[Dicontinued] Fire and Ice

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Title: Fire and Ice

Author: BrucesGirl and R. Brightside

(Please look up Brightside-chan and rate and review her stories. It is because of her kindness that we were able to publish this story for you!)

Pairings: Kurosaki Ichigo/Kuchiki Byakuya (Hints of Other Pairings)

Summary: Ichigo is called to replace Renji as Vice Captain temporarily. Sparks fly between Byakuya and Kurosaki, and they aren’t necessarily the nice sparks.

Warnings: Yaoi, Anal, UST, Angst, Hot Man Sex

Disclaimer: We don’t own Bleach or Ichigo or Byakuya because we are not Kubo Tite. If we had a change to, however, we would steal Kubo-san and hide him in our basement.

Note on this Chapter: Here’s where Ichigo and Byakuya’s relationships gets a bit tricky. Seeing as how Byakuya’s only love that we’ve seen was Hisana (And he even treated her with an icy wind) we have to speculate on how he’d be with Ichigo. We’ll do our best to keep him in character, but that can’t be guaranteed. We appreciate the indulgence.

Chapter 4: The Rules of Engagement

“I’ve forbidden him to fight.” Byakuya appeared at the door of his room, seemingly unruffled, but the tiny girl tilted her head slightly and tried to feel out for his Riatsu. It was different. It wasn’t stone hard and ice cold as it usually was even though his facial features betrayed nothing different from the usual boring, mundane existence in Soul Society.

“In the event that he kills Zaraki-taicho, he would assume his position as Captain, and the human is not fit to be a captain.” Yachiru considered it for a moment before tilting her head at Ichigo.

“Ichi-nii-san, Ken-chan will be sad.”

Byakuya waved the girl away. “Tell him it was my decision. I am his captain.”

The pink haired girl nodded with a small frown. “Sou ka, Byakuya-kun. Ja ne!”

She disappeared before the Shinigami could reprimand her for calling him by such a familiar name again. Byakuya gazed at Ichigo. “As my Vice Captain, you will not have dealings with that war monger.” He turned and went back into his room without another word to Ichigo concerning the decision.

"Well, you can go fuck yourself, uptight shit." Ichigo mumbled under his breath, shunpo taking him to Zaraki's Riatsu. He wasn't going to pay any heed to the Kuchiki since the bastard hadn't been grateful or even vaguely respectful to him so far, despite waking him up from a nightmare and not killing him.

Byakuya watched him flash away, not surprised by the reaction but no less annoyed by it. He turned and entered his house, ignoring the tiny servants milling about the household as per usual. While his face held none of the annoyance inside of his heart, the servants who were overly sensitive to his needs, cowered away from him with exception of the blonde boy who was busy tending the flowers in the garden.

Zaraki met Ichigo in the school yard as promised, his Riatsu playfully menacing as always. The tall, scarred captain grinned at him, a predatory smirk. "So, the ryoka comes to fight me? Hasn't your captain to stay the hell away from me yet?"

"He can shove those words up his ass. I don't care what he says to me."

The 11th Division Captain laughed at him, and drew his Zanpaktou. "Well, then." The sword was lunged at Ichigo, and the battle commenced, Riatsu and cries of glee ringing through Soul Society.

Needless to say, Byakuya was rather pissed at the moment, but he ignored the pain in his body from his earlier skirmish with Ichigo, changed, and straightened his hair and latched Senbonzakura to his obi before flash stepping the Academy grounds and stopping on the roof to watch the fight. Ichigo hadn’t pulled his Bankai yet, and he couldn’t feel the Hollow Riatsu in him, so he figured this was a tension vent, however foolish that might have been.

He admired the sleek lines of the boy as he fought against Zaraki, and then, landing next to him on the roof, Shunsui and Ukitake landed with Hitsugaya, their eyes trained on the fight as well after feeling the heightened level of excitement and Riatsu from the Academy.

“I don’t get it.” Shunsui grumbled. “They are like children.”

Toshirou issued a growl at the older Shinigami and crossed his arms. “Kurosaki is pissed.” He noted. “But not at Zaraki.” He glanced up at Byakuya, but the beautiful captain’s eyes were trained on the boy in the courtyard. Had he been that beautiful when he’d fought with Byakuya?

The battle was mainly composed of the need to spill blood, and that it did, pouring from each of the fighting Shinigami in equal amounts. And although Ichigo was beginning to tire, a soft ache in his limbs, the adrenaline made him that bit more energetic. As angry as he was with Byakuya, the Hollow within him didn't awaken.

