The dim lantern light in the small cabin cast long shadows over the walls, the faint rocking of the ship lulling the world outside into silence. Inside, though, the air between Shanks and Buggy was anything but calm.
Buggy sat stiffly on the edge of the bed, his arms crossed and his face a mix of defiance and nervous energy. Shanks stood a few feet away, leaning casually against the doorframe, his one arm folded, the faintest smirk tugging at his lips.
“So,” Shanks said, his voice low, “you’re not going to bolt this time?”
Buggy’s glare could have cut through steel. “Shut up. I’m here, aren’t I?”
Shanks chuckled, taking a slow step forward. The small cabin felt impossibly smaller as he approached, his gaze locked onto Buggy’s. He stopped just short of the bed, reaching out to tilt Buggy’s chin upward.
“You’re always so stubborn,” Shanks murmured, his thumb brushing lightly along Buggy’s jaw.
Buggy’s breath hitched, his arms uncrossing as he reached up, hesitantly gripping Shanks’ wrist. “And you’re always so full of yourself,” he shot back, though his voice lacked its usual bite.
Shanks leaned in, capturing Buggy’s lips in a kiss that started soft, teasing, before growing deeper. Buggy’s hands moved to Shanks’ shoulder, pulling him closer as Shanks’ fingers slid down to Buggy’s waist.
The kiss grew more fervent, their breaths mingling as Shanks pressed Buggy back onto the bed. Buggy’s gloves slid off so he could feel Shanks’ chest and neck, his touch trembling slightly as he tried to keep up with the heat of the moment.
“Shanks,” Buggy muttered against his lips, his voice almost a growl.
Shanks chuckled against his mouth, his hand brushing over Buggy’s side as their movements grew more heated. The intensity between them was palpable, their kisses messy and desperate now, their hips in a hurry wanting to meet, soft moans slightly escaping from each other's mouth as their heart beats sung loudly, and the world outside seemed to disappear entirely.
And then—it happened.
A sudden, sharp *HONK* pierced the charged air.
Buggy froze mid-kiss, his eyes widening in horror as the sound echoed in the cabin.
Shanks pulled back, blinking in confusion before realizing what had happened. He stared at Buggy’s bright red nose, which had somehow managed to make the noise at the worst possible moment.
For a beat, neither of them moved. And then Shanks burst into laughter.
“Buggy!” Shanks wheezed, clutching his side. “You—you honked!”
Buggy’s face turned beet red, a mixture of embarrassment and fury. “I did NOT honk! That was—shut up, Shanks!”
But Shanks couldn’t stop laughing, his shoulders shaking as he stumbled back. “Oh, this is priceless! Here I was thinking I was making you breathless, and your *nose* steals the show!”
“Don’t you DARE make fun of my nose!” Buggy screeched, sitting up and jabbing a finger at Shanks. His other hand instinctively covered his nose as if to silence it.
Shanks tried to compose himself, wiping a tear from his eye. “Alright, alright, I’m sorry,” he said, though the grin on his face said otherwise. “But you’ve gotta admit, that was hilarious.”
Buggy huffed, crossing his arms. “You’re impossible.”
“And you’re adorable,” Shanks replied, still grinning as he leaned down to press a quick kiss to Buggy’s forehead.
Buggy’s scowl softened just a fraction, though he muttered under his breath, “Next time, my nose stays out of it.”
Shanks laughed again, the sound warm and full, and the tension in the room shifted into something lighter, something unmistakably *them*.
Although Annabeth Chase hated admitting it, she was a hopeless romantic.
It was just so easy to be that. Especially when Percy Jackson, her boyfriend, her partner, her soulmate, was literally the definition of what a hopeless romantic should fall for. He was sarcastic, funny, smart, and handsome (so fucking handsome). It killed Annabeth nearly everytime that she looked at him and half the time whenever she met his eyes that were seagreen she swears up and down her breath feels like it’s stolen right out of her lungs. He was perfect, so perfect.
And she missed him so much.
Annabeth could barely keep her eyes open as she sat on the beach near Camp Half-Blood. She was exhausted. All she wanted was a second alone to clear her head but for the past four months the only thing that she could bring herself to focus on was trying not to forget his voice, his smile, his laugh. The ocean waves were the closest she would get to remembering him because he always smelled like the ocean and if Annabeth closed her eyes and was exhausted enough, she could swear she could almost feel him sitting right beside her and wrapping his arms around her.
