My first Bleach FF. Please be kind. :)
Chapter One: In which there is sketching and sketchiness
"So… what do you think?" Kisuke asked his creations as they scrutinized their forms in a mirror.
"Oh, I'm so glad you made me the handsome, mature, sophisticated one," Kurodo applauded.
"How about you, Noba?" Kisuke prompted the other mod soul.
"I…" Noba looked at the floor. His cheeks were pink. "It's… very good work. Thank you."
"Any tweaks you'd like?" Kisuke asked. He leaned back on his hands and smiled up at the others.
"I'd like my hair blond," Kurodo said immediately. "Well—maybe half blond. Two tones could symbolize my depth of character and my adaptability."
Kisuke's smile broadened. "Sure; I can do that. What would you like different, Noba?"
Noba looked uncomfortable. "I just… it's not that I don't like it," he said slowly.
"Don't worry about hurting my feelings," Kisuke assured him. "I'm interested in your comfort right now."
"That's right," Kurodo admonished. "If you don't speak up you may be stuck with something you don't like for the rest of your life. Spit it out!"
Noba's flush deepened. "It's… the hood…"
"Oh! Well, that's an easy fix. I can get rid of the hood without any trouble," Kisuke said, waving a dismissive hand.
"No…" Noba shook his head slightly. "The hood is all right. It's just that I'd prefer it to have a mask, too."
"A mask?" Kurodo exclaimed. "What on earth for? It's not like someone will recognize you—Kisuke made these gigai from scratch!"
"That shouldn't be too difficult," Kisuke told Noba, ignoring Kurodo's comments. "Let's start sketching up some plans."
"Hey, wait," Kurodo said as the other two bent over Kisuke's sketch pad, "if he gets a mask then I get a top hat!"
Some minutes later, as Kisuke drew, he said, "By the way, I'm planning to make one more gigai for another mod soul."
"Oh, yes? You really shouldn't sit on plans like that, Urahara-sensai—I've just started getting used to Noba and myself. Now you're saying we'll have another companion?" Kurodo complained.
"Yes. I sort of rushed finishing you and Noba because the next one's going to be a girl, and I need to take my time with her. Men are so much easier."
"Why is that?" Kurodo asked eagerly.
Noba turned to face the wall.
"A couple reasons," Kisuke said, his slow smile growing again. "First, because as a male, I have my own experience to draw from. Second… guy parts are just less complicated."
Kurodo chewed a fingernail. "I see…" he said solemnly.
"You should make Kurodo some gloves," Noba said, not turning around.
Kurodo snatched his hand away from his mouth. "What makes you say that?"
"Nothing."
Kisuke tipped his head forward, allowing his striped hat to hide his now-wide smile from the others. He was beginning to like his new creations. "Any suggestions for the girl?" he said.
"Blonde," Kurodo answered instantly. "And perhaps sort of small—it will lend helpful perspective to me and Noba. Make us seem stronger and more impressive."
"Did you want a more muscular build?" Kisuke asked, tilting his head back again, now that the smile had faded.
"No, no. Muscles are useful, but they wouldn't look good in my tailored suit."
"What sort of soul is she?" Noba asked.
"She's a take-charge kind of girl," Kisuke answered, turning to a fresh page and beginning to sketch his idea for the new gigai. "Very enthusiastic. Almost to the point of bossiness. But she has a good heart."
"What is her special ability?" Kurodo asked.
"Illusions. Mind tricks."
"As good as my transformations?"
"It depends on what you need them for. But she is just as competent in producing them, if that's what you mean.
"Now, listen, you two," Kisuke went on a minute later, "I have to tell you something important."
Noba turned back toward the other two and sat on the floor to watch Kisuke solemnly.
"I have modified all three of your souls myself, after they were developed by the Soul Society."
"I thought I sensed some tampering whilst I was still in pill form," Kurodo declared. "But it's hard to tell what's changing when you're like that… I wondered if perhaps I was being destroyed."
Noba was staring at the floor again, and Kisuke suspected that the redhead had feared the same fate.
"I'm sorry to have worried you," Kisuke said sincerely. "And I'm also sorry that I have to tell you I think I may have made a bit of an error while I was working on the two of you."
"An error?" Kurodo repeated. "I haven't detected anything wrong… but then, I don't remember having a rounded personality at all—it comes of being constructed from human souls, I suppose."
"As I said before, I sort of rushed you two," Kisuke confessed. "And while I was modifying, I think that I accidentally gave Noba's share of sly passion to you, Kurodo."
Kurodo's eyes widened. "Sly passion? Do you mean… lustfulness?"
The hat had to tip down again. "You… could say that."
Kurodo blinked. Then he looked at Noba. He saw that Noba had gone completely red and was turning to face the wall again. "Ha ha ha!" he cried. "I do believe you're right! That boy's the picture of innocence! It's too much!" He laughed loudly.
"However," Kisuke went on, peeking out from under his hat to watch their reactions, "I made another error." When Kurodo was quiet again, he finished. "I'm afraid I gave your share of courage to Noba."
"What!" Kurodo gaped and sputtered. "How can that be? You must be mistaken!"
Noba turned suddenly away from the wall and began crawling toward Kurodo. His face was still red, but his aqua eyes were blazing.
"Now, now," Kurodo addressed him, "don't be upset. It was just a little teasing…"
Noba advanced, his expression set like stone.
"Steady on—what are you up to? Get away!" Kurodo cried, backing away from Noba, who kept coming. "Stop! Help!" Kurodo shrieked.
Noba stopped and looked at Kisuke. "I think you're right," he said calmly.
Kisuke nodded and smiled. "See?"
"That wasn't nice!" Kurodo complained, straightening his jacket. "I'm going outside." He paused in the doorway. "Make sure you give that girl blonde hair. Short blonde hair." He left.
"What do you think?" Kisuke asked Noba.
Noba glanced over the sketch."I think she should wear a dress," he said quietly.
"Good idea. This place could use some feminine charm. But we can give her a macho cloak so she won't feel too left out."
"Shaped like a bird," Noba suggested.
"Inspired!" Kisuke declared, sketching quickly. "With the beak in front."
Pausing to rest his hand, Kisuke flipped back to his previous sketch. "Will this mask do?" he asked.
"Yes," Noba answered. "Only… maybe you could make a way to fasten it shut?"
"Shut?" Kisuke chewed the end of his pencil. He wondered why Noba would want to effectively render himself blind. But he knew the young-looking mod soul was as intelligent as he was shy. "How about a zipper?" he suggested.
"That would be fine."
"A zipper, it is."
A few minutes later, Kisuke set his sketch pad aside and stretched. "Well, that's enough for tonight. "I'll make your mask first thing tomorrow and then see to Kurodo's hair and his top hat… and his gloves. Then I can start working on Ririn. That's the other mod soul."
Noba nodded. "Thank you."
"My pleasure. If I let you two stay in your gigai overnight, can I trust you not to run away?"
"Why would we leave?"
"Well…" Kisuke rubbed the back of his neck. "You might get ideas about trying to live like a human… or you might think you can just rush out and fight hollows—after all, that's what the mod souls were created for in the first place."
"But… you created us. We were as good as dead, and you saved us. You brought us here, cared for us and equipped us for service. How could we even think of dishonoring you in such a way?"
It was the most Kisuke had yet heard Noba say at one time, and he was duly impressed. "Noba," he said, "I think you're going to work out just fine. I'll take a dozen like you." He stood and put his fan in front of his mouth to cover a yawn. "Come on. If you're spending the night we'll need to roll out a couple more beds."
Hope you enjoyed it! :) I'll probably post more soon about Kisuke and his creations.