Chapter Twenty

The Vision and the Way

Ichigo Kurosaki stood in front of a huge audience and made a promise to the man he loved more than anything in the world. He wore a suit that had been specially tailored for him by his dear friends Shinobu and Uryū. The plain white base for the suit had been altered significantly into an amazing original creation. The suit jacket's white sleeves had been replaced with lace that was fitted tightly to Ichigo's thin arms. The back of the jacket morphed slowly into layers of sheer material that fell down from the back in a short train. The front cascaded a bit in a series of sheer layers that fell to the middle of his thighs in the front. The white pants were fitted, almost leggings, and had an over layer of white matching lace to the arms. The white shirt underneath the jacket was sheer about the shoulders, and had a deep neckline. The front of the jacket covered the rest of his front, and he wore a bright blue corsage in the button hole. He wore it without a tie or a vest, and when he had stepped out of the back, his soon to be husband had stared so hard that the officiant had to shake him out of his stupor.

Ichigo promised to always love him, and never to walk away from him. Ichigo promised that he would always be there, and that when he got scared, he would come talk to him instead of running away.

Byakuya Kuchiki likewise stood in front of that same huge audience and made a promise to the man he loved more than his own life. He wore a black suit with a bright red corsage in the button hole. His dress was more traditional modern, having dismissed wearing the older traditional outfits. It did not suit the man he had become, and it certainly didn't suit his new husband. His hair was long, tucked behind his ears, and his silver kenseikan were pristine in the light of the afternoon sun. His undershirt was black, and his tie was bright blue to match his new husband's corsage.

Byakuya promised never to turn away from him, and swore to always love everything about him, even if others couldn't understand why he did so. Byakuya promised that he would hold him through being afraid, and that he would never let him go.

After the ceremony, and the kiss between the two that lasted longer than was perhaps necessary, the new couple sat at the head table in the reception. Luppi had stood beside Ichigo, and had been dressed in a simple red dress of Shinobu's making. Rukia and Nozomi had also stood with Ichigo. Renji had stood beside Byakuya, also wearing the red corsage. Kira and Ukitake had been the other two that stood with Byakuya. Now, the eight sat around the table and chatted. Ichigo looked up to see his father and sisters coming over. Curiously, Ulquiorra was being pulled along by Yuzu. Nozomi got up and went to mingle, as did Renji and Rukia. The dancing had started, and in a while, there would be the couple's dance.

"Hey," Ichigo said as Isshin sat down beside him and took his hand. "I guess you didn't expect your son to get hitched to another dude, eh?"

"Nonsense, you're happy, right?" Isshin said with a soft smile.

"Yeah, I am. And I heard that all the Youngers got taken care of too, so that makes me happy too," Ichigo smiled and let his father kiss his cheek. "I want… Um, if you want, maybe we could get to know each other?" he asked, his eyes hopeful as he looked up at hi m. "I mean, I know I was pretty terrible to you and the girls, and I wish I could blame it all on the drugs, but I didn't want you to get involved with me, to be honest," he looked toward where Yuzu was trying to get Ulquiorra to try something from her plate. He smiled. "She looks happy."

"Ulquiorra is coming along," Isshin smirked. "I think that I might have another son-in-law to go along with Kuchiki-sama there."

"And Karin?" Ichigo asked as Karin argued with him a little.

"Ah, I'm not sure, but your friend, Mizuho, the Asano girl, has been hanging out at our house a lot. I think Karin might have a little crush on her," Isshin shrugged. "I might get at least one daughter-in-law!"

Ichigo shook his head and saw that Keigo and Mizuho were headed toward the table. He smiled as Karin got up and met the other girl and Keigo rolled his eyes and came up behind Ichigo.

"Hey, you," Keigo said with a smirk. "So is it true that you guys' and Luppi figured out how to make things work?" he whispered. Isshin's eye perked.

"How'd you know about that?" Luppi hissed as he shifted into Byakuya's seat. Ichigo looked to see he was over talking to Renji about something.

"We know all, we live with Wonderweiss, remember?" Keigo said with a smirk.

"Make things work?" Isshin asked.

"I didn't tell you because I thought you'd think bad of me," Ichigo muttered and grabbed the champagne class to chug the contents.

"What?" Isshin said with a frown.

Ichigo twisted some of the fabric on the jacket in his fingers. "Well, see, Luppi and me, we were always close, and we had a love between us, though the only way we could express it in the brothel was through sex, you know?" He paused, swallowing. "So, we couldn't just let go of it, and Da- Um, Byakuya was okay with us being, um, intimate with each other too. And since Luppi is with Kira, that means we kind of, you know, sometimes do stuff together."

