Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/10213349.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Major_Character_Death, Underage
  Category:
      F/F, F/M, M/M
  Fandom:
      Bleach
  Relationship:
      Kurosaki_Ichigo/Urahara_Kisuke, Ulquiorra_Cifer/Grimmjow_Jaegerjaques,
      Tia_Harribel/Coyote_Starrk, Abarai_Renji/Kuchiki_Byakuya, Inoue_Orihime/
      Ishida_Uryuu
  Character:
      Kurosaki_Ichigo, Urahara_Kisuke, Ulquiorra_Cifer, Grimmjow_Jaegerjaques,
      Tia_Harribel, Coyote_Starrk, Abarai_Renji, Kuchiki_Byakuya, Inoue
      Orihime, Ishida_Uryuu, Ichimaru_Gin, Hitsugaya_Toushirou, Kurosaki
      Isshin, Kurosaki_Karin, Kurosaki_Yuzu, Shihouin_Yoruichi, Tsumugiya
      Ururu, Hanakari_Jinta, Tsukabishi_Tessai, Sado_"Chad"_Yasutora, Kuchiki
      Rukia, Ishida_Ryuuken, Nelliel_Tu_Oderschvank, Kusajishi_Yachiru, Zaraki
      Kenpachi
  Additional Tags:
      Death, Gore, Depressed_Ichigo, Seme_Kisuke, Uke_Ichigo, Seme_Ulquiorra,
      Uke_Grimmjow, Seme_Byakuya, Uke_Renji, Smut, Ichigo_feels, Randomness,
      Gin_being_Gin, Grimmjow_being_Grimmjow, swears
  Stats:
      Published: 2017-03-10 Updated: 2017-12-28 Chapters: 4/? Words: 3496
****** The Humble Shopkeeper and the Substitute Shinigami ******
by VampiricKittenHana
Summary
     Ichigo has lost his powers in the final battle against Aizen. He
     pushes away his friends and family, but with the sudden appearance of
     some very very dead Espada (Ulquiorra, Grimmjow, Stark, Lilynette and
     Harribel) and a very very dead Shinigami (Gin) in Karakura, Urahara
     must employ Ichigo’s help in helping them fit in. Along the way, who
     knows who will fall for who..
     Hello! This is also posted on my Ff.net acc, which is Hana Verrier
Notes
     Pairings: UraIchi, GrimmUlqui, StarkHarribel, Lilynette/?, Gin/?,
     Renji/Byakuya, Ishida/Orihime, Rukia/?
     Warnings: Battles, swearing, yaoi, some crack, age gaps (Ichigo will
     be 18 however), possible future smut
     Hello Everyone! I’m Hana-taichou, author of this fanfiction. This
     idea came to me as I was sat in class with no internet, boring ol’
     Othello, and a laptop. I’ve noticed there is NOT enough UraIchi fics,
     so I have decided to input some of my (shitty) fanfiction. Enjoy!
     ‘Thoughts’
     “Speech”
     “Hollow speech”
     “Zanpaktou speech”
     Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach (if I did it would be shit) the
     rights and characters are all owned by Tite Kubo. Any possible OC’s
     will be mine though.
***** Prologue *****
Two months. It had been two months since he had lost his powers. He hadn’t even
been conscious for the first month, the second had been horrible. Saying
goodbye to his best friend, Rukia, watching her fade away. Ichigo shook his
head with a scowl, as though trying to shake away the thoughts. ‘I’m in class,
now isn’t the time to be thinking about this’ he thought, attempting to
concentrate on Tenaki-sensei, but failing miserably. He sighed inaudibly as
Ishida suddenly shot up out of his seat, running out of the classroom shouting
something about the nurse’s office. ‘Hollow. That’s the fifth time today’
thought Ichigo, his frown slightly deeper than usual. The amount of times his
‘friends’ shot out of class now had decreased dramatically since he’d lost his
powers, but today seemed to be more than usual. Ichigo doubted it was anything
big, and it was hardly a surprise with the murders recently. People all around
Karakura were being killed, so that meant a lot of spirits, and more Hollows.
Ichigo sighed again, before itching his arm discretely, pulling back the sleeve
to check the thin cuts on his arm before pulling it down again before anyone
could notice.
Ichigo had never had the incentive to self-harm before, but he found that the
pain helped him, kept him grounded in the sudden calm and peace of his laugh.
It was disturbingly quiet in his head now, and he wasn’t used to it. Ichigo was
a war veteran now, peace just wouldn’t work anymore. He needed the adrenaline
of battle, the bloodlust, the incentive to win, to protect, and without his
powers he couldn’t do that. It was too quiet.
