A Shifting of Life: Chapter 7

Title: A Shifting of Life
Fandom: Bleach
Part: 7
Series: A Shifting World
Characters/Pairings: (Kira, Shunsui, Jūshirō), (Renji/Byakuya), (Shuuhei, Iba, Ikkaku, Yumichika)
Warnings: More talking
Word count: 1,719
AN: If you look above to the Characters/Pairings section, and you notice that there are parentheses around character names, I have an explanation. The next couple of chapters are in parts with different places and different characters. Each set of names is what the sections are, in order. Just look for the line that cuts into the story.

Other than that, Enjoy.

*~*~*~*

Sprawled out on a large floor pillow, his legs crossed at the ankle and stretched out before him, Shunsui sipped at his sake as Kira paced about his office, Jushiro sipping his own sake and kneeling on a floor pillow next to him. The three men had headed for the Thirteenth Division's office to discuss what had been done to Ichigo and what they could do to help her get used to things. At least until she turned back into a male. After that they would plan again.

The moment the door had closed and the sake pulled out, Kira had taken to pacing back and forth across the office, muttering under his breath about ‘pink haired Arrancar freaks’ and ‘beautiful people who inspired naughty thoughts’. Sharing a look, the two taicho’s burst into snickers as they shook their heads in amusement. Shunsui was the one who reached out and tugged Kira down onto the floor between them, the man still pouting.

“Tell us what’s on your mind, tiny fukutaicho,” the brunet said, draping an arm over the other males shoulders.

“I’m just trying to wrap my mind around the fact that Ichigo has gone from a rather good looking young man to a beautiful young woman,” Kira sighed, rubbing at his face with his hands. “What the fuck was that pink haired freak thinking doing this? Then again, Ichigo can pull off either gender, which really screws with me some more.”

“I don’t really think any of us was expecting just how sweet looking Ichigo is as a female. She probably looks just as sweet as her natural male form, but we really never noticed especially since she doesn’t have an air of vulnerability that she has at the moment,” Jushiro said, pouring the blond a cup of sake as he smiled slightly. “As a woman, Ichigo seems softer, sweeter. As if she needs to be well protected and hidden away from the cruelties of the world. Even though we all know that if we try, she would kick all of our asses and remind us that she does know how the world works.”

Kira and Shunsui both looked over at the silver haired man with surprise on their faces before they looked to each other, finally nodding at the fact that he had a point. Ichigo as she was now had inspired them to want to protect her when she had been a male, but even then she had shown them that she could protect herself. But now, changed into a woman against her will, Ichigo just seemed softer and gentler, almost fragile, even with her sheer amount of power that she was barely tapping into.

Leaning back in his seat, Kira sighed and took the sake cup that Jushiro offered him, sipping at it before huffing. “I bet you that Renji, Shuuhei, Ikkaku, and Iba went out to drown themselves in alcohol while Yumichika plots something. That beauty nut has been after Ichigo since the first time he saw him,” he snorted, shaking his head.

“And what about the others?” Shunsui prompted, swirling his own sake around in the cup in his hand.

“They’re all probably trying to work their minds around Ichigo being a girl and so damn pretty,” was the sung reply, getting laughter from the two men.

“Mostly likely knowing them,” Jushiro snickered, nuzzling into Kira’s neck with a sigh. “So, tell me, what should we do?” he purred, the two men smirking as their young partner blushing lightly.

“Well, I can think of a few things,” Shunsui replied as his hand creeped up Kira’s side.

*~*~*~*

Pouring the hot tea slowly, Renji handed Byakuya a cup of it before he picked up his own cup, the two men lost in their thoughts.

“I have absolutely no idea what I’m supposed to be feelin’ about this shit,” the redhead sighed after a few minutes of the only sounds being of tea cups being handled and the spoons scraping against their sides. Byakuya looked to his fukutaicho and lover, eyebrow rising in question. “I mean, Ichigo is a chick! He has been turned into a she with boobs and...and...and other girly bits! It’s so fucking confusing,” Renji groaned, rubbing at his face with furious movements.

“Kurosaki-san is still herself no matter what her gender may be, Renji,” the noble stated, putting his cup down onto the table. He reached out to thread his fingers into soft red locks and tugged on them. “And you can not tell me that you would pass up the opportunity to take her to bed if she so much as cocked a hip at you,” he teased. He watched as red-brown eyes darkened, even as he slid into his lovers lap.

