Chapter Text
The blaring screams of his alarm were undoubtedly a wonderful way for him to wake up and be reminded he had once again a long, tiring day waiting for him. With a groan, a yawn, and a hand being brought up to his eye to try rub the sleep off, Ichigo sat up on his bed and stared out the window into the darkness. No sunrays yet to greet him. He stretched his muscles, slowly got up, made a few cracks and pops with his legs, then finally, he seemed to snap out of his sleeping daze.
ーAlright, Kurosaki, rise and shine, do your best.ー he said to himself, hoping his daily morning mantra would motivate him a bit for the incoming twelve hours of suffering.
A knock came from his door, and Ichigo widened his eyes for a second before muttering a quick "come in", his shirt still halfway through his torso. It opened swiftly, right when he managed to make himself look decent, and he greeted his partner with a sad smile.
ーWere you talking to yourself again?
ーAh, yeah, you know I always do that… did I wake you up, sweetie? Sorry...
ーNot exactly…ー Uryuu yawned, quickly covering his mouth with his hand, then recomposed himself. ーI got an early wake today, though not as early as your usual. I still wonder how this schedule suits you.
ーListen, I get to sleep.
Both men chuckled at this, though Uryuu with less humour than Ichigo. The orange haired man brushed his lack of response off as tiredness, and he absent mindedly sat down to put his pants on. His boyfriend adjusted his glasses quietly as he leaned on the doorframe and watched him do his routine.
In an attempt to break the silence and wake himself up a bit more, Ichigo tried to converse with Uryuu about the topic that secretly bothered him every morning.
ーYou didn't wake anyone else up, did you?
ーNo, Chad is a heavy sleeper, and both Shirosaki and Inoue like to sleep with their door closed. I'm pretty sure they're still out cold.
ーOr warm. Orihime has a thing for hugging you while you sleep.ー Ichigo snorted. ーNot like Shiro will complain.
ーHe hugs you back anyway.ー the black haired man finished, huffing a short laugh of his own. ーThey're both surprisingly cute around each other, don't you think…
ーAre you asking me, or making a statement?
ーYes.ー Uryuu sighed happily.
Finally feeling ready to go, and combing his hair with his hand lightning fast, Ichigo snatched his briefcase from under his desk and headed out, also gifting Uryuu a flash kiss on his cheek as he did so and instantly waking him up with the surprise and the blush that exploded on his cheeks. Behind him, he heard a rushed "don't do that without warning", though clearly with no ill intent, and Ichigo briefly turned around to give his black haired boyfriend a huge, sun melting smile that made Ishida feel like all of his problems didn't exist for a second.
The moment turned out to be short lived, however, when he got to the door and Uryuu yelped hurriedly, suddenly rushing to catch up to the orange haired man and grabbing the hand that was at the doorknob rather harshly.
ーAh, ah, no. You're eating breakfast right now, Kurosaki.
The addressed man blinked, then gave a long groan of exasperation.
ーGoddamnit, don't-
ーNo, we found out you haven't been eating properly. I'm making sure you do so at least today.
ーI'm late.
ーNo you're not. And, if you actually were, I can perfectly give you a lift. Which is it?
Ichigo frowned and looked away angrily. Ignoring his pouting face and his glare, Ishida made his way to their small kitchen and began preparing something for his partner to eat, while shushing him and making gestures for him to sit down.
ーThis is unnecessary.ー the orange head muttered when he finally flopped down on a chair.
ーNo, it isn't.
ーI'm bothering you.
ーAbsolutely not. Don't ever think that again, Kurosaki.
ーWe're going to wake everyone else up at this rate.
ー Tea or coffee, sweetie?
Ichigo threw an annoyed glance at his black haired friend, then sighed and looked away.
ーCoffee…
ーGreat.
Said and done, the sitting man was forced to remain still and wait patiently until his boyfriend was done preparing him a cup of coffee and a sandwich, proceeding then to deliver everything to the table and sit down near Ichigo with a stern expression. He eyed the food with guilt, and shifted his gaze between Uryuu and the plates.