Annabeth didn’t realize her eyes were fluttering closed until she opened them and saw Piper McLean kneeled in front of her, her choppy brown hair falling around her face and her kaleidoscope eyes being stupidly mesmerizing as usual.
“Hey,” Piper said softly. There was a soothing nature to her voice and Annabeth knew she was using her charmspeak abilities only subtly and Annabeth couldn’t even complain because it felt nice to be washed over with her voice. It distracted her. “Come on, let's get you to bed.”
Camp was bathed in golden light from the late afternoon sun. It was the time of day when everything at camp had slowed down and it was quiet. It was the time of day that she could always find Percy just relaxing by the water, knowing Annabeth would find him in some way or another. It was the reason she found herself near the water so often now, she hoped that maybe one day he’ll just appear again and the roles would be reversed and he would find her near the water instead.
At the entrance to her cabin, Annabeth stopped abruptly, making Piper nearly trip.
“Annie?” Piper asked.
“I don’t want to go to bed,” Annabeth mumbled and she rubbed her eyes. “And don’t charmspeak me into doing it.”
She heard Piper inhale.
Annabeth sat herself down on the steps of cabin six and lowered her head into her hands, resting against her knees. She could hear the creak of the steps as Piper moved to sit beside her, resting her head against Annabeth in that comforting way she always did whenever Annabeth got like this.
Annabeth didn’t realize she was crying until she sniffled. Piper gently hugged Annabeth’s arm when she heard that but she said nothing. She had already comforted her so many times but no words truly comforted Annabeth. No, she wouldn’t be okay until she saw him again and knew he was okay.
That boat couldn’t be finished fast enough.
“I’m so scared,” Annabeth finally whispered, her voice broken. “I miss him.”
Piper moved her head, pressing her lips against the blonde girl’s shoulder. “I know,” she mumbled. “I know you do.”
Annabeth picked up her head, the cool April wind that was blowing through camp making her wet face feel cold for a second. She felt Piper pick her head up and she felt her gaze fall onto her as Annabeth stared out at the campgrounds. Some demigods were out and about still, girls in their cliques giggling and gossiping and boys… being boys.
“You’re gonna like him,” Annabeth said as she gently wiped her tears away. It wasn’t the first time she’s told Piper that and sometimes Annabeth wonders if she’s hyping up her boyfriend too much but no… no, that wasn’t even possible.
“I better,” Piper said lightly and it made Annabeth smile just a bit. “We’re doing all this for him so if I hate him I’m gonna be pissed.”
“You can hate him too if you want,” Annabeth said and rested her head against Piper’s shoulder, the daughter of Aphrodite wrapping her arm around Annabeth, again, in that comforting way that Annabeth had grown fond of. “I think I’m gonna kick his butt when I see him again. How dare he get kidnapped.”
Piper laughed. “I’ll pay to be first in line to see that.”
“I’ll give you a best friend discount,” Annabeth mumbled as she let her eyes flutter closed now, Piper’s arm around her and her voice enough to soothe the daughter of Athena. “You must be sick of me talking about him.”
“I think I’m far worse about Jason,” Piper sighed.
“Nah,” Annabeth smiled softly. “I like hearing you talk about him. That’s what best friends are for anyway. Talking about boys and stuff.”
She could hear the smile in Piper’s voice when she asked. “Best friends? I’m your best friend?”
“Don’t let it get to your head,” Annabeth whispered. She was falling asleep. This also wasn’t the first time. “You always take care of me.”
Annabeth felt Piper gently brush the blonde hair that had fallen out of Annabeth’s ponytail and into her face behind her ear as Annabeth fully drifted off now, Piper’s soft whisper of “That’s what best friends are for” being the last thing she heard before she fell into another dreamless sleep with a heavy heart.
Ever since he could remember, Evan had wanted to be a Marine biologist.
He remembers when he first moved near the beach, the feeling of heat on his skin and wind in his light brown hair, the sun, the waves, and there was so much to explore! but most of all he remembers the little crab he had met. the second he'd seen the snapping critter he'd run up to it looking in wonder as it crawled past him and into the sea "mama look!" he'd cried. He remembered the way she smiled at him as he pointed.
"Do crabs come in different colors?"
"What do crabs eat?"
