Chapter Four out! This one is dedicated to Vains, I hope you like it

Silver

~Silver Strawberry: Chapter Four~

It took several hours but Ichigo had finally fallen asleep, Gin on the other hand sat at the window of his room and gazed at the stars thinking. He thought about his much younger years when he and Rangiku were still only children battling for survival in the Rukongai and how she would always scold him whenever he returned after disappearing for undisclosed periods of time.

He loved Rangiku, he really did but somewhere along the years that love changed to romantic which was why he began to draw away from her in the first place, because by then he was already in Aizen's confidence and it would have broken her heart completely had he let his feelings known at the time. As it was he still broke her heart but she would be able to mend it again.

Gin hadn't had these thoughts for many years and he was coming to the realisation that while he once would have pursued a romantic relationship with her he no longer would. Obviously because there was no way he could return to the Soul Society now that he was powerless and still a traitor but also because over the years serving Aizen he had become much more aware of harsh reality so that love he had felt for Rangiku back then had reverted sometime back to that of siblings, of family.

Gin wondered what had changed within him as he became more engrossed in the world of revenge, lies and deceit but came up with nothing. He was so blinded by his thirst for revenge he had lost himself on the way only for a hot headed orange haired kid to basically shove him back several steps until he finally realised he was no longer who he wished to be.

Gin snorted, Ichigo had inadvertently and metaphorically slapped Gin in the face with his determination and desire to protect those he loved no matter the consequences. It might have been difficult for anyone to ever see but Gin knew that deep down he was the same, he would do anything for Rangiku and had proved as such but in such a horrible way that Gin wonders if it was really ever worth the effort.

Sighing Gin looked away from the sky and moved towards the bed. There was no use to have such thoughts running rampant in his mind, at least not when he still had a few things to figure out, what those things are he still had no clue. What a hopeless case he was proving to be.

Deciding enough was enough Gin lay in his borrowed bed, eyes closed and gratefully allowed sleep to consume him but not before having a devious thought, leaving a smile on his face as he slipped into unconsciousness.

Pale sunlight streamed through a gap in Ichigo's curtains, illuminating the dark room and the figure sprawled on out on the bed. Ichigo lay breathing softly still deeply asleep and unaware of his door opening silently before being shut just as quietly.

Without making so much as a noise Gin crept closer to the sleeping occupant of the room, eying his orange strands splaying around his face only just noticing that Ichigo had grown his hair out much like it had been during that final battle seven years ago so a few errant strands of orange fell across his eyes.

Now standing beside Ichigo's bed and peering down at the boy – no man – Gin absently brushed aside the errant strands from Ichigo's forehead leaving his closed eyes unobscured.

It was barely half past five in the morning and Gin had been awake for at least two hours already debating with himself whether he should carry out that thought he had before he feel asleep and deciding it just wouldn't be him if he didn't torment the man a little. So Gin patiently waited, watching Ichigo sleep not making a single sound.

Not fifteen minutes later as if unconsciously feeling his gaze Ichigo began to stir, struggling to bring himself into awareness. Slowly after five minutes of struggling Ichigo slowly blinked his eyes open, expecting to see his ceiling like normal, Ichigo in no way expected to find the slyly grinning face of Gin Ichimaru hovering mere inches from his own.

"GAH!" Ichigo yelped after a brief moment were time seemed to stop as he tried to register just what the hell he was seeing and when he did he promptly jerked away from the grinning man only to succeed in falling off the other side of his bed with a load thump followed by a groan and Gin's amused laughter.

"Graceful Ichi-kun." Gin snickered as he straightened and slipped his hands within the sleeves of his kimono, watching with amusement as Ichigo shot up from the floor with a deep scowl on his face, hair dishevelled and cloths creased.

"What the hell asshole!" Ichigo exclaimed almost waving a fist at the man but instead both hands remained fisted and placed on his hips in a disapproving manner. Gin for his part blinked once before letting out another round of snickers at Ichigo's stance.

"Screw you asshole!" Ichigo hissed stalking towards the man and grabbing him by the lapels, "This is how you treat the person who saved your ass from freezing on the street!" Ichigo was utterly infuriated with the silver haired man, not only had the man nearly given him a heart attack he had the gall to laugh at him!

"As I recall Ichi-kun," Gin drawled with a smirk, "I didn't have much choice in the matter; I seem to distinctly remember you dragging me here without a thought as to whether I wanted to come or not."

"And I distinctly remember you're supposed to be dead," Ichigo growled in return, "And unless you want to turn that into a reality you will NOT bug me again is that clear?" Ichigo glared as fiercely as he could but most of the effect was lost by his dishevelled state and half lidded eyes still heavy with sleep.

"Not at all!" Gin chirped happily, causing Ichigo to splutter for a moment in shock. Ichigo for all purposes was more powerful than Gin and could really kill him and yet the man stood there without a single fear. Does the man even know what fear is?

"Y…You're impossible!" Ichigo exclaimed at last letting the man go with a huff. Despite his threats he wouldn't kill the man not after basically offering the man a place in his home, however briefly that may be.

Gin just smirked as Ichigo turned away from him grumbling curses about silver haired, fox faced bastards and gathering a towel and searching, presumably, for some clean cloths to change into. Really how did Ichigo live in a place like this, there was clutter everywhere and not just in his bedroom. Gin had taken the time to truly observe Ichigo's dwelling and found it to be an utter mess.

Now while it wouldn't particularly occur to many people but Gin was rather anal when it came to having his things in order not spotless perfection but at least organised chaos while Ichigo just had chaos. How the man found anything was beyond him. If he were to stay here then the mess would be the first thing on his list to rectify.

It was at this time Ichigo turned and caught the rather disgruntled look on Gin's face as he observed the unholy mess of his room, sending a flush of embarrassment to his cheeks which didn't go unnoticed by the man as he turned back to look at Ichigo.

"Don't even think about saying anything." Ichigo warned fighting down his embarrassment and storming past the constantly grinning man and closing the bathroom door with a little more force than was necessary. Hey at least he didn't slam the damn thing! There was just something about that man that ruffled his feathers.

Back in Ichigo's room Gin chuckled quietly to himself before leaving Ichigo's room and heading down the stairs to the kitchen. He might as well make breakfast since Ichigo had offered him a place to stay and by the many takeout boxes littering the living room, Ichigo hadn't had a decent meal in a long time. Can the man even cook?

Shrugging the thought off Gin cleared the rubbish from the kitchen bench and resolutely decided to attack the house later and clean it as he made breakfast.

I hope you all liked it and I'm sorry for the long delay in an update, I'm truly trying to improve that.

Until next time

Silver