The bell rang jarring him out of his melancholy thoughts. He packed his things
away slowly, not in a rush to join his chattering friends as they hurried out
the door, not even glancing at him as they left. That was the way it had been
the last month. He had started it so he couldn’t blame them. He couldn’t stand
the pity in their eyes, the pain he felt when he was with them, the painful
memories of his powers. They still had theirs, so it was almost like a slap in
the face. The very people he once fought to protect, now had to protect him and
the rest of the unsuspecting town. ‘Weak’ his mind supplied, directed at
himself. His fist clenched around his book bag handle as he left the school
grounds, heading in the direction of his house.
He couldn’t even stand to be at home anymore. Karin had properly come into her
powers, Yuzu could see Hollows and was showing signs of having her own power;
Yuzu appeared to have the ability of telekinesis, whereas Karin was similar to
Chad in the respect she had super strength and speed. Even Isshin, his fool of
a father, had returned to full power. Ichigo kicked a stone angrily. It wasn’t
right. His sister’s shouldn’t even know about any of this. He had failed to
protect them. Ichigo kicked open his front door, thankful that he was first
home these days, and stormed upstairs, slamming his bedroom door behind him,
throwing his bag onto the floor and collapsing face first onto the bed. He lay
there for almost a full ten minutes before shifting to get the small pocket
knife out of his trouser pocket. He flicked the blade up and dragged it slowly
across his arm, hissing at the initial pain then sighing happily. He made 6
relatively deep cuts, before closing the blade and going to the bathroom to run
his arm under the tap to clear the blood, wrapping a new bandage (he kept a
supply in his room now) around the cuts and curling up on his bed to nap for a
bit. He didn’t sleep anymore- the nightmares stopped that- so he napped when he
could. Thankfully this was one such occasion, and he slipped into dark oblivion
gratefully.
***** Chapter 1: Urahara visits Ichigo *****
Chapter Notes
     Pairings: UraIchi, GrimmUlqui, StarkHarribel, Lilynette/?, Gin/?,
     Renji/Byakuya, Ishida/Orihime, Rukia/?
     Warnings: Battles, swearing, yaoi, some crack, age gaps (Ichigo will
     be 18 however), possible future smut
     ‘Thoughts’
     “Speech”
     “Hollow speech”
     “Zanpaktou speech”
     Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach (if I did it would be shit) the
     rights and characters are all owned by Tite Kubo. Any possible OC’s
     will be mine though.
Two years. It had been two years since he lost his powers. Ichigo tended not to
dwell on such things anymore, he needed to finish High School (he’d been held
back a year) and Karin and Yuzu were now growing into teenagers, their own
powers fully developed.
Ichigo sighed frustrated at the homework he was meant to be doing. ‘Man
calculus is so fucking hard’ he thought, scowling at the questions on the page,
feeling like they were mocking him. He sighed again and stood, moving to his
bed and throwing himself onto it, curling to face the window. He closed his
eyes and tried to relax.
“My my, Kurosaki-san, two years has made you lazy? You can’t even beat a simple
math question?” spoke an impossible voice into the now cold room. Ichigo’s eyes
flew open to reveal the open window, Urahara Kisuke perched on his windowsill
as though this was completely normal, and like they’d both planned this
meeting. “Getaboshi?!” exclaimed Ichigo, sitting up. Urahara smiled at him
before gracefully jumping to sit on the bed cross-legged, his hat bent as ever
over his eyes.
Urahara smiled at Ichigo, his fan nowhere in sight “Long time no see, Kurosaki-
san.” Suddenly, there was the fan, rapping Ichigo hard on the nose, causing him
to yelp and glare reproachfully at Urahara, who had on a playfully sad/angry
expression “I do not care that you have lost your powers, but you could have
come see us. You didn’t need to adjust alone, Kurosaki. You know I wouldn’t
have minded.” He said, before his eyes turned stony, and his expression serious
“I’m afraid I’m not here for a social visit, Kurosaki-san. I am in need of your
help.” Ichigo stared at him before crossing his arms “What could I possibly do
to help you? I don’t have any powers” he stated coolly. Urahara smiled bitterly
“You will be glad to know that this does not require any powers other than
being normal” Urahara sighed.