The last push was done by the medicine student, who exhaled deeply and casually slid the meal closer to his partner. His eyes softened behind his glasses when Ichigo sighed and slowly brought a hand up to grab the coffee mug and take a sip. When he went for the sandwich and took a bite out of if, he finally allowed his shoulders to slump down and practically rewarded Ichigo with a smile.
ーWe noticed the bread and the cups were left untouched in the morning… Chad confirmed our suspicions when he saw you go out without even glancing at the kitchen. Kurosaki, stop doing that, you're just hurting yourself and making us worry…
The orange haired man nodded, though uncertain. He gulped down the bread and was about to retort when a third voice came out of nowhere.
ーHoly- oh, thank God, you made him eat! Now this is something nice to wake up to.
Uryuu turned his head to the side and smiled at the sickly pale man who was walking towards them rather cheerfully. Ichigo, too focused on finishing his food quickly while not choking and inwardly feeling too guilty for making such a fuss over it, bitterly decided to ignore the incoming man.
ーShirosaki, good morning.
ーMornin', glasses, honey~
ーPlease don't call me glasses.
ーI can't say honey twice, babe- ah, Ichi, slow down!
ーOh, shut up.ー he finally responded, acknowledging the presence of his other boyfriend. ーI need to finish this up so I can go to work already.
Uryuu frowned at this, while the newly arrived Shirosaki sat down near the orange haired man and combed his hair gently with his hand.
ーHave you been well, Ichi? It’s been a while since we could talk like this.
Ichigo closed his eyes and deepened his frown as he munched on what was left of the sandwich. Squinting at him, Shiro offered a rather saddened smile, much to Uryuu’s distress.
ーI miss you. A lot.
At this, the orange haired man seemed to react with sadness and guilt of his own. He gulped heavily, and rubbed his neck as if that last swallowing had hurt him. His eyes travelled from the coffee mug to the side, trailing into the unused white hand, up to then get lost in Shiro’s black and yellow eyes, staring at him in hopes of hearing his voice again.
ーI… I miss you too, Shi…
The white haired man softened his features and continued to pet Ichigo’s hair.
ーHave these days been too rough on you?
ーMhm...ー an uncertain nod. Shiro frowned.
ーYou know, you could try and ask for a day off, and we could-
ーMy, ah, now I’m actually late! Uryuu, you- ugh!
Abruptly standing up and drinking up the last remains of his coffee, Ichigo hurriedly snatched his abandoned briefcase and went over to the door, this time not looking back and too quickly for any of the present men to react. In no time, he had already rounded the corner and was at the elevator.
To Uryuu and Shirosaki’s bad luck, when they caught up to their third, the doors were already closing in silence.
The white haired man didn't take it slightly, however, and instantly rushed to press the button and try to get the thing to open up again, but to no use. It was already quite a few floors under them, and there was no way he could run down the building's stairs in the state he was in, clad in his dotted pyjamas and barefoot. He growled under his breath and banged a fist on the metal doors, surprising Uryuu behind him. He suddenly spun around to face him, his face twisted in both worry, anger and confusion.
ーWho was it? I thought everything was going fine, which one of us was it!?
ーShirosaki, calm down, he's just-
ーWhich one of us ticked him off so bad!?
ーNone of us, calm down! He was already stressed enough!
ーI'm… ugh!ー Shiro's yellow eyes pierced through Uryuu's in frustration. ーIshida… goddamnit, I…
ーLet's go back inside the apartment, Shiro. The others probably woke up with this… we'll surely have a long talk about it.
The white haired man gritted his teeth and tightened his fists, staying firmly in place and not showing any intention to move. Low yet harsh growls escaped his mouth through gritted teeth, and his face was suddenly shadowed under his wild hair, covering it when he looked down at the floor and decidedly stared at it.
His boyfriend exhaled softly, rearranged his glasses, then walked closer to him to entwine a gentle hand with a tense fist.
Slowly, but surely, Uryuu managed to slide his fingers inside of Shiro's hand, praying his own tense fingers off the sickly white skin and relaxing them into a more natural state. He gently massaged it until it was loose enough to take the next step and finally hold it tenderly, covering it in safe warmth. The black haired man stared at it and patiently waited, until the white hand began to close again, this time squeezing Uryuu's and looking for the reassurance he needed.
