A Different Life

A Different Life
Title: A Talk About Our Lives
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN BLEACH OR BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. I AM JUST BORROWING THEM FOR THIS STORY. I AM MAKING NO PROFIT OFF OF THIS.
AN: Quick thanks to my beta Sajahi. Thank you, dear.


Landing in the park in Karakura town, Xander smiles softly, feeling like he wasn’t suffocating. Seeing that his uncle was standing by his car, Xander bounces over to him while the others come out of the portal. Pulling his uncle over to them, he introduces him to Giles and Oz.
“Uncle Isshin, this is Rupert Giles and Daniel Osborn, otherwise known as Oz,” he says, pointing at them, still smiling softly. Isshin nods and holds out his hands towards them.
“It’s nice to finally meet you,” he says, shaking hands with Giles and then Oz. They both nod, having placed on their translation earring on. Looking behind them, they all watch as the others walk out, Ichigo looking ready to rip someone into little bitty pieces. Snickering, Xander shakes his head, leading the way to the house, talking softly with Oz about what was happening in Sunnydale and how the situation could be handled.
Xanders P.O.V.
You know, having your family meet your pseudo family is kind of awkward. I mean, one set is grilling the other about how I was treated while I was under their care. It’s embarrassing to hear about the time an Inca mummy came after me and it was near the beginning of the year too!
I sigh as I get up and walk towards the kitchen with the excuse of starting dinner. Pulling out the makings of chicken stir fry, I reflect over what has happened in the past week and a half. Chopping the chicken, I go over the events that have lead up to this moment.
First, I meet Willow in first grade and take the blame for a broken yellow crayon. Soon after that, I meet Jesse, my first guy friend and my first crush. I guess you could call him my first love in a way. After meeting Jesse, life was good. I had friends, I was doing well in school and I was starting my demon hunter training.
It was all good. Granted I was wearing a glamour most of the time from age 10 on, but that was mostly to stop those demons who went to Sunnydale with me, from jumping me. It was bad enough I smelled like demon nip, no reason to look like the ultimate submissive while I’m at it. It sucked having to lie to everyone, but it needed to be done for my own safety.
Then, there came Buffy Summers and her watcher Rupert Giles. I already knew that a slayer and her water were coming to watch over the Hellmouth, but I didn’t know that she would end up being a spoiled brat from LA. I did quickly figure out that I needed to act like I had a crush on her. Which really sucked since it screwed up my plans on asking Jesse out finally.
But I needed do it so I could get close to her and not have it seem too odd about me following her around like a lost puppy. I hadn’t expected what happened to actually happen.
I come out of my thoughts, noticing that I had stopped chopping the chicken. Starting up again, I can hear Giles tell them about Jesse causing something deep in my heart to twist. Placing the chicken into a warm pan with a hiss, I don’t even notice that I’m crying until a tear falls into the pan, evaporating with that same hiss as when I had put the chicken in. Lifting one hand up, I wipe at my cheeks before pulling the hand away and looking at the wetness on my fingers. I wondered why I was crying.
Suddenly a pair of strong, large arms wrap around my shoulders and pull me against a strong body in comfort. I turn around to see Shunsui look down at me with sympathetic eyes and a small smile. The tears start to slide down my face faster and I laid my head on his chest, silently crying my hurt and pain out.
I don’t know long it lasted but I do know that by the time I looked up, Ichigo was next to me while I sat on Shunsui’s lap, his arms holding me close.
Ichigo held out a tissue with a smile of understanding. Taking the tissue, I wipe my eyes and look over at the stove to see little Yuzu cooking for us, a pair of headphones on her head to give us privacy. Almost as if she knew I was looking at her, she turns and looks at me, smiling softly at me before she turns back to the food. I smile in response before exactly where I was finally sunk in.
I don’t think I’ve ever blushed quite so brightly before, even as I slide off of Shunsui’s’ lap with an embarrassed little smile towards him.
“Thank you, Shunsui-san,” I manage to squeak out before going over to help Yuzu with the cooking.

Shunsui’s P.O.V.
I can’t help but chuckle lightly at Xander-sans obvious discomfort but decide not to tease him about it. That would be mean, not to mention Ichigo would shred me into little pieces if I even thought of teasing him. I smile nervously at him before turning my attention to Xander.
‘Why would he mourn this Jesse if he was nothing more than a friend and not a lover?’ I muse, watching as he and Yuzu start to debate on what type of miso was better. I could feel the love between the two, even as the earlier sadness was disappearing. Feeling some one tap me on my shoulders, I turn and see that it was Ichigo.
“Follow me,” he commands. I frown at him but do so any ways, letting him lead me out back. I look around, noticing what looks to be a grill under a cover, the furniture that was stacked away and the fact that most of the yard was patio.
Turning around to Ichigo, I finally notice the table with four chairs and that he’s sitting in one of them. I follow his lead and sit at the table across from him. Looking over at him, I raise an eyebrow at his rather sad expression, wondering what he wanted to tell me and why it was so important that we discussed it away from others ears.
“You want to know why he still hurts over Jesse, right?” Ichigo suddenly asks, jerking me out of my thoughts. I look over at him and see an expression that I had only seen a few times before on him. It made me frown and shudder as I remembered when he had turned that look towards someone.
I hesitantly nod and he sighs softly before looking off towards the sunset with a small frown on his lips. I wait patiently for him to continue. I have a feeling that what he is about to tell me is important and I shouldn’t rush him. I was proven right when Ichigo started to talk.
“The thing is, Xander loved Jesse, but never got to tell him. It’s a regret that he carries around with him. The same with the way he regrets that he never told Jesse about his demon hunter status or showed him his actual appearance,” Ichigo say softly, his chocolate eyes hurting for his cousin. He sighs before shoving a through his hair, pushing it out of his face only for it to fall into his face again.
“So he never got to find out if the one he loved, loved him back?” I ask, my voice soft and musing. Ichigo nods while looking at me from the corner of his eye.
“I can feel what your energy is doing, calling out to Xander’s the way it is,” he says after a moment. “It’s the same way that Kenpachi’s called out mine. Why is your power calling out to his when you barely know him?”
I sigh and sit back as I try out figure out why this would happen.
‘Unless he’s a natural sub.’ That fleeting thought makes me pause and sit up, thinking over what I know about Xander Harris. What I come up with makes me curse softly as I sit back and eye Ichigo.
“I once was alive, like all those in Soul Society. I also remember most of my life, though a lot has become fuzzy over the centuries,” I say before pausing, trying to figure out how to tell Ichigo what I needed to tell him. “You know how Xander’s friend is a werewolf, correct?”
He looks at me with a ‘No duh,’ expression on his face before saying “Of course I do. Not only did Xander write to me about it, but I would have felt it the moment I met him.” I can’t help but smirk. I knew that there was more to Ichigo than what meets the eye.
“Well, I was one of the first true werewolves out there. The moon did dictate when I transformed, but I didn’t lose my mind. Unfortunately for me, there were several others who killed and maimed just to kill and maim,” I tell him softly. Looking him straight in the eye, I continue. “After I died, the two halves of who I was, the human and the wolf, merged together.”
“So, what does this have to do with Xander?” Ichigo asks, an eye brow cocked in my direction. I smirk at him and lean back.
“He’s a natural submissive. Not to say that he can’t take care of himself, but to wolves, he has this air that calls to them to be protective over him,” I tell Ichigo, causing him to groan and lay his head on the table.