"How big can a crab get?"
He had asked questions all the way home and the more they researched about crabs not only did his interest grow but he found himself fascinated with other sea animals as well.
Clown fish, whales and octopi to name a few, he begged his mom to take him to the beach everyday and she took him every chance she got. She would always smile about it, any time he showed her his new discoveries, she would be just as interested as him, any time he had questions, she was right there to help him find an answer, she had always supported him.
He remembers starting school.
He remembers entering the classroom, being met with so many kids, they all were tanned, and a few sunburnt -most likely from playing outside all summer- he remembers being introduced, his teacher telling him to sit wherever he liked, multiple kids tried to call him over their eyes glowing in excitement. His eyes, however, strayed to the back of the class, where a kid was coloring all by himself, he was a lot paler than the others for some reason...the kid looked at him and for a second light and dark brown eyes met before he looked back down.
While all the other kids looked super fun he found himself walking towards the back.
"Hi." He whispered when he sat down looking
"uh...hi" the boy shyly replied back, his long dark brown hair hiding his face as he looked down, Evan subconsciously touched his own shorter hair, he kinda wished his own hair was that long...
"I'm Evan, what's your name?" he asked excitedly.
the kid shifted. "...Im Kade"
It was then that Evan saw Kade's drawing.
"Is that a crab?"
the boy flinched guiltily as if caught doing something bad, he shifted his paper
"uh...yeah it's a crab eating an apple." Kade said hesitantly.
"I love crabs! and apples are yummy, especially chocolate covered apples, those are my favorite" Evan exclaimed happily trying to keep his voice down.
Kade turned to look at him. "yeah, I like the ocean and apples are my favorite." his eyes shifted downwards, "my parents say its just a dumb phase though."
Evan was shocked at this, he fidgeted a little in his seat. "Well it's not just a phase for me, the ocean is cool, it's got all sorts of awesome animals like whales and dolphins, and I'm gonna be a marine biologist so I can study them all when I grow up!" his hands waved a little in the air as he said this.
Kade finally shifted to look at him "what's a marine biolatist?"
"biologist" Evan corrected " that's someone who studies plants and animals that live near the sea"
Kade's eyes lit up, and forgetting his earlier shyness he exclaimed. "That's so cool! I wanna be one too!"
but then he slouched back down, his face contorting into one of sadness again. "But I have to be a doctor, my parents said so...." he looked back at his drawing.
Evan crossed his arms. "Well my mom says you can be whatever you want when you grow up so if you want to be a marine biologist then when you grow up then we can study sea animals together!"
"...really?" Kade looked confused at the prospect of 'being whatever you wanted.'
"yeah!" Evan smiled.
and like that they were best friends, their parents liked each other too so that helped.
they would have sleepovers and playdates -almost always at Evans house- but that didn't matter Evans mom loved it when Kade came over.
Whenever Kade came they would all go to the beach or the Aquarium and play or look at the animals, and even if it was raining his mom would just set up a documentary instead, and though he was shy around Evans mom at first but he soon came out of his shell.
///
he remembers turning 15 and finally being old enough to volunteer at the aquarium, Kade wasn't allowed too, instead his parents had sent him to a private school, determined to get him a scholarship for med school, but that didn't matter, it was only three more years then he and Kade could do whatever they wanted together. and besides Evan wasn't allowed to do much at first, maybe help behind the scenes with some shows and take Supplies from one place to another, and maybe help feed the animals from time to time with supervision, but he still got to learn so much from the other workers and had fun!
When Evan got back he immediately called Kade and told him everything that happened.
"...wow that sounds...fun." Kade said, sounding a bit sad.
Evan frowned. "I'm sorry you have to be at dumb private school, i miss you."
"I miss you too."
"...but remember what I told you? once you move out you can do whatever you want, it's only three more years and then you can be a marine biologist with me right?"
"yeah...I just...." Kade sounded unsure. "Do you think they'll hate me? I mean they're spending all this money so I can be here and-"
"Kade" Evan said interrupting, they had had this conversation a lot over the years, and a while ago his answer would have been 'who cares what they think' but as his mother has explained Kade cared what they thought, they were his parents after all.
"It's your life and your choice, just because your parents want you to be something doesn't mean your required to do it, and even if you decide to become a doctor to please them, if you're not happy then technically they're still wasting their money, you still want to study sea life right?"
