated we should take a seat.

 

Manners had me sitting down with a politely murmured thank you. I tugged Hisagi to sit next to me when it appeared that he was going to remain standing to continue his questioning of Urahara. He sat stiffly next to me and waited with barely concealed impatience for Urahara to pour the tea and pass us cups. Orihime looked between Hisagi and I with a puzzled expression for several seconds before she broke into a beaming smile, giggled softly and gave me a discrete thumbs up. People thought Orihime was an air-head but I knew better. True, she did have her moments, but she was actually very perceptive to other people's moods and relationships; the exception being the fact that Ichigo was gay and could never feel for her the way she did for him. I didn't think it would be gentlemanly to point that out to her, regardless of my first-hand knowledge of Ichigo's preferences.

 

“The mod souls need to be reported to Soul Society, Urahara. It's not for you to decide what rules to obey or ignore,” Hisagi stated firmly ignoring the tea in front of him.

 

Urahara opened his mouth to speak only to have Renji beat him to it. “Captain Kuchiki knows. Captain Ukitake, too. Even Vice-captain Matsumoto and Captain Hitsugaya know. It's not a secret, Hisagi.”

 

Hisagi frowned. I'm sure that was the last thing he'd expected to hear. He stared down at the table top, thinking. He looked up just as Nova walked in with a tray of cookies and narrowed his eyes. I felt disaster looming on the horizon and hoped my assessment of whether or not Hisagi would resort to violence was right. Nova set the tray down and sat between Chad and Renji, his hands folded in his lap, his eyes down-cast. From his demeanour, I had no doubts that Nova had heard the previous conversation.

 

“But why, if several of the Captains know about the mod souls, are they still here roaming around? I don't understand. An order is an order. Even if Soul Society is pretending to ignore the fact that several mod souls are loose in the real world, I still can't see them turning a blind eye to the fact that one of the Vice-Captain's of the Gotei Thirteen is sleeping with one. They somehow seem to know everything that goes on here, so I can't see them not knowing about it. It's a huge conflict of interest if nothing else.”

 

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion at that point. Renji's reiatsu flared painfully strong, swamping the room. The part of Nova's face visible in his hood turned fiery red and he vanished, the action provoking a growl of anger from Renji. Orihime gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. Chad's normally neutral expression changed to one of shock and he turned wide eyes to Renji. Renji swore and lunged across the table grabbing a fistful of Hisagi's shirt and yanking them nose-to-nose. Hisagi retaliated by tangling a hand in Renji's hair, his lips pulling back into a nasty sneer that wasn't even remotely friendly. Urahara remained seated and utterly calm, his fan moving slowly back and forth, a smile teasing his lips like he'd expected this confrontation and been waiting for it.

 

“Who I sleep with is nobody's business but mine. Friend or not, leave it the fuck alone, Shuuhei. You don't see me running to Soul Society and telling everybody that you're trying to get into a Quincy's pants, do you?” Renji hissed.

 

I felt my face heat. I did not like my personal life hung out for everybody to stare at and debate over. It was one of the reasons that I appreciated my previous relationship with Ichigo. Neither one of us had felt the need to breathe a word of it to anyone. We liked our privacy too much and it was nobody else's business.

 

Chad's surprised gaze swung to my face. “I thought you and Ichigo were a couple. Did you guys break up?”

 

How the bloody hell did Chad know Ichigo and I had been seeing each other? I suppose it didn't matter in the grander scheme of things, but I now knew for sure that it was impossible to die of embarrassment. Orihime looked at me like I'd just kicked a sick puppy in the head. I saw denial in her eyes seconds before she stuttered out an apology and fled the room. I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. Maybe this was why my father didn't want me associating with Shinigami. Possibly he was trying to save me from the ulcers I was sure to get if I kept company with them. Although, that did beg the question of how he happened to know that little detail about keeping company with Shinigami.

 

Urahara snapped his fan closed. “I don't want you two breaking up my shop. If you're really determined to beat the daylights out of each other, feel free to use the underground training room. If you must know, Hisagi, I have a special dispensation for the mod souls to remain here from the Captain-General himself.”

 

We all turned to stare at Urahara. He smirked a little and flicked his fan open again, hiding his expression. I narrowed my eyes at him. I think he really got off on playing the man of many secrets. That was annoying as hell at the same time it made me curious to find out what he knew. While staring hard at him, I noticed something odd and completely out of place.

 

Urahara had a trace of not one, but two reiatsu clinging to him. Not only that, they were teasingly familiar. The amount of reiatsu was minuscule and I'd have likely never noticed it if I hadn't been giving him such an intense look. Frankly, I was surprised that I even spotted it given the way Renji's charged reiatsu was moving around the room. I frowned and tried to mentally sort out where I'd seen those reiatsu before and why they seemed to be centered over Urahara's heart. I could have sworn I knew them from somewhere but all the excess reiatsu in the room was hindering my ability to really focus on the infinitesimal amount of reiatsu centered over Urahara's heart. Urahara noticed my attention and surprise flickered briefly in his eyes.

 

“Renji, I suggest you go find Nova and try to ease his embarrassment. He's not used to people talking about his personal life. Chad, I'd appreciate it if you went after Orihime and make sure she gets home safely. She's gotten a bit of a shock with the news that Ichigo and Ishida were a couple and she's probably going to be in a bit of a daze,” Urahara said with the firm tone of command in his voice that reminded all of us that he used to be a Captain and well versed in ordering people around.

 

Renji held onto Hisagi's shirt for a few more seconds before shoving away and stalking from the room. His angry reiatsu surged once before retreating with him. Hisagi clenched his fists on his thighs and I was impressed with his control. I could almost feel the tension in him but barely a trickle of his reiatsu escaped him during the entire confrontation with Renji. The little that did was cool and liquid feeling against my senses; quite different from Renji's flame-like reiatsu or even Ichigo's wild, electric tingle.

 

I liked it and thought I wouldn't mind experiencing it on a more personal, intimate level.

 

“I think it might be best if you and Ishida found someplace else to be for a while, Hisagi. I do believe Nova triggers all of Renji's protective instincts and judging by the feel of his reiatsu, he's not very happy with you and the threat he thinks you're making at the moment,” Urahara said as he rose from his seated position and gestured to the door.

 

Hisagi nodded and stood and I followed suit. I wanted to stay and question Urahara about the familiar traces of reiatsu clinging to him but it would have been the height of bad manners to stay when we were subtly being told to leave. I nodded and thanked Urahara politely for the tea before leaving.

 

Standing outside Urahara's shop, I was pleased when Hisagi took my hand again and gave it a quick squeeze before letting go. Regardless of how embarrassing it'd been for Renji to state so bluntly that Hisagi wanted in my pants, having that confirmed made my next course of action much easier to decide. I wasn't about to jump into bed willy-nilly with Hisagi but I wouldn't say no to some kissing and touching. I was actually looking forward to that quite a bit. Deciding that there was no time like the present, I fisted my hand in Hisagi's hair and pulled his head down for a fast kiss with just a hint of tongue. I let him go as quickly as I'd grabbed him and turned in the direction of my home. I smiled at him over my shoulder and motioned for him to follow me. He gave me a slightly lecherous grin and walked next to me, our shoulders touching every now and again.

 

As we walked back to my place my mind gnawed at the strange reiatsu around Urahara. I mentally shrugged my shoulders and reasoned that I could wait to question Urahara about the reiatsu thing. It was simply a matter of curiosity for me and highly unlikely to be some sort of earth shattering revelation.