No words had to be exchanged between them; merely a tug from Ishida towards their door, and Shiro followed suit, his eyes glued to the floor and sporting a frown that could rival Ichigo's when mad. Once inside, the dark haired man closed the door quietly and turned around to then stare with a strange melancholy at the empty cup and plate sitting abandoned on the table.
In that same motionless, tense atmosphere, firmly holding each other's hands like a lifeline, they heard two sets of uncertain, incoming steps from the bedrooms. First came Orihime, hugging a plushie she had received from her boyfriends long ago. Chad appeared right after her, his imposing form and naked torso simulating a protective shadow behind their redheaded princess.
ーGood… morning?ー she wondered, hesitantly. Her eyes fell down to the pair of intertwined hands, and she instantly let go of her plush to practically run over to Shirosaki and, ever so gently, cup his cheeks in her hands. In response, the white haired man snapped out of his angered daze and turned his head around to kiss the palm of one of them, closing his eyes and trying to let go of his fury in the healthiest way he could think of at the moment: letting his boyfriends and girlfriend tend to him and comfort him in their own physical way.
Not a second later, he felt his free hand be held by a bigger, stronger one, and finally his shoulders slumped down in exhaustion. Yeah, now he felt safe… though one was missing, he felt good enough.
ーDo you want to sit down, Shi?
He gave a short nod, and that was enough of a response for everyone. As his ever present guardians, Chad and Uryuu guided him to their couch, and Orihime calmly helped him down. Once sitting, the exhale of tiredness was heard as a common sound from all of them.
ーYou're doing great…ー the biggest man out of all of them spoke to the albino in his well known deep voice, always able to calm any of them down, while massaging one of his shoulders with a hand.
Shiro thanked the words with a glance and the sketch of a tiny smile coming to his mouth.
ーThanks… three years did help a bit…
ーUhm… can I ask what happened, Ishida, Shiro?ー the redhead's small, timid voice tried to get the attention of the two addressed males as gently as possible.
Uryuu reassured his white haired partner he wouldn't need to say anything by putting a hand on his free shoulder, then he straightened his back and faced Orihime completely.
ーHe's even worse than we thought. By far.
The mood dropped noticeably.
ーYou… you mean Kurosaki? Oh, no…
ーHe deliberately tried to leave without eating, and also refused it to my face. Then he… he slipped right past us without a word. It's as if he didn't even want to see our faces.
ーIt… hurt.ー Shirosaki's voice came out as a whisper, and Orihime could only extend her hand and place it on his knee as a small gesture of comfort.
ーI can imagine it…
ーIt's official, guys. We need to make up our minds and establish a course of action. We're doing a Code Ichigo.
ーIshida, wouldn't it be better to try and… talk to Kurosaki first? Maybe get him to the same therapy Shiro did…?
ーI'm not sure this is an anger thing…ー the albino muttered grumpily. Uryuu spoke up again to continue the discussion, fully intending to not deviate the focus towards his stressed out boyfriend.
ーHe had his chance to, Inoue. He refused. We're taking care of this problem ourselves.
There was a small shift besides the medicine student, and he glanced a smile at Chad and Shiro as he saw the latter being accommodated in the bigger man's lap into a comfy position, practically cuddling each other, to his and Orihime's relief.
Then, Chad suddenly spoke up.
ーWhen… did this get so bad…?
Silence was the only thing that met him. All eyes were averted from him, uncertain, kind of guilty, even. It was incredible how none of them had managed to foresee this; though it was bound to happen, they had failed to notice how horribly it was happening.
ーWe need to help him. We can't stand by anymore.ー Ishida stated seriously. ーIf we don't do something fast, he's… he might…
ーWe might lose our fifth.ー Chad finished for him, using less tragic words so as to not freak neither Shiro nor Inoue out.
The albino brought a hand up to rub his eyes and groaned, trying to lift himself up with his elbow and being unknowingly helped by his brown haired boyfriend.
ーSo how do we start?ー he questioned tensely. ーHow do we begin this "Code Ichigo" thing? Without Ichigo noticing?
There was a strange flash on Ishida's glasses, and all three lovers shuddered at the sight of his well known smirk of intelligence.
ーI was waiting for you to say that.