Zaraki was enjoying himself, finding the emotions flitting across Ichigo's face very amusing. The anger and frustration in his hazel eyes were so intriguing... he'd have to ask the substitute Shinigami about why he was so angry before he shredded him. The orange-haired teen ended the fight soon enough (being at least a half hour, maybe more) by holding Zangetsu's point against Kenpachi's neck, just enough to break the skin, but not to draw blood.

"We're done here, Zaraki-taicho."

Byakuya left as soon as the battle ended, his own feet carrying him to the cliff high above Seireitei…the very same cliff that Ichigo had saved Rukia on… split the scaffold on…and spilt Byakuya’s blood on. The very same cliff where the orange haired boy had asked him how he could be so cold to his own sister. He stood in the crater where Seireitei had first witnessed Ichigo’s Bankai, and he looked around himself with a slight amount of trepidation.

He could feel Ichigo’s Riatsu just as he was sure Ichigo could feel his, but he wasn’t sure that his presence on their old battle ground would even faze the boy. He stepped out of the crater and looked out over Soul Society, his nearly violet eyes catching the light of the sky and reflecting it sensually.

He looked down towards the academy. Byakuya hoped Ichigo wouldn’t find him here because he needed the time to himself to figure out why…why it felt so right for Ichigo to be his Vice Captain.

Ichigo hadn't followed Byakuya, and had instead taken to searching for food. When he'd eventually found some, it had been accompanied with a small shot of sake, which had turned his cheeks slightly pink, but he ate his onigiri and dango before leaving to think, in the same tree he'd been in the day before. He tucked his hands behind his head, looking up at the mountain.

He could feel Byakuya's Riatsu... and it was all to likely that the stoic captain was brooding over the day that they'd battled there. The teen wondered if he should go up there, but decided against it - after all, he was crowding the Kuchiki, if only slightly. The captain needed a wide diameter of space between himself and the next person.

After thinking quietly to himself, Byakuya made a decision that he rarely made. In rare instances when Renji was angry at him, he sought him out to discuss their problems, but he’d never given Ichigo a second thought. But the boy was his Vice Captain, and they would have to work together for the 6th squad to be in working order. He sought out the curling, good natured Riatsu and followed it slowly, his steps leading him to a tree in the office courtyard.

He glanced around, and then up, his eyes resting on a head of orange hair and a lean body. “Do not disobey me again, Kurosaki.” He called Ichigo by his name for the first time, and he looked away. “Let’s discuss…paperwork.” He offered. He turned and walked away from the tree towards the elaborate office, his scarf floating delicately behind him.

Was that respect he could faintly hear in that stoic voice? Hah. It seemed that Byakuya was actually trying to make an effort. Ichigo smirked to himself, jumping down from the bough he had been sitting on. Well, a discussion was fair enough. “Just tell me what to do.”

Ichigo’s voice was as good natured as his Riatsu, a (secretly triumphant) grin on his face. “If you can treat me with respect, Taicho, I’ll do the paperwork for you. It’s not that much to ask, is it?" The teen's voice held question - did Byakuya think it was too much to address him with respect, or would he be willing?

“You will earn respect from me, Kurosaki-fukutaicho.” He declared quietly. They entered the office and Byakuya immediately lit the lanterns and opened the door, letting out the musky air and allowing fresh air to come in and daylight. He motioned to the mountains of paperwork on the desk.

“It needs to be filed.” He pointed to the filing cabinets on the wall and opened one. “Alphabetically.” Renji hated the filing job. He at least completed the paperwork, but he never filed it, and as a result, it cluttered Byakuya’s desk. The office itself was a beautiful place, complete with a futon and sitting area for guests, and Kuchiki treasures decorated the walls elegantly.

He turned towards Ichigo and realized that for the small office, there was entirely too much Riatsu, and it filled the small space with thick tension and vibrancy.

Ichigo sighed, scratching the back of his neck. "Well, it can't be helped." The few times he had been given a detention for not handing in homework, he'd been forced to do filing as a punishment. He picked up a set of papers, filtering through them, and setting them aside at a different angle so they didn't get mixed with all the rest of the papers.

His face was far from stoic - a small, unexplained smirk on his lips made his eyes look peaceful and serene, the expression relaxed rather than tense. The mixing of Riatsu didn't seem to bother him - as if he was relishing in the feeling of too much energy in one space.

Byakuya reached for the offset pile, and just as he did, his fingers brushed across the top of Ichigo’s hand, and he didn’t show it affected him, but in fact, it did. Ichigo’s energy went straight to his being, stirring his blood and making his heart beat harder in his chest. At the touch, the tension in the room suddenly spiked drastically, causing the screens and shutters to rattle slightly.

Byakuya stepped back, only to find himself flush against the filing cabinets, his hard, pale eyes watching Ichigo as if though he were a mouse watching a cat. He clenched the sheets in his hand, and a few fluttered to the floor before he stooped gracefully to pick them up. Kuchiki Byakuya, the most powerful Captain in his clan in thousands of years, began to file papers, all the while, nearly buckling at the weight of the spirit energy in the room.