Isshin thought for a second. "So…like a polyamorous relationship, then?"

Ichigo looked up. "Um, yeah, exactly like that. How do you…?" Ichigo trailed off.

"Son, your old man isn't that old. Whatever makes you happy, and as long as Kuchiki-sama is okay with it, well, there's no harm in having more love to give and receive, is there?"

Nodding slowly, Ichigo smiled and realized that his family loved him no matter what, even if it was a family he hadn't really hadn't known until very recently. And since the return from the island he hadn't seen many people except Byakuya, Luppi and Kira, and Uryū and Shinobu. The pair came and sat down opposite them.

"The ceremony was lovely," Shinobu commented with a smile.

"I want to thank you for the outfits, they are so amazing," Ichigo commented and pulled at the hem of the jacket's sheer layers. "I didn't think I'd like something so… Feminine. But I do like it more than I thought."

"It looks gorgeous on you," Uryū said with a smirk.

"I agree," Nozomi said from behind Ichigo, surprising him. She leaned over and kissed the top of his head. Ichigo's hair had been pulled back in a braid down either side of his head and pulled tight at the nape of his neck. Nozomi had been the one to do it. She'd started cosmetology classes and wanted to be a hairdresser and a makeup artist.

"You got a nose ring and one in your eyebrow," Ichigo noticed as she sat down on his lap suddenly. Ichigo only moved to hold onto her so she didn't fall. Isshin arched a brow, but Ichigo honestly didn't think anything of being close like this with the other Youngers. After all, they'd done more than sit on each other's laps.

She reached up and touched the crystal stud in her left nostril. "Yeah, I kind of thought it was a way to celebrate being free." She looked across at Shinobu. "Why did you get one?"

Shinobu touched the ring in his septum. "Oh, kind of the same thing. When I turned eighteen I got it to symbolize freedom."

There was a little more talk and then Nozomi stood up. "Oh, there's Grimmjow and Nel," she said with a smile. "I didn't tell you. I took on Rin and Hanataro's care. Well, me and Grimmjow and Nel. We've moved in with them. Dr. Ukitake is working with the both of them almost daily."

Ichigo nodded and hugged her around the waist. "Good, take care of them. I don't know them as well, since they came in after I left, but I know what it feels like to be them."

"We may need you to come talk to them," she said and patted Ichigo's head. "They might need some words from a nii-san that knows what they've gone through."

"I think I can do that," he said with a nod as Nel came up and snatched him up into a hug. Ichigo gasped out that he couldn't breathe through her big breasts and she set him back down.

"Itsygo, you're married and happy and that makes me happy!" she said as she leaned over and smothered him again.

"Ack, woman, I hate boobs!" he complained as she stood back up. Grimmjow was rolling his eyes at her. "Hey, did everyone get out of there okay?" he asked, realizing he didn't know much about what happened after he'd been taken to the island.

"Most of the streetwalkers went home to their families, and the other Escorts are being helped by the Shinigami. Some are going home to families, but there are a lot that are too scared to do so. Loly and Menoly just got engaged, so I think they'll be fine," Nel said with a grin. "But that's a lot of talk, and some of it isn't good for here. You'll need to come over and spend time with Rin and Hanataro." She paused and snickered. "Uh oh, I think Rikichi found himself someone he likes to hang around with."

Rikichi had been one of the middle youngers, he was almost sixteen now, but he had been completely mute while in the Below. Now, however, Ichigo saw that he was talking in a very animated fashion to Renji. Renji was smiling and nodding, answering him, and it looked like he was happy with Rikichi talking to him. Ichigo couldn't help but smile.

"Who is taking him?" he asked suddenly.

"Oh, didn't you hear?" Isshin spoke up from where he still sat beside Ichigo. "Urahara, the man that found you, he and his partner Yoruichi took in him and the girl with the pigtails, Ururu. I guess his friend Tessai has come to stay with them, and he has a nephew named Jinta that's helping out around his candy story. I think he just wants them to work for free," Isshin said with a chuckle.

Ichigo saw that there was Ururu and she was sitting next to a boy with bright red hair. Urahara was sitting at the same table with Yoruichi, the dark-skinned woman Ichigo had only met briefly, and a very big man with a moustache. He made eye contact with Ururu and she smiled at him. That made him happy as he turned back to his table where Grimmjow was chatting with Uryū now.

Keigo came over a few minutes later and dropped down beside Ichigo, grabbing his hand. "Ichigo, quick, who is that guy with your Daddy?" he whispered, though everyone at the table could hear him.

