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“Is that— are ya wearin' my shirt?”
Ichigo looks up from his book, eyeing Shinji sitting on his windowsill. He opens his mouth to point out why nobody can ever use the door, goddammit, but then gives up. He lost that battle years ago. Instead, he glances down at the shirt in question.
“Yeah, I guess it is. You probably left it here that time you said you were gonna help Yuzu bake a cake, remember? And then got flour all over yourself.” He grins at the memory. “Yuzu must have washed it and put it in my closet. It’s really comfortable. Do you mind? Do you want it back?”
Shinji looks strangely dazed, staring at Ichigo like he’s not quite seeing him. Ichigo is about to talk to him again when he finally snaps out of it.
“I— what? No. No, it’s fine, ya just keep it. I can’t even remember forgettin’ it here in the first place so it’s clearly not been missed.”
He still seems a bit off, like he’s trying too hard to act casual, but Ichigo doesn’t comment on it. He trusts Shinji to tell him if it something important. “Was there anything you wanted?” he prompts. At Shinji’s blank look, he rolls his eyes. “Why did you come here today, Shinji? To be a window decoration? Please at least get down from my windowsill before the neighbours see you, again.”
“Ah, right—” Shinji rolls to his feet and finally steps down into the actual room, and Ichigo puts his book down. They stare at each other for a moment.
“Oh my god, did Hyori knock your brain loose today?” Ichigo wonders when Shinji stays quiet, just staring at him. “Shinji? Shinji. You know what, screw whatever you came here for. You are gonna come downstairs with me and take it easy while I help Yuzu make lunch. Then we’re gonna eat and clean up and you will stay and watch a movie with us. Any complaints?” He’s already standing up as he says it, grabbing Shinji by the arm and tugging him towards the door. He gets none.
Yuzu is delighted to have another person to feed, especially since Shinji is one of her favourites. If she notices that he’s strangely quiet the whole afternoon she too chooses to not bother him about it.
By the time they finish the movie and Karin comes home from football practice, Shinji is pretty much back to his usual self and he and Ichigo has been arguing about the ending for several minutes because “they’re in love Shinji, and he had a difficult childhood, she isn’t gonna care that he has no money”, and “which is bullshit, because she could’a easily found someone else that would be way better fer her”. Karin ends the squabble by declaring that “they’re both idiots and so are you,” which, honestly, none of them can refute.
Later, Shinji goes back and Ichigo doesn’t think about it after that because Shinji is weird and everybody has bad days. Ichigo certainly can’t judge anyone for that.
---
What happens in the following weeks is …. a little weird. Ichigo isn’t quite sure how to explain it.
On one hand, there’s nothing abnormal going on, nothing that sets his alarms blaring and his instinct screaming.
On the other hand, things are definitely not normal either, and there’s an itch at the very back of Ichigo’s mind that keeps insisting that something is definitely going on he just doesn’t know what it is yet. It’s pretty damn frustrating.
---
It starts with more visits, which is honestly quite nice. Shinji is chill, snarky, and both Yuzu and Karin like him. He's easy to get along with and definitely one of the people Ichigo feels the most comfortable around. The fact that Shinji really understands what it's like to have a hollow inside his head is part of it, but it's also that Shinji is simply … nice. He's lazy and a huge dork and maybe a little too paranoid (though it’s difficult to blame him for that), but he's nice.
So when Shinji starts dropping by more often, Ichigo leaves his window unlocked and quietly enjoys it. Shinji’s been one of the only people to drop by on a pretty regular basis anyway, and Ichigo hasn't exactly been run down by people coming to visit after he lost his powers. He understands that it was always easier for him to go to them than for them to come to him, he does, but he's still allowed to be a little salty about it, he thinks. He's also not used to sitting around and doing nothing for so long and it's terribly boring.
Shinji, however, makes a very welcome distraction. It's made even better when Shinji catches on to the fact that it's Yuzu who's the real boss in the house, because most people meet Karin and never realize that Yuzu is the one who will make your life miserable if you fuck with her family. But Shinji brings them “offerings” and they both love it, and watching someone else genuinely care about his sisters gives Ichigo the most amazing warm fuzzy feelings. Because his sisters are the most important people in his life and this is the first time anyone has bothered to really get to know them.
But while it takes Ichigo a while to notice, he does eventually, and once he does, all the clothes are a little strange.
He’s never really cared about what he's wearing as long as it's comfortable. And it turns out Shinji's clothes are very comfortable.
