So, this is the third installment to the 'Changes' saga. I just can't leave these men alone. This installment will be dealing with what happens where 'Vacation' ends (the second in the series, as it were). It will be based loosely on canon. And I am using the term 'loosely' on purpose. Yes, these are familiar characters, but that's about it. The story is going to be completely from the depths of my imagination. Which, if you've been reading these stories, you should know can be quite...mature. I hope you'll enjoy this journey with me. As always, I own nothing. All characters belong to Tite Kubo.

"Again!" Shinji yelled out from standing on top of one of the cliffs, watching the fighting that was taking place down below.

Ichigo groaned and shook his head. "I need to rest for a minute!" He yelled up at the blonde, who was now barking orders to Hachigen. Ichigo's voice garbled in a rough tone thanks to the white mask that was present on his face. He bent one knee, breathing heavily as he felt the mask slip from his visage. He could feel the perimeter widen, probably thanks to what was asked of Hachigen, now giving Ichigo more room to fight.

"No!" Shinji shouted. "No time for resting. Get up and do it again! This time, push yourself harder!"

The substitute shinigami groaned. "Come on, Hirako! I need a fucking break!"

"Just do as he says, Ichigo." Ichigo turned and saw the one person that could make any dark day of his turn into something brighter. Standing next to Shinji was his lover and mentor, the fabric of his black haori billowing with the gentle breeze that filled the underground training center. He tipped his striped bucket hat down, shielding his eyes from the artificial light.

Out of nowhere, Hiyori's feet came flying at Ichigo, hitting him square in the chest. Ichigo tumbled to the ground, the wind knocked out of it. "BALDY!" Hiyori shouted, her voice distorted thanks to her own Visored mask on her face. "Get back into it!"

Itching to grab the horn of her Visored mask in his hands, Ichigo grumbled under his breath. Hopping to his feet, Ichigo stood in a defensive stance, his feet spread to the width of his shoulders. Bringing up his right hand, he made his Visored mask appear, feeling Shiro's power burst forth. "Shut it, shorty," Ichigo growled, raising Zangetsu. "You never play fair."

"Ah, but she keeps you on your toes," Love's voice projected from behind the manga he was currently reading on the sidelines. Mashiro giggled loudly, earning a glare from the substitute shinigami.

Urahara shook his head, watching the antics down below. "How's his training going?" Urahara asked Shinji, the blonde squatting down on ground, watching Hiyori and Ichigo trade blows with one another. The Visored kept an eye on the stopwatch in his hand, having started the timer as soon as Ichigo had brought up his own mask.

"You'll see," Shinji said, his eyes going back and forth between the fight and the timer. As soon as the watch had hit twenty seconds, Ichigo's mask quickly began to fracture, the teen's power limit having run out. Shinji stopped the timer. "Damn."

Urahara felt his insides twist as he watched the wind get knocked out of his lover again The smaller Visored had charged at him, having much more control over her power. He knew it was going to be difficult for Ichigo, but he also knew it was necessary. The stronger he was, the easier it would be whenever it was that Aizen was going to make his move. He heard Shinji bark out at Ichigo, his words sounding a lot harsher than they should have been.

It had been a few weeks since the two of them had returned from their vacation in Soul Society. Urahara had not wanted to throw Ichigo back into training so soon after having their nice retreat, so he had instructed for Shinji to just continue to watch him whenever he was not able to be around, knowing that Ichigo would be safe should anything happen. Nothing had, and with the way things were quiet in Karakura Town at the moment, it didn't feel like anything would be happening soon. He knew it was always better to be prepared than to be caught off guard. With that last Arrancar attack that had almost taken Sado's life, when the two of them had not been around to help in the fight, Urahara was almost hyper alert to the situation. With the help of Tessai and Yoruichi, each one of Ichigo's friends was constantly under watch, without their knowing.

"Call off Hiyori. I think Ichigo's had about enough for one day," Urahara said, touching Shinji's shoulder. The unspoken leader of the Visoreds gave a sharp nod of his head.

Shinji called down to them. "Oy! Hiyori-chan!" His voice took on a sing-song like quality that the petite Visored despised. "Time to stop playing with the shinigami!"

"What?" Hiyori stopped suddenly, leaving the orange haired teen alone on the ground. Smirking to himself, Ichigo kicked his leg out, effectively making the petite blonde land flat on her back, her Visored mask quickly disappearing. "No fair!"