Ichigo frowned. "Oh, that is Mizuiro Kojima. He used to be a junior financial officer at Kuchiki Enterprises, but now he's Daddy's personal finance officer."

"How old is he?" Keigo whispered again, staring at the young dark haired man. Mizuiro turned and locked eyes on Ichigo and Keigo. Keigo reddened and turned away.

"Not very old, he's like nineteen I think…" Ichigo said with a frown. "He was barely more than an intern…" Ichigo didn't finish because Keigo was up and headed over where he was now standing alone. Byakuya was headed back over to their table now.

Byakuya sat down and Ichigo smirked at him. "I think Keigo like's your financial advisor," he commented as Keigo started talking to the slightly shorter Mizuiro.

"Well, that is good, he had just commented that he thought your friend kept watching him, and that he was kind of cute."

"Is everyone gay here?" Karin growled as she sat down with a flop opposite them by Uryū and Shinobu.

"Is there something wrong with that?" Shinobu asked.

"No, just seems like the percentage rate is higher than normal," she muttered.

Ichigo snickered and then sighed. "I just wish the papers would leave me alone," he felt a sudden sadness at the thought. "There was a terrible piece today about me."

"I wish I could be around someone that said something like that," Shinobu said suddenly, getting everyone to look at the normally rather docile dark-haired man. He looked around. "What? I have a temper, especially about that."

"Yes, I try to keep that stuff away, we don't want another incident." Uryū sighed and shook his head.

"Incident?" Karin asked from beside him.

"Oh, we were in a park and this guy called him a 'sissy faggot' because he was wearing a dress. I had to pull him off the guy because the guy was turning blue from being choked." Uryū looked at Shinobu with a wry grin. "Though I suppose that now and then a little extreme action is necessary."

Everyone seemed happy and Ichigo got up to walk around. He saw different people talking and then he was caught by Byakuya. He realized it was time for their dance. Byakuya pulled him to the floor center and the music started. The song was special to them, a song with a refrain about closing eyes forever, and it was slightly morbid, since it was about death in a way. But for the two of them, it was about life. It was about their choices. As the song ended, Ichigo ended up dancing and dancing as the night wore on. By the time exhaustion took him, he slipped out of the building into the cool night.

The wedding and reception had been held in a country resort, and it was surrounded by trees and nearby there was a small fountain. Ichigo found his way to the fountain and sat on the edge to stare up at a waxing moon. He didn't know how long passed but he was startled when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Byakuya.

"Little one, I missed you in there," he said as he sat down and dropped his jacket over Ichigo's shoulders. "And you'll catch your death out here in this chill."

"I'm sorry," Ichigo said as Byakuya sat down and pulled him into his arm. Ichigo rested his head on Byakuya's shoulder and sighed. "I just wanted to get some air. That's all."

Ichigo stared at the sky and couldn't help but wonder. "Little one, you know, everything I said in there is true. You are my everything."

"I know, and you are everything to me. What does our future hold, though? What are we going to do? You aren't a Shinigami anymore, well, with your shoulder, you're not an active one. But you gave up the company too. So, what are we doing?"

"Well, about that," Byakuya said and squeezed him tightly. "Seems that Luppi is working for an old friend of mine as a model, Don Kanonji. And he was begging Luppi to go on tour. I thought, what better reason to see the world?"

"What?" Ichigo asked, looking up at him sharply. "You mean, go where Luppi goes for modeling?"

"Yeah, Prague, Paris, London, New York, those are a few of the places that Kanonji said they were going to be presenting designs. And the best part, Uryū and Shinobu will come to some of them because most of what Luppi wears is their clothing lines."

"So, we could go places and be with them too?" Ichigo gasped out without thinking.

"That's right, little one. You and your playmates, and me of course. We'll be together, and we'll see what's out there. Who knows what we'll find? You want to get away from the slander? This is one way. We leave Japan until it all dies down. People in those other places don't know us, and we can make new friends, and perhaps a playmate for my little boy."

Ichigo stared at him, tears starting to form. "I wanted to go somewhere else, but I didn't think we could…"

"And, if we want, we can fly your family out to visit us while we're away. I mean, I am still the family head."

Ichigo nodded and snuggled into Byakuya's body. He was safe. He was warm. And most of all, he was loved. Not everyone would get them, and not every day would be a good one. That didn't matter, though. In the end, Ichigo was a little one, and Byakuya was his Daddy. No matter what, that wouldn't change. Daddies take care of their little ones, and Byakuya was certainly going to take care of his precious Ichigo.