(Yuzu must have known from the very beginning and kept quiet about it, but Ichigo isn’t about to call her out on it. He’s not that dumb.)
What happens is that Ichigo automatically chooses the clothes that feels the best, and it’s not until several weeks in that he notices that pretty much none of the clothes he now wears on a regular basis are actually his. They’re not familiar because they’re his own, they’re familiar because he’s seen Shinji wearing them and suddenly Ichigo is too. Shinji has horrible style but apparently very good taste and that doesn’t make sense but neither does Shinji, really, and the clothes are so soft.
Shinji himself never says a word about the borrowed clothing and Ichigo wonders about how big his wardrobe must be if he’s literally throwing clothes everywhere and not caring about it.
When Ichigo makes an offhand comment about it to Renji, after the redhead finally drags his sorry self to the world of the living for a visit, Ichigo decides that the only appropriate response to his roaring laughter is to stop holding back and beat his ass black and blue.
The new gigai Urahara has made — and that Renji is testing for him — leaves the shinigami without any of their above-human abilities, and Ichigo is way better at a straight out fistfight than any of the shinigami. If he is a little rougher than strictly necessary, it’s nothing Renji doesn’t deserve after almost two years without contact, the bastard.
Any attempt to ask Shinji about it is met with either suspiciously vague replies or suspiciously quick changes of the subject.
It’s suspicious, is what is it, but Ichigo can’t for the life of him figure out how borrowed clothing could be a bad thing, so he doesn’t bother pushing it. And except that bit about acting Very Suspicious when asked about it directly, Shinji doesn’t behave any differently. He still comes to visit just as often as he’s been doing recently, and he’s still funny and kind and Ichigo loves hanging out with him. He knows both Karin and Yuzu enjoy his company as well.
Maybe that’s why it’s Karin who finally decides that enough is enough.
“Will you please tell him what’s going on soon, because he is obviously dumb as a brick and doesn’t get it?!” she snarls, standing up and glaring daggers, during what should have been a normal movie night. Ichigo’s confusion only doubles when he realizes she’s not talking to him; she’s talking to Shinji, who is suddenly looking carefully neutral instead of bewildered.
Then she does turn to Ichigo, who finds he is very much not prepared for the way she yells at him to— “get it together, you idiot, how can you not realize you’ve been doing the boyfriend shirt for weeks? Stop being so damn oblivious, you freaking—” which is when Yuzu steps in to calm her down. But both Ichigo and Shinji get a very stern look as she leads Karin out of the room and into the kitchen, and Ichigo feels like someone just slapped him over the head and then slammed it into a wall.
“Do you have any idea what that was about?” he asks.
Shinji hoists himself out of the couch with a sigh. “Yeah, I do. Let’s talk in yer room.”
That does not make Ichigo feel any less confused, but he trails after Shinji up the stairs without further comment.
Shinji seats himself in the desk chair, which only leaves the bed for Ichigo. “Well?” he prompts, when Shinji just ... watches him instead of talking. Something about his gaze makes Ichigo feel strangely tense.
“Ya have been wearin’ my clothes,” he says suddenly, and Ichigo blinks.
“Yes?” he says, unsure of why that’s important. “You keep forgetting them here and they’re comfortable. You said you didn’t mind.”
Shinji inhales, sighs. “Ya idiot. Of course I didn’t forget them, I’m not that stupid. Unlike someone else in this room, apparently.” He easily ignores Ichigo’s indignant protest. “I left ‘em here on purpose so ya could wear ‘em. Because I like seein’ ya wearin’ my clothes.”
There are things implied in that sentence that Ichigo doesn’t understand, but Shinji is looking at him with an intensity that leaves him with no choice but to keep quiet and listen.
“I like seein’ ya in my clothes because ya look good,” Shinji continues, voice low and almost growling. There’s hints of yellow in his gaze that Ichigo is sure he’s not imagining but can’t bring himself to point out at the moment. “I like seein’ ya in my clothes ‘cause it makes it looks like yer mine, and that’s a damn good look on ya.”
And oh, that’s—
Oh.
That’s—
That ‘s not what Ichigo was expecting at all, but already he can feel the pieces start sliding into place, looks and off-hand remarks and comments from both Shinji and other people that didn’t make sense at the time so he just ignored them. And honestly, Ichigo really can’t blame Shinji for any of this, can he, because— “you really weren’t subtle about this at all, were you?” he says a little dumbfounded, and Shinji barks out a laugh, surprised.
