Bloody Hearts Bingo II Day 2
Prompt: Hug Me, blue (green) | And your arm felt nice wrapped around my shoulder; and I, I had a feeling that I belonged
Uryuu still wasn't quite sure how this had happened.
Oh, he knew full well the sequence of events. He had been walking 'home' from school, torn between dragging his feet to maximize the time he spent away from that place and just getting it over with to make sure he wouldn't run into Ryuuken. And then he'd noticed two people coming up on each side of him, nodding politely but otherwise not speaking a word as they led him on a completely different path than the one he usually walked.
He might have done something- walked away, called for help, anything but follow along silently- but he didn't care enough to do so. This was as good of an excuse as any not to return 'home', one that Ryuuken couldn't really find fault in, and if something happened? Well, either he'd end up with a decent excuse to keep training or it wouldn't be his problem anymore.
Besides, he knew the people by his sides. Sado and Kurosaki, two boys in his class- known delinquints. He wasn't quite sure about their reputation- on one hand, they regularly beat the shit out of a wide variety of other people, on the other, those people usually started things, and the pair were high in the class rankings.
And they both felt of spiritual power.
That, more than anything, had had him following them, half-dazed by the way neither put much effort into containing their power, drinking it in and letting them lead him wherever they wanted. They led him to a run-down apartment, one that felt like he remembered home had used to- there was power sunk into the place, it was somewhere people relaxed and were happy, and it felt safe in a way he'd nearly forgotten.
The events after that made far less sense. An explanation for why he'd been brought there- another one of his classmates, Inoue-chan, was a dragon, and she'd decided that she wanted him for her hoard- and being bullied into the nest-pile, tucked right in the middle where he couldn't make an escape even if he'd wanted to.
It was comfortable, though. Two futons had been pushed together, and Inoue-chan had clearly taken time to arrange blankets and cushions on it to create something comfortable. There were snacks within reach, food and drinks arranged so they wouldn't spill but wouldn't mean that anyone had to move out of the nest to get them. Some of them were conbini fare- some of which were his favorites, which he would be asking pointed questions about eventually- and some were clearly homemade, unusual combinations that he was a little wary of trying.
Sado had leaned back against the wall, plucking at his guitar and letting the melody drift into the night. Something seemed different about him, but Uryuu hadn't been paying enough attention to him in class to really know what it was. Kurosaki was sprawled out on his stomach, drowsing in the afternoon light, no trace of the delinquint to be seen- he seemed like nothing more than a great lizard, which was ironic.
And speaking of the reptile in the room, Inoue was settled by Kurosaki, watching him with soft brown eyes. He'd flinched away from their touch at first, and now he had just enough space that he didn't have to touch anyone if he didn't want to. He was starting to want to.
As strange as it was- he trusted them. He'd heard the legends of the dragons that Kaachan and Sensei had told, the ones that had given him his name. Inoue hadn't asked, true, but there had been no coercion either; there had been explanations before they tried to push anything on him; and they wanted him.
That was probably what was going to cinch it. Nobody wanted Uryuu. Teachers wanted their top-of-the-class student. His clubmates wanted somebody who could help them win competitions and teach them weird techniques. Ryuuken wanted the perfect dutiful son, somebody who would follow in his footsteps and go into medicine and let the Quincy part of them die out.
But these people, and Inoue specifically- they wanted him. Ishida Uryuu, the self-taught Quincy-mage. Not just an archer, but somebody who was working towards figuring out the kind of fine-tuned reishi manipulation that had sustained the Quincy in the thousand years since the fall of their empire. He knew he had far to go before he could really have even a tenuous claim to the title, but Inoue seemed so delighted at what little he'd managed to scrape together, the little bits and pieces he'd taught himself out of stolen books.
He leaned against Inoue, tentatively, and she beamed and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, splaying her power more fully over the room. Uryuu melted into the thick blanket of energy- not visible, not unless he wanted it to be, but overwhelming enough he knew he could be as lax as he pleased and no Hollow could find him. This was the safest he'd been since Kaachan's wards had failed without her to maintain them, and he wasn't going to give it up.
He let his eyes close. Perhaps Kurosaki had the right idea, after all- it seemed an excellent time for a nap.