Ichigo stood up and brushed himself off. "No fair? Please. You kept attacking me when you knew my power was gone. How is that not fair?" He placed Zangetsu on his back, stretching out his arms. He looked up at the cliff and saw neither of the two men that had been up there before. Huh. Where'd they go?

"Looking for someone?" Urahara said, appearing behind him. Ichigo groaned, shaking his head. "What?"

"Nothing," Ichigo said. "Are we done here?" He looked over at Shinji, who was walking over towards them. "I'm exhausted. I really don't think I can take much more abuse."

"Yes, we're done here." Shinji said, smirking. "However, I think you can take more, but seems to me that our surprise guest has put your mind elsewhere."

A hint of a blush appeared on Urahara's cheeks. "I informed you I'd be stopping by to see how things were going. It's not that much a surprise visit."

"To him," Ichigo said, shaking his head. "I had no idea you'd be here." He took his lover's hand, squeezing it gently with his own. "Not that I'm complaining all that much."

"Could you please knock that off?" Hiyori yelled, glaring at the two of them. "At least take it outside."

Sticking out his tongue at her, Ichigo wrapped his arms around Urahara. "What? Don't like public displays of affection? Did no one ever shower you with love?"

"That's enough, Ichigo," Urahara said, chuckling. "We'll be on our way, Hiyori-chan. Don't you worry." The shop keeper stepped away from Ichigo and began to walk up the long flight of stairs.

"Oy, Ichigo!" Shinji said, pulling the substitute shinigami back gently, holding him from walking up the stairs with Urahara. "Listen, we'll do this again tomorrow after school, alright?"

Ichigo nodded, trying to pull his hand from the Visored's firm grip. "What gives, Hirako? What's with all the training?" Ichigo looked into his friend's eyes, trying to get a read on what was going on in the man's mind. "Why are you so persistent?"

The Visored let go of his arm. "Just come here with me after school tomorrow." Shinji walked back over to the other Visoreds, leaving Ichigo alone on the stairs.

"Are you coming, Ichigo?" Urahara asked from the top of the stairs. Ichigo nodded and began his ascent, reappearing in the abandoned warehouse. "Did you want to come by the shop?" Urahara asked, looking Ichigo over. "Where's Kon?"

"Probably at your shop," Ichigo said. "So, yeah - I'll walk with you back to your place."

The two walked out of the warehouse after Urahara had used a Kido spell to allow them to exit, one that Hachigen had been made aware of when their training session had begun. Ichigo watched as the warehouse disappeared from existence once they were outside the barrier, knowing that it was there to protect the Visoreds, and whoever else was there. He looked at Urahara and saw that the man had a hard look set on his face.

"What's on your mind, Kisuke? Doesn't look like it can be all that good." Ichigo asked as they walked through the streets, heading towards the man's shop. "And don't tell me nothing, because I know your nothing face. And this is clearly not your nothing face."

Urahara shrugged his shoulders. "It's really not all that important, Ichigo. I've just got a lot of things on my mind at the moment."

"Like...?" Ichigo asked, taking his lover's hand into his own. "You know that you can talk to me about anything, right?"

The shop keeper stopped walking and looked at him. "Of course I know that, Ichigo. I just...I'm a bit worried, that's all."

"Worried about what?" Ichigo placed a hand on Urahara's cheek, stroking the barely there stubble that his lover liked to keep. "Everything's been quiet here."

"I know," Urahara said, turning his head to lean into Ichigo's touch. "And that's what's got me worried. It's almost too quiet."

"Why can't we just enjoy the silence every once in awhile? Why must everything be all doom and gloom with everyone?" Ichigo asked, letting his hand drop from Urahara's face. He shook his head as he headed up the steps into Urahara's shop. He slid open the door and was greeted by a tiny mod soul attaching herself to his leg. "Hi Ririn."

"Ichigo!" She wailed, hugging his leg as tightly as she could. "Where've you been?"

He bent down and gently pulled her away from his leg. "I've been out. Are you okay?" She stood in the palm of his hand, glaring at him. "What? What'd I do this time?"

"Nothing," she twittered. "I just wanted to give you grief." She laughed and jumped off his hand, making her way over to where the other two mod souls were.