“Yeah, you and me both,” Renji breathed, his large hands coming to rest on lean hips, holding his mate steady as he pulled him close to rub their groins together. “I saw the way you stared at her ass as she let the meetin’ earlier.”

“I would make love to her, just like you do so with me,” Byakuya stated, brushing their lips together, not denying the words.

“She really does deserve softness and someone who will stay with her for the rest of their lives,” Renji mused before he sealed their lips together in a slow kiss. They would talk more about their thoughts later, but they both knew already that if Ichigo wanted them, they wouldn’t turn her down.

The both wondered as clothes were lost and murmured words filled the air if she would ever be interested in two lovers at once in her bed.

*~*~*~*

Shuuhei was staring at a pile of papers, pen tapping on his desk as his mind ran in circles, scattered and bouncing with the new happenings. He really hadn’t expected to see that Ichigo had been turned into a woman, a very beautiful and curvaceous woman at that, at the meeting.

Licking his lips with a huff, the tattooed fukutaicho leant back in his seat and stretched his legs out under his desk, eyes glazing over in thought as his pen continued to tap on the desk.

As a male, Ichigo had been rather handsome, even scowling so much, but as a female her natural vulnerability was magnified. She inspired protective feelings in him, along side the lust that he felt. It was a rather odd mix for him to feel, making his mind unable to focus.

He was going to go nuts, he just knew it, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care.

Deciding that he should get out for a while, he stood up and headed out, seeing out Yumichika, Ikkaku, and Iba, figuring that they would have something to drink. Leaving his division, Shuuhei hunted down his friend’s reiatsu before he bounded over walls and roofs, arriving at Ikkaku’s personal rooms. He found his friends watching Ikkaku putter about his rooms, making sure that they would be fine until he got back from the Living World.

“So you are heading to the Living World to gather up Ichigo-chan’s friends?” Shuuhei asked in greeting, taking the sake cup that was offered by Yumichika and taking a seat.

“Yep. Unohana-san sent the butterfly earlier since I’m really not liable to just tell everyone or tease them with it,” Ikkaku responded, digging around under his bed. “I have ta pick them up and bring them back to the Seireitei tomorrow morning.”

“He’s leavin’ in about an hour or so. Most likely gonna get laid while there to,” Iba teased, raising his glass at his friend, dodging the pillow tossed at him. Ikkaku stood up with a small bag in his hand, brushing off his hakama and picking up his zanpaktou before he slid it into his hakama-himo, finally just sitting down on his futon.

“I’m actually wondering just how they’re going to take Ichigo-chan’s forced transformation into a female,” Yumichika mused, tilting his cup back and forth as a smug smile dance on his lips.

“My guess is that Orihime-chan will likely freak out which will make Tatsuki-chan get pissy. Keigo-kun isn’t likely to do a whole lot more than stare at her,” Ikkaku said, shrugging.

“I bet you that the Quincy will more than likely want to create her all sorts of new outfits,” Shuuhei snorted, leaning back against the wall. “I think her father and sisters already know along with Yoruichi-san and them at the shoten. It’s going to be interesting to tell them, that’s for sure. Especially when the rest of Seireitei finds out.”

“We all know that most of the men in the Eleventh will suddenly get real protective of her,” Iba drawled before he drained his cup of sake and held the empty cup out. “Can you pour me a bit more, Yumichika-san?”

While Yumichika filled Iba’s cup, Shuuhei blinked over his own cups rim, the strong, good sake already getting to his head as he stared at his friend. What exactly did Iba mean by the Eleventh division getting protective of Ichigo?

“I think he was broken with your comment, Iba-kun,” Yumichika snickered, patting Shuuhei’s shoulder.

“Ya have ta remember, he’s never been a part of the Eleventh. Not a lot of outsiders know how we really work,” Ikkaku drawled at Iba’s raised eyebrow.

“Oh, well then. There are women in the Eleventh Division, a few even hold some of the higher seated positions. But the guys really don’t rough house with them. They all follow Kenpachi-taicho’s example and treat them like the strong, capable women they are while still being protective brothers,” Iba said, shrugging slightly.

“Pretty much, taicho treats them like he treats Unohana-sou-taicho when she’s not scaring him into behaving,” Yumichika simplified. Shuuhei simply nodded at the explanation.

“So I take it that since Ichigo-chan is now a female, she’ll have more protectors then she’ll know what to do with?” Shuuhei snickered, shaking his head when all he got were nods in return. “She’s gonna end up busting some heads once she knows how to properly balance.”

“I’ll bring tha popcorn and sake,” Ikkaku laughed, making his companions burst into laughter with him.