Kade made a small sound if agreement "then that's what your gonna do"
Kade went silent on the other line for a second before saying "yeah...yeah I guess you're right" Kade took a deep breath before letting it out again slowly.
"and until then I'll just have to volunteer for both of us!"
Kade chuckled. "thanks Evan."
Evan grinned "anytime dude" Evan looked at the clock "hey it's getting kinda late over here, but talk to you tomorrow?"
"...yeah, night."
"night."
three years passed quicker then he thought, but at the same time also agonizingly slow.
every day he'd call Kade to talk and tell him about his day, and tell him what he'd learn, and ask if Kade was doing alright and just...everything.
but still, he missed talking to best friend face to face…
finally Evan graduated high school! he was 18 and in another Month Kade would be too he was so excited!
The entire month was spent either looking at different colleges or talking to his mother about what he and Kade would do with each other.
Now, he was waiting in the middle of his room, looking at college applications, and trying to figure out which one to go to...the door opened and Evan turned his head expecting his mother to be there to ask what he wanted for dinner.
"KADE!?" and it was Kade. did he look paler then last time he'd seen him? Has his hair gotten longer?
After a moment of shock Evan quickly got up and hugged him. "But I thought you weren't coming till next week?" he said, confused.
"Yeah, my parents were gonna pay for my train ticket...but a friend said she'd do it for me, so here I am" he said, his voice happy but also holding nervous hints to it.
Evan frowned "do you know what you're gonna say to them?" Kade shook his head.
"I don't, I mean...I've thought about it but" Kade took a deep breath.
Evan hugged him again "I'll be right here with you Kade ok?"
Kade nodded "yeah."
-
"Well this is it!" Evan said, bursting with excitement as he walked into their new apartment and set his suitcase down.
"Can you believe it? we're finally going to college!"
Kade smiled slightly "yeah." he replied.
Evan's smile wavered and he walked over. "You doing ok?" he asked gently. to say Kades parents hadn't taken the news well was an understatement, that night they had decided to wait till the end of summer to tell them Kades decision and instead gone over too Kade's house to surprise them, the rest of summer went well but of course they had argued when Kade told them he wasn't going to be a doctor, he had looked almost ready to back down but Evan had just grabbed Kade's hand, told them exactly what he'd told Kade multiple times, that it was Kade's life and that the both of them had already been accepted at miami university and walked out of there.
Now a week later they were in their new apartment in Miami, Kades parents had stopped blowing up his phone and had instead grown eerily silent.
"I'm ok," Kade said, tugging at the end of his shirt a little.
"forget about them for tonight" Evan said, guessing what, or rather who he was thinking about. "Let's put our stuff away for right now, yeah?"
Kade nodded.
"Great, now let's get to work!"
and that's how college life started for them, it was fun -well as fun as school could be anyways.
They studied -or helped Kade study as Evan had already learned most of this either by himself or by his volunteer work at the aquarium, got jobs, made a few friends, met some of Kades friends.
years passed and now they were both graduating college.
"Evan Loring."
Evan walked to the platform, eyes shining as his mother cheered from where she was sitting, he looked back to where Kade was sitting waiting to be called up as well, several names were called until,
"Kade quince"
His mother cheered again, sounding just as excited as they both felt, and Kade's eyes also shined as he got his diploma and stood next to Evan.
Evan and Kade got jobs at a sea life research facility, a few years of saving up later they started their own rescue and rehabilitate Aquarium with plenty of shows about raising awareness of pollution...
///
"Will you marry me?" he asked Kade, one summer, they were at the beach, the one they grew up at, they had been dating for three years now, Kade looked at Even in surprise before smiling widely "yes."
The wedding was beautiful, and at the beach of course where else? and Kade, Kade looked amazing. there was no one else he'd rather have. His mother looked so happy.
...they had invited Kade's side of the family but...Evan pushed that thought to the back of his mind, no matter.
They had been through a lot together, but as they said their vows Evan knew there was no one else he'd rather have had by his side, both then and now.you
The other man chuckled in time with his companion, but shot Feng Xin a rueful grin, “You’ll have to excuse ol’ Fei Zhou here, Young Master. He’s a nostalgic old man, always getting lost in his stories.”