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Thanks, Ririn. Just what I needed to hear." He looked over at Urahara and saw that he was in a conversation with Tessi. Where'd he come from? "Hey, Kisuke - do you mind if I go use your shower before I head home?"

"Go ahead, Ichigo. Tessai says that the others are all studying in the room up ahead." Urahara said, giving him a soft smile. Ichigo felt his heart flip flop at that look, knowing that even though the man was on edge, he always had a smile to give to him, no matter what the circumstances were. Giving a small nod of his head, Ichigo walked back towards the back of the shop.

Passing by the back room, he stood at the sliding door and saw that his friends were sitting around, doing their homework. He stepped into the room. "Oh! Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime said, looking up at him. "Did you just get finished with your practice?"

"I did," Ichigo looked over at his human body. Kon was currently staring at Orihime's..."Oy! Kon! Must you?"

The mod soul scratched the back of his neck, a characteristic of Ichigo's he had down pat. "What?" He grinned sheepishly. "I wasn't doing anything."

Ichigo walked over to him and hit him with the small wooden badge that Ukitake had given to him so long ago, and pushed it against his human body, popping the blue mod soul pill out from his mouth. He plopped the pill into the stuffed lion that was sitting at the table, already beginning to whine and harp on about how it wasn't fair that he wasn't in his human form anymore. However, Ichigo took no heed of it, as he allowed himself to fall back into his body. He stood up and stretched out his body, groaning as his muscles protested their use after sitting down for so long.

"Are you going somewhere, Kurosaki?" Ishida asked, looking over at him.

"I need to shower," Ichigo said.

"But, didn't you fight in your shinigami form, Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime asked, titling her head. "I don't understand why you'd need to take a shower if you're not in the same body as you were before?"

The substitute shinigami shrugged his shoulders. "I still feel sticky and sweaty. I guess it's more a mental thing than a physical thing." He walked over to the door. "Why are you guys here anyway?"

"Thought it would be better to be here than apart," Sado said, his hair falling into his face. Ichigo's eyebrow raised at that admission.

"Did something happen after I left school?" Ichigo asked. Maybe that's what Tessai was talking to Urahara about.

Ishida pushed his glasses up on to the bridge of his nose, the minimal light refracting off the lenses. "It's nothing important. Just some abnormal Hollow activity. But we took care of it. And afterwards, we came here. It seemed the right thing to do."

"Abnormal?" Ichigo asked, his stomach dropping. "What do you mean? Like, another one of the ones you've seen before?"

Sado shook his head. "No. It was not human. It was just a Hollow."

"Why don't you go take that shower?" A voice from behind him said. Ichigo turned around and saw that his lover was standing next to him. "It will do no one any good if you become upset right now. They said that they were fine, and that they took care of it. Don't worry, alright?" Urahara's grey eyes tried to convey to Ichigo to just drop the subject. Ichigo looked as if he were about to pick a fight, then took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"Alright. If you guys say it's fine, then it's fine." Ichigo made his way towards Urahara's bedroom, leaving his lover to be with his friends.

The shop keeper looked around the room. "Tessai tells me that even though this was a Hollow attack, it wasn't your normal Hollow. Is this true?"

The quiet giant nodded his head. "That's what we just told Ichigo."

"What made it different?"

Ishida looked at the pale blonde. "Well, as we were about to kill them, a Garganta opened up in the sky. Our first instinct was that a Menos was about to appear, but after awhile, nothing showed up. I'm not sure what that means to you, if anything. However, when it did finally close up, the Hollow we had been battling was no longer there."

"It vanished?" Urahara asked, leaning against the door jamb.

Orihime nodded, letting out a soft grunt as she did so. "It did, Urahara-san. Of course, none of us were paying attention to it. We were more concerned about the sky, readying ourselves for a Menos attack"

"That's alright, Orihime-chan. You guys did the right thing. A Gillian is not something to be unprepared for. And without Ichigo there, if one did appear, it would have been quite a difficult battle." Urahara stroked his chin with his right hand, trying to figure out just what was going on.

"Urahara-san," Orihime spoke softly, not wanting to disturb his thoughts. "Do you expect something to happen?"