Urahara looked down at his lap before lifting his head to look Ichigo in the
eye “Several Espada who we formerly believed to be dead have returned, seeking
asylum. They no longer want to live as Arrancar, they wish to pose as humans,
in Gigai’s. I have accepted as they proved us allies during the War, however
they’re not entirely sure how to act as humans. They will be going to school
with you for your final year, so that they can get grades and thus jobs. I’ve
provided them with a flat near here. Please do this Kurosaki-san.” Ichigo
stared at him in shock before shaking his head with a sigh “Which Espada?” he
asked, looking back at Urahara. Urahara nodded absent-mindedly and reeled them
off “Ulqiuorra, Grimmjow, Tia Harribel, Coyote Stark and Lilynette
Gingerback…there’s something else I haven’t told you” Ichigo glared at him
suspiciously “Which is?” he said coldly. Urahara sighed again “Among them was
Ichimaru Gin, who also wishes to seek asylum and live as a human, however he
has slightly more knowledge as to how to do this, therefore whilst he shall
still be coming to school with you all, he will be helping you teach the
Arrancar how to be human”
Ichigo scowled darkly “You better pay me back pretty fucking good for this,
Urahara” and immediately Urahara was nodding “Don’t worry, Kurosaki-san. Whilst
I do not wish to give you hope, I believe I may possibly be able to get your
powers back. Which is why I ask of you to teach them, to give me more time to
research it” he said. Ichigo gaped at him “Y-you’re serious?” he asked after a
moment. Urahara nodded again “Hai.” Ichigo closed his eyes, a slight smile on
his face, before a determined look settled upon his face “I’ll do it. Take me
to their flat” he said, to which Urahara nodded and stood. “I will meet you
outside, Kurosaki-san” he said as he jumped out the window, allowing Ichigo to
pull some acceptable close for leaving the house, and ran downstairs to meet
him, yelling to Isshin he was going out. He met Urahara outside, who looked at
him gravely “Let us go, Kurosaki-san” he said, leading the way.
***** Chapter 2: You're all supposed to be dead *****
Chapter Notes
     Pairings: UraIchi, GrimmUlqui, StarkHarribel, Lilynette/?, Gin/?,
     Renji/Byakuya, Ishida/Orihime, Rukia/?
     Warnings: Battles, swearing, yaoi, some crack, age gaps (Ichigo will
     be 18 however), possible future smut
     ‘Thoughts’
     “Speech”
     “Hollow speech”
     “Zanpaktou speech”
     Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach (if I did it would be shit) the
     rights and characters are all owned by Tite Kubo. Any possible OC’s
     will be mine though.
Urahara lead Ichigo through Karakura, coming to a stop at an apartment complex
about four blocks from Ichigo’s house. Ichigo followed him up the stairs to the
third floor, where a non-descript door stood. Urahara knocked with one hand,
the other snapping the fan in front of his face.
The door was opened by Gin, one of the many faces in here that Ichigo thought
he’d never see again. He was grinning his sly grin, his eyes opened just enough
to show mischief and amusement in them, his eyes piercing Ichigo as his grin
widened. “Well loo’ ‘ere, you weren’ lyin’ Urahara-san” said Gin, moving out of
the way so that Urahara and Ichigo could enter, his eyes sliding shut again.
Ichigo eyed him warily as he followed Urahara through the door, before sweeping
his eyes around the room. A surprise met his sight; upon the sofa were Grimmjow
and Ulquiorra, and whilst that was a surprise in itself, what was more
surprising was that Grimmjow was laying on the sofa, his head in Ulquiorra’s
lap whilst Ulquiorra slowly stroked his hair as he read a book. Neither looked
up when he entered, he assumed they didn’t care.
Ichigo saw Stark, who he’d never properly met but he knew was Stark after one
brief time seeing him and having him described to him, engulfed in a pile of
pillows on the floor, fast asleep with Lilynette (Ichigo presumed as she was
the child) curled up against him, Stark holding her protectively like a father.
He saw a busty blonde woman he assumed was Harribel sitting in an armchair,
occasionally shooting glances at Stark. Lastly was Gin, who had sauntered into
the room after closing the door behind them, and going into what Ichigo guessed
was the kitchen, considering Gin’s question “Woul’ ya like somethin’ ta drink?”
Urahara requested green tea, whilst Ichigo glared at Gin and snarled “What, and
let you poison us?” he said.
Urahara groaned dramatically before wacking Ichigo about the head with his fan
for the second time that night, causing Ichigo to yelp and glare at him instead
“Kurosaki-san, I already told you, they’re not a threat to us. They want to
live here peacefully.” Said Urahara, giving Ichigo a pointed look. Ichigo
glared at him some more before sighing and saying “Tea, please, Ichimaru” to
Gin, who simply smiled and nodded and going into the kitchen. Grimmjow had
apparently been sleeping, because at that moment his head shot up, a manical
grin on his face, before he launched himself at Ichigo, squeezing him in a hug
“Strawberry! I never thought I’d say this but it’s good to see ya!” he said
loudly, as Ichigo only half reluctantly hugged him back, a small smile on his
face “Yeah Grimmjow..you too” he said. Ulquiorra looked up from his book and
nodded at Ichigo “Kurosaki” he said, as Grimmjow finally let go of Ichigo.