To add to it all, he was hyper aware of Kurosaki moving about the office, and it was grating on his nerves and yet, it was deliciously welcome after all of his solitude.

Ichigo snickered softly as Byakuya pressed himself against the filing cabinets. The captain really was a loner, it seemed - he had flinched at only a touch to the backs of his hands. Ichigo remembered the way that Byakuya had pressed against his fingers when he was stopping the blood of blood to the wound he had placed on his neck.

Fooling himself into thinking that the sudden rush of heat to his face was the sake coming back to haunt him and not the perverted thoughts suddenly performing an elaborate act of synchronized swimming in his mind, he looked over to his captain's neck.

"Ne, Taicho, it doesn't still hurt, right?"

“No.” Byakuya answered. He filed away another stack of papers and turned to his desk, pleased that he could actually see the black ebony underneath the paperwork mountains. He glanced to Ichigo, acknowledging his presence before turning again to the filing cabinets.

Honestly, the wound was throbbing in pain from his natural healing abilities causing the process to accelerate and burn his skin. The wound was almost gone, but it hurt terribly. Byakuya absently ran a hand over it, not noticing what he was doing in front of Kurosaki. He was concentrating on getting the damn paperwork done so he could go home.

"You're a really bad liar, Taicho." Ichigo muttered, rolling his eyes as he filed away a good portion of what he'd sorted through already. "But I suppose that'd be because you Shinigami heal quicker." He leaned forward to gently rub at the bandage, concern showing in his eyes.

"You're too damn used to being alone, so you better get used to me being around quick." He murmured softly, once again moving back to give Byakuya as much space as thier working together would allow. "After all, I sleep just down the hall from you."

The moment those fingers touched his neck, Byakuya’s magnificent eyes shut, and he leaned into the touch. As soon as it had been there, it was gone. His Riatsu lowered its tenseness, and it turned nearly content in its nature, like a cat basking in the sunshine.

As soon as Ichigo pulled away from him Byakuya was back to normal, but his hand shook slightly, and the papers dropped from his grasp again. “Kurosaki-fukutaicho…” He said Ichigo’s name, but the question he’d wanted to ask didn’t come out. Instead, he turned his head and gazed at Ichigo evenly. Why did he insist on touching his neck? Being concerned. He reminded Byakuya of Renji.

"Hmm? Nani, Taicho?"

Ichigo looked over at Byakuya, and their gaze met, one questioning and the other stoic. The silence was actually starting to effect Ichigo, even the rustling of papers not present. He broke his gaze with his captain, filing away papers in the bottom cabinet and picking up the crinkled papers at the Kuchiki's feet.

The teen couldn't help but think of Byakuya got a rise off people bowing down to him as he stepped to his feet, once again making eye contact with his captain.

Byakuya snapped. One lithe, delicate hand wrapped around Ichigo’s throat, and he shoved the boy against the filing cabinets, making a horrible racket. He didn’t care whether they were discovered at this point, but he couldn’t stand the tension. It crackled around them in the silence and the rustling the papers, and it was too much for even Kuchiki-taicho of the 6th Division.

“Don’t touch me ever again without my permission.” He hissed. “I’m tired of your desire to take liberties where you should be submitting to my authority.” His sweet breath rasped over Ichigo’s face before he pinned the boy’s wrists on other side of him, his blue eyes filled with fury. “Desist from touching me again!”

Ichigo tilted his head upward to yield to Byakuya's hand, looking down at his captain. He released himself of the burden of the Kuchiki's hands, and resisted the urge to punch him again.

"Understood, Byakuya." He didn't address Byakuya by title for the first time since he had gotten here. Informality was the case for people he felt didn't respect him.

"Have nice nightmares tonight." And with that, Ichigo was gone, leaving at least a third of the table covered in paperwork.

Ichigo wasn't in the manor or on the grounds when Byakuya returned, and the servants told the Kuchiki that he hadn't come back to the household, which left no clue as to the teen's whereabouts at all.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Byakuya wandered Seireitei late that night, his presence stirring a commotion with the lower ranked Shinigami. They watched him intently as he seemed to be looking for something. The Riatsu he sought brought him to a familiar but disagreeable door, and he sighed. Gently knocking, Yachiru opened it, and she smiled happily.

“IchiIchi said that he’s sad. What did you tell him?” Byakuya looked past the girl into the house. It was obvious by the sleeping energy around the house that Kenpachi was already drunk and asleep, and he could feel Ichigo somewhere inside, and he wanted to see him.