“Yes, yes, shame the storyteller for getting caught up in stories.” Fei Zhou waved a hand dismissively. Clearly they’d had this conversation several times. “Don’t let this guy fool you, Young Master, that Luo Yuan is worse than me. Always wanting to hear and tell the latest news, but he can’t remember the details for the life of him, so he’ll go around spreadin’ rumors ‘by mistake’—hah!”
“Ah, well,” Feng Xin shifted in his seat. It felt like ants were crawling under his skin as he fumbled for a response. “I guess… It’s good the two of you are together then—help keep each other in check like that.”
Both the old men burst out laughing at that. Feng Xin allowed his lips to twitch up in what could be perceived as a smile before reaching for his tea, quickly raising the cup to his lips and taking a long drink.
A Bleach fic || AO3 || FFN
Word count: 1.6k || Rated T
Warnings: amnesia
Written for the first Bing of the @bleachbigbang
Prompt: Somebody Who I Used to Know
Summary: Ichigo hates lying to his family, but they’re obviously hiding things from him too... ; Heian Period AU ; Ichigo-centric ft Yuzu
“Ichi-niii~” Yuzu’s voice floated through the thin washi paper walls like a melody, breaking Ichigo’s concentration from the papers he was bent over. He could hear her footsteps approaching now.
“Shit…” he muttered under his breath as he hurriedly folded up the orihon laid across his lap. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest. Careful not to wrinkle the paper, he slid a pair of scrolls back into their sheathes and tucked them along with the orihon hurriedly beneath the straw of his bed.
Somehow, he managed to put everything away just as his sister began to slide open the door. Faking a yawn, Ichigo threw his arms out above his head as if he were merely stretching while he raised himself slowly upright into a sitting position.
“Good morning Ichi-nii,~” Yuzu smiled at him upon entering the room with a tray piled high with breakfast food. “Did you just wake up?”
“Yeah, just a little while ago.” Ichigo lied, smiling softly with a gentle nod in agreement.
He didn’t want to lie. Keeping secrets from his family, especially his sisters, felt so gut-wrenchingly wrong, it almost made him nauseous. But he knew his family didn’t like the way he obsessed over the missing fragments in his memory. Every time he brought it up, an air of unease fell over the whole house. The conversation would become stilted, and his family would trade less than subtle glances with each other as they spoke until he dropped the issue once more.
They were keeping secrets from him too.
“How late did I sleep?” he asked.
“Not too late.” She set the tray down across his lap and settled by his side on the mattress. “Dad and Karin-chan already left out on the boat a little while ago, but I haven’t started working on the garden yet.”
That was a lie. Ichigo could feel his throat tighten with the knowledge of it. The sun was already up and had been for a good while now. Unable to sleep, he heard them depart while the sky was still dark—before the sun had even begun to peek over the horizon. They hadn’t even bothered to ask if he felt well enough to go, and the knowledge of that stung.
Ever since he woke up from the so-called accident, he felt like nothing more than a burden upon the family. With injuries to his head, arm, and back, he was practically useless when it came to anything that required fine motor skills or being upright for an extended period. Ichigo felt as if he were going out of his mind with his newfound lack of purpose, yet hardly half a moon had passed since he woke up.
“Do you want any help?” Ichigo asked, nonetheless, picking up the chopsticks from the tray. The hand holding them trembled finely, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been before. He couldn’t eat the rice like this, but he could at least manage the pickled fish, which he set upon with gusto.
Yuzu smiled at him but shook her head. “I can manage it, Ichi-nii. You need more rest.” She reached up to brush her thumb against the dark circles under his eyes. “Are you still having those dreams?”
“I’m fine, Yuzu,” Ichigo said, letting out an exaggerated groan. He set down the chopsticks so he could wrap an arm around her, pulling her close to his side, and reached up with his free hand to ruffle her hair. “You worry about me too much!”
“Ichi-nii!” she whined in indignation. Despite this, Ichigo could feel her shaking with barely suppressed laughter as she squirmed in his embrace. “Stooooop!”
She batted at his hand until he relented. Chuckling as she pouted up at him, he could only hug her a little tighter to his side and rest his head atop hers. “You’re growing up too fast. Do you know that? Why don’t you and Karin just stay small and let me worry about you?”
“You’ve worried about us our whole lives, Ichi-nii. Protecting us, working so hard, picking up every job you could to make sure we had everything we needed…” Yuzu twisted in his arms so she could wrap her own around his torso. She pressed her face against his side, her voice growing quiet, “You almost died… Let us worry and take care of you this time.”