Ulquiorra then turned his gaze on Grimmjow. “I was comfortable, Grimmjow” was
all he said. Grimmjow grinned sheepishly and returned to the sofa, laying his
head back on Ulquiorra’s lap, as the former Cuatra laid his hand on the former
Sexta’s head once more.
Ichigo looked at them in mild confusion and also amusement, before shaking his
head and sauntering over to the other sofa in the room, which was a three
seater. Urahara joined him as he sat, taking his hat off and resting it on his
lap. “So, you guys need help with learning how to be humans?” asked Ichigo,
directing his attention to Harribel. She pealed her gaze from Stark and
Lilynette and looked to Ichigo “That is correct. I believe we have not been
properly introduced. I am Tia Harribel, former Tercera Espada” she spoke
solemnly, her voice quite deep. Ichigo gave her a nod “Kurosaki Ichigo. It’s
nice to meet you, Harribel-san. I am to understand that you’ll all be joining
my school for my last year?” he replied. Harribel nodded as she said “Indeed. I
believe however that Lilynette will be in the year below ours, and will be
continuing school after we have left. I am sure this is acceptable?”
Ichigo gave her a small smile “Of course. I’ll do my best to help you but,” he
paused, scratching the back of his head with a sheepish smile “I’m not entirely
sure how I’m meant to help.” Ulquiorra looked up from his book as he said “We
wish to understand your ways. How to interact with other humans, how to dress,
how to handle your currency and such. As we are Arrancar, we were all formerly
Human, a very long time ago. Of course, we don’t remember our human lives.”
Ichigo nodded slowly “I see..well I can help with that certainly. Do you all
need to go shopping for clothes?” he asked. Ulquiorra and Harribel both nodded
“The only clothes we have are the ones we are currently clothed in, and a pair
of nightwear each. We’ve only been in these Gigai’s for a couple of days.
Thanks to Urahara-san here,” she nodded in Urahara’s direction “We have food.
Despite being in Gigai’s, Urahara-san is providing us with Spiritually rich
food, which shall sustain us. We can however eat human food” she said. Ichigo
nodded again. “Okay. Would you all be okay with going shopping tomorrow then? I
don’t have school because it’s Saturday tomorrow.” Ichigo accepted the tea
handed to him by Gin, who had re-entered the room at that moment, passing the
other tea to Urahara before sitting on the other end of the sofa next to said
man.
“Tha’ should be okay, thanks Kurosaki” said Gin. Ichigo nodded once more “So
I’ll head here at about 1 in the afternoon then? So we can go shopping?” he
said. Gin nodded his acceptance, and turned the conversation to more detailed
things, such as necessities and such. ’This is nice…relaxing’ thought Ichigo
contently, smiling slightly. ‘I could get used to this..’ he decided, as they
talked and joked about Aizen’s tea habits.
An hour or so later, Urahara pointed out the time to Ichigo, they said their
farewells, and Urahara walked Ichigo home, thanking him for his acceptance of
the situation, before heading home after giving Ichigo some money for the
shopping, to which Ichigo tried to protest before Urahara cheerily replied
“It’s on them not you”, thus allowing Ichigo to accept it as they parted ways.
***** Chapter 3: Shopping with Espada and Gin..Joys *****
Chapter Summary
     Ichigo, the former Espada and Gin go clothes shopping. This should
     prove hilarious.
Ichigo woke promptly at 11 in the morning, doing his usual morning routine and
greeting his family downstairs, dodging with ease a punch thrown by Isshin,
accompanied with his typical "GOOOOD MOOOORNING ICHIGOO!" Ichigo's sisters,
Yuzu and Karin greeted him much more calmly, as he sat for an unhurried
breakfast with them, smiling at them with ease. Last night had made this all so
much easier.
At 12:30, Ichigo left for the Espada's apartment, arriving at 12:55. He knocked
on the door, which was opened by Gin once more "Good Mornin', Ichi-kun!" beamed
Gin. Ichigo gave him a half hearted nod, noting all the arrancar were ready and
waiting. "Well, if you guys are ready?" he asked. They nodded and stood,
Lilynette reaching up to grab her 'father's hand. Ichigo held the door open as
Grimmjow walked out, Ulquiorra's hand clasped securely in his. They were
followed by Stark and Lilynette, who now held hands with both Stark and
Harribel, much like a young child would her parents. Gin followed last, locking
the door behind them.
Ichigo lead them to the shopping centre, where they entered the first clothes
store, which was centered around casual wear, but also had some 'alternative'
pieces. It was where Ichigo usually shopped, hence why he lead them there.
Harribel and Stark lead Lilynette to the 'Tween' section, whilst Ulquiorra lead
Grimmjow to the alternative section, both surprisingly eager to look at the
clothes. Gin trailed after the couple, so Ichigo wandered around the middle of
the two trios. Harribel left Lilynette in Stark's somewhat capable hands to go
to the adult section, looking for both herself and Stark.
Ichigo kept an eye on the former Primera and his adoptive daughter. Gin,
Grimmjow and Ulquiorra seemed to have finished, coming over to Ichigo with
their chosen outfits. Harribel came back over a short time later with some
clothes for herself and Stark, whilst Lilynette forced Stark to carry her
things. Ichigo directed them to the counter, where he paid for their items and
gave them their respective bags, before they wandered on to the next shop.
The second clothes shop they came to was purely nightwear, and all the Arrancar
and Gin bought a couple of things. They stopped to have some lunch at a sushi
bar, having only a mild incident with Grimmjow being pissed off at the queue,
and was already charging a cero before Ulquiorra wacked him round the head.
Grimmjow proceeded to simply whine at Ulquiorra from then about how mean he
was, before Ulquiorra shot him a glare.
Ichigo then lead them to a slightly more formal clothes shop. The men all
bought a suit, and the two females both bought formal yukata's and kimono's.
Once they decided they were done for the day, having then gone to a shoe shop
and all getting 3 pairs of shoes, Ichigo followed them back to their apartment.
About an hour after they arrived back, there was a knock on the door. Ichigo
answered it to Urahara, who beamed at the sight of Gin and the Arrancar all in
some new clothes.
Gin had gone for black ripped jeans with a studded belt and chain, a simple
black T-shirt and a black wolf hoodie with gold trim. He was also wearing a
pair of black Doc Martens.
Grimmjow was wearing a Tanktop with some metal bad on it, and a ripped
sleaveless leather vest over the top. He wore baggy black cargo pants and a
simple fang necklace, with combat boots.
Ulquiorra wore black jeans with a black belt, a white T-shirt with text, a red
plaid shirt and a white jacket. He too wore a simple fang necklace (clearly
meant to match Grimmjow's), and he had gone with converse.
Stark was in a simple T-shirt and sweatpants, a bead necklace and sunglasses.
He wore converse also.
Lilynette wore shorts and a black vest top, with a red sleeveless zip up vest
top over it, and a baseball cap. She wore red Doc Martens.
Harribel wore cargo pants like Grimmjow, and a white and blue crop top with
long sleeves. She had a simple blue scarf around her neck, and wore normal
plimsol type shoes.
Happy with what he saw, Urahara sat on the floor with Ichigo. For some reason
he couldn't fathom, Ichigo blushed lightly at the closeness, but he didn't know
why. "Mah mah, I'm glad to see you all looking much more comfortable in clothes
you picked yourselves! I assume it was a success?" Urahara asked, turning to
Ichigo. Ichigo blushed again, a bit darker this time before he coughed "H-hai
they did very well for acting human. We had a mild incident with Grimmjow but
Ulquiorra sorted it" he was nearly interrupted by Grimmjow's indignant shout,
but once again was silenced by Ulquiorra's glare. He flinched lightly and sat
in Ulquiorra's lap, hiding his face in Ulquiorra's neck. Ichigo's eyebrows
rose, but all the other just rolled their eyes so he assumed this was a common
occurance.
Gin and the Arrancar bade Ichigo and Urahara goodbye shortly after 5, so Ichigo
followed Urahara back to the shoten, where he was greeted happily by Ururu and
Jinta, Tessai giving him a watery smile. Ichigo bantered happily with the group
over tea, promising to come over the next day with a smile. It was like he'd
never stopped going. Urahara offered to walk him home, and Ichigo felt himself
blush as he agreed. Urahara seemed to gain a slightly cocky smirk, however when
he tried to put his arm around Ichigo's waist, he got punched. Wincing as he
rubbed his face, Urahara laughed as Ichigo fumed. "Mah mah, Kurosaki-san, I've
just missed having you around is all" Urahara said from behind his fan. Ichigo
turned to him and his face softened. He gently gave Urahara a hug and said
quietly "I didn't mean to upset you guys..I'm sorry."
Urahara smiled as he hugged Ichigo back "Hai hai..I know. Now, lets get you
home" he said, and with that the two carried on. They bade each other good
night, and Urahara left. Ichigo went to bed with a smile on his face for the
first time in a very long time that night.
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