“Yachiru-san, may I speak to my Vice Captain?” She shrugged and opened the door wider, allowing Byakuya to enter. He slid off his sandals and wandered out into the simple but beautiful gardens of Zaraki’s house, and he gazed up at the sky quietly. “You should be grateful I didn’t kill you.” He spoke softly knowing Ichigo could hear him.

"We're even, now, aren't we?" Ichigo had appeared beside Byakuya, sake causing an alcoholic tinge to his breath. "I could have deepened that cut on your neck, or simply sliced through." The teen was frowning, arms folded across his chest. "What do you want, Kuchiki-taicho?" He growled, his eyes meeting the captain's with a searing edge to his glare.

"If you just wanted to know where I was, then you know, and now you can leave."

The sake bothered him, and he didn’t know why. He didn’t want anyone else to see Ichigo weak and vulnerable, and that’s what sake tended to do to people. As his captain, it was his responsibility to tend to Ichigo’s needs just as it was needed for Ichigo to tend to the squad.

He turned his eyes on the boy, their depths smoldering and dangerous. “I’m not leaving you here.” He warned. If he had to drag Ichigo away from Zaraki, he would. How dare he cling to that…war monger? It was disgusting. He stepped forward, invading Ichigo’s personal space, and he did something he hadn’t done in years. He touched another in tenderness.

His hand rose, and gently laying it on Ichigo’s shoulder, he gazed at him evenly, still stoic as always, although his eyes told a different story. “No more of this.”

"No more of what, Byakuya?" Ichigo stepped forwards just that bit more, so that their bodies stood flush against each other. "You've been ungrateful for all the things I have tried to do. Comfort you, cease from ending your life."

The teen's eyes were dark, filled with concern and anger to the point that he looked frustrated, but his face, relaxed and serene, made him look as frustrated as Kenpachi, who was drooling over the table as Yachiru tried to heave him upright. "I'll come back to the Kuchiki manor with you, and I'm going to abide by your every rule, right down to the point where you realize it's fruitless to give them."

Their lips were dangerously close for only a moment, and there was a soft kiss that was barely there, and then gone, Ichigo at least a foot away from his captain.

The foot didn’t last for long however. Byakuya closed the space, and with a breath, his hand tangled in the thick locks of fiery hair, and he tilted Ichigo’s face to the side, his blue eyes gazing at him intently. Words were not necessary when a man looked as Byakuya did onto Ichigo.

His eyes burned with unchecked emotion, even as his face remained always passive. It might have scared anyone if he’d ever smiled…It just never happened. His gaze flickered to Ichigo’s lips before he raised his eyes back to the gaze, and he spoke quietly, his voice strained and thick.

“Is this so fruitless, Ichigo?” He asked.

Ichigo’s name rolled off his lips like a sweet lullaby right before he leaned down and covered the boy’s lips with his own hungrily. It had been too long. His silken lips passed and moved over Ichigo’s with hundreds of years of experience. He flicked his tongue over Ichigo’s bottom lip, and his fingers tightened in the boy’s hair. Byakuya was falling fast into oblivion.

Ichigo pressed back into the kiss, his arms pulling Byakuya close to him. It wasn't until he heard a grunt of a waking Kenpachi through the other room, and Yachiru whining for him to get up, that the teen pushed his captain away from him. "We can't exactly do much in Zaraki's home."

He murmured softly, leaning forward so that his alcohol-tinged breath ghosted over Byakuya's ear. He pulled back a bit more, leaving an unsuspicious distance between them as he said goodbye and thank you to Yachiru, who saw the two of them off with a wave before closing the door.

Ichigo grasped hold of Byakuya once again, and kissed him just as hungrily as they had done within the home they had just left. It was strange how he had only just gotten this touch, and he was already so addicted to it.

Up Next: Chapter 5: The Dynamics of Power and Submission

….It was in that moment that Byakuya’s hands rose from the bed, and his fingers curled against his palms, hesitating before he splayed them out across Ichigo’s shoulders. It was easy when it was just sex. Sex had no connotations. No hidden meanings. This, however, was different, and when he touched Ichigo, it was an admission that he was here…body and thoughts together. It was a submission to the only being he’d ever met that could conquer him…

BIG Thanks to the following WONDERFUL people who have taken the time to review our fiction and take the time to read it. After all, this is for you! Thanks goes to: Samus-sama, (Arigato!), tenohikari (You’ll find out next chapter!), FireStarter (We love them together too!), Adela (Who said it was Byakuya/Ichigo? ^^;;; ). Aoi-sama (We update once a day. Hahaha, not soon enough, ne?), PsychoDemonWitch (15’s my lucky number!), and of course Akume (did you not like the competition? We love it.)

BIG Thank you to everyone! Sake all around!