“Yuzu…” There was a prickle at the back of his eyes as a lump began to form in his throat. Suddenly, he felt so much more aware of all the gaps in his memories than ever before. As if the empty spaces in his mind were throbbing with the loss.
Nearly three solid years’ worth of memories—alongside an unknown amount of scattered bits and pieces—were ripped away from him in the accident. It didn’t seem like all that much—especially since, according to his family, he’d spend nearly two of those years traveling and picking up odd jobs in the nobles’ courts with only the occasional visit back home. Yet, Ichigo could hardly reconcile the meek little girl from his memories with the steady young maiden his sister had become in three short years.
Three years ago, Yuzu would be on the verge of tears at the mere idea that he could have died. She would be easy to sway and unable to lie at all. Now she was self-assured. When she spoke, her words brokered for no argument. Still sweet as honey and more cheerful and kind than anyone else he knew, it wasn’t so much that she changed. It was more like she found herself more. Became more comfortable with the person she was, and that allowed her to grow.
And he missed it…
Hugging him tighter for a moment before letting go, she made to stand, “Now I have some work to do in the garden. Finish your breakfast, and then go back to sleep. If you really want something to do, you can wash your dishes, but then straight to bed. Got it?”
Arms crossed over her chest with her chin raised, she was obviously trying her best to pretend to be stern, but the look on her face ruined the effect—her eyes blown open too wide and lip jutting out in a pout. It was the same expression she wore when they were children to guilt their dad into doing whatever she wanted.
Ichigo let out a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sniffle as a wide smile spread across his face. “Yeah, yeah, I got it. Shoo, shoo, don’t let me keep you from your work.”
Breaking down in a brief fit of giggles, she nodded and pressed a quick kiss to the side of his forehead over the long scabbed over cut from the accident. “If the pain is too much, we still have herbs from the monks. Take them.”
“I know Yuzu. Eat, take herbs, go to sleep, heal. I will, I promise.”
“Alright…” with one last uncertain glance back, she left his room, sliding the door shut behind her.
Ichigo waited for a few moments, almost expecting her to double back for whatever reason, but once he was sure that she wouldn’t, he let out a long sigh. She was right. He was healing still, no matter how much he didn’t like that fact, he needed rest to heal and get better.
Despite that knowledge, he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep.
Ever since he woke up from whatever accident he’d been in, sleep rarely found him. His brain was restless with the yearning for the memories that he lost. Restless with an incessant feeling burning in the back of his mind that he’d forgotten something important.
Even when he could sleep, he was always hounded by strange dreams. People, those who he knew and others he didn’t recognize and whose faces were lost to him by the time he awoke, swirled around in his head, imploring him to stop wasting time.
To remember.
And a man—always the same man—whose face he couldn’t hold on to no matter how many times he saw it, but whose voice haunted his every waking moment calling out to him, ‘I gave you everything and you left me alone, Ichigo! Why?! Why didn’t you come back to me? Didn’t you mean it when you said you wanted to be with me?!’
Every time, he wanted to ask, ‘Who are you? What do you mean, ‘be with’ you? How do I know you?!’ but he could never speak. In his dreams, he had no voice. He could only watch the flood of faces and listen to the man’s miserable cries for answers.
Something big happened in the last few years that he was missing, and his family wasn’t telling him what. That meant that he had to figure it out himself.
“Sorry Yuzu…” he scarfed down the last of his fish and soup before setting the tray aside and taking the scrolls out from under his bed once more. He would rest later.
Ichigo’s finger stroked along the wooden sheath of one of the scrolls, tracing the characters etched into the surface almost reverently.
Like the moon, I bathe
In my sun’s resplendent light,
Yearning to embrace.
-A gift from me to you, my dearest Ichigo.
It sounded like a courting poem, and it was only one of several dozens scrawled on loose washi papers tucked into the scrolls and the creases of many of the orihon. Were they from the man in his dreams? Did Ichigo ever send him any back? Did his family know? If they did, why were they acting like this man didn’t exist?
Sighing, he settled himself into a more comfortable position so he could comb through the poems and scrolls and orihon for any sort of clue that could tell him who this person was.
He would rest later. This was more important.
Ichigo needed answers… Needed to find out about this person he used to know…
