Ichigo wove through the post-work crowd without seeing the faces around him. He carried his unprepared dinner in plastic bags dodging mindless work drones and bypassing smelly homeless as he mechanically made his way home. It once would have pissed him off that the nearest market to his apartment was smackdab in the middle of the most populated and busy part of this grey boring city. But not anymore. Giving a fuck was not on his agenda anywhere in the forseeable future.

Ichigo trudged along. He had already memorized the way to his realively new apartment. 3 months really didn't feel like very long. At least he thought it had been 3 months. Ichigo wasn't actually sure what day it was.

'Doesn't matter,' he concluded. 'Tensa or the old man will call me at the halfway mark anyway.' All he had to do was not forget to eat for the next 9 months.

One year. That's how much he had to pick up his broken pieces and some how duct-tape himself together. Then he would go home. At least thats what the old man and goat face had agreed to.

He still could remember how that particular conversation had gone.

"Ichigo, you can't do this! You need to be around people. Your friends. Your family." Isshin Kurosaki had never looked so serious to Ichigo in his life. His father usually acted like such an idiot. But not then. At that moment, Isshin was furious.

"We care for you Ichigo."

Ichigo remembered the look on his uncle's face. Dead serious eyes eyes looked at him from behind yellow tinted glasses and a frown gracing the older man's scruffy unshaven face.

"Your father says you need support. We are all here for you...but if you want time alone, I personally believe you should be allowed to take it."

Ichigo heard Isshin make a strangled sound in his throat but the young redheaded man did not break eye contact with his uncle.

"…thank you Zan."

"How long do you need?"

Ichigo thought for a moment. This question could also be translated to 'How long can you last?'

"…I'll be back before the year's out," he said finally.

Zangetsu nodded. It was early January so that pretty much meant the whole year but the family would manage. Ichigo could do it. Zangetsu knew Ichigo better than the young man even knew himself. He would eventually pull through. If he didn't…well. They would cross that bridge if they came to it.

"I'll arrange an apartment in Grand Fisher, that good?"

Ichigo nodded and that was the end of that.

Granted it was a couple of days until Isshin would agree to it but once he had Zangetsu's support Ichigo was pretty much set.

Ichigo turned a corner into a swiftly darkening alleyway. He had figured out the swiftest route to and from the market consisted of a few of these such paths. He wasn't terribly worried for his safety, at the very most a mugger would annoy him. Possibly not even that.

Ichigo moved swiftly and quietly, threading through the dark passages. He wanted to get to his apartment, eat, shower, swallow a whole bottle of sleeping pills and sleep forever. He wouldn't do the last one but there was no harm in musing about it...at least not that much harm.

"Hey strawberry."

Ichigo froze instantly and then turned swiftly, a snarl on his lips.

No one called him that. Not anymore. No one.

"Whoa there sexy," slurred a voice. "We just wanna have a little fun."

The man speaking was obviously drunk, as were the three others behind him. They looked like textbook thugs, big. Debatably ugly. Swinging metal pipes and bottles hidden in brown paper bags.

'Christ,' Ichigo berated himself. 'How did these assholes sneak up on me?'

He must have been completely out of it. But he was now thrust into this wannabe rape'n'kill situation. He could see the sparks of lust in their glazed eyes.

He knew he was appealing. Very appealing. His tangerine hair created a halo of soft light around his face. Long soft lashes framed shining sepia orbs. Full pink lips were accented by his straight nose and high cheekbones. True, he had lost some weight, but toned muscles still graced his lithe form and the memory of sun kissed skin was still evident. He was often mistaken for a girl, and though that certainly helped in certain situations it did have it's downsides. And while he didn't know what he was wearing he probably looked damn good in it, also not helping him at this moment.

Ichigo sighed internally as they began to close in on him. He did not want to deal with this shit.

"Look asswipe, either you leave me alone or I rip your dick off and shove it down your ugly mug."

"Well aren't we a feisty strawb-"

CRUNCH.

'Fuck this.' thought Ichigo coldly.

The thug dropped to the alley floor howling. Ichigo kicked him in the gut and then took the man's metal pipe and swung it down on his head. Once. Twice.

Ichigo heard a cry and swiftly turned to block another metal pipe with his newly commandeered one. He snarled anomalistically in his opponent's face effectively driving the backwards into a brick wall. Ichigo rammed his knee upwards causing the drunk to kneel over before turning to the last two thugs with out weapons.

He could feel it rising. The thrill. The bloodlust. A cackle blossomed in his throat. A maniacal smile split his face. He lifted the metal pipe and swung down towards the face of of one of the thugs-

-and was halted by a strong hand.

Ichigo's head snapped to the side. Oh fuck no. No one came between him and his prey. Who the fuck had dared-?

Red tinted eyes met vivid blue ones.

"Calm the fuck down, kid."

Ichigo's heart jolted. The voice was like rough velvet, like an angel that smoked cigarettes. As his eyes focused on the face in front of him Ichigo half believed the man was an angel.

The man had the same facial structure as Ichigo but with a much stronger jaw. Tanned skin made his face seem to glow and messy blue hair hung over his forehead.

Ichigo roughly pulled the metal pipe out of the angel's grip backing away. Was this guy with the others? Would he have to fuck this guy up too? The guy was beautiful, but he wasn't beyond smashing the pipe into the Adonis' face if he had too.

The new arrival was looking him over. Ichigo noticed the man was taller than him but they were about the same build. He was maybe a little broader around the chest from what he could tell from the grey t-shirt clinging to him that he was sporting under a black sweat jacket. His torso trailed into strong legs encased in dark blue jeans and worn out chucks.

"They fucking started it." Ichigo found himself spitting out. Fucking cunts. Was their own damn fault they got their asses handed to them.

Ichigo was suddenly tired. He felt like he had come down hard from an amazing high. Which he had. The metal pipe hung loosely in his grip.

The other man watched him. Ichigo could tell he was still on guard in case Ichigo decide to attack him as well.

'No chance of that,' Ichigo thought tiredly. He wad completely turned off by the idea of possibly having to hide corpses.

Disgusted, Ichigo tossed the metal pipe at the feet of the blue haired man. He didn't look like he was going to attack Ichigo. And if he did Ichigo was less likely to kill him with his bare hands. That was just too troublesome sometimes.

"Well you didn't have to beat them shitless."

Ichigo looked the man in the eye, suddenly pissed.

"Like you would have to deal with this kinda shit." Ichigo scoffed slightly disgusted with his feminine looks. "You've probably never been jumped by assholes with a need to compensate for a small dick."

"Hey," protested one of the remaining thugs. "That ain't tr-OOOF"

Ichigo set his foot back on the ground as the drunk hit it, knocked out cold by Ichigo's kick.

"Fuck this," Ichigo spat bending to scoop up his hastily dropped groceries. "I'm going home."

"Wait." Ichigo froze again. The blue haired angel had grabbed him by the shoulder.

Blue and sepia met again.

"What do you want?" Ichigo managed to keep the whine out of his voice. Food. Sleep. Thats all he wanted. Was it too much to ask?

"Let me give you a lift."

Ichigo furrowed his brow. He shouldn't. This guy could be just like those other fucktards and just want a nice piece of ass.…on the other hand…he could get home a lot quicker…..

"Fine." Ichigo said after a moment, shrugging the man's hand off. "But if you touch me I'll break your fingers one by fuckin' one. Understand?"

The man chuckled and Ichigo tried to ignore the chill that went up his spine at the delicious sound. "Follow me then."