Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Seireitei Monogatari ❯ The Thing's He's Carried ( Chapter 32 )

Title: The Things He's Carried

Pairings/Characters: Chad/Ishida, Mentions of Others

Warnings: Vague Spoilers, Fluff, Kissing

Rating: T

Words: 804
Description: There was a reason his arms were strong.

 

 

The first attribute people usually notice about him is his size. Chad admits that he is rather large for his age and, according to some, damn near indestructible. He has a strong body and a strong arm, one of which he has already pledged to Ichigo. And he plans on making it remain that way.

 

Still, he has a pair of arms, and Chad can't blame others when they automatically link him with the description “person who carries stuff.” He has two arms, after all.

 

It is the truth that he has spent a lifetime hauling random things from one end to the other. He doesn't mind it so much anymore. He merely accepts his lot in his life as he accepts everything else with a sort of calm that many around him don't seem to hold. Someone has to stay rational.

 

Thinking back on it now, Chad realizes that his arms have carried some pretty bizarre things… and people, for that matter.

 

Urahara-san's purchases and items are always the heaviest. And strangest as well. Chad never tries to look at them too closely for fear of things he doesn't understand. It's probably for the best. Sometimes, the former Shinigami's candy isn't really candy at all.

 

Ichigo has always been the bloodiest person he's carried. It always makes Chad feel guilty in some way, carrying the broken body of his closest friend. It reminds him that his strength still isn't enough and that he needs to train harder if he wants to keep his position guarding Ichigo's back.

 

Nova is the lightest of Chad's burdens and the easiest to get along with. The modified soul's quiet acceptance is much like Chad's own, and their silence can speak more words most people ever say aloud. Chad feels as if he has found a kindred spirit. He doesn't mind carrying Nova so much.

 

He remembers the guitar he used to carry on his back. It is the most unwieldy of his items, always swaying back and forth, weight shifting constantly. A part of him is glad that he finally decides to permanently leave it in his room, despite how much he enjoys playing. Anything that might hold him back in a battle is unnecessary at this point.

 

He thinks of Shibata, the boy who was once parrot and is now a boy again. He remembers carrying him, protecting him. Chad thinks that perhaps Shibata was the most dangerous of his burdens. But he also knows he wouldn't take back his choice to do so either. Shibata had been a reminder that his strength is good for something, to defend and not destroy. Sometimes, he needs that most of all.

 

He has carried Orihime a few times. She always smiles at him and thanks him kindly. She is the one who heals his wounds and laughs. She's even offered to cook for him out of gratitude, but he politely turns her down each time. Not even he is that courageous.

 

Once or twice, he has even lifted Ichigo's zanpakutou, feeling the shock of power in his fist. It is enough to make his knees shake, enough to open his eyes to the vast differences between the limit of his strength and the nonexistent one of his best friend.

 

It reminds him that he wants to close the gap, even if it keeps on widening beyond his reach. And yet, in some roundabout way, it also reminds him that even the strongest have weaknesses and someone has to be there to watch Ichigo's back. He is determined for that someone to always be him.

 

Still, out of all the things that he has burdened himself with, Chad is pretty sure that he enjoys carrying Ishida Uryuu the most. Time and time again, from one situation to another, somehow the Quincy keeps finding his way into Chad's arms. Not that he minds so much.

 

He always blushes and flails, making a general spectacle of himself simply for the sake of the indignity… or so he claims. Ishida protests loudly and tries to look offended, but Chad constantly notices that he never really tries to get away. And Chad admits that a part of him takes great satisfaction in how well Ishida fits in his arms.

 

He thinks that Ishida doesn't mind it so much either. And when he leans down and shuts the Quincy up by kissing him, he really believes it. A hand coils in his shirt, fingers clenching onto the fabric. And even the useless flailing stops.

 

While Chad knows eventually his arms are going to carry other things, some strange items that he knows he won't want to look at, he also knows that inevitably Ishida will end up in them again.

 

And he'll take full advantage every time.

 

Somehow, he doesn't think Uryuu will mind.

 

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