“No, I really weren’t,” he agrees, grin sharp and eyes guarded, watchful.
“And you really—, I mean, when you said that you—, you did mean ...” Ichigo hesitates, feeling embarrassment and uncertainty heat up his skin. Because the way Shinji had said it really made it sound like that, but what if it wasn’t? What if it was some kind of hollow-thing that Ichigo wasn’t aware of, or something? He doesn’t want to presume—
“Ichigo.”
Shinji looks exasperated now, and Ichigo feels a wisp of shame curl up in his stomach. He’s messing it up, isn’t he.
“If yer asking if I meant that I love ya, the answer is yes,” Shinji says easily, and Ichigo suddenly can’t breathe. “I love seeing ya wear my clothes, yes, but I also love watchin' you be happy or interact with your sisters or punch assholes in the face. I’d also love ta take ya out on a proper date, go ta one of those fancy restaurants and eat fancy food, or to the cinema and sit in the back so I can kiss ya when nobody’s watchin’. Or we could go back ta my place and I’d make ya food, take care of ya the way ya deserve—”
“Okay! Okay, I get it, please; stop.” Ichigo’s face is on fire, and he’s valiantly fighting the urge to curl up and hide under his blanket. Shinji’s mouth and what comes out of it really shouldn’t be a surprise at this point in time, but somehow he keeps forgetting just how shameless he really is.
As if to prove it, Shinji is grinning like the total bastard he is. “Why, was that too much fer ya, Ichigo-chan? Nobody ever told ya they wanna wine and dine ya before? With yer good looks?”
Shinji is officially the worst, and Ichigo is very tempted to punch him in his stupid face. His stupid, totally not-handsome, idiotic face.
But he’s also been honest, and that’s something Ichigo figures he should return in kind. “No,” he admits, cheeks burning. Shinji blinks, caught off guard by the simple response. He’d been half-expecting a fist to the face.
“No, what?”
Ichigo glares with as much heat as he can currently muster. “No, nobody’s ever told me they’d want to “wine and dine” me, or any of the other things you said.” He pauses, takes a deep breath. Tries to hold Shinji’s gaze as much as possible. “But I’d like to try.”
“Ya’d— what?” Shinji splutters. Ichigo would feel viciously satisfied at the role-reversal if he wasn’t trying to not drown in embarrassment. Feelings are awful.
“A date. I’d like that,” he forces out. For a moment, he worries that Shinji didn’t hear him, that he’ll have to repeat it. But then Shinji’s face breaks out into what is possibly the softest smile Ichigo has ever seen. He feels physically winded just looking at it.
“Yeah? Ya would?”
“Dinner could be nice,” he mutters. And Ichigo has never considered dating anyone before, but the idea of trying it with Shinji feels … good. Safe. Horribly and potentially soul-crushingly embarrassing, but also exciting. Fun.
He can all too easily picture them in a fancy restaurant, making snarky comments about the food and each other and the prices. Or going to see a really bad action movie and spending the entire time criticising the fighting. It could be pretty great. And it’s not like Ichigo hasn’t noticed that Shinji is handsome, it just wasn’t— relevant before. Something noticed and then put aside.
Now though, Shinji’s smile is enough to send his heart racing and Ichigo very deliberately does not think about the other thing mentioned during dates. Trying to imagine it is enough to almost set him aflame. He’ll just, deal with it when it happens. Or something.
Karin suddenly slamming open his bedroom door with a, “did you guys talk yet?” should have been an excellent distraction to stop his brain from running away without his permission.
Emphasis is on ‘should have’ though, because she and Shinji proceeds to exchange a truly terrifying grin before she turns to Ichigo with a raised eyebrow, and hell no. Ichigo is not about to discuss his new, maybe-relationship with his little sister.
“No,” he says forcefully. Shinji snorts and Karin raises her other eyebrow, and Ichigo points at each of them in turn. “No.”
Sadly, neither his threats nor his scowling has been effective on any of his sisters in years, so when Karin just grins in response Ichigo does the only thing he can — escape.
And if he grabs Shinji’s hand to pull him along as he hightails it out of the room, well. At least he can no longer hear Karin laughing at him, and Shinji is squeezing his hand right back. If he tries really really hard, Ichigo can even pretend he’s not blushing all the way to his ears. But it’s good. It’s definitely good.