The older man was quick to shake his head. "There's nothing to be worried about. I'll do some research, see if we can find some trace elements of this Hollow that disappeared. You all told Tessai where the attack took place, yes?" He looked over at Ishida and Sado and watched the silent giant give a sharp nod of his head. "Arigato. Did you lot want to stay the night here tonight?"

"No," Ishida said, standing up. "If you say there's no immediate danger, then there's no reason to act as if there is. However," the Quincy looked at Orihime, "it would probably be a good idea if Yasutora and I stayed at your place tonight, Inoue-san."

"Hai," Orihime said. "You two can have Sora's room. I mean, his old room." She looked down at her lap. "Sorry, Sora," she spoke quietly to herself.

Urahara stood up from where he was leaning. "I'll leave you to it, then." He looked at the suddenly sullen girl. "Orihime-chan, I'll have Tessai and Jinta come later this evening to your place, just to make sure everything looks okay. How does that sound?"

"That's fine, Urahara-san. With Sado-kun and Ishida-kun there, we should be okay. What about Kurosaki-kun?"

"Don't worry about him," Urahara said, smiling softly. "He's able to take care of himself. And, like I said, this is probably nothing. But until we have a better understanding, I know I would feel a lot better knowing that you all are safe." Never mind that I've already been watching your apartment, Orihime-chan. One can't be too careful when it comes to the threat of Aizen and the unknown.

Orihime gave him a bright smile. "Okay! Arigato, Urahara-san!"

"Not a problem, Orihime-chan." Urahara said. He turned around and headed back down the hallway, stepping into his bedroom, the scene a familiar one. He closed the door as he looked at his lover, sitting on his bed, drying his hair with a towel.

"I waited for you," Ichigo said, looking down at the floor as he towel-dried his hair. "But I was becoming a prune, so I opted for just finishing up."

Urahara took off his bucket hat and set it on his dresser before making his way to the bed. He sat down beside the teen and placed a hand on his knee. "Gomennasai, Ichigo. I didn't expect to be in there for that long." He placed a soft kiss on his lover's moist shoulder blade. "I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me?"

"Tscch," Ichigo scoffed, standing up from the bed. "Not likely, old man." He walked into the bathroom. "What was so important that you couldn't come and have a little alone time in the shower with me? You know I have to head home after this."

Following him to the bathroom, Urahara sighed. "I know, Ichigo. I know. But, like I said, I didn't expect to be there for so long." He walked up behind his lover and wrapped his arms around his waist. "Come on, will you let me walk you home?"

"Depends," Ichigo said, placing his hands on top of Urahara's arms. He leaned his head back against the older man's chest.

Urahara placed a soft kiss on Ichigo's jaw, looking at the two of them in the bathroom mirror. "Oh? And what's that?"

"That you'll come upstairs with me when we get back to my house?" Ichigo asked, closing his eyes as he leaned his head back against Urahara's chest.

The shop keeper smirked. "What about Isshin?"

"Since when have you been worried about my father?" Ichigo asked, turning to look at him. "It never bothered you before."

The pale blonde bowed his head. "I know, Ichigo. I just...I don't want to overstep my bounds."

"What's wrong with living a little?" Ichigo asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You're going to be the death of me, aren't you?" Urahara asked, knowing that there was no need for answer. "Come on. Get dressed. It's getting late."

"Got it, old man." Ichigo placed a soft kiss onto his lover's cheek. "I love you, you know."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go before I change my mind," Urahara said, pulling away from him. He walked back out to the bedroom and grabbed his hat from the dresser, setting it back on his head. He watched Ichigo get dressed, feeling the lower half of his body respond to his lover's well-toned body, thanks to those extra sessions he'd been attending.

The orange-haired teen looked back at Urahara and smirked. "Like what you see?"

"Baka," Urahara shook his head, a slight blush appearing on his face. He walked over to the door to his bedroom. "Come on, let's go before the moon rises."

Ichigo walked over to him and slapped his ass as he walked by. "What are you waiting for, Kisuke? We'd better get going!" The teen darted out of the room and ran down the hallway, laughing.

"It's a good thing I love you," Urahara murmured as he followed his lover down the hallway. He had a feeling that the walk would be rather short over to Ichigo's house. And he really couldn't find a reason that that would be a problem.

…

A/N: Ah, exposition - how I loathe thee. Up next, Ichigo's house. ^_^ Thanks for reading!