A/N: So, I needed to get some writing practice done but I can never manage to get my mind to stay focused on something long enough for me to write anything that makes sense. And then I stumbled on some old 50 Sentences word sheets and it was like I was finally seeing the light. And since Ukitake x Byakuya was the only pairing I felt like writing about… This is what happened.
I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
#01 – Ring
The ring is beautiful, two white gold koi carps interlacing around a pink diamond shaped like a flower petal; it is a promise, and the feeling of it hanging on a thin chain over his heart, safely hidden away by his scarf, warms his heart even on the coldest days.
#02 – Hero
Growing up, Byakuya didn't have many heroes, and out of them, Ukitake is the one that inspires him the most, because he is the only one still here.
#03 – Memory
Ukitake Jushiro has a good memory: every war, every battle, every loss accumulated over centuries as a captain etched indelibly on his very soul; but when his younger lover looks up at him with love and lust filled eyes, Jushiro forgets.
#04 – Box
There is a box in Byakuya's room: made of white wood, elegantly carved and clearly regularly cleaned and polished, but Byakuya never opens it, and Jushiro never asks.
#05 – Run
As he watched the young 11th division lieutenant run around chasing hell butterflies, Jushiro couldn't help remembering another young child that once chased sakura blossoms in the wind with a look of innocent wonder on his pale face.
#06 – Hurricane
If Jushiro seemed calm and peaceful on the outside, inside of him his powerful reiatsu was like a hurricane just waiting to be set free, and in the embrace of their naked bodies, Byakuya just let himself be swept away.
#07 – Wings
Others might be jealous of his lover's wealth and nobility and resent him for his cold attitude, but Ukitake knew the truth: the kenseikan and ginpaku kazahana no uzuginu were nothing more than golden chains, and Byakuya a bird with clipped wings.
#08 – Cold
Byakuya often got cold at night, and this was the only reason no matter what position they fell asleep in, he always woke up snuggled into his lover's warm body.
#09 - Red
They may not always be visible, but the red ribbons interlacing around their souls and binding them together are always felt, a comforting presence at the back of their mind, like an implicit reassurance that they are never alone.
#10 - Drink
As his amused gaze does a sweep of the karaoke bar the captains had relocated to after a long and tedious meeting, his eyes settled on the stage where the sixth and eleventh division captains are engaged in a passionate rendition of 'the eye of the tiger' to the acclamation of the crowd; and the thirteenths' captain decides he absolutely needs to take his lover out to drink more often.
#11 - Midnight
As midnight rings out in the Seireitei, Jushiro is woken up by the feeling of someone sneaking in through his bedroom window and silently slipping into his bed, and finds himself almost reflexively opening his arms in a welcoming embrace before falling right back asleep.
#12 - Temptation
Everything about Byakuya was alluring, and it took all of Jushiro's self-restraint to resist the temptation of never letting him leave his bed.
#13 - View
"This is beautiful" Byakuya said softly, captivated by the view below them: the moon reflecting on the frozen forest like the trees had been covered in diamond dust
"Indeed it is" Jushiro, though, was not looking at the landscape.
#14 - Music
Few people knew how much Kuchiki Byakuya enjoyed music, and even fewer knew what an incredible musician he was, which was a real shame, mused Ukitake, seated under the sixth division captain's window basking in the soft notes escaping from inside.
#15 - Silk
Jushiro's hair felt like silk between his fingers, and Byakuya could never refrain from playing with it whenever they were alone together.
#16 - Cover
Byakuya barely had time to cover himself as a spectacularly drunk Shunsui burst into Jushiro's bedroom blabbering incoherently about Nanao, miniskirts and plum wine, and then proceeded to promptly pass out at the foot of their bed.
#17 - Promise
They never spoke promises to each other, they both knew too much about the cruelty of the world to have any illusions concerning their ability to keep them: actions, as some said, spoke louder than words.
#18 - Dream
"…And just as Hitsugaya was about to ask Matsumoto to take off her top, Ikkaku's head turned into a multicolored disco-ball and everyone started dancing the Macarena, and then you burst in on top off a giant flying koi and whisked Byakuya away to your candy cane castle!"
"Your really have the strangest dreams, Kyoraku."
#19 - Candle
He was sure of it, the dancing flame was mocking him, Byakuya thought as he tried –unsuccessfully- to blow the candle on the cake for the fourth time, not noticing Urahara Kisuke and Shihoin Yoruichi snickering to each other in the background.
#20 - Talent
They both had a talent with words, though it expressed itself quite differently in each of them.
#21 - Silence
The silence between them was never awkward: they had no need for words, everything was implicitly understood.
#22 - Journey
There was a long way to reach Byakuya's heart: breaking down the walls surrounding it was a slow and tedious process, and sometimes Jushiro wondered if he would ever reach the end of this journey.
#23 - Fire
There was fire burning in the thirteenth division's captain's eyes and through his veins as he mercilessly cut down every quincy in his way and destroyed their city, the image of Byakuya's broken body branded into his eyelids.
#24 - Strength
Strength comes in a lot of different forms, and Byakuya knows that Jushiro is by far the most powerful out of the two of them.
#25 - Mask
They both wear masks, Byakuya to protect himself from a world that has never been kind to him, and Jushiro to protect the world from himself and spare others from the suffering inflicted on him by his disease; and maybe this is why they are so good at seeing through each other.
#26 - Ice
When he was informed that there had been a fatal incident at the thirteenth involving his sister and the division's captain and lieutenant, he felt as though all the blood in his veins had suddenly been turned to ice.
#27 - Fall
Ukitake doesn't know when he first began to fall for the young Kuchiki clan head, but looking back he realizes a part of him was probably lost the moment a meeting between him and Kuchiki Ginrei was interrupted by a young child with inquisitive, fathomless silver eyes that stared at him for a while before bluntly stating that his hair was really pretty.
#28 - Forgotten
They are both familiar with loss, having seen countless squad mates, friends and family members reduced to nothing more than fading memories, but they will make sure none of them are forgotten.
#29 - Dance
"It's like a dance", Rukia thought watching her captain and her brother sparring in the Kuchiki manor's gardens an early spring morning, every movement graceful and perfectly coordinated, the only sound that of their clashing swords and Ukitake's gleeful laughter.
#30 - Body
Contrary to popular belief, Byakuya's skin is far from immaculate, his body covered in countless small scars, testament of the difficulty to master a zanpakuto as strong willed as Senbonzakura; Jushiro knows all of them, and he likes to pepper each and every one with kisses.
#31 - Sacred
Duty always calls, and they are both extremely busy; as such, every moment they manage to get alone together is sacred.
#32 - Farewells
They didn't exchange any farewells as Byakuya awaited next to Kenpachi and Unohana for the opening of the Senkaimon that would take them to the human world –their final destination being Hueco Mundo-; everything that needed to be said had been muttered the night before, the moon the only witness.
#33 - World
"So help me Byakuya, if you die I swear I will tear apart all three worlds to find your reincarnated soul just so I can kill you again myself!"
#34 – Formal
Dinners at the Kuchiki manor were a formal affair, but it only took one look at the clan head seated across from him for Jushiro to willingly play the part of the perfect noble Lord -until the end of the meal at least-, afterwards he was meeting Byakuya in his rooms for 'desert' and all bets were off.
#35 - Fever
As Byakuya gently applied the cool humid cloth to his lover's flushed face, the older man's body wrecked by fever, he found himself once again cursing the world and its unfairness.
#36 - Laugh
It was rare for Kuchiki Byakuya to laugh, but as the crystalline sound left his lips, face lit up in happiness and eyes scintillating, looking so much younger and innocent, Ukitake decided that it was his new purpose in life to make the young noble laugh as much and as often as possible.
#37 - Lies
Byakuya had never tried to lie to Ukitake, he knew the older man would see right through him.
#38 - Forever
What kept them going, fight after fight, through exhaustion and despair, was the lingering knowledge that if they survived this, they could have forever.
#39 - Overwhelmed
Walking through Ugendo's door after a long day of work, Jushiro was overwhelmed by the smell of burned food and sulfur, and upon reaching his kitchen was greeted by the sight of a slightly green Byakuya seated at the dining table, face carefully controlled, and a beaming Rukia wearing an apron that cheerfully informed him that she had cooked them dinner as a thank you for taking such good care of her.
#40 - Whisper
The only sounds Jushiro could produce were soft barely audible whispers, his throat still raw from the violent fit he'd just had, but Byakuya understood him as clearly as if he'd been screaming.
#41 - Wait
Ukitake Jushiro had waited for over two millennia for Kuchiki Byakuya to enter his life, and now that he'd had a taste of how perfect the two of them were together, he wasn't going to let anyone separate them, especially not a bunch of stuck up old nobles.
#42 - Talk
People would sometimes talk behind their backs: some wondering what the sweet, kind thirteenth division captain was doing with the noble ice cube; others not understanding why the young noble that could have anyone he wanted in the Soul Society settled for the old, sick captain; but those words never reached them.
#43 - Search
Ukitake didn't bother to search for Byakuya in the aftermath of the zanpakuto's devastating attack, he knew deep down that the younger captain was alive, and must have a good reason for staying hidden; he trusted him to come back when he was done with whatever kept him away.
#44 - Hope
"I hope you're pleased with yourself" grumbled Byakuya, switching his gaze from the small pink haired tornado currently destroying his garden, to his sheepish lover, to the empty candy wrappers in said lover's hands.
#45 - Eclipse
He may be a monkey, reflected Renji, and his captain the moon, but Ukitake was the sun, and while both of them shone brightly on their own, together they were like an eclipse: so bright you had to avert your eyes for fear of burning them.
#46 - Gravity
Every time they kissed, it was like Jushiro experienced a shift in gravity: everything else disappeared and his entire world became focused on the noble whose lips were fusing with his own.
#47 - Highway
"I'm on a hiiiighwayyy to hellll!"
"No Jushiro, you're not; but captain Kyoraku will be he keeps spiking your drinks."
#48 - Unknown
The future was uncertain, too many unknown variables coming into play, but as long as he could feel Jushiro's reiatsu simmering beside him, Byakuya would never hesitate to move forward.
#49 - Lock
There are many locks on Byakuya's heart, but Jushiro holds the key to all of them.
#50 - Breathe
Sometimes, Byakuya lies awake at night, head pillowed on Ukitake's chest, just listening to him breathe, the reassuring feeling of the older man's chest rising regularly eventually lulling him back